"Mei Gui...it's really you..." I murmured, caressing her cheeks lovingly.

"Mm...Master..." Mei Gui rubbed her face into my chest, and embraced me tightly.

The other girls, seeing this touching scene, also broke into tears and watched from afar. After a solid few minutes of hugging, Mei Gui and I finally broke away from each other, and she wiped her tears away.

"Master...I'm sorry," Mei Gui said, bowing down even though she was still lying on the bed. "I...I hurt you."

It seems...she still retained her memories from when she was in Apoxyia-mode?

"Don't worry about that," I replied, patting her head. "It's not your fault."

"That man...is he dead?" Mei Gui asked, clenching her fists.

I sighed. "Yes...I know, you want to kill him yourself, but...I couldn't take his bullshit, and ran out of patience..."

Mei Gui shook her head. "It's okay, Master. I'm just happy to be with you again."

I nodded. "Me too."

Our eyes met, and our faces naturally, slowly, drew closer together, and-

"Pause!" Qing Yue yelled, sticking her hands in between our faces, and forcefully pushing up apart.

Mei Gui turned to glare at her dangerously, and I turned away, slightly embarrassed.

"What do you think you're doing, hm?!" Qing Yue demanded, resting her arm on her hip. "Big Brother Xuan Kai...was that still just CPR?"

I scratched my hair, not meeting her eyes. "E-Er, yeah? Uh...no...I mean, I saw a speck of dust on her face, so I wanted to uh...get it off?"

"..." Qing Yue looked at me with dead, unamused eyes, and I laughed awkwardly.

"A-Ahem...anyway, Mei Gui...you've already returned to your original self, but why do you still look like this?" I asked, changing the topic.

"I...am not sure either," Mei Gui replied dejectedly, looking at her own, unfamiliar body.

She still had the long, white hair of Apoxyia, and the metallic pink horns on her head, two on top, and one above each ear.

I fell into thought. "If you still have this body...does that mean you still wield the capabilities of Apoxyia, even though your mind is already your own again?"

"Possibly," Mei Gui replied, then closed her eyes, and appeared to concentrate, but I quickly stopped her.

"Woah there, wait. It's too dangerous to try it here. Let's get outside first. I'm sure you're eager for some fresh air as well," I said, then looked at the other girls, who all nodded in agreement.

*****

- Outside the Hospital -

Since we were too lazy to go out the proper way, we just leapt out the window. If we went through the hospital, we were undoubtedly going to attract lots of attention given Mei Gui's...unusual new appearance, and the sheer beauty of the girls. So, we decided to pull an Old Xia and just jump off through the window. It was getting dark outside around this time - 5 PM. We finished the mission before 12 PM as planned, but we were all extremely tired upon getting back, so we had needed some rest before interrogating the scientist and waking up Mei Gui.

We were on the 2nd floor of the hospital, so the jump wasn't that bad. I went first, and caught the girls as they jumped down. We were now in the back parking lot of the hospital - not many cars were around, given the time. 5 PM here was pretty much like 5 AM in the outside world - too early to wake up. Thus, we had plenty of time to test things out without having to worry about damaging properties and such.

"Alright, this is a good spot," I said, walking around and pointing at 5 vacant parking slots in a row.

Mei Gui nodded, and went to the center one before closing her eyes and concentrating hard.

Suddenly, a brilliant white light shone out from around her body, and two massive wings sprouted from behind her...but they weren't attached to her body. Instead, they were just hovering behind her, as if there was some kind of invisible string tying them to her. However, the functioned and moved just as if they were directly attached to her body.

And of course...at the center, above Mei Gui's head, in between the two wings, was a single red eye.

"That eye...I thought I destroyed it?" I muttered to myself as the rest of the girls watched on in awe and wonder.

"Worry not, Master. I have harnessed the power of this eye - I am the one controlling it now, not the other way around. It was fairly simple, since it was made out of my own mana," Mei Gui explained. "This eye...is extremely powerful. I can use it, but as I am right now, I cannot keep it active for long. Only when the eye is active can I access the abilities of Apoxyia - including missiles, miniguns, invincibility, regeneration, et cetera."

