Chapter 146 Part 1: Premature Baby

Something’s gone wrong.

Xia Mo felt as if her heart were being gripped tightly by a giant claw, making it hard for her to even breathe.

Everything had clearly been moving in a good direction.

This time, the battle was supposed to have a perfect ending with no one getting hurt.

So why had it turned out like this? How could the situation change so suddenly?

“Rosemary, you—”

“Take me over there!” Xia Mo struggled, trying to wrench her arm free from Scarlet Moon’s restraint.

“But even if you go over, there’s nothing you can do!”

“I have to go anyway. Maybe there’s still something I can do.”

As the two of them wrestled, Crimson Core flew over from the side.

After hearing Xia Mo and Scarlet Moon’s argument, she fell silent for a few seconds, then signaled with her eyes for her sister to let Xia Mo go.

“I’ll take Rosemary over.” she said.

“But, Sis…”

“At a time like this, it’s better to bring her over.”

Crimson Core took Xia Mo’s hand and spoke earnestly to her younger sister.

She had her reasons for doing this. Right now, the situation over there with their seniors had clearly reached a stalemate, and Xia Mo just might be the key to breaking it.

Crimson Core trusted Xia Mo.

She believed in this companion who had just broken through her own limits.

After all, they could be called sisters-in-arms who’d already gone through life and death together, couldn’t they?

“Thank you.”

“No need to thank me. If it weren’t for you and Dark Moth, I don’t know if my sister and I would even be standing here.” Crimson Core shook her head, taking Xia Mo straight to where Luo Shuangyue was.

It didn’t take long before they arrived at Luo Shuangyue’s side.

As soon as they stopped, Xia Mo couldn’t wait to break free from Crimson Core’s hand and rushed toward Luo Shuangyue.

But she didn’t touch her. Just as her fingertips were about to make contact—

A flash of black-violet light swept past, and a sharp spike pressed against Xia Mo’s fingertip.

[“What is going on?”]

This scene felt strangely familiar, making Xia Mo frown.

It was as if she’d seen this before not long ago.

“As you can see, my magic is out of control.”

Seeing Xia Mo approach, Luo Shuangyue—her consciousness already slipping into chaos—managed to regain a hint of clarity.

Her magic was now rebelling, trying to remake her body.

Only now did Luo Shuangyue truly realize her previous suspicions were right—she really wasn’t a Magical Girl.

A Magical Girl’s magic wouldn’t behave like this, so uncontrollable.

This magic felt almost self-aware.

Even Luo Shuangyue, its supposed master, couldn’t control it…

No, was she really even its master?

“If—if it’s too late to fix any of this, then kill me at once.”

Locking eyes with Xia Mo, Luo Shuangyue spoke each word with effort.

The White Night magic left in her hands could no longer hold back the Dark Moth magic’s invasion.

All she could do was retreat to her last Domain, barely maintaining her sanity.

She didn’t have the strength to care about the rest.

Perhaps her body had already become as grotesque as a Monster Girl’s?

Xia Mo felt as if a knife had been plunged deep into her heart, the pain so sharp she couldn’t speak.

She didn’t want Luo Shuangyue to die—absolutely not.

“There must be a way. Don’t say such foolish things!” she whispered.

Even if she knew, deep down, she was just trying to convince herself—she had to do this.

If she didn’t, she really might lose her mind.

“Then let’s try to think positive. Maybe breaking through to Blooming-Rank means I have to get through this.”

Luo Shuangyue forced a somewhat bitter smile—this time, she wasn’t lying.

Why did the giant butterfly appear so suddenly?

Why did it actively steal the Demon Emperor’s power?

When did her own problems start?

Everything pointed to a single answer: her power had reached the boundary between First Bloom-Class and Blooming-Rank.

Just one more step and she’d become a Blooming-Rank Magical Girl.

She used to think she couldn’t break through because her resolve wasn’t firm enough.

But now, it seemed things weren’t that complicated.

Her breakthrough didn’t require fancy tricks—she just had to eat the Demon Emperor and she’d easily ascend to Blooming-Rank.

