From the current situation, the black market and the District Twenty One branch would only clash on a small scale. The east was a mess right now, but the other areas were still orderly. If Kaneko had to choose, then Zhao Qingsnow and the Old Woman would most likely break through from the east.

But there was no doubt the east was dangerous. If even one magic round grazed her, Kaneko could die on the spot.

“Where are you going?”

Behind her, Zhou Jiaxin tried to grab Kaneko. But Kaneko nimbly slipped away from her hands. Seeing she couldn’t stop the girl in front of her, Zhou Jiaxin could only follow after her. It was too dangerous over there. She had to bring Kaneko back.

“Wait for me!”

Zhou Jiaxin hurried after her. But the situation was urgent, and Kaneko had focused all her attention on the battle. She didn’t hear Zhou Jiaxin calling out at all.

The fighting in the east was just as Kaneko had judged. It was only brief friction and minor clashes. Once that passed, everything returned to how it was before. The people from the District Twenty One branch were still lingering outside.

Kaneko suddenly realized something and immediately left the east side. She believed this was just a simple feint to lure the tiger from the mountain. The real attack would come from the other three squads. At the same time, they were drawing the Old Woman and Zhao Qingsnow eastward. They wanted to wipe them out in one net.

As for who should leave and who should stay behind, the Old Woman and Zhao Qingsnow were still deadlocked. It wasn’t the final moment yet, so arguing over that was pointless.

A rumbling sound came from outside the crude earthen hut. It seemed the Order Keepers of District Twenty One in the east had clashed with the black market people. If it was real, then this would be a good opportunity. Of course, with the Old Woman’s earlier lesson in mind, it was also possible this was fake. But whether it was real or not, they had to confirm it with their own eyes.

So Zhao Qingsnow and the Old Woman set out together. If there really was an opening there, neither of them would hesitate to seize it.

In the air, a Magic Maiden in a long dress swung the staff in her hand and condensed more than a dozen colorless balls of Mana. Under her control, those Mana spheres turned into deadly Magic Cannons and rained down from the sky.

The black market guards below had never expected these Magic Maidens to attack without any warning. Last night, the black market boss had still been negotiating with District Twenty One, trying to keep this matter small and smooth it over. But the moment he left, these Magic Maidens launched an assault right after. It was going too far.

So the black market side began to retaliate. The Arcane Firearms in their hands spat fire, and grenades capable of shattering a Magic Layer were used without restraint.

For a time, both sides fought fiercely. But anyone with eyes could tell neither side was going all out. On the Magic Maiden side, some were still slacking off at the edge. On the black market side, they still hadn’t brought out their truly lethal weapons.

Zhao Qingsnow and the Old Woman stopped when they were still a hundred meters from the eastern encirclement. Anyone sharp could tell something was off. The friction and clashes were real enough, but neither the Magic Maiden side nor the black market side had any intention of escalating the battle. It was just small-scale skirmishing.

“Something’s wrong...”

The moment the Old Woman finished speaking, purple lightning fell from the sky without discrimination. Zhao Qingsnow and the Old Woman had no choice but to gather Mana and evade. But the instant they did, their position was exposed. Purple Lightning threw the dagger in her hand, and in the next second, her body turned into lightning and crashed down in front of Zhao Qingsnow.

The ice shield before Zhao Qingsnow blocked the dagger Purple Lightning had thrown. Then Zhao Qingsnow took up a fighting stance and waited for the dust in front of her to clear.

Purple Lightning brushed the dust aside. Purple arcs coiled around her palm. She tapped forward lightly, and the violet lightning condensed into a Spear that shot toward Zhao Qingsnow’s forehead. The Old Woman slammed her palm against the ground, and a stone pillar rose from the earth, cutting off the purple lightning.

Zhao Qingsnow rolled away, pressed her palms together, and slender ice spikes extended from behind her. Under her control, those linked ice spikes lashed toward Purple Lightning’s limbs.

Purple Lightning gave her arm a light swing and shattered the two ice spikes at her side with astonishing speed. Then she kicked off the ground. Lightning dragged her body upward as she leaped into the sky.

The lightning around her condensed over both arms like twin drills, and she plunged down from the heavens. The Old Woman raised earth and stone, and pillars surged up from beneath the ground. Purple Lightning swung her drill-like arms and smashed those annoying stone pillars one by one.

Because of the commotion caused by the three-way battle, black market members from the surrounding area were pulled toward the east. Taking advantage of that window, the Order Keepers from the south, north, and west erupted all at once. Torrents of condensed Mana instantly reduced the low metal barricades to nothing.

Four Cantata Two stood above the black market, staring down at the fleeing poor and some of the black market personnel. As if by prior agreement, they raised their palms together. Invisible Mana pressed every fleeing person to the ground.

Then dozens of First Symphony members escorted all those pinned to the ground out of the city center.

Kaneko was mixed in at the back of that group. She had successfully entered the black market. Right now, the whole place was chaos. No one was paying attention to a child as young as her.

