Chapter 243: Major Event Three: Night of the Witches (3)

The stage device, Terminus Night, cast a vast shadow over the earth, pressing down like an encroaching black cloud and shrouding the vast majority of buildings in the City Center in darkness.

Fortunately, masses of residents were rapidly evacuating through four teleportation light pillars known as the "Void Realm." The busy figures of superheroes and magical girls could still be seen darting through the air.

They patrolled around the empty residential high-rises, ensuring no refugees had been left behind on any floor.

Down below, Ke Mingqing and Rain Crow stood on a long, dim street. It was completely empty, leaving only their two silhouettes.

The father and son tilted their heads back, staring up at the woman in the Russian military uniform hovering in midair.

Meanwhile, four super-giant puppets plummeted from above Terminus Night. They hurtled toward the earth like meteors, dragging streaks of fire across the sky above Leijing.

"Old man, let me confirm this one more time," Ke Mingqing said casually. "Did you really only call Officer Girl from the Roundtable Heroes? Zeus and Dr. Toy aren't going to suddenly elbow their way over here in a minute, are they?"

"Right. She alone is enough," Rain Crow said softly.

"Really? That thing looking like an oversized UFO is still floating right over our heads, old man—" Ke Mingqing tilted his head, openly skeptical. "Plus, those other four puppets are about to hit the ground. Why hasn't she made a move yet? I heard Officer Girl doesn't care about civilian safety, but is she really not going to even try blocking them?"

Rain Crow said nothing. He simply raised his deep eyes and quietly watched Officer Girl.

High above, Officer Girl hovered in the sky, her body turned slightly sideways. The wind tugged at her coat, which bore the Russian flag, causing the collar to sway gently.

The massive forms of the four giant puppets churned the atmosphere, whipping up howling, roaring gales.

The entire world grew restless, yet Officer Girl remained completely unmoved. Sunlight caught her platinum blonde hair as she suddenly raised her right hand, using her index and middle fingers to press down the brim of her military cap.

Immediately after, countless metallic components materialized and rose up from behind her. They rapidly assembled into four hovering gun batteries of different colors before brutally interlocking together.

An aggressively exaggerated bombarding machine was born just like that. Its four gun barrels faced different directions, resembling a four-headed dragon in a design that pushed the limits of sheer ferocity.

Watching this, Ke Mingqing froze for a moment.

'An ability to create firearms—' he thought. 'There should be a limit to this power. For example, the raw materials she can manifest must be limited, or maybe it depends on her stamina?'

In the next instant, every barrel unleashed a brilliant pillar of light, violently blasting outward toward the east, west, south, and north.

They struck the four falling super-giant puppets with flawless precision. In that moment, the world fell into absolute silence; not a single trace of sound rang out.

The moment Officer Girl raised her eyes from beneath her cap's brim, the four puppets rapidly expanded in the intense light and burst apart like overinflated balloons. Then, they swiftly shriveled up as if all the air had been sucked out of them, ultimately burning away into scattered ash.

It wasn't until the puppets dissipated and the fire from the explosion swept outward that a tremendous boom finally echoed through the sky.

It was like a series of grand fireworks blooming one after another. The aftershocks of the explosion kicked up a turbulent gale that swept through every corner of the streets and alleys.

The glass curtain walls of the high-rises shattered in unison, turning into a torrential rain of shards that plummeted downward.

"Is this all witches amount to?" Officer Girl curled her lips into a smile. "It's rare for me to come over here on vacation, so couldn't you let me have a little more fun?"

As she spoke, the massive bombarding machine abruptly dismantled into a series of metallic components. They reassembled themselves like a turning Rubik's Cube, finally forming a colossal naval cannon with a hue somewhere between red and blue.

Amidst the grinding of gears, the naval cannon slowly swiveled its barrel, aiming right at that massive stage device in the sky. The muzzle seemed eager for action, burning with faint sparks.

Right then, Ke Mingqing suddenly saw it. At the very edge of the stage device, an extraordinarily striking figure slowly revealed herself.

Across such a vast distance, he couldn't make out the contours of her silhouette. All he could see was her long, seaweed-green hair fluttering wildly in the wind, along with the super-human species panel that popped up in his line of sight.

[Codename: Witch of Calamity]

[Super-human Species Type: Witch]

[Danger Rating: S Rank]

[Super-human Species Introduction: "Witch of Calamity," one of the three major witches of the Witch Cult's "Terminus Tower." For years, she has been hailed as the "symbol of natural disasters." Wherever she walks, devastation from natural phenomena like torrential rain, hail, and earthquakes is inevitable—Yet, while she travels alongside natural disasters, she does not represent the will of heaven in the eyes of outsiders. In the eyes of Christianity, she is the most wicked demon in the human world. What urged her birth into this world was the deeply rooted malice that has existed at the bottom of humanity's heart since ancient times.]

'Witch of Calamity—' Ke Mingqing thought, looking up at the text on the panel.

"My sister mentioned that the stage device Terminus Night might be able to amplify a witch's power." He took another glance at the silent stage. "It looks like the device hasn't started up yet. Who knows how far these witches' abilities will be enhanced once it activates."

While deep in thought, he closed his eyes and deployed Theater Puppet—White Jack—in a corner of this commercial street.

