Chapter 157

The moment her identity as "Cornflower" was exposed, Cuique slightly pressed her lips but gave no reply to the provocation.

She had no intention of affirming or denying it, nor did she show any desire to continue the conversation; instead, she adjusted her posture slightly and regarded the magical girl before her with rigid readiness.

More than these trivial matters, the power the other had just displayed alarmed her more. The reason was simple: the attack had been too fast, too stealthy.

Even the fluctuation of magical energy had leaked almost nothing; had Cuique not reacted quickly enough, that single probing strike alone could have left an ordinary magical girl severely wounded.

Since the other had chosen to attack, she had openly declared her hostility—words and deception had lost their meaning; only raw strength remained to decide the outcome.

But Cuique knew her own condition: she could not win.

She did not believe the Claw Marks were fools who would send an underpowered member to seize the Beast Source. This magical girl calling herself Tang Changpu, having once been a Flower Card, surely possessed combat ability no weaker than that of a Flower Card.

A Flower Card meant the opponent could certainly invoke the Mirage Realm and its rules.

Cuique had now completely lost the ability to normally activate the Mirage Realm; should she enter a rule-based battle with the opponent, she would inevitably fall into grave disadvantage.

To counter this disadvantage, she had only one card left—yet one she could not possibly use: destroying the final form of the Magic Weave, exhausting the threads' power.

But even Cuique herself knew this was impossible.

The Magic Weave was intrinsically tied to the magical girl's true form; when the Magic Weave was utterly destroyed, no one could say what she would become. The best outcome might be the simultaneous annihilation of her magical source, rendering her forever unable to use magic; the worst might be becoming a vegetable—or dying outright.

She could not risk such a gamble on an uncertain technique.

Though this might give her a strong chance to defeat or even kill the enemy, she herself would suffer catastrophic damage—killing a thousand only to lose ten thousand—having nothing to do with the concept of "winning."

"Why won't you speak? You can't mean I guessed wrong?"

Yuan set down her cup, tilted her head, and exhaled a wisp of white mist; the flush on her face had faded somewhat: "Come to think of it, I get the feeling you're considering something extremely dangerous, so I must clarify beforehand: we don't actually need to fight to the death."

"Setting aside the Beast Source for now, what I said earlier wasn't empty words—if you truly are Cornflower, our leader sincerely welcomes you to join us."

"After all, I can sense your magical fluctuations—your current state must be dire."

As she spoke, Yuan slowly narrowed her eyes; her originally ink-black pupils suddenly shifted into a dual-colored iris of black and white: "True form, magical source, heart gem—these three should be one unified structure, yet they've become misaligned. Like a bucket with holes, your magical energy leaks endlessly. A normal magical girl in your condition would already be half-dead."

"Thank you for the warning, but no need for your concern."

Cuique replied coldly: "If your suggestion is that I switch allegiances, I have no intention of turning myself into a feral beast."

She did not truly believe the Claw Marks possessed the technology to heal her injuries; even the Academy's Chief Emerald could only promise limited damage control—what made the Claw Marks think they held more advanced techniques?

Even if such a possibility existed, it would require betraying the Magic Nation—and she would never choose that path.

From a practical standpoint, Lin Xiaolu and the other two girls still fell under her authority for deployment—a power she had barely secured by exploiting a lapse in the Gold Cat's Eye's vigilance. Only by remaining a magical girl could she retain this authority; only with this power could she prevent the three girls from being needlessly dragged into the Nation's power struggles. If she truly accepted this so-called invitation and joined the Claw Marks, the deployment authority would become meaningless paper—and what protection would remain?

Among her juniors was Bai Jingxuan, a magical girl with a uniquely precarious condition; only recently had Cuique resolved to guide her onto the right path. If she now chose to join the Claw Marks, she would have no moral standing left to teach that child.

And from a moral and ethical standpoint, there was even less reason to join an organization with such a notorious reputation.

Perhaps they were not as morally bankrupt or inhuman as Black Ash Dawn—but after betraying the Nation, these rebel magical girls had committed no shortage of arson, murder, and plunder; they were certainly no good people.

So her course of action seemed clear: stall.

She was at absolute disadvantage in raw power; fighting would likely end in defeat, and fleeing was impossible—Fang Ting City was her home turf, and three juniors remained here. You could run away the monk, but not the temple. The only option left was to buy time.

And the purpose of buying time was to wait for Emerald's reinforcements.

When their magic mirror call had been interrupted, Emerald had clearly left something unsaid—indicating she had some countermeasure. Cuique had already informed her of the situation with the Special Tactics Bureau; once the woman detected the enemy's movements, she would almost certainly act.

Until then, her task was to delay, prevent the battlefield from shifting, and ensure reinforcements arrived at the scene without delay.

Implementing this strategy meant standing firm.

By adopting an attitude of half-skepticism, half-trust, she kept the opponent caught between attacking and holding back.

Each time Cuique rejected the proposal, she never closed the door completely; instead, she deliberately left openings, ensuring the other could follow the thread and continue speaking. At the same time, she projected an air of "outward refusal, inward hesitation," giving the impression that peaceful resolution might still be possible.

When the other mentioned her injuries, Cuique hinted she valued her reputation more; when the other suggested covert defection, Cuique deliberately omitted the few advantages of such a move in her refusal; when the other listed the benefits, Cuique countered with weak, flawed arguments.

Back and forth, she inadvertently stirred Yuan's interest—what began as a standoff had inexplicably turned into a lecture on "the benefits of joining the Claw Marks." Cuique spoke less and less; Yuan spoke more and more. By the end, they even seemed to be leaning on each other's shoulders; an outsider witnessing this might truly believe their relationship was as Yuan had boasted—"like sisters."

