Chapter 42: The Unforeseen Trap

It appears your individualistic tactics aren’t proving effective; if you persist in this manner, you’ll likely never manage to get close to Baoyu.

Polaris’s diminutive form, coupled with the shield she wielded, had become the paramount challenge; the tide of battle, turning against them, compelled the disadvantaged to rethink their strategy and make crucial adjustments.

Asherah and String Moon, having tumbled and then sprung back to their feet, instinctively exchanged glances, each recognizing the other’s predicament. With their current individual approaches, victory seemed elusive, and by all logical accounts, cooperation was the sole path to enhance their chances.

Yet, in the very next instant, both simultaneously averted their gaze, each assessing the formidable duo of Baoyu and Polaris through their own lenses. Cooperation, it seemed, remained an impossible choice for them in the moment.

Polaris was intimately familiar with their current plight; despite recognizing that cooperation was their only hope, their distinct personalities, varied experiences, and an underlying unfamiliarity prevented them from working together, leaving them to fight their own battles within the confines of their individual strengths.

Their disparate battle rhythms, conflicting strategies, and a fundamental lack of mutual trust rendered them utterly incapable of ‘coordinating’ in the heat of the moment.

This challenge was not unique to them; indeed, almost every magical girl team grappled with the same dilemma. Breaking free from one’s comfort zone was an arduous task, and genuinely placing trust in others proved even more difficult than one might imagine.

Nevertheless, they absolutely had to learn to cooperate; relying solely on themselves would be an impossible path to survival in this world.

“Baoyu, continue your assault. Combine all your attack methods to completely seal off their possibilities.”

The chilling command from Polaris caught Baoyu slightly off guard. Yet, ever one to execute decisions with precision, she understood the immense value of this training session and resolved not to squander the opportunity with any extraneous emotions. “I understand, Senior,” she affirmed.

Asherah spearheaded the charge, her body’s instinct acting as a skill in itself, desperately trying to force open a slim possibility. String Moon, meanwhile, moved with the solitary grace of a dancer, her warblades weaving through the air with a captivating elegance. Despite their efforts, they remained unable to overcome their disadvantage. Confronted by Baoyu, whose attack rhythm grew steadily calmer and more precise with each passing moment, they found themselves utterly incapable of breaching Polaris’s impenetrable, brass-wall defense.

Every time Baoyu pulled the trigger, it struck not only as a physical threat but also as a gavel of judgment resounding within their hearts, intensifying their anxiety with each passing moment.

To combat their waning momentum, Asherah and String Moon were forced to deploy additional measures. After her body, too slow to dodge, was struck by a bullet for the third time, String Moon, sensing her condition rapidly deteriorating, once again flung her warblade at Baoyu below. Yet, whether through miscalculation or some other factor, Baoyu observed the blade’s trajectory to be wildly off target, rendering it utterly incapable of hitting her, even without Polaris’s protective intervention.

Recalling String Moon’s earlier concealed tactic, Baoyu remained vigilant, refusing to drop her guard. She swiftly sprinted away from the warblade’s path with utmost speed.

Before she could even take two steps, however, an unforeseen resistance abruptly halted her. It was as if an invisible wall had materialized, blocking her path. Baoyu snapped her head up, only to find the warblade she had just evaded now suspended in the air, its rapidly spinning blade transformed into a fan-like apparatus, ceaselessly generating powerful winds that drastically impeded her movement.

String Moon, astonishingly, had abandoned her warblade’s throwing attack. Capitalizing on Baoyu’s diminished mobility, she swiftly closed the distance, seemingly intent on initiating close-quarters combat. Instead of admiring the versatile combat style and precise operability of String Moon’s enchanted weapon, Baoyu felt a pang of regret for her opponent. Had they coordinated with Asherah earlier, they might well have caught Baoyu’s side off guard. Now, however, String Moon was forced to take an immense risk, sacrificing her primary means of attack, merely to get close.

Compared to courage, this seemed more like a case of a donkey at the end of its tether (TL Note: A Chinese idiom, ‘qianlü jiqiong,’ referring to having exhausted one’s limited tricks or abilities).

