“The Black Calamity has erupted!!!”
Taya, who had always acted a bit scatterbrained, suddenly sprang up from the ground, fleeing toward the depths of the flower sea untouched by the black corruption as if she’d just seen something terrifying.
Seeing Taya turn into a cowardly lizard, Luo Shuangyue and Xia Mo exchanged helpless glances and could only hurry after her.
For now, Taya was their only guide; they absolutely couldn’t let her escape just like that.
Since Luo Xiangyue was unable to move easily, Xia Mo simply carried Luo Shuangyue on her back, trying her best to catch up to the suddenly sprinting Taya.
But Taya was clearly much faster than Xia Mo, who was burdened with Luo Shuangyue.
In the blink of an eye, Taya vanished into the flower sea.
“She runs so fast. Is this Black Calamity really that terrifying?”
Realizing she couldn’t catch up to Taya, Xia Mo slowed her pace and muttered quietly.
The way Taya had just acted was like a mouse seeing a cat. Just how horrifying was this so-called Black Calamity in Taya’s eyes?
Moreover, Taya seemed to have mentioned before that anything tainted by the blackness would turn into pitch-black monsters…
That sounded strangely familiar.
“To be honest, this seems pretty similar to when Demons appear back in our world, doesn’t it?”
Luo Shuangyue, not having to run herself, had already started to draw the connection between the Black Calamity and phenomena in their own world.
In their world, signs like this would always show up before Demons appeared. Magic energy would overflow from space, corroding nearby things, and then when the corruption peaked, the Demon would pop out all at once.
Though Luo Shuangyue had never actually witnessed an over-the-top Demon appearance, the Magic Department had all kinds of methods to detect every possible omen before a Demon appeared.
When it came to King-class or Royal-Class Magic Beasts, which would take ages to manifest, the Magic Department would never just sit by and watch them grow stronger.
When it came to interrupting a Demon’s development, the Magic Department had countless tricks up their sleeve—hundreds, from brute force to precise dismantling.
There was always a way to deal with a Demon in the process of being born.
“Look at where we just came from. That’s probably the outer rim of the Black Calamity’s influence. Judging by this, whatever comes out from within is likely to be a King-class Magic Beast.”
Glancing at the sky behind her, already twisted and distorted, Luo Shuangyue quickly made her judgment.
It wasn’t hard to guess.
The birth of Soldier-class or General-class Magical Creatures didn’t make such a fuss.
The birth of a Royal-Class Magic Beast, now that was world-ending.
But right now, the special effects here weren’t at either extreme—so it had to be a King-class Magic Beast.
“King-class… that’s not easy to handle.”
“You’re a First Bloom-Class Magical Girl. How can you be scared of a measly King-class Magic Beast?” Luo Shuangyue gave Xia Mo’s shoulder a gentle punch and teased.
Xia Mo pursed her lips and continued walking deeper into the flower sea.
As she walked, she explained, “I’m not in great shape right now. Even if it’s just an ordinary King-class Magic Beast, I can’t beat it easily.”
If she had even half her power, she wouldn’t be afraid of a not-yet-born King-class Magic Beast.
She’d cut off its birth process, then use standard procedures to defeat it—all without even spending half her magic.
But now, she only had a sliver of magic left and definitely couldn’t afford a hard fight.
So all she could do was run, the farther the better, and hope the Demon didn’t find her before her strength recovered.
“When I recover my strength, I’ll teach it a lesson,” Xia Mo said angrily.
“No need to be so anxious. A King-class Magic Beast takes most of a day just to finish being born. That’s plenty of time for us to run far away and hide.”
That was what she said, but traveling half a day’s distance on two legs… a Demon would probably catch up long before that.
Now that Taya had run off, the two of them were wandering aimlessly through the flower sea, and it really felt like they’d get chased down in the end.
“If only there were some way to recover my magic quickly…”
“If you were me, you could try eating the flowers around here. They’re pretty rich in magic, though not as much as a Demon, of course.” Luo Shuangyue shot a glance at Phantom Scythe, who was busy secretly eating flower petals.
