Xiaoxi never expected she’d get another chance to cross blades with the Blood Moon Witch.
Each time she blocked that crimson scythe’s wide, sweeping attacks, Xiaoxi could feel her palms going numb from the shock—after so many years, the Blood Moon Witch’s strength was still terrifying.
For a moment, Xiaoxi felt a pang of nostalgia, as if she had returned to the days of the Great Chaos Era, fighting side by side with her teammates every day.
Most of her former comrades had since gone their separate ways, and ever since Xiaoxi resolved to retire, she hadn’t seen them for a long time.
No… In order to retire in peace, in order to live a calm and steady life with Xinglan, she had to take down the Blood Moon Witch here tonight!
A surge of determination welled up inside Xiaoxi, her attacks growing sharper and more ferocious.
She had no idea that on the other side, Ye Xinglan harbored the same determination.
To live a peaceful life with Xiaoxi—so they could shamelessly do indecent things together every day… tonight, she absolutely could not lose to that bastard, Eternal Star!
In this moment, both girls bet their beloved girlfriends in their hearts, fighting with renewed energy.
Miss L was grateful the two had chosen to battle on the outskirts of the city; this was nothing like the Great Chaos Era.
If these two went wild in the City like this, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Ye Xinglan was different from the other magical girls like Xiaoxi and her friends.
Her power was uncontrollable—if she unleashed her full strength, it would spiral out of control!
By now, the forest beneath their feet had already turned to scorched earth.
Ye Xinglan’s every strike was wide and forceful—even facing two opponents at once, she didn’t lose ground at all.
In fact, her aura seemed to grow fiercer with each exchange.
But when facing Muxingge, Ye Xinglan hesitated. This wasn’t like the Great Chaos Era—back then, they were simply enemies.
She never expected to have any involvement with Muxingge now.
Muxingge was not only her girlfriend’s boss, but was also the one who encouraged Xiaoxi to confess to her last time.
Ye Xinglan just couldn’t bring herself to strike Muxingge too harshly.
But Eternal Star was a different story—no relationship there.
Ye Xinglan fought without restraint, wishing she could hack Eternal Star to death right now, and then chop them into little pieces.
“E-ter-nal Star! Die for me!”
Seizing an opening in Xiaoxi’s attack, Ye Xinglan kicked her hard in the waist with her bare foot.
Xiaoxi was sent flying a dozen meters through the air, letting out a muffled groan.
Wait, why did she feel like the Blood Moon Witch was targeting her waist today…
Xiaoxi didn’t know that Ye Xinglan still held a grudge over losing to her years ago when she’d stabbed Ye Xinglan in the waist.
She simply lamented that, even after so many years, the Blood Moon Witch’s personality was just as vicious as ever… Far inferior to her own Xinglan!
Though she hadn’t fallen behind, Ye Xinglan was growing anxious. She knew that if this kept up, she’d be the one at a disadvantage!
It had been ages since she’d fought at full power. Even if she beat Eternal Star tonight, she’d need a huge amount of magic to stabilize her condition.
On top of that, Xiaoxi’s situation was uncertain—there was no point in dragging this out. The optimal solution was to find a way to escape.
With her mind made up, Ye Xinglan exchanged a few more moves with Xiaoxi, then used the scythe’s shaft to smash Xiaoxi away.
In the next instant, she waved her hand—and dozens of thick Touches burst forth from the Black Mud, lashing out at both of them!
The sky-darkening Touches completely obscured the girls’ vision.
But Xiaoxi’s eyes suddenly lit up—now’s the time! She’d been waiting for this very opportunity!
With a powerful swing of her Knight’s Longsword, she sliced through every Touch blocking her sight.
Xiaoxi had no idea that, just last night, these very Touches had played with her until her eyes rolled back more than once……
She was truly repaying kindness with vengeance.
Immediately, Xiaoxi switched from [Morning Star] to [Venus] mode.
Without even looking, she aimed her Starlight Magical Wand at an impossibly tricky angle behind her—
And fired!
As sworn enemies, Xiaoxi was all too familiar with the Blood Moon Witch’s thinking.
She’d guessed from the start that Ye Xinglan would use this trick to escape, so she’d waited for this opening.
A slender beam of starlight pierced Ye Xinglan’s thigh. She let out a muffled grunt, but still gritted her teeth and dove into the Black Mud.
She couldn’t stop! If she stopped here, she’d never make it back to Xiaoxi!
Muxingge’s musical note shot toward Ye Xinglan’s location a second too late, but by then, Ye Xinglan had completely submerged into the Black Mud.
“Tch, just missed her. Axing, let’s go block her up ahead…”
“No, don’t chase her. The Blood Moon Witch isn’t stupid enough to make the same mistake twice. This time, she won’t come up for ‘air’ again.”
Miss L’s tone was serious. “Besides, ahead is the City. We can’t fight in a place like that. Anyway, the Blood Moon Witch is injured now. If she wants to replenish her magic, she won’t be able to hide as well as before.”
Muxingge and Xiaoxi gazed into the distance. They could already make out the dense lights ahead—the city’s glow.
