Chapter 35: Crisis, A Flame on the Verge of Extinguishing

Lu Ming’s body was hurled into the air by a massive “pillar,” crashing into a pile of abandoned construction materials, kicking up a cloud of dust.
As the dust settled, Lu Ming’s near-death state was revealed.

Her chest and abdomen were pierced by several steel rebars, her limbs twisted unnaturally.
Blood oozed from wounds on her head, chest, and abdomen, warm and unrelenting.

The “pillar” that struck her revealed its true form: a segmented, worm-like beast with a gaping maw for a head, roughly ten meters wide, now coiled around the high-rise where Polaris and Jin Yan had fought.

In the rubble, the gravely injured Lu Ming struggled to open her eyes, gazing at the beast hissing grotesquely atop the building.
Regret welled up for letting her guard down.

But it was too late for regrets.

What an idiot I am, Lu Ming mocked herself inwardly.

A mage caught off guard was barely stronger than an ordinary person—limbs broke just as easily, their bodies just as fragile.

Though she had cast a Tier-Six · Repulsion Shield in the instant of impact, the beast had effortlessly breached it, like a finger piercing a cream cake.

She suddenly envied magical girls, who, from the moment of their awakening, possessed robust bodies.
No matter how much damage they took, they retained some mobility—unlike her current pathetic, near-death state.
Even if she survived, she’d likely be a wreck.

“Urgh!”

Lu Ming let out a strained sound, forcing her broken right arm—bone shards protruding through the skin—to move.
With all her strength, she fumbled through her shredded clothes to pull out an emergency communicator and sent a distress signal to Yan Huimeng.

The effort seemed to drain the last of her life force.
Her head slumped heavily, her consciousness fading fast.

In the final moment before losing awareness, Lu Ming wondered how her sister—no, her mother—would feel if she died.

Her mother’s eternal scar—if she were gone, perhaps her mother could finally pursue true happiness.

With that thought, a faint smile curved Lu Ming’s lips.
She closed her eyes and sank into a deep sleep.

…………

En route to Tongzhou City, Corona suddenly felt a sharp pang in her heart.
She paused, looking toward a certain direction, as if understanding something.
Tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.

Quickly wiping them away with her elbow, she accelerated toward Lu Ming’s location.
As she neared Tongzhou City’s downtown, she encountered Zijing, leading a team.
Zijing informed her that Lu Ming had sent a distress signal from the abandoned real estate site in the southern part of the city.

“It seems to be a Tier-Seven beast, Lady Corona,” Zijing said to her former mentor.

“A Tier-Seven beast—no wonder she couldn’t handle it,” Corona murmured, flying side by side with Zijing.

“By the way, Lady Corona, why did you come to our area?
Did you sense danger in Tongzhou City from miles away and rush to assist?” Zijing asked, curious.

“Something like that,” Corona replied vaguely.

Zijing didn’t press further.
After all, Lady Corona was the pinnacle of the magical girl world—the highest mountain, the longest river, the eternal sun.
Whatever her purpose, Zijing trusted her unconditionally, even if it meant burning herself out like kindling.

Her only thought now was to reach Lu Ming quickly.
Every second saved meant a better chance of survival for Lu Ming and those rookie magical girls.

So please, let me go faster.

…………

Inside the White Tower, Alice Phil, the dress-up doll being clothed by her mother, suddenly felt a stir in her heart.
She turned her head toward a certain direction, puzzled.
The life-preserving measures she’d placed on Lu Yue hadn’t been triggered, so why did she feel this blood-deep panic?

Miss Alice Phil grew increasingly anxious.
Seeing her distress, the mercury figure understood something and took her hand, sitting her down on the small sofa.

“If you need to go, then go, Alice Phil,” the mercury figure said.

“I don’t know what’s happening.
Lu Yue isn’t in mortal danger, but I feel like I can’t breathe,” Miss Alice Phil said.

“I’m leaving, Mom.”
Alice Phil tightly hugged the mercury figure.

“Before you go, I have something for you,” the mercury figure said, holding her hand.
It drew a crystal from its flowing mercury abdomen.

“This is…” Alice Phil’s eyes widened.

“My consciousness can only briefly inhabit this puppet again because of this,” the mercury figure explained.

“It took a lot of effort to bring this to you.
I probably won’t be able to project my consciousness into this body for decades.”

“As for why I brought it here, it’s mainly because an annoying person said something bad would happen if I didn’t.”

“So take it and go,” the mercury figure urged.

Seeing Alice Phil’s hesitation, it picked up a photo from the table and showed it to her.

“I’ll take these with me—that’s enough.”
It added with regret, “It’s just a pity there’s none of Xiao Yue.”

“So, Alice Phil, how long are you going to hesitate?”

Alice Phil walked to the office door, glancing back fondly at the mercury figure seeing her off.
She whispered, “Goodbye, Mom.”

…………

At the abandoned real estate site, Polaris and Jin Yan were grappling with the worm-like beast.
Despite its massive size, it moved with counterintuitive agility, effortlessly dodging the magic fired by the two magical girls.

Moments ago, the beast, coiled on the high-rise, had sensed the magical aura emanating from Jin Yan as she ran toward Lu Ming.
In the blink of an eye, it “flew” to Xiao Yan’s side.
If Polaris hadn’t quickly pushed Jin Yan out of the way, her fate would’ve been no better than Lu Ming’s, who lay dying.

“Damn it!” Polaris cursed, eyeing the deep trench the beast had plowed into the ground, a chill running down her spine.

“This worm is too tough!”

This beast wasn’t just an agile fatty—it was also incredibly durable.
Even a lucky hit from a fireball only slightly charred the dirt on its body.

“Polaris!” Jin Yan, her not-so-bright mind seemingly grasping something, shouted to Polaris nearby.

“I figured out the worm’s tracking us by our magical aura!”

“I’ll fly to the high-rise and lure it away.
Don’t use magic—run and get Teacher Lu Ming to safety!”
Xiao Yan’s usually dim brain had devised a brilliant strategy.

Before Polaris could respond, Jin Yan shot up to the high-rise, tossing a few fireballs at the beast, which, as expected, was drawn to her.

Polaris didn’t waste Jin Yan’s effort.
She sprinted toward Lu Ming.
Seeing Lu Ming’s dire state, her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground.
She crawled forward bit by bit, careful not to disturb Lu Ming’s rest.

In Polaris’s eyes, this usually stern, domineering teacher was so fragile in her near-death state.
Her neatly tied gray hair was now disheveled across her face, and the steel rebars piercing her body and clothes revealed her graceful figure, now tinged with a broken beauty.

Polaris tried to touch the rebars in Lu Ming’s body, realizing they were attached to a slab of concrete behind her.
She drew her Starblade to cut the rebars, planning to carry Lu Ming and the attached steel to safety.

As Polaris was about to sever the last rebar, disaster struck Jin Yan.
The worm-beast, coiling into the high-rise, engaged Jin Yan with its head, while its tail appeared behind her, whipping her brutally and sending her flying.
Jin Yan had again forgotten to watch her back.

Xiao Yan plummeted toward the ground, coughing up blood.
Her injuries had damaged her internal organs, and her flowing hair, glinting in the sunlight, looked like a flame about to flicker out.

Looking at the barely alive Lu Ming, Polaris had no choice but to leave her and save Jin Yan, who was about to crash to her death.

But catching Jin Yan posed a problem.
On one hand, Polaris was terrified of heights; on the other, Jin Yan’s life was at stake.

Without time to think, Polaris leaped, breaking free from the earth’s constraints, and flew toward the falling Jin Yan.