: Beaten Twice in Half an Hour of Meeting

Boom!!

The calamity beast crashed headfirst into the iron wall.

The walls cracked and peeled, the loud noise bouncing back and forth in the square, leaving Zhu Huan dazed.

Taking advantage of the brief moment of dodging, she rushed towards the center of the ceiling.

There is an iron gate there.

Bang!

She threw a punch, but the force of the impact made her arm ache.

Something that could normally be punched through with a single punch felt unusually heavy today.

Bang bang bang! !

She punched him several times, her knuckles bleeding profusely.

Even though the pain was quite obvious, she pounded on the door as if she had lost her soul.

We have to escape!

There was no room for any other thoughts in my mind.

"Gurgle—"

The calamity beast let out a low growl and rolled and charged again.

But Zhu Huan seemed oblivious, pounding on the unmoving iron gate in a daze.

"ah!"

The giant beast came crashing down, and the brown-haired magical girl was slammed against the wall.

She opened her unfocused eyes, but didn't even look at the calamity beast; she just stared intently at the iron gate.

"We need to get out of here!"

The longer one stayed in this gas, the more intense the fear from the bottom of one's heart became.

The magical girl charged headlong into the iron gate like a moth to a flame.

Then it was slammed back against the wall by the giant claw that had been lifted up.

"Cough cough—"

A metallic sweetness spread from her throat, making her slightly more awake.

But the fear of wanting to escape screamed, trying to tear apart that sliver of clarity.

Zhu Huan stared blankly at the approaching calamity beast, her cold expression replaced by deep despair.

The sudden burst of gas was not a savior, but a mind-altering drug.

As long as that thing is there, she can't muster any thought of resistance.

It's as if the person's brain has shrunk, leaving only the spine to perform the simplest reflexes.

"We have to run!"

She couldn't hold back her tears any longer and ran towards the exit, sobbing.

The giant claw swung down.

He barely managed to sidestep and get behind it.

The beast's compound eyes glanced over, and its wolf tail lashed out with a whoosh of wind.

The brown-haired girl was then slammed into the ground.

Ignoring the excruciating pain that nearly broke his body, Zhu Huan immediately leaped towards the iron gate directly above him.

He slammed a punch, imbued with all his magic power, onto the iron gate.

hum-

The iron gate was simply rolled up at the edges.

Zhu Huan's expression froze. She stopped using magic to support her body and simply let gravity pull her down.

"Why am I so weak..." That was her only thought.

"Gurgle—"

A heavy, foul magic assaulted her; fangs and a stench assaulted her eyes and nose, and half of her body was already within the range of the beast's bite.

Bang! !

The fangs pressed down, but the iron door on the ceiling seemed unable to bear the weight and fell down, dragging the surrounding walls down with it, and smashing it hard on the head of the calamity beast.

The beast paused in its jaws, and Zhu Huan instinctively rolled over to avoid its massive jaws, eventually falling to the ground.

A black magical girl floated down. Her features were unclear in the darkness, but now, in the light, she was indescribably beautiful.

"This door opens outwards, why are you keeping banging on it?"

"What...are you saying?"

"This door is very large, and the center has been specially thickened. Most of it is connected to the wall. Unless you can break through the layer of soil on top, you can't open it upwards."

Magical girls are generally rather dim-witted, as evidenced by their fondness for using light cannons, which is why Wu'an patiently offered a few explanations.

"This isn't the time to talk about this! Let's run!"

Seeing that the door was open and they could run away, Zhu Huan didn't bother to explain further to Wu An.

She looked toward the exit, where the calamity beast was blocking the way, but if they could lure it away, they could escape during that opening.

"But the calamity beast is there, shouldn't we just kill it?"

"No! There's something wrong with this gas; you can't keep inhaling it," Zhu Huan explained anxiously.

To be honest, if the exit hadn't been opened now, finally giving them hope of escaping, Zhu Huan wouldn't have had the energy to talk to Wu An.

[A mental attack has been detected. A mental energy countermeasure will be initiated.]

