“She seems to have stopped.”
Lu Liang stood on the rooftop of the True East Tower. He knew what Magical Girls feared the most, so he deliberately ran toward Commercial Street to force the Magical Girl to hesitate, unwilling to act recklessly.
But when Lu Liang actually arrived at the True East Tower, the magical fluctuations of Star Splitter suddenly vanished.
Had she given up because she couldn’t operate freely on Commercial Street? Lu Liang felt uneasy—hesitation wasn’t typical of a Magical Girl’s style.
Still, her avoidance of battle suited Lu Liang just fine.
If possible, he didn’t want to fight a Magical Girl. Losing or getting hurt was secondary; if a real fight broke out, Lu Liang’s assets would vanish at the speed of light.
Looking down from the high tower, Lu Liang, now Monsterized, stood nearly two meters and thirty centimeters tall.
It was daytime, so standing on the rooftop of the True East Tower made him extremely conspicuous.
Many passersby had already noticed his presence and were pointing at him with their phones:
“Look! There’s something standing on the water tank atop the True East Tower!”
“That’s a Monster!”
“A Black Mist Monster!”
“So cool… just looking at it feels like it’s super strong!”
Monsters were not uncommon in people’s daily lives, so when the bystanders saw one, their first reaction wasn’t fear but a kind of teasing amusement as they looked at Lu Liang.
Hearing the chatter below, Lu Liang snorted and shook his head.
He didn’t want fame.
Since the Magical Girl had given up the chase, it was about time he ended his Monster form.
His gaze swiftly swept through the crowd, and he finally planned a quick escape route in his mind.
With a slight push from his feet, the black mist around his soles thickened, and even the rooftop of the True East Tower shook.
He gathered power; with just one leap, Lu Liang could easily leave the building and disappear from everyone’s sight within three seconds.
Just as his feet were about to leave the ground, an inexplicable tightness gripped his chest.
Frowning, Lu Liang turned his head and glanced toward a nearby building.
His pupils contracted, his vision widened.
On the rooftop of the adjacent building stood three girls, all holding Standard Staffs and wearing identical feathered cloaks, eyes fixed eagerly in the direction of Lu Liang’s feet.
It seemed they were waiting for him to leave this building.
When the girls noticed Lu Liang had seen them, disappointment flashed across their faces, but they still raised their staffs and aimed at Lu Liang’s position.
In the next instant, several streams of magical light shot out from the staffs!
Bang!
The powerful magic beams all targeted where Lu Liang stood.
With a single strike, the water tank beneath his feet was completely pierced through!
Splash, splash, splash…
Water poured out, and Lu Liang’s figure lifted off the ground, suspended mid-air—this was the move he had to make to avoid those magical beams.
The girls stared at the floating black mist figure in the air, deeply frustrated.
As freshly graduated Apprentice Magical Girls from Magical Girl University, they thirsted for a hunt that would bring them the Internship Certificate needed to become full-fledged Magical Girls.
But the Monster before them was clearly not someone they could easily defeat.
After using their staffs, Apprentice Magical Girls needed time to recharge.
For the moment, these three could not attack Lu Liang again.
Fortunately, they were not alone in this ambush:
“It’s your turn!”
No sooner had the words fallen than Lu Liang felt that chest tightness again.
Simultaneously, dozens of Magical Girls appeared on the rooftops of several nearby commercial buildings.
Wearing the same uniform and wielding staffs, their determined yet naive expressions clearly marked them as newly graduated Magical Girl Interns from Magical Girl University.
Their number totaled over twenty!
The Intern Magical Girl Group for Donkey Work raised their Standard Staffs in unison, quickly charging energy before firing several magical beams from all directions toward Lu Liang.
Suspended in mid-air, Lu Liang couldn’t turn around; he could only watch helplessly as the magic bolts flew at him like arrows from a bowstring.
Boom!
Lu Liang’s eyes suddenly widened.
