[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-off-the-clock-then-a-magical-girl":3,"chapter-off-the-clock-then-a-magical-girl-off-the-clock-then-a-magical-girl-chapter-80":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Off the Clock, Then a Magical Girl",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2350000,4594,"Chapter 80: Cestus","off-the-clock-then-a-magical-girl-chapter-80",80,"\u003Cp>The next moment, Cui Que saw the magic wand in Sparrow’s hand dissolve into specks of turbulent magical flow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had previously sensed the opponent’s position constantly closing in on her, and had also realized that Sparrow might possess some ability that required close-quarters combat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A sense of alarm suddenly arose in her heart, but fortunately, Cui Que was well-prepared; as runes flew from her cuffs to form a barrier, she had already begun to retreat backward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The direction she retreated in was also pre-determined, an area that would allow her Magic Armament to draw power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Too slow!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sparrow sensed Cui Que’s intent, pulled a rather exaggerated-looking claw-shaped Magic Armament from the turbulence, and then swung the rope at its end, throwing it violently toward where Cui Que was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Almost at the same time, Cui Que felt her backward retreat speed begin to slow down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Magic Armament Sparrow threw was a hidden weapon resembling an eagle claw, with four blade-toes in total—three in front and one in back—with the base connected to a rope, the end of which was gripped in Sparrow’s hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the perception of the material world, such a weapon, or hidden weapon, was called a flying claw.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Sparrow threw the flying claw, this Magic Armament generated an inexplicable attraction, as if it were a magnet attracting surrounding living things, causing Cui Que, its target, to decrease her flight speed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not only that, even though its direction was not aimed at Cui Que when thrown, once Cui Que was affected by it and her movement speed decreased, it turned its direction as if it had a consciousness of its own and began to pounce toward her at high speed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the blink of an eye, the flying claw had already reached in front of Cui Que.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing that her attack was about to hit, the smile on Sparrow’s face became increasingly gratified.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was exactly why she was only willing to use her Magic Armament after shortening the distance between them: her Magic Armament had a dual effect of target-seeking and attraction within a certain range. Coupled with its own extremely high lethality, once used, it was bound to severely injure the enemy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Followed by her gaze, the flying claw went straight for Cui Que’s figure not far away, and soon made a muffled \"pfft\" sound, as if it had hit something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everything was as she had expected; the information between her and her opponent was not equal, and it was precisely this information gap that allowed her to hold the advantage in this battle where the enemy was visible and she was hidden.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Haha! I told you, you can’t escape!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Laughing loudly, Sparrow pulled the rope backward with force, wanting to tug the flying claw at the end and drag Cui Que back from afar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as the rope was pulled and gradually retracted, she suddenly discovered: there was nothing on it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The blade-toes of the flying claw were only stuck with a few strands of magical power that had not yet dissipated, reminding her of what she had actually caught.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This is—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She couldn't help but widen her eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—\"It’s a substitute doll I wove on the spot.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A cold voice came from behind her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind her, Cui Que had appeared there at some point, and the Magic Armament in her hands had also transformed into the form of a masterpiece, having become two giant gauntlets wrapped around her hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Masterpiece, Number Two, Cestus of Heavy Impact.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without saying another word of nonsense, she whispered, swung the gauntlets in her hands, and slammed a punch heavily into Sparrow’s back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before Sparrow could even turn her head to look, she felt a massive force suddenly strike her back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Boom!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A huge sonic boom erupted from the air, causing countless passersby below to stop and look up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, they saw a small figure fall from the sky, slamming violently onto an empty road surface.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thud!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the massive impact sound, what appeared before their eyes was the road surface almost completely shattered by the collision, splashing earth and stone, and the black figure lying at the bottom of a deep crater.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Finally caught this guy, next... let’s notify the Extraordinary Strategy Bureau to come and take the person.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Slowly descending from high altitude, hovering at a height of about ten meters from the ground, Cui Que dispersed the gauntlets surrounding her hands and sighed at the crater on the road below:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"However, I’m afraid I really have to let the Investigation Institute come this time.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rebel organization named \"Claw Mark\" had indeed appeared in Fang Ting City, and had even come to her door so brazenly to challenge her to a fight. For an incident of this nature, it was absolutely impossible for her to let it slide lightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not to mention, according to the director of the Fang Ting City Extraordinary Strategy Bureau, these people were likely related to the disappearance of the former Sower \"Nini\"; even the Pupa-rank remnant beasts that inexplicably appeared underground might be the work of related personnel. Even for the sake of her daughter’s future safety, she had to pull out the vines these people had extended into Fang Ting City.