Chapter 215: Deciphering the Rules

"As expected."

In the silent, deserted mountain forest, Mimosa put down the tambourine in her hand, opened her eyes from her meditative state, looked around, and wore a thoughtful expression: "With my eyes closed, I can hear the sounds of battle, but when I open them, all the sounds vanish."

She had discovered this rule accidentally just now.

Because when using the perception ability of her Magic Gear, she would habitually close her eyes and focus her attention on her hearing, which is how she discovered this.

Although she was not clear on the principle behind it, after repeated attempts, she could now confirm the authenticity of this rule: if she closed her eyes, she could perceive the movements of her companions, but if she opened them, she could not.

So, why exactly was that?

After a moment of thought, she couldn't help but raise her head and look up at the blue moon in the sky.

This moon, which did not originally exist in tonight's night sky, was now embedded in the pitch-black curtain of night without any sense of incongruity, as if it had always belonged there.

But Mimosa knew it was not a real moon, and the predicament her group was currently in had begun alongside the appearance of this blue moon.

Thus, the one with the greatest suspicion was naturally it.

Was there something strange about the moonlight? Or would staring directly at the moon itself cause some kind of cognitive interference? Or perhaps some other form?

Thinking thus, Mimosa chose to close her eyes once more.

This was the method most likely to help her find the truth; she had no other choice.

And this time, when she closed her eyes, what she heard was the sound of breathing right in front of her, or even within arm's reach.

Then came a voice from the owner of that aura, carrying a hint of confusion:

"Who goes there! No, wait, you are... Mimosa?"

This voice was not particularly familiar to Mimosa, but she could still identify the speaker's identity; if her memory served her correctly, this should belong to the magical girl named "Bai Mei" from Fang Ting City.

In other words, at the very moment she closed her eyes this time, she heard the other person speaking.

But this still was not the key point; the other person's words contained a more important piece of information:

"You can see me?"

She did not rush to open her eyes to confirm the other's identity, but chose to maintain the status quo, because the many known signs currently told her: if she opened her eyes now, she might still see nothing.

"I can indeed see you, that's right..."

The voice from "Bai Mei" carried some uncertainty: "So what exactly is the situation? What did that Remnant Beast do, and where did you all go before?"

"There is no 'you all'."

Mimosa took a deep breath to keep herself thinking: "I am alone as well; I do not know where the others are."

"... As expected."

Bai Mei's voice paused for a moment, then after a while responded with some realization: "Just now, while I was fighting that Remnant Beast, I was thinking that perhaps I was not the only one separated alone."

"Fighting?" Mimosa was slightly stunned.

She remembered very clearly that the magical girl junior standing before her seemed to be only at the Sprout Rank, while the enemy named Semi had undoubtedly reached the level above Half-Evolution; if a battle occurred between these two, there was no way this junior named Bai Mei should have survived.

But if the other party was already dead, then who was the one before her? Was it a person or a ghost?

"Don't make such a terrified expression, okay? I am not a ghost; I am not dead."

Probably because the expression she made was too obvious, so that Bai Mei could see right through what Mimosa was thinking, she explained with a hint of helplessness: "Um... although saying this might be a bit strange, when I fought that guy, I suddenly awakened my Magic Gear, and then I drove him away."

Mimosa mustered all her willpower to prevent herself from opening her eyes after hearing this sentence.

"Awakened your Magic Gear?" But she couldn't help but ask.

"Mm." Bai Mei responded with considerable certainty.

"Drove him away?"

"Mm."

After receiving these two affirmative answers, Mimosa turned and ran without a second word.

As a magical girl with over a year of combat experience, Mimosa had seen too many Remnant Beasts with bizarre abilities in past battles.

Once a nest was established, a Remnant Beast could use those strange abilities within it, and among them, there were not a few capable of creating illusions or performing disguises.

After encountering such Remnant Beasts, every time Mimosa entered a Remnant Beast's nest, she would remain on guard, constantly observing the surrounding environment, verifying the words and actions of companions, to prevent being deceived and thus falling into danger.

At present, the person behind this voice seemed to be "Bai Mei," yet her statements were completely illogical, riddled with holes; such a clumsy lie could not possibly come from the real person, but was very likely an illusion or disguise created by a Remnant Beast in the nest.

In other words, she had walked straight into a trap.

Mimosa made this judgment with great certainty.

So she turned and fled without hesitation, trying to get as far away from the attack range as possible before the other party reacted.

