Chapter 9: Orchid

Since becoming Kamen Rider, Lu Xun had been fully immersed in battling Chimeras.

Just catching up on lessons had already drained all his energy, leaving him completely uninterested in following the Magical Girl news.

He ground his teeth and said,

“No matter who you are, step aside. This guy is my prey, and it’s dangerous… uh, anyway, it’s my prey.”

Considering the power Yulan had just displayed, he silently deleted the word “dangerous” from his evaluation.

It was probably the Chimera that found her dangerous.

Besides, compared to that—there was already a troublesome Legend who kept snatching opponents from him.

There was no need for another Magical Girl to jump in!

This kid’s got pretty bad chuunibyou, Yulan thought to herself.

She guessed the child wasn’t very old.

She told herself not to stoop to a brat’s level, then threw out a cold jab,

“Is that so? But if I hadn’t been here, your prey would have probably torn this school apart by now…”

Lu Xun was momentarily stunned.

Only after her reminder did he shift his attention elsewhere.

On the Basketball Court, the collapsed basketball hoops, the torn and deflated basketballs scattered on the ground after students fled, the scattered school uniforms…

“Isn’t this your doing?”

Lu Xun couldn’t help but ask.

Yulan’s recent beating of the Chimera was the embodiment of violence, a stark contrast to her elegant appearance.

Anyone who saw it couldn’t help but be impressed.

“You saw everything!”

Yulan’s vein twitched as she failed to control her tone,

“No way! As long as a Magical Girl controls her magic properly, her spells only hit intended targets, never harming innocent people or the surroundings. This mess is all the Chimera’s doing.”

At that time, Yulan was happily drinking an iced Americano in the office while scrolling through her phone.

But a child’s scream shattered her tranquility.

Curious teachers poked their heads out, only to see the “frail” PE teacher—who often had to take leave—running wildly down the corridor, sandwiching two kids on each side at incredible speed.

He shouted loudly, echoing through the school building:

“A strange person has invaded the school! Everyone, run!”

Yulan instinctively thought that it would be even harder to convince kids that the PE teacher was sick from now on…

She immediately dashed in the opposite direction of the fleeing crowd, but after a few steps, she remembered she hadn’t transformed yet.

She quickly found a secluded spot to transform.

Now in her transformed state, she guided the panicked students and teachers to evacuate the school first.

Only then did she finally face the Minotaur on the Basketball Court, who was crazily dismantling the basketball hoops.

It was at this moment Yulan realized this was not the kind of monster she usually faced.

Magical Girls generally fought more abstract monsters.

If the little white fox-like creature hadn’t lied to them, monsters were born from humanity’s negative emotions.

The monsters Yulan had seen all looked grotesque and disturbing—monstrosities bred from the darkest, vilest corners of human nature.

By comparison, the Minotaur in front of her, though ugly, was still within a normal range of acceptability—an ugly yet tangible beast.

Most importantly, Yulan had been continuously attacking this Minotaur for ten minutes straight but couldn’t defeat it!

This didn’t mean her attacks were ineffective.

Every magical projectile left wounds on the Minotaur, but once the damage reached a certain level, the monster would collapse, then emit a dazzling white light.

When the light faded, the Minotaur stood up completely unharmed and fully energized, as if time had reversed.

Though Yulan occasionally vented her work pressure on monsters, she wouldn’t torture an obviously mindless creature.

The reason she was this excessive now was that no matter how many times she defeated it, the monster always reset to its initial battle state.

When would this end?

Was there no finish line?

Lu Xun, standing far away, only saw Yulan pressing the Chimera down and naturally didn’t witness the Chimera’s regeneration or Yulan’s hidden exhaustion.

He only knew Yulan was right—he had arrived too late.

After saying that, Yulan braced herself for a sharp retort from Lu Xun.

But surprisingly, the grim Kamen Rider didn’t snap back with a harsh tone.

Instead, he looked embarrassed and turned his head awkwardly.

“…This time, I really was too slow. But next time, I won’t lag behind. I won’t lose to you all again!”

He actually didn’t shirk responsibility?

No, this wasn’t really his fault to begin with.

Yulan knew better than anyone that these mysterious vigilantes all had their own social identities.

Balancing both sides was hard enough; it was unreasonable to criticize them for being late.

Besides, Glory’s arrival definitely wasn’t slow.

From the Chimera’s appearance to Glory’s arrival was at most ten minutes—likely the moment he got the news, he rushed over.

Yulan’s quick handling of the Chimera was only because she was already nearby.

Using this time gap to mock Glory’s slowness was unfair.

But she couldn’t say that out loud…

Yulan was caught off guard by Lu Xun’s blunt attitude.

She really shouldn’t stoop to a kid’s level…

Lu Xun went on, awkwardly turning his face away.

“And… thank you.”

When Lu Xun was little, he had experienced a robbery at a shopping mall.

