Chapter 231

As the explosion of colliding magic rang out once more, Mimosa even felt the passing air currents ruffle her hair. She instinctively turned her head, but saw nothing.

In her perception, the sound just now seemed to be coming right next to her ear, so real, but when she actually looked with her naked eye, she couldn't see anything at all, as if it was all just her own illusion.

But she knew it couldn't be a hallucination.

She was with her companions not long ago, but they were all separated when the other side opened its Nest. If hallucinations really exist, then the hallucination must be the reality of "teammates disappearing," not the sounds and air currents she felt.

However, even knowing this, she was still powerless to change the current situation.

She couldn't see her teammates or the enemies that were right in front of her. It was as if she had been thrown into a parallel world. Although the scenery around her was the same as when she came, everything else was so wrong.

She reached out, enveloping her palm in magic, and carefully touched the tree trunk. The sensation at her fingertips told her: this was indeed a real tree.

So, what exactly is my current situation? Have I been transported to an alternate dimension that is highly similar to reality? Or have I been subjected to some kind of illusion? Or am I simply experiencing a cognitive impairment?

What exactly is the enemy's intention in doing this? Are they simply stalling for time? Or are they trying to pick them off one by one? Perhaps while I'm leisurely exploring here, some of my companions have already been defeated by the enemy?

She couldn't help but have this guess.

If her guess was true, then the situation would be really bad—she knew very well how capable her teammate, Wood Lily, really was; if she encountered Aberrant Beast that was clearly at the pupa level or higher, she probably wouldn't last two minutes.

As for the two magical girls from Fangting City... the one named White Rose was able to defeat White Thistle, so she must be quite strong. But what about that elementary school student? Can that kid hold his own?

Thinking about it this way, she suddenly felt that the burden on her shoulders had become much heavier, because the task of breaking the deadlock might very well fall on her shoulders.

"Paiyan."

She softly called out the name of her Magic Armament, grasped the tambourine that appeared in her hand, and gently struck it. The magical sound patterns immediately spread outwards, scanning every inch of the land around her like radar.

She wanted to try and see if she could find any clues from the marks around her.

Lin Xiaolu clutched her abdominal wound, hiding behind a tree trunk and holding her breath as much as possible.

Pale blue magic power was constantly emanating from her torn abdomen. She could feel a significant portion of the magic power in her body flowing towards the wound, seemingly intending to repair it, but unfortunately, she didn't have that kind of power right now.

Because the Aberrant Beast's breathing was nearby, she had to ensure she could always muster enough magic to deal with its attacks.

After the series of exchanges just now, she had confirmed one thing—in a one-on-one fight, she was no match for her opponent.

This didn't actually surprise her. After all, the other party was Aberrant Beast that had already taken control of the Nest and even seemed to have mastered the Rule. For someone of her species level to want to defeat it alone was simply wishful thinking.

Moreover, let alone a direct confrontation, even escaping would be difficult for him. His opponent possessed some kind of unfathomable sensory ability, making it hard for him to escape their pursuit.

If she hadn't had the quick thinking to pretend she was ready to fight to the death and then hide during the magical clash, she would probably be lying on the ground by now.

This clever trick didn't come without a price—she used up half her magic power in the fight, suffered severe injuries, and now looks like she's about to be found again.

By then, the opponent will likely defeat me directly, and I won't have the chance to use the same trick again.

So, what can I do now?

She couldn't help but ask herself this question.

If a one-on-one fight is unwinnable, then the only chance of victory lies in a group brawl. However, Semi is clearly not stupid; it uses Rule to isolate all the magical girls present, precisely to eliminate the possibility of a group brawl.

In other words, the best way to defeat Semi is to break its Rule.

"Breaking the Rule"—these four words sound so easy, but how easy is it to actually do them? Right now, she doesn't even know what the other party did or what methods they used to make her companion disappear, so how can she break the Rule?

Thinking this, Lin Xiaolu closed her eyes with a slight sense of dejection. She was once again annoyed that she couldn't use her Magic Armament. If her abilities weren't so limited, she probably wouldn't have ended up with no information after fighting her opponent.

