Luo Xiao rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought.
Finally, he looked up and said, “Miss Na Gou, may I ask what exactly this so-called Church of Light is? Does the god they believe in truly exist?”
Xia Lan nodded.
The sunlight outside the window fell on half her face, casting the other half in shadow.
“This starts with a war between light and darkness ten thousand years ago,” Xia Lan began slowly.
“In the beginning, the world was a barren silence. There was no life, no thought—only endless void. Then one day, the world split into light and dark, giving form to order and chaos. Thus the first gods, the God of Light and the Goddess of Chaos, were born.”
“The two primordial gods created this world together. Every flower, every blade of grass, every trajectory of stardust, the pulse of every life—all came into being from one thought after another. The world became what we see today, and the first humans were born around that time.”
“And as in countless cliché stories, the God of Light and the Goddess of Chaos eventually developed an irreconcilable conflict. The God of Light believed that He should rule over all matter, spirit, and souls, leading them toward a better future. So ten thousand years ago, He launched what He called the Terra Unification War.”
“The Goddess of Chaos, on the other hand, believed that living beings should have the freedom to choose their own path, whether good or bad. Dictatorial leadership would only erode possibilities. Thus she fought against the God of Light…”
“Wait, wait, wait,”
Suddenly, Luo Xiao raised his hand to interrupt Xia Lan’s narration.
“If I recall, your magical girls seem to have a bad relationship with the Church of Light. Does that mean you magical girls are on the side of darkness?”
“Just realized that?”
Xia Lan smiled.
“With a blasphemous name like [Na Gou], of course we magical girls are of the Chaos faction. We were created by the righteous Goddess of Chaos using fragments of chaos to oppose the original angels of the evil God of Light.”
“By the way, the other three magical girls are Magical Girl [Khorne], Magical Girl [Tzeentch], and Magical Girl [Slaanesh].”
Na Gou, Khorne, Tzeentch, Slaanesh…
Are you sure this is a proper magical girl?
A dark magical girl of the Chaos faction…
Well, this is…
Luo Xiao scratched his head.
He felt like some extermination order was about to come down at any moment.
Did anyone have any idea about that?
“Then let’s get back to the main topic,”
Xia Lan continued her story.
“The divine war ten thousand years ago ended with both the God of Light and the Goddess of Chaos being sealed away. The angels were cut off in the warp beyond the real world.”
“The four magical girls sat on their thrones within their respective ruins, blocking the great rift between the warp and the real world. Eventually, they too disappeared from legend.”
At this, Luo Xiao was puzzled again.
“Then why is Miss Na Gou still appearing in the modern era? And what about the Church of Light that believes in the God of Light?”
“This is humanity’s own doing.”
Xia Lan’s eyes seemed to lose focus slightly, as if recalling the past.
“Luo Xiao, this world is actually very balanced. Light and dark are two sides of the same coin. When the power of chaos grows, the power of light also grows, and vice versa.”
“This is also why the magical girls of ten thousand years ago ultimately chose to disappear—only by doing so could they completely sever light’s influence on the real world.”
“But twenty years ago, an American mega-corporation discovered the ruins left behind by Magical Girl [Khorne].”
Xia Lan said, “You must have heard of its name: Leonard Corporation.”
“Leonard Corporation!?”
Luo Xiao exclaimed in surprise.
“That super-oligopoly that, with its own market cap, accounts for 15% of the world’s GDP? The one that even the US government has to listen to? The conglomerate with achievements in various fields?”
“In fact, the reason Leonard Corporation grew into such a giant is precisely because they discovered the magical girl ruins back then,” Xia Lan added.
“Not only did they research many advanced technologies from it, but they also extracted residual energy from Khorne’s Brass Throne.”
“Then, using that extracted energy, with humanity’s most cutting-edge technology and the help of a fa… a genius, the artificial Magical Girl [Khorne] was born in Leonard Corporation’s laboratory.”