Naturally, this move was also precisely timed to her pistol’s reload interval. From the battle’s outset, she had consistently reloaded after every six shots—a pattern String Moon must have observed. Having just fired her sixth bullet, String Moon was undoubtedly exploiting this momentary window of vulnerability in her offensive output to execute such a daring maneuver.

This time, however, I must beg their pardon. To overcome adversaries like them, who clearly surpassed me in both experience and raw strength, I, too, had been constantly strategizing.

Raising the pistol that had already discharged six rounds, Baoyu took aim at the rapidly approaching String Moon, her confident demeanor suggesting, to all appearances, that a bullet still remained in the chamber.

“!”

String Moon suddenly grasped the situation, frantically manipulating the surrounding airflow in a desperate attempt to alter her trajectory. Yet, the resounding gunshot and the sudden, violent impact in her chest made her gasp sharply. She had been hit. This newcomer, whom she had so casually dismissed, had laid a trap for her from the very outset. The enchanted pistol’s magazine held not six rounds, but seven, or perhaps even more.

Her shot body reeled precariously in mid-air, her plan to capitalize on this opening for close combat utterly shattered. Nevertheless, this turn of events meant both sides were momentarily deprived of their offensive capabilities. If only she could draw a little closer, perhaps—

An obstacle suddenly intruded upon String Moon’s vision, abruptly halting her thoughts. Almost simultaneously, her body collided with something solid, sending her world spinning violently.

Swiftly adjusting her posture to prevent a headfirst impact, String Moon then saw Asherah sprawled beside her, feet comically pointing skyward. It appeared Polaris had just tossed her over.

“Don’t cause me more trouble.”

“Huh? You’re the one! Your wind is blowing all over me! And if you knew that trick earlier, why didn’t you say anything?!”

Their exasperation was on the verge of erupting, and just as they seemed poised for an argument, neither willing to yield, a shadow materialized before them, promptly putting an end to their pointless bickering.

“Seniors.”

Baoyu softly called out to the two figures before her. Having meticulously maintained her distance, she now stood a mere three meters away, the hunting rifle in her grasp, its dark muzzle aimed squarely at her astonished prey.

“Now isn’t the time for quarreling, you know.” The silver-haired hunter offered a slight smile before pulling the trigger.

“Boom!”

A dazzling blue ‘gift flower’ (TL Note: A metaphor for an explosive, beautiful yet destructive magical attack, often associated with fireworks) erupted precisely where they stood. String Moon and Asherah, executing emergency evasive maneuvers at the final second, narrowly avoided the catastrophic outcome of a direct hit. Nevertheless, the sheer power unleashed by that shot remained utterly astonishing. Blue magic, exploding like a vibrant firework, bloomed before their eyes, intermingled with scorching heatwaves, thunderous roars, and scattered debris. Both were flung backward by the concussive force of the blast, landing sprawled and utterly defenseless on the ground.

“Cough, cough… that’s really overwhelming…”

Asherah struggled to her feet, hacking twice to expel the dirt she had inadvertently inhaled. As a comrade, she had always found Baoyu utterly dependable, yet she had never anticipated such an overwhelming presence from her as an adversary. While Baoyu’s prowess was undeniably bolstered by the senior’s support and protection, her performance had, nonetheless, far surpassed Asherah’s expectations.

If this continued, victory or defeat aside, both she and String Moon would suffer a truly humiliating loss. After the words she had just spoken to their senior, how could they possibly allow themselves to be so ignominiously kicked out of the match?

They couldn’t possibly lose like this. Asherah glanced at String Moon, who had risen silently, her grip tight on her warblade. This person, she mused, must be thinking the exact same thing; it was likely the only point of resonance between the two of them at this precise moment.

Even if only once, they needed to earn their senior’s approval for their performance, and just as importantly, they had to properly showcase their capabilities as seniors to Baoyu.

“Hey, do you have any more hidden moves? If this keeps up, I’ll really be beaten into submission.”

“If you can keep up with me, I don’t mind getting a bit more serious.”

