Chương 188: Deadly Sneak Attack

As Jingjue watched the purple streak of light rushing recklessly toward Yuexi, a cruel smile of glee curled at the corner of his lips.

Everything was within his expectations.

"How adorably innocent!"

Magical girls are always so naive, so pathetic. Their so-called "bonds to protect their companions" are nothing but a fatal and laughable weakness in Mirror Lord's eyes.

The black lightning ball at his fingertips, which had been condensed to its limit and was exuding a terrifying aura, was immediately transformed into a black death ray that tore through space and shot out toward Yuexi's location under his control.

Its speed was far beyond what Xingxian could compare to during its current dive.

To any bystander, this was an absolute dead end.

Based on their current speed and trajectory, Xingxian would inevitably be caught up and struck hard by the incredibly powerful black lightning ball before it could reach Yuexi.

She will instantly lose all her fighting ability, and then, along with the companions she wants to save, will be completely swallowed up by the subsequent energy explosion, leaving no trace.

Xingxian made the same judgment in an instant. However, faced with this seemingly insurmountable predicament, her eyes showed no fear or hesitation. Instead, an unwavering and resolute flame suddenly ignited within her.

Instead of retreating, she advanced, releasing the remaining magic power within her without reservation, pushing her diving speed to a new limit.

From a distance, Jingjue's perspective was that Xingxian's figure seemed to be actively heading towards the black lightning ball that symbolized destruction, like a purple moth actively flying towards a candle flame.

"Oh?" He let out a soft exclamation of surprise at the sight.

He had thought that the inspector would try to defend herself with a magic barrier at the last moment in vain, or dodge aside in a sorry state, but he never expected that she would choose such a heroic way of "suicide".

Just before Xingxian's figure was about to collide head-on with the destructive black lightning ball, she raised her left hand, which was wearing a light purple silk glove, and gently placed it on the "Tear of the Star" that was emitting a faint light on her chest.

An antique yet exquisite pocket watch, its surface engraved with countless intricate patterns and fine gears, quietly emerged from the pocket and hovered silently in Xingxian's palm.

That was a magical outfit unique to the patrol officer Xingxian.

As magical girls deepen their understanding of their unique spells, they can further condense and materialize them into a type of equipment capable of stably interfering with reality. This is "magical armor," which is an incomplete expression of the laws that magical girls have comprehended.

Faced with this almost certain defeat, in order to save his companions, Xingxian finally used his most powerful trump card, the Magic Armor.

"Stop for me—" With a soft prayer that only she could hear, Xingxian's fair face paled even more, and her magic power was being frantically drained by her magical armor.

And at that moment, the still second hand on the dial of the antique pocket watch in her hand—jumped slightly backward.

"Tick-tock—" — After a barely perceptible soft sound, a strange fluctuation, which could not be specifically described by any senses, spread out instantly like ripples from Xingxian's body.

A massive spherical domain quietly unfolded, enveloping her, the unconscious Yuexi, the collapsing circular platform, and the deadly black lightning ball.

Under Jing Jue's utterly astonished gaze, a bizarre scene that defied his common sense unfolded— The black lightning ball, which should have swallowed Yuexi and Xingxian in the next second, suddenly seemed to sink into an invisible, viscous quagmire, its forward speed becoming extremely slow.

It no longer appears to have the power to destroy everything, but rather resembles a black glass bead suspended in the air, with the dazzling electric arcs on its surface slowly spreading outwards at a speed visible to the naked eye.

At the edge of the platform, Yuexi, who was about to be pulled by gravity and fall into the endless abyss, began to fall very slowly, as if a soft feather was drifting down in a gentle breeze.

Even the edges of the constantly collapsing platform, the falling rubble and flying dust, seemed to be frozen in mid-air by an invisible force, peeling downwards in an almost static manner.

The whole world seemed to have become a video that had been slowed down.

Except for — Hoshino herself.

Although her face turned deathly pale instantly due to the enormous consumption of magic power, her movements were not affected in the slightest. In fact, she slowed down slightly, her gaze calmly sweeping over the lightning ball that seemed to be frozen in mid-air, a slight smile on her lips.

She was like a highly skilled dancer, strolling leisurely through this almost still world.

Then, with an incredibly light and graceful movement, it bypassed its path and came to Yuexi's side, catching her steadily in its arms with a standard princess carry.

Only now did she finally have time to carefully examine this complete stranger.

