Chapter 142: Everyone Will Integrate
This time’s test resulted in Luo Shuangyue discovering that she could easily defeat these magical beasts in a one-on-one fight, but the opponent wouldn’t give her a chance to do so.
The magical power that she had left inside the magical beasts for absorption was still effective, but the magical beasts were not foolish. Upon realizing that they couldn’t handle the magical power left by Luo Shuangyue, they immediately cut off all body parts corroded by the black thorn.
After all, the life force of magical beasts was robust enough that losing a bit of their body was not a significant injury.
Once the wounds were dealt with, this enormous magical beast, resembling a leader of the Imperial Guards, let out a sharp, resonating buzzing sound imbued with magical energy, and the entire magical beast army charged towards the magical girls with great synchronization.
They seemed to understand the urgency of the situation; if they didn’t deal with the magical girls first, they wouldn’t be able to assist the Demon Lord.
The number of magical beasts in the Imperial Guards wasn’t very high, but it still outweighed the magical girls currently on the battlefield. For these Initial Bloom level children, this would undoubtedly be a tough battle.
However, like their seniors, if they felt fear and dared not confront the magical beasts on the battlefield, they would never be able to achieve the power of a magical girl.
Every magical girl was unafraid of battling magical beasts, even if that battle might lead to their complete disappearance from this world.
It’s important to know that being a magical girl was never a safe profession. To this day, very few magical girls have lived comfortably until retirement; there were certainly those seniors who felt they could still fight and weren’t yet of retirement age.
But another reason that could not be overlooked was that the casualty rate among magical girls was truly very high.
This was the most dangerous profession in the world; once one embarked on this path, it was highly likely that they would burn themselves out in battles against powerful enemies, bringing hope for victory to their companions.
When magical girls encountered situations where sacrifice was necessary, they would never hesitate.
They knew that if they hesitated, the sacrifice required would only be greater.
“Integrate magic cannon, fire!” A senior Initial Bloom level magical girl in charge shouted, bringing her raised hand down heavily. The magical girls unleashed the magic cannons that had long been charging up.
The colorful, dazzling magic cannon drew a brilliant trajectory through the starry sky, clearly aimed at the massive Demon Lord that Luo Shuangyue had previously ambushed.
Upon discovering the target of the magical girls, the magical beasts immediately retaliated. A series of pitch-black magic cannons shot out from their barrels, intending to counter this combined magic cannon.
However, their attempts at blocking were not very effective. The magical girls responsible for launching this combined magic cannon all specialized in magic cannon spells. With so many magical girls working together to prepare the combined magic cannon for so long, even a Royal-class magical beast could be harmed, let alone these armored magical creatures.
The dazzling light beam rapidly charged towards the giant Demon Lord, who quickly attempted to dodge. Even if it couldn’t fully evade, having half its body destroyed was acceptable.
This shot was a lethal move that the magical girls could only unleash by conserving their strength; it couldn’t be used twice in a short time.
As long as it could dodge this shot, the next battle would still be in its favor.
This thought was quite optimistic. If no one interfered with its movements, it could indeed afford to let the magical girls’ attack become ineffective at the cost of a small portion of its body.
But… on the magical girls’ side, there was a powerful assassin who wouldn’t just watch the Demon Lord evade this shot.
As soon as Luo Shuangyue saw the Demon Lord attempting to dodge, she immediately used her abilities to rush into the fray and threw a card glowing with white light at the enormous Royal-class magical beast.
The card silently shattered as it flew, and a jet-black magic spear emerged from it, flying towards the Royal-class magical beast at an incredibly high speed that was nearly impossible to capture with the naked eye.
This card was one of the sealing cards that Luo Shuangyue had used to consume magical power during her previous feast, containing a control spell she had unleashed with all her strength.
The black spear struck the Demon Lord precisely, causing it to emit a painful howl as it was dodging, and its evasive action was inevitably halted.
