Chapter 125 Part 2: Can’t Get Interested

“Yo, not bad mastering a new technique.”

With one hand, she blocked the scythe swinging from behind.

The Soul Summoner Princess was just about to counterattack with a slash aimed at Luo Shuangyue, only to find that Luo Shuangyue had already vanished without a trace.

The next moment, Luo Shuangyue appeared again behind her and continued to launch a surprise attack.

Clang, clang, clang—the long blade and the scythe clashed repeatedly.

Every time, Luo Shuangyue attacked from some strange angle, but no matter how hard she tried, she was always effortlessly blocked by the Soul Summoner Princess.

Don’t underestimate the Soul Summoner Princess, despite her specialty in soul magic, her close combat skills were far from lacking.

After all, she wielded a blade.

But facing Luo Shuangyue, who could strike and retreat in an instant, the Soul Summoner Princess really didn’t have many normal ways to catch her.

“Relying too much on these tricks can easily expose your flaws.”

Purpleflame ignited on the long blade as the Soul Summoner Princess gracefully spun once. The flames on the blade formed a ring of fire that expanded outward in all directions.

Then, Luo Shuangyue, engulfed in flames, was forced out of the Sea of Magic by the soulfire.

“You can’t hide at all, Senior Bijou, you’re totally cheating.”

Luo Shuangyue stamped out the burning flames on her body with some effort, her face full of dissatisfaction as she complained.

Of course, she could have simply run far away, but that would be meaningless.

If she wanted to attack, she had to charge straight through the Soul Summoner Princess’s fire ring. Merging with the Sea of Magic left her quite fragile—just two hits would cause serious injury.

In other words, this move from the Soul Summoner Princess effectively sealed off more than half of Luo Shuangyue’s combat power.

“This tactic is strong against opponents of the same rank, but when facing Full Bloom-Class Magical Girls, it’s like this.”

The Soul Summoner Princess smiled, reminding Luo Shuangyue not to think that mastering this ability meant she could rest easy and become invincible.

Full Bloom-Class Magical Girls might not be able to merge completely into the Sea of Magic for ultra-high-speed movement like Luo Shuangyue, but they all possessed ways to influence the Sea of Magic to some extent.

The Soul Summoner Princess was actually quite mild compared to other Full Bloom-Class girls—others wouldn’t just force Luo Shuangyue out of the void state, they would also severely injure her in the process.

“I know, when I face Royal-Class Magic Beasts, I definitely won’t do this.”

Luo Shuangyue nodded vigorously.

When facing Royal-Class Magic Beasts, she would just run far away and pull out the White Night Hair Clip. Only fools would send Dark Moth after Royal-Class Magic Beasts.

“I believe you.”

The Soul Summoner Princess had confidence in Luo Shuangyue’s cleverness. This girl wasn’t stubborn and listened well—she was a prime candidate.

After all these days, nearly all the magical girls in the Lunar Base had come to recognize Dark Moth.

Whether they had met or not, whether they had served on the same squad, the current Luo Shuangyue was unanimously regarded as one of the strongest Initial Bloom-Class Magical Girls at the base.

She was called “one of the strongest” because some of the Magic Department’s top talents hadn’t made their move yet; they weren’t going to let an “outsider” like Dark Moth easily claim the top spot.

But those talents who were compared to Luo Shuangyue all acknowledged her strength, especially Scarlet Moon, who often went on missions with her.

Scarlet Moon had fully realized the gap between herself and Luo Shuangyue.

Because of her younger sister, Scarlet Moon had timidly approached Xia Mo a few days ago, and the two had a fierce fight at the training ground.

Luo Shuangyue didn’t understand why they fought, but judging from Xia Mo’s expression that day, she must have felt quite satisfied and refreshed.

As for the result, Xia Mo and Scarlet Moon ended in a 50-50 draw, but in the final bout, Xia Mo narrowly lost to the Magic Department’s prodigy.

