Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 334 - 304: Historical Legacy

Chapter 334: Chapter 304: Historical Legacy

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You have to turn off work communications on your day off.

It was Kirino Reisei’s message that interrupted Xu Yang’s pleasant holiday. He ended the secret communication, guessing that by now A40 must have reached the foot of Mingge Mountain, and then he made a call to A40.

"Are you alone now?" Xu Yang asked.

"My factory settings tell me that I am a Synthetic Human, not a person."

"I’m asking if you’re being tracked, or monitored, or hunted."

A40 glanced at the woman in white who was traveling with him. She neither tracked him nor monitored him, let alone hunted him.

"No," A40 replied.

"Keep an eye out for a fox spirit named Nanase Kizuna."

"Coincidentally, I met a woman here who asked me to help her return to Shangjing to kill a fox spirit named Nanase Kizuna."

"Is that so? That’s what Reisei Kirino told me," Xu Yang said, confused.

"Exactly, Reisei Kirino told me the same thing," A40 nodded.

"How did you meet Reisei Kirino?"

"In the wilderness."

"First try to capture her."

A40 turned his head to the woman in white not far away and lunged at her with his knife. The woman in white screamed in shock, her body spun and turned into a cloud of black mist, scattering quickly and unaffected by the blade. But within it, a wisp of the main soul drifted, and A40 relentlessly pursued it, determined to capture his adversary.

Xu Yang needed to sort out the current situation; it seemed there were two Reisei Kirinos and two Nanase Kizunas. However, he was on vacation today, so he wasn’t inclined to spend too much energy on it, waiting for A40 to capture the strange woman on his end before figuring things out.

A40 accelerated his pursuit, the black mist seemingly weakened by the sunlight and quickly drained of strength, unable to fly any longer. It solidified and crashed to the ground like a lump of dough, then reshaped into the form of a woman with pale skin, clad in plain white clothes, retreating vainly and stretching out her hand in a futile attempt to resist A40’s killing blow.

"No... do not harm me," she said. "Why are you so violent?"

"Boss, I’ve caught her!" A40 whispered back, "The signal is bad; can’t send a video. She is a coward, not a true fighter."

Xu Yang prepared a list of questions and sent them to A40, instructing him to get clear answers to each one.

A40 carefully memorized Xu Yang’s instructions and then hoisted the woman in white onto his shoulder, dragging her into a small grove away from the road, and laid her down in the shade on a slope.

"Save—" the woman in white wailed.

"If you make noise, I’ll finely chop you into mincemeat," A40 threatened.

"You wouldn’t truly lay a hand on me..."

With one stroke, A40 severed the woman in white’s long hair, leaving the ground covered in strands of black.

"The next cut will be your tendons!" A40 said.

This Synthetic Human could not be negotiated with in the usual way. The woman in white fell silent, submitting to A40’s interrogation.

Thus, A40 took all the woman in white’s stories, based on the questions Xu Yang had provided, extracting all details from beginning to end, roughly piecing together past events.

In the Company Era, year 3, the Corporate Alliance’s investigation team closed in on the Eternal Cherry Blossom Shrine, preparing to capture and kill both Sakura Witch Reisei Kirino and the great monster Nanase Kizuna. Faced with the peril of death, they decided to help each other escape from the Shrine, and they headed to Shangjing, changing their identities while maintaining livelihoods by drawing comics. Their collaborative series of robot comics began to gain popularity.

In the Company Era, year 29, they founded Kyoto Infinity Animation Company. At that time, the Corporate Alliance’s management was strict, and the company needed a human president to operate, so Reisei Kirino and Nanase Kizuna swapped identities. As a result, Nanase Kizuna played the role of Reisei Kirino, concealing her identity as a fox spirit. Reisei Kirino used the magic powers taught by Nanase Kizuna to give up her original body, adopting the guise of a company man by Decapitation Ritual, and collaborated with Nanase Kizuna as a male human president.

So far, they had swapped heads eight times, holding a ritual at the Eternal Cherry Blossom Shrine each time with Nanase Kizuna to maintain the secret technique and prevent Reisei Kirino’s dissipation.

Therefore, the growth of Kyoto Infinity to this day has been solely the behind-the-scenes operation of Reisei Kirino and Nanase Kizuna, the witch and the fox spirit, supporting and covering for each other.

However, it was the arrival of Yama that made Reisei Kirino regret.

She realized she should have returned to the Shrine early to watch over Yama, so she decided to end everything. She deliberately provoked Nanase Kizuna, allowing her impersonated President Akita Takafumi to be killed in public, providing a crucial boost to the downfall of Kyoto Infinity.

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Kirino Reisei’s inherent magic power was Myriad Forms, which made her own facial features indistinguishable.

Because she was affected by Nanase Kizuna’s fox spirit magic, others would always see her as an aberrant fox. Even her other appearances overlapped with the image of a fox, turning her into the ever-changing Fox Spirit.

