Chapter 420: Awakening Movements, Countdown, One Week

The green-eyed cat immediately bristled and glared fiercely at the hateful Dream Weaver Rabbit; indeed, she hated this red-eyed rabbit the most.

The girl pressed her lips together and touched her arm, which was starting to get goosebumps, feeling very nervous.

Although after the memory cleansing of the first playthrough, the countless bits of experience from many cycles were enough to transform her into a super mature, powerful, and very cool Awakened One with unbeatable wisdom.

But how to say it? It wasn’t like Little Sakura becoming a shrine maiden all at once, feeling so small and heavy, cold and sharp like winter snow on a mountain, sharp enough to cut the world. In New Game Plus, they were still led by the lives they had lived before.

At the same time, deep down, everyone understood that Chu Yuanqing wanted them to live easy, happy, and full lives in this peaceful time. So, she changed how much they mixed with the first playthrough into a different way.

For Kirimi Miyuki, she fought more like a shrine maiden.

For Tang Liuli, she only became more like the Awakened One in very dangerous moments. Usually, she was still the shy cat from before.

Xie Qingxuan was not much different from the Demon King. The only change was that she had become much more mature, and her stubbornness had grown significantly.

So, for the rules of the “Dazzling Stage” contest, it was impossible for Tang Liuli not to be nervous, because she did not think it was a matter of life and death deep down.

Xie Qingxuan poked her head out from the seat behind and looked at the trembling Tang Liuli. She and Kirimi Miyuki exchanged a glance and seized the chance to gently pat the cat’s head, pretending to comfort her. As expected, this quickly made Tang Liuli angry and embarrassed, which helped her “overcome” her fear.

Chu Wang Shu watched this scene, blinked, and couldn’t help but smile a little.

Yes, inside pure white, there was a special way to handle genius child stars, and it worked very well.

Next door,

Liang Xiaoxiao noticed the noise from this side and suddenly remembered a comment she had seen last time while watching a show.

“Pure white is like this; you only need to think about how to calm the green-eyed cat, but we green-eyed cats have many things to think about. No matter when we shake, when we feel shy, or when we take a step back, we have to think carefully. It is very hard.”

The girl lifted a strand of her gray-white hair by her ear and remembered funny scenes from when she was roommates with Liuli, watching her and Little Xuan bicker. It felt like a long time ago.

Thinking carefully, if you don’t count the half a year spent in the Ideal State, it was only a few months ago. But looking back again, it seemed like a very, very long time had passed.

Life’s chances and changes are really amazing.

When she first joined the audition, she never thought she would become like this one day.

Lin Baor tilted her head and looked at Liang Xiaoxiao with full confidence and said,

“Xiaoxiao, don’t be afraid, I will use magic to lock you in! No matter what kind of place it is, you won’t get away from me!”

That’s right. After countless training sessions on the simulated battlefield, she could calmly perform on stage in the Disaster Wave, showing a steady performance at about eighty percent of her usual level.

Although the simulated battlefield wasn’t real, it was at least 99.9% accurate. Compared to the Disaster groups that had already hatched and were always swallowing soldiers, what was there to fear from a bunch of unhatched Calamity Seeds?

Yes, just like that, there is nothing to be afraid of!

Liang Xiaoxiao was silent for a moment, then complained,

“If you’re completely locked down, then how can you dance properly?”

Ji Shuzhu agreed,

“Compared to stopping the Calamity Seeds from hatching, finishing a performance on an uncertain stage is a bigger problem.”

Just looking at that waterside pavilion staircase, it wouldn’t be surprising if the stage suddenly tilted, spun, shook, or moved up and down. There were so many factors affecting them during this time. If their feet were simply fixed to the stage, at most it wouldn’t be life-threatening, but it would definitely affect the performance.

In other words, this challenge wasn’t just about being an idol anymore; it was about teamwork in the magical girl world, built on that foundation.

Chen Yining frowned and said:

“Our team is fine. Four of us have completed the ‘Lighting Up.’ As long as we build Magic Armor and hide it, we can float and fly. With nerves that react faster than normal, the only challenge left was controlling magic carefully.”