If a battle is like two people playing cards, Turbidification has certainly given her more ways to play her cards, she currently has no cards left to play, so even the most fancy techniques can't change anything.

Thinking this, she shook her head slightly, then stood up, leaning against the tree trunk.

She had already heard it; Semi's breathing had stopped behind her.

"Aren't you going to hide it anymore?" Semi asked.

"They've already been discovered, what's the point of hiding anymore?"

Lin Xiaolu pursed her lips. "What's the point of deceiving yourself?"

"In that case, perhaps I can send you on your way without you even knowing."

Semi raised his claws, their sharp edges gleaming coldly. "Although I actually have some questions for you, if it weren't for the current situation, I might have spared your life. But unfortunately, I'm in a hurry right now."

"In a hurry... Ha, all they want is to cause a disaster and slaughter ordinary people, as if they're doing something important."

Lin Xiaolu sneered, "Those guys from Black Ash Dawn before were the same. They always spouted empty words like 'I am the only one who is righteous' and 'for my own pursuit,' but in reality, they did all sorts of inhumane things. They were hypocritical to the extreme."

"... Don't confuse us with the Black Ash Dawn group. You have no idea what Claw Mark is up to."

Semi paused, then continued, "You magical girls are the ones who blindly follow the Kingdom for some wishful thinking, unaware that you have already become accomplices to evil."

"Larkspur told me not to pay attention to what a person says, but to pay more attention to what they do."

Lin Xiaolu raised her wand, and blazing white magic began to gather. "If killing civilians and destroying cities is called 'justice,' and protecting the weak is called 'evil,' then I am now the enemy of 'justice.'"

"It doesn't matter, I don't care about the opinions of the weak."

Semi said indifferently, then suddenly swung his claws forward. "An ideal without the guarantee of power, justice without the foundation of power, is nothing but empty talk, fragile and vulnerable."

The giant claw descended, raising clouds of dust.

--Ding!

However, what rang out was not the explosive sound of magic colliding, but the crisp sound of some hard object colliding.

The giant claw from the Aberrant Beast clashed squarely with Lin Xiaolu's magic wand, and for a moment neither could gain the upper hand.

"The wand... blocked my attack?"

Semi couldn't help but doubt his eyes, repeatedly confirming that he really wasn't seeing things.

You have to understand, it didn't hold back at all just now, using eight or nine tenths of its strength, all for the sake of defeating the enemy in one move. Such an attack should not have been blocked by a magical girl who is not even at the Leaf Rank with her wand.

As a manifestation of magical girl's magic, the wand is actually defined as a "prototype of Magic Armament." Its strength is barely enough to deal with Aberrant Beast of the Egg Rank or Looper Tier, but when it comes to Aberrant Beast of the Pupa Stage or above, the wand's strength is completely insufficient to withstand their attacks.

Although the strength of a wand increases along with the magical girl's power, the increase is not significant. Generally speaking, only a budding magical girl can use her wand to block an attack from Pupa Stage Blossom Rank, and only Flower Rank magical girl can use her wand to withstand an attack from a metamorphosis-level enemy.

So, does this magical girl before it actually possess abilities at the Blossom Rank?

Semi simply didn't believe it.

But soon, it no longer had time to think about such questions.

Because it discovered that the wand that had blocked its attack had somehow grown longer.

Can the shape of a magic wand change?

Semi is not a magical girl, nor has she ever deliberately studied magical girls' wands, but based on her past involvement in the war with the Kingdom and her subsequent experience at Claw Mark, she has never seen anything like it.

But it knew that now was the time for battle, and it shouldn't be distracted during a battle, even if the enemy was weaker than itself.

So it quickly regrouped, arched its back once more, and launched a full-force attack on the opponent.

Clang!

Then, its attack was blocked by Lin Xiaolu once again.

This time, after blocking the attack, Lin Xiaolu's wand underwent a change in shape—its tip seemed to become even sharper.

