A few minutes earlier

The Containment Facility’s reinforcements had finally arrived, but the giant bat-man in front of them was no easy opponent. Using its incredible speed and sonic attacks, it kept the two Magical Girls pinned down.

“The support team and I will handle this giant bat. Xiaoxue, hurry and save Luna!”

“Got it! Be careful!”

“I know! Damn giant spider and giant bat! I’m making you pay me overtime when we get back!” With that, Yellow Knight transformed the great shield in her hands into a spear and charged at the giant bat-man.

On the way, Magical Girl Blue Butterfly—or, more accurately, Su Xueqian—put on the communications device the support team had just brought and contacted the operations room.

“Hello? Blue Butterfly, can you hear me?” The female commander’s voice came through her earpiece.

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“That spider took Luna to the market four blocks away and is causing widespread destruction there. You’re faster, so go help first. The rest of the team will be there shortly.”

“The market? What’s she going there for?”

“Well... listen to me first. Don’t panic.”

“What happened?”

“The nearby surveillance footage shows that Lin Xingyao appeared there a few minutes ago. That spider is chasing him.”

“Wasn’t Lin Xingyao in the school’s bomb shelter?! How did he end up over there?” Su Xueqian roared into her headset.

“It seems he noticed something was wrong with Doll 093, then used the power of Containment Object E-175 to escape the shelter.”

“Why’d he come out at all?! Couldn’t you keep an eye on him?”

“He... might have come out to find you. And he used E-175’s ability to pinpoint your location.”

“...”

Su Xueqian said nothing more. She pushed her flight speed to the limit and headed for her destination.

Xingyao-ge, hold on!

As Su Xueqian flew toward the block, her long-range vision picked out Lin Xingyao, knocked to the ground, and the enormous spider closing in beside him.

The spider moved toward Lin Xingyao, then opened its cavernous jaws, ready to swallow him whole.

“No! I won’t make it!” The speed she’d once been so proud of now felt like a limitation. No matter how fast she flew, she couldn’t reach Lin Xingyao in time. All she could do was watch as the spider swallowed him in one bite.

If only! If only she could go faster! If only she had even greater power! A barely noticeable trace of black began spreading along the hem of her long dress.

Then Su Xueqian saw something astonishing.

Just as the giant spider was about to bite down on him, Lin Xingyao suddenly began reciting a transformation phrase?

“Stars that cross time and space, dreams, despair, eternity—become a Red Lotus blooming in the depths of despair!”

She knew that phrase. Every Magical Girl had to recite a transformation phrase—or, more accurately, an anchoring phrase—before transforming, to keep herself from being tainted by the Abyss during the process. But... Lin Xingyao was a boy!!!

“Even as the second twilight dawns, I’ll burn away every lingering wish!”

Huge petals appeared around Lin Xingyao and wrapped around him. When the giant Red Lotus opened again, a girl stood inside, dressed in a cute red top and a short skirt.

“And now, the legend descends!”

“What the hell is that!!!!”

Why had Xingyao-ge turned into a Magical Girl?! Since when could boys transform? And why was he wearing a cute sailor-style skirt? Su Xueqian’s transformation outfit was a princess-style gown, while Ji Lan wore a knight-style skirt. So why did Lin Xingyao get this look? And what was with that shamelessly short skirt! Wouldn’t he flash everyone while fighting?

As Su Xueqian hovered in midair, her mind spinning with questions, the streak of black on her clothes slowly faded away.

......

Back to Lin Xingyao.

“You... were a girl all along?” the spider monster said, stunned by the sight.

“No, I’m a guy.” Lin Xingyao spoke, only to find that his voice had turned into a clear, girlish one.

“How does that make you look like a guy?!”

“...”

Lin Xingyao realized that his hair seemed to have grown long and turned from black to red. Then he looked down at his chest. What lewd brea—no, what a huge wand!

Lin Xingyao noticed a red “wand?” in his left hand. Its head seemed way too big, and the whole thing was rather heavy... What the hell, it was a mace!

The mace’s head was made of diamond-shaped metal plates radiating outward. It was only a little longer than half an arm, and felt surprisingly comfortable to hold.

“That thing in your hand... is a mace, right?”

“No, it’s a wand!” Lin Xingyao shot back at once.

“...”

The two fell into another awkward silence...

“Hurry! While you’ve got the chance, get in there and beat her up!” Luna’s voice urged them on from the shadow.

Only then did the two of them snap out of it and take fighting stances.

“And you, Blue Butterfly! Are you just going to stand there and watch? Get over here and help us fight!”

Su Xueqian: (OMO)!

She hurried over to Lin Xingyao, and the situation became two against one.

“Spider lady, it’s two against one now. If you don’t want to die, surrender this instant!” Lin Xingyao said. Truthfully, he wasn’t sure of himself yet. He’d only just become a Magical Girl and had no idea how strong he was.

“You really think I can’t beat you just because it’s two against one?” The spider monster glared at them with all eight eyes. Honestly, judging by the magic power that red-clad Magical Girl had just unleashed, she might not be able to beat them. Her supply of silk wasn’t infinite, either. But all she wanted was the “Cornerstone.” She could still drag it out of the shadow and run.

“Watch the shadows. She’s after Luna.” Su Xueqian raised her slender sword, ready to strike, and warned Lin Xingyao.

Lin Xingyao quickly understood that “Luna” meant the little cat in the shadow. He swung the mace in his hand, feeling as if he had endless strength and itching to put it to use.

“I’ll use ice to hold her back. You take the chance to...”

