Transform into a magical girl after getting off work

As the scissors ability took effect, Emerald Sparrow felt an unprecedented sense of weakness, making it almost impossible for her to maintain her altitude in the air.

Undoubtedly, attempting to influence the rules of multiple King's Transformation at the site was too difficult for someone at the Bud Level, but the results were clear: the slime that had reached the Boundary Gate was completely cleared away.

Freed from the erosion of the slime rules, the Flower Cards and other Flower Levels present were able to restore their stance and stabilize the defense line.

To ensure absolute security, Cornflower also forced herself to withstand the weakness, summoning the remaining magic power to join the battle, together with the Flower Levels present, blocking the advancing Remnant Beasts.

These Remnant Beasts seemed to be following a specific command, focusing all their actions on attacking the Boundary Gate, showing little interest in the magical girls guarding the gate. Attacking the magical girls was merely to clear obstacles.

Once the shared slime rules were eliminated, the flower levels present encountered no casualties.

Several minutes later, reinforcements arrived.

Initially, there were four Flower Cards guarding outside the city and the third defense line; now only one remained at the front, while the other three Flower Cards brought nearly twenty Flower Levels to the Boundary Gate.

The battle finally calmed, indicating a slight reversal.

The Remnant Beasts, losing their rules, were forced to halt their attack against the diverse rules of numerous Flower Levels and the firebombing from a few Blooming Flower Cards.

The magic power of Cornflower was nearly depleted, and Stonegarlic, whose injuries hadn't yet recovered, finally got a breather.

"Well done." This was the first sentence Stonegarlic had said to Cornflower since they met. "If not for your earlier move, I'd have had to fight them to the death."

"What's the current situation, Commander?" Cornflower asked.

"The fairies of the interworld have gone crazy, deploying all remaining forces."

Stonegarlic wiped her face and exhaled deeply: "The third line just started rebuilding and faced a larger-scale attack, so the Chief ordered us to retract the defense line, keeping the inner circle to protect the Boundary Gate and the outer circle to protect the remaining city gates."

"Does that mean these King's Transformation aren't finished yet?" Cornflower frowned.

"No, the enemy's main force is still pushing this way."

Stonegarlic's expression was equally serious: "Be prepared, recover magic power when possible, the upcoming battles might not give us time to rest."

"Got it."

Cornflower nodded but hesitated: "There's one more thing..."

"The children you placed in the Inner City? They weren't in the West District during the incident, so they're safe."

Stonegarlic guessed Cornflower's concern: "They should be organizing the evacuation of civilians now."

"Phew, I see."

"Can you relax now?"

"...Yes."

"Then grit your teeth and let's overcome the challenge before us."

The chaotic battle before the Boundary Gate lasted until dawn.

Most civilians in the West District were evacuated, and remaining buildings were almost razed by the battle's aftermath. Even though many magical girls intentionally aimed more attacks towards the sky, they still couldn't prevent the entire district from destruction.

Cornflower never got a chance to rest, her magic power oscillated between "a bit left" and exhaustion. She and a group of Flower Levels managed to push this group of King's Transformation out of the Boundary Gate's perimeter, temporarily stopping the Remnant Beasts from attacking the gate. But as the defense line contracted, more Remnant Beasts surged, even though their level wasn't like those special individuals, their overwhelming numbers expanded the battle scale endlessly.

More allies returned to defend the Inner City after retreating from the third line, more Flower Levels, even Bud Levels, Leaf Levels... Before the Boundary Gate, it fully evolved into a large-scale battle.

Mo He also returned. Though her expression was tense, she was no longer as pale as before, obviously having seen Nim and confirmed her safety.

When Cornflower couldn't remember how many times she defended against the Molt Stage's attacks, or how many low-level Remnant Beasts she had slain, the first good news finally came:

"A King's Transformation has been slain!"

This news injected a boost into the already exhausted magical girls.

Afterward, the battle seemed almost one-sided, casualties on the magical girls' side dwindled while Remnant Beasts were slaughtered in large numbers. Even the previously aggressive King's Transformation fell one after another until Cornflower saw the sun in the sky for the first time today.

Victory was close.

She suppressed the overwhelming fatigue and nausea from her true form, feeling soon her soul might be squeezed into remnants, but she didn't show such a worn-out appearance.

One after another.

A ruler defined, threads harvested, like waves, Remnant Beasts fell one by one. But Remnant Beasts knew no pain, fear, or fatigue, relentlessly surging towards the center like a pilgrimage.

Pilgrimage.

The word stirred a few inexplicable ripples in Cornflower's nearly numb heart.

She widened her eyes, looking to the ground, after a night and morning of chaotic fighting, the black smoke from dead Remnant Beasts had covered the ruins. In the broken city, the powdery black Remnant Beast magic lingered like dust haze, not dissipating.

