Chapter 658: Severed in Two

Chapter 658: Severed in Two

Over on Takeuchi Mayumi’s end, she was in a bit of a bad mood today.

Part of it was because today’s battle gave her a genuine sense of danger.

But that wasn’t the main reason.

What truly unsettled her was that someone had actually evaded her Takeuchi Picture Scroll ability and suddenly appeared near Jiangning Plaza.

She hadn’t detected them until they were within a three-kilometer radius.

This was the first time she’d ever failed to predict an enemy's approach since awakening her power.

And precisely because of this failure to foresee the enemy's arrival from the southeast, today’s operation had been thrown off by some unpredictable variables.

The encounter between Tsukamoto Nobunaga’s trio and Chen Xiaoxiao and Peng Li had a touch of irony to it.

The Moon of Corrosion trio mistook the two women for members of the Celestial Squad and didn’t dare to be careless.

Meanwhile, Chen Xiaoxiao and Peng Li, upon seeing that three Moon of Corrosion members were present, were freaking the h*ll out.

“F***! Of all times to show up, why now?!”

If they had revealed themselves earlier, at least Zhang Yi, Liang Yue, and Hua Hua would have still been nearby.

Five against three—they might’ve had a chance to hold out until the Celestial Squad arrived.

But now it was just the two of them. How were they supposed to fight back?

Peng Li’s heart pounded wildly. She used her comms to ask Chen Xiaoxiao, “What do we do? We can’t beat them. Should we run?”

“No. Stay calm!”

Chen Xiaoxiao rejected the idea immediately.

Her gaze swept toward Wagatsuma Nanako and Tsukamoto Nobunaga.

Takizawa Takashi was a long-range superhuman who used railgun attacks—if it were just him, escape might be possible.

But Wagatsuma’s Kamaitachi ability specialized in speed.

And Nobunaga barely showed up in past footage... because he’d wiped out entire superhuman squads too fast to be caught on video.

With those two in play, turning and running would only confirm their weakness to the enemy.

And then... there’d be no escaping.

“Calm down. We’ve already located the enemy’s trail—that’s part of the mission accomplished.”

Chen Xiaoxiao immediately opened her comms channel. After a brief moment of thought, she also connected with Zhang Yi’s line.

“This is Chen Xiaoxiao and Peng Li. We’ve located Moon of Corrosion operatives to the southeast—three of them in total!”

At Headquarters, the monitoring system had already flagged the encounter.

Zhu Zheng’s eyes immediately shifted to the screen.

“So they’re finally showing themselves again? That means only four haven’t made a move yet.”

He knew very well—there was no way Peng Li and Chen Xiaoxiao could beat those three.

So he wasted no time opening a line to Zhang Yi.

“Zhang Yi, Chen Xiaoxiao and Peng Li have made contact with the enemy. They won’t last long. You need to get there and back them up—now!”

But Zhang Yi had already received Chen Xiaoxiao’s message.

His lips curled slightly in a smirk. “Copy that. I’m already on my way.”

There were only three enemies—and Zhang Yi had already estimated their strength. He, Liang Yue, and Hua Hua were more than enough.

So this battle would be 3 versus 3.

Oh right—why not 5 versus 3?

Because Zhang Yi didn’t believe Chen Xiaoxiao and Peng Li would be of any help.

Even if they could, he didn’t want to share the credit.

Each Moon of Corrosion member had a massive bounty in points attached to them!

“Let’s go. No need to rush though,” Zhang Yi said casually.

He wanted Chen Xiaoxiao and Peng Li to fully realize how arrogant and overconfident they had been—and let them pay the price.

As for whether they lived or died? What did that have to do with him?

They weren’t even close.

And even if they died, Zhang Yi could still complete the southeast mission.

Possibly exceed Headquarters' expectations, even.

Chen Xiaoxiao and Peng Li stood alert in place, not daring to strike first or flee.

They were beyond nervous, silently praying for Zhang Yi or someone from the Celestial Squad to arrive.

But the Moon of Corrosion trio had started to sense something was off.

Nobunaga’s ears twitched—he could hear the rapid heartbeats of the two women.

That kind of heartbeat came from intense anxiety.

If the two really were Jiangnan District special forces, there was no way they’d be this flustered.

“Don’t tell me... just grunts?”

Seeing how cautious they were only confirmed Nobunaga’s suspicion.

“Let’s find out,” he thought—and then he and his sword vanished in a flash of movement.

As his body soared into the air, there was a sharp shiiing! as the blade of Great Prajna Light sliced through the sky like a streak of white silk.

Chen Xiaoxiao and Peng Li realized they’d been exposed and shouted in unison, “Watch out!”

They had prepared for combat, so their superpowers activated instantly.

Peng Li’s hands lit up with two white beams that connected to Chen Xiaoxiao’s body.

Her ability, Priest, enhanced Chen Xiaoxiao’s strength, speed, and defense—and could also rapidly heal any non-lethal wounds.

Chen Xiaoxiao moved to shield her, her Enhancement-type ability reinforcing her physique.

With a powerful stomp from her well-trained legs, a ring of blizzard-like frost spread out from beneath her feet, rapidly expanding across the area in a circular formation.

At the same time, a sharp metallic shnk! came from the white boots on her feet—long blades sprang out from the soles.

Faced with Nobunaga’s simple yet blindingly fast sword strike, she launched into a Capoeira move, blocking with the blade on her right foot.

Clang!

The blades clashed, and the massive force knocked Chen Xiaoxiao clean into the air.

But she landed gracefully and began gliding nimbly across the snowy ground.

Nobunaga glanced at the ground beneath him.

It had already been turned into a giant ice rink.

Wearing ice skates, she began circling him rapidly, searching for the perfect moment to strike.

“Oh?”

That was all Nobunaga said.

He didn’t bother tracking her movements. In fact, he slowly closed his eyes in front of the two women.

A fifty-meter-radius field formed around him.

This was one of his powers—Ten Yuan.

With himself as the center, he stood at the heart of the battlefield—every inch within fifty meters was within reach of his sword!

Chen Xiaoxiao danced across the ice, searching for a weakness.

But to her astonishment, Nobunaga—poised in a sword-drawing stance—had zero openings.

And with Wagatsuma Nanako and Takizawa Takashi nearby, she couldn’t even focus properly.

That split-second of distraction was all Nobunaga needed.

No one saw his right hand draw the sword.

Only a flash of white light split the air.

And Chen Xiaoxiao’s body, mid-motion—was severed in two.

Her waist had been cut cleanly, the muscle and intestines sliced so smoothly they gleamed like glass.

The strike was so fast... she didn’t even feel the pain.

Author's Note