Chương 243: A More Suitable Choice

"boom-!!!!!"

A deafening explosion instantly engulfed the entire forest. This self-destruction, triggered by the "Virtual Source," was far more terrifying than the previous explosions that occurred in mid-air.

Before being completely destroyed, Mirror Lord's mirror image detonated the "Void Source" within his body, which served as the core of his power. The violent void energy instantly transformed into a destructive shockwave, tearing everything around it to shreds.

Thick trees were uprooted and instantly shattered in mid-air; hard rocks crumbled and disintegrated like fragile cookies; scorched soil mixed with the remains of vegetation was hurled into the air, and a deep ravine was carved into the ground.

Smoke and dust filled the air, and dirt flew everywhere, as if a small-scale meteorite impact had occurred, filling the air with the smell of burning.

After a long while, as the aftershocks of that violent energy finally subsided and the thick smoke and dust slowly dissipated, a burly figure gradually emerged from the center of the devastation.

The heavy and menacing armor remained indestructible even after such a terrifying explosion, without even a scratch. However, Ji Ying's current appearance was somewhat disheveled.

He knelt on one knee, one arm covered in black armor bracing itself against the cracked ground to steady himself. His body trembled slightly from the enormous impact, and rapid breathing came from beneath his helmet.

Ji Ying was not unaware of the mirror image's dying counterattack. The instant the explosion occurred, he crossed his arms in front of him and mobilized a large amount of virtual energy for defense.

But he really didn't expect that the other party would retaliate in such a crazy way as detonating its own "virtual source".

He didn't have a deep understanding of the true nature of the Void Apostles, but he at least knew that "Void Source" was the source of the Void Apostles' power, and its importance was equivalent to the "Tears of Stars" of magical girls. This method of destroying one's own foundation to severely damage the enemy had gone beyond the scope of conventional combat.

Perhaps such insane methods belong only to a few special Void Realm Apostles, especially troublesome guys like Mirror Lord who can use their authority to create a large number of clones.

In any case, the result of this oversight was that his ethereal energy was greatly depleted while resisting the explosion. Not only that, his original goal of retrieving the "Ethereal Source" as a trophy to replenish himself was also completely thwarted.

Ji Ying was slightly out of breath, his dark red eyes scanning the surrounding mess warily, his senses spreading out instantly.

Just then, he keenly sensed that deep within the thick smoke and dust, a familiar fluctuation of ethereal energy was slowly approaching him.

Although it was still far away and obscured by broken trees and tangled branches, it was undoubtedly a mirror image of a Mirror Lord, judging from the faint ethereal energy it exuded.

"Isn't this over yet?!"

Ji Ying immediately became alert, slowly straightened his body, and stared intently at the direction the other party was coming from. When the figure finally emerged from the dust, even he was slightly moved.

The mirror image before me was so gruesome that it was almost unrecognizable, clearly also affected by the violent explosion just now.

His signature black tailcoat was now tattered and hung on his body like a burnt rag; His left arm was twisted unnaturally, as if it had been completely broken; his right leg was twisted backward at an odd angle, dragging a shallow mark on the ground with each step, clearly also broken.

What was most terrifying was that the pure white smiling mask on his face was now mostly shattered, revealing the charred and twisted skin beneath the mask, as well as a non-human eye radiating madness and venom.

He was like a demon crawling back from the depths of hell, dragging his broken body, walking step by step with immense difficulty toward Ji Ying, as if he might collapse at any moment.

Seeing his miserable state, Ji Ying's vigilance only increased. He spread his senses around to carefully check if there were any other ambushes hidden. At the same time, he spoke in a cold voice: "You're already in such a sorry state and you still want to move over here. It seems you have some more boring nonsense to say."

"Heh he...

His voice was broken and intermittent due to the severe injuries to his body, but it was filled with undisguised resentment and malice.

"But your humiliation—has changed my mind. I will now make your comrade—pay the most terrible price!"

"Do you think your losses today aren't big enough, and you want to lose another clone?" Ji Ying calmly retorted.

"The clone you used to hold me back was only at the same level as before. The clones you can bring out on the other side—will only be weaker than the last one, won't they?"

"So what?" Mirror Lord said with a sneer.

"Those cute magical girls aren't you, my dear kind."

"Moreover—" His single, intact eye stared intently at Ji Ying, as if trying to see through the other's hard armor, "how much power do you have left?"

"After that explosion, your ethereal energy fluctuations are much weaker than before. Even if you can get back to that city as quickly as possible, how much power will you have left to stop the other me?"

"Let me—we'll wait and see—hehehe—"

"How do you know I don't have other ways to replenish my spiritual energy?" Ji Ying continued calmly, "Or perhaps, this weakened state is just a facade?"

"So what?" Jingjue let out another hoarse laugh.

"In the end—I can synchronize with the situation on the other side, and I can also take action in the next moment."

"And you—know nothing, and can't immediately intervene in the battle on that side,"

"You surely remember, right? I said I'd make you pay next time. So—why don't you guess when that 'next time' will come?"

"A few minutes later? Or—" he deliberately dragged out the last syllable, "the next second?"

"And another thing—" His voice grew increasingly sinister and malicious, "To rush into a battlefield that may already be beyond redemption amidst endless worry and helplessness—that feeling must be awful, right?"

"You'd better pray those cute magical girls can hold out until you arrive—hahahahahaha!"

With a burst of maniacal laughter, the already tattered mirror image could no longer hold on, crashed to the ground, and then shattered completely, turning into countless specks of light that dissipated into the air.

