A Shifting Core

Why was I the subject of that painting?

Hadn’t the Calamity Beast conjured this amusement park by siphoning children’s memories? Yet, I distinctly recalled never falling under its thrall.

Considering that even Sister Wang, an adult, had inexplicably succumbed to the Calamity Beast’s influence, I began to wonder if my presence in this amusement park was no mere accident, but the result of someone’s clandestine machinations.

Despite her reluctance to accept it, Bai Muxue found this conjecture perfectly elucidated all her preceding uncertainties.

But how had I become a target? Was that bat-woman once again pulling the strings? Her timid demeanor, however, hardly suggested the mastermind behind such an elaborate scheme.

Could it be that I had landed on some unnamed empire’s blacklist, prompting them to devise a method to eliminate me?

“Xiaoxue, Xiaoxue?”

Standing beside her, Amber had watched Xiaoxue remain lost in thought, her brow furrowed for nearly five minutes.

Unable to resist, she reached out and waved a hand before the girl’s eyes.

“Hey, hey, are you still with us?”

“Hm?”

Hearing Amber’s voice cut through her reverie, Bai Muxue finally emerged from her daze.

“What is it?”

“Snap out of it, stop daydreaming,” Amber grumbled, her lips forming a slight pout as she let out a soft huff.

“You’ve been utterly peculiar since we arrived… And should you wander off, this young lady certainly won’t be coming to find you!”

“Yes, I know.”

‘If someone truly had their sights set on me, then my brazen presence by Amber’s side would surely endanger her, wouldn’t it?’

Casting a profound glance at the blonde girl, who stood with her arms crossed, Bai Muxue pursed her lips, reining in her turbulent thoughts.

Regardless, as long as they could successfully vanquish this Calamity Beast, every problem would simply fall away, wouldn’t it?

****

Throughout their journey, the two encountered no further anomalies, yet upon successfully traversing the tunnel, they discovered only a narrow path stretching ahead.

Beyond it, the road abruptly ended, as if violently torn asunder, revealing a colossal chasm.

Cautiously, they peered down from the road’s edge, where the Calamity Beast’s translucent, umbrella-shaped head was starkly visible.

Its eerie blue glow, enhanced by the moonlight, exuded a peculiar, haunting beauty, as countless transparent tendrils encircled the entire amusement park.

“Damn it all,” Amber exclaimed, a gasp escaping her lips.

Traversing the ocean tunnel had, astonishingly, led them directly above the Calamity Beast.

During their passage, neither she nor Bai Muxue had perceived any alteration in elevation, completely oblivious to the fact that they had been continuously ascending!

Or, perhaps, was this another facet of the Calamity Beast’s enigmatic powers?

“I’ll approach this monstrous jellyfish from the flank; at this range, its protective barrier might not withstand my bullets.”

Amber, no stranger to confronting Calamity Beasts, quickly regained her composure from the initial shock.

She turned to Bai Muxue, her voice grave.

The Calamity Beast’s colossal size inherently precluded it from being overly agile, a fact that played directly into her advantage.

“Xiaoxue, find a secure hiding spot,” she instructed.

“If anything goes amiss, flee immediately; pay no heed to me.”

Just as Amber prepared to launch herself into the air, her sleeve was firmly clutched by Bai Muxue.

Under Amber’s slightly bewildered gaze, the girl before her averted her eyes, a faint blush dusting her delicate features, as if struggling to articulate something.

“…Be careful.”

After much agonizing hesitation, Bai Muxue, as if steeling herself with a newfound resolve, bit her lip.

She then met Amber’s gaze with clear, determined eyes, enunciating each word carefully.

Amber paused, momentarily taken aback by the unexpected caution.

Then, a slow, confident smile curved her lips as she arched an eyebrow.

“Relax,” she declared, “Haven’t I told you already? This young lady is the strongest magical girl!”

The girl drew her twin revolvers, twirling them deftly between her fingers, before using a muzzle to adjust her slightly askew cowboy hat, ensuring it settled perfectly.

Without another word, Amber bent her knees slightly, then sprang upward with a sudden, powerful leap.

She transformed into a streak of pale golden light, hurtling towards the Calamity Beast below.

…

Gazing at the girl’s delicate, slender back, and her long golden hair, which shimmered like flowing wheat under the radiant moonlight, Bai Muxue found herself momentarily lost in a daze, though she knew not why.

Amber swiftly closed the distance to the Calamity Beast, golden motes of light flashing continuously beneath her feet.

Her beautiful golden eyes remained fixed, locking onto the colossal creature now within arm’s reach.

“This distance… should be fine!”

She had meticulously calculated the force and angle; this single bullet could undoubtedly cleave open the Calamity Beast’s skull—

No sooner had the bullet left the barrel than the invisible barrier, which Amber had encountered before, once again materialized between her and the Calamity Beast.

The brilliant star-shaped projectile, upon impact, burst apart like a firework, its luminous fragments scattering and gradually vanishing into the night sky.

The girl’s probing attack inflicted no tangible damage upon the Calamity Beast, yet it unequivocally seized its attention.

A strange, ship-horn-like wail accompanied the emergence of countless transparent tendrils from its form, which swiftly lunged towards Amber.

“This is precisely what I was waiting for!” Amber declared, a triumphant smirk gracing her lips as she faced the rapidly advancing tendrils with not a hint of fear.

With one hand, she continuously fired, deflecting the attacking tentacles, while with the other, she seized the opportune moment of their recoil to swiftly whip out her riding crop, swinging herself directly onto the Calamity Beast’s massive head.

“At this range, you can’t possibly deploy your barrier, can you?”

Perched atop the Calamity Beast’s head, the girl’s smile widened, as star-shaped bullets erupted in rapid succession, tearing several gaping holes into the creature’s immense skull.

The excruciating pain elicited a guttural roar from the Calamity Beast, as countless transparent, filamentous strands rapidly surged forth, sealing the gaping holes in its body.

It violently thrashed its colossal form, simultaneously launching a fresh barrage of tentacles towards Amber.

Ignoring the Calamity Beast’s frantic struggles, Amber swiftly hurled one chocolate sphere after another from her waist.

These small, dark projectiles detonated the instant they made contact with the creature’s body, provoking a torrent of enraged roars.

“No, this won’t do,” she muttered.

“Even without its barrier, this creature’s regenerative capabilities are proving equally troublesome…”

“Should I transform? Or perhaps…”

Meanwhile, from her vantage point, Bai Muxue, still observing the fierce battle between the Calamity Beast and Amber, clutched the music box to her chest.

A flicker of anxiety and hesitation crossed her delicate features.

“Wait, what is that…?”

The girl, still grappling with her decision, suddenly noticed something and sharply lifted her head.

—As the Calamity Beast, riddled with bullets, thrashed its body attempting to dislodge Amber, deep within its still-unhealed form, a dark, egg-shaped object pulsed with a faint, inauspicious, and sorrowful glow.

“Amber!”

Heedless of the hundred-meter drop below and without a moment to spare for deliberation, Bai Muxue urgently leaned forward.

She yelled towards Amber: “Do you see that black object down there?! That has to be its core!”

Upon hearing this, Amber exhibited not a shred of hesitation.

Without pausing to question how Bai Muxue had made such a discovery, she swiftly reloaded her revolver.

Then, leaping into the air, she fired several rapid shots in the direction Bai Muxue had indicated.

The piercing bullets once more tore through the Calamity Beast’s flesh, yet the dark, ominous egg was no longer in its previous location.

—The Calamity Beast had, through the surging filamentous structures within its body, relocated its core elsewhere.