Flames: "Furnace"! (Two-in-one)

Bang, bang, bang!!

Inside the Magic Curtain covering half of Whale Sea Park, Gun Witch raised her revolver and pulled the trigger repeatedly at Golden Feather.

"Angry?"

Golden Feather grinned and swept her gunblade through the air, knocking down every bullet.

She tapped the ground and burst forward at a speed far beyond that of an ordinary magical girl, appearing in front of Gun Witch in a flash.

Seeing this, the silver-haired witch retreated at full speed, her expression cold. Magic flashed in her hand as she conjured a Mini Uzi submachine gun and opened fire on Golden Feather.

Golden Feather raised a magic shield to block the bullets and rapidly closed in on her opponent.

And so the two continued their chase.

"Is running all you can do?"

Growing impatient, Golden Feather seized a gap in her opponent's fire and tried once more to close the distance.

Gun Witch's gaze sharpened. At some point, she had produced a shoulder-fired rocket launcher, which she fired at the oncoming Golden Feather.

Boom!!

The violent explosion sent the silver-haired witch's bangs whipping wildly backward.

But the magic surging at the center of the blast made her even more apprehensive. Had that failed to hurt her opponent too?

A streak of golden light suddenly pierced the smoke, dazzling Gun Witch so badly that she couldn't open her eyes.

She tried her best to dodge, but Golden Feather's burst of speed was simply too fast.

Squelch!

Gun Witch's left shoulder was pinned to a tree. Only then did Golden Feather brush the dust off her shoulder and walk out of the smoke.

"Hiss..."

Gun Witch clenched her teeth, sensing that things were looking bad.

Who would have thought she'd run into such a stat monster here? All her attacks had clearly been blocked.

Golden Feather walked toward her, a regretful smile on her face. "Is that all you've got? What a shame. I thought I could play a little longer."

"Сукаблядь! (Fuck you!)"

Gun Witch suddenly spat out a Russian curse, then pulled a grenade from her clothes and decisively bit out the pin.

I'd rather die than be taken prisoner by the Ministry of Magic!

Boom!!

Gun Witch had compressed her magic to its limit inside the grenade, giving it destructive power approaching that of a B-rank magical girl.

Golden Feather instantly flashed backward.

After the explosion subsided.

Golden Feather frowned at her scorched, blackened arm, feeling irritated. Why couldn't any of them just behave?

Meanwhile.

Gun Witch, who had lost an arm and been sent flying by her own grenade, slowly opened her eyes.

She found that she wasn't caught in the explosion. Instead, an unfamiliar girl was holding her suspended in midair by the back of her collar.

The girl let go, dropping Gun Witch onto the ground.

The witch instinctively raised her head to look at her, but a pair of slightly cool palms gently pressed down on her head.

The girl looked down at her, her voice icy. "If you dare look up, I'll kill you."

Gun Witch shuddered. She could sense the magic boiling in the girl's hands, so this was no joke.

If she dared raise her head and open her eyes even a little, her head would come off.

She immediately shut her eyes and assured her, "I've actually been blind since I was little!"

Hearing that, Miss Hell raised a hand and struck her neck, knocking her out cold.

During the explosion, Hell had first cut off the witch's arm where it was pinned to the tree, then dragged her out of the blast.

Otherwise, she would have been dead beyond any doubt by now.

Just then, the platinum-haired magical girl caught up and spotted the gray-haired girl standing beside Gun Witch.

She froze for a moment, then grew excited.

"I knew it! You really are in league with the Witches' Association!"

"Rescue her? Don't even think about it!"

Caught red-handed, with conclusive evidence!

What else was there to say now?

As long as she caught Hell on the spot and took her back to the Ministry of Magic along with Gun Witch, Hell would be finished.

Hell merely gave her a cold glance, then snapped her fingers and deployed a Magic Curtain without another word.

Because of the special nature of her magic, even her Magic Curtain was pitch-black, like a starless night sky.

The two Magic Curtains overlapped, blocking all signals and means of observation. Until the curtains were lifted, no one would notice what was happening here.

At the same time, neither of them could leave.

Golden Feather was a little surprised that Hell had chosen not to flee, but had deployed a Magic Curtain just as she had.

