Number Two was likely the first to strike with its customary longsword. Its movements were so fierce that they produced a sharp whistling sound as they sliced through the air.
Qianling was able to use the sound to gauge the general direction of the attack and which appendage Number Two was using.
Knowing that was far from enough, though. She had barely managed to dodge when it was visible; now, she was in an even more pathetic state.
Sensing an incoming strike, she raised her right arm to protect her core. An instant later, a gash was carved into her arm. She leaped back to retreat from Number Two’s reach, only to have a chunk of her flank shaved off by a lance.
Ironically, Yangmo was able to determine Number Two’s position based on where Qianling was injured.
The reason she hadn’t been able to lock onto Number Two before was both its invisibility and the fact that it shook off paper fragments as it ran along the walls.
She chose that moment to swing her paper cutter and redeploy the scraps.
“Go!”
Following Yangmo’s sharp command, the fragments turned into a whirlwind that blew toward Number Two.
Its silhouette was exposed clearly against the white accents, allowing even Qianling to identify it visually.
However, it might have already been too late.
Qianling’s body grew increasingly tattered under Number Two’s relentless assaults, and her movements became sluggish.
‘Damn it… am I at my limit?’
She wasn’t actually surprised. After the damage to her core and the numerous injuries she had sustained, it wouldn’t be shocking if she collapsed at any moment. She simply couldn’t accept it.
‘No… move! Don’t you dare stop!’
She desperately forced her feet to move.
Now that Yangmo’s support had returned, she had no reason to give up.
While the pages once again entangled Number Two’s appendages, Qianling timed her strike to hit its core just as she had before. Unfortunately, the result remained the same.
The thrust of her iron tentacles was stopped by Number Two just inches away from the core. The only difference was that it used an axe this time. The next attempt would likely end the same way.
‘Why again?! Why is it always just short?!’
She could barely suppress her internal fury as she transformed the Iron Thorn into a shortsword. After dodging Number Two’s attack, she sliced off one of its appendages.
But just as she had initially suspected, the appendage was essentially made of the same Iron Thorn material. It regrew almost immediately after being severed. Instead of accomplishing anything, her redundant action earned her another wound on her shoulder.
Qianling finally reached her breaking point.
Though she had no heart — only a non-beating core in its place — when the yellow light of her core began to flash violently, she felt a long-forgotten sensation of her heart constricting.
—
The second she stopped moving, an appendage connected to a hammer swept toward her.
Qianling could only raise the shortsword-form Iron Thorn to block. In an instant, the dull thud of the hammer’s impact and the crisp sound of snapping metal intertwined. She was sent flying straight toward the shop wall by the terrifying force, not stopping until she slammed into it.
“Qianling!”
The tears Yangmo had managed to stop began to pour again. Seeing Number Two about to finish off the fallen Qianling, she hurriedly swung her paper cutter, forming a wall of pages around the enemy.
This wouldn’t restrict Number Two’s movements for long, of course, but for her, even buying a few more seconds was enough.
Yangmo rushed to Qianling’s side while Number Two was momentarily delayed. Getting closer, she witnessed the full extent of the carnage.
Cracks from the impact covered Qianling’s entire body, even spreading to her delicate cheeks. The arm she had used to block was in particularly bad shape, looking so shattered it seemed it would crumble at the slightest touch.
There was no time to grieve. Yangmo picked her up, just as Qianling had once held her, to flee the scene.
Number Two quickly tore through the paper wall and gave chase. Even as Yangmo used the pages to hinder it, the distance between them and the creature continued to shrink.
Just then, a voice leaked from the corner of Qianling’s mouth.
“I think I’ve thought of… a way to defeat it.”
Yangmo looked down at her face and asked, “Is there really a way?”
As she spoke, tears rolled down her cheeks and onto Qianling’s face.
Qianling didn’t offer any special reaction, only telling her in a weak voice, “Anyway… put me down first.”
Though Yangmo couldn’t bear to let the heavily injured Qianling keep moving, she chose to believe in her at that moment.
However, she regretted it the instant she let Qianling go.
Once her feet hit the ground, Qianling gave Yangmo a smile of relief.
A bad premonition immediately surged in Yangmo’s heart.
Her intuition was proven right in the next second. Qianling transformed the Iron Thorn into tentacles, but instead of attacking Number Two, they wrapped around Yangmo’s waist.
“Qianling? What are you doing?”
Before Yangmo could finish, Qianling used all her strength to hurl her backward.
‘A Magical Girl shouldn’t be injured by something like this.’
Thinking this, she glanced back. Yangmo had landed safely after flying nearly 10 meters.
Since this was likely the final moment, she finally felt at ease.
Qianling hadn’t lied to Yangmo; she did have a way to defeat Number Two. In movies, enemies with a ‘core’ often had a similar ultimate move — detonating their own core to take the opponent down with them. Qianling was no exception.
Under the current circumstances, she had no other choice.
“Qianling?”
“Qianling, wait!”
“Come back!”
From Yangmo’s cries, it was clear she understood Qianling’s intent to some degree. But Qianling grit her teeth and charged at Number Two anyway.
During the charge, the thoughts flowing into her mind were so complex and numerous that they created an illusion of time standing still.
‘Why did Yangxia happen to not follow us today?’
‘Why haven’t any other Magical Girls noticed such a large disturbance?’
‘Why, after giving everything, did it still end up like this?’
‘Is the fate in this story truly unshakeable?’
Raindrops hit the tip of her nose. She felt a bit cold, and at the same time, realized something else.
‘Come to think of it… am I about to die?’
If she self-destructed, she would obviously die.
‘But… there are still so many things I haven’t done. I wanted to make desserts for Yangmo, go to the temple fair with her, take Yangxia to the aquarium again, and find a way to go to school together…’
‘Will I never be able to do any of that?’
‘So death… is this terrifying.’
Even though this was her second time experiencing death, only now did it feel real. She found it almost laughable.
‘But if this succeeds, at least Yangmo’s fate will be changed, right?’
‘That’s right. I’ve at least saved Yangmo from death. Isn’t that enough?’
Just as she was thinking this, a grief-stricken cry came from behind her.
“Qianling! Are you going to leave me behind too?!”
Yangmo reached out toward Qianling with all her might, as if stretching just a bit further would allow her to reach Qianling’s hand.
She desperately wanted to reach back and respond, but she couldn’t.
In the next second, everything about Yangmo flashed through her mind.
Yangmo crying while watching TV, insisting on sleeping together no matter what, sharing her worries at school, and treating the mysterious Qianling like actual family…
‘Ah… that’s right. Even if I rewrite her fate of death, I can’t rewrite her fate of loneliness.’
At that thought, even Qianling couldn’t hold back her tears.
‘Is there really no other way?’
In the depths of her despair, she heard a sound.
*Click.*
The sound was incredibly crisp.
As if the gears of a clock had finally clicked into place.