Transform into a magical girl after getting off work

——This was a damp lair strewn with all sorts of broken bones.

Everywhere one looked there were skeletons, the ground scattered with limbs; a sight of cruelty not even the most intense battlefield or brutal execution ground could match, was fully displayed before the two.

The putrid stench more nauseating than that of the Giant Remnant Beast's lair permeated the network formed by the Magic Armor, nearly causing Lantern to vomit.

Emerald Sparrow, however, had no reaction.

Of course, it wasn't that she was completely untouched, but merely that such feelings were not her focus at the moment.

Her gaze moved past the surrounding bones, and Emerald Sparrow's eyes fixed on the center of the cave not far ahead.

In the center of the cave, a massive blood and flesh spiderweb, identical to the one seen before, stretched out, with even more flesh tumors densely hanging down from within the web, akin to a slaughterhouse's freezer filled with hanging pork.

Above that spiderweb, there were a few completely different figures.

Several girls of various sizes, wearing different clothes but all draped in golden Magic Robes, were quietly suspended there.

They were all firmly bound by blood and flesh spider silk, each wrapped up like a zongzi (rice dumpling) and hanging motionless in the middle of the web. Only the faint Magic Power lights flickering around them were proof that they had not yet died completely.

However, it was clear to any discerning eye that this state could not last much longer.

The flesh and blood spider silk binding them acted like pipelines, continuously extracting their Magic Power from within their bodies, unceasingly transferring it up to the spiderweb. Each pulse of the silk made the breathing of Cat Tail and the others grow fainter by degrees.

As Magic Power was continuously extracted, the figures of the Magical Girls began to appear ghostly, and even somewhat transparent, signifying that their very essence was becoming wounded.

If this continued, the complete death of the magical girls from the investigation team would only be a matter of time.

"Cat Tail senior..." Lantern also saw this scene, and instinctively wanted to shout out but was stopped by Emerald Sparrow's outstretched hand.

"They're still alive." Emerald Sparrow shook her head, "Don't get distracted, focus on dealing with the enemy first."

"Uh, I know." Lantern calmed herself, but her heart was still filled with shocked anger, "It's treating them as if they were..."

"What they need is Magic Power, and high-level Blossoming Magical Girls can continuously produce Magic Power. With their monster-like lack of moral boundaries, they can do such things."

Emerald Sparrow lowered her arm, saying solemnly, "Be careful, this creature's abilities are definitely more than these. Even if it's not a complete Molt, once it breaks through the limits of Pupa, its lair has already undergone changes."

Despite being incomplete, the essence of a "Half-Molt", or Half-Molt, is as different from the Pupa as heaven is from earth.

As the name implies, when the Remnant Beasts morph from "Pupa" to "Molt", it's akin to an insect transforming from pupa to adult, representing a monumental leap in life's hierarchy.

And as the signature ability of a Pupa-stage Remnant Beast, the lair undergoes drastic changes upon ascending to the Molt stage,

"Are you saying its lair now has rules?" Lantern asked somberly.

"There's an eight or nine out of ten chance there are, just like our strange realms."

Emerald Sparrow looked around, searching for traces related to the enemy's abilities: "You'd better expand your own strange realm now, otherwise only the rules belonging to it will be effective in this lair, which will be very disadvantageous for us."

So-called "rules" involve a special application of Soul Power.

Whether it's the Magical Girls who've awakened their strange realms after reaching the Blossom level, or the Remnant Beasts that have broken through the Pupa stage limitations and touched the ladder of Molt, as their souls grow stronger, the power of their thoughts and will gradually manifest, forming the ability known as rules.

These rules only work within the realm of Magical Girls, or the lairs of Remnant Beasts.

Since they stem from the soul and will, the abilities manifested by the rules are naturally varied and often peculiar, but they usually have some association with Magical Girls' Magic Equipment.

After all, the power of Magical Equipment stems from its essence, which contains the soul, and is intricately linked to the mysterious rules of the realm.

Emerald Sparrow had once seen a Magical Girl whose Magical Equipment was a stopwatch, and the game rule of the realm was "Red Light, Green Light." This rule worked in conjunction with her stopwatch Magical Equipment. As long as the stopwatch stopped ticking, everyone in the realm, including the Magical Girl herself, had to stop moving, or else the limbs of those in motion would rapidly age. If the rule was violated too many times, the limbs could directly decay into dust.

As the master of that realm, the biggest advantage of that Magical Girl was—she knew when the stopwatch would stop. Therefore, she could move freely while her Magical Equipment was ticking normally.

Correspondingly, enemies who didn't know when the stopwatch would stop could only try to remain as still as possible, not even daring to breathe, unless they desperately didn't dare to move at all. Naturally, they would be at a huge disadvantage in a battle with her.

The strength of the rule lies precisely here; as long as the soul and willpower are not much weaker than the enemy's, then in one's own realm, the enemy must follow the rules, or they will pay a severe price.

However, after Emerald Sparrow made her suggestion, the Lantern suddenly fell silent.

This made Emerald Sparrow feel somewhat puzzled, and she couldn't help but continue to ask, "What's wrong? Can't you use your realm right now?"

"No, it's not that," Lantern lifted her head slightly, speaking somewhat helplessly, "It's just that, my realm probably isn't convenient to use here."

"I know, I won't inquire about your realm's rules," Emerald Sparrow stopped and looked at her, "You just need to tell me when to do what."

She could understand the sentiment of a Magical Girl not wanting to expose her own realm's rules, after all, the greatest power of the rule itself lies in the information gap. When the enemy doesn't know the rules, that is when the rule's lethality is at its greatest.

A rule known to the enemy, no matter how severe the consequences for violating it, would significantly lose its threatening power.

Yet, after hearing her words, Lantern still shook her head, "That's not the problem. I actually don't mind others knowing my rules, it's just..."

"Just what?" Emerald Sparrow raised her eyebrows.

"My realm's rules, even I can't grasp them," Lantern answered with an embarrassed face, "I often get hurt myself while practicing the use of my realm, so..."

Before she could finish, the attack from the Remnant Beasts began once again.

Sharp as spears, the spider claws thrust out from the darkness, pounding against Emerald Sparrow's Magical Equipment barrier. Though it didn't shatter, it easily drilled a hole through it.

Once the spider claw penetrated the inside of the Magical Equipment, several strands of fleshy spider silk stretched through the hole, rapidly lunging toward Emerald Sparrow's head.

Emerald Sparrow had been vigilant the whole time, and reacted instantly at the onset of the attack, raising her hand and forming another barrier, blocking the strike of the spider silk.

"Then use it at the right moment, try to affect the enemy all at once."

Even in close-combat she didn't forget to speak out, then, wielding her Magical Equipment which had transformed into an exquisite blade, she struck at the spider claw targeting her.

Sizzle!

A teeth-grinding friction sound arose as the blade hacked against the spider claw, and sparks could almost be seen reflected from the impact.

When the strike did not succeed, Emerald Sparrow remained calm and collected, clear-minded like a mirror, using her Magic Power to execute several mid-air maneuvers. She had already flown from the spider claw's location to face the upper body of the Remnant Beast.

Wanting to drive her own Magical Equipment for a powerful attack at close range, Emerald Sparrow wrapped the masterpiece around her hands, turning it into giant gauntlets.

However, the moment she wanted to swing her fist down, she discovered that her elbow was inexplicably immobile.

She glanced over, looking at her arm, and saw that a strand of spider silk had appeared at some point, entangling her joint and locking it in place.

—Rules.

The word surfaced in her mind again, but before Emerald Sparrow could act further, the spider claw had already slashed up from below.