On the other side, having retrieved the Cross Scythe from the secret room, Wen Yanquan silently returned to the house.
She lowered herself onto the sofa chair and pressed her fingers against the keyboard; the surveillance footage from the basement immediately appeared before her.
There was Lin Yu, holding the little black bean. The young girl had just entered the house and was quietly cradling the little black cat, lost in thought.
This underground safe house was Wen Yanquanโs masterpiece. Since she had decided that if anything happened beyond her control, she would blow up the entire street without hesitation, she naturally prepared a fallback plan for herself.
If it were just her, dying in the flames wouldnโt be a bad thing.
But she had familyโa husband and a daughterโso she couldnโt just seek death aimlessly.
The basement was stocked with food that could last three years, connected to a clean water system upstairs, an underground well, a fixed water reserve good for two years, batteries, and power generation equipment. To stave off mental exhaustion, there were also games and books.
If Lin Yu were to rummage around, she might even find many military-grade weapons that the law would never allow.
The safe house was earthquake-proof, explosion-proof, and flood-proof.
Even with all these features, Wen Yanquan still wasnโt entirely at ease.
She knew these dark enemies wielded all sorts of bizarre magic and powers; a purely physical safe house was far from absolute โsafetyโ against magic users.
But she had done the best she could within her means.
On another screen, a 3D map of the nearby buildings had finished loading. A straight arrow was marked on itโthat was the path of the Aggregate.
Others might not understand, but Wen Yanquan knew the enemyโs target was herself, or rather, the Cross Scythe in her hands.
โThe day has finally come.โ
Even while hiding in Mudong City, such a small town,
holding in her hands the magical weapon that had slain countless demon leaders and eradicated innumerable dark fairies, Wen Yanquan felt the warmth radiating from it.
That was the light magic contained within the Cross Scythe, sensed by Wen Yanquan.
The old masterโs assessment had been spot-on: โTalent, but not enough.โ That was Wen Yanquan in a nutshell.
This faint talent allowed her to glimpse another side of the world, to stand alongside those admirable peopleโbut not enough to truly become one of them.
Like a mortal who sees the gates of the immortal sect but can never enter.
Jiang Lingwei was right too; although Wen Yanquan seemed like a naive, not-so-bright standard magical girl, her perception was remarkably keen.
Wen Yanquan had conducted many experiments on this ใAnnihilationใ, which brought her closer to magic.
The old master had taught her theoretical knowledge without holding anything back, and over many years of experimentation, understanding, and study, Wen Yanquan had become one of the most knowledgeable humans about magic in the world.
But it still wasnโt enough.
Not enough!
A voice echoed deep within Wen Yanquanโs heart.
(Why do they get to have such powers?)
(Why not me? Why, why, whyโฆ)
โStop stalling.โ
Grabbing the soda from the table, she took a big gulp and laughed:
โIโve been waiting for you to show yourself. If you donโt come out now, Iโll have to worry about you sneaking up on me while Iโm working.โ
The voice was detected by Wen Yanquan, then vanished without a sound.
โThis demon realm is disgusting, trying to tempt my dark desires.โ
Wen Yanquan curled her lips in disdain and set the soda aside.
Such jealous thoughts had disappeared long ago when she watched everyone fight desperately against darkness. Do you think being a magical girl means playing with magic every day? Every time she was in the demon realm as an ordinary person, this kind of thing happened; she was well-practiced in dealing with it.
(What about my daughter? Sheโs too giftedโฆ)
โGet lost!!!โ
Furiously pounding on the table, making its HP -1, Wen Yanquan emptied her mind and started working on the computer.
โHow dare you! How dare you!โ
Anshuiguan transformed again from a black orb into a red orb.
It looked rather amusing, but Jiang Yao couldnโt really laugh right now.
โBang bang bang!โ
Surging with overflowing black energy, the Aggregateโs attacks formed a flurry like the Platinum Star. The light barrier had naturally been retracted, and Jiang Yao could imagine the dark fairy sitting inside Redwen now, what a sight it must be.
Everything sheโd done just now was only to confirm one thing.
That was: the dark fairy was really inside this enormous Aggregate, not just remotely controlling it.
Only then would her entire plan make sense.
โI do dare! Bite me if you can!โ
Charging into the Aggregateโs swinging fist, Jiang Yao shielded herself with light magic and stormed forward on a steel beam toward its head.
โBuzzโโ
The Aggregate responded quickly, swinging another arm. The friction between steel echoed with a deafening roar.
โDie!โ
The dark fairyโs rage intensified the dark aura further; Jiang Yaoโs mocking had truly enraged it.
โใSword of the Paladinใ, infuse with light energy!โ
Crystals covered the sword, forming sharper blades. With a steel beam beneath her feet, Jiang Yao kicked hard. The blade sliced through the steel reinforced by dark magic, shattering it into countless tiny fragments.
Facing the giant hand slamming down, Jiang Yao held the sword before her, meeting it head-on.
โOpen up!โ
โSsshh!โ
Sparks flew, dark energy roiled, yet the magical girl cut straight through the gap.
โClang!โ
The clash didnโt last long. Jiang Yaoโs palm created a large hole and she flew back into the sky.
โAlthough there are many parts, theyโre not tightly connected. Anshuiguan, if you canโt do better, just go do something else. Your quality control is trash.โ
โWhat did you say?!โ
Anshuiguan was furious. If this werenโt Earth, but its home realm, it would make this bright-side fool witness the power of a great mage.
But Earthโs environment was completely unsuitable for fairies to perform at full strength. For example, it itself could only command most of its power within the dark magic environment at the Aggregateโs core.
Moreover, much of its magic was used to maintain the magic realm isolating this area from the outside, plunging humans inside into terrible nightmares.
For both factions of fairies, this dimensional repulsion was equal. To fully manifest their power, they had to create an environment suited to themselves.
Otherwise, they wouldnโt need one side contracting magical girls and the other side corrupted demons and beasts to wage proxy wars.
โAnts! Trash! Small fry! Trash!โ
Redwen shrieked in anger atop the throne, extending two small claws:
โEven if you temporarily damaged it, itโs useless!โ
With its magic control, whether it was the fragments just knocked off or more iron objects, even street lamps and cars, everything was pulled over.
โFool.โ
Watching the magical girl busy rescuing unconscious humans trapped inside cars and unable to stop her, Anshuiguan sneered coldly:
โDie!โ
โBoom!โ
A thunderbolt streaked across the sky, illuminating the Aggregateโs even more terrifying form. Eight steel arms raised high, cutting through the rain with brutal speed, charging to kill Jiang Yao!
โUseless useless useless useless useless useless usโeless!!!โ