Magical Girls

(Bai Ziye)

The sudden gunfire plunged nearby residents into panic.

Then, evacuation signs lit up around the treatment facility.

The giant bullet that pierced through the chain net struck Bai Ze in the chest, almost sending him flying with the force of the impact, nearly dragging the Sky Lock behind him with it.

"I'm fine... cough cough..."

Bai Ze's magic should be related to defense.

Although the bullet caused her internal injuries, it didn't even penetrate her Battle Dress.

Despite saying that, he still coughed up a mouthful of blood, indicating that his internal injuries were quite severe.

"Sky Lock, take Bai Ze and leave."

A valiant magical girl, dressed in an indigo kendo uniform and holding a katana, stood before them with her eyes closed.

Behind her followed a pair of Twins magical girls dressed identically, but with different Battle Dress – one red and one blue – their petite stature resembling that of elementary school twins.

"Leave the rest to me!"

"Sister, don't forget me."

The older sister is very strong-willed, while the younger sister is timid— Twins magical girls with completely opposite personalities?

That's really strange.

Each of the five magical girls has her own personality, but...

I have a question.

I stood behind them and asked, "Besides the magical chains of the Sky Lock, do you have any way to defeat your opponents on the glass curtain wall?"

I have absolutely no way to deal with it.

Even with a good pebble, it's impossible to throw it accurately to such a high position.

Sky Lock explained with a pained expression, "Although Sister Bai Ze's 'Iron Shell' magic can harden, as you can see, it's not shockproof. If the impact is too great, you'll still get hurt... She got hurt while saving me, so I have to stay and continue fighting!"

The magical girl holding a katana said with her eyes closed, "Fenghua, although my magic is wind... I can't attack from that high."

A ronin samurai who rides the wind?

Is your ultimate skill called "Whirlwind Death Slash"?

I looked at Twins with a last glimmer of hope.

"And you two are...?"

"Hualun!" the older sister exclaimed, patting her chest.

"Haite," the younger sister said politely, bowing her head.

"My magic is heating!"

"My magic is cooling."

"We are magical girls in pairs!"

"We are using the same Star Crystal."

"However, we lack the means to launch ranged attacks!"

"Our magic requires contact to take effect."

They spoke in a neat, synchronized manner, one sentence per person, but it still didn't help.

Only the magic of the Sky Lock can attack those who can reach high places; everyone else is a melee fighter.

While close-quarters combat within the stairwell was indeed advantageous, who would have thought they would actually climb up the exterior glass facade of the treatment facility building?

How did you do that?

Being shrouded in invisibility magic and unable to see anything, could it be that he's using Anjie's Bloodline as Spider?

They were climbing the shaded side, Ceruno's mother's invisibility magic was still in effect. They knew nothing about the situation within that invisible area. It was extremely dangerous to rush in rashly, as the enemy was in the dark while they were in the light. Even if they didn't rush in, bullets that could be fired at any time were impossible to defend against.

That wasn't all. Accompanied by a buzzing sound, a blue wormhole opened above the treatment facility, likely reinforcements sent from "the Other Side."

It takes time for a wormhole to open.

"Don't just stand there! Get to the cell! I and Sky Lock- chan will take care of things outside!"

Sirius still uses laser rays to block the invisible semicircle. Because of this unexpected route, she, who calls herself the decoy, has become the only one who can restrain the other side.

She can block invisibility barriers, but she cannot stop teleportation magic.

With the interference of invisibility magic, we don't know what the people inside did, or even if they are still there.

Bang--

Another shot rang out.

Standing in front of everyone, Fenghua deflected the large-caliber bullet with her blade. She didn't use magic, or even open her eyes... but her hand was trembling slightly, probably from the shock of the bullet.

"I'll stay too. It's not convenient for me to work indoors, and I'll get in the way of other people."

She remained standing before Sky Lock in hand.

The only ones left who can come in with me are the twins.

"Let's go!"

"Let's go upstairs."

They stood in front of me.

"Time is of the essence, I apologize for my rudeness."

I picked up the Twins girls, one in each arm, and they instinctively wrapped their arms around my neck... The children's bodies were so soft, and they smelled so sweet and milky.

Gathering my courage, I rushed into the treatment facility building at five times the speed.

"Take the stairs!"

"The elevator is slow."

You have to work hard and still get bossed around.

Sprinting upwards, thanks to my enhanced physical abilities and the fried noodles I had just eaten, I carried the Twins and reached the nineteenth floor in the blink of an eye, without much effort.

This is also the location where Sirius was circled with light.

But through the glass curtain wall, I could sense that something invisible had disappeared.

"Sirius, they've already teleported away!"

This kind of area-of-effect invisibility magic is more troublesome in actual combat than imagined.

Sirius's wings evolved into jets, and it flew towards the floor where the prison cell was located.

"Hold on tight, it might be a bit bumpy."

The Twins hugged me tightly.

It's a magical girl story, after all; surely you can accept it being shown at 10x speed?

--Time-Freeze!--

They charged straight towards the top.

The security door was locked. Unable to open it, I kicked it...

They couldn't kick it open.

This is an important Research Level; isn't it supposed to be easy to make a breakthrough?

I turned on my microphone to communicate.

"SpiCa! Open the door!"

"The door is closed? There's no smart lock over there! Instead of waiting for someone Past open it, why don't you ask those two next to you to think of a solution?"

"Hualun Haite?"

Hualun, the older sister, nodded and placed her hand on the safety door.

Within seconds, she heated the heavy door panel until it glowed red.

Winter, the younger sister, wasn't afraid of getting burned; she placed her hand on the red-hot door panel.

The metal door is quenched in an extremely short time during the cooling process; if this process is too rapid, cracking may occur...

The twins repeated this operation several times within ten seconds. Although the door did not actually crack, its texture had become quite fragile.

"Kick it, Sister Miluno!"

The two of them said in unison that they hadn't been able to use their full strength while carrying them. I stomped the ground and kicked out with thirty times the speed.

Boom--

I smashed the door panel to pieces. I remember the structure of this Research Level, which consisted of concentric rings of areas like a walled city, with the prison cells standing majestically in the very center of this walled city.

SpiCa's voice. "They're in their cells. The cage itself is the last line of defense; we can't let them open it."

"Sister Miluno, please Past!"

We can't hold you back here.

Since the twins said so, I didn't intend to be coy. After wandering around the maze-like top floor for a while, I finally found the way to the central cell.

Just as Sirius had said before, the cell entrance, made up of concentric walls, had appeared, but there was nothing at the end of the passage.

I can't even see the cage where the Shark Princess Witch is imprisoned.

"SpiCa, are they still there?"

The walkie-talkie lost response at this time; is this due to signal interference?

Was it the enemy's tactics? Or the function of the prison itself?

It's invisible again.

Rushing in would involve taking a huge risk.

I don't like taking risks, but right now I can't worry about that... if I can go fast enough...

Fueled by a sliver of hope, I gritted my teeth and rushed into the passage.

"Miluno- chan! Don't come in yet!"

Sirius's warning echoed from the empty passageway.

But by the time I understood the meaning of those words while speeding up, it was too late.

It disappeared.