Starlight Will Sweep Away All Evil!

A dark red glow seeped through the gaps in the clouds, casting an eerie light over all of Xinghai City.

Phone screens lit up one after another.

Major online forums and social media platforms had completely crashed.

Their homepages were flooded with videos of the blood-red sky, filmed by residents from every angle. Panic spread across the internet at breakneck speed.

"Everyone, stay inside! Even the streetlights in the West District have exploded!"

"Is the world ending? What else could cause a sky like that?"

"Please, Monster Hunting Bureau, send your main force! I don't want to die!"

Demon Hunting Bureau, Xinghai Branch.

The servers in the internet monitoring department ran at full capacity, their cooling fans shrieking.

Alarming warning windows flashed across a massive holographic screen.

An intelligence officer, sweat streaming down his face, hammered at his keyboard.

"Captain, we can't contain this online! The panic index has passed the critical threshold!"

Scarface Captain gritted his teeth and slammed a hand against the edge of the desk.

"Issue a top-level public alert with the meteorological bureau!"

He roared into his communicator, the veins in his neck standing out with the effort.

"Tell the public this is an extremely rare Abyssal-Origin Weather Belt, and that we've mobilized joint Monster Hunting squads from neighboring cities and counties to meet it!"

"Tell them to stay indoors and keep away from the windows!"

After ending the call, Scarface Captain sank wearily against his chair.

Only a commander at his level knew the truth.

Forget the squads from neighboring areas. Even Xinghai Branch's elite main force had been reassigned three days ago to carry out the Top-Secret Offshore Clearance Operation.

Their defenses were an empty shell.

Two D-rank, ninth-stage Lord-Class Monsters had torn through space and descended from the sky.

The Magic Power Scale within each of them had climbed terrifyingly close to the absolute limit of two thousand!

That was far beyond what an ordinary Star Mark-level monster hunter could withstand.

If they reached the city and a full-scale battle broke out, nothing within ten kilometers would be left standing.

Happiness Lane Apartment.

Su Xiaoxiao sat cross-legged on the sofa, her fingers flying across a private group chat.

"Xia Ning, can you feel it? The air outside is so stifling."

"There's no way this is some weather belt like the officials say. It's a catastrophe!"

Several other newly recruited diehard fans in the chat agreed.

"Yeah. I can barely breathe. It feels like something's watching me."

Su Xiaoxiao gripped her phone, fanatic excitement gleaming in her eyes.

"This is the sign that the forces of darkness are about to fall! Lady Ziwei will definitely appear!"

"As long as she's here, evil won't set foot on this land!"

Just then, Su Bai came out of the bedroom.

He had changed into a black windbreaker and slung a faded canvas bag over one shoulder.

A black baseball cap sat low over his face.

"Brother Haki? You're going out?"

Su Xiaoxiao sprang off the sofa and grabbed the hem of Su Bai's jacket.

Her brows knitted tightly, urgency in her voice.

"Brother Haki, haven't you seen the news? The weather outside is so strange that even the officials are telling everyone to stay home!"

"With your pathetic fighting skills, are you going out to deliver a midnight snack to the Monsters?"

Su Bai stopped.

He turned back without a trace of expression, took out his phone, and pulled up the delivery app.

"The system's paying a premium on deliveries because of the weather."

He read it aloud in a deadpan voice.

"Two hundred yuan extra per order. Five orders makes a thousand. If I don't go earn it, is the fee for your tutoring-class test next week going to fall from the sky?"

Su Xiaoxiao had no answer. Her grip on his jacket loosened.

"But..."

"No buts. Finish your homework and go to bed. I'll take a safe route."

Su Bai pulled his jacket free, cracked open the door, and slipped out.

He pulled the security door shut behind him with a dull metallic clang.

The corridor was dim.

Su Bai tugged down the brim of his cap with one hand and walked alone into the pitch-black night.

At Xinghai City's landmark attraction, the Xinghai Ferris Wheel.

