The 30-Year-Old Magical Girl - Chapter 23

“So, Commander, this one is called a Shadow Hunter.”

“Its special ability allows it to temporarily deconstruct its body into magical particles, letting it merge with any shadow that light cannot reach.”

The moment Tidal arrived, Lao Lin immediately began explaining the enemy’s abilities.

“I see…”

Raging Flame frowned.

“So it pops out of the shadows whenever it wants to attack, then disappears again whenever it wants to run away.”

“What a sneaky opponent…”

As she complained, her eyes continuously swept across the room, making sure to keep as much distance as possible from every dark corner untouched by sunlight.

“Is there any way to determine where it’s hiding now?” Tidal asked.

“Once it dissolves into the shadows, its magical particles scatter as though they’ve returned to nature itself.”

“There’s no way to track it.”

“The only moment we can detect it is right before it launches an attack, when it reconstructs its physical body.”

“Huh?”

Raging Flame blinked.

“So if it refuses to attack…”

“Doesn’t that mean we’ll never be able to find it?”

“In theory, yes.”

Lao Lin nodded.

“The Shadow Hunter itself isn’t particularly strong.”

“If it lost its shadow ability, even a rookie like you could defeat it one-on-one.”

“The problem is precisely that ability.”

“Hiding inside shadows.”

“That’s what makes it troublesome.”

“If the Greatarm you fought before was a tank that relied on overwhelming strength and durability…”

“Then the Shadow Hunter is an assassin.”

“It specializes in ambushes.”

“It excels at killing inexperienced opponents.”

“For beginners who lack combat experience…”

“Both of them are equally dangerous.”

While they talked…

The two magical girls and the cat slowly retreated toward a safer position.

Because of Tidal’s rather… explosive entrance…

One section of the third-floor exterior wall had completely collapsed.

Bright sunlight streamed freely into the room, creating a large area where almost no shadows remained.

As long as they stayed inside this illuminated zone…

The Shadow Hunter couldn’t launch a surprise attack.

Unfortunately…

The opposite was also true.

The enemy had no reason to leave its hiding place either.

Seeing that there was nothing else to do for the moment…

Lao Lin simply continued his lesson.

“Raging Flame.”

“I don’t know whether Violet Lightning taught you any theory.”

“But judging from her personality…”

“I seriously doubt it.”

“So I’ll explain it myself.”

“As the Commander mentioned earlier…”

“Magical girls.”

“Aberrations.”

“And even beings like myself.”

“At our core, we’re all lifeforms composed of magical particles.”

“Although actual combat strength is influenced by countless factors—environment, experience, mental state, compatibility…”

“The true foundation of every magical construct is still the density and quantity of magical particles.”

“The density…”

“And quantity…”

Raging Flame quietly repeated the phrase.

Then suddenly—

“Oh!”

“I get it!”

She snapped her fingers excitedly.

“The more magical particles someone has, the stronger they become!”

“It’s just like baking a cake!”

“The more flour you use, the bigger the cake gets!”

“So…”

“I’m just a tiny little cake…”

“And Senior…”

She pointed toward Tidal, who was almost a head shorter than herself.

“…is a giant cake!”

“Right?”

“…”

Tidal fell silent.

“…”

Lao Lin also fell silent.

What kind of ridiculous comparison is that…?

Both of them complained inwardly at exactly the same time.

“Ahem.”

Lao Lin coughed awkwardly.

“…Well…”

“Your understanding isn’t completely wrong.”

“You can think of it that way for now.”

“According to the size of this… ‘cake’…”

“We classify Aberrations into four threat levels.”

“D-Rank.”

“C-Rank.”

“B-Rank.”

“And finally…”

“A-Rank.”

“The Bubble Person you defeated by yourself was a D-Rank Aberration.”

“They’re the weakest.”

“In fact, ordinary agents from the Anti-Aberration Special Operations Bureau can usually eliminate them without magical girls.”

