Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 291 - 263: Disappearance

Chapter 291: Chapter 263: Disappearance

```

"The entire cavern felt intensely eerie," Xu Yang observed with the help of a small illumination lamp on his armor, noting the indistinct bloodstained tissues spreading on the walls, resembling undifferentiated human organs and chilling in their aspect.

"This was the work of Yama in a frenzied state, tearing through the mountains," Pan Ruiyi said seriously. "That creature was the ultimate monster sealed on Nangong Island by ancient exorcists and the combined efforts of priestesses from two shrines; but now it’s come to this."

"Sakura Witch Reisei Kirino... was supposed to be in charge of overseeing Yama," Xu Yang remarked.

"Exactly," Pan Ruiyi replied with dissatisfaction. "It’s a hereditary responsibility, and when it was Kirino’s turn, she fled from her duty to start a company outside. The spatial structure of the entire Nangong Island is precarious because of Yama’s constant restlessness. Moreover, with Blackfire Innovation’s witches skilled in opening alternate dimensions, and Yan Duo clashing with some unknown entity, the whole Nangong Island has fallen into this unknown space, becoming a source of chaos... Now we’re left to clean up the mess!"

"Have you encountered this ’Yama’ before?" Farosa pondered. The nature of Yama’s existence was hard to interpret; it might resist magic power.

"I had a team of ten," Pan Ruiyi looked at her teammates, their expressions heavy, "Now we’ve lost half. They all died on the first day, we simply couldn’t beat Yama. I was repelled before getting anywhere close. Afterwards, I led the survivors to run and kept our distance from the seal point, waiting for help. But we couldn’t get out, couldn’t make contact, and nobody came to our aid. We just kept hiding, and what’s worse... the Martinez appeared out of nowhere about a week or two ago."

"Yama should be dealing with it," Xu Yang frowned.

"They fought fiercely at first but seemed to have reached some sort of agreement. It seems the Martinez aims to take Yama out of this space and into the outside world," Pan Ruiyi explained. "We hid underground, and people from the Martinez hunted us, along with those teleporting monsters. They are too difficult to handle. If not for the deputy leader’s and my strength in combat, we couldn’t have lasted this long."

"I thought phase demons would attack monsters and the Martinez," Xu Yang considered. "But it seems like they’ve formed some sort of united front."

"Phase demons are elusive beings," Farosa shook her head. "It’s unclear what their schemes are; perhaps they wish to invade the real world in one fell swoop by leveraging the presence of the Martinez and Yama."

Rescuing Pan Ruiyi was crucial, Xu Yang thought internally. But with the Martinez space mothership and Yama right above them, if they entered the real world, it would be a catastrophe, with no one—human or witch—capable of intercepting them. Kirino’s combat prowess was an unknown, leaving only Tenjouin Shino as the potential opposition. Ah, there was one more.

"Xylophia," Xu Yang said. "Farosa... what’s the magic power of your old friend Xylophia?"

"She’s the Supreme Witch, and her ability is disappearing," Farosa shook her head. "But don’t expect anything from that old woman."

"Maybe we need to destroy this ship and monster," Xu Yang mused. "We fell through a crack, and it made quite a noise. When we return, that place might be under surveillance, becoming an obstacle to going home."

"Ah! It’s too difficult!"

"What to do..." the special forces members worried; they were worn out from battling all sorts of monsters and Blackfire paratroopers, only wishing to safely return to the real world.

"Relatively speaking, we’ve just arrived," Xu Yang turned to Pan Ruiyi, "Do you have any information here that could help defeat Yama?"

Pan Ruiyi nodded.

"There is," Pan Ruiyi recalled, "its seal point is on the northwest corner of the island, a stronghold of the exorcists. There, they prayed to the Moon Dragon on the moon, and ultimately controlled Yama within the stronghold."

"Moon Dragon," Farosa murmured. "’Moonfire’ Mond certainly has the means to seal such a big monster."

