Chapter 169: The Truth of the World

Keke put Jincha and the others into the car, then dragged the vehicle and started walking toward the Disaster Control Bureau.

Because they had been infected by Polluted Magic, the others were in bad shape and could barely be roused.

Keke couldn’t drive, she was underage and couldn’t get a license.

She also didn’t have the ability to fly while carrying others. At moments like this she really envied Senior Iris who’d been here before.

If it were Senior Iris, she could control gravity and lift as many people as she needed to fly.

When she contacted the bureau, she discovered Senior Peony had also fainted.

After all, Peony was the lazy type who always avoided training, so it was normal she couldn’t deal with the white mist. Without the right training, the mist’s infiltration was too silent and insidious.

Besides, last time Peony had taken the paid leave that Iris offered, so she had never experienced being enveloped by the white mist, and had always thought it wasn’t a big deal.

Every time she was told to train, she would say the same thing about the enemy only using the same move once, yadda yadda.

Now look — she’d been hit straight on.

Of course Keke had no right to criticize others.

After all she hadn’t escaped training either;

she trained seriously every time and still got hit... even more embarrassing.

Sigh... she was a little useless Keke, cute and capable but a bit of a mess, only able to use that Imprisoning Heaven Finger, trained it beautifully, pressing down the Disaster Beasts again and again... hmm?

After dragging the car for a long time, Keke finally remembered she could use the Great Barren Imprisoning Heaven Finger.

She pinched the whole car carefully between two fingers, lifted it up, and flew straight toward the Disaster Control Bureau.

Glancing at Beihai, the whole city looked somewhat wrecked. The fight between Teacher Shion and the Magical Girl Killer had clearly been without restraint — or perhaps they were too lazy to hold back — leaving the city in a chaotic mess.

This would be rough on Senior Mochi...

Fortunately, the Azure Cloud Sect had always been meticulous in protecting citizens’ lives. The number of Magical Girls assigned to patrol a single neighborhood exceeded the number at the Beihai Disaster Control Bureau. Despite the massive display, there were practically no fatalities, at most a few injuries, mostly minor.

Keke found it astonishing — how had the Azure Cloud Sect managed it?

Although she had been working hard to improve her mana control precision, once you reached a certain level you realized that precision wasn’t achieved by practice alone.

Once something reaches an extreme, what matters is talent, and Keke felt she lacked a bit of natural aptitude for fine-tuned mana control...

But in truth she wasn’t the only one. Within the bureau, her mana control precision was already the best.

Of course, she didn’t know that Susan could transform and had passed the inner gate test.

She comforted herself that being first in the bureau now was already an impressive feat.

Compared with the Azure Cloud Sect’s Magical Girls, she still had a long way to go, so she would keep working hard.

What worried her most now was Teacher Shion.

Captain Silver Lotus had told her before that Shion wasn’t human;

now Keke vaguely sensed that perhaps this wasn’t the real Shion at all.

If someone was impersonating Shion, what was their intention? Malicious or otherwise?

She even forgot to ask Teacher Helen why she had told her that the older brother thing was related.

Last time, should she have asked about that matter? But if she did ask and received a bad answer, what then?

Would she be silenced...

Thinking of Witch Shion’s smile and the way she casually dug out eyeballs, Keke felt a little weak in the knees.

Although still very charismatic, the thought was terrifying — disturbingly charming yet perverse.

She didn’t know whether she’d have the courage to confront Teacher Shion directly.

If Shion brushed her off with a couple of perfunctory lines, Keke felt she wouldn’t be able to continue pressing the issue.

So hard...

When she flew out to suburban Tianma Road, she felt her body getting heavier.

She thought she was just tired.

But after flying a bit longer she realized something was wrong.

The Polluted Magic on her was gradually disappearing.

She fell from the sky and set the car down. Keke closed her eyes to sense the direction the mana from her magical outfit was draining.

She flipped her palm and a magic wand landed in her hand. She aimed it at a patch of grass near a factory.

Without any warning, she fired a mana blast straight at it!

A figure leapt out in a mess.

