Chapter 3: Dragon Girl!
“Is your stomach still hurting?”
“It hurts so much, it’s like a small knife slowly cutting inside my belly.”
On the gray wasteland, two girls supported each other, moving forward bit by bit.
After making a deal with the little butterfly, Luo Shuangyue finally obtained the right to be close to Xia Mo, without worrying about suddenly getting too hot and biting Xia Mo’s face.
And because she had eaten one of her mother’s projections, she definitely wouldn’t feel hungry in the next few days, so there was no need to bother searching for food in this place devoid of living things.
Well, that’s not bad news.
The two were currently following the direction indicated by Bai Ye for Xia Mo, searching for a way out of this space. However, due to Luo Shuangyue’s poor condition, their progress was quite slow.
“Can your body still sweat?” Looking at the fine beads of sweat on Luo Shuangyue’s forehead, Xia Mo asked curiously.
She had never heard before that magical beasts could sweat.
“Originally, no, but magical beasts are inherently very subjective beings, so if I feel I can, I can.” When she was still human, Luo Shuangyue couldn’t answer Xia Mo’s question, but now as a magical beast, she could.
Although her insides were a mass of goo, that goo still constituted some organs… Of course, these organs were mere decorations, and other magical beasts would consider them a pure waste of magical energy.
The organs produced by other magical beasts were for fighting or fleeing, while those in Luo Shuangyue’s body seemed more like a symbol of her lingering attachment to her human identity.
“But they’re all just superficial things. My heart doesn’t beat, and my lungs no longer need to breathe; the only thing that makes me feel alive is when I sweat from pain.”
She no longer had flowing warm blood inside her; she wasn’t even considered human anymore.
“If we really manage to get out of here, I should be immediately imprisoned, right?” With a light sigh, Luo Shuangyue had already guessed what her future would look like.
Her current identity was too sensitive; she was a Demon Lord, the greatest enemy of humans and Magical Girls.
For an existence like hers, the Magic Department allowing her to live was already a great mercy; freedom was something she couldn’t even dream of.
“Then just lock me up too. I’ll serve time with you,” Xia Mo said sullenly.
She didn’t want to think about the future, nor did she want to ponder whether the Magic Department’s treatment of Luo Shuangyue was right or wrong.
Because deep down, she understood that it was the best outcome for the seniors of the Magic Department to allow Luo Shuangyue to live as a Demon Lord.
The seniors weren’t wrong; no one could guarantee that the current Shuangyue was the same as the original Shuangyue, or if the Demon Lord was disguising herself as Shuangyue.
To be safe, it was best to keep Shuangyue under control.
But knowing the seniors weren’t wrong didn’t mean Xia Mo would abandon her lover. After all, no one said that someone couldn’t accompany Luo Shuangyue in prison, or visit her.
Xia Mo didn’t want to discuss who was right and who was wrong; she just wanted Luo Shuangyue to be alive and to stay with the girl by her side. That was enough for her.
“Then we might be locked up for a very long time, and by the time the seniors retire, I could be executed by the new Magical Girls.”
“That won’t happen. I believe that the Magical Girls who take over from the seniors won’t be ungrateful little people.” This much, Xia Mo could guarantee confidently.
As long as they knew what Luo Shuangyue had gone through, no Magical Girl would think she was a magical beast that deserved to die. She had never harmed humans; instead, she had contributed greatly in the battles against magical beasts.
Moreover, “Bai Ye is your mother, Shuangyue.”
“Don’t make it sound like I’m some sort of villainous second-generation heir. Besides, didn’t my mom send us here in the first place?”
It was her mom’s magic that banished them here, and Luo Shuangyue had no idea what her mom was really planning.
But it shouldn’t be anything bad; if her mom wanted to do something as drastic as betrayal, wouldn’t it be better to disguise an attack magic with purification magic?
Why go through the trouble of creating a banishment spell? The technical demands of that are far greater than any attack magic.
“Maybe mom wants me to find her? Or does she think I wouldn’t survive in the original world like this and wants me to live here?”
“I don’t know, but Senior Bai Ye must have her reasons for doing this. Maybe when we reach that place, we’ll see Senior Bai Ye waiting there,” Xia Mo said with a light smile.
Being able to walk shoulder to shoulder with Shuangyue in a vast wilderness where it was just the two of them was quite satisfying to her.
