“When did you discover us? Was it when we entered the warehouse just now?”
After the mysterious person spoke, Sapphire knew her sneak attack had already failed.
She was forced to lower the Magic Staff in her hand, looked at the mysterious person in the distance, and asked.
“Discovered?” The mysterious person laughed, “No, no, that’s not it. I knew from the very beginning you’d come looking for me, and I also knew that the strongest Magic Girl among you wasn’t acting with the rest.”
“…What did you say?”
Sapphire froze.
She hadn’t expected her arrangement to be completely seen through by the Shadow Beast in front of her.
Just how did this guy do it?
“Don’t be so surprised, Miss Sapphire.” The mysterious person’s smile deepened, “How have your nightmares been these past few days? Enjoyable, the two of you?”
“You! So it really was your doing!”
Sapphire bit down hard, glaring angrily at the Shadow Beast before her.
The nightmares of the last few days had left her feeling very uncomfortable, the things that happened within them made her unwilling to recall them even now.
She never imagined that in her dreams she would be so cold-blooded and heartless, so much so that she’d wake up drenched in cold sweat, still haunted by the voices of the dead from her dreams.
“Please don’t look at me like that, Miss Sapphire. If it weren’t for the expectations buried in your heart, you wouldn’t have had such nightmares.” The mysterious person smiled.
“Every day, you trade a hundred human lives for the death of a single monster, all to maintain the eternal peace of City A. What a magnificent idea, Miss Sapphire.”
“Shut up!!!”
Provoked by the humanoid Shadow Beast’s words, Sapphire instantly lost her usual composure, madness flashing in her eyes.
She charged forward like a madwoman, intent on killing this humanoid Shadow Beast on the spot, but in the very next moment, she was forced to halt.
“Click.”
Those Official Personnel, now stripped of self-awareness, pulled back their gun bolts and aimed their weapons at the innocent civilians who had been brought here.
It seemed that if Sapphire took even one more step forward, those dark muzzles would spew forth brilliant flames, snuffing out dozens of innocent lives.
Facing this horrifying scene, Sapphire trembled uncontrollably.
It shouldn’t be like this… it shouldn’t be like this!
Sapphire emanated a sense of despair—she had never once thought of using ordinary people’s lives in exchange for peace!
She only, only wanted to protect City A from being ravaged by Shadow Beasts!
“Go on, Miss Sapphire. Kill me.” The mysterious person smiled encouragingly. “I can assure you, standing before you is the real body of Shadow Beast No. 076.”
“My physical strength is extremely weak—even weaker than 091, who only knows how to plant bombs.”
“All you have to do is get close to me, aim the Light Cannon at my head, and I’ll die instantly.”
“The only price you need to pay is the lives of a few dozen ordinary people present.”
“You don’t have to worry about being dismissed afterwards, because I’ve already come up with an explanation for you. All the people on site were controlled by the monster and broke out into a firefight with their guns. To prevent further accidents, you killed the Shadow Beast controlling them in time, but failed to save anyone.”
“Of course, don’t let the surveillance footage get out. Otherwise, it’ll do your reputation no good.”
“Come, become the Hero of Justice, Magic Girl Sapphire.”
No. 076, the Dream Demon Shadow Beast, continued to tempt Sapphire forward, coaxing her to take that crucial step.
As long as she took that step, the plan it had been preparing for so long would be accomplished.
Though that red Magic Girl had caused it plenty of trouble—her memories hard to read, and somehow she had even found the clone it used to collect Happiness Energy, cutting off its way to read people’s memories in their dreams.
However, such minor trouble was nothing to 076.
As long as it could complete Master 003’s task, as long as it could satisfy Night Demon Lord, it didn’t mind sacrificing its own life.
The only regret 076 felt was that the human Jia Yi, who devised this plan, had been discovered too soon, so he could not witness this perfect scene himself.
Jia Yi really was a genius.
Amplifying their negative emotions, making them lose their reason, shattering the perfect and glorious image of the Magic Girls, causing humans to lose trust in them—killing them from the level of society.
Just thinking about such an outstanding plan made it excited.
Even though it hadn’t found that fellow Pandora, nor managed to destroy the three Magic Girls physically.
But with the interference of the red Magic Girl, 076 had already done everything it could.
Next, it would let time erase these Magic Girls.
076 trembled with excitement, staring fervently at Sapphire, awaiting the moment she would step forward.
“…Let them go.”
“What?”
076 paused for a moment, not expecting that, even now, Sapphire would say something so pointless.
Didn’t she realize that it no longer cared about its own life, only wanting them to die in the eyes of society?
“I said, let them go.”
Sapphire took a deep breath, raised her head, and looked at the Dream Demon Shadow Beast in the distance, her expression unwavering.
She had already made her decision.
“That’s impossible, Miss Sapphire. You have no right to bargain with me. You can only choose to kill me. Otherwise, these innocent humans who trust you will die for nothing, and I’ll continue to roam free…”
“Enough. Let them go. I’m willing to trade my own life.”
Sapphire’s voice was calm. She raised her hand, letting her Magic Fairy dice leap from the Magic Staff.
Then, the dice touched her Magic Staff, and her Magical Outfit was completely released, returning her to her original form as an ordinary girl.
“Transformation Release.”
The calm, girlish voice rang out in the hall. The black-haired girl gazed indifferently at the Dream Demon Shadow Beast and spoke again.
“You can shoot me in the chest first. Once you’re sure I’m on the brink of death, then release your hostages.”
“Let’s make a deal, Shadow Beast.”
Standing behind Sapphire, Meteor listened to the black-haired girl, her face full of disbelief.
Meteor couldn’t understand why Sapphire would make such a deal with the Shadow Beast, trading her own life for others’.
What was she thinking?
“Sapphire…”
“If I’m shot, don’t use your power to save me, Meteor.” Sapphire didn’t look back at Meteor. “This is a private deal between me and it. Please respect that.”
Meteor never expected Sapphire would give such an answer, standing there dumbfounded, having never imagined things would come to this.
On the other side, the Dream Demon Shadow Beast in the distance listened to Sapphire’s request, its mind churning.
At first, it had intended to directly agree to Sapphire’s request, trading her precious life for the worthless lives of these humans.
But soon, the Dream Demon Shadow Beast realized—
Sapphire had seen through its plan.
She was willing to sacrifice her life just to ruin its scheme.
Impressive, worthy of being the most famous Magic Girl in City A, truly capable in a crisis.
Unfortunately, it had no intention of making such a foolish trade.
“Sorry, Miss Sapphire. As I said, you have only one choice.”
The Dream Demon Shadow Beast raised its hand and snapped its fingers.
In the next instant, one of the controlled Official Personnel raised a gun, aiming at the head of an innocent civilian, finger tightening on the deadly trigger.