Proving one's status starting with magical girls

"Destroy! Slaughter! Offer your blood and flesh to the supreme Blood Duke!"

In the chaotic city center, a witch in a red robe stands atop a skyscraper, greedily absorbing the fear emanating from below.

A giant plant twines around the building, with countless thick roots prying up the ground and densely penetrating the building's exterior walls. Two enormous flowers, several meters in diameter, bloom on either side of the tall building.

The flower has five large brown petals, and three red stamens in the center extend for hundreds of meters, like tentacles that traverse the street and gently roll up the fleeing crowd.

Then, those people caught by the flower's stamen will be lifted up above the flower.

Under the constant pressure of the flower's stamen, the human body began to twist, and screams filled the air. Only blood continued to flow down, nourishing the flower's heart.

The witch watched with rapt attention as the monstrous plants below relentlessly slaughtered the crowd, a sickly blush creeping onto her face.

However, before she could enjoy her moment for long, she heard the rooftop door behind her slam open, and several smoke grenades rolled to her feet, instantly engulfing the entire rooftop in thick smoke.

[First team in position, has established visual suppression of the target]

【Received, permission to fire】

The witch frowned and fanned away the gray clouds around her with some disdain.

The thick smoke, which would be enough to choke and immobilize an ordinary person, only made her cough slightly.

"Again..."

Before she could finish her disgusted words, her superhuman dynamic vision caught a glimmer of light behind the thick smoke.

Immediately, dozens of lines of fire followed in quick succession—

Gunfire ripped through the smoke and dust like a storm, and a continuous metallic storm enveloped the witch's entire figure. Bullets struck the rooftop and railings, sending up sparks and rubble.

As the gunfire subsided and the smoke cleared, dozens of armed combat personnel, dressed in blue-black special exoskeletons, wearing tactical goggles, and wielding black standard firearms aimed at the witch, finally appeared on the rooftop.

"...Do you really think you can harm me, Witch Chenyan, with these old tricks?!"

Looking at their target, who was somewhat disheveled but almost unharmed and staring fiercely at them, the tactical team leader's words remained completely calm.

[Target undamaged, should suppression operations continue?]

Please maintain the current standoff.

【receive】

Seeing that the tactical squad in front of her remained unmoved, the witch, draped in a blood-red robe and with a wheat-colored complexion, gave a cold smile.

"Heh, you've really underestimated me. In that case, come out, combatants!"

At her command, her blood-red robe billowed, and dozens of figures emerged from its shadow.

These figures, dressed in suits, with red masks covering their faces and wielding long sticks, silently approached the combat squad.

[The target has summoned a dozen or so standard combatants. Should the order to shoot be given?]

【——】

[Mobile Team 3 is in position. Mobile Team 1, please evacuate immediately.]

【receive】

Following the combat squad leader's order, the combat squad, which had just been aggressively firing to suppress the witch, almost entirely retreated, leaving the way they had come.

Even the witch herself was taken aback by the abruptness.

"...Hmph, looks like you still know what's good for you. Now you know that I, the Witch Chenyan, am not someone to be trifled with! The previous two times were just because I was careless."

The witch had a smug look on her face, then a sinister smile appeared on her face.

"Even if you manage to escape, I won't let you go!"

She was about to give the order to pursue the enemy when she suddenly heard the roar of a helicopter rotor overhead.

The witch looked up in confusion, but her expression changed drastically when she saw the weapons held by the armed squad on the helicopter.

It was a gun with a matte coating on its surface, without a conventional muzzle. A strip of energy transmission line supplied power from a high-energy battery below to the gun body, causing the square crystal on the gun body to gradually brighten.

[The Six-Style Magic Disintegrator is fully charged and the target has been locked.]

The team members held three cutting-edge Six-Style Magic Disintegrators in their hands, while simultaneously locking onto the witch below through the electronic screens of the guns.

【Received, permission to fire】

The three members simultaneously pulled the trigger, activating the magic crystal with high-energy batteries and firing three fleeting beams of azure light.

Upon realizing the weapon was aimed at her, Witch Dust only had time to shield the combatants beside her to prevent herself from being too badly hit by the weapon.

However, the blue beam of light did not hit her directly. Instead, it scraped away the concrete around the rooftop like an eraser before disappearing into the depths of the building.

After the beam was fired, the crystals on the three high-precision weapons dimmed simultaneously, indicating that they would not be able to recharge for the time being.

"...Tsk tsk tsk, missed."

The witch casually tossed the combatant aside, intending to mock the foolish humans.

However, she had only spoken half of the sentence when her feet began to tremble, and her body swayed slightly.

"?"

Her mind went blank for a moment, and the rooftop, stripped of its weight by the beam of light, finally gave way.

In just a moment, the spot where the witch stood collapsed completely.

But that wasn't all. The Destroyer's penetrating beam not only shaved off the rooftop's load-bearing structure, but also removed a portion of the building's load-bearing columns.

As a result, the debris from the rooftop collapsed the floor of the top floor, and the broken wreckage from the bottom floor crashed through to the next floor.