"Invincibility? Apoxyia is invincible?" Feng Mian tilted her head. "Then how did Xuan Kai beat you?"

"It must have something to do with Chaos mana," I replied. "That eye takes advantage of the power of Chaos to provide Mei Gui - or rather, Apoxyia - with constant regeneration and essentially invincibility by absorbing mana from the environment and converting it into power for Mei Gui. This power is pretty much unbeatable...that is, unless it's put to the test against another unbeatable power."

"That...makes sense, I guess?" Yu An Yan raised an eyebrow, but didn't ask any further.

"Nyaa~it dyoesn't!" Amane pouted, folding her arms. "What is this 'Chyaos' thing, Xuwan Kwai??"

Oh...right. Forgot she was here.

I turned to Obsidia. "Uh...Obsidia, can you explain everything to her real quick?"

Obsidia stared back at me, and I made a faint pleading gesture. After a moment of silence, she gave in with a sigh.

"Fine. Follow me, female of the Neko Clan," Obsidia said, before promptly turning away and heading for another area of the parking lot where they could discuss things in peace. Amane followed, slightly confused, and I turned back to Mei Gui.

"So...as of right now, how long can you hold this form?" I asked.

"About 10 minutes," Mei Gui replied.

10 minutes...so it's essentially 10 minutes of invincibility.

"What about after? Do you suffer any repercussions after using this form?" Lan Xiao Su asked, raising her hand.

"No, but it will be 24 hours before I can use this form again," Mei Gui answered.

24 hours - that's a full day. Looks like we can't use this ability carelessly.

"And...what are the full capabilities of this form? I know about the Gatling guns and lasers and missiles thanks to...personal experience, but what else is there?"

"Firstly, I get a radar in my mind when I am in this form," Mei Gui responded. "It alerts me when enemies are near, which direction they are coming from, how many of them there are, and how far away they are."

"That's useful for crowded, messy battles," I noted. Basically Third Eye except it's based on science instead of mana.

Mei Gui nodded, and continued. "Next, this form provides increased agility, awareness, mobility, speed, and power. My spells are already enhanced with the power of Chaos, but this form boosts it further thanks to the eye, which amplifies my Chaos power."

"I'm assuming those wings aren't just for show either, right?" Xiang Peng asked with a chuckle.

Mei Gui nodded. "Indeed. I can fly without using magic in this form."

As if to demonstrate, she elegantly jumped up, and her pink, translucent wings began flapping. Even though they weren't directly attached to her body, they somehow still managed to lift her into the air.

"Wow..." Yu An Yan murmured, eyes widening ever so slightly at the beautiful sight of Mei Gui in the air, almost like an angel (which wouldn't be an exaggeration either, given her goddess-like looks).

"Okay, Mei Gui. Come down now - don't want anyone seeing you," I hollered, getting her to gently land back on the ground, and deactivated this form of hers.

"So, how exactly do you summon this form?" Flaria asked, curious as usual.

"It is difficult to describe in words," Mei Gui explained. "However, to put it simply...I call upon the eye, and channel mana into it to activate it."

"You mean...the eye, when you're not in that form, is inside your body?" I asked, slightly surprised.

She nodded. "Correct. The specific location is vague, but I can feel it inside my body."

"Huh..." I fell into thought. "That's pretty cool. Do you have a name or something to 'activate' this form?"

"Master, why don't you come up with one for me?" Mei Gui asked, tilting her head cutely.

I laughed awkwardly. "Ahaha...you sure? You know my naming sense..."

Mei Gui smiled, ever so slightly. "Master's naming sense is the best. I love the name Mei Gui."

I sighed. "Alright then...since the scientist already provided us with a name, let's just use that. Does 'Form: Apoxyia' sound good?"

She nodded happily. "Yes, Master!"

I smiled gently, seeing the happiness in her heart. Well, I couldn't actually see it, since she practically only showed emotion on her face when we're alone, but I could feel it thanks to our connection.