Chapter 75: The Swan Beast’s True Form

As Fang Xiaobai roared, she simultaneously unleashed four spells with almost instantaneous speed, directing them towards the Swan Beast’s massive wings.

By all accounts, the Swan Beast should have effortlessly fended off such a hastily cast magical assault.

Yet, Fang Xiaobai’s “spells” merely traced a few luminous arcs in the air, effortlessly piercing straight through the swan’s defensive barrier.

The reason behind this phenomenon was remarkably simple.

Fang Xiaobai’s magic was nothing more than a series of shimmering streaks of light. How could such harmless, non-aggressive luminescence be repelled by a defensive spell?

Upon the monstrous, outstretched blood-wings, four immense points of light conspicuously ignited.

These were Fang Xiaobai’s indelible marks.

Sensing an unsettling anomaly, the Swan Beast immediately opted to hasten its magical release, without a moment’s hesitation.

Even if it couldn’t unleash its full destructive power, it was imperative to cast it ahead of time.

Yet, Su Muxue, who had been locked in a direct confrontation with it for a considerable time, had been anticipating this very moment. There was no way she would concede now.

Furthermore, the four other magical girls, who had been lingering at the periphery, deliberately masking their presence, seized this precise instant to unleash the spells they had long since finished chanting.

Four fully charged magical energy cannons, each pulsating with a distinct hue, surged forth in unison, hurtling towards the four marked locations.

“ROAR! ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!”

The once-elegant swan, now driven into a desperate frenzy by the impending magic, roared furiously as it unleashed a torrent of projectiles and a powerful magical deluge.

Between its dual casting and the specialized spell it was currently chanting, even this inherently magical creature, this formidable beast, found itself utterly overwhelmed.

However, no sooner had the magical torrent neutralized the spells of Bai Aili and the others than Su Muxue’s magic, launched in their wake, finally materialized—

The girl’s spell, true to the time she had invested in chanting, proved its worth. The “Ice Mist” she had once deployed during her battle with Lin Xiaoxiao was now, once again, brought to bear in this confrontation.

In that precise instant, countless minuscule, almost imperceptible fragments erupted with a sudden, intense chill.

As if in resonance, in but a single breath, a pale, frigid expanse—the very embodiment of “low temperature”—surged and spread amidst the raging magical torrent.

It then pressed forward with an unstoppable ferocity.

Against the relentlessly unleashed torrent, it ascended steadily, rendering the Swan Beast’s increased magical output utterly futile.

Through Fang Xiaobai’s eyes, Su Muxue’s magic seemed to gradually infect the ambient magical energy, much like the concealed spell of the Bat Snake.

The Bat Snake’s power, however, manifested primarily as “devouring,” whereas the magical girl’s leaned towards “solidification.”

The chilling pallor ultimately spread to encompass the four marked points.

“CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACKLE!” A dense series of sharp snaps erupted from the spreading pallor, interwoven with the pained, beast-like roars of the Swan Beast.

The sudden, escalating chill that had permeated the air dissipated just as quickly.

Under the Swan Beast’s gaze, filled with utter resentment, its magical release was abruptly and forcefully severed.

Perhaps, like the Bat Snake’s ability, magic capable of widespread destruction could indeed be so thoroughly disrupted by extreme cold.

“Is it… over?”

Though the battle had yet to conclude, Bai Aili stood frozen, as if she had just miraculously survived a harrowing ordeal.

This was because Su Ling’s terrifying appearance had left a lingering shadow in the minds of too many of the children.

Consequently, moments earlier, they had subconsciously braced themselves to endure an attack of similar magnitude.

Yet, everything that had just transpired, at least outwardly, suggested they had successfully countered the beast’s magic, even inflicting a noticeable degree of weakening.

Their strategy was viable!

Unable to contain her excitement, Bai Aili instinctively high-fived Li Chuning, who stood beside her.

However, the jubilant girls remained oblivious.

Neither Su Muxue nor Fang Xiaobai had relaxed their expressions; in fact, Xu Yanqing’s face had grown even more grave.

