Qian Ling slowed her pace, charging toward No. 2 side by side with Yang Mo. As she ran, she did not forget to explain her new ability.
“In short, my Heart Weapon can set a ‘rule’ that both sides must obey. That guy just now was blocked by the ‘cannot attack’ rule.”
When Yang Mo heard this, her tone was filled with shock rather than joy.
“What is that… It’s like cheat-code magic.”
Qian Ling was surprised that she even knew the term “cheat-code,” but her desire to show off took precedence.
“And besides that, I can use two other types of magic.”
As she revealed this fact, Yang Mo let out a sigh mixed with suspicion. “Eh—that sounds fake.”
“It’s true!”
Qian Ling almost couldn’t stop the corners of her mouth from curling up as she answered. Even she found it hard to believe that there were two more types of magic as powerful as this one.
However, during her explanation, she only mentioned the effects and not the limitations.
In reality, the amount of mana consumed by this magic changed depending on the strength of the rule and the degree of benefit or disadvantage to both parties.
For example, the “cannot attack” rule from earlier was almost one-sidedly beneficial to Qian Ling in that situation, so the consumption was enormous.
If a large amount of mana hadn’t overflowed when her Heart Weapon awakened, she probably wouldn’t have a single drop of mana left by now.
Conversely, a rule like “one must eat two peppercorns before eating hotpot” would consume very little mana because the effect was weak and equally disadvantageous to both sides.
She had learned all of this the moment she touched the pocket watch; the instructions for using the magic had been forced into her brain like a manual.
Since the rules that were easier to implement were so nonsensical… ‘I might as well call it “Absurd Rule,”‘ Qian Ling thought at the time. However, Yang Mo’s perspective wasn’t without merit. As long as the cost and effect were balanced reasonably, it was undoubtedly a powerful magic.
“Anyway… I’m going in.”
“Mhm, I’ll keep supporting you!”
After Yang Mo nodded in response, Qian Ling quickened her pace to approach No. 2.
At this moment, No. 2 was still completely unaware of the situation, pressing forward step by step while pounding the ground as it had before.
“I’ll show you my new ability.”
As Qian Ling spoke, she held up the pocket watch in her hand and then pressed the winding crown firmly.
“Everyone, you can only attack with the limbs on one side!” she shouted.
Although No. 2 had far more limbs than Qian Ling, it would still lose half of its means of attack regardless of which side it was on, so Qian Ling judged that this rule would definitely work.
After she shouted those words, No. 2’s attack, as expected—
As expected, it remained completely unaffected.
“Huh?”
“… Eh?”
Qian Ling and the distant Yang Mo both let out stunned sounds at the same moment.
No. 2 unleashed its signature skill on Qian Ling, first slashing with the longsword on the left, then following up with its other appendages, launching a series of attacks in a smooth, flowing combo.
“You can only attack with the limbs on one side!”
While dodging the attacks, Qian Ling hurriedly repeated the rule again.
“Only use the limbs on one…!”
Before she could finish, a slash passed just a few centimeters from the front of her neck.
“… side!”
She jumped into the air to dodge a sweep.
“… to attack!”
A heavy hammer smashed into the ground beside her.
Even with Yang Mo stalling No. 2’s movements midway, it was with great difficulty that she managed to say the entire sentence. If she were still human, she would definitely be drenched in sweat by now.
But still, nothing happened.
In her frustration, Yang Mo shouted from behind in an irritated voice, “What on earth are you doing?!”
“The magic won’t work! Let me think about what’s going on!”
After responding, Qian Ling immediately began to re-read the manual in her head.
When she dragged the manual’s scroll bar to the bottom, she discovered that although there was an empty line at the end of the text, it wasn’t over. Following that was a small line of text—
**[P.S.: This ability can only be used once per day.]**
‘Aren’t you just trying to screw me over? What kind of unscrupulous merchant are you!’
