Chapter 4: Chapter 4 : Can't Remove It

"Hah~ mm..."

A yawn heavy with sleepiness and satisfaction echoed in the dim basement nest.

Having slept comfortably all night, Pale stretched like a lazy kitten on the pink little bed, her small body nuzzling against the soft blankets and pile of fluffy dolls.

Back home, looking at the plush toys and various cute decorations she had collected from everywhere, Pale often had the illusion that she was still living in the prosperous era.

'Emmm, if others saw this old lady playing with these things, I'd definitely die of embarrassment…'

Yesterday's exhaustion and torment had left Pale physically and mentally drained—she had fallen asleep almost the moment her head hit the pillow.

However, waking up the next day, the emptiness in her body and the sadness and pain from the depths of her soul constantly reminded her of the reality of yesterday's scheme.

The girl needed to address two problems.

First was being forced to bear the accumulated filth of more than thirty magical girls yesterday. Of course, for Pale this just required time to digest.

Second was the conspicuous and prominent collar around her neck.

But for Pale, these were all minor matters.

As the world's first magical girl, the magic Pale had created and the filth she had endured far exceeded imagination. She had experienced darker moments than this, faced more terrifying enemies than this. These petty tricks seemed to her nothing more than children playing house.

Who would turn against their sisters over a little prank?

Of course, the juniors' butts absolutely had to be spanked.

Pale sat cross-legged on the soft bed, hugging the magic stone that emitted a faint purple glow, her gray-white hair spilling across the bed.

Her fingertips gently touched the black leather collar around her neck, feeling its rough texture and the subtle devouring sensation from the fur inside.

Her slender fingertips lightly tapped on the collar's cold leather, as if recalling something.

"Speaking of which..." Pale slightly tilted her head, a trace of reminiscence flashing in her molten gold eyes.

'When I first invented this magic power suppression core device, the design I made seemed to be a... mm... small and delicate little cage that could just perfectly wrap around the magic core?'

Pale remembered very clearly.

That design's original purpose was to help those newborn magical girls whose magic power was out of control and on the verge of going berserk, gently guiding and restraining their power like a protective cradle.

Pale's fingers explored along the inside of the collar, feeling the continuous, greedy devouring sensation from those tiny fibers.

The girl's brow furrowed slightly.

The touch was wrong... the appearance was also wrong...

A sense of foreboding quietly crept up, but was quickly suppressed by her strong confidence.

This was the confidence and composure of an old-generation magical girl.

'Whatever, doesn't matter what it looks like.' She shook her head, casting aside that trace of doubt. 'Removing this little toy is as easy as turning my hand over.'

Pale took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and concentrated. Magic power micromanipulation was one of her survival skills. Since her own magic power had dried up and she became completely dependent on magic stones, her use and control of every wisp of magic power had reached the pinnacle of perfection.

Nimble magic power became substantial, like a tiny thread probing through the collar's structure.

The magic thread wound through the complex magic circuits inside the collar.

Pale "saw" many familiar runic circuits... that was indeed the basic framework she had designed back then.

The smile at the corner of her mouth deepened—everything was under control.

"The little girl's training is still not up to par. Watch me," even though she was alone, Pale still wore a confident, sunny smile, one hand on her hip, barefoot touching the ground, one finger pointing toward the sky. "Hmph~ Release!"

Buzz!

The collar shook violently!

"Mm! It stopped!" Pale instinctively touched the core on her lower abdomen. The nauseous feeling from the churning filth was still there, but the devouring sensation from the collar was indeed gone.

The girl's heart leaped with joy. 'Success? I knew it! Easy as turning my…'

The smile on Pale's face hadn't had time to fully bloom before it instantly froze...

The anticipated scene of the collar falling off and dispersing into points of light didn't appear...

Pale could feel that the collar's absorption of magic power had almost stopped, but... why was it tightening?

"What... what's happening?!" Her voice carried a hoarseness from being strangled and disbelieving panic. "The... the magic-absorbing function stopped... but... but why is it... strangling me?!"

The pressure grew stronger and stronger, making breathing difficult.

Pale's face turned red from being choked, her large molten gold eyes misty with tears, about to roll back from being strangled.

Safe word!

Right!

When originally designing this magic, she had anticipated emergency response methods in case the magic went berserk and caused irreparable damage.

But... that safe word...

"Ugh... I'll say it, I'll say it..." Pale's lips moved with difficulty, her throat so constricted she could barely make a sound.

The intense suffocation and survival instinct overwhelmed everything! What senior dignity, what sense of shame—to hell with it all!

"Gu..."

"Senior Pale, you are the most handsome and beautiful woman!"

The moment the words fell...

The collar changed from its cold, rigid state to become somewhat softer, and the oppressive feeling pressed against her neck also subtly relaxed just a little bit. Although it was still fastened there, at least... it no longer strangled her to the point of breathlessness.

"Hah... hah... alive... came back to life..." Pale collapsed into the pile of dolls, her chest heaving violently, her whole body soaked in cold sweat.

Damn it, how did she come up with such an outrageous safe word back then.

Pale hooked the collar around her neck with her finger—it was still solid and showed no signs of coming off.

If Pale knew that this collar couldn't be removed purely because it was now a mechanical structure and had nothing to do with magic, she would definitely die of shame and anger.

But the current Pale grew angrier and more aggrieved the more she thought about it!

No way! This grudge must be settled!

Pale jumped up from the bed and pulled out a black pleated short skirt.

The hem was fluffy, swaying slightly with Pale's movements. Combined with the black cloak, it had quite the feel of a medieval witch.

Finally the hat—Pale casually put it on her head. The wide brim cast shadows, covering half her face.

Pocketing the magic stone, Pale decided to go back to the magical girls' base to steal some things to vent her anger.

The door to her dwelling was thrown open by Pale...

A gust of wind mixed with large amounts of sand and dust, carrying the scent of rust and decay, struck her face without warning. It sent her gray-white long hair dancing wildly, her cloak fluttering loudly, nearly knocking her back into the house.

"Cough cough cough!" Pale was caught off guard, choking and coughing repeatedly. She quickly used her arm to cover her nose and mouth, squinting to look outside.

The scene before her eyes made her freeze instantly.

The sky was an oppressive lead-gray color, with heavy clouds like filthy cotton batting hanging low, almost pressing down to the tops of the broken buildings. Fierce winds howled, whipping up yellow sand and unknown black ash that raged through the ruins. Visibility was extremely low, with distant twisted steel frameworks appearing and disappearing in the sandstorm.

The air was thick with heavy sulfur smell, burnt odor, and a nauseating, stagnant mud-like filthy stench. The sand and wind scraped against exposed skin, bringing subtle stinging sensations.

'What the hell... where am I?' Pale instinctively wrapped her cloak tighter, struggling against the fierce wind to take a few steps forward, trying to see the direction clearly.

'Is this still domestic?'

A dull rumbling sound, accompanied by intense magic power shock waves, rippled from deep within the sandstorm.

Pale's heart tightened.

She immediately concentrated, a sharp glint flashing in her molten gold eyes. Her gaze seemed to penetrate through layers of sand and dust, looking toward the base's direction.

'Tsk... really won't let me have peace…'

'Really can't be helped... who told me I'm the senior.'

The girl's feet lightly touched the ground, and moon-white light enveloped her.

The magical girl in black magical dress merged into the sky full of yellow sand.