Soon after I closed my eyes, a loud explosion signaling impact pierced my ears, but that...was it. I didn't feel any pain or shock. The first thought that crossed my head was - did it work?

I slowly opened my eyes. I saw...red? But there was too much of it for it to be the stone pendant...wait, where did the pendant go? I had just been holding it. I pinched my fingers together to make sure it really wasn't there, and as expected - felt nothing but air.

Then, what was this flurry of red in front of me?

I blinked a couple of times, and let my eyes adjust to the light. Before me, was a girl about Qing Yue's height, dressed in all black. The red I had seen moments ago was in fact this girl's bright crimson hair. She wasn't facing me, but it was clear she had been the one to block Li Yi Fei's attack.

"Uh...who are you?" I asked.

"Please wait just a moment, master. I shall get rid of this nuisance," the girl replied calmly. Despite having such a small appearance, her voice was grand, like a queen or sorts. It sounded familiar...had I heard this voice before? I couldn't remember for some reason.

But wait. Did she just call me 'master'?

"Huh? I think you got the wrong person...I'm not your master," I continued, ignoring what she said about waiting.

She sighed exasperatedly, and responded without even looking back at me. "I shall explain everything in due time, master. Please just let me erase this trash first."

The 'trash' she was referring to was Li Yi Fei, obviously. I looked towards the person in question, who was frozen in place out of fear.

"What...the hell?" Li Yi Fei muttered to himself. His hand, still pointing the gun at us, began to shake violently, causing the Magic Artifact to clatter to the floor.

"Now then. Die, trash," the red-haired loli said condescendingly.

Woah, wait, die? I quickly moved to grab her arm to stop her. "Hold on, whatever-your-name-is. Don't kill him."

The girl, who finally turned around to look at me, appeared confused. "Why, master? Has this waste not harmed you in the past? And he even attempted to kill you just now."

I didn't respond. Why? Well, put simply, I was too in awe to answer. The girl before me was beautiful. By that, I don't mean just Feng Mian level or Yu An Xue level. Her appearances were so perfect, it seemed out of this world. It was as if she was not a mortal, but a true goddess.

"Master?" she asked again, and I finally snapped back to my senses.

"A-Ah, right. Uh, yes, Li Yi Fei has done a lot to me in the past, and it would be a lie if I said I didn't want him dead," I replied.

"Then...why?" the girl pressed on further.

I sighed. "Because...it would cause many problems if he were to die here."

"It would inconvenience master if I killed him here?"

"...Yes."

"...I see."

"Yeah."

"...So, can I send him into an eternal coma, at least?" she asked matter-of-factly.

"Isn't that the exact same as killing him?" I retorted.

"Master, that's where you're wrong. You see-" she began, but I put a stop to her words with my hand. I didn't want to hear a long ass lecture about why dying and an eternal coma were two different things.

"Either way...all you have to do, is take that hexagon-shaped crest on the front of his uniform and break it," I commanded. Since she called me master, I guess I could order her around? "Do you see it?"

The girl nodded. "If that is what master wishes."

Then, before I could even react, she dashed towards Li Yi Fei at a frightening speed - no, perhaps it would be more accurate to say she teleported directly to his location. Li Yi Fei was still frozen in shock, the only part of his body moving being his shaking hand.

In the blink of an eye, she swept her hand across Li Yi Fei's chest horizontally, and the school crest was broken...and so was his uniform.

"Attention: Li Yi Fei - Eliminated."

"Duel End: Victor - The Chaotic Tranquility!"

*****

After the battle, we were brought to a meeting room for inquisition. The reason, of course, being the red-haired girl's unexpected appearance. While at the time, no one could see her apart from us since we were still in the snowstorm Feng Mian created, after the blizzard dispersed, everyone in the audience was undoubtedly shocked at the sudden emergence of a new contestant.

We were currently sitting within the meeting room of the Administrative Campus of Shenzhen Magic High School. The five members of our team, plus the red-haired girl, were sitting on one end of the beautiful marble table, with Song Qian Long at the other side. The 2nd Year teachers of our school and the student council were also present, sitting along the long sides of the rectangular table.

We were about to be 'asked some questions' by these people. In reality, it was just an interrogation. Depending on our answers here, we could be disqualified from the tournament. Even if Song Qian Long had been the one to make me participate in the first place, even he couldn't protect me if I directly violated the tournament rules. However...thinking about it this way, wouldn't it be better if I were to be eliminated here? That way, Liu Jian wouldn't be able to cause any harm to the school - my disqualification was justified.

I quickly scratched that thought, however, as the four girls on my team would undoubtedly be disappointed. They might not show it on the surface out of care for me, but deep down, they would definitely hold some feelings of sadness and perhaps even anger towards me.

Speaking of the girls...they were also looking at me with skeptical looks on their faces. Did I say 'we' were getting interrogated earlier? Well, let me rephrase - I, was getting interrogated. By the rest of the people in here (the four girls on my own team included). I could hardly blame though, since it was only natural to be suspicious if a random girl with features like that of a goddess appeared on the battlefield as an ally. I was confused myself, but I didn't even have a chance to tell the girls that before getting dragged way by the staff team after the fight against Team Kamikaze.

"Your name is...Xuan Kai, yes?" Song Qian Long addressed me formally and acted like we've never met before, since the teachers were present.

"...Yes," I replied, not showing a shred of emotion or any sign we've met before.

He really was my godfather. Our acting skills were both excellent, and managed to fool the eyes of the teachers. With these unspoken words between the two of us, we continued the meeting.

"Very well. I trust you know why you are here?" Song Qian Long asked with an arched eyebrow.

I glanced sideways at the red-haired girl, sitting expressionless on her chair. "It's because of her, right?"

I asked in a questioning tone, even though I knew full well she was the reason.

"Indeed," Song Qian Long replied without batting an eyelash. "Now then...can you explain who - or what exactly she is?"

After some mental debate, I decided to tell them the truth: I didn't know either. But before I could open my mouth to speak, the girl herself, who had remained peacefully silent until now, began talking.

"I am master's servant."

"Hey, that's going to give people the wrong idea..." I began, but was interrupted once more - this time by Song Qian Long, who seemed to be especially intrigued in this 'servant' of his godson (me). Oi, old geezer, you're letting your abnormal interest show...

"What do you mean by servant?" Song Qian Long asked, eager for more information. "And this master you speak of, is Xuan Kai, correct?"

The girl nodded. So she could understand what other people were saying as well, not just my words, whom she called master. It was safe to assume she knew the human language, but she wasn't strictly...human. She didn't have a pulse, for one. I had checked this discretely on our way here by casually grabbing her wrist. She had twitched a bit, but that was it. I thanked her for not showing anything on the surface, lest anyone finds something suspicious.

Anyway, back to what I was saying...the girl didn't have a pulse. But she didn't seem 'dead' to me either. Which left me to one conclusion: she behaved like a human, looked like a human, but in the end wasn't strictly a human. Whether she possessed human emotions or not...that will have to wait until further investigation.

The girl took a deep breath, and responded just as emotionlessly as before.

"My master's name is indeed Xuan Kai," she said firmly. "However, that is as much as I will say. I see no obligation to tell you anything more."