Watch Zhao Qingsnow: one Magic Spell, and a snowstorm floods the earth, cold blooming everywhere.

Watch the Old Woman: one Magic Spell, and a high wall rises, stopping all things. Yet her finishers feel different.

She wields a Spear, scatters sparks of fire, and even an exhausted foe slips from her hands. Her end move isn’t like others.

Night Frost supports the spent Old Woman; the Wall of Sighs drained too much. For someone her age, it bites hard. Night Frost helps her into the car.

Inside, Sun Xiao and Kaneko had watched a straight fight, front to back. Respect settles on them. They never thought a roadside granny packed that kind of power, holding off two of Cantata Two without faltering.

The Old Woman sits aside, recovering Mana. Night Frost goes to find Zhao Qingsnow. She’d chased the third person piloting the drones, then went dark.

Night Frost hadn’t gone far when a wave of chill brushed her skin. Out in this open wild, only one person casts that kind of cold.

She follows the chill, careful as a cat on frost. She finds Zhao Qingsnow in a shallow hollow, rebuilding her Mana.

Her Magic Armor is hacked with gashes, bleeding red along cold metal. She looks cut to ribbons, yet she tells Night Frost she’s fine—scrapes only, nothing vital. Give it a bit, the wounds will scab.

The Magic Maiden she faced was sharp. Her magic was rare—using Mana to manipulate magnetism, a tech‑leaning art. Zhao’s seen it before, but few push it that far.

Magnetism means pulling at weight and field. She could alter her own and the ambient magnetic lines. Those drones moved under her Mana and a hawk’s eye.

Ice is paramagnetic, a medium for magnets. It’s affected, but not by much. Still, every strike the girl launched targeted Zhao’s body, trying to twist her magnetic field for a killing blow.

Zhao’s no lightweight. Her strong Magic Layer stabilized her field, kept her inner balance steady against outside interference.

Once she’d recovered a bit, Zhao returned to the car and fired up the engine. Lucky thing, the vehicle wasn’t damaged. Fortune inside misfortune—credit to Twelfth District build.

They’d driven this wave of enemies back. For now, no one would come knocking. Zhao had learned that across many districts: show enough strength, and organizations hesitate. How many Cantata Two can a normal group field?

To pin Night Frost’s trio, they’d need twice that number. Twelfth District has six or seven on the books. Even if some hide extra Cantata Two, it wouldn’t be more than the public count. If it were, would they have watched Twelfth District suffer without stepping in?

Any big organization would need to weigh its trump cards. Fail to take Night Frost cleanly, and other districts strip your secrets bare. After seeing that display, they’re probably arguing hot and loud right now.

At least for a while, those pests won’t harass them.

When the Old Woman and Zhao had recovered some, they hit the road again. After this, they didn’t dare head to District Twenty One in broad daylight.

Keep going, and they’ll hit the first fork. One path leads to District Thirteen. Farther on, Thirteen links to the elevated road toward District Twenty One.

Relations between Thirteen and Twelfth are lukewarm at best. Non‑interference. Trade passes back and forth, and that’s it. If they fake a move toward Thirteen and drag danger into it, the people of Thirteen will push back.

Go straight to District Twenty One, and the “New Faction” will have traps set and waiting.

“I remember a route to District Nineteen. Is it here? Security’s lighter there. Easier to slip through.”

Zhao didn’t hide anything. Her words fell into Sun Xiao’s ears. She eased the car to a stop. She planned to check it herself. It’s been too long since she took the elevated road; the memory’s fuzzy.

From here, Night Frost could see District Thirteen’s cityscape. Compared to Twelfth District, Thirteen also suffered Monsters. Yet it fared far better.

You can still see lights at night, though dim like fireflies in fog.

They parked there. Without Zhao, they could barely move. Night Frost used the time to ask the Old Woman about her Magic Spell. The Old Woman had witnessed it, and she’s lived long; her knowledge runs wide.

Night Frost laid down sound isolation. It didn’t really matter—Sun Xiao and Kaneko’s eyelids were at war, then lost. They slept heavy. For safety, she sealed the sound anyway.

