Crimson Lotus and Unforeseen Forms

[“Energy Explosion! ★Crimson Lotus Burst!”]

The moment Magical Girl Akahoshi, enduring the mortification of her torn clothes, uttered the spell’s name, a vast, crimson magical array instantly materialized beneath Yue Ling’s and Avila Dolly’s feet. Its colossal radius enveloped both sides of the street, even extending to encompass parts of the perimeter walls of nearby residential areas.

‘Employing such a wide-area magical attack in the city… was Magical Girl Akahoshi planning to join the demolition crew?’

Yue Ling mused internally, a sarcastic thought bubbling up, and had it not been for the waves of heat emanating from beneath her feet, she might have indulged in a few more jests. Such a destructive spell, with its lengthy cast time and lack of crowd control, was utterly ineffective against an agile opponent like herself in Yue Ling’s estimation. Despite its expansive reach, escaping its grasp would prove effortless for Yue Ling.

As for Avila Dolly’s predicament? That was hardly Yue Ling’s concern. If Avila could nullify Magical Girl Akahoshi’s magic as she had before, then no harm would befall her. However, if she couldn’t… Yue Ling would then have the distinct pleasure of witnessing her roly-poly doll shell incinerated, finally beholding her true appearance.

‘Would Avila be annihilated? Please, as a cadre member, how could she possibly be killed by a single spell? At the very least, an opponent would need to unleash a finishing move.’

Furthermore, the Commander had assured her after their last meeting that as long as the ‘Evil Core’ within their branch remained intact, cadres like them possessed infinite resurrections.

‘Still… if possible, it was always best to avoid death, for the agony of it was undoubtedly beyond imagination.’

“Avila, little sister, good luck to you~”

Yue Ling, a mischievous grin playing on her lips, patted Avila’s roly-poly doll, then crouched slightly, poised to bolt out of the magical array’s destructive radius. Just as she prepared to spring, a ring of smaller magical arrays unexpectedly shimmered into existence around the perimeter of the colossal array, then, without warning, erupted into towering pillars of fire.

Startled, Yue Ling hastily spun silk threads around herself and a nearby streetlamp, yanking herself back just in the nick of time.

‘This spell… was truly insidious. The outer edge of the main magical array was actually encircled by smaller arrays that didn’t immediately manifest? Tsk, in that case, there was no way to escape unscathed. Should I endure the scorching heat and charge through?’

“Oh my~ Is Big Sister Yue Ling truly so pathetic?”

“Blocked by pillars of fire when trying to flee, now you can only stand there dumbfounded, waiting for death.”

“Truly a nobody, aren’t you ~ Hehe, a nobody, a nobody ~❤️”

“You! Hmph, even if I can’t escape, do you think your clumsy shell will fare any better? Don’t be surprised if not only your roly-poly doll shell is incinerated, but your own clothes are burned away entirely too~”

While Yue Ling was indeed, as Avila Dolly had pointed out, at a loss for an escape route and reduced to merely standing there, she refused to concede so meekly. To surrender to that brat? She would sooner return to her bedroom and be filled by Medusa’s tentacles right now!

“Hehe, Big Sister Yue Ling can keep up her bravado~”

“Let’s see whose clothes are utterly incinerated when the spell fully activates, shall we~ Minnow Big Sister Yue Ling~”

As she finished, Avila Dolly added a few snickering giggles, as if, in her eyes, Yue Ling was already scorched black and practically naked. Such mockery instantly infuriated Yue Ling, causing her to clench her fists, nearly moving to smash open Avila’s roly-poly doll shell.

‘Wait… her roly-poly doll shell? She had managed to nullify Magical Girl Akahoshi’s chains with that shell before, so this time… she probably remained confident in its nullifying capabilities, otherwise she wouldn’t be standing so still. In that case… Hehe, sorry, little sister Avila, but I’ll be borrowing your roly-poly doll for a moment!’

Just as the magical array beneath Yue Ling’s feet was about to erupt in a blaze, she pushed off with both feet, leaping onto the very top of Avila Dolly’s roly-poly doll shell. Clinging to it tightly, she resembled a small cat.

“Boom!”

Magnificent pillars of flame, like colossal dragons awakened from the earth’s depths, surged skyward, tearing an ‘eye of heaven’ directly through the thick cloud cover. The scorching temperatures were potent enough to instantly melt and vaporize everything they enveloped. Even objects outside the spell’s immediate range would be reduced to charcoal and desolate wasteland under such intense heat.

And Magical Girl Akahoshi’s reaction to unleashing such a wide-area destructive spell was…

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry! I accidentally forgot we were in the city!”

“My apologies, my apologies! Once I have sufficient funds, I promise to compensate everyone!”

The Magical Girl pressed her hands together, eyes tightly shut, apologizing profusely and guiltily to the area before her, which was now so charred that its original appearance was unrecognizable. In truth, many of Magical Girl Akahoshi’s spells possessed wide-ranging destructive power, which was why she generally tried to avoid using them in battle. However, this time… she had clearly gotten a little carried away, leading her to unleash ‘Crimson Lotus Burst’.

