"It's fine. Send as much as you have. Besides, summer vacation is almost over. I'm also planning to make arrangements for Alulu, but we'll discuss that after I've made my decision."
"I believe you won't hurt her," Lilika replied softly.
Li Xuan had originally wanted to say that he could simply let Alulu go. He also believed that Lilika, as she was now, would not mind continuing to provide him with intelligence, but that loyalty was not on the level of Demonfall, after all.
She could choose without hesitation between her conscience and her daughter, but without Alulu as leverage, getting her to do things like betray her companions would probably not be so easy.
Within half an hour after the call ended, Li Xuan received a detailed report. Lilika had clearly put a great deal of effort into it, presenting the information she possessed in a format that was as easy to read as possible.
Yet no matter how much care Lilika had taken, she could not conceal the fact that the intelligence was lacking. The report mentioned the band's name and the magical girl names of its members, followed by the crimes the Church had on record for them.
But beyond that, nothing was known about each person's type, the magic they possessed, or even their appearances and figures, which Li Xuan cared about most.
Li Xuan gave the report a brief read. All he really learned was that their band was called King's Edict. The four of them worked as mercenaries under the guise of touring musicians. Not only did they fight monsters, but if the payment was high enough, they would even attack magical girls. Their anything-goes approach was somewhat similar to his own.
What should he do next?
Running was out of the question. Lilika's words had thoroughly piqued Li Xuan's interest. No matter what, he had to meet this renowned mercenary band.
Besides, strength itself was part of a woman's charm. Conquering powerful women often brought an even greater sense of satisfaction. The immense danger contained within it also constantly excited his nerves.
Judging by Lilika's tone, the Witch Band had only just confirmed the contract. It would still take some time for them to actually arrive. Before then, he had to make as many preparations as possible.
"Party time!" Li Xuan announced loudly after returning to the twelfth floor of the Stone Tower, pulling off his shirt and tossing it to the ground.
"Why are you in such high spirits today, Master?"
Wu Yan, who had spent the entire day immersed in games after finishing her homework, turned around and asked.
"Don't ask. It's important business. Other than Alulu, bring every magical girl to the new platform upstairs. I'll be there shortly," Li Xuan said.
"We can finally go up there? I've been so curious about what's there." Wu Yan nodded excitedly. She first opened a portal to send the group of four upstairs, then went to gather the other magical girls scattered around the tower.
After everyone left, only Alulu and Li Xuan remained in the Stone Tower. Looking at Li Xuan's firm chest muscles and fresh, handsome face, Alulu could not help becoming a little lovestruck.
No, no, he's Mom's man. What am I even thinking?
Alulu hurriedly denied her own bold thoughts. When mother and daughter had been alone together, Lilika had openly explained everything to Alulu—after all, she had already seen the recording, so there was no way Lilika could keep it hidden anymore. Rather than let her imagination run wild, it was better to tell her the truth.
"Alulu, come here," Li Xuan ordered.
"Huh? Me?" Alulu shuddered all over. Although Li Xuan had never held a party in front of her, she had seen the older girls return hours after being called away, their faces flushed and their steps unsteady. She could more or less guess what had happened.
Could it really be my turn this time? Alulu's heart pounded wildly. What do I do? What do I do? He's the man Mom secretly loves. How can I give myself to him too? But mothers and daughters really do have strangely similar taste... and I like handsome men like Li Xuan too.
"Hurry up."
When Li Xuan urged her again, Alulu had no choice but to slowly make her way over.
"Take off your clothes."
Li Xuan spoke again.
It's really happening! Catching Li Xuan's masculine scent, Alulu could not help feeling flustered. Mom, this isn't my fault. He's forcing me!
Filled with shame and a sense of taboo, Alulu slowly removed her clothes until, at Li Xuan's request, not a single piece remained. She stood before him in her most natural state.
"Listen. I'm planning to let you go home. This little thing is a gift for you." As Li Xuan spoke, he used Fallen Blood to create a tiny monster. It looked like a strand of hair, so thin that it was almost impossible to distinguish with the naked eye. It did not even seem capable of moving.
