Chapter 8: That girl, I seem to have seen her in my dream

"What is the most important thing for a Magical Girl?"

The girl suddenly asked a question.

Keke struggled to stand up, looking at the girl with the icy expression, and cautiously replied, "It's... belief. A heart that never gives up hope, no matter what. That is the source of a Magical Girl's miracles."

"Why haven't you transformed?"

The tone wasn't particularly harsh, even carrying a hint of indifferent detachment, but Jiang Keke felt like a poor student being called on by the teacher in class, under immense pressure.

She could only stammer, "I... I can't transform..."

She had tried countless times already, yet never succeeded even once.

Ever since obtaining the seed, she had diligently searched for knowledge related to Magical Girls.

No Magical Girl had ever encountered a situation like hers. All Magical Girls would actively transform when they received their seed, followed by the appearance of a Companion Spirit to assist them, providing the most basic knowledge about being a Magical Girl.

"The seed... it's empty."

She opened her palm, showing the seed to the purple Magical Girl, and noticed the other girl seemed momentarily stunned as well.

She immediately felt a wave of relief.

It seemed it wasn't because she was too stupid; the seed being empty was truly an unavoidable circumstance...

The Disaster Beast that had been struck down flew up again.

Keke raised her head, watching the Disaster Beast in the sky let out another piercing shriek.

Yet the purple Magical Girl didn't even turn her head, just kept staring at her seed.

Urging her, "Transform."

"I told you, I can't..."

"Transform."

This time, the tone carried a touch of severity, leaving no room for argument.

The Disaster Beast high above began emanating a sinister aura and charged down.

"The Disaster Beast is coming!"

"Transform!"

The step-by-step, pressing urging finally made Jiang Keke give up resisting. She closed her eyes, gripping her Magic Seed tightly.

Shouting loudly, "Transform!"

Purple flames surged forth in an instant!

The scorching flames made Jiang Keke think she was going to die, but she quickly realized they weren't hot at all.

They were even quite warm. The flames enveloped her entire body, and she clearly felt the sensation against her skin, a smoothness akin to silk. When this silky smoothness spread across her whole body, she finally sensed a tremendous power.

A blazing Magic Wand landed in her hand, and her fiery red skirt swayed like waves of flame.

She stared blankly at the scorching hot wand in her hand. The entire magic stick was crystal clear, with lively flames dancing inside.

The restless power made her feel somewhat unsettled.

Then she looked up and saw that the Disaster Beast diving from the sky hadn't crashed down.

The purple Magical Girl hadn't even turned her head, just slightly turned her body and extended a hand.

Layer upon layer of petals piled up in her hand, forcibly stopping the massive falling Disaster Beast.

The girl, who completely disregarded the Disaster Beast, just looked at the transformed Jiang Keke. Her icy gaze seemed to hold a hint of approval.

But she only let out a light hum, her tone still cold and hard, "Wasn't that done quite well?"

Although the tone didn't seem particularly friendly, Jiang Keke only felt happy about being praised by her.

She even breathed a slight sigh of relief.

It seemed she was deeply afraid of disappointing the other person from the bottom of her heart.

"Thanks to you, senior..."

The other person was too short, probably even shorter than herself, her height not even noticeable among elementary school students.

Calling her 'senior' felt a bit strange, but she didn't know what else to call her.

"Where is your Companion Spirit? Or rather, your Incubator?"

"Huh? What?" Jiang Keke patted herself down, "No, there isn't one."

Every Magical Girl should have an Incubator accompanying them at birth, but Jiang Keke only realized upon being reminded that no Incubator had appeared after her transformation.

"Never mind, it's fine if there isn't one."

The Disaster Beast opened its large mouth, sharp teeth mixed with saliva, chomping down hard on the purple magic barrier blooming on her hand.

"I'll teach you."

The moment the purple magic barrier shattered, points of light scattered like sparks. The girl stood amidst the showering magical starlight, stomped her back foot on the ground with a thunderous vibration. The purple magic erupting from under her feet almost completely covered the school rooftop!

"Focus your magic."

Then, with a turn of her hips, her entire body tensed like a bow. Her purple hair fluttered, as if also transforming into leaping light and flame.

As the Disaster Beast roared and plummeted down, like an unstoppable meteor!

It met what seemed like a soft and slow elbow strike.

"Boom!"

At the moment of contact, the Disaster Beast was sent flying like a cannonball!

After crashing into the opposite dormitory building, purple magic erupted, the shockwave stirring up a large cloud of dust. Even Jiang Keke, standing behind the purple Magical Girl, staggered and nearly fell.

