Witch: Stage Three

The Witch's hair grew longer and longer. Like tentacles, the strands lifted her body from the ground, raising her nearly three meters into the air.

Her disordered hair swirled around her, forming layer upon layer of ribbon-like rings around her body.

Long hair covered the ground beneath her, the dense strands completely concealing the space below her and taking the shape of an enormous black gown. The layers of floating black hair coiled around her made that black gown seem adorned with delicate layers of lace.

The aura of the Dead Zone grew stronger as she rose higher. Pitch-black ash from the Dead Zone continuously formed around her and drifted down. The ash resembled feathers and petals; the Witch at its center was like a black flower forever blooming and withering.

The Witch was still giving off that chilling laughter. It sounded less and less human, more like some kind of shrill wail. The sound did not seem to come from the Witch's body, but rather from the enormous hollow cavity beneath her suspended body, wrapped in long hair.

It was as though that hollow cavity entangled in hair beneath her held many people captive, all crying in unison.

The children on campus had already been taken out of the school and given a half-day holiday. Based on current judgment, the Witch's threat could not be eliminated anytime soon. Even if the Witch was destroyed, the Dead Zone would still require a long time to deal with—

Of course, that was assuming the Witch could be dealt with at all.

There was no need to put the children at risk over half a day of classes. It was still early autumn, the new term had only just begun, and classes had not yet become demanding.

Besides, when unrest occurred at school, giving everyone a holiday was tradition.

Neither Huang Xing nor Green Yi wavered in the slightest at the Witch's transformation. They continued their assault on her at a relentless pace.

Huang Xing's weapons were not limited to her two flintlock pistols. From beneath her short skirt, she could easily pull out a long-barreled hunting rifle over a meter and a half long.

In an open area, although the Witch's appearance was horrifying, the damage she caused did not seem especially severe.

However, Huali could also see that the Witch was still growing. Whenever he felt that the Witch could not possibly change any further, she would undergo another transformation.

She had heard of battles against Witches before, but this was her first time becoming a Magical Girl and taking part in one.

Sun Feiliu had also arrived at the plaza. When he saw Huali, he walked over to his side. "How does it feel, facing a Witch for the first time?"

Huali glanced at him. Seeing not the slightest trace of tension on his face, and that he still had the leisure to joke around at a time like this, he merely frowned before continuing to stare fixedly at Huang Xing and Green Yi.

Their battle was becoming increasingly difficult. As the Witch's body "grew larger," the damage they inflicted seemed more and more insignificant.

Even if the bullets and arrows could leave holes in that black gown, it was only a drop in the bucket. In the blink of an eye, the Witch would heal herself, as if nothing had happened.

The Witch's long hair had bored into the earth. It was impossible to tell from the surface just how large an area underground had been covered by it.

She had seen the move the Witch had used earlier to ambush the two young Magical Girls.

The ground was clearly concrete, yet the Witch could still use her hair to pierce through the surface.

And that attack had merely been the prelude. Strands of hair constantly stabbed up from the ground like spikes, attacking the Magical Girls whenever they had to briefly touch down and use the ground for leverage.

Though the attacks seemed to have no effect at all, Green Yi and Huang Xing continued attacking without pause.

After Sun Feiliu arrived, two more Magical Girls joined the battle.

One was a red Magical Girl wielding an enormous scythe taller than an adult. She continuously swung it around the Witch, severing strands of hair.

The other was a blue Magical Girl holding two enormous ice wheels. Like a chariot, she rolled around the Witch, cutting through countless strands.

However, approaching the Witch was no longer as easy as it had been at the beginning.

Sheets of hair surged in like waterfalls, wave after wave, like black tides.

Though both of them possessed incredibly spectacular sweeping attacks that could always wipe out the hair around them, the moment they approached the Witch, the unending waves of hair would force them back toward the outskirts.

And when they drew close to the Witch, both the giant scythe and ice wheels encountered obvious resistance. In close combat, even the slightest obstruction could lead to their bodies being pierced by the hair.

Yet clearly, those two Magical Girls were very familiar with Huang Xing and Green Yi. They needed only a glance to support one another. Whenever the two Magical Girls faced danger, Green Yi always provided timely aid. Huang Xing, meanwhile, remained focused on attacking the Witch's highest point—

The place where the Witch's physical body was located.

"That one is called Honglian, and that one is called Lan Lu. Both are seniors you need to keep an eye on," Sun Feiliu calmly introduced to Huali.

Huali gripped his wand, his gaze not daring to leave the battlefield for even a moment. "Mm!"

"They're both very friendly, and they'll be important support for you in the future. Oh, though Honglian will retire next year. Tsk, it's such a shame for such a fine Magical Girl to retire."

Huali said, "Mm... Minister Sun, is attacking like this really effective? It looks like the Witch isn't hurt at all."

Sun Feiliu laughed. "A Witch isn't so easy to kill. Unless you scrape away that outer layer of protection, there's no way to attack the Witch's core."

Huali said, "So we have to keep attacking until her core is exposed?"

"Exactly."

Huali nodded.

"If you ask me, this Witch should still have one more form."

"One more form?" Huali asked in surprise.

Sun Feiliu lit another cigarette and placed it between his lips. Narrowing his eyes, he took a drag as if savoring it immensely. "That's right. At this level, it's still just child's play."

"This is still child's play?"

"It is. Far too small-scale. Back during the Witch Calamity, only ten Witches descended." Sun Feiliu said, "Ten Witches were enough to turn an entire city into a Dead Zone within fifteen minutes."

"Was that so..." Huali murmured. "Then... what about that senior?"

"Hm?"

"Where is Senior Fu You? Where did she go?"

"Her? Don't worry about her."

"Why? Isn't she a Magical Girl too? Why hasn't she appeared?"

"She might be busy with something else," Sun Feiliu said.

"Something else? Is there anything more serious than a Witch appearing on campus?"

"You'll have to ask her that." As Sun Feiliu spoke, he suddenly hissed. "Could there be a second Witch?"