Magical Girl Heavy Dependence

Chapter 2 A Life-or-Death Friendship

"I thought you weren't coming back."

Jiang Fei's voice sounded like a complaint, yet also like a casual remark. The car stereo was playing a song by some girl group, her usual pop-rock style.

"I just went to Qiongcheng for university. Of course I'll come back after I finish my master's degree. After all, this is my home." Cheng Chen adjusted his posture, looked at the street scene rushing past the window, and replied casually.

"Come on, you clearly said you wanted to stay and develop your career there when we last met."

Did I say that?

"I did say that!"

Two years had passed, yet they still spoke without any awkwardness. The "last time" Jiang Fei mentioned was when she went to the city where he studied on a business trip, and Cheng Chen took her for a walk around that crowded campus. She couldn't quite remember what they talked about or did at the time; it was probably all just trivial things.

Jiang Fei muttered, "You usually can't even bear to make a phone call. If I hadn't invited you to work at my company, you probably would never have come back in your life."

"My advisor and I spend all day in the lab, we don't have time to chat."

He rested his chin on his hand, his gaze unfocused: "Ginkgo is still waiting for me in Yincheng, I certainly won't abandon it."

"How dare you say that?"

Jiang Fei got angry when she heard this and rolled her eyes in annoyance: "What kind of owner would leave their dog with a friend to foster while they went to school for six years with their cat? Now you've realized it? Too late! Bai Guo has long forgotten about you and has become my dog."

Cheng Chen chuckled, not taking it to heart: "I rescued it and brought it home."

When he found the ginkgo, he was still a primary school student who had just transmigrated to the new world.

This world is not much different from the Earth he remembers. The development of technology and productivity has made modern society more and more convenient, and the economic boom has made the skyline of this coastal city rise higher every year.

The only difference is that magic really exists here.

Every year, many girls of marriageable age awaken their "Heart of Wish" in their sleep, gather magic wands, and transform into magical girls with magical powers.

Similarly, every so often, calamity beasts from outer space appear, wreaking havoc and causing destruction. At the same time, they attract humans with immense dark desires, corrupting and transforming them into 'demons'.

The two sides are sworn enemies, locked in a life-or-death struggle.

When Cheng Chen transmigrated, he carried with him a [Demon Cultivation System].

As long as you do evil and defeat magical girls, you can receive system rewards to become stronger.

With the system's help, he once dominated Yin City in his youth, fighting against generations of magical girls, and eventually became the powerful Demon King [Evil Lord], the kind of character who could be the final boss in a tokusatsu film.

Then?

Then Cheng Chen reached the maximum level.

As everyone knows, reaching the maximum level is the beginning of quitting the game.

The system's mission rewards are no longer attractive, battles no longer provide dopamine, and the title of Demon Lord is utterly meaningless.

What's the point of being a boss? Are you really going to destroy the world?

So, after getting bored, Cheng Chen quickly graduated from his chuunibyou phase and resolutely retired from the demon world.

Just then, he received an invitation from his university professor.

So, like everyone else, he went to university.

It was from that time that he became friends with Jiang Fei.

[The Destroyer-class monster 'Sand Power' has been defeated]

[General Career Experience Points +5000]

As they were chatting casually, a system notification suddenly flashed through Cheng Chen's mind.

Seeing him pause for a moment, Jiang Fei guessed what was going on and asked, "Is it over?"

Before Cheng Chen could answer, ripples appeared in the air, and a small white cat suddenly appeared on the armrest between the two of them.

"Oh! White apricot!"

Upon seeing the cat, Jiang Fei's expression instantly melted, and she beamed with joy.

Meow~

The kitten meowed crisply as if to greet her, then opened its mouth and spat a stone covered with black spots onto Cheng Chen's leg.

Cheng Chen reached out and rubbed its fluffy little head, then picked up the stone.

"Nightmare Stone, the one from that Destroyer-level Calamity Beast just now, right? So it was sent by Little Cat to help... No wonder she asked me about 'Azure' earlier." Jiang Fei glanced at it and then looked away, as if she were jealous. "I didn't realize you'd become so chivalrous after all these years."

"I didn't send the kitten out; it wanted to go play on its own."

Cheng Chen casually stuffed the nightmare stone into his pocket, stroking the kitten's fur while explaining nonchalantly.

Jiang Fei clearly didn't believe it, gave a light snort, and focused on driving.

"Meow~"

Bai Xing tugged at his sleeve with her pink paws, her emerald eyes filled with anticipation: The magical girl won! You lost the bet with Mimi before. A bet is a bet, and Mimi wants to eat freeze-dried food!

"It's clearly not that magical girl who won, so it doesn't count." Cheng Chen put on a stern face, trying to brush it off.

Bai Xing immediately showed her human-like dissatisfaction, hugging his hand and nibbling at it, acting cute and fierce in a coquettish way.

The teeth that could easily bite through the body of a calamity beast left no mark on the back of his hand. It was unclear whether the kitten was reluctant to actually bite, or whether his skin was harder than that of the calamity beast.

