Chapter 312

Chapter 312: A Worldwide Crisis, a Rule-Based Disaster

Chu Yuanqing’s eyes sparkled with golden heat; her breath radiated like a dragon controlling magic. The shimmering silver light formed a light gray Magic Armor gown, as The Song of Silver and Tin blended into the whole town with the hurricane rising at the horizon.

At the same time, another Pure White Witch stood beside her, activating Annihilated Massacre, and the Mercury Blood within her began to boil.

Splash, splash.

The red and black embers burned fiercely in the reversal of magic, carrying a few threads of destiny’s breath, filling the depths of the soul.

Lantern Gem shone brightly.

In theory, Annihilated Massacre would reverse all the magic within the soul and flesh, making it impossible for her to use the four types of magic: elemental, mental, spatial, and concept-type, at the same time.

In other words, after the heart’s fire reversed, she could almost only use concept-type spells.

As for why it was said to be "almost," it was because magical girls were symbols of miracles; the types of magic could also be crossed through wishes, obsessions, and even immense amounts of magic, which was quite mysterious.

For example, a captain-level witch, even if she was not suited for elemental magic, could still forcibly use fire dragon magic, but the energy cost, power, and casting speed were like going from a nuclear submarine to a small sailboat, so it might be better not to use it.

Chu Yuanqing’s approach was different; she had filled her clone with a large amount of unreversed magic in advance, creating a sort of mechanism glitch that allowed her to control both silver-white and red-black magic at the same time, like an alternative duet.

Esther did not doubt the other’s judgment; upon seeing this, she seriously asked, "Before we begin, can I use the celestial device to observe once?"

Even though Chu Yuanqing showed great strength, the identity of the Lighthouse held too much importance, and a task to defeat Disaster, which carried risks, should not fall on her.

At the very least, they needed to use fate magic to ensure there were no safety issues.

Chu Yuanqing did not answer; she turned to look at Lake Wolfgangsee, where the clear water rippled, its colors changing in the light. Sailboats were still out, creating a lively scene of many boats racing.

The small town’s dock was still welcoming visitors, and by the lakeside buildings, there were piles of fireworks prepared for the evening. Dreamweaver had divided the festival area for exploration and arranged for professional staff to take turns guarding it.

On the busiest street, Sister Ellie was holding the hands of Emma and Nia, enjoying the rare excitement of the town under a canopy of music and lights, her face showing a gentle smile.

Chen Yining and Ji Shuzhu were happily strolling through the streets; Ruan Wutong was pulling a few children to play in the haunted house; Lin Baor and Liang Xiaoxiao bought strawberry sundaes, eating while enjoying the sailboat races; the little idols were walking towards the stage, ready to practice.

"No need, today is an important day. Esther just needs to watch quietly; I will eliminate all Disasters in the least noticeable way."

Chu Yuanqing softly replied, activating her spell. The Mercury Blood around her swelled like branches, the cool moonlight shining magnificently in the sunlight, creating an ethereal trunk that wove itself, with silver light blooming like petals.

——Self-created spell: mercury tree.

In just a few breaths, the tall mercury tree, over a hundred meters high, was born under the infusion of magic. It hid in the clouds like a moving fortress and shifted to hover above the stage.

Chu Yuanqing used this as an anchor point, allowing the moonlight to silently fall upon the whole town with The Song of Silver and Tin, covering all areas of Sparkling Blessings, and marking all 35,918 townsfolk with a mirrored mark.

In the next moment, her nearby clone split again, creating dozens of sub-bodies that descended upon the town to observe several tourists who made it onto the list.

Chu Yuanqing sat next to the mercury tree, wanting to stay in place and not leave before the official performance. However, creating a Magic Clone for rehearsal was just as effective, so she wouldn’t be scolded by Miyuki and her daughter.

After all, the technique of the clone had evolved to the point where it perfectly mimicked this body. Even Esther had to admire how exquisite the spell was, as it wouldn’t reveal any flaws.

