Recaps

Tian Sheng arrived at the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau recruitment examination exhausted and anxious, while struggling with a sense that his memories of a terrorist attack at the orphanage were incomplete. After an unsettling encounter with a silent proctor and a moth that emerged from his hand, he continued toward his exam as strange noises stirred in the stairwell shadows.

• Tian Sheng waited outside the examination hall after weeks of studying, but security guards delayed him because he looked suspicious.
• Tian Sheng entered the hall with only fifteen minutes before the exam and privately vowed to return and gloat if he got hired.
• Tian Sheng recalled the Gray Magic Organization's attack on his orphanage and wondered why his memories felt false and suggested he had contributed more than he remembered.
• Tian Sheng bumped into a silent young proctor, apologized, and watched a moth escape from his hand and disappear into the man's collar.
• Tian Sheng dismissed the encounter and continued down the corridor, while faint scraping and rustling sounds came from the shadows near the emergency exit.

After dreaming of Larkspur encountering a moth-shaped shadow, Lin Yun arrived in Fangting City for the Full Moon Festival and received another warning call from the same mysterious number. The caller warned him to be careful tonight before the call cut off, leaving Lin Yun unsettled and unsure what was coming.

• Larkspur heard eerie laughter and saw a moth-shaped shadow appear behind her before Lin Yun woke from the dream aboard a Landship.
• Lin Yun read Lin Xiaolu's message asking when he would get home and replied that he would arrive in an hour.
• Lin Yun recalled choosing to celebrate the Full Moon Festival as Lin Xiaolu's father rather than as Larkspur.
• Lin Yun reached Fangting City and called back an unfamiliar number that had previously called him, but no one answered.
• The mysterious caller rang Lin Yun again, told him to be careful tonight, and disconnected before he could learn more.

Lin Yun returned home for the Full Moon Festival after receiving another warning from an unidentified caller, and decided to keep Lin Xiaolu close instead of taking her to the public celebration. He found Hong Siyu and several girls preparing dinner together, while the mystery of the caller remained unresolved.

• Lin Yun recalled that an unknown caller had warned him about the attack on Lin Xiaolu five months earlier and wondered why the caller had contacted him again.
• Lin Yun abandoned his plan to take Lin Xiaolu moon-viewing and returned home to keep her safe.
• Hong Siyu greeted Lin Yun at the apartment and explained that she was spending the Full Moon Festival there after persuading Lin Xiaolu to agree.
• Lin Yun learned that Hong Siyu had not made dinner because Lin Xiaolu, Xia Liang, and Bai Jingxuan were cooking together.
• Moko alerted Lin Xiaolu to Lin Yun’s arrival, and Lin Xiaolu, Bai Jingxuan, and Xia Liang greeted him from the kitchen.

Lin Yun hosted a Full Moon Festival dinner for Lin Xiaolu and her friends while worrying about an unknown warning, then realized Hong Siyu might be able to see Moko despite having retired as a magical girl. A new call from the unknown number told Lord Cornflower to find Morning Glory quickly because it was almost too late.

• Lin Xiaolu introduced Bai Jingxuan as a former magical-girl companion, and Lin Yun took over cooking after the girls nearly caused a kitchen fire.
• Lin Yun reported his Bai'an City investigation and the mysterious warning to the Investigation Institute, then urged the magical girls in the group chat to stay safe.
• Hong Siyu left despite Lin Yun's warning, and Lin Yun reflected on their unspoken understanding as former magical-girl companions.
• Lin Yun overheard Lin Xiaolu and Moko discussing chores and realized Hong Siyu had probably seen Moko, although retired magical girls were supposed to have lost that ability.
• The unknown caller contacted Lin Yun again and told Lord Cornflower to find Morning Glory quickly because it was almost too late.

Larkspur searched Hong Siyu’s apartment after failing to reach her, but found no sign of where she had gone. A cryptic call and a phantom Moth offered little help, until Larkspur noticed the Fangting City Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau was unnaturally dark and decided to investigate it.

