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

When Mayumi Haga opened her eyes again, she was greeted by the astonished face of the magician.

She was in a daze for several seconds before she gradually came to her senses: ...Ah, I seem to have come back to life.

Everything that happened after using the forbidden technique was clearly imprinted in her mind, including the pain she felt after becoming a black dragon, and what happened in the mental space...

When asked about what happened in the mental space, Mayumi Haga's expression froze for a moment.

She tried to focus her attention on the task at hand, which caused her expression to appear gloomy for a moment.

The magician even instinctively took a step back.

Mayumi Haga noticed the changes within herself.

After using forbidden techniques, she should not have been able to return to her human form, since a guardian who has crushed the core will disappear from the world and will find it difficult to revert to human form.

But Mayumi Haga was forcefully pulled back.

The way she was pulled back was unbelievable, even to the well-informed Guardian herself.

The tingling sensation didn't affect her physical body; it only affected her mind. After all, everything that happened in the mental space felt more like a dream unfolding in a connected way.

But the dream was so beautiful that she didn't know how to face it.

Her friends... She could have continued to respond to their enthusiasm with a dismissive attitude, dealing with that heat that exceeded the temperature of her heart.

But when the other party forcibly drags her into it, she can't refuse.

The real headache now is how this relationship will develop...

...Wait, why are we thinking about this again?

Mayumi Haga took another deep breath to calm herself down.

Only then did she notice the changes in herself.

Because of her previous numerous self-disclosure experiences, she remembers her body inside and out, even down to the location of her pores.

The changes that occur when a dragon transforms and then returns to a normal human are so significant that they cannot be ignored.

The first step is to improve physical fitness.

After transforming into a black dragon, her physical strength became undeniably the best among dragons. The black dragon abandoned all witchcraft or magical power, investing all her stat points into her physical body, thus becoming incredibly powerful.

After transforming back, Mayumi Haga clearly felt that her physical abilities had improved to a terrifying level, and her five senses were more acute than ever before.

Furthermore, the shape of its ears changed, its pupils turned red, and its canines became sharper than before...

Through this translucent, heart-shaped cocoon, she could vaguely see her own appearance.

In fact, his facial features and figure have not changed at all. His hair has grown a little longer so that he can tie it into a small braid. His ears have changed from a more rounded human ear shape to a long and pointed shape like an elf's. His eyes in his normal state have become reddish-brown, and his canine teeth have become sharp...

In short, Mayumi Haga not only has her bloodline reverted to its ancestral form, but also gained the additional attribute of a dragon.

Her physical abilities have improved considerably, but she still lacks the talent to use magic or witchcraft. However, because she was immersed in the spiritual veins during her dragon transformation, Mayumi Haga also gained additional magic resistance.

This new body still contains the Guardian Core, but it is no longer as hard as before; instead, it is sand-like and could crumble at any moment.

But precisely because of this, she can now use the Dragon Transformation Technique as long as she accumulates a little more magic power, and she can turn back as soon as her magic power is exhausted.

The addition of magic resistance and a dragon form is an epic buff for Mayumi Haga.

However, the dragon attribute actually has side effects.

Mayumi Haga felt that her body temperature was higher than usual, and she had a premonition that something was wrong.

She usually has a low body temperature and is less sensitive to most pains than the average person. But now she only feels warmth in her hands and feet, and her body is even warmer than usual, or rather, there is a burning resentment inside her.

...It seems that in her world there was a saying that dragons were more honest about their desires than any other species.

But when she transformed into a dragon, she temporarily lost her human consciousness. Now that she has regained her human form, she can't possibly let her animalistic nature control her any longer.

Mayumi Haga raised her hand and sliced ​​open the fragile cocoon, emerging soaking wet.

Inside the cocoon, she wasn't actually wearing ordinary fabric or a suit.

However, after she regained her human form, the black dragon's scales transformed into a jet-black and exquisitely crafted black dragon suit. Just by touching it, one could feel that the defensive power of this dragon scale suit was stronger than any of her previous suits.

The long, pointed dragon horn headdress is tied with ribbons, and it looks more like the robes worn by ancient wizards than a battle suit. The scales are exquisite and beautiful after being transformed into clothing, but they have many scar-like patterns. This does not detract from the beauty, but adds a lot of the ferocious spirit unique to black dragons.

However, what Mayumi Haga felt was not just the benefits of this set.

Mayumi Haga: ...My back feels so cold.

