“Buzzzz~”
Within the endless realm of darkness, a figure unlike any ordinary Dark Fairy—its form far closer to some kind of humanoid, yet with sharp horns and spikes that made it obvious it was by no means human—sat quietly on its throne, watching the violently trembling magic incantation before it.
Looking closely, that throne actually resembled An Shui Guan’s throne.
No, that’s not quite right; putting it that way gets the order wrong. In truth, An Shui Guan’s so-called “throne” was, by all appearances now, merely a crude imitation of the magnificent seat beneath this creature.
Before the monster, countless runes in the language of fairies had formed a magic array, but after a violent tremor, it utterly collapsed and vanished into nothingness.
“Heh heh.”
The not-quite-human monster let out a low chuckle.
“Look at An Shui Guan, that useless fool—after years of fuss, he still hasn’t discovered a thing, and even dragged in a bunch of other worthless trinkets.”
“But it turns out that this little fish, dealt with on a whim, actually attracted a big one.”
The King of the Giant Sharks—ruler of his domain in the sea, a lord not under the Dark Fairies’ control, and a top-tier powerhouse, referred to as a “Level-2 Demonkin” by Jiang Lingwei—was, in this being’s mouth, merely a “little fish.”
Judging from its tone, even the King of the Giant Sharks stumbling into Canghai City had been a casual move on its part—a minor gambit at best.
The monster waved a hand lazily, and dark magic automatically constructed a new spell array.
At the center of the array, a portrait suddenly appeared. It was the magical girl [Shachong]!
Her portrait showed a bright, confident smile, without the slightest hint of timidity. Anyone logging into the magical girl system would know: this was how Shachong looked when she first became a magical girl.
Her original self.
“Tsk, tsk. Her mind isn’t completely broken? If that’s the case, I can’t proceed with the experiment… Also, the aura of the Ancient Magical Girl has appeared, and she’s strong enough to destroy my spell. Did she get her hands on the Ancient Relic?”
“Bang.”
With a heavy thump to the throne beneath it, several shadows appeared, adopting postures of submission as they knelt respectfully before the monster.
“Wu, you go. Bring me the Ancient Relic from those people.”
One of the shadows bowed its head.
“Yes…”
“Hm? Any questions?”
“Respected Lord, to what extent may I act?”
“Hahaha, I do appreciate clever ones like you.”
The monster laughed heartily three times, then spoke in a teasing tone:
“After you’ve investigated, bring the thing back. You can do whatever you like with the rest.”
“As you command.”
This time, there was an obvious note of joy in the shadow’s tone.
As dark forces in the Fairy Dimension began to stir, in the human world, too, events were unfolding—though still far removed from ordinary people’s concerns.
“Chief.”
In an office, a man in military uniform handed a paper report to the middle-aged man sitting there, then left without pause.
He nodded slightly to a uniformed girl standing guard outside the door, then moved to stand on the other side, quietly waiting to fulfill his duty.
The girl in uniform didn’t speak, but waves of Light Magic were already stirring in her hand.
Only she and the man beside her could be here; only the two of them must remain.
If any “presence” approached at this moment, they would both unleash ruthless attacks at once.
Meanwhile, inside the office, the man opened an envelope labeled [Top Secret] and exposed its contents.
Even after years in high office, his hand couldn’t help trembling a little when he saw the cover.
Because the title on that paper was just three simple characters: “Generation Zero.”
“I knew it.”
The man’s iron-willed heart surged with emotion; his eyes even turned a little red.
Though he did not shed tears, had any other subordinates or colleagues seen this, they would surely have been shocked for quite a while. A team of professional psychological therapists would probably have rushed in to start a session immediately.
But the man only stared quietly at the tiny data collected by a certain research institute—with the help of magical girls—and the report on unknown movements among the enemies of the dark side.
Memories surfaced in his mind: moments from years ago, when he was saved in a disaster, and memories preserved only by a twist of fate.
“They… really do exist. I wasn’t wrong.”
“Ha~”
Completely unaware of the wider effects today’s events would have on other factions, on the beach, Jiang Lingwei—retaining the “ordinary person transformation state” she used when working at the café, now wearing a simple, everyday outfit—downed an entire can of cola in one go and let out a satisfied breath.
She had no idea whose it was, but it wasn’t opened, so she just drank it!
From the magical girl’s perspective, this seemed a little immoral.
But after everything that just happened, her nerves were far too frazzled—Jiang Lingwei really needed something sweet to calm herself down.
