It was a rhythm that seemed capable of piercing the soul.
Farushir’s eyes snapped open, a trace of horror flickering in her ice-blue pupils.
“No… Something is coming.”
Her voice lost its usual composure, tinged with urgency.
“Such a strong magic fluctuation… And… Very familiar…”
“Is it the Myco-Mother?”
Zhao Yingyue immediately raised her spear in front, assuming a defensive stance.
“No, it’s more… pure than the Myco-Mother. And more violent.”
Before the words finished, the massive mycelium cap ahead split down the middle like the maw of some great beast.
A figure slowly emerged from within.
She wore an outmoded Magical Girl battle uniform— a white skirt and breastplate trimmed with gold, its style more intricate and ornate than Farushir’s generation.
Golden hair cascaded down her back, but entwined among the strands were countless dark green mycelial threads, twisting like sinister vines.
Her skin was deathly pale, her beautiful face expressionless, and the emerald eyes that should have shone with life were now filled with an eerie orange-red glow.
Most terrifying of all was her body.
The spores had not merely parasitized her, but fused deeply with her flesh and magic circuits.
Her right arm was completely alien, covered in fungal eyes.
Countless tiny spores were born and died within those eye-like structures.
Waves of scorching, malicious magic erupted from her body, forming a force field so powerful it distorted the very air around her.
As she stepped into the Silent Ice Domain, the freezing aura—strong enough to instantly immobilize a swamp drake—made contact with her force field and hissed, like boiling water poured onto snow, vaporizing and vanishing in an instant.
The Silent Ice Domain was useless against her!
“A previous generation…senior?”
Rosa, the Magical Girl shielding Farushir, cried out in shock.
She recognized the uniform at once.
Each generation of Magical Girls in the Kingdom of Arslan had slight differences in their attire; this was unmistakably a style from at least a decade ago.
“This senior was captured by the spores, then… transformed into the Nest Guardian.”
Farushir’s voice was heavy with anguish.
The savage magic within the senior Magical Girl was actively clashing against her Field, like a blazing sun crashing into a frozen lake, draining her strength with every second.
She had to maintain the Field with all her might, or the entire team would be instantly exposed to the threat of the fungal mat.
“Oh ho, the Elite Monster just respawned.”
The tone of [Shadowfang Breaker] finally gained a hint of excitement.
He no longer concealed himself, his form flickering like a phantom to the controlled Magical Girl’s rear flank.
His twin blades sliced through the air, aimed straight for the back of her neck.
It was his trademark opener—swift and lethal.
Yet the Magical Girl seemed to have eyes in the back of her head.
Without turning, her mycelium-wrapped left hand swept back.
Five solid arrows of magic appeared out of thin air, shooting precisely along [Shadowfang Breaker]’s charging path.
[Shadowfang Breaker]’s expression changed.
He hadn’t expected such a quick response.
He twisted in midair, forcing his twin blades into a crossed guard.
“Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!”
A rapid volley of sharp impacts rang out, sparks flying.
He managed to block the arrows, but the tremendous force sent him crashing backward, tumbling through the air before he landed heavily and scrambled to cover his mouth and nose—preventing spore infection.
In that instant, the Magical Girl had already locked onto the heart of the Field—Farushir, struggling to maintain her magic.
A shriek, inhuman and piercing, tore from her throat.
Her mutated right arm thrust forward.
A beam of filthy, compressed magic erupted forth, igniting the air in its path and filling it with a stench of burning rot.
Its target was the immobile Farushir!
“Don’t even think about it!”
A sharp cry.
Zhao Yingyue’s form streaked forward like a scarlet bolt, intercepting Farushir.
She didn’t try to meet the overwhelming beam head-on.
Instead, she slammed her Dragon Roar Spear into the ground.
“Earthquake!”
A surge of inner energy rose from her dantian, surging through her body and into the spear, then flooding into the earth.
With a thunderous boom, the fungal mat within a five-meter radius buckled upward, forming a thick, unyielding wall of earth.
The magic beam smashed into the wall, exploding in a blinding flash.
Soil and fungus burst apart, mycelia snapped, and a massive crater was blasted into the barrier, its edges even melting into glassy shards from the heat.
But in the end, it held.
Amid the swirling dust, Zhao Yingyue stood tall, spear at the ready.
She turned to Farushir, whose face had grown even paler.
“Farushir, focus on maintaining the Field and suppressing the small ones. This…leave to me.”
