Moon Owl and the Guardian of the Third District left the Order Keeper headquarters. With Moon Owl’s spatial magic, they crossed three cities in less than an hour and arrived at the border of the First District.

“I feel like I forgot something…”

While traveling, Night Frost and the Zone Fifteen Guardian sneezed at the same time. When Night Frost saw Moon Owl leave the Order Keeper headquarters, she followed after her.

Who could’ve known that Moon Owl would tear open space and vanish in the blink of an eye?

Night Frost cursed under her breath. Moon Owl couldn’t have forgotten them, could she?

Fortunately, with the locator Blade had given them, Night Frost and the Zone Fifteen Guardian could still find Moon Owl’s location.

After their figures vanished beyond the edge of sight, Azure and the Guardian of the Seventh District slowly emerged from beneath the towering Order Keeper tower.

A fervent light flickered in the Guardian of the Seventh District’s eyes. He seemed unable to suppress his excitement any longer.

He suddenly spread both arms wide.

A vast surge of Mana burst from his body like a raging flood.

The Mana swept across the entire Fourth District in an instant. It was like an invisible giant hand, clenching the land tightly in its grasp.

The people on the streets had been immersed in the clamor of daily life. Then, without warning, an oppressive force descended upon them.

They panicked. Fear and helplessness filled their faces.

One after another, they stopped in their tracks and looked toward the tower. Their eyes were filled with confusion and terror.

The workers also stopped what they were doing.

They had always kept their heads down, quietly struggling to make a living. But now, an indescribable pressure surged over them.

Their hearts raced. Their breathing grew ragged, as though this Mana had stripped them of the right to breathe.

No matter their status, wealth, or position, everyone seemed tiny and helpless before that colossal Mana.

Their faces turned pale. Their eyes brimmed with terror, as if they had seen the end of the world approaching.

As the Guardian of the Seventh District released his Mana, the sky began to darken.

A violent storm descended without warning, as if cheering on that overwhelming power.

Raindrops hammered the ground like a dense volley of arrows, splashing water in every direction. The howling wind swept up dust and fallen leaves from the streets, forming one furious whirlwind after another.

Amid the raging storm, the people’s fear deepened.

They hugged themselves tightly, trying to find a trace of comfort beneath the double pressure of Mana and nature.

Yet the Mana only seemed to grow stronger, as if it intended to swallow the entire Fourth District whole.

At that moment, the Fourth District seemed to have fallen into the terror of the apocalypse.

Every heart was filled with endless fear and despair.

“Mana as cloth. The spirit as thread. Nature as blade. Stitching, cutting, crafting… Anything can be made into splendid raiment.”

Amid the raging storm, the raindrops that had been falling rapidly suddenly reversed direction by some miracle.

They slowly spread through the air like threads in the hands of a celestial weaver. Gradually, they became sheets of exquisite fabric.

The cloth swayed gently in the wind and rain. In the hands of the Guardian of the Seventh District, it seemed almost alive.

The wind swept lightly across the fabric and cleverly divided it into pieces of suitable sizes.

Spirit Threads shot from the Guardian of the Seventh District’s body. They moved nimbly between the sheets of cloth, stitching them together into one neutral-colored robe after another.

When the robes were complete, they seemed to possess a will of their own.

They flew automatically toward the people of the Fourth District and gently wrapped around each person’s body.

No matter their shape or size, every robe fit them perfectly.

Once the people donned the robes, the fear in their hearts gradually faded.

They felt the warmth and comfort they provided, as if a warm current were flowing through their bodies.

A new voice appeared in their minds.

It was the voice of the deity they were meant to worship.

No one knew where the voice came from. No one knew who its owner was.

Yet they instinctively wished to offer everything they possessed to the master of those robes.

They looked toward the Order Keeper tower. Their eyes held supreme reverence, and the fear buried deep within their hearts vanished without a trace.

“Go forth, my believers. Let us establish a brand-new Order!”

“Go and slaughter them. Bring me the heads of every mortal who has not received my divine blessing!”

Everyone beneath the Fourth District who wore a robe raised their arms and cheered toward the Guardian of the Seventh District’s location.

After delivering those words, the Guardian of the Seventh District turned his gaze toward the First District.

He channeled his Mana and wove a pair of wings for himself. With their aid, he sped toward the First District.

Azure, meanwhile, returned to the prison beneath the Order Keeper tower.

This place wasn’t merely where the Order Keeper held meetings. It was also the court of judgment for the Magic Maidens.

The prison was built entirely from Obsidian Stone. These flawless stones, containing not a trace of impurity, could easily imprison the Magic Maidens of Cantata Two.

When Azure reached the deepest chamber, Crimson, who had kept her eyes tightly shut, opened them.

Azure waved her hand and spread a light screen before Crimson.

She displayed everything that had happened in the Fourth District.

“How was that? This is only the first step. Next comes the Mud King.”

Crimson didn’t reply.

“I like you very much, Crimson… Otherwise, you’d already be dead.”

Azure couldn’t help recalling the past.

Crimson had been the one who changed her. Without Crimson, she would’ve died back then—killed by her own weakness.

