Give children a little self-destruction shock to their worldview.

Page 145

So this place is considered safe.

"Big brother, what are you doing here? I thought you'd fallen out of the world..."

The little bear was overjoyed to see the living Gentleman of the Abyss, exclaiming, "I never expected to see you here!"

Indeed, if it weren't for Yoko Sugiyama's intervention, the Gentleman of the Abyss would have perished in that major incident.

The Abyss Gentleman said he was saved by the phantom thief in front of him, while the little bear said he was brought down here by the phantom thief as a desperate monster.

The two looked at each other in bewilderment.

Yoko Sugiyama's thinking is indeed a bit unpredictable.

Sometimes she seems honest and friendly, but she can be ruthless when it comes to underhanded tactics. She can pursue an absurd ideal, and she can also lend a helping hand to others.

The main problem is that this guy's actions and plans are a mess. If he's not just acting on a whim, then he probably has something wrong with his head.

In fact, the Gentleman of the Abyss was right; Yoko Sugiyama was indeed put into a state close to split personality by the Dividing Needle.

However, there are more important things to deal with now.

The fake Despair Monster, Sad Bear, and his brother, Abyss Gentleman, stood atop the hill, gazing at the real Despair Monster roaming the city skies. They watched as the latter easily and swiftly destroyed the pillar of light with a few swipes of its tail, wiping out the Phantom Thief's carefully laid plans of the past few days.

The two looked at each other, bewildered: What should they do?

Seeing that Mayumi Haga has almost washed the surface of Miracle City in this world, and that the magic array that Yoko Sugiyama set up has been completely destroyed, it seems like the plan has failed, right?

So how exactly are they going to return to the surface?

This is a very important issue for the Abyss Gentleman and the Little Bear.

Just then, the sound of Yoko Sugiyama slowly waking up came from behind: "Ugh...it hurts..."

She should indeed cry out in pain.

Because she was at the very center of the explosion, even her fully activated magical shield couldn't completely protect her. It's fair to say that she's only able to wake up now thanks to the little bear's kindness in healing her.

She was the only one of the three who was truly injured.

Perhaps because she had lived in the Otherworld for a long time, Yoko Sugiyama's pain tolerance had increased, but it was probably only to the level of an ordinary person in other worlds.

As soon as she opened her eyes and saw the two people in front of her, she knew that her plans had been completely disrupted.

In her hazy mind, Yoko Sugiyama recalled the scene of losing control when she released the weapon, and couldn't help but feel annoyed.

The plan she painstakingly advanced step by step while her other personality was dormant has now been ruined by this sudden turn of events, with over 80% of it destroyed.

I've really been completely and utterly defeated this time.

Yoko Sugiyama closed her eyes again.

Now that things have come to this, all she can do is stall for time and think of other ways to bring the out-of-control Mayumi Haga back under control.

“Miss Phantom Thief, now that you’re awake, stop pretending to be asleep.” The Abyss Gentleman’s voice, tinged with displeasure, rang out. The strange man sighed, “Given the current situation, you must provide a solution.”

Yoko Sugiyama didn't answer immediately, but instead looked at the little bear standing next to the Gentleman of the Abyss: "Did you save me?"

"Eh, yes." The little bear was caught off guard by being called out and was a little confused.

Yoko Sugiyama calmly commented, "It's truly an overflowing display of kindness."

Can someone like that still be called a weirdo?

This is no different from any other kind passerby.

Yoko Sugiyama felt a mix of emotions.

But after asking that question, she truly shut her mouth, and no matter how the Gentleman of the Abyss tried to talk to her, she didn't want to answer.

Sure enough, everyone who came down from the world above, whether human or monster, was kind.

she thinks.

Even in this cruel world, they will reach out to help you.

Even though they see me as part of the enemy's ranks?

That kind-hearted personality is also an overly kind-hearted person. Does this mean that people with magical talent generally have a childlike heart?

What then is this separated, dark side of myself? A rat in the gutter, unable to be seen by anyone?

Miss Phantom Thief is amazed by her own birth.

