Could It Be... Three Episodes in a Row!!?

No one would have thought that the entrance to the Nightmare Barrier was actually in the sky. The rain had already been heavy, and everyone was holding umbrellas. Unless the rain had stopped and the skies had cleared, who would look up at the sky while it was raining?

If Xiao Chun had not pointed it out, who knew how long the Magical Girls would have kept searching.

Fang Ming, who had realized the same thing, could not help feeling a little more grateful toward Xiao Chun.

Luckily, Xiao Chun had discovered it early. If it had been any later...

Fang Ming did not know how many skills he would have had to consume to stack his magic power above that of the Songstress Witch!

Even those LV3 skills might not have survived!

Compared with LV2 skills, LV3 skills were Fang Ming's true core. Each one had taken an enormous amount of time to develop. If they had been used as fuel for a magic-power-feeding skill, Fang Ming would have felt heartbroken.

Though... in the end, he still had not managed to save one LV3 skill...

[Having found the entrance to the Nightmare Barrier, the three Magical Girls immediately transformed and flew into the sky through the curtain of rain.

The heavy rain obscured their vision, but it also obscured the passersby's vision.

Just as they had not looked up at the sky earlier, the passersby would not possibly look skyward at a time like this.

Thus, the three Magical Girls stood in midair without anyone noticing them.

The BGM became urgent, and the three Magical Girls' transformation sequence was swiftly glossed over. Clearly, the grave atmosphere at this moment was no longer suitable for depicting a transformation scene.

Amid music that suddenly became grand and majestic, the three Magical Girls entered the barrier one after another.

Then—

The three saw chains and musical notes filling the sky.

Singing blended with the BGM, becoming a beautiful, elegant operatic melody.

Yet beneath that graceful music lay bloodshed and cruelty.

Xiao Bai's clothes had already been damaged. The girl who had once bounced through battle by stepping on chains was now wrapped in her own chains, which dragged her farther away to evade attacks.

This showed that she had already reached her limit.

The Songstress Witch in the distance, however, still looked completely at ease.

There was a gap in rank, and there was likewise a considerable gap in their magic power. Xiao Bai had endured until now solely through her extensive combat experience and techniques, as well as her unusual method of replenishing magic power.

Their battle was incredibly fierce. Amid the music, nothing else could be seen within the barrier. Dense musical notes and chains nearly filled the entire barrier.

"Oh my, new audience members have arrived."

The Songstress Witch, who was even more at ease, noticed Yu Muqiu's group entering the barrier.

Her gaze shifted toward the three of them, but the moment it met Chen Xiaoxia's eyes, Chen Xiaoxia blurted out:

"What an ugly doll!"

When it came to making people angry, Chen Xiaoxia never disappointed.

They had only been inside the barrier for a few seconds, yet she had successfully stepped on the Songstress Witch's sore spot and uttered a forbidden phrase the Songstress Witch hated.

She had also successfully drawn the Songstress Witch's attention.

"What an... unlikeable child!"

The Songstress Witch's face darkened further. A melodious tune rang out as a barrage of musical notes rapidly descended upon Yu Muqiu's group!

"Tch! Why are you—damn it!"

The notes shot forward so quickly that Yu Muqiu's group failed to react in time.

But Xiao Bai, who had fought the Witch for so long that she had become accustomed to her fighting rhythm, detected the Witch's attack ahead of time.

Xiao Bai had just been about to ask how Yu Muqiu's group had gotten here. After cursing under her breath, she was immediately dragged by her chains and appeared in front of them in an instant!

Amid the clattering of chains, Xiao Bai's scythe danced. The long-handled scythe spun in her hands, knocking aside several incoming barrages of musical notes.

But the prolonged battle had pushed Xiao Bai's stamina to its limit. Though she did everything she could to stop the notes, two still struck her in the end.

Bang! Bang!

The two notes exploded against Xiao Bai like bombs. They shattered her magic shield and sent her flying backward.

"Xiao Bai!"

The three Magical Girls hurriedly caught Xiao Bai, then slid backward together with her.

They slid several meters before the four finally came to a stop. Xiao Bai dropped to one knee, breathing heavily.

Her chest heaved unevenly, while the bloodstains and tears across her body showed just how battered she was.

Seeing Xiao Bai in such a state, Yu Muqiu could not help tightening her grip on her magic wand. She stepped forward, shielding Xiao Bai as she faced the Witch, and said to Xiao Bai:

"Xiao Bai, rest. Leave her to us from here on out!"

"That's right! You in black, don't underestimate us! We might... really be no match for you, but we're still strong!"

Chen Xiaoxia stood beside Yu Muqiu, the tip of her greatsword pointed at the ground.

Xiao Chun remained beside Xiao Bai. A shimmering green light appeared in her hands as she helped heal Xiao Bai's wounds, before she said:

"Don't push yourself too hard. And believe in us."

After saying that, Xiao Chun stood beside Xiao Qiu and Xiaoxia as well. With Yu Muqiu at the center, the three Magical Girls firmly protected Xiao Bai, who was kneeling on the ground, behind them.

With that composition, the ED prelude began.

But this ED was mixed with the Songstress's background vocals. Unlike its previous gentle and soothing style, it now sounded heavier and more solemn.

Amid this altered ED, Episode Ten came to an end.]

Could it be... three episodes in a row!!?

(Gaia—!!!!)

(I want to watch Episode Eleven, I want to watch Episode Eleven!!)

(Xiao Qiu and the others were really dependable at the end. They protected Xiao Bai behind them, and Xiao Bai must have been moved too, right?)

(A world-famous painting!)

(How could you cut it off here!!!)

The comments began wailing again. Looking at the final scene on the Sky Screen, Fang Ming could not help recalling the past.

