Magical Girl Heavy Dependence

Chapter 13, The Arbiter

A spacious black minivan drove onto the ring road overpass.

Outside the car window, dark clouds covered the sky, the leaden-gray clouds hung low, and there were faint flashes of lightning. The air was also humid.

Cheng Chen sat in the passenger seat, holding a cat in his lap, and briefly explained the mission details to the three people in the back seat:

"Last month, the association reported a battle where 'Magical Girl Wind Rhythm' intercepted 'Disaster Beast Blue Crocodile' near the Shizuoyama Industrial Park. Unfortunately, the effort failed; although it severely damaged the beast, it was not killed, and the latter escaped."

He paused, then continued, "The Blue Crocodile disappeared for a month, and its hiding place was only recently determined from some subtle clues. To protect itself, it has transformed into a sizable group of demons as guards. Your objective is to annihilate these demons and capture the crocodile itself."

A screen was suspended in the back of the van, allowing Cheng Chen to project the screen of his tablet computer onto it.

The screen displayed a blurry, secretly filmed image: the indistinct figures of men in overalls in a cargo hold.

Their skin was entirely blue, and they had very obvious demonic features.

"These people are probably employees working in the industrial park. They left traces when they used magic, which allowed other magical girls to track them down. 'Disaster Beast Blue Crocodile' can control water and freeze ice, so as its contractor, the demon's abilities should be similar."

"In addition, the mission bounty is provided by the city and will be distributed according to contributions after the mission is completed. The company will not take a cut of this money."

"Producer!" Lingxia was the first to raise her hand.

"Please speak."

Cheng Chen nodded slightly and looked at her.

"What should we do? Should we capture the target alive? Or is it enough to just defeat him?" She seemed to be meticulously considering the details.

"You can make your own judgments. Whether you follow the instructions of the association leader or act on your own, I will not interfere."

Cheng Chen's gaze swept over the three people with different expressions. "The target is just a novice demon of the Shadow Rank. He won't have more than two weeks to gain power. He poses no real threat to you. Just go ahead and do it."

"Okay, producer!"

Lingxia smiled and winked at him, "Any evil will eventually be brought to justice! Just leave it to us!"

Unfortunately, no one echoed her sentiments, making her attempt at being cute seem a bit awkward.

Lingxia didn't mind at all, and happily hummed a song, as if she wasn't going to fight demons, but going on a picnic.

The van sped along, heading towards its destination.

Aside from the few words exchanged earlier, no one spoke during the entire journey. The three-person team, who should have been getting to know each other and cooperating, remained silent, without making eye contact or exchanging words.

When they arrived at an open area near the park, the driver parked the car.

Cheng Chen turned his head: "After completing the mission, come back here to gather."

Three streams of magical light—red, green, and black—suddenly shot into the sky.

As the three set out, more magical light appeared in the sky, and a large magic circle cast by the magical girls sealed off the entire surrounding area.

Of the three, the red glow of Candle Tear was like a falling meteor, streaking straight across the sky and landing on a low, overgrown hillside next to the industrial park. Then the light went out and it disappeared without a trace.

Lingxia's green light went straight to join the magical girls of the association, and together they soared and danced in the sky, clearly activating their "sweeping mode".

Only the black streaks of the painted crow, without any frills or hesitation, swooped straight down toward the core area of ​​the industrial park.

Seeing this, Congcong, who was acting as the driver, turned his head and whispered a reminder: "Producer..."

Cheng Chen raised his hand to signal her to stop, and gently woke up Bai Xing, who was still curled up and fast asleep.

"Go keep an eye on things for me, and make sure we don't get caught."

Meow~

The white woolen ball let out a disgruntled yelp, leaped out of the car window, and vanished in an instant.

Cheng Chen closed his eyes, and his vision suddenly synchronized with that of the kitten.

……

Ignoring the two companions who had forced themselves to join her, the raven landed directly in the area of ​​the industrial park where the magical energy was most concentrated.

She held a magnificent, deep purple cross-shaped spear in her hand, swung it twice, and surveyed her surroundings.

This place resembles a factory unloading yard, with shelves and containers painted red piled up all around. It's quiet and deserted right now.

After childhood, I lived on that old, ruined street where many things had to be resolved through violence.

Although the former magical girls and producers in the company all thought that she had extremely poor control over magic, Eya believed that she was quite good at fighting.

Especially after obtaining the magic wand, he became increasingly adept at using it.