“Your teacher didn’t tell you? Oh, right—you used to be a boy.”

Night Frost never had proper training. Not knowing is normal. She acts so much like a girl, and her combat craft beats most Magic Maidens. The Old Woman had overlooked that.

She had to admit, Night Frost was born for this.

“Magic Maiden spells are ranked by power and by range. Like ordinary spells get one‑star, two‑star tiers.”

Night Frost is quick. She cut in, already on the track.

“Learning difficulty has stars. Power has tiers. Spells aren’t equal. Different spells vary in output and cost. But back in First Symphony, mine worked great. The punch wasn’t bad.”

Night Frost fell silent, thinking. Maybe her First Symphony was strong because of Black Flame’s blessing. Black Flame burns Mana, so the Spear devours a Magic Maiden’s Mana, cutting the opponent’s strength hard.

Now Black Flame’s turned into red‑gold flame. It’s lost that Mana‑burning trait. A drop in power makes sense. Even so, she feels a gap compared to the Old Woman’s spells.

The Old Woman’s gaze held approval. Night Frost had voiced most of what she meant. She’d gotten the gist, though doubt still clung.

A spark lit in Night Frost’s mind. Suddenly everything clicked.

“Like in those Fate games—anti‑personnel versus anti‑fortress. Mine’s probably an anti‑person single‑target ‘noble phantasm’. So it hits lighter? Best for one‑on‑one. One‑on‑two with help can break it?”

Night Frost stared at her silver‑gray bracelet, quiet. Her Magic Spell felt like trash to her—less power than others, range stuck on single target.

Well, it’s strong single‑target control. That’s… some comfort. Comfort my ass. Zhao Qingsnow can control a crowd.

No comparison, no pain. Without the Black Dragon’s Black Flame, she had no standout edge. She’d have to use Formations to make up for a weaker spell.

“Your Magic Spell isn’t weak. It’s tuned for duels. Ours are area spells. They eat Mana fast. Yours can be cast time and again. You can even fire it in First Symphony, right?”

She was right. Night Frost could use her spell in First Symphony. Other Magic Maidens couldn’t. She might be one of a kind.

Cut the range and raw power, boost the charge rate and number of casts. A trade, a kind of compensation.

If she could etch an Array Pattern as she cast, or loose two spells at once, she’d be both single and group. Well—Magic Spell.

Night Frost wanted to test it. She needed a quiet place. If someone caught it on camera, that’d be bad. They were on a mission.

Zhao came back. They chose to ditch the car. Night Frost looked at Sun Xiao and nodded. He could go. After this, he was free.

Sun Xiao all but wore excitement on his face. Night Frost couldn’t help worrying about his future.

She asked Kaneko’s opinion. Kaneko decided to go with Night Frost to District Twenty One. Following Sun Xiao would only cause trouble.

Kaneko had read Night Frost’s plan. Let Sun Xiao drive into other districts. They’d travel by magic, less eye‑catching. Use Sun Xiao to cover their trail, buying time to slip across.

Night Frost had already moved all gear and food. The moment the car was compromised, everything was gone. Even if Sun Xiao left and dodged capture, without supplies he’d struggle to live. He might die with no proof left behind.

Night Frost wasn’t giving him a kind face. He’s two‑faced, all smile outside, bile inside. He might dream of revenge. With Night Frost’s temperament, living this long was already good for him.

Sun Xiao couldn’t hold his thrill. But the instant he opened the trunk, Night Frost’s team had vanished without a trace. Under the black night sky, there wasn’t a shadow of them.

“Food? The pot? The comms?”

He searched and found not a single grain. The trunk was scrubbed clean, like locusts had passed.

After a long rummage, he found a torn white sheet. Night Frost’s now cleaner handwriting ran across the ripped paper.

“Sorry—We took all the food. If you want something to eat, head to the nearest district. Oh, District Thirteen’s security is tight. Without an ID, try farther—say District Nineteen.”

Sun Xiao shredded the note and crushed it in his fist.

He knew Night Frost had played him. He’d been turned into a fired bullet, stuck between charge and retreat.