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Chapter 553 Homura Akemi, Always on the Battlefield

That day, it was raining in the sky over Takihara City.

The sky seemed to reflect someone's heart, appearing gray.

The pouring rain was so cold it seemed to steal away warmth. As if fleeing the chill, people opened their colorful umbrellas and made as many footsteps as umbrellas echoed on the damp ground as they headed to their workplaces or schools.

In that crowd, a young girl alone endured the cold.

Perhaps because she had been drenched in the rain for a long time, her long, straight black hair was soaked through. Wearing a wet uniform, she walked unsteadily, her head down, exuding an aura like that of a ghost, a lost soul, or a walking corpse.

"Failed, failed, failed... failed again this time."

People looked at the girl with somewhat worried expressions, but didn't speak to her; they simply walked past her. They didn't have the energy to put aside their own affairs or work to talk to her.

The girl walked unsteadily, stepping into a puddle.

She suddenly looked up at the sky, as if only now realizing it was raining, and let out a soft breath. Then, as if fleeing the rain, she walked into the alley, found a small gap where she could find shelter, and curled up with her knees drawn up to her chest.

“…Hmm.”

The girl's shoulders trembled. Was it from the rain stealing her warmth, or from the tears streaming down her face? Because she had her face buried in her knees, it was impossible to tell…

However, the girl's sobs, mingled with the sound of rain, truly revealed her despair.

The girl's name is Homura Akemi.

A girl who can't go home and has lost her sense of belonging.

Although she possesses the powers of a magical girl, she is ultimately just a middle school student—just a girl who is afraid of being alone.

Even time travelers occasionally encounter such situations in endless cycles of reincarnation—they are huddled in an alley, without an umbrella, soaked to the bone by the rain, like abandoned children.

Can a person show such a painful expression?

She is currently facing, with all her might, the scene of her best friend Madoka Kaname's death in the previous cycle, a scene she was powerless to change due to her own inability, and she will continue to face it in the future...

Each of those who died in the cycle of reincarnation would crack a fissure in her heart.

There are as many reasons as there are mountains of despair.

There is only one reason not to despair.

But the reason not to despair is stronger than all despair combined—

She's going to take "love" back!

To save her friend, whom she wanted to protect more than anyone else, from a fate of destruction, she returned to the same time again and again, fighting time and time again.

The reason she was able to keep fighting was because of the promise she made to her friends.

Because she had sworn to herself that she would save him. That's why she has been fighting until now.

No matter how many wounds you suffer, no matter how much you are hated or despised, you must reach the end.

However, in this endless cycle of reincarnation, only she can understand all the battles. She cannot rely on others, and even if she establishes bonds, they will all be washed away in the next reincarnation.

She was in an environment where she had to become stronger on her own.

She also has her reasons for wanting to become stronger.

But her heart couldn't grow stronger forever; it wasn't that strong. The world was full of terrible things, and she had to face the worst of them all alone…

If anyone else could glimpse Homura Akemi's inner world, they would surely feel disgusted and want to vomit, because her mind is in complete chaos and filth.

Because in the process, she "abandoned" countless timelines, and under the pretext of trial and error, she failed to save her companions more than once or twice. She embarked on this path with such heavy sins, struggling to move forward on the corpses of her dead companions.

With each step she grew stronger, she relied on an irreparable sorrow. She was prepared to bear all the evil, all the guilt, and all the regret, and continue moving forward.

But sin will not disappear, the past will not disappear, darkness will not disappear, and feelings of [premonition], [exhaustion], and [frustration] will frequently arise.

So, although she didn't give up, exhaustion and pain were inevitable after yet another failure, quietly seeping out from the cracks in her heart, forcing her to stop here, to cry here... for a moment.

In this space that belonged solely to her, a place where no one should have set foot, she heard a peculiar sound.

"Is that Homura?"

With a mindset that she was always on the battlefield, she subconsciously raised her head and looked warily in the direction she came from.

A stranger called out his name.

Nothing like this had ever happened before; it was an event she had never experienced before… Only that one time, when a screen suddenly appeared before her eyes and then disappeared, like a hallucination, could rival this moment in its abnormality.

Perhaps it was because of this, or perhaps it was a special feeling that suddenly welled up in her heart, that she did not immediately stop the departure of time as usual.

"Who are you? Stay right there."

Her words were cold and aloof, yet one could also discern a hint of bravado in the girl's clear, detached voice.

In that case, it was like a gentle breeze to that suddenly appearing "being," and he walked very naturally in front of Homura Akemi.

"I am Toki, and I know your story."

The man said this, staring at the flame.

Her expression was a mess from crying, her eyes were red and swollen, and upon closer inspection, she was indeed quite thin, her hair was not as neat as expected, and she looked extremely haggard.

The girl's body stiffened slightly, unable to even react to the man's movements. He approached her like a real ghost, with a cold, illusory body.

Hearing the voice of the tall and handsome young man in front of her, Yan felt incredulous.

Is this what an adult's voice is like? So it's so calm and steady.
Can an adult's eyes really be so gentle and full of love?
She was certain that she had never met this young man who exuded an extraordinary aura... No, she couldn't even be sure if he was human, but if she had met him in a past reincarnation, she would never forget such a special being.

Moreover, what exactly does "knowing your story" mean?

Yan had an urge to stop time immediately, but in that instant, her gaze inevitably met that of the young man.

Toch simply nodded, as if to say, "Yes, I know everything you've been through."

The girl's heart, which was half sorrowful and half frantic, gradually calmed down under the other person's gentle gaze.

