Chapter 18: First Cooperation

"To have subdued the Remnant Beast in such a short time, you truly live up to your reputation as an Inspector!"

Just as Lin Xiaolu landed, Moke, who had been flapping its tiny wings behind her the whole time, popped out from behind her back and began to butter her up in a tone that sounded quite sycophantic.

It had been doing this for more than a day or two, to the point where Cuique even suspected it might have committed some act of corruption in the Magic Kingdom and fled to the material world because of it; otherwise, there was no reason for it to be so obsessed with the status of "Inspector."

Even though Cuique ignored or refuted its stiff attempts at flattery every time, she still couldn't stop it.

If a child were to see a fairy that spent every day fawning and sycophanting like this, they would likely become disillusioned with the very concept of "fairies" from that day on.

Sighing inwardly, Cuique ignored Moke and turned her attention to the other side, toward Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang.

Clearly, from the moment Lin Xiaolu arrived, the atmosphere between those two had been far from harmonious. Lin Xiaolu, who had descended from the air, wore an indignant expression, forming a sharp contrast with the smiling Xia Liang on the other side.

Cuique saw Lin Xiaolu’s inexplicable rejection of Xia Liang, but Xia Liang’s behavior—reveling in the situation and constantly provoking Lin Xiaolu—was also quite problematic.

Seeing that the two of them were on the verge of bickering again, Cuique suppressed the urge to sigh once more and clapped her hands together: "Alright, stop arguing for now."

She pointed toward the Remnant Beast not far away, striving to shift both their attentions: "The Remnant Beast that appeared today is not very strong; my assessment is that it is around the Egg-rank. In other words, as long as you can cooperate well and perform normally, you should be able to take it down quite easily."

As she spoke, Cuique looked toward the Remnant Beast nearby. The creature, bound by silk threads, was still wriggling in place, attempting to break free from the restraints. This struggle was futile, but the Remnant Beast, possessing almost no intelligence, did not realize this.

She flicked the magical silk threads in the void again, loosening the web binding the Remnant Beast, and turned back to the two newcomers: "I already told you both about the type and weaknesses of this Remnant Beast last night. Now I will release the restraints, and you will fight it. From here on out, unless the situation becomes extremely critical, I will not intervene."

As the threads dispersed, the Remnant Beast, which had been crawling on the ground, straightened its body, shook its massive and obese frame, and with its limited intelligence, discovered the three magical girls standing at the intersection, finding its true enemies.

It tossed its head, revealing a mouthful of misaligned fangs, and let out a roar at the three of them again:

"Guoooooooh!"

"Don't worry, Senior Cuique."

Facing the angry Remnant Beast, Lin Xiaolu was completely unafraid. She raised her magic wand and said confidently: "I’ve been studying hard these past few days; the me of now is a completely different person from before!"

"Fighting this big guy... it feels like it’ll be fun!"

Xia Liang’s focus was entirely in another direction.

Both of them had strong fighting spirits, which was the only thing that made Cuique feel reassured, so she said no more and simply nodded quietly.

Then, streams of light blue and hibiscus-purple magic erupted, and the two magical girls soared into the air one after another, creating a gust of wind beside Cuique as they flew straight toward the massive Remnant Beast.

Egg-rank Remnant Beasts are the most numerous, most frequently appearing, and also the weakest Remnant Beasts in this world.

"Weak" here refers to their status relative to magical girls; although there are varying degrees of strength among Egg-rank Remnant Beasts, even the strongest Egg-rank usually cannot withstand the combined attack of two or three Seed-rank magical girls. As for the weak ones, they are at the level where they would be wiped out by a novice who has just become a magical girl.

Precisely because of this, whether in the material world or the Magic Kingdom, the research and accumulated experience regarding Egg-rank Remnant Beasts are the most detailed.

Unlike high-rank Remnant Beasts, those at this stage mostly rely on physical attacks.

Their greatest characteristic is that they generate different special organs to utilize magic.

Using these special organs as a primary reference, along with body characteristics, behavioral logic, and habitat, people have divided Egg-rank Remnant Beasts into dozens of types to facilitate identification and efficient elimination by magical girls.

Membrane-Explosion type, Erosion-Claw type, Corrosive-Scale type, Skin-Splitting type, Organ-Covering type... different types of Remnant Beasts have different special abilities brought about by their special organs. For example, the sharp claws of an "Erosion-Claw type" can corrode objects, and the flow of magic between the skin of a "Skin-Splitting type" grants it an extremely high surface temperature.

As for the Remnant Beast encountered this time, based on Cuique’s experience, it was undoubtedly a "Dissolving-Cavity type."

Its traits include a relatively large body, with a basic height of over ten meters; a significant amount of mucus on its body surface, used to reduce damage and assist in movement; and a special organ called a "dissolving cavity," which can mix the undigested parts of its prey with body fluids and fire them out like a high-pressure water cannon, with enough power to pierce through ordinary concrete.

This type of Remnant Beast is actually not very common, as they tend to inhabit places with plenty of water, and the urban environment does not suit their physiological habits; instead, they often gather in the wild, but that was not something a city-stationed magical girl like her needed to worry about.

Encountering one now was a rare opportunity, and it was perfect for Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang to use for practice.

However, contrary to Cuique’s expectations, the cooperation between the two newcomers she was guiding could not be called seamless; it could only be described as a scattered mess.

Not long after the battle began, Lin Xiaolu was nearly struck down by a beam of magic fired by Xia Liang.

"You—are you trying to kill me?"

Seeing the hibiscus-purple magic streak past just in front of her, she quickly stopped her flight and shouted angrily at Xia Liang.

"Sorry, sorry." Xia Liang realized it was her own mistake, so she kept smiling and apologizing.

And when the Remnant Beast used its dissolving cavity to attack for the first time, Xia Liang had already extended her wand in advance, gathered a magic cannon, and aimed at the opening exposed by the Remnant Beast, but because Lin Xiaolu suddenly cut into her intended firing trajectory, the shot failed to go off.

"Ah, seriously!"

A strike that clearly could have succeeded was nipped in the bud. Encountering such a situation, even Xia Liang felt a bit angry, but in the end, she had to prioritize the bigger picture and continue flying around the Remnant Beast, looking for other attack angles.

The two of them fought the Remnant Beast for dozens of rounds with this clumsy combination. After fighting for a long time, they hadn't caused much effective damage to the Remnant Beast, but instead had exhausted themselves.

Cuique, standing to the side, saw it very clearly.

Xia Liang’s talent as a magical girl was undoubtedly very strong; even though she had only studied for a few days and it was her first time participating in a battle, she seemed to have an innate intuition for finding the right position to use magic to attack the Remnant Beast from a distance.

Lin Xiaolu was inferior by comparison, but she was still daring and aggressive, and possessed relatively rich combat experience for a newcomer, using a high-mobility, close-quarters combat mode to actively seek out the Remnant Beast’s weaknesses.

If these two were fighting alone, they would likely both have a chance to take down this Remnant Beast by themselves, and it might even be easier than it was now.

But when they formed a team and needed to cooperate to fight, because they tended to use different combat styles and lacked the consciousness of coordinating with a teammate, the final result was a complete disaster.