Other Monarchs of the Netherworld have thick skin and sturdy bodies; the damage dealt by the built-in restraints is barely enough to count as a scratch.
But now, this Butterfly Monarch’s skin is as fragile as a cheap napkin—just a little touch and it tears apart…
Troublesome, truly troublesome.
Even more troublesome, in Monice’s moment of hesitation, the Dark Moth was already slowly opening her eyes, now tinged with blackish-purple.
Her gaze swept across everyone’s faces, and immediately, a foreign emotion began to sprout in her eyes.
It was greed.
It was hunger.
The butterfly wings drooping behind her tried desperately to unfold, but after many attempts, she failed.
Her weak body left her unable to wield her power, even though she now stood at the top of the monster ecosystem as an Empress.
“This—” Even Luo Shuangxing’s hand, in the middle of putting on her hair clip, paused.
Did her sister really need to be subdued with Purification Magic?
“Shuangxing, keep preparing Purification Magic.” “But—” Luo Shuangxing looked at Xia Mo in surprise.
She couldn’t understand why Xia Mo was being so resolute right now.
Her sister posed no real threat in this state; why not restrain her first, help her recover a little, then purify her afterward?
Luo Shuangxing truly didn’t dare act recklessly now, afraid that one careless spell would end up reducing her own sister to nothing, body and soul.
If Luo Shuangyue’s condition were even a little better, Luo Shuangxing wouldn’t be hesitating like this.
Sometimes, an opponent that’s too weak is more difficult to deal with than one who’s too strong.
“The one now isn’t really her. If we don’t purify the darkness in her heart while we still can, will we ever be able to save her later?” Xia Mo explained with furrowed brows.
There was no doubt—this beast-like Luo Shuangyue was definitely not the one they knew.
Something else was occupying Luo Shuangyue’s body.
As for Luo Shuangyue’s true consciousness, it was unclear whether it had disappeared or was merely asleep.
But Xia Mo knew—this couldn’t be delayed.
What if, with more delay, Luo Shuangyue never woke up again?
“Trust your Mentor. Trust that your mother wouldn’t do anything to hurt Shuangyue.”
Under Xia Mo’s steadfast gaze, Luo Shuangxing bit her lip, then nodded hard.
“Then I’ll listen to you, Sister Xia Mo!”
She slapped the White Night Hair Clip onto her head, and gentle white light poured from the clip, forming in her hands a Branch and Flower Long Sword.
Luo Shuangxing’s White Night transformation was different from Luo Shuangyue’s; the latter transformed directly into White Night’s form, while the former merely borrowed part of White Night’s power.
Luo Shuangxing’s transformed appearance didn’t differ much from her original look—
Only now she wore a white hair clip, her two short and two long braids had turned into four long braids, and her white dress was adorned with a few flower decorations.
With the sword in her hand—nearly identical to White Night’s own weapon—she looked like a mini version, cuter and more childlike than the original White Night Mini Version.
Anyone could immediately recognize the connection between her and White Night at a glance.
Either mother and daughter, or sisters.
As Luo Shuangxing finished her transformation and began preparing her magic, the Butterfly Monarch, on the other side, immediately showed a wary expression.
She stopped trying to flap her wings and began fleeing in the opposite direction from Luo Shuangxing using her legs.
“Don’t let her run!” Luo Shuangxing shouted sternly, focusing her magic.
“Keep her in place for three minutes!”
[This Purification Magic needs a fixed position during casting, so Luo Shuangyue must stay put for three minutes.]
“I’ll hold her!”
Before Luo Shuangxing even finished, Xia Mo charged straight toward Luo Shuangyue.
In the next instant, she appeared right in front of Luo Shuangyue, spreading her arms and pulling her tightly into her embrace.
Immediately, a pure white Magic Circle appeared beneath their feet, and the Purification Magic began to truly take shape.
Since she couldn’t use any rough means of restraint to keep Luo Shuangyue still, Xia Mo would simply hug her tightly and not let her run away.
Luo Shuangyue was so weak right now that even the exhausted Xia Mo could easily hold her, keeping her from struggling.
And this was something Xia Mo didn’t want to leave to the other Mentors.
Since she could do it herself, she would.
She didn’t want anyone else to touch her precious girlfriend’s body—especially in such intimate fashion.
Even though the one in control of this body was now a stranger, she still couldn’t bear the thought of seeing the one she loved in anyone else’s arms.
After all, Xia Mo’s possessiveness was a little on the strong side.
The girl in her arms kept struggling, but her body was so fragile—
Even her efforts to escape were pitifully weak.
“Don’t be afraid, it’ll be over soon.” Xia Mo held the thin body close, the coldness at her fingertips making it feel as if she were holding a lifeless corpse.
But life still lingered within this girl; this state of existence and death intertwined was truly perplexing.
The girl struggled for a long while before realizing she simply didn’t have the strength to break free from the arms around her.
The Magic Circle beneath her feet was already half aglow; she had little time left.
She couldn’t just sit and wait for death.
She had to use rougher means.
From the moment Xia Mo hugged her, she’d thought about using her tricks to punish the “bad woman” who dared approach her, but a trace of hesitation lingered in her heart, making her unable to attack.
But now, under the weight of growing anxiety, she forcefully pushed down that hesitation, opened her mouth, and bit down hard on Xia Mo’s shoulder.
A Magical Girl’s protective aura should have easily blocked such a bite, but the black energy swirling around the girl’s sharp fangs seemed capable of tearing right through.
With that single bite, the purple-haired girl couldn’t help but cry out in pain.
Crimson blood welled up from the pale shoulder; the girl, like a wild beast, gnawed her lover’s shoulder, the taste of blood and magic driving away her last traces of reason.
It seemed that all traces of humanity had been wiped away from her body, leaving only a beast in human shape.