Zhou Jiaxin was breathing hard. This little girl could really run. She had already chased with everything she had, but she still couldn’t catch up. Then again, it wasn’t strange. Ever since Zhou Jiaxin started college, she hadn’t exercised at all. She was either in the dorm or in the library all day, and her physical condition had kept getting worse.

Kaneko was different. From the moment she was born, she had paid attention to training. After entering the borderlands, she realized that if she wanted to survive outside the border, wisdom, companions, and a strong body were all indispensable. Because she had realized that early, Kaneko had managed to survive out there for so long.

“Hm?”

Kaneko looked behind her. She hadn’t expected Zhou Jiaxin to follow her here. Zhou Jiaxin was leaning against a wall now, clutching her stomach. She waved a hand, signaling for Kaneko to stop.

“Y-you really run fast... Hurry... hurry and go home. It’s dangerous here.”

Kaneko shook her head and refused Zhou Jiaxin’s suggestion. She had already come this far. There was no need to run away at the last second. If Zhou Jiaxin wanted to leave, then she could leave. It still wasn’t too late.

“No, I can’t leave. I still have something I need to do. Someone is still waiting for me.”

“What could possibly be more important than your life?”

Zhou Jiaxin couldn’t understand it. Kaneko was still so young. Why would she put her life in danger like this? What was she trying to do?

“I believe sincerity, kindness, warmth... things like that matter far more than life itself.”

A Magic Cannon struck the ground behind them, and a scorching blast wave swept into the alley where the two stood. Kaneko paused and looked at the unfamiliar Zhou Jiaxin before her. She had those qualities too. Kaneko felt she could tell her.

“I’m not a pure human. I’m just a defective artificial human. At most, my body won’t live past twenty.”

Kaneko pulled Zhou Jiaxin through the alley. The two reached a slightly wider area, then sprinted beneath a taller pile of ruins.

“My body’s lifespan is twelve years. That means I only have eight years left. I do treasure this life, but in this short life, I found things even more important.”

Kaneko recalled it all. From the moment she was born, she had carried the hopes of an elderly woman. That elderly woman had entrusted almost everything to her. The captain had treated her like his own daughter and cared for her with great attention. The other members had shown her kindness too.

Even though she was only a failed product, the elderly woman had shielded her from a great deal of outside pressure. The captain had also run around for the sake of her livelihood.

“My mother’s love for me, the captain’s care, the sincerity of the team members... so many people wove a beautiful world for me, even though this world was never beautiful to begin with.”

“I want to repay the people who cared for me. I want to protect that beauty. Even if it’s hard for me to do it alone, I still want to try.”

“That’s why I came here. I want to try. I want to try as much as I can.”

Kaneko looked at Zhou Jiaxin, led her over the ruins ahead, and quickly entered a house that still looked mostly intact and completely empty. Kaneko brought Zhou Jiaxin inside, gathered a few useful things, then looked through the blurry glass window toward the deeper center.

At the moment, most of the Magic Maidens were concentrated in the center, locked in battle with the black market.

The direction of the purple lightning was most likely Purple Lightning’s position. In District Twenty One, aside from Purple Lightning and her younger sister, there probably weren’t any girls especially skilled at using lightning.

Lightning crossed with ice and rock in the distance. Kaneko had seen the abilities of the Old Woman and Zhao Qingsnow before. That had to be where they were.

At this moment, they were being tied down by Purple Lightning. Several Cantata Two seemed to be slowly approaching them as well. If this kept up, Zhao Qingsnow and the Old Woman would probably have a hard time getting away before long.

If there were some way to lure those Cantata Two away, or even just half of them, it might ease the pressure on them.

“What could draw their attention?”

Kaneko looked at her own palm. She was an imperfect artificial human, but she hadn’t known she possessed such power. She only knew she had Mana and had the makings of a Magic Maiden. She never imagined she could destroy several buildings just by following the flow, or wipe out everything in sight in a single breath.

She was afraid of that power. But right now, she didn’t know any other way to help them. And yet she was afraid this power would bring even more sorrow. That ran completely against her ideals.

The pathways of Mana were clogged in the veins at her wrist. She gripped her wrist tightly and took a deep breath. Sharp pain spread through every muscle in her body, followed by uncontrollable Mana. The moment that Mana began to rise, Kaneko forced it back down.

The Mana she had forcibly suppressed ran wild inside her body, leaving her aching all over. She wiped away the fine sweat on her forehead and looked into the distance. Better think of some other way...

“Are you okay?”

Seeing Kaneko’s pale face, Zhou Jiaxin moved to support her. But before her fingers could touch Kaneko’s skin, she felt the heat inside her body. Just moments ago, Kaneko had been like a furnace, ready to explode at the slightest disturbance.

But after some time passed, the Mana inside Kaneko dispersed, and her body temperature returned to normal. She began thinking again.