Chapter 39: The Rookie’s Live Battle: A Magical Girl’s Stand

Objectively speaking, the duo of a novice photographer and a rookie reporter wasn’t particularly outstanding in their abilities. There was no voice-over, no on-the-spot improvisation, and not even a single interview. The entire broadcast offered little in the way of commentary.

The screen, marred by shadowy cracks, was utterly captivated by Ling Xing’s figure, a pure testament to her fighting prowess. However, while they might have been subpar as reporters, for a live broadcast, the audience, it seemed, absolutely loved it.

[Just joined, saw it shared in the group. Is this a magical girl fighting monsters? I’m hooked!]

[What magical girl? This is a combatant!]

[Pfft, since when do combatants use magic armaments? This is clearly a magical girl’s exclusive gear.]

[Ah, right, right, right. Whatever you say, whatever you say.]

The number of people in the live stream grew steadily. Of all this, Ling Xing remained completely unaware.

At this very moment, she was intently observing several colossal insects as they crashed to the ground. She watched as the giant insects opened their massive jaws, roaring fiercely, their compound eyes swiveling as they hunted for fresh flesh and blood.

If she were to let them scatter and deal with them one by one, there might still be a chance. Even if she couldn’t pierce their defenses, her agile movements could allow her to evade a D-class giant insect and buy time. However, Ling Xing had no intention of doing so. That would be meaningless.

Ling Xing pulled the last unlit firework from the overturned truck. Before these acutely sensitive monsters, Ling Xing lit the firework.

Whoosh—

—Boom!

Brilliant colors burst mid-air, accompanied by a deafening explosion. For these highly perceptive giant insects, this was nothing short of a direct provocation. The giant insects, which had been scanning their surroundings for fleeing civilians to attack, now uniformly turned their bodies, fixing their gazes upon her.

“Hey, hey, where do you think you’re going, ignoring a cute, beautiful girl like me? Foraging? Is there anyone out there more delectable than a beauty like myself?”

Unaware that she was currently being scrutinized, Ling Xing clapped her small hands together and, with a cheerful smile, flipped a middle finger at the giant insects. While she didn’t know if these monsters possessed emotions, Ling Xing certainly wouldn’t be outdone in terms of sheer bravado!

[So cute!]

[I don’t know, let me try a bite.]

[@Imperial Ministry of Truth ↑ There are bugs up there.]

“—GAAAH!!!”

The four giant insects roared.

If they were to attack all at once, Ling Xing would instantly meet the same fate as that ancient figure, Lord Shang, from over two millennia ago. But if she couldn’t hold them all back, and even one ignored Ling Xing to forage, any innocent civilians who hadn’t managed to escape would be devoured. The combat power of a single giant insect was comparable to an active armored squad. Ordinary civilians had no chance of survival; at best, they’d be eaten until the monsters were too full to bother chasing others.

There was no discernible path to victory. Nevertheless, she had to act.

The giant insects had already begun their charge, their immense bodies making the ground tremble and crack, carving long furrows in the earth as they surged forward. Ling Xing, before she could launch a second firework, swiftly used her toe to flick one from the ground, aiming it at a specific insect.

Whoosh—

The brilliant orb of light, trailing sparks, drew the giant insect’s attention, causing it to slow down and open its massive jaws to snap at the projectile.

—Boom!

The firework exploded. It had no effect on the giant insect; it was impossible for a small firework to cause it any harm. However, it did slow its movements, causing it to fall a beat behind the other three giant insects.

One.

Without pausing, Ling Xing’s toes lightly tapped the ground as she turned, actively confronting the now-blinded giant insect. She deliberately closed the distance, ensuring its attack wouldn’t coincide with the others, but would instead come early enough for Ling Xing to still barely parry.

“GAAH!”

A腥臭 wind assaulted her as the already-blinded giant insect, completely oblivious, hurtled straight towards Ling Xing. Meanwhile, Ling Xing completed her run-up and leaped into the air, landing on the pitiful, overturned, and deformed truck that the insect had previously struck. Then, guiding it to collide with the truck once more, she performed an acrobatic feat, single-handedly pushing off the vehicle to vault over the giant insect’s back.

