A few days ago, while everyone was on their way to Asarina Village, they stopped to rest beneath a tree. Mai took out a tablet and sat there sketching, lost in thought. Dreamy was holding a glass of iced condensed - milk coffee when he turned to her and asked:
"Hey, Mai, what are you thinking so hard about…?"
Mai looked up at Dreamy and replied:
"I'm researching some of the functions and magic of AI Witches, and reviewing Miki's learning data… I've seen many masters assimilate with their AI Witches, but for some reason, I still haven't been able to do it with Miki…"
Dreamy took a sip of his iced condensed - milk coffee and glanced at Mai's tablet.
"Well… actually, you're doing very well. Some people spend their whole lives unable to assimilate with their AI Witch or make full use of its magic and abilities for many reasons: they're afraid of being replaced by their AI Witch, they discriminate against AI Witch users, they fear new things, or they suffer backlash from using AI Witches for dark and unethical purposes…"
Then Dreamy turned to Mai and smiled brightly.
"Actually, when the time comes, when you truly trust your AI Witch completely and Miki's learning data has been upgraded, you'll be able to assimilate with it."
***
Back in the present, Miki was being attacked by the monster Ti Ni had transformed into. The monster slammed its stone iron mace into Miki's body, causing several large cracks to split across Miki's golden form.
Mai's heart burned like fire as she watched Miki struggle with everything it had to save her. She wished she could become stronger so she could save Miki, her childhood friend, who had always stayed by her side and protected her. Seeing Miki being tortured filled her with anguish.
SHE WANTED TO BECOME STRONGER SO SHE COULD SAVE MIKI.
The thought had barely flashed through her mind when the left earring containing EN suddenly began to glow. The golden gemstone engraved with the shape of a dragon shone with brilliant golden light. The energy radiating from that earring made Mai's blonde hair flutter wildly.
Unconsciously, Mai closed her eyes. A golden space appeared before her, and she suddenly heard a voice:
"Master, take hold of my power. Assimilate with me…"
Mai narrowed her eyes, trying to see the being who had spoken. Hesitantly, she asked:
"You… who are you?"
"I am Miki. You have truly placed your trust in my power and are ready to control that power at a higher level… Now, please assimilate with me…" a golden dragon said.
Mai hesitated for a moment, then ran forward and embraced the golden dragon. She cried out:
"I trust you, Miki!"
In reality, Mai's eyes remained tightly shut as her golden earring grew brighter and brighter. Stones and earth around her began to float as if gravity no longer existed. Her clothes whipped violently in the surge of energy. Mai opened her eyes and commanded:
"Miki, assimilate!"
A golden pillar of light shot straight up from Mai into the sky, piercing through the castle and freeing her from the monster's tails. Above her, dark clouds churned into a swirling circle around the golden pillar.
Long and Dreamy were fighting Mary's soldiers. Mary's face turned grave, and she had to stand up completely to see clearly where the pillar of light was coming from. Dreamy burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Well done, Mai! Miki has leveled up into a high-class AI Witch!"
Mai hovered in midair. Her hair grew long like flowing golden clouds, twisting into the shape of a dragon and glowing with light. A majestic pair of dragon horns emerged from her head, and her body was wrapped in golden dragon scales. Miki became a massive dragon coiling around Mai.
Mai felt life force surging through her. With Miki beside her, a voice echoed in her mind:
"Master, please use the Heavenly Sword magic!"
Mai was slightly bewildered, but then her gaze grew firm. She raised one hand, and her antenna sword began to form dozens, then hundreds of other swords. They hovered in the air, completely under Mai's control.
Hundreds of swords appeared in the sky, their tips aimed straight at the "monster" Ti Ni.
Mai's eyes were cold and unwavering.
"Heavenly Sword, restrain that monster!"
The hundreds of swords, wrapped in golden light and pointed directly at the monster, suddenly reversed direction. Their hilts turned toward the monster, then they rushed forward in a storm-like assault.
After the attack, the monster could no longer resist the hundreds of swords driving toward it. It lost its balance and collapsed. The hundreds of swords gathered into the shape of a golden dragon, coiling tightly around the monster's body and leaving it unable to move. The monster had completely lost the ability to fight back.
Mai was truly astonished by this new power. She became more and more amazed by the strength of AI Witches and wanted to truly learn how to control it, her desire of becoming an AI Witch researcher was becoming bigger and bigger. The weak noble girl who had once cried in the rain during the battle against Witchiecoop had grown stronger.
Mai smiled confidently and said to herself:
"Long, Nguyen, I'll catch up to you. Just wait!"
On Long's side, he was still wondering about the golden pillar of light from earlier and worrying about Mai. But first, he had to settle things here. He was riding on the enormous Dreamy – a giant white poodle, fighting while dodging the fierce attacks from Mary's soldiers. Long's goal was not to destroy them, but to paralyze them and make them incapable of attacking. In Long's mind, they were innocent people who needed to be saved.
