Magical Girl Heavy Dependence

Chapter 102, The Demoness's Banquet

Cheng Chen wiped the paws of the puppy that had just returned from a walk, and then gave the kitten, who was whining sweetly, a can of food.

The washing machine was still humming inside, and outside, the rain was pattering against the window.

He tossed his phone aside, leaned back on the sofa, and then reached for the contact lenses that were in the center of the coffee table, their packaging just opened.

Colored contact lenses are extremely thin, and the faint, subtle magic flowing through them makes one frown.

"This level of craftsmanship?"

Cheng Chen murmured, his expression instantly turning solemn.

The full name of the colored contact lenses is "Immersive Consciousness Network Login Device," commonly known online as "Invitation." It is a special device exclusively sold by the Fairy Dream Group for logging into the virtual platform "Balcony."

In the eyes of most ordinary people, the ball is a highly realistic virtual space that realizes the idea of ​​uploading consciousness to the network and is a great achievement of modern scientific progress.

But from Cheng Chen's perspective, this was actually a manifestation of the fairy and demon's magical skills.

Nanoscale magical patterns are densely engraved in a tiny pair of contact lenses, achieving the feat of transferring consciousness to ordinary people with minimal magical consumption.

While people are having fun at the 'ball,' they are completely unaware that their souls are no longer in their bodies, but have been transported to a distant magical realm.

This is the unique [miracle] belonging only to fairies and demonesses.

Just by observing a small login device, Cheng Chen could clearly see the gap between himself and a true sixth-tier powerhouse.

but……

Cheng Chen's gaze shifted slightly, and next to the colored contact lens packaging, the red eyes on the music box rabbit's face had lit up, emitting an eerie red light.

This is an invitation from the Fairy Demoness; her banquet is today.

Cheng Chen hesitated for only a moment before putting the colored contact lenses on his eyes.

There was a moment of distraction.

His soul was sucked away by the colored contact lens and left his body.

The music box rabbit suddenly opened its mouth and swallowed Cheng Chen, who was suspended in mid-air, whole.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself standing on a lake as clear as a mirror.

The lake was calm and undisturbed, while the maple leaves on the shore were fiery red, swaying gently to the accompaniment of melodious background music.

"A half-demon world?"

Cheng Chen frowned. Just as he landed, hundreds of tiny magical ripples attempted to sweep across his soul.

These spells are not malicious; they are more like a pre-defined program used to register visitors and record the unique soul characteristics of each person.

In simple terms, it involves scanning IP addresses and creating a dedicated account.

Presumably, every user who enters the 'Ball' does the same thing.

"Over the years, how many soul characteristics has the Fairy Demoness collected? Does she intend to create the world?"

Cheng Chen blocked all those ripples.

All services offered to users by the ball are based on the soul. For example, customizing one's appearance, such as wanting to become an orc or Fury, is just a matter of a thought. However, this is not merely replacing the model, but rather changing the frequency of feedback emitted by the soul.

For ordinary users, this method is no different from creating a character in a game. However, once the soul leaves the ball, the appearance will be permanently frozen in the form of the created character.

The physical body will be incompatible with the soul, and the only result will be the dissipation of the soul.

However, the architecture of the "login device" is so ingenious that the colored contact lenses will restore the user's soul before they return to reality.

These small details are enough to show how profound the Fairy Demoness's research on the soul is.

It is not magic from the five major genealogies, nor does it belong to the general realm; rather, it is a more subtle and detailed microscopic level—the fundamental theoretical research of magic.

As a demon princess, she should naturally be ahead of everyone else.

Having already possessed her own "miracle" and perfected it to such an extent, where will she go next?

Putting aside his random thoughts, Cheng Chen looked around.

Because he refused the 'Bal's' scan, his soul remained in its original form. This also meant that he couldn't use the 'Bal's' pre-set procedures to acquire senses such as sight and hearing; the only remaining method was magical perception.

He wasn't worried that the fairy demon would forcibly trap his soul here. After the girls who inherited the hero's weapon were completed, he could let his soul sink into the Heart Wasteland at any time to escape danger.

The first miracle his mentor chose for him was, in a way, a way of protecting him from his most dangerous situation.

"Was everything within your calculations, mentor?"

Cheng Chen thought to himself silently.

He had never witnessed his mentor's "miracle," yet his mentor always seemed to anticipate everything.

He initially guessed it was a time-related spell, but after witnessing another demoness's "miracle," he suddenly realized it wasn't that simple.

The emanating magical energy lingered for a long time before returning from an extremely distant place.

Cheng Chen "saw" the lights guiding the guests, the fish circling beneath the mirror-like lake, and the gentle breeze.

Once he identified the direction, he instantly appeared beneath a massive hexagonal tower.

"Hey, this is so slow."

