Chapter 1: Chapter 1 : Arrested Right from the Start?

"Hehe hehe, nyehahahahaha!"

Pale, having infiltrated the magical girls' headquarters, felt like a mouse that had fallen into a rice jar.

The girl's long hair was a night mist-like gray-white, her strands flowing with the cold gray tones of moonlight. Her pure white shirt was stretched into slight wrinkles by the curves of her chest, a purple shoulder ribbon draped diagonally across her collarbone. Above her flat stomach, a jet-black crystal trembled lightly with her breathing, each sway refracting scattered moonlight as it hung toward the waistline outlined by her corset.

Her black-purple short skirt barely covered her hip line, the gothic-flavored dress accentuating the girl's graceful figure even more. Black over-knee socks pressed into the soft flesh of her legs like a second skin, while white lace-trimmed stockings were tightly wrapped by black high-heeled boots.

Under the night sky, this one of the few stably operating bases was still in a state of high alert.

The closely packed apartment buildings and abandoned warehouse parking lots had been hollowed out by the magical girls to construct this magical girl settlement that integrated living, magic stone production, and patrol security.

Pale landed lightly on a dust-covered wooden crate, like a weightless feather. She greedily inhaled the magic stone fragrance permeating the air—a sweet, cloying scent that mixed vast magical power with Pale's favorite cream, making every cell in her body rejoice with excitement.

"Gu... such terrifying magical power."

Pale shook her head, which had become somewhat dazed from the immense magical power.

The girl had absolutely no resistance to magic stones, especially when she was in a "hungry" state—she couldn't move when she saw magic stones.

'I never expected these little brats would actually hide such good stuff.'

The base's defenses were like nothing in her eyes; those patrolling magical girls looked to her like nothing more than dolls wearing cute uniforms and waving glowing sticks.

The warehouse interior was packed with dust-covered supply crates and abandoned magical equipment. Towering shelves stood like silent giants in the shadows, while the air floated with the scent of old wood shavings and a barely perceptible hint of motor oil.

The girl's golden eyes precisely locked onto the magic stone protected by a magical barrier in the center of the room.

'Too easy,' Pale slightly curved her lips, her molten gold eyes flickering with cunning light in the darkness.

"Such an important thing just brazenly placed in the center of the warehouse, really!" Pale pretended to helplessly wipe away her drool. "If you want to give it to me, you can just say so directly, hehe hehe."

'And the guards are actually all secretly dozing off—they really have no sense of crisis. Let this senior teach you all a proper lesson.'

The girl moved like an elegant phantom, weaving between the mountain of accumulated supplies.

Moonlight passed through the colored glass of the towering skylight, casting mottled shadows on the ground and bathing the magic stone in a sacred halo.

Pale could even feel the magic core within her body heating up slightly from this energy source so close at hand, resonating with it.

The warehouse's silence was amplified, with only the subtle sound of her boot heels lightly tapping the ground.

'Mm... mmm…'

'Such powerful magical power... so fragrant... feeling a bit dizzy.'

'But getting the magic stone is most important!'

Only a few steps away from the magic stone, Pale could almost feel the warm energy waves it emitted brushing across her cheeks. She reached out her hand, black magical power swirling around her fingertips—that was Pale's magic space, preparing to seize that tempting magic stone.

Just as her fingertip was about to touch that smooth surface...

A crisp "click" sound rang out in the silent warehouse, followed immediately by the rapid sliding sound of metal chains.

Pale's pupils suddenly contracted!

The floor beneath her feet instantly disappeared, replaced by a massive magic circle flickering with ghostly blue runes. A powerful suction force came from below, while simultaneously, a corresponding position on the ceiling lit up with the same formation. Two beams of light closed like a cage in an instant, the radiance illuminating the dust dancing around and the debris shaken from the shelves.

"What the hell!" she cried out in shock, her body being violently pulled downward by an invisible force, then brutally slammed against the light barrier above. That sensation wasn't like a physical impact, but more like falling into a viscous, highly magnetic energy swamp.

She tried to mobilize her magic power to break free, but the moment the power within her body surged out, it was greedily absorbed and dissolved by those ghostly blue runes, like water drops falling into scorching desert sand.

'Damn it! I was careless!' Pale bit down on her lower lip, a flash of chagrin and humiliation in her eyes.

'Ugh... the magic stone was just too tempting, making my head all dizzy.'

Moonlight poured through the skylight, coldly washing over her imprisoned figure.

