Chapter 6: The Return of Sky Blue Star

Gu Qing’s enraged shout successfully drew the monster’s attention.

The Vengeful Deep Vine diverted some of its tendrils, turning to attack him.

This afforded Gu Qianqian a precious moment to breathe.

Lying prone on the ground, she struggled to lift her head, her gaze filled with disbelief.

‘The person who had rushed out—could it truly be her father?’

‘How could it be him?’

Gu Qianqian even wondered if she was hallucinating from excessive blood loss.

‘Who did he think he was? Using his mouth as a weapon, shouting at a Level Three Abyssal Beast—was he here to throw his life away?’

Gu Qing dodged the relentless tendrils, his combat instincts simultaneously analyzing the situation.

[Weakness Decrypted: The target’s core is moving at high speed within its body, making physical destruction extremely difficult. Suggested Solution: Call for ‘Spatial-type’ Magical Girls for reinforcement.]

The scan’s results sent Gu Qing’s heart plummeting.

The Abyssal Beast’s sole weakness was precisely the ability type he had once excelled at.

Yet, in Linhai City, he was the only Spatial-type Magical Girl.

Furthermore, by the time the GSA’s Magical Girls could arrive as backup, his daughter would have long since succumbed.

This realization extinguished all hope within Gu Qing.

However, this momentary lapse in focus left him unable to dodge, and the tip of a tendril lashed out, sweeping him off his feet and sending him flying.

The excruciating pain made him dizzy.

A desperate scene from seventeen years ago resurfaced.

Flames engulfed the sky.

The entire city wailed in agony.

Su Wanning, with a gentle smile, uttered her final words to him.

“…Promise me, take care of… Qianqian…”

The images from the past merged with the sight of his daughter lying in a pool of blood before him.

“No…”

Gu Qing clutched his head, collapsing to his knees.

The bone-deep anguish made it almost impossible for him to breathe.

He thought of transforming, the only method to turn the tide of battle.

Yet, the instant the thought arose, a phantom pain, more intense than all previous moments combined, instantly surged through his entire body.

This was the torment of a soul scorched by the S-rank Abyssal Beast “Skyfire,” a nightmare he had been unable to escape for seventeen years.

Gu Qing let out a raw howl.

He was pinned at the crossroads of past and present, immobilized by agony.

Gu Qianqian’s consciousness had blurred.

As she gazed at her father, kneeling not far away, the last spark in her eyes flickered and died.

“Hahahaha…”

The monster’s laughter was laced with perverse delight.

“I smell despair, burning to ashes.”

“What exquisite nourishment this is!”

It opened its colossal maw, ravenously devouring Gu Qing’s negative emotions.

With the influx of despair, the Vengeful Deep Vine’s body began to swell monstrously, growing even more colossal and terrifying.

A massive black orb of light slowly materialized above its head, its concentrated, horrifying energy causing the surrounding space to tremble.

Its gaze shifted to Gu Qing, its tone dripping with mockery.

“To thank you for your despair, allow me to send your daughter on her final journey!”

Gu Qing’s perception of time, however, seemed to slow at this moment.

The more he yearned to transform, the fiercer the phantom pain became.

Just as his consciousness teetered on the brink of being consumed by agony, a distant yet profoundly warm memory echoed in his mind.

It was late one night, after he had just completed an S-rank mission.

He dragged his exhausted body home, and without even deactivating his transformation, he slumped onto the sofa, lost in thought.

Su Wanning brought him a cup of hot water, pressing it into his hands.

Without asking about the mission’s details, she simply reached out and gently stroked the emblem on his magical attire—the symbol of “Sky Blue Star.”

“Is the responsibility it represents perhaps a little too heavy?” Su Wanning asked softly.

Gu Qing remained silent, offering no reply.

Su Wanning, however, continued speaking to herself.

“Qing, I don’t love ‘Sky Blue Star,’ the savior of the world.”

Her fingers slid from the cold emblem, covering his hand, and gripping it tightly.

“I love Gu Qing. The Gu Qing who tells me corny jokes, who fumbles helplessly when I’m sick, who holds me close and tells me, ‘You’re the most beautiful.'”

“A hero belongs to everyone.”

“But I’m a little selfish.”

Su Wanning lifted her head, his reflection clearly visible in her eyes.

“You are my husband, Qianqian’s father.”

“So one day, if you feel tired, don’t be the all-powerful hero anymore.”

“Come home. Just be Qianqian’s father and my beloved husband.”

Magical Girls represented hope, love, and protection; a heart clouded by hatred could not perpetuate miracles.

He had always believed he needed to bear the mantle of “Hero Sky Blue Star” to avenge his wife.

Yet, he had forgotten that what she had wished for was never a world-saving hero.

“The hero died long ago… consumed by the inferno seventeen years past.”

A curve of relief touched Gu Qing’s lips.

“And what survived was merely a father.”

He no longer resisted the phantom pain that scorched his soul; instead, he opened his arms, actively embracing it.

‘Come!’

‘This agony was the proof of his love for Su Wanning, the wellspring of his power to protect his daughter!’

In that moment, the searing flames that consumed his soul were no longer torment but transformed into the fuel of hope!

Seventeen years of accumulated guilt, pain, love, and regret, at this instant, transmuted entirely into a force capable of shattering all shackles!

“This time…”

“I will not lose anything ever again!”

A coin materialized out of thin air, suspended before him.

One side depicted a brilliant moon, the other, a scorching sun.

Gu Qing snatched it, clenching it in his palm.

“By the stars, let natural order be restored.”

“Sky Blue Star answers the call.”

“Lunar Face!”

“Liberate!!”

A dazzling azure light illuminated the entire plaza.

Within it, a figure slowly coalesced into form.

The girl’s face was flawlessly perfect, beyond reproach.

Silken silver hair flowed within the light, cascading down to her waist.

She was clad in a blue, cocktail-dress-like magical armor, and glittering cross-shaped stars shimmered within her cerulean pupils.

The legendary strongest Magical Girl, “Sky Blue Star,” had, after seventeen years, descended upon the world once more.

At that very moment, the black energy orb above the Vengeful Deep Vine’s head, having swollen to its maximum, plummeted downwards with a deafening crash.

Sky Blue Star didn’t even spare the energy orb a glance.

Her figure flickered, and a ripple spread through the space before her.

The next second, she had already appeared in front of Gu Qianqian.

In the final instant before the energy orb struck, she extended a slender arm, cradling her severely wounded daughter securely in her embrace.

With another step, her figure vanished once more.

When she reappeared, she was already at the opposite end of the plaza.

“Boom!!”

A terrifying shockwave radiated outwards from the center of the plaza, spreading in all directions.

All the paving stones across the entire plaza were ripped away, and dust billowed skyward.

Gu Qianqian’s consciousness remained muddled; the intense pain and blood loss left her body chilling.

When she painstakingly opened her eyes and clearly saw Sky Blue Star holding her, she froze completely.

‘How could she possibly mistake that face?’

It was the face cherished in her mother’s photo album, appearing in every report about the Twin Stars, the image she had etched into her heart a thousand times over!

“You… you’re Sky Blue Star… Mama’s teammate…”

These few words drained all her remaining strength.

The legend she had revered her entire life had actually appeared before her.

‘Was it a hallucination? Was she seeing the legendary hero come to take her away because she was dying?’

Sky Blue Star lowered her head, looking at the daughter in her arms, a tender smile gracing her lips.

“Don’t be afraid. With me here, no one can bully you.”