Recaps

Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang tracked Moko to Fangting City No. 1 Welfare Institute, where they found a Magic Barrier and uncovered a plot to hunt magical girls. The black-robed man transformed into an Aberrant Beast, leaving them facing a dangerous enemy while Larkspur remained unreachable.

• Lin Xiaolu grew suspicious when Moko stayed away, and Xia Liang got Larkspur’s permission to investigate its location near Fangting City No. 1 Welfare Institute.
• Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang found a Magic Barrier around the welfare institute and failed to break it with Mana Beams.
• Xia Liang used Diversion to redirect mana and open a passage through the barrier, and the two entered to find Moko and a black-robed man.
• The black-robed man revealed that he knew about the magical girls, mentioned Worker Contact Eleven, and implied that his group hunted them for their Heart Gems.
• Lin Xiaolu connected the attack to an earlier trap at Wetland Park, and the man pressed the Beast Viscera to his chest and transformed into an Aberrant Beast.

Lin Yun prepared to resign from his office job so he could focus on magical girls and support Lin Xiaolu, while considering recruiting new girls. As he spoke with Wang Tengfei about leaving, a smiling girl in black appeared outside the seventeenth-floor window.

• Lin Yun used his tracking Spell Formula to locate Moko and shared her location with Xia Liang and the other girl.
• Lin Yun resolved to support Lin Xiaolu as a magical girl and considered building a team for her after resigning.
• Lin Yun finished organizing his desk and prepared to leave his job after nearly ten years.
• Wang Tengfei tried to persuade Lin Yun to stay, but Lin Yun maintained that he needed to resign for personal reasons.
• Lin Yun noticed a smiling girl in a black skirt outfit standing outside the office building's seventeenth-floor window.

Lin Yun recognized that the black-skirted magical girl attacking Fangting City was hostile, while Larkspur confronted her in the air. The attacker, Sparrow of Claw Mark, weakened Larkspur’s barrier with purple-black magic and blasted through it, leaving Larkspur’s fate unclear.

• Lin Yun spotted the black-skirted girl outside the office and realized she was aiming an attack at the building.
• Lin Yun warned Wang Tengfei to get down and rushed toward the windows as the blast struck the building’s edge.
• Larkspur intercepted the girl and demanded that she explain why she had come to Fangting City.
• The girl introduced herself as Sparrow, a former Finance Institute magical girl called Golden Bell, and identified her group as Claw Mark.
• Sparrow revealed that she knew Larkspur had once been Lady Cornflower and attacked her with a beam of magic.
• Sparrow infused the beam with purple-black magic, shattered Larkspur’s barrier, and pierced through her.

Larkspur and Sparrow continued their aerial battle, with Larkspur learning that Sparrow’s mana had unusual corrosive properties. Sparrow avoided Larkspur’s thread-based tactics and closed in for a sudden attack.

• Sparrow taunted Larkspur after her opening attack, while Larkspur survived behind her Masterpiece, Aegis of Protection.
• Larkspur questioned Sparrow about her corrosive mana, but Sparrow refused to share information and fired another Mana Beam.
• Larkspur tried to steer Sparrow toward buildings where her mana threads would be effective, but Sparrow moved toward open space.
• Larkspur followed Sparrow into the sky, where they exchanged mana attacks as Sparrow used her greater reserves and speed to pressure her.
• Sparrow closed to within ten meters of Larkspur and invoked “Sparrow, Magic Construct Extraction.”

Larkspur caught Sparrow with a substitute doll and struck her with her Cestus of Heavy Blow, but Sparrow survived and transformed into her Half-Beast Form. Sparrow then overwhelmed Larkspur while attacking nearby civilians and taunted her about the damage to her Heart Gem.

• Sparrow's flying claw pulled Larkspur toward it, but Larkspur escaped with a substitute doll and appeared behind Sparrow.
• Larkspur struck Sparrow with her Cestus of Heavy Blow, sending her crashing into a crater, and prepared to call for help.
• A sparrow knocked Larkspur's phone away, and Sparrow rose from the crater in her Half-Beast Form.
• Sparrow unleashed corrosive magic and tiny magical bullets toward the onlookers, while Larkspur shielded the pedestrians and fought her off.
• Sparrow's greater speed and magical power gave her the advantage, and she asked why Larkspur was not deploying her Wonderland.
• Sparrow struck Larkspur with her flying claw and taunted her about rumors that her Heart Gem had been damaged during the defense of the Garden.

