“You actually investigated my civilian identity in advance to threaten me!”

"What kind of hero does something like that?!"

Damn, doxxed!

Jet-Black Muscle Stud roared at the top of his lungs, accusing the Magical Girl of fighting without honor.

For a moment, not to mention Jet-Black Muscle Stud, the person directly involved, even Soleia, the Sun Magical Girl blocking his escape route from behind, actually looked a bit awkward.

However, Artemina didn't feel awkward at all.

She stood there, her hand gripping the bow without the slightest tremor, her expression as calm as an ice sculpture.

"You villains can commit evil, you can run away, and you can threaten to take revenge and do me in next time."

Her voice was as cold and sharp as a Moonlight Arrow,

"And heroes can't doxx you and investigate your identities?"

"Don't make me laugh."

"Someone like you doesn't just underestimate heroes—you aren't even taking being a villain seriously!"

These few simple words, devoid of any emotion, struck heavy in Jet-Black Muscle Stud's heart.

His eyes finally began to waver, and beads of sweat rolled down his cheeks like raindrops.

"Guh… Guh-aaaaah—!"

Letting out a beastly roar, he turned abruptly and dove toward the portal that had already opened beneath his feet, practically fleeing in a panic!

Unfortunately—Artemina's movements were faster than his.

Swish!

A beam of light arrow shot precisely into the center of the portal like lightning.

The entire magic circle instantly distorted and shook, and for some reason, the portal turned orange.

When Jet-Black Muscle Stud dove in, he was stunned to discover—half of his body was stuck inside the portal, his lower half jammed in the frozen spatial rift!

He didn't know what exactly Artemina had done, but he was stuck like someone caught in a door gap, unable to move, looking utterly pathetic.

"Aaaah?! Wh-what is going on?!?"

Jet-Black Muscle Stud struggled frantically, roaring,

but no matter how he twisted, the space seemed to have solidified, leaving him unable to move. Only his upper body thrashed desperately within the portal, looking both comical and hopeless.

"You asked what kind of hero would do something like this?"

Artemina slowly lowered her longbow, her expression as cold as a lonely moon, and said indifferently,

"The hero I admire most would do exactly this."

Pausing slightly, she spoke with a hint of unquestionable pride:

"I fight like Master Leipu!"

The moment her voice fell, the light of the portal rapidly collapsed, and the spatial fault that tightly bound Jet-Black Muscle Stud suddenly tightened.

Click.

A very faint, yet incomparably cold sound rang out.

The portal closed abruptly, like an invisible blade.

Jet-Black Muscle Stud's screams came to an abrupt halt.

Amidst the chinks of moonlight, his body was cleanly—cut in half at the waist.

Everything fell silent.

Artemina stood quietly in the center of the ruins.

The moonlight spilled onto her silver-blue hair tips, casting a final gleam of clarity over this trial.

"Your flight ends here."

Volume Four: Magic City Tokyo: 121: Master Lei█ and His Magical Friends

The battle was over.

Artemina called for the logistics support team and immediately took the still-terrified Magical Girl Mint Bubble back to the rear hospital.

This little TS Magical Girl wasn't seriously injured and hadn't been harmed yet, just scared out of her wits.

But on the other hand, a middle school boy having experienced something like this… would he ever be okay again?

Artemina sincerely hoped that Magical Girl Mint Bubble could emerge from this psychological shadow and stand up again.

—That said, Artemina herself had just turned sixteen.

Such a terrifying heart of steel was truly daunting.

"Say, Artemina—"

Just as the logistics team was busy dealing with the villain's corpse and escorting the unconscious combatants, Soleia (Soleil), the Sun Magical Girl, sidled over and spoke cautiously:

"…In these last two months, haven't you become a bit scary?"

Hearing this, Artemina tilted her head slightly, revealing a puzzled expression instead: "Many heroes kill people, don't they?"

"I think killing people is already scary enough." Soleia muttered.

In the last two months, ever since the "Sky-Breaking Giant Love Cruise Incident" ended, Soleia felt that Artemina had become a bit frightening.

Killing—indeed, many transformation heroes had killed before, but they were in the minority.

Moreover, occasionally killing a villain in a fierce battle is completely different from blowing a villain's head off without hesitation; those are two entirely different styles.

There are many heroes who will sneak attack before a battle starts, but those who strike without hesitation while the enemy is still mid-sentence are few and far between.

However, today, the main point Soleia wanted to make wasn't that.

"…You doxxed the villain today and used their identity to threaten them. Is that kind of approach… really okay?"

She was somewhat helpless and hesitant, as if afraid of ruining the atmosphere, yet she had to speak up.

However, this concern only earned a more bewildered expression from Artemina.

She tilted her head and asked earnestly:

"I didn't, and I wouldn't actually threaten the villain's family; that would indeed be crossing the line. I was just stopping them from escaping and taking revenge."

"Uh, I know you wouldn't use a villain's family as hostages, but the problem is—since you doxxed the villain, they might actually do that in return, right?"

Soleia was clearly worried about this,

"They could turn around and actually investigate your identity and hurt your family, you know?"

This sentence finally made Artemina's expression soften.

She lowered her eyelashes, the moonlight reflecting on her silver-blue hair, making her look fragile for a moment.

But soon, she looked up again, her eyes calm and firm.

"Even so, it makes no difference."

"Villains would do this anyway. Although I am also very worried about my mom and dad being hurt or threatened, whether I investigate them or not, villains would naturally use a hero's identity and family to threaten the hero."

"If you don't have the resolve that your family and friends might be dragged into this…"

She paused, seemingly suppressing some soft heart in her chest, before continuing:

"I don't think you can be a good hero."

The short words carried a weight that was impossible to refute.

For a moment, Soleia was speechless.

