“Oh, what a shame.”
It was the afternoon after the cleanup of the Caesar Grand Hotel.
Lu Ren, who had just finished a game, leaned back in his chair and sighed for no apparent reason.
Pandora, who had been resting on the table, heard his lament and asked in a puzzled tone, “What’s wrong? Didn’t you win that game? Why are you sighing like that?”
“It’s not about the game. I was thinking about what happened yesterday.”
“Yesterday?”
Pandora stood up, her tail curling slightly as her interest was piqued.
Seeing the fox-like beast’s reaction, Lu Ren let out a soft sigh and explained, “Yeah. Didn’t I go to the Caesar Grand Hotel to eliminate the monsters yesterday? There was one I couldn’t kill. It got away.”
“A Shadow Beast can escape from you at this stage?” Pandora was quite surprised. “Could it be a Numbered Shadow Beast?”
“It’s possible, but I didn’t sense anything special about it. It was very strange,” Lu Ren replied with a nod.
“…You couldn’t sense its Magic Power?”
Pandora immediately grew alert. In her memory, the only Shadow Beasts capable of that were those within the top fifty.
But regardless of who it was, it wasn’t an enemy that the current Blazing Flame could handle at this stage.
Lu Ren didn’t notice Pandora’s abnormal reaction.
He looked at the victory screen in front of him, shook his head, clicked his mouse, and entered the matchmaking queue again.
“Yeah, that monster gave me a very ordinary feeling. It didn’t seem like much of a threat. Its abnormal Magic Power signature wasn’t even as strong as the Shadow Beast that planted the bomb.”
“But strangely, its strength was clearly much greater than the other two Numbered Shadow Beasts — strong enough to keep me pinned to the spot, unable to move.”
As Lu Ren spoke, he selected his best character and then rested his chin on his hand, dazing off.
On the other side, Pandora froze after hearing Lu Ren’s extremely specific description.
She never expected that there would come a day when she would hear news of that particular Numbered Shadow Beast again.
Pandora looked at Lu Ren’s calm expression and then at her own small, fluffy paws. She hesitated, unsure if she should speak up about it.
Silence fell.
It wasn’t until Lu Ren’s game ended with a massive lead and the opposing team surrendered that Pandora finally made up her mind to tell Lu Ren the identity of that Shadow Beast.
“…Blazing Flame,” Pandora spoke slowly.
“Hm? What is it?” Lu Ren asked, slightly puzzled. “Has a new monster appeared?”
“No, it’s about the Shadow Beast you just mentioned.” Pandora shook her head slightly.
“Did that Shadow Beast wear a black robe and have black mist drifting around its body?”
Now it was Lu Ren’s turn to be surprised.
He exited the matchmaking queue and looked at Pandora, who had accurately described the Mist-person’s characteristics.
He stroked his chin and asked, “How did you know he looked like that? Have you met him?”
“Ah, I’ve seen it before. I even have a grudge against it.”
Pandora didn’t hide anything and confessed to Lu Ren.
Lu Ren raised an eyebrow but didn’t respond, looking at the fox-like beast with curiosity.
For Pandora, a Magic Fairy, to say such a thing — what on earth did that Mist-person do?
‘Did it take the soul of another Magic Fairy?’
While Lu Ren’s imagination was running wild, Pandora spoke up again.
“That guy’s code name is No. 042. It’s a Shadow Beast specifically responsible for collecting souls.”
“Souls?”
Lu Ren couldn’t help but furrow his brows.
He had heard from Xu Wenxing earlier that the middle-aged man calling himself Li Qingyuan was actually the Professor’s soul.
At the time, he had been very curious about what a soul actually was. Was it really some mysterious substance weighing twenty-one grams?
Now that he could learn information about souls from Pandora, his curiosity was instantly ignited.
“Yes. A so-called soul refers to the essence of a living being. If the body dies, the soul doesn’t necessarily die. But if the soul dies, the body will certainly perish along with it.”
“That… that sounds like some crackpot theory you’d find in a second-hand bookstore,” Lu Ren teased.
“Ahaha… You can look at it that way,” Pandora replied awkwardly. “But that’s not important. What matters is No. 042 and the Night Demon.”
“Okay. What about them?”
Lu Ren obediently changed the subject, not dwelling too long on the nature of the soul.
Knowing that the soul was the essence of a living being was enough for him.
As for anything else, he would wait for Pandora to explain.
“No. 042 is responsible for collecting souls, and the Night Demon can grow stronger through them.”
“Huh?”
Lu Ren looked at Pandora with a strange expression, as if he were looking at an idiot.
He felt what Pandora said was a bit odd. It was true that the Mist-person could collect souls — he acknowledged that.
But where did the idea come from that the Night Demon could grow through souls?
If it really could use souls to empower itself, why was the Professor’s soul allowed to wander around outside for so long? That didn’t seem right.
Sensing Lu Ren’s skepticism, Pandora’s tail flicked through the air as she said self-consciously, “Don’t look at me like that. What I’m saying is true.”
“Your claim has no basis. It’s hard for me not to suspect you’re lying,” Lu Ren said.
“If souls are really the Night Demon’s nourishment, then why was there a soul that wasn’t taken away but left at the Caesar Grand Hotel instead?”
“I — I don’t know! Maybe there’s some kind of process required before a soul can provide nourishment for the Night Demon!” Pandora replied nervously, seemingly feeling guilty about her previous answer.
Lu Ren stared at her intently for a long time. After a few seconds of silence, he finally shook his head.
“Forget it, I believe you. There’s no reason for you to lie to me about such a small matter.”
“…Should I be grateful for your unconditional trust?”
“Of course. Otherwise, I would have treated you as a spy sent by the Night Demon long ago.”
Lu Ren reached out and stroked Pandora’s fluffy body. Pandora didn’t resist. After giving him a casual glance, she allowed him to smooth her fur.
With her eyes half-closed, the fox-like beast lay on the table and began to tell Lu Ren about her past.
“I remember telling you before that you’re the first Magic Girl I’ve encountered who didn’t proactively attack me or treat me like a Shadow Beast.”
“Yeah, you mentioned that,” Lu Ren replied with a nod.
“Then what would you think if I said that before I met you, I had the fortune of meeting another Magic Girl who remained rational toward me?” Pandora asked.
“…You mean there was a Magic Girl who didn’t think you were a Shadow Beast?” Lu Ren asked in disbelief.
Pandora shook her head and replied, “No. In her eyes, I still looked like a Shadow Beast.”
“It’s just that when she realized I wouldn’t fight back and would only run — and that I could respond to her words — she gave up on hunting me and tried to communicate instead.”
“I remember meeting her in City A. She was very good, very smart, and very powerful.”
“It’s just a shame that, in the end, she still died.”