Chapter 58: The Flower of Judgment

The sound of the rain seemed to have weakened slightly from before.

Black Mirror gazed down at the girl beneath her; Jin Shiling’s eyes were still half-open, her pupils constricted, as if she wished to speak, but the profound weariness in her body and mind only allowed her lips to twitch faintly.

“Don’t speak.”

Black Mirror’s voice was exceptionally soft, as if she feared that speaking aloud would betray something.

Seeing Jin Shiling regain a measure of consciousness, Black Mirror slowly pushed herself up. Her hands, which had been wrestling with the tendrils, gradually intensified their grip, forcibly tearing away the malice that had pierced her chest. The belated onset of pain pricked at her nerves, causing her to slow the movement of extracting the withered, lifeless roots from her body.

She had many questions for Jin Shiling, and suddenly, many things she wished to tell her. However, her current identity and the predicament she faced prevented her from doing so. Maintaining silence was Zhang Qingwei’s usual demeanor, yet in this moment, it became Black Mirror’s only remaining option, one she was reluctant to confront.

Fate, it seemed, had played a cruel joke on her.

The crisis had not yet abated; she could not allow someone so vulnerable to remain in such a perilous place. She had to get her away from here.

With that thought, Black Mirror rose and carefully lifted the immobile Jin Shiling. Finding no suitable place nearby to temporarily shelter her, she gently propped her against a vending machine that had been damaged in the earlier battle and was now spewing out drink cans, before slowly distancing herself from Jin Shiling.

After its tendrils were torn away, the Corroded Entity weakened further, yet the flower blossoming from its chest remained vividly beautiful. Truly, it was unlucky; this flower, born to restrain, disrupt, and annihilate Magical Girls, had most unfortunately encountered a rebel of its own kind, one determined to destroy it. The threat of an erosion-level entity ultimately failed to bring more despair and chaos, succeeding only in devastating an abandoned park.

This malice, originating from an external source, was ultimately destined to wither here.

Deprived of its arms, it could no longer protect the flower on its chest, nor could it await the moment it would bear fruit. It stumbled backward, only to be tackled to the ground by the charging girl. Her hand, gashed by the tendrils, clenched into a fist and rained blow after blow upon the delicate flower, until its tender red petals returned to the mud.

“I don’t care who you are, nor what purpose you hope to achieve with this young man’s life.” Black Mirror tore the tenacious green tendrils, still clinging to life, from the monster’s chest, extinguishing them completely.

“This time, I won’t let you succeed.”

A defiant kick sent Black Mirror reeling, though the force of the blow was significantly diminished. It was clearly at its last gasp, unable to muster any further resistance.

With the flower of mental corruption destroyed, Polaris stirred behind her. Despite the persistent, intense discomfort lingering in her mind, she propped herself up with her shield and moved closer. No one could ever question the indomitable tenacity of this small figure.

“Take her away.”

Pointing at Jin Shiling, Black Mirror gestured to Polaris, who seemed inclined to draw even closer.

“You…” Polaris began, but Black Mirror’s gaze instantly cut her off.

This had dragged on for too long; it was time for it to end.

Mana, rising like flames, coiled around the Crushing Lord in Black Mirror’s grasp. The hammerhead began to disintegrate under the surge of magic, revealing a turbulent, dark current within. Witnessing this, the dying monster before her gathered all its remaining magic into its shattered eyeball, preparing for one final attack.

The outcome was sealed.

Advancing through the rain, into the wind, Black Mirror still showed no intention of evading the blow. The opponent had not even attempted to conceal its attack; where the beam of light would strike was already painfully obvious.

Her weaknesses, whether her heart or her brain, were never to be found in such places.

“Catch!”

Suddenly, Polaris’s voice rang out from behind her. Simultaneously, amidst the sound of the rain, something else approached her from the rear, seeming to spin.

Glancing with her peripheral vision, Black Mirror instantly grasped Polaris’s intention.

“…Unnecessary.”

Uttering a low complaint, Black Mirror’s expression relaxed slightly, even as the destructive red light surged forward, illuminating her cheeks.

The thunder gradually receded, and a final, colossal explosion echoed within the park, now utterly unrecognizable from its original state. Soil, turf, and rainwater mingled in the blast, as a broken rearview mirror, torn from something within the park, spun out from the smoke, soaring above the monster’s head.

“Checkmate.”

The unharmed girl, wielding her charged heavy hammer, emerged from the spinning mirror. With a single strike, she smashed down upon the vanquished foe’s head. The amplified force directly targeted its weakest point, and the eyeball-shaped core shattered into countless fragments instantly.

The puppet, manipulated by malice, ceased all movement.

It was over.

Under Black Mirror’s silent gaze, the utterly mutated body peeled away in layers, as if shedding skin, ultimately leaving her with a cruelly ironic outcome.

