The Calamity Beast’s Fall

The next act in their unfolding drama was ‘Saint Lily vs. Calamity Beast.’ Consequently, the streaming phone found its way into Red Spider Lily’s hands.

‘I’m just a camera.jpg’

[Sister, look at me! Look at me!]

[Beauty attack!]

[AW SL!]

‘How utterly unserious these comments are. Why so many looks-obsessed people? Wait, am I one too? Then never mind what I said.’

Red Spider Lily’s gaze swept over the screen, searching for any useful information. It seemed no official-looking comments had appeared yet.

‘You’re all far too relaxed, as if this were some kind of travel vlog.’

[Miss Red Spider Lily, based on nearby landmarks, we can’t find you and Lily? Where exactly are you now?]

“Is that Dandelion?” Red Spider Lily noted the particularly prominent comment. “You seem quite anxious, but don’t be. We’re currently trying to find our way back, you see.”

“But you won’t be able to find us, which is truly a headache,” Red Spider Lily said, shaking her head and sighing with a touch of regret.

[Miss Red Spider Lily, how did you arrive in this world?]

“How did we arrive?” She spread her hands. “I’m not sure, actually. We just went to the movies as usual, left the cinema, and then the entire human world vanished, leaving only us behind.”

[Cinema?]

[Could it be the Wish Digital Cinema?]

“Eh? I think that was the name? Yes! Why?”

The once-quiet comments instantly erupted into a lively chatter.

[Something happened!]

[They encountered a ghost wall!]

[It’s said many people bought movie tickets but forgot to go. For over an hour, they simply couldn’t remember.]

[Earlier, some guy filmed this and uploaded it to ‘Douyin’.]

[And ‘Kuaishou’ too.]

These days, people love to share their lives, and the barrier to entry is low, meaning real-time information acquisition is incredibly strong. Perhaps in the future, detectives won’t even need to visit crime scenes, finding everything they need online to solve cases.

But that was a tangent.

“Speaking of which, the movie was quite good, yet only Saint Lily and I had the entire cinema to ourselves. I just assumed it was because it was a weekday.”

Red Spider Lily shook her head, then glanced to her side.

“Is the warm-up complete?”

“Yes, I’m ready!”

****

Embodying the saying ‘the higher one stands, the farther one sees,’ Saint Lily’s staff spun, radiating brilliant light. With the blessing of the soaring birds bestowed upon them, the two girls took flight.

Saint Lily saw Red Spider Lily looking stunned, seemingly trying to act cool but actually nervous. She chuckled and took her hand. “It’s alright, you won’t suddenly fall. I’m here.”

[Haha~ Miss Red Spider Lily seems to have acrophobia~]

[A magical girl’s fatal weakness!]

“I am not afraid of heights, I’m just not accustomed to it,” Red Spider Lily retorted, only to be met with the condescending ‘Yes, yes, yes~’ that people use to humor children.

“Red Spider Lily, over there, I think there’s a calamity beast.”

“Mm…”

[Where is ‘over there’?]

[Friends with vision-related abilities, take a look.]

[Seriously, it’s a video. Can’t you just zoom in manually? It’s the tiny black dot in the bottom left corner.]

[Holy crap! A giant ape! Saint Lily isn’t actually going to challenge that, is she? It feels even more terrifying than the previous giant rhino!]

“Are we going to challenge it?”

“Yes, it feels incredibly powerful!” Saint Lily clenched her fist, a smile gracing her lips, tinged with excitement. “Red Spider Lily, let’s go quickly!”

****

………………………….Time’s Dividing Line……………………….

An Lan watched the live stream, the potato chips crunching ‘gah-zhi’ as she tore them in half.

She was, after all, still concerned about the potential leak of ‘Dungeon’ information.

Moreover, this was a ‘Large-Scale Dungeon,’ an opportunity even she couldn’t ignore, as it might lead to further advancements. The experience gained from monsters and the secret treasures obtained from conquering bosses were both substantial.