```

"If we make a trip to the shrine, could we collect artifacts to help us fight against Yama or related ceremonial items?" Xu Yang kept searching for a breakthrough.

"We should be able to, and we might even be able to conduct an ’exorcism ritual’ again, ultimately trapping Yama!" Pan Ruiyi analyzed, "The premise is, we need to get the ancient warlock’s spellbook, but it has been lost for a long time."

"Spellbook, we have one." Xu Yang nodded, "I have a backup in my chip."

"You have that, too?" Pan Ruiyi was very surprised.

"Although this is an alternate space, ’Moonfire’ Mond also has its domain here, so we should be able to make contact," Farosa hurriedly set out; she wanted to resolve these issues quickly and return to the real world, gathering the Seven Witches, "Let’s set off."

Farosa couldn’t wait to bring the witches’ formidable might back to this world and reshape the world order. The New Witch Council! Ruled by Farosa, along with Pan Ruiyi, 101, 102, Mizuiro Yoshioka, Shallow Dream, Du Qianqian, Miyazato Kazama, such an impressive lineup—nothing in the world could stand in their way, nor could any power stop them.

Meanwhile, in the real world, A40 was preparing for battle.

After the drawing of lots, its next two opponents had been decided: first, to fight against the professional robot Galatite from the same division, and if it entered the top 8, it would most likely encounter Fumihiko Yanagawa from the lower half of the bracket, according to the rule of avoiding same quarter confrontation.

Fumihiko Yanagawa, the hottest favorite to win the championship, was on its path of challenge. But before Yanagawa, it had to first defeat Galatite from the Pioneer Armed Company; its strength was extremely impressive. A40 had analyzed its combat footage and found the robot very similar to itself. However, the opponent had far more battle experience, beating A40 in every dimension.

Faster processor speed, a more substantial archive of battle experience, a more professional body structure—even if A40 emerged victorious in this battle, it would certainly be battered entering the next round, ultimately to be ruthlessly defeated by Fumihiko Yanagawa.

It was practicing in a boxing gym, which was very quiet because there were no customers—the gym had been rented out entirely by Kanako for A40’s training. As it kept swinging its blade, a woman walked in from outside.

She had a lazy, listless expression, as if she couldn’t even lift her arms, just leaning against the gray metal doorframe, slanting a look at A40.

"Who are you?" A40 stared at her.

"My name is Xylophia," she said.

"How did you find this place?"

"A mysterious friend," Xylophia yawned, pressing hard on her temples to revive her spirit, then walked toward the boxing ring. A40, on the ring, spun its blades, pointing the tip towards Xylophia. It judged this woman to be strong.

"Are you here to fight?" A40’s eagerness to battle surged, "I can detect it, you are strong!"

"Maybe," Xylophia stood still.

A40 instantly dashed towards Xylophia, its body disappearing from the ring with an explosive speed. It moved past Xylophia without the sensation of cutting anything, no feeling of a strike hitting its mark, and no sensation of holding a blade.

Its "Fury" was gone.

A40 looked at his own unarmed appearance, then glanced at Xylophia, his cognitive module unable to analyze the current situation. Only after replaying the recordings from his visual module did he realize that just before Fury came into contact with Xylophia, a silver flash of light had appeared from her hand, and Fury had vanished into thin air.

"Please return my sword to me," A40 said solemnly, bowing slightly to Xylophia. "I need to participate in the upcoming battles, and I cannot do so without a weapon."

"Do you know Farosa?" Xylophia, sitting on the bleachers of the boxing gym, propped her chin with one hand.

"I cannot say," A40 had to keep it a secret.

"It’s okay, I am Farosa’s friend," Xylophia’s tone sounded very sad, but that was a complex human emotion A40 was still unable to interpret.

"Yes," A40 nodded, "...What do you want with Farosa?"

