Chapter 313
Liang Xiaoxiao watched this scene in silence.
Then, she saw another version of herself, the 17-year-old who slowly knelt down, firmly embraced her 7-year-old self, and whispered with a smile:
"It's okay, Xiaoxiao."
You will receive love.
"It definitely will."
Will I get it?
No? Will you?
Seven-year-old Liang Xiaoxiao didn't know.
Seventeen-year-old Liang Xiaoxiao didn't know either.
But now she knows the answer is—no.
Click, click.
The shattering roar, like glass piercing the skin, echoed inch by inch deep within the soul, causing the [Cocoon of the Heart] constructed of pure white light to continue collapsing, and the long-nurtured darkness to writhe and grow.
The angels' grace is fading away, and the long-dormant nightmare corridor is making a comeback, engulfing us with a force a hundred times greater than before... no, embracing us.
Liang Xiaoxiao accepted this darkness. She gave up the brilliance, the cocoon that belonged to the [Witch], and the gradually spreading magic, allowing the calamity to erode her.
The frost-white in the girl's eyes was swallowed by the pitch black, her eyes were covered with blood vessels and black lines, and she looked disheveled and embarrassed. Even her pretty face looked ferocious. She felt the spreading disaster energy mutating her body and giving her the vitality that was overdrawn from her life.
But that's not enough; it's still too slow.
Inside the carriage, the tentacles continued to climb over. They should have swiftly wrapped around the other creature, but they seemed to have caught the scent of their "kin" and were hesitantly approaching.
Liang Xiaoxiao took the initiative to hug the other person. Her clothes were corroded by the sulfuric acid-like bodily fluid, and her skin quickly experienced a burning pain, revealing flesh and blood as if it were charred.
Ignoring the faint, almost imperceptible pain, the girl opened her mouth and began to gnaw at the tentacles. Her teeth sank into the thick, resilient, and soft tendon-like flesh. Her lips quickly corroded, her teeth melted, her mouth began to crack, and her face gradually collapsed.
Blood gushed out.
No matter how much she resolved to resist, her resistance seemed weak and laughable.
But...
This pain, along with the flowing blood, seemed to act as a medium. The calamity originating from the soul could no longer suppress its desire for evolution, and it flowed out along with the blood, devouring and dividing the calamity within the tentacles.
In an instant, her blood seemed to turn into sulfuric acid, disintegrating and devouring the tentacles. Like a contagious disease, it spread wildly along the tentacles, with blood droplets rolling down like rain, plundering and consuming the power of this Calamity Beasts.
"--!!!"
Outside the carriage, the monster's head, resembling a flower or a spore, stopped chewing almost immediately after biting off Lin Bao'er's limbs. Its pupil-like organs looked at the ants within and hissed in confusion.
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
The carriage was suddenly flung aside in a fit of rage by the Calamity Beasts, which abandoned its thick tentacles, which were corroded and entangled by blood.
Pedestrians on the roadside fled in terror, and the wreckage of the tram smashed into nearby shops and vending machines.
Liang Xiaoxiao was thrown around with the carriage, rolling haphazardly on the ground. She crashed hard into what was either the roof or the side wall, losing all feeling in her internal organs, and coughing up blood and bits of food.
Most seriously, his arms and legs were crushed by the seat and rubble, causing extremely unnatural bending, making it seem as if he was incapable of moving and would need immediate amputation.
At the same time, the calamity energy he had swallowed from the monster surged through his limbs and bones, forcibly prolonging his life.
The girl's body seemed to have turned into rubber, with something swelling wildly within it, flesh and blood proliferating and multiplying. A cataclysmic phenomenon was occurring, threatening to transform her into a non-human monster at any moment.
Within the soul, the trials of the Nightmare Corridor continue.
Liang Xiaoxiao's body was crushed by the rubble of the building. She coughed up blood and felt suffocated, as if her soul was being crushed. The whites of her eyes turned completely black, like a demon.
But the devil is also good.
Magical Girl are something dazzling, distant, and unattainable. She is an ordinary person, and ordinary people remain the same until death. They will not gain good fortune because of suffering and disaster, nor will they create miracles because of being on the verge of death.
So, it doesn't matter if you can't become Magical Girl; becoming a devil is also great, as it's a kind of luck that ordinary people don't have.
"I'll kill you."
The girl's dark, unfocused eyes, her gradually repaired face, and her indifferent expression, as if muttering a resolute murmur, repeated:
"I'll kill you."
"I will absolutely, absolutely, kill you."
This obsession became the final foundation when the calamity distorted the soul.
Even if she becomes a demon nailed to hell and left to languish for a thousand years, she will still try to reclaim what is rightfully hers.
Thus, her body, like a cocoon, supported Meat Mountain. The half of her body that was pressed down collapsed and shattered, then mutated and grew again, generating a continuous stream of power. The cataclysmic transformation, mixed with some [Witch] characteristics, was particularly terrifying.
