Chapter 10: Entering the Barrier

On the way over, Qisi had already completed her transformation. Beneath her orange hair was a black short cape with golden trim, and her outfit had changed into a sleeveless shirt dominated by red and black, paired with black shorts. Her two black socks were of uneven lengths.

She wore a pair of fingerless gloves, and on the left wristband was a circular disc-like object—not just a simple decoration. At waist height hung a long sword, but on closer inspection, it wasn’t actually attached to a belt or anything.

It simply followed her, sustained by her magic.

Under Kexin’s watchful eyes, Qisi took a few steps forward.

“Can you feel it? That ‘kaiji’ (monster) is hiding somewhere in that residential complex ahead. Since we’re inside the barrier space of the ‘Singularity’ (special zone), there’s no need to hold back.”

“More or less,” Kexin replied uncertainly. She felt she could sense the monster’s presence mentioned by her senior, but couldn’t tell exactly where it was coming from.

Some magical girls rated as A-class or higher could sense the level of threat the monster posed. The one currently in the complex was rated Beta level.

No other information was known. Beta-class monsters are the most common and pose the greatest threat to ordinary people, but their appearances are unpredictable. Most are dealt with upon first detection.

The only known fact was that this one could easily slice humans apart and had a carnivorous appetite.

“By the way, Qisi, I’ve always been curious—these monsters don’t need to feed to survive, so why do they always attack humans?”

Rumor had it that some departments experimented on captured monsters and found that even in vacuum or sealed environments, monsters could survive.

Thus starving them out wasn’t an option.

“Who knows? I’m not a monster. Since it’s attacking, we just have to take it down.”

Qisi reached behind her cape and drew a shotgun resembling the Beretta M1014. Alongside it floated 12-gauge shells.

Weapons formed by magic don’t require loading per se—they just need a continuous supply of magic to keep firing. But Qisi enjoyed the ritual of manually loading bullets.

Seeing this, Kexin focused on the pink gem on her own wristband.

“Transform.”

A flash of pink light, and the magical girl known for her pink theme appeared.

Compared to Qisi’s elaborate costume, Kexin’s was more minimal: a white fitted blazer with leather shorts, a brown waist belt equipped with various tools and gear—some clearly not designed for fighting monsters.

But as a special investigator for the Special Investigation Bureau, she might face unusual situations and needed extra preparation.

On her right thigh was a handgun, customized to look like a GLOCK 19X with a pink and white color scheme fitting her magical girl theme.

If seen by a civilian, it’d likely be mistaken for a toy—and since ordinary people can’t infuse magic into it, it can’t actually shoot.

As Kexin reached for her pistol, Qisi turned back.

“Are you sure that’s all you’re bringing?”

“No need to overdo it. Beta-class monsters don’t require that much firepower.”

Kexin wasn’t worried about the small handgun—she had taken down a monster preliminarily rated near Gamma level with one shot last night.

“Isn’t that too much? Although the Singularity space won’t cause much damage to the real world, it might still break the barrier.”

“Then we just have to control ourselves a bit.”

Qisi also carried a handgun at her waist but knew little about firearms, preferring to fight monsters up close with her sword.

When Kexin moved into the apartment, everyone soon realized that magical weapons weren’t limited to melee weapons.

After looking at lots of designs online, Qisi chose a Staccato 2011P pistol and customized it with gold-colored parts.

It was the go-to weapon for low-key missions, with a capped power output to prevent blowing up entire buildings while trying to kill a Beta-level monster.

This rule showed that similar accidents had happened before.

“You say ‘control ourselves,’ but I don’t believe it.”

Kexin wasn’t sure where to start complaining. The model student who was the benchmark in school showed a brutal side only when fighting monsters.

Without an instructor, Kexin had accompanied Qisi on a few missions and could feel it just by watching.

At that moment, a girl’s voice came over their earpieces.

“I’m done here.”

“Alright, Eriko gave the signal. Let’s move.”

“Reminder—don’t rush in recklessly.”

Their wireless earpieces were custom-made—no need for a phone or external device. The key was that even inside a Singularity, they could stay in touch with the outside world.

Using magic to scan, Kexin saw a spherical shield enveloping the entire Dongzhuang Garden residential complex. On the side facing them was a swirling vortex—this was the Singularity.

Monsters used it to pull unsuspecting passersby into their own barrier.

Kexin stepped to the rooftop’s edge, looking down nearly a hundred meters. Even knowing magical girls could fly, she still felt uneasy. Her legs trembled the first time she stood this high.

They cast spells to reduce their presence—magic that distorted space around them so that light bent and others would see a distorted image. Still, if stared at closely, the illusion could be detected.

Leaping off the roof, pure white wings unfurled from Kexin’s back. They descended steadily toward the Singularity, entering it the moment they touched the swirling vortex.

At first glance, the houses looked normal—but in reality, these were rough projections from the real space. Like a game’s low-detail model not fully loaded.

“I don’t know how many times I’ve been here, but this place still makes me sick.”

“Same.”

Kexin felt the magic suffusing the space around her. This magic felt different from the usual ambient magic.

In battle, magical girls could use the magic in the environment, and so could monsters. Many monsters grew several times stronger inside the barrier and could heal rapidly.

“Next, how do we find that thing?”

“Any good ideas?”

Kexin immediately regretted asking. Qisi’s idea was probably just to demolish everything.

“You know what I’m going to say.”

“…”

Kexin pulled a keychain from her belt, which transformed into a large-caliber sniper rifle. It was modeled on the Barrett M82CQ, with a shorter barrel making it proportionate to her height.

“Wait a moment.”

Kexin raised the rifle to her shoulder and looked through the scope at the nearest building.

“Deploy detection beacon, loading one round.”

Magic flowed into the weapon, causing pink patterns to appear along its surface and a glowing sphere at the muzzle.

The magical imprint was complete, and she pulled the trigger. The beacon round struck the target, releasing a wave of magical energy that scanned a 100-meter radius.

Unlike ambient magic, people and monsters carry magic signatures called “magic wave fluctuations.”

These fluctuations had been studied and cataloged.

Each detection beacon covers a radius of 100 meters, so scanning the entire complex required many such shots.

Few magical girls in Muzhou City could pull this off—not because it was difficult, but because not many could easily spare so much stored magic.

“This isn’t the first time I’ve seen this, but Kexin, do you have a magic black hole inside you or what?”

More areas were covered, shrinking the search zone. If no anomalies appeared, the monster’s position would be increasingly narrowed down.

As Kexin prepared the next beacon round, suddenly she detected an unusual fluctuation.

“There—unknown magic wave source, count three!”

“How many?”

Qisi looked at Kexin, doubting she’d made a mistake, but those crimson eyes showed no hesitation.

Three blurred outlines appeared in Kexin’s view.

“Three it is. I’m going in!”

Different from the initial intelligence, but one monster or three, it was a fight either way.

Without hesitation, Qisi summoned a transparent platform beneath her feet, crouching like a sprinter at the starting line.

“Wait, another magic wave.”

This one was clearer than the previous three, and it seemed to be chasing them.

What was going on?