Chapter 726 - 277: Bat and Mouse

"Hey—Mint? Can you hear me?"

"Are you there? If you're still conscious, respond with a magical power fluctuation!"

In the dark and silent forest, Lin Xiaolu's voice echoed among the trees.

She walked quickly ahead, Bai Jingxuan following with short steps behind her. The two of them were somewhat aimlessly exploring this unfamiliar area, not knowing which direction to head.

At this moment, Lin Xiaolu finally started to miss the short time Mint was part of the team. She realized how important a teammate with an "Intelligence Expert" role was in this kind of assessment.

She and Bai Jingxuan had been mysteriously transported to this forest for almost an hour. They had been wandering around like headless flies. Along the way, they encountered some Remnant Beasts, but they posed no threat to them. Remnant Beasts below the Pupa Stage were nothing more than easily dealt with minions in front of Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan.

For them, the biggest problem now was indeed confusion: Where is this place? Why am I here? What should I be doing?

After calling Mint's code name for a long time without a response, Lin Xiaolu sighed in frustration. Seeing Bai Jingxuan walking behind her with a sullen look, she patted her on the shoulder a bit indignantly: "You should help too."

"Help, help?" Bai Jingxuan's eyes widened.

"Let's call for Mint together. Two people shouting together might be louder; maybe she'll hear us," Lin Xiaolu justified confidently.

This statement was undoubtedly nonsense.

With the hearing of a Magical Girl, if Mint really were near Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan, she would surely hear even a single person's call. Lin Xiaolu calling out alone had no effect, meaning either Mint truly wasn't nearby, or she didn't want to reveal herself.

In either case, having Bai Jingxuan call out as well was pointless.

The only reason to involve Bai Jingxuan at this moment was that Lin Xiaolu felt it wasn't fair for her to be the only one shouting, so she dragged her companion down with her.

Bai Jingxuan was obedient, but not foolish. Lin Xiaolu's petty thought couldn't fool anyone. However, Bai Jingxuan was indeed very compliant.

"Oh... oh."

So she agreed quietly.

Though until now, she still had some resistance towards Mint, who was of Beast Child origin, after many days of cooperation, she slowly started to consider her a "companion." Hesitatingly, she finally spoke up:

"Mint—Mint—"

This was the first time in days that she earnestly used Mint's code name, instead of "you," "that person," or "that villain from Black Ash Dawn" as substitutes.

This kind of unprecedented event, if Mint were onsite, she might have shown herself immediately, ridiculing jubilantly, losing herself in delight, and celebrating.

Regrettably, at this moment, Mint evidently could not hear it.

She was even facing a crisis where she might "never hear it" again.

—"Is this really okay, still unwilling to be serious until now."

Arrowroot's voice came from above her head: "Or do you think just calling you 'sister' means I'm still cherishing old memories and won't really harm you?"

Mint lay on the ground, too weak to even lift her head.

Right now, she was too exhausted.

It was a kind of exhaustion coming from the soul, from the very essence.

Her magic power was drained by the opponent, and her Magic Body could not recover. She was like a sponge wrung dry, constantly sending out signals of "thirst".

And her Magic Armor—Fuhui, now also listlessly leaned beside her.

As a Beast Child, Mint's Magic Armor naturally took the form of an animal.

Fuhui's appearance looked like a small mouse.

Normally, Mint would disguise Fuhui in various forms to trick enemies, sometimes as a boot, sometimes as a handgun, or sometimes simply as a feather duster... but those were never Fuhui's true form. The real Fuhui was a mouse.

"Hey, Mint, if you have any trump cards left, now's the time to use them."

Arrowroot's voice was impatient: "You can't possibly only have this much ability, right? All the methods you've used are ones I've seen, but we haven't fought in almost a year. Have you been stagnating all year? Stop pretending!"

Mint still didn't respond.

No, to be precise, her mouth seemed to be mumbling something, but it was so faint it couldn't even be called a whisper, so Arrowroot could only hear some fragmented syllables.

"...What?" She reached out her toe, somewhat disdainfully kicked Mint's arm twice, but probably out of caution, quickly withdrew: "Magic Technique? At this time?"

And only much later did Mint muster enough breath to turn those syllables into a word that could be heard clearly.

—"Sorry."

A word almost soaked in sorrow, a mournful word.

At that moment, Arrowroot was stunned.

Then, the perpetual expression of arrogance and malice on her face gradually faded, visibly transforming into a look of disappointment mixed with emptiness.

"Pathetic, saying something like that at this point?"

Mint completely ignored her words.

"Hey, lift your head."

Arrowroot extended her foot, hooking Mint's chin, forcing Mint to meet her gaze: "Do you know what you just said? Are you surrendering? Or waiting to die?"

Mint just silently looked at her.