Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

The next moment, all satellite signals across the United States were simultaneously cut off! Civilian and military alike, all machines that required satellite communication became nothing but scrap metal!

A bright star crashed down from the sky.

Patchouli has already taken action, and now it's her turn.

She watched as the heavy helicopter rapidly transformed in mid-air into a tall, dark gray robot. The hand cannon on its left side was raised, and a barrage of bullets drew bright lines of fire as it hurtled towards her!

The war has begun.

................................................

"The war has begun." Patchouli closed her magic book, which was two-thirds as tall as her, and watched the trajectory of the falling meteor in the sky. If nothing unexpected happened, it would bombard the outskirts of the city in a minute.

Patchouli certainly didn't have the ability to directly strike a satellite in low Earth orbit from the surface. But pulling the satellite down along with its attachments wouldn't be difficult—it would simply be a matter of casting a spell to summon a meteor and then pulling the only satellite that hadn't lost communication down from the sky.

The crucial step has been completed, and there is no longer any need to suppress oneself. Just as Alice can obtain a pseudo-magic furnace by drawing power from the Penglai Sea, the grimoire in her hand can serve the same purpose.

She heard gunshots and explosions in the distance, and figured Alice wouldn't have to worry about taking care of that guy for long. So…

"First of all, we need to take precautions."

[Energy Shield]

[Deflection Field]

[Unwavering willpower]

Immense magical power was drawn upon, materializing into a whirlwind around her body. Invisible energy turbulence protected every part of her body, while beyond the turbulence lay a powerful force field capable of deflecting any high-speed projectiles. Her eyes shimmered with starlight, her gaze unwavering.

Unlike ordinary Decepticons, Soundwave, as Megatron's de facto second-in-command, possesses not only exceptional individual combat skills but also a wealth of Cybertronian secrets. Megatron wouldn't care how many ordinary minions he lost, but losing Soundwave would be an unbearable blow. Therefore, he would inevitably launch a massive war.

"Secondly, it is to avoid accidents."

【The Stream of Life】

[Lightning Reflexes]

[Pre-constructed chanting]

More energy gathered and seeped into her body. Some of it lay dormant in her heart, ready to perform immediate repairs; some entered her neural network to enhance her responsiveness; and the last and largest portion concentrated in her back, preparing for the ritual magic that might be used later.

The news of Sam's resurrection will alarm the Autobots, and knowing the vast amount of knowledge within his mind, they will undoubtedly do everything in their power to protect him, thus drawing them into the war. The United States, having instantly lost all satellite communications and with its territory attacked by aliens, will naturally not turn a blind eye—it must maintain its hegemony, making war unavoidable.

Therefore, a war that will sweep across this continent is imminent. And now is the last calm before the storm.

Patchouli will personally extinguish this peaceful moment.

"Finally... let's add something that suits my personal style."

[Physical Enhancement]

[Further Physical Enhancement]

[Physical Enhancement and Strengthening]

Patchouli clenched her fist gently, feeling a surge of power coursing through her body like a surging river. This feeling of fullness made her feel as if she had returned to the war-torn years of hundreds of years ago, her body and mind instantly adjusting to their perfect limits.

She raised her hand, and a massive magic circle appeared at the tip of her finger. The center of the circle locked onto the trajectory of the falling meteor. The energy equivalent to seven Tomahawk cruise missiles, exploding with a yield of three thousand kilograms, was instantly concentrated into one. Then…

'Boom—Boom—! !!! ! ! ! ! ! The first explosion was like a falling meteor, the second was like a bombardment of energy!

The magic circle in front of her immediately collapsed, and in an instant, a dazzling pillar of light pierced the dark night, illuminating a small mushroom cloud in the direction where the meteor fell.

An invisible yet tangible shockwave swept in, shattering windows of houses near the city's outskirts, followed by countless terrified screams.

No one says that strengthening your physical body means you have to engage in close-quarters combat, right?

..........................................

No one says that magicians must engage in close combat, but that doesn't mean they can't. As the barrage of bullets rained down, a dense net of puppet strings unfolded in front of Alice.

