Chapter 23 : The Saint’s Heart 

Luo You’s eyelids dipped slightly, a flicker of understanding passing through her mind as she grasped Leticia’s intent.

The human expeditions sent to the depths of the Boundary Sea had never returned—not a single one.

Yet here, before her, stood a frail, intelligent dimensional beast, its experiences in those uncharted depths holding immeasurable value.

“You want me to take it to the Magic Alliance, don’t you? If this is your final wish, I’ll do it.”

Luo You agreed without hesitation.

Perhaps it was her newfound femininity influencing her, but her decision leaned toward emotion rather than cold logic.

She resolved to help Leticia.

After all, this was a woman with whom she’d shared a night of passion.

Leticia’s cooperation had made it unforgettable, and Luo You felt compelled to see this through to the end.

But then—

“No, I don’t want you to take it to the Magic Alliance. I want to entrust it to you.”

Luo You tilted her head, a playful glint in her eyes. “Should I take this as a parting gift?”

“No!” Leticia’s voice cracked like a whip, sharp and indignant. “I said,” entrust!

“Not some trinket for you to toss aside!”

Her words gave Luo You pause, the weight of the request sinking in.

This magical girl was proposing something unthinkable, an act that would scandalize the world if it got out.

The “Tolerant Saint” would lose her sanctity, replaced by a chorus of doubts and accusations.

“Why?”

Luo You asked, her arms lifting slightly, her tone calm but probing.

“I don’t care about the risks,” she continued, “but you’re a magical girl. You know this is gambling with humanity’s safety.”

Leticia didn’t waver.

“When the Magic Alliance used the Zeroth-Order Spell, I glimpsed its memories by chance. What I saw there is my answer now.”

Her voice softened, steady and certain.

“With the right guidance, it won’t be a threat. In fact, it could be our only hope of understanding the Boundary Sea for decades to come.”

Luo You smirked.

“That’s a bold claim. Sounds like a classic movie line—the kind that gets you killed.”

“Reality isn’t a script. I’ve verified this myself,” Leticia countered.

“And if its nature is evil?”

“Compared to it, the darkness most humans carry from birth is far more sinister.”

There was no hesitation in Leticia’s eyes, no grand gestures or impassioned rhetoric.

Her voice was even, almost flat, devoid of the charisma that might sway a crowd.

She’d fail miserably in a lecture hall.

Yet, there was something in her quiet conviction that made Luo You want to believe her.

“So, you’re entrusting it to me?”

Luo You asked, raising an eyebrow.

She wasn’t oblivious to her own reputation.

Entrust a dimensional beast to her?

Did Leticia expect her to raise it into some ultimate magical girl hunter?

No way.

There could only be one hunter of magical girls.

“I believe you’re the right person for this,” Leticia said simply.

Luo You blinked.

“One night together, and you think you know me?”

Leticia placed a hand over her heart, a faint warmth softening her expression.

“I have the power to touch souls. When two people entwine so intimately, their true selves are laid bare. That night, your soul imprinted itself on me.”

She continued, her voice steady.

“Yes, you’ve harmed many magical girls. But your actions can’t be reduced to mere ‘evil.’ Evil creates nothing of value for others.”

“You’re different. Just as you became someone important to me that night, I believe your actions have created something meaningful for others, too.”

Luo You’s heart twisted.

Stop it, she thought.

Keep talking like that, and I’ll start believing my deeds are righteous.

She hadn’t expected her pursuit of magical girls to ever be validated.

For a moment, she felt a surge of motivation—then quickly dismissed it.

No way.

“Are you encouraging me?” she teased.

“Keep this up, and you’ll be responsible for all the magical girls I hunt in the future.”

Leticia’s words had backed her into a corner. “Fine,” Luo You said.

“If this is your dying wish, I’ll honor it.”

“Thank you.”

Why not the Magic Alliance?

Luo You didn’t need to ask.

The answer was obvious: Leticia alone couldn’t sway the Alliance’s will.

They might act against her wishes, mishandling the beast in ways she couldn’t predict.

“I can’t promise I’ll take good care of it,” Luo You said, glancing at the small snowman-like creature.

“Its appearance… isn’t exactly safe, is it?”

“It evolved to this form under my guidance,” Leticia explained.

“But it’s incomplete. With divine particles, you can help it complete its transformation, making it indistinguishable from a human.”

“Divine particles? How?”

