novelraw Chapter 135: Speedrun Player
Chapter 135: Speedrun Player
It's hard to say what the three of them felt when the clone that appeared turned out to be the Magical Girl Iris.
For the three Disaster Control Bureau Magical Girls present, none would underestimate a Heart Image Remnant, especially a complete one.
Vigilance, mobilization, selection, special training, and countless, extensive studies for Magical Girls, encompassing data from past incomplete Heart Image Remnants and Mùjǐn's personal biography.
Thus, the Disaster Control Bureau's Heart Image Remnant combat squad, returning from hell, consisted of over a dozen Blooming-rank Magical Girls, each an elite among elites, the cream of the Blooming rank.
And then they were almost wiped out right after entering.
Even she, the legendary official first 300-level Advanced Blooming Half-Step Ultimate Great Magical Girl, who remained calm in the face of danger, composed, decisive, and acted resolutely, could only barely manage to protect two others amidst the Heart Image Remnant's assault.
It made her take several extra deep breaths back then.
After that, under Teacher Hongmian's lead, they took a shortcut inferred by the Disaster Control Bureau based on past experience. Even though they had fully prepared for and managed expectations regarding the Heart Image Remnant's danger level, the actual situation was still—
—
"Phantoms of Disaster Beasts from Senior Mùjǐn's memories? Well, they're worth fighting.""All the A-level Disaster Beast phantoms too? It's time to use my once-in-a-lifetime full power, Qingying!"
"Teacher Hongmian, save me! There are just too many of these Mirror Beasts!! Can it get any more ridiculous than this!"
"You're saying these Disaster Beast phantoms infinitely respawn with multipliers? Why even fight, just run!"
"What do you mean we have to fight phantoms of all the Blooming Magical Girls Mùjǐn knew?"
A bitter fight all the way, danger at every step!
They couldn't help but sigh inwardly, truly worthy of being a Heart Image Remnant.
Many times along the way, all three were beaten until their transformations were dispelled, to the point where not only were their Magical Outfits gone, but even their clothes were disheveled, their faces bruised. Qingluán's already cracked Magic Wand showed signs of breaking further. Both Hongmian and Iris were visibly exhausted.
Especially Iris, whose long hair from before her transformation had been cut short.
"Wahh, my hair, my youthfully invincible hair."
"Iris, don't cry. At least it's long again after transformation."
"Wahhhhhh...."
But while the Full Bloom secret realm could cut Iris's hair, it couldn't cut her invincible heart!
Full Bloom, not bad!
So when Iris saw her invincible self walk out of the mirror, she knew things were about to get bad.
This time, they had finally encountered what might be the greatest crisis ever!
After a moment of silence.
Iris coughed once and said solemnly, "This is bad. The Mirror Kingdom's technology is actually this terrifying, instantly identifying the strongest among us! This is going to be tough, Qingying, Teacher Hongmian."
"Is it because the Calamity Dragon wasn't counted?" Qingying said.
"Very likely. The Mirror Kingdom is more adept at copying Magical Girls," Hongmian added.
"But from a practical combat perspective, Iris has barely ever beaten me," Mùjǐn pondered. "Why would she be judged stronger than me?"
Little White popped out of her bag. "Because there's no Mental Landscape?"
"It might just be a simple calculation of numerical values," Hongmian guessed. "Iris's stats are quite high."
Qingying nodded. "Makes sense."
Hongmian felt somewhat relieved. "As expected, the Disaster Control Bureau was right to abandon numerical measurements...."
"Hey, hey, hey! You're just jealous that the Mirror Kingdom system recognized me as the strongest!"
Iris immediately shouted loudly, "You can only be smug now! Wait until you're beaten to tears by Lady Iris's hidden true power, then you'll know you were wrong!"
As her words fell, the mirror-image Iris moved, as if receiving a command.
Both Qingying and Hongmian immediately became serious.
Joking around was one thing during normal times, but when it came to a real fight, Iris was indeed one of the top experts in the Disaster Control Bureau.
Her Mental Landscape was especially troublesome to deal with.
Just as Hongmian was about to deploy her Mental Landscape, the Magic Wand in her hand suddenly felt as heavy as ten thousand pounds!
"Tsk, just because I usually joke around with you, you actually believed it?"
The Iris beside them sneered coldly, "My super invincible thousand-meter gravity manipulation in an instant, can you react to it?"
Qingluán, holding Little White, could barely stand and couldn't help complaining, "Stop laughing! Help!"
"Hurry up, Iris!" Hongmian also urged. "I didn't react in time, I can't move!"
Iris laughed heartily, "See? I told you, I'm the strongest!"
Little White tilted its head, looking at her. "Help."
Iris said righteously, "I didn't react in time either, I can't move."
"...."
