Chapter 26: “Anti-Magic Field”

The frantic flames instantly swept through the dead-end alley.
The group of thugs scrambled out in a sorry state, narrowly avoiding being burned by the backdraft.
But the one who had lost his right hand, still wailing on the ground, didn’t manage to run out in time.
Without even a scream, he vanished into the flames.

“B-boss, did someone just jump down?”

“Tch, who cares! Whew… damn, this ‘Blast Flame’ is really tiring to use, but the power is not bad.”

The boss replied, out of breath, then spat on the ground.

“Damn it, to run into a not-so-weak ability user. Now we can’t even get the ID cards.”

The flames were still raging, but the boss was confident that the people inside had all been burned to ashes, just like his underling who hadn’t managed to escape in time.

But a few seconds later, the boss’s confidence was gone.
In the gradually disappearing flames, he saw an unusual purple.
It was a shield formed from purple flames, firmly protecting the three children behind it.

That’s right, three children.
Besides the two little girls they had targeted before, standing in front of them was a girl he had never seen before.
The girl was wearing a black long coat.
The surprisingly well-fitting coat did not hide her graceful curves.
Although she was still a child, her slender waist, long legs, and a delicate face that could make one’s soul leave their body, all made those who saw her stare in a daze for a long time.

“Little Xingli? (Student Xia Xingli?)”

The surprised cries of Esther and Erin sounded from behind.
Xia Xingli turned her head and smiled at them, saying nothing.

She was in a very bad mood right now.
Her current classmates, who were once Xia Lixing’s students, had almost been harmed right under her nose, which angered Xia Xingli.
But at the same time, she was also a little puzzled.
If that thug boss was an ability user, why hadn’t he detected Esther’s ability fluctuation at the beginning?

“Yoho, so another protective little girl has come, huh?”

Seeing that Xia Xingli had blocked all of the “Blast Flame” but had not taken the initiative to attack, the thug boss immediately found what he believed to be a reasonable explanation.

“That turtle shell is pretty hard, but I wonder how many attacks you can block?”

The thug boss made an attacking gesture, and his underlings behind him all grinned ferociously and began to condense various abilities.
For a time, countless ice cones and fireballs, as well as lightning falling from the sky, all struck Xia Xingli’s shield.
Esther and Erin’s faces turned a little pale from this powerful attack, but Xia Xingli only frowned.

“They only know how to attack blindly, without any consideration for the consumption of their abilities. Are these people really ability users?”

The seemingly ferocious attack didn’t even make Xia Xingli feel a shred of pressure, but she didn’t plan to just passively defend either.
With just a flick of her fingers, the “Violet Spirit Ice Flame” instantly erupted, sweeping away all the ability attacks.
Whether it was fireballs, ice cones, or falling lightning, all were annihilated in an instant without exception.
The dancing “Violet Spirit Ice Flame” illuminated the pale faces of the thugs.

“A bunch of C-rank and D-rank ability users really think they’re invincible?”
With her hands in the pockets of her coat, Xia Xingli walked unhurriedly in front of the thug boss.
“Speak, how exactly did you awaken your abilities?”

Her tone was flat, but the thug boss felt an immense pressure from the small figure in front of him.
It was the “aura” of an A-rank ability user, an indescribable presence.
Although there was no scientific evidence to prove the existence of “aura,” all ability users of A-rank and above could release this “aura” against lower-ranked ability users.
“Aura” had no power to speak of, but it could make the enemy’s blood run cold, and even completely lose their will to fight.

Even though this group of thugs didn’t seem to be normal ability users, the “aura” released by Xia Xingli still had an effect.
The group of thugs had completely lost the will to resist, unable to even run away, just standing there trembling.

However, to Xia Xingli’s surprise, even so, no one confessed about their abilities.

“Heh… it seems there’s a rather remarkable person behind this.”

Xia Xingli didn’t get angry.
Instead, she smiled lightly.
But that smile made the thugs facing her feel the breath of death.

Raising a hand, a beautiful purple flame flower bloomed on her hand. “Are you sure you won’t talk? Then, let’s deal with one of you first.”

The purple flame flower was gently tossed out by Xia Xingli, slowly floating towards one of the thugs.
The thugs could feel a desperate aura from this seemingly inconspicuous flame flower, but they couldn’t run away, unable to even move.
Xia Xingli’s “aura” was released to an unprecedented intensity, firmly suppressing the thugs.
Even Esther and Erin behind her felt fear from this aura that was not even directed at them.

They didn’t know Xia Xingli’s strength, nor had they ever thought that this new classmate, who looked younger than them, could release such a terrifying aura.