Leaning against the red-lacquered door of the tower is Yaoguang, a magical girl I've met once before.

She wasn't the person I'd ever seen; she had changed her appearance, donning a golden gauze dress with flowing silk sleeves. Several delicate braids were carefully styled at her temples, adorned with pale gold hairpins, giving her a distinctly ancient charm, though it didn't match her grumpy face at all.

Cheng Chen seemed slightly surprised.

"What are you looking at?"

His attitude remained as arrogant as ever. Yaoguang only glanced at him before pushing open the tower door and walking inside.

"There are no servants to attend to Mother here, only the automated 'Ball' program. I guessed you would refuse to scan, so I was waiting at the door to prevent you from barging in and disrupting Mother's live stream."

Cheng Chen followed behind her, listening casually.

The first half of the sentence was normal, but the second half made him pause.

"Live stream...?"

Cheng Chen blurted it out.

Yaoguang turned around and glared at him with a straight face, pursing her lips: "What? Haven't you ever seen someone do a live stream before? What's the big deal?"

As she finished speaking, the scenery before her eyes suddenly changed.

Originally, countless candles were arranged at varying heights inside the tower, their flickering light illuminating the vermilion beams and pillars, creating a serene and sacred atmosphere. Now, the sky has been opened up, revealing a bright moon that occupies half the sky, reflected in the mirror-like lake.

The lake was filled with a dense crowd, and the reflected moon became a stage, where graceful dancers twirled in the center.

Tens of thousands of spectators were silent, not a single person made a sound, as if everyone was completely absorbed in the dance.

The dancer twirled on her toes, and her skirt instantly bloomed like a white lotus.

Cheng Chen looked up and saw the live stream title and room number still floating in the sky.

After the dance ended, the white-clad dancer gracefully bowed to the audience and left the water stage.

The open sky closed again, and the surrounding scene instantly returned to the sacred tower.

She wore only pure white cotton socks and lightly jumped down from the lotus platform in the tower, walking slowly to the two of them.

"Clap clap clap!"

Yaoguang clapped enthusiastically like a little fangirl, "Mother, you danced so well!"

The woman responded with a polite smile, "Thank you."

At this moment, Cheng Chen finally understood where the incongruity of Yao Guang's appearance came from. From her dress and makeup to her tone of voice, she was imitating the person in front of her.

The fairy-like demoness had long, flowing hair, adorned with a jade hairpin in her hair bun, and ribbons fluttering behind her ears. Her white brocade dress was devoid of any superfluous embellishments, and its graceful movement exuded an otherworldly charm, a perfect blend of aloofness and stunning beauty.

So it was this fairy!

Cheng Chen suddenly realized that in ancient Yincheng, some ancient texts did indeed use the term "fairy" to refer to magical girls.

Upon meeting her today, it's clear she truly deserves the title of "Fairy Demoness".

If only there weren't the projectors from the live stream above my head flooding the chat with comments.

"Thank you everyone for the gifts, thank you all."

The ethereal fairy also rested her hands on the sides of her face while interacting with the comments.

"Hey! Are you stunned?"

Yao Guang's dissatisfaction was evident, and he waved his hand in front of Cheng Chen.

"It's just a simple cognitive bias spell. A dignified fifth-order demon doesn't even understand this? Those mortals can only see their mother's dance, they won't remember her face, and they won't talk about her with anyone."

She said this with obvious displeasure, her lips curling down in a sneer: "A bunch of ants dare to say they're worthy..."

After interacting with the comments, Fairy Demoness walked straight towards Cheng Chen, leaving Yaoguang aside.

She stopped just a few steps in front of Cheng Chen, looked up, her eyes sparkling with a smile, and met his gaze.

A moment later, Cheng Chen's expression changed slightly.

"Did you figure it out?"

The fairy and the demon tilted their heads slightly, their voices clear and melodious.

A moment later, before Cheng Chen could respond, she sighed in disappointment and shook her head gently.

"You are not the person I am looking for."

She raised her hand and waved.

The candles inside the tower receded, creating a large open space. A round mahogany table and four chairs were thus prominently displayed in the center.

The dishes flew in from the horizon, lined up neatly, and were placed on the round table. The teapot automatically filled with tea and, along with three sets of bowls and chopsticks, landed precisely in front of the three people.

And so the so-called dinner party began.

The fairy and the demon princess neither entertained him nor even glanced at him again. She sat down at the table and ate her meal on her own. Before long, her cheeks puffed out, making her look quite adorable.

"What did you figure out?"

Yaoguang asked Cheng Chen.

Cheng Chen ignored her and sat down next to Fairy Demoness.

He realized that the woman in front of him was not human.

She, like the buildings, furniture, candles, and dishes here, was merely a part of the process, a component of the 'ball.' Yet, she also possessed subtle, almost indistinguishable differences from these inanimate objects and processes around her… Cheng Chen couldn't quite pinpoint the exact difference.

