At the same time Fang Wei was meeting with Xia Yuanhua, deep beneath a large restaurant in the New District of Nantong City.
This was the secret base of the rogue monsters who had broken away from the Kashu organization and dubbed themselves the Second Kashu Empire.
In this world, there always seemed to be quiet, desolate restaurants that stayed in business despite never having a single guest.
More often than not, these were fronts for nefarious underworld forces.
Beneath this particular restaurant was a massive high-density alloy box, hidden within the colossal body of a Level 5 Mirror Magical Beast.
It bore the grand name of the Second Kashu Empire Round Table Conference Hall.
The true purpose of this hall was to use the Level 5 Mirror Magical Beast’s Mirroring Ability to camouflage themselves whenever the Kashu organization performed a full-scale scan of Nantong City.
The reason was simple: this so-called Second Kashu Empire was incredibly weak.
After their leader, Lord Bloodline, led a group of monsters to become rogues, they had clashed with the Kashu organization in dozens of skirmishes.
Despite possessing a dormant Level 5 Mirror Magical Beast and another controllable Level 5 monster, this group of rogues had — quite unsurprisingly — failed to win a single fight!
However, at this very moment, within the Second Kashu Empire Round Table Conference Hall that no one could detect, a group of grotesquely misshapen monsters was holding a meeting.
The cause was the destruction of their research site for cultivating Mirror Familiars — the Abandoned Primary School — by an unknown party.
By the time the high-ranking monsters of the Second Kashu Empire received the news and rushed to the scene, they could only kneel on the ground and wail, crying out about how cruel the culprit was.
“This incident does not appear to be the work of a Magical Girl.”
Sitting at the head of the table, Lord Bloodline was kneeling like a general from the Japanese Warring States period.
He was encased in ornate, pitch-black samurai armor.
A high, hoe-shaped ornament stood atop his helmet.
Half of his face was composed of wood fibers, while the other half sprouted twisted horns, making him look almost entirely non-human.
The monsters sitting around the table looked completely out of place next to their leader, who strictly adhered to old-world aesthetics.
However, they had long since grown used to it; whenever they saw Lord Bloodline, he was always in the posture of a feudal general.
And just as he said, this destruction of their research site did not seem like something a Magical Girl would do.
There was no other reason than the fact that the scene was simply too bloody and brutal.
The Mirror Familiars had been gutted and their bodies left in pieces.
Even the Mirror Magical Beast they had painstakingly raised met a miserable end, having been violently torn in half.
Though the blue Magical Girl in Nantong City who struck terror into the hearts of monsters was also cruel, she usually chopped monsters into mincemeat.
At the very least, she didn’t perform such gruesome dismemberment.
Undoubtedly, this was retaliation from a peer.
It wasn’t strange.
Several monsters previously sent out by the Second Kashu Empire had also disappeared.
Whether they were sent to capture Magical Girls or secretly monitor Black Owl, they all ended up missing.
Following that logic, the destruction of the Mirror Familiar research site was very likely the work of someone from the Kashu organization.
After all, what else could it be? It wasn’t like an Evil Commander and a Magical Girl went on a date and decided to farm their lab for experience points, right?
One monster suddenly cracked that joke, and in the serious atmosphere, it immediately triggered a wave of laughter.
Only Lord Bloodline, kneeling there like a sculpture, remained motionless.
The destruction of the research site meant that the supply chain for the Level 5 Mirror Magical Beast’s nourishment had been severed.
They wouldn’t be able to continue feeding it in the short term, and before long, the Second Kashu Empire’s hideout would be exposed.
It wasn’t enough.
They were still one step short.
“Things have already come to this. The most important thing now is not to find the culprit. Regardless of whether the one who destroyed the lab was from Kashu or a Magical Girl, it is very disadvantageous for us.”
Lord Bloodline did not open his mouth; the voice emanated from the wall behind him.
The monsters who were just joking around immediately sat up straight.
