Vol 2 Chapter 78: Hundreds of Forces Make Martial Arts
Tang Changpu didn’t agree to Purple Diamond’s invitation right away.
What the other party had said was just too outrageous—betraying the Kingdom? That sounded completely unreliable. Even soone like Tang Changpu, who usually kept herself out of worldly affairs, felt it was a non-starter.
Besides, she was still a certified Flower Card Magical Girl. As long as she obediently went to the Material World to slay a few high-tier Ravagers, or fought the Resistance in the Interstice to earn so rit, in theory, she still had a chance to keep her status. It wasn’t much of a chance, but enough to make her reject the idea of going mad with the other party.
If she agreed to Purple Diamond and chose to betray the Kingdom, even if it was alongside a Jewel Scepter, the outco would likely be death. The Garden, the Royal Court, and the other four Jewel Scepters would never tolerate traitors. The consequences would be far more severe than forced retirent.
Tang Changpu valued her life—she hadn’t completed her martial arts journey yet and didn’t want to risk her life just like that.
But Tang Changpu was also persistent. If she retired and lost her magic, then she’d likely never perfect her martial arts path in this lifeti.
Purple Diamond saw the struggle and hesitation in her and said, “If your rational mind can’t make a decision, then let’s fight. I won’t use the Jewel Scepter’s power, only my abilities as a Magical Girl. If you win, I’ll fully support your research. If I win, you co with .”
“Boss, do you seriously think I could win?” Tang Changpu thought she was joking.
“If your ‘martial arts’ can’t even beat without my powers, then staying in the Kingdom is just a waste of ti. You’d be better off coming with to explore new possibilities.”
Purple Diamond gave her a gentle smile. “Don’t you want to try? Use your martial arts against soone like —the so-called 'pinnacle of Magical Girls'—and see how far you can go.”
Tang Changpu was persuaded.
She accepted the conditions, and the two of them held a private duel.
Purple Diamond kept her word and didn’t use her powers. But she didn’t entirely keep her word either—she used a type of power that didn’t belong to the “traditional” Magical Girl domain: the magic of a Ravager.
It was that power that tipped the scales, helping her defeat Tang Changpu, who had gone all out.
Still, Purple Diamond didn’t imdiately coerce Tang Changpu to join her. Instead, she introduced her to a group of people.
They were Magical Girls, just like Tang Changpu, who were facing forced retirent.
These girls either lacked combat ability or had been maid in battle. Most couldn’t handle high-difficulty missions and had no talent for research. In the Kingdom, they weren’t many—but not few either.
So clung to their youthful appearance as Magical Girls. So couldn’t bear to lose their power. But many just… still wanted to be Magical Girls.
Every Magical Girl, at the mont of selection, had a pure and kind heart. And even after the passage of ti, many still held onto that original intent.
Maybe there was a bit of selfishness involved. But they simply and sincerely wanted to continue being Magical Girls, to do their part for the world.
They were terrified of “betraying the Kingdom,” but were still willing to risk everything for their beliefs.
After that, Tang Changpu beca Yuan.
She followed Purple Diamond and helped plan and execute a large-scale defection, taking those injured, disabled, or powerless Magical Girls and escaping the Kingdom.
She watched Purple Diamond shed her old na and adopt the new one—White Wolf—and gather all the defected Magical Girls together under one banner. She declared they would build a ho of their own, and they would be called Scars.
Yuan fused with Ravager magic and, after years of seclusion and cultivation, advanced her understanding of Qi and Montum, eventually rising to beco one of Scars’ top-ranking officers.
Everything seed to go just as White Wolf had promised. Even though they used Ravager magic, Scars maintained a certain code of conduct. They didn’t devolve into monsters like those of Black Cinders Dawn. On the contrary, if they were to build a “ho,” then Scars naturally welcod defectors from the Kingdom.
Whether they were facing forced retirent or simply disillusioned with the Kingdom’s system—so long as they shared ideals, they could beco one of Scars.
Scars grew within both the Material World and the Interstice. More and more Magical Girls joined, at one point numbering in the hundreds.
That was when the changes began.
With the rising numbers ca many new voices. At first, it was re noise. But sowhere along the way, the noise drowned out the original tune and beca Scars’ new ideology:
—“Break the Kingdom’s dictatorship. Liberate more Magical Girls.”
No one could pinpoint exactly when it happened. But those Magical Girls who had risked their lives to build a new ho beca the minority. Their vision no longer mattered. The newcors, less reverent and more resentful of the Kingdom, began a full-on confrontation.
At first, the movent showed results. Scars even seized control of several cities from the Kingdom, hinting at a possible separatist regi.
But in that era of hope and ambition, Scars forgot sothing—
Direct confrontation ant bloodshed.
That trajectory ended about twelve years ago, when the Kingdom launched a full-scale purge.
This was no gentle civil war. Gardeners descended from the Garden into the Material World, scissors in hand, turning confidence into fear.
Many of Scars’ Magical Girls died in that purge. More were captured and taken back to the Kingdom.
In one fell swoop, half of Scars’ leadership was wiped out. Only Chi Yuan, who stayed in the base, White Wolf, Black Cat, and two others who happened to be in the Interstice survived. The other five all perished.
