Apocalypse, then transforming into a magical girl

She thought about it and decided to play with this innocent child.

In this world where everything has collapsed, leaving only a crimson, oppressive sky and all sorts of bizarre black monsters, it's amazing to still encounter people who retain a fairytale-like way of thinking.

She channeled her magic, using ice to create a giant signboard as tall as a person, and then used her fingertips to carve a line of words on it.

[Trap ahead, do not approach.]

After she finished carving, she stretched out her finger and gently shaved off a corner of the ice plaque she had just carved.

"Click."

The symmetrical rectangle suddenly has a small gap, instantly destroying its symmetry.

Having done all this, she turned around with satisfaction, ready to leave the trap zone and continue exploring towards the crematorium.

That unknown magical girl will probably catch up, she thought.

Hundreds of meters away, on the top floor of a dilapidated residential building, "Wolf" hovered silently, taking in everything that was happening below.

When she saw Xiao Lü put up the sign that read "Trap", her gray eyes showed obvious confusion for the first time.

"...So clever?"

She murmured to herself.

but……

Her gaze fell on the ice cube with a corner cut off.

That unique flaw that disrupts the overall symmetry.

"Huh?"

A very soft, incredulous gasp escaped her lips.

It seems like she... understands me now?

She decided to follow them and see what was going on.

-----------------

Before going to the crematorium, Xiao Lü crossed a cemetery.

It was quite quiet here. Occasionally, a few aggregates would dart out from behind the tombstones, roaring and lunging, but they were all accurately shot dead by the ice bullets she casually swung.

She was certain that the unknown magical girl was following her right now.

But she did not choose to turn back, nor did she deliberately search for it.

However, as she passed by a family tomb archway that looked quite old, she suddenly caught a glimpse of something unusual out of the corner of her eye.

One of the stone pillars of the archway was entwined with black vines that had long since withered from the rain. The other pillar, however, was bare and looked quite clean.

It seems like this is a scene that will make that obsessive-compulsive magical girl feel quite uncomfortable.

The moment her gaze swept over them, the withered vines suddenly came back to life.

They crawled silently, some peeling off the pillars, tracing an elegant arc in the air, and flying towards another bare pillar.

Then, they re-entered each other in a near-perfect, completely symmetrical spiral shape.

Then, the girl seemed to feel that it was not perfect enough, so she slightly adjusted the density of the vines to make them present a slight, rhythmic asymmetry.

"..."

This child's obsessive-compulsive disorder has really reached a late stage.

She didn't move forward. Instead, she raised her head, her gaze passing over the archway and landing precisely on the horizontal line formed by the two pillars, the invisible vertical bisector.

There is only one place to hide in that area.

She gently waved in that direction and said in a soft but clear voice:

"Stop hiding, Miss with OCD about symmetry, let's talk."

After a moment of silence, a young girl appeared, looking somewhat embarrassed.

She was a cute girl with a light brown side ponytail. Beneath her slightly messy bangs was a delicate face with a touch of aloofness, and beautiful gray pupils.

She was wearing a school uniform, and the socks on her legs were of different lengths, one reaching her knee and the other only reaching her calf, taking the asymmetrical beauty to the extreme.

Her gray eyes were clear and focused, staring intently at Little Green.

"I am... 'Wolf'."

Her voice was soft, but her words were clear.

"Your marksmanship and your composure are asymmetrical. Is it intentional? Is it some kind of...performance art?"

As expected, it's an electromagnetic type, the most difficult attribute to deal with.

Xiao Lü felt a throbbing pain in her temples. This attribute would probably be very difficult for her to handle, extremely difficult.

"...No, it's simply because I'm bad at the game. And I don't think there's anything aesthetically pleasing about wasting precious bullets in the apocalypse."

"Really?" There was a hint of disappointment in "Wolf's" tone, but she quickly found a new topic.

"Then why is your hair styled in two symmetrical ponytails? Don't you think it would look more... 'alive' if you only tied one side up and left the other side loose?"

"...This is the default system configuration when I transform."

Xiao Lü felt her吐槽 (tu cao, meaning to complain or criticize) energy rapidly depleting. She decided to take the initiative in the conversation.

"I am 'Mayfly'. Are you also a magical girl from Xinmao City? Why are you appearing without transforming?"

"No, I'm from the next city. I was drawn here to investigate after the huge explosion not long ago."

"Also, I prefer how I look now, and I want to make that first impression on you."

Her answer was frank and direct, as if she were stating a theorem.

"...Okay, so it was misunderstood that a nuclear bomb was dropped on this place."

Xiao Lü understood, and she briefly explained the ins and outs of the explosion at the Left Bank Interchange to "Wolf".

"Ah... the overpass, how pitiful."

After hearing this, the wolf revealed a sad expression of empathy for inanimate objects.

Then, the sadness in her eyes was replaced by a new vitality, as if the mourning had never happened.

"I need to clear out the monsters around here, could you wait a moment?"

...So unpredictable? Xiao Lü felt completely out of sync with her train of thought.

"Why? There don't seem to be any survivors around here. Clearing out these scattered monsters isn't very meaningful, is it?" Little Green asked.

"Because I killed someone."

The wolf's answer was understated, as if it were talking about something trivial.

Xiao Lü's heart tightened suddenly, and she subconsciously took half a step back, looking at her warily.

The wolf seemed to sense Little Green's wariness and quickly added that Little Green should not be wary of her.

"He's a bad person."

Little Green's confusion deepened. What necessary connection did this have with clearing out the monsters?

"Punish evil and promote good."

"what?"

"Punish one evil, promote one good."

The wolf began to explain earnestly.

"I think that even for bad people, killing is still a form of 'evil'."

"To restore balance to my inner self, after doing something 'bad,' I like to do something 'good' to offset it."

"Killing these monsters that threaten humanity is the most direct 'good' I can do at this moment."