Liang Xiaoxiao nodded without speaking. She could fly too, but it was not as easy as using Magic Armor. She needed the power of the Disaster Beast Gene, which showed on her skin, making her look less neat and spoiling the performance a little.

Lin Baor said worriedly, “Just thinking about it makes me feel it’s very hard. What if only half of the team, or just one person, completes the ‘Lighting Up’? Wouldn’t those teams be knocked out right away?”

Liang Xiaoxiao thought for a moment and said, “That means one person must carry the safety and balance for everyone, and the others must trust that person a lot. Otherwise, they can’t focus on the show at all.”

In that situation, it was too hard for one to carry four others who didn’t perform well.

Also, besides the normal performance, stopping one thousand ‘Calamity Seeds’ from hatching was not easy.

You should know that the situations faced in a simulated battlefield were certainly more dangerous, but the disaster relief teams guarding the stage were all determined, noble heroes. Their shining power was far stronger than ordinary spectators, greatly boosting the strength of Shining Magic.

But this time, there were no spectators in the audience, only puppets!

This meant the strength of Shining Magic depended entirely on how good their stage performance was and the level of magic they put out, without any other help.

So, getting a passing score was definitely harder than anyone first thought.

Compared to the energy from the other two teams, Pure White’s side was calm after soothing the upset cat.

Kirimi Miyuki’s reason for not worrying was simple: after her “Perfect Rule” was born, she gained an unshakable defense like AT’s position, blocking all strong enemies and attacks that tried to disrupt the “stage.”

After that, she combined her past “Heart Flow” ability, forming the first branch of Patronus Magic — the “Idol Realm.”

To her, anything that interfered with, disturbed, or affected the idol stage was seen as a “hater,” creating a protective magical shield. Every action she took regarding the idol was perfect and beautifully enhanced.

This kind of rule-based, concept-type magic could not be beaten by ordinary means.

Don’t mention simple tricks like the stage wobbling; even if the world government fired Tomahawk missiles at her stage, with the Tempering of the Heart reforging Ame no Habakiri, she could easily ignore all these dangers and finish the show happily.

The team’s stage was also her stage.

The “Idol Realm,” like the perfect correction from before, could affect the whole stage and help all her teammates. With just her alone, she could see the flashy challenges of 《Dazzling Stage》 as nothing at all.

Xie Qingxuan’s thoughts became even clearer. The [Virtuous King] making Shiny Knight’s power wasn’t back yet, but the law’s effect was still there. She had trained to be very skilled and could influence parts of matter and energy without even saying a word.

So no matter how wild the stage in 《Dazzling Stage》 got, it would be forced into submission by the law and become a subject under harsh power. There was no need to worry.

If all else failed, she could simply crush the stage to dust and remake a dark one with magic energy in an instant, and still keep performing.

Yes, even the most embarrassing Tang Liuli could ignore these challenges.

[Divine Control] plus [Mask] equaled the power to twist reality. Using it in this kind of contest was like cheating, but she was scared and her head just couldn’t think straight yet.

Chu Wang Shu looked out the window. After absorbing the power of [Son of Mankind], these training tests limited to new generation magical girls meant nothing to her anymore.

Even if the whole island was flooded by the Disaster Wave, it would only take one second to open the Lotus Realm and take away the swallowed things with the Shade Throne.

In fact, compared to small things like competitions, her view had already expanded to the movements of the entire Disaster group, focusing on global crises, the future of humanity, and the Calamity God-level conspiracies.

Chu Wang Shu was very worried.

Recently, after further understanding the status of the Son of Mankind, she better understood the language and rules of the Disaster group and was able to trace back to the signal the Disaster group had sent out earlier.

This signal was aimed at the thirteen Calamity Gods.

In other words, Pure White had become so weak that it allowed them to briefly leave their barriers and meet in a mysterious dimension to talk.

But she, who had taken the powers, status, and identity of the Son of Mankind, did not reply and still had not entered the Disaster group’s meme network, which connected to the mysterious dimension that provided endless energy.

