Off Work, Then I Become a Magical Girl
Chapter 141: Fierce Battle

“Jewel Scepter... Sapphire... So that’s what it means.”
Not far from the battlefield, Xia Liang murmured to herself in realization upon hearing what Mors had said.
While Veronica and Mors were fighting, she and Lin Xiaolu weren’t idle either. They took the chance to retrieve the unconscious Bai Jingxuan.

Bai Jingxuan was badly injured—Mors hadn’t held back at all when attacking her. A single Magic Bullet had knocked her out, and she still hadn’t woken up. Fortunately, her breathing was steady, so the situation wasn’t too critical.

“What? Why are you bringing up the Jewel Scepter?”
Lin Xiaolu, holding up Bai Jingxuan who lay on the ground, looked up with a confused expression. “Who's Chrysoberyl? Another one of Veronica and Mom’s old teammates?”
Clearly, she still had no clue what was going on.

“Chrysoberyl... is the name of the last remaining sapphire on Her Majesty’s scepter.”
Before Xia Liang could explain, Moko cut in, “There used to be five gems on Her Majesty’s scepter—ruby, emerald, sapphire, diamond, and cat’s eye. Later, she gifted four of them to the Magical Girls she personally chose. Those girls became the Jewel Scepters. Only the sapphire remained—it was never given away and stayed on the scepter.”

“The name of the gem... you mean...”
Lin Xiaolu’s eyes widened in realization. “The ‘Chrysoberyl’ they kept talking about... is actually Veronica’s...?”

“Yeah. If she accepted the identity of a Jewel Scepter, then her alias now should be ‘Chrysoberyl.’”
Xia Liang looked toward the battlefield with a complicated expression. “But... something about this still feels off...”

The girls’ discussion had no effect on the actual battle.
Violet-black and deep blue magic still clashed fiercely in the sky, the confrontation between Masterpiece and Rituals showing no sign of stopping. If Veronica hadn’t deliberately lured the battle into the air, the streets below would’ve been leveled by now.

Facing Mors’s interrogation, Veronica’s expression didn’t waver—if anything, it had gone completely cold. She no longer showed any reaction to Mors’s words:
“You people are truly garbage. The only things that surprise me are your lack of morals and your intel-gathering skills.”

“You’re right—I did reject the Sapphire Scepter. And yes, I do resent the arrogance of the Kingdom’s Royal Court. But scum like you think you’re qualified to judge me?”
The blue threads in her hands formed once again into a pair of short swords, glowing with brilliance. She raised her head, her voice icy cold. “Let me say this one more time: don’t make me laugh.”

“If what you say is true, then your daughter was a Magical Girl worthy of respect. Maybe you yourself were once a capable Countermeasure Bureau agent. But none of that has anything to do with who you are now.”

“You treat civilian lives like they’re worthless. You mock the persistence of those who are righteous. The moment you took an innocent life, you were no longer human—you were just a monster wearing a human face.”

“You keep talking about how much your daughter sacrificed, how unfair it was for her. But if you really cared about her, really couldn’t accept what happened to her, then tell me—when you raised your hand to harm those kind, innocent Magical Girls, was your daughter still in your heart?”

Veronica slashed away an incoming Magic Bullet and said coldly, “Stop insulting other people’s sacrifices. You’re not worthy.”

At those words, Mors burst out laughing again. But this time, it wasn’t that calm smile—it was a twisted, hysterical cackle, full of madness and hate.

“Hahaha! You’re really going to talk to me about my daughter?”
“My daughter is dead! She died in the Great Ravager Catastrophe—completely gone, never coming back! And if she’s no longer here, then I don’t give a d*mn whether the rest of the world is evil or good!”

Her eyes widened, the light gone from her already-clouded pupils. With a savage expression, she spat out, “I only had one daughter. All those other ants and livestock—what are they worth to me? Their lives mean absolutely nothing.”

Black and blue magic intertwined.

“...Then I guess I wasn’t wrong about you at all.”
Veronica stopped in midair, raised her Masterpiece, and let the surging waves of magic gather once again.
“You’re nothing but trash—utterly beneath understanding.”

