My ex-girlfriend is a magical girl junior?

It wasn't a distortion of the environment itself, but a visual illusion created by an extremely sophisticated ability to distort light and shield perception, completely isolating the existence of that phantom beast from everyone's magical perception.

"Watch out!" Xing Shuang's eyes widened suddenly as she shouted at Liu Li and Yin Xue, her voice trembling with tension.

At the same time, the distortion of the air became even more violent, accompanied by a faint, eerie hissing sound as if the air was being cut at an extremely high speed, and an almost transparent black shadow silently pounced on the glass that was closest to it!

Luo Bingli and Yin Xue almost instinctively looked behind them following Xing Shuang's warning, but their naked eyes and magical perception could not detect the dark figure. Only the faint fluctuations in the air indicated that deadly danger was imminent.

At the critical moment, a burst of pinkish-gold light exploded behind the two. Starfrost's wand drew a sharp arc, and the hastily formed magical barrier, like a transparent shield, blocked the approaching shadow. Almost simultaneously, a dazzling beam of magical energy condensed in the palm of her other hand and shot directly at the translucent shadow.

boom!

The magic barrier shattered like glass the moment it made contact; the hastily assembled defense could not withstand the terrifying impact.

The magical beam that followed seemed to pierce straight through the shadow, but Starfrost could clearly feel that the powerful magic was dispersed the moment it touched the shadow, as if reflected by countless tiny mirrors, and finally disappeared without causing any effective damage.

Without hesitation after its attack missed, the shadowy figure vanished as quickly as it merged into the shadows, and the distortion in the air subsided, returning to a state of calm and stillness, as if everything that had just happened was merely an illusion.

Protected behind the barrier, Liuli and Yinxue only felt a powerful force brush past them, as if the air behind them was being torn apart, bringing a cold, icy wind.

They immediately realized that if it weren't for Xing Shuang's timely intervention, this attack would have been enough to cut either of them in half. The two looked at Xing Shuang in shock, then at the direction where the dark figure had disappeared, their faces filled with disbelief.

"What is this?!" Liuli was still in shock, gripping the ice blade tightly in her hand, her body tensing up instinctively. She had never seen a Void Beast that moved so quickly and attacked so stealthily.

"Such speed...and my magic perception is completely disabled!" Yin Xue's voice trembled slightly as she glanced back in the direction the shadow had come from, her healing magic proving utterly powerless against such an enemy.

Starfrost shook her wand, her expression extremely solemn. This was an erosion-level void beast that she had never encountered before, possessing the ability to distort light and shield her from magical perception.

Although it is only slightly larger than the previous Mantis Void Beast, its level of danger is incomparable. When a magic beam is fired directly at it, its power is dispersed, which greatly reduces the effectiveness of traditional ranged attacks.

What's most terrifying is its ability to block magical perception, rendering her wide-area detection almost ineffective. She can only rely on extremely faint light distortion to determine its presence, and she can only catch a trace of it the moment it attacks.

"It's not a mindless monster," Starfrost said in a deep voice, her eyes sharp. "It possesses simple intelligence; it knows how to hide itself and wait for the right moment to launch a sneak attack."

This means they are not hunting the Void Beast, but being hunted. This abandoned warehouse area, with its countless shelves and dark corners, provides the perfect hunting ground for this stealthy Void Beast.

"What should we do? We can't sense it at all." Liuli bit her lower lip, a hint of anxiety flashing in her icy blue eyes.

This feeling of the enemy being in the dark while she was in the light made her very uneasy. As a melee magical girl, the ice blade in her hand could only be effective if she could see the enemy.

"We can't stay on the ground," Starfrost quickly assessed. "There are too many bunkers here; it could launch a surprise attack at any moment."

"Fly into the air!" Yin Xue immediately understood her intention, and the two of them leaped upwards almost simultaneously, with Liu Li following closely behind.

The three of them floated in mid-air in the center of the warehouse, with layers of shelves below and a dark roof above. Far from the complicated environment on the ground, they felt a sense of relief.

At least this way, the virtual beast could no longer use obstacles to carry out a perfect covert attack, and their field of vision was also somewhat wider.

However, the sense of security was only temporary. The ethereal bubble still enveloped the area, and the stealthy ethereal beast remained lurking, waiting for its next opportunity to attack.

"This can't go on forever." Yin Xue's voice was filled with deep worry. "The process of infiltrating the Void Realm is still ongoing. Once the infiltration is completely complete, this Void Beast will be able to leave the bubble's range."

"By then, it will be virtually impossible to eliminate it. It poses a deadly threat to ordinary people and even magical girls like us."

Ruri's expression also turned serious. They were magical girls, and it was their responsibility to protect the real world. They absolutely could not accept watching such a dangerous phantom beast complete its infiltration.

Xing Shuang frowned, her gaze sweeping over the complex shelving area below, her mind racing as she considered a solution.

It distorts light, blocks perception, moves at incredible speed, disperses the effects of magic beams, and possesses intelligence... Traditional brute force attacks and wide-area probing are unlikely to be effective. We must find a way to force it to reveal itself or limit its speed and stealth capabilities.

Perhaps a wide-range, indiscriminate attack could be used? For example, detonating the magic power of the entire area? But this would be extremely costly and could potentially harm them.

Or, could she create a special barrier that could counter its concealment? But she wasn't sure if she had that ability. The simplest way might be to create a large number of decoys to distract it and find an opening when it attacks.

Just as Xingshuang was weighing various options in her mind and about to make a decision—

The glass moved.

She couldn't bear this feeling of passively waiting. The sense of powerlessness and being protected that Xing Shuang had just saved felt like a thorn stuck in her heart.

She is a magical girl, a warrior, not a weakling who needs to hide behind others, especially being protected by that "short senior," which makes her feel a strong sense of pride being hurt.

She wants to prove herself and solve problems on her own, instead of hiding or waiting for the protection of her seniors.

"I'll do it!" Liuli suddenly swooped down, her deep blue magic condensing on her wand and transforming into a sharp ice blade.

She tried to rely on her instincts and speed to rush into the shelf area, find the trace of the virtual beast, and force it to show itself. She believed in her melee skills, and that as long as she could find it, the ice blade would be effective.

"Liuli! Wait!" Yinxue exclaimed, trying to stop her, but it was too late.

Xing Shuang's expression changed drastically. Before she could even voice the plan she had just come up with, Liu Li rushed down without considering the possible consequences of her reckless actions.

"Too impulsive!" Xing Shuang shouted in her heart, while rapidly approaching Liu Li.

Just as Liuli rushed into the shadowy area of ​​the shelf, that faint distortion in the air reappeared and flashed to Liuli's side at an incredible speed—it seized the opportunity!

"Danger!" Starfrost's voice rang out almost simultaneously with the attack launched by the Void Beast.

Liuli realized the danger and tried to dodge, attempting to block with her ice blades, but the beast was too fast, its hidden attacks were impossible to predict completely, and the shelves restricted her movement.

Its sickle-shaped forelimbs, distorting the air with a faint glow, slashed fiercely...

In mid-air, Yin Xue let out a shrill scream, and Liu Li's eyes widened suddenly, only managing to catch a glimpse of—

A vibrant red splattered in the shadows, like a shattered gem, in an instant.