Witch · Stage Four

"Another Witch?" Huali froze. "Can two Witches appear at the same time?"

"Don't forget, the record for the most Witches appearing at once is ten."

Sun Feiliu paused, the corner of his mouth curling slightly before he continued, "If ten Witches appeared at once, Jiangyang City would be finished."

Huali fell silent.

Of course he knew about that disaster. It was the once-sensational Witch City-Destroying Incident, with nearly a million deaths.

Did Minister Sun mean that Fu You had gone alone to deal with another Witch?

But why not join forces and deal with the Witch in front of them first?

He looked worriedly toward the Witch.

The battle between the four Magical Girls and the Witch was evenly matched.

Every Magical Girl displayed extraordinary talent in battle. Hardened by countless fights, their faces all radiated unwavering determination and confidence.

Agile figures, formidable strength, colorful skirts spinning through the air, pretty and immaculate faces—combining beauty and power, they embodied the true essence of Magical Girls.

He had become a Magical Girl because he wanted to become one—Huali was not entirely sure why he had awakened as a Magical Girl, but such beautiful and powerful beings had been his goal from the very beginning.

Although he had now become a Magical Girl, there was still no role for him in this battle.

When will I be able to be like them? Huali silently wondered.

The Witch on the other side grew increasingly terrifying as the battle progressed. Her jet-black hair spread like living creatures, covering more than half the plaza. Wherever it passed, remnants of the Dead Zone remained. The ground looked like rotten old cheese, blooming with patch after patch of withered yellow mold.

Birds that accidentally flew into the Dead Zone had their wings wither in an instant, shedding flakes of ash. Even if they managed to fly out in time, their feathers became brittle and decayed.

You have to win.

Huali prayed silently.

And at that very moment, one of Huang Xing's giant rounds finally broke through the Witch's layers of hair.

The instant the hair ruptured, a dense black gemstone was exposed before her for a brief moment. Although it immediately vanished again, Huang Xing still caught that fleeting glimpse with her naked eye.

"Help me restrain the Witch!" Huang Xing shouted sharply. She halted in midair, reached beneath her skirt with her right hand, and hoisted a gold-patterned heavy cannon with a muzzle as large as her head onto her shoulder.

The barrel was over two meters long, longer than her entire body. It was difficult to imagine how such a petite girl could carry a heavy cannon with such a metallic sheen.

Golden patterns flowed across the cannon's body, growing brighter as magic poured from her fingertips.

The Witch had clearly sensed the threat. Countless strands of hair surged at Huang Xing like a tide from every direction, intending to drown her.

Lan Lu, the blue Magical Girl, leaped up and lightly flicked the twin wheel blades at her sides with both hands. The blades spun rapidly through the air, tracing two icy-blue arcs. Guided by her fingertips as if pulled by invisible threads, they darted and danced through the air. As her arms whirled, the twin blades sliced back and forth, severing every strand of hair that tried to approach Huang Xing at the root. The shattered hair turned into black smoke and dispersed, yet new strands kept pouring forth.

A green light flashed in Green Yi's eyes, and the longbow in her hand abruptly extended to nearly three meters. She drew the bowstring, and a long golden arrow condensed from thin air, its tip gathering the surrounding radiance as it locked onto the same core from across Huang Xing.

Honglian swung her giant scythe so swiftly that it was almost nothing but a blazing red blur. Her whole body became a streak of fire, rolling back and forth at the Witch's side. Every sweep of her scythe sent great masses of black hair and ash flying.

"Hah!"

Honglian's scythe abruptly expanded to ten meters long. Its blade wrapped in flames as it slashed horizontally!

The blade left a long, narrow gash in the Witch's body. The Witch's hair rapidly converged upon the wound, repairing her body.

Green Yi's golden arrow suddenly left the string with a piercing shriek, shooting through the Witch's body and carving a passage through her hair and flesh.

At nearly the same moment, Huang Xing's cannon finally erupted with golden light—a golden beam as thick as a bowl tore through the air and shot straight into the Witch's core.