However, before she could run even a few steps, she felt her body seem to be pulled by something, and then the back collar of her clothes was grabbed by something.

"Wait a minute, you guy, why did you suddenly run?"

Immediately following was Bai Mei's slightly confused inquiry.

"Don't try to trick me, Remnant Beast!"

Mimosa shouted as if facing death, then took the tambourine in her hand and slammed it hard against her back.

Bang!

The suddenly bursting sound waves knocked the two people apart in different directions; afterwards, Mimosa made no attempt to confirm the effect of her attack, but instead took off running once more.

"Hey, I said wait, what kind of madness is this!"

The knocked-away Bai Mei immediately leaped into pursuit, shouting behind her: "What Remnant Beast are you talking about? I am Bai Mei from Fang Ting City!"

"You are not!" Mimosa continued to run.

"How am I not!" Bai Mei was baffled: "At least give me a reason!"

"A Sprout Rank magical girl cannot possibly defeat a Half-Evolution alone!" Mimosa shouted while running.

"Just because of that?" Bai Mei was incredulous: "I was clearly telling the truth!"

"Don't try to trick me!"

"Why would I lie about something like this... Oh right, Mana! Sense my Mana! Mana does not lie!"

Bai Mei, thinking quickly, said, "A Remnant Beast couldn't possibly fake the magic power of a Magical Girl, could it? Besides, if I were a Remnant Beast, why would I be speaking to you so reasonably?"

"There's no need for perception at all. If I focus my spirit slightly, I can sense the Remnant Beast's magic power..."

Mimosa instinctively wanted to refute, but as she diverted part of her attention to sense the other's magic power, the rest of her sentence got stuck in her throat.

Because what she sensed was indeed the magic power of a Magical Girl, and the fluctuations of that power were somewhat familiar, seeming to belong to the Bai Mei she knew.

"You really are Bai..." So she suddenly stopped, instinctively turning her head to confirm with the other person again, but what followed immediately was a huge impact and intense pain from her forehead.

Bang!

Another dull thud followed; this time, it was because Bai Mei's head had collided with Mimosa's.

Bai Mei, who had been chasing from behind, never expected that mere seconds after her shout, the other person would suddenly change expression, brake abruptly in mid-air, and even have time to turn her head, leaving her with no immediate reaction.

It was precisely this delayed reaction that ultimately led to this result.

Whether Mimosa or Bai Mei, both fell to the ground from this unexpected collision; one clutched her head, kneeling on the ground; the other covered her forehead, curling her body; both wore expressions of grimacing pain, unable to speak a word for a long time.

After a while, Mimosa, feeling the pain slightly ease, slowly raised her head and continued her unfinished question in a somewhat hoarse voice: "... Are you really Bai Mei?"

"I already said, I really am."

Bai Mei, or rather Lin Xiaolu, who also felt unbearable pain, instinctively wiped the corner of her eye, feeling stars dance before her eyes and everything appear blurred: "How many times do I have to say it?"

"You really survived from that Remnant Beast?"

"Of course it's true; it's just that my Magical Armor and magic power situation is somewhat special."

"And you drove it away?"

"Yes."

Lin Xiaolu nodded: "It's just that the way that guy ran was strange; it was like it suddenly disappeared, vanishing completely."

Mimosa said nothing.

Having calmed down slightly, she fell into deep thought once more.

Setting aside doubts about combat power, since the "Bai Mei" opposite her was not a fake but the real one, this actually provided a massive amount of clues for Mimosa's previous reasoning.

First, the phenomenon where everyone on our side was separated was likely related to the Blue Moon in the sky.

Second, when I close my eyes, I seem to be able to communicate with my companions, but once I open them, I lose perception of each other.

Furthermore, as the nest's master, Sami indeed intended to defeat them one by one; it could freely fight any Magical Girl within the nest and could disappear at any time.

Finally, there is...

Thinking of this, Mimosa finally spoke again: "Bai Mei, help me conduct an experiment."

"Ah? Oh."

Hearing this, Lin Xiaolu blinked: "How do we do it?"

"Don't move first, look at me, and don't blink."

Mimosa gave these instructions, then tilted her head back and opened her eyes.

Before her was nothing but the silent forest in the night. There was no Bai Mei, no Remnant Beast, nothing at all, as if everything heard while her eyes were closed earlier had been an illusion.

But this actually did not surprise her.

