The forest ahead looked as if it had been struck by a meteorite, leaving a terrifying, fan-shaped scar on the ground.
Countless trees were still smoldering with residual flames, and the air was thick with a pungent, burnt smell.
She also noticed broken puppet debris scattered around.
Judging by the delicate skirt hems that hadn’t yet been burned to charcoal, they must be the “troublesome guys” Ellyse had mentioned.
This girl had fought her way so deep into the forest all by herself, and had even defeated that Danger Species monster, the “Puppet Head Maid”?
Sophie couldn’t help but gasp.
“Wow… So amazing…”
She looked at the girl standing in the center of the scorched earth.
It was a red-haired Magical Girl clad in a Spirit Dress of interwoven crimson and pure white, holding a peculiar microphone staff.
Her back was to them, and the air around her was still distorted by lingering heat, making her look like a valkyrie who had just walked out of purgatory.
Sophie’s throat bobbed.
She quickly stepped forward and called out with concern, “Um… Senior!”
“Are you okay?”
—She had seen the anomaly here from far away in the forest.
The black mist had the property of blocking sound and light, but even so, the flames from earlier had still been clearly visible.
This showed just how intense the battle had been.
Hearing the voice, the red-haired girl’s body froze.
Whoosh.
She spun around with astonishing speed, her microphone staff rising almost instantly, its sharp, five-pointed star tip pointing straight at Sophie’s throat.
Sophie saw a pair of burning, ruby-like eyes.
There was no sign of thought in the Magical Girl’s eyes; she seemed to be reacting purely on instinct, launching indiscriminate attacks against any entity that suddenly approached.
Sophie instantly lost her voice.
But in that very instant, a hand pressed down on her shoulder, pulling her back by force, while another figure flashed forward to stand in front of Sophie.
At the same time, the red-haired Magical Girl also reacted, forcefully halting her staff.
A violent gust of wind blew Ellyse and Sophie’s long hair, seemingly carrying sparks and a scorching breath.
The three of them instantly stood in a tense standoff, separated by a very delicate distance.
The crimson Magical Girl didn’t speak, merely maintaining her stance with her staff raised, while Ellyse’s hand tightly gripped the hilt of the longsword behind her. Read this novel at NovelPing for the best experience.
Her black eyes narrowed slightly, unable to hide a trace of shock deep within.
The atmosphere seemed to drop to freezing point.
It felt as if a single extra movement would cause the two of them to clash immediately.
“Ah, wait! Wait!!”
Sophie suddenly realized what was happening.
“Everyone, calm down!”
Snapping out of it, she quickly sheathed her dual pistols back into her waist holsters, raised her hands to show she meant no harm, and stared at the Magical Girl in front of her.
“S-Senior!”
“We… we aren’t bad people. We felt the magic fluctuations and realized a Magical Girl was fighting, so we rushed over to help.”
Sophie stepped out from behind Ellyse and said haltingly.
It was only then that she suddenly noticed something.
The magic fluctuations within this Magical Girl were already very weak.
She had likely exhausted almost all her power; her expression looked incredibly tired, and her breathing was highly erratic.
Yet even so, her grip on her staff didn’t tremble in the slightest.
Hearing Sophie’s words, the red-haired girl seemed to slowly come to her senses.
She blinked, but didn’t speak.
Instead, she maintained her posture and fixed her gaze on Ellyse, who was still gripping her sword hilt.
Looking at the girl before her, who remained in a combat stance and was full of distrust toward them, Sophie bit her lip.
—Even the youngest child in Rosehaven Town knew that Magical Girls were the Incarnations of love and hope, and would always help each other.
Television often showed scenes of Magical Girls working together to fight off invading monsters and protect their town.
Yet, the wariness and unfamiliarity in her eyes were so stark.
Why?
Just what had she gone through to make this Senior instinctively reject their arrival so strongly, choosing instead to fight all alone in this terrifying forest full of monsters until she was completely exhausted?
“Um, my name is Sophie!”
Sophie took a deep breath.
Crack.
With a crisp sound, the water-like pale blue aura around her suddenly shattered, and her Spirit Dress dissolved into countless glittering points of light.
As the dreamlike light faded, she transformed back into a middle school girl wearing a black-and-white sailor uniform with wine-red hair, leaving only a brooch-like azure magic gem pinned to her chest. Find the original chapter at novelping.com.
“See? I’ve already canceled my transformation! I won’t hurt you, Senior!”
After speaking, she looked imploringly at the silver-haired girl beside her.
“Senior Ellyse!”
Ellyse seemed to hesitate.
She looked at Sophie, then at the red-haired girl, and finally slowly released her grip on the sword hilt.
Sophie patted her chest, an innocent smile unique to her age appearing on her face.
She looked at her with sincere eyes:
“Senior, what’s your name?”
The red-haired girl still didn’t lower her weapon.
Her red eyes stared at Sophie, her gaze scanning back and forth between her and Ellyse, as if confirming whether she truly posed no threat.
The air seemed to freeze.
After more than ten seconds of dead silence, the fierce fire in the red-haired girl’s eyes finally began to slowly recede.
Hum.
Red points of light fluttered, and her gorgeous Spirit Dress and staff dissolved.
Her crimson hair and eyes turned back to a cherry-pink hue, and her white shirt and black hot pants returned to her body.
Her clothes looked a bit messy from her previous intense movements, with her collar slightly open, revealing a delicate collarbone.
Her sharp gaze finally softened, exposing the deep exhaustion she had been hiding.
And at this moment, Sophie finally realized…
This Senior’s brow and face actually seemed naturally tinged with a bit of timidity and gentleness, even carrying a trace of natural childishness.
It was just that her eyes had been so intensely striking before, causing Sophie to overlook it.
Now, showing her full exhaustion and no longer baring her fangs, she actually looked incredibly endearing.
Wow…
Looking at Alex Morgan after her transformation was cancelled, Sophie’s eyes instantly lit up, and she couldn’t help but marvel in her heart: *Senior is so beautiful!*
And, she looks only a little older than me?
Yet even after cancelling her transformation, the Pink-haired girl’s expression remained blank and cold.
She looked at Sophie and Ellyse in silence for a long time before slowly speaking, her voice carrying a heavy sense of detachment and ethereality.
“…I don’t remember.”
The girl’s voice matched the impression her face gave—sweet, and even slightly soft and childish.