The nearby magical beasts had already reacted as Luo Shuangyue rushed in and wanted to protect their commander, but their speed could not match Luo Shuangyue’s instantaneous movement. Before their counterattack could arrive, Luo Shuangyue had already struck the Demon Lord.
Centered on the point of impact of the spear, black thorns rapidly spread across the Demon Lord’s body, binding it tightly in an instant.
The Demon Lord realized that if it didn’t quickly escape this control spell, its life would be consumed by the dazzling magic cannon that was now just within reach. In that moment, it made a quick decision to risk everything.
Even if it couldn’t dodge the magic cannon, it wanted to leave a profound impression on this audacious being that dared to rush to its side!
The Demon Lord’s body suddenly expanded, trying to tear apart the black thorns released by Luo Shuangyue. However, these black thorns were exceptionally resilient; even facing such a situation, only a few of them were broken.
It remained bound in place, unable to act. Even if it only needed one moment, it could easily break free from these restraints.
Time ran short. Even if it broke free from the thorns, it wouldn’t have time to dodge the magic cannon. Luo Shuangyue had already delayed enough time.
“I’m going to die,” the Demon Lord thought, a fierce glint flashing in its compound eyes. In this moment, it chose to give its final and strongest attack to Luo Shuangyue.
Its body suddenly shattered, the magical energy composing it transformed into terrifying limbs, rushing towards Luo Shuangyue at an incredible speed.
This was its last attack; after unleashing this strike, it would lose the ability to resist.
But… its attack missed completely.
Luo Shuangyue was a nimble butterfly; such a clumsy counterattack would not inflict any substantial harm on her.
She only needed to lightly trigger the mark she had left from a distance to easily return to safety.
The Demon Lord’s final retaliation was indeed powerful and swift; however, if it couldn’t hit her, all of it was meaningless.
This was the terrifying part of the Dark Butterfly: a magical girl who could roam freely in space was incredibly difficult to deal with and strong.
The colorful torrent of magical power utterly consumed the weakened Demon Lord, also eliminating all magical beasts in its path.
After this single cannon shot, the true battle was only beginning.
The strongest member among the magical beasts was successfully killed, but the remaining magical beasts were not going to just stand by like fools after losing their leader; without a leader, they would merely be less cohesive than before.
Their strength and numbers still presented an issue, and for the magical girls, this would still be a tough battle.
“We need to concentrate our efforts to break through one by one! Don’t let the magical beasts drag us into a war of attrition!” The commanding senior shouted, and the magical girls immediately split into several small teams to execute their tasks as planned.
An individual magical girl couldn’t kill a magical beast within a few moves; to achieve a quick kill, the powers of several magical girls had to focus on a breakthrough.
Of course, the magical beasts weren’t foolish either. As the magical girls grouped up for an assault, the magical beasts also formed clusters to provide limited protection and assistance to each other.
Indeed, their cooperation was only at the most basic level, full of flaws, but it still proved effective enough to help them avoid the fate of being quickly taken out one by one by the magical girls.
In an instant, fires of battle lit up across the starry sky; variously colored magic cannons were fired back and forth, with numerous magical beasts and magical girls being hit and displaying pained expressions.
Meanwhile, Luo Shuangyue had completely found her rhythm. Among all the magical girls, she was the most unique; she had no teammates because her companions simply couldn’t keep up with her speed.
Her role in this battle was to act as a free agent to kill those magical beasts at the fastest possible speed.
After the brief skirmish just now, Luo Shuangyue realized that the stronger Royal-class magical beasts were somewhat difficult for her to handle, and to quickly reduce their numbers, she should target the relatively weaker magical beasts.
Clenching the scythe in her hand, Luo Shuangyue quickly found a suitable target.
That magical beast had just been hit by the magical girl’s cannon and had fallen out of its original group, but it only needed to adjust its posture to quickly return to its team.
Taking a hit was not a significant injury for these tough-skinned magical beasts.
