Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

The data space belongs to a peaceful state.

"What happened? Is Su Shi really gone?" Li Xi stared blankly at the spot where Su Shi had been standing.

"Don't say things like that in this situation. In games, that kind of line is called 'Fl'—"

Like a response to Ai Yin's words, a familiar yet long-unheard voice, Su Shi's usual sweet and cloying voice, came from all directions.

[Personality erasure complete...]

[Program update complete...]

Synchronization is nearing completion...

【程序错误，无法检测到子终端1号、2号、3号、4号、5号、6号、7号、8号......】

[Program error, unable to complete synchronization.......]

[Program Error]

[Program Error]

[The backup plan will be activated until the sub-terminal restart is complete. The Eternal Goddess program will then start in reduced-frequency mode.]

[Completed simultaneously.]

[Administrator Nagasaki Motoyo has completed formatting; the central terminal is now under the control of Eternal Goddess.]

Immediately afterwards, the space in front of everyone was covered by a larger area of ​​snowflakes, and the chaotic data streams converged, gradually forming a huge machine nearly 100 meters high.

Standing on the platform, you can only see its upper body.

The mechanical design features very distinct feminine characteristics, making the term "Mecha Girl" perhaps more apt.

Its face, covered in smooth armor, reveals no emotion. A huge fan-shaped crown extends from its head. Four slender arms complement its wasp waist and long legs. It is covered in pure white ceramic-textured armor. Finally, a pair of wings floating on its back, composed of complex mechanical structures like turbines, make it seem as if one is facing Shiva from mythology.

If you look closely, you can see a figure that looks like it's being suspended by a cross, fixed to the center of the Eternal Goddess's smooth visor.

The goddess of eternity opened one of her hands, gesturing to welcome the arrival of the goddess.

Residents of Fairy Tale Town, please rest assured, the Eternal Goddess will always protect you.

Su Shi's sweet and insincere voice rang out again. Although it sounded pleasant, it had a very strong electronic synthesized feel and lacked any emotion.

[All related permissions are granted; begin eliminating any obstacles not part of the plan.]

"That thing is definitely not Su Shi anymore," Aine whispered.

"So, in the end, it really came to this." Li Xi drew his Feng Yan sword and sighed.

"There's nothing we can do about it, but we're prepared." Aine drew her sword. "We can't waste the opportunity that Su Shi gave us, nor can we let our little master down."

Perhaps we won't have the chance to achieve the perfect ending, but at least we gave it our all.

"......"

The lamp clenched its fist, assumed the posture required for casting a spell, and chanted the incantation.

"Transformation."

The red-hooded wolf knight armor took her place.

It won't turn out that way.

A light shone from the red goggles beneath the hood, and the lamp spoke in a low voice, a voice only he could hear.

"I will make everyone happy."

[The mana supply to the terminals will be restored soon, please rest assured.]

The Eternal Goddess lowered her head, gazing at the group of people on the platform.

The plan cannot fail; please disappear.

Hello, and goodbye forever.

=========

Miao Meng had casually taken a car from the barrier and parked it in the middle of the road. Everyone in the car had already left. She leaned against the car door, a cigarette dangling from her mouth, and was about to light it with a lighter.

Suddenly, a hand reached out and took the cigarette out of her mouth.

“You didn’t smoke before,” Xiangzi said. “Smoking will make your teeth yellow and affect your image. You’ll be performing on stage someday.”

"Actually, I do smoke, but only when I'm under a lot of pressure. These past few days have been incredibly stressful for me, you know." Miao Meng shrugged and put the lighter away. "Okay, okay, whatever you say."

"Hmm." Xiangzi lowered his head and continued tinkering with the cannon array.

"Xiangzi, everyone's working so hard, is it really okay to just relax like this?"

"I'm busy too." Xiangzi raised his hand and conjured up another cannon, using magic to adjust its approximate tilt angle remotely.

"I'm talking about myself."

“You’ve finished your work, now it’s time to rest.” Xiangzi glanced back at her. “If you can’t stand it, you can come and help me.”

"Ok."

Miao Meng sighed and cast her gaze into the distance, which was completely invisible from here.

There, everyone is fighting against the witch.

......

Time goes back to ten minutes ago.

"This guy isn't anything special, but the most deadly thing is its 'first encounter kill,' which refers to its familiars," Miaomeng said as she drove.

"Those ones?"

“Those are the eyes.” Miao Meng twitched the corner of her mouth.

Back then, Meow Dream was fortunate enough to see the entire country road. She thought she was probably the only person who had seen the witch's full form and hadn't died.

The first thing to appear in the mist was a pair of eyes.

Then, those eyes began to split, multiplying and becoming denser like bubbles, eventually spreading all over the country road.

Those are the familiars of the country road, and also the most important part of its body.

