Magical girls eager to try

Volume Two: The Witch’s Huashan Duel

|”Ji Yue, are you really planning to stop Herrera?” Zhou Xi asked.

“What can I possibly do?”

Ji Yue questioned herself.

Herrera’s true strength could only be understood when facing her head-on.

And that strength… the gulf was so vast it could not be bridged.

No matter how much Ji Yue pushed past her limits,

no matter how deep her bonds of friendship ran,

she would never glimpse the Aurora Witch’s true might.

Those magical girls who had only appeared after Herrera’s retreat—

they had no real understanding of what it meant to face her.

No matter how many times their seniors warned them,

they simply couldn’t empathize.

It was like parents telling a child that the Big Bad Wolf will eat them if they don’t study.

Just words.

A rumor.

Even Ji Yue herself thought that maybe the name “Aurora Witch” had grown too exaggerated among magical girls.

Too much myth and fear could make people stop taking it seriously.

She feared that within a week, one of the new era’s magical girls would stumble.

Even Zhou Xi, who knew Herrera’s temperament well, felt powerless to stop it.

In the end, she could only say:

“This isn’t something you should take on yourself.

I’m sure the Ten Seats will act, and right now we also have Lady Xingyue… but still—”

Ji Yue couldn’t shake the faint premonition that all of this had started because of her.

“I’m going home first. You should rest too, Zhou Xi.

Even though you healed the wounds with magic, you still need proper rest.”

Back at home, Ji Yue lay on her bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

She had no appetite.

When Herrera made her declaration and then turned to look at her—

that feeling, like the cold press of a barrel against her body—

that had not been an illusion.

She was being targeted.

Adding it all together with the words Herrera spoke,

Ji Yue was ninety percent sure those barbs were directed at her.

Of all the girls Herrera had once violated,

who had been the most proactive in fighting back?

Ji Yue felt she could claim first place.

She didn’t know what other magical girls had done for revenge,

but when it came to forming groups, rallying the victims,

she was the first.

And hers was the most radical approach.

So perhaps those words were a warning.

A message to her: stop trying to stir up trouble.

Wait…

Another possibility occurred to Ji Yue.

[Could Herrera actually mean… I should go apologize?]

Her phoenix eyes widened in disbelief.

She was the victim.

And she was supposed to apologize?!

Impossible. Absolutely impossible!

Even if the heavens overturned, this logic did not hold.

In what twisted world would the victim apologize to the abuser?

If such a rule existed, it would mean the world had already collapsed.

Herrera might have settled into a family life now.

She even had a daughter.

It made sense she didn’t want to be pestered by the magical girls she once trampled on.

But for Ji Yue, a victim, to bow her head?

Never!

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.

She would never yield.

And besides—

whatever Herrera planned, she’d have to get through the Ten Seats first.

There was no way they’d stand by and watch Herrera defile the new generation.

A week slipped by.

As expected, Herrera’s declaration had rippled across the Magical Alliance.

But the “waves” were… odd.

What she had actually said spread quickly by word of mouth.

And with every retelling, the meaning twisted stranger and stranger.

The original “I will never take responsibility, vow eternal enmity”

evolved into “I will never give up, vow to expand my harem,”

“may we coexist harmoniously,”

“you are in me and I in you.”

Utter nonsense.

Clearly someone within the Ten Seats had deliberately intervened,

distorting Herrera’s meaning,

preventing her from achieving whatever she had intended.

“Heh, so that’s the trick you’re using?”

Luo You’s brows arched with interest.

She slouched on the sofa, sitting backwards with her lace-socked feet waving idly in the air.

“That sounds exactly like something you’d say…”

“No, no, no! I never said anything like that. That’s their own nonsense!” Herrera flailed, flustered.

“Who would believe that?”

Luo You curled her lip.

“But it’s true!”

Herrera pouted in frustration.

“I’m not that messy!”

“Not so sure…”

Luo You tilted her head, doubt shining in her eyes.

“You spout irresponsible things all the time.

Anyway, whatever you meant, your words are already flying around the Alliance.

Even if you try to correct it now, it’s too late.

You brought this on yourself.”

“Ugh, I’m so mad!”

Herrera poked Luo You’s cheek with one finger, petulant and pleading.

“Luo You! Explain it for me!”

“I can’t.”

Luo You shook her head.

“This time, the mess is yours to clean up.

And besides, the Alliance’s mood feels a little… strange.

I don’t want to get dragged in.”

“Strange how?”

Herrera blinked.

“What do you mean?”

Luo You’s shoulders shook with suppressed laughter as she leaned forward.

“Well… those magical girls are now debating whether to make you their wife.”

“Wh-what?!”

Herrera’s eyes went wide with horror.

“…Their wife?!”

“Yup. And some even said they want to have your baby monkeys.”

Luo You’s shoulders trembled with laughter.

“Luo You! Stop messing with me!”

Herrera turned frantic.

“I don’t believe you!”

“Believe it or not, your name is at its peak in the Alliance right now.”

Luo You spread her hands casually.

“Some are even suggesting they should build you a temple.

And enshrine you as a goddess.”

“A… temple?!”

Herrera froze stiff.

“I don’t want that! Absolutely not!”

“Not up to you anymore.”

Luo You sighed.

“You’re the one who spoke those words.”

“But I didn’t!” Herrera’s voice trembled with injustice.

“I said, ‘Never surrender, vow eternal vengeance!’”

“And yet, what they heard was—

‘Never give up, vow to expand my harem.’”

Luo You shrugged.

“So yes… you’ve completely played yourself into a trap.”

Herrera clutched her head in despair, half-crazed.

“I don’t want to be some harem queen!”

“Too late.”

Luo You shook her head with mock sympathy.

“You said it. Now deal with it.”

Meanwhile, Ji Yue turned over those same words again and again,

her chest tight with suffocating anger.

She knew it, she was sure of it—

when Herrera had looked at her,

it wasn’t just a glance.

It was a targeting.

And the witch wanted her to walk into that trap herself.

But Ji Yue clenched her fists in the dark.

This time, she would not bow her head.