Chapter 24: The First Test of Fear

Unexpectedly, Shula did not move against Ira. Instead, as if by a sudden slip of her hand, she let the black egg fall to the ground, witnessed by all.

“Hiss-ha~”

From the shattered black egg, dark mud seeped into the earth, followed by a wolf’s howl that echoed across the green expanse.

The wolf totem, once etched onto the black eggshell, now floated above the mud. Instantly, countless tendrils of dark mud swirled like a water tornado, enveloping the totem and gradually forming a distinct shape.

Claws made solely of bone tore through the mud. A towering figure of gleaming white bone rose, like a werewolf from a horror story, its skeletal frame rubbing together with a chilling ‘crunch.’ The dark mud rapidly writhed and climbed over the bones, forming grayish-white flesh on its limbs and one side of its face. From the back of its right claw, a bone-like blade extended.

Finally, the dark mud coalesced at its chest, covering only the limbs and the five areas extending from its head. Two stars randomly materialized on the wolf-shaped Cadaver Beast’s shoulders, making it neither fully human nor fully wolf.

A black surge of energy enveloped the three young girls, releasing an unseen pressure upon them.

The three girls were already trembling with fear, exchanging wide-eyed glances. In a mere few seconds, from the moment Teacher Belle had dropped the black egg, a ferocious Cadaver Beast had materialized before them.

“This is… a Cadaver Beast…”

Mona’s breathing grew ragged as she stared wide-eyed at the Cadaver Beast before her, her legs weak with fear, instinctively stepping back. She was terrified it would devour her in the blink of an eye.

Despite her profound fear, her hand had already clasped the Sacred Relic, Soaring Shadow Glass Light, hanging around her neck, poised for battle at any moment.

However, the other two were facing a true Cadaver Beast for the very first time. A single glance at the creature was enough to send a bone-chilling dread deep into their hearts.

Thump.

Ye Yunshu, naturally timid and introverted, was the first to collapse to the ground. She clutched the small shovel she always carried, ready to dig a hole and bury her head in it.

Lingling, having been raised as a shrine maiden to the Tree Temple since childhood, did not appear as disheveled as Ye Yunshu. Yet, her pale face betrayed her inner turmoil, her body slightly leaning, prepared to flee at a moment’s notice.

Both Ira, still bound to the tree, and Shula, standing behind the Cadaver Beast, shook their heads in unison.

Ira, witnessing Shula openly summon the Cadaver Beast, paradoxically felt a sense of relief.

‘Though the old hag is despicable and shameless, she possesses the arrogance befitting a Lord of the Abyss deep within her heart. If she truly intended to have the Cadaver Beast kill Mona and the others before me, she would never stoop to such a demeaning act as tying me to a tree.’

From Shula’s words moments ago, Ira had largely guessed her true intentions.

Mona, though uncertain why her teacher would release this Cadaver Beast, knew there had to be a profound reason behind it.

‘The Cadaver Beast we faced last night didn’t evoke this feeling at all. Yes, I just need to transform into a Magical Girl!’

‘I am a Magical Girl!’

Mona suppressed her inner terror, forcing herself to stand firm. She gazed directly at the skeletal creature before her, clutching the Sacred Relic, Soaring Shadow Glass Light, preparing to transform into a Magical Girl.

But suddenly, the wolf-shaped Cadaver Beast before her seemed to grow impossibly tall. The three girls’ fear of the Cadaver Beast transformed into sustenance, strengthening its power and causing it to emit an even more intense pressure than before.

It was as if an invisible black wall pierced through the three girls’ bodies. Mona’s transformation light was instantly extinguished.

At this moment, the memory of encountering the Spider Cadaver Beast last night, of its silk piercing her body, resurfaced with an accompanying wave of pain and the suffocating sensation of death. Mona instinctively clutched the wound on her chest, which had long since healed, the agony of the previous night twisting her features.

She remembered being hunted by the Spider Cadaver Beast, defeated by its overwhelming power, mistaking its silk for her brother, and finally having countless silk threads pierce various parts of her body.

These nightmares played like a slideshow, over and over again, in her mind. Not only that, but memories from ten years ago, when her brother, Magical Girl: White Rose, vanished in battle when she was only six years old, breaking his promise and leaving her alone once more, an orphan again.

The successive losses of her family had, once again, made young Mona the center of gossip among her neighbors.

