"Hyacinth! Think of something, quickly!"
"I'm… I'm already trying to think of something…!"
Iris set up her magic cannon, vigilantly scanning her surroundings, while calling out to Hyacinth who was wielding a greatsword beside the Volcano Monster in the distance.
Nightingale floated behind her, her magic-formed hands cradling Hai Lan Shi's body, as she cast healing magic with her magic wand towards the unconscious Hai Lan Shi.
This was off the coast of Hong Kong City, where the Hyacinth Squad and the Hailanshi Team formed the first line of defense against the Volcano Monster.
The Maisui Squad, who had come to provide support, waited near the shore, tasked with attempting to crush the Volcano Monster with their terrifying firepower, of which they were very proud, should the first two teams be unable to hold it back.
As for why the Mai Sui were not allowed to attack the Monster with their magic cannons from the outer sea…
According to Mai Sui herself, her accuracy while flying wasn't very good; her firepower was strongest when acting as a fixed cannon, so they were placed in the rear to await support, serving as the final line of defense.
However, the Volcano Monster did not actively attack anyone; it merely advanced towards the coastline, and now it was firmly blocked by the two melee fighters, Hyacinth and Red Zircon, unable to move an inch.
The former was skilled with a greatsword, the latter with a scarlet long spear. After a few rounds of cooperation, they had already begun to work together tacitly, causing Gan Lan Shi, who was healing Hai Lan Shi with Nightingale, to feel a bit emotional.
"Hyacinth and Red Zircon work so well together. Is it really their first time meeting?"
"Of course it is, this is our first time in Hong Kong City." Iris replied, maintaining her vigilance and not daring to make the slightest move.
— The battle began ten minutes ago.
Originally, the battle was almost overwhelmingly smooth:
Hyacinth, Red Zircon, plus Hai Lan Shi—a total of three melee Magic Girls—all joined the fray, suppressing the enormous Volcano Monster in place with just one encounter.
Although its massive body and turtle-like appearance gave it considerable defense, it could not break through the defensive line formed by the three.
Coupled with the double firepower suppression from Iris and Zi Ying Shi, there was even a momentum to quickly resolve the Volcano Monster in a short amount of time.
However, the pink figure that appeared behind Hai Lan Shi shattered this idea.
"Was that person just now the Cheshire Rabbit active in Rong City?"
After completing a round of healing magic, Gan Lan Shi observed Hai Lan Shi's recovery while speaking to Nightingale and Iris.
The two nodded in response, maintaining their vigilance.
Even the silent and solitary Zi Ying Shi was forced to move closer to the group, half her face obscured by a mask, but her eyes revealed her inner tension.
— The Hailanshi Team had never dealt with an opponent like Cheshire Rabbit.
Her powerful magic, terrifyingly eerie invisibility, and the incredibly powerful Rabbit's Great Hammer that could even severely injure a melee Magic Girl like Hai Lan Shi with one blow…
Who uses a great hammer as a weapon, an assassin, no less!
"That's right, that was Cheshire Rabbit just now." Nightingale nodded and said.
"You must be careful; her invisibility is very tricky. If she seizes an opportunity to launch a sneak attack, it's very likely to…"
A brief silence.
The Hailanshi Team had already fully felt the pressure from Rabbit, and they huddled together with Nightingale in fear, terrified of being targeted by Cheshire Rabbit.
But until the Volcano Monster was annihilated by the Mai Sui's four-person cannon fire on the distant sea, after they realized something was amiss and rushed to provide support, Cheshire Rabbit never appeared even once, as if it wasn't she who had just severely injured Hai Lan Shi with one hammer blow.
The Magic Girls felt as if they had punched cotton.
Especially Hyacinth, who was flying over the remnants of the Volcano Monster, magic wand in hand, looking as if she hadn't had enough.
What's going on? This isn't like Xin Yuehu's usual style today.
