radicalducati Chapter 257, Stage 3
Chapter 257, Stage 3
Chapter 257, Third Stage
A strange wriggling sound rang out, and the black shadow transformed into a viscous liquid at that moment. It seemed to have gained physical form for the first time, and it kept churning on Tan Zhixin's body.
At this moment, Tan Zhixin had been completely swallowed by the slime, and the outline of a human form could still be vaguely seen. However, in this environment, she showed an indescribable eeriness.
"What did you do?!"
A scream came from behind, breaking the deathly silence of the darkness.
Shi Wei turned her head slightly. "You're awake, Xiao Qing."
"Why...why did you do this?!" Xiaoqing stared wide-eyed. "I...we're your friends..."
"No longer."
Shi let out a soft breath and said calmly.
"We could have met in a different way, but you betrayed me—from the moment you chose to cooperate with the greedy."
"Behold, this wondrous power..."
Xiaoqing gritted her teeth. "What did you do? Why did you target Tan Zhixin? Aren't you best friends?!"
"With your limited understanding, you naturally can't comprehend it. You, a filthy creature, will never understand. I'm actually helping her."
She stared coldly at Xiaoqing, a faint murderous intent flashing in her eyes, but she quickly concealed it.
She then smiled and slowly turned around, looking down at the small snake at her feet.
"You are clearly an animal, yet you have acquired human intelligence. You are not even human, not even a snake. You are merely a pawn created by nature to guide more people to their deaths."
"How can you say that? Do you think the feelings between us spirit beasts and you magical girls are all fake? Did you think all our happy times were fake? Did you think Weiyang was also...?"
2
"Shut up!"
Shi rudely interrupted Xiaoqing, his face as cold as ice.
"You have no right to mention that name!"
Meeting Xiaoqing's gaze, Shi slowly calmed her somewhat rapid breathing. She stared at the emerald green snake in front of her and whispered.
"The reason you're still alive is because you're still useful, so don't force me to take action against you. I won't kill you, but I can certainly make you wish you were dead."
After saying that, Shi turned to look in Tan Zhixin's direction.
The black mucus kept churning, gradually forming the shape of a cocoon.
This enormous cocoon was over three meters tall and exuded an eerie aura, causing the surrounding temperature to plummet and become bone-chillingly cold.
In the darkness, a terrifying being is slowly being born.
That was a power beyond Xiaoqing's comprehension.
The magical girl's magic surged dramatically; it was the wood element magic unique to Tan Zhixin, but it was also mixed with some darker energy.
The surrounding shadows stirred restlessly, as if drawn by some mysterious summons, converging from all corners and being continuously devoured by the cocoon.
The shadow energy, like black smoke, churned and surged in the darkness. The air currents seemed to take shape at this moment, carrying a chilling coldness that seemed to freeze the air wherever they went.
The shadow energy grew stronger and stronger, rapidly surging towards the cocoon. It gathered on the surface of the cocoon, making the black cocoon more solid and the power within it even stronger.
The giant cocoon trembled slightly, as rhythmically as a heartbeat.
Each tremor caused a fluctuation in the surrounding shadow energy.
The magical power belonging to that magical girl had reached a terrifying level, instantly reaching the Blue level, which was the highest level Tan Zhixin could reach before losing her transformation ability.
But soon, this violent energy fluctuation broke through the cyan level and rose to the blue level.
Above the giant cocoon, shadows began to extend, and a tree formed from the gathering of shadows was growing rapidly. The cocoon itself, however, resembled a tumor, constantly absorbing the surrounding shadow power.
Xiaoqing was completely stunned.
This was the first time she had ever come into direct contact with such power; she had never encountered anything like it among the evil creatures she had faced before.
Xiao Qing had never heard of creating such a terrifying being by invading the body of a magical girl.
Shi Wei slightly spread her arms.
"Isn't it wonderful?"
"The stronger the power of light, the stronger the power of shadow."
"And when these two become one, we will gain unparalleled power, and all we have to do is accept our true selves."
"This is the truth about purple-level magical girls, a truth that no magical girl wants to admit."
"Gifts come from nature, and so do disasters. Why must we yearn for the light? Once we accept our desires, what's wrong with darkness?"
"You're insane!"
Xiaoqing glared fiercely at Shi, feeling for the first time how unfamiliar the woman in front of her was.