Opponent's strength: As insignificant as an ant.

Wu An knew there was something wrong with the gas. Even though she was spared the mental influence, she felt a surge of rebellious emotions rising within her the moment she took her first inhale.

It's like a wolf encountering a hyena; hostility and destructive intent arise spontaneously, making one want to destroy everything. Upon closer inspection, one can also sense a tainted, magical power within it.

The entire underground plaza was permeated with this aura, thus the magic was suppressed from beginning to end.

No wonder it would make magical girls feel disgusted.

But after a few puffs, it just felt so-so.

She couldn't understand why Zhu Huan was so flustered.

"I see. Then you can go ahead. I'll deal with the calamity beast and go up there," Wu An said calmly.

She couldn't grow stronger slowly; the countdown was ticking above her head. Time seemed to pass slowly if you looked closely, but if you looked away for a moment, you'd see it had gone by quite a distance.

Even if we can't kill the C-rank beast, we absolutely cannot let these fallen D-rank beasts live. Although the C-rank disaster beast is strong, it can't maneuver effectively in this terrain, its speed is not fast, and it's also being suppressed.

Wu An felt he could handle it.

"Are you crazy! That's a Class C calamity beast, you can't handle it. Come with me now!"

Zhu Huan's expression turned ferocious as he grabbed Wu An's wrist, veins bulging.

She strongly suspected that Wu An's mind had been controlled by that gas.

That makes sense!

Even at the third tier, she didn't last long; she, at the second tier, would probably run into trouble when she came down.

"I'll lure it away in a bit, you run first," Zhu Huan said, looking at the calamity beast.

At this stage, the calamity beasts have developed intelligence approaching that of wild animals. Although they are still quite stupid, they won't let the fat meat that's in their mouths escape; they simply block it there.

Unexpectedly, Wu An flung her hand away, his gaze carrying a hint of doubt and...disdain?

"Can't you understand me? It's your business if you want to run away, it's my business if I want to stay."

Wu An spoke earnestly, as if he were explaining something.

"..."

What on earth is this guy talking about?!

Zhu Huan is a Tier 3. If she runs away now, leaving a Tier 2 magical girl to deal with a Tier C disaster beast, is she even human?!

That would be incredibly embarrassing... Not only would it disgrace the Bureau of Statistics, but she felt she wouldn't have the face to live anymore.

Sending a Tier 2 to deal with a Rank C Disaster Beast alone, especially one whose brain has been corrupted by a strange gas...

If I run away, wouldn't that mean I'm the one who killed her?

So, can she still be a magical girl?

How dare you call yourself a magical girl?

Absolutely not!

We must knock her unconscious and take her away!

Zhu Huan clenched his fist and, taking advantage of the moment when Wu An and the calamity beast were glaring at each other, used his hand as a knife to strike the back of her neck.

"?"

Seeing Wu An's surprised wide eyes, Zhu Huan simply said "I'm sorry" in her heart.

The black glove was used as a slap, striking her left cheek before she could react.

Snapped! !

"They've gone too far? Internal strife at this time."

Zhu Huan was stunned by the slap that came after her, her cheek burning. When she met Wu An's questioning gaze, despair returned.

She wasn't good at direct combat, and having already been tricked by Wu An once, she had also expended a lot of stamina and magic power in the battle with the Calamity Beast. Now, it seemed she was struggling to defeat this second-tier opponent...

It seems she couldn't knock Wu'an unconscious and take him away.

"sorry..."

She lowered her head and apologized...

"Are you awake now? It's okay. If you want to run, I'll lure it away in a bit. You can run first."

Wu An didn't dwell on her strange behavior just now.

"No... I won't run away."

"Are you staying to help me?"

"Um."

Zhu Huan laughed awkwardly.

She couldn't bear to abandon Wu'an and run away alone. She would hold off the calamity beast with Wu'an until he decided to escape.

Even if I have to die, I must not die after Wu An.

This thought even overshadowed the inexplicable panic.