Let’s get started—“Hydrogen Bomb”~

As expected, a bulky mechanical egg blinked into existence overhead, iron skin dull like a storm cloud. Faint knocking tapped inside, a thin warmth seeped through steel like a shy snake.

We’re Yokai, Alicia and me. We can eat a ‘Hydrogen Bomb’ and walk it off. Amelia won’t. A prickle of worry—don’t let this ‘game’ end too fast.

Rrrrumble…

The whisper grew into thunder. Amelia’s stare climbed from puzzled mist to sharp terror.

“Elastic Shield!”

BOOM!!!

The bomb went off. The roar dropped from the ceiling like mountain drums, but—only the roar.

Her “Elastic Shield” wrapped the bomb in a red oval, like a pomegranate skin caging a storm. The blast clawed at the shell, but it bounced inward and died.

Looks like it’s literal—hits get rebounded. So the shockwave ricochets too.

A shame we didn’t get a first-move kill. Still…

Heh~ “dan” and “tan.” So it’s the same written character that counts, not the sound. Cute hidden rule.

Amelia wasn’t enjoying it. Her face stayed storm-black.

“Hey, hey… so vicious from the start. Careful, no one will marry you.”

She never thought Ling would go for the throat first. She expected chickens, ducks, cats, dogs. If her gut hadn’t screamed danger at that iron lump, she’d be ash.

“Hmph! Mind your own business! I’m not trying to get married!”

Tongue out, a playful ghost-face. Then she cut her eyes to Alicia, like asking for candy.

“C’mon, sis—your turn~”

“Me? Ummm… shield… shield… ‘Shield’?”

Thud!

A shield popped from smoke and hung itself on the wall, quiet as a moon.

Well… fits Alicia’s battle junkie vibe.

“Courtesy goes both ways. I’ll return a big gift—‘Paidodila’!”

Dozens of bone-forged quadrupeds rippled into the room, lion heads on bodies larger than any lion. Their presence pressed like cold iron—no mere “awoo” puppies.

One charged me. I snatched its skull and crushed it like dry clay. My mouth twitched. Not great.

This is bad. What I know, she doesn’t. What she knows, I don’t. The board feels stuck, like bamboo caught in the wind.

“Hey! Seven seconds already!”

“Hmph!—‘Ramen’!”

Three steaming bowls breathed fog on the table. I grabbed one and curled into Alicia’s arms, eating quiet as snowfall, ignoring Amelia’s face growing darker by the heartbeat.

“—‘Bread’!”

Heh… at least there’re one or two words I understand.

“Sis~”

“Yeah, yeah… ummm… ‘Baozi.’”

Can we stop with the food?

But the moment the baozi sat in Alicia’s hand, Amelia’s eyes shifted—thirst in a desert.

“So, um… could you… maybe… can you give me the baozi… please…”

Alicia blinked, then tossed it. Not many here like baozi anyway.

Amelia watched the bun carve a neat arc through the air. Her gaze hardened. One palm slapped the table. She sprang like a hawk and took it in one bite, swallowed clean, all motion smooth as running water.

Burp~

She burped, content, and a soft happiness lit her face.

“—‘Sub-Magic: Conefall.’”

A small magic circle hovered beside Amelia. A wooden cone spat from it and arrowed for my brow like a winter spear.

Danger.

My heart snapped tight, alarm ringing like cymbals. Reflex first—I threw up my right hand. The cone was fast; I was faster. As my palm rose, its tip met it.

Everyone knows cones pierce because a needle tip hammers force onto a tiny point. So I braced for a drill of pain.

Huh???

No stab. A tickle danced across my skin. Is my defense so absurd it turns spears into feather dusters?

Enough guessing—look. I tilted my head. The cone had stopped fifty centimeters out. Two feathers sprouted from its tip, fluttering and teasing my palm like dragonflies.

Across the way, Amelia clutched her belly and laughed, tossing words between giggles. “Figures you’re a loli—so easy to fool.”

…

A little… angry.

Not at the mockery. At being toyed with.

Who’s dared toy with me until now? And today someone thinks they can?

“Good… very good…”

My low murmur carried. Amelia eased out of her laughing fit, but that smirk still hung, eyes poking like thorns.

“What is it? Little sister wants to keep going?”

“Heh… little sister?—‘Meteor.’”