Magical Girl Grey Moon.
A mysterious magical girl, whose sudden appearance in C City and astonishing, almost absurd strength, combined with her aloof demeanor, consistently kept her among the top three most discussed topics on the Magical Girl Forum.
Yet, her most legendary feat stood above all others.
It was when the Three Primary Magical Girls, the guardians of C City, found themselves in utter despair, that she alone stepped forward to challenge the Magma Demon, repelling the great demon with her singular power.
Though countless images and a full live broadcast from a helicopter documented the event, these visual records paled in comparison to the sheer awe of witnessing it firsthand.
“How is that possible?”
From the mouth of a narrow alley, Captain 19’s team members watched in stunned silence as the invincible Magma Demon was slowly cornered into desperation by Magical Girl Grey Moon, utterly helpless before its eventual crash.
Countless citizens of C City, too, witnessed the magnificent battle between Magical Girl Grey Moon and the Magma Demon through the helicopter’s real-time broadcast.
Throughout the entire battle, Magical Girl Grey Moon had remained utterly silent, projecting an image of unparalleled aloofness, immense power, and unyielding resolve—a magical girl who would not even cry out in pain when struck.
She was as pure and unquestionable as the luminous moonlight hanging high in the night sky.
“She’s truly magnificent.”
Onboard the helicopter, the female reporter’s eyes gleamed with adoration, utterly captivated by Magical Girl Grey Moon.
“From now on, I’m a dedicated fan of Magical Girl Grey Moon…”
The reporter’s murmured words echoed the sentiments of many across C City at that very moment.
Many immediately pulled out their phones, eager to search for any merchandise or figurines of Magical Girl Grey Moon.
Meanwhile, suspended in mid-air, Magical Girl Grey Moon remained motionless, her emotionless crimson eyes quietly observing the Magma Demon as it plummeted to the ground, triggering an explosion.
Magical Girl Grey Moon had not emerged from this battle unscathed.
Her ceremonial dress now bore the unmistakable signs of conflict; the noble, sacred long gown was tattered and torn, and the fabric ripped across her chest even revealed that the girl wore nothing underneath, though, admittedly, Magical Girl Grey Moon’s modest figure hardly necessitated it.
One side of her split skirt had entirely vanished, and even the high-quality white stockings adorning her thighs had not escaped damage, with ragged holes exposing the smooth, tender skin beneath, her constricted thigh flesh almost bursting forth.
Her delicate, youthful face was slowly succumbing to exhaustion, her eyes struggling to stay open, much like an overworked salaryman after forty-eight sleepless hours.
Below, the streets of C City remained a chaotic maelstrom.
Should Magical Girl Grey Moon simply plummet down, to be discovered by the semi-awakened combatants of the Evil Organization, an unimaginable tragedy would undoubtedly unfold; or, if a powerful monster were to seize her, exploit her to sever her limbs and use her as a breeding ground, cultivating formidable new creatures, the consequences would be truly dire.
To strenuously avert such a catastrophe,
the ground forces of the military were engaged in a desperate urban skirmish with the semi-awakened combatants, holding their breath with every move.
The Three Primary Magical Girls, initially defeated, had replenished their magic and rejoined the fray; now, without their great demon, the semi-awakened forces were being routed by the magical girls, retreating in disarray.
At the mouth of the alley, seeing that the tide had irrevocably turned, the combatants, while admiring their captain’s foresight, collectively proposed a retreat.
“Gah! I never imagined Magical Girl Grey Moon actually had the strength to defeat the Great Demon on her own! Captain, you truly are prescient. Next time we have an operation, I’m definitely going to steer clear of her.”
“That’s right, Captain. While we haven’t suffered any significant losses, let’s head back to base quickly!”
“Hmph. Before I lose my temper and end up killing you all, get back to base, now.”
Captain 19 waved his hand, signaling the other combatants to take the monsters and retreat back into the alley, while he himself stepped out.
Just as his team members looked on, bewildered, the captain pointed to the dark in-ear headset hidden behind his mask, from which the faint, childish voice of a male child could be heard giving instructions.
Being an Evil Organization, the quality of their issued equipment was, admittedly, not exceptional.
