Something's off about this magical girl.

Chapter 24 "Sacrifice"

"A walk in the rain is one of the effective ways to strengthen relationships."

Tao Zhuo climbed the slippery stone steps, walking alongside Gu Bai, sighing as she did so, her tone carrying a genuine sense of regret:

"If this weren't in such a remote mountain valley, I would definitely think this was the opening scene of a dating sim!"

"You can't keep your mouth shut." Gu Bai raised his hand and tapped her head lightly with two fingers.

"Oh, it's just a break."

Tao Zhuo covered her head with a pitiful expression and pointed to the pale peach-colored light barrier above her head, which was constantly rippling with raindrops:

"I'm already exhausted from having to keep the barrier up to block the rain and also keep an eye on that thing with my perception magic—wait, am I talking too much?"

"Just don't neglect your own work. Dongchun still needs your cooperation."

"I know, I know, what a boring teacher."

Tao Zhuo pursed her lips, but obediently withdrew some of her soft, yielding demeanor and regaining her wary expression.

Gu Bai didn't say anything more. He was already used to these harmless jokes.

Just then, the tremors from underground came again.

Tao Zhuo's steps slowed slightly, her delicate brows furrowed, and a hint of nervousness finally appeared on her face:

"Is the flood prevention and disaster relief work here inadequate? This vibration frequency... it feels like a mudslide is about to happen—pfft! Pfft! You jinx!"

"You can fly, right?"

Gu Bai glanced at the steep uphill slope and asked casually.

Even if something went wrong, it wouldn't be a problem for him to evacuate with Tao Zhuo, but there was still Dong Chun scattered outside.

"Don't worry, don't worry. Protecting civilians like teachers is a magical girl's duty!"

"Since you have the word 'quasi' in your name, you don't need to worry about so much."

"It's almost time—Teacher, wait a minute, I think I found it!"

Before the words were even finished, the two had already reached the edge of the mountaintop platform.

The entrance ahead was mostly obscured by waist-high weeds and jagged pebbles. A cracked flagstone path stretched out from the hay, ending at a natural gap in the cliff face, barely wide enough for two people to pass side by side.

"Inside?"

"Yes, the magic fluctuations are obvious. What do we mean?"

"That should be the 'grass valley' that Dongchun mentioned."

Gu Bai looked at the gap and said, "We were originally going in to look for the Eight-Type Grass anyway, let's take care of this thing while we're at it. Let's go."

"Ugh, in this kind of unusual situation, I, as the bodyguard, should be the one to give the order. Let me start! Anyway, let's go!"

Tao Zhuo made a mock complaint, then stepped forward without hesitation, blocking Gu Bai's path and walking towards the opening first.

Gu Bai followed.

Further in, the low-frequency buzzing of the strange beast sounded somewhat distorted in the narrow passage, making it impossible to discern the exact distance, but it was certain that the thing was ahead.

Finally, Tao Zhuo reached the end of the gap. She pushed aside the thick, drooping vines with the back of her hand and peeked inside.

Then, she let out a light whistle, her tone carrying a hint of genuine surprise:

"Wow, this is a hidden gem!"

Gu Bai followed and stood at the edge of the gap, looking inside.

The interior space was much more open than I had imagined, with a flat valley floor and towering gray-white stone walls on both sides.

The walls were damp, with tiny streams of water seeping down the rock's texture, splashing onto the rocks at the bottom of the valley and forming shallow puddles.

What's most eye-catching is the lush greenery that fills the valley.

The unique figure-eight-shaped path features overlapping leaf veins that interlock at the beginning and end.

It is Epiphyllum oxypetalum.

They covered the entire valley floor so densely that they resembled a thick, dark green carpet that stretched from the feet all the way to the horizon.

Gu Bai stood at the edge of the gap, his gaze sweeping over the familiar figure-eight knots, without uttering a sound.

It is here.

"Let's deal with that disgusting ball first." Tao Zhuo, standing next to him, gestured towards the depths of the valley.

Gu Bai saw it too.

A large, round, strange beast emitting a dirty white light remained motionless on one side of the valley floor.