After all, Xia Mo had only recently advanced to Initial Bloom, and without Ye Lin’s help, she wouldn’t have been able to hold her own against Scarlet Moon.

She lost the final bout because of insufficient foundation—this kind of fight depended not on skill, but sheer power.

Xia Mo obviously wasn’t going to blow all her mana on sparring, so losing wasn’t surprising.

Afterwards, Scarlet Moon asked Xia Mo how strong Dark Moth really was, and Xia Mo said Dark Moth could spin herself around with just one hand.

“She didn’t even need to attack me herself—her spirit weapon alone could easily defeat me.”

Xia Mo’s battles against Phantom Scythe were notoriously unfavorable; her magic cannon shots only provided snacks for Phantom Scythe.

Xia Mo was serious when she said this, so Scarlet Moon believed her.

Once Scarlet Moon believed it, the entire Lunar Base knew just how powerful Dark Moth really was.

“So, are you going to accept those kids’ invitations?”

“Of course! After being beaten up by you seniors for so long, I want to try beating someone else for a change.”

Luo Shuangyue’s mouth curved into a wildly confident smile.

After her reputation spread across the Lunar Base, some Magic Department magical girls grew unhappy. They felt Dark Moth wasn’t that strong and wanted to see her true level.

So they discussed it and decided to challenge Dark Moth to a sparring match.

The Full Bloom-Class Magical Girls of the Magic Department said nothing about this—neither stopping nor supporting.

But this silent approval was enough to excite those challengers; they felt their seniors wanted them to teach Dark Moth a lesson.

Yesterday, their representatives formally delivered a challenge letter to Luo Shuangyue. Although polite in wording, the message was clear: “Let’s have a fight.”

This excited Luo Shuangyue, who had been beaten up for so many days. It was even affecting her confidence.

Now, with someone willing to be her punching bag and help her regain confidence, how could she refuse?

After reading the letter, she immediately stopped the messenger wanting to leave and said she accepted the challenge, letting them arrange the time and place.

The messenger girl looked confused seeing Luo Shuangyue so excited, thinking Luo Shuangyue would hesitate before accepting the challenge—this wasn’t what they expected.

◎ But since Luo Shuangyue accepted so readily, they had no reason to back down. Soon, they agreed on the time and place for the spar.

“Tomorrow at 6 PM, in Training Ground No. 1. Senior, will you come cheer me on?”

Luo Shuangyue’s words drew a light laugh from the Soul Summoner Princess.

“Cheer you on? I’m not shameless enough for that.”

To her, there was no need to watch Luo Shuangyue spar with those Magic Department girls—she knew exactly how strong Luo Shuangyue was.

She was capable of landing a few hits even against Full Bloom-Class Magical Girls; against those sheltered Magic Department girls, the only word was slaughter.

“If you want to challenge all of them one-on-one, I might consider cheering for you.”

“Really? Then it’s a deal!” Luo Shuangyue grinned. She felt one-on-one duels were too easy and wanted to take on multiple opponents at once.

“I’ll go discuss with them now!”

“Scarlet, are you really not going to participate in this spar?”

As Luo Shuangyue decided to have everyone join the fight, Magic Department magical girls were busy recruiting participants.

Almost all the prodigies in the Magic Department had decided to join—only Scarlet Moon hadn’t responded.

So her friends asked why she didn’t want to join.

“Don’t you like sparring? You just fought Rosemary from Xinghai City the other day and won in style, right?”

A blue-haired girl floated beside Scarlet Moon, asking seriously.

Scarlet Moon stared unblinking at a distant target, aiming her huge cannon shaped like a blooming flower and firing a brilliant red beam.

The target exploded instantly.

She pushed her weapon aside and answered with a wistful tone: “Dark Moth is really strong. I don’t think I can beat her.”

Her teammates didn’t know how strong Dark Moth was, but she did.

These days, she went on patrol missions with Dark Moth and Rosemary. Within their patrol squad, there were clearly three tiers of strength.

