Something's off about this magical girl.

Chapter 7 Magical Girl Dongchun

047 Disaster Zone, nearing dusk.

Most of the shop windows on both sides of the street were shattered, and the glass shards were pushed to the side of the road by the shockwaves generated by the beast's charge.

Before the duty leader arrives, the other magical girls who accompany the leader must first stop any magical girls who appear in the disaster zone.

You don't need to do anything special, just keep the beast occupied.

But this time, the situation is somewhat different.

"Ahem... Senior Dong, you've arrived. Let me explain the situation—"

A girl about the same age as Dongchun ran over from the battlefield, panting. Three star marks on her forehead were faintly flashing, a sign that her magic power was insufficient.

"That gray-bronze-level monster resembles a round sea anemone, hexagonal in shape, and nine to ten meters in diameter. Its attack method is singular: it only charges. The tricky part is its speed; it's too fast. Our team couldn't stop it several times."

Dongchun could see the three star marks on her face were flashing; perhaps her magic power was insufficient.

He then issued the order: "You are to leave the battlefield and take charge of the evacuation and comfort of the disaster-stricken people, while reporting to Qi Xin."

"Understood, I'll have the team retreat to help right away." The girl left, panting, "I'll come back to support the seniors once that's over there."

"Dongchun, I'll be your assistant, observing the surroundings and adapting to the situation." This time, Taozhuo wasn't joking; her gaze was fixed intently ahead, her tone unusually serious.

"No problem, I'll be going now."

Dong Chun immediately rushed off, and Tao Zhuo watched her retreating figure before turning back and raising her middle finger at Gu Bai:

"By the way, it's best if the teacher doesn't intervene. Unless there are special circumstances, the teacher's involvement will cause the magical girl on duty to lose points."

"...Such a rule?"

"What else?" Tao Zhuo said matter-of-factly. "If all the duty shifts were filled with people with connections, and teachers or classmates were hired to help out in battles, wouldn't they rack up tons of battle points? It would be deceiving the people of Magical Girl Coin City, and on a larger scale, we might even get a warning from the Inspectorate!"

After listening to her explanation, Gu Bai thought about it and found it reasonable. Well then, he didn't need to take action himself.

"So just watch." Tao Zhuo had already shifted her gaze back to the battlefield. "With Dong Chun's strength, taking down a Gray Bronze-level enemy is no problem."

"But it seems like Fuyutsubaki isn't using a magic wand?"

"Teacher, do you mean we can only fight using those 'biubiubiu' kind of magic?"

"That's how it's stereotyped."

Tao Zhuo's speaking speed increased, almost as if it were a conditioned reflex:

"On the one hand, according to Qixin Big Data's long-term surveys, people prefer watching close combat to watching fireworks from a distance. Do you understand the commercial value? Close combat involves large movements and is more visually appealing, resulting in better traffic for related merchandise and video clips. So now everyone is either practicing dual cultivation or pure physical cultivation."

"..." Gu Bai's lips twitched slightly, "It's still related to money."

"Hehe~ On the other hand, it's because of the widespread use of 'automatic magic barriers.' One of the hard requirements for becoming a formal magical girl is mastering a passively triggered magic barrier. With this shell, the risk of death in close combat has been greatly reduced."

Gu Bai thought of Chunheng yesterday evening, who was whipped through the light barrier by the tail of the strange beast and smashed into his arms.

It does serve as a layer of protection, though it's not entirely reliable.

"By the way, what's your fighting style?"

"Body cultivation." Tao Zhuo raised his fist, serious: "My left fist deals high damage, my right fist deals high damage!"

"..."

Gu Bai decided to ignore this idiot and stop talking about the topic.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Ahead, Dongchun had already made contact with the strange beast.

Its hexagonal shape and rounded outline gave it a strange luster, and it moved with extraordinary speed. Each charge of the beast created a shockwave that pushed the scattered shards of glass around it further out.

Dongchun did not rush to determine the winner.

Moving with perfect control over distance, like someone doing a math problem, each step landing within a safe zone, low-level magic condensing in his palms, light, precise, and steady, specifically targeting the edges of broken shells to deliver the spells.

It's not a direct attack, it's a grind.

Gu Bai could tell that she was intentionally controlling her output; she was conserving magic power.

After seven or eight minutes, nearly half of the six-sided beast's shell had peeled off, and broken copper-colored armor plates were scattered all over the ground, reflecting the light under the streetlights.

With its final leap, Dong Chun landed on the roof of a low building on the side. Looking down at the beast whose outer shell was more than half broken, its expression was calm and its breathing steady. The two halos behind it gradually solidified, ready to launch the next light blast.

The incident should have ended there.

But Gu Bai was the first to sense that something was wrong.

He didn't move or speak, but merely narrowed his eyes slightly and scanned the surrounding ground.

shock.

It wasn't coming from the beast on the field; something was off. He turned to Tao Zhuo and said, "There's another one."

"No way, even two gray lead specimens appearing is a rare anomaly, let alone this gray copper level."

Despite her lack of self-control, Tao Zhuo still listened carefully to Gu Bai's advice and unleashed a full-power detection spell.

"bad!"

Tao Zhu cursed and shot out like a cannonball, instantly reaching Dong Chun's side. She grabbed Dong Chun's waist and sped away from the roof.

boom!

Almost simultaneously, the roof of the low building was pierced from below, and a much larger monster burst out of the building, its bronze shell tumbling among the broken floorboards, causing the entire street to tremble.

Dongchun landed, glanced at Taozhuo with surprise, and said, "Thanks."

"That's what the teacher said." Tao Zhuo took a deep breath, a slight smile playing on her lips. "Looks like she's not a relative."

The situation changed suddenly.

Two, and the second beast was significantly larger than the first.

Standing on high ground, Gu Bai surveyed the battlefield once more, assessing the situation in his mind. Having taken Qi Xin's money, he couldn't possibly let his student suffer an accident, especially since Dong Chun carried clues with her.

Wait, it seems unnecessary.

I heard a flurry of footsteps coming from the other end of the street.

It's that three-star magical girl squad that retreated earlier! They completed their evacuation mission and are on their way back to provide support, so there shouldn't be any pressure.

The righteous fight against overwhelming odds is about to begin!

But as he watched the magical girl squad heading to the battlefield, Gu Bai felt his heart skip a beat.

......strangeness.

He couldn't pinpoint the exact location, and Tao Zhuo wasn't with him, so no one could use scanning magic.

Just as the three-star team turned the corner, their gazes still fixed on Dongchun and Taozhuo—

—Boom! B ...

With a deafening roar, the third giant beast, over ten meters long, crashed through the side wall of the building without warning, like a speeding heavy dump truck, heading straight for the unsuspecting girls!

The group froze on the spot, their lack of combat experience exposed at this moment. They were just frozen there, as if the commands from their brains had not yet been transmitted to their legs.

"winter!"

Tao Zhuo issued a warning immediately.

But it's too late for the two of them now!

Gu Baining drew her ink sword, ready to join the battle immediately.

At that moment, the feeling I had experienced in the counseling room came back to me.

All surrounding sounds vanished instantly, and the air became as sticky as glue.

Gu Bai's mind remained clear, but he found that his body had been forcibly dragged into an extremely slow playback frame rate.

Only Dongchun, amidst this sluggishness, moved with a speed that was different from this sluggishness.

The previous doubts were answered—she was accelerating!