Opening her mouth, she found she couldn't say any words of rebuttal, and in the end, she could only sigh: "…You, you were really taught badly by that Master Leipu last time."

However, upon hearing this, Artemina shook her head very seriously: "Master Leipu didn't teach me how to be a hero at all."

Her expression softened, revealing a look of reminiscence and longing: "On the contrary, he told me to stop being a hero—said children shouldn't be heroes. These dangerous things should be left to adults."

Hearing this, Soleia couldn't help but offer a wry smile: "That really is… typical of what an adult would say."

By the way, although Soleia and Artemina are Sun and Moon respectively, they didn't start as partners.

The deities they signed contracts with are different, and the time and circumstances of becoming Magical Girls were also different.

They didn't even know each other's civilian identities, and they didn't necessarily team up for operations.

It was only after becoming Magical Girls that, because both were among the best in Tokyo and their attributes happened to correspond to the Sun and Moon, they grew familiar with each other over time and gradually became friends.

—Another side note, as top-tier Magical Girls, their maximum transformation time is about one hour each.

For every 1 minute of rest without transforming, they can recover 1 minute of transformation time, but they cannot accumulate beyond the one-hour limit.

As long as they manage their time flexibly, the combat time for a top-tier Magical Girl is actually quite long.

In addition, if they only maintain the transformation state without entering combat, and try their best to suppress magic consumption, excellent Magical Girls can further extend their transformation time.

However, such a transformation only has the effect of appearance.

Now the time was about up, and the two were preparing to go home—just then, Artemina took out her phone to check it, and a look of pleasant surprise suddenly appeared on her face, letting out a joyful sound, "Oh!"

"What's wrong?" Soleia asked curiously.

"The Mutual Aid Association just sent me a notification."

Artemina looked up excitedly, her bright eyes full of anticipation and joy,

"Master Leipu is coming to Tokyo!"

—————————— The next day at noon.

"Dear passengers, thank you very much for choosing the safe, comfortable, and fast flights of Hinomoto Airlines. This flight is approximately one hour and ten minutes away from Tokyo Haneda Airport. The cabin crew will soon provide you with in-flight meals. We wish you a pleasant journey…"

The gentle in-flight broadcast pulled Qi Xing back from his deep thoughts.

This plane departed from Aomori and was flying steadily above the clouds, with Tokyo Haneda Airport as its destination.

At this moment, the passengers in first class were only Qi Xing, Elaine, Rin, and the Onmyoji Gojo Masamichi, who was responsible for guiding them, for a total of four people.

Did they forget anyone? Actually, no.

The Grand Master of the Brotherhood of Wolves, Orphiel Warlock, had returned to Ireland alone after Mahamayuri was sealed.

He planned to lead a hunting team to station in Aomori later.

As for Rin's foster sister, Ayame, although she was extremely worried about Rin and very concerned that Rin would encounter various difficulties in Tokyo, because their father ordered her to stay, Ayame could only stay at home and wait for news alone.

How pitiful!

That was the current situation.

The first-class cabin was spacious and quiet; bright and warm sunlight spilled in gently through the portholes, illuminating a few dust motes floating slightly.

The pale beige high-end seats were soft and comfortable, with a texture similar to silk.

The thick cabin walls isolated the noise from business and economy class, creating a lazy and quiet space.

However, since the flight was short, just an hour, no one really laid their seats flat to sleep.

Elaine was focused on looking at the documents on her tablet.

Rin looked curiously out the window.

This was her first time flying in a plane—after all, this girl used to fly on her own.

This civil airliner was much slower than she flew herself.

"Qi Xing,"

After watching the clouds outside for a while and feeling the vibration and bumps of the plane, Rin suddenly asked,

"Do you think anyone will hijack the plane?"

Qi Xing raised his eyebrows slightly, a smile appearing at the corners of his mouth: "If someone is truly unlucky enough to insist on hijacking the plane during the one time we happen to be flying… then I can only say, their luck is really, very, very bad."

"Please do not make such ominous jokes."

Gojo Masamichi, as a civil servant of the Onmyoryo, couldn't help but break into a cold sweat at this moment.

"Since we have some time now, please allow me to explain the current situation of the supernatural society in Tokyo to you all."

"First of all, the strongest and largest supernatural organization in Tokyo is naturally our Onmyoryo, the spellcasting agency directly under the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology."

"Although the theoretical headquarters of the Onmyoryo has been in Kyoto since ancient times, the Tokyo branch is now the de facto headquarters, and most of the time, the Head of the Onmyoryo is also stationed here."

The development of Japanese religion and magic has gone through a long period of competition and intersection.

The earliest Japanese religion was, of course, the ancient animistic Shinto, similar to primitive shamanic beliefs.

Strictly speaking, in terms of spellcasting, Shinto… without any discrimination, and evaluating it purely from an academic point of view, cannot actually be called a systematic magic system at all; it is more like a collection of purely practical techniques lacking theoretical support.

For example, observing celestial phenomena, divination, healing, and exorcism, and so on—and most of the rituals are too primitive, the transmission lacks rigor, and the meaning of the rituals themselves is often vague, and even the clergy themselves may not fully understand their operating principles.

In short, if it worked, they kept using it.

Primitive does not necessarily mean weak; animistic shamans are actually quite powerful in some aspects.

But it is undeniable that this system is very shallow.

And what is the result of long-term stagnation? Yaobikuni has already provided a quite vivid demonstration—that is, when facing powerful external forces, it is extremely easy to be crushed.

During the Tang Dynasty, Japan imported a large number of civilizational elements from the Great Tang, including religion and occult arts.

However, even so, Japan's method of introducing these Tang religions was still quite fragmented, and often added a lot of its own interpretations and indigenous elements.