Chapter 22: Princess Knight Magical Girl VS Dead Goblin

“小白, are you still coming in with me this time?”

Arriving at the target location, beneath the setting sun, Jiang Yao gazed into the distance at the Factory, where towering dark magic energy was surging up, visible through the Magic Girl’s vision.

To an ordinary person outside, it might just feel a little unsettling; in the purely physical universe, it was still just a factory.

But to a Magic Girl, that place no longer belonged to humans.

Without a doubt, it could only be described as a Demon Lair.

The current intelligence was far too scant. Just a week ago, Jiang Yao was still fighting bugs; now, a week later, she had discovered a major Dark Side stronghold outside the city.

It was like a hero who just left the Novice Village, having leveled up by farming worms, immediately running into a mini-boss blocking the path; after a CG scene, the mini-boss was defeated. The hero thought it was just a scare tactic—only to suddenly receive news that the Demon King had directly raided the Novice Village.

And as if that weren’t enough, the damned Final Boss had captured her mother, who had just awakened from unconsciousness, weak and defenseless, gentle and kind, pitiful enough to shed tears over the death of an ant.

The girl was truly unsettled.

“Of course I’m coming. Don’t we always fight together?”

“小白, honestly, I’ve seen footage of others before.”

Jiang Yao responded:

“I’ve never seen a fairy fight side by side with a Magic Girl.”

“This…”

Suddenly, the girl grew serious and solemnly called out Xiaobai’s full name: “Tangula Aefial Sneed Dragonridge Kuku’er Twinblade of the Rivers Bai II!”

“Present! Wha—You actually remember my full name?!” Xiaobai’s eyes filled with tears. A fairy’s name represented its honor, and being addressed by the full name was a tremendous sign of respect.

“Anyway, you unreliable thing.” Jiang Yao flicked it lightly, watching as the small fluff ball let out a soft ‘wyyng’ and covered its forehead with a tiny paw.

“If you’re hiding anything from me, tell me later…”

“Mm…”

Xiaobai looked guilty, lowering its head so much that it didn’t even notice when Jiang Yao reached out:

“So now, I want you to go and report to the Management Bureau. Tell them there’s an emergency here and request backup. Understand?”

“Got it… Eh eh eh!”

With both hands grabbed, Jiang Yao pinched Xiaobai’s round body.

Then she lowered it, lifted her foot—

“Go!”

“Waaahhhh———”

Tracing a perfect arc, Xiaobai immediately set off, streaking like a shooting star toward the horizon.

“Phew…”

Watching Xiaobai fly away, Jiang Yao turned back, her magic surging through her body, nearly overflowing with light magic.

Honestly, Xiaobai was truly unreliable as a fairy. Last week, sensing the crisis, she had gone to the Bureau to get special Identification for Magic Girl Family and related documents for her mother, and she had intentionally done some research there.

It turned out Xiaobai hadn’t taught her many of the basics at all!

Then again, she wasn’t a true Magic Girl.

That she, of all people, had attracted Xiaobai—the unreliable but genuinely fairy-like being—and was actually able to use magic that emphasized compatibility of spirit, even sporting a Spirit Garment of the Justice Knight Princess type, filled with the aura of a guardian, was surprising.

For Jiang Yao, who couldn’t exactly be called a bad person but certainly lacked the pure spirit of a Magic Girl, this was quite unexpected.

If it hadn’t been her mother who was captured, she probably wouldn’t have rushed out to save anyone.

From this perspective, it was perhaps fortunate that Xiaobai was so unreliable; someone like her could still use magic.

Focusing entirely on restoring her magic, Jiang Yao now understood why those weak dogs she defeated after school had been somewhat troublesome.

They were clearly deliberately sent out to intercept her.

As for how she had been discovered, Jiang Yao could only guess it might have been a Scout-type Monster or Stealth-type Demon following her since her last sortie.

There was no helping it. Xiaobai, as a fairy and usually a Magic Girl’s guide, was far too unprofessional. It was only in recent days that Jiang Yao learned Magic Girls had to clean up the battlefield after every fight, and she hadn’t even had time to practice it a few times.

In a way, her mother’s capture was also partially Xiaobai’s fault.

“Sigh.”

Jiang Yao sighed, but she couldn’t blame Xiaobai. The kick she just gave was punishment enough. Ultimately, the main reason was her own negligence after her mother woke up.

