Solar Beam Blunder

(Bai Ziye)

I stood atop a towering tree, observing the battlefield. When the dense foliage blocked my view, I checked the live feed on my tablet—the drones trailing the fight were proving to be quite convenient.

Sailuno, her magic reserves full, had created a gargantuan bubble hundreds of meters in diameter, comparable in size to a massive radio telescope. Though it didn’t quite block out the sun, the sight of it was awe-inspiring.

Was this the result of her going all out?

It was truly exaggerated. Combining it with what she had shouted over the comms… “The ace in the hole is the sun.”

If I wasn’t mistaken, she had turned the bubble into a giant convex lens.

As expected, the floating sphere began to shift its shape. Through the refraction on its surface, it focused the midsummer sunlight into a single, lethal point—the target being that gnarled stump-monster sitting on the ridge. I had never seen a more grotesque-looking creature.

The temperature at that focal point would be unbearable even for me. The stump-monster, realization dawning on its wooden face, tried to retreat into the shadows of the forest…

Wait! Something was wrong. Today was a scorching forty degrees Celsius. Using a giant magnifying glass to start a fire in a dry mountain forest?

“Wait! Sailuno!” Realizing the imminent disaster, I grabbed my earpiece and shouted for her to stop. “You’ll start a forest fire! Cut it out!”

“Huh?”

But it was too late. The focused sunlight formed a concentrated beam that, directed by Sailuno, swept along the ridge toward the monster. Even with my eyes closed, I could feel the blistering heat and blinding brightness.

How do you block intangible sunlight? The stump-monster could only dodge sideways like a rolling log. But since it was standing on the mountain steps, it ended up tumbling clumsily down the path.

That wasn’t the main issue. The scorching beam had swept across the forest line. The bone-dry trees caught fire instantly. I could already smell the acrid stench of burning pine.

“Oh no! Damn it!” Sailuno cried out. She realized she had messed up. If this fire spread, the entire Changyue Lake Park would be reduced to ash.

“I’ll handle the monster,” I said into the comms. “You try to put out the fire.”

“How am I supposed to… I mean, I’ll try!” Her voice was wavering.

She had finally developed a powerful offensive skill, only for its first use to cause a disaster while the target escaped. The psychological blow was severe. Her hard-won fighting spirit was on the verge of being extinguished.

That wouldn’t do.

“No,” Yang Yan’s voice cut in, sharp and authoritative. She was actually scolding me. “Both the monster and the forest fire need to be dealt with by Sailuno.”

“Miss Miluno, you are a bodyguard, not a babysitter,” Yang Yan continued. “Your job is only to ensure her safety, not to clean up after her messes.”

Killing that stupid stump would be trivial. I could probably kick it into a pile of firewood in seconds. But if I did, I would rob Sailuno of the chance to atone for her mistake. This incident would haunt her forever if she didn’t fix it herself. In the end, Yang Yan was being more considerate of Sailuno’s growth than I was.

“Understood,” I replied. “Sailuno, handle the monster and the fire.”

“I… I’ll try my best!”

“Not ‘try,’ but ‘as soon as possible’!” Yang Yan barked. “The Association has already contacted the fire department. Once you take down the monster, the firefighters can move in. The faster you deal with that stump, the sooner the fire can be controlled!”

Yang Yan, lying motionless in her hospital bed, was surprisingly high-spirited. She was the perfect armchair commander—strict, loud, and demanding. She was far better suited for this role than I was.

“The tracking drone was knocked down by the branches… I can’t find the monster!” Sailuno fell back into a panic.

The stump-monster, with its natural camouflage, was like a camouflaged guerrilla sniper in the forest. Locating it again would be no easy feat.

“And it’s actually trying to survive?” Yang Yan cursed. “Stupid coward. It’s stalling, waiting for the fire to spread so we have to ignore it. Watch out! Sonic Boom is here!”

From the slope, I looked down toward the park entrance. A magical girl wearing sunglasses roared in on a black heavy motorcycle. She wore a light, frilly dress of blue and white, and her short hair was a vibrant aqua blue. Despite the magical girl attire, she looked like a delinquent about to start a brawl.

She glanced at the smoke, then pulled her weapon from her back: a uniquely shaped, high-tech megaphone.

“Setting fire to the mountain?! Straight to jail with ya!” Her voice was thunderous, clearly audible even from this distance.

“What’s her nickname?” I asked.

“Loudspeaker,” Yang Yan replied.

“I figured.”

Unlike the famous “Steel Dragon” Metal, this “Loudspeaker” Sonic Boom hadn’t left much of an impression on me previously. I jumped down from the tree and intercepted her on the path.

“I… I found it!” Sailuno’s voice came through the comms with a note of triumph. “There’s no wind today, but those trees over there are moving!”

“Wait!” Yang Yan reminded her. “You can only track it from the peak. If you run down now, you’ll lose your bearings in the smoke.”

Sailuno created another bubble as a beacon in the air, while Yang Yan coordinated with the Association to send a new drone for an overhead view. Meanwhile, I reached Sonic Boom.

“Oh! Miluno! I know you!” Sonic Boom shouted. Despite her pretty appearance, her rough accent shattered the “idol” image.

“Can you control the forest fire?” I asked.

“My magic can put out any fire!” She patted her megaphone proudly. “With sound!”

Putting out fires with sound was a new concept to me, but we didn’t have time to be picky. I stepped behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist.

“Huh? Wait, big sister! Why you grabbin’ me all of a sudden?!”

“I’m taking you up the mountain!” I accelerated my time flow.

****

(Sun Yao)

Big trouble.

The focused sunlight from that hundreds-meter-wide lens was more powerful than I had imagined. A single sweep had left a charred path of total destruction. Trees that weren’t even hit directly burst into flames from the ambient heat.

This “Solar Beam” had to be over a thousand degrees.

The raw power was incredible, but it was a nightmare to control. A tiny adjustment to the lens-bubble could drag a twenty-meter-long line of fire across the mountain. And the brightness made it impossible to keep my eyes open.

“Sailuno! It realized it’s been spotted! It’s moving again!”

“Why did they send such a cowardly monster?!” I grumbled.

Two old trees ahead bent their trunks, sweeping their branches across the ground to block me. They stayed still, maintaining a barrier. Unable to break through their reinforced bark, I had to detour around them.

The fact that the trees were staying still meant the stump-monster had uprooted itself to run. Once it moved, the new drones were able to lock onto it.

“It’s determined to stall. It’s right ahead of you!”

“I see it!”

With its clumsy, gnarled root-legs, the stump-monster scurried desperately through the underbrush. But now that it was in my line of sight, I had a way to end this.

“Ha!”

I manifested a bubble around the monster. Propelled by the internal expansion, the sphere floated into the air, carrying the beast with it. Its roots and branches whipped frantically against the inner wall, but I “refused” to let it leave. As long as my magic held, the seemingly fragile bubble was an airtight iron wall.

“This time, I won’t let you run.”

The blinding Solar Beam pierced through the canopy, accurately hitting the bubble. The intense heat was unbearable even from ten meters away. Breathing became difficult as the air scorched my lungs. The trees around the impact zone began to warp and smolder.

As for the stump-monster…

It was gone. In its place was nothing but a bubble full of charred, black ash.