Can't Take My Eyes Off You (You dazzle me)

The familiar that completely enveloped the country road possessed a certain level of combat ability. Its gaze was highly infectious; any creature it looked at would begin to sprout eyes until it was assimilated into a new familiar. Meowmon had almost been consumed by the familiar's curse and died because of it.

Although the investigation over the past few hours revealed nothing particularly special about the country road, its infectious gaze alone was enough to make it a witch of Dangou level.

The fog that permeates the entire barrier may simply be a wicked trap used to lure prey deeper into it.

"If being seen will cause infection, and if it's like you described, with eyes all over its body, how can I avoid its gaze?"

Xiangzi opened the window, letting the wind rush in. Watching the streetlights flash by outside, she felt goosebumps rising on her skin. This time, it wasn't fear of sitting in the passenger seat, but rather a fear of something unknown.

The barrier surrounding Country Road, along with its main body and familiars, is like a dreamscape for monster enthusiasts, possessing an indescribable sense of unease and terror.

However... she wasn't that scared.

Since Miaomeng is so confident, there must be a solution.

"If being seen would lead to infection, that would indeed be difficult to handle. However, the reason I call it a 'first-sight kill' is because that familiar is not as powerful as one might imagine."

"Ok?"

"The condition for infection is actually 'eye contact,' meaning you must look directly at it. My initial thought was to use Xiangzi's arsenal to create opportunities for beyond-visual-range strikes..."

“But the other side is constantly moving, and beyond-visual-range attacks also require long-range positioning support. The person providing support will inevitably make eye contact with it, right?” Xiangzi almost instantly stated the reason why Miaomeng denied it.

“Yes, that’s right.” Miao Meng seemed surprised by Xiangzi’s quick and accurate answer, and nodded blankly.

"continue."

"...So, I was thinking, why don't we go a little primitive and cover our eyes?"

========

boom----!

The torrent of data transformed into beams of light, almost covering the entire platform.

Don't be afraid, death is not the end.

After the Eternal Goddess released a beam of light from her left hand, her right hand, which was filled with data, pushed forward as well, and it looked as if the same torrent of data was about to cover the safe zone.

"Hurry up, get to the other side of the platform!"

"No, it's too late!"

"There's enough time."

Lena suddenly appeared out of nowhere, grabbing someone's collar with one hand, and a cat tail that only grew after transformation hooked around the neck of the wolf knight armor.

In the next instant, they had arrived at the safe zone on the other side of the platform.

boom----!

The deluge of data overwhelmed the spot where they had just stood. (The rest of the text appears to be gibberish and unrelated to the main topic.)

"Lanna-chan?! Can your ability also bring people along?"

Lenai shook her head.

"It wasn't possible before."

She crouched on the lamp's shoulder, still clinging to the tail of the armor, reluctant to let go.

"Just connect them, and that will do."

"Connected? What do you mean?" A question mark appeared above Li Xi's head.

"So that means Ryuna-chan already considers everyone as family, right?" Aine turned around and stuck out her tongue. "The next move is coming again. Suze really doesn't hold back at all when she hits people, even though she's just a healer."

Just as Aine was speaking, the Eternal Goddess opened the hatch behind her.

Deploy small units to conduct precision sniping of the target.

Click, click, click—the hatch opened, and many drones, each about the size of a person, flew out and headed towards the lost children in the arena.

Aine's greatsword was redesigned to be more suitable for dealing with smaller enemies, and she jumped onto the back of a small drone.

"watch out!"

锔——!

A drone transformed into a fireball in the air.

Aiyin used another drone flying in the air as a foothold to jump towards the head of the Eternal Goddess.

【Keep away!】

when--!

Ai Yin felt like a sparrow that had crashed into a transparent protective shield.

"Sigh, even with most of its power weakened, Su Shi-san isn't so easy to deal with!" Aine rubbed her reddened forehead as she landed back on the platform.

"Be careful, Xiao Ai!"

The wolf rider wearing a red hood flew over Ai Yin's head, his red spear slicing down all the drones in his path. Several lasers that were precisely aimed at Ai Yin were deflected to the side due to the interference of the lights.

Ai Yin looked up and gazed at the countless small drones flying in the sky in front of her.

"It seems that before we can touch the Queen, we'll have to deal with you lowly soldiers first."

She placed the long sword at her waist, took a step towards the drone in front of her, and the tip of the blade drew a silver streak in the air.

锔——!

Several drones were linked together in a straight line by the flash of light, bursting into dazzling sparks in the air.

========

Boom——!

The eyeball-shaped familiars exploded beside Chu Hua, and the splattered flesh and blood, like their gazes, were highly infectious. If you were touched, you would become covered in eyes like Meow Dream.

Chu Hua used her wings to shield herself from the splattered eyeball contents, and then discarded the contaminated wings as the eyeballs spread to her body, using the remaining wings to maintain her high-speed forward momentum.

Country Road tilted its head, looking at the little ant that kept bothering it.