Iris carried the unconscious Hongmian on her back, panting heavily.
Because of the collapse of space, they got separated while chasing the Calamity Dragon, but Iris still found Teacher Hongmian.
The danger posed by the Mental Image Remnants had indeed exceeded her expectations.
From the moment I entered, I was on edge almost every moment, and every battle was incredibly difficult.
Thankfully, it's her strongest magical girl, Iris, here.
Otherwise, who knows what would happen to Teacher Hongmian and that idiot Qingluan?
"Thanks to my persistence in taking the exam, I finally passed after several attempts. Humph, I'll have to give Senior Golden Tea a piece of my mind when I get back. If I hadn't insisted on entering the Mental Image Remnants, this mission would have been a complete failure from the very beginning!"
She walked along, talking to herself.
The vast Beihai was deserted; if you didn't talk to yourself, it would be incredibly boring.
"We haven't found Qingluan yet, but she'll definitely go to the core. As for me, I just need to take Teacher Hongmian to the core along the original route." Iris darted and jumped between the buildings. In this situation, it was better to conserve some magic power.
"Can..."
Iris landed on a relatively high building. Looking around, although it was still Beihai, it was very different from what she remembered.
"Where is the road?"
Shorter buildings, narrower roads, a smaller city; the girl felt dizzy and on edge. "... Where's the road?!"
"Excuse me, where's the way?!" Iris cried out, "Without a guard of honor or a band, I can't find my way! Aaaaaaahhhhhh!"
Perhaps she was shouting too loudly, because the teacher Hongmian, whom she was dragging, finally woke up.
"Can't you walk without someone to guide you, Iris? Is the strongest magical girl so inflexible?"
Iris happily continued her strange squeal, " Hongmian -Teacher--!"
Although she had already exited the transformation state, and it would be difficult for her to transform again for a short time, Hongmian still tapped her on the forehead.
"Quiet down, Iris."
"This isn't class time, Teacher Hongmian."
"Ha, are you trying to defy the heavens?"
"A teacher who's lying on top of a student has no right to say that."
Looking at the still vibrant Iris, Hongmian couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and said softly, "You've really worked hard, Iris. I never thought I'd become a burden to you."
"Haha, why are you suddenly saying something like that, teacher? If you really feel bad, you can help me make up for the previous credits..."
Don't even think about it.
"Tch, that's really insincere." Iris didn't seem to care much. "Anyway, I can make up for it myself. If they don't want to, they don't want to. It doesn't matter, it really doesn't matter!"
Looking at Iris, who had repeatedly emphasized that it didn't matter, Hongmian couldn't help but laugh. "If we can really solve the problem here, you won't have to worry about those credits."
"That's true." Iris suddenly grinned mischievously, "Then deduct more of Qingluan's credits for me, that way I'll win!"
"You..."
Just as Hongmian was about to complain, the entire space suddenly shook.
Immediately afterwards, the space above began to distort, and cracks appeared in the sky.
Before Iris could react, a massive amount of purple magic power overflowed from the crack.
Then it quickly turned into a torrent, instantly destroying the sky above!
A torrent of purple magic, like a vast ocean, poured down, and before either of them could react, they were swept far away.
Fortunately, Iris remained in her transformed state, thus protecting Hongmian.
However, he was inevitably pressed down by the purple magic and fell directly into the building, and it took him a long time to climb out of the building.
He immediately looked at Teacher Hongmian, "Are you alright, teacher?"
"I'm fine." Hongmian floated in the air, looking up at the seemingly endless magic. "This is..."
It must be that guy!
"That guy, that guy--"
Iris pulled Teacher Hongmian to a safe spot, while she herself stood atop the high building, pretending to be serious as she gazed at the waterfall of purple magic.
