After several attempts, at the very least, he had already grasped the basic functions of a magical girl, like manipulating mana and the like.
Even without a weapon, he could use his fists as a fighting force.
The two of them began to act together, slaying monsters everywhere, rescuing ordinary people from the ruins.
And Jiang Cheng also more or less understood what kind of place this was.
Everything in this little world, where the domain of the demonic realm and the magical girls’ territory intertwined, would never be known to the outside world.
Those who could walk out on their own, or those sent out by the bubble, would reappear somewhere in the city by themselves. The rest could only rely on the kindness of strangers to be rescued.
They started from the outskirts, heading all the way toward the center.
The closer they got to the inner rings, the more monsters there were, and the fewer survivors they found.
There were even many dark minions disguised as survivors, but Aurora saw through them easily and sent them to their deaths.
The sky was always covered with dark clouds, some power holding everything in place, fixing this moment so that sunlight could never shine down.
But they could feel time passing, day after day going by. This power wasn’t quite that strong yet.
As day turned to night and back again, Jiang Cheng had long lost all sense of time; so had Aurora, though she still remembered the date.
“Today is the fifth day since I woke up. What did I count up to yesterday? Three thousand two hundred… three thousand two hundred and twelve, I think.”
“It was three thousand two hundred and twenty.”
“Oh, right, I forgot. Thank goodness you’re here.”
Once again waking up from rest, Aurora spoke wearily.
It was becoming harder and harder for her to recover her mana, but as for Jiang Cheng, every time he used Aurora’s mana core to replenish himself, he always recovered quickly.
“Retirement, huh….”
Aurora gazed at the sky for the who-knows-how-many-th time, a little forlorn.
She patted Jiang Cheng’s armor. “By the way, there’s something I’d like to ask you to do.”
“All right, I’ll do it.”
“I haven’t even said what it is yet.”
Forcing a tired smile, Aurora said:
“After this, I’ll give you an address. Help me find a girl named Wen Yaqian, an ordinary person, and then I’ll teach you a suggestion spell for you to use on her.”
“Wen Yaqian?”
Jiang Cheng’s mind stirred. Wasn’t that the friend of Xiao Wei, who would come to play in a few days?
Thankfully, since Aurora had mentioned the name first, repeating it now wouldn’t trigger a regression.
The girl continued:
“Yes, she’s an ordinary person, but she knows about us. Still, we can’t erase her memories, only use suggestion to make her leave the city.”
“I’m worried she’ll… Wait!”
Suddenly, the ground started to shake. The abrupt tremor caught Aurora mid-sentence, causing her to lose her balance, and she grabbed Jiang Cheng’s arm to steady herself.
“Something’s wrong.”
Aurora’s face was serious. “Mana is going wild, this place—”
She held onto Jiang Cheng’s arm, her tone urgent:
“Damn, this is intense?! No time to explain, run! We at least have to get to the edge! The center’s about to explode!”
“Vmmm—”
As she spoke with Jiang Cheng, the sky seemed to be punched by an invisible force, and a black hole appeared.
Around the hole, cracks of space spread out, making the tremors on the ground even worse.
The entire space itself was crumbling.
Cracks opened in the air once more. Unlike the one “Jiang Cheng” created, and unlike the [Gate of Darkness] she and her comrades tried to seal a few days ago, this one was bigger, more terrifying, and more violent.
The whole earth was quaking.
Shattered stones, dust, steel bars, cars, countless corpses and man-made things were swept up into the air, colliding wildly.
Just as Aurora was about to flee to the edge with Jiang Cheng—no, Jiang Lingwei—she stood dumbstruck, staring at the rift above the heavens.
Because she felt something—a powerful, familiar feeling.
That was… some familiar mana fluctuations!
(Could it be?!)
Even with doomsday unfolding all around, the girl still looked up to the sky, exhilarated.
(Are they coming out from there?)
At least, in this moment, she was filled with hope.
“Whoosh—”
First, a streak of blue light shot out from the spatial rift.
“Tianpin!”
Jiang Lingwei shouted in surprise.
But she soon realized something was off about the light’s size.
It wasn’t a person, but a long, sea-blue spear.
