Magical Girl? There's No Going Back! Chapter 29

"I really gave it everything I had. Look, I even emptied out all my magic power. Besides, doesn't going down early prove your shooting is accurate?" Tang Xi said, lying flat on the ground with an attitude of, "As long as I'm useless, no one can make use of me."

"How about this? I'll give you a special reward: if you can beat me in a one-on-one fight, I'll give you your freedom back. What do you say?" Li Xuan decided to give Tang Xi a little hope. Otherwise, she probably would not muster up even a hint of motivation.

"Freedom? If I get out, I'll just have to work again... Forget it, that's still better than spending the rest of my life as a living weapon in a monster's hands... Fine, let's fight! Just don't go back on your word." Tang Xi sprang up from the ground and dusted off her backside as she spoke.

"Of course not. Come at me!" Seeing a trace of fighting spirit finally appear in her eyes, Li Xuan immediately assumed a stance and prepared for battle.

Then, what greeted him was a dazzling pillar of white light.

"True Self Awakening: Floating White, Bearing the Brush!" Tang Xi shouted. The lock on her magic book shattered, and as its pages fluttered wildly, a pillar of light shot from her body straight into the sky.

When the light faded, Tang Xi's outfit had changed. She now wore a white blouse with a bow at the chest, a khaki plaid skirt, and white pantyhose. Her simple braided hair had also become a cascade of loose silver-white strands floating in midair as though gravity did not exist.

"Sir, let us begin. For my freedom." As Tang Xi spoke, she took off her brown leather shoes. Her white-stockinged feet planted firmly on the ground as if they had taken root there.

She slowly approached Li Xuan, her steps light yet steady. The air of someone who had completely given up on life had vanished, replaced by a graceful, carefree poise.

"Holy shit, you really did have hidden power?" Li Xuan's mind went blank. Qi Mo had once said that normally, only Grade A magical girls could awaken. Tang Xi's magic power was only Grade B, yet she had awakened too?

Judging by the increase in Wu Yan's strength after her awakening, was he really about to get overturned this time?

"That's right. Awakening is a huge hassle. If you hadn't used freedom as the bait, I really wouldn't have wanted to use this move." Tang Xi opened her now-unsealed magic book and let it float in the air. The rustling sound of its pages flipping made Li Xuan's scalp tingle.

Just as Li Xuan was considering how Tang Xi might attack, she suddenly tossed her magic book into the air and charged at him in a quick jog.

What Li Xuan faced next was not flashy, beautiful magic, but merely a seemingly weak and harmless palm strike from a pretty girl.

Li Xuan instinctively extended a tentacle to block it. Yet the instant it touched her palm, Tang Xi abruptly changed direction, stumbling into his arms as if she had lost her balance.

"Damn it!"

Li Xuan inwardly cursed. He had only been on guard against Tang Xi's magic, especially that unlocked magic book. He had never expected her to rush him so suddenly and close the distance to point-blank range in an instant.

In that split second, a thought flashed through his mind: Had she been waiting for this moment all along? Had she deliberately surrendered just to make me lower my guard? If that was true, then her execution was terrifyingly decisive.

In a flash, Tang Xi ducked beneath a tentacle sweeping horizontally at her. She then planted both hands on the ground, sprang upward, wrapped her legs around Li Xuan's neck, clamped his wrists with both hands, and used her full body weight to slam him onto the ground.

"Triangle Choke, secured!" Tang Xi viciously tightened her white-stockinged thighs around Li Xuan's neck. Where the roots of her thighs crossed locked him in place like a vise.

An ordinary person would probably have already passed out from lack of oxygen. But Li Xuan had Evil Energy protecting him. Other than finding it slightly difficult to breathe, he did not feel anything unusual.

But... was that it? After Tang Xi locked Li Xuan with her legs, she seemed to have no follow-up move at all. Though the attack had caught him off guard, a technique relying entirely on physical ability did not suit a Sealing Type at all, did it? Even if Xu Rou used this move, it would probably be more threatening than when Tang Xi used it.