• Larkspur flew to Hong Siyu’s apartment, found it empty, and searched for clues but discovered nothing conclusive.
• Larkspur found the beer cans in Hong Siyu’s kitchen long empty, suggesting Hong Siyu had not been home for several days.
• Larkspur called the unknown number and heard fragmented directions that Hong Siyu was at a very high place she usually visited, but the call ended in a roar and the phone was switched off.
• Larkspur fired a Mana Beam at a giant Moth clinging to the balcony window, but the creature vanished without a trace.
• Larkspur noticed that the Fangting City Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau was completely dark and decided she needed to go there.

Larkspur entered the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau and discovered that the Aberrant Beasts covering its ceiling were stitched-together humans, including Bureau employees. As a voice urged her to kill them, she recognized them as innocent victims and faced the demand to honor her promise to eliminate Aberrant Beasts.

• Larkspur entered the dark Bureau, recognized the hall from her dream, and used her magic threads to search for an enemy.
• Larkspur illuminated the ceiling and found it crowded with shrieking Aberrant Beasts; an employee ID badge fell among the objects below.
• Larkspur resisted an urging voice to kill the creatures and noticed that the Aberrant Beasts seemed afraid and did not attack her.
• Larkspur recalled the strange office deaths in the Bai'an City Nest and inferred that a Bureau employee had transformed and attacked the others.
• Larkspur probed the ceiling swarm and found human belongings, concluding that the creatures had once been people crudely joined with Aberrant Beasts.
• The voice behind Larkspur insisted the creatures would become dangerous and reminded her of her promise to eliminate Aberrant Beasts, calling her Senior.

Lin Xiaolu, Xia Liang, and Bai Jingxuan rushed toward the purple-black pillar rising from Fangting City, while Larkspur confronted Hong Siyu and learned that the city’s crisis was tied to an Aberrant Beast. Hong Siyu revealed herself as the beast and urged Larkspur to defeat her, leaving Larkspur facing the junior she had once admired.

• Lin Xiaolu woke Xia Liang and Bai Jingxuan after an explosion, and the three saw a purple-black pillar rise over the city.
• Moko sensed an exceptionally powerful Aberrant Beast, and Lin Xiaolu led the group out of the house toward the disturbance.
• Hong Siyu told Larkspur that the Aberrant Beast had likely been fed people and other beings, but insisted she had not betrayed Larkspur or joined Black Ash Dawn.
• Larkspur recognized the Moth shadows surrounding the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau and realized Hong Siyu was connected to the Aberrant Beast.
• Larkspur turned around and saw Hong Siyu as a gigantic Aberrant Beast, which raised its proboscis to her throat.
• Hong Siyu urged Larkspur to drive out the Aberrant Beasts, and Larkspur closed her eyes as she prepared to act.

Hong Siyu repeatedly encountered Lin Yun, the reserved boy who helped her at the school festival and later saved her from falling in the library. After Lin Yun disappeared and graduated, she found his forgotten textbook and kept it, unsure whether she would ever see him again.

• At the school festival, Lin Yun caught the seasoning bottle Hong Siyu dropped, and her classmate told her he was rumored to be dating several girls.
• Hong Siyu later noticed Lin Yun studying regularly in the library and learned his name while he studied there with a pretty girl.
• When Hong Siyu nearly fell while reaching for a high shelf, Lin Yun caught her and then left the library early.
• Hong Siyu found Lin Yun's annotated third-year textbook on his seat and put it in the library's storage cabinet for him.
• Lin Yun did not return to the library, and Hong Siyu left the textbook untouched through the following months.
• After the third-year students graduated, Hong Siyu retrieved Lin Yun's dusty textbook and began keeping it with her.

Fifteen-year-old Hong Siyu reunited with Lin Yun during an Aberrant Beast attack at her school’s cultural festival, only for him to leave her alone in a classroom. As the monster cornered her, a magical girl appeared and defeated it in one strike.

