Chapter 99: Eastern Extreme City is also having problems
“The two of you look a bit unfamiliar, and the aura of this little sister… oh, you must be here to find Hikaru!” Akabane Enji’s gaze fell on Luo Shuangyue, and a few seconds later, she revealed a moment of realization.
The magical power around her was stirred up, showing signs of being uncontrollable. It was quite normal to seek the Soul Guide in such a situation.
Unfortunately, the Soul Guide does not like to meet strangers. Even if a junior approaches her for help, it depends on her mood; if she’s in a good mood, she might help with a treatment, but if she’s not, she’ll give them the cold shoulder.
“Guests are always welcome; why not come with me to the Magic Department here in Eastern Extreme City for a moment?” Akabane Enji extended an invitation.
Of course, Luo Shuangyue and Xia Mo would not accept this invitation. They had come to find the Soul Guide, and how could they be diverted by Akabane Enji, who had a poor relationship with the Soul Guide?
Even if they were to visit the Magic Department, they had to wait until Luo Shuangyue’s condition was better.
“What a pity.” Akabane Enji sighed in disappointment at being refused. “Then you can continue waiting; I’ll head back first.”
After saying that, she waved her hand at Luo Shuangyue and Xia Mo, pushing off the ground and turning into a large fireball soaring into the sky.
She didn’t even bother to pretend…
“This girl… I’m sorry, ladies, for the embarrassment. Please come in and rest for a moment.” Seeing Akabane Enji swagger away, Izumi huffed lightly in dissatisfaction.
However, considering the two well-mannered guests still standing at the entrance, her mood brightened considerably.
Compared to that Akabane Enji, these two guests were nothing short of stunning beauties, and it was quite rude to keep them waiting outside, so it was better to invite them in for a proper reception.
After being invited into the shrine, Luo Shuangyue looked around curiously; it was her first time visiting such a place.
What’s this? And what’s that? What’s that over there? She was in a state of excited exploration the whole time.
Xia Mo, however, was less excitable. She observed the scenery in the shrine like an ordinary girl and covered her mouth to exclaim softly.
Inside the shrine, there were also several girls dressed in miko attire similar to Izumi’s, but their outfits seemed to be of slightly inferior quality, perhaps indicating that their status was not as high as Izumi’s.
As they moved further into the shrine, Izumi introduced the general information about the shrine to Luo Shuangyue and Xia Mo.
This place is called the Purification Palace, and the first generation palace master is the Soul Guide: Kanrushi Hikaru, whom Luo Shuangyue mentioned.
In Eastern Extreme City, the Purification Palace is considered a cooperative organization of the Magic Department, often helping with tricky problems. Due to the Soul Guide’s habits, she adopts children who have lost their families in magical beast disasters, resulting in quite a few magical girls appearing here.
After all, more than half of the girls who become magical girls fall into this category.
Akabane Enji, on the other hand, was once a little girl adopted by the Soul Guide and was even the oldest sister in the entire shrine.
However, one day, after gaining the powers of a magical girl, Akabane Enji chose to leave the Purification Palace and join the Magic Department, which left Izumi, who always saw Akabane Enji as a role model, quite disappointed, secretly considering her a traitor.
In her view, Akabane Enji left the Purification Palace for the benefits of the Magic Department!
“But my master says everyone has their own aspirations, and Akabane Enji did nothing wrong. If you ask me, it’s my master who is too kind.” While pouring tea for Luo Shuangyue and Xia Mo, Izumi complained softly.
She felt that she was the only one still bothered by Akabane Enji’s departure, which made her feel uneasy.
“The material conditions over in the Magic Department are indeed a bit better, but the workload is also quite heavy. It’s a case of you get what you pay for,” Luo Shuangyue said, scratching her head, trying to be fair.
Isn’t it always the Magic Department that is the first to step up to handle magical beast disasters? It wouldn’t be a problem for the magical girls in the Magic Department to enjoy better treatment, right?
Meanwhile, it didn’t look like the Purification Palace would actively handle magical beast disasters. If Akabane Enji was a warm-hearted girl who couldn’t sit still, it was understandable that she would run to the Magic Department to fight monsters.
