Why is she here?!
Shouldn’t she be at the parent-teacher conference right now?!
Ashes felt her head buzzing.
A thought she didn’t dare to face was slowly taking shape in her mind.
Could it be…
No, it can’t be…
The petite girl rushed forward.
Mana rapidly gathered at her feet, forming steps under her, allowing her to walk on air as if on solid ground.
Her movements were nimble, like a swan leaping across a lake.
‘Don’t let it be what I think, don’t let it be what I think…’
She repeated it frantically in her heart.
But a Magical Girl’s body possessed superhuman vision, allowing her to instantly notice Ye Xiao Chi pulling something shiny and bright red from her skirt pocket.
What else could that thing be, besides a Soul Gem?
Ha ha.
So, under the desperate gaze of the old father, the oblivious Ye Xiao Chi trotted forward, a look of determination on her face as she clenched her Soul Gem and pressed it against her well-developed chest.
“Transform!”
A brilliant red crystal grew from the ground, enveloping the girl who was hugging herself.
From a distance, it looked like a delicate piece of amber.
Then, the crystal shattered.
The girl spread her arms, and the crystal fragments scattering around her, like falling stars, were rapidly transformed by mana into exquisite pieces of magical attire:
A fiery red gown clung to the girl’s slender waist, its skirt billowing like a blooming flower, bold and passionate.
Red crystals adorned the hem, making her look like a shooting star flying in reverse as she soared.
And that fiery Soul Gem was now embedded in the heart-shaped wand she held.
She twirled the wand in her hand several times before finally pointing its tip at the monster charging straight at her, declaring:
“Magical Girl Scarlet Diamond, I shall judge your crimes!”
…
Time rewinds half an hour, to 4:00 PM.
“I love Magical Girls the most!”
Ye Xiao Chi said while clutching her phone and patting Xia Che’s shoulder:
“Especially Rainbow Candy! She’s practically the perfect Magical Girl! Not only is she the strongest of the modern era, but she’s also super cute and kind, ah… If I could just get her autograph, I could die happy!”
As she spoke, Ye Xiao Chi hugged her phone to her chest, looking like she was about to faint from happiness.
Beside her, Xia Che watched his childhood friend’s fangirl antics and helplessly ruffled her hair.
“Yeah, yeah, you love Magical Girls the most… But don’t die, okay? What would I do if you died?”
“Hehe, just kidding!”
Ye Xiao Chi instantly returned to her normal self, grabbing Xia Che’s arm with both hands and shaking it playfully.
The two were childhood friends who had grown up together, both now seniors at Rain City First High School.
Because the atmosphere at home felt suffocating to Ye Xiao Chi, she always liked to drag Xia Che out and stay out late.
Sometimes they went to the library, sometimes to a convenience store.
Xia Che also knew about Ye Xiao Chi’s home situation.
Though he wanted to help, he felt powerless.
The only thing he could do was stay by her side and ensure her safety.
Right now, the two were sitting shoulder-to-shoulder on a circular bench under a tree at the school gate.
The dense canopy of the banyan tree blocked the drizzling rain.
“When is Uncle Ye supposed to arrive?” Xia Che asked gently.
Because of the parent-teacher conference, students were allowed to leave the school to wait for their parents at the gate.
However, he had no one to wait for.
His parents had died in the Great Cataclysm seven years ago, and his only uncle was away on a business trip and wouldn’t be back until next week.
So many years had passed.
Although he was long used to it, Ye Xiao Chi still worried about him.
Using the excuse of “wait with me for that guy,” she had dragged him out here.
Though she seemed scatterbrained, she was actually very gentle and considerate.
Ye Xiao Chi was a treasure of a girl like that.
Xia Che looked at the girl’s soft profile and reaffirmed his resolve:
He would become a hero, possessing enough power to protect Ye Xiao Chi.
But how distant that dream was! For someone like Xia Che, who had no mutations, no special talents, and no money, studying hard and getting into the Special Dispatch Bureau was the only possible path.
And even that path was fraught with difficulties and thorns.
A long road lay ahead…
Just thinking about it made Xia Che feel pressure like a massive boulder on his chest, making it hard to breathe.
“He should be here soon. After all, that guy promised me.”
Ye Xiao Chi gently bumped her shoulder against Xia Che’s, snapping him out of his daze.
He turned his head and saw the girl’s sparkling red eyes, her brows curved like a cute little rabbit.
Seeing the girl’s adorable expression instantly dissipated the pressure in the young man’s heart.
