Chapter 95: Really Dead
“She actually fully recovered, and so quickly?”
Looking at the wound he had inflicted on his own arm, which had healed back to its original state in just a few seconds, Jiuye exclaimed in surprise.
Just a moment ago, following Luo Shuangyue’s request, she had slashed her sharp claws deeply across Luo Shuangyue’s arm, enough to expose flesh.
Yet, with just a swipe of her finger across the wound, it vanished without a trace.
This is simply a miracle!
“This power is something I obtained just two days ago. Unfortunately, the consumption is far too great. Minor wounds like this are manageable, but for major injuries like regrowing severed limbs, I would need to recover several times.”
Luo Shuangyue raised her hand, a somewhat murky black energy swirling in her palm—this was the magical energy she had simulated.
If she had managed to devour that Level Four Demon that night, the magical energy she could simulate would have been closer to the real thing, with significantly less consumption.
As for reaching the level of easily regrowing severed limbs like that Level Four Demon, Luo Shuangyue believed she would need to consume a Royal-class magical creature to achieve it.
Just thinking about it, unless the Royal-class creature tripped on a rock and accidentally killed itself right in front of her, she couldn’t imagine how else she could consume that creature.
After all, there were countless magical girls in Xinghai City tirelessly searching for traces of Royal-class creatures, right under their noses. How could she possibly find an opportunity to devour one?
She couldn’t possibly beg the magical girls to leave the creatures intact, could she?
“However, it seems that the Level One Demon is still alive. Maybe I should go look for it…” Before Luo Shuangyue could finish her thought, a piercing alarm blared accompanied by red flashing lights in the training room.
This was the alarm for a magical creature’s appearance.
“A magical creature has appeared? We… wait, what are we in a hurry for?” Instinctively, Luo Shuangyue wanted to take Jiuye to see the magical creature, in case the magical girls couldn’t handle it and needed her to step in.
But she quickly realized that times had changed; now in Xinghai City, there were not just Xia Mo and her two inexperienced companions. The number of magical girls here was in double digits, with top-tier figures like Longwen presiding over them. Why should she worry at all?
Strolling leisurely into the monitoring room, Luo Shuangyue was astonished to find that this time, the magical creature attack was quite different.
Magical creature attack alarms were going off simultaneously in several locations, including three Royal-class magical creatures.
Not normal. The simultaneous appearance of so many magical creatures couldn’t possibly be a natural occurrence!
“Is this the work of that Royal-class magical creature?” Luo Shuangyue thought to herself.
Using a large number of low-level magical creatures to attract the magical girls’ attention and then escaping, this plan was simple, yet effective.
The magical girls couldn’t just ignore the magical creatures, and while they dealt with them, the chance of the Royal-class creature escaping would significantly increase.
“Lord Dark Butterfly, what should we do?” Jiuye looked at the many red dots appearing on the electronic map, worry etched on his face.
“Don’t worry. While there are many red dots, most are General-class creatures. They can be easily dealt with by the Initial Bloom magical girls in Xinghai City, and the three Royal-class ones are a bit more troublesome, but won’t cause significant problems.”
Luo Shuangyue reassured him, believing there was nothing to worry about; the Magic Department had ample forces deployed in Xinghai City. With these magical creatures, they wouldn’t stir up much trouble.
“I’ll go take a look; you all stay here at the base and don’t move.”
After saying this, Luo Shuangyue directly left the monitoring room. Jiuye and the others were not suited to go out, but she was different.
She could join in on the fun; the magical girls wouldn’t possibly attack her too.
Just after flying out of the Polar Night base, Luo Shuangyue noticed a pitch-black butterfly ominously following her closely.
This sent a shiver down her spine; this thing didn’t feel quite right.
Thinking this, she resolved to strike first. No matter what, she would give it a cut first; after all, this creature didn’t seem like anything good.
It likely belonged to some magical creature.
The black butterfly seemed unaware that it had been discovered by Luo Shuangyue, following her leisurely.
