Things That Scattered Like Rain Again

At Jiang Yuan's urging, Lin Xiaolu reluctantly agreed to go to the concert. She didn't intend to accept the invitation from a strange man, but she had no reason to refuse her friend's invitation.

She waited in a daze until school was over. After the teacher on the podium announced "School's out," Lin Xiaolu had spent the whole day in a half-dream state, stretched and looked out at the dim sky, gradually regaining some clarity.

After saying goodbye to Jiang Yuan in the seat in front of her, she walked out of the school gate alone, and then, following Larkspur's instructions, found a secluded corner and transformed into a magical girl.

Next came her usual patrol time, which she had grown accustomed to over the years.

Although the activities of the Aberrant Beast in Fangting City have decreased significantly in the past two months, making it peaceful and tranquil compared to before the Full Moon Festival, the necessary procedures still cannot be omitted, and this task cannot be skipped. Lin Xiaolu slowly moved between the city's buildings, looking down at the streets below while using her Mana Perception to search around, so as not to miss any clues.

She could actually patrol while flying, but firstly, her perception wasn't strong enough yet, and she could easily lose track of clues while moving at high speeds; secondly, her magic control wasn't very refined, and although she didn't waste magic like she did when she was a beginner, it was still difficult for her to control her speed.

With these considerations in mind, Lin Xiaolu ultimately chose a compromise: leaping and moving between high-rise buildings while checking the magical fluctuations in the area.

Most of the time, these checks yield little result, but today seemed different. As Lin Xiaolu passed through an intersection with a high incidence of accidents, she suddenly had a strange feeling.

Almost instinctively, she looked toward the street not far away and soon noticed a bulge that had inexplicably appeared on the busy highway. The bulge was getting bigger and bigger, and the newly paved road surface was showing a network of cracks.

--It's Aberrant Beast.

Lin Xiaolu opened her hand, and a magic wand instantly appeared in her palm. Magic surged from the soles of her feet, propelling her to the bulge on the road. Then, with a sudden flick of her wand, she used the naturally released magic to push all the surrounding vehicles aside.

Many of the vehicles that were pushed aside nearly crashed into the roadside railings. Fortunately, Lin Xiaolu did not use much force, so no traffic accident occurred. When the car owners looked out with a mixture of confusion and anger, their eyes met a monster that emerged from the road.

It's Aberrant Beast.

Their confusion turned to relief, their anger to terror, and the honking on the road instantly turned into screams. Realizing what had happened, people scattered and fled almost immediately, and drivers stuck in the middle of the road abandoned their vehicles and died.

Some sharp-eyed people did spot the magical girl in mid-air, so they took out their phones and moved closer to record her to ride the wave of popularity, but Lin Xiaolu turned around and glared at them, scaring them into putting their phones away.

"Don't linger here, get out of here!"

Shouting at the passersby who were practically risking their lives, Lin Xiaolu fiercely waved her magic wand, then turned around to block the Aberrant Beast that was trying to advance.

After she shouted that, the passersby looked at each other, somewhat unwilling, but ultimately reason prevailed. So they shouted their thanks to Lin Xiaolu from afar, then ran away.

Of course, these people didn't realize that even if they wanted to continue filming, Lin Xiaolu couldn't do anything about it; all she could do was glare at them. With the enemy at hand, she had to focus on the battle.

Aberrant Beast that suddenly appear in public places and are less than fifteen meters tall are usually eggs or Looper Tier. With Lin Xiaolu's current combat abilities, dealing with Aberrant Beast of this level is no problem.

Although she is still unable to use her Magic Armament, her magical power has completely overwhelmed the Aberrant Beast at this stage. Even with just the naturally released magic bullets and Mana Beam, she can overwhelm the Aberrant Beast with her firepower.

The immense magical power not only provided a continuous source of firepower, but also gave Lin Xiaolu enough mobility to toy with Aberrant Beast of this level—after all, she could use magic to accelerate for short distances without worrying about being attacked.

This fighting style was tailor-made for Lin Xiaolu by Larkspur, and could even be said to be inherited from Larkspur herself. After discovering that her daughter possessed magical power far exceeding that of her peers, she began to guide Lin Xiaolu in High-Speed Mobile Combat tactics.

