Hermit Island.
Hibiscus, who had meditated all night, opened her eyes to gaze at the sunrise over the sea.
At the same time, her Regalia hair ornament flashed with light, enhancing her spiritual perception to suddenly spread forty kilometers, then extend in a straight line to reach the South Pacific region, faintly sensing the reactions of massive fleets.
"...Not bad. First-stage Regalia with such high performance represents growth in all basic attributes. The stronger that forward point, the stronger early skills become."
Magical Girl Hyacinth stood up, the skirt portion of her Regalia flickering with flowing magic power that resonated with the surrounding environment.
Perfect condition.
Though she had meditated continuously for a week without sleep, food, or drink, thanks to magic power cycling through herself as a medium, she felt no effects—even quite comfortable due to increased physical strength. She swept away the fatigue from Congo battle, clearing the last residual Knowledge Poison from Ancient Holy Relics and contamination from Catastrophic Disaster Beast remains. Thanks to them, she had advanced further.
Of course, fairy inspiration was equally important, as Edwina and Julius's guidance for ordinary Magical Girls had also enlightened her.
Hibiscus came to the window and drew back the white curtains, immediately bursting into laughter.
The beach had awakened transformed into battlefield ruins style—one deep crater after another met her eyes, large enough to bury a blue whale. The bottoms had carbonized and crystallized, emitting hissing heat, raising the temperature several degrees, with residual magic power occasionally stirring up whirlwinds.
Salvation Church group training was always lively.
But this time, with experienced Guardian Knight fairies' guidance, it was super amplified—everyone found their own inspiration, experiencing varying degrees of progress and insights.
From aura traces, Jin Yulu, Tulip, and other battle-loving enthusiasts had joined midway.
One-on-one fairy guidance, Blooming Stage Magical Girls' training... various elements overlapping.
Her spiritual perception range detected several more Blooming Stage Magical Girl auras, with others just one step away—smoother than imagined. No wonder—the Salvation Church had gathered Management Bureau, Five-Leaf Clover, and Ranger elite forces. Masters abounded, with countless prodigies; their reserves were too strong.
"Excellent."
This gave more confidence for the upcoming second round Fallen Zone battle, as Hibiscus believed if the organization still deployed 5 Blooming Stage combat forces, it wouldn't intimidate the Holy City Association.
Don't blame them for harboring ill intentions—blame herself for not being strong enough to dispel such thoughts.
Relieved, she stretched while walking out of her room, arriving at the activity hall to bump into a hurried Nan Zhiyi.
"...You don't know how Command has been calling non-stop."
"What happened?"
"Miss Jasminum broke through first, then Elsa, Minase Kaori, and Anri Sakagami also succeeded. Now they're all genuine Blooming Stage. However, the magic storms they created weren't small—nearly mistaken for Disaster Beast attacks."
The black-haired girl showed a satellite cloud map with energy level sections glowing bright red, making one wonder if it had been hit by several nuclear bombs.
No wonder Command was nervous—this also symbolized the Salvation Church's significant enhancement.
She then reported others' breakthroughs.
Currently, several more had reached Growth Stage and Seedling Stage, with stable structure and no gap crisis. For an organization, this meant orderly succession with high quality—incredibly healthy and strong. Talent shortage? Rather, talent abundance. The Church had now absorbed too many gifted individuals—just slight guidance brought progress. This momentum was world-shaking, more effective than any deterrent.
Hibiscus pondered and asked: "I guess Bull might have some invitation?"
"Right. Says it's a pre-war mobilization meeting, hoping we'll go to the old place—New Zealand base for a meeting. Also, Holy City Association's assembled forces are there too."
"Either explode on the spot or maintain stability. Accept for me, but no rush—we still have our own business. Like, I want to train with our fairy guests. Is that alright, Miss Edwina?"
Before she finished speaking, Edwina's figure appeared with emerald magic power, equally spirited and eager to try.
"I couldn't ask for more."
"Sorry for being so sudden. I just have some ideas that need verification with you all, and I really want experience fighting fairies."
"I shall represent World Tree Realm's Emerald Court to verify this era's oldest and strongest Magical Girl's quality."