The reason the authorities didn’t notice was that, while she was dealing with Little Yu, she not only exposed this but also used the even more outrageous Martial God Technique, which made this super AI and the upper management find it quite reasonable.

Esther said softly, "The blessings of this town essentially rely on the Holy Maiden’s Patronus Magic — [Decorate Phantasm] — existing, so even when acting as Shining Magic, it naturally includes properties of time, space, rules, and concepts."

"The nightmare that had originally crept into the performance venue relied on hiding within human souls, separating from flesh and bone, which caused the instruments to fail. But this method does not work here."

Chu Yuanqing nodded in agreement. The nightmare was a spirit body disaster of the mental category. Although it was tricky, the magical girls of the corresponding type could still sense the unusualness.

Charlotte’s Shining Magic had concept-type monitoring. Even if a thread of disaster aura was hidden in the soul, it would trigger an alarm. The fact that the blessing did not react indicated only two possibilities.

One, it was a concept-type disaster beast with abilities that leaned towards hiding itself.

Two, it was a rule-type disaster beast, and what had entered the town was just its rule carrier, not its true form.

As for which one it was? They would find out by looking.

Time passed, and the sailing competition held 13 rounds, reaching noon at 12 o’clock.

Luna seemed like a diligent little puppy, happily wandering around by herself, glancing here and there, completely unaware of the Pure White Witch following her like a ghost, looking quite lively.

The girl’s blue-gray eyes sparkled as she looked at the photo protected by a frame, admiring her idol’s young and cute smile. She felt as if she were being purified, showing a silly expression, and enthusiastically clenched her fist, saying:

"Yay! All my practice with old Dad’s shooting lessons was worth it. Next, I’ll look for more activities like target shooting and see if I can collect more Charlotte merchandise!"

Luna thought about this and quickened her pace, like a player eager to collect every treasure chest on the map. She walked all morning without wanting to stop her adventure.

There was no choice. The celebration was said to end at 10 PM, but the townspeople hadn’t mentioned when Charlotte would perform, only that she would definitely be there.

So, as soon as the stage show started, she wouldn’t leave, even if it meant sitting there for seven or eight hours. She couldn’t miss Charlotte’s live performance.

This meant there was only a little time left to join the activities.

Also, the most important thing was that there were limited spots near the stage!

Today was Charlotte’s birthday, and 2,000 seats were reserved for the townspeople, leaving only 3,000 good seats available.

To be honest, having a stage of this scale in a small town was already quite rare. Unfortunately, there were too many visitors at the celebration, and very few were uninterested in Charlotte’s concert.

Luna felt she wouldn’t be able to get a good spot. She would probably end up sitting far away on the grass, watching the broadcast screen like a picnic.

But what if? Maybe if I join some activity, I can get a seat number!

Fifteen minutes later,

The girl finished putting on her climbing gear and looked at the mysterious grand prize at the finish line, her heart burning with excitement.

Damn, don’t underestimate the dedication of a fan; risking everything for Luna Lawrence, she would definitely win this competition and get the CD of Charlotte’s solo performance!

The Pure White Witch had a complex expression as she silently watched the little girl unlock her potential, overcoming every challenge, panting as she climbed to the top and successfully claimed first place amidst the cheers of the crowd.

Luna slid down the climbing rope, completely ignoring her tiredness, as if she had won an Olympic gold medal for her country. She joyfully ran around, high-fiving all the other contestants and the cheering crowds.

The funniest part was that Charlotte was in casual clothes, standing next to Chu Wang Shu, pretending to be part of the audience. The two of them clumsily raised their hands and bumped palms together, caught up in the moment.

Luna didn’t realize she had just high-fived her idol. She collected her prize from the staff, held up the CD with Charlotte’s cute smile on it, her gray-blue eyes sparkling, and shouted "Yay!"