• Hong Siyu recalled how she had kept Lin Yun’s old textbook and grown attached to him through his notes.
• Lin Yun rescued Hong Siyu from the Aberrant Beast and took her to an empty classroom, where he said he planned to save others.
• When the Aberrant Beast broke into the classroom, Lin Yun insisted that magical girls would stop it and jumped out of a fifth-floor window.
• The Aberrant Beast cornered Hong Siyu, who resigned herself to dying and called out for a magical girl.
• A petite magical girl appeared, pierced the Aberrant Beast with a blue spear, and told Hong Siyu she was safe.

Hong Siyu learned that Larkspur’s True Form was Lin Yun, the boy she had loved, and later accepted that he had retired after suffering severe injuries in the Year of the Great Calamity. As she planned to confess to him after graduation, Anya announced that she was getting engaged to Lin Yun, leaving Hong Siyu stunned.

• Margaret urged Larkspur to reveal her True Form, and the team asked Hong Siyu whether she wanted to see it.
• Hong Siyu said she trusted Larkspur and did not need to know his original identity, but Larkspur took her aside and transformed anyway.
• Hong Siyu recognized Larkspur’s True Form as Lin Yun, the boy she had mourned only days earlier.
• By age twenty, Hong Siyu had become a Letter Card Blossom Rank magical girl and entered a prestigious local university, while Lin Yun had retired after the Great Calamity damaged his Heart Gem and Mana Source.
• Hong Siyu planned to confess her feelings to Lin Yun after graduation, but Anya announced that she and Lin Yun were getting engaged.

After Anya’s death, Hong Siyu returned to Fangting City to investigate and try to restore Lin Yun’s fighting spirit. During a meeting with the local Bureau director, Moss, Hong Siyu was overcome by a strange influence and collapsed as a moth rested on Moss’s finger.

• Hong Siyu recalled leaving Fangting City eleven years earlier and avoiding Anya, then returned after learning Anya had died.
• Hong Siyu visited Lin Yun, found him grief-stricken, and tried to encourage him by imitating Anya’s mannerisms.
• Hong Siyu began coordinating with the Fangting City Bureau and investigating Anya’s death.
• Hong Siyu met the new director, Moss, who questioned her about her assignment while she grew increasingly dizzy and disoriented.
• Hong Siyu tried to reach for her weapon but collapsed, and Moss approached her with a moth resting on her finger.

Hong Siyu recalled how she had secretly warned Lin Yun about the planned attack on White Rose before Black Ash Dawn turned her into an Aberrant Beast. After Larkspur revived her amid the Bureau’s ruins, she confessed her feelings, while Larkspur chose to keep fighting and spread hope to others.

• Hong Siyu used a new phone and the imprisoned Seeder Nini to warn Inspector to be careful about Black Ash Dawn’s attack on White Rose.
• After seeing Larkspur return, Hong Siyu asked her to kill her and sank into darkness as the Aberrant Beast horde surrounded them.
• Larkspur called Hong Siyu back to consciousness and held her hand beside the slain moth-shaped Aberrant Beast.
• Hong Siyu cried and confessed that she had loved Larkspur since middle school, and Larkspur acknowledged that she knew Hong Siyu was not Anya.
• Larkspur revealed blue magical threads connecting her to the Aberrant Beasts and said she had chosen to continue fighting rather than let go of the past.
• Larkspur told the exhausted Hong Siyu to sleep, then spread her magical wings and prepared to leave the ruined Bureau.

Lin Xiaolu, Xia Liang, and Bai Jingxuan broke through a Pupa Stage Aberrant Beast’s shell and overwhelmed it with a coordinated barrage. Before they could finish the fight, a powerful black-robed woman appeared and introduced herself as Moss, or Moth.