He tapped Ye Xiao Chi’s nose, pretending to scold her:
“Xiao Chi, you shouldn’t call your dad ‘that guy,’ should you?”
“I’ll call him that if I want! I hate that guy so much, bleh bleh bleh…”
Ye Xiao Chi stuck out her pink tongue without a care.
Many passing students looked at the two of them with envy.
In their classmates’ eyes, it was practically a crime against nature for Ye Xiao Chi and Xia Che—the second and first in their grade respectively—not to be together, since they were always inseparable.
“Childhood friends win for sure!” declared a certain friend of Ye Xiao Chi’s who was also the head of their ‘ship.’
Xia Che didn’t know what Ye Xiao Chi thought, but his feelings for her were more familial.
To him, she was like the little sister next door.
The two continued chatting idly as time passed quickly.
Gradually, the once-bustling school gate grew quiet.
Many students had already entered the school with their parents.
Only a few scattered students remained under umbrellas, standing at the gate and looking around.
“Ah, Mom, you’re finally here!”
“Sorry, sweetie, traffic was terrible. Come on, show me your classroom!”
Another mother-daughter pair walked shoulder-to-shoulder into the school.
Ye Xiao Chi’s gaze followed them before quickly returning.
She clasped her hands together, lowered her head, her hanging hair covering her eyes.
Compared to before, she was now quiet to an extreme degree.
Noticing Ye Xiao Chi’s low spirits, Xia Che comforted her:
“Maybe Uncle is stuck in traffic too? Look how hard it’s raining.”
“Yeah… maybe.”
Ye Xiao Chi reached her hand out, feeling the dense raindrops land on her palm.
‘He promised me…’
Suppressing the thought in her heart, the girl forced a weak smile:
“Che Che, you should go back first. Your class’s parent-teacher meeting is about to start, right?”
“It’s fine. I’m the top of the grade anyway, and I have no parents. The teacher can’t really get on my case.”
Xia Che shook his head.
Even though studying was important, Ye Xiao Chi was more important to him.
“Hmm…”
Ye Xiao Chi blinked, a faint light seeming to swirl in her eyes.
She looked at the young man’s handsome profile and parted her red lips:
“That…”
BOOM—!
A thunderous roar like an explosion made the girl jump, nearly leaping onto Xia Che’s shoulders:
“Wah! What was that?! Such a loud thunderclap!”
Xia Che frowned deeply, looking into the distance:
“That wasn’t thunder… It’s a monster.”
“Huh?”
Ye Xiao Chi followed his gaze.
Across the street, standing on an office building, was a purple-skinned muscleman about three stories tall, built like a triple-door refrigerator.
Despite looking like he could kill a hundred Tysons with one punch, he was wearing a fitted suit with a perfectly knotted tie, creating a jarring contrast.
He wore a massive gold watch on his wrist, a thick gold chain around his neck, and was chewing on a premium cigar…
He pushed the oversized sunglasses on the bridge of his nose and roared into a brick-sized cellphone longer than his face:
“I don’t wamt to work overtime dammit!!!”
The monster’s roar also contained immense mana.
At this close range, even the shockwave from the bellow could send the two of them flying!
As a Magical Girl, Ye Xiao Chi quickly made a judgment.
She gripped her Soul Gem, channeled a bit of mana, and formed a mana barrier in front of them.
Thud!
The shockwave slammed into the barrier with a heavy, muffled sound.
“Xiao Chi, you…” Xia Che was stunned.
Ye Xiao Chi lowered the gem and looked at her childhood friend.
The earlier gloom was gone, replaced by a hint of playfulness.
She clapped her hands together with a smack and bowed her head apologetically:
“I’m really sorry for keeping it from you all this time! I’m truly sorry!”
Xia Che came to his senses and gave a wry smile.
He had always wanted to become a hero.
Who would have thought the hero would be his childhood friend?!
But the situation was critical right now.
If the monster wasn’t stopped in time, the consequences would be unthinkable.
Xia Che knew this well.
He just waved his hand.
“Alright, I forgive you! My childhood friend being a Magical Girl is amazing! You have to explain everything to me later!”
Then, he smiled at Ye Xiao Chi and gave her a thumbs-up:
“Now go do what you need to do, Miss Hero!”
Hearing Xia Che’s words, Ye Xiao Chi’s eyes lit up.
She nodded vigorously.
“Yeah!”
Then she turned and rushed into the rain.
Watching the girl’s receding figure, Xia Che lowered his head, clenched his fist, and sighed softly.
‘It seems… I’ve fallen even further behind her…’
…
“Huff…! Huff!”
