Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

Page 217

Above was a cloudless night sky, and below lay the Pacific Ocean, which seemed as peaceful as its name suggests. All around, from the horizon to the horizon, was an unobstructed view.

Cascade—Mio is gone.

Did she escape?

No, she couldn't have escaped; she must be lurking underwater, waiting for her chance.

Chu Hua broke out in a cold sweat and paced aimlessly on the sea, wary of any possible attack.

Sure enough, less than two seconds later, something changed on the surface of the sea.

A massive vortex was formed in an instant, and Mio emerged from it, carrying seawater that seemed to surge like sharp blades, charging wildly towards Chu Hua, like a moving city.

Temporary ocean currents

Chu Hua, controlling an unfamiliar body, stumbled to the side, hiding in a blind spot before Mio smashed her into pieces.

The rumbling sound sounded to Chu Hua like a train that didn't slow down as it sped past the platform and disappeared into the water once again.

Reapplying the old technique?

Chu Hua stared at the water with lingering fear, her dozen or so eyes on the side of her head scattering in all directions, wary of any whirlpool that might appear at any moment.

The seemingly ferocious plunging eyes actually proved to be of great help at this moment. With their gazes scattered, Chu Hua caught the sea the next moment when it distorted.

"Roar--!"

Hailong charged toward Chuhua with unstoppable momentum.

However, Chu Hua was already prepared. Instead of avoiding the oncoming "ocean current," she leaped up and tried to grab Mio's head.

brush--

The two monsters brushed past each other once again, but this time it was Chu Hua who benefited. The claws, enveloped in wind blades, left a small wound on Mio's face.

The wound was small and healed quickly.

but--

Mio noticed that the souls that had escaped from the wounds were taken away by Chu Hua's claws. They joyfully merged into Chu Hua's body, as if singing a song of liberation from suffering.

Chu Hua landed not far away, raised her paw, and beckoned towards Mio.

Was that a provocation?!

"Ah ah ah ah ah----!"

Mio frantically circled twice on the sea surface, creating bubbles more than ten meters in diameter. In the blink of an eye, the bubbles filled the sky, forming a dense barrage that flew towards Chu Hua.

High-pressure water immersion

It's not as simple as just popping a bubble and spewing out a bunch of water. Although the description is similar, each bubble actually accumulates pressure equivalent to the deepest part of an underwater canyon. At the moment of bursting, the water droplets scatter and burst like needles.

Boom——!

Rumble rumble rumble rumble—!

Bubbles exploded around Chu Hua, the splashing water droplets leaving deep marks on her keratinous armor.

"Tsk."

Chu Hua used the back of her hand to shield herself from the splashing water droplets. She looked up and saw nothing but high-pressure water bubbles rushing towards her.

Getting hit by one or two is fine, but if you get hit by them all, then you're doomed.

So she flapped her wings and began to glide on the water's surface, the sudden increase in speed causing all the bubbles that had been locked onto her to burst.

However, the sky full of bubbles was just a smokescreen by Mio.

Once again, when Chu Hua wasn't paying attention, her true form submerged underwater, transforming into a shadow that slowly grew larger beneath Chu Hua's feet.

"what?!"

By the time Chu Hua realized what was happening, it was too late for her to avoid it.

Mio emerged from the water, her body resembling fins, tentacles, or wings, hooking onto Hatsuka and carrying her into the sky.

Chu Hua suddenly lost her balance, was lifted into the sky by the tentacles, and then flung away, being hit directly by more than a dozen high-pressure water bubbles. Explosions rang out all over her body, and Chu Hua could only curl up her wings and huddle up to avoid the damage as much as possible.

Then, in mid-air, Chu Hua saw a light out of the corner of her eye.

Mio looked down at her, opening her gaping maw, the surrounding seawater condensing inside and emitting a deep blue light.

【Roaring Tide】

"Roar!"

As if roaring, the seawater was compressed into a high-pressure water column and sprayed towards the budding flower that was in free fall in the air.

This attack was originally a sure thing.

To everyone's surprise, at the moment the water jet shot out, Chu Hua actually spread her wings and regained her balance.

Whoosh-!

A jet of water radiating blue light grazed the beast's shoulder and flew into the sky.

Mio immediately stopped spraying water, summoning seawater to condense into a transparent barrier around her.

A massive amount of magic power was ejected backward with the flapping of its wings, and the burst of flames instantly formed several faint Mach rings. With the help of gravitational potential energy and magic that manipulated airflow, the sixty-meter-tall behemoth broke the sound barrier in the blink of an eye, surrounded by cone-shaped sound barrier clouds, and charged downward with an unstoppable momentum.

"Go to hell!" Mio roared.

"I'm not afraid of you!" Chu Hua shouted back.

The two enormous creatures collided head-on on the sea surface.

The world fell silent for a moment.

A magnificent mushroom cloud rose from the sea, and only then did the sound arrive, albeit belatedly.

Boom!

[Another breaking news report! According to the meteorological observatory, an underwater volcano erupted in the southern offshore area of ​​the Ryukyu Islands, 120 kilometers from the site of the last earthquake. The eruption is expected to send volcanic ash up to 2000 meters high and could potentially trigger a tsunami.]

A gap appeared in the middle of the ocean.

Chu Hua fell out of the volcanic ash and landed on the seabed exposed by the gap.

