My ex-girlfriend is a magical girl junior?

Chapter 139 An Unavoidable Battle (Part 2)

The billowing dust slowly settled, and a figure completely different from the one that had been struck head-on by the sharp beam of magic quietly emerged.

No longer was she the black-haired, red-eyed girl in revealing hot pants and boots with a playful side ponytail; instead, she was a tall knight covered in dark, menacing heavy armor.

He crossed his arms over his chest, and his black arm armor, gleaming with a cold metallic sheen, steadily blocked the brilliant beam of light that had been powerful enough to pierce through steel plates, leaving not even a trace of char.

Ji Ying slowly rose to his feet. Gravel and dust slid off his heavy shoulder armor, and two ember-like dark red lights suddenly shone on the helmet covering the hideous metal mask. They pierced through the billowing smoke and dust, precisely locking onto the figure emanating a powerful magical aura not far away.

It was a magical girl, floating in mid-air, with an elegant and upright posture.

Her long, smooth, pale purple hair was tied back with an exquisite silver ribbon, with a few unruly strands falling across her smooth forehead and swaying gently in the night breeze.

Her delicate oval face was almost perfect, with no flaws whatsoever. What was most striking were her rare silver-gray eyes, clear and bright, like two carefully polished gems.

The well-fitting light purple combat dress accentuated the girl's tall and slender figure, with delicate silver lace adorning the hem.

The matching long gloves and high-heeled boots that extended above her knees complemented her overall look, giving her an air of noble elegance and unapproachable aura.

On her chest, a simple, antique-looking silver pocket watch-shaped ornament, seemingly composed of countless intricate gears, emanated a faint magical aura.

Ji Ying's gaze lingered for a moment on the combat suit worn by the other party, which was clearly more exquisite and gorgeous than the combat suits worn by Liu Li and Yin Xue, and contained a stronger magical fluctuation.

Sensing the aura emanating from her that was clearly stronger than Yuexi's and could even faintly rival the energy fluctuations of his own heavy armor form, he immediately made a judgment.

This magical girl is very likely the inspector Yuexi mentioned before, who came from the Magic Kingdom to support Jiangchuan City and investigate the disappearances of other magical girls.

As an inspector, she naturally knew of the existence of the Void Realm Apostles, and—naturally, she regarded herself, an existence radiating intense Void Energy, as an enemy that absolutely could not be let go and had to be eliminated immediately.

Therefore, the sudden and merciless attack just now is not hard to understand.

With this in mind, Jiying immediately decided that before things got worse, she should at least try to have some effective communication with the other party.

After all, if the other party really is an inspector, then she should be on the same page as him in opposing Jingjue and stopping his ulterior motives.

He needed to get more information from her about the magic kingdom and the current situation, and even—develop her into a trustworthy teammate.

"May I ask, who are you?" Ji Ying spoke slowly, deliberately lowering his voice to make it sound deeper and more composed. "Why did you attack me?"

However, upon hearing Jiying's question, the magical girl opposite seemed to have heard something utterly ridiculous, and a cold smile full of disdain and mockery appeared on her face.

"I am a magical girl." Her voice was cool and calm, with a hint of condescension. "And you—"

'

She paused, a hint of undisguised disgust and killing intent flashing in her silver-gray eyes: "He is a Void Apostle who exudes a nauseating ethereal energy."

"Do I need any special reason to attack you?"

"As for who I am—humph, a filthy monster like you is not worthy to know, because you will soon be utterly annihilated here by me!"

Ji Ying felt somewhat troubled by the other party's declaration, which was full of hostility and determination to kill.

It seems that resolving this misunderstanding through simple negotiations is not as easy as he imagined.

He let out a low chuckle and continued, "Since I'm going to be eliminated by you soon, telling me your code name shouldn't be a loss, right?"

"I don't want to keep referring to a—well, a powerful magical girl—as 'you' in our final conversation, which feels a bit distant."

He tilted his head slightly, his dark red eyes flashing through the gaps in his mask: "Of course, in exchange, you can call me—Silent Shadow."

Upon hearing Jiying's slightly provocative words, the magical girl opposite him, Ichisei, narrowed her silver-gray eyes slightly, as if weighing something.

After a moment, she snorted coldly and announced her name: "Magical Girl Hoshizune, remember this code name."

