The Magical Girls were locked in a desperate battle with Arch-demon Mo Jiashi at the television tower. The Serpentine Arch-demon, leveraging its superior stealth and agility, consistently employed hit-and-run tactics, splitting the four Magical Girls to engage them one-on-one.
Scarlet Magical Girl was gravely wounded, and to sustain her life, Emerald Magical Girl had to dedicate the vast majority of her magic to keeping her alive, leaving her unable to assist the other Magical Girls.
The current situation on the battlefield, it was clear, had been meticulously planned by Arch-demon Mo Jiashi.
“Hiss, hehehe~”
This left him facing only two Magical Girls: Magical Girl Grey Moon and Glimmering Yellow Magical Girl. While Grey Moon’s abilities were ineffective against him as an Arch-demon, her physical strength alone was comparable to Magma Demon’s, making her a formidable opponent in close combat. Moreover, she now wielded the Shield of Refusal and bore the damage-reduction talismans provided by Emerald Magical Girl.
If Mo Jiashi were out of his mind, he might have chosen Grey Moon as his initial target. That left only Glimmering Yellow Magical Girl as the easy target.
“Die, Glimmering Yellow Magical Girl!”
Mo Jiashi lunged from the concealing darkness, pouncing at Glimmering Yellow Magical Girl’s back. However, the latter, sensing him with uncanny agility, let out a ‘meow’ and accelerated, luring him into a chase around the stadium.
‘What in the world?’
Mo Jiashi, now revealed, found himself trailing Glimmering Yellow Magical Girl, eating her dust and a volley of bullets, utterly baffled. He prided himself on his agility and stealth; he was an Arch-demon! How could some random Magical Girl on the street run faster than him?
After taking several more bullets, an exasperated Mo Jiashi finally accepted the undeniable truth: he couldn’t match Glimmering Yellow Magical Girl’s speed. This turn of events diverged significantly from his carefully laid plans.
“But in the end, you are still mere insects!”
Grey Moon’s eyes flickered. She watched Mo Jiashi charge directly at her in a fit of rage. With her left hand, she deftly parried his thrusting staff with her small round shield. Her free right hand snatched at his claw, which had simultaneously shot out.
His claw stopped mere centimeters from Magical Girl Grey Moon’s tender cheek.
Mo Jiashi’s green vertical pupils widened, meeting Grey Moon’s emotionless, crimson gaze head-on.
“Hiss~”
Mo Jiashi had intended to flick his tongue out, to provoke Magical Girl Grey Moon, curious to see what kind of captivating expression she would make if he licked her face. But before he could act, Magical Girl Grey Moon aggressively leaned in and delivered a brutal headbutt to the Arch-demon Mo Jiashi. The Serpentine Arch-demon cried out in pain, flying backward. He touched his throbbing forehead, his eyes wide with disbelief.
‘No, how could this Magical Girl be… so ferocious?!’
“Meow~ It’s not good to get distracted during a fight~”
Mo Jiashi heard Glimmering Yellow Magical Girl’s voice behind him, adding to his astonishment. Despite having been sent flying backward, Glimmering Yellow Magical Girl had somehow caught up to him with even greater speed.
“Cough, argh!!”
Mo Jiashi let out a cry of distress. Glimmering Yellow Magical Girl, crouched and ready, pressed the barrel of her gun against his back.
“At this range, I won’t miss~”
Before the screaming Mo Jiashi could react, Glimmering Yellow Magical Girl pulled the trigger. The magic-infused bullet struck him at point-blank range. The violent concussive force and recoil scattered Glimmering Yellow Magical Girl’s tied-up hair. Mo Jiashi shrieked in pain as the bullet slammed into him, propelling him even faster towards Magical Girl Grey Moon.
Grey Moon’s crimson eyes gleamed at the sight.
Mo Jiashi then took another brutal uppercut from Grey Moon’s shield.
“Guwah!!”
With a single shield strike, Grey Moon sent Mo Jiashi soaring into the sky, cracking the ceiling and leaving a trail of smoke and debris. When the smoke cleared, Mo Jiashi had vanished once more, and the air in the stadium became thick with a sense of danger.
Yet, it was Arch-demon Mo Jiashi’s heart, more so than the Magical Girls’ renewed tension, that was now churning with turmoil. Glimmering Yellow Magical Girl was too fast to catch, and Magical Girl Grey Moon was too strong to defeat.
Arch-demon Mo Jiashi felt that the situation had spiraled completely beyond his expectations. Both Glimmering Yellow Magical Girl and Grey Moon’s strengths far exceeded his projections!
‘This isn’t right!!’
As for the remaining one, Emerald Magical Girl, who stood seemingly motionless, full of openings, healing Scarlet Magical Girl? That was even more of a joke! According to Banjao’s records, Emerald Magical Girl was reputedly the second toughest Magical Girl in history, surpassed only by the ancient Magical Girl Empress Yellow, who was said to be the strongest. Emerald Magical Girl was not only inherently tanky, but her abilities also included damage reduction and healing. Such a Magical Girl simply couldn’t be easily killed.
Mo Jiashi had done his homework. The Magma Demon’s previous victory was due to Scarlet Magical Girl, the strongest attacker among the Magical Girl Tri-color, being unable to breach its defenses, allowing for an easy win. But even the clumsy, armored Magma Demon had to pummel Emerald Magical Girl for half an hour before she was noticeably injured.