The adorable daughter looked at the bouncing fan girl and thought that having her as an audience member would bring way more sparkle than anyone else; she was like a ray of sunshine.

Chu Wang Shu thought of this, tugged at Charlotte’s sleeve, and whispered:

"Sister Charlotte, she is your big fan. She looks quite cute. Should we give her a seat ticket? We still have some left."

Well, the cunning The Last Diva, to bond with her precious daughter during their parent-child activities, came up with a reason: "To fulfill her idol duties, to surprise the fans, and randomly give out seat tickets."

So, the two of them were wandering around the small town, acting as special NPCs that could drop coins.

Charlotte had no reason to refuse; she was completely involved in this game. With a serious expression on her beautiful face, she said:

"We can do it, but we need to find a quiet place for her. Otherwise, if I get found out, I’ll have to play hide and seek with the fan again."

Chu Wang Shu nodded in agreement.

So, mother and daughter followed Luna like the Pure White Witch, turning into a scene of three people chasing an innocent bystander.

After 11 minutes, Charlotte finally found a chance to stop the little fan in a place with fewer people, where she was still lost in happiness.

Luna looked up in confusion. Suddenly, she realized something and cautiously covered her backpack, protectively saying, "Charlotte’s CD is a family treasure. No matter how much money you offer, I won’t sell it!"

The girl took off her hat. Her eyes sparkled like a beautiful blue opal, and her hair, falling naturally, looked magical, like a fairy in a lake. Just her smile made it feel like a journey to a magical land.

"Hi~ Hello! I’m so happy you like me this much. This is the best birthday gift ever! Please take this and enjoy the celebration."

Luna’s mind went blank, overwhelmed with joy and shock. She clumsily accepted a signed photo and a ticket, watching Miss Saintess’s figure slowly fade away, as if walking on clouds.

The girl paused for a few seconds before coming back to reality, taking in the dreamlike encounter. She instinctively wanted to run after her and say something more to her idol.

However, before she could take a step, a sudden wave of disaster aura surged inside her, instantly expanding thousands of times, wrapping her consciousness and draining her strength, leaving her weak and unable to stand.

The Pure White Witch stepped forward, catching the girl’s limp body. She sensed the restless disaster aura and lightly brushed her fingers over the girl’s forehead, pouring in magic to protect her soul and body.

Strangely enough, even though the disaster aura was completely banished, there was still a continuous flow of mysterious power draining Luna’s life force.

Chu Yuanqing estimated that if she hadn’t suppressed the disaster aura, the child would have died after a week of deep sleep; the magic she infused now only delayed her death for another 20 years.

"There is definitely a problem."

"This is likely a rule-based Disaster."

Esther appeared by her side and said, "Do you have a way to wake her up? Since it is a rule-based Disaster, asking the person involved is the simplest solution."

Chu Yuanqing nodded in agreement and infused more magic, temporarily returning the child’s body to normal.

At least for half a month, the child would still be lively and active.

Then, the Pure White Witch pinched Luna’s cheek; after waking her up, she snapped her fingers, making the child’s gaze, which had just focused, become unfocused again, looking a bit silly.

Chu Yuanqing did not use any mental magic. Her soul was once very strong, and she could easily use a few small tricks to hypnotize someone.

In fact, at first, when she was poor and had to take care of her daughter, she used similar methods to make sure Little Shu didn’t go hungry.

After that, she began to run out of money. On one hand, she felt very guilty, and on the other hand, she became so weak that everyday life was nearly a problem, not to mention trying to hypnotize someone randomly.

Esther was used to it; she already had an attitude of "anything can happen with Chu Yuanqing."

Chu Yuanqing didn’t ask Luna many questions before she grabbed onto a clue. She told the little girl to put her beloved signed photo and ticket away and to find a chair to sit on. Then, she began organizing her thoughts with Esther.

"High fever, strange dreams, and a weird voice making her wish."