High-Speed Mobile Combat, as the name suggests, is a combat style that involves fighting while flying. This style of combat can greatly reduce the probability of magical girls being attacked by the enemy, while also distracting the Aberrant Beast, making it a safe and efficient tactic.

If there's any flaw in this fighting style, it's that it demands extremely high levels of magical power, focus, reaction speed, and even combat intuition from the magical girl herself, and Lin Xiaolu happens to possess all of these qualities.

Following this combat style, when encountering such Aberrant Beast, Lin Xiaolu's usual strategy is to fly in circles, attacking as she flies, striving to suppress them to death with minimal losses and maximum firepower.

However, this time, she couldn't do that until all the passersby had completely left.

The area around where the Aberrant Beast appeared was too crowded. If magic power were to be used indiscriminately, it could very likely injure the onlookers. As a magical girl with mature combat experience, Lin Xiaolu would certainly not allow such a thing to happen.

Observing the distance of the surrounding crowd, she first used the power of her Mana Beam to force the Aberrant Beast away from the road, ensuring that it would not cause further damage. Then she gradually approached it, continuing to use magic to restrain the Aberrant Beast's Aberrant Beast path while drawing her wand and attempting to fight it in close combat.

Unfortunately, she soon discovered that she didn't seem to be able to completely defeat the Aberrant Beast through close combat like Bai Jingxuan did.

It wasn't just because her magic power was too low at the seed level, but also because her strength was insufficient. Against the remnants of the Looper Tier Aberrant Beast, she could only suppress them, but it was difficult for her to inflict effective damage through close combat.

--If only I had Magic Armament.

Thinking of this, she felt even more frustrated, and her movements became somewhat impatient. She practically used the Aberrant Beast in front of her as a punching bag, pounding it hard with her wand.

Low-level Aberrant Beast don't understand fear, but that doesn't mean they're without temper. After being pelted with weapons by the magical girl in front of it, it let out an angry roar and began to try to retaliate.

The magical girl was angry, Aberrant Beast was angry too. The two of them were fighting back and forth like they were in a street brawl, looking quite disheveled.

Unlike Bai Jingxuan, who fought with a disregard for life and death, each move designed to inflict heavy damage on herself, Lin Xiaolu's close-combat style was closer to that of Larkspur, focusing on defense and counter-attack. However, while she possessed a divine spirit but lacked form, even when wielding the same magic wand and indeed dominating the Aberrant Beast, her fighting style lacked any aesthetic appeal. Compared to Larkspur's dance-like footwork, she resembled an amateur wielding a stick haphazardly.

This aesthetically unappealing battle lasted for half a day. Just when Lin Xiaolu felt that she had vented most of her resentment and was about to put away her wand and start fighting seriously, she felt as if a shadow had appeared above her head.

She raised her head warily, trying to confirm the true nature of the shadow, but what she saw was not the enemy she had imagined, but a blonde girl in a pale yellow dress.

At this moment, the girl was crossing her arms, seemingly striking what she thought was a cool pose, letting the air currents in the sky cause her skirt to flutter.

When she saw Lin Xiaolu looking at her, she first gave her a confident smile, then gently waved to Lin Xiaolu:

"Hmph, do you need my help?"

Who are you?

Looking at the uninvited blonde girl, Lin Xiaolu blinked in confusion.

"Looks like you've been in a tough fight. After fighting for so long, your magic power must be greatly depleted. Hmm, it seems I've arrived just in time."

Before Lin Xiaolu could reply, the girl nodded as if she had already understood the situation and said, "It's okay, you just rest over there and let me handle it!"

"Ah, no..."

Realizing that the other party had probably misunderstood the situation, Lin Xiaolu tried to explain, but she could only manage to utter a few words before the girl dashed forward like a flash of light.

The flash of light wasn't Lin Xiaolu's imagination; it actually originated from beneath the blonde girl's feet.

"Wood Lily, Magic Construct Extraction!"

With the girl's shout, the two streaks of light beneath her feet vanished in an instant, transforming into a pair of roller skates made entirely of golden magic.

Although she was flying in the air, the roller skates under the girl's feet were spinning rapidly, constantly spewing magic power in all directions. When she rushed in front of the Aberrant Beast, the roller skates under her feet accelerated again.

"Flash Little Leg Kick!"

