Chapter 2: Chapter 2 : Accept My Filth!

Magical girls, beings that embody both miracles and magic.

Immortal souls, imperishable bodies.

Inexhaustible magic power, undiminished strength.

Of course, Pale, who was currently hanging upside down from the roof beam by a rope, had not a shred of fighting power left.

Her gray-white long hair fell like a curtain of inverted waterfall. Blood, due to gravity, uncomfortably rushed to her head, making Pale feel her cheeks somewhat swollen and her ears buzzing. Pale could even see the ceiling her toes pointed toward and the dust-covered crossbeams.

The girl's arms were bound behind her back, also tied tightly with that tough rope, bound so tight it felt somewhat numb. The black-purple short skirt of her gothic dress, due to the inverted position, completely lost its concealing function, the fabric that barely covered her hip line now helplessly drooping downward.

But most deadly of all was still that thing around her neck.

It still fit seamlessly against the girl's neck, the inverted position making its presence even more pronounced. At this moment, the tiny fibers on it were continuously and greedily devouring.

Yes, devouring.

Even though Pale was already like a salted fish drained of water, unable to squeeze out even a trace of magic power, it was still sucking.

Not that kind of violent plundering, but rather a... prolonged, continuous, bone-deep extraction.

Like a lover's most tender kiss, yet with the most cruel purpose.

Pale could clearly "feel" its countless minute magic probes, like the most nimble roots, deeply penetrating into the deepest dried wasteland of her magic core.

They gently, patiently explored, scraped, trying to extract even the slightest bit of remaining magic power from every inch of withered crevice.

"Haha... are kids these days all so good at joking?"

Pale stared fixedly at the blue-haired girl before her with her inverted gaze.

Sakutsuki Suzune.

The girl she had once rescued from ruins and war.

Who was now looking at her with a face full of disgust and resentment.

"Don't you just want me to join you all in crusading against magical creatures and fallen witches?"

"That's absolutely impossible!"

The moment those words fell, the ice-cold anger in Suzune's eyes almost became tangible, and even the temperature of the magic power in the air seemed to plummet suddenly.

More and more girls appeared from various shadowy corners of the warehouse, some even appearing out of thin air after spatial fluctuations. Each tender young face was filled with undisguised hatred and dissatisfaction, like a flock of enraged chicks shrieking sharply at the inverted "traitor."

"I saw with my own eyes Senior Pale laughing happily when talking with magical creatures."

"During the last witch subjugation too, it was she who helped that witch escape!"

"The evidence is conclusive! I saw with my own eyes that after she gave something to a magical creature, the creature actually laughed!"

"Traitor! Witch's lackey!"

"Hand her over to the tribunal!"

"Make her pay for our dead companions!"

The waves of sound surged like a tide, battering Pale's buzzing eardrums. The collar seemed to sense this rising hostility and anger too, the intensity of its devouring seeming to increase by a fraction. The subtle scraping brought a tingling sensation that made her waist tremble uncontrollably again, her inverted body swaying.

Sakutsuki Suzune stood at the forefront, her sapphire-like eyes locked deadly onto Pale. The emotions churning within them were more complex than anyone else's... there was the pain of collapsed faith, disappointment in a former benefactor, and even more, a deeply wounded hatred that had almost become tangible.

"Enough..."

Suzune's voice wasn't loud, yet like a cold current, it instantly overwhelmed all the angry denunciations. The noisy accusations in the warehouse came to an abrupt halt, and pairs of eyes—angry, sad, or confused—all focused on her.

Her gaze fell on Pale's slightly heaving lower abdomen, where the magic core was located, now dim and lifeless like an extinguished star.

Yet even so, the girl's face still wore an open and relaxed smile, and her body showed no trace of fallen corruption.

"Senior, I once respected you, admired you, looked forward to you, adored you, longed to become you. But now..."

Suzune's voice was very soft, as if talking to herself, yet also as if confiding to Pale. In those sapphire-like eyes, the churning hatred was like an undercurrent beneath ice, covered by an even deeper pain that nearly tore her apart.

"You're just scum who colludes with magical creatures."

Suzune expressionlessly raised her hand.

An invisible wave of magic power swept by, and the barrier protecting the magic stone dissipated like water ripples. She stepped forward, reached out, and her slender fingers steadily grasped that smooth magic stone.

The moment the magic stone left its suspended state and was held in Suzune's palm, an even richer and purer magic power aura instantly burst forth, like the most luxurious cream cake being cut open. The sweet fragrance mixed with intoxicating energy waves instantly filled the entire space.

"Mmm~" Pale's molten gold eyes, which had originally carried mockery and fearlessness, suddenly contracted, her pupils dilating instantly, then losing focus and becoming scattered.

So fragrant... seems like I want to...

If Pale were in a full magic power state, facing such a pure magic stone she might still maintain rationality and self-control, but right now...

"Hoi?" Pale let out a short, suppressed moan, her inverted body beginning to convulse violently beyond her control, like a fish hooked out of water, futilely writhing her waist.

But this violent struggle lasted only a brief moment.

Because Suzune, holding that magic stone emanating deadly temptation, slowly, step by step, walked to directly below Pale's inverted field of vision.

She raised her hand, bringing that magic stone radiating soft light and tempting sweet fragrance right in front of Pale. So close that the warm halo almost touched Pale's slightly parted lips from being inverted.

