"Boom—Splash!"
A thunderous noise echoed through the underground cavern.
Tendrils of flesh rained down from above, crashing heavily into the water and sending columns of liquid soaring ters high.
At the center, a fish-shaped Ravager twisted its grotesque form, opening and closing its maw in an eerie, ominous dance. All the while, it used its fervent song to command the surrounding flesh to lash out at Veronica.
Veronica skimd just above the water’s surface, flying low along the cavern’s edge, dodging the tendrils that lunged at her from ti to ti. Raising her magic wand, she cast a few probing Magic Thread Blasts toward the creature at the center.
Yet, the Magic Thread Blasts vanished the mont they struck the Ravager—disappearing like stones sinking into the depths, failing to evoke any reaction, let alone inflict any damage.
From Veronica’s perspective, she could clearly see that the blasts disintegrated upon contact with the Ravager’s body, dissipating into nothingness.
"It really has a Chrysalis Shell?"
For the first ti since entering, a flicker of surprise crossed her expression. "It’s already evolved to this stage?"
A Chrysalis Shell was a trait of Egg-tier Ravagers, an ability developed as they hoarded nutrients and advanced toward a higher form. It granted them limited resistance against pure magic attacks, allowing them to dissolve and neutralize such assaults.
Given that Ravagers were already highly resistant to physical damage, the ergence of a Chrysalis Shell ant they were nearly impervious to harm, leaving them without apparent weaknesses. Just the thought of it would be enough to make most people feel powerless.
Fortunately, the fact that it was called a "shell" implied its nature—it could be broken.
There were typically only two thods to bypass a Chrysalis Shell and injure the Ravager.
The first was a brute-force approach: overwhelming the shell with an imnse magic onslaught until it shattered under sheer power. The simplest way to achieve this was through a siege—even a group of novice Seed-tier Magical Girls could break through if they attacked together with enough force. Alternatively, a highly powerful Magical Girl could crush an Egg-tier Ravager through sheer magic dominance.
The second thod involved using non-physical, non-pure magic-based attacks, which required special techniques. The most common of these was Magic Constructs—an ability born from the fusion of a Magical Girl’s soul and magic, which naturally countered the Chrysalis Shell.
Thus, when sheer numbers were insufficient, the only viable option was sending Bud-tier or stronger Magical Girls into battle.
Tilting her head slightly mid-flight, Veronica gazed at the Ravager in the center. Though surprised by its Chrysalis Shell, she was far from unprepared. In fact, this was precisely why she had co alone.
Even now, Fangting City had only three Magical Girls—far too few to break through a Chrysalis Shell. Moreover, since the other two hadn’t mastered Magic Constructs, their participation would have been aningless. That was why Veronica had chosen to face this alone.
And now, emboldened by the fact that its only enemy was a single person, the fish-shaped Ravager had beco increasingly brazen. In response to Veronica’s counterattack, it writhed with reckless abandon, summoning even more flesh tendrils to lash at her from all directions.
Veronica’s expression remained calm. Her garnts billowed as her hair stread through the air. She parted her lips ever so slightly:
"Magic Construct—Manifest."
She whispered, and in an instant, the magic wand in her hand dissolved into pure energy. Countless threads of magic flickered into existence, weaving through the cavern space.
The flesh limbs were ensnared. The tendrils were severed. Blood splattered in every direction, yet not a single drop touched the hem of her attire.
She continued her flight, leaving behind an eerily empty battlefield—every enemy had vanished within an instant.
But this grand symphony of slaughter was far from over.
The cavern was its stage.
At the center, the Ravager was both the conductor and the chorus.
The flesh tendrils hanging from the cavern ceiling were its orchestra mbers—its accompanying dancers.
Its performance had never ceased.
So long as the song continued, so would the attack.
With the previous wave of tendrils obliterated, the Ravager’s lody shifted—its song transford into a mournful lant.
And as if summoned by its sorrowful tune, the murky water beneath the cavern suddenly bubbled violently.
Countless figures erged from the depths, rising high into the air.
Though Veronica had yet to see them clearly, an overwhelming sense of danger forced her to alter her flight trajectory instantly.
"Boom!"
At the very mont she changed course, a water cannon shot past where she had just been, crashing into the cavern wall with a thunderous explosion.
Water artillery.
Veronica imdiately understood. A single glance downward confird her suspicions—
The figures erging from the water were all Ravager heads.
lt-Chamber-type Ravager heads.
The chorus swelled—its lant piercing and heart-wrenching.
But now, as the tempo intensified, as the harmony shifted, the song reached its crescendo.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Like the beating of war drums, wave after wave of water cannons erupted from below, each launching in rhythm toward Veronica’s position.
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
From above, whip-like tendrils lashed down, slicing through the air with a howling wind, seeking to tear her from the sky.
But Veronica twisted sharply, accelerating like a bullet.
For any Leaf-tier Magical Girl, such an onslaught would be inescapable.
But she was not like them.
Veronica danced.
She was a solo dancer within a symphony of chaos, weaving through the orchestra’s formations with effortless grace.
Her steps, both delicate and fierce, blended seamlessly with the tempo of destruction—as if she had beco part of the performance itself.
Darting through the battlefield, she evaded, she countered with her Magical Armor, and with each motion, she edged closer and closer to the conductor’s podium at the center.
She surpassed the brass section.
The woodwinds could not hinder her.
The violins were caught and entangled by her threads.
The music could not restrain her movents.
At last, the conductor sensed the intrusion.
It was both the singer and the master of this symphony—it would not allow an outsider to disrupt its performance.
This concert belonged to it.
And so, it shut its mouth.
The cavern fell silent.
The hanging tendrils squird, swelled, and then split open—jaws bristling with fangs erged, tongues flickering hungrily.
Below, the Egg-stage Ravagers ceased their water cannon barrage and instead grinned wide, revealing their grotesque maws.
Veronica’s pupils contracted sharply.
In a single motion, she raised her hand.
With a rarely used gesture, she commanded the threads.
And then—
A deafening sonic blast detonated throughout the cavern, shattering the walls, dispersing the water, and obliterating everything within.
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