Chapter 86: A Tomorrow Without You

Chapter 86: A Tomorrow Without You

Embers Base, west side of the island.

“Phew—sis, this should be the last one, right?”

“Mm.”

Chen Xing nodded calmly. Then the greatsword in her hand twisted sharply, and she yanked it out of the last Starbeast’s heart.

Puchi—!

In an instant, thick blue blood—sticky and carrying the briny smell of seawater—gushed out of the Starbeast and was drawn along the greatsword, a few droplets even streaking across her cheek.

Chen Xing didn’t so much as furrow her brows.

She merely raised her right hand, wrapped in bandages, and wiped away the pale-blue blood on her cheek.

After that, she lifted the greatsword and flicked it hard to her side.

Splash!

Most of the blood clinging to the greatsword sprayed onto the ground like spilled ink, forming a crescent-shaped, jagged bloodstain.

Seeing that a little Starbeast blood still remained on the greatsword, Chen Xing expressionlessly wedged the greatsword against the crook of her left elbow and slowly drew it through.

As the final trace of blood was completely wiped away, the clean, gleaming greatsword reflected Chen Xing’s icy-cold, crimson eyes—and a bead of sweat that slid down her cheek before disappearing along her slender neck.

They were just two simple motions: a flick and a draw of the greatsword.

Yet whether it was the murderous intensity on Chen Xing’s face, or the tight, well-defined muscles faintly visible beneath her torn uniform at the waist, everything about her exuded an indescribable sharpness—wild and ferocious.

Despite being only twelve years old, just like Jing Liuli, Chen Xing had none of the softness typical of someone her age. Instead, she was resolute and fiercely individualistic.

If Caroline was cold “ice,” then Chen Xing was blazing “fire.”

Captivating to behold—yet making it abundantly clear that one should never approach lightly.

Because fire burns.

“Damn it, why does Xing look this hot even when she’s just wiping her greatsword?!’

“I really want Big Sis to step on me—hard—’

“Hey! Commentator above, something’s wrong with you!’

While the interdimensional audience showered Chen Xing with praise, she had already turned to look toward the sea.

Out in the shallow waters off the west coast, the Star Monolith that had summoned the beast tide was slowly collapsing from top to bottom, scattering beautiful, starlike fragments as it fell.

If one ignored the mountain-like piles of Starbeast corpses stacked around Chen Xing and the others on the beach, the scene was almost poetic.

At the same time, seeing that the final Star Monolith had crumbled, the utterly exhausted Chen Kong plopped down onto the sand and sighed.

“Tendou and Instructor Tachibana should be finished by now, right?”

In the distance, Jing Liuli—also completely spent—was sprawled over her Dreamy Illusionary Pillow like a puppy, tongue hanging out as she panted. She weakly answered Chen Kong’s question.

“They are. I can sense it. The nightmare energy around the island right now is flatter than Chen Xing’s chest.”

“???”

Chen Kong stared at Jing Liuli in shock, his mouth hanging open so wide it looked like he could swallow an egg whole.

That was how stunned he was.

No, Liuli—has life really left you with nothing worth cherishing anymore?

You can say that?

You actually dared to say that?

Liuli… you’re really something.

“Kong, what’s with that look? Did I say something wrong?”

Completely unaware of the mistake she’d made, Jing Liuli not only failed to think about how to fix it—instead, she foolishly asked Chen Kong why he was making that expression.

After all, she was just stating facts.

But very quickly, she paid the price for her “speaking without thinking.”

“Huh? Why am I suddenly flying?”

Staring at the Dreamy Illusionary Pillow growing farther and farther away beneath her, Jing Liuli turned her head in confusion—only to realize that Chen Xing had somehow appeared behind her. Using the scabbard of her greatsword, Chen Xing had hooked Liuli by the back of her collar and lifted her straight up into the air.

Seeing Chen Xing’s darkened expression and the killing intent filling her eyes, Jing Liuli finally belatedly understood what was going on.

Without the slightest hesitation, Liuli immediately surrendered and activated her ultimate tactic: acting cute, hoping to muddle through.

“Ehehe~ Sister Chen Xing, I actually—”

Before Jing Liuli could finish her sentence, Chen Xing began vigorously shaking her greatsword.

