Chapter 224
No one can escape this.
"No one..."
Volume 1: 214. The Mercury Sword, the Pillar of Light Illuminating Vienna. (5K2)
In the center of the inner city moat avenue.
Angels on the Black Death Memorial Pillar shed jet-black tears. Some held spears, some musical instruments, and some books. Their animated feathers trembled like metal rubbing against each other, propelling their heavy bodies as they rushed down.
The double-headed eagle shield, the double-tailed lion shield, and the red and white double cross shield engraved on the three sides of the base of the pillar have all turned from golden yellow to chaotic black, with entangled calamity wrapped around them, as if trying to distort past vows and turn them into a medium for spreading plague.
At this moment, the passersby who were originally captivated by the beauty of the Pure White Witch were stunned into a blank mind by this sight, staring at the bizarre scene before them that seemed like the end of the world.
Some people didn't even notice their phones slipping off the ground; they turned and ran away.
Some people even suspected it was some kind of performance art, and continued to take pictures with their phones.
In an instant, a cacophony of noises erupted until the emperor stepped over the stone fence, slashing his sword in a tearing arc through the air, intending to kill the blonde girl holding the camera on the spot. The chilling aura that shattered the peaceful atmosphere finally spread outwards, proclaiming that this was no game.
Chu Yuanqing anticipated her opponent's movements. As if controlling the flames that had once burned heaven and earth, she wielded incredibly gentle magic, smoothly constructing the spell for the first time. Just as the Stone Sword in the emperor's hand fell, she successfully activated the magic.
Thus, magic wove itself into a mirror, using sunlight as a medium, instantly refracting it in front of the girl, constructing a fluid shield as thick as mercury. Upon being struck, it trembled rapidly like ripples on a lake, transmitting the force to the surrounding landscape in a wondrous way, causing the nearby road to shatter and cave in.
Then, the mercury fluid enveloped the girl completely, just like the four "Water Walking Ball" behind the Pure White Witch, launching her into the air and directly transporting her to the safest place within her perception range.
--Self-created technique: Silver Mirror.
Chu Yuanqing theoretically doesn't understand magic; he probably only knows the spells that the Soul Flower extends on its own and the Magic Clone that he has optimized to the present day. But as long as he understands that the essence of magic is wish, creating magic himself is not a difficult task.
Especially given that one has previously possessed many blessings and powers, one only needs to make a wish on the lantern to receive assistance and correction, and one can magically reproduce some of the abilities that one has previously seen, mastered, and known.
Of course, with her magical power, she could only convert some of the weaker blessings into magical versions.
The Pure White Witch glanced around. There were over a dozen monsters that had sprung from the memorial pillar. Worst of all, the surrounding area was densely populated; if they weren't evacuated quickly, the casualties could easily exceed a hundred. She warned:
"It's dangerous here, everyone get out of here."
After being reminded, she realized that this was not the old era, and the public's reactions varied greatly, with none of them being alert. So she simply activated the spell, using the [Silver Mirror] to save a few people, and then directly intertwined it into dozens of Mercury Ball, moving the nearby people a kilometer away one by one, quickly clearing the area.
The square fell silent, except for people still inside the nearby buildings.
Chu Wangshu was completely stunned. She poked the soft and cool magic shield with her small hand in a daze, feeling like she was living in a dream. Just a moment ago, everyone was talking about how nice the weather was in Vienna and what to have for lunch, but in the blink of an eye, Xiao Qing became sparkly and super bright, with her eye color, hair color, and clothes all changing.
Simply...
It looks exactly like Darlene from Magical Girl Daliana!
And she's even cuter, more radiant, and more magical than the Magical Girl played by Liuli!
The Little Cotton-padded Jacket's eyes sparkled, the gem within her soul swirling, her body immersed in the warm magic of the Pure White Witch. She felt an overwhelming sense of security, and looking at the outside world felt like watching a Hollywood movie from a first-person perspective. She even felt a little excited and anticipation.
Could it be that she, too, will become like those anime characters who stumble upon their friend's Magical Girl transformation, get caught up in the battle between good and evil, and gradually transform into Magical Girl?
No, no, this isn't the time to think about that. The problem is... Xiao Qing is so small and looks so fragile. Can she really defeat these gargoyle-like monsters?
Chu Wangshu became nervous upon hearing this, but when she looked at her teammates who were also trapped in the transparent magic ball, and recalled the previous scene, she felt that it didn't seem like a big deal.
Since Xiao Qing actively dragged them all the way here, it means she must be confident in defeating these evil things; otherwise, she would have just used magic to send them to other places, just like she did with the others.
After recalling the magic that had been used to escort the crowds on the roadside, Chu Yuanqing transformed it into a slender and exquisite Mercury Sword with a spiral hilt and openwork patterns, resembling a beautiful ceremonial vessel. She then casually twirled it into a showy but impractical sword dance.
