Chapter 69: The Monster Noticed

As Ke Xin hoisted the Magic Cannon onto her shoulder and began channeling the initial magic, a holographic targeting scope appeared above the barrel. Pale blue data streams flowed silently across the mirror surface of the scope.

Beneath her feet, the pink magic array slowly rotated and expanded, drawing in the magic scattered around the environment. Tiny pink light dots gathered from all directions, merging with Ke Xin’s own magical power and feeding into the cannon.

Up until now, everything was proceeding smoothly.

Meanwhile, in the distance, Yan Luofi nimbly sidestepped the giant’s attack, her pink hair tracing a sharp arc through the air. Every now and then, she’d glance back to fire an arrow—if the skeleton giant hadn’t been so quick, it would have been hit by dozens already.

Yan Luofi leapt again, dodging under the giant’s massive foot. She flashed a confident smile and called out, “Hey, hey, can you keep your eyes open? Look here!”

Her arrow flew true, striking the giant in the knee. The left side of the giant’s body lost its support and sank momentarily, but it quickly regained its balance. This wasn’t an attempt to inflict real damage; it was a strategic move to make sure the skeleton controlling the giant stayed focused on her.

At the same time, Yuan Lingfeng was swiftly darting through the tall grass, her halberd dancing gracefully in her hands. Reaching the giant’s blind spot, she stopped suddenly and leapt high into the air. Her halberd swung in a powerful arc, sending a magic slash toward the giant’s leg. “Take this!”

The attack landed precisely, causing trouble for the giant, even though it didn’t feel pain.

As the giant started to react, Yuan Lingfeng vanished like the wind, retreating before the giant could retaliate.

Nearby, Bai Xihan silently transformed her weapon into a water gun launcher. With a focused look, she adjusted the firing angle and shot out a blob of transparent, sticky substance. “Heh, let’s try this out.”

The skeleton monster immediately sensed something was wrong and attempted to kick Bai Xihan away, but missed. When the giant lifted its foot, it was met with immense resistance.

After several failed attempts, the giant’s foot couldn’t move. Just as everyone thought they had successfully bound the giant zombie, the skeleton monster raised its staff and cast a magic slash that cleanly severed the giant’s ankle. In moments, the giant grew a new foot where the old one had been.

Upon seeing this, Tang Yu’an and the others widened their eyes in shock. The giant slammed its newly regenerated foot onto the ground, and Bai Xihan’s figure vanished from sight.

“Damn bug!” The skeleton monster seemed to be venting its frustration, stomping on the ground repeatedly.

“Bai Xihan-senpai!” Tang Yu’an cried out, about to rush forward, but a strong force pulled her back. She turned to see Nekozaki holding her arm.

“Sigh, Bai-senpai is doing that again, huh,” Nekozaki remarked, with an unusually calm tone.

“What do you mean?” Tang Yu’an asked, still in shock.

“Just watch,” Nekozaki said, pointing toward the giant’s foot.

There, a blob of the same sticky substance used to bind the giant was quickly moving across the ground. Once it had created enough distance from the monster, the blob rose into the air, reforming into Bai Xihan’s human form.

Clearly, just stomping on her wasn’t enough to finish her off—she was like a cockroach that wouldn’t die, though Nekozaki wisely kept that thought to herself.

“Is this Bai-senpai’s special magic?” Tang Yu’an asked.

“Sort of. She can stick to any surface, no matter what it is. It’s perfect for infiltration,” Nekozaki explained.

Ke Xin, from a distance, witnessed the scene. Though she was aware of Bai Xihan’s abilities, she couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

By now, the countdown for the magic accumulation had passed the 90-second mark. Ke Xin was pushing the magic system to its limit, outputting full power.

“Everyone, just 90 more seconds!” she called out.

