Chapter 361

"Witches are nothing but a bunch of freaks!"

"Burn them! They are heretical devils who defile God!"

"Human rights! Freedom! We need equality, Make America Great Again!"

………………

Holding banners, raising signs.

The crowd's emotions ran high, like dry kindling ignited by raging fire.

They waved their fists, or wore scarves with slogans tied around their foreheads, taking to the streets to express their fierce resistance through protest marches.

People's faces twisted with anger, eyes flashing with blazing fury, first loudly chanting all sorts of slogans, angry roars exploding through the crowd, shocking the heart like thunderclaps.

Immediately after came even more piercing curses, rising and falling in succession.

Inciting accusations like sharp blades cleaved the air, striking straight at the heart.

Like a violent storm, sweeping through every inch of air, tearing reason and peace to shreds.

Men, women, Black people, White people.

Rarely reaching consensus, or rather, at least achieving surface consensus, jointly raising their voices for the same goal.

As if converging into an unstoppable torrent, crashing against the already turbulent social order.

Same world, same dream……

Okay, that's purely gilding the lily, naturally impossible.

Accompanying the protests, all manner of chaos spread like a plague, all kinds of crazy acts of smashing, looting, burning, and zero-dollar purchasing becoming a matter-of-course interlude.

But everyone has long since grown numb to this, habitual power.

After all, this situation has appeared before, occurring with particular frequency during that period when the end of the world was suspected to be arriving.

And if tracing back further, it's not hard to discover that in recent years this phenomenon has long since become a beautiful scenery line of the Beacon of Freedom.

Therefore, people have long since ceased to find it strange, some even regarding it as a matter-of-course existence.

Moreover, what's most important now is recruiting more people to join in, striving to make an even louder voice.

So no one goes to stop all this…… some even take advantage to join in, making the situation increasingly chaotic. In this chaos and madness, the ugliness and greed of human nature are exposed without remainder.

——The protest's momentum grows ever more vast.

——The commotion caused grows ever more astonishing.

Streets impassable, heads crowding together, viewed from above the city, nearly a solid black mass.

And mixed within, occasional angry screams or hysterical roars, as the black mass of crowds advanced, buildings along the way were plundered one after another.

Doors and windows shattered, items scattered across the ground, witnessing the cruelty of this chaos.

Resistance voices ruthlessly suppressed, those trying to block the torrent brutally beaten to the ground. Under the crowd's trampling, pained groans and miserable cries intertwined.

This still counts as the lucky ones.

After all, the unlucky ones couldn't even make a sound anymore.

And the plunderers themselves would constantly erupt in conflict, some looting amidst the fire, some dog-eat-dog, this infighting and struggle undoubtedly making the chaos more intense, more uncontrollable.

"Too chaotic……"

"Worthy of the land where the flower of evil blooms……"

On the upper floors of a certain apartment building not far away, a certain window's curtains were gently pulled open a crack, the Spirit lady——Honnjo Tohka, peering at the outside commotion, murmured to herself.

She had done a certain disguise, wearing a set of slightly conservative clothes, a pair of black-rimmed glasses perched on her nose bridge.

Looking like those relatively homebody young women, maintaining a subtle distance from the outside clamor.

"Society too torn, wouldn't surprise me if another Civil War breaks out, or it just splits into fifty countries……"

A voice like a young lady's, echoed faintly in the room.

As Kurumi Tokisaki's outline gradually cleared in the surging shadows, the room's light and shadow seemed to change along with it.

The whole process was like first letting one see her shadow appear in the room, immediately after, her entity slowly manifested.

"If not for things quieting down now, I'd strongly suspect this has already happened."

While saying this, Kurumi Tokisaki came to the window side.

Also slightly pulled open the curtains, looked toward the window outside.

She had little interest in that solid black mass of crowds spreading across several nearby blocks, her gaze traversing the clamorous crowd, cast toward the distant sky.

The setting sun sank in the west, the sky dyed a deep red like blood,

Looking at it, quite an ominous implication.

