Chapter 65: Long time no see

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“You bastard!”

Jiang Lingwei gritted her silver teeth and took a step back to dodge the attack.

With a flick of her staff, several streaks of lightning-shaped light descended from the pink gem atop the staff, striking the humanoid’s shoulder.

The dark magic enveloping the figure dissipated instantly, giving Jiang Lingwei a precious second to glimpse the being beneath.

Beneath the black mist was not human skin, but a suit of black armor adorned with various golden decorations.

(This looks so cool, I really like it.)

That was Jiang Lingwei’s first reaction.

(Tsk tsk tsk! I don’t even know the full appearance yet! Liking it now is just stomach gas… Damn it, don’t trigger the Magical Girl’s mental shield for what I’m thinking…)

She took a small step back, adjusting her breath while gripping the staff, watching the dark humanoid moving toward her.

She still didn’t have enough information. Because just before the lightning struck, the humanoid twisted its body, taking the hit with its back instead. Combined with the armor, the area Jiang Lingwei actually hit wasn’t very large.

She could only piece together the general shape beneath the black mist in her mind.

First of all, it definitely wasn’t a fairy—fairies couldn’t wear armor like that or have such a humanoid form.

It couldn’t be a beast either. It had to be a demon.

But weren’t demons summoned by fairies sacrificing their own blood or magic?

What kind of demon would make a fairy pay such a high price?

Also, demons were corrupted on Earth. How did a fairy manage to open a dimensional gate and summon a demon from the fairy dimension?

In Jiang Lingwei’s experience, there was no precedent for this.

There wasn’t much time to think. Within seconds, the dark humanoid, surrounded by black mist again, reached out to grab at her—

—targeting her chest once more.

Jiang Lingwei could only use her staff to block while shifting her magic, transforming her light magic into spikes to stab at the humanoid.

“Why do you always aim for my chest so hard?”

“Are you some kind of pervert or what!” (Annoyed)

The humanoid didn’t use any magic, only attacks and blocks. Just the dark magic wrapped around it was powerful enough, and every move was aimed at her chest.

This situation weighed heavily on Jiang Lingwei’s mood.

(What exactly am I fighting against…)

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

“Clap clap clap clap…”

The collisions of magic produced loud noises, sending aftershocks spreading out and affecting everything nearby.

“So strong… so strong…”

S SATS
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Kishi covered her safety helmet with one hand and held a crowbar with the other.

She didn’t really need to do that—being part of the spirit outfit, the helmet wouldn’t fly off easily even without fastening the chin strap.

But the strong wind blowing toward her made her forget that entirely.

Right now, she was only thinking about how even the residual magic from the two fighting required her to use magic to resist. As the eye of the storm, what kind of pressure was Jiang Lingwei under?

“I know Aurora is strong, but I didn’t expect her to be this strong.”

Kishi, a construction-magic girl who hadn’t fought much since debut and had been captured by the gorilla beast after finally getting a chance to fight, had always admired those powerful girls.

Though she mostly did repair and cleanup work, she was still a young girl with many fantasies about those beautiful and strong seniors.

Unfortunately, neither her abilities nor strength suited frontline combat. The gorilla had already proven that she wasn’t cut out for it.

Getting this far was already satisfying for Kishi.

Participating in such a major event and saving ordinary people with her abilities—instead of just coming to clean up ruins—had already fulfilled most of her wish.

So now, she didn’t really care if Aurora would win. That wasn’t so important.

She had only one thought, and she shouted it out loud:

“Getting to see a battle between such strong fighters…”

“Even if I die, it’s worth the ticket! Keep it up, Aurora!”

Jiang Yao and Lin Yu, standing beside her, were also stirred by her cheering, excitedly watching Jiang Lingwei fight.

Especially Jiang Yao, who felt it deeply.

She now understood why Aurora wanted her to watch.

Even now, she couldn’t tell exactly what powers Aurora possessed, but every move, every gesture exuded a brilliance far surpassing the magic she could wield.

The girl opened her mouth, wanting to cheer for the pink-haired fighter.

But the black mist surrounding the dark humanoid was gradually dispersing, revealing the figure beneath, which shook Jiang Yao’s heart:

(That armor… No, wait?!)

(That is!!!)

(Thank you for cheering me on.)

Jiang Lingwei smiled bitterly inside:

(Too bad I’m not Ultraman.)

Though her appearance showed nothing, she was already drenched in sweat.

Strong. The only word to describe it: strong.

The enemy’s strength exceeded her imagination.

If the opponent wasn’t relying solely on physical combat and dark magic, and wasn’t oddly fixated on her chest, she might have already been defeated.

Jiang Lingwei had a plan—she intended to first disperse the black mist, then strike the enemy’s true body.

But after a round of attacks, she really felt like she was losing.

If her magic reserves were full, she could at least maintain a stalemate. But just completing the first step—dispersing the black mist made of high-purity dark magic—almost exhausted her.

The pink gem on her chest’s spirit outfit flickered faintly.

That meant she still had some strength left, but not much.

