The time had come to 9:01 PM. In the boundless darkness, the clear sound of dripping water, "drip... drip...", could be heard.
Shigure Kira huddled on the ground, her back against a tree, her arms wrapped around her shins, staring blankly at the ground.
A pool of icy lake water had formed at her feet, enveloping her. Her fingers and feet had turned transparent, with the Bizarre lake water from the Mirror Lake flowing inside.
The assimilation was nearing its end.
Soon, Shigure Kira would die and reappear in the world as a ghost.
From human to ghost, the Shigure Kira of that time would no longer be herself.
Having lost her humanity as an anchor, the Shigure Kira who had turned into a ghost would be nothing more than a figure wearing the same human skin.
"Ngh..."
A faint whimper escaped from Shigure Kira's still-normal throat.
It was silent all around, with only the sound of that ghost's footsteps gradually approaching her.
It wouldn't be long before she lost herself...
From all indications, the moody guy didn't seem to have the ability to turn back time at will, so if she died, she would be truly dead.
But her death had meaning, had value.
She had done everything she could. For the rest, the moody guy would surely be able to save this world from the hands of the Bizarre.
Dealing with supernatural events, even he wasn't certain to survive. To be able to drag it out for three more days before dying was already a rare miracle.
It was just... she was still a little unwilling, a little scared.
It was a bit dark, a bit cold, and a bit lonely and silent.
"Lady Cecilia... everyone..."
Having stayed in the Bizarre world for too long, her nerves constantly tense, she could finally relax at the last moment of her life.
Shigure Kira remembered her past in her original world.
At first, she was just a girl who dreamed of becoming a star on stage, but she accidentally became a Valkyrie of Schicksal. Through hard work, she became one of the six A-rank Valkyries of Schicksal, and later joined the most elite armed force of Schicksal, the Snow Wolf Squad.
After graduating from St. Freya High School, she became an S-rank Valkyrie.
The process was simple to summarize, but only she knew the hardships involved.
In terms of dreams, becoming an idol was Shigure Kira's dream. Even after accidentally becoming a Valkyrie, she would practice being an idol in her spare time.
She was even thought by her juniors in Schicksal to be using her rest time to train harder alone to fight the Honkai. Many juniors admired her for this.
An idol is an angel who spreads love. For this, Shigure Kira strictly demanded of herself to fight against her own shortcomings and immaturity, against her own selfish thoughts, against her own aesthetic prejudices.
In order to deliver true love to everyone's heart, she also had to be like a diamond, never getting hurt, always shining brightly. But in order to hide her tone-deafness, she used AI to modify the pitch of her songs. Such a cheating self was the most unqualified person in this world to say such things, and saying those beautiful-sounding words was just boasting...
Disguising herself with lies was terrible.
In terms of her career as a Valkyrie, for an ordinary Valkyrie, her talent was considered good; but for those Valkyrie seniors who stood in the light and were regarded as countless role models, she could only be considered upper-middle at best.
There is a limit to hard work. Shigure Kira knew this very well.
Idol, Valkyrie, the sparkling stage.
Her dream seemed to be about to disappear with her life in the silent darkness, leaving no trace.
Shigure Kira's pale lips moved. She slowly closed her eyes and began to imagine herself on a dazzling stage.
At this moment, she was a household name, a famous idol singer.
In the sky, countless drones like a sky full of stars pointed their cameras at her. Above her head were colorful spotlights, all the light converging on her figure.
Below the stage, Cecilia watched her gently, her smile like a flower.
Her former comrades-in-arms cast envious glances at her. Everyone sang along with her in a loud voice: "Kira, Kira, Kira Star! Twinkle, twinkle, little star!"
She would end her life with this song.
"Ah~~"
A sound more twisted and deformed than a ghost's came from Shigure Kira's mouth. It was cut off after less than two seconds by a hand covering her mouth.
"Mmph, mmph, mmph!!"
Shigure Kira struggled instinctively, suddenly realizing that the hand covering her mouth might be that of the ghost. It had found her.
Even if she had to die, she could still fight back!
So Shigure Kira moved her head back, quickly opened her mouth, and bit down hard, holding nothing back.
Her sharp little canine teeth sank deep into the cold flesh.