Sparrow revealed why she had targeted Larkspur: Black Ash Dawn had hired her to occupy Fangting City’s Magical Girl Squad while they pursued their own plans. After Sparrow threatened Larkspur’s companions, Larkspur abandoned her defenses and declared that she could defeat Sparrow without Wonderland.

• Sparrow recalled how she had identified the blue Magical Girl as Cornflower and prepared to capture her for profit.
• Sparrow explained that Black Ash Dawn had asked her to keep Fangting City’s Magical Girl Squad busy, especially the blue-haired Magical Girl.
• Sparrow taunted Larkspur by claiming her companions might be in danger, and Larkspur discovered that her tracking Spell Formula on Moko had failed.
• Larkspur stopped defending herself, assessed Sparrow’s abilities, and admitted her current condition was poor.
• Larkspur told Sparrow she did not need Wonderland to beat her, then unleashed a powerful surge of azure mana.

Wang Tengfei recognized the blue magic as the return of Cornflower, the Magical Girl he had admired in his youth, and watched as Larkspur defeated Sparrow. Sparrow’s True Form lay unconscious on the ground as Larkspur landed nearby.

• Wang Tengfei left his office and ran toward the blue glow, recalling how Cornflower had rescued him when he was young.
• Wang Tengfei saw blue magic protecting buildings and confirmed that Cornflower had returned.
• Larkspur chased Sparrow through the city with a tide of blue magical threads while Sparrow struggled to escape.
• Larkspur formed blades from the threads and overwhelmed Sparrow’s black magic wings.
• Sparrow fell unconscious in her True Form, and Larkspur landed beside her.

Larkspur captured Sparrow after unleashing her full magic despite her severe injuries, then contacted Hong Siyu for help. After borrowing a phone from Wang Tengfei, she was recognized as Cornflower and then as Old Lin.

• Larkspur used the Anti-Magic Technique to seal the unconscious Sparrow and decided to summon the Investigation Institute.
• Larkspur recalled that her damaged True Form and shattered Heart Gem prevented her from deploying her Wonderland, and that unleashing her full power had worsened her injuries.
• Larkspur asked a passerby for his phone and recognized him as her general manager, Wang Tengfei, who identified her as Cornflower.
• Larkspur called Hong Siyu, reported Sparrow's location, and gave her instructions for guarding the captive.
• Wang Tengfei asked whether Larkspur was Old Lin, and Larkspur replied that working in normal society required some disguise.

Wang Tengfei recognized Cornflower as Larkspur and watched her fly off after urging her not to disappear again. At the welfare institute, Lin Xiaolu’s anger awakened powerful silver-white mana just as the Aberrant Beast moved to kill her.

• Wang Tengfei guessed that Lin Yun had been Cornflower’s identity, and Larkspur gave him an ambiguous answer before preparing to leave.
• Wang Tengfei shouted his support for Cornflower and asked her not to disappear again, and Larkspur waved before flying toward the horizon.
• At Fangting City No. 1 Welfare Institute, Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang struggled to hurt the Aberrant Beast while Bai Jingxuan worked to dismantle the barrier.
• The Aberrant Beast struck Xia Liang into a wall and charged at Lin Xiaolu as the barrier’s last structural points remained.
• Lin Xiaolu recalled Larkspur’s encouragement, felt silver-white mana surge through her, and confronted the Aberrant Beast in anger.

Lin Xiaolu used the White Magic Power to defeat the Aberrant Beast, but its transformed host escaped and tried to flee the district. A blue-haired magical girl intercepted and killed him, while the chapter ended with the author announcing a reader group.

• The Magic Barrier shattered, and Tian Sheng fainted from exhaustion as Bai Jingxuan and Moko celebrated.
• Lin Xiaolu blocked the Aberrant Beast’s attacks with her wand and wounded it with White Magic Power, forcing it to flee.
• Xia Liang directed Lin Xiaolu to use mirrors to redirect a Mana Beam, which pierced the Aberrant Beast’s chest and restored the man’s human form.
• The man used a burst of poisonous blood mist to escape Lin Xiaolu and fled across the rooftops toward the district’s outskirts.
• The man tried to evade an approaching blue figure by diving toward the crowd, but the blue-haired girl pierced him with an azure charge and killed him.
• The author announced reader group number 598047793.

Larkspur arrived at the welfare home after the battle and mistakenly thought Xia Liang had died, only to discover she was alive and recovering. She learned that Lin Xiaolu and the others had defeated the enemy, and praised her daughter for her role in the victory.

