Why are the magical girls in your area male?

Finally, we've taken care of it.

Unexpectedly, they had a trick up their sleeve at the last moment.

If it weren't for the dodge being triggered, the outcome would have been uncertain.

As expected of a level 20 recommended lord boss, this battle is quite challenging.

Although this thing was quite difficult to deal with, I still managed to defeat it despite being a level above me.

The only pity is that too much time was wasted killing those mobs and fighting the BOSS caused the experience blessing buff to end, so I couldn't get the double BOSS experience.

However, gaining 30000 experience points in one go is still pretty good.

[Quest complete. You will be teleported back to the Tower of Illusion lobby shortly.]

[Countdown: 1 minutes and 29 seconds]

The teleportation was activated automatically as soon as the mission ended. The system is pretty strict about timing.

I need to quickly organize my backpack before the countdown ends.

Yuan Qing's backpack only has 6 slots. It contains materials dropped by killing monsters, BOSS drops, and quest rewards.

This broken system doesn't have an "email" function, so I can't put extra items into the mailbox. As a result, items that can't fit in my backpack just fall to the ground.

He sold all the crafting materials dropped by the mobs to the shop, and then took out the equipment dropped by the BOSS and the equipment rewarded by the system.

[Equipment: Bone Armor (Rare)]

[Description: Armor dropped by a skeletal undead, with terrifying skull patterns on the chest]

[Attributes: Strength +10, Stamina +10, Spirit +10, HP +300, MP +100]

Passive: "Skeleton's Shock" inflicts fear on enemies lower than the wearer's level, reducing all attributes by 10%.

[Skeleton Set Effect: Each piece of skeletal equipment equipped reduces the chance by an additional 10% (1/3)]

Oh!

Unbelievable! The boss just dropped a purple item, and it even has a set bonus!

Coincidentally, the "Bone Ring" in the quest rewards is one of the pieces in the Bone Set.

This ring can increase Yuan Qing's Strength by 5 points, Stamina by 5 points, and Spirit by 10 points. When equipped, it can also increase the set's all-attribute reduction effect by 10%.

In this way, it becomes much easier for Yuan Qing to deal with monsters of a lower level than himself.

Unfortunately, according to the system settings, I currently only have 5 equipment slots: weapon, armor, bottoms, shoes, and jewelry.

The equipment slots limit his shortcut to quickly become stronger by stacking equipment to gain stats.

Otherwise, he could equip twenty or thirty rings at once, using a pure pay-to-win strategy, and even the highest-ranking lord couldn't out-level him.

After putting on his gear, he quickly sold the fine breastplate he had taken off to the shop for 200 gold coins to free up some inventory space.

After organizing his backpack, he began allocating attribute points.

This time, after leveling up 5 times, in addition to the randomly increased attribute points, there are a total of 25 extra attribute points that can be freely allocated.

Well, while strength is important, the power of magic is becoming increasingly apparent. Perhaps it would be appropriate to add a few more points to spirit.

With that thought in mind, Yuan Qing decided to add 5 points to Strength, 5 points to Stamina, and 10 points to Spirit, while he would use the remaining 5 points to add to Insight and Reaction as he pleased!

[Player: Yuan Qing]

Level: 16, Experience: 5300/23500

【HP：2260/2260（+300），MP：830/830（+100）】

Strength: 62 (+13)

[Stamina: 44 (+10)]

[Reaction: 25]

[Insight: 28]

Spirit: 44 (+23)

【Lucky: 16】

With this five-level jump, his attributes increased significantly again. Coupled with a major upgrade in equipment, Yuan Qing felt that he was more than one level stronger than yesterday!

At this rate of growth, I estimate I'll be able to challenge the Lord-level goblin on the second floor very soon.

[Countdown: 30, 29, 28...]

Seeing that the teleportation was about to be triggered, Yuan Qing smiled and closed the attribute panel.

Next, we just wait to be teleported back to the tower.

He casually strolled to the edge of the container and was about to continue walking when he was suddenly blocked by an invisible barrier.

Let's explore the areas ahead later!

A system notification suddenly popped up, almost making Yuan Qing lose his composure.

No, I was just doing a quest, why is there a barrier?

Is this a restricted area for the mission? Are you worried I'll quit?

I originally wanted to explore around, but the quest has a countdown and a barrier, so I can't do anything about it.

Yuan Qing sighed, leaning against the container listlessly, his gaze drifting aimlessly over the towering container silhouettes in the distance.

However, just as his gaze turned into the distance—

"boom!!"

A deafening, terrifying explosion, seemingly capable of uprooting the entire port area, suddenly erupted from that direction like a thunderclap from a clear sky!

Immediately afterwards, a beam of ice-blue light containing immense energy shot into the sky, instantly tearing through the dim night sky and illuminating a large area as if it were daytime!

Yuan Qing frowned, his gaze fixed on the source of the explosion.

After the explosion, the sky above the area began to fill with mushroom-shaped clouds of frost and black smoke.

He instinctively tried to get closer to take a look, but his body bumped into that invisible barrier again.

Let's explore the areas ahead later!

Tsk.

The prompt reappeared, and Yuan Qing couldn't help but pound the barrier, abandoning this plan.

