Magical Girls Exposed!

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

If Xiao Chun hadn't pointed it out, who knew how much longer the magical girls would have spent searching?

Fang Ming, who had realized the same thing, couldn't help feeling a little more grateful toward Xiao Chun.

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

Fang Ming had no idea how many skills he would have had to consume to raise his magic power above the Songstress Witch's!

He might not even have been able to keep those LV3 skills!

Compared to LV2 skills, LV3 skills were Fang Ming's true core. Every one of them represented an enormous investment of time. If they were used as fodder for magic-replenishing skills, Fang Ming would be heartbroken.

Although... in the end, he still hadn't managed to keep 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 downpour obscured their vision, but it also obscured the pedestrians' vision.

Just as no one had looked up at the sky earlier, no passerby would look toward the sky 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 glossed over. Clearly, the tense atmosphere 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—

They saw Chains and musical notes filling the sky.

Singing and BGM began to blend together, becoming a beautiful and elegant vocal piece.

Yet beneath that refined melody lay bloodshed and brutality.

Xiao Bai's clothes had already been torn. She, who had once used Chains beneath her feet to launch herself into battle, was now tangled in her own Chains and being dragged farther away to evade attacks.

This meant she had reached her limit.

Not far away, the Songstress Witch still looked completely at ease.

There was a gap in rank, and the difference in their magic power was just as great. Xiao Bai had only lasted until now because of her extensive combat experience and techniques, as well as her unique method of replenishing magic power.

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

"Oh my, more new audience members."

The Songstress Witch, who was even more at ease, noticed Yu Muqiu and the other two entering the barrier.

She turned her gaze toward the three of them, but the moment she met Chen Xiaoxia's eyes, Chen Xiaoxia blurted out:

"What an ugly doll!"

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

Only a few seconds after entering the barrier, she had successfully stepped on the Songstress Witch's landmine and uttered one of the Songstress Witch's hated "forbidden words."

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

"What an... unlikeable child!"

The Songstress Witch's face darkened further. Along with the sound of a melodious tune, a barrage of notes rapidly descended upon Yu Muqiu and the others!

"Tch! Why are you—damn it!"

The notes shot toward them so quickly that Yu Muqiu and the others failed to react in time.

But Xiao Bai, who had fought the Witch for so long that she had grown accustomed to her combat rhythm, sensed the Witch's attack in advance.

Xiao Bai had just been about to ask why Yu Muqiu and the others were here. After cursing under her breath, she was immediately dragged by her Chains and arrived in front of them in an instant!

Amid the clattering of Chains, Xiao Bai's scythe danced through the air. The long-handled scythe spun in her hands, knocking away several incoming note barrages.

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

**Bang! Bang!**

The two notes were like bombs exploding on Xiao Bai's body. They shattered her magic shield and blasted her backward.

"Xiao Bai!"

The three magical girls hurriedly caught Xiao Bai, and all four of them slid backward together.

They slid several meters before finally stopping. Xiao Bai dropped to one knee, breathing heavily.

Her chest rose and fell unevenly, while the bloodstains and tears on her body showed just how miserable she looked.

Seeing Xiao Bai like this, Yu Muqiu couldn't help tightening her grip on her magic wand. She stepped forward, stood in front of Xiao Bai, faced the Witch directly, and said to Xiao Bai:

"Xiao Bai, rest. From here on, we'll handle her!"

"That's right! Black one, don't underestimate us! We might... really not be able to beat 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 glowing green light appeared in her hands as she helped heal Xiao Bai's injuries. Only then did she say:

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

As she spoke, Xiao Chun also moved to stand beside Xiao Qiu and Xiaoxia. With Yu Muqiu at the center, the three magical girls firmly protected the kneeling Xiao Bai behind them.

With that composition, the ED's intro began.

But this ED was mixed with the Songstress's background music. Unlike the soft and soothing style from before, it felt much heavier and more solemn.

With this altered ED, Episode Ten came to an end.

