Lure the Snake Out of Its Hole (Part 1)

“Senior, she’s not coming again today?”

“No, You Xi isn’t coming. It’s just us.”

On a quiet night street, Huangxing and Tidal met up.

Their mission, as usual, was routine patrol and tracking the Nightmare Fiend.

Since their last encounter, the Magic Kingdom app’s tracking program had been unable to detect the enemy. According to Lao Lin, this was because the nature of the Nightmare Fiend’s magic particles had changed—rendering the previously stored data useless.

To collect new data, they’d have to wait for the Nightmare Fiend to strike again. Then gather data, analyze it, and update the app…

This entire process would take an unknown amount of time—and in the meantime, more innocent people would become victims.

“Hmph. If you’re not motivated, why not just quit? What a pain this person is.”

Huangxing crossed her arms, feigning indifference. But her darting eyes betrayed her underlying anxiety.

Tidal noticed her subtle expressions but didn’t call her out. Silently, she led the way into the sky.

Side by side, they flew at a steady pace.

“Senior… that Nightmare Fiend… is the friend of that person in real life, right?”

“You know, don’t you?” Huangxing suddenly asked.

“I know. What about it?” Tidal replied.

Huangxing’s voice was cautious.

“If we find her… what will you do? Will you… eliminate her?”

She couldn’t bring herself to say the rest—fear gripping her throat.

Tidal understood perfectly.

Kill Bai Mian—the best friend of Huangxing’s closest friend. Is that really something I must do?

The question she’d been avoiding—dared not even think about—had now been voiced by Huangxing.

“I think… there must be another way.”

“There has to be a better solution… other than killing her.”

She repeated the same words twice—perhaps because she lacked conviction.

Did such a future exist—one good for everyone? She had no idea.

“…I see.”

Huangxing let out a quiet breath of relief.

“If Bai Mian dies… that person…”

Recalling You Xi curled up in bed, broken and lifeless, Huangxing felt her heart clench—like it had stopped beating.

She wanted to help. But she didn’t know how.

Now, both girls flew over the city, hearts heavy with the same conflicted emotions.

“Let’s call it a night.”

Perhaps from lack of motivation—or fear of actually encountering Bai Mian—Tidal ended the patrol just thirty minutes later.

“We’re near the office.”

She looked down at the glittering cityscape. A modest white office building came into view.

“Office?” Huangxing asked, confused.

“You’ve never been, have you? I’ll show you.”

“Follow me.”

“Oh? What brings you here?”

The moment they entered, they found the office brightly lit. Lao Lin sat at a desk, organizing documents—clearly surprised by their visit.

“You came back from Magic Kingdom?” Tidal asked.

“Yeah, returned this afternoon.”

“Did they figure out what happened that day?”

Recalling the bottomless abyss and the colossal unknown lurking beneath—Tidal still felt a chill, even days later.

“The current plan is for the Shangjing government and the Special Operations Bureau to demolish Sunlight Shopping Plaza and build a sealed research facility around the hole. Then, Magic Kingdom will send an Expedition Team to explore the cavern.”

“That’s it? No real answers?” Tidal sighed, disappointed.

“Yeah, that’s all for now. Not that I blame them—if I don’t know, it’s probably true unknown territory.”

“You’re saying… demolish Sunlight Shopping Plaza?” Huangxing gasped.

Tidal glanced at her.

Since Huangxing didn’t know the full truth of that day, she deliberately changed the subject.

“Lao Lin, I need to ask you something.”

“Lao Lin. I need to ask—tell me the truth.”

“What is it?”

“I’ll be direct.”

“That Nightmare Fiend—you probably guessed, right? It’s possessing… I don’t know if that’s the right word, but the body it’s in now belongs to someone named Bai Mian. She’s Raging Flame’s best friend in real life.”

“Yeah, we knew that the same night,” Lao Lin said, making a troubled face and sticking out his tongue. “Not that I blame you—what are the odds of something like this?”

“Because of this connection, we three want to know: Is there a way to defeat the Nightmare Fiend without harming Bai Mian?”

“Yeah, yeah! That’s exactly what we want to know!” Huangxing immediately forgot her earlier shock.

“You mean… can we extract the Nightmare Fiend from Bai Mian’s body?” Lao Lin asked.

“Exactly. That’s a better way to put it,” Tidal nodded.

“There is a method. The same tech used in de-transformation can be applied here. If we capture her, Magic Kingdom has ways to forcibly separate them.”

“Really?”

Hearing this, Tidal and Huangxing both let out long breaths of relief.

“But.”

Lao Lin emphasized:

“It depends on the fusion level. There have been cases where magical girls went through certain events and could never return to human form—because their magic particles fused too deeply with their bodies, making de-transformation impossible.”

“You know, right? The tracking program failed. The tech team’s analysis is that the Nightmare Fiend, by fusing with Bai Mian, has altered its magic particle data. It’s not really the Nightmare Fiend anymore—it’s a new type of aberration.”

“You’re saying… they might already be fully fused? That they can’t be separated?” Tidal’s voice rose in urgency.

“I don’t know,” Lao Lin shook his head. “We need more data, or to capture her directly, to be sure… But one thing’s certain: the longer this goes on, the higher the fusion level becomes.”

“So we need to find Bai Mian fast?” Huangxing cut in.

“Exactly,” Lao Lin nodded. “But there’s one more thing I need to warn you about.”

“As Raging Flame’s teammates, you have every reason not to kill the Nightmare Fiend. But…”

Here, he paused. Then, in a deeper, more serious tone:

“You need to understand—this city isn’t just home to the three of you.”

“There are other Ring-line magical girls. Independent ones. Even rogue, fallen magical girls. Right now, they’re all after the magic crystal of this A-rank aberration… So do you understand?”

Tidal understood perfectly. Just thinking about it made the situation suddenly far more complicated.

Simply put, the weakened Bai Mian—or the Nightmare Fiend—was now like a delicious piece of Tang Monk meat, and the demons and monsters wanting a bite were endless.

If others wanted to claim her, Tidal might not just face aberrations. Even magical girls—supposedly allies—could turn into enemies in the scramble.

“Setting aside the uncontrollable ones—can we at least keep the other Ring-line magical girls from targeting the Fifth Ring?” Tidal asked.

“…Difficult.”

Lao Lin shook his head with a bitter smile.

“Not all magical girls are as kind and pure as the four in the Second Ring. You might end up fighting each other over this.”

“So we have to find her before they fully fuse… and make sure she doesn’t get killed by other magical girls. Is that what you’re saying?”

“Exactly.”

“It’s too hard…”

Thinking of everything ahead, Tidal felt a crushing headache.

“For now, let’s focus on finding her,” she said.

“There’s one idea I have,” Lao Lin offered.

“Oh? What idea?”