novelraw Chapter 123: It's Already Decided, Let Shion Defeat Simo Tu
Chapter 123: It's Already Decided, Let Shion Defeat Simo Tu
Disaster Control Bureau, temporary villa.
This villa had been hastily constructed by Magical Girls; within the Bureau, Magical Girls who could build were actually not uncommon.
With the added hidden magic, not even ordinary people or the Witch Association could find it.
Even when Qingluán and Iris first arrived, they couldn't locate it.
This temporary villa of the Bureau was out at sea, even right at the center, relatively close to the Heart Image Remnant.
When Qingying and Iris flew over, they thought Hongmian had led them the wrong way — after all, an endless sea shows nothing at a glance.
Only after Hongmian removed the magical disguise did they see that lavish base floating in the middle of the ocean.
The villa was huge, with many bedrooms; everyone could freely pick the room they liked. If someone didn't like theirs, they could commission a Magical Girl with the relevant magic to customize one.
A few Magical Girls who had returned early were still in the large living room, talking with others about how terrifying their opponent had been — those who had gone out to support were veteran Magical Girls.
Many younger Magical Girls with decent strength stayed at the base; at this moment they gathered around the returning senior Magical Girls, obediently listening to the elders describe that terrifying humanoid Disaster Beast.When they heard that Senior Hongmian had been flung away and had her transformation undone, everyone gasped aloud.
But when they heard she still managed to repel that terrifying humanoid Disaster Beast in the end, they breathed easier; some cheered, others worried.
“I couldn't block it even once. I'm amazed Iris stopped it twice or even more times. Is this the strongest Magical Girl...?”
“Wow, terrifying. I'd definitely lose. What if I meet it later?”
“Don't worry, I'll protect you by your side!”
“No, I want to be with Senior Hongmian...”
“How dare you betray me, take this!”
Several Magical Girls played and teased each other in the hall, but when Hongmian appeared, they immediately quieted down, faces flushed as they greeted her.
Of course Iris was also quite popular in the Bureau; many junior Magical Girls even brought her small gifts, like single-lens round gold-rimmed glasses, a nearly broken music box, a fragrant leaf that could boost magic briefly, an antique-looking blue sword scabbard, and so many gifts they could barely carry.
Qingying felt a little envious; unfortunately she wasn't very popular at the Central Bureau. Although people greeted her, they weren't close enough to bring gifts.
Iris was flashy but genuinely cared for juniors and spent freely...
Although they had come to handle the Heart Image Remnant, the villa's atmosphere remained relaxed and pleasant. After all, Magical Girls were good kids; when they gathered most of the time they got along well.
Only the occasional chittering got noisy.
Qingluán spent a long time pulling Iris away from the juniors.
Many people asked Iris about Magical Girl ranks.
After all, it was Iris who had proposed changing the naming of Magical Girl ranks at the Bureau. The younger kids were curious and excited, eager to ask Iris what rank they were.
Juniors loved to ask, Iris loved to show off, and in the back-and-forth a lot of time was wasted.
It wasn't until Sirui dragged her up to the seventh floor that it got quiet.
Having enjoyed being the center of attention, Iris obediently stayed quiet for a while, and before stuffing two presents into Xilan's hands she suddenly asked:
“The villa, does it sometimes disappear at night?”
Walking up the stairs and looking at the peaceful sea beneath the pretty stained glass, Iris asked, “What if your Miracle Seed isn't with you by chance, wouldn't you drown?”
Qingying, who had been examining the gifts, covered her head. Hongmian chuckled lightly at her side, “Don't worry. If that ever happens, I'll be the first to pull you out.”
“Mainly it’s the sea beneath that's keeping me awake. I'm most afraid of the sea bottom...”
Only then did Hongmian lightly tap the villa wall. “Relax. The mana solidification here is very secure. Your usual houses aren't this stable. Every night there are dedicated Magical Girls watching the Heart Image Remnant. It won't suddenly drop you in.”
“What if Fangyi...”
Qingying immediately grabbed her friend, “Can you stop asking unnecessary questions?”
Hongmian waved her hand, “It's fine.”
Then she led the two into a sky-facing room. “But lately more Magical Girls have come and rooms are scarce, so you two will have to share for now.”
Qingying looked at the bedroom about the size of her own living room, with two extra-large single beds.
If this was considered cramped, her temporary room back in Jiangming City had been something else...
