Breaking the Cocoon

That foot landed squarely on Huali's ass.

After becoming a Magical Girl, he possessed immense strength, but his skin still retained a girl's keen sensitivity.

Huali normally did not pay much attention to the state of his feminized body, but when that kick struck, he clearly felt the flesh on his ass begin to jiggle violently.

Never before had he so clearly felt the thick layer of fat on his ass. His girl's body obviously looked incredibly frail, as though there was barely any flesh on it, yet his ass was exceptionally plump.

He even felt as if there were two enormous cushions of flesh behind him, greatly softening the impact. That kick had clearly been astonishingly powerful, yet it had barely hurt.

But the sensation of those cushions jiggling made him feel inexplicably ashamed—and, of course, afraid.

At first, he thought his ass had been bitten, so his body gave an involuntary little shudder from fear of pain. But when the genuine feedback from his senses reached him, he realized he had probably been kicked—and kicked hard.

A side kick had struck his ass with the top of the attacker's foot.

Then, thanks to the elasticity of the ample fat on his body after becoming a Magical Girl, he was easily sent flying while holding Huang Xing.

The two girls clung tightly to each other.

Huang Xing had not even figured out what was happening before Huali carried her sideways through the air.

Feeling Huali's soft body pressed against her, battle-hardened Huang Xing knew full well that Huali must have noticed something to come rushing over. Rather than question him, she wrapped her arms around him and followed the inexplicable sideways force carrying his body, swiftly putting distance between them and the Witch.

After landing, she planted both feet firmly, hooked one arm around Huali's waist, and spun gracefully on the spot. Her skirt flared into a golden arc, and after turning around, she still held Huali in her arms.

Still muddled and immersed in shock, Huali had not experienced enough battles for his mind to process so much information.

By the time he realized what had happened, he had already curled into a ball, securely cradled in Huang Xing's arms in a princess carry.

And from his position in Huang Xing's arms, his eyes happened to be looking at her profile.

Huang Xing smiled. "What is it?"

Being held in another girl's arms made Huali's heart pound wildly.

As a man, he had never appeared beside another girl in such an embarrassing manner.

"Th-there's danger..." he said.

"Is that so?" Only then did Huang Xing look toward the Witch.

At that moment, a Magical Girl woven from gold and black had appeared beside the Witch at some point.

Her long golden hair was still dancing in the air, her black skirt puffed out in a fluffy bloom, and the strip of pale absolute territory between her black thigh-high stockings and skirt was particularly eye-catching amid the dim battlefield.

The staff in her hand was pressed firmly against the Witch's throat.

The Witch's elongated, snake-like body had swallowed more than half the staff. Because the staff was thick enough, the Witch's "body" had been forced into the shape of the staff.

The girl's hand gripped the end of the staff.

The Witch's face no longer resembled a human face, but rather that of a snake covered in human skin. Having swallowed more than half the staff, her body was stuck on it, unable to advance or retreat.

Yet the Witch showed not the slightest panic. Her terrifying eyes merely shifted quietly to the left, staring at the girl's face.

The girl's face bore no expression whatsoever.

No thrill of battle, no joy in victory, no pride of the strong, no tender pity, no anger toward evil, no trembling fear.

Calm, indifferent, unfamiliar, decisive.

"You are... that person..."

Even with her head impaled on the staff, her throat could still produce sound.

That voice did not come from her mouth at all, but seemed to emerge from somewhere behind her throat. Hoarse and slimy, neither male nor female, it sounded like some slick creature desperately imitating a human voice. Just hearing it was nauseating.

The girl ignored her entirely. Her calm face did not even show the desire to open her mouth. Her lips were slightly stuck together from dryness, with no intention of parting.

The girl—Fu You—did not pull back the staff. Instead, gripping its end, he swung both it and the Witch's body in a circle around himself.

Like a ribbon hanging from the staff, the Witch's body was dragged from the ground by Fu You's movement and flung into the air.

Then Fu You swiftly spun the staff in another circle.

The Witch's long, narrow body spiraled through the air, forming a ring.

Only then did everyone notice that, at some point, the Witch's body seemed to have completely transformed into a snake made of condensed hair. It was unlike the Witch's previous appearance.

Clearly, the Witch had no intention of surrendering without a fight. The hair scattered across the ground swiftly coiled around Fu You's body.

The Witch moved with incredible speed, wrapping Fu You and his staff together in an instant.

The black hair quickly formed a black cocoon, its surface radiating dense black energy.

"What was that just now? Was it a person?" the young Magical Girl beside them asked.

Because it had appeared without warning and been swallowed in the blink of an eye, the young Magical Girl had not even had time to determine what exactly had been swallowed.

After being set down from Huang Xing's arms, Huali recalled catching a glimpse of Fu You when he had turned his head before being kicked away.

He instinctively glanced at Huang Xing.

But Huang Xing only frowned and did not move to save him.

Green Yi reacted quickly instead, drawing her bow and firing an arrow in an attempt to break through the cocoon's outer shell.

However, the attack had no effect.

A series of huffing sounds could be heard from within the cocoon, strange noises accompanied by wet, slimy sounds, as though countless sticky things were continually licking whatever lay inside it.

Then everyone heard a peculiar burst of air suddenly erupt from within the black cocoon.

It sounded like the explosive noise made by an old-fashioned kettle set on a stove before the water boiled.

At the same time, the enormous black cocoon began to tremble violently.

"That bastard, stealing the credit again?" Huang Xing frowned.

Then a pillar of black-and-white light burst out of the cocoon.

"Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz—"

The instant the cocoon shell shattered, a tremendous buzzing roar burst forth from within.

The pillar of light shot straight into the sky, tearing through the clouds and stabbing toward the blazing sun. At first glance, it seemed as though the light had punched a hole through the heavens, leaving the sun nowhere to hide.

The Witch's body also vanished in smoke along with that pillar of light.

Within half of the cocoon shell stood the girl, still holding her staff.

The girl flicked her staff coldly, and several black crystal fragments fell to the ground.

Then all the black hair around her began to dissipate.

Only then did her cold face and dark golden eyes meet Huang Xing's.