'Soundwave' must have discovered something at the end, so it must have sent some data to the Decepticon army at the moment of its fall. And it is precisely for this reason that 'Dizziness's' first reaction upon seeing Alice was to launch a full-scale attack!

A series of fireballs suddenly exploded in front of the girl. The bullets that had been stopped by the doll strings suddenly shattered at the moment of impact, sending out countless shrapnel fragments specifically designed to kill people. Immediately following this was a powerful shockwave!

The vast cemetery was almost entirely destroyed in an instant, yet Alice remained unharmed. Her figure moved like a leaf in the wind through the chaotic shockwave, her outstretched hand unleashing a close-range attack spell the instant it touched the robot—

Electromagnetic disturbance.

Sparks flew from the robot's body, but its movements remained unimpeded. It swung its mechanical arm in a backhand strike, but the blow only hit a ball of plasma. Meanwhile, Alice had already slid onto its back along the puppet strings, projecting scorching flames from her hands.

Electromagnetic resistance is a common phenomenon, while its weakness in extreme high and low temperatures requires some modification.

Shanghai, give me your magic.

She saw the robot's arm melted by plasma, while the area behind it that had been hit by flames was only slightly blackened.

However, just as she was about to end it all, the 'dizziness' head sensor suddenly flashed, and a large-scale EMP was released by the robot, filling the entire cemetery.

Author's Note:

....................................

Headache

Section Nine: Knowledge is Power!

[This is terrible, they've discovered the weakness of magic.]

Alice pondered in frustration, the information flow disrupted by the electromagnetic pulse preventing her from killing 'Dizziness' immediately. She quickly switched her magic usage, using the magic link between Shanghai and Penglai as her primary power source.

Information magic has many weaknesses, and the fear of information disruption is undoubtedly the most troublesome one. When EMP erupts, the powerful electromagnetic pulse instantly destroys the surrounding information waves, and the plasma ball that Alice is preparing almost explodes due to loss of control.

Of course, she managed to control herself.

She can still use magic and still harness the forces of nature to attack these robots. After all, no matter how much electromagnetic pulses hinder spellcasting, they are not as effective as the apocalyptic environment, and as the controller of information magic, she can still possess some power even in the apocalyptic environment.

However, an obstacle is an obstacle. When the electromagnetic pulse was released, the difficulty of her using magic doubled. Although her body instinctively activated her genetic lock immediately to ensure her combat power, the identified weaknesses were difficult to conceal.

Is that guy called 'Soundwave'? These guys just love causing trouble...

Hopefully, things will go more smoothly with Patchouli.

She pondered, but her hands never stopped moving. Even with the increased difficulty of casting the spell, she could still create multiple plasma balls within seconds to destroy the 'Stun' armor. With just a little more effort, victory would be hers.

However, she did not want a simple victory.

……………………………………………………………

“Simply killing it doesn’t make much sense; what I need is to capture it,” Patchouli muttered to herself. Multiple magic circles appeared behind her, each capable of autonomously projecting a magic cannon equivalent to a thermobaric bomb every three seconds. Supported by the anti-gravity field, her body rose and she sped towards the spot where the meteor had fallen.

Although the previous beam of light was impressive and powerful, she knew it wouldn't kill anyone, at least not 'Soundwave'. She wasn't aiming for a fatal blow; she was hoping to destroy 'Soundwave's' protectors—the miniature giant robots made of its magnetic tapes.

A sonic cannon grazed her ear, lifting a stray strand of hair from her temple—this wasn't a mistake, but rather the result of the sonic cannon being distorted by the deflection field—and she immediately activated the magic circle around her to project a light cannon in retaliation. In an instant, the two sides closed close enough to bring each other into view.

She saw the 'sound wave,' and the 'sound wave' saw her too.

The moment their eyes met, Patchouli and Soundwave knew that words were meaningless to each other, and all that remained was to fight with all their might.

Then, let's fight!

