“From this moment on, your name is Xue,” Luo You declared.
“Got that?”
“Understood, Master. What do you need me to do?”
“Don’t call me Master. Call me Youyou.”
She paused, tilting her head.
“Just out of curiosity, how much do you know about the human world?”
“Leticia taught me a few things,” Xue replied softly.
“Good enough.”
Luo You let out a quiet sigh of relief.
At least she wouldn’t have to start from scratch.
Her gaze drifted downward, settling on Xue’s delicate features.
The girl’s appearance mirrored Leticia’s ethereal grace, though in a more diminutive form.
Those lively eyes shimmered with an innate charm, exuding a warmth that felt almost instinctual, drawing people in like a gentle tide.
“Maybe you could be Zining’s mom…”
Luo You mused, then caught herself.
“No, forget I said that.”
She shook her head, dismissing the fleeting thought as absurd.
A human shouldn’t entertain such ideas—at least, not so recklessly.
There were bigger concerns.
Xue’s resemblance to Leticia was striking.
If they encountered someone familiar with the magical girls, recognition would be inevitable.
Explaining that would be a headache she wasn’t ready for.
Thrust so suddenly with this troublesome responsibility, Luo You hadn’t yet figured out how to handle Xue.
Her daughter’s affairs were already a tangled mess, and now she’d just learned her daughter’s aunt was once her own enchanted weapon.
Problems kept piling up like storm clouds.
As Luo You walked, lost in thoughts of how to manage what lay ahead, her next step felt like crossing an unseen threshold.
The air shifted, and she snapped her head up, senses sharp.
…
Ahead, through a curtain of heavy snowfall, a figure loomed—cloaked in a towering black mantle, like a specter plucked from Western myths.
A bony arm protruded from the sleeve, gaunt as withered wood.
It wasn’t tall, yet its presence pressed down like a rolling tide, heavy with unspoken menace.
“Well, well… another visitor to this snowy spectacle?” the figure intoned.
Luo You instinctively stepped in front of Xue, her Three Realms Ten Directions Pure Land flaring to life.
Battle intent surged to its peak as she braced for combat.
This was their first encounter, yet the figure’s aura dwarfed even Xingyue, the mightiest magical girl she’d faced years ago.
“…”
The mysterious figure said nothing more.
The world around it seemed to bend, as if drawn into a single, deep inhale.
Snow and wind swirled toward it, grasses trembling in its wake.
At the crescendo of this gathering force, reality itself seemed to hang on the figure’s whim, poised to unravel with a thought.
Luo You’s heart raced, a sensation akin to sitting at the front of a bus hurtling at 180 kilometers per hour.
The wind’s pressure was secondary; the real terror was the certainty that a collision at this speed would be fatal.
In less than two seconds, the figure exhaled, and the tension shattered.
“—!!”
Luo You’s eyes widened.
The snow between them exploded under the crushing force, the ground beneath splintering in a direct blast.
A haze of snow dust swallowed the scene, cloaking everything in a pale, chaotic veil.
Yet, within the sanctuary of her Three Realms Ten Directions Pure Land, the destruction stilled.
The divine domain absorbed the onslaught, rendering it formless, sinking it into the void.
No matter how devastating the impact, it meant nothing once it crossed her boundary.
Still, Luo You felt the sheer magnitude of the force ripple through her.
Her pupils were constricted.
The Three Realms Ten Directions Pure Land was her greatest asset, a skill honed through countless battles.
It could gather all forms of energy within its range—kinetic, thermal, even the esoteric mana—and channel them as she desired.
Its flaw?
She couldn’t absorb new energy until the gathered force was released.
And there was a limit: two seconds.
That was the longest she could sustain a single absorption.
Even so, it was a power that defied reason.
Paired with her Deep Blue Impact, she could level entire mountains.
But now, in less than a second, the energy amassed within her Pure Land was already pushing the limits of what she could control.
“What kind of monster is this?” she muttered.
Her will shifted, and the Pure Land coalesced into a golden longsword in her hand.
Graceful and radiant, she slashed horizontally, the blade’s light cleaving through layers of resistance.
The brilliance was blinding, a single stroke that seemed to part the heavens.
The endless haze split in two, the shockwave soaring skyward, churning the snow-laden clouds into chaos.
Icy winds poured through the rift.
“You’re the one who broke through the Realm Sea’s barrier!”
In that single clash, Luo You pieced together the figure’s origin.
What she’d just witnessed matched the videos she’d seen online—identical, except now she was seeing it from the first person.
The figure’s target was likely Xue.
Both hailed from the Realm Sea; the connection was too obvious to ignore.
Having weathered the figure’s initial probe, Luo You gauged its strength.
If that was only five to seven-tenths of its power, she’d need to unleash her Immaculate White.
But summoning the Absolute Spirit Coral would turn this place into a death zone for all magical beings.
Leticia, still within the Canglan Ruins, might vanish entirely.
“I bear no ill will,” the figure finally spoke, its voice low.
“I only wished to know who you are.”
Luo You’s brow furrowed.
If she were some nobody, that earlier attack would’ve reduced her to ash.
“Completely unrestrained, huh? Doing whatever you please.”
“You’re strong,” the figure said.
“I look forward to meeting you again.”
It vanished as abruptly as it appeared, leaving no trace. Luo You had no intention of chasing it down.
That thing wasn’t something she could easily handle.
She could already imagine the chaos this being would unleash in the human world.
It was a force no one could restrain.
“Xue, you okay?”
“Y-Yes…”
Xue’s voice trembled as she clutched the hem of Luo You’s skirt.
“That… that might’ve been a Lightseizer!”
“A Lightseizer-level dimensional beast?”
Luo You’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re sure?”
“I… I think so! I had that kind of power once, but my memories of that time are hazy.”
Luo You’s gaze lingered on the direction the figure had vanished.
She’d just learned from Leticia that Lightseizer-level dimensional beasts devolved into mindless creatures.
Yet this one had shattered that intel almost immediately.
“Lightseizer beasts are immortal, only sealable if you find their weakness,” she murmured.
“If this one still has its intellect, we’re in trouble.”
In the distance, the sky hummed with the approach of sleek, futuristic helicopters, their green-and-red contrails painting elegant arcs.
The Magic Alliance had sensed the disturbance.
With the Realm Sea barrier breached, they’d likely sent their best.
One of the Ten Seats might even be among them.
“Xue, let’s go. Hold on tight.”
The Three Realms Ten Directions Pure Land contracted, enveloping Xue in a protective cocoon.
A pink shimmer rippled over Luo You’s body, and in an instant, they were gone.
…
Two minutes later—
A massive star-ring materialized in the sky, encircling the entire Canglan Ruins, pulsing with maximum power.
“Search is complete. No dimensional beast signatures detected.”
The helicopters hovered over a massive crater in the snowy expanse—the site of Luo You’s clash with the mysterious figure.
“Good work, everyone,” a voice called out. “Let’s cordon off the area.”
A girl descended from one of the helicopters, her presence like a wave of dreamy azure.
She knelt in the crater, tracing the faint outlines of footprints left in the snow.
Her fingers brushed the shallow imprints, and a faint smile curved her lips.
“No mistake… it’s her. Still as petite and charming as ever.”
A magical girl approached, her shoulder adorned with the badge of the Ten Seats Council.
Despite her rank, her eyes brimmed with awe and nervous anticipation.
“Lady Xingyue,” she said respectfully, “based on our observations, the entity that breached the Realm Sea was here. We don’t yet know who it fought. We’ll identify both parties as soon as possible!”