Chương 246: Star Strings: Dreams Come True

Initially, when the almost transparent pink-gold thread appeared, Xingxian's silver-gray eyes narrowed to their extreme. Her body trembled violently from the depths of her soul due to excessive excitement, and she was so unaware that her wand fell to the ground with a "clatter".

"No—impossible—" She instinctively raised her hands and covered her mouth tightly with her trembling fingertips, as if she had used all her strength to force back the screams and sobs that were about to burst out of her throat.

Immediately afterward, when Xingxian saw the binding effect of those threads, which completely disregarded the rules of physics and acted directly on "existence" itself, she instantly forgot to breathe, and a barely audible murmur quietly escaped from between her fingers.

"It's her—"

"It really is—Senior Xing Shuang—" A layer of glistening mist quickly covered her eyes, blurring her vision.

But even in that hazy state, she never for a moment looked away from that petite yet incredibly imposing figure, her eyes filled with a fervor that could melt everything in the world.

The unique spell is a one-of-a-kind existence deeply bound to the magical girl's soul, a fact she, as the Inspector, understands better than anyone.

Appearance can be faked, voice can be changed, and even body shape may change for some unknown reason.

However, this profound understanding and application of "laws," this magical ability to sublimate simple magic threads into "strings of rules," is absolutely, absolutely impossible to imitate.

There's no mistake—the petite, delicate, and even somewhat naive mysterious magical girl before me is—the real, dazzling, sun-like senior, whom I've been searching for!

The overwhelming joy within him almost burst forth, completely consuming Xingxian's reason.

She instinctively wanted to rush forward, to stand before that petite figure, and pour out all the longing, worry, and admiration she had felt during this time.

But the next moment, she forcefully suppressed the impulse.

No, we're still in the middle of a battle, and that bastard Mirror Lord is still around!

Xingxian bit her lower lip tightly, covered her mouth, and forced herself not to make any sound or make any unnecessary movements, so as not to disturb Xingshuang who was confronting a powerful enemy.

From this day forward, she will stay by her senior's side every day. She will be her senior's most reliable support, not a burden that causes trouble!

Meanwhile, as Xingxian's heart was overwhelmed by a storm of emotions, Jingjue, not far away, seemed completely unaware of who he was facing.

He looked at the petite figure that had suddenly appeared before him with great interest, and a soft, elegant, and magnetic laugh came from behind the pure white smiling mask.

He bowed slightly in the direction of Starfrost, and said in an aria-like tone, "Nice to meet you, beautiful lady. I have been looking forward to this day, and now—hehe, my wish has finally come true."

"Do you know me?" Xing Shuang raised an eyebrow and asked calmly.

"Heh, I wouldn't say I know them completely, but I can at least say I have some understanding of them." Mirror Lord straightened up, elegantly spreading his hands.

"At the cost of injury, you shattered my independent mirror image, the 'Mysterious Crescent Moon'."

"Besides those three little guys and that annoying outsider, the only guardian of this city right now—am I right?"

"But in my opinion, this isn't our first meeting." Xing Shuang's face showed undisguised disgust.

"I already saw your repulsive face a week ago."

"Oh?" Jingjue feigned surprise upon hearing this, "It seems that my impolite clone must have done something that disgusted you, or said something unpleasant, to cause you to have such a terrible attitude towards me now, right?"

He placed his hands on his chest, bowed slightly towards Xing Shuang again, and said in an extremely sincere tone, "If that's the case, I must offer you my sincerest apologies for my ignorant 'child.'"

"However—" he slowly straightened up, saying with a hint of amusement, "I don't have the memories of that clone, so for me, this is our first meeting, and you can't deny that, can you?"

"What's the difference?" A hint of impatience flashed in Xing Shuang's eyes.

"In my opinion, that clone and your current personality are practically identical. They're both so pretentious and disgusting."

As she spoke, the wand in her hand once again shone with a dazzling pink-gold light, pointing towards Mirror Lord.

"Enough talk, let's start the fight."

"You really don't hold back when it comes to words, magical girl." Mirror Lord's voice turned slightly cold, but he still didn't make a move immediately. Instead, he slowly retracted the long whip that was crackling with lightning.

