Chapter 172: Things Scattered Like Rain Again

Under Jiang Yuan's urging, Lin Xiaolu half-heartedly agreed to attend the concert. She had no intention of accepting an invitation from a strange boy, but she had no reason to refuse a friend's invitation.

Thus, in a daze, she waited until school ended. After the teacher on the podium announced "dismissal," Lin Xiaolu, who had spent the entire day in a half-asleep state, stretched her arms, gazed at the dim yellow sky outside the window, and gradually regained some clarity.

After bidding farewell to Jiang Yuan in the seat ahead, she walked out of the school gate alone, then followed Cuique's teachings to find a quiet corner and transformed into a magical girl.

Next came the patrol time she had grown accustomed to over these past days.

Although the activity of residual beasts in Fang Ting City had decreased significantly over the past two months, making it peaceful and tranquil compared to before the Full Moon Festival, the required procedures could not be skipped; at the very least, this work could not be omitted. Lin Xiaolu leisurely darted between the city's buildings, looking down at the streets below while using her magic power to sense and investigate everywhere, ensuring she missed no trace.

Actually, she could patrol while flying, but first, her sensing ability was not yet strong enough; at high speeds, she would easily lose clues. Second, her control over magic power was not particularly exquisite; although flying no longer wasted magic power as it did during her novice days, it was still difficult to limit her own speed.

Considering these factors, Lin Xiaolu ultimately chose a compromise: leaping between high-rises while checking the magic power fluctuations in this district.

Such checks often yielded nothing, but today seemed different. As Lin Xiaolu passed through an intersection prone to accidents, she suddenly felt something strange.

Almost instinctively, she looked toward a nearby street and quickly discovered an inexplicable bulge rising on the busy highway. The bulge continued to grow larger, and a network of cracks constantly appeared on the paved road surface.

—It was a residual beast.

Spreading her hands, her wand instantly materialized in her palm. Magic power surged from the soles of Lin Xiaolu's feet, accelerating her to the bulge on the highway. Then, she slashed her wand sharply, using naturally released magic power to push all surrounding vehicles aside.

Many of these pushed vehicles nearly crashed directly into the roadside railings. Fortunately, the pushing force Lin Xiaolu used was not great, causing no traffic accidents. When the car owners, with seven parts confusion and three parts annoyance, poked their heads out, their gazes happened to meet a monster drilling out from the road surface.

It was a residual beast.

Thus, their confusion turned to relief, and their annoyance turned to terror. The honking on the road instantly became screams. People who realized what was happening almost immediately began to scatter and flee; car owners blocked in the middle of the traffic stream also abandoned their vehicles and fled.

It wasn't that no sharp-eyed people saw the magical girl in mid-air. Some held up their phones to the side, hoping to film and ride the wave of popularity, but were scared into putting their phones away by a glare from Lin Xiaolu looking back.

"Don't linger here! Flee quickly!"

Shouting loudly at these pedestrians who were literally playing with their lives, Lin Xiaolu waved her wand fiercely, then turned back to block the residual beast attempting to advance.

After she shouted this, those few pedestrians exchanged glances. Although somewhat reluctant, reason ultimately prevailed. So, they shouted their thanks to Lin Xiaolu from a distance and ran away, turning their backs.

Of course, these people actually did not know that even if they wanted to continue filming, Lin Xiaolu could do nothing about them; the only thing she could do was glare. With the enemy present, she had to focus entirely on the battle.

Residual beasts that suddenly appear in public places with heights under fifteen meters are usually at the Egg or Caterpillar stage. With Lin Xiaolu's current combat capabilities, dealing with residual beasts of this level was a piece of cake.

Although she still could not use her magic armor, her magic power quantity completely overwhelmed residual beasts at this stage. Even using only naturally released magic bullets and magic beams, she could drown the residual beast under her firepower.

The vast amount of magic power not only provided continuous firepower but also made Lin Xiaolu's mobility sufficient to toy with residual beasts of this level—after all, she could constantly use magic power for short-range acceleration, having no need to worry about being attacked.

This combat style was custom-made for Lin Xiaolu by Senior Cuique and could even be said to be inherited directly from Senior Cuique herself. After discovering that her daughter possessed magic power far exceeding her peers, she began instructing Lin Xiaolu in high-speed movement combat tactics.

The so-called high-speed movement combat, as the name suggests, is a fighting style of fighting while flying. This combat style can greatly reduce the probability of a magical girl being attacked by the opponent while simultaneously pinning down the residual beast's attention; it is a tactic that is both safe and efficient.

