A Girl Who Doesn’t Believe in Humans

Chapter 20: Invitation

Azure swiftly rushed to the place where Bao Xiang was attacked. It was a very open construction site with barely anyone around.

Bao Xiang’s opponent was a not particularly strong lizard demon, but Bao Xiang had been on the defensive, with numerous wounds on her body.

(What’s going on? Does the drop in rankings have such a significant impact on Bao Xiang? She’s struggling even against such a low-level opponent.)

Azure was puzzled, but she had no intention of standing idly by and watching Bao Xiang get hurt.

Just as Azure was about to intervene, a figure blocked her way—

It was a deep red magical girl.

“Magical Girl Scarlet?!”

Azure exclaimed in surprise, unable to understand why the other girl was obstructing her.

However, Scarlet just looked down at her with an expressionless face.

“This path is closed.”

“What are you doing?! Let me through to help Bao Xiang!”

Azure couldn’t comprehend, and she tried to rush past again, but—

Scarlet used her fist to halt her.

“I said, this path is closed.”

Scarlet repeated her words.

“You…!”

Azure angrily clenched her fists. She realized—Scarlet was intentionally blocking her from rescuing Bao Xiang!

“Ha—! Take this! Azure Impact!”

Azure decided to speak with force!

She gathered blue magic on her gauntlets and swung fiercely at Scarlet!

Bang!

The abrupt sound of metal clashing echoed.

A massive metallic figure appeared out of nowhere in the path of the attack. Azure’s fist couldn’t move forward.

It was a huge iron maiden, with a matte black color and ancient serrated patterns, featuring a seemingly serene human face sculpture. The whole contraption gave off an eerie feeling.

Scarlet’s figure hid behind this iron maiden.

“Face me directly!”

Another forceful punch—

Bang!

But it didn’t leave a trace on the metallic surface.

However, Azure didn’t give up—

“Ora ora ora ora—!!”

Bang bang! Bang bang! Bang bang…!!

Her indistinct fists rained down like a meteor shower on the metal shell, and even the sturdy iron maiden was pounded, swaying precariously!

At this moment—

A voice came through Scarlet’s earpiece.

[Scarlet, you can hit harder; just be careful not to kill.]
“Understood.”

Scarlet accepted without any objections.

She gently waved her left hand, and the iron maiden in front of her moved horizontally with the flick of her fingertips—

Azure’s full-force punches landed on thin air, and her unbalanced body involuntarily tilted forward…

Then, Scarlet’s hand swiftly pulled back—

The hard iron maiden abruptly slammed into the defenseless Azure!

Smack—!

Lacking a point of resistance, Azure was smacked and sent flying.

“Ah—!!!”

Her wail mixed with the rustling sound of the air.

But Scarlet didn’t stop; she waved her left hand again—

The iron maiden, moving even faster, caught up with the airborne Azure.

Then, with another upward swing—

The iron maiden violently sent the still-airborne Azure flying in another direction!

Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield—

“Azure—!”

Bao Xiang, who was fighting the demon, noticed Azure’s miserable situation.

“This is different from what we agreed on in the beginning!”

She angrily questioned through her earpiece.

It was supposed to be just acting, and only she was supposed to get injured according to the script! Why was Azure here now? And why was she being attacked by Scarlet?!

But on the other side, there was no intention to pay attention to her. Scarlet calmly instructed to increase the intensity.

“Aahh, ugh—!”

Azure’s screams were clear even through the earpiece.

“Tsk!”

Bao Xiang, unable to contain her anger, turned to save the now-played Azure.

But—the demon on the side wouldn’t let this opportunity pass!

Swoosh!

A green, slime-covered long tongue came rushing through the air!

Bao Xiang hadn’t reacted in time and was entangled by the tongue, hands and body bound together.

“Let go, let go of me—!”

Bao Xiang struggled fiercely, but the wounds from before burst open again. The paralyzing green slime seeped into Bao Xiang’s body through the wounds.