As Luo Shuangyue’s body transformed into multiple flitting black-purple butterflies, the black butterfly even paused in place, as if stunned.
Seizing the opportunity, Luo Shuangyue wielded her scythe and delivered a surprise attack from behind, cleaving the butterfly in half.
However, after being sliced in two, the black butterfly did not immediately disappear. Its two halves struggled, extending black threads from the cut edges, attempting to regenerate.
This bizarre sight disturbed Luo Shuangyue, who quickly summoned her butterflies to shred the now-halved butterfly into pieces, completely cutting off its hope of revival.
“This scent is even purer than that from the transformed person?” When the butterflies that had torn apart the black butterfly transmitted their sensations to Luo Shuangyue, she was astonished to discover that the origin of this black butterfly might be quite extraordinary.
The magical energy comprising the black butterfly undoubtedly came directly from that Royal-class magical creature, unlike the second-hand stuff from the transformed person.
“But compared to the magical energy from the transformed person, this energy is a bit harder to absorb.” Feeling a portion of magical energy now nestled within her body, Luo Shuangyue’s expression grew strange.
For her, the magical energy from the Royal-class creature was an excellent supplement, but one couldn’t indulge in too much; too much could lead to indigestion.
“But why would this butterfly appear here? Could it be that the Royal-class creature has set its sights on me?” Luo Shuangyue scratched her head, unable to grasp the current situation.
Why would she attract the attention of a Royal-class creature? Could it be that the Royal-class creature cared about its subordinates, wanting revenge on them?
And since Xia Mo and the others were affiliated with the Magic Department, it came to settle scores with her instead.
That seemed quite possible… Luo Shuangyue quietly rejoiced that, fortunately, the Royal-class creature’s target was her first. If it had focused on Xia Mo or Frost Star, that would have been quite troublesome.
As for what to do if a Royal-class creature really came to confront her, Luo Shuangyue felt no panic whatsoever. As long as the Royal-class creature approached her without witnesses, she could show it what the world’s strongest magical girl truly was.
Bai Ye’s power was no joke; a severely injured Royal-class creature facing Bai Ye would be impressive if it could last a minute.
…
“Very cautious, it seems she’s not so easy to deal with…” After unsuccessfully sending out several clones to lure Dark Butterfly, only to be ruthlessly slain by her, the Royal-class creature realized that her initial plan had been too naive.
Dark Butterfly was not a greedy being. When faced with magical energy she couldn’t easily digest, she wouldn’t force it down but would choose to abandon it.
After trying to consume the first butterfly and discovering she couldn’t easily digest such potent magical energy, Dark Butterfly refrained from risking another absorption when encountering similar entities.
The Royal-class creature, upon realizing this, abandoned her original plan. If softness wouldn’t work, she’d go hard.
An Initial Bloom magical girl wouldn’t take much effort to deal with. As long as she could transfer her consciousness to Dark Butterfly, she could still utilize Dark Butterfly’s form to carry out her fake death.
Thinking this, the Royal-class creature stood up, her body seemingly melting into the darkness.
Taking advantage of the magical girls’ distraction, she needed to quickly complete her plan.
Time wasn’t on her side; she had to successfully transfer her consciousness before the magical girls resolved the disturbance!
…
“The third one… that creature is really targeting me.” Looking at the shattered beast-shaped monster she had cut into pieces and brought to the brink of death, Luo Shuangyue thought to herself.
There was no doubt that the Royal-class creature’s target was her, but why had it sent these weaklings to test her?
Was it trying to gauge her combat ability?
If that was the case, she had to praise this creature; how shameless was it to bother with these tactics against her, an Initial Bloom?
Couldn’t it just fly over and crush her with brute strength? What was the point of such antics?
Just as this thought emerged in her mind, Luo Shuangyue’s hair stood on end.
A sudden, inexplicable sense of terror surged within her; everything around her felt thickened, and even breathing became somewhat difficult.
Skyscrapers transformed into a jungle of flesh and blood, the sun and clouds began to distort, turning into a monstrous flower sprawling across the sky.
