Chương 249: I've finally found you, Senior Starfrost

In fact, it was precisely because she regarded the other party as a "sharpening stone" to familiarize herself with the rhythm, mindset, and methods of fighting against powerful enemies as a magical girl that Xing Shuang did not choose to quickly end this battle, which was already a foregone conclusion.

After confirming that the three girls on the ground had escaped safely, she calmly began to take control of and enhance her newfound power.

Now, back to the present, after the initial exploration and familiarization phase...

In this cat-and-mouse game, as Mirror Lord grows increasingly fearful and enraged, the insights and understanding he can offer Starfrost are becoming increasingly scarce.

The balance of power in the battle has begun to tilt irresistibly towards that petite pink figure.

"Boom—!" Sparks from another violent explosion burst brilliantly in mid-air.

Jingjue's figure flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily onto the exterior wall of a high-rise building. The sturdy tempered glass shattered instantly like a spiderweb, stirring up a large amount of dust and debris.

Starfrost's offensive is becoming increasingly fierce, dense, and merciless.

She no longer simply used magic beams to restrain and drive them away as before, but began to combine "Star Strings" with high-intensity magic attacks.

Sometimes she would use delicate threads to block Jingjue's evasion routes, forcing him to take her attacks head-on; other times, she would use the elusive threads to interrupt Jingjue's gathering of illusory energy the moment he did so.

Each of her attacks contained precise predictions and absolute control over the battle situation, like a top chess player who calculated every move of his opponent clearly, leaving him with no choice but to passively take the beating.

"Damn it—damn it—damn it!" After dodging another barrage of attacks in a sorry state, Jingjue finally couldn't suppress the humiliation in his heart and let out a roar full of anger and resentment.

"Why?! Why did a mere new moon push me to such a wretched state?!"

At this moment, he looked extremely disheveled. His elegant formal attire was tattered and covered with scorch marks from the magic.

The iconic pure white smiling mask on his face had been partially damaged in the aftershocks of the attack, revealing a face twisted with rage beneath it.

He never intended to take action himself here; most of the preparations for this operation were focused on that damned anomaly, "Silent Shadow."

Therefore, apart from the clone that self-destructed on the initial roadshow vehicle and the current, disheveled clone that he is controlling, he only left behind a spare, low-quality mirror image as insurance, which could be used to switch positions at crucial moments.

As for that World-Eroding Species, after being severely injured by that damned inspector, it had been sent back to its base for treatment.

It can be said that Jingjue is now truly isolated and helpless on this battlefield.

Although the surrounding skyscrapers with glass curtain walls are excellent "stepping stones" for him, the positions of those stepping stones are completely fixed, and the energy fluctuations when using mirror jumps are traceable, making it easy for the opponent to find a flaw.

Moreover, the ordinary humans around have already been evacuated by the Bureau of Extraordinary Events. If he were to jump over now, the seemingly petite and cute magical girl on the other side would almost certainly attack without hesitation, even if it meant completely destroying the entire building.

But none of this should justify pushing me to this desperate situation in the face of a mere crescent moon! Could she really be a monster?!

"No, we have to retreat!" Jingjue gritted his teeth and made a decision in an instant.

Yesterday we suffered such a huge loss because of Jiying. Even though the main objective has been achieved today, we cannot continue to pay unnecessary costs. This mirror image clone—must be preserved!

With that thought in mind, he no longer hesitated and suddenly mobilized the remaining massive amount of illusory energy in his body, condensing dozens of crackling black lightning balls that exuded a destructive aura.

"Go to hell!!"

With a roar filled with resentment and anger, he hurled all the black lightning orbs at Starfrost's location.

The moment he successfully forced his opponent back and bought himself a moment to catch his breath, he immediately turned around and moved at high speed in the opposite direction from his only backup mirror image.

While constantly shifting his position, desperately dodging the relentless beams of magic behind him, he frantically calculated the distance in his mind.

Almost there! Just need to reach the maximum distance allowed for exchanging with that mirror image —

"Now!"

Finally, just before his body was about to be pierced by a beam of pinkish-gold light, a flash of madness crossed Jingjue's eyes, and he immediately activated this ability. His figure instantly became blurred and then disappeared from the spot.

The next moment, the inferior clone he had used to swap positions was unsurprisingly pierced by the powerful magic beam and turned into countless specks of light before it could make any move.

Jingjue himself appeared in a secluded corner of an alleyway far from the previous battlefield.

"Huff... huff..." He gasped for breath, leaning against the cold wall beside him, feeling the relief of surviving a close call. His tense nerves finally relaxed a little.

"Did I escape successfully?

The next moment, he clenched his fist tightly against the wall and slammed it against the wall beside him.

"Bang!"

With a muffled thud, he smashed a small, cracked dent into the sturdy wall.

"Damn it! That damned magical girl!" Mirror Lord thought viciously, "Could it be that she's not Crescent Moon at all, but someone who deliberately concealed her power—a Rainbow Light level?!"'

"If it weren't for this, there would be no way to explain that humiliating outcome just now!"

But if that's the case, why was that woman injured by her own independent mirror image? And why did her control over power and combat skills visibly improve during the fight with herself?!

