Red Lotus, Rain Crow, Magical Girl Ember

White Jack deduced Xia Ningzhi's destination from the direction she was traveling on the map. She needed to retrieve her combat suit from elsewhere before she could ride the Wind-Fire Wheels to the crime scene.

So White Jack got there ahead of her, taking the fastest route to Zero Overpass in Dawn Capital.

Zero Overpass stood above the city center, yet not a trace of the city lights reached it.

From afar, the elevated bridge looked like a cemetery suspended in the air.

At that moment, both sides of the overpass had been sealed off by the police. Patrol cars blocked the way ahead, their red and blue lights flashing. No-entry signs and barricades were clearly visible.

Traffic was jammed at the entrance to the overpass, and people abandoned their cars and fled.

White Jack swept past the crowd and police officers. The top hat above its head slowly stopped spinning as its body descended from the sky and landed at the center of the overpass.

It stood on the railing in the night like a roly-poly toy, then slowly raised its hollow eyes.

Above the overpass, a woman in a red dress with bloody wings on her back was beating her wings through the night sky, chasing a girl in a Gothic dress holding an umbrella.

The former was the criminal reported on television, while the latter was naturally Xia Zili, who had only recently arrived at the scene. It seemed she had already been fighting this superhuman criminal for some time, and her body was covered in wounds.

White Jack lowered the brim of its hat and stared motionlessly at the figure that resembled a red bat.

The superhuman's status panel slowly reflected in its pupils.

[Superhuman Codename: Vampire "Stro"]

[Danger Rating: A-rank]

[Type: Vampire]

[Superhuman Profile: One of the members of the criminal organization "Deathbird." As a vampire, Stro possesses exceptional racial gifts. Relying on her precise instinct for controlling blood, she can even turn blood into all manner of deadly weapons.]

Deathbird? So this vampire woman is in the same organization as Jiang Qingzi? Does everyone in that organization start out with A-rank combat strength? How the hell am I supposed to join them? Ke Mingqing thought.

As he was thinking, a deafening boom suddenly erupted in the sky.

White Jack looked up.

The girl in the Gothic dress suddenly made a sharp turn. Her skirt fluttered in the wind as the tip of her umbrella abruptly aimed at Stro, who was pursuing her from behind.

"Bang—!"

As her finger pulled the trigger, a speck of black light flashed past the corner of the girl's eye. Countless streams of light poured from the umbrella's tip, converging into a column of light that blasted straight ahead.

Like a waterfall flowing in reverse, it swept across the entire sky. The world suddenly lost its color, as though everything had been stripped of its radiance.

White Jack could not hear a thing.

In the dead silence, every car parked around the outer edge of the overpass triggered its alarm system.

For a moment, the alarms blared over one another, so noisy that it made people want to cover their ears.

After a while, when the black curtain of light shrouding the sky faded, Ember appeared once more.

Holding her umbrella, she hovered in midair, gasping for breath as she looked around, as if searching for Stro.

Is she dead? she thought.

But soon, the woman in the red dress appeared again. Her voice drifted eerily from behind Ember.

"I've never eaten a magical girl before. I wonder what her blood tastes like? Would it taste better if I licked it?" Stro's voice was clearly shrill, yet to the girl's ears, it crashed like rolling thunder.

Magical Girl Ember's pupils contracted slightly.

In the blink of an eye, Stro squeezed out a trace of blood from her fingertip, forming it into a dagger. She gripped it in reverse and, in an instant, stabbed at the girl's back, aiming straight for her heart!

Yet at that moment, Ember made the best possible response. She drew a katana from the bottom of her umbrella handle, twisted half her body around, and tried to raise the blade to block the dagger.

But she was too late.

The katana merely knocked the dagger slightly off course. The sharp weapon still pierced Ember's shoulder. With a wet "Pshk," its tip tore through flesh.

Blood sprayed through the night. Ember let out a muffled groan and gritted her teeth as she raised her umbrella.

She was about to pull the trigger at Stro. But then Stro suddenly drove a foot into her abdomen, not giving her the chance. The girl in the Gothic dress fell straight toward the ground.

With a "Bang—!", she slammed into the overpass, kicking up a rolling cloud of dust.

That was pretty pathetic, little sis. Still, it's not your fault that a B-rank can't beat an A-rank. White Jack stared at the girl in the distance. If I don't save her, I'll lose one of my main quests. But... Third Sister should be here soon.

As it thought this, a deep crimson meteor suddenly shot straight through the distant night sky.

Stro raised her eyebrows, surprise appearing on her face for the first time. Red Lotus—that name surfaced in Stro's mind.

The next instant, a flaming spear stabbed down at her.

Stro reacted quickly, drawing the massive pair of wings behind her together in front of her body to form a blood-red shield.

But even that could not stop the might of the spear tip. The wing-shield trembled, and her body began to sink downward.

