Chapter 176: Blackened, Sharp-tongued Seville
"Move." A dangerous red light glowed at Su An’an’s fingertips, her voice as cold as ice.
Instead of backing down, Nicola defiantly tilted her chin up.
"What? You want to start something?"
Just as the tension between them reached a breaking point, the large door behind them was suddenly pushed open.
A slender figure, silhouetted against the light, slowly approached.
Seville’s long, silver-purple hair fluttered in the breeze, and the damaged white feathers of his right wing were starkly visible in the sunlight.
His amber eyes coldly scanned them both before his thin lips parted to utter a single command. "Get out."
It was a simple command, yet it sent a tremor through Su An’an’s heart.
She had never heard anyone speak with such cold, merciless finality.
Nicola, however, looked as if she’d just received a royal decree, smugly raising an eyebrow at Su An’an.
"Did you hear that? Seville told you to..."
"That includes you."
Seville didn’t even look up, his voice cold enough to freeze ice.
"Get out of my sight. Now."
Nicola’s smile froze on her face. She turned her head in disbelief.
"Seville, it’s me, Nicola! President of the ’Ear Fans’ Universal Fan Club! You even gave me an autograph last time."
His only response was an icy glare.
The once-gentle, elegant idol was now looking at her as if she were something filthy.
Those almond eyes, which his fans had called a "brilliant galaxy," were now frozen over, and his voice was laced with venom.
"S-Seville!"
Nicola’s cat ears drooped completely. Her tears smeared her peacock-blue eyeshadow, making it run like cheap, rain-soaked paint.
She reached out a trembling hand, as if to touch his sleeve, but froze halfway.
His gaze was sharper than the shaft of a broken feather.
’Heh. Fans!’
Seville watched her break down, completely unmoved. He felt nothing.
Once, he would have gently wiped away a crying fan’s tears.
’But now? Now he just found it pathetic.’
"It’s all your fault!"
Nicola suddenly whirled on Su An’an, her sharp nails glinting. "It’s all your fault, you Evil Female! You’re the one who turned Seville into this!"
Before Su An’an could respond, a Wind Blade suddenly shot past, grazing Nicola’s fingertips and forcing her to stumble backward.
"If you want to fight, do it somewhere else. Don’t dirty my property."
Seville folded his right wing, his eyes as cold as ice.
Nicola froze. The sight of her own idol personally striking at her was crueler than any words could be.
"WAAAH!"
She broke down completely, grabbing her skirt and running away in tears. Her Support Bracelet fell to the ground, shattering like her broken dreams.
"Mistress!"
Nemo and Yan Tian, who had been under a tree, scrambled after her, a shark fin and snake scales glinting frantically in the sun.
Seville averted his gaze, but his brow furrowed when he caught sight of the pink fox ears that had popped out on Su An’an’s head in his peripheral vision.
’Since when does she have beastification traits?’
The thought had barely formed before he viciously crushed it.
A familiar burning pain surged in his throat, as if the poison from that day were still eating away at his vocal cords.
’What does it have to do with me?’
He coldly looked away, as if another glance in her direction would be a contamination.
Su An’an flinched, stung by Seville’s cold, disgusted gaze.
’And to think I’d actually felt a flicker of hope when he stopped Nicola!’
’It really was just wishful thinking!’
Just then, Lu Chengfeng, who had chased after Nicola for a bit before turning back, stepped forward and said apologetically,
"Third Princess, Nicola was out of line just now. I apologize on her behalf."
"It’s fine."
Su An’an managed to force a smile.
"Your Genetic Potion was extremely effective," Lu Chengfeng said. "I’ve made a full recovery."
He gave a slight nod, his voice filled with sincere gratitude.
"Even those old stubborn fools at the Alliance Military Department said there are no more than three beings in the entire Interstellar who can save someone from the backlash of the Blood Burning Forbidden Medicine."
"It was no trouble at all."
Su An’an nodded, not noticing how Seville’s wings had suddenly gone rigid.
