Magical Girl Heavy Dependence

Chapter 41, Yincheng is finished.

The aftershocks of the magical collision blew Liang Ziyi away, sending her crashing into the cracked wall.

Before her eyes, a blazing fire, as intense as the sun, continued to expand, melting everything it licked.

Cheng Chen stood right in front of the fireball, without moving an inch.

His shadow stretched out, then became more dynamic, from which a six-armed black shadow emerged, opening its arms to engulf the ball of fire.

The magical storm raged from this point, breaking through the ceiling and reaching the stage.

Liang Ziyi clung tightly to a pillar supporting the stage to keep herself from being blown away, and tried her best to keep her eyes open and look ahead amidst the shockwaves.

Although she lost her magic, her basic perspective remained.

The battle may not appear to be particularly large in scale, but the clash has actually penetrated into a more subtle realm. It's not simply a clash of magic, but a dismantling of magic! Whoever finds the weakness in the opponent's magic first will gain the upper hand!

Can we win?

Beneath a blank expression, his heart was filled with unease.

She certainly had confidence in Cheng Chen, but the Lord of the Heart was no nobody either. Both of them were fifth-tier "Evil God" level demon lords, so their strength should be evenly matched.

The moment this thought arose, the situation began to change.

The fireballs that surged from the Lord of Fire almost burned away the air, yet they could not penetrate the six-armed black shadow and were even visibly suppressed, like a crumpled balloon.

The shadowy figure's arm was tightly gripped in the center of the fireball, and the roar of the Lord of Fire as he struggled could be heard.

"wrong."

A sudden sense of unease welled up in Liang Ziyi.

Although it seemed that Cheng Chen had the upper hand and had suppressed Xin Zhu without even using his full strength, the sense of unease was becoming more and more obvious.

"wrong!"

She looked up, her hair fluttering in the wind at her forehead and temples.

The fireball, compressed to its limit, emitted a destructive shockwave from its center, seemingly poised to explode at any moment.

More shadowy arms shot out from Cheng Chen's shadow, entwining the unstable fire, seemingly trying to drag it into the thick, inky darkness.

Both sides were deadlocked to the limit.

This feeling is like—

"Watch out!" Liang Ziyi shouted with all her might, "It's a trap!"

boom!

The fireball exploded, and the roar suddenly drowned out her shout.

After being thrown into the air once again, Liang Ziyi didn't bother to get up. She tried to open her eyes wide and look at the center of the explosion, braving the heat.

Cheng Chen remained standing in the same spot, not moving.

The center of the explosion was empty, except for a figure that suddenly appeared behind him, shrouded in a black cloak, who, like an assassin, plunged a dagger into his back.

click.

The dagger broke; the blade, made of some unknown material, couldn't even pierce Cheng Chen's skin.

The salaryman leaped back, and the two faced off again, separated by several meters.

"The fire of the spirit?"

Cheng Chen glanced at the tear in his suit, frowned slightly, and asked calmly.

The Lord of Cinder, whose true face was concealed by his cloak, chuckled softly: "Not bad."

The fifth tier represents the limit of the conventional magic system.

The rank is determined by the total amount of magic power. When a magical girl or a demon reaches this level, there will no longer be a decisive difference in the total amount of magic power. Therefore, everyone turns to pursuing 'knowledge'—understanding the essence of magic.

Over time, the understanding of magic is generally divided into three levels: spell, spirit, and key.

【Spells】 refers to the pursuit of methods for casting magic, such as more sophisticated spells, more efficient transmission, lower magic consumption, and larger scale... until the concept of 'lineage' is transcended, and a comprehensive understanding is achieved, enabling the easy casting of more complex or completely opposite types of magic through analysis.

[Spirit] is an advancement of [Spell], transcending the superficial framework of magic and approaching its essence. There are no longer any constraints when casting spells; the intermediate stages of spell construction and mana infusion can be skipped, directly reaching the 'result' after a successful spellcasting.

