The Situation: Ceruno

(Ceruno)

The passageway beneath the City School, originally a dedicated space for the Engine Department and logistics drones, has now become a bomb shelter, refuge, and field hospital for the magical girls. Metal found a maintenance room here and converted it into a temporary command post.

Xiaoling and Xiaojie are hugging me and providing me with magic power. Not only them, but most of the other support-type magical girls are also acting as batteries for the magical girls with strong combat abilities.

"The enemy could break through the defenses at any time."

In the command center, a magical girl who had returned from reconnaissance was explaining the situation.

"In the south, they have occupied the Commercial District and are advancing towards the Central Teaching District; the enemy is active in the gardens and woods north of the City School; in the east, they have reached the area around the Wastewater Treatment Plant, the Drone Repair Center, and the Underground Transport Station."

The enemy troops braved our defensive fire to climb up the City School and occupied most of its land, forming a pincer movement with the enemy on three sides.

The Underground Transport Station leads directly to the passage beneath our feet. Once they discover the existence of the underground passage, the location of this temporary command post will be exposed.

Xiao Yi looked like she had a headache.

But she still said, "If Sister Miluno can come back to help, everything will be alright."

"Principal... Miluno, she..."

At this, the Engine Department beside her hesitated, but in the end Phoenix sighed:

"Miluno has disappeared without a trace in the west; she hasn't returned to defend it."

Xiao Yi's trembling hands removed the round, gold-rimmed glasses she had somehow put on. She was a little nervous, but the magical girl operating the drone reported:

"However, our drones captured images of the western battlefield."

"Drones? There are still drones that haven't been shot down?"

Phoenix was somewhat surprised by this.

"The moment I take to the skies, I'm locked onto by countless enemies. Are those Monsters in the west blind, with such an obvious target as a large drone?"

"Well... maybe... there aren't Monster in the west who have time to deal with drones anymore."

The magical girl operating the drone said, pulling up a video on the screen.

"You should see this! It's incredible! Monster on the street were instantly torn to shreds, without even the ability to resist. Is this the power of the 'Great Will'? Miluno being a non-enemy is a huge help."

Those were images of the battle in Miluno, sent by a drone...

No, it was less a battle and more a massacre. We couldn't even see Miluno. Blood was splattered everywhere, and corpses littered the ground. The Monster in their standard armor seemed quite weak, completely powerless against Miluno.

Professor Stratos offered his own explanation:

"Those soldiers in black armor are all Defective Fusion Warrior. The 'Supreme Council' uses these soldiers as expendable resources. They're the ones operating the artillery on the front lines... How could these defective products possibly be a match for Miluno, who has become part of the 'Great Will'?"

Defective products...

Although they were enemies, using that word to describe living, breathing individuals still sounds jarring, but the professor didn't seem to find it inappropriate at all.

I asked, "But what about the Miluno?"

Xiao Yi rubbed her Jingming acupoint and replied:

"She should be fine. We should worry about ourselves instead of her... The enemy is attacking the Central District from three sides. Although we have a height advantage, it will still be too difficult to hold out against an enemy force that outnumbers us several times over."

Will the tunnel be discovered?

Xiao Yi replied, "Metal has sealed off the surrounding passages with magic. Unless the enemy forcibly breaks through the thickened metal wall, they can only find this place from the Central District... It's safe for now, but how long it can hold out is unknown."

It's only temporary.

Our disadvantage has not been reversed. Magical girls... There have already been casualties among the classmates and teachers we live with every day at the City School. If this continues, we might all be wiped out.

This must never be allowed to happen!

"I've rested enough."

He patted Xiaoling and Xiaojie's heads, and even rubbed the black, wet bun that Xiaojie was holding in her arms.

"Thank you for your magic! I'll go upstairs and see if there's anything I can do to help."

Although my magic hasn't fully recovered, I still returned to the surface of the City School.

The teaching area was our last territory from the very beginning.

While they are not invincible in terms of direct combat power, the biggest problem in this battle lies in the replenishment of magic power, or logistics.

Phoenix was repairing underground because he needed support-type magical girls to provide him with magic power due to insufficient magic power. However, the magic power of support-type magical girls also has its limits. If this war of attrition continues, he will eventually run out of magic power and fall.

"Is this also part of Dad's plan?"

To prevent our precious Monster and witches from being harmed, we'll rely on this group of incompetent Monster to deplete our magic power, and then we'll come out to finish them off and reap the rewards of victory...

"Don't you consider these soldiers casualties in Dad's eyes?"

Sirius replied, "They are all just props in the eyes of their own kind, so from A-Ji's perspective, they naturally wouldn't take them seriously."

I put Bubble Membrane on the melee-type magical girl charging into battle, and then I tried swinging my Trident...

Sirius asked, "Shall we engage in melee combat?"

"Isn't melee combat the most mana-efficient fighting method?"

We need to cut costs now.

But I've never used a long-handled weapon before. The force of the swing and the angle of the blade are harder to control than I thought. However, these enemies are weak. Their bullets can't break my Bubble Membrane, and they run away very slowly. These mediocre Monster are even physically weak. I feel like I could take on a hundred of them.

"Ceruno, watch out!"

Sometime later, a Monster somehow broke through the magical girls' defenses.

He's still the kind of "qualified Monster" who doesn't need standard equipment.

It's a Crocodile Freak.

His bulging muscles looked powerful, but his reactions were quick. I pressed down on the tip of my spear and slashed down, but he quickly raised his fist covered in iron to block.

Yet I still managed to cut a bloody gash in it.

The gap in weaponry.

This Trident is the result of several evolutions of the Ruby Wand; how could a mere iron claw withstand it? Taking advantage of the Crocodile Freak's fear, I turned around and thrust out the Trident, piercing the Simulacrum Factor in the Crocodile Freak's chest with a single spear thrust.

Ordinary Monster are no match for me. At least now I'm a unique triple-core magical girl, and my physical abilities have improved a lot.

"However, since even these Monsters have joined the fray, there are only two possibilities... either the cannon fodder has been exhausted, or... Daddy thinks the magical girls' magic power is nearly depleted and it's time to officially take us down."

Not far away, Miss Metal's discus smashed the Monster's skull, causing him to die a gruesome death with his brains and liver splattered everywhere.

I put a layer of Bubble Membrane on her.

Thanks a lot!

Despite the unfavorable situation, she didn't seem nervous at all.

"Isn't Miss Metal worried?"

She gave me a meaningful smile.

"Don't be too hasty, we have a backup plan."