Chapter 38: Night Raid

The night streets of Tamayura Town were quieter than usual.

A thin fog hung in the air, mixed with a strange smell.

It was already late at night.

Hoshino Hikari had just finished a patrol to eliminate Magic Beasts and was walking home alone.

Unlike before, she usually greeted her brother when she went out.

But today it was too late; her brother probably wouldn’t agree, so she had sneaked out at night.

Naturally, she had to sneak back in.

As a Magical Girl with some experience, Hikari had mastered the trick of entering the house without using the front door.

She would climb back through the window into her own room.

Even her brother couldn’t catch any traces of her sneaking out.

The streetlights in the distance emitted a faint glow.

The girl’s shadow cast on the path stretched very long, especially her twin tails, which looked a bit like cockroach antennae.

Looking at her ever-changing shadow, Hikari felt a little scared.

Did becoming a Magical Girl make you brave and fearless?

No. A girl is still a girl.

A Magical Girl is also a girl.

She still has things she’s afraid of.

A Light Magical Girl being afraid to walk alone at night—if word got out, it might be hard to believe.

But that was the truth.

In the past, Hikari absolutely dared not go out at night, unless her brother was with her.

Hikari walked quickly, her twin tails swaying slightly with each step.

In her hand, she held the miniature form of her heart-shaped staff, staying vigilant.

She was already afraid of walking at night.

The recent rumors of a serial killer only added to her unease.

She had heard that the victims’ deaths were gruesome…

Hikari couldn’t help but let her imagination run wild.

News about the serial killer on TV kept popping up from the depths of her mind.

She quickly shook her head, not thinking about those terrifying things.

She wasn’t far from home now.

She needed to hurry up.

There was no one on the road.

Gradually, the fog on the street grew thicker, visibility decreased, and the strange smell intensified.

As Hikari passed a corner, a figure not far away was crouching on the ground with its back to her, fiddling with something in a strange manner.

Besides the stronger strange smell, there was also a faint, rusty smell in the air that instinctively repulsed her.

“What are you doing there?”

Hikari stopped and asked, tightening her grip on the staff.

Meeting this situation while walking at night—anyone would be nervous.

The figure paused, then stood up and turned around.

“Good evening, little girl.”

Even though she couldn’t see his face clearly, she could still feel the smile in his words.

“It’s so late. It’s not safe to be out alone, you know.”

His voice carried an icy chill, giving Hikari goosebumps.

Soon Hikari noticed that at the boy’s feet, a dark shadow seemed to be writhing.

Or rather, struggling.

“What are you doing?”

Curiosity drove Hikari to take a few steps forward.

Magical Girls had far superior vision than ordinary people.

She saw it clearly: a girl lay beside Ito Kyosuke, her limbs twisting irregularly in what seemed like final convulsions before losing consciousness.

A large dark stain was spreading on her chest.

“As you can see,” the boy shrugged, his tone light, “I’m just foraging for food.”

Hikari’s mind shook.

How could she not realize now?

The person in front of her was the infamous serial killer!

Her pupils contracted.

Her body trembled.

She wanted to immediately turn and run.

But reason told her that as a Magical Girl, even a serial killer shouldn’t be a match for her.

Don’t be afraid, be brave.

She had to save that person from the serial killer!

“Light Beam!”

The staff in Hikari’s hand suddenly burst with dazzling light, and then her body vanished from the spot.

Magical Girls’ physical abilities were far beyond any athlete’s.

In the next instant, she flashed before the boy, her body in midair, executing a roundhouse kick.

Hikari had no formal combat training, but after fighting alongside her captain for so long, she had picked up some basic moves through observation.

In her expectations, this move would be decisive and overwhelming: first use Light Beam to blind him, then launch a surprise attack.

The serial killer would be sent flying by her kick, coughing blood and falling, unconscious or dead.

However, when her kick connected with the boy, it felt like striking something made of reinforced concrete.

Her leg nearly broke from the impact!

The kick hit the boy, but his body didn’t budge.

“Your strength is still lacking.”

As the words fell, dozens of dark brown branches and dark green vines suddenly surged from behind him.

The vines shot toward Hikari like lightning!

Hikari: !!!

The girl reacted almost instantly.

She leaped back diagonally, while the staff expanded in her palm, emitting a dazzling pink glow.

A brilliant beam shot from the tip of the staff, accurately hitting several incoming vines.

Sizzle—

The vines struck by the light turned black and withered instantly, as if scorched by intense heat. Ito Kyosuke frowned and retracted the damaged vines.