Magical girls couldn't utilize the magic of these Remnant Beasts, since their magic was akin to poison for magical girls, leaving them to settle there, to be handled post-battle.

Amidst the black haze, the dead King's Transformation didn't shatter; their massive forms lay on the ground, soaked in the dark haze, distorted shadows trembling in vagueness, seemingly still alive.

How many King's Transformation died?

Cornflower's mind inexplicably raised the question; she looked up at the battlefield, seeing only one King's Transformation struggling against the encircling Flower Levels, but evidently, it wouldn't last long.

Since only one remains, the King's Transformation remains below should still have...

Thinking this, Cornflower didn't stop her actions, slaughtering large areas of Remnant Beasts, her gaze turned groundward again, then she froze.

She saw only two dark shadows.

Even confirming if those were two shadows was difficult, as they overlapped considerably, seeming to slowly... approach?

Cornflower recalled last night's report.

Special individual A's remnants were lurking in the city, waiting for special individual B to infiltrate and absorb, becoming special individual C. Special individual C absorbs nutrients to grow, transforming into the King's Transformation they face.

So, these special individuals C...

Cornflower didn't even let this thought fully form in her mind.

Because, as soon as the thought appeared, her mouth had already opened:

—"Everyone, retreat to the outer perimeter! Sudden enemy encounter!"

"Huh? What did you say, Commander?" A Magical Girl floating nearby confirmed with Cornflower.

"I said..."

Swoosh.

A barely audible sound swept past Cornflower's ear.

Along with this sound, the King's Transformation that had been heavily surrounded by Flower Cards suddenly vanished without a trace.

Hiss.

Another similarly subtle sound.

The blue sky, which had just been revealed with much effort, was once again isolated by something.

The interval between these two occurrences might have been less than a second.

Then, Commander Stonegarlic's roar erupted nearby.

Yet, just like the soldier who was confirming Cornflower's order earlier, Cornflower couldn't hear Stonegarlic's words clearly.

As if blocked by several membranes, she could hear the commander's voice but couldn't discern its content.

However, Stonegarlic didn't stop.

She repeatedly, repeatedly reiterated the same syllable, using maximum volume, even greater volume, exhaustively using a Magic Technique, seemingly trying to convey that syllable to everyone present.

Then Cornflower barely made it out.

The meaning of that syllable was "Shield."

Besides that syllable, the surroundings seemed to have plunged into complete silence.

Within the silence, there was a certain sound that felt somewhat familiar.

Like the sound of insect wings flapping.

Not the buzz that common insects such as mosquitoes or flies would emit, but simply the sound of wing flapping.

Perhaps the sound heard at certain times when moths take flight, or the sound perceived when butterflies flutter down.

But this wing flapping sound was faster than others, even made one feel a bit uneasy, a more fitting analogy might not be moths nor butterflies, but... cockroaches.

It's that very faint "rustle rustle," "crackle crackle," accompanied by the sound of airflow.

Are there insects around here?

Emerald Sparrow felt somewhat perplexed, but quickly dismissed this nonsensical thought.

After all, at present, it seemed as if some soundproof Magic Technique or rule was affecting the surroundings, even Stonegarlic's desperate shouting infused with magic power only reached her ears as indistinct syllables.

In this situation, how could the sound of insects flapping their wings possibly penetrate?

If this truly was the sound of wings, then the insect making this noise must...

Thinking this, Emerald Sparrow suddenly raised her head.

As if in response to her gaze, the Magic Technique that had originally isolated sound and plunged everything into silence seemed to begin to lose its effectiveness, and the voices of other Magical Girls gradually emerged.

But accompanying this was also that wing-flapping sound.

Rustle rustle, crackle crackle.

The sound was becoming louder and louder.

Even though Cornflower could already hear the surrounding Magical Girls speaking, roaring, and screaming, she still didn't know the content of these words.

Because they were too faint.

Compared to the wing-flapping sound, her colleagues' voices were too faint.

Rustle rustle, crackle crackle.

The sound grew louder and louder, until it was deafening, until the earth shocked and trembled, until it shook the heavens and the earth.

As if the sky were about to collapse beneath the tremendous noise, the intense wing-flapping sound compelled Cornflower to cover her ears.

She raised her head, stared fixedly at the sky, gazing intensely at the direction that should have been blue sky. At this moment, boundlessly dense shadows blocked the sunlight.

That was the source of the wing-flapping sound.

That was the last shadow amidst the black dust haze.

That was the culprit that nearly erased sound in an instant.

That was a Remnant Beast.

Egg, Inchworm, Chrysalis, Molt, words describing the grade of Remnant Beasts seemed to denote the life evolution of an insect: breaking out from the egg, inch by inch, transforming into chrysalis and dormant, shedding the old shell.

Until finally, transformed into "Feather."