• The black-robed men fled or surrendered after their leader was defeated, while rescuers evacuated most of the welfare home's elderly residents and children, though some caregivers and security personnel died.
• Larkspur reached the battle site and found Xia Liang being treated by a green-haired magical girl while Lin Xiaolu watched nearby.
• Lin Xiaolu explained that Xia Liang had protected her, and Larkspur mourned Xia Liang until Xia Liang woke and clarified that she was not dead.
• Xia Liang teased Larkspur for thinking she had died, and Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan realized what had happened.
• Xia Liang told Larkspur that Lin Xiaolu had been the battle's great hero, and Lin Xiaolu confirmed that they had defeated the enemy.
• Larkspur recognized Lin Xiaolu's achievement and told the girls she was proud of them.

After the crisis, Larkspur met welfare institute director Liu Wenqin to learn more about Bai Jingxuan. Liu recognized Larkspur as the long-remembered Magical Girl Cornflower, and their conversation turned to the team’s history in Fangting City.

• The Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau secured both incident sites, arranged cleanup and investigations, and prepared to interrogate Black Ash Dawn while Sparrow awaited investigators from the Magic Kingdom.
• Fangting City's Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau sent information about Sparrow and Claw Mark to the Kingdom Investigation Institute, which agreed to dispatch an investigative team.
• Larkspur met Liu Wenqin at the welfare institute to discuss Bai Jingxuan and apologized for the bureau’s failure to arrive sooner.
• Liu Wenqin asked whether Larkspur was Cornflower, and Larkspur confirmed that she was the Magical Girl from twenty years earlier.
• Liu Wenqin recalled that her daughter had admired Cornflower and asked about the former Fangting City team members, including Cherry Blossom and Lanxiang.

Larkspur learned about Bai Jingxuan’s painful past and promised Liu Wenqin she would guide the new magical girl. On the ride home, Lin Yun considered his resignation and how to mentor Bai Jingxuan, deciding to speak with her first.

• Liu Wenqin gave Larkspur Bai Jingxuan’s medical and orphanage records and explained her worries about the girl’s grief and hatred of Aberrant Beasts.
• Larkspur promised Liu Wenqin that she would guide Bai Jingxuan as a senior magical girl and help her grow.
• Liu Wenqin said she would eventually forget the magical girls and Bai Jingxuan’s transformation, thanked Larkspur, and asked for Cornflower’s autograph.
• Lin Yun rode the light rail home, thought about his resignation and the magical girls’ training, and decided to talk with Bai Jingxuan first.

Larkspur spoke privately with Bai Jingxuan to learn about the new Magical Girl and discovered that Anya had once saved her. Larkspur concealed Anya’s death, hoping to protect Bai Jingxuan’s positive feelings about Magical Girls, as Anya’s death anniversary approached.

• Larkspur brought Bai Jingxuan to the dining room and asked about her personality and abilities as an Offsetter.
• Bai Jingxuan asked whether Fangting City had a pink-haired Magical Girl and explained that the girl had saved her during an Aberrant Beast attack three years earlier.
• Larkspur realized Bai Jingxuan meant Anya, also known as Cherry Blossom, and struggled with whether to tell her that Anya had died.
• Larkspur told Bai Jingxuan that Cherry Blossom had left Fangting City two years earlier, and Bai Jingxuan looked disappointed.
• Bai Jingxuan asked where Cherry Blossom had gone, and Larkspur said she might be somewhere carefree before remembering that the next day was Anya’s death anniversary.

On Anya’s death anniversary, Lin Yun and Lin Xiaolu visited her grave, where Lin Xiaolu shared her life as a magical girl and reaffirmed her resolve to protect others. They left the cemetery with their relationship warmer, while Lin Yun silently accepted his decision to return and face his past.

• Lin Yun and Lin Xiaolu drove to the cemetery and left flowers and a necklace at Anya’s gravestone.
• Lin Xiaolu told Anya about becoming a magical girl, meeting Larkspur, and defeating a powerful enemy.
• Lin Yun silently told Anya that he had decided to return and face what he had long avoided.
• Lin Xiaolu vowed to keep walking the path of a magical girl, find her mother’s killer, and protect her companions, Larkspur, and Lin Yun.
• Lin Yun encouraged Lin Xiaolu, and the two left the cemetery chatting about what to eat for lunch.

A special investigation squad from the Kingdom arrived in Fangting City to take Sparrow back for her defection and ties to Claw Mark. As Sparrow was taken away, Cat Tail revealed that someone wanted to speak with Larkspur through a Magic Mirror bearing a Chrysoberyl.