Rolling on the ground several times before finally stopping, the person had a shabby look. Keke frowned and said, “A Magical Girl Hunter?”

“Haha.”

Helen smoothed her blond hair and stared at Keke with hollow eyes. “That’s right. It’s me, Magical Girl Ruri. Your end is here.”

Keke snorted. “I didn’t expect you to dare show up. You actually have some backbone.”

“Haha!” Helen laughed with little emotion. “You’d have backbone too if you owed a thousand-fold loan. People’s potential is provoked, little girl.”

Although she had lived with her brother and been a bit short on money, Keke had rarely fretted about money. She was taken aback for a moment.

To Helen, Keke gave off the naive clear-headedness of someone who’d never been in society, a student’s innocent stupidity.

“Corrupt yourself, Keke.”

Holding some strange controller, the Magical Girl Hunter shouted, “Pay off my loan for me! Keke!”

The Polluted Magic on Keke began to stir.

Helen smiled.

No problem — a contingency left by our captain!

Our captain is strong, even in death she could leave me hope for a comeback!

If I control Keke, I can survive and start anew!

But watching the Polluted Magic on Keke gradually settle, and then have part of it snatched back, Helen said three stunned “Ah?”s.

You’re only one Magical Girl, how can your control of Polluted Magic be more skilled than us witches?

Keke had no intention of wasting words either.

Just now she had clearly felt the other party trying to control her.

And it seemed the captain’s witchification had left some control mechanism inside her, which had caused that momentary loss of control.

If Teacher Shion hadn’t taught her in advance how to handle Polluted Magic,

she might have been forced into becoming a witch and lost control!

Thinking that she might then attack friends and family, or even, even gnaw out ten of Teacher Shion’s eyeballs again...

Keke felt no pity.

With a snap, she combined Polluted Magic and Pure Mana into a small Buddha’s Fury Lotus.

By the time Helen reacted and tried to flee, it was too late. The two-colored lotus slammed into her face!

When the explosive heat detonated in front of her, Helen let go.

If I must die, then die.

Being blown to death like this would be somewhat merciful. With the debt she carried, returning to the Witch Association might mean torture beyond living.

Being a Magical Girl had always seemed kinder.

Just as she calmly accepted death, she suddenly felt an intense glare and then dizziness.

When she came to, it was cold... trembling...

Squinting cautiously, she opened her eyes and found she was lying in a place scattered with light.

Above her hung a gigantic sphere of light.

[Welcome to the Main God Space.]

Huh? Is heaven supposed to look like this?

Wait, what right does heaven have to take me in?

While puzzled, a girl with hollow eyes squatted behind her head. Her smooth long hair flowed down and covered Helen’s cheek.

“Welcome to the Main God Space, Miss Helen.”

An angel? Not bad looking.

Aren’t angels supposed to be weird, monstrous and scary?

While musing, the girl said, “My name is Hyacinth.”

Angel Hyacinth? Is there such a divine angel in myth? Hyacinth...

Helen sat up and looked around. This place didn’t feel like heaven at all.

The surrounding spatial walls and the technological constructs of the Mirror Kingdom...

It was a miniature mirror space from the Mirror Kingdom.

“Heh, what a useless thing.”

Hearing a familiar voice, Helen sprang up and turned to see Vine Captain shaking his head disdainfully.

Helen immediately launched herself toward him. “Captain! Where did you suddenly disappear to! I looked for you everywhere! I almost died, do you know that! You holding Beihai for three years was amazing, Captain! Even the Magical Girl Killer was gone in the blink of an eye, you’re more impressive than the Magical Girl Killer — you really are a legend, Captain!”

“Average,” the captain said calmly. “Pity it was a mistake. Otherwise I could have lasted longer. The Magical Girl Killer is not bad;

though she can’t beat me, she’s only slightly inferior.”

“So why did you suddenly reappear? Where is this place...”

