One year later, A City.
A faint smell of printer ink lingered in the office of the Calamity Beast Investigation Bureau on the top floor of the Police Headquarters building.
A young officer, Lin, stood before the desk, holding a crumpled investigation report, his expression grave as he reported to the man seated behind it.
The man behind the desk was none other than the bureau’s Minister, Lu Chen.
He wore a sharply pressed police uniform, strands of hair falling over his forehead, partially hiding the fatigue in his eyes.
At the moment, he was frowning, his fingertips unconsciously tapping the desktop.
“Minister, the on-site investigation report just came in. The newly emerged B-Class Calamity Beast that appeared last night… was dealt with again by that mysterious Magical Girl.”
Lin’s voice paused, recalling the report’s description, a complex note entering his tone.
“Just like before, that Calamity Beast was smashed to a pulp, flesh and blood mangled, with hardly any intact limb fragments to piece together. The method was extremely brutal, leaving absolutely no room for survival.”
Hearing this, Lu Chen pressed his fingers to his temples, massaging them with a suppressed sigh.
“This one… really doesn’t give anyone peace of mind.”
He looked up at Lin, his voice full of helplessness.
“Has the Magical Girl Association responded? What exactly is her background?”
Lin shook his head, placing the report on the desk and adding, “I just contacted the liaison from the A City Magical Girl Association this morning. They clearly stated that among all the Magical Girls registered with the Association, not a single one has a combat style like this—let alone the fact that a newly emerged Magical Girl, unless exceptionally gifted, simply couldn’t possess such strong combat power to easily slay a B-Class Calamity Beast and cause this level of destruction.”
“However…”
Lin’s tone shifted slightly, softening a bit.
“The few Magical Girls stationed in A City are quite interested in this mysterious junior. They specifically asked me to pass on a message: if we get any clues about her, they hope we’ll share them promptly. They’d welcome her to join and want to help her.”
Lu Chen picked up the thermos cup on his desk, unscrewed the lid, took a sip of warm water, and sighed heavily, his voice filled with confusion.
“This kid is really strange. Magical Girls are heroes who protect the city and fight Calamity Beasts. Everyone knows they’re good kids. She could step forward openly, accept the Association’s guidance and protection. Why does she have to be so secretive, hiding and skulking around?”
Lin scratched the back of his head, an uncertain look on his face, tentatively guessing, “Minister, could it be… she’s hitting a rebellious phase? Judging by that combat style—so rough and flashy—maybe she’s a young girl, deliberately acting cool like this?”
“Pfft—”
Lu Chen nearly spat out the mouthful of warm water.
He set down the thermos cup and waved a dismissive hand.
“Kid, you only dare guess wildly here. A rebellious phase that involves smashing Calamity Beasts into paste? While also making all surrounding surveillance and recording equipment fail simultaneously?”
Griping aside, Lu Chen still reached for the folder placed at the corner of his desk.
It contained all the information the bureau had compiled on the mysterious Magical Girl.
He opened the folder, his fingertips tracing the words on the page, his brow furrowing again.
“Consistently wears a black robe, wrapped from head to toe, making even her figure hard to distinguish. Witnesses indicate her classification is Light-Bathing Class—a class focused on healing, support, and buffs—yet her aggression is extremely high. Her combat methods are exceptionally brutal and cruel; almost no Calamity Beast remains intact under her hands.”
He paused, reading the following content, the confusion in his voice deepening.
“The strangest thing is, every time she fights, all nearby surveillance, video, and audio recording equipment suddenly fail, as if interfered with by some force, making it impossible to leave any visual or audio records. According to descriptions from a few fortunate witnesses, she also emits an extremely eerie laugh during combat, described as making one’s hair stand on end.”
“…”
Lu Chen closed the folder and let out another long sigh, his tone full of helplessness and worry.
“This kid… by all appearances, she seems like a villain?”
Lin leaned in, his face also showing a curious and puzzled expression, echoing the sentiment.
“Yeah, Minister. I’m especially curious, what exactly does that extremely eerie laugh sound like? Witnesses all say it’s spine-chilling, but no one can accurately describe it. It’s really itching at me.”
