Elemental auras flickered beneath the curtain of snow—
Fiery streams, imbued with crackling lightning, roared through the air.
Sharp rock spikes erupted from the snowy ground, and countless ice shards rained down from above.
Yet, even with a full assault of wind, fire, lightning, water, earth, and ice elemental magic, none could truly faze Le Feiying.
“How is this possible…?”
Silvia felt a profound sense of helplessness when facing Le Feiying; his opponent was simply too ‘unyielding’.
While his magic was undeniably vast, it leaned more towards endurance than raw power.
It was akin to the ‘destructive force’ of a faucet: wide-reaching and abundant, but certainly not comparable to the concentrated, explosive power of a high-pressure water jet.
Moreover, the elemental magic he commanded wasn’t particularly advanced.
This was because, during his time as a female, his comprehension had been lacking, relying entirely on raw magical power to amplify mid-to-low-tier spells.
Besides, Le Feiying was far from weak; her transcendent power system was Spirit Energy, originating from the distant Eastern World.
In terms of potency, it was significantly higher and more formidable than magic.
Furthermore, she wielded a sword capable of absorbing magic—a truly sinister artifact of unknown origin.
Thus.
Whenever elemental magic surged towards her, a mere flick of her sword would cause a portion of it to dissipate.
This rendered the fight unwinnable, effectively neutralizing him.
****
After a while.
This time, just as before, neither could truly overcome the other.
Le Feiying stood poised upon her sword, her grey hair billowing, her gaze beneath the black satin mask inscrutable and profound:
“You cannot defeat me…”
“Moreover, I am merely conducting official business.
You have lived for years in the Irisfeather Kingdom disguised as a woman; there is no wall that can keep secrets forever.
Exposure was merely a matter of time, it just so happens that…”
She paused, letting her words hang in the air.
Pointing her longsword directly at Silvia’s throat, she continued:
“…you happened to fall into my hands.
Am I not right, Zhennu Yibai?”
Silvia, still stubbornly resisting, unleashed a burst of magic to push Le Feiying away; similarly, she could not overcome him either.
However.
How could Silvia not know…?
What awaited him next was utter ruin, imprisonment, and even judgment from the Association.
****
Silvia’s clothes were once again shredded by Le Feiying’s sword energy, and he seized the opportunity to widen the distance between them—
Their numerous clashes had proven that his elemental magic was utterly ineffective against Le Feiying’s Spirit Energy system.
Yet, for his opponent to completely suppress him would be no easy feat either.
Calming himself.
Silvia knew with certainty that he could not escape his fate, be it good or ill.
The female passersby also knew his secret; what was he to do now?
Thus, the two of them remained in a stalemate.
Neither was willing to yield.
Silvia desperately wished to escape and devise another plan, but Le Feiying pursued him relentlessly.
Each time, he was caught; his opponent was flying on a sword, and his mere wind-walking magic was simply insufficient.
The two circled each other amidst the wind and snow.
They moved from the streets to the plaza, from the snowy ground to the high skies, eventually circling back to the East Gate of Acacia Plaza.
Fortunately, during several close-quarters confrontations, Silvia had managed to reclaim the Dark Ring; the artifact’s cool touch provided him a measure of calm.
However.
Le Feiying, seizing the chaotic moment, had used her sword energy to shatter the silence and confinement spells cast upon the female passersby, allowing them all to escape.
****
“Hey, what exactly do you want?”
Silvia halted, calling out, utterly resigned.
In the distance, the last few female passersby were about to vanish at the end of the street.
“I won’t simply surrender,” he declared.
“This stalemate isn’t helping anyone…”
Silvia tried to reason with her.
A growing unease settled in his heart as he imagined the next day—
The topics and tags of ‘Ephemera City,’ ‘Special Grade Magical Girl Zhennu Yibai,’ and ‘Man’ would undoubtedly explode in popularity, wouldn’t they?
Regardless, he had to control every single one of those knowing female passersby!
“Nothing in particular,”
Le Feiying replied, her voice cold.
“Just to capture you, and then… hand you over to the Association for disposition.”
“Heh heh~ So, there’s no room for negotiation?”
Silvia gazed at the now completely empty Acacia Plaza.
Several wicked thoughts uncontrollably bubbled to the surface:
‘If Le Feiying weren’t blocking me, it might still be possible to…’
‘…apprehend all those knowing female passersby and kill them.’
‘Since exposure is inevitable, I might as well take the risk.’
The mere emergence of this thought sent a chill through his entire body.
‘No, I cannot think like this…’
Thus, even as Silvia remained caught in his internal struggle.
