Battle

Qingyin hovered high in the sky, looking down on the magical girls' battle from above, taking in the entire battlefield at a glance.

She noticed two drones circling near the barrier wall, seemingly trying to get closer to film the magical girls fighting.

Recording drones appeared in every magical girl battle, specially used to document the magical girls' heroic figures.

As magical girls' influence weakened, an emerging company had risen up that filmed nothing but magical girls.

It was commonly known as secretly filming magical girls.

Of course, that was just a nickname coined by netizens. The company itself was perfectly legitimate and did not do anything illegal.

At the same time, it had established a partnership with the Magical Girl Association.

Like magical girls, the staff received relevant information at the earliest opportunity, allowing them to arrive in time to film the entire process.

If something unexpected happened, like the berserk beastmen and mecha attacking downtown earlier, and Qingyin happened to be at the site of the surprise attack and also happened to be capable of instantly defeating the enemy—

Then the drones would be unable to record it, leaving a gap in that magical girl's combat footage and one less promotional video.

After filming, they would edit the footage and add suitable commentary to strengthen magical girls' influence, maintain social stability, and increase the popularity of the magical girls who had fought.

Magical girls could grow stronger according to the popularity they accumulated.

It was killing two birds with one stone—a win-win situation.

They generally would not livestream the battles of newly debuted magical girls.

At the beginning, they were not cautious enough and not strong enough, making them prone to unnecessary mistakes.

Hopefully, they could deliver a decent debut battle for their team.

Right, how were they supposed to promote them without a team name?

She would have to ask Youyue to contact the staff in charge of copywriting and add one in post-production, right?

Qingyin's thoughts gradually drifted away. Like someone zoning out in class, her mind began jumping from one thought to another.

The scene shifted inside the barrier.

Yuyan, who had rushed in ahead of the others, locked onto the Evil Beast that had originally been clinging to the barrier wall.

Though she was filled with endless fury, the sight of its hideous appearance extinguished more than half of her fighting spirit through sheer visual assault.

Suppressing her nausea as she prepared herself mentally, she watched the Evil Beast roar, beat its wings, and glide toward her.

"Magic Weapon Skill: Dawnlight!"

A ray of fire instantly illuminated the night sky, swallowing the gliding Evil Beast in an instant without even leaving behind a puddle of disgusting, foul-smelling fluid.

"Magical Girl Feiyan, reporting for duty!" Feiyan flew to Yuyan's side and winked at her.

Calling out a flashy skill name after launching an attack.

Announcing a magical girl's title when entering battle.

Both were part of the first compulsory lesson after becoming a magical girl and entering the academy.

Magical girls brought joy, happiness, safety, and reliability to the public, so their outward image was very important.

"Magical Girl Yuyan, reporting for duty!" Yuyan promptly understood and added the line.

"Magical Girl Yalin, reporting for duty!" Yalin, who had hurried over as fast as she could, announced her title as well.

Below them, three Evil Beasts were gnawing on fallen trees, and the park had been ravaged beyond recognition.

Yet they did not seem to notice the magical girls' arrival or the danger they posed.

As Evil Beasts, they lacked that kind of intelligence and acted entirely on instinct.

"There are still three of them." Feiyan looked down at the scene below. The Magic Weapon in her hand flickered with faint, somewhat dim light. "My Dawnlight is a charged skill, so I can't use it a second time in a short period. We can't let the Evil Beasts keep destroying the place. Shall I treat them to something big first?"

"Yes." *2

"Get ready, firing!"

A massive blast of fire crashed down from midair. Sensing danger, the Evil Beasts instantly scattered in all directions.

Having evaded the sneak attack, they viciously lunged to bite the nearest magical girls in a fury.

The three Evil Beasts stood in different positions, instantly splitting the battlefield where the magical girls had originally stood together into three fronts.

They could only deal with the mindless Evil Beast before them before going to help the other magical girls.

Facing off against the Evil Beast, Yuyan's mind flashed through those cliché move names she had never bothered to come up with, yet she could not remember a single one now.

