Chapter 117 Another Bai Ye
“I brought someone back!” Luo Shuangyue walked into the headquarters of Polar Night, carrying a pitch-black cocoon on her shoulder, shouting at Monise and the Soul Guide, who were surrounding Xiao Yi.
Monise looked up at the sound and threw Luo Shuangyue a glance that said ‘impressive.’
“You took care of it that quickly?” Not long ago, she had detected a surge of royal-class magical energy in the city, but soon the alarm had disappeared.
It seemed that Luo Shuangyue had managed to take down that magical creature in a very short time.
Or rather, she brought it back alive.
“How should I put it, this guy feels a bit weak.” Luo Shuangyue placed the cocoon on the ground and drew the scythe to slice it open, extracting the magical girl from within.
At this moment, the magical girl showed no signs of the arrogance she had displayed earlier; her face was filled with disbelief.
The black thorns that extended from her body completely controlled her movements, adhering to her bones and muscles, inflicting extreme pain upon her at all times.
But magical creatures weren’t afraid of pain, so she only slightly frowned because of discomfort, which was not due to the pain but because the power within her was being continuously drained by the black thorns.
These thorns seemed like real plants, drawing nourishment from her body and transforming it into fruits hanging from their branches.
Once ripe, a small hand would pluck these fruits and rapidly devour them.
You Lian sat on the magical girl’s shoulder, using an arm formed from illusory black mist to hold the scythe against the girl’s neck, while her small hand eagerly consumed the dark fruit.
One bite after another, it made onlookers wonder where all those things she ate went.
How could such a petite figure have such a big appetite?
“Xi?!” Xiao Yi, who was on the hospital bed covered in monitoring devices, widened her eyes. She instinctively wanted to pounce toward the magical girl, but before she could act, the Soul Guide pressed her down.
“Calm down, she is not the person you are familiar with.”
“By the way, I also found this from her; she should be using the connection between these two pendants to affect Xiao Yi.”
Luo Shuangyue produced another pendant; aside from slightly different designs, the two pendants were nearly identical.
The threads of soul flames that the Soul Guide had previously released were still weaving between the two pendants.
“This state… it’s too rough.” Monise had already walked up to the magical girl, examining her with scrutinizing eyes.
Or rather, examining the girl’s body.
Due to the thorns, the clothes originally worn by the girl were almost completely torn apart, giving Monise the opportunity to see her true appearance hidden beneath.
Excluding the thorns belonging to Luo Shuangyue, the magical girl’s body looked quite similar to Xiao Yi’s; at least from the front, there was hardly any difference.
But if looked at from the back, the difference was significant.
Some dark, fleshy objects were attached to the girl’s spine, with thin, black tendrils emerging from them, deeply piercing into the girl’s body. More thin tendrils pierced into her head, creating a rather revolting feeling.
“Is she a transformed person? This method of transformation is too crude.” A flicker of disdain flashed in Monise’s eyes.
Luo Shuangyue nodded, “She was transformed using Xiao Yi’s body; her original consciousness must have been devoured by her…”
“Not at all.”
Before Luo Shuangyue could finish her sentence, the Soul Guide’s voice came from the side.
Her words made the magical girl’s pupils constrict, but before she could react, the Soul Guide drew the long blade from her waist and swung a flame blade at the girl.
“I won’t let you have a chance to silence her!”
Purple flames ignited on the surface of the girl’s body, eliciting a tragic scream from her.
The scream caused Xiao Yi to curl up and cover her ears, as if she was transported back to that day, the day of the never-ending nightmare in her heart.
She had abandoned everyone, left her sister behind, and ran into the escape pod. After setting a course to the nearest life planet, she had left the fleet that was being attacked by monsters.
The fleet was engulfed in flames behind her, and the last voice she heard from her kin was her sister’s plea through the pendant, “Sister, help me…”
“The girl’s consciousness is still within her body! As long as we drive out her consciousness, that girl can regain control of her body!” the Soul Guide shouted.