“Light magic…”

He murmured, a hint of wariness in his eyes, quickly replaced by stronger greed.

“A bit tougher than expected, but too bad you met me.”

Hikari ignored his muttering.

After landing, she quickly adjusted her stance, holding the staff across her chest.

“What are you, exactly?”

This was the first time she had seen a creature that was neither a Magic Beast nor a human.

“Me?”

The boy laughed.

“I’m exactly the kind of human you Magical Girls are supposed to protect. Only… I’ve evolved a little.”

He raised his hand, and a dark red seed appeared in his palm.

Its surface was covered in fine patterns, pulsing like blood vessels.

At the same time, more vines surged from behind him, this time with dark purple tips, clearly venomous.

The overwhelming vines quickly surrounded her from all directions, practically sealing off every escape route.

Hikari took a deep breath.

She recalled the teachings of her senior, Ziteng Sayaka: when facing an unknown enemy, the most important thing is to stay calm, respond steadily, and not panic.

Her light magic naturally countered things born from dark energy.

“Radiance·Bloom!”

Hikari raised the staff high above her head.

The heart-shaped gem at the tip erupted with light several times stronger than before.

The light spread outward from her, forming a spherical domain of light.

The incoming vines withered rapidly upon contact with the light field, like snow under the sun.

“Ahhh!”

The boy cried out in pain.

Those vines were clearly connected to his body; damaging them caused him the same agony.

The staff in Hikari’s hand quietly transformed into a bow without a string.

As her slender fingers gently pulled back, immensely brilliant light began to gather rapidly in her hand.

“Light Arrow!”

The boy’s face changed drastically.

All the vines instantly retracted, weaving into a thick wooden shield in front of him.

Boom—!

The light arrow collided with the wooden shield, erupting with blinding light and a loud noise.

The shield shattered into pieces.

The boy was blown away by the shockwave, crashing heavily into the wall of the alley.

He coughed as he got up.

His clothes were torn in many places, revealing the dark red, branch-like patterns spreading over his skin.

The seed in his palm had dimmed significantly, and even a fine crack had appeared.

“Damn it…”

The boy stared at Hikari, his eyes full of venom.

The previous Magical Girl had been easily taken down.

Who could have guessed today’s girl would be so troublesome?

He suddenly turned.

The remaining vines stabbed into the wall and ground, using the recoil to launch himself like a cannonball.

In a few leaps, he disappeared into the darkness at the other end of the alley.

Hikari did not pursue.

She remained alert, sensing the surroundings, and quickly walked to the fallen girl’s side, crouching to check.

“Are you okay? Wake up! Wake up!”

The girl was seriously injured.

A bloody hole in her abdomen was bleeding profusely.

Her breathing was very weak.

If not treated immediately, she would likely leave this world soon.

Hikari began emergency bandaging while immediately pulling out her phone to call an ambulance.

Just then, something unexpected happened!

The girl who had been lying unconscious suddenly opened her eyes—but there was nothing in those eye sockets!

The girl sat up abruptly, opened her mouth wide, and sprayed a puff of dark green smoke at Hikari.

The ambush was quite successful.

Hikari, focused on saving her, had no time to dodge.

The moment she inhaled the smoke, Hikari lost her vision.

Everything went black.

A splitting headache struck her.

At the same time, she could clearly feel strength rapidly draining from her body.

Hikari clutched her head, staggering backward.

All sorts of bizarre scenes surged in her mind.

A buzzing sound filled her ears.

The extreme agony made it impossible for her to concentrate.

“Naive.”

The boy appeared behind Hikari again, showing a victorious smile.

The girl who looked like a victim was actually a puppet he had made using the skin of a previous female victim and his own ability.

This was his carefully designed trap.

The previous Magical Girl had fallen for it the same way.

After all, who could resist a Magical Girl’s instinct to save someone?

Now that she was poisoned, she wouldn’t last long.

Vines slowly extended from behind the boy again, covered in thorns with paralytic effects.\

Clearly, he wanted to enjoy this feast more safely.

Hikari’s mind was in chaos.

Even her thoughts became sluggish.

She could feel something cold, like a poisonous snake, coiling up from her ankles.

But she could barely stand now, let alone resist.

The thorny vines tore through the girl’s white stockings and were about to climb up her calf.

Suddenly, a ball of blazing fire fell from the sky, igniting the vines completely!

“Wildfire Sweeps the Plains!”