Chapter 33: Ambush, New Magical Girls’ First Battle
Noon, in the cafeteria of Tongzhou City’s No. 1 High School, Lu Yue carried a steaming bowl of rice noodles from the counter and sat across from Xiao Yan, who was wolfing down her food.
Lu Yue glanced at Xiao Yan’s tray, piled high with greasy dishes, then down at her own fresh, clean-looking rice noodles.
Her appetite vanished instantly.
Only someone like Xiao Yan, with her high energy and voracious eating habits, could have such a feast in this sweltering weather.
“Lu Yue, why aren’t you eating?
Roll call’s soon,” Xiao Yan said.
Hearing the voice, Lu Yue looked up to see Lu Ming approaching with a tray.
Lu Ming sat beside Lu Yue, set down her tray, and prepared to eat.
“Well, the rice noodle counter was a bit slow,” Lu Yue said cautiously, sneaking a glance at the expressionless profile of the gray-haired, green-eyed beauty.
“And it’s still really hot,” Lu Yue added.
In truth, she wasn’t that hungry.
If she were, she’d have ignored the heat and slurped the noodles down already.
While Lu Yue and Lu Ming talked, Xiao Yan quickly finished her meal and reached out to Lu Yue for a napkin to wipe her mouth.
“Lu Yue, gimme a napkin.”
Xiao Yan held out her hand.
A fair hand passed her a napkin.
“Thanks, Lu Yue.”
Xiao Yan grinned, wiping the grease from her mouth.
After placing the used napkin on her tray, she realized Lu Yue’s hands had been under the table the whole time.
Then who handed me the napkin?
Xiao Yan noticed Lu Yue’s eyes darting to the left.
Following her gaze, Xiao Yan’s heart skipped a beat.
“Good afternoon, Teacher Lu,” Xiao Yan said stiffly.
“Mm,” Lu Ming replied, still chewing her food.
Xiao Yan and Lu Yue exchanged glances.
How’d Teacher Lu Ming end up sitting next to you?
Xiao Yan’s eyes widened slightly, flicking toward Lu Ming.
Lu Yue, seeing Xiao Yan’s odd expression, closed her eyes and shook her head.
No idea.
Seeing both Lu Yue and Xiao Yan frozen in place, Lu Ming swiftly cleared her tray, stood up, and headed to return her dishes.
Once Lu Ming was far enough away, Lu Yue quickly grabbed her chopsticks, slurped down her noodles in a few bites, wiped her mouth, and dragged Xiao Yan to return their dishes before leaving the cafeteria.
The two rushed toward the classroom.
Lu Yue thought to herself that today’s lunch break was overseen by Fat Old Qiao.
She didn’t want to end up napping outside the classroom after already being caught by Lu Ming.
…………
A few minutes later, Lu Yue was squatting against the wall, hugging her knees.
Xiao Yan, meanwhile, leaned against the wall with an indifferent expression, picking at the gaps in the tiles.
Hearing Old Qiao’s footsteps inside the classroom, Lu Yue felt her life had truly hit rock bottom.
There was nothing left in this world to hold her interest.
Yes, Miss Lu Yue, a first-year high schooler, had officially suffered social death.
As Lu Yue lamented the bleakness of her existence, the previously quiet school building was suddenly pierced by an air raid siren.
Within seconds, a broadcast echoed:
Attention all citizens, attention, this is not a drill, not a drill.
Ferocious beasts have descended on Tongzhou City.
Please seek shelter in the nearest air-raid shelter immediately.
If a beast is nearby, hide in a safe location.
The Magic Affairs Bureau’s emergency response team will swiftly address the beast threat…
After the broadcast, the school building erupted with chaotic footsteps.
At that moment, Lu Ming rushed out of the teacher’s office, spotting the two troublemakers.
She quickly approached, grabbing Lu Yue and Xiao Yan by the arms and pulling them into the bathroom.
“The beasts have appeared in the abandoned real estate zone in the south of the city center and the suburban chemical industrial park.
Deputy Director Yan Huimeng has already led the emergency response team to the suburbs,” Lu Ming said rapidly.
“Though it’s a bit like throwing you into the deep end, you newbies haven’t been trained to fight beasts.
But you’ll learn more in actual combat.”
“Your temporary magical girl squad’s objective is to take down the beast at the abandoned real estate site.
I’ll be your temporary liaison, providing support and backup.”
“The beast there is tier-four at most.
With your ranks, you’re more than capable of handling it.”
“So, Xiao Yan,” Lu Ming said to Xiao Yan.
“You’ll transform first and fly with me to the abandoned site to control the situation.”
“And Lu Yue…” Lu Ming turned to Lu Yue.
“After you transform, run there as fast as you can.
You can’t fly, so you need to move at top speed to beat the clock, got it?”
After giving her instructions, Lu Ming opened the bathroom window, signaling Xiao Yan to go first.
Though Xiao Yan wasn’t the sharpest, she didn’t ask questions.
She pulled out her transformation device, became Jin Yan, and shot out the window as a streak of red light.
Lu Ming followed close behind.
Before climbing out the window, she gave the still-untransformed Lu Yue a concerned glance.
“Be careful out there,” Lu Ming said, then leaped out the window and flew off.
Seeing Lu Ming fly away, Lu Yue quickly moved to the window.
Looking down at the four-story drop, her legs suddenly felt weak.
To save time, she ignored the risk of being seen, transformed into Polaris, and dashed out of the school building as a silver blur.
Among the evacuating students and teachers, some noticed two streaks flying from the building and exclaimed that there were magical girls among them.
Then a silver streak shot out from the ground floor, grazing the earth.
The crowd was puzzled at first, but someone quick-witted shouted:
“It’s a new model of ground-running magical girl!”
This sparked another wave of gasps—apparently, a new type of magical girl had emerged.
…………
At the abandoned real estate site in the city, Xiao Yan arrived first.
She smashed a flying beast—resembling a fly with feathered, tumorous wings—into a derelict high-rise at the corresponding height, causing the building to shake and kicking up clouds of dust.
Lu Ming followed closely, taking out seven or eight tier-three minor beasts trying to approach her along the way.
Her hands glowed with mana, never stopping.
Tier-Four · Wind · Hurricane Missile
Tier-Five · Fire · Blazing Aura
After incinerating the dismembered limbs of the minor beasts around her, Lu Ming looked up and directed Xiao Yan:
“Jin Yan, don’t engage the beast in close combat.
Use your weapon—it’s your greatest asset against beasts.”
Jin Yan, who had been fighting the beast with her fists, heard this and quickly pulled out her transformation device.
With a surge of intent, the ruler-shaped key in her hand enlarged, transforming into a massive, oddly shaped red sword outlined with golden lines and wreathed in flames.
“Hah!”
Xiao Yan swung the greatsword with force, slicing off one of the fly-beast’s fleshy wings.
The severed limb’s edge emitted dark gray particles.
With one wing gone, the beast, which had been hovering near the ground, was forced to land, facing the red magical girl head-on.
Seeing how easily her Flame Sword · World Devourer had cut through the beast’s limb, Jin Yan smugly hoisted the sword onto her shoulder, taunting the crippled beast:
“Is that all?
And here I was getting my hands dirty fighting you for so long.”