Before she finished speaking, Xingxian's fair and slender right hand suddenly swung forward, and a light purple beam of magic power, more condensed and more dazzling than before, shot towards Jiying once again, like a shooting star streaking across the night sky.

"Then, carrying your filthy, empty power, set off without regrets!"

This time, Jiying was well-prepared.

Although his speed in the heavily armored knight form was far less than that in his previous lightly armored girl form, he still displayed an agility that was disproportionate to his massive size when faced with this linear energy attack.

With a slight shift of his foot, he abruptly moved several meters to the side, easily dodging the sharp beam of light.

"boom--!"

The magic beam grazed the edge of his armor and slammed heavily into a dilapidated wall not far behind him, creating a deafening roar that sent rubble and dust flying everywhere.

Ji Ying stood firmly in place, without even the slightest movement of the heavy, black armor she wore.

He raised his arm covered by an arm guard and waved it gently at Xingxian, his tone tinged with helplessness: "Miss Xingxian, I think you may have misunderstood something. I am not your enemy, nor do I intend to have any conflict with you."

"I have no ill intentions towards you magical girls."

However, Xingxian's response to Jiying's sincere statement of peace was—another, even more swift and powerful one.

It was also a more powerful and sharper beam of magic.

At the same time, her cold laugh, filled with disdain and mockery, rang out: "Hmph! Trying to pull this low and ridiculous trick again? You Void Realm Apostles are all cut from the same cloth."

"Will you always be like a rat in the gutter, hiding and cowering, never daring to fight me openly and honestly, even when forced into a direct confrontation?!"

Another beam of magical energy roared in. This time, Ji Ying didn't even try to dodge, letting the beam strike his heavy breastplate with a dull thud and kick up a cloud of dust.

As the light faded, he remained motionless in place, not a single scratch left on his black armor.

But seeing the other party's unyielding and murderous demeanor, he couldn't help but feel a sense of helplessness.

It's probably impossible to persuade this inspector, who clearly harbors deep prejudices against him, through words alone.

But he still wanted to make one last effort to try and stop this pointless battle from another angle.

Ji Ying pointed to the edges of the illusory bubbles around them, which were shaking violently from the aftershocks of their battle and seemed on the verge of collapsing at any moment. She said in a deep voice, "Miss Xing Xian, the reason I don't want to fight you is not because I'm cowardly, but because I don't want our conflict to affect the real world, which shouldn't be affected."

"Even if you're so eager to kill me, shouldn't you at least consider the potential losses if we continue fighting?"

"This dimensional bubble has become very unstable due to the decrease in the number of dimensional beasts. If we fight with all our might here, it is very likely that it will shatter directly because it cannot withstand the aftershocks of our battle."

"This is a vital industrial facility that is still in operation. If it is completely destroyed, it will not only cause huge economic losses, but may also affect the surrounding power grid or important pipelines, causing a wider indirect impact on the city."

"As a magical girl who protects justice, you probably wouldn't want things to develop to that point, would you?"

However, after hearing Ji Ying's earnest advice, Xing Xian's face showed no emotion whatsoever; instead, she revealed an even colder and more disdainful smile.

"It's alright." Her answer was decisive and cold, without the slightest hesitation. "I will try my best to minimize the losses in the battle and ensure that the lives of ordinary people are not threatened."

"Moreover, as long as we can completely eliminate you, this Void Apostle who poses a huge threat to the entire city, right here—"

"Then, even if this factory is destroyed as a result, it would be entirely worthwhile."

"As for the subsequent damage assessment and repair work—hmph, let the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs handle that; it's their job."

Faced with Xingxian's answer, which could be described as cold-hearted and even somewhat obstinate, Jiying felt a mix of amusement and exasperation.

He could clearly sense how firm and unwavering the magical girl named Xingxian was in her determination to completely destroy him.

However, he also understood that being highly vigilant towards unfamiliar beings emanating powerful ethereal energy was simply a way of fulfilling their duty as magical girls who took it upon themselves to protect the world.

If I hadn't accidentally revealed my "Little Shadow" form in the park, and if I hadn't had that heart-to-heart talk with Liuli and Yinxue afterwards—

Therefore, even someone as meticulous as Liuli would likely not have any trust in the heavily armored black knight "Silent Shadow" who exudes powerful ethereal energy. In fact, she might be even more vigilant and decisive than Xingxian in front of her.

Therefore, he did not want to criticize the magical girl in front of him, who seemed somewhat obsessive but was essentially fighting to protect others, just because Xingxian attacked him.

