Chapter 14: The Perilous Joyride and the Reckoning

Never in Kazami Jin’s current life—or her past one, for that matter—had she experienced such a frantic “workout.”

Adrenaline surged wildly through her veins, fear unleashing an astonishing, raw potential within her.

With her eyes squeezed shut, guided solely by her survival instincts and a peculiar, burgeoning mastery over this “baby carriage,” she frantically churned her feet against the ground while her hands gripped the inner walls, desperately attempting to steer.

“Left! Left! We’re going to hit the wall! Right turn! Push off the right!” she muttered unconsciously, her body swaying precariously with the cart’s daring drifts and sharp turns.

Under her ‘masterful’ command, the specialized metal cart, against all odds, carved a path of drifting tire marks across the refuse-strewn industrial yard.

The shadow beast grunt pursuing her, however, clearly lacked the intellect to contend with such erratic escape tactics.

Driven by its enraged, primal instinct, it charged in a straight line, only to be repeatedly outmaneuvered by Jin’s sudden swerves, tight turns around pillars, and even narrow obstacles formed by discarded machinery.

“Roar!” It slammed headfirst into a rusty iron frame, which groaned under the strain as piled metal parts clattered down, showering the beast.

“Growl!” It attempted to intercept her through a seemingly open passage, but Jin maneuvered the cart in a bizarre S-curve, slipping away while the beast, unable to halt its momentum, crashed headfirst into a stack of discarded tires, struggling for several moments before finally freeing itself.

“Ugh…” Jin lured it onto an inclined steel ramp, where it intended to gain speed for a pounce, but at the last moment, Jin abruptly kicked off the ground, braking and swerving.

The beast, having charged too fiercely, catapulted off the ramp and landed with a heavy thud on a mound of soft cushioning material—a relic from an unknown era—emerging unharmed but left even more disoriented.

After repeated attempts, the shadow beast grunt not only failed to catch its target but had battered itself senseless; its once ferocious aura had diminished, and its movements now betrayed a palpable mix of hesitation and confusion.

Its simple mind could not comprehend why the seemingly unthreatening creature in the peculiar metal box ahead could navigate such an inscrutable trajectory.

Once the initial surge of panic subsided, Kazami Jin, the architect of this chaos, realized the roars and pursuit behind her seemed… less imminent?

Stealthily, she opened one eye and peered behind her, just in time to witness the shadow beast grunt once again misjudging its trajectory, crashing headfirst into an inherently unstable, makeshift shed constructed from rusty pipes and tattered canvas.

This time, luck was not on the shadow beast’s side.

With a thunderous crash, the already precarious shed, after being violently struck by the beast, completely lost its precarious balance.

Carrying years of accumulated dust and rust, it collapsed entirely! Countless heavy iron pipes and swathes of canvas, like a vast, inescapable net, instantly pinned the still-dazed shadow beast grunt firmly beneath.

“Roar… ugh…” The shadow beast grunt struggled and roared futilely beneath the wreckage, but the intertwined pipes and heavy canvas formed an effective cage.

No matter how fiercely it struggled, it could not break free for the time being, left to helplessly flail its exposed shadow tentacles like an overturned tortoise.

****

The entire world seemed to fall silent in an instant.

Only the distant clash of battle from Xia Yue and Lin Wan’s direction, and the frustrated, muffled roars of the trapped shadow beast from beneath the nearby ruins, broke the sudden quiet.

Jin’s cart, propelled by inertia, coasted forward several meters before finally screeching to a halt.

Slumped in the cart, her chest heaved violently as she gasped raggedly for breath, her forehead slick with cold sweat.

A wave of post-adrenaline exhaustion washed over her.

But only a few seconds later…

An ineffable, twisted exhilaration, like marsh gas, began to gurgle to the surface.

‘The danger… was it over? The thing that had been chasing her ragged… was it pinned down? Immobilized?’

Cautiously, she poked her head out from the “baby carriage’s” mesh, confirming the situation.

Indeed, the creature was thoroughly buried, able only to rage ineffectually.

Fear receded like an ebbing tide, replaced by a surge of audacious, almost gleeful courage—or perhaps, a suicidal impulse.