Living here for a lifetime… It sounded like a good choice, right?
“Shuangyue, if you don’t want to go back, then let’s not go back.” Taking a gentle breath, Xia Mo said playfully.
Though the sky here was bleak and devoid of life, at least there was freedom.
If Luo Shuangyue chose to stay here, Xia Mo would willingly accompany her.
After all, Magical Girls could survive off magical power in lieu of food and water, and Luo Shuangyue, having turned into a magical beast, just needed a little magical power from her, so she wouldn’t have to worry about Luo Shuangyue starving.
The two could live here until the end of the world.
“… I actually don’t want to stay here; it’s too desolate, like hell,” Luo Shuangyue murmured, lost in thought, “Besides, Frost Star is still waiting for us. She has already lost her parents; if we leave her now, she won’t be able to hold on.”
If Luo Shuangyue were just a solitary being, then staying here wouldn’t be a bad choice.
But she wasn’t; she had loved ones to take care of, and she couldn’t leave her behind in this place to enjoy herself.
“You too, Xia Mo. You have so many juniors who like and admire you; you can’t stay here forever.”
“Actually, your juniors like you more. You don’t realize how popular you are right now?”
“Hey, that was in the past. Now I’m a Demon Lord. If they see me, I’d be lucky if they don’t attack me with a magic cannon.”
“You can’t say that! If you can prove your identity, I think everyone will treat you like they used to, chatting and laughing with you.”
Like before? Luo Shuangyue gave a bitter smile; that was true delusion.
But these things could wait until later; right now, whether they could go back was still uncertain.
In this strange space, where there was no day or night, it was easy to lose track of time. The two walked and rested for what felt like ages before finally spotting another kind of creature living in this world at some moment.
It was a very large, black creature as tall as a mountain; it looked quite ugly, exuding a repugnant aura.
The aimless white spiritual entities wandering the wasteland also seemed to dislike this black creature, choosing to avoid it as they approached.
The black creature paid little attention to the spirits walking around it, but occasionally a black tentacle would emerge from the ground, smashing and absorbing the white spiritual beings, suggesting that this creature wasn’t exactly good news.
It was hunting those white spiritual entities, but its desire to prey on them didn’t seem too strong; it felt a bit like fishing for three days and drying the net for two.
“It looks a bit like a Demon Lord, but the Demon Lord doesn’t seem this silly…” Looking up at the black creature dominating half the sky, Luo Shuangyue murmured quietly.
The black creature before her felt strange; now, she didn’t feel disgusted by the aura of magical beasts. To her, the scent of magical beasts was probably like a delicious food smell.
This was one of the greatest differences between Magical Girls and magical beasts.
Although Magical Girls could also use magical beasts to enhance themselves, they couldn’t just eat them like proper magical beasts.
“Let’s avoid it,” Xia Mo tugged at Luo Shuangyue’s shoulder.
“Okay.”
If it weren’t for the magical power in her belly tormenting her, Luo Shuangyue felt that the little butterfly in her mind would surely be yelling to eat this black creature.
Fortunately, the magical power she had consumed earlier had completely stripped her of any ability to eat other things, saving her the trouble of arguing with the little butterfly.
As the two decided to take a slight detour, a streak of white light rushed from the distance, striking the monster in front of them and creating a huge hole.
“That is…” Luo Shuangyue was startled by the sudden white light, and upon closer inspection, found it was another projection of her mother.
Compared to the projection she had subdued before, this one was much more solid, with a wider variety of techniques, even releasing some magic.
If she had encountered this projection before, she might have been purified to nothing.
Instinctively hiding behind Xia Mo, Luo Shuangyue timidly watched the white projection engage in battle with the black monster, afraid that the other party might glance her way.
Fortunately, this projection seemed to only target the pitch-black creature and had no intention of acknowledging other people.
After being attacked, the black monster immediately exited its play-dead state, running away without a hint of resistance.
The white projection relentlessly chased after the black monster, swinging its longsword and leaving the monster in tatters.
It was too fierce, too terrifying, making Luo Shuangyue tremble in fear.
For her, this was nothing short of a horror film, while for Xia Mo, it probably counted as a superhero movie.
“Has the senior really been here fighting these monsters all along?” Watching the two figures chase each other in the distance, Xia Mo’s eyes shone with admiration.
