When the Music Fades

Larkspur had told Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang during lessons that a Magical Girl's Magic Armament could grow through acquired effort.

This claim was not without reason, for she herself was an example of it. When she first became a Magical Girl, her Magic Construct was actually not like this.

At that time, she lacked her current near-infinite number of threads, nor did she hold tailoring shears in her hands. She had only a sphere composed of magical threads; to use an analogy, its appearance resembled a ball of yarn.

Once the yarn ball unfolded, the number of magical threads it released was limited, their strength barely passable, and they possessed almost no lethality, only occasionally being used to restrict the movements of Aberrant Beasts. Such a weak Magic Armament had disappointed Lin Yun for a very long time; not only Anya, but even someone as self-indulgent as Su Shengzi had humored him with a few words of humanitarian comfort.

For a long time afterward, Lin Yun used his Magic Armament as a means to control enemies, fighting with basic magic techniques.

This state continued until he promoted to the Leaf Stage. After his Soul Meditation entered a state of fascination, he found that the strength of his magical threads had increased significantly. He could bind more powerful enemies and also make the magical threads sharp, directly cutting down weak Aberrant Beasts.

He began to specialize in combat styles centered around manipulating threads. The more he used them, the more proficient he became; the more proficient, the more they evolved; the more they evolved, the more powerful they grew. The number of threads increased day by day, and their strength became as firm as metal and stone.

However, such a fighting style had its limits.

As the strengthening of the threads themselves reached their upper limit, trying to increase the lethality of the Magic Armament became a struggle, and Lin Yun once again felt his own limitations.

Was there any other way to push himself further?

The past Lin Yun had pondered such things, desperately hoping to become stronger. Thus, seemingly in response to his wish, his Magic Armament underwent another transformation at that time—

The threads intertwined, closed in, and continuously deformed under Larkspur's control. As if pulled by a giant hand, they broke away from their original semi-veiled form and revealed a new appearance:

Fluorescent blue magical threads wove together to form a cube as exquisitely carved as a sculpture. Its center was hollow, protecting Larkspur herself within, and its surface was likewise covered in dense openwork patterns, making it look like a fragile piece of art.

The fish-shaped Aberrant Beast's strongest sonic attack was blocked by this seemingly fragile work of art.

"How exaggerated. If it were given a bit more time, I'm afraid what I would be seeing wouldn't be a Pupa Stage Aberrant Beast."

Larkspur released her hands, and the lines in her vision relaxed accordingly, the thread cube protecting her exterior dissipating as well. With a cold expression, she muttered softly, "Good thing I didn't arrive too late."

As soon as these words fell, the magical threads all over the sky emitted a low vibration.

Seemingly echoing the Aberrant Beast's previous grand performance, the harmonious resonance shifted from low to high. Immediately afterward, the magical threads connecting the entire cavern began to spin.

They spun, descended, and reaggregated, changing in an orderly fashion. Piles of hollow blades gathered from magical threads, looking completely devoid of lethality, emerged in mid-air along the inner walls. Floating blades grew more and more numerous until, finally, the fluorescent blue across the sky connected into a sea of light.

If the power of the threads was insufficient, then they would use the threads to weave cloth. If the cloth was too soft, then they would make the threads hard.

When the strength of the threads making up the "cloth" reached a certain level and their sharpness was superlative, the "cloth" would likewise become invincible.

Masterpiece—this was the name Larkspur had given to this form of the Magic Construct.

She had used this ability on the very night she rescued Lin Xiaolu previously, but back then she was only dealing with a Looper Tier Aberrant Beast, far from enough to make her unleash her full strength.

Now, she could wield it at will.

The fish-shaped Aberrant Beast in the center of the cavern had somehow been completely bound long ago, its mouthparts opening and closing, but its heavily compressed body could only emit a "roar" of airflow sounds.

Larkspur raised her hand, resting it once more on a few magical threads, and the surrounding sharp, buzzing sounds ceased with her movement.

The concert was over.

The pervasive fluorescent blue flew toward the central Aberrant Beast and the surrounding flesh chunks. With the speed of lightning, in the blink of an eye, only a chorus of "hissing" sounds could be heard.

The huge fish-shaped Aberrant Beast, the Egg Rank Aberrant Beasts all over the ground, and the originally active tentacles around them all turned into sky-fulls of debris under this single strike.

The cavern shook, and this space gradually disintegrated.

Amidst pools of sewage and rotting flesh, nebula-like points of light surged forth, rushing toward the palm of Larkspur's hand.

Upon reaching the Pupa Stage, the Echoes of Aberrant Beasts began to grow precious, capable of acquiring more contributions within the Kingdom, which also meant higher-quality resources.

These resources were useless to Larkspur herself, but they could undoubtedly help Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang elevate their strengths faster and grow capable of standing on their own sooner.

It seemed someone had calculated in the early years that under the premise of optimal resource allocation, only three Pupa Stage Echoes were needed, and the resources exchanged for them could guarantee the Blossoming of a Magical Girl with extremely low talent to the Leaf Stage. Considering that the Magical Girl herself would also undergo magic training and Soul Meditation, three was actually an overly abundant number.

Pity that Moko currently had no ability to connect with the Kingdom at all; if she wanted to exchange resources from the Kingdom's side, she would probably have to make a personal trip back next.

Thinking this, magic surged beneath Larkspur's feet, intending to rush directly out of this cavern at top speed.

Yet just before she left, she suddenly felt something and lowered her head, only to see that beside the remains of the Aberrant Beast, in the middle of the pool of water, there seemed to be a structure resembling an altar.

An altar?

The space on the verge of collapse did not support her continuing to linger, so she could only choose to imprint this sight into her mind. Larkspur cast one last deep look at the place, then no longer stayed, accelerating her flight to leave the cavern like a whirlwind.

The Pupa Stage Aberrant Beast was slain, so the nest it forged naturally dissipated without a trace. Therefore, as Larkspur left the cavern, she naturally also left the tangled spatial labyrinth from before. When she returned to reality, she found herself once again in a sewer of unknown location.

She continued flying, quickly and smoothly finding an exit. Flipping open the manhole cover and flying out from it, she thus left the stinking sewers and returned to the ground with fresh air after a long absence.

However, Larkspur's expression did not improve because of her return.

She fluttered down to land, pulling out her phone almost without a single pause. Upon confirming that she had reconnected to a signal, she immediately dialed a number.

"—Hello?"

Before long, a somewhat sleepy female voice came from the other end of the call: "In the middle of the night, what's wrong?"

"I think I need some explanation."

While making the call, Larkspur kicked a manhole cover by the roadside, making it drop precisely back into its original position:

"Just what else is your Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau keeping secret?"