Dozens of minutes ago, at Xiangsen Changlin Zoo.
Sapphire held her phone, sitting in the most distant pavilion, resting while waiting for news from Blazing Flame.
No matter what kind of Shadow Beast it was, once it appeared, it absolutely could not hide the abnormal magical aura on its body.
And as soon as that abnormal magical aura appeared, it would be sensed by Blazing Flame.
She didn’t need to do anything; she only needed to wait quietly.
Leaning her body back against the railing, Sapphire rested her chin in one hand, gazing quietly at the distant crowd.
Today was a workday, so there weren’t many people in the zoo.
Even so, Sapphire still saw quite a few parents bringing their children to play at the zoo.
Watching those children shouting excitedly at animals they’d never seen before while standing beside the fences, and the parents chatting with their kids nearby, Sapphire found herself a bit dazed and lost in thought.
Before she obtained the power of a Magic Girl, she had never gone out to play with her parents.
Not even once.
She had never even experienced something as simple as going for a walk with them.
She was like air—never once had her parents shown her any genuine concern.
Sapphire didn’t think she was an unruly child.
She never started trouble with anyone at school, never fought or quarreled with others, and didn’t even go through puberty.
She knew clearly that her parents were busy every day, entertaining all sorts of people and handling all kinds of troublesome affairs.
So she waited patiently, hoping for the day when they’d finally have time to take her out to play.
Back then, she had already decided—she would take a notebook to record everything that happened on that day, and later show her parents what she’d written to make them happy.
But in the end, that day never came.
She didn’t know how much time had passed, but the notebook she’d prepared for that day ended up being used to jot down calculus formulas—every page packed with dense equations.
Of course, Sapphire understood she was quite lucky.
Though her parents didn’t interact with her, they never laid a hand on her, nor did they ever deny her food or force her out to wander the streets.
She could go to school, eat properly, and sleep normally.
The butler would buy her all the notebooks and pens she needed for class.
Though life was boring without a phone, and she couldn’t join in when classmates talked about celebrities or games—
Phones were expensive anyway; it was best to earn the money and buy one herself.
She couldn’t just spend her parents’ money—making money wasn’t easy for them, so she had to be frugal.
She really didn’t have it bad at all; compared to the rest of the world, she was a truly fortunate child.
It’s just, just…
She wanted her parents to show her normal concern, not treat her like air.
And certainly not to treat her like a commodity after she told them she’d become a Magic Girl.
“…Dice.”
Sapphire’s lips trembled slightly as she whispered the name of the Magic Fairy, and for some reason, the clear silhouette in the distance gradually blurred.
“My dear Contractor, are you crying?”
The cat-like little creature saw Sapphire’s expression and immediately leapt onto her lap, a faint smile appearing on its face.
“No, I’m not crying.” Sapphire sucked in a trembling breath and wiped away the tears that hadn’t yet fallen from the corners of her eyes. “Help me confirm Meteor’s location. The action time is almost here.”
“Got it! I’ll go find her right away! See you in a bit!”
Dice dashed off in a flash, vanishing from sight.
Sapphire pressed her lips together and continued waiting for the moment when the bomb would be triggered.
The officials had already inspected everything; there were no bombs in the Elephant House.
When the time came, she would see just where this Night Demon Apostle would show up.
She wasn’t in a good mood today, so she’d just take it out on this Shadow Beast and use it as her punching bag.
Sapphire let out a slow breath, her expression returning to calm.
In that peaceful atmosphere, the appointed time finally arrived.
When she saw Blazing Flame’s notification pop up on her phone, Sapphire immediately called back Dice, transformed, and soared into the sky to search for traces of the Shadow Beast.
Meteor, who had also been waiting for a long time, did the same as Sapphire, flying into the sky in search of the Shadow Beast.
Boom!
Just as they reached the sky, a sudden explosion sounded from the distance.
Looking carefully, it was actually coming from the direction of the Elephant House?!
She didn’t understand how this Shadow Beast managed to set off an explosion in the Elephant House without actually planting a bomb.
But as long as it dared to show itself, it meant it would face purification!
Sapphire immediately accelerated and charged into the Elephant House.
But there was nothing here.
Other than the scattered remains of elephants, and a few tourists not far off who had lost consciousness from the shockwaves, there wasn’t a single trace of the Shadow Beast.
It seemed just as the Night Demon Apostle’s notice had said.
It would detonate the bomb in the Elephant House right on time, welcoming all these humans to come and witness.
“Where’s the Shadow Beast? Why didn’t I see the Shadow Beast?”
“…We might have been tricked.”
Sapphire glanced around and spoke.
“What do you mean?” Meteor asked in confusion.
“It’s obvious—the Night Demon Apostle really did plant a bomb in the Elephant House, and the bomb was inside the elephant.”
Sapphire looked at the elephant’s remains and explained,
“But none of us found where the bomb was, and that’s what led to it being detonated.”
“You mean it hid the bomb inside the elephant?!” Meteor cried out in shock. “How is that possible? Other than the keepers, who ever comes in contact with the elephants? And didn’t the authorities send people to check? There was no bomb here!”
“Maybe their bombs aren’t the same as ours,” Sapphire went on. “The enemy is a Shadow Beast, after all. There’s nothing strange about it pulling off things like this.”
“If, if that’s the case, can we really…”
Halfway through her sentence, Meteor suddenly fell silent, leaving her words unfinished.
But seeing Meteor lower her head, Sapphire already understood what she meant.
Meteor’s meaning was clear.
If human methods couldn’t detect the bombs set by Shadow Beasts, could they really find the Shadow Beast’s location?
With that kind of ability, the enemy didn’t need to confront them directly.
It only had to set a bomb at the right time and place, then leave and detonate it whenever the opportunity arose.
As long as the Shadow Beast wanted, they’d never be able to find it.
“Forget it, let’s save people first.”
“…Okay.”
Meteor nodded, raising her right hand and extracting all the dirt, debris, and fragments that had entered the tourists’ bodies.
Then, with a slight movement of her hand, faint golden starlight flowed into the tourists, stabilizing their heartbeats.
Sapphire looked at the tourists, who were mostly unharmed, and then at the dead elephant behind her, raising her eyebrows slightly.
Then, unexpectedly, she smiled.
So that’s how it is…
This guy was provoking them.
It set a bomb that was just powerful enough to kill the elephant but wouldn’t harm any humans in the Elephant House, just to announce its arrival to them.
Interesting—so it’s an intelligent Shadow Beast?
Thinking this, Sapphire immediately released her transformation, pulled out her phone, and dialed Xu Panfeng.
“Director Xu, it’s me, Sapphire.”
“The operation failed. We didn’t see the Shadow Beast at the scene.”