Senior Bai Ye had been missing for so long, fighting these monsters all alone in this desolate wilderness?
What a lone hero!
So cool!
While Xia Mo was excited, Luo Shuangyue was scared; a white spiritual entity suddenly flickered near them.
Then, a girl with a white horn burst out from the white spiritual entity’s body, promptly rushing toward the spot where the black monster had been.
“There’s a living person!” Seeing this scene, Luo Shuangyue’s eyes widened; this was the first living person she had encountered in this bizarre world!
For getting a deeper understanding of this world, this living person was their only hope!
“Quick, catch her!” Luo Shuangyue, lacking the ability to capture someone, could only loudly urge Xia Mo to go after the girl instead.
However, Xia Mo couldn’t leave Luo Shuangyue alone here; moving together, they could only be described as pitifully slow.
Fortunately, the girl stopped moving after reaching the spot where the black creature had been, squatting on the ground and seemingly doing something.
This allowed Xia Mo and Luo Shuangyue to catch up to her, panting and out of breath.
Upon sensing two people closing in from behind, the girl turned her head and spoke a hurried sentence in a language the two couldn’t comprehend.
It was a mix of sounds, rapid and strange, completely unintelligible to Xia Mo and Luo Shuangyue.
Of course, this girl clearly wasn’t human; how could she speak human language?
Earlier, communication between humans and the memories had relied on the memories quickly learning the human language through their abilities. Now with the language barrier, it was unlikely they would be able to communicate.
Xia Mo tried to say two things to the girl—a greeting and a question about her name—but the other party obviously didn’t understand either.
Furthermore, seeing her kneeling and digging into the ground, it seemed she was too lazy to pay attention to Xia Mo.
“Should we get a bit closer to take a look?” Luo Shuangyue quietly asked Xia Mo for her opinion.
“Okay.”
Step by step, they approached the girl, and Luo Shuangyue discovered that while this girl looked somewhat human, she definitely couldn’t be categorized as human at all.
Half of her face was covered in fine scales, her eyes were golden vertical slit pupils, and behind her was a large snow-white tail swaying back and forth.
The hands digging at the ground resembled beastly claws rather than human hands.
Yeah, this girl looked more like a dragon girl from some animated series that hadn’t successfully transformed.
Noticing that the girl hadn’t acknowledged her presence, Luo Shuangyue boldly squatted down and curiously examined the girl’s appearance.
Her hair was silver, and her face youthful; if one were to remove those scales that gave her such a strong inhuman aura, this girl’s appearance might not be worse than the Magical Girls Luo Shuangyue frequently saw.
As for her physique… Luo Shuangyue glanced over; the part of the girl’s body from her neck down was merely wrapped with a piece of rag, and the covered part wasn’t a delicate human body but more akin to a beast’s physique.
To be honest, even if she wore nothing, it’s likely no one would take much interest in her.
The inhuman vibes were too strong; it was entirely different from the kind of beings like memories that closely resembled humans. This girl was just a complete non-human.
Luo Shuangyue’s scrutiny made the dragon girl somewhat uncomfortable. She glanced at Luo Shuangyue with irritation and let out a low grunt filled with displeasure.
This low growl, similar to her earlier speech, sounded much more like a beast’s roar than a human’s voice.
However, unlike those beasts, there was still a glimmer of intelligence in the dragon girl’s eyes; at least when Luo Shuangyue and Xia Mo approached her without showing hostility, she had no intention of attacking.
Luo Shuangyue watched as the dragon girl continued to dig around in the dirt, finally unearthing some soil with a black aura.
She carefully placed this soil into a cloth bag she carried, then stood up, glaring warily at the two.
“Jili gulu?”
Again, it was a language that neither of them could understand.
Luo Shuangyue pointed at her own ear and shrugged, displaying a combination of confusion and helplessness.
She didn’t know if the other party would understand her meaning, but since the girl had a human-like face, perhaps expressions could be understood?
The dragon girl blinked, seemingly realizing that the two weirdos in front of her couldn’t understand her words.
So she squatted down and began to communicate in the most primitive way.
She pointed to herself and then drew a few squiggly characters in the dirt.
Was that her name?
“Eh? This looks like magic text?” Looking at the characters on the ground, Xia Mo smacked her palm; she finally remembered where she had seen these characters before.