For it was only when the beast finally bared its true fangs that the magical girls recognized the profound error in their previous understanding.

They had been thoroughly misled by the beast’s apparent physical robustness.

“Fourth-tier.”

Xu Yanqing, the team leader, grimly uttered the single word to himself, then, without a moment’s hesitation, brandished his magic staff, igniting a rapid succession of spell arrays behind him.

Yet, in the very next instant, every single spell completely shattered.

The magical energy had vanished.

In a single, horrifying instant, the ambient magical energy, beyond the control of the magical girls, was entirely drawn into a singular, unknown destination.

Consequently, both the spells prepared by the reserve members and the magic Xu Yanqing was actively channeling through his staff—

—all of them, with an inexplicable, faint, deep inhaling sound, “BANG,” violently shattered, utterly devoid of magical sustainment.

Before their eyes, the pallor adorning the swan’s wings was swiftly absorbed by foul blood, much like a substance sinking into veins—

This signified that all magical energy across the battlefield had been utterly purged in a single moment.

A tempest of magical energy surged forth, rushing to fill the sudden vacuum on the battlefield.

Yet, the core reserve members, unable to sense even a wisp of magical energy, felt a subtle, unsettling sensation of suffocation.

It was a feeling akin to the profound dread that now weighed upon their hearts as they faced the swan’s fully unfurled wings.

The already colossal, inwardly curled wings, after that deep, drawing breath, began to absorb foul blood without pause. This process rapidly filled the previously shrunken vessels—which had resembled mere patterns—and the ‘alveoli’ within, using pure magical energy as their dark, fruit-like core.

These newly formed, menacing ‘fruits’ then semi-enclosed the magical girls from above, to their left, and to their right front, trapping them within a dense, falling forest of their sinister creation.

“What… is this thing?”

Every spell, without exception, required even a faint trace of external magical energy to activate. Under normal circumstances, any typical environment would possess at least some ambient magic.

Yet, in the absolute vacuum that now permeated this space, there was truly nothing. This stark reality meant the magical girls were utterly incapable of casting any spells.

With not a single flicker of magical response, Zhao Siqi, who had been cheering moments before, now stared with vacant, dead eyes at the colossal wings that seemed poised to swallow them whole.

The beast’s remaining body, twisted into a grotesque shape, lurked within the shadow of its wings. It grinned savagely, revealing a monstrous mouth that split all the way to its neck, rows of perfectly aligned teeth coiled menacingly within.

It was only when the encroaching shadows fully enveloped its form that the ‘elegant’ beast finally unveiled its truly terrifying and hideous nature.

Su Qingyao observed the unfolding chaos with an unnerving calm.

Her magical energy steadfastly maintained the protective barrier around the spectator stands, ensuring the children watching from the sidelines would not be caught in the maelstrom.

True to its symbolic nature, the beast’s genuine magic revolved around the fundamental acts of “inhalation” and “exhalation.”

At this very moment, however, it was merely executing the ‘inhalation’ phase.

Su Qingyao’s gaze subtly shifted, settling upon the magical girl who had shone so brightly amidst this fierce battle.

‘Su Muxue, my dear Su Muxue.’

From afar, she watched that silhouette slowly descend, a knowing realization dawning upon her regarding their true plan.

Su Qingyao’s tightly pursed lips softened, forming a smile that, despite itself, was laced with a touch of worry.

‘Although, this is incredibly perilous.’

‘But your mother will be watching over you.’

In this critical moment, Su Qingyao’s sole action was to stand quietly amidst the spectators, silently observing her daughter strive to inscribe her answer before her.

****

“Ugh—”

Deprived of magical support, Su Muxue instantly lost her ability to fly, plummeting into a state of weightlessness.

Yet, her face betrayed neither despair nor any extraneous emotion. Up until this point, everything had unfolded precisely as she and Fang Xiaobai had anticipated.

Or, more accurately, it was merely one possible outcome among their carefully laid predictions.