The early summer breeze, carrying the fragmented shadows of camphor leaves, drifted over the windowsill of the third-floor classroom and brushed past the strands of hair falling by Ye Ning’s cheeks.
The girl sat in the second-to-last row by the window, her back as straight as a poplar tree.
Her long, straight black hair, like fine ink satin, cascaded down her shoulders, the ends just sweeping the collar of her school uniform shirt.
Sunlight filtered through the glass, casting dappled spots of light in her hair, making the pale stretch of her neck appear even more lustrous.
Ye Ning’s face was delicately pretty, with a natural curve at the outer corners of her eyes, a small and straight nose, and lips of a soft pink.
When she pursed them lightly, it betrayed a hint of unconscious seriousness.
The hem of her school uniform skirt fell just past her knees.
The chest outlined by the shirt held the unique, just-right curve of a young girl.
On the podium stood the young female teacher who had just transferred from the Magical Girl History Research Institute.
“…The history of Magical Girls begins with that earth-shattering meteorite fall fifty years ago.”
The teacher’s fingertip gently tapped an old photograph on the projection screen, showing ruins shrouded in dust and smoke.
“That enormous meteorite tore through the atmosphere and crashed violently into the heart of the Eastern Continent of Blue Star.
When researchers from various nations rushed to the scene with top-tier equipment, all they found were shattered fragments of the meteorite, glowing with an eerie blue light, and a distorted Space Rift that stretched across the sky.”
The pen in Ye Ning’s hand paused.
Her gaze drifted past the succulent plant on the windowsill, towards the distant horizon.
On the very day the meteorite shattered, It descended.
People called it the Angel.
Of course, it wasn’t the gentle, holy figure described in some books.
Instead, it was grotesque and sinister.
Its twelve pairs of wings were not woven from feathers, but pieced together from countless sharp bone plates.
The edges of the plates gleamed with a metallic cold light, and each beat stirred up gales reeking of blood.
Its limbs were long and misshapen, ending in half-meter-long claws tipped with dark purple venom.
A single light swipe could shred reinforced concrete walls to pieces.
The moment It descended, the heavens and earth changed color.
People called It Angel, with a fear that went bone-deep.
Tank shells exploded against Its body, leaving only faint white marks; missile strikes tore through Its bone wings, only for new, sharper plates to regrow in an instant.
With no other recourse, humanity finally deployed their trump card: nuclear weapons.
Dozens of nuclear warheads detonated in succession around It.
Towering flames engulfed the entire land, and radioactive dust blotted out the sun and moon.
In that battle, humanity exhausted more than half of its nuclear stockpile and suffered hundreds of millions of casualties before finally managing to completely annihilate that terrifying entity.
But this was only the beginning of the disaster.
Not long after the Angel’s fall, hundreds of Space Rifts tore open simultaneously across the globe.
The monsters that crawled out from those rifts didn’t possess the world-ending power of the Angel, but they were equally horrifying—some had gaping maws filled with sharp teeth, others dragged tentacles dripping with viscous venom, and some had bodies as hard as iron, impervious to blades and bullets.
They had no reason, only an endless desire for destruction.
Wherever they went, cities became ruins and fertile fields turned to scorched earth.
People called them Disaster Beasts.
Just as humanity fell into despair, believing civilization was about to end, they appeared.
A group of girls in the bloom of their youth, clad in beautiful battle attire adorned with lace and ribbons, wielding weapons that radiated brilliant light, stepped forward from every corner of the city.
Flames, water currents, lightning, vines…
All sorts of strange energies blossomed in their hands.
The Disaster Beasts, which even heavy weaponry could do nothing against, let out piercing shrieks under their attacks and dissipated into wisps of black smoke.
After years of research, scholars at the Institute finally concluded:
The power of these girls was intimately connected to that meteorite and the descent of the Angel.
They were given a name full of hope—Magical Girls.
“…The Angel’s last descent was three years ago.”
The teacher’s voice suddenly dropped low, and the whispers in the classroom instantly ceased.