Mimosa's expression remained unchanged; after glancing around slightly, she nodded again and closed her eyes once more.

— "Eh? Why have you come back?"

Then, she heard Bai Mei's exclamation.

"What did you see?" Without further greetings, Mimosa asked.

"I saw... you suddenly disappeared just now, and then reappeared after a while?"

Lin Xiaolu chose her words carefully: "And just like that Remnant Beast, you suddenly vanished."

As expected.

Mimosa thought silently in her heart.

At this point, she believed she was extremely close to the answer, because all of this was within her speculation. Undoubtedly, she was about to guess the rules of this nest.

And at this point, there was only one thing left for her to confirm.

"I understand; there is one more step."

So she spoke, instructing Lin Xiaolu once again: "Close your eyes; if you hear me speaking to you, respond to me."

"Just that?" Lin Xiaolu looked slightly puzzled.

"Just that." Mimosa was quite confident: "I will count to three, and then you can close your eyes."

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

After counting to three like this, as the words fell, Mimosa paused for a moment but did not immediately open her eyes.

She simply kept her eyes closed and asked again: "Bai Mei, can you hear me?"

No one responded.

"I am Mimosa, can you hear me?" Just in case, she asked again.

Still no sound.

By now, having the answer completely in her heart, Mimosa wasted no time and opened her eyes once more.

And this time, when she opened her eyes, she saw that Magical Girl dressed in a light blue dress, who was currently closing her eyes and kneeling before her.

Undoubtedly, this was the Bai Mei she knew.

What her eyes saw, what her ears heard, what her true senses felt; all signs told her that the one before her was indeed that colleague and junior from the Fang Ting City team.

"Bai Mei." So she called out softly once more.

"Hmm?" Lin Xiaolu responded with a questioning tone.

"I understand the rules here. I have a method that can help you quickly locate the others and the position of that Remnant Beast."

Mimosa looked at her: "But, I might not be able to participate in the fight from now on, so I hope you can remember a few key points."

"Oh, uh... ah?"

Having heard Mimosa's words in a daze, Lin Xiaolu took a long time to extract the most important information: "You already know the rules?"

"Don't open your eyes yet; it's almost certainly true."

Mimosa stated with certainty: "So we must hurry; we have already been delayed due to misunderstandings."

"That wasn't my fault, though..."

Lin Xiaolu muttered softly: "Anyway, just say it."

"In this nest, we can assume there are two states: one is 'eyes open', and one is 'eyes closed'."

Mimosa continued without wasting a word: "Right now, our situation is: those with eyes open cannot see those with eyes open, but those with eyes open can see those with eyes closed; those with eyes closed cannot hear those with eyes closed, but those with eyes closed can hear those with eyes open."

"... A tongue twister?" Lin Xiaolu stammered.

"It doesn't matter if you can't remember; anyway, you must keep your eyes open from now on and absolutely do not close them."

Mimosa said solemnly: "Then, I will make Mu Baihe and the others close their eyes; in that case, you will be able to see everyone."

"Uh, them?"

Lin Xiaolu felt she was getting more and more confused: "But the other two aren't here right now, are they?"

"It doesn't matter; you don't need to worry about that."

Mimosa said calmly: "But you must promise me that what you said earlier, that you can repel that Remnant Beast, is true."

"That is definitely true." Lin Xiaolu said seriously.

"... Good, then, you may open your eyes."

Without suspecting anything, Mimosa, saying this, took out her Magic Gear once again.

Its Magic Gear is named 'Clap Eye', possessing the ability to utilize and control sound waves.

She can perceive the propagation of sound waves, thereby sensing the surrounding environment; she can strengthen or weaken the intensity of sound waves, making them her weapon and armor; she can even combine magic power with sound waves to achieve things physically impossible.

Such as what she is about to do.

Gently tapping the tambourine in her hand, her magic power slowly seeped into the surrounding environment through the Magic Gear. Invisible sound waves spread out and bounced back, sensing the surroundings like radar.

In her perception, her magic power spread along with the sound waves, spreading and spreading, until her magic power was almost exhausted, before finally touching upon some insurmountable barrier.

She then knew she had reached the edge of the nest.

The Remnant Beast's nest will mutate the space; the size of the space inside the nest often differs from the area originally occupied. In her perception, the area of this nest absolutely far exceeds the original size of Yinping Mountain.

"A bit of a stretch... but not impossible."

Muttering to herself like this, she tapped the tambourine again. Then, closing her eyes, she wrapped her voice with magic power and let it propagate along the sound waves.

