Superman Termination Manual

"Then she's all yours to deal with, Miss Witch..." Lan Ou said to the Sloth Witch.

"Alright, Mr. Superhero, you sure know what's what, I thought I'd have to have a little spar with you..."

The Sloth Witch replied cheerfully, yet her eyes never strayed from the Lost Witch.

Listening to their conversation, the Lost Witch was stunned for a while. Then, she glanced at the Sloth Witch, and at Lan Ou, and couldn't help but grind her teeth in vexed embarrassment, her face shrouded in gloomy shadows, every muscle twitching slightly.

Her pride was utterly crushed in this moment.

In both the spiritual and the real world, she was thoroughly defeated.

But fortunately... she still had one last move — or rather, her mission had in fact been accomplished long ago.

"It's no use, Ash is doomed to become a witch. And next, the altar inside the statue will sacrifice her Witchification, resurrecting the most powerful witch in history — the 'Envious Witch'."

As the Lost Witch spoke, she twisted her mouth into a grin at Lan Ou, "You couldn't possibly have anticipated this too, could you? What a pity, in the end, you failed to save her."

But as her words ended, she did not see the reaction she hoped for on the faces of Lan Ou and Xiaohongmao; both of their gazes were extremely calm.

"Indeed, just as you said, I didn't anticipate this, but someone else did," Lan Ou said.

"Who?" the Lost Witch asked.

"Xizi Yue," Lan Ou stated the name, and then his mind flashed back to a conversation a few days prior.

...

A few days earlier, the Black Judge and Lan Ou were in a conference room at the Alliance headquarters, confronting Xizi Yue.

"I'm here for someone... Magical Girl Ash," Lan Ou declared, staring at Xizi Yue.

Xizi Yue looked back at him and said slowly: "While I'm not sure what your relationship is with Ash, there is one thing I can tell you — I've left two magic cards in Magical Girl Ash's magic book."

"The first card can tell me where she is;

"And the second card is there to ensure her life is absolutely protected if she encounters life-threatening danger."

...

Ke Mingye came back to his senses, took a deep breath, and looked towards the altar from behind Lan Ou's mask.

It was because of these two cards mentioned by Xizi Yue that Ke Mingye has been certain that Bai Zini would not be in danger, thus enduring these excruciatingly long five days like a century.

He chose to believe Xizi Yue and truly trusted her. Despite this individual known as the "once-in-two-millennia magical girl" often being lax and nonchalant, she never failed at critical moments. Xizi Yue did not disappoint him this time either.

Just seconds later, one of the cards that Xizi Yue had left in Ash's magic book played its intended role.

"...Xizi Yue?"

The Lost Witch blinked in surprise and swiftly turned her head.

Just as the dark cocoon light spreading from the altar was about to completely envelop Ash, suddenly, a magic book shining with bright light soared up, its pages flipping rapidly on their own without a breeze.

It then stopped on one of the pages.

Subsequently, a magic card gleaming with an interwoven light of dark gold and silver rose from it.

An A-grade magic card — "Floating Life Shield."

The cards shattered into intense light, like a rain of radiance falling down, and a dark golden halo of divine light enveloped the Gothic-dressed girl's entire body. Then, the dark cocoon of light that had previously surrounded her utterly splintered apart.

Following that, the stone altar shattered alongside the destruction, collapsing with a thunderous roar.

This also signified that the ritual to resurrect the Envious Witch using Ash as a sacrifice ended in failure—accompanied by a scream as if from ancient times, which echoed through the world and reverberated within the cramped space surrounded by sculptures.

The body of Magical Girl Ash slowly dropped to the ground, lying amidst the ruins.

"How is this possible... how is this possible... how is this possible?"

Watching this scene, the Lost Witch's pupils shook, and she murmured to herself in a pale face.

"So ugly... Could you please not make such an ugly face? It immediately kills the mood, how boring."

The Sloth Witch spoke languidly, a trace of undeniable annoyance flashing in her eyes. She then commanded the Ghost Light Tentacles to wrap around the Lost Witch's body, completely draining her of her Magic Power without leaving anything behind.

When the tentacles finally dispersed, only a pile of bones remained of the Lost Witch's body, which slowly scattered on the ground.

"It's over..."

Lan Ou, or rather "Ke Mingye," looked up at the scene, thinking to himself.

"So, did we manage to save Senior Ash?"

Xiaohongmao whispered a question.

"Yes... we saved her."

Ke Mingye murmured to himself.

But just as he passed by the remains of the Lost Witch, intending to take the unconscious Bai Zini back home, an anomaly suddenly descended upon the altar, which by now was reduced to ruins.

When the Gothic-dressed girl lifted her eyes again, an icy gray-blue flame ignited within her pupils.

At the same time, the umbrella that lay at her feet transformed, the gem embedded in its handle completely corrupted by darkness, fissured with thousands of cracks like a parched earth.

The sound of steps in the silence abruptly stopped. Watching this scene, Lan Ou slowly halted his steps, frozen in place.

Ke Mingye's pupils slightly contracted, reflecting the Gothic-dressed girl with vacant eyes. Half of her cheek was stained with fresh blood, her gaze empty, but the gray-blue fire burning in her eyes was so bright, like the sky at the break of dawn.

The next moment, he slowly took off the helmet of Lan Ou, facing away from Shi Neian, lifting his eyes from under the sweat-dampened hairline, and said to the girl on the altar in a hoarse voice:

"Bai Zini... it's me."

But those few words seemed so feeble, as if they couldn't reach anyone's ears.

At this moment, the eyes of the Gothic-dressed girl seemed to behold nothing, and even though her pupils reflected Ke Mingye's face, and despite being so close to each other, they seemed to see nothing.

The next moment, the space inside the entire witch statue began to shake violently, as if it were collapsing.

Amidst the crumbling world, the umbrella named "Cinderella" gradually rose up, and immediately its whole body was shrouded in a mercury metallic layer, turning into the unmistakable texture of machinery. Then, the umbrella's canopy drew close against the handle.

In the "click-clack" of interlocking parts, countless components rapidly reorganized, ultimately transforming into a heavy sniper rifle.

At the same time, the color of the dress on the Gothic-dressed girl began to slowly change, and in an instant, a grayish-blue hue enveloped her entire body, completely replacing the gray portion. After that, the pleated skirt's hem "ripped" apart, dispersing into ashes-like form.

Then the girl raised her eyes, and the interwoven gray-blue flames in her pupils violently surged forth.

Their gazes met.

Ke Mingye stared at her stunnedly, and a panel sprang up before his eyes.

[Code Name: Ember Witch]

[Danger Rating: S+ Level]