Chapter 23: The Three Rascals Cause Havoc in the Trial Forest

“Rather than magical creatures, don’t these things look more like monsters?”

After taking down yet another fully corrupted creature—one so far gone it no longer had a brain—Jiang Cha glanced at the beast, noting its mutation had reached over eighty percent of its body. She casually started a conversation.

“‘Monster’ has a different definition in our lexicon. These guys, mutated beyond control from magical contamination, are officially classified as Advanced Witch Syndrome: Magical Creature Type.”

He Qin looked at the familiar mutated creature, her expression tinged with sadness—but she quickly composed herself, still patiently and gently explaining the basics to Jiang Cha.

“Whew—this world really is dangerous, huh.”

“Yeah…”

“Seriously dangerous.”

Although they voiced the same sentiment, the two girls’ expressions couldn’t have been more different.

Sadness practically seeped out of He Qin, while Jiang Cha remained indifferent. With no memories, she lacked empathy. Even when seeing these grotesque creatures, her thoughts instinctively leaned toward analysis—evaluating danger levels, categorizing magical types used.

A golden-haired loli quietly approached Jiang Cha, giving her a quick, sneaky wink from behind He Qin’s back.

Jiang Cha immediately got the hint. A stream of magical power gathered silently at her toes, channeled through her little leather shoes and into the ground—on the surface, she simply flashed a sweet smile.

“Lina~”

“Hm?”

“Fly high~!”

“I’m not a little kid, you know.”

Lina looked puzzled, thinking, Jiang Cha really sucks at changing the subject…

And then…

She really did fly high!

“Lina-chan!?”

The melancholy He Qin jumped in surprise as Lina was suddenly launched into the air like a flying trapeze act.

“What the hell, Jiang Cha, you sneaky little troll! You didn’t have to launch me like that!”

The upper air of this forest was no safe zone. In that split second, Lina sensed hundreds of magical creatures quietly locking onto her position. In the distance, a dense swarm of black dots zoomed toward her.

“Sorryyy~”

The troublemaker herself still wore a bright sunny smile, pressing her hands together in mock apology, eyes closed playfully.

Then she grabbed He Qin’s hand—and ran!

“Why are you just standing there? Run!”

“Wha—Wait! What about Lina-chan?!”

He Qin stumbled but managed to keep up, feeling an unexpected rush of exhilaration as Jiang Cha pulled her along by the hand.

“Lina can totally catch up! Hehe~ Just let her contribute a little more to the team!”

Jiang Cha giggled mischievously, sticking out her tongue. The look was cute—but for some reason, there was something shady about it.

‘Jiang Cha-chan is totally doing this for revenge, right?’

He Qin squinted suspiciously. She could pretty much guess how this was going to go.

“Jiaaaaang—Chaaaaa!”

A furious roar echoed from above. He Qin looked back and saw a golden-haired loli engulfed in blazing flames, hurtling toward them like a precision-guided missile.

“What the hell?! Lina-chan, I didn’t do anything to you!!”

Jiang Cha clutched He Qin and ran at full speed. A flash of blue light surged beneath her feet, instantly increasing her pace.

And suddenly, He Qin felt strangely light. Was it just an illusion from magical enhancement?

“Did nothing to me, huh!? How thick is your skin, Jiang Cha?!”

Lina was so angry, she almost laughed. She stopped bothering with explanations altogether, spreading her dragon wings and leading tens of thousands of flying magical beasts straight toward Jiang Cha’s trail.

“He Qin! Help me! Activate your magic shield! If I get blown up, you won’t get away unharmed either!”

“So that’s why you dragged me along, huh?”

A completely unfamiliar female voice answered her. Jiang Cha suddenly realized something was off.

She turned her head—only to see He Qin far off in the distance, smiling gently… at least a hundred meters away.

And the hand she was holding…

Was a puppet.

A highly advanced, talkative, humanoid magic puppet wrapped in synthetic skin.

“HAHAHAHAHAHA!! DIE, JIANG CHA!”

Lina roared with laughter as she hovered above Jiang Cha, her accumulated fire magic detonating in a brilliant burst.

BOOM!

“What are those three rascals up to this time?”

Noticing the explosion through magical sensing, Vladimir glanced over, confirmed they weren’t in any real danger, then turned his gaze elsewhere.