“According to Twins’ say-so, your tech is useful to her father.” The captain put his hands behind his back. “This is the Saint Hall. You owe a heap of debts;

returning means certain death. Considering our past ties and your abilities, I’ll offer you a way out: join the Saint Hall. No Witch Association will be able to collect your debts. From now on you’ll be one of the pure Saint Hall members.”

Helen immediately knelt. “What more needs saying, bro! You’re so kind, Captain! I, Helen, am already a Saint Hall member!”

Then she sneered, “The Witch Association is despicable!”

“Let’s go destroy the Witch Association!”

Only then did Hyacinth speak, “No, we have other tasks. We need knowledge of the Mirror Kingdom’s technology, the Mirror Kingdom’s script, and more intelligence.”

Helen immediately patted her chest. “Going to Twins’ father was brilliant! I’m a genius at that! Leave it to me! I’ll handle it all!”

“You must have heard the debates about the nature of mana.”

“The essence of mana is a product of transformed human emotion.”

In an isolated space, the Incubator half-sat on the ruins and said leisurely, “That statement is not entirely wrong, but it is only part of the truth. The birth of each Magical Girl, the birth of each Disaster Beast, the energy they draw does not come solely from the individual.”

Shion cocked her head. “How long will you talk? A long time?”

Even the Incubator was momentarily stunned. It had considered many questions and prepared several answers.

As an Incubator, such explanations were routine for it. Countless Magical Girls had discovered the truth, and when it spoke they had always listened intently.

After all, this was a matter concerning their very existence.

So this was the first time someone asked how long the explanation would take.

Then it understood.

The questioner was a witch;

not interested, simply not listening.

It didn’t understand why witches and Magical Girls were mixed together.

“Witches are the same. The origin of Polluted Magic and the Pure Mana of Magical Girls must be traced back to...”

“How long are you going to talk?”

Shion interrupted again.

The Incubator fell into rare silence.

“Concentrate it for me...”

Bingtang hurriedly tugged at Shion. “Sect Master, go check if there are other Incubators nearby. Maybe there are others. Leave the Incubator’s intelligence to us, and later I’ll summarize it for you.”

Shion’s expression finally softened. “That’s good.”

As Shion rose to leave, the Incubator couldn’t help but ask, “Is she a child?”

Yumo immediately denied it: “N-no, she isn’t. Sect Master is very mature! Just... just a little impatient.”

“Lack of patience is a childlike trait...”

“I’m impatient now too.” Bingtang tapped the ground and a chill enveloped the Incubator, imprisoning it. “Get on with it.”

The Incubator nodded. “Alright, I was rambling. Let’s return to the topic...”

Beautiful!

Witch Shion pierced the spatial wall and even leaned out to look at the chaotic flow outside.

The Incubator fell from the ruins and glanced at Shion wantonly destroying the space outside.

It opened its mouth to speak, but Yumo and Bingtang’s cold stares made it clear, so it cleared its throat and continued the topic. “In short, a Magical Girl is not a miracle from one person, but a miracle formed by the convergence of many beings’ wishes. It gathers into one person, manifests as a Magical Girl, and condenses into a seed.”

“Polluted Magic, however, is not just that. Although it’s also condensed from the gathered grief of many people, the mechanism for the birth of a Disaster Beast is more complex.”

“But whether from human emotions or wishes, they ultimately rely on the world. The power you use is, at its root, the world’s gift—future, hope, rules. Favored Magical Girls receive everything from the world and must return it when they reach Full Bloom.”

“For my kin, it’s not that they need the Full Bloomed Magical Girl’s power, but that you use the world’s power and must return it to the world. That’s why Full Bloom Magical Girls enter a life countdown upon appearing. I pity the death of excellent Magical Girls, but fortunately not everyone must pay—one Full Bloom can repay the world’s debt for many, protecting the world’s source.”

The Incubator tilted its head and smiled kindly. “Ensuring every era has a Full Bloom Magical Girl to repay the world’s gift is the Incubator’s job. For me, maintaining the world’s source integrity better helps everyone resist the Old Ones and the Awakening Moment.”

Yumo listened and secretly glanced at Bingtang, who showed no expression, only thoughtful consideration.