Although her identity Magical Girl has been exposed, she doesn't want to reveal to Flashdance that she is Chu Yuanqing.
Therefore, spells like [Extinguished Karmic Sin], which have special effects and a striking ultimate move, are essentially banned and should only be used as a last resort.
Under this premise, it's best if your fighting style, weapons, and magic are different from your original self.
The girl's expression was calm. She took a step forward, dodging the feathers scattered by the angels, and sidestepped the emperor who was wielding a sword. Leaning her weight forward, she raised her hand and slashed out with a cool, moonlit arc, severing the head of a Stone Priest. Then, as if dancing, she rose on her toes and spun back to face the approaching Holy Father, Holy Spirit, Holy Son.
Chu Yuanqing could not display her true level of swordsmanship, but she could manipulate magic to make her body defy inertia and force, using dance-like movements to weave through all the gaps in her defenses, and then Mercury Sword to perform simple slashes, thrusts, and parries.
This will at most make you appear calmer and less excessive.
The Pure White Witch drew her Mercury Sword, her steps quick and agile, like a noble lady performing at a ball. Even the swaying of her skirt was elegant and dashing. Her hair, as white as snow in the mountains, was soft in the sunlight. Her long eyelashes lifted, and her pupils held a calm, golden light as she looked at the person.
The girl danced gracefully among the dozen or so swift stone monsters, her Mercury Sword flashing six hundred times in a minute—a standard speed of ten swords per second—maintaining a rhythmic, piano-playing quality that was exceptionally pleasing to the eye.
The next second,
Chu Yuanqing passed through all the stone statues and monsters. She seemed like an elusive dream, standing in the place where light pierced through the gloom. She turned her head and looked back at the Little Idol, showing them a comforting smile. Then she stretched out her slender fingertips and gently flicked the Mercury Sword, making a crisp and melodious sound.
And so, it seemed like a grand ending.
Angels, priests, Holy Fathers, Holy Son, Holy Spirit, emperors...
The monsters that emerged from the memorial pillar froze for a moment, their sword marks shimmering, mercury-like magic flowing from them, and resonating with the other sword marks in an instant. Countless rays of light burst forth from them, bending, colliding, refracting, rotating, and dancing under the pull of the resonance.
At that moment, that area became a kingdom of light, and the sound of the mirror shattering echoed and rose, intertwining to create a melody that perfectly composed the prelude to the dance music practiced yesterday.
The Pure White Witch turned and stood still; in the area where the statue had stood, only ashes remained.
The Silver Mirror is a relatively common blessing, but its uses are quite extensive.
The core technique is to leave a [Mirror Reversal] mark during combat, causing the wound to refract a penetrating mirror light. When used against groups, it can be used in conjunction with other refractions to create an infinitely reflective local area of mirror light, making the originally cool mirror light increasingly hot, ultimately resulting in devastating high-temperature damage.
Under these circumstances, the Mercury Sword is merely a medium for casting spells, naturally resulting in something flashy but impractical.
Because these stone statues possessed the ability to regenerate rapidly and remain immortal, she simply marked them with her Mercury Sword hundreds of times with [Mirror Reversal] before finally unleashing them all at once, creating a compound and superimposed destructive force.
Leaving no trace of the corpses—that's the most efficient route to kill the enemy.
Chu Yuanqing watched this scene with a sigh.
Compared to the bizarre and varied costs of bestowing blessings, magic is certainly more convenient.
For example, the [Silver Mirror] blessing, if used intensively and for a long time, will gradually cause the lungs and other organs to become luminous. Without the assistance of other blessings, it will eventually endanger one's life.
It can be replaced with magic, which only consumes a little magic power. It doesn't even require the Paper Crane Can. It can be fully restored in a few breaths by converting the wish power of the lantern.
At that moment, the four Little Idol, sealed inside the magic ball, watched with sparkling eyes.
How handsome Qing Bao!
What a beautiful Mercury Sword!
What a fluid and seamless battle!
And... she can even play music with sword flourishes?!
The Green Eyed Cat suddenly admired herself for stealing Qing Bao's first kiss. She wasn't cut into eight pieces, probably because she was too cute!
A mist of tears spread across Xie Qingxuan's eyes. She forgot all the memories that had just flashed through her mind. Looking at the Pure White Witch's slender and beautiful fingers, she recalled the shyness with which the other party had stirred inside her that night, and her handsome and elegant fighting posture at that moment. She just felt it was too arousing.
The Golden Haired Doggy felt a warm sensation in her lower abdomen. She pursed her lips, her eyes shimmering with anticipation for the Magic Replenishment day that evening. Xiao Qing's Mercury Sword seemed to be able to be both soft and hard; today would definitely be even more exciting than before!