But after breaking through, would she still be the Luo Shuangyue everyone knew? That was uncertain.

At that point, she might not be called Blooming-Rank Magical Girl Dark Moth anymore, but rather Butterfly Monarch.

Faintly, Luo Shuangyue heard cheers from far away.

“We did it!”

“It’s all cleaned up!”

Cleaned up? What did they clean up? Her consciousness sank further into confusion, tumbling into darkness, plunging into a bottomless abyss.

The Demon Emperor’s remains were all devoured by Singularity.

The big butterfly, whose meal had been snatched away, showed little reaction.

It simply took back the Demon Emperor’s flesh that it had already assimilated, and, unhurriedly, flew in the direction of Luo Shuangyue and the others.

Along the way, it ignored the Magical Girls’ attempts to stop it, smoothly flying over Luo Shuangyue’s head and slowly transforming the Demon Emperor’s energy it’d brought back into a pitch-black cocoon.

Xia Mo wanted to stay by Luo Shuangyue’s side, but Soul Butterfly forcibly took her away from the scene.

Though she didn’t know what the big butterfly intended, Soul Butterfly had a vague feeling that the butterfly meant no harm.

It had flown over to bring the Demon Emperor’s energy back to Luo Shuangyue—almost like an elder going to fetch food for a younger family member.

Once Luo Shuangyue was completely wrapped in the dark cocoon, a faint white light was spat out by the cocoon, as if ejecting something unclean.

After being expelled from the cocoon, the white light lingered for a moment, then darted off in the direction of the Lunar Base.

“Is that… the hair clip?” Xia Mo saw the true form of the white light—it was the very hair clip Luo Shuangyue had just been wearing.

[So, where is this hair clip going?* Could it have a will of its own?]

A wild thought suddenly popped up in Xia Mo’s mind: if this hair clip really was sentient, what would it do if Luo Shuangyue was in danger and it was powerless to help?

Would it seek out someone else who could use it—someone related by blood to Luo Shuangyue?

“I still don’t understand what’s going on, Senior. What happened to my sister?”

Held in the arms of an unfamiliar Blooming-Rank Magical Girl, Luo Shuangxing’s face was pale with anxiety.

Ever since she heard something had happened to Luo Shuangyue, she’d been at a total loss.

Was her sister really going to leave her too, just like Mom and Dad?

That thought alone made Luo Shuangxing’s heart race with panic.

No—it can’t be. It won’t be…

She tried to convince herself, but her heart kept pounding so fast she couldn’t calm down enough to think.

Yes, she’d suspected for a while that ‘White Night Senior’ was actually one of her sister’s identities, but she couldn’t understand why trouble would break out at a time like this.

According to the senior who’d brought her here, everything had been going smoothly—so why would her sister suddenly have problems?

She just couldn’t understand what was happening.

As she stood in confusion, a beam of white light suddenly shot toward them from afar.

“What’s that… Careful!”

The senior holding Luo Shuangxing was startled.

When she realized the white light was coming straight at them, she hurriedly released magic to intercept it.

But the emerald barrier she had just conjured was instantly shattered by the white light—as if a bullet had smashed through a plain pane of glass.

The senior’s eyes went wide.

Even if this barrier wasn’t a full version, there was no way it should break that easily.

Even the Demon Emperor’s attacks would have taken at least a second to destroy it, right?

But in front of this white light, it was as if the barrier didn’t exist.

She instinctively hugged Luo Shuangxing tightly.

Since magic was useless, she would protect the girl with her own body.

The dazzling white light filled her entire field of view.

She braced herself for the impact—no matter how much it hurt, she would not let go of the precious girl in her arms.

A few seconds later, she raised her head in confusion. Why hadn’t the white light struck?

Everything was still bathed in blinding white, but now the light seemed to be hovering motionlessly in front of her, keeping its distance.

Could it be… this wasn’t an attack?

Held protectively in her senior’s arms, Luo Shuangxing gazed curiously at the white light.

