Shadows in the Park

Gripping her wand tightly, the magical girl with golden twin-tails hovered high in the air, gazing down at the wetland forest beneath the night sky.

Though it had been a lush, charming park brimming with natural beauty during the day, it now resembled the gaping jaws of a predator in the darkness, waiting for its prey to wander inside.

The faint sense of danger sent a chill down her back, making her frown.

"Xiao Lu, I have a bad feeling about this."

A grave voice spoke beside her ear.

The one who said it was a strange creature resembling a kitten. It was entirely pink and fluffy, with a pair of tiny wings on its back, making one think of a Fairy from a fairy tale.

The Fairy flew around to the girl's back, its face full of concern. "It's faint, but the lingering magic around us is making all my fur stand on end. This enemy is probably very dangerous."

"...Yeah. I can feel it too."

The magical girl—or rather, Lin Xiaolu—did her best to suppress the fear in her heart and stared fixedly at the woods below. "I can't really explain it, but I feel like it's very dangerous too."

Even so, her hands did not stop moving. She waved her wand and slowly descended onto the park's lawn. Lin Xiaolu briefly surveyed the surrounding area to make sure it was safe.

The search yielded nothing, but that faint unease still lingered in her heart.

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

She asked the pink Fairy for help.

The Fairy called Moko closed its eyes, fell silent for a moment, then suddenly opened them. "No. I could clearly tell the enemy was somewhere in this park before we landed, but now I can't sense its exact location."

Lin Xiaolu was stunned. "Has this happened before?"

"Never."

Moko looked helpless. "I think I told you before, didn't I? This is my first time in the Material Realm as a Fairy too, so there are a lot of things I don't know."

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

"I'll get angry if you say something that hurts a Fairy's feelings like that!"

The magical girl and the Fairy slowly made their way across the grass of Wetland Park, keeping an eye out for any trace of the enemy. But nearly ten minutes passed, and they had already approached the center of the park without finding anything.

Moko, floating in the air, could not help speaking again. "Xiao Lu, should we retreat first?"

The magical girl asked in confusion, "Why?"

Moko explained, "I have a feeling this Aberrant Beast isn't an ordinary enemy. The two of us might not be able to handle it. It would be safer to go back, ask the adults at the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau for more information, and seek their help."

"Huh? But asking adults for help... isn't that a little out of character for a magical girl?"

"This isn't the time to be stubborn over something so strange!"

"Mm... got it."

The lingering chill at her back made Lin Xiaolu stop insisting. She quickly accepted the Fairy's suggestion. "If we still haven't found anything by the time we reach the center of the park, we'll leave."

Moko nodded repeatedly in agreement. "Let's hurry!"

They agreed that if they reached the center of the park without encountering the enemy, they would immediately head back.

They crossed the lawn, and before long, the outlines of pavilions and waterside structures at the park's center came into Lin Xiaolu's view. Seeing that they had reached their destination, Lin Xiaolu rallied herself and strode forward.

"Still no Aberrant Beast."

The girl blinked and turned her head to the side. "Moko, can you sense anything now?"

There was nothing there.

The Fairy that should have been flying beside her all along had vanished without her noticing.

"...Moko?"

Only the magical girl's lonely voice remained, trapped within the park.

Realizing things were beginning to move beyond her control, Lin Xiaolu finally started to panic and looked everywhere for her partner.

"Moko?"

The enclosed woods became the perfect sound barrier, cutting her voice off from the outside world.

After taking two steps with growing urgency, Lin Xiaolu suddenly heard a rustling sound from the bushes beside her.

Her heartbeat surged. The magical girl immediately turned toward the sound, hastily taking up a fighting stance before shouting with more force than confidence:

"Who's there? Come out!"

The reply was a very faint voice. "Run..."

"What?"

"Run! Xiao Lu!"

This time, the magical girl heard it clearly.

As she recognized the sound from not far away, a blurry pink shadow flew over from the distance and crashed into her arms.

It was Moko, her partner who had suddenly disappeared moments ago.

But compared to how unharmed it had looked just minutes earlier, Moko was now covered in wounds. One of the wings on its back was missing, and a deep gash ran across its body. Glowing pink particles continuously drifted from its wounds, leaving it in a miserable state.

Yet Moko had no time to worry about its injuries and opened its mouth to shout, "Run! This Aberrant Beast—"

—"Grrrrrrrrrr."

A beastlike growl came from the shadows among the nearby trees.

Before Moko could continue, a terrifying monster emerged from the darkness. Its claws sank deep into the soil beneath its feet, yet it made no sound as it drifted silently before Lin Xiaolu.

"Gurururururu, roaaargh..."

There was no doubt about it. This was an Aberrant Beast.

No animal in a park could possibly have a body over four meters tall, much less two heads.

Its dark violet fur was stained with some unknown liquid. Its green-glowing eyes held nothing but a savage desire to slaughter. Strange tube-like structures protruded from its body, linking different parts of its frame to its two drooling giant heads.

Simply standing there was enough to make one shudder in fear.

That should have been impossible for Lin Xiaolu, a magical girl.

After all, magical girls had no reason to fear Aberrant Beasts.

She had gained this power to fight Aberrant Beasts and protect others from harm. Why should she fear an enemy she was supposed to destroy?

Lin Xiaolu did not understand, but she could not suppress the negative thoughts in her heart.

Could I lose?

The thought had only just surfaced when an outside voice interrupted it.

—"Xiao Lu!"

Her partner's voice rang out by her ear again. "Run!"

It was Moko. Moko was telling her to escape.

Only then did she suddenly remember the action she should have taken first—survival.

She raised her wand, and the air around her began to churn. Then, accompanied by a howling gust, she shot into the sky. She had entered the park by flying in from above, so naturally, escaping through the air should have been safer.

That was what Lin Xiaolu thought, but the Aberrant Beast on the ground showed no reaction at all. Even as she chose to flee through the air, it merely stood there quietly, its dim green eyes watching everything.

Was there some kind of trap?

Before Lin Xiaolu could think further, she realized that her upward flight had stopped.

In its place came an intense pressure squeezing against her back.

The injured Fairy beside her asked with difficulty, "What's wrong, Xiao Lu?"

Clearly, it did not understand why its partner had suddenly stopped fleeing.

Seeing the same confusion and panic on her face, it raised a claw toward the top of its head. It only felt a repelling force before its claw was knocked away.

"A Magic Barrier..."

This time, even the Fairy's face showed a trace of despair. "It's over. This was a trap from the very beginning!"

In an instant, both the magical girl and the Fairy's hearts sank to rock bottom.

Unlike the Fairy, however, Lin Xiaolu still retained some awareness of battle, so she kept staring at the Aberrant Beast below her.

What chilled her most was not that her escape had been blocked, but the expression that appeared on the Aberrant Beast's hideous face after she stopped.

Could an Aberrant Beast make such a human expression?

As she thought that, her vision suddenly jolted and blurred. In the place where she had been looking, the enemy had already vanished.

"—Xiao Lu!"

Then, amid the Fairy's anguished cry, she received her answer.

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

The last thing reflected in her eyes was the vicious, mocking grin on the Aberrant Beast's face—a grin that should never have existed there.