Late at night, as Ye Xinglan and Xiaoxi battled into the ninth round, inside the Magical Girl Association’s headquarters, Miss L, who was working overtime with a vacant gaze, suddenly received a report from one of her subordinate Magic Girls.
“We found an unconscious monster with no identity registration on the rooftop? Bring them in, I’ll interrogate them myself.”
It was only in these strange, out-of-the-ordinary situations that Miss L would personally step in.
That was why, in the afternoon, Qingtenghua and the others had been so surprised that Miss L actually cared about a minor injury to a D-Class Magic Girl.
At this moment, on the rooftop, two Magic Girls who’d rushed over after a report from building security looked at each other in confusion.
No matter how you looked at it, an unregistered monster collapsing in such a place was far too suspicious—something was definitely wrong.
They lifted An Wanwan between them, but failed to notice a small patch of black markings skittering rapidly across her skin, slipping away into the shadows of a corner and vanishing from sight.
As Ye Xinglan and Xiaoxi entered their eleventh round, inside a tent at the Summersea City Black Market, Black Rose, who had been stroking a fox, suddenly looked up in realization, watching a little clump of darkness creep across the ground and slip inside.
“Good girl, looks like you completed the task nicely.”
With a tone one would use to praise a pet dog, Black Rose reached out her hand.
The small shadow darted to her skin, transforming once more into a tattoo of black thorns and roses.
“How odd, why did only one return? What happened to the Butcher’s piece?”
Black Rose was puzzled. Even if the Butcher was taken out, it shouldn’t have affected her shadow’s return.
Which left only one possibility—the Butcher hadn’t just been eliminated, he’d been utterly obliterated, leaving not even bones behind.
Only then would the shadow attached to him disappear as well.
“Interesting. Among B-Class Monsters, the Butcher was one of the stronger ones, and his ability was notoriously tricky. To have finished him off so thoroughly… Could it be that Sirius was hiding her strength after all?”
She didn’t feel the slightest bit sorry for the Butcher. He was just someone she’d saved on a whim, thinking he might come in handy for her plans.
Closing her eyes, Black Rose tried to sense something.
Moments later, she snapped them open in disbelief, the corners of her lips curling up. How amusing.
She’d intended to test Sirius, but had stumbled upon an even more valuable secret by mistake.
So it was Ye Xinglan—the one overlooked by Shandie—who was actually the key player!
As for Xiaoxi, Black Rose had lost interest. Anyone who couldn’t even resist An Wanwan’s Aphrodisiac Poison was just a D-Class Magic Girl—hardly worth noticing.
She patted Fox Momomo’s head again. Normally, the little fox girl hated anyone touching her head, but this time she just hung her head and shivered silently.
“I’m heading out. Don’t forget what you promised me, little fox. My whole plan depends on you.”
Black Rose left the tent in high spirits, her confidence bolstered by this unexpected discovery.
She was sure that the situation in Summersea City was now entirely under her control.
At this time, Ye Xinglan and Xiaoxi had just finished their eleventh round of combat. Ye Xinglan decided to take a halftime break before continuing.
As the formidable Blood Moon Witch, she could keep going, but she was worried Xiaoxi’s body couldn’t take much more.
The next day, Xiaoxi was woken by glaring sunlight.
She’d had a dream—vague and chaotic—of battling up close with a giant octopus monster.
The octopus was soft, huge, and… very aggressive.
Xiaoxi felt stifled in the fight, the dream a jumble she couldn’t quite remember.
She only vaguely recalled being completely overpowered, pinned beneath the monster again and again.
Yet, strangely, she felt no discomfort—instead, she found herself unconsciously wanting to go along with the octopus’s attacks.
In the comfort of a sunlit room filled with birdsong, Xiaoxi slowly opened her eyes and found herself staring at a giant Eternal Star Poster—this one doodled over with a comical, ghostly face.
Xiaoxi: “…………….”
She knew this poster well. Ye Xinglan had stuck it to the ceiling above her bed, claiming that waking up every morning to that infuriating face was the best motivation.
Xiaoxi hadn’t objected, just quietly decided in her heart that it wasn’t the right time to reveal her true identity to Ye Xinglan.
But why was she in Xinglan’s room now? Shouldn’t she have been taken to the Association’s Medical Division?
It was precisely because she’d expected that, she’d allowed herself to lose consciousness.
Had she already received treatment and been sent home?
No… It was daylight outside, which meant she’d been unconscious the entire night?
That Aphrodisiac Poison from An Wanwan must have been potent, to keep her out all night.
Xiaoxi tried to sit up, but as soon as she moved, a wave of weakness and aching pain swept through her, forcing her to flop back onto the bed with a hiss.
Only now did she notice that every inch of her body hurt, especially her legs—she could barely feel them!
It felt exactly like she’d been doing some kind of intense physical activity all night.
A surge of horror ran through her. If she’d known, she never would have tried to tough it out.
Just what kind of effect did An Wanwan’s poison have, to leave her with such severe aftereffects?!
She’d taken poison from A Grade Monsters before and never ended up like this.
Could it be that An Wanwan was actually at S-Class level? Terrifying!
And why was her Magic Power Reserve so low? Was that also because of An Wanwan’s poison?
“Hiss… my legs are so sore…”
Gritting her teeth, Xiaoxi managed to prop herself up bit by bit. Hearing movement, Ye Xinglan pushed open the door, threw her arms around Xiaoxi’s neck, and planted a smacking kiss on her cheek.
“You’re awake, darling. Did you rest well? You performed really well last night, you know.”
Xiaoxi: “?”
There were several messy red marks on Ye Xinglan’s neck. She looked radiant, brimming with energy.
And after a comment like that… Xiaoxi was suddenly seized by a bad feeling.
“Xinglan! Last night, did the two of us…”
She looked down and, sure enough, spotted several red marks on her own skin.
Realizing what must have happened, Xiaoxi’s first reaction wasn’t shyness or anger, but utter bewilderment.
She simply couldn’t piece together what could have occurred during her poisoned blackout—why hadn’t she been sent to the Association’s Medical Division?
It felt like reading a novel whose first chapter was titled “School Romance: The School Beauty Confesses to Me?”, and then flipping ahead a thousand chapters to see the title change to “Achieving Mastery: Repelling Outer Demons from Beyond”—it made no sense at all! How could she possibly figure out what had happened in between?
“Ahem, calm down first, let me explain.”
“It’s not my fault, Xiaoxi! I didn’t want to do it either, but I had no choice—it was the only way to save you!”
Ye Xinglan cleared her throat and summarized last night’s events for Xiaoxi, adding a few exaggerations for effect.