Directly finding random people to experint with new skills? That's going too far, though of course Hibiscus knew the netizens were just making casual comnts. However, using Temporal Cross-Section on living beings would indeed have more intuitive effects. With this thought, she used telekinesis to remotely capture a shark that had been stranded due to the earlier seawater rampage.
Crack!
The Temporal Cross-Section struck its target directly, splitting the shark in half at the waist. The cross-section presented a gray-white mirror surface, just like the flowing scene of the Sands of Ti.
What was even more eerie was that it didn't die imdiately, struggling as if its limbs still existed and were reacting. Interesting—if the damage wasn't fatal enough, it should be possible to reattach it, so the new skill's output intensity was controllable.
Hibiscus observed carefully and found it indeed wasn't really a cut, then slashed again.
The two cross-sections passed through each other, dividing the shark's body into four pieces. The mont the effect ended, each piece imdiately collapsed and shattered. The damage was far greater than it appeared on the surface, and was more effective against large targets.
As the user, she imdiately realized the difference.
Ti Slash worked by "severing the temporal connection between that object and its main body," so it could be used to block the polluting influence of the Black Jar. Temporal Cross-Section worked by "destroying the temporal stability of the cut surface." Of course, the front part would briefly maintain connection for a while, which is why it presented the scene of two separated limbs still moving. By the sa logic, when the effect ended and the target's normal ti was destroyed, the damage that erupted was quite high. If used against buildings with simpler temporal operations, a casual slash could make them collapse.
Simple yet brutal.
Hibiscus concealed the results and posted them. As expected, she guessed correctly—everyone unanimously agreed it was consistent with the original work's performance.
【It has that flavor now, I can feel the oppressive aura of the Ti Priestess, arrogant enough and cold enough】
【Just from the stance you can tell this guy is ridiculously strong】
【I rember when Temporal Cross-Section swept across a military base, everyone started making big guesses. Most thought it was space-type ability, especially with the Magical Girl Rose as a precedent, but no one expected it to be Ti Magic, and also the first ti magic user to appear】
【The shock of having all 8 magic types complete was more explosive than the military base being blown up. I felt my whole body trembling with excitent, with a premonition that a good show was about to begin】
【When the Ti Priestess could use Temporal Cross-Section, she had almost reached the Blooming Stage. Now Hyacinth using it in the Growth Stage really shows talent—stronger than the sa period, with higher limits too】
【This is a Phantom God】
Hibiscus hadn't expected such high praise from everyone. It seed the new skill was indeed a watershed mont in the Sands of Ti upgrade path.
At least when encountering large, high-agility Disaster Beasts like Black Tide again, she wouldn't have to rely on charging up ultimate attacks—she could cause damage with magic alone. Though Origin Condensation would work the sa way, the more thods the better, aning broader adaptability and harder to counter.
Fighting Disaster Beasts actually doesn't involve much intellectual combat, since only high-tier ones possess intelligence comparable to humans. So it's more a test of hard power, and flashy moves are often useless.
Battles between Magical Girls involve information warfare and psychological warfare, while also competing in stats, chanics, and on-the-spot reactions—quite troubleso.
Fortunately, with the Church now dominating alone, there aren't as many internal conflicts within the sa group.
Hibiscus's training direction for everyone focused on fighting Disaster Beasts and Holy Relics, showing her hypothetical enemy settings. After all, there's no deep hatred among Magical Girls now, so unity against external threats is better. Once they establish more visible bases, the tech company earns more money, and the world situation becos relatively stable, they can consider the path of recruiting talent widely.
However, she still asked, "Could everyone let see that segnt you ntioned earlier? There should be so inspiration about magic."
【Hyacinth learning from the Ti Priestess】
【Wait a mont】
【I've always saved the video, that's a historically significant big scene in the hearts of countless Magic Girl of Light fans】
After a while, a short video appeared in the comnts:
The scene showed a military base and research facility, with several shots displaying imprisoned Magical Girls. Even during the period when the Managent Bureau had begun to be active, it couldn't stop the sches of nurous ambitious people—in dark corners, people still suffered persecution.