[Countdown: 3, 2, 1]

[Transferring to: Tower of Delusion]

A soft light appeared out of thin air from beneath his feet, enveloping Yuan Qing.

He continued to gaze in the direction of the explosion, his body began to blur and become transparent, and his vision was gradually covered by white light.

However, before he was completely teleported away, he vaguely saw several blurry human figures flash by at the edge of the smoke-filled area.

......

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

Three streaks of light, each a different color, streaked across the sky and landed precisely in the area around Jizhuzhi Wharf.

The red jay stood atop the shipping container, its crimson eyes fixed on the ground, its delicate brows slightly furrowed.

“Senior, something’s not quite right about this place.” Danzhu stopped beside her, her tone equally puzzled.

Red Sparrow nodded slightly and instructed, "Don't move yet."

After saying that, she jumped off the container and landed on the ground.

Near the edge of the container yard, the ground was covered with a thick layer of grayish-white bone powder, which was completely different from the scorched soil around it that had been overturned by the shock wave of the explosion.

"This...it seems to be the aura of a skeletal undead!"

Yuan Xun's pupils contracted slightly as he immediately recognized the familiar, repulsive aura of the dead. "And... it's so strong! It's stronger than any we've encountered before!"

"Looks like the little girl was listening to me during 'class'."

Red Sparrow smiled with satisfaction, poking at the thick layer of white ashes covering the ground with the tip of his gun, and said:

"That's right. Judging from this dense aura of the dead, they are at least skeletal undead with peak C-rank strength, and they have only recently died, so the energy echoes have not yet dissipated."

"A major battle took place here."

Danzhu looked around at the massive, crisscrossing cracks on the ground, the charred areas, and the large swaths of ashes covered in cold air. His expression turned extremely serious.

"Someone killed this peak C-rank skeletal undead before we did! Judging from the signs of the battle, it seems to have been quite intense."

“Indeed,” Red Sparrow nodded slightly, looked at Danzhu, and gave a meaningful smile. “However, this is not the most suspicious point. You should have noticed that, Danzhu, right?”

"Ah."

Danzhu nodded vigorously.

how to say......

It has a shrimp head-like feel to it.

She stroked her cheek, her voice suddenly turning several degrees colder:

"I... didn't sense any 'magic' at all. The person who killed this thing was probably not a 'magical girl' like us."

Volume 1: Chapter 37 The Tarot Association, the Witcher, and the Countermeasures Bureau

Upon hearing Danzhu's words, Yuanxun, who had been silent, was immediately stunned.

Not a magical girl?

Who could that be?

"Senior," Yuan Xun asked, a hint of worry and confusion in his light blue eyes, "we're the only ones carrying out the mission to clear out the Shadow Beast's lair in the port area tonight, right?"

"Yes." Red Sparrow nodded.

"Since Senior Danzhu also said that no magical power left by the magical girl was found, then we can deduce that the one who killed that skeletal undead must have been an 'Awakener' other than the magical girl?"

"I guess so, that's all we can think of."

"Who could have done it? The Witchers of the Witcher Guild? Or the Awakened members of the Anomaly Countermeasures Committee?"

"It's hard to say..."

Red Sparrow sighed with a somewhat complicated expression, "According to the agreement, all exploration and subjugation missions related to the Moon Etching in the Tokyo area will be carried out by the magical girls of our Tarot Association."

The 'Dissident Committee' has a clear agreement with us, and they shouldn't send anyone to interfere with our operations without prior notice.

“Then, only the Demon Hunter Association remains…” Yuan Xun’s eyes dimmed.

"No, I wouldn't dare say for sure. Although those guys from the Demon Hunter Association are hard to talk to, they still follow the basic rules. So there's only one possibility."

At this point, Red Sparrow paused for a moment before continuing, "The ones who killed the skeletal undead were the 'illegal awakeners'."

"Illegal, Awakened..."

Yuan Xun frowned slightly and lowered his head slightly.

Within the Moon Etch, it wasn't just these magical girls who were active.

Besides magical girls who possess the qualifications and awaken with the approval of the Heart Flower, there also exist Awakeners and Witchers.

Within the Moon Etch, there exist three major forces.

First, there is the "Tarot Association" to which the magical girls belong; second, there is the "Anomaly Countermeasures Committee" which represents the Japanese government and takes in and manages the awakened ones; and third, there is the Witcher Guild to which the Witchers belong.

The three forces interacted with each other during the lunar etch and signed treaties on "intelligence sharing" and "crisis cooperation".

In particular, the Tarot Association is also responsible for assisting the Anomaly Countermeasures Committee in restraining and supervising awakened individuals whose unchecked power could potentially impact the lives of ordinary people in the real world.

The "illegal awakeners" that Red Sparrow mentioned are awakeners who have neither registered with the Countermeasures Committee nor joined the Demon Hunter Guild.

These awakened individuals are like walking time bombs; if they are not identified and dealt with in time, they could cause serious consequences at any moment.

It's fine within the lunar etch, but it would be troublesome in the real world.

In particular, this guy's strength should not be underestimated.

“Danzhu,” Red Sparrow stroked his chin, his expression somewhat serious, and asked, “You have a B-rank magic power level recognized by the association. If it were you, could you resolve the battle as cleanly and efficiently as this mysterious fellow?”