If one were to say this combat style had any flaws, it would be that it places extremely high demands on the magical girl's own magic power quantity, concentration, reaction ability, and even combat intuition. Fortunately, Lin Xiaolu possessed all of these things.

Following this combat style, whenever encountering such residual beasts in the past, Lin Xiaolu's decision was generally to fly in circles, fighting while flying, striving to suppress the beast to death with minimal losses and maximum firepower.

However, this time, she could not do so until the pedestrians in the surrounding area had completely evacuated.

The crowd density around the location where the residual beast appeared was too high. If she carelessly poured out magic power, she might injure the onlookers. As a magical girl with mature combat experience, Lin Xiaolu would certainly not allow such a thing to happen.

Observing the distance of the surrounding crowd, she first used the firepower of magic beams to force the residual beast away from the highway, ensuring it would not cause more damage in the area. Then, she gradually approached it, continuing to use magic power to constrain the residual beast's movement path while drawing her wand and beginning to attempt melee combat against the residual beast.

Unfortunately, she soon discovered that she seemed unable to completely defeat the residual beast using melee combat like Bai Jingxuan.

This was not only because the magic power intensity of the Egg stage was too low, but also because her strength was insufficient. Facing a Caterpillar-stage residual beast, she could only suppress it, finding it difficult to inflict effective damage relying solely on melee combat.

—If only I had my magic armor.

Thinking of this, she immediately felt even more depressed, causing her movements with her hands to become somewhat impatient. She almost treated the residual beast before her as a punching bag for venting her anger, hammering it fiercely with her wand.

Low-level residual beasts do not understand fear, but that does not mean they have no temper. After being smashed around by the magical girl in front of it, it let out an angry roar and began attempting to counterattack.

The magical girl was very angry, and the residual beast was also very angry. The two exchanged blows like a street brawl, looking utterly wretched.

Unlike Bai Jingxuan, who fought with a disregard for life and death, attacking with the momentum of killing a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of her own, Lin Xiaolu's melee combat style was closer to Senior Cuique's, focusing on defense and counterattack. However, she had the spirit but not the form. Even though she was also wielding a wand and could indeed press the residual beast down, it lacked any aesthetic appeal. Compared to Senior Cuique's dance-like footwork, she looked like an amateur wildly swinging a stick.

This utterly unattractive combat lasted for a while. Just as Lin Xiaolu felt she had vented most of her resentment and was preparing to put away her wand to begin fighting seriously, she felt as if a shadow had appeared overhead.

She looked up alertly, wanting to confirm the true nature of this shadow, but what met her eyes was not the imagined enemy, but a blonde girl wearing a pale yellow dress.

At this moment, the girl had her arms crossed, seemingly striking a pose she considered cool, letting the airflow at high altitude make her skirt flutter.

Seeing Lin Xiaolu look at her, she first displayed a confident smile, then gently waved at Lin Xiaolu:

—"Hmph, do you need my help?"

... Who are you?

Gazing at this uninvited blonde girl, Lin Xiaolu blinked in confusion.

"Looks like you're in a tough battle. You've been fighting for so long; your magic power must be heavily depleted. Hmm, hmm, looking at it this way, I've arrived at just the right time."

Before Lin Xiaolu could reply, the girl nodded as if talking to herself, as if she truly understood the situation, and said: "It's okay. From now on, you just rest on the side and let me handle it!"

"Ah, no..."

Realizing the other party had likely misunderstood the current situation, Lin Xiaolu tried to open her mouth to explain. Unfortunately, before she could squeeze a few words out of her mouth, the girl shot forward like a flash of light.

And this flash of light was actually not Lin Xiaolu's illusion, but originated from beneath the blonde girl's feet.

"Wood Lily, Magic Construct Emerge!"

Accompanying the girl's shout, the two streams of light beneath her feet converged in an instant, then transformed into a pair of roller skates made entirely of golden magic power.

Although flying in the air, the wheels beneath the girl's feet spun rapidly, constantly spraying magic power in all directions. When she rushed to the front of the residual beast, the wheels beneath her feet accelerated again.

"Flashy Little Kick!"

The accelerating wheels instantly whipped up rippling magic power waves. These waves gathered beneath her feet into a ring of light. Then, accompanying the girl kicking the side of the residual beast, the ring of light, like a sharp blade, tore open the residual beast's hard skin and erupted with immense impact force, kicking the massive residual beast straight up into the air.

