Witch’s Ambition

“Who wants to learn how you talk—!”

Liyun shoved Luo You away with both hands.

Her stubbornness in holding to her heart startled Luo You for a moment.

“You just said… that you wanted to take care of me the way you took care of my sister.

What exactly did you do to her!?” Liyun’s voice cracked in anguish.

“…Tsk, what a pity.

Your sister wasn’t blessed with my affection.

I ignored her the whole night, humiliated her mercilessly, and by morning she had to slink off in shame.”

In her head, Luo You pictured a miniature Xingyue standing solemnly with her arms crossed.

[You’re glossing reality far too much. In truth, you were pinned down on the frontline and couldn’t make it in time…]

‘Shut up!

You were flattened under my body, that makes you irrelevant!’

She stuffed a rolled-up stocking into the mini Xingyue’s mouth.

Her expression brightened again.

Luo You cleared her throat and sneered at Liyun.

“I suspect your sister won’t swallow that humiliation so easily.

She’ll come chasing me again.”

“Don’t you dare insult my sister like that!”

Fury burned away her earlier timidity.

Liyun clenched her fists and lunged.

But Luo You sidestepped with ease.

“Yes, yes~ that’s the face I like!

Stubborn fruits are always the sweetest!”

Her laugh was intoxicated.

“You really are twisted,” Liyun spat coldly.

“I don’t deny it.”

“Click—!” She clicked her tongue bitterly.

This was the worst possible result.

Bringing Elera into her home had only invited her own destruction.

Liyun sighed deeply inside.

It was too late now. She had lost again—just another round of Elera’s torment.

But this time, she swore, her will would not collapse.

Because now, she had her bond with Youyou.

Because her sister still waited for her return.

Because she was no longer utterly alone.

Turning her face aside, Liyun cast away thoughts of survival.

“Do whatever you will.

But don’t imagine I’ll cooperate, and don’t imagine you’ll trick me as easily as before.”

“Ah, but this time, you’re not my only target.”

“You… what do you mean?”

For the first time, Luo You bared her ambition fully.

“I heard that after I slept with you seven years ago, you were ruined.

You thought of me every day and night, didn’t you?

You even dreamed of sharing defeat with your sister—joy and misery together.”

Her smile was cruel.

“Well, now your dream is coming true.”

Liyun clenched her teeth, but Luo You seized the wound and twisted it deeper.

“Elera!” She roared her name like a curse.

“Don’t be so hasty.

Can you guess what I’ll do this time, after sleeping with you?”

She clasped her hands, calm and mocking.

“I’ll snap a lovely shot of your disgrace and send it to your sister.

She’ll come to me as well, obedient, and then I can savor that ‘Sister-Bowl’ again.”

Liyun’s face blanched.

This was beyond humiliation—this was destruction of her dignity itself.

It would drag her sister down with her.

“You—!”

She turned and bolted without thinking.

She knew fleeing was useless, yet surrendering even the reflex to run would mean abandoning her last fragments of courage.

“The faster you run, the more excited I become!”

Luo You followed unhurriedly behind, like a cat amusing itself with a mouse before the kill.

Wooooo—ooooo—ooooo!

The highest-level alarm in Jiuming Sea rang out, the first in years.

A first-class alert.

That meant a dimensional beast had been confirmed, and it would enter the city.

Liyun stopped short, heart jolting.

She leaned to the window.

The people outside froze for a breath, then panic erupted.

Crowds surged, cramming toward the nearest shelters.

But on the horizon, a shining flare of magic made her blood still.

That was… her sister’s innate magic.

The Mirror World.

“Heh… a Dragon-class, eh?” Luo You stepped beside her, gazing into the distance.

“Dragon-class!?” Liyun gasped.

Her chest tightened.

A Dragon-class dimensional beast—just beneath Plunder-Light level—was already the highest-ranked calamity short of the apocalypse.

Worse still, she saw only her sister’s magic flaring alone.

No others.

Her sister… was attempting to block a Dragon-class beast on her own.

Dragon-class creatures possessed intelligence comparable to humans.

Until now, only Xingyue herself had ever fought one alone.

Her sister’s life was in danger!

“Given the recent Sea Tides, makes sense.

If it’s Dragon-class, that means this is at least a level-two tidal incursion.”

Luo You’s tone was idle, strolling closer again.

“What!?” Liyun stared, horrified.

“You would keep going with this happening? Are you even human!?”

“Don’t make me sound like some beast.

Of course I’ll let you go—for now.

But…”

Her eyes gleamed with mockery.

“You, unable to transform, can’t contribute to the fight.

You can’t lead the civilians either.

You can’t do anything, really.

So why should I change my pace?”

“You—! But my sister—she’s in danger! I have to go!”

“Relax. No need to worry.”

Luo You remembered the time Xingyu had spoken proudly in the Sea of Realms.

“Last time I saw your sister, she charged right in, boasting that magic had evolved hugely over the past seven years.

That today’s Ten Seats were leagues stronger than before.

So, for just one Dragon-class?

She should be fine.”

“…Really?” Liyun faltered, stunned.

Elera had no reason to lie now.

She herself had wasted so many years away from sacred duty—she truly didn’t know what magic had become after seven years of growth.

Could her sister really be strong enough?

Half an hour earlier—

Checkpoint 13 on the Sea of Realms front.

Two magical girls—Feiyu and Zhou Xi—arrived late to their positions, already transformed.

By then, Xi Yu had already organized the defense, assembling more than seventy magical girls at the front.

They prepared to strike down the dimensional beasts breaching across.

From ground to sky, the view was eerie—semi-transparent images slanted across space like ghosts slipping through a two-dimensional pane.

All were dimensional beasts.

So far, fewer than ten had emerged.

But if left unchecked, more would follow from the Sea, pulling them into a deeper and deeper bind.

The tides of the Sea of Realms meant an endless war of attrition.

Sometimes one or two attackers every few minutes.

Other times ten or more in a half-hour stretch.

It ground away at both stamina and spirit.

For single or small incursions, the defenders could cope.

But the rarest, most dreaded scenario—

Large formations of beasts erupting all at once.

If that included multiple King-class… or worse, a single Dragon-class…

The gates would be impossible to hold.

The only option would be to fall back into the mainland’s depth, trading space for time, dismantling the beasts piecemeal.