Chapter 115: I'm Sorry

—Boom!

In the dead of night, a violent explosion erupted from the city center; the thunderous roar that shook the sky jolted Lin Xiaolu awake from her sleep.

"... What's going on?"

Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she climbed out of bed and looked out the window of her room; upon seeing the scene outside, she first experienced a brief moment of confusion, then gradually widened her eyes.

"Wake up, Xia Liang! Bai Jingxuan!"

Turning around, she woke the other two girls who were still asleep; Lin Xiaolu pointed out the window and shouted, "Something's wrong! There's some strange commotion!"

The two, who had long been immersed in dreams, could only rub their eyes, climb out of their blankets, come to the window together, and then simultaneously lost their words.

—A massive purple-black pillar of light rose from the city center, shooting straight up into the sky and piercing through the clouds; even the surrounding drifting clouds were dyed purple, swirling around the light pillar and flashing with ominous radiance.

Bai Jingxuan, still groggy with sleep, shuffled forward two steps, trying to get closer to the window to see the scene outside; but as soon as she approached the window, she saw a huge moth crash into it, making a "thwack" sound.

"Huh!"

The noise startled her; she stepped back a few paces, and her previously sleepy mind was suddenly cleared by the fright.

"Really, coming to cause trouble at a time like this!"

Seeing Bai Jingxuan startled by the suddenly appearing moth, Lin Xiaolu angrily slapped the window to drive it away, then walked over to the wardrobe in the room, opened the wardrobe door, and said, "Hurry up and change clothes! I don't know what's going on, but we have to go outside!"

"Can't we just transform and go out?" Xia Liang asked with a yawn, "Changing clothes at a time like this feels so troublesome."

"Putting on shoes should be enough, right?" Bai Jingxuan suggested.

"You two..."

Lin Xiaolu glanced at them, put her hands on her hips, and began to speak irritably; but before she could finish her sentence, she felt the purple light shining from behind her grow even more intense.

This caused her unfinished words to choke in her throat.

"It's a Remnant Beast!"

Moke, who had just woken up, also rushed over and pointed out the window, shouting, "Xiaolu! I can sense the aura of a Remnant Beast! And it's powerful, more powerful than any Remnant Beast I've ever seen before! This time it's definitely a big one!"

Unfortunately, no one paid attention to its words; even Bai Jingxuan, who had the best relationship with Moke, only perfunctorily agreed.

After all, the scene outside the window was far too conspicuous; even an idiot would know upon seeing the current situation that the purple pillar of light shooting straight into the sky was absolutely abnormal.

Lin Xiaolu realized that if she insisted on changing into a complete set of casual clothes before going out, by the time she arrived, everything would already be cold and ruined; helplessly, she could only change her plan, grab a jacket from the wardrobe, drape it over her body, and walk toward the room door: "Forget it, let's just hurry and go."

The other two also knew the situation was urgent, so they all followed her out of the room; the three girls and the fairy hurriedly rushed out of the room door, didn't even have time to turn on the lights, and together ran toward the front door.

Lin Xiaolu originally wanted to remind them to be quiet and not wake her father, but seeing that everyone had already run to the entrance hall, she didn't dare say anything more; she could only stand in the corridor and glance guiltily toward her father's room door.

Not looking would have been fine, but when she actually looked over, what she saw was an open door.

The door wasn't closed?

This made Lin Xiaolu freeze for a moment.

"What are you still standing there for?"

Before she could think deeply, Xia Liang, not far away, pressed her voice and shouted at her, "No time to waste, hurry up and go!"

"Mm... oh."

Lin Xiaolu could only suppress the doubt that instantly rose in her heart and followed the others to run to the entrance hall.

She had no time to confirm whether the door was open, nor did she know whether her father was actually in the room.

Maybe he forgot to close the door while sleeping?

She explained it to herself this way, then walked out of the house together with her companions.

—

—

"Senior."

The title shouted by the person behind Senior Cuique undoubtedly proved her identity: she was Hong Siyu.

But upon hearing this title, Senior Cuique only felt her heart sink slightly.

