Chapter 143: The Origin of the Claw Marks

"Long, long ago, when the world was first created, the True Source had not yet been born, life had not yet manifested, and magic power had not yet been divided. The concept of 'World' had not yet been observed, and endless chaos cradled and nurtured it like a swaddling cloth..."

A few minutes later, within the research institute that had resumed operation, the voice of Emerald drifted out from the mouth of the fairy doll. The slightly distorted electronic voice seemed processed, giving Emerald's originally somewhat lazy tone a touch of heaviness.

Senior Cuique, sitting beside the treatment bed, fell silent first, crossing her arms and glancing sideways at it. But after waiting for several minutes and finding the other party had no intention of getting to the point, she lowered her eyelids and spoke:

— "May I go now?"

"Wait, why are you leaving again? You young people, why do none of you have the patience to listen to your elders tell a proper story?"

The solemn atmosphere forcibly created within the research institute instantly deflated. Emerald said somewhat displeased: "What follows is the secret of a realm completely unknown to the outside world. Even for someone of my status, speaking it personally carries risks. Do you not think you should approach this gift with sufficient knowledge and preparation?"

"... I only know that I hold the initiative."

Senior Cuique leaned on the bed's edge: "And I was tricked from my post by you with nonsensical reasons. I am very unwilling to wait any longer."

"Hmm... come to think of it, that is true. Very well, let's make a long story short."

Emerald somewhat unwillingly stopped her original topic and started a new one: "The Great Beast Calamity nineteen years ago, you should still have an impression of it, right? The 'Source of Beasts' in your hand suddenly surged in number during that Great Beast Calamity."

"'Surged'?" Senior Cuique keenly identified the keyword in that sentence.

"Yes, surged, not appeared. In fact, this crystal existed long ago, but at that time there was only one. It was excavated from the Interrealm and has been kept in the Wang Ting treasury of the Realm ever since."

The doll nodded, emphasizing the word Senior Cuique had latched onto: "And after the Great Beast Calamity, as many as five Sources of Beasts were excavated from the Material Realm, bringing the total count to six immediately."

"But unfortunately, because the Realm did not know at the beginning that such a substance would be born during the Great Beast Calamity, and because the main force of the Magical Girls was almost entirely deployed to the front-line battlefields, three of these newly born Sources of Beasts were seized by rebels from the Interrealm."

It extended its hand and brought up the operation screen of the treatment bed once more: "And as you know, relying on the existence of these three Sources of Beasts, they established an organization named 'Black Ash Dawn' and began operating in the Material Realm from then on."

This was consistent with the information Senior Cuique had previously received from Moss.

Although according to Moss's account, the predecessor of Black Ash Dawn were Magicians of the Material Realm, not people from the "Interrealm" as Emerald spoke of. But tracing it to the root, their true rise to power relied entirely on the "Source of Beasts."

"A total of five, three taken by Black Ash Dawn, meaning your Realm also obtained two?"

After confirming the consistency of the information, Senior Cuique continued asking: "Adding the initial one you mentioned, the Realm should have possessed three Sources of Beasts."

"What do you mean 'your Realm'? Young one, do not make me emphasize the importance of the spirit of unity. It should be 'our Realm' here!"

The doll put its hands on its hips: "But you are right. Our Realm indeed possessed three Sources of Beasts after the Great Beast Calamity, and they were uniformly kept in the Wang Ting treasury. The Treasury Department served as the main force guarding the treasury."

"So?"

Senior Cuique chose not to argue with it on trivial matters and continued advancing the topic: "Since the Realm stores Sources of Beasts, why are you so obsessed with obtaining mine? Why not simply apply to Wang Ting? If the Research Institute wishes to study it, Wang Ting should not refuse."

"I thought just like you back then, young one. But unfortunately, worldly affairs are unpredictable." Emerald sighed deeply.

"Wang Ting did not approve your application?" Senior Cuique asked in confusion.

"The fact that I bribed the Treasury Department to get all three Sources of Beasts out was exposed." The doll spread its paws.

"We generally call this kind of thing 'just deserts'." Senior Cuique spoke coldly.

"Academic research always walks a lonely path, young one. Those who follow rules and are bound by regulations find it difficult to freely exert their talents."

The doll shook its head: "But in any case, because of this matter, Your Majesty banned me from researching the Source of Beasts."

"Of course, everyone knows that Your Majesty's whims are always temporary; time changes everything. Even if she chose to ban my research at that time, after a few years, that ban would only exist in name."

