Of course, there had been incidents of monster outbreaks before. Xiaoxi could only hope this was another accident.
After all, if it was, the monsters weren’t that dangerous—just time-consuming to clean up.
Boom—
Just as Xiaoxi’s thoughts reached this point, she heard a furious roar and a massive surge of magical energy not far away… Damn it, she should have known not to jinx it!
When Xiaoxi arrived at the scene, she saw a giant, several-stories-tall monster that looked like an iron-blue tiger going berserk.
When it slapped the ground, the hurricane of wind it raised carried a stench she could smell from afar.
Muxingge had arrived before Xiaoxi, but rather than attacking, she was treating the wounded Magic Girls—at least two squads had already been hurt by the monster.
Judging from the magical signature, Xiaoxi guessed this thing was about A-rank. Muxingge could definitely handle it without her help, but… something felt off about its magical signature.
And for such a high-level monster to appear, why had the Monitoring Division not issued a warning until now?
She and Muxingge had only come because they’d sensed something wrong.
Xiaoxi quickly found out why. The iron-blue monster, upon seeing Muxingge, roared—and its massive form started shrinking, and within a few breaths, it had become a humanoid figure.
Both Xiaoxi and Muxingge instantly switched to battle mode—not only because of the enemy, but also because of the clothes that person was wearing!
Black with golden trim—a Divine Summon Order apostle’s robes! These bastards weren’t all wiped out after all!
Xiaoxi’s mind flashed to the Blood Moon Witch. The Divine Summon Order, absent for so long, suddenly strutting into Summersea City today…
Could it be related to the Blood Moon Witch’s recent escape attempt?
Before them stood a burly man, covered in thick hair, with a beard and hair connected, looking much like Wolverine.
The priestly robes, stretched by his muscles, now resembled a skintight suit, looking quite ridiculous.
Xiaoxi frowned… Who was this guy? None of the former Twelve Apostles of the Divine Summon Order could wear a robe like that.
But the man didn’t pay any attention to Xiaoxi. Instead, he stared at Muxingge, who had just finished healing the others, his eyes shining with excitement.
His voice boomed like a bell. “Found you! I thought I’d have to make a bigger ruckus to draw you out, Guardian. Didn’t expect you’d show up so quickly!”
“A Divine Summon Order apostle? I don’t remember anyone like you among the Twelve Apostles…”
Before Muxingge could finish, the man charged at her, grinning widely.
“People say S-Rank Magical Girls are strong. Finally, I get to test myself against one! Come on!”
The man’s attacks were unrefined, with no weapons—just punch after punch, pure brute force aimed at Muxingge.
Even though his magical level was only A-rank, his strength was overwhelming!
“Qinghu, don’t just focus on fighting. Don’t forget what we’re here for.”
Just as Xiaoxi was about to jump in to help, an ethereal voice came from the man’s direction, making him halt mid-punch.
“Ugh, so troublesome.”
Qinghu spat, then pulled a shattered mirror shard from his robe. The mirror reflected the image of another black-robed figure.
As Muxingge’s attack raced toward him, he didn’t move—instead, he pointed the mirror at the beam of light from her musical notes, and in the next moment, the beam vanished right into the mirror!
A flash of light flickered in the mirror, and the very air around them seemed to freeze for a moment. In the next instant, another apostle-robed figure appeared beside Qinghu.
Sensing something wrong, Xiaoxi frowned and glanced up at the sky. As always, blue sky and white clouds—but the sky looked unnaturally smooth, like a mirror.
No—that person hadn’t appeared out of thin air. For a moment, they had all been transported into a Mirror Realm! This practitioner of space magic was incredibly strong!
And more importantly, none of the former Twelve Apostles had ever shown this level of space magic. Which meant—this apostle was another newcomer!
……
Meanwhile, The Association’s command center was in total chaos.
Miss L’s face was growing uglier by the minute.
The radar-like screen was filling up with more and more red dots, showing that even more monsters were converging on Summersea City.
