Do What Heaven Demands

Three severed wrists. Three knees punched through with bloody holes.

The scar-faced brute rolled on the floor, clutching his stump. His demon mask had split in two. The tall, thin man curled up in a corner and howled, while the short, stocky man gripped his knee, blood filling the gaps between his fingers.

"Spare us... Lady Ziwei, spare us!"

The scar-faced brute pushed himself backward on half an arm. "Take the money! Take the goods too! We're just errand boys on the outside. We were following orders!"

"Orders." Ziwei walked over, her boot heel stopping at the edge of the blood. "Whose orders? To do what? And what's the account password?"

"I'll talk! I'll tell you everything—"

"Too slow."

She raised a hand. More than a dozen violet-gold threads of light emerged from her fingertips, so fine they were barely visible. They pierced the skin behind the three men's ears and along their necks.

"Aah—!!"

Their screams rose an octave.

The Companion Magic Book at Ziwei's chest floated out on its own.

Violet light flowed across it as its pages flipped rapidly, stopping on a newly illuminated page.

[Second Ring · Magic Skill—Twilight Coffin]

[Shape force into a coffin and seal clamor within. Inside the coffin, all energy falls silent.]

[Note: Can compress and seal a target together with any energy devices they carry.]

A matching incantation was printed beneath the text.

Ziwei glanced at it and recited without expression:

"Dusk shall be the coffin, twilight the nails. Let clamor cease, and let eternal sleep begin."

"Twilight Coffin."

"Master, you put no feeling into that incantation."

"It worked."

She lifted her hand and lightly tapped the page.

Three translucent violet-gold force fields opened up. Rectangular and sharply defined, they enclosed the three men and all their equipment.

"Wait! My lady! You haven't even asked us... We'll tell you—"

"Hah. Too late."

A moment before the fields contracted, three threads of light slipped inside, wrapped around the high-grade storage pouches at the men's waists, and pulled them free.

"My card! There's—"

The scar-faced brute's howl cut off halfway through.

The force fields folded inward.

Bones crackled under the pressure. The three men could not even manage a full scream. The abyssal-energy devices inside their bodies and the guns at their waists were crushed together, compressed, and sealed. Not a trace of energy escaped.

"Ma-magic power... My magic power's gone..."

"Spare me... My lady, spare me..."

The coffins of light dissipated. The three men sprawled limply on the floor, their magic power gone, unable to lift even a finger.

"I could have killed you." Ziwei pulled the high-grade storage pouches from their waists one by one. "I took your magic power and left you alive. Merciful of me, isn't it?"

She turned and surveyed the wrecked dorm room.

Broken glass, pools of blood, a kicked-in doorframe, and bullets scattered across the floor.

"A girl's dorm room shouldn't be this dirty."

The dark-gold Great Scythe spun lightly in her palm, its blade brushing along the wall.

A faint violet-gold glow spread from the blade, flowing over the walls, floor, and ceiling.

The bloodstains faded, the bullets dissolved, the broken glass fitted itself back into the window frame, and the dented security door swelled back into shape. The half-burned Demon-Attracting Incense turned to ash and was swept out the window by the wind.

Three seconds later, room 502 looked spotless, with only a wisp of floral fragrance remaining.

As for the three wrecks on the floor, the Monster Hunting Bureau could collect them.

At the foot of the bed, Ye Qingqing hugged her knees and stared blankly at everything.

The silver pocket watch against her chest was still hot. A turquoise glow shone through her clothes, brightening and fading.

She braced herself against the wall to stand. Her knees buckled, and she fell back down. She tried again and fell again. On the third attempt, she finally stood upright, though both legs still trembled.

"Th-thank you, Lady Ziwei."

She bent into an awkward bow.

"Can I ask... This thing against my chest has been hot since this morning. And there's wind rushing around inside my body... What's happening to me?"

Ziwei turned around.

Her eyes swept over Ye Qingqing. There was no warmth in them, no emotion.

The look made Ye Qingqing's skin crawl. Her fingers twisted the hem of her clothes.

"M-my lady?"

