My ex-girlfriend is a magical girl junior?

Chapter 186 Breaking the situation

Jingjue's words, full of mockery and malice, were like a poisoned blade, piercing the softest and most inviolable part of Xingxian's heart.

An uncontrollable rage instantly ignited her reason, causing the pale purple magic threads surrounding her to become restless.

However, just as she was about to launch an even more ferocious attack, the jet-black whip in Jingjue's hand, carrying blinding lightning, suddenly struck from an incredibly tricky angle.

Xingxian felt a chill run down her spine, and relying on her honed fighting instincts, she suddenly turned to the side at the last moment.

"Sizzle—!"

The lightning whip grazed her arm, leaving a charred mark on her pale purple, ornate combat suit, and a burning pain instantly shot through her arm.

This real pain was like a bucket of ice water poured over Xingxian's head, completely extinguishing the anger that had risen in Xingxian's heart because of the insult to the code name "Xingshuang".

She calmed down instantly.

No, we can't let him lead us by the nose.

When facing an enemy like Jingjue, who is most adept at manipulating people's hearts, any emotional outburst is a deadly trap.

If you recklessly vent your anger, you will ultimately be the one who loses.

Xingxian bit her lip hard, using the pain to force herself to pull herself out of the negative emotions of feeling that her idol had been desecrated.

Taking a deep breath, her silver-gray eyes, which had narrowed slightly with anger, regained their deep and calm.

She thought of her duties as an inspector, and even more so of Liuli and Yinxue, whom she wanted to take care of, and Xiaoying, who was still waiting for her outside.

I cannot lose, and I certainly cannot lose for such a ridiculous reason!

Otherwise, I will not only be unable to fulfill the duties assigned to me by the kingdom, but I will also implicate Xiaoying, Liuli, and Yinxue!

Seeing that Xingxian's magical energy fluctuations had returned to normal in a short moment from frenzy, Jingjue let out a soft snort, feeling somewhat bored.

"Oh? How come you calmed down so quickly?" His voice came again from all directions, like a hunter lamenting that his prey hadn't struggled hard enough. "How boring."

He didn't seem to be in a hurry to launch the next attack, but continued the psychological offensive with great interest, trying to break down Xingxian's defenses.

"Speaking of which, the great legendary magical girl Starfrost, the one who made countless Void Realm Apostles tremble with fear, should indeed not be forgotten in the dust of history without anyone knowing about her."

"Faced with me, the culprit who falsely accused her of being dead, is this all the anger you have? It doesn't seem quite right."

"Or is it that—you don't actually care about her that much?"

He paused, as if he had thought of some extremely interesting possibility, and maliciously speculated, "Heh, I understand—doesn't her dazzling, blinding radiance also make you feel an unbearable jealousy?"

"Even—it might block your path to advancement? After all, as long as she exists, within the Magic Kingdom—I doubt anyone will even notice you, an equally outstanding genius."

However, this time, Xingxian remained completely unmoved by Jingjue's malicious words, which were full of provocation and insult.

She simply stared coldly at Jingjue, her silver-gray eyes filled with icy mockery, as if looking at a clown jumping around trying to attract attention. She calmly said, "Don't try to use your utilitarian and despicable thoughts as Void Realm Apostles to maliciously speculate about the bonds between us magical girls, and don't try to provoke me with your senior's affairs."

Xingxian tapped her wand lightly, and the magical threads surrounding her burst forth with dazzling light. She stared directly at Jingjue and declared, word by word, "The crimes you committed against your predecessors, the crimes you committed against your missing companions, and the crimes you committed against this city—I will collect these debts from you, one by one, with interest."

"Just you wait and see!"

Looking at the girl in front of him who had completely regained her composure in a short time and was even able to verbally retort to him, Jingjue finally slightly toned down his dismissive attitude.

He knew that ordinary psychological tactics would no longer be effective against this terrifyingly determined inspector.

He shrugged and let out a slightly regretful sigh: "What a boring answer."

"Since that's the case, then I can only leave you in endless despair, unable to utter another word."

The moment the words left his mouth, Jingjue's figure vanished from the spot once again, and Xingxian was once again facing the predicament of being ambushed by attacks of unpredictable direction.

She quickly analyzed the battle situation in her mind and rapidly compared the enemy in front of her with the intelligence she had gathered.

A mirror-like leap, creating a mirror image of oneself, exchanging positions with the mirror image, and attacking with a lightning whip.

Black Lightning — all the information Xiaoying shared was absolutely accurate.

