Starting as a Magical Girl, I Alone Shall Rule for Eternity

Chapter 124: Shion’s Follower

The number of Magical Girls working with the Disaster Control Bureau kept growing, and even several Bureau-controlled troops and staff had arrived in Anyang. For the Complete Witches this was of no concern. After all, their abilities were unique, and hiding wasn’t difficult. But for ordinary Witch Association members like Zhang Ling, life had become miserable. The Witch Association’s tasks couldn’t simply be abandoned—no work meant no money—but as an ordinary person, getting supplies and passing intelligence to Complete Witches right under the noses of the Bureau and Magical Girls was asking too much. He didn’t know how much longer he could keep it up.

Today he had barely finished another assignment after a series of interrogations, and at this rate, exposure was only a matter of time. Maybe he should quit the organization... Originally he had taken the side job just to make a little extra cash, but not only did it earn him more than his main job, his good performance had elevated him so much that in Anyang few Witch Association members outranked him. If this continued, he’d sooner or later get caught. He decided to finish one last job and be done with it.

After making that decision, he pushed open the door, loosened his tie, sighed with fatigue, took off his jacket and hung it on the rack, then reached for the wall switch and turned on the light. “Honey, why—” Before he could finish, he saw the living room in total disarray. He immediately switched the light off. When he instinctively tried to step back, the wall-mounted TV that had been in standby suddenly flickered to life.

The hiss of white noise crackled. Zhang Ling had to stop moving. “Hello, Mr. Zhang Qiling.” A fox-faced doll figure, absurdly riding a child’s tricycle, slowly turned its head and stared straight at him. “I want to play a game with you.”

The doll’s voice was hoarse and strange. “You don’t know me, but I know you. You contact other Witch Association members under the guise of delivering goods for an antique shop, working for them, passing along intelligence and supplies, and you’ve been well rewarded...”

“I’m not Zhang Qiling. You must have the wrong person.” Zhang Ling ignored the TV voice and quickly scanned the room. Seeing no one, he gave a small warning glance at the bedroom and bathroom doors. He opened the other doors cautiously, but still found no trace of anyone, nor any attacker. Returning to the living room, the TV was still displaying the doll’s image.

“...For years you have enjoyed the happy life and elevated status gained from harming the innocent. Today, that journey reaches its end. The moment you work for your own life has come.” “The game is simple. There is only one trial on the path to the ending. The trial concerns the lives of your wife and daughter, and the key to saving them is in your hands. You only need—”

“You have the wrong person. My family and I are the innocent ones.” Zhang Ling replied calmly and continued to ignore the TV. He took out his phone and dialed.

“Hello, police? Contact Boss Tang. This is Paul—”

A gun pressed against the back of his head.“I always thought Witch Association people were orphans.” A little girl’s voice came from behind as the call was cut off without hesitation. A dagger slipped from the cuff and was driven toward the back of his skull in a flash.

The shot rang out decisively. His palm was blown apart. Then a kick smashed into the hollow of his knee, forcing Zhang Ling to drop to his knees involuntarily. “So they don’t have parents or kids either,” Ruo Yun thought, her heart sinking.

When she heard a child’s voice she had gambled that the target would hesitate to shoot. If he hesitated even half a second, she could counterkill him. Zhang Ling, having been in the Witch Association long enough, wasn’t naïve. His identity being discovered was a terrible situation, but extreme risks like this had to be taken. In that instant his choice wasn’t wrong—because the attacker didn’t kill him. However the opponent’s ability surpassed his imagination: a shot through his palm caused him to drop the dagger, and another kick left him unable to stand. The opponent was trained.

Worse was the mention of his family. “You don’t want your family wiped out, do you? Don’t gamble on me not acting. My parents were killed by the Witch Association, so killing your whole family isn’t too much, right?” “I don’t know what you’re talking about—” Another clean shot tore through his right ear. Zhang Ling clapped his hand over it and suppressed the scream into a muffled groan.

“Playing dumb? Playing dumb only wastes time. Zhang Qiling, I won’t kill you immediately because I want to know where other Complete Witches are. If you keep wasting our time and treat me like an idiot—” Zhang Ling’s pupils constricted. The girl tossed him a severed finger; the wedding ring on it was the exact ring he had bought his wife this year. They’d had a bare-minimum wedding when they married because they were broke. He had struggled to make money ever since, and only after joining the Witch Association had things improved. He’d bought that wedding ring as a birthday present for his wife, planning to have a proper wedding and honeymoon at year’s end.