Lin Xiaolu herself was completely unaware of all of this.

More than these external changes, what she could feel now was a strong emotion, an overflowing rage.

"When I first became a magical girl, I always thought that the Aberrant Beast were our greatest enemy."

She spoke in a hoarse voice, "Because the Aberrant Beast are destroying the city, the Aberrant Beast are killing humans, so as long as all the Aberrant Beast invading the city are defeated, as long as Aberrant Beast attacks no longer cause tragedy, then the magical girl's mission will be complete."

"And if a magical girl can do these things, she can definitely make her city a better place, and she can definitely hold her head high and say that she is 'amazing'."

"Really, that's always been my thought."

She waved her wand, steadily blocking all of Semi's attacks, yet seemed oblivious to their impact. "But later, after I learned about the Black Ash Dawn and your existence, I realized that things weren't so simple at all."

"Humans have become Aberrant Beast, Fairy have become Aberrant Beast, magical girls have become Aberrant Beast... It's as if Aberrant Beast are nothing more than props to you, as if becoming Aberrant Beast brings you no psychological burden whatsoever."

In the fierce clashes, her wand grew longer and longer, and each time she blocked an attack, the corresponding part of the wand would fade, changing from light blue to white.

"You casually mention 'murder' and make decisions to destroy cities with ease. Even the Aberrant Beast attacks couldn't easily kill that many ordinary people, yet you always manage to cause even more outrageous destruction than the Aberrant Beast."

"Power, power, power, every single one of you is saying that word."

She gritted her teeth, practically forcing out the words: "Because possessing power is right, because pursuing power is right, because believing in power is right—I've heard it so many times, I'm sick of it."

"You trample human lives underfoot just for the sake of so-called power. What difference is there between you and Aberrant Beast?"

"Pursuing your so-called dreams at the expense of others—what morality do you have compared to that of Aberrant Beast?"

Forcing Semi back once more, she took a sudden step forward, then reversed her grip on her wand and held it upright behind her back. "If you really think you're some kind of powerful being, if you really think you're the only ones who are righteous, then stop making fun of ordinary people every day. Why don't you go and challenge the evil you speak of?"

"If that's not possible, then at least, at least..."

She raised her head and shouted hoarsely, "Can you please stop launching terrorist attacks every time someone's on a holiday? Don't you know how annoying you are?!"

At this moment, her wand, which looked pitted and completely white, burst into flames in her hand.

The last trace of color on the staff faded in the blazing white flames, and the flames, like a skilled craftsman, outlined intricate patterns on the staff's surface, only to cleverly converge again when they reached the end of the staff.

At the tip of the wand, the original decorations gradually melted away in the flames, and a bright white gem rose from it, settling on the wand. Then, a series of intricate decorations spiraled around the gem, enveloping it securely inside.

The spot where her hand was holding slowly sank into several grooves, each containing a transparent crystal. One of them shimmered with a fiery white light, while the others were completely transparent, showing no color whatsoever.

After the transformation, her wand became more of a scepter than a magic wand.

A scepter inlaid with white gemstones.

With it came the name of the magic wand—no, it should be called the Magic Armament —which, as if it had always existed, was firmly imprinted in Lin Xiaolu's heart.

In the blink of an eye, she had learned everything about her Magic Armament.

"King's Key."

Then she spoke, Shared Fate, instructing the scepter in her hand. "Form unfold, Guard Form."

The next second, the pristine white scepter was stained with color.

Of the crystals on the scepter, the one that had been shimmering with a brilliant white light suddenly went out, turning colorless, while the other colorless crystal lit up and turned light blue.

The scepter in her hand also changed along with the color of the crystal, turning into a light blue staff almost instantly, and then its length was stretched again until it exceeded Lin Xiaolu's own height.

A light blue spear appeared in her hand.

As if she had no formal training, she twirled her spear, performing a few stylish flourishes, then charged towards Semi in a few quick strides—

Sizzle

Then, because the gun was too long, it pierced the ground, and he fell face down.