Feed, strengthen herself by any means, grow stronger, bring death to this land—that was her very purpose.
That had always been the Butterfly of the Netherworld’s sole purpose since birth.
The fangs sank deep into the shoulder, biting through bone, injecting death into the prey’s body, then drawing in the death-tinged power to strengthen herself.
A chilling current slowly spread inside Xia Mo; her body began to tremble, pain, weakness, and fear—countless negative feelings tangled in her chest.
Her strength was being drained, bit by bit—she was being devoured by the girl in her arms.
Instinctively, her hand moved to the girl’s neck—just a little pressure and she could kill the beast her beloved had become.
But…
How could she do such a thing?
How could she possibly hurt the one she loved?
It was just a bit of pain, just a bit of lost magic.
She only needed to endure a little longer, just a little longer.
Her shoulder was already covered in blood, even her dreamlike magical girl dress was stained red, and her power was draining away bit by bit.
She’d already been at her limits after the previous fight, arriving here without rest only to have Luo Shuangyue drain her further—the final straw on the camel’s back.
Faint lavender light drifted out from her body, the image of Rosemary becoming hazy; she could no longer maintain her transformation.
Yet, her gentle embrace persisted, her tolerance for the girl in her arms remained unchanged.
Even with her power as a Magical Girl gone, she held the girl tightly, no matter how much pain she was put through.
A Full Bloom-Class Magical Girl instinctively wanted to rescue Xia Mo, whose transformation had collapsed, but Monice beside her
reached out to stop her.
“It’s best not to disturb them.”
The Purification Magic was nearly complete, and any disturbance now could lead to unforeseen consequences.
Xia Mo being bitten a few more seconds was no big deal, but if the Purification Magic went wrong, it would be a disaster.
“Still, this magic looks a bit too complicated and grand…” Watching the spell being cast through Luo Shuangxing with White Night’s power, Monice frowned slightly.
Her intuition told her this was no ordinary spell.
How could a simple Purification Magic require such a complex circuit?
But White Night was the Butterfly Monarch’s real mother.
Surely her own mother wouldn’t harm her daughter, right? With this in mind, Monice kept her suspicions to herself, quietly waiting for the magic to
finish.
Within the pure white, holy Magic Circle, the black-purple girl was still fiercely biting Xia Mo.
She could no longer absorb the magic she wanted—now she was just trying to break free from the girl’s arms.
But no matter how she bit, no matter how she tried to make her captor feel pain, the other simply refused to let go.
Kill her. Only by killing her could she escape!
The girl, having just absorbed some power, pressed her hand to Xia Mo’s back, dark metallic light appearing at her fingertips—just a little force and she could pierce this woman’s heart and win her freedom.
But just as it seemed so easily within her grasp, the girl suddenly hesitated.
She didn’t understand why—an unfamiliar emotion surfaced in her heart, one that she couldn’t name, blocking her action.
She didn’t understand, but she had to kill the one before her.
The girl began to struggle for control over her body, but that unfamiliar emotion seemed to know her too well—it simply locked down her hands, robbing her of the power to do harm.
With only her mouth to bite, she had no hope of escaping her captor’s embrace quickly.
Angry, she vented her frustration by leaving bite marks all over Xia Mo’s shoulder—but none of it really mattered now.
As the final syllable of the long chant was spoken, the pure white Magic Circle was finally complete.
Holy white light rained down, enveloping the two girls at its center.
Bathed in white light, Luo Shuangyue’s vicious eyes gradually regained their clarity, as if all the darkness had been wiped
from her mind.
“I’m sorry, I think I did a lot of terrible things. But—”
“It’s fine, as long as you’re back.” Hearing the familiar voice by her ear, Xia Mo couldn’t hold back her tears any longer.
All the hardships she’d endured finally bore sweet fruit at this moment.
The Shuangyue she knew had finally returned…
She wanted to tell the others the good news, but when she looked around, she realized her surroundings were becoming blurry.
A strange dizziness churned her stomach.
This shouldn’t be a side effect of Purification Magic.
“So that’s how it is—” Luo Shuangyue also noticed the surroundings, but after a brief moment of thought, she immediately understood.
This spell didn’t just purify souls; in fact, its most important function wasn’t purification at all—it was teleportation.
Anyone within the Magic Circle would be sent somewhere no one knew.
This way, the person in need of purification would be gone from this world for a while and wouldn’t threaten it further.
“Not bad.” Luo Shuangyue wasn’t angry; she could sense the darkness in her mind still trying to take control. In this state, being exiled was actually a good thing.
It was just a shame that Xia Mo would be dragged into this journey into the unknown along with her.
“No, this is Exile Magic!”
As the Magic Circle activated fully, the Full Bloom-Class Magical Girls finally realized something was wrong.
This spell wasn’t Purification Magic at all; it was Exile Magic, meant to deal with high-risk monsters.
White Night had disguised Exile Magic as Purification Magic, deceiving them all.
Her true intent was to exile her daughter from this world.
Drained of all magic after casting, Luo Shuangxing stared blankly at the blinding white Magic Circle before her.
In that moment, the gentle feeling from the spell vanished
replaced by finality.
Her mother had lied to her.
This Magic Circle wasn’t meant to save her sister, but to send her away, beyond the reach of even Purification Magic.
“Why?” Tears streamed from Luo Shuangxing’s eyes. Why would her mother do this?
Why, after abandoning them for so many years, would she now make her daughter personally exile her own sister?
Why?!
Anger. For the first time, Luo Shuangxing felt furious with the mother who’d disappeared for so long.
She wanted to grab that woman by the collar and ask her why—
But her anger could change nothing. In a burst of blinding white light that nearly blinded all present, the two figures within the Magic Circle vanished completely from sight.