With that, Chuxiong stepped up to Jiang Yao and slightly bowed:
“Your mother, that young beauty, is right there in that cage.”
Ignoring the furious glare of the girl, Chuxiong pinched the remote with one claw, while his other still somewhat formed hand hovered over another switch:
“Now, tell me everything you know about the Ancient Weapons, or else, with just a light press, your poor ordinary mother will… whoosh—” Chuxiong made a gesture as if something was falling from the sky, grinning maliciously:
“Smack~”
“…You… [girl’s coarse curse].”
“Hahaha.”
Chuxiong laughed heartily: “I always say, magical girls are ridiculous. Even their curses get blocked by their own magic.”
He crouched down in front of the girl, who lay on the ground, staring straight into her furious eyes:
“Your bones must be broken in many places by now. Judging by that, you’re probably so weak you can’t even lift your weapon. So why are you glaring at me like that? It’s useless. Just answer my questions honestly, or do you think you can get up and fight me?”
From the shadows behind him, the transformed magical girl [Aurora] gripped her wand and stepped forward—
“Boom!”
Then, watching Chuxiong fly backward, she hesitated and stepped back.
(What’s going on?)
Jiang Lingwei knew her daughter had done her best. As a novice magical girl facing a demon of this level alone, lasting this long was already commendable.
But how did this monster suddenly get thrown back? Who sent it flying?!
Sensing something erupting, a bit stunned, Jiang Lingwei turned her head and took a step back.
“Dark magic?”
Exactly—that pure, refined dark magic.
Its source was… Jiang Yao, who had just been lying there.
“How is this possible?!”
Chuxiong’s eyes widened in shock:
“How can you be on the dark side?!”
In front of him, the girl who had just been lying on the ground now stood clad in a pitch-black, terrifying armor.
Her longsword had completely transformed into something else—rather than a sword, it was more like a chainsaw, with red crystals serving as teeth, vibrating and rotating with her will.
Throwing aside the remote she had just snatched, Jiang Yao knew her condition.
She felt she wasn’t in a good state.
Dark magic was not easy to control. She wanted to rush forward to tear apart that damn demon, but she also wanted to check on her mother first.
These two emotions tangled in her mind, making it difficult to keep her rationality.
As for how she could use dark magic, she didn’t know herself.
It was just that, under intense rage, something that had been dormant inside her last time reawakened—and then, it came to this.
“First, I’m going to kill you.”
Without overthinking, the girl made up her mind instantly.
Even in her transformed state, using dark magic now probably put a filter between her and her mother, but Jiang Yao didn’t want her mother to see her like this.
Her left hand curled into a claw shape, the red-black energy ball that had been forming since before now fully solidified.
Jiang Yao swung her arm forward and threw it ahead.
“Boom!!!”
Chuxiong, who had just been flung away, tried to dodge, but it was too late.
The ever-growing energy ball struck his body directly, unleashing a powerful energy wave that destroyed everything around him.
“Hiss…”
Chuxiong struggled to get up from the crater beneath him, covered in wounds, but a smug smile still tugged at the corner of his mouth:
“So that’s how it is.”
Standing firm again, new, twisted flesh grew over his injuries.
His claw pointed at the charging Jiang Yao:
“Though I don’t know why… dark magic doesn’t seem to hurt me much.”
If it were bright magic of this magnitude, he might have lost combat ability from just one hit.
But now, these minor injuries would heal with some time.
His lost confidence returned to him.
He could still win; he could still fight; he still…
“I see.”
Opposite him, he saw the girl’s crazed smile as she closed the distance in an instant:
“That’s why I decided to just chop you to pieces~”
“Wha—”
“Vrrrr—”
The chainsaw sword roared, and with just one downward slash at high frequency vibration, it severed the hand of Chuxiong that still retained some human form.
Indeed, dark magic’s effect on dark magic could be weakened.
But… who said I was going to fight you with magic?
Don’t you understand what a close-combat magical girl means?!
“Vrrrr—”
From afar, Jiang Lingwei, who had withdrawn her foot, watched the once arrogant Chuxiong being mercilessly beaten, his arm rolling on the ground.
