Chapter 11: The punishment of being torn to pieces

Right!
I’m the class sports rep. Most boys in class can’t outrun me. What’s a few push-ups?
I’ll show you!
Bai Feifei gritted her teeth and began doing push-ups on the ground, her form perfect and her speed fast.
She was catching up to the man, who was struck with panic.
How could a mere student outdo him!
The man, in his thirties, was a programmer at a tech company.
Years of late-night overtime had worn his body down, and he rarely exercised.
How could he compete with Bai Feifei, a lively teenager in her prime?
She was the athletic star boys admired at school.
A balding programmer? Bai Feifei could beat him!
Their counts drew even, and Bai Feifei started to pull ahead.
Panic surged in the man’s heart.
“Feifei, you got this! You’re the best!” Bai Yao cheered from the crowd.
Seeing Bai Feifei surpass the man, Bai Yao breathed a sigh of relief.
Just a little more!
She nearly couldn’t hold back; the magical ring on her left ring finger burned hot.
The game reached a fever pitch, nearing the hundred mark.
Bai Feifei counted silently.
Ninety… ninety-one… ninety-five…
A sudden pain shot through her abdomen as the man stood, glaring at her viciously.
“Why, why!”
“If you won’t let me live, I’ll make you die!”
“The rules don’t say I can’t fight. I’ll break your arms and see how you keep going!”
The man raised his foot to stomp on Bai Feifei’s left hand.
A calm voice rose from the crowd, freezing his movement.
“Stop.”
In that calm voice, Augustus sensed a ripple of magic.
“Who’s there! Who’s ruining my game!”
The black area on his pocket watch was a quarter from full; no one could disrupt his plan at this critical moment!
“Like playing games?”
Dressed in a blood-red, backless, mid-length witch gown, Bai Yao slowly rose into the air from the crowd.
She stepped upward, dark red flames forming spider lilies beneath her snowy jade feet.
“Don’t know if you’ll like my game?”
Pride extended her left hand, a dark red script materializing from flames.
“Puppet theater, curtain up.”
Rustle.
With Pride’s words, the script flipped rapidly to a blank page.
“Some reckless fool dares cause trouble on my turf. Tired of living?”
Augustus whipped out his baton, pointing at Pride to control her.
Cracks appeared on his baton as it aimed at her, igniting in dark red flames.
“How is this possible! This baton rivals a magical girl’s weapon—it can’t be destroyed!”
Augustus was frantic. He’d poured countless efforts and endured hardships to craft it.
This was an extraordinary magical weapon, now burned to ashes?
Unacceptable!
“Crush her! Make her pay!”
The tiger entity leaped high, its gaping maw lunging at Pride.
“I don’t like ferocious kitties.”
A crushing gravitational force slammed the tiger to the ground, the earth cracking instantly, fractures spreading hundreds of meters before stopping.
The tiger spat a mouthful of filthy blood, immobilized under the pressure.
“You…”
“I also don’t like actors in my theater taking initiative.”
Pride didn’t even glance at Augustus, yet he was rendered speechless.
She only looked straight at Bai Feifei, her sister.
Augustus, unable to speak, was shocked.
Who was this woman, wielding such power!
To control him!
He was one of the Tarot Society’s top members!
Though not among the twenty-two Arcana, he was close.
Now he was suppressed, completely immobile!
Impossible! How could such a powerful being exist!
Even an Arcana couldn’t suppress him so effortlessly!
Augustus was baffled, growing fearful.
Could she be a witch?
No!
There were only three known witches!
Lust, Sloth, Greed.
She wasn’t one of them.
A newborn witch?
No, witches appeared out of nowhere.
A newborn witch would cause a stir.
She’s a magical girl!
Iris was stripped of her title through his scheme.
So she’s a new magical girl!
Could a magical girl be this powerful?
No, it must be her ability.
If I break her ability, it’s fine. Such power can’t last long.
Even if she can control me temporarily, she can’t kill me.
I’m a Tarot Society member!
Augustus calmed down, regaining his initial confidence.
Pride remained silent, staring at Bai Feifei.
She saw a surge of magic at Bai Feifei’s chest.
Does Feifei have the potential to be a magical girl?
Pride didn’t dwell on it; potential alone wasn’t enough.
Possessing magic was just the basics.
Now, it was time to deal with the one who bullied her sister.
“This day was clear and bright, a pair of sisters came to the amusement park to unwind. It should’ve been a joyful day, but a masked man ruined it.”
“The man brought a tiger-like pollution entity, sealing the entire amusement park.”
“He forced everyone to play a game: one hundred push-ups. The first to finish could leave alive; the loser would be eaten by the tiger.”
“In the first game, a woman won, and a strong man was eaten, leaving people terrified.”
“The second game involved a girl and a balding middle-aged man.”
“The girl was panicked and didn’t act immediately.”
“Her sister shouted anxiously, and the girl began to move, eventually overtaking the man.”
“The man, furious, attacked the girl, attempting to break her arms to win through violence.”
Pride read the narration calmly, word by word.
The blank page in her script filled with her spoken words.
“The witch named Pride, a beacon of fairness, judges the player who disrupted the game’s environment. She intends to sentence this player to…”
Pride looked at the man, his eyes filled with helplessness, panic, and regret.
“Extreme punishment: death by crushing.”
As her words fell, the man’s body began to crack with the sound of breaking bones.
From limbs to torso, then skull.
He couldn’t move or speak.
The crowd saw only his agonized, flushed face, twisted like a demon’s.
The man died in excruciating pain.