Silver Lin climbed up from the ground and immediately flew through the main entrance, shouting inside the Mall, urging the humans to get out of the way.
After the magical girl appeared, the security guards cooperated without hesitation, triggering the fire alarm to drive the citizens to evacuate with the alarm’s piercing sound.
Watching the crowd evacuate, Silver Lin sensed the thing underground once more.
The opponent had definitely detected the magical power emitted from Silver Lin’s 5% charged Magic Cannon, but it neither fled nor rushed out.
Instead, it continued moving underground toward the Mall.
It was clear that whatever was underground had intelligence.
Moreover, the aura was different from low, mid, or high-level aberrations.
It was once again confirmed that the underground entity was likely an aberration at the cadre level.
Could this really be a diversion tactic?
Drawing the magical girl and the Failure Squad over to the border area to cover this operation.
Silver Lin pulled out her phone and dialed Jin Luan’s number.
After a few seconds, Jin Luan answered.
“Did you really need that much time to deal with some small fry and still haven’t finished the fight?” Silver Lin asked as she left the Mall, ascending and increasing the distance, unwilling to get too close to the aberration.
“Almost done, I miss you.” Jin Luan was also flying high in the sky, watching the Failure Squad.
“I might have a situation here. There’s a 20% chance it’s a diversion tactic, maybe…” Before Silver Lin could finish, panic entered Jin Luan’s voice: “I’m coming over right now. You need to leave immediately!”
Even if it was only a 20% chance.
The phone was filled with strong wind noise, and after more than ten seconds, Jin Luan’s voice returned.
She suddenly remembered and asked, “You’re not at the scene, are you? Where are you?”
Silver Lin gave her the location, feeling the underground presence getting closer, now just over 20 meters from the Mall.
After hanging up, she focused all her attention on the situation here.
Watching from the high altitude, she could feel the aura directly below the Mall, about 20 meters underground.
It had stopped moving.
Its target seemed truly to be this Mall bustling with so many humans.
If Silver Lin hadn’t helped evacuate, there would have been over a thousand people inside.
Now, only a little more than a hundred remained.
Some staff members and those unaware of the seriousness of the situation were still inside the Mall.
Silver Lin canceled her flying mode and entered freefall, firing a 5% charged Magic Cannon shot at an empty area.
After firing, she caught herself with her Wand and resumed flying, starting to charge again.
The Magic Cannon struck the intersection, the 5% power still creating a massive crater accompanied by a piercing sound.
After this shot, the few remaining people inside the Mall finally snapped out of their daze and resumed evacuation.
Besides scaring the people, Silver Lin also wanted to intimidate the underground magic-emitting creature—to warn it that its presence had been exposed.
No matter the motive, it should stop whatever it was planning.
More people left the Mall, leaving only a few dozen inside.
Even if the aberration attacked now, the damage would be minimal—it was time to stop.
The street outside was quiet, only a few people still watching from afar.
Even the wind had died down.
Silver Lin could feel the underground entity still hadn’t left, as if it was still planning to strike.
A stronger sense of crisis arose in Song Wuli.
She rose higher again, putting more distance between herself and the underground presence.
Just seconds after ascending, it felt as if something heavy pressed down on her back, her body growing unbearably heavy.
Her Wand suddenly felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.
She fell from nearly 80 meters in the sky, crashing onto the asphalt road.
Pressed down.
There was supposed to be a magical shield protecting her—capable of defending against physical and magical attacks.
What was going on?
Silver Lin struggled to turn her head but saw no one behind her.
She was unharmed; the shield was protecting her well.
She painfully propped herself up on the ground with her knuckles.
That strange feeling remained, as if something was pressing down on her entire body—not just her back, but every inch of her.
Her head was difficult to lift, her limbs equally heavy.
Even picking up her Wand from the ground was nearly impossible, as if it had been welded to the asphalt.
Breathing became very difficult; she had to use both mouth and nose to inhale.
Turning her face sideways, she looked at the surroundings.
The Mall’s glass windows were shattering, and faraway car windows also cracked, with tires flattened.
Seeing this, Silver Lin made a guess.
She mustered all her strength to grab the Wand from the ground.
Her body was so weak; it was a struggle just to hold the Wand’s shaft.
Then she activated flight.
Only then did the Wand lift off the ground.
She lay awkwardly on the Wand, using all her strength to pull the Wand’s shaft upward, like pulling the lever of a plane.
Finally, she managed to fly about two meters above the ground, struggling to put distance between herself and the Mall.
After flying nearly a hundred meters, the pressure on her body suddenly lessened.
The Wand’s shaft lifted sharply, circling in the air.
It then flung Silver Lin off, and she crashed back to the ground.
This embarrassing scene was captured by distant citizens.
Along with her fierce glare at the onlookers.
Most people had no idea what was happening.
But they would soon find out.
Silver Lin sensed the underground aberration rapidly approaching her side.
That strange feeling struck again.
She had just gotten up when her body suddenly became unbearably heavy, as if weighed down by a thousand pounds.
Her knees were forcibly bent, and she collapsed to the ground, propping herself up with her hands to avoid falling completely.
The spectators watching the drama were also caught in the same oppressive aura, and many fell to the ground, while a few clung to walls for support.
Seeing their bizarre behavior, onlookers farther away hurriedly fled, unwilling to stay.
Having gained experience, Silver Lin struggled once more to lift her Wand and flew toward an area with fewer people.
Before she could fly out of range, her body suddenly lightened again, returning to normal.
A tremendous surge of magical power burst forth underground—fast and immense.
The power was astonishing.
Song Wuli accelerated her flight, but suddenly something grabbed the hem of her skirt, dragging her violently down toward the ground.
The surrounding buildings were crushed and flattened in an instant.
In just one second, they were compressed into what looked like wooden planks.
The ground also caved in more than ten meters deep.
The once normal street and shops had suddenly formed a 50-meter diameter circular depression.
Everything within that radius was smashed flat.
One building was half intact; the other half was cleanly cut off.
Silver Lin’s skirt was caught at the edge of that 50-meter zone.
Her body was at 51 meters, while her skirt and the end of her Wand were at 49.9 meters.
She hadn’t been cut in half, but the skirt was forcibly grabbed and dragged down, slamming her into the ground.
She was still okay—her shield protected her—but she was utterly shaken and stunned.