“Then she’s a traitor too,” Izumi muttered softly, but she soon realized that this was quite disrespectful, and quickly patted her face to regain her composure.
Temporarily shaking off her dark emotions, Izumi resumed her previous gentle demeanor, providing thoughtful hospitality to her guests.
However, as the sun passed its zenith, the Soul Guide still hadn’t returned.
“Strange, Master shouldn’t take this long to come back…” Even Izumi felt a bit puzzled as to why this time it was taking so long for the master to return.
Could it be that she encountered some tricky problems?
The light outside dimmed slightly. Luo Shuangyue turned her head to look out the window, only to see that the sunlight seemed to have been filtered, becoming duller.
…The sun dimmed?!
What could possibly influence the sun and make it darker?
Something was off, significantly off!
“Rosemary, prepare for battle!” Luo Shuangyue slammed her hand on the table and reached into the air, grabbing the butterfly hairpin.
However, she didn’t notice that the hairpin, which previously had a somewhat rounded edge, had sprouted several sharp thorns. Upon gripping it, she winced in pain, taking a sharp breath.
Looking at her open hand, great, a magical girl who could be injured by her transformation device; she must be the first one.
“Eh? Battle?” Xia Mo was still quite confused but her body had already reacted before her mind.
As purple light flashed, she entered her transformation state, with the four floating cannons behind her transforming into shields to surround her, preventing any sneak attacks from enemies.
The slowest reaction was Izumi. She obviously belonged to the category of magical girls who hadn’t experienced many actual combat situations, and her reaction speed lagged far behind Xia Mo and Luo Shuangyue.
Well, after all, she was just a budding magical girl, and such a performance was understandable.
Entering her transformation state while pinning the hairpin in her hair, Luo Shuangyue cautiously peeked her head out of the room for a look.
Then she turned to Izumi in the room with an odd expression, “Um, are your special magical beasts spirits of vengeance?”
Outside, a translucent magical beast surrounded by black currents was wandering about, and the dim light Luo Shuangyue noticed was indeed its doing.
However, this beast didn’t emit the typical aura of magical beasts, which was quite strange, as this was the first time Luo Shuangyue had encountered such a situation.
Izumi also leaned out to look outside, and upon seeing the beast, she displayed a look of disbelief: “How is this possible? Magical beasts in this form shouldn’t exist!”
The vengeful spirits that usually appeared in the Purification Palace were clusters of black mist, and it was impossible to discern what they looked like in life.
But the magical beast that appeared in the Purification Palace now had a clear form, distinctly different from those other beasts.
Yet it was strange that this magical beast didn’t seem to have any desire to attack; it had been meandering in place, showing no reaction even when the three magical girls approached it.
A large black scythe sliced through its body, disturbing the magical energy that made up its form, but it didn’t react beyond that.
This situation could only be described as bizarre.
“How do you generally handle magical beast spirits? Give it a try?” Luo Shuangyue looked at Izumi.
This mystical, esoteric matter was not her expertise; they had to let this girl from the Purification Palace handle it. After learning from the Soul Guide for so many years, she should have some skills, right?
Izumi, holding a slightly thinner wand that looked like a wooden stick with a piece of paper attached, looked at the strange magical beast in the yard with a serious expression.
“I’ll do my best to try.” She lifted the wand with both hands and cast a beam of pure white light at the soul-like magical beast.
“Spirit Elimination Strike!”
So this is how your exorcism works? Luo Shuangyue almost blurted this out upon witnessing the scene.
She had expected to see some ancient, complex ritual or incomprehensible dance that would eventually send the magical beast to its demise after the whole performance.
But who could have guessed that the magical girls in Eastern Extreme City didn’t bother with all that fancy stuff and instead decided to hit the magical beast with a magic cannon right away.
But surprisingly, it actually worked.
“It worked!” Xia Mo’s eyes lit up.
The magical beast, which had completely ignored Luo Shuangyue’s attack, reacted as Izumi’s attack hit it, rapidly melting away like ice meeting boiling water.
Izumi quickly followed up with two more attacks, completely resolving this magical beast.