Not only was the move not particularly threatening, it actually felt quite pleasant to Li Xuan. His head and neck were clamped between Tang Xi's full, powerful thighs clad in white stockings. The dough-like softness of the inner sides of the girl's legs made him feel as though he were floating among the clouds. At such close range, he could easily smell Tang Xi's faint natural fragrance.

Tang Xi's hands also happened to lock Li Xuan's right arm against her chest, letting the front of his forearm sink fully into the softness of her ample chest. It felt so comfortable that he did not even want to break free. He just wanted to sleep in this soft dreamland.

No-Prize Quiz: What Are Knotted Hemp Ropes Used For?

"Excuse me, are you still alive?" After exerting force with her legs continuously for five minutes, Tang Xi asked tiredly.

"It's working! It's working! Please squeeze harder with your legs. My trapezius muscle is still a little sore here." Wanting to enjoy Tang Xi's white-stockinged triangle choke for a little longer, the dazed Li Xuan hurriedly answered.

"You're still conscious? Then it's completely useless... Ah, I'm doomed. Farewell, my freedom! Looks like from now on, I'll be a monster's breeding ground in this sunless place, slowly played with until I break." Seeing that Li Xuan could still talk, Tang Xi dejectedly released him and sprawled on the ground.

Li Xuan froze. Was that really the end? When Wu Yan awakened, she had pushed him into a complete mess. Even if her power had not increased a hundredfold, it had at least risen five or ten times. Yet Tang Xi had not displayed any astonishing combat power after awakening. In fact, with her magic power exhausted, she seemed even weaker than before she awakened.

"No, did you really use your full strength? What about your awakening? What about your magic book? Why do you only know close combat? You should just rename yourself Physical Girl." Li Xuan climbed to his feet and fired off complaint after complaint.

"So-called True Self Awakening is a special ability that magical girls unleash only when they are extremely focused on something. If the ability awakens during battle, then it can only be used for battle—although most awakenings are related to combat, there are occasionally unproductive awakening abilities like mine."

Tang Xi had already been drained of her last bit of strength by the awakening, and even her voice had become weak and soft.

"So your awakening ability is—"

"My awakening, 'Floating White, Bearing the Brush,' gives me the ability to 'experience things as if I were there.' I can place myself into fictional worlds and gain sensations close to the real thing. It's completely useless in battle. That choke just now was something I taught myself.

"I had planned to use the awakening effects to scare you, then suddenly use that move to knock you out. But a Sealing Type's physical abilities are just too weak. If I were a Battle Type, maybe I'd have had a chance." Tang Xi answered frankly.

"If you were a Battle Type, I wouldn't have let you get close so easily. So there really are useless awakenings like that. No wonder you didn't use it when you were surrounded by monsters before." As Li Xuan spoke, he stood up and pulled Tang Xi's legs apart.

"Ah, is this moment finally here? Mr. Monster, could you bring me my laptop? I want to record my current thoughts."

"That wasn't included in the terms of surrender." Li Xuan had been thoroughly worked up by the white-stockinged legs just now. Why would he care about her request? He pounced in front of Tang Xi and tugged with both hands, immediately tearing her white pantyhose into crotchless stockings.

Through the tear in the white stockings, the girl's private area was exposed before Li Xuan's eyes.

She wore a creamy white silk satin pair of briefs, very similar to Lilika's, though fuller than the loli's. Its silky texture made Li Xuan reluctant to let go.

Tang Xi's body trembled, and she instinctively covered her face. Though she had acted frivolously and believed she had mentally prepared herself for losing her virginity, when the moment truly arrived, she still could not help feeling flustered.

"So smooth. There's practically no resistance under my hand. It's just like the frictionless surface in theoretical physics." As Li Xuan marveled, an idea suddenly came to him.

"Wu Yan!" Li Xuan called loudly.

"Master, I'm here. Bing Rui has already been tied up with tentacles. Her magic power's been drained dry, but she's still struggling nonstop," Wu Yan said as she flew down from the top of the tower.

"Good. Go to the café and ask Li Sijie for a hemp rope that's long enough. Tell her to tie suitably sized knots at intervals along it. Tell her the boss wants it."

"Huh? Are you going to tie me up? I already said I won't resist," Tang Xi said nervously.

