Park Shadows

Clutching her wand, the Magical Girl with golden twin-tails hovered high in the air, gazing down at the wetland forest beneath the night veil.

Though it was a verdant, charming park brimming with natural beauty by day, amid the darkness it now resembled a predator's gaping maw, waiting for prey to walk right inside.

This faint aura of danger sent a chill down her spine and made her furrow her brows.

Xiaolu, I have a bad feeling about this right now.

A grave-sounding voice rang beside her ear.

Uttering those words was a peculiar creature resembling a toddler cat, entirely pink and fluffy, with a pair of small wings sprouting from its back that naturally brought fairy tales to mind.

The Fairy flew from the side to the girl's back, a worried expression on her face: "Even though it's faint, the residual magic all around has my fur standing on end. The enemy this time is probably very dangerous."

"...Right, I can feel it."

The Magical Girl, or rather Lin Xiaolu, struggled to pull together her inner cowardice and stared straight ahead into the woods in the park below: "Though I can't quite explain it, I also feel like it's extremely dangerous."

Yet despite saying that, her actions did not stop. Waving the wand in her hand and then slowly descending onto the park's lawn, Lin Xiaolu briefly scouted the surrounding hostile situation to ensure her safety.

This maneuver yielded no particular gains, but that faint unease still lingered in her heart.

"Moko, can you still sense the enemy's location?"

She turned to the pink Fairy for help.

The Fairy called Moko closed her eyes, fell silent for a moment, and then suddenly opened them: "No good. I could lock onto the enemy right here in this park before landing, but now I can't sense its exact position."

Lin Xiaolu was stunned: "Has this ever happened before?"

"Never seen it."

Moko wore a helpless look: "I should have told you before, but as a Fairy, this is my first time in the Material Realm, so I don't know a lot of things."

"Moko... you're so useless."

"Saying such hurtful things to a Fairy, you know I'm going to get mad!"

The Magical Girl and the Fairy slowly moved forward across the lawn of the wetland park, watching for any clues in the surroundings. Yet nearly ten minutes passed as they approached the central area of the park, and still they found nothing.

Moko, floating in the air, could not help speaking up again: "Xiaolu, should we fall back first?"

The Magical Girl asked in confusion: "Why?"

Moko explained: "I just feel like the Aberrant Beast this time isn't some simple enemy. The two of us might not be a match for it, so it'd be safer to head back and learn more about the situation from the adults at the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau and seek their help."

"Ah? But asking the adults for help, doesn't that sort of behavior go against a Magical Girl's identity?"

"This is no time to be self-willed in such a strange place!"

"Ngh... Understood."

The lingering chill behind her made Lin Xiaolu stop persisting, and she quickly followed the Fairy's suggestion: "Let's leave once we walk to the center of the park and still haven't found anything."

Moko nodded repeatedly in agreement: "Hurry it up, then!"

They made this agreement: as long as they reached the center of the park without encountering the enemy, they would turn right around and head home.

Treading across the lawn all the way, before long, the outlines of buildings such as the pavilions and waterside platforms in the center of the park surfaced in Lin Xiaolu's view. Seeing that she had arrived at her destination, Lin Xiaolu perked up her spirits and strode forward.

"Still don't see the Aberrant Beast."

The girl blinked, tilting her head to the side: "Moko, can you sense anything right now?"

What met her eyes was a patch of empty space.

The Fairy who should have been flying by her side all along had vanished without a trace before she knew it.

...Moko?

Only the Magical Girl's lonely voice remained, locked away inside the park.

Realizing that things were beginning to spiral out of her control, Lin Xiaolu finally grew nervous and started searching everywhere for her partner.

"Moko?"

The enclosed woods acted as the ultimate sound barrier, cutting off her voice from the outside world.

Just like that, taking a couple of steps with an urgent feeling, Lin Xiaolu suddenly heard a rustling sound coming from the bushes nearby.

Her heart rate surged, and the Magical Girl immediately cast her gaze in that direction. After bustlingly assuming a combat stance amidst her flurry, she shouted with a somewhat blustering front:

"Who's there? Come out!"

