Off Work, Then I Become a Magical Girl
Chapter 138: Under the Light Column

In the heart of Fangting City, beneath a curtain of purple-black magical light, the battle between the Magical Girls and the Ravager had been raging for quite some time and had reached its climax.

Suspended in the light curtain was a massive, cocoon-shaped mass of flesh. From the top of it emerged the enormous head of a Ravager, which spewed out purple-black magic breath onto the ground below.

The magic it exhaled was highly corrosive—so much so that even buildings would decay upon contact. The central district of the city was now in utter ruin, with no trace of its former prosperity.

The only silver lining was that, on the night of the Moon Festival, the commercial area downtown wasn’t particularly crowded. The few civilians who were there had sensed something was wrong and fled in time, so there were hardly any casualties.

Above the scorched ruins, pale blue, amethyst, and light green magic clashed with the Ravager in the sky.

“Xiaolu, this Ravager isn’t on the same level as anything you’ve faced before. You’ve never encountered an enemy like this—its evolution stage should have already reached Egg-tier!”

Perched on Lin Xiaolu’s shoulder, Moko shouted against the wind:

“Egg-tier Ravagers are completely different from the ones we usually fight. They have something called a chrysalis shell on their surface. If your magic output doesn’t exceed its endurance threshold, you’ll never be able to damage it!”

“You know stuff about Ravagers?” Lin Xiaolu barely dodged a blast of purple-black magic, yet showed no trace of panic on her face.

“No, I mean... I’m just surprised, that’s all.”

“This isn’t the time to talk about that stuff! If this keeps up, you’ll run out of magic without even scratching it!”

“Okay, okay, I get it!”

Lin Xiaolu replied while darting through the air at high speed. “So we just have to bust open that shell, right? Just like that annoying uncle we dealt with at the Welfare Home!”

“This thing’s way stronger than that brute was!” Moko retorted.

“Whatever. We’re not the same as we were back then either! We’ve actually planned for this!”

Lin Xiaolu raised her hand and signaled to Xia Liang. “Xia Liang!”

“I’m on it!”

At her call, mirror panels shimmered with light and began rotating around the central Ravager. Magic of various colors gathered from the three Magical Girls, converging onto the mirrors. After a brief charge-up, all that energy focused toward the Ravager’s head.

“Bai Jingxuan!”

“Got it!”

The green ponytailed girl spread her arms. The small box she’d been clutching suddenly opened, releasing a lively, graceful melody. The surging streams of magic flowing into the mirrors instantly became even more powerful.

This was Bai Jingxuan’s Magical Armor, named Heavenly Melody.

Its power allowed her to channel magic through musical resonance, playing various tunes. Depending on the rhythm, melody, and tone, it would affect the surroundings in different ways.

Since she’d only recently awakened and developed her power, Bai Jingxuan had discovered just two uses so far: enhancing physical ability and enhancing magic.

The former could speed up physical recovery and boost one’s movements at the cost of some energy. The latter—what she was doing now—drove the armor to play a raw, unrefined tune that excited magic, making it more volatile and powerful.

Thanks to this, the magic focused on Xia Liang’s mirror intensified even further.

Just a week ago, under the guidance of Hong Siyu and Xia Liang, Bai Jingxuan completed her Bud-tier Ability Blooming and obtained her Magical Armor.

At the time, she didn’t fully understand its abilities or know how to use it well. So she’d kept it to herself, hoping to surprise Veronica when she returned and earn a little praise.

The others had guessed what she was thinking, so no one said anything either. They all silently kept it from Veronica.

No one expected that before Veronica could return, this armor’s power would make its debut on the battlefield.

Magic beams surged from Xia Liang’s Magical Armor—pale blue, amethyst, and light green energies merged and blasted toward the distant Ravager.

The blast struck instantly, converging on a single point and detonating against the Ravager’s head. At first, its skin-like outer layer wrinkled and resisted the impact. But soon, under the trio’s combined assault, the shell was pierced, bursting open into a massive gap.

The tri-colored blast tore through the opening and slammed into the Ravager’s head.

“RAAAAAAAGH!”

A thunderous roar echoed through the city center as the beast twisted in pain inside its cocoon, letting out a chilling, unintelligible cry. Then, it launched another volley of corrosive breath at the Magical Girls.

But the three newcomers—no, new-generation Magical Girls—were already prepared. The moment it attacked, they scattered, completely evading the blast.

“We did it!”

Seeing the attack land—far more successfully than expected—Xia Liang couldn’t help but clench her fists in excitement and cheer under her breath.

“Egg-tier Ravagers aren’t that scary after all!”

Lin Xiaolu floated over, looking smug. “If we can break through once, we can break through again. Wearing this guy down is totally doable!”

“You weren’t even the one doing the damage,” Moko couldn’t help but dump cold water on her. “It was clearly the others’ Magical Armor doing all the work, and yet here you are bragging like a Seed-tier.”

“Hah? And a fairy that can’t even keep up with my flight speed and has to ride my shoulder wants to talk trash?”

Lin Xiaolu rolled her eyes at him. “Just because I haven’t had Ability Blooming yet doesn’t mean I’m weak, okay? My magic’s been growing nonstop these past few months. I’m way stronger than your average Seed-tier now!”

“Still a Seed-tier, though…”

Moko mumbled quietly, but didn’t argue.