"Then release it all in one breath."

The magic on her body slowly dissipated. The aloof Magical Girl turned her head, looking at the stunned newcomer, "This is magic. The power of Magical Girls."

"What... what magic is this?"

"Magic Eight Extremities Collapse."

Jiang Keke felt confused. She couldn't see what was magical about that move just now.

But since her senior said so, there must be a reason.

She probably wouldn't lie to her.

In the distance, the Disaster Beast that had been smashed into the dormitory building by the Magic Eight Extremities Collapse still had a fierce glare in its eyes. Even though its body had a hole torn through it, and residual purple magic restrained it, it showed no sign of fearing pain.

It still let out a piercing shriek, wanting to charge over.

"Any living creature would feel pain and fear, but Disaster Beasts are different. They feel no pain and know no fear."

The petite senior's tone was cold, but she spoke patiently, "So just keep attacking and completely destroy them. Don't hold any illusions or mercy. Do as I just did, and deliver the final blow."

"Yes, teacher."

"...Just call me Shion."

"Okay, Teacher Shion."

"Never mind."

Jiang Keke closed her eyes, took a deep breath, focused her mind, and felt the surging magic within her wand.

As her will connected with the wand, the previously restless magic obediently followed her command.

Aiming the wand at the struggling Disaster Beast, she released all her magic in one breath.

A crimson pillar of light surged out from the wand like a torrent, roaring as it submerged the bat-like Disaster Beast!

Jiang Keke didn't dare relax, just poured out her magic relentlessly, until Shion reached out and placed a hand on her wand, stopping her magic flow, "Well done. Relax, withdraw your power."

Instantly drained, Jiang Keke plopped down onto the ground, breathing heavily.

Looking up, she saw the entire upper half of the dormitory building had vanished, and the bat Disaster Beast within was nowhere to be seen.

Only a black seed remained.

A Grief Seed, the necessary cause for the birth of Disaster Beasts. The collective grief of people converges into a seed, the seed sprouts and grows, transforming into a Disaster Beast.

For Magical Girls, it's considered a poisonous thing, usually destroyed directly.

However, Jiang Keke saw Shion take out an item that looked like a badge and absorb the Grief Seed into it.

She had never seen a Magical Girl collect Grief Seeds before.

"The basic process is like this. Generally, Disaster Beasts appear alone. When you encounter one, just do your best to eliminate it. But your magic is quite outstanding. As long as you confirm it's destroyed, there's no need to continue expending magic."

After adding this explanation, she rose into the air and flew away without the slightest pause, "That's enough for today. I have other matters to attend to."

"Teacher Shion, I still don't know how to contact you! Teacher Shion!"

Jiang Keke ran a few steps after her, already starting to pant.

She realized she couldn't fly, and could only watch helplessly as that graceful figure quickly disappeared.

Staring blankly at the retreating back of the purple Magical Girl as she vanished, she suddenly felt an emptiness in her heart.

The students and teachers who had been knocked unconscious by the Disaster Beast were gradually waking up. For safety, security personnel were still organizing the orderly evacuation of teachers and students from the school.

Someone called out to her. Jiang Keke looked down and saw it was her homeroom teacher.

Feeling dejected, just as she was about to go downstairs, she saw another pink beam of light streaking across the sky from afar.

It quickly landed above the dormitory building. Another Magical Girl.

She seemed to be looking for the Disaster Beast. Not finding it, she flew up again, her gaze finally settling on Jiang Keke. She let out a surprised "Huh?" and then descended.

"A new Magical Girl?"

The speaker was a pink Magical Girl. Her beautiful pink hair was tied into twin tails with blue ribbon bows. When she landed, she made a light hop, and the ribbon-formed butterfly wings trembled accordingly.

Her pretty face still had traces of bloodstains, and she even coughed slightly upon landing, as if she was injured.

Tilting her head slightly, her pink eyes examined Jiang Keke curiously, with a touch of maturity.

"Hello, I am Magical Girl Silver Lotus, Disaster Control Bureau number 0721, and also the captain of BH City's Magical Girl Combat Team. I will be conducting an investigation and inquiry regarding you and the Disaster Beast anomaly that appeared on campus. May I have your cooperation?"

Her voice was like drops from a pipette in a laboratory, neither too loud nor too soft, steady and clear. Each syllable was precise and distinct, without a single unnecessary ripple, like the sound of precise gears meshing and operating.

She seemed more like a soldier than a Magical Girl.