Chapter 13: A Sister’s Desperate Race Against the Black Sludge

9:20

Ira sat anxiously by the bed, her gaze fixed on the world beyond the window. The streetlights, usually flickering on and off, would often extinguish completely around eight o’clock.

Outside, the darkness was absolute. Ira’s pupils flickered as she gulped down some iced tea, and suddenly, the pitch-black street appeared as clear as day before her eyes.

The moisture in the air was growing thick.

Ira sensed the change in the weather outside. Her body, transformed into a Dark Princess by the Black Sludge, drew its power from the world’s supporting tree脉. Thus, perceiving minor climate shifts posed no great challenge.

It was going to rain soon.

“Waaah, I’m going to tell Big Master that you’re exploiting child labor!”

Yaya, her two tiny wings struggling with a broom several times her size, grumbled softly as she cleaned the room, complaining about Ira’s tyranny.

Ira ignored her. With a casual toss, she flung the half-empty bottle of iced tea, striking Yaya squarely on her head.

“Ouch!” No sooner had Yaya returned the broom to its place than the iced tea bottle knocked her tiny body to the floor. The bottle, having completed its trajectory, then spun once more in the air before landing on the bedside table.

Ira pursed her lips, her gaze filled with worry as she looked out the window. Twenty minutes had already passed, and not only had Mona not returned, but her phone was unreachable.

This was the first time Mona had not come home by nearly nine-thirty.

‘No, this won’t do,’ Ira thought. ‘It’s about to rain, and I can’t wait any longer. I must go find my little sister now.’

Just as Ira prepared to rise and head downstairs to search for Mona, a white shadow swiftly flew toward the window, quickly descending before her.

“Dumpling, why are you here?”

Ira opened the window, allowing the small white parrot inside. Dumpling and Milk had been hatched from eggs by Ira and Mona over a decade ago, back when Ira was still the Magical Girl White Rose.

Blessed by Ira’s magic, these two small parrots were not only remarkably intelligent but also possessed a much longer lifespan than ordinary parrots. These two little creatures were, in a way, Ira’s birthday gift to Mona.

Normally, Mona was practically inseparable from them, so why had Dumpling come to find her now?

Ira, somewhat puzzled, cradled Dumpling in her palm, playfully tickling it. Yet, instead of nuzzling her finger as usual, it uncharacteristically bit her finger, attempting to drag Ira outward.

‘Eh? Wait!’

‘Could it be that Little Mona is in danger?’

It was then that Ira noticed a small patch of black grime clinging to the underside of Dumpling’s wing, wiggling little by little along its feathers.

Ira, her face darkening, brought her finger closer, intending to confirm her suspicion. Sure enough, the small black spot immediately detached itself from Dumpling, leaped onto Ira’s finger, and in the blink of an eye, merged into her skin.

A scene instantly flashed within Ira’s mind.

“Ah!!!”

Mona, transformed into a magical girl, was sent flying, her golden twin pigtails, disheveled from rolling on the ground after her transformation, now lay askew.

Before her, a Spider Skeleton Beast, its maw agape, advanced step by step. The three stars on its shoulder indicated that this Skeleton Beast was a three-star, an opponent far beyond the capabilities of a mere nascent-stage Magical Girl.

‘Why would a Skeleton Beast appear in Qingling Town? Haven’t the rifts already been closed by Leila? It’s impossible for two rifts to appear in the same area simultaneously!’

Ira had no time for such thoughts. She placed the weakened Dumpling on the table, then spun halfway, executing a high side-kick that shattered the room’s window.

The shards of glass grazed her face, but the wounds were instantly healed by the Black Sludge that surged forth with her blood.

Ira leaped onto the windowsill, then turned her head to look at Yaya, who was lying on the floor feigning sleep. After a moment’s hesitation, she sharply commanded,

“Yaya, stop pretending to sleep! Catch up!”

With that, she jumped, plummeting from the second floor to the ground below.

Dumpling, who had just been preparing to rest on the table, was startled.

Exposed, Yaya could no longer maintain her pretense. Flapping her tiny wings, she swiftly flew to the window.

“???” Dumpling tilted its head, its small eyes wide with confusion.

“Hello, goodbye!” Yaya greeted politely, then bared her teeth and likewise jumped out the window, following Ira’s path.

Only the small parrot, its eyes wide and worldview rewritten, remained.

‘Please, nothing must happen to you, my sister!’

Ira closed her eyes, sensing the familiar aura of Black Sludge she had absorbed from Dumpling. The direction was clear. Ira turned her head toward the source of the identical aura: it was Little Mona’s training ground!

‘Damn it! Ira, what were you thinking? Why did you say those things to Little Sister this morning!’

‘If only I hadn’t been so self-important, lecturing her like a senior Magical Girl this morning, she wouldn’t be out so late, nor would she have encountered a Skeleton Beast! If anything happens to Little Sister, I will never forgive myself.’

Once again, Ira subconsciously took all the blame upon herself. Whether in the past or present, whenever those most important to her faced danger, Ira would instinctively attribute every cause to herself.

“Second Master, Second Master, wait for me!”

Yaya landed on Ira’s shoulder, wiping nonexistent sweat from her face, panting heavily.

Ira dared not pause for a moment, running like a madwoman to Mona’s last known training ground.

Yet, the final outcome plunged the young girl into despair. The vast training area was devoid of the expected figure; only scattered equipment, widespread disarray, and Mona herself, covered in blood and no longer transformed, lay before Ira’s eyes.

*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh*

Rain, which had begun to fall at some unknown moment, lashed against Ira’s face, but she paid it no mind. Her mouth slightly agape, she could only stare in disbelief.

‘No, no, no.’

With a thud.

Ira, her eyes vacant, collapsed to the ground, but she quickly scrambled back up, crawling frantically on all fours to Mona’s side.

Purple hair, dripping with rain, obscured the girl’s face, casting a shadow upon it. Her eyes, once as brilliant as stars, were now dull and lifeless.

Ira anxiously caressed Mona’s body. Her chest had been pierced, and blood soaked her athletic top and white hair. The Black Sludge at the wound pulsed, worming its way into Mona’s injury like black maggots.

Her once vibrant face was now deathly pale, and countless black lines spread from her wound, inching their way up to her neck. When these black lines covered Mona’s entire body, she would be completely corrupted by the Black Sludge, reduced to a bloody and cruel Skeleton Beast.

Without hesitation, Ira tore off her own top, using it to shield her little sister from the continuing rain, leaving herself exposed to the downpour in only her underwear.

The Black Sludge was a terrifying entity. The moment any wound, physical or mental, appeared, it would seize the opportunity, corrupting one’s body and defiling one’s soul.