However, he can definitely create more than one mirror image! Moreover, the magic beams I emit will most likely be reflected by some special mirrors, so I cannot directly attack his real body.

—If his attacks accumulate, they will eventually break through my defenses. If this continues, it will be very disadvantageous for me!

Although he instantly recognized the predicament he faced, being in this space composed of countless mirrors...

Despite Jingjue's absolute home advantage, Xingxian couldn't think of an effective way to break the deadlock for a while.

During her brief moment of contemplation, dozens of jet-black lightning bolts shot out without warning from the mirrors around her, weaving together an impenetrable net of death that completely blocked all of Xingxian's escape routes.

Xingxian's eyes narrowed, and she drew an elegant arc with her wand in front of her. A pale purple barrier made of high-density magic instantly unfolded, blocking all the black lightning.

However, just as the barrier collided with the lightning, producing a piercing crackling sound, Mirror Lord's figure emerged silently from a mirror above her head like a ghost, his lightning whip transforming into a deadly venomous snake, aiming straight for her back.

Xingxian's perception had already been elevated to its limit. Almost the instant Jingjue appeared, she sensed the deadly threat coming from above.

Without the slightest hesitation, she immediately abandoned maintaining the magic barrier, her body tilting backward at an incredible angle, allowing herself to fall from the broken mirror platform.

"Sizzle—!"

The lightning whip, carrying destructive power, almost grazed her forehead, instantly turning a few strands of her pale purple hair black.

As Xingxian fell, she gracefully spun around, lightly touching her toes to another floating mirror, stabilizing herself and gazing at Jingjue from afar.

"You reacted quickly." Mirror Lord watched Xingxian's fluid dodging movements, his tone filled with undisguised admiration. "But on my 'stage,' how long can you hide?"

A more pleased smile curved the corners of his mouth hidden beneath the mask. Jingjue slowly raised his hand and elegantly snapped his fingers.

"Smack."

A crisp sound echoed in the deathly silent space.

Xingxian's inner alarm bells rang loudly; she immediately realized that the real attack was just beginning.

Sure enough, the next moment, dozens of mirrors of varying sizes around her simultaneously emitted a deep light, and one after another, figures exactly like Mirror Duke walked out from them with the same calm and elegant steps.

Each of them held a long whip made of lightning in their hand, and wore the same nauseating pure white smiling mask as Mirror Lord.

"The time for the solo dance is over, my dear Inspector." The voice of Mirror Lord's true form seemed to resound simultaneously from the mouths of every mirror image, converging into a wave of unsettling, overlapping sounds.

"Now, let us present you with a grand ensemble dance!"

The moment the words were spoken, dozens of mirror images moved simultaneously.

Some launched surprise attacks from the front, some flanked from the sides, and some used mirror jumps to silently appear behind Xingxian, wielding their lightning whips and launching a comprehensive attack from all directions.

Dark lightning and blinding flashes of light intertwined, instantly engulfing the area where Xingxian was located.

Despite the seemingly hopeless siege, Xingxian's eyes remained as calm as ice.

She knew that if she only passively defended herself or tried to destroy these mirror images one by one, she would soon run out of magic and be completely defeated.

"We must destroy the stage on which he operates, the home ground where he has an absolute advantage!"

A resolute glint flashed in Xingxian's eyes, and her figure became agile again. She no longer tried to use her magic barrier to withstand all the attacks, but instead used more magic to enhance her speed and reaction ability. In the impenetrable network of attacks, she danced like a purple butterfly.

With each dodge, she would deliberately redirect the mirrors' attacks toward those she judged to be potentially ambushing or possessing special functions.

After dodging a long whip of lightning that came from the side, she used her wand to fire a small but solid magical arrow, which accurately shattered a seemingly ordinary floating mirror not far away.

"Boom!" "Bang!" "Crack!"

For a moment, the sound of shattering mirrors echoed throughout the entire mirror maze.

However, faced with Xingxian's textbook-level response strategy, Jingjue simply stood at a distance, letting out a pleasant chuckle, his eyes filled with a cat-and-mouse-like playfulness.

"Trying to find a way out by destroying my stage?" His voice rang out leisurely, tinged with a hint of mockery. "What a naively adorable idea."

"My dear Miss Hoshino, I admit that your combat intelligence has indeed exceeded my expectations, but—you still don't seem to understand."

As soon as he finished speaking, another crisp snap of fingers rang out abruptly.

An unbelievable scene unfolded.

