Apocalypse, then transforming into a magical girl

"You just said the monster came from the rooftop? Let's go up and take a look."

Xia Zhaozhao, holding Xiao Lü's hand, walked up the dusty stairs towards the rooftop.

Finally, the two arrived at the stairwell leading to the rooftop. Xia Zhaozhao stopped and gestured for Xiao Lü to be quiet. She cautiously peered through the crack in the slightly ajar fire door leading to the rooftop.

After just one glance, her face instantly turned pale.

"Ugh! How disgusting!" she couldn't help but exclaim. "Luckily, I watch a lot of gory games and horror movies, otherwise this thing would have made me throw up on the spot!"

Xia Zhaozhao gave up her seat, and Xiao Lü moved closer, looking out the door. The view from the rooftop made her frown.

On the rooftop, near the stairwell, a monster was wriggling, its appearance basically the same as the ones they had seen before.

But what terrified the two of them was that countless tiny black threads, as if under some kind of command, were crawling endlessly toward the monster from all over the rooftop!

The moment the thread touched the monster, it was like a drop of water flowing into the ocean, silently blending together and causing the monster's body to gradually expand and take shape.

So... this is how the monster takes shape? Those black nematodes born from rainwater gather in this way and eventually coalesce into the monster's true form?

"...Looks like we're in luck; we've just run into a newbie monster that hasn't fully grown up yet."

Xia Zhaozhao kicked open the rooftop door, startling the monster. But this monster, which was almost entirely driven by instinct and had low intelligence, quickly reacted, howling as it lunged towards Xia Zhaozhao's direction.

"Little Green! Get ready!" Xia Zhaozhao pushed off with her feet, slightly turning her body to avoid the monster's attack. At the same time, the enchanted kitchen knife in her hand shone brightly and cut a gash in the monster's body!

The monster trembled in pain, but the various organs and tissues on its body continued to twist, and the wound was actually healing little by little.

Xia Zhaozhao certainly wouldn't give the monster that chance. Freed from the greatsword's restraint, her movements were noticeably more agile. She swung her blade horizontally at the monster's wound, slicing off a large chunk of flesh!

Little Green, who was standing nearby, saw this and perked up. "Wow, Xia Zhaozhao's strength seems pretty impressive."

Although she hadn't slept for a long time, she felt a strange sense of power surging from within her.

Moreover, looking at the disgusting monster fighting Xia Zhaozhao, he found that although he still felt fear and nausea, he had no intention of backing down. Instead, a strong urge to destroy it completely welled up inside him.

Is this the anchoring effect of "courage"? No matter how much fear one feels, it cannot crush the will to fight. It is truly a domineering yet practical "price".

Xia Zhaozhao's cleaver flew up and down, still using the same slow, slicing technique, but because the weapon was lighter, each chop brought up large amounts of slime and bits of flesh.

Upon seeing this, Xiao Lü instinctively raised her hands, and the ice magic within her body was mobilized as if by instinct.

The moisture in the air quickly condensed, turning into dozens of sharp ice crystals that shimmered with a cold, eerie blue light, which floated in front of her.

"Go!" With a shout from Xiao Lü, ice crystals shot out like a dense rain of arrows towards the monster that was fighting with Xia Zhaozhao!

"Pfft!" The ice crystal struck the monster's body with pinpoint accuracy, easily piercing its seemingly soft yet strangely resilient surface and embedding itself deeply within!

The extremely low temperature began to spread instantly, and a layer of white frost condensed on the hit area, and the speed of tissue peristalsis slowed down significantly!

It works! Freezing really does work!

Little Green was overjoyed, discovering that she seemed to have an innate familiarity with how to use magic, as if these combat skills had long been engraved in her DNA.

"I seem to... know how to fight without even learning?" Little Green muttered to herself, somewhat puzzled, as she continued to condense ice crystals and fire them.

"Nonsense! Of course we'll instill some basic combat instincts in you!" Xia Zhaozhao, who was enthusiastically hacking away with a cleaver in front of her, turned around and shouted, her tone matter-of-fact.

"You know, even a shut-in like me became a sword master, didn't I? It's all thanks to the beginner's gift pack that came with the contract!"

Watching Xia Zhaozhao wield the kitchen knife, Xiao Lü wasn't idle either. She cautiously took a few steps forward, mobilizing the newly generated magic power within her.

With a gentle wave of her small hand, the moisture in the air quickly condensed, turning into a thin mist of ice crystals that covered the floor around the monster.

The black nematodes that were crawling toward the monster curled up the moment they touched the frigid ice.

At the same time, the limb fragments that Xia Zhaozhao had cleaved off with a kitchen knife, which were still wriggling on the ground, were frozen by the sudden drop in temperature and stopped moving.

"Well done, little green brand air conditioner!"

"As expected..." Little Green looked at her results and understood.

No matter how bizarre they may seem, their basic structure appears to be organic matter, making them susceptible to extreme temperature changes. They are sensitive to heat, and equally sensitive to cold.

Since that's the case... her gaze shifted to the monster's true form, which was fiercely battling Xia Zhaozhao. If she could freeze it completely into a block of ice, wouldn't that solve the problem easily?

Little Green immediately took action. She mobilized more of her magic power, attempting to apply the extreme chill directly to its core.

A chilling blue aura surged towards the monster like a tide, causing the air temperature to plummet. Sensing an even greater threat, the monster roared with even greater rage, its already chaotic attacks becoming even more frenzied.

However, the scene Little Green had envisioned—the monster frozen into an ice sculpture—did not occur. Although the cold air enveloped the monster's surface, it was unable to penetrate its core.

"Hey! Little Green, don't waste your magic!" Xia Zhaozhao nimbly dodged the monster's attacks and called out as she turned around.

"Why?" Little Green reluctantly stopped its futile attempts, retreated to a safe position, and continued to harass the monster with ice crystals, freezing the nematodes that kept crawling towards it.

"These insects and bits of flesh can be frozen, so why can't the main body be frozen? Aren't these considered living things?"

"I think...that's roughly the idea?" Xia Zhaozhao's answer was quite uncertain. She brandished the kitchen knife and sliced ​​off a large piece of the black-fuming tissue from the monster's body.

"I'm not entirely clear on the specific principles either, but I remember Kaka saying something like that the essence of magic is the projection and interference of will onto reality."

"However, other sentient beings, with their own will, can interfere with the will you project."

"So, unless that guy wants to freeze to death, or his consciousness is so weak that you can completely crush him, the magic that targets his core will be much less effective."

"Okay, I understand."

"Of course, I won't stop you if you want to continue~ It's cool and very comfortable!"

Little Green ignored her and stopped trying to spread the chill, instead compressing her magic power to a high degree.

The moisture in the air gathered at an astonishing speed, forming an ice spear more than a meter long in front of her, gleaming with a chilling light.

With a loud shout, she used all her strength to hurl the ice spear, which was imbued with a great deal of magic power, from the air toward the monster!

The ice spear whistled through the air and plunged deep into the monster's body, pinning it to the ground.

"Awooo—" The monster let out a mournful howl, its body trembling violently. The magic contained in the ice spear erupted within its body, rapidly freezing its internal tissues.

Its struggles grew weaker and weaker until finally, its massive body was firmly pinned to the spot, no longer able to move.

"Huh? That's it? I haven't had enough fun yet!" Xia Zhaozhao looked at the monster's remains nailed to the ground, pouting with a hint of lingering satisfaction. "I was just getting the hang of chopping vegetables..."

"You could have easily taken care of it, but you insisted on doing it piece by piece. Looks like you were born to be an executioner."

"Huh? I was just helping you get used to the rhythm of the battle!"