In the village of Asarina, there was a small girl named Alice who lived happily with her single mother, Claire. Alice dreamed of becoming a doctor, someone who could use an AI Witch to heal the sick and save lives. Her mother worked tirelessly to support her education, hoping that one day Alice would succeed.
Alice did not grow up wealthy, but she was surrounded by Claire's boundless love and the warmth of the villagers. Everyone in the village gave the small, pretty girl a nickname: "Princess Alice."
Alice was truly happy and studied hard. Whenever she had free time, she would go to the riverbank near her home, look at her reflection on the surface of the water, and smile brightly.
But as she grew older, Alice began to notice changes.
Her appearance began to change as well. The round, adorable features she had as a child gradually disappeared. Her skin was no longer as smooth as before. She became thin and frail, her posture timid, and she often walked with her face lowered toward the ground.
Alice began to grow afraid. She became worse at communicating, shut herself away, and her studies declined. Her dream of becoming a doctor grew distant.
There were many times when she was afraid to look at her own reflection in the water. But whenever she tried, hoping to recapture the feeling she once had, she only became more frightened, sad, and empty.
"Is this really me? This pimple is so big…"
"Why do I look like this?"
"If I were prettier and more capable, would everything be different?"
"Has anyone ever truly looked at me or wanted to be friends with me?"
Alice sank down onto the riverbank, confused and disappointed. Suddenly, words slipped from her own mouth.
"You really are weak and useless! You are truly beautiful. If anyone dares to criticize you, I will fight them."
Alice jerked in shock and covered her mouth, terrified and panicked. She looked around, but there was no one there. Alice immediately asked:
"Who's there? Who said that? If I did something like that, the villagers and my friends would no longer love me… I wouldn't be the gentle, kind Princess Alice from before anymore!"
Then Alice spoke again to herself:
"Useless! Alice, live a little more realistically. You have to be ruthless if you want to reclaim the position you once had. I will help you. Then we will become an empress in everyone's heart!"
This time, Alice was horrified. She realized she was speaking to herself. She did not understand what was happening. Could she have been possessed by a ghost? In a panic, she looked at her reflection in the water. This time, she saw herself smiling in a sinister way.
Alice stammered:
"Who… who are you…?"
Then Alice's expression changed again. She became calm.
"I am Mary. Empress Mary. Another person inside you!"
I AM YOU. YOU ARE ME.
I AM THE ARROGANCE YOU HAVE ALWAYS SUPPRESSED.
I AM MARY.
*****
Back in the present, Long, drained of strength, stared at Empress Mary's enormous greatsword as it flew toward him with terrifying power.
Long was helpless. His EN was completely depleted. He was exhausted, his body soaked in blood, his clothes torn to shreds from Mary's earlier slashes. The blue stone on the ring that stored his EN no longer glowed. The three round dots on it had vanished completely.
The light from the greatsword blazed so brightly that Long had to narrow his eyes.
Dreamy flew straight toward Long, preparing to block the attack for him, but he would not make it in time.
For Long, it seemed as if everything was about to end.
At that dangerous moment, a golden light suddenly appeared from somewhere, shooting repeatedly into the path of the greatsword.
Long was stunned. It seemed that the golden light had caused the greatsword's path to falter slightly. He looked closely.
"Those are swords… Whose magic is powerful enough to do this?"
From the sky, Mai descended. Her hair billowed like clouds, and her feet stood on two swords as she flew down toward Long. Mai asked after him in a panic, though her eyes remained fixed on the greatsword advancing toward them, both hands still casting magic.
"Long, are you all right?"
Long looked at Mai. At that moment, her body was radiating a powerful golden light. He became somewhat timid, because it was the first time he had seen Mai in this form.
"I'm fine… It looks like you've grown stronger…"
Mai glanced at Long and smiled softly.
"I'm no longer the girl who only stands behind others. From today onward, this sword will protect all of you too!"
Long was briefly flustered by her "powerful" beauty. Then he looked around and asked in confusion:
"Where's Alice? Is she safe?"
Mai replied:
"Alice is definitely safe, because Mary is Alice, and Alice is Mary!"
Long froze, clearly unable to understand.
Dreamy had just flown over as well. He said:
"Mai, you've assimilated with Miki!"
Dreamy looked at Mary and clicked his tongue.
"How frustrating. I can't break through my limits any further. If I do, this Dream Realm will be destroyed. Everything now depends on you."
With that, Mai shouted loudly and called Miki's name. The golden dragon AI Witch flew over, then transformed by itself into a gigantic golden sword and shot straight toward the path of Mary's greatsword.
