Chapter 626: Swallowed

Ruby's voice became more stammered, but that stubbornness didn't lessen at all: "Scary again… mouthy again… still bullying… kids…"

The flame remained silent for a moment, and the expression on that face turned dangerous.

"You, a stuttering broken stick, still dare to lecture me?"

"I'm not… a broken stick…"

Ruby's voice grew slower, each word squeezing out of her teeth, "I am… Magical Girl… 's…"

"Of what?"

The flame moved closer, its fiery eyes fixed on Ruby, its mouth widened again, revealing a deeper, brighter Lapis Flame inside, "Can't even speak smoothly, and you call yourself a Magical Girl? I'm dying of laughter!"

Ruby's staff shaft flashed sharply, the faint light becoming blinding for an instant, then dimming, as if all its energy had been spent.

Its voice grew weaker, yet it still chattered out word by word, "You… bully too much…"

The flame, seeing its demeanor, suddenly opened its mouth; the fiery mouth expanded to larger than its whole body, Lapis Flame spewed out like a burning waterfall.

Ilya hadn't reacted when the waterfall wrapped around the Ruby in her palm, pushing her back two steps.

Ruby vanished.

Ilya stared blankly in place, looking at her empty palm.

The noodle‑shaped magical staff disappeared, the dim glow vanished, and the stammering voice was gone as well.

She lifted her head, gazing at the Lapis Flame before her, at its still‑chewing mouth, at the glimmers spilling from its corners.

The flame chewed twice, swallowed, its facial expression shifting from smug to satisfied, then to a swagger that said, "Now see if you still dare."

Ilya was stunned.

She watched the fox‑like flame close its mouth, saw the last glimmer of Ruby flash inside the flame, then vanish completely.

Her mouth opened, but she couldn't cry out; tears swirled in her sockets, then fell like beads whose strings had snapped.

"Ruby—!!!"

Weiba Daye floated above her head, the Lapis Flame flickering, its fiery face crumpled, expression twisted as if it had just swallowed a live fly.

It's most afraid of this—fear of crying, fear of a ruckus.

Huo Huo is just like that, bullied by other Judges, too scared to speak, curling up alone in a corner and crying, crying just like the purple‑haired girl before her.

"Stop crying!"

Its voice rose another pitch, the flame leapt half a foot higher, its face swelled, features cramped together, fierce, yet beneath the ferocity lay obvious insecurity, "I said! I didn't eat it! I just—just put it away!"

Ilya didn't listen.

She cried even harder, tears smearing her face, nose tip reddened, eye sockets red, even the tips of her ears turned red.

She buried her face deeper, her voice squeezed out from the crevice of her knees, like a string pulled to its limit, ready to snap.

"You liar—! You ate it—! You ate the Ruby—! Give it back to me—!"

"I didn't eat it!"

"You ate it! I saw you eat it! You opened your mouth and swallowed it! You even chewed twice!"

Ilya jerked her head up, her tear‑filled eyes glaring at Weiba Daye, tears still streaming, but that stubbornness now outweighed her fear, "Give it back to me!"

Weiba Daye was stunned by her stare.

The fiery eyes blinked twice, the mouth opened then closed, closed then opened; the face shifted from fierce to insecure, from insecure to impatient, then to an indescribable awkwardness.

"I said I didn't eat it, so I didn't!"

It floated before Ilya, its face close, the flame scorching Ilya's cheek, "Cry again! Cry again and I'll swallow you too!"

Ilya's sobbing abruptly stopped.

She held it in.

Tears still swirled in her sockets, nostrils flared, lips trembled, but she forced that sound back down, a faint gurgle echoing in her throat.

She squatted there, head tilted back, staring at the Lapis Flame, tears pooled ready to spill, yet she bit her lip, not uttering a sound.

Weiba Daye watched her, the flame flickered again.

It had intended to snap a few more harsh words to shut the little girl up, but its face was so close it could see how deep her teeth sank into her flesh when she bit her lip.

It suddenly recalled Huo Huo.

The little sobber was the same; when it was scared into silence, it bit its lip, tears swirling in its sockets, then spilling drop by drop, unstoppable.

Weiba Daye turned its face away, the flame retreating half a foot.

"Fine, I'll give it back to you."

Its voice suddenly lowered, the swagger leaking out like a punctured hole, "What a hassle, crying like Huo Huo."

It opened its mouth, the fiery mouth slowly cracking a slit.

Lapis Flame surged from the crack, churning deep in the flame's throat, then—a pink lump was squeezed out, bounced in the air, landed with a crisp sound.

Ruby rolled twice on the ground, the staff's faint light flickered erratically, like someone who had just choked on something and was gulping for air.

The shaft bent several times, straightened, bent again, repeatedly, as if confirming it was still a single piece.

"I..."

Ruby's voice rose from the ground, even more stammered than before, each syllable scraped out of a throat, "What's happening... swallowed again...?"

Ilya lunged, scooped Ruby from the ground, clutching it tightly in her palm.

The magical staff's shaft still bore a thin layer of Lapis Flame, which burned briefly then extinguished, leaving tiny markings.

Ilya wiped with her sleeve repeatedly until the markings blurred, then stopped, pressing Ruby against her cheek.

"Ruby... Ruby, are you okay..."

"I'm fine..."

Ruby's voice was halting, with a dizzy feeling like being pulled from a washing drum, "Just... a bit dizzy... just now... seemed something... squeezed me..."

Weiba Daye floated nearby, watching this man‑and‑staff scene of life‑and‑death, the flame flickered again, its face crumpled.

"Is that so! I just swallowed it! And I didn't even chew it for you! Is it worth crying like that!"

Ilya held the ruby, stepped back two paces, and put distance between herself and the Flame.

Her eye sockets were still red, tears that hadn't been wiped away still clung to her face, but she no longer cried; she merely watched the azure Flame warily, her fingers gripping the ruby, the knuckles still white.

Weiba Daye looked at her wary demeanor and suddenly found it a bit dull.

It drifted to the other side of the room; the Flame circled once beneath the ceiling, then floated back, stopping a short distance in front of Ilya.

"Fine, I won't scare you any more. I ask you, who exactly are you? Wearing that outfit—"

It gave Ilya a quick once‑over, its expression turning subtle, and said, "You don't look like you're from Xianzhou. No one in Xianzhou wears such flashy skirts."