The three attacks struck almost simultaneously. Green Yi's golden arrow pierced through the Witch's body, tearing a channel through the dense hair, while Huang Xing's bombardment entered precisely through that gap and struck the exposed black core squarely.

"We hit it!" Huali shouted excitedly.

Sun Feiliu ground out his cigarette and swept his gaze around the area.

"No. There's still one more stage," Sun Feiliu said.

Hearing that, Huali shot Sun Feiliu a surprised look. Then the Witch suddenly let out an incomparably strange, miserable shriek. The sound made their scalps tingle and left them unbearably uncomfortable.

He hurriedly covered his ears and looked toward the sound, only to see the Witch's body, which had been standing stiffly upright just moments ago, slowly collapse inward like a giant balloon that had suddenly deflated.

The strands of hair that had resembled tentacles now seemed to have lost all support, going limp and collapsing onto the ground. Some turned into black smoke and scattered, while others piled up on the ground, forming small mounds of hair.

The human body that had been propped up by the hair also slumped straight down into the mass of hair and was buried beneath it.

All the hair tentacles around the Witch also lost their strength at that moment, lying scattered across the ground in deathly stillness.

The ash that had constantly drifted down around the Witch vanished as well. Every sound disappeared. The only things left on the battlefield were the Magical Girls' faint panting and the ever-present wind.

The four Magical Girls transformed their weapons back to normal and gathered together, exchanging relieved looks.

The exhaustion from the battle had them all breathing heavily.

"It's over, right?"

"Yeah!"

"We beat the Witch?" Lan Lu's voice still carried a trace of disbelief. Her body was still trembling slightly. The Witch had not injured her, but the high-frequency vibrations from repeatedly cutting through the hair had numbed her fingertips and left her muscles aching. Even standing steadily had become extremely difficult.

"Of course. As long as we work together, there's no monster we can't defeat. Because we're Magical Girls!" Huang Xing casually tossed the flintlock pistol in her hand into the air, and it dissolved into particles midair.

"Senior!" The two younger Magical Girls ran over as well. "You're amazing!"

Huang Xing crouched down and smiled as she patted the little girl's head. Her golden hair and golden eyes made her smile as warm as sunlight. "When you grow up a little more, you'll be amazing too."

Green Yi pointed at the pile of hair on the ground. "Should we take a look? I think she's still alive."

"Mm, let's go. We'll give her the finishing blow." As Huang Xing spoke, she pulled out another flintlock pistol, loaded it, spun it once in her hand, and then walked toward the pile of hair.

"No, there's still one stage missing." Sun Feiliu frowned and picked up the walkie-talkie. "Be careful. She might not be dead yet."

But the moment he spoke, the plaza loudspeaker connected to the walkie-talkie only emitted a burst of harsh static. The speaker, which had often malfunctioned before, chose this moment to quit working entirely.

"Is something wrong?" Huali asked.

"Quick, stop Huang Xing from getting closer." Sun Feiliu gave Huali a look.

Huali hurriedly nodded and flew swiftly toward Huang Xing.

Huang Xing had already reached the edge of the pile of hair.

Within the pile, the Witch's body was wrapped in hair and could not be seen. Only that pale, bloodless, dying face was exposed alone, as if still unwilling to accept defeat.

"It's over."

The Witch's eyes slowly lifted and met the gun barrel.

"Watch out!" Huali's shout nearly tore through the air.

Hearing him, Huang Xing instinctively turned her head and glanced at Huali—at the instant she was distracted, the Witch's face moved without a sound.

That was not a head attached to a neck at all.

Connected to that head was black hair like a serpent's body. The hair tightened and coiled with force, then shot out the moment Huang Xing turned her head.

It was so fast that the nearby Magical Girls only had time to cry out, "Watch out!"

The Witch opened her mouth. Black, slime-like matter clung to the sharp teeth filling her gaping maw.

The sound the Witch made was too soft to hear. Huang Xing failed to notice the Witch's movement beside her at all.

Huali had no time to think. His body made the decision before his mind could—he lunged sideways, placing himself between Huang Xing and the gaping maw about to snap shut.

Then, a foot landed firmly on his butt.