"--An envoy from the Beihai, a petite girl from the Beihai, Witch Executioner, Witch Association's assassin, a small magical girl who thwarts evil plans, an expert in eliminating Calamity Beast, a short and pretty girl who bleeds for love, a world champion in martial arts, a petite magical girl who stakes her name as the strongest in the Beihai, a short but incredibly powerful level 600 Perfect Full Blossom, my ultimate rival! Shion of the Azure Cloud Sect!"
Hongmian was shocked. "How did she get in?"
"Who knows? That guy's got some serious skills and a lot of tricks up his sleeve. He's definitely a formidable rival of mine!"
What's even more impressive than that is the magic of the Hongmian.
The General Administration already has a lot of information about Shion, but it is clear that there are quite a few misunderstandings about Shion.
Especially such power, it's simply impossible for a magical girl of the Full Blossom stage to possess...
boom!
Although they couldn't see what was happening above from the lower levels, they could still sense the strange flow of magic, especially when the Mental Image Remnants were pierced; the intense feeling of collapse was incredibly clear, even though they couldn't see it.
The entire Beihai was enveloped in a vast ocean of purple magic, which slowly dissipated after a long time.
Layer upon layer of space began to crack, with dense cracks extending from the top all the way down to the bottom.
Then came a downpour of mirror shards. After the barrier above disappeared, she finally figured out where they were—the third floor.
In that instant, Iris raised her head to see what had happened above.
Then she saw:
The six-layered Beihai was dyed purple, and countless fragments were falling from all of it.
The fourth floor was completely shattered, and on the fifth floor, it seemed as if the entire space had been destroyed by lava. The figure of the Qingluan was on the only intact piece of ground, staring blankly at the space above with the Incubators.
On the sixth level, dozens of long, purplish-black rainbows completely sliced through and melted the space.
On the seventh level, countless Mirror Beast struggled to emerge from the shards of the mirror, only to be instantly vaporized by the largest purple streak.
On the eighth floor, the Calamity Dragon flew and roared in chaos, constantly spewing out dragon breath, but it was inadvertently melted by the purple aura falling from above.
Until the ninth layer, at the end of the defensive line, at the center of the chasm, there was that almost invisible purple figure.
And there was also the tattered, pale green magical girl standing next to her...
But a moment later, the Iris lowered its head.
She didn't have time to observe who the pale green magical girl was, because the space below collapsed, and her gravity magic was also affected!
There wasn't even a way to protect Teacher Hongmian!
Perhaps for that magical girl, it was just a casual strike.
But for them, this was a terrible disaster!
As Iris saw Teacher Hongmian plummeting to the next level, Iris immediately gave chase. Just then, she heard Teacher Hongmian shout, "Don't worry about me! Go help Qingluan! Remember to follow Qingluan to the Hidden Gate! Close the Hidden Gate first! Then these Mirror Beast will disappear!"
She saw Teacher Hongmian transform, but her falling body did not slow down. In fact, Mirror Beast pounced on her, causing Teacher Hongmian to fall even deeper.
But when Teacher Hongmian's magical radiance exploded from below, Iris felt a little relieved.
After all, she's a veteran. Although Teacher Hongmian specializes in defeating witches, she can still protect herself even if she can't kill all the common Calamity Beast.
The entire Mental Image Remnants was on the verge of collapse. If the Mental Image Remnants collapsed and the Hidden Gate was not closed, endless streams of Mirror Beast would be born.
Moreover, the Mirror Beast have a particularly troublesome characteristic: they can traverse any place with Mirror Beast. If the place collapses and the Hidden Gate is not closed, these Mirror Beast will escape and become very difficult to find.
In that case, all of Magical Girl Mujin's sacrifices would have been completely meaningless...
Even if Iris were a fool, she knew what was important and what wasn't. She glanced worriedly at her teacher from afar, and after confirming there wouldn't be any problems, she immediately rushed towards Qingluan, shouting, " Qingluan! Quickly close the Hidden Gate..."
Before the words were even finished, a Calamity Dragon from the eighth floor suddenly plummeted down!
Shion's attack not only caused the Mental Image Remnants to begin to collapse, but also caused the barriers between the various levels of space to disappear, allowing monsters from the upper levels to fall down!
