Chapter 86: The Crisis Concludes

When Cui Que arrived at the location last marked by the positioning spell with considerable anxiety, the personnel at the scene had already been evacuated.

Having lost their leader, the remaining black-robed figures were almost entirely no match for the few magical girls. Upon realizing the situation was lost, they scattered like birds and beasts; apart from a few hot-headed ones, no one chose to resist, either fleeing or surrendering.

Except for the leader they called "Soldier Touch Three"—that is, the man in the black robe—the remaining members among them were merely magic users. Everyone knew that magic users had no possibility of contending with magical girls.

Most of the elderly and children in the Fuli Academy were rescued, but a small number of caregivers and security personnel had sacrificed themselves during the resistance, and the atmosphere at the scene was quite somber.

Cui Que descended from the air to the entrance of the Fuli Academy, focused her attention on her magic perception, and quickly discovered the remnants of the previous battle.

It was indeed not hard to find; after all, the ground was covered in broken walls and ruins, the cracked road surface was almost unrecognizable in its original form, and the surroundings were full of traces left by magic bombardment.

Then, she saw the three magical girls gathered together.

To be precise, Xia Liang had deactivated her transformation and was lying on the ground, another green-haired magical girl whom she had never seen before was enveloping her in her own magic, while Lin Xiaolu sat slumped to the side, watching.

This scene caused her heart to skip a beat, and she quickly descended, running with small steps to the girls' side.

"I'm late, what happened?" She looked anxiously at Xia Liang lying on the ground, only to see Xia Liang enveloped in green magical light, her eyes closed tight, her face peaceful.

"Ah, Cui Que, you're here! Have you already defeated the enemy on your side?"

Seeing her arrive, Lin Xiaolu, who was slumped on the ground, first brightened, looking somewhat pleasantly surprised. But immediately after, she lowered her head in disappointment: "I'm sorry, because I made a mistake halfway through, Xia Liang protected me..."

She could not continue.

Because Xia Liang's injury was indeed caused by her own carelessness; if not for her later use of that white magic of unknown origin, the few magical girls present would likely have been wiped out due to that mistake.

Although she had prepared herself mentally, she still did not want to see a look of disappointment from Cui Que.

"How could this be..."

On the other side, upon hearing Lin Xiaolu's words, Cui Que widened her eyes in disbelief.

She had not expected that even though she had solved the enemy as quickly as possible after receiving the news and rushed to the scene with the utmost urgency, such an accident had still occurred.

Xia Liang had actually sacrificed herself just like that.

Not knowing what she should do, she could only kneel gently on the ground, sadly cupping Xia Liang's hand, looking down at Xia Liang's calm face, speechless for a moment.

She recalled the girl's usual smiles, remembered the life story she had shared with her, and remembered what she had once told her about her longing for love.

And now she had died here; everything she had once longed for had nothing to do with her anymore.

She had once accepted her as a magical girl because she valued her talent, and had been full of confidence that she could protect this gifted young seedling, but after just this one crisis, such an accident had occurred.

"I'm sorry, if I could have sensed something was wrong sooner, if I could have arrived earlier..." She closed her eyes, her voice pained.

—"Um... Little Senior? What are you talking about?"

However, before she had even finished her sentence, a familiar voice interrupted her, coming from the ground.

Cui Que opened her eyes in a daze, only to see Xia Liang looking at her with confusion, wearing an awkward smile: "Although I'm sorry to interrupt you, I have to clarify, I'm not dead yet, okay?"

And so, Cui Que froze.

She stared blankly at Xia Liang for a few seconds; then turned her face to look at Lin Xiaolu, who also wore an equally awkward expression; and finally looked at the newcomer, who had not yet understood what was going on due to the suddenness of the situation.

"...If I could have arrived earlier, there wouldn't have been so many innocent people sacrificed."

She recited this sentence like a rote memorization, emotionless and dry.

Having said that, she stiffened her face, intending to stand up: "I'm going to check the Fuli Academy area over there, tally the victims and the remaining injuries, and notify the Strategic Bureau."

"We already notified the Strategic Bureau."

Who would have known that even this path was blocked; Xia Liang said in the calmest and most flippant tone: "The battle here is already over, the first thing we did was notify the Strategic Bureau. Your phone, Little Senior, couldn't get through, and we were just about to go look for where you were."

"Or rather."

She narrowed her eyes teasingly, curling the corners of her mouth: "Little Senior, did you think I was dead just now? Were you very sad? Are you feeling sad for me?"

This sentence immediately caused an uproar at the scene.

"Eh? Cui Que, you thought Xia Liang was dead?"

Lin Xiaolu, who was to the side, finally understood what that inexplicable conversation had been about and exclaimed. Immediately after, she saw Cui Que staring at her expressionlessly, realized she had said the wrong thing again, and hurriedly waved her hands, explaining:

"No, I didn't say that! I just meant she was injured because she protected me, I've already been reflecting on it!"

She was completely unaware that her statement, which pushed the responsibility away so cleanly, had completely dismantled the last step beneath Cui Que's feet.

Bai Jingxuan, who was to the side, finally caught on after hearing her words. She looked at Cui Que, who had just arrived at the scene with slightly disheveled hair and looking travel-worn, and her expression became somewhat subtle.

She wanted to laugh, but the people in front of her were all her seniors, and she shouldn't be so rude.

It was just that in her eyes, this child, who seemed younger than herself, had mistaken the situation as soon as she arrived and had almost held a funeral on the spot for the teammate she was still treating, looked rather cute.

Even though she looked a bit cold on the outside and seemed difficult to get along with, she wasn't like that at all once she started talking.

She thought to herself.

"...It's good that you're okay."

On the other side, knowing that the joke she had made could no longer be washed away, Cui Que could only nod helplessly, responding dryly.

Then she couldn't help but glance at Lin Xiaolu.

"That's not what should be said here, is it?"

Xia Liang, lying on the ground, shook her head, looking at Cui Que with clear eyes: "Little Senior, didn't you notice? In this battle, Xiaolu was the great hero."

This sentence awakened Cui Que.

She only then realized that the battle had actually ended before she arrived.

Xia Liang was clearly incapacitated due to her severe injuries; the green-haired newcomer to the side also seemed to be in poor condition; only Lin Xiaolu, apart from looking a bit tired, was completely uninjured.

Without a doubt, what Xia Liang said was correct; in this battle, the three newcomers had defeated an enemy that Cui Que thought was impossible to overcome; and the one who played the key role in it was her own daughter.

Looking at the messy terrain all around, and guessing what kind of intense battle had taken place here, she turned her head to look at Lin Xiaolu again.

Lin Xiaolu, who was to the side, heard Xia Liang mention her name and saw Cui Que looking at her, only then realizing that she had actually forgotten to claim credit because she was afraid of being blamed.

She originally wanted to say something more, but after recalling what she had thought and felt during the battle, her earlobes suddenly felt a bit hot.

Finally, under Cui Que's gaze, she just nodded somewhat reservedly: "Yes, we won, against that enemy."

Upon hearing her daughter's confirmation, Cui Que's gaze became somewhat soft.

She had previously been over-protecting the few newcomers, so she truly hadn't expected that after leaving her, they could really defeat such an enemy.

Perhaps on this matter, her thinking was indeed too conservative. However, having her conservative thoughts refuted in this form, she only felt relieved.

The previous small embarrassment seemed to become less important; she remembered the severely wounded remnant beast she had solved on the way here, and looked at the three girls present, saying with some understanding in her heart:

"Very good, you all did a great job, I am proud of you!"

(End of chapter)