"Mm... mmm..." Unconscious moans heavy with nasal sounds spilled from her throat, like a kitten lost in rapture from the finest catnip. Her gaze was completely occupied by the magic stone, her pupils swaying left and right following Suzune's hand holding the magic stone.

The collar's greedy devouring sensation still existed, even becoming more intense due to the magic stone's stimulation. That bone-deep tingling and emptiness crashed against her fragile nerves like waves.

This magic stone was the purest one in this city, crystallized from the blood, sweat and magic power of countless magical girls—it was... specially prepared to lure and capture Pale.

"Now... answer me!" Suzune forcibly suppressed the discomfort churning in her heart and said sternly, "Are you or are you not connected to those magical creatures and witches!"

Pale's molten gold eyes had completely lost focus, pupils dilated, reflecting the magic stone's soft halo, misty as if hypnotized.

"Mm..."

The inverted girl seemed to be struggling and conflicted, but the collar's devouring and constriction, the dizziness from blood rushing to her head, the magic stone's temptation, the weakness from magic power depletion easily stripped away Pale's will to resist... perhaps... there was also her own willingness...

"Yes... we... have a connection..."

The answer that made all the magical girls present gnash their teeth spilled from Pale's slightly parted, moist lips.

Instantly, suppressed anger and disgust erupted like a volcano.

"As expected! She admitted it!"

"This traitor! She really is colluding with those filthy things!"

"Shameless! Despicable!"

"Kill her! Avenge our dead companions!"

The waves of sound were even more turbulent than before, filled with anger and the pain of betrayal.

The girls' faces flushed red, their eyes blazing with fire, wishing they could immediately rush forward and tear Pale to pieces.

Some even began gathering magic power, their magic wands flickering with dangerous multicolored light.

Suzune suddenly raised her hand, and a wave of icy magic pressure instantly spread out, forcibly suppressing the scene that was about to lose control.

Suzune ignored Pale's struggles and discomfort, continuing to question: "Was it you who let those magical creatures escape?"

"Yes..."

"Why are you able to avoid being corrupted and fallen?"

And this time, Pale's struggles were exceptionally violent, as if she were enduring tremendous pain.

"I... I won't tell... you... are you mad?"

Finally, the girl's eyes gradually lost their spirit...

"Hehe... magic stone... want... sweet..."

Suzune looked at Pale in this completely lost state, like a broken doll, and a trace of indescribable complex emotion flashed through the depths of her sapphire-like eyes, but it was quickly covered by icy determination.

"Put her down."

"But... but..."

"I said! Put her down!"

The rope loosened, and Pale's inverted body fell like a broken doll, caught by a gentle magic force and laid flat on the ground. She lay on her side, breathing rapidly, her body trembling slightly due to the collar's continuous devouring. Her arms were still bound behind her back, preventing her from getting up, only able to writhe clumsily like a worm.

Someone started shouting.

"Sister Suzune! What are you waiting for! Just..."

"Shut up!" Suzune sharply interrupted.

Her gaze swept over Pale's chest, which rose and fell slightly from struggling and the collar's devouring, settling on the dim jet-black crystal on her flat abdomen.

"Since she likes allying with the darkness that destroys our homeland so much... and... she stubbornly hides the secret of not being corrupted and fallen, refusing to tell us—this is truly unforgivable!"

She paused, her sapphire-like eyes sweeping across the entire scene, clearly announcing:

"Then, let her use her body to bear all of our... accumulated filth from our magic cores!"

This statement was like thunder, plunging the warehouse into brief silence again, followed by an even greater commotion!

"Right! That filthy aura contaminated in battle!"

"That filth that would make us fall into witches."

"Let this traitor bear it! Nothing could be more fitting!"

"Exactly! This is the punishment she deserves!"

The anger on the girls' faces was quickly replaced by expressions mixing vengeful pleasure and morbid excitement. The way they looked at Pale was no longer simple hatred, but more like looking at a container about to be thrown into a cesspool.

A twin-tailed girl was the first to react, her face showing an excited flush: "I'll go! My core has accumulated so much filth, sticky and stinking!" She eagerly stepped forward, bringing her magic core mixed with black filamentous matter close to the jet-black core on Pale's abdomen.

"Traitor! Have a good taste of this!"

"Ugh... so... so painful..."

That wisp of turbid dark matter, like viscous mud, forcibly poured into Pale's dried magic core like sewage finding an outlet.

Pale, who should have lost consciousness, began struggling violently.

The twin-tailed girl finished transferring, her face showing a flush of post-sadistic satisfaction and relief as she stepped back, even smugly shaking her hands: "Hmph! Much more comfortable! Let her taste this disgusting feeling too!"

"My turn! I want to too!"

"Hehe, now I don't have to worry about becoming a witch for a long time."

"Mmhmm~ This feels so refreshing!"

The girls rushed forward eagerly, as if conducting a filthy sacrificial ritual, and Pale... was the sacrifice.

They poured all the accumulated filth from their respective magic cores—varied in form but equally repulsive—into Pale's jet-black core.

She was like a sponge being repeatedly ravaged, forced to absorb all the filth.

When the last magical girl stepped back with a trace of relief and disgust, Pale had already collapsed on the ground like a completely lifeless puddle of mud.

But the girl still gritted her teeth and squeezed out a few words: "So-so..."

Don't think this would make Pale submit.

What a joke—this collar was a magical creation made by Pale herself.

You actually want to use my magic against me?

Just wait and see if I don't spank your butt after I escape!