Not only that, the base stored large amounts of Disaster Beast materials to cultivate "test subjects" to a certain degree, which also beca a reason worthy of a trip by the Church Leader.
Crack!
Suddenly, a lightning stream surrounded the battlefield, circling rapidly around 6 square kiloters of land, stirring up electromagnetic storms, with thunder covering everything in the sky and blocking all signals. Hibiscus imdiately recognized the signs of Swift Thunder—at this ti, the Magical Girl Edelweiss, also known as Yeta, had already joined.
She cleverly cut off all communication ans while simultaneously leading part of the Church mbers to prepare ships.
All electronic equipnt was destroyed, sparking and emitting black smoke. They couldn't even sound alarms, so they simply sent out ard troops to the entrance.
As soon as they ca out, they encountered a Regalia appearance never before recorded: silver hair, black-red military uniform, walking brazenly forward with a cold expression and sinister eyes that didn't seem to regard them as living beings.
Crack crack crack—
Before the soldiers could react, their bodies were severed, leaving only scattered pieces on the ground.
Ti Slash covered a full 6 square kiloters, precisely targeting every soldier and defensive firepower, completely destroying permanent fortifications and disarming them thoroughly.
Seeing the situation turn bad, countless heavy doors in the military base thundered down and sealed themselves. The solid concrete, alloy doors, and magic crystal suppression were enough to restrict ordinary Magical Girls, since the cage was essentially a super fortress shell. They had anticipated that they would face attacks soday, so they had done their howork. Even if everyone who walked out the main door was wiped out, it didn't shake their morale—undoubtedly elite troops.
However, the Ti Priestess calmly walked to the door, stretched her hands to make an opening gesture, and silver fine sand appeared before her.
Temporal Cross-Section!
The next mont, a ravine extending a thousand ters spread out from her as the center, with annihilation force extending from the cut, completely dismantling the supposedly impregnable fortress as if it were made of paper.
The fortress that researchers had placed such high hopes in collapsed in an instant, scaring them out of their wits. At the sa ti, many imprisoned Magical Girls were already being guided to leave by Church mbers, and the situation was completely out of control.
The destruction didn't stop. The power unique to Temporal Cross-Section dismbered researchers piece by piece, their forms like three-dinsional artwork, yet they weren't dead.
The Ti Priestess ca to the chief researcher's side and picked up a severed head.
"Give all the data."
As soon as she finished speaking, she reattached the head to the neck, and the previous cut disappeared without a trace, making people break out in cold sweat.
These people didn't dare delay at all, bringing out all intelligence just to spare their lives. But this didn't change the Ti Priestess's cold gaze one bit. The silver-haired girl raised her hand once more.
The cara switched to an overhead view. The entire earth's crust where the military base was located churned and collapsed, actually sinking into the rock layer and being buried alive after several ti magic attacks.
The video ended there.
Hibiscus watched the ti magic details throughout. An expert knows quality when they see it—clearly the Ti Priestess's thods were sophisticated.
Especially the final move that caused the ground collapse should have been using Temporal Cross-Section on the ground beneath combined with Ti Slash to hollow out the rock layer, thereby causing a geological disaster that easily swallowed the military base with natural forces, leaving no trace behind. Future investigations would be extrely difficult.
Her thods were decisive and ruthless. Once she acted, she blocked all of the enemy's escape routes—thoughtful, strategic, and masterful. This surprise attack demonstrated a leader's comprehensive qualities.
A person of few words but ruthless action.
She imdiately used Swift Thunder to cut off all external contact, yet even so she didn't slack off, consistently cutting through chaos with swift action.
In the Ti Priestess's eyes, there was only progress itself. Those crushed along the way weren't worth her glance.
What seed like a rescue operation was actually an annihilation battle. She used the precise single-target Ti Slash to completely clear the periter, then used Temporal Cross-Section for assault and destruction. It demonstrated the new skill's expertise in high-intensity suppression and wide-area effects, accomplishing the objective in one smooth motion. Those so-called advanced weapons, powerful firepower, and tactics against Magical Girls had no ti to deploy—they might as well not have existed.
