novelraw Chapter 118: Ziyuan Breathing Fog
Chapter 118: Ziyuan Breathing Fog
Hyacinth was the first Magical Girl of the Beihai Disaster Control Bureau.
When she joined the Beihai Disaster Control Bureau, there were no other Magical Girls in the bureau.
She fought alone, dealt with citizens alone, and even attended press conferences alone to respond to journalists and public doubts.
Almost all the work was done by her alone.
Actually, she didn't need to work that hard, because the Disaster Control Bureau itself could handle some tasks.
It was Magical Girl Hyacinth's own request; she wanted to take on all the work herself.
She loved everyone's smiles, loved everyone's gratitude, and also loved everyone's trust and admiration.
For Hyacinth, being a Magical Girl wasn't hard work at all. Fighting, or responding to the support of citizens, were inherently happy and joyful things.
For a long time, she was the only Magical Girl in the Disaster Control Bureau.
Saving others, defeating Disaster Beasts, enjoying cheers and respect, all the affection and gratitude were hers alone.Back then, the entire Disaster Control Bureau revolved around her. No matter where she went, someone would ask about her.
What does Miss Hyacinth want to do? What does Little Hyacinth want? Is Little Hyacinth free today...
She wasn't actually a vain person.
It was just that, for a very long time, she enjoyed excessive admiration and affection, which led to her losing herself a little.
She mistakenly thought that all of this should belong to her.
Until the second Magical Girl appeared.
Susan, or rather, Magical Girl Zhu Lu, was not someone who liked to interact with people.
She seemed very impatient with citizens, journalists, and even Disaster Control Bureau staff who clung to her.
But perhaps precisely because of this attitude, this always solitary style, she instead attracted a large number of fans.
Within the Disaster Control Bureau, she was also quite popular—including the later Yinluo, who was also a fan of Susan.
Her own attention decreased, and the admiration and affection she received also lessened.
Of course, this actually shouldn't have been a bad thing.
Because Susan's arrival lightened her burden a lot, especially after Peony also joined the team, and more Magical Girls came to the Disaster Control Bureau.
Magical Girls became a team, not just one person's label.
The team is the best.
Everyone told her that, and she thought so too.
But the sense of loss still couldn't be avoided.
Because she didn't have many other hobbies.
Hyacinth was a good student. Even while busy with Magical Girl duties and studying, her grades never suffered.
At home, she could always satisfy her parents' demands with the most perfect attitude. Although her parents were very busy, and even living together, the opportunities to meet were very, very few, Hyacinth never caused the slightest trouble for the family.
She was the most outstanding child in everyone's eyes, capable of doing everything to the best.
Everyone at the Disaster Control Bureau said she might become like Senior Kingfisher.
To become an outstanding Magical Girl respected by all.
But in reality, it was far from that, because apart from this, Hyacinth had nothing else.
She didn't like watching anime or movies, wasn't interested in games, and although she had friends, she didn't actually like going out to play, because in her view, it was all a bit of a waste of time.
Hyacinth felt no joy in any of these things.
It was like waiting for her parents every day in the empty big house, feeling hollow and aimless.
She disliked meaningless things, she disliked things without results, she had no interest in anything that couldn't impact life.
Hyacinth only had everything about being a Magical Girl.
So, actually, she didn't like extra Magical Girls.
Ultimately, the situation in Beihai at the time only required one Magical Girl—her.
Whether it was Disaster Beasts or the Witch Association, she alone could handle them.
Whether it was others' admiration or cheers, she alone could bear them, all the responsibility, unlike others.
She could only survive as a Magical Girl.
Once, during a team-building event for the Disaster Control Bureau's Magical Girls, while playing by the sea.
Someone suddenly asked her:
"Hyacinth, why did you become a Magical Girl?"
She still remembered that day, the magnificent, lonely sunset dyeing the sea surface crimson, the melancholy horizon swallowing the sun swaying in the blood-red dusk.
Until it turned pitch black.
Why did she become a Magical Girl?
For Hyacinth, this was a rather difficult question to answer.
