Hmm, the scenery suddenly changed…. Did I get too distracted and forget where I was? Mm, that’s a possibility. But that doesn’t matter; I found the heartless man! If he’s willing to kill his disciple to attack me, then he shouldn’t mind me using her as a weapon! “Substitute Breaking Blade!” He dodged again! “Breaking Blade!” Grr…. He’s so big, so how come he’s still so nimble? Ah? Is that Durandal? “Durandal, you bastard! You finally showed up!”

“Lucia! Wait, stop! Why are you attacking me!?”

Oh. I didn’t mean to do that. Hmm? That’s odd. How come the disciple’s only bleeding now? Wasn’t she completely stabbed through the chest? I remember there was lots of blood…. My hands are clean too. Mm? Okay, something’s off. I know I’m forgetful sometimes, just a little, but I clearly remember hopping off the boat and smacking every person I saw. How did I get back on the boat? Unless—

“Tiger Maul!”

Gah! This stupid, stupid person! “Why do you always interrupt me!?”

“Interrupt what?” the man asked. He pointed his giant sword at me, but then he lowered it after a moment. “Unhand my disciple!”

“You’re the one who killed her! Why would I unhand her?”

“She’s not dead, you fool! You were trapped in an illusion!” The man stomped his feet a few times, and the deck of my boat shattered. He’s definitely going to pay for that. “How can you not realize that!?”

Mm? An illusion? Those are tricky…. Didn’t Ilya give me something that prevented illusions? What was it again…? I can’t remember, but clearly, it didn’t work. Unless, I’m actually in an illusion right now! …I’ll ask Mrs. Feathers. “…Mrs. Feathers?” Oh, she’s a bit busy fighting someone over there. Then…. “Softie?” Ah? What happened to Softie? “Now’s not the time to nap!”

“Before you worry about someone else, take care of that man in front of you first, Lucia,” Durandal said and hit my tail.

He actually hit me! What the heck! Just because I hit him with the hostage doesn’t mean he had to hit me back. Now my tail … is limp? There’s no danger? Hang on a second, just what exactly is going on? Let’s see…. “I have a hostage.” Okay. “I thought the hostage died, but she was actually alive.” Mm, sounds about right. “And I only found out she was alive because the illusion disappeared?” How did the illusion disappear? Someone must’ve attacked me with one, so that person…. “Durandal! How many times do I have to tell you not to cut people’s heads off!”

“Don’t worry,” Durandal said. “She’s part phoenix or something. She’s still alive.”

“Oh. That’s fine then.” Okay. So that lady put me into an illusion, and it looks like Durandal and Puppers freed me from it. “Huh. It’s been a while since you two were useful.” But I’m pretty sure there were two other quasi-immortals. Mrs. Feathers is fighting one of them right now, but…. “Who’re those suspiciously evil-looking fellows over there?” Mhm, they look completely evil. There’s one person fighting with a giant skeleton hovering over him. Another looks like he’s possessed with red skin and completely black eyes. Hmm…. “Well, if they’re helping me, they can’t be bad people, right?” Right. And one of them is flying over here. Why is he coming over here?

“Madam Squirrel, my master told me to deliver this to you.”

This is … an eyeball? What am I supposed to do with this…? “Am I supposed to eat this?”

“No…, you’re supposed to wear it,” the pale man said. “It’ll protect you from spiritual attacks.”

Mm? Someone’s helping me? I thought I was teleported into this person’s sect. Why would anyone here want to help me? This must be a trick! “Who’s your master?” Ah, he’s already gone. Do I wear it? Hmm…. I feel a little icky wearing an eyeball necklace, but my tail’s telling me it’ll definitely help a lot. But anyways, it doesn’t seem like I was teleported to a sect. It’s more like I was teleported to a battlefield, and that suits me just fine. All I have to do is beat up this man, and I already know his weakness! It’s the hostage! As long as I use her as a weapon, this guy will be too afraid to confront me. Hmph, hmph, how dare he trick me with a stupid box? The caramel did taste really good though…. Does he have anymore? “Substitute Flaming Blade!”

That’s right! I can increase the power of my attacks by adding the Secret Phoenix Rebirth Technique’s flames to my swings! Ah? The hostage gets set on fire? Well, I swing her really fast, so the fire goes out pretty quickly. Plus, she’s super sturdy, so all this’ll do is make her feel hot for a bit.

“Stop! Don’t you have any shame!?”

I knew it! The hostage is definitely this person’s weakness. I should’ve done this earlier before he teleported us over here with that dumb box. Well, it’s too late for regrets now. “If you want me to release her, you better tie yourself up with these spirit-restraining ropes!”

The man hesitated. Is he going to do it? I don’t think he will; he’s a heartless person who stabbed through his disciple! Wait, that was an illusion. Mm, I’m not sure anymore.

“Brother Bai, steel your heart! If you surrender, who else in the sect can stop her?”

Okay, that’s a little creepy. The woman’s severed head is talking. It’s tied up with restraining ropes, and it’s resting on top of her tied-up body. Won’t she regrow her body? Or maybe her body would grow a new head. What if both happens? Hmm…. Ah! I’m getting distracted. Is the bone of focus I made from the tomb running out? It shouldn’t be…. The bone of intelligence hasn’t run out yet, and I absorbed that one first. Mm? How do I know it hasn’t run out? Because I still feel smart! Like always. I’m never not smart, okay?

“Squirrel, how about we make a deal?” the man said and took a step back. “We won’t try to kill you anymore, and you’ll set my disciple free.”

Ah? “Do you think I’m an idiot?” What kind of deal is that? It’s a crappy one! “You tried to kill me first! I was minding my own business, and you attacked me with your stupid Tiger Maul! Now that I’ve taken your disciple as a hostage, you want to pretend like nothing ever happened?” Only an idiot would accept a deal like that! “If you want to make a deal, you better throw in some caramel! Mm, actually, I don’t care about you trying to kill me since you can’t do it anyway, so throw in extra caramel.”