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was necessary for the subsequent activities of the Fang Ting City squad to finally catch their tail and capture all these guys who were playing tricks in the dark, and expel them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the reason for the sigh was that once the Investigation Institute was allowed to intervene, the news of her comeback would truly be impossible to hide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the institution she was officially affiliated with, the Investigation Institute had countless ties to her, and there were many people among them who could be called \"old acquaintances.\" Once the news of her comeback spread, her regular life of working and taking care of her daughter in Fang Ting City would likely be unsustainable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To be honest, although she had been prepared to face this ever since the day she decided to resign and even dug the Heart Flower out of her closet, now that it had actually reached this step, she still couldn't help but feel a little melancholy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Don't think about these things, better to call someone to control this guy first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She calculated in her heart and was about to take out her phone to dial Hong Siyu’s number, but just as her palm made contact with the phone, she found it vibrating first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking at the screen, she saw the words \"Lin Xiaolu\" displayed, and she couldn't help but raise her eyebrows.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cui Que remembered the message Xia Liang had sent her in the group chat earlier, saying that they suspected Moke had found a reserve magical girl but was hiding it without reporting, and they wanted to go and track the investigation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Calling at this time must be because of this matter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although logically speaking, she should explain the situation to Hong Siyu and the Extraordinary Strategy Bureau first, after a slight choice, she felt that Lin Xiaolu’s call was more urgent after all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With an expectation in her heart, Cui Que lifted her thumb and placed it on the screen, preparing to click the call button.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But she ultimately didn't manage to press it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Swish\"!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because, almost at the same time, a black shadow suddenly swept past her wrist and flew rapidly toward her hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cui Que’s peripheral vision caught this scene, and she managed to pull her hand back in time thanks to her quick reaction, but because the target of this sneak attack was too small and came too fast, she only managed to pull her hand back. The phone she was originally holding was struck down and fell into the bushes to the side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too late to check the condition of the phone, Cui Que immediately looked at the small black shadow that had suddenly attacked her, but after seeing its appearance clearly, she was somewhat puzzled: \"Sparrow?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was not calling out the enemy’s codename.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was because the small black shadow she saw was nothing else, but a small sparrow flapping its wings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A normal sparrow shouldn't have such a fast flight speed, and its flight endurance was relatively poor; how could it be so fast that even she, a magical girl, couldn't react in time?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...It hurts.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as Cui Que couldn't help but start thinking, even though there was still a distance between her position and the one below, Sparrow’s voice came out clearly from the crater.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m not dead yet, to think you could still be thinking about making a phone call at a time like this, should I praise you for being worthy of a former Flower Card?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Walking out of the crater again, Sparrow appeared in Cui Que’s field of vision once more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She remained conscious, and could even be said to still possess combat power; this point made Cui Que feel surprised.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She knew the power of her heavy strike using the Masterpiece: without using high-level techniques or defensive Magic Armaments, most Leaf-rank or even Bud-rank magical girls would not be able to withstand such an attack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In terms of a magical girl’s physical fitness, taking a punch from a Masterpiece,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>let alone this magical girl named Sparrow being attacked by her suddenly from behind, even if Cui Que herself stood still to take a hit, she probably wouldn't feel very good.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, the fact that the current Sparrow could still maintain her ability to act was a rather incredible thing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This suddenly appearing magical girl claimed to be a former Character Card, so the stage of her ability blooming should be in the range of Leaf to Bud rank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn't that there were no Flower-rank among Character Cards, but those magical girls who had bloomed to Flower-rank but were not qualified to obtain a Flower Card would not call themselves Character Cards to the outside world; they felt that calling themselves Character Cards was demeaning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most importantly, Cui Que knew very well: she couldn't beat a magical girl who had bloomed to Flower-rank now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A magical girl’s ability blooming, as the stage continuously improved, starting from the Bud-rank, every step was a huge bottleneck, and after crossing it, there would be another huge improvement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From Leaf to Bud, from Bud to Flower, every crossing would add an important dimension to a magical girl’s combat capability.