• Cat Tail introduced herself and her squad to Larkspur, then Hong Siyu led them into the special containment facility.
• Cat Tail told Larkspur that Claw Mark had grown into an active force after the Great Calamity and Celebration nineteen years earlier, after Larkspur had ceased her activities.
• Hong Siyu opened Sparrow’s cell, and the investigators shackled her and took her away to face interrogation and sentencing in the Kingdom.
• Cat Tail explained the possible punishments for Sparrow and said the Kingdom might lessen her sentence in exchange for useful information about Claw Mark.
• Cat Tail presented a Magic Mirror with a Chrysoberyl and told Larkspur that someone wished to speak with her.

Larkspur spoke with Chrysoberyl Cat's Eye through a Magic Mirror after completing the handover of Claw Mark. Chrysoberyl revealed that Tea Rose had died fighting a high-ranking member of Black Ash Dawn.

• Larkspur used the Magic Mirror to contact Chrysoberyl Cat's Eye, the Investigation Institute's Director.
• Chrysoberyl confirmed that Larkspur had completed the prisoner handover assignment involving Claw Mark.
• Chrysoberyl asked Larkspur to ensure no unauthorized listeners were present, and Larkspur sent Hong Siyu away.
• Chrysoberyl told Larkspur that Tea Rose had joined the Investigation team in Binhai City and died covering the rear during a battle with a high-ranking member of Black Ash Dawn.

Larkspur learned that Black Ash Dawn had helped attack Fangting City and was involved in Tea Rose’s death. She decided to stay in the city to train its newcomers, keep her return quiet, and investigate Chrysoberyl Cat’s Eye’s hint about Moko.

• Chrysoberyl Cat’s Eye told Larkspur that Black Ash Dawn, an organization seeking to overthrow the Magic Kingdom, had joined Claw Mark in attacking Fangting City and had been involved in the attack on Magical Girl Cherry Blossom.
• Chrysoberyl Cat’s Eye reported that the other Magical Girls from Fangting City were still serving and said Margaret had applied to transfer there after learning of the attack.
• Larkspur refused to see Margaret or other old friends and said she would stay in Fangting City to train the newcomers before deciding what to do next.
• Larkspur confirmed that she would not go to the Kingdom and did not want others to know she had returned.
• Before ending the call, Chrysoberyl Cat’s Eye told Larkspur that Fangting City’s Seeder, Moko, might be keeping some harmless secrets.

As summer vacation ended, Larkspur trained Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan, struggling to help Lin Xiaolu reproduce her destructive White Magic Power and keep Bai Jingxuan safe in battle. Lin Xiaolu grew jealous of Larkspur’s growing closeness with Bai Jingxuan, and the chapter ended with Larkspur taking Bai Jingxuan away while Lin Xiaolu froze at the shut door.

• Larkspur investigated Lin Xiaolu’s missing White Magic Power but could not determine how to make it return.
• Larkspur discovered that Bai Jingxuan’s green magic power could heal injuries to the True Form, while repeatedly intervening in her reckless battles against Aberrant Beasts.
• As summer vacation neared its end, Larkspur spent more time tutoring Bai Jingxuan, leaving Lin Xiaolu feeling jealous despite telling herself the extra attention was necessary.
• Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang watched television and discussed Larkspur’s attention to Bai Jingxuan, then saw Larkspur escort Bai Jingxuan out.
• Larkspur told Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang to rest and meet her at Xia Liang’s place after dinner, then left with Bai Jingxuan, leaving Lin Xiaolu frozen.

Lin Xiaolu worried that Bai Jingxuan would take Larkspur’s attention away from the rest of the team, then argued with Xia Liang after Xia Liang dismissed her fears. Over dinner, Lin Xiaolu proposed a shared secret base as a solution to the team’s scattered living arrangements, and Xia Liang guessed the same idea.

• Lin Xiaolu imagined Bai Jingxuan becoming Larkspur’s favorite and panicked that she and Xia Liang would be left out.
• Xia Liang pinched Lin Xiaolu’s cheeks after Lin Xiaolu said Xia Liang had never been favored, and the two tussled until they got hungry.
• Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang reheated dinner, while Moko woke up and asked why their faces were red and swollen.
• Lin Xiaolu argued that the team’s scattered homes and Bai Jingxuan’s daily trips made their current arrangement inefficient.
• Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang independently suggested creating a secret base.

Xia Liang and Lin Xiaolu proposed finding a secret base for their magical-girl team, and Larkspur explained how to request a suitable venue from the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau without becoming too dependent on it. The girls accepted her advice, and Larkspur ended the discussion by starting their tutoring session.