Iris's gravity control wasn't just about making the body immobile.
It made the flow of mana extremely difficult as well.
This move was learned from Winter.
Having witnessed Winter directly freeze mana back in Beihai, Iris had been utterly amazed.
She figured, if mana could be frozen, then it should also be manipulable by gravity.
So she tried.
Hey, guess what? It actually worked.
During her time back at the Central Bureau, Iris's training involved constantly trying to manipulate mana with gravity.
In fact, the effect was excellent. Eventually, she became very proficient, and the effect wasn't any worse than Winter's.
She had been keeping this ability hidden, saving it for a critical moment to surprise everyone and shock them all!
The facts proved she succeeded!
Although it was the clone Iris on the other side...
"Only when she's on the opposite side is she particularly troublesome, Iris..."
"I'm pretty awesome as a teammate too, you know!"
"Stop arguing, think of a way to solve the gravity problem. Why is even mana circulation so difficult..."
Iris said proudly, "If it could be solved that easily, could it still be called my trump card?"
Qingluán couldn't help but knock her on the head. "What are you so proud of? Hurry up and think of a solution!"
"I'm already trying!"
"She's coming, be careful!"
Qingying sighed. "Forget it, I'll bring out my own hidden ace then."
Iris was stunned. She saw the Incubator perch on Qingying's shoulder, and the mana within Qingying's body instantly began to flow smoothly again!
She actually casually produced a card.
"Ah? How... how did you do that?"
"Gravity controlling mana, you used it once before. I've been remembering it. Of course, I had to consider countermeasures so I wouldn't lose to you." Qingying inserted the card. "Little White and I, as one, controlling mana, can surpass your gravity!"
After all, she, Qingying, was a mature, calm, steady, sharp, honest, diligent, and nostalgic Magical Girl!
[Stellar Mark Descends: The Radiance That Forges Oneself!]
"Unfair! Cheating! Teacher Hongmian, she's cheating!"
Little White tilted its head. "Incubators are the Magical Girls' best partners. Assisting Magical Girls in battle is our mission. This is the way Magical Girls fight..."
As soon as the words were spoken, the brilliant diamond armor on Qingying's body instantly shattered!
Hongmian looked at Qingying, who even had blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. "What happened?"
"The mana suddenly became lighter, the circulation went overboard, causing the magic to collapse..." Qingying gasped sharply. "Is this also one of your hidden tricks, Iris?"
Iris was taken aback for a moment, then coughed. "Uh, yeah, that's my trick. Scared now? I told you I'm not that easy to deal with."
"You didn't say so earlier!"
"...Actually, I just found out it could be used this way too."
"Idiot!"
"What did you say! You're the one who..."
"Stop arguing! It's coming, focus!"
Just as the three were in chaos, the clone Iris, who was using gravity to suppress them, manipulated the gravity beneath her feet and leaped up. Her entire body, carrying an immense momentum of tremendous force, was about to smash down towards the three!
Hongmian gritted her teeth, desperately trying to circulate her solidified mana...
"Swish!"
A thick dragon tail instantly pierced through the Iris clone still in mid-air.
A huge hole was directly punctured in its chest. Moreover, that tail actually grew spikes, instantly piercing through the Iris clone's head!
The moment the gravity on the three of them disappeared, Iris shuddered. Then she saw the dragon tail swing, and the clone smashed headfirst into the ground with a "boom," shattering to pieces!
She instinctively hugged her own head and ducked back.
The ferocious methods made one instinctively feel that this Calamity Dragon beside them was a genuine Disaster Beast!
Hongmian, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief. The other party's willingness to act meant they could cooperate.
At the very least, they didn't have to worry about dealing with the Calamity Dragon.
Compared to the Heart Image Remnant, so far, the danger posed by the Calamity Dragon before them was even greater...
"Thank you. Regardless, for resolving the Heart Image Remnant, the Disaster Control Bureau will definitely commemorate your contribution..."
"Get lost."
Hongmian wasn't angered either. She just cheerfully pulled her two students along. "Let's go, we'll just follow behind him..."
[Strongest individual defeated.]
[Reassessing strength... Strongest individual changed to Calamity Dragon, initiating replication.]
[Replication failed. Computational resources insufficient.]
[Task changed: Mass replicate recorded targets.]
[Completed: Mass replication of strongest Magical Girl completed.]
[Initiating cleanup task......]
Accompanied by flashes of light from the enormous mirror, densely packed clone Irides flew out from the giant mirror.
Qingluán, holding Little White, couldn't help but sigh. "Irises are as numerous as stray dogs on the roadside..."
"You're the stray dog! You don't even qualify to be a stray dog!"
Hongmian couldn't bother with their argument anymore. She noticed that as more and more Irides appeared, the mirror over there was continuously shrinking.
