Under the blessing of the deep crimson authority, Luoyou did not detect the slightest abnormal emotion from Xingyue.
Pupil reaction—normal.
Breathing—normal.
Heart rate—normal……………
【Not discovering my identity—is it just a coincidence?】
“Ugh—”
Her thin clothes soaked with cold water, her skin stinging painfully from the chill, Luoyou shivered uncontrollably.
Seeing this, Xingyue lightly snapped her fingers and whispered, “Mana Illusion: Candlelight Glow.”
Poof!
A gigantic candle seemed to ignite in the void, casting a warm orange light that flickered throughout the cave.
In an instant, the room was filled with dazzling delicacies and glowing lanterns, and the wide wooden table was surrounded by all the people she cared about.
It was like being inside a beautiful dream, one she never wished to wake from.
Even if she were to die within this dream, it would surely be the happiest way to go, wouldn’t it?
Xingyue gently approached Luoyou and draped her magical feathered cloak over her shoulders.
“Still cold?”
“Uh, not cold anymore….”
Physically she was no longer cold, but for some reason, whenever Xingyue was close, Luoyou felt a chill in her body.
Xingyue’s expression remained calm, but when she turned to Zhou Xi, that calmness shifted into reproach.
“Zhou Xi, you were too careless.”
“I understand……………”
Zhou Xi couldn’t raise her head before Xingyue. As a magical girl, dragging ordinary people into this mess was itself a dereliction of duty.
“I’ll take this girl to the hospital first. You’ll be fine on your own, right?”
“Yeah, her right arm might be dislocated or fractured, please hurry….”
“Oh dear, that’s not good at all. Follow me.”
“…Huh? Hey, wait!”
Suddenly, her legs lifted off the ground and she found herself cradled in the warm, fragrant arms of the girl.
Luoyou was shocked to realize she had been princess-carried!
Before she could even gather her thoughts, Xingyue was dashing swiftly through the air with her in her arms.
You’re way too fast!
“Don’t move. Your arm might be dislocated; the more you move, the more it will hurt.”
“My arm isn’t dislocated; I already reset it.”
“Still, it’s better to go to the hospital.”
“Then don’t be so… b—”
Thud.
Something soft suddenly pressed against her face, completely covering her small mouth, and the continuous pressure kept pressing harder.
How wicked! Is Xingyue really this well-endowed?
Luoyou clearly remembered that Xingyue seven years ago was not this large; any compliments back then were just average.
But what was pressing against her face now?
It was the weight of justice itself!
“What were you about to say just now?”
“Nothing, I was just trying to get you to call the police, I was scared.”
Fragrant.
The soft pressure grew stronger, making Luoyou’s vision blur slightly.
That pure sweetness within Xingyue’s body seemed to be tasted even through clothing, purer than any other magical girl—more magical girl than magical girl…………………dead cool!
“Ah!”
Luoyou suddenly cried out and adjusted her posture, burying her entire face into Xingyue’s enormous wickedness, refusing to come out.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s too high! I’m scared!”
***
Cave
Zhou Xi watched the four kidnappers, all tied and bound, while pondering their fate.
They treated Yuyou so badly; both publicly and privately, Zhou Xi was unwilling to let it go so easily.
“Zhou Xi!”
Fei Yu arrived instantly from kilometers away in the air and hurriedly examined Zhou Xi from head to toe.
“Are you okay? Was it that evil woman again…?”
When her gaze fell upon the four kidnappers, Fei Yu’s words gradually died on her lips.
“Evil woman? You mean Lord Herrera?”
“What exactly happened?”
“These four guys caught me off guard and dragged both Yuyou and me here, forcing me to reveal information about Lord Herrera resuming her activities a few days ago.”
Zhou Xi still couldn’t understand and asked, “Why do you think it was Lord Herrera who kidnapped me?”
Fei Yu was drenched in sweat.
“Well, logically speaking, she might have been unsatisfied recently and kidnapped you to commit a crime. After all, that woman’s nature is like that—in any case, she’s just a lustful, seductive harlot.”
Perhaps feeling even she sounded a bit far-fetched, Fei Yu quickly changed the subject.
“What about Yuyou?”
She looked everywhere but couldn’t see Luoyou’s figure; surely they weren’t separated and taken somewhere else?
“She was sent to the hospital by Master Xing Yue.”
“Master Xing Yue!?”
Fei Yu’s pupils contracted as her hands weakly dropped. “Why would she…?”
Zhou Xi shook her head, glanced at the thick coat taken from Luoyou on the ground, and, clutching her left arm with a low spirit, said, “I don’t know. Maybe it’s a coincidence. If she hadn’t appeared, Yuyou might have been harmed because of me.”
No way.
Fei Yu immediately rejected the thought in her heart.
There was a high chance Luoyou was that harlot Lord Herrera.
Could she have been violated by those lowly thugs?
If the perpetrators were four women, Luoyou could probably have flipped the situation around on them!
But more intriguing than that was why Xingyue had shown up here.
Could it be that after finishing ten meetings in the morning, Xingyue had come straight to Jiuming Sea?