“If you were serious enough, wouldn’t you have avoided being hit four times?”

“…”

A gust of wind, embodying its user’s vexed mood, swept directly towards Asherah. Before Asherah could utter another word, String Moon leaped into the air, distancing herself.

“Hey, you!”

It was, as expected, utterly impossible to communicate with her—what an exasperating individual. Despite her claims of still being able to fight, anyone with a discerning eye could see she was clearly at the end of her tether. To hope for peaceful cooperation with her was indeed a futile endeavor.

Given this realization, for the sake of victory, Asherah knew she had to initiate some changes. She closely matched String Moon’s rhythm and launched her own charge.

After these recent setbacks, Asherah had also pinpointed their most significant problem: their uncoordinated attack rhythms. They had failed to simultaneously pose a substantial threat to both the senior and Baoyu, thus enabling Baoyu to freely maneuver from a distance and unleash her attacks. At this juncture, Asherah no longer harbored any expectation that String Moon would voluntarily manipulate the airflow to restrict the senior’s movements. Since String Moon seemed intent on fighting a solitary battle to her defeat, Asherah resolved to forcefully appropriate her power.

The swirling wall of wind, conjured by the warblade, relentlessly disrupted Baoyu’s attacks and movements. However, String Moon, now with virtually no margin for error, dared not venture into close combat, a development that remained well within Baoyu’s expectations. Yet, just as Baoyu aimed her rifle at Asherah, who was sprinting towards Polaris, seemingly intent on another fruitless endeavor, the agile cat-girl executed a maneuver that utterly confounded her.

Asherah abruptly changed course, veering away from Polaris and instead hurtling with astonishing speed towards the very edge of String Moon’s wind wall. What was she doing? There was nothing there; she would only smash headfirst into the tempest—

“Don’t underestimate me!”

In the very next moment, accompanied by Asherah’s fervent yell, she pushed off with both feet, forcing her defenseless body completely into the wind wall. The wind wall, which had been on the verge of dissipating, underwent an unexpected transformation due to internal airflow variations. It was hard to say whether this was a coincidence or if Asherah’s instinct had caught the change in wind direction, but she felt herself propelled from the ground by a wild force, her muscles tensing instantly. Wind pierced through every inch of her skin, and the buzzing of wind pressure against her eardrums filled her ears.

In that fleeting moment, she ceased to be a running magical girl; she became an arrow, a beast, a blade gliding with the wind. Propelled by the gale, she arced through the air like a breathtaking streak of light, plunging directly towards Baoyu, utterly without warning.

This was certainly not a coordinated effort they had devised on the fly, as String Moon’s surprised expression clearly indicated this development was not part of her plan. Moreover, Asherah, by plunging into the airflow, had sustained further injury. Yet, despite these drawbacks, she had, in that instant, forged an unprecedented opportunity.

Such a wild, almost beastly madness. An Asherah possessing such intuition would undoubtedly be the most formidable wild card in any situation.

“…”

Polaris, having observed the entire sequence, allowed her step to falter for a brief moment.

Consequently, bypassing Polaris, whose reaction was a half-beat too slow, Asherah’s fist struck directly at the hunting rifle Baoyu held defensively before her. The immense impact instantly jarred the rifle from Baoyu’s grasp, sending her tumbling to the ground. Before Baoyu could even adapt to Asherah’s speed, a punch from right before her eyes already invaded her vision; the force of the blow grazed Baoyu’s cheek. Fortunately, Polaris’s protective support finally arrived, forcing Asherah, having landed a successful hit, to pull back and prevent her from further extending her advantage.

“Alright! Just like that! Did you see that, Senior, Baoyu, and you, String Moon!”

Her exultant demeanor suggested she was even more thrilled than if she were standing on a podium, flaunting a gold medal to a crowd.

An unpredicted and audacious attempt had succeeded, igniting her passion in an instant. The satisfaction she had just achieved swiftly transformed into a fervent hunger for greater victory. She would relentlessly pursue this joy, constantly striving to surpass her best self.

Once she entered this state, nothing would hold her back.

“She’s completely fired up, isn’t she?”