Back then, Yu Muqiu's group's actions had indeed moved Fang Ming, but they had also made him extremely anxious.

A Witch that even he could not defeat—how could three Magical Girls possibly defeat her by joining forces?

Of course, from the audience's current perspective, the Magical Girls would definitely win.

Things might get difficult. It might be painful. But no matter what, they would welcome a happy and perfect ending.

Because Magical Girls did not lose, and Yu Muqiu, the protagonist of a Magical Girl series, could not possibly lose.

But Fang Ming had not known any of that back then. Not only Fang Ming—Yu Muqiu and the others had not known either.

Reality was not an anime, much less a game. Before the outcome was revealed, anything could happen. So while Fang Ming had been glad Yu Muqiu's group had arrived in time, he had also worried that the three of them might really come to harm.

Thus, when he saw Yu Muqiu's group about to fall, he had no choice but to sacrifice one of his less frequently used Level 3 skills and give himself a temporary power-up.

Yet he had not expected Yu Muqiu's power-up afterward to be even stronger.

It made Fang Ming, who had sacrificed a skill to forcibly raise his magic power to LV3, feel like a clown.

As Fang Ming sighed inwardly, Youyou's voice sounded beside him:

"I'm really curious how these girls defeated that Demon."

Holding a cup of iced milk tea, Youyou remarked, "Logically speaking, their current level is only comparable to Lesser Demons. With the absolute gap between Middle Rank and Lower Rank, they should not have been a match for this Demon."

"But they won."

"Exactly. That's why I'm curious."

Hearing this, Fang Ming turned to look at Youyou. "You're paying such close attention to these Magical Girls. Are you planning to find their weaknesses and take them down one by one?"

"Yes~"

Youyou answered immediately without even thinking, which instead surprised Fang Ming.

"You're being that honest?"

"After all, you're our hostage now. We don't need to worry about you tipping off the Magical Girls."

After spending several days together, Youyou seemed to trust Fang Ming quite a bit.

Perhaps she did not trust Fang Ming's character, but she trusted his concern for Song Niandong.

Therefore, Youyou did not hide anything in front of Fang Ming. Of course, it was also possible that Youyou was deceiving him, so she was not worried he would do anything because of it.

Based on Fang Ming's current understanding of Youyou, he felt there was a high chance it was the latter.

Youyou had not told Fang Ming the truth.

"Xiao Qiu is my cousin. Xiaoxia and Xiao Chun are her friends too. Do you think I would stand by and do nothing after learning that you might harm them?"

Fang Ming asked Youyou calmly.

Youyou turned and met Fang Ming's gaze. Her red pupils carried a faint, inscrutable smile.

"Of course you wouldn't stand by and do nothing. But we haven't taken action yet, have we? Besides, I haven't figured anything out. At least, before Episode Eleven airs, I haven't figured anything out."

What Youyou meant was the portion of Yu Muqiu and the others' power that they had concealed—or rather, had not yet displayed on the Sky Screen.

The previous episodes had already allowed Youyou to understand Yu Muqiu's group's true strength, including Xiao Bai's, of which she also had a general understanding.

But that alone was clearly not enough to defeat the Songstress Witch.

What Youyou wanted to know was the power Yu Muqiu had used to defeat the Witch. She still did not understand that power very clearly.

Fang Ming scrutinized Youyou. After a moment, he turned his gaze back to the Sky Screen. Its ED had already reached its end.

Looking at the Magical Girls on the screen, himself included among them, Fang Ming suddenly asked Youyou:

"If what you're doing is truly meant to make the world better, then there's no reason you shouldn't tell Xiao Qiu and the others, right?"

"Mm-hm. They wouldn't believe me so easily."

Youyou explained.

It was not that they would not believe her easily. It was that they would not be easy to deceive.

From Youyou's words, Fang Ming could tell that what she wanted to do truly could not be made public.

Or rather, her method would seem problematic to any normal person at a glance. Only a young and inexperienced girl like Song Niandong, who had also been saved by Youyou, would believe her words.

Any Magical Girl would not believe her so easily.

And Nino was with Yu Muqiu's group as well.

Youyou said Nino was at the bottom of the class, but no matter how low-ranking she was, she had still studied at the Magic Academy and had not been expelled.

Just as a poor student at Tsinghua and Peking Universities would be an outstanding student at other schools, it was true that Nino could not compare to Youyou, but that did not mean she could not see what Youyou was doing.

Perhaps it was precisely because of this that Youyou refused to approach Yu Muqiu's group and instead unilaterally treated them as enemies.

"Alright, you've asked enough questions." Seeing that the Sky Screen had finished playing, Youyou patted herself down as she stood up, then asked Fang Ming, "It'll be noon soon. Have you decided what to make?"

Because they had run into a patrol officer on the road last time, Fang Ming had begun cooking for himself after arriving at this hiding place he had prepared in advance.

First, it was to prevent Song Niandong from running into the police again. Second, he wanted to hone his cooking skill.

The Level 3 skill he had consumed during his last battle with the Witch had been his LV3 cooking skill. After so much repeated practice, Fang Ming had raised his cooking back to LV2.

But getting it to LV3 again would not be so easy.

After reaching LV2, he had cooked for himself every day and still needed more than a year to reach LV3.

Now that he was learning it again, it was like having an experience-boosting card equipped, but he still needed plenty of time to practice.

Since he had to take care of Song Niandong anyway, Fang Ming took the opportunity to work on his cooking skills.

"There's some rice left over from this morning. I'll make fried rice, and then..."

Fang Ming was considering side dishes when Song Niandong suddenly pointed at the Sky Screen.

"Brother! The Sky Screen lit up again!"

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