Fortunately, the barriers in each space began to recover.
Of the pile of Calamity Dragon on the eighth floor, only one fell down.
Qingluan, who was still reeling from Shion's shocking attack, also came to her senses, glanced down at Iris, who was falling with the Calamity Dragon, and immediately wanted to go down and help.
Seeing her friend trying to get down, Iris used gravity to press the Calamity Dragon in front of her to the ground while imitating Teacher Hongmian's shout, "Don't worry about me! If you get down, it'll be hard to get back up! The Mental Image Remnants are about to collapse, hurry up and close the Hidden Gate! Remember the safe path I told you about!"
"Of course I remember!" Qingluan said worriedly, clinging to the gradually recovering barrier. "Be careful! Don't push yourself! I'll be right back! Wait for me!"
Iris sneered at the very moment the spatial barrier was restored.
"Heh, who do you think you're talking to!"
Iris looked at the Calamity Dragon waving its tail before her, her fighting spirit blazing.
"I'm Iris, the strongest magical girl! Don't get lost and hold me back!"
Shion looked at Magical Girl Mujin whose head was half destroyed but who was still able to move.
She tilted her head slightly, somewhat surprised; this was the first time she had ever seen someone survive such a close-range attack.
Although half of his face was like shattered glass, fragments were still falling off, and the cracks were even spreading to the other, intact half of his face.
However, the opponent was indeed not dead, still able to move, and had not even deactivated their transformation.
I wonder if the Mujin imitation from the Land of Mirrors will ever be able to undo its transformation.
Most importantly, the opponent used spatial displacement to escape her suppression.
Now that they've created some distance, just as Shion was about to approach, the area that was originally on the ninth floor suddenly changed after being sealed off again.
The more she flew, the farther away she got from him.
[ Great Relay Earth ]?
Not only that, the Beihai beneath her feet transformed into an endless ocean, Shion looked down.
The sea reflected the scene on the other side, where Bai Mei and Winter Lord were trying to Freeze the crumbling Mental Image Remnants.
Were they moved to the Mirror Space?
This is clearly no longer within the Mental Image Remnants; the Land of Mirrors's system has already opened up a new Mirror Space...
[A dangerous target exceeding expectations was detected; relocation to independent space.]
[Objective changed: Focus all efforts on slowing the collapse of the Mental Image Remnants and accelerating the erosion process.]
[Objective changed: From defeating the dangerous target to delaying the dangerous target...]
Before the mechanical voice could finish speaking, Shion had already arrived, stepping through the air. With even greater speed and strength, she unleashed a punch before the Magical Girl Mujin Space could even unfold!
Want to play the mystery of [curtain hanging, moon shadow, so close yet so far] with me?
[ Masterpiece, Part Eight...]
The magic was delayed by a second, and the person had already flown away like a shooting star!
The sound of it cutting through the air left a white trail across the sky. It skipped several stones as it fell into the sea, but eventually managed to stand up on the surface.
[ The Brocade's Residual Traces of Guixu.]
Numerous spatial rifts opened up around Mujin, but Shion did not rush to chase after them.
"Buying time?"
Looking at the already tattered clone of Mujin, it simply waited quietly for her attack. The surrounding space kept distorting, spreading throughout its body. It was determined to defend and absorb all of her attacks, without the slightest desire to retaliate.
Shion raised her right hand, and five streams of magic of different colors converged in her palm.
The once calm seawater began to make gurgling sounds.
From a gentle simmer, the water gradually becomes hotter and hotter until it begins to boil, roaring and bubbling, with heat constantly rising from the surface!
The clone of Mujin stared blankly at its surroundings; any fragments that peeled off its body melted instantly upon falling into the sea.
Raising her head, a lotus flower silently appeared in the Magical Girl Shion's hand.
The lotus flower, formed by the convergence of five colors of magic, is small, exquisite, and quietly rotates like a work of art.