A girl dressed in black appeared beneath the grotesque flower, observing Luo Shuangyue with a cold gaze.
Is this what they call a coincidence? Luo Shuangyue took a deep breath, firmly closed her eyes, and desperately chanted in her mind that this was an illusion.
When she opened her eyes again, everything had returned to its original state, but the eerie girl with black eyes still floated before her, staring coldly.
It seems not everything was an illusion…
“I’ll say this: if you turn around and leave now, I can pretend you were never here.” Luo Shuangyue had already reached into her pocket, grasping Bai Ye’s transformation hairpin.
The black-eyed girl said nothing, merely raising her hand and lightly pointing at Luo Shuangyue.
In an instant, black thorns shot out from the shadows surrounding Luo Shuangyue, violently striking her and sending her flying.
The force was so heavy that Luo Shuangyue flew over a hundred meters, crashing through several walls.
A Royal-class creature was still a Royal-class creature; even if it was severely injured, it wasn’t something an Initial Bloom magical girl could contend with.
If Luo Shuangyue were just an ordinary magical girl, she would have had no way to counter this attack, inevitably becoming like a lamb for slaughter.
But unfortunately, Luo Shuangyue was not.
The creature believed this move would suffice to eliminate Dark Butterfly’s resistance; she had already planned how to transfer her consciousness and base magical power into Dark Butterfly’s body, turning her into her new form.
Yet, as a white sword light sliced through her body and cleaved her in half, the creature sensed something was amiss.
This power… impossible!
That person shouldn’t appear here; she should be in hell…
As the smoke cleared, the white magical girl wielding a slender sword materialized before the creature.
With white hair and golden eyes, coupled with four tails resembling wings, this iconic attire could only belong to her.
“Bai Ye?!”
“You know her? Then you should also know what you’ll encounter next.”
This was Luo Shuangyue’s first time using Bai Ye’s power in battle, and she felt as if she were about to ignite!
A terrifying torrent of magical power surged through her body; each exertion felt as though she were shaking a mountain. Luo Shuangyue realized she had underestimated her mother’s power before, for she could only maintain this combat form for less than two minutes!
Two minutes…
To eliminate this Royal-class creature in such a short time? That truly posed a challenge.
Luo Shuangyue had no idea how strong she truly was, but she sensed that the creature she faced was significantly weaker than her.
Dealing with it in two minutes would be more than sufficient!
“No, you can’t be her; she should be trapped in that place!”
“You know where she is?” Luo Shuangyue’s pupils constricted; this was indeed an unexpected delight. This Royal-class creature actually knew where her mother was.
But regrettably, time was too tight; she had to hasten to eliminate this creature and couldn’t extract more information from her.
Gripping the sword tightly, Luo Shuangyue teleported in front of the creature, bringing the sword crashing down on its head.
The white sword light, with an unstoppable force, shattered the creature’s defenses, evaporating almost half of its body, and this was merely the most basic manifestation of Bai Ye’s power.
In other words, this was just a basic attack.
The injured creature took this basic attack and entered a near-death state, clutching its chest and gasping for breath, its black eyes fixed on the white magical girl, filled with unwillingness.
“Why, why do you possess her power?”
It had recognized that the Bai Ye before it was the same Dark Butterfly it had just sent flying. But how could a magical girl possess two transformations, one of which was an already existing magical girl?
She couldn’t comprehend the current situation at all; she only knew that she absolutely could not defeat Bai Ye.
Even at her peak, facing Bai Ye wouldn’t end well for her, let alone while she was in a severely injured state.
Was there truly no other option? The creature’s mind raced with thoughts as it came to a decision.
After all, she had originally planned to die once; she might as well die at this moment, dying at the hands of Bai Ye’s power would render her death indisputable.
Moreover, the residual magical energy left after her death would be a great gift for Dark Butterfly.
The residual magical energy of a completely dead creature; Dark Butterfly certainly wouldn’t hesitate to absorb it!
