Chapter 187: Tears...

Jingyi’s pupils constricted upon seeing the phantom behind Haruka. An unnatural gleam flashed in her eyes, which even she failed to notice.

?Meanwhile, the greed in the Western Dragon’s phantom behind Haruka was hidden as well.

?Though their intentions were hidden, Night, who had been watching them like a hawk through the Nightmare Domain, noticed it immediately.

?Night heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that Haruka and Jingyi were completely unaware of these Cosmic Beasts hiding inside them.

?However, this realization only made him solemn, because what he was about to do would become much harder now that he knew both girls were not evil as he had hoped.

?Sara spoke up, "Night, I feel like something is wrong with the phantoms behind them."

?Night and [Blaze] were both surprised, not expecting Sara to notice that something was off.

?Since it concerned her friends, he informed her of what was happening telepathically.

?Once he was done, he saw a sorrowful look appear on her face, just as he had expected. Night didn’t know how to comfort her.

?Sara sighed after some time. "Just see if they can be saved. If not, then...." She didn’t finish her sentence.

?While they talked, the standoff between the two girls had finally come to an end.

?Haruka attacked first. She closed the distance in a single step and swung her katana, covered in dark blue energy, right at Jingyi’s face. It seemed that, according to Haruka, the face was considered far more important than a vital point.

?Boom!

?As if to prove the point, Jingyi had a fierce scowl on her face as she blocked the attack with her knuckles. Her fist, glowing red like molten iron, exploded upon contact like a mini-bomb, pushing back the surprised Haruka.

?Boom!

?Before Haruka could stabilize her footing, Jingyi’s other fist reached her abdomen, caving it in and launching Haruka into the air as the wind was knocked out of her lungs.

?Not letting the combo break, Jingyi followed up with an uppercut.

?Haruka felt like her eyeballs were going to pop out when the fist hit her, and her insides felt like they were on fire. However, a cooling blue energy immediately entered her body from the phantom behind her and healed her injuries.

?Now healed, she swung her katana down, her face etched with anger.

?Boom!

?When the katana and knuckles met, Jingyi’s fists exploded again, blowing Haruka into the air like a volleyball.

?Haruka, who was already in an awkward position in mid-air, flew backward and smashed into a nearby rock. Her katana slipped from her hand and went flying down the mountain.

?Dust. Smoke.

?Haruka got up. Looking at her empty hand, she knew she was in real trouble now. Without her katana, she couldn’t even display half of her strength.

?Haruka screamed like a girl caught getting peeked at in the bathroom, "Haayaaa! Sara, help! Jingyi is bullying me...!"

?But Sara didn’t move, nor did she say a word.

?Jingyi appeared right in front of Haruka, the fire in her eyes carrying an unnatural glow.

?Haruka raised her hands, seeing that Sara was not taking her side. "What!? You managed to separate me from my katana, you won already..."

?But Jingyi simply stared at her.

?Haruka noticed something was wrong with Jingyi immediately. "Whhaatttt?! Why are you looking at me like that?"

?She took a step back until her back hit the rock, covered in cold sweat as she sensed what the look in Jingyi’s eyes meant.

?Jingyi closed the gap. Before Haruka could move, Jingyi’s hands gripped her shoulders tightly.

?"D-do-don’t touch me! Don’t tell me Sara was right and you are really thirsting for my body..." Haruka’s face flushed bright red, her eyelashes fluttering like butterflies.

?Jingyi, however, didn’t speak. She brought her face so close to Haruka’s that she could practically feel her breath.

?Haruka stammered, "I... I.. I... am... straight... I tell... you... straight... as a flag..."

?Jingyi ignored her. She tilted her head, brought her face close to Haruka’s nape, and sniffed, a wild grin plastered across her face.

?Haruka’s breath hitched as she felt Jingyi sniff her. "N.. No.. No.. not.. like this... not... in the open..."

?Sara raised her eyebrows and thought, ’Girl, at least try to defend yourself. What is with these half-assed teases?’

?’What, if we were not here, you wouldn’t mind?’

?’Was my guess right? Are they both gay?’

?’If they are gay and are really thirsting for each other, then wouldn’t my plan backfire...? After all, Night is way too young to be exposed to stuff like that.’