Time slipped away in this strangely diverted conversation; Cuique even had the leisure to stare blankly while secretly tapping her phone twice, warning her three juniors of a powerful enemy's arrival and ordering them not to act rashly.

Yet this delay came at a cost.

Whether because the other had been drinking, or because such a scene of persuasion and pressure inherently carried strange psychological cues, after several deliberate displays of weakness to prolong the dialogue, Cuique sensed the nature of their conversation had begun to twist.

Perhaps because the other was relatively older, Cuique always felt Yuan treated her like a child. What began as recruitment had gradually become like a human trafficker luring an ignorant child on the roadside.

If they continued talking, this conversation might drag on until afternoon without result—but not everyone could be trapped by Cuique's rhetoric.

"Wait, Yuan, you just said Cornflower's condition is terrible?"

Just as their conversation veered further off track, Semiy suddenly interrupted: "So she can't actually use much of her power right now?"

"Huh? Oh, definitely."

Yuan, now familiar, reached out and patted Cuique's head, nodding: "Even from this distance, I can feel the magical currents pouring from her. Her control over her own magic is extremely weak—she can probably use no more than one-tenth of her true strength."

"Then why are you wasting time talking to her?!"

Semiy pointed at Cuique: "The Beast Source is in her hands, and she's right here! Why negotiate? Just capture her alive—take both her and the source. We'd have already completed half the mission. We could go back and report immediately."

"That logic is sound."

Yuan nodded thoughtfully, yet looked troubled: "But I really don't want to take advantage of someone injured. As the saying goes, even a tiger in decline is bullied by dogs—fighting a weakened warrior holds no honor."

"Stop obsessing over your so-called fairness now!"

Semiy sighed: "We bring her back, our leader restores her magical source, and she regains her former strength! Then you can fight her fairly!"

"... Ah, so there's a way."

Yuan blinked, turning to Cuique: "See? That's what she says."

Cuique looked from Yuan to Semiy, and for the first time, felt a chill crawl up her spine.

If before, both she and the other had held mixed suspicion and hesitation, now that Semiy had proposed this plan, Yuan's gaze toward her held nothing but pure aggression.

Like a wolf staring at a rabbit.

Though the other's intent surely wasn't to devour her, being taken to the Claw Marks' leader would hardly bring her anything good.

Should she flee now?

For the first time, the thought crossed her mind—but before she could act, she realized Yuan had already slipped an arm around her shoulder, smiling warmly:

——"Then, shall we go?"

"... I don't yet fully agree with your ideals."

Senior Cuique felt her hair stand on end and her back grow cold, yet she forced herself to suppress the feeling and spoke calmly and coolly: "We may need to talk more."

"No problem, no problem—we've got a long way back; plenty of time to chat slowly."

Yuan said casually, then pulled out a pair of handcuffs from nowhere: "But you might have to endure some discomfort—just in case you cause trouble in the wasteland. Better safe than sorry."

Senior Cuique recognized it at once—it was the same pair of handcuffs Yuan had worn during interrogation. No one knew when she had stolen them, yet not a single employee of the Strange Affairs Bureau had noticed.

Gazing at the handcuffs, Senior Cuique fell silent again.

She knew these cuffs held no real restraint over a Magical Girl—but the spell inscribed on them to suppress magic was no fake. If the other truly possessed skill in such spells, and understood binding techniques at all, even slight modifications could render her utterly powerless if she put them on.

Yet if she refused here and triggered combat, even her usual methods wouldn't grant victory. If she lost, she'd almost certainly become a prisoner anyway.

So what should she do?

In the silence, Senior Cuique's mind raced, proposing one plan after another, then rejecting and filtering each. But when one's strength is utterly inferior, no plan seems powerful enough.

"Returning to the Magic Realm will restore much of your power"—this plan proposed by Emerald had seemed flawless. Yet no one had anticipated that less than a month after the Full Moon Festival, an enemy on par with, or even superior to, Mo would appear in Fang Ting City.

Against such an enemy, even Senior Cuique, whose scissors had not yet been destroyed, could not guarantee victory—let alone now, with her injuries worsened.

Tilting her head slightly, she gazed at the yin-yang pupils, and her heart grew colder. Her fist, once loosely clenched, gradually relaxed—and began to rise.

Whoosh!

Just as she decided to conserve her strength, to preserve her last sliver of hope, the window of the reception room shattered with a thunderous crash.

——"That's not necessarily true."

A fierce wind from the upper floors of the building rushed violently into the room, and with it, a figure shot in at incredible speed.

Several strands of purple-red magic erupted from the figure's hands, streaking toward Yuan. Yuan raised her hand calmly to block—but the simple spell shattered instantly, unable to halt the purple-red magic at all.

Her eyes narrowed; her surrounding magic abruptly solidified, becoming an invisible pool of strange liquid metal that barely managed to halt the furious assault.

In that fleeting instant, the figure from the window seized Senior Cuique's knee crease and the nape of her neck, and withdrew to the opposite side of the room.

Amid the scattered glow of purple-red magic, Senior Cuique looked up—and saw a face both familiar and strange.

It was a face she had seen only recently, yet now appeared far younger.

A pale cheek, a gentle yet resolute expression, two low twin tails neatly resting against her neck, bangs framing violet-red eyes. Her gaze slightly lowered, lending her an air of fragility—but as she held Senior Cuique, she stood utterly unmoving, her fierce battle aura spilling forth, making her slender frame appear impossibly upright.

"It's all right now."

She lowered her gaze and offered Senior Cuique a bright, radiant smile, then spoke a phrase only the two of them could understand: "Because the Magical Girl has arrived!"

——"Magical Girl, Token Certification Number: Chaoyan. Protection Mission Initiated!"

(End of Chapter)