However, while the magical beast was resolved, the black mist lingering in the yard did not dissipate; instead, it formed into small whirlpools, slowly recombining.
It wouldn’t be long before a new magical beast similar to the previous one would appear here.
“Is there no way to eliminate it completely…” Luo Shuangyue watched the black mist, her brows slightly furrowing.
“Generally, as long as the magical beast’s spirit is cleared, the magical energy nearby will disperse by itself due to the lack of a leader. Why is this time different?” Izumi was also uncertain, tentatively using the beam that had just purified the magical beast to attack the small magical energy whirlpools, but it had little effect.
A small black butterfly flew from Luo Shuangyue’s fingertips, devouring a small portion of the magical energy before returning to her.
After tasting the magical energy, Luo Shuangyue could only describe it as ordinary.
These magical energies were the most basic ones; they didn’t even have a master. Otherwise, they would surely have some aura clinging to them, and she could discern those distinct flavors.
“These are masterless magical powers; this situation is truly strange…” Luo Shuangyue scratched her head. Encountering such bizarre occurrences in the unfamiliar Eastern Extreme City had left her utterly clueless.
At this moment, Xia Mo had already taken out her phone and started looking at it. After Luo Shuangyue finished speaking, she immediately followed up, “Not just the Purification Palace, but other places in Eastern Extreme City are also facing this situation.”
The internal forum of the Magic Department in Eastern Extreme City was already in an uproar, as there were simply too many locations experiencing these bizarre phenomena, making the Magic Department feel a little overwhelmed.
“Currently, there are more than ten known abnormal locations, and this number keeps increasing with time!”
“So has the Magic Department released a conclusion? What’s going on here?”
“No, this abnormal situation just appeared recently… Akabane Enji’s visit to the Soul Guide may be because of this incident!” Xia Mo felt like everything suddenly made sense. Why did Akabane Enji come to the Purification Palace? It must be because she discovered these soul-like magical beasts and wanted the Soul Guide to take a look.
But with the Soul Guide absent and Izumi’s abilities significantly falling short of the Soul Guide’s, relying on Izumi was less reliable than if Akabane Enji had thought for herself.
So now the question is, where did the Soul Guide go?
…
“Apart from causing a certain degree of panic, the bizarre phenomena scattered throughout Eastern Extreme City have not caused any significant harm.” Lin Xixuan moved a stack of documents in front of Akabane Enji, looking troubled as she asked, “What do you think is going on?”
Akabane Enji lowered her head to read the documents. “I’m not sure. I just went to find Hikaru, but she’s not at the Purification Palace. For now, we have to rely on ourselves.”
In the current situation, if there was only one person in Eastern Extreme City who knew the truth, that person would be Kanrushi Hikaru.
But since she left the Purification Palace late last night, Kanrushi Hikaru’s whereabouts have been unknown; her current location was a mystery.
It has been nearly twelve hours since the night, a long enough time for a Blooming Level Magical Girl to circle the entire world. Trying to guess Kanrushi Hikaru’s current location would be better than Akabane Enji thinking it through herself.
After all, she was also considered Kanrushi Hikaru’s direct disciple. Although she had left her master and transferred to the Magic Department, she hadn’t forgotten those skills.
“With such a large number of magical beast spirits, there must be a powerful entity behind it. We need to find it and resolve it!” Akabane Enji looked up at a whiteboard filled with faces, her eyes glimmering with thought.
“I suspect that the Royal-class magical beast was planning this very thing before it died; even though it has passed away, its loyal followers are still steadily advancing its plan.”
“Hikaru may have been lured away by those people.”
To arrange for a Blooming Level Magical Girl to be lured away? Lin Xixuan’s pupils contracted; how much power would that take?
Could an organization without a leader really manage such a feat?
If that Royal-class magical beast were still alive, she would think it was possible, but now that the Royal-class magical beast was dead!
The strongest combat force in all of Eastern Extreme City now is the Soul Guide. Who could have made her disappear for a full twelve hours?!
“Anyway, this situation shouldn’t be taken lightly. My suggestion is to immediately assemble all the magical girls in Eastern Extreme City and enter a first-level combat readiness state!” Akabane Enji stated decisively, “Prepare for the worst; the enemy we are dealing with could be tougher than that Royal-class magical beast!”
