Jiang Lingwei sent the demon’s head flying, and in that same spot, a figure nearly identical to her appeared, rising into the air.
It was a helpless move—her mana was simply insufficient. Right now, she felt like a student who secretly brought a phone into an exam but forgot to charge it beforehand. So, she had to desperately calculate which question to prioritize, how to use the remaining ten percent battery most efficiently.
Thankfully, she had gone all out once before when rescuing her daughter from the bug, or else the situation would have been even worse.
The spell she was using now was called the Light Substitute Technique.
The name sounded grand, but it was actually quite useless—just an illusion that looked convincing but shattered upon contact. It was rigid, only capable of performing preset movements with limited range, very different from the Shadow Clone Technique Jiang Lingwei had imagined before learning this one.
Its few advantages were that the first strike felt real when it was attacked, and it consumed little mana. That was why they once considered using it as a dummy to practice various magic and close combat techniques.
However, the visual effect of shattering into pieces and that initial realistic sensation made the idea a bit inhumane, so it was ultimately abandoned.
It was this very technique that had fooled the demon before. At the moment it attacked, Jiang Lingwei released the substitute and reacted “genuinely” by leaning against the wall. Then, taking advantage of the demon’s frenzy, she left the decoy behind while she hid behind the wall to speak.
Honestly, even a magician could pull off a similar effect.
She could only say this demon was stupid—if it had been more perceptive, it would have noticed the obvious difference between the Substitute Technique and the actual magical girl. Before, this trick was only used to deceive mindless beasts.
No demon should fall for this.
She had overestimated it. To be safe, Jiang Lingwei both taunted and provoked it. Usually, the best way to deal with demons possessed by dark mana was to enrage them. Under the influence of dark magic, these corrupted scum easily forget what they’re supposed to do, get overwhelmed by emotions, and disrupt their own plans.
Of course, this also amplifies their mana, making dark magic more active and powerful. Without caution, the opponent’s irrationally strong output could backfire on you.
In short, it turns fighting a tactical monster into fighting a stat monster.
Back to now, Jiang Lingwei hadn’t expected it to be so oblivious. Her carefully prepared tactics and attack plans were all wasted—the demon just charged straight at her.
She dodged again, concentrating mana on her staff as she eyed the headless body.
She didn’t believe this strike had killed the demon.
Even though its head had been knocked off, leaving only the body, demons weren’t so simple to kill. Jiang Lingwei had seen demons split in half, then forcibly push themselves back together.
Judging by the grotesque monster’s ability to detach its arms and swing them like clubs, then reattach them at will, losing its head wasn’t necessarily a big deal.
Jiang Lingwei never intended to remove its head; she only wanted to deal a heavy blow, ideally to cause dizziness or similar effects. Now that the head had flown off, things became more complicated.
“Hahaha, I am—”
Suddenly, the demon’s head bounced into the air amidst the heavy rain. Its fallen body stood upright again, leaking more red fluid.
“Whoosh whoosh whoosh—”
Several spikes shot out from the body’s flesh, piercing the substitute flying away in midair.
“Ke ke…”
The ugly flying head looked toward the sky. At this point, it hadn’t realized it was some kind of illusion; a dry, hoarse laugh struggled out from its wide mouth.
Then, it noticed the raindrops falling on its head had drastically lessened.
(The rain suddenly stopped?)
Raising its eyelids, it looked upward, only to see a white light.
“Shhh!”
Until death, the demon never revealed its name.
Lightly landing on the ground, Jiang Lingwei finally breathed a sigh of relief, wiping rain from her head. She walked over to the fallen corpse and struck it with a beam of light magic.
Only when the body was reduced to a puddle of rotten flesh by the light spell did Jiang Lingwei feel at ease.
No matter how low on mana, finishing off your opponent was a must—just like the seasoned magical girls taught.
Wriggling her wrist, she stepped onto the edge of the ruined building and looked out into the distance, frowning.
(This rain… when will it ever stop?)
“Damn it…”
After swimming through the pile of garbage she’d made, the black blob bounced back up and sat on its throne.
Shaking off the crumbs of chips stuck to it, the black blob shouted angrily:
“Who the hell bumped my ride, you know that?!”
Within this space, black mist churned, and its vision completely merged with the conglomerate’s head.
“Can it really talk?”
Floating in midair, Jiang Yao, sword in hand, looked astonished.
Something that huge didn’t even look like a demon.
Where was Aurora?
She had only stepped out a moment after Aurora but had already lost sight of her.
“Buzz.”
The steel parts rolling over the conglomerate sped up, then two beams of light shot from what could be considered its head, converging into a light screen midair.
Jiang Yao focused, watching the screen display the black blob seated on a strange throne. It spoke:
“Another magical girl? Isn’t there only supposed to be one?”
“You’re a Dark Fairy?!”
Seeing the figure with a body similar to Little White’s, Jiang Yao immediately recognized the black blob’s identity.
Her grip on the sword tightened nervously.
It was hard not to be anxious—whether fairy or dark fairy, their power diminished greatly in the physical world.
But no matter how much it was reduced, it was still a fairy.
Demons might be formidable, beasts fierce—each with their own strengths—but both were just dogs raised by the dark fairies.
And judging by this creature’s size, it didn’t look like its power was much reduced at all. If it was weakened but could still produce such a huge monster, what must the full version be like?
At this moment, Jiang Yao, as a magical girl, was utterly stunned.
(Am I jumping across too many combat tiers?)
(I’ve barely been fighting low-level bugs, and I’m already up against demons. And now you’re telling me Dark Fairies are showing up.)
(This matchmaking system is seriously flawed! Dude, who dragged me into the high-level arena?!)
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