Facing the street she had ravaged with her magic, Magical Girl Akahoshi genuinely dreaded opening her eyes. Yet… she had to ascertain the status of those two evil cadres! Thus, she had no choice but to force herself to suppress her inner guilt, slowly prying open a sliver of an eye to inspect the area where the spell had been cast.

Before Akahoshi unleashed ‘Crimson Lotus Burst,’ the area had been a flat street; now, it had transformed into a charred crater, as if struck by a meteorite, with embers still flickering at its inner edges. As Magical Girl Akahoshi shifted her gaze to the center of the crater, her eyes immediately widened in astonishment.

“H-how… how is this possible!?”

“That roly-poly doll is completely unscathed!”

“No… it doesn’t even have hair to begin with… No, no, that’s not what I should be concerned about!”

“How did she manage this!?”

And perched atop the roly-poly doll, Yue Ling appeared to be entirely unharmed. She had even… changed back into her form-fitting black battle suit.

“Huuu… haaa… I finally made it through. It was absolutely stifling inside that pillar of flame just now…”

Sweat-drenched, Yue Ling lay sprawled on Avila’s roly-poly doll, panting heavily. Glistening beads of perspiration seeped from every corner of her body, covering her skin and making Yue Ling’s already fair and delicate physique appear even more lustrous. While inside the fiery pillar, she had managed to evade the direct incineration thanks to Avila’s roly-poly doll’s unique properties, yet the intense heat had still left her with the fate of being barely clothed. Had she not been able to summon her battle suit directly onto herself by entering battle mode, she would have been completely exposed to both Avila and Magical Girl Akahoshi by now.

“Big Sister Yue Ling~ Hiding on my shell just to avoid a spell, isn’t that a bit too pathetic~ Now Big Sister Yue Ling is even worse than a minnow~”

“Sh-shut up! I’m merely making reasonable use of your abilities! Children who don’t understand shouldn’t speak nonsense!”

“Oh my? Is that so? Then Big Sister Yue Ling must have finished utilizing them by now, haven’t you? Shouldn’t you come down from my shell?”

“No! There are still embers down there, and I certainly don’t want to burn my feet!”

Watching the two bickering evil cadres, Magical Girl Akahoshi momentarily harbored a suspicion…

‘Were they perhaps playing a trick on her, seeing her as less intelligent?’

“Gulp… If… if even this move is useless, then I’ll have to… No… those other moves would destroy everything here. What should I do, what should I do…?”

Just as Magical Girl Akahoshi was on the verge of tears, frustrated by her inability to harm Avila Dolly and her reluctance to unleash overly destructive magic, Avila Dolly spoke up once more.

“Oh my, oh my? A grand Magical Girl, reduced to tears because she can’t hurt me? Isn’t that a bit too much of a nobody ~❤️ Does such a small fry even deserve to be called a Magical Girl ~”

“Ugh… I… I am not a small fry!”

“And whether or not I deserve the name of Magical Girl is not for you to judge!”

“Hehe, even after all that, you’re still being so stubborn in front of me? How pathetic~ Seeing how pitiful you are, I’ll let you in on a little secret~ Actually, I’m here this time on behalf of another cadre member~ Because that guy made me very unhappy, I won’t be working seriously, and thus won’t make a move against you all. You just need to deal with that Obscure Form, okay~”

“Really? No! You’re an evil cadre! I won’t believe anything you say, and besides…”

At this point, Magical Girl Akahoshi glanced back at Biyu’s situation. Seeing that the colossal slime’s mass had been reduced by more than half, and nearly all the humans it had swallowed were rescued, Magical Girl Akahoshi couldn’t help but smile confidently. She then turned back, her voice filled with renewed vigor, and declared, “I trust Biyu; she will definitely take care of that Obscure Form!”

“Oh my? Is that so?”

Avila Dolly, hidden inside the roly-poly doll, revealed her cute little fangs, chuckled softly, and then snapped her fingers…

Just then, the small slimes that had fallen to the ground, moving aimlessly without conscious thought, suddenly seemed to receive a command. They began to re-aggregate towards the large slime, which had been reduced to an unrecognizable state, causing the colossal slime’s body to gradually regenerate.

If it had merely reverted to its original size and form, that would have been one thing; after all, Magical Girl Biyu could defeat it once, and she could defeat it again. However, after the slime’s recombination this time, it inexplicably grew a pair of cat ears on its head. Furthermore, it developed incredibly muscular, shredded limbs, a powerful torso boasting an eight-pack, and also…

As Magical Girl Biyu, Magical Girl Akahoshi, and the two evil cadres simultaneously lowered their gazes, a blush crept onto all their faces. Yue Ling, being more worldly, had a slightly fainter flush.

“Eek!!!!”

Magical Girl Akahoshi and Magical Girl Biyu simultaneously covered their eyes, their faces beet red as they shrieked, “It, it, it! What is that ridiculously long, strange thing in front of its body?!”