msmithbooks Chapter 592 Summary Analysis and Key Conclusions
Chapter 592 Summary Analysis and Key Conclusions
Let's talk face to face.
The highest level of protocol for handling information among magical girls.
This means that the intelligence is of even higher importance than the confidentiality of the Divine Stone communications, and must be obtained through face-to-face interviews and magical cognitive shielding to ensure that no outsiders know about it.
"A giant egg with black stripes? Did he really say that?"
When Inari first heard the information relayed by Su Tianqing, he was quite surprised and didn't even understand what it was all about.
The red-haired fox girl froze when the words "giant egg" appeared, and her wagging tail stopped swaying.
According to Sasha's father, he and his wife found a giant egg with black markings more than 1 years ago.
"He couldn't describe exactly what the patterns on the eggshell looked like, but judging from the size of the gestures, it was the same size as the giant egg we saw in the dream vision."
"Based on the logic summarized in the dream vision, plus Chi Xue's eyewitness report and Mercury's understanding of the story, powerful monsters will be born from giant eggs of this size. They will attack residents and cause destruction, and they mostly appear in the form of dark shadows."
"Sasha is the only exception."
The lounge was filled with magic used to maintain cognitive shielding, and the surrounding area was covered with shielding runes borrowed from the Astral Library by Inari to prevent any possibility of information leakage.
Su Tianqing took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and then said:
"We once suspected that Sasha was actually Garuda. Rabbit thought that Sasha might be Garuda in disguise, but that idea was too terrifying, so I didn't think about it."
"She can't be Garuda," Inari answered decisively.
"Judging from either magic or other aspects, it doesn't fit the existence of a behemoth; even a projection is unlikely."
"So that means... Sasha is a genuine child 'hatched' from that giant egg, right?" Hellcat said after thinking for a moment.
Inari nodded.
"All the evidence so far points to this. This also explains why Sasha could see Garuda's eyes staring at her from the starry sky, and why she has a much stronger magical talent than other winged people—"
"Since she hatched from a giant egg, she must have a close connection with Garuda on a magical level. Garuda may have used her as a magical anchor in the mortal world, or even as a vessel in the mortal world."
"...Why is Sasha so special?" Hellcat quickly asked, keenly sensing that something was amiss.
Theoretically speaking, each of Garuda's giant eggs is identical in appearance: black patterns, enormous size, and capable of hatching. However, what exactly hatches is a question mark, but in most cases, it is mainly a "chaotic and destructive monster".
Why does he behave perfectly normally in front of Sasha, even appearing to be an owl-winged human, exactly like the race of the modern world?
"How about we capture Sasha, draw her blood, and do some research?" Xin Yuehu proposed a suggestion that was very villainous.
"This is the only one that won't do." Without even thinking, Inari decisively rejected this idea that sounded very unreliable.
"But since we want to unravel Sasha's true background and those inexplicable mysteries surrounding her, wouldn't it be better for you, Inari, to have direct contact with her?" Su Tianqing said suspiciously.
"I don't know if you remember when Miss Dandelion was dragged into the Dream Image. If she rashly made contact with Sasha with a purpose, it might attract extra attention from Garuda. No one knows what will happen."
Inari's words silenced Su Tianqing. She opened her mouth slightly, squinted her eyes, and pondered, instantly realizing something.
I overlooked the fact that it is a dandelion.
The illusion she was caught in was a rural town. In fact, she was the first person to be dragged into the illusion. If Chi Xue hadn't seized the opportunity to rescue her, Su Tianqing couldn't imagine how she could have escaped from that illusion as a support character.
Looking back now, why was I dragged into the dreamlike vision as a dandelion? Why didn't I transform in reality when I was pulled in?
I did have a heart-to-heart talk with Sasha back then. Perhaps it was after that Sasha "paid attention" to the existence of the magical girl Dandelion that Garuda was able to influence me.
Furthermore, "Dandelion" and "Heart Moon Fox" are actually the same person. Not to mention, she possesses the Secret Scripture, which is even more mysterious than Garuda. So, at that time, she couldn't distinguish between the two and was able to enter the Illusionary Dreamscape under such special circumstances? This is the most reasonable guess that Su Tianqing can give so far.
I wonder which dream image Garuda will choose as the invasion node tonight, and which magical girls Sasha will pay attention to today?
But whoever it is, they must do that thing—
Thinking of this, Xin Yuehu frowned, her eyes flashing with the same anger she felt when she witnessed Sasha crying in the mutual aid society.
Garuda has harmed countless people in a cruel and despicable way. After understanding its true nature, I will definitely find a way to completely eliminate it.
"Sigh... Now that things have come to this, we can only wait for the investigation results tonight before making any further plans." Suppressing her anger, Su Tianqing sighed and said.
"Let's put this on hold for now. My intuition tells me that Sasha might be the most important key to our fight against Garuda, so we need to pay more attention to her." Inari seemed to have noticed Shingetsuko's anger, but didn't say it directly. She just nodded and said.