A distorted, pitch-black magical phantom drifted towards them from the distance—
She flickered in and out of existence, appearing and disappearing intermittently.
Until finally, she materialized before Silvia; this was precisely the magical phantom of the Great Witch Ling Qinghe.
“You?!”
Silvia recognized the newcomer as the Great Witch Ling Qinghe, older sister to the Lesser Witch Aisi Aimu and a high-risk witch wanted by Ephemera City.
However, at this moment, he found himself utterly overwhelmed, with his strength waning and his spirit flagging.
He was already in such a desperate predicament; how could he possibly have the mind to ‘deal with’ the Great Witch Ling Qinghe?
If she dared to employ any trickery, he wouldn’t hesitate to beat her senseless alongside Le Feiying.
Nevertheless.
The Great Witch Ling Qinghe flickered once more, closing the distance between them.
From beneath her black robes, a pale finger emerged, gently stroking Silvia’s cheek.
“Let us make a deal~ Guardian of Ephemera City—Zhen ‘Man’ Yibai…”
Upon hearing this.
Silvia slapped her hand away, retreating several steps as magic erupted around him; he found that particular appellation especially repulsive.
After a moment of thought.
“Speak.”
Silvia had no other choice; he harbored no fear of complicity, for he was already struggling to save himself.
“Return the Dark Ring to me, and I will help you… by killing every single one of those female passersby who know your secret.”
Ling Qinghe’s voice was sickeningly sweet.
“No!”
Silvia practically roared, refusing vehemently; this proposal violated his principles and bottom line, both as a person and as a former magical girl.
No matter what, their transgressions certainly weren’t deserving of death…
Upon hearing this.
Ling Qinghe let out a laugh.
“Don’t be so hasty~ I haven’t finished speaking yet.
I can also… hypnotize them—that is to say, erase their memories.”
“Hmph, are you pretending I don’t exist?”
Le Feiying descended on her sword, the air swirling with sword winds.
“Zhennu Yibai, do you truly think that’s possible?
If you dare to make a deal with her, I will immediately report your secret to the Association forum, making it public for all to see.”
Silvia’s expression turned grim, the thought of ‘with ruin inevitable and no retreat, I might as well go all in’ festering and swirling within his heart.
He looked up, a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes.
“I’ll add a condition—you help me deal with Lingguang Yixian… she knows too much.”
The words had barely left his lips.
He knew he was playing with fire, striking a deal with the devil…
Bargaining and cooperating with the Great Witch Ling Qinghe was tantamount to drinking poison to quench thirst, yet at this moment, he had no other recourse.
“Very well.
You keep her occupied, and I’ll go round them up…”
With that, the magical phantom dissipated.
“Then let us fight…”
Le Feiying’s longsword hummed, cleaving out three streaks of cold light, and wherever her sword energy passed, the curtain of snow was torn into fine powder.
Silvia parried every strike, and the two resumed their fierce entanglement, the paving stones of Acacia Plaza crumbling inch by inch in the aftermath.
****
A short while later, the air rippled with an eerie distortion.
Dozens of pitch-black, distorted magical phantoms materialized from all directions—
Silvia, of course, noticed this unfolding scene.
He observed.
Each phantom held… silk threads wrapped around its hands?
And at the other end of those threads, strikingly, were dozens of unconscious women.
These were precisely the knowing female passersby who had previously escaped.
They floated in the air like ‘kites,’ arranged in neat rows.
Now, they had truly been brought back, one by one, by the Great Witch Ling Qinghe.
This was, without a doubt, good news.
Naturally, the Lesser Witch deserved much credit for all of this.
The magic disruption device had long since been deactivated, and for Ling Cheyin, in her transformed state, apprehending a mere few hundred mortals was as easy as turning her hand.
****
Meanwhile, Qiye still lay on that mountain, scantily clad, confined within a ‘drawn-circle prison’ of mud.
Beside her lay the smoking magic disruption device, and a mobile phone, actively recording, pointed directly at her.
However.
Her clothes were now gone.
Evidently, Ling Cheyin had once again used force against her, hiding and taking away her garments.
Before leaving, she had also threatened her, saying:
‘If I return later to check the recording and find that you’ve left this circle, then tonight… you’ll have quite the experience~’
****
On the other side.
At the East Gate of Acacia Plaza.
Silvia once again channeled his magic to push Le Feiying away.
Just then, a magical phantom rose from the ground.
“It’s done.
Two hundred thirty-eight people in total.
Rest assured, they are merely unconscious; there’s no danger to their lives or any safety concerns…”