Anyway, the mission had been assigned. If Luo Shuangyue didn’t complete it, she could just toss the blame onto Luo Shuangyue’s head—it was as simple as that. After all, in this matter, neither of them had clean hands.
Partners in crime naturally had to pay a partner’s price.
“…Alright then, but don’t expect too much from my combat power, okay.”
Faced with Manzhu’s demand, Luo Shuangyue didn’t refuse, but simply chose to agree.
Truthfully, she also wanted to get involved in this matter and try to influence the Demon Emperor’s descent in some small way.
If the natives really showed enough strength, she wouldn’t mind going easy, faking her death to let them pass.
But if they didn’t have power, then she’d just drive them out as quickly as possible. She couldn’t just stand by and watch them throw their lives away, could she?
With Manzhu’s active concession, Luo Shuangyue quickly spread her roots, taking over a small patch of territory within the Core Region.
If she claimed any more, her absorption rate wouldn’t be able to keep up with her consumption. Besides, if Anxing discovered the current area, she’d probably just think it was a child being mischievous.
In this regard, Luo Shuangyue always knew how to strike the right balance.
And Manzhu’s reminder wasn’t wrong either. While the most intense battle raged in the sky, the fight on the ground had already begun in utter silence.
Luo Shuangyue faintly heard terrified howls coming from Manzhu’s territory, and Manzhu’s chilling, creepy laughter—it made her heart sink.
It seemed these natives were quite unlucky, running straight into the terrifying Manzhu instead of her, who at least knew how to hold back as an insider.
But soon, the detection points she’d set up began returning strange feedback, as if they’d sensed something unusual.
However, by the time Luo Shuangyue’s consciousness arrived at the location, the sensation quickly vanished.
“Magic? It should be some kind of refined Concealment Magic… Is it Xia Mo?”
Luo Shuangyue didn’t dismiss it all as a hallucination. She always preferred to do things thoroughly and hated blaming everything on illusions.
Recalling the magic that Magical Girls possessed, Luo Shuangyue swiftly prepared countermeasures based on the assumption that Xia Mo was the caster.
This way, even if she failed to stop them, she could argue later that she’d tried her best, but the other side’s concealment was too high-level to intercept. She couldn’t be blamed.
Jet-black thorns emerged from the ground, shooting out countless nearly invisible black threads toward the sky.
In this pitch-black environment, those threads had an extraordinarily terrifying degree of concealment. With so many of them, Xia Mo probably wouldn’t consider these threads as any real threat.
…Probably?
“Wow, this is so cautious?” Sensing the sudden blank gap in her thread domain, Luo Shuangyue couldn’t help but mutter.
She’d thought Xia Mo wouldn’t notice her plot, but Xia Mo had actually anticipated it and guarded against it.
Still… doesn’t that mean you’ve exposed yourself directly?
Controlling the black mud nearby, she shaped it into several human-sized butterflies and hurled them viciously toward that blank area.
The Black Butterflies flapped their still-dripping wings and flew into the blank region, but halfway there, a few beams of purple light shot out, smashing the giant butterflies into lumps of mud.
A distortion rippled through the blank area, and a purple Magical Girl together with a Fiery Bull appeared in Luo Shuangyue’s line of sight.
Oh, splitting up, huh. Luo Shuangyue glanced at the other side, now eerily quiet, feeling a bit of regret.
With that level of strength, there was no way they could win against Manzhu.
Drifting black fluff in the air converged, forming a short figure in a black robe. Hidden eyes glinted coldly from the shadows, staring at the two invaders who dared trespass on her territory. “Intruders? Die!”
With her furious shout, the previously still ground surged. Thick black thorns burst out from underground, launching a fierce assault at the lone girl and bull above.
But the coordination between the girl and the bull was poor. When faced with the attack, they chose entirely different responses.
Xia Mo raised her altitude to evade, while the bull charged straight in.
Wow, real iron-headed!
Boom!
