The commotion from the world barrier shattering phenomenon was far greater than expected.
The Salvation Church group hurriedly flew over to maintain strict vigilance. Having just experienced a major battle without catching their breath, they immediately began providing cover. Wave after wave of electromagnetically enhanced perception spread out from Tulip, ensuring no interference...
Be careful of the second round.
Hibiscus defended the center. If enemies dared to launch a return attack, Sands of Time would serve as an undo button.
Similarly, Save Points user Ruan Xinyue also prepared her magic as the Salvation Church's final insurance, capable of turning the tide in desperate situations.
As for Jin Ruochu, she could finally happily distribute cockroach cans, her beaming expression showing she'd wanted to do this for a long time. When everyone was exhausted and might face enemy attack, having damage transfer insurance was best.
"That King guy didn't go far at all." Suddenly Tulip reported.
Before she finished speaking, Nan Zhiyi had already formed hand seals, preparing to instantly open full-power domain. Beside her, Jin Yulu transformed back into World Serpent, coiling in all directions ready to take hits anytime.
"You still haven't left?"
A weak transmission answered Hibiscus's question: "Please rest assured, I have absolutely no ill intent. I just want to witness—otherwise you wouldn't have discovered me."
Though this puppet had no magic reaction and was quite weak, the fact that it carried a blood-red spear couldn't be changed. No matter what statements he made, as long as that most toxic relic existed, the Magical Girls wouldn't relax their vigilance. Who knew what his purpose was in diverting part of their attention?
For a moment, Hibiscus was also in a dilemma—should she attack to drive him away? The opponent's counterattack would definitely affect the transmission.
One had to admit experience came with age. Launching a return attack but not completely, specifically watching them without showing off force, yet that武力's presence was unshakeable.
"...Your Majesty seems certain I'll take action?"
The silver-haired girl crossed her arms and snorted coldly. Though she didn't answer, the continuously rising pressure was answer enough.
"Recently the Holy Spear had energy fluctuations—it seems it was subjected to powerful observation. I see."
Even the King's tone carried a trace of amazement. After all, observing the most toxic relic through methods that easily absorbed Knowledge Poison was crazy enough—a complete disregard for life. Yet Hyacinth had managed it, definitely obtaining some intelligence about him. Indeed, the strongest Magical Girl was no easy opponent—very troublesome.
Buzz!
Just as both sides faced off, the world barrier passage flashed with brilliance, wave after wave of shock waves sweeping through, massive energy suppressing all directions.
Leading was a woman with dragonfly wings the size of two palms, shrouded in armor-like phantoms, golden hair dancing, making the ruby pendants on her pointed ears jingle. It was Julius taking the lead, staring directly at the distant Holy Spear puppet.
"Your Majesty should leave. There's no opportunity here."
She wasn't just talking. She straightforwardly unleashed pressure that combined with Hyacinth's, rolling forth. If he dared act rashly, even the strongest Holy Relic would meet his end here.
A moment later, the puppet removed his gentleman's hat, bowed, then strode away.
No need to continue entangling. Previously claiming to let things slide while secretly observing had already been losing face. Unwilling to create more embarrassing situations, might as well part ways here—given a way out, he'd take it.
After confirming all Holy City Association people had completely disappeared, the Magical Girls finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Welcome."
Following Hibiscus's sincere words, the passage gap frequently flashed with light—fairies arriving in the human world one after another.
They looked around with curiosity, confused and bewildered like children, especially interested in the Magical Girls' energy auras, chatting with them.
No need to worry about compatibility issues. One side was naturally magical creatures, the other magically affinity creatures—they easily produced complementary energy circulation. Natural aligned interests meant at least no need for hostility. Seeing this, Hibiscus completely understood what netizens meant by so-called natural allies. Actually, magic and magical arts were two interpretations of the transcendent. With energy affinity, it was hard not to become friends.
Suddenly the fairies flew into a line and solemnly said in unison: "Thank you very much."
They then promised close cooperation with the Salvation Church. Such serious behavior even left the Magical Girls at a loss—they hadn't expected such rapid progress. They'd thought there would be some back-and-forth, but the World Tree Realm favored directness.
As spokesperson, Hibiscus naturally had to respond: "Actually, you helped us a lot before too. It's reciprocal."
Julius looked around at the devastation everywhere.
