With the power to fight back, Equinox Spider Lily was no longer afraid. Instead, she opted to clear these monsters off the streets as quickly as she could. The number of monsters increased daily with no sign of slowing down, as the rifts that spawned them appeared at random intervals with no predictable pattern.
Every time she cleared a group, Hades manifested to comment on her performance. She used those opportunities to gather information, though she frequently found herself so focused on asking about the mechanics of the magic system that she forgot to ask about the anomaly in her mindscape.
Through these exchanges, she learned that these creatures were technically known as magic beasts, creatures that were created by mana and took the form of fictional creatures that came from humans' fantasies. They did not require sustenance in the traditional sense. Instead, they absorbed the mana from the surroundings to sustain their existence.
Hades also enlightened her on the hierarchy of magical beings. Standing at the bottom of the ranking was F-rank, at the top was A-rank, and all magical girls started their journey at E-rank. When she asked Hades about how to rank up, he simply told her to follow her destiny and it would come eventually.
She discovered that the rifts followed a similar ranking system. Each brought out a set number of monsters before disappearing.
The F-rank rifts spawned ten fleshy creatures that looked like failed experiments. They had off-putting appendages, and their movements were so alien to all living beings that they couldn't be properly registered by a human brain. Despite their invulnerability to the mundane, they were extremely weak to matters involving magic. She didn't even need to use her magic wand to kill them because they dissipated like salted slugs when she came in contact with them with her magical girl body.
The E-rank rifts spawned 10 creatures taking the form of weak-level mobs in an RPG, much like those goblins from before. They possessed a primitive intelligence and moved in packs. They were far more durable than the F-ranks because they possessed a physical body that was based on an actual creature from fantasy. From this rank onward, mana only made them vulnerable rather than killing them instantly, requiring her to exert actual effort to dispatch them.
The D-rank rifts were the most dangerous so far. There were only five mobs, but these creatures felt significantly stronger than the previous ranks, like those imps she fought to save her sister. She needed to utilize all of her capabilities if she wanted to kill them all. A saving grace is that they are rare, and the monsters that spawned from them couldn't travel far from their original location because of the restraint that was put on them by the world. They also still had the same weaknesses as the creatures they took the form of, meaning attacks that should've been lethal, like to the brain and heart, still killed them.
As for higher ranks, he told her that the natural laws of this world were still resisting the invasion of these magic beasts, so they had yet to appear. However, he also said that it was a matter of time until higher-ranked magic beasts started spawning.
On the way to find something to kill, Equinox Spider Lily discovered a group of gargoyles. Scanning through the number, she counted 5, signifying that they were D-rank. Since she still hadn't been discovered, Equinox Spider chose to do a sneak attack.
The spider lilies hovering above her turned into 4 war hammers. With a command from her mind, the war hammers speed-blitzed the group. The nearest gargoyle's head was demolished into stone shards. A second hammer obliterated the wings of another, and before the beast could regain its balance, a follow-up strike crushed its skull into dust.
The other gargoyles turned to the location where the hammers came from. Their gazes were filled with bloodlust, and they charged at the magical girl with breakneck speed.
Equinox Spider Lily reacted quickly. She willed the war hammers back inside her soul and resummoned the 4 spider lilies to her side again. She morphed two into shields and the other two back into war hammers. She braced behind the shields to halt their charge, then sent the hammers to flank the stunned monsters, pulverizing their torsos.
Unexpectedly, one of the gargoyles managed to get over its dead kin and jumped over the defense line to land a hit on her. Equinox Spider Lily tried to dash away, but the magic beast's claws grazed her arm.
A sickening sensation overcame her as she felt some kind of energy being siphoned from the wound and moved into the gargoyle. She looked down at her injured arm and saw blood trickling down from the wound.
'What?' Equinox Spider Lily was baffled. In her fights against these magic beasts. Injuries were rare, but they were quick to heal before blood could even form.
'Dangerous,' she thought, her brow furrowing. Something about the gargoyle's claws was suppressing her natural regeneration.
Reinforcing her feet with mana, she kicked the face of the gargoyle to gain some distance. She moved her shields to intercept the stone statue, and as it tried to leap again, she met it mid-air with a war hammer. The impact turned its head to powder, ending the fight.
With the source of the wound no longer living, her arm began to heal. The blue wisp of flame appeared by her side.
"You are getting more injured in recent fights," Hades remarked, a hint of worry in his flickering voice. "It is high time you rest or you might get killed at this rate, boy."
"Your words are my command, Lord Hades," Equinox Spider Lily replied, turning the weapons back into spider lilies. Then she finally remembered what she wanted to ask about. "Lord Hades, I have a question regarding my situation."
"Speak."
"I tried meditating, and it appeared there was another existence different from me inside my mindscape. She took the form of my magical girl form, so is this supposed to happen?"
"That's quite peculiar indeed." Hades admitted, "The mindscape you spoke of is called innate domain. All magical girls can access them, but they generally have no use for them until the magical girl herself reaches A-rank. As for that existence, she is certainly an anomaly. Only your own consciousness should exist within your innate domain."
"Do I need to be worried about her?"
"I do not know. There is no precedent for your situation. You are the first man to ever become a magical girl."
Just as the blue wisp disappeared, Equinox Spider Lily suddenly heard a voice behind her.
"Wow, are you like. Some kind of magical girl? Why were you talking to nobody?"