Xiaoxi and Muxingge quickly arrived at the abandoned sewer on the outskirts of the city, with no other Magic Girls following them.
The difference between the Blood Moon Witch and Black Rose lay right here: when capturing Black Rose, they could rely on numbers to surround her, and even if a conflict broke out, Xiaoxi was confident she could protect the other Magic Girls from Black Rose.
But the Blood Moon Witch was different; the action team needed to be small but elite.
If a direct confrontation truly broke out with the Blood Moon Witch, Xiaoxi would absolutely have no time to care for anyone else.
At this level of battle, there was no space for anyone below S-Rank Magical Girl to participate.
Although Xiaoxi had just slipped away under Muxingge’s nose a while ago, now both of them tacitly avoided mentioning it.
No matter how hot-tempered Muxingge could get, she knew to prioritize urgent matters.
The two quickly followed the magic reaction to the outlet where Ye Xinglan had made her move earlier.
The pitch-black tunnel was empty. Not only Ye Xinglan, but even the black-robed figure and Xiaoxi’s Phantom had disappeared without a trace.
“There are no other branches here,” Muxingge’s tone grew heavy. “Looks like we’re still one step too late. Did she get away?”
“No, we still have a chance. If she’s using her old trick to escape, we might still catch up with her.”
Xiaoxi keenly noticed a small patch of black mud in the center of the tunnel, slowly shrinking and disappearing—evidence that the Blood Moon Witch had just used her ability to escape.
“The Blood Moon Witch can’t keep sneaking through black mud forever. As long as we catch her when she comes up for air… Forget it, just follow me.”
Now was clearly not the time to explain the principle. Before leaving, Muxingge also glanced at the black mud that was about to vanish.
This abandoned sewer was full of trash and filth; at first glance, she hadn’t even noticed that tiny puddle was left by the Blood Moon Witch’s ability.
After all these years, not only did Xiaoxi remember the Blood Moon Witch’s weakness, she could recognize her traces at a glance……
Muxingge thought to herself, seems like you’re even closer to the Blood Moon Witch than to us old friends, tch.
It seemed Muxingge was still brooding over Xiaoxi’s silent escape earlier.
Relying on Xiaoxi’s experience, after flying several kilometers, the two stopped.
The four quarter notes floating around Muxingge split into sixteen and then sixty-four smaller notes, which, as Scouts, flew down to various spots below.
Now it was just a matter of waiting to catch their prey.
“Xingge, if possible, can we try to talk to the Blood Moon Witch before deciding to fight?”
Muxingge shot Xiaoxi a sidelong glance: “What? After years of Retirement your personality’s gotten soft? Back in the day, whenever you two met on the battlefield, didn’t you immediately start fighting?”
People always discussed Eternal Star and the Blood Moon Witch as model nemeses, but only Muxingge as a teammate knew how ruthless their past battles had been, how much they’d wished to destroy each other.
“Times have changed,” Xiaoxi sighed. “During the Great Chaos Era, our fights were forced by opposition. Now the Divine Summon Order has already been wiped out. I just think maybe talking it out could solve things.”
“I don’t suggest you do that, Axing,” Miss L’s serious voice came from the communicator. “Do you remember the Bounty Hunter I mentioned last time? The Succubus, An Wanwan, who lost part of her memory.”
Since Muxingge was present, to avoid exposing Xiaoxi Sirius’s identity, Miss L deliberately changed her phrasing.
“After the medical department’s checkup, we found her brain had sustained some damage—apparently the Blood Moon Witch’s doing. We now suspect An Wanwan was targeted by the Blood Moon Witch while escaping along an isolated route. That woman absorbed An Wanwan’s magic power, then attacked her further to prevent being exposed.”
“And regarding your previous position in the sewer, our locator shows it’s directly beneath the city wall and right about to leave Summersea City.”
“Other departments found that this spot is the weakest area of Summersea City’s Magical Barrier. It seems that when building the Magical Barrier, they overlooked this abandoned sewer. If you’d arrived a little later, the Blood Moon Witch might have escaped. Do you get my point?”
Muxingge and Xiaoxi both grew grim. The Blood Moon Witch had been hiding in Summersea City for a long time.
Perhaps she thought the Association had dropped its guard, so she tried to slip away unnoticed using this method.
Otherwise, why would the Blood Moon Witch come to such a remote place late at night unless she had another reason?
Since the Blood Moon Witch always wanted to escape the Association’s control, she definitely had nothing to discuss with Xiaoxi, who represented the Association.
And this time, she had chosen a Bounty Hunter as her target. What if, next time, she targeted an ordinary citizen?
Miss L’s meaning was clear: even if the Divine Summon Order had fallen, the Blood Moon Witch was still dangerous.
Being kind to the enemy was just courting death!
