Chapter 129: The Fizzling First Clash

A pure-white magical girl descended from the sky, her white robes fluttering in the wind, her pale pupils empty of all thought.

The magical girl, like a doll, raised her withered staff, the magic Ningju upon it making hearts tremble.

"Kill her." The magical girl's "mascot" stared fixedly at her nemesis, issuing her companion the utmost "command."

"Ugh." The white-haired magical girl frowned, but her body moved on its own.

Magic began to run wild.

The atmosphere twisted under its influence; elemental spirits descended to the mortal realm—not as a prelude to spellcasting, but merely as an incidental effect of absurdly excessive magic.

One by one, magical arrays unfolded behind her; traditional magical artillery required these arrays for stable reinforcement.

"Snap." The smiling violet rose stood before them all; if someone challenged her, how could she retreat?

Besides, she was just a young upstart—how could she possibly lose?

"Kuku, who is she?" Behind her, Li En suddenly called out the spirit's name through their mental link.

He watched the girl gathering her magic cannon, his expression thoughtful.

"Hmm, it's her." Though it seemed he said nothing, he had answered everything.

The unspoken understanding from within allowed Li En to comprehend it all.

In that instant, did Li En confirm that this face was indeed the No. 6 candidate's "White"?

Her condition. Li En glanced at Kuku; Kusla gave another slight nod.

Li En was certain Kuku had prepared in advance, so he stepped forward and whispered to the violet rose beside her ear.

"If you can, don't kill her."

The abrupt, out-of-context words caused the violet rose's pupils to freeze.

The next instant, the violet rose smiled calmly again, offering no reply.

As if she hadn't heard—or pretending she hadn't.

"Hmph, this is the first time you've ever asked me for anything—and it's because of another woman."

Yet these words of pouting reproach somehow found their way into Li En's ears.

The young man could only helplessly smile bitterly—he knew his request was absurd.

Asking a duelist not to kill their opponent? Wasn't that asking the violet rose to tie her own hands and suffer a grave disadvantage?

". oking. It's just a little girl, right? Watch me handle her easily. Little Brother Li En, you could've asked me for more—asked for something even more outrageous. I'd have been happier."

The woman clenched her fist, yet her calm words moved him more than any past sweetness ever had.

Li En had no reply. To demand restraint in a battle of this caliber was unreasonable—and her sudden willingness only deepened his guilt and unease.

But this request was necessary. Based on his understanding of Kuku, he suspected Kuku had already planned ahead.

This bound magical girl, having appeared in the Hall of Spirits Who Crave Change, still had a chance to change—and Kuku must have arranged it.

He looked at the violet rose, who now floated silently upward; the "White"'s magic cannon also began to rise, both sides seemingly in silent agreement to avoid the bystanders below.

This was undoubtedly a legendary sorceress's fatal duel—dangerous even to approach for new recruits like Li En.

Even the edge of a legendary spell's AoE could vaporize a person.

Li En was about to order the others to retreat when he heard:

"Sssss. Sssssss (We have never left.)"

The sudden familiar voice made Li En freeze.

He snapped his head up—and saw the "girl"'s radiant smile.

"Trust me."

Before Li En could react, his vision blurred—and he was back in the familiar "temporary embassy."

"Boom!"

With a thunderous crash, the embassy's floor trembled slightly.

Li En rushed to the window—outside, a massive mushroom cloud was slowly rising beyond the city.

They had acted.

And with their first move, they cleared the entire battlefield like a map bomb.

If Li En's group had still been there, they would've been caught in the blast no matter how much either side held back.

Lightning and storms clashed; the two magical girls from opposing factions began their deadly duel, their leaking magic igniting violent storms.

Merely from the scale of magic and the secondary disasters it triggered, the destruction and impact they caused far surpassed that of the "Parasite Beast" and the "Goddess" dueling elsewhere.

After all, magical girls were famously known for "brute force creates miracles."

"Damn it." Li En stared at the boiling mushroom cloud in the distance, the echoes of war ringing in his ears.

His face was calm, but his heart felt suffocatingly bitter.

The same suffocating helplessness he'd felt that day passing through the slave market returned—cruel reality told him: you're still weak, and you're still a burden.

At this moment, Li En regretted it—perhaps he shouldn't have said that.

After all, kinship matters. Asking the violet rose to hold back in a battle of this level meant voluntarily restricting many instant-kill techniques—her disadvantage was too great.

". untie."

Sallyman also stumbled to the window, her face pale as she stared at the distant explosion.

She didn't understand the subtle dynamics between enemy and ally—she only felt the terrifying clash of magic.

If not for "her own mission," the violet rose had no reason to come to the Underworld—or to face such a terrifying nemesis.

And yet, all she could do was watch silently—no, she didn't even have the right to watch; she'd forced Auntie to waste power teleporting her here just to save her life.