Beyond a few kilometers, it would no longer be suitable for them to fight.
“Sorry, I missed my shot. It’s just been so long since I fought like this…”
Xiaoxi lowered her head, not telling the whole truth.
In fact, she could have fired straight through the Blood Moon Witch’s chest just now, which likely would have kept her there… but in the last moment, for some reason, she hesitated.
The Blood Moon Witch was still as dangerous and malicious as ever, yet Xiaoxi instinctively avoided her vital spots, hitting only her thigh……
How strange. Was she still hoping the Blood Moon Witch would change her ways and become a good person?
In any case, tonight’s sudden incident was over. Xiaoxi pulled out her phone and finally noticed several messages Ye Xinglan had sent earlier.
“You’re pretty rude, Axing. After fighting, you just start scrolling through your phone by yourself, huh,” Muxingge said with a fake smile, “Don’t you have anything to say?”
Muxingge wasn’t about to make the same mistake again by letting Xiaoxi slip away.
“Tonight, you’re drinking with me, no excuses. If you try to run, I’ll break your legs!”
Xiaoxi believed Muxingge meant what she said and shuddered. Luckily, Miss L came to her rescue.
“Come on, stop giving Axing a hard time, Xingge,” Miss L teased. “She’s just in a hurry to go home to her girlfriend. She came out in the middle of the night to rescue me—she’s already done me a big favor.”
“Xingge? Xingge?”
Miss L didn’t get a response. Not being there in person, she couldn’t see that Muxingge had visibly petrified on the spot.
“Y-you found a girlfriend?!”
“…I lost.”
Xiaoxi wilted like a flower sprayed with pesticide, which startled Xiaoxi herself.
Don’t say stuff like that—it’s too easy for people to get the wrong idea! Just look at Muxingge’s expression; anyone would think she secretly had a crush on Xiaoxi!
“I even made a bet with Ling’er not long ago. She insisted Axing must have disappeared all these years to get married and have kids.”
“I bet her there’s no way Axing could ever find a partner with her personality. You know how Ling’er is—always with her dirty mind…”
Muxingge immediately gritted her teeth in anger.
“Damn it! You found someone… what girl out there is blind enough to fall for an ungrateful jerk like you! And you didn’t even let us meet your girlfriend. You actually kept something this big from me!”
Little did Muxingge know, she’d just met Axing’s girlfriend—more than met, they’d been fighting up a storm… in the most literal sense.
Knowing when to give in, Xiaoxi let herself be browbeaten by Muxingge for a while, promising to go out drinking with her next time before she was finally released.
In truth, Ye Xinglan owed Muxingge tonight. If Muxingge hadn’t held Xiaoxi up after the fight, Ye Xinglan wouldn’t have beaten Xiaoxi home.
After crawling out of the Black Mud, Ye Xinglan was so exhausted from her long, underground journey that she was gasping for breath.
She dug through the cupboard for two Blood Packs and drained them dry.
After the Butcher incident, Mo Lan’er had finally found a safe way to get magic for Ye Xinglan.
Only after absorbing the magic did Ye Xinglan’s condition stabilize.
She limped into the bathroom, every step making her grimace in pain.
The days of frequent injuries were long gone—Ye Xinglan hadn’t felt this kind of pain in ages.
She peeled off her blood-stained dress. Her thigh had just been pierced through by starlight, and even after absorbing magic, the wound was healing slowly.
Damn it, this was the second time she’d been stabbed by Eternal Star……
Clenching her fists, Ye Xinglan vowed that next time she saw Eternal Star, she’d make sure to stab that bastard seven times over, make them beg for death!
Just then, a reply from Xiaoxi appeared on her phone. Ye Xinglan finally breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
Thank goodness—that mysterious person really was lying. Xiaoxi was safe.
But… if that person already knew she was the Blood Moon Witch, didn’t that mean Summersea City was no longer safe?
Ye Xinglan hesitated. In the past, if this happened, she would’ve left without a second thought.
Starting over somewhere new under a false name was nothing to her.
But now that she had Xiaoxi, everything was different.
Would Xiaoxi be willing to leave with her? What excuse should she use for suddenly leaving Summersea City? Or… was it finally time to confess her identity to Xiaoxi?
When she thought Xiaoxi in the sewers was just an illusion, Ye Xinglan had been ready to face her with her true identity.
This experience made her realize something important.
What if something like this happened again? Wouldn’t it be better to confess on her own terms than be forced to reveal everything in a crisis?
So…
Ye Xinglan’s heart pounded, more nervous than she’d been when deciding whether to confess her feelings to Xiaoxi—though, in the end, it was Xiaoxi who’d confessed first.
No, no, she couldn’t. This was too important. Even if she had to say it, she’d wait for the right time.
While Ye Xinglan was still struggling internally, the bathroom door was suddenly yanked open.
“Xinglan? So you’re in here! I thought you weren’t home.”
Ye Xinglan panicked, instinctively clutching the hem of her blood-stained dress and squeezing her legs together.
Crap, she’d been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed Xiaoxi had already come home!