• Moko warned Lin Xiaolu that the Aberrant Beast’s Pupa Shell could only be damaged by magic powerful enough to break through its defense.
• Xia Liang focused the girls’ magic through her mirrors while Bai Jingxuan used Heavenly Tone to amplify it, and their combined attack broke the shell and wounded the Aberrant Beast.
• Lin Xiaolu, Xia Liang, and Bai Jingxuan continued bombarding the isolated Pupa, steadily weakening it as Lin Xiaolu asked Moko to take photos for Larkspur.
• A vast moth-shaped shadow appeared, and its black-robed owner approached the girls, dissolving Lin Xiaolu’s magic bullet without effort.
• The black-robed woman praised the girls’ strength, removed her hat, and identified herself as Moss, also known as Moth.

Moss revealed that she had helped raise the Aberrant Beast using Cherry Blossom’s magic power, then provoked Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan into attacking. After Moss overwhelmed Bai Jingxuan and Lin Xiaolu’s assault, Larkspur arrived and told Lin Xiaolu to let her handle the fight.

• Moss identified herself as Moth, a Royal Ash Attendant and former enemy of Cherry Blossom, and said Cherry Blossom’s magic power was inside the Aberrant Beast.
• Bai Jingxuan charged Moss after hearing that Cherry Blossom’s magic power had been used to feed the beast, but Moss nullified her attack and blasted her into a building.
• Lin Xiaolu attacked Moss, and Xia Liang tried to protect her, but Moss shattered Xia Liang’s Magic Armament.
• Lin Xiaolu used silver-white magic power to block Moss’s attack and burned Moss’s hand with a magic bullet.
• Larkspur appeared in front of Lin Xiaolu, stopped her from throwing a flaming spear, and said she would handle Moss.

Larkspur confronted Moss about the transformed humans and Hong Siyu, while Moss defended her experiments and revealed that her daughter’s death and the Magic Kingdom’s neglect had turned her against Magical Girls. As they fought, Moss challenged Larkspur to explain why she had rejected QUEEN’s appointment as the Gem Scepter.

• Moss described the transformed humans as experimental livestock created with artificial Mana Sources to feed the creature behind her.
• Moss explained that she implanted an Aberrant Beast Mana Source into Hong Siyu, turning the retired Magical Girl into an Aberrant Beast.
• Larkspur and Moss fought with their Magic Armaments as they argued over the suffering of mortals and the role of Magical Girls.
• Moss recounted how her daughter died in the Great Beast Calamity and how the Magic Kingdom failed to honor or compensate her sacrifice.
• Moss accused the Magic Kingdom of exploiting Magical Girls and asked Larkspur why she had refused QUEEN’s appointment and the Sapphire Scepter.

Larkspur confronted Moss over her betrayal and learned that Moss had completed a ritual to become a Molt-stage Aberrant Beast. As the transformed Beast Lord unleashed an invasion across Fangting City, it seized Larkspur’s magic and turned her own attack against her, piercing her in midair.

• Xia Liang and Moko explained that Cornflower was the name of the Sapphire gem on the Queen’s scepter, and that Larkspur would have taken the codename if she had become a Gem Scepter.
• Larkspur condemned Moss for sacrificing innocent lives, and Moss admitted that she no longer cared about anyone after her daughter died.
• Moss completed her ritual using an altar, Aberrant Beast flesh, and magical girls’ Heart Gems, then transformed into a gigantic Molt-stage moth.
• Aberrant Beasts spread through Fangting City as Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang defended Bai Jingxuan and Moko while retreating.
• The giant moth appeared above Lin Xiaolu, but Larkspur arrived and struck it with her Masterpiece.
• The moth erased Larkspur’s magic and redirected it at her, piercing her body with the Masterpiece.

Larkspur endured Moss’s attacks to protect Lin Xiaolu and the others, then deduced that Moss’s Rule let the person with the largest shadow control everyone else’s mana. She revealed that she could still unfold her Wonderland and summoned her damaged Magic Armament, Weave Destiny, to face Moss.