Releasing so many clones definitely came at a cost...
While she was thinking, multiple layers of gravity stacked on simultaneously!
The three didn't last even a second. They were simultaneously embedded into the ground, sunk so deep they couldn't even be pried out!
But even Iris didn't boast anymore.
Everyone watched quietly.
Sure enough, that Calamity Dragon, enduring the immense gravity, flew up!
The dragon tail flashed, and the heads of the front-row Iris clones all shot towards the sky.
Seeing this, Qingluán said dazedly, "This time it's not head explosions but head removal, Iris."
Then a terrifying dragon's breath swept through the multitude of Iris clones. The sound of explosions, like continuous firecrackers, crackled incessantly!
The entire Beihai space was illuminated fiery red.
"Cleared out like mere cannon fodder..." Hongmian sighed with emotion.
Although she already knew the Calamity Dragon's strength, seeing it with her own eyes was still shocking.
The scene of the Calamity Dragon easily clearing out a large number of Irides in one breath had a grand, cataclysmic feeling to it.
Iris just snorted. "Clones are just clones. Bootlegs are far worse than the originals."
This time, no one mocked her, because the Calamity Dragon's breath also destroyed the originally indestructible mirror. Flapping its wings, it flew straight south!
"Let's hurry and catch up!"
.......
What Heart Image Remnant, what Full Bloom Magical Girl, what dangerous place.
Twins didn't know who was spreading rumors about this place!
Making it sound so real.
She and Xilan carried the mirror all the way up to the fourth layer and still hadn't found any danger.
Could the debris on the ground, accidentally stepping on it and cutting a toe, be considered danger?
Or was Lady Twins just unbelievably strong, so the dangers of the Heart Image Remnant simply avoided her?
In any case, the biggest danger along the way was this Xilan beside her.
By now, Twins and Xilan had long lost the energy to even argue. They were both lying on the ground, unable to move.
Ah, this Heart Image Remnant is really suitable as a vacation spot. The deserted Beihai, safe, quiet,
you can even run wild, vent. Honestly, turning it into a tourist attraction would definitely make a fortune.
The only pity is that there's no one here anymore. Otherwise, the utterly bored Twins would have even wanted to get a haircut...
"Hey! You two!"
The Prince didn't even have the strength to get angry and curse anymore. Looking at his nearly emptied family assets, he was on the verge of tears. "Two useless pieces of trash, that's enough. You can stop here. I don't need you anymore from now on! Here's your pay, get lost!"
A wad of money hit her face. Twins was about to get angry, but seeing it was tens of thousands, her anger immediately vanished. She laughed, "What are you saying? As a Complete Witch Star of the Witch Association, I, Twins, will absolutely not abandon the mission. I will definitely strictly follow the client's requirements and deliver you before the Mirror Kingdom's core!"
"I said get lost now!"
"Damn, you really have no manners." Twins felt a bit wronged. "I'm so loyal, and you tell me to get lost? You've truly broken Twins's heart!"
Beside her, Xilan also raised a hand weakly. "Yeah, we've risked life and limb for you. Touch your conscience and tell me, have we retreated even half a step along this journey!"
"That was all using my treasures!"
The Prince flew into a rage!
As the Prince of the Mirror Kingdom, he naturally also mastered a shortcut to the core.
It could directly skip the first twenty layers of the eroded Beihai space. By passing through just four layers within, one could reach the entrance of the Mirror Kingdom's nine final defense layers.
Although it was unclear why there were so few Mirror Beasts along this path, it was mostly quite safe.
But occasionally, a few high-level Mirror Beasts would appear.
Power reflection, damage rebound, illusions, spatial collapse, dislocation....
He had to use all available powers to barely deal with those few A-level Mirror Beasts.
"Without you two, I would have moved faster! It's because of you two that every time I encountered an A-level Mirror Beast, I had to spend some of my family assets to deal with it! What risking life and limb for me! Without me, you two useless pieces of trash would have died countless times! Tell me!"
Twins grinned and kicked the mirror beside her with her slipper. "Your words sound so distant, Prince-sama. Weren't we carrying your mirror along the way, unable to fully utilize our abilities? And those treasures of yours, if you don't use them now, you might not get to use them later anyway. Wouldn't it be a waste?"
"I hired Complete Witches precisely so you could help me handle some trouble, letting me expend fewer of my treasures!" The Prince pointed at them hatefully. "And you two? Forget helping me with trouble, you're lucky if you don't cause more! We're only at the fourth layer, and all the trump cards in my hand have been exhausted by you two! And you two didn't even bother to transform!"
"Well, transforming wouldn't have been useful anyway..."
Along the way, whenever any danger appeared, Twins would immediately drag Xilan and run. If the Prince hadn't used various props to restrain the Complete Witches to deal with those Mirror Beasts, they would have probably run off long ago.