The pain from the hits was bad enough, but the blow to his pride was even more infuriating.
At the same moment the magic beams struck him, his phone chimed with a notification:
Your Alipay payment of 5,000 yuan!
A voice echoed in his mind:
【Ability: Demonic Armament, pending unlock, progress 49,832/100,000 yuan.】
Lu Liang still didn’t understand what his Miracle Power was truly for, but apparently, whenever he transformed into a Monster during fights, both sides’ accounts were deducted a large sum.
When enough money accumulated, a new ability called Demonic Armament would unlock.
Lu Liang thought to himself: the ability is useless if I’m out of money! Does it help to have power when you have no cash? I want money! Five thousand yuan! That was just what I earned today, all gone!
A roar of anger burst from the rooftop. Lu Liang’s furious voice sent an inexplicable chill through all the Intern Magical Girls present.
When the dust settled, the girls’ gazes searched frantically through the smoky ruins and burning debris for Lu Liang’s figure.
“There he is!”
With a startled cry, the Magical Girl Interns finally spotted Lu Liang.
A tall, imposing evil figure, cloaked entirely in thick black mist, with a pair of blood-red eyes flickering like ghostly flames.
Those who met his gaze couldn’t help but shiver.
His appearance was truly like a demonic lord from hell.
Lu Liang was furious—truly furious.
He didn’t consider himself a good man, but he wasn’t a villain either.
His one wish in life was to earn enough money so his sister could become a Magical Girl.
So why did these people always interfere with his money-making? Was it because he hadn’t shown his strength while running away that they thought he was an easy target?
Earlier, even during the fight with Magical Girl Star-Splitter, he only feigned a punch and fled because he still saw himself as human and didn’t view Magical Girls as enemies.
But now he understood—he was a Monster, and Monsters and Magical Girls were natural enemies.
Lu Liang clenched his fists. He decided to make these Apprentice Magical Girls understand just how terrifying a force they had provoked.
Strike once to avoid a hundred blows!
“Melee Team, move in!”
Someone shouted.
Several Apprentice Magical Girls who had been hiding in the shadows suddenly charged out, weapons drawn and sharpened, slicing through the air like shooting stars as they struck toward Lu Liang.
Lu Liang raised his eyes indifferently and slowly sidestepped.
His figure vanished from where he stood, and the Melee Team’s attack struck nothing but empty air, their blades slamming into the ground.
Clang!
The shock sent sharp pain through their hands, making them grit their teeth.
Lu Liang’s form then reappeared behind them, shrouding their bodies like nightfall.
Those blood-red eyes regarded them with cold indifference, as if looking at corpses.
Then Lu Liang raised his hand…
“Get out of the way!”
At the sight, one Apprentice Magical Girl paled and shouted in alarm!
But it was already too late.
Before she could finish, Lu Liang struck.
Bang bang bang bang bang bang!
His black mist-shrouded fists, filled with the fury that could split mountains and seas, broke everything they touched in half.
“No!”
The rooftop echoed with the pained screams of Apprentice Magical Girls:
“Stop hitting! That’s the Intern Magical Equipment the Association just issued!”
“If it breaks, we have to pay for it!”
“Please hit me instead! Don’t destroy my weapon! I still have loans to pay off, and it’s not finished yet, boohoo…”
Ignoring their desperate pleas, Lu Liang kept punching relentlessly, like a ruthless emperor in a bare-knuckle fight.
Bang!
One punch shattered a Magical Girl’s weapon.
Snap!
A stomp crushed her magic gear.
When they came to their senses, the Apprentice Magical Girls huddled together, tear-streaked faces vacant like soulless shells.
With that, the entire Melee Team was wiped out!
But even that wasn’t enough to quell Lu Liang’s fury.
He glanced coldly toward the Apprentice Magical Girls still clutching their staffs, then vanished from sight.