"What is that?"
Although the monster appeared weak, Alulu instinctively felt afraid.
"A parasitic monster. Do you remember when your sensitivity was at LV99 while climbing the tower? As long as I give the order, this thing can put you in that state anytime, anywhere." As Li Xuan spoke, he carefully pressed the monster against Alulu's delicate body.
Alulu was terrified after hearing that. She turned to flee, only to be tightly bound by tentacles. She could not move even a fraction. All she could do was squeeze her eyes shut, tense every muscle in her body, and prepare herself for the sharp pain of a needle.
"Mm... hnngh~"
Yet the excruciating pain she expected never came. Alulu only felt a slight chill run through her body, while the spot that had been pierced tingled pleasantly. Other than that, she felt nothing. When she opened her eyes, there was not even a wound.
"Done. You can go home now. This is only a precautionary measure. As long as you and your mother do not betray me, this monster will never harm you." After saying that, Li Xuan stroked Alulu's bright golden hair, the same color as her mother's, and opened a portal leading to her home.
"I can... go home?" Alulu stared at the pitch-black entrance, finding it difficult to believe for a moment.
"Of course. Don't worry about your luggage. I'll have Wu Yan bring it back for you—after she's rested up." Li Xuan smiled.
Thinking of what Li Xuan was about to do with the older girls, Alulu feared that he would change his mind and include her as well. She hurriedly got dressed and plunged headfirst into the portal.
"The first step of my preparations is about to begin." After seeing Alulu off, Li Xuan took a deep breath, opened a portal, and arrived at the new platform above.
The magical girls were already having a lively time in the unfinished Phase One Project buildings. Only Tang Xi was crouching on the ground, trying to check whether Bing Rui had been injured.
"Don't touch me! You're a monster now! Our bond as comrades is over from this day onward!" Bing Rui looked extremely unwilling, but with mana-draining tentacles binding her, she did not have the slightest bit of strength. She could only allow Tang Xi to examine her all over.
"You won't let me touch you, but you get along so well with that frail little fire girl? Isn't she a monster too?" Tang Xi asked, somewhat displeased.
"She was tricked and had no choice but to fall into Demonfall. What about you? You don't even have the courage to fight. What kind of magical girl are you?" Bing Rui said disdainfully.
"Fine, fine. I have no courage. I'm a coward. But I'm a researcher to begin with. Fighting was never my specialty." Tang Xi spoke helplessly while using gravity-manipulating magic to gently massage Bing Rui's body, helping ease her physical and mental exhaustion.
While Tang Xi cared for her former companion, the three little ones were playing a chasing game with Tan Xiang. They flew and leaped between the buildings, looking utterly joyful.
"Master! Master! You secretly built such a huge area of housing behind our backs! It feels like there's enough room for hundreds of people." When she saw that Li Xuan had finally arrived, Xu Rou exclaimed excitedly.
"I wanted to give you a surprise. Once you've had enough fun, come find me in the large room on the top floor of the dormitory building." Seeing the magical girls enjoying themselves, Li Xuan did not stop them. Instead, he went alone to the suite on the dormitory's top floor.
This was the only room that had been decorated. It was as refined as a luxury hotel room. Li Xuan brought in a bathtub, used all his Evil Energy to summon Fallen Blood, then poured it into the tub.
Since his raw strength was still far from enough, he had to adopt targeted strategies. Whether he created monsters specifically suited to counter the enemy or converted it into Wine of Ecstasy with all sorts of wondrous effects, he had to stockpile a large amount of Fallen Blood in advance.
Yet the Fallen Blood created after exhausting all his magic could not even cover the bottom of the bathtub. He was severely short on Evil Energy!
And that was precisely why he had called all the magical girls upstairs for a party.
Before long, Tan Xiang, the least fond of physical activity among the group of four, was the first to arrive. Li Xuan's Evil Energy was so completely drained that he could not even summon tentacles, so he could only carry Tan Xiang onto the bed with his bare hands.
