Fierce Battle

In the endless gray mist, on the azure surface of the lake, Ning Yu knelt on one knee, gently holding Moon Princess’s hand. The white gemstone ring on her beautiful finger reflected the dazzling light of the lake.

“The initiation ritual is taking so long. What if I’m already dead by the time I leave?”

A strange thought crossed Ning Yu’s mind.

In those magical girl anime from her past life, the transformation process lasted nearly a minute, which always seemed like more than enough time for the villains to kill them several times over.

“Here, there is no concept of time,” Moon Princess said, as if reading Ning Yu’s thoughts.

Her silver hair fluttered in the wind, and the lake rippled from the strong currents. A mysterious eyepatch adorned with intricate silver-white feathers covered her eyes.

The golden spiral mark on her forehead slowly emerged.

“Or rather, every time you meet me, it’s a different version of me,” she continued.

“But to you, it makes no difference.”

As she explained, she placed one hand over her chest and, with the other, passed a glowing orb of power into Ning Yu’s body, as if transferring a flame.

Once again, Ning Yu felt that exhilarating sensation of understanding the truths of the world.

She stared into Moon Princess’s eyes, which were so deep that it seemed like if she looked any longer, she’d be pulled into the flickering images of the river of time.

**[Prompt: Host has entered the Thoughtless Moonlight Mode.]**

**[You have gained: Moon Princess’s Blessing * Tier I]**

**[You have gained a temporary skill: Mistwalking]**

“BOOM!!!”

Leviathan’s “Love-Hate Ecstasy” scythe unleashed a deadly strike, accompanied by black cracks and terrifying light, slashing through the spot where Ning Yu had been standing.

But Ning Yu had already vanished without a trace.

The force of the strike cut through the building behind her like a chainsaw, and black flames quickly engulfed the structure.

Everything seemed destined to be consumed by those dark flames.

Leviathan’s expression darkened. He couldn’t understand how Ning Yu, who had already fallen into his trap, could disappear.

He glanced around, his ash-white hair swaying slightly with the movement. The eyes on his “Love-Hate Ecstasy” scythe closed one by one, then vanished entirely.

Ning Yu was now walking through a black-and-white world. The moment she emerged from Moon Princess’s presence, she activated **[Mistwalking]**.

Moving at incredible speed, she appeared beside Leviathan, emerging from the mist with her Blood Kite aimed at his back as he continued to search for her.

Leviathan, with his back to Ning Yu, smirked triumphantly. This time, only one eye opened in the center of his scythe.

Ning Yu knew her sneak attack had been detected—exactly as she had planned.

As he twisted and swung his scythe, the horrifying black flames ignited around him, and a strong sense of danger enveloped Ning Yu.

But she wasn’t afraid. Time seemed to freeze in that moment, and Leviathan’s movements slowed to a crawl.

**[Moon’s Moment]** had been activated.

Ning Yu swung her Blood Kite, unleashing a flurry of slashes that covered every inch of Leviathan’s body.

With **[Embrace of Fire]**, **[Power Conversion]**, and **[Moon Princess’s Blessing * Tier I]**, her physical abilities had reached a terrifying level.

After delivering the barrage of strikes, Ning Yu wasted no time. She turned and summoned an RPG from the void, aiming it at the area with the highest concentration of zombies on the ground and firing quickly.

“BOOM!”

The warhead froze in mid-air the moment it was fired, thanks to the effects of **[Moon’s Moment]**.

Then, she pressed the detonator for the explosives in her hand.

As **[Moon’s Moment]** ended, Leviathan’s body was instantly sliced into countless pieces, shattering before Ning Yu’s eyes.

“KABOOM!!!!”

“BOOM!!!!”

When the time-stop ended, the thermobaric bomb exploded at the target location, turning a large group of zombies into vaporized flesh under the intense heat.

Another building collapsed from the explosion, crushing the zombies below.

In **[Thoughtless Moonlight Mode]**, Ning Yu couldn’t afford to waste a single second. She had to maximize the effects of **[Moon’s Moment]** to accumulate as many points as possible.

The horde of zombies had essentially become a buff for her, a walking ATM of points she could withdraw from at any time.

But even so, the constant drain of 100 points per second was unsustainable. She needed to end this quickly.

Despite having reduced Leviathan’s body to pieces again, Ning Yu still didn’t hear the notification for mission completion.

Just as she had expected.

The same trick wouldn’t work on her twice.

Sure enough, the “corpse” of the recently slain Leviathan transformed back into a doll.

“Is this your trump card?” Ning Yu asked, smiling confidently as Leviathan reappeared in the air.

“Let’s see how many lives you have left.”

Leviathan stared at Ning Yu with astonishment, unnerved by her bizarre techniques.

In an instant, his decoy had been triggered again. If this continued, he’d eventually run out of them...

Ning Yu disappeared into the air once more, her crimson eyes locking onto Leviathan like the gaze of a death god.

Leviathan pressed his pale lips together, then suddenly placed a hand over his eyepatch. Black mist began to seep out from the edges, spreading around him like the sudden opening of an icehouse door in summer.

“I must admit, your strength is truly impressive,” Leviathan said, his voice trembling.

“I will turn you into the most beautiful doll.”

His hand shook as he clutched his eye, his mouth stretching into an exaggerated grin to reveal sharp, menacing teeth.

Seeing the unsettling and unpredictable black mist, Ning Yu glanced at the building still burning with black flames and hesitated to approach.

This time, she kept her distance from Leviathan, pulling out armor-piercing rounds from her system and aiming the RPG at him from afar.

Leviathan ignored her actions as the black mist around him grew thicker. The eyes on his “Love-Hate Ecstasy” scythe reopened one by one.

“BOOM!”

The armor-piercing round shot out of the barrel, hurtling toward Leviathan. It accelerated rapidly in the air, its tail flame blazing brightly.

“Ugh… AHHHH!!!!”

Leviathan let out a piercing scream as he finally removed his eyepatch. The black mist around him became dense and terrifying.

The armor-piercing round struck the thick black mist, but nothing happened—it disappeared without a trace, as if swallowed by quicksand.

Leviathan’s skin turned an ashen gray, losing its human-like hue and beginning to resemble that of a zombie.