Meanwhile, in an abandoned factory on the outskirts of A City, the dim environment was thick with the heavy scent of blood and the unique rotting stench of Calamity Beasts.
“Ha↑ Ha↓ Ha↑ Ha↓”
A string of bizarre, eerie laughter echoed through the empty factory, the pitch rising and falling erratically, making one’s scalp tingle.
The source of the laughter was a figure shrouded in a long black robe.
The robe’s hood was pulled low, covering most of her face, only revealing a tightly clenched jawline and the corner of a mouth twisted into a distorted curve.
Through gaps in the black robe, glimpses of snow-white skin at her neck were visible, flushed with an abnormal, feverish redness.
On the ground before her, a C-Class Calamity Beast lay curled up, covered in wounds.
Its once-sharp claws were broken, its hard shell riddled with cracks.
Viscous green blood dripped continuously from its injuries, pooling on the ground.
This Calamity Beast, which could rampage and wreak havoc in the city, now held not a trace of ferocity in its eyes, only extreme terror.
Its body trembled uncontrollably, devoid of even the strength to flee.
It could only stare fixedly at the black-robed figure before it, as if gazing at its own death.
The black-robed figure’s laughter gradually subsided, but her shoulders still shook violently, uncontrollably.
She slowly raised her head.
The edge of her hood shifted slightly, revealing the corners of her eyes flushed with a deep crimson, spreading across her cheekbones to her cheeks.
An abnormal, feverish blush, a mix of extreme excitement and brutality, made her skin appear even paler, creating a stark, morbid beauty.
The next moment, she slowly raised the magic wand in her hand, gathering a faint, warm, pinkish-white mana.
“Buff—Strength Buff, Speed Buff, Defense Buff, Precision Buff, Agility Buff…”
A series of buffs were all applied to herself.
As the incantations were spoken, the aura around her suddenly turned sharp.
From her seemingly slender frame erupted an incredibly formidable power, the air seeming to warp slightly under its influence.
She slowly raised the magic wand adorned with pink and white feathers in her hand.
“Run. Why aren’t you running?”
The black-robed figure leaned forward slightly.
The hood slipped further, exposing more of her face in the dim light.
The abnormal flush on her cheeks intensified, her eyes churning with a near-mad excitement.
The corner of her mouth pulled into an extremely twisted smile.
Her gaze, though unfocused, locked precisely onto the Calamity Beast—a deranged, morbid stare, as if the prey before her wasn’t a beast but a vessel for venting all her madness.
The mockery in her voice was wrapped in a bloodthirsty chill, cold enough to suffocate.
The Calamity Beast let out a desperate roar, trying to struggle to its feet and flee.
But before it could even move, the black-robed figure acted.
Enhanced by the Speed Buff, her figure moved so fast it was only a black blur.
In the next instant, she appeared before the Calamity Beast.
She didn’t use any complex magic.
She simply gripped her magic wand tightly and, relying on the enhanced, extreme strength, brought it down hard on the Calamity Beast’s body!
Thud! A dull, heavy sound.
The Calamity Beast’s shell shattered instantly, green blood splattering, staining the black robe, but not affecting her movements in the slightest.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Again and again, filled with a hideous madness.
The abnormal flush on her cheeks seemed about to overflow.
Droplets—whether sweat or splattered blood—trickled down her jawline, leaving dark stains on the black robe where they landed.
Her swings with the magic wand grew increasingly frenzied.
A twisted, almost drooling smile remained fixed at the corner of her mouth.
Her eyes held not a shred of pity, only pure destructive desire and bloodthirsty pleasure.
The Calamity Beast’s roars and the sound of shattering bones were, in her ears, the most beautiful music.
Only when the Calamity Beast had completely ceased breathing, its most feeble struggles gone, did the black-robed figure stop her movements.
Her chest heaved violently, ragged breaths interspersed with faint, morbid, low chuckles.
She slowly straightened up, tilting her head back.
The hood fell away completely.
Fenbai Tuanzi panted slightly, the hand holding the magic wand still trembling faintly, yet the corner of her mouth curled once more into that bizarre, twisted arc.
She stroked the blood-stained magic wand in her hand.
‘This thing is way more useful than magic.’