“Someone needs to retrieve the Magma Demon’s core.”
“I possess a device that prevents others from detecting me. That’s all there is to it.”
Having offered his explanation, Captain 19 vanished from the sight of all the combatants. The remaining combatants in the alley, seeing this, saluted respectfully in the direction where their captain had disappeared, then retrieved their control devices and carefully guided the two low-level monsters back to base.
****
“This is absolutely ridiculous, utterly ridiculous.”
“Damn it, you wouldn’t even work a donkey this hard, would you?”
The captain, still wearing his Number 19 mask, strolled through the chaotic streets as if he had not a care in the world. He was equipped with an insidious device that rendered him undetectable to others; not only could he walk through a street battle unnoticed, but he could also secretly infiltrate girls’ bathhouses and high school locker rooms on ordinary days.
In short, it was an incredibly useful device.
However, as it was a prototype and exceptionally expensive, he possessed the only unit in the entire organization, and thus, the glorious retrieval mission naturally fell to him.
“I knew accepting a gadget like this from that idiotic woman would bring nothing but bad luck.”
“I never should have been curious about women’s bathhouses; I only snuck in twice, it hasn’t paid for itself at all!!”
“Holy crap…”
Captain 19 gazed up, marveling at Magical Girl Grey Moon suspended in the sky; this formidable individual had left an indelible impression on him.
Just a few days prior, she had raided a clandestine underground exchange, where at least thirty monsters had ganged up on her, only to be instantly annihilated.
Yes, annihilated. Both intermediate and advanced monsters.
All of them, instantly.
From that moment on, Captain 19 knew deep down that such an overpowered being was someone else’s problem to deal with; he, for one, would never dare to engage her.
Even now, despite knowing his device allowed him to walk among humans like a ghost, completely unobserved, much like a certain little green girl with a yellow ribbon and a small black hat,
Magical Girl Grey Moon, floating high above, still filled him with immense pressure.
Finally reaching the site of the Magma Demon’s explosion, Captain 19, in full view of a police officer, lifted the yellow caution tape and walked straight in; as long as he avoided direct physical contact, he remained imperceptible to others.
Regrettably, this very weakness prevented the captain from replicating the various antics seen in ‘The Invisible Man’ series, such as discreetly infiltrating an investigator’s office in the dead of night.
Arriving at the edge of the crater, the Magma Demon’s death explosion had gouged out a pit several tens of meters in diameter, with a central depth exceeding ten meters.
There, at the center, lay a heart-shaped core, a black stone continuously emitting a warm glow.
He breathed a sigh of relief.
At least for now, the police officers were unsure of the core’s properties and dared not act rashly.
Captain 19 lowered his body, hands braced against the ground, and slid down from the crater’s edge, keeping his center of gravity low. As he neared the core, he felt as if someone had placed a small sun directly in front of him and was blowing on it.
This sensation persisted even with his advanced combat suit; were he to shed the suit, a person would likely be rendered unconscious by the heat radiation alone.
Even an athlete would struggle to withstand it.
Yet, even the most formidable core was no match for a containment device specifically designed for it. The captain retrieved a gas-cylinder-like apparatus from behind him, feeling quite pleased, convinced that the mission was proceeding without a hitch.
He reached out to grab it, only to find his hand grasping empty air.
A small, delicate hand appeared in his line of sight, intercepting the core mid-air. Captain 19, without a second thought, was utterly infuriated, lunging forward with a fierce determination to reclaim the stone.
He was an elite captain of the Evil Organization; *he* was the one who took things from others, so how could someone possibly take something from *him*?
If a robber were robbed, how could he ever show his face again?
Captain 19 stumbled forward, successfully snatching the core, but in doing so, he lost his footing and ended up sprawling directly onto the owner of the small hand: Magical Girl Grey Moon.
With one hand clutching Magical Girl Grey Moon’s chest, the captain looked up, only to be struck by the full force of her beauty at such close range, so near that he could clearly discern the faint downy hairs on her cheeks.
The captain choked.
Not because he had never seen such a beautiful girl in the world.
But because he knew, with chilling certainty, that he was about to die.
“Ahaha… well then… what a coincidence, right?”
The captain… was drenched in cold sweat!