A Compromise That Benefits Both Sides

(Ceruno)

Having clearly seen Aldebaran's arrow-firing motion, I followed Miluno's instructions and pressed the button on my pocket watch.

But in the blink of an eye...

Miluno had already returned to my side and taken the pocket watch back from my hand.

"Huh?!"

Looking around again, the Witch Domain had been dispelled, the Golden Thorn Garden was gone, and I had returned to the corridor on the second floor of the prison.

The flower headdress on her head was smashed to pieces. Aldebaran huddled in the corner, her already petite figure appearing even more inconspicuous. The thorns behind her drooped limply to the ground, too weak to even lift.

This looks so pitiful...

"Miluno, you won?"

I was a bit confused about the situation.

Miluno was still in her Witchification form, with a slightly smoky black complexion, a thick, black horn on the left side of her forehead, and three pocket watches of different sizes hanging on her chest.

"We won, but how should we put it?"

She scratched her head and said, "It's a bit complicated to explain, but just think of it as... the time between you pressing the pocket watch and you letting go was erased by my magic. You were thus spared from harm, and it was also during that time that I gave Aldebaran's ass a good spanking."

Mono, who came upstairs, said, "Where? You were clearly hugging her and draining her dry!"

Squeeze, squeeze dry?

I looked at Miluno suspiciously, but she quickly denied it. "Don't listen to Mono's nonsense. I just had her extract the Dark Energy from Aldebaran's body. That way, even if she has the ability to reconstruct, she won't be able to use it, and she won't even be able to control her domain..."

So that's how it is. Aldebaran was so weak because the darkness within him was almost completely drained, and his magic was unusable because of the Magic Suppressant he had thrown out.

Even hybrid vehicles have no power.

"But what should we do with this play?" I asked.

"Mono is still interfering with the surveillance, but it's been going on for too long, and the Supreme Council will definitely become suspicious."

Miluno knelt down in front of Aldebaran.

"So Aldebaran, you now have two choices. One is to become a prisoner along with Betelgeuse. For the Supreme Council, losing you, the only one who can Modified Witch, is unacceptable. At that time, there will definitely be a steady stream of people coming to rescue you, whether they are other witches or spies left behind by Sun Ji. This prison will become bait to restrain them... In a sense, this outcome is the same as our reason for wanting the Witch Domain."

The original intention was to concentrate the enemy in a specific area to reduce the damage to other cities. Leaving Aldebaran behind would not only attract the enemy but also weaken their manpower, preventing them from adding new witches.

"Second, hand over the technology of the Witch Domain. You can take Viktorika and Regil with you, but Betelgeuse must remain; we still need her abilities..."

"Wait a minute, this isn't what we agreed on!!"

Aldebaran raised his head.

"She's the one I want to take back; your request will only put me in a difficult position."

Miluno patted Aldebaran's little face provocatively.

"I'm not negotiating with you. After all, I gave you a chance, but you didn't seize it... Rescuing two witches from the invincible Time Witch Miluno, is already quite an achievement for a researcher, isn't it? If the Supreme Council is not satisfied, you can have them send someone to challenge me at any time."

Miluno was quite proud, and although she certainly had the right to be proud now, apart from the terrifying Fomalhaut, no one on "the Other Side" could rival Miluno.

Only...

Can the power of Witchification really be used casually?

"All right."

Aldebaran seemed to have compromised.

She pulled a Crystal the size of a fingernail from the waistband of her skirt.

"Let Betelgeuse decipher it; the technology of the Witch Domain is all written here. But you must guarantee that I can return to the Other Side, and you are not allowed to go back on your word again."

"No problem, I'll personally open the door and drive you home."

Miluno, Aldebaran Miluno the Crystal to her, who then tossed it to Betelgeuse in the cell.

Wearing only a vest and panties, the withdrawn witch hurriedly caught the Crystal. Hearing that she didn't have to go back to "the Other Side," she breathed a sigh of relief. Although she still didn't speak, the expression on her face was less tense.

Hey, you'd rather stay here than go back?

"Since you prepared the Crystal from the beginning, why not just take it out directly? Why make things difficult for yourself?"

"I do want to fight you. Your abilities and stats are very important to me... To be honest, after you absorbed the twelve Black Crystal, did anything unusual happen? The Base Body over there isn't SpiCa's Witch Persona, but a consciousness that was born from within you, right?"

Miluno frowned at the mention of Mono.

He then questioned, "So you made me absorb twelve Black Crystal in one go just to awaken Mono? Do you even know what she really is?"

Mono also shouted:

"I... I also want to know, what am I...?"

You probably already guessed it.

Aldebaran smiled knowingly.

"Even if you don't absorb those twelve Black Crystal, she will still appear, just in a different form... Thinking about it this way, it might be a good thing that she was born from your body, after all, your relationship seems pretty good."

"What?"

Mono couldn't understand Aldebaran's riddle.

Of course, I couldn't understand it either.

"I'm going back."

Aldebaran had no intention of explaining. She stood up and broke down the cages of Miss Viktorika and Miss Regil, then glanced at Betelgeuse with some resentment.

"And what about you, Ginseng? Don't you want to come back with me either?"

Betelgeuse did not respond; she simply reconnected the power cables, climbed into her cabin chair, put on the telepathic helmet, and expressed her meaning through her actions.

I'm not going back.

Aldebaran retorted.

"Tsk, ostrich."

With the Magic Suppressant almost completely dissipated and having regained some of his strength, Aldebaran opened a teleportation channel, preparing to lead his people away from this humiliating place.

"Oh~ leaving already? Reunited with old friends, not even going for a meal? I can call SpiCa and Xiao Yi over~"

As Sirius walked up the stairs, Aldebaran rolled his eyes at her, saying, "Some other time. I'm full today."

Have they had enough of being humiliated?

Sirius stopped joking and asked directly:

"I said, what are you planning?"

"I can't say yet; I have my own difficulties."

"Are you in A-Ji?"

Aldebaran shrugged.

"If I haven't misunderstood his thoughts, then I'm destined to be a stumbling block on his path forward."

According to Miss Viktorika's speculation, her father wanted to transform everyone on "the Other Side" into witches, then abandon the "Great Will" that created them, and collectively migrate to Earth to hide their witch identities and integrate into human society.

Aldebaran, responsible for the transformation, is indispensable in this project.

But Aldebaran claims to be an obstacle to Father's plan.

So what exactly does she want to do?

But there was no opportunity to ask.

Miss Viktorika summoned the giant book, which carried the still-sleeping Regil and Aldebaran into the wormhole and departed.