Chapter 42: Why is it a high-end game?

Jiang Lingwei’s scream echoed as she staggered, clutching her stomach, only to reveal her ruse. A duplicate, identical to her, materialized and floated into the air.

A desperate move—her magic was critically low, like a student sneaking a phone into an exam, only to find it at 10% battery. Every spell had to be calculated, prioritizing efficiency to stretch her reserves.

She’d burned through much of her magic saving Jiang Yao from an Earth Demon Worm’s jaws. Without that experience, she’d be guessing now.

To be safe, she mocked it, exploiting dark magic’s emotional volatility. Anger clouds demons’ judgment, disrupting their plans, though it boosts their power. Misjudge, and their irrational strength could overwhelm.

It turned a tactical “laning operation monster” into a brute-force “numerical monster.”

The demon didn’t sense the trick, charging blindly. Her prepared counters were overkill.

Watching its headless body, she gathered magic in her staff.

She didn’t expect the headshot to kill it. Demons were tough—she’d seen one split in half, then reassemble. This one, casually detaching and reattaching limbs, likely shrugged off decapitation.

Spikes shot from its flesh, piercing the airborne substitute.

“Hehe…”

The flying head, oblivious to the trick, cackled dryly.

Then, it noticed fewer raindrops.

‘Rain stopped?’

It looked up—white light.

Shing!

The demon died, nameless.

Tread.

Landing lightly, Jiang Lingwei wiped rain from her face, approached the body, and blasted it into mush with a light bullet.

Never skip the finishing blow, per Zero Generation rules.

Stretching her wrists, she stepped to the ruined building’s edge, frowning at the distant scene.

‘This rain… why won’t it stop?’

“Ugh…”

Heituanzi, floundering in its chip-bag dump, bounced back to its throne.

Shaking off crumbs, it roared, “Who hit my car?!”

Black fog swirled, syncing its vision with the iron giant’s head.

“You can talk?” Jiang Yao, floating with her chainsaw sword, gaped.

This giant wasn’t a demon.

Where was [Aurora]?

One step behind leaving the café, and [Aurora] vanished.

Buzz.

The iron giant’s rolling steel accelerated, beams shooting from its “head,” forming a mid-air light curtain.

Jiang Yao squinted. A black ball sat on a bizarre throne. It spoke: “Where’d you come from? Only one magical girl here!”

“Dark fairy?!” Jiang Yao recognized Heituanzi, gripping her sword tighter.

Hard not to panic. Fairies and dark fairies weakened in the physical universe, but they were still fairies.

Demons and monsters were strong, but mere pets to dark fairies.

This one didn’t seem weakened. Creating a massive iron giant post-weakening? What was its full power?

Jiang Yao’s mind reeled.

‘My battle tiers jumped too fast!’

‘From bugs to demons, now a dark fairy?!’

‘This matchmaking’s broken! Who dragged me into a high-end game?!’