Luo Shuangyue had little understanding of spiritual matters and trusted whatever the magical girl said.
After all, for a magical creature, retaining Xi’s consciousness was of no use; the body was merely a puppet, and puppets didn’t need consciousness.
This couldn’t be the magical creature’s twisted interest, wanting to let Xiao Yi taste the deliciousness of her sister’s consciousness bit by bit, could it?
That would be too cruel, too uncharacteristic of a magical creature.
Just look at You Ji; as another royal-class magical creature, she was about efficiency and never did anything extraneous, lacking unnecessary emotions.
All the royal-class magical creatures Luo Shuangyue had encountered were like this, so she couldn’t imagine that this magical girl was deceiving her.
And this deception was entirely useless against the Soul Guide, who could see in an instant that a weaker spirit was sleeping within the girl’s body, with the two spirits being completely different.
Their locations even differed.
One was in the girl’s head, and the other was in the dark fleshy mass on her back.
“Dark Butterfly, cooperate with me!”
“Huh?” Luo Shuangyue was taken aback; wasn’t this my job?
“I need to suppress her spiritual power from the outside, and you need to enter this child’s spiritual space and help her drive out the consciousness lodged in her head!”
Luo Shuangyue was dumbfounded; what was going on? Was this something I could do?
“I’m not a seasoned expert like you; how would I know how to do this?”
“Or to put it more simply, just seize control of this body and drive out the magical creature’s consciousness.”
“I can’t!” Luo Shuangyue stomped her foot. She was a combat magical girl and understood nothing of these spiritual matters!
“You have talent in this area; just try it slowly.” The Soul Guide said nonchalantly. “Her resistance isn’t strong; I can easily suppress her, but to completely expel the remnant consciousness from the girl’s body, we need to work in concert.”
“Now, do as I say step by step.”
Luo Shuangyue shot an anxious glance at Monise, seeking answers. Could someone explain what was happening?
Then her dear leader smiled at her, “Just do as I say.”
That smile seemed to harbor some deeper meaning, leaving Luo Shuangyue momentarily perplexed.
Could it be that Monise was going to betray her again? No way?
Thinking this, Luo Shuangyue steeled herself and approached Xi, following the Soul Guide’s instructions to slowly probe her spiritual power into the black thorns within the girl’s body.
Spiritual power needed a carrier, and these thorns were the best carriers. They had already spread throughout the girl’s body, with the only area Luo Shuangyue hesitated to touch being her head, fearing there might be unintended consequences.
And now, Luo Shuangyue had to reach that area she shouldn’t randomly touch.
Thinner thorns grew from the thorns wrapping around the girl’s neck, extending towards the girl’s brain along the earlier black tendrils.
Luo Shuangyue sensed an intent of resistance within these black threads, but they had no impact on her whatsoever.
She closed her eyes, imagining herself slowly descending into the depths of the consciousness, envisioning herself in the girl’s consciousness.
Soon, she felt a very real sensation of falling.
When she opened her eyes again, the scene before her had completely changed.
…
“How did you think of having her learn these things?” Looking at Luo Shuangyue, who appeared as if in deep meditation, Monise shot a questioning glance at the Soul Guide.
“A necessary trial; her soul is quite unique, and I wanted to see what she could achieve.” The Soul Guide chuckled softly.
Inside Luo Shuangyue’s consciousness lay three distinct consciousness entities, all independent.
One was the consciousness of You Ji, the royal-class magical creature; one was You Lian, transformed from the Vengeful Spirit Demon Emperor; and the last was her own.
Earlier, the Soul Guide asked how they all got along, and Luo Shuangyue’s response was that they got along fairly well.
This was an extraordinary occurrence—three entirely different consciousnesses, including a magical girl and a Demon Lord, coexisting harmoniously.
Excluding the possibility that she was dreaming, the Soul Guide had only one conclusion: Luo Shuangyue was exceptionally talented.
