Chapter Summaries

Larkspur and Lantern fought Spider after he transformed into a Shellbreaker and trapped them inside his own Nest, where they discovered Cat Tail and other magical girls being drained of magic power. As Larkspur battled the monster and urged Lantern to use her Wonderland, a Nest Rule ensnared Larkspur’s elbow and left her exposed to a spider-leg strike.

• Spider transformed into a Shellbreaker, and Larkspur broke free of the Flesh Spiderweb restraints and attacked with Lantern.
• Larkspur explained that Spider was a Half-Molt rather than a Pupa or a fully matured Molt, while she and Lantern dodged another attack.
• The Shellbreaker’s Nest transported Larkspur and Lantern into a gore-filled cavern, where they found Cat Tail and other magical girls bound to a Flesh Spiderweb and losing their magic power.
• Larkspur warned Lantern that the Nest likely had a Rule and asked her to unfold her Wonderland, but Lantern said she could not control its Rule.
• The Shellbreaker pierced Larkspur’s protective Magic Armament and trapped her elbow with a spider thread, preventing her from striking as a spider leg slashed toward her.

Larkspur and Lantern fought Spider while trying to rescue Cat Tail and the other investigation squad members trapped in the Spiderweb. Larkspur discovered that the web itself was the source of Spider’s Rule, destroyed it with Lantern’s help, and killed the Aberrant Beast.

• Larkspur failed to cut the Rule-created spider silk binding her and realized Cat Tail’s squad was being drained of magic power through the web.
• Larkspur sent Lantern to rescue the squad while she stayed behind to fight Spider, whose attacks further bound her arm and foot.
• Larkspur deduced that Spider’s Rule depended on the Spiderweb covering an area, and she urged Lantern to attack the web while she held Spider back.
• Lantern destroyed a section of the Spiderweb with her Spell Formula, causing Spider to howl in pain and making the binding silk disappear.
• Larkspur charged at Spider and struck it with her Magic Armament, killing the Aberrant Beast as the Spiderweb withered.

After Spider’s defeat, Larkspur and the Investigation Institute uncovered clues pointing to similar crises in other cities, while Bai'an City’s magical girls held a farewell performance before the investigators departed. The performance ended with Larkspur receiving a message from Lin Xiaolu asking whether she would return for the Full Moon Festival.

• The Investigation Institute’s arriving teams wiped out the remaining Black Ash Dawn forces, while the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau tallied about four hundred civilian deaths connected to Spider’s Nest.
• Cat Tail briefly woke, warned Larkspur that at least four other cities had abnormal events, and returned to the Kingdom with her rescued team.
• Larkspur found a blood-covered altar beneath Spider’s Spiderweb resembling one from Fangting City and wondered why Spider knew her old codename, Cornflower.
• The Investigation Institute’s magical girls volunteered to investigate the other cities, while Wood Lily’s mistaken accusation against Lin Yun was dismissed and Lantern recovered.
• Lantern and the Bai'an City Magical Girl Squad held a farewell performance for the departing investigators, and Lantern told Larkspur that White Thistle was their next captain.
• Lantern mentioned the approaching Full Moon Festival, and Larkspur received a message from Lin Xiaolu asking whether she would come back for it.

Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan discussed bugs in the Secret Base, Larkspur’s absence for the Full Moon Festival, and Bai Jingxuan’s newly awakened Magic Armament. Xia Liang and Moko returned from grocery shopping, and Lin Xiaolu confronted Xia Liang for taking so long.

• Lin Xiaolu nearly fell while cleaning a window, but Bai Jingxuan caught her.
• The girls noticed several insects in the house and discussed finding a way to get rid of them.
• Lin Xiaolu said Larkspur would not return for the Full Moon Festival, while Lin Yun planned to come home.
• Lin Xiaolu admitted she felt frustrated that she remained at Seed Stage while Bai Jingxuan had awakened a Magic Armament, then reassured Bai Jingxuan she did not blame her.
• Xia Liang and Moko returned with groceries, and Xia Liang said she had met classmates and eaten lunch with them.
• Lin Xiaolu accused Xia Liang of leaving them with chores, and Xia Liang reminded her that Lin Xiaolu had lost their rock-paper-scissors game.

Xia Liang forgot to buy dinner, so she hurriedly made noodles with Lin Xiaolu before Hong Siyu could arrive and cook for them. Hong Siyu stayed away because of overtime, and the girls learned that an orphanage caretaker was preparing for the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau recruitment exam.

• Lin Xiaolu teased Moko about its Seeder work, and Moko fled downstairs when she threatened to hit it with her fist.
• Xia Liang realized she had forgotten to buy dinner, and Lin Xiaolu warned that Hong Siyu might arrive soon and offer to cook.
• Xia Liang made noodles while Lin Xiaolu criticized her, and they discovered the rushed meal had no salt.
• Xia Liang messaged Hong Siyu and learned she was working overtime to help write questions for the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau recruitment exam.
• Bai Jingxuan explained that an orphanage caretaker she knew was preparing for the exam, and Xia Liang told Lin Xiaolu that the Bureau was a highly sought-after workplace for ordinary Mages.

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.