Undisguised, purplish-black magic surged into the center of the park, and the raven searched everywhere for enemies.

She was a little annoyed, but more than that, she was eager to try.

It has to be said that Cheng Chen has grasped her weakness; money is the only thing she currently desires.

No matter how much Huiya hated the association and the secret service, she still wanted to take her grandmother away from that street and live a better life. The salary of the trainees at Yinfu Entertainment was good, but it was not enough in Yincheng where land was extremely valuable.

She checked the association's official website and found that the reward for this task was much higher than she had imagined.

In order to accumulate more contributions, we can't just leisurely follow the main group.

A noise suddenly came from behind the shelf.

Almost instinctively, the raven grasped the light spear that flashed in the air and thrust it forward—

Ding!

The attack struck an invisible barrier, ripples spreading outwards, and the light spear shattered into magical fragments.

Another magical girl in black slowly emerged from behind the shelves, carrying a gigantic scythe taller than a person, with deep purple rose decorations extending along the hilt. Her eyes were a constantly shifting red, and every movement exuded the sweet, metallic scent of blood.

The iconic silver snowflake pendant on her chest comes from the Kaleidoscope Prison and serves as the judge's identification.

Magical Girl Rose.

She was the one who brought the painted crow to the association after the accident at the children's playground.

Ejak assumed a wary stance, squinting as it stared at the other party.

"...?"

Rose merely glanced at Crow and walked straight past her.

Her face was expressionless, revealing no emotion whatsoever, as if she were facing a complete stranger.

"Feed...!"

The attitude infuriated Huiya, and just as she was about to speak, a dark shadow suddenly appeared from all around.

It turned out to be a water bag!

The rose raised its sickle and cleaved straight down, causing a spray of water to explode from its blade.

The splashing water droplets instantly enveloped the two of them, causing them to pause eerily in mid-air before shooting towards them from all directions like bullets.

Huiya raised her hand, and seven cross-shaped starlight spears appeared around her, connected end to end, forming a halo that spun rapidly with her, while simultaneously bursting forth to meet the water droplets.

But the soft water was simply pierced through by the light spear and remained unaffected, continuing to spray out.

click.

A chill permeated the air.

The water droplets froze instantly upon touching Eya's body, overlapping and forming a layer of icy cage, about to seal her inside.

At this moment, the rose had already appeared behind the caster.

A flash of light, and the demon, severed in two, crashed to the ground.

The still-forming icy cage crumbled, and Huiya broke free of its restraints, glaring at her angrily: "What are you doing?"

The other person glanced at her with the same look they would give someone looking at a roadside stall.

Then he turned around and strolled leisurely into the depths of the park.

Huiya clenched his fists so tightly they cracked.

That bitch must have done it on purpose!

Even she could react to that kind of sneak attack, but Thorn Rose took the initiative to slit the water bag, giving the opponent a medium and space to cast a spell, and then disappeared the moment the water bag was slit, allowing her to draw the attack while she went around to the flank and took care of the person.

What's even more infuriating is that contemptuous look in his eyes from beginning to end...

Boom!

The aftershocks of a magical collision could be heard not far away; the magical girls had begun their attack.

Realizing that she didn't have much time left, Huiya suppressed her anger and changed direction completely opposite to that of Cimei, quickly going deeper into the area.

Now is not the time to lose your temper. Making more contributions and then distributing the rewards afterwards is the right thing to do.

Boom!

The continuous rumbling sound was like muffled thunder rolling, and the rising dust could be seen from a great distance.

High in the sky, Lingxia was still leisurely circling, holding a lollipop she had somehow acquired.

The other magical girls chose their assigned areas and began fighting, while she remained leisurely trailing behind.

Noticing the association leader's gaze behind him, his eyes darted around, and he suddenly shouted, "Ah! Enemy spotted! Where do you think you're going!"

The cyan streak of light increased its speed by more than double, flying rapidly towards the edge of the battlefield.

On the hillside outside the industrial park.

Candle Tears... or rather, Lu Baishu was squatting under a tree, feeding squirrels nuts in his hand, when he heard the roar and trembled, clutching his head.

On the other side of the van, Congcong jogged back from outside the parking lot with the takeout.

"Producer, your coffee."

"Hard."

Cheng Chen leaned against the car door, seemingly oblivious to the distant roar and explosions.

He reached out to take the coffee, and a drop of cold water suddenly fell onto the back of his fingers.

He looked up, and the pattering sound gradually grew louder.

It's raining.

……