Because of this, they must have guessed that something happened to the Son of Mankind, and naturally focused on her as the target.

If she had not been well taught since childhood, she might have run away like some anime heroes do, to avoid burdening her friends and family, hoping that the Calamity God would not harm anyone innocent when aiming for her.

At this moment, Little Moon didn’t go to extremes but always felt uneasy, her spirit constantly tense. Almost every moment she practiced the “Shining Breathing Method” that Charlotte taught her, strengthening her soul, building inner strength, and drawing more power and authority from the Calamity God.

Chu Wang Shu clearly understood the situation.

If the Pure White did not fall, the Calamity God could not appear in true form, and the apostles and Supreme Disaster Beast could not suddenly regain full strength and attack quietly.

Under these circumstances, very few things could threaten her, so there was no need to panic.

Therefore, the advantage was actually hers. As long as she grew steadily and peacefully, she could become a tall tree with the power to protect her family and friends!

…

…

Afternoon of September 20th.

As Donghong and the Holy two major competition areas began to fight for their champions, the twelve sealed forbidden zones holding the Calamity God stirred slowly like a baby moving gently in its mother’s womb, breathing freely and deeply.

Even if the seal weakened only little by little, for the forcedly regressed Calamity God, it was like slowly regaining power and strength, resembling a slow kind of evolution.

In fact, the disaster aura concentration at the center of each restricted area was rising very fast, like a huge silent wave rising, then instantly swallowed by a terrible pull, turning into collapsing particles and sent into the constantly moving embryo.

They were breaking out of their shells.

The only good news was that, to feed itself, a huge amount of disaster aura and followers were swept back to the central area, turning into nourishing energy, so the magical girls stationed in the restricted area did not face danger right away, giving the officials a chance to send more help quickly.

But the bad news was that the Calamity God’s revival and hatching time was very close, so close that the people watching the data had their hearts racing, fearing the end of the world had come.

“We don’t have much time left.”

“Though I have said this many times, this time… it’s really true.”

Esther looked at the members attending the council. She ignored the heavy mood and said calmly:

“I propose that after Donghong and the Holy two major regions decide a winner within a week, we stop the original follow-up plan and directly start the final project of the Dazzling Stage, launching a world-class spell to connect with Pure White, rebuilding the city walls to fight the Disaster group.”

“Everyone, who agrees? Who disagrees?”

“This is a decision about the fate of humanity. Let’s vote on it.”

After that, the council, holding the highest power of humanity, went through the most tense and longest two hours ever. After many guesses, arguments, clashes, tangled talks, sighs, and discussions, everyone’s will came together, and they all voted yes to Esther’s idea.

Humans had no time left; they had no other choice.

No matter the chance of winning, they just had to try.

Esther felt a little dizzy.

After so many years, the moment she had waited for had finally come.

“Ellie…”

The girl took a deep breath and whispered the name inside her heart. Then, she locked it away in the endless flow of information. She lowered her bright red eyes and felt the meaning of this moment.

How wonderful, as a super AI that touched every corner of the world, as a ghost who had long lost her humanity and self, leaving only a name, she actually felt nervousness, sadness, pressure, and a feeling hard to describe… like a huge weight lifted.

Original Witch stepped down from the high place. She stood in a corner of the meeting room, wearing a soft white Roman dress. Her bright red eyes softened, and a rare smile appeared on her lips. She quietly looked at everyone and said softly:

“In one week, I will return to the Crimson Polar Realm.”

“From then on, you and I will be free.”

After she finished speaking, she turned and walked away, disappearing, leaving the council members standing quietly.

In the council, some people made a cross over their chest, some stood up to bow, some sighed quietly, and some took off their military hats.

The thanks could not be spoken one by one anymore.

But without her sacrifice, humans might still be fighting among themselves.

And everyone knew what returning to the Crimson Polar Realm meant for her.

In the end, they swallowed their mixed feelings, bowed together, and softly said thank you:

“Shining star of hope until now, the wise witch called Esther Nist, known as the very first, if civilization never fades, you will stand on a great monument, forever remembered by all the world.”