First floor of the Main Teaching Building.

“Over here! Don’t push!”

The teacher’s voice had gone hoarse from shouting, their eyes betraying their fear, but the corridor remained packed with panicked students.

Some had fallen, some were crying for their friends, some kept trying to make calls that simply wouldn’t go through, and others were desperately pounding on the isolation doors that were already halfway shut.

A Failed Mutant crawled in through a shattered window.

Its limbs were twisted, its back was covered in grayish-black chitin, and muffled, guttural roars rumbled in its throat.

A few students collapsed on the spot in terror, letting out heart-wrenching screams.

The Mutant lunged.

Right at that moment, several pages radiating a pale cyan light flew down from the air, expanding into a thin Barrier in front of the students—

Bang!

The Mutant slammed into the Barrier and was sent tumbling backward.

Wen Yumian landed lightly in the center of the corridor.

The young girl stood bathed in light, her short cyan hair falling softly to her shoulders, adorned with a delicate Water Lily hairpin on the side. Her long dress looked incredibly flowy, the warm white and pale cyan interwoven in the skirt resembling petals gently unfurling on the surface of the water, and her translucent sleeves fluttered softly with her every movement.

A glowing book hovered by her side. Its pages fluttered without any wind, and tiny characters flowed in the air like fireflies.

“Please follow the teachers’ instructions and head to the Evacuation Area. Don’t push, and don’t look back.”

Her voice was very soft, yet it seemed to possess a comforting power that miraculously drowned out the surrounding screams.

Just a few minutes ago, Lulu had sensed the situation on campus and assigned tasks to the three of them—

The strongest, Su Lingyin, would go to the Training Grounds to rescue the Ability Class students who seemed to be trapped.

Lulu herself would follow Jiang Wanfeng to try and break the Barrier enveloping the school.

Wen Yumian, whose abilities leaned more toward support rather than combat, was responsible for helping the ordinary students escape from danger.

“Please don’t be afraid. I am Magical Girl Water Lily.”

A few students stared at her blankly.

“M-Magical Girl?”

The tips of Wen Yumian’s ears turned slightly red.

In truth, she wasn’t quite used to announcing the name “Magical Girl Water Lily” and being stared at like this.

But a portion of a Magical Girl’s power came from people’s love and admiration. If they could make more people look up to them and believe in them, their magic would become more stable.

At least, that was what Lulu had said.

Even so, Wen Yumian still felt terribly embarrassed.

Fortunately, her outfit after transforming was very different from her usual attire. Moreover, her magic would blur part of her features, preventing her classmates from recognizing who she was.

Otherwise, she probably wouldn’t be able to show her face at school tomorrow.

“So embarrassing…”

Wen Yumian took a deep breath, trying to maintain her inner calm.

But the students had no idea what she was thinking.

In their eyes, the Magical Girl before them was gentle and beautiful, standing up to protect everyone at the most dangerous moment.

“Water Lily…”

“Miss Water Lily, we’re counting on you!”

The panicked crowd finally recovered a bit of order.

Wen Yumian raised her hand, and the Grimoire floating beside her fluttered open.

“Barrier.”

Dozens of glowing pages flew out like tiny lanterns, guarding the flanks of the evacuating crowd.

That Failed Mutant scrambled back to its feet and roared as it lunged at her.

Wen Yumian looked up.

The pages crisscrossed in the air, transforming into chains of text that bound the Mutant’s limbs.

She softly chanted:

“Peaceful Sleep.”

A soft, pale blue-white light descended upon the Mutant.

The Mutant’s movements froze. The roaring in its throat gradually faded into a whimper before it slowly collapsed to the ground.

Wen Yumian gently let out a breath.

However, right at that moment, an ominous premonition suddenly welled up in the girl’s heart.

Danger.

Wen Yumian hadn’t even had time to look up when a dark shadow lunged down from the ceiling.

Bang!

A Barrier of paper pages hastily unfolded, but the dark shadow smashed it to pieces.

Wen Yumian staggered back.

It was a Mutant, clearly much more intact than the ones before.

Its body still retained a human outline, but its arms were exceptionally long, with curved bone spikes growing from the tips of its fingers, and a pair of deformed membranous wings sprouting from its back.

A C-Class Mutant.

Wen Yumian instantly judged the opponent’s strength.

If there was only one… she could handle it.

She opened her Grimoire, and dozens of text chains flew out again, wrapping around the opponent’s arms and wings.

The Mutant was forced to the ground, rolling in the corridor.

Wen Yumian seized the opportunity, and the barrier of pages pressed down layer by layer, restricting it to a corner.

“Peaceful Sleep…”

Just as she was about to further lock down the target, the sound of shattering glass suddenly came from the window behind her.

Another C-Class Mutant crashed through the glass from outside and lunged into the corridor.

Its target wasn’t Wen Yumian, but the evacuating students.

Wen Yumian’s face turned pale.