But since it was targeted by Luo Shuangyue, escaping back to its companions became a delusion.
Before it could regain its balance from the impact of the magic cannon, the black-purple Death Butterfly gracefully appeared in front of it, swinging its blade that brought death.
The scythe shattered the magical beast’s shell, knocking it even further away from the main group.
The other magical beasts had no intention of rescuing this one, as they were busy contending with the magical girls’ firepower, which forced them to concentrate most of their attention on the front lines.
The magical beast caught solo by Luo Shuangyue could only wish it good luck.
Black mist surged from Luo Shuangyue, transforming into a bizarre monster beside the magical beast. The monster had many hook-like limbs, and with a heavy clamp towards the captured magical beast, its shell was easily crushed.
In real combat, You Lian’s appearance would not be that of a delicate girl; her Demon Lord form was the most effective killing machine.
Whatever she needed, she could have her body instantly conjure it. The form she was currently using was a specialized shape designed for her by You Ji after obtaining data on cosmic magical creatures.
In this form, You Lian could easily crush the shells of these magical beasts as long as she could catch her opponent, devouring the delicious magical power and essence within.
The magical beast caught by You Lian wailed in agony; it was supposed to have no fear of death, but at this moment, it was truly experiencing the horror of dying.
Fortunately, its fear did not last very long.
A scythe fell from the sky, cleaving its body in half from top to bottom, even shattering its original magical power.
With the original magical power broken, the magical beast immediately lost its ability to resist You Lian’s consumption, swiftly being devoured clean by the black mist monster she transformed into.
You Lian’s form grew slightly larger, and Luo Shuangyue received feedback from You Lian, replenishing all the magical power she had just expended.
“If it’s these weaker opponents, I seem not to have to worry too much about running out of magical power?” Luo Shuangyue felt her strength seemingly increasing, her mood becoming somewhat complex.
If she could kill and consume all the magical beasts here, would she have a chance to directly ascend to Blooming Level?
No, no, ascending to Blooming Level is not that simple. Strength is only the most basic requirement; if her mindset doesn’t meet the criteria, she could only remain at Initial Bloom level for her life.
But those things were for later; all Luo Shuangyue needed to do now was to quickly handle the magical beasts in front of her.
Once she dealt with these, she could decide whether to transform into Bai Ye and turn the tables on that Demon Lord based on the situation on the other side of the battlefield.
However, the current situation was still somewhat unclear.
The Blooming Level magical girls who had emerged in full force were clearly suppressing the Demon Lord, at least on the surface, as the Demon Lord seemed unable to retaliate against so many magical girls.
Yet, the damage it sustained was not particularly severe. Even when the attacks from the magical girls hit its body, they could only leave relatively minor wounds, which were easy for a Demon Lord to recover from.
The Demon Lord’s regenerative ability could not keep pace with the output efficiency of the magical girls. Currently, its health bar was gradually decreasing at a very slow speed. As long as the Blooming Level magical girls could maintain their offensive momentum, the Demon Lord would eventually be left regretting its fate.
“But… can they really maintain it?” Luo Shuangyue felt a bit anxious, as she could see her seniors were exerting themselves against the Demon Lord, and giving their all implied rapid magical power consumption.
Even though Blooming Level magical girls had a vast magical power reserve and a quick recovery rate, they still couldn’t support such terrifying consumption while in full force, right?
The clash between the Demon Lord and the magical girls formed a very fragile dynamic equilibrium. Whichever side could achieve victory would depend on who collapses first.
“I need to quickly resolve the trouble over here.” Luo Shuangyue retracted her gaze from the situation on the other side. Her current goal was to swiftly cut off the Demon Lord’s wings!
“Go, You Lian. Today you can eat as much as you like!”
“Wuhu!” A heavy and distorted fearsome voice emanated from the black mist monster. Upon receiving Luo Shuangyue’s permission, You Lian immediately entered predatory mode.
