Crisis

The moment her identity as "Cornflower" was revealed, Larkspur pursed her lips slightly and did not respond to the other party's provocation.

She neither admitted nor denied anything, nor did she show any intention of continuing the conversation. Instead, she slightly adjusted her posture and stared at the magical girl in front of her with a serious expression.

Compared to these trivial matters, the strength the opponent had just displayed was more alarming to her. The reason was simple: the opponent's attack was too fast and too stealthy.

Even the fluctuations of magic power were barely leaked. If it weren't for the fact that Larkspur reacted quickly enough, that probing attack alone would have caused an ordinary magical girl to suffer a silent loss.

Since the other party has chosen to attack, it is equivalent to putting their hostility on the open. Rhetoric and deception become meaningless, and what remains is only a contest of hard power.

But Larkspur knew her situation: she couldn't win.

She didn't believe the people with Claw Mark were a bunch of fools who would send a member with insufficient combat strength to seize the Beast Source. The magical girl in front of her, who called herself "Gladiolus," was a former Flower Card, so her current combat ability was definitely no less than that of Flower Card.

Flower Card mean that the opponent can definitely use Wonderland and Rule.

I have now completely lost the ability to normally unfold my Wonderland. Once I enter the realm of Rule combat with my opponent, I will inevitably fall into a huge disadvantage.

If she wanted to reverse this disadvantage, she only had one card left, but it was actually unusable—to destroy the final form of the Magic Armament Weave Destiny and overdraw the power of the threads.

But even the Larkspur itself knew that this was impossible.

The Magic Armament is inextricably linked to the magical girl's True Form. When the Magic Armament is completely destroyed, no one can say for sure what will happen to her. At best, her Mana Source might be destroyed along with it, and she would never be able to use magic again; at worst, she might become a vegetable or even die.

She couldn't possibly take that risk by using a tactic with uncertain outcomes.

While this approach certainly offers a high chance of defeating or even killing the enemy, it also inflicts heavy losses on oneself, a situation where killing a thousand enemies results in losing ten thousand of one's own, and has absolutely no connection to the concept of "winning."

Why aren't you saying anything? Surely I can't have guessed wrong?

Yuan put down her wine glass and tilted her head, exhaling a puff of white mist as the blush on her face faded somewhat. "Speaking of which, I have a feeling you're considering something quite dangerous, so I have to clarify beforehand: we don't necessarily have to fight to the death."

"Leaving aside the matter of the Beast Source, what I said before was not an empty promise. If you are truly Cornflower, our leader sincerely welcomes you to join us."

"After all, I can sense your magical fluctuations; you're probably in pretty bad shape right now, aren't you?"

As she spoke, Yuri slowly narrowed her eyes, her originally jet-black pupils abruptly transforming into double pupils of black and white. "The True Form, the Mana Source, and the Heart Gem —the structure that should be a unified whole has become misaligned. It's like a bucket with a hole, constantly leaking magic power outwards. A typical magical girl who looks like you is practically half-dead."

"Thank you for reminding me, but you don't need to trouble yourself."

The Larkspur coldly replied, "If your suggestion is to switch allegiances, I have no intention of turning myself into Aberrant Beast."

She wasn't entirely convinced that Claw Mark's technology could heal her injuries. After all, even the Research Institute's chief Emerald could only promise to mitigate the damage to a certain extent. How could Claw Mark possess technology far more advanced than the Research Institute's?

Even if such a possibility existed, it would inevitably come at the cost of betraying the Magic Kingdom, and she could never choose that path.

From a purely pragmatic perspective, Lin Xiaolu and the other two magical girls still have the power to transfer between classes under her control. She only managed to obtain this power by exploiting Chrysoberyl Cat's Eye's oversight, and only by continuing to be magical girls can she maintain this authority. Possessing this power is crucial to preventing the three girls from being unnecessarily dragged into the Kingdom's power struggles. If they accept this so-called invitation and join Claw Mark, then the transfer power will become meaningless; what protection will they receive then?

Among the younger generation are magical girls like Bai Jingxuan, whose situation is unique, and I had just made up my mind to guide her onto the right path. If I choose to join Claw Mark here, I will have no right to educate that child later.