"I never want to feel this helplessness again."

". need power—at least I won't be a burden."

The "fiancé and fiancée" unknowingly thought of the same thing—the same person.

"Violet Rose, Lillian." Li En called out her real name for the first time.

"Auntie." And for the first time, Sallyman acknowledged the other's status as an elder.

"Huh? You called me?"

A sudden voice behind them made them whirl around.

Wasn't the magical girl Violet Rose just sitting on the sofa behind them, flipping through a book?

She'd been here the whole time!

"Boom!"

Outside, another mushroom cloud slowly rose; two visible magic hurricanes swelled and clashed, still radiating lethal pressure outward.

The magical girls' battle was still ongoing—so why had Violet Rose returned?

"If I can't kill her, why should I fight her to the death." The logic made sense—but how did you pull that off?

"Hehe, that little brat hit hard. Realizing she was outmatched, she tried to drag it out, wear me down, even tried to drag me into a self-destruct. But her vision's too narrow, her experience too lacking—too lacking." She seemed to explain, yet said nothing at all.

But it was clear: she had already withdrawn from the battlefield, no longer in danger.

Li En exhaled in relief; Sallyman, however, immediately pouted, muttering, "Again, you scared me on purpose."

"Little Sallyman, you're so adorable."

The next instant, Sallyman was swept into her auntie's arms and cuddled.

As she cooed soothing words, Violet Rose Lillian even had time to wink at Li En.

Seeing she was unharmed, Li En finally relaxed completely.

The battle still raged outside, but their group had slipped into a blind spot of all combatants' awareness.

This wasn't a battlefield for surface-dwellers—so let's rest and regroup.

But from an angle Li En hadn't noticed, large patches of charred skin marred the back of Violet Rose's neck.

Though healing and peeling had already begun—how could she possibly teleport everyone away while enduring another magical girl's assault without paying a price?

Under the contract's compulsion, White could never hold back.

After hugging her niece, Violet Rose lunged at Li En.

"I want compensation! It hurt so much! She hit me hard—I need a kiss to feel better…" She leaned her cheek toward him.

Li En was stunned, unsure how to respond—when the girl spoke, too many eyes turned toward them.

"So that's what you two are to each other." Many looked astonished.

Li En froze.

Should he push her away? Would that be too cruel? His hesitation—

"Auntie! Think of your dignity!"

But the next instant, Violet Rose was dragged away again by the furious niece.

Li En exhaled in relief—but strangely, felt a hint of regret.

Meanwhile, Kuku had watched the entire scene with wide, unblinking eyes.

"What?" Li En felt uneasy.

"Nothing! People who can't be saved? I don't care!" Kuku's tone carried hidden meaning.

"What the hell!" Kuku still had the energy to act crazy—suggesting the situation wasn't too dire.

In the following time, explosions outside and hurried footsteps against the windows never ceased—the entire city entered a state of war.

Yet the people inside the embassy sank into an eerie calm.

They had indeed been forgotten—or rather, had no reason to be discovered as having returned.

Sallyman had already ordered preparations: luggage packed, everyone and all equipment waiting in the lobby.

If the city fell, Violet Rose would simply carry them all away.

But soon, the first battlefield to end was that of the "Magical Girls."

When the sky above became nothing but pure white magic, it meant "White" realized she had been deceived.

At that spot, White pouted, scowling as she looked left and right—only scorched earth met her gaze.

The other battlefield did not last long either.

Another hour passed, and the mind flayers confirmed they could not breach the walls and began to withdraw.

They would not leave, of course—only set up camp outside, reorganizing their shifts and preparing for a second assault tomorrow.

Everyone knew this would only be the beginning.

Since the struggle for dominance in the Underworld had begun, it would end only with one side annihilated or enslaved.

The cruel Underworld rarely saw compromise or forgiveness.

Li En Sudar grew ever more eager for the locals to continue forgetting his group; to resolve the matter of the pure white magical girl, he would have to wait until tonight's Hall of Spirits.

As time passed, this relief at being forgotten seemed to become reality.

After all, while the city was consumed by war, no one cared about the embassy with its locked gate—especially since no one had entered through the gate anyway.

"Kuku, are you planning to pass on your legacy to her? To help her break free?" That night, Li En Sudar voiced his suspicion.

Under normal circumstances, this bondage could never be broken—but the power of the spirit souls was clearly abnormal, a miraculous force capable of shattering all common sense.

"You're wrong," Kuku denied, instead adopting a smug posture, as if he had anticipated this.

Li En Sudar was surprised, but did not press further.

If Kuku didn't want to say, no amount of questioning would extract the answer—tonight, he would find out soon enough.

With events shifting so drastically, tonight would likely be very eventful, and Kuku was no man who liked to delay.

In this moment of upheaval, with escape always a possibility, many matters ought to be settled now.

(End of Chapter)