My ex-girlfriend is a magical girl junior?

Chapter 261 The Birth of a New Life

"Are you kidding me?" Ruby stared intently at Mirror Lord, her voice filled with disbelief.

"Heh—you think that all the effort I went to to invite you here, even swearing an oath to your sovereign to gain your trust, was just for—to play a silly joke on you?"

Jingjue chuckled and asked in return, his tone full of undisguised amusement and mockery.

"But—there's a limit to how much common sense there is, isn't there?" Ruby's voice rose a few decibels. "As an Apostle of the Void Realm, don't you know that there's a natural mutual repulsion between ethereal energy and magical power?"

"How could a creation radiating such intense ethereal energy possibly successfully form a contract with me, a contracted spirit?!"

"I already said it, you were blinded by your own prejudice, so you couldn't truly appreciate its beauty, Contract Spirit." Mirror Lord's voice seemed a little impatient.

"Now," he pointed to the enormous incubation chamber, "release your senses, set aside your outdated knowledge and boring prejudices, and imagine that in front of you is—heh, an ignorant girl who is about to sign a contract with you."

"Then—tell me your conclusion."

Ruby's face was full of hesitation, but she also knew that since the other party dared to say that, they must have their own reasons.

After a moment of silence, it finally flapped its translucent wings and slowly floated to the front of the huge cylindrical culture chamber.

It stretched out a fluffy front paw and gently placed it on the cold, hard tempered glass. It suppressed the ethereal energy fluctuations that it instinctively loathed, closed its eyes, and released its senses without reservation.

Just moments later, Ruby suddenly opened her eyes, her deep blue eyes filled with unprecedented fear and horror.

It suddenly turned its head and looked incredulously at Jingjue, who always wore a calm smile not far away. Its mouth was slightly open, but it was too shocked to say a word for a long time.

"It seems you can finally shed those outdated knowledge and boring prejudices, Contract Spirit Master," Mirror Lord said smugly, looking at its expression.

"What did you do? Why did it—" Ruby's voice was sharp with urgency.

"Don't rush, tell me exactly what you felt firsthand." Mirror Duke interrupted it rather rudely, seemingly eager to hear its description firsthand.

"Otherwise, I wouldn't be in the mood to explain everything behind this to you."

Ruby hesitated for a moment, then finally said in a deep voice, "I—I feel an affinity for magic that has reached its peak—"

There is also—the rudimentary form of the soul.

"How did you do that? How could someone who clearly uses ethereal energy as their core possess such an inconceivable affinity for magic?!"

"Surprising, isn't it?" Jingjue said with a smile, his smugness growing even stronger. "But this also proves that my previous guess was absolutely correct."

"A guess?" Ruby looked at Mirror Lord with a puzzled expression.

"That's right, a conjecture." Mirror Lord's voice was filled with obvious pleasure and arrogance. "Humans with an affinity for magic can sign contracts with contract spirits like you and become so-called magical girls; while humans with an affinity for ethereal energy will be chosen by the great ethereal monarchs to become high-ranking ethereal apostles."

"It's true that ethereal energy and magical energy are mutually exclusive, but—can't there be someone in this world who is compatible with both of these powers? I—don't think so."

"Even if such a person exists, how could you possibly find them? What is the origin of this ball of light?!" Ruby stared intently at Mirror Lord, pressing him for answers, desperate to know the truth behind this forbidden creation.

Jingjue chuckled and said, "You're right. I don't have your keen perception. Trying to find that kind of 'genius' with such an extremely charismatic aura in a vast sea of ​​people is like finding a needle in a haystack."

"But have you forgotten? I don't even need to actively seek out people like this; they just come to me one by one."

"You mean—" Ruby's pupils contracted to their maximum size instantly.

"Yes," Mirror Lord spread his hands, his voice full of malice and mockery, "those cute and innocent magical girls who claim to fight for justice and peace."

"I have been consciously collecting their blood for a long time, and the clones created directly from this blood, although they do not contain any magic, will inevitably have a very high affinity for magic."

"Next, all I need to do is inject a small amount of ethereal energy into those fragile bodies and observe their reactions—I can easily select the perfect container that can simultaneously bear the two opposing energies, provided that these bodies are not destroyed by the natural conflict between ethereal energy and magic."

"7

"Next, all you need to do is use a massive amount of ethereal energy to accelerate the process"—and then, the final product will be presented before you.

Jingjue pointed to the ball of light in the cultivation chamber, his voice growing more and more impassioned: "It has an extreme affinity for magic, an energy core left behind by an Erosion-level World-Eroding Species as its core of power, and also a—a nascent soul that is eager to grow."

"Now, all that's needed is for you—the esteemed Contract Spirit—to sign a contract with it, and in this sacred process, a truly new soul will be born—"

"Then, my greatest masterpiece is complete."

At this point, Jingjue bowed slightly to Ruby, who was completely stunned, and then said in an almost boastful tone, "By the way, in principle, I shouldn't be telling you these things."

"However, you are bound by your own 'agreement' and cannot reveal these things, and if my brilliant plan cannot be shared with others, then it would be a waste of its brilliance."

