In this strange world, dragons were divided into two factions: one advocating for balance and order—the Harmony Faction—and the other yearning for destruction and chaos—the Chaos Faction.
There were also neutral dragons, but they seemed almost insignificant compared to these two major forces.
And now, the colossal dragon in the mountains belonged to the Chaos Faction.
In terms of displayed power, it seemed stronger than Tohru, though Tohru had never shown her full strength, so it was hard to say for sure.
But with enough power to obliterate mountain ranges, flattening Japan wouldn't be difficult.
Starting with something this big right off the bat didn't seem quite appropriate.
After some thought, Theresa pushed that bold idea aside for the moment, deciding to stir up some trouble of a different sort instead… like sending a few powerful magical beasts to Earth to make some noise?
That might cause a splash, but it probably wouldn't be a big one… Every country was trying to keep the otherworld under wraps, so maybe it was time to just expose its existence outright.
"I'll stay here. We need someone to coordinate and assist, after all. I might not be much in a fight, but I have my uses in other areas."
Lainer spoke up.
Everyone understood what he meant.
Although Theresa held the highest status among those who'd come to this world, she wasn't a nation herself, nor did she have command over the various experts—many of whom were from America or pro-American factions.
Having Lainer manage things would indeed be more convenient.
"Very well."
Theresa didn't object. If he was willing to stay, even better.
That way, she wouldn't need to find someone else to take the fall; she could just arrange for Lainer to "accidentally" open the gateway to the otherworld for good.
--+--
Meanwhile.
Having smoothly completed two days of Valkyrie training, Kiana and Mei had already become legends in the Valkyrie program.
Their combat records were truly absurd—even the instructors couldn't last more than a few moves against them, and had admitted that both girls were holding back.
In a country and a profession that revered strength above all else, the other Valkyries had already crowned this black-and-white pair as the greatest rookie Valkyries in history.
Without even having Stigmata yet, their physical abilities were this outrageous; once they obtained Stigmata, they'd probably be able to rival magical girls.
Tsukinomori wasn't a place reporters or paparazzi could enter, but rumors spread among the students anyway, eventually leaking the news to the outside world.
Unlike magical girls whose true identities were unknown, Kiana and Mei were people you could actually see and interact with in daily life.
Combined with the fact that Valkyries had never been in the spotlight before, the media cautiously reported on their "greatest rookies" title and received significant attention once again.
Realizing these two had their own appeal, the media immediately focused on digging into their backgrounds.
And what they found was surprising.
Kiana Kaslana, clearly a foreigner, originally lived in a small town in England.
That town had been strangely peaceful and tranquil for years, untouched by magical beasts or evil organizations, but after the girl left, it began experiencing disasters that required magical girls to resolve, just like everywhere else.
Plus, with Tsukinomori students spreading rumors that Kiana had been fighting magical beasts since childhood, both the media and the public naturally assumed Kiana had been the one protecting the town all along.
Unfortunately, the trail ended there. No more details emerged.
How had they gotten this information in such a short time?
It turned out an editor had accidentally seen a foreigner in a bar, looking nostalgic at a newspaper with Kiana's photo.
Curious, the editor asked, and that's how they got the story.
Having fought magical beasts since childhood—this kind of past painted Kiana with a heroic brush, and even some magical girls who frequented social media expressed their surprise and respect on Twitter.
As for Raiden Mei, she seemed somewhat ordinary by comparison, yet still unique.
Due to various confidentiality reasons, those in the know didn't reveal much, only offering a rough outline:
'Once came from a very wealthy family; her father was the chairman of a major corporation. But later, he was framed and imprisoned, then happened to be caught in a terrorist attack while in jail.'
'He remains bedridden and unconscious to this day. If she hadn't met a lifelong friend to stand by her, she might have crumbled under the pressure long ago.'
This drama of a fallen noble daughter, rescued from despair by another girl—of course, those who loved magical girls ate it up.
This was love and hope, friendship and redemption!
Even though no further details were revealed, and no deeper digging was possible—and despite the fact that no major entrepreneur with the surname "Raiden" could be found in Japan—it didn't matter.
With multiple media outlets each offering their own extended imaginations and "reasonable speculations," those who wanted to believe would find their own reasons to convince themselves.
And as for who that "lifelong friend" was… well, nobody was blind. It had to be Kiana!
Later on, someone even leaked that Mei had mentioned "searching for my dad" in conversations with Kiana.
It wasn't hard to imagine that Kiana had left her town because her father had disappeared without a word.
Without parental care and support, this girl had still grown into the bright, righteous person she was now… It was even harder to imagine how she'd managed to earn a living and support herself all alone.
But combining this information—a fallen noble daughter meeting a sunny, struggling girl… netizens declared it a crime against heaven if these two didn't end up together.
As online attention grew, even during commutes to and from school, Amber could feel countless eyes fixed on her. Thankfully, they were just watching, not approaching to speak.
"Haaah… Do magical girls always have to operate under this kind of scrutiny? It's exhausting…"
On the rooftop of Tsukinomori, Amber lay sprawled on the ground, every part of her radiating discomfort.
"You've become a complete celebrity, Kiana-senpai."
Sitting across from her, Togawa Sakiko didn't see this as a bad thing at all. For their band, having initial exposure would undoubtedly speed up their rise to fame.
Having everyone hear their music—that was Sakiko's dream.
"I just want to live in a little world with Mei! Being watched every day feels like exposing your entire life to everyone!"
Amber sat up abruptly, venting her frustration.
"Kiana-senpai… you really can't be apart from Mei-senpai, can you?"
If anyone else had said that, Sakiko would probably have kept her distance.
But… even though they'd only known each other for two or three days, she was already getting used to this white-haired senpai's occasional outrageous remarks.
Was it because she was cute, so even her pervy comments were acceptable?
"Kiana, if you don't eat soon, your food will be completely cold."
The black-haired girl was clearly more accustomed to her words, already able to keep a straight face.
Just as the white-haired girl stood up, about to say something, Wakaba Mutsumi, who had been silent all along, suddenly shifted her expression slightly.
The next moment, screams erupted from the sports field.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.