Because the Incubator makes Magical Girls reach Full Bloom and then die, it seems evil.

How could it be a good thing?

For Yumo, a simple worldview had just been challenged.

“Continue.” Bingtang flicked her chin. “Next should be the emotional residue, right?”

“I’ve met many Magical Girls;

few are as clever as you. Generally, Magical Girls...”

The Incubator wanted to compliment them and ease relations, but another vibration interrupted it.

It swayed and was stunned for a moment. It turned its head and saw a witch charging out of the spatial turbulence...

It stared, dumbfounded, momentarily forgetting its point.

Wait, is spatial turbulence somewhere you can freely run off to?

It didn’t recall witches and Magical Girls being able to freely traverse space before they lost related rules.

They’d only been out of contact with the cluster for a while. What happened?

Did the Magical Girls and witches in this world mutate?

Yet watching the spatial turbulence spark against the witch’s magical outfit and fail to harm her at all, the Incubator tried several times to turn back and continue speaking to Bingtang and Yumo but failed...

No, it was really hard not to be drawn in by this mad witch.

“Next, can you be faster?”

Bingtang’s voice came. The Incubator finally turned and continued, “What do you think the ‘Awakening Moment’ refers to?”

“Disaster Beasts are born from human malice;

Magical Girls are born from people’s wishes. People’s memories of Magical Girls further stimulate malice into larger negative emotions, becoming perfect fodder for Disaster Beasts. In other words, Magical Girls and Disaster Beasts are symbiotic. Where Magical Girls exist, Disaster Beasts may be born.”

“From common sense, reversing this would prevent most Disaster Beasts’ births, and in practice that’s what’s done. Once a city’s Disaster Beasts stop appearing, the Disaster Control Bureau will withdraw Magical Girls and set up information-distortion barriers to erase the city’s true ties to Magical Girls.”

People who enter with memories have related memories temporarily blocked until they leave. Residents living there won’t find any information even if they search online. This method is effective;

many cities enjoy peace for decades. That has become common knowledge.

The Incubator, about to say more, was interrupted again by a tremor.

Bingtang and Yumo turned to see Shion had dragged in a huge Disaster Beast from the spatial turbulence!

The Disaster Beast still struggled, but Shion’s fists knocked it asleep and it was quietly dragged inside.

Then Shion began to casually dismember the Beast.

She would not waste a million units of power, not a sliver.

The Incubator’s eyelids twitched and it continued, “However, the Awakening Moment breaks this.”

When a human world reaches a certain stage, a period of frequent Disaster Beasts will appear—maybe decades, maybe millennia. Once it happens, Disaster Beasts can emerge anywhere, even in places protected by information barriers.

“And there’s no grand conspiracy causing it. It’s simply because...”

“The world longs for rebirth.”

Boom!

This time the Incubator was numb and didn’t look up.

Bingtang pressed her forehead with a helpless smile.

Yumo tilted her head and saw the Sect Master had grabbed another giant fish—no, another massive Disaster Beast—and applauded in worship.

Treating the spatial turbulence like a fishing ground, this creature.

The Incubator smiled and said, “Creation is born from destruction. The embryo of a new world longs to break free. This longing becomes a rule of the world, guiding the birth of Disaster Beasts. Disaster Beasts are the world’s force;

the world will destroy humanity and all life.”

“This is the Awakening Moment of a new world.”

Two Disaster Beasts wailed as they died. As Shion tore them apart, Polluted Magic splattered like blood!

Whether the Awakening Moment had arrived was unclear, but it felt like an apocalyptic moment.

“And the malice that accumulated in places where Magical Girls’ memories were erased does not disappear;

it keeps accumulating and will erupt again at the Awakening. Years of buildup will spawn extraordinarily powerful Disaster Beasts, becoming the spearheads of the world’s will. I call these Disaster Beasts the New World’s Enemies.”

“After the Awakening Moment, every miracle evoked by Magical Girls or even ordinary people will become weapons against Disaster Beasts. Humanity must wage an exhausting marathon against the beasts to protect everything, survive the Awakening Moment, and quiet the new world’s longing.”

