Something's off about this magical girl.

Chapter 49 The Execution Scene

"I...I..."

Realizing the change in circumstances, Guanlan, still pressed against the cold ground, quickly considered what to say next.

—Click, bang!

"Clang!"

The pain instantly shattered all my plans.

The girl's facial expression trembled violently, and then the pain that climbed up her legs drove her to curl up like a shrimp.

"Don't try to escape using magic; I won't hold back anymore."

But she didn't need to say anything more, as both her legs were now dislocated, which was exactly what Gu Bai had done by bending down.

His words were not a threat; she believed that this guy was the kind of person who would actually do such a thing.

Tears fell uncontrollably, sinking into the dust on the ground.

Guanlan forced himself to hold his breath and steady it, finally squeezing out a few words from his throat:

"...I will cooperate."

After a moment of silence, Gu Bai cut straight to the point.

"Will it establish a magical communication bridge?"

Gu Bai remembered that Dong Chun had used such magic—at that time, even though she and Tao Zhuo were separated, they were still able to maintain simple contact.

There was no signal inside the cave, and he couldn't move. He needed a trusted magical girl to take over. He himself didn't intend to leave the cave, so he needed Guanlan's cooperation.

"Can..."

Guanlan braced his right arm against the ground and slowly lifted his upper body up.

She didn't have the ability to negotiate, but she also wouldn't allow herself to remain subservient to the other person without any dignity.

Regret? Absolutely.

The magical girl had warned me countless times to keep an eye on Gu Bai—

hateful!

At this point, she naturally realized that the two magical girls looking for Yubi was just a pretext.

He just wanted to lure me out. Ha, I just don't understand why I fell into such a low-level trap!

"Contact Tao Zhuo, Dong Chun, or Xia..."

Gu Bai pondered for a moment before finally deciding, "Call the two in the front over."

Guanlan responded and took a deep breath.

She began to try to untangle the magical energy pathways within her body. The internal structure had been torn apart by Gu Baimo's sword, and she picked it up piece by piece, piecing it back together.

Expanding my senses, I searched for that faint trace of Dongchun's magic...

Find it, try to build a bridge, establish a pathway, compress the collected signals into it, and send it out.

We've reached our limit.

Almost at the same moment the signal was sent, Guanlan's consciousness began to plummet rapidly.

She had no time to finish; her body instinctively collapsed to the ground. Before her consciousness completely faded, she managed to squeeze out her last two words:

"alright."

Then came the metallic stench of blood overflowing into his mouth, and a darkness far deeper than before.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

When I opened my eyes again, my back was cool and slightly curved... Hmm, it was a glass jar.

Now I'm leaning against the outside of that big jar.

Gu Bai was standing opposite her, staring coldly at her. He was the one who lifted her up from the ground.

—It was clearly he who completely deprived him of his ability to act.

She was complaining, but she also understood that it was already merciful that the other party had spared her life.

After all, what difference would it make if she were killed? Qi Xin might even be hoping for such chaos to erupt within the Ximing Church.

"You won't die, will you?" Gu Bai noticed that she was awake and asked casually.

"...May the gods protect us," Guanlan murmured in response.

The hall fell silent once more.

Without further communication, the two let time slip by meaninglessly, second by second.

I don't know how much time passed.

A sudden, unexpected sound of vital energy pierced through the air from the entrance of the hall:

"Hey, that's pretty scary. There really is a magical girl who can 'bridge' such a long distance. Teacher, when did you become so close to the powerful and beautiful saintess?!"

Tao Zhuo walked into the hall from the shadows of the passageway, speaking as she walked with light steps.

Then, he suddenly stopped walking.

"--Hmm."

She was speechless for a moment; something was wrong, very wrong!

On the way here with Dongmei, she originally thought that the teacher had reached some kind of cooperative relationship with Guanlan, and now she was planning to give them a sip of soup.

However, the bright red marks on the ground revealed a discrepancy between the assumption and reality.

At that moment, Dongchun, who was following behind her, also came in.

Her red eyes swept over Gu Bai, then Guan Lan, and finally the bloodstains on the ground, her expression remaining largely unchanged.

"Hello, teacher."

"Do you know any basic healing magic? Let's try to save her a little."

Gu Bai spoke.

Now that these two little magical girls have arrived, he is no longer worried that Guanlan can use magic to do anything else.

"Yes, a little bit..."

Tao Zhuo skipped over to Gu Bai, but upon hearing this, she hid behind Dong Chun again.

"I'll do it."

Dong Chun ignored her, gestured to Gu Bai, then approached Guan Lan's side and, after a moment, delivered the diagnosis:

"Your lower body is dislocated, and your magic circuits are damaged. You've endured too much damage in a short period of time. Be more careful next time."

The words were addressed to Guanlan, and the tone was purely diagnostic, devoid of either sympathy or judgment.

Guanlan remained silent.

Without waiting for her response, Dongchun used her magic to take out a large number of bottles and jars from her magic storage bag, laid them out in a row on the ground, then picked out a few of them, mixed them together, made a small bottle of dark blue liquid, and handed it to Guanlan's lips.

Guanlan did not drink it immediately.

She tilted her head and glanced at Gu Bai, as if requesting permission.

"Um."

Gu Bai simply responded and went back to indicate his agreement.

Then, looking at Tao Zhuo, who was idling in front of him, he grabbed her and pulled her closer, saying, "The magical girl inside is dead. Go and use magic to check what traces are around that jar. I need to know more information."

"Death? And there's something about magical girls in those jars?"

Only then did Tao Zhuo turn her gaze to the enormous glass jar.

A silver-white magical girl battle suit floated in the liquid; she had initially thought it was just a specimen display.

After observing carefully, her face turned pale instantly.

"His head was neatly cut off, what a twisted sense of humor."

Although she still didn't quite understand the situation, she roughly knew it was a heinous murder. Tao Zhuo took a deep breath, gathered her emotions, and began to focus her magic intently on sensing the situation.

Back at Gu Bai, he glanced at Dong Chun's side. Guan Lan was having her bones set; her face was pale, but she was definitely alright.

Well, how should I put it?

Although it is unknown what kind of rift exists between Guanlan and the magical girl of the past, it would make the saintess come alone to try to kill her.

But without a doubt, from today onwards, his evaluation of Guanlan has plummeted from the initial "dangerous, eccentric magical girl" to "evil magical girl".

Perhaps the Ximing Church is just this bad?

The thought flashed through his mind, but his previous conversation with the magical girl made him hit the brakes in time; he shouldn't have dismissed it so easily.

"Hey, Dong, are you done? Come here for a second, I feel like some of the marks are a bit strange, I might need you to confirm!" Tao Zhuo's voice carried a very serious and restrained quality.

"Okay," Dongchun replied, then got up and walked over.

Guanlan, who was far away, tried to stand up very slowly, but halfway up, her body trembled violently, her legs gave way, and she almost fell back down.

Gu Bai, who was standing next to her, reached out and pinched her arm to straighten her up, without saying anything more.

Guanlan steadied himself, paused for a second, turned his head, and lowered his voice so low that only the two of them could hear him:

"My heart is as clear as day, it is pure and sincere."

"I am a human being, all I see is filth," Gu Bai replied calmly.

"..." Guanlan's gaze fell on the headless combat suit in the glass jar, and she stopped speaking.