That little one was even picky, eating only petals and not the stems—so wasteful.
Sensing Luo Shuangyue’s dissatisfaction, Phantom Scythe pitifully expressed that this was the most efficient way to recover energy—the magic in the petals was easiest to digest, while the stems took much longer and weren’t as good.
To gain the same amount of magic, it took only a minute to eat a petal but three or four minutes to digest a stem. The efficiency difference was just too great.
Besides, no one was living here now. So what if Phantom Scythe ate a little more?
“Makes sense. Phantom Scythe, can you take out that Demon over there?”
Phantom Scythe, whose color was slightly darker than yesterday, flew back and nibbled on flowers at Luo Shuangyue’s side, using her actions to show that her own condition was not much better than her master’s.
The flowers here tasted good and did help recover magic, but counting on them for a quick return to full strength was just wishful thinking.
Unless there was some legendary, treasure-grade flower in the sea that could instantly restore a Full Bloom-Class Magical Girl’s magic in one bite, Phantom Scythe would need days of nonstop eating to get enough power to defeat the Demon King.
And during those first few days, Phantom Scythe would have almost no fighting ability.
The recovery would only speed up later on.
If Xia Mo’s magic recovery was a straight line, then Phantom Scythe’s was a curve—slow at first, then steep.
As her strength recovered, her recovery speed would pick up.
But in these first two days, best to treat this cute little one as just a gluttonous mascot.
“Phantom Scythe, why not try eating my mom’s magic instead?”
Luo Shuangyue reached into her stomach and, to Xia Mo’s horror, took out a white orb wrapped around a chunk of black-purple flesh.
In that moment, Xia Mo finally realized her lover was no longer human.
So you can just pull out the Magic Power Orb you swallowed!
Then why did you cling to my back and pretend to be sick? If you wanted to run, you could have just taken out the orb and run on your own!
“Don’t look at me like that. This lump of magic is really unstable. I can barely absorb and stabilize it by keeping it inside my stomach. If it leaves my body, it’ll boom—explode in no time!”
Luo Shuangyue really wasn’t just being lazy.
She just couldn’t keep this orb outside her body for too long.
Did you think those chunks of flesh stuck to the white orb were because she hadn’t cleaned it? Nope—they were there to stabilize the magic’s state.
Without that magic, the orb would’ve exploded ages ago.
“I see…” Xia Mo gingerly touched the orb, her eyes full of curiosity.
She couldn’t absorb its magic, not even though its original owner was gone.
Absorbing magic that didn’t belong to you, without the owner’s cooperation, was harder than just drawing in ownerless magic from the air—at least, for Xia Mo.
As for Luo Shuangyue…well, she was a Demon King now.
Normal logic didn’t apply.
“And as long as this orb is in my belly, I won’t need to look for food these next few days. You haven’t fully recovered yet, so at least with this orb, I can get through the worst of it.”
If there was a better substitute, Luo Shuangyue would never bother with this awful-tasting, hard-to-digest orb. But right now, it was her only long-term meal ticket.
After Xia Mo recovered her strength, she’d definitely be able to feed Luo Shuangyue, but that would take time. Until then, to keep the little butterfly in her head from flying out and causing trouble, she’d just have to keep chewing on this orb.
“Or do you want me, when we’re alone, to suddenly chomp down and bite you until you’re covered in blood?”
As she spoke, Luo Shuangyue opened her mouth, revealing her sharp fangs.
Those fangs were a sign that Luo Shuangyue had become something other than human.
Back when she was a Magical Girl, her teeth had been perfectly normal.
“You said that if the orb leaves your body, it’ll explode from instability. Can we use that against the Demon?” Xia Mo’s gaze flickered as she changed the topic.
It was impressive how quickly she found a new direction—one with real potential.
“It’s possible, but this orb’s magic is only…wait, this is my mom’s magic, you can’t judge it like regular magic.”