Shion finally calmed. She pulled the Grief Seed from a Disaster Beast’s body and swallowed it.

The Incubator choked and coughed twice.

“What if they fail to hold on?” Bingtang asked.

The Incubator hurriedly answered, “A painless annihilation.”

“In a world that dies having lost miracles and hope, there will be no emotion, only endless residue. Not only human feelings but all potential energy becomes residue. All life feels no pain, until the final thing comes and destroys everything.”

Yumo tilted her head, curious: “The final thing? How powerful is it?”

The Incubator regained composure. “Terrifying despair, enormous human malice.”

The shocking claim would unsettle even the most mature Magical Girl, inciting panic...

But the two girls before it were nonchalant and detached.

Bingtang even smiled. “That’s it? I thought there’d be some earth-shattering secret. Turns out it’s just original sin theory.”

“Ridiculous.” Yumo echoed, mustering courage and imitating the Sect Master.

The Incubator fell silent.

It thought the witch had been the odd one out.

But these two were no pushover either!

Bingtang continued: “I only want to know, are those ash-gray Magical Girls from the Mirror Kingdom? Is the Mirror Kingdom the dead old world?”

The Incubator smiled again. “They are not from the Mirror World, but from other dead old worlds. Besides the Mirror Kingdom, many other old worlds have died. Those worlds did not survive the Awakening Moment and became residue. Though dead, their inhabitants did not easily perish. Many desperately seek ways to save their worlds.”

“The result is them.” The Incubator said gently. “The remnants of the old days refuse to let their residue die. They search this world for opportunities to steal the source, hoping to revive their residue. These ghosts accompanying the residue, haunting the new world in ugly forms, are what I call World Ghosts.”

“What a pitiful sight. I don’t want my beloved world to become residue. My mission is to stop these old remnants and World Ghosts from stealing this world’s source with the Disaster Control Bureau, so the new world won’t be dragged down.”

The Incubator stood and walked to the pile of ash. “So, I say we are not enemies but comrades with the same stance. Join me in protecting this world, Magical Girls.”

Seeing the Incubator smile, Bingtang kept pondering other questions.

From afar Shion asked softly, “So, as long as we can suppress the Awakening Moment and kill the World Ghosts, the world will never die?”

After a pause, the Incubator smiled. “In theory, yes.”

Bingtang immediately pressed, “And in practice?”

“There are always accidents — the world’s source might be stolen;

there may not be enough Full Bloomed Girls;

or the returned source from Full Bloom might be insufficient. Accidents can damage the integrity of the world’s source until the rules can no longer suppress the new world’s longing.” The Incubator revealed no concealment.

“Then, the stronger the New World’s Enemies become and the harder humans find resisting the Awakening Moment, the more inevitable the world’s descent into residue becomes. But if we all work together to protect the world, we can keep postponing the world’s death.”

Bingtang said no more and looked to her Sect Master.

The one to truly decide would be Shion.

“I’ll ask one thing.”

Shion kicked a nearby device. “These gray residues, if not from the Mirror Kingdom, which world are they from?”

The Incubator’s round black eyes lit with joy. “They’re from the Sixth Old Day. The Sixth Old Day has almost no living space left;

they aren’t even residue anymore. In the cracks they keep attacking powerful Magical Girls, trying to seize the source of a Full Bloom Magical Girl —

that is, the rules of the Mental Landscape — to save their world, but in doing so they destroy our world.”

“For our world’s sake, annihilating them is the Magical Girls’ duty. I’m so glad you’re willing to join us in saving the world.”

“Don’t get it wrong.”

Witch Shion sneered. “We demon path practitioners are not interested in saving the world.”

“Dare to provoke us and damage BH City — whoever they are, wherever they come from—”

The murderous aura made the Incubator tremble and crouch.

The murderous voice rippled into the spatial turbulence:

“The Azure Cloud Sect will pulverize them!”

The Incubator mainly didn’t understand what she was saying.

Kill first, ask questions later.