Tan Xiang was still transformed, her body wrapped tightly in a bodysuit that accentuated her figure.
Since Demonfall, the design of the bodysuit had changed slightly. The most eye-catching alteration was the two locked zippers at her chest and crotch, making it look especially alluring.
There was no need to ask. Naturally, only Li Xuan could open those locks.
"Master..." Tan Xiang looked at Li Xuan with vulnerable eyes, seemingly still somewhat afraid. This personality, so completely different from her fighting style, immediately intrigued Li Xuan. He pulled open the zipper and began replenishing his mana on the spot, drawing a startled cry from Tan Xiang.
The sounds Tan Xiang made while replenishing mana were as sweet as syrup, attracting the others like bees. Soon, all the magical girls had been drawn over. Even Bing Rui, still bound up, was carried into the room by Tang Xi.
"Master's in a good mood today~ I'll get my turn later too, right?" Tang Xi, now familiar with the pleasure, tossed her former companion onto the sofa and stepped forward to gently stroke Tan Xiang's flushed cheek.
"Don't worry. Everyone gets a turn today!"
Looking at the six graceful bodies before him, Li Xuan felt for the first time that his kidneys were facing a severe test.
But in order to prepare for the Witch Band's impending arrival, he still forced himself to rally his spirits. After replenishing mana, he continued summoning Fallen Blood, repeating the process until all six magical girls were completely exhausted.
"So mana replenishment has a limit too." Li Xuan looked at the magical girls sprawled all over the floor and rose wearily to his feet. The motion made his vision go dark, and he involuntarily sat back down.
Even now, the huge bathtub was only covered at the bottom. He was still far from his goal. To make up for the enormous gap between Grade B and Grade A, he needed even more preparation.
"I'm afraid everyone will have to work hard lately." Li Xuan looked at the magical girls lying on the floor, already barely conscious, and spoke.
Puppet Yao
Even though summer vacation had ended, the scorching heat in Clear Lotus City had barely subsided. At noon, there were few pedestrians on the streets. No one seemed willing to linger beneath the blazing sun.
Yet four women walked beneath the scorching sunlight as though they did not care in the slightest.
The scattered pedestrians all turned to look, not because the women were unafraid of the heat, but because the four of them were dressed far too conspicuously.
The first to catch the eye was an enormous nun. She stood over two meters tall, a height extremely rare even among men.
Moreover, the nun seemed more powerfully built than an American bison. Even through her loose nun's habit, her firm muscles could still be seen. Her back was especially raised, as if something had been stuffed beneath it.
Two black instrument cases were slung over the nun's back. The bags would look enormous on an ordinary person, yet on her back, they looked tiny. From the front, they were even completely hidden by her body.
Walking ahead of the nun was a short-haired woman in leather pants and a short leather jacket. She strutted arrogantly at the front, metal rings and chains glittering all over her body and jingling with every step. Some were decorations on her clothes, while others were directly threaded through her body.
Behind the nun hid a petite girl whose size contrasted sharply with the nun's. She seemed to be taking advantage of the precious shade to cool herself off.
She was at least two heads shorter than the nun and wore a black cat-themed hooded pajama outfit. She herself was as cute as a kitten, but her expression looked as though she had not yet woken up. She yawned from time to time.
A careful observer would notice that her pupils were vertical slits, completely unlike those of an ordinary human.
A little farther away from the other three walked a high-ponytailed girl in a tight JK uniform. She was certainly cute as well, but what drew the most attention were the long and short blades hanging at her waist. Judging by their heavy metallic texture, they did not seem like fake cosplay props.
The girl occasionally glanced at her three companions, her eyes full of contempt. When she smiled, it was utterly uninhibited, revealing a mouthful of sharp shark-like teeth.
"That's right. These are the band's four witches. Their looks really are... full of personality." Li Xuan, watching everything from afar through binoculars, muttered softly.
A week had passed since Li Xuan began his preparations. According to the intelligence Lilika had provided, today was the day the Witch Band would arrive in Clear Lotus City.