“Dark Butterfly, even if I die, I will take you down with me!” the Royal-class creature let out an angry roar as its body began to swell violently, a rich aura of destruction emanating from her form.
She planned to self-destruct!
So decisive? Not even putting up a struggle? Luo Shuangyue was also stunned by the Royal-class creature’s incredibly decisive choice.
After just two hits, the opponent chose self-destruction and aimed to drag her down with it; this was excessively bold.
The worst part was that Luo Shuangyue couldn’t just stand by and watch this creature self-destruct. This was a Royal-class creature, its self-destruction would rival the most powerful weapons ever possessed by humanity.
If it self-destructed without any control, Xinghai City would promptly become Ruins City.
She had to kill it before the self-destruction completed; she couldn’t allow it to succeed!
With this in mind, Luo Shuangyue braved the creature’s powerful magical winds, charging towards it, sword poised to strike at its head.
The blade sliced through, easily decapitating the creature, but this did not halt the creature’s self-destruction. Its human form was merely an illusion; what humans deemed vital meant nothing to it.
After beheading it, the creature stopped maintaining the illusion. If it was to let everyone know of its death, it might as well make it a bigger spectacle.
Black magical tendrils tore apart the girl’s body, revealing the creature’s true form.
Unlike other magical creatures, which typically resembled animals, this Royal-class creature appeared more like a plant, akin to a blossoming flower. Its branches and petals were entirely fashioned from black tendrils, giving an unsettling distorted appearance at first glance.
Its size rapidly grew, soon reaching several stories tall, its magical aura enveloping the entirety of Xinghai City.
In that moment, even the most oblivious magical girls could sense something was amiss.
The magical girls battling creatures in various locations immediately attempted to converge here, but the creatures they faced also entered a rage state concurrently, trapping them in place.
A silver dragon soared through the skies, with Longwen standing atop its head, her gaze fixated on the core of the magical energy tempest.
She sensed an aura that was very familiar to her; even if she hadn’t felt this aura for several years or even more than a decade, she still recognized the source.
Bai Ye!
Upon recognizing this energy, a sudden sense of security surged in Longwen’s heart; it felt as if everything would be fine as long as Bai Ye was there.
She knew this mindset wasn’t healthy, but Bai Ye’s past displays had indeed provided her with that sense of reassurance.
As long as that white magical girl was present, nothing was insurmountable.
Even if the sky caved in, Bai Ye would hold it up!
In a moment, Longwen arrived at the creature’s location, where Bai Ye, the white magical girl, was already slicing through the creature, causing its branches and leaves to wither, its aura becoming exceedingly weak.
Even so, the destructive energy radiating from the creature had not diminished; this creature clearly had no plans to resist; it solely sought to self-destruct.
Was this the suppression of Bai Ye’s power? In the face of her, the creature contemplated resistance and escape, yet when confronted with Bai Ye, all it could think of was self-destruction.
Longwen felt a pang of self-mockery but clearly understood the vast difference between herself and Bai Ye. Having such a powerful magical girl on humanity’s side wasn’t a bad thing.
“Bai Ye, I am here to assist you!” Longwen shouted, the dragon beneath her letting out a long roar as it pounced toward the creature.
With its sharp claws and dragon breath, it quickly inflicted numerous wounds on the creature.
However, compared to the ease with which Bai Ye could sever the creature, the damage Longwen dealt was still quite minimal.
Time gradually slipped away, and Luo Shuangyue began to feel her body straining under the load; she could only maintain this form for about another minute at most.
However, given the current situation, merely relying on basic attacks would likely not be sufficient to entirely bring down this Royal-class creature in that time frame.
She needed to use more powerful techniques.
But using such techniques would drastically shorten her transformation time, essentially gambling on whether this attack’s power would suffice to finish the creature off.
Luo Shuangyue hesitated for a moment but made her decision; she was going to take the risk!
Even if this sword strike didn’t kill the creature, it would be fine as long as she interrupted the self-destruction process and rendered it nearly dead; Longwen would be able to clean up any remaining remnants!
