Larkspur and Sparrow

Is she a magical girl?

Upon seeing the figure outside the window, Lin Yun immediately had this thought. After all, only magical girls could fly through the air and wear such flamboyant clothes.

It's not that Mage can't imitate similar styles of dress, but unfortunately, Mage total magical power and Spell Formula proficiency allow them to float steadily in the air are most likely past the age of "girl".

So, why would a magical girl appear there at this time?

Lin Yun was unfamiliar with the girl in the black dress. He was certain she wasn't one of his "old acquaintances." She also wasn't a newcomer to Fangting City; otherwise, Lin Yun would have had no reason not to recognize her.

Is she a magical girl from out of town?

Numerous questions arose in Lin Yun's mind, and then he began to consider his next move.

Should I transform into a magical girl to inquire about her purpose? Or should I ignore her and let her come and go as she pleases?

Transforming right now is clearly not an option.

If he were to transform himself now, he would inevitably be seen by Wang Tengfei, who is an ordinary person, thus unnecessarily leaking information.

Although the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau could handle the aftermath, sign confidentiality agreements, and even use Spell Formula to subtly influence his mind and prevent him from thinking about it, he still wanted to avoid transforming in front of others as much as possible.

He couldn't simply ignore her, because he couldn't allow a magical girl of unknown origin, whose identity as friend or foe was unknown, to roam freely in Fangting City.

In short, putting everything else aside, I can't afford to waste any more time in the general manager's office.

So he spoke, preparing to end his conversation with Wang Tengfei: "Mr. Wang, I'm sorry, I have some things to attend to. I won't take up any more of your time. Next..."

Lin Yun's pupils suddenly contracted halfway through her sentence.

He saw a girl high in the sky, her long hair dancing in the wind, her black dress gleaming in the sunlight.

He saw a yellowish-brown magical light emanating from the girl's hand, pointing directly towards the office building.

At this point, he could finally be certain that the visitors were up to no good.

"Mr. Wang."

Lin Yun stopped wasting words, stood up abruptly, and solemnly instructed Wang Tengfei, "Lie down."

This statement came so suddenly that Wang Tengfei didn't understand its meaning.

He was destined not to have time to understand, because when he saw Lin Yun stand up, he didn't say another word, but ran towards the direction behind him where there should have been only a floor-to-ceiling window.

Then, a bright blue light flashed beside him, and a moment later, the dull thud of shattering glass came from behind him.

The next second, a strong tremor came from outside the window, like an earthquake, and everyone in the office building felt an extremely strong shaking.

"Huh? You missed?"

Not far away, a girl in a black dress looked at the office building with a large crater at its edge. "Strange, I should have aimed correctly, shouldn't I?"

"Fine, if it missed, let's try again."

"No matter how many times you try, you won't be able to hit it."

Such a sound suddenly came from not far away.

The girl looked in the direction of the sound and saw a petite girl in a dark blue dress floating in the air, just like her, with a cold expression.

Upon seeing the other person, the girl was initially taken aback, but then a slight smile appeared on her lips, "Ah, so you really are here?"

"'So you were here after all'? You came to find me?"

The Larkspur opposite her stretched out her hand, and magic coalesced into a wand in her hand. "It's not polite to greet someone with a bombardment Spell Formula. You have one minute to explain why you came here, and then explain your purpose."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I should have introduced myself first."

As if genuinely apologizing for this "rudeness," the girl gave a slight bow. "Hello, I am a magical girl with Letter Card who was once registered in the Magic Kingdom, belonging to the Finance Institute. My tenure was approximately fourteen years ago, and my codename was 'Golden Bell'."

"However, that's a name from the past. Now, you can call me 'Sparrow'."

"If you don't understand what this code name means, please allow me to introduce us. We are a group of magical girls who have truly gained freedom. We are 'Claw Mark'."

Are you satisfied with my self-description?

At this point, the girl who called herself "Sparrow" raised her head, and the smile on her face gradually became somewhat arrogant:

"--A former Flower Card player, Cornflower -sama?"

Almost as soon as she uttered those words, without warning, an extremely powerful beam of magic shot out from her palm, heading straight towards where the Larkspur was.

Not far away, the Larkspur, still stunned by her words, reacted quickly. She widened her eyes, raised her hand, and a simple Magic Barrier instantly formed amidst several Fawo Runes, timely blocking the sudden attack from the girl who called herself "Sparrow".

"It seems you do know quite a lot."

The barrier blocked the magic beam, resulting in a stalemate in magic intensity. Larkspur raised her eyes, her expression growing increasingly icy as she looked at Sparrow: "Knowing full well it was me, you still dared to come to Fangting City to provoke us? Or did you think you could succeed in a sneak attack by simply giving a discarded name? Are all the members of your Claw Mark organization as reckless and foolish as you?"

Her words caused Sparrow's smile to falter slightly, her brow twitching as if she were quite displeased. However, she quickly masked this emotion, leaving only a radiant smile.

"Ah, of course not."

"Although you're just a former Flower Card, you were still Flower Card once. I don't expect to take you down easily with a simple sneak attack. Even old women like you still have some real skills."

"But what if I said that this is actually my trump card?"

As she uttered those words, the originally yellowish-brown beam of magic was suddenly enveloped by a purplish-black magic.

When the purplish-black magic came into contact with the Larkspur's Magic Barrier, the barrier, which had been unmoved, suddenly aged as if it had become incredibly thin and fragile, and then Spiderweb- like cracks appeared.

The process was so brief that Larkspur didn't have time to make any amends before the barrier shattered and exploded before her very eyes.

Boom!

With no obstacles in its path, the beam shattered the Magic Barrier, completely enveloping its original location and piercing straight through the Larkspur.