The villainous magical girl's daily mission is to find fault.

Chapter 593 Problem-Solving Methods

"Eggshell." "It's an eggshell."

Seeing the broken eggshell fragments scattered on the ground, the three of them did not rush forward. Instead, they kept their distance, afraid of encountering any unforeseen circumstances.

After all, this is the real world, not a dream or illusion from which one can escape at any time. Even though these eggshells have turned into fragments and no longer possess such powerful magic, they still retain magic that can cause the surrounding area to form a weakened cognitive obscuring effect.

"...Its magical fluctuations have completely subsided; let's go take a look."

Inari quickly assessed the remaining magical traces in the pile of fragments, nodded confidently, and stepped forward.

Su Tianqing and Nan Jiayu followed closely behind.

On-site investigation is an indispensable part of intelligence gathering. Su Tianqing was well aware of this, but the recent series of dream image attacks made it impossible for her to think about it. It wasn't until Inari mentioned it that she suddenly realized that she had overlooked such an important intelligence channel.

Hopefully, this belated on-site investigation can make up for the missing information. Su Tianqing thought to herself.

"Inari-san, did you notice anything?"

The golden-haired fox girl walked up to the red-haired fox and peered at the scene before her:

The ground hadn't sunk too deeply, and all the surrounding grass and shrubs were withered and decaying. Even though it was springtime, when vegetation was lush and growing, the inexplicable desolation of this open space was enough to show its difference from its surroundings.

"Currently, I can only observe with the naked eye. Only when I got closer did I realize that the magical energy around here was in a rather absurdly chaotic state."

Inari remained calm and composed, seemingly unfazed by the strange, desolate open space. Instead, she moved closer to the pile of eggshell fragments, wanting to carefully sense the traces of magic remaining on them.

Su Tianqing didn't stop her—

If it were Alice or Tian Nanxing who went up to check, she would probably have already called the cat to pull people out. But the other party happened to be Inari, whose magical expertise was enough to make her the most authoritative person at this moment.

Especially when Su Tianqing got closer and realized that Inari was actually covered by a thin layer of almost imperceptible magical defense, she finally had a more reliable understanding of the magical skills of this veteran from ten years ago.

Inari's total magical power is not much, relying on the magic power of the earth's veins and the sky as a supplement, but her precision in controlling magical power is unmatched, and she can always find a way to maximize the efficiency of magical power.

Cat's mana-saving fighting style was quite similar to Inari's, but Little Fish mainly focuses on melee combat, so they're not in the same category and there's not much to compare.

The red fox bent down, reached out and picked up one of the eggshells, examining it closely in its hand.

After examining it for a moment, she turned and handed the fragment to Xin Yuehu beside her, saying:

"Miss Heart Moon Fox, is this fragment the same as the one you saw in the Dream Imagery?"

"Let me see first."

Su Tianqing reached out and, mimicking Su Tianqing's actions, used magic to protect her fingers, carefully examining the eggshell fragments in her hand.

The black-patterned eggshell doesn't show any resemblance to the eggshells previously assembled by the Hero Association, but its surface texture and thickness are exactly the same as the one found in the dreamlike vision of the card and racing game.

With Su Tianqing's affirmative answer, Daohe then picked up a few more fragments and examined them for a while, even trying to check their translucency against the sunlight.

"...From the surface, it doesn't look much different from a regular winged human eggshell, except that it's a bit bigger and the shell is thicker," Inari muttered to herself.

"But if we look at it from the perspective of magic, then perhaps..."

As she spoke, a spark of magical energy immediately burst forth from Inari's hand as she carefully examined the magical characteristics remaining on the eggshell.

Every object possesses magical characteristics, and even when it is reduced to fragments, these characteristics still reflect a similar state to when it was intact.

Before Inari could even reveal the results of her investigation, the fragment in her hand suddenly burst forth with an even brighter light, and the surface of the eggshell almost instantly became scorching hot. Fortunately, she had a protective spell applied beforehand, so she wasn't burned by the visible temperature.

"It's glowing!" Su Tianqing exclaimed from the side.

"It's not just glowing, it's also very hot."

Inari was also startled by this strange scene, but she quickly calmed down and stopped scanning with magic. The brightness and temperature of the eggshell immediately dropped, returning to the ordinary fragment state it had been in before.

Now Su Tianqing was hesitant to investigate herself, fearing that her powerful and miraculous magical output might destroy the evidence on the spot.

"It's resisting your magical probe," the Hellcat said, its eyes narrowed and its tail curling behind it.

"Yes... [chaotic and disorderly, filled with violence and destruction], that's the feeling the remaining magic on this eggshell gives me," Inari replied.

