95: The city was destroyed

The morning in Gongmu City should have been peaceful. Sunlight filtered through the gaps between the skyscrapers in the city center, falling serenely onto the streets as citizens enjoyed their daily tranquility.

However, suddenly, a piercing alarm sounded, tearing through the silence.

Broadcasts blared from speakers everywhere, and every word struck the citizens' hearts like a hammer: "Emergency broadcast, emergency broadcast. In the eastern suburbs of Gongmu City, a large horde of Monsters is heading towards Gongmu City. According to rough estimates, there are at least one hundred thousand. Citizens, please leave the city as soon as possible and evacuate!"

"This station declares, this station declares: this broadcast is not a drill, not a prank, and certainly not a misread script. Please evacuate immediately, citizens! Please evacuate immediately!"

The public froze for a moment; the news was simply too shocking, causing their brains to momentarily seize up.

Usually, a single Monster was enough for them to handle, yet now they were being told how many were coming? One hundred thousand! And that was just the minimum?!

About half a minute later, the news hit like a bombshell, causing an uproar among the crowd.

People fled in all directions, and terrified screams swept through the entire city like crashing waves.

Elderly people were knocked to the ground by the panicked crowd, but no one dared to stop and help them up. Children were separated from their parents in the chaos, screaming in loneliness as they looked up, searching for familiar faces.

Official personnel tried hard to maintain order, but the tide of people was like a flood out of control, instantly drowning out their voices and efforts.

The transportation System quickly fell into paralysis. Vehicles were trapped in streets and alleys, and angry drivers honked their horns incessantly, the jarring sounds creating a chaotic symphony.

More people chose to abandon their cars and flee for their lives. In the panic, stampedes occurred one after another, and the entire city presented a scene of collapse.

In this moment of chaos, a Magical Girl and her Magical Pet headed quickly towards the east of the city.

While passing the city guard's camp, the Magical Girl saw that those who would normally be the first to charge forward when Monsters appeared, buying time for her arrival, were now all panicking and fleeing in disarray.

They even aimed their weapons at ordinary citizens to clear a path for their escape.

The Magical Girl wanted to stop this, but she knew that this was not what she truly needed to do right now. So, she could only tearfully look away and speed up, rushing towards the front line.

Finally, the Magical Girl arrived at the front line. With just one glance, her heart tightened sharply and then began to beat violently, as if it were about to burst out of her chest.

What met her eyes was a scene of despair: a dense, black mass of Monsters, like an endless tide, with twisted bodies and hideous faces, emitting a nauseating, fishy stench, were rolling towards Gongmu City from the skyline with an unstoppable momentum.

They shrieked and roared, the ground trembling under their footsteps, and the air was thick with the scent of death.

Fear, like a cold viper, tightly coiled around the Magical Girl's heart.

Her hands were trembling, and her fingers, gripping the small harp, were almost losing sensation.

But when she thought of the brightly lit city behind her, of those innocent citizens, and those faces that had once smiled at her, an inexplicable courage welled up from the bottom of her heart.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm her ragged breathing, straightened her graceful figure, and gripped the small harp tightly.

The small harp glowed with a faint blue light; it was the manifestation of the magic power within her, and the embodiment of her will to protect this city.

The blue light flowed slowly around her, dispelling some of the fear and unease, bringing a touch of warmth and strength.

Beside her, her Magical Pet, a fluffy little fox, was already trembling with fear at the sight before them.

Its little eyes were filled with worry, its ears drooped weakly, and it whimpered in its throat.

From the very first moment it saw this terrible disaster, it knew that they absolutely could not oppose it on their own.

It anxiously tugged at the Magical Girl's skirt, wanting to take her away from this place that was about to become Hell.

"No, we cannot leave!" The Magical Girl's voice trembled, but it was filled with determination.

"Yi-chan, it's impossible. We can't stop them. Let's hurry to another city and find other Magical Girls to join forces with; perhaps then we can resist this disaster."

"If even we give up, who will protect this city?" She gently stroked the little fox's head, trying to comfort it.

"Yi-chan, even if we stay, we won't be able to save it."

"Believe in me, we can definitely do it!"

The little fox's eyes were full of urgency; it knew its partner was lying.

Facing such a vast and terrifying number of Monsters, they had absolutely no chance of winning.

But it also understood that its partner would not give up.

This was her responsibility, and her mission.

But that had nothing to do with it. It had to find a way to take its partner away from here; it wouldn't care even if everyone in the entire city died.

One of the three fundamental laws of Magical Pets was that one's partner is the most important person in one's life, and one must protect them at all costs.

Just as the little fox was pacing around in anxiety, it sensed the aura of the Monster King through the black crystal inside its body.

According to the aura, the Monster King! It had come! And then... it ran away again? And it was moving several times faster than when it arrived!

The fur all over the little fox's body stood on end instantly, and its fear was replaced by a strange excitement.

A plan formed in its mind.

It raised its fluffy little head and looked at the Magical Girl with an unprecedentedly firm gaze.

