“Alert! Monster attack!”
“Multiple locations in Hong Kong City are experiencing sudden Monster attacks. All on-duty and standby Heroes are to immediately deploy to evacuate the public and monitor the Monsters’ movements.”
A harsh alarm echoed through the Hero Association Headquarters.
From above, Hong Kong City was filled with explosions and smoke, with signs of Monster disasters everywhere, and people fleeing in panic.
However, Hong Kong City hadn't experienced a Monster attack of a certain intensity in ten years, let alone the situation today—
Dozens of Monsters were rampaging in various places, wantonly destroying everything in their sight.
But if it were just that simple, it would be acceptable. However, if people saw the Monsters attacking each other, they might feel a bit confused:
A Tiger Monster snarled on the elevated bridge, facing a Great Bear Monster. Both sides stood opposite each other across the bridge, neither initiating an attack immediately.
A giant Dragonfly flew through the air, with a giant bird relentlessly pursuing her, engaging in a tense chase.
A Gorilla Monster was suppressed by a Black Wolf Monster, but then quickly counterattacked with a punch, sending the Black Wolf flying. They fought fiercely in the stadium, neither able to gain the upper hand.
Chaotic scenes like these could be seen almost everywhere in Hong Kong City.
Even the Heroes from Rong City who had rushed to Hong Kong City for support were confused by the situation displayed on the large screen.
“...What’s going on? Am I seeing things?”
An S-Class Hero from Rong City Hero Association, “Meteor.”
Meteor sat in the association hall, feeling somewhat bewildered.
The hall’s screens displayed almost all available camera feeds from various parts of Hong Kong City. The central large screen constantly switched between different perspectives, making people dizzy, forcing them to focus on one screen to observe.
The person responsible for controlling these screens sat not far in front of Meteor, her eyes fixed on the temporary giant screen in front of her.
An S-Class Hero from Suicheng Association, “Thousand Eyes.”
“Uncle Thousand Eyes, can you keep track of so many screens?”
A woman in a black OL uniform stood below the screen, one hand gripping the main cable, pale blue electric sparks flickering between her fingers. She was responsible for the signal output and overall control of all these surveillance screens.
An S-Class Hero from Rong City Association, “Electromagnetic.”
Adding to that, the S-Class Hero Moira, who was busy in a temporary operating room not far away, and Messiah, who was standing at the operating room entrance arranging for the entry and exit of the injured…
Several S-Class Heroes gathered in the main hall of the Hong Kong City Association Headquarters.
Thousand Eyes did not immediately answer Electromagnetic, still intently watching the flashing and switching images on the screen.
After he had visually scanned all the images, Thousand Eyes took a deep breath, picked up the thermos cup beside him, and took a sip of strong tea, his expression calm.
“What’s the situation?”
Meteor asked Thousand Eyes.
Having the ability of instantaneous movement, she received an urgent rescue request from the Hong Kong Hero Association ten minutes ago and immediately brought all S-Class Heroes who responded from across the country to Hong Kong City to participate in the evacuation.
The psychic ability “Spatial Travel” granted Meteor the ability to instantly travel to any corner of the world, as long as there was a psionic beacon she had set up in that place.
And Thousand Eyes from the Suicheng Hero Association was the best person to summarize the current situation.
His psychic ability allowed him to simultaneously observe about 1000 surveillance screens and integrate the information, synthesizing a real-time 3D image covering the entire city, making him the ultimate expert in information processing.
Especially when the Magic Girls were not yet involved, his integrated image would not be affected by the Magic Girls’ cognitive shielding, becoming incredibly precise.
But when Thousand Eyes showed a strange expression, Meteor sensed a hint of unease.
“...Strange.”
“There are a total of one hundred and seventy-four Monsters in various parts of Hong Kong City, but they are all attacking each other, with no instances of actively attacking residents.”
“Monsters attacking each other? They’re fighting amongst themselves?”
Electromagnetic, Qi Yun, looked puzzled and said.
Starry Sky Aberrants are a huge disaster that causes destruction to cities and can only be effectively resolved by Magic Girls.
The unprecedented number of 174 alone was enough to trigger a world-class alert, but if these Monsters started attacking each other… then this alert would likely escalate to an unprecedented level.
“The Monsters appearing so densely and acting so organized is definitely a super bad omen.”
The speaker was Messiah.
The pale-skinned, white-haired girl appeared beside Thousand Eyes at some point, calmly looking at the last surveillance image displayed on the screen.
A Crab Monster knocked down a Carp Monster with a claw and then used its carapace to block a Shark Monster’s water jet, creating conditions for a Scorpion Monster behind it to launch a long-range attack.
Judging solely from this battle, the Monsters displayed a clear two-on-two scenario, enough to illustrate a terrifying fact:
“Someone is directing them from behind,” Messiah said softly.
“Based on the information we currently have, there is only one person capable of controlling Monster actions, and that is a certain fox-human Magic Girl who calls herself a villain.”
“Xin Yuehu,” Thousand Eyes nodded and said.
“Coincidentally, Xin Yuehu has also been in Hong Kong City recently. I reasonably suspect her involvement in this.”
Cobra, the S-Class Hero permanently stationed in Hong Kong City, chimed in.
Behind him was a gloomy girl with a travel bag, trembling, wearing glasses as thick as bottle bottoms, her hair almost covering half her face, looking as if her legs were shaking and she was about to leave.
S-Class Hero “Palette,” another permanently stationed Hero in Hong Kong City, a pure support staff. She didn't know why she was pulled into this discussion group in the hall.
Everyone in this discussion group was a heavyweight!
Not to mention Meteor with her instantaneous movement ability, or Qi Yun who could freely control electric currents and Electromagnetic waves, just the mysterious Messiah alone was enough to make Palette tremble.
“I say… if it really was Xin Yuehu who summoned the Monsters, then why would she make the Monsters fight each other?” Palette mustered her courage and spoke her thoughts.
Everyone paused simultaneously.
“Palette has a point,” Thousand Eyes said.
“A message came from the Magic Girls. They successfully broke through the underground barrier in the center of Hong Kong City, but inside the barrier, they found a bound Star Realm Giant Beast.”
“Hyacinth initially thought it was a bomb set by Xin Yuehu, but only after entering did she discover it was an ancient binding barrier. With Xin Yuehu’s help, she managed to escape back to the surface from in front of the Giant Beast.”
Upon hearing the term Star Realm Giant Beast, the S-Class Heroes collectively fell silent.
It wasn’t the first time a Giant Beast had appeared in the world.
According to foreign reports, a Star Realm Giant Beast appeared in the suburbs of New York City over thirty years ago. Almost all Magic Girls nationwide participated in the interception, paying a huge price to defeat it.
“...Do you think there’s a possibility that the Giant Beast itself possesses the ability to summon and control Monsters?” Messiah frowned, proposing a hypothesis.
A brief silence.
Qi Yun decisively stopped maintaining the screen feeds. Thousand Eyes immediately put down his teacup and stood ready. Except for Moira, who was busy in the operating room, all the Heroes gathered together.
“Hong Kong City is to immediately enter the highest alert status. All personnel are to proceed to shelters. Ensure that all personnel within a fifteen-kilometer radius of Hong Kong City’s center are evacuated!”
“Additionally, all combat personnel are to be on duty. In necessary circumstances, provide all possible assistance to the Magic Girls!”
“—That Star Realm Giant Beast, we must eliminate it.”