“You’re saying Motes is gone?” Mi Xian’s voice trembled with unease.
“That’s even worse. If we can’t find her, Edma will surely take it out on you all. With her current strength, I doubt anyone could stand in her way.”
“Hah! Just how strong is she?” Su Mu asked, her tone laced with skepticism.
“She’s undeniably B-rank now,” Mi Xian replied.
B-rank, and no one could stop her?
The thought was almost laughable.
The Magical Girl Association still had that silver-haired witch, whose constant protective magic was B-rank in its own right.Â
Yet, as Su Mu mulled this over, Irina’s voice echoed softly in the depths of her mind.
“I’d advise against counting on Tang Nai for your battle strength. Her involvement would be the absolute worst outcome.”
Su Mu’s eyes narrowed, a flicker of unease passing through her.
‘The worst outcome? What does that mean? And… you don’t actually know her, do you?’
“Tang Nai’s name is infamous along the Dream Realm’s border,” Irina’s voice continued, cool and measured.
“But almost no one wants to get tangled up with her. Any guesses why?”
‘Oh, I get it. I’d love to steer clear of that silver-haired witch myself. With her personality, she’s probably notorious in a place like that.’
“Infamous is one way to put it,” Irina said dryly.
“Sorry to say, little Su Mu, but you’re already in too deep with her.”
‘Hmph! I’ll rise above it one day. Just make sure you don’t get tangled up with her over there!’
“…It’s not quite that dire,” Irina replied, her tone softening.
Somewhere, hidden at the edge of a dreamscape ruin, Irina lingered near an exit.
Su Mu’s defiant thoughts reached her, dimming her expression for a moment.Â
‘Steer clear of her?’
The words might have held weight three years ago, but now?
Far too late.
Sensing a faint pulse of concealed magic ahead, Irina snapped to full alertness.
This was her chance to catch a big prize—success or failure hinged on this moment.
“The point is, don’t rely on Tang Nai,” Irina continued.
“The combat division treats her like a magical nuke. If she goes off, the fallout would be worse than a monster ruling the world.”
‘Got it. Tang Nai ruling the world? Yeah, that’s terrifying.’
Irina offered no further reply, leaving Su Mu to ponder Mi Xian’s words.
“How strong is B-rank, exactly?” Su Mu asked.
“Could a group of C-ranks take her down?”
Mi Xian stared, dumbfounded.
“A group of C-ranks? Are you serious?”
It wasn’t just a matter of numbers.
Even if every person in B City was C-rank, they’d still line up to get thrashed by Edma.
Something like that had already happened in the third layer of the Dream Realm.
“Senior, you’ve never been to the third layer, have you?” Mi Xian asked.
“Nope. Isn’t it dangerous? I thought only C-ranks could enter.”
“Exactly. I only dared go in ages ago, before something truly horrifying happened.”
“What happened?” Su Mu’s curiosity piqued.
Mi Xian cleared her throat, adopting an eerie tone as she leaned in.
“Once, a B-rank witch fell into darkness. In a single day, she tore through the third layer, hunting everything in her path. She crushed all she saw. C-ranks couldn’t even get close without falling under her thrall.”
The grim tale stirred a memory in Su Mu, a shadow of someone she once knew.
“Wait,” she interrupted.
“This B-rank witch… tall, with a scar by her eye, called the Witch of Desire?”
Mi Xian’s eyes lit up.
“Yes! How’d you know?”
Su Mu’s heart skipped, recalling her encounter with Luo Linglan in Lando’s Dream Realm.
She’d walked away unscathed only because the witch had shown mercy.
“No one above B-rank stepped in?” Su Mu pressed.
“Something that extreme?”
Mi Xian shrugged and replied, “I’m not sure if there even are ranks above B. Never heard of any.”
That made Edma’s threat all the more daunting.
“So why’s this Monster King after Motes?” Su Mu asked.
“I know this one,” Mi Xian said, her voice tinged with lingering dread.
“A year ago, when Edma first hit B-rank, she was tall, striking, and oozed intimidation. She preyed on girls, even set her sights on me once.”
Mi Xian shivered at the memory.
Edma, codenamed “Dragon,” was greedy, lustful, violent, and insufferably arrogant.
Her gaze felt like a dragon’s, exhaling scorching breath, chilling you to the bone.
But that was the past.
One day, Edma set out, as usual, to find “fresh delights.”
By nightfall, she’d typically return to her King’s Chamber with at least three enchanted girls in tow.Â
That night, she didn’t come back.
No one dared question her—Edma loathed interference, calling it “overstepping.”
Her subordinates, fretting over whether they’d “overstep” themselves, never imagined their proud leader had been utterly broken, her dignity stripped away.
The cheap inn’s bed was surprisingly sturdy, undisturbed by nosy staff.
The only interruption came when Motes stepped out to buy water—not for herself, but because a dehydrated “sponge” felt less pleasant to the touch.
The next day, Edma limped back to the King’s Chamber, only to be stopped at the door.
“What? You’re Edma?” a subordinate scoffed.
“Hilarious. You’re barely grown and already lying through your teeth?”
The words struck a nerve, dragging Edma back to the previous night’s torment.
Her body, once mature and proudly unshaven—a symbol of feminine allure and dominance—had been “tamed.”
Motes, that white-haired witch, preferred her “smooth” and used brutal methods to ensure it.
To Edma’s horror, Motes produced a waxing strip.
Armpits and skin were one thing, but there?
Unthinkable!Â
Edma once mistakenly applied a sanitary pad adhesive-side-up, and tearing it off felt like losing half her life.
Waxing strips were a nightmare beyond that.
Yet Motes was undeterred.
In despair, Edma’s pride shattered.
Her monster core corrupted, she transformed into a dragon loli—a childlike shell of her former self.
The silver lining?
She was now “smooth,” spared further waxing torture.
The downside?
Her polluted core left her so weak that her subordinates bound her like a dumpling and tossed her into a bathtub, awaiting “Lady Edma’s” judgment.
Days passed without Edma’s return.
The guards finally sensed something was terribly wrong.
“No way… that loli’s the real deal! Run!”
When a furious Edma regained her strength and shattered her bonds, most of her guilty underlings had fled the country.
She’d lost her dignity and her forces.
Now, Edma had clawed her way back, her power no longer childish.
Yet some scars from that humiliating night would never fade.