“Yuyu, do you have any idea why such a powerful enemy has targeted you?”
“Nope.”
“That’s strange. The Fury-Eater Titan has never personally gone after a magical girl before…”
“Ah, maybe it’s because I saved a little girl?”
Seeing that if she didn’t toss out some bait, she might draw fire onto herself, Luo You decided to mention Xue’s existence.
“That girl seemed to be the target of those Fusion Warriors, and the Fury-Eater Titan seemed to care a lot about her too. Maybe because I ruined their plans and the Fury-Eater Titan happened to show up, that’s why…”
Zhizhi seemed to suddenly understand, perhaps that was it.
She thought of that mysterious entity who wiped out all surviving Fusion Warriors.
“Yuyu, the girl you saved is probably the Dusky Witch!”
Zhizhi shouted excitedly.
The Fury-Eater Titan leveled the sea defense at the Border Sea Gate, most likely to lure Xingyue over so they could capture her.
And after destroying the sea defense, the Fury-Eater Titan immediately rushed back, just to make sure they could secure the Dusky Witch.
After all, just those Fusion Warriors alone couldn’t possibly take down Ariel, whose strength was on par with the Ten Seats.
Luo You put on a troubled expression.
“Eh… really? She seemed way smaller than the Dusky Witch, just about this tall.”
She measured with her palm at her side.
“That’s hard to say. Fusion Warriors come in all shapes and sizes. I advise you not to compare them to ordinary humans,” Zhizhi said in a low voice.
Because of this, if not for the government’s strong support and selective cover-ups, Fusion Warriors would never be accepted by the general public.
Luo You went along, asking, “Are you saying the Dusky Witch can change her size?”
“That’s not the point! I’m saying your chastity was in serious danger just now! That’s an opponent even bottom-feeder Butterfly can’t beat—did you really need to jump in and save her?”
Hey, what did you just call your magical girl companion?
“Haven’t you heard about what happened to bottom-feeder Butterfly? She might just go ‘Wuhu~’ and off you, Yuyu. In front of the Dusky Witch, a mere Yuyu like you stands absolutely no chance.”
“Hmph!”
Luo You snorted coldly and looked off into the distance.
“Let’s hurry up and get on with disaster relief.”
This time, the Fury-Eater Titan had only made a brief move, yet 12% of Huahai City’s land had suffered irreparable destruction, resulting in thousands of casualties—a terrifying show of force.
If they hadn’t issued an evacuation warning when the Border Sea Gate first fell, the death toll would probably have exceeded a hundred thousand.
“No, she has to come with me to the Border Sea Gate.”
Xingyue suddenly descended, speaking solemnly, “Jinlin, I’m leaving this to you. Zhizhi and I need to head to the Border Sea Gate immediately. The situation there is ten thousand times worse than here.” “Got it, go quickly.”
Huahai City was relatively stable for now.
The Border Sea Gate, on the other hand, was at a critical point; if the sea defenses couldn’t be held, the southern region’s livelihood, economy, and national security would all face unprecedented catastrophe.
What had been a relatively calm situation now became extremely severe in an instant, all because of the Fury-Eater Titan’s intervention.
After exchanging a few more words, Zhizhi and Xingyue left through teleportation magic.
Luo You began relief work.
“Lord Jinlin!”
Qiu Yu arrived, leading a group of magical girls.
They came in a rush, but the chaos around them did not unsettle them in the slightest, for they had found their anchor.
“Work with the rescue teams—save as many lives as you can.”
“Yes!”
Disaster relief proceeded as usual.
Listening to the cries around her and the angry shouts of rescue workers, Luo You felt numb, her heart as calm as dead water.
She stood atop the ruins, gazing out at the devastated scene.
“Come to think of it, ever since I became a magical girl, all I’ve done is disaster relief, huh?” she suddenly murmured.
The signs of chaos in troubled times were just beginning to show.
When the Border Sea tides reached their absolute peak, scenes like this would become nothing out of the ordinary.
This disaster relief wouldn’t end in just two or three days.
By midnight, Luo You slipped away to find Xue, who was still hiding in the sewers.
The child had been down there a while, her eyes vacant—she’d probably pounce on a rat and eat it without a second thought.
She might have eaten a few already.
“Hey, Xue, how are you holding up?”
“Yuyu!”
“Yuyu your head! I told you, don’t call me by name at a time like this.”
Luo You slapped her hands onto Xue’s slightly chubby cheeks.
“Congratulations, thanks to your genius move of going out to buy cola last time, the house I just bought is gone.”
Xue snapped awake.
“What about the computer?!”
“Gone too.”
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh—”
Xue’s anguished howl echoed through the sewers.
***
“How could we fail even like this!?”
Even the computer-processed, synthesized voice couldn’t hide the fury behind it.
“Didn’t the Fury-Eater Titan personally take action?”
“We spent over a billion before and after. The talk was all about how reliable and guaranteed it was! Even the Fury-Eater Titan moved, yet we got nothing in the end! Can you tell me why?!”
Bai He had no reply.
She didn’t dare say it was because the Fury-Eater Titan was too useless.
Who knew if it was lurking nearby?
Talking bad about it would be asking for death.
On the contrary, she felt there was nothing wrong with the Fury-Eater Titan’s actions.
According to their assessment of the Dusky Witch, the Fury-Eater Titan had a 100% chance of taking her down—even with a Fourth Seat present, it would still be 100%.
Data, samples, and formulas were all correct.
If even then they failed, it could only mean there was some anomaly on site—or perhaps—the Dusky Witch was just that abnormal.
“We may have severely underestimated the Dusky Witch’s strength,” Bai He said softly.
“I don’t want reasons, I want results!”
The electronic voice still raged.
“That was our last chance. How are you going to make up for this loss?!”
There could never be another opportunity to go after the Dusky Witch, unless the plan was launched on a national scale without the Black Candle Titan, turning the chaos into reality—only then would a second opportunity arise, when the Black Candle Titan could be used as a combat asset.
“Then I’ll execute Plan B myself.”
“Fine! You said it. If you fail again, no one will be able to protect you!”
After ending the call, Bai He couldn’t help but sigh.
Carrying out the backup Plan B—it was a one-in-ten-thousand chance of survival…
Bai He summoned her subordinates.
“Contact the Tidal Men. Prepare a ship for the Border Sea. Get me the best one.”
“Eh!? Lord Bai He, are you going to the Border Sea yourself?”
“Yes. Get everything ready.”
“But the Border Sea is too dangerous right now! The Fusion Warriors can’t even go as escorts, we—”
“Get the ship ready!”
“…Yes.”
Bai He sternly dismissed her subordinates.
She looked out the window, thoughts churning.
At this point, she had no choice but to head to the Border Sea herself and forcibly break the seal of the Zero-Rank Magic to awaken the Black Candle Titan.
She knew the general location of the seal, but it was just a rough coordinate, deep within the Border Sea—far away, with no guarantee of finding it at all.