“But once an Aberration reaches C-Rank…”

“Its overall danger increases dramatically.”

“They almost always possess unique supernatural abilities.”

“Like this Shadow Hunter.”

As he spoke…

Lao Lin looked toward the darker section of the office floor.

Even under broad daylight…

Numerous shadows still remained.

The crafty Shadow Hunter was undoubtedly hiding somewhere within them…

Quietly waiting for the sun’s angle to shift.

“…As long as it stays hidden inside those shadows…”

“Ordinary human weapons are practically useless.”

“Unless…”

“They simply decide to blow up the entire building.”

When Lao Lin casually mentioned blowing up the building…

Tidal’s eyebrows twitched ever so slightly.

A certain idea quietly surfaced in her mind.

Neither Lao Lin nor Raging Flame noticed.

“Question!”

Raging Flame immediately raised her hand like an elementary school student eager to answer.

“If Aberrations are ranked D, C, B, and A…”

“Do magical girls have ranks too?”

“Of course.”

Lao Lin nodded.

“Magical girls are divided into five stages.”

“They roughly correspond to the threat levels of Aberrations.”

“I already sent you the official handbook explaining everything…”

“…Come to think of it.”

His narrow eyes slowly narrowed.

“…You don’t even know something this basic.”

“Which means…”

“You never even opened the file I sent you, did you?”

“Hahaha…”

“You got me.”

Raging Flame admitted it without the slightest embarrassment.

Seeing her carefree smile…

Lao Lin could only let out a helpless sigh.

“…Forget it.”

“Since we’re already talking about it…”

“I’ll explain everything now.”

“Just memorize the names first.”

“The First Stage.”

Lao Lin raised one paw.

One tiny claw pointed upward.

“One Petal.”

“The Second Stage.”

“Two Rings.”

“The Third Stage.”

“Three Leaves.”

“The Fourth Stage.”

“Four Petals.”

“And finally…”

“The Fifth Stage.”

“Full Bloom.”

“One Petal.”

“Two Rings.”

“Three Leaves.”

“Four Petals.”

“Full Bloom.”

“Those are the five stages.”

“From Two Rings through Four Petals…”

“Each stage is further divided into three levels.”

“Sprout.”

“Bud.”

“And Bloom.”

“I think…”

“I sort of get it.”

Raging Flame nodded, looking only half convinced.

“As an example…”

“The magical girls you’ve already met from the Second Ring.”

“Violet Lightning.”

“Frostail.”

“Heron.”

“And another member you haven’t met yet—Yu Bing.”

“They’re all currently at the Three Leaves • Bloom stage.”

“Each of them possesses enough strength to defeat C-Rank Aberrations alone.”

“They can even handle ordinary B-Rank Aberrations.”

“Ordinary B-Rank?”

Raging Flame tilted her head.

“So Aberrations have sub-ranks too?”

“Officially?”

“No.”

“But after years of accumulated combat experience…”

“We Connectors realized that not every Aberration within the same rank possesses identical strength.”

“So, for operational purposes…”

“We privately divide B-Rank and A-Rank Aberrations into two categories.”

“Ordinary.”

“And…”

“Intense.”

“For example…”

“The Sky Person belongs to the Intense A-Rank category.”

“It’s significantly stronger than a normal A-Rank.”

“Against something like that…”

“It usually takes an entire magical girl squadron.”

“At least six experienced magical girls.”

“Only then can an extermination mission realistically succeed.”

“…Wait.”

Raging Flame suddenly noticed something.

“There’s something strange.”

“Magical girls have five stages…”

“But Aberrations only have four ranks.”

“D.”

“C.”

“B.”

“And A.”

“That’s all.”

“…Actually.”

Lao Lin paused.

A rare trace of fear quietly surfaced in his eyes.

“There is…”

“One final category.”

“Aberrations that surpass even A-Rank…”

“Are designated…”

“Forbidden.“