If she were Ultraman, this would be about the time to finish with a light beam and smash the monster to pieces.

But unfortunately, this was a magical girl story, and the enemy was not some minor monster.

“–”

The staff narrowly clashed with a kunai, both parrying.

Jiang Lingwei called upon her remaining magic while hastily adjusting her stance.

Before her, the black humanoid—or rather, it could no longer be called that—had black mist no longer fully enveloping its body. Patches here and there exposed the black armor beneath.

She could even faintly hear its breathing.

(Huh…?)

A strange feeling froze her for a moment, and in that instant, the armored arm attacked her chest again at a speed completely inconsistent with its heavy armor.

“Clang!”

The arm struck the back of her sword with a crisp metallic sound.

Realizing what had happened, Jiang Lingwei quickly grabbed the arm of Jiang Yao, who suddenly stepped in front of her, and retreated rapidly.

Backing away, she shouted:

“What are you doing here?”

“Aurora.”

Jiang Yao tried hard to keep her tone calm, but the trembling in her voice betrayed her extreme unrest:

“The next part has nothing to do with you, I…”

“What nonsense.”

Jiang Lingwei ignored her words. They had been fighting for so long, it was all connected now.

“Ding Zi, you get that little white thing out of the battlefield and send for backup.”

“No, I… I can’t do that.”

“Why not? Hurry! We can’t hold on much longer!”

“Because… because…”

The girl’s expression flickered between laughter and tears, her words almost incoherent:

“It won’t be wrong… he, he…”

“He what?!”

Seeing the approaching great knight, Jiang Lingwei quickly conjured several bonds of light magic to slow down his charge.

“He’s my father!”

“…What? Your who? Speak up!”

Jiang Lingwei only caught the first half of the sentence.

The situation was urgent; she had no time to ask further and had to leave Jiang Yao behind to confront the attacker.

Go!

Drawing the last of her magic from within, Jiang Lingwei waved her staff, wrapping herself in light—

“–”

At that moment, the pink-haired magical girl knew she had lost.

She never expected the kunai piercing her light barrier to be Yunxia’s.

Her magic hadn’t accounted for this.

The enemy lightly flicked the magical equipment of her ally, sending Jiang Lingwei’s staff flying from her hand.

Then, as the light faded and with nowhere left to hide, Jiang Lingwei hadn’t even struggled before being pushed into the armored figure’s embrace by the arm that moved behind her.

“!”

Jiang Lingwei’s heart pounded wildly as she struggled, but the powerful arms held her firmly, immobilizing her.

Oddly, the man didn’t make any further moves.

He had already subdued the magical girl but didn’t directly strike or deliver a finishing move—no crushing hug or a second attack. He just held her like that.

“Hehehehe…”

At that moment, the sharp, dark magic-soaked laughter of Anshuikan echoed in the air. Its damaged one-eyed body floated suspended:

“This is how you fight! Hahaha! Just like this!”

Its single eye was filled with malice.

For revenge, it had lost everything—plans ruined, summoning arrays altered, other dark fairies in nearby cities doomed by its treachery.

But none of that mattered anymore; it was going to die no matter what, so it might as well avenge itself and find a new master.

This was a bargain too good to pass up.

Furthermore, Anshuikan noticed the armored man didn’t seem very conscious.

This discovery gave it a bold idea.

What if… instead of serving the new master, it seized this powerful warrior for itself?

Tentatively, Anshuikan ordered:

“Now, kill this stinky b.”

“Swish!”

A kunai suddenly flew through the air, impaling the dark fairy to the ground.

The light magic on the kunai instantly dissolved its already grievously wounded insides, sending the dark fairy into complete death.

(Why?)

It wanted to speak but was unable to do anything anymore.

In its final moment, Anshuikan thought:

(Isn’t this… an ancient weapon?)

“Hm?”

Jiang Lingwei was somewhat surprised but not confused.

This wasn’t impossible—infighting among dark enemies was common.

The armored man was strong and had a temper, which was understandable.

Rather than think about that, it was better to figure out how to escape now… huh?!

Jiang Lingwei’s gaze shifted downward, watching the large hand slowly approach her chest.

“Y-y-you, get your hands off me!”

Poor magical girl, no matter how much she yelled, it was useless when being held like that.

Lin Yu and the others were rushing over, but before they arrived, the dark armored hand already touched the pink gem on her chest—

A flash of light burst forth as it made contact.

Then, the helmet of the armored man slowly faded away, revealing the male face beneath, eyes closed.

He had silver hair and a beard, untrimmed for who knew how long, making him look somewhat scruffy.

Yet nothing could conceal his sculpted features, marked by determination and masculinity.

(So handsome…)

For some reason, instead of trying to escape, Jiang Lingwei stared at him in a daze.

(He’s my type… No?! What am I thinking!)

While she was stunned, the man opened his eyes—like the night sky—and looked at her in his arms, speaking:

“Sorry, I wasn’t conscious earlier.”

“I’m back now.”

“And…”

“Long time no see. I love you.”