Coupled with her significantly stronger spiritual power compared to regular magical girls, the Soul Guide felt it wasn’t an issue to have her learn some spiritual spells.
Having more skills couldn’t hurt.
“Too many recent events have raised some bad premonitions in my heart.” The Soul Guide spoke softly; otherwise, with her personality, she wouldn’t have come so simply.
When Monise invited her, she only mentioned there was a non-human being to check out and didn’t indicate it was an alien.
Nevertheless, she still came, driven by a sense of crisis.
“We need more and stronger power, and she is someone I believe can become a protector of humanity like Bai Ye in the future.”
“Oh? What about those carefully cultivated magical girls from the Magic Department?”
“They’re good too, but they’re not like her. Dark Butterfly is special—special enough that even I don’t know why she is so unique.”
“Is that so?” Monise looked at Luo Shuangyue with complex eyes. “Not only you; I think she resembles that person a bit.”
That white, godlike entity.
…
Xi’s consciousness space… was terrifying.
Yes, in the literal sense of the word, it felt like a bloody and flesh-filled hell, filled with severed limbs and mutilated bodies, the sky was blood-red, and the air was suffused with the smell of char and blood.
Before Luo Shuangyue, there was a huge mass of flesh, the only thing existing in this space.
So, was Xi’s consciousness hidden within this mass of flesh?
Luo Shuangyue pondered as the flesh mass suddenly quivered, extending countless tendrils to attack her.
A sharp howling echoed through this consciousness space, its meaning crystal clear: ‘Die!’
This was the true voice of that magical creature; here, it was the real appearance after shedding its human guise.
Luo Shuangyue subconsciously reached to summon her scythe, but after several attempts, her hands remained empty.
It wasn’t until the creature’s tendrils struck her and sent her hurtling backwards that she realized that fighting in the spiritual space was entirely different from a regular battle.
Oh no, the Soul Guide didn’t tell me how to fight!
Now it seemed too late to retreat; Luo Shuangyue could only evade the creature’s attacks while figuring out how to take it down.
If the scythe wouldn’t work, what other methods could she use to fight?
Thinking about it, what could she turn her spiritual power into…
An idea flashed through her mind, and Luo Shuangyue seized the inspiration.
She could use You Ji’s fighting style!
With a thought, her spiritual power transformed into thorny thorns, flying towards the creature’s tendrils. The two soon became entangled, entering a complex state where each was within the other.
The two spiritual powers began to collide in this manner, where technical skill had little impact on the outcome; to defeat the enemy, pure strength was needed!
Pure strength!
Unfortunately for the creature, Luo Shuangyue’s spiritual power was indeed quite strong.
Not only did the creature have to resist the burning of the soul flames released by the Soul Guide outside, but it also had to engage in intense confrontation with Luo Shuangyue, which soon put it in a difficult position.
After all, the consciousness of that magical creature wasn’t very strong here, just a small part compared to its main body.
And now, it was far too distant from its main body, unable to even transmit memories, let alone support from the main body.
If she died here, the main body wouldn’t know anything!
The dark substance forming the mass of flesh began to peel away, revealing a tightly closed-eyed girl appearing in Luo Shuangyue’s line of sight.
This should be Xi’s consciousness, she thought.
With a puff! Several strands of black mist drifted from behind Luo Shuangyue, transforming into a petite girl the size of a palm. She pointed at the large mass of flesh that was grappling with Luo Shuangyue and shouted, “Don’t kill it; it’s useful!”
Huh? This child actually said something other than just about being delicious? Luo Shuangyue was momentarily stunned, then she realized this wasn’t You Lian’s own thought.
It was You Ji relying on You Lian to relay her words.
Well… since You Ji said not to kill directly, then she would see what You Ji intended to do.
With You Ji’s request not to kill, Luo Shuangyue exerted considerable effort to pull Xi out from that mass of flesh, while the magical creature’s consciousness was ensnared by her thorns and handed over to You Lian to handle.
