Starting as a Magical Girl, I Alone Shall Rule for Eternity

Li Yi was unable to attend her sister's funeral.

Her parents wouldn't allow her to attend her sister's funeral, and in the end she only caught a distant glimpse,

Then she went to school.

She muddled through her classes, and when she returned, she saw many messages on her phone from relatives and friends—perhaps they couldn't really be called friends, just acquaintances.

They condemned her for not even attending her sister's funeral, saying she had no conscience, that her sister had always taken care of her and loved her since childhood,

Calling her ungrateful.

Li Yi didn't want to explain anything, because when she felt like laughing at Iris's words, she had already realized.

It had only been two or three days, yet she was no longer that sad or pained by her sister's death.

She really could be considered ungrateful.

When a loved one dies, how long should one grieve to be considered adequate? And to what extent must one grieve to be considered having a conscience?

Li Yi didn't know, but she knew she definitely had no conscience.

Because she hadn't felt pain over her sister's death for more than three days.

No matter how you looked at it, this was inadequate.

So Li Yi left Jiang Si's home and ran to the riverside where she used to play with her sister often,

This place was very far from Jiang Si's home; she paid for a taxi and it still took a full hour to get there.

She wanted to recall more memories of her sister, to make herself feel pain, to prove she hadn't forgotten her sister,

But there was nothing at all.

The sparkling river occasionally had fish leaping, the passing breeze carried a hint of moisture, pleasant bird songs mixed with the honking from the distant road, and sunlight leaking through the gaps in the leaves danced and shimmered like broken mercury on her body.

It was so comfortable it made one drowsy, a wonderful peace and comfort, with no pain arising in her heart, and even memories of playing here with her sister only brought a sense of exhaustion from depleted emotions.

She kept urging herself:

You need to cry, Li Yi.

You need to feel sad, Li Yi.

You need to think about your sister constantly, never forget, forever...

Thinking this, Li Yi stared blankly at the envelope in her hand.

So, when the girl wearing slippers came pattering over and asked if she wanted to learn about their creator,

Li Yi instinctively replied with a joke.

This left the other person confused too.

Twins truly hadn't expected Li Yi to respond like this,

But she soon laughed, of course she'd laugh at something this amusing:

"I thought you'd be more sad, really. Sure enough, that Silver Lotus really isn't likable, even after dying, her little sister doesn't care at all......

Originally wanting to provoke the other, but seeing Li Yi completely unresponsive, just standing there dazed and motionless, Twins lost steam as she spoke.

No way?

Aren't you the most standard Magical Girl? Noisy, enthusiastic, emotionally expressive, the super typical hyper Magical Girl.

Why suddenly not making a sound? Incorrect intel?

Just as Twins was doubting herself, Li Yi buried her head in her knees, "It's not that sister wasn't likable, it's my problem. I already, can't feel sad anymore."

"Hmm, speaking of which, it's been about three days since Silver Lotus passed away." Twins sat down beside her, hands propped on the grass behind, looking up at the sky, "Perfectly normal, perfectly normal, especially for intense emotional types like you, it's easy to reach emotional exhaustion. Being able to grieve for your sister for three days is already quite impressive, honestly."

"Thank you," Li Yi said softly, "But, how do you know about me, and who my sister is?"

"Of course because I'm the one who brought your sister into the Witch Association."

Li Yi jumped as if pricked by a needle, suddenly standing up and backing away, instinctively grabbing her Miracle Seed.

Only then realizing she could no longer transform.

Even worse, she had said she didn't want to be a Magical Girl anymore.

Yet, when facing danger, her first reaction was still to rely on Magical Girl power...

Her previously calm emotions boiled up again, Li Yi clutching her Miracle Seed stared fiercely at her, "You're from the Witch Association... it was you who lured my sister into joining the Witch Association!"

"I have zero interest in recruiting for the Witch Association, after all they don't give commission per head."

Twins said with a giggle, "Back then it was your sister desperately begging me, I saw she was just too pitiful, so I helped her join the Witch Association, giving her a chance to achieve her dreams. You should be thanking me, if not for me, you and your sister would have fallen out long ago."

Although Li Yi was tense, she knew at this close distance she couldn't escape, and definitely wasn't a match for her opponent.

The Witch Association had too many ways to kill an ordinary person.

But she still maintained the courage from her Magical Girl days, shouting loudly, "You think I'd listen to nonsense from Witch Association members!"

