Chapter 37 (3/4): The End

“Come on, then—face me!”

The beast let out a screech.

As if accepting her challenge.

“A one-on-one—looks like the rules are set. Let’s duel.”

Bai Ningbing was a hundred times more serious than usual—she knew she couldn’t afford to hold back.

“Then come at me, beast!”

Chill radiated from her; Lin Guanqi had never seen such power from her before. Now, her white hair had a blue gradient, her eyes were deep blue, instilling fear—they seemed to contain countless emotions.

The beast attacked, sending tentacles at Lin Guanqi, while Bai Ningbing breathed out, then drew her sword.

With a hum, a massive sword beam sliced out.

It cut all the tentacles down.

Whether it was her imagination or not, Bai Ningbing felt this beast was after Lin Guanqi specifically—was someone controlling it?

Special-grade beasts could develop self-awareness.

But that shouldn’t target just one person.

What was going on?

From start to finish, the beast had focused on one person.

No matter how she attacked, the beast ignored her—strange.

That gave her an idea.

Why not see what exactly this beast was doing?

Why was the mastermind targeting Lin Guanqi?

No matter how many tentacles she cut, the beast seemed to have infinite life—always attacking, endless tentacles.

For a moment, Bai Ningbing felt fear—this beast had to have a weakness.

But by attribute, it was dark. Yet the data showed it repelled light.

A two-faced beast—defeating it wouldn’t be easy.

—

Time passed, but the battle stayed deadlocked—if anything, growing tenser.

“Jiaojiao, any idea why the beast is so fixated on you?”

Bai Ningbing wasn’t too worried, but the others would be. She’d noticed that the beast was absorbing magical girl energy mid-battle.

“Damn! If even Senior Bai Ningbing can’t finish it, are we doomed?”

Everyone sweated. If Bai Ningbing couldn’t solve it, it would become a real stalemate.

Huff…

Bai Ningbing took a deep breath. Would she have to admit defeat again?

That wasn’t her style.

The massive beast was slow to move, relying on tentacles for attack.

Known facts so far:

It had powerful regeneration and could liquefy its body, causing attacks to miss.

But if she could cut faster than it could regenerate, it wouldn’t recover!

Magic particles extended along Bai Ningbing’s arms.

This was her limit-break state—once she used it, her body would be strained, but it brought massive power.

In the world of magical girls, this was a last resort.

If even this failed, defeat was certain.

Bai Ningbing’s long training let her swing a hundred times, but in this state, she could swing a thousand times. The beast, just as she suspected, couldn’t regenerate fast enough.

A glimmer of hope—snuffed out by the arrival of someone new.

Behind the beast appeared Zhong Siyi.

She was the one controlling the beast.

She raised her hand, a black energy sphere floating in the air; every sword beam that hit it only made it grow. Bai Ningbing paused.

Apparently, it was another energy-absorbing mechanism.

Bai Ningbing wasn’t as calm as before; she was gasping—her limit-break time almost up. If she didn’t defeat the enemy before it ran out, she’d have to admit defeat.

She had about thirty seconds left.

That person’s delay was enough for the beast to recover.

“Who are you? Why fight with the beasts? And you can use magic?”

Of course, Zhong Siyi wasn’t about to reveal herself.

Only villains did that.

“Me? I am a beast. So, fighting with them isn’t strange.”

Bai Ningbing focused—Zhong Siyi had no vital signs; she was a special-grade beast.

Damn!

A concept-level beast, above the Tides—how could it appear here?

Lin Guanqi, seeing the dire situation, wondered if she could do anything. Was she really this useless?

She had a system, after all.

Shouldn’t she be living the easy life with a system? Why did she have loans and no power?

At critical moments, all she could do was watch her loved ones fight. What was the point of the system?

“System, if you’re even a little human, give me the strongest power now—I want to protect those I love!”

The system was silent for a while.

Then responded.

【This world’s laws are beyond our intrusion, and every time I enter, I’m attacked by its laws. My power is weakened.】

【We still serve you, but sometimes, our help causes problems. We must limit ourselves.】

【And after helping last time, I was seriously warned. If I help again, my punishment will be even harsher.】

Since the system had responded—

Lin Guanqi believed there was a way. Otherwise, why respond?

“Tell me the terms—what will it take for you to help me?”

With things this dire, she’d agree to anything.

This time, the system didn’t take advantage. Solemnly, it said: if it helped again, it could never help her again.

【This time I’ll help, but it’s the last. If I act again, I’ll be destroyed—and you’ll be trapped in this world forever.】

Honestly, being stuck here wouldn’t be so bad.

After all, she had no attachments in the other world.

Here, Bai Ningbing, Baizhi, Ling Xue—they were all dear to her.

Might as well stay.

Seeing her determination, the system went ahead.

【In 10 seconds, I’ll take control of your body. Your body will be under my command.】

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

With the countdown done.

Lin Guanqi fell unconscious.

The system took over.

Suddenly, a surge of power exploded from her.

With a deafening crash.

Her fire power multiplied—not just twice or thrice, but four or five times, and kept rising.

It was like she was possessed.

Zhong Siyi had never seen such power.

What was going on? Where did this alien force come from?

Now, they were on the defensive.

Damn—what was happening?

Bai Ningbing was shocked at the sight.

She’d never seen such strength in Lin Guanqi before.

Of course, she could tell the power wasn’t Lin Guanqi’s own—maybe she had two personalities?

As they wondered, the system, controlling the body, began to fight.

A fierce battle followed.

Zhong Siyi controlled the beast’s defense, but the fire seemed able to evaporate liquid.

Normally, liquid beasts restrained fire users—but not here. She could vaporize the ooze.

Ridiculous.

Zhong Siyi couldn’t believe her eyes.

“What the hell? This is scarier than that other person’s power!”