“That time, this Angel’s power was even more terrifying, even reaching S-rank. Space Rifts expanded globally, and the number of Disaster Beasts increased exponentially.
At the critical moment, the world’s only all-S-rank Magical Girl squad at the time—[Morning Star]—volunteered and rushed to the battlefield.”
“That battle lasted for three days and three nights.”
“In the end, the [Morning Star] squad used a mutually destructive technique to completely seal that Space Rift and kill that dreadful entity.”
“The price was… the sacrifice of two of its S-rank Magical Girls.”
“Magical Girls…”
Ye Ning murmured unconsciously, her voice as light as a breeze.
Ever since she could remember, her dream had been to become a Magical Girl.
Not because of the beautiful battle attire, nor for the glory of being in the spotlight, but because she had seen too many scenes of devastation left in the wake of Disaster Beasts.
A seed had long been planted in Ye Ning’s heart.
She wanted to become someone like that.
She wanted to wield the light.
She wanted to protect those she cared about, and even those she had never met…
“Ye Ning…”
“Ye Ning?”
The gentle call pierced through the fog of her layered thoughts, and Ye Ning snapped back to reality.
She looked up blankly, meeting the teacher’s concerned gaze.
Dozens of pairs of eyes in the classroom were fixed on her.
Heat instantly rushed to her cheeks.
She hurriedly stood up, fumbling to pull up the sleeve that had slipped to her elbow.
Her voice carried a flustered tremor:
“Huh?! I-I’m here!”
The teacher put down the chalk in her hand and walked slowly to Ye Ning’s desk.
Her gaze swept gently over Ye Ning’s flushed face.
“Are you feeling unwell? You seemed quite distracted just now.”
“N-no, I’m not.”
Ye Ning shook her head vigorously, her dark hair swaying with the motion.
“Sorry, teacher, I… I was just thinking about something.”
The teacher chuckled softly, reached out, and gently ruffled the top of Ye Ning’s head.
The warmth from her palm transmitted through Ye Ning’s hair, feeling cozy.
“It’s alright,” the teacher said. “But, can you answer the question I just asked?”
Ye Ning froze, only then remembering that the teacher had indeed asked a question.
She hastily scrambled through the relevant knowledge points in her mind, the blush on her face deepening a few shades.
“What are the names of the seven Magical Girls in the [Morning Star] squad?”
The teacher patiently repeated the question.
She had reviewed this.
Ye Ning took a deep breath, trying hard to suppress the panic in her heart, and began to answer:
“They are Sword Saint, White Rose, Hollow Wood, Blood Butterfly, Magician, and the two who sacrificed themselves, Equinox Flower and…”
The last name was right on the tip of her tongue, but for some reason, she just couldn’t remember it.
She grew so anxious that fine beads of sweat appeared on the tip of her nose.
Her hands clenched tightly at the hem of her shirt, her pretty brows slightly furrowed, her face a picture of distress.
Seeing her like this, the teacher couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
She reached out and gently patted Ye Ning’s shoulder, prompting softly:
“And Lark.”
Ye Ning’s eyes widened in sudden realization, and she slapped her own forehead in annoyance.
The teacher withdrew her hand, her eyes full of amusement.
“But this is the first time I’ve seen Ye Ning so distracted.”
Ye Ning’s face turned even redder.
She lowered her head, staring at the white laces on her shoes, her voice as faint as a mosquito’s hum:
“Sorry…”
“It’s fine.”
The teacher waved a hand and turned to walk back to the podium.
“Ye Ning is usually very diligent in her studies, I know that. As long as you’re not feeling unwell, it’s okay.”
She paused, lifting her eyes to look at the whole class, her voice turning solemn:
“I hope everyone can firmly remember the names of those Magical Girls who sacrificed themselves. They traded their lives for the peace we have now.”
The classroom fell utterly silent.
Ye Ning slowly sat back down.
She raised a hand and gently pressed it against her chest.
There, her heart was beating powerfully.
‘I really want to become a Magical Girl.’
In her heart, once again, she repeated this thought with unwavering firmness.