A hollow shell, its essence completely emptied.

“Hey, Polaris, take him… take him away too.”

Seemingly oblivious to the fact that Polaris’s small frame was already burdened with the weight of one person, Black Mirror seized the collar of the fallen boy and tossed him towards the somewhat flustered Polaris.

That was no longer Liu Tianze. Liu Tianze would never awaken again; he was gone.

Gazing at the face that seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep, Black Mirror averted her eyes.

This battle had culminated in the worst possible outcome, one that had never been anticipated.

The objective of extracting information remained unfulfilled; Liu Tianze had died without revealing anything. The issues surrounding Wen Qiusheng and Ji Lanxin remained unresolved, and indeed, more complications had arisen.

Conflicts were often waged for personal gain, yet this battle yielded no victors, no one profited. The Magical Girls had failed, the young men and women who had struggled so hard to reunite had failed, and she herself was also a failure.

A failed executor, a failed antagonist, a disgraced elder sibling.

Some things, once known, could never be undone.

In that moment, Black Mirror felt an unprecedented weariness and vexation. She tried to restrain herself, yet her eyes involuntarily flickered towards Jin Shiling, who was being carried away by Polaris, growing ever more distant.

‘What exactly are you thinking, Jin Shiling? Why you? Why did you have to become a Magical Girl?’

‘Magical Girls—perhaps they are the very murderers of your father.’

“…Polaris.”

Upon hearing Black Mirror’s voice, Polaris did not halt her steps, but Black Mirror knew she had been heard.

“Is drowning in your own fantasies not enough? Do you intend to drag more people down with you?”

“Your promises and vows have always been the most worthless, most wretched lies in this world.”

The other girl offered no reply, nor did she turn back. Only the hand clutching Jin Shiling’s trembled slightly. This was for the better; Black Mirror had no desire to see that feigned expression of hurt on the small, round face.

Once the familiar surge of magic faded into the distance of her perception, Black Mirror did not depart. Instead, she strolled to the vending machine from earlier, casting her gaze over the several cans of drinks scattered on the ground, then at the ones jammed in the dispenser.

After a brief moment of thought, she expressionlessly delivered a flying kick to the vending machine. The already damaged machine finally met the last straw that broke the camel’s back. After emitting a truly ominous noise, it “gushed forth” its contents, spewing out all the drinks from its belly.

Lucky, it had her favorite coffee.

Unconcerned with the destruction of public property, Black Mirror picked up her desired coffee can from the ground. The temperature, several degrees colder than the rain itself, transferred from the can to her fingers. Holding the can between two fingers, she found the only remaining usable bench nearby, sat down with her legs crossed, and casually pulled the tab of the coffee can.

“Gulp—gulp—”

The familiar sweetness that always evoked a feeling of contentment flooded her throat, yet this time, she felt only an emptiness within. She loved rainy days, and she loved the can of coffee in her hand. Under normal circumstances, following her usual routine, she would likely be at home, listening to the rain and savoring the same coffee from her refrigerator.

Zhang Qingwei exclusively bought this particular coffee, not only because it appeared in a light novel he enjoyed during his school days, but also because the protagonist of that novel once declared: “Life is short; at least let your coffee be sweet.”

This was also his reason for choosing it: though it bore the name of coffee, its sweetness almost entirely masked the actual coffee flavor, making it perfectly acceptable to call it a mere beverage.

Drinking coffee, to him, sounded like something adults did. He had developed this peculiar notion at some unknown point and had adhered to it ever since. Believing himself not quite an adult, he felt he should at least emulate their actions. Such was his rather childish reasoning.

Fortunately, he was a connoisseur of sweetness, a fact entirely imperceptible from his outward appearance.

Regrettably, in her current state, she found no solace whatsoever from the rain soaking her body or the sweetness in her mouth. She simply couldn’t muster any enthusiasm. Her sugar-replenished brain, should it dare to stir even slightly, would be engulfed by a tsunami of rushing thoughts. At this moment, she desired to think of nothing, only to merge with the rain.

Fortunately, this private moment, tinged with melancholy, did not last long. As she raised the coffee can once more, a wave of aggressive heat assailed her heart. With a sharp “clang,” the can in her hand was pierced and knocked from her grasp right before her eyes. Before its demise, this devoted gentleman left one last sweet droplet on the girl’s lips.

The sweetness was now tinged with a hint of saltiness and bitterness, and not merely from the mixing rain.

It seemed Rainbow had indeed bought enough time, for the belated arrivals now appeared rather incensed.

The sky, previously as black and heavy as a leaden plate, was abruptly torn open by a searing white light. It was as if a stream of radiance, plummeting from another world, pierced through the curtain of rain. Raindrops hung suspended in the air, while fiery, multicolored clouds cascaded from the heavens like a grand tapestry.

‘Light and flames tearing through the sky…?’