"Tie you up? That would be letting you off too easily. Stay in your awakened form and don't move. You'll have plenty of fun later." Li Xuan grinned wickedly.

"Don't! Maintaining the awakened form isn't hard. After all, my awakening doesn't use much stamina. But if you go too far, then in my anger, I'll..." Tang Xi said worriedly.

"You'll do what?" Li Xuan asked with a smile.

"In my anger... I'll just get angry, I guess. I'm really a non-combatant, so please let me go. If you're worried, you can use those freaky tentacles of yours to tie me together with Bing Rui. But remember to give me the laptop. I still need it," Tang Xi pleaded.

"Too late. What were you thinking when you surrendered?" Li Xuan sneered as he pried open her mouth with tentacles and poured a person-sized serving of Fallen Blood down her throat.

"Ugh... That tastes so weird. What did you make me drink? Don't tell me it's the legendary Youmu's Sock Tea?" Tang Xi asked anxiously.

"Enough with the Touhou cook jokes. Are you trying to steal even the porridge bar's market share?" Li Xuan demanded.

"My body feels so hot. This isn't that legendary computer component, is it?" Tang Xi said, clutching her burning stomach.

Li Xuan sneered. It seemed Tang Xi had not yet realized the seriousness of the situation.

Just then, a portal suddenly opened beside Li Xuan. Wu Yan jumped out, carrying a huge roll of hemp rope and a large bottle.

"Master, I brought the rope. Sister Li told me to give you this bottle and said you should soak the rope in the liquid before using it, so it won't hurt the skin," Wu Yan said breathlessly.

Li Xuan took the rope. It was covered in evenly spaced knots of suitable size, with slightly larger knots at regular intervals. The rope's thickness was also just right. He immediately felt delighted. "Li Sijie really understands what I mean. Wu Yan, go soak the rope. Make sure it's evenly coated."

"Master, what exactly is this for? When Sister Li gave it to me, why did she have such a wicked smile on her face?" As Wu Yan spoke, she opened the bottle and soaked the hemp rope section by section.

"Have you ever played Chinese jump rope?" Li Xuan suddenly asked a seemingly unrelated question.

"I played it when I was little. Are we using this rope for that? Shouldn't you use an elastic rope instead?" Wu Yan asked in confusion.

"It'll be more interesting than Chinese jump rope. Once you're done soaking it, bring everyone here, including Qi Mo and the two captives. I'm going to let you watch a good show." Li Xuan smiled maliciously.

A few minutes later, the four magical girls in Li Xuan's camp—Xu Rou, Wu Yan, Qi Mo, and Tan Xiang—had all arrived. Bing Rui and Alulu were also brought out. Since Bing Rui had not fully submitted yet, she alone was carried over while bound by tentacles.

Qi Mo, who had just been called to the Delusive Badlands, was busy treating Tan Xiang. Meanwhile, sharp-eyed Wu Yan had already noticed some changes to the area.

While she had gone to gather everyone, Li Xuan had brought over two stone pillars and tied the ends of the rope to them, stretching the hemp rope taut. Because it had been thoroughly soaked in Li Sijie's special liquid, the surface was extremely wet, even dripping with water.

Yet the rope's rough texture had not been affected at all. If anything, soaking in the liquid made its fibers stand out even more clearly.

"Demon, what are you planning to do to Senior Sister? If you have any guts, let me go and fight me properly again! I definitely won't lose to that idiot who only knows how to throw fire!" Bing Rui struggled desperately, but with her magic power drained, it was useless.

"Yes, what am I planning to do? Miss Tang Xi, do you know?" Li Xuan summoned a Slime to plug Bing Rui's mouth, then looked toward Tang Xi with a wicked smile.

Tang Xi, meanwhile, stared at the taut hemp rope with a deathly pale face. She had clearly guessed something.

Walking the Rope~

"Mr. Monster, you wouldn't... want me to walk across that rope, would you?" Tang Xi asked in a trembling voice.

"Correct answer. Then please proceed!" Li Xuan gave her a thumbs-up and made a gesture inviting her into the trap.

"Ah, ah... This... Can I not do it?" Tang Xi's legs went weak at the sight of the rough hemp rope. She supported herself against a stone pillar, barely able to stand.

