The Royal-Class Magic Beast was slain by White Night, and after an entire day of chaos, Xinghai City finally returned to calm.
After spending the whole day fighting Demons with her seniors, Xia Mo dragged her exhausted body home, planning to have a good rest for a day.
But as soon as she entered her room, she saw a white-haired, red-eyed girl lounging in the living room, one leg crossed over the other, eating snacks while watching TV.
That pose and attitude—she looked completely at home.
“Why are you here?” Xia Mo hurled her bag straight at Luo Shuangyue.
Luo Shuangyue lifted a hand and caught the bag Xia Mo threw. “What, I can’t come visit you?”
“I’m really tired today, I don’t have time for your nonsense.” Xia Mo shuffled wearily over to Luo Shuangyue, placed a hand on her shoulder, and threatened in a sinister tone, “If you’re here to bother me over some trivial thing, do you believe I’ll strangle you?”
The resentment packed into that sentence made Luo Shuangyue shudder. Her instincts told her that Xia Mo wasn’t joking this time.
After an entire day of fighting, Xia Mo was brimming with pent-up frustration.
Fortunately, this time Luo Shuangyue really did have proper business with Xia Mo.
“You know about that Royal-Class Magic Beast, right?”
“I know. Didn’t Senior White Night defeat it?” Xia Mo nodded. Who didn’t know about that by now?
“The Demon actually came for me first. After it hit me, your White Night senior showed up and started fighting it,” Luo Shuangyue said, standing up and lifting her shirt to show Xia Mo a faint green bruise on her stomach.
With that, and her pale face and weak voice, she practically had “I’m so frail” written on her face.
But Xia Mo wasn’t too alarmed. Since Luo Shuangyue was able to wait here for her, it meant she probably wasn’t seriously hurt.
She decided to listen to why Luo Shuangyue had come.
“After your White Night senior defeated the Demon, she sealed the lingering Magic Power, then left the scene. I only dared come out once she was gone,” Luo Shuangyue said, tweaking the details slightly.
“Then I saw some really beautiful black crystals on the ground, so I picked them up.”
“So, you’re planning to hand those things over to the Magic Department?” Xia Mo tilted her head.
“I would’ve liked to, but as soon as I picked them up, they merged into my body. I can’t even sense them anymore.”
Luo Shuangyue spread her hands, finally revealing her real purpose for seeking Xia Mo—she needed to ask Ye Lin what was going on. But Demon matters should be asked of Demons; asking magical girls wouldn’t do any good.
After listening, Xia Mo immediately grabbed Luo Shuangyue’s wrist, her face filled with concern and anxiety. “How do you feel now? Nothing uncomfortable, right?”
Those were remnants left by a Royal-Class Magic Beast—there’s no way you could just pretend they don’t exist.
“I’m fine for now. I just wanted to be safe and have Ye Lin take a look,” Luo Shuangyue replied, thinking Xia Mo was standing a bit too close. What kind of relationship did they have, for them to be this close?
That couldn’t be right, could it?
Instinctively, she shook off Xia Mo’s hand and took a half step back, her expression serious, signaling she was a proper young lady and this magical girl shouldn’t get too handsy.
Hurry up and let Doctor Ye take my pulse—after that, I’ll just go home and rest. Don’t waste time.
Xia Mo rolled her eyes internally. Isn’t your house right next door? What are you showing off for?
Still, she obediently took out Ye Lin’s Sealing Card and called Ye Lin to come check on Luo Shuangyue.
After hearing Luo Shuangyue’s symptoms, Ye Lin immediately commented, “You’ve really got some guts, picking up stuff left by a Royal-Class Magic Beast. Aren’t you afraid of being cursed?”
“Based on your description, I suspect those black crystals are the Original Magic Power of that Royal-Class Magic Beast. White Night’s final blow didn’t completely destroy it,” Ye Lin quickly surmised.
After all, she was a Demon herself—one with memories of dying once.
She knew exactly what constituted a true death for a Demon.
Clearly, that Royal-Class Magic Beast hadn’t died completely.
Its body had been purified and its Magic Power dispersed, so from a superficial view, yes, it was dead.
But as long as the Original Magic Power remained, a Demon’s consciousness could survive. If those remained in a place rich in Magic Power, then over a long time, the Royal-Class Magic Beast could be revived, like a withered tree coming back to life.
“White Night didn’t destroy the Demon’s Original Magic Power directly?” Ye Lin sounded confused.
Given White Night’s character, that seemed unlikely.
In Ye Lin’s past life, her own Serpent Demon King’s Original Magic Power had been destroyed and purified by White Night, so even though Ye Lin retained the Serpent Demon King’s memories, her own consciousness was entirely different.
Luo Shuangyue pressed a troubled hand to her forehead.
Of course White Night wouldn’t be so careless, but the White Night who took down the Royal-Class Magic Beast wasn’t the real White Night.
And she herself had no idea that Demons had this kind of mechanism.
“There’s something like that?” Luo Shuangyue looked at Xia Mo. “Aren’t you a formally-trained magical girl? Shouldn’t you know this setting?”
But in Xia Mo’s eyes was the same confusion as Luo Shuangyue’s.
“Ah? I didn’t know. Once I’m done fighting the Demons, I don’t bother with the rest. I think it got mentioned in class once, but our teachers told us the Logistics Division would handle those things, so we didn’t need to worry about them.”
You couldn’t really blame Xia Mo.
The Magic Department figured magical girls already went through enough during battles, so they couldn’t expect them to comb through the ruins afterwards, hunting for Magic Crystals that looked like pebbles.
That kind of dirty, exhausting work was for the Magic Department. Magical girls only had to defeat the Demons.
So Xia Mo had never actually seen a Demon’s Original Magic Power before, and had never realized how important this setting was.
“You’re really lacking in skill, Rosemary!” Luo Shuangyue said, clutching her head in mock agony. “How can the Magic Department’s magical girls be so careless!”
As an untrained magical girl, she hadn’t known about this mechanic at all. She’d really thought that killing the Demon was the end.
Previously, she’d defeated a Demon and just run off, leaving the cleanup to the Magic Department, not much different from the other magical girls.
Who could have guessed that this time she’d actually picked up the Demon’s Original Magic Power, and the Magic Crystal had dissolved into her body.
“So, is there still a way to get that thing out of me?”
“I’m not sure, but I suggest you do a thorough check of your body. As long as there’s nothing strange growing anywhere, the problem shouldn’t be too serious,” Ye Lin suggested.
Demonization couldn’t be completely harmless, but as long as nothing abnormal appeared, it meant Luo Shuangyue’s situation wasn’t too bad.
“I already checked, nothing seems wrong…”
“Self-checks aren’t enough. Your perception may already be distorted by the Royal-Class Magic Beast’s Original Magic Power—some things that look normal to you might be abnormal to us,” Ye Lin immediately rejected her opinion.
“You checking yourself is pointless!”
“Then should I ask someone else to help me?”
“I think you should just let her help you.”