The response she received was a very faint voice: "Hurry..."

"What?"

"Run, Xiaolu!"

This time, the Magical Girl heard it clearly.

As she made out the sound from nearby, a blurry pink shadow also flew over from afar and crashed straight into her arms.

Appearing before her now was her partner Moko, who had suddenly vanished just moments ago.

Only, compared to her unharmed state from a few minutes prior, Moko was now covered in injuries. Even one of the wings on her back was missing, and deep wounds spanned across her body. Bursts of pink glowing particles drifted uncontrollably from the injuries, making her look quite battered.

Yet Moko paid no heed to her own wounds, crying out instead: "Get out of here, the Aberrant Beast this time..."

--Growl-r-r-r-r-r.

The roar of a beast drifted from the shadows among the woods nearby.

Giving Moko no time to continue, a terrifying-looking monster stepped out from the darkness. Its sharp claws drove deep into the dirt beneath its feet, and without making a single footstep, it drifted right in front of Lin Xiaolu.

Grumble-r-r-r-r-r, roar-a-a-a...

Without a doubt, this was an Aberrant Beast.

Because it was simply impossible for any animal in the park to possess a body over four meters tall, and even less possible for it to have two heads.

Residual unknown liquids stained its dark purple fur, and its green-tinted eyes held only a brutal desire for slaughter. Bizarre tubular structures protruded from its body, connecting from various parts to its two drooling, giant heads.

Just standing there was enough to make one feel chilled to the bone.

For Lin Xiaolu, who was a Magical Girl, this ought to have been an impossible thing.

After all, a Magical Girl had no reason to feel afraid of Aberrant Beasts.

She had gained this power precisely to fight Aberrant Beasts and protect others from harm; why should she feel terror toward an enemy she was meant to eliminate?

Lin Xiaolu did not understand, yet she could not curb the negative thoughts in her heart.

Could I really lose?

The moment that thought surfaced, it was interrupted by a voice from the outside:

--Xiaolu!

Her partner's voice rang in her ear once more: "Hurry up and go!"

It was Moko; Moko was telling her to run.

At that moment, she abruptly remembered the action she should take above all else--survive.

Raising the wand in her hand, the air around the girl churned continuously. Then, accompanied by a whistling sound, she surged into the sky. She had entered this park flying through the air, so naturally, escaping via an aerial route would be safer.

Thinking thus, Lin Xiaolu discovered that the Aberrant Beast on the ground made no move at all. Even though she chose to fly away, it simply stood quietly in place, watching everything with its faint green-tinted eyes.

Was there a trap?

Before Lin Xiaolu could ponder further, she noticed that her upward flight had halted.

Replacing it was a powerful pressing sensation coming from her back.

The injured Fairy beside her asked with a struggle: "What's wrong, Xiaolu?"

Clearly, her partner's sudden cessation of flight left her feeling puzzled.

Noticing the confusion and panic on her face as well, Moko could not help lifting a claw to touch above her head, only to feel a wave of repulsion before her claw was bounced away.

"A magic barrier..."

This time, even the Fairy wore a somewhat despairing expression on her face: "We're done for. This was a trap from the very beginning!"

In an instant, the moods of both the Magical Girl and the Fairy plunged to freezing point.

Yet unlike the Fairy, Lin Xiaolu still retained some fighting awareness after all, and thus kept her eyes locked on the Aberrant Beast down below in her field of vision.

What chilled her heart the most was not that her escape had been blocked, but the expression revealed on the ferocious face of the Aberrant Beast below once she stopped.

Could an Aberrant Beast make such a human-like expression?

As she thought this, she suddenly felt her vision freeze and her sight blur. By the time her gaze reached the spot, the enemy had already vanished.

--Xiaolu!

The next moment, amidst the Fairy's mournful cry, she received her answer.

The Aberrant Beast's sharp claws had already reached right before her throat.

The last thing reflected in her eyes was that savage and mocking grin, complete with a malicious playfulness that theoretically should never appear on an Aberrant Beast's face.