“It seems we’ve got a formidable opponent here.”
Si An’s fingers twitched lightly on the violin strings, and another wave of sound tore through the air, surging fiercely toward Su Li.
“Bang, bang, bang!”
One after another, the sound waves slammed mercilessly against the Ice Shield, producing dull thuds.
The Ice Shield trembled violently, shards of ice continuously falling off. Although it looked like it might shatter at any moment, it stubbornly held firm, blocking every single attack.
Su Li exhaled in relief.
It was her first time seeing this kind of attack. The opponent’s methods were bizarre and unpredictable. Pure defense wasn’t sustainable—the Ice Shield’s repair speed was already lagging behind the damage.
Still, she had some questions to ask.
Without turning her head, Su Li called out:
“Lu Yuan?! Why are you in Yun Jing?!”
***
Lu Yuan was momentarily caught off guard by the question. She wanted to explain everything to Su Li in detail, but clearly, now was not the time.
“It’s a long story, Sister Su Li! I’ll tell you once it’s safe—”
Her words were cut off by another incoming sound wave launched at a tricky angle.
This time, the wave wasn’t a straight attack but arced through the air, bypassing the front Ice Shield and heading straight for Su Li’s flank!
Reacting swiftly, Su Li’s feet spread icy crystals as she slid sideways half a step. At the same time, her other hand clenched in midair, instantly forming a smaller Ice Shield that precisely blocked the sneak attack.
“Crack.”
The small Ice Shield shattered upon impact, and Su Li’s arm tingled faintly from the shock, but she still managed to block the strike.
***
“Chatting time’s over.” Si An’s voice drifted from the shadows, laced with amusement.
The violin strings suddenly intensified, raining down like a violent storm and sealing off all of Su Li’s escape routes.
Seeing this, Su Li had no choice but to go all out on defense.
Cold air surged around her, multiple Ice Shields crystallizing simultaneously to guard her from all sides. Ice shards flew in every direction, the sound of cracking never ceasing.
Su Li was like a rock battered by waves in a storm—steadfast but completely overwhelmed, stuck in a purely defensive posture with no chance to counterattack.
Lu Yuan watched anxiously, knowing she couldn’t just stand by. Although Sister Su Li was strong, Si An’s abilities were too strange.
***
“Sister Su Li! Her power is incredibly weird—she turned my bullets into Red Spider Lilies!” Lu Yuan urgently shouted the intelligence she’d risked her life to obtain, raising her gun in an attempt to disrupt Si An’s playing. “We have to break her bowing!”
“Got it!” Su Li responded.
Just then, Si An’s assault suddenly paused—a brief moment of respite as if she were taking a breath after playing a fierce movement. The violin strings fell silent.
Si An looked puzzled for an instant.
Transforming bullets into Red Spider Lilies… how did she know I was about to do that?
Su Li keenly sensed this fleeting opening.
Now’s the chance!
A cold gleam flashed in her eyes. After being on defense the whole time, Su Li finally moved. Instead of directly attacking Si An, she thrust her scythe deep into the ground.
Intense cold erupted violently from her, rapidly freezing the floor of the entire livestream studio. Thick layers of ice spread out like white waves, covering everything indiscriminately in all directions.
***
This wasn’t an attack but a massive Field-wide Ice Freeze! Its purpose wasn’t to injure but to restrict Si An’s movement and…
“Bang!”
The studio’s ceiling shattered completely, sunlight pouring back in.
Si An’s figure reappeared under the open sky, nowhere left to hide.
“Liu Zhe! Hold her off with Sister Su Li—I want you to take Qing and retreat!” Lu Yuan shouted.
“Understood!” Liu Zhe wasted no time, grabbing the still-dazed Qing and ducking low. Taking advantage of the chaos and noise from the freezing, they dashed toward the west passage.
“Miss Lu Yuan, be careful!”
Si An watched the spreading ice and the fleeing figures of Liu Zhe and Qing. Raising her bow again, she aimed at their backs.
“Don’t even think about it!” Lu Yuan fired.
“Bang!”
A bullet whizzed past, forcing Si An to retreat temporarily and interrupt her playing.
“Tch, annoying.” Si An was clearly irritated by Lu Yuan. She raised her hand, sending a sharp sound wave slashing directly at Lu Yuan.
Su Li instantly dashed in front of Lu Yuan, forming a fresh Ice Shield.
“Bang!”
The shield successfully blocked the wave, but Su Li’s face was pale and strained. Her breathing grew rapid—sustaining long-term defense and maintaining a large-scale freeze had drained her magic power severely.
“Sister Su Li!” Lu Yuan called anxiously.
“I’m fine… focus on attacking her!” Su Li gritted her teeth, locking her gaze on Si An, looking for the next opportunity.
***
By rights, Su Li’s strength surpassed Lu Yuan’s, but without effective defense, Lu Yuan was vulnerable. To protect her, Su Li had no choice but to stay on the defensive.
Any observer could see their teamwork, while close, couldn’t deal meaningful damage to Si An. Defeat was only a matter of time.
Si An obviously realized this too. She no longer chased Liu Zhe and Qing but fixed her full attention on Su Li and Lu Yuan, a cat-and-mouse smirk playing on her face.
“All right, then I’ll just clean you two out first.”
She took a deep breath, drawing the bow slowly.
But what sounded next was not a melodious note.
“Rumble rumble rumble—!”