“Ah—! Ugh…! My strength…”

“A wave of drowsiness surged over Bao Xiang’s mind, her body being constantly dragged towards the gaping maw!

(Azure…)

On the other side, Fei clenched her left fist tightly. Receiving new orders, the iron maiden finally opened her terrifying interior—

As the shell flipped open, a row of densely packed spikes appeared before Azure’s eyes.

But at this moment, she had already lost the strength to resist, only able to watch helplessly as inertia carried her into that horrifying instrument of torture!

(Is this the end…)

Both Bao Xiang and Azure had arrived at the brink of death.

In this critical moment—

Ding-ling-ling-ling…!

The crisp sound of chains resounded in their ears.

(Is this…!)

Vaguely visible purple chains pierced through the demon’s brain!

(Could it be—!)

Layers of entwined chains sealed the horrifying instrument!

(Snow Qing!)

Seemingly real but unreal chains wrapped around both of them, dragging them back at the very last moment.

And these chains, appearing out of nowhere, converged into the hands of one person—a purple magical girl.

Snow Qing looked at Fei, who was floating in the air, with cold eyes.

Bao Xiang and Azure, who had been sent to the ground by the chains, also glared angrily at this deep red magical girl.

But Fei remained unchanged, like an emotionless puppet.

The atmosphere between the two sides was about to explode—

The drone that had been observing the battle finally leisurely flew to Snow Qing’s side.

Underneath the drone extended a folding display screen.

Sizzle, sizzle…

After a flurry of snowflakes, a man in a suit and leather collar appeared on the screen.

Snow Qing had seen this person—during Du Zhi’s photography event.

“Hello, nice to meet you, magical girl Snow Qing. I am Shi An, the gold-tier producer of Hou Shi Entertainment. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The other party’s attitude was unexpectedly friendly, casually introducing himself.

“What do you want?”

Snow Qing’s tone at this moment didn’t reveal any emotions.

“Sorry to disturb you. Our company just wanted to have a meeting with Miss Snow Qing.”

The other party gave a business-like smile.

“Is this how you invite people?”

The purple chains made a faint sound.

“We’re really sorry. The acting just now was a necessity. After all, we had no way to contact you.”

He lowered his stance significantly.

“Acting?”

Snow Qing questioned.

“Yes, acting—although it might have been a bit realistic, we never intended to harm Bao Xiang and Azure. We have enough confidence to ensure the safety of both of them.”

He spoke as if it were all true.

“So, you staged such a big show just to invite me out? What do you intend to do? Suppressing underground magical girls doesn’t seem to be within your business scope, right?”

Snow Qing sarcastically retorted.

“No, no, no, Miss Snow Qing might have misunderstood. We’re not the Federation. Of course, we have no intention of suppressing all the underground magical girls.”

He hurriedly waved his hands on the screen.

“On the contrary, we are here to help all of you.”

He smiled meaningfully.

“Help? Oh? Do you mean you want the Federation to revoke their orders?”

“How is that possible? Miss Snow Qing loves to joke around. Even our company can’t change the Federation’s decision. I think Miss Snow Qing should have guessed our intentions—we actually came to invite Miss Snow Qing to join us.”

His expression looked very sincere.

“Is that your definition of ‘help’? Hmph.”

Snow Qing laughed in anger.

“Miss Snow Qing may have some misunderstandings about our company. Actually, our company has been committed to providing necessary assistance to magical girls. It’s just that due to some practical considerations, some decisions of our company may appear to lack humanity and have been deliberately misinterpreted by some malicious people, leading to a negative image of the company in everyone’s eyes. But fundamentally, the company is looking out for everyone’s interests.”

The producer started a long explanation, cunningly defending their actions.

“Moreover—”

He paused for a moment and then emphasized:

“For such a special talent like Miss Snow Qing, our company will provide treatment different from other magical girls. Miss Snow Qing, you might as well listen first. I assure you will be satisfied. Of course, even if Miss Snow Qing refuses, our company will compensate for today’s events. Whether to join or not is entirely up to Miss Snow Qing.”

The producer showed a quite insincere smile.