"It's like a great artist being unable to show others their most satisfying artwork; it would be very frustrating for me."

Ruby snapped out of her daze and stared at Mirror Lord in disbelief, her voice trembling slightly: "You want me to—create a weapon for you that can use both magic and ethereal energy simultaneously?"

"I prefer to call it a perfect work of art rather than a vulgar term like 'weapon.'" Mirror Lord shrugged and corrected, "However, as long as you help me complete this final step, you are free to call it whatever you want afterward."

"And—don't even think about refusing." His tone suddenly turned cold, carrying a hint of threat. "Even if you know I'll use it against your companions, so what?"

"We were originally—sworn enemies, weren't we?"

"Furthermore, I promised you that after it was created, it would only be used to deal with those troublesome magical girls and certain foolish 'kindred spirits,' and not—anything else, you haven't forgotten, have you?"

His last words seemed to have a hidden meaning.

"I—" Ruby hesitated for a long time, but finally gave up and gently shook her head, saying, "I'm sorry, I can't do it."

"What's the reason?" Mirror Lord looked at Ruby, his voice instantly turning cold.

Ruby took a deep breath and then replied, "To successfully sign a contract, three conditions are necessary: ​​an independent will, a pure soul, and an extreme affinity for magic."

"The last condition has undoubtedly been met; the nascent soul within this ball of light can be considered, to a degree, pure."

"But—it is pure precisely because it has nothing, no will, no memory, and no true self."

""

"Such an existence cannot proactively respond to my call, and therefore cannot—successfully enter into a contract with me."

"You don't need to worry about that." Compared to Ruby's hesitation, Jingjue seemed confident. He waved his hand impatiently and said, "Just go ahead and do it."

"If the contract fails because it doesn't respond to you, then all our previous conditions will be null and void, and I will let you leave here safely."

"Is that so?"

Ruby stared intently at Mirror Lord, a complex light flashing in her eyes. After a long while, she finally spoke these words, and then flew back to the huge incubation chamber.

It remembered clearly that the oath that Mirror Lord had made to his monarch contained a clear premise: he would only allow Mirror Lord to leave safely if Mirror Lord successfully helped him accomplish something.

If the contract fails, according to common sense, what Jingjue should do is immediately erase his own existence or imprison himself as a bargaining chip to blackmail Xiaoli and the others.

Therefore, the fact that Jingjue would make such a seemingly "magnanimous" promise undoubtedly means only one thing: he has absolute confidence that the selfless ball of light will actively respond to his call.

Ruby knew that in the Void Realm, there existed a soul contract between Void Realm Apostles and Void Beasts. This contract allowed the former to control the life and death of the latter at will, and even influence the latter's will to a considerable extent.

Since Mirror Lord just admitted that he used the energy core of an Erosion-grade Corrosive World Species as "its" core —

So, the answer is already quite obvious.

He planned to use the soul contract that already existed in the energy core to respond to his call in place of "it," thus successfully creating the contract.

This unique new life, this tender and innocent child—at the moment of birth, will be completely controlled by Mirror Lord based on the previous contract, turning into a slave without freedom, a tool without self.

It cannot allow this to happen; it must do something.

Ruby took a deep breath, a resolute glint in her eyes.

Then it stretched out its two furry front paws, facing the slowly pulsating dark ball of light, closed its eyes, and began to gather all the magic power within its body.

Accompanied by an extremely dazzling golden light, a prismatic gem shimmering with brilliant iridescence gradually coalesced in front of it, which was the source of the magical girls' power—the Star Tear.

It slowly opened its eyes, turned its head to gesture to Jingjue not far away, and said nothing.

Jingjue understood and immediately used his authority to open an invisible passage in the glass of the incubation chamber.

The next moment, under Ruby's control, the dazzling Star Tear slowly passed through the passage and entered the incubation chamber, eventually merging with the mysterious dark light cluster.

A similar scene unfolded once again: all the instruments in the laboratory instantly exceeded their readings, their pointers frantically pointing to the red zone that represented danger, and a piercing alarm blared throughout the entire underground space.

After a while, all the light faded, and the laboratory returned to calm.

Ruby retracted her two front paws, her fluffy face looking unusually tired, as if all her strength had been drained away.

It didn't even bother to check what changes had occurred to the ball of light in the incubation chamber. Instead, it turned around and said to Mirror Lord, "I've done what I was asked to do. It's time to fulfill your promise. I'm leaving now."

-

Jingjue raised his hand and waved it beside him, and a pitch-black mirror appeared in response.

"Go in from here, and you'll return to the place where we first met," he said with a low chuckle. "By the way, next time I catch you, you won't be so lucky—Contract Spirit."

"Hmph, maybe next time you'll be completely wiped out by the kingdom, or become a prisoner," Ruby retorted irritably.

"You can leave now." In high spirits, Mirror Lord waved his hand casually, ignoring Ruby's feeble curse and not even glancing at her again.

From the moment that dazzling light completely subsided, his fanatical gaze remained fixed on the very center of the incubation chamber.

There, a creature with a rhomboid gem hanging from its neck collar, entirely black, and looking exactly like an ordinary house cat, lay asleep with its eyes closed in a pale golden nutrient solution.