“So, please take a good look at the power I possess now!”

“This time, every Magic Maiden faction will face a complete reshuffle!”

A trace of madness appeared in Azure’s gloomy eyes.

Crimson, however, let out a long sigh.

Azure hadn’t been like this before. Yet for the sake of power, she had walked to the extreme.

Crimson hadn’t fulfilled her responsibility as captain.

If she had noticed Azure’s unwillingness sooner, perhaps Azure wouldn’t have become like this today.

Crimson desperately wanted to stop Azure. But chains wrapped around her body, an outfit that restrained her Mana, and the Magic Stone far away in the sky left her unable to use even a trace of power.

“Haah…”

Azure knew Crimson didn’t want to speak with her.

So she stood up, left the gloomy room, and set off for the First District.

Inside the Qian Corporation, its chairman wore a grim expression.

He had witnessed that scene as well.

The raindrops had been cut and shaped into clothing, then placed over everyone. Without exception, those who wore them became believers of the Guardian of the Seventh District.

“So this is magic as well… How terrifying.”

The chairman of the Qian Corporation held a button tightly in his palm.

Just moments ago, he had activated the large-scale Magic Tool installed within the corporation.

As the head of a major enterprise, how could he survive in a world filled with Magic Maidens without a few tricks of his own?

This Magic Tool possessed immense resistance to magic. It could block most magical attacks.

But it had one drawback.

It burned money.

Money wasn’t especially important to the Qian Corporation, but activating this thing even once still made the chairman’s heart ache.

The only fortunate thing was that no one inside the Qian Corporation had become that person’s believer.

In the chairman’s eyes, that cost was worth paying.

“The Fourth District is no longer peaceful.”

Anyone with eyes could see that this was only that woman’s first step.

She could enslave everyone and make them willingly become her subordinates.

If the Qian Corporation’s chairman possessed such power, he would certainly make everyone in the world serve him. Then he could become the high and mighty emperor—or perhaps…

A god.

“Pass down the order. Everyone in the corporation is to enter combat readiness.”

“Contact the overseas arms dealers and have them transport all Mana-related weapons to the designated locations.”

“Prepare every escape tunnel. We’re leaving this place of trouble.”

The moment the order was issued, the Qian Corporation sprang into action.

Everyone became as frantic as ants on a hot pan.

But at that moment, two figures flew out from the Order Keeper tower.

Two Magic Cannons tore across the sky and slammed into the Qian Corporation’s invisible barrier.

Everyone inside the Qian Corporation looked toward the Magic Cannons.

Before they could even see who had launched the attack, they heard the chairman roar:

“What are you looking at? Do you want to die? Get back to work!”

Everyone hurriedly withdrew their gazes.

They didn’t want to die. The enemy had already come knocking!

After shouting, the chairman looked out the window.

The two tiny figures in the sky began drawing closer.

“Are they… Magic Maidens?”

He focused his eyes and realized he had been wrong.

They were two young women, their limbs wrapped in thick, diamond-shaped metal armor.

Oval shields extended from those diamond-shaped metal plates. They interlocked cleverly behind the girls’ backs, concealing a metal structure resembling a jetpack.

That was what allowed the two girls to soar through the sky.

Beneath the jetpack hung a massive steel tail, assembled from trapezoidal sections that grew smaller toward the end.

Although it was made entirely of metal, it was strangely flexible.

The girls carried heavy cannon barrels on both shoulders.

Those barrels weren’t mere decorations. They were tightly connected to the girls’ shoulders and to the Magic Stone containers on either side of their thighs.

The Magic Stone containers held tremendous Mana.

The cannon barrels drew out that Mana and transformed it into devastating Magic Cannons.

The Magic Cannons that had torn through the air moments ago had been fired from those very barrels.

The girls’ eyes were covered by devices resembling VR headsets, making their faces impossible to see.

They simply hovered in the air, their faces utterly expressionless.

Even with their eyes concealed, Qian Qingqing could still recognize one of them.

That girl was her missing friend, Qin Yanmo.

No matter how loudly Qian Qingqing called her name, the girl in the sky showed no reaction.

She was like a soldier.

Like a machine.

She simply hovered there, quietly waiting for her commander to give the order.

“She’s that friend of yours?”

The chairman of the Qian Corporation placed both hands heavily on Qian Qingqing’s shoulders and drew an Arcane Firearm from his waist.

“Whether she is or not, she’s no longer your friend.”

“They’re enemies. Just like the people in the Fourth District, they’ve become believers of that ‘deity.’”

Qian Qingqing couldn’t accept it.

She remembered how they had still been laughing and chatting together the week before.

Now, they were about to turn their weapons on each other.

“But…”

Before Qian Qingqing could finish, the four cannon barrels began charging again.

The Magic Cannons struck the light screen.

The screen trembled twice, but the attack failed to break through.

“Chairman, those people are swarming over!”

The chairman of the Qian Corporation narrowed his eyes and looked more closely.

The fanatical believers had surrounded the Qian Corporation in layer after layer, like a horde of zombies.

…