Following Pandora’s directions all the way, Blazing Flame soon arrived at another victim’s home.
This time, the victims were just like the ones encountered earlier—happiness stolen from them, resulting in cognitive distortions in their daily lives.
Fortunately, the cognitive distortions this time weren’t too severe, and there were no major misunderstandings.
Maybe it was because not much happiness had been stolen from them, or maybe the Nightmare Demon was casting its net wide and hadn’t had time to siphon more happiness from them.
Either way, it was a good thing.
Blazing Flame and Pandora secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After clearing away the Black Thread Ball left behind by the culprit, they moved on to the next location.
One, two, three…
As more Black Thread Spheres were absorbed by Pandora, Blazing Flame encountered more victims along the way.
For those with mild cognitive distortions, it was merely a sense that strangers were gossiping or cursing them behind their backs.
But for those with severe distortions, they were already facing mental health issues and would need psychiatric medication for the rest of their lives.
After leaving yet another victim’s house, both Blazing Flame and Pandora fell silent.
After a long pause, Blazing Flame finally spoke to Pandora.
“…I don’t want to keep following this guy’s magical residue any longer. Can you sense his location now?”
“Mm… I can only sense a general direction,” Pandora admitted.
“Even a general direction is enough. Tell me where.”
“In that case, try heading toward the Northern Side. I sense a creature moving around there, but I can’t pinpoint its exact position.”
“Northern Side, huh… Got it.”
Blazing Flame took a deep breath, unconsciously clenched her fists, and set off flying toward the Northern Side.
Guided by Pandora, Blazing Flame arrived near the city ring’s Shopping Center, waiting for her target’s next move.
But after waiting a long while, the moving creature Pandora had mentioned didn’t show up.
Not until a family of four left the Shopping Center, driving away in their small car, did Blazing Flame finally get Pandora’s cue.
“Blazing Flame! It’s moving again! The direction… it’s following those people who just left!”
“Mm! Got it!”
Upon hearing Pandora’s alert, Blazing Flame immediately tailed the family of four from the sky, scanning the ground for anything suspicious.
Finally, as she reached a traffic light intersection, Blazing Flame spotted a suspicious target.
A man in a black coat stood at the corner, his eyes fixed intently in the direction of the family of four, unmoving.
Then, as the light turned green and the family passed through the intersection, the man in black transformed into a shadow right under Blazing Flame’s gaze, vanishing without a trace.
Blazing Flame was stunned for a moment, but the instant she realized this was her target, she turned to Pandora excitedly.
“Pandora! This guy’s the monster we’re after, isn’t he?!”
“Yes! That’s right! I sense that familiar aura on him! Don’t let up—pursue him and destroy him right here!”
“Leave it to me!”
Receiving a firm answer, Blazing Flame continued in the direction the family had gone, following them into a residential building and waiting patiently for her prey to appear.
Once the family had just entered their home, the lights outside suddenly dimmed.
Blazing Flame remained unfazed, patiently controlling her breathing and trying to restrain her excitement as much as possible.
When the lights returned to normal, the man in the black coat reappeared from the shadows before Blazing Flame.
The man was momentarily surprised to see Blazing Flame, then feigned ignorance as he tried to get closer, apparently looking for another exit.
But as the man neared the family’s apartment, Blazing Flame stepped forward, reached out, blocked his path, and said, “Sorry, this area is off-limits.”
“…Miss, I’m just passing through…”
Before he could finish, Blazing Flame’s right hand flared up with fire, and she swung a heavy punch into his gut.
She didn’t care whether he was really an innocent bystander, nor did she worry if throwing a punch would hurt her image as a Magic Girl.
Because the abnormal magical aura on this guy was so strong, she was a hundred percent sure he was that damned Nightmare Monster!
She didn’t know how he’d managed to hide his magical signature, but he could eat a punch first!
“Boom!”
Her fist landed; the man’s face twisted in terror. Unable to dodge, he was sent flying across the floor by the blow.
Blazing Flame chased after, ready to throw another punch and send him straight to hell to atone for his sins.
With that punch, she had already confirmed this guy’s body was even weaker than the Bomb Beast’s—he posed no real threat in a direct fight.
If it weren’t for his strange ability to drag people into dreams, this guy wouldn’t be worth mentioning at all!
“Cough, cough… How did you find me…”
“Shut up and save your breath—you’re finished!”
Blazing Flame couldn’t be bothered to answer the Nightmare Monster’s question. She caught up, aimed at his head, and punched again.
But strangely, when Blazing Flame’s fist struck his head, his skull didn’t crack; instead, he simply showed an expression of excruciating pain.
Then, the residential building vanished from Blazing Flame’s sight, and even the Nightmare Demon disappeared along with it.
At that moment, the only thing Blazing Flame could see was a dense mass of black mist.
Gazing at the rolling black fog, Blazing Flame sniffed the air and quickly confirmed that the magical aura was exceptionally thick—this was likely the creature’s Core Energy.
If that’s the case, she’d show no mercy.
Blazing Flame raised her hand, gripped her greatsword, and smashed it down hard, shredding the black mist and incinerating it with blazing fire.
When the black fog was destroyed, Blazing Flame found herself back in the residential building again.
The night lights were still bright, and there was no sign of the man in the black coat anywhere.
The only odd thing was a puddle of sticky, odorless black liquid slowly oozing along the floor near Blazing Flame’s feet, creeping toward the stairwell.
“Is… is it dead just like that?” Blazing Flame asked Pandora, looking puzzled.
“No, I can still sense its magic. It’s not dead yet,” Pandora replied.
“Then this black liquid is…?”
“It’s a part of its true body. Looks like what we destroyed wasn’t the real one, but a Residue Body it uses to collect happiness.”
Pandora jumped from Blazing Flame’s shoulder and swallowed the black liquid.
“A Residue Body, huh? So where is its true body?” Blazing Flame pressed.
“I don’t know, but one thing’s certain—these Residue Bodies are extremely important to it,” Pandora explained. “Normally, Shadow Beasts with split-body abilities wouldn’t load so much Core Energy into one of their clones.”
“I see… Well, we’ve still managed to help. Let’s keep tracking this thing down, Pandora.”
Blazing Flame sighed as she spoke.