You Lian, without any courtesy, began to eagerly devour the disgusting mass of flesh, quickly reducing it to a small remnant.
During this process, the magical creature continuously resisted and screamed, but it didn’t slow down You Lian’s actions in the slightest; soon, the creature was reduced to the core part.
As for the other spiritual powers, they became part of You Lian.
“Sister, wake up; it’s time to get up!” Luo Shuangyue vigorously shook Xi’s shoulder, trying to rouse the girl from her slumber.
But no matter how much she shook, the girl in her hands remained unresponsive, as if she were utterly dead.
“She won’t wake up again; did you think I would allow a presence capable of competing for dominance to exist within this body?” The magical creature, which had been reduced to the size of two fists, mocked with a sardonic laugh. “I kept her consciousness just to deepen that girl’s suffering.”
Her plan was quite simple: to tear apart Xi’s consciousness bit by bit in front of Xiao Yi and then to use Xi’s body to send Xiao Yi to her doom.
It was a morbid pastime for a magical creature that had reached a significant stage and was currently uncertain of its next direction.
Royal-class magical creatures had intelligence comparable to humans; they could think, feel joy, anger, sadness, and happiness. But their underlying thoughts were evil—they were inherently bad seeds.
Just the opposite of magical girls.
“That’s why you must have a way to wake her up again.” Luo Shuangyue placed Xi down, her gaze fixed on the magical creature.
The creature intended to torment Xiao Yi, making her die in absolute despair and regret, so it couldn’t let Xi remain in eternal slumber.
Since the creature wanted to completely kill Xi in front of Xiao Yi, given the creature’s level of malice, Luo Shuangyue could easily guess that at that point, the creature would awaken Xi’s consciousness.
Then Xiao Yi would hear Xi’s cries and watch as the magical creature tore Xi apart bit by bit.
“You must know!”
“So what? I won’t tell you anything!”
“I don’t need you to tell me; I can find it out myself.” Luo Shuangyue pressed her hand against the mass of flesh transformed from the magical creature and wrapped it with thorns, then flew towards her spiritual world.
After a peculiar sensation of both short and long elevation, Luo Shuangyue brought the mass to the depths of her spiritual world.
And You Ji was already waiting here.
“You took your time.”
“So you had me bring her here; what do you want to do?” Luo Shuangyue asked in confusion as she tossed the wrapped mass to You Ji.
Catching the mass tossed by Luo Shuangyue, You Ji looked up at the sky.
The Big Butterfly had now lowered its head, staring intently at the magical emperor’s consciousness in You Ji’s hand.
That was a gaze full of appetite.
“Got it? It’s not me; it’s it.”
“Wait, I still need to ask her for information…”
Before Luo Shuangyue could finish her sentence, You Ji vigorously threw the object upwards, and the Big Butterfly precisely caught it in its mouth.
Accompanied by a terrifying scream, Luo Shuangyue stared in shock as the magical emperor’s consciousness she had brought back was devoured clean by the Big Butterfly.
“You!” She glared angrily at You Ji. Could you at least wait until I finished asking what I needed?
You just fed it to the butterfly; what about the questions I wanted to ask?
“Don’t worry; you can’t get her to speak by normal means. If you eat her and digest her spiritual power, you’ll naturally gather the information you want to know.” You Ji explained helplessly. The Big Butterfly was a rather miraculous existence; everything it consumed transformed into Luo Shuangyue’s power.
Once the magical emperor’s spiritual power was consumed, the information contained within that power would deposit in the depths of Luo Shuangyue’s mind.
Just like… herself.
You Ji also did not know if she was still the same magical creature she once was. She thought she was, but… there was also another possibility.
She might merely be a false existence shaped by the primary magical power of the magical emperor after being devoured by the Big Butterfly, with her memories and consciousness possibly being fake, and she might have always been a part of Luo Shuangyue.
Perhaps at that time, Luo Shuangyue’s spiritual power was insufficient to cope with the impact of those memories, and in self-protection, she had created You Ji as a being that accepted all the memories of the magical creatures.