— "Mu Baihe, Boxue, if you can hear my voice, do exactly as I say immediately."

"If you are currently in combat, please try to hold on first, while simultaneously firing several magic bullets into the sky, then close your eyes and wait for a few seconds."

"Afterwards, repeat this process until you hear Bai Mei's voice. After hearing Bai Mei's voice, do not open your eyes again; maintain the state of closed eyes and communicate with her."

"If you are not currently in combat, please fly into the air, search for the trail of another companion's magic bullets, and move towards that direction."

"When you arrive, please also close your eyes immediately, wait for Bai Mei in the state of closed eyes, and communicate with her."

"Repeat: if you are currently in combat..."

Her voice, following the rhythm of the Magic Gear, spread throughout the entire nest.

Just like that, Mimosa repeated the above content a full three times, ensuring that even Mu Baihe would definitely understand, before finally stopping her speech and slowly lowering the tambourine in her hand.

And then, only a few seconds later, Lin Xiaolu watched helplessly as several magic bullets rose from the nearby forest, exploding in the sky like fireworks.

Accompanying them was also the mixed black magic power, seemingly attempting to block, which undoubtedly came from Semi.

And at this moment, engaging in a struggle with it was Bai Jingxuan, who had already released the Remnant Beast's magic power.

This battle, Semi fought with great bitterness.

It had specifically sought out Bai Jingxuan because the leader had mentioned her by name before, hoping to catch this little one first and complete part of the mission early.

Originally, before truly finding the opponent, it had been thinking about how to take this little one and continue fighting after capturing her, but once the battle started, it realized it had considered things too early.

Because the opponent was truly difficult to deal with.

Although it had an advantage in ability class, and the advantage of mastering the rules allowed it to quickly evade many attacks unfavorable to it, remaining completely unharmed for the time being. But in reality, it had almost found no window to counterattack.

The opponent also used the Remnant Beast's magic power, meaning its own magic power had no suppressing effect; the opponent could also use some basic spells, meaning it held no advantage in attack methods; the opponent's magic power quantity, for some reason, was not inferior to its own, meaning a war of attrition was not viable.

More importantly, the opponent's fighting style was even more reckless than its own.

Although Magical Girls indeed do not suffer fatal wounds before their true forms are damaged, allowing one's own claws to pierce through the abdomen just to gouge out the opponent's eyes—is this really the fighting style a Magical Girl should have?

More importantly, the opponent's Magic Gear seemed to have some auxiliary effect; from the moment it approached the opponent, Semi could feel her condition getting better and better the more she fought, her magic power hardly decreasing, her injuries recovering in an instant, and even her attacks becoming heavier and heavier, to the point that even it, being at the Semi-Transcendent level, felt somewhat unable to cope.

To be honest, fighting until now, it already wanted to run away again.

In fact, it knew that even if it solved these little girls here, the Shi Ta, serving as the ritual device, was already in grave danger.

But it could not turn back; after all, the issue was no longer how quickly it could end the battle, but whether it could still win.

And the change in the battle situation once again stemmed from Bai Jingxuan suddenly throwing a few magic bullets into the air.

Although it did not know what significance this behavior had, Semi, out of caution, also released magic power, wanting to block it.

The block was not entirely successful, but in reality, after these magic bullets were fired high into the sky, nothing further happened. So very quickly, Semi forgot about this matter as the battle situation evolved.

It never thought its rules would be broken under such circumstances.

So, a few minutes later, when it saw that light blue magic trajectory descend from the sky, and the Magical Girl holding a long spear land on the battlefield, blocking its path, it finally understood how huge a mistake it had made.

— "Are you okay? Boxue, with your appearance, those claw marks..."

"It's fine, Xiao... uh, Sister Bai Mei, I am in very good condition right now."

"That guy didn't do anything to you, did he?"

"Ah, this wasn't done by them; it has nothing to do with the current situation."

"... Is that so? Then I'll ask you again when we return."

The two magical girls stood side by side; one with her eyes open, the other having closed hers at some unknown moment.

Pale blue and dark green magic surged wildly, momentarily overpowering the magic on Semi's body.

Glancing at the two who were rubbing their hands in anticipation, feeling how much of her own magic she had already expended, Semi raised her head again and looked toward the pale yellow magic trail approaching from not far away.

Never mind, let it be.

Thinking thus in her heart, Semi gave up on thinking.