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Regarding her current combat ability, Cui Que’s self-awareness was very clear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And precisely because of this, she could conversely determine that this magical girl who called herself Sparrow would not be Flower-rank either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, because she took a heavy hit from the Masterpiece gauntlets and fell into the ground, she was much more disheveled than before, and the clothes made of magical power also had many tears, which was enough to show that the damage received was not light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And her current appearance made Cui Que feel puzzled again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because at some point, Sparrow’s left arm as a human had disappeared, and in its place was a pair of black-bottomed yellow-spotted magical bird wings, which looked quite evil.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her eyes had also undergone a mutation; the most obvious feature was that the iris ratio had become huge, occupying almost the entire eye socket; the remaining sclera part was no longer the human white, but had turned into black.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Haven't seen it before? Then you should feel happy, after all, I rarely use my half-beast form in front of others.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sparrow raised her head, revealing the purple-black Heart Gem below her neck, widened her eyes, and had an excited and bellicose smile on her face: \"Don't get distracted, the main event is coming next.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She raised the half of her body that had transformed into bird wings, the pitch-black magical wings flapped, and the escaping magical power scattered like a torrent, stirring up layers of waves, even rushing to the side of many onlookers who had gathered. The magical wave caused a burst of exclamations and screams, and many people screamed the moment they were touched by the magical power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This kind of magical power had a certain corrosive and damaging effect on a magical girl’s magical power, let alone on ordinary people with weak magical power. The corrosion and destruction of the tiny magical power in the body that was closely related to life was a pain that ordinary people could never endure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cui Que, who was originally observing the situation and planning to retrieve her phone, had no time to think about anything else, and could only use her Magic Armament, letting layers of silk threads manifest from the intersection to block the momentum of the black magical power rushing toward the pedestrians.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Don't watch the excitement here, leave quickly!\" she shouted at those pedestrians who were still acting foolishly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—\"Didn't I tell you not to get distracted!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the other side, Sparrow roared excitedly and took to the air again; this time, her speed was so fast that even the trajectory could not be seen by ordinary people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not only that, the small sparrow that had previously launched a sneak attack on Cui Que from the dark also flew up with her, several small sparrows following by her side like wingmen in the air. These little birds opened and closed their beaks, and actually spat out small magical bullets.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The small magical bullets looked only as big as mung beans, and their power was not fatal, but they won by their fast speed, which was difficult to distinguish with the naked eye, and ordinary people could easily be hit by them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Black and blue magical power crossed in the air again; this time, the blue was clearly in a passive position.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After turning into the evil state she called \"half-beast form,\" Sparrow not only had her physical fitness and speed strengthened, but even the intensity of her magical power suddenly rose to a higher level, completely suppressing Cui Que.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If there were someone knowledgeable observing this battle from the side, they would find: although Cui Que was far superior to Sparrow in the flexibility of combat intuition and planning in the use of magical power, the method Sparrow was using at this time could be described as \"one force overcomes ten skills,\" firmly occupying the upper hand in pure magical power output.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, Cui Que was not in a hurry; rather, she remained very calm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even though the situation was already passive, she was still saving her magical power, using the joint defense of the barrier and the Masterpiece to block Sparrow’s flashy and frequent attacks, and looking for an opportunity to counterattack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why don't you unfold your Wonderland? Cornflower!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And this kind of blind defense also made Sparrow feel very bored, only feeling that she was like beating a turtle shell now, with no fun in the battle at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, she released her magical power again and took out her flying claw Magic Armament.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pitch-black magical power spread from her right arm, and the end of the flying claw also began to emit an ominous color; she swung her arm in the air, like throwing a spear, and smashed it toward Cui Que with force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The flying claw Magic Armament, also wrapped in pitch-black magical power, smashed heavily onto the Masterpiece condensed by Cui Que, but the output this time was far beyond the past: although it still failed to penetrate the Masterpiece, it smashed it along with Cui Que behind it flying out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Or is it, just as the rumors say...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pulling back her Magic Armament with her remaining right hand, Sparrow laughed wantonly again:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"During the 'Garden' defense battle, because you used power that exceeded the limit, your Heart Gem had a problem, right?\"\u003C\u002Fp>",2628,"2026-06-21T02:45:47.620Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","d3cbfb270e1e4509229b321f5847ed732fa1f252d9e3b38aebaf8606d990a561","off-the-clock-then-a-magical-girl-chapter-81","off-the-clock-then-a-magical-girl-chapter-79",364,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Foff-the-clock-then-a-magical-girl-cover.jpg"]