Chapter 84: Anger (5k)

Upon saying this, Wang Tengfei genuinely conjured up many possible scenarios.

Was the person named "Lin Yun" from the beginning a disguise of the magical girl Cornflower? Or was Lin Yun himself someone with extraordinary powers, who had commissioned Cornflower to impersonate him? Or perhaps

He knew that Lin Yun had lost his spouse two years ago; in fact, the most heated gossip in the company then had been whether the female subordinate in the after-sales department, who had long harbored feelings for Lin Yun, could seize the opportunity to rise in rank.

But in reality, until that female subordinate climbed onto another ladder and was transferred to headquarters, her relationship with Lin Yun had made not the slightest progress.

In past days, everyone had assumed this was because Lin Yun was consumed by grief and couldn't overcome the pain of losing his spouse; now, recalling this, Wang Tengfei sensed a different flavor to it.

Moreover, whenever the company held team-building events, Lin Yun always preferred to work quietly alone, and whenever faced with hospitality or social obligations, he consistently upheld his boundaries, never forming any entanglements with other women in service venues…

Combining all these years of working together, Wang Tengfei felt he had already pieced together the truth.

"You took on Lao Lin's appearance… is that also magic?" he asked thus.

His guess was that "Lin Yun" was merely a false identity Cornflower used in the material world's society.

Although this guess was extremely bizarre, numerous past clues seemed to point in this direction, and anything related to magic being bizarre was perfectly reasonable.

"Something like that."

Senior Cuique had no intention of elaborating further, leaving behind an ambiguous reply, then stepped back two paces and prepared to turn away.

She had already resigned from the company; she and Wang Tengfei were now merely acquaintances, with no need to say more to him. For her now, the most important thing was to rush to the last known location of Mo Ke and see whether her daughter's group had truly encountered danger.

As for the exposure of her identity, once she notified the Special Affairs Bureau, specialists would handle it. After undergoing the Special Affairs Bureau's psychological suggestion, Wang Tengfei would unconsciously treat today's experience as a bizarre dream, gradually forgetting it over time.

The intense headache had not yet eased, but Senior Cuique knew she had no time to waste; she retracted her final strands of magical threads, opened her palm, and the wand reappeared in her hand.

——"Cornflower!"

At that moment, Wang Tengfei's voice came again from behind her: "Did you resign and leave because another dangerous enemy has appeared in Fang Ting City?"

Senior Cuique did not turn around; instead, she stirred the magic around her body, preparing to levitate once more.

"You didn't have to resign! If you're short on time, I can give you a nominal position here!" Wang Tengfei hurriedly added.

To this, Senior Cuique still gave no response.

Watching the figure he had once gazed at from afar, now slipping away like this, Wang Tengfei suddenly found himself speechless, for he truly didn't know what else he could say.

He had succeeded, but this success remained confined within the realm of ordinary people.

He was wealthy, but money was utterly useless before the power of magic.

He felt every word he spoke was an insult to his former self—pure, fervent, and unyielding; each attempt to measure this once-beautiful memory with material gain echoed a voice inside him: Stop. Be quiet.

Perhaps he truly should be quiet; silence was the best choice.

When Lin Yun submitted his resignation, when Cornflower reappeared in this city, he should have understood that some things had already ended.

No matter why she had vanished before, or why she had spent so long as an ordinary person in this ordinary branch office, the moment she revealed her true identity before him, the past had already been closed.

Perhaps, watching her depart was the most rational choice.

But he still longed to speak—not for the present, but for his former self. If that were so, how should he express it now?

Gazing at the figure slowly rising ahead, he suddenly felt as if he understood.

He suddenly knew what he should say.

"Cornflower! Do your best!"

He suddenly shouted aloud, his hoarse voice now loud as a boy's: "The people who once supported you still live in this city! Though none of us deliberately mention it, we all still remember you!"

"I don't know why you disappeared, or why you've emerged again to fight—surely against enemies we cannot comprehend!"

"But if you need any help, we will all step forward for you, because you were once our hero!"