"Fortunately, I'm in a pretty good mood right now and don't want to fight you for the time being." He shrugged and said in a relaxed tone, "I just want to have a proper chat with you, and after that, I'll naturally leave the scene."

"But next time we meet—I won't be as gentle as I am today."

Upon hearing this, Xing Shuang turned around and glanced at Xing Xuan, who was looking at them with a worried expression, then at the unconscious Yin Xue. She then said in a mocking tone, "You've made such a big fuss, even personally getting my companions into danger, and I don't see—you didn't want to fight?"

"Heh, I must admit, taking action myself was an accident." Jingjue chuckled.

"I didn't originally intend to do this; it was the actions of some outcast that angered me, leading me to make that choice."

He glanced meaningfully at the distant sky and continued, "Besides, judging by the time, that guy is probably arriving soon. At least for now, I don't really want to run into him."

"After all that talk, you were just afraid my companions would arrive, so you planned to run away?" Xing Shuang's face revealed an undisguised mocking smile.

"How rather unrefined, Void Realm Apostle."

"It's just that I've already achieved my goal, so there's no need to cause any further losses!" Jingjue's voice instantly turned cold, as if a sore spot had been hit.

"I never chose to avoid him out of fear. Don't push your luck, little girl."

"Your objective—has it been achieved?" Xing Shuang frowned slightly, keenly catching the key information in the other person's words.

"What exactly was your objective? And when was it achieved?"

"Heh, you don't need to know." Mirror Lord said, then turned to use the mirror to leap away.

"Anyway, I'm leaving now. Next time—we'll still meet."

"call out--!"

A beam of pinkish-gold magic instantly pierced the sky, grazing past Jingjue's ear and leaving a dark scorch mark on the ground in the distance.

Did I give you permission to leave?

Jingjue's figure solidified again. He slowly turned around, his eyes, hidden behind the mask, filled with icy rage.

Xingshuang continued to provoke, "Since you're not avoiding me because you're afraid of my companions, you should be very confident in your own strength."

"Could it be that you're not confident you can defeat me before Silent Shadow arrives?"

"Hmph, so you do know that oddball too."

Mirror Lord easily dodged another beam of magical energy, then coldly snorted and said, "A mere independent mirror image of the Crescent Moon needs to be injured to win against me, so what makes you think you're qualified to challenge me?"

"While your move was indeed quite impressive, that's all there is to it." His tone was filled with condescending disdain.

"In the end, you're just like those two magical girls behind you—a coward who, even when faced with a life-threatening situation, couldn't bring himself to harm his former kind."

"If you could really be more decisive and kill all those little pets—heh, maybe I'd take you a little more seriously."

Upon hearing this, Xingxian felt a slight pang in his heart and looked at Xingshuang with some concern.

After calming down initially, she immediately realized the problem.

Senior Starfrost's current state is clearly wrong; she has likely lost most of her power. The magical fluctuations emanating from her are only at the level of a relatively strong Crescent Moon.

Xingxian knew very well that Jiying had absolutely no reason to deceive her.

So in the battle a week ago, Senior Starfrost did indeed pay a heavy price: her "Tears of Stars," the source of her power, was damaged, and she was unable to transform for a whole week. It was not the "injury" that Mirror Lord mentioned so casually.

If the senior's condition is truly normal, if she truly possesses the strength to easily defeat Mirror Lord's true form, she shouldn't have suffered any harm when facing a mere independent mirror image, nor should she have—acted as if she were a stranger when facing me just now.

Thinking of this, Xingxian bit her lip, feeling a bitter taste in her mouth.

Senior—she has probably lost not only her power, but also her memories due to some accident. Can she really defeat the cunning and powerful Mirror Lord in front of her?

But the thought only lingered in her mind for a moment before being replaced by an emotion called "trust".

She remembered Xing Shuang's confident and composed demeanor when she comforted her, and the gentle touch of her hand as she patted her head.

—I don't need to think about those unnecessary things. Now I just need to trust my senior unconditionally. Since she has already said that, then a mere Mirror Lord is definitely no match for her!

After all—the senior has never disappointed me even once. Even when I had given up all hope of finding her, she miraculously appeared before me, didn't she?