"What do you mean by accepting your true self? You're just indulging in lust. If intelligent beings can't control their desires, can they still be considered intelligent beings?"
"The Rainbow Crystal Flower cannot be defiled, not even in the slightest. Have you, as a magical girl, forgotten this? I am no longer a magical girl!"
He turned around abruptly and spoke coldly.
"How could someone as filthy as you possibly know how grand my plan is? I'm saving everyone."
"Once I succeed, everyone in the world will satisfy their own desires."
"Don't worry about war, don't worry about death, everything will become better, just like Xin'er."
"Just watch, Xin'er will become the ruler of shadows alongside me!"
"You, you want to transform Tan Zhixin into a high-ranking cadre in the Shadow World?!" Xiao Qing exclaimed in shock.
"High-ranking official?"
He paused for a moment, then grinned.
"No, it's even stronger than that!"
"But before that, she was missing the best material..."
As he spoke, Shi slowly reached out his hand towards Xiaoqing.
"What are you going to do!?"
Xiaoqing instinctively wanted to get away from Shi, but then an invisible force held her firmly in place and slowly lifted her up.
Struggling in mid-air, Xiaoqing's body twisted into a ball, but no matter how she resisted, she could not break free from that force.
Shi smiled as he looked at Xiaoqing, his gaze slowly falling on her back, where a hideous scar stretched from her back all the way to the corner of her eye.
"Let me go! Let me go now!"
"I've already said it, the reason you're still alive is because you're still useful..."
Shi sneered.
"Same scars, same magic..."
"You know, Xiaoqing, I used to be really jealous of you for being able to awaken such a talent for magic, but now I know that you existed just for this moment."
"This legendary spirit beast's innate magic is the final piece of the puzzle for me to complete all of this."
He reached out a finger and lifted Xiaoqing's chin, causing her to tilt her head to the side.
"You actually miss those days too, don't you? You miss the days when you fought alongside Xin'er."
Staring intently at Shi, Xiaoqing felt her consciousness beginning to blur. She managed to utter, "You...you can't do this."
"In fact, I can, and I've wanted to do it for a long time." Xiaoqing's smile grew brighter as her resistance weakened in disappointment.
She carried Xiao Qing in one hand and turned to walk towards the cocoon of shadows.
The surrounding shadow energy seemed to cheer for this move, becoming even deeper and more oppressive.
Darkness began to spread across Xiaoqing's body, starting from her tail, then her torso, and finally enveloping her scars, while her mind became increasingly clouded.
"Stop... Shiyuan..."
Xiaoqing gasped for breath, and before her consciousness sank into chaos, she spoke her last words.
"While you still have a chance...outside...outside..."
Without letting Xiaoqing continue speaking, Shi directly stuffed her into the giant cocoon.
When Xiaoqing's body touched the surface of the giant cocoon, a tremendous suction force instantly swallowed her up. At the same time, a suffocating aura spread out, and terrifying energy ripples spread out like a tide.
Every second felt like an eternity, and it was all inevitable.
Looking at the rapidly increasing energy before him, Shi's expression returned to calm.
She watched all of this silently, a dark glint in her eyes.
"This is the third stage..."
However, in the next second, a cold wind suddenly blew from afar, sweeping across the sky in the blink of an eye.
A flicker of error crossed his eyes, and he abruptly turned his head.
That's not "wind." There's no such thing as "wind" in the Shadow Corridor. The airflow here is all released by shadow energy.
In the airflow just now, she sensed an energy fluctuation that was both familiar and unfamiliar.
The passageway of the Shadow Corridor was briefly opened.
Or rather, it was "pried open" by an unfamiliar entity.
"Who?"
Shi frowned slightly.
Among the Shadow Clan now, apart from myself and that Supreme Being, there should be no beings who have developed sentience.
"...So...this is the Shadow World?"
Unfamiliar voices came from all directions, and the surrounding shadowy forces became even more oppressive.
Shi frowned even more deeply.
She leaned forward, trying to locate the source of the sound.
"...Who is speaking?"
However, the other party seemed not to hear her question, and instead sighed, answering his own question.
"No, with my current shadow concentration, I can't pass through that barrier... This should be the interlayer between the real world and the shadow world."
An unfamiliar voice echoed, and Shi's spirits were stretched to the limit.
"Who is it?!"
As her words fell, a phantom suddenly appeared in the darkness in the distance, and within a few breaths, it quickly materialized.
It was a being clad in black armor.