The Stolen Sun

(Bai Ziye)

As a public facility in the city, the library has an emergency passage that leads directly to an underground air-raid shelter. Yin Lu and the armed police who arrived at the scene began to guide the people on site to safety.

"Leave this battle to me! Consider it my debut battle in Skyreach City!"

Falcon wanted to promote itself through a fight.

"Don't get beaten up too badly."

But Heat Haze couldn't resist adding another insult, to which Falcon retorted, "Hmph, you couldn't possibly be uglier than you are now, could you?"

The two always looked like they were about to argue, and Ceruno, pushing the wheelchair, would try to smooth things over.

"Aren't you friends? Don't be so rude..."

"We were just kidding! I'm going to make my move, so I'm leaving Heat Haze in your care."

"Huh? Hmm!"

Falcon pushed open the window and flew out, her weapons being two flashy gold and silver revolvers tucked into her waistband, very cowboy-like.

Based on her magic, it's likely that she manipulates flying bullets to fight.

A marksman who hits the bullseye every time is truly terrifying. (Not afraid at all)

Arriving at the entrance of the air-raid shelter, Sirius sighed.

"I'll go up to the roof and keep an eye on her. You guys go down first."

Ceruno then asked, "Are you going to help Miss Falcon?"

"That girl doesn't have much practical experience, I'm worried something might happen to her... Of course, it would be best if I didn't have to intervene."

That makes sense.

Ceruno thought for a moment and said, "In that case... Xiao Yi, you push the Heat Haze."

My senior, with his short haircut, wasn't much taller than Heat Haze's wheelchair, but he still took over.

And asked, "Is Sister Ceruno going to help too?"

"Yes! I can protect Miss Falcon. No matter what kind of Monster we encounter, safety comes first! Yezi, I'm entrusting Heat Haze to you!"

As she spoke, she caught up with Sirius and left.

So I'm being put in charge of taking care of Heat Haze?

The ramp for disabled people was quite steep, and I was worried that Xiao Yi wouldn't be able to hold on, so I gave her a hand as well. Heat Haze took the opportunity to tease me.

"Hey, are you the boyfriend that Ceruno keeps talking about?"

"No, he's not my boyfriend."

"What a surprise! You're a girl? Looking at you now, your skin is indeed quite fair and delicate, and your features are quite pretty..."

What kind of thought process is this?

And at the very least, he's handsome!

"Huh? I'm a genuine good man."

"Are you denying being 'friends'? How heartless! Ceruno talks about you to me all the time—"

Before she could finish speaking, we heard a deep, mechanical sound like gears meshing behind us.

The heavy doors of the air-raid shelter were closed.

Xiao Yi asked, puzzled, "Are air-raid shelters in your big cities set up like this?"

"... No, they usually don't just close the door, especially since someone hasn't come in yet."

The air-raid shelter beneath the library has multiple exits, so there should be other routes to take. The lights were on in the main hall of the air-raid shelter, and media reporters and entertainment industry bigwigs who were evacuating to take refuge were arriving one after another. Since they all knew each other to some extent, no one felt nervous. They were just puzzled by the fact that the air-raid shelter doors were closed.

"Hehe, I wonder what's going on."

Old Master Han was asking questions in the lecture hall, even struck up a conversation with me.

"Kid, where's that little girl Ceruno?"

"She went to deal with the Monster. It's not appropriate for a magical girl to take refuge in a bomb shelter... except for the wounded and sick."

Halfway through my speech, I realized I was still pushing an injured person in my wheelchair.

Xiao Yi joked, "Brother, you're overthinking it. There are three magical girls standing guard outside, including Sirius, the world's number one. No matter what kind of Monster comes, we won't be in any danger staying here!"

This girl is behaving like a little adult.

But no sooner had she finished speaking than a gunshot rang out from inside the air-raid shelter.

"Everyone, stay still!"

The one who fired the shot was the black-clad bodyguard of the red-haired woman who was the last to enter the lecture hall.

As for the woman herself, a blood-red halo appeared behind her, resembling a wormhole.

It's actually possible to open a wormhole indoors?

"... You... you're a magical girl too? What do you want to do?" someone questioned.

"Magical girl? Too bad, someone like me has no chance of being chosen by the Star Crystal... But forcibly using the Crystal's power is still possible!"

With a wave of her hand, red, thin wires shot out from behind her, precisely destroying the cameras and cell phones of the reporters present.

Forcibly using the power of the Crystal?

Doing something like that is probably even harder than becoming a magical girl!

"Don't resist, and I won't take your lives..."

Her red hair, now disheveled, swung wildly as she focused her attention on me. Heat Haze immediately raised her right hand, and a defensive line formed of Fire Phosphor blocked her path.

"Wow, you want to detonate your bomb in a confined space like an air-raid shelter?"

"I can control the power; only you will get blown away."

"Then let's give it a try!"

"... What exactly do you want to do?"

The destructive power of Heat Haze's magic is astonishing; it's absolutely impossible for it to be detonated inside this sealed air-raid shelter. Everyone knows that what she said was just bluffing.

But the other party clearly understood this as well, so they didn't seem worried at all.

What should I do in this situation?

Ceruno and the others are still waiting for the Monster to arrive upstairs in the library. Right now, I'm the only one they can rely on...

"What we need is you, Heat Haze."

Who are you?

"You don't need to know. Just come with me, and I promise no one will get hurt. Maintaining a wormhole with my own magic is quite strenuous for me too."

I think it's pretty absurd that someone could open a wormhole using just one person's magic.

This woman's magic is a mess; what do those red lines and wormhole aura have in common?

I can't understand it, but...

"In that case! We just need to stall until you run out of magic!"

While I was still hesitating, Xiao Yi stood in front of Heat Haze, holding only a mop handle in her hand.

"Hey! That's too dangerous!"

I reached out and pulled her behind me. She wasn't a magical girl anymore; what could such a small, thin body do?

Sticking your neck out is just reckless.

"Xiao Yi, let me stall for time."

I took the mop handle from her hand.

"Huh? You are...?"

But I'm different.

Since the Crystal from the Morning Star completely merged into my body, even though I have turned back into Bai Ziye, my physical abilities are still stronger than those of an ordinary person.

While it's nowhere near as powerful as "Miluno," it's still possible to "buy time" from the magical girl. Hopefully, those above will notice the anomaly here soon.

Result.

The red thread wrapped around my ankle, hanging me upside down from the ceiling...

The red line was moving very fast; I tried to dodge it at three times the speed, but I still couldn't avoid it.

"Young hero, you're quite handsome! But unfortunately, I'm attracted to older men. If you want to mess with me, you'll have to wait another ten years or so!"

I threw the mop handle Past my hand, but it was chopped into wood chips in mid-air by the red line.

"You'll be an old lady in another ten years or so, won't you?"

"As long as the Star Crystal remains under my control, I will never grow old... Sigh, don't you understand what I'm saying? Humanity doesn't need to be subservient to the Star Crystal. If we want, we can not only make the Crystal submit to our will, but we can even create new Crystal. This power can lead all of humanity into an immortal civilization! The threat from 'the Other Side' will also be easily resolved!"

Although not explicitly stated, their identities are quite clear.

It's a third-party organization that conducts illegal research, which is what my parents have been working with all along.

This is definitely not a "magical girl," this is a "magical terrorist"!

An ominous red thread wrapped around Heat Haze's wheelchair and was pulled Past from Xiao Yi's hand.

Oh no, they're running away!

What should I do?