As for the "key," it is the key to the door of truth, the level closest to the truth of magic, and it exists almost only in theory.

It was only after Cheng Chen went to Sky Dome University and received meticulous guidance from his mentor that he was able to step into the realm of "technique".

Unexpectedly, upon returning to Yincheng, I casually encountered a demon lord of the same rank, and he had already entered the realm of [Spirit].

Logically speaking, he couldn't have been completely unaware of such a person before.

"Should we continue?"

The Lord of Salvation raised his hand, and dozens of identical black-robed figures appeared around him.

"An illusion? No... it's real!"

Liang Ziyi was shocked; the scene before her was completely beyond her comprehension.

Looking over at Cheng Chen, he saw him chuckle lightly: "Of course, you're quite good, worthy of my full strength."

As soon as the words were spoken, a tremendous magical power was released.

A pitch-black shadow suddenly enveloped the entire visible area, plunging everything into complete darkness. The six-armed shadow blotted out the sky, and a giant hand crashed down.

Only at the very last moment did the Lord of the Heart belatedly realize the impending threat and look up in the direction from which the giant hand was about to fall.

call.

The salary master was overwhelmed by the giant hand.

Despite its immense power, the attack failed to cause any cataclysmic damage.

Only Cheng Chen appeared behind him at some unknown time, holding a bright red, beating, half-illusory heart in her palm.

"A spell to alter perception?"

The Lord of the Hearts turned back with difficulty, his voice broken, "How is this possible!? You clearly don't have the 'Spiritual Fire,' could you have already stepped into—"

Before he could finish speaking, Cheng Chen squeezed his hand so hard that his heart burst.

A mouthful of blood spurted from the man's mouth, and blood seeped from his eyes, nose, and ears.

"I am truly sorry that I was unable to get you to use your full strength."

thump.

The salaryman collapsed to the ground, but Cheng Chen remained expressionless.

Cheng Chen dusted off his sleeves and walked up to her: "Vice Mayor Liang, are you still able to stand up?"

Liang Ziyi stared at him blankly, her pupils only regaining focus after several seconds.

"You...you..."

Seeing her stammering, Cheng Chen frowned: "Could it be that you were injured in the head by the aftershocks?"

"Evil Lord!!!"

Liang Ziyi erupted with an even greater rage than when she faced the Lord of the Heart, and like an angry Chihuahua, she pounced on Cheng Chen.

Several black arms reached out from the void, holding down her limbs and suspending her in the air.

"Bastard! Scum! Pervert! Trash..."

This time, Liang Ziyi's eyes were practically spitting fire, and she launched a vicious verbal attack using every word she could think of.

Cheng Chen scratched his ear: "Didn't they recognize me from the start? Why are you so agitated now?"

"You bastard, if you dare lay a hand on Jiang Fei, I will kill you!"

Liang Ziyi roared, her face flushed red.

Cheng Chen scratched his ear.

It seems to be a misunderstanding. This idiot doesn't know anything at all. He thinks he's misunderstanding something, but he's just trying to outsmart thin air.

"Let me go! You despicable scoundrel, I will definitely—!"

Suddenly feeling a bit noisy, Cheng Chen raised his hand to slap.

Snapped!

A crisp sound.

Liang Ziyi swallowed her curses, her face visibly flushing red.

Cheng Chen looked at his hand in surprise, then loosely clenched it to savor the feel.

When I first caught her, her figure was so thin that it didn't arouse any interest in her at all. I never expected her to become so voluptuous now.

Upon closer inspection, the suit trousers could barely contain her shapely figure.

"You...you bastard!!"

Her face turned bright red, almost bleeding. "Evil master! You pervert! What are you doing to me! Trash! Die, die!"

Snapped!

Another sound.

The air fell silent once more.

Seeing this, Cheng Chen nodded in satisfaction: "Director Liang, I'm sorry, nobody wanted this to happen."

He approached Liang Ziyi and smiled kindly.

"The most important thing in life is to be happy. Go home, get a good night's sleep, and forget about everything that happened today, okay?"