Everything else is fine, but this backless outfit makes her feel very insecure.

Just as she was about to change, she heard the voices of several people behind her, who were a beat behind her: "Mayumi!"

She turned around, and a pink head immediately nestled into her arms, giving her a big bear hug.

To be honest, if her physical abilities hadn't been enhanced, preventing her from collapsing so easily as before, the impact of Tono Hitomi flying over from a distance and slamming into her would have been enough to kill her.

The little bear followed and whimpered, hugging her leg. Behind it was Sugiyama Rika, who was equally overjoyed.

Because Lania was just a wandering spirit, she was forced to return to the person she possessed after the witchcraft ended, and now she is nowhere to be seen.

After the collision, Hitomi Tono realized that she hadn't held back her strength, but fortunately, Mayumi Haga caught her steadily and did look much healthier than before.

Moreover, Mayumi's body temperature has returned to normal... no, it's even a little higher than normal. It feels so good to be held by Mayumi!

Hitomi Tono, who preferred physical contact more than ever before, instinctively reached out and placed her hand on Mayumi Haga's waist when she caught her like that. Unexpectedly, she touched a warm hand near her back.

……what?

This garment is...

Before she could react, Mayumi Haga gently pushed her away, turned her face away, and spoke without looking at her: "Hitomi."

Huh?

Did Mayumi's ear twitch?

Tono Hitomi seemed to have discovered something new, staring intently at Haga Mayumi's upgraded elf-like long ears.

As if sensing that she was being stared at, her ears slowly began to turn red, and then became so red that they almost seemed to bleed.

Mayumi Haga's expression remained as cold as ever, and she forced herself to remain calm as she replied to their concern, "Y-cough, thank you for your concern."

Main text: Chapter 160 Missing

Mayumi Haga's body is fine.

After experiencing so much, the calamity within her body has completely disappeared, and she has not only received an epic-level enhancement, but her previous physical problems have also vanished without a trace... Considering that she used a forbidden technique to transform into a black dragon and then bit the queen insect that invaded this world to death, it seems that after this major event, Mayumi Haga has gained nothing but benefits.

Even the contents of the backpack, which had previously seemed to have completely collapsed into a sea of ​​orange juice, appeared to be only about one-tenth missing after a thorough inventory.

After all, the backpack was empty for a relatively short time. Yuga Mayumi had collected too many items in her original world. Although it seemed like she had discarded all the contents of the backpack in those few seconds, it was actually only a very small part.

Even so, the fact that "something was lost from the backpack" was enough to make Mayumi Haga feel a little regretful.

For hoarders, losing their backpack contents upon defeat in battle is an unforgivable combat mechanic.

Moreover, in a strict sense, Mayumi Haga did not lose this battle.

However, when she thought she had lost everything, the fact that she could still use her backpack, which contained materials that, at first glance, seemed to be exactly the same quantity, made her happy.

This is the happiest thing today.

The more Mayumi Haga checked the contents of her backpack, the happier she became. It seemed that all she had lost were the fragments of the true bow she had kept as a precaution.

Those fragments are renewable resources for her. After her body is strengthened, her self-healing ability returns, and she will still have inexhaustible materials in the future.

That's great, it wasn't those extinct materials that were lost...

Mayumi Haga wasn't quite familiar with her current body—or rather, her elf ears, which were exceptionally prone to betraying her emotions—and as she checked her backpack, although her back still looked cold, her bare back and the cheerful twitching of her pointed ears made her mood perfectly clear to the others.

Just as Mayumi Haga and the others began to clean up the mess, preparing to go back and get some rest before continuing their conversation, Koko remained silent from the beginning.

She was happy, but...

Where did the Abyss Gentleman go?

After emerging from Mayumi Haga's mental space, Little Bear was naturally happy that Mayumi Haga was safe and sound, but what made her even more uneasy was the matter of the Abyss Gentleman.

...The attribute of [Despair] has been transferred to Mayumi.

The little bear realized this as she hugged Mayumi Haga's leg. After all, the other's aura was so familiar and friendly, it was almost like family to her.

Black dragons are fantastical creatures not recognized by this world, but if the unclaimed despair attribute removed from the little bear is placed on the black dragon, making it the new [Despair], then it is actually equivalent to giving the other party a suitable reason for existence, and giving the extra empty space to the black dragon—that is, Mayumi Haga.

Therefore, although Mayumi Haga no longer has the ability to generate her own magic, she can still be considered a new kind of desperate monster.