"I think so too," Su Tianqing agreed.
The two foxes reached an agreement, their tails swaying in unison, and began to discuss the second topic.
"Based on the experiment conducted last night before the unfolding of the dream imagery, it can be basically confirmed that 'Sasha's attention' is directly related to Garuda's selection of victims."
Su Tianqing said,
"But so far, all victims have experienced involuntary transformations when they were dragged into the dream world, and these transformations were uncontrollable."
"This can be explained as the protective effect of the guardian star on the magical girls themselves," Inari explained.
"The Guardian Star will protect the magical girl's personal safety in the safest way. In extreme situations, it will actively facilitate the magical girl's transformation to avoid danger. Many people have experienced this."
"I see... If that's the case, Garuda's malice towards the victims is really strong, even the Guardian Star can't stand it." Su Tianqing couldn't help but complain.
"After all, it's a colossal astral beast. The Guardian Star has never experienced anything like this before." Inari smiled slightly, and the atmosphere eased considerably.
The discussion on this topic was quick, as it was just about explaining the situation last night and the follow-up arrangements. It was far less serious and tense than the first topic. The atmosphere in the lounge, which had been temporarily converted into a meeting room, was harmonious, and even familiars had brought tea.
With tea, snacks, drinks, and cookies, the conversation gradually became relaxed and comfortable.
They even discussed tourist attractions in Chengdu—when Su Tianqing saw Inari's childlike joyful expression, she suddenly realized that she was actually a character who had jumped directly from ten years ago.
In ten years, in this rapidly developing era, how many wonderful things did Inari miss out on that a girl of her age could have known?
As they chatted, and noticing that there was still a long time before tonight's official operation, Inari suddenly leaned forward and said to the cat and fox in front of her:
"Speaking of which, Miss Xinyuehu."
"uh-huh?"
"Now that Chi Xue has confirmed and banished one of Garuda's projected avatars, have you gone to check out that destroyed Sparrow Town?"
"That place... I've never been there before." Su Tianqing and Nan Jiayu exchanged a glance and shook their heads at the same time, their cat tails and fox tails swaying twice at almost the same frequency.
"Since we still have so much time this afternoon, why don't we go take a look at the ruins of that small town? Maybe we can find some overlooked clues. What do you think?"
Upon hearing Inari's words, Su Tianqing practically slapped her thigh and stood up, causing the catgirl next to her to let out a howl.
Genius! Absolutely a genius idea!
No wonder everyone says that Ms. Inari is a genius. Look at her ability to make connections. How come no one has thought to investigate the origin of the whole thing?
They act on their words and leave without hesitation.
After determining the geographical coordinates of Sparrow Town, the three arrived at the fixed teleportation magic in the villain's rooftop hall. Even Inari couldn't help but admire Su Tianqing's profound mastery of teleportation magic.
Su Tianqing confidently puffed out her flat fox-like chest.
This fox may not be good at much else, but it excels at escaping and traveling. Especially after being nearly defeated by Hyacinth's onslaught last time, it has been researching various uses of teleportation magic and has even developed an automatic emergency teleportation technique before the main body is about to be attacked.
The teleportation magic flashed and disappeared in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, the three of them appeared in the sky above a small mountain town thousands of miles away.
"We're here, this is it."
While concealing the aftershocks of the teleportation magic, Su Tianqing looked down at her feet. What she looked at startled all three of them:
If I hadn't seen the photos taken by the Hero Association beforehand, I would never have imagined that a small town could be destroyed to this extent, and the on-site investigation was even more shocking—
All the buildings in the town collapsed and burned. Although the streets have been cleared to facilitate the entry of construction machinery for demolition and search and rescue, more than a month has passed, and the ruins of this town, where almost no one survived, have been completely abandoned.
"How could... how could they have destroyed this place like this..." Su Tianqing clenched her fists, her anger rising even higher.
"Ms. Inari, this place is already in such a state, is it really possible for us to find any clues?"
"...Inari?"
After calling out once, Su Tianqing did not hear a response from Inari, so she quickly called out again and turned to look at the red-haired fox girl beside her.
She raised her wand and gathered magic power, which drew an extremely complex three-dimensional barrier around her, sweeping across the ruins as if she were carefully searching for something.
"According to the recollection report provided by Akashi this morning, she witnessed the hatching of another giant egg here, which is the same shadow monster that attacked this town."
Inari murmured, her gaze gradually locking onto a certain direction.
As Su Tianqing followed her gaze, she felt a strange sense of dizziness—the forest gave her a strange feeling of unease, but when she looked closely, she couldn't see anything, as if it was just her imagination.
An illusion? Magic never creates illusions.
With another wave of her Inari wand, all the barriers and magic converged around her, forming a massive magical light screen that displayed a scene that would make Su Tianqing gasp in astonishment:
A withered meadow in the woods.
And those countless broken black-patterned eggshells.