Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

Page 231

Su Shi's empty, doll-like eyes looked at Xiangzi.

Xiangzi's clear eyes were like a mirror, reflecting her current self: loose limbs like a puppet, unfathomable eyes, a gaping hole extending to her ears, a living monster.

A sharp, piercing scream echoed through the night sky, startling the birds that were perched among the branches.

"No, no! Look at me!"

She uttered broken words, as if she was afraid that Xiangzi would see her like this, and retreated into the darkness furtively.

Xiangzi frowned and took a step into the darkness.

"Don't come any closer—!" Su Shi's terrified voice came from the darkness. She hid in the shadows and seemed to take another step back.

Xiangzi stopped walking.

"Do you even recognize yourself, Nagasaki Motoyo?" She pointed the gun at Motoyo. "Do you still consider yourself human?"

"Of course I—@！（）*V)+Q_V8！！！！！" Su Shi emitted a series of sounds that seemed like corrupted audio data, and her blurry figure flickered a few times in the night, "）！IHFG_——！——！——！——！！

She clutched her face, dark red liquid streaming from the corners of her eyes, her body shimmering with indistinct snowflakes, looking like an electronic program that had encountered a serious bug.

"Little & *JV (& Xiang...

Su Shi stood there stunned for a moment, then laughed.

"Is it Xiao Xiang?!"

She tried to crawl out of the shadows where she was hiding and reached out her hands, which had turned into sharp scissors, towards Xiangzi.

boom!

She was met with a cold stare and a scorching bullet.

Su Shi was shot in the shoulder, and showed a pained expression. Dragging her completely inhuman body, she jumped onto the roof of the opposite platform and said a lot of incomprehensible things to Xiangzi. Most of her words were distorted by electronic noise and could not be heard. The broken voice was illogical, shrill, and unpleasant to hear.

"I know you blame me for not being able to save you back then, but can I have another chance to make amends? I will create a world where everyone can live happily ever after. Please give me another chance, okay? I will create a world where everyone can live happily ever after. Please give me another chance, okay? Xiao Xiang!!"

She supported herself on all fours, half-hanging from the ceiling, and shouted at Xiangzi.

She's a complete witch...

Xiangzi blinked his sore eyes, aimed at the hazy and ugly black shadow, and pressed his finger on the trigger slightly.

boom!

“aA ah Aa ah aaaaAAAA——!”

The shot seemed to hit Su Shi in the head; the part above her neck exploded like a shattered watermelon. Her headless body swayed a few steps on the roof before falling to the ground with a thud, convulsing on the railway tracks.

Ding dong.

An unmanned tram pulled into the station. Strangely, the unmanned tram should have stopped when it encountered an object on the track. Although Su Shi was lying right in the middle of the track, the tram continued at its original speed and pulled Su Shi's body under the tram.

puff-

Something seemed to have splashed up under the tram, and something had been crushed.

The car door opened, and the passengers inside were so frightened by Xiangzi holding a gun that they raised their hands and knelt on the ground.

"...Don't be afraid, it's a toy."

With a blank expression, Xiangzi poured out a few instantaneously reproduced foam bullets from the gun barrel and explained to the terrified passengers.

"We are rehearsing a play, sorry to disturb you."

Ding dong.

The doors closed, the tram pulled away from the platform, revealing the empty tracks.

There was no blood, no broken body, and no seeds of lamentation.

The absurd and terrifying atmosphere dissipated, and the atmosphere at the station returned to normal.

Xiangzi slumped his shoulders and stared blankly at the empty railway tracks.

Su Shi fled, and no one knows where she went.

He had initially thought it was Su Shi's witch form, but it seemed there was more to it than that. The escape route was too peculiar; Xiangzi hadn't sensed any change at all, and Su Shi had vanished without a trace.

Xiangzi took out the Soul Gem and felt the Seed of Sorrow within it tremble slightly.

That's a sign that it's reacting to the flower, meaning—

Nagasaki Motoyo is a flower witch just like herself.

The Lost Tale: The Lost Child - Chapter 277 Despair is Like Cracked Wood

Su Shi too, the Flower Witch? No wonder I couldn't even sense the witch's name.

Xiangzi's hand holding the Soul Gem felt a little weak.

Whether this news is good or bad is hard to say; it's proof that the Flower Witch still has some rationality...

"I helped purify Aine's soul gem."

Mu walked to Xiangzi's side and looked with her in the direction where Su Shi had disappeared.

"..."

Xiangzi did not respond to her, still staring in the direction where Su Shi had disappeared, his pupils dilated, his mind wandering.

"Xiang?"

"Ah, I heard that." Xiangzi came to his senses and nodded. "There shouldn't be any danger for the time being."

"That Su Shi..."

“...She’s already a witch.” Xiangzi sighed. “It’s so obvious.”

"Is that so?" Mu's eyes dimmed slightly, but she didn't say anything more.

"And she's not just any witch, she's a flower witch," Xiangzi added.

"Flower Witch, is she the same as Xiang?"

"Hmm." Xiangzi nodded and pinched the bridge of his nose.