From a moral and ethical standpoint, there is even less reason to join a notorious organization like Claw Mark.

Perhaps they weren't as morally depraved and inhuman as Black Ash Dawn. But after betraying their Kingdom, these rebellious magical girls committed numerous atrocities, including arson, murder, and looting, and were definitely not good people.

So, what she can do seems quite clear: stall.

They are at a significant disadvantage in terms of raw strength, and would most likely lose in a fight. Running away is also not an option— Fangting City is their home turf, and they have three juniors here; they can't escape. Therefore, the only remaining option is to stall for time.

The purpose of stalling for time was to wait for Emerald's assistance.

When the Magic Mirror call was interrupted earlier, Emerald clearly had something left unsaid, indicating that she likely had a plan. I've already informed her about the situation at the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau, and once they realize the enemy's actions, they'll most likely take countermeasures.

Before that, what I should do is try to buy time, prevent the battlefield from shifting, and ensure that reinforcements can arrive at the scene as soon as possible.

The implementation of this decision has resulted in a stalemate.

By adopting an attitude of skepticism, a mixture of hostility and trust, the other party is also placed in a choice between taking action and not taking action.

Each time Larkspur rejected a proposal, she never made a clean break, but deliberately left some openings for the other party to continue the conversation. At the same time, she displayed an attitude of "superficial rejection, but actually some wavering," giving the impression that there was hope for peaceful evolution.

When the other party mentioned her injuries, she implied that she valued her reputation more; when the other party suggested that she could secretly join them, she deliberately omitted the few advantages of doing so when refusing; when the other party listed these benefits, she then used flawed arguments to weakly refute them.

In the ensuing back and forth, she actually piqued Yuan's interest in talking, and what was supposed to be a confrontation inexplicably turned into a lecture on the topic of "the benefits of joining Claw Mark." Meanwhile, Larkspur spoke less and less, while Yuan spoke more and more. In the end, they even adopted a posture of putting their arms around each other's shoulders. If an uninformed person saw this, they might really think that the two had the same relationship that Yuan had previously boasted about, that they were "as close as sisters."

Time slipped away amidst the inexplicably off-topic conversation. Larkspur even had the leisure to secretly tap her phone a couple of times with a blank expression, warning her three juniors that a powerful enemy was approaching and they should not act rashly.

However, this delay is not without its costs.

She wasn't sure if it was because the other person had been drinking, or if the persuasive and coercive atmosphere itself gave off a strange vibe. After Larkspur deliberately feigned weakness several times to prolong the conversation, she felt that the nature of their dialogue was gradually changing.

Perhaps because the other person was relatively older, Larkspur always felt that Yuan treated her like a child. Their conversation, which started as trying to recruit people, became somewhat like a street urchin trying to trick an innocent child on the roadside.

If the conversation continues, it's likely that it will drag on until the afternoon without any results, but ultimately not everyone will fall into the trap set by Larkspur's rhetoric.

"Wait, Yuan, you just said that this Cornflower is in very bad condition?"

Just as their conversation was veerging further off course, Semi suddenly interjected, "So, in other words, she can't actually exert much of her strength right now?"

"Hmm? Ah, I'm sure."

Having already chatted quite well, Yuan reached out and patted Larkspur's head, nodding. "Even from this distance, I can feel the overwhelming flow of magic. Her control over her own magic is very weak; she can probably only unleash one-tenth of her full power."

"Then why are you still wasting your breath talking to her here!"

Semi pointed at the Larkspur and said, "The Beast Source is in her hands, and she's right here. What are you still negotiating with her for? Let's just capture her alive, and everything, both her and the beast, will be ours. Wouldn't that complete more than half of the mission? Can't we go back and report now?"

"That makes sense."

Yuan nodded thoughtfully, but then seemed somewhat hesitant. "However, I don't really want to take advantage of someone's vulnerability and fight an injured person. As the saying goes, 'A tiger fallen into the plains is bullied by dogs,' such a humiliating contest against a strong person is meaningless."

"I've already told you, stop arguing about your principles of fairness at a time like this!"

Semi said helplessly, "If we capture her and the leader finishes modifying her Mana Source, she can regain her former strength! Then you can have a fair fight with her, right?"

