“Is she really the transfer student?”
After sending her own teacher on a reconnaissance mission, Luo Shuangyue finally got a clear answer—Xiao Yi had indeed transferred to Luo Shuangxing’s class.
Still harboring some doubts, Luo Shuangyue sneakily glanced a few times during Luo Shuangxing’s class and found Xiao Yi’s behavior perfectly normal, with little interaction between her and Luo Shuangxing.
In the end, Luo Shuangxing was just a slightly prettier stranger to Xiao Yi, someone she had only met once.
The person Xiao Yi was closest to was the Class Monitor.
Who’s Luo Shuangxing? Not familiar.
“Was I overthinking?”
Seeing how normal Xiao Yi’s behavior was, Luo Shuangyue began to doubt herself.
It couldn’t be that she was just imagining things, right? Maybe Xiao Yi was simply an ordinary girl who had been hurt by Demons and fled to Xinghai City to find an old childhood friend to escape the trauma?
That explanation made sense, but Luo Shuangyue couldn’t shake the feeling that things weren’t that simple.
She would tease Luo Shuangxing for liking those cliché anime, but secretly, Luo Shuangyue watched similar shows herself.
And a mysterious transfer student? In those anime, a transfer student never was just an ordinary transfer student.
She was either a future ally or a future enemy.
Judging by Xiao Yi’s demeanor, Luo Shuangyue felt she was most likely an ally.
She just couldn’t imagine this girl going dark—how could a little girl who got scared stiff just by seeing Demons turn into a villain? That’s impossible!
Just as Luo Shuangyue was pondering whether to keep observing, Monice sent her a message urging her to hurry over to the Magic Department.
Alright then, at worst, Luo Shuangxing could keep an eye on things herself.
Luo Shuangyue put her phone back in her pocket, slipped into a secluded corner of the school to transform, and headed straight for the Magic Department.
There was no time to change clothes, so she went in using Lord Dark Moth’s transformation.
One minute later, Luo Shuangyue arrived at the Magic Department and saw Monice in a heated debate with a blonde girl tied in a single ponytail.
“Your data is basically made up. Look at what you wrote! Is this kind of data even possible? Think about it yourself!”
“Feiqin, are you questioning my integrity? You think I’m like you?”
Usually calm Monice was showing a completely different side today—she was like a powder keg about to explode in front of this unfamiliar blonde girl.
Nearby, a group of researchers in white lab coats were pressed against a wall, eavesdropping on Monice and Feiqin’s argument.
Luo Shuangyue, unaware of the full story, quietly slipped up to them and whispered to find out what was going on.
The researchers all knew Luo Shuangyue; they’d met her quite a few times recently and liked her for being a Magical Girl different from the usual type.
After seeing so many gentle, kind-hearted, standard-issue Magical Girls, suddenly encountering one with an icy, cold expression—an “ice queen” type—was refreshing and quite the novelty.
The Magic Department took notice as well.
Plus, although Luo Shuangyue seemed cold on the surface, she wasn’t hard to get along with in reality, so the researchers’ impressions of her were generally positive.
After Luo Shuangyue asked what had happened, the researchers eagerly explained the situation bit by bit.
It was simple enough. Monice had previously submitted Demon data to the Magic Department, which caused a huge uproar among the higher-ups over the authenticity of the data.
Eventually, they sent a special envoy to verify it.
Whether intentionally or not, Feiqin, the Magic Department’s special envoy, had a personal grudge against Monice. The moment they met, they started arguing.
“Monice, I swear I’ll expose your schemes and bring you to justice!”
“Have you lost your sense of fairness? Feiqin, you’re more disappointing than you were years ago.”
Their eyes locked in midair, sparks seemingly flying at the clash.
Such a hostile relationship was rare among Magical Girls.
And if Luo Shuangyue wasn’t mistaken, Feiqin was only an Initial Bloom-class Magical Girl. How on earth did she come to hate Monice so much?
“Dark Moth, this envoy is here to investigate your battle with that Demon. Please cooperate.”
Perhaps realizing that continuing their argument would waste time, Monice called Luo Shuangyue over and then walked into the research institute without looking back.
She had plenty of other things to do and no interest in wasting breath on this troublemaker.
Monice didn’t care how Feiqin would treat Luo Shuangyue—after all, Luo Shuangyue’s status in the Magic Department was much higher than hers, and no matter how bold Feiqin was, she wouldn’t dare lay a hand on Luo Shuangyue.
Moreover, though Feiqin was disliked, a girl who became a Magical Girl was fundamentally kind-hearted at her core.
