Transform into a magical girl after getting off work-Chapter 645 - 203 Uninvited Guest

Lin Xiaolu concentrated on sensing the path, groping her way forward.

More than half a day had passed in the examination, and she was already very familiar with the use of magic techniques in the maze. How many meters ahead to turn, which intersections were dead ends—these pieces of information were crystal clear to her after sensing them.

Confident that she wouldn't make any mistakes, her steps were swift. So when Mint, who was walking ahead of her, suddenly stopped, she had no time to adjust, and bumped her head into Mint's back.

Luckily, it wasn't too painful.

She thought this, then distanced herself from Mint, and asked, "What's wrong?"

Mint stood still, her eyes fixed ahead, yet her gaze was unfocused as if her thoughts had drifted away. Upon hearing Lin Xiaolu's question, she slowly came back to her senses and grinned, "Ah, I just suddenly remembered something and got distracted. Sorry, did I hurt you?"

"Not really."

Lin Xiaolu shook her head. "Did you find something wrong ahead?"

"No, it's just some personal matters, nothing significant."

Mint brushed off the topic lightly, "But you mentioned something might be wrong ahead, and indeed, there is."

After a long period of exploration, the three of them had already solved two puzzles. Upon receiving the reward for the second puzzle, they smoothly found a hidden path.

At this moment, they were traversing the path, intending to find the so-called "maze node."

"What's the issue?" The node of the maze, or rather the reward points, made Lin Xiaolu very concerned. She hoped to rank among the top with this score, so she didn't want anything to go wrong.

——"Someone is fighting."

Bai Jingxuan, who was following Lin Xiaolu, peeked out, her expression tense: "And there are many magical power fluctuations, very chaotic; it's probably not a fight with Remnant Beasts."

"Hmm, maybe another team approached the node before us but started fighting before entering the node." 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Mint nodded, confirming Bai Jingxuan's statement, then asked Lin Xiaolu, "What do you think? Should we go and check it out?"

"Fighting over the node? Why?"

Lin Xiaolu didn't decide immediately, puzzling, "Isn't it said that multiple teams can tackle the node together and the reward will be evenly split? So why fight?"

"Who knows? Maybe they're afraid there won't be enough resources to go around and don't want to share the reward with other teams."

Mint speculated absentmindedly, "Though it sounds quite dumb."

By this stage, most candidates had already figured out the potential pros and cons of ambushing other teams, so unless they could be absolutely certain of a victory by ambush, they wouldn't act. Openly confronting others seemed a pointless endeavor. Hence, fighting fiercely for the node reward sounded like a hot-blooded fool's act, something even Lin Xiaolu wouldn't do.

So, this fight occurring in front of them didn't make sense at all.

"So, should we move forward?"

Mint asked again, "Or should we fall back and wait until they finish fighting and enter the node, then sneak closer?"

"Hmm… doesn't seem like there's much difference."

Lin Xiaolu pondered, "If they're willing to fight for the node reward, then they probably wouldn't want to share with us, right? As long as we plan to go to that node, it seems conflict is inevitable?"

"Most likely, yes."

Mint nodded, "But my suggestion would be to keep as far away as possible, at least not to be caught in their battle…"

——"It's over."

Before she finished her words, Bai Jingxuan suddenly spoke up again, "The magical power fluctuations on one side have disappeared."

"Huh?"

"Ah?"

This news shocked both Lin Xiaolu and Mint.

Lin Xiaolu's sensing ability was inferior to the other two, so even with Bai Jingxuan's reminder, she still couldn't detect anything unusual. But Mint quickly probed ahead and then showed a somewhat solemn expression, "It really… is over."

"Is the fight over already? And did they really eliminate someone?"

Lin Xiaolu was incredulous, "What kind of logic is this? Are they so eager to hand their points over?"

"There are now only three frequencies of magical power… no, eliminating the residual fluctuations, there's just one frequency left."

Bai Jingxuan continued to report, "And the source of that fluctuation is approaching us!"

"Were we discovered?" Lin Xiaolu was even more surprised.

Mint remained silent, her brows furrowed. It was as if she realized something, but chose not to speak.

"What should we do? Should we quickly retreat too?"

Seeing her not speaking, Lin Xiaolu proactively asked Mint, "Or should we find a return path to hide…"

"It's too late."

Mint said this with a determined tone.

"What do you mean, it's too late?" Lin Xiaolu felt like a parrot, continuously echoing the shocking news from her teammates.

"It's already here." Bai Jingxuan's voice explained Mint's attitude.

As she spoke, a black mist gradually appeared ahead of them in the hidden path. This mist emitted a rustling sound as it moved quickly towards them. When the distance closed, the true nature of the black mist was revealed:

——It was a swarm of bats.

Because they were flying so close together at a uniform speed, from afar the bats looked like a black mist.

When they reached Lin Xiaolu and the others, they suddenly halted. In an instant, countless bats converged, forming a human figure. The figure stepped out of the black mist, and its features gradually became clear.

It was a girl who looked about fifteen, with long black hair streaked with red highlights, styled into a tall bun on her head. An extravagant gold-red tiara nestled in her hair, shaped like a huge bat flower. The outward stretch of its "wings" and the whisker-like, rigid lines drooping down constantly drew people's attention.

She wore a gothic dress interwoven with black and red, like congealed blood in darkness. A tight corset outlined sharp curves; the high collar securely covered up to her chin, its edges adorned with dark red leaf-shaped Heart's Gems, reflecting a blood-like matte in the shadowy maze.

If one word could describe the impression this magical girl left, it was "aggressive."

An aggressiveness so overwhelming it seemed to engulf everything.

After the black-red magical girl revealed herself, she first surveyed Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan with her blood-red eyes. Then, facing Mint, she flashed a smile that looked quite elegant yet extremely assertive:

"Good evening, my dear sister. It seems you've found two quite interesting 'friends'?"