She stood there stiffly for a while, her gaze fixed on the ground; after a short while, she finally couldn't suppress the thoughts in her heart any longer, turned her head sideways, and wanted to look back for a glance.

—"Don't turn around yet, Senior."

However, Hong Siyu stopped Senior Cuique's movement.

Her voice at this moment was gentle and clear, sounding perfectly fine: "Just listen to me and talk to me."

"... I hate people who are evasive."

Without directly responding to the other party's request, Senior Cuique lowered her head, looked at the shadow on the ground, and suddenly sighed, "Why didn't you tell me directly? Why play this disappearing act, and refuse to answer the phone no matter what? When exactly did the Special Strategy Bureau become like this?"

"Hmm... who knows? I've forgotten too."

Hong Siyu said lightly, "And speaking of being evasive, Senior, aren't you the most dishonest person? How many things from back then are you still hiding? I've been kept in the dark all along."

"If you're willing, after this is over, I can tell you," Senior Cuique continued to lower her head, her voice low, "so tell me, do you have any way? A way to turn these people back?"

"I don't know, but probably not."

Hong Siyu dragged out her voice, as if thinking: "The person who did this seems to never have intended to turn these people back; after all, they were just test subjects and fodder."

"... Who is the person who did this?"

"You know, I can't say, Senior."

"Then, what is your stance right now?"

Senior Cuique's voice was somewhat serious: "Are you still a retired magical girl? Are you an employee of the Special Strategy Bureau? Or... have you already become someone from the Black Ember Dawn?"

After she asked this question, Hong Siyu's voice disappeared for a moment.

A moment later, she spoke again: "That question hurts my feelings too much, Senior."

"In your heart, am I such a person who would easily betray? After being a magical girl for ten years, to finally betray to such a disgusting organization and do such disgusting things?"

Hong Siyu's voice carried dissatisfaction, seeming somewhat angry: "Even to this point, I was still thinking of letting you come and deal with the Remnant Beasts here; if I had really defected, why would I tell you that?"

"... Yes." Senior Cuique pressed her lips, her eyes flickered, then she took a long breath, her expression complex: "I really shouldn't have doubted you."

I can't tell you who did it—not because I don't want to, but because I can't.

Hong Siyu's voice carried a hint of grievance: "If I hadn't told you back when Lin Xiaolu was ambushed, why would I have waited this long, dancing around the issue?"

"Lin Xiaolu? You mean the one at the wetland park? It had already started back then?"

Senior Cuique's words paused: "Then it seems I arrived far too late."

"Not late at all—you actually arrived too early, Senior."

Hong Siyu suddenly laughed: "Don't you know why I told you to stay home? If you rush over like this, so hurried at this hour, I might actually feel hurt."

"If I don't come now, will I even get to see you?"

Senior Cuique asked, puzzled: "If you'd waited until midnight—or even until tomorrow—wouldn't you have stopped talking to me altogether?"

"... True." Hong Siyu sighed. "It's always better to say a few more words, even if I never wanted to chat with you under these circumstances. Wouldn't it have been nicer if I'd said goodbye to you in the elevator as my final words?"

"Just rely on 'I'm leaving it to you'? That irresponsible nonsense?" Senior Cuique raised her voice. "Are you really content to drop that line and leave me to clean up this mess alone?"

"I had no other choice." Hong Siyu smiled awkwardly. "You saw it—I've already messed it up."

"There's still time to fix it." Senior Cuique stared at the shadows on the floor, speaking softly. "It's not too late. We still have a chance to make things right."

"Yes, it's still possible." Hong Siyu agreed. "Right now, clear out all the monsters here, then go to the mastermind and defeat her in a grand, dazzling fashion—everything can still be salvaged."

"That's not what I meant."

"You still have Rank Lei combat power, right? Though winning might be a stretch... maybe you're even farther behind than that? But it doesn't matter—I believe in you. After all, you always create miracles."

"That's not what I meant."

"Lin Xiaolu and the others have grown a lot too—they shouldn't just be dragging you down anymore, right? Oh, maybe when you join them, you'll even get a surprise? Hehe, I won't spoil it."

