“An—another Magical Girl?”
Bini Ke was dumbfounded on the spot.
Only now did it realize that, besides Star Splitter, there was another Magical Girl standing outside the barrier.
She was dressed in a simple gown, her appearance the very picture of the stereotypical good girl, and in her hand she held a mottled staff carved with intricate patterns, the grip further adorned with a lifelike Golden Kite Flower.
At a glance, it was obvious that this splendid staff was a carefully crafted, unique weapon—not the standard-issue Magic Staff that all Apprentice Magical Girls carried.
The Magical Girl named Jie Li had been waiting here for quite some time, but her presence was so faint that Bini Ke hadn’t noticed her at all until now.
“Hello!”
She flashed Lu Xiaoling a sweet smile and warmly greeted her.
Lu Xiaoling’s response was a sudden, sweeping slash.
She poured all her strength into both arms.
The Peerless Tachi let out a low hum as she brought it down hard from above, aiming straight at the barrier in front of her!
Where the blade passed, even the air seemed to split apart, with a tearing sound like fabric being ripped.
Clang!
The strike landed with a deep, resonant boom, like an ancient bell!
But after that blow, the Crystal Barrier didn’t even flicker—instead, the force rattled Lu Xiaoling’s grip, nearly sending the tachi flying from her hands.
Jie Li clearly jumped in fright, instinctively retreating several steps.
Only when she realized that the Crystal Barrier she created with her Miracle Power remained unscathed did she breathe a sigh of relief.
Then she called out, sounding wronged, to Star Splitter inside the barrier:
“Predecessor Star Splitter! She’s so mean!”
“Heh, that’s just how those unlicensed Magical Girls act.”
Star Splitter leaned on her Cleaver, her tone cold:
“They think they’re special just because they put on the skin of a Magical Girl. But a Black Account without a Magical Girl employment certificate—is there any real difference between them and a Monster?”
This was the true thought of most working Magical Girls.
Every year, there were always a few—one couldn’t say if they were lucky or unlucky—who, through various twists of fate, gained the powers of a Magical Girl, and then fancied themselves as the chosen ones, fighting to protect the world.
Heh. Ridiculous.
The number of Monsters is limited; for every one you slay, there’s one less.
And every year, a fresh batch of graduates pours out of Magical Girl University.
The path for promotion is narrow, yet these Black Account Magical Girls who don’t pay Taxation or go to school still want a share of the pie?
What a dream! When you hunt Monsters, did you pay your taxes?
That’s why, to protect the interests of their own, the Moxie, upon discovering unlicensed Magical Girls, immediately designate them as top-priority targets!
Their priority rating is even higher than an ordinary Monster.
“Heavenly Demon Armament—Butcher’s Blade.”
With Star Splitter’s low chant, several Cleaver phantoms drifted into the air.
Each one was an illusion, and yet each could inflict real wounds.
This was Star Splitter’s trump card. From the start, she’d planned to go for Lu Xiaoling’s life—showing not a shred of mercy.
Feeling the overwhelming number of Cleaver phantoms, Lu Xiaoling’s face paled, her breathing hitched. Right now, she had no other options.
She could only hold her breath and secretly memorize the position of every Cleaver.
“Go!”
With a sharp shout from Star Splitter, the Cleaver phantoms shot toward Lu Xiaoling like arrows leaving the string, every angle sealed, cutting off any chance of retreat.
Lu Xiaoling’s pupils shrank.
The Peerless Tachi swept a curve before her, dark red waves of energy rippling out to meet the two fastest phantoms.
Clang! Clang!
The ringing of clashing steel overlapped in quick succession.
Lu Xiaoling barely managed to block the first two attacks, her palms already bleeding from the force.
But the remaining phantoms were upon her, too many and too swift for the eyes to track.
However, Lu Xiaoling had already memorized where those Cleaver phantoms had floated at first, and, judging by inertia, she deduced exactly where they’d strike.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
A chorus of sharp clashes rang out.
Star Splitter stared at Lu Xiaoling as if she were seeing a ghost.
Was she… dueling blades with my phantoms?
Not only matching every strike, but catching the timing of each one?
What kind of monster is this?
“Interesting.”
A wild smile tugged at Star Splitter’s lips as she channeled even more magic into her Heavenly Demon Armament.
The moment Lu Xiaoling managed to fend off the previous wave of Cleaver phantoms, more appeared out of thin air—until Star Splitter’s magic was all but depleted, and she finally swung a devastating, earth-shattering blade of light!