According to the Ministry of Magic's records, the magical girl "Hell" had a danger rating of only C+.

Golden Feather, on the other hand, was a solid B-rank. Though she couldn't compare to the B+ rank Red Sparrow, she was already a well-known expert in the Ministry of Magic.

In an instant, Golden Feather realized what Hell had in mind, and her twin ponytails rose gently behind her amid her boiling magic.

She smiled excitedly. "You're the first witch who's dared to provoke me of her own accord. You've got more guts than those people from the Witches' Association."

For magical girls, deploying curtains against each other was practically a declaration of war.

"No."

"You've got one thing wrong."

Hell raised her left hand slightly. Pitch-black magic burned like flames, illuminating the girl's delicate eyes.

"I simply came to kill you."

Hell had never been a good-tempered person. The Ministry of Magic had already come right up to her face to suppress her, so they couldn't blame her for killing.

She had no principle against killing.

More importantly, Miss Hell held grudges.

Golden Feather picked up the spear on the ground and gave it an elegant flourish.

"You know what? I really hate magical girls like you, who look down on everyone and follow no rules."

The girl's golden ponytails swayed in the wind, and her fair, pretty face showed her excitement for the coming battle.

Hell's gaze was indifferent.

Neither said another pointless word, for their magic had long since dyed half the sky red.

Golden Feather struck first, her spear thrust slicing through the air.

Hell flicked her left hand, instantly sending out an invisible slash: a "Dismantle" enhanced for targeting.

Golden Feather sensed the danger but couldn't see the slash's exact path, so she could only raise her spear and block in advance.

Whoosh!

The slash landed on her metal spear shaft and sheared a full third of it away. Its terrifying force sent Golden Feather herself flying.

"Tch, what kind of Cursed Technique is that?"

Golden Feather's hand went numb, and she nearly lost her grip on the shaft.

The invisible slashes and seemingly bottomless reserves of magic made her think of those ancient magical families.

Could the rumor be true? Was she really from a declining magical family overseas?

Then why had she saved a witch?

While Golden Feather was thinking, Hell lightly stepped on the ground and flashed to her side, reaching out with her left hand.

Alarm bells rang in Golden Feather's mind. Recalling her opponent's past battles, she knew she absolutely couldn't let Hell get close enough to touch her!

She immediately swung her gunblade around and slashed at Hell.

But halfway through reaching out, Hell suddenly changed her mind. She shifted her hand gesture and flicked her left hand sharply.

"Dismantle!"

Squelch!!

Golden Feather was sent flying several meters by the slash once more, a vicious wound tearing straight through her clothes and flesh.

At extremely close range, as long as enough magic was channeled into it, "Dismantle" could actually rival "Cleave" in raw power.

The advantage of "Cleave" was that it could be applied directly to a target's body through contact with the hand. It couldn't be blocked or dodged.

"How dare you trick me, you shameless bitch...!"

Golden Feather clenched her teeth. Before she could heal her wound, more slashes were already coming at her.

Magic boiled around Miss Hell. She was no longer probing, but attacking at full power, giving Golden Feather her first taste of a real-life STG bullet-hell game.

The golden parrot on Golden Feather's shoulder immediately warned her, "Little Golden Feather, you can't let her wear you down like this."

"You forced me to do this!"

The stifling defense had thoroughly ignited Golden Feather's anger. She swept her gunblade out and sent six reverse feather blades flying.

In the Colossus Company's internal database, the entry for the magical girl Golden Feather read as follows.

[Magical girl: "Golden Feather"]

[Danger rating: C+ to B rank.]

[Magic Cursed Technique: Reverse Feather.]

[Reverse Feather Cursed Technique: A remotely controlled Cursed Technique, manifested as six sharp reverse feather blades. Extremely dangerous.]

[Cursed Technique drawback: While controlling Reverse Feather, the user's magic conversion efficiency is reduced by approximately half.]

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh-!"

Six golden reverse feathers shot toward the gray-haired girl along different trajectories at the same time.

Hell frowned and flashed out of the way of the pursuing reverse feathers, leaving the trees along her path cleanly severed.

But just as Golden Feather breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to catch her breath.