The unfortunate truck suffered another impact, violently shoved by the enraged giant insect. Conveniently, it slammed head-on into another charging giant insect. Thus, the two massive insects wrestled and collided with each other, with the truck’s wreckage caught between them, utterly crushing the poor vehicle into a twisted mass of scrap metal.

Three.

Having exhausted all options, it was now a pure contest of skill. Drawing her short sword, Ling Xing positioned it against the insect’s jaw, adopting a stance to withstand the impact. Yet, she had still underestimated the terrifying power of the giant insect.

—These giant insects, when first sighted, had capsized a Soviet missile cruiser in the water. That Slava-class cruiser sank forever in the Black Sea; as a flagship, it met an ignominious end, directly rammed and capsized, never experiencing the fleet engagement it was designed for. In terms of sheer brute force, human technology still couldn’t contend with these monsters, which weren’t even considered high-level.

Consequently, even though she had braced herself fully for the impact, and her short sword did indeed hold against the giant insect’s lower jaw—preventing its steel-crushing mandibles from giving Ling Xing a ‘head massage’—she was still sent flying over ten meters by the violent collision, tumbling clumsily for a dozen rotations on the ground before finally scrambling back to her feet, covered in dust. Had she not relied on rolling to dissipate the force, that single blow would likely have reduced Ling Xing to the same tattered state as the unfortunate truck nearby.

“Cough… cough…”

At least, she could still stand. Ling Xing wiped the trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth, then, holding her gun in one hand, fired several shots at the two grappling giant insects.

Bang, bang—BOOM—!

The bullets didn’t strike the giant insects; instead, they precisely hit the truck’s fuel tank. The diesel fuel, which normally wouldn’t ignite so easily, miraculously combusted, erupting in a powerful explosion. This was another aspect of magic armaments. While incapable of piercing the defenses of heavily armored monsters, for this purpose, it was more than sufficient. However…

[Oh, oh! Is this a magical girl battle? Solved in one go?]

[Idiot, these are D-class Rustblood Bugs. They can take a dozen direct hits from 125mm artillery without flinching. What good is a small explosion?]

[Magic armaments aren’t strong enough to break their defense. What’s the point of fighting? She’s definitely dead, right?]

The live stream’s comments were in heated debate, but Ling Xing was oblivious to all of it, and it offered her no assistance whatsoever. She merely wiped her lip, watching as the flames gradually dispersed, revealing the forms of two giant insects that showed almost no discernible damage. She had expended all her effort in maneuvering, used up most of her magic, maximized all available environmental resources, and ultimately, at the cost of injury, barely managed to last one round. She had inflicted no substantial damage, and the giant insects didn’t even seem to feel any pain.

The only good news was that Ling Xing was still standing, rather than having met a fate similar to Lord Shang, who was ‘loved to death’ by five horse-girls, causing the live stream to delve into a ‘heavy content’ domain and be tragically banned.

“Cough… they really have no care for a cute, beautiful girl like me, do they? I truly don’t know what the Magical Girl Organization is thinking, claiming that these brainless monsters are connected to our Dark Organization, that the Dark Organization unleashed them.”

Even with her nerves taut and maintaining peak condition at all times, at this rate, she wouldn’t last two rounds. But, so be it. The Magical Girl Organization was attempting to release monsters and frame the Dark Organization, thereby creating a pretext for military expansion and rearmament…

Therefore, if Ling Xing, as a combatant for the Dark Organization, fought to the very end against the monsters on live broadcast, their scheme would at least not be fully realized. At the very least, innocent civilians wouldn’t suffer widespread calamity due to the Magical Girl Organization’s conspiracy. Wasn’t this precisely why she had sent Chao Wu away? It was because she didn’t want to involve such a pure girl, choosing to face the problem alone, that she had rejected Chao Wu’s fervent affections. So, let it be.