“No problem!” Yan Luofi’s voice came back, still full of energy despite her labored breathing. “This big guy looks scary, but he’s as slow as a grandma on a stroll. He’s good at demolishing buildings, though.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Yan Luofi performed a quick roll, narrowly avoiding the impact crater formed by the giant’s fist, then jumped up and gave the skeleton monster a thumbs down.

But this time, the skeleton monster didn’t react immediately. Instead, it began analyzing the situation. It had noticed the magical girls were deliberately manipulating its movements, keeping up a constant barrage of attacks that left it no time to focus on anything else.

The skeleton necromancer’s gaze shifted toward the village. It sensed the growing surge of magical power coming from that direction.

It immediately realized it had fallen into a trap!

Quickly, it issued new instructions to the giant. The giant lifted its massive foot and slammed it onto the ground with great force, attempting to shake off these persistent pests.

Boom!!

A powerful shockwave spread outward from the giant, causing the ground to tremble. Large chunks of rock and earth were sent flying into the air.

Yan Luofi, closest to the giant, was caught off guard. Though she leapt in time, the shockwave disturbed her balance, and she stumbled as she landed, almost falling.

“Watch out!” Yuan Lingfeng cried.

Just as Yan Luofi was off balance, the skeleton monster pointed its staff. The giant zombie opened its massive jaws, releasing a thick, foul-smelling green goo that shot out like a high-pressure water cannon, almost blocking all of Yan Luofi’s escape routes.

“Shit,” Yan Luofi gritted her teeth, preparing to activate her magic shield to block the attack.

At that moment, a clear, cold voice rang out.

“Ice Guardian!”

A massive, translucent ice wall shot up in front of Yan Luofi. The wall was over five meters tall and incredibly thick.

The green corrosive slime slammed against the ice wall, creating a nasty sizzling sound. A large amount of white mist billowed up as the ice was quickly eaten away, but the ice wall still held long enough to block the deadly attack.

Yan Luofi took the chance to perform a backflip, increasing the distance between herself and the goo, glancing back at the ice wall. “Thanks, Frost!”

Chu Xueqing, code name Frost, nodded silently. She looked a bit pale, clearly having expended significant energy to create such a massive ice wall in an instant.

Seeing this, the skeleton monster’s eyes flared with purple fire in irritation. It waved its staff again, causing the giant zombie to plant its arms into the ground as if preparing to trigger a larger-scale earthquake.

At that moment, a voice came from the mountain top.

Without warning, a sharp, piercing screech filled the air!

“Now!” Qi Si’s voice rang out over the communication channel.

A streak of light, trailing a faint blue tail, zipped across the darkened sky at an incredible speed, targeting the giant’s hand that was just about to strike the ground!

Boom!!!

The explosion was far more powerful than any previous blasts. A huge fireball erupted, mixed with dirt, stones, and the remains of the giant zombie’s flesh. The shockwave cleared the area of dust, leaving behind a massive crater, similar to the impact of a meteor strike.

The giant zombie let out a roar of pain. Its left arm was completely blown off, while other parts of its body were shredded, the massive form staggering backward, almost collapsing to the ground.

The skeleton monster, standing on its shoulder, was almost thrown off, barely managing to hold on, grabbing anything it could to stay in place.

There was a brief moment of silence in the communications channel as everyone absorbed the shock of the sudden artillery strike.

“How’s that for timely support?” Qi Si’s voice echoed over the channel. In the background, there were sounds of applause and cheers. “That was just a test shot. The second round is loading now. Everyone, get ready.”

Ke Xin, watching the explosion from her vantage point, was momentarily stunned, but she quickly regained her focus. She took a deep breath, feeling the magic within her cannon surging in response.

The holographic crosshairs of the targeting scope locked onto the giant’s vulnerable spot, and her fingers rested lightly on the firing button.

Just then, the skeleton monster lifted its head, its hollow eyes locking onto Ke Xin’s position.

It slowly raised its staff, beginning to chant an ancient and cryptic incantation. The skull at the tip of the staff glowed with a greenish flame, and the surrounding space began to warp…