The one supporting Mai was Long—but he looked completely different.
Long's entire body radiated a strange blue light. He floated in the air, moving effortlessly. His high ponytail had come loose, long strands of hair fluttering in the wind, occasionally whipping upward in rhythm with the blue energy burning around him.
"Are you… okay?" Long asked gently.
Mai blushed, stammering, "I'm fine… but you… you look so different."
Long smiled. "I've assimilated Dreamy's magic, thanks to the abundant EN from your account card."
With that, Long gently placed Mai on the ground, his gaze shifting to the three Dyed-Hair Siblings. Golden Hair immediately sensed the strange change in Long and Dreamy's magical energy. Without hesitation, he ordered the AI Witch to gather all the coding characters into a giant sphere, preparing to bring it crashing down on Long's group. The energy within that sphere was so terrifying it could wipe out an entire neighborhood in the blink of an eye.
But Long did not flinch. Dreamy's eyes glowed bright yellow. A massive cubic barrier, formed from countless shields of light, enveloped the sphere and slowly advanced toward the Dyed-Hair Siblings' group. Suddenly, the barrier vanished—the sphere exploded right where they stood. Platinum Hair quickly erected a wall of vines to shield them, but the force was overwhelming, sending all three flying, crashing to the ground, covered in injuries and completely incapacitated. It was the first time they had witnessed such a solid barrier.
Mai was stunned, filled with both admiration and fear.
*Were these truly the weak Long and Dreamy she had known? Is this your power, Long?*
Just then, Mai's bag chimed with a message notification. She exclaimed:
"Oh my god! He's used up so much EN from my account!"
But more importantly, something shifted in Mai's mind. It was the first time she had witnessed such power. Long and Dreamy were not as weak as she had once thought. They had simply lacked… EN to fully unleash their magic.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, Mrs. Hoa was facing Dung, the leader of Witchiecoop's liquidation team. He possessed a Superior AI Witch named Reddy, which could control fire with extraordinary skill. Mrs. Hoa's ice body, assimilated by Sharky, could not touch him. Each of her blows struck only scorching air, while he stood there, completely unscathed.
Mrs. Hoa began to tire. Dung transformed, his body bursting into flames, taking the form of a man made of fire. She swung her arm to strike, but instantly a flame coiled around it like a fiery red serpent. Wherever the flame crept, the ice melted. The searing pain forced her to pull back. Her arm was torn and burned.
Facing the master of a Superior AI Witch was no easy task.
The two Superior AI Witches, Sharky and Reddy, plunged into fierce combat. The air around them grew stifling, heavy with danger. Surrounding buildings and cliffs had been shattered, debris scattered everywhere as evidence of their terrifying power.
Sharky swung its tail fiercely, causing a giant pillar of ice to erupt from the ground, knocking Reddy away. Reddy spun midair, regaining its balance, then clapped its hands together. Immediately, a petal of fire bloomed on the ground. Then a second. A third. Each fiery petal followed the next, gathering into a giant bud that transformed into a cage of flames, intent on burning Sharky alive.
Sharky roared in pain, thrashing within the inferno. Sharky mustered all its strength and unleashed a fierce ice blast, spewing spears of ice that tore through the fiery petals. The surrounding air filled with mist, obscured by the violent collision.
But Sharky was wounded, its strength gradually waning. Dung walked forward slowly, each step brimming with confidence, toward Mrs. Hoa, who knelt exhausted. His half-smile radiated arrogance.
"Well, do you still want to resist? Perhaps the company has spoiled the nobility too much, making you all unruly…"
"SMACK!"
Long suddenly lunged forward, his entire body blazing with blue energy. His punch landed squarely on Dung's fiery body, sending him flying dozens of meters into a nearby glass pillar, which shattered on impact.
"You… why are you so strong???" Dung gasped, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, his eyes wide with shock. Mrs. Hoa stared at Long, unable to believe this was the same frail boy from moments earlier.
They clashed again. Long's speed was terrifying. He moved so fast that only streaks of blue light were visible, accompanied by sharp "smack" sounds as his punches rained down on Dung from every direction.
Dung screamed, his voice frantic.
"I am fire! No one can touch me! How can you???"
Enraged, he slammed his fist into the ground. A ring of fire erupted, blocking Long's path. But instantly, a blue streak shot forward like an arrow, coiling around Dung's neck and lifting him into the air.
Long looked at him, his voice cold but steady.
"To protect my friends… I can always touch fire."
He hurled Dung to the ground.
On Sharky's side, as Reddy clenched its fire-wreathed fist, preparing to deliver the final blow, a blue shield suddenly appeared. The strike was deflected, and Sharky escaped death by a hair's breadth.
It was Dreamy.
But Reddy—a Superior AI Witch—had extremely sharp magical perception. The moment it sensed Dreamy's unusual aura, it roared, its body swelling enormously. In an instant, Dreamy seemed as small as a toenail beneath Reddy's colossal shadow. Reddy raised its arm, ready to crush both Dreamy and Sharky with a devastating strike.
The sky suddenly blazed with light. Giant blue swords of energy descended, piercing Reddy and pinning its hands and feet in place. A massive blue barrier enveloped Reddy, gradually tightening, forcing it to shrink smaller and smaller… until it transformed into a tiny red monkey, unbelievably cute.
Mai rushed forward to help Mrs. Hoa to her feet. Both were still in shock. It was the first time they had witnessed an AI Witch with such terrifying power—one capable of ending a battle between two Superior AI Witches in the blink of an eye.
Suddenly, a purple sphere exploded.
Fog spread everywhere, shrouding the entire area. The Dyed-Hair gang regained consciousness and hurriedly dragged Dung away.
Long's group did not pursue them. They did not want to escalate the conflict further—and more importantly, the diary was now in their possession.
On the Witchiecoop side, the group climbed aboard the balloon and headed toward Puresight City. Dung wiped the blood from his mouth, his eyes cold, silently vowing to return for revenge.
The battle was over.
Mai quickly opened the message on her device, and her eyes widened. The amount of EN Long had just consumed was staggering.
"Oh my god…" she exclaimed, her voice trembling with worry. "You just used an enormous amount of EN—enough to buy an entire city. How am I supposed to explain this to my father?"
Long looked flustered, the blue light around him gradually fading as his body returned to its usual frail state. He was being very exhausted but gave an awkward smile, feeling both exhilarated and guilty. Unleashing his power so freely for the first time had been thrilling—but he felt bad about draining Mai's EN account.
Mai frowned, both annoyed and anxious. But at least they had secured the diary. She flipped through its pages carefully, checking each one.
"No…" Mai exhaled sharply. The last page had been torn out.
That meant Witchiecoop had discovered Lan's secret.