The thorns collided hard against the six pairs of sharp horns on the bull’s head. The tremendous impact was too much, even for Luo Shuangyue’s thorns—they were torn apart into pieces.
Xia Mo was about to descend to help the bull, but the Black Robed Person silently appeared at her side, slashing down with a black scythe.
Sidestepping to dodge the sudden attack, Xia Mo’s eyes flashed with understanding.
As a familiar childish voice rang in her ear, she instantly understood the current situation.
“You intruders, what are you here for?!”
The Floating Cannon on her back transformed into a shield to block the incoming blade. Xia Mo kept a straight face, responding in a flat NPC-like voice, “Of course, we’re here to destroy your evil plans!”
“We’ve brought the Holy Sovereign’s attack. As long as we reach the very core, we can make your kind disappear for good!”
Oh, so the real trump card’s here!
Luo Shuangyue revealed a knowing look. If it was a strike from the Holy Sovereign, there really was a chance to break through the Demon Emperors’ blockade and forcefully interrupt the birth of the new Demon Emperor.
But the problem was—how could she get that attack to the center of the Dark Vortex?
A jet-black thorn shot from Luo Shuangyue’s left hand, coiling tightly around Xia Mo’s wrist.
“Is it on you?” Through the vine, Luo Shuangyue asked the question she cared about most.
“Yes, or rather… we all have one.” Xia Mo gave a tiny nod. The items they carried were just guidance devices; there didn’t need to be only one.
Every participant had a Silver Butterfly. Once the Silver Butterfly reached the center of the Dark Vortex, it would automatically trigger, drawing the Holy Sovereign’s attack.
But clearly, their plan was going very poorly.
“You’ll be wiped out.”
“Sanctuary won’t let untrustworthy strangers in, especially when we look so much alike,” Xia Mo shrugged.
An organization that held out so long against monster sieges wasn’t some naive, benevolent group.
If she wanted the right to enter the Sanctuary and meet the Holy Sovereign, wasn’t risking her life here the only way?
“And I guessed you’d be here too.” At the end, Xia Mo flashed Luo Shuangyue a sly, proud smile.
Luo Shuangyue had left with Anxing, and since Anxing was here, the simplest logic led to the conclusion that Luo Shuangyue must be here as well.
With Luo Shuangyue present, Xia Mo essentially had an inside contact, making it possible to attempt more dangerous actions.
“You’ve got quite the nerve… Hand it over and let me handle this.”
“You’re not thinking of taking care of this all by yourself…”
“What, you still want me to let you barge in and get yourself killed?” Luo Shuangyue let out a cold chuckle. “I’m not the only one guarding the place. There’s another Demon Emperor on the other side. Even if you make it through, it won’t matter.”
Hearing this, Xia Mo’s pupils contracted. This basically spelled failure for their whole mission.
With not only Luo Shuangyue but another Demon Emperor in their way, even risking her life wouldn’t be enough to break through.
“I’ll use the thorns to pull you underground and send you away. Run, and run as far as you can.”
With that, Luo Shuangyue jerked her left hand, swinging Xia Mo around like a meteor hammer.
“Play along—hit me with a few more attacks!”
Her light voice faded amidst the howling wind and frantic shouts.
A fierce battle broke out between the petite black-robed figure and the purple Magical Girl.
In just a few minutes, both sides pulled out all their tricks, making the fight even more spectacular than the top-tier battle raging above.
Magic blasts clashed, close-quarters combat ensued, endless feints and counters—a textbook example of a duel.
In the final exchange, the purple girl unleashed her ultimate move with all her might, striking the black-robed girl—only for it to hit a decoy.
Black and purple butterflies scattered, and the real girl appeared before the purple Magical Girl, delivering her final verdict: “You’ve lost. Now get down there!”
“What, how is this possible… ah!”
A powerful whip kick landed in the purple girl’s stomach, sending her flying to the ground with a look of utter disbelief.
At that moment, a ferocious black flower bloomed, opening its maw wide and swallowing the purple girl whole.
After devouring Xia Mo, the giant flower burrowed back underground.
