Chapter 92: The Butterfly's Assault

Tch. Seriously.

Su frowned but said nothing more. He simply fell into deep thought, wondering how best to deal with this situation.

Since Mu Qingyun chose to act this way, she must have her reasons. Although it annoyed him that Kazel knew something he did not, if she had chosen not to tell him, he wouldn't press her.

Instinctively, he reached for the communicator hidden in his sleeve. It seemed he would have to contact the Doctor.

"I'm heading out for a bit," he said, eyes narrowing as he turned and stepped outside.

Watching Su leave, Kazel curved his lips into a faint smile. This team of theirs was truly something—no formal bonds between them, yet the closeness they shared resembled that of family.

Su Qiluo was known to be a laid-back person, but the academy was strict. If he insisted on helping Mu Qingyun, he would undoubtedly have to pay a price.

"I need to go find Mu-ge. I want to help him," said Xiong Ruoyou, rubbing her swollen, red eyes. Her vision had already grown blurry, yet she stubbornly tried to push through.

"You? Forget it. Take care of your eyes. I'll go help Mu-ge," Fan Xuanye cast her a glance and frowned.

"I actually—"

Before she could finish her sentence, Fan Xuanye had already turned and walked away.

"…can do it," she still muttered to herself, even though he was long gone.

"I'll get you some water. Use it to soothe your eyes," Kazel offered, gesturing toward her swollen, peach-like eyes and chuckling softly.

"Thank you," she squinted toward him, her head pounding. She closed her eyes again with a sigh.

Swollen eyes did not just blur vision—they throbbed painfully. She silently vowed never to cry at night again. It was absolute torture.

"Haaah—"

Mu Qingyun tossed one last ball of fire from her hand, clenching her fist as an overwhelming wave of fatigue surged from her core and swept through her body.

She was completely drained—her powers had run dry. The red glow in her right hand flickered a few times before fading entirely.

But in front of her, five virtual beasts remained, clustered together.

She wore the charcoal-like lure Kazel had given her to attract virtual beasts. It had worked.

Taking a deep breath, she pulled out a flamethrower and a laser gun from her storage pouch, holding one in each hand. She eyed the five beasts, who were hesitating on whether to approach.

It was fine. Even without her powers, she still had weapons.

Gripping the flamethrower in her left hand and the laser gun in her right, she flipped both power switches. Then, with a spring of her foot, she lunged at the virtual beasts.

Approaching the front-most tiger, she aimed the flamethrower directly at its eye and pulled the trigger.

"ROAR—!" The tiger howled in rage and pain. Its scorched eye hurt worse than a fatal wound.

As the tiger wailed, the remaining four beasts charged at her with unrelenting fury.

A faint sound came from behind her, but there was no time to turn. She squeezed the laser gun's trigger, aiming at the oncoming beasts.

"Watch out!"

A voice—familiar—shouted from above.

She looked up and saw Die Wu, her beautiful wings spread wide, grabbing her shoulders and lifting her into the sky.

"Put me down," she frowned, looking at the four enraged beasts below. She struggled slightly in Die Wu's grasp.

There were still four left. She could not just abandon the fight.

"Are you insane? I saw you out here this morning when I went to fetch water. You've been fighting non-stop this whole time without rest?" Die Wu flapped her wings, but hovered above the beasts instead of fleeing.

"I'm fine. Thank you for your concern, but I need to defeat them," Mu Qingyun replied calmly.

But Die Wu showed no sign of setting her down. "Do you really have to push yourself this hard? There's still plenty of time. Why rush?"

"Please, put me down." Mu Qingyun grew anxious as the four virtual beasts started to retreat.

"Alright, alright, stop struggling. I'll help you," Die Wu sighed in exasperation, flapping her wings harder.

With Mu Qingyun in her arms, they dove downward. As the wind howled past her ears, Mu Qingyun raised her laser gun and fired at the beasts.

Die Wu was clearly experienced in combat. Her positioning adjusted fluidly with Mu Qingyun's every move.

With Die Wu's speed and agility, Mu Qingyun felt like she had grown wings herself.

"ROAR—!"

One of the beasts roared again, rising up and snapping toward her.

Before she could react, Die Wu shot upward, dodging the attack.

"Its head," Mu Qingyun muttered coldly, withdrawing her laser gun and reaching for a dagger at her waist.

Die Wu instantly understood. She wrapped her arms tighter around Mu Qingyun and angled them into a sideways dive beside one of the beasts.

"Release," Mu Qingyun commanded.

The moment Die Wu let go, Mu Qingyun twisted midair and plunged the dagger down toward the beast's skull with her full weight behind it.

There was no blood—just a burst of golden sand. Her point total rose once more.

"They're coming!"

Just as the remaining beasts surged forward, Die Wu swooped in again and carried her skyward, evading the assault.

Three left.

Mu Qingyun flipped the dagger in her hand, then aimed at one beast's neck and threw it with precision.

The weapon whistled through the air and sank into the creature's neck. It let out a pained grunt and disintegrated into golden particles.

"Fly between the two remaining beasts," she said, drawing her laser gun again.

"Got it," Die Wu responded. She soared in a horizontal line, attracting the attention of the remaining two, then dove sharply toward them.

The gun's light blinked red and green as she aimed. After dodging one beast, she thrust the laser gun into the other's head.

Switching it off and stowing it away, she felt a small spark of energy return.

Clenching her right hand, a faint red glow shimmered once more.

With one last surge of power, she hurled a fireball toward the final beast, blinding it just as Die Wu dove once more.

Mu Qingyun pulled the trigger—laser shot straight into the beast's head.

Success.

Die Wu exhaled deeply, her wings fluttering slower now. She gently descended and landed Mu Qingyun safely on the ground.

"Whew, I'm exhausted. Good thing you're light—otherwise, I'd have collapsed ages ago."