An oppressive roar of helicopter rotors filled the air, whipping up dust and ice shards, blurring vision and making it nearly impossible to keep eyes open.
A heavily armed helicopter, painted with the Magical Girl Headquarters emblem, hovered abruptly above the gaping hole in the building’s roof like an iron eagle. Its massive shadow completely engulfed Si An below.
***
The cabin door swung open, and a figure grasped the handrail with one hand, standing proudly at the edge amid the chaotic wind.
“Who is that?” Lu Yuan squinted, eyeing the person on the helicopter. “A Magical Girl?”
The figure wore a sharply tailored dark gold military uniform, with fiery red hair cascading down her back. She leapt from the helicopter, landing steadily before Su Li.
“Finally here…” Su Li let down her guard, knees buckling as she sank to the floor. “General Ling Yan.”
“Sister Su Li!” Lu Yuan hurried forward to support her, having never seen her so exhausted.
Su Li’s whole body felt limp. Lu Yuan looked down and realized she had already fallen asleep.
This was magic power exhaustion.
***
Su Li had never been this unguarded when danger was still present. Holding her in her arms, Lu Yuan looked at the uniformed Magical Girl standing before her.
For Su Li to relax like this… this woman had to be terrifyingly strong.
“Have I really troubled General Ling Yan to come all this way?” Si An took a few steps back, increasing the distance between herself and Ling Yan. The playful smirk vanished, replaced by seriousness and caution.
She had planned to escape before Ling Yan arrived but was thrown off by Lu Yuan’s interference.
Si An could feel that the moment Ling Yan touched down, an Absolute Territory with a radius of about five meters had already activated.
Within this field, Ling Yan was the supreme law itself—obliterating and creating at will.
She had thoroughly studied the profiles of all Magical Girls at Headquarters. Except for Lu Yuan, a newcomer with scant data, she knew everyone else’s abilities inside and out. Ling Yan, the “General” at the pinnacle of all Magical Girls, was one opponent Si An could never face head-on.
Ling Yan didn’t even glance at Si An at first. She looked at Su Li, asleep from magic exhaustion in Lu Yuan’s arms.
“Take her back to a safe distance,” Ling Yan ordered calmly but with undeniable authority, directing her words at Lu Yuan.
Intimidated by that aura, Lu Yuan nodded instinctively and struggled to lift Su Li, retreating.
Only then did Ling Yan turn her gaze fully on Si An, her eyes sharp as an eagle’s, as if appraising an object.
“Chaos Witch, Si An,” Ling Yan called out her codename. “You specialize in using melodies to distort reality and create chaos… You’re not a Magical Girl—where did your abilities come from?”
“Who knows?” Si An tightened her grip on the violin, forcing a smile. “But with the General here, it’s truly an honor~ Looks like today’s impromptu performance has to end early.”
“End?” Ling Yan stepped forward.
With just one step, the invisible five-meter Absolute Territory advanced. Wherever its edge passed, scattered ice crystals and stones vanished as if erased by an eraser—silent and absolute.
Si An’s pupils contracted sharply, retreating instinctively to widen the gap, sweat beading at her temple.
She must never be touched by that field!
Snapping her fingers, a Red Spider Lily bloomed instantly beneath Ling Yan’s feet, exploding on the spot!
But the explosion only made a sound—the damage never happened before Ling Yan erased it.
“You think… that works on me?” Ling Yan smiled coldly.
***
“I know it doesn’t.” Si An laughed, spreading her arms like she was embracing the entire building. “But guess how many of these little ‘gifts’ I planted in here?”
“At a thought, or if I lose consciousness,” her smile twisted into madness, “these adorable little bombs will all detonate at once! Then… boom!! This entire building, along with everyone who hasn’t evacuated, will become my most spectacular finale! Want to watch, General?”
Her eyes locked on Ling Yan like a desperate gambler pushing all her chips on one bet. “Let me go! Once I’m safely away, I’ll disarm them! Otherwise… we all go down together! Trading so many lives for me—do you think that’s a fair deal?”
The air seemed to freeze. Only the relentless churning of the helicopter’s rotors echoed above.
After several seconds of suffocating silence,
Ling Yan slowly raised her hand, making a simple gesture toward the hovering helicopter.
The chopper rose higher.
“Trash.” Ling Yan’s voice was icy and cutting, laced with undisguised contempt.
She looked at Si An and finally spat out two words:
“Get lost.”
Relief washed over Si An’s face. Not daring to linger even a moment, she kept one wary eye on Ling Yan and retreated quickly.
***
“Thank you for your generosity, General~ I look forward to presenting an even better performance next time!”
Before her words faded, Si An vanished completely into the shadows.
Ling Yan stood her ground, watching the direction Si An disappeared toward. After a moment, she spoke coldly into her communicator:
“Headquarters, this is Ling Yan. Target ‘Chaos Witch’ Si An has fled. She claims to have planted numerous high-energy explosives ‘Red Spider Lilies’ inside the building. Dispatch the highest-level bomb disposal team and detection-class Magical Girls immediately to conduct a thorough search and clearance.”
After issuing the order, Ling Yan turned her gaze to Lu Yuan and the sleeping Su Li.
“Well then.” Her eyes settled on Lu Yuan, pressing down with the weight of scrutiny. “Now, it’s your turn. Explain why the Magical Girl Lu Yuan from Tongmen City is here.”