Splash, splash.
The pitch-black waves swept in, while the pure white light scattered around burned fiercely, protecting the very core of the soul.
Chu Yuanqing's few rays of brilliance took root and grew during her recent prayers.
Even though her heart was shattered, the afterglow of the Savior still lingered. It despised the calamity and even absorbed some of Liang Xiaoxiao's own willpower, forcibly restraining her body to maintain a human form.
Pitch black and pure white intertwine endlessly.
Liang Xiaoxiao as if she were immersed in magma. Her mutated flesh and blood continued to collapse, but under the protection of pure white, it was forcibly restrained and restored to its original form in the form of molting.
At this moment, the energy of the calamity and the white light colliding and expanding caused the flesh and blood discarded during the molting process to melt and be reshaped.
The girl breathed softly. Her eyes were black, and her pupils, spiraling like circles, were dark gray. The hair that grew down her back was grayish-white mixed with pure black. Her slender and graceful body was covered with bloodstains and tattered fabrics, but it was submerged and covered by the white light.
The calamity followed closely, clinging and coiling, transforming into grayish-white flesh and blood. Like living creatures, it surged and bit, clinging tightly to the skin protected by the white membrane, like scales interlocking and overlapping, forming a ferocious yet beautiful skirt-like armor.
This wondrous and unprecedented sight is the result of a compromise between the pure white afterglow and the aura of disaster.
It's a miracle that Liang Xiaoxiao's soul didn't collapse; her consciousness naturally sank completely, to the point of being in a coma, with only her obsession controlling her body.
The next second, an energy surge—not magic, not calamity, not blessing, or perhaps a combination of all three—expanded and erupted, reducing the wreckage of the tram to ashes, burning in a lonely gray sea of fire.
The girl emerged from the sea of fire, picked up her sandals stained with blood and dust, and looked at the bewildered Calamity Beasts with her lifeless, spiraling eyes.
There were no words, no threats.
Liang Xiaoxiao breathed softly, and the armor on her arms wriggled, instantly extending in layers and sprang out three-meter-long blades, slicing through the numerous tentacles that attacked.
The blade, essentially flesh and blood, unleashed a frenzied feast, violently devouring the calamity in an attempt to counter the Savior's lingering glow, causing the armor on its body to creak and groan as it greedily twisted its form.
The girl's thighs, calves, and even ankles were covered in scales. She was like a dragon in human form, using her flesh and blood armor to extend countless weapons from her memories, dismembering this E-Class Calamity Beasts that seemed to have just hatched.
This is a cruel and cold scene, like a chef preparing fish. She peels back the layers of the Calamity Beasts's shell, simultaneously consuming the calamity energy, and devouring all the remnants of the tentacles into her armor to nourish herself.
Liang Xiaoxiao coexisted with the disaster energy. She instinctively knew where the disaster energy was most concentrated in the other party. Just like eating meat first when eating a meal, she dismembered and ate the heart, tentacles, head, and the crystals hidden deep inside.
Soon, most of the calamity energy of the entire E-Class Calamity Beasts was devoured.
The white membrane protecting the flesh from erosion gradually dimmed under this protection, becoming vulnerable to invasion and breach.
The girl's armor gradually twisted and went out of control, covering her slender body. The proliferating bone and flesh turned her into a grotesque monster, making her look both abnormal and terrifying.
Ignoring everything else, Liang Xiaoxiao carefully protected the sandals in her palms, like a little monster playing with a child in Ultraman, and approached the remains of the Calamity Beasts, slowly peeling away its abdominal cavity.
The little monster dug carefully and cautiously, trying her best to avoid injuring the inside of the abdomen with her sharp claws. So she searched for quite a while before she seemed to have found the treasure in her heart. Looking at the body that looked like a cicada's molt, she picked up the slender and incomplete person.
At the same time,
The Magical Girl, radiant like a fiery rose, finally arrived at the scene, guided by the local authorities. She stared at the bizarre sight, about to angrily raise her thorny flame spear, when Astrid stopped her, and she fell into a long, sorrowful silence.
P. S.: This chapter is best read while listening to Ado's rendition of "Unravel".
Volume 1: 295. Enemy and foe share the same origin, a lonely death, a song in memory. (5K5)
In mid-air,
Chen Yining stood there blankly, the thorny flame spear in her hand turning into swirling petals that withered into sparks scattered in the sunlight.
Under the azure dome, the sun still shone brightly. The ruins of buildings on the streets remained silent, with only the gray flames flickering in the wind, dancing like discarded debris, slowly fading and dying out.
Lin Bao'er is dead.
Liang Xiaoxiao single-handedly defeated the Calamity Beasts, at the cost of... falling into demonic possession.
