“We can’t let him escape, Grey Moon!”
“Mhm.”
Two Magical Girls, one shimmering gold and one silvery-grey, streaked across the sky, leaving brilliant trails. Glimmering Yellow soared in a backstroke-like posture, appearing effortlessly relaxed, yet she flew even faster than Grey Moon.
Her hair, disheveled from the recent battle, was swiftly tidied with a gentle shake of her head and a touch of magic, transforming into two spiraling ponytails.
Grey Moon found the hairstyle somewhat familiar.
She mused that Glimmering Yellow resembled Victoria, a classmate, and decided to ask Unohana Ren later if it was indeed her.
Glimmering Yellow hummed contentedly as she cheerfully produced a bayonet from beneath her skirt and affixed it to her flintlock rifle. From a distance, it appeared as though she wielded an imposing 1.8-meter-long spear, though its shaft was exquisitely crafted, adorned with magnificent golden patterns and European-style tulip engravings.
Ahead, the great snake-man demon, Mo Jiashi, was fleeing. With a sharp cry, Glimmering Yellow suddenly accelerated, her bayonet slashing into Mo Jiashi’s back. The demon shrieked in agony, blood spattering into the air as green scales burst from his body and rained down towards the residential area below.
“Ah, this isn’t good, meow.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, both Magical Girls plunged into a dive, relentlessly pursuing the plummeting snake-man demon into the residential district below.
****
Meanwhile, as the Magical Girls and the great snake-man demon engaged in their desperate chase,
Zhou Huanan.
He sat in his room, ignoring the combat notifications sent by Captain Six. Opening his laptop, his slender fingers tapped away at the keyboard.
He was drafting his transfer request.
His mind was made up.
With the final keystroke, the application letter for a clerical position at Banjao appeared on the screen.
Magical Girls had been a dream born of youthful impulse, figures soaring through the sky, forever out of his grasp, too distant to ever truly hold.
He now knew what he truly needed to hold close.
Zhou Huanan couldn’t help but recall Liu Li that afternoon, the adorable, fiercely gentle way she’d looked when she’d removed her mask and opened her mouth to speak. He lifted his water glass to suppress a smile.
Although Dr. Zhuge would undoubtedly be disappointed, he yearned to provide Liu Li with a simple, happy home. A clerical job at Banjao carried virtually no risk, and it came with comprehensive social insurance and housing provident fund. The salary, of course, would be significantly less than what he earned as a combatant.
“But this is how it has to be.”
Zhou Huanan sent the application to Dr. Zhuge. Despite her incredibly busy schedule, Dr. Zhuge always replied to his messages instantly, a fact that made Zhou Huanan feel as though he was somewhat letting her down.
Yet, even more, Zhou Huanan didn’t want to disappoint the person he loved.
Setting down his cup, he politely declined Dr. Zhuge’s attempts to retain him, typing out, ‘My decision is final.’ Dr. Zhuge’s side was silent for a moment before a reply came through.
“[I’ll consider this your request for a temporary break and assign you to an available position.]”
“[I’ll give you three months to carefully consider the pros and cons.]”
“[I truly have high hopes for you, future Commander.]”
After her message, Dr. Zhuge attached a document. Zhou Huanan, mentally thanking his superior for “painting a grand picture” for him, clicked to view it. Was he to be a treasure guardian—a ‘gatekeeper grandpa’—in the third basement level of the base’s treasury?
While it wasn’t the clerical role he had envisioned,
it was, broadly speaking, a safe and easy job. Moreover, he would still receive the rather generous monthly salary of a combatant.
Zhou Huanan inwardly thanked Dr. Zhuge, a sigh of relief escaping him. Although the mortality rate for Banjao combatants was low, the injury rate was exceedingly high.
If he were to come home every day with his face covered in bandages, even if such days were still distant, he truly didn’t want her to worry.
By stepping away from the front lines,
he could provide Liu Li with stability and a secure environment where she could feel at ease.
“Knock, knock.”
Just as he thought this, a gentle knock sounded at Zhou Huanan’s bedroom door. It was his sister, Mu Xi, holding a tablet, her head peeking in tiredly, hoping Zhou Huanan would make her a late-night snack.
After reluctantly agreeing,
Zhou Huanan gently pushed away his boisterous sister, who had happily lunged at him. He chuckled, intending to go downstairs and make pasta, but his gaze flickered to the tablet in Mu Xi’s hands.
He casually asked what she was watching.
“The Magical Girls’ live stream! Magical Girl Grey Moon just unleashed her ultimate move and took down a huge, super scary monster!”
“Now they’re chasing a big green demon, and it’s disappeared from the screen.”
“Grey Moon is so incredibly cool! I’m almost a full-blown Grey Moon stan!”
“I see.” Zhou Huanan had a lingering feeling that discussing Magical Girls felt like an old memory from long ago. “Remember to go to bed early after you finish watching the stream, okay?”
“I know, I know!”
Hearing his sister’s response from upstairs, and the mention of Magical Girl Grey Moon, Zhou Huanan suddenly remembered that he had bought a Magical Girl Grey Moon figurine with Liu Li earlier today but hadn’t given it to Mu Xi yet.
However, considering how late it was, giving it to the little rascal now might make her too excited to sleep all night, which would be troublesome.
