No one knew how long Tianqi Sanluo had slept in the darkness, but at last, she opened her eyes again to see the devastation around her — and the bright sunlight above.
Once more, the city where Tianqi Sanluo had descended was completely destroyed by the spacequake her arrival caused. And since it had been a small city, everyone who had taken refuge in the underground shelters had perished — not a single survivor remained.
Learning from the previous incident, the surrounding AST forces did not recklessly rush in. Upon receiving the news, they immediately formed a countermeasure: defend their assigned territories at all costs and do not attract the attention of the Spirit known as "Genie (Asura)."
The annihilation of hundreds of AST members had shaken not only their regional divisions but also AST Headquarters and even the DEM Corporation.
(As a side note, the name "Genie (Asura)" had been personally given by DEM's executive director, Isaac Ray Peram Westcott.)
After reviewing the battle footage, AST headquarters issued a global order to all divisions:
> "When a spacequake caused by Genie (Asura) is detected, immediately sound the citywide alarms. Do not engage. Defend your assigned area only. Do not allow Genie (Asura) to realize that there are other cities nearby."
Anyone with half a brain could see from the footage that this newly appeared Spirit was unlike any of the previous ones.
In the past, although many Spirits did attack proactively, most did not cause large-scale destruction beyond the initial spacequake. Some — such as Hermit — even fled to avoid combat entirely.
The only major exception had been the most dangerous Spirit, Nightmare.
However, Genie (Asura) was different — violent, powerful, and utterly destructive. She could obliterate an entire city at will, and she slaughtered hundreds of AST members as if playing with them.
If she hadn't Lost in time, the surrounding cities might have shared the same fate.
If she went on a rampage several more times, the title of "the most evil Spirit" might very well have to be taken from Nightmare and given to her.
To minimize further casualties, AST had no choice but to adopt this passive strategy — and, truth be told, it was the correct one.
Tianqi Sanluo herself had never really seen a city before in her previous life. She had no real understanding of the buildings she destroyed — only that they were places where humans lived.
In fact, she still didn't even know how vast this world was.
As for the AST members she had encountered earlier, they had come from cities far away. Because she hadn't focused her spirit energy to sense her surroundings, she hadn't realized other cities were nearby. She merely assumed that these strangely dressed girls had appeared out of thin air for the sole purpose of eliminating her.
In that sense, Tianqi Sanluo was much like Princess — almost completely ignorant of human society.
And in her mind, this world was already different from the one she had lived in before. After all, she had been thrown here by the Kabbalah Tree of Life.
So she didn't analyze this world using her past-life knowledge — she started from zero.
But even the limits of her thinking could not completely block reason.
As she looked around and realized that this place was not the same city she had destroyed earlier, a thought flashed through her mind:
> "Could it be that the location I appear in each time is random?"
With that suspicion, she hovered around the spacequake's residual zone, circling a few times to confirm her guess.
> "That said, aside from their strange clothing and speech, these humans are exactly like the ones I saw in my past life… Could it be that this world and my previous one are somehow connected?"
As expected of a Spirit with an IQ of 254, Tianqi Sanluo immediately caught the key point.
> "If that's the case, then it's very likely the human settlements I appear near each time aren't isolated. They must be interconnected — just like in my old world. Those hundreds of weaklings I fought before… if I'm not mistaken, they were probably combat forces dispatched from neighboring cities, weren't they?"
To verify her theory, Tianqi Sanluo slowly floated higher, scanning the horizon.
Meanwhile, the nearby AST units had gone on full alert the instant the alarms sounded, reporting everything to headquarters.
By the time Tianqi Sanluo descended, miniature surveillance drones had already reached their designated positions, capturing every detail of her actions.
When the AST commanders saw her standing amid the ruins, deep in thought, their fists clenched unconsciously.
All they could hope for now was that this terrifying Genie (Asura) wouldn't notice that other cities existed nearby.
Spirits remained in the physical world for unpredictable amounts of time — and the longer Asura stayed, the greater the danger for everyone.
When Tianqi Sanluo began rising into the sky to get a better look, the AST commander finally snapped.
He hadn't expected this Spirit to be so intelligent. Despite her earlier madness, her words and actions had suggested a lack of social experience and human knowledge — she had seemed confused about the world itself.
But now, on only her second appearance, their entire strategy was about to collapse.
He had no choice left but to sacrifice the few to protect the many.
If Tianqi Sanluo ascended just another hundred meters, she would be able to see the nearest city.
Letting that monster enter a populated area would be a catastrophe beyond imagining.
"Send the order! All nearby AST units — mobilize! Stall Genie (Asura) until she Losts, no matter the cost!"
The commander gritted his teeth. If there had been any other way, he would never have sent hundreds of young girls to their deaths.
But with tens of thousands of civilians in the surrounding cities, he couldn't just sit and do nothing.
Upon receiving the order, AST mobilized every available member. Before Tianqi Sanluo could detect the nearby city, they managed to divert her attention.
"...So that's how it is."
Seeing the panting AST soldiers before her, Tianqi Sanluo smiled knowingly.
> "You're in such a hurry... That confirms it, doesn't it? There are human settlements nearby."
"!"
The AST captains' faces turned pale — and Tianqi Sanluo, of course, noticed.
"Charge! Charge!!"
With a desperate roar, the AST members launched their attack.
This time, Tianqi Sanluo showed no mercy. She immediately summoned Burning Immortal Flame, and within a single minute, the entire AST force was reduced to ashes.
"...So Genie (Asura) really was playing before. This is her true power, isn't it?"
The AST executives' hearts leapt to their throats, terrified that after obliterating AST, she would turn toward the nearby city.
Fortunately, before she could move, Genie (Asura) Losted once again.
Seeing this, the AST commander wiped the sweat from his forehead, as though he had just run a marathon.
---
Another descent followed — but this time, no spacequake occurred. Tianqi Sanluo also didn't appear in a populated city.
A "silent manifestation," exceedingly rare — though Tianqi Sanluo herself didn't know that.
She merely looked around in confusion, even doubting her own hypothesis. Yet when she recalled the expressions of those girls from before, she simply shook her head and concluded that she must have arrived in an uninhabited zone.
Just as she idly drew out Burning Immortal Flame, wondering what to do next, a strange mosaic figure — indistinct in form, gender, or size — silently appeared beside her.
"Hm?"
The instant Tianqi Sanluo sensed the presence, she swung her crimson crescent blade — but it sliced through nothing.
"What… are you supposed to be?"
Though half-crazed, Tianqi Sanluo was not completely insane. Seeing such an eerie being appear out of nowhere, she froze in place, wary.
> "How fascinating," the figure said, voice distorted. "I do not recall ever creating a Spirit Crystal with power like yours. No — that's not quite right. A part of your energy resonates with two Spirit Crystals I once distributed, but yours is... stronger. And the rest of your power — what is that?"
"What Spirit Crystal? Speak clearly!"
Tianqi Sanluo frowned. Her instincts told her that this entity carried information she needed.
The phantom seemed to ponder, its body of mosaic static twitching irregularly.
Even without knowing what a "Spirit Crystal" was, Tianqi Sanluo now understood something crucial — there were apparently others like her in this world, and this thing had been the one to create them.
Moreover, a portion of the power within her was resonating with the being before her.
> "Never mind," the phantom finally said. "You're dangerous — but right now, you're too weak. I have no reason to expose myself prematurely. I'll let you continue… for now."
Realizing that Tianqi Sanluo bore hostility toward it, the figure drifted away effortlessly — vanishing like a gust of wind.
Left standing there, Tianqi Sanluo murmured to herself with a twisted smile:
> "Heh... how interesting."