What followed was Ling Qinghe, holding a walkie-talkie to her lips. It was connected to the broadcasting system of Mò Nán Fortress, and her sweet voice, amplified, echoed across the battlefield:
“Are you all still not tired of this game?… If you don’t cease fire now, I’ll activate the Mò Nán Fortress’s self-destruct sequence!”
However, her words were met with an even more ferocious elemental maelstrom. The border magical girls, having received no orders from their superiors to stop, intensified their assault, unleashing elemental magic with renewed vigor.
****
High above, several Transcendent-tier combatants gathered, their magical energy swirling, churning the clouds into a vortex. It was evident now that the witches atop the fortress were at their wit’s end. Since Zhennu Yibai had been captured, so be it; he was merely a man full of death wishes and devoid of fighting spirit. The energy shield wouldn’t hold much longer. When it finally broke, they would be trapped like prey—a complete sweep.
At the same time, the Dragon-Riding Girl also took up a megaphone, attempting to persuade the Great Witch Ling Qinghe to surrender:
“Ling Qinghe, give up. The outside is swarming with magical girls… it’s still not too late to surrender now…”
“Otherwise, once the shield breaks, where will you flee?”
****
At that moment, Xia Naxin, supporting Silvia, found her eyes alight with anxiety, reflecting the raging battle. She asked:
“What should we do now?”
Yet, Ling Qinghe remained lost in thought; she had no clear idea of an escape route either, only offering a vague, contemplative hum.
Xia Naxin then turned to Silvia.
“Silvia, can you use Time Stop one more time?”
Silvia, however, smiled bitterly and shook his head, his Adam’s apple bobbing, his voice imbued with profound helplessness.
“I’m sorry, Naxin, I still cannot betray… my country. This is a principle I held as a magical girl.”
Xia Naxin understood his stance and did not press him further.
Immediately after, an unexpected figure appeared—
This figure transformed into a mist of blood, inexplicably bypassing the energy shield to slip inside. It was Lina, wasn’t it? Hadn’t she been captured?
“Lina?!”
Seeing this, Xia Naxin quickly looked at the green-robed woman standing atop the wooden dragon’s head. This Transcendent-tier combatant also noticed the scene, glancing down at the bound ‘Lina’ at her feet. She then discovered that ‘she’ had dissolved into a puddle of blood, vanishing into the wind and snow. They had been tricked! What a masterful deception, a cicada shedding its shell… It turned out that Lina’s true body had been hiding in the shadows all along, or rather, the ‘Lina’ who had previously sought blood from Xia Naxin was already a blood avatar.
At this moment, Lina’s crimson eyes swept over everyone, seemingly sensing that the time was ripe.
“I can teleport you away, but it requires extraordinary blood…”
Upon hearing this, Ling Qinghe exchanged a glance with her.
“Yes, let’s choose a location beyond the border for the teleportation. Our identities have been exposed; we can’t possibly remain hidden in the Iriswing Kingdom for now…”
But then a problem arose: what about the eleven witches who had gone through so much trouble to infiltrate? What kind of outcome was this? After all that effort to infiltrate, even losing a comrade, were they truly to retreat in the end?
The leading witch stepped forward to inquire:
“Sister Ling Qinghe, what about us?”
Ling Qinghe’s expression remained cool and detached. Her objective had already been achieved; in fact, she had yet to reprimand these juniors for their slow efficiency. “As for you… do as you please. To go or to stay, decide for yourselves.”
“I can hand over control of Mò Nán Fortress to you. It’s up to you to see if you can slip away right under the noses of this vast border army…”
Ultimately, the leading witch had no choice but to accept her fate and retreat first. All eleven of them combined couldn’t even defeat a single Transcendent-tier combatant… how could they possibly defend the fortress? Let alone escape.
Next, Lina requested 200 milliliters of blood from each person before she began to inscribe the blood teleportation array.
During this time, the Transcendent-tier combatants, seeing that the witches were about to flee, commanded everyone to launch a full assault quickly, without conserving any more magical power. In an instant, a furious torrent of elemental energy surged forth, and the energy shield hummed under the overwhelming pressure, its surface accumulating more and more cracks.
Witnessing this, Ling Qinghe turned and issued her first command:
“Silvia, quickly inject your magical power into the energy shield…”
Silvia stiffened, frozen in place, his resolve wavering. Doing so would truly mean disloyalty to the association and joining the enemy ranks.
Xia Naxin noticed his hesitation, her eyes filled with worry. She tugged at his sleeve, her fingertips trembling slightly:
“Silvia…”
“Heh, heh~ Don’t forget your identity…”
Ling Qinghe’s voice rose, and she pressed the blade against Silvia’s neck.
“From the moment you agreed to become my property, you should have understood—what I tell you to do, you must do… What, do you mean to renege on a promise you’ve only just made?”
