Molis's Pleasant Weekend

On a bustling pedestrian street, a pink-haired girl stood at the intersection as if waiting for someone.

When she spotted the silver-haired girl, she excitedly waved at her.

"Molis! Over here!"

The silver-haired girl walked toward her. She was Molis, Zhou Mo's transformed form.

Today was the weekend, the day Molis had arranged to meet Xia Ya.

The pink-haired and blue-haired girls walked side by side, their pretty faces drawing frequent glances from passersby.

"Huh? So Molis only came to Cloud City recently?"

The pink-haired girl asked curiously. She had only just learned that the other girl had arrived in this city not long ago.

Molis looked at the girl's curious gaze and nodded awkwardly.

"I see. Then let me be your guide and show you around properly."

After thinking for a moment, Xia Ya confidently patted her chest.

And so, the two Magical Girls began their day tour of the city.

Cloud City covered nearly one hundred thousand square kilometers and had a population of forty-three million, making it comparable in scale to a medium-sized province.

As a city with a thriving idol industry, the streets were filled with facilities catering to Magical Girl idols. Aside from idol-related merchandise, food and clothing stores also carried plenty of collaboration products from famous Magical Girls.

Although Zhou Mo had already been in Cloud City for a week, she truly had not taken the time to properly understand what the city was like.

"Trilly, Trilly! The new Trilly-inspired bitter melon juice milk tea from Honey x Ice City is now available!"

Outside a certain upscale, famous chain milk tea shop, Zhou Mo watched a girl on the screen inside. She had pink-and-white fox ears atop her head and wore a pink-and-white dress, her voice sweet and adorable.

The girl named Trilly held a cup of milk tea filled with some kind of mysterious green liquid. The cute pink-themed girl and the eerie green liquid sharing the same frame gave the entire image an ominous air.

"Is that thing really meant for people to drink?"

Seeing the long line outside the shop and the customers at the counter all holding cups of green bitter melon juice milk tea, smiling blissfully after taking a sip, Molis's eye twitched.

"This must be some kind of evil ritual."

Certain of her conclusion, she decided to leave immediately.

"Bitter melon milk tea... It sounds so interesting. Let's line up too."

Beside her, Xia Ya grabbed Molis, who was preparing to flee, and suggested it eagerly.

"Uh..."

Molis stared at her in horror. She had not expected anyone to be interested in something like that.

Fine, she could just order something else. Thinking that, she was pulled by Xia Ya to the back of the line.

When it was their turn, Xia Ya ordered a bitter melon milk tea without hesitation, while Molis casually chose a pearl milk tea.

"Huh? Molis, aren't you getting Trilly's signature 'Teriteri You Away' bitter melon juice milk tea?"

When she saw that Molis had only ordered an ordinary milk tea, Xia Ya tilted her head and asked in confusion.

What a long name...

Molis complained inwardly, but she only said that she did not like bitter melon.

After receiving their drinks, Molis watched Xia Ya insert the straw and take a small sip.

The next moment, Xia Ya's eyes widened slightly as she said in surprise,

"Mmm! It's good!"

"Seriously...?"

Molis studied her expression. It did not seem fake.

"Mm-hm. If you don't believe me, try it."

Xia Ya nodded and held the straw to her lips.

Without thinking much of it, Molis opened her mouth and took a shallow sip. Immediately afterward, she wore the same surprised expression Xia Ya had shown moments earlier.

It was fragrant and smooth upon entering her mouth, with a faint hint of bitterness that was just right. It was not nearly as bitter and undrinkable as she had imagined.

"It's... pretty good?"

Molis licked her lips with the tip of her tongue, a flash of admiration appearing in her eyes.

"See? See?"

Hearing Molis's assessment, Xia Ya smiled at her.

Molis looked at the girl before her, then at the straw close by.

"..."

She suddenly felt like there had been something wrong with what they had just done.

Without dwelling on it, the two left the shop.

The girls ate as they walked, trying every snack sold along the street.

Thanks to a Magical Girl's powerful physique, Molis did not feel full at all despite eating so much.

After passing an intersection, the two arrived at a wide-open riverside.