In truth, he did not even need intelligence to know they had arrived. Since that morning, he had sensed a mana source shining as brightly as a beacon. Judging by the level of that mana, it was clearly far beyond Grade B.
Obviously, one of the four band members was a Prayer Type magical girl who remained transformed at all times. Her mana could not be concealed—or perhaps there was no need to conceal it.
"Either way, I'll quietly place marks on them first." With that thought, Li Xuan quietly approached the band members.
After leveling up, all of Li Xuan's skills had been enhanced to varying degrees, including the range of his Hunting Radar.
He had tested it with Alulu. He could now sense the presence of magical girls from as far as two hundred meters away. Once he used visual lock-on, he could place a Hunting Mark on them.
As long as he had a mark, he would hold an unbeatable advantage in intelligence. He could then formulate a targeted plan based on the information he collected. This was a method Li Xuan had used time and again.
But this time, things seemed slightly different.
[Magical girl detected nearby] [Distance: 200 meters] [Detailed information can be displayed after visual lock-on]
Just as the system notification appeared in Li Xuan's mind, the shark-toothed girl suddenly stopped, her smile vanishing.
"What's wrong, Yao? Do you want ice cream?" The nun pointed at an ice cream machine by the roadside and asked.
"No. Someone's watching us." The shark-toothed girl called Yao frowned and scanned her surroundings.
"Four ice creams. Put two extra cones on one of them." The nun stepped forward and spoke to the shop owner.
"Kekekeke... Found you." Yao suddenly whipped her head around and let out a strange laugh toward Li Xuan's location. Her sharp teeth looked quite cute, yet they also made it difficult for anyone to entertain improper thoughts.
From Li Xuan's perspective, however, the sight was rather terrifying.
Just as he aimed his binoculars at the four women, preparing to use visual lock-on to obtain information and place marks, the shark-toothed girl suddenly looked directly at him with startling precision.
It felt like watching a horror movie alone late at night, only for a ghost in the film to suddenly turn and stare out through the screen at you. A chill ran down his spine.
In an instant, he recalled what Li Sijie had once told him: "When you can see others, you must be prepared for them to notice you too."
Li Xuan no longer had time to gather intelligence. He put away his binoculars and prepared to open a passage into the Delusive Badlands to leave. But at that moment, he suddenly realized he could not move his body.
The next second, the shark-toothed girl with the long and short blades appeared before him, an astonishing aura of mana bursting forth. Clearly, she had remained transformed all along, merely keeping her powerful mana suppressed.
[Magical girl locked on] [Name: Yao] [Mana Level: Grade A] [Type: Sealing Type/Battle Type] [Height: 154 cm] [CUP Level: Grade C+]
"Kekekeke, you thought you could escape? Stupid pig." Yao looked at Li Xuan mockingly and slowly drew the long blade at her waist.
Li Xuan struggled with all his strength, only then discovering that countless fine yet tough threads had somehow wrapped around his body. The threads connected to the surrounding buildings, which was why he could not move.
But how had so many threads wrapped around him in an instant? Li Xuan could not understand it for the moment, and he clearly did not have much time left to think.
"The price for peeping at such a cute girl is very high. Remember that well, okay~ Trash?" Yao revealed a cruel smile. Then her blade flashed, and one of Li Xuan's arms fell to the ground.
Blood sprayed everywhere, splashing across the ground. The sudden agony caused Li Xuan's mind to go blank for a moment, while the girl had already returned to her companions.
"Yao, where did you go? Here, ice cream." The nun carefully pinched the cone between two fingers and handed the slightly melted ice cream to Yao.
"No! Don't assume everyone craves sweets like you do. What I want is blood, death, and destruction!" Yao turned away disdainfully, with no intention of acknowledging the nun.
"Black Cat, can you eat another one?" The nun turned helplessly and asked the pajama-clad girl hiding in her shadow.
"Mmm..." Black Cat nodded. Although she had already finished her ice cream, she was still nibbling at the three-layered cone in small bites.
Before you continue