Coach! She’s On!

 Xingyu fixed her gaze on Herrera, her unease slowly replaced by confidence.

Her earlier probing had confirmed it—Three Lives, Ten Directions wasn’t without its flaws.

All those magical girls over the years, even the Top Ten Seats, kept falling to the Aurora Witch. Was it because they weren’t strong enough?

No.

It was because Herrera had always fought within her Sanctified Realm, where magical girls were rendered completely passive. There was never a chance to retaliate. The playing field was hopelessly skewed.

But if the field could be leveled—or even brought close to equal—then magical girls might just stand a chance.

“Give it up, Herrera. Everything you’ve done to magical girls over the years will finally receive the justice it deserves.

Otherwise… the power of a First-Order Spell—you don’t want to witness it.”

Only Xingyu’s voice echoed through the air.

The others merely watched from the sidelines, too afraid to intervene.

Zero had landed on the aircraft with her squad, her eyes locked on the confrontation in the distance.

A deep sense of unease churned in her chest.

Was today the day the mysterious veil around the Aurora Witch, once unmatched in the world, would be torn away for good?

No.

A bead of cold sweat slid down the side of Zero’s face.

She had once been part of a raid on Herrera.

Back then, what Herrera revealed was nothing short of divine fury.

So this unease inside her now—it had to be…

“Start the engines! We’re leaving—now!”

Zero shouted at her subordinates.

Meanwhile—

“Herrera, come on, say something?”

Xingyu’s breath quickened.

She didn’t know why, but she felt uneasy too.

“I thought you’d spent the last seven years preparing something brilliant.

And yet… sigh.”

Luo You let out a soft sigh.

“Disappointing. Incredibly disappointing.”

Three Lives, Ten Directions expanded to its full extent—like layers of golden citadels stacked atop one another.

Inside, all was calm, as if even time had frozen still.

“Hmm?”

Xingyu frowned, confused by her actions.

Could the intel have been wrong?

Was there some hidden mechanism in Three Lives, Ten Directions they had failed to uncover?

Luo You spread her arms.

“Didn’t you say I wouldn’t want to see the power of a First-Order Spell?

Then go ahead. Show me.”

“……”

Xingyu’s anxiety deepened.

Was Herrera going to let her cast it?

Even a royal-class dimensional beast couldn’t withstand a First-Order Spell—and she was just a human…

But she didn’t have time to hesitate!

Just as Three Lives, Ten Directions began to dissipate, she cast the strongest spell currently within her grasp.

First-Order Spell—Divine Edict: Let There Be Light

The churning waves of the Realm Sea stilled in an instant.

“……?”

In that frozen moment, Xingyu caught a glimpse—just before Three Lives, Ten Directions vanished entirely—of a beam of blue, clear as glazed crystal, blooming deep within the sanctum.

Then the sanctum vanished.

So did the blue light.

In its place, a blue, arched shield formed before Luo You, etched with four words:

THIS SIDE FACES ENEMY

And then, the omnipresent light touched the shield.

At the same moment, Luo You looked up.

“Azure Shockwave.”

Right then—

Zero piloted the aircraft far from the combat zone.

One of her subordinates leaned in and whispered,

“Captain, won’t we be punished by Lord Yue for abandoning Lady Herrera like that?”

Zero shook her head in silence.

The subordinate awkwardly stepped back to his station.

But just before he returned, he caught the murmur his captain hadn’t meant for anyone to hear.

“What a joke.

You think we left her behind?

We’re running so we don’t get killed with her.”

Killed by her?

The subordinate looked back in confusion.

But Herrera was barely holding on—how could she possibly—

And then, everyone aboard the aircraft witnessed it.

From the very spot they had just escaped, something massive surged upward—

The kind of overwhelming presence felt when the moon loomed closest to Earth.

The sea, once still, now roared to life, sending forth a tidal wave that dwarfed imagination.

A blue aurora swept across the Realm Sea, obliterating everything not tethered to reality.

Even the turbid skies over the Realm Sea were pierced—

Blinding beams and volatile high-energy particles exploded in all directions.

The searing heat rolled in like a tsunami.

Only the vastness of the Realm Sea could contain such an apocalypse.

Zero hugged herself, shivering.

This was it.

That woman—

She had never used her real power when fighting magical girls.

She always held back to avoid killing them outright.

This was her full strength.

Zero felt like she was witnessing a nuclear test—

A mushroom cloud rising in the distance, fearful that if she wasn’t far enough,

she too would be consumed in the blast.

She ran.

Even after reaching what should have been a safe distance, she kept running.

Only when the cloud could no longer be seen did she dare to breathe.

The Third Seat of the Top Ten—Xingyu—was almost certainly finished.

“Wha…”

The mirrored world floating above Xingyu’s head shattered completely.

She stood alone, stunned, unable to grasp what had just occurred.

She looked down at her own hands.

[I’m… alive?]

But no one else was.

Everyone else had perished in the earlier blast.

A single mocking chuckle shattered what little hope remained.

“This is all your fault, you know.

You just had to say it out loud—let those little bottom-feeders overhear.

I don’t really care, but still, it was one of my few weaknesses.”

Luo You’s playful tone sounded to Xingyu like the whisper of a demon.

In a blink, she was beside her.

She reached out and gently brushed Xingyu’s earlobe.

“And even if I hadn’t done that just now…

If I had only used this speed—

What could you have done to stop me?”

“….!”

Xingyu clenched her teeth and retreated swiftly.

“Herrera! You—”

She was about to counterattack.

But the moment she saw Luo You’s next move, all resistance evaporated.

Three Lives, Ten Directions swept outward in a straight line.

All the residual heat in the surroundings was pulled into the sanctum.

That’s cheating!

Despair flooded Xingyu’s chest.

You could recycle it?

And what—recycle it again?

And again?

An infinite loop?

Her thoughts ground to a halt.

Before this colossal display of power, she was no longer a combatant—just an ordinary human, dumbfounded.

Thinking back, her earlier theory about sealing off Three Lives, Ten Directions now felt utterly laughable…

Sure, Herrera’s defenses weren’t invincible anymore.

But in exchange, she had sacrificed defense for an output surge—

tenfold, or more.

“If I can’t gather enough energy from enemies,

then I’ll just produce it myself.”

Luo You stepped closer.

Without the slightest courtesy, she swung a hand at Xingyu’s chest—

slapping that disgraceful lump of fat without hesitation.

Smack!

“Eh!?”

“I used to go easy on you girls—avoiding techniques that might seriously injure you.

Didn’t expect that little mercy to become the reason you all started underestimating me.

Guess I’ll have to teach you a lesson.”