"...I imagine you all experienced bitter fighting to successfully provide cover. Thank you for your hard work. Though the malice of the human world exceeded our expectations, the Church proved that things are often complex. Since that's the case, we're willing to settle down and understand properly."
As she spoke, she descended, standing in Hibiscus's cupped palms, then curtsied.
"Please guide us, Hyacinth. From now on, fairies can provide Magical Girls with Restoration Technique, Disaster Beast tracking, material extraction, and other work—guaranteed fast."
"I'm very honored."
While talking, suddenly they saw a large group of fairies circling around Jin Ruochu, who scratched her head with a foolish smile, unclear what was happening herself.
Instead, the fairies occasionally complained: "Knight is actually openly monopolizing the Blessed One," "This affinity user belongs to Edwina," "Your organization really has many talents," "You actually have so many Blooming Stage"—clearly the World Tree Realm had underestimated Magical Girls' growth speed.
Both sides were quite compatible, each side's first impressions were good.
"Speaking of which, what is a Blessed One?" Hibiscus pointed to herself.
"Among Magical Girls, very rarely there appear those who can mobilize World Tree energy—extremely rare, even capable of using magical arts... Unfortunately, specific records are too distant, we're not clear either. Different from affinity users who can produce more energy for fairies, you have affinity with the World Tree. It seems our previous confusion was because we were too far away. Indeed, Miss Hyacinth is a gold mine worth developing."
The praised subject smiled without continuing the topic. Knowing the basic background was enough—the rest could be discussed slowly later.
Clap!
She clapped her hands to get everyone's attention, then announced loudly: "Things have come to an end. Let's return now, quickly leaving this place of trouble to go to Hermit Island."
Hearing this, Magical Girls and fairies alike agreed. No one wanted to hold meetings on nuclear radiation-filled wasteland. Besides, this place would soon become lively with intelligence agents from all sides gathering—everyone didn't want to be monitored while making friends.
The group flew from above Congo forest toward the Madagascar waters where Hermit Island was located.
Such high-profile actions naturally couldn't escape satellite monitoring. At this moment, the whole world understood that the grand transcendent confrontation in central Africa had concluded.
Time to clean up.
Far away in Washington D.C., Elsa immediately understood what to do after receiving news from the African front:
The Management Bureau and subordinate institutions loudly promoted the terrifying consequences of this Catastrophic Disaster Beast weaponization, highlighting the destructive strikes caused by the Holy City Association. As for the Magical Girls' contributions, they didn't even need mentioning—justice was in people's hearts. Look what you've done?
If before everyone maintained wait-and-see attitudes, not daring excessive promotion because that place was full of Ancient Holy Relics' dirt, casual provocation might invite retaliation.
Now with the Management Bureau charging ahead, it didn't matter.
The front lines had already fought bloody battles—did they still care about mere public opinion? Therefore major media began focusing reports.
"Latest News: Central Congo forest has become a high-radiation no-man's land. Nuclear physics experts warn surrounding areas should be careful of radiation dust spread, requiring a series of anti-pollution measures..."
"Confirmed 3 Ancient Holy Relics have fallen. Due to high relic fusion, resurrection is impossible. The Association has issued obituaries."
"Allied forces announce cancellation of South African Special Theater and full takeover."
"A high-ranking official who wished to remain unnamed stated: This time the biggest disagreement between Holy City Association and Salvation Church was attitude toward fairies—the former inclined toward capture, the latter chose cooperation. Both sides made tactical deployments and fought at the space transmission point. During this, a Catastrophic Disaster Beast remains rampage occurred, fortunately handled by the Magical Girls."
"Salvation Church states no casualties this time, having established cooperative relations with fairies."
...Just report truthfully.
Elsa only needed to straightforwardly release news—didn't even need to use Love and Hate causality magic to manipulate public opinion. After victory, resources naturally gravitated toward you.
No need to put in more effort, because the battle record was already brilliant enough.
Magical Girls once again proved with fists they weren't inferior to any top force—an indispensable part of maintaining peace.
She hadn't been too optimistic about headquarters—after all, they hadn't deployed full strength. Even she stayed at the branch. Could mobile forces alone work? Then the elite squad proved with actions that worry was unnecessary—quality over quantity.
Why question ace troops' strength? They occupied 90% of the entire Church's combat power.
