The First Battle Ends

The Witch's enormous remains slowly turned to ash and scattered away. The body formed from its residual magic was breaking down into magic's most primal form, returning to the world.

The cocoon shell slowly cracked apart and vanished. Fu You, standing within it, waited until it had fully broken before strolling out.

After exchanging a glance with Huang Xing, she looked away and walked over to the many crystal chunks that had fallen when the Witch died.

There were ten crystal chunks in total.

The size and purity of crystal chunks both affected their quality. They were important resources that could be exchanged for all kinds of items at the Magical Girl Logistics Department.

She picked up the two largest, most intact black crystal chunks from the ground and held them in her hands.

Huang Xing's gaze was icy, her expression nearly teeth-grinding with fury.

"Divide the rest among yourselves," Fu You said softly.

After transforming into a Magical Girl, her voice actually sounded somewhat gentle. Yet her emotionless tone made her seem impossibly distant.

The young Magical Girl Lan Xiaohuan seemed to have only just realized what had happened. Coming back to herself, she also turned her gaze toward Huang Xing.

"She's that evil Magical Girl who appeared on the rooftop a few days ago! It was her... she almost hurt us!" Lan Xiaohuan pointed at Fu You and said nervously.

"This Witch was defeated by all of us working together. Are you just going to steal everyone's credit?" Huang Xing ignored Lan Xiaohuan and said instead.

Fu You turned her head and looked at her. "I killed it."

"So what if you killed it? We fought for so long. Fine, you didn't help us, but you waited until we were all exhausted before showing up to steal the kill?"

The Dead Zone still remained. The area that had become a Dead Zone had not disappeared just because the Witch had died completely.

A long, narrow Dead Zone lay between Huang Xing and Fu You. Its dark distortion warped the light, making Fu You, as seen from Huang Xing's side, look far more withered and far blacker than she truly was.

Across the ruined Dead Zone, Fu You glanced at the others and waved her hand. "Yes, I killed the Witch."

There had never been clear rules for distributing crystal chunks. Disputes over who they belonged to were hardly rare among Magical Girls.

Crystal chunks were extremely valuable resources. The Magical Girl Division had methods to extract special energy from them. With that energy, they could restore a Magical Girl's magic and even repair her body.

Logically, such precious resources ought to have been fiercely contested by Magical Girls.

But most people who could become Magical Girls possessed bright and sincere hearts. Believing in love and justice, they would more often take the initiative to give crystal chunks to those who needed them, so in most cases, distribution followed principles of fairness and equity.

Still, even among Magical Girls, there were inevitably a few rotten apples.

There were ten crystal chunks in all, but they differed in size and quality. The younger Magical Girls could not tell, but Huang Xing knew very well that the two Fu You had taken were worth more than all the other Black Crystals combined.

A Magical Girl who was so selfish and deliberately seized resources was truly detestable!

But Magical Girls could not fight Magical Girls.

At least, not openly.

A Magical Girl's power was closely connected to the strength of her "heart." Even if the other party had done every evil imaginable, as long as she had not fallen, attacking another Magical Girl first was a sign of brutality.

Needlessly trapping oneself in a spiritual dilemma was not something a qualified Magical Girl would do.

Even if she was angry, she should not stray onto the wrong path because of Fu You's mistakes.

She did not understand why Fu You had not completely fallen despite doing something like this. If Fu You had fallen, Huang Xing would definitely have been the first to go and punish her.

Fu You turned away and did not look at her again. She merely brushed a lock of hair aside, letting it fall loose, then tore off her hair ribbon and casually tossed it away.

"Be more careful next time, Huang Xing."

Before leaving, she did not forget to throw out those words.

That only made Huang Xing grit her teeth harder, veins bulging on the hand she had clenched into a fist.

Lan Xiaohuan held the gem on her chest in one hand as she watched Fu You walk away, utterly confused.

Huang Ying took Lan Xiaohuan's arm and whispered, "She doesn't seem that bad, does she? She's weird, but she seems to be a Magical Girl too?"

"No, no way. She has to be a bad person. I can feel it!" Lan Xiaohuan whispered back.

"Teacher said we can't judge people by appearances," Huang Ying said.

"I'm judging by instinct!" Lan Xiaohuan whispered as well.

Green Yi watched Fu You's retreating back. Somewhat worried, she patted Huang Xing on the shoulder. "She really is annoying... but she did save you. This time, let her have the advantage."

"That was a Witch! We... forget it." Huang Xing stepped forward and picked up several black crystals that had been abandoned on the ground.

They were usually quite happy when they defeated Fierce Beasts and obtained Black Crystals. This time alone, she felt like a begging dog.

Fu You had wandered off to who knew where. Huali watched her retreating figure and wanted to catch up and ask her about it, but Huang Xing's current state made her feel that if she went after Fu You now, Huang Xing would probably come to dislike her.

As for Fu You...

She felt that, given Fu You's personality, she probably would not hold it against her just because she had not caught up with her. They were in the same classroom anyway, and she would still have time to apologize later.

For some reason, she had a feeling that Fu You was deliberately trying to make Huang Xing angry.

The Fu You she knew was somewhat cold, but she was definitely not an unpleasant person. Yet now, standing beside Huang Xing, she truly felt that Fu You was a little annoying.

Black Crystal really was an important item, and as Huang Xing had said, Fu You was indeed suspected of stealing their kill.

But just now, Huang Xing and she had indeed gotten a second chance at life because of Fu You, hadn't they?

Judging from Sun Feiliu's tone, the Witch's remaining body had been entering an entirely new stage. That stage had definitely been dangerous, dangerous enough that Huang Xing might not have been able to deal with it in time.

And because Fu You appeared, that stage had vanished.

Or rather, had it been shattered outright?

Could Sun Feiliu have judged it wrong?

Earlier, she truly had been astonished by Huang Xing and the others' attacks on the Witch. Their attacks were not only beautiful, but also quite powerful.

But she could also see that the strike Fu You had unleashed when she broke from the cocoon was already on an entirely different level from Huang Xing and the others' attacks.

The intertwined black-and-white attack shot straight into the sky. Even from far away, even though he was not the one being attacked, he could clearly feel an unusual, oppressive presence.

When that light appeared, he had been completely stunned.

It was not just her. Even after the light vanished, the surrounding Magical Girls had not recovered from their shock. They stood there blankly, neither helping nor praising her, simply watching until Fu You emerged on her own and broke the silence.

She believed it was impossible that she, a newly minted Magical Girl, had been the only one who could sense that oppressive force. Everyone else had surely felt it too.

But instead of being grateful to her, everyone seemed intensely hostile toward her.

"This is your share." Huang Xing came over to her and smiled as she handed her a small piece of Black Crystal.

She did not take the Black Crystal, merely waving her hands repeatedly. "No, I can't take it. You were the ones who saved me."

"Magical Girls who take part in a battle should receive the reward they deserve. This is not only to reward your fighting, but also your courage. Besides, this is Black Crystal from a rare Witch, not Black Crystal from an ordinary Fierce Beast. Many Magical Girls never see even a single piece in their entire lives," Huang Xing said.

"Is that so?"

Huang Xing smiled. "There aren't that many Magical Girls who survive after defeating a Witch."