With almost no hesitation, she immediately shifted the majority of the page Barrier toward the students.

Bang!

The Mutant’s claws landed heavily on the Barrier.

Cracks spread instantly.

On the other side, the first Mutant, which had been restricted, took the opportunity to break free from the text chains and lunged at Wen Yumian.

A pincer attack.

Wen Yumian bit her lip, squeezing out her magic.

The Grimoire flipped frantically, and pale green pages danced in the corridor, like petals swept up in a storm, temporarily repelling the Mutants.

But in front of her, more Mutants were still surging forward…

Ability Class Training Grounds.

The doors to the training grounds had been twisted into scrap metal.

The ground was covered with cracks, the walls were smashed with crater after crater, and the metal targets used for simulation training were scattered everywhere.

Most of the Ability Class students had collapsed on the ground, some were curled up clutching their stomachs, some were leaning against the corners gasping for breath, and others forced themselves to try to get up, only to fall back to the ground as their bodies gave out.

In the center of the training grounds stood a towering Mutant.

He carried a cylindrical black device on his back, and his body was covered in a layer of dark red chitin. His shoulders were as broad as a wall, and his neck and jaw were lined with an exoskeleton that looked like rusted metal.

Rust Jaw.

He raised his hand, grabbed the collar of a student who was covered in injuries but still trying to resist, and lifted him into the air.

“Do you still want to continue?”

The boy gritted his teeth, tiny sparks of electricity dancing in his palm.

But as soon as that bit of electricity appeared, it instantly dissipated, as if snuffed out by something.

Rust Jaw sneered and raised his massive, steel-clad fist high, about to smash it down—

Suddenly, purplish-red petals began to fall from the air above the training grounds.

Rust Jaw looked up.

The next second, over a dozen thorny rose stems erupted from beneath his feet, entangling his limbs and neck, and dragging him viciously to the ground.

Thud!

Rust Jaw’s body smashed into the ground, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.

Su Lingyin landed lightly on the floor of the Training Grounds. Her purplish-red long hair swayed in the wind, its tips slightly curled, gathered at the back of her head in a delicate rose knot.

Her dress was so gorgeous it looked as if she had just attended a ball. The skirt, interwoven with deep purplish-red and black, spread out in layers like a flower blooming under the night sky.

Su Lingyin lightly tapped the ground with the Rose Scepter in her hand. Petals fluttered everywhere before transforming into countless bullets that shot toward the fallen Rust Jaw.

The students lying on the ground were stunned.

“A Magical Girl?”

The boy who had been saved by Su Lingyin’s intervention struggled to get up from the ground. His face was pale and there was a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth, yet he still shouted desperately:

“Watch out! The device on his back can suppress Special Abilities!”

Su Lingyin glanced at the black device on Rust Jaw’s back.

The boy continued to shout:

“That thing is the reason we couldn’t fight! But he shouldn’t be able to use his abilities either!”

“I see,” Su Lingyin said thoughtfully. “In other words, it has no effect on me.”

A Magical Girl’s power came from a contract with the Kingdom, which was completely different from the naturally awakened Special Ability of an Ability User.

She looked at Rust Jaw, who was pinned to the ground and looking somewhat pathetic, and raised her chin slightly.

“Aren’t you caught in your own trap?”

Su Lingyin raised her scepter. Rose stems grew wildly, piercing toward Rust Jaw—

Boom!

Dust flew into the air, and Rust Jaw fell still.

The students of the Ability Class looked at each other, seemingly not expecting victory to come so easily.

However, before they could even cheer, after a brief moment of silence, a low laugh sounded from within the dust.

“Caught in my own trap?”

Su Lingyin frowned slightly.

The dust dispersed, and Rust Jaw slowly stood up.

His body had almost no obvious injuries; the place on his chest where the roses had pierced only left behind shallow white marks.

The rose stems wrapped around him were being stretched apart bit by bit, the thorny vines snapping under the expansion of his muscles.

“Don’t tell me you thought I couldn’t beat you just because I don’t have an ability?”

He looked up, revealing a savage grin.

“Magical Girl.”

The next second.

Rust Jaw threw a punch.

No special ability.

No skill.

Just the most simple and unadorned punch—

Yet the air let out a terrifying explosive sound.

“?!”

Before Su Lingyin could dodge, she was sent flying backward, smashing through the guardrail at the edge of the Training Grounds, and tumbling several times on the ground before finally coming to a halt.

“Cough, cough, cough…”

She propped herself up, shock evident in her eyes.

Rust Jaw cracked his neck and walked toward her step by step, his tall and sturdy body carrying a terrifyingly intimidating presence.

“Come on, let’s continue.”

The Training Grounds was dead silent…

Meanwhile.

Jiang Wanfeng and Lulu had already flown above the teaching building.

Looking at the gigantic grayish-black web covering the school, Jiang Wanfeng’s expression was solemn.