The next second, Jing Liuli—still hanging from the greatsword—started swinging wildly. One piece after another of Beautiful Dream Candies was flung out from her pajama pockets and sleeves, clattering down onto the Dreamy Illusionary Pillow.

Seeing that what she wanted had appeared, Chen Xing set Jing Liuli down and immediately stepped forward to pick up three pieces of Beautiful Dream Candies.

She then tossed two of them—one to Chen Kong, and one to Yagami Rin, who was resting under a nearby tree.

Rin accepted it without ceremony, popping it straight into her mouth. She closed her eyes and began recovering from the earlier battle, prioritizing efficiency and refusing to waste even a single second.

Meanwhile, although Jing Liuli had been put down, she was clearly still not recovered after being thoroughly shaken.

Her eyes were spinning like mosquito coils, her head wobbling back and forth, and her mouth kept muttering incomprehensible sounds like “ah-ba, ah-ba, ah-ba…”

Chen Xing didn’t pay her much mind. Instead, she instructed Chen Kong on the beach and Rin under the tree:

“Rest for three minutes. Then we head back immediately.”

Chen Kong: “Oh, okay.”

Yagami Rin: “Understood.”

After arranging what came next, Chen Xing knelt on the sand, placed the greatsword between her knees, ate a piece of Beautiful Dream Candy, and likewise closed her eyes to take a short rest.

But unlike the relaxed expressions on Chen Kong’s and Jing Liuli’s faces, the heaviness on Chen Xing’s face did not ease at all after the beast tide was dealt with—in fact, it only deepened.

There was only one reason: everything had gone too smoothly.

They had broken through the Starbeast encirclement without issue.

They had destroyed the Star Monolith without issue.

They had resolved the beast tide without issue.

If this beast tide had merely been an accident, rather than something engineered by human hands, Chen Xing wouldn’t have thought much of it.

But knowing that this beast tide was the result of someone acting with ulterior motives, she instinctively felt a strong unease toward how unusually smooth this operation had been.

It was as if everything they were doing right now was unfolding exactly according to the enemy’s calculations.

Otherwise, why hadn’t the ones who set up the beast tide come out to stop them?

With that thought in mind, once Chen Xing had rested enough, she stood up and walked over to Chen Kong.

“Kong, give me one of your Blue Dream Candy.”

“Huh? Sis, you want the Blue Candy too?”

Hearing that, Chen Xing froze for a moment and instinctively asked, “Besides me, did someone else ask you for that candy before?”

Chen Kong nodded. “Yeah. A few days ago, Tendou suddenly came to me and asked me to give him one Blue Candy.”

“I even asked him why. He told me it was because he was afraid of getting injured during training, so—”

Before he could finish the sentence, not only did Chen Xing’s and Jing Liuli’s expressions turn grim, even Chen Kong himself realized something was wrong.

Why?

Why would Tendou have asked for a Dream Candy · Blue (Pseudo)—one that temporarily nullifies all pain and a short-term recovery and boost to all physical attributes—several days ago?

If Tendou’s explanation were really true, if he was just afraid of getting hurt during training…

Then compared to Chen Kong’s Dream Candy · Blue (Pseudo), wouldn’t Jing Liuli’s Beautiful Dream Candy be far more suitable?

After all, Liuli Beautiful Candy was the candy most suited for training.

Unless—

“Sis, do you think Tendou might have already—”

Before Chen Kong could finish his thought, Chen Xing suddenly sprinted toward the base.

At the same time, Jing Liuli also shot off toward the base at top speed.

The girl who usually wore a silly grin on her face now had not the slightest trace of a smile.

Because at this moment, Jing Liuli had recalled something—before heading to Deep Blue Metropolis, Tendou had once come to see her very late at night, in a rather unusual manner.

And if she remembered correctly, Tendou had come to her back then to ask her to interpret a dream.

Although he hadn’t told her what that dream was about at the time…

A dream serious enough to make even Tendou feel uneasy could not possibly have been an ordinary one.

Combined with what was happening now, Jing Liuli had already vaguely guessed which “dream” Tendou had seen—

And the choice he had made after seeing it.

Tendou, you liar!!!

You said that we would definitely have a brilliant tomorrow.

So why didn’t you tell us that you quietly erased yourself… from that tomorrow?

As Chen Xing and Jing Liuli rushed back toward the base at full speed, the anime’s scene cut to one hour earlier.

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