This is a huge problem, not just a small one. Su Shi might still be in the incubation stage at the moment, but if she really waits until she successfully ascends to immortality, in a place like the Reed Plains... even if the problem isn't as serious as it was during Nirvana, it won't be a trivial matter.

During this time, there were no Protagonists guarding the Reed Plains, so they had to rely on themselves.

Well, although Mujica was just promoted to the Protagonists level, Xiangzi felt that it was unreal to have such an important matter decided all at once, and it seemed as if she herself had been given a little bit of credit.

Since she is a flower witch, it means that Su Shi has a "self," although it is unknown whether this self has become distorted due to despair.

Taking myself and Mio as examples, even if the Flower Witch has self-awareness, the witch as the original form still retains the instinct to destroy everything. If it weren't for Oblivionis's resistance, Shoko would now be like Mio, destroying the world as Nirvana.

Su Shi should be... no different.

However, there is still a chance.

As long as Su Shi is still in its incubation period, there is still a chance to turn things around.

Xiangzi clenched the Soul Gem in his hand.

"benefactor......"

Just as Xiangzi was racking his brains trying to figure out what to do, Ai Yin's voice floated lightly from behind him.

The voice was very faint, completely different from the Chihaya Aion that Xiangzi remembered.

"What... happened...?"

Xiangzi turned around and looked at Aiyin.

Ai Yin curled up into a small ball on the platform bench, trembling as she covered her mouth, her pupils opening and closing but unable to focus, her forehead covered in cold sweat.

How many times has this been the first time I've saved her?

Xiangzi didn't know the exact number. This could be considered a kind of fate, and she couldn't just leave it unattended. No matter how many times, she couldn't just ignore it.

She silently walked to Aine's side and sat down.

They had just told Deng after school not to tell anyone the truth, but only a few hours later, one of them witnessed someone she knew turn into a witch in front of her.

Things are unpredictable.

"What do you mean... she's already a witch..." Aine whispered.

She must have overheard the conversation between Xiangzi and He Mu.

The sunny, cheerful pink-haired girl is no longer there. Her eyes are as dim as a kerosene lamp about to go out. The way she huddled on the stool is like a cracked piece of wood with a hideous line running from top to bottom. It's as if if you find the right line, a slight twist, a gesture, or a word, you could shatter her completely.

Xiangzi hesitated for a moment.

“...It means exactly what it says,” she said. “The end of a magical girl is becoming a witch.”

"Su Shi, she..."

"She's already a witch," Xiangzi said.

In a word.

Could it be this sentence?

Xiangzi didn't know, but many magical girls broke down because of this sentence. She could deny it, but whether she admitted it or not, Aine had already accepted the truth deep down.

She saw it, saw Nagasaki Motoyo turn into a monster in front of her, which was infinitely more effective than hearing it.

Even if Xiangzi denies it, she probably won't believe him.

"vomit......"

Ai Yin covered her mouth, her face turning pale, and knelt on the ground. Stomach acid surged up, and she vomited up the snacks she hadn't fully digested after school.

"Ah..." She braced herself against the ground, trying to get up.

The images of all the witches I had ever seen flashed uncontrollably through my mind, finally settling on Su Shi's doll-like face, and a feeling of nausea surged up again.

"vomit--!"

Aine felt her stomach being torn apart bit by bit. What surged up was not stomach acid, but despair. She lay on the ground and continued to vomit. After vomiting, she was still dry heaving until she couldn't even vomit stomach acid anymore, as if there was something in her body that she couldn't get rid of.

The air was filled with the pungent smell of stomach acid.

Aine's pupils slowly dilated.

"If... magical girls all... would become like that..."

She remembered the wish she made on the plane.

She harbors a small dream, hoping that everyone will pay more attention to her and that she can become everyone's little hero... But what is the meaning of that dream?

"Then why...did I become a magical girl?"

Aiyin knelt on the ground, her back trembling slightly, and the spasms in her stomach made her face pale.

"Why...why is that...?"

She recalled how, in order to curry favor with Kyubey, she had actually considered making Akari a magical girl as well, after hearing Kyubey say that Akari possessed strong magical girl talent.

At the time, she thought that since the lantern was destined to become a magical girl, she would be safe as long as she stayed by her side.

She actually tried to turn the lamp into a monster like herself.

Ai Yin swayed as she propped herself up, then collapsed to her knees once more. She knelt beside a pool of vomit that reeked of stomach acid, hugging her shoulders. Her blurred vision made her look like a shattered mirror as she laughed absentmindedly.

“Su Shi, you’re right.” She smiled foolishly, black gas beginning to emanate from her body. “We’re all idiots, hopelessly idiots.”

—"Soul Gem".

Sudden.

Aine felt her collar being grabbed and pulled aside.

She looked up and saw Toyokawa Shoko's hand propped up next to her head, looking at her with a serious expression.

"Give me your Soul Gem."

Xiangzi repeated it again.

The Tale of the Lost: The Lost Child - Chapter 278: Partners of Justice

"Give me your Soul Gem."