“I…”
Silvia was speechless. Clenching his fists, he closed his eyes, wrestling with his conscience, his long lashes casting deep shadows beneath his eyes. Finally, he turned towards the energy shield, and silvery-white time-element magic flowed from his fingertips, injecting itself along the shield’s intricate patterns.
Instantly, the elemental maelstrom outside the shield seemed to have its speed abruptly curtailed. Blazing fireballs hung suspended, howling ice shards froze mid-air, and the roar of the thunder-storm was stretched and distorted… as if trapped in viscous amber, moving in slow motion.
Witnessing this, the Transcendent-tier combatants immediately roared:
“Zhennu Yibai, you’ve actually joined the witch faction? Good, very good… The Iriswing Kingdom will nail you, this ‘traitor,’ to the pillar of shame!”
The green-robed woman steered her wooden dragon, which coiled around the energy shield, attempting to crush it. On the snowy ground, countless vines surged forth, striking the energy shield, trying to break through the time-stasis field.
Listening to these accusations, a bitter ripple spread through Silvia’s violet eyes. He felt his magical power rapidly draining, but holding on for a while would certainly be no problem. At this moment, he was no longer ‘Zhennu Yibai’ of the Iriswing Kingdom, but rather the property of the Great Witch Ling Qinghe—a puppet? A plaything? Or perhaps an experimental subject for gender transformation…
But it no longer mattered. After all, Silvia was now ‘living’ for the women he cared about. What did this infamy matter if he bore it? Silvia’s mindset shifted once more.
As magical power continuously flowed in, subtle ripples began to spread along the boundary of the time-stasis field. Beside him, Ling Qinghe lightly twirled the blade in her hand. Just as she expected, once a command was given, it was like spilled water that could not be gathered. Silvia’s compromise today was merely the first step into the abyss of depravity. After all, there was either zero compliance with commands or countless instances.
“Such a good boy~”
Ling Qinghe’s voice trailed, her fingertips stroking Silvia’s taut back, feeling the resistance in his stiff muscles. The thrill of gradually dominating another’s will became an addiction for her… The last one who was this stimulating was Qiye, after all~ In her eyes, this ‘Zhennu Yibai,’ once the center of attention, was now nothing more than a caged bird whose wings had been broken by fate. And she, for her part, waited for him to sink into despair.
“Do you see?”
Ling Qinghe leaned in close to Silvia’s ear, her warm breath caressing his pale neck.
“The moment you chose to bow to me, you were destined to sink deeper and deeper down this path.”
She gazed at the furious magical girls outside the energy shield, the smile on her lips growing more unrestrained.
“Traitor, criminal, nailed to the pillar of shame, witch’s dog… These accusations will ensure you can never return to the light.”
Upon hearing this, Silvia could only endure in silence, gritting his teeth, constantly reassuring himself that all of this was for Qiye and the others. Ling Qinghe watched his trembling fingertips and his gradually paling face, a morbid satisfaction swelling within her. She savored this process of domination, watching a once-proud hero, under her manipulation, stray further and further from the righteous path. This perverse joy of crushing and then reshaping another’s dignity and faith was the root of her obsession with seduction.
“Keep going, my property~”
Ling Qinghe murmured softly.
“The better you do, the more likely I am to spare your little lovers… provided, of course, that you always obey.”
She straightened up, her gaze sweeping over everyone atop the fortress. Finally, it settled on Xia Naxin’s eyes, which were glaring at her; what she had just said to Silvia seemed to have provoked her a little. Ling Qinghe hummed softly to herself, knowing Xia Naxin wouldn’t dare make a move, at least… not before Silvia had undergone gender transformation. Thus, Ling Qinghe’s smile became even more audacious—this dual game of mental and physical control, this descent into depravity, had only just begun…
****
After a while, Lina had finished inscribing the blood teleportation array. Everyone stood within the array. Silvia looked at the vast army of border magical girls and the camera that remained fixed on him.
His heart was filled with bitterness… He knew that he had now truly joined the wrong side. Alas, Qiye and the others would surely be disappointed in him if they saw this. However, this was also to ensure Qiye and the others remained unharmed. Yes, he… he would just have to ‘compromise’ with Ling Qinghe for now.
Thus, Silvia murmured:
“Farewell, Mò Nán Fortress…”
“Farewell, Epiphyllum City…”
“Farewell, Iriswing Kingdom…”
“Farewell, my beloved juniors…”
“Later, when I become a woman again, I’ll return. Qiye, Weizhan, Xincheng, wait for me…”
This was a promise he made to himself, and the belief that sustained his will to live.
In the next moment, the blood array erupted with crimson light, and the figures of everyone within it gradually vanished amidst the glow. Almost simultaneously, with Silvia’s magical support gone, the energy shield shattered with a thunderous roar. All that remained was the empty fortress top, and… the stunned, resentful faces of the border magical girls.