Qi Yue’an was the first to step into the space, whereupon the surrounding environment underwent an abrupt transformation. A desolate wasteland, strewn with withered vegetation and scattered rocks, stretched endlessly towards the horizon, punctuated by several crumbling ruins. Jagged, mystifying mountain ranges lined the perimeter, occasionally giving way to the gaping maw of a deep rift valley.
Despite the scene’s grandeur, Qi Yue’an sensed an overwhelming pressure emanating from this space, an oppressive force she felt was far more potent than any she had encountered from the previous three demons, even surpassing the monster accompanied by the three-headed whale.
“Hey, hey, are the magical girls around here really so ill-mannered? Can’t you see someone is already hunting?”
A magical girl, her dark brown hair cut short, stood before them, a dagger clutched in her hand. Despite her attire resembling that of a prisoner, a playful, almost mocking, smile played on her lips as she regarded Qi Yue’an.
“I…”
Just as Qi Yue’an prepared to retort, Bai Jin stepped into the space behind her.
“This is our territory,” Bai Jin declared, “and you lot of nobodies barge in? Are we supposed to show you mercy and step aside?”
With a flourish, she drew her colossal sword, and a golden radiance began to engulf her form, its intensity steadily growing.
“Oh?” the other girl mused, her eyes narrowing. “Your little one… it seems she fancies ‘competing’ with me.”
She languidly licked the blade of her dagger before continuing, “I am the ‘Gluttony’ of ‘Greedy Wolf’, known as ‘Prison Guard’. If you intend to snatch prey from a wolf, you must be prepared to face its fangs and claws.”
Bai Jin grimaced in disgust, yet her hands tightened around her sword, her aura turning fiercely aggressive. Qi Yue’an, who had initially intended to intervene, paused abruptly, her gaze drawn to something in the distance.
“I’ve never encountered anything so utterly repulsive,” Bai Jin scoffed. “Licking your own weapon is bad enough, but your mouth is filled with nothing but twisted nonsense…”
The tension between the two factions escalated sharply, threatening to erupt into conflict at any moment. However, in the very next instant, Bai Jin was assailed by a sensation of almost mortal peril, prompting her to swiftly condense her magic into a protective barrier.
“Bang—”
The very next second, a gunshot ripped through the air, and a bullet, emblazoned with fiendish red markings, hurtled towards them. It tore through every layer of the barrier in an instant, hurtling directly for Bai Jin’s temple.
“Clang—”
A long spear intercepted the bullet’s trajectory, and in its wake, countless musical notes materialized in the air, hovering like a vigilant chorus. In the distance, Bai Zhi, her face devoid of emotion, had already drawn her longbow, a terrifyingly sharp arrow nocked and ready to fly.
“Oh dear, everyone, please calm yourselves,” a conciliatory voice interjected. “This child is simply ignorant, and look over there… aren’t there still demons approaching?”
Another figure emerged from the shadows, dressed in a sweeping black robe with a towering pointed hat adorning her head, and a short, wizard-like staff clutched in her hand. She gestured towards a distant point, where, unnoticed until now, a horde of zombie-like figures had begun to appear. Their numbers swelled steadily, converging on their location like a marching army.
While initially merely weak, shambling zombies, these creatures were soon joined by a multitude of grotesque beings that surged forth from beneath the earth. They seemed to be muttering fragmented words like “defend…”, as they charged towards the group with a death-defying fervor.
“Allow me to introduce myself,” she announced. “I am the ‘Greed’ of ‘Greedy Wolf’, ‘Witch’.”
With a flourish of her hand, as if giving a signal, Prison Guard clicked her tongue and swiftly charged into the approaching horde of demons.
A blaring horn, like an alarm, pierced the air. In the distance, a new group of figures emerged, drawing closer.
“Magical Girls?!! Attack! Cover their retreat!” a voice shouted in their own tongue. The approaching group quickly closed the distance, and a lightly armored demon surged forward. Xiyin maintained her vigilant musical notes, then swiftly turned her spear and thrust it forward.
“Ugh—”
Contrary to their expectation of a fearless foe, the demon shrieked in pain. Yet, it did not retreat; instead, it used its entire body to bind Xiyin’s spear, its mouth spewing blood that splattered across the weapon’s shaft.
“You… monsters… don’t think you’ll take another step…”
Xiyin’s face tightened in alarm as she tried to retract her weapon, only to find it firmly bound by the demon. Looking up, she realized that beyond the zombie-like familiars, the other “soldiers” were, in fact, “people” with distinctly human expressions, crude magical energies swirling around them. Furthermore, not far behind them, a long plume of wolf smoke billowed upwards from the “ruins.”