…
“Halt! Otherwise, don’t blame me for being merciless!”
While all the magical girls in Eastern Extreme City were troubled by the bizarre phenomena appearing in the city, Xie Jingci had no time to care about those things.
She was still busy catching criminals and had no leisure to pay attention to other matters.
After receiving the image provided by Luo Shuangyue, she had painstakingly tracked down the whereabouts of the strange girl and discovered that her trajectory seemed to lead to a high-tech company.
Could she be planning to kill people to keep them quiet? Xie Jingci hurriedly took her team to capture her.
Was this operation a success? You could say it was somewhat successful; she managed to arrive at the scene just in time to save the target before the girl could kill them.
But she never expected the person she was chasing wasn’t even human. From dozens of floors up, the strange girl jumped without a moment’s hesitation.
After jumping, this girl used her powerful physical strength to withstand the impact of the fall without any effort to mitigate it and immediately dashed into the crowded area, attempting to escape Xie Jingci’s pursuit.
But Xie Jingci wouldn’t let her escape that easily; after all, she had an elite team from the Magic Department backing her.
After a bout of chase, Xie Jingci finally caught up with the strange girl in a narrow alley.
Along with her warning, a weapon akin to a mirror in her hand shot out a colorful beam toward the girl.
Xie Jingci thought this girl would obediently surrender, so she launched her attack without hesitation.
Just knock her down!
But the girl, of course, would not give in easily. A mass of black tentacles surged out from beneath her black clothing, lunging at Xie Jingci, making her eyes widen in surprise.
“Indeed, remnants of that organization! I won’t let you escape today!”
…
“The Eastern Extreme City Magic Department has issued a summon order; I need to go help over there.” Xia Mo glanced at her phone and said to Luo Shuangyue and Izumi.
The issue of issuing a summon order indicated that the situation had become grim. The Eastern Extreme City Magic Department believed it was no longer feasible to solely rely on their own strength to resolve the current crisis, so they required assistance from other magical girls in the city.
And at this moment, Xia Mo, being a part of the Magic Department, had to do her part; it was her duty.
“What about you two?”
Izumi shook her head first. She had to guard the Purification Palace and couldn’t randomly leave.
Moreover, due to her relationship with Akabane Enji, she had never liked the Magic Department, so don’t expect her to help out there.
As for Luo Shuangyue, her thought was quite simple. Being alone in the unfamiliar Eastern Extreme City wasn’t as safe as being with someone else. Of course, she had to stay close to Xia Mo.
“I’ll accompany you.”
“Okay!” Xia Mo nodded in satisfaction. “Then Miss Izumi, we’ll take our leave now.”
After bidding farewell to Izumi, Xia Mo took Luo Shuangyue and flew directly towards the location of the Magic Department in Eastern Extreme City.
Perhaps to show the neutrality of the Magic Department, the Eastern Extreme City Magic Department was located at the junction of three districts and was physically much larger than the Magic Department in Xinghai City.
Upon reaching the Magic Department in Eastern Extreme City, Xia Mo met Akabane Enji, whom she had encountered not long ago at the Purification Palace, along with a stranger girl who seemed somewhat older and more mature in her attire.
“Lin Xixuan, consider her my deputy.” The girl introduced herself. “Thank you both for coming to help us; we are indeed short-handed over here.”
The number of areas with bizarre phenomena was increasing, and the total number of magical girls in Eastern Extreme City was limited, so there were very few magical girls available to send out to monitor those locations.
The current situation was that every magical girl in Eastern Extreme City had to wear multiple hats just to barely cope with the current circumstances.
At this moment, the arrival of Xia Mo and Luo Shuangyue, both Initial Bloom Level Magical Girls, was like a shot of vitality to the Eastern Extreme City Magic Department, and Lin Xixuan couldn’t express how grateful she was.
Indeed, fellow magical girls coming through in times of need were too timely!
“We just encountered such a magical beast at the Purification Palace; their appearance is very strange. Do you have any leads?” Since Lin Xixuan was facing fellow members from the Magic Department, the task of communicating naturally fell on Xia Mo.