"Never mind—" Jingjue coughed violently twice, forcibly suppressing the confusion and anger surging in his heart.

"No matter what, the crushing defeat is an undeniable fact."

"Her threat level has exceeded my expectations, at least equal to that damned inspector, or even stronger. I need to go back and rest immediately, and then—make other plans!"

Having made this decision, Mirror Lord was about to use the shop window next to him to launch another mirror jump and escape from this place that made him feel extremely humiliated.

But the next moment, he was horrified to find that his body—was unable to move?!

He stiffly and slowly turned his head, his gaze following his body downwards, and discovered that, at some point, a nearly transparent, thin thread had silently passed through his body.

One end seemed to connect to the ground beneath their feet.

The other end—was gently held in the hand of a petite girl dressed in a gorgeous pink combat suit.

"—What happened?"

A feeling he had almost forgotten, called "fear," instantly filled Jingjue's mind.

Even when he faced the mysterious and unpredictable "Silent Shadow" before, he was only furious and terrified by its unparalleled power. The reason was simple: the other party did not pose a real threat to his life.

And now— Unable to move his body, unable to switch places with his reflection, unable to use mirror jump—in fact, if he hadn't fought back with all his might, even his thoughts would have been completely frozen by that seemingly thin and fragile thread!

It was as if his very "existence" had been completely "anchored" to his current position by this thread.

"No—it can't be—" Jing Jue felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, his body instantly covered in cold sweat.

"It's that woman?! How could it be?! This familiar feeling—this absolute powerlessness—" He immediately recalled the one and only time he had come so close to death since becoming an apostle of the Void Realm.

At that time, he was bound in place by the same pink and gold threads in the same way, unable to move.

Several years ago, confident that he could switch places with his mirror image at any time and was virtually invincible, he fearlessly approached the magical girl who is still known as a "legend".

He hoped to make this bright new star, who was the most eye-catching in the Magic Kingdom at the time, his most perfect "collection," and incidentally—to use her power for his own purposes.

However, when faced with that "newcomer" who had only recently been promoted to the Rainbow Light level, he found himself completely exposed by the opponent's relentless and overwhelming attacks.

All the abilities he was so proud of were easily countered by that magical girl who always had a calm and gentle smile on her face.

When he realized he was outmatched and tried to escape by swapping positions with the mirror image, he was merely touched by one of the countless threads manipulated by the opponent.

He then fell into the same inescapable state of despair as he is now.

If he hadn't acted decisively and resolutely chosen to abandon his original body at that time, sacrificing most of his own power to transfer his consciousness to the strongest mirror clone at the time and use it as his new body—in this world, he, Mirror Lord, would probably no longer exist!

It was after that he developed the cautious habit of never letting his true form appear in the outside world unless absolutely necessary.

And now, that nightmare that still chills him to the bone when he recalls it is being perfectly recreated right before his eyes?

Xingshuang held one end of the Star String in her hand and landed lightly on the ground. The heel of her boots touched the ground gently, making a crisp "click" sound.

Then, with a faint smile on her face, she slowly walked towards Jing Jue, who was completely stunned.

Her expression was very relaxed, showing no intention of taking any precautions against the possible attacks that Jingjue might make, as if the enemy in front of her, who had not long ago given her a hard time, was now no different from a pebble on the roadside.

"Finally, is there anything else you'd like to say?" She came to Jingjue's side, tilted her head, and asked softly in a friendly tone, as if she were talking to an old friend.

"Who are you?! What is your relationship with that woman?!" Jingjue used all his strength to squeeze out this question, filled with fear and resentment.

"Is it just such a trivial question?" Xing Shuang looked at him and shook her head with some regret, then revealed a dazzling smile.

"Shouldn't you have guessed that kind of thing a long time ago?"

"How—is this possible?"

This thought only flashed through Jingjue's mind for a moment.

Because in the next instant, a dazzling, warm, yet infinitely destructive pink-gold light filled his entire field of vision.

Xingshuang stretched out her slender hand and gently caught the dark purple "Void Source" that slowly fell from the sky after Jingjue's body completely dissipated, carefully placing it into the "Tears of Stars" on her chest.

- She then turned around and transformed into a dazzling streak of light, flying rapidly towards the direction of the shopping street where she had been before. Soon she saw the location of the three girls.

She waved to them, a gentle smile on her face, and slowly landed on the ground.

"Senior Xing Shuang————" Yin Xue and Liu Li looked at this figure they hadn't seen in a long time, yet who was so familiar with them, and their faces both showed excitement and joy.

They wanted to rush forward immediately to greet each other, to ask what had happened during this time, and to hug each other tightly, feeling the familiar scent and unique tenderness emanating from each other.

However, before they could put their thoughts into action, a pale purple figure rushed forward at a speed far faster than them, and under Xing Shuang's slightly helpless and astonished gaze, tightly embraced her petite body.

Xingxian buried her face deeply in Xingshuang's long, pink hair, which exuded a faint fragrance, her body trembling slightly with excitement and suppressed emotions.

"Finally—I've found you, Senior Starfrost."

I really miss you.

Upon seeing this, Yin Xue, who was spreading her arms and preparing to pounce forward at the speed of a 100-meter sprint, turned pale after a brief moment of astonishment.

"Hello!

""