Hello, Arknights

Time goes back to the moment when Ling Dengxian leaped up with all his strength and attacked Saria.

A fist collapse means a mountain collapse.

This is Ling Dengxian's feeling about Saria. Compared with Fengpi's strength, even the latter seems much dimmer.

He almost flew backwards, his shoulder hit the ground hard, and then he was bounced up again by the recoil, rolling more than ten meters. A long wound was cut on his cheek by the ground. Because of the cold, the blood flowed down his face very slowly.

"Huh..." Ling Dengxian struggled to prop himself up and climbed up again. Even though his whole body was in pain, he just stabilized his body and quickly recovered from the dizzy state. Saria, who had swung her fist, raised it again and punched it hard at A'ran's heart!

"Ah!!" Carters screamed in pain towards the sky, and casually swung out a tearing black light that fell on Saria's chest like lightning. The latter hurriedly crossed her arms to defend herself, but was blasted back by the impact the next moment, and her feet plowed two deep marks on the ground.

The enamel on Saria's arm kept breaking and peeling off, but was also constantly being formed. She turned her head and saw Ling Dengxian standing up again, while the energy fluctuations on A'ran's body became more and more agitated. She took a deep breath, turned around and struck the boy again!

"Crack!"

The city-breaking spear spun high into the sky, then turned into a beam of light and fell back to the ground, sticking not far from Ling Dengxian.

Ling Dengxian had never experienced death, but he was sure that this must be the feeling he had when he was so close to death. The white flames hidden in his body almost simultaneously quickly clung to his broken ribs to prevent them from piercing his internal organs.

Her control over strength was terrifying. Even if he hadn't been hit by Bai Yan, it wouldn't have killed him. He just definitely wouldn't be able to stand up, let alone move.

An impossible opponent! The Vaifan in front of him was the most powerful human he had ever encountered since he came to Terra. In terms of speed, strength, and skills, he could not even match him. No, let alone match him, he could not even look at him.

What's more, with his current strength, he can't even break her defense!

The terrifying thing about the power control of this punch was that Ling Dengxian had no choice but to take the punch, but was not knocked away. Instead, he slowly fell down on the spot. The pain instantly made him lose control of his body, and even his voice was buried.

"Sorry." Saria said softly, then turned around and stood ready for the Carters girl who was in the dark behind her. The terrible collision of power exploded in the next moment!

What Saria didn't expect was that Ling Dengxian, who was lying on the ground, had the buffering force of Bai Yan. He ruthlessly drove Bai Yan to move the three broken ribs back to their original positions. This move almost made him faint, and his eyes fell into darkness. It took him a long time to regain consciousness. The severe pain still swept through his body, but at this moment, he struggled again and wanted to stand up.

"Host...even if you stand up again...it will be useless. If you stand up again, with your physical condition, Saria won't be able to save your life with the next punch." He had just propped up his upper body when Xiaoxie's voice rang in his ears, as if she was standing behind him at this moment.

"Then... I will..." Ling Dengxian's pupils shrank and blood suddenly gushed out of his mouth, forming a bright red flower on the ground. His eyes blurred and he fell to the ground, almost fainting.

"...Watching A'ran die?" Xiaoxie finished the second half of the sentence for him. Listening to Xiaoxie's words, Ling Dengxian fell silent. He realized:

He could really only watch his friend die before his eyes.

"..." Xiaoxie was waiting for him to speak again.

"..." Ling Dengxian struggled again to get up.

"Host."

"..." Ling Dengxian ignored him. He bit his lips until they bled. He finally propped himself up, knelt on one knee, and tried to stand up with one hand on the ground and the other hand on his knee.

"Host."

Last time you mentioned the legends of the chivalrous heroes in the Yan Kingdom...

"Host."

A friend gave it to me. Let's have dinner together first...

"Host."

The mountains of Yan Country, the snow of Kjerag, the streets of Ratlan... I long for those peaceful places, I really want to...

"Host……"

Name...just call me A'ran.

"…Heh, if I can't help you, could you please be quiet for a moment?"

After a moment, Xiaoxie's voice sounded again: "Master, have you forgotten what I said?"

“There is no such thing as a free lunch.”

"That's not it."

"I know." Ling Dengxian pulled out the city-breaking spear, closed his eyes and concentrated his attention to suppress the trembling of his fingers and body.

"Sure enough..." It was strange. Xiaoxie clearly spoke but he couldn't hear clearly. However, he didn't care about it now.

"So...what are you willing to pay in return?"

Ling Dengxian vaguely realized that this answer was very important, but he had no choice.

"What can you give me?" At this moment, the wind and snow seemed to have gone away, the pain no longer existed, as if he could see Xiaoxie when he turned around.

"...Of course...you can have it."

"but me?"

"A curse, a curse that you will inevitably receive, whether you agree to it this time or not."

"I... am not that kind of person." Ling Dengxian clenched his fists. He always hated external forces interfering in his life.

"But this time, you're not doing this for yourself."

"...a question." Ling Dengxian raised his hand above his head, feeling surprised that he was not disgusted by the impending power.

"Ask, Master."

"What the hell are you?"

"...I'm Xiao Xie." A silver bell-like laugh sounded, "Also, I'm in a good mood. A very important person to you will come back."

Ling Dengxian's eyes turned cold, his body was wrapped in flames, and all the previous conversations seemed to have never existed. Saria seemed not to have heard those words, but she quickly discovered his changes. The white flames illuminated the night sky, the broken ribs healed quickly, and all the scars were swallowed by the warm firelight. The white-hot flames that set off a storm surged and spread, and a flash of cold lightning shot out from it.

Ling Dengxian once looked in the mirror, and he admitted that the look in his eyes when he was impotent and furious was quite disgusting.

The incandescent flames above his head eventually transformed into a pure white gilded crown, blooming like a dream in Vaifan's eyes.

She immediately realized that the situation was heading towards an uncontrollable direction. She didn't think there was anything wrong with her previous punch. The only one who had an accident was Ling Dengxian.

Saria did not regret not using more force, because Ling Dengxian did not deserve to be hit hard in the first place. He just wanted to protect A'ran.

The young man took a deep breath and sighed softly, as if a flowing white flame climbed up the tip of the spear, was held in the palm of his hand by the ice and snow, and jumped.

The frost and snow seemed to be singing.

"Years are long, youth is a thousand years, time is endless, and the 'devil' has never existed."