“Tch—”
Without Xiyin realizing, the girl in the prisoner-like attire had appeared beside her. Her target, however, was the demon impaled on the spearhead. With a swift kick, she dislodged it, then, exerting force, plunged her hand directly into its chest, tearing out a bloody, crystal-like object.
“You three… are you actually rookies?” she sneered. “If you don’t pick up the pace, the prey will surely escape.”
As she spoke, her smile stretched almost to her ears, revealing sharp, predatory fangs that seemed no different from a wild beast’s. She then proceeded to sip the crystal, along with the fresh blood clinging to it.
“Furthermore,” she added, “there’s a principle I should impart to you rookies: in a hunt, you either eliminate your competition first, or it’s simply first come, first served.”
The robed figure, too, entered the fray, though she did so with graceful agility, perched atop a broom-like flying device. She deftly evaded and parried all ranged attacks, soaring directly towards the enemy’s rear flank.
Panic and slaughter began to consume the desolate wasteland. Xiyin and Bai Jin stood frozen, stunned by the gruesome reality unfolding before their eyes. A short distance away, Bai Zhi’s face had paled, yet she remained poised to unleash her power, ever vigilant in her role as their protector. Her gaze swept the terrain, searching for the sniper, and indeed, atop a distant mountain peak, she spotted a girl whose eyes gleamed with a touch of wild madness.
This girl possessed hair streaked with shades of grey and red, and her attire exuded a distinctly punk aesthetic, dominated by red and black. She wore a rather revealing leather bustier and shorts, draped with a red jacket adorned with mink fur.
In her hands, she wielded a massive sniper rifle, its design mirroring the punk style of her clothing. Even un-fired and observed from such a distance, the weapon exuded a terrifying, visceral power that sent shivers down one’s spine.
“Huh? Captain, did you just expose yourself like that?”
Prison Guard, who had just pulled out a core to gnaw on, regarded her captain without a hint of urgency on her face.
“They’re merely a bunch of rookies,” the sniper scoffed. “If they can’t even stomach this… they’ve likely never undergone ‘Advancement’, have they?”
She rose to her feet, her gaze sweeping over the scene below.
“Clear this place out,” she commanded. “And… don’t consume too much. We need to stockpile some ‘sustenance’… I have a premonition that the ‘Sacred Object’ is located somewhere within this city.”
The ‘Witch’ continued to soar through the sky, sowing panic like a relentless bomber. She seemed to revel in the chaos, occasionally swooping down to snatch up a seemingly minor demon, only to release it and watch it free-fall.
“And you,” she called out, “stop playing around and finish this quickly. If we linger, and the owner of this space emerges, it will be difficult for us to leave. Should we kill it and allow all these demons to escape, those official hounds will surely fight us to the death.”
As she spoke, she raised her massive sniper rifle, seemingly cocking it. Then, a projectile—a bullet far more potent, perhaps even akin to a cannon shell—streaked across the sky, arcing down to strike precisely where the plume of wolf smoke had risen.
“Three, two, one, bang—”
Following her chilling countdown, an explosion of power utterly beyond the capabilities of a sniper rifle erupted in that spot. A massive mushroom cloud billowed into the air, and the ‘Witch’, unable to retreat far enough, was nearly blown from the sky by the sheer force of the shockwave. Bai Jin, meanwhile, instinctively shielded Xiyin, absorbing the brunt of the blast.
“How truly pathetic,” she remarked with a dismissive air. “We’re rather pressed for time today.”
Casually, she retracted her sniper rifle. Where the ruins had once stood, a colossal crater now gaped. Her gaze flickered towards Bai Zhi’s position, and suddenly, a man-high thorn bush materialized beside her, firing a concentrated beam of light directly at Bai Zhi.
“Thud—”
Bai Zhi rapidly loosed an arrow, which sliced through the incoming beam of light. However, the vast distance between them proved too great; after traveling for hundreds of meters, the arrow’s energy finally dissipated, and it vanished.
The seemingly amiable ‘Witch’ smiled serenely from her broom, yet her words, though delivered with a casual air, sent shivers down their spines. The girl they referred to as Captain observed them. Bai Jin and Xiyin had both regained their composure; one still shimmered with golden light, while the other gathered countless musical notes. Yet, the Captain’s face betrayed not the slightest indication of taking them seriously.
“Dispose of them,” she declared.
As she spoke, three thorn bushes materialized simultaneously, each pulsating with destructive light. At the same moment, a terrifying surge of energy once again coalesced within her sniper rifle, and her voice, tinged with a hint of madness, began to count down.
