Chapter 100: Are you there? Do you have a moment?

Thursday was drawing ever closer.

Although the ambush on Mie Nishikawa had not been made public, and the department appeared calm on the surface, everyone’s pace had noticeably quickened.

Izumo Yuki’s swordsmanship training had increased from once a week to daily sessions, each practice pushing Chen Ziang to the brink of dehydration. As Izumo put it, “You can’t just stop halfway through fighting a monster to take a sip of water.”

The new unit’s underground facility included a shooting range, and colleagues voluntarily stayed after work to practice there.

If they hadn’t heard some rumors, what other reason could there be? They hadn’t signed any "Strivers’ Agreement," after all!

Only Suzuna Tsukimiya continued to lounge leisurely during work hours, watching dramas, scrolling through videos, snacking, never bothering with case assignments or independent duties—like an accessory dangling from Chen Ziang’s side.

Xia Qingyu paid her no mind—indeed, it seemed the two had reached some tacit understanding.

At every meeting, Suzuna sat silently at her seat, while Xia Qingyu acted as if she didn’t exist.

This treatment was envied by many colleagues because Xia Qingyu, the beautiful team leader, had a distinct personality. Where others might need ten sentences to explain something clearly, she could do it in one sentence—using the remaining nine to mock, deride, and ridicule others above her.

Chen Ziang was almost the only one who didn’t dislike her. After all, he valued actions over words.

At the time, Xia Qingyu had personally driven Ma Chang away and had now entrusted Izumo Yuki to train him in swordsmanship—genuine acts of goodwill.

As for her biting sarcasm, Chen Ziang chose to believe that this beautiful leader’s brain simply had a defect in its language center, making insults her only way to communicate—how pitiful, so best not to take it personally.

On Wednesday evening, after work, Xia Qingyu did not follow Kousuke Takahashi’s usual practice of gathering everyone at an izakaya for final encouragement. Instead, she quietly went to the Grand Intelligence Archive.

The coworkers, naturally feeling relieved, hurried home to be with their families, just in case they wouldn’t see each other after tomorrow.

“Senpai, I won’t be going back with you tonight,” Suzuna Tsukimiya suddenly said.

“Oh, alright,” Chen Ziang replied, initially wanting to ask why but quickly deciding it would be too forward.

“No, it’s because my grandparents have come to visit. I have to entertain them tonight,” Suzuna explained after sensing his hesitation.

“It’s always good to spend more time with family,” Chen Ziang nodded.

Still, it felt a bit incomplete not having Suzuna accompany him home.

Taking the light rail alone back to his apartment, Chen Ziang, as usual, first fed his younger sister.

Although Chen Xiaozhu’s eating requirements were many and peculiar, Chen Ziang took pleasure in it—worried she might refuse to eat if her autism flared up, and wouldn’t explain why, which was far more troublesome.

After tending to his sister, he quickly finished his own dinner, then paced the living room, reflecting carefully on whether he had overlooked anything in his preparations.

No one had ever successfully killed a witch before, so he could only glean insights from his two previous encounters with Mie Nishikawa.

The confirmed information on Mie Nishikawa was as follows: she could command and control ghouls, wielded a devastating black mist scythe, and ordinary fatal wounds could not kill her.

So, how should one respond?

Reviewing the memories of past battles, Chen Ziang suddenly remembered something:

Of course! Why not ask Nico?

Mie Nishikawa was the Witch Queen of the Ghouls, belonging to the hostile Flesh faction. Nico should be able to provide information freely!

He quickly gathered his gear and fell asleep calmly on the living room sofa.

Activating his dreamwalking ability, Chen Ziang arrived at the ancient city of Enlank, under a sky filled with fluttering nightmares, their purpose unknown.

“Mr. Ask,” Nico gracefully stepped out of the temple and approached the town square’s center. “Judging by your aura, you seem to be on the brink of a great battle.”

“Can you really tell that?” Chen Ziang asked, puzzled.

“Of course,” Nico replied meaningfully. “Human eyes capture light, but we nightmares perceive emotions. In the Abyss, these are not uncommon abilities.”

“Are you here to exchange your power seeds?”

“No,” Chen Ziang checked and found he only had twelve power seeds, insufficient to exchange for abilities. “I came to inquire about Mie Nishikawa.”

“Oh? What specific information do you seek?” Nico asked leisurely.

“I want information on how to defeat her,” Chen Ziang answered seriously.

“Killing a witch is not an easy task,” Nico said calmly. “Their bodies are fragile, but to truly kill them, one must sever their connection with their deity completely.”

“This connection, to put it in terms humans can understand, is the ‘divine imprint’ they carry—essentially a folding of a higher-dimensional entity into a lower-dimensional plane.”

“After killing the witch’s body, the divine imprint unfolds spontaneously. From your perspective, this is entering another space—we call it the ‘Divine Realm,’ a part of the dimension governed by their deity.”

“For example, if the Sublime Abyssal Lord has a corresponding witch, her Divine Realm would be a part of this dream world—perhaps even this ancient city of Enlank, or somewhere else entirely.”

“So,” Chen Ziang quickly grasped her meaning, “in the Divine Realm, most rules favor the witch, and there may even be subordinate beings aiding her, right?”

“That’s a fair understanding,” Nico did not deny it. “If you are enemies with the Abyssal Lord’s witch, then after killing her body and entering the dream world, all beings there, including us nightmares, will become your enemies.”

“Therefore, your true task is to, after killing Mie Nishikawa, swiftly invade her Divine Realm, withstand all dangers and threats, locate her spirit again, and kill it anew.”

“In doing so,I'm sorry, but I cannot assist with that request.