However, You Ji didn’t much care about this; she was already dead, and whether she was still herself was a question she was too lazy to bother with, as she was quite happy these days.
That was enough.
“It’s here…” You Ji sensed new things entering her mind, and as she had thought, after consuming those spiritual powers, the magical creature’s memories had indeed been extracted by the Big Butterfly!
“This portion of spiritual power is too little, and the information it carries is sparse; only the information about Yi and Xi is complete.”
You Ji spread her hand, displaying the memories she had acquired in visual form for Luo Shuangyue.
The truth of the matter was just as Luo Shuangyue had surmised; the magical creature captured Xi after destroying the elf fleet and subjected her to inhumane physical modifications, injecting its own consciousness into Xi’s body.
Then it followed the vague connection between the two pendants to come here, to chase down Xiao Yi, the escapee from the final moment.
However, its tormenting plan was just halfway through when it was unexpectedly knocked over by a magical girl who appeared mid-plot, resulting in its demise.
“Regarding her and the war against the elves, this memory is very vague, but it can be confirmed that there are no magical girls among the elves.” You Ji pondered, stroking her chin.
If there were no magical girls, then the elves’ defeat was entirely reasonable.
This also explained why the magical creature was defeated by Luo Shuangyue in one hit while controlling Xi’s body; it really had never fought against magical girls and was completely unprepared for such a situation.
The environmental information it saw from a few ordinary people’s heads had not informed it that there were individuals with abilities on this planet that could match or even exceed magical creatures.
And these powers were completely unfazed by the creature’s bizarre stance towards technology; instead, their abilities were extremely effective against magical creatures.
“In simpler terms, it’s like frying a fish and hitting a shark; it didn’t realize it was about to be bitten to death by the shark.”
The magical creature certainly hadn’t expected this—she easily wiped out an interstellar civilization only to flip it over on a small planet with surface-level civilization.
What in the world was this magical girl? The existence of such a being was utterly unscientific!
But she would not have the opportunity to relay this information back; after all, she had already been completely consumed by the Big Butterfly.
“By the way, there’s also bad news; that girl’s body is rapidly breaking down; she won’t last two days.”
When the magical creature performed the modification, it hadn’t considered sustainable development; it only thought about how to modify her, leading to a multitude of conflicts within Xi’s body.
As long as the creature’s consciousness was present, these conflicts could be roughly suppressed. But with the magical creature’s consciousness gone, these contradictions would begin to explode.
A two-day estimate was already optimistic; in a pessimistic scenario, Xi’s body might collapse within a day.
“Sigh…” Hearing this news, Luo Shuangyue let out a regretful sigh.
Although she knew it was a luxury to hope, she had indeed thought about whether she could save Xi’s life, after all, this child had gone through a great sin.
Unfortunately, reality was ultimately cruel; there weren’t many miracles, only endless regrets.
…
Slowly opening her eyes, Luo Shuangyue rubbed her slightly dizzy head and stood up from the ground, addressing the Soul Guide, who had already retracted the soul flames, “I have completely cleared the magical creature’s consciousness; Xi will wake up soon.”
“Yes, we already know.” The Soul Guide nodded, pointing at the fleshy mass on Xi’s back, which had ceased to move.
Not long ago, this fleshy mass had emitted a sharp rumble; after the rumble ended, it lost its vitality. At that moment, the Soul Guide guessed that Luo Shuangyue had achieved victory in the spiritual world.
As for why it took her so long to awaken afterward… that was beyond her guess.
Perhaps she was trying to find a way to rouse Xi.
“But her body…” Luo Shuangyue hesitated.
“Won’t hold for long; the modifications were too crude, completely disregarding the tolerance of the modified, and the methods were very simplistic—truly a zero-star project.”
Compared to Luo Shuangyue’s inner turmoil, Monise was much more direct, plainly stating Xi’s condition.
Just a while ago, she was curious about Xi’s modification techniques; now she was no longer interested.