For a moment, Shigure Kira felt that something was wrong. Although the other person's body felt cold, it was indeed a human body.
The strong smell of blood instantly spread, filling Shigure Kira's mouth.
"Have you bitten enough?" Li Mo asked calmly.
"Eh, eh? Me? You?"
Shigure Kira was shocked, her face full of disbelief as she turned her head. When she saw Li Mo behind her, her sad heart suddenly leaped with joy, her suppressed spirit like a door and window thrown open, a fresh breeze blowing away the dust.
"Why are you here?" Shigure Kira asked, scared and happy.
She was scared because the person who appeared in the middle of the night might not be human. It was very likely that the Li Mo in front of her was a ghost in disguise.
She was happy, truly happy. Even if Li Mo didn't come, she would still die. To see the person she wanted to see before she died was something to be thankful for.
As long as he was by her side, Shigure Kira felt very at ease.
Even if Li Mo couldn't save her, knowing that he was willing to risk his life for her was enough...
At least it proved that she had never been wrong about him.
"To save you," Li Mo said concisely, stating his purpose directly.
"Mhm... this way of speaking, it's the moody guy alright. But you're too late. I'm about to die. That ghost is not far away."
"I've tried to shake her off, but no matter how fast or how far I run, her distance from me remains the same."
With that, Shigure Kira pointed to a black shadow not far ahead. From the silhouette, it had a single ponytail, the same Valkyrie combat armor, and looked as if it were carved from the same mold as Shigure Kira.
Li Mo glanced at the half of Shigure Kira's body that had turned into lake water. The assimilating lake water was almost reaching her neck. Once her head was assimilated, it would be too late.
"I know. In fact, I'm not sure I can save you. Saving you is more like a gamble," Li Mo said in a cold tone.
Hearing this, Shigure Kira managed a bitter smile. His words were colder than the lake water that had corroded her.
"As expected..."
Before Shigure Kira could finish, Li Mo spoke again.
This time, Li Mo didn't give a reason, but simply asked, "Shigure Kira, are you willing to trust me, to completely entrust your life to me, without any reason?"
Shigure Kira didn't quite understand the implication of Li Mo's words, but from her own most direct feeling, the answer was yes.
Shigure Kira replied firmly, "I am willing."
Li Mo: "If I ask you to do something that will surely kill you."
Shigure Kira: "Then I will willingly die."
Hearing Shigure Kira's answer, Li Mo was in a bit of a daze.
The reason for willingly dying, the answer he had been searching for for fifty thousand years.
"Relax your body. There are two minutes left. I'll take you to the Mirror Lake right now."
Li Mo picked up Shigure Kira, his eyes focused, and rushed towards the Mirror Lake at full speed without holding back.
Like a cannonball, he shot through the sky, leaving a trail of blurry afterimages.
"Moody guy! Thank you, thank you for finding me!!"
Li Mo was running so fast that only the loud and messy sound of the wind could be heard in her ears.
So Shigure Kira boldly shouted at the night sky. After looking back and seeing Li Mo's still expressionless and cold face, she was relieved, and the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.
"..."
Li Mo did not answer, but at this moment, he was infinitely close to a Bizzare being, and was particularly sensitive to human voices, able to distinguish between the sound of the wind and human voices very clearly.
He heard it loud and clear.
Now was not the time for conversation. According to the plan, he had timed it just right, not too much, not too little.
Soon, Li Mo brought Shigure Kira to the shore of the Mirror Lake. The surface of the lake was like a clear and clean mirror, reflecting the real world.
Looking directly at it, there was nothing in the lake, let alone a Bizzare treasure chest.
Those things could only be seen by those who sank into the lake. Standing outside, one could get nothing.
Li Mo walked up to the Mirror Lake and looked at it. There was no reflection of him.
"Do you want me to jump in?" Shigure Kira asked.
Li Mo nodded. "Yes."
As soon as he finished speaking, Shigure Kira jumped in without struggling, letting the lake water wrap around her body, soaking her thin clothes and her blue and white hair.
Her high ponytail spread out. The moonlight penetrated the surface of the lake, shining in. Under the baptism of the moonlight, every strand of her hair looked crystal clear, like delicate silver threads, shimmering with a faint light in the dark Mirror Lake.
So beautiful...
