Xi Deheim—
Luozining still hadn’t had time to return and see the outcome when Ji Yue brought her here.
The vast majority of Magical Girls had never been to Xi Deheim; it was a place reserved only for those active on the front lines with sufficient strength to be invited.
Many Magical Girls took great pride in being summoned to Xi Deheim.
Naturally, Luozining had never been there before.
At this moment, she looked like a country girl who couldn’t even dare to blink.
As far as her eyes could see, the architectural style seemed like a bizarre pile of unreal shapes stacked together, yet not chaotic—there was a certain refined spirit lacking in ordinary reinforced concrete structures.
The swirling mysterious yellow cloud sea outside added a magical hue to this elegance.
And the magical creatures living in Xi Deheim gave Luozining an overwhelming sense of having entered another world.
“Are those really all magical creatures?”
Luozining grabbed Ji Yue’s arm and asked urgently.
“Mm, they really are.”
Although the magical creatures also looked strange, they were fundamentally different from the Dimensional Beasts in the Realm Sea—they were pleasing to the eye.
Opening a game focused on raising elves, the scenes wouldn’t look much different from what lay before her—some handsome, some cute.
While not many possessed advanced intelligence, most still had above-average intelligence compared to Earth’s animals, excluding humans.
“So amazing… This is totally another world!”
“You could look at it that way.”
Ji Yue agreed.
Her first visit had been just like Luozining’s now—completely overwhelmed by the novelty here.
Some magical creatures even took human form, but it was easy to tell they were magical creatures in disguise.
Ji Yue explained that most magical creatures originally had no form and would generally imitate whatever shape they preferred.
“Fei Yu, Xiao Hong Mao, you came early. Are you here to get used to things in advance?”
“Senior Xing Yu! Senior Li Yun!”
Luozining bowed repeatedly.
Suddenly, she realized she was about to meet all the elusive Ten Seats members!
She became nervous.
“No need to be so formal.”
Li Yun kindly raised her hand and reached for Luozining’s hat.
“I’ve been wanting to touch this hat for a long time.”
“Ah, if you want to try it on, feel free.”
“Then I won’t hold back.”
Just as Li Yun was about to take off the hat, Xing Yu gave a light cough, stopping her.
At that moment, elegant music suddenly sounded around them.
“Da, da-da~ da-da-da, da-da-da~ da-da-da! Da-da, da-da-da…”
Candy began to fall from the sky, and from inside a giant candy shell exploded out a mischievous brat.
“Yaho~! The great Zhizhi-sama has arrived!”
“Ugh!”
Luozining’s expression instantly changed, growing awkward.
That brat was really the Fourth Seat!
How on earth had Lao Deng gotten connected with the Fourth Seat!?
“You actually showed up!”
Xing Yu looked puzzled.
“You’ve missed eight out of the ten meetings, and yet you came this time?”
“Ah~ Honestly, I didn’t want to come, but Manjusaka insisted I show up, so here I am.”
Zhizhi cutely pressed her index fingers to her cheeks.
“No choice~ Without Zhizhi-sama, this meeting just couldn’t happen. I’m that important.”
Xing Yu turned her head slightly.
“Well, as long as you’re happy.”
It was clear she didn’t want to deal with Zhizhi.
Because that brat really was arrogant!
“Oh? Oh?”
Zhizhi rushed up quickly when she saw Luozining.
“Uh, Senior Zhizhi, hello!”
“A new face, huh? Who are you?”
“She’s Xiao Hong Mao, a newly appointed Ten Seat! You probably haven’t been paying attention to these affairs, huh?”
Xing Yu said loudly.
“Ha, lately I’ve only had winning duels on my mind, haven’t been watching at all~”
At this, Li Yun trembled slightly.
She knew exactly who that ‘someone’ Zhizhi mentioned was.
Yes! That scoundrel!
Luozining: “Th-That person is who? (nervous)”
“Eh!?”
Surprised, Li Yun immediately said, “I-I don’t know!”
But later she realized the question wasn’t for her, but—“!?”
Li Yun felt her vision overwhelmed by endless white light.
Outside Xi Deheim, the scenery had turned into dazzling whiteness at some unknown time, washing out the multi-colored dreamlike Xi Deheim into a pristine snow-white.
Then, from within the white haze, a white figure appeared clearly visible despite the brightness.
His entire body was covered by curving armor, and staring at him long enough could even make one feel dizzy.
His arrival carried no aggression, nor overwhelming oppression.
But the moment they saw this white light, Luozining and the others knew that the owner of the light was at a level they could hardly aspire to in their lifetime.
Inside the hall.
The figure entered Xi Deheim and didn’t pause at all, directly heading into the chamber where the Ten Seats members were gathering for discussion.
“N-No, what is that thing!?”
Luozining shrank back fearfully. She had never felt that level of oppression, even on Xingyue.
Glancing again, she saw even the usually unruly Zhizhi had composed her face and dared not act up.
Xing Yu whispered, “I don’t know much either, only that this person is the true ruler of Xi Deheim—probably the oldest magical creature still existing here.”
“A-Amazing!”
Luozining swallowed hard.
Was she really going to be in the same room as such a being?
“Why are you still standing there? Let’s go inside.”
Xing Yu raised her head and took the lead, guiding everyone into the great hall.
Manjusaka was already waiting inside without dispute, sitting in the first seat on the left of the long rectangular table.
The seat originally belonging to Xingyue was now occupied by the white-armored figure.
Xing Yu sat in the first seat at the lower right, while Luozining, guided by Ji Yue, took the last seat on the right.
Shortly after, Zheyi Butterfly and Jin Wang arrived.
The Eighth Seat, Bailing, remained northwest to continue guarding, so now all were present.
“Everyone, you’ve received my message, right?”
Manjusaka cut straight to the point.
“There is a Rift-class presence in the Realm Sea, reaching the level of the Black Candle Colossus; furthermore, someone within Border Customs is colluding with this presence. We must begin preparations.”
After speaking, she gestured toward Zheyi Butterfly.
Zheyi Butterfly pushed back her chair and stood, saying:
“I’ve been tracking this matter with Manjusaka for the past few days and managed to catch a mouthpiece. Along the way, we uncovered a large organization you should all be familiar with—‘Highton Technologies,’ a major supplier building super-large star rings.”
All the Ten Seats present wore serious expressions.
Highton Technologies was more than just a company; behind it was a massive European financial conglomerate.
Even such a powerful group was involved—showing how grave the situation was.
“Relying on the governments in that region to solve this is impossible; even the president of that country is a puppet of that financial group. We have to handle this ourselves.”
Manjusaka’s voice was calm but powerful.
“But acting this way will inevitably cause panic worldwide, so I need to put this to a vote.”
“Should we intervene in international security affairs without obtaining international approval first?”
At the same time—
“Hmm?”
Luoyou opened a window and murmured, “The sky is changing?”