Because what Lin Xiaolu said was true. Even if she hadn’t hit the threshold for Ability Blooming, her magic capacity had grown significantly. Back then, she was just average. But ever since the battle at the Welfare Home, her growth had skyrocketed—she now surpassed the Seed-tier by a long shot.

If she’d already bloomed and had her own Magical Armor, no one would still think she was just Seed-tier.

“You two, can you not bicker right now?”

Xia Liang sighed and smiled helplessly, reactivating her Magical Armor. “Let’s focus and take this thing down first.”

“…You’re right.”

Lin Xiaolu, who had been ready to bicker back, stopped herself, fixed her gaze on the increasingly frenzied Ravager, and gripped her wand again. “The fight isn’t over yet. Celebrating now is a bit premature.”

Bai Jingxuan didn’t speak, but silently released more magic as the melody from her music box rang out.

The battle resumed.

Unlike lower-tier Ravagers, Egg-tier ones had two main advantages: their own Nest, and their tough chrysalis shells.

But for some reason, this Egg-tier was here alone in the city center, with no Nest in sight. That meant no Egg-stage or Caterpillar-type Ravagers under its command—its combat strength was greatly reduced.

Now that the Magical Girls had figured out how to breach its defense, they had the key to defeating it. Its evolutionary edge was gone. The tide turned.

With Xia Liang taking the lead, Bai Jingxuan providing amplification, and Lin Xiaolu supplying raw magic, the three worked together to fire blast after blast—what was once Magic Threads now resembled artillery fire.

The relentless bombardment forced the Ravager back. It wailed and shrieked in pain as wounds multiplied and its movements slowed.

It was clear—it wouldn’t last much longer.

“Moko! Take my phone!”

After launching another barrage, Lin Xiaolu pulled her phone from her apron pocket and held it out. “When we finish off this thing, take a pic and send it to Veronica!”

“…You’re way too hyped,” Moko sighed, taking the phone. “If the Inspector sees this kind of attitude, you might end up getting chewed out.”

“Veronica would never do that,” Lin Xiaolu dismissed it.

“I think we should explain what happened clearly to Junior first,” Xia Liang added. “We challenged an Egg-tier Ravager without permission, and only won because everything lined up. She’s definitely going to worry.”

“Let’s not scare our teacher,” Bai Jingxuan murmured.

“Hmm… fair point.”

Lin Xiaolu hovered in the air, thinking for a second, then raised her wand again. “Alright. We’ll talk about what to report later. For now, let’s—”

She trailed off mid-sentence.

Not just her—Bai Jingxuan and Xia Liang stopped as well. All three turned their eyes to the ground.

A column of purple-black light blazed in the district center, casting shadows from everything above. And right then, somehow, a new shadow had appeared in front of them.

It was long. Extremely long. A shadow cast from the sky—faint at first, but once it reached their feet, it deepened into an inky black.

It looked like a moth. A massive moth.

And there, floating quietly in front of the Ravager, was the shadow’s owner. Compared to the Ravager, it was tiny—like an ant beside an elephant. But its shadow blanketed the entire district in front of it, far surpassing the Ravager in scale.

Standing beneath it, an overwhelming pressure and sense of danger gripped the girls. There was no doubt—the newcomer was hostile.

Just facing the figure from afar, Lin Xiaolu felt her breath catch. The magic around her slowed, her heartbeat raced, her body tensed as if confronting a natural enemy.

She widened her eyes, breathed faster, and stared hard at the figure, gripping her wand tightly.

This fear, this suffocating pressure—it was all too familiar. She’d felt it before. She knew what it meant.

It was the feeling of death.

The figure didn’t move, floating still like a statue, seemingly observing them from a distance.

Then, it shimmered.

The next instant, it was right in front of them.

Startled, the girls reacted. Lin Xiaolu, on reflex, fired a Magic Bullet.

But it never reached its target—it simply dissolved before impact.

Only then did they see the figure clearly: a Black-Robed Figure.

Thin and lanky, entirely covered in a robe. No visible features. But the robe’s style was familiar—they’d seen it before on that man at the Welfare Home, the one called Bingchu San.

“…Black Cinders Dawn.”

Lin Xiaolu said the name she remembered.

But this person was different. Her robe was adorned with intricate, dark gold patterns forming the image of a golden, wing-spread moth.

Instead of a hood, her robe had a tall hat, brim low over her face, hiding her features.

“You girls really exceeded expectations.”

The black-robed figure finally spoke—a hoarse female voice from under the hat. “To grow this much in just five months, even suppressing an Egg-tier Ravager… that’s rare among Magical Girls.”

It sounded like praise, but none of them believed it was.

“…Who are you?”

Xia Liang, the first to recover her composure, raised a hand in front of Lin Xiaolu and stepped forward. “Too cowardly to even show your face while doing shady stuff?”

She was nervous too—her voice trembled. But even then, she tried provoking the woman, hoping to get intel.

She was thinking clearly: if this woman was as dangerous as she felt, they might not make it out. At the very least, someone had to know who she was.

“What an adorable little ploy.”

The woman chuckled, not offended. “Fine. As followers of our Master, we’ve never been ashamed of our names.”

She grabbed her hat and yanked it off.

Beneath it was an aged, smiling face.

A golden-haired woman with a serene expression.

“Nice to meet you, children of Fangting City. My name is Mors.”

She bowed slightly, as if in greeting.

“Or if you’d prefer the Donghua Province version… you may call me, Moth.”