Fei Yu’s expression darkened—no one had informed her of this.
Jiuming Sea was her base, and here in the magical alliance branch, she was the strongest combatant. If Xingyue had come, someone should have notified her.
That meant Xingyue must have come here on the spur of the moment.
She might have even used mana-intensive teleportation magic.
【Master Xing Yue… could she have sensed that Luoyou is…? Impossible. Only I should know about this, right?】
【I only suspected Luoyou because of a series of coincidences—timing, location, circumstances all aligned. Master Xing Yue and Luoyou have never met before. So how did she find out?】
【Zhou Xi just said Luoyou was taken to the hospital by Master Xing Yue? Is it really the hospital? Could something else be happening?】
“So worrisome…” Fei Yu murmured.
“Fei Yu?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. I just meant that their interrogation about Lord Herrera is concerning.”
Fei Yu suddenly snapped back to attention.
Zhou Xi frowned, “Although it’s not my place to say, you seem a little distracted.”
“Yuyou!”
A loud noise from the sky as another magical girl descended rapidly.
It was Luozining—in fact, Little Red Riding Hood, already transformed.
Luozining looked around immediately but only found Luoyou’s coat on the ground. It was cold to the touch.
She suddenly glared at Zhou Xi.
“What happened?!”
“It’s my fault.” Zhou Xi lowered her head shamefully.
“Yuyou and I were both kidnapped. The suspects’ identities are being confirmed.”
“What about Yuyou?”
“Taken by Xingyue; she’s on the way to the hospital.”
“Is she injured!? Wait!”
***
Luozining came to realize, “It was Master Xing Yue? That Master Xing Yue?”
“Yeah……”
“Tch! (click of tongue)”
“Hmm?”
The two looked at her in confusion.
Luozining blushed and said, “Nothing, I just think having Master Xing Yue handle this group of kidnappers is too lenient for them.”
【Hmph, that old Teng. I rushed over first, but ended up following someone else… and it’s that Master Xing Yue. She’s probably enjoying herself right now!】
Maybe she’s taking advantage of her female form to shamelessly grope Master Xingue’s noble figure!
This can’t continue!
I have to bring that old Teng back!
Ah, at least during his hospital stay, I won’t let him get away with things like changing clothes, feeding, or bathing…
I absolutely won’t trouble Master Xingue with the daily chores!
“Which hospital did they go to?”
“Judging by the direction, it should be the local medical university near Jiuming Sea.”
“I’m going there now!”
“…Zining really cares about Yuyou.” Zhou Xi said helplessly.
“Maybe she’s just anxious to see Master Xing Yue.”
They both shook their heads and turned to deal with the kidnappers.
Fei Yu’s aura was intimidating as she waved her hand, summoning her magical weapon—a crystal whip over three meters long.
“Speak! What were you planning?”
***
The four closed their eyes and curled up silently, as if unconscious.
But the slight twitch at the corners of their mouths showed they were still awake.
“Looks like I have to use some extreme measures.”
Fei Yu raised her hand, and the crystal whip whipped through the air at lightning speed.
“Uuuu—u—”
Suddenly, an ear-piercing alarm sounded throughout Jiuming Sea, but the residents only listened briefly before returning to their daily lives, showing no sign of seeking shelter.
It was only a Level Three alert, indicating a dimensional beast invasion near the surrounding cities of Jiuming Sea that might affect the city.
For years, dimensional beast invasions have often occurred near Jiuming Sea.
Each time, Jiuming Sea responds with a Level Three alert, but nothing ever happens.
Over time, people have grown numb to it.
At this moment, someone contacted Fei Yu.
“Fei Yu.”
“It’s me. Report the situation directly.”
“It’s a king-level dimensional beast. Energy fluctuation index: 10800, close to the casualty danger line, in the neighboring city!”
“…Received. I’m on my way.”
Fei Yu’s expression darkened as she exchanged a glance with Zhou Xi, then mounted her magical armor and headed to the incident site.
The so-called casualty danger line is a threshold set by the Magical Alliance based on the combat power of magical girls in each branch.
Once the enemy surpasses this line, the casualty rate among magical girls rapidly increases, triggering reinforcements from other cities.
The neighboring city’s magical girls are all top-tier, so they should handle it well.
But if they encounter a situation like the one a few days ago in Huahai City, then it would be dangerous—they could face total annihilation.
“Strange. Two days in a row, high-level dimensional beasts have slipped in. Is there a problem with the Star Ring?”
Unlike Jiuming Sea, which is near the critical Sea Border, the neighboring city is further away from the border.
Logically, king-level dimensional beasts shouldn’t be able to infiltrate so far.
The Sea Border has many sectors—nearly a hundred.
Each sector is covered by a massive “Equatorial-level” Star Ring that can accurately detect energy fluctuations from 2000 to 50000, meaning mid-ghost to early-dragon-level dimensional beasts, preventing them from entering the human world.
However, the Equatorial-level detection sometimes has errors.
Occasionally, dimensional beasts with energy levels close to the threshold slip through, but overall the margin of error is within an acceptable range.