“It’s great—after being roughly torn apart by those guys, we’ve finally become whole again.”
Five Ning Xis placed their hands together on Number Six Ning Xi’s body.
The connections that had been severed were slowly restored, linking them together once more.
The extra girl, however, was rejected and left out.
Realizing the restraints on her body had been undone, she hurriedly fled outside.
After everything she’d been through, her only thought now was to escape anything related to Magic Power as quickly as possible.
Without interference, the fusion proceeded extremely smoothly—so smoothly it was almost surprising.
When the glow of Magic Power finally faded, the only thing left on the experimental bed was a petite girl, completely naked.
The only thing covering her was a cascade of water-blue hair identical to Luo Jialan’s.
Yet she felt neither shame nor panic.
With a casual gesture, Magic Power naturally gathered beside her, forming a pure white dress.
“Let me see what’s happened during this time.”
No longer “we,” but “I.”
From start to finish, Ning Xi had only ever been one.
Countless pieces of information flashed through her mind.
The absurd experiences she’d had without emotions left her slightly confused, but when a memory flickered to a classroom scene, an intense suffocating sensation instantly gripped her.
“What… is going on?”
She tried to recall more, but the pain suddenly intensified, forcing her to stop.
It was like being bound by an unbreakable chain—the more she struggled, the tighter it strangled her breath.
This feeling was unbearable.
Her memories froze at the moment she saw a face half-shrouded in the shadow of a witch’s hat.
She wanted to see clearly, but couldn’t.
Monster Association, loyalty oaths, hunting…
Cause and effect unfolded one by one, but whenever an important person appeared, the memory was forcibly cut off.
The only clue about this person was that indistinct face and the unique witch’s dress.
‘No, I have to find her and get an explanation.’
Helpless, Ning Xi had to give up such fruitless searching.
“Come to think of it, there was one very important thing I had to do… what was it again…”  Ning Xi muttered to herself. Â
Her water-blue hair gradually darkened from the tips upward.
Her figure suddenly stretched taller.
Correspondingly, her chest swelled rapidly, almost bursting the white dress in just moments.
But the most distinctive change was the orchid that quietly bloomed at the corner of her eye.
“No, who am I?”
After her emotions and personality were integrated, the memories that had been buried deep inside finally became whole, spreading slowly along her consciousness.
“I am… Luo Linglan? No, I should be Ning Xi… wait, how can I be Ning Xi?”
A violent contradiction exploded in her mind, causing a splitting headache.
This time, she couldn’t stop it.
Ning Xi was gradually transforming into the shape of Luo Linglan.
Through the memories, she saw strange scenes.
‘Am I… chiseling myself away?’ Â
‘Am I… loving myself?’
The newly formed personality shattered instantly for lack of supporting memories.
She began to accept new memories.
‘No, these memories don’t belong to me—they belong to Luo Linglan.’ Â
‘But now I am Luo Linglan.’Â Â
***
“Motes said she lost Little Edma, and coincidentally, the idiots in the Combat Division just happened to let Ning Xi escape as well.”
At the café, a few girls sat around a round table.
Though the warm atmosphere and aroma of coffee made it feel more like a tea party, this was actually Su Mu’s first official meeting since becoming a Magical Girl.
Ye Wanqing looked especially strange today.
Even wearing her black-rimmed glasses, her eyes were distant and kept glancing toward Su Mu, as if not fully paying attention to Tang Nai’s words.
Luo Jialan’s chair was deliberately moved close, almost pressed up against Su Mu.
Though her petite figure made the scene look like a sweet girlfriend leaning on her lover’s shoulder, Su Mu knew the other just wanted to rest her head on a soft spot.
This girl only needed to apply a little pressure, and Su Mu would be completely at her mercy.
“Is it that serious?”
Fortunately, Su Mu was paying attention—or rather, she was trying to distract herself from the milk-scented Luo Jialan beside her.
Just smelling her made Su Mu want hot milk tea—with pearls and a stirrer…
‘Ah, what am I thinking about!’Â Â
“It’s not exactly serious, but thanks to those fools in the Combat Division, I guess if they’d caught Ning Xi this time, they’d have to pay a huge price to get her back from us again—that girl’s a real cash cow.”
Hearing this, everyone was speechless.
Of course, nothing good came from Tang Nai’s mouth—when she was called here, they should’ve guessed she was full of mischief.
“So what should we do? I want to find a chance to approach that Ning Xi girl.” Luo Jialan asked. Â
Tang Nai’s eyes were drawn to the two girls’ hands clasped under the table, and a teasing smile appeared on her lips.
“That’s true, she’s still very important to you, but I have to tell you, the other Ning Xis are gone too. If I’m right, they’ve already fused into a single individual.”
Luo Jialan’s pupils constricted slightly at this.
“So what you might be facing is a witch who’s already reached B-rank.”
Just fighting a conceptual Desire Witch in her dreams was incredibly dangerous.
Without Su Mu’s help, she might already have fallen.
What would happen if she faced the real thing?
“Don’t worry. The Combat Division is trying to buy us some time. After all, she’s still in S City—more than a thousand kilometers away. It’d take at least a week to get here quietly.”
Ning Xi had a hard time using public transport.
Every inconspicuous checkpoint contained devices capable of detecting Magic Power.
If such a device came within a meter of her, no matter how well she concealed her Magic Power, it would trigger an alarm.
The only B-rank true warrior in the Combat Division stationed in S City wasn’t just idling around, and besides, Motes was there too.
But Motes was currently preoccupied with losing Little Edma.
That little girl had been bound by a Lock of Magic, so her strength had hardly recovered to B-rank.
She couldn’t cause trouble but was vulnerable if she ran into someone with ill intent who might kidnap and exploit her…
To take Edma away without leaving a trace would require at least a B-rank Strange Person.
That was why Tang Nai linked Edma’s disappearance to Ning Xi’s.
“I—I have to leave B City for a while and go home during the holidays.” Su Mu suddenly said, surprising everyone around. Â
“You’re going home?”