She always announces her attacks loudly, then uses powerful Monster combinations to defeat her opponents, or uses powerful Fox Fox Wonderful Gadgets to play tricks.
How could she just send a Monster over today to get beaten up and then nothing happens?
"Something's wrong! Very wrong!"
Sitting in the Hero Association's temporary command post by the coastline, Hyacinth slammed the table and stood up, speaking to everyone.
Nightingale, who was sitting across the table watching an animation with a bucket of instant noodles, was startled by her shout and nearly spilled the bowl. She hastily protected the opening of the noodle bucket with defensive magic, thus avoiding a disaster.
"What's wrong? Do you feel something is off?"
Mai Sui calmly sat beside Nightingale, both leaning in to watch the animation, but she was drawn by Hyacinth's attention and turned to her, saying.
"Don't you think today's situation is very strange? This is not Xin Yuehu's style at all!"
"…Now that you mention it, today's situation is more like the tactics she used to test our strength when she first debuted."
Nightingale also added,
"But why would she design such a seemingly large-scale but actually small-scale attack today? Even Hellcat and Xin Yuehu herself didn't appear. Is she just testing us?"
"Very strange… I completely don't understand what Xin Yuehu wants to do…"
Hyacinth sat back down in her seat in distress, pinching her chin and falling into deep thought.
The Bai Diao (White Sable) was currently chatting with a turtle Spirit encased in a quartz shell nearby. Hearing Hyacinth's words, she quickly turned and leaned over.
"It's not that simple! Look at this!"
Two Observer Spirits jointly projected a magical light screen in front of them. Even Nightingale, who was watching the animation, looked up, and together they watched the image displayed on the light screen.
The screen showed Xin Yuehu's cute little face and fox ears, happily saying something in front of the camera.
【"Ta-da~ Good evening, everyone~ Fox Fox is meeting everyone again~"】
【"I wonder if everyone in Hong Kong City has been looking forward to Fox Fox's arrival?"】
The screen displayed the latest video from Xin Yuehu's video account, and the bullet comments had already begun to densely scroll with fox carrot emojis.
【"Since I've come to Hong Kong City, Fox Fox plans to give out some small gifts to everyone in Hong Kong City~"】
【"As long as you leave a message with your address at the gift robot in the comment section, Fox Fox will draw 100 lucky viewers, and the express delivery little imp will deliver super cute little fox dolls to everyone~"】
Lin Muyao was stunned for a moment, immediately exited the animation she was watching, and quite skillfully clicked into the Magic Girl Fox Fox Official account, then clicked to leave a message at the gift robot.
Nan Xiaofeng suppressed the urge to also leave a message, intending to see what tricks Xin Yuehu was up to next.
But then, when Xin Yuehu moved the camera behind her, the enchanted glass display stand prominently standing behind her left everyone dumbfounded.
"Wh-what?"
"You're kidding! Is that…"
Hai Lan Shi suddenly sat up from her sickbed, looking at the image on the light screen in disbelief.
Everyone else was also shocked by the scene before them, their mouths slightly agape, revealing expressions of surprise and astonishment.
Inside the display stand behind Xin Yuehu lay the fox mask of Magic Girl Inari! And her priceless guardian star!
【"Everyone's very surprised, right~ Why does Fox Fox have Miss Inari's mask? Shouldn't it be in Miss Inari's memorial hall?"】
【"Heh heh heh… Since that's the case, Fox Fox will show everyone something super interesting!"】
A video link was posted below.
【"Magic Girl Cat Fox Rabbit Wolf's Hong Kong City Heist ~ Inari Mask Chapter!"】
【"I hope everyone will support it a lot~"】
【"Oh, by the way, if Miss Hyacinth can see this video, please be sure to watch the video Fox Fox sent carefully."】
The Golden Fox revealed a mysterious smile, leaned towards the camera, and seemed to whisper to Hyacinth, who was watching the video:
【"In this video, Fox Fox has hidden a special gift designed just for you~"】