She was not fighting a solo battle!
“Longwen! Get back!” Luo Shuangyue shouted at Longwen as the sword in her hand suddenly radiated a blinding light.
Seeing this scene, Longwen immediately realized Luo Shuangyue’s intentions.
“Bai Ye’s Aurora?” She quickly called her precious dragon back to avoid her weapon inadvertently getting caught in Bai Ye’s attack.
Feeling the terrifying oppressive force coming her way, the creature remained unexpectedly calm, even feeling a hint of elation.
Dying from such an attack would leave the magical girls with no doubts!
Come on, Dark Butterfly! Blow me up, then absorb my magical energy!
To ensure this attack would be sufficient to end her life, the creature deliberately lowered the magical energy it would normally utilize for defense, ceding itself to ensure a fitting end.
Three seconds later, a radiant light descended from above, enveloping the creature entirely.
Bathed in this brilliant light, the creature emitted a sorrowful wail, its body gradually dissolving into dark magical energy, which was completely purified by the white luminescence.
“Bai Ye! Bai Ye!!!”
Every magical girl in the city heard the creature’s resentful howl and recognized that it was on the brink of death.
The white light persisted for about ten seconds, and at that moment, the Royal-class creature lay on the ground, its body covered in white marks.
Its body continued to collapse, and with each fragment lost, the density of the surrounding black aura deepened.
Ultimately, Luo Shuangyue could no longer withstand the overwhelming power; otherwise, at this moment, the Royal-class creature should have been entirely purified, and there wouldn’t still be these remnants.
The speed at which the creature’s body disintegrated rapidly increased, soon causing the concentration of magical energy in the vicinity to far exceed the Magic Department’s established hazard levels, and it was continuously escalating.
Having just flown a short distance away, Longwen turned back upon witnessing this scene, revealing a pained expression, “This level of magical energy… it’s going to be difficult to handle.”
“You can’t handle it?” Luo Shuangyue asked in confusion, glancing at Longwen. Didn’t the Magic Department have methods for dealing with magical energy?
“The Magic Department can only manage magical energy below a certain concentration; this exceeds their processing capacity. We can only send people to stand by and gradually reduce the influence over several years.”
The Magic Department wasn’t divine; handling such magical pollution required specialized purification magical girls, and there were very few such magical girls in the entire world.
And Longwen was clearly not among them.
“Currently, the few magical girls with strong purification abilities all have pressing matters at hand and cannot spare the time,” Longwen sighed. “Are you okay? You look a bit off.”
Luo Shuangyue shook her head, indicating she was alright; it was just that she was about to burst.
This area was close to the Polar Night base. If the Magic Department cordoned it off as a forbidden zone, she would have no way to return to work in her organization!
That wouldn’t do; thinking this, Luo Shuangyue decided to lend a hand and help the Magic Department deal with this magical energy.
Bai Ye wasn’t well-versed in purification, but she was proficient in sealing. If she could seal this magical energy and have Longwen take it somewhere else, the problem would be solved!
With this thought in mind, as long as she hadn’t reached her limit yet, Luo Shuangyue again tapped into Bai Ye’s magical energy, drawing in all the black magical energy before her into a sealing card, transforming it into a card adorned with thorn patterns.
After finishing all this, she quickly handed the card to Longwen. “I can’t maintain this seal for long; you need to hurry and throw it somewhere deserted.”
Longwen received the sealing card, casting a worried glance at Luo Shuangyue. “Are you really okay?”
She felt that Bai Ye today was quite different, distinctly divergent from the Bai Ye she had encountered before.
The Bai Ye from before had been open, confident, exuding an irresistible charm that made others want to follow and believe in her. But today’s Bai Ye seemed like she was forcing herself.
“No worries; you need to take care of that card quickly, or the magical energy will escape.”
As Luo Shuangyue’s words fell, a tiny crack appeared in the card Longwen held, and dark magical energy began to seep from the fissure.
Noticing this, Longwen felt she could no longer delay questioning and immediately leaped onto her dragon, flying toward the city’s outskirts.