The gray-haired girl suddenly stepped on a tree trunk and escaped the encirclement of the reverse feathers, using a burst of magic to leap high into the air behind her.

Her long gray hair danced in the wind.

And at some point... a mass of intensely hot flames had begun boiling in Miss Hell's right palm, trailing a long tail of fire.

The scene was reflected in Golden Feather's eyes.

"This is my first time using this move in reality."

Miss Hell spoke softly.

"Furnace...!"-the second, flame-based property of Cursed Technique: Malevolent Shrine.

She ignored the reverse feathers pursuing her from below. In midair, she used her hands as a bow, condensed the flames into an arrow, and aimed at Golden Feather.

"That's... fire?!"

Golden Feather and her companion spirit were both stunned.

"Wasn't that girl's Magic Cursed Technique invisible slashes and severing?"

"This is bad! Little Golden Feather, there's no time! Call the reverse feathers back!" the companion spirit hastily warned, and Golden Feather immediately did as told.

But it was too late. Hell had already used her evasive movements and the cover of the leaves to complete the most troublesome part of charging "Furnace."

As the flaming arrow shot forth, the six reverse feathers formed a shield in front of Golden Feather. Restricted by the Magic Curtain, she could only take the attack head-on.

Boom!!

Miss Hell landed gracefully on the grass.

A magnificent, enormous explosion resounded between heaven and earth at the same time.

Rustle!

The scorching wind stirred the girl's long gray hair and skirt, making them sway in the night.

Miss Hell's gaze was calm.

Against a magical girl of Golden Feather's level, she had no need for Domain Expansion yet. "Furnace" at full power was already enough to send her opponent to the heavens.

At its core, "Furnace" was a mass of compressed flames with terrifying power. Even without the aid of Malevolent Shrine, the explosion's damage to a single target was enough to instantly kill the vast majority of enemies.

In Hell's estimation, a magical girl would have to be at least on Lin Xiaohong's level to force her to use her domain, right?

After all, a magical girl's strength depended on her magic level.

And her own magic level was a solid B+, with the additional bonus of the trait "Sukuna-level magic output efficiency."

Speaking of which, there was something worth mentioning.

Hell always felt that the Ministry of Magic's assessments of magical girls' danger ratings were greatly inflated.

Could someone like Golden Feather really count as B-rank?

Using the formula of danger rating equaling an individual's ability to take on all of human civilization alone, Golden Feather was probably C+ at most.

Her total magic reserves might indeed be B-rank, but her magic output efficiency was too low. She and Hell weren't on the same level at all.

Viewed this way, in the end, the Ministry of Magic's information was simply too far behind the times.

After all, in the vast majority of cases, the enemies magical girls faced were limited to magical beasts and witches within the magical world.

Hell's system had given her a danger rating of C+ because it had accounted for all the top-tier combat power of human civilization across the entire Earth.

Leaving aside Superman-level fighters like Peacemaker and her own father...

Miss Hell wasn't even confident she could defeat Moon Studio's A-rank superhero, Firebird.

If they really fought, her chance of dying would probably be over fifty percent.

This showed just how deep the waters of this Earth ran, and how inflated the Ministry of Magic's danger assessments were.

After a little while, the rising flames gradually died down in the wind.

On the blackened ground, the blonde girl sat where she had fallen, knocked out of her transformed state. Six scorched golden reverse feathers were embedded in the ground beside her.

Her body was blackened all over, nearly charred.

Her vision was blurred. She opened her mouth, but could only make faint, breathy sounds, unable to say a word...

Golden Feather still wanted to fight, but the magic inside her had run completely dry.

At this moment, perhaps she regretted provoking Hell?

Darkness completely swallowed Golden Feather's vision, and her head slowly drooped.

Magical girl "Golden Feather"-confirmed dead.

"Ow!"

Suddenly, a golden parrot was slapped out of the Subspace passage beside Golden Feather.

"Fuck you! You offended my mistress and thought you could run?"

Little Crow, her feathers sleek and glossy, flew out after the parrot. She circled once in midair, then landed gently on the parrot and puffed out her chest with pride.

She was Hell's companion spirit.

Although she rarely appeared in the real world,

whenever Hell practiced Cursed Techniques in the Domain of the Heart or sat alone under a tree, lost in thought, she would quietly keep her company.

