Jiang Yao was a clever girl; within seconds, she had already thought of many possibilities.
The dark fairy’s words, “Isn’t there just one?” inadvertently confirmed that it had at least encountered Aurora before.
Right now, with Aurora nowhere in sight, Jiang Yao wasn’t overly worried.
—Not because she didn’t care about Aurora, but mainly because worrying wouldn’t help. In emergencies, girls like her could prioritize clearly; they never wasted time fretting over useless matters when something big was happening.
Judging by the strength Aurora had displayed before, it was unlikely this creature could have one-shot it. This wasn’t some Journey to the West tale where shouting “Do you dare accept?” followed by “Grandpa is here!” could instantly suck someone into a magic gourd.
Aurora had only fallen behind by a few steps, not lagged far enough to be caught.
Besides, that huge, conspicuous mass—no matter how heavy the rain was or how far away—still cast a shadow.
It hadn’t stopped even once, constantly advancing toward them.
After analyzing the situation, there was only one conclusion: this dark fairy had other allies helping it entangle Aurora.
However, if the truth was that this dark fairy was truly an unmatched powerhouse who personally struck Aurora down in one blow—
Then what could she do?
If the opponent had such strength, could she really run away?
Recalling the slash just now, it had hit the waist of that humanoid amalgamation directly.
Jiang Yao had given it her all and even amplified her magic, but the Paladin’s Sword inflicted barely any damage—just chipping off a few iron flakes.
The faint scratch relative to the whole had lasted only a few seconds before the ceaselessly surging iron pieces on the surface covered it up.
The only real effect was the impact that made the creature stagger—a barely effective blow.
How was she supposed to fight this thing? Wait until her alert turns red, then shatter it with a beam? Or use magic to fly behind its neck and slice off the iron chunk at the nape?
“You’re talking nonsense!”
At this moment, hearing Jiang Yao say “dark fairy,” the black orb-shaped fairy became furious and shouted loudly, “What bullshit!”
“I am a fairy! They’re the light fairies!”
“…Is there really a difference?”
“Of course there is!”
The dark fairy glared with its small eyes. “You foolish magical girl, your head filled with light magic nonsense, you idiot!”
“When you talk about your people to your friends, how do you say it? ‘I saw a person yesterday,’ right?”
Ignoring the silent and wary Jiang Yao, the black orb went on:
“But if it’s a foreigner? Then naturally, ‘I saw a black person yesterday.’”
“Only different ones need to be specially pointed out!”
“We are simply fairies—fai—ries, with no prefix! Those weirdly shaped light fairies are the freaks. Got it or not?”
“Enough already, anyway you magical girls are a bunch of bigger fools. I’m not bothering with you.”
The black orb stood up:
“Remember this name: I am An…”
“Okay, okay.”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yao made a pained expression. “I really can’t remember the names of you dark fairies. If you want to fight, then just fight.”
Then, for some reason, the girl felt the black orb within the light screen was faintly starting to turn red.
“Waaah! This is infuriating!”
Shouting in a strange accent learned from who knows where, the black orb flared red:
“I told you, I’m different from those mixed-breed light fairies! Five hundred years ago, we didn’t have such long names! Remember this! Slayer! An·Shui·Guan!”
“An water pipe?”
Jiang Yao couldn’t help but laugh.
“Master, what exactly is your job?”
After hearing her words, the black orb pursed its lips and stared silently at Jiang Yao.
This time it wasn’t an illusion—its body was visibly reddening at a rapid pace, even steam-like black smoke rising from its head.
Suddenly, it swung its little claws violently and shouted, “Die!”
At the same time, the light screen withdrew, and the steel fist of the amalgamation slammed forward with tremendous force!
Jiang Yao had long been mentally prepared for this.
No matter what the opponent’s intentions or what name it went by, none of that mattered. What was important was that Aurora, who had saved her and her mother, was still fighting somewhere unknown. Even if she was outmatched, she had to buy enough time.
“Whether I can win or not, I won’t know until I fight.”
Resolving this, Jiang Yao gripped her sword with both hands.
Purple crystalline layers blossomed, expanding the blade several times over.
Though the incoming fist was massive, its speed was by no means slow. How it managed this, Jiang Yao had no idea. Black dark magic surged violently along the iron arm, allowing the giant to burst with speed completely disproportionate to its size.
There was no time to dodge and counterattack—if that was the case, then she might as well clash head-on!
In an instant, sword and iron fist collided; black and purple energies clashed violently.
Immediately, fire and water refused to mingle, emitting an ear-splitting roar!
“Boom!!!”
“Die!”
“Smack!”
Suddenly lifting her head from the desk and raising her arm to strike forward until she broke a screen, the woman sitting at the table finally snapped awake.
“Enemy attack…?”
Clenching her right fist, now slightly aching, Wen Yiquan furrowed her brows and looked out the window.
She had just had a nightmare.
In the dream, her former comrades had directly kicked her out of the team, claiming she wasn’t a magical girl, that she was unworthy, and that she should get lost immediately.
The nightmare didn’t affect her much because she had already seen through the illusion within it.
Wen Yiquan trusted her comrades, just as they trusted her.
No matter how vivid the despair and powerlessness felt, it was all fake.
The key was that though she had realized the dream was impossible through insight and trust in her teammates, she still couldn’t wake up.
Only when she took the initiative in the dream, equipped herself with powerful gear, and forced the dark enemy to death did she finally return to reality.
“Clatter, clatter.”
She couldn’t remember when she had fallen asleep.
Listening to the rain outside, Wen Yiquan was acutely aware something was wrong.
“Boom!”
A crashing sound came precisely at that moment, prompting her to rush to the window and look out.
The world seemed soaked in blackness; most human lights had gone out, with only a few faint glimmers remaining.
In this gloom, she could still vaguely see a magical girl fighting that massive black shadow on a nearby street.
This sight made Wen Yiquan’s heart start to panic.
(That’s not Little Aurora!)
(Where is she? Where did Little Aurora go?)
“Hmm… Mom? What are you looking at?”
“!!!”
Wen Yiquan spun around sharply.
Her gaze startled Lin Yu, who was rubbing her eyes and stammered, “Mom… uh… it’s raining? Why is it so loud outside? Is it thunder?”
Ignoring the question, Wen Yiquan stepped up to her daughter and pressed her shoulders seriously.
“Did you have a nightmare?”
“Nightmare?”
Lin Yu blinked. “What nightmare?”
One second, two seconds—the time seemed stretched infinitely as Wen Yiquan stared at her daughter.
After a long moment, she finally moved.
“…Huh.”
She sighed softly and then said to Lin Yu:
“Don’t become a magical girl, okay?”
“Huh? Why are you saying that?” Lin Yu was a little amused by her mother’s sudden, strange remark—Mom was joking around with her middle-schooler fantasy again. She laughed and said, “I’m not falling for that. I already…”
“Promise me!”
In her eyes burned something Lin Yu couldn’t understand.
The next moment, Wen Yiquan tightly embraced her daughter.
“Promise me, if a fairy wants to contract with you, don’t become a magical girl.”
“…”
(Mom, are you serious?)
Lin Yu didn’t know what to make of her mother’s words or what was wrong with her.
She even guessed Mom might soon say, “You fell for it again,” and start laughing wildly.
In the end, she only softly replied:
“Okay.”
(Forgive me.)
Wen Yiquan received her daughter’s answer but still didn’t loosen her grip.
Listening to the rain outside and the faint sounds of battle, she squeezed her daughter’s arms a little tighter.
(Forgive my selfishness.)
(It doesn’t matter what happens to me, but…)
(I cannot let my daughter walk down this path.)