Chapter 10 : Great Scientist…?

“Damn it, damn it, damn it! It was supposed to be a perfectly good mother-daughter meal time. Who the hell decided to cause trouble right now?”

After stepping outside and walking for a bit, Jiang Yao casually flicked her wrist, activating her transformation and flew off in one direction.

“Hurry up, hurry up! The earth-dwelling magic worms are already killing people!”

Xiao Bai shouted from her shoulder.

“I’m going as fast as I can!”

Hearing Xiao Bai, Jiang Yao used a bit more mana, boosting her flying speed even further.

“We’re here!”

Flying over the city, Jiang Yao immediately spotted the uneven holes on the ground and several large black worms with sharp spikes crawling in and out.

Drawing her sword, she tensed her arm and leapt down from the air.

“Boom!”

“Hissss—screech—”

The worm she hit only managed to let out a shrill squeak like a mouse before quickly succumbing to the magic and dying.

Earth magic worms—they’re basically mutated underground worms and grubs. They look scary, but their main offensive power is concentrated in their multifunctional big mouths used for digging, searching, and spraying. As long as a magical girl intervenes, there’s nothing much to fear.

“I’m beginning to suspect there’s a worm nest beneath our city. How can there be so many disgusting creatures?”

She said with disgust, holding her sword horizontally and cautiously scanning her surroundings. She knew that once she appeared, all the worms would rush toward her.

To these mindless low-level vermin, magical girls were way tastier than ordinary humans.

“Maybe there really is one.”

Before Jiang Yao could respond, she felt the worms writhing underground, causing the road to tremble.

“Bang!” “Bang!”

Two loud sounds rang out in succession, and two manhole covers shot up into the air.

“Whoosh!”

Countless brownish creatures sprayed out from the sewer pipes.

“Ugh!”

Jiang Yao’s face turned pale as she quickly dodged to the side. “What is that?”

“Looks like there’s an underground sewage system here, not just a drainage ditch.”

Xiao Bai’s round body stretched out two little protrusions—its hands—and tightly gripped Jiang Yao’s shoulder armor.

“Wait… does that mean?”

Stepping back two more paces, Jiang Yao was shocked. “Poop?!”

“Strictly speaking, it should be some kind of waste and sewage, not necessarily…”

“That’s just a fancy way of saying poop!”

“Calm down, calm down. Look, there’s something even scarier.”

“Clack!”

Right ahead of them, a fat magic worm broke through the asphalt, spewing yellow acid.

Its mandibles aimed straight at Jiang Yao, its segmented body writhing, with yellow spots lighting up in an unnatural, dangerous glow.

“Could it be…”

“Yeah, exactly what you’re thinking.”

Before the huge worm sprayed a flood of brownish-black fluid, Jiang Yao quickly gripped her sword and shouted:

“[Sword of the Holy Knight]—Light Infusion!”

White sparkles gathered around her magical armor, and the sword in her hand suddenly lengthened significantly, crystalline structures made of warm white light growing on it, radiating a dazzling glow.

“Maybe… maybe I shouldn’t match strength with it.”

Xiao Bai’s whiskers twitched as it cowardly hid beneath Jiang Yao’s cloak.

“I’m not stupid,” Jiang Yao retorted dryly. She stomped heavily, soaring into the sky—

Taking this thing head-on is a gamble; even if you win, the splatter makes it feel like you lost.

“Crystal Break!”

“Whoosh whoosh whoosh—”

Swinging in midair, the crystals on her sword flew out in unison, piercing the fat earth magic worm through and through, pinning it to the ground.

The oozing filth and acid quickly spilled everywhere.

“Alright, next up are the others… hmm?”

Jiang Yao’s eyes widened.

In front of her, a worm burst from the ground and leapt up, opening its jaws wide, seemingly intent on swallowing a smaller worm midair.

Just as she prepared to counterattack, two more worms on either side jumped simultaneously, clearly set on a coordinated assault.

“Pointless.”

Jiang Yao snorted coldly, cutting off the first worm’s head with a single strike.

With a slight twist of her wrist, the next was cleaved in two.

Then, she easily dodged the third’s attack, watching it crash heavily to the ground.

This third worm also bore yellow spots, which lit up one by one after landing, preparing for another round of attack.

Two whole months—Jiang Yao had been fighting these worthless meatbags nonstop, becoming intimately familiar with their abilities.

The earth magic worms were only relatively agile underground.

Even the newer types that spat acid or other filth had a pitifully low hit rate against a nimble magical girl.

As long as she avoided their bites, then…

Just as she flew downward, ready to kill the charging worm before it could attack, a sudden foul wind blew from behind, and Xiao Bai shouted:

“Watch out!”

With no time to react further, Jiang Yao could only block upward with her sword.

“Clang!”

Metallic clang rang out as her blade collided with teeth.

The worm bit down hard, dragging her and itself back down to the ground.

