Chapter 94
by Need_More_SleepChapter 94: Blue Flames
Just as the Hermit had suspected, the leather-clad man shared her assessment.
His mission was straightforward: recover organizational files, eliminate the data thieves, capture the time-stopper, and retrieve the Sixth Fractal. There was no need to test whether his abilities could counter the Little Demon King.
So the moment the Little Demon King appeared, he vanished—regardless of whether Easter’s data had been compromised. Why stick around when you can teleport?
“Meddling bastard. The Fourth Fractal almost died there,” Sasha muttered before urgently whispering, “Master, put the Demon Eye Killer in now!”
The Little Demon King turned his gaze toward Hayato. Though Hayato reacted swiftly, holstering his gun, the lingering gunpowder scent betrayed him.
“Identification. Now.”
“Okay, okay, don’t get excited. We’re on the same side.” The Hermit forced calm as she produced a forged psychic officer badge from her collar.
Visually, it was flawless—unless the Little Demon King had a verification device.
“Beep. No credentials detected. Please re-scan.”
The Little Demon King pulled out a scanner.
The Hermit: “…”
Didn’t you quit the force?! Why so thorough?!
Resigned, she offered her wrists for the cuffs and shot Hayato a don’t-resist look.
Hayato nodded—then immediately drew and fired, blending his ability with a lightning draw.
“…” You understand nothing!
This was why you didn’t make vague gestures to uncoordinated allies. Hayato had no idea who the Little Demon King was—context meant nothing to him.
As expected, the bullet vanishes mid-air without a trace.
Not just the bullet. The gun disappeared too. Hayato was lucky his hands weren’t erased.
“You. Stay put.”
Whether from absolute confidence or indifference, the Little Demon King ignored Hayato’s antics and approached Mi Xiaoliu—who was clumsily inserting her colored contacts. He yanked her hand away.
The rough motion scratched her cornea—briefly—before it healed.
She looked up.
Azure pupils met his orange, Gloria-like eyes.
Tiny blue embers flickered between them, distorting the air with heat.
The Little Demon King released her, momentarily stunned by the sudden temperature spike.
……
……
No battle ensued.
The final outcome, Hayato and the Hermit were stuffed into the car’s left half, which Mi Xiaoliu then pushed down the highway at sprinting speeds. Passing drivers questioned their sobriety.
The Little Demon King watched them flee. No pursuit. No interference.
Carefully, he pinched his oversized robe—avoiding the fist-sized blue flames—and discarded it roadside.
Beneath black tactical gear, sharp orange eyes, and a face that defied his forty years—a paradoxical blend of rugged masculinity and pretty-boy delicacy, like a 3D game model torn between aesthetics.
“Four suspects engaged in a shootout. One spatial esper, one armed. All escaped,” he reported via radio.
Unlike Yiwen, he didn’t wear a bodycam—his robes couldn’t support one.
“Seriously? A spatial esper capable of relocating four people—the infamous Man in Black’? Only you could intuit a lead this obscure.”
“I said shootout. The spatial esper wasn’t with them. I watched the other three flee.”
“Why?”
“Larger threat requires attention.”
He stepped back, video-calling his handler while aiming his phone skyward.
Cobalt flames roared overhead, stretching hundreds of meters—floating five meters above ground, untouched by fuel. No spread. No fade. Like bad VFX.
“Holy shit—another meteor strike?!” the dispatcher gasped. “Why no warning?”
Modern tech could intercept smaller meteor showers. Mostly.
“Esper-made,” the Little Demon King corrected.
“No fucking way. That’s meteor fire? Test it with your ability.”
“Busy.” He hung up, texting coordinates instead. “Six biker corpses en route. Lower halves only. Notify families.”
“Roger. Dispatching cleanup.”
The dispatcher dropped it.
The Little Demon King was no longer psychic police. Past incidents had strained his ties to law enforcement. This gig was a favor—paid, but largely for Officer Chen, an academy buddy.
As an LV5, he operated on whim. Hence the moniker: Little Demon King.
————————
“Blegh—”
The Hermit hunched over a riverbank, offering her half-digested lunch to the fish.
For a moment, she’d wished for arrest over that ride.
Pat pat.
Mi Xiaoliu patted her back.
After rinsing her mouth upstream, the Hermit pinched Mi Xiaoliu’s cheeks. “You’re the worst! Want me to molest you?!”
“Sorry.”
“Kidding!” The Hermit hugged her. “You’re too soft for this world. It hurts.”
A child like her didn’t belong in this line of work. Easter had forced her hand.
Escaping the Little Demon King… feels unreal. The blue flames puzzled her, but with Mi Xiaoliu’s amnesia, answers were scarce.
Back at base, Wei Shi was already gaming.
He glanced at Mi Xiaoliu. “Give the files to the adults. Then sleep.”
Hopping across rooftops, Mi Xiaoliu paused on an AC unit, rubbing her still-warm eyes.
“Sasha…”
Her eyes shot fire now.
But she was terrified.
An irrational, bone-deep fear—the kind that made her want to curl into a ball.
She hadn’t fled the Little Demon King. She’d fled her own flames—like dodging a syringe.
“Master, that was meteor fire. It burns eternally, suppresses abilities… and was the first thing to kill you.”
Hence her panic when Jim demonstrated his powers.
She feared fire.
Even her own.
Sasha fell silent.
Hugging herself, Mi Xiaoliu reopened her system—hesitant.
Within, the white-haired woman she sought… and memories she didn’t.
She clicked Single Draw.
[Memory Fragment:]
Perspective skewed—left eye only. Pain throbbed.
A Heli lookalike excitedly reported to a gaunt man:
“Excised parts preserved in formaldehyde don’t regenerate. That’s why she—”
The woman held a jar. Inside, a blue-eyed eyeball, floating in fluid.
“Protein denaturation?” the man asked.
“Unknown. Removed from formaldehyde, it lasts an hour max before vanishing. No regeneration during that window.”
“An hour… Too short.”
[Memory End.]
Repeat Memory
Repeat Memory
Blank Memory: 【 】
Blank Memory: 【 】
……
Though Heli lookalike’s story had ended, the blank spaces in her memory persisted.
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