At the moment her identity as "Cornflower" was revealed, Emerald Sparrow pressed her lips together slightly without responding to the provocation.
She didn't express any intention to admit or deny, nor did she seem to want to continue the conversation. Instead, she slightly adjusted her posture, keeping a watchful stance as she faced the magical girl before her.
More than these trivial matters, it was the opponent's recently demonstrated strength that made her more vigilant. The reason was simple: the attack was too fast, too secretive.
There was almost no leakage of magic power; if not for Emerald Sparrow's quick reaction, even a probing attack like that could have put an ordinary magical girl at a considerable disadvantage.
Since the opponent had chosen to attack, it essentially put their hostility out in the open, making deceits and verbal tricks meaningless. What remained was a comparison of raw strength.
But Emerald Sparrow was aware of her own situation: she was sure to lose.
She did not think the people from Claw Mark were fools who would send a member with insufficient strength to seize the Source of Beasts. The magical girl claiming to be "Canna," being a former Flower Card, certainly wouldn't have combat abilities below those of a Flower Card.
Flower Card, meaning the opponent could definitely make use of wonders and rules.
Now she had completely lost the ability to unfold wonders normally. Once she entered into a battle of rules with the opponent, she would inevitably fall into a significant disadvantage.
If she wanted to level the playing field, she had only one card left to play, which in reality, she couldn't use—destroying the last form of Magic Armor Weaving Fate, exhausting the power of the threads.
But even Emerald Sparrow herself knew this was impossible.
The Magic Armor is closely related to the very essence of a magical girl. When the Magic Armor is completely destroyed, what she would become is unclear to anyone. At best, the magic power source might disappear into smoke, leaving her unable to use magic ever again; at worst, she might become a vegetative person or even die on the spot.
She couldn't take such a risk to use a move with an uncertain outcome.
While it's true that this move had a great chance of defeating or even killing the enemy, she would also sustain heavy damage. It would be like inflicting a thousand casualties on the enemy and ten thousand on herself, which could hardly be related to the concept of "winning."
"Why aren't you speaking? Don't tell me I guessed wrong?"
As she set down her wine glass, Yuan tilted her head slightly. With a breath, she exhaled a white fog and the blush on her face also faded significantly, "You know, I feel like you are considering something quite dangerous, so let me make this clear: we don't necessarily have to fight to the death."
"Setting aside the matter of the Source of Beasts, my previous words were not empty promises. If you really are Cornflower, our leader sincerely welcomes you to join us."
"After all, I can sense your magic power fluctuations. Your current state must be quite poor, right?"
With that, Yuan slowly narrowed her eyes. Her originally dark pupils abruptly changed into bicolor ptosis, "The essence, the magic power source, the Heart's Gem, the structure that should be a trinity has been misaligned. It's like a bucket with a hole, continuously leaking magic power. Under normal circumstances, a magical girl in your state would be considered half-dead."
"Thank you for the warning, but it's not necessary for you to worry,"
Emerald Sparrow responded coldly: "If your suggestion is to switch allegiances, I have no intention of turning myself into a Remnant Beast."
She was not very convinced that Claw Mark's techniques could heal her injuries; after all, even the chief of the Research Institute, Molu, could only promise to mitigate the damage to a certain extent. What could Claw Mark possess that was more advanced than the Research Institute's technology?
Even if such a possibility existed, it would necessarily involve betraying the Magic Kingdom—an option she would never consider.
From a standpoint of interest, she still held the power to assign Lin Xiaolu and the other two magical girls, which she had obtained with difficulty after catching a mistake by Golden Green Cat's Eye. Only by continuing as a magical girl could she hold onto that power. With this assignment right, she could prevent the three girls from being unnecessarily entangled in the kingdom's power struggles. If she truly accepted this so-called invitation to join Claw Mark, that right of assignment would become void, and the question of protection would be moot.
There were also juniors like Bai Jingxuan, a magical girl in a unique situation whom she had just resolved to guide onto the right path. If she chose to join Claw Mark here, she would have no standing to educate that child thereafter.
And from a moral and ethical perspective, there was even less reason to join an organization like Claw Mark, infamous for its bad reputation.
Perhaps they were not as morally depraved and inhumane as Black Ash Dawn, but after betraying the kingdom, these rebellious magical girls had committed their share of vile acts, certainly not qualifying as good people.
So, it seemed her course of action was clear: to stall.
At an absolute disadvantage in terms of raw strength, and unlikely to win in a fight, nor could she run—Fangting City was her home ground, the venue where the three juniors resided. With monks you can run away, but the temple will remain. Hence, the only option left was to stall for time.
The purpose of stalling for time was to await aid from Molu.
When the magical mirror communication was interrupted, Molu clearly had more to say, which suggested she had some countermeasure. Having informed her of the situation at the Abnormal Strategy Bureau, she would likely have responsive measures once she detected enemy actions.