"Ah, that's why I said Silver Lotus was pitiful, always pretending, being a good sister, an admirer who idolized Magical Girls, a good daughter in the family, but no one ever tried to understand her, no one was interested in her wishes or pain, Silver Lotus, do you really understand your sister?"

This question left Li Yi somewhat at a loss.

Did she understand her own sister?

Only at the very end did she learn her sister had joined the Witch Association, that her sister was even willing to kill colleagues to steal Miracle Seeds for the Witch Association from the Disaster Control Bureau.

Only then did she learn that her sister, fundamentally...

"Then let me ask you, Miss Silver Lotus, as captain of the Magical Girl Combat Team at the Disaster Control Bureau, someone the Witch Association couldn't reach, how was your Miracle Seed contaminated?"

Silently, Li Yi couldn't speak.

Actually, she had already guessed in her heart.

She just didn't want to admit it, didn't want to believe it.

"Only your sister could do it."

Until the truth was spoken aloud by someone, Li Yi felt no anger, no sadness, just a sense of finality, as if relieved, leaving only weakness.

Leaning against the tree trunk, Twins shifted her body, adjusting to a more comfortable sitting position, "She was really troublesome, you know. As her younger sister becoming a Magical Girl, she both admired and hated you, was both proud of you and insanely jealous. So conflicted it was killing her, I suspected she might develop split personality. But one thing you can rest assured about—even at the end, your sister never thought about killing you, she just wanted you to become an ordinary person, only able to follow behind her."

"You, how do you know so much?"

"I told you, I was your sister's guide, but also her only friend." Twins tilted her head, thinking for a moment, "Should count, right? Though we often argued, even considered killing each other, we really were each other's only friends. I know pretty much everything about your sister, since besides me, no one else would listen to what she said."

Instinctively wanting to say thank you, but remembering the other was from the Witch Association, Li Yi forcibly swallowed it back.

The Witch Association were enemies, and the murderers who caused her sister's death.

They were second only to... Shion as enemies...

"You're telling me all this to get me to join the Witch Association too?"

Li Yi asked calmly in return: "Sorry, though I'm grateful you helped my sister at the end, I won't join the Witch Association."

"Don't flatter yourself, little sister, you can't even transform into a Magical Girl now, what would the Witch Association want with you?"

The sharp words made Li Yi's expression somewhat unpleasant, Twins smiled cheerfully, showing no malice at all, "Just as a friend, I have to help her out a bit, otherwise Silver Lotus would be too pitiful, right? She's already dead, if her little sister still doesn't know what she thought, what she did..."

Here, Twins suddenly paused, "Oh oh, almost forgot, I'm so careless, forgot to mention something—about Susan being made unable to transform by the Witch Association, guess who did it?"

Li Yi sharply looked up, "Impossible! My sister used to always admire Zhu Lu, she joined the Disaster Control Bureau because of Zhu Lu!"

"The more she admired, the more she couldn't obtain, the more she wanted to destroy. Those who join the Witch Association, once they start contacting Grief Seeds, contacting tainted magic, their negative emotions easily amplify. But your sister enjoyed it, you know, after suppressing herself for so long, pretending for over a decade was exhausting. Finally gaining power, destroying what she admired—she was so excited she talked to me for ages, mocking Susan's shocked and unwilling expression after losing her transformation ability!..."

"Stop talking!"

Li Yi knelt on the ground, the pain and sorrow she thought were exhausted finally surged up again.

Drowning out all other emotions, she held her head, "Why, why must you tell me these things, I don't want to hear, I don't want to know..."

"Because your performance is so typical it's starting to bore me."

Twins suddenly stood up, walked to Li Yi's side, staring at extremely close range, "You're a Magical Girl, look at your pathetic state now, who are you trying to act spoiled with? Your parents treat you like an enemy, your sister actually didn't like you much either, everyone in the Magical Girl Combat Team sees you as a reliable captain, not even considering you a junior."

"So, are you going to act spoiled with Keke? And then? Have Keke comfort you, hide behind Keke, watch Keke fight Disaster Beasts, doing nothing, right? Captain Silver Lotus?"

"The object of your sister's jealousy and envy is just a child to this extent, how truly pathetic."

Li Yi bit her lip, head lowered, teary eyes looking at her blackened seed, "I'm already, not a Magical Girl anymore."

