Chapter 36: How Can I Find the Location?

Ke Xin ultimately knew that now was not the time to fuss over Qisi; the greatest threat had still not been eliminated. Although there were no magical fluctuations detectable nearby, both of them understood that the enemy had not left.

“By the way, did you see what kind of monster it was?”

“No.” Qisi shook her head. The moment Ke Xin was attacked and knocked down, she wanted to go help, but the attacks coming constantly from invisible sources kept her occupied—she couldn’t even get close.

Merely defending against the monster’s attacks had already drained her magical reserves. As she inched closer to Ke Xin, it seemed to help accelerate her magic recovery.

“All I know is that this thing only knows how to ambush from the shadows. So annoying.” Qisi really wanted to locate the monster’s core and beat it up, but just continuing to fly in the air had already pushed her to her limits.

This meant that from now on, they could only rely on Ke Xin as the main countermeasure. Even if she couldn’t eliminate the monster, they would have to hold out until the reinforcements Mang Mengya mentioned arrived.

“That’s true. But I think I have a clue.”

Ke Xin briefly recounted her recent experiences, also organizing her thoughts.

Whether it was the sudden attacks or the objects blocking her movement, all of it pointed to some kind of thread. Considering the recent series of events, it wasn’t hard to guess that the monster she had lost track of earlier was probably the same one they were facing now.

At the Special Investigation Bureau, Ke Xin had also heard about the traces left at the last location of that monster, and analysis confirmed that it was a special substance structurally similar to spider silk.

Monsters like this were extremely troublesome, and it was hard to understand their exact form, but one thing was certain: they usually carried the characteristics of some tangible objects.

Hence, there were common beta-class monster categories, like wolf-shaped, humanoid, and so on—one of the most frequently observed types in monster sightings.

Most cases the Special Investigation Bureau handled were related to beta-class monsters, and the small monsters on the ground now, killed earlier, were primarily spider-shaped—a common form.

These spider monsters weren’t moving aimlessly; they were under the control of a higher entity—a spider-like monster.

“I shouldn’t have let that guy get away.”

Ke Xin recalled a few days ago: if she had been more alert, she would have discovered earlier that she had been tracking only a decoy.

But if a battle with the spider monster had erupted prematurely, especially in a crowded city, the consequences would have been unbearable.

Unlike monsters that could act without regard for consequences, magical girls in the Special Investigation Bureau had to consider far more factors.

“What’s the situation?”

“Nothing, I just had an idea, though it might not work.”

There were quite a few spider-like monsters recorded in the Bureau’s files, but none were identical copies. Each had its own attack style. The only common trait was that they could spit silk.

However, exactly what the silk could be used for varied from monster to monster.

“Can you think of anything useful? It’s been so quiet; it feels bad.”

“I’m thinking.”

Perhaps because Ke Xin had deployed an all-encompassing protective shield around them, the monster couldn’t take any action. Or perhaps it was plotting something else. Either way, Qisi wasn’t used to such quiet.

It was as if the monster had already snuck away, leaving the two of them to play a mental game with the air itself.

“Could it be that the monster has actually left?”

“I don’t know. But there’s a way to check.” Ke Xin looked at the girl beside her and gave a mischievous smile.

“W-what way?”

Before Qisi could react, she got a solid kick to the backside, launching her like a cannonball.

At a slightly higher speed, she could have broken the sound barrier.

Of course, Ke Xin wasn’t doing this just to punish Qisi for her usual antics. Before kicking her, she had reinforced Qisi with an enhanced shield and simultaneously activated detection magic.

If the spider monster was manipulating its silk from the shadows, it would have to use magic, at most trying to block ordinary detection spells or devices.

Ke Xin, a magical girl with astonishing magical power, could finely detect magic without worrying about consumption—though she wasn’t skilled at it yet, and the range she could cover was small.

So most of the time, she didn’t use this ability.

But the situation was different now. She was certain the spider monster was nearby and plotting something else, only interrupted by unexpected factors.

Ke Xin focused her attention on Qisi. Through her magic detection vision, she saw strands of magic-infused silk weaving a huge web in the air.

Wherever Qisi went, the threads broke upon touching her reinforced shield. The magic in these threads was so weak that it was almost at the level of ambient magical energy; without careful detection, one might have mistaken it for mere interference.

Hence, the silk wasn’t particularly strong compared to ordinary spider silk. Ke Xin was also monitoring the shield strength around Qisi.

Contact with the magical silk had almost no effect on the shield.

From this, it seemed that these silk threads couldn’t be used offensively, nor could they knock someone away, let alone form a cage capable of trapping Ke Xin.

Perhaps these were just leftover remnants, used before, leaving only minimal magical traces—but there were far too many of them.

The main problem, of course, was that Ke Xin couldn’t trace the monster’s real location through these traces. If only she could locate it—and this place was deserted…

At that moment, a silk thread appeared in Ke Xin’s vision with noticeably higher magical intensity. It rose swiftly from the ground, targeting Ke Xin herself rather than the scrambling Qisi.

“What—”

Ke Xin instinctively raised a defensive stance in front of her. Almost immediately, the spider monster’s attack struck her shield, releasing massive energy, ionizing the surrounding air, and creating a blinding flash that made her close her eyes.

The magic in the thread was fully consumed by the shield, erasing the silk as well.

Although her precautions prevented serious damage, feeling the brief direct magical impact gave Ke Xin a rough sense of the monster’s power.

Calling in an A-rank magical girl for backup was by no means an unnecessary move. Any other magical girl of Ke Xin’s generation might have been incapacitated by a single direct hit.

The attack was powerful and highly precise. The monster clearly knew her location, meaning it was monitoring everything happening at the scene.

How exactly it managed this, Ke Xin couldn’t sense any other detection spells.