Hearing this, Luo Xiao showed a look of realization.
“I see. Because humans replicated the power of magical girls, chaos reappeared in the world, and under the world’s balance, the light faction that had been cut off in the warp was able to re-emerge.”
“Exactly.”
Xia Lan nodded.
“Later, Leonard Corporation also discovered the ruins of [Na Gou] and [Slaanesh], which further accelerated the return of light.”
“Is Miss Na Gou part of Leonard Corporation?” Luo Xiao asked.
“No.”
Xia Lan shook her head.
“That’s the story that comes later.”
“As I said before, the key to artificial magical girls was the help of a genius scientist. One day, that scientist discovered that Leonard intended to use the power of magical girls to conquer the entire world and make everyone serve them.”
“Therefore, the scientist’s conscience made him decide to take what he had already developed—[Slaanesh] and the still energy-substance [Na Gou]—and completely defect from Leonard Corporation.”
“In the end, [Na Gou]’s power passed through many hands and came to me, while [Slaanesh]was hidden by the scientist in his son, and its whereabouts remain unknown to this day.”
Xia Lan finished her story and smiled at Luo Xiao.
At this moment, Luo Xiao had suddenly received a massive amount of information, and his worldview was being reshaped.
The Unification War ten thousand years ago, the God of Light and the Goddess of Chaos, the Leonard Corporation, artificial magical girls…
This world really is chaotic.
Luo Xiao rubbed his brow, trying to pull his thoughts away from these symbols.
“Then Miss Na Gou, how long have you been a magical girl in transformed state?”
Miss Na Gou looked so young and energetic—
She probably hadn’t been a magical girl for long.
It must be very difficult for her to fight against the Church of Light and Leonard.
“Yeah, about eleven years.”
“Oh, eleven months… ah? Eleven years!?”
Luo Xiao’s eyes widened, and he stammered, “Wait, Miss Na Gou, how old are you?”
“It’s impolite to ask a girl her age casually.”
Xia Lan lightly flicked his forehead.
“I’m seventeen this year, still one month away from adulthood.”
Seventeen!?
And has been a magical girl veteran for eleven years!?
Luo Xiao’s expression now was that of the “old man, subway, phone.jpg” meme.
What did that mean? A high school veteran with eleven years of combat experience?
She started transforming into a magical girl at age six to fight those monsters?
What the hell, what is this world coming to…
Gazing at the girl before him, Luo Xiao wanted to say something, but suddenly felt that he and she were very, very far apart.
That gentle and approachable smile seemed like an opaque mask, separating them.
A girl who had been fighting those demons and gods since she was six—
What was really in her heart?
Luo Xiao couldn’t imagine.
In those eleven years, had she ever had other companions?
Had she been lonely?
What lay hidden beneath that gentle smile?
For some reason, he felt a bit sad.
Suddenly, Luo Xiao sat up straight, staring intently at the girl before him, and said word by word, “Miss Na Gou, please let me walk forward with you from now on!”
Seeing the suddenly serious Luo Xiao, Xia Lan was a bit dumbfounded.
“What’s wrong? Why so serious?”
“Well,” Luo Xiao scratched his head, a little embarrassed.
“I just felt you were too lonely.”
“Lonely? Not really.”
“Huh?”
Could it be that Miss Na Gou actually had other companions?
Luo Xiao suddenly felt his earlier behavior was very embarrassing.
“Like I said before, modern magical girls are essentially human-made through technology. Therefore, basically every artificial magical girl is equipped with something unique to the modern era.”
Xia Lan smiled mysteriously.
“Something unique to the modern era… missile lasers?”
“No, it’s a smart AI.”
“Huh? You magical girls are equipped with AI? That advanced?”
“Don’t be so surprised. Magical girls have to keep up with the times. Just think of it as the traditional mascot of magical girls.”
Xia Lan smiled and pointed to her temple.
“For example, mine is called Sister Liu Hua. She’s a very gentle person.”
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