Did the Blood Moon Witch dream of settling down with a little girlfriend for a quiet life?
Did you think everyone would become like you after Retirement, Axing?
So Xiaoxi sighed and didn’t argue further. Just then, Muxingge suddenly seemed to sense something and looked into the distance.
“The notes are reacting. The fish is on the hook!”
While traveling through the black mud, Ye Xinglan was anxious, her mind drifting to many things.
She no longer cared who the mysterious person that lured her here was. She cared more about their true goal.
First, she was tricked into coming here, then reported to the Association so that her nemesis, Eternal Star, would come to catch her.
This deserted suburban area was a perfect place to act without restraint… It was practically laying the groundwork for a fierce battle.
And then what? To put it bluntly, she, Eternal Star, and Muxingge were currently the top three fighting forces in Summersea City.
If the three of them ended up badly injured fighting here tonight, who would benefit?
Fortunately, Ye Xinglan was rational enough—she had no intention of fighting Eternal Star.
If Xiaoxi wasn’t kidnapped, by this time she’d already be back home.
Right now, all she wanted was to go home and hold Xiaoxi in her arms to sleep!
When she’d pushed her black mud travel to its limit, Ye Xinglan surfaced as usual.
But just as her head emerged, she sensed two powerful auras speeding her way.
Still found out? Ye Xinglan was stunned. Eternal Star was as infuriating as ever, clinging like an unshakable bandage!
Ye Xinglan couldn’t immediately dive into the mud again.
Although she wanted revenge, she felt like starting a fight with Eternal Star now would be playing right into someone’s trap.
So as the starlight rushed at her, for the first time in her life, Ye Xinglan didn’t immediately take a combat stance, but instead tried to speak.
“Listen to me—”
Before she finished, a blast of starlight shot straight at her. Fortunately, Ye Xinglan reacted quickly and barely dodged, avoiding an instant kill.
Xiaoxi had followed Miss L’s advice. She and Muxingge were on high alert.
“How are we fighting? Same as always?”
“Same as always.”
Years of teamwork made tactics unnecessary to discuss.
Xiaoxi immediately switched from [Venus] form to [Morning Star] form, while Muxingge’s notes gave her a Buff and floated nearby to provide battle support.
One handled support and harassment; the other engaged in close combat.
After so many years of fighting side by side, the two were perfectly coordinated.
Facing her familiar foes, Ye Xinglan was briefly dazed, as if she’d returned to the Great Chaos Era’s battlefield, watching the two begin fighting at the slightest disagreement……
Especially seeing Eternal Star, a nameless fury burned inside Ye Xinglan.
“Eternal Star…”
Ye Xinglan gritted her teeth. Wanting to talk to this bastard was just wishful thinking. Even after so long, this lunatic was just as rabid as ever—attacking at the first opportunity!
She hadn’t intended to hurt anyone. She only wanted to live a normal life with Xiaoxi now……
So why did these damned Magic Girls have to hound her? Why did they have to drag her back?
Xiaoxi, wielding her Starblade, had already charged. Ye Xinglan wasted no more words.
She dragged out a Scythe taller than herself from the black mud, and the two weapons collided violently.
In that instant, the massive clash of magic seemed to make the earth tremble.
Kilometers away, other Magic Girls subconsciously looked up—the commotion from Eternal Star and the Blood Moon Witch’s battle was too great.
As Magic Girls, they were naturally sensitive to magic fluctuations.
Black Rose also looked up, a hint of smugness on her lips.
Only Shandie, in charge of escorting her, kept her head down expressionlessly, her thoughts unknown.
In just a few seconds, the two had exchanged blows several times.
The knight’s Starblade in Xiaoxi’s hands streaked across the silent night like a meteor, slashing Ye Xinglan’s blood-red Scythe and scattering black mud everywhere.
The nearby trees and wild grass suffered, corroded with a sizzling sound.
Xiaoxi wasn’t holding back. Every move was deadly. Catching the Blood Moon Witch’s trail was not easy.
She wasn’t just trying to take her down in one go—she wanted to end her endless overtime as a Magic Girl once and for all.
The two conditions Xiaoxi agreed on with Miss L were simple: capture Black Rose and the Blood Moon Witch.
Now that Black Rose was already caught, as long as she could take down the Blood Moon Witch tonight, she could say goodbye to the Magic Girl Association and fully embrace her peaceful Retirement life.
Of course, Xiaoxi had no idea that she herself had actually been taken down by the Blood Moon Witch yesterday.
All she had in her mind now was one thing—to secure her Retirement, and to live a calm, stable life with Xinglan, she had to bring down the Blood Moon Witch tonight!
Just thinking about her little girlfriend, Ye Xinglan, gave Xiaoxi even more motivation in battle.