"Is she... is she all right?" Xylophia’s voice shook.

"She’s fine."

"Is she healthy... is she happy..." Xylophia leaned forward, eager to hear more from A40, "Is she still being pursued? Is she safe..."

"Everything is fine," A40 summarized.

"Thank you," Xylophia’s eyes were misty as she fell silent for a long time on the bleachers, "Where is Farosa?"

"She’s gone far away."

"Alone?"

"She’s with the boss," A40 worded it cautiously.

"The boss? Is he a man? Is he good to Farosa?" Xylophia inquired further.

"I cannot define. In my view, he is very good to Farosa!" A40 said firmly. "Whatever Farosa wants, the boss tries to fulfill her wishes as much as possible."

"Are they lovers?" Xylophia was eager to know the answer.

"Yes," A40 could confirm that.

"She’s not alone anymore..." Xylophia showed a relieved, dreamy expression on her face, she closed her eyes and smiled gently, "Daylight... My daylight..."

"Are you very close to Farosa? If you have a message, I can convey it when she returns," A40 offered.

"No, no," Xylophia shook her head, "You were sent by Farosa to compete for the Godslayer Weapon, weren’t you?"

"The boss sent me, but since the boss and Farosa are on the same side, you could say it’s also on behalf of Farosa," A40 analyzed meticulously.

"Win the championship. The Godslayer Weapon has always belonged to Farosa," she summoned Fury from the void, adding a strand of her magic power to the blade, and the entire Fury, from the hilt upwards, was coated with a layer of faint silver starlight sheen.

A40 looked at the re-enchanted Fury, as if the weapon had acquired incomparable power, with dangerous magic swirling around it.

When it looked up again in search of Xylophia’s figure, she had disappeared without a trace.

It couldn’t understand many things it perceived, but it knew it had to keep on winning. After entering the top 16, Mizuiro Yoshioka told it Huang Feng’s story, making A40 understand what it was truly fighting for.

There were those in the distance who hoped it would win the championship; there were those by its side who also hoped for its victory. Once the boss and Farosa returned from their distant journey, they would definitely be happy to see it had won.

With this notion, A40 stepped into the battle to advance from the top 16 to the top 8.

It entered the arena without superfluous words or complex understanding, blocking out irrelevant information and focusing on the forthcoming battle. After a total of 30 seconds of advertisements for both sides, Galatite was a combat robot with an elegant posture and advanced machinery, holding a large alloy sword. Relying on its exquisite swordsmanship, it bore a striking similarity to A40 in every aspect.

"I am very much looking forward to this battle!" Galatite called out from a distance, "Challenge me whenever you’re ready!"

"..." A40 did not utter a word.

"Only melee weapons are allowed, no ranged tactics, no other rules," the electronic referee announced inside the venue, swinging down its arm forcefully, "Begin!"

The instant after the command was issued, A40 leaped and slashed at Galatite’s body. Galatite easily swung its large sword, parrying the blow, but then the sword disappeared from its hand. A40 thrust forward once more, and Galatite vanished into a shimmer of silver light, leaving no trace behind.

The battle’s total duration was 4 seconds.

"Victor, the Samurai of the New World Mechanism, A40!" the electronic referee raised its recently lowered hand, announcing loudly.

A40 stood in the middle of the arena, not leaving for a long time. When the referee expelled it, it reluctantly walked into the resting room. Sitting on the floor, it kept calling Xu Yang, but could not get through. All the media were looking for it, and A40’s fame had shot up, leading it to choose to run away.

Fighting had suddenly become strange and terrifying to it, and it wanted to leave the combat festival.

"I am feeling very troubled," it sought help from Mizuiro Yoshioka, "Everything has changed, it’s completely different from what I expected."

"Poor guy, you’re just a Synthetic Human, what could you understand?" Mizuiro Yoshioka comforted it, "No matter what the circumstances turn into, you must do what you need to do. So... keep fighting."