However, the previous information hadn’t led to the sender’s origin, even with the deployment of hackers or similar specialists. The sender’s motive remained unknown, but it was safe to assume they were after the dungeon’s riches.

For anyone daring to steal her possessions, she would commend their ‘audacity’ before granting them eternal slumber.

Lost in thought, An Lan watched the girl wrestling with the ape on screen. “So weak, so much effort.”

The name ‘Saint Lily’ once again entered her perception, causing her to raise an eyebrow. Yet, the girl’s high-profile streaming and mediocre strength were truly…

Whether it was a deliberate concealment of power or her actual ability, An Lan possessed the discernment to tell. If this girl were the mastermind behind the leak, it would be too absurd; it truly seemed to be a coincidence.

Even those hidden rats likely hadn’t anticipated this turn of events. Feeling a slight improvement in her mood, she watched Saint Lily’s battle a little longer. “It’s decent as entertainment, but she’s fighting a piece of trash like it’s an even match.”

“With such limited ability, it’s inevitable she’d be overthrown.” An Lan was aware of the change in ‘Lucky Garden’s captain, as the new captain had seemingly tried to claim her attention. However, after a single glance, she lost interest. For someone whose limits were visible at a glance, who could never hope to reach her level, simply avoiding further interaction was an act of mercy.

‘Admiration? How ridiculous. Am I truly lacking such people?’

She shook her head, then added, “However, Saint Lily’s friend seems to possess various good abilities and decent insight. It looks like she’s recognized the ‘Dungeon.'”

“……”

As she pondered, a new message arrived, interrupting her thoughts. She clicked, and a small window popped up. Frowning, she revealed an expression of disdain.

“What do you mean, ‘how to handle’? How should it be handled? Do I need to teach you how to do your jobs?”

‘What are these people thinking? I’m not here to be a mayor.’

‘Figure it out yourselves!’

She sent the message back.

‘These people, honestly.’

An Lan cursed inwardly once more, then looked back at the live stream. She found it had gone black, displaying only a red triangular warning sign.

‘We are very sorry, this live stream content involves violations and has been taken down.’

“……”

“(〟-_・)ﾝ?”

An Lan looked at her phone, then around, and then saw the message sent back to her.

‘Understood, noted.’

“Motherf—” ‘So it was you guys who did it!!!’

****

Saint Lily had initially relied on the Dancer’s Blessing for dodging and the Counterattack Blessing for critical hits, thus maintaining a certain advantage.

However, the ape seized an opportunity, unleashing a furious barrage of attacks with extreme speed. Each punch landed with immense force, compelling her to change her strategy: reinforcing her shield, boosting her health regeneration, and planning a counterattack.

Time began to flow, and she gradually adapted.

“Roar!”

“Roar…”

The Calamity Beast ape gazed blankly at the small hand pressing against its fist, which was as large as a cooking pot.

It was clearly so fragile, yet as the ape pushed forward with more force, the hand remained unyielding. In fact, during this struggle, the ape found itself retreating half a step.

‘What the hell? What kind of thing did it just encounter?’

‘Blessing of the Barbarian Ape’

‘Grants immunity to ‘Heavy Strike Suppression’ and increases strength.’

The giant ape only felt an immense surge of power. It had failed in the contest of strength, and its hands flew high, its body tilting backward.

In that instant, time seemed to slow significantly for it. It heard only the human’s words and saw a sky full of white light.

‘Blessing of the Peregrine Falcon’

‘Grants immunity to ‘Cannot Be Captured’ status and increases self-speed and dynamic vision.’

“Seal.”

“1 hit!”

“10 hits!”

“100 hits!”

Unable to feel its own body, it heavily closed its eyes, melting into the sacred light.

Amidst the scattered, swirling lily petals, the girl stood resolute, the scene appearing both real and illusory. Until the girl turned, revealing a brilliant smile.

“How was that? Red Spider Lily, wasn’t I cool? Did you, did you get that on camera?” Her coolness instantly transformed into an endearing earnestness.

“……” Red Spider Lily blinked, then flipped the phone around to face her. “The live stream was shut down.”

“…Eh? Eh!!!”