Molis looked up. With nothing blocking her view ahead, she suddenly noticed a building across the river that stood more than twice as tall as the surrounding skyscrapers.

The entire structure was black, shaped like a tall tower, utterly out of place among the buildings around it.

"What's that?"

She pointed at the building with its spire-like top and asked softly.

Hearing her, Xia Ya looked over as well. Once she saw the building, she explained,

"That's the headquarters building of Zohar. It's in Zone 1, the very center of Cloud City."

"Zohar..."

Molis murmured the name without paying it much mind.

"Want to go take a look?"

At that moment, Xia Ya suddenly suggested it.

Molis froze for a moment, glanced at the pointed tower in the distance, then nodded.

I have nothing better to do. Going to take a look won't hurt.

As she took in the bustling city streets, Zhou Mo could not help but sigh.

"Haah, this city really is relaxing when Monsters aren't invading."

Faced with Cloud City's flourishing Magical Idol economy, even elderly scavengers on the street wore proud, happy smiles. To catch a glimpse of their favorite Magical Girl in person, they even picked up bottles a little faster.

But just as the girls were about to take the subway to Zohar's headquarters and arrived at the entrance, a thunderous boom rang out from afar.

Molis stopped and turned toward the source of the sound. She could only see a flash of fire at the horizon, followed by another deafening boom after a long while.

The nearby pedestrians were startled by the noise, but once they realized it had not reached their side, they did not panic too much.

The girls exchanged a glance. Xia Ya grabbed Molis's hand, her expression turning somewhat serious.

"Come on. Let's go take a look."

Leaving the crowds behind, the two came to the rooftop of a tall building.

Molis looked into the distance, her eyes widening at once.

"What... is going on...?"

Across the river, towering smoke shrouded the distant high-rises. From within the smoke, a black beast emerged.

The beast appeared to be twenty or thirty meters tall. It stood on the street along the riverside across from them, clearly visible from where Molis stood.

Around the beast, two colorful little figures flew back and forth, occasionally firing beams of light at it. The beast likewise opened its mouth and spewed black breath. Any building struck by that breath instantly crumbled and collapsed. Their battle had affected several nearby streets.

Molis stared with her mouth slightly open, stunned by the sight.

Is that a Monster? That's a kaiju!

"Is that power at the Intermediate Tier? Or..."

Beside her, Xia Ya stared at the battle across the river and muttered softly.

"Um, does this Intermediate Tier you mentioned refer to a Monster's rank?"

Molis asked curiously.

"Ah, yes."

Hearing Molis's question, Xia Ya snapped out of her thoughts and nodded before answering.

"Didn't your fairy tell you about that?"

"...No."

"I see."

Xia Ya then explained,

"A Monster's rank is tied to the Abyss tier it comes from. There are ten tiers in total. The first is the Surface Tier, while the second through fourth are all the Shallow Tier. Monsters from those two levels are the ones we encounter most often."

"The fifth through seventh levels are Intermediate Tier Monsters."

Xia Ya looked back at the battle in the distance and pointed at the giant beast dozens of meters tall.

"That Monster is Intermediate Tier. As for its exact tier... hmm, I'm not too sure either."

"Then what lies above that?"

Molis immediately pressed.

"More accurately, it should be called deeper levels."

Xia Ya corrected her wording, then continued explaining.

"Those that reach the eighth and ninth layers of the Abyss are Deep Tier. Then there's the deepest layer, the tenth—Abyssal Tier Monsters."

Xia Ya's tone became somewhat grave.

"Deep Tier Monsters can destroy an entire city with ease."

"What?"

Molis was shocked. "Wouldn't that mean a single one could bring disaster upon an entire city?"

But Xia Ya shook her head with a smile. "How do you know cities haven't been destroyed before? Of course, when the seniors fight, they deploy a barrier called the Magic Domain. A barrier of that level completely isolates the inside from the outside, making it like a separate space. What happens inside won't affect the outside world."

"Something major happened five years ago. It was..."

At that point, she suddenly paused.

"What was it?"

Her curiosity piqued, Molis hurriedly asked.

Yet it was as if Xia Ya had not heard her at all. She merely lowered her head and muttered to herself.

"What was it? Right... what was it again..."