Instead, nonexistent imaginary scenes kept surfacing in her mind.

The miserable sight of her family being devoured by the creature replayed over and over in her head, leaving her utterly unable to calm down.

She charged straight at the gliding Evil Beast and threw the still-rough boxing techniques she had learned at the academy.

One punch ripped open the Evil Beast's belly. Fetid fluid immediately splattered all over her body, while countless tiny Evil Beasts poured densely out through the rupture.

Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting, disgusting.

The explosive sight left Yuyan's mind with nothing but revulsion. Her fists kept flying, smashing apart the tiny Evil Beasts trying to crawl onto her.

Her entire body was covered in fluid, and more and more of it soaked through her clothes.

"Eek! Get away from me!"

How long had it been? Half a minute, or several minutes? In her panic, Yuyan could no longer remember the passage of time.

Then she suddenly heard Feiyan scream. Instinctively, she looked toward the sound.

Feiyan was also splattered with the pale yellow blood from an Evil Beast's wound. The pungent stench and the tiny Evil Beasts pouring out made her cry out in uncontrollable panic.

She raised her Magic Weapon and unleashed the most exaggerated skill of her life into the air.

Skywide Fireworks.

Her Magic Weapon fired magical power at a rate like a Gatling gun. Blazing firelight engulfed everything within the barrier, making it impossible to see what was happening inside.

When the flames dispersed, everything in the park had become fuel for the fire. Only a pockmarked concrete clearing remained, with fragments of damaged buildings blazing fiercely.

"So this is what it means when magical girls are held responsible for magical girl-caused damage and have the corresponding amount deducted from their pay."

Qingyin quietly watched the scene and could not help muttering to herself.

Wind.

A single character appeared on the blank page of the manifested Magic Martial Tome, extinguishing the flames burning throughout the park.

The three magical girls, like a manga that had lost all its coloring, slowly flew toward Qingyin.

Qingyin looked past them toward the drones trying to catch up, casually thinking of a single word that cut off their signals.

When Feiyan, Yuyan, and Yalin flew closer, all three were stained with blood to varying degrees. Qingyin instinctively flew backward some distance.

The sight made their eyes widen on the spot.

Was that backward step serious?

"Clean yourselves up with magic power first," Qingyin reminded them.

Since magical girls could dry their clothes with magic power, and their Magic Dresses could stay dry if they wanted them to—

Then naturally, they could also stay clean if they wanted to.

They suddenly understood and hurriedly used magic power to dispel all the filth clinging to their bodies.

It was like a ball of light exploded from within them, blasting all the grime away.

"You almost could have joined a besties group with Miss Sakura," Qingyin said.

"Who is Miss Sakura?" Yuyan asked curiously.

"I won't tell you. You don't need to know."

From above, she had clearly seen their situation. Yalin had been in the worst state; quite a few tiny Evil Beasts had already crawled onto her weapon.

If Feiyan had erupted any later, they would have been all over her, though Yalin did not seem particularly afraid.

Yuyan, on the other hand, had exceeded Qingyin's expectations. She had overcome her fear with nothing but her fists, and when dealing with the swarm, her punches had moved so fast they left afterimages.

Was this what they called powering up in a crisis?

As for Feiyan... she had been terrible.

Based on the brief information Qingyin had, Feiyan had been a magical girl for two years, yet she had performed so poorly against this kind of Evil Beast. Pathetic.

Feiyan kept guiltily looking away. It seemed she knew she had made a mistake and was ready to be scolded.

Though their performance had been far from satisfactory, Qingyin did not criticize them. Instead, she comforted them as gently as she could, though there was little change in her icy tone.

"You did well. Your team's debut battle has been successfully completed."

Huh?

The three magical girls showed varying degrees of surprise, looking at one another in disbelief.

"A debut battle calls for a celebration banquet. We'll hold it sometime in the next few days.

"The sticky blood is gone, but getting over it mentally may be difficult. Go home and take a good bath."

As soon as she finished speaking, Qingyin, as the team leader and teacher, set an excellent example. Before they could even react, she sped away alone.