Many of the magic formations used by Magical Girls contained such texts.
However, Magical Girls only knew what these texts did within magic formations, not their meanings when used for communication.
But speaking of magic… “It’s a shame I still can’t transform; otherwise, I could have communicated with this child.”
Magical Girls inherently had the ability to communicate with any intelligent beings, and this communication didn’t require words, but a direct connection through souls.
Even if there was a language barrier, they could still convey their meanings clearly.
But Xia Mo’s transformation was still on cooldown, so for now, she could only squat down like the dragon girl and communicate by drawing in the dirt.
Using a few somewhat abstract drawings and some frantic hand gestures, Xia Mo finally conveyed her intended meaning.
The dragon girl also displayed a clear expression; she clenched her right fist to her chest and knocked on it twice, likely to indicate she understood what Xia Mo was trying to express.
After this exchange, where neither side knew if they had understood each other, the dragon girl stood up and led the two in a specific direction.
She indeed was guiding them; every two steps she took, she would stop and check if the two were following her.
After walking for a little while, the girl pointed at Luo Shuangyue and spoke two phrases in a language that Luo Shuangyue didn’t understand, but judging by the girl’s expression, Luo Shuangyue felt that she might be expressing dissatisfaction.
After all, they were moving too slowly.
Just as Luo Shuangyue was about to apologize, the dragon girl took a stride to her side, snatching her away from Xia Mo, then hoisting Luo Shuangyue over her shoulder like a bandit.
“Eh?” Xia Mo was taken aback.
The dragon girl paid no mind to the stunned Xia Mo, swiftly carrying Luo Shuangyue away.
“Stop!” Xia Mo cried out in despair, imagining her wife had been taken away by a bandit.
As it turned out, as long as no one slowed down the overall speed, it wasn’t too difficult for the three of them to find the exit to this space.
After a while of chasing each other across the wasteland, Xia Mo, who was only able to relieve her fatigue with magical power, looked at the pure white magic formation ahead, her eyes filled with exhaustion and curiosity.
This pure white magic formation seemed to have appeared out of nowhere in the wasteland, completely out of place with the surrounding atmosphere.
The dragon girl set the pale-faced Luo Shuangyue down on the ground and pointed at the white magic formation, chattering away.
Though they couldn’t understand the specifics, Xia Mo guessed she was explaining how the magic formation worked.
Hmm, looking closely, this magic formation bore a striking resemblance to the one that had sent the two of them here?
After speaking, the dragon girl jumped directly into the magic formation and waved her hand at the two.
The gesture of waving meant the same for both their worlds.
“Should we go in and take a look?” Xia Mo asked softly, helping the sore Luo Shuangyue up.
She wasn’t sure where this magic formation would send them, but it likely wouldn’t take them back to their original world.
After all, there were no dragon girls like this in the human realm.
Judging by how familiar the dragon girl seemed with it, the magic formation probably led to her world.
“Anything’s better than staying here. This girl has a good heart; if she can still keep such good temper while doing this kind of work, her world probably won’t be too bad,” Luo Shuangyue calmly analyzed, holding her stomach.
She didn’t know what this place meant to the dragon girl, but based on the environment here, it certainly didn’t seem like a proper place for a civilized person to visit.
The dragon girl’s work likely resembled that of a scavenger or adventurer, and among those who roamed the edges of civilization, it was easy to encounter psychologically twisted perverts.
Yet the dragon girl’s mindset seemed quite good; she was even willing to help two language-incompatible strangers reach this place. Luo Shuangyue felt her luck had been consistently poor, and this couldn’t possibly mean she’d struck a jackpot by hitting the right numbers, could it?
She preferred to believe this magic formation led to a world where many good people like the dragon girl lived, a world filled with nice people.
So, it was worth a look; anything was better than aimlessly wandering in this wasteland.
“Let’s go.”
“Okay, it’s your call.”
The two joined hands and stepped into the magic formation.
Then the three of them stared at each other in surprise.
The magic formation remained motionless.
The dragon girl tilted her head, then suddenly had a look of realization.
She walked back to Luo Shuangyue’s side, grabbed her right hand, and scratched her palm deeply with her claws.
The glove and skin were torn, revealing the dark flesh beneath.