Thinking of this, Xingxian couldn't help but smile sweetly.

Just then, a slight whooshing sound came from beside her. Xingxian subconsciously turned her head and found that Liuli had flown to her side.

She quickly scanned the other person and noticed that their face was somewhat pale and their dark blue combat suit was torn in several places, revealing their fair skin. Fortunately, however, they did not seem to have suffered any serious injuries.

"Xiao Li, thank you for your hard work," Xingxian said softly.

"Rest here for a while."

Liuli nodded slightly. She first glanced worriedly at Yinxue, who was still unconscious in Xingxian's arms, and asked softly, "Xingxian, is Yinxue—alright?"

"Yes, she just fainted from exhaustion." Xingxian shook her head.

"I just gave her some of my magic, she should wake up soon."

Upon hearing this, Liuli finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Immediately, she turned her gaze, filled with reverence and fervor, to the petite figure whose back was turned to her, her expression one of intense excitement.

Senior One Star Frost, I'm so happy to see you again!

Seeing this, Xingxian immediately understood and put his index finger to his lips, gently shushing the other party to be quiet and not disturb Xingshuang who was confronting the enemy.

Liuli immediately nodded in understanding. She covered her mouth and gently sat down next to Xingxian, but the excitement and joy in her eyes did not diminish at all.

Upon hearing the commotion behind her, Xing Shuang spoke softly without turning her head, "Liu Li, it's been a long time. Please wait a moment, I'll be done here soon."

"Mmm!" Liuli nodded happily upon hearing this, earning Xingxian a helpless yet doting smile in return.

"Hey, magical girl, are you pretending I don't exist?"

Just then, Jing Jue, who was not far away, suddenly spoke in an extremely displeased tone. He had received no response since he made that disparaging remark.

That damn pink-haired dwarf doesn't seem to take me seriously at all, and instead has the leisure to chat with the two magical girls behind her who are my defeated opponents?!

What also displeased him was the attitude of the Inspector and Stardust. It seemed that ever since the "New Moon" appeared, they had immediately entered an extremely relaxed state, even—it looked like they were preparing to watch the battle?!

Have they forgotten how pathetic they looked not long ago? Do they really trust this damned new moon so much?

Jingjue grew increasingly angry as he thought about it, and his original desire to leave waned.

The unpleasant memories of being severely humiliated by that damned outsider gradually overshadowed the good mood brought by his achievement, making him want to immediately teach this equally arrogant guy a profound lesson.

"Whether you're qualified or not, we'll only know after we've fought." Xing Shuang seemed oblivious to the anger in the other person's tone.

She continued the conversation she hadn't finished, chuckling as she said, "You look so confident now, but in a moment—" Don't feel embarrassed!

"Hehe—then I'll wait and see!"

Jingjue drew his lightning whip again and slammed it to the ground with a sharp crack.

"Before we begin, let me ask you something: what's your codename, Magical Girl?"

"Star Frost".

Starfrost answered the question with perfect clarity, while manipulating magic to slowly levitate her body from the spot, assuming a charging stance.

Jingjue pondered the name, first pausing slightly, then bursting into maniacal laughter as if he'd heard the funniest joke ever: "Hahahaha! Xingshuang?! You say your name is Xingshuang? That's truly a—impressive nickname!"

"That codename, that combat suit color scheme, and that—the technique for manipulating threads—compared to the inspector behind you, you're a far more fervent devotee of that departed legend!"

Upon hearing this, Xingxian scoffed disdainfully, a mocking smile spreading across her face.

—This fool hasn't even noticed yet? How pathetic.

"Speaking of which—" Jingjue's laughter gradually subsided, and his tone suddenly turned extremely gloomy, "These elements have indeed stirred up some—very bad memories for me."

"So, I've changed my mind now."

"Next, I will use my absolute strength to completely crush your laughable confidence, and then turn you into my new precious collectible," to be taken out and admired properly!

"If you can do it, then give it a try."

Xing Shuang revealed a confident and radiant smile, then transformed into a streak of pink-gold light, rushing straight towards Jing Jue in the distance.

Meanwhile, Yin Xue, who had been held in Xing Xian's arms, slowly woke up after a soft groan and opened her eyes in a daze.

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