At the bottom were the ordinary Initial Bloom-Class Magical Girls. Some strong, some weak, but not a huge gap between them.

The middle tier was Rosemary and herself, much stronger than ordinary Initial Bloom-Class girls.

Their fight the other day proved that, regardless of how much of Rosemary’s strength came from her spirit weapon, Rosemary was definitely a match for her.

As for Dark Moth, her strength was even more unfathomable. Despite usually sticking close to Rosemary, that was far from her true limits.

According to Rosemary, Dark Moth could beat several of herself if she took it seriously!

There was a real power gap here!

Scarlet Moon wasn’t a masochist; she liked sparring that was back and forth, helping each other improve—not being crushed in a one-sided rout.

“Her strength is more exaggerated than you think. I advise you to keep calm and not cry after being beaten.”

“She’s just a person, no matter how strong. I don’t believe we, the Magic Department’s carefully trained magical girls, can’t beat some wild rookie from a small place!”

The blue-haired girl crossed her arms over her ample chest, brimming with inexplicable confidence.

No sooner had she spoken than her communicator vibrated. She picked it up and her expression changed immediately.

She looked both annoyed and happy.

“Scarlet! Dark Moth said fighting one-on-one is boring; she wants us all to gang up on her!”

“Huh?”

“She’s looking down on us! Scarlet, this affects the Magic Department’s dignity. If Dark Moth actually beats us, the Department’s face is ruined!”

The blue-haired girl pressed heavily on Scarlet Moon’s shoulder, her expression grave.

“Then just refuse her?”

Scarlet Moon was puzzled. If you think ganging up is shameful, then insist on one-on-one duels. Dark Moth can’t force you into a group fight, can she?

“Shui Lan, aren’t you overthinking this?”

“Not at all! But she is looking down on us! How can we tolerate that!”

Shui Lan stomped her foot hard—but she forgot she was in space, and the stomp sent her rocketing upwards like a rocket.

Seconds later, she swam back like a fish, a faint blush on her face.

“How about this—Scarlet, you go first and test Dark Moth’s level. If you lose badly, then we’ll gang up on her!”

Shui Lan rubbed her hands together eagerly.

Since Scarlet Moon didn’t want a group fight, she would face Dark Moth one-on-one first.

If Dark Moth’s win wasn’t clean, they could use that to refuse Luo Shuangyue’s group fight request.

But if Scarlet Moon was thoroughly defeated, Shui Lan thought it was better to gang up on Dark Moth right away.

After all, Scarlet Moon was a super prodigy in the Magic Department, and other prodigies were close in strength. They were all nearly equal.

If Scarlet Moon lost badly, the others probably would too.

In that case, better to all go at once. Even if they were called cowards for ganging up, it was better than being tortured one by one.

What if they still lost the group fight?

Well, what else? Accept it. Dark Moth was basically cheating—there was no argument against that.

Scarlet Moon thought about it for a long time before nodding in reluctant excitement.

She wanted to see how big the gap really was between her and Dark Moth.

As for the outcome, it wasn’t her concern. Even if she lost, it wouldn’t diminish her own strength.

Sparring was always about winning and losing. Losing once doesn’t make you weaker.

No—it only proved that Dark Moth was really strong, and a new target to chase.

“Alright, but I only accept one-on-one duels with her.”

“Eh, I actually get to spar Scarlet Moon first? What a hassle.”

After reading the reply, Luo Shuangyue sounded disappointed.

When Xia Mo brought Luo Shuangyue over, Frost Moon trembled slightly at those words, her eyes growing more complex.

But this time, she didn’t react as strongly.

Before, she had only heard others praise her sister’s strength and talent, but now she heard different words.

“Don’t look down on Scarlet Moon. She’s a really strong magical girl.”

Xia Mo thought Luo Shuangyue’s opponent who fought her for so long deserved some respect.

“An opponent who can spar with you for so long doesn’t really interest me much~”