Surprisingly, the seawater swept up by the explosion did not flow back. Instead, it was blocked by the transparent airflow and guided by the airflow to form a vortex that surrounded the exposed seabed.

"Ahem—!"

Chu Hua knelt on the ground.

The witch's body was covered in cracks, with many parts even damaged and missing. One of her eyes on one side of her head was also half closed, and pale golden magic power was emanating from the cracks in her body.

Mio's body flew out of the sea unharmed, hovering in the sky, looking down arrogantly at the witch on the ground.

"Ahem—!"

Inside the barrier, Chu Hua covered her mouth and knelt on the ground coughing.

The impact just now barely shattered the barrier erected by Mio, without even harming her physical body. However, her newly transformed witch body was already teetering on the brink of collapse.

"Chuhua...you've suffered so much..." Lin hugged Chuhua, stroking her back repeatedly. "These are the sins I left behind, and now you have to bear them..."

In Lin's heart, she always believed that it was because she hadn't taken care of Mio that this outcome had occurred.

If only I had been more careful when Hatsuka left the island and Mio stopped coming to stay overnight... But there are no "what ifs" in this world. All the tragedies have already happened, and it's too late to say anything now.

“No, Mom.” Chu Hua wiped her mouth and slowly got up. “Mio became like this because of me, so… now the only person who can let her rest in peace is me.”

“But we don’t have enough strength.” Lin frowned.

"Even if it's not enough, I'll still give it a try. I'm already a witch; there's no point in keeping this life."

“Really?” Lin looked at her. “Do you really think so?”

"Yes." Chu Hua nodded seriously.

"Then... let me give you one last gift."

As she finished speaking, Lin's body gradually became transparent, and the Sorrow Seed of the Witch "Flow" slowly flew out of her body.

"Mom?! What are you doing?!"

"Shh..."

Lin covered Chu Hua's lips with her finger.

"This is all my magic. Unleash it and you will bring out the full potential of 'perseverance.' This is my last strength. Make good use of it."

"But--"

"Being able to fight alongside my daughter is the most beautiful moment of my life," Lin said with a light smile. "Every minute and every second I spend with you is the happiest time of my life."

Her figure grew fainter and fainter.

Goodbye, my little spark.

The seed of sorrow drifted into Chu Hua's palm, and Lin's figure completely disappeared into the barrier, leaving only a faint sentence.

"We will meet again at the end, so don't be sad."

......

Outside the barrier, Chu Hua, controlling the witch's body, stood up unsteadily, raised her head, and looked at the Great Wall circling in the sky.

"You think you can stand up to me?"

Mio narrowed her four eyes and looked at Hatsuka with disdain.

"Isn't that a bit too far-fetched?"

"Perhaps." Chu Hua coughed twice. "With my own strength, I really can't compare to you, but what if we add them?"

"Them?" Mio was taken aback for a moment.

But she soon found out who "they" Chu Hua was referring to.

Specks of light shone from Mio's tentacles.

——"Sea Witch-sama!"

A faint voice came from Mio.

She shifted her gaze and noticed that the tentacles at the tips of her own tentacles were gradually falling off. The eight tentacles were the extremities of Mio's body, the places where she had the weakest control over her soul.

She remembered the guy who spoke to her.

His name was something like... Aden, he was a pirate.

"My brothers and I are free!" Aden tore off the connection between himself and the tentacles, stood on the tentacles and shouted at Mio's head, "We used to worship you as a god, and regarded the life you gave us as a second life, but you treated us as tools—no, perhaps not even tools, we were just a hair of yours! An insignificant twig."

He had no idea what was happening before the sea witch reclaimed his consciousness and made him part of her body.

The obsession of pirates and the birth festival are all nonsense.

They worshipped Mio as a god, but Mio never even glanced at them.

"So?" Mio looked at them and said in a low voice, "You're going to defy me, just like that woman?"

The majestic voice echoed between the seabed, and the pressure it generated almost made Aden kneel on the ground.

“No, no, no, this is not disobedience, Sea Witch.” Aden took off his hat and bowed to her. “Persistence is the source of a pirate’s power, but being able to assess the situation is the way a pirate survives.”

He tossed his hat at Mio and jumped down from the tip of the tentacle.

"We're off to seek refuge with our new witch! Goodbye!"

As he fell, the seafood-like features on his body gradually disappeared, turning into a translucent golden light. Many other souls, just like him, fell from the tips of his tentacles, like snowflakes, drifting towards the seabed.

They gathered around Chu Hua, like stars surrounding the moon, forming a circle around her.

Surrounded by souls, Chu Hua's injuries were gradually filled and healed by golden light.

For these souls who had been trapped by the sea witch for so long, it was Chu Hua who liberated them from the sea witch's imprisonment, it was Chu Hua who helped them rediscover themselves, and it was Chu Hua who gave them a final chance to fight back.

The arrival of Chuhua was no different from that of a true god.

The souls rescued by "perseverance" healed Chu Hua's wounds and gave her even more strength. They surrounded Chu Hua, offering their power to her, and, without anyone knowing who started it, they all hummed a stirring and awe-inspiring melody in unison.

The ocean seemed to tremble.

"Hey, I've been a pirate my whole life, and I never thought I'd have such an exhilarating moment!" Aden, lost in prayer, looked up at the witch standing on the seabed and cried out, "Gods, can you forgive my sins?!"

"no!"