Just then, a cold sensation pressed against her slender neck without warning. That feeling didn't come from outside, but rather seemed to crystallize from beneath her skin.

Click—

A crisp, heart-stopping lock-fastening sound rang out, accompanied by extremely subtle leather friction.

A collar fastened perfectly around her swan-like elegant neck.

The leather texture was delicate and supple, tightly conforming to every inch of her neck's curves. The inside seemed to be lined with some even softer material, but the sensation of it pressing against her skin now brought a slight feeling of suffocation.

From deep within the warehouse, a cold but teasing female voice softly rang out, breaking the deathly silence. That voice seemed to come from some shadow corner filled with debris, carrying a hollow echo yet clearly reaching Pale's ears:

"Senior, you really are getting old."

The moonlight happened to illuminate the newcomer.

Shoulder-length soft blue hair shimmered with a faint luster in the moonlight, and a delicate doll-like face wore undisguised mockery, and... a trace of disgust?

"Sluggish reflexes, low vigilance, losing all thinking ability at the sight of magic stones," the blue-haired girl's voice remained cold, but carried an even deeper chill than before. "What's even more disappointing is that, senior, you seem to have thrown away even your bottom line."

She slowly stepped forward, her high heels striking clear echoes in the silence, each step like treading on Pale's taut nerves. She stopped one step away from the magic circle, her gaze sharp as a blade, stabbing directly at Pale's golden pupils.

"Consorting with magical creatures, allying with witches, even openly helping those filthy things escape... I... I really misjudged you."

Pale didn't respond to the girl's accusations and abuse, only futilely writhing in the magic circle. She knew that this magnitude and intensity of binding magic required at least 10 magical girls to maintain, and they must be hiding in the shadows watching secretly.

The slight suffocation from the collar and the weakness from continuously draining magic power made Pale feel dizzy and lightheaded.

Her thighs, tightly wrapped in black over-knee socks, rubbed slightly against the viscous energy walls. Her black-purple short skirt made subtle rustling sounds with her movements, while the tips of her high boots pointed high up, as if silently protesting.

"Hey hey... little junior," Pale said while struggling to squirm, using a tone that tried to sound relaxed despite being somewhat breathless, "do you think... this level of trap can make me surrender without a fight?"

Her golden eyes tried to look cunning, but due to the magic power loss they appeared somewhat moist and hazy, instead adding a few points of innocence.

"It seems... it's time to let you all witness the trump cards and composure of an old-generation magical girl!"

Black-purple magical power instantly filled the air, and Pale let out a "hehehe" laugh.

Pale could instantly mobilize all the magic power reserves in her body, and could even traverse time to advance-draw future magic power.

The massive magical power torrent instantly sent surrounding debris flying, and the ghostly blue magic circle also made sounds of breaking under the unbearable load.

What followed was fourteen girls of various forms stumbling out from various corners of the warehouse, clearly unable to bear such enormous magical power.

"Hmph hmph... did you see that?" Pale laughed triumphantly.

But the blue-haired girl's face still showed composure and calm, as if everything before her eyes had long been within her expectations.

Damn it! Little brat, just wait and see how I'll thoroughly humiliate you, thoroughly spank your little butt and make you apologize to your senior!

But the next moment, Pale felt something was wrong.

"Eh!"

With Pale's exclamation, the massive magical power torrent instantly dissipated.

That damned circle of cool black leather suddenly tightened.

What was even more terrifying was that the "fur" on the inside that had originally only brought slight tingling, instantly became countless greedy suction tubes with barbs, frantically devouring the black magical power around the girl's body.

It was like countless cold, slippery tongues with bone-chilling electric currents, directly licking and devouring Pale's magic core. They greedily coiled, tightened, and consumed the girl's magic power, each sucking bringing a wave of numbing tingling and weakness that exploded from the depths of her bone marrow.

The girl's body convulsed violently beyond her control, like a fish thrown onto shore, bouncing futilely. Magic power flowed out like floodwater through opened gates, being frantically drawn away by that leather circle at an almost insane speed.

"Ugh ah... stop... stop..." Pale opened her mouth futilely, only able to produce broken whimpers. "Don't... don't suck anymore..."

The girl's waist trembled uncontrollably, the jet-black crystal on her abdomen humming violently as if it too were wailing. Her legs, tightly wrapped in black over-knee socks, were now as soft as cooked noodles, without even the strength to kick, only able to twitch slightly with her body's spasms.

The blue-haired girl gently lifted Pale's drooping head.

"Senior... you should just retire like this and become an ordinary person."