Kiriwake Yayoi was filled with admiration. She finally understood why Qing Bao learned to dance so quickly. With such elegant and beautiful swordsmanship, perfect footwork, and terrifying reflexes, learning any sport would be a piece of cake for her.
And then there's that dazzling and elegant mercury magic, so reminiscent of Young Lady wealthy family!
If I become Magical Girl someday, can I ask Qing Bao to teach me this?
Little Sakura grew increasingly excited, the cherry blossom pink in her eyes becoming even more beautiful. The Heart Tide around her surged, and her [Perfect Performance Method], which had evolved once, was unconsciously imitating the other party's spell. However, due to insufficient magic power, it failed after only a short time.
Chu Wangshu watched with great excitement. She wasn't stupid; she had already cleverly realized that the monster they encountered on the second Public Performance stage was real, but Qing Bao had dealt with it using magic.
So, perhaps this white-haired, golden-eyed appearance is Qing Bao's true form?
At this moment, the Little Cotton-padded Jacket was no longer afraid. She had only realized that there were monsters, but she did not know that her childhood idol, the Magical Girl Daliana, also existed. The surprise caused by the fact that she had overlapped with Chu Yuanqing, whom she had always been close to and liked, completely overwhelmed her fear of the unknown world.
Well, she even had the energy to start being shy.
Because Chu Yuanqing, with her white hair and golden eyes, reminded me more of my mother.
Oh, what a pity. Xiao Qing is not only a great idol, but also a mysterious Magical Girl. No matter how much I try to influence my Dad can't find someone as outstanding as Xiao Qing to be his mother.
The Little Cotton-padded Jacket's disappointment flashed by, and then she saw Pure White Witch in a formal dress smiling at her in the distance. Her eyes crinkled, and she waved happily and excitedly, like an excited little fan.
Chu Yuanqing did not break their magic barrier. She glanced at the memorial pillar that was quietly gathering its calamity, as if it wanted to be reborn from the ashes. Her Heart Tide surged with her will, and she forcibly suppressed it for a few seconds. At the same time, she threw the Mercury Sword in her hand high into the air.
This exquisitely crafted sword, inspired by one of the Witch's old creations, melted and expanded to release a massive amount of mercury. It leaped over a hundred meters into the air, using the memorial pillar as its axis, and instantly unleashed curtains in all directions, weaving a birdcage before the calamity could spread and escape.
Sizzle, sizzle.
The terrifying, fiery Heart Tide of emotions, combined with the continuous flow of mercury magic, forcibly restrained the calamity that was enough to form a pillar reaching the sky, imprisoning it within and preventing its release.
A large amount of calamity tried to escape through the gaps in the birdcage's structure, but upon impact, it discovered that the entire structure was a transparent mirror. No matter how it corroded, invaded, exploded, or attacked, the mercury magic flowed continuously, leaving it with no way to escape.
Chu Yuanqing made his own judgment.
This is probably a C-Class- to B-Class Calamity Beasts, but unlike Nightmare, it is in a state of extreme weakness after just hatching.
Judging from the way the living statue operates, its ability is not the kind of brutal and direct offensive type, but a special type that snowballs rapidly after development, which is why it couldn't even escape this Silver Mirror birdcage.
But if it were released, it's estimated that Vienna's ancient buildings would soon be transformed into vast legions of stone statues. This is assuming our assessment is correct; otherwise, it would only become more troublesome.
For example, she had once seen a Supreme Calamity Beast that possessed similar abilities.
If the other side activates this Black Death Memorial Pillar, they can trace back the Black Death and cut out an independent space-time based on history. Unless they choose to repeat that catastrophe and lose the same number of people, they will be forever lost inside.
This is a type of rule that is very difficult to crack.
Of course, there are also direct references to the Black Death, which makes this disease, which humanity has overcome, reappear as an unsolvable problem from that period of history, belonging to the category of terrifying concepts.
However, this was clearly not the case; otherwise, all the surrounding people would have been dead long before Chu Yuanqing arrived.
Chu Yuanqing waited patiently, unwilling to reveal more of her magic. Light was bouncing back and forth inside the birdcage, continuously splitting and turning into countless intersecting filaments, cutting and crushing the plague energy, and leaving scars on this ancient Plague Pillar.
This spell can synergize with the [Mirror Reversal] technique; enemies trapped inside will be hit sooner or later, and even if they are not marked, the birdcage itself continues to accumulate [Mirror Reversal] marks.
The longer you stay, the less likely you are to get out.
Because touching the mirror surface will automatically trigger an explosion of overlapping markers.
At the same time, once the markers are stacked to the maximum limit of the birdcage, a beam of light that is concentrated, penetrating, and lethal can be forged.