After putting her bag and other things on the bed, Qingying sat on the edge and could see the huge Heart Image Remnant through the window opposite.
It was gorgeous and strange, like an aurora, yet behind that aurora something alive seemed to run about, striking the dazzling edges.
She could even hear its roars...
“Qingying.”
Hongmian called softly beside her, and Qingying snapped awake. “Ah, sorry, I spaced out.”
“It’s nothing. The Heart Image Ruins are like that. Be careful; don’t stare too long, it’s easy to be drawn in.”
Iris immediately flopped onto the bed with a flourish, “Don’t worry, I’ll watch her!”
“You’re the one who needs the most vigilance.”
“Oh...”
Hongmian sighed at the two girls, “You two rest for now. The rest we’ll handle tomorrow. I’ll go check on the others.”
“Senior Hongmian, please make sure you rest too.”
“Will do.”
Leaving Iris and Qingying's room, Hongmian checked on other places.
After examining all the Magical Girls who had fought Simo Tu and been flung away, she relaxed.
Fortunate, fortunate — the supporting Magical Girls had no major problems.
Although they had been thrown away by Simo Tu, they only had their transformations undone; their Miracle Seeds were fine and they weren't injured.
She couldn't help feeling puzzled — was it intentional?
That calamity dragon form moved extremely fast, so fast that without Iris's gravity suppression it was impossible to catch its figure.
If it wanted to, it should have been able to kill someone or snatch a Miracle Seed before a Magical Girl could undo her transformation.
Yet the other party did nothing but fling them away.
The Witch Association wouldn't have any goodwill; perhaps it was mere disdain?
Sighing, Hongmian first contacted Jincha via video.
Seeing Jincha, always steady, Hongmian immediately looked upset and complained, “Jincha, you don't know what I faced today. The Witch Association suddenly showed up with a super troublesome presence. I was flung away and my transformation was undone. I nearly thought I was going to die there. It scared me to death...”
After all, although Hongmian was a senior among Magical Girls, she wasn't very old. Facing such a dangerous enemy and getting hit naturally made her want to vent.
Jincha comforted her while listening to the full account of Simo Tu, growing serious.
“He’s indeed a dangerous opponent. I knew the Witch Association was doing things in secret. Too bad the old folks in Parliament don't want to waste too many resources on the Witch Association.”
Hongmian worried, “If we enter the Heart Image Ruins and everyone scatters, we may not handle Simo Tu. You must think of a plan, otherwise it's too dangerous.”
“It’s fine, rest assured.”
Jincha smiled faintly.
“I've already found people to help.”
“Who? The ones I can think of who could deal with Simo Tu are either retired or can’t come.”
“Azure Cloud Sect, Shion.”
......
Witch Association, basement.
“Simo Tu-sama, what do you think we should do next?”
“Simo Tu-sama, you must come to South China.”
“Simo Tu-sama, do you need someone to warm your bed?”
“Simo Tu-sama.”
Hearing the one call after another, Xilan felt a pleasant relaxation in body and mind.
Her abilities were mediocre; like Twins, she was marginal among the Complete Witches in the Witch Association.
Abilities like Twins’, which only copied Magical Girls’ powers, were unreliable in fights with Complete Witches — she couldn't copy Complete Witch abilities.
The result was she often lost in internal fights.
Xilan was worse off because she could only fuse ordinary objects.
If she used an item with Polluted Magic or pure magic it took her a long time to fuse; after fusion the weapon’s enhancement wasn't obvious, and if the item was destroyed she could be injured...
For playing hide-and-seek or escaping she was top-notch though.
But in a straight fight, the strongest weapon she could usually bring out was a big truck.
The good news was that fusing with a Complete Witch made even ordinary items able to hurt Complete Witches and Magical Girls.
The bad news was there weren't many Complete Witches or Magical Girls that could be hit by a truck.
Firearms were even worse; the situation could only be called tragic.
Most were under the Bureau's control; stealing a gun was easy, but escaping Magical Girls' pursuit afterwards was extremely difficult.
It wasn't that the Witch Association couldn't obtain them; internal channels cost too much, and Xilan's ability was so poor her contribution value was low — she couldn't beat most Magical Girls.
Low contribution value meant she couldn't buy hot weapons; without hot weapons her contribution value stayed low, a vicious circle.
She even once sold everything and starved a month to buy a pistol, only to find bullets cost money too...