"Hooray!" Jin Ruochu, who loved excitement, pulled out glow sticks.
Everyone had vaguely guessed this battle would come, as critical fairies themselves said they'd likely encounter traitors and inevitably fight. Might as well get familiar in advance. After these days of training, Magical Girls already understood somewhat—now it was Hyacinth's turn.
"Fine."
After sighing and rubbing her forehead, Nan Zhiyi began preparations. Actually, she also wanted to see how the so-called Queen's Guard performed before Hyacinth—who was stronger?
Though one side was weakened by critical state and the other wouldn't use high-damage skills, she looked forward to how they'd dance with shackles.
Getting the news, Magical Girls were equally excited—too rare to see. Usually Senior Hyacinth rarely participated in direct training battles, often making moves only for high-end matches against the most formidable enemies—definitely the first trump card.
What would Senior Hyacinth show under normal conditions?
In their eyes, fairies were very strong, possessing strange and varied magical effects, endless and unpredictable, smaller scale but flexible. Moreover, that magic resonance was almost infinite—unstoppable and endless. Hard to imagine how ordinary Magical Girls could oppose them. Everyone couldn't figure out this answer, pinning hopes on the Church's strongest Hyacinth to provide conclusions.
Moments later, Lonely Island Cage enveloped the area from Hermit Island beach to vast sea regions.
Ready.
Edwina's expression gradually grew serious, abandoning contempt and clenching her fists. Before her, the girl had silver-white hair tied in a single ponytail—clean and efficient. Black military uniform appeared mysterious and dignified, magic power blooming from her skirt hem like wings surrounding her body, actually matching the Queen's Guard's pressure.
Far from over—next, phantom outlines appeared around Hyacinth, seeming ready to expand to towering heights anytime.
"Two elements without breakthrough?" Edwina smiled. "They're right—you're an unprecedented full-element Magical Girl, born a miracle!"
"Still need real practice."
"Be careful—fairy magic arts have diverse natures and extremely high priority. Watch out."
Before she finished speaking, she cupped her hands to her lips and blew a breath that rippled out pollen—truly like legendary pure magic creatures dancing with flowers. However, each dust particle carried terrifying energy.
Boom!
They rode the wind toward the silver-haired girl, completely exploding on contact, shaking the heavens.
The moment explosion dust made contact, Hibiscus activated protective Origin enhanced by Regalia, completely unharmed. At this level, pure physical explosions were meaningless.
So there must be other methods.
As the thought arose, both arms suddenly drooped, losing sensation—a paralysis magic art that bypassed magic effectiveness... no, it made her internal magic power guide toward paralysis nature. The pollen's essence was a medium trigger.
"Dodge." Next moment, Edwina appeared before her, magic condensing into a blade stabbing toward her throat.
Unexpectedly, Hibiscus suddenly nodded, using her forehead to strike the blade's side, shattering it with exquisite force and timing.
Crack!
Time Slash bathed both arms in blood and gore, but this temporal chaos neutralized the paralysis magic. All this violent treatment happened in 0.001 second pause—to Edwina, the next moment two bloody hands forcibly grabbed her.
Teleportation magic! At the critical moment, she escaped the grasp.
However, top experts don't give you space to dodge—relative flow rate absolute interference circle captured a ten-kilometer radius. A long-unused magic skill bloomed, shocking everyone with frozen expressions. Sky clouds locked, seawater moved extremely slowly, even ground dust no longer flowed smoothly. Everything slowed, even thoughts became halting.
"How's fairy defense?" Before she finished, the silver-haired girl's Origin-infused punch struck the target.
Direct hit.
Surging energy also drove the projection's attack—powerful shock waves raised ten-meter waves that could submerge a city.
When deceleration lifted, Edwina flew backward—actively opening distance.
Everyone looked over, fearing serious injury. They discovered phantom armor appeared on the Guard, motionless—such fierce attack only left cracks, blocked?
Whether Magical Girls or ordinary fairies were dumbfounded—to deliver such powerful punch? To withstand it? Both offense and defense were world-shaking.
Their single round of testing rivaled life-or-death battle.