"Yi-chan! I've thought of a way! If it succeeds, the crisis you are facing can be resolved!" The little fox's voice was urgent and sincere, and its small body trembled slightly with excitement.

The Magical Girl, known as Yi-chan, looked at her partner with surprise and quickly asked what the plan was.

"Yi-chan, I can try to pray to the gods of Heaven and ask for their help, so I need to leave for a while!"

The Magical Girl was slightly stunned. She looked at the little fox's bright and firm eyes and felt the fire of hope burning within them.

In this desperate moment, any glimmer of hope was precious.

She nodded without hesitation, her tone gentle yet unquestionable: "Go, I believe in you! Be careful!"

"Mm! Yi-chan, you too. You must protect yourself until I return!" After saying this, the little fox, like an arrow released from a bow, dashed towards the city.

Its figure traced a graceful arc in mid-air, its speed so fast that it kicked up a small whirlwind, blowing away some of the gloom.

Meanwhile, the Magical Girl took a deep breath, refocusing all her attention on the battlefield before her.

Her slender fingers gently plucked the strings, and the crisp music flowed slowly through the air like a trickling stream.

She hummed ancient ballads, every note imbued with powerful magic.

"In the name of song, singing of beauty to the world, the Wall of Protection, descend here!"

As the singing drifted, magical barriers rose from the ground around her.

These barriers appeared semi-transparent blue, crystal clear, with mysterious and complex runes flickering on them.

They layered over one another, weaving into a huge protective net, firmly shielding the city behind her.

Meanwhile, the little fox's figure had turned into a blurred afterimage, darting rapidly between the city's skyscrapers.

Its little eyes flashed with a firm light, with only one thought: Fast! Faster!

It had to find the Monster King before it was too late.

Following the guidance of the black crystal, it successfully found him.

The Monster King was currently in his human form, mingling with the first wave of fleeing crowds, his eyes dazed and carrying a hint of panic, as if he, like everyone around him, was just trying to survive.

When the little fox saw him, it took the black crystal from its body and used it to emit a faint, ghostly light invisible to ordinary people, shooting it towards the Monster King's back. That was when things changed.

The Monster King stopped abruptly. An uncontrollable voice in his heart kept persuading him: "Go to the front line, go uncover the secret of the Monster army, master it, and where in the world can you not go? What dream of yours cannot be fulfilled?"

This voice seemed to have an irresistible magic, stirring up waves of frenzy deep within his heart.

His gaze shifted uncertainly, but in the end, driven by this strange delusion, he moved against the current, passing through the panicked crowd.

He found a deserted place, transformed back into his hideous and terrifying Monster form, and galloped towards the front line. Anything that blocked his path, whether it was vehicles, buildings, or humans, was turned into a spray of blood and gore.

Because of his actions, people thought the Monster army had already arrived, making the city even more chaotic.

The Magical Pet followed silently behind him.

When the Monster King arrived at the front line, the battle was already in full swing.

The Magical Girl was confronting the crowd of Monsters, giving her all with every strike, but she was outnumbered, causing her to gradually fall into a difficult situation.

At this moment, another thought rose in his mind: "This is a good opportunity to get rid of the Magical Girl. I absolutely cannot let it pass."

So he roared, charged directly into the enemy formation, and attacked the Magical Girl along with countless Monsters.

The Magical Girl resisted with all her might, but she was outnumbered, and she soon fell into a coma from severe injuries.

At this moment, an incredibly strong impulse welled up in the Monster King's heart: The Magical Girl must die at his hands; only he, her arch-nemesis, could end her life.

The Monster King let out a deafening roar and attacked the Monsters surrounding the Magical Girl directly, his momentum unstoppable.

Every swing carried irresistible power, instantly crushing the Monsters besieging her and clearing a space.

At this moment, the little fox appeared quietly beside the Magical Girl, grabbed the corner of her clothes, and quickly ran away with her.

As for the Monster King, because of his recent actions, he drew the concentrated fire of many Monsters and became deeply trapped in the enemy formation.

Not long after the Magical Pet took the Magical Girl away, a wave of absolute clarity abruptly swept over the Monster King's consciousness.

"What the f*ck, what the Hell was I doing just now? How did I end up running back here?!"

"No, I have to run, or I'm finished!"

The Monster King frantically unleashed his power, attempting to carve out a path.

However, it was too late.

He didn't know when, but the Monsters had already surrounded him, three layers deep inside and out.

One by one, they launched fearless attacks at him. The Monster King's vitality was uncontrollably drained by the Monsters, and finally, after countless hopeless attempts to survive, he was swallowed by despair.

He finally collapsed with a whimpering roar, his massive body like a toppled giant tower, burying his pride and fate forever in the dust.

The fall of the Monster King did not bring any salvation.

Gongmu City was destroyed as the Monsters spread. Towering buildings collapsed one after another, and raging flames burned through every corner of the city, devouring the former tranquility and joy.