Death Rewind.
Before Lu Yuan’s eyes, everything began to rewind, returning to thirty seconds earlier.
She snapped back to reality, still poised in the motion of pushing off the ground into the air. Within the crosshair, Si An smiled gently at her.
The lingering pain in her chest from the Death Flower’s explosion still haunted her; Lu Yuan was visibly shaken.
Si An’s ability… was beyond her comprehension! Not only could it attack the mind directly, but it could even alter reality itself. The fact that her own power could be manipulated by Si An was utterly unbelievable.
Lu Yuan adjusted her stance and fired a shot at the ceiling.
Fragments of stone rained down, and Lu Yuan used the recoil from her gun to create distance between herself and Si An.
“Oh? Not approaching me but instead keeping your distance?” Si An smiled with amusement. “Magical Girl… Lu Yuan?”
Lu Yuan clicked her tongue. It seemed she was already aware of all Lu Yuan’s information.
After all, countless cameras had recorded her battles; studying her was an easy task.
Previously, most of her opponents had been mindless Calamities, so the public never worried about her recordings being analyzed by enemies—it was hardly their fault.
But… where did Si An’s ability come from?
Lu Yuan carefully studied the woman before her. There was no sign of a Transformation Crystal anywhere on her body.
Unlike Rose, she didn’t look like a Magical Girl.
Not a Magical Girl… yet possessing special powers?
Her mind felt like mush. She couldn’t make sense of any of it, but one thing was crystal clear.
She couldn’t defeat this woman. She had to run.
***
Lu Yuan crouched low, ready to flee at any moment.
She still didn’t understand Si An’s power, but she knew one thing for certain—she absolutely could not be struck by her sound waves again.
“Trying to run?” Si An seemed to see through her intentions. Unhurried, she gracefully lifted her violin bow and gently touched the strings. “Before the crescendo arrives, the audience can’t leave.”
Zheng—!
A glissando echoed—not harsh, but imbued with a strange magic.
Crack! Crack!
Sparks suddenly flew from the electronic door lock at the livestream room’s exit. The heavy Fire Door slammed down automatically, completely sealing off the most convenient emergency exit.
“Ah! The door! It won’t open!”
“What do we do?! We’re trapped!”
Panic instantly surged through the crowd.
The escape route was blocked?!
What else could Si An do?!
***
Despite the thoughts swirling in her mind, Lu Yuan wasted no time and shifted her strategy. “Head to the west passage! There’s a fire escape ladder there!”
At the same time, she raised her gun sharply.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
She wasn’t shooting at Si An but aimed precisely at several of the main high-powered Spotlight fixtures on the ceiling.
One after another, the lights exploded, shards raining down like a storm. Most of the livestream room was plunged into darkness, save for the faint glow of emergency lights and a few equipment indicators.
Though it was daytime outside, the livestream room was fully enclosed, relying solely on artificial lighting. By destroying the main pendant lamps, she could shroud the space in near total darkness.
The sudden blackout triggered more screams but effectively disrupted Si An’s vision, giving Lu Yuan precious cover to escape.
***
“Oh my, it’s gotten so dark now.” Si An’s voice echoed in the darkness, still tinged with amusement.
Lu Yuan seized the chaos, moving swiftly within the shadows.
She directed the crowd while constantly shifting her own position to avoid being tracked by Si An.
“Head that way! Hurry! Don’t stop!”
As she commanded, she spotted Qing still cornered, protected by Liu Zhe, looking somewhat lost amid the chaos.
Lu Yuan gritted her teeth and dashed over, grabbing Qing’s wrist. “Come with me!”
Then she gestured to Liu Zhe, “You’re coming too!”
“Okay, okay!” Liu Zhe answered, trembling but resolute.
Even at a time like this, Liu Zhe hadn’t abandoned Qing—he was still responsible toward his subordinates.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Si An’s voice seemed to ring right beside her ear.
Lu Yuan’s scalp tingled. Without hesitation, she spun around and fired a blind shot toward the voice’s source.
Bang!
The bullet struck a metal frame, scattering sparks.
Si An’s figure, however, seemed to dissolve into the darkness, leaving only the faint, ethereal violin notes echoing through the dim space.
Lu Yuan pulled Qing along, relying on memory and instinct to sprint toward the west passage.
Her mind raced, recalling the route she and Liu Zhe took when they first entered the livestream room.
She remembered the way—she could get out!
***
But Qing seemed oblivious to what was happening; she silently followed behind, watching Lu Yuan.
“Little mice… where are you all hiding?” Si An’s voice seemed to come from all directions. Lu Yuan frowned; she couldn’t pinpoint her exact location by sound alone.
Suddenly!
The scattered notes abruptly froze, then converged and twisted into a piercing spike. A razor-sharp sound wave, filled with deadly intent, tore through the darkness and silently stabbed at Lu Yuan’s back!
A chilling premonition of death surged through her again, sharper and more despairing than before. She could feel something rushing toward her from behind.
No way to dodge!
Her speed couldn’t outrun the sound wave, and this attack was more covert and lethal.
“It’s over!”
She never imagined Si An could locate her so precisely even in the dark. Lu Yuan cursed herself for destroying the livestream room’s lights—it had only created a perfect hunting ground for her.
Even if she revived, the ceiling lights were already destroyed thirty seconds ago—a past she couldn’t change. In this pitch-black environment, no matter how many times she died, she wouldn’t find a way out before Si An found her!
Dead end.
The sound wave was about to pierce Lu Yuan’s heart—
***
At this critical moment!
Crack—!
An extremely cold chill burst forth like an invisible wall from Lu Yuan’s side and rear, instantly forming a barrier between her and the sound wave.
The moisture in the air froze instantly; countless tiny ice crystals materialized, forming a thick, diamond-shaped Ice Shield.
Hummm—!
The invisible sound wave slammed heavily against the sudden Ice Shield, producing a dull, thunderous crash.
The shield trembled violently, cracks spiderwebbed across its surface, but it firmly blocked the deadly strike. Shattered ice crystals fell like dust.
“Looks like we have a visitor.” Si An murmured softly.
Lu Yuan was utterly stunned, staring in disbelief at the Ice Shield that had just saved her life.
That power was…!
She spun around sharply.
Under the dim glow of the emergency light stood a tall figure who had appeared silently.
Even in the faint light, her long white hair shimmered faintly. Dressed in a pure white Magical Girl uniform, she looked utterly out of place amidst the chaos and darkness.
In her hand, she gripped a long Scythe. The blade exuded an icy chill, distorting the surrounding air ever so slightly.
Her ice-blue eyes were now coldly fixed on the direction from which the sound wave came.
“Su… Captain Su Li?!” Lu Yuan blurted out.
Su Li didn’t respond immediately. Her gaze swept calmly over the darkness as her voice rang clearly through the dim livestream room:
“Disrupting order, attacking Magical Girls, endangering public safety… ‘Chaos Witch’ Si An, your foolish games end here.”
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