With the power level of Jiang Cha’s team, they weren’t at risk in the second-tier zone. He was more concerned about other, weaker groups.

“Was that really necessary, Lina?”

After the blast, Jiang Cha managed to activate her magical shield just in time. Though nearly shattered, it held up. She looked sideways, her eyes half-lidded, to see Lina standing back-to-back with her, facing down tens of thousands of bats.

“You brought this on yourself, Jiang Cha.”

Lina’s voice was laced with gritted-teeth fury. But in front of twenty thousand bats, she had no choice but to team up with her.

Tier-2 Magical Creatures. Pegasus Galaxy Origin. Tier-3 Medieval World Type. Vampire Bats.

That was how the Magic Creature Compendium classified them.

These bats were social creatures, often found in swarms numbering tens of thousands—even up to millions in their native world. Their reproductive rate was terrifying.

Their magic was unique: a psychic-link defense spell that connected them all. The more bats in the swarm, the stronger the magical shield they generated.

That was also why their mutation levels remained low. They still looked like ordinary bats.

But their threat level was anything but.

“Lina-chan! Jiang Cha-chan! This way, over here!”

Outside the dense swarm of bats, He Qin deployed her magic puppet’s shield. Puppet #3, [Bomber], opened fire from a distance, barely clearing out a safe landing zone.

“Think we can break through?”

Eyes lighting up, Jiang Cha asked Lina quietly.

“Who do you think I am?!”

The golden-haired loli beamed with confidence. At her word, flames blazed across her body. With a swipe of her dragon claws, she scorched dozens of bats instantly.

It wasn’t much in the grand scheme—but enough for a breakthrough.

“Then let’s go!”

Jiang Cha’s magic surged, summoning thousands of lightning arrows, linking them into an electric net to block their rear. In front, Lina unleashed torrents of fire, carving a path forward.

Just moments ago, they were messing with each other—now they were working together like a well-oiled team.

In the end…

These Tier-2 creatures were just a nuisance to them.

They couldn’t even touch the girls. The only reason they considered retreat was to avoid wasting time.

“No more of this nonsense next time!”

Once they made it into the shield, He Qin commanded her puppet vanguard forward while giving each girl a good whack on the head with big-sisterly authority.

“It was Jiang Cha who started it!”

“Oops~”

Lina pouted and shifted the blame, while Jiang Cha simply smiled and admitted it.

The next second, both burst into laughter.

“Hahaha!”

“Pfft—Jiang Cha, when did you learn that sneaky spellcasting move? That was so underhanded!”

“I used it at the gate to the second-tier zone, remember? You just weren’t paying attention.”

“Say that again?!”

Watching the two bicker again, the Yamato-nadeshiko-style He Qin let out a long sigh.

She used to manage with just one wild child, Lina. Now Jiang Cha had dropped the good-girl act too. She could already see the exhausting future ahead…

“Qin-bao~ How about we head straight to the third-tier zone?”

After a short scuffle, Lina suggested, and He Qin glanced at the still-dense swarm of bats surrounding them.

She could only nod. “Looks like we don’t have much choice.”

Yet she cast a concerned glance at Jiang Cha.

“The sooner we go, the sooner we finish. I want to get back to studying.”

Jiang Cha noticed her gaze and smiled cheerfully.

Adapting to combat wasn’t hard for her. Or rather—it seemed she’d always been suited for it.

Even facing tens of thousands of monsters didn’t faze her. Jiang Cha didn’t know why it all felt so natural, even enjoyable. Maybe it was her witch blood. Maybe she’d never been the gentle type to begin with.

But whatever the reason, it was a good thing.

At least now, she could handle this “combat class” that was more like a real battlefield—with no pressure at all.

“Let’s move out then. Jiang Cha-chan, don’t overdo it.”

“Relax~ No problem at all.”

“Yep yep! Mama He Qin’s worrying again~”

“Stop calling me Mama!”

The morning sun blazed high, shining over the vast forest. It pierced through the swarm of bats and the shimmering blue shield, landing stubbornly on the girls’ faces.

This was the beginning of a new life for each of them.

And every ray of sunlight was filled with their youthful energy and laughter—warm as a photograph frozen in time.