While the two of them were endlessly arguing over the sudden surge in Blazing Flame’s popularity, Pandora—who had been waiting for Lu Ren for quite some time—came over to Lu Ren’s side and tugged on his pants leg with her teeth.
“Mm? What’s wrong, Pandora?” Lu Ren looked down at the little fox-shaped beast at his feet and asked.
“The thing I asked you to bring back from the scene last night—where did you put it?” Pandora let go of his pants and asked, “I want to deal with it as soon as possible.”
“Oh, you mean those two blobs of black liquid? I have to transform before I can get them out for you.”
Upon hearing Pandora’s words, Lu Ren suddenly understood.
Last night, after killing No. 091’s Shadow Beast and the Cloaked Monster, their bodies hadn’t turned to dust and disappeared as usual.
Instead, they turned into sticky, odorless black liquid that seemed alive as it spread across the ground.
Sapphire and Meteor originally wanted to blast the liquid with magic to prevent any sort of monster resurrection.
But since Pandora had said it was useful to her at the time, Sapphire and the others had given her the things.
In truth, Blazing Flame had no idea what use the stuff had. But since Pandora insisted on bringing it back, she brought it along.
So, after dividing up the large Purification Shards that dropped from the two Shadow Beasts, Blazing Flame, suppressing her nausea, brought the two blobs of liquid back to the dormitory.
But as soon as she got back, she automatically de-transformed due to lack of magic, so she could only wait for her magic to recover before giving the things to Pandora.
“Hurry up, give them to me, I need them for something important.” Pandora’s eyes shone as she urged Lu Ren after hearing his answer.
“Don’t rush, it’ll just be a moment.”
Lu Ren let Xu Wenxing off the hook from showing him Blazing Flame lewd pics for now, and brought Pandora to the dormitory bathroom, where he transformed.
After transforming smoothly, Blazing Flame put the bag that had suddenly appeared in her hand down on the floor, making it easy for Pandora to use the liquid inside.
Pandora moved close to the bag, sniffed the black liquid inside, and revealed an odd, intoxicated expression.
Just as Blazing Flame was wondering if magical fairies also had estrus cycles, Pandora suddenly stuck her head into the bag and started lapping up the black liquid with her tongue.
“Hey! What are you doing! That stuff can’t be eaten, can it?!” Blazing Flame panicked and quickly reached out to stop Pandora.
But it was already too late.
Pandora had swallowed both blobs of black liquid and now looked up at Blazing Flame with a satisfied expression.
“…You’d better explain exactly what this black liquid is for, Pandora.”
Seeing Pandora clearly hiding something from her, Blazing Flame bent down and pressed her right hand lightly against Pandora’s ear.
It was obvious she wouldn’t let Pandora go until she got a proper explanation.
“Don’t, don’t rush! I’ll tell you now!” Pandora said hastily, “Just don’t get mad! Let me explain!”
“091 and the incomplete 093 are dead. They were killed by the Magic Girls in City A.”
At the same time, in a villa in the northern part of City A, surrounded by artificial hills, ponds, flowers, and trees, about a dozen indistinct men and women of varying ages sat around a round table in the hall, listening to the black-robed figure at the head speak.
“Dead? Oh my, what a pity.” The purple-dressed girl sitting at the black-robed person’s right covered her mouth and laughed.
“Just yesterday he was boasting about trampling me underfoot, and in the blink of an eye he died at the hands of the Magic Girl he looked down on most.”
Hearing the girl in the purple dress gloat over her companion’s death, the young man sitting opposite her suddenly stood up and shouted angrily.
“009, what are you laughing at! The ones who died weren’t Magic Girls, but our own brothers and sisters—devotees of the Night Lord just like us! You should at least show some respect!”
“You seem pretty angry, 024.” The girl in purple smiled at his irritated tone.
“If you find my words offensive, you can request a duel to the death under Master 003’s gaze. Maybe after defeating me, you can become the new 009?”
As she spoke, the purple-dressed girl tilted her head slightly and smiled at the black-robed person at the head of the table, as if seeking their permission.
The black-robed figure nodded slightly, permitting her words.
Provoked like that by the girl, the young man could no longer endure it.
He immediately reached toward his chest, intending to rip out his own heart and issue a life-and-death challenge to the girl in purple before him.
But just as his right hand was about to touch his chest, the middle-aged man sitting to his left stood up, calmly slapped the young man’s right hand onto the table, and spoke in a voice devoid of emotion.
“Don’t be so rash, 024. 091 and 093 simply lost to those stronger than themselves. It’s normal for them to be killed by the Magic Girls of this city, and you don’t need to be angry for them.”
The middle-aged man continued, “The Night Lord still needs your help to awaken. You shouldn’t throw your life away here for 009.”
“…Yes, Lord 013.”
At the mention of “Night Lord,” fervor instantly filled 024’s eyes.
He immediately calmed down, bowed solemnly to the middle-aged man, and sat back down.
“Ah, so you gave up? How boring.”
Seeing that the young man hadn’t lost control because of her provocation, the girl in purple seemed rather disappointed.
She stood up and walked out toward the villa’s garden.
“009, the meeting isn’t over yet…” The man sitting by the door couldn’t help but quietly persuade her.
“Let her go. She can do as she pleases.”
The black-robed figure said, “Trust in the Night Lord’s judgment. Since He granted 009 the right to act freely, it means her actions have not deviated from the Night Lord’s expectations.”
“…Yes.” The man replied softly.
After hearing his response, the black-robed figure swept his gaze over everyone at the table, pondered for a few seconds, and spoke.
“042, can the black remnants of 091 and 093 be recovered?”
“No. The remnants of 091, 093, and the still-unconverted human Jia Yi were all devoured by an unknown entity, suspected to be Pandora who arrived at the scene.” The one fully cloaked in black, 042, replied.
“Pandora?”
At the mention of that familiar name, the black-robed figure fell silent in thought.
After a brief silence, he looked to the end of the table at a monster whose gender couldn’t be determined and issued his command.
“076, listen well.”
“Yes, Master 003.” The monster numbered 076 replied respectfully.
“Find Pandora. Bring her back, and then kill the three Magic Girls in this city.” The black-robed figure ordered, “Make sure not to raise any suspicion. Use your abilities wisely.”
“Leave it to me, Master 003.”
The monster 076 knelt on one knee before the black-robed figure, accepting its new assignment.