Yuexi looked terrible. Not only were her combat suits torn in several places, but there were also some unhealed wounds on her fair skin, and her face was deathly pale.

Even while unconscious, her delicate eyebrows were tightly furrowed, as if she were enduring immense pain.

A pang of pity welled up in Xingxian's heart, and he unconsciously tightened his arms around the girl in his arms.

Without lingering, she gracefully spun away from the collapsing area and returned to a relatively intact and safe spot on the platform, landing lightly on the ground.

The moment her feet touched solid ground again, the invisible domain that had enveloped everything vanished, and everything that had been "paused" began to follow the laws of physics once more.

The black lightning ball, frozen in mid-air, was finally freed, regaining its original speed and destructive power.

It continued to shoot forward, leaving a long trail, and slammed into the spatial barrier in the distance, finally annihilating completely in the silent, distorted light and shadow.

Everything returned to normal.

Besides—Xingxian's increasingly pale and taut cheeks, and—the unharmed child in her arms, A companion who has fallen into a deep sleep.

"...

Jingjue hovered silently in mid-air, not launching another attack immediately. He stared intently at Xingxian in the distance and Yuexi in her arms, his eyes filled with undisguised astonishment and shock.

He had imagined many possibilities—Xingxian might use some powerful defensive technique to withstand his attack, might try to perish together with his lightning ball in some suicidal way, or might even give up the rescue at the last moment out of fear and watch his companion die.

But what he never expected was that the other party would use such a method—one that overturned his common sense and understanding—to break this seemingly inescapable trap.

However, Jingjue was a well-informed apostle of the Void Realm, and he quickly recovered from his initial astonishment and immediately deduced the nature of Xingxian's abilities.

The shock was quickly replaced by a mixture of realization and morbid excitement.

"Hehe—I see."

He let out a low chuckle, a sound that contained both annoyance at the disruption of his plans and a longing for the novel "toy".

"Is this the source of your confidence—the courage to take a desperate gamble and decisively kill the 'anchor' beast when facing an attack from dozens of my mirror images?"

Jingjue's gaze became intense. He looked Xingxian up and down with an almost greedy look, as if he were admiring a rare and exquisite work of art.

"The ability to interfere with time itself—that is indeed—a truly powerful force, my dear Inspector. I'm becoming more and more interested in you."

"To own a 'collectible' like you is an unparalleled honor for me."

Faced with Jingjue's nauseating "praise," Xingxian merely gave him a cold glance.

She could clearly feel that after activating her magic armor, most of her magic power had been depleted, leaving her in an extremely weak state.

But she didn't show it on her face at all. Instead, she straightened her back and held Yuexi in her arms even more firmly.

Her silver-gray eyes remained bright, and a proud and confident smile appeared on her face. Her voice was cold as she declared, "Now your Mirror Maze will soon completely collapse, and Yuexi, who was taken hostage, has been rescued by me. Now that you know I have this ability, you should understand that you cannot defeat me."

"Are you ready—to swallow the bitter pill of defeat, Mirror Lord?"

"Hehe, that's not necessarily true—"

"Do you really think you've seen through everything?"

However, in response to Xingxian's declaration of victory, Jingjue merely let out a meaningful sneer and then said...

Upon hearing this answer, Xingxian's heart skipped a beat, and a sense of crisis stronger than ever before instantly swept over her entire body.

Something was off; his reaction was far too calm!

Why is this guy—after witnessing his trump card that could turn the tide of the battle, not only did he not show the slightest fear, but instead—became even more excited?

Could it be that he's hiding something that could counter me?

Just as Xingxian was feeling uneasy because of Jingjue's calm reply, and subconsciously wanted to create distance and reassess the situation—

"Pfft—!"

A sharp, sudden pain shot through her lower abdomen without warning.

Xingxian slowly lowered her head in disbelief.

A short, jet-black dagger had pierced through her magnificent combat suit and was now deeply embedded in her soft abdomen.

And wielding that deadly dagger was the very one she had just risked everything, using her strongest trump card to save herself from the brink of death— The hand of a "companion".

Xingxian's silver-gray eyes widened suddenly, and her pupils lost all focus in an instant.

She stared blankly at the black dagger that had completely disappeared into her body and vanished abruptly the next moment, seemingly merging into her body. Her eyes were filled with disbelief, shock, and indescribable bewilderment.

Why———— Her voice became so faint as to be almost inaudible in an instant, and her strength seemed to be drained away in an instant, leaving her kneeling helplessly on the huge platform that was about to fall into an endless abyss.

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