I’ve been fighting all my life.jpg
“Aurora… senpai?”
Having been healed quite a bit with her help, Jiang Yao came closer.
“Um, what was that move just now called?”
Even with little magic left, she’d managed to unleash such power in an instant. Jiang Yao had never seen Aurora use that kind of magic before.
Come to think of it, Aurora didn’t look the same as she usually did. (Aurora, do you have alternate forms too?)
“I don’t know.”
Jiang Lingwei glanced at her with a smile, scratched her head, and said, “Why suddenly call me senpai? No need for that, we’re about the same age, really.” (Totally.)
“And I’m not lying to you, I honestly don’t know. It just came out when the feeling was right.”
She really couldn’t be blamed for this.
Normally, she and her teammates’ magic at least had names, even if you didn’t count the general spells the old man taught them—their signature ones did as well.
It’s just that Yunxia never shouted out her attack names!
In battle or daily life, she barely said a word. How was Jiang Lingwei supposed to know?
“Umm… you’re all amazing…”
On the side, Shachong, also mostly healed by Jiang Lingwei, shrank her neck. Even though she was taller and more mature-looking than the other two—almost matching Jiang Lingwei’s usual form—she now curled up on the lounge chair like a shy little girl, her expression timid and bashful.
“Shachong-senpai, what’s wrong?”
Jiang Yao was puzzled.
“You were awesome too just now. You shot right through that monster’s head.”
“And, and…”
She thought back and said, “You were so badly hurt, but you still vanished from right in front of me in an instant, and created that strange world.”
Recalling Shachong’s earlier display, Jiang Yao truly thought she was super cool. (Though not as cool as Aurora.)
After that thought crossed her mind, Jiang Yao quickly added in her heart.
“In any case, with that power, why didn’t you use it from the start?”
“Because…”
Now back in her regular clothes—a black outfit despite the heat, with a hood pulled up to hide herself—Shachong looked away.
“Because I can’t hit.”
“Huh?”
The answer caught Jiang Yao off guard.
“But, but how could you miss?”
She still remembered Shachong’s proud, confident stance, that shot piercing the King of the Giant Sharks’ weakest eye, the light magic inside exploding it instantly.
It didn’t look like a “lucky shot” at all.
“I can’t hit… I just can’t hit…”
Shachong murmured, then suddenly looked up in terror, her eyes darting about as she stammered,
“S-sorry, I failed, I missed, I’m sorry!”
“Shachong-senpai!”
Jiang Yao quickly reached out, trying to calm her.
“I’m sorry!”
In an instant, leaving behind a loud apology, Shachong transformed into her magical girl form and shot away in a streak of light.
It all happened so suddenly, Jiang Yao was left standing there, arm stretched out, not knowing what to do.
“Let her calm down by herself.”
Patting her daughter on the back, Jiang Lingwei shook her head. She’d immediately seen Shachong’s problem, but there wasn’t much she could do to help.
“Her ‘heart’ is troubled. Outsiders can’t help with that. Not now, but there’ll be another chance.”
Then, she had a small question of her own:
(Hmm? Come to think of it, I’ve never seen Yao Yao’s, nor her friend’s, nor this Shachong’s… Do magical girls these days not have transformation sequences?! Huh?)
“Aurora…”
Just as Jiang Yao was about to say something else, her expression froze.
“Endless vast horizons, that is my love~”
Because, at that moment, Jiang Lingwei’s phone rang in her pocket—the catchy lyrics of an old song blaring from the powerful speakers of her otto phone.
“Huh?”
Out of habit, Jiang Lingwei reached for her phone—but her hand suddenly stiffened. She slowly turned her head, meeting Jiang Yao’s inexplicable smile.
“Uh…”
Jiang Yao, hearing the ringtone, seemed to think of something and smiled beside her, “Aurora, your ringtone… it’s such an old song. It’s the same as my mom’s.”
“R-really? Ahaha…”
Jiang Lingwei laughed awkwardly, sounding quite guilty.
It was just like being on a quiet subway, forgetting your phone’s on max volume speaker mode, and then a deafening anime girl voice blasts out, drawing everyone’s attention—an otaku’s ultimate nightmare.
Jiang Lingwei instantly broke into a cold sweat.
“Um, um! Anyway, I’ll come find you later!”
“Whoosh—”
Feeling exposed, she turned into a stream of light and fled even faster than Shachong.
Only Jiang Yao remained, shaking her head and smiling helplessly.
A certain suspicion in her heart grew even stronger.
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