Qian Ling let out a silent roar of collapse in her heart. Her magic was supposed to have a magnificent debut, yet because of such an idiotic reason, it had turned into her shouting meaningless slogans at a critical moment.
“Change it for me, now!”
As she pressed the crown hard, the warped hands began to spin frantically, finally stopping from the “I” mark to the “II” mark.
The manual for the magic was subsequently stuffed into Qian Ling’s brain. This time, she read it more carefully, not missing a single detail.
As for the specific effect of this magic, her conclusion was: it would work!
Beyond that, this magic also gave her some strange associations. ‘If I were also a character in a story, then is my prototype… Alice? Alice from Alice in Wonderland.’
Thinking about it now, the combination of traveling through worlds, a girl dressed in a maid outfit, and a pocket watch was very similar to that classic work.
However, rather than being like Alice, Qian Ling’s magic was more like a performance of the Queen of Hearts’ tyranny. Whether it was the “Absurd Rule” from before or the “Absolute Command” she was about to use now.
As Yang Mo’s book pages wrapped around No. 2’s appendages, Qian Ling pointed at the pages and shouted in the briefest tone, “Become sturdy.”
The pages seemed to truly understand her command, instantly binding No. 2 even tighter. Despite its struggles, it could no longer tear them like it had before.
Qian Ling then closed in on No. 2’s side, thrusting the Iron Thorn toward its core.
No. 2 intended to block with its appendages, but Qian Ling had already anticipated its actions, pointing at the ground and issuing an emotionless command.
“Sink down.”
As soon as she spoke, the brick-paved ground sank as if it were a marsh, swallowing a portion of No. 2’s limbs.
As a result, No. 2’s balance was broken, and the movement of its saw blade failed to reach the front of its core accurately.
And so… *Crack!*
The sound of the Iron Thorn shattering the puppet’s surface rang out successfully.
Qian Ling intended to use the momentum to let the Iron Thorn stir inside its body, but she didn’t expect its speed in pulling its limbs out of the ground to be faster than imagined. It launched a new round of combos using those newly extracted limbs.
Qian Ling pulled out the embedded Iron Thorn and said coldly to the No. 2 in front of her, “Haven’t you given up yet?”
She then unhurriedly retreated out of No. 2’s attack range, preparing for the next round of offense.
No. 2 was like a wild beast making its final struggle, beginning to rampage between the buildings with movements even more violent than before.
Although its speed had increased, its control over its movements had become crude, making it easier for Qian Ling to dodge instead.
‘Puppet-type enemies in the original work would clearly choose to flee at a time like this; this guy really isn’t normal,’ she thought as she jumped to dodge No. 2’s collision, using the momentum to kick off a wall and fly toward a streetlamp.
Mid-flight, she issued a command to the ground again. “Sink.”
No. 2’s body immediately tilted upward by half as the ground sank, and its core was exposed directly before Qian Ling’s eyes.
In the next second, Qian Ling used the pole of the streetlamp as a springboard to bounce back toward No. 2.
“Give me a push.”
Under the influence of the command and the reactionary force, she was catapulted toward No. 2 by the pole with incredible momentum. The Iron Thorn, in its short-sword form, pierced straight into No. 2’s core.
For a moment, in addition to the sound of the puppet’s body breaking, there was also the crisp *crack* of a glass-like object shattering.
This time, the result was no longer in doubt.
After a fit of random flailing, No. 2’s appendages drooped down, losing all signs of movement.
Qian Ling exerted a great deal of effort to pull her right hand out of its body, bringing out a pile of small parts with it.
Then, she turned around and raised one hand high toward where Yang Mo was.
As that hand made a victory “V” sign, the battle was finally declared over.
Coincidentally, the rain—which wasn’t heavy to begin with—stopped, and orange-yellow sunlight spilled onto Qian Ling through the dark clouds.
She looked at the haze gradually dispersing overhead and revealed a smile of relief. Then, she no longer gazed at the sky, but instead watched the magical girl running toward her side with a soft gaze.
“What do you know, it was just a sun shower.”