"An unawakened wind-type with a high-purity Source Core," Ziwei said. "Those three scum watched you for three days. They wanted to dig the Source Core out of your chest and try to become Magical Girls."

Ye Qingqing's lips moved, but no sound came out.

"Dig... dig it out?"

"If they did, you'd die."

"..."

"Scared?"

"Yes." Ye Qingqing's voice wavered, but she raised her head. "But you saved me. Could I... become someone like you?"

Ziwei did not answer.

She turned her hand and took a Spirit-Breath Primeval Stone from one of the storage pouches she had just seized. It was high purity, worth at least two hundred thousand on the market.

The stone landed in Ye Qingqing's lap.

"Take it."

"This is too valuable..."

"A welcome gift." Ziwei cut her off. "Since you've earned the Will of the World's recognition, hold your head high from now on."

"Recognition?"

Ziwei walked toward the balcony. "Half a day at the earliest, half a month at the latest. Once you awaken, you'll be a Magical Girl. Stop playing the delicate young lady at school. When trouble comes, think about how to fight back before you think about crying."

She stopped at the edge of the balcony and turned her face slightly.

"Recover from your injuries. Someone will come find you. Star Magical Girls defend the city for love and justice."

"Star Magical Girls..." Ye Qingqing clenched the stone in her hand, her eyes growing brighter. "My lady! I'm willing!"

"Master!" Kabi's voice sounded just then. "An ambush on the high ground by the sports field!"

Ziwei stood at the edge of the balcony and looked toward the source of the magic fluctuations.

Three hundred meters away, three agents in black trench coats lay prone atop the sports field stands, bristling with killing intent. Three heavy black sniper rifles were trained steadily on room 502's balcony.

"Night Watch Special Squad! The Monster Hunting Bureau's elite. Every one of them has a Magic Power Scale above eight thousand!"

"Those three rifles are custom Magic Tools, made to pierce protective magic power!"

"Is Liang Bing here too?"

"Below the stands. Black command vehicle. The terminal signal is hers."

"Hah."

Three hundred meters away, inside the command vehicle.

Liang Bing stared at the thermal image on the screen, her palms slick with sweat.

Half an hour earlier, the bureau's monitoring network had detected an abnormal fluctuation above the campus. The higher-ups had issued orders that night: deploy the Night Watch Squad. If the Magical Girl appeared, locate her, attempt negotiations, and, if necessary, try to capture her.

An entity that could kill a lord with one slash was roaming the city beyond their control. The higher-ups had not slept well in days.

"Try to capture her?" Liang Bing had challenged those four words on the spot. "With what? Our lives?"

The reply had been four words: Carry out your orders.

"Enforcer Liang, the target is on the balcony," a sniper said in a low voice over her earpiece. "We have a lock. Awaiting instructions."

On the screen, the violet-gold figure stood at the balcony's edge, looking toward the command vehicle from afar.

Liang Bing's breath caught for half a beat.

She saw the woman raise her dark-gold Great Scythe and sweep it through the air.

There was no beam of light, no grand display. An unremarkable crescent of light slipped from the blade and silently crossed three hundred meters.

Crack.

The half-meter-thick alloy blast barriers in front of all three sniper positions split cleanly in two. The air current behind the slash swept across the stands, throwing all three Night Watchers and their rifles off their feet.

The command vehicle rocked.

Inside, only the low hum of the instruments remained.

"The barriers broke..." The sniper's voice shook over the earpiece. "Those things can withstand a head-on charge from a D-Rank Demon..."

"Enforcer Liang, do we... do we keep the lock?"

Liang Bing stared at the screen.

The figure still stood at the balcony's edge, her long scythe angled downward. Liang Bing could even make out the woman tilting her head.

She was waiting for an answer.

"Retreat."

Liang Bing heard her own voice. Her back teeth ground together.

"All units retreat. Drop the lock. Now."

"But the orders from above—"

"I said, retreat!" Liang Bing slammed a palm onto the console. "Anyone who wants to die can stay. I'll write their death-benefit application myself!"

The channel went silent for two seconds.

"Copy."

"Copy..."