Fang Ming hardened his resolve.
But the comments were celebrating wildly.
(It's here, it's here! The last Magical Girl, Xiao Bai's transformation! We finally get to see it!)
(It took until episode eight to see Xiao Bai transform. Sure enough, Xiao Bai is the second female lead.)
(So cool!! Xiao Bai, step on me!!)
(M is here again lol)
Who wanted to step on you?! If you liked being stepped on so much, couldn't you just lie down somewhere crowded?!
Fang Ming grumbled internally, then took deep breaths over and over.
It was fine. There was no need to panic, because panicking would not help anyway.
Besides, Xiao Bai was Xiao Bai, and Fang Ming was Fang Ming. What did Xiao Bai's transformation have to do with him?
As long as he did not expose his connection to Xiao Bai, he would be fine!
That was right, exactly!
Fang Ming forcibly convinced himself, then forced himself to forget the transformation scene from earlier and continued watching the plot unfold on the Sky Screen.
[Xiao Bai finished transforming, and Yu Muqiu had transformed as well.
The two Magical Girls looked at the aquarium, which had suddenly changed, and ran toward the source of the magical power eruption.
With the birth of the Nightmare Barrier, the aquarium had already become something else entirely.
Countless cartoon-like fish swam around them. The boundary between the tanks and reality seemed to have vanished completely, making the two feel as though they were underwater.
Breathing became difficult, and they seemed unable even to speak. Fortunately, they were both Magical Girls. They could replace breathing with magical power and communicate through magical power, so they were not completely unable to communicate.
But—
"Why are you still here?"
Xiao Bai looked coldly at Yu Muqiu.
Yu Muqiu met her gaze without backing down. "Because I'm a Magical Girl!"
"Are you an idiot?! You'll die!"
Xiao Bai cursed at Yu Muqiu without holding back.
Yu Muqiu shrank back in fright, then puffed out her chest again. "If something really happens, I'll run away beforehand! I'm not stupid. Of course I'll run if I encounter danger!"
"You'd better!"
Xiao Bai glared at Yu Muqiu.
She looked like she wanted to beat Yu Muqiu out of the barrier right then and there, but unfortunately, with an enemy before them, even though Xiao Bai had a strong sense of territory, she could only let Yu Muqiu follow for now.
Xiao Bai could still tell what mattered most.
And besides the two of them, the other Magical Girl in the aquarium also caught up with them at that moment.
"Xiao Qiu! I think I can sense... Hey! Why are you here?!"
The moment Chen Xiaoxia arrived, she saw Xiao Bai and openly showed her dislike for her.
Xiao Bai shot back without backing down. "That's what I should be asking! What is an idiot like you doing here? Aren't you afraid of drowning?"
"...!"
At the mention of that, Chen Xiaoxia's momentum immediately weakened.
After all, even now, she still had not learned how to swim. Though she had learned how to exert force underwater, she could only do that with the aid of magical power.
So faced with Xiao Bai's question, Chen Xiaoxia really could not hold her head up.
But Chen Xiaoxia immediately realized something was wrong.
"Wait, how do you know I can't swim?"
"..."
Xiao Bai said nothing and turned her gaze aside.
Yu Muqiu looked curiously at Xiao Bai. Under the gazes of the two girls, Xiao Bai's expression did not change, not even the color of her face.
She looked straight ahead and said:
"...The Fish Monster Demon is here."
"Hey! Don't change the subject!"
Chen Xiaoxia would not let it go, but Xiao Bai really was not changing the subject this time, because the Fish Monster Demon had indeed arrived before the three of them.
"You... again..."
The Fish Monster Demon looked at Xiao Bai first.
It had clearly recognized Xiao Bai, and compared to when it had first been born last time, it seemed to possess more self-awareness and intelligence now.
Xiao Bai's heart sank. She swung her scythe and taunted the Fish Monster Demon.
"What? Are you going to tuck your tail and run away like a stray dog again?"
"I... won't... run... this time... I... want... praise...!"
The Fish Monster Demon spoke in a strange, grating voice.
Hearing that, Xiao Bai could not help frowning deeply.
Praise?
Whose praise?
Xiao Bai was still thinking when Chen Xiaoxia could no longer hold herself back and raised her greatsword.
"I won't run? Perfect!"
Magical light shone beneath Chen Xiaoxia's feet as she used Enhancement Magic. Underwater, she was like a torpedo, suddenly launching herself toward the Fish Monster Demon!
"Wait, idiot!"
Xiao Bai warned Chen Xiaoxia, "Watch out for its—"
Before Xiao Bai could finish, Chen Xiaoxia felt her feet tighten. Two condensed water tentacles seized her ankles and, amid her scream, hurled her toward a floating transparent tank nearby.
BANG!!!
After Chen Xiaoxia crashed into the tank and sent the fish inside scattering everywhere, Xiao Bai slowly finished her sentence:
"...water tentacles."
"Black! You said that so slowly on purpose, didn't you?!"