As for Luo Shuangyue, she was just a background character without much emotion.
“You handled the magical beast?” Seeing the words “Purification Palace,” Akabane Enji lifted her head and asked.
“Miss Izumi purified the magical beast, but after it disappeared, the magical energy still remained, and new magical beasts will soon spawn again.” Xia Mo nodded while shaking her head, unsure if that could be considered a resolution.
“Is Izumi unable to purify it completely…” Akabane Enji’s expression held disappointment, but it didn’t surprise her too much, as Izumi’s purification abilities were not as impressive as hers.
And even she couldn’t solve the current issues.
“Regardless, please patrol these several areas for now. If there are any abnormal movements from the magical beasts, inform us immediately!”
“Alright, we’ll head over now.” Xia Mo nodded and was about to take Luo Shuangyue away when she noticed Luo Shuangyue staring intently down the corridor.
Following Luo Shuangyue’s gaze, she saw a magical girl carrying a very badly beaten girl into a room marked “Interrogation Room.”
That severely beaten girl looked somewhat familiar.
“Both of them look a bit familiar.” Xia Mo recognized one, while Luo Shuangyue recognized two.
Not only that, but she also felt a very familiar scent vaguely drifting from the defeated girl, something reminiscent of the fourth magical beast.
“Is Jing back? It seems she’s got some information.” Akabane Enji also turned her gaze towards that direction and suddenly stood up like a gust of wind, heading towards the interrogation room.
Yesterday, Xie Jingci had reported the investigation results to her, and today she had captured someone; of course, Akabane Enji could guess who the person Xie Jingci brought back was.
It had to be the one who severed every clue before the Magic Department could intervene, that is, one of the royal-class magical beast’s henchmen!
“This is…” Luo Shuangyue looked curious.
This seemed like a tasty piece of gossip; having seen it, how could she not indulge?
“You two must have heard about that recent uproar, right? We’ve been tracking down the remnants of that royal-class magical beast, and the one who just got captured is one of them.” Lin Xixuan didn’t hide it, as there was nothing to conceal here.
“And quite possibly a key aide of that royal-class magical beast!”
A key aide of a royal-class magical beast?
To be honest, Luo Shuangyue was a bit skeptical. Shouldn’t the key aides have escaped with the royal-class magical beast? How could one still be left in Eastern Extreme City?
Wouldn’t that be like sending oneself to the slaughter?
Moreover, the four transformed magical beasts surrounding the royal-class magical beast all matched, but what was this one called? Magical Beast Five?
It had made the fifth in line and was even captured by an Initial Bloom Level Magical Girl, yet still could be called a key aide? It really didn’t seem likely.
“We’ve previously encountered the royal-class magical beast’s underlings in Xinghai City; their strength is extremely formidable, but that girl doesn’t appear to be that strong.” Luo Shuangyue delicately reminded them.
The person you captured here seems too weak; she doesn’t give off the vibe of someone particularly important.
Lin Xixuan smiled, “You’re probably referring to those guards of Magical Beast One. The royal-class magical beast’s organization doesn’t only consist of combat personnel; of course, there are those specialized in handling other matters as well.”
This world isn’t just about raw strength; the ability to manage other matters doesn’t enhance simultaneously. You see, the magical girls are strong in combat, but the Magic Department still has a large number of ordinary people providing logistical support for them.
Those evil organizations also have many ordinary think-tank personnel; they are the brains, not the ones who directly engage in battle.
“If you’re interested, you can go in and take a look. Since you’ve faced the royal-class magical beasts, you might have some clues we’re not aware of.”
With Lin Xixuan’s permission, Luo Shuangyue exchanged a glance with Xia Mo, feeling that it was worth their while, and followed Lin Xixuan into the interrogation room.
At this point, Akabane Enji and Xie Jingci had already tied the captured girl to a metallic bed, secured with various metal straps, providing absolutely no chance to escape.
As for the clothing on the girl, it had been ruthlessly stripped away and discarded beside her. The magical girls were never lenient towards those who had betrayed humanity.