He and his mother had been herded into a group of customers on the first floor.

Among the crowd was a boy his age, whose parents had disappeared.

The lonely boy sat quietly, stunned by fear.

Without hesitation, Lu Xun’s mother pulled the stranger into her arms, protecting both children tightly.

What happened next, Lu Xun barely remembered.

Because after that day, he fell seriously ill due to the mall’s cold air conditioning and the shock.

His memories of the incident were blurred in his underdeveloped mind.

But when he woke up from the hospital bed, his mother showed him a photo taken during their rescue.

In it, he clutched an Epic model tightly, sitting safely in Epic’s arms, smiling happily.

It was said that Epic had arrived just in time, pummeling all the robbers into the ground, then disarming the suitcase bombs placed beside them, successfully saving everyone.

If Epic hadn’t come, the robbers would have left with the ransom, leaving the hostages trapped near the bombs with a grim fate.

Lu Xun analyzed the incident and stared at the model placed by his bedside, not remembering where it came from, and suddenly understood.

That model!

The one he had long dreamed of owning but couldn’t find anywhere in secondhand stores!

Epic must have left it for him because he stayed calm and didn’t cry or panic during the robbery—seeing him as a promising kid.

Epic probably hoped to fight alongside him when he grew up!

It had to be that!

After all, who else but Epic would casually give away such a priceless, limited-edition toy?

With the goal of fighting alongside Epic one day, Lu Xun had made learning from Epic his mission!

Before getting his belt, he always gave up his seat on buses, helped elderly crossing streets, and after obtaining the belt, protecting ordinary people became his duty.

So, failing to do this was his fault.

He had to thank Yulan for making up for his mistake.

Yulan, receiving his thanks, was utterly speechless.

Was sincerity truly the ultimate weapon?

She regretted her earlier tone, muttering,

“It’s… nothing. I’m just doing my duty.”

Looking a little embarrassed, she tried to change the subject before she could barely stop herself from wanting to punish the version of herself from minutes ago.

At 3 AM, she was even waking up to scold herself,

“Damn, I really deserve this.”

“Oh, by the way, I can’t really defeat this Chimera. You know…”

How can one truly beat it?

Her words were cut short as her expression changed suddenly.

She sensed the magical light bands she had just created lost effect and were violently broken free!

She quickly looked toward the Chimera’s direction and saw a massive axe, half a person tall, hurtling toward them!

The flying axe came fast, but Magical Girl Yulan and Kamen Rider Glory’s reflexes were no joke.

Facing this sudden attack, both reacted immediately—

But their first instinct was to shield the other, so without any coordination, their frantic movements actually hindered each other.

“Watch out!”

A clang of metal rang out across the Basketball Court as a pure white figure stepped in front of Yulan and Lu Xun.

The silver Knight’s Sword in his hand met the heavy axe, holding it off for a few seconds before forcefully knocking it away.

The huge axe spun away to the side.

Cloud You, transformed and holding the white Knight’s Sword, turned his face toward them.

“Glory, Yulan, are you okay?”

“I… I’m definitely fine!”

Lu Xun wiped imaginary cold sweat from his brow, stiffening his neck to defend himself,

“Wait, it’s not what you think. I could have caught it just now, but she was in the way!”

He had already pictured a cool move catching the blade empty-handed in his mind, but a sudden shove nearly made him faceplant in front of Legend!

If he hadn’t been so stable on his feet, he might’ve embarrassed himself before Legend and might as well have hanged himself with his own scarf!

But getting saved by Legend wasn’t exactly great either…

Could the Chimera throw that axe again and give him a chance to redeem himself?

And Yulan!

Standing there like an idiot without moving!

If he hadn’t shoved her hard, the axe would’ve split her in two!

“That’s exactly what I want to say. Can you explain why you shoved me just now?”

Yulan’s vein throbbed as any guilt she had was shattered.

You just don’t show mercy to brats!

Pushing Lu Xun, who had stood dumbfounded in front of her, aside, she had already gathered magic to send the axe flying back.

But that kid somehow used brute force to stabilize himself and rammed into her, cutting off her spell halfway.

At that moment, her mind flashed through whether she had locked her computer before leaving and if her colleagues or family would discover her fan forum account after she died.

…But now that she calmed down, even without Legend, the axe would’ve barely grazed her scalp at most, maybe cutting a few hairs.

“I told you, I was going to catch it! If you hadn’t pushed me, I would’ve caught it!”

“If you hadn’t suddenly moved me, I would’ve sent the axe back where it came from already.”

…Hmm, that was full of confidence and didn’t sound hurt at all.

Feeling reassured, Cloud You nodded and smiled warmly.

“Well, it’s good you two are fine.”

“Fine? Not at all!”

They were surprisingly in sync.

Cloud You thought this silently and wisely didn’t say it out loud.