At almost the same time, Ji Ying, who had been forcibly maintaining a powerful posture, could no longer hold on due to the rapid depletion of her internal energy.

With a muffled thud, his tall body swayed violently, and he knelt on one knee. His body was covered by a stream of black light, and his outline rapidly shrank within the light.

When the light faded, the person who had reappeared in the same spot had transformed back into the petite girl wearing a long black trench coat and hot pants, with her hair in a side ponytail.

She remained kneeling on one knee, supporting herself with her hand on the ground as she breathed heavily, fine beads of sweat appearing on her forehead, and her face appearing somewhat pale.

Jingjue was right. In order to cope with the violent self-destruction, her ethereal energy had indeed been greatly depleted, and she was feeling a strong sense of weakness at the moment.

"Cough—" Ji Ying suppressed his discomfort, raised his hand and looked at his palm, where a crystal emitting a deep purple light slowly appeared.

That was the illusory source left behind by the "perfect mirror" that he destroyed with his own hands in the mirror maze yesterday, and it was also the reason why she dared to fight in heavy armor form for a long time today.

Now, it seems that it is time for her to use this "trump card" to replenish her strength.

Although her previous statement to Jingjue was "I believe in my companions," and this was her true feeling, it wasn't the whole reason.

The real reason why Ji Ying had the patience to deal with Jing Jue for so long was that she had been receiving intelligence from Director Roland through some special channel.

After she left the Bureau of Extraordinary Events, Roland made a judgment that there must be some connection between the riots in the city center and the infiltration of the Void Realm in the suburbs. Therefore, he immediately used the previous communication channels to transmit the battle situation in the commercial street to Jiying in real time.

Meanwhile, during that period, while Jiying was investigating Jingjue's backup plans near the reservoir, he was also receiving reports from the battlefield in the commercial district.

Therefore, she realized that although the situation there was tense, it was far from being as precarious as Jingjue had described.

However, since the intelligence was transmitted by field agents who were lurking on the scene at great personal risk, there was an unavoidable delay.

And now, this report has not been updated for quite some time.

This means that I cannot obtain accurate information from that side.

Should we use it right away?

This seems like a question that doesn't require much thought; in the current situation, nothing is more important than immediately restoring strength.

but---- Ji Ying's gaze fell on his other hand, where the peculiar transformation device, half black and half pink and gold, lay quietly.

She stretched out her finger and gently turned the transformation device around to reveal the pink-gold side that emitted a soft glow.

The power belonging to Starfrost has been fully restored.

Moreover, traveling in magical girl form would be much faster than it is now.

Therefore, it seems that I have a more suitable option.

"boom-!!!!!"

With a loud bang, the black cat-shaped Eclipse finally let out a mournful howl and crashed heavily to the ground, creating a huge crater in the hard paving stones of the commercial street.

Deep purple blood streamed down its body from the gruesome, piercing wound, pooling into a small puddle at the bottom of the pit.

"Ha ha----" Xingxian slowly descended from mid-air, her body swaying precariously due to the severe depletion of her magic power. She gasped for breath, her gaze fixed on the World-Eroding Species not far away.

The spiraling magic spear, which had been condensed by exhausting almost all of her magic power, had long since vanished without a trace, but it left a huge and hideous penetrating wound on its hard back.

Through that wound, Xingxian could even clearly see the view of the street on the other side.

Even after suffering such immense damage, Xingxian could still clearly sense that the Eclipse Species was still alive.

Its broken body was still undulating slightly, and the huge wound was slowly healing from the outside in at a speed visible to the naked eye.

We must finish it off immediately; we absolutely cannot let this monster leave here alive!

With this thought in mind, Xingxian, despite her near-fainting weakness, raised her wand, now dimmed, once more and pointed it at the Corrupting World Seed in the deep pit.

Pale purple magic began to gather at the tip of her wand, gradually condensing into an energy sphere powerful enough to completely annihilate it.

Just then, a sharp whooshing sound suddenly came from her side and behind.

Xingxian's expression changed drastically. She noticed the sudden attack and immediately realized that it came from Jingjue, who had been hiding in the shadows.

But—she no longer had the strength to dodge or defend herself.

After a moment's hesitation, a resolute glint flashed in Xingxian's silver-gray eyes. Ignoring the deadly threat, she focused all her strength on launching the magic orb in her hand.

But she was still a little too slow.

Mirror Lord's attack arrived first, and the magic orb that carried her last hope, under Xingxian's unwilling gaze, grazed the body of the World-Eroding Species, instead blasting a parked car on the side of the road into countless fragments.

"Bang--!"

An irresistible force struck Xingxian hard in the back. Before she could even utter a groan, she was sent flying at incredible speed.

Want to save yourself But—it's—already—gone without magic— Xingxian could feel her consciousness rapidly becoming blurred, and her body was completely out of her control. Not to mention, she had just been hit head-on by Jingjue without any defense.

That blow could easily cause fatal injuries, and any attempt to save oneself would be nothing more than prolonging one's life.

Xingxian subconsciously closed her eyes, feeling extremely unwilling, and a few crystal tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.

—Is this really the end?

—I'm sorry, Xiaoying—I couldn't solve the problem here, and I also couldn't—protect Liuli and Yinxue.

I'm sorry, Senior Starfrost—am I really—still an incompetent inspector?

However, the next moment, Xingxian did not crash into a solid building wall as she had expected, instead suffering even more severe secondary damage while being knocked away.

Instead, she fell into an exceptionally warm and soft embrace.

Are you alright?

A familiar voice whispered in her ear.

Cheer up!