Magical Girls Exposed! Chapter 49

"—This is really irritating!"

The final characters turned into notes, and her final words came out like a chant. The instant her words fell, countless notes filled the sky once more. They shattered the magic circle overhead and poured down upon the three magical girls like a curtain of rain.

Yu Muqiu was the first to react.

She immediately rushed in front of Xiao Bai and raised a shield of light to protect her.

Chen Xiaoxia decisively enlarged the armament in her hand, turning it into a shield-like shape in front of herself.

As for Xiao Chun...

Just as she was about to evade and defend herself, she faced the Songstress Witch's magic head-on.

"I'll deal with you first." At some point, the Songstress Witch had crossed several hundred meters and arrived beside Xiao Chun, who had been sniping from afar.

In a team fight, you took out the marksman and healer first. This tactical witch had somehow grasped that principle without being taught.

Xiao Chun was both the marksman and the team's healer, so naturally the witch wanted to eliminate her first.

A flash of light burst forth, and Xiao Chun's body was ruthlessly pinned to the ground by musical notes. The enormous note was like a mountain crushing her body, trapping her beneath it and leaving her unable to move!

"Xiao Chun!!!"

Seeing Xiao Chun attacked first, Xiaoxia cried out in worry.

But before Chen Xiaoxia could react, the Songstress Witch's notes attacked again.

"You should worry about yourself instead, you annoying child."

As soon as the Songstress Witch finished speaking, the notes descended.

The pleasant notes had now become deadly noise. They seemed to have been imbued with sharpness, and countless notes sliced past Chen Xiaoxia, leaving wounds across her body.

Chen Xiaoxia did everything she could to resist, but she was ultimately swallowed by the notes.

Yu Muqiu was last.

She too was attacked by the notes, but she could not hold on for long. Her light shield shattered beneath the torrent of notes.

Facing the incoming notes, Yu Muqiu closed her eyes and prepared herself for the pain.

But... the notes did not fall on her.

"...Honestly."

A cool, helpless voice sounded beside Yu Muqiu's ear.

Yu Muqiu instantly opened her eyes and saw Xiao Bai standing before her.

She was held in Xiao Bai's arms. Most of the notes had landed on Xiao Bai, blocked by Xiao Bai's Chains.

Xiao Bai, who was supposed to have been protected behind Yu Muqiu, had now become the shield protecting Yu Muqiu.

"...Xiao Bai?"

"Didn't I say this was my territory?"

Xiao Bai's tone still revealed no emotional fluctuation, but as Yu Muqiu looked at her, she could feel the concern and helplessness in her gaze, along with a certain determination, as though she had made up her mind about something.

"Xiao Bai, what are you going to do?" Yu Muqiu asked instinctively.

Xiao Bai set her down on the ground, stood up, turned toward the distant witch, and said,

"Of course I'm going to do what I should have done."

"...?"

"I hesitated and dragged things out, but in the end I still had to do this. And I even got all of you hurt. I really am... completely unqualified."

Xiao Bai muttered to herself, and Yu Muqiu could not understand what she meant.

Yet compared to Yu Muqiu and the others, the Songstress Witch seemed far more wary of Xiao Bai. Seeing her rise, she did not attack immediately, instead watching Xiao Bai with great interest.

"Even now, you still refuse to accept us?" the Songstress Witch asked.

It was another question Yu Muqiu could not understand.

Xiao Bai stood in front of Yu Muqiu with her back to her, like a sturdy wall blocking every storm from the front.

Xiao Bai silently took out a Nightmare Seed, clenched it in her right hand against her chest, then raised her head and stared resolutely at the Songstress Witch.

"Stop talking nonsense, Demon. Today... only one of us is leaving here alive!"

Boom!!!

The pure black aura of the Nightmare Seed erupted in an instant. Starting from Xiao Bai's fist, an even more immense wave of magic power burst forth.

Just as before, memory phantoms visible only to the audience emerged behind Xiao Bai.

Within those phantoms was a blurry figure. The figure was either bent over a desk studying, chatting with someone in the kitchen, or conducting some kind of experiment in a room...

The scenes and blurry figure appeared, but then those memories shattered into fragments and merged into Xiao Bai's body.

At first, the Songstress Witch could not understand what she was seeing. But when the final memory fragment fell onto Xiao Bai, she finally understood what was happening.

"Using knowledge and memories as nourishment to strengthen yourself...?! Have you gone insane?!"

Even the Songstress Witch was shocked by Xiao Bai's actions.

Xiao Bai smiled. For the first time in her life, Xiao Bai smiled before others, but it was not a peaceful smile. Instead, it carried the bloodthirsty madness of a berserker.

"I don't know whether I'm insane or not, but... you're definitely dying today!!"

Boom!!

Black energy shot into the sky. Xiao Bai turned into a streak of black light in midair and charged straight at the witch!]

Don't Give Up

"What... does using knowledge and memories as nourishment mean?"

Chen Xiaoxia had planned to head to the Investigation Department, but after seeing Episode Eleven appear on the Sky Screen, she stayed behind. She turned to look at Nino.

The calico kitten's face showed a rare trace of shock and disbelief. She hesitated, licked her lips, and seemed about to speak, but ultimately closed her mouth again.

Chen Xiaoxia looked at Nino in confusion. "Say something already."