Surface calm Edwina was shocked inside, as she'd never revealed fairies' signature method—applying interference to various magic natures, like nullification abilities. Her technique was far more sophisticated than that copycat Chariot. But Hyacinth actively reduced magic usage?
"...Increasing Origin output while suppressing magic flow—is this possible?"
"Since its essence is comprehensive physical manifestation, it leans toward life force—perfect for breaking your abilities."
"Splendid!"
Edwina clapped her palms together, creating spatial cracks that disrupted another about-to-deploy deceleration circle.
Next moment she flicked her finger—lightning-fast light beams directly grazed Hibiscus's heart.
One countermeasure, one quick kill move—flawless coordination. Even Blooming Stage Magical Girls without weaknesses had vulnerable recovery areas. Spending much effort responding to vital injuries would rapidly drain protective Origin.
The side first breaking defensive endurance would likely fail.
When Hibiscus tried to dodge the next light beam round, she discovered her body actively releasing energy, actually grafting the light beam mid-air for a ninety-degree turn that struck her heart.
Changes happened instantly—not just her, even watching fairies and Magical Girls were amazed.
But surprise wasn't over. The silver-haired girl's body shattered out a clone phantom while remaining unharmed—Time Slice clone had blocked the crucial strike, rebalancing defense.
Both sides gave each other no breathing room. After eye contact, they resumed offensive-defensive battle, sky filled with pressure storms.
Through brief combat, they understood their sparring partner was also an extraordinarily rare expert who wouldn't be easily severely injured. They simply let loose, going all out. Except for those decisive lethal moves, they used everything. Let fairies understand Magical Girls, let Magical Girls understand fairies—this was the goal. Freely blooming energy benefited both Edwina and Hyacinth.
Rumble!
Continuous thunderous sounds accompanied frequent flame clouds.
Lonely Island Cage increasingly couldn't hold up—precarious like a leaf in a tsunami, surface covered with crack after crack.
"If this continues, the relic won't hold up." Julius shook her head. "If you want it useful later, better open up—better to channel than block."
Nan Zhiyi readily accepted, then she and other Magical Girls and fairies jointly withdrew magic supply. Indeed, the confinement barrier quickly shattered. No wonder Hibiscus said Holy Relics generally capped at Blooming Stage—performance only went so far.
Almost the instant they stopped maintaining effects, Lonely Island Cage self-canceled.
Shock waves burst forth.
Like an unbridled wild horse galloping across the sea, unrestrained, neighing proudly. Those energy shock waves spread hundreds of kilometers—surrounding fleets and Disaster Beasts all sensed terrifying pressure.
Countless spy satellites focused here—sure enough, big news from Hermit Island's reported direction.
From space perspective, clearly a hurricane cloud mass mixed with colorful streams of light, occasionally producing slow deceleration phenomena.
Command made experienced judgments:
"Report, Salvation Church headquarters experienced this week's 4th exercise battle, estimated Hyacinth participated. Surrounding Disaster Beasts actively retreating, won't return short-term. Area fleets can lower alert levels..."
Officers unanimously had one thought—could it be because the Salvation Church constantly fought internal battles that they maintained progress, staying strong?
Too competitive.
Could clearly do nothing, stay quiet—after all, the Church hadn't been assigned tasks. Yet Magical Girls couldn't wait to fight, hot blood spilling endlessly. Even their leader personally participated to heat up the atmosphere—excessively martially spirited. Not fighting, then on the way to fight. Moreover, without destroying organization—when needing unity, they rivaled elite armies.
Logically, mature organizations should emphasize order suppressing struggle, but the Church always encouraged it, even covering damage from external missions.
Hermit Island was creating future Magical Girl society's environment.
This counted as an experiment.
Whether intentional or not, they were condensing their own collective identity, rapidly forming consensus through iron and fire communication. A violence machine too powerful to contain had formed under Hyacinth's own promotion of martial virtue.
But setting aside long-term considerations, as current allies they absolutely provided security.
The Magical Girl and fairy exercise battle was probably preparing for Dark Fairies—so they also knew intelligence? Again, military was last to know.