Magical Girl Hyacinth had always favored rapid suppression tactics. Whether righteous or evil, the thinking was the sa—when facing targets stockpiling large amounts of weapons and heavy firepower, one should strike with thunderous montum.
Besides this, the fledgling Salvation Church's performance at this stage was also comndable.
From the opening with Yeta's electromagnetic shock wave, she had at least reached the Seedling Stage, and the other mbers' orderly cooperation in receiving was also quick—they had probably experienced simulation drills. They were serious.
The brief demonstration greatly benefited Hibiscus.
She turned to look at the netizens' comnts, hoping to get so information from power-scaling fans and lore enthusiasts, but as expected, her hopes were dashed:
【It's the Great Leader single-handedly defeating the base, worth dying for】
【For those who haven't seen the original: this segnt's background is during the period when Holy Relics established a series of military governnts and began infiltrating the world. In the founding stage, the Managent Bureau was powerless to protect more Magical Girls, so many spontaneously ford associations erged for rescue or attacks. A scene of vigorous vitality, with the Salvation Church rapidly accumulating resources and successively absorbing Magical Girl core mbers like Edelweiss and Red Spider Lily】
【I only care about whether the Ti Priestess t Dandelion? Otherwise it feels like both are incomplete】
【Nan Zhiyi is still studying abroad in Europe now. Recognition will take so ti, but it shouldn't be far off, since the housekeeper miss's knowledge has thoroughly enabled the organization's rapid developnt】
【Too martially virtuous】
【Don't let the flashy fighting fool you—ordinary Magical Girls have no power to resist Holy Relic forces, since they carry too many debuffs. For individuals, being able to barely hide is already burning incense. No one can stay out of it】
【The video is indeed thrilling, but under the actual big picture, the Church can at most fight guerrilla warfare. World hegemony belongs to rcenary companies】
【I get it—Aurora Disaster Beast attacks collapsed national power, the Holy Relic civil war finally bred strong survivors through mutual destruction, local military governnt forces rose up, jointly serving rcenary giants then turning to capture Magical Girls... How can this crazy world not drive people mad? How can it not make want to kill to my heart's content?】
【Fight!】
【The ti point is after the decisive battle between rcenaries and military at the Central Arican relic excavation site. @Hyacinth, so be careful at this key juncture—don't make too big a scene】
【No, there are several battlefields, like the Relic Treasury also suffered attacks】
Hibiscus took note—this aspect certainly required attention.
From a certain angle, precisely because the military and rcenaries had fewer losses in the catastrophe war than in the original work, they retained more strength to target each other, making conflict intensity easily escalate too much. Of course, her position was simply not to get involved.
Currently, Pasha's Winter Company was busy connecting with the Managent Bureau while launching lawsuits regarding the infection incident—the gunpowder atmosphere was still controllable.
If it dragged on longer, soone would definitely want to drag Magical Girls into it, so it was ti to retreat while ahead.
Ti to slip away.
The Salvation Church's urgent priority was to digest the large batch of new Magical Girls, which required large amounts of Disaster Beast materials. Continuing to hover around the heavily guarded Pacific Fallen Zone would easily attract attention. So the Arctic remnants of catastrophe-affiliated Disaster Beasts and small fallen zones ntioned before beca perfect targets—they could withstand the disturbance while providing resources. Why not?
Hibiscus didn't plan to cause trouble before this batch of Magical Girls ford stable combat power, nor did she need to be active herself. After all, to forge good iron, one must be strong oneself—better to practice well first.
Moreover, Minase Kaori, Anri Sakagami, and Yeta needed to improve their strength too. There had to be reliable mid-level personnel.
She shared the plan with the various optical experts in the think tank.
