She slowly closed her eyes, ready to welcome death. But one second passed, then two, and the pain she’d imagined never came. What’s more, she seemed to catch a fragrant scent—not the slightly sharp smell of perfume, but the more natural, much sweeter scent of a girl.

“Phew. Made it just in time.”

No wonder the battle had dragged on for so long. If she’d arrived even a moment later, the Magical Girl squad from Tianhai City might’ve been wiped out.

A silver spear effortlessly absorbed every attack from the Returning Sea Demon Lizard. When Bai Xiaoxiao opened her eyes, she didn’t see the Reaper. Instead, she saw the back of a tiny silver-haired girl in twin tails, wearing silver-white armor and a hairstyle just like Hatsune Miku’s.

Her mind couldn’t make sense of what she was seeing. Had that girl saved her? She had to have.

The monster’s breath attack hadn’t stopped. Blue-white light illuminated the entire battlefield, but even when it unleashed its strongest attack against the silver-haired girl with twin tails and her silver spear, it couldn’t hurt her in the slightest.

“Its strength is probably at the peak of A-Rank. You could call it a pseudo-S-Rank monster. It must’ve evolved after devouring the corpse of another A-Rank monster.”

The girl analyzed the monster’s unusual state. So that was it. It hadn’t eaten a B-Rank monster—it had devoured the corpse of a dead A-Rank monster.

Perhaps realizing its attacks weren’t working, the Returning Sea Demon Lizard fired laser after laser from its back, sweeping across the entire battlefield. But the little girl with the silver spear, silver armor, and even playful twin tails of silver wasn’t about to let it keep attacking unchecked.

“Time to finish this.”

As if delivering the monster’s final sentence, the silver-haired girl leapt into the air, holding her spear aloft. She threw it with perfect form and all her strength. The silver spear flashed like a thin white line, easily piercing the monster’s defenses and plunging deep into its head. A spray of blue blood burst out, and the monster toppled straight to the ground without even a cry of agony. At last, it dissolved into black light and vanished into the air.

The few people on the battlefield stared in shock as the childish-looking little girl with twin tails effortlessly killed an A-Rank monster. Bai Xiaoxiao was just about to say something when the girl vanished in a flash of starlight, apparently with no intention of greeting them.

Qu Mengting, who’d watched the whole thing through a remote magical projection, finally came to her senses. A powerhouse comparable to S-Rank had suddenly appeared in Tianhai City—no, wait. That twin-tailed girl had to be S-Rank! Only an S-Rank being, far stronger than A-Rank, could kill an A-Rank monster in a single blow.

Night had already fallen, but everyone still had work to do: cleaning up the battlefield, treating the wounded, and more. Bai Xiaoxiao examined the two people injured by the monster. Luckily, they’d only been grazed by the lasers, and their lives weren’t in danger. With magical healing, they’d be fully recovered in a few days.

Within half an hour of the Returning Sea Demon Lizard incident ending, Bai Xiaoxiao and the others had finished cleaning up the battlefield. Everyone returned to the Idol-Style Agency to regroup, while the Magical Girl codenamed Starlight returned to her own city.

The silver-haired girl with twin tails had appeared just as an S-Rank Magical Girl was on her way from headquarters. As a result, the S-Rank turned around and flew back.

Qu Mengting sent headquarters a message saying the monster had been dealt with, along with footage of the entire incident. After receiving it, headquarters simply told her to calm everyone down and give the squad members some time off. They were already investigating the matter and were sure they’d soon identify the silver-haired girl with twin tails.

As captain of the Magical Girl squad, Qu Mengting had immediately recognized that the powerful silver-haired girl was definitely a Magical Girl who wasn’t registered with the authorities.

Ever since the first Magical Girl, codenamed Homecoming, began protecting humanity over a hundred years ago, Magical Girls had worked with the authorities. The government covered all their daily expenses and living costs, while overseeing the Magical Girls and assigning them the task of protecting ordinary people.

Since Magical Girls first appeared, only a handful had remained outside the authorities’ ranks. Bai Xiaoxiao, for example, had been sensed by Qu Mengting on the very day she formed her contract. After Qu Mengting explained what she had in mind, Bai Xiaoxiao had readily joined the Magical Girl organization.

The authorities were responsible for protecting all information about Magical Girls and covering all their living expenses. Although Bai Xiaoxiao was still a rookie who’d joined just a year ago, she earned a six-figure salary every month. If she successfully defeated a monster, she could earn even more in bonuses.

In other words, no Magical Girl had to worry about material needs. They could simply ask the organization for whatever they wanted, and as long as it wasn’t too unreasonable, the government would do its best to provide it.

All they had to do in return was protect the ordinary people in the areas under their jurisdiction.

“Sorry, big brother. Something came up at the agency, so I won’t be coming home tonight.”

After thinking it over for a long time, Bai Xiaoxiao finally decided to call her brother and let him know she was safe. When he replied, “Yeah, it’s fine. I can come get you whenever you’re free,” she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The monster had been dealt with, and the scene had mostly been restored to normal, but her squad still had to write up a record of what happened afterward. With two teammates undergoing treatment, they probably wouldn’t have enough time to finish everything in one night.

Bai Xiaoxiao’s heart felt especially heavy as she watched Senior Cai Mengmeng lie in bed, too weak to tease her like she usually did.

Meanwhile, it had been about half an hour since the people who’d taken shelter heard the all-clear and came outside. Everyone went home, planning to turn in early. No ordinary people had been hurt in the battle, and they all trusted the Magical Girls’ strength.

Standing in front of the Idol-Style Agency, Li Xinghe had just hung up his phone. He stared blankly at the door, which hadn’t even opened. He’d finally dealt with the monster and rushed straight here, only to find the nearby streets shrouded in darkness. Above the agency entrance, a line of flashing words scrolled by.

“Welcome to the Idol-Style Agency!”

Colored lights flickered across Li Xinghe’s face. He gave a quiet sigh, then decided to drive home.

On the way home, Li Xinghe’s hands trembled despite his efforts to stop them. It’d already been eight years. He should’ve put all this behind him by now. Magical Girls were just a bunch of pitiful people, fleeced over and over again—and he’d been just like them back then.

Why had he had to discover that the truth about this world was so cruel? Wouldn’t it have been better to stay in the dark?

The fact that he could still transform into a Magical Girl despite no longer having a contract spirit was proof enough: magical energy wasn’t the only supernatural force in this world.

His hands tightened around the steering wheel without him realizing it. As he turned a corner, he saw his home.

Dragging his exhausted body inside, he opened the front door on the first floor. The first thing he saw was the food on the table.

He’d kept it warm under a food cover so his younger sister could have a hot meal. But now there was no need.

In this big house, where only he and his dad lived, he’d never felt lonely before. But now, he felt a little lonely after all.

The wind tonight seemed a little cold.