She had always been aware of how harsh the magic world was. The first couple of months, she at least practiced diligently, but later she kept procrastinating until the danger was real. Only after seeing that strange pink-haired Magic Girl did she bother to check the Bureau’s files.

The Magic Girl Management Bureau had plenty of human-side information readily available, and as the city’s only registered Magic Girl, she was allowed unrestricted access.

Such a valuable resource, wasted completely.

Calming her mind, summoning her magic, she walked to the abandoned Factory’s gate where rusted iron sheets peeled off, revealing the heavily corroded surface underneath. She stretched out both hands and slowly pushed.

“Squeeeek—”

Metal rubbed against metal, emitting a grating sound that made teeth ache. It was obvious none of the creatures inside had come through the front door.

“Tch.”

Jiang Yao clicked her tongue in displeasure.

The air inside the Factory reeked of discomfort: dust, the smell of corroded steel, a certain foul stench, and a rotten sourness.

Most of all, the overwhelming dark aura assaulted the girl’s senses.

The light was too dim to see clearly inside. Jiang Yao had to rely on scattered beams of sunlight streaming through shattered windows to faintly make out the shadows of various large machines.

“I’m here.”

Jiang Yao stopped at the center of the iron gate and declared her arrival in a flat tone. The sunset’s afterglow shone in from behind her, illuminating the dark Factory’s interior. Jiang Yao herself became the boundary between light and shadow.

Holding her long sword, she stepped forward.

“Bang!”

Suddenly, the iron gate slammed shut behind her, cutting off her retreat.

“Hehehehe…”

“Ke ke ke ke ke…”

Intermittent laughter echoed from the darkness, gradually growing into a noisy chorus.

“Ha ha ha ha…”

“Gah gah… uh… gah gah…”

Within the dark Factory, countless sharp laughs rang out. Dozens of pairs of red-glowing eyes lit up. Among the shadows cast by towering machines, heads of various sizes writhed and shuffled.

“Knight’s Sword of Light—”

Jiang Yao slashed a crescent-shaped energy arc, revealing the forms of these small monsters in an instant.

They were short and skinny, with rotting flesh and exposed bones showing they were some kind of pieced-together undead creatures.

A fitting description would be—

Undead Goblins.

After the crescent energy struck the Factory wall, like the sound of a referee’s whistle, whether Jiang Yao stepped forward first or a Goblin lunged first, a chaotic battle erupted in an instant!

“Goblin VS Knight Princess, do you know about this?”

“My daughter’s amazing!”

“Well done. This attack method is perfect. Against these fodder mobs, close-combat Magic Girls just need to slash. They can’t break the defense.”

From a high corner, Jiang Lingwei had finished off nearby monsters and slipped into the gap between two pieces of scrap machinery to observe her daughter’s fight.

She didn’t mind the stench and filth here; she had fought under harsher conditions before.

Compared to battles overrun with bugs or outright fighting through tentacle meat walls, this place was just dirty. The conditions here could almost be considered good.

“But… isn’t she using a bit too much strength? Magic power should be conserved…”

In her hand, she still gripped the neck of a monster dressed like a Dark Sorcerer—a big catch from her recent ambush.

Pointing at the battle below, Jiang Lingwei whispered to it:

“Look, my good girl is exhausted because of the mess you caused. Not very nice, is it? Maybe you should compensate? Oh, compensation can wait. Let’s start with information. Those trash monsters were all summoned by you. I saw that just now. So I’ll just ask—who’s that idiot in the suit? What abilities does he have?”

“Goo goo ga ga…”

The Dark Sorcerer’s red eyes widened, struggling to speak, but only penguin-like sounds came from its strangled throat.

“Tch.”

Seeing the monster’s stubborn silence, Jiang Lingwei frowned, her expression mirroring her daughter’s.

“Damn Dark Side creatures, so tight-lipped? Speak up!”

“Crack.”

One of the sorcerer’s arms was torn off.

“Goo goo ga ga!!!”

“Hehe, am I being too impatient? Let’s try again. First, here—”

“Snap.”

The sorcerer’s hand was wrenched off at the wrist.

“Goo goo ga!!!”

“Still won’t talk?! Damn, you really are a well-trained monster! You’ve earned my respect.”

“Crack.”

“Kuwa galar gaya!!!!!”

Terror-filled eyes of the Dark Sorcerer began to bleed black tears.