Chapter 30: Yet Another Surprise

The battle had lasted only a few minutes, yet the ground beneath Kexin’s feet was already a scene of utter devastation.
Nothing—neither concrete nor steel, nor even ceramic or reinforced glass—could withstand the corrosive assault of the monster.

Anything the green liquid touched began to dissolve instantly, and it would only stop once the reaction had completely burned itself out.

Kexin had tried putting up a mana shield in front of her, but the moment the acid hit, the barrier disintegrated.

The only small blessing was that the spider’s venom moved slowly when it was sprayed from its mouth. With no reliable way to block it, her only option was to time her dodges carefully.

She still had no idea how to finish this giant spider off, but her mind was already wandering ahead to the next problem—
how she was going to explain this disaster to the public come morning.

Collapsed buildings could be passed off as gas explosions, sure—but how was she supposed to explain all these gaping holes and melted pavement?

And if gas pipelines kept “exploding” every few days, the public would start asking uncomfortable questions.

That was why the Special Investigation Bureau usually deployed anomaly barriers, sealing combat zones off from normal space whenever magical girls engaged a monster.

This time, though, the situation had clearly exceeded Bureau projections.

“Kexin, can you handle the anomaly on your own?”

“I can’t say for sure. This one’s a high-tier Gamma-class.”

She had faced Gamma-class monsters before, but always as part of a team, under the lead of other Bureau magical girls.

On her own, she was confident she could take down a freshly ascended Gamma-class.
But this spider was something else entirely.

“Understood. I’ll try to reroute other units to support Qisi.”

“Got it. I’ll do what I can here.”

As she spoke, Kexin triggered her mana thrusters, sharply changing direction to dodge another glob of that revolting green liquid. Then she pulled the trigger—her rifle’s next shot already fully charged.

The spider couldn’t attack indefinitely. Through her mana vision, Kexin could see the surge of energy gathering near its head before each strike.

That buildup took several seconds, meaning the creature couldn’t fire again immediately.
And during that time, it seemed unable to move—its entire body rigid, all mana focused into the attack.

If she could just hit it now—

Her eyes narrowed. The charged mana round flew true, slamming into one of the spider’s legs.

The shot’s power rivaled a high-caliber grenade shell. Normally, a monster would’ve been blasted into pulp.

But this was a Gamma-class.
At the instant of impact, a purple shimmer flared across the creature’s body—a mana shield.

The projectile detonated against the barrier prematurely, a massive fireball consuming the spider in blinding light.

Kexin, however, knew better than to celebrate. That blast hadn’t truly hurt it.

Not enough power.
And her current output was already at the limit—her transformation device capped how much mana she could channel at once.

For most magical girls, that limit was there to prevent overexertion.
For someone like Kexin, who possessed an unusually vast mana pool, it felt more like a seal.

Still, the explosion’s shockwave did what the damage hadn’t—it knocked the spider over, flipping the massive creature into one of the acid pits it had created earlier.

The residual liquid splashed across its own body, corroding the thick, chitinous armor that covered it.

The spider writhed violently, trying to climb out, but every motion only drenched it in more acid.

A chance! Kexin thought instantly, already adjusting her flight vector.
A flare of mana ignited behind her as she accelerated toward it.

“Form change — Close Combat Mode One.”

At her command, her weapon automatically shifted.
The long sniper rifle folded and reshaped into a weapon over a meter long — the barrel forming a razor-edged blade. It resembled a polearm, something between a spear and a halberd, sleek and deadly.

The spider, sensing the killing intent rushing toward it, abandoned its struggle and began gathering mana in its abdomen.
Its earlier shield flickered and vanished—the redirected energy instead glowing violently beneath its belly.

Kexin noticed the change in mana flow immediately, but she didn’t slow down.
She’d come this far; she wasn’t letting the opportunity slip away.

If it was going to counterattack—she’d tank it head-on.

Then she understood what it was doing.

The spider’s abdomen burst open, spewing out a storm of white threads.
Kexin barely had time to react before several strands wrapped around her legs.

She swung her weapon to cut them, but the silk suddenly went taut—
a violent jerk wrenched her out of the air and slammed her hard into the ground.

“What the—!?”

Even with her shield, the impact left her dizzy, her vision going black for an instant.
She quickly shook it off and leapt back to her feet.

The whole area was covered in silk—gleaming white webs clinging to every surface.

How much of that stuff did it spew?!

Just one thread had nearly crushed her; she didn’t even want to imagine what would happen if she got fully wrapped up.

“God, I hate bugs,” she muttered. “Especially when they’re monsters shaped like them.”

The creature itself, though, looked far worse off.
That last burst had blown half its body apart; the pit was littered with mangled remains, a strange vapor rising from the mess.

“Don’t tell me it tried to take me with it,” Kexin muttered grimly.

If that explosion had gone off a second later, she would have been caught in it.

Not taking chances, she drew her sidearm and fired several shots into what was left of the creature’s head.
She scanned for mana signatures—none remained.

Unless this thing could resurrect, it was dead.

Still, to be sure, she fired one last round, then tossed in a beacon tag.
The Bureau’s cleanup team could handle the rest.

Now she had to get to Qisi. She had no idea what kind of situation her partner was facing.

“Agent Guan, this is Xia Kexin. Gamma-class spider anomaly has been neutralized. I’m moving to the Fuwen Building.”

“Neutralized? Already?”

“Yes.”

There had been a bit of luck involved, but the monster was gone, and that was what mattered.

Sirens echoed through the streets as she flew toward the city center.
Evacuation orders were already spreading around Fuwen Tower—
the official reason given: suspected terrorist activity.

Avoiding civilian eyes, Kexin approached the combat zone silently and swiftly.
Even before she reached the building, she heard gunfire and explosions echoing through the night.

Then, suddenly—
a dark figure was thrown out through an entire glass wall of the skyscraper.

Kexin’s eyes widened. It was a magical girl—unmistakable from the Bureau-issued combat uniform.
She dove forward, catching the falling girl before she hit the ground.

The girl was unconscious, completely limp in Kexin’s arms.

Before Kexin could even process what kind of monster could’ve done that, she felt it—
a faint, flickering mana presence emanating from within the tower.

Clutching the fallen girl close, she shot upward, just as a volley of spikes ripped through the air like machine-gun fire.

Her visor flashed red—
Threat Level: Gamma-4, the highest class within the Gamma category.
Anything beyond that… was Delta-class.

Above the building, multiple magical girls were already engaged, their combat uniforms marking them as freelance operatives temporarily mobilized by the Bureau.

They were colorful, each with unique designs—but under the differences, Kexin could tell they were all built from the same base model.

Through her HUD, she confirmed what she suspected—
not a single B-rank among them.

And inside that building… the fight was still raging.

“Get her to the Bureau’s medical team,” Kexin ordered, handing the unconscious girl to one of the others. “She’s yours now.”

Without waiting for a reply, she turned and shot straight for the skyscraper’s rooftop.

A storm of massive spikes burst from the windows to intercept her—each one as thick as a marker pen.

Calling them needles didn’t really do them justice.

Still, aside from their speed and kinetic force, they carried no other enchantment.

Kexin poured power into her shield, cranked it to maximum output—
and charged straight through.