The rain then intensified.

"Teacher, you wait for me here. This gap is perfect so it won't get wet in the rain. I'll go up and punch it and be right back, I'll be quick."

Tao Zhuo gave him a brief instruction, and Gu Bai nodded. At his speed, thirty meters was a distance he could cover in an instant should anything happen.

Seeing that Gu Bai agreed, Tao Zhuo made a "V" sign, leaped up, and landed lightly on the valley floor covered with epiphyllum.

She stepped slowly forward, her feet slippery on the wet grass.

The further she walked, the more uneasy she felt.

The very encounter with this strange beast today felt jarring. Normally, strange beasts are mindless destroyers, so why was this one quietly entrenched in the deep mountains and forests?

Forget it, I don't want to.

Tao Zhu shook her head and sent the [Ready] signal to Dong Chun, who was halfway up the mountain, through the magic bridge.

Soon, Dongchun's response came. She had also locked onto her target.

it is good.

Three, two, one.

A dazzling pink magic surged wildly across his fist. Tao Zhuo took the final step, and using the momentum of his charge, his right fist, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound as it tore through the air, slammed into the center of the beast's shell!

boom!

A dull, resounding roar echoed through the valley.

The beast's massive body collapsed with a deafening roar, spraying a viscous, pale white liquid in all directions, filling the air with a foul stench.

Logically, if the core is destroyed from both ends simultaneously, this thing should be completely destroyed.

However, before Tao Zhuo's smug smile could spread, the liquid on the ground began to writhe like living things again. Instead of dissipating, it clung together even faster than before, and the flesh began to recover strangely once more.

"Huh? Are you kidding me!"

Tao Zhuo took a half step back in astonishment, her mind racing—had Dong Meimei made a mistake? Or was this thing not a dual-core at all?

She turned around, wanting to check on Gu Bai's safety first.

That one glance sent chills down my spine.

Something was densely attached to the stone wall at the gap.

It wasn't moss; it was layers upon layers of dirty white shell, the same kind as that round, strange beast, densely covering the stone wall, quietly lurking above where Gu Bai was standing. At this moment, it seemed to have transformed into a giant mouth, not yet making a move, but perhaps about to devour Gu Bai in the next instant!

"..."

Tao Zhu felt a little suffocated. How stupid! How stupid of her! Why hadn't she noticed before?!

It doesn't matter anymore.

Before she could even warn anyone, she channeled her magic and instinctively retrieved the life-saving item she had obtained using her volunteer points from the academy before arriving from her storage bag.

Made by Goldsmith, this talisman can be ignited with magic to cast a high-level spell – [Shift].

One-time use magic talismans are never used unless it's a matter of life and death.

But now...

No, I'm a magical girl!

Eliminating even the slightest hesitation, Tao Zhuo channeled her magic power and ignited it.

In an instant, the world seemed to tilt violently—

In an instant, she stood at the gap, and the teacher must have reached the bottom of the valley; the magic had taken effect.

The next instant, the dirty white shell that had been lying dormant on the stone wall was disturbed by the flow of magic.

A sickening clanging sound of shells clashing echoed overhead, like a signal of attack being frantically transmitted among the colony. At that moment, half of the towering stone wall seemed to come alive.

It collapsed like a tide.

The peach blossoms did not fade.

She pulled the screen to her body, channeled her magic, and simultaneously sent an emergency rescue signal to Fuyutsubaki through the magic bridge.

hurry up--

The surging, pale tide instantly filled the entire field of vision, obscuring the rain and the light.

Faced with such overwhelming numbers, Tao Zhuo could only close her eyes and focus all her energy on activating her magic barrier to buy more time for Dong Chun's arrival.

One second, two seconds...

The anticipated rapid depletion of magic power did not occur.

Conversely, the irritating buzzing of the strange beasts around them abruptly disappeared in an instant.

It was as if someone had pressed the mute button, leaving only the background sound of the torrential rain.

Tao Zhuo opened her eyes in astonishment, her gaze falling upon raindrops suspended in mid-air, while the strange beasts that had swooped down had already landed on the ground.

"Eh?"