Reward: Reverse Cursed Technique (End)

Under the cover of night, the battle between Scarlet Spider and Ripper continued:

Bang!

Scarlet Spider seized an opening and punched Edward in the chin, sending him flying more than three meters.

But immediately afterward, a searing pain shot through Scarlet Spider's right arm, covering his back in cold sweat.

"Heh heh..."

Edward lay beneath a shopfront and slowly pushed his shattered jaw back into place. White bone exposed, he curled his lips into a chilling smile.

His scalpel was stained with blood.

Edward had taken the punch head-on and completely crippled Scarlet Spider's right hand.

"You're much harder to kill than a spirit medium mage, little spider. Now let me think, how many pieces should I chop you into? How about I hang them at the school gate like a spiderweb?"

The thought made Edward a little excited.

Ever since coming to Taiping Prefecture, he had suppressed his desire to kill in order to clean up his image.

His original target had been the blue-eyed boy he had met at the nightclub that evening. Just thinking about the boy dying by his hand had filled him with excitement.

Unfortunately, Scarlet Spider had spoiled his fun. But now that he had been exposed, he might as well kill to his heart's content.

Just as Edward got to his feet, ready to finish off the little spider, his pupils suddenly contracted. He stared in shock behind Scarlet Spider.

At some unknown point...

A gray-haired, red-eyed girl had descended from the sky onto the roof of the tall building behind Scarlet Spider. She raised her gaze slightly and looked at Edward.

The girl's long hair fluttered gently in the night. Her ruby-red eyes held nothing but cold indifference, weighing down on him like an iceberg.

Almost at the same moment, the gray-haired girl's magic power spread rapidly across the entire block like a vast net.

Thump!

Edward's and Scarlet Spider's hearts both skipped a beat.

Scarlet Spider looked back, his subconscious Spider-Sense shrieking like a broken buzzer.

He had never felt anything like it.

The girl's magic power was immense, brimming with unrestrained malice and killing intent. She hadn't even arrived yet, but her mana bar was already poking him in the face.

Edward gripped his scalpel tightly, three questions flashing through his mind. Before he knew it, cold sweat had covered his forehead:

What terrifying magic power. When did she appear?

...No, wait.

She's been nearby this whole time?!

That was right. This gray-haired magical girl had been nearby from the very beginning; she had only now stopped holding back her magic power.

At that moment, the girl raised her hand slightly and flicked it toward Edward below, her face expressionless.

"Dismantle."

Edward's heart skipped a beat. He instantly twisted aside to dodge, but although he had sensed the burst of magic power, he was still a step too slow.

Splurt!!

His right arm, the one holding the scalpel, was cleanly severed.

How is that possible?! When did she attack?! A hidden weapon?!

Edward broke out in a cold sweat. He hadn't detected the path of her attack at all and had dodged on instinct alone.

The gray-haired girl on the rooftop frowned slightly.

She was somewhat dissatisfied that her surprise attack had only cut off half of his arm.

After all, making a pointing gesture could amplify the slashes of the Malevolent Shrine Cursed Technique.

Both its speed and power would increase considerably compared to activating the Cursed Technique directly.

As expected of a veteran criminal, Hell could only think.

Although she now had as much Cursed Energy as Sukuna, her output efficiency was still too low.

Having a large reserve of magic power without efficient output was like a grime-caked faucet in a university dorm: no matter how many times you turned it, the water would only trickle out.

Although many thoughts ran through her head, in reality, once Hell's first probing attack was over, she chose to make up for quality with quantity.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!

With a thought, she sent a barrage of invisible slashes flying toward Edward in the blink of an eye.

Edward's pupils trembled. He turned and dodged the slashes, but there were far more attacks than he had imagined.

Meanwhile, Scarlet Spider was about to say something when he saw the long, gray-haired magical girl leap off the roof.

Her skirt fluttered as she descended, so lightly that she seemed less like she was falling and more like a graceful kitten landing on the ground.

She gave Scarlet Spider an indifferent glance, then walked past him without a word and headed toward Edward.

"Hey, be careful! His ability is unusual!"

Scarlet Spider came to his senses and struggled to raise his aching right hand, hoping to warn the magical girl who had appeared so suddenly.

But she didn't even look back, and he couldn't tell whether she had heard him.

She's actually closing the distance herself? Idiot!

After enduring a barrage of slashes from Malevolent Shrine, Edward pulled the last scalpel from the outside of his thigh and charged at the gray-haired girl, wounds covering his body.

In his judgment, since this invisible slashing ability was so good at kiting opponents from a distance, he would surely have the advantage over it in close combat.