Even though it was enveloped in the radiant glow of light mana, and even if it only appeared for an instant, she could see it perfectly clearly.
It was the magical equipment of Magical Girl [Tianpin].
Not just that one streak darting far away—there were more: green, purple, red…
They streaked across the sky, rushing to some unknown distance. Wrapped within them were the dearest weapons of her companions.
But why?
Where were they?!
(No, impossible… Beifeng, with Beifeng leading, they would never….) (It can’t be… As long as their equipment is there, they must still be alive…)
Her fists clenched, her breath quickened, her eyes blinked and blurred.
“We have to go, now!”
Jiang Cheng saw it too—the lights scattering across the sky, like meteors streaking through the heavens.
But he really had no way, nor time, to watch any longer. This memory illusion was so real, for a moment he almost forgot he didn’t belong here, and hurried to grab Aurora’s arm.
But he didn’t manage to pull her at first—Aurora just stared blankly at the sky.
(They should, they must, they have to still be alive…)
(But… but… how could they abandon their own magical equipment…)
Like a child lost after being scolded by an adult, she stood there in place, silent and helpless.
With no other choice, he carried the girl on his back and sprinted toward the edge of this collapsing, ruined world.
And then Jiang Cheng heard crying.
“Uu… uaaa…!”
It was Jiang Lingwei’s crying.
From the very beginning, the girl who’d maintained her dignity and never shown a trace of weakness in front of him was now sobbing helplessly.
She reached out her hand in vain, as if trying to grasp the streaks of meteors flying away.
Crying—right now, all she could do was cry. “Uuuuuaaaah!!!”
She didn’t suppress it at all, nor try to hide it—she just screamed and cried her heart out.
Everything after becoming a magical girl—her friends, comrades, teachers.
Years of battle, days of struggle—all of it turned to nothing in these tears.
“Uuuaaauuuuu!!!”
“…..Trust me.”
As the world crumbled, treading over broken ruins, Jiang Cheng suddenly shouted.
Jiang Lingwei, lying on his back, couldn’t hear a word he was saying. She just sobbed weakly and in despair.
“Crack…ka…”
Her heart was breaking.
“Trust me!”
Hearing the faint sound and the girl’s anguished cries, Jiang Cheng’s heart twisted in pain. But he couldn’t change the past, so he could only run and repeat:
“I won’t save everyone.”
“But I’ll save you!”
“I am [Jiang Cheng]—I’ll never let you be sad.”
“And also!”
“I love you!”
“Ah—” “Ya!”
Inside the hotel room, Jiang Lingwei let out a small shriek, stretched out her arms in the man’s embrace, and gently patted his back.
“Wha—what’s wrong?”
She didn’t pay any mind to how Jiang Cheng had only stared at the mana core for a few seconds, then—as if afraid she’d run away—suddenly shouted a confession, tossed the mana core onto the bed, and hugged her tightly.
Jiang Lingwei just kept patting Jiang Cheng’s back again and again.
“I’m here, Chengzi, I’m right here.”
She comforted him softly:
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m right here.”
Jiang Cheng said nothing, his head pressed to her shoulder, as if he wanted to meld her into his arms and never let go.
“All right, all right. Did something happen?”
“I love you.”
“I know.”
Jiang Lingwei smiled helplessly and coaxed him:
“What is it? Will it take a long time to explain?”
“A long time.”
“Okay~” She gently stroked the man’s back and said softly:
“Then let’s talk tomorrow. Let’s sleep first tonight, okay?”
Jiang Cheng neither agreed nor refused, so she pressed down and let herself fall onto the bed with him.
“Sigh.”
Seeing Jiang Cheng still wouldn’t let her go, Jiang Lingwei sighed, “Fine, hug me if you want. After all, it was always me hugging you in my sleep before for no reason—so let’s just call it payback now.”
“But, only for tonight.”
Curled up in his arms, Jiang Lingwei met Jiang Cheng’s gaze for a moment, then closed her eyes first, lying at the edge of Jiang Cheng’s arm and pillow:
“Tonight I’ll be right here, not going anywhere, so hurry and sleep. Whatever you need to say, tell me tomorrow.”
“Good night, Xiao Wei….”
“Good night~Chengzi.”
Tonight, the tatami room was empty and lonely.