Things are looking a little grim.
Qingyi eyed the growing ring of Exaltist believers closing in around the two of them, and even she found the situation tricky.
She might have looked breezy earlier, dropping one attacker with each swing of her staff, but this moment was nothing like that one.
Qingyi had tried fighting back, but unlike before, this time her opponents wouldn't go down after a few jolts of electricity.
Watching the Exaltist believers—scorched outside, cooked tender within by her shocks—press the attack without the slightest hesitation, Qingyi, who had no sweat glands to speak of, still found herself at a loss.
"Senior Qingyi! What do we do now?!"
Mousey the Sheriff gripped her baton. Terrified as she was, she still refused to abandon Qingyi and run—though honestly, having her there didn't change much of anything.
"Things are complicated. Get out of here and bring reinforcements. I'll hold the line for a while."
Qingyi had already landed on the right call. She could have fled alongside Mousey, but their fallen colleagues were still here, and for their safety, she couldn't just walk away.
"But, Senior..."
"No buts. Go. You're only a liability here."
"That's not it. The front doors are blocked too."
Qingyi turned and looked at the Public Security doors, just as tightly encircled, and felt her last flicker of hope die out.
"Well, then there's nothing more to say. Stay and keep me company."
There was nothing for it. It looked like the two of them were finished, right here, today.
She herself would be fine—swap in a new body later and she'd be good as new—but Mousey, even with Qingyi shielding her, would probably still end up in the hospital for a good while.
Watching Mousey tremble behind her, Qingyi finally softened, and spoke.
"Since that's how it is, listen closely to what I tell you."
"Yes, Senior!"
"In a moment, remember to shield your eyes."
"Okay...?!"
With that, sparks of electricity flickered across Qingyi's body, and she charged straight into the fray, throwing herself into battle against the abnormal Exaltist believers.
"Overload mode: engaged!"
Qingyi had finally unleashed the hidden power she'd been holding back.
She drove the Jade Construct body she now wore to run far past its rated output, and the power that burst free of it far surpassed anything she normally showed.
Speed, strength, reflexes—all of it hit its peak.
Charging toward the doors to clash with the Exaltist believers, Qingyi swung Peace Bringer back and forth with both hands so fast they left afterimages trailing behind.
With every motion she made, the believers who'd struggled back to their feet were struck down all over again, until at last she'd carved a bloody path through.
"Run for it, now!"
"Ah, yes! Ow!"
Mousey had been stunned senseless watching Qingyi go berserk, blue light crackling over her whole body, and only snapped back to her senses at Qingyi's call.
That was also when she finally understood why Qingyi had told her to shield her eyes.
There was no other reason—the light was simply too blinding, forcing her to squeeze her eyes shut and run blindly toward the doors.
But that meant she couldn't see the path ahead, and before she knew it, her left foot tangled with her right and she went sprawling to the ground.
"Ugh, that hurts! Waaah! w(°°)w!"
Mousey scrambled up off the ground, rubbing the spot where she'd bumped her head, and when she opened her eyes again, she saw a mob of Exaltist believers lunging straight at her.
Qingyi saw it and rushed to save her, but the overload had pushed her body past its limits—her movements had begun to stutter and lag, leaving her to watch, helpless, as Mousey seemed about to meet her end.
"Cut a path through!"
With a loud crack, the Public Security doors were sliced clean open by a massive pair of scissors, and a black figure burst through in a flash of red light, like some ravenous, world-devouring shark closing in for the kill.
Ellen Joe, on the scene!
Ellen swung her enormous scissors and effortlessly cut down the Exaltist believers surrounding Mousey, leaving each of them with a huge, deep gash. Strangely, though, not a drop of blood flowed from any of the wounds—instead, like clay dolls, their cuts were clean and smooth.
"Are you all right?"
Ellen slung her scissors over one shoulder and reached out her other hand to haul Mousey up.
Then two more maids stepped in through the Public Security doors.
"Miss Ellen! Ah, how did it come to this?"
Corin had rushed in after Ellen, worried, but at the sight of bodies scattered everywhere, a startled cry escaped her.
Rina, by contrast, stayed fairly calm. She didn't enjoy scenes like this, but she'd seen more than her share of them by now.
"You are..."
"Good evening. We're from Victoria Housekeeping, sent as reinforcements under orders from the Mayor."
Faced with the question, Rina wasted no time explaining the situation to Qingyi, then directed Corin and Ellen to carry the Sheriffs onto the medical vehicles they'd prepared in advance.
"Lord Lycaon has already gone after Bringer. Let's get the wounded out of here first."
Just as Rina said, Lycaon was nowhere in sight—he'd already gone chasing after the direction Bringer had fled.
"Miss Sheriff, please come with us to receive treatment."
"No need. This body's reached its limit—I'll just have to swap it out for another later."
Qingyi tried to wave a hand, but her ruined right arm just spun twice at the joint—clearly it no longer answered to her at all.
"Like this. If you insist on taking me with you, just pop my head off and bring that along."
"That... all right, then."
Rina nearly lost her composure. In all her years as a maid she'd seen every kind of person, but someone asking to have their own head detached and carried off was a first.
Somehow, Rina felt Qingyi would fit right in at Victoria Housekeeping in some strange way.
At the very least, she certainly carried a certain horror-movie quality right now.
"Is your companion going to be all right?"
Cradled in Rina's arms, Qingyi lifted her eyelids—about the most movement she could still manage.
"Please don't worry. Mister Lycaon isn't going alone."
Rina flashed a sweet smile. The two Bangboo beside her stayed unusually quiet—whether they'd been briefed beforehand not to run their mouths, who could say.
"In that case, I suppose I'll stay cautiously optimistic."
With that, Qingyi closed her eyes—not to rest, though. She kept running the communication systems in her mind without pause.
She was trying to reach Zhu Yuan and the others, far away at the Ballet Twins Building, but because of the Hollow's interference, she couldn't get through.
An ominous feeling nagged at her. She hoped nothing had gone wrong on Zhu Yuan's end.
Qingyi gazed at the rising moon. Its bright light, which once symbolized reunion and harmony, now carried a sense of the storm about to break.
____
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