At this point, Mona had dropped her Sacred Relic. She looked around, lost and helpless like a child, frantically searching for something.

Ye Yunshu, at some unknown point, had dropped her shovel. She curled into a ball, burying her head between her knees, her hood pulled over her head. She had completely wrapped herself into a green-haired bundle, faint sobs and trembles audible from within.

Lingling knelt on the ground, her eyes devoid of color, like a puppet whose strings had been cut, her soul seemingly gone.

Dark mud influences the emotions of all living beings, subtly instilling negative feelings. Cadaver Beasts, in turn, grow stronger by absorbing these emotions in a short time, with those from Magical Girls being particularly potent.

If they had transformed into Magical Girls, the Sacred Relics would have automatically erected barriers to largely block these effects. However, for these three novice Magical Girls, whose control over their Sacred Relics was still rudimentary, being unable to transform made them no different from ordinary people.

An untransformed Sacred Relic could, at most, barely sustain their lives when they were on the brink of death.

Ira was not surprised by the three girls’ reactions. A Cadaver Beast that had absorbed the negative emotions of three Magical Girls could temporarily boost its pressure to a three-star level.

Yet, to say she wasn’t worried would be a lie. What older brother could calmly watch their sister suffer? But this was the essential first step to becoming a Magical Girl.

All nascent Magical Girls must first learn how to successfully use their Sacred Relic to transform while facing the Cadaver Beast’s pressure in their original form.

This is a critically important step. Any Magical Girl who fails this stage will have their activities as a Magical Girl suspended by their team leader.

This is not a deprivation, but a measure of protection. If one is too afraid to transform when facing a Cadaver Beast’s pressure, it is not only irresponsible towards their own life but also endangers their teammates.

Just like now, Mona had initially reached the passing standard for transforming under a Cadaver Beast’s pressure. However, the amplified fear from Ye Yunshu and Lingling strengthened the Cadaver Beast, causing Mona to be affected.

If this were a true battlefield against a Cadaver Beast, the three of them would have long been corrupted and transformed into Cadaver Beasts by the dark mud, and Mona, who could have transformed and been saved, would have been dragged down by her teammates.

Ira still remembered how, when their Magical Girl squad faced the pressure of a mimicked Cadaver Beast, some of them even wet themselves on the spot. Only Ira (in disguise) stood unfazed amidst the Cadaver Beast’s pressure in her ordinary human body, completely unaffected.

From then on, Magical Girl: White Rose caught the attention of the Magical Girl Headquarters.

After all, not all Magical Girls were as gifted as she was. During her time as Magical Girl: White Rose, everyone in the circle tacitly added a ‘White Rose level’ above the existing ‘Commander level.’

[“And then you were defiled by the Great Master, successfully degenerating into a Dark Princess for five years.”]

Yaya’s untimely remark broke the silence.

Ira stomped her foot, having finished venting. She ignored Yaya, who was frantically calling for help above her head, and unilaterally blocked Yaya’s voice in her mind.

Her gaze never left Mona and the other two. Her sister’s familiar helpless eyes cut into Ira’s heart like a knife.

“Sister, what exactly is your goal?”

Ira turned to look at Shula, whose face was wreathed in smiles, and frowned slightly.

Just moments ago, Shula had been lewdly talking about brainwashing her into a teaching aid, yet now she was suddenly targeting Mona and the others.

Crucially, it was done in this conventional manner of training a Magical Girl’s resolve. As a Dark Princess, Ira could sense an aura emanating from Shula, enveloping the three girls and protecting their souls from being harmed by the wolf-shaped Cadaver Beast’s pressure.

She was acting exactly like a normal Magical Girl teacher.

If Ira hadn’t been absolutely certain that the suit-clad girl beside her was the Dark Demon Princess Shula, she would have truly believed it was a regular team leader conducting Magical Girl training.

But what was her purpose?

Though both Magical Girls and the Abyss originated from the tree脉, they were inherently antagonistic, with an irreconcilable hatred for each other.

Such continuous training would only make the three girls’ synergy and strength greater. What benefit could this act of training Magical Girls bring to Shula, who hailed from the Abyss?

Or did Shula have some other motive?

Shula, hearing Ira’s inner doubts, merely smiled without a word. She simply snapped her fingers at the Cadaver Beast and the three girls before her.

Snap!