【Correct. Right now the Church's deterrent power far exceeds its combat power. Really competing with Holy Relics strengthened by magic enrichnt would easily fall short, since those guys are rather sinister—they're all people who crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, not sothing little newbies can handle】
【The organization has soone like Hyacinth at Growth Stage, but most are only first awakening—too big a disparity】
【Weak ans practice more. My suggestion is to dive headfirst into the Arctic and let everyone familiarize themselves with magic power before worrying about running wild. Official Holy Relics should be busy accumulating strength right now】
【In the original work, the Managent Bureau had a small chapter about training at Arctic headquarters, which coincidentally was also Director Chrysanthemum's first official order upon taking office. It can be said to have laid the foundation for the subsequent developnt of the official first Magical Girl Organization. Otherwise, even if Imperial Flower took over, there wouldn't have been much to accomplish】
【Won't the Arctic be too remote?】
【That would have been a concern before, but you have the Thousand-Li Viewing Mirror—what's to fear? Let's go, ti to travel】
【After the catastrophe war, from the Arctic Ocean to the Pacific, a voyage across half the globe. Now returning again, this ti for a new beginning】
【Enough sentintality. I want to see Manjusaka, Imperial Flower, and Dandelion break through soon too】
【@Hyacinth, according to the tiline, official Holy Relics should be massively collecting holy dicine, magic crystals and other logistics materials. After all, before troops move, provisions must go first. They might invite Magical Girls along the way—you must refuse and reduce your presence】
Hibiscus replied: "Thanks for the reminder, I'll be careful."
She figured that neither side had made overtures to the Managent Bureau purely because each was busy with their own affairs, so the current period was a once-in-a-millennium window—best to hurry to the Arctic.
Beep!
Coincidentally, the system also gave feedback: [Hint: Adopted suggestion "Ta Special Disaster Beast Ice Flower" Reward: 150 Free Attribute Points, Small Magic Advancent Stone Fragnt ×4] Quite generous, so the difficulty definitely wasn't low.
Hibiscus glanced one last ti at the surging sea tide, then left the beach with a trail of footprints. She was heading to the headquarters building on Hermit Island.
It was ti to announce the next journey—after traveling thousands of miles, returning once again to the land where the Church would leave its immortal achievents.
❀⋆｡°✿☆❀✿°｡⋆❀
xico, Teotihuacan Ruins.
Countless helicopters hung in the sky, transporting huge special containnt boxes for relics. The blazing sun couldn't stop the many soldiers from sweating profusely as they concentrated on transporting all items possibly related to relics, especially guarding against Knowledge Poison contamination—otherwise ordinary people would face near-certain death.
This Aztec civilization site was actually built on even more ancient pre-epoch ruins, but buried 200 ters underground, making excavation extrely difficult and requiring caution.
From the helicopter's perspective, the entire excavation site's pit looked like an abyss, with daylight unable to illuminate it at all.
Working around it were countless "miners" that were actually corpses—undead under the scorching sun creating an even more sinister atmosphere. This psychological safety zone violation made pilots fearful.
Though they knew the working environnt here beforehand, it was too shocking.
The co-pilot muttered, "Too eerie..."
The pilot said, "You should be more grateful that General Dorothy's legion of the dead relic provides cannon fodder for cave exploration, otherwise who knows how many people would die in excavation."
"Maybe I shouldn't ask, but I can't help being curious—where did we get thousands of corpse puppets?"
"Simple. This place doesn't lack all kinds of dead people—starved, diseased, gang warfare, and those trying to immigrate. Can't use them all. Anyway, they're the margins of society's margins. They couldn't create any value alive, so using their corpses as tools for us after death isn't quite efficient? Put away those worldly notions. The front lines of Disaster Beast combat can't tolerate your hesitation."
"If we twist our own hearts to fight monsters, what does that make us?"
"......"
The helicopter cockpit fell silent. The two simply stopped chatting and concentrated on lifting away huge containnt boxes, trying to avoid any direct contact.
Just then, roaring ca from above the excavation site. Two fighter jets escorting a military transport plane arrived at the special runway around the excavation site, with Pacific Theater markings painted on it—clearly so big shot was visiting.
Sure enough, a group of officers imdiately ca out from the office building to welco them, looking quite formal.