Unlike the stinging glare her senior saw, in Luo Shuangxing’s eyes, the white light was gentle and warm.

At the center of the radiance was a beautiful floral hair clip.

A strange urge welled up inside her.

She couldn’t help but reach out, wanting to grasp it in her hand.

Sensing Luo Shuangxing’s call, the once-stationary hair clip subdued its glow and slowly floated into her palm.

The instant she held it, a warm current surged through Luo Shuangxing’s body, as if she’d returned to a time years ago, nestled in the loving embrace of her mother.

Tears began to spill from her eyes.

Even though there was no evidence, Luo Shuangxing was sure—this hair clip was something left by her mother.

Along with the warmth, information began to appear in her mind, and she understood what was happening.

“This is… Purification Magic?”

“You mean your sister is being corrupted right now, and the only way to save her is to use this Purification Magic?”

“Yes. That’s the message Mom left me.” Luo Shuangxing nodded firmly, clutching the white flower hair clip.

Having been brought to the cocoon, she now knew what had just happened—and had received what was essentially Luo Shuangyue’s ‘final words’ before being swallowed by the cocoon.

White Night, the legendary strongest Magical Girl, was their mother.

The hair clip in her hand carried White Night’s power—allowing her sister to transform into their mother for a short time and fight with their mother’s strength.

But Luo Shuangyue wasn’t the only one who could use the hair clip.

When she left it, their mother would never have forgotten her beloved youngest daughter.

[When the elder daughter falls into crisis and can’t use the hair clip herself, it will automatically seek out the younger daughter, letting her resolve the crisis for her sister.]

“Mom knew all along that Sis would run into trouble like this, so she even prepared a way to solve it.” At this moment, Luo Shuangxing’s face wasn’t too downcast.

Though seeing her sister wrapped in the cocoon with her fate unknown was wrenching, the detailed rescue plan left in the hair clip filled her with reassurance.

“So White Night knew Dark Moth would have this kind of problem?”

As White Night’s friend, Monice scratched her head.

“Even right before she vanished, she didn’t forget to leave such a contingency. That’s just like her.”

She completely believed what Luo Shuangxing said—because that was exactly the sort of thing White Night would do.

That woman loved to arrange everything ahead of time, always looking at everyone with that ‘I’m only doing this for your own good’ expression and pushing them to follow her plans.

She was an incurable do-gooder.

Leaving a backup to help her daughters before disappearing—it was the most normal thing for her.

“What do we need to do?”

On the side, Long Wen asked with a grave expression.

By now, most of the Magical Girls had returned to Mother Star to recuperate.

After the great battle, only a few Magical Girls close to Luo Shuangyue remained behind in the starry sky.

“Purification Magic needs some time to cast. During that time, I’ll need you all to restrain my sister.” Luo Shuangxing bit her nail, speaking with a bit of hesitation.

“Since Mom left this plan, it means she believed I’d be able to use this magic.”

That Purification Magic wouldn’t be cast with her as Linglan—it would require her to transform into White Night and use White Night’s power.

Only then could she purify the ‘filth’ from Luo Shuangyue.

“But when Sis breaks out of her cocoon, her strength will probably be about the same as the Demon Emperor—and with all her strange abilities…”

That was what worried Luo Shuangxing most.

When her sister was just First Bloom-Class, she was already hard to deal with. Now, after her breakthrough, she’d be even tougher.

Especially that unpredictable teleportation. If her sister became their enemy, it would be a real headache.

“I can seal off her teleportation.”

“Eh?” Luo Shuangxing looked at Monice in surprise.

“When she emerges, I’ll pull her into my Domain. In there, I can block her teleportation.” Monice said calmly.

Her Domain wasn’t that useful in battle, but for this sort of trick, it was perfect.

Luo Shuangyue’s teleportation depended on entering the Sea of Magic—she just needed to prevent her from doing that.

“In any case, you don’t need to worry about the fighting. Just focus on constructing the Purification Magic.”

Monice patted Luo Shuangxing’s shoulder, giving her a not-so-natural smile.