What's more, she was the inspector that Yuexi, who had been eagerly awaiting her return, had come to investigate the disappearances of other magical girls in Jiangchuan City.

From any perspective, in the fight against Jing Jue, that treacherous and cunning apostle of the Void Realm, and in stopping his ulterior motives, she and she should be natural allies, absolutely reliable partners who can be won over and trusted.

He needs to exchange intelligence with her properly, and even, if possible, develop her into his teammate to fight against potentially more powerful enemies in the future.

but--

Jiying looked at Xingxian's silver-gray eyes, which were now staring at him with undisguised vigilance and scrutiny.

And the magnificent staff in her hand, which was once again beginning to gather brilliant magical light, made her sigh helplessly in her heart.

This time, he probably won't be able to use the same gentle approach he used when facing Yin Xue and Liu Li—the approach of directly "surrendering" and then gaining their trust through sincerity.

If he were to actually disarm and abandon all defenses now, Xingxian on the other side would most likely think that he was just making a show of force, trying to use some insidious trick to lower her guard and then launch a sneak attack.

Then, what awaited him was certainly not a girl's curious and kind embrace, but rather a more piercing and deadly beam of magic.

After all, Xingxian wasn't like Liuli and Yinxue, who knew very little about the "Void Realm Apostles" and simply thought they were mysterious and powerful enemies.

As an inspector of the Magic Kingdom, she must be very clear about how dangerous and cunning the Void Realm Apostles are, and she must have experienced many cruel and bloody battles with those enemies from the shadows.

Therefore, she would absolutely regard all her current "peaceful" words as despicable sophistry used by the Void Realm Apostles to deceive the enemy.

The idea of ​​ending the fight through calm conversation and convincing the other party that they are not the enemy was unrealistic from the start.

This battle—it seems—is now unavoidable.

Currently, it seems that if we want this patrol officer, who is full of wariness and hostility and is somewhat stubborn, to calm down and have a proper talk with us—

It seems that the only way to subdue her is through combat, temporarily rendering her unable to fight.

With that thought in mind, Ji Ying no longer hesitated.

"Clang!"

With a crisp metallic scraping sound, the two sharp blades gleaming with a dark, cold light on either side of the Shadowless Black Armor suddenly sprang out, revealing their complete form to Starstring for the first time.

Seeing Ji Ying's battle-ready gesture and the two ominous black blades, Xing Xian revealed a cold smile.

"Oh? So you're finally not going to keep pretending? That's good, saves me the trouble of exposing your ridiculous lies."

Jiying ignored Xingxian's sarcasm and instead asked in a somewhat probing tone, "Miss Xingxian, before we begin this potentially intense friendly exchange, I'd like to ask you one last question."

"Before you launched your first attack on me—did you even get a good look at what I looked like?"

Xingxian was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, seemingly not expecting the other party to ask such a strange question at such a tense moment.

But she still replied in a deep voice, "Haven't you been wearing this repulsive black armor from the very beginning?"

"I can clearly sense the nauseatingly dense ethereal energy emanating from you from a great distance; I don't even need to get close enough to see your exact appearance!"

Hearing Xingxian describe his imposing, heavily armored knight form as "an eyesore," Jiying's lips twitched slightly beneath his helmet, a sense of indescribable frustration welling up inside him.

What?! You think I'm annoying just looking at me?! How is my cool knight look, full of power and beauty, annoying?!

But he quickly composed himself, his slightly disappointed feelings vanishing, and replied calmly, "Didn't you see clearly? Well, that's not bad either."

Xingxian's brows furrowed even more, and she gave a cold snort of impatience: "What exactly are you trying to say? Do you perhaps have a form that is even more disgusting and repulsive than this ghostly appearance?"

"Well, I really am a little—sorry." She deliberately dragged out the last syllable, trying to provoke the other person in this way.

However, to her surprise, Ji Ying actually nodded slightly after hearing her words, his tone carrying a hint of inexplicable melancholy and agreement: "Yes, for me personally, perhaps—that is indeed the case."

Before Xingxian could react to this somewhat strange answer, Jiying's deep and imposing voice rang out again in the silent illusory bubble: "Then, Miss Xingxian—"

'

"You'd better watch out!"

The moment the words fell, Ji Ying's tall, imposing, dark figure vanished from the spot as if it had merged into the shadows.

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