"Hong Siyu." Senior Cuique spoke, her tone serious. "You know—I'm not talking about that."

"... But you must do exactly as I said, Senior."

Hong Siyu's voice grew quieter: "Can you see it? Over there—the center of the city."

As she spoke, a sliver of moonlight pierced the boundless darkness, illuminating the hall with silver radiance, revealing the true form of the glass wall.

Beyond the glass wall lay the night view of Fang Ting City.

Yet even across that immense distance, Senior Cuique could see a towering pillar of purple-black light rising straight from the ground, piercing the sky and illuminating the clouds.

A rough estimate placed the pillar's location far from the Special Strategy Bureau, yet even from this distance, Senior Cuique felt a heavy aura of ill omen.

"... What is that?" Senior Cuique asked, her voice calm.

"A Remnant Beast...?"

"Why a question?"

"Because compared to ordinary Remnant Beasts, it may not be as pure."

"... What do you mean by 'pure'?"

"You know, don't you, Senior?"

Hong Siyu's voice carried suppressed emotion: "What did that Remnant Beast feed on to grow?"

"... Are you involved in this?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"Yes." Hong Siyu whispered. "Of all things, this is the one thing I truly don't know. But if I did know, I would never have done it."

Senior Cuique turned her face, gazing at the distant purple-black pillar, her expression grim. She knew this pillar was likely the very result Black Ash Dawn had gone to such great lengths to obtain.

The question Hong Siyu posed—"What did that Remnant Beast feed on?"—they both knew the answer. But neither could bring themselves to speak it.

Before she died, the spider from Bai'an City had told her: Black Ash Dawn was searching for "feed" for the Remnant Beasts, and there were no limits to what it could be—humans, other Remnant Beasts, fairies, even Magical Girls.

Thus, Hong Siyu's claim of "I would never have done it" was, in fact, a declaration.

She was saying: even if she seemed connected to the mastermind behind this, even if she had been involved from the very beginning, she had not betrayed.

"... You don't need to make such a promise." Senior Cuique spoke again, but her voice felt painfully dry.

"I do, Senior." Hong Siyu's tone was solemn. "There are things I don't want you to misunderstand."

"I won't misunderstand."

"Didn't you already misunderstand?"

"I only need to know if you're still with Black Ash Dawn. If you're not, then there's no misunderstanding."

"I'm not." Hong Siyu's reply was calm and clear.

"... That's good." Senior Cuique didn't know how she felt as she spoke those words.

"So, Senior, even though you came early, there's no time left."

Hong Siyu did not dwell on the topic further, but gently prompted: "The true mastermind is right there. The Magical Girl must clear the Remnant Beasts blocking her path and face the real enemy."

Clear the Remnant Beasts.

Senior Cuique fully understood what Hong Siyu meant—she had assembled every last piece of the puzzle, and now held the answer.

Yet precisely because of that, she had never felt such resistance toward the phrase "clear the Remnant Beasts."

Before the unclear call, she had told herself Hong Siyu was "up high." Now, having seen the ceiling's sight, she knew exactly what "up high" meant.

The strange words Hong Siyu had spoken when leaving her home hours ago—she now understood their meaning.

A retired Magical Girl should not possess the power to see fairies. Yet Hong Siyu had done so. How? Senior Cuique had found the answer.

She now understood the reason behind Hong Siyu's odd sense of taste in cooking.

And also, five months ago—the very day she first discovered her daughter had become a Magical Girl.

It had been another terrible day, just like after Anya's death. She had just gotten off work; the sky had just darkened. Before she knew Lin Xiaolu had become a Magical Girl, Hong Siyu had called her, asking, "Want to have dinner together?"

At the restaurant, this junior, with whom she hadn't spoken in ages, chattered about trivial things, then subtly revealed that Lin Xiaolu had become a Magical Girl.

Then, she had taken Hong Siyu home after she got drunk.

She could no longer recall exactly what the drunken Hong Siyu had said back then, yet she seemed to have returned to that driver's cab reeking of alcohol. Amidst the sour and bitter scent, a muffled sob came from the passenger seat beside her:

—"I'm sorry."