The mirrors that Xingxian had previously shattered were restored to their original state in the blink of an eye. In fact, even more and denser mirrors were generated out of thin air in the void around her, further compressing Xingxian's already small living space.

"As long as this alternate dimension, transformed through my Mirror Authority, remains firmly established," Mirror Lord's voice was filled with an all-encompassing composure and confidence, "then—the mirrors here will be endless!"

Oops!

Xingxian's heart sank. While desperately dodging the increasingly dense attacks from the mirror images, she frantically tried to think of a solution.

Ranged attacks would be reflected, destroying the mirror would be pointless, and in close combat, the opponent would use the mirror to jump and toy with them—with such an absolute home-field advantage, they had no chance of winning at all, and defeat was only a matter of time.

However, it was Jingjue's confident and arrogant declaration that allowed Xingxian to capture a glimmer of hope in her near-despair.

"Still—steadfastly existing?"

Why did he emphasize this point specifically?

"Could it be that this seemingly impenetrable alternate dimension actually possesses some kind of weakness that could make it 'no longer stable'?!"

In Xingxian's mind, the powerful erosion-level void beast that Jingjue had specially saved flashed back instantly.

Why did he specifically save that virtual beast? With his abilities, he could easily create an even stronger one at any time.

—Could it be that—

A bold, almost insane guess gradually took shape in Xingxian's mind.

—Is that phantom beast the key to maintaining the "stability" of this alternate dimension? Or rather—is it an important "anchor point"?

The moment this thought crossed his mind, an unprecedented light suddenly burst forth in Xingxian's eyes, which were slightly tired from the continuous battle.

She knew this was her only and last chance.

"At this rate, I'm about to lose—" she muttered to herself, "I have no choice but to take a gamble!"

The moment she reached a conclusion, Xingxian made a decision. She took a deep breath and mobilized most of the remaining magic power in her body, no longer using it for futile attacks, but focusing on perception and evasion.

She needed an opportunity, a moment that would allow her to break free from all the mirror images and concentrate all her mental energy on locating the virtual beast.

The opportunity will come soon.

As if sensing that its prey was about to run out of strength, the dozens of mirror images became increasingly ferocious and dense, with streaks of black lightning and whips of thunder attacking from all directions at the same time, completely blocking all of Xingxian's escape routes.

"Now!" A glint flashed in Xingxian's eyes as he created a hemispherical magical barrier, completely enveloping himself and his body within it.

"Boom! Boom! Boom—!!!"

Almost simultaneously, all the attacks landed heavily on the seemingly flimsy barrier, unleashing a deafening roar.

The magic barrier shook violently, its surface rippling with turbulent waves, and countless cracks spread rapidly like a spider web.

Xingxian could clearly feel her magic power being consumed at an alarming rate, but she had no choice. She had to use the brief time she had bought with all her might to do the only thing that could turn the tide of the battle.

She closed her eyes, completely blocking out all external interference, to sense the magical threads that had sunk into the mirror along with the erosion-level void beasts.

—Found it!

The moment Xingxian sensed the exact location of the dying phantom beast through the silk threads, she suddenly opened her eyes, her gaze becoming incredibly resolute.

She completely abandoned maintaining the magic barrier, letting it shatter in the next wave of attacks, and utterly ignored the dozens of mirror images behind her who had once again raised their lightning whips, ready to deliver the final blow.

She poured all the magic she could muster into the wand in her hand without reservation.

The gem at the tip of the wand burst forth with a dazzling light comparable to the sun, and a highly compressed purple sphere of magic light, containing terrifying energy, rapidly took shape at the tip of the wand.

"—Disappear!!!"

With a fierce and resolute shout, Xingxian launched the magic orb, which contained most of her power, along the magic thread that served as a "beacon".

"boom-!!!"

From afar came an extremely shrill, yet abruptly stopped, roar of unwillingness.

Then, it was as if a chain reaction had occurred.

"Snap—Snap snap—!!!"

The mirror, suspended in mid-air, began to fly and collide erratically and uncontrollably, then shattered into countless crystalline fragments in an instant. The mirror platform beneath Xingxian's feet was also instantly covered with huge cracks and teetered on the verge of collapse.

The crisp sound of tens of thousands of mirrors shattering simultaneously, like a grand symphony, resounded throughout the entire mirror labyrinth, and the entire alternate dimension shook violently, as if it would completely collapse at any moment.

Meanwhile, the mirror images created by Mirror Lord, which were preparing to launch the final attack on Star String, began to distort and dissipate amidst these violent sounds of collapse, ultimately returning to nothingness.