"You charged too far ahead! Idiot!!"
Xiao Bai cursed Chen Xiaoxia without mercy.
But at the same time, her heart grew more solemn.
Compared to the Fish Monster Demon's techniques last time, its methods this time were far more concealed.
Before those water tentacles wrapped around Chen Xiaoxia's feet, Xiao Bai had not sensed a thing!]
Analysis from the Comments
(That was a lot of information in just a few minutes.)
(Huh? Information? What information?)
(First, Xiao Bai knows Chen Xiaoxia can't swim. That means Xiao Bai's real identity must be familiar with Chen Xiaoxia, or at the very least, she must have seen Chen Xiaoxia swimming before.)
(But wasn't the swimming pool last time rented out by Xiao Chun? There shouldn't have been anyone else there, right?)
(Yeah, which is why it's strange.)
(And the Fish Monster Demon mentioned "praise"... Praise is usually given by someone of higher status to someone lower, or by elders to juniors. If the Fish Monster Demon put it that way, there's probably someone even stronger above it.)
With only a few scenes and a few lines of conversation, people in the comments had already analyzed several crucial details.
Fang Ming nodded as he watched the comments.
That was right. Xiao Bai knew Chen Xiaoxia could not swim because Fang Ming had been with them at the time and had seen Xiaoxia flailing around in the water.
Back then, Fang Ming had only casually said it to mock Chen Xiaoxia. After the battle, Chen Xiaoxia and Yu Muqiu had both forgotten about it, but he had not expected the Sky Screen to bring it up again now.
As for the Fish Monster Demon, the Sky Screen's guess was also correct.
And it was not something worth hiding.
Behind the Demons with four Nightmare Seeds stood a Demon with six Nightmare Seeds.
That Demon had actually been born earlier than the Fish Monster Demon. It was also fairly intelligent and knew that Magical Girls were not easy to provoke, so it had been trying to recruit followers.
The Fish Monster Demon was the first subordinate it found, as well as the last.
After all, aside from the Fish Monster Demon, Nino had collected all the remaining Nightmare Seeds. Before the Demon headquarters locked onto this world, that Sixth-Level Demon could not find any other Demons.
And afterward, Fang Ming found its trail. Going by the sequence, that should be the plot of episode eleven?
[Chen Xiaoxia was sent flying by the Fish Monster Demon's water whip. Xiao Bai's gaze sharpened as she instructed Yu Muqiu:
"Stay here!"
"But I—"
"Stay!"
Xiao Bai sternly barked at Yu Muqiu. Yu Muqiu stopped in her tracks and looked at Xiao Bai with considerable grievance.
But Xiao Bai ignored her. Only after confirming that Yu Muqiu had no intention of acting did she create chains and surround the Fish Monster Demon.
The chains moved through the water, crisscrossing from every direction to form a dense web.
The underwater space was restricted by the chains, and even the Fish Monster's room to move gradually shrank. Amid layer upon layer of chains, Xiao Bai ran along them, charging straight toward the Fish Monster Demon!
But suddenly, from Yu Muqiu's perspective, Xiao Bai abruptly dodged backward without any warning.
She leaned back, leaped down from the chains, then grabbed one with a single hand, spun in midair, and jumped onto another chain.
Then Xiao Bai swung her scythe. It danced around her in an impenetrable blur, and every flash of white light caused abnormal ripples to appear beneath the water.
"What is that—?" Yu Muqiu widened her eyes and looked carefully, but she could see nothing.
But if one got close to Xiao Bai, one could see that the water tentacles, almost completely blended into the water and impossible to distinguish, were being severed by Xiao Bai one after another!
Seeing this, the Fish Monster Demon's lidless eyeballs shifted, as if expressing shock.
"Why... can you see...?"
Splash—
Xiao Bai did not respond. The sound of chains was her answer to the Fish Monster Demon.
Xiao Bai had not actually seen them, and her combat instincts were not that strong either.
But Xiao Bai had spread chains throughout the surrounding area, turning the entire space into a domain of chains.
And she could sense the vibrations of the chains!
Though the water tentacles had blended into the water, they were still physical objects. Since they were physical objects, moving them would disturb the surrounding water.
The tentacles moved quickly. Often, by the time she sensed the impact in the water, the tentacles had already arrived.
But if she added a "sensor chain" ahead of time, Xiao Bai could predict the direction of the tentacles in advance!]
The images on the Sky Screen switched back and forth, allowing the viewers to understand how Xiao Bai had sensed the tentacles' movements even without an explanation.
The comments also began discussing Xiao Bai's response.
(As expected of a veteran Magical Girl. She has plenty of experience.)
(Come to think of it, we still don't know how Xiao Bai became a Magical Girl. She doesn't have a Magical Creature like Nino around her either.)
(And she seems to be a resident of Rock City?)
Fang Ming: "..."
Stop talking, stop talking!
If you keep guessing, you'll strip away every last secret I have!
Before you continue