• Moss explained that Black Ash Dawn had used magical girl mana to cultivate an intelligent Aberrant Beast, and said Cherry Blossom’s death had supplied the mana needed for its latest experiment.
• Moss targeted Lin Xiaolu with mana spheres, and Larkspur repeatedly shielded her while Xia Liang’s Magic Armament shattered and injured her.
• Moss revealed that Larkspur had been her intended prey all along and that she planned to take Larkspur’s Mana Source to become King Molt.
• Larkspur deduced that Moss’s Rule made the person with the largest shadow take possession of everyone else’s mana, and pointed out the mana thread she had left behind Moss.
• Larkspur called forth her damaged Tailor’s Scissors and invoked her Magic Armament, Weave Destiny, as she prepared to fight Moss.

Larkspur used her Wonderland’s shared-fate Rule to strip the Aberrant Beasts of their bodies, saved Fangting City, and killed Moss after defeating her. As dawn came, Lin Xiaolu reached out to her, and Larkspur embraced her daughter and the other girls.

• Larkspur summoned her Wonderland over Fangting City and used its threads to restrain the Aberrant Beasts, while Moss’s Rule failed to affect the Wonderland.
• Larkspur used her scissors to cut away the Aberrant Beasts’ bodies through the shared-fate Rule, restoring transformed humans and destroying the true Aberrant Beasts.
• Larkspur’s scissors shattered as the cost of using her Magic Armament against a Rule, and she defeated Moss in a hand-to-hand fight before killing her with Masterpiece.
• Moss suggested that Larkspur would be consumed by hatred, and Larkspur questioned her about Anya’s death before Moss died without revealing who was involved.
• Lin Xiaolu, Bai Jingxuan, and Xia Liang approached Larkspur, and Lin Xiaolu took her bloody hand and asked her to go home.
• Larkspur accepted Lin Xiaolu’s hand and embraced her daughter and the other girls beneath the morning sunlight.

Margaret returned to Bai'an City and learned from Wood Lily that Inspector Larkspur had recently helped the city. Recognizing the description, Margaret became delighted and suggested that she and Wood Lily visit Fangting City.

• Margaret arrived in Bai'an City and visited the old music shop, where she woke Wood Lily.
• Margaret asked Wood Lily about recent events in Bai'an, and Wood Lily said Lantern had disappeared into an Aberrant Beast Nest before returning.
• Wood Lily recalled that an Inspector had come to help and identified her as Larkspur, a short girl with blue hair, blue clothes, and a large hat.
• Margaret recognized the Inspector as Larkspur and suggested that Wood Lily visit Fangting City with her.

Larkspur confronted Chrysoberyl Cat's Eye over the Investigation Institute's handling of the Fangting City disaster and negotiated for authority over three magical girls and information about Cherry Blossom's death. Chrysoberyl Cat's Eye revealed that the suspected killers were dead and Cherry Blossom's Heart Gem had been stolen again, then offered Larkspur the vacant director position at Fangting City's Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau.

• Larkspur accused Chrysoberyl Cat's Eye of concealing what the Investigation Institute knew about Black Ash Dawn's activities in Eastern Hua Prefecture.
• Larkspur demanded authority over White Rose, Little Brocade, and Bo Xue, and Chrysoberyl Cat's Eye agreed to arrange their transfer under Cornflower's authority.
• Chrysoberyl Cat's Eye told Larkspur that Black Ash Dawn members suspected of carrying Cherry Blossom's Heart Gem had been found dead in the Wasteland, while the Heart Gem had been stolen again.
• Larkspur rejected the conclusion that Cherry Blossom's killer was dead and said the investigation should focus on identifying whoever took the Heart Gem.
• Chrysoberyl Cat's Eye asked whether Larkspur wanted to become the director of Fangting City's vacant Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau position.

Hu Yan reflected on the writing and plot changes behind Volume One of Off-Duty Magic and previewed the Magic Kingdom-focused second volume. The author announced a four-day break before updates resumed the following Monday.

