Enshrouded by the dark figure beneath them, an immense sense of oppression and danger eroded the nerves of several magical girls; there was no doubt that everyone could sense the hostility of the newcomer.
Merely facing the master of the shadow from afar, Lin Xiaolu felt her breathing become labored, the magic power around her slowing to a crawl, even her heartbeat started to race, her body tensing as if encountering a natural predator.
Her eyes slightly widened, breathing quickened, she fixated on the distant figure and silently tightened her grip on the magic wand in her hand.
Such tension and apprehension were all too familiar to her; in fact, she had experienced this feeling more than once, which allowed her to easily identify its nature: it was the premonition of facing a lethal threat, of impending death.
The master of the shadow made no move, seemingly observing the magical girls from afar, suspended motionless, like a statue.
After a brief standoff, the indistinct entity flickered slightly.
When its figure reappeared after the flicker, it was already mere meters from the magical girls, startling those who were on high alert; Lin Xiaolu, reacting almost reflexively, raised her hand and fired a magic bullet.
However, the magic bullet had no effect whatsoever; it didn't even come close to touching the mysterious figure, inexplicably disintegrating before it could reach them.
It was then that the girls could clearly see the face of the newcomer—a robed figure in black.
The figure had a slender and elongated build, entirely cloaked in black, with no distinguishing features visible. The black robe was familiar to the magical girls—they had seen this style of attire before, worn by the man from the orphanage known as "Soldier Touch Three."
Lin Xiaolu uttered the name she had heard at that time.
The robed figure before them, however, was different from the man they remembered.
The black robe was adorned with more intricate and fine patterns of dark gold which, albeit sinister, could be clearly discerned in their outline: it was a gold, spread-winged moth.
Atop the robe was a high hat, replacing the hood, with its long brim pressed low, concealing the face below and hiding the visage.
"You've really exceeded my expectations."
The robed figure suddenly spoke out, and from beneath the hat, a somewhat hoarse female voice emerged: "To grow to such an extent in merely five months, even able to suppress a pupal-stage Remnant Beast, is quite rare among magical girls."
Her words seemed like praise, but not a single magical girl believed she was complimenting them.
As the first among them to regain her composure, Xia Liang extended a hand to restrain the somewhat anxious Lin Xiaolu and spoke first, "Always skulking in the shadows, aren't you bold enough to reveal your true self when doing evil deeds?"
She was nervous as well, her voice somewhat raspy. But even in such a situation, she didn't forget to provoke their adversary, trying to extract information from the opposition.
She had a clear thought: this mysterious black-robed figure likely wasn't an enemy the three of them could handle; if anything unexpected happened next, they at least needed to ascertain the enemy's identity to report it.
"Such an obvious little scheme, what an adorable child."
Xia Liang's rudimentary provocation obviously didn't fool the robed figure, but instead of getting angry, the voice even carried a hint of amusement: "Very well, we, as supporters of our Lord, have always disdained hiding our names."
She reached up, grabbed the hat atop her head, and with a fierce pull, removed it. An aged, elderly face was thus revealed to them.
It was a golden-haired, somewhat aged woman, her face bearing a peaceful smile.
"Nice to meet you for the first time, children of Fangting City, my name is Mosi."
So saying, she inclined slightly, as if offering a bow: "Or you may translate my name from the Western Region's language, using the tongue of Donghua Region, to describe me, call me, 'moth'."