But if he only used his props to defeat the Mirror Beasts, he might as well have hired two well-trained ordinary people.
Why bother cooperating with the Witch Association, hiring Complete Witches?
Wasn't it precisely hoping they could handle some trouble themselves, allowing him to save some treasures for later challenges?
Although the Prince was the Prince of the Mirror Kingdom, the problem was that the Mirror Kingdom system sealed within the Heart Image Remnant did not recognize him as Prince. From a bloodline perspective, he was a collateral relative.
The Mirror Kingdom system's judgment on bloodline was exceptionally strict. For a non-direct royal bloodline trying to seize power, it would probably consider him a usurper.
So, in reality, facing this former core system of the Mirror Kingdom, even the Prince's situation wasn't much better than anyone else's.
He had to save his trump cards to deal with the final system purge, find a way to break the Mirror Kingdom's seal, then format the core system for re-authentication, and finally reclaim the Hidden Danger...
Thinking of the pile of things to do, and looking at Twins and Xilan who had started chattering and bickering again, what rose in the Prince's heart this time wasn't a faint despair, but a thick, dense despair.
The Mirror Kingdom's century-old aspiration, was it actually going to be destroyed? Just like this, ruined by two giggling little brats...
Just as he was being tormented by these two Complete Witches to the point of wanting to cry.
A crack appeared in the sky above Beihai.
All three looked up. After a while, they heard a "crash" of shattering.
The enormous body of the Calamity Dragon was instantly smashed down from the sky!
Twins immediately scrambled and rolled to the side. Xilan, however, didn't even try to avoid it, just cheered from there, "Simo Tu-sama!"
Only then did Twins realize it was the Calamity Dragon boss who had fallen.
Then her heart skipped a beat. She looked up. In the dark, colorful space that had cracked open above, a light green Magical Girl was looking down indifferently at the fallen Calamity Dragon.
However, the Calamity Dragon quickly got up, let out a tremendous roar towards the Magical Girl, and charged into the sky again!
Xilan immediately grabbed onto the dragon's tail and followed. Just as Twins also wanted to chase, the Prince beside her suddenly spoke, "Don't go."
Twins glanced sideways.
"Don't go to your death." The Prince sneered coldly. "That's the Mirror Kingdom's core technology. After so many years of planning and preparation, they should have fully replicated the techniques of the Full Bloom Magical Girl Mùjǐn at her peak. They're just lacking the Mental Landscape and corresponding mana."
"Ah?" Twins looked utterly confused. "What do you mean?"
As the Calamity Dragon flew up, the shattered space above rapidly healed. Tremendous vibrations continued to come from the upper space, indicating a fierce battle.
"From the very beginning, the Mirror Kingdom already knew about the existence of Full Bloom Magical Girls in this world and had been considering how to deal with the terrifying Full Bloom Magical Girls.
The Prince didn't hide it either, saying coldly, "It's just that Mùjǐn arrived too quickly, causing the Mirror Kingdom's plans to not fully unfold. However, the Mirror Kingdom is different from the trash of your world. Even in such a situation, we had long been prepared."
"Magical Girl Mùjǐn was a naive girl. After all, she didn't have Mirror Kingdom bloodline. She wasn't ruthless or decisive enough. Especially after a girl in the Mirror Kingdom established a friendship with her, the system judged there was a ninety percent probability she wouldn't directly destroy the entire Mirror Kingdom, but choose to seal it."
"So at that time, the royal family gambled everything, concentrating all system resources. After being sealed by Magical Girl Mùjǐn, they began replicating all her abilities from within. Then, as long as they seized her Heart Image Remnant, the Mirror Kingdom could create its own Full Bloom Magical Girl, and one that would never disappear."
The Prince said disdainfully, "Now you understand, right, Twins? It's not that our Mirror Kingdom lost, but that our Mirror Kingdom chose not to play anymore. Once the perfect Full Bloom Magical Girl belonging to the Mirror Kingdom appears, this world will completely belong to us!"
"This is our Mirror Kingdom's century-long grand plan!"
Twins listened for a long time, then said dazedly, "But wasn't that still depending on Mùjǐn's mood? Pure luck, gambling and winning because Mùjǐn happened to be kind, right?"
"As long as you win, it's not a gamble."
The Prince looked up again at the previous location. "Probably eighty or ninety percent complete now. Just one Heart Image Remnant away from being born, our perfect Full Bloom Magical Girl."
"While they're holding back that clone, let's head to the core immediately. As long as we gain control of the core system's permissions and obtain control over the Full Bloom Magical Girl, everything will be in our grasp!"
The Prince finally showed an excited expression, looking at Twins. "When the Mirror Kingdom rules the world, Twins, I will grant you the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Households!"