But this is already rare good weather, also a normal celestial phenomenon.

Unknown whether it's a signal that the confrontation between unknown forces in outer space has temporarily stopped, or their confrontation has entered a new stage, or some mysterious optical shielding device has been corrected.

In short, the previously continuously projected "Sky Curtain"——from tribulation fire to flowing light, and the giant structure outlines orbiting the planetary orbit…… have all temporarily disappeared.

For smart people, this brings a sense of unknown urgency.

And for fools, this brings a false sense of peace of mind.

"Speaking of which, also have to thank the existence of Spacequakes, otherwise they wouldn't have such big hearts."

Honnjo Tohka said with a very subtle tone, that tone containing both mocking sharpness and a trace of self-deprecating bitterness:

"From thirty years ago to now, nerves should have been tempered out."

"True enough……" Kurumi Tokisaki's tone lighthearted, "But are you really sure? The target will appear here?"

"……Not too certain, can only say very likely."

Honnjo Tohka pulled at the corner of her mouth.

"After all I can't directly foresee the future, at most infer based on existing information clues."

Which place in the world is experiencing what, who is doing what.

These are the existing information clues; making judgments based on the given parameters is a highly subjective matter.

For instance, if she now knows a person is going to the supermarket to buy things, then it can be reasonably inferred that person will next appear inside the supermarket……

But this is merely a logical deduction; reality is often far more complex than imagination.

One cannot rule out the possibility that the person encounters something on the way, or temporarily changes their mind, so they may not necessarily end up appearing at the supermarket in the end.

"That woman was converted into a Spirit, and lost her memories; right now she should be comparatively blank……"

"She is subconsciously pursuing her past, wandering there in London, then crossing the Atlantic Ocean, coming toward this place in the United States……"

"This trajectory is fairly obvious; and the Americans previously recovered Isaac, and now they have churned out the Wizard Registration Act — no matter how you look at it, it doesn't seem like a coincidence……"

Honjo Nia stated her train of thought.

Her Angel leans toward a supportive nature; as long as she can make good use of this Search Engine, many secrets are not secrets to her.

"I feel that woman should have perceived something, and following the connections wants to recover her lost memories, which is why she would come searching all the way along this trajectory."

Kurumi Tokisaki nodded: "It does indeed sound relatively consistent with the current situation."

She felt Honjo Nia's deduction had no real issue; the only problem lay in the other party's attitude……

Calling her "that woman" every other word — one look and it's clear she holds a prejudice.

emmmmm…… also very normal; ambushed by the other party, a surprise attack, beaten down directly and resulting in being locked up for five years.

No person would have zero resentment.

Even discovering the other party suffered the same misfortune, becoming a victim just like herself, even losing her memories, there is no way to just let it go the moment one decides to.

Merely……

Despite understanding Honjo Nia's thinking, Kurumi Tokisaki still had to give a reminder:

"We currently must unite every force that can be united; no matter how you put it, she is already a Spirit…… if we don't strive for her, this power will be utilized by the First Spirit."

"……"

"……"

"Okay okay, I understand, mainly……" Honjo Nia sighed, just about to continue saying something.

Right at this moment——

Boom!!

A violent Spiritual Power reaction suddenly erupted not far ahead, like a massive typhoon exploding outward, sweeping across the city on the horizon!

"……!!"

The two girls simultaneously blanked slightly, immediately followed by both their complexions changing slightly.

——Already appeared?

——Just when on earth?!

………………

………………

Wizard.

Not a novel or trendy term; it has long been known to people.

But this did not let this concept gain rapid mass acceptance in the new era; on the contrary, there is a momentum to reignite the medieval witch hunt craze.

And the cause of all this traces back to a little over half a month ago.

The promulgation of the Wizard Registration Act truly caused a major stir among the Americans; its speed was simply staggering.

But it is also understandable; after all, strictly speaking, the former Spirit Unit——

Trained elites capable of piloting Tactical Manifestation Devices.

