Chapter 53: A Dire Revelation

Ila’s eyes widened in astonishment, leaving her rooted to the spot.

The blaring alarm, ringing in her ears, instinctively made her believe Leila had failed to conceal herself, thus exposing their identities.

Yet, Ila quickly realized something was amiss.

Although the alarm sounded right next to her, the indicator light hadn’t turned from green to red, nor did its shrillness linger unpleasantly. This clearly indicated the alarm wasn’t emanating from her own machine, but from the one beside it.

‘So, it wasn’t us who were exposed after all…’

A wave of relief washed over Ila at this realization. She swiftly stepped out of the inspection machine, eager to prevent any further unforeseen complications.

Meanwhile, Mona and her group, who had already passed through the turnstiles, also heard the alarm. Ila jogged over to them, and together, the five of them glanced back at the ticketing gate they had just exited.

“Ila, what happened?”

Mona looked at Ila with a hint of worry, assuming some issue had arisen during Ila’s ticket scan. However, upon receiving an assuring nod that Ila was unharmed, her anxiety subsided.

At the leftmost turnstile, a pale man in a suit stared in panic at the machine above him, which was flashing a persistent red light.

“No, I didn’t… I didn’t…”

He shook his head frantically, utterly distraught, as two Demon Knights, their laser swords drawn, slowly advanced on him. The surging pressure caused the man’s entire body to tremble, and his phone slipped from his grasp to the floor, displaying the words ‘Game Cleared’.

In this moment of fading consciousness, the Black Mud parasitic within him ceased its concealment. An inky black spot appeared on his human skin, then seemed to come alive, spreading, writhing, and corroding his body.

This person was beyond saving.

Ila shook her head with a sigh of helplessness. Once Black Mud appeared on a human’s skin, it signified that all hope of survival was lost for that individual.

Beneath what was still a semblance of a human form, his body had already been utterly rotted into a putrid mess by the Black Mud.

Before long, this ordinary person would fully transform into a one-star Cadaver Beast, one of the Abyss’s lowest forms, lacking even a unique biological shape or innate abilities, which only manifest at two stars.

“No, let’s go quickly!”

Ila and Leila instinctively restrained Mona, who had already retrieved her Sacred Relic and was poised to rush forward. Ila cast a slightly surprised glance at Leila, who offered a faint smile. With a slight frown, Ila then spoke earnestly to Mona.

“Those two Demon Knights are more than capable of handling Black Mud that has only just begun its invasion. There’s no need for you two to intervene.”

While Demon Knights lacked the ability to purify Black Mud like Magical Girls, they were perfectly capable of briefly imprisoning and apprehending it. Moreover, the Black Mud of a one-star Cadaver Beast was not yet strong enough to penetrate the demonic armor and corrupt the true body within.

If the Demon Knights, who were tasked with protecting Haidu, one of the most vital cities in the surface world, were to falter in apprehending a newly formed one-star Cadaver Beast and require the assistance of Magical Girls, Ila would be left with no choice but to anonymously suggest to Headquarters that the Demon Knights be disbanded.

The two Demon Knights positioned themselves to encircle the man, leaving no escape. Their weapons were already aimed at him as they declared firmly,

“You have been corrupted by Black Mud. Cease your resistance and come with us.”

‘Such unnecessary chatter.’

Ila clicked her tongue. At a moment when the Cadaver Beast hadn’t fully formed and the human host still retained some consciousness, they chose to exchange meaningless pleasantries instead of directly subduing him.

The man now knelt on the ground, his eyes vacant and hollow. Within the whites of his eyes, tentacles formed from Black Mud ceaselessly writhed, as if he had surrendered all resistance. His entire body, save for his head, had turned pitch black, his flesh completely replaced by the Black Mud, from which countless twisted and grotesque tentacles erupted.

“I didn’t! I’m not a failure!”

Accompanied by a ghostly roar, countless worm-like tendrils of Black Mud suddenly burst from his neck, completely enveloping his head. His human face twisted into a sinister and grotesque visage. The faint outline of a single star gradually appeared on the man’s shoulder, marking the birth of a one-star Cadaver Beast.

‘This creature’s appearance…’

Ila recalled the one-star Cadaver Beasts she had fought and commanded as the Blood Demon Princess. They were all uniformly like black, humanoid salamanders.

However, the form this creature took after being corrupted by Black Mud was different from the one-star Cadaver Beasts in her memory.

Its eyes seemed to have been remade by a creator, appearing vertically, and its overall form was even more twisted and bizarre than those creatures from the Abyss.

Ila glanced at Leila, the Abyssal Lord, beside her, then silently switched her mental communication channel to match Leila’s, asking with a touch of confusion,

[You created this?]

[If I said yes, would you believe me?]

[No.]

Leila’s taste wasn’t so poor. She preferred beautiful girls like herself, and her personal attendants were Cadaver Beasts like Komi, who could transform into girls. It was impossible for her to create such twisted, bizarre things.

‘Is it a mutated species?’

The Cadaver Beasts formed by Black Mud weren’t static in their evolution; more or less, there would always be anomalies that differed from the norm.

“I want to see my daughter! I want to see my daughter!”

A hoarse roar erupted from the Cadaver Beast’s mouth. It spread its arms and shrieked, charging towards the Demon Knights.

The prepared Demon Knight was about to block the creature, but perhaps seeing only one star on its shoulder made him drop his guard. He completely failed to notice that the Cadaver Beast’s head split open like a gourd, ferociously enveloping the Demon Knight’s head, tearing and chewing madly.

“Ah!!! Help me! Ah!”

Sparks of electricity flickered across the demonic armor, and flowing photon blood pulsed erratically. The person inside screamed in agony, struggling relentlessly to pull the Cadaver Beast off their face.

The onlookers, utterly unaccustomed to such a sight, stared wide-eyed, phones in hand, at the unfolding horror.

The other Demon Knight quickly snapped out of his stunned horror. He rushed forward, intending to wield his laser sword and strike down the Cadaver Beast on the spot.

However, the creature was locked onto his comrade. If he wasn’t careful, he would injure his ally.

For a moment, he stood there, frozen and anxious, laser sword raised, utterly flustered and at a loss.

‘Are these two idiots?’

Ila had already mentally branded both Demon Knights as utterly useless. She had hoped to use this opportunity to observe if the Demon Knights had improved over the past five years, perhaps enough to change her opinion. Alas, these two had proven with their actions that they had not only failed to progress but had actually regressed.

Against her will, she couldn’t stand by and watch the Cadaver Beast harm a human. Just as she was about to release Mona, allowing the three young Magical Girls to transform and stop the Cadaver Beast, she suddenly heard a small, delicate shout.

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