She was now more stunned than Chuxiong himself.
Fairy—yes, Xiaobai was a fairy.
Magical girl—right, Jiang Yao was a magical girl.
But then, where did the dark magic come from?
That made no sense.
She had always said magical girls could never wield dark magic because light and dark magic are completely opposing forces.
A human candidate becoming a magical girl simply cannot contain dark magic.
Forcing it in would cause them to explode.
Good, now she didn’t have to intervene, but an even bigger problem emerged.
Where did her daughter’s dark form come from?
Jiang Lingwei could only think of one possibility—that this was her “talent,” or rather, something innate.
Just as she was completely stunned by discovering her daughter’s dark magic, the battle on this side was already reaching its climax.
“No…”
Chuxiong dragged himself backward several meters, then collapsed to his knees, gasping heavily.
Once again, humiliation—endless humiliation—had found Chuxiong.
His eyes wide open, those few remaining human eyes in his body now bloodshot.
Unable to win, the suffocating feeling of disgrace filled his mind, already infused with dark power.
The mocking voices seemed to return.
Thinking carefully, was his so-called dignity really more important than his life?
Since he couldn’t defeat this magical girl, then it was time to run.
But that was the tragedy of a demon.
Every fallen being corrupted by darkness harbors their own obsession.
Magic is exactly like that.
Beautiful hope can drive magic; joyful emotions can drive magic.
Likewise, insane obsession, greedy desire, and extreme rage—these dark hearts can also push magic to its peak.
Therefore, Chuxiong would not flee.
“Bang bang.”
Struggling to stand, Chuxiong propped himself up with his twisted, mutated legs.
Suddenly, tears welled up in his human eyes.
“You disgusting trash.”
Slowly approaching, Jiang Yao’s sword trembled with the crystalline saw teeth, coldly saying:
“You actually cry?”
“I… I can feel it.”
Chuxiong mumbled aimlessly, as if talking to himself, ignoring Jiang Yao.
Instead, he looked up at the dazzling white light.
His human eyes wept:
“I… I can feel it!”
The presence in the darkness hadn’t lied.
His new form would appear in battle.
At his most confident moment, he felt nothing.
When angry, still no change.
But now, at his most desperate and humiliated moment, he truly felt the existence of “Xiong.”
A surge of happiness overflowed from his heart, enveloping his entire body, overpowering the excruciating pain, suppressing the agitation caused by mutation.
“Hoo…”
Pressing his claw against his chest, Chuxiong knelt and roared:
“Bliss ah ah ah ah ah!!!”
Black substance wrapped around Chuxiong’s whole body.
He now resembled a chocolate egg, undergoing some bizarre transformation.
Jiang Yao gripped her chainsaw sword, ready to step forward and stop him, but suddenly a black shockwave radiated from Chuxiong outward, forcing her to hold up her sword in defense.
“Vrrrr—”
“What?!”
The girl looked up in shock.
In just that instant, Chuxiong’s transformation was complete.
“This is… ‘Xiong’…”
Looking at his now bulky hands and body, he no longer looked the frail way he once did.
He even wore clothes made entirely of dark magic, and something else appeared before his eyes.
Staring at a purple crystal that had grown on top of his head, reflecting light from above, Chuxiong saw his new appearance.
A fair, chubby face, a slightly plump to somewhat robust figure, with a thin beard connecting his chin.
On his feet were sneakers paired with white socks, and his body wore a white short-sleeve shirt and black shorts.
In front of his face sat a pair of round glasses.
At that moment, he recalled the whisper from the presence in the darkness:
【I understand, you want a strong body, not to be entangled by shallow women, and to gain male recognition and admiration.】
【In short, you want to be a ‘bear,’ right.】
Its tone was strange:
【As for you humans, I have no judgment. In any case, you will get what you want.】
“Ah…”
Opposite him, Jiang Yao slightly lowered her sword, bewildered by this absurd situation.
Chuxiong, meanwhile, collapsed and covered his head in despair.
At this moment, both enemies and the ancient magical girl watching from the sidelines shared the same thought:
(So it’s like the “must-eat” bear from Chengdu!)