This residual beast was over fifteen meters long and, in terms of weight, absolutely exceeded a fully loaded large truck. Yet, under this single kick from the girl, it was like a light, flimsy soda can, flying dozens of meters high.

And after kicking the residual beast into mid-air, the girl's offensive did not stop.

The ring of light beneath her feet continued to rotate, lifting her from her original spot. In just a few seconds, she flew to the side of the residual beast at an astonishing speed. Thus, under the gaze of Lin Xiaolu and scattered pedestrians nearby, she spun in mid-air.

Muffled shouting came from high in the sky. Because the distance was too great, Lin Xiaolu could no longer hear clearly what the girl was shouting, but she could still clearly see the girl's movements.

The girl's kicks traced several light arcs in the air, spinning like a dance, and then she kicked heavily onto the residual beast.

"Bang!"

A heavy, muffled sound suddenly rang out. Lin Xiaolu could almost see the viscous liquid splashing from the residual beast's body after being kicked to pieces.

And this kick was still not the end; the girl's spin had not yet ceased. She swept a leg through the air, completed a full rotation, and once again struck the remnant beast with a fierce kick.

Thus, accompanied by the girl's spinning, she kicked an unknown number of times within mere seconds until that unlucky remnant beast finally could not bear the strain and exploded mid-air into a burst of fireworks.

From its appearance to the defeat of the remnant beast, the girl took only a dozen or so seconds to completely eliminate a caterpillar. Judging by the strength she displayed, the girl was likely far stronger than the current Lin Xiaolu.

However, before Lin Xiaolu could marvel at the other's strength, a sudden change occurred.

The remnant beast exploding in mid-air did not mean it had vanished. Once the remnant beast burst open, the viscous fluid within its body rained down from the sky like a downpour, and an indescribable stench immediately spread.

Seeing this viscous fluid, Lin Xiaolu seemed to recall some not-so-pleasant memories. Her face darkened, and she quickly released her magic power outward, using the impact force of the magic to simulate a barrier effect, deflecting the foul "rain" to the side.

Unfortunately, the instigator of this incident—the blonde girl standing beside the remnant beast—failed to react in time.

Almost the instant the remnant beast was kicked to pieces, the viscous fluid within it gushed out. She was not even given time to retract her leg, and the fluid drenched her completely; the pale yellow dress she wore was even temporarily dyed a purple-black color.

The sudden foul stench also rushed violently into her nostrils. Before she could feel any pride in this victory, the intense odor turned her face a shade of purple and green, and she almost instinctively dry-heaved.

"Ugh—"

Fortunately, the magical girl's body was composed of magic power, so her vomiting only expelled air; otherwise, she would have likely vomited up her noon meal as well.

After vomiting in mid-air for quite some time, she finally remembered what she had come to do. Covering her mouth with a greenish forehead, she slowly descended from the sky and landed right before Lin Xiaolu.

Even with a distance of several meters between her and Lin Xiaolu, that thick stench kept drilling into her nostrils, causing Lin Xiaolu to instinctively step back a few paces.

"Ugh... cough, cough, cough."

The girl wanted to say something, but she couldn't catch her breath for a moment. After coughing for a long time, she barely managed to force out a smile, slowly raised her head, and said, "Rest assured... ugh... the enemy has been dealt with."

"Hah..." Looking at the other's appearance, Lin Xiaolu didn't know what to say for a moment.

"Since the crisis has been resolved, then... ugh... my mission ends here. I'll leave the cleanup work to you."

She flashed a V-sign at Lin Xiaolu, probably trying to look cool, but the pose didn't last long before it distorted due to an involuntary dry heave. The girl quickly withdrew her hand and covered her mouth:

"No need to thank me. When we meet again by fate... ugh, we will naturally continue our previous connection."

Then, without giving Lin Xiaolu time to reply, she covered her mouth, bent her waist, and once again turned into a golden streak of light, flying away toward the distant horizon.

Gazing at the pale golden trail of magic power in the sky, Lin Xiaolu remained speechless for a long time.

She recalled everything that had happened in those few short minutes, recalling the girl's decisive and clean movements in killing the remnant beast, as well as the bloomers fully exposed the entire time as her skirt flapped while she spun in the air.

After a long pause, she slowly opened her mouth and spoke the first words after the remnant beast was defeated.

"... Who are you?"

(End of this chapter)