"Orders received!" Her voice snapped like a whip in cold air.
Under the leader’s command, the black‑clad men moved like shadows slipping over stone.
They pulled gas masks from their packs and buckled them on, like divers sinking under a poisonous sea.
Then they lined up the bottles they’d brought beside the dead machines, neat as gravestones in rust.
The black‑clad men tugged on black leather gloves and slowly twisted the caps; inside hid a thick green liquid, like swamp venom coiled in glass.
"Woof! What are they doing!" The bark popped like a startled firecracker.
Kaka saw it and panicked, like a pup bristling at thunder. The silver‑haired girl, lost in thought, drew a sharp breath as if ice bit her lungs.
"Ugh! Could it be... Xiao Yue!! We have to stop them! If I’m right, they’re trying to unleash a toxic blight, a mold that’ll crawl across the city!"
"What!" The word hit like a thrown stone.
"Ugh... damn it! Why isn’t my wound healed yet? Xiao Yue struggled to guard her home, a lantern in the wind—we can’t let anyone crush it!"
Dixue clenched her fist, anger coiling like a spring. But the silver‑haired girl still couldn’t rise, couldn’t lay those black‑clad men out like felled timber.
Yue Liuyi pushed up from the chair, like a willow lifting through frost.
"I’ll stop them. At a time like this, I have to use the World Tree Maiden’s power, roots breaking stone."
"Xiao Yue, you’ll likely expose yourself, like the moon stepping out of cloud..."
"But there’s... no other way." Her voice fell like rain over slate.
Sis Kiki had warned her not to use the World Tree Maiden’s strength, but with the river already flooded, Yue Liuyi could only step in herself.
Winterwood District still held over ten thousand lives; if the toxin spread like smoke on a windy night, who knew how many innocents would fall.
"Woof! Can’t we call the police? The Lindream Council should have a special response unit, right?" The words tumbled like pebbles down a hill.
"No. It’s already too late... LittleSnow, call Zixin and report what’s happening. I’m heading to the factory to stop them." Her resolve flashed like a drawn blade.
Yue Liuyi’s mind was set; if venom spread, Winterwood’s protection plan would vanish like mist under sun.
"Xiao Yue..." The name hung like a trembling leaf.
"Angel sis, wait!" Her voice chimed like a bell in fog.
"Huh? Little Rose?" Surprise fluttered like a sparrow.
"I’m going with you!" Her vow struck like flint.
"Huh? Little Rose, you’re still hurt. Stay at the kindergarten... The enemy looks tough; I’ll move faster alone, an arrow cutting the wind."
Yue Liuyi wasn’t grandstanding; danger had sharpened her judgment like a whetstone. If black‑clad hunters roamed Winterwood, they must carry dirty tricks.
Poison, gas—tools of rot. A little canine girl without protection was defenseless against such fumes, like a candle in a storm.
But the World Tree Maiden, the planet’s living purifier, feared no such stain. Ordinary toxins couldn’t touch Yue Liuyi, like arrows striking oak bark.
"It’s okay. I’m not that afraid of toxins, and... I haven’t used my ability yet!" Her smile glinted like dawn over thorns.
"A—ability?" The word stumbled like a pebble in a stream.
"Mm... Xiao Yue, take Little Rose with you. Her ability should shield you in a fight, a cloak against winter wind."
"Huh? Mm... got it." Acceptance settled like snow on quiet ground.
She traded a look with Dixue, feeling a gentle gaze warm her like spring sun.
"Fair winds..." The blessing floated like a lantern set downstream.
"I’ll come back safe!" Her promise tied like a knotted ribbon.
…
…
The two girls set off together, like twin swallows cutting through the dusk.
What was Little Rose’s ability? The question hovered like pollen in still air.
Racing down the street, Yue Liuyi didn’t know at all, her steps drumming like hoofbeats.
But she trusted Dixue and her choice. Time whipped like a north wind; there was no room to check.
Still, she didn’t expect Little Rose, riding a magic broom, to stand on the pad like a dancer rising on a narrow branch.
"Huh? Little Rose, weren’t you... fractured?" Doubt fluttered like a moth by a lamp.
"Mm... once I use my ability, it’s fine!" Her words sparkled like light on water.
The red‑haired loli smiled, her voice a shade more mature, like fruit ripening under sun.
"Huh? This surge of magic..." Power swelled like a rising tide.
Yue Liuyi felt it; abundant mana welled around Little Rose, like a spring bursting from rock.
"Mm! While my ability lasts, I’m immune to any wound... Angel sis, Little Rose is transforming now!" Her excitement spun like petals in a whirlwind.
Little Rose straddled the magic broom, like a swallow claiming its twig.
Then her small body began to change, the shift rippling like moonlight over water.
Rose‑vine patterns climbed across her skin, and with a dim red glow she grew, stretching like a vine toward light.
Her chest blossomed; her limbs lengthened, lithe and strong like willow branches.
"This is..." Awe unfolded like silk from a sleeve.
In a blink, the little witch on the broom vanished. In her place stood a mature, commanding enchantress, like night blooming into a full rose.
Her long white legs looked strong, like marble pillars wrapped in silk.
Her bright, keen eyes brimmed with deep‑rooted confidence, like stars set hard in midnight.
Her red hair flew with the wind, a ribbon of flame burning scarlet.
Her gorgeous silhouette moved like a demon queen hiding in the dark, a flower blooming where shadows breathe.
But her little witch’s heart hadn’t changed, playful as a fox under moonlight.
"Grown up! The Crimson Rose Archwitch—Jessie, on stage!!" Her entrance lifted like a curtain in a glow of red.
The archwitch laughed, joy ringing like chimes in a breeze.
"Huh? You’re... Little Rose...?" Disbelief staggered like an unsteady fawn.
"Yes! Angel sis, let me join you to hunt the villains!" Her vow sat nocked like an arrow.
The red‑haired archwitch smiled with steel‑bright confidence, and Yue Liuyi finally understood...
Why Little Rose had been hurt so badly that night, a cost written like blood on petals.
