Semi

"Location... complete, circuit... normal, magic... sufficient."

A faint, almost murmured voice echoed from the mountaintop. A petite Black Cat Fairy sat atop a towering stone tower, tracing the patterns on its surface with her paws, as if trying to confirm something.

It wagged its tail, its vertical pupils gleaming with a spiritual quality. Dark magical particles emanated from its body, making its already inconspicuous form even more elusive.

"... It's almost finished."

Ultimately, it came to this conclusion.

The ritual to destroy the City Barrier Network was ready. For it, the next step was much easier than the previous preparations; all it had to do was summon external magic to shatter the netting directly above.

As a Fairy who doesn't need to abide by human morality, it has no psychological burden regarding the potential disaster caused by "breaking the protective net".

Looking towards the distant mountainside, where the red and black magic still flickered with fluorescent blue and orange-yellow hues, and strange noises could be heard from time to time, it nodded and subconsciously sighed, "Although the kite is talking about backing down, it still doesn't skimp on its work."

"Well, since she's been holding on for so long, I should hurry up and finish my work."

Lowering its head, it gazed at the patterns on the stone tower, and seemed to be speaking to someone unsure of who it was talking to, "... Let them resent me if they want, anyway, I'm just a bad Fairy."

As it said this, the magic around it began to fluctuate unusually.

At that very moment, before it could officially begin the ceremony, a pale white flame grazed straight past its side.

"Stop it!"

"Meow!"

The sudden attack and shouts startled Semi. Ignoring the few hairs on his body that were burning, he kicked off the stone tower and landed on the ground.

After landing, it quickly rolled twice to extinguish the flames on its body before standing up, quite annoyed. "Who is it! So rude!"

Before it could utter another word, with a series of flashes of light, a group of magical girls of various shapes and sizes landed in front of it.

Its eyes widened, and after a quick count, it discovered that there were actually six magical girls in front of it.

"Stop what you're doing now and surrender immediately! Otherwise, don't blame us for using force!"

The azure-colored magical girl at the head of the group ignored Semi's questioning and declared solemnly, "If you have any other accomplices, call them out now. This is an ultimatum!"

She spoke with righteous indignation, as if she were the embodiment of justice, and after making a loud announcement, she lowered her head to try and see what the enemy she had just encountered looked like.

But she soon discovered that there was no one in front of her.

Looking up into the distance, I saw a small, dark shadow slip through the trees and bushes, fleeing towards the cliff.

"They escaped!" shouted Wood Lily beside her.

"Quick, after her!" Lin Xiaolu, who was behind her, had already grabbed her magic wand and rushed after her.

"Wait a minute, I think we should first find out what that strange device over there is for..." White Thistle tried hard to stop the two hotheads, but she was a step too slow. After shouting that, the two rushed out.

After a chaotic commotion, two more magical girls, belatedly realizing what was happening, took to the air and rushed forward in a disorganized frenzy. In the end, only White Thistle and Xia Liang remained in place, refraining from rashly giving chase.

She silently turned her head and met Xia Liang's gaze, receiving only a shrug and a helpless smile in return. They could only sigh at each other.

Semi, who was moving through the grass, was unaware of all this.

At this moment, it was running wildly while cursing the kite and her ancestors in its mind, and at the same time, it deeply regretted praising the other party for "not cutting corners" just a few minutes ago.

There were only nine people in total, how could they possibly let six slip through?

If Semi hadn't known for sure that Yuan wasn't a scheming person, Semi would have suspected that the other party was using someone else to do her dirty work—did this person even seem like someone she could handle?

But after running wildly for a while, as it calmed down and realized that the noise behind it was getting quieter, it couldn't help but stop.

Because it knew it couldn't just run away like that.

The stone tower prepared for the ritual was left behind. Although the magical girls might not know that the stone tower was the key to the ritual, it was hard to guarantee that no one would realize it.