Xia Xingli coldly watched the group of thugs who were about to piss their pants.
She didn’t care about killing.
Although she might not kill ordinary people, as a “Guardian,” she had the right to kill malicious ability users of unknown origin.
She refused to believe that after their companion’s tragic death, these thugs’ mouths could still be so tight.

However, just as the flower of flame was about to land on the thug, Xia Xingli sensed an unknown fluctuation.
The floating flower of flame disappeared in an instant, and Xia Xingli’s body also felt a strange sense of heaviness.

“Spare them. Please let us take them back for interrogation.”

An indifferent voice sounded.
On the roofs of the surrounding houses, more than a dozen figures had appeared at some point.
These people were wearing uniform black clothing, and on the chest of their strangely styled clothes was a blood-red cross-shaped logo.
Each of these people was holding a weapon that looked like an assault rifle, but the faint blue glow on the weapons indicated that these guns were definitely not as simple as ordinary assault rifles.

Closest to Xia Xingli and the others was a man in a white military uniform, and next to him stood a girl who looked to be only fifteen or sixteen years old.
The girl was wearing a very ordinary dress, standing half a step behind the man in the military uniform, her head bowed, not saying a word.

Xia Xingli ignored the man who had spoken and instead looked thoughtfully at the girl.
The girl’s face was obscured by her long, ice-blue hair, so Xia Xingli couldn’t see her appearance clearly, but at least she could be sure that she was a stranger she had never seen before.

That unknown ability fluctuation had come from her.

“What, have the hounds come to snatch people away?”

Xia Xingli’s words did not anger the man in the military uniform, because the team he commanded was indeed called the “Hounds,” an armed team belonging to the coalition government.

“Lady Xia Xingli, these thugs are all ability users who appeared suddenly, and they are also possibly related to the recent ‘Point Transfer Incident,’ so please understand, Lady Xia Xingli, that we need to take them away for questioning.”

“The matter of them almost killing my classmates, are we just going to let it go like that?”

“Your classmates did not suffer any substantial harm. It’s not very good to hold on to it too tightly, is it?”

Xia Xingli smiled. “What if I say no?”

“I’m afraid to say, Lady Xia Xingli, that I don’t think you have the ability to be our enemy in the ‘Magic Suppression Field’.”

The man’s voice was still indifferent, but the figures on the surrounding rooftops all raised their guns, their muzzles intentionally or unintentionally focused around Xia Xingli, as if they would open fire on her with just one command.

Xia Xingli frowned slightly.
She had been secretly trying to condense her ability just now, but found that no matter how she tried, her ability could not be condensed outside her body.
In other words, besides using energy to strengthen her body, she couldn’t use “Violet Spirit Ice Flame” at all right now.

‘It seems this is the so-called ‘Magic Suppression Field.’ That girl’s ability probably has the effect of preventing ability users within a certain range from using their abilities.’

‘What a troublesome ability.’

Fortunately, after a series of sudden events, the group of thugs didn’t dare to move rashly either.
Of course, it was not ruled out that they were intimidated by the guns in the “Hounds'” hands.
Unable to use their abilities either, they were like living targets in front of these guns.

“Lady Xia Xingli, we do not wish to have any conflict with you, so please also pay attention to your words and actions. Perhaps you are not afraid of the ‘Magic Suppression Field,’ but without your ability, I’m afraid you won’t be able to protect the people around you, right?”

Xia Xingli’s pupils suddenly constricted.
This man was clearly threatening her.
Although his words seemed quite euphemistic, he was indeed threatening her, and he was threatening her with the lives of Esther and Erin.

But Xia Xingli had to admit that the man was right.
Unable to use “Violet Spirit Ice Flame,” although she was not afraid of these “Hounds” after strengthening her body with energy, if she really had to fight them, Xia Xingli would inevitably be unable to protect Esther and Erin.
And these thugs hadn’t caused them any harm, so Xia Xingli had no intention of killing them.
In that case, letting these “Hounds” take this group of thugs away was perhaps the best solution.

Glancing at the girl again, Xia Xingli seemed to let out a very annoyed “tch.”

“Well, it’s not like I must have their lives. Since they’re related to that whatever incident, it seems alright to let you take them away.”

Seeing that Xia Xingli seemed to have reluctantly chosen to back down, a business-like smile appeared on the man’s face.

“It’s great that you can understand, Lady Xia Xingli. Then…”

“However, I, for one, hate it when people threaten me.”

Xia Xingli suddenly interrupted the man and sneered at him.

“Especially when they threaten me with the people around me.”