"That child is probably terrified." Jiang Fei smiled as she looked at the cat and the person. "A perfectly normal Destruction-level Disaster Beast suddenly turned into an unknown Evil God-level threat."

Cheng Chen sighed, "I hope I won't be recognized by anyone I know."

"That's tough. The title 'Evil Lord' is legendary in Yincheng. Countless magical girls are still obsessed with you." Jiang Fei chuckled, her silver earrings swaying gently with her laughter, and her dimples appearing and disappearing on her cheeks.

Cheng Chen said with a bitter face, "We've already disappeared for six years, why bother?"

He just wanted a peaceful life.

Magical girls and monsters are things of the past.

"If your enemies really come knocking on your door, I'll plead for you." Jiang Fei narrowed her eyes. "Maybe they'll let you off the hook because of my past as the president of the Magical Girl Association."

Cheng Chen shook his head: "If she dares to come looking for me, then she's just like you, corrupted into my demonic female cadre."

"You dare!"

Jiang Fei raised her hand and lightly punched his shoulder, raising an eyebrow as if to glare at him.

"The former president of the association was actually a henchman of the demon... This magical girl, you don't want your true identity to be known by those juniors who admire you, do you?" Cheng Chen deliberately leaned closer to her profile and lowered his voice.

Jiang Fei's cheeks flushed instantly, but she still pretended to be calm:

"Go ahead and say it if you dare, and see who believes you. My name 'Hiroaki' isn't cheap in the magical girl world."

"But you came all the way to the airport to pick up a demon."

"Don't get me wrong, I came to pick you up simply because we're classmates!"

"Are classmates always that attentive?"

"Who told you to be all alone, with no friends? I'm just pitying you." She snorted, her nose wrinkling slightly.

Cheng Chen didn't argue further, and smiled as she leaned back in her seat.

He and Jiang Fei were the same age and were indeed classmates, but at that time they did not know each other's identities.

When the Demon King "Evil Lord" ran rampant, "Magical Girl Scarlet Cherry" happened to be protecting Yin Cheng, and the two naturally developed a life-or-death friendship (meaning they risked their lives for each other).

It wasn't until the summer after they graduated from college that they crossed paths for the first time as ordinary people in real life.

At that time, Jiang Fei's magical girl career had just ended, and she had lost her magic; Cheng Chen was also preparing to leave Yincheng to go to university and retire from the world.

Without magical girls and demon kings in the summer, the city is unusually quiet and peaceful.

He was walking his dog in the park near his home when he saw Jiang Fei wearing a cherry blossom-colored dress.

Jiang Fei squatted by the bushes, sobbing frantically.

"No...no, just one last time...please..."

She clutched a finely crafted but dull fan-shaped wand, desperately trying to squeeze out a sliver of magic from her body. Before her lay a dying kitten, its eyes still closed.

"Why not... it's just a simple healing spell..."

"Jiang Fei".

"Huh?"

The girl looked up in a panic, her lips bitten until they turned white, and her eyes slightly red.

"Cheng Chen, are you walking your dog?"

"Hmm, let me see." Cheng Chen didn't say much, but walked straight to her side, squatted down, and reached out his hand to the white kitten that was almost losing its body temperature.

Inky black magic gathered in his palm. The power belonging to the demon did not appear evil. Instead, it wove into a matte carpet of light, which slowly merged into the kitten's body.

"This is... the power of calamity... You are a demon..."

Jiang Fei bit her lip, instinctively gripping the faded magic wand, her gaze fixed on Cheng Chen's back.

Cheng Chen ignored the girl beside him. A moment later, as the light in his hand faded, the kitten, whose breath had been faint, began to rise and fall rhythmically, emitting soft meows.

"It's alright. Go back and make some goat milk powder, feed it to it when it's warm." He clapped his hands and stood up.

"Th...thank you."

Jiang Fei stared blankly at the scene, carefully cradling the kitten in her arms. The hostility in her eyes was replaced by complex emotions. "But... it's not convenient for my family to keep pets. My mother is allergic to cat fur."

She hid the wand behind her back, thinking Cheng Chen hadn't seen it.

"In that case, keep it at my house."

After Cheng Chen finished speaking, Jiang Fei looked up in surprise, staring intently at his face, trying to read something from that usually expressionless face.

"...No matter what you think, I'm a pet owner too. I'm not so heartless as to abandon such a tiny kitten." Cheng Chen said calmly.

Jiang Fei lowered her head, remained silent for a long time, then bit her lower lip again, her voice barely audible: "Cheng Chen, then I'll trouble you."

She handed the kitten over, and Cheng Chen took it. Their gazes simultaneously fell on the tiny life.

It was an adorable kitten, pure white with not a single blemish.

On a summer evening filled with the incessant chirping of cicadas, Jiang Fei, no longer a magical girl, and Cheng Chen, no longer the Demon King, learn of each other's identities as arch-enemies.

But by then, they had no reason to continue fighting.

……