You are looking at the HTML representation of the XML format.
HTML is good for debugging, but is unsuitable for application use.
Specify the format parameter to change the output format.
To see the non HTML representation of the XML format, set format=xml.
See the complete documentation, or API help for more information. 
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<api>
  <query-continue>
    <alllinks galcontinue="Cotelle|20" />
  </query-continue>
  <query>
    <pages>
      <page pageid="15" ns="0" title="Core" />
      <page pageid="14" ns="0" title="December 29, 1997" />
      <page pageid="80" ns="0" title="Main Page" />
      <page pageid="20" ns="0" title="Mana" />
      <page pageid="5" ns="0" title="Miscellaneous Sandbox Testing" />
      <page pageid="13" ns="0" title="Since 1997" />
      <page pageid="16" ns="0" title="Species of Peremene" />
      <page pageid="17" ns="0" title="Status Effects" />
      <page pageid="6" ns="10" title="Template:Starting Outfit" />
    </pages>
  </query>
</api>