Right on the Verge of the Higher Realm

[At the beginning of episode eleven, immediately following the end of the previous episode, a jet-black beam of light breaks through the barrier, attempting to break through the World Barrier and reach beyond the world to send a message to the Demons who do not know where they are.]

That might not be the most accurate way to put it, but Youyou didn't actually intend to 'inform' the Demons. It was just that the Demons aura here was too strong, which would definitely attract Demons attention.

If Youyou's plan succeeds, that's fine. But when the Demons arrive and see that this place is completely shrouded in Nightmare, they will most likely skip it and stop paying attention to it.

But the plan was not yet complete, and the world was filled with an aura of hope. Demons wasn't blind could tell upon arriving that this was a world that had not yet been developed by Demons.

What Youyou meant when she said 'the coordinates will be locked by the Demons' was this.

"Stop it!!"

Seeing the aura of the Nightmare Seed growing stronger, Youyou couldn't help but call out to Xiao Qiu.

But without Youyou saying a word, Xiao Qiu had already headed towards the Demons that the Nightmare Seed had conjured in the sky.

A dark aura was gathering, and the Demons's image became increasingly distinct.

But unlike the strange Demons Xiao Qiu had faced before, this Demons's appearance was more human-like, with virtually no non-human features except for the sharp horn on its forehead.

At this moment, the Demons's body was completely black, making it impossible to discern its skin color or appearance, much like an unfinished character in a game.

There was only a black silhouette.

Yet, even this silhouette exudes an aura countless times stronger than that of the Songstress Demon!

It is not difficult to see from this that once this Demons is fully formed, its strength will be infinitely close to that of Upper Rank!

Although Xiao Bai's magic power has undergone a leapfrog improvement due to the accelerated skill enhancement during the long dream, it is still actually at a Middle Rank- level.

Use the Xiao Bai's own level and experience as a reference standard.

If one thousand is the Lower Rank limit and ten thousand is the Middle Rank limit, then...

Xiao Bai's current magical power is around eight thousand.

In his Shining Form, Yu Muqiu's magical power is around 7,000.

However, the Demons that is not yet fully formed, according to Xiao Bai's standards, is estimated to have more than nine thousand magic power, which is not much away from the limit of the Middle Rank!

Therefore, it was almost unsurprising that Yu Muqiu, who rushed forward, was knocked back by the Demons's casual black attack and flew backward.

Bang!!

Yu Muqiu was thrown back, crashing into a building before finally coming to a stop.

"Ouch... This is too strong..."

Yu Muqiu, who reappeared from the ruins, rubbed the spot where he had been hit with a pained expression and cried out in pain.

Xiao Bai glanced at Yu Muqiu, who was getting up from the ruins, then turned to look back at Song Niandong.

She looked at the wisps of black mist emanating from Song Niandong, then turned and walked towards Song Niandong.

"What... what are you going to do?!"

Youyou stood in front of Song Niandong, watching Xiao Bai warily.

Xiao Bai sneered, "Now you know you care about Dongdong? Didn't you realize? That thing in the sky is a collection of negative emotions condensed from Dongdong's accumulated negative power! As long as Dongdong continues to accumulate negative power, its strengthening will never end!"

"..."

Youyou turned around and looked at Song Niandong.

At this moment, Dongdong, under the influence of countless negative emotions, has fallen into a state of self-isolation, holding his head and staring blankly at the ground.

Overwhelmed by negative emotions, Song Niandong became completely absorbed in her own world, unable to hear anything from the outside world.

Xiao Bai looked at Youyou again. This time, Youyou didn't stop Xiao Bai. She stepped aside and asked Xiao Bai:

"What... do you plan to do?"

Xiao Bai, whose black and red markings were becoming increasingly pronounced, approached Song Niandong, grabbed her hand, and revealed a smile that could only be described as maniacal:

"It's simple, just leave all your negative emotions to me!"

"!!!"

Youyou's eyes widened in surprise, and she exclaimed, "What!? Are you crazy! Do you know how negative emotions are for Magical Girls— "

"It's a potent poison, I know."

Xiao Bai looked down at the hands clasped together with Song Niandong's. The black lines on their hands were so striking and so ugly.

She continued, "But—it's just negative emotions! What does it matter?!"

Boom!!!

As soon as the words fell, immense magical power erupted from both Xiao Bai and Song Niandong, completely enveloping them. Dark negative emotions began to flow from Song Niandong into Xiao Bai's body.

At the same time, Xiao Bai shouted to Song Niandong:

"Song Niandong! If you truly believe you've made a mistake, then wake up and make amends! That's the only right thing you can do right now!!"

Xiao Bai roared loudly, but Song Niandong just looked up blankly.

"Song Niandong!!!!"

Xiao Bai called out Dongdong's name one last time, and this time, a glimmer of light finally appeared in the purple-haired girl's eyes.

She looked up and met Xiao Bai's gaze; in her unfocused pupils, it seemed as if memories were flowing through them.

The opening theme music begins to play at this moment.