• Xia Liang and Lin Xiaolu suggested establishing a secret base, but they could not agree on using either of their homes.
• Larkspur said her supposed studio apartment was too small and proposed finding a standalone building for the team.
• Larkspur told the girls their defeated Egg Rank Aberrant Beasts were worth over three hundred thousand, but advised them to save Echoes for magical materials.
• Larkspur explained that the team could request a venue from the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau while keeping the relationship mutually beneficial and maintaining some distance.
• Larkspur told Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang to ask confidently for help when justified, then began tutoring them.

The Fangting City Magical Girl Squad settled plans to use a Secret Base, and Lin Xiaolu got Lin Yun’s permission to live there with her teammates. As Larkspur tried to handle a call to Lin Yun’s phone in private, Xia Liang caught her and revealed that she had called the phone herself.

• Xia Liang, Lin Xiaolu, Bai Jingxuan, and Larkspur agreed to ask the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau for help with the Secret Base, while Lin Xiaolu and Larkspur raised concerns about moving in.
• Lin Yun readily approved Lin Xiaolu staying overnight and potentially living with the squad, and Lin Xiaolu learned that he might leave Fangting City for several months.
• The Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau found a location for the Secret Base and arranged for Bai Jingxuan to move out of the orphanage under the pretext of special talent training.
• Larkspur tutored Xia Liang and Lin Xiaolu through the summer, helping them improve their school scores while she prepared lessons and graded work late into the night.
• At Xia Liang’s home, Larkspur received a call on Lin Yun’s phone and stepped onto the balcony to handle it without revealing her identity.
• Xia Liang presented an unfinished test paper as an excuse to approach Larkspur, then showed her a call screen displaying Uncle Lin and teased her about having Lin Yun’s phone.

Xia Liang confronted Larkspur with her deduction that Larkspur and Lin Yun were the same person, and Larkspur admitted the truth. Xia Liang asked for Larkspur’s familial love, but Larkspur asked her to think carefully before making such a serious request; Lin Xiaolu interrupted before Xia Liang could make another request.

• Xia Liang explained how the phone and Larkspur’s repeated appearances around Lin Yun led her to suspect they were the same person.
• Larkspur admitted Xia Liang’s conclusion was right, and Xia Liang reassured her that she did not find her disgusting.
• Xia Liang hugged Larkspur and said she wanted a share of the familial love Larkspur gave Lin Xiaolu.
• Larkspur said they both needed time to consider the responsibility before deciding whether to treat each other as family.
• Xia Liang began to ask for hush money, but Lin Xiaolu came onto the balcony and demanded to know what they had been discussing.

The Fangting City Magical Girl Squad moved into their new Secret Base, where Lin Yun considered Hong Siyu’s offer to become Xia Liang’s liaison. The girls settled in and began studying together, while Xia Liang continued teasing Larkspur in secret.

• Hong Siyu showed Larkspur the completed villa and suggested Lin Yun apply to become Xia Liang’s liaison for the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau.
• Lin Yun considered the position but did not give Hong Siyu an answer, and the Bureau transferred ownership of the villa to the Fangting City Magical Girl Squad.
• The squad moved into the Secret Base, and Lin Xiaolu decided to stay overnight despite feeling uneasy in unfamiliar places.
• Lin Xiaolu, Xia Liang, and Bai Jingxuan argued over who would live near Larkspur until Larkspur assigned the three newcomers rooms on the second floor and herself and Moko rooms on the third.
• The squad began an evening study session with Bai Jingxuan, and Xia Liang secretly held Larkspur’s hand and scratched it while Larkspur helped Lin Xiaolu with a problem.

Larkspur settled into life at the Secret Base with Lin Xiaolu, Bai Jingxuan, and Xia Liang, caring for the girls as they adjusted to their new routines. After Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang finished their placement exams, the squad celebrated together, while Larkspur began worrying about her promised outing with Xia Liang.

• Larkspur teased Xia Liang for distracting herself during their study session, then sternly told her to focus on her work.
• On the first morning at the Secret Base, Larkspur woke the girls and made breakfast for all four of them.
• The girls settled into life together, while Moko searched for magical girl candidates and Larkspur trained Bai Jingxuan.
• Aberrant Beast attacks in Fangting City became less frequent and weaker after Claw Mark and Black Ash Dawn were defeated.
• Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang took their placement exams, and Larkspur took the squad out for hot pot afterward.
• As September passed its midpoint, Larkspur realized the outing she had promised Xia Liang was approaching.