Facing the tall, enclosed anomaly castle made of continuously sliding viscous Black Mud.
——! Lianying, as the team leader, initiated the attack. She leaped and swung a probing sword strike. Her weapon, against the gray sky, carried a burst of light like a meteor streaking across the sky.
‘…I feel like she’s even stronger than last time we met.’
‘She’s grown again in such a short time?’
Wuhua sighed, and noticed that Lianying had successfully cut open the castle’s outer wall, revealing a gaping maw-like crevice inside.
“It seems this anomaly is similar to the previous ones,” Lianying judged simply.
“Or maybe it’s the culprit behind all this recent trouble.”
“Either way, we can’t let our guard down, meow,” Miao Ke floated beside her, reminding.
“Got it. Ice, try the operation plan we discussed earlier,” Lianying said to Qinglan behind her.
“…No problem. Just give me a little time,” as Qinglan prepared by holding her breath.
“Then I’ll handle restraining it. Cherry, leave the rest to you,” after receiving Lianying’s reply, Xicheng began spinning the ball in her hand.
Even though they had only arrived a few minutes ago, this experienced team started working like meshed gears. Each had a clear understanding of their responsibilities and strengths.
.
“So amazing…! As expected of Cat Garden,” Qianhan exclaimed, feeling a bit embarrassed and at a loss.
“Um… what should we do now?”
“Even if you ask me…” Wuhua shrugged. Honestly, she believed Lianying and the others could handle everything.
“Yeah! We can’t just sit around. Let’s coordinate with them, Qian… move forward!” Almost slipping and saying her real name, Wuhua quickly corrected herself.
“Wh-what’s wrong?” Qianhan tilted her head in confusion. “You look like you bit into a piece of ginger while eating a potato.”
“Ah, I almost called you by your real name,” Wuhua quickly explained.
“Remember, I’m Mirror now. Don’t call me by my name.”
“O-okay.” Qianhan nodded obediently. “But I haven’t thought of my code name yet.”
While Qianhan was still hesitating over what to choose, the preparations on the other side were complete.
“…Solidify!” Qinglan reacted first, extending her right hand and clenching it into a fist.
As soon as she spoke, the Black Mud that had been flowing just a moment ago instantly turned into chunks like ice on the far side.
“Yeah! My turn.” At the same time, Xicheng rapidly spun the ball in her hand. The patterns interwove and repeated, finally forming something like a kaleidoscope—
In an instant, countless colorful ribbons at least as wide as a banner burst out from the bridge surface and attached themselves to the solidified Black Mud, firmly anchoring it in place.
“Finally…!” Wuhua leaped up, charging straight down at the castle-like Black Mud from above. At the same time, the blade of her sword was engulfed in light.
BOOOOOOM— Seeing this, the monster whose body was the castle began to resist.
It fired parts of itself like cannonballs.
“…Cherry is in danger. Let’s go too, Miss.” Worried about Lianying getting hurt, Wuhua quickly followed.
“Don’t go giving me weird nicknames…!” Qianhan, with some resentment, came below them.
——! At the same time, Wuhua rapidly shot at the Black Mud flying in midair, shooting them all down before they could hit Lianying.
To stop Wuhua’s support, the Black Mud acted again. It broke off part of itself, turning into a torrent that crashed down like a levee breaking, aiming at Wuhua on the ground.
“Miss Wuhua… watch out!” Still sensing the enemy’s intentions in advance, Qianhan arrived in front of Wuhua a few seconds before the Black Mud moved. She raised her shield and braced it with her body.
—Like a flood control sandbag stopping a tilted torrent, the Black Mud was diverted left and right.
.
“…I won’t let you hurt them!” As Lianying’s voice fell, accompanied by her worry for her companions and her grip tightening on the sword—
The light on her raised sword grew even brighter, pointing straight at the sky. It was like the ubiquitous upward laser lights in the night view of a bustling city.
By the time everyone’s gaze shifted away from Wuhua and Qianhan,
Lianying had already arrived directly in front of the monster, followed by a single vertical slash from top to bottom that flashed by.
The light permeating the sword pierced through the monster’s body, preventing it from healing. Even the dark clouds behind were dispersed along with it.
By chance, it created a strange scene where rain was falling everywhere in the city except around this area. A rainbow appeared above the magical girl.
.
.
The moment the Black Mud castle dissipated, all anomalies on the bridge vanished as well.
“Yeah! That was easy, piece of cake,” Lianying returned to the ground and high-fived the two teammates who came over.
“Yay~ This is Cat Garden’s victory. That’s us for you.”
“Don’t forget about Mirror and this… um,” Qinglan stared blankly at the new face, Qianhan.
On the other side, Wuhua and Qianhan also came to their side, sharing the joy of victory.
“I-I’m Heart,” Qianhan bravely introduced herself. Then she silently hid back behind Wuhua.
“Thank you for your help, everyone from Cat Garden,” Wuhua bowed politely.
“This enemy was trickier than I imagined.”
“No need, no need. We’re all doing this for the city. You helped us last time too…” Lianying shyly touched her face.
“Maybe magical girls are meant to help each other.”
The conversation between them was a bit stiff, like social flattery at a formal occasion. They had only met twice, so their relationship was slightly closer than strangers.
“Oh, right! That girl.” Suddenly remembering something, Wuhua flew toward the center of the bridge—
The next moment she saw the blonde girl still sitting on the ground, flipping through a storybook.
Her face held a calm smile, and her entire body, including clothes and hair, was unharmed and unsoiled. It was as if nothing had happened.
“Hanna!” Wuhua approached her and gently called out.
“Hm? You again. What do you want?” Hanna closed the book and replied casually.
“I…” With the experience from the previous two encounters, Wuhua decided to go along with her and cheer her up first.
“I want to hear the ending of that story—finally, the prince and princess lived happily ever after, right?”
Facing Wuhua’s curiosity and guess, Hanna just smiled at her and shook her head.
“No. That would be too boring.” With that, Hanna started flipping the storybook backward.
Meanwhile, Lianying and the others, along with Qianhan, caught up. They looked at Wuhua and the blonde girl with confusion.
“Since you tried so hard, fine. I can tell you.” Hanna held up the storybook and slowly began:
“When the prince and his companions overcame numerous obstacles and successfully entered the castle,”
“they discovered that this wasn’t a dragon’s lair at all, nor did they see the legendary dragon.”
“The princess sat quietly on her throne, waiting for the prince to approach. Then she revealed the truth of everything.”
With that, Hanna put the storybook aside. She stood up from the ground, her jade-like clear eyes meeting Wuhua’s, who was about the same height, at close distance.
“Actually, there was no evil dragon at all.”
“It was just that the princess felt that if the prince wanted to be with her, he had to do something to prove his courage and strength.”
“As a princess, she also needed to be valued by the kingdom and receive the congratulations and adoration of the people.”
“The prince rescued the princess who was kidnapped by the dragon. The king, to repay him, betrothed the princess. With everyone celebrating, the two entered into marriage—”
“Only such a romantic story was worthy of the princess. So the princess schemed to stage this entire show.”
Amid Wuhua’s questioning gaze—‘Is this really a fairy tale for children?’—Hanna leaned close to her ear and whispered softly:
“The princess was actually the dragon.”