However, even Mujin, who was standing at a great distance, could clearly feel the violent, turbulent, unstable, and terrifying magical power within it!
The seawater beneath her feet was boiling like lava!
Instead of throwing the Fire Lotus Fire Lotus away, Shion grabbed it with both hands and gently pulled it.
The already extremely unstable Fire Lotus was actually pulled and tugged by her, gradually transforming into a spear with flowing five colors!
Then, they precisely locked onto the Mujin standing on the sea surface.
Even as a machine performing a mission, the clone Mujin still subconsciously took a step back.
Immediately afterwards, the [ Heaven-Grade Spell - Buddha's Fury Flame Lotus - Modified - Spear Version] suddenly burst forth!
The seawater below roared and spewed like lava from a volcanic eruption, only to evaporate completely the instant the spear fell!
Vast amounts of steam, generated by the high-temperature evaporation of seawater, rose into the air, causing the surrounding space to crack.
Mujin immediately stretched out her hands, using all the spatial abilities she had since her birth.
[ Mediocre Work, the third one...]
[ Masterpiece, Part Six...]
[ Masterpiece...]
However, the moment the spear touched the space, it was engulfed by a massive amount of scorching magic, constantly collapsing and exploding!
The spear drew a fiery purple line, and countless spaces exploded, making the long purple line resemble a shattered, continuous galaxy!
[Requesting access to the Mental Image Domain...]
The five-colored spear plunged fiercely into the other half of the Mujin's eye socket!
The terrifying heat spread along her head, the sea beneath her feet instantly evaporated, and the spear, carrying the already ablaze Mujin, plummeted into the dry seabed. Mujin clung tightly to the spear that had pierced her head, the space around her disoriented, frantically devouring the flames and the surrounding seawater!
The heat spread in concentric circles, evaporating the seawater within a radius of hundreds of kilometers. Large amounts of seawater poured into the arid seabed of the Five-Colored Spear, but it could not extinguish the intense heat!
From high above, a massive whirlpool appeared in the middle of the ocean, swallowing everything around it like an abyss!
Until a petite figure in purple fell from the sky, her beautiful purple boots landing heavily on the spear!
Mujin, who had been clinging tightly to the spear, let out a piercing scream!
The five-colored spear pierced through Mujin's head in an instant! Its momentum continued unabated as it pierced through the space beneath the sea!
The seabed shattered like a mirror, and the five-colored spear, carrying Mujin's corpse, pierced through the underwater space and nailed directly to the wall of the next level!
Shion then jumped down from the gap pierced by the Spear Version of Modified Buddha's Fury Flame Lotus, glanced at the corpse of Mujin hanging on the spear, swaying weakly, and breaking into pieces, presumably dead.
He then looked around.
This was a city she didn't recognize, and the surrounding buildings were all styles she had never seen before, but all of them were made of glass.
These beautiful and enormous glass buildings look like palaces, magnificent and orderly.
In the very center was a huge square, and on the square stood a massive, transparent pillar, inside which lay a young girl sleeping peacefully.
An Shiyu.
[Warning, warning, core area has been compromised.]
[Warning: Enter full emergency defense mode.]
[Suggestion: Release all Magical Girl Mujin.]
[Proposal approved. Release all Magical Girl Mujin.]
Five or six Magical Girl Mujin, emerged from the mirror.
Five or six Mujin even gathered together. The one leading Mujin, showing a bit of humanity, smiled and said, "You are indeed very capable, but now there are six of us. Sorry, we'll have to gang up on you."
Shion nodded, then clapped her hands.
It steals the magic around it, and this magic coalesces and takes shape in some wondrous way.
One Magic Puppet, the Shion Puppet arrived from all directions.
Before long, they had surrounded the six Mujin.
The Mujin, which had been smiling, stared blankly around once again.
Each one has almost the same magic as the original!
"It doesn't matter."
Hundreds of Shion drew their bows together, unleashing a dense, overwhelming purple radiance.
"I like it too."