“Understanding? I don’t need your understanding.”
Mors laughed, head held high. “An actor only needs to follow the script the director gives them. I never expected you to understand my true intentions.”

“The stage, the audience, the lead actors are all in place. The prologue’s done. Now, it’s time for the real performance.”

Under the violet-black beam of light, a Ravager that had begun to settle suddenly hovered above Mors’s head.
Its tattered cocoon had been discarded nearby, and the creature that emerged was smaller, its white fur clean and trembling faintly—like a newborn insect freshly emerged from its chrysalis, just waiting to spread its wings.

It floated quietly above Mors, only an arm’s length away, as if waiting for her command.

“Chrysoberyl, if you lived through that Great Ravager Catastrophe, then you should understand.”
Raising her hand to touch the Ravager above her, Mors continued, “Just as not all life is equal in this world, Ravagers are not equal either.”

Veronica ignored her completely.
When she saw the emerged Ravager hovering above Mors’s head, she instantly activated her Masterpiece and lunged forward, aiming a slash directly at Mors’s neck.

But before it could land, the attack dissolved—just vanished.

“Still don’t get it? You can’t stop this! The ritual was complete the moment I arrived!”
Mors’s expression was twisted with cruel satisfaction. “The Beast Lord’s power now resides in me. Next, I’ll show you the glory that belongs to Him.”

The violet-black light pillar finally revealed its true form—a massive altar on the ground, inscribed with dense runes and surrounded by countless magic materials radiating intense energy.
In an instant, Veronica spotted not only Ravager flesh among the materials, but also... Heartstone Gems belonging to Magical Girls.

“By the grace of the Lord, by the might of the Beast, in this era of survival of the fittest... I will be the final victor!”
Like an aria, Mors sang aloud and then declared:
“This is the time for purging treason and crushing rebellion!”

Thump.
As her voice fell, the Ravager above her gave a slight tremble, like the beat of a heart.

Thump.
The altar flared up again, completely engulfing Mors and the Ravager in magical light.

Thump.
——"AAAAAAAHHHH!"
Mors let out an inhuman howl. Her skin began to crack and peel away in layers, exposing muscle and sinew underneath.

Her whole body crumbled into ash with every pulse of that heart-like beat. The ash swirled in the light, forming what looked like a black nebula.

Enormous, yellowish-brown fuzzy wings unfurled from the beam of light, marked with hideously unnatural patterns—just looking at them made people feel sick.
Thin, pale limbs extended out, covered in overlapping jagged spikes that seemed terrifying even with the slightest motion.
A towering figure, several stories high, slowly emerged. A pair of massive compound eyes flickered with violet-black light as it looked down upon Veronica.

A massive moth hovered in the air, suspended above the entire city.

It was already past midnight. The noise jolted awake the sleeping residents. Those living near the central district stumbled out of bed, opened their windows, and looked outside—only to see the giant moth above.

“Whoa! What the heck is that?”
“A movie shoot? CGI?”
“That’s a Ravager, right? Wait... are they really that big?”

The just-awakened civilians had no idea how serious this was. After years without a single Ravager incident, and recent ones being handled quickly by the new squad, most people had forgotten what real danger felt like.

But confusion wouldn’t last long.
Because soon, they discovered that besides the massive moth in the sky, countless other Ravagers had started rampaging across Fangting City.

From tiny moths to Ravagers several meters tall, the invasion spread from the city center, engulfing everything in sight.

In an instant, the earlier confusion turned into pure panic and screams.

The peaceful atmosphere of the night after the Moon Festival was completely shattered.

Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang, previously outside the battlefield, quickly braced themselves and began fighting off the sudden flood of low-tier Ravagers. But it was almost impossible for just two Magical Girls to deal with such a massive wave all at once.

On top of that, they had to protect the unconscious Bai Jingxuan and the non-combatant Moko, which meant they were forced into a mostly defensive position—fighting while retreating.

