Battle

"The Gem Scepter... the Sapphire... so that's how it is."

Not far from the battlefield, when Xia Liang heard what Moss said, he couldn't help but murmur in a daze.

Just now, while Larkspur and Moss were fighting, she and Lin Xiaolu were not idle. Instead, they took the opportunity to rescue Bai Jingxuan, who had been knocked down.

Bai Jingxuan's injuries were quite severe. Moss showed no mercy when dealing with her, knocking her unconscious with a single magic bullet, leaving her in a coma. Fortunately, her breathing is relatively stable, and her condition is not too serious.

"What? How did we get to the Gem Scepter?"

Lin Xiaolu, who was helping Bai Jingxuan who was lying on the ground, looked up after hearing Xia Liang's words, her face blank. "Who is Cornflower? Is she also a former teammate of Larkspur and Mom?"

Clearly, she's still completely out of the loop.

"Cornflower... that's the name of the last Sapphire remaining on Her Majesty's scepter."

Before Xia Liang could explain anything, Moko suddenly spoke up, "Her Majesty's scepter once had five gems: a ruby, an emerald, Sapphire, Diamond, and a cat's eye. Later, she bestowed four of them upon the magical girls she chose, and those magical girls thus became the Gem Scepter. Only the Sapphire was never given away and has remained on Her Majesty's scepter ever since."

"The name of the gemstone... you mean..."

Lin Xiaolu then belatedly opened her mouth wide. "The 'Cornflower' they were talking about is actually the Larkspur's..."

"Hmm, if the young senior accepts the identity of the Gem Scepter, then her current codename should be 'Cornflower'."

Xia Liang also gazed at the battlefield not far away with a complicated expression. "However, I still feel that something about this explanation is strange..."

The girls' discussion failed to affect the actual battle.

The purplish-black and azure-blue magic continued to clash fiercely high in the sky, the battle between Masterpiece and Spell Formula never ceasing. If it weren't for the Larkspur deliberately leading the battlefield into the air, the streets on the ground would probably have been razed to the ground long ago.

Despite Moss's questioning, Larkspur remained unmoved; in fact, her expression had long since become utterly indifferent, showing no change whatsoever due to Moss's words.

"You bunch of scum, the only things that surprise me are your moral bottom line and your intelligence capabilities."

"You're right that I refused the Sapphire Scepter; I am indeed dissatisfied with the arrogance of the Kingdom Royal Court. But how dare you, a piece of trash, criticize others?"

The blue threads coalesced once more in the Larkspur's hands, manifesting as a pair of two-handed swords. She looked up, her voice icy. "I'll say it again: don't make me laugh."

"If everything you've said is true, then your daughter is a respectable magical girl, and you may have once been a competent warrior of the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau. But none of that matters to you now."

"Treat the lives of ordinary people like dirt; treat the integrity of the upright as a plaything. From the moment you take the lives of the innocent, you have the appearance of a human being, but in reality, you are nothing but a monster."

"You keep talking about how much your daughter sacrificed and how indignant you felt for her. If you truly cared about her efforts and were truly unwilling to accept her fate, then when you turned your knife on those innocent and kind magical girls, did you still truly have your daughter in your heart?"

Slicing away the magic bullet that was about to hit her, Larkspur said coldly, "Stop insulting the sacrifices of others; you don't deserve it."

Upon hearing these words, Moss laughed again. But it was no longer her usual calm smile; instead, it was a ruthless and insane laugh, a hysterical, maniacal laugh.

"Hahaha! You actually want to mention my daughter to me?"

"My daughter is dead! She perished completely in the Great Beast Calamity and will never return! Since she is gone, what do I care about the rest of the world, whether they are wicked or virtuous?"

Her eyes widened, now cloudy and devoid of any light, and she said fiercely, "I only have one daughter. What are those ants and pigs that are left? Their lives have no value whatsoever in my eyes."

The magic of black and blue intertwines.

"... Then my view is absolutely correct."

Cease flying, Larkspur raised its Masterpiece in mid-air, its magical energy surging once more. "You really are nothing but utter scum, utterly worthless."

"Understand? I don't need your understanding."

Moss raised her head and laughed, "Actors only need to perform on stage according to the director's instructions. I never thought you could understand my true intentions."

"The stage, the audience, and the lead actors are all in place. The pre-show briefing is over. Now, it's time to present the real performance."

Beneath the purplish-black pillar of light, the Aberrant Beast, which had gradually returned to calm, had somehow floated onto Moss's head.