Her size increased once more as she lunged at a group of magical beasts.
The magical beasts noticed this incoming foe, and a portion of them launched attacks using magic cannons against You Lian.
However, to You Lian, the magical beasts’ magic cannon attacks were akin to snacks.
Once upon a time, You Lian was a Demon Lord, a particularly troublesome one. Given the same amount of time to develop as the Big-Eyed Demon Lord, she would surely develop better.
You Lian wouldn’t think about building an army or cultivating subordinates; she would only focus on where to eat and how to eat.
Based on Luo Shuangyue’s reckless assumptions, You Lian’s true Demon Lord form should be an amorphous mass of black mist. Fighting her would have no shortcuts; one would have to use powerful magic cannons to overwhelm her, essentially attempting to drown her.
Regular magic cannons would only poke at her, and in close combat… believe Luo Shuangyue, no one would willingly engage in close quarters with a being whose body was indeterminate and could sprout weapons from anywhere.
At least, Luo Shuangyue wouldn’t.
Currently, these Royal-class magical beasts evidently lacked the unique magical power that only magical girls possessed, making them merely a buffet in front of You Lian.
Crunch, crunch. Another magical beast was ensnared by You Lian’s black mist tendrils and swallowed whole, accompanied by a chilling sound of chewing. Luo Shuangyue felt her strength increase once more.
Dealing with magical beasts is better left to You Lian, an expert. Watching her spirit partner wreaking havoc, Luo Shuangyue suddenly felt a bit shy about her own position as the master.
Within this short amount of time, You Lian had devoured three magical beasts under their concentrated fire, while she was still scraping away at another.
“It really makes me seem unnecessary. I’m clearly a warrior, not merely a summoner!” With a decisive swing of her scythe, she shattered the magical beast in front of her and summoned her butterflies to clean up the remains.
In this battle, nothing salvageable should be wasted. Any bit of waste could potentially lead to a failure.
Once the butterflies absorbed the remains of the magical beast, they returned to Luo Shuangyue, replenishing the magical power she had just consumed and slightly thickening the black mist around her.
A slightly strange feeling arose from deep within her heart; she felt… a bit hungry.
She wanted to consume everything in front of her. If she could eat these things, what could happen… what was it again?
Luo Shuangyue’s thoughts suddenly blanked for a moment. She felt she had an important thought just now, but she couldn’t recall it.
“Strange, never mind. Let’s just finish off these guys first!”
…
“What is this…” Looking up at the pitch-black sky, You Ji’s pupils contracted to the size of needles.
That big butterfly, which had always remained in the sky and was regarded by Luo Shuangyue as a fixed scenery, began to move.
It opened its eyes and flapped its wings, seemingly wanting to stretch its wings and fly out of this confined sky.
But just before it began to act, You Ji saw a flash of white light on its two antennae, and then the suddenly animated big butterfly seemed to have its soul drawn away, falling back into stillness.
“Something’s wrong. What is happening outside?” Upon witnessing this occurrence, You Ji’s first thought was to suspect that Luo Shuangyue was up to no good outside.
Surely the big butterfly didn’t just stand in place for too long and wanted to stretch its muscles, right?
But now, both You Lian and Luo Shuangyue were not in the consciousness space, and she had no means to communicate with the outside world. What should she do?
…
On the battlefield between the Demon Lord and the Blooming Level magical girls, the Demon Lord, which was being thoroughly suppressed, also noticed the anomaly in another battlefield.
The opponent’s power exceeded expectations. It was already an injured body, and now facing so many magical girls, it was difficult to achieve a quick victory.
How could these guys, who didn’t even have the ability to step into the starry sky, possess such extraordinary strength? The Demon Lord couldn’t understand. Could it be that the fairies were simply too weak, creating the illusion of its own strength?
If these enemies were up against the fairies, their collapse would likely be no slower than facing the Demon Lord.
At this moment, the Demon Lord no longer had the notion of underestimating its opponents. It clearly understood that it was on the same level as these enemies.