"So, uh, cough, so…"

Watching the figure grow ever more distant, he screamed at the top of his lungs: "Don't vanish suddenly again!"

After shouting these words, he felt a sharp pain in his throat, followed by a bout of coughing. His body, weakened by smoke and alcohol, and grown frail with age, could no longer shout easily.

Yet even though shouting hurt so much, he felt his former self—the boy who had loved the magical girl—rising from the depths of memory, his blurred figure becoming clear once more.

He hadn't reclaimed the impulsiveness of his youth, but he seemed to have reclaimed himself.

Then he saw the figure, now level with the sun, waving a gesture toward him from afar.

She was waving.

As if promising "it's fine," the girl waved her wrist, lingering briefly in the air before unleashing magic again and soaring toward the far horizon.

All that remained was Wang Tengfei staring at the shrinking silhouette; though somewhat forlorn, he unexpectedly broke into a relieved smile.

"Let's leave early this afternoon."

High in the azure sky, a trail of blue magic stretched across the heavens. Though no longer accompanied by three other colors as before, that solitary blue was straight, clear, upright, and resolute.

It was the blue remembered by many.

It was the blue belonging to Fang Ting City.

…

…

"—Roarrrrrrrrrrr!"

A massive beast claw slammed down from midair, shattering the concrete pavement and sending up a cloud of dust and debris.

In Lixing District, Fuli Academy, the battle continued.

After retreating from the remnant beast's attack position, Lin Xiaolu gripped her wand tightly, spun around, and fired several more beams of magic at the remnant beast's head—but the pale blue beams struck the beast and left only shallow wounds.

"Aow!"

Attacks that failed to seriously injure the remnant beast only enraged it further; the beast, shaped like a tiger or leopard, reared its massive, muscular body, covered the distance to Lin Xiaolu in two strides, and slammed down again.

"Damn it!"

Swinging her wand and redirecting her magic, Lin Xiaolu cried out in frustration: "Why is this thing so tough?!"

"Xiaolu, don't be reckless—conserve your magic!"

Xia Liang warned seriously; beside her, the Yinli Mirror flickered and split into several duplicates, dissolving the black magic bullets the remnant beast occasionally spat into nothingness: "Its skin defense is abnormal—much harder than a normal Huo!"

The mangled beast before him—or rather, the black-robed man before this—if he still possessed full sanity and could speak, would surely be opening his mouth to mock them now.

Because among the three magicians present, setting aside Bai Jingxuan, who was a complete newcomer, the other two had also been unable to break through its defenses.

Close-range attacks could only leave slight dents, while long-range magic shots could only graze the surface flesh; even if it completely avoided the two people's attacks, it had not suffered any substantial damage.

The form he had transformed into, if graded according to the mangled beast's evolution characteristics, would roughly fall into the Caterpillar class.

Compared to the Egg class, it possessed stronger magic power, and its special organs had further mutated, covering most of its body. Judging from its extremely disproportionate claws, the mangled beast the man had transformed into should be classified as a Corroding Claw type evolution state.

Xia Liang and Lin Xiaolu had not been unfamiliar with Caterpillar-class mangled beasts; although previously Cuique had always required them to stay away from battles above the Caterpillar class, they still knew roughly what their power level was.

At the very least, a solid Bud-class magician like Xia Liang should not be completely helpless against it.

Even if her magic armor could not effectively strengthen her attack capabilities, and even if she had only obtained it a few days ago and had not fully developed it, she should not be in a situation where she could only inflict superficial damage on the man transformed into a mangled beast.

And even if they could not actually injure the man, the battle had to continue, because behind them lay the Fuli Academy, where countless innocent elderly and young children resided; if they lost here, the consequences would be unthinkable.

Light blue and magenta magic power swirled around the giant beast, constantly maneuvering and dodging, repeatedly striking and shooting.

On the other side, Bai Jingxuan helped Tian Sheng sit aside, and under his instruction, step by step, began to dismantle the magic barrier enveloping the Fuli Academy.

"Hurry up, Xiaoxuan!"