“What do you want to do!” he blurted.

“Don’t get angry. Anger makes you look weak.” The girl’s tone stayed icy. “Your wife isn’t dead yet. Well, time is almost up. If you keep pretending nothing is wrong, beyond your wife there are your two children, and your mother... How nice, why do you even have a mother?”

Fear finally washed over Zhang Ling. Working for the Witch Association always carried severe risk; betrayal within the Association was common. Although he was primarily an informant and rarely assigned to fight, sudden turncoats or information leaks could still demand desperate measures. His earlier military time had helped him adapt quickly; he had met a wide variety of Witch Association people and had never really been afraid—until now. This fear wasn’t just danger. It was the unpredictable, capricious instability, the feeling that someone could flip anytime yet negotiation might still be possible. And this childlike, tempestuous girl actually had the power— that was most terrifying.

“I—I’ll tell you everything,” he stammered.

“Good. That saves us a lot of time.” The girl kept the gun pressed to his head and shoved him downward. “Take us to the place you just came from.”

“I was at the company—” “Don’t try to fool me. I said Complete Witches.” Zhang Ling finally gave up resisting.

...

Fengxinzi watched as Ruo Yun, gun still pressed to the middle-aged man’s head, walked down the stairs. She didn’t quite know what to say. Since learning she would cooperate with Ruo Yun, she had been looking forward to it. Ruo Yun seemed like a cute junior, someone she could look after. Jiang Si’s mission required entering a Heart Image Remnant; they had to find a way in. Fengxinzi knew a bit about this: Complete Witches who had come near Anyang generally had quotas to enter Heart Image Remnants. So they should try to approach Complete Witches.

But finding a Complete Witch was troublesome. Fengxinzi had planned to contact the Disaster Control Bureau. Even though she had been retired, she still had some connections. She’d spent two or three days trying to get through to the Bureau with no result. Meanwhile Ruo Yun had gone out and within two or three days had targeted this Zhang Qiling. Fengxinzi thought this time it’d be her turn to act. Coercing Witch Association people to reveal intelligence required harsh measures—and as a senior she should handle it. This would be a tug-of-war—constant psychological pressure until the other party collapsed. But Ruo Yun had gone straight to Zhang Qiling’s home, bound his family at gunpoint, and waited for him to return.

“Isn’t this a bit excessive?” Fengxinzi thought. Didn’t this make them as bad as the Witch Association?

“Try telling that to the Witch Association members who chopped off my parents’ heads.” Ruo Yun’s remark left Fengxinzi speechless. How to argue? Ruo Yun carried a heavy, pure sort of Jiang Si vibe—decisive and pragmatic. When she said her parents had been killed she didn’t play the victim: she simply explained why she was justified. For a moment Fengxinzi felt like she was on a mission with Jiang Si. She wondered whether she’d become like him, whether her influence had already changed her. Without noticing, she found herself imitating that decisive, sharp silhouette, instinctively taking ruthless actions to solve problems. Until the gentle daughter and dutiful junior in her parents’ and colleagues’ eyes disappeared, replaced completely by that shadow.

Maybe to deny this change, or to salvage her role as a senior in front of Ruo Yun, Fengxinzi finally persuaded Ruo Yun to let her be the one to confront Zhang Qiling when he returned. They would imitate a scene from a detective novel she’d once read—light the TV to display the simulated scene using mana, and lure the criminal into their rhythm when he saw his wife and daughters missing. Break the target’s psychological defenses until he fell to his knees, confessing everything in tears. Then they’d appear and end it with “GAME OVER”—a triumphant declaration of victory.

But Ruo Yun didn’t follow that script at all. Instead of softening him until he confessed, she nearly beat him to escape. Jiang Si’s method was efficient indeed. Fengxinzi held Zhang Ling’s little daughter in her arms; the child had already fallen asleep, easing Fengxinzi’s tension a lot. When Zhang Ling got into the car and saw his son being held by Ruo Yun’s companion, he finally sobered up. He started the car and drove toward the outskirts.

