Blazing Flame stared at the towering, grotesque monster with a faint raise of her brow.
After a quick scan of the surroundings, she swiftly assessed the situation on the spot.
She couldn’t let this monster divert its attention to other innocent bystanders—otherwise, people would die.
Besides, outside the door lay Staff Members who had fallen unconscious. If they didn’t receive timely medical aid, they too would perish.
She had to finish the battle quickly, and she had to keep her power controlled so it wouldn’t cause collateral damage or burn others with extreme heat.
Looks like she would have to pay a little price for this…
“Ha!”
While Blazing Flame was contemplating, the monster suddenly withdrew its claw and, using the momentum, took a sharp step backward, letting out a low growl toward her.
Then, like a phantom, the monster vanished in an instant and reappeared to Blazing Flame’s right. Its claw was raised high, smashing straight down at her.
Unfazed, Blazing Flame gripped her Greatsword with both hands and swung it hard to the right, the air cracking loudly under the speed.
But just as the Greatsword was about to clash with the claw, the monster abruptly stopped and disappeared again.
In the blink of an eye, it had moved behind Blazing Flame, its claw stabbing directly toward her back.
“Thud!”
As expected, the monster’s claw pierced through Blazing Flame’s chest.
“Roar!!!”
The monster howled excitedly, rejoicing at the thought of soon killing this annoying little human.
But when it tried to pull its right hand out of Blazing Flame’s body to deliver a final fatal strike, it panicked.
Its right hand had gone numb, completely unresponsive to its commands.
No, upon closer sensing, it seemed the hand was trapped by something inside the little human’s body.
And that something appeared to be chains made of flames?!
Only at this moment did the monster realize it had fallen into the trap set by this human and was unable to escape.
“Got you.”
Even with its chest pierced by the claw and blood dripping like a waterfall onto the ground, Blazing Flame’s expression remained unchanged.
She coldly delivered the monster’s death sentence, then swung her sword backward, slicing through the fixed target behind her.
Like cutting vegetables with a kitchen knife, the monster’s head was cleanly severed, falling to the ground before quickly dissolving into dark magic that drifted away in the air.
The headless monster’s body toppled backward, turning into black dust the instant it touched the ground, leaving behind only a white Bone Fragment.
“Phew… That was easy.”
Following the plan, after taking down the monster, Blazing Flame shook her hand, retracting the Greatsword onto her back.
Then she picked up the white Bone Fragment the monster had dropped and held it in her palm.
Soon, the fragment turned into white light particles and merged into her body.
Although Blazing Flame still didn’t know what use the Bone Fragment had, since it was a trophy dropped from a monster and could be absorbed, she reluctantly accepted it.
After collecting the loot, Blazing Flame glanced at the stunned onlookers around her and cleared her throat.
“Ahem, everyone. The monster here has been killed, and there are no other monsters nearby for the time being. Please hurry to the Shelter. I will handle what comes next.”
“…Ah, understood!”
The crowd who had been watching snapped back to reality upon hearing the red-haired girl’s words. They quickly left the office building and ran toward the nearest Emergency Shelter.
Seeing the crowd move again, Blazing Flame nodded with relief and then approached the bespectacled middle-aged man nearby, requesting,
“Sir, could you please call the Monster Response Department? Tell them someone here is unconscious and needs urgent help.”
“Y-yes, I understand.”
The middle-aged man hurriedly nodded as the crimson-haired girl came beside him. He fumbled nervously for his phone and dialed the Monster Response Department.
When the call was answered, he quickly reported the situation on-site and, following the girl’s instructions, specifically emphasized that someone had been attacked by a monster and was unconscious.
After receiving the assurance that “someone will arrive within three minutes,” the man exhaled deeply, visibly more relaxed.
He lowered the phone and instinctively pushed up his glasses, looking around for the mysterious red-haired Magic Girl to thank her.
But in the blink of an eye, the red-haired girl had already vanished without a trace.
***
“Phew… That just leaves the monster with the strongest Magic Power aura.”
On the deserted street, Blazing Flame stepped over the grotesque monster’s corpse, eyes fixed on the abnormal Magic Power source shown on the Map of A City, planning to finish all problems in one go.
But just as she was about to move, she suddenly noticed the abnormal Magic Power source on the map had disappeared, and the simple map had turned into a sea of crimson.
No doubt about it—other Magic Girls in A City had stepped in.
Before Blazing Flame appeared, two particularly famous Magic Girls had been active in A City—Sapphire and Meteor.
It was their image protecting others that inspired Blazing Flame to walk this path.
“Looks like that’s it for today.”
Feeling reassured, Blazing Flame lowered her hand and checked the battery level on her wristband, intending to find time to eat dinner.
But seeing the charge still at fifty-seven percent, a sinking feeling crept into her heart.
It was almost bedtime, and yet so much of the Battle Suit’s duration remained.
At this rate, she’d have to wait until four or five in the morning before she could cancel her transformation.
Looks like no dinner and no sleep for her.
“Tch, this is troublesome.”
Blazing Flame suddenly felt a pang of envy for Magic Girls who had Magic Fairies.
With a Magic Fairy’s help, those Magic Girls didn’t have to worry about being unable to transform or needing to wait until their time ran out to revert to normal. Much more convenient.
There was no need to struggle like her, having to pry open the box to transform, then wait for magic power to naturally dissipate after the battle.
“…So annoying.”
Glancing at the battery on her wristband, Blazing Flame couldn’t help but complain.
After all, the only thing she shared with other Magic Girls was this cute and captivating appearance.
A face undoubtedly very cute, a petite frame, smooth white skin, small hands as white as ivory, and the image of standing at the front line holding a Greatsword to protect others…
No matter how much she thought about it, the transformed Magic Girl version of herself was full of charm, and she could be proud to be loved by people.
But the real self attending school was just an ordinary university student.
No genius intellect, no superpowers to fight monsters, and no wealthy family to live a carefree life.
As an ordinary student, he was just an ordinary person facing life’s pressures, no different from the innocent civilians he saved today.
Yet as a Magic Girl, she could receive love and admiration without reservation, enjoying things she had never experienced before…
“No, what am I thinking?”
When her thoughts started wandering, Blazing Flame quickly shook her head, breaking off the stray train of thought.
She cast her gaze to her exposed shoulder, feeling the tangible disappearance of her lower body, convincing herself not to overthink.
The real him was Lu Ren, a first-year university student—not the Magic Girl Blazing Flame.
He should treat the Magic Girl identity as a voluntary, unpaid role.
In any case!
Don’t think too much, it’ll give you a headache.