Meanwhile, Yuri was still fighting the remaining three magical girls. Judging from the magical energy fluctuations in the forest, they were probably the strongest among these magical girls. In other words, the opponent was still buying time for her own actions.

If I just run away and leave the stone tower to those magical girls to destroy, then even if I survive, the operation is destined to fail, and even Iori might not be able to escape. In that case, I would really have lost both my wife and my army.

At that point, the leader would inevitably be extremely dissatisfied. Once the leader blames you, you would bear full responsibility, and the punishment and disciplinary action would be quite severe.

And the thought of the leader's possible punishment...

Semi silently turned around and looked in the direction he had come from.

Rather than being punished by the leader for poor performance, it's better to fight those magical girls from the start. At least in a fight, there's a chance of winning, while facing the leader only leads to death.

After it stopped, four magical girls who had followed closely behind appeared in front of it.

After Semi and the magical girls saw each other's true identities, they raised various questions.

"... Fairy?"

"Only four people?"

The magical girl, on the other hand, probably hadn't really thought that the enemy she would face would be a Fairy, and for a moment she was a little unsure.

Meanwhile, on Semi's side, upon discovering that only four people had come, it knew things were going badly, because it could easily guess where the other two were—definitely under the stone tower.

Although it had previously added protective Spell Formula to the stone tower as a precaution, there was no guarantee that the other party wouldn't use some strange methods to destroy the core of the ritual.

The thought of this made Semi feel like she was suffocating.

But it also knew that in this situation, it absolutely could not show weakness. If it appeared anxious, the other party would know that the stone tower was the core of the ritual, and that would truly be the end for it.

So it tried its best to remain calm, making its movements appear unhurried and elegant, and said in a affected tone, "Very good, this place is spacious enough, it's truly a suitable place for battle."

"Are you in cahoots with that magical girl with the Claw Mark?"

Standing at the front, Lin Xiaolu looked at the Black Cat Fairy in front of her with suspicion. "You're the one responsible for destroying Fangting City's protective netting?"

"Hmph, I have no obligation to answer your questions."

Semi wagged his tail and replied rather coldly, "Unless you defeat me here, you're destined to get no answers."

"What is this guy? So arrogant!" Lin Xiaolu couldn't help but click her tongue.

"Exactly! It's just a Fairy. There are four of us here!"

Wood Lily, standing to the side, also shouted, "You dare say you'll defeat you? Don't say we bullied you later!"

"No... that's strange."

Only the Mimosa looked serious, tugging at the sleeve of the Wood Lily beside her. "It's Fairy."

"Hmm? What's wrong? It really is Fairy." Wood Lily looked at the Mimosa, her face full of confusion.

"My sister said that Fairy would never betray the Royal Court."

Mimosa looked in Semi's direction and said, slowly and deliberately, "But the Claw Mark are all from traitors."

"Ah, you mean to say that Fairy like it are actually quite rare?"

Wood Lily nodded, understanding, and said, "Because very few Fairy would betray the Royal Court, it's a rare Fairy?"

That's not what I meant!

The Mimosa seemed a little annoyed, pouting as she tugged hard at the Wood Lily's sleeve, nearly pulling her to the ground. "Sister is right, it's not a matter of wanting or not wanting, it's a matter of not being able to!"

"Don't want to? Can't?" Wood Lily looked bewildered upon hearing Mimosa's words.

"You mean to say that there might be some secret about it?"

Lin Xiaolu naturally overheard their conversation, so she turned to look at Wood Lily: "Normal Fairy can't betray their Kingdom, so it must possess some kind of secret?"

"... I don't know." However, when it came to the real answer, Mimosa could only shake her head. "Fairy, I've only ever seen Polly."

The Polly she mentioned is Seeder from the Bai'an City, and it's actually quite common for most magical girls to only know Seeder Fairy from their own city.

"Secret?"

Hearing their conversation, Semi, who had been feigning arrogance, could no longer maintain her composure. "Huh? So these kids these days don't even know this kind of thing?"