In other words, the Abyss Gentleman's plan succeeded.

But after the plan succeeded... where did the Abyss Gentleman go?

The little bear couldn't sense its older brother's presence and became terrified.

Making the existence of the Despair attribute reasonable is not a simple matter. At least in Little Bear's understanding, even the Abyss Gentleman would find it difficult to do so easily.

Moreover, since the calamity had eroded and occupied the spiritual veins, Little Bear could hardly imagine the difficult situation the Gentleman of the Abyss had to face, let alone how he managed to complete such a large-scale spell under those circumstances...

Now that the Gentleman of the Abyss has disappeared, it is highly likely that he is in grave danger.

So, while the others were still basking in the joy of Mayumi Haga's survival, the little bear, worried about his family, quietly let go of Mayumi Haga's leg and left without a sound.

With her more acute senses, Mayumi Haga naturally noticed this as well. She glanced in the direction the bear had left, and frowned as if she realized something.

It seems that the terrifying monster who invited her to cooperate has met with misfortune.

Seeing all this, the magician next to him suddenly spoke up: "The Fear Monster has most likely already dissipated."

Mayumi Haga turned to look at her. Rika Sugiyama and Hitomi Tono, who were also confused about the situation, sensed something unusual and shut up, then shifted their gaze to the magician's face.

“Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t cause any trouble for that guy… Although modifying the rules of the spiritual veins did bring me a lot of trouble, it’s nothing compared to those bugs.” The mage shrugged and said her guess, “The erosion of the spiritual veins will create a loophole in the world wall, and it’s possible that that guy could accidentally get caught in it.”

“But there’s also the possibility of going to another world,” said Rika Sugiyama, who has an unexpected understanding of the wall mechanism in this world.

After all, in her time, the World Wall would occasionally break down, attracting visitors from other worlds.

Big events often happen during those times... However, as a magical girl, Sugiyama Rika is already used to the mechanism that there are always a lot of troubles during winter and summer vacations.

Since people from another world can come to this world, it's not impossible for the Abyss Gentleman to go to another world as well.

The magician remained noncommittal: "Hmm... I'm not entirely sure about the specifics either."

Simply put, since the Abyss Gentleman is currently out of contact, there's not much she can do to help; she can only offer some ideas to a few people.

In truth, deep down she believed that the terrifying monster was likely in grave danger.

The rules of this world are ultimately very different from those of other worlds; the rule of "important characters don't die" in children's films may not exist in other worlds.

In other words, people who would most likely die while traveling between worlds might suddenly have a stroke of luck and arrive safely in this world, but it's uncertain whether people from this world will go to other worlds with more cruel rules.

But it's best not to make these things too explicit, lest it make everyone uncomfortable.

The magician, being adept at reading people's expressions, chose to remain silent and swallowed his next words.

After that, there shouldn't be any more work that would require her to come to Miracle City.

This place is really weird.

This was the first time she had encountered such a strange event since becoming a Star Mage, and all the mage wanted to do was go back and rest. She had no reason to say goodbye to the people in front of her; she simply blinked when her gaze met Sugiyama Rika's, and then teleported away.

Main text: Chapter 161...Grandpa? (6k)

"So, Mayumi's nickname is Little Feather?" Sugiyama Rika asked with great interest, recalling what she had seen in Mayumi Haga's mental space.

Having returned home and changed into casual clothes, Mayumi Haga said, "...Hmm."

She was more confused than ashamed, after all, it had been a long time since anyone had called her that.

The title floated lightly into her ears, causing them to droop slightly before perking up again as Sugiyama Rika continued speaking, drawing her attention.

"Now that the calamity has been resolved and you've successfully become a citizen of this world, shouldn't you relax a little, Mayumi?"

Although she had only seen part of Mayumi Haga's memories, Rika Sugiyama knew how important the nickname "Little Feather" was to Mayumi Haga, so she still used the original name.

After all, for Mayumi, this nickname was reserved for her mother, Junko Haga, and only that person could call her that.

Haga Mayumi was somewhat lost in thought.

The calamity's invasion of this world has come to an end. After all, she risked her core to use forbidden techniques, and with the blessing of the fire seed, she has indeed cleansed the calamity that had devoured her world.

But this is not entirely her own achievement.

How much power can the world consciousness of a destroyed world grant to its sole survivor?

When Mayumi Haga fell into the spiritual vein of Miracle City, her core shattered, and she could clearly feel the power of the spiritual vein surging into her body.