On the ring containing EN, the blue gemstone engraved with the image of a Poodle originally had three dots. Each time Long used EN to a certain degree, one EN dot disappeared.
One level of EN vanished, yet Long still had not managed to restrain all the enemies. Nearly four-fifths of Mary's soldiers were still able to continue fighting.
Another level of EN disappeared, but more than half of Mary's army could still fight.
Long panted heavily. Dreamy frowned at his stupidity, but he still acted effectively to support Long. He cursed at Long while carrying him and leaping across the battlefields.
Long was drenched in sweat. He was beginning to feel exhausted.
A young man carrying a sword launched a sneak attack from behind. Long turned in surprise.
Suddenly—
"Stop!" A loud shout rang out among the soldiers, causing the young man to flinch slightly. In a flash, Long created a magical shield and avoided the dangerous strike.
Everyone turned to see exactly who had shouted. It was Robert. He wore a silver suit of armor, looking imposing and heroic. Someone demanded:
"Hey, who are you to ruin our mission to eliminate the enemy?"
Robert shouted:
"Everyone, stop! We've all been deceived by Mary!"
Another person spoke up:
"Nonsense! What proof do you have?"
Robert answered through gritted teeth, glaring furiously at Mary.
"Do you still remember my younger sister, Jen? Mary was the one who tried to eliminate my sister, and she was the one who slashed my mother, Suzan, across the back."
The crowd grew confused.
"Impossible. Lady Mary is very kind. Are you being affected by illusion magic? Something like that could never happen. Besides, you were the one obsessed with killing monsters to level up. You were the one intoxicated by this world… So why are you blaming Empress Mary?"
Robert laughed loudly, then spat toward Mary.
"Monsters? I despise that word! She turned the adults, our own loved ones, into those so-called monsters so we could torture and eliminate them… I… I was once as foolish as all of you!"
The crowd froze at those earth-shattering words. Robert turned toward them.
"We level up here, but our bodies are lying in the real world on IV drips. This isn't some fairy tale where you dream, stretch your arms, and wake up easily! Don't you understand?"
Robert pointed straight at a young man.
"Rodney, your father was dragged into this place and hunted down. Because he was so terrified, his heart stopped, and he passed away while searching for you. Before he died, his emotion bubbles escaped from him and were absorbed by all of you through that monster-hunting game. Didn't you know?"
Rodney stood frozen, his mouth trembling.
"No… That's impossible. There's no way. You… you're lying! Lady Mary promised that no one would be hurt. This place is supposed to be beautiful, a place where we can keep growing stronger, have special skills and freely kill monsters…"
Rodney turned toward Mary.
"Isn't that right, Lady Mary? Please say something to correct this. This concerns my father's life. I beg you, please deny it if it isn't true…"
The crowd became somewhat unsettled, then regained their composure. Together, they shouted:
"Yes, great Lady Mary! Please tell this foolish traitor the truth and put our hearts at ease. We beg you!"
A terrifying silence fell.
Mary walked step by step toward the crowd, who were anxiously waiting for her answer.
The jingling of the bells around Mary's ankles rang out with each step taken by the beautiful, all-powerful empress.
Mary gave a faint smile.
"Yes. Everything Robert said is completely true. An empress like me will no longer lower herself to lie to you."
Then she rose into the air, her face calm as she looked down at the crowd.
"I will give you a choice: return to reality and continue dragging out your lives under the pressure of the real world, or stay here with me and build the beautiful world you have already witnessed."
Everyone's arms and legs went weak when they heard Mary's words. Some stammered because they could not believe it was true. They began recalling the things they had done to those lives, to those so-called monsters. Some began looking at their own swords with guilt. Some collapsed to their knees, covering their faces as they cried out for their parents. An atmosphere of mourning, helplessness, and self-blame filled the air. Then anger ignited and began spreading through the crowd.
The crowd glared at Mary with hatred.
"We will never forgive you, Mary!"
Mary froze. From high above, she looked down at the crowd as tears streamed down her face.
"You poor things. I gave you a path. I… am truly heartbroken…"
With that, she swung her hand. The divine greatsword in her hand absorbed lightning from the sky and struck down upon the crowd, leaving nearly half of the soldiers badly burned and blasted away by its overwhelming power.
She swung the greatsword again to wipe out the remaining half of the army.
Boom!
A deafening explosion rang out, splitting the dark clouds around them and revealing a patch of blue sky.
Long rode on Dreamy, holding a blue magical shield in his hand, and saving everyone in time. He gritted his teeth, his unwavering eyes fixed straight on Mary.
"You've gone too far, Mary!"