"Good job."

The girl beckoned, and Little Crow flew onto her wrist, gently nuzzling her mistress's chin.

A companion spirit's strength was also tied to its master. The more magical power its master supplied through their link, the stronger it became.

"Good girl."

Miss Hell's eyes softened. She patted Little Crow on the head before looking at the golden parrot, which Little Crow had beaten until it was dazed:

"I have a few questions for you."

Just now, this companion spirit had actually abandoned its master, Golden Feather, and fled. That wasn't a common occurrence.

It was very rare!

The golden parrot shrank back, its feathers drawn tight. "P-please, ask."

Miss Hell tucked the gray hair beside her ear behind it. "What is this method of purifying Soul Gems you were talking about?"

The golden parrot's feathers instantly stood on end. It was more frightened than if it had run into a ghost in the middle of the night.

So you were nearby, eavesdropping the whole time?

Hell asked because she was somewhat worried that her younger sister might be at risk of becoming a witch someday.

It was best to prepare ahead. If she could get some relevant information, all the better. If not, that was fine too; she would find a way to steal it later.

But the golden parrot shut its eyes and trembled. "I can't tell you! It's a Ministry of Magic secret! There's a magical restriction!"

Miss Hell lowered her gaze slightly.

She was a little unhappy.

Splurt!

The golden parrot died beneath her slash.

Little Crow tilted her head, then flapped her wings and went into Subspace to check whether the golden parrot was really dead.

She flew back shortly afterward. "Mistress, that parrot is dead. I saw its fairy fire go out in the magic library in Subspace."

This was the first time Hell had killed a magical girl, and she was somewhat worried she might be exposed. Fortunately, her Little Crow was very useful.

She stroked Little Crow's feathers. "How about I give you a name?"

Little Crow immediately nodded in excitement.

Miss Hell lowered her head and thought for a moment. "How about... Skynet?"

"Caw, caw! I like any name you give me, Mistress!" Little Crow spread her feathers, delighted that she was no longer a nameless nobody.

Only then did Hell send her back to the Domain of the Heart.

Then she picked up the unconscious Gun Witch and went over to the boy, who had also fallen unconscious and was at death's door. She raised a hand and lit a flame of silvery-white magic.

Ah, he's still breathing. He should be able to be saved.

She vaguely remembered this boy. Was his name Lawrence? She often saw him eating alone in a corner of the cafeteria. Once, he hadn't had enough money and had borrowed five bucks from her.

Afterward, he had insisted on paying her back ten.

"Reverse Cursed Technique..."

When the Gun Witch woke from her coma, she rubbed her head and sat up, wiping the drool from the corner of her mouth. Her memory still lingered on the witch with the lovely voice.

Just then, she noticed a charred corpse kneeling on the ground not far away. After a moment of stunned silence, she slapped her cheeks.

"Омойбог! (Oh my God!)"

The witch who saved me is that strong?!

Judging by the vast expanse of scorched earth nearby, she was probably a fire-type witch, with a danger rating of at least B+.

"W-was she a senior from the Witches' Association?"

The Gun Witch couldn't help swallowing.

This was also one of the reasons Hell had chosen to kill Golden Feather with "Furnace" rather than Domain Expansion.

She wanted to use "Furnace" to make the scene look as though another witch had committed the act, which was why she hadn't used Domain Expansion.

It could be said that Hell had done everything she could to avoid exposing her identity.

If the Ministry of Magic can still find out after all that...

Then I'll tell Dad!

At worst, she could come clean to Dad about being a magical girl, stammer and wipe away her tears, then point at the Ministry of Magic and say:

Boo-hoo... Dad, they're the ones trying to kill your daughter-uh, no, your son!

As for how she would explain afterward why a boy like her had become a magical girl, Hell didn't know either...

But at least there was someone to fall back on.

That was why she acted so recklessly, daring even to kill a magical girl from the Ministry of Magic.

Besides, before the Ministry of Magic could face her invincible dad, if they wanted to come after her, they would first have to figure out how to beat her Uncle Moro.

If there were ever an essay contest, she really ought to write "My Imperialist Dad," or perhaps "Uncle Moro Takes Down the Ministry of Magic with Pebbles."