Selecting all the necessary ingredients from the fridge, Zhou Huanan tied on an apron. When he was serious and not indulging in his usual silliness, he was quite handsome. Now, with the apron on, he exuded the illusion of a warm, domestic good man.
Just as he smiled,
contemplating when he would next cook a meal for Liu Li, a thunderous crash suddenly erupted from the ceiling. Then, from the second floor, Mu Xi screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Bro—!!”
Zhou Huanan’s entire body trembled, his lips went pale, and his heart clenched. Without a second thought, he snatched up a kitchen knife and sprinted to the second floor. The ceiling that had once covered the beautiful starry sky in the hallway was gone, but Zhou Huanan had no spare capacity to look up and admire it.
Half of Mu Xi’s room wall had collapsed.
Zhou Huanan prayed in his heart that she was unharmed, then anxiously kicked open the wooden door.
Before him,
was a scene that stole his breath.
In his line of sight, his sister stood in disheveled pajamas, her body trembling with fear and panic. Behind her stood a monstrous snake-like creature, gasping for breath, clad in tattered, blood-stained fur.
The creature was holding Mu Xi captive, its dangerous gaze fixed on Zhou Huanan.
Had the great snake-man demon landed next door at that very moment, any man hearing the commotion would likely have rushed out to save his family.
But that would be the fearlessness of ignorance; if they knew the snake-man before them was a dangerous great demon, they might have made a different choice.
Zhou Huanan, a Banjao combatant, had encountered Mo Jiashi on several occasions.
Now, Zhou Huanan recognized him instantly.
He knew clearly that the monster before him was a great demon he could not hope to resist.
He knew that any rash move would lead to death.
Yet, with reddened eyes, Zhou Huanan didn’t hesitate. He surged forward, launching a flying kick at Mo Jiashi.
****
The Magical Girls, rushing to the scene,
had already anticipated Mo Jiashi might take hostages. Still, seeing the hostage’s family member act so rashly, Glimmering Yellow gasped and flew forward at full speed to intervene.
Grey Moon, however, had harbored an ominous premonition since she was in the sky. When she spotted the damaged, yet familiar, bedroom from above, her heart lurched.
The moment she saw Zhou Huanan kick open the door and launch a kick at the great demon,
Grey Moon felt her breath catch, an astonishing surge of power erupting from deep within her. She, who had always lagged behind Glimmering Yellow, now moved significantly faster.
Even Glimmering Yellow was stunned, seeing only a blur.
As the great demon extended its sharp claws towards Zhou Huanan,
Magical Girl Grey Moon’s eyes blazed crimson. Unable to fathom a future without him, she arrived just before the demon’s attack could fully land, using her shield to directly shatter Mo Jiashi’s arm. She showed no mercy to the shrieking snake-man demon.
Grey Moon rarely showed much emotion, but now she was visibly enraged, glaring with hatred at the fallen monster.
Still somewhat weakened from her burst of power, she advanced deliberately, her slender high heel kicking Mo Jiashi’s face. Straddling the fallen, helpless great demon, she raised her fists and began to mercilessly pummel him, blow after blow.
‘If anything had happened to him just now,’
‘How would you ever compensate me? How would you ever compensate me!!’
Such a violent Magical Girl left both Zhou Huanan and Mu Xi, nestled in his arms, utterly dumbfounded.
“Wait! Wait! Stop hitting me, stop! I’m a great demon, I know a lot of information you’ll find very useful!”
“No, no, no!”
Grey Moon gnashed her teeth in fury, remaining silent. The more she struck him, the more menacing her crimson eyes became, flashing with murderous red light. No amount of pleading from Mo Jiashi could alter his fate.
Finally,
Grey Moon thought of what might have happened if this fiend had succeeded moments ago—
A wave of emptiness washed over her, and with a pained expression, she closed her eyes, tilting her head back. Her right hand then conjured another weapon.
It was a half-finished axe, solidified as if forged from a maiden’s tears of blood.
Unlike Grey Moon’s otherwise pure, elegantly patterned dress and round shield, this vivid red axe blade was rough and unpolished, its edges jagged and wild. It exuded an aura of danger and unease.
Even its appearance was different. It didn’t emerge with the sparkling, ornate effect of her small round shield, but rather solidified from a sinister red mist.
Under the moonlight,
“N-no, don’t.”
The beautiful loli, astride Mo Jiashi, coldly raised the axe high. The blood-red hand-axe, held aloft by her small, white-stockinged hand, reflected the moonlight, casting a dangerous hue similar to Grey Moon’s eyes, yet deeper, more twisted near the blade, as if Death itself were cackling.
No matter how the great demon beneath her begged or pleaded, her pupils constricted to pinpricks. The axe, held in both hands, descended mercilessly, cleaving Mo Jiashi’s snake-like head in two.
Only then did Mu Xi realize that the sound of a head being split was remarkably similar to that of a watermelon.
After the first strike,
Mo Jiashi had ceased to move.
Yet, the girl astride him seemed not to notice, unconcerned even as blood stained her innocent face. She withdrew the axe blade from Mo Jiashi’s chest and neck,
then numbly raised it high again.
Using the unpolished, blunt edge,
Once,
and again.