“That huge thing in the sky... that nasty old hag turned into that?”
Driving away the Ravagers nearby with silver-white magic, Lin Xiaolu clenched her teeth in frustration. “Dmn it! If only I could use my Magical Armor right now, I’d fly up there and beat the cap out of her!”

“You can’t win.”
Perched on her shoulder, Moko sighed helplessly. “Your perception is way too dull. You haven’t figured it out yet? That’s a Molt.”

“A... Molt?”
“Yes! It’s an evolved form of a Ravager! Have you seriously forgotten already?”

“The one above Cocoon-tier?”
“There are only four tiers in total. What else could it be?”
Moko patted Lin Xiaolu’s shoulder. “You really are a blockhead.”

“Huh? You just remember a couple more trivia bits than I do—don’t get cocky!”

“Trivia? Hmph. Then tell me this—do you know the biggest difference between a Molt and a regular Ravager?”

“What is it?”

“...”

“Why’d you go quiet? Don’t keep me hanging, you useless little fairy!”

——“The biggest difference... is that we fully understand our own ‘Rules.’”

An unfamiliar voice suddenly echoed in Lin Xiaolu’s mind, stabbing into her brain like a spike.

She jerked her head sideways and saw it—at some point, the enormous moth had drifted directly overhead, its twisted compound eyes peering down at her.

In that instant, Lin Xiaolu almost forgot how to breathe.

She saw one of the Ravager’s spiked limbs reaching down toward her. What was just a limb to the Ravager looked to her like a massive falling tree—there was no time to dodge.

——“Don’t even think about it!”

A voice rang out from above.

Blazing blue magic surged wildly as Veronica followed close behind the limb, magic flaring around her. She wielded her Magical Armor like a beam of light, slashing down hard onto the Ravager.

Whether it was due to her speed or the Ravager’s distraction, this time, Veronica’s Masterpiece didn’t meet any resistance—it cut straight into the creature.

A stream of magic burst from the blade’s edge, followed by several more strikes in rapid succession. Blue light pierced straight through the massive moth, exiting from its back.

Veronica’s attack nearly cleaved the enormous Ravager in half.

“Veronica!”

Lin Xiaolu finally caught her breath. Seeing how this Ravager, which had suffocated her with just its presence, was so easily wounded by Veronica, a flicker of hope lit up on her face.

But that hope didn’t last long enough to become a word of thanks.

Because almost the moment Veronica’s blade sliced through the Ravager, the deep blue light vanished.

The blade that had passed through the moth’s body, the threads of magic, the Masterpiece weapon itself—even the stray magic flowing from Veronica—disappeared.

The magic stream that should’ve torn the creature apart faded into nothingness, as if it had never existed. It left behind no wound at all.

“Feel that difference, Chrysoberyl?”

The Ravager’s voice echoed directly in their minds. It sounded smug, even amused. “Heh... But crushing you now would be too boring. The show’s just getting started—keep struggling a little longer.”

Magic, once extinguished, now flowed again.
But this time, the deep blue magic didn’t belong to Veronica.

It belonged to the Ravager.

And though this entire exchange seemed to span minutes, in reality, not even a full breath had passed.

The magic that Veronica had just released had been completely stolen.
She didn’t even have time to react—she tried her best to reassemble her stance, to reform her Magical Armor and Rituals for defense.

But it was already too late.

The Masterpiece blade, formed from her own threads, turned midair—now controlled by the Ravager—and slashed toward her with blinding speed.

Veronica’s Masterpiece had been woven to be lethal to Cocoon-tier and above Ravagers. Its sharpness and the integrated ritual structures were all calibrated to cleave through a Ravager’s cocoon like butter.

Physically, Ravagers were tougher than Magical Girls—so if a weapon could harm a Cocoon-tier Ravager, it could definitely injure a Leaf-tier, or even most Bud-tier girls whose bodies weren’t reinforced.

And this time, Veronica had held nothing back. She was aiming to wound a Molt-tier Ravager, and to save Lin Xiaolu in time.

——“Veronica!”

Lin Xiaolu screamed as the Masterpiece’s blade pierced Veronica’s small frame midair—easily, mercilessly.