“My relative experienced something similar.”
Jiang Yao’s words were heavy, but across from her, Jiang Lingwei looked utterly confused.
“Your what?”
“My relative, my father.”
“Well, say it—your what?”
After a fleeting moment of shock, the hopeful expression on Jiang Yao’s face was replaced by deep despair and helplessness:
“Even magical girls can’t do it…?”
That expression caused a sharp pang in Jiang Lingwei’s heart.
She didn’t understand what her daughter had just been doing, and in the next second, she even completely forgot the words she had just asked.
After the pain, Jiang Lingwei’s eyes were once again filled with confusion:
“Sorry, did I say something?”
Why are you suddenly so sad?
Everything had happened without a trace; when waking from a dream, it’s hard to clearly remember the whole scene.
Right now, Jiang Lingwei felt just like that.
She suddenly felt very sad, without reason.
Was it because of her daughter’s sudden sorrowful expression? Or was it because of something she vaguely dreamed?
“No, please don’t mind it. I just suddenly remembered something at home; it has nothing to do with you.”
At this moment, Jiang Yao forced a smile, but the expression was obviously strained as she said it.
“I understand.”
Jiang Lingwei nodded, then said, “Why do you care about that kind of magic? From everything I know, I don’t think anything in this world can produce such an effect.”
Jiang Yao across from her denied her words decisively.
“That kind of thing exists.”
“Have you heard about it?”
“I…”
Jiang Yao gave Jiang Lingwei a deep look.
She knew that if she insisted, the other party would probably continue to forget everything under the influence of the unknown principle, and that would only waste time meaninglessly without achieving anything.
“I haven’t heard of it either; I just saw it in a science fiction novel before. There’s such a weapon, so I asked just in case—maybe magic could have that effect too.”
“Look.” Jiang Yao casually extended her hand, and a small purple crystal floated in her palm.
“This is almost a creation out of thin air. If something like this can be done, maybe many things in science fiction novels can actually be done by magic.”
“I see.” Jiang Lingwei breathed a sigh of relief.
Indeed, it was only natural for kids this age to like all kinds of novels. Since Yao Yao herself was a magical girl, maybe she wasn’t that interested in fantasy novels and instead enjoyed science fiction, which made sense.
She didn’t care whether such magic could exist or not because she already had her answer in her heart. What she cared about more was her daughter’s physical and mental health.
Magical girls were influenced by magic; while their souls became purer, they were also more vulnerable. Moreover, her daughter had a dark form.
People always said power itself wasn’t scary, what was scary was the wielder of power. Power had no inherent good or evil—that was true. Setting aside prejudice, her daughter’s armor and the chainsaw sword in her hand even made Jiang Lingwei’s masculine soul think she looked cool and fierce.
But dark magic was dark magic. It could affect a person’s soul, often pushing it towards extremes or distortion—that was the real problem.
Looking at the small crystal containing the light’s power, Jiang Lingwei said,
“But I have to say, that kind of magic is actually unlikely… no, it’s impossible.”
In the past, she had never been much of a theorist. She couldn’t understand the principles of magic or the experiments her companions did, yet her growth rate surpassed some of the theorists.
Besides her greatest talent and affinity for light magic, the more important thing was that, beyond theory, she had understood something early on:
“What do you think is the essence of magic?”
“Is it… a weapon? A tool for exploring knowledge?”
Although unsure why she suddenly asked this, Jiang Yao hesitated before answering.
“No, it’s the ‘heart.’”
Jiang Lingwei pointed to her head: “Or maybe it can be called your and my thoughts.”
“Magic comes from the fairy world in another dimension, where fairy power is greatly weakened. To fight against darkness and its minions, fairies form contracts with magical girls and share their power.”
“But have you ever considered where this power really comes from?”
Her hand clenched slightly. Jiang Yao suddenly sensed that what she was about to hear would greatly help her long-cherished wish.
So without thinking much, the girl asked eagerly, “Isn’t it from the fairies?”
“Not at all.”
Jiang Lingwei chuckled lightly.
“If the power was simply given by the fairies, that would be giving them way too much credit. Not all fairies are powerful; some fairies would be drained dry if they shared their magic.”
“Many fairies aren’t warriors in their homeland, yet they still manage to create magical girls in our world.”
“So the answer is the ‘heart.’”
“Putting aside all technology and talent, at the most fundamental level, the root of magic is the human heart. Magic is the power of the mind—it’s a manifestation of each person’s spiritual strength.”
“And the fairy contract is more like a ‘key’ that lets us use our hearts to wield this mysterious energy called magic, opening the door to becoming a magical girl.”
“Because of this, to be honest, when I first heard about such magic, I was really shocked. To wield that kind of magic, what kind of ‘heart’ or how strong a will would be needed to activate it?”
“However, even so, I am quite confident that such magic could never fully work.”
Upon hearing this conclusion, Jiang Yao tensed and asked sharply,
“Why?”
Jiang Lingwei’s eyes were equally determined as she said,
“Because nothing can do such a thing.”
“If a person has never contacted anyone else, then their existence or non-existence is like being affected by that kind of magic. It means nothing to them—it’s at best a way to cover up a corpse. But if that person has family or friends, magic absolutely cannot do that.”
“After all, magic itself is ‘heart.’ How can the power of the soul completely blind another soul?”
“It can’t be done.”
Waving her hand, Jiang Lingwei pointed to herself. “Even memory-erasing magic can only seal a moment or an event deep within a person’s heart.”
“Magic is a bond, a bond connecting your heart to the hearts of those you love. No matter what happens, this bond can never be completely severed.”
“Poof!”
At her final words, Jiang Yao jumped up immediately:
“Senior Ji, are you serious?!”
“Of course.”
Jiang Lingwei found it odd—why was this kid reacting so strongly?
But then she thought, maybe it had something to do with her husband—no! That man?
(Wait… what was that about?)
(What… related?)
She felt like she had grasped something, but it slipped away instantly, even the thought fading.
As the two stared at each other in the private room, neither speaking due to their own emotions—
“Boom!”
A crashing sound came from outside, followed by the ground trembling.
Jiang Yao immediately turned toward the door, while Jiang Lingwei had already rushed out beside her.
Bursting through the coffee shop’s door, where a “Closed” sign hung, Jiang Lingwei gasped for breath and looked up at the descending night.
Blackness—everywhere was black. The distant city lights seemed to have been extinguished, as if something snuffed them out. Together with the dark clouds in the sky, it formed a heavy blackness. No moonlight, no stars—nothing.
Rain fell continuously from the sky, sheets of it blurring her vision as it soaked her face.
In the far distance within her sight, a gigantic shadow as tall as seven stories strode forward heavily, moving toward the small commercial street.
“Damn it…”
“Oh, right, the magical girls have a shield up.”
Wiping the rain from her face, her hair had turned back to pink. Holding her magical gear in her hand, Jiang Lingwei calculated her remaining mana and compared it to the size of the approaching figure, then laughed bitterly to herself:
“This time, I really have to be Ultraman.”
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