“This isn’t right, do they even have tactics?”

The outer mandibles of the worm snapped shut, but inside its mouth, deeper in, Jiang Yao was trapped.

Its legs braced against its own crushing jaws from below.

Her hands pressed the sword, wedged tightly between its teeth.

Cold sweat broke out on Jiang Yao’s forehead.

Luckily, her spirit armor was of the armored type, or else her feet might already have been pierced by the teeth.

Jiang Yao felt strange.

The earth magic worms had always been pure beasts before—mindless, instinctively rushing to their deaths.

They even often knocked into each other, shoving teammates aside by accident.

But this time was different.

Within seconds, Jiang Yao realized what was going on.

The first few worms, including the one pretending to charge up beneath her, were distractions.

The real killing move was coming from behind—the one waiting for her to lower her guard to ambush!

This was a planned, intelligent attack.

“Drip.”

Acid dripped onto Jiang Yao.

“Hurry, find a way out!”

Xiao Bai shrieked miserably beneath the cloak.

“I’m trying.”

Gritting her teeth, Jiang Yao felt her mana draining away under the acid’s corrosion.

Every time she tried to channel magic out, it was instantly sapped.

On top of that, she had to divert mana to constantly repair her damaged spirit armor.

The creature holding her was absolutely nothing like the ones she had fought before.

“This is it, this is it. Are we going to die here today?”

Xiao Bai muttered quietly.

“Stop that, stop that! I’m trying to think of a plan, okay?”

Jiang Yao snapped irritably.

But deep down, she wasn’t confident either.

“I need an opening. Xiao Bai, can you slip out through that gap?”

“Huh?”

Xiao Bai wriggled out from under the cloak and looked at the gap.

The worm’s outer mandibles weren’t completely closed; as the main weapons for killing and digging, they left tiny gaps between the teeth even when shut.

“This is really bad. If it comes to the worst, go out and deliver a message to my mom.”

“Eh? No, no way!” Xiao Bai’s little eyes widened, her whiskers trembling, tears welling up.

“Don’t give up! Think harder, there has to be a way!”

“Heh.”

A faint smile curved on Jiang Yao’s lips.

Her gaze deepened.

She never believed today was her death day.

Right now, she could feel something inside her rising up, taking control.

The bright magic was pushed aside.

Her vision darkened around the edges.

She’d only experienced this once before—after rescuing her mother.

Back then, when she blinked again, the earth magic worms were blasted to bloody bits.

She didn’t know what had happened, but she remembered the fury burning in her heart.

(At least, first get Xiao Bai out.)

“Clap, clap, clap…”

Just then, three rhythmic claps came from outside.

The worm’s outer mandibles opened in time.

From inside, Jiang Yao saw a gaunt old man dressed in a suit, wearing a tall top hat and white gloves standing outside.

“Magical girl, Crystal… kehehehehe… your death is inevitable.”

As he spoke, several worm-like creatures slipped from his mouth.

“You’ve killed so many of my children; you must pay the price as compensation.”

Xiao Bai was shocked. “Wait, no way! A demon? There shouldn’t be demons in this city!”

“Is that so?”

Ignoring Xiao Bai, Jiang Yao sneered disdainfully.

“Now I know why these [girl curse] had tactics today—it’s because of your old [girl curse] guiding them.”

“Kehehehehe.”

The old man laughed eerily, took off his top hat like a ringmaster saluting the audience, revealing his scalp beneath which worm-like creatures squirmed.

“Ladies and gentlemen!”

Behind him, huge worms dragged their massive bodies forward.

“Let us begin, and enjoy the magical girl Crystal’s meat grinder show! Revenge for our brothers and sisters!”

“Squeak squeak—” “Arooo!”

The worms howled excitedly like cheering spectators.

The old man seemed exhilarated.

He extended his hand, releasing strands of dark magic into the worm biting Jiang Yao.

At the same time, Jiang Yao suddenly felt the strength in her arms and legs multiply several times.

“Remember, the one who will kill you is the greatest scientist of this century, the great man who will lead humanity to its ultimate evolution! My name—”

Then, in the next second—

“Boom!!!”

A thick beam of pure white light swallowed the old man whole.

“Gah?” “Squeak squeak…?”

The worms, which had just been roaring, froze in place, clearly confused.

“Step.”

A figure descended from the sky.

Pink boots landed on the old man’s ashes.

The pink-haired girl holding a staff rudely spat on the ground.

“Hmph, tsk!”

“What’s with all the dramatic performances in front of me?”

“I mean, don’t do that in front of me.”

She stopped short of saying what she really wanted—“Who the hell do you think you are, showing off in front of me?”

Her face visibly flushed as she stomped her foot, kicking the ashes fiercely:

“Ahhh, a magical girl without her mother, and yet she has such a good mom!”

(Ahh, a dead magical girl without a mom, that counts too.)