Layer upon layer, the unexpected witch and combatants were swept up by countless concrete blocks and fell all the way to the bottom of the building.

[Mobile Team 3 has completed its mission. The current parasitic structure of the inferior beast is partially disabled. The target and the combatant have fallen together.]

[Received, please have Team 1 respond with the current status]

[Three members of the Z-Z group have been rendered incapacitated by the building's malfunction, and two other members are missing.]

[Mobile Team 5 and Mobile Team 6 are about to take their positions. Mobile Team 1, please abandon the decoy and withdraw as soon as possible.]

【…】

【…receive】

Debris and rubble continued to fall from the building. Although the beams of the Magic Destroyer failed to penetrate the plant roots of the inferior beast, they did cause the plant-like inferior beast parasitizing it to become extremely ferocious.

The crowd in the vicinity had long been evacuated. The beast, craving blood for nourishment, no longer lingered. Several huge roots were pulled from the building, and the two giant flowers gradually detached from the outer wall.

Just as this vile beast was about to detach from the building and head to the next gathering place to parasitize, several black armored vehicles on the street not far away had already arrived at their target location.

[Mobile Team 5 and Mobile Team 6 are in position.]

[Please have the mobile team report on the situation.]

[...Mobile Team 1 has completed its evacuation.]

[Tactical Team Two is still unable to confirm whether there are any survivors in the target building.]

[—Proceed according to the original plan]

[Received by Mobile Team 5]

[Mobile Team Six received]

The black armored vehicles roared to life, and two tactical squads immediately loaded several high-explosive rockets onto the ground.

[Target building locked]

[Launch permission granted. Bury that thing in the rubble!]

With a somewhat emotional command from the tactical commander, several rockets roared out and hurtled towards the already crumbling building.

Boom!!!

Amidst the continuous explosions, the ground shook violently, and almost no one could maintain their footing.

Like the collapse of the Tower of Babel, the skyscrapers that humanity is so proud of slowly fell down amidst violent tremors. The inferior plants and beasts that tried to break away from the main structure couldn't even put up a decent resistance before being crushed into the ground by tens of thousands of tons of debris.

As the final explosion subsided, a terrifying silence descended. The lingering smoke gradually dissipated with the strong wind, and the once smoke-filled battlefield was now completely silent.

After a long silence, the report from Tactical Team Two rang out.

[The animal's main body, including its root system, has been suppressed, and there are currently no signs of movement.]

These words were like a switch being flipped; the previously silent communication channel returned to normal, and the mobile teams began reporting their situations one after another.

[Mobile Team 3 suffered no casualties; all Type-6 Disintegrators deployed there have been rendered incapacitated.]

[One member of Tactical Team Two is missing; requesting immediate search and rescue assistance]

Two members of Mobile Team 4 were injured during the emergency rescue and have been transferred to the temporary medical unit of the rear countermeasures section.

[No casualties reported in Mobile Team 5]

[No casualties reported in Mobile Team Six]

[The Mobile Team lost five members during the decoy operation; no rescue is necessary.]

【…】

[Confirm the outcome of this operation]

The commander's tone was deeply weary. He had thought the operation was over and all he had to do was wait for the magical girls from the countermeasures department to arrive.

However, things always take a sudden turn for the worse.

"Something's not right!" The first to notice something was amiss was an engineer from the fifth mobile team who was exploring the collapsed ruins.

Looking at the data transmitted by the monitor, he exclaimed in disbelief, "The target is still active!"

As if in response to his startled cry, six red plant tentacles smashed through the stones and sprang out from the ruins! They were none other than the grotesque flower stamens of that vile beast!

These slick, demonic plant organs, with their terrifying speed and power, hurtled toward the ground team's armored vehicles and members.

[All defensive formations tighten!]

The commander's voice came through the communication channel, but the sudden situation caught everyone off guard.

[Damn it! This thing snatched up everyone from Group Six!]

The armored vehicle's special steel plates couldn't stop it! It was about to be crushed!

[Fire! Fire on that thing! Save the person!]

It's tangled in the landing gear! Maintain your balance and fire at the landing gear! Shoot the landing gear down!

It abandoned its landing gear and headed towards the propeller! Eject! Eject!

However, just as the tip of the tentacle almost touched the helicopter's control blade, a dazzling white-gold light streaked across the sky, followed by a calm female voice echoing in the air.

"Magic Transformation, Feather Gold!"

The voice was crisp and clear, yet it contained a hint of anger that could not be ignored.

Thousands of golden rays, like feathers, covered the entire battlefield in an instant.

The six flower-like tentacles loosened their coils instantly upon touching the falling golden feathers, as if pricked by needles, and then rapidly retreated back into the ground.

Several members of the mobile team lost control of their bodies as the tentacles loosened in mid-air, and then plummeted rapidly toward the ground.

As they drew closer to the ground, one of the team members closed his eyes in fear, but the expected impact did not occur. Instead, a magical force lifted his body lightly until his feet touched the ground.

The member of Group Six opened his eyes, still shaken, next to a colleague who was equally shaken.

They all looked at the figure ahead.

A white-gold magical girl stood atop the ruins.