’The Blood Burning Forbidden Medicine... that’s Raymond’s work!’
A flash of surprise crossed Seville’s eyes.
Three years ago, during the Alliance military exercises, he had personally seen a warrior suffering from the medicine’s backlash.
Their bones shattered inch by inch, their blood vessels were incinerated, and not even the Holy Song of the Golden Feather Clan could save them.
’And now, Su An’an was somehow able to...’
’The former F Level Wasted Female... can now cure genetic collapse?’
Lu Chengfeng looked over at Seville, a mocking glint in his eyes.
"The great Priest of the Golden Feather Clan, the superstar idol who once drove countless fans wild, can now only tell a young female to ’get out’?"
The morning breeze lifted a strand of Seville’s silver-purple hair, revealing the bewitching beauty mark near the corner of his eye.
"What business is it of yours?"
His voice was as light as a falling feather, yet it made the air instantly freeze.
"You—!"
The instant Lu Chengfeng’s wolf ears bristled with anger, a black feather shot out like a viper.
"SWISH!"
It pressed against his throat, gleaming with a cold, blue light.
"One more bark,"
Seville said without even looking up,
"and I won’t mind if the Silver Wolf Clan is short one heir."
"You’re completely unreasonable!"
Lu Chengfeng’s tail puffed up like a dandelion puff. Gritting his teeth, he turned and stormed away.
The Feather Blade suddenly turned toward Su An’an. "You want some of this, too?"
"Stop!"
Ying Jiuyao instantly appeared, throwing a sturdy arm out to block for her.
The White Tiger’s claws met the Feather Blade with a sharp "CLANG!"
A cold sneer touched Seville’s pale lips.
"What’s this? The White Tiger Commander has decided to become a knight in shining armor?"
He slowly twirled the Feather Blade. "Back at that Alliance Military Department meeting, who was it that said he’d rather die alone than be with that vicious Wasted Female, Su An’an?"
Ying Jiuyao’s face was grim as he stood his ground firmly in front of Su An’an.
"Anan is different now!"
"Hah!"
Seville suddenly leaned in close, his breath, tinged with the scent of blood, brushing against Su An’an’s earlobe.
"Then why don’t you tell her?"
His slender fingers lightly traced the dark, faint marks of poison on his own neck.
"How is the poison here supposed to be ’different’?"
Su An’an’s pupils contracted. The sight of the hideous scar stabbed into her heart like a knife.
Seville let out a derisive snort and turned to go back inside.
"Wait."
Night Abyss stepped forward, his dark red, slitted pupils fixed on Seville.
"I have a favor to ask. Consider it repayment for me helping you get back to the Alliance."
Seville paused. It was true, he owed Night Abyss a favor.
"Five minutes."
He finally took a step back. As his black and white wings folded, they stirred up a gust of air thick with the smell of blood and medicine.
"Say what you have to say, then get out."
"We were hoping you could use your Holy Power as a Golden Feather Priest—"
Before Night Abyss could finish, Seville cut him off. "Don’t bother."
He suddenly pushed up his sleeve, revealing the once-resplendent Golden Feather totem on his arm.
Now, the pair of crossed wings was dull and lifeless, ashen and decayed as if its very life force had been drained away.
’How can that be?’
Su An’an’s heart clenched, and her fingernails dug into her palm without her realizing it.
"My Holy Power is depleted."
As he lowered his sleeve, the fabric brushed against the totem with a faint, dry rustle.
"It will take at least a month to recover. I’ll contact you then."
The door slammed shut in their faces.
"What do we do now?"
Night Abyss’s deep voice broke the silence.
"We’ll find another way."
Su An’an took a deep breath, cast one last look at the closed wooden door, and turned to leave.
Her Four Great Beast Husbands followed her in silence. The twilight stretched the shadows of the five of them out long behind them.
「Behind the door.」
Seville slowly slid down the wall to the floor, his wings spreading out weakly behind him.
He stared at the ashen totem on his arm, his fist clenched tight.