After a few days the ammo was gone; unwilling to buy more she locked the pistol in a safe where it gathered dust.
Later she heard a Complete Witch named Chilian in South China had scavenged two Grief Seeds of Complete Witches — at that time the Bureau was running a secret Witch Association suppression there, and the two largest Witch Association bases had been wiped out.
Chilian sneaked into the valley and dam where the cleared base ruins lay, and actually picked up two Complete Witch seeds, then broke out from the heavy Magical Girl encirclement.
She used those two seeds to take half a city in East China, becoming a legend in the Witch Association, later reduced to a three-hour speedrun legend.
Witch Association had no surviving legends.
But before Chilian's speedrun, Xilan had been inspired — if others could find treasure maybe she could too. She took out her dusty pistol and prowled the city every day.
After half a year of wandering, Xilan finally realized no city scattered guns and bullets for Perfect Witches to pick up, and no police station was that stupid.
That day the city was pouring rain.
Xilan stood on the wet highway at night; she saw no lights ahead or behind. She raised the pistol, watching raindrops slam on the gray slide, convergence pouring off the trigger as if she were a child abandoned by the world.
She sold the pistol secondhand after returning, devalued because it had gotten wet.
She gained no contribution points and lost half her money — maximum loss.
Although the Vice President suggested she do intelligence work, Xilan thought she could change the world — she needed to fight on the front line, even insisting to go to East China support.
Other places also didn't want her.
Xilan had always been at the bottom among Complete Witches — Twins, though also weak, was useful against Magical Girls, so other Complete Witches were willing to team with Twins. Twins, however, kept villainous reserve and refused to team up.
Xilan considered herself a fierce lone wolf.
Aside from bullying Twins, she was usually looked down upon.
No one wanted to team with her; upon hearing supporters were from her, regional directors showed awkward expressions.
But today, Xilan finally felt triumphant!
At first she suspected Simo Tu-sama randomly picking fights with Magical Girls was reckless.
But she realized Simo Tu-sama was truly farsighted!
Complete Witches were each eccentric and arrogant. Only she and Twins had some humble virtue; the others were full of pride and looked down on ordinary people and Magical Girls alike.
Even if Simo Tu's fame was great and he fought Shion live, no one really understood Shion's true strength, and Magical Girls usually held back against ordinary people.
So it was hard to be certain; few truly believed Simo Tu could fight Magical Girls.
Simo Tu-sama probably saw through this early. He first fought the Magical Girls, subdued the strongest Iris in two moves, and walked away through a large pack of Magical Girls unscathed.
Who wouldn’t be impressed?
Not to mention other Complete Witches — even Xilan, who had seen Simo Tu's power, felt exhilarated.
Who would dare underestimate Simo Tu now?
If he hadn't displayed strength and instead rashly approached these Complete Witches, most would ignore him. One ordinary person cooperating with a low-level Complete Witch — even if they spoke grandly, no one would look twice.
But now, after witnessing Simo Tu-sama's power, everyone surrounded him like stars around a moon.
The Complete Witches were beautiful; circling him they drew attention on the way back.
With so many beauties around, especially including Xilan, which boy wouldn't be envious?
But the great Simo Tu-sama wasn’t interested in appearances and ignored everyone.
After returning to the Witch Association’s usual basement, Xilan immediately drove off the other Complete Witches on Simo Tu's behalf.
Simo Tu-sama said he had new insights from the fight and locked himself away to cultivate, asking Xilan to bring him food.
He tried eating only Grain Abstention Pills but still got hungry.
Since then, no one but Xilan could approach Simo Tu-sama.
The following time was pure enjoyment for Xilan.
The Complete Witches who had looked down on her all treated her as sister and flattered her.
“Sister Xilan, could you ask Simo Tu-sama about my matter...”
“Lady Xilan, I want to fight with Simo Tu-sama. Can I join you?”
“Sister Xilan, do I still have a chance?”
“Captain Xilan, does Simo Tu-sama need someone to warm his bed?”
Every day they schemed to get close to her, trying to flatter her so they could ride on Simo Tu-sama's thighs, smiles bright as flowers.
Xilan thought these Complete Witches had faces made to smile.
But Simo Tu naturally had no interest in them. He planned to close himself for a while, and aside from the Heart Image Remnant, he told her not to let anything disturb his cultivation.
So even if they asked it would likely lead nowhere, but no one dared offend her.
