Times Had Changed, but Guns Were No Match for Magic

Dorm Room 502.

Ye Qingqing was curled up where the foot of her bed met the wall, unable to move.

Her long, straight black hair was soaked with cold sweat, strands clinging to her cheeks. Her black tights were torn at one knee. She was so slight she seemed to weigh nothing, her flat chest rising and falling with each rapid breath.

Her forehead was burning.

Greenish wind element rampaged through her body, draining every last bit of her strength.

The silver pocket watch against her chest glowed faintly green around the engraved vines on its cover.

The keepsake her mother had left her was scorching hot.

Half an hour ago, a student from the next room had knocked and called for her to evacuate with them. Ye Qingqing had opened her mouth, but all she could manage was, "I'll be right there."

The footsteps faded. She had pressed the call button beside her bed, but no one answered. Her terminal lay on the desk, three steps away. She couldn't crawl that far.

The entire building was empty.

Click.

A dark red ring lit up in the center of the security door.

There was no sound, no spark. A silent cutter traced a circle across the door, melting through the lock. The whole door buckled inward as someone kicked it open.

Three men in black combat gear walked in, their faces hidden behind snarling demon masks.

The burly, scar-faced leader stuck a short stick of dark red incense into the pen holder on the desk and lit it.

"Found her." He grinned. "A natural wind-type vessel. Top-grade Source Core purity."

"Boss, this girl's the campus belle at Tianqiong University." The tall, thin man whistled. "Kind of a shame to cut it out of her."

"A shame?" The scar-faced man sneered. "An unawakened Source Core. Transplant it, and there's a chance someone could transform into a Magical Girl."

"Seriously?"

"Better safe than sorry." The scar-faced man rolled his neck. "The detector picked up resonance in this area three days ago. We've been staking it out ever since, and sure enough, we struck gold."

He paused, then added,

"Last time at Tianhai Savings Bank, we lost over a dozen brothers, and someone even stole what we'd cut out. Pull this job off, and we'll make back every loss. The organization will give us top credit, too."

"Then what are we waiting for?" The short, stocky man beside him rubbed his hands together. "The incense is lit, and the girl can't move. Should we get to it?"

"What's the rush? Let the Demon-Attracting Incense burn properly and suppress her resonance. We don't want her awakening early." The scar-faced man walked toward the bed. "Before they awaken, vessels like her couldn't kill a chicken."

Ye Qingqing dug her nails into the bedsheet.

Her hand found the brass bedside lamp. She mustered every scrap of strength and swung it up.

Before the lamp cleared her head, the scar-faced man's abyssal energy submachine gun was pressed against her forehead.

The muzzle was pitch-dark, blue sparks flickering at its opening.

"Some sheltered little prodigy." The scar-faced man scoffed. "You don't even know how to kill someone. What good's a lamp?"

"Accept your fate, girl. Times have changed. These days, an abyssal energy gun is worth more than talent."

The hand holding the lamp shook uncontrollably, but Ye Qingqing refused to let go.

"My family... won't let you get away with this."

"Your family?" The scar-faced man laughed. "By the time they find you, the Source Core in your chest will already be boxed up for the black market."

Tap.

A crisp sound came from the balcony.

High heels struck the floor, sharp and unhurried.

A faint floral scent overpowered the cloying, bloody sweetness of the Demon-Attracting Incense.

And there was an indescribable pressure, weighing heavily on every heart.

The air in the dorm room seemed to freeze.

All three men turned at once.

Glass from the balcony's floor-to-ceiling window lay scattered across the floor. A burst of purple-gold light bloomed at the shattered frame.

A tall figure stood atop the balcony railing. Layers of dark gold lace Magical Armor draped her body, and purple-gold hair flowed down her back. A three-meter dark gold Great Scythe rested on one shoulder as she looked down at everyone inside.

"Zi... Ziwei?!" The tall, thin man's voice cracked.

"Did you just say times have changed, and abyssal energy guns are all that matter now?"

Ziwei tilted her head slightly. The cool, mature voice filtered through her voice changer betrayed no emotion.

Cold sweat instantly soaked the scar-faced man's back.

He had watched the surveillance footage from Tianhai Savings Bank more than twenty times. This was the woman who hadn't taken a single step back under concentrated fire from over a dozen abyssal energy guns.

"Change ammo!" he roared. "Explosive Armor-Piercing Rounds! The kind that can punch through an Enforcer's shield! Move!"

His two men fumbled with their magazines, sending bullets clattering across the floor.

The scar-faced man swung his gun back and pressed it against Ye Qingqing's temple.

"Stop!" His voice rose to a shriek. "Take one more step, and I'll blow her head off!"

Ziwei sensed the magic flowing through the air.

The strongest one facing her measured twelve hundred units and bore a Two-Star Star Mark. The other two were around six hundred, both High-Tier Buds.

That lineup was strong enough to slaughter a squad of trainee agents.

Ziwei snorted. The dark gold Great Scythe spun at her fingertips, leaving a dazzling ring of afterimages.

She stepped down from the railing. Glass crunched beneath her heels.

One step. Two.

"I said stop! Are you deaf?!" The scar-faced man put his finger on the trigger. "I'll really shoot!"

The mockery on her face did not fade in the slightest.

"If you like pulling triggers so much," Ziwei said, raising a hand to flick the purple-gold light shimmering on her nails, "why not try aiming at my head?"

"But once you fire, I doubt you'll be keeping those hands."

"Quit bluffing!" The scar-faced man's breathing turned ragged. "Explosive Armor-Piercing Rounds can tear through an Enforcer-level shield!"

"Boss, maybe... maybe we should pull out." The tall, thin man's voice trembled. "That's Ziwei, the Magical Girl..."

"Anyone who runs dies!" The scar-faced man's eyes went red. "The organization will kill us anyway!"

Ziwei took another step forward.

"Shut up! All of you, shut up!!"

The scar-faced man snapped. He swung his gun toward the purple-gold figure and squeezed the trigger hard.

"Die!!"

A torrent of explosive rounds erupted, filling the dorm room with blue muzzle flashes.

The bullets struck the veil of light half an inch from her body and stopped dead.

Dozens of bullets hung in midair, spinning uselessly without raising so much as a ripple.

Ziwei raised her hand and snapped her fingers.

The bullets reversed course.

Amid the shriek of flying metal, the men's own bullets punched through three wrists and three knees. Blood blossomed across the stark white tiles, one spray after another.