Chapter 741 - 279: Assassination_4

"The second question."

She spoke again, her voice ominously chilling:

—"I, no, we with the Residual Beast Magic in our Heart's Gem. Who exactly, or rather, when did you put them inside?"

Had this question been asked outside this crevice of time, the information implied within the words would likely have thrown any Magical Girl into chaos.

However, the two present clearly both knew this truth.

The evidence is that, upon hearing this question, the Queen not only showed no surprise but smiled instead.

"What do you think?"

No denial, no argument, no disguise.

The world would never know, the world would never understand.

The "Claw Mark" organization, called "traitors," called "fallen," though it later became a cradle for villains, a sanctuary of sin, was pursued and joined by all magical girls who defected from the Kingdom—but at its inception, this organization was merely an escape.

The initial group of magical girls who established Claw Mark had only one wish—to survive.

They did not willingly come into contact with the Residual Beast Magic, nor did they willingly stray from the path of Magical Girls, just like the Black Cat standing here right now. If they had the choice, they wouldn't have wanted to associate with creatures like Remnant Beasts or side with villain organizations like Black Ash Dawn.

They were not after the power of the Remnant Beasts; rather, it was quite the opposite.

They had no choice but to touch this forbidden magic to "detoxify."

They aimed to dispel the poison known as "Residual Beast Magic" that had been injected into their Heart's Gems.

No one knew when this toxic magic crept into their Heart's Gems, only that twenty years ago, shortly after the war ended, these magical girls were taken away by the Royal Court for investigation under the pretext of "treason," where the Residual Beast Magic was found in their Heart's Gems.

Many of the Magic Kingdom's laws left people scratching their heads, and some sentences seemed utterly absurd. Yet, when it came to dealing with traitors, there was a clear and calm disposition:

Reclaim powers, even strip away lives.

At that time, the Magic Kingdom had just emerged from the war's scars, countless magical girls had lost family and comrades in this war, and everyone's hatred for the enemy and the interworld was indelible.

Thus, these magical girls, who were themselves utterly perplexed and inexplicably declared as "traitors," naturally received the death sentence.

Without mercy, the countless "traitors" were thrown into prison, executed batch by batch.

Among these "traitors" was a Magical Girl named Mo He, who had lost a hand.

She had been hailed a war hero, recognized as a meritorious official; she lost family and a hand in the defense of Luennolay. Undoubtedly, her loyalty to the Kingdom was visible to all.

Yet, even someone like her was accused, taken for investigation, and subsequently found with the Residual Beast Magic in her Heart's Gem.

Until she learned of this result, Mo He had never doubted the Magic Kingdom, pondering instead if she had done something wrong.

For she knew, she secretly adopted a Fairy from the interworld tainted with Residual Beast Magic.

Was it because she lost a hand in the war that the Beast Magic seeped through her wound?

Was adopting this Fairy the reason her Heart's Gem was polluted?

If these were the reasons, could the Kingdom possibly accept her explanation?

With these questions in mind, Mo He communicated with other magical girls who had also been imprisoned, but to her astonishment, the number of magical girls declared as "traitors" far exceeded her imagination. Most of them had neither harbored the enemy like Mo He nor intentionally maimed themselves.

The only common factor was that they had participated in the war between the two worlds and had been harmed in essence during the war.

Everyone was filled with questions, confused, feeling wronged. But no one would listen to their explanations.

In prison, Mo He watched as one by one, her innocent comrades were taken away to be executed, their lives stolen, while she weakly observed it all. Until a moment came when her heart finally began to scream, to roar, to say loudly that this was wrong.

She did not want to die, and neither did her comrades—there must be some misunderstanding.

Thus, in a prison almost soaked in despair and sorrow, the Magical Girl named Mo He stood up.

"Let's break out together."

This was her initial invitation to her companions in prison.

And this, the truth experienced by the Magical Girl named Mo He and the organization called Claw Mark.

Magical girls bound by unjust accusations refused to accept the judgment as traitors; they wanted to clear their identity, to prove their innocence, so they chose to cooperate, to escape.

Mo He, as the initiator of the jailbreak and a comrade of the hero "Cornflower," was trusted by those magical girls. They also elected her as their leader.