While observing the battle situation in the distance, Mo Ke urged with some worry: "I feel the situation over there is becoming increasingly deadlocked!"

Since arriving to reinforce and starting the fight with the man, the momentum of Lin Xiaolu and the others had been growing weaker and weaker.

Initially, they could still rely on a surge of momentum to suppress the attack frequency, but as the mangled beast discovered their attacks were not very effective, this momentum declined endlessly as the battle rhythm prolonged.

By now, it was almost impossible to see any possibility of turning the tables.

Therefore, Mo Ke and the others could only hope that they would hold off the mangled beast, allowing their side to quickly dismantle the barrier, and thus summon Cuique for reinforcements.

Time passed second by second like this, the progress of dismantling the barrier continued to advance, until at a certain moment, the barrier that had remained hidden began to flicker with unstable ripples.

"There's hope! Cough... cough..."

Tian Sheng, sitting by the roadside, shouted excitedly, then immediately sat back down quite weakly as the movement aggravated his injuries: "Only a few structural points remain!"

Bai Jingxuan said nothing, obediently nodded, and continued the work of dismantling the barrier.

However, unlike the steady progress on this end, the battle on Lin Xiaolu's side finally began to encounter problems after continuing for a long time.

First, Lin Xiaolu herself made a mistake. When dodging the mangled beast's close-range attack, she failed to choose the right position, so while in mid-air, she landed directly in the trajectory of a magic bullet.

The purple-black spheres, each the size of a basketball, spat from the enemy's mouth, rushed straight toward Lin Xiaolu in the air, and it looked as though they were about to hit.

Just at this moment, a mirror suddenly appeared horizontally in front of her, blocking those magic bullets.

That was Xia Liang's magic armor, capable of deflecting the enemy's magic attacks. But in this situation, regarding the enemy's attacks, she could only manage to deflect and weaken them, not even having time to set up another mirror for teleportation.

Her desperate response also led to greater risk, because the mangled beast reacted faster. Almost at the same moment she chose to use her magic armor to protect Lin Xiaolu, it lunged forward and struck Xia Liang with a claw.

As a Bud-class magician, Xia Liang had not mastered any spells, so naturally she could not deploy a barrier when attacked at close range, and instead took that attack solidly.

"Xia Liang!"

Lin Xiaolu shouted in shock and anger.

Her shout was of no use whatsoever, nor could it stop the mangled beast's advance. She could only watch as the struck Xia Liang flew out like a thrown sandbag, crashing heavily against the nearby wall.

The mangled beast looked at Lin Xiaolu.

Having eliminated the greatest threat between the two, even though its intelligence was barely anything compared to its human state, it knew it was time to end the battle.

The green tubes wrapped around its body suddenly began to pulse, streams of purple-black magic power pumped out from its heart and transported to various parts of its body, causing its already exaggerated form to bulge with rows of hideous veins.

Then, facing the last remaining magician here, it pushed off with its legs.

Lin Xiaolu, far away, suddenly felt her vision stutter; before her eyes blurred, the enemy had already vanished from where she was looking.

A strong sense of déjà vu made her subconsciously hold her breath.

It's happening again.

She couldn't help but think.

Just like that night in the Wetland Park, she had fallen into a trap prepared in advance, encountering the mangled beast's hunt within the barrier.

At that time, she had no power to resist; within just a few moves, she was defeated by that Caterpillar, and her head was almost severed. If Cuique had not suddenly appeared and blocked that attack for her, she would be dead now.

Presumably, it was from that very moment that she developed a deep admiration and reverence for Cuique.

But this time, even Cuique herself had been attacked by the enemy; she could no longer expect to be saved by others.

Will I die here? Just like Mom, sacrificing herself in battle?

She suddenly remembered the question she had asked Cuique a few days ago.

At that time, Cuique told her that if she couldn't figure it out, she shouldn't overthink it; she was still just a child, and Cuique would protect her, giving her ample time to make a decision.

The feeling of being protected by someone was truly good, very reassuring, very warm, and very happy. She even wished she could remain a child forever, hiding within that gentle harbor.