Susan and Peony joined the Disaster Control Bureau around the same time; they both became Magical Girls to protect others.
But for the empty Hyacinth, she didn't have such a strong desire.
Why did she obtain the seed back then?
It was simply that, when the Disaster Beast descended, she thought it would be boring if everyone died there.
She wanted to see, if she could become a Magical Girl and save everyone, maybe it would be interesting.
Just like that, she casually obtained the Miracle Seed.
It turned out to indeed be interesting, whether saving others, being thanked by others, or constantly changing the city, others' destinies, and lives with her own power.
But saying she became a Magical Girl out of interest was too un-Magical-Girl-like.
It didn't fit the Disaster Control Bureau's propaganda.
So she said, "Because I wanted to protect others back then."
The most official, standard, and safest answer.
Everyone said the same—wanting to protect family, protect friends, protect teachers and classmates...
Seeing everyone's sincere expressions, Hyacinth always felt a bit uneasy.
But actually, she wasn't lying either, because it would be boring if everyone died together, and she obtained the Miracle Seed when she wanted to protect everyone.
Magical Girls are miracles born from the despair brought by Disaster Beasts, the purest hope.
Yet Hyacinth never felt her birth was pure, nor did she think it was any miracle.
"Then what do you want to do as a Magical Girl?"
What do I want to do?
It seems there's nothing I particularly want to do; being a Magical Girl itself is interesting enough.
If there's something I want to do.
Then it's probably hoping all the other Magical Girls in the Disaster Control Bureau would disappear.
All Magical Girls disappear, and then, I become the shining gold like a meteor, the strongest, the only one.
One Magical Girl is enough—just me.
Such a dark wish naturally couldn't be spoken aloud, so she said:
"I want to protect all Magical Girls, I want all Magical Girls to be able to smile, I hope you all don't have to fight as Magical Girls anymore, and can live happily as ordinary people."
A dark, despicable wish, once packaged, could become righteous and even earn praise and gratitude.
Until the day Susan met with misfortune.
Magical Girls are not invincible, nor can they create miracles every moment.
There will always be Magical Girls who lose, who meet with misfortune.
Looking at Susan, who grew increasingly silent, depressed, and irritable, that dark wish underwent a small change.
Hyacinth hoped all Magical Girls would disappear, and she would become the only one.
But, she hoped all Magical Girls would choose to give up this identity themselves.
Not be forced to give it up due to some misfortune.
Because such occurrences would only make Hyacinth appear incompetent, making the world more convinced that Beihai needed more Magical Girls to fight.
For this, she needed to become stronger, to work harder.
She always had to rush ahead of others to clear Disaster Beasts.
No matter what battle, she would definitely take action. Whether it was the Witch Association or Disaster Beasts, she would definitely stand by the Magical Girls' side, protecting them.
To let the other Magical Girls know they didn't need to fight, didn't need to be Magical Girls.
Because she, Hyacinth, was already here.
She would become a stronger Magical Girl, become the strongest Magical Girl!
To make everyone able to give up their Magical Girl identity with a smile, she had to be the strongest...
And so, she met Shion.
To clear Disaster Beasts, conflict with the Azure Cloud Sect was inevitable.
And Hyacinth, who had long since stepped into the Blooming rank, didn't take the Azure Cloud Sect's Magical Girls seriously at all.
Because at that time, even Shion hadn't stepped into Blooming; she was merely a Seedling.
But with just one strike, she and the Disaster Beast knelt on the ground together.
She couldn't see the movement clearly, didn't know what happened.
Perhaps it was a punch, perhaps a kick.
But the result was the same.
The shattered Disaster Beast, and herself, kneeling on the ground, having exited transformation state, who would die from any casual strike.
Defeat came suddenly and hastily; she wasn't even prepared to accept it.
It wasn't just losing.
It was losing in a despair-inducing manner, with no visible possibility of victory, no hope of catching up.
Shion, in an extremely cruel yet straightforward way, shattered her dream.
Even exposed her hidden ugliness completely.