“Aside from some loose change and weapons, she only has a phone, but strangely enough, the phone is out of battery and pretty old-fashioned…” Xie Jingci didn’t show much change in expression when she saw Xia Mo and Luo Shuangyue walk in because she didn’t recognize Luo Shuangyue as the girl she saw yesterday, Butterfly.
She thought they were just other magical girls who had shown up to help in response to the call.
“Let’s charge it and see if it powers on.” Akabane Enji immediately suggested.
“We tried; it’s completely blank—looks like it has never been used since it was bought.”
As the two were mumbling about what tactics could be employed to pry information from a deathly loyal girl working for an organization led by a deceased leader, Luo Shuangyue had already strolled over to the girl’s side.
She examined the girl, who was tightly bound; her body was pale, lifeless, covered in numerous wounds dripping with black blood—evidence of a recent battle.
While she was observing the girl, the girl’s pitch-black eyes remained firmly locked onto her.
Those indifferently calm eyes seemed to harbor some emotion, as if they were finally seeing their master, exuding something akin to loyalty.
“What’s her name?” Luo Shuangyue turned to ask the others.
There was, of course, no answer to this question.
The girl had no means of identification on her, nor had she ever left any records in Eastern Extreme City.
“What’s your name?” Seeing that she couldn’t get an answer from anyone else, Luo Shuangyue turned her head towards the girl and asked, albeit without much hope.
She thought that someone who looked obviously like a death soldier wouldn’t answer her questions at all; their thinking had already twisted to an extreme, and no amount of harsh interrogation would force them to speak.
“Mo Ling.”
You see, it wouldn’t answer… Wait, what did she say?
Luo Shuangyue froze for a moment, momentarily unable to comprehend.
“What did she just say?” She turned to the others, who were equally confused.
Xia Mo slowly raised her right hand and replied uncertainly, “It seems she said her name is Mo Ling?”
Wasn’t she supposed to be a die-hard loyalty? Wasn’t she supposed to remain silent even at death? Come on, be a little tougher! Luo Shuangyue was dumbfounded; she never expected her single question would yield any results at all.
“Quick, tell us what you’re plotting!” Xie Jingci rushed in and pressed the girl for answers.
However, her questions sank without a trace, resulting in no response whatsoever.
Mo Ling’s eyes remained fixated on Luo Shuangyue, not budging an inch.
“Is it that she isn’t weak, but Butterfly possesses some unique quality that compels others to speak the truth?” Akabane Enji murmured softly and then called out to Luo Shuangyue, “Butterfly, ask her what conspiracy she’s part of!”
Luo Shuangyue scratched her head. This was truly a confusing situation.
Why did this Mo Ling only respond to her questions?
Whatever, let’s set those observations aside for now and get to the questions that need asking.
“What conspiracy are you plotting?!”
“I don’t know; my mission is to eliminate any obstacles that might disrupt the plan, and those people have become obstacles, so I received orders to kill them.” Mo Ling replied in a flat monotone.
So she is just an assassin? Who is she working for?
“Who gave you the orders?” This time, without needing Akabane Enji to prompt her, Luo Shuangyue intuitively knew what to ask.
“I don’t know her name; I only know she is the most trusted person of my master. Even though my master has left, she is still pushing the plan as instructed by my master.”
So it’s a single line of communication? Luo Shuangyue felt a bit of a headache; capturing this girl seemed no different than not capturing her.
“Is the current abnormality in the city part of your plan?”
“I don’t know.”
“You killed all those people… Are they related to this plan in any way? Were they providing assistance?”
“I don’t know. I only received the order to eliminate them.”
“How did you receive those orders?”
“Through a phone; after completing a mission, she would call me and tell me who the next target is.”
Having exhausted her list of questions in one go, Luo Shuangyue cast a glance at the others, silently conveying that she had done her best.
All the pertinent questions had been asked, and now it was up to them to figure out how to interpret the answers.
Oh wait, Luo Shuangyue suddenly remembered there was still one question she hadn’t asked.
“Why do you only answer my questions and not theirs?”
The question made the girl tilt her head, as if she found this to be an odd inquiry.
“Because you are my master, the one who grants me everything.”