As he advanced, Edward's mind raced.

Judging from her movements just now, the magical girl's magic technique had two activation methods. The first required a pointing gesture and was very powerful, but had a windup.

The second was an instantaneous slash with no windup. It was weaker, but he was in poor condition himself and couldn't withstand it for long.

Edward had dismissed the idea of running away from the start. In his condition, that would only let her wear him down with slashes until he died. It was a weakling's way of thinking.

So Edward chose to stake everything on one gamble.

As long as he got close to the gray-haired girl, he was confident he could turn the situation around, because he had killed a magical girl before.

The vast majority of magical girls could automatically strengthen their bodies with magic power, but their actual defenses were still significantly weaker than those of superheroes at the same level.

More importantly, the vast majority of magical girls were more mentally fragile, delicate and afraid of pain, and easily lost the will to fight.

Ultimately, they were just a bunch of children.

So... as long as he closed the distance, he would win!

With that thought in mind, Edward brought his blade toward the girl.

He made contact!

His scalpel sliced across the gray-haired girl's wrist from an extremely dangerous angle, cutting through her blood vessels and veins.

"Cleave."

But with that clear, pleasant voice, Hell's figure suddenly flickered. She vanished from in front of Edward and appeared behind him in an instant.

Her right hand was stained with blood, which splattered onto the concrete ground.

Splurt!!

At the same time, a clean line slowly appeared across Edward's waist, cutting him in two.

Edward didn't even have time to scream before his severed body fell to the ground.

Scarlet Spider and Nightingale, who was approaching from a distance, saw the entire scene.

"How is this possible...?"

Edward was still clutching the scarlet scalpel tightly in his hand.

He opened his mouth, and blood gushed uncontrollably from it. His green eyes trembled as they were gradually stained red with blood.

"Damn woman... I was so close!"

Edward stared at the girl's back, unwilling to accept it. He gritted his teeth. "You bitch! You're not a magical girl at all!"

Magical girls didn't kill anyone except demonic beasts and witches.

Once a magical girl killed a person, the stain on her soul would inevitably lead her to become a witch, and she would ultimately fall to her own obsessions and power.

That was one of the reasons Edward had chosen not to run.

And yet... this magical girl had gone straight for the kill!

"Magical girl?"

Hearing that, Miss Hell casually flicked the blood from her hand.

The wound from the scalpel was healing rapidly.

She turned and looked at Edward on the ground, a contemptuous, malicious smile slowly appearing on her fair, delicate face:

"I never said I was a magical girl. You were just indulging in wishful thinking, you lowly wild dog."

The girl looked down at him:

"Since you've dirtied my hand, hurry up and atone with your death."

With that, she made a thought.

Splurt!

Two invisible slashes fell.

Blood left a dark streak across the ground.

Edward's head was completely shredded, officially confirming his death.

[Congratulations, Miss Witch. You have completed a random event.]

[You have received a reward: Reverse Cursed Technique.]

[Reverse Cursed Technique · Localization: In this world, the essence of magic power is negative entropy. By multiplying two streams of magic power with "negative" attributes, two negatives make a positive, giving birth to an incredible magic.]

"H-he's dead?!"

Scarlet Spider instinctively took two steps back.

He had only one thought: Crap, looks like I've run into someone I shouldn't mess with.

Sure enough, after killing Edward, Miss Hell turned her icy gaze on Scarlet Spider.

Scarlet Spider let his arm hang limply and said, somewhat uncertainly, "Uh, well... we're on the same side, right?"

Miss Hell stared at him for a while, making Scarlet Spider's skin crawl.

Suddenly, the gray-haired girl raised her hand slightly, and silvery-white reverse magic power began to burn in her palm like a flame:

"Do you need healing?"

"I'm still a beginner, but your injury isn't serious. I should be able to heal it."

Miss Hell's voice carried a curiosity full of scientific spirit.

She had seemed to be staring at Scarlet Spider with a cold expression just now, but in reality, her brain's CPU had temporarily overloaded while absorbing the vast amount of information on Reverse Cursed Technique.

Now, she was gradually coming to understand it all and couldn't wait to find someone to practice on.

"Um... thanks for the offer, but I think I can actually go to the hospital myself. Really! I appreciate the offer."

Scarlet Spider was about to refuse, but Hell had already come up to him.

Smack.

The girl placed a hand on his shoulder and said, word by word:

"I think you need it."

He had, after all, risked his life to help her cripple Ripper, so Hell naturally wouldn't let him leave covered in injuries.

Scarlet Spider: "..."