But things were different now.

Although she was in danger, she now felt absolutely no emotion of retreating. What did she feel? Was it fear? Regret? Or unwillingness?

Perhaps she felt all of those, but more importantly, she felt anger.

Anger at the enemy before her.

Not only did they attack a place like the Fuli Academy, not only did they almost kill the new magician of Fang Ting City, and not only did he just severely injure her friend.

It was also because that man's words insulted and trampled upon the very term "magician."

Claiming to be noble, claiming to be righteous, yet actually setting ambushes to slaughter ignorant girls. Their existence was an insult to the dream of being a magician.

From the magicians she saw in TV cartoons when she was young, to now, her friends, her seniors, and perhaps soon another junior, the faces of all these magicians floated in her mind.

Magicians ought to be brilliant and beautiful; she still believed this to this day.

Therefore, regarding the man's words about "hunting" and "surrounding and killing" magicians, she felt intense anger.

The beautiful image she cherished and admired most was easily trampled by the man before her; she could not even imagine the despair and helplessness in the hearts of those girls who had just become magicians, with pure minds and full of hope for the future, only to be killed.

And the more she could not imagine it, the more intense and fierce this rage became, until it threatened to burst through her chest.

At the same time, this rage also turned inward, pointing at herself, at that deep sense of powerlessness.

Because, even in such anger, she could do nothing.

Merely a Seed-class Magical Girl, she could not even injure the enemy; she was being toyed with, and might even die here next.

Truly shameful.

She sneered in her heart.

She thought more than anyone, yet at the critical moment was more useless than anyone. Senior Cuique was fighting the enemy; Xia Liang was protecting herself; even the newcomer was striving to release the hostages by dispelling the barrier; only she, though present on the battlefield, was like an onlooker.

With her eyes closed, she could almost see Senior Cuique looking at her with a disappointed gaze.

Indeed, she thought. If someone like her really died here, it would only make Senior Cuique feel even more disappointed, wouldn't it?

But for some reason, she could not help but recall that night a few days ago.

She recalled the words Senior Cuique had spoken to her by the river that day; she recalled Senior Cuique holding her hand; she recalled Senior Cuique saying to her, "I am here."

In a daze, she felt as though her hand was indeed being held by someone, as if Senior Cuique were truly here again, wrapping her hands around hers once more, a sensation that was cool yet reassuring.

"Believe in your possibilities."

Then, Senior Cuique's voice sounded in her ear.

These words made Lin Xiaolu suddenly open her eyes.

She began to feel something change: the sensation on her hand gradually became real, became intense, became something she could no longer ignore.

Shifting her gaze to her own hand, she saw only a sheet of silver-white.

It was magic power, but not the familiar pale blue; it was silver-white magic power.

She saw in her hand that white magic power burning fiercely like flames, flickering, and immediately following came strength filling her entire body.

And in the Remnant Beast's sight, the Magical Girl who had just been dazed, as if waiting passively for death, suddenly erupted with incomparably powerful magic power.

Spreading outward like a tide, the white magic power illuminated everything on the girl: her eyes, the Heart Gem at her chest, her hair; even the nails between her fingers all began to flash with intense white light.

The scorching white light, like a dazzling sun, made the Remnant Beast in the shadows feel its own magic power retreating into its body, as if it were about to be dispelled, losing its proper strength.

Raising her head from the burning white magic power, the girl widened her eyes, now blazing white, and like a hawk or falcon, instantly locked onto the Remnant Beast moving at high speed.

A beam of magic power resembling flames was unleashed from the tip of her wand, striking directly at the Remnant Beast's landing point; the dangerous aura within forced it to stop its steps and evade the attack.

It was precisely this pause that once again exposed its form within Lin Xiaolu's field of vision.

"It is truly disgusting; it is about time to stop."

Gazing at the revealed Remnant Beast, Lin Xiaolu frowned, raised her chin high, and opened her mouth. Along with this, the magic power surrounding her surged violently:

"The me of now is truly... beyond enraged!"