Everyone knew the Central Arican excavation site was remote with few unearthed relics and generally ignored. Its main function was mining magic crystals—a high-concentration magic power substance similar to Disaster Beast materials that could stimulate fusion warrior power or amplify relics, and could also be used for defense. Ever since the Church beca active, every big shot wished they could line their rooms with crystals, though that was actually useless.
Real experts knew it should be used to supplent Disaster Beast materials—hoarding it was aningless, and as magic power beca denser, similar crystalline substances would increase.
"Really busy enough to co all the way from the Eastern Hemisphere."
"Holy Relics haven't been acting too dispersed lately. In terms of high-end combat power, it should be military contraction, since many people are very wary of the Church and also fear assassinations like the one targeting Senator Miller happening to themselves. Bla those rcenaries for going too far."
"I guess General Josh might be coming. She's very knowledgeable about relics, probably related to the 'teor shower' unearthed recently."
"Who knows, as long as there's no Knowledge Poison leak."
At the landing pad.
General Josh, stepping off the plane and removing her military cap, let the breeze blow through her shoulder-length black hair—finally a bit cooler than expected. Still hot though.
Dorothy, running over enthusiastically from the opposite side, waved and handed over an iced cola. "How is it? Getting used to it?"
"Too hot, probably 45 degrees? Even for Central Arica that's uncommon... I guess you activated [Scorched Earth] since while it causes fires, it's perfect for defense."
The relic Josh ntioned was actually a boiling boulder that would generate a fla elental force field centered on itself, capable of creating forbidden zones without needing a qualified user.
If fully activated in an ergency, it would be even more terrifying.
"I hate the heat too, but General Croft said we must ensure every excavation site has the capability to resist surprise attacks."
"Better safe than sorry. Making more preparations is never wrong."
"This Central Arican place has lots of mosquitoes and lacks developnt. The rainforest is full of bugs, poisonous snakes and all sorts of things—whoever attacks is in for bad luck." Dorothy shrugged and complained, since she'd rather continue stationed at theater headquarters than be responsible for excavation sites.
Always felt like a miner, and having to deal with human corpses—better to fight Disaster Beasts and let them die more to produce more legions.
Originally she could just go through the motions, but then they excavated a suspected top-secret level relic, a terrifying existence that could change the course of civilization.
"That might not be true in the future, since you just dug up a treasure." Josh said seriously: "Though according to your report its performance is unstable, these eyes of mine can read magic power flow and should yield more information."
"Then let's go."
Dorothy led her old partner all the way to the deepest part of the office building's basent.
No officers followed them throughout, because this was a top secret among top secrets—rather than carefully guarding it, it was better to have only one person know of its existence.
The Antarctic Relic Treasury's approach was massive concentration, even daring to use them to cancel each other's Knowledge Poison—the safest yet most dangerous storage point. So the more one understood its principles, the less one dared attack it, as it could easily cause great disaster with no one gaining advantage in the end. Other storage points were relatively modest—rather than heavy guard, they trusted in the power of Holy Relics.
At the end of the dimly lit corridor was a glass room with a stone compass placed on a high platform.
The mont Josh saw it clearly, she felt her head buzzing and instinctively touched her nose—sure enough, her palm ca away with fresh blood, and her body swayed.
Dorothy beside her quickly supported her and reminded: "Be careful. If you see too much, the Knowledge Poison becos more severe. Don't investigate too deeply—it's just a little compass that can summon teor showers, right?"
"teor shower? That's a disaster."
They were referring to the teor shower from a few days ago that crossed from the Western to Eastern Hemisphere, finally falling into the Pacific and causing a small tsunami. Its speed and power surpassed intercontinental ballistic missiles without nuclear warheads. Even so, it was enough to serve as a super weapon—one attempt had already been so shocking.
"I had a corpse puppet adjust the compass pointer's impact point, then that activation turned completely to ash, so the rule might be equivalent exchange."
Dorothy still felt lingering fear—if she had tried it herself, she would likely have t a bad end.
"It's essentially similar to the Ring of Levitation in causing gravitational phenona, very powerful, consuming lots of magic power, definitely weapon-grade."
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