“Then… then what do we do? Why don’t we just flee Nantong City for a while? There’s both the Kashu organization and Magical Girls here…”
“I have a great idea. Why don’t we just go back and join the Kashu organization!”
“But we’re the ones who deserted from there in the first place…”
The monsters argued back and forth, but they couldn’t come up with anything substantial.
They were originally battle-crazed lunatics who valued strength above all else.
How could they consider so many factors?
The fact that they had even come up with the plan to raise Mirror Familiars was already a miracle.
But whenever a group of men gathered, a “genius” idea was bound to emerge.
One particularly dim-witted monster raised a finger.
“Wait!”
“Since there are three factions in Nantong City, why don’t we disguise ourselves as Commanders from the Kashu organization and trick the Magical Girls and Kashu into fighting each other?”
“Let them fight while we benefit? Why didn’t I think of such an invincible plan!”
A monster covered in flames slapped the table.
“Hahaha! That plan sounds very feasible. Unless the Magical Girls are all Succubi who want to drain the Commanders dry, I can’t think of a reason it would fail!”
Another monster, covered in stitches like Frankenstein, chimed in.
“Indeed. I feel that if this plan succeeds, we can stall for a good while. Leader, what do you think?”
“…”
Lord Bloodline remained silent, his eyes still closed.
These monsters knew that if they wanted to achieve their great dream of defeating the Magical Girls, destroying the Kashu organization, and eventually ruling the world, the most important and critical step was to stall.
Just keep stalling!
That was the reason they had been able to clash with the Kashu organization for so long.
Building the research site and feeding the Mirror Magical Beast was for this purpose.
As long as they stalled until Lord Bloodline recovered his strength, taking over all of Nantong City wouldn’t be a problem.
Therefore, all of their plans revolved around this point.
However, they seemed to have overlooked something very important.
The entire plan was predicated on the condition that Lord Bloodline could recover and have the strength to fight Black Cross.
A monster specialized in intelligence looked around and realized that the turnout was exceptionally high today.
Normally, for round table meetings, the leader would only summon a few people.
Were they all gathered today just to discuss the research site?
The research site was important, but surely not enough to call over those muscle-brained battle maniacs too.
Wait…
Sensing something, the monster was about to speak.
But the sound of an alarm ringing through the conference hall was faster than his voice.
Warning lights flashed on everyone’s faces, bathing the monsters in a blood-red glow.
By the time they recovered from the shock, a heavy, searing heat — like hellish magma — began to spread.
The monsters were all battle-hardened and reacted instantly.
They were under attack!
But the Mirror Magical Beast shouldn’t have dropped its camouflage yet.
How did someone find them?!
“Leader! We need to retreat! The evil Magical Girls are going to wipe us out!”
“Dammit! How are the Magical Girls getting more and more brutal?!”
“Run! Run… Ah! My legs! My legs are melting…”
Amidst the chaotic screams, the air distorted from the high temperature.
The intelligence-type monster was the first to melt into liquid, followed by the brawler-types.
Only a few elite Commanders could still maintain their forms.
No one could understand it.
This high-density alloy box buried underground was protected by a Level 5 Mirror Magical Beast.
Even if it was discovered, it shouldn’t have been breached so quickly.
But they couldn’t think any further.
The desperate heat roasted the outside of the iron box, causing the entire structure to warp and deform.
Even the high-density metal they were so proud of began to crack.
The entire meeting had turned into an execution ground by fire to punish their evil deeds.
Meanwhile, the samurai armor sitting in the leader’s seat remained calm and composed from start to finish.
It wasn’t until almost all the subordinates had been burned to death, with only a few elite Commanders remaining, that the survivors realized something.
The monsters who died didn’t simply vanish; their melting bodies were being converted into magic power and absorbed by the Mirror Magical Beast.
“L-Leader… was this also part of your plan…?”
A monster whose skin had been burned away, leaving only raw flesh, asked Lord Bloodline with a tremble.