Kneeling on the ground, Hyacinth looked up at those gem-like, calm purple pupils.
Reflecting her hysterical self, her crazy and ugly self.
There was no beautiful dream there, no gentleness considering others.
Only the simple desire to monopolize everything about being a Magical Girl, an utterly selfish desire.
Blindingly glaring.
"Not a bad look in your eyes."
That purple-haired Magical Girl said to her, "The domineering desire to monopolize everything is precisely the indispensable will for contending for the Heavenly Dao. What's your name?"
"My name is Hyacinth..."
"I'll remember you. Do you want to join our Azure Cloud Sect?"
The girl extended a hand to her, "You're very suited for our Azure Cloud Sect. Contending for the Great Dao requires such ambition."
That posture, it was as if saying:
Come be my daughter.
Like a mockery, mocking her ugliness, her pitiful strength, and her overreaching desire.
Hyacinth fled without looking back.
The wish she used to fill herself was shattered. The Magical Girl named Hyacinth once again became an empty doll.
Afterwards, she lost to Winter.
Then later, lost to the captain.
Lost all the way to the end, even unable to find a shred of desire for victory.
Under the captain's persuasion, she wavered for a time, wanting to join the Witch Association to gain more power.
If she could gain more power.
Gain more power, stand before her, surely she could, more righteously, speak her wish.
However, in the end, she still gave up, leaving the Witch Association's laboratory.
Because she couldn't bear the Witch Association's actions, couldn't sit idly by while those people were harmed.
Even after successfully obtaining the identity of a Witch Association member, her body still moved naturally, helping those captured people escape.
But because of this, her Miracle Seed was corrupted, leaving only three transformation opportunities.
The Disaster Control Bureau deemed her no longer suitable to continue as captain of the Magical Girl Combat Team, and ultimately proactively arranged a retirement ceremony for her.
Hyacinth didn't go, nor did she hand over her seed.
She was supposed to become Beihai's one and only Magical Girl, to protect the other Magical Girls.
Yet in the end, she herself became the ordinary person who needed protection from other Magical Girls.
That kind of thing was unacceptable...
Withdrawn from the Magical Girl Combat Team, she no longer actively performed Magical Girl duties.
Actually, most Magical Girls, if unwilling to join the Disaster Control Bureau, could live like ordinary people as long as they didn't misuse their power and registered with the bureau, just like her.
It's just that most Magical Girls wouldn't want to live as ordinary people. Precisely because they had strong wishes did they become Magical Girls, so how could they give up their wishes and continue as ordinary people?
So, what was her own wish?
She wanted to find the reason and wish for becoming a Magical Girl within her last three transformations.
The first transformation was because of an out-of-control vehicle accident at Beihai Station, an incident where an unknown number of people might die. She gave up one transformation opportunity to save many people. Not a loss.
The second transformation was during an evening run when she encountered a Disaster Beast attack. Since it was for self-preservation, it wasn't a loss.
Later, she met Jiang Si. She told Jiang Si she wanted to protect everyone, wanted Magical Girls to also find happiness.
She said this to everyone, always keeping it on her lips.
As if this could hide her original ugly desire.
The third transformation was when Keke and Li Yi came to find her. They said they wanted to become stronger.
Thinking carefully, it probably wasn't necessary, but at the time, she felt it was better this way; it could make them stronger. So giving up the last transformation wasn't a big deal.
Only the last one remained. For whom was this power being kept? What to do with it seemed not worth it. Well, teaching the juniors one last time wasn't bad either?
What she regretted was that even after using all three transformations, the Magical Girl Hyacinth who had been searching all along still hadn't found the necessity or reason for her existence.
What exactly was the important thing?
What was it that she would protect even if she had to give up everything?
And for the dead Magical Girl Hyacinth—
What was her own wish?
Her parents remained as usual, never at home. From her becoming a Magical Girl to losing her power to be one, her parents knew nothing.
Leaving and returning every day, they just casually said, study hard.
Whether at school or in the big villa at home, she was always alone, gazing at the sky.
No melancholy, only confusion and emptiness.