'Soundwave' had missile launchers mounted on its shoulders, and Cybertron's missiles were clearly more advanced than Earth's technology. In a flash, dozens of missiles approached within ten meters of Patchouli—a light screen suddenly appeared, followed by an explosion that created a dust cloud covering nearly a hectare!

[A futile effort]

A whirlwind formed beside Patchouli, transforming into a tornado within half a second, instantly dispersing the dust and grime used to obscure vision. This revealed 'Soundwave's' attempt to conceal itself—Patchouli stretched out her hand, and a massive fireball nearly fifteen meters in diameter suddenly appeared, instantly turning night into day!

In Gensokyo, this move is called [Sun Spell: Royal Flame]. It's a simple spell card that's not very difficult to dodge; you can easily dodge it with a simple twist.

At this moment, it is a miniature sun!

The earth melted, and the two Mini-Gods, who had been concealing themselves and were about to launch a sneak attack on Patchouli, turned into molten iron less than three meters away from her. Almost visibly, 'Soundwave's' armor began to melt, and streams of molten white steel flowed down, clearly on the verge of following in the Mini-Gods' footsteps!

It suddenly opened its mouth and let out a silent roar.

The miniature sun suddenly collapsed, and the electromagnetic pulse released directly from 'Soundwave' disrupted the magic that sustained the Royal Flames. However, even as the magic dissipated, the physical phenomena did not disappear. Endless light and heat burst forth in all directions from the point of impact, with 'Soundwave' and Patchouli bearing the brunt.

That's interesting.

Patchouli thought to herself, but she calmly deployed a black body around herself that was capable of absorbing and devouring all electromagnetic radiation. When the black body was overloaded, the thermal radiation that redefined the order turned into a defensive barrier to protect her. She even had time to prepare the next spell, and she knew that since 'Sound Wave' had acted in this way, its purpose was not suicide.

More energy is gathering...

The instant before the light and heat dissipated and darkness returned, the 'sound waves' hidden behind a makeshift shelter launched all their missiles toward Patchouli's location. The remaining Mini-Golems also attacked Patchouli—they even broke through Patchouli's outermost deflection field, but made no progress against the second layer of energy barrier.

Because the magic cannon pierced through them.

Patchouli's pre-prepared magic circles still had some functional parts, and the magic cannons projected by these circles became the final straw that broke the scales of victory. With the deaths of its last mini-gorillas, Laserbird and Kite-Saw, 'Soundwave' was now completely alone.

Victory was out of the question; the only thing left to do was to run. The moment the missile was intercepted, it turned to flee, but as soon as it started its engines, it found itself unable to move an inch.

[Pre-constructed chanting - activated.]

The ground, which was lava a second ago, cooled instantly, and the flowing magma turned into black stones, on which frosty patches immediately appeared.

Patchouli's voice came from afar.

"There's a Chinatown in this city, which is barely enough to build a concept. After all, I'd rather spend more magic using Eastern magic than deal with things from the Vatican."

Osmanthus petals slipped from her sleeve, freezing the moment they fell.

"Tonight is a full moon, and unfortunately, there are many rabbits here. Finding a cassia tree wouldn't be difficult either. So..."

"There is a palace on the moon, named Guanghan! You shall sleep soundly in the ice—this is the Secret Ritual: Moonfrost. I will obtain what I desire from within your mind."

The 'sound wave's' sensors gradually stopped working; its shell could no longer support its continued operation at the extreme low temperatures. In its last moments of consciousness, it saw a magic book rapidly magnifying in its field of vision.

This is... the weight of knowledge.

Author's Note:

..............................

My head really hurts. I was out running errands this afternoon and spent several hours in the car. I feel dizzy.

Ah... there are still 4 days and 16 hours left on BX... just thinking about it makes my head hurt even more _(:з」∠)_

Chapter 10 - Hello, I am Megatron

Alice didn't have to wait long.

Confusion was the first Decepticon Cybertronian to arrive, and as the sound waves subsided, more enemies would likely join the battle. But she knew she didn't need to wait that long; she could end the fight once the Autobots arrived and the positions of both sides were confirmed.

She quickly spotted a yellow figure in her field of vision.