The gloom in the sky had dissipated, and the belatedly arriving armed forces were watching from afar. These special forces soldiers, dedicated to disaster relief, all knew of the [Witch's ] existence. Upon hearing the order to stand by, they began guiding the crowd to safety, while the others recorded information and prepared to provide support at any time.
Tang Liuli looked at this scene, and her heart was filled with unease.
Does the official stance even include Magical Girl? Will Xiao Qing get captured and dissected by the military?
Although the authorities must theoretically know, they are not in the Great Xia, or even the Donghuang Federation. Xiao Qing might not be officially employed here, and she might be bullied for her act of bravery!
Green Eyed Cat became alert. She started to imagine all sorts of things, fantasizing about being forced to wander the world with Qing Bao, quitting <Flash Dance> halfway through, shocking the Great Xia, exposing the truth of the world, becoming Magical Girl, and embarking on a journey to unravel the mystery step by step and finally defeat the big boss.
Chu Yuanqing also noticed the arrival of the officials. She was not worried at all, and even felt very gratified, as these troops were only three minutes slower than her.
Although those three minutes would have meant the massacre of most of the people within a radius of several hundred meters of the Plague Pillar, it was already quite an achievement to have done this much. At least the disaster was contained in time, preventing it from spreading throughout Vienna or even Austria.
It seems that Dream Weaver Rabbit wasn't lying. During the 17 years that [Pure White] suppressed the calamity, humanity did indeed make many efforts and preparations to protect their homeland.
The [Witch] is the most crucial element, but it is by no means the whole picture.
Chu Yuanqing looked up at the Silver Mirror birdcage. The Calamity Beasts hidden in the Plague Pillar finally couldn't help but make a move. It seemed to regard the artifact as its true form, and with a cracking sound, it revealed its true form.
This is a monster resembling Chimera, almost a combination of all the elements in the sculpture on the Plague Pillar: a lion's body made of stone, flesh, and Black Mist; eagle feathers covered with what look like interwoven scales; six pairs of wings derived from angels; and three heads with the faces of the Holy Son, the Holy Father, and the Holy Spirit, respectively.
Well, it's hard to imagine what kind of terrifying thing it would become if a few more sculpture groups were brought to life.
Chu Yuanqing wouldn't give it a chance to get out.
The moment this Calamity Beasts appeared, it was engulfed in the mirror's light, its body covered in wounds. Its pupils were cold, devoid of anger or fear. From its gaping maw, it spewed out a venomous substance representing disease, like highly concentrated sulfuric acid, which nearly pierced through the birdcage wall in an instant.
At the same time, its six wings exerted their strength, like Griffin in a myth, trying to break free from all constraints, cross the barriers of the cage, and fly into the azure sky.
"Thud."
Chu Yuanqing snapped his fingers, and the birdcage detonated the [Mirror Reversal] mark before shattering. The rumbling sound almost tore off eardrums, and the scorching light stretched out and was magnificent. It then gathered into a pillar in the subsequent surge of mercury, as if it were about to pierce through the clouds, and flickered for several breaths in the sky above Vienna.
Ultimately, the ashes of the Calamity Beasts's corpse, after the radiance flowed back into the mercury, became consumables, and were used to recast a mercury-based Black Death Memorial Pillar, a hundred meters tall, on the original base.
The sculptures are so lifelike that they gleam even brighter in the sunlight. Even the Latin oaths inscribed on the three sides of the base of the memorial column, which are meant to pray for the people, have been perfectly reproduced, as if symbolizing the eternal peace.
Volume 1: 215. Chu Yuanqing is Captain-Class? Shocking Dreamweave. (5K)
The sky was azure, and the sun shone brightly.
Chu Yuanqing withdrew the remaining magic power, and the blade's skeleton grew in her palm. The hollowed-out patterns spread like branches, and the flowing magic power swirled and coiled, forming a beautiful Mercury Sword with each breath. She threw this magical weapon back into the Lantern Gem.
The Soul Flower swayed gently, and the spells of the Magic Armor and the Mercury Sword, like intertwined flower stamens, were blended and merged at her wish, making the latter also a part of the Magic Armor.
In this way, you can summon it again without having to go through the trouble of constructing it once more.
The gilding in Chu Yuanqing's eyes faded, her hair returned to its dark black, and her Magic Armor, like molting dust, danced with the tattered skirt, stirring up a silvery flame that engulfed her entire body, burning it to black ashes. With each breath, she returned to the familiar appearance of her Little Idol.
The four magical shells that had been tightly covering her shattered the moment the Magic Armor was removed, and the girls hurriedly ran over, crowding around the Pure White Witch like chattering larks.
"So Xiao Qing is Magical Girl?"