The ancient-looking samurai armor finally moved, its head swaying mechanically.
“With the research site destroyed, it was only a matter of time before our movements were exposed… This was a necessary sacrifice. Your contributions will be remembered by the organization.”
*Clang — *
The door, which had long since been roasted as thin as paper, fell off its hinges.
Amidst the gale howling into the room, a white-haired figure stood at the entrance wearing a black leisure tracksuit with a trendy logo.
The guy casually picked his ear and blew on his finger.
“What’s this? I thought you were all burned to death.”
“B-Black Cross…”
The elite Commanders, who had already lost half their bodies to the heat, were too terrified to even breathe.
Si Chen couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to these NPCs; he was here to fight the boss.
While it was a bit impolite to fire off big moves before even entering the fog gate, the boss went behind his back with some petty tricks, which was quite annoying.
‘Blame me for a sneak attack? You’re the one who started it.’
“Sir Black Cross, your Black Flame has grown weak,” Lord Bloodline said unhurriedly.
“I was afraid I’d burn you to death and lose out on the loot.”
“Haha, you’re quite the joker.”
Out of the forty-six monsters of the Second Kashu Empire, only three survived the fire just now.
These three elite Commanders possessed magic power comparable to Level 4.
If Si Chen had gone all out and burned every monster present, that massive amount of magic power would have been enough to wake the Level 5 Mirror Magical Beast instantly.
If that happened, wouldn’t it be exactly what Lord Bloodline wanted?
Waking up the Mirror Magical Beast to stall for time so Lord Bloodline could take the opportunity to escape and find a chance to recover his strength later?
Si Chen wasn’t that stupid.
So, his previous control over the flames was entirely a display of skill.
Lord Bloodline nodded slightly.
“Impressive. Unfortunately, you made one small miscalculation. Even if the magic power of those monsters isn’t enough to wake the Mirror Magical Beast, they can still serve as a side dish for its breakfast. What wakes one Level 5 monster can also be another one.”
“Huh?”
Si Chen tilted his head.
In the next instant, the samurai armor that could only move mechanically seemed to have its life force drained away.
The Lord Bloodline that had filled the majestic suit vanished.
The armor lost its support and fell to the ground in a heap.
From a small hole revealed behind it, a mass of flesh was retracted.
Immediately following that was a thunderous, draconic roar.
Above ground in the New District of Nantong City, the fire that had shot into the sky just moments ago was terrifying enough.
However, from within the black flames, a giant dragon covered in grotesque tentacles spread its wings and roared at the heavens.
Sounding alongside the raspy dragon’s roar was another sharp, distorted scream.
The cries of two Level 5 monsters harmonized in the night like a duet, dispersing the clouds across the sky.
Under the moonlight, the dragon’s hideous pupils turned toward the night sky.
“This guy… he merged with a magical beast long ago?”
Si Chen, who had been launched into the air, stepped onto a piece of concrete. He glanced at the awakened Mirror Magical Beast deep in the crater before turning his gaze toward the Flesh Dragon.
This was why he hadn’t invited Fang Wei on this mission.
Seriously, even though he had bought many “Dragon Rider Lord Black Owl” figurines from the “I Want Lord Black Owl to Hypnotize Me into a Fanboy” group, it didn’t mean he should actually make Old Wei slay a dragon.
‘I’ll leave the Mirror Magical Beast to Old Wei and those Magical Girls then.’
With that thought, Si Chen reached for his chest.
Accompanied by a piercing pain in his heart, a pitch-black Soul Gem was forcibly pulled out.
Within the gem, a crimson heart beat rhythmically.
Vermillion lips kissed the gem, and by extension, that beating heart.
Her eyes were dyed with a hint of scarlet, and her white hair turned into falling black silk.
Her skirt bloomed like a Manjusaka flower before shedding its brilliance and turning pitch black.
The Magical Girl vanished into the high heavens.
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