Chapter 50: Unleashed Power and Enraging Revelations

Let us rewind to a time slightly prior.

Bai Li splayed her fingers, then swung her hand forward, and in an instant, all the monsters before her, along with the wall behind them, were sliced into fragments.

“The effect is quite good.”

Observing the wall, now neatly cleaved into chunks as if by five high-frequency vibrating blades, and the ground littered with the corpses of mutated beasts and pools of blood, Bai Li offered her assessment.

In truth, the principle behind this attack was not dissimilar to that of a high-frequency blade.

While she had confirmed in previous battles that mana possessed an idealistic component, this world was, for the most part, still a materialistic one, allowing most laws of physics to remain applicable.

Although Bai Li’s mana reserves were low, her control over it was exceptional, prompting her to draw inspiration from a certain magical girl series. She compressed her mana into a razor-thin blade, then enhanced it with high-frequency vibrations and other techniques, dramatically increasing its destructive power.

Just moments ago, she had affixed this high-frequency mana blade to her fingers, forming sharp, almost invisible claws. Coupled with her own physical prowess, this strike allowed her to effortlessly cleave through the thick, reinforced laboratory wall with virtually no resistance.

“Concentrating power to a single point… it seems there’s still room for improvement.”

However, this was not yet its perfected form, for the mastery of energy control was an endless pursuit. An esper already skilled in manipulation and long versed in such arts could likely compress energy to an extent that it approached a two-dimensional plane, much like the effect of a two-dimensional foil (TL Note: A fictional weapon from Liu Cixin’s ‘The Three-Body Problem’ that reduces objects to two dimensions).

At least, with Bai Li’s current level of control, it remained beyond her grasp.

‘…Nevertheless…’

Just then, a certain principle came to Bai Li’s mind.

When facing attacks of pure energy, energy-based defense was almost always the most cost-effective solution, as energies of different wavelengths, attributes, and properties often clashed, either deflecting or neutralizing one another.

Could she, then, through her control over energy, affix it to her body’s surface and directly grasp energy with her hands?

Without further ado, Bai Li channeled mana around her hands, simultaneously conjuring a mana blade identical to the one she had just created.

The next moment, she clapped her hands together, sandwiching the mana blade between them.

The already slender mana blade grew even flatter under Bai Li’s forceful compression, its density soaring, until it began to emit a glow akin to particle fusion.

“Roar!!”

Suddenly, a monster crawled out from a newly formed opening, poised to strike Bai Li.

“Perfect for a test strike.”

With that, Bai Li flung the physically compressed mana blade towards the monster.

In that instant, the world seemed to freeze. Both the monster and the underground structure stood still, while the glowing, compressed mana blade pierced through the wall and vanished in a flash, as if it possessed no physical form.

Mere seconds passed before crimson threads began to appear in the center of the monster’s body, which then split apart on the spot as if gravity had finally caught up, leaving behind a perfectly pristine cut.

And as the monster, now cleaved into sections — roughly two and a half pieces, some appearing to be rotated at a fifteen-degree angle — crashed to the ground, the wall behind it slid down along the pristine cut with a booming crash, then collapsed entirely.

It was fortunate that this strike had been aimed slightly downwards; otherwise, it was conceivable that the entire city, and even beyond, would have been bisected by her attack.

“Hmph, the power feels a bit too much, not something I should be able to wield right now… Hmm?”

As Bai Li assessed the impact of her strike, she noticed something rather peculiar amidst the collapsed underground debris.

Without a moment’s hesitation, she leaped directly downwards, landing before her target.

“This is… an experimental log?”

Activating what appeared to be a computer-like device, Bai Li saw the records contained within. Judging by the dates marked at the top, it seemed to be a form of diary or log.

[May 20th]

[Recent experiments haven’t been going well. The test subjects either die from being unable to withstand the power, or they lose their minds and rampage. I wonder if the cement golems I just created have any issues; I might as well release them for testing. Sigh, at this rate, when will I finally get to meet “that esteemed individual”?]

[May 21st]

[I hear there’s a considerably large organization of mutated beasts in this city. Since my experimental materials are running low, I might as well go take a look.]

[Tsk! Couldn’t get the corpses. Oh well, it was a good chance to test out my new creations. I’m not sure why they bothered to set aside a room to store all sorts of recordings, but I found it amusing, so I destroyed them as a bonus. Consider it retaliation.]

“…”

Reading the entry, Bai Li fell silent for a moment, then delivered a furious punch to the screen.

“…Amusing.”

While she hadn’t entirely dismissed the possibility, the actual confirmation still ignited a furious indignation within Bai Li.

What was more infuriating was that the reason for destroying those recordings, which she hadn’t even had a chance to back up, was merely ‘amusement’.

On that count alone, the person in charge here had already earned her enmity.

Casually, she stowed the computer, its internal data miraculously intact, into her magical space, ensuring that the individual named Qing Na would have no chance of recovering any information. With that done, Bai Li leaped back to the upper level.

‘By now, Xi Xi should have rescued Qing Lan, shouldn’t she?’

Checking the time, Bai Li concluded that Lin Xi had successfully extracted Qing Lan.

Just then, however, the underground began to tremble violently, with an intensity far surpassing any previous tremors.

Bai Li’s intuition screamed that something major was about to unfold.

‘Xi Xi and the others likely won’t be able to handle this. I need to get back immediately.’

Quickly locking onto her direction, Bai Li tore apart every monster that dared to block her path with her bare hands, swiftly closing in on Lin Xi’s location.

Suddenly, the source of the tremors, or rather, their instigator, revealed itself, utterly destroying the surrounding structures. A severe collapse immediately ensued underground, blocking the path she had just taken.

‘Tsk, how bothersome.’

While Bai Li possessed the power to shatter the collapsed rocks directly, the current underground structure was already precarious. If she exerted any more force, she risked either a more catastrophic cave-in or the complete annihilation of the entire area.

Transforming would be akin to replacing a nuclear bomb’s trigger mechanism with a more stable and controllable state, thereby enhancing her mastery over her power. Yet, if possible, she preferred not to resort to it.

After all, even with the cognitive interference preventing her from being recognized as the [Blood Moon Witch Annon] who had caused the previous attack, her transformed appearance and aura were decidedly un-magical girl-like.

However, events rarely unfolded as one wished. The monster, having burst forth from the earth, began to scatter limbs that could devour all living things in every direction, and Lin Xi and Qing Lan, being nearby, were naturally caught within its range.

‘…Why hesitate so much?’

Witnessing this dire situation, Bai Li, who had been wavering, cast aside all restraint. She unleashed her full power, disregarding the rocks in her path, and shot straight towards Lin Xi.

“Eh, Xiao Bai?”

“Don’t speak yet.”

The transformed Bai Li seized both Lin Xi and Qing Lan, then surged upwards towards the surface.