(Wow, what a powerful Demons!)

(Xiao Qiu in her Shining Form was actually blasted away!? Could this Demons have already risen to Upper Rank?)

(This Demons hasn't even fully formed yet! What a disaster!)

(Is Xiao Bai going to absorb Dongdong's negative energy? Will she be okay?)

(Should... Xiao Bai definitely wouldn't do something she's not sure about, so... let's trust her!)

In everyone's mind, Xiao Bai has always been a cautious and strong figure. Whenever the Magical Girls encounter danger, the audience can feel much more at ease as long as Xiao Bai appears.

But at this moment, Xiao Bai's help to Song Niandong fight against the negative atmosphere from hundreds of thousands of people in the city still makes the audience feel heartbroken.

As everyone knows, negative emotions are practically poison to Magical Girls who draw their strength from positive emotions.

Xiao Bai said the same thing in the story.

Perhaps because Xiao Bai's Magic Source is the same as that of the Demons, absorbing some negative emotions briefly is not a big problem.

But... this represents the negative emotions of hundreds of thousands of people!

Can Xiao Bai really handle it?

The audience was worried, as were the Magical Girls below and Fang Ming.

Because of this worry, they barely spoke, immersing themselves entirely in the story.

The one-minute-plus opening sequence felt incredibly long at this moment, but after it ended, no battle scenes were shown.

What the Sky Screen displays is Song Niandong's memories.

Song Niandong was relatively happy in his childhood.

At that time, she had a father, a mother, a doting grandmother, and a very happy family, even though they weren't very wealthy.

But at some point, this happiness disappeared from Song Niandong's life.

An accident caused Song Niandong's parents to disappear from her life, turning into two boxes placed in front of her portrait. The living people were reduced to two black and white photographs.

When her parents disappeared, they also took away Song Niandong's joy.

Despite her deep sorrow, Song Niandong was determined to live on, to live on with her grandmother.

But in the end, her grandmother also left her.

She began to live alone.

The once lively room has become utterly desolate; all the family members who had been by her side have left her.

Even the uncle she thought would take care of her disappeared without a trace, taking her money with him.

In fact, Song Niandong doesn't care much about money. As long as someone is with her and can bring her happiness, she doesn't care if all the money she has left is taken away.

But... that relative couldn't stay.

In the end, she was all alone.

Despite losing everything, being bullied, and living a miserable life, Song Niandong never truly resented anyone; she was simply reflecting.

Why do people have to die?

Why do people leave?

Why do they bully me?

Song Niandong finally came to the conclusion that the world is imperfect, and it is precisely because of this imperfection that so many terrible things happen.

So after meeting Youyou, influenced by Youyou, she had this idea in her mind.

"To make... everyone happy, to create... a perfect world where everyone is happy..."

In this way, no one will leave, no one will die, no one will be bullied, and everyone will have a happy smile on their face.

Song Niandong herself will live happily ever after with the person she most wants to see and the person she loves most.

But--

"Why... did it turn out like this...?"

Song Niandong returned to reality from her memories. The countless images that flashed before her eyes were replaced by Xiao Bai, the Demons in the sky, and Xiao Qiu fighting the Demons.

Countless negative emotions welled up again, and then she met Xiao Bai's eyes.

"Song Niandong! Go do what you should be doing! Don't dwell on negative memories, think about your happy past! Think about the happy things you can imagine!"

Xiao Bai yelled at Song Niandong.

Song Niandong muttered blankly to herself, "Happiness... joy... that thing..."

Song Niandong wanted to say that she didn't have that kind of thing right now.

But suddenly, a hand reaching out to her surfaced in her memory.

Those are Fang Ming's brother's hands.

That also applies to Song Niandong.

The Hand of Redemption.

Chapter 176 Closer to Upper Rank

The originally gloomy scene became colorful because of the appearance of that hand.

Countless sad and painful memories were instantly replaced by more happy ones.

It was the first time Fang Ming had taken me home, and I was able to eat a meal that brought back the warmth of home.

For the first time, I had a friend and an "older sister" who genuinely cared for me, making my school life no longer as dark as before.

For the first time, I have things I want to do, people I want to thank...

Images of Song Niandong with Fang Ming, with Xiao Qiu and the others... countless images flashed before Song Niandong's eyes.

Then these images were replaced by memories from much further back.

Happy birthday, Dongdong.

--Dongdong, this is a gift Grandma bought for you...

--Dongdong, my cutest little princess, Mommy and Daddy will always love you.

--Dongdong...

"Dad, Mom, Grandma..."

Song Niandong's eyes reddened, and tears welled up in her pupils. In her vision, she seemed to see her deceased relatives smiling at her, encouraging her, and telling her that they loved her.

Yes, Song Niandong has been loved before, and she is loved now.

False happiness is unnecessary, because true happiness exists in reality!

The dark energy gathered on Song Niandong was gradually subsiding, but the dark energy on Xiao Bai remained dense.

However, due to this change, the first thing to change was not the magic circle that covered the entire Spring City.