Lu Xiaoling was knocked back several meters, her shoes carving deep grooves in the rubble-strewn ground.
Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
For all her sorry state, she’d managed to block Star Splitter’s trump card.
Those dozens of deadly Cleaver phantoms had been held off by a Black Account Magical Girl who had only just become one, and hadn’t even learned how to use her own Miracle Power!
Even Star Splitter, cold as she was, couldn’t help but widen her eyes in shock.
“You… have real talent.”
She actually praised Lu Xiaoling—a rare thing indeed.
As a Black Account, to survive her trump card without even using Miracle Power was already astonishing.
In fact, Star Splitter could be certain: if this mysterious, masked Black Account studied seriously, she could not only shed her Black Account status, but would surely make it into a top-tier domestic Magical Girl University.
With this thought, Star Splitter couldn’t help but ask:
“With your ability, you could easily graduate from Magical Girl University. Why bother being a Black Account?”
Having barely survived that onslaught, Lu Xiaoling managed a rare, lighthearted reply:
“Getting into Magical Girl University… costs money…”
“Costs money, hahahahahahaha!”
Understanding her unspoken meaning, Star Splitter let out a hearty laugh, as if hearing the world’s funniest joke. Only after a long moment did she stop, her eyes bloodshot as she bellowed:
“If you don’t have money, what kind of Magical Girl do you think you can be?!”
Again, she roared:
“Heavenly Demon Armament—Butcher’s Blade!”
Clearly, she meant to unleash her trump card once more!
“Hmph.” Seeing this, Bini Ke curled its lips and sneered:
“Don’t worry, Xiaoling. She already shot her shot once—she’s totally spent, there’s no way she can do it again…”
As Bini Ke spoke, it abruptly fell silent.
Star Splitter’s surroundings once again shimmered with Cleaver phantoms.
One, two, three… until her entire back was filled with them!
Wasn’t it normal to only manage once? How could she still go again?
Bini Ke’s face went pale as it dove behind Lu Xiaoling, but then a thought struck, and it quickly looked over at the other Magical Girl, Jie Li.
Outside the barrier, Jie Li pointed her staff at Star Splitter. Magic streamed from the staff in a blue beam, constantly feeding power into Star Splitter.
No wonder Star Splitter still had energy left—she was being juiced up!
Bini Ke suddenly understood, then spat angrily:
“Despicable! Bringing in outside help, and you call yourself a Magical Girl!”
“Heh, since when was being a Magical Girl so limiting?” Star Splitter caught Bini Ke’s hidden jab but didn’t care:
“If I can fight in a group, why should I duel you alone? If I can use my trump card, why settle for trading blows? If you don’t like it, go find your own backup!”
Bini Ke forced a bitter smile.
Find backup?
If it could, Lu Xiaoling wouldn’t be a Black Account.
Lu Xiaoling panted for breath.
Dodging the first Butcher’s Blade had already drained much of her strength and wits.
Now, with this galaxy of Cleaver phantoms about to fall again—even if she could repeat her previous miracle, she simply didn’t have the stamina left to do so.
She gripped the tachi tightly, her knuckles whitening from the strain.
The Cleaver phantoms had finished charging, and now, all of them unleashed at once!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Like fireworks exploding, dazzling blades of light flooded Lu Xiaoling’s vision.
For that instant, all the surrounding noise seemed to fall away.
Star Splitter’s Cleaver phantoms were only inches away; Jie Li’s Crystal Barrier still shimmered; Bini Ke’s anxious shout was stuck in its throat—but in Lu Xiaoling’s senses, the world suddenly fell silent.
And in that desperate moment, she remembered someone—
At a time like this, what would you do?
She opened her mouth and, almost unconsciously, called out that person’s name:
“Black-Hooded One.”
Her voice landed on the world like a leaf falling on still water—gentle and unhurried.
Ripples spread.
The Cleaver phantoms swept in, kicking up clouds of dust!
Boom!
“How could this be…”
The first to react was Jie Li, outside the barrier.
Just now, she had suddenly felt the magic barrier she’d created—break?
Lu Xiaoling’s delicate eyes widened.
The pain she’d expected didn’t come.
Instead, a broad, solid, pitch-black figure slowly appeared, standing before her, shielding her from those deadly phantoms.
It was a twisted silhouette, its whole body wrapped in ominous black mist, as if shrouded in a haze of nothingness.
“Such nerve.”
That “strange mist” rumbled at Star Splitter with a deep, hoarse voice:
“I’ll play with you all for a while.”