After delivering gifts they started reporting each other, complaining how others had scorned Xilan, and even fought in the hall.
Xilan ignored the arguing outside and looked at the presents; someone had even given her two guns and hundreds of bullets.
Things she had once struggled to obtain were now casually tossed at her, making her emotional.
Now she wouldn't sleep anywhere else — she had to sleep beside Simo Tu-sama’s confinement room.
That way on waking she could see him first and confirm she wasn't dreaming.
She had truly become a big figure in the Witch Association!
Soon the Vice President personally contacted her and instructed Xilan to help Simo Tu-sama manage the Complete Witches here.
Because of their personalities, the Complete Witches gathered here had no leader.
No one submitted to another, so they had no fixed base.
Complete Witches kept to themselves and didn’t care for others.
Only when Jiang Si directly shot down a helicopter did the Complete Witches take notice, and with the Vice President requesting support, they gathered.
As a result they were subdued by Simo Tu in battle; now the Complete Witches had assembled near Simo Tu's basement.
Finally they looked like a team.
When Jialan learned the news she was ecstatic and contacted Xilan immediately.
“No matter what, we've finally united. Until now the Witch Association couldn't beat the Bureau because the Complete Witches were disunited and often defeated by Magical Girls working together. If Simo Tu can lead the Complete Witches united, we may well beat the Bureau! You did well, Xilan!”
“Yes.” Xilan replied, then said to Vice President Jialan, “Xiaolan.”
Jialan froze, momentarily stunned, “Xiaolan? Who?”
“Who else but you?”
“Me, Xiaolan?” Jialan looked blank, “Xiaolan?”
“Don’t repeat so much. In the past you called me Xilan; I don’t care. What should you call me now?”
Jialan dumbly asked, “What should I call you?”
“Forget it, I won’t bother with small things.” Xilan put on an expression as if an orange could not be taught. “Back to Simo Tu-sama. You should know your place, right?”
The Vice President asked blankly, “What do you mean?”
“You’ve no sense. How did you climb to this position?” Xilan rebuked, tapping her forehead through the crystal with a scolding posture. “Hurry and give up the Vice President position!”
Jialan bristled, “Give it up? On what grounds?”
Xilan snorted coldly, “You can’t unite the Complete Witches, you can’t change the Witch Association, and you won’t change the world. Now that Simo Tu-sama has arrived, the Vice President seat should go to someone capable. Don’t cling to it. An unjustly lingering elder is a thief. Hand it to Simo Tu-sama — maybe you'll be left with a decent post!”
Jialan almost laughed in fury.
Who the hell is old! I’m only twenty-one!
But thinking this person was Simo Tu's confidante and possibly Simo Tu's idea...
Xilan had little else, but given the current situation even Jialan dared not offend Simo Tu.
With the Heart Image Remnant so close, without Simo Tu acting, the Complete Witches couldn't unite and had no competitiveness against the Bureau.
Jialan swallowed her resentment, “After the Heart Image Remnant thing is over, we'll talk...”
“All right. In the meantime prepare psychologically. Don’t disappoint Simo Tu-sama. If you force him to act, it won’t do anyone any good. I hope you have some awareness and don’t make the scene ugly.”
Trying hard not to scream obscenities, Jialan nearly smashed the crystal ball!
What the heck! She had begged to be allowed to support East China before, and now this bootlicker jumps on the bandwagon and acts high and mighty!
She dared talk to me like that? Who died and made you boss?
Oh, seems the Complete Witches family portrait is all one person.
Same here.
Fine then.
But truthfully, giving Simo Tu a Vice President position was reasonable given his strength.
The problem was Jialan could suggest it herself.
Who let this sycophant threaten me!
Her mind returned to Simo Tu's Disaster Beast transformation; it was the first time she'd seen someone change into a Disaster Beast and revert back, demonstrating absolute control over an A-level Disaster Beast!
Back then even the Witch captains of a generation's elite could only suppress an A-level Disaster Beast to sleep to fuse and borrow its power. That showed the value of this Disaster Beast transformation.
Thinking of that ability made Jialan burn with excitement.
If they could spread this ability across the Witch Association, how could the Bureau stop them!
They had to secure Simo Tu firmly; if the Vice President post was given, so be it!
As long as he could continue to grow stronger, Azure Cloud Sect and the Bureau would be nothing!
Shion? Just wait and die!