The expression on Kazami Jin’s face instantly switched from unsettled panic to haughty triumph.

She even tidied her messy hair and collar, disheveled from her desperate dash (though still inside the cart), before making a bold decision.

She unbuckled the “baby carriage’s” cursed seatbelt—’Perhaps this “cage” was rather thoughtfully designed after all?’—pushed open the mesh door that symbolized humiliation, and hopped out.

Her feet met the ground, feeling a little wobbly, but she braced herself.

Step by step, with the bearing of a victor surveying their spoils, she approached the pile of wreckage that imprisoned the shadow beast grunt.

Seemingly sensing her proximity, the shadow beast grunt struggled more violently, emitting threatening growls, its exposed shadow tentacles flailed wildly.

But Kazami Jin felt no fear now.

She halted, her hands on her hips—a pose that made her feel utterly formidable—lifting her chin slightly and directing her gaze, and her nose, at the struggling mass of shadow.

Clearing her throat, she spoke in an utterly obnoxious tone laced with exaggerated sarcasm:

“Oh, weren’t you quite enthusiastic about the chase just now? Weren’t you roaring so loudly? Why the sudden stillness? Hmm?”

She even extended a foot, lightly tapping one of the flailing shadow tentacles with her toe.

“Come on! Chase me again! You little… grunt! Grunt!”

The shadow beast grunt seemed to grasp her mockery, struggling with renewed frenzy, the ruins themselves trembling as its roars laden with humiliation and furious rage echoed out.

But Jin only grew more smug, watching its impotent fury, feeling her previous fright and indignation repaid twofold.

She even considered moving closer, to deliver a few more kicks, a few more taunts.

However, the phrase ‘joy begets sorrow’ seemed tailor-made for her.

Just as she reveled in the triumph of her “counter-attack,” unleashing her full barrage upon her immobile foe, Xia Yue’s cool voice, tinged with a hint of exasperation, reached her from behind, followed by Lin Wan’s voice, clearly struggling to contain her laughter:

“Jin.”

“Pfft… Jin, you’re having quite a lot of fun, aren’t you?”

The arrogant expression on Kazami Jin’s face instantly froze.

Her hands, still on her hips, froze mid-air, and her extended foot remained forgotten.

Stiffly, she turned her head, inch by agonizing inch.

She saw Xia Yue and Lin Wan, who had evidently concluded their own battle at some point, standing not far behind her.

Xia Yue’s ice sword still shimmered in her hand, her gaze fixed on Jin, a complex blend of emotions in her eyes.

Lin Wan, meanwhile, covered her mouth, her shoulders subtly shaking, clearly fighting a losing battle against her mirth.

Yet, as her gaze swept over the “abandoned” baby carriage, still angled in a dramatic drift, and then to Jin’s current “victor’s smugness,” a flicker of something else, something deeper, momentarily gleamed in the depths of her eyes, beyond the laughter.

Kazami Jin: “…”

‘Utterly doomed.’

Kazami Jin’s posture of smug triumph, her mad mockery directed at the trapped shadow beast, deflated completely, like a punctured balloon, the instant Xia Yue and Lin Wan’s voices rang out.

She froze on the spot.

Her hands, which had been on her hips, awkwardly dropped, and her extended foot was silently withdrawn.

Inch by agonizing inch, she turned around, to meet Xia Yue’s calm, unwavering gaze, which seemed to pierce through everything, and Lin Wan’s expression, whose mouth was covered but whose eyes gleamed with mischief and a clear ‘you’re finished’ light.

“Jin.”

Xia Yue called out again.

Her voice was not loud, yet it carried the oppressive stillness before a storm.

The crystalline ice sword in her hand had yet to dissipate, its tip angled towards the ground, and the frigid aura swirling around her seemed to drop the ambient temperature by several degrees.

Her gaze swept over the “baby carriage” Jin had “abandoned” several meters away, still poised at a bizarre drifting angle, finally settling on Jin’s face, which was a canvas of ‘guilt’ and ‘utter doom’.

“Explain.” Xia Yue’s words were concise.