No longer hesitating, it was time to reveal its trump card!
Ziiii!
A powerful surge of magical energy erupted from within it, forcing back the magical girls surrounding it for several steps, and all ranged attacks aimed at it were shattered by this surge of magical energy.
However, this energy surge was not directed at those surrounding it but rather at the enemies engaged with its Imperial Guard on the other side.
Even though the distance was far, this powerful energy surge still had a severely detrimental effect on the Initial Bloom level magical girls.
Meanwhile, the magical beasts were completely unaffected, and instead, they quickly mounted a counterattack during the moment of distraction for the magical girls. They instantly contracted their formation.
Several magical girls were hit by the magical beasts’ counterattacks and lost their combat capabilities on the spot. The remaining magical girls, attempting to halt the magical beasts’ actions, were already too late.
In the recent attack, You Lian had been the one most severely affected. Her form was nearly shattered by that energy surge. However, being shattered into pieces was nothing unusual for You Lian; as long as Luo Shuangyue, the ‘core,’ was alive, she could always reorganize herself, even if she was reduced to mere fragments.
It just required time to reform, and now she could only watch helplessly as the magical beasts huddled together into a massive group, and then… began to fuse.
“Do these guys each have fusion abilities?” Watching the magical beasts gradually merging into one whole, Luo Shuangyue’s heart sank. Her intuition told her that the fused magical beasts would likely be much more terrifying than the separated ones.
These creatures belonged to the same magical beast army; their bodies and magical energy were nearly identical. In a scenario where they all converged as one, the power they would unleash might rival that of ordinary Royal-class magical beasts.
“The power is rising; this thing has already touched the threshold of Royal-class…”
Before Luo Shuangyue could think of ways to deal with this magical beast, the other magical girls had already launched their attacks against the merging magical beasts.
Magic cannons bombarded the magical beast’s body continuously, creating cracks in its outer black shell. But this small amount of damage was nowhere near enough to prevent it from completing the fusion.
An overwhelming destructive power gradually surged within the magical beast, and a layer of pure black magical energy seeped out from the shattered shell, forming a new exterior.
The next wave of magic cannons struck this new outer shell but failed to leave even a scratch.
Its defensive capabilities had strengthened again.
And it wasn’t just its defense that had improved.
The fused magical beast’s back sprouted sharp spikes made of magical energy, which shot out from its body like missiles, heading towards both the magical girls’ main force and the direction of Luo Shuangyue.
The magical energy missiles aimed at the main group were intercepted by several magical girls with magic cannons, but most of them still successfully reached their target, forcing the magical girls to collectively raise magical shields to defend.
Black smoke and explosions rumbled against the colorful magical shields, causing those magical girls sustaining the barriers to grimace with difficulty.
If they continued to clash head-on like this, they certainly couldn’t hold up for long.
On the other side, Luo Shuangyue was facing missile attacks of equal intensity as those directed at the main force.
She wasn’t sure if it was due to the deep impression she had left on the magical beasts earlier, but this creature interestingly regarded her as equally important as the other group of magical girls.
However, Luo Shuangyue didn’t possess the capacity to withstand damage like the main force; she had to quickly use her teleportation magic to escape the location.
But missiles weren’t something you could simply outrun; after Luo Shuangyue teleported away, these missiles immediately locked onto her new location and turned to chase after her.
You Lian wanted to help Luo Shuangyue block these attacks, but the missiles seemed to have a brain of their own and split their assault to outmaneuver You Lian.
Divided into four paths, You Lian could only intercept one route for Luo Shuangyue. If she wished to cover all four paths, her heightened form would lack the strength to block all these attacks.
“This creature seems to have its intelligence raised after merging?” Luo Shuangyue felt a headache looking at the completely fused magical beast.
There was no doubt that this creature now possessed unquestionable Royal-class power. Even though countless consciousnesses swirled within it and its Royal-class strength was gained by burning itself, all of this held no significance to Luo Shuangyue.