Ye Xiao Chi stood in a deserted corner, bent over with her hands on her knees, panting heavily.
Even though she was a Magical Girl, her base stamina was still that of a weak high school girl.
Charging into the rain to look cool only to get a side stitch… that was so not Magical Girl-like!
If Rainbow Candy found out, she’d definitely laugh at her!
Thinking this, the girl’s fighting spirit was reignited.
Whoa! Can’t be looked down upon, Ye Xiao Chi! You’re a Magical Girl, the embodiment of love and justice!
A warm current surged through her body.
Instantly, her legs didn’t ache, her back didn’t hurt, and she felt completely energized!
“Okay, Xiao Chi, you can do this! Even if you’re an E-rank Magical Girl, even if this is your first real battle…”
Ye Xiao Chi pumped herself up, charging towards the monster purely on adrenaline.
At the same time, she placed her Soul Gem against her chest.
“Transform!”
A brilliant red light flashed before her eyes.
Mana instantly filled her body.
She knew her transformation was successful.
At the same time, using her Magical Girl senses, she noticed that a cordon had already been set up around the area.
Countless micro-drones flew out from the street corner cameras, even from trash cans.
Like agile hummingbirds, they dispersed to every corner of the blockade.
As someone who watched live streams daily, she knew these drones had built-in cameras.
This meant the battle was being broadcast live globally.
The company operating this stream was called “Superhero Group.”
They collaborated with the Hero Special Dispatch Bureau.
All registered heroes, upon joining, had to sign a live-streaming agreement.
That is, except when carrying out “Top Secret Missions,” heroes were obligated to be broadcastwhen fighting monsters or wierdo’s.
Such “Superhero Live Streams” happened hundreds, even thousands of times daily.
For popular heroes’ battles, they even had professional commentators and analysts.
The concurrent viewership could even reach hundreds of millions!
The best example was Rainbow Candy.
Every time her stream was on, viewer comments could completely cover the entire screen.
Ye Xiao Chi had signed this agreement as soon as she became a Magical Girl.
Because she aspired to be a great Magical Girl, she wanted to be seen! To be liked!
Just thinking that tens of thousands of eyes might be watching her right now made the girl tremble with excitement.
She tightly gripped her wand, her breathing growing heavy.
I… I have to perform well!
Just as Magical Girl Scarlet Diamond was still psyching herself up, a massive shadow completely enveloped her.
“Huh? Why did it get dark?”
Scarlet Diamond looked up and saw a large, purple, eggplant-like face with two eyeballs bulging out like ping-pong balls.
“You want me to work overtime too?”
The vibrations from his speech made Scarlet Diamond’s scalp tingle.
“Huh?”
Scarlet Diamond tilted her head in confusion, clearly not processing it.
However, this brief hesitation was taken by the monster as silent consent.
He immediately became super-duper angry and enraged! Veins bulged on his eggplant face as he raised the cellphone and smashed it down!
“Everyone who make me work overtime! must! die—!!!”
“Wah ah ah ah ah!”
The giant cellphone, carrying a fierce gust of wind, came crashing down like a cannonball.
If hit, she’d definitely be flattened into a pancake!
Scarlet Diamond’s brain reacted, but her body didn’t move!
‘Ahhhhh! Move! Why won’t my body move?!’
‘The mana! I can’t use the mana!’
‘I’m gonna die!!!’
Magical Girl Scarlet Diamond closed her eyes in despair.
At this moment, she recalled a cartoon from her childhood, the one with the cat named Tom who dug his own grave.
‘Goodbye, my dark-eyed childhood friend. Goodbye, bastard dad…’
—Wait, would getting flattened into a pancake on my first battle make the news?
“Don’t space out!”
A sharp, girlish shout rang out.
Scarlet Diamond only felt someone bump into her waist, followed by an explosive sound right next to her ear.
Ouch—!
The girl furrowed her brow.
She waited a few more seconds.
Huh? No pain?
Not only no pain, but it felt… soft?
Scarlet Diamond forced her eyes open.
She saw gray hair fluttering in the wind and a pure white, torn dress.
The sound of wind whistled past her ears.
Wow, so sexy… such pale skin…
Is this heaven?
Then this flat-chested, sexy little loli holding her in a princess carry must be an angel, right?
“Are you hurt?”
The angel spoke.
“N-no…”
Even though she wasn’t hurt, Scarlet Diamond said weakly:
“Where do I go to apply for heaven residency?”
“Huh?”
The angel looked down.
Even though she wore a mask, Scarlet Diamond felt she could see the worried eyes beneath it.
“Magical Girl, are you in your right mind?”
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