Twins lightly flicked her forehead, "Magical Girls aren't girls who beg for miracles, Magical Girls are girls who create miracles. You just casually abandoned something so many people envy and desire, it's truly hateful."

"Whatever, you not being a Magical Girl is good news for me anyway."

Twins made a "hmph" sound, then walked past her, "Next I'm going to eliminate your Magical Girl Combat Team, starting with Iris, then Peony, then Keke, killing all the Magical Girls around you, killing them all! You just sit here properly and watch all the Magical Girls get taken out by me, then keep crying!"

"I, and Winter, we kind of know each other too."

Li Yi sobbed, still trying to speak, "And Shion, we're also, acquaintances, and Dandelion, she's always been around hindering me, are you going after them too?"

"..."

Twins pretended not to hear, striding away.

Watching the other leave, Li Yi sent a message to Susan at the Disaster Control Bureau while glancing at the seed in her hand.

The blackened seed no longer responded to her wishes.

All happiness and beauty had been buried by hatred and pain,

She could barely even remember why she had become a Magical Girl in the first place.

Can I really, continue being a Magical Girl?

Do I really, still deserve to keep being a Magical Girl?

If I become a Magical Girl again, who would actually be happy...

She thought of her sister, and her heart ached with sharp pains.

"ROAR!"

The phone in her hand nearly got thrown out from fright, Li Yi looked up.

In the direction Twins had left, another Disaster Beast appeared, letting out a sky-shaking roar.

The massive Disaster Beast radiated terrifying aura, very close, magic power clearly washing over her!

This has nothing to do with me anymore.

She thought, she could no longer fight Disaster Beasts, going over would just be in the way.

So, hurry back...

Li Yi staggered to her feet and started running.

......

"A major Disaster Beast about to advance to class A?"

Having just received Susan's message, Iris who had already arrived near the Disaster Beast scanned the surroundings.

The evacuation this time was equally swift.

Aside from too few Magical Girls and relatively weak combat capabilities, the other abilities of Beihai Disaster Control Bureau could be considered quite outstanding, even Iris couldn't find many faults.

"But, really strange, why the suburbs again."

Though the location was quite far from last time—last time in the eastern suburbs, this time in the southern suburbs, near the Disaster Control Bureau,

Though the birth locations differed, the places they appeared were just too odd.

Generally, naturally occurring Disaster Beasts appear where resentment is heaviest, places overflowing with negative emotions are most likely to produce Disaster Beasts, so they're usually in crowded areas.

And Witch Association created Disaster Beasts are meant for destruction, definitely appearing in populated areas, at minimum within the city.

But since coming to Beihai, two Disaster Beasts appearing consecutively must have Witch Association involvement behind them.

So why both in suburbs?

Never mind casualties, even property damage was minimal.

Class B Disaster Beasts each time they appear are significant disasters for cities, but Beihai's two consecutive appearances had almost no losses...

Could it be Azure Cloud Sect mastered some ability unknown to the Disaster Control Bureau, allowing Disaster Beasts to be fixedly born in the suburbs outside the city?

But thinking about it, that seemed unlikely.

If they really had such technology, the Witch Association's response would definitely be much faster than the Disaster Control Bureau's.

Could it be Azure Cloud Sect had some deterrent power, making Witch Association members afraid to summon Disaster Beasts within the city?

But if they were afraid, why summon at all?

Then too lazy to continue thinking, she looked up at the motionless Disaster Beast, though feeling somewhat strange, she took out her seed.

Can't delay, if this Disaster Beast continues growing and advances to class A, that would be troublesome!

"All Things..."

Only half through her transformation phrase, a blue whip suddenly lashed from behind!

Even with Iris's quick reaction, she still couldn't dodge completely; after getting hit on the back of her hand, her seed still flew out!

The remaining water-blue whip tried to bind her, but Iris's right hand had already grasped her Magic Wand.

With just a light wave, all the whips fell heavily to the ground with a "smack," turning into puddles of black water.

Looking up, she saw a girl with a ponytail, wearing sandals, her blue dress fluttering, casually catching her seed.

When did she...

Completely didn't detect any magic aura.

"Oh dear, Magical Girl in big crisis!"

The girl narrowed her eyes, smiling to reveal canine teeth, very cute, but also made Iris sense dangerous vibes.

"Seed got stolen, what to do?"

Raising an eyebrow, Iris holding her Magic Wand adjusted her sun hat, tone confident and calm, "Just take it back."

With that, she shot forward like a cannonball!