"This time, I'll count it as your win." Yama withdrew her gaze and stood up, looking into the distance. "But right now, I don't even count as a Pseudo-Herrscher. You haven't truly beaten me. Next time, it won't be just consciousness."
Next time?
Just as Lin was about to stand up, two sharp swish sounds rang out, and his hands were pinned to the ground.
"..."
Lin looked down through the pain and cold sweat to find two long swords pierced through the backs of his hands, through his palms, and into the ground up to the hilts. From the angle, they were clearly weapons Yama had created through her authority.
"In view of the perverted acts you committed against me, I'm going to collect some interest." Behind Yama, a humanoid machine—only a torso and arms—appeared. It hovered in the air, blotting out the sun like a giant god from myth.
"...That wasn't you, right?"
That Yama could be said to be a fabrication created by the real Yama. That's why Lin had seen through Yama heart so certainly; after all, one's ideal self is the character that most reflects one's inner thoughts and hopes.
"You could also say Miss Pink Elf wasn't you."
Yama didn't give Lin a chance to explain. The mechanical humanoid's fist—larger than half of Lin body—slammed directly onto his legs. After the sound of bone shattering, his legs became a mess of bloody pulp.
"Ugh—"
Even though Lin endurance allowed him to swallow his scream, the pain made cold sweat pour down. He hadn't felt pain for a long time, which had actually lowered his pain tolerance. He hadn't expected Yama to hold a grudge and retaliate. If it were him, he wouldn't have done such a thing. As expected, even if they were the same person from different worlds, there were significant differences in their personalities.
In a flash, Lin limbs had lost their original function. The good news was that after turning his legs to pulp, Yama dispelled the humanoid; she didn't intend to take his head as well.
"Logically speaking... Miss Pink Elf truly wasn't me..." Lin said through the intense pain.
"Your talent for talking back truly has no equal."
As Yama spoke, she knelt before him. She reached out and grabbed his chin firmly. The pain was unbearable, and Lin didn't know what else she wanted to do, trying to move his head away from her. "What are you doing?"
"Fulfilling a promise, of course." Yama responded calmly. Her black eyes were purer and deeper than Lin, making it impossible to see what lay at the bottom of the deep pool. Lin had an ominous premonition, and it was fulfilled the next moment. She leaned in expressionlessly, and then Lin felt a cold softness pressed against his lips.
She wouldn't—
Crunch.
Less than a second after their lips met, Yama pushed the wide-eyed, twitching Lin away. A crimson thread of blood pulled between their lips as they separated. The agonizing pain in his mouth and the taste of blood made Lin consciousness blur. He opened his mouth as wide as possible, unable to say a word, trying to prevent the blood from choking his windpipe.
Biting off a tongue doesn't actually kill a person from pain, but the pain is unavoidable. The tongue is densely packed with nerves, enough to make a person want to faint. Yama extended her rosy, vivid tongue and licked the blood from the corner of her mouth, then swallowed his tongue right in front of him. A rainbow light flashed in her eyes.
"Don't worry. As long as the consciousness doesn't die, it will recover once you return to your body after some rest." Yama maintained a cold expression, licking the blood from her fingers. Like licking a popsicle, she patiently and composedly curled the blood from Lin with her tongue, revealing the smooth, pale skin beneath. She looked down indifferently at the dying Lin. "No matter how much big talk you spout, if you aren't my match next time, I will kill you."
"Of course, if there is a 'next time'."
Meaning, this time, she let Lin go. Yama turned away, ignoring Lin on the ground, and looked up with a thoughtful light in her eyes.
"If you truly intend to do those stupid and naive things, then start from this time—start from the Eighth Honkai."
"Though it hasn't been verified, the Eighth Herrscher might be the key to everything."
"If you can't even take what you call the first step, then there's no need to talk about anything else."
Ding-dong...
Her figure dissipated into the swirling sand as the bell rang. This was also the last time.
...
"It seems they've finished, so it's time to end things here too."
Lin put down the straw. After walking around, he had hidden in a corner out of boredom and blown bubbles with the straw. Looking at these faces that were so distant they were unfamiliar in his memory, he couldn't help but smile. All of this felt very far away, yet also as if it were just yesterday.
"Are you leaving?"
Someone came up behind him and tilted their head. In this harmonious atmosphere, she also felt a bit dazed.
"Yes. I am destined not to belong here. Wind passes through the fingers; you can feel the breeze, but you can't keep the wind." Lin smiled. "Don't try to make me stay; I might not be able to resist."
"But there are still many people you haven't seen."
"Then leave that to Lin himself. It should be quite interesting when he comes back. Don't bully him." Lin pointed outside and smiled at the person behind him. "Want to go on the deck for some fresh air?"
...
The refreshing sea breeze blew Lin hair. He pulled back his slightly long black hair, then remembered that the hair on this body wasn't that long, so he let go, letting it fly freely in the wind. The sunset was on the horizon, the clouds were before his eyes, reflecting a scene like a painting. This dreamlike, fairy-tale scenery was rare elsewhere.
A girl with brilliant pink hair—as if touched by magic—walked to his side to admire the rare view together. Sometimes Lin really wondered if the eyes of beautiful girls truly glowed. They sparkled like magnificent gems; every smile and glance was full of the beautiful colors of this world.
"Truly beautiful," Lin remarked, looking at the sunset.
"What is truly beautiful?" the girl asked with a mischievous sideways smile. "Be specific~"
"The world, of course."
"Really? You have one more chance~"
"Heh... then I'll leave that for the person who should say it. Though he might be unwilling to speak."
"Aren't you the same?"
Lin pondered for two seconds, then shook his head with an easy smile. "I am not. Because the Lin you know, even if he thinks it in his heart, won't say it out loud."
"Really?" The girl couldn't help but let out a honey-sweet smile. "I thought he was just a blockhead."
"Didn't you say it too? He's actually a bit of a schemer, a bit of a tsundere... he acts like a gentleman on the surface but secretly peeks at beautiful girls all the time—and he does it openly through his helmet so he doesn't have to fear being caught."
Lin also laughed out loud.