“Complete Witches target Heart Image Remnants, so most don’t live inside cities. They live by the sea, and the Complete Witches I know are few—only two. The others basically don’t contact me—can you at least let my daughter go?” “Throw her out the window now?” “Forget I said anything.” Zhang Ling took a deep breath. His shredded palm still throbbed, but he couldn’t care. Gripping the wheel, he kept eyeing the two girls in the front and back. They were young, both wearing fox masks. They didn’t look like Bureau members; Bureau agents wouldn’t hide like this nor use such... irregular methods. They couldn’t be Magical Girls—Magical Girls were kind, pure kids. His little daughter dreamed of becoming a Magical Girl. Even though her father was a bad guy in the Witch Association, he intended to quit when his daughter became a Magical Girl. In both his daughter’s idealized image and his own perception, Magical Girls were lovely, naive, gentle, and strong. He wanted his daughter to achieve that dream.

These kidnappers, however, weren’t Magical Girls holding his family at gunpoint. Were they Complete Witches? But Complete Witches knew each other’s secrets and positions—why come after him? He didn’t understand. Maybe it was another organization, but in the region from East China to South China, the Bureau had cleaned up most illegal groups except the Witch Association.

While pondering, he glanced in the rearview mirror and his pupils contracted slightly. The car sped out of the suburbs and toward the seaside bridge. It was already late—he’d worked overtime and done Witch Association tasks; it was well into the night. The neon on the bridge glared against the deep dark sky. There were hardly any vehicles on the bridge at that hour. The span was wide enough for three or four cars side-by-side, even with sidewalks, but the cold weather kept walkers away. A couple of vagrants sat by the railing. As Zhang Ling drove onto the bridge, two cars immediately began tailing them and even honking.

Just as he hoped he might be safe, the girl at his side pressed the gun harder to his temple. “Your colleagues?” she demanded. “Probably.” Zhang Ling knew hiding was pointless. “They’ve always been watching me. Probably Boss Tang’s people. We all serve Complete Witches, and the Complete Witches don’t want their locations exposed. You’ve been watched. Take my advice while you still can: turn back now. I’ll take you back to the city and you can leave secretly, you won’t be discovered—”

He never expected the girl to shoot at a time like this. “Drive. No more talk.” Blood flowed heavily down his thigh where the bullet had grazed him. His heart pounded; thankfully it hadn’t hit a major artery and the bullet wasn’t high power, but the pain made him cry out. He quickly composed himself, breathing fast but driving calmly.

In the back, Fengxinzi cradled the sleeping girl who stirred, rubbing her eyes and calling, “Daddy?” Fengxinzi gently covered her eyes. As the little girl tried to pry Fengxinzi’s hand away, Zhang Ling, sweating coldly, spoke softly, “Linlin, be good. Listen to sister, don’t move. Daddy’s fine.” “Daddy, I want to go home.” “Sleep a little, we’ll be home soon.” The two girls never exposed him the whole time and that eased Zhang Ling slightly. He watched the two cars that had followed them close in. “So, what do you plan to do?” “Drive.” Zhang Ling finally complied, no longer arguing. He lowered his head to inspect the wound in his thigh. Oddly, the bullet hole had stopped bleeding. Special bullets? He wondered when the pursuing cars roared up.

One car flashed up on the left and honked while the driver rolled down his window, steering with one hand and chewing gum with the other. The driver’s seat was on the right side of the car instead of the left. “Hey, Paul, where are you going at this hour? Didn’t we agree not to roam—” The voice blasted over the wind. Zhang Ling was about to respond when the girl at his side hissed, “Duck!”

Without hesitation, Zhang Ling lowered his head. She was the absolute command now. In that instant he saw her raise the handgun and casually take aim at the witch association member in the left car. Bang! This shot didn’t hit him. Zhang Ling looked up and saw the left car’s fierce man, the one who had once killed a Bureau guard, explode in a spray of blood from his forehead, eyes wide as he pitched backward.

The stolen sportscar he had been driving lost control, fishtailed, and slammed into the bridge railing. It shattered the barrier and plunged into the sea, sending up a towering spray of water. The madman—Zhang Ling shivered. The girl pressed the gun against his temple again. The burning heat of the barrel seared him, making him tremble. She really would kill.