"This should be the whole process."

Esther said, "The data shows that Luna got this ticket after making a wish, and her wish was strangely fulfilled."

Chu Yuanqing frowned and said:

"And after the wish was granted, a disaster aura flooded in, drained life, and completed the cycle."

Wish – grant the wish – complete the harvest.

Behind this simple mechanism lay not only the lives of the wish-makers but also the question of how much the other side would evolve as a result.

If this rule-based disaster had intelligence, it could quickly spread through a pyramid scheme, growing into a vast scale, even becoming some kind of urban legend that attracted more people to make wishes.

Right then, ten or eight people were manageable, but what if it grew to tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands?

The worst part was that Luna and the other tourists having issues at the celebration might not have been controlled by the disaster beast; they might have simply coincidentally encountered the wishing spirit and made wishes related to Charlotte, which drew them in like magnets.

In other words, the number of people globally who had heard the voice or even made wishes was likely an unsettling figure.

Esther realized the same issue; she immediately organized the files, uploaded them to higher authorities, called for a meeting, and said to Chu Yuanqing:

"I searched through global information and found records of cases related to wishes."

"If I’m not mistaken, the cost of fulfilling a wish is directly connected to the size of the wish."

"For example, if someone wished to become the richest person in the world, their money would increase to a certain point, and they would die or even face a terrible disaster."

The super AI’s tone became serious as it softly said:

"And even if you only wished for a piece of candy, you would eventually face a risk to your life."

"At the same time, after hearing its voice, if a wish was not made quickly, it would forcefully induce the victim to make a wish by triggering a tragedy."

"Most importantly, after checking all the data and comparing them, I found that each wish increased the local disaster aura concentration, and once it accumulated to a certain level, it would cause an unprecedented disaster."

In other words, a single mistake could even trigger a worldwide Disaster Wave.

…

…

At the same time.

Donghong Federation, Dongliu Island.

Osaka City, Nishinari Ward, Fuzaki.

An old, small apartment, with beer cans and various household trash piled up in the entrance. On the cabinet, there was a dusty picture frame, showing a smiling family of three.

Kuromi Hitomi walked into this narrow home with a blank expression. She stepped over the messy entrance, looking around this cramped and empty room.

If it had been the day before yesterday, her father would have been on the tatami mat, drunk and shouting for money, but she had just been to the police station yesterday and seen the body covered in a white cloth in the morgue.

The girl looked down at the porcelain urn in her arms. She was in her second year of high school, and the family’s money had mostly been lost to gambling, with what little was left needed for her mother’s treatment, so they cremated him that day and planned the funeral for later.

The urn was very cheap; it felt cold to the touch and was not heavy.

Kuromi Hitomi walked to the tatami mat where her father lay asleep. She quietly knelt on the ground and gently placed the porcelain jar on the tatami, moving slowly and lightly, murmuring:

"So, after a person is burned to ashes, they feel so light."

It was strange; when he was alive, she had countless times wished for the drunken, gambling man to die, but now, as he lay cold and lifeless, turned into a corpse and a few scoops of ashes in the jar, her father’s identity suddenly became clear.

Kuromi Hitomi remembered when she was 7, riding on her father’s back, waving at the fireworks in the sky, and when she was 9, her father complaining about being tired from work, looking like a silly uncle opening a cold beer, asking her mom to help him make some fried chicken.

Those memories played hide and seek with her until the person from her past disappeared, and then they slowly rushed back to her, as if trying to help her see the true value of that person in her heart.

Thus, the feelings of hatred and the satisfaction of her enemy’s death mixed together in a very complicated emotion, drowned in sadness like mist over water.

In her eyes, dark mist swirled; she did not notice anything unusual. She just stood up silently, wanting to gather her father’s belongings and then hurry to the hospital.

The police had already informed her mother of the news.

Although she didn’t know what her mother would think, she wanted to stay by her side for a while longer.