Its riddled cocoon was abandoned beside a pillar of light not far away. The Aberrant Beast had emerged from the cocoon had shrunk considerably, its body clean, and its white fur trembled slightly. It looked just like a newly hatched flying insect that had just emerged from its cocoon, waiting to awaken and spread its wings.

The Aberrant Beast Hover silently, just an arm's length above Moss's head, as if waiting for her next move.

"Cornflower, if you experienced that Great Beast Calamity, you should understand."

Raising her hand, she touched the Aberrant Beast above her head. Moss continued, "Just as life in this world has never been equal, Aberrant Beast never been equal to each other."

The Larkspur completely ignored her words.

When she saw the broken Aberrant Beast that Hover from its cocoon hovering above Moss's head, she silently activated her Masterpiece, lunged forward, and slashed fiercely at Moss's neck.

However, the Masterpiece, which had never failed before, melted before it even touched the Moss.

"Don't you understand? You can't stop it! The ritual was completed the moment I appeared here!"

Moss's smile held a hint of ruthlessness, mixed with a triumphant arrogance. "The power of the Beast Lord has descended upon me. Now, it is time for you to witness the glory that belongs to the Lord."

At this moment, the purplish-black pillar of light finally revealed its true form: a huge altar sitting on the ground, covered with countless intricate runes and various magical materials radiating intense magical energy.

With just one glance, Larkspur spotted the flesh and blood of Aberrant Beast among the mountain of materials, and mixed in with... the Heart Gem belonging to a magical girl.

"By the grace of the Lord and thanks to the might of the beast, in this age of the survival of the fittest, I will be the ultimate victor!"

Moss chanted aloud as if reciting an aria, and then loudly proclaimed:

"This is the time to eliminate the traitors and rebels!"

Thump.

As she finished speaking, the newly born, Aberrant Beast above her head subtly throbbed, emitting a sound like a heartbeat.

Thump.

The light on the altar intensified once more, completely enveloping Moss and the Aberrant Beast in its magical glow.

Thump.

--"Awoooooo!"

Moss let out a roar that was completely unlike a human's, and her human skin began to crack and peel away layer by layer, revealing tendons and muscles with visible blood vessels.

Her entire body turned to ashes amidst a heartbeat-like throbbing, and then the ashes swirled in the radiance, like a dark nebula.

Huge, yellowish-brown, fluffy wings unfurled from the pillar of light, adorned with some incredibly eerie patterns that were nauseating to behold.

Grotesque, slender, white-gray limbs emerged from the pillar of light, their segments adorned with countless interlocking spikes; even a single swing was terrifying.

A body tens of meters tall slowly emerged from the beam of light, its enormous compound eyes gleaming with a purplish-black light as it looked down at the Larkspur on the ground.

Giant moths floated in the air, suspended above the entire city.

It was already past midnight when the loud noise woke up the people who had been fast asleep. Many people whose homes were closer to the city center got out of bed and couldn't help but open their windows to look outside, where they saw the huge moth flying in the air.

Wow! What's that?

"Making a movie? Special effects?"

"That's Aberrant Beast, right? No, are there really Aberrant Beast that big?"

The people who had just woken up were unaware of the seriousness of the situation. In fact, because Fangting City had not seen any Aberrant Beast for several years, and the troublemakers in recent months had been dealt with promptly by the new generation of squads, many people had almost forgotten what it felt like to be attacked by Aberrant Beast.

However, this confusion is destined not to last long.

Because soon, people discovered that in addition to the enormous moths in the sky, countless Aberrant Beasts were also roaming the city.

From tiny moths to massive, several-meter-tall Aberrant Beast began to wreak havoc throughout Fangting City, starting from the city center.

In an instant, the initial doubts and teasing turned into screams and wails.

The night Full Moon Festival was filled with a peaceful and tranquil atmosphere that was utterly destroyed.

Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang, who were originally outside the battlefield, immediately rallied their spirits and began fighting against the low-level Aberrant Beast that had suddenly appeared. However, it was an impossible task for the two magical girls to quickly clear out the mountains and seas of Aberrant Beast.

Moreover, they also had to protect the unconscious Bai Jingxuan and the defenseless Moko, so they could only defend as much as possible and retreat while fighting.

"Was that huge thing in the sky transformed from that stinky old woman?"

