Neon Shadow's body felt as if its bones had been removed, and it drifted into the house with a sense of unsteadiness after exhaustion.
Serie's consciousness re-submerged into this weary shell; she felt a bit lost, not entirely because of the mission.
It was just that this incident completely disrupted her plans.
Serie had originally intended to use the Neon Shadow Witch's extreme speed to cross the ocean, pursue Toad and Centipede, and also have her meet up with other Witches to complete a meeting mission.
However...
Something lurked in the deep sea at the edge of the continental shelf.
A dangerous anomaly so vast it defied comprehension!
What made a chill run up her spine was the subsequent verification.
Serie's fingers tapped on the keyboard, trying to find clues about that sea area on the internet.
Had anyone or any ships gone missing in that area? Or were there any eyewitness reports?
The search results were blank.
Of course, this could be the Control Bureau managing news related to anomalies, but what was even more surprising was that not a single shipping company had marked that deathly water as a restricted zone.
It wasn't even a point on nautical charts that required special detours.
This meant...
That gaze from the abyss seemed... to be directed only at the Neon Shadow Witch.
But why?
Was it the dazzling electric light tearing through the sea surface during high-speed movement?
Or some unique bio-electric signal? Or was it related to her being a Witch?
Serie didn't know.
She only knew that when that indifferent giant eye focused on her, a shiver originating from the core of life instantly shattered all her courage.
Now, to make the Neon Shadow Witch step into that sea area again?
No, even getting close to the coastline left her with lingering fear.
If that monster targeted her again... the consequences were unimaginable.
The shock of facing the abyssal behemoth had long been deeply etched into her heart.
The Neon Shadow Witch's plummeting mental attributes were the most direct proof.
The plan had to be temporarily shelved.
Having Neon Shadow trek across that sea area, where world-destroying behemoths lurked? The risk was simply too great.
A strong sense of frustration gnawed at her.
Damn it... if she hadn't seen it, if she hadn't known!
Serie could have been ignorant and fearless, pushing her speed to the limit, forcing her way through that sea area, and then continuing the mission on safe land.
Although this would still carry some risk.
But now, she had seen it.
The Neon Shadow Witch's body, originating from Billy's fear of the ocean, was reawakened by that behemoth, becoming an intractable panic disorder.
This made Serie think of something—perhaps Billy's parents knew something?
However, the result of her inquiry only confirmed that Billy had a similar experience in her childhood.
As for Billy's parents, they were merely B-grade employees of the Control Bureau, with pitifully little authority over S-grade anomalies.
They couldn't provide any valuable clues.
The only good news was that Billy's aunt, Elena, was A-grade, just like Lynette.
But the bad news was, Serie didn't quite trust Elena.
To actively seek her out? How was that different from packaging herself as a fresh anomaly sample and sending it to the Control Bureau's lab table?
If she asked Elena out... what if it was an ambush?
Serie's unique identity limited her trust in Lynette, and even Billy's parents, let alone this convenient aunt she had never even met.
After much thought with no breakthroughs, Serie controlled the Neon Shadow Witch's body, ignoring Riley, who had just returned home and was complaining tearfully in the living room about her "abandoning her," and floated directly to the bedroom.
Like an emptied shell, she sank heavily into the shadows of the bedclothes.
Riley looked at the tightly closed door, and finally just sighed helplessly, attributing Serie's mood to the frustration of a failed pursuit, and thoughtfully stopped disturbing her.
Of course, for Serie, the current situation was far from a dead end.
She still had leverage: two unused ability points and a precious "Rebirth" opportunity.
Her previous use of "Rebirth" was too hasty; she hadn't even had time to explore the boundaries of this function.
Facing the question, "What... do you desire?"
What if... the answer transcended common sense?
What if the demand was for invincibility, for power itself?
What kind of Witch would be born? Or rather... what would it attract?
Serie opened the "Rebirth" interface and began creating a Witch again.
"What... do you desire?"
Serie began to think.
If she were to face the current situation, she had two choices.
One was to create a Witch "capable of annihilating that deep-sea behemoth."
But how powerful would a Witch have to be to take down such a massive sea monster?
Could she truly create such a powerful Witch?
Serie remained doubtful about this.
If it were truly feasible, it would be better to directly create an "omniscient and omnipotent" "perfect" Witch.
Achieving everything in one go, solving all problems.
Compared to these, the other option was more grounded: to find an alternative route, bypass the deep-sea behemoth, and create a Witch "who ignores spatial barriers and facilitates real-world meetings between Witches." This possibility seemed slightly greater.
But it was still worth a try.
"I desire omniscience and omnipotence, to become... a god!" Serie responded.
As usual, the female voice guiding "Rebirth" fell silent.
Unsure if it was calculating something or searching for something.
But this silence was different this time.
It was no longer a brief pause, but a dead silence, like a stone dropped into a bottomless abyss, without a single echo.
Even after ten minutes, there was no response.
Serie even wondered if the female voice had heard her speak: "Hello? Are you still there?"
"Searching for a suitable target..."
Suitable target?
Could it be... it was indeed like this...
Meanwhile, in the Kanto region of Japan, at Toyosato Middle School.
The cold wind carried scattered cherry blossom petals, gently fluttering.
The dismissal bell rang, and students surged out of the classrooms.
Laughter, playful shouts, and the slapping sound of backpack straps instantly filled the entire campus.
Kirishima Kuyo lowered her head, like a forgotten withered leaf, carried forward by this tumultuous current.
She pushed up the round-rimmed glasses on her nose, the end of her braid brushing against the faded shoulder of her uniform.
Around her, classmates in twos and threes chatted, arms slung over each other's shoulders, their laughter crisp and loud, discussing last night's variety show or a new game.
Those voices were like an invisible glass dome, completely separating her from them.
Kuchiha only stared at the scuffed tips of her shoes, carefully avoiding the scattered cherry petals, taking each step lightly and quickly, wanting only to pass through this suffocating noise as soon as possible and hide in some quiet corner.
She didn't know, however, that in this fluttering cherry rain, a gaze had quietly locked onto her.
Like a spider's silk, it silently entangled the threads of her destiny.
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