“Great~ That’s wonderful. We’re saved~~”
The remaining crowd, after seeing the magical girl and witnessing her strength, began cheering loudly.
Yu Xiaoyan, on the other hand, was gasping heavily for breath. She had nearly died just now. If the magical girl had not arrived in time, she would probably have been eaten without even a scrap left, just like that police officer.
“Ma-magical girl-sama, I still have two friends inside the building. Please save them.”
She was referring exactly to Su Bai and Jiang Yuelan.
“This lady, please rest assured. There are other magical girls inside the building. What you should do now is withdraw with us to the safe point. Leave the rest to us.”
After hearing the magical girl’s explanation, Yu Xiaoyan could only nod helplessly. Then, supported by the people around her, she slowly stood up and prepared to set out.
“Everyone look quickly. There seems to be someone over there.”
One police officer had sharp eyes and immediately spotted a person emerging from one of the exits of the building. They seemed to be carrying someone else on their back and were running.
The captain also looked in that direction.
After confirming that the officer had not seen wrong, he turned his head and exchanged a glance with the magical girl Blue Speech Butterfly.
“Everyone stop. Rescuing people is the priority. You protect the civilians. I will cover those two as they run over.”
She raised her hand and clenched it in the air. A pale cyan magical barrier rose up beside the group of people.
Then puff puff, two more light bullets shot out from the front of the magic wand.
They actually changed trajectory and flew toward the area behind the two running figures.
Two loud explosions erupted behind them, directly blasting the pursuing Demonic Beasts into pieces.
The police nearby began a round of shooting, attempting to stop some of the stragglers that had not been hit by the explosions.
In this way, under the cover of magical missiles and pistols—
Those two people charged headlong into the protective light barrier with only a scare and no real danger.
“Jiang Yuelan, it’s you. That’s wonderful. You escaped.” Yu Xiaoyan recognized her appearance and cried out in surprise.
Jiang Yuelan did not respond to her. She was half-kneeling and panting heavily. She did not even have the strength to wipe the sweat on her forehead, which dripped straight into her eyes.
Her clothes were tattered and torn. The skin faintly visible underneath was covered in various small abrasions and contusions, and in some places large areas of bruising had already appeared.
As for the person she was carrying on her back, that person was already unconscious. It was impossible to tell how badly they were injured.
“No time to delay. Newcomer, can you still walk on your own?”
Jiang Yuelan nodded and slowly stood up.
“Quick. You two men go carry the unconscious person. We’re withdrawing to the safe point.”
The magical girl immediately issued orders to everyone. Time was pressing. With her B-rank strength, maintaining a large-scale protective spell for a long time was too taxing.
Looking at the anxious expression on the magical girl’s face, an almost imperceptible smile appeared at the corners of Jiang Yuelan’s mouth.
It seemed her “acting” was still acceptable.
She had not aroused any suspicion.
The only thing she had not expected was that Yu Xiaoyan was also here. She had sent her out to find the police earlier, never imagining that it would end up saving her life.
Next came following the main group in the withdrawal. Jiang Yuelan lowered her head and mixed into the crowd, then began chatting with Yu Xiaoyan.
“Xiaoyan, I’m really happy to run into you here.”
“Jiang, me too. I thought… what about the others?”
Yu Xiaoyan looked behind Jiang Yuelan again. Not seeing that familiar figure, her expression changed.
“Su… Su Bai? Where is she? …Could it be that she couldn’t escape? How could…”
“If only I had known, we should have stayed together…”
Yu Xiaoyan had not even had time to feel happy before she was frightened by the possible fate of classmate Su Bai and began murmuring to herself.
Jiang Yuelan remained silent and looked toward the direction of the building.
She could sense that Su Bai should not be dead, but she still had no way of knowing the exact location.
However, the contingency she had left behind should start working now.
The perspective shifted to inside the building. The several clusters of shadow she had previously left behind to save people, as if receiving some kind of summons, suddenly converged toward the same direction.
In the instant they made contact with each other, they continuously fused and transformed. A crow roughly the size of an adult flower cat appeared there.
Its appearance was identical to the crow Jiang Yuelan had summoned before. The only difference was that its body was much larger.
The crow flapped its wings. Sensing its master’s command, it took off and began to circle. Those compound eyes scanned every detail like detection instruments.
At the same time, on Jiang Yuelan’s side, she noticed that Yu Xiaoyan’s mental state seemed a little off and spoke up to comfort her.
“Pull yourself together. Xiao Bai isn’t the type to die so easily. I believe in her.”
Yu Xiaoyan nodded mechanically, yet her eyes were like dead ashes. Her thoughts had already turned into a tangled mess.
So this was the scene magical girls faced every day. It was completely different from what was shown on television.
There were no sparkling stage special effects, nor any scenes of sweeping through thousands of enemies and saving the world.
There were only those repulsive monsters, the agonized wails of humans, and the various corpses left behind after being ravaged.
The smell of blood mixed with that indescribable stench of the Demonic Beasts was enough to make one retch.
She had never experienced the scene of a rift disaster at such close range. These things continuously assaulted her psyche.
A bitterness rose in her for no reason. The love she had previously felt for magical girls felt like a joke at this moment.
“I want to become a magical girl”—this had once been the beautiful dream Yu Xiaoyan most hoped would come true.
But now it had turned into a nightmare.
A huge sense of panic refused to dissipate. This time had only been a stroke of good luck.
Unreasonable rifts could appear at any time. What about the next time? What was she supposed to do?
If she herself……
Yu Xiaoyan looked at the magical girl who had just saved her.
The love, gratitude, and admiration she had originally held quietly underwent a certain change.
They took root and sprouted in her heart.
Jiang Yuelan did not notice Yu Xiaoyan’s emotions. She was only silently calculating in her mind.
According to her senses, aside from this magical girl, there were three other magical fluctuations. None of them were particularly strong.
There were also magical fluctuations rushing over from other directions far away from here. Those should be the Association’s reinforcements.
She should still be able to wait a while longer.
If the situation truly became unfavorable, even if it meant risking exposure, she would have to personally go into the building to save Su Bai.
Watching the group get closer and closer to the safe point, Jiang Yuelan clenched both fists and silently made up her mind.
Beep beep beep beep.
Just as she was thinking, the phone in her pocket suddenly rang. It was the message notification sound of her phone.
Had the signal recovered?
Jiang Yuelan immediately opened her phone. Among the countless messages that suddenly flooded in, she instantly spotted the one Su Bai had sent her:
『Are you okay? I’m fine. I’m currently trapped here on the first floor. Where are you?』
Jiang Yuelan’s eyes lit up. She immediately sent a reply.
『I’m fine. Xiao Xi’s mother is also fine. We’ve already escaped!! Where on the first floor are you? I’ll have the rescue team look for you.』
“Look quickly. Su Bai is still alive. She’s hiding inside the building.” Jiang Yuelan immediately relayed this good news to Yu Xiaoyan beside her.
Yu Xiaoyan, who had had almost no color in her face the whole time, finally showed a bit of a smile upon hearing this news.
“That’s wonderful. Quick, have people go save her.”
Jiang Yuelan also nodded and sent another message:
『Stay where you are and don’t move. We’re sending people to save you. Can you roughly describe your location, Xiao Bai?』