“Brake.” Zhang Ling dared not disobey. He obeyed and stomped the brake. They were near the bridge’s curve; in the rearview he saw the frightened vagrants scrambling back, and another car rapidly gaining. The sudden braking caused the two following cars to converge.

“Let go!” she snapped. Zhang Ling reflexively relaxed his grip, as if the steering wheel were blistering hot. While the car lurched, the girl grabbed the wheel, yanked hard, and turned it outwards. Their slowing car crashed into the accelerating car behind them. With a thunderous crash Zhang Ling braced himself, not daring to touch the wheel. He watched the speeding supercar slam into the curve’s barrier. Through the shattered glass he saw a bald man at the wheel, his hands twisted white on the steering, unable to wrest the car back. With anguished screams it smashed through the railing and tumbled off the bridge, wheels, and parts flying, sparks bursting. It plunged toward the shore.

Seconds later, a massive explosion and flames rose, painting the sea in an infernal red. The shockwave from the blast made Zhang Ling’s numb hands tingle even as he gripped the wheel. They drove on down to the shore road where people were already gathering near the wreckage—police and traffic officers. Old Tang was dead.

Zhang Ling inhaled shakily and drove toward the coastal walkway. “I—I only joined the Witch Association to get by, to feed my family. I didn’t—didn’t do anything really bad. At least my daughter has nothing to do with this...” He didn’t think he would survive. “Shut up and drive.” The girl’s curt command crushed him.

Fengxinzi had hardly spoken during the whole ordeal. Several times she’d wanted to intervene but stopped herself. She recognized the Witch Association members in the two cars—they were Bureau fugitives. Ruo Yun hated the Witch Association; within reasonable bounds, her revenge wasn’t something to condemn. And watching Ruo Yun cleanly kill the two Witch Association members, to be honest, stirred something in Fengxinzi. It was exciting. It was, in fact, strangely fun—especially while driving. As a model student and good girl, she had never experienced this. It reminded her of how Shion had once crushed the Witch Association back in Beihai with similar ruthlessness—so relentless that the Bureau held a bias against the Azure Cloud Sect for a long time. It was almost identical.

She couldn’t help imagining: would she become like Ruo Yun? Become accustomed to such methods, even to killing without psychological burden? Threaten the Witch Association like Ruo Yun did, and if the other side obstructed her, kill without hesitation... Her dream was to protect Magical Girls like Shion, so becoming like Shion might be acceptable. But Shion didn’t seem to bear personal hatred for the Witch Association, did she?

Her heart pounded with the thrill of doing these dark deeds with Ruo Yun, yet Fengxinzi planned to save Zhang Ling and his daughter. On this point she would never yield. She had stashed a Miracle Seed ready; she intended to stop Ruo Yun when they got out of the car and take Zhang Ling and his daughter away. Whatever punishment Shion might mete out for jeopardizing the mission, she would accept it.

When they reached the destination, Ruo Yun stepped out and simply warned Zhang Ling, “Contact the Bureau and surrender, or I’ll come after you. Zhang Qiling, if you think your whole family can hide, then run.” The middle-aged man immediately began to cry uncontrollably. “Thank you, thank you. I will. I won’t run. Also, my name really isn’t Zhang Qiling—” After Ruo Yun spared him, he actually took out his phone and began calling to surrender to the Bureau on the spot.

Walking into the woods with Ruo Yun left Fengxinzi oddly exhilarated. Saint Hall and Main God missions—this was really interesting. According to Zhang Qiling’s information, the two of them easily found the Complete Witches’ dwelling in the forest. The man had been thoroughly frightened and had no courage to deceive Ruo Yun. Cruel and improper though their method was, it was undeniably efficient.

“What now?” Fengxinzi was no longer merely a senior but positioned herself as a junior of Saint Hall, curious and expectant. “How do we get a quota to enter the Heart Image Remnant from the Complete Witch?”

Ruo Yun checked her gear and produced a Miracle Seed. “Of course, by killing them.” “Ah?” “The Witch Association is already short-handed, and many Bureau Magical Girls have come to Heart Image Remnants. Kill until they’re so short-staffed they need our help to fill in.”