"Phew..."
Shu took a deep breath. Having learned from his previous mistake, he swallowed the water in his mouth, successfully suppressing the overwhelming urge to complain aloud.
He turned his head to look at his three teammates, who were currently recreating various classical paintings of profound existential dread.
"Actually, isn't this technically a good thing?" Shu pointed at the four Judges on the screen, who each possessed vastly different but equally intimidating auras. "At least everyone knows each other. Even though we are using disguises, they should be able to see through them, right?"
"But our disguises are so good..." Kiana's voice sounded incredibly muffled. "The Class Monitor and the others shouldn't be able to tell, right?"
Having had his disguise exposed twice already, Shu silently turned his head and looked at Kiana. His silence spoke volumes.
"Bronya does not believe our disguises are flawless." Bronya immediately understood Shu's meaning, and she shared his sentiment entirely.
Their stigmata projections had been slightly modified by Shu, allowing them to transform their physical appearance into specific avatars.
But aside from Shu, everyone else's disguise relied entirely on manipulating their stigmata projections. To those who were already incredibly familiar with them and their energy signatures, these disguises were only effective against the ignorant audience.
They hadn't even altered their voices much. The moment they opened their mouths on stage, it would take those four Judges a maximum of ten seconds to see through all their aliases.
"They're people we know, so why do I feel even more nervous?" Kiana aggressively rubbed her face, desperately trying to vent her anxiety.
"Because making a fool of yourself in front of strangers is just making a fool of yourself. But if you make a fool of yourself in front of people you know... Bronya will be mocked for the rest of her life." Bronya's eyes looked completely hollow.
She could already perfectly envision the scenario: her inevitable mistakes being recorded, saved, and replayed endlessly for maximum psychological torture.
At least... almost everyone from the orphanage is participating. I won't be suffering alone.
"Alright, alright, stop scaring yourselves." Mei smiled and patted their shoulders. "As long as we do our best, it will be fine. You have to believe in yourselves."
Despite her comforting words, the hands gripping her bass guitar involuntarily tightened their grip.
Just then, the lighting on the stage abruptly shifted.
The brightly lit main stage instantly plunged into darkness, replaced by a profound, mysterious, deep blue hue.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the audience!"
The host's voice echoed out once more. This time, his tone carried an indescribable, frantic excitement, as if the next group taking the stage wasn't a band, but a squad of heroes about to save the world.
"The next group to take the stage is the absolute center of attention!"
"They are young! They are full of vitality! They... carry an unspeakable 'contract'!"
"Let us use our most thunderous applause and loudest screams to welcome tonight's very first contestants—"
"The Magical Girl—Troupe!!"
Following this declaration, the massive LED screen at the center of the stage suddenly lit up.
There were no flashy special effects, no complex transitions. Only a single line of stylized text, shimmering with iridescent light, appeared on the screen.
[Magical Girls of Love and Justice, Reporting In!]
The next second, a chaotic blend of synthesized electronic beats and a cheerful, upbeat melody filled the entire venue like carbonated bubbles.
"Everyone—"
A youthful yet overwhelmingly majestic voice pierced through the layered sound effects, ringing clearly in everyone's ears.
In the center of the stage, a massive magical circle materialized out of thin air. Countless golden points of light converged like a cluster of stars.
At the center of the radiant formation, a petite figure hovered in mid-air.
It was Sirin.
She wore a complex, breathtakingly gorgeous gothic lolita dress. The hem was adorned with motifs of stars and the infinite void. Floating behind her back was a massive, two-toned white and purple... pair of scissors?
Like a solemn empress, she raised her chin slightly. Her pale purple eyes looked down upon the masses with absolute arrogance, as if a true Queen had descended upon the mortal realm.
"Let the world experience the miracle of magic☆!" With a wave of Sirin's hand, an even more massive magical formation expanded into the air above the stage.
"It's love and magic! I... I feel like I'm going to turn to ash!"
"Brother, don't die in the light!"
"Oh my god! Is that Magical Girl Sirin?! She's so beautiful!"
"This aura... I can't breathe!"
The cheers from the audience exploded instantly. The fans in the front rows, completely subjugated by Sirin's overwhelming presence, raised glow sticks bearing the emblem of the Void and screamed her name until their throats were raw.
However, before the wave of heat could subside, a pink figure stumbled out of the smoke on the left side of the stage.
"Ahem—"
Theresa took a deep breath. A lingering trace of reluctance still clung to her.
But I am already on the stage. Theresa Apocalypse is useless to me now! Since I chose this path, I must give it my absolute all and execute it flawlessly!
"Super-Dimensional Scepter that seals the dark powers, unleash your true might once again!"
"The power of miracles turns into stars, the magic of light gathers in my heart...
"Dimension Sonata—
"I'll TeriTeri you up~♡"
In the waiting room, Kiana's eyes bulged as she stared intensely at the Magical Girl on the screen, who was intentionally forcing her voice to pitch higher as she delivered her final line.
"Is that... Auntie?" Kiana muttered, feeling her previously indestructible worldview beginning to crack and crumble.
But the audience in the venue and behind their screens felt entirely different.
"Teriri! It's Teriri!!"
"I remember! I remember it all! I remember sitting in front of the TV watching her shows back in the day! My youth has returned!"
On the other side of the audience, a group of slightly older fans instantly boiled over.
They frantically waved their old, yellowing support banners, tears literally welling up in the corners of their eyes.
Yes! This is the lost youth they thought was gone forever!
Immediately after, amidst the flowerbeds on the right side of the stage, two figures emerged like twin stars into the camera's view.
"Even in the darkness, as long as there is light in your heart..." A young girl wearing a blue-and-white dress and holding a massive scythe prop whispered softly. Her eyes were as gentle as water, yet they radiated a quiet resilience.
"As long as we all work together, there is nothing to fear!"
"Even if there are obstacles ahead, what does it matter to me?!" The other girl, wearing a red-and-black puffy dress, instantly picked up the dialogue. Her aura was the exact opposite of the first girl's, exuding an unrestrained, almost manic wildness.
"Bow your heads to me!"
The two identical faces displayed completely polar-opposite personalities. It felt as if there was a clear, uncrossable boundary between them, yet simultaneously, no distinction at all.
"Seele! Seele! Seele!"
"Frélle! So cute!"
"But I prefer the other one! That unhinged vibe is absolutely perfect!"
"The contrast! The duality! I'm dying!"
Everyone's emotions reached their absolute peak. Every single pair of eyes focused entirely on the spot where the final figure was supposed to appear.
Finally, from the shadows at the back of the stage, a dark figure slowly stepped out under the eager gaze of millions.
Sin Mal was wearing a witch-like outfit featuring a clash of bright yellow and deep purple. She lazily dragged a longsword styled like the minute hand of a clock behind her.
She curled her lips in intense disgust, flashing a mouthful of shark-like teeth that somehow managed to look incredibly endearing. The visible eye drooped lazily, radiating an overwhelming aura of "I am being forced to do this against my will."
Then, facing the completely silent venue, Sin Mal ruthlessly rolled her eyes, raised a hand, turned her face away, and threw up an incredibly half-hearted, sloppy hand-heart toward the audience.
"Tch..."
"Ahhhhhh!! Yes! That's the exact look!"
"My life is complete! I can die with no regrets!"
"This feels so good! Reward me more!"
"Are these people literal perverts?!"