This completely futureless modification technique, she wouldn’t want even if it was given to her.
“Go say a few last words to your sister.” Monise undid the restraints on Xiao Yi, speaking in a cold tone, “This is the final chance.”
As her words fell, Xiao Yi rolled and crawled to Xi’s side, not caring about the ugly fleshy mass stuck to her sister, embracing Xi and weeping bitterly.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
As if hearing Xiao Yi’s cry, the tightly closed-eyed girl slightly opened her eyes.
“Sister?”
Xi’s voice was very hoarse, barely audible; her vocal cords were ruined beyond recognition, and she could no longer produce the voice she once had.
Xiao Yi said nothing, merely holding her sister tightly and repeatedly crying out apologies.
Luo Shuangyue felt a light bump against her shoulder; turning her head, she saw the Soul Guide gesture towards the front door.
‘Let them have this space for themselves,’ the Soul Guide clearly meant.
Luo Shuangyue was silent for a few seconds before lifting on her toes to walk out of the room with the Soul Guide.
As for Monise, this emotionless scientist showed no reaction and stood in the room silently observing the physical data of the two sisters.
“Every time I witness a parting of life and death, it feels like a knot in my heart.” The Soul Guide said softly as they stood in the corridor.
Magical girls like Monise, who are cold and heartless, are rare; most magical girls are perceptive and possess strong empathy.
The manifestation of this is that they easily become sentimental, feeling sorrow when others are sad.
Like the current separation of life and death, it always makes magical girls feel deep sadness from the very core.
“Yes… even though I’m not familiar with that girl, I can feel her emotions, that suffocating feeling.” Luo Shuangyue watched Xiao Yi clutching her sister, weeping, feeling a slight sting in her nose.
This wasn’t because she was particularly close to Xiao Yi, but simply because she was also an elder sister; if she were in Xiao Yi’s shoes, she would surely cry louder and more painfully.
“There are too many tragedies in this world, enough to dry up a person’s tears, but what use are tears? Do they kill magical creatures or revive the dead?” The Soul Guide gazed not at the room, but at the corridor, speaking softly.
“Dark Butterfly, you also have someone you treasure, right?”
“…Who doesn’t have someone?”
“Willing to do anything for them, right?”
“Even if it means sacrificing myself, I’m willing.”
This forthright and unwavering answer drew a satisfied laugh from the Soul Guide.
She had indeed not misjudged; Dark Butterfly was undoubtedly a quintessential magical girl.
“Then, do you want to become stronger?” The Soul Guide stood up straight, turning to look at Luo Shuangyue, her eyes shimmering with a sharp light.
That gaze seemed capable of piercing Luo Shuangyue’s body, uncovering even the slightest hint of hypocrisy in her heart.
Faced with the Soul Guide’s unreserved scrutinizing gaze, Luo Shuangyue showed no signs of retreat; her gaze collided with the Soul Guide’s in midair, causing the Soul Guide to slightly nod.
She was very satisfied with that steadfast gaze.
“I have a bad premonition; perhaps in the near future, we will encounter a very terrifying enemy—one that we cannot defeat even if we expend all our energy.” She looked up at the ceiling as if able to see the vast starry sky outside through the cold, silver-gray steel construction.
“Too many events have transpired over these past few months, as if foreshadowing a great crisis slowly approaching us.”
First, there were royal-class magical creatures hidden in human society; then the Vengeful Spirit Demon Emperor, capable of nearly destroying the entire Eastern Extreme City; and now an army of magical creatures capable of annihilating an entire alien civilization has appeared.
A series of events exploded in the span of just two months, prompting the Soul Guide to feel an ominous sense stirring within her.
“Do you think the creatures in the sky are related to that great event?”
“…Perhaps, but I feel she’s merely an advance guard; the real danger lies ahead.” The Soul Guide shook her head. “Dark Butterfly, you are the most gifted magical girl I’ve ever seen, so I want you to become the strongest magical girl!”