The dragon girl shook her hand down a couple of times, tilting her head again, seemingly puzzled as to why she didn’t see what she expected to see.
“She probably wants my blood?” Luo Shuangyue considered for two seconds and arrived at the most likely conclusion.
This girl certainly didn’t intend to kill her; otherwise, she could just go for her neck. The palm scratching was likely to make her bleed.
However, she no longer had blood as such, which naturally left the dragon girl confused.
“Xia Mo, I’m going to have to trouble you this time.”
Since Luo Shuangyue couldn’t bleed, they had to infringe on Xia Mo to act as the blood donor.
When Xia Mo extended her hand toward the dragon girl, the dragon girl blinked, taking several seconds to realize what Xia Mo was trying to express.
This girl didn’t seem very smart…
Whether it was a matter of preferential treatment or not, when the dragon girl clawed Luo Shuangyue, she applied a lot of pressure, but when she scratched Xia Mo, it was very gentle, as if she were afraid of causing her too much harm.
With a light scrape, a trail of bright red appeared in Xia Mo’s palm. Then the girl took Xia Mo’s hand and led her to the center of the magic formation, making her drip her blood drop by drop onto the formation.
With each drop of blood, the previously dull magic formation began to shine with a pure white glow, then added a hint of light purple, creating a stunning effect.
The dragon girl observed the subtly off-coloring of the magic formation, scratching the horn on her forehead.
Clearly, she was puzzled as to why this magic formation was different from the ones she had used before.
After thinking for a while and not finding any answers, she became accustomed to letting confusing matters slip her mind and soon abandoned contemplation, continuing to be her silly self.
As the magic formation activated, Xia Mo hurried back to Luo Shuangyue’s side; this magic formation gave her a very familiar feeling.
As waves of imbalance washed over her, Xia Mo instinctively held Luo Shuangyue tightly in her embrace, fearing that this magic formation would send them to completely different places, separating them.
The dragon girl showed none of these concerns; she stood proudly in place, appearing as an experienced user of portals.
About ten seconds later, with a strong flash of white light, the three people in the magic formation vanished, leaving the magic formation on the ground broken.
After a while, a beam of white light descended, erasing the previous shattered magic formation and leaving behind an entirely new one that was exactly like the magic formation Luo Shuangyue had just seen.
…
Deep in the gray wasteland, where no living being could step, even the boldest explorers dared not venture.
In this desolate place, a rare black monster could easily be found every few steps, but within this black-gray despair, there remained a streak of pure white light like a nail driven into the ground.
All the black monsters dared not approach this white reaper; any creature bold enough to provoke her would be purified into a wisp of faint green smoke by that pure white radiance.
She silently sat like a statue, sword in arms, amidst this dark ocean, guarding the huge black chasm behind her.
At a certain moment, her tightly shut eyes opened slightly, and a striking golden radiance burst forth from her slightly opened gaze, causing the pitch-black creatures around her to wail in agony.
As if realizing her actions had significant impact, the girl hastily closed her eyes again, but a happy expression blossomed on her face.
Her cherry-pink lips moved slightly as she embraced the sword in her arms, as if her sword were her child.
A melodious voice echoed warmly through the deserted wilderness, stirring uncomfortable restiveness among the black monsters.
“Children, you’ve all grown up now~”
“Instead of coming to find me, you’ve gone to that place?”
“Oh dear, then let her meet you first; I believe our children will give you a big surprise.”
The magical beasts continued to stir anxiously, their voices gradually drowning out the girl’s whispers, causing her brow to furrow slightly.
These guys seem a bit too active lately?
Their numbers seem to be a bit excessive?
“Has it barely been a short time since the last clear-out, and there are already so many back?”
Gripping the white sword in her embrace, the girl slowly rose to her feet.
“Do you wish to go to another world? I can send you there.”
Her eyes remained tightly closed, but the pitch-black creatures had already sensed the impending doom, frantically retreating in the opposite direction.
“Running away now? Too late~”
The white figure spun elegantly like a dancer, causing the surging black tide to hit an abrupt pause. Then, white bursts bloomed within the dark waves; in just moments, the monsters that had once towered like ominous clouds disappeared entirely from this world.
The girl resumed her seated position, sword in hand, continuing to guard the black rift behind her, just as she always had.
After a long time, a light sigh echoed in the silent wasteland.
“Our time is limited.”