This apartment was very small; the original home had been bigger and cozier. After her father sold the house because of gambling, the family had to move here. Mom also got leukemia after they moved.

Kuromi Hitomi tidied up for a long time. She really wanted to find something valuable among her dad’s belongings to sell at a second-hand store to gather enough money for her next chemotherapy.

Sadly, the most valuable-looking items inside were an old no-name watch and a few pairs of gray-stained leather shoes. If they were truly worth something, they would have been sold for gambling long ago and wouldn’t still be here now.

Indeed, there was no miracle.

"So… I really have to sell something to save Mom?"

Kuromi Hitomi mumbled in confusion. She looked down at her thin yet curvy thighs, touched her pretty but cold face, and forced a stiff smile at the corners of her mouth.

There was only 50,000 yen left at home, and the rent for this month hadn’t been paid. She numbly packed everything that looked sellable; the darkness in her eyes grew stronger as she decided to face reality.

While halfway through packing, old memories flashed by like spring buds. She suddenly stood up as if she remembered something and quickly ran into her room, pulling out a storage box from beside the bed.

This box held all her most precious things from before.

Kuromi Hitomi had dreamed of becoming an idol. Although this dream seemed impossible after her father became addicted to gambling, she once admired the brave girls who worked hard and went to see an underground idol performance up close.

Unexpectedly, that performance, which she had not had high hopes for, had given her a great shock at that time.

The little idol was different from her teammates; her dance was beautiful and strong. Even when standing on the edge, her smile was sincere, overflowing with an amazing and unforgettable life force.

From then on, she became a fan of that idol.

Kuromi Hitomi had thought many times about ending her life.

The bullying and emotional abuse at school, her father’s drinking and gambling at home, his occasional beatings, the harassment and harsh criticism she faced while working, and her desire to save money for her mother after learning she had cancer.

But every time she thought about ending her life, the image of that little idol would appear in her mind. She was inspired by that spring-like vitality and chose to save herself again and again.

—Kirimi Miyuki.

Kuromi Hitomi silently whispered the name of her favorite idol and opened the storage box with her lips pressed together.

Inside this box were the merchandise released by the company behind Miyuki’s team from a few years ago.

Due to various unpleasant matters, Little Sakura’s status in the team was low, and she didn’t have much merchandise, probably not even selling a thousand pieces.

So the price was very cheap, and naturally, she had collected them all.

There were signed photos, special photos, folders, keychains, holographic cards, standees, and some other random items.

These had been worth nothing just a few months ago.

But now, Kirimi Miyuki had become a popular contestant in the neighboring "Dazzling Stage" competition, with fans in Daxia numbering in the tens of millions, and in a few months, that number could approach one hundred million.

Though it felt very mercenary, considering Miyuki’s past experiences, the things in this storage box represented this little idol’s most difficult times, and selling them together might be worth more than their weight in gold.

Kuromi Hitomi remained silent, her lips pressed together in nervousness. She took out her phone, opened an app, searched for the relevant items, and the prices were just as high as she imagined, almost like a miracle.

The girl’s lips curled into a smile that was both happy and sad, her feelings extremely complex. She carefully hugged the storage box, closed her eyes, and tears fell, hitting the plastic covering of the signed photo.

"Miyuki, thank you."

"Really… thank you."

"If I can sell it, I will have enough money for my mom’s medical fees and rent. I can… I can save my mom and keep my dignity while doing it."

Take a break and adjust my schedule.

Sigh, I woke up at nine o’clock, and now I’ve only written a little over a thousand words. My mind is so foggy, my chest hurts a bit. I should take a break and adjust my schedule.

Take a break, adjust my schedule. Take a break, adjust my schedule. Take a break, adjust my schedule. Take a break, adjust my schedule… Take a break, adjust my schedule. Adjust my schedule… Take a break, adjust my schedule. Take a break, adjust my schedule.