Lu Yinxi had encountered this type of magic before.
Stripping magic was an extremely troublesome category of magic.
It sacrificed destructive power in exchange for powerful control ability.
Anyone hit by stripping magic had to expend several times their normal magic power to resist its effects.
Otherwise, all their magic power would remain unusable for a period of time.
In that state, whether Magical Girl or Witch, they could only be slaughtered at will.
More than a year ago, Lu Yinxi had faced the previous Envy Deacon from the Witch Church.
The bias of the opponent’s magic just happened to be stripping magic.
Fortunately, she had just awakened her domain and happened to be at a concert venue with a continuous supply of magic power, which allowed her to successfully repel the enemy.
It was precisely because of that achievement that the Magical Girl Alliance had awarded her the title of Shining New Star.
Returning to the others, she explained the situation to Youzi.
Youzi said seriously, “An A-rank Witch is extremely dangerous. We can’t just leave it be. We won’t go back yet. We’ll stay here until we find her traces and eliminate her.”
She urgently contacted the relevant departments.
Facing the threat of a Witch, White Tea Mountain entered a temporary closure.
Lu Yinxi put down her phone and said helplessly, “They’re urging us hard. They say it’s currently tea-picking season, so closing the mountain for even one day will cause huge losses. They want us to resolve the Witch as quickly as possible.”
“There’s no use rushing,” Youzi said, spreading her hands.
“The Witch won’t stay in one place. The surrounding area is a huge stretch of mountains, and she’s an A-rank Witch. It’s very hard to pinpoint her location with magic. Relying only on us to search will be extremely difficult.”
“Logistics support will arrive soon. We’ll try coordinating with drones for the search. Youzi, you stay here to liaise with the logistics team. We’ll go look first.”
Lu Yinxi arranged, “Since the Witch is A-rank, the search needs equivalent combat strength. Xiaocheng, you’re with me. Xiaowei and Xiaobai will be one team. We’ll split up and act separately. Contact via terminal the moment you find any clues.”
“I want to be with Sister!” Su Xiaowei protested.
Lu Yinxi refused without hesitation, citing the priority of pairing experienced with new members since Xiaobai had more experience.
In reality…
What a joke. I already let you have last night. Today Xiaocheng belongs to me!
***
Su Xiaocheng followed Lu Yinxi along a small stream, looking at Lu Yinxi’s back.
She kept thinking about what she had done last night and felt a little guilty.
Just as she wondered how to speak up, Lu Yinxi broke the silence first.
“Last night… did you enjoy it?”
Su Xiaocheng jolted.
In her panic she stepped into empty air, and her little leather shoe plunged straight into the stream, splashing water everywhere.
“Mm… I enjoyed it?”
Su Xiaocheng answered cautiously.
Looking at Lu Yinxi’s expression, Su Xiaocheng had no idea what she was thinking and could only confess honestly.
“That’s good,” Lu Yinxi said, her gaze drawn to the small foot soaking in the stream water.
Su Xiaocheng’s heart was full of conflict. What does this mean? Is she angry or not?
Last time Xiaolu accepted Xiaowei, so she’s not angry? Then why is she asking?
“Xiaocheng, why don’t you pull your foot out first?”
Lu Yinxi interrupted Su Xiaocheng’s thoughts and suggested.
“Oh, oh.” Su Xiaocheng snapped back to reality and withdrew her foot.
Through the soaked white stockings, the girl’s tender skin was faintly visible.
Realizing Su Xiaocheng had overthought things, Lu Yinxi shook her head helplessly, cast a spell to dry the water stains, and said, “I was just asking. If I had any objections, I would have kicked the door open and entered your room last night.”
“Eh? Kicked the door open? Xiaolu, you were outside the door last night?”
“Mhm. Speaking of which, it was quite unexpected.”
“What?” Su Xiaocheng’s face flushed red, but she couldn’t suppress her curiosity.
“You were actually the one on top. When you’re with me you’re so weak and submissive~” The corner of Lu Yinxi’s mouth curved up slightly.
“Ahh, Xiaolu you’re so mean!”
Realizing she was being teased, Su Xiaocheng puffed her cheeks and complained, though her protest sounded more like coquettish whining.
***
At the same time, on the other side.
Su Xiaowei kicked a small stone away with an angry huff.
I clearly wanted to be with Sister too.
Su Xiaowei complained in her heart.
“No clues over here, the say.”
Xiaobai held up a detector decorated with rabbit ears. “Let’s check over there, the say.”
Locking onto an A-rank Witch’s position across a huge area was beyond Xiaobai’s ability, but narrowing the search range and checking methodically was something she could do.
The closer the distance, the more magic power the Witch would have to expend to block a Magical Girl’s search.
The two sides in conflict were like the ends of a lever. The more favorable the conditions, the farther from the fulcrum, and the less magic power it would cost to win.
“Buzz buzz buzz~” A drone carrying a detector flew over their heads. Logistics support had already joined the search.
***
Before they knew it, the sky had gradually darkened.
“No good. Absolutely no clues.” Youzi said, rubbing her temples.
With the drones’ assistance, they had searched the entire tea-growing area centered on White Tea Mountain in one day, yet they had found nothing.
By the time they returned to the inn, it was already ten at night.
After rushing around outside all day and eating only dry rations, Su Xiaocheng felt sore all over.
While eating the late-night snack provided by the inn, she asked, “Do we need to expand the search range tomorrow?”
“We could, but it wouldn’t mean much,” Youzi said, pointing at the projected map to explain.
“West and south of White Tea Mountain are urban areas. If the Flower Witch went in those directions, the city detectors would most likely have picked her up.”
“To the east is the ocean, and to the north is a vast uninhabited mountain range. Searching there would cost a huge amount and isn’t even our jurisdiction anymore.”
The main duty of Magical Girls stationed in cities was to protect urban safety, not to hunt Witches.
“Let’s handle it the usual way,” Lu Yinxi said. “We’ll stand guard here for one more day. Once the logistics department finishes setting up the detection network for this area tomorrow, we can head back.”
“That’s all we can do,” Youzi agreed helplessly.
After a simple late-night snack, everyone returned to their rooms to rest.
“Sister~” Su Xiaowei followed behind Su Xiaocheng.
“We’ve been running around outside all day. Aren’t you tired, Xiaowei?”
“Of course I’m tired. That’s why I need Sister to recharge my energy even more.” Su Xiaowei declared righteously.
“……”
Recalling Su Xiaowei’s contract, Su Xiaocheng found herself unable to refute.
Su Xiaocheng glanced tentatively at Lu Yinxi.
“You two go rest,” Lu Yinxi said generously.
With a major enemy still at large, she was willing to let Su Xiaocheng go.
If she crawled into Su Xiaocheng’s bed tonight, it would be bad if Su Xiaocheng couldn’t get out of bed tomorrow.
“Sleep well. No funny business.”
Before they parted, Lu Yinxi reminded her once more.
***
The next morning, just as the first ray of sunlight shone across the land.
“Beep beep beep!”
A piercing alarm sounded.