——Were essentially positioned as "Artificial Witches" to begin with.

Only all of this was classified.

Ordinary civilians could not possibly know.

Therefore, if the floor is set low enough, directly producing results is a very simple matter.

Coupled with the Americans' desire to seize the first-mover advantage, they crave to be the first to set standards, declare sovereignty — no matter who it originally belonged to, now it all must belong to me.

Thus, deeply influenced by path dependence, they adopted action without hesitation.

Then……

Their domestic situation exploded.

Like in a certain movie, the so-called dispute between humans and mutants——

Many people cannot tolerate those more powerful, more intelligent, more powerful individuals emerging, and are even more unwilling to see these individuals surpass them in life form, class power, and other aspects.

Especially when these individuals were once peers exactly like themselves.

——Moreover……

——Judging from the Act, Witches seemingly cannot be popularized.

——Because Tactical Manifestation Devices have extremely high Compatibility Requirements for Users.

So to speak, this is the most important point.

It is also the root cause of these people's desperate opposition.

Amidst the tremendous momentum, people vowing to hunt witches lost themselves in this torrent of emotion, leaving only fanatical pursuit of the target.

And it was precisely at this critical moment——

A figure quietly arrived.

Ellen Mira Mathers.

This former World's Strongest Witch who lost her memories and was converted into a Spirit somewhat blankly scanned her surroundings.

She did not appear in a pure Astral Dress like a normal Spirit; instead, on the outside she was still draped in that set of most elite Tactical Manifestation Devices.

Most of them were already malfunctioning.

But she could not bring herself to throw them away, like fragments of an unfinished memory, too precious to discard.

Lost memories wrapped around her heart like mist, making any object possibly linked to the past something she desperately kept.

Such a conspicuous presence naturally could not escape the gaze of the parade crowd.

That signature Connection Suit was too unique, undoubtedly a direct symbol of the "Witch" identity.

Thus, no need for many words—

An unprecedented fierce conflict suddenly broke out.

When an individual merges into a group, individuality is often drowned by the flood, leaving only emotional, undisputed, low-IQ group characteristics.

"Blind," "impulsive," "fanatical"... these words seemed especially fitting at this moment.

Driven by fanatical emotion, the power given by numbers made rationality as fragile as thin ice. At this moment, they shouted slogans of opposition, and the desire to hunt witches and burn heretics became their most urgent demand.

The only problem was...

The Opposite Side could counterattack.

"...!!"

Ellen Mira Mathers had lost her memories, but not her combat instinct; she knew very well what she should do, without any hesitation.

Light Feathers appeared, like an angel spreading its wings, every ray of light containing the power of Destruction.

At that moment, the Air seemed to freeze.

A powerful Light Beam burst from the tip of that Light Wing, like the sharpest Sword in the world, and like a shining laser, mercilessly cutting through the atmosphere, sweeping out at a wide angle!

With irresistible power, turning everything blocking it into nothing!

In an instant—

Hundreds of people, amidst fanatical Shouting, like fallen leaves swept up by a Storm, had not yet reached the girl before discovering their upper bodies flying up.

At the moment of separation from the lower body, accompanied by countless severed limbs and arms, and other shattered, exploding flesh.

Blood rain seemed to fall in the Sky, every drop the end of a life.

A strong burnt smell spread, the wailing of flesh being melted, the light attack sweeping indiscriminately, like a red-hot iron wire cutting through solidified butter!

Dense flesh-and-blood bodies were cut and melted in an instant, even exploding under high temperature, bloody to the extreme!

At this moment, this scene—

Just like the scene where Homelander used Heat Vision to exterminate the surrounding crowd, cruel and real.

But all this was too sudden, and too brief...

The people behind the crowd still did not know what had happened, still fanatically pushing those in front, excitedly shouting to hunt witches, surging forward like a Mors Surge.

Until those miserable cries pierced the eardrums like Blades.

The crowd suddenly realized, the Air was filled with the Aura of death.

(Chapter End)