The staff in Hibiscus's hand reverted from blade form to its original shape, then she flicked it clean of blood. It gleamed like new, only carrying a trace of murderous aura.
Splash!
At the same time, the water cube behind her collapsed, destroying the once-invincible Abyssal White Whale along with it. There was no suspense—faced with the control skill derived from time magic, it could not escape, could not resist, could not dodge. Victory was decided.
The corpse fragments fell into the sea all at once like rain, making people unable to believe—we won?
The crisis had been resolved?
For the first time, a Boss Disaster Beast was killed before landing! Everyone present witnessed and personally participated in history—a milestone event in the struggle against Disaster Beasts over half a century.
People immediately burst into cheers, and the world over offered their blessings. At least no tragedy had occurred. At this time, the latest batch of nun clone reinforcements arrived at the battlefield. This wasn't like a movie where defeating the boss solved everything—there were still some backbone commander Disaster Beasts maintaining organization through mental power, and they might launch scattered attacks.
"It's not over yet."
Hibiscus murmured in a voice only she could hear. Although the powerful enemy was confirmed dead, the time magic was still restless—she wasn't satisfied.
The girl stood on the white whale carcass floating on the sea surface, facing the pack of baring commander Disaster Beasts behind—there were over a hundred of them. These guys were intimidated by Magical Girl Hyacinth's oppressive aura and were caught in a dilemma, hesitating, but their wild nature would eventually make them choose instinctively.
What was she planning to do? Countless gazes focused on the figure wrapped in black mist.
Shouldn't this be left to the military now? Even if you killed the Boss Disaster Beast, did you still want to take action against this "officer corps"? The very thought was fantastical.
She consumed a Small Mana Recovery Potion.
Like a Formula One race car reaching the halfway point for maintenance and returning to full condition, the engine still roaring, every part of her body ready to spring into action. Time magic user Hibiscus responded to this surge of excitement—now she truly had a feeling of having the world in her grasp. That's right, weren't there perfect whetstones right here? When the girl took one step forward and brought them into range, the Disaster Beasts couldn't help but tremble.
They wanted to flee but it was too late to regret. The seagulls in the sky flapped their wings slowly, waves moved bit by bit, even consciousness became sluggish—the flow rate of all phenomena changed accordingly.
All life within the affected range witnessed the silver fine sand flowing rapidly, keeping pace with that ruler.
"Everyone's tired. Let's call it a day."
The second 3x acceleration.
Staff amplification.
Hibiscus's figure shot forward like an arrow, quickly passing by each commander Disaster Beast. Her steps weren't fast, yet she flashed past each target. The world was so slow it dampened one's spirits.
Even so, it wasn't over. She took care of all Disaster Beasts within a hundred-meter distance. Their average size of no more than 5 meters was much easier compared to the Abyssal White Whale, their mechanisms far inferior, not to mention their magic power defenses were practically nonexistent.
An instant later, the girl stood a hundred meters away. The relative flow state was released, and over a hundred Disaster Beasts exploded into blood mist like fireworks adorning victory.
The world fell silent. Many people forgot to breathe. They had never witnessed such a shocking scene of one person instantly killing so many Disaster Beasts—truly a miracle's descent, indisputable. For the first time, humanity had directly defeated a Boss Disaster Beast and swarm event. History would never forget the brave one who charged forward fearlessly against a thousand troops.
"Long live victory!" The survivors hugged each other, weeping with joy.
Hibiscus shrugged and prepared to leave, but saw a reporter lady clinging to a helicopter while politely asking for an interview—quite determined.
On the other side, a Pasha walked across the sea surface as if on flat ground, extending her right hand: "Thank you."
"Our goals aligned. Don't mention it."
The two shook hands, then Pasha gestured to the female reporter beside her, using this to open the conversation: "Many people are very curious about you, especially your incredible power. I don't mean to pry into secrets, but I hope you can reveal some of your stance."
"...There are rules against revealing classified information, but I can tell you my organization is dedicated to eliminating Disaster Beast influence and preparing for the coming extraordinary era."
Hibiscus made up a secret organization in front of the whole world. She didn't need to say much—her credentials were powerful enough.
Although what she improvised was full of holes, as long as her power was real enough, the achievement of the Abyssal White Whale battle was more convincing than anything else—indisputable.
Pasha was half-believing: "...So there are many strong people like you?"
"The specific situation is up to your imagination. I can't reveal more." She spread her hands. "Rest assured, the Salvation Church's stance is the entire civilization."
"You have the right to claim spoils of war."
"I got what I needed. The Disaster Beast remains are better in your hands—don't be polite, use them freely. Well then, let's part ways here."
"May God bless you."
Whoosh!
Time magic activated, allowing Hibiscus to wave goodbye in front of countless cameras. The next moment, the figure under ten thousand gazes disappeared like a frozen frame. Only a few surviving Disaster Beasts on the battlefield, scared out of their wits, bore witness to that. Though the person had left, the aftershock lingered long. Having accomplished her deed, she brushed off her clothes and left, deeply hiding her merit and fame. Everyone remained quiet for a moment, as if seeing off that mysterious ally's triumphant return.
It wasn't that Hibiscus deliberately cultivated some otherworldly expert image—she was simply too exhausted to hold on. Continuing like this, she couldn't even maintain her transformation state.
The Magical Girl's full transformation form seemed to possess a "knowledge poison" that made it "impossible to connect with her true appearance." In other words, canceling the form would immediately expose her identity, so the best of the thirty-six stratagems was to flee.
The departure of the greatest contributor changed certain things forever after the Battle of Edo.
Pasha gazed deeply in the direction where the black mist figure disappeared, holding her breath. Honestly, even she felt lingering fear about that power that restricted the flow rate of all phenomena—her clones were almost trembling.
But regardless, it proved that humanity had actually always harbored some kind of power, which finally couldn't sit still and began stepping onto the stage as Disaster Beasts became increasingly frequent. What was more concerning was that prophecy about the future...
Indeed, some research institutions had discovered naturally high magic power individuals who possessed infection resistance and could theoretically withstand stronger modification surgeries.
Reconnaissance ships had observed unidentified humanoid silhouettes on islands that should theoretically have no primates, occupied by Disaster Beasts.
There were signs of human activity within the Lost Continent forbidden zone.
As one of the high-level decision-makers regarding Disaster Beast-related events, Pasha knew much intelligence. Various signs indicated that the world would welcome another upheaval after the Disaster Beast invasion half a century ago. Originally she didn't believe it, but the overpowered Boss Disaster Beast and the mysterious organization that appeared out of nowhere were too convincing—she had to believe.
Back then, combat-type relic holders had conflicts with officials, even leading to civil war. Would the appearance of new power factors repeat history? Forget it—grasping the present was most important.
"I declare victory in the interception battle. Glory belongs to all humanity."
"Long live!"
Everyone shared the joy of surviving the disaster.