Even Elsa, who'd fought alongside them multiple times, couldn't fathom her organization's full strength. Clearly every enemy was so strong, yet Magical Girl Hyacinth stood at the peak, leading by a head. This time facing the first transcendent organization that had ruled for years, she didn't fall behind.
Creak!
Suddenly the office door opened. Anri Sakagami hurriedly handed over a pile of files. Seeing her extremely busy, Miyuki poured a latte coffee.
"Everywhere there are social calls, saying things about cooperating with the Church." She shrugged. "Just the few of us can't handle it anymore. Urge the seniors to quickly return to work."
"Happy troubles." Elsa was pleased to see this. "The Church represents the new era's choice."
"They're as frantic as if afraid of being left behind."
"Noah's Ark selling tickets—how can they not be enthusiastic? Those who observe market conditions daily are most sensitive, already voting with money."
"I don't quite understand..."
"How many benefits does victory have? You can't imagine before victory. The world is realistic—as long as you're excellent enough, even without seeking dominance, people hope you advance further so they can share some benefits from the ecological niche you vacate. Look, besides the Salvation Church, who else represents the new world? People's eyes are bright—just the garbage the Holy City Association did is enough for an opposition vote."
Generally, Magical Girl Chrysanthemum rarely expressed clear disgust. This time she was truly angry—bringing out Catastrophic Disaster Beasts as weapons, throwing nuclear bombs was simply inhuman.
Anri Sakagami similarly nodded from the heart, quite disappointed in the Ancient Holy Relics.
She'd already suffered persecution from mercenaries and military. Now knowing the Association backing them was taught a lesson vented her anger—physically and mentally refreshing.
The African battle wasn't enough to hurt their bones, but one thing must be noted: mobile forces that could act anytime among Ancient Holy Relics were reduced by half. Because theoretically, Ghost, Chariot, Death God, and Pharmacist had all exited—piercing through old, middle, and young generation reserves.
Not small losses.
With its foundation, it was still far from annihilation, not yet at the level of decisive turning point battles, but hegemony was shaky.
Losing the force to show off and intimidate everywhere was key.
As one of the Salvation Church's first new members, Anri Sakagami well understood her organization's system—most liked staking all elite forces for local small advantages to win battles, the secret of fighting big with small, repeatedly successful so far.
Moreover, the seniors could fight uphill battles. The South Pacific Fallen Zone was proof enough—everyone was a battle-tested pack of wolves, strong only when united.
Magical Girl Rose said quietly: "Fight with one punch to avoid a hundred. I got news that many actions against Five-Color Narcissus Company have stopped themselves."
"Good news. This is also one of victory's dividends. If we'd failed, intelligence investigation, judicial summons... I can think of a hundred ways to mess with people. Now it's zero." Elsa said coldly.
The two smiled at each other in relief.
Their work still wasn't finished—next the Management Bureau had to handle cleanup properly.
Just like the pile of reports Anri Sakagami brought, filled with cooperation intentions related to the Management Bureau.
The Salvation Church used multiple martial demonstrations to answer who represented current world security.
Clearly Magical Girls were more stable—at least their accumulated reputation so far was genuine. While punching in all directions, they maintained good relationships with everyone, skillful in social maneuvering.
In the African battle, Catastrophic Disaster Beasts and nuclear weapons appeared in turn, revealing a truth to everyone: current bottom line was indeed very low. The era was at the transition between old and new. The Salvation Church, already monopolizing force in one area, also monopolized cooperation with fairies—how could people not be anxious? Don't hope to catch the train anymore—choice opportunities were fleeting. But starting now was better than later. So their choice wasn't surprising.
While boredly handling documents, Elsa yawned: "Compared to us, the Command staff are actually the most troubled."
"Why?"
From Anri Sakagami's perspective, allied forces weren't losers or winners—staying out throughout. How did they suddenly become the ones in trouble?
"Don't they have any responsibility? Even if they clean themselves completely, I'll still make trouble for them." Elsa said disdainfully. "Command belongs to various forces' arena—any movement gets amplified. Now internally they'll definitely welcome a round of purges."
"...Do we need to interfere?"
"Doesn't matter. Wait for them to fight out a result. The Church maintaining military strength is enough."
After brief exchange, they continued their work, too lazy to care about scheming, not knowing the world had nearly turned upside down.