At first, she couldn't figure out her own position.

She knows that she is part of "Yoko Sugiyama," who was once a magical girl, but she has extreme thoughts that are not tolerated by the original body.

She only felt that she was facing her own desires more directly and wanted to live as she pleased, but the moment she was separated from her, she was told that she had qualities that a magical girl should not possess.

But compared to those empty and pretentious qualities, she should be the true self, right?

So, upon separation, she took control of her body, intending to do as she pleased.

You can casually slip into the surface world to take whatever you like, and wreak havoc and vent your frustrations in the inner world. You don't need to deal with those troublesome interpersonal relationships, nor do you need to work. All you need to do all day is find ways to have fun.

But one day, looking at the devastated inner world and the "garbage" dumped into it by the world, she felt lost and then suddenly realized the common ground between herself and the garbage.

Was she also thrown into this world like trash?

Is it because the world above cannot tolerate someone like her?

Feeling annoyed by this situation, she decided to merge the world back into its original state.

Everything was driven by selfish desires; everything was her own impulse.

I just thought it, and that's how I acted on it.

Completely different from the reasons she gave to deceive the Abyss Gentleman before, she had no motives or grand principles; she simply wanted to do it.

I want to see if doing this will awaken the darkness hidden deep within the hearts of those perfect magical girls and those humans.

That's it.

But why... why, having both ended up in this world, would these two strange people choose to save him under those circumstances?

Don't they know that in this world, one can get hurt, feel pain, and die?

But when Miss Thief looked at the little bear's arm, she saw that it was also injured.

If that's the case, she should know that being injured would be very painful! Why did she still come to save her in the first place?

Miss Phantom Thief's mind is a little slow to process this.

It's understandable that she might not be mentally sharp.

After all, being split into two personalities by the dividing needle and sharing a single brain core, it's relatively good that their thinking is usually slow; sometimes, good and evil even fight each other in their minds.

It would be considered good if someone like Mayumi Haga had a whole brain separated from her.

Miss Phantom Thief was very puzzled. She silently closed her eyes, showing her unwillingness to pay attention to the bear and the Gentleman of the Abyss.

Seeing that Miss Phantom Thief didn't want to talk, Little Bear and Gentleman of the Abyss exchanged a glance but didn't force her.

"Big brother, how should we get back now?" Little Bear whispered to his family patriarch.

During the time Abyss Gentleman was away from home, Little Bear finally realized how hard his older brother had worked. Whether it was housework or his strength as a monster, he was top-notch.

As always, she sought advice from the Gentlemen of the Abyss.

However, the Gentleman of the Abyss threw the question back at him: "Little Sadness, what are you thinking?"

"Huh? I..." The little bear paused for a moment, then answered honestly, "Actually, I want Mayumi to return to normal, and then she will take us out together."

Little Bear knew about Mayumi Haga's abilities. Since Mayumi Haga was able to come here alone, it meant that she had mastered the method to return.

The Gentleman of the Abyss agreed: "That's what I thought too, but..."

However, looking at the black dragon wandering in the sky in the distance, a sight that gave them goosebumps, neither of them knew how to restore Haga Mayumi to its original state.

Just getting close would get you killed.

Unlike the world above, this is a situation where physical attacks outweigh magical attacks. Their two magically forged bodies would only be reduced to ashes if they recklessly charged forward.

That wretched magical girl! Why does she always respawn, but never appear in situations like this...?

While he was complaining, the Abyss Gentleman suddenly felt a chill creep up his back and up to his head from the soles of his feet.

Suddenly turning their heads, they saw a pair of crimson dragon eyes, several kilometers away, fixed firmly on their location.

Main text: Chapter 228 I Hit Myself (5k)

Murderous intent.

While it may be described as murderous intent, that's not entirely true.

Unlike the murderous intent of humans who aim to take lives, the eyes of the black dragon, after its transformation and complete loss of reason, did not have such fervent or human emotions.

Rather than "killing," it's closer to an instinct like "predation."

