CHAPTER 50: POWER PUFF GIRLS

"Hey! You planning to just watch?" I shouted, ducking as another blob of acid splashed against the wall beside me.

Elisha’s brow twitched. "Ugh... I’ll do it, just stop rushing me!"

Her bow hummed with mana. The arrow she loosed glowed white-hot and pierced clean through a slime’s pulsing core. The creature convulsed once, then collapsed into a puddle of lifeless goo.

"Nice," I muttered, blowing another slime apart.

Mariella raised her hand, emerald light swirling at her fingertips. "You call that teamwork?" she quipped, and the air around her compressed. A sudden gust surged down the tunnel, slicing into the front line like invisible blades.

Dozens of slimes were shredded in an instant, scattering in every direction. The wind howled, ripping through sewer water and debris.

Celestia, on the other hand, simply stepped forward. Her expression was calm, regal, and cold. Frost crawled along her arms, forming crystalline gauntlets.

"Freeze to dust," she whispered.

A wave of blue surged forward, the temperature in the tunnel dropping instantly. Ice spread across the floor and walls, trapping everything in its path. The slimes caught in it froze mid-crawl, their gelatinous bodies hardening before shattering into crystalline shards.

"Ha... this is cheating," I muttered, shaking my head.

And then— Squeak! Squeak!

Dozens of red eyes gleamed from the shadows. Sewer rats, mutated and fat from the dungeon’s mana, burst out from the side tunnels—sharp teeth gnashing, claws glinting.

The girls didn’t even flinch.

Elisha spun her bow sideways, firing three arrows at once. The shafts split in midair, arcing like guided missiles, each exploding into a small burst of light and flame.

Mariella stomped her foot, and the wind screamed. "Cyclone Blade!" she cried, her spell conjuring a miniature tornado down the tunnel, sweeping up rats and slimes alike before shredding them into paste.

Celestia clasped her hands, the air around her glowing an ethereal blue. Crack! Massive spears of ice erupted from the ground, skewering anything unfortunate enough to still be crawling.

In a matter of minutes, the chaos turned into a massacre.

The slimes hissed and bubbled, the rats screeched, and the very sewer walls quaked under the combined onslaught of three prodigies.

I stopped firing halfway through and took a step back. My shotgun hung loosely in my grip.

"Yeah... I’m not needed here," I muttered under my breath, ducking behind a broken pipe and leaning against the wall.

They were in their element—magic prodigies who had never known real defeat. Celestia’s ice gleamed like the wrath of a goddess, Mariella’s winds carved paths through the sludge, and Elisha’s arrows rained down like divine judgment.

The tunnel was a kaleidoscope of colors — blue frost clashing with red flame and green wind. Each explosion lit up the slime’s transparent bodies like lanterns. The air was thick with steam, smoke, and the sharp tang of ozone.

The Slime King, the monster that had nearly melted me minutes ago, was now nothing more than a flailing target under their barrage.

Celestia summoned another barrage of ice lances, raining down spears until the entire tunnel trembled. The Slime King screeched, its massive form splitting apart under the relentless assault.

Then Mariella followed up with a sweeping wind slash that bisected its jelly-like torso.

Finally, Elisha nocked a single arrow glowing a deep violet hue. "For cleanup duty," she murmured, letting it fly.

The arrow whistled through the air before bursting like a miniature sun—its explosion vaporizing the remains of the Slime King.

BOOM!

Acid, slime, and gore splattered across the tunnel walls, sizzling faintly before fading into smoke.

And then, silence.

Only the faint crackle of frost and the drip of condensed water remained.

I walked out from behind my cover, brushing a speck of slime off my uniform.

"Took your time," I said casually, as if I hadn’t been running for my life five minutes ago.

Mariella shot me a glare. "Tch. You didn’t even help!"

"I was providing tactical observation," I replied smoothly. "Someone had to keep a lookout, right?"

Celestia crossed her arms, her tone exasperated but faintly amused. "You really have an excuse for everything, don’t you, Cadet Lucien?"

"Experience," I said with a smirk. "You pick it up when you’re constantly surrounded by people trying to kill you."

Princess Celestia stepped forward, her tone sharp and composed. "So, care to tell us what exactly you were doing in a foreign nation’s sewer, Cadet Lucien? And don’t tell me you just fell in here."

I met her stare with a perfectly blank expression. "Well, that’s... really what happened."

Three pairs of disbelieving eyes fixed on me.

Mariella crossed her arms, her tone dripping with skepticism. "Listen here, Cadet Lucien. You don’t actually expect us to believe that, do you?"

Elisha, ever the archer with sharp precision in her words as well, added, "We clearly saw you heading here with purpose. You left the tour group on your own. We’ve been following you since then."

I tilted my head. "But you just said you weren’t following me."

"Ah–ahmm... well..." Celestia stammered for a moment, caught off guard before straightening her posture, her noble composure snapping back into place. "You were acting suspicious. As the heir to the Ashborne County of the Aurelian Empire, your actions reflect on your family—and by extension, the Empire itself. As the Princess of Aurelian, I cannot let you do anything that might tarnish its name."

Hmm.

That... was actually a solid excuse.

Couldn’t even rebuke that one.

I stayed silent, and that only seemed to embolden them further.

Elisha smirked. "What, no comeback? That’s rare. Don’t want us to bring up your past misdeeds, do you, Cadet Lucien? With your reputation, suspicion follows you like a shadow."

I sighed and turned around, already walking past them. "You know what? Fine. Just follow me. You won’t believe anything I say anyway."

"Wait—what do you mean?" Celestia frowned.

"Exactly what it sounds like," I said over my shoulder. "It’s better to see it for yourselves."

The three exchanged quick glances, their pride and curiosity warring on their faces.

But of course, curiosity won.

They followed.

’Tch. Haven’t they ever heard curiosity kills the cat?’ I thought to myself.

Then again, considering how powerful these three were, they were probably the cats who kill whatever tries to eat them.