Before Su Xueqian could finish, Lin Xingyao struck first, charging straight in with his mace. The spider saw him coming and thrust the two pairs of pincers on its chest at him.

But to Lin Xingyao, all the spider monster’s attacks seemed to slow down. In the heat of battle, his thoughts had sped up dramatically, making everything feel like it was happening in slow motion. He casually reached out and blocked one attack with a single hand. Then, while the giant spider was knocked off balance, he swung his mace and brought it down hard!

“Crack!”

In an instant, the spider monster heard its foreleg’s carapace crack. Weren’t Magical Girls supposed to fight with ancient magic? What was with this charging straight in? Why was a magic-type fighter so strong?

Was this red-clad creature really a Magical Girl, and not some orcish bruiser wearing human skin?

Before the spider monster could react, Su Xueqian summoned ice and snow with her slender sword in hand. A hail of ice arrows fell from above her. Their sharp points couldn’t pierce the spider monster’s hide, but they still dealt a heavy blow.

Just as the spider monster was about to trap them both with silk, Lin Xingyao leaped high from beneath her. Pale red flames clung to the metallic mace as he swung it down at her head. The spider monster instinctively raised the pincers on its chest to defend itself.

“Boom!”

The heavy carapace burst apart under the mace’s blow. The spider monster’s foreleg was smashed to pieces, and a searing pain came from the wound.

But I don’t need to win! the spider monster thought.

Perhaps Lin Xingyao still wasn’t used to his new strength. His body lost its balance as he came down from his attack. Seizing the moment, the spider monster shot silk toward the shadow beneath him. The silk slipped into the shadow and instantly wrapped around Luna. Then the spider monster yanked it back, pulling Luna out of the shadow.

“Help!” Luna screamed.

Lin Xingyao’s heart tightened. He reacted with incredible speed, grabbing for the silk the spider monster had shot out. The instant he touched it, he felt as if he’d been stuck fast and couldn’t break free. Then flames burst from his palm, burning through the silk in a flash. The fire raced along it toward the spider monster.

The spider monster quickly severed the silk. It glanced at the flames still burning on its damaged foreleg. It would’ve been in real trouble if the fire had traveled along the silk and reached its mouth. If the other girl could burn through its silk, that unknown flame must have power on the level of a “rule.”

Behind it, Su Xueqian gave it no chance to catch its breath. A massive pillar of frost rose from the ground and drove straight through the spider’s abdomen via its wound.

I have to get out of here! the spider monster decided at once. Lin Xingyao was attacking from below, so the spider monster sacrificed two of its legs to block his strike.

“Wheee—!” A strange whistle came from the spider monster’s mouth. The giant bat-man immediately swooped down from the sky, with Magical Girl Yellow Knight still tangled in combat with it.

“Change of plans! Get me out of here, now!” the spider monster ordered. The bat-man abandoned its fight with Yellow Knight, grabbed the spider, and prepared to fly away.

“Not so fast!” There was no way the three of them would let such a perfect opportunity slip away. They rushed to attack the bat-man.

But the bat-man unleashed its highest-frequency sonic attack. Everyone could only cover their ears under the assault.

The sonic attack didn’t last long, but the bat-man’s mouth began to bleed from the strain. It seized the chance to leap into the air and fly away.

Su Xueqian and Blue Knight hurried after them, but Lin Xingyao was left behind.

“Why don’t you just fly?!” Luna urged him from the shadow she’d ducked back into.

“I... can fly?”

“Use your magic, you idiot! Didn’t you read Magical Girl Guidelines and Precautions?”

“...” The whole thing had happened so suddenly that she really hadn’t had time to read it.

So Lin Xingyao tried leaping into the air. He shot dozens of meters upward, then came crashing back down...

“Who told you to jump with brute strength? I said use magic! What do you think Magical Girls are for?”

“I don’t know how...”

“???” Luna had never seen someone fail to gain magical abilities after forming a contract. Then what was that fire he’d just released?

Still, Lin Xingyao had another idea. Following his instincts, he began reciting a different anchoring phrase.

“Dreams woven from lies and truth, a requiem marching toward ruin. I am love, I am desire, I am the violet blooming for you!”

A dazzling purple light flashed, and a pair of huge bat-like wings sprouted from Lin Xingyao’s back.

“In a quiet, sweet dream, descend into the eternal spiral!”

Lin Xingyao felt as if two horns had grown from his head, while a long, thin tail was pushing its way out behind him.

“And now, the nightmare descends!”

The purple light faded. Lin Xingyao’s hair turned purple, and a gorgeous girl with a curvaceous figure appeared in a revealing black-and-purple bodysuit with sheer cutouts. His little shoes had turned into thigh-high boots. Strange patterns could just barely be seen through the sheer black fabric at her stomach. The outfit clung tightly to her body, showing off her alluring figure to its fullest—a ripe fruit touched with a hint of freshness and shyness. Every movement brimmed with temptation.

Her appearance and figure were exactly the same as in the red form. How had changing outfits alone taken her from cute to sultry?

......

Lin Xingyao froze for a moment, then blushed scarlet. He covered his eyes with his hands and crouched down, wrapping his huge wings around himself.

“Hey, why do you have two sets of anchor phrases?” Luna asked from the shadows.

“How should I know? Why don’t you explain why this form’s outfit is so... lewd!”

“I was about to ask you the same thing! How is this supposed to look like a Magical Girl? It’s obviously...”

“A succubus!”

“But... it is pretty lewd!”

“Stop saying that!”