It wasn't out of personal will that he intended to kill the Abyss Gentlemen; it was simply because he needed to, operating according to the inherent programs within his body. While using his bombs to cleanse the land beneath his feet, he meticulously turned over the soil inch by inch, searching for the ants hiding there.

At this moment, the black dragon found its target.

The feeling of being targeted by a giant beast sent chills down the spine of the Abyss Gentleman.

Damn it, is this place not safe anymore...?

The Abyss Gentleman realized that the Guardian Lady, who was atop the black dragon, had turned her gaze towards them, clearly indicating that she had discovered them.

I and Little Bear had to move immediately, otherwise it was uncertain whether we could survive the targeted bombing.

"Little Sadness! We need to get moving. Do you still have any magic?" The Abyss Gentleman was on high alert.

The little bear nodded quickly and immediately transformed back into its true form as a plush teddy bear, wrapping the weak and helpless phantom thief inside its plush-filled body.

In this state, the bear is like a soft exoskeleton, with the cotton inside protecting the frail Miss Thief well, allowing her to move relatively naturally.

Unfortunately, she didn't have much magic left, and with the black dragon watching her, she couldn't make her body too big. Otherwise, she could have made it bigger so that the phantom thief could lie inside her body instead of having her limbs pulled around.

However, this approach is already quite good.

That way, we can escape with the phantom thief while consuming the least amount of magic power.

The Abyss Gentleman slid his cane from his sleeve, and just as the black dragon was about to swoop down, he twisted the gem mechanism at the end of the cane, releasing layers of terrifying mist that enveloped them.

Under the cover of this colorless mist, his and the bear's presence would be greatly reduced, which should also have a certain effect on confusing the black dragon.

Let's take advantage of the moment when Black Dragon is briefly distracted and move to an underground air-raid shelter in a corner of the city.

The layout of the inner world is basically the same as that of the outer world, and the Abyss Gentleman knows many corners of the city that can be used for hiding.

Back when he was the rebellious Black Sheep who organized other monsters and magical girls to fight against each other, the Gentleman of the Abyss scouted the city at least ninety-nine times, if not a hundred, in order to avoid being noticed by all sides and to facilitate his own actions.

Not to mention that after retiring from his criminal life, he worked as a courier and food deliveryman for a long time in order to support his family's young, eccentric children.

He knew every corner of the city, where every road led, and even the most obscure yet perfectly safe locations.

The air-raid shelter he planned to take Little Bear and Miss Phantom Thief to was both rock-solid and well-concealed, capable of withstanding the Black Dragon's bombardment.

The fog of fear he releases has a magical effect that can divert one's sense of presence to some extent.

The fog of fear can subconsciously lead people to believe that something is "terrifying," causing momentary confusion.

This trick is actually more effective when used in the dark. Enveloping humans in it will trap them in their most terrifying illusions. Even those with strong wills who are not easily fooled by illusions will inevitably become suspicious and fearful of the terror that awaits them.

To put it simply, this is the magic of transferring the emotion of "fear" to others.

Since it's magic, it will be weakened in a space like the Inner World. Moreover, it's not nighttime now, and it's being cast in front of the Black Dragon; with these two factors combined, the effect will definitely be greatly reduced.

However, according to the Abyss Gentleman's expectations, as long as the black dragon is stunned for even half a second, it will be considered a success.

If we seize this opportunity...!

Although Mayumi Haga possesses a strong will and the magic's effect has been greatly weakened, she has now become a mindless black dragon, devoid of magical power...

It's unlikely that they will be completely immune.

Unless this guy's magic resistance is unexpectedly strong, the Abyss Gentleman will not fail.

The Abyss Gentleman enveloped himself and the bear in mist, staring intently into the black dragon's eyes, his deep, dark eyes appearing on his black face.

He mobilized all his magic power, turning fear into needles, and stabbed them straight into the black dragon's eyes!

But at the very moment he made his move, the Gentleman of the Abyss realized something was wrong.

Contrary to his expectations, countless fears vanished without a trace after entering those violent eyes, as if they had been thrown into the sea.

They were all swallowed up!