Only after A40 slowly relayed these pieces of information did Xu Yang realize why, when Du Qianqian transformed into "Kirino Reisei" that day, she presented such a varied fox appearance. It was because her transformation had copied Kirino Reisei’s Myriad Forms Magic Power. This also meant that when Du Qianqian transformed into the Witch, she could also replicate the magic powers of her target to some extent.

In Xu Yang’s eyes, Kirino Reisei was originally a beauty in her true form, probably related to his unique perception and beliefs.

So, that being said, Du Qianqian obviously knew the name "Kirino Reisei." Xu Yang thought to himself. Moreover, she must have seen Kirino Reisei’s true body under the guise of the company president, which was why she could transform successfully.

"What’s wrong?" Pan Ruiyi asked.

"It’s about the Fox Spirit," Xu Yang pondered. "The entire Northern Archipelago has been played by a fox."

The president was impersonated by Kirino Reisei, and the woman in the fox mask was Nanase Kizuna all along from start to finish.

Now the situation seemed even more bizarre.

Being affected by fox spirit magic, Kirino Reisei’s normal state was a very weak black mist that could condense into a woman’s figure, but it was unstable. Therefore, she needed to return to the Eternal Cherry Blossom Shrine to retrieve her body that she had abandoned during the secret technique, inhabit it, and thus truly be able to move in the current world.

She wanted to kill Nanase Kizuna to end the cycle that had lasted for a century.

Nanase Kizuna, on the other hand, hated Kirino Reisei for forsaking all of their enterprises to date, and thus, sought to kill her. It was initially Kirino Reisei who was eager to establish a company, but now it was Nanase Kizuna who desperately maintained its existence.

These two were playing a big game. Xu Yang sighed inwardly. Ridiculous, 400 million people of the Northern Archipelago lived in 15 corporate cities, all under their manipulation!

The anime industry they created had swept the world, causing many to eagerly fixate on scantily clad, physically altered anime girls, and building a trillion-dollar market that spans across gaming, live streaming, animation, comics, and figurines. All because a fox and a witch came down the mountain together and then switched identities along the way.

"So, the one you have is the real Kirino Reisei, and the one in contact with me is Nanase Kizuna," Xu Yang informed A40. "Ask Kirino Reisei what else she can do, something that can be exchanged for her life."

A40 did as instructed, and Kirino Reisei was composed.

"My lord can perform one of the oldest secret techniques," Kirino Reisei said, "... using the legacy of the Sakura Witch, I can summon the powers of wind and earth of the Northern Archipelago and bestow them upon the mightiest Island Warrior. Once you help my lord kill Nanase Kizuna, I can complete this ritual."

"Oh, I am a Synthetic Human," A40 said.

"It will still be effective," Kirino Reisei explained. "It can create a set of mighty regalia, invincible in hundreds of battles."

"Why don’t you perform the ritual first!" A40 pressed.

"... The core treasure of the ritual, The Everlasting Cherry Blossom, is in Nanase Kizuna’s hands," Kirino Reisei explained, "Therefore you must help my lord kill Nanase Kizuna. In return, my lord will perform the ritual, summon the regalia, and bestow it upon your hand."

A40 liked the sound of that.

"Boss, I want to inherit the power and become a top-level master in the Archipelago Continent!" A40 quietly messaged.

"Go find Anonymous first."

"Oh," A40 adjusted the priority of the tasks, tied up Kirino Reisei with a rope, hoisted her onto his shoulder, and headed toward Mingge Mountain, seeking the path to the Thousand Blessings Shrine.

After ending the message exchange with A40, Xu Yang returned to taking care of Little Fool.

The news about Kirino Reisei and Nanase Kizuna agitated him, finding it outrageous that they had been trifled with for so long!

And as agents of Xisheng, they had accumulated countless wealth for Xisheng Investment Group.

"Should we continue resting?" Pan Ruiyi asked.

"Of course," Xu Yang instructed Pan Ruiyi to take good care of Little Fool, while he himself went down to the outside world using the Shuttle Machine.

Xu Yang needed to clear his mind, to see how other people were living. Kirino Reisei and Nanase Kizuna had lived for over 150 years, whereas the current survivors ranged mostly from 16 to 26 years old, with lives marked by great disparities.

He walked through a narrow pathway, passed several patches of disordered shrubs, and followed the sounds until he reached the reveling youth. They were sitting on the lawn; both the men and women were naturists—wearing clothes was considered stubbornly antiquated, especially for someone like Xu Yang who was fully covered, and they clearly disliked him. They stared at him with disdain and refused to share their beer with him.

More scattered, rebellious, and passive resisters were joining on the outskirts. They embraced rock music, philately, and unrestrained pleasure-seeking, forgoing the pursuit of work and funds. Some were cut off financially, others had lost family members in conflicts, and many more had lost jobs.

Deep within the community, in quieter spots, people turned to some degree of enlightenment, advocating fasting and minimal consumption, lying on the ground, maximizing contact with sunlight and dew, letting their body energy dissipate bit by bit, not feeling their bones and muscles, and then entering deep meditation.