The deathly-pale puppet slowly lifted his head from behind a billboard. He narrowed his profound, hollow eyes slightly, his torn mouth curving into a smile that almost reached his ears.

At that moment, Rain Crow dragged his gaze away from the sky. The aftershocks of the explosion fluttered his pitch-black cape, making him look like a crow spreading a single wing.

He turned his head to look at Ke Mingqing and asked in a deep voice, "Where's Zili?"

"My sister was taken away by the puppet witch. In all likelihood, she's up there right now," Ke Mingqing said softly. "That witch also said that a double-crowned witch is the key to activating that massive device above our heads. She probably wants to turn my sister into a witch and then turn on the device."

At this, he took a deep breath. "So we have to move quickly. As long as we rescue her, Terminus Night won't activate."

Rain Crow stared blankly for a second before his brow furrowed. "I understand the situation, but you don't have the ability to fly, which makes you unsuited for aerial combat. Stay on the ground and wait for our word. Don't act rashly."

As if to reassure his son, he paused for a moment before emphasizing, "Xi Ziyue and her group should have arrived by now as well. We'll resolve all of this. A'Qing, trust me—"

Surprisingly, Ke Mingqing didn't argue. He merely nodded in silence.

However, right at that moment, an eerie voice drifted down from above the long street. "Yes, indeed! Someone finally pointed it out. Our poor Mr. Blue Pigeon still hasn't evolved the ability to fly. He's practically the Groudon of legendary beasts."

Rain Crow narrowed his eyes slightly, looking up at the snow-white figure.

One up high and the other down below, the two silently faced each other.

The top hat on White Jack's head was spinning at high speed, generating an upward lift like a helicopter's rotors to suspend his thin, weightless body in midair.

He paused. "But I can fly, Mr. Rain Crow. Why don't you let me accompany you?"

Meanwhile, inside the emergency meeting room of the Magical Girl Company.

Several girls with chilling auras but distinctly different styles were gathered around the conference table. They represented the highest magical girl combat power currently present in Leijing.

At this moment, the miko-outfit-wearing Sakurahime gripped a long katana, standing by the window amidst a flurry of falling cherry blossoms. With a slight frown, she turned her head, gazing out the window at Terminus Night up in the sky.

Magical Girl Deep Space stood with her head bowed, her gloomy eyes hidden beneath her brown hair.

"Despair... witch." Sniffing that familiar scent, she unconsciously tightened her grip on the silver-blue, four-leaf-clover-shaped long shield on her wrist. She gritted her teeth, a vicious expression twisting beneath her bangs.

Winter Hunter stood quietly by the window, bathed in a patch of moonlight that seemed to shine exclusively on her from an unknown source.

Following the shootdown of the four super-giant puppets by Officer Girl, the howling gales above the City came crashing in, lifting Winter Hunter's white hair.

She stared unblinkingly at Officer Girl's profile, the tips of her ears turning faintly red. Raising an eyebrow, she murmured, "So strong... exactly what you'd expect from the Roundtable Heroes."

Next to the three of them, Little Red Riding Hood sat quietly on the edge of the conference table, the hem of her Christmas dress fanned outward over the desk like a blossoming flower.

Lowering her blue eyes, she silently watched her phone. The screen displayed her chat interface with the user "Ke Mingqing."

[The Little Match Girl Red Riding Hood: Where is Senior Ember? Is she with you? I can't reach her. Please tell her that we are in the Magical Girl Company's emergency meeting room and ask her to get here right away.]

"At a time like this, has Senior Ember still not replied?" Sakurahime suddenly asked, shattering the silence blanketing the meeting room.

"I'm trying to contact both her and Mr. Blue Pigeon, but neither of them has responded."

Little Red Riding Hood replied softly while typing on her phone, her eyes beneath her golden hair illuminated by the screen's glow.

Sakurahime folded her arms in thought. She fell silent for a moment before saying, "Disappearing at a critical moment like this... she can't blame us for suspecting her of being a Traitor—"

"It doesn't matter." Magical Girl Deep Space finally raised her head, speaking deadpan. "As long as they're witches, we just have to slaughter them all—" Her gaze was icy, and her interwoven silver-and-black dress swayed in the wind.

In the next moment, a Spatial Rift suddenly tore open at the far end of the meeting room. Then, a massive locomotive burst through the gap, brutally crashing right into the interior of the room.

A beam from its searchlight pierced the darkness ahead. Following that, the conductor's cabin door swung open.

Three distinctly imposing figures stepped out of the train one after another, descending the boarding ladder into the meeting room. First was a black-haired girl dressed in a light green qipao with a bamboo hair ornament—Magical Girl Xi Ziyue.

Next was a silver-haired girl in a silver-blue gown, her demeanor as chilling as ice. Her dress was adorned with blue poppies—Magical Girl Mizumio Akari.

Finally, there was a red-haired girl carrying a luxurious sword scabbard on her back. The upper half of her magical combat gown consisted of armor, while the lower half was a battle skirt. Her features were strikingly handsome and androgynous—Magical Girl Utuna.

The current Magical Girl Three Giants had all gathered here.

Standing at the front, Xi Ziyue slowly raised her clear eyes and swept a glance around the room. Then, she declared in a low voice, "Well then, practically everyone is here. Operation SS1999—the provisional strike against the Witch Cult's Terminus Tower—officially begins now."