"Furthermore, at that time I had other research projects, so naturally I put this matter aside, planning to secretly operate again in ten years. But the result was that merely two years later, my plan came to nothing."

"Your research on the Source of Beasts was completely banned?" Senior Cuique asked, resting her chin on her hand.

"I formally protest and criticize your repeated slandering of me, young one."

Emerald was somewhat displeased: "During those two years, I did not consider the matter of the Source of Beasts at all. I merely entrusted some people to enter the Treasury Department from the periphery to see if they could infiltrate the Wang Ting treasury's guard roster. But my people did not infiltrate, and the Sources of Beasts in the treasury were stolen. Moreover, two were stolen at once."

"Stolen?"

This word made Senior Cuique slightly stunned: "Wang Ting?"

"I know what you want to say. Wang Ting possesses the strictest review and guard systems in the entire Realm, along with the Realm's most advanced defensive spells and countless self-defense mechanisms. Some of those spells were even arranged by my own hand. There is no way any thief in this world could successfully infiltrate there."

Emerald took up the conversation: "However, while the probability of a theft at Wang Ting is small, it is not non-existent. If I, someone who knows Wang Ting well enough, were to devise a theft plan, I would have at least three schemes to steal the Source of Beasts without alerting anyone... Why are you looking at me like that? Think carefully with your brain, young one. Do I need to do such underhanded things?"

"Who just now said they sent people to infiltrate the guards?" Senior Cuique narrowed her eyes.

"I must declare that the nature of these two matters is different. Although I sent people, I had not yet clearly expressed my intent to steal. You cannot convict someone who has neither subjective intent nor substantial action."

Whether it was an illusion or not, a faint clicking of the tongue came from the doll's voice-emitting part: "But the result was that someone stole... took the Source of Beasts before me."

"You just said it was impossible for anyone to successfully infiltrate Wang Ting."

"I have no intention of overturning what I said before, young one. Of course, no one would successfully infiltrate Wang Ting afterwards."

The voice emitted by the doll carried a different implication: "Because the truth of this matter is theft by the custodian."

"... The Treasury Department?"

"Correct."

"Who?"

"This is the reason this matter cannot be casually told to outsiders. Young one."

The doll raised its head slightly, its deep eyes looking at Senior Cuique: "Can you guarantee that after hearing the answer, you will not tell anyone outside?"

When it asked this question, Senior Cuique clearly felt the atmosphere in the research institute become much Solemn.

It was not the false atmosphere the other party had previously created with various conversation techniques and lighting; it was substantial, an atmosphere made heavy by the pressure the other party exerted.

Emerald was serious.

Senior Cuique realized this.

"... I currently have no other person to reveal this to."

So she slowly spoke: "If there truly comes a day when I must tell someone else, I will inform you in advance."

The doll nodded.

— "It was Purple Diamond."

It said thus: "Purple Diamond took two Sources of Beasts and defected from the Realm."

"Pur... ple Diamond?"

Senior Cuique certainly did not fail to understand the meaning of this name.

The Gem Scepter of the Magical Kingdom is named after the gems adorning the Queen's Scepter: the Chrysoberyl Jinlv Maoyan corresponding to the Jinlv Maoyan gem; the Pigeon's Blood Ruby corresponding to the Ruby; the Emerald corresponding to the Emerald; the Cornflower Sapphire corresponding to the Sapphire; and the Purple Diamond corresponding to the Diamond.

The Purple Diamond is the Gem Scepter of the Diamond, the Magical Girl who governs the Kingdom's Treasury.

Upon hearing this answer, Senior Cuique's first reaction was: the Emerald is joking.

Because this sounds utterly absurd; a Gem Scepter betraying the Kingdom, if known to the outside world, would be the biggest joke.

The nature of this matter is no different from a company's CEO betraying the company, or the Director of the Anomaly Bureau personally betraying the Anomaly Bureau... although using such examples as a metaphor, it does not seem entirely impossible. But the relationship between the Gem Scepters and the Magical Kingdom is far closer than the former.

Beyond that, it is strange: because of the Gem Scepter's betrayal and the absence of the Diamond position, this matter should be considered a huge upheaval in the Magical Kingdom, so why has she never heard of it from any channel?

Calculating the time, at that time she should have already retired, so being ignorant of this is normal, but the other members of the Fang Ting City Squad were still fighting on the front lines, so why didn't they know about this?

Returning to the present, more than ten years later, the returned Senior Cuique has seen quite a few Magical Girls and Fairies, yet she has never heard the news of "the absence of the Diamond" from their mouths.