The towering, hundred-meter structure had come to a complete stop.

Atop the observation cabin at its highest point, the howling night wind had nothing to block it.

Three young girls stood at the edge.

No, to be precise, three beautiful girls!

Lin Guoguo wore an elaborate dark red Lolita Dress trimmed in black.

Its skirts snapped in the wind, the layers of lace lending her a dangerous air.

In her hand was a short wand topped with a dangling ruby Cherry.

She was the organization's second little helper and the newly minted Magical Girl Cherry.

She now possessed a staggering eight hundred points on the Magic Power Scale, enough to stand against any E-rank Monster.

Yet beside the figure nearby, she barely dared to breathe.

On the other side stood Xia Ning in a Mint-green gothic dress.

She clutched her heart-gem-tipped staff, her face alight with excitement.

Magical Girl Ziwei stood ten paces from them, behind the observation platform's framework, completely hidden in shadow.

She said nothing.

But the two girls took her innate calm and imposing presence for the unfathomable authority of a god.

Ziwei drew two communicators engraved with star-shaped marks from her pocket.

One landed neatly in each of Xia Ning's and Lin Guoguo's hands.

"These are Personal Communication Beacons."

"To deal with this catastrophe, a Barrier formation is essential."

Lin Guoguo, also known as Magical Girl Cherry, held the communicator in trembling hands, so excited that her fingers were shaking.

Pure adoration shone in her eyes.

"My lady! Give Cherry any order you wish! Even through fire and blades, Cherry will clear the way for you!"

Xia Ning, Magical Girl Mint, hurried forward too. She pressed her right hand to her chest and bowed solemnly.

"The wind will carry out your every command."

Magical Girl Ziwei merely nodded.

"Cherry, go to the highest point of the Abandoned Water Tower Complex in the West District."

She issued her orders in a low voice.

"Mint, go to the Jiang'an District TV Tower. Once you reach your assigned position, pour magic power into your communicator."

"They'll serve as the foundation anchors for the Starlight Barrier. Do not leave your positions without my order. Not even by a single step."

Her words rang with conviction.

The two Magical Girls immediately felt their blood surge with a fervor unlike anything they had known.

To them, this was what it meant to take on the great mission of saving Xinghai City.

Even if they exhausted every last drop of magic power, they would never let those two disgusting Monsters set foot in the city.

Little did they know.

Su Bai already had his own calculations.

Once he sent those two troublesome girls off to pose as human formation anchors,

and the Starlight Barrier took shape,

he could transform in the central area and carry out a satisfying, large-scale physical harvest.

Forget the premium Abyssal Cores.

No one else was getting so much as a milligram of the remains dropped by those two D-rank lords!

"Where the stars lead, there I stand."

Xia Ning and Lin Guoguo answered in unison, "Starlight will sweep away all evil—!"

With that, the two vanished into wind and shadow.

They flew off at top speed in opposite directions.

Ziwei was left alone atop the observation cabin.

Kabi floated out of the shadows, his purple-gold spirit body giving off a faint glow.

He watched his master prepare not only a high-capacity Magic Storage Bag,

but also check his phone to see which banks in Xinghai City were still open tonight.

That obsessive pursuit of money, paired with such shameless exploitation,

left Kabi, a Guidance Sprite born alongside the Will of the World, shaken beyond words.

The light above his head flickered erratically.

"Master, you really are a terrifying creature."

At first, Kabi had thought he had chosen the wrong person.

But now, watching this man think only of securing an exclusive monopoly in the face of the apocalypse—

No, this girl—

he found that his core programming was falling completely in love with such a simple, ruthless set of values!

"No one is a purer Idealist than you. Your heart is made entirely of gold bars!"

Kabi flew two circles through the air, his voice more animated than ever.

"Once you defeat those two monsters with nearly two thousand points on the Magic Power Scale, all the profits from this district will go straight into your pocket!"