Chapter Three: The Onslaught of the Calamity Beasts
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Bus Stop
Bai Yuze gazed at the colorful sights lining the street, lost in his own thoughts.
He never quite understood how his adoptive parents had conceived his little sister. From a young age, she possessed extraordinary strength. His adoptive parents, with an almost treasure-hunting zeal, enrolled her in extracurricular classes focused on martial arts, taekwondo, and swordsmanship.
In contrast, his own extracurriculars were all about dance, music, and computer skills, which left him no match for his sister. More often than not, she would pin him to the ground during their scuffles, leaving him with no shred of elder brother’s dignity.
This was the sole grievance he harbored against his adoptive parents.
Amid the screeching brakes, Bai Yuze boarded the last bus of the night, his eyes fixed on the neon-lit streams of traffic outside. The bus repeatedly broadcast a message from six months prior, commemorating the successful resistance against the Black Tide:
“Dear citizens, greetings. The President of the Earth Federation of the United Nations and the Earth Defense Military Commission now officially announce that, under the wise leadership of the United Nations Security Council’s permanent members and the courageous resistance of the peoples worldwide, we have managed to eliminate the majority of the disaster beasts. The remaining few have been driven out beyond human living areas. All spatial-temporal rifts worldwide have been sealed, removing the threat to humanity since the Third Black Tide...”
“However, we must also prepare ourselves for the next Black Tide’s arrival. We shall never give up...”
“...We express our deepest condolences to all compatriots who suffered since the cataclysm and pay the highest respects to the heroes who sacrificed their lives to protect the people and Blue Earth...”
Having spent over two decades in this world unbeknownst to himself, Bai Yuze had nearly forgotten he was a transmigrant.
His adoptive parents died in a car accident during his senior year of high school, leaving behind a house and a younger sister about to enter middle school.
Their savings were limited but sufficient for him and his sister to finish school—yet they had no income.
To avoid depleting their resources, Bai Yuze worked tirelessly during vacations, leaving early and returning late every day, exhausted, just to earn a little more money.
He did it not for himself but so his sister could have a better future.
His adoptive parents had treated him better than their own child. Now that they were gone, he felt compelled to repay their kindness through caring for his sister.
This situation persisted until he met Yaluus, after which he abandoned plans to continue part-time jobs.
After graduating from university, through internal recommendations from some teachers, he earned an interview at Autumn Garden No. 1 High School in Ye Qiu City and became a teacher.
Considering the modest salary over three years, he recently found a part-time job with better pay and fewer responsibilities.
Though this meant less free time, he frequently visited a nursing home.
There, his tasks were simple: assisting elders with tidying their rooms, trimming plants in the courtyard, cleaning, and occasionally giving massages. The work was not difficult but tedious and draining.
Initially, he only did it to ease his mind, never intending to stay long.
But over time, he found the elders kind-hearted.
An old person at home is like a treasure.
Some residents had fascinating life stories; on quiet days, he enjoyed listening to their tales and occasional boasting. Thus, he continued to visit once or twice in a while.
The last bus route from the nursing home to home overlapped with the city’s first and second ring roads, which were bustling with rush hour traffic.
Shortly after boarding, Bai Yuze gave his seat to a septuagenarian and a little boy wearing a red scarf. The elder naturally sat down and pulled the boy onto his lap without saying thanks.
The boy glanced at the elder, then turned to Bai Yuze, shyly whispering a "thank you."
Though soft, the voice was clear and pleasant, lifting Bai Yuze’s spirits considerably.
Though such gestures were not what he valued most, their presence or absence still made a difference.
His mood inexplicably brightened.
As more passengers boarded, Bai Yuze was jostled by the crowd but eventually found an empty grab handle near the window, clutching it like a lifeline amid turbulent seas.
His phone vibrated. He took it out and glanced at the screen.
Within the past hour, his inbox had been bombarded with messages—like bullets from a machine gun—all from his sister, accompanied by angry emojis.
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Years of work experience taught him to discern between major and minor conflicts. He skipped the trivial texts and focused on the last two messages:
...
“Weakling brother, why aren’t you back yet?”
“Bai Yuze, I went to Huaren Supermarket to buy snacks. Hurry back to cook dinner. If I don’t see food when I get back, you know what will happen. [Threat].jpg”
Reading these calm yet stern words, he couldn’t help but sigh deeply.
Ever since he lost to his sister’s single hand fighting against his two-handed attempts, Bai Youqing had started addressing him by name directly.