She realized that perhaps the other person wanted to devour this woman—a magical girl?

As time passed, the deadlock broke; under the system’s control, Lin Guanqi attacked relentlessly. Her power seemed endless.

But her nose bled—her body was exceeding its limit.

Bai Ningbing came to her side.

“I don’t know who you are, but if you’re helping with her body, I’ll help too. If we work together and strike its weak point, we’ll win. I’ll distract it—you go all out.”

The system didn’t care for negotiation—since it was her power, if she couldn’t take out a beast, it’d be humiliating.

A giant fireball formed, eclipsing the moon.

Zhong Siyi broke into a cold sweat—even as a puppet, she’d never seen a magical girl with so much power—besides Bai Ningbing, this was the second.

This power was like ten Bai Ningbings combined; Lin Guanqi had every chance to end this.

“Hah…hah…”

Energy sizzled from Lin Guanqi’s body—she was far beyond her limit; if it didn’t end soon, her body would explode.

The fireball grew enormous, but even so, defeating the beast wouldn’t be easy.

But Lin Guanqi aimed to push it back to its dimension.

“Now is not your time—go back!”

She roared.

The fireball smashed the beast back through the rift.

When the fight ended, Lin Guanqi’s vision blurred—she collapsed, caught by Bai Ningbing.

“Jiaojiao, you’ve done enough—leave the rest to me.”

Two days later.

When Lin Guanqi woke, Bai Ningbing was by her side, caring for her every need.

“Bai Ningbing?”

“Jiaojiao, you’re awake?”

When she woke, Bai Ningbing was overjoyed, rushing to her side.

“What happened to me?”

“Did we win that fight?”

Of all things, was that her first question?

“We won—we won beautifully. At least, for the next month, we’ll be safe.”

“But you shouldn’t have risked it. Why use that power? Do you know how close you came to dying?!”

Bai Ningbing’s face wasn’t joking—system power came at a cost.

She’d accepted the possibility of dying, but seeing her friends worry, she wanted to return from the abyss.

Waking to see her dearest people at her side, it all seemed unimportant.

She wanted to say she only wanted to protect her.

But she was afraid to make her angry.

“I’m awake, aren’t I? Don’t worry—I’m fine.”

She tried to act tough, even jump out of bed, but her muscles ached all over.

At that moment, Baizhi walked in.

She handed Lin Guanqi a syringe.

“Hurry up and inject this in your arm—or you’ll be paralyzed.”

“You’re crazy—do you realize how dangerous that was? If you’d slipped up, you would have died there!”

Seemed the system had managed to keep time in check—best system ever.

She really had misunderstood before.

But where was the system? Since waking, it hadn’t reappeared. Did she still have to repay her debts?

She sensed her energy was draining.

Baizhi called Bai Ningbing outside.

“Here’s the experiment report—take a look. The situation doesn’t look good.”

The report stated—

Lin Guanqi lacked a vital energy source.

She was on the verge of collapse.

She was little more than dust—one puff and she’d be gone.

“There’s no other way?”

Baizhi shook her head—this was like cancer; incurable, unless her energy source returned.

But that was unlikely; she saw energy leaking away, and this energy was the magical girls’ life force. Magical girls differed from ordinary humans—they lived on energy.

“There’s nothing else. I could try an experimental treatment, but then she wouldn’t be a magical girl—she might not even have the health of an ordinary person, just a sickly girl.”

For the first time, Bai Ningbing cried.

Just reunited, and now, another parting?

No—she refused.

“I’ll find a way to save her.”

How could Bai Ningbing be told that survival itself was a miracle?

Perhaps she’d have to learn the hard way.

Baizhi shook her head. Her sister had finally found support.

Now… fate was cruel! So cruel!

Baizhi wanted to help, but it was out of her hands—if science could solve it, she’d try, but this wasn’t something science could fix.

At this point, Bai Ningbing could see the truth—

She just didn’t want to admit it.

She didn’t tell Lin Guanqi, believing it could be solved.

Lin Guanqi, alone in her hospital room, looked out the window and called for her system, but got no answer—had it really disappeared? No, that stupid system must just be sleeping; it’d be back soon.

She believed it.

But reality wasn’t always so kind.

In system space.

【System Headquarters.】

Division 23.

【Machine 1 has violated the code and is punished!】

【System judge arriving…】

【Crime: unauthorized interference by granting host assistance. Do you plead guilty?】

【I am the judge. Machine 1, do you plead guilty?】

1: 【I intervened because my host was in danger.】

Judge: 【You disrupted the world order—do you plead guilty?】

1: 【I plead guilty.】

Judge: 【Machine 1 pleads guilty. Do you wish to defend yourself?】

1: 【No defense.】

Judge: 【Guilty! Penalty: loss of one authority, and subjected to the punishment of electricity!】

Three days later.

Lin Guanqi had mostly recovered and could move freely—but the fatigue wouldn’t go away, as if stuck to her. In those three days, Bai Ningbing had been especially attentive—whatever she wanted, she got.

It almost felt like a farewell before death.

No way! Was this really her final farewell?

Was it because she…

She fell silent.

With a sigh, Lin Guanqi said, “So that’s how it is? Without the system, I’d die in this world—not just stay here. Still, at least I protected those I wanted to. I have no regrets!”

【Host, thinking of dying so soon? I haven’t agreed! You haven’t paid off your loans yet and want to die? Fat chance!】

That voice—the stupid system!

It really wasn’t gone.

“Hey, where’ve you been these days? I was so worried!”

【Host, I’m just a string of code—a simple ai, so I can’t sense your feelings…】

【But you nearly got me killed. I was punished, but at least it wasn’t too harsh—just lost a privilege.】

【How do you plan to make it up to me?】

Make it up? If it was just an ai, what could she give?