Because this being was now indeed Royal-class.
No matter how many shortcomings it had, it was still a Royal-class magical beast.
The fused magical beasts were like a porcupine; their movement might appear slow, but the barrage of firepower unleashed from them was enough to force the magical girls on this side to raise their heads.
Magic cannons and magic energy missiles continuously bombarded the magical girls’ barriers, and within a few short minutes, this colorful joint barrier was already in a precarious situation teetering on the edge of collapse.
Leaving the barrier to escape? That was even more impossible; the speed of attacks unleashed by the magical beasts was extremely fast, and those missiles seemed to possess their own sentience. Anyone who ran away would likely face the same fate as Luo Shuangyue, being chased to death by these missiles.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
One strike shattered an approaching magic energy missile, sending Luo Shuangyue flying hundreds of meters from the shockwave. While she was propelled away, even more missiles rushed towards her.
“These are as annoying as swarming mosquitoes, tsk.” Just as the missiles were about to hit her, her body transformed into a butterfly and dissipated.
The next moment, however, her figure did not appear.
The missiles, having lost their target, were puzzled, unable to comprehend why their objective had vanished.
When their confusion reached the magical beast’s main body, it quickly deduced that Luo Shuangyue was now hiding somewhere.
In the Ocean of Magical Power?
The magical beast’s body shuddered slightly, and a shockwave that could only affect the Ocean of Magical Power spread from it. Sure enough, it discovered a strange figure within the Ocean of Magical Power.
Moreover, this figure seemed to be charging towards it?
Roar? Instead of fleeing, it was charging towards me? Maybe due to achieving Royal-class strength, the magical beast’s main consciousness also began to experience some vague emotions.
It was confused by Luo Shuangyue’s decision, but it wouldn’t underestimate her as she charged towards it.
The magical beast immediately halted its offensive against the magical girls, redirecting all its powers to protect its main body. At the same time, its body began to twitch rapidly, creating tumultuous waves in the Ocean of Magical Power to force Luo Shuangyue out.
In the past, the magical beast’s actions might have had a better effect. After all, upon integration into the Ocean of Magical Power, both the magical beasts and magical girls were quite vulnerable and easily affected by many things.
Generally, being hit by a deliberately manufactured giant wave was sufficient to force someone to flee the ocean.
But now, Luo Shuangyue was different. The starlight magical power she gained from Yi greatly enhanced her resistance to interference within the Ocean of Magical Power. Even with the magical beast’s rampant disruptions, it only caused her slight discomfort.
Although the magical beast’s realm had reached Royal-class, its methods had ultimately not broken through the confines of King-class.
All the attacks from this magical beast, in truth, only reached a strong King-class standard. It was merely relying on numbers to suppress the magical girls, while Luo Shuangyue, hidden in the Ocean of Magical Power, was not so easily drawn out.
“But this won’t do either. If I keep hiding here, it will surely refocus its attention back on Xia Mo…”
Luo Shuangyue found herself in a somewhat awkward situation. If she went out, she would immediately face the magical beast’s storm of attacks, which her small frame certainly couldn’t withstand.
But if she didn’t go out, the magical beast would continue to assault her companions on the other side, and she would have no way to help.
What should she do?
This magical beast’s attack power was not at the Royal-class level, but its defense was on another level. Ordinary Royal-class magical beasts probably couldn’t compare to its toughness.
Besides her backup as Bai Ye, she seemed to have no effective method to deal damage to this being?
Gazing at the pitch-black shadow in the distance, Luo Shuangyue began to ponder.
Was there a way to bypass that tough armor and strike at the magical beast’s core?
“Around it… ah!” A bold idea sprang into her mind. As long as she could launch an attack through the Ocean of Magical Power, wouldn’t that work?
Setting the trigger point for her attack within the magical beast’s body would allow her to bypass that unbelievably hard armor!