Feiqin’s hostility was solely directed at Monice and wouldn’t spill over to Luo Shuangyue.
Having swapped reactions once with Monice, Luo Shuangyue looked at the unfamiliar Feiqin in front of her and didn’t quite know what to say.
Say hello? Or curse her shameless old thief to prove loyalty to Monice?
While Luo Shuangyue was pondering, Feiqin spoke first, “You’re Dark Moth?”
She scanned Luo Shuangyue up and down, the hostility in her eyes slightly fading.
“That’s right. How can I help you?” Luo Shuangyue nodded, deciding not to pull any tricks and just cooperate honestly.
“Let’s go inside and talk about the Demon you encountered a few days ago.” Feiqin cut straight to the point without any politeness.
“I’m not doubting your combat data, but the Demon’s data is too incredible, and the Magic Department must treat it with caution.”
The data on that King-class Demon was truly unprecedented.
If it was real, it would mean humanity’s understanding of Demons needed a complete overhaul.
If one such Demon had appeared, a second and third might follow. This was definitely bad news for humanity.
More crucially, according to the Magic Department’s investigation, that Demon likely fell from the sky, implying countless such Demons might exist in the vastness of space.
This conclusion was hardest for the Magic Department to accept.
They had barely controlled the situation on this planet, only to be told that innumerable Demons were lurking in space, eyeing them like predators. Who could stand that?
“Is this the Spirit Weapon mentioned in the report?”
Feiqin curiously asked, looking at the Phantom Scythe sitting atop Luo Shuangyue’s head, playfully tugging at her hair.
The name for such entities had been officially settled—they were called Spirit Weapons.
Simple and easy to understand.
The Magic Department was working overtime to find a stable way to produce Spirit Weapons, but material limitations had stalled progress.
After the magical power of King-class or General-level Demons was refined by a Magical Girl’s magic, it could crystallize into a substance that enhanced the Magical Girl’s weapons, but these Demons’ consciousness couldn’t survive the refinement, so they couldn’t form Spirit Weapons.
According to the Magic Department, for a Demon’s consciousness to survive such refinement, it needed to be at Emperor Rank. But so far, no Emperor Rank Demon had been killed to provide experimental material.
“Yes, I defeated that Demon with her. I don’t know the Demon’s exact stats, but I can seriously say it’s the strongest enemy I’ve ever faced apart from Emperor Rank Demons.”
Luo Shuangyue nodded seriously.
Though her experience was limited, her combat experience was considerable. As an Initial Bloom-class Magical Girl, she had taken part in two battles against Emperor Rank Demons.
Although the first time she was instantly struck down by a whip, and the second time she faced only a clone, she had still faced them. Her judgment of enemy strength held some credibility.
“That Demon was tricky. Its shell was extremely hard, its movements somewhat sluggish compared to other Demons, but its speed was incredibly fast.”
Spreading her hands, Luo Shuangyue described her battle with the Demon.
“I also felt that the Demon wasn’t well adapted to fighting me. Its combat style seemed more suited to, well, long-range battles in a large open space.”
Recalling carefully, Luo Shuangyue realized the Demon seemed constrained when fighting her.
Its damage was mostly from incredibly fast collisions, unlike other Demons she’d seen that used sharp teeth, claws, or strange techniques.
As for the little light cannon the Demon used against Phantom Scythe, Luo Shuangyue didn’t pay much attention—light cannons weren’t technically impressive; any Demon could spit out a few blasts.
“So you mean… it’s not adapted to ground combat?”
“Yes!” Luo Shuangyue nodded. “I heard it came from the sky. Maybe all those Demons from the sky are like that?”
Demonic energy itself had no concept of life, but once it materialized into Demons, life appeared.
Extreme conditions could harm Demons, such as high or low temperatures, and Demons would adapt accordingly.
If this Demon’s habitat was space, it made sense it evolved those characteristics.
What puzzled Luo Shuangyue more was why a Demon living in space suddenly landed on the planet. It couldn’t be that it overslept and failed to control its distance from the planet, right?
Demons below Emperor Rank had little intelligence; they destroyed everything around them instinctively.
If so, maybe this Demon was attracted by the blue-green color of the planet, triggering its destructive urges?
“No,” Feiqin shook her head, revealing something Luo Shuangyue had never heard before. “According to the Magic Department’s observations, this Demon came here chasing something.”
A Demon chasing something to our planet?
Luo Shuangyue suddenly felt her head spin.
She remembered an endlessly debated question—does alien life exist?
