“Dear residents of City B, there have been multiple incidents of monster attacks across the city. Please evacuate immediately to the nearest safe location—zzz—”
The radio crackled with intense static, but it was drowned out by the cacophony of human voices and the sounds of collapsing structures.
It wasn’t just the Jiaotong University where Su Mu was located that was under attack.
To restrain human armed forces and announce the return of the monsters, several densely populated areas in City B had become targets of monster attacks.
Although most of the monsters that appeared were of Class D or lower, the damage they caused in a short time was incalculable, with the number of casualties skyrocketing to nearly four digits in an instant.
Fortunately, the monsters’ purpose was not simply to slaughter humans.
They were merely using this method to incite panic and thereby obtain dark magic power.
Gazing down at the fleeing crowd below, the green-faced monster with mantis-like arms let out a sinister grin, and then effortlessly severed the load-bearing pillar of the building behind it with its sharp blade-like claws.
The middle section of the building suddenly tilted, casting a massive shadow that slowly enveloped everything in its path, bringing an overwhelming sense of oppression.
It gradually swallowed the remaining daylight and the last glimmers of hope in people’s hearts.
Whether inside or outside the building, everyone was now at the peak of terror.
Yet, powerless as they were, even lifting their legs became an arduous task, and they could only watch helplessly as their world came crashing down before their eyes.
A cluster of blinding fire streaked across the sky, colliding with the tilting building like an intercontinental ballistic missile, and in an instant, the figure of a deity-like being dispersed the boundless gloom that had just enveloped the area.
Miti unfurled her massive fiery wings, her blazing red hair dancing like flames, making her appear like the mythical phoenix reborn from fire, majestic and divine.
“It’s Magic Girl Miti! We’re saved!”
As someone shouted out that name, the spirits of the crowd, which had just plummeted to the depths, began to soar.
They looked on with hope at their savior.
However, Miti’s heart was filled with irritation, for there were simply too many similar incidents, and she was almost overwhelmed by the sheer number of them.
Her gaze wandered over the building, and in the moment before it made contact, she locked onto the location of the mantis-armed monster.
The sight of its delighted smile was nauseating, and Miti’s anger began to rise.
“A Class D scum, daring to take pleasure in torment.”
A seemingly insignificant spark, at her command, lightly landed on the monster’s blade-like claws.
Immediately, in the creature’s astonished expression, it burst into a terrifying heat wave like nitroglycerin.
The roaring flames instantly turned it into a struggling human-shaped bundle of fire within a furnace, leaving it powerless to do anything but try to extinguish the flames on its body, while it howled and dispersed into the wind, turning into ashes that rained down.
Su Mu’s fear was not misplaced; Miti’s spark could indeed turn any monster below Class C into a pile of ashes.
But the tilting building still held Miti back from moving forward.
Countless building fragments had already begun to fall from the crack, and Miti had no choice but to wrap the building’s exterior with her fire wings, attempting to push it back into place.
The cheers of praise from the people below were incessant, but they did nothing to alleviate the burden in Miti’s heart, until a familiar voice sounded in her ear.
“You can let go now.”
Tang Nai’s voice came just in time, and Miti’s furrowed expression instantly relaxed.
Somehow, the missing load-bearing pillar had been repaired, and although the building was still slightly tilted, the risk of collapse was gone.
“Keep clearing out. The next place is the exhibition hall.”
“Understood.”
Without a moment’s delay, Miti once again transformed into a streak of fire piercing through the air, cutting through the dark clouds along the way, and shooting straight towards the distance.
However, she still had a lingering worry in her heart.
Muxiaoshu, you have to hide well; there are monsters coming to catch you.
***
When she opened her eyes again, the classroom she had been in was replaced by an impenetrable darkness.
Su Mu suddenly became alert, instinctively reaching for her magic storage device, only to grasp at emptiness.
The surroundings were so dim and cold, like a prison, trapping her in confusion and helplessness.
Just as she was about to cautiously move in a certain direction, a voice timely sounded behind her.
“Don’t run around recklessly, or you’ll get lost in that woman’s dark magic.”
Su Mu turned around in astonishment, not because she heard a stranger’s voice, but because the person’s voice was identical to her own.
What was once an empty space behind her now inexplicably materialized into a space resembling an interrogation room.
An old incandescent light bulb struggled to provide illumination from above, allowing Su Mu to see the appearance of the person in front of her.
Under the wide, dark purple witch’s hat, was a pink-haired girl who was almost identical to her.
If it weren’t for the pair of silver-gray eyes like Tang Nai’s, Su Mu wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference between her and herself.
However, the first impression this girl gave Su Mu was—
“Why is your head so pointy?”
The pointed top of the witch’s hat was deliberately straightened, making her look less intelligent.
“You really are you, still having the mind to joke at a time like this.”
“What do you mean, what happened?”
Su Mu’s words were filled with bewilderment.
Her memory was still stuck at the moment before she locked eyes with those ink-black pupils.
“You were attacked by that Sercin woman, you fool. Now your surroundings are filled with her dark magic, which is why you can’t see anything.”
Upon hearing this, Su Mu blinked and recalled Lu Shan’s words, her expression gradually becoming more interesting.
“Then who are you?”
Noticing Su Mu’s interesting reaction, the girl smiled faintly, pulling the brim of her hat higher to reveal her delicate cheek in the shadows.
“I am the genius girl, Irina.”
“Huh? Wait, let me take a closer look.”
Upon hearing Irina’s words, Su Mu’s mind was instantly filled with doubt.
Come on, if there really is a genius girl named Irina in this world, it should be me.
And this self-proclaimed Irina happens to have a pair of silver-gray eyes identical to a certain silver-haired witch, which made her ponder the relationship between the two.
Could it be another one of Tang Nai’s mischievous pranks?
“You’re overthinking. If I were Tang Nai, how would you explain the dark magic around us that’s stirring up Sercin’s thoughts?”
Su Mu reached into the shadows, and immediately, an unbearable restlessness spread throughout her body from her arm.
She wanted to communicate with the magic within her body to dispel the abnormality, only to find that her magic had already been completely depleted, which made her increasingly uneasy.
“So you’re not lying to me?”
Irina gave Su Mu a disdainful look.
“Why would I lie to you? In any case, all you need to know is that I am Irina. Everything else is unimportant… Don’t touch that!”
Her voice suddenly rose a few octaves, startling Su Mu and causing her to instinctively pull her hand back.
In the center of the “interrogation room” where Su Mu and Irina were, there was a barely perceptible transparent barrier, which was what Su Mu had intended to touch.
“My little Su Mu, can you please just listen to me calmly?”
Irina sighed, resting her forehead in her hand.
Su Mu awkwardly pursed her lips and unconsciously tucked her hands behind her back.
“We need to finish this conversation quickly, otherwise I’m worried that the Sercin woman is about to scheme against you.”