Chapter 22: It Can’t Be Considered a False Alarm, Right?

Unlike magical girls like Hoshino Eriko, who possess domain skills, most magical girls can only sense magical fluctuations within a certain distance from themselves, and that distance isn’t fixed.

Right now, Kexin sensed a very strong fluctuation, extremely close—almost pressing against her face.

Following her intuition, Kexin activated her magical detection vision.

Some anomalies can stealthily hide in places invisible to the naked eye, appearing and disappearing suddenly when the target is unprepared, but even in that state, traces of magic are still produced.

“Where—”

She immediately scanned her surroundings, making sure there were no unusual signs around her, then shifted her gaze toward the house. If the elderly man inside—whose identity she didn’t know—was being targeted by an anomaly, then it was likely looking for an opportunity to strike.

Kexin’s eyes carefully checked every corner of the room, but she didn’t see the source of the magical fluctuation she’d sensed moments ago. Could it have vanished in an instant?

Or perhaps the anomaly had detected her presence and hidden its aura?

If that were the case, this anomaly’s power might far surpass hers—something she couldn’t handle.

“Calm down.”

Suddenly, a girl’s voice rang in her ears. She froze for a moment before realizing she was still wearing her wireless headphones.

But she wasn’t on a call, nor had she opened any video—so why was there a voice? Or was she imagining it?

“I mean, as a magical girl working for the Special Investigation Bureau, you can’t just lose your composure like this.”

The same voice sounded again in the headphones. This time Kexin was sure she wasn’t imagining things. The more she listened, the more familiar it seemed, though she couldn’t recall who it was.

She knew what was happening: the call was automatically initiated, and the voice was most likely synthesized by software. Even recording it for voiceprint analysis would yield nothing.

“You’re the annoying one who sent me messages?” Kexin snapped. She had been stuck typing all this frustration without a chance to vent.

The other side sounded indignant: “I was trying to help by giving information, and you treat me like this?”

“If you genuinely wanted to provide info, why not go straight to the Special Investigation Bureau staff? Why all this trouble?”

“I had my reasons, but I can’t tell you.”

“……”

That attitude was infuriating. Kexin stayed silent and returned her gaze to the room. This time, she saw the house owner—the bald old man—desperately trying to escape from the sofa, but his body was immobilized as if crushed by an immense force.

Through her magical detection vision, Kexin clearly saw his limbs and torso enveloped in magical energy, and the source of the magic was the woman sitting next to him, dressed in a revealing office outfit—or rather, an anomaly disguised as a human female.

A high-intensity magical source flickered around her. Based on preliminary analysis, her power had reached the upper Gamma level, almost Delta level.

The woman held a uniquely shaped handgun, resembling a flintlock pistol from centuries ago, with an attached blade under the barrel. She pointed the gun and blade at the restrained old man.

“This is bad!”

Before her mind could fully react, Kexin acted. She smashed through the window and rolled on the expensive carpet, dodging magical projectiles fired by the anomaly.

The anomaly hadn’t expected someone to suddenly appear from outside. Though it immediately turned its weapon toward her, all its shots missed.

Kexin raised her handbag, using it as cover. As she reappeared from behind a cabinet, the anomaly fired again.

The magical projectile flew straight toward the pink-haired magical girl, but the bag intercepted it, diverting the shot into a nearby mahogany cabinet.

The handbag, specially designed for magical girls, not only carries weapons but also acts as armor. It can withstand a degree of magical attack and even regular bullets.

While the anomaly charged the next magical projectile, Kexin aimed her handgun’s red dot at it, sliding across the carpet as she fired. The magazine contained bullets already inscribed with magical runes—simply pull the trigger and fire.

She carefully aimed to avoid hitting the unlucky old man.

Realizing its firing speed couldn’t match hers, the anomaly leapt and adhered to the ceiling like Spider-Man.

Kexin didn’t have time to dwell on this. She tracked the anomaly’s movement and fired at its new position.

The anomaly’s movements were fast, and most bullets missed, leaving only holes in the walls, floor, or furniture.

Her handgun was based on a Glock 19x, with a standard 17-round magazine. Within seconds, she emptied it. She pressed the magazine release, swapped in a new one from her belt, and continued firing.

Though she didn’t expect to defeat a nearly Delta-level anomaly with a single magazine, it couldn’t have escaped unharmed after being hit so many times.

For now, she had lost visual contact with the target, only sensing its presence nearby.

At that moment, the anomaly suddenly appeared behind her and fired.

“Behind you!”

The mysterious voice in her headphones warned her just in time. Kexin ducked, and the bullet nearly grazed her head.

She fired several more shots at the anomaly, which swiftly dodged and used its high mobility to disappear behind a wall out of her line of sight.

Neither dared to advance, resulting in a brief standoff.

The anomaly abandoned its plan to engage in melee—the magical girl in front of it was stronger than she appeared.

Because the battle hadn’t occurred within a barrier, the loud gunfire immediately triggered the neighborhood guards, who promptly hit the alarm button.

The sirens echoed throughout the compound. The anomaly, intelligent beyond a normal human, realized staying put would be extremely disadvantageous.

Accompanied by the sound of breaking glass, Kexin realized the anomaly had fled.

Unlike ordinary anomalies, this one escaped in the middle of a populated area—a dangerous situation.

Before giving chase, Kexin noticed the wealthy man still collapsed on the sofa, his pants soaked.

“Listen. When the police arrive, don’t say anything you shouldn’t.”

After the warning, Kexin leapt from the nearest window, following the residual magical traces toward the compound’s wall.

“The anomaly is out on the street. Should we pursue it?”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

Focusing on her transformation bracelet, she felt the flow of magic, and the magical crystal began emitting a pink glow.

“Transform!”