Shigure Kira looked at the bright moon on the surface of the lake and couldn't help but sigh in her heart.
It's just a pity...
The black shadow had arrived.
No matter where she was, she would be found by that ghost. But since Li Mo asked her to jump into the lake, there must be a reason.
And that reason must be to prevent that ghost from invading the outside world. As long as she died in the lake...
Just as Shigure Kira was thinking this, a second black shadow appeared, quickly swimming towards her through the surrounding lake water.
Hmm?
After seeing the black shadow's appearance clearly, Shigure Kira's face showed a look of astonishment.
Why did he come down too?
Didn't he want me to jump down to find a suitable burial place for myself?
Li Mo quickly swam to Shigure Kira. Shigure Kira opened her mouth several times to say something, but only spat out a large mouthful of bubbles, then choked on the lake water and clutched her throat.
But her complex and abstract facial expression clearly said: Why did you come down too?
Li Mo ignored Shigure Kira. When he jumped down just now, he had glanced at his phone. It was 9:03 PM. There was still one minute left.
In one minute, the drowned ghost would find Shigure Kira and completely assimilate her into a Bizarre being.
It was simple to drag it past 9:04, but if the source of the drowned ghost was not resolved, Shigure Kira could never be saved.
Everyone or every ghost could only reverse their identity once in the Mirror Lake. If one was human, then one would only become a ghost. Even if one fell into the Mirror Lake again, their identity would not change.
This was also why Li Mo could not see his reflection on the surface of the lake.
So what Li Mo had to do was simple. Since the drowned ghost would definitely appear on the locked target at a fixed time, then he would lure it into a trap and let it be lost forever in the Bizzare treasure chest.
The Bizzare treasure chest had absolute sealing properties. Unlike the suppression of the black coffin, things locked in the Bizzare treasure chest could not escape. They could only be released when someone from the outside actively opened it.
And when it was opened, only one thing could be released at a time, depending on the wisher's vision at that time.
Letting Shigure Kira hide in the Bizzare treasure chest, the drowned ghost would also go in when the time came.
In this way, the drowned ghost would never be able to find Shigure Kira, but the corruption remaining on her would not disappear.
At this time, it was time for the most dangerous step.
He would personally open the Bizzare treasure chest.
Releasing Shigure Kira, or rather... Bizarre Kiana.
Li Mo, who had lost his emotions, had no extremely desired specific thing subjectively, including Hua.
But there was one exception, and that was the love that was rooted deep in his soul and spread to every parallel world like Bizarre Kiana.
Under normal circumstances, if Li Mo opened the Bizzare treasure chest, what might come out could be Mei, a weapon that could effectively deal with Bizzare Things, a swarm of Bizzare coins, and Elysia who could eliminate the accumulation of death.
But now, there was only one thing he truly desired in his heart.
To see her, to protect her, to love her...
Now, if he opened the Bizzare treasure chest, the only thing that could come out would be the Bizarre Kiana attached to Shigure Kira.
On the day of the wedding, Shigure Kira had uncontrollably crashed his and Changle's wedding. Her Bizarre behavior proved this, but she was still unaware of it herself.
Opening the Bizzare treasure chest required bearing the corresponding curse. The curse of misfortune was like the world's will targeting him. Back when he was dealing with the spreading Bizarre Thing in Bizarre Mei's world, Li Mo had encountered that situation in the old world.
At first, the world would give a reason for targeting him, but the stronger the targeting became, the less logical it became.
Herrscher of Reason, False God Otto, the fallen Herrschers who should have died, Karmic Kevin...
At the wrong time, in the wrong place, with the wrong purpose, they all gathered here to prevent him from finding the truth.
Li Mo pulled himself out of his memories. After he woke up, he grabbed Shigure Kira's wrist and swam towards the Bizzare treasure chest at the bottom of the lake.
He probably couldn't withstand two curses. If it was only one, the bad luck ghost should be able to handle it.
Li Mo and Shigure Kira floated in front of the Bizzare treasure chest.
Without hesitation, Li Mo let Shigure Kira open the Bizzare treasure chest. The first curse had to be borne by Shigure Kira herself.
With Bizarre Kiana on her, there wouldn't be any major problems. Even if there was a curse, the curse couldn't distinguish whether the target was Shigure Kira or Bizarre Kiana.