?’That girl Death is already looking for ways to pounce on the boy, not even willing to wait for him to grow up. If these two join in, then I don’t even know what will happen.’

Unsurprisingly, Sara was already aware of Death’s intensions and was resolved to stop all her schemes before Night was old enough to make sound decisions.

?Night would have been shocked if he knew what Sara was thinking, because while he had been setting his mind into overdrive trying to comfort Sara, she had already been planning far ahead.

?Yes, from the very beginning, Sara had been planning to turn Jingyi and Haruka into Night’s summons.

?As for why, the goal was simple: Night would be leaving for the Tutorials soon, and he would need all the support he could get.

?As for making her friends accept such an absurd thing, she had a feeling they wouldn’t mind, especially once she told them about the benefits.

?Blade, who was a Unique Being, hadn’t thought much of it when becoming Night’s summon, so why would two humans with mediocre talent care?

?Also, unlike Zora, who had been one of the candidates but was troublesome because of her brother, these two were much better choices. They always had something wrong with their heads: Jingyi looked calm on the outside, but was really naughty on the inside.

?Meanwhile, though Haruka appeared bold on the outside, she was as shy as a mouse in front of a cat in reality.

?Plus, both of them were completely trustworthy. The three of them shared a strong bond forged in life-and-death battles.

?If they didn’t trust each other, Haruka and Jingyi would have never followed her here. If it had been Zora or Arthur who asked the same thing, both of them would have thought twice before following.

?The proof was right there earlier: when Jingyi punched Haruka, she had been almost completely defenseless because she trusted them, which was the only reason she went flying like a baseball.

?If she had been on guard, Jingyi would have lost her hand the moment she raised it against her.

?Suddenly, Haruka’s dying voice echoed out, "Sa.. Sa.. Sa.. Sara... save.. mee..."

?Sara snapped out of her thoughts, her pupils shrinking at what she saw.

?Jingyi, who had just been sniffing Haruka’s nape a moment ago, now had her mouth clamped down on it, teeth and all, just like a Vampire.

?Meanwhile, Haruka was bleeding so heavily that it looked like she could die at any moment from blood loss, her face as pale as a ghost.

Even the Western Dragon’s phantom behind her had dimmed and almost disappeared, while the phantom behind Jingyi was glowing like the sun as if it had feed on an elixir, it looked so real now that it seemed ready to take physical form and move on its own.

?Night could be seen standing behind Jingyi, desperately trying to separate her by pulling on her hair, which seemed to be the only reason Haruka was still alive.

?Sara immediately pulled out her magic tome and cast ’Sealing Array’ and ’Grand Concealment Spell.’

?Both the array and the spell had recently been taught to her by [Dream] so that she could support Night during his fights; she just hadn’t expected to use them here so soon.

?A huge Demonic gate covered in bizarre marks, looking more like claw marks than runes, appeared above the Eastern Dragon. Chains resembling snakes slithered out and bound the dragon tightly.

?Along with it, Jingyi was yanked back as well. Her eyes had become completely beast-like, radiating a crazed hunger that shook even Night.

?At the same time, a huge magic circle appeared over the top of the mountain, and the entire mountain peak, along with the four of them, vanished from Earth.

?On another mountain nearby, Rango, Minerva, and the others stared at the main mountain that was now missing its peak, then turned to look at Night’s clone with questioning gazes.

?They had seen the two dragon phantoms earlier, but chose not to do anything about it when Night claimed he was just having a light show with his friends.

?Though they felt Night was pulling their legs, they let it slide because their minds were still stuck on the terrifying gaze they had felt earlier, as well as the lingering awe from when the red fire had protected them.

?Since then all of them were still filled with tension and their bodies were so stiff they walked like robots, every time Night looked at them, they felt like the Primordial God was looking at them, putting them right back on edge.

?Night said awkwardly while scratching his head, "We are playing hide-and-seek."

?Rango eyes twitched but he didn’t say a word and simply sat down, staring off into the distance with blank eyes. The others acted similarly.

?Minerva rolled her wolfish eyes. "Really?"

?Night replied, "Cough, yes."

?...

?Thud.

?Haruka dropped against the rock, clutching her bleeding nape in disbelief and betrayal.

?Tears filled her eyes as she couldn’t believe what had just happened...