Chương 90: Apostles of the Void Realm

Xing Shuang could feel warm blood gushing from her shoulder blades, spreading a small patch of dark red on the cement floor beneath her.

She struggled to sit up, her vision blurred by dizziness from blood loss, and each breath aggravated the wound on her back, causing sharp, stabbing pain.

Just then, a mocking and playful voice, like the hooting of an owl, came from the rooftop of an abandoned factory not far away:

"Oh my? What a pleasant surprise. I thought this 'new moon' would be like those fragile 'new moons' before, completely dimmed the moment it was touched by a shadow."

"I didn't expect you to still be conscious. It seems this hunt might offer some... entertainment?"

Xing Shuang raised her head with some difficulty and looked in the direction of the sound.

Under the moonlight, a tall, slender figure stood silently amidst the silhouette of the blast furnace. He wore a top hat that was almost pure black from the darkness of the night, and the shadow cast by the brim of the hat perfectly covered the upper half of his face.

She wore a long, finely crafted trench coat in the same color, the hem fluttering slightly in the night breeze like the wings of a raven unfolding in the darkness.

Most striking of all was the pure white smiling mask on his face, outlined with eerie upward curves.

Bathed in moonlight, the smile appeared exceptionally cold and twisted, carrying a chilling malice.

"Who... are you?" Xing Shuang's voice was hoarse from the pain.

She covered her bleeding wound with one hand, and blood seeped out between her fingers, dripping onto the cold cement floor with a soft "drip-drip" sound.

"Who am I?" The man wearing a smiling mask let out a low chuckle, the sound echoing in the silent night sky, carrying a chilling pleasure.

He bowed slightly, as elegantly as an actor taking a curtain call in a theater: "Nice to meet you. You may call me Lord Mirror, an apostle of the Void Realm."

He paused, the shadow beneath his hat brim swaying slightly, making his smiling mask appear even more eerie in the moonlight.

"Of course, if you prefer a more direct address..."

"I am your hunter, beautiful magical girl."

"Apostle of the Void Realm... Mirror Lord..." Xing Shuang's brows furrowed tightly as she pondered this unfamiliar title, a vague, ominous premonition creeping into her heart.

She could clearly sense the void energy emanating from the other party, which was completely different from that of the void beasts, yet purer and more dangerous.

[Humans with an extreme affinity for the void have gained power similar to magical girl transformations through unknown means, but their power originates from the void realm, and their stance is completely opposed to that of humans and magical girls.] The number of Void Realm Apostles is extremely small, but their individual strength is at least equivalent to that of the top-tier Crescent Moon-level Magical Girls. They are elusive and far more troublesome and dangerous enemies than Void Beasts.

The system's explanation was concise and cold, allowing Xing Shuang to immediately understand what kind of being the enemy before her was and what terrifying power it possessed.

Her eyes instantly turned cold and sharp, and an uncontrollable rage rose from the bottom of her heart.

"Those missing magical girl seniors... you were the one who did it, weren't you?!" Her voice trembled slightly, each word seeming to be squeezed out from between her teeth.

"That's right, absolutely right. It was I who 'invited' them into eternal silence." Mirror Lord's tone carried a hint of morbid pleasure.

"Those poor 'new moons' should have been my most perfect collection, but alas... in order to ensure that I could erase them from this world silently, without leaving any trace that might arouse suspicion, I had to... give up a lot of the pleasure of watching them struggle in despair."

He gracefully raised his white-gloved hand, gently brushed the edge of the mask, and let out a sigh full of regret, as if he were truly lamenting those "missed pleasures."

Xing Shuang's heart sank. She instantly understood that this Void Realm Apostle was lurking in the shadows in such a despicable way.

Then, taking advantage of the moment when the magical girls lowered their guard and thought the crisis was over, they launched a fatal sneak attack.

In this way, they might not even have time to put up a decent resistance before losing their ability to fight back in an instant, and naturally they would not leave any valuable traces of combat or distress signals.

His previous plan to gather intelligence by exploring the location of the disappearance was futile from the start.

"Hehe..." Jingjue let out another unsettling laugh, seemingly enjoying the mixed expression of anger, shock, and despair on Xingshuang's face.

"Although you didn't fall into a coma as I expected, and were even able to confront me, it did surprise me a little."

"However, it doesn't really matter. It just... adds a little more fun for me to watch my prey struggle in its death throes."

Before he could finish speaking, Jingjue's figure suddenly disappeared from the heights.

The next moment, a deafening thunderclap exploded in Xing Shuang's ears, and a thick black lightning bolt descended from the sky like a venomous snake, carrying an aura of destruction, striking straight at Xing Shuang's head.

"Lightning?!" Xing Shuang's pupils shrank sharply. She could feel the terrifying energy contained in the lightning, far surpassing any of the void beasts she had encountered before.

boom--!