In the blink of an eye, several figures descended like shooting stars into the ruins once known as a park. The leader emerged slowly from a bed of crimson lotuses, her slightly long skirt fluttering like flowing flames.

She was a girl whose attire exuded magnificent splendor. A long red and gold gown embraced her graceful figure, while delicate ornaments adorned her shoulders and arms, with golden threads cascading down. Her alluring and beautiful face held a hint of solemnity.

Her long, deep crimson hair, like burning embers, was swept high from her forehead, with strands falling to trace arcs of flowing light in the wind. Her eyes, with the sharp, elegant contour of phoenix eyes, shimmered with a blend of gold and violet, seemingly capable of piercing through the human heart.

“Your friend has certainly caused us a great deal of trouble, Black Mirror.” A faint, almost imperceptible smile played on her lips, yet it made one feel as if they stood before an erupting volcano.

“Zhuohua.” Black Mirror uttered the name of the Magical Girl before her. “Let’s be clear, she and I are not friends.”

The newcomer was none other than Zhuohua, the “Flower of Judgment,” a Magical Girl currently soaring in popularity and at the apex of Jingping City’s Magical Girl power hierarchy.

“Is that so? If she’s not a friend, why would she sacrifice so many entities for you in one go? The relationships among you Corroded Entities are truly baffling. But none of that matters anymore.” Zhuohua casually snapped her fingers, and a flame, impervious to the rain, ignited at her fingertip.

“Human laws cannot bind you anomalies, so I’ll spare you the lengthy discourse on your crimes.”

No sooner had she spoken than several chains, composed of film reels, materialized seemingly from thin air around Black Mirror, binding her limbs and covering one of her eyes. Through the vision of her other eye, Black Mirror saw a Magical Girl behind Zhuohua, holding a strangely styled camera, its lens pointed directly at her.

“Is there nothing you wish to ask me?”

Black Mirror made no move to struggle, merely posing a question in a calm tone.

“Indeed, if I were to ask, I’d certainly want to know what exactly happened here, and why you aren’t escaping. But those details are unimportant. My companion just met up with Polaris; I trust she will inform me.”

“As for you monsters cloaked in human skin, I’ve never had anything to say.”

A slender sword, woven from fiery feathers, materialized in her raised right hand. Simultaneously, a heart-shaped lock ring, adorned with fiery red patterns, emerged from her chest—her Heart Lock as a Magical Girl.

Upon seeing the Heart Lock, Black Mirror subtly held her breath.

‘So that’s it. Just as the rumors say, she’s a decisive woman of action, fiercely committed to eradicating evil.’

“Heart-Lock — Unleashed!”

With that single utterance, the fiery heart-shaped ornament vibrated violently, and then a burst of flames erupted from its keyhole, engulfing Zhuohua entirely. The Heart Lock, dissolving into the inferno, shattered into fiery petals that whirled around her. Scorching, radiant wings of flame suddenly spread wide behind her as her magical attire transformed. Her skirt blossomed into intricate patterns of fire, her fingertips shimmered with interwoven gold and crimson, and brilliant embers flickered within her eyes.

In a mere instant, her already formidable magical power swelled severalfold.

“True Form, Zhuohua: Phoenix Lotus Conflagration.”

She was a Magical Girl of awe-inspiring beauty, the embodiment of light and fire, judgment and conviction.

In the moment she returned to her origin, manifesting in her True Form, the sky parted, leaving a clearing for her.

“Blazing Feather.”

The sword of light and flames descended from the sky, its scorching wings tearing through the curtain of rain, sweeping away the gloom and illuminating everything before them.

Truly worthy of the city’s top firepower, her strike was decisive and unwavering, with no intention of holding back. It was her strongest attack from the outset, its power amplified even further by other magical enhancements.

Black Mirror watched impassively as the attack bore down on her. If she took this blow head-on, while it wouldn’t be fatal, it would inflict severe damage.

“I’ll answer one of your questions now,” Black Mirror murmured, her voice barely audible even to herself. “That is, why I chose not to run.”

“Right now, I’m actually quite frustrated and eager to vent a bit.”

Despite her body being unable to move, through the manipulation of mana, Black Mirror constructed a weapon before her. It was not a hammer, nor a whip, but a heavy shield, two meters tall, a weapon that had never appeared in the preceding battle.

It was a fallen wish, a reversed oath, silent and selfish. Once hailed as a miracle, it now emanated malice from an enemy’s hands towards former comrades.

Its very existence was the greatest mockery and threat to Magical Girls.

“Lord of Plunder: Polaris.”

****

Later, according to residents living nearby, on a day when a sudden downpour began, a sacred sword of light cleaved through the heavy rain clouds and struck the earth. Yet, what followed was not a light that dispelled darkness, but a profound, somber gloom that swallowed its surroundings entirely, as if plunging them into eternal night.