"Only the Wang Ting, the Gem Scepters, and a few Magical Girls at the core of the Treasury's power know of this matter."

Seeming to see Senior Cuique's confusion, the Doll explained calmly, "And to make up for the vacancy of the Diamond position, Your Majesty broke precedent by issuing an order from the palace, temporarily appointing a new Diamond. However, this is currently kept secret, and the inauguration ceremony will be held during the next grand celebration year."

"So... the Gem Scepter just betrayed like that? No one went to manage it?"

This answer obviously could not completely dispel Senior Cuique's doubts; she questioned first, then inexplicably fell into deep thought. She suddenly recalled: the Emerald had laid out so much information, what was it originally going to say?

—It was "Claw Marks".

"You mean, 'Claw Marks'?" Thinking of this, she couldn't help but speak in a low voice. Kan Shu Yan

"It seems you have figured it out yourself; yes, that is correct."

The Emerald sighed: "The so-called Claw Marks is the organization established by the former Gem Scepter, Purple Diamond, after she stole the Beast Source and defected from the Kingdom, to evade pursuit."

"The Purple Diamond who fled the Kingdom took with her a considerable number of Magical Girls willing to follow her, among whom were even quite a few Flower Cards. After this group of Magical Girls fled to the Material Realm, they established a certain cooperative relationship with the Black Ash Dawn, and after several years of silence, they began their activities in their current form."

"Magical Girls who joined the Claw Marks would originally face mana decline due to exceeding their term; to deal with this, the alternative solution they chose was the power of the Remnant Beasts."

"All the Magical Girls of the Claw Marks have abandoned their past codenames, seemingly using the names of birds and beasts as new designations; their leader, the Purple Diamond after her betrayal, also abandoned her gem title, replacing it with a new codename: Bai Lang."

"This is the origin of the current Claw Marks."

The Doll's paw gently pressed against the bed edge: "This is also the reason why I began to pursue the Beast Source and wanted to start researching it again."

"... To deal with the Claw Marks?" Senior Cuique looked at it.

"On the surface, yes, but to speak of the deeper reason, it is because I do not allow any technology within the scope of Magical Girl abilities to be something I have not mastered."

The Emerald's voice remained languid, but when saying this sentence, the tone appeared unshakable: "The mana of Magical Girls and the mana of Remnant Beasts are mutually exclusive; to be precise, there is a relationship of confrontation and erosion between them."

"The mana of Magical Girls will repel and hinder the mana of Remnant Beasts; the mana of Remnant Beasts will devour and assimilate the mana of Magical Girls. The result of these two types of mana coming together is that they are incompatible, with absolutely no possibility of coexistence."

"Why did Bai Lang steal the Beast Source? And after stealing the Beast Source from the Kingdom, why did she develop the technology allowing Magical Girls to master Beast Mana in just a few short years? Obviously, she obtained something from the Beast Source."

"I do not wish to boast, but my academic research ability is undoubtedly superior to that brute like her; the technology she could learn and master, there is no reason I could not master."

"Then, the gap between me and her is obviously the Beast Source."

"Her technology is presumably based on the Beast Source, and on those Claw Marks Magical Girls, I saw a phenomenon never seen before: that is, they became a kind of 'Artificial Deviants'."

"They were originally Magical Girls, but the base color of their mana all shifted towards the Remnant Beasts; it can be said, they all became existences possessing dual powers and identities."

The Doll spoke to this point, suddenly pausing its voice slightly, then changing the subject:

"And this is also why I want to tell you about that child."

Regarding the turn in the Emerald's sentence, Senior Cuique was first slightly stunned, then began to ponder its meaning. After a moment, she realized something:

"... Bo Xue?"

From the Emerald's description of the Claw Marks, she indeed felt a slight familiarity: because not long ago, she had heard a similar theory.

No need to recall, she immediately remembered, this was the description of Bai Jingxuan on the way here.

At that time, the Emerald had said that Bai Jingxuan's mana base color was naturally inclined towards beasts; if not for being selected as a Magical Girl, she could be said to be a natural "Beast-Transformer". However, she took another path during the Fuli Academy attack incident, becoming a Magical Girl due to a twist of fate. Kan Shu La

So, after she became a Magical Girl, did the matter end there?

Obviously, the answer is negative.

"She is a natural Beast-Transformer, and after she became a Magical Girl, she is a natural 'Claw Mark'."

The Emerald recited in a slow but calm voice, like passing a sentence:

"Purer than Bai Lang, more complete, closer to the perfect form, the true 'Claw Mark'."

(End of this chapter)