Manipulating her silvery-white magic to drive away the Aberrant Beast around her, Lin Xiaolu gritted her teeth. "Damn it! If I weren't still unable to use my own Magic Armament, I would definitely go up and beat her up!"

You can't win.

Moko, perched on her shoulder, sighed helplessly, "Your perception is so poor, you still haven't realized that it's a molt?"

"Retreat?"

"It's a metamorphosis! It's the evolutionary level of Aberrant Beast! Have you forgotten already?"

"The one on top of the pupa?"

"There are only four levels in total, what else could it be?"

Moko patted Lin Xiaolu on the shoulder. "You really are an idiot!"

"Huh? You just remember a few more trivia facts than me, what are you so smug about?"

"Trivia? Hmph, do you know the biggest difference between a molted beast and an ordinary Aberrant Beast?"

What is it?

"..."

"Why did you suddenly become mute? Stop keeping me in suspense, you silly Fairy!"

"The biggest difference is that we have complete control over our own 'Rule'."

A strange voice suddenly appeared in Lin Xiaolu's mind, causing her to feel a sharp pain in her head.

She stared wide-eyed at the side and saw a giant moth Hover above her head, its eerie compound eyes looking down at her from high above.

In that instant, Lin Xiaolu felt as if she had almost forgotten how to breathe.

She could see the Aberrant Beast extend a segmented limb, the spiky limb falling towards her. But to the Aberrant Beast it was just a segmented limb, while to Lin Xiaolu it was like a toppled giant tree, leaving her no room to dodge.

"Don't even think about it!"

Another voice rang out from the air.

Azure magic surged wildly, Larkspur, carrying immense magical power, followed closely behind the Aberrant Beast. Grabbing her Magic Armament, she suddenly appeared like a streak of light, slashing at the Aberrant Beast's body.

Whether it was because her movements were too fast or because the Aberrant Beast did not notice her attack, this time, the Larkspur's Masterpiece was almost unimpeded and struck the Aberrant Beast with great ease.

The magic flowed from the blade of the Masterpiece, launching several more attacks at the giant moth. Blue light pierced through the Aberrant Beast's body and shone from its back.

The Larkspur's attack nearly cleaved the giant moth in two.

"Larkspur!"

Lin Xiaolu finally caught her breath. Seeing the Aberrant Beast, whose mere breath had made her breathless, so easily injured by the Larkspur, a hint of joy unconsciously appeared on her face.

But this joy didn't have time to turn into words of gratitude.

Almost at the same moment the Larkspur's magic struck the Aberrant Beast, the azure light completely vanished.

Whether it was the blade that pierced through the moth's body, the silk threads and Masterpiece made of magic by the Larkspur, or even the magic that the lark unintentionally revealed, everything vanished.

The magical flow that should have cleaved the Aberrant Beast's body turned into nothingness, as if it had never existed, leaving no trace of injury to the Aberrant Beast.

"Can you feel the difference, Cornflower?"

The Aberrant Beast's voice directly entered the minds of those present. It seemed to be laughing arrogantly, "Heh heh, but it would be too boring to completely defeat you now. The show has only just begun, so struggle a little longer."

The magic of annihilation flowed once more.

As the Aberrant Beast finished speaking, the azure magic that had vanished into thin air reappeared before everyone's eyes. However, this time, it was the Aberrant Beast that used it.

The process, though seemingly lengthy, actually took less than a breath. All the released magic was taken away, and before the Larkspur could even react to what had happened, she could only try her best to reorganize her situation, attempting to reassemble her Magic Armament and Spell Formula to form her own defenses.

But that's still too slow.

After disappearing and reappearing, the Masterpiece blade made of silk threads reversed its direction of attack and struck the Larkspur heavily at a speed that no one could see.

The Masterpiece of the Larkspur was woven with the standard of killing Aberrant Beast of the Pupa Stage and above. Both its sharpness and the Spell Formula structure mixed in were designed to easily cut through the Pupa Shell.

In terms of physical defense alone, the Aberrant Beast are far superior to magical girls. This means that an attack that can wound a pupa-level Aberrant Beast can certainly injure Leaf Rank or even some Blossom Rank magical girls whose physical strength is insufficient.

At this moment, in order to harm the Aberrant Beast that had clearly reached the Molt Stage, and more importantly, to save Lin Xiaolu in time, the Larkspur had no room for holding back at all.

--"Larkspur!"

Amidst Lin Xiaolu's gasp, the Masterpiece blade easily pierced through the petite body in mid-air.