Farushir pressed her lips tight, nodding with difficulty.
She knew—it was the only choice.
If the Field collapsed, the deadly spores would overwhelm them in an instant.
Zhao Yingyue was their strongest close-combatant, the only one capable of restraining this monstrous predecessor in such a restricted space.
“Yingyue…”
She whispered, her voice trembling with worry.
A confident, unyielding smile lit up Zhao Yingyue’s face.
She turned to face the formidable foe, battle aura surging around her like the wrath of an ancient dragon, forcing back the surrounding chill.
“Come, senior. Let me see whether the magic of the Lishen Cult is stronger, or the martial arts of our Night Dragon Nation reign supreme!”
Zhao Yingyue’s spear moved like a dragon, every thrust accompanied by a concentrated, tangible surge of Qi.
This Qi was the life force forged by the warriors of the Night Dragon Nation through relentless training of spirit and body.
It was scorching and fierce, the natural nemesis of those cold, creeping mycelia.
Spear shadows danced, tearing through the air—not just with the sound of wind, but a resonance akin to a dragon’s roar.
Each precise strike of the Dragon Roar Spear against the Puppet Magical Girl’s filthy magic shield sent violent ripples across it, like boulders tossed into a deep pool.
Yet the battle was locked in stalemate.
The Puppet Magical Girl’s fighting style defied all reason.
She needed no chants.
The fungal mass fused with her magic circuit acted as an independent spell core.
Her body focused solely on dodging and blocking, while offensive spells erupted from the ever-shifting fungal eyes on her arms, shoulders, even her back.
Zhao Yingyue was swept into a storm of attacks and defenses.
Every ounce of focus was demanded.
The spear’s tip pressed the enemy’s body, while the shaft spun like a wheel, deflecting magic from every angle.
The Six Harmonies Spear Technique emphasized “unity of mind and will, will and Qi, Qi and strength.”
Now, Zhao Yingyue wielded it to perfection.
Her spear became an impenetrable wall, denying all attacks, then a venomous dragon striking through gaps in the barrage for fleeting openings—straight at vital points.
“Clang!”
A clash of perfect timing.
Zhao Yingyue seized the narrow gap as two spells were cast, unleashing “Venomous Snake Leaves the Cave.”
The spear swept upward, smashing into the Puppet Magical Girl’s waist before she could block.
The force wrenched a muffled, inhuman cry from the foe, sending her staggering several meters back.
But no joy showed on Zhao Yingyue’s face.
She saw it clearly—the instant the blow landed, the mycelial tissue at the waist writhed wildly, forming a thick pad that absorbed at least seventy percent of the impact.
And the dented area was already regenerating, healing at a pace visible to the naked eye.
Undying.
The thought sank heavily in Zhao Yingyue’s chest.
This was no ordinary battle—it was a war of attrition.
The enemy’s magic seemed endless, her body possessing terrifying regeneration.
As a pure martial artist, Zhao Yingyue’s stamina and Qi were both finite.
At that moment, the Puppet Magical Girl, who had been defending and counterattacking, ceased the minor harassing spells.
Suddenly, both arms spread wide—initiating a powerful spell.
Her mutated right arm rose high, every fungal eye opening and firing jets of dark green magic, converging above her head.
Her normal left hand splayed to the ground, filthy magic flooding from her palm and seeping into the fungal mat.
“Not good!”
Zhao Yingyue’s instincts screamed danger.
The force of this magic surge dwarfed all before it!
She braced herself, preparing to withstand an earth-shattering attack.
“Boom——!!”
Magic exploded.
But the direction of the eruption was wholly unexpected.
The fungal mat before Zhao Yingyue burst apart, thick, living mycelial vines erupting at high speed, weaving and twisting into a massive, solid cage that trapped her in place!
Simultaneously, the energy sphere of magic threads above the Puppet Magical Girl’s head split with a “vmm”—dividing into five rapidly spinning orbs of corrupt power, like swarms of rotting moths.
Not one targeted Zhao Yingyue.
They arced in five cunning paths, bypassing the mycelial cage and, like sharks scenting blood, rushed at the battlefield’s true heart—the ice statue unable to dodge while maintaining the Silent Ice Domain: Farushir!
A feint! This was a total tactical trap!
From the very start, the Puppet Magical Girl’s objective hadn’t been to defeat Zhao Yingyue, but to destroy—at any cost—the Field Mage who posed the greatest threat to the fungal nest!
“Farushir!! Look out!!”