Even when she called him “brother,” it was usually prefixed by “weakling.”
He opened another message from Teacher Xingye, who had sent a friend request to Bai Youqing, but it had yet to be accepted. He’d tell his sister to politely decline—it fit her rebellious phase perfectly.
Sorry, Teacher Xingye, you’re a good person...
Near the window, Bai Yuze felt dispirited thinking about how he couldn’t hold his head high in front of his sister.
He switched off his phone, emptied his mind, and tried to alleviate the growing pain in his head.
The pain was worsening daily—an abyssal perspective that felt like it would break him soon.
He avoided the word “madness” unlike the protagonist Li Huowang from the recent popular novel, because in this world, the disaster beasts were real—tangible, visible.
“Holy crap, a disaster beast!”
Just as he thought it, a shout caught Bai Yuze’s attention.
With the first cry, a chorus of alarmed voices rose around him.
The bus was on an overpass with an expansive view. Not far away stood a tall building adorned with a logo of two crystalline green leaves—Huaren Supermarket, one of Ye Qiu City’s premier shopping centers.
Beside the building loomed a massive disaster beast about three meters tall, its two lantern-sized scarlet eyes scanning for “prey.”
Its spine and thick fists bristled with sharp bone spikes. A layer of silvery-white armor of unknown material covered its vital spots, rendering human high-tech weapons largely ineffective.
The sudden appearance of the disaster beast caused widespread panic among the nearby residents.
However, seeing only one beast, the citizens settled without requiring official order enforcement and began orderly retreating to air-raid shelters.
Some braver souls even stood and took photos with their phones, sharing them on social media.
Though a single disaster beast could cause casualties, its scale was insignificant compared to the hundreds or thousands that had attacked cities during the onset of the third Black Tide.
Still, a disaster beast was a disaster beast. The city’s alarms and broadcasts sounded swiftly.
“Dear citizens, a disaster beast has appeared near Changhong Road in Ye Qiu City. Changhong Road will soon be closed. Please proceed calmly to Shelter No. 114. Avoid crowding and panic. Estimated clearance time is half an hour...”
Within minutes, a convoy of black-armored personnel arrived. They did not attack the beast but focused on dispersing crowds and maintaining order. Eliminating the beast was beyond their capabilities.
A moment later, a shimmering emerald-green light materialized from nowhere.
Bang!
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It streaked swiftly toward the disaster beast, colliding with its armor and sparking fierce flashes.
Within mere seconds, several thick beams of ghostly green light struck the same spot. The hardened armor could no longer hold and fractured, cleaving through the creature from front to back. Green blood splattered onto the concrete and soil, hissing corrosively.
A furious and painful roar erupted, echoing into the sky.
Clearly, the attack had wounded the disaster beast. It opened its terrifying maw and bellowed thunderously.
“Holy crap, a magical girl!”
“Damn, there’s a crazy weeb next to me!”
On the bus, some passengers were inexplicably angry, others terrified, some shouting, others delighted. Many pulled out phones to livestream or post on social media platforms like Douyin and Pixiv.
On the road, Bai Yuze’s gaze lingered on the enormous disaster beast, his expression unreadable.
[Disaster Beast – Giant] Vital Points: Head, heart.
He then shifted his eyes to the magical girl... no, the Arbiter.
“Ah!”
Suddenly, a sharp pain stabbed through his head. He quickly bowed it low.
Muttering to himself: “Don’t think about it, don’t care, don’t act, don’t go there. Just take care of my sister. Nothing else matters...”
His body trembled slightly, veins bulging on his arms as he gripped the bus’s handrail.
Fortunately, the crowd’s attention remained on the battle outside; no one noticed his odd behavior.
If anyone had looked closely, they would have seen his eyes shift from normal hazel to a pale violet—the unique hue of a Demon Princess.
He muttered in a language clearly not human.
“A new magical girl has appeared, with colors and attire never seen before. So beautiful... so... I want to kill her!”
On the bus bridge, most of the crowd hoped to watch the live broadcast, but the driver denied them this chance.
For the passengers’ safety and perhaps to relive a lost youth, the driver’s eyes glistened with tears.
Finally, today he could fully let himself go again.
The usually sluggish bus now burst forth with speed and passion.
On that dim evening, the passengers witnessed maneuvers usually only seen in short videos: razor-sharp overtakes, dragon tail slides, lightning drifts, and a slew of high-difficulty stunts.
What usually took over forty minutes was completed in just ten.
Almost no passenger had a single complaint...