When he reappeared, Lu Liang was behind one Apprentice Magical Girl, roughly snatched her staff, and smashed it heavily on the ground, shattering it!
The scene terrified the remaining armed interns, their faces drained of color.
Someone shouted:
“Run!”
The Apprentice Magical Girls scattered like butterflies about to be caught.
But as mere interns, how could they outrun Lu Liang, whose movements were ghostlike?
What the pedestrians near Commercial Street witnessed next was a scene that left them dumbfounded.
A towering, muscular Black Mist Monster with blood-red eyes chased one Apprentice Magical Girl after another like a lion hunting prey.
Most Magical Girls couldn’t last three rounds against him.
Some tried to resist by biting or kicking, or clinging to their staffs like sloths, but the Monster always wrested their weapons away and smashed them on the spot.
Disarmed, the Magical Girls often knelt down in despair, completely losing their fighting power.
“So…so scary! So many Magical Girls have been defeated!”
On Commercial Street, the onlookers were pale-faced with horror after watching the entire ordeal.
Only after many Apprentice Magical Girls were beaten did they realize the seriousness of the situation.
One pedestrian cried out in fear:
“There’s such a powerful Monster in the city? We’re doomed!”
An experienced middle-aged woman said:
“You’re wrong to think that way. Don’t be fooled by how many interns it beat; those are just Apprentice Magical Girls.”
“My neighbor’s niece works at the Magical Girl Association. She told me these interns aren’t even close to the level of a full Magical Girl before they get certified. Even if there are more than twenty interns here, none of them is as strong as the lowest-rank full Magical Girl.”
Someone else added:
“Even if interns aren’t as strong as official Magical Girls, isn’t this Monster still terrifyingly strong?”
That comment silenced the previously lively discussion on the differences between full and Apprentice Magical Girls.
Back on the True East Tower rooftop, after snapping the last Apprentice Magical Girl’s staff, she struggled toward the edge of the building:
“Mortgage, car loan, college loan, consumer loan… even weapons have to be bought with Weapon Loan… I even signed a contract saying if I damage my weapon as an intern, I have to pay triple…”
She recited the names of loans like a chant, her face growing paler by the second, while a growing determination formed in her heart.
“Dad, Mom.”
Finally, the Apprentice Magical Girl clasped her hands and knelt facing east, praying sincerely:
“I’m sorry, daughter was unfilial. I can’t beat the Monster, and my weapon’s destroyed… The Weapon Loan I owe is just too much. I really can’t pay it back… Next life, I’ll be reborn into your family and become a Magical Girl!”
Then, with a tragic smile, she leapt off the twelve-story rooftop!
She was trying to restart because she couldn’t repay her debts!
But shortly after she jumped, a white rabbit-shaped Magic Creature appeared behind her without anyone noticing.
It flew rapidly into the air, grabbed the intern’s clothing, and flapped its wings frantically until it safely carried her down to a woman waiting below.
That woman was Magical Girl Star-Splitter.
“Star-Splitter… senior.”
Seeing Star-Splitter’s arrival, the Apprentice Magical Girl threw herself into her arms, sobbing:
“I’m sorry… sorry… that Monster was too powerful. We couldn’t defeat it… We let you down, Star-Splitter senior… Boohoo, I have so much debt to repay… I haven’t even finished paying off my Weapon Loan. Why is my fate so cruel?”
“There, there… don’t cry.” Star-Splitter gently patted the Apprentice Magical Girl, soothing her wounded spirit.
“Just repay it bit by bit. One day, you’ll clear your loans. As for that Monster…”
Swish!
Star-Splitter summoned a huge cleaver the size of a person.
It slammed into the ground, leaving a deep crater the size of a soccer ball.
“Don’t worry. It’s dead meat, because I’m here.”
Star-Splitter looked up, her gaze challenging the rooftop where Lu Liang stood.
The Black Mist Monster’s eyes flickered like ghostly flames in the swirling black mist.