The accelerating pulley instantly stirred up ripples of magical energy, which then converged into a halo of light beneath her feet. Then, as the girl kicked the side of the Aberrant Beast, the halo of light, like a sharp blade, pierced through the Aberrant Beast's tough hide and unleashed an extremely powerful impact, sending the massive Aberrant Beast straight into the air.

This Aberrant Beast was over fifteen meters long and weighed more than a fully loaded truck, yet with the girl's kick, it flew dozens of meters into the air like a light soda can.

Even after kicking the Aberrant Beast into the air, the girl's offensive did not stop.

The halo beneath her feet continued to spin, lifting her from her spot. In just a few seconds, she flew at an astonishing speed to the side of the Aberrant Beast. Just like that, under the gaze of Lin Xiaolu and the few passersby around her, she began to spin in mid-air.

A muffled shout came from high above. Because of the distance, Lin Xiaolu could no longer hear what the girl was shouting, but she could still clearly see the girl's movements.

The girl's kick traced several light arcs in the air, spinning like a dance, before striking the Aberrant Beast with a heavy blow.

"Bump!"

A heavy, muffled thud suddenly rang out, Lin Xiaolu could almost see the sticky fluid splattering from the Aberrant Beast's body after it was kicked to pieces.

But this kick wasn't the end. The girl's spin continued, and with another kick through the air, she spun around and struck the Aberrant Beast once more.

And so, with the girl spinning, she kicked countless times in just a few seconds, until the unfortunate, crippled Aberrant Beast finally succumbed to the strain and exploded into a firework in mid-air.

From the moment she appeared to the moment she defeated the Aberrant Beast, the girl only took a dozen seconds to completely wipe out the caterpillar. Judging from the strength she displayed, the girl was probably far stronger than Lin Xiaolu at the moment.

However, before Lin Xiaolu could even marvel at the other party's strength, an unexpected turn of events occurred.

The Explosion the Aberrant Beast in mid-air did not mean it disappeared. As the Aberrant Beast exploded, the slime inside its body rained down from the sky, and an indescribable stench immediately filled the air.

Upon seeing the slime, Lin Xiaolu seemed to recall some unpleasant memories. Her face darkened, and she quickly released her magic, using the impact of the magic to create a barrier-like effect, blocking the foul-smelling "rain" aside.

Unfortunately, the person who started this whole thing—the blonde girl next to the Aberrant Beast —didn't realize what was happening.

Almost the instant the Aberrant Beast was kicked to pieces, the viscous fluid inside it gushed out, soaking the girl completely before she could even retract her leg. Her pale yellow dress was even stained purplish-black.

The sudden stench assaulted her nostrils, and before she could even congratulate herself on her victory, the intense stench turned her face purple and blue, and she almost instinctively began to gag.

"Vomit--"

Fortunately, the magical girl's body was made of magic, so her vomiting only produced air; otherwise, she probably would have vomited up her lunch as well.

After vomiting in the air for a while, she finally remembered what she was there for. Covering her mouth and with her forehead turning blue, she slowly descended from the sky and landed right in front of Lin Xiaolu.

Even from several meters away, the strong stench still assaulted Lin Xiaolu's nostrils, causing Lin Xiaolu to instinctively take a few steps back.

"Ugh... cough cough cough."

The girl tried to say something, but she couldn't catch her breath and coughed for a while before managing a smile. She slowly raised her head and said, "Don't worry... ugh... the enemy has been dealt with."

"Ha..." Looking at the other person's expression, Lin Xiaolu didn't know what to say for a moment.

"Now that the crisis has been averted, well... my mission ends here. The cleanup is yours."

She flashed a V-sign at Lin Xiaolu, probably trying to look nonchalant, but the gesture didn't last long before it distorted due to unconscious gagging. The girl quickly withdrew her hand and covered her mouth.

"No need to thank me. When we are destined to meet again... well, we will naturally rekindle our romance."

Then, without giving Lin Xiaolu a chance to reply, she covered her mouth, bent over, and once again transformed into a golden flash, flying towards the distant horizon.

Gazing at the pale golden magical trail in the sky, Lin Xiaolu remained silent for a long time.

She recalled everything that had happened in those few short minutes, the girl's swift and decisive action in killing the Aberrant Beast, and the lantern pants that were exposed throughout her spinning in the air as her skirt fluttered.

After a long pause, she slowly spoke, uttering her first words after defeating the Aberrant Beast.

"Who are you?"