NOVEL WEB Chapter 129 - Phase Two
In less than an hour.
The moment Ouja disappeared from Gray Shadow’s sight, he had already teleported himself to a new location—inside a room. A dark room.
Ignoring everything else, Ouja deactivated his transformation, revealing his true form once more. YouYu gently pushed open the door, stepped outside, and closed it behind him.
What greeted him was the familiar, unchanged sight of Bai Yu’s living room.
“Hah…”
Letting out a soft breath, YouYu turned his head toward Bai Yu’s room. Seeing no signs of her waking up, he followed his usual routine—pouring himself a glass of water and taking a sip.
And then, he began thinking about what “Ouja” had just done.
“Good. For now… Gray Shadow should have accepted that power.”
As he drank, he pondered.
“Which means… I should be able to keep track of their movements to some extent.”
“……”
“So.”
Finishing his drink, YouYu let out a sigh and addressed the presence inside him—Mamba, who had been hesitating to speak this entire time.
“You have something to ask?”
A brief silence.
Then, Mamba spoke.
“Yeah. I think I’ve figured out a few things… from the way that ‘Rider System’ you gave to Gray Shadow feels. But you still haven’t explained everything to me, so I don’t fully understand the situation.”
“YouYu, tell me—why did you give that power to Gray Shadow? I know you want to use it to manipulate them, but… if you lose control of it, things could spiral in a direction that’s bad for us!”
“So… explain it to me clearly, YouYu!”
Hearing Mamba’s sharp tone, YouYu smiled and said,
“Relax, Mamba. Something like ‘giving power’… if I wasn’t certain that I could control the power I handed out—and destroy it whenever I wanted—I wouldn’t have done it.”
“And besides, this power isn’t just for ‘manipulation’ alone.”
Because it could also be used to… parasitize.
If Gray Shadow were to start creating new constructs, then the power could latch onto them…
And siphon the abilities of those Negative Beasts.
“Anyway, let me explain everything from the beginning.”
“I created this ‘Rider System’ as a way to violently disrupt the technology and plans that Gray Shadow has been developing, forcing them into a position where they have no choice but to use this power.”
“And once they do… everything they create using those energy bottles—I’ll be able to sense it all. In other words, I’ll have direct control over every Negative Beast born from those bottles.”
Simply put, if Gray Shadow taps into this power, then from that moment on, their every move will be under YouYu’s surveillance and influence.
After all, most of the Negative Beasts that emerge will likely be experimental creations—products of the “bottles” he provided. They’ll all possess immense power.
But… precisely because they are experiments…
It would be completely reasonable if they occasionally went berserk. Or if they couldn’t attack humans. Or even if they turned against their own creator.
And these “unexpected malfunctions” would inevitably affect Gray Shadow’s actions, disrupting their plans. Because the “bottles” hold such tremendous power, Gray Shadow wouldn’t be able to discard them so easily.
And when that happens…
“I’ll be able to control Gray Shadow’s ‘experiments’ at any time—deciding when and where the Negative Beasts will attack.”
“They’ll fight where I want them to fight. Win when I want them to win. Lose when I want them to lose.”
“And when that happens, Gray Shadow will definitely work on improving those experiments. Which means I’ll get to extract even more of their power and technology from the refined Negative Beasts.”
And Gray Shadow would never realize any of this.
Because the power he wielded—born from the fusion of mana and negative emotions—would obscure their perception, ensuring that everything unfolded exactly as he intended.
“……I see.”
After listening to the explanation, Mamba muttered thoughtfully before saying,
“So your plan this time is to control Gray Shadow… and through that, indirectly control how they act toward you and the magical girls?”
“Exactly.”
YouYu nodded.
“Up until now, I didn’t interfere much because their actions were inefficient. When Night Demon was in charge, the attack frequency was abysmally low.”
“But now… with Gray Shadow—someone far more aggressive taking the lead—I can’t afford to just sit back anymore.”
“After all, I will have to face them sooner or later. So if they’re going to come after me anyway… I might as well make them dance to my tune.”
“And besides… this is the perfect opportunity to take some action against those ‘magical girls’ as well.”
Yes.
This was the perfect chance to finally put some of his long-planned “battles” into motion.
After all, in this current situation, combat might just be the most effective way to draw them in.
And later… he could use that as a justification to take even more power from them.
Depending on how things played out, he might even be able to “purify” and “modify” the bottles, making them usable for the magical girls—enhancing their strength even further.
When that time came, the looks on their faces… would surely be priceless.
Thinking this, YouYu set down his empty glass, turned around, and made his way toward Bai Yu’s room.
This time, unlike before, Bai Yu hadn’t insisted on sleeping together. She had only set up a recliner nearby and dozed off there.
Which meant that YouYu’s actions proceeded smoothly without a hitch.
But just as he was about to push open the door and step inside—
Mamba’s voice rang out again, this time carrying a note of concern.
“YouYu… I know it’s a bit late to bring this up now, but I still have to ask…”
“Do you realize what will happen… if everything you’re doing is exposed? If they find out the truth?”
“I don’t think it’ll be as simple as just ‘eternal regret ‘…”
“……”
YouYu froze in place.
For a moment, he stood there, lost in thought.
Then, he shook his head and said,
“What will happen…? Hmm… well, for now, that’s still a long way off.”
After all, if things ever reached that point… it would be “Phase Three.”
And right now—
“Phase Two…”
“Is only just beginning.”