Baoyu, flexing her wrist, which throbbed with a dull ache, rose to her feet. She had initially intended to retrieve her hunting rifle, but found it already carried away by String Moon’s wind, growing increasingly distant, clearly out of reach before the battle’s end.

What a bold attempt—to single-handedly leap into that near-meat grinder of wind, without any cooperation from her comrade, and actually seize a fleeting opportunity that normal people could never grasp.

“Hey! String Moon, one more time.” Clenching her fists, Asherah’s fighting spirit burned with unprecedented intensity. “One more time, let me end this battle.”

String Moon remained silent, her answer coming in the form of a flying warblade and a wall of wind that sealed off Baoyu’s retreat. A current of air left before Asherah conveyed her attitude: ‘If you think you can win this, then show me again.’

“That’s more like it. My apologies, Senior, but this time you won’t stop me.”

Plunging into the wind and using it to propel herself forward, Asherah, like a sprinter crossing the finish line, broke through Polaris’s blockade in a blink. After taking two of Baoyu’s bullets head-on, the unyielding swift shadow closed the distance to her most advantageous range. With a swift kick, she knocked the pistol—Baoyu’s last remaining threat—from her hands, using that very strike as her declaration of victory.

“Good!”

The excited beast watched the pistol fly through the air, already seeing her successful future. The final step to claim victory was complete; all that remained was to deliver a decisive punch to the utterly defenseless prey before her, who had lost all means of retaliation.

“Got you!”

****

However, Asherah, lost in her own world, forgot an old adage: ‘The greatest danger often lies on the eve of victory.’

Indeed, ‘one who travels a hundred miles is halfway at ninety.’ If one cannot firmly grasp every last shred of vitality until the very end, then no matter how dazzlingly brilliant the future they envision, it will remain nothing more than an illusory morning dream, destined to shatter into ephemeral fragments.

Yes, illusory.

“Eh…?”

Her fist cut through the air, yet touched nothing.

The space was eerily silent; even the airflow stirred by her punch seemed to freeze. Asherah’s pupils dilated slightly, her heart skipping a beat—her target, Baoyu, had vanished.

Her hairs stood on end instantly, and a jolt like ice water splashed down her spine.

Where was Baoyu? Had she escaped? Impossible. It was only a fleeting moment of distraction; she couldn’t possess such powerful mobility. So how had she disappeared from her sight?

“Don’t zone out! Look out for your—”

“Shhh!”

Before she could fully register String Moon’s warning, a stinging reality pressed against her tender skin from her unguarded back, piercing through the girl’s fiery passion and dreams, pushing deeper, deeper, tearing through illusory flesh.

“…Wha… what… ?”

Asherah looked down in disbelief, watching the sharpest part of a metallic silver object emerge from her front.

The situation instantly took a drastic turn for the worse.

“Did you forget, Asherah?”

Baoyu’s voice came from behind her, slightly breathless, whether from exertion or the same kind of excitement she had felt earlier. As she spoke, the sharp blade withdrew from the defeated girl’s body.

“Besides two guns, I have another enchanted weapon.”

The victor’s outstretched hand caught the pistol falling from mid-air. Only one bullet remained in the magazine, but it didn’t matter; that single shot would be enough.

“The ‘Thunderclap,’ whose power reverberates like thunder; the ‘Inkfall,’ which permeates and penetrates all things like raindrops…”

“And this,” Baoyu said, looking at the dagger in her hand, “I call it the ‘Obscurity,’ which vanishes within the rain curtain. Though, to be honest, I haven’t had a chance to demonstrate it to everyone before.”

The muzzle pressed directly against the gruesome wound. More than the physical pain, the defeat caused by her carelessness was far more agonizing.

“Then, you’ve worked hard, Asherah.”

Baoyu whispered softly, her fingertip resting on the trigger, the pressure light but utterly decisive.

“Bang!”

Asherah could only hear a ringing in her ears; the world seemed to shatter into fragments with that explosive sound. Her trembling body was utterly overwhelmed by the impact, collapsing onto the ground for all to see.

She had been… so close.