The gigantic sword and the greatsword clashed fiercely. Rocks and dirt flew everywhere, and several people who had fainted nearby were thrown far away by the horrifying pressure.
Mai raised her hands and cast her spell. Her arms trembled as if they were bearing an enormous force. She did everything she could to hold the attack back and shouted with fierce determination:
"Mary, you've truly gone down the wrong path! Return to Alice!"
Mary said nothing. She looked at Mai coldly, her face completely unchanged.
The pressure from Mary's power was almost overwhelming the sword Miki had transformed into. Mai gritted her teeth and used all her strength to stop Mary's devastating attack.
A thunderous explosion rang out.
On the ground, it left behind a crater nearly one hundred meters long and wide.
The sword returned to the form of the golden dragon AI Witch - Miki and lay motionless on the ground.
The remaining golden dot on Mai's golden-stoned earring disappeared. The light of the stone suddenly went out. Mai had exhausted her EN.
The explosion had also sent Mai flying. She returned to her original form, with short blond hair. Her face was smeared with mud and dust. She moved her legs slightly, trying to drag herself out of the rubble.
Empress Mary flew to her in an instant, her eyes sharp and cold.
"Beautiful and powerful girl like you are what I hate most."
Then she swung her greatsword down at Mai.
Her greatsword was suddenly caught.
Long was using his bare hands, clasped together, to stop Mary's greatsword from cutting Mai down. His hands clamped tightly around the edge of the greatsword, desperately holding it back and struggling against the force of Mary's strike. Blood poured out like a stream from the sharp blade cutting into him. Long glared at Mary with furious eyes.
Mary smiled faintly.
"Foolish."
She gave her wrist a slight shake, and the force pressing down on the greatsword grew stronger. Knowing he could no longer block it, Long turned and embraced Mai, intending to shield her with his own body.
Suddenly, Mary's greatsword path was blocked once again.
Mary had struck the mysterious technological box that Madam Li-chang had given to Long.
The box cracked in two.
An earth-shattering phenomenon occurred.
In the real world, black clouds churned and spiraled into a circle. From high above, a gigantic blue pillar of light shone down upon the village. Nguyen staggered violently, but he forced himself to concentrate, maintaining his magic so that Long and Mai's souls would remain intact inside the Dream Realm.
In the Dream Realm, space shook violently. Dark clouds churned across the sky, and thousands of blue stars flew from nowhere toward the box, gathering together into a strange object.
It was a staff, shining brilliantly, with an enormous blue stone glowing at its head.
Dreamy stared in a daze, his eyes filled with nostalgia for the Holy Tech War of long ago. His eyes shimmered as he looked at the staff. Memories suddenly surged back into Dreamy's mind—the image of a muscular, long-haired man and his companions appeared in his thoughts as they conquered the universe.
He murmured softly:
"The Staff of Ten Thousand Gods… Why are you here…?"
The wheel of Long's destiny was about to begin turning.
Inside Dreamy's mind—the AI Witch Poodle that held the consciousness core of the AI King Witch—the prophecy of the thousand-year-old sorceress Li-chang began to echo.
The staff floated in front of Long.
Long unconsciously reached out and grasped it. He felt a surge of power rising from within it.
Dreamy said to Long in panic:
"Don't touch it! It will drain your life force if you are not its master!"
But Long picked it up, and nothing happened. He held it as if it were weightless. Dreamy was filled with astonishment.
Mary was shocked by the appearance of the staff. She flew up into the air, then used the same deadly technique again, sending her greatsword flying straight toward Long and Dreamy like a shooting star.
The staff glowed, creating a gigantic blue sphere that enveloped Long and Dreamy. Mary's immensely powerful attack was neutralized in an instant.
Long looked at the staff in admiration. Suddenly, the staff trembled. The blue gem on its head began to glow, and the staff shifted on its own, pointing straight at Mary.
Dreamy tried to stop Long.
"No! Stop!"
But it was too late. In a single second, the staff suddenly unleashed an enormous sphere of energy that shot straight toward Mary. The sky behind her split open, and the dark clouds turned into nothingness in the blink of an eye.
The blue stone on Long's ring cracked, and he lost consciousness, collapsing to the ground.
Mary could only scream in agony. Her emotional bubbles gradually escaped from her body as she struggled to use magic to maintain her life.
She plunged headfirst toward the ground, her flowing hair streaming through the air and leaving behind a long trail of colorful bubbles along the path of her fall.
Mary lay motionless on the ground.
The empress who had once overwhelmed everyone had completely lost the ability to resist after a single strike from that strange staff.
She looked up at the sky of the Dream Realm she had created.
Mary's heart was filled with pain as memories from long ago returned.