Once she took off, Luo Shuangyue hastily exited Bai Ye’s transformation state. If Longwen had stayed a moment longer, she feared she would have truly exploded.
Her body was already drenched in cold sweat, and every part of her was experiencing a pain from being overwhelmed by such power. Luo Shuangyue leaned against the rubble, gazing vacantly at the sky.
This power was genuinely life-threatening.
After taking a couple of breaths and utilizing the new ability she had obtained days prior to recover a bit of her health, Luo Shuangyue managed to stand shakily, quickly wanting to leave this cursed place.
However, when she passed by where the creature’s body had disintegrated, several remaining black crystals caught her attention.
These crystals continued to exude faint black gas, with a similar aura to the Royal-class creature, though much weaker—comparable to the magical energy she had absorbed from the transformed person earlier.
What’s this? Is it a relic?
A somewhat impolite thought crossed Luo Shuangyue’s mind, but since these things had fallen here, she thought she should pick them up and try them out.
After all, the Royal-class creature was dead; absorbing the magical energy it left behind wouldn’t pose any danger.
With that in mind, Luo Shuangyue bent down, picking up the thumb-sized black crystals from the ground.
The moment these crystals touched Luo Shuangyue’s body, they immediately, like alcohol meeting water, merged into her form in an instant.
“What’s going on?”
Luo Shuangyue was taken aback; why did these crystals suddenly integrate into her body?
Was this a problem?
However, after thoroughly checking her body, Luo Shuangyue found no abnormalities, which was indeed puzzling.
…
The plan succeeded.
Yet, the plan hit a small snag.
The Royal-class creature looked at the giant butterfly before her, her expression slightly stiffened.
“Y-you, hello?” She raised a thorny vine as an arm to greet the black-purple butterfly.
She had indeed successfully faked her death in front of Dark Butterfly and the magical girls, transferring her consciousness and base magical energy into Dark Butterfly’s body.
But could someone explain to her why there was another entity in Dark Butterfly’s body that closely resembled her?
Could it be that Dark Butterfly already had an owner?!
The giant butterfly remained silent, as though it were merely a mass of energy that had completely lost its consciousness.
Even when the Royal-class creature extended her vine towards it, it did not show any signs of movement.
Yet, with just a gentle touch, the vine turned a faded color, losing all vitality, and the powerful energy of stillness made the Royal-class creature involuntarily suck in a breath.
This level of power… is truly unimaginable.
Even more unfathomable was the aura emanating from this butterfly, an aura that was strikingly similar to her own.
Dark Butterfly’s source of power was different from other magical girls! Her power originated from magical creatures!
A being whose power was strong enough to transcend existing levels of evaluation!
How could this be?! The Royal-class creature thought inwardly; magical girls and magical creatures were arch-enemies, were foes that couldn’t coexist.
Unable to comprehend, completely unable to grasp what was happening, the Royal-class creature momentarily suppressed her thoughts. Despite the various anomalies surrounding Dark Butterfly, they posed no obstruction to her plans.
She merely needed to fully occupy Dark Butterfly’s body from the inside out, and she could easily rise again right under those foolish magical girls’ noses. They would never suspect that she, who had ‘died,’ still had a chance to resurrect.
Now, she just needed to amplify her magical power slightly and quietly turn the tables.
This was quite simple; Luo Shuangyue’s body already contained some mysterious remnants of magical energy. Drawing upon these remnants, the Royal-class creature could easily recover her power, and the base magical energy she provided could also grow stronger over time.
Just a bit of time, and she could…
“What about my base magical energy?!” Then, the Royal-class creature discovered a serious issue.
Her base magical energy had vanished without a trace.
Looking back at the giant butterfly, the Royal-class creature noticed it had somehow acquired a piece of black crystal and was licking it intently.
Could it be… that this was my base magical energy?
Blinking her eyes several times, the Royal-class creature let out a sharp wail, “Bastard, give me back my base magical energy! You’re not allowed to eat it!”