“Three.”
“Two…”
“Boom—!!!!”
Just as the countdown neared its completion, towering flames erupted, not towards Xiyin and her companions, but fiercely engulfing the mountaintop where the ‘Greedy Wolf’ Captain stood. The furious, jealous inferno instantly sheared off a substantial portion of the peak.
The Captain, having barely evaded the surprise attack, landed a short distance away. She looked up, only to find Qi Yue’an standing, seemingly having appeared from nowhere, to the side and slightly behind her original position.
The sword in Qi Yue’an’s hand, wreathed in flickering purple flames of jealousy, emanated a chilling aura. Her face was utterly devoid of expression, and her silver pupils held nothing but cold, unyielding murderous intent.
“Ha…” Vic chuckled, “I didn’t expect you weren’t all fools. Allow me to introduce myself: I am the ‘Wrath’ of ‘Greedy Wolf’, ‘Ju Yu’, though you may simply call me ‘Vic’.”
Vic brushed the dust from her clothes, and for the first time, a serious glint, along with a hint of provoked battle lust, flickered in her eyes.
“Let them go,” Qi Yue’an stated, her voice carrying a gravitas entirely uncharacteristic of her usual demeanor, “and I’ll spare your life. What do you say?”
The sword, now taller than two grown men, looked strikingly out of place in the hands of the petite girl, who was a head shorter than it, dressed in a black and white gothic-style long dress.
She sensed the other’s aura, but for some inexplicable reason, a flicker of aversion crossed her face the next moment.
“Heh… Compared to an anomaly like you, I find it easier to tolerate fools.”
She did not directly answer Qi Yue’an’s question, instead uttering words that piqued Qi Yue’an’s interest. She had heard this term before, from the monster surrounded by the three-headed whale, and it brought to mind the phrase “Sacred Object.” She couldn’t shake the feeling that these things might be connected.
“Three…”
Vic retreated swiftly, three thorn bushes materializing around her as her form began to turn transparent. Yet, in Qi Yue’an’s eyes, there was none of her usual weakness or hesitation.
She noticed that Vic seemed to count down every time, and with a full-force thrust, Qi Yue’an aimed to directly interrupt her action.
“Bang—who told you I always count down?”
Vic laughed maniacally as a bullet fired at point-blank range. Qi Yue’an dared not relax, pouring all her strength into her longsword. The purple flames of jealousy intensified, almost turning black. Upon contact with the bullet, they rapidly began to corrode it, but after eroding half of its mass, the bullet successfully exploded.
Red and purple flames splattered everywhere, resembling the indiscriminate devastation of an inhumane weapon from a bygone era.
Some of the demons who had escaped the first explosion from underground, bringing their families with them and preparing to retreat, were touched by the purple flames and instantly ignited. The agony, exceeding the limits of life, truly transformed them into irrational monsters. Their struggling humanoid forms disintegrated, turning into grotesque and ugly creatures before they died in torment.
By the time the smoke and dust cleared, the three figures had vanished.
Qi Yue’an quickly rushed towards Xiyin and Bai Jin’s location. Fortunately, they seemed to have taken precautions beforehand; the flames had only consumed some of the magic used to create their barrier, leaving them unharmed.
“Are you alright? There was such a huge commotion between you two just now…”
Xiyin anxiously approached Qi Yue’an. Qi Yue’an’s clothes were now riddled with burn holes from the clash, yet she bore no actual injuries.
Xiyin breathed a sigh of relief, but Qi Yue’an did not immediately calm down. Instead, she quickly circled them, examining them, and only after leading them out of the area and seeing the perfectly intact shopping bag on the ground did she finally relax.
“That’s great, I protected it…”
Qi Yue’an smiled, but before Xiyin could ask anything further, her body suddenly stiffened and she collapsed.
“An’an!”
Xiyin quickly caught her, realizing she had lost consciousness, evidently from expending too much magic at once… Fortunately, she had only fainted and sustained no serious injuries.
She had managed to conceal any fatigue or injury from them until she finally passed out, bravely enduring and recklessly expending magic to maintain a facade of composure. Had the opponents not left when they did, they would have been in grave danger.
“Those lowlifes… I’ll definitely teach them a lesson next time I see them!”
Bai Jin muttered indignantly, her gaze flicking between Qi Yue’an with concern and the surrounding area in frustration, searching for their opponents’ location. Bai Zhi, too, had become uncharacteristically serious.
“Xiyin, I’ll keep watch. Take her home, but remember to take a few detours so as not to reveal its location. And… we should move somewhere else soon.”
With that, she positioned herself behind them.