"There's nothing to explain," Xiao Chun suddenly said. Her voice was low and her tone grave. "You can tell from the literal meaning. Back then, Xiao Bai..."

"...turned her own memories and acquired knowledge into power to increase her magic."

Yu Muqiu added.

She covered her mouth in disbelief. Crystal tears gathered in her eyes, but she forcibly held them back.

She had realized at the time that Xiao Bai's method of increasing her magic power could not have been normal. But Yu Muqiu had not thought much of it then, since Xiao Bai had not looked as though anything was wrong afterward.

Yet now, from an observer's perspective, Yu Muqiu finally understood what Xiao Bai had sacrificed.

Chen Xiaoxia might have been a bit slow on the uptake, but she was not stupid. With the two girls' reminders, she understood what those words meant as well.

But Chen Xiaoxia still harbored a sliver of hope.

"E-even if that's true, maybe... maybe Xiao Bai has a way to get her memories and knowledge back...? Maybe it's not as bad as we think..."

"Xiaoxia." Xiao Chun suddenly asked, "Can something you ate and digested ever be taken back out of your stomach?"

"..."

Xiao Chun's analogy was somewhat... crude.

But it was certainly easy to understand.

Once something had been eaten, aside from natural excretion, the only way to take it back out was to 'cut open your stomach' and remove it.

But doing that... a normal person definitely would not survive.

So the price was already obvious.

The knowledge and memories that had disappeared could not be recovered unless she died.

"That idiot!!" Once Chen Xiaoxia understood, she could not stop herself from cursing. "She always calls me an idiot! Yet she went and did something this stupid herself! Isn't that even dumber than me?! Next time I see her, I'm going to scold her to death! Idiot, idiot, idiot!"

"..."

No one paid attention to Chen Xiaoxia's outburst. The magical girls and Nino were all in heavy spirits.

They had originally believed the ending was perfect—a happy ending where everyone came out smiling.

But now—

(Damn! I knew there was going to be heartbreak!)

(Xiao Bai!! No, Xiao Bai!!!)

(Xiao Bai is so much stronger than Xiao Qiu and the others. How many memories and how much knowledge has she used up so far?)

(No! I don't believe it!)

(Hmm... if that's really the case, does that mean Xiao Bai's mental age is actually younger than Xiao Qiu and the others?)

"?"

Fang Ming, who was also watching the scene on the Sky Screen and the scrolling comments, slowly had a question mark appear over his head.

How... how had he not known he was this great?

Using knowledge to strengthen himself and memories to enhance his magic power—if even Fang Ming, who knew the truth, was nearly moved to tears by himself!

But he was not that great!

An ordinary Level 2 skill only took one month to relearn.

A Level 3 skill took roughly a year.

And that was while Fang Ming was learning other skills during that time. If he focused entirely on one skill and spent twelve hours a day improving it without stopping, it would take only one week to learn a skill and raise it to LV2.

Getting it to LV3 would take less than half a year.

Only magic power improved slowly. Otherwise, ordinary skills rose very quickly.

Fang Ming had indeed paid a price, but it was nowhere near as great as they imagined.

How had the Sky Screen's performance made him seem so noble?

"...Don't start something!"

Watching the Sky Screen turn Xiao Bai into a tragic character, alarm bells rang in Fang Ming's heart.

He had previously felt that the Sky Screen was on his side, but now he kept feeling as though it was holding back something huge...

[The battle began once again.

This time, it was a battle between the Songstress Witch and Xiao Bai.

Unlike the three magical girls, who shattered at the slightest touch, Xiao Bai truly was a magical girl the Songstress Witch took seriously. After her strength increased, she was actually evenly matched with the Songstress Witch!

The Songstress Witch did not dare underestimate Xiao Bai. She fired countless notes toward her, while Xiao Bai lashed back with her Chains.

Notes and Chains collided once more, playing a unique symphony across the battlefield.

The Songstress Witch stared at Xiao Bai and shouted,

"You paid such a terrible price just to protect three magical girls destined to die. Was it worth it?!"

"I can't be bothered talking to you. Die!"

In her berserk state, Xiao Bai's face held a little more bloodthirsty fighting spirit.

The scythe swung in her hands, and the ground around them began to tremble. Even larger scythes emerged from the void, transforming the entire Nightmare Barrier into a world of scythes and Chains!

This was the projection of Xiao Bai's Magical Armament!

With her strength further enhanced, she could now actually reach this level, turning the entire Nightmare Barrier into her own Magic Barrier!

The rising scythes crossed in the sky. Gigantic scythes transformed the entire world into a prison formed of blades.

Chains linked the scythes together. Even the amusement park ruins within the Nightmare Barrier were Severed by the scythes, only to be quickly connected again by Chains.

Xiao Bai gripped her Magical Armament with both hands. With a light swing, the scythe in her hand burst forth with a sharp, chilling gleam. Wherever its edge passed, every note shattered!

"If that's the case... then go regret it in hell along with them!"

After her initial shock, the Songstress Witch recovered as well.

She stopped holding back, because she could no longer afford to. Xiao Bai had sacrificed a great deal of memory and knowledge, converting it into power equivalent to a Mid-Tier Demon. Their strength was now equal. If she tried to hold back any longer, she might very well die at Xiao Bai's hands!

"Ah~~~~"