“Just give it a drop of your blood. That’s enough.”

Luo You hesitated but sliced her arm.

Thanks to the divine particles, no blood flowed naturally.

She had to force it out using the Three Realms and Ten Directions Pure Land technique.

The snowman, teetering on the edge of consciousness, jolted upright.

Its cloudy eyes cleared, fixating on the drop of blood with primal fear.

Luo You didn’t hesitate.

With a flick of her finger, the blood shot into its mouth.

“Guh—!?”

The snowman’s form rippled like an unstable balloon, collapsing to the ground in agony.

It writhed, its howls chilling enough to raise goosebumps.

“Hey, it looks like it’s dying!”

Luo You shot a glance at Leticia, who remained unfazed.

“Focus!”

Leticia commanded.

“Do what you’ve been taught!”

Her words steadied the creature.

It curled into a ball, its body hissing as if doused in acid, tendrils of green smoke rising.

The snowman coughed violently, expelling the blood.

Luo You hesitated for a moment before retrieving it.

“I… I…” the snowman rasped, its form now dramatically altered.

Its once-alien limbs and face had reshaped into something startlingly human.

“It looks… like you,” Luo You said, turning to Leticia.

“I guided it to take my form as a template,” Leticia replied.

“It’s a bit small, but not bad. Could probably pass as human.”

“Pass as human?”

Leticia raised an eyebrow.

“Nothing, just a reflex,” Luo You said quickly, brushing it off.

Why did divine particles affect it?

She wanted to ask, but Leticia likely wouldn’t know either.

Still, it hinted at a connection between dimensional beasts and divine particles—or perhaps the entire Ancient Artifact series.

Luo You also noticed something else: the particles hadn’t helped the snowman transform.

They’d disrupted its structure, forcing its body to reshape itself.

“I saw something in its memories,” Leticia said suddenly.

“Hm?”

“When the Magic Alliance used the Zeroth-Order Spell, I entered its mind. I saw the Boundary Sea’s depths—tides rising and falling, a fleeting nine-colored light, dreamlike and gone in an instant.”

Leticia smiled faintly.

“What do you think that could be?”

Luo You gazed upward, the blizzard now fading. “Guess I’ll have to see it for myself.”

The storm, she suspected, had something to do with the snowman or Leticia.

“Need me to pass a message to your friends?”

“If you wouldn’t mind…”

Leticia began, and Luo You pulled out her phone to jot it down.

The snowman sat obediently behind Leticia, still as a statue.

Ding-dong, ding-dong.

Three trending notifications flooded Luo You’s phone.

She moved to swipe them away, but the text caught her eye, and she tapped in.

The Boundary Gate has been breached?

She skimmed the article, its contents matching the headline, then dove into the comments.

…

“Oh my God! A humanoid creature from the Boundary Sea broke through the Gate!”

“What’s so surprising? Dimensional beasts slip through all the time.”

“This is different! It was a direct breach! The Magic Alliance’s elite couldn’t stop it!”

“I was there! A roar shook the ground, gray smoke shot into the sky, and an entire battalion was wiped out in seconds!”

“Yeah, right. If you were there, why aren’t you dust? Typing from the afterlife?”

“Probably just an explosion.”

“No, I live nearby. That was a creature’s roar—short but so loud it shattered my windows. My house is ten kilometers away!”

…

The comments were a chaotic mix of truth and exaggeration.

Luo You couldn’t tell what was real, but the core story held: the Boundary Gate had been breached head-on.

“Troubled times,” she muttered.

She turned to Leticia.

“How long can you stay here?”

“As long as this place holds traces of the Boundary Sea’s essence, I should persist.”

“Then this isn’t goodbye forever.”

Luo You beckoned to the snowman.

“You, come with me.”

The creature hesitated, fear in its eyes, but Luo You grabbed its hand and pulled it along like a parent dragging a reluctant child.

“Wait!”

Leticia called out, taking a deep breath.

“Could you… say something I’d want to hear?”

“If I said it easily, you’d think less of me, wouldn’t you?”

“No, I’m the Tolerant Saint, after all.”

“Still no deal.”

Luo You’s smile bloomed, delicate as a green lotus.

“The exceptional me doesn’t belong to anyone. But I’ll say this: every magical girl I’ve claimed is mine—including you.”

“Pfft! Scoundrel! Get lost!”

The Tolerant Saint’s tolerance, it seemed, had its limits.