The black lightning exploded where she had just stood, instantly blasting a charred crater into the hard concrete ground, sending debris flying and filling the air with a pungent, burnt smell.

"Oh? Not bad at all." Mirror's voice came again from another direction.

He had appeared on the roof of another factory building without anyone noticing, the hem of his trench coat swaying gently in the aftershocks of the dissipating lightning.

"Such speed!" Xing Shuang immediately sensed that the other party possessed a terrifying speed that was difficult to discern with the naked eye. Before she could make a move, Jing Jue's figure had already reappeared in front of her like a ghost.

A black whip crackling with electricity had appeared in his hand at some point. As he swung it, it made a series of crackling sounds and swept towards Xing Shuang with a sharp gust of wind.

Starfrost instinctively tried to raise her wand to block, but her body was unusually sluggish, and she could only barely condense an extremely dim, seemingly fragile pink-gold magic barrier in front of her.

The lightning slammed into the barrier, tearing the thin defense apart instantly. The remaining arcs of electricity lashed out at Xing Shuang like whips, sending her flying.

Xingshuang's body slammed heavily against the shipping container next to her, making a dull thud.

Her pink combat suit was covered in dust and blood, making her look disheveled and as if she had completely lost the ability to resist.

Jingjue's figure appeared silently a few meters away from her. He looked down at Xingshuang lying on the ground, his smiling mask appearing particularly eerie in the moonlight.

"How pathetic... magical girl." His voice was full of mockery and satisfaction.

"However, you should be proud that you managed to retain consciousness after my attack."

Xing Shuang struggled to lift her head, her eyes unfocused, her voice so weak it seemed it might dissipate at any moment: "What... exactly... do you want to do...?"

"What for?" Jingjue tilted his head, his tone carrying a childlike innocence, yet filled with chilling malice.

"Of course, it's to... enjoy your current expression of despair, and then... crush you completely."

He slowly raised his hand, and blinding lightning once again gathered in his palm. The lightning was even more violent and destructive than before.

"Farewell, magical girl."

Just as the lightning was about to strike Xingshuang, her figure suddenly transformed into several blurry pink-gold afterimages, flying away rapidly in different directions.

This is not a profound technique, but rather a kind of illusion that uses magic to create visual persistence, which is enough to confuse the enemy's judgment in a dimly lit environment.

"Oh?" Jingjue paused slightly, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes behind the mask.

"A smokescreen? That's quite clever." He let out a disdainful chuckle.

He raised his hand, purple arcs of electricity crackling at his fingertips, and several fine bolts of lightning lashed out at the afterimages like whips.

However, just as he was focused on attacking those afterimages, a real pinkish-gold streak of light rushed toward the interior of the largest steel smelting plant in the center of the industrial park at an astonishing speed.

"Hmm?" Jingjue paused slightly, as if he had noticed something, but the deceptive nature of those afterimages still existed, preventing him from determining the target's true location immediately.

By the time he finally realized he had been tricked, the pinkish-gold streak of light had already disappeared into the dark entrance of the factory.

"Heh... Interesting." Jingjue turned his white mask toward the factory and let out a low laugh that was a mix of annoyance and excitement.

"It seems this hunting game is... more interesting than I imagined."

Without the slightest hesitation, his figure once again blended into the shadows, chasing after the factory like a ghost.

The interior of the smelting plant is huge and spacious, with various mechanical equipment and pipelines crisscrossing it.

Xingshuang's figure nimbly weaved through these natural obstacles, finally stopping in a relatively open area.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly turned around, her wand pointing towards the factory entrance, the tip of the wand beginning to gather a dazzling pink-gold light far exceeding any she had ever seen before.

At this moment, there was no trace of weakness or pain from her injuries on her face. Her deep purple eyes were clear and bright, sparkling with all-knowing wisdom and a fierce fighting spirit.

Just then, Jingjue's figure appeared at the entrance of the factory.

As soon as he stepped into the factory, he keenly sensed the immense, unsettling magical energy emanating from it.

Suddenly looking up, I met Xing Shuang's eyes, which were sparkling with confidence.

"What?!" Jingjue's tone finally carried a hint of surprise. He looked at Xingshuang, who appeared to be almost completely unharmed, and the corner of his mouth under the white mask seemed to twitch slightly.

"I need to thank you, Mr. Jingjue." Xing Shuang's clear and melodious voice echoed in the empty factory.

"Thank you for showing up on your own initiative, which saved me from a lot of unnecessary actions and also made it clear to me who the enemy hiding behind the scenes really is."

"Now..." The wand in her hand shone even brighter, its immense magical power surging like a volcano about to erupt, "I only need to use all my power to keep you here forever, and I can protect those I want to protect."

"So, please... leave right here!"