Chen Yining's mind went blank, unable to accept this cruel reality. Just yesterday, they stepped onto the Budokan, the dream venue of Sakura Idol, and together they created Shining Stage in front of ten thousand spectators, laughing and singing together.
That kind of future is something to look forward to.
Even though her heart was always with Xiaozhu, she still had a deep affection for the team she had personally assembled.
Ruan Wutong is an overly straightforward fool who wears his heart on his sleeve, but he has no ill intentions and is very sincere to others.
Liang Xiaoxiao comes from a special family and is tied to a shady company, yet she doesn't wallow in self-pity. She has climbed from D-Class to her current strength, and she has paid an immeasurable price in hard work.
Lin Bao'er comes from an ordinary family. She is a pretty girl who would be considered a pure and innocent school beauty if she were in school. She has a gentle temperament and is very well-behaved and obedient. She is the kind of child that parents would easily cite as an example to praise.
Chen Yining still remembers the scenes of traveling together these days. They visited the famous Tokyo Skytree and the well-known Meiji Shrine. After training, the idols would also go out to eat at famous restaurants nearby.
Travel check-ins, vlog shooting, bickering, training meals, pillow fights, whispering secrets at night, and that fireworks festival where they wore Yukata and took photos in the brightly lit city, their smiles radiant.
Chen Yining began to enjoy the atmosphere in the team. She even started to want to truly fulfill her responsibilities as captain and correct the tempers of some of her teammates so that they could go further.
Ruan Wutong is straightforward to the point of being naive and a bit idiotic in her speech. Although she is not easily fooled, she could easily fall into traps once she becomes famous, and if she is unlucky, she could be blacklisted.
Lin Bao'er is too soft-hearted and lacks assertiveness, making her easily led by the nose. She needs to be taught to adopt a stronger stance and make her own decisions.
Liang Xiaoxiao always smiles in front of the camera; her smile is simple yet adorably infectious. However, in private, she lives a life that is too repressed and too heavy. If this continues, she will eventually break down.
Therefore, she secretly used her own money and connections within the Yunlan Group to learn about the other party's past and current situation, and has already sent people to negotiate a contract transfer, trying to buy Liang Xiaoxiao over.
Chen Yining innocent and romantic, neither mercenary nor stingy. She is a rose that has been carefully nurtured in a greenhouse, and she cherishes the fate that she has brought together with her own hands.
The girl looks forward to everyone gradually getting better and stronger together, and then competing against that once-dominant team in the country, winning the victory, and successfully debuting with the team they are now in.
But the scene before us already tells the whole story.
"Bao'er, and Xiaoxiao, are they really beyond saving?"
Chen Yining dared not look at Liang Xiaoxiao's body, which was gradually twisting and deforming, nor dared she look at the person in the other's palm, whose white dress was covered in bloodstains and who looked as light and empty as a dandelion.
The girl's eyes filled with sorrowful and resentful tears. She sniffled, forcing herself to maintain her composure, her lips pressed tightly together, compelling herself to continue watching the horrific scene, as if trying to etch it into her heart. She couldn't help but ask:
"Didn't you say that the power of Magical Girl is the power of the heart, and that they can do anything they want?"
Astrid said softly:
"Accept the facts; even magic is not omnipotent."
"The medical team was already on its way when you set off."
"But it was too late. Lin Bao'er's calf was bitten to pieces, she bled so much that her heart stopped, and 90% of her skin was corroded by the acid. The fact that her body was still alive was all because of the infection from the disaster energy, which was trying to deform her flesh."
"In this situation, even if you temporarily learn advanced healing magic, it won't save her."
After speaking, the Super AI glanced at Liang Xiaoxiao's increasingly out-of-control exterior, feeling puzzled. Through satellites and surrounding monitoring equipment, she had almost witnessed the entire process of the other party's rampage.
That's a result that even databases can't verify.
It was already unexpected that Liang Xiaoxiao could imbue the light of that [Lighthouse] with magical power, let alone use it to restrain the calamity energy, achieve balance, and perfectly control the power of the Calamity Beasts —a truly terrifying feat.
Even a wisp of Chu Yuanqing's afterglow possessed such power; was her killing intent towards calamity ingrained in her very bones?
This is simply...
Just like [pure white].
Astrid extinguished her thoughts and coldly stated:
"Your other teammate is even more like [Calamity Shell] than [Calamity Shell], even more fanatical than the cultists who transplanted Calamity Beasts organs. The fact that she can maintain her rationality is already commendable."
"Chen Yining, if you don't want Lin Bao'er's corpse to be torn to shreds later, you'd better prepare to take her back and execute Liang Xiaoxiao in advance."
Chen Yining's eyes reddened; she couldn't accept this cruel verdict and answered fiercely:
"What a joke! Didn't I choose to become Magical Girl precisely to prevent such tragedies? If I were to attack Xiaoxiao here, what reason would I have to fight?"