"What do you want to say?" At this crucial moment, Lin Xiaolu was unusually calm and did not interrupt the other party, but continued to ask.

Even she had a premonition that the other party's subtext was probably some information that was very important to them.

"... Sigh, never mind. If you don't even know my background, there's really no point in fighting."

Semi licked her paws, straightened up slightly, and looked intently at the group of magical girls in front of her. "Then let me introduce myself. My name is Semi, and as you can see, I am a Fairy."

"However, unlike those pets you speak of kept in the Kingdom, I wasn't born in the Magic Kingdom, but rather from the Interrealm."

"In this world, Fairy are not only found in the Magic Kingdom."

Its words undoubtedly elicited a surprised reaction from the magical girls.

"Interrealm?"

"Are there Fairy in the Interrealm too?"

However, the reasons for their surprise differed from one another.

Whatever the reason for the surprise was, it didn't really matter anymore. At least, Bai Jingxuan, who was standing at the back of the group, gripped her magic wand with a somewhat solemn expression.

"... There's the smell of Aberrant Beast," she said softly, alerting the others.

"Not bad, very keen perception." Semi wagged her tail and continued, "Being able to sense this means you won't be caught off guard."

"What?" Its words naturally made Lin Xiaolu and the others realize that something was wrong.

But just a moment later, they all realized where this strange feeling came from.

Because Semi, who originally looked rather petite, about the size of a pet cat, had somehow been stretched out.

Just like stuffing cotton into a doll, its originally neat shape expanded in an incredibly distorted way. And when the doll didn't break because of too much stuffing, but instead grew bigger and bigger, it became what Semi looks like now.

Of course, it's not just about getting bigger.

Fangs, sharp teeth, and fur became more prominent as Semi's body swelled. The black fur on his body grew longer and longer, protruding outwards. His two eyes gradually moved closer together and eventually merged into one huge single eye.

The wagging Cat Tail also split into two thick, long tails, stretching straight up into the sky, just like two withered tree branches.

Strange patterns clung to its fur, blending seamlessly with the markings, as if they had been born onto the monster.

Without a doubt, what appeared before everyone was no longer a Fairy, but an Aberrant Beast.

Its appearance still bears a slight resemblance to a feline, but its enormous single eye and twin tails make it seem unlike any ordinary creature from the Material Realm. Whether judging from its appearance or the underlying magical aura, it is merely an Aberrant Beast.

"Even Fairy... have turned into Aberrant Beast?" For Lin Xiaolu, this was something she had never seen before in her life.

She had already seen humans turn into Aberrant Beast, and even witnessed what a magical girl named Iris, who had wielded the power of Aberrant Beast, looked like. But she never imagined that she would now be able to see Fairy who had turned into Aberrant Beast.

In fact, this fact had a far greater impact on her than the previous two.

Although she has tried her best to eliminate the influence of magical girl anime on her perception and has become increasingly aware that magical girls in reality are different from those in anime, the Fairy in her mind should still be "pure, kind, and cute little animals." Even a Moko at least follows this rule.

It could even be said that in Lin Xiaolu's mind, Fairy and "having combat abilities" have always been parallel lines that should never intersect.

Now, this perception has been shattered, and in the most brutal way possible.

A Fairy suddenly transformed into the magical girl's enemy, an Aberrant Beast, right before her eyes.

"I didn't want to use this form in a place like this; it's too conspicuous."

The one-eyed, Aberrant Beast opened its massive maw, and ink-black magic surged forth from it. "But since you've delivered yourselves to our doorstep, you might as well leave your lives behind."

It raises its head, it strides forward, its tails intertwined like two snakes, weaving a pair of complementary spirals in mid-air. And the end of the spirals points straight to the dark sky.

On what should have been a moonless night, a pale blue full moon had risen.

"Or rather, let yourself sink into my Nest."