What died was Magical Girl Hyacinth; she could no longer transform.
But it seemed what died wasn't just Magical Girl Hyacinth.
She saw Shion's enormous Magical Net covering the entire city of Beihai.
And also saw the city-wide Disaster Beast skewers in Jiangming City.
Magical Girl Shion.
Capable of anything, the pinnacle of all Beihai's Magical Girls, her hypocritical dream, reflected in reality, the truest form.
It wasn't an impossible delusion.
Shion's existence told her that was a reachable, achievable, real dream.
"Please give me the power to get close to her."
At midnight, in front of the mirror, Hyacinth made this wish to herself.
And so, the miracle of the Magical Girl once again responded to her.
......
"Not bad. You're the one with the best potential among this batch of newcomers."
A cold voice interrupted Hyacinth's thoughts. She looked up at that lofty purple Magical Girl.
The glaring light sphere made it hard to see the other's face clearly, but her mind had already filled in the other's indifferent and haughty demeanor.
"Where is this place?" Hyacinth asked.
"Think carefully. It should have already implanted all of this into your mind."
Hyacinth thought carefully, but she still couldn't figure out where this was. Her mind was empty.
Then the big light sphere flickered, and something appeared before their eyes.
"Sainthood, Main God Space, survival and life, main quest, game, exchange list..."
Although not implanted into the mind, being implanted into the eyes felt about the same.
"Rookies, you're really lucky." Magical Girl Shion, as if her leg had gone numb, switched the leg she was resting, "Choose. Join the Sainthood, pledge loyalty to me, or hand over your Miracle Seed and become an ordinary person."
Coral beside her timidly raised her hand, "I, I'm fine with either."
Anyway, wanting to join the Azure Cloud Sect was just to see Miss Shion more often. Here she could see her directly, and skip the assessment too.
Total win.
It's just that Miss Shion wasn't quite like she imagined. She wondered if she could strike up a conversation, and she seemed to be a boy before transforming. Coral wasn't good at talking to boys...
"But, but I haven't been home for a long time. Mom and Dad might be worried. Can I go home to see?"
"After registration is done."
"Thank you, thank you, Miss Shion!"
The address "Miss Shion" seemed to make the other party a bit uncomfortable. After shifting her position slightly, Shion looked at Hyacinth and continued asking, "What about you? Hand over the Miracle Seed, or join the Sainthood and complete tasks."
"My Miracle Seed comes from the Mirror Kingdom." Hyacinth didn't hide it either, taking out the seed and openly showing everything about herself to the other, "To realize my dream, I made a deal with the Mirror Kingdom, retrieved my Magical Girl power, and fight for them to enter the Heart Image Remnant."
"Dream?"
"Haven't you heard it before?" Hyacinth said softly, "At the academy, I told you once."
That time, it was fake, just a lie as a disguise.
"Forgot."
"I want to protect this world, I want to protect all Magical Girls, protect them so they don't have to fight as Magical Girls anymore, so they can live happily like ordinary people."
Born from an ugly desire, a selfish excuse dressed up.
But who could say a false wish cannot become real?
Her empty eyes gazed at the purple-haired girl. In her vision, in the colorless world, only Shion had color.
Vivid and beautiful purple.
Continuously painting and filling the empty doll, dyeing her pale, hypocritical wish with color.
Transforming it into an unshakeable reality.
"I want to protect all Magical Girls, I want to make all of them in the world smile, including you, Magical Girl Shion."
"I also want to become your support, I want to see your smiling face, even if I get injured and defeated countless times."
"I want you to no longer need to bear the duties of a Magical Girl, no longer suffer torment in the fear of the life-and-death line, but live happily as an ordinary girl... as an ordinary boy."
After a long silence, the seated purple-haired girl finally nodded, "I see."
Under the glaring light, the petite figure slowly descended from the seat; purple flames ignited, and Hyacinth could finally see the girl's face clearly.
Like a young tiger guarding its food, descending from the sky, her eyes harboring terrifying fighting spirit:
"Are you declaring yourself my enemy?"