Her tone betrayed neither anger nor joy, but the very calmness of her voice sent a shiver down Jin’s spine.

Lin Wan finally let out a choked laugh, but quickly composed herself under Xia Yue’s faint scrutiny, though the corners of her mouth still curved wildly upward.

She took a few steps to Jin’s side, first curiously peering at the pile of wreckage that still trembled slightly, emitting frustrated roars, then poked Jin’s stiff arm with a fingertip, her voice laced with exaggerated awe:

“Wow! Jin, you’re amazing! ‘Baby carriage’ drifting? Counter-killing grunts in a crisis? And with a taunt skill? You’ve really broadened your repertoire!”

Jin’s face flushed then paled.

She opened her mouth to argue, but found herself utterly without a leg to stand on.

Leaving the “carriage” without permission, actively provoking an enemy, and putting herself in danger… each was a grave, self-destructive offense.

“I… I just saw it was alone… and wanted to try…” Her voice grew softer and softer, until it was barely a whisper.

“Try?” Xia Yue took a step forward, her icy blue eyes narrowing slightly, and the surrounding chill seemed to intensify.

“Try with your… firefly-sized magic orb, against a shadow beast that, even as a grunt, could easily tear apart an ordinary person?”

Her tone remained flat, yet her words pierced Jin’s heart like icicles.

“And,” Xia Yue’s gaze shifted to the “baby carriage” with its mesh door open and seatbelt undone, her voice suddenly turning cold, tinged with clear displeasure and… a hint of lingering fear.

“Who permitted you to unfasten the ‘safety unit’ on your own? Do you know what would have happened if that shed hadn’t collapsed, or if it had broken free a moment sooner?”

Lin Wan also shed her playful demeanor, nodding seriously and adding: “Exactly, Jin! Do you know how much my heart and A-Yue’s pounded when we saw that thing chasing you? We were completely tied up, almost—”

She didn’t finish, but Jin could imagine their anxiety in that moment.

A wave of shame, lingering fear, and embarrassment washed over Jin.

Only then did she realize that her reckless actions had not only put herself in danger but had also distracted the two who were locked in a fierce battle.

“I’m sorry…” She lowered her head, nervously twisting the hem of her clothes, this time her apology was truly heartfelt.

Xia Yue watched her for a moment, then, after a brief silence, the coldness around her softened slightly.

She walked to the pile of wreckage, and with a gentle flick of her ice sword, a sharp sword qi swept forth, completely freezing and purifying the struggling shadow beast grunt along with the debris pinning it down, leaving only a scattering of ice shards.

With the hidden danger eliminated, she turned, looking back at Jin.

“Remember this lesson.” Xia Yue’s voice returned to its usual cool tone, but carried an undeniable seriousness.

“Any unnecessary adventure before you possess sufficient strength for self-preservation is foolish.

Your ‘safety’ is not just your own concern.”

Lin Wan also came over, patting Jin’s shoulder, her tone unusually earnest: “That’s right, Jin, if you want to beat up shadow beasts to vent, we’ll take you to grind as much as you want!

But for now…”

She drew out her words, a familiar, cunning smile that sent shivers down Jin’s spine returning to her face, “Naughty children who run off must be punished, you know~ And I’ll collect every single bit of what you owe from earlier, too~”

Kazami Jin looked at the two magical girls standing before her, one cold as ice, the other with a smile that hid a dagger, and the meager courage that had swelled from her “counter-attack” against the grunt instantly vanished.

Silently, resignedly, she walked back to the metal baby carriage, which symbolized both “humiliation” and “protection,” obediently climbed inside, and even proactively buckled her seatbelt.

“I was wrong…” she mumbled softly, shrinking into the seat, utterly subdued.

Xia Yue stepped forward, checked the seatbelt and the energy shield, and after confirming everything was in order, closed the mesh door.

“Alright, we’ll ‘talk properly’ when we get back.” Lin Wan pushed the baby carriage, her tone light, but Jin heard the unmistakable promise of a reckoning.

Kazami Jin leaned against the cold interior of the carriage, utterly devoid of hope, watching the sparse moonlight filtering through a hole in the factory roof.

Her path to a comeback remained shrouded in darkness.