"No. If you refuse to get on it, I'll switch to dry hemp rope later and have someone carry you across it."

"Sister Qi Mo, why is she so scared? Isn't she just stepping on the rope and walking across it? The rope's a little slippery, but at most she'll fall down. It's not high enough to hurt her," Alulu asked curiously.

"What Master means might not be what you think... You should play your game first. Kids shouldn't watch this." Qi Mo handed Alulu the handheld game console she had brought with her.

"What kid? She already watched everything she should have seen a few days ago. Her mom's, no less," Wu Yan said disdainfully.

"Yan, how can you curse at people? Your grades are already terrible. Do you have to lower your character even further?" Xu Rou frowned.

"I was just stating a fact. Didn't the little movie she watched that day feature her mom—" Before Wu Yan could finish, Qi Mo sealed a zipper across her mouth. She could not utter another word.

"Watch your mouth. She's such a little child." Qi Mo covered Alulu's ears and shot Wu Yan a glare.

While the three of them bickered, Tang Xi had already been unwillingly driven onto the hemp rope by Li Xuan. Her legs straddled it, and her toes could just barely touch the ground, but her heels could not land.

Tang Xi strained to stand on tiptoe as though she wore invisible high heels, trying to leave a little gap between the lower edge of her satin briefs and the rope. But there was no way she could maintain that height while walking.

"Mr. Monster, your measurements are way too precise. Did you measure my body while I was asleep?" Tang Xi asked Li Xuan resentfully.

"No. I just estimated it by eye earlier. These eyes of mine can tell the thickness of stockings from ten meters away, with an error of no more than 5D," Li Xuan said proudly.

"That's absurdly precise..." Tang Xi forced herself up on her toes, the muscles in her legs tightening. She seemed to have practiced some martial arts, and her legs were quite strong, so she could still hold herself up for the moment.

"Then take a couple of steps." Li Xuan smiled and summoned the ugly Breeding Uncle he had created earlier, having it stand behind Tang Xi to supervise her.

The sight of the ugly monster behind her made Tang Xi shudder. She thought that no matter what, walking the rope had to be better than being humiliated by such an ugly monster. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to take a step.

Sure enough, once she began walking, it was impossible to maintain a fully tiptoed posture. The height Li Xuan had designed ensured that no matter how hard Tang Xi raised her white-stockinged feet, she would still suffer the rough friction of the rope's surface. At the same time, the rope Li Sijie had chosen was exactly the right thickness to press precisely into the gap.

Since standing on tiptoe still caused friction, what if she simply gave up? Tang Xi tried putting her heels down. The hemp rope bent beneath her weight, but because both ends were fixed by Evil Energy, its curve was limited. Her feet could not touch the ground at all. Worse, the downward pressure only caused the rope to press in deeper, making every step require several times more effort.

Tang Xi had no choice but to rise onto her toes again and shuffle forward in tiny steps. But the real torment had not even begun yet. After walking a short distance, Tang Xi finally reached the first knot.

The knot, personally tied tight by Li Sijie's skillful hands, formed a regular polyhedron. Its size and shape had been carefully considered. It resembled a twenty-sided die used in tabletop games, though its angles were softer. Combined with the height Li Xuan had personally calibrated, it blocked Tang Xi even when she strained to stand on tiptoe.

Only one path lay before Tang Xi now: she had to raise herself as high as possible on her toes, then force her most delicate part over the knot.

"What a master chef..." Tang Xi hesitated before the knot for a while. At last, she gritted her teeth, held her breath, and stepped forward.

The huge, rough bump pressed against Tang Xi's body, creating a pressure far beyond anything from the smooth stretch before it. It sank in much deeper than the rope itself had. Though the difference appeared to be only a few centimeters, it felt as difficult as climbing to heaven for Tang Xi.

Thinking of her junior sister, who admired her, being forced to watch below, Tang Xi tried her hardest not to make a sound. Fortunately, the satin briefs provided a degree of lubrication, making it easier to pass over than she had expected.

However, more than a dozen knots still waited ahead. Just recalling how it had felt to cross the first one made her legs tremble.

"Hurry up. What are you dawdling for? If you don't move, I'll raise the height," Li Xuan urged.