In terms of quantity, this orb’s magic was about the same as a single strike from a First Bloom-Class Magical Girl, and after being digested in Luo Shuangyue’s belly for days, there wasn’t much left.
But in terms of quality, this magic was remarkable.
Legendary Magical Girl, strongest Magical Girl, called a goddess among Magical Girls—those were all her mother’s titles.
If this magic were to explode, an ordinary King-class Magic Beast wouldn’t stand a chance—if it wasn’t vaporized on the spot, it would at least be gravely wounded and unable to fight again.
After that, Xia Mo would just need a simple magic blast to finish it off and win easily.
“As long as it hits the Demon, we win!” Luo Shuangyue quickly came to a conclusion.
Now, the problem was how to actually hit the Demon with the orb.
Yes, that was a good question—a good one with no easy answer.
Neither she nor Xia Mo had enough strength to go toe-to-toe with the Demon. King-class Magic Beasts weren’t dumb; they knew how to fight.
There was no way they’d obediently accept the orb like an idiot. Impossible!
“Oh well, let’s just keep thinking as we go.” With a sigh, Luo Xiangyue stuffed the orb back into her belly and said helplessly.
If they could rest for two days, a King-class Magic Beast would be nothing to fear.
But without those two days…they’d just have to grit their teeth and use the orb as a hand grenade.
“Hey, over here!”
A loud voice came from far away.
The horned dragon girl stood in the distance, waving vigorously to the two of them.
“Oh, so Taya didn’t abandon us after all. She’s actually pretty kindhearted.”
Honestly, Luo Shuangyue had already prepared for Taya to disappear for good, but Taya had given her a small surprise.
Even after running off in fright, she’d actually waited for her two mysterious companions to catch up.
If this were back home, Taya would definitely be worthy of a Magical Gemstone!
“Taya, you were way too fast. There’s no way we could catch up.”
With Xia Mo’s help, Luo Shuangyue made her way to Taya’s side, puffed out her cheeks, and pretended to be upset.
Taya sensed the faint displeasure in Luo Shuangyue’s heart and scratched her head in embarrassment.
Apparently, leaving her companions behind and escaping alone did seem wrong to her.
“The Black Calamity is really scary. Only Warriors of the Sanctuary can fight the monsters born from it,” Taya said with utmost seriousness to Luo Xiangyue.
But in her heart, she was making a lot of excuses for herself.
That was the downside of this heart-voice magic—once you were under its effect, you basically couldn’t lie.
Even if you did, your true feelings would show through your heart-voice, exposing your real thoughts.
Just like Taya now. She looked serious as she explained the dangers of the Black Calamity, but her real intention was to justify her panicked escape.
“Those monsters are terrifying! They’re small, but incredibly strong. I once saw a Warrior of the Sanctuary fighting one, and they toppled the mountains around the Sanctuary!”
Taya flailed her arms to exaggerate the monsters’ power.
This time, she wasn’t even exaggerating; the emotion in her heart was mostly fear.
Yes, for ordinary people without much fighting power, Demons really were invincible monsters.
Even though Taya didn’t look like a helpless normal person, facing a slightly tougher Demon would still mean trouble for her.
After all, you couldn’t defeat Demons with physical strength alone.
Only magic could overcome them.
“But Taya, you’ve always lived here. There’s no way you don’t know how to fight with magic, right?” Luo Shuangyue asked curiously.
In the human world, magic hadn’t existed before, so most people didn’t know how to use it—that was normal.
But Taya was a native of this world, and she radiated an aura that was anything but ordinary.
Luo Shuangyue refused to believe she was a complete novice when it came to magic.
“I do know how, but my current body can’t fight like that,” Taya replied, scratching her head.
“And with the Black Calamity that intense, the monsters that show up will definitely be strong. There’s no way I could beat them.” As she spoke, her heart was saying, I’m just support staff, not as strong as the real fighters.
Well, Luo Shuangyue had her doubts about that.