Chapter 64 – Crunchy

The moment the Birdman saw Lin Xi, the dead flesh in its mouth instantly lost all flavor.

It spat out the crushed head it had been chewing and turned fully toward Lin Xi.

“A girl?”

“A human girl?”

“Human girls are my favorite!”

Its voice was grating, like a broken gong, and carried an awful, mechanical rasp.

Lin Xi remembered Xia Xun once saying that any Dark Realm Disaster with intelligence, the kind that could speak, was basically First Grade or even higher.

Say no more. Strike first!

Lin Xi opened with Fireball Spell, sending a fireball crashing down on the Birdman from above.

To keep from burning straight through the building, Lin Xi controlled the force very carefully.

The fireball plunged down, but the Birdman didn’t panic. It simply spread its broad black wings and shielded its head.

When the fireball struck its wings, it burst like a firework shot into the sky with a loud boom, sparks flying everywhere.

“You’re not a human girl?” Through Lin Xi’s flames, the Birdman sensed that she was not human. “You come from the Dark Realm too?”

“What race are you?”

“Who sent you?”

“What are you doing here?”

While the Birdman kept prattling on, Lin Xi said nothing and fired off another fireball.

This time, she increased the power.

But…

The Birdman still blocked it with its wings.

After taking two fireballs, the Birdman flew into a rage. “Who the hell are you?”

“Tell me who sent you and what you’re here for, and I can give you a quick death.”

Lin Xi remained silent. She simply kept increasing the output and releasing more fireballs.

Birdman: “…”

“Bastard! Are you deaf? Mute?”

“I’m from the Mingwing clan! Bombs can’t even blast through these wings. You think I’d be scared of your little fireballs?!”

“Huh?” Lin Xi was startled. “Your wings are that tough? You should’ve said so earlier.”

The Birdman was startled too. “You’re not deaf? You can talk!”

At the same time, an incomparably scorching force descended from above once more.

“Nooo!” The Birdman regretted getting careless. “You were testing me just now? This is when you get serious?!”

It no longer had time to spread its wings and fly off to dodge the fireball.

All it could do was open its wings, wrap them around its entire body, and tank this extra-large fireball head-on.

Boom!

Sparks danced through the air.

“Bastard!”

“I’m going to tear you into pieces before I eat you!”

Lin Xi’s last fireball had injured it, but not badly.

“That was already your full-power attack, wasn’t it? Hahaha! Bet you didn’t expect my wings to be this hard!”

“I’m going to make you watch as I peck out your intestines and eat them!”

Lin Xi stood where she was, unmoving.

In the blink of an eye, the Birdman charged right up to her. It grinned, drool streaming from its mouth.

Just as it assumed Lin Xi had been scared stupid, Lin Xi raised her hand and pressed it against its body.

“Who said that fireball just now was my maximum output?”

“At long range, I was worried I wouldn’t control it properly and would burn through you and the building together.”

“Now that you’ve come right up to me, I don’t have that concern anymore.”

Lin Xi’s hand turned scorching hot and red, like a branding iron.

“Let’s start with fifty percent output.”

In an instant, dazzling flames swallowed the Birdman’s entire body.

Lin Xi had released a fireball directly on the Birdman’s body at fifty percent output.

The third fireball, the long-range attack that had injured the Birdman earlier, had only been ten percent of Lin Xi’s output.

“You… you’re… Blazing Flame-ahhh!” the Birdman shrieked in agony, transforming into one huge “Grilled Bird.”

Lin Xi: “…”

“Did it just mention ‘Blazing Flame’???”

“No way. This thing knows about the Blazing Blast Witch???”

“You bastard, why didn’t you say so earlier?!”

Taking her anger out on a Grilled Bird wouldn’t solve anything.

Lin Xi was about to fling it aside, but the rich aroma of grilled meat made her stomach stir.

“No. No way. How can I be getting an appetite for this thing?”

Lin Xi patted herself on the head. “It’s a Dark Realm monster.”

But just as she was about to let go, that unbelievably tempting roasted-meat smell made her swallow hard.

“Seriously, are you really that hungry?” Lin Xi muttered to herself. “You even want to eat this thing?”

“After the second half of the movie, I can go eat with Xinning. Wouldn’t that be way better?”

“Why do I want to eat it… want to eat…”

“Maybe… just one tiny bite???”

Since this “Grilled Bird” smelled better than any barbecue Lin Xi had ever encountered, she really couldn’t suppress her appetite.

“Mm. Just one tiny bite.”

“Besides, this bastard was yelling about eating me earlier. If I eat one little bite of it now, that’s not too much, right?”

Lin Xi found the easiest place to bite-the Grilled Bird’s leg.

Fifty percent firepower output had roasted it perfectly, crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.

Aiming at the bird leg, Lin Xi took a small bite.

Crunch-crack-crispy.

“Holy shit!”

“Wait, what? Bro, why are you so fragrant, crunchy, and delicious?!”

After that first bite, Lin Xi could no longer control the hunger that swept through her entire body. She started gnawing away in huge mouthfuls.

The Grilled Bird’s leg was quickly devoured.

Lin Xi set her sights on the roasted wings and was just about to bite down when her phone rang.

It was Zhao Xinning calling.

“Xinning must be wondering why I haven’t gone back yet…” Lin Xi had no choice but to abandon the delicacy. She had to hurry downstairs.

“What a shame I can’t pack it up and take it with me…”

She casually tossed the leftovers into a corner, answered the call, and hurried downstairs.

…

About ten minutes after Lin Xi left the rooftop, a girl with shoulder-length tea-brown hair rushed up, lightning crackling around her body.

She was the Magical Girl of District 2, Misaka Shirai.

Misaka Shirai had received the call for help and rushed to the scene as fast as she could.

When she burst out onto the rooftop, she was ready to blast the enemy with a railgun.

But…

Where was the enemy???

“Shirai! Shirai!” a voice called through her earpiece. “Report the battle situation! I’m bringing people your way now!”

“No need, Captain,” Misaka Shirai replied.

“Oh? You already took care of the enemy? How are Zhao Xuan and the other two?”

Misaka Shirai glanced at the three broken corpses lying on the ground and answered, “Zhao Xuan and the others have already died in battle.”

“Sigh! Zhao Xuan, that idio-sigh! He must have been trying to steal the credit and attacked that Mingwing Clan member before you arrived.”

“Captain, the enemy got away.”

“Huh?! It escaped from you?”

“No. When I got here, I didn’t see it… Wait-” Misaka Shirai noticed the absurdly huge “Grilled Bird” that had been discarded in the corner.

If it hadn’t been giving off such a pungent, unpleasant smell, Misaka Shirai might really have overlooked it.

“Captain, hold on. There’s something here.”

Misaka Shirai pinched her nose and went over to the corner, then carefully inspected it.

“Captain, I’ve made a major discovery.”

“The Mingwing Clan member that killed Zhao Xuan and the others was roasted until fully cooked. One of its legs has also been eaten.”

“Huh?!” The Captain understood every word Misaka Shirai said, but somehow couldn’t make sense of the sentence. “Protect the scene. I’ll be there immediately!”