This meant that, apart from Scarlet Magical Girl being refreshingly inept among the Magical Girl Tri-color, the other two Magical Girls were indeed seasoned veterans who had battled monsters for years.
‘Damn it, damn it, how could this happen?’
Mo Jiashi felt the situation taking a sharp downturn; the battle was far too disadvantageous for him. His plan had been perfect: ambush Scarlet Magical Girl, then kill Glimmering Yellow Magical Girl, deal with Grey Moon, and finally let those Banjao fools slowly deplete Emerald Magical Girl’s stamina before he delivered the killing blow.
But Glimmering Yellow Magical Girl was far more troublesome than he had imagined!
“There, meow.”
‘She can still find me?!’
Mo Jiashi’s eyes widened slightly. Hidden, clinging to the ceiling, he heard the commotion and frantically twisted his body, dodging the incoming bullets. But as he moved in curves across the ceiling, Magical Girl Grey Moon charged straight at him. A flustered Mo Jiashi scrambled across the ceiling like a desperate mouse, letting out a pathetic shriek.
“Aieeee…”
He bolted straight outside, heedless of the several bullets that struck his back, crashing through the television tower’s outer wall.
Grey Moon and Glimmering Yellow Magical Girl immediately gave chase. But as they reached the opening, they heard Arch-demon Mo Jiashi, who had just been fleeing in disarray, laughing maniacally in the sky outside. With a tremor of the earth, countless kind and innocent citizens of C-City below screamed.
A gigantic worm, over a hundred meters in diameter and a thousand meters long, ripped through the streets, flung houses into the air, and twisted countless towering office buildings. It erupted from beneath the earth, soaring into the sky with a thunderous cacophony, like the end of the world. The monstrous beast opened its maw, lined with sharp teeth, large enough to swallow the entire television tower.
Its colossal silhouette blotted out the night sky, its myriad red compound eyes fixed on them. Its sheer size alone would make even those without megalophobia gasp for breath, like an ancient god from beyond the stars, spreading boundless terror. Countless C-City residents, hiding nearby, watching the live broadcast from their beds, shrieked aloud at the sight.
The worm writhed in the sky, hurtling directly towards Magical Girl Grey Moon and her companion.
Mo Jiashi roared with laughter.
“Hahahaha!!”
“Before my adorable little pet, Fatty, die, all of you, die!!”
“Are you insane? There are still so many Banjao combatants in the television tower!”
Glimmering Yellow Magical Girl stood at the breach, completely unfazed, even having the presence of mind to question Mo Jiashi. Mo Jiashi, for his part, declared that it would be better if such inferior beings as humans simply died. Glimmering Yellow Magical Girl was about to retort when she saw Grey Moon launch herself past her, flying straight towards the colossal worm.
“What a dependable junior…”
Glimmering Yellow Magical Girl touched the outer side of her thigh, finding it empty, then looked up with a smile at Magical Girl Grey Moon, who was charging upwards.
“Go, meow! Magical Girl Grey Moon!!”
Glimmering Yellow Magical Girl’s shout echoed the sentiments of many citizens watching the live broadcast from their homes, their eyes glued to the shining silver trail on their screens.
****
As the shadow of the worm monster completely enveloped Grey Moon’s figure, a faint smile touched Grey Moon’s lips. Standing before the colossal worm, larger than humanity’s largest known artificial weapon, the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, a veritable floating fortress, her small, silk-gloved hand gently lifted and then swept down.
“Size? It means nothing.”
For a moment, space itself seemed to fall silent. Magical Girl Grey Moon’s ethereal voice carried clearly to the countless onlookers miles below.
“Impossible—”
Mo Jiashi recoiled in the sky, watching his ultimate trump card, his pet that had once devoured minor realms, freeze in mid-air without even a whimper. All its bodily functions ceased abruptly.
Then, its colossal form began to disintegrate. Its degenerated, thick, stubby worm legs were the first to fall, turning into dust in the sky. Gradually, the thousand-meter-long behemoth shattered, dissolving into a colossal cloud of ash, enough to blanket an entire city layer deep.
The gigantic beast vanished into thin air.
The blue helicopter in the distance, even its most dedicated female reporter, couldn’t utter a single word. Below, citizens, police officers, and even Banjao combatants, all following the battle, bewilderedly reached out to catch the falling ash. It was as if the Godzilla-tier monster that had just erupted from the earth had been nothing but a dream. Yet, the leaning office buildings behind them, the burning streets, and the piercing wails of fire trucks forced everyone to recognize that the fleeting, perilous scene had been no dream. And the sky full of ash-snow falling upon them was undeniably real.
Glimmering Yellow Magical Girl gazed up at Magical Girl Grey Moon’s white lace panties with a look of relief, shaking her head with a hint of helplessness. Watching all this, Mo Jiashi’s eyelids twitched uncontrollably. He shook his head repeatedly, his mind screaming ‘impossible’. What was happening before him clearly exceeded his comprehension. A beast capable of devouring asteroids, a monster that could effortlessly consume an entire city, had been dispatched so easily, so utterly simply!?
‘It can’t be!’
But even the most impossible things had just unfolded before Mo Jiashi’s eyes. Now, he was truly starting to panic. He thought, ‘No, this won’t do. Magical Girl Grey Moon’s power far exceeds what we Arch-demon Council members discussed. If she’s allowed to continue growing… We must gather Arch-demons from all over the world to crush her here!’
‘I must escape!!’
Only one thought remained in Mo Jiashi’s mind: he had to escape! He had to deliver this news to his fellow Arch-demons!