Vol 2 Chapter 140: Breaking Out of the Cage
Five minutes was more than enough for two Magical Girls with magic resonance at Leaf-tier and above to cover several dozen miles by flight.
Though limited by their total magic reserves, it was rare for Magical Girls to actually do that under normal circumstances. But with a Ravager attack looming, both Cornflower and Mohe were rushing to the scene at full speed.
What greeted them was a block that was still relatively intact—at least for now—and in the center of it stood a massive Ravager, trapped inside a magical "cage."
This cage was a city-sealing spell used within Rune Noray, commonly deployed in ergency situations. One of its main purposes was to contain Ravagers and limit their movent, preventing further destruction in the city. However, such a large-scale and high-intensity spell couldn’t be sustained for long. By the ti Cornflower arrived, the surface of the cage was already covered in cracks and looked like it could shatter at any mont.
But Cornflower, having seen this type of spell too many tis before, didn’t focus her attention on the cage itself.
She stared at the Ravager inside—motionless, almost like a statue—and her pupils shrank slightly.
“That… that’s one big cocoon.”
Landing behind her, Nina was panting slightly from the magic drain. She shrank her shoulders at the sight of the Ravager. “I-It looks kind of terrifying… and even more disgusting than usual.”
When a Magical Girl used the word “terrifying,” it ant the Ravager’s appearance was truly sickening.
Curled up inside the cage, the Ravager was completely grayish-black, with rigid lines and deep grooves running along its body. It had a roughly humanoid shape, with arms and legs, but the proportions were off—its limbs were overly long compared to its torso, and its head was way too small.
Its body was covered in an unknown, slimy substance. Even now, it continued to ooze from its skin, and the yellowish-brown fluid had already soaked the ground around it, turning what used to be a stone-paved street into a charred, black ss.
The Magical Girls were watching the Ravager, and the Ravager… was watching them too.
Its head, like a rotting waterlon, turned slightly. Its single eye radiated a fierce, hostile glare that roved back and forth between the two girls. It slightly opened the maw on its chest, and Cornflower saw saliva dripping from its enormous mouth.
It was hungry.
That’s the ssage the Ravager’s behavior was broadcasting loud and clear.
Then it stretched out its long arms and placed its human-like hands on the inner wall of the magical cage. Its fingers fumbled, groped, and found the cracks that had already ford.
Crack. Crack.
Like picking at scabs over a wound, it began clawing at the cracks with the joints of its claws. The shrill sound that followed made Nina, whose magic was weaker, go pale.
It was a sound like soone dumping a pile of shattered glass on the ground and then rolling sothing heavy over it again and again—grating, splintering, clashing—until it all crescendoed into a sharp shattering crack.
The Ravager’s claw pierced through the cage.
Cornflower stepped in front of Nina protectively.
“That’s not a cocoon,” she said.
Although Ravagers of the sa tier could vary in size, each tier generally had a maximum size limit. For cocoon-tier Ravagers, that limit was around twenty ters in length.
The one in front of them clearly exceeded that. Its length had to be at least thirty ters.
“Not… not a cocoon?”
Nina’s heart dropped. She already had a terrible suspicion about what Cornflower ant, but still couldn’t give up hope. “Then… could it be a Looper…”
“It’s a Half-Molt.”
Cornflower’s words shattered Nina’s final shred of hope.
And at that sa mont, it wasn’t just Nina’s hope that broke. The sealing spell, already at its breaking point, also reached its limit.
Crack!
The cracks clawed open by the Ravager split the magical barrier wide open. The creature slowly stood up, thick sli flinging off its body in all directions. It flexed its limbs, almost comically, like it was warming up its joints.
But there was nothing funny about it.
The whole ti, its single eye had never left the two Magical Girls—locked onto them like a magnet, unwavering.
It swung its arm and smashed what remained of the magical cage. It stepped forward on all fours, crawling out of the shattered spell barrier like so amphibious beast. It squatted down, bringing its claws together like a frog, and quietly observed the two girls for a while.
Then, it leapt.
“Threadbind!”
“Grip Present!”
At nearly the exact sa mont, both Magical Girls summoned their Magical Armors.
There was no ti to ponder why a Half-Molt had appeared here. That answer didn’t matter to them now. What mattered was survival. Killing the Ravager—that was the only goal.
According to the Bureau of Anomalous Attack Counterasures’ standard recomndations, a Half-Molt required three Bud-tier Magical Girls and at least five Leaf-tier Magical Girls working together to take down.
But right now, only one Bud-tier and one Leaf-tier were standing here.
So there was no room for restraint. This was a life-or-death enemy.
“Can you restrict its movent?”
While backing away, Cornflower shouted to Nina, “It doesn’t have to be fully immobilized. Just keep it from moving freely—can you do that?”
“I-I can’t!”
Nina was so scared she was nearly crying. “I’m sorry! It’s too big! Its magic is way more than mine! I can’t even control the air around it!”
“What about just a limb?”
Cornflower shouted again, “Can you freeze one of its arms? Even one part—can you do that?”
“I-I-I-I’ll try!”
In a panic, Nina reached out and tried to grip the Ravager’s arm. It actually did pause slightly. But in the next instant, Nina’s hand—and the Magical Armor on it—snapped back like she’d been electrocuted.
“N-No, I can’t! It’s way stronger than !” she sobbed.
“You can’t, huh?”
Cornflower didn’t bla her.
The Ravager’s strike ca instantly. Cornflower pulled Nina out of harm’s way with her threads, narrowly avoiding the blow, murmuring thoughtfully, “In that case, I’ll have to do it myself.”
Her threads swirled into a vortex as she reached in, as if to retrieve sothing. As she continued retreating, she drew out a small ruler.
“Mohe.”
Through the rapidly flying streetscape, Cornflower’s calm voice reached Nina’s ears:
“I’m going to count to three. When I do—duck.”
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