Truthfully, the Gardeners were strong, but the massacre could’ve been avoided. The reason it ended in such a slaughter was simple—
By then, none of Scars’ Flower-tier girls could use their Flourish.
Separated from the Kingdom, operating on Ravager magic, they lost the foundation for a Magical Girl’s ultimate form. Though still called Magical Girls, their strength was capped at Domain.
Domain-level might be enough for average enemies. But against the Gardeners and their scissors, it was like infants resisting execution.
This painful lesson shifted Scars’ direction once more. The surviving Magical Girls inherited the will of the fallen—and beca even more extre.
And from that extremity, a forbidden fruit was born.
Using Ravager magic as the foundation and Magical Girl ability as the lever, Scars explored a new path. They sought to reach Flourish again through Ravager power.
Eventually, their efforts bore fruit. They developed a temporary, power-enhancing transformation that mimicked Flourish—called Beastheart Release, or simply Release.
As the na suggested, it was akin to how mbers of Black Cinders Dawn used Beast Cores to beco Ravagers. Beastheart Release ant abandoning Magical Girl magic, letting Ravager energy consu the body, and using that single-colored magic to simulate a Flourish-like form.
Of course, it was only similar. Beastheart Release often resembled the user’s original Flourish, but Ravager influence would always mutate it.
Take Yuan, for example. Her original Flourish was called “Hundred Tactics, Rising Montum”, built around her mastery of montum. After converting it to Release, it beca “Hundred Montums, Martial Path.”
Originally, her Flourish allowed her to accumulate small advantages over ti in battle, eventually converting them into overwhelming force. It didn’t produce imdiate results, but for soone like Tang Changpu—skilled at reading and controlling fights—it was a perfect fit.
If her opponent went all out from the start, she could just defend and outlast them. If they held back, once she had gathered enough montum, even their full strength couldn’t shift the outco.
Unless soone defeated her instantly, she would only grow stronger with each exchange—becoming unstoppable in the end.
It was a steady, royal-path Flourish. But once she beca Yuan and activated Release, the transformation was drastically different.
Veronica had experienced it firsthand.
She didn’t know exactly what “Beastheart Release” did—but in battle, the feeling was unmistakable:
Overwhelming, hopeless power.
Yuan’s magical armor, once a blob of pitch-black Liquid tal, had now beco a dark mist that surrounded them all—enveloping the entire Fangting City and Bo’an City squads.
That mist carried tangible pressure, making it hard for any Magical Girl present to fight at full power.
Veronica and the other two veterans could still use their magical armor thanks to solid magical foundations, but the newer girls were struggling badly. Even Bai Ji, the most senior of the newcors, couldn’t summon her armor—reduced to stumbling through the fog.
And yes, they had to dodge—because Yuan’s attacks never stopped.
Even as she fought Veronica and the others, one-on-three with terrifying speed, the rookies found no respite. Her silhouette kept flickering in the mist, attacking them with different weapons.
Just as Yuan had said—“Everyone only needs to focus on ”—because every single one of them was facing an attacking version of her.
“What’s the matter? If you only defend, your chance of victory will never co.”
Drawing a Tang dao from the black mist, Yuan casually slashed at Veronica from the side. The blade sliced right through her threads and almost struck her chest—only to be intercepted by Hong Siyu’s spell.
But Yuan didn’t stop. The Tang dao, rely deflected, bounced the spell back at Hong Siyu and continued its arc toward Veronica.
It looked like a sequence of complex moves, but she had only flicked her blade once. Everything happened so fast, none of them could react—their defenses collapsed in an instant.
The blade had a clear path to Veronica. The bounced spell was flying straight at Hong Siyu’s face.
In that life-or-death mont, Veronica twitched her pinky finger.
At the sa ti, pre-tied threads connected to her and Hong Siyu yanked them away like puppets, narrowly dodging the attack.
Against a foe like Yuan, caution was non-negotiable. Every trick had to be prepared in advance.
It wasn’t her first ti using that thod in this fight. She’d already pulled her team out of harm’s way multiple tis using her threads.
The threads were well-hidden and didn’t require large movents, so even if she couldn’t match Yuan’s speed, she could still dodge cleverly.
But this ti, the mont she pulled the thread—Veronica had a bad feeling.
“Too predictable.”
Yuan’s voice ca from behind her.
No one was surprised. Not even Veronica. After using the sa trick multiple tis, of course the enemy would prepare for it.
Veronica still had one more thread attached to her sleeve. A backup. If triggered, it would pull her diagonally away mid-air.
But she hadn’t expected Yuan to stand precisely at the angle bisector.
Perfectly positioned to strike no matter which direction Veronica escaped.
The thread’s pull direction was fixed. Its magical force wasn’t that fast. Veronica couldn’t alter course in ti. Her only option was to weaken the pull to avoid accelerating toward the blade.
“Senior!” she heard Hong Siyu’s urgent cry. Other girls were screaming nearby.
But it was too late.
Shhlick.
The sound of fabric tearing was followed by silver-blue sparkles flying through the air. Yuan’s Tang dao pierced through Veronica’s chest, front to back.
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