"Phew~ wah, I can't do it anymore, there's really not a single drop left..."
Her coolness didn't even last three seconds. Meng Xingyao's legs buckled, and her legs spread uncontrollably, causing her to fall heavily to the ground in a standard "Duck Sit" position, her stockings making a faint friction sound against the floor.
The pristine white stockings were instantly stained with patches of dust, looking as if they had been dusted with a layer of thin frost. Large and small beads of sweat broke out on her forehead, sliding down her cheeks and shimmering under the lights.
Cipher stepped forward, but the words of praise she was about to utter were immediately swallowed back down.
Looking down at the Magical Girl who had clearly entered recovery time, Cipher couldn't help but tease her.
"I was going to give you a few compliments, but it turns out you're just a 'Three-second real man.' You're done after just one time?"
"You're the one who's done! You haven't... cough cough, no, didn't you say 'I'll do it if I can' yourself! Now that This Magical Girl has stepped in to save you, Little Cat, why are you unhappy again!"
Being insulted to her face, Meng Xingyao retorted subconsciously.
Fortunately, after realizing the problem with her phrasing, she hit the brakes just in time.
"Can you still get up?"
Cipher asked while reaching out to help her up.
At the same time, she conveniently picked up that seemingly ordinary Magic Wand.
After "saving" Meng Xingyao back then, Cipher had very "kindly" given this item back to her as a piece of captured loot.
However, no matter how she looked at it now, she still couldn't see anything special about it.
"Stop looking. It was forged from my Special Ability. Although, in theory, others can use it too...But this Magic Wand is the culmination of three years of my Magical Girl studies. How could a Little Stray Cat like you understand the principles behind it?"
Seemingly sensing the cat's thoughts, Meng Xingyao raised her head proudly and explained.
Thump!!!
Cipher (๑•̌.•̑๑): "Look at you acting all smug. Little Princess, why don't you take a look at the pathetic state you're in right now?"
Meng Xingyao (இдஇ): "Ugh... Master, I was wrong~"
Clearly, the Magical Girl who had just experienced a highlight of her life had unknowingly become a bit overconfident.
But she was immediately brought back to reality by the wicked Cat Girl.
The Magical Girl, whose Spiritual Energy was completely exhausted, was now powerless to move, her frail body curling up in Cipher's warm embrace.
Fortunately, Meng Xingyao was light, and Cipher effortlessly lifted her into a steady Princess carry.
"Since this Extraterritorial Creature has been dealt with by me, let's go find..."
Just as Cipher lifted the girl off the ground, before the person in her arms could finish her fragmented murmur, the entire world suddenly fell into an eerie state of slow motion.
The clamor of the crowd sounded like a stretched-out cassette tape, the crackling of flames licking the ruins became slow and viscous, and even the falling ash froze in mid-air.
Crack!!!
Golden electricity surrounded Cipher's body, and her emerald-blue pupils flickered with a burning glow.
Divine Speed Power activated—commonly known as Bullet Time.
"That was close~ meow."
Cipher sighed softly, the fur at the tip of her tail twitching slightly as she slowly turned around.
Behind her, dozens of crimson spikes were suspended in the air like venomous snakes baring their fangs. Each was as thick as an arm and over a meter long, their tips glinting with a dangerous metallic luster, less than two inches away from the end of her fluffy tail.
"My tail almost got stuck with these unlucky things."
After pulling back her tail, Cipher looked at the countless "flying needles" in front of her, then glanced back at the crowd behind her.
She couldn't help but let out a sigh.
"Tch, as a Phantom Thief, This Cat is truly magnanimous."
Cipher sighed softly and shook her head helplessly. Her gaze swept the surroundings and she inadvertently discovered a few gold coins dropped on the ground.
Cipher (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧: "Just in time, watch me!"
Tightening her grip on the Magical Girl, a confident curve spread across Cipher's lips... time began to flow again.
In Meng Xingyao's vision—
Her gaze shifted to the other side in an instant, and what met her eyes were countless red spikes attacking like a rain of arrows.
However, to her surprise, these spikes suddenly struck something and were sent flying in all directions by a force.
Meng Xingyao ✪ω✪: "So amazing!"
Although she didn't know exactly what had happened, her intuition told her that Cipher must have done something.
Meanwhile, Cipher watched the deflected spikes out of the corner of her eye.
From the feedback reaching her ears, even after being deflected, they still possessed such destructive power.
Cipher (๑＞＜๑）: Fortunately This Cat is smart enough. If it weren't for my gold coins, any other object would probably have been crushed upon contact.
From the broken hole in the wall, that ugly thing crawled back into the area.
Now, its surface appeared as if it had been charred by intense flames, twisted and deformed, hideous to the extreme, and it emitted a faint, pungent stench.
"＃￥*&@"
Looking at the figure before it, it let out a familiar murmur, though it seemed to be laced with a hint of annoyance.
However, Cipher wasn't going to indulge it.
"What? You can't handle a little scratch?"
"&many￥&"
That bloody eyeball twitched frantically once more, as if brewing a fatal blow.
In an instant, countless red spikes burst from its body, shooting toward Cipher and the other like a rain of arrows.
"Your hair is standing on end already? Keep your eyes wide open and watch closely!"
Cipher's gaze turned cold, and she stomped her foot hard, causing several gold coins on the ground to pop up with a "ting" sound.
"Cat Sister, you... yaaaahhh?!!"
Meng Xingyao was about to speak but suddenly cried out in surprise.
Cipher unhurriedly tossed the Little Princess high into the air, a faint smile playing on her lips.
Then, with extreme speed, she twisted her body and accurately kicked a gold coin with her instep like a bolt of lightning, aiming straight at the target.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh!!!
The gold coin sped through the air with the sound of breaking wind, turning into a streak of golden light that accurately struck the spikes in mid-air.
With a "boom," a powerful shockwave blew the rest of the attacks away, scattering them like falling leaves.
Finally, the gold coin broke through the obstacles and pierced through the Flesh Worm's body with the force of thunder, sending blood splattering everywhere.
"&@*＃——"
This time, Cipher heard the other's painful wail.
To this, Cipher only gave a chuckle, and after steadying herself, she calmly reached out her hands.
Accompanied by a shrill scream of "Yaaaah!", Meng Xingyao landed safely back into Cipher's strong arms.
"You... Cat Sister, you... wait! What are you trying to do?!!"
The startled Meng Xingyao was about to criticize the cat for not giving her a heads-up.
But as she looked up, she suddenly bumped into a face that was rapidly enlarging, and a hot wind rushed at her like a tide, carrying a scorching breath.
Meng Xingyao (/∇＼): "Oh my god... are you... crazy! I... I..."
The rest of her words dissipated in her throat, and she could only close her eyes tightly, steam rising from the top of her head.
Her heart was burning with shame and indignation, yet it was also intertwined with nervous palpitations and an inexplicable expectation.
Mwah!
...Silver Wolf (ᗜ ˰ ᗜ): "Hmm, what's going on now?"
[Detection... A massive heat source is approaching!]
[Warning: A flying object has appeared in the sky, heading toward the Anime Convention at high speed!]