Chapter 25: End of Chapter
“Ha…”
Struggling to shove the demon’s stiffening corpse aside, Jiang Yao felt a sharp pain in her chest and a sweet tang in her throat.
“Cough…” A few drops of blood spilled from her mouth as she poured all her magic into healing her injuries.
“Sword of the Paladin.”
With a wave of her hand, her magic armor returned to her grip, easing her mind. A magical girl with her magic costume was worlds apart from one without.
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His fragility was beyond her expectations. If all demons were this weak, they’d be easy to crush.
From start to finish, she felt no trace of his so-called dark domain, no suppression, no weakening. Was his “dark domain” just those minions’ suicidal rush?
Clack!
As Jiang Yao turned, footsteps echoed behind her. Startled, she spun, swinging her sword to barely block a kick charged with surging magic.
“What?!” The girl gasped: “Aren’t you dead?!”
The goblins’ collapse into mud proved it.
“I…” Chu Xiong roared, his broken throat gurgling inhumanly: “I can’t—die yet!”
Boom!
The force against her sword surged. Off-balance, Jiang Yao was kicked into the factory’s scrap machinery, her spiritual attire shielding her but not sparing her new scars.
“Come on, magical girl! Again!”
Dark magic flooded Chu Xiong’s body like a raging river, visibly shattering the purple crystals as his form rapidly healed. But… he was changing.
Claws extended, lizard-like, sprouting black scales. A twisted horn grew from one side of his head, his exposed skin bristling with sharp black hairs. His outer transformation hinted at stranger changes within his inhuman body.
Unless gifted with such a “talent,” light magic healing wasn’t easy for magical girls. Jiang Yao had only mended her broken bones, with internal injuries limited to stopped bleeding.
Dark magic was different—wild, direct, fast. Monsters and demons gained fierce vitality from this evil power. But at what cost?
For deformed monsters, it didn’t matter—they were already twisted. For dark entities, it was no issue. But for humans-turned-demons like Chu Xiong, dark magic healing brought unpredictable mutations.
“Roar!!!”
With a bellow, Chu Xiong charged, raising his fists for a crushing blow. Jiang Yao scrambled up from the ruins, planting her right foot, leaping, and drawing her sword.
Sword and fist, wrapped in opposing magics, clashed mid-air. “Ugh…”
Jiang Yao felt her strength wane—her sword couldn’t cut further. ‘My opponents are too varied. I was killing bugs just days ago.’ ‘Now, invincible monsters show up.’
She muttered inwardly, planning to angle her sword to absorb the force and dodge. Her earlier thoughts from the goblin siege still held.
Chu Xiong, steeped in dark magic, was morphing into a monster. His mind was surely affected. She could dodge, hide in the shadows of the machines. Her real goal wasn’t to defeat him—it was to save her mother.
That’s why she’d sent Xiaobai for help. Teammates were better than fighting alone—videos showed demons felled by magical girl teams. Yet Xiaobai hadn’t recruited anyone else, leaving only her.
‘That’s not loyalty! That fairy’s hiding something!’
As she prepared to roll into the machine shadows, a scaly tail whipped from behind Chu Xiong’s fists, locked in their stalemate. It wasn’t in her calculations.
‘Damn.’
The thought flashed as she failed to dodge. A massive force slammed her side, targeting her vulnerable abdomen.
“Die!”
Bang! “Argh…”
The blow sent Jiang Yao crashing to the ground, screaming. “[Curse], cheating again.”
Sprawled in the ruins, she glared at the demon hovering above, defiant. They say two fists can’t beat four hands. She wasn’t sure about four hands, but two fists lost to two hands and a tail.
“I won! Another victory!”
Chu Xiong gloated over the fallen magical girl. She had no resistance left—he might not even need to finish her. She could die on her own.
“Hehehe…”
The thrill of victory, of watching others fall. Only this power let him taste it. Finally, he wasn’t the one on the ground.
After a few grim chuckles, Chu Xiong’s darkness-clouded mind still clung to the ancient weapon. He had a plan. He pulled a remote from his pocket and pressed it, targeting the factory ceiling.
Whoosh!
White light flooded the factory, high-power industrial lamps roaring back to life after years. Hanging from the ceiling, directly above, was an iron cage with a solid bottom. Jiang Yao strained to see inside but could make out nothing.
Fear crept in, but anger burned hotter. Unnoticed by her, her hair lifted, revealing shimmering highlights within.
Chu Xiong smirked, smug. Despite hiccups, he’d achieved his goal. Once he had the ancient weapon, he’d devour that woman in front of this damned magical girl.
A fleeting thought crossed his chaotic mind: ‘Where’s the dark wizard? Why didn’t he help?’
Where was the one supposed to be in the cage during their standoff?
She’d already taken her position, poised for a devastating strike. The trial had reached its climax—it could, and must, end.
Jiang Lingwei could bear it no longer.