The signal from the Bailing Songstress Muxingge had just vanished.
Things were even more dire than last night—this was a blatant attack. An all-out assault on Summersea City!
Behind Miss L, the other department heads were all arguing loudly.
“What should we do? The number of monsters outside the Barrier keeps increasing. We have to send more Magic Girls!”
“But Black Rose is still locked up in The Association…”
Even though that woman insisted in the Interrogation Room that she knew nothing about what was happening, everyone agreed at least a squad should stay to guard against any surprises.
“Here’s what we’ll do. Pull back all Magic Girls below C-rank, and send the rest outside the Barrier to deal with the monsters.”
All eyes turned to the Medical Division head in the corner.
“From the current situation, the monsters are more troublesome than Black Rose, right? Even if we let Black Rose go, she can’t stir up any trouble. She’s lost everything.”
The Medical Division head shrugged. “It’s just a matter of putting the right people in the right place.”
Black Rose’s strength had always been tied to the number of tattoos on her body.
But not only had she expended most of them fighting Eternal Star last night, the Medical Division had removed the rest during the examination.
By all accounts, Black Rose should now be utterly powerless.
This reasonable analysis won everyone’s agreement, and after making the arrangements, Miss L left the command center.
Even though Muxingge and A Xing had now both mysteriously gone missing, she wasn’t worried about the two of them.
Frankly, she was more concerned about the person—or thing—that had made them disappear.
Just sitting in the command center doing nothing wasn’t going to help. Miss L decided to go meet that stubborn, tight-lipped troublemaker in the Interrogation Room herself.
The guards outside the Interrogation Room had been switched out for lower-ranked Magic Girls.
When Miss L saw Black Rose lounging inside, looking utterly at ease, her anger nearly boiled over.
She had expected this woman to cause trouble, but not to be so bold! This was basically a declaration of war against The Association!
“Didn’t you say you had a lot of information? Now you can talk.”
“Oh my, Director Lin is finally interested in the Blood Moon Witch?”
Miss L’s gaze was sharp. “I’m not interested in the Blood Moon Witch right now. Tell me about those monsters outside. Only the Divine Summon Order has the means to organize a monster attack of this scale.”
Miss L didn’t believe Black Rose really had information on the Blood Moon Witch. She’d said it earlier just to try to pique her curiosity and buy time.
“Sigh, I told you—I don’t know anything about what’s happening outside. Why won’t you believe me, Director Lin? Besides… how do you know the info I have on the Blood Moon Witch is fake? At least hear me out before you decide.”
A sly glint flashed in Black Rose’s eyes. “Ye Xinglan… Has Director Lin ever heard that name? The Blood Moon Witch’s disguise is really quite something. Looks like she’s enjoying her life as an ordinary person—kind of enviable, really.”
Miss L, who had been about to interrupt, froze in place.
“Shit…”
After a long moment, Miss L finally blurted out a curse. She wasn’t the type to swear, but this time, she just couldn’t help herself.
It really was her. It actually was her…
Miss L thought of all the emotional troubles A Xing had confided in her before. She’d only been half-joking then, but who would’ve thought she’d be right!
“Now do you believe me, Director Lin? I told you the info I had would interest you. But if you want to catch the Blood Moon Witch, you’d better hurry.”
“What do you mean?” Miss L felt a sense of dread.
“Well, Director Lin should know that information can always be sold to more than one party. Besides The Association, there are other groups interested in the Blood Moon Witch… like the Divine Summon Order.”
“I’m sure the Divine Summon Order can’t wait to reclaim their Holy Maiden. Maybe they’ve already sent someone after Ye Xinglan.”
“If you don’t move fast, Director Lin, someone else might get there first. Or maybe…” Black Rose’s smile turned mocking, “Maybe you just don’t have enough people left to arrest the Blood Moon Witch.”
At that moment, Miss L’s face was as dark as it had ever been.