There is only one intuition.

His intuition told him that the woman was a fairy or a demon, not an avatar or a puppet.

"What kind of person are you looking for?"

Cheng Chen tentatively initiated the conversation, following up on the other person's seemingly nonsensical words.

The fairy and the demon princess didn't say anything, but just happily ate rice like children.

"Don't waste your energy."

Yaoguang sneered from the chair opposite Cheng Chen, "Your mother and the magical girl you understand are completely different things. Don't try to understand her with your mortal mind. It's useless except to show your stupidity."

Cheng Chen remained calm.

Just then, a flash of light appeared behind the dining table.

"I'm sorry I'm late."

Someone pulled out the last empty chair and sat down to Cheng Chen's left.

The visitor was a magical girl.

To be precise, it's someone who created a life-size replica of the virtual characters from the "ball" to resemble a magical girl.

Cheng Chen happened to recognize this face.

The other person smiled slightly at him: "Senior, it's been a long time."

Magical Girl·Lonely Bird.

Fei Ying's closest partner and comrade-in-arms, co-founder of Yin Fu Entertainment, and also a competitor who voluntarily left the company and took most of the core employees with him to start his own business.

Jiang Fei said that Guwu's company was still in the process of being set up and had not yet officially started operating. Now it seems that the other party's first move was frighteningly large.

"I didn't expect to run into you here," Cheng Chen replied indifferently.

Gu Wu smiled, not putting on airs at all, but instead humbly saying, "I took the initiative to join in. Miss Yao Guang is about to debut as an idol under my Luoxia Entertainment, and I am honored to be her producer."

"After hearing from Miss Yaoguang that Lady Demoness was going to host a banquet for my senior, I shamelessly followed along, hoping to have a chat with him."

Cheng Chen said, "If you want to chat with me, you can directly send an invitation to Yinfu Entertainment. You know the process very well."

"That won't do."

Gu Wu shook his head. "We both know Fei Fei's personality very well. She won't let me be alone with my senior. Besides, the topic I want to talk about has nothing to do with her. If there are outsiders present, and our conversation is interrupted time and time again, my senior will be very annoyed."

"It seems you have a lot of opinions about her."

"After all, I had a huge fight with her when I left the Yin Mansion, and she's probably still angry." Gu Wu sighed indifferently. "I'm not here to talk about her with you, senior. I'm getting straight to the point before the Demoness program is activated."

Program activated.

These words made Cheng Chen frown slightly. He asked, "What do you want to talk about?"

"Senior, have you ever thought about changing jobs?" Gu Wu asked seriously.

"Dig me out?"

Cheng Chen smiled.

"What Yinfu Entertainment can give you, Luoxia Interactive Entertainment can also give you... These are all useless nonsense." Guwu shook his head. "I'll just make a price directly. Luoxia Interactive Entertainment can provide you with fifteen newly recruited pure magical girls every year for your sublimation research."

"No matter what rank these magical girls advance to, they are all your private property, and the company will not interfere. In addition, the company is willing to find those magical girls who are already famous, or even have singularities, to serve you. If you nod now, there is one right here that you can take on directly."

Cheng Chen looked at her, surprised, but made no comment.

He simply commented, "It seems you've investigated me quite thoroughly."

The fact that Gu Wu could say these words means that she already knows that Cheng Chen is using the magical girl's help to achieve spiritual growth.

Ascension is a path for magical girls to transcend the limits of the conventional magic system, and it is not exclusive to mentors.

Even so, the fact that Gu Wu uttered words that even Jiang Fei didn't know was still enough to shock people.

In contrast, Gu Wu's second half of his sentence implied that he had the right to directly give Yao Guang to him to serve, which Cheng Chen ignored.

"My investors have very professional background check companies."

That was all the lone goose could say.

On the other side, the arrogant Yaoguang, upon hearing that Guwu was going to give her away, became as obedient as an ostrich, with not a trace of resistance or refusal in his eyes.

The fairy and the demon princess showed no concern for their 'daughter' and continued eating their meal as if nothing had happened.

Before Cheng Chen could say anything, Gu Wu spoke first.

"The time that Lady Demoness scheduled has arrived. Senior, there's no need to rush to answer me. Please consider it carefully later."

After saying that, she looked at the fairy and the demon princess.

The woman, who had been eating peacefully, suddenly stopped, lowered her head, and slowly became transparent.

At the same time, four or five loli-style miniature fairy demons suddenly appeared from some corner, laughing and running around the dining table, while a more voluptuous and charming mature fairy demon sat down in the seat, replacing the original young girl fairy demon.

"Lady Magi."

The lone goose immediately offered its greetings.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all, dear guests who have traveled from afar."

She gave a polite smile and looked at Cheng Chen.

……