"... Ah, so there's another way."

The kite blinked and turned to look at the Larkspur: "Look, that's what it said."

Larkspur looked at the kite, then at Semi, and for some reason, felt a chill for the first time.

If the other party had previously shared a mixture of suspicion and doubt with him, then after Semi proposed this plan, the other party's gaze became purely aggressive.

It's like the big bad wolf eyeing the little white rabbit.

Although the other party's purpose is certainly not like that of a wolf seeking food, being brought before the leader of the Claw Mark like this probably won't end well.

Should we run away now?

This was the first time such a thought had crossed her mind, but before Larkspur could act, she noticed that Yuan had already put her arm around her shoulder, smiling as she said:

"Then, shall we go?"

"... I don't think I fully agree with your ideas yet."

Larkspur felt a chill run down her spine, but she suppressed the sensation and spoke calmly and coolly, "We may need to talk some more."

"It's alright, it's alright. We have a long walk back, so we'll have plenty of time to talk."

The kite spoke casually, then pulled out a pair of handcuffs from somewhere. "But you might have to make do with them for a while, just in case you cause trouble in the Wasteland."

Larkspur recognized them immediately; they were the same handcuffs Yuan had worn in the interrogation room. No one knew when she had stolen them, but surprisingly, none of the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau employees present realized it.

Looking at the handcuffs, Larkspur fell silent once again.

She knew very well that these handcuffs had little effect on a magical girl, but the magic-suppressing Spell Formula on them were genuine. If the other party truly possessed some related Spell Formula, or even knew some binding Spell Formula, they could modify them slightly, and once she put them on, she would have no chance of turning the tables.

However, if they disagree and a battle ensues, I have no chance of winning using only conventional methods. If I really lose, I'll most likely still become a prisoner.

So what should we do?

During the brief silence, Larkspur's mind raced, constantly proposing solutions, only to then refute and filter them. But when one's strength is at a complete disadvantage, any plan seems utterly powerless.

"Returning to the Magic Kingdom will restore much of our strength." Emerald's plan seemed perfectly reasonable at first glance. However, no one could have imagined that less than a month after the Full Moon Festival, an enemy of similar or even greater caliber than the Moth would appear in Fangting City.

Even the Larkspur, before it destroyed the scissors, couldn't guarantee victory against such an enemy, let alone now that its injuries have worsened.

Looking up slightly at those yin-yang-like double pupils, Larkspur's heart gradually turned cold. Her slightly clenched fist gradually loosened, and even showed a tendency to lift it.

Whoosh!

Just as she was about to choose to preserve her strength and hold onto her last glimmer of hope, a loud crash of shattering glass came from the window of the reception room.

"That's not necessarily true."

Strong winds from the upper floors of the building rushed into the room through the window, and along with the strong airflow, a figure rushed into the room at an extremely high speed.

Several Mana Beam shot out from the figure's hand, heading towards where Yuan was. Yuan calmly raised her hand to block, only to find that the simple Spell Formula was completely unable to stop the purplish-red magic, and the barrier was instantly pierced through.

With her eyes slightly narrowed, the magic around her suddenly froze. The originally invisible magic silently transformed into a strange pool of liquid metal, barely managing to stop the surging magical attack.

In that split second, the figure that rushed in through the window grabbed the Larkspur's legs and the back of her neck and pulled her to the other side of the room.

Amidst the scattered crimson magical light, the Larkspur slightly raised her head and saw a face that was somewhat familiar yet also somewhat unfamiliar.

It was a face I had seen not long ago, but which looked much younger.

Her fair face, delicate yet resolute expression, and low pigtails lying on either side of her neck, framed her purplish-red eyes beneath her bangs. Her eyes were slightly downturned, giving her a somewhat vulnerable air, but she remained unmoved while holding the Larkspur, her intense fighting spirit seemingly overflowing, making her slender figure appear incredibly upright.

"It's all over now."

She lowered her gaze, gave Larkspur a bright smile, and then uttered a sentence that only the two of them could understand. "Because, the magical girl has arrived!"

--"Magical Girl, Letter Card Authentication Number 41422, Morning Glory, Protection Mission Begins!"