"Don't..." Tang Xi knew that if the height increased any further, she would never be able to endure it. She could only force her body to continue forward.

One, two, three... By the time Tang Xi had passed all seventeen knots, glistening liquid had soaked through her white stockings and run all the way down to her tiptoes.

"I... I finished... Mr. Monster, you can let me go now, right?" Tang Xi asked between heavy breaths.

"Excellent. Tang Xi Cable Car's trial run was a success. Clap, clap!" Li Xuan applauded, then used his tentacles to lift Tang Xi down and place her on the ground.

"It's finally over..." The moment she was set down, Tang Xi collapsed like a puddle of mud. Her legs continued to tremble uncontrollably.

"Next comes official operation time! Ta-da!" Li Xuan had no intention of letting Tang Xi rest. He took the Sword in the Stone that had served as Alulu's toy a few days ago, sliced open Tang Xi's pantyhose from the waist, cut through the satin briefs inside, and pulled them out through the tear in her stockings.

"What are you doing?" Tang Xi felt a chill beneath her and hurriedly reached down to cover herself. The feeling of wearing nothing underneath immediately robbed her of any sense of security. There were so many spectators around her, including the junior sister whom her master had asked her to take good care of.

"Of course, it's the second round. The rope-walking game has only just started. I'm sure the practice earlier has made you quite familiar with it." Li Xuan cruelly lifted Tang Xi with tentacles and placed her back on the rough hemp rope.

"Don't! I really can't take it anymore. My legs were already so weak when I had something on. If you make me do it without anything, aren't you asking for my life?" Tang Xi said desperately.

"Games need rules. You can give up, or you can slack off. But if you don't walk the entire rope within the allotted time, I'll reward Bing Rui to that ugly creature. I'm sure it'll be very interested in a lively beauty," Li Xuan said cruelly.

Walking the Rope, but Without Protection

Hearing Li Xuan suddenly name her, Bing Rui immediately began trembling all over. She looked at the monster standing around the stone pillars, fiddling with the ugly parts of its body, then quickly turned her head away, afraid of imagining something terrifying.

Tang Xi looked at Bing Rui with a pale face. She had originally considered simply giving up. In her eyes, beauty and ugliness were merely skin-deep. Even if it was disgusting, she could just close her eyes and get through it. But when she thought of the junior sister whom her master had entrusted to her care being violated by such an ugly monster, she could not help feeling guilty—after all, if she had not surrendered so quickly, perhaps the two of them might have had even the slightest chance of escaping the monsters' clutches by working together.

Bing Rui also stared at Tang Xi in terror. Unlike Tang Xi, who had seen through worldly matters, Bing Rui was an extremely beauty-conscious girl who often admired her own reflection. She cared deeply about her image and appearance. If she were defiled by a monster ugly beyond all measure, it would be worse than death for her.

Though she could not approve of Tang Xi surrendering to the monsters, she knew in her heart that the two of them had truly been driven into a hopeless situation at the time. Even if they had fought desperately, their chance of escape had been as slim as Sanguosha climbing to the top of the favorable reviews chart. So on a personal level, she did not resent Tang Xi, much less want her to endure such torture because of her.

Unfortunately, Bing Rui's mouth was still stuffed with a tentacle, and she could only make muffled whimpering sounds.

Tang Xi saw all of this. She looked at Bing Rui, then at the hemp rope before her, and finally sighed toward the sky. "Junior Sister, failing to protect you before was my dereliction of duty. At least this time, let me protect you with my body! I'll walk this hemp rope! As they say, if I do not enter hell, then who—ah!!!"

Tang Xi had not even finished her dramatic declaration before Li Xuan lashed her hard across the backside with a tentacle. He pointed at the stone pillar at the far end. "Watch the time. I started counting a long time ago."

Tang Xi cried out and looked toward Li Xuan. At some point, he had placed an hourglass on the stone pillar ahead. Sand was rushing down inside it, with a small pile already gathered at the bottom.

"Stop hitting me. I'll walk." Tang Xi looked at the long hemp rope before her with a guilty feeling in her chest, but she still forced her body forward out of remorse toward Bing Rui.