"You wish!"

Liang Ziyi's eyes widened, glaring angrily, "I will never let you go in this lifetime."

"But you don't even have magic now, and you're even my prisoner."

"Gulp, do whatever you want with my body, I won't resist, but you'll never make me submit!" she said defiantly, her eyes red.

Why not put up a fight?

Cheng Chen shook his head, leaned closer to her, and asked, "Since you didn't know my identity from the beginning, why did you say those things to me?"

"Which one?" Liang Ziyi stared wide-eyed.

"Those things about the three major countries, like 'they are the outsiders' and the like," Cheng Chen said, mimicking her tone.

Whether it was her imagination or not, Liang Ziyi's face turned redder, and she stammered.

"Well... actually... was it just a casual remark?"

She answered tentatively.

"Actually, you just think it looks cool to talk like that, and you want to show off in front of me, right?" Cheng Chen ruthlessly exposed him.

"No, that's not true!"

That is.

Cheng Chen sighed, feeling that Yincheng was doomed with a vice mayor like this.

He raised his hand, loosened the black arms binding Liang Ziyi, and threw her to the floor.

"Send your people to clean up this mess." He looked up, sensing a familiar magical energy appearing in the far distance. "I still have to finish things up; I don't have time to waste on your nonsense."

Turning around, he saw someone trying to sneak away. "You should cooperate obediently, right, Vice Mayor Liang?"

"Hmph, I won't—!"

Just as she was about to adopt a haughty demeanor, she suddenly met a pair of deep eyes.

A faint light shone in those eyes.

"...Yes, I will cooperate."

The light in Liang Ziyi's eyes faded, and she answered mechanically.

"In the end, the suggestive magic of altering memories is still the most effective."

Cheng Chen shook his head, left her there, and turned to leave.

……

"Wow."

Far outside the city, in an abandoned, ruined basement.

The man braced himself on the table with both hands and spat out a mouthful of blood.

The chaotic magic within his body was flowing everywhere, and when it collided with the wall, it activated the magic circle engraved in the brick pattern, and the collision dissolved it into nothingness.

"Too arrogant. Just as that guy said, even with the knowledge borrowed from the 'Holy Embryo,' it's still no match for a higher level of existence. Even if it only glimpsed a tiny crack in the sixth level... I thought I could at least last three moves. Tsk, now that I think about it, I was too arrogant."

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, showing no disappointment or regret, but instead grinned.

"However, it has been confirmed that he returned to Yincheng to break through that level."

Barely suppressing his injuries, he didn't pack anything and staggered towards the basement exit.

Since the opponent's magic can severely injure his main body directly through the puppet, this location may have already been exposed, and we must move immediately.

He hurried down the stairs to the ground. The moment he came into contact with the sunlight, all the paleness and weakness on his face disappeared. His whole demeanor was just like any other passerby on the street, unremarkable.

Meow~

A stray cat darted out of the bushes, squinted, and rubbed against his ankle.

"Go away, go away, get out of here."

He chased away the stray cats and hurried to the main road.

If he walks less than two hundred meters along the road, he will soon be in a bustling street full of people. He can use the crowd to completely hide his presence and escape possible tracking.

Thinking this, I quickened my pace.

After walking about ten meters, he suddenly stopped and looked up.

The sun disappeared, replaced by a huge shadow cast from behind, and a tiger... no, a giant cat was crouching behind him, its eerie green vertical pupils staring intently at him.

"...family members"

He suddenly remembered the rumors that had circulated in Yincheng about the evil master.

His monstrous companions, the familiars he commands...

Before he could gather his scattered thoughts, his magic surged suddenly, and the Lord of the Heart unleashed his full power, attacking backward with lightning speed.

The scattered aftershocks gently rustled the grass and trees.

"Heh...heh..."

The wage earner struggled, terrified.

"You're not... no! What are you?!"

There was no answer to him.

Only in the shadow cast by the sunlight could one see a gaping, blood-red maw forcefully biting down on the man's head.

……