Not long after, a smaller flower bud poked out of the soil and, as if retching, spat out a tiny Silver Butterfly.
“Little one, you’re a bit slow—if I hadn’t stepped in, that one would’ve escaped,” Manzhu’s voice rang out again.
The woman in the red dress lazily spoke to Luo Shuangyue, holding several terrified heads in her hand.
None of these heads looked human. Among them was the Fiery Bull who had just fought alongside Xia Mo.
That creature had gone utterly berserk upon entering battle, ramming madly into Luo Shuangyue’s black thorns without a single tactic, its sheer force leaving her with no way to deal with it.
Seeing that the bull was charging in Manzhu’s direction, Luo Shuangyue had given up on trying to stop it, focusing on putting on a show with Xia Mo instead.
Judging by Manzhu’s current state, the bull clearly hadn’t given her much trouble.
“I’m too weak, I couldn’t stop that thing at all,” Luo Shuangyue muttered softly, rubbing her nose.
It wasn’t for lack of effort; the thorns simply couldn’t withstand the bull’s impact—one hit and they shattered.
“If you gave me some time, I could’ve worn it down, but as you saw, I didn’t have any spare energy to deal with it,” Luo Shuangyue shrugged, expressing her helplessness.
She and Xia Mo had just fought tooth and nail, both using every trick they had.
The slightest distraction would have spelled disaster in that battle—there was no way Luo Shuangyue could have spared any thought for a rampaging bull.
Manzhu didn’t doubt her explanation. She had watched the entire battle between Luo Shuangyue and Xia Mo and knew that Luo Shuangyue wasn’t lying.
That purple girl wasn’t weak—they were well-matched.
If Luo Shuangyue hadn’t tricked her with a decoy at the end, it wouldn’t have ended so easily.
In short, Luo Shuangyue had done her best. Handling one enemy was her limit. She hadn’t gone easy.
“Senior Manzhu, what is this Silver Butterfly? I can barely absorb it.”
“You want to absorb it? Heh, hehe…” Manzhu gave a few scornful laughs, as if hearing a joke.
Even she didn’t dare touch that power, and yet this little one wanted to absorb it?
Truly, ignorance is fearless.
She was about to remind Luo Shuangyue where this thing came from, but on second thought, Manzhu decided it would be more fun not to explain the terror of the butterfly directly.
Some things, you had to experience yourself to understand.
Suppressing her smile, she adopted the tone of an old witch tempting a naive girl, “That’s because your strength isn’t enough yet. This is the power of a mighty one. You can only absorb it bit by bit—it’s impossible to take it all in at once.”
Liar! Luo Shuangyue rolled her eyes inwardly. If she didn’t know the truth, she really might have fallen for Manzhu’s act.
Bit by bit, huh? This was the Holy Sovereign’s power—she couldn’t absorb it at all!
But on the surface, she still looked delighted, as if truly grateful for Manzhu’s advice.
“I see, thank you, Senior Manzhu.”
As she spoke, Luo Shuangyue wrapped the Silver Butterfly in demonic energy and shoved it into her body.
In the next instant, pain twisted her face as the area around the butterfly began to glow and burn, faintly turning her chest white.
“It really is hard to absorb, but I’ll do my best.” Her aura dropped sharply, but Luo Shuangyue forced herself to speak to Manzhu with a strained expression.
A look of surprise flickered in Manzhu’s eyes.
She hadn’t expected the girl to handle the Holy Sovereign’s power so well—she wasn’t even torn open by it.
Remarkable, truly remarkable.
While the two were talking, the battle in the sky reached its conclusion.
The two native powerhouses unleashed a beam of silver light at the Dark Vortex behind Anxing, and Anxing, realizing this was their true goal, was forced to intercept with all her might.
By blocking both silver beams with her body, Anxing’s condition instantly worsened.
The two natives seized the chance to strike while she was down, hoping to defeat and kill Anxing completely.
“Tch, that idiot! Do I have to step in again?”
Seeing this, Manzhu knew she would have to intervene herself.