• Hu Yan described the scenes that inspired Volume One, including a middle-aged man transforming into a magical girl and Larkspur confronting Hong Siyu.
• Hu Yan explained that Hong Siyu was changed from a traitor into a controlled former teammate, while Moss became the true villain.
• After Larkspur encountered a Pupa Stage Aberrant Beast around Chapter 30, Hu Yan cut the parallel detective plot and shifted the story toward major events.
• Hu Yan previewed new characters, teammates, Gem Scepters, and Claw Marks in Volume Two, Cornflower at the Tower's Peak.
• Hu Yan announced a four-day break to adjust the writing schedule and refine the outline, with updates resuming next Monday.

Two weeks after the Full Moon Festival attack, Tian Sheng struggled to understand his strange moth dream and newfound Control Stage mana while working for the rebuilding Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau. Li Yingwei sent him to deliver the Third Squad’s combat records to the newly appointed director, and Tian Sheng entered the office after spotting a mana thread like the one from his dream.

• Tian Sheng remembered dreaming that he had become a moth and had been saved by a mysterious figure connected to him by glowing threads.
• Tian Sheng learned that his mana had unexpectedly risen to the Control Stage after the attack, and he continued to wonder whether his moth dream had been real.
• Li Yingwei invited Tian Sheng to lunch and told him that a new director appointed by Heavenly City headquarters would soon address the bureau.
• Li Yingwei persuaded Tian Sheng to deliver the Third Squad’s combat records to the director’s office in his place.
• Tian Sheng noticed a faint mana thread vanish at the director’s door, then entered and saw the stern middle-aged new director behind his desk.

On his first day as director of the Fangting City Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau, Lin Yun questioned Tian Sheng about his unusual performance and forgotten memories, but an aftereffect forced him to transform into Larkspur and send Tian Sheng out. Lin Yun resumed work amid the bureau’s disorder and prepared to address its employees.

• Tian Sheng reported that his squad had found no Beast Shifters, and Lin Yun noted that none of the squads had encountered any.
• Lin Yun questioned Tian Sheng about his rapid growth in magic power, his moth dream, and his missing memories of the Black Ash Dawn attack.
• Lin Yun’s Heart Gem lost control, transforming him into Larkspur, and he used magic to send Tian Sheng from the office.
• Larkspur explained that the transformation was an aftereffect of overloading her damaged Magic Armament two weeks earlier.
• Lin Yun reviewed the bureau’s troubled state after Moss’s death and prepared to give his first speech to its employees.

Lin Yun exposed six Black Ash Dawn infiltrators during his first bureau-wide meeting and announced plans to equip the Special Operations Department with Magic Armaments. After leaving the meeting, he found a mysterious Fairy Doll waiting in his office.

• Lin Yun abandoned the dull work report and accused the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau of being compromised by traitors feeding information to Black Ash Dawn.
• Lin Yun confronted Pei Zhengchang with surveillance footage, and Pei Zhengchang attacked him before the Security Department took him away.
• Lin Yun exposed Lü Yan and four more suspected Black Ash Dawn infiltrators, who were captured as their colleagues turned against them.
• Lin Yun announced that the Special Operations Department would receive Magic Armaments and ordered the bureau to eliminate every Black Ash Dawn cell in Fangting City.
• After the meeting, Lin Yun returned to his office and found a green, lab-coated Fairy Doll sitting in his chair and greeting him.

Lin Yun confronted Emerald, the Research Institute’s Chief, who revealed that she wanted Moss’s Beast Source in exchange for further inventions and services. Emerald then explained that Lin Yun’s damaged Heart Gem and leaking magic power were weakening him and could eventually shorten his life.

• Lin Yun identified the Fairy Doll speaking to him as Emerald, the Research Institute’s Chief.
• Emerald said the Magic Armament, surveillance system, and treatment for Morning Glory were Research Institute products, then offered Lin Yun more inventions.
• Emerald asked to trade for the Beast Source left by Moss, but Lin Yun refused to hand it over without knowing how she would use it.
• Emerald described Lin Yun’s failing Heart Gem, weakening magic, unstable True Form, and the risk that his body would not survive the prolonged magic leakage.