“How I conduct my affairs is none of your concern! A mere lackey dares to instruct me on how to proceed. Should there be a next time, I shall sever your tongue!”
“Yes! Yes! I wouldn’t dare! Never again!” The man in black knelt on the ground, sweat ceaselessly dripping from his brow. Just moments before, death had brushed perilously close to him.
When he tremblingly raised his head, he found that Poppy had long since departed.
“Damn you! You stinking b*tch, you’ll get what’s coming to you once I get my hands on that thing!”
Having finished his tirade, the black-robed figure slowly picked himself up from the ground. Unbeknownst to him, a grey-red petal drifted nearby, then seamlessly merged into his body.
‘No matter! I’ll let you live a little longer. If not for her right now…’ Perched atop the Cloud Whale, a sinister glint flickered in Poppy’s eyes.
****
On the front lines, with the emergence of the Twilight Giant, the tide of battle reversed almost instantaneously. The magical girls stationed at the Gateway were forced to adjust their strategy, concentrating their fire upon the colossal Twilight Giant.
Everyone understood that should the Twilight Giant reach the city walls, it would instantly shatter their defenses. Thus, finding a way to impede the giant’s advance was far more crucial than merely clearing the lesser demonic beasts below the ramparts.
“Quickly! Protect yourselves! All units, concentrate fire on the Twilight Giant!” On the battlefield, Tulip tore apart a demonic beast before issuing her urgent command.
With Jasmine currently absent, and Chief Prosecutor Mo Qianli engaged in a standoff with the Cloud Whale, the entire command of the Gateway’s magical girls had fallen almost entirely upon Tulip’s shoulders.
“Commander Wang! Please have these comrades defend the Gateway. We are temporarily unable to clear these demonic beasts, as we need to concentrate our efforts…”
Before Tulip could finish, Commander Wang waved his hand, interjecting, “Leave the Gateway’s defenses to us! You are to focus solely on the Twilight Giant! We will absolutely not allow a single demonic beast to threaten any of you!”
Hearing Commander Wang’s solemn pledge, Tulip nodded slightly.
She then produced a mirror—the Profound Mirror! Provided with sufficient energy, this mirror could drastically increase its wielder’s magical reserves for a short duration.
“Everyone! Prepare to charge!” At Tulip’s spirited cry, a multitude of magical girls gathered around her.
With a flick of her wrist, Tulip tossed the Profound Mirror into the air. The magical girls immediately channeled their magical power into it, which the mirror absorbed entirely before reflecting it back onto Tulip.
As the influx of magical energy intensified, so too did the Profound Mirror’s output to Tulip, causing her aura to surge uncontrollably.
Spark-tier, peak Spark-tier, half-step Luminous Moon-tier…
This surge of power continued until her aura reached a level approaching Luminous Moon-tier before finally stabilizing.
In that moment, Tulip felt her entire being brimming with power, while the magical girls who had supplied her with energy, their mana utterly depleted, collapsed weakly onto the ground one by one.
“Senior… we’re counting on you!” A magical girl offered Tulip a faint smile before succumbing to exhaustion and collapsing.
Tulip cradled the girl’s head, gently stroking it twice.
“Sleep now! When you wake, we will have won!” With these words, Tulip entrusted the younger girl to a supporting medical personnel.
“Take good care of her!” Having said this, Tulip leaped from the city battlements, a golden Guandao appearing in her hand. The instant she landed, all demonic beasts within a ten-meter radius were instantly pulverized into a bloody pulp.
“Quickly! Machine gunners! Heavy artillery crews! Provide fire support for the magical girls!”
As Commander Wang’s order was given, specialized bullets, crafted from demonic beast crystal cores, swept down towards the city’s base like fiery tongues. The city defense cannons, charged with demonic cores, unleashed their shells.
Amidst the whistling of bullets and the thunderous symphony of explosions, a temporary breach was torn open in the beast tide before Tulip, allowing her to swiftly pass through and quickly close the distance to the Twilight Giant.
Noticing a human rapidly approaching it from nearby, the Twilight Giant let out a furious roar at Tulip. Its hundred-meter-long greatsword descended like a divine punishment, carrying with it a world-shattering pressure, cleaving a long fissure into the earth before it. A vast multitude of demonic beasts were instantly reduced to a mist of blood by this single strike.
Tulip moved with incredible speed, not only evading the colossal blade but also using it as a springboard to launch herself directly towards the Twilight Giant.
“ROAR!!!”
A deafening roar, mingled with a pungent, salty stench, enveloped Tulip.
Although the Twilight Giant possessed an immense physique, its movements were far from sluggish. Its other hand swung directly towards Tulip, intending to smash her into the ground.
“Swift Thrust!”
Instantly, the patterns etched into her blade glowed with an even more dazzling light, accelerating Tulip’s speed severalfold. Mid-air, she hurled the blade, aiming directly for the Twilight Giant’s eye!
This was their fatal weakness!
The blade streaked towards the Twilight Giant like a bolt of lightning, leaving the colossal creature no chance to evade it.
“Flame Armor!”
Immediately, flames surged from the giant’s eyes, enveloping its entire body in an armor forged of fire, even safeguarding its eyes.
Though the blade still shattered the giant’s fiery armor, its trajectory was deflected, inflicting no substantial damage upon the colossal creature; not even a mark was left behind.
“This… how is this possible!” Tulip’s pupils contracted. While it wasn’t her most potent strike, its destructive power was far from negligible! Yet, it had been repelled with such ease…
Luminous Moon-tier!
These three words echoed instantly in Tulip’s mind: a power level equivalent to Chief Jasmine’s!
The colossal palm descended. Despite Tulip’s desperate attempts to evade, she was still caught in its devastating impact, her body sent plummeting to the earth like a kite with a severed string.
Tulip was flung dozens of meters away, a sweet metallic taste blooming in her throat as blood gushed from her mouth. She felt as though her internal organs had suffered severe damage, her stomach churning violently.
‘Is this the chasm between Spark-tier and Luminous Moon-tier? Even being infinitely close to Luminous Moon-tier still leaves an unbridgeable gulf. A mere casual blow had inflicted such grievous wounds upon me…’
‘If only Chief Jasmine or Senior Peony were here… we would surely triumph…’
‘No! That’s not right! I cannot rely solely on them! Magical girls must not stand behind others!’
Forcing herself to endure the searing pain, Tulip clutched her blade and rose once more. Though her steps were unsteady, the battle intent in her eyes burned even fiercer, a soft grunt escaping her hoarse throat.
The Twilight Giant, however, paid no heed to such defiance. The fate of the weak was simply to be crushed into a bloody pulp!
“Ant! Die!”
With that, the Twilight Giant swung its sword once more. Facing the incoming colossal blade, Tulip adjusted her stance, determined to block the strike.
“Hmph~ Did you even ask for my permission before trying to harm my people?”
A nonchalant, almost mocking voice suddenly echoed across the battlefield.
A dark crimson mist enveloped Tulip, and the giant’s sword cleaved directly into that shroud.
When the mist finally dispersed, nothing remained in its place but a sword mark. A short distance away, Bai Zhiqiu, holding Tulip in a rather unconventional princess carry, had evaded the attack.
‘The little witch… when did she arrive?’
Gazīng at Bai Zhiqiu’s delicate, youthful face, a sense of trepidation welled up within her.