The two were instantly drawn into the starry sky without any power to resist.
Hibiscus could indeed have activated time stop at faster speed just now, but she and Nan Zhiyi were in contact—it would probably be futile. Actions can't be faster than consciousness, and that moment's hesitation got her caught, entering a cosmic space.
She had been careless. If this were an enemy, it would definitely be more bad luck than good. Sure enough, the more powerful magic became, the more it belonged to the realm of mechanical oddities—first-encounter kills weren't just for show.
The girl in front floated safely in the air, curiously examining the strange environment. The surroundings were boundless but contained "reference objects" like palm-sized planets.
A miniature universe?
Nan Zhiyi curiously touched a small sun beside her, but it wasn't hot at all—like touching a glass ball.
"Pretty fun, want to try?"
Hibiscus dubiously took the small sun, but it hissed with scorching heat. The intense burning sensation made her instinctively let go. Looking closely, just that instant of contact had melted flesh and even bone disappeared. The girl's face showed no change in color or heartbeat—as expected. As domain magic, it naturally had dangers everywhere. The power was decent—even magical girls with thick skin and tough flesh suffered like this. Ordinary humans would probably burn up completely like being hit by white phosphorus bombs.
Such a horrifying scene nearly scared Nan Zhiyi silly. She froze for a moment, tears welling in her eyes, face full of guilt.
"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to. Even if you want my life it's fine—"
Before she finished speaking, Hibiscus's injured hand rapidly regenerated and returned to normal, finally reminding her that she possessed powerful recovery abilities. A mere burn was nothing to mention. From another angle, this power was quite inadequate—after all, it could only just be activated. The potential was limitless.
"It's fine now? That's good!"
Nan Zhiyi grasped the girl's hand and felt it—tender and smooth, without any trace of injury. How could it look like it had been completely melted just moments before? Too frightening, but fortunately all was well.
"...So what exactly is our situation now?"
She gradually got into the mood, face full of curiosity, determined to master this miraculous power well. Ever since seeing Hibiscus after the college entrance exam, strange things happened one after another, and she was always left out of the loop. This couldn't continue. Dragging her down during the Vanguard Disaster Beast battle was enough to make Nan Zhiyi feel guilty—she couldn't bear the two of them growing apart. If she didn't enter this new environment, there would be another thick barrier between them.
Hibiscus was never ambiguous, explaining magical girl basic concepts concisely, especially magical knowledge that gave her childhood friend a general understanding.
Strongest Domain Magic: Small Universe.
User: Nan Zhiyi.
This type of magic, as the name suggested, often generated a domain that could either be enclosed to increase output or directly projected into reality to enhance ranged destructive power.
Without exaggeration, wherever she stood became home field advantage. Taking Small Universe as an example, Nan Zhiyi, who had been a top student from childhood with a serious personality but lacking imagination, integrated her favorite astronomical knowledge into it. Within the domain, various phenomena centered on celestial bodies could be recreated and used as weapons, just like how she burned Hibiscus earlier.
She shared some intelligence about Small Universe magic that she understood, but halfway through speaking, white cracks appeared everywhere—
Crack!
domain magic's high energy consumption placed extremely high demands on the user's magic power. A rookie magical girl naturally couldn't sustain it. The two felt dizzy and returned to the living room. Regaining gravity felt reassuring, and they exchanged glances with relief.
The boundless cosmic space always gave one a sense of oppression—it felt better after being released.
Nan Zhiyi, who directly bore the ultra-high energy consumption of top-tier magic, immediately felt weak all over, with symptoms identical to Hibiscus—seemingly drowsy but actually in good spirits, just fatigued.
"...I've told you all the key points. Don't let theoretical knowledge control you—the key lies in your understanding and development."
Facing her most trusted friend, Hibiscus naturally didn't stint on guidance. She shared about half the Small Universe-related knowledge mentioned by netizens earlier. The rest was for much later stages and unnecessary to discuss—knowing too much too early could easily overdraw one's comprehension. As for herself, she'd already been led astray by all sorts of strange knowledge, so it didn't matter anymore.
"Strongest domain sounds very impressive."
"I think it's rather chuunibyou."
"How should I use it next to help you?"
Nan Zhiyi's eyes lit up as she clenched her fists, looking eager to try despite having just overextended her magic power.
"First achieve self-protection," Hibiscus said quietly. "Why are the strongest of each magic system called that? Because they possess noble damage immunity mechanisms. In an environment full of sneak attacks, first-encounter kills, and no-rules combat, being able to fight isn't anything special—staying alive to maintain output, not being targeted or stepping on landmines is the real skill. For example, you can minimally activate your domain to use weightlessness to wrap around your body surface. Most physical kinetic attacks become completely useless, and anything exceeding the limit gets automatically digested by the domain."
"If you can activate it in normal state, you'll ignore sneak attacks. Most attacks won't work, and even effective ones will be greatly reduced, leaving room for trial and error."
Hibiscus recalled how netizens revered and crowned certain magics as "strongest"—they were indeed difficult to target with specific attacks. Being unable to ambush was truly strong, forcing direct confrontation, competing in stats and mechanisms. So those keyboard commanders would basically exclude situations like poison and assassination in online debates.
Magical girls with high defense, high health, and high regeneration were already troublesome—adding another layer of magic made them even more tenacious.
The strongest title was well-deserved.
Similarly, Sands of Time also had damage immunity mechanisms. For instance, "pause-only state" kept the body intact without affecting movement—ordinary magic couldn't break through at all.
Easier said than done—this ultra-high-level usage belonged to late-stage operations in the original storyline, quite profound. The effect didn't disappoint the difficulty. After mastering this usage, Hyacinth approached the full strength of the Time Priest. Naturally so—ignoring most attacks certainly allowed for complete recklessness.
"...Why do you know so much when I just awakened magic? According to what you said, you're currently the only complete magical girl."
Nan Zhiyi was always sharp, studious, and thoughtful. In just a few words, she detected that such a massive information source was definitely not simple.
"Knowing is knowing—you can trust me."
"It's not that I don't believe you. I just want to ask...is it safe?"
"Rest assured."
Hibiscus thought the girl should question her, but instead she circled back to worrying about her. Actually, Nan Zhiyi wasn't a warm-hearted person—she even had a trace of coldness. Only toward her did she like to show such caring concern, making it hard to refuse. Precisely because of this, she felt a sense of responsibility—not just considering herself, but also helping her friend. She couldn't fall into tragedy again. This meeting was definitely earlier than the original storyline—everyone had a chance to create more possibilities.
"Aren't you curious about the source of this power? I feel like it has countless connections to Disaster Beasts, and if this continues, the authorities should notice. What then?"
"Do these things matter?" Hibiscus's counter-question left Nan Zhiyi speechless. "It's not that I refuse to think—pondering things you can't control is meaningless. Focus on yourself, train your power, accumulate capital. When you're powerful enough, you won't fear whatever comes to your door. You might even establish order in reverse."
The light in the girl's eyes intensified, her face showing surprise and joy.
"—So you want to use magical girl power as foundation to create a brand new world?"