Could It Be... a Three-Episode Marathon!!?

(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 deeply moved too, right?)

(A world-famous painting!)

(How could you stop it there!!!)

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

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

Even he couldn't defeat that Witch, so how could three magical girls possibly defeat her together?

Of course, from the audience's current perspective, the magical girls were bound to win.

Things might get difficult and painful along the way, but no matter what, they would reach a happy and perfect ending.

Because magical girls wouldn't lose, and Yu Muqiu, the protagonist of a magical girl show, was even less likely to lose.

But Fang Ming hadn't known any of that back then. Not just Fang Ming—Yu Muqiu and the others hadn't known either.

Reality wasn't an anime, much less a game. Before the outcome was known, anything could happen. So while Fang Ming had been glad Yu Muqiu and the others arrived in time, he had also worried that the three of them might truly get hurt.

So when he saw Yu Muqiu and the others nearing their limit, 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 hadn't 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 children defeated that Demon."

Holding a cup of iced milk tea, Youyou remarked, "Logically speaking, their current levels are only comparable to lower Demons. With the absolute gap between mid-level and lower Demons, they shouldn't have been a match for this Demon."

"But they won."

"Yeah, which is 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 defeat them one by one?"

"I am~"

Youyou answered without even thinking, which surprised Fang Ming.

"You're being that honest?"

"After all, you're our 'hostage' now. We don't have to worry about you warning the magical girls."

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

Perhaps she didn't trust Fang Ming's character, but she trusted that he cared about Song Niandong.

So Youyou didn't hide anything from Fang Ming. Of course, it was also possible that she was deceiving him, so she wasn't worried about Fang Ming doing anything because of it.

Based on Fang Ming's current understanding of Youyou, he felt the latter was far more likely.

Youyou hadn't told Fang Ming the truth.

"Xiao Qiu is my cousin, and Xiaoxia and Xiao Chun are her friends. Do you think I'd stand by and do nothing after learning that you intend to harm them?" Fang Ming asked Youyou calmly.

Youyou turned and met Fang Ming's gaze. An unreadable smile flickered in her red eyes.

"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 yet to display on the Sky Screen.

The previous episodes had already given Youyou a grasp of Yu Muqiu and the other two's true strength, including a rough understanding of Xiao Bai's abilities.

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. As for that power, Youyou still didn't understand it very well.

Fang Ming scrutinized Youyou. After a while, he turned his eyes back toward the Sky Screen, where the ED was already nearing 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 a better place, then there's no reason you shouldn't tell Xiao Qiu and the others, right?"

"Mm-hm. They wouldn't believe me that easily," Youyou explained.

It wasn't that they "wouldn't believe her easily." It was that they "wouldn't be easy to deceive."

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

Or rather, her method would seem obviously problematic to any normal person. Only a girl like Song Niandong, inexperienced with the world and once saved by Youyou, would believe her.

Any magical girl would never trust her so easily.

And Nino was with Yu Muqiu and the others.

Youyou had called Nino the bottom of the class, but no matter how poor a student she was, she had still attended Magic Academy and hadn't been expelled.

Just as a poor student from Tsinghua and Peking Universities would be an outstanding student elsewhere, it was true that Nino couldn't compare to Youyou, but that didn't mean she couldn't see what Youyou was doing.

Perhaps that was why Youyou refused to approach Yu Muqiu's group and instead unilaterally regarded them as enemies.

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

Because they had run into a patrol officer halfway through last time, Fang Ming had started cooking for himself after arriving at this "hideout" he had prepared beforehand.

First, it would keep Song Niandong from encountering the police again. Second, it would help him hone his cooking skill.

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

But reaching LV3 again wouldn't be so easy.

After advancing to 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 boost" card equipped, but it would still require plenty of practice.

Since he needed to take care of Song Niandong anyway, Fang Ming took the opportunity to further improve his cooking.

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

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

"Big brother! The Sky Screen lit up again!"

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