That was a statement Senior Cuique could not understand at the time.

"I..." she began, yet had no idea what else she could say, feeling only blood surging and her brain humming, "I cannot..."

"You can do it, Senior, that is why I am begging you."

Hong Siyu's voice softened accordingly, carrying a hint of encouragement: "Because only you can do this here. I also believe you can, just as in the past, bring miracles to this city."

"After all, you are the person I admire most."

After these words fell, Senior Cuique felt the humming in her brain vanish. The entire world seemed to lose its sound, turning into an emptiness, entering a silent, colorless Illusory Realm.

Without blinking, Senior Cuique stood expressionless. She slowly lowered her head, looking down at her feet. Looking at the place where a shadow should have been reflected.

There should have been a shadow there, a shadow representing "Hong Siyu." But at this very moment, she could not find what she wanted to see.

Although she could see a shadow, the shadow on the ground did not belong to Hong Siyu; indeed, it did not belong to "humans."

Cast from behind her onto the ground before her was merely the shadow of a moth, its wings spread, its body raised high, completely shrouding itself within.

It looked so alien, yet it was not alone. For within this Anomaly Bureau, there was far more than just this one moth's shadow.

Countless dark moth shadows extended from the ceiling, from beyond the walls, from all directions; they crawled, they knelt, they sang praises, yet all toward one direction—that was the distant, purple-black pillar of light in the city center.

They surrounded Senior Cuique in the center in concentric layers, like a whirlpool, ready at any moment to swallow that tiny figure.

"Hong Siyu." Senior Cuique spoke again, breaking that silence amidst the boundless black shadows.

But this call received no response whatsoever.

She stood solemnly, expressionless, gazing straight ahead at the ground before her, suddenly feeling an urge to laugh, and suddenly feeling a sense of suffocation.

She did not feel happy; it was simply that she no longer knew what expression she could make.

"'I'm sorry' is a word that should have been said by me, right..."

Senior Cuique suddenly raised her head, mumbling indistinctly. Then, she finally slowly turned around, facing what lay behind her.

"It is I who am sorry to you, Hong Siyu."

She had not turned back until now, not only because Hong Siyu had requested it, but also because she had guessed what she would see, and thus was unwilling and dared not turn back.

She knew that the moment she turned back, all beauty and nostalgia would be torn apart as easily as a thin sheet of paper, never to recover a shred of warmth.

Yet, she had to turn back; she needed to confirm, needed to tell herself that there was no one left there to whom she could say the words "I'm sorry."

A massive Remnant Beast, several people tall, stood there.

Its spread wings were like a brilliantly blooming flower; those furry, outstretched wings radiated a purple-red glow under the moonlight. Countless black and white spots dotted the wings, forming dreamlike and bizarre patterns.

Its eyes were black and deep, flowing with an evil purple-black radiance, as if able to perceive everything. Its body, covered in downy fur, was slender yet somewhat ferocious, instinctively instilling fear.

Under the moonlight, this Remnant Beast simply gazed silently at Senior Cuique. It made no sound; of course, it could not speak.

It simply stood lightly before Senior Cuique, then extended its proboscis, gradually approaching Senior Cuique.

The slender proboscis gradually enlarged within Senior Cuique's pupils, then slowly extended to her neck, spreading out; from the viscous saliva emerged several slender tubes and fangs, pressing against Senior Cuique's seemingly delicate and fragile neck.

Senior Cuique closed her eyes.

In the darkness, she seemed to see the familiar figure of her junior once more; she stood before Senior Cuique, her hand resting on Senior Cuique's neck, gazing at her with black eyes.

No more clumsy imitations, crude lies, or affected foolishness. These things would never again affect Hong Siyu's true heart; she shed all her daily disguises, looking at Senior Cuique with the same expression of shy yet somewhat firm determination as when she first met Senior Cuique, and opened her mouth:

"Do it, Senior."

"Magical Girl... it is time to purge the Remnant Beast."

(End of this chapter)