"In line with our theory, this giant egg is the 'egg' laid by Garuda, forming a magical anchor and hinge that opens a path connecting the astral plane with the mortal world."

"The manifestations of Garuda that have been summarized so far are very similar to this. Perhaps this is the 'essence' that Garuda manifests in the present world?" Su Tianqing tried to offer her analysis.

Inari nodded in agreement, then glanced down at the pile of fragments at her feet. Her fox tail swayed slightly as she pondered, then she said softly:

"If Garuda truly is the embodiment of chaos and disorder, then this is actually a terrible problem for us..."

"Our goal is to destroy Garuda and stop its invasion of the mortal world, but how can we destroy something that is inherently invisible?"

"this……"

Su Tianqing suddenly froze, her fox tail stiffening behind her back, momentarily stunned by Inari's words.

Even during this brief downtime, I suddenly understood something—

An intangible existence. This was Inari's speculation about Garuda's true appearance, which ironically sparked her own reflections on the black-striped giant egg...

"If Garuda itself is formless, then why can its projection manifest in the forms we are familiar with?" Su Tianqing murmured.

This time, Inari suddenly stopped and stood still. The two foxes stared at each other for a long time through the eggshell fragments, until the golden fox felt its eyes were dry and couldn't help but blink. Only then did the two fox tails start swaying in unison again.

"The formless can only cast equally formless shadows, just as a wisp of smoke can only project a blurry shadow. But all the projections we have seen so far have a physical form and can be objectively perceived." Inari's speech quickened, eager to express her innermost thoughts.

"In Mercury's story, the bird that hatched from the broken Black-striped Egg became the source of the black monster. In Sasa's father's story, the Black-striped Egg hatched the eagle-winged man who was loved and recognized by the villagers."

"Affected by the perception of the Black-Striped Giant Egg, Crimson Snow transformed into a pitch-black monster resembling a large bird in Sparrow Village. In the Gate of Fox Virtue, there are a pair of molten gold eyes gazing down at the earth from the sky. In Foxkov, there is a towering spire and a pitch-black dark corridor."

"Then there was that dream of playing cards and racing, and the pitch-black winged beings that hatched in the underground labyrinth..."

"Such a diverse range of abilities, and the fact that those who experience it can clearly perceive its objective form, is no accident. Something must have altered Garuda's manifestation as an intangible entity!"

At this point, Inari suddenly stopped, as if giving the cat and fox a moment to react and think.

Then she slowed her speech, emphasizing each word as she spoke:

"Miss Heart Moon Fox, what were you thinking when you witnessed the giant egg hatching in the underground labyrinth?"

"Or rather, what did you think would hatch from the giant egg?"

As if a thin veil had been lifted, Su Tianqing finally realized what the commonality she had been searching for in her dreamlike visions was:

Cognition. The most fundamental characteristic of magic as it manifests in the mortal world.

"At that time, I was thinking, 'This egg is so big, what could possibly hatch from it?'"

Su Tianqing earnestly expressed her innermost thoughts.

"Will it be a giant bird, a shadow monster, or a form I'm more familiar with?"

"After that, I thought of... Sasha, and her sparrow dad."

Silence. Stillness.

A flock of small birds abandoned in the woods chirped and chattered noisily, and the silence of the desolate clearing remained undiminished.

"Based on this, we can propose a possible theory," Inari finally spoke, breaking the silence. "Garuda cannot directly decide what kind of being will hatch from its giant egg; rather, it is determined by the 'spectators' present during the hatching."

"You believe that the giant egg in the underground labyrinth can hatch into something similar to a winged human, while in Chi Xue's mind, 'a pitch-black monster should hatch from the giant egg.' These two perceptions acted on the giant egg simultaneously, causing it to hatch into a pitch-black winged human influenced by Garuda."

"The fewer the audience, or the less they understand it, the closer it will be to Garuda's inherent 'disorder and chaos'."

"By the same token, when Akashi witnessed the giant egg hatching, she had almost no knowledge of it. However, when she was protected by the Guardian Star in an emergency transformation, she may have subconsciously thought that 'this egg is dangerous.' Therefore, what hatched from that giant egg became a giant bird monster completely controlled by Garuda."

Hearing this, Su Tianqing fully understood the theoretical model constructed by Inari.

But how can we verify it? And how can we use this theoretical model to defeat Garuda?

"The chance to prove it is tonight."

Inari frowned and said...

"The magical girls dispatched to keep watch in various mental worlds can directly witness the disturbances that occur in each mental world tonight, thus locating the position where the 'giant egg' will fall as soon as possible."

"Tonight, we must find and locate the giant egg as soon as possible!"