As the two sides remained locked in a stalemate, strips of scarlet silk suddenly surged over like waves, passing over Stro's wings and binding both her arms.

"Red Sash?" Stro raised an eyebrow.

In an instant, Stro lost the strength to resist, but her opponent's attack was not over. At that moment, the blood-red wings were pierced by the Flame-Tip Spear, and roaring flames rushed toward her.

Firelight reflected in the vampire woman's pupils.

"Then I have no choice." She bared her teeth and tore off both of her arms, finally breaking free of the Red Sash's restraints.

Blood splattered through the air. Stro abandoned her wings and her arms, falling straight toward the overpass along with the severed limbs.

Then, when she was only a foot away from the overpass, she halted her descent and landed lightly on her feet.

"Plop."

"Plop."

With two crisp sounds, her severed arms struck the overpass and shattered into a mess of flesh.

"How ugly... Now I'll never get married." Stro muttered, but the flesh at her shoulder stumps had already begun regenerating. Skin as smooth as a newborn baby's covered her newly formed arms.

Then she slowly lifted her eyes, finally getting a clear look at the uninvited guest.

The newcomer wore a long metallic coat of black and red, a metal mask, and Wind-Fire Wheels on her feet. She held the Fire-Tip Spear in her hand, while strips of fiery-red silk danced overhead.

Red Lotus stood upon the Wind-Fire Wheels, looking down at Stro's face.

She tucked the dark-gold spear behind her and casually waved a hand, sweeping out a curtain of flame that lit up the pitch-black night sky.

"Third Sister is really strong." White Jack scratched its chin. "A little stronger than I expected. Maybe she can already trade blows with Dad?"

At that moment, it turned its head and glanced into the distance.

In an unnoticed corner, Magical Girl Ember was already gone. She seemed to have transformed into a speeding black dot beneath her umbrella, vanishing beyond the edge of the sky.

"Is there really a need to fight? How about we each take a step back?" Stro asked softly.

Red Lotus spoke. A teasing voice came from beneath her mask, altered enough that its gender could not be identified.

"Sure. I'll take a step back and not kill you. You take a step back into prison. How's that?"

Stro shrugged. If she truly fought to the death, she could indeed exchange blows with Red Lotus. But she could not escape, because the Wind-Fire Wheels were definitely faster than her. Trying to flee would only expose an opening.

She began to regret why she had come out to hunt while the other Deathbird members were absent. Thinking of this, she licked her fingertips, where the taste of her prey still remained.

The overpass was deathly silent.

Yet the fierce whistling of the Wind-Fire Wheels spinning against the air could be heard.

The next second, a pitch-black tide of crows suddenly descended from the sky, crashing onto the overpass before slowly piling into a dark humanoid figure.

Rain Crow slowly raised his eyes and stared directly at Stro. Cold light flowed through the pair of eyes beneath his helmet.

"Dad's here." White Jack tilted its head. "Has he already dealt with that other bank robbery? The old man really is more experienced. His efficiency is something else."

Stro froze for a moment.

If she still had a considerable chance of winning against Red Lotus alone, then the instant she saw Rain Crow, she completely abandoned any desire to resist.

So the vampire woman raised both arms in surrender and smiled.

"Two against one. The advantage is yours. Take me in."

Rain Crow doesn't kill criminals. I might as well fall into his hands. I can't escape anyway. Better than ending up in the hands of some random weirdo, Stro thought.

Rain Crow wasted no words. A flock of crows rushed forward, engulfing Stro's figure.

She had no intention of resisting, so she lost consciousness in an instant and slowly collapsed to the ground.

"I didn't expect Dawn Capital's great hero to show up." Red Lotus tucked the Flame-Tip Spear under her arm, crossed her arms, and glanced at Rain Crow.

Rain Crow turned his head and coldly looked at Red Lotus, meeting her gaze.

"You should join an official organization." Leaving behind only that advice, Rain Crow turned into a flock of crows and departed with a howl like torrential rain.

Red Lotus looked into the distance. Stro had already been taken away by Rain Crow as well.

She sighed. "What an old-man vibe. I still have the college entrance exams. Where am I supposed to find the time to join some official organization?"

Red Lotus looked around but could not find Magical Girl Ember. She had clearly been here when Red Lotus rushed over from afar.

The overpass was now empty, with no one in sight.

But just as she stepped onto the Wind-Fire Wheels and prepared to leave the overpass, a figure as pale as bone suddenly approached from the distance.

Red Lotus fell silent for a moment, then slowly glanced sideways. The newcomer looked bizarre, with hollow eyes and split corners of the mouth. Beneath catlike eyes, its face was shrouded in shadow.

"Oh, and where did another little lackey like you come from?" She crossed her arms and asked with interest.

"I'm your father," White Jack said solemnly.

"You're Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King?" Red Lotus thought he was making a Nezha joke, so she played along.

"No, I'm Ke Mingwei." White Jack spread its hands.