Chapter 744 - 280: The Truth of War

Queen's Calendar 1979, Start of Autumn.

The endgame of the Two Worlds War, two hours after the "Garden Defense Battle" ended.

Cornflower felt as if she were paralyzed.

Her whole body had nearly lost sensation, her five senses dulled, her thoughts a tangled mess. It was like experiencing a nightmare from which she occasionally startled awake; her consciousness continuously drifted in a sea of confusion.

Xiao Tan charged towards the Bee Apostle, engaging in a fierce battle, driving them back. In her memory, these scenes replayed incessantly, like the final reels of her life flashing before her eyes.

In a haze, she felt as though someone had lifted her body up.

The other person seemed to say something, but Cornflower couldn't comprehend a single word.

Have I died? Or am I already at death's door?

The remnants of Cornflower's consciousness were filled with such questions.

Where am I? Has someone come to rescue me?

The questions multiplied, and soon, even more fragments of memory surged from the depths of her consciousness.

The desperate battle surrounded by the walls of Luennolay City; the stunning entrance examination to the Magic Kingdom; the step-by-step journey of developing her abilities as a Magical Girl; the initial encounters with her squad mates; the determined resolve to become a Magical Girl for An Ya's sake...

And, as "Lin Yun," his most unforgettable moment of being that boy.

It was in a narrow hospital room, and the man lying on the bed looked emaciated, yet he still gazed at her with a gentle smile.

"Yun."

He called her name in his usual, ordinary tone, caressed her head with a pale hand, and then said something to her.

"... Hero."

Yet, she could only recall the last two words of that sentence.

What did I forget?

What exactly was that sentence meant to convey?

What did you say to me before you passed away?

—"Dad..."

Like a drowning person grasping a lifeline, Cornflower's consciousness resurfaced to the top.

She suddenly opened her eyes.

At this moment, she was still in the "Garden".

However, unlike the scenery when they had retreated here and joined forces with the reinforcements, the current Garden had turned into a wasteland.

All that was left was a piece of charred land and scattered remnants of both the Remnant Beasts and the Magical Girls' magical power.

"Ah, this one is still conscious,"

said a voice from behind Cornflower.

She turned around and saw a green-haired girl standing behind her, holding on to her collar—evidently, this was the person who had "lifted" her up amidst the chaos before.

However, given the current posture, it seemed more likely that instead of a gentle "lift," the action used was a "pull".

The girl holding Cornflower's collar looked like a Magical Girl at first glance, but upon closer inspection, there were some noticeable differences.

Firstly, there was no Heart's Gem.

It's not to say that there was a lack of gem-like decorations on the girl's clothing, but rather, based on the distribution and flow of magic power across her body, there was no structure akin to a "Heart's Gem".

Secondly, there were feathers on her head and transparent wings on her back.

While some Magic Clothing of transformed Magical Girls did include similar structures—sometimes even using them in combat— the feathers and wings on this girl were, based on their magical power fluctuations, not mere adornments but parts of her body.

Compared to a Magical Girl, this person's magical power fluctuations made Cornflower think of another being.

—Fairy.

Cornflower looked around and realized that she was surrounded not just by the green-haired girl who seemed like a "Fairy."

In the entire Garden, or rather the entire battlefield, there were at least hundreds of similar existences.

This threw her heart into complete chaos.

What's going on? Did the war end in defeat?

Who are these people? Could they be the high-tier combat units from the interworld, waiting on the sidelines until the front lines were sufficiently exhausted before entering?

In her confusion, she caught sight of another surviving Magical Girl in the distance with her peripheral vision.

The magical power fluctuations from her were weak but relatively stable, and with timely treatment, she should survive.

However, beside this Magical Girl stood another "Fairy" girl with wings.

At this very moment, the "Fairy" girl was flipping the Magical Girl face-up, and then reached out to pinch the Heart's Gem beneath her neck—

Cornflower's pupils contracted.

Because she saw that the other party was attempting to shatter that Magical Girl's Heart's Gem.

"Stop... cough, cough... stop it."

She instinctively wanted to speak out and stop it, but once she uttered the words, she realized that her Magic Body was unbelievably weak. The voice she managed to produce sounded like a moribund wheeze.

She suddenly realized that she had not a shred of magical power left in her entire body, and it was worse than the Magical Girl lying on the ground. Even if she intended to use her Magic Armor to prevent the impending tragedy, The Weave of Fate did not heed her summon given her completely depleted magic.

But Cornflower did not want to stop.

She hated seeing her companions die in front of her, no matter how many farewells she had witnessed in the war, no matter how desensitized she claimed to be; when a companion was truly about to die in front of her, she could not sit by idly.