Chapter 22: Its name is, till death do us part!

“If I don’t get close, how am I supposed to smash that ugly face of yours?”

To Dan, those words were like nails on a chalkboard.

In “Lover’s” dictionary, the one thing he couldn’t tolerate was any slight against his prized appearance. In the past, anyone daring to cross that line met a grim fate.

But today, he didn’t explode. Dan slowly removed his gold-rimmed glasses, a glint of malice flashing in his slit-pupiled eyes. His smile remained, but it was devoid of warmth, laced only with cold mockery.

He took a few steps forward, stopping just a few paces from Dongfang Cheng.

“Before I completely wreck your face, let me confirm one thing. Do you really think the ‘females’ you speak of are so much superior to other men?”

Dan laughed, as if he’d heard the most absurd joke in the world.

“Of course! Women, especially radiant magical girls, are the embodiment of beauty, the symbol of purity, the world’s only salvation! As for men? Just crude, conflict-causing, inferior creatures! They don’t even deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as magical girls!”

“And me? I’m the sole exception. I’m the only man to rise above their filthy inferiority, reborn from the muck, a blazing cyan lotus, the only beauty.”

As his words landed, Dongfang Cheng suddenly burst out laughing, a booming, derisive sound, like sarcastic applause for a clown in a theater.

Dan’s brow furrowed, puzzled.

“Hahaha—perfect, I’ve got your answer.” Dongfang Cheng’s laughter stopped abruptly, his gaze turning ice-cold.

“Now, on behalf of all ‘ugly’ men, I’m gonna smash that ‘beautiful,’ punchable face of yours.”

He yanked a thin cord from under his school uniform shirt, revealing the deep black rhombus crystal.

Ripping it free, he raised it high and slammed it into the slot of the black contract terminal on his wrist.

“—Transform.”

[Identity Authentication Module—Insert, Verified]

[Physical Intervention Unit—Restricted, Loaded]

[Individual Reconstruction Protocol—Execute, Transform]

Under the stunned gazes of “Lover” and Meteor Yellow, Dongfang Cheng’s body was engulfed by a surging wave of dark light!

The black glow writhed like a living thing, rapidly weaving and reshaping him. His frame shrank and slimmed in the light, his clothes dissolving into particles. Jet-black hair cascaded like a midnight waterfall, falling to his waist.

As the light faded, the school-uniformed Dongfang Cheng was gone. In his place stood the infamous “Zero,” the black magical girl radiating danger and allure, her scandalously revealing black evening-dress-style skirt and lace stockings unveiled to others for the first time.

Zero was Dongfang Cheng!

“So, still got words?”

Zero’s lips curled into a mocking smirk. She raised her right hand, clad in a black lace glove, and flipped Dan the middle finger with zero courtesy.

Transformation side effects? Embarrassing outfit? Those could wait. Right now, she just wanted to pound this vile couple.

“No… impossible…” Dan stared at the figure before him—a magical girl transformed from an “inferior” male, perfectly matching his ideal of pure beauty. His usual confident smile vanished, replaced by twisted rage.

“A man, a filthy, crude man… how could you… how could you become a magical girl?! And so… so perfect—”

Zero moved.

Her body became a streak of black lightning, her fist rocketing toward the stunned Meteor Yellow!

“Ora!”

The punch roared like thunder, striking instantly.

Meteor Yellow didn’t even have time to react. Her flintlock shattered, and she was blasted back, crashing into the backdrop and passing out.

“Missing a cripple? Just stay down, princess,” Zero said, glancing at her, retracting her fist expressionlessly. She’d held back half her strength, or it wouldn’t just be the gun broken—probably Meteor Yellow herself.

“Next is you, Lover. Three seconds, tops!”

Before her words settled, she lunged, a black shadow closing in on Dan, her full-force fist carrying brutal wind pressure straight at his face!

Dan’s pupils shrank, alarm bells screaming in his head. He hurriedly raised his arms to block—

“Ora!!”

A deafening crash echoed through the stage!

Dan felt a thunderous force slam into his bones, sending him flying, smashing through the scenery, and crashing into the wall before stopping.

In the swirling dust, Dan struggled to prop himself up, his arm faintly twisted, his gold-rimmed glasses shattered nearby. His confident smile was gone, his face warped with shock and humiliation.

But then, he laughed.

“What’s so funny? Decided if you want to be smashed into chunks or dust?”

Dan looked up, coughing blood, but his eyes gleamed with excitement.

“Cough… cough… look at the audience, Zero!”

Zero frowned, following his gaze—

In the audience, the previously lovesick girls suddenly reeled as if struck by a hammer. Seven or eight near the stage coughed up blood mist and collapsed in their seats, unconscious.

“What did you do?”

Dan rose slowly, blood dripping from his mouth, his expression like he was basking in a blessing.

“Heh… hehahahaha!!!”

“They’re one with me! Every injury I take, they bear for me! Because they love me! They willingly become my shield—my source of power!”

He raised his arms like a god receiving offerings.

“This bond of body and soul, this sacred vow, is called—”

“[Till Death Do Us Part]!”

The auditorium erupted, like a perverse ritual’s venue.

“Zero—hit me once, and a girl takes the damage. Kill me, and they all die… Still want to keep going?”

He licked the blood from his lips, his scarlet smile utterly vile.

Zero’s pupils narrowed, her brows knitting tightly. She looked at the girls below—innocent, entranced, unaware they’d become human shields, their induced love now wings protecting a monster.

Frankly, “Lover’s” ability wasn’t massively destructive, but its vileness surpassed every monster Zero had fought.

She let out a cold huff, her clenched fist slowly loosening.