After Demons appeared, that question was put to rest. Demons survived in space, so they could be considered alien life.
So the next question was whether aliens existed.
That question had no answer.
Humanity had lost the ability to enter space actively; even launching satellites depended on manual labor, with Full Bloom-class Magical Girls sending them into orbit one by one.
At least for now, humans couldn’t actively seek out aliens.
But now it seemed there was a breakthrough?
“What was it chasing?”
“We don’t know. We only observed something in front of the Demon before it entered the atmosphere. But when we checked the Demon’s landing site, all we found was a pile of melted, resolidified metal.”
Feiqin shook her head.
At the Demon’s landing, a group of reckless people had gathered in cars.
After the Demon landed, they were wiped out, and the Magic Department couldn’t tell which wreckage belonged to what.
…Why tell me this?
Luo Shuangyue had never heard of this before, indicating the Magic Department’s secrecy was excellent—even Xia Mo and the others were unaware.
So why was Feiqin telling Luo Shuangyue now?
“Drawing conclusions without necessary information is likely to lead to serious errors,” Feiqin said calmly. “Concealing the news is to avoid widespread panic, but I was authorized before coming here to disclose this to you involved Magical Girls.”
“I want to believe you and hope you don’t betray my trust.”
“Now, think again. What does the arrival of this Demon signify?”
If so, this Demon’s landing carried many implications.
Luo Shuangyue organized her thoughts and realized she had been thinking too simply—her imagination was too limited.
This Demon might be here to hunt aliens!
“Could there be life in the starry sky, just like us, troubled by Demons?” Luo Shuangyue whispered.
“Not only that. Those lives might possess the ability to navigate the stars, but even such beings are chased relentlessly by Demons, fleeing here in desperation.” Feiqin crossed her arms under her chin, her eyes complex beyond words.
“So we must fully assess this Demon’s strength and formulate the next phase of our plan accordingly.”
If the Demon wasn’t as powerful as imagined, the Magic Department could relax. But if it was, their heads would start hurting again.
After carefully recording all the details Luo Shuangyue recounted about that battle, Feiqin left the room with her notebook filled to the brim, heading somewhere unknown.
Luo Shuangyue didn’t bother following—she had experiments to conduct today.
Back in the lab, Luo Shuangyue told Monice about what had just happened and casually asked why Monice and Feiqin didn’t get along.
Monice’s answer shocked Luo Shuangyue.
“Her younger sister underwent my modification surgery but died from severe complications.” Monice said it calmly, as if stating a fact.
Back then, modification technology was still in its infancy, with extremely high mortality rates. Even though Monice did her best, she couldn’t save that child.
“Younger sister?”
“Who knows? They grew up together in an orphanage. Nobody knew what they were like before entering the orphanage.”
Monice shook her head. Countless people were killed by Demons in those years; survivors focused on living, not caring if two girls in an orphanage were actually sisters.
“Later, Feiqin became a Magical Girl and joined the Magic Department’s combat team to fight leftover Demons on land, but her sister didn’t have the talent to become a Magical Girl and lived as a normal citizen in the newly rebuilt city.”
“But during a Demon attack, her sister was injured, becoming disabled and infected with demonic energy. I happened to pass by and asked if she wanted to take a gamble.”
“She said yes, so I performed the modification surgery, but in the end, she still died because of the conflict between the demonic energy and her body.”
Monice recounted the story without emotion, as if it was someone else’s tale.
Perhaps because she had witnessed so many deaths in her long life, this one was just an ordinary case.
Luo Shuangyue understood why Feiqin treated Monice so badly—the sister died because of Monice’s surgery. Feiqin naturally hated Monice.
Though Monice claimed that not doing the surgery would have resulted in an even quicker death, her words were ambiguous.
Feiqin wasn’t there at the time and couldn’t believe Monice’s explanation.
Feiqin only knew her sister died because of Monice’s operation.
If Monice had done nothing and watched Feiqin’s sister die, Feiqin would only blame herself for failing to protect her sister, not hate Monice.
But since Monice performed the surgery, Feiqin had a target for her hatred and began opposing Monice.
Later, Monice was ostracized, with Feiqin playing a part.
Their meetings weren’t exactly cordial—they might as well have been wishing death upon each other.
“Hmph. She’s haunted by shadows in her heart, so she’s been stuck at Initial Bloom for decades, while I’ve already reached a higher level.”
Monice shrugged. She was now a Full Bloom-Class Magical Girl, but Feiqin was still stuck at Initial Bloom with no progress.