The night grew deeper.
Su Lili gazed down at the magic wand in her hand, its glow slightly dim.
Since she wasn’t from this time and space, even though she had managed to come here by making a wish, she still wasn’t a person who belonged to this world.
What kept her anchored in this time and space was the constantly draining energy within the magic wand.
She had to keep collecting new energy without pause, through eating, defeating freaks, purifying witches, and even… clashing with other magical girls.
The satisfaction from that hearty dinner in the afternoon had long faded. The conversion rate of energy from food was pitifully low, utterly insufficient for her needs at this moment.
‘It’s like trying to put out a blazing cart with a cup of water.’
The light at the core of the magic wand flickered weakly. The energy gauge had already dropped below a dangerous one-fifth. With such a meager reserve, even sustaining a low-intensity battle was precarious.
Her small hand reached into her pocket, fumbling around. She pulled out a crumpled, flattened bag of bread, the wrapper squeezed into a pathetic ball.
“I still haven’t eaten the bread in my pocket…”
Su Lili stared at it for a few seconds, her throat uncontrollably bobbing.
But she took a deep breath, as if making some kind of determination, and carefully tucked the dry, flattened bread back into the depths of her pocket.
“I’ll… eat it after I get back.”
She whispered to the silent night in a voice only she could hear. Her small figure, carrying a maturity and resolve beyond her years, melted into the darkness.
—
The night was as dark as ink. In a secluded corner of the city, only the faint glow of an ATM and the halo cast by a distant streetlight illuminated the area.
This was an area of the urban village. Compared to the main districts, order here was naturally much more chaotic.
Two bizarrely shaped large creatures were busy bustling around the ATM.
Granted, there was indeed a surveillance camera overhead, but in the urban village, those cameras were practically just for show.
One of the freaks had a massive drill at the end of its arm, while the other resembled a clump of flowing liquid metal.
Although Su Lili didn’t know the names of these two freaks, for the sake of convenience, she decided to call the former the Drill Monster and the latter the Mercury Monster.
After observing for a while and confirming that the other party hadn’t noticed her, Su Lili took a deep breath.
Her mana was low, so she had to finish this quickly.
“Now’s the time!”
The magic wand in her hand blazed with dazzling light.
“Starlight Bombardment!”
The sneak attack had a certain effect. Several slender beams of light struck the Drill Monster solidly. However…
The opponent’s strength was far beyond Su Lili’s expectations. When the dust settled, she clearly saw that her attack had only left a small-to-medium-sized dent on the drill.
After the sudden assault, the two freaks noticed Su Lili’s appearance.
Perhaps seeing how young she looked, the Mercury Monster couldn’t help but let out a series of grating, mocking laughs.
“Is the Magical Girl Alliance already so hard up that they need to send out twelve-year-old magical girls?”
“What’s the point of wasting words with her?” the Drill Monster, covered in dust from the attack, raised its drill. “Whether she’s a big or small magical girl, if she wants to stop us from busting the ATM, no way.”
“No rush. Look how young she is. Isn’t it fun to play with a kid?”
The Mercury Monster also noticed its partner’s impatience and said helplessly.
“Fine, just tie her up and throw her out. Don’t kill her. I don’t want to get hunted by the Magical Girl Alliance.”
“Of course I know that.”
As they spoke, the Drill Monster had already charged over. Faced with its unstoppable massive body and the piercing roar, Su Lili’s face involuntarily turned pale.
But even so, she gritted her teeth and activated her mana once more.
“Starlight Shield!”
A shield of light unfolded in front of her, instantly enveloping her entire body.
“It’s useless!”
The Drill Monster grinned maliciously as its high-speed rotating drill slammed violently into the light shield.
“This is my drill that pierces the heavens!”
Crack!
The light shield shattered on impact, like fragile glass.
The immense force sent Su Lili flying through the air, crashing heavily to the ground.
The sharp pain made her grunt in pain, and the magic wand nearly slipped from her hand.
“Ugh…”
She struggled to get up, but the mana depletion and dizziness from the fall slowed her movements.
At the same time, the Mercury Monster’s body began to ripple, transforming into dozens of metallic ropes, attempting to bind her completely.
Facing their fierce onslaught, a flicker of panic crossed Su Lili’s eyes. She wanted to stand up, but the magic wand’s energy was nearly gone, not even enough to form a shield.
Boom!!
Just as the situation was critical, the wall beside her exploded with a thunderous blast. A black-gold figure, like an out-of-control dump truck, slammed violently into the battlefield.
The terrifying shockwave struck the two freaks with brutal precision, sending them flying like ragged dolls.
The Mercury Monster’s liquid body was splattered everywhere, while the Drill Monster was embedded solidly into the wall in the distance, its drill twisted and deformed.
When the dust settled, Su Lili looked at the figure before her in disbelief.
Su Ziling’s face was extremely dark, like a mother bear guarding her cub as she stared at the two on the ground.
She cracked her knuckles, the joints popping and snapping.
“Is it fun to bully a little kid?”
Faced with her icy, bone-chilling question, the two freaks couldn’t help but shiver.
“Run!”
After seeing Su Ziling’s face, they had no intention of fighting. They scrambled to their feet and fled desperately, not daring to look back, only regretting that they didn’t have more legs.
Unfortunately, they were too slow. Before they could get far, Su Ziling grabbed one with each hand and slammed them hard into the wall.
Bang!!
The wall instantly collapsed. The terrifying, ultimate violent aesthetic left Su Lili wide-eyed.
“Mom… you’re not a magical girl, you’re a physical girl…”
But Su Ziling had no mind to answer Su Lili’s question. She glanced at the two freaks on the ground and sent a message to the Magical Girl Alliance.
She hadn’t gone for the kill, just beaten them half to death.
The Magical Girl Alliance would come to arrest them later. Right now, she had more important matters to deal with.
“Lili,” Su Ziling’s stern gaze made Su Lili lower her head guiltily. “You can’t go back, have you been living alone all this time?”
“No… no…”
“Don’t lie.”
Su Ziling wasn’t angry, but her gaze and voice made Su Lili unable to face her.
After a long while, Su Lili finally spoke weakly.
“Because… because I didn’t want to make Mom worry too much.”