He walked toward the flame.

"Don't rush, don't blame yourself, don't hate yourself, take it slow, slowly get back on your feet. You have the right to cry for someone important to you..."

If you can't even stop a crying child from crying, you have no right to be an adult; if you can't even comfort a child, you're not qualified to be an adult.

"I won't tell you to be strong, nor will I tell you to try to stay calm. It's okay to be weak, ugly, or like an ordinary girl..." This was Toki's understanding of Flame, words that allowed her to shed tears.

This is a world that does not allow children to cry, does not allow sadness, and does not allow people to be unable to fight because of tears. Therefore, what he said was a rebellion against the world.

"If being sad, bowing your head, and panicking because someone important has died is considered weakness—"

Are humans so easily inclined to trust a complete stranger? Of course not.

Not to mention, this is a young girl who has experienced far more sorrow than most people can imagine. The possibility of her, whose psychological age is beyond calculation, believing in a man who suddenly appears and has no memory of her is extremely slim...

However, a strange feeling arose in Homura Akemi's cracked heart, as if she had a faint itch on her back.

These feelings gave rise to an impulse in her to "want to believe him".

"I think that kind of weakness is lovable. I love that kind of weakness."

These are words that save the heart of Flame.

These were words that flowed from the very essence of Toki, the words of his soul, words that only he could utter so earnestly, words that anyone could believe from the bottom of their heart.

"I will take on all your strong responsibilities and obligations..."

Toki reached out his hand, and Yan, fighting back tears, silently grasped the large, cold hand.

"Your most cherished friend in this world has become like that. You can cry. You can be sad. You can take your anger out on others. If you feel terrible, you can give up the fight..."

That hand, though devoid of any temperature, was incredibly warm. The moment Homura Akemi grasped it, she understood. He wasn't lying; he knew everything.

"But if you want to continue fighting, I will go with you to seize that miracle."

Today, at this moment.

Toki reached out and grasped Flame's hand.

His purpose in coming here was to seize a miracle with his fists, but it wasn't just about miracles; he also wanted to tear away the sorrow of the crying girl in front of him with his own hands.

No matter how strong she might become in the future, no matter how many decades, hundreds, or even unimaginable time has passed since she returned... in his eyes, Homura Akemi is simply a girl who can and should embrace happiness.

For Yan, lost in grief, perhaps it was a hand of salvation. She couldn't help but think that if it were this person before her, perhaps he truly could change everything and shatter that cycle of despair. Perhaps he could save her.

Flame cried.

She nestled against Toch's chest and cried loudly.

She cried out, asking why.

She cried out, asking why.

She cried loudly as she poured out countless thoughts of longing for Xiaoyuan.

Toki quietly accepted all her longing.

"If you'd like, I'll tell you my story... If you'd like, please let me protect you."

From the moment Madoka died, this was the first time I shed tears for anything other than Madoka's death.

Flame, heartbroken by the death of her best friend, is overwhelmed with emotion for the first time by another kind of feeling.

It's not sadness, but gratitude.

"I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry... But please, Mr. Toki, please... please help me! Please save me!"

The girl's jet-black hair flowed in the wind. She wore a purple and white dress and had a faint smile on her face. Although there were traces of tears, her previous unstable and collapsing crying was no longer visible.

She nodded frantically.

"In that case, I will do as you expect... No matter what, I will fight on your side when you are heartbroken. This is my decision, Toki. I will absolutely, definitely, protect you and your wishes from anything."

The young man gave a gentle yet determined smile.

—Then, Tochi began to flow.

The description is correct; it is indeed "flowing".

His body instantly decomposed into particles that radiated starlight, becoming flowing "light." Then, all the "light," like warm water, continuously flowed from Toki's arm that was holding the girl into Flame's body.

The illusory figure gradually disappeared from this world.

The power of truth gradually filled the girl's heart.

️

There are only five Hokuto Nanto Kenshi who have abandoned their physical bodies and arrived in this world solely with their souls.

Jagi could assert that they were indispensable; they were absolutely the most suitable candidates, and no one else he knew would suffice.

If those teenage girls were to bear the same cruel fate, it would feel like they would be crushed by the weight of magical girls and Kyubey, but they wouldn't.

And also because of the requirements incubators have for selecting people—

Therefore, they chose an emotionally rich Earth girl as the energy carrier, and systematically guided her to become a magical girl, collecting the power of emotions to achieve continuous energy harvesting.

The men of Beidou will command the heroes of the era with extraordinary charisma, possess immense and arrogant power, and are able to violently balance the world's fortunes. Each of them is a superhuman with an extreme personality.

In terms of emotional energy, who has a greater love and hate in their hearts than they do?

Secondly, the aptitude to become a magical girl is determined by the amount of karma one carries.

There are not many people in this world who can become great villains or great benefactors, and even fewer who can make people instantly recognize them as extraordinary.

However, it is no exaggeration to say that what these five people carried, the karma entangled with them, involved more than one world, transcending the limitations of Earth and humanity, and was unimaginably vast.

If Kyubey required adults instead of little girls, and slightly modified the conditions for making a wish, countless people would be eager to sign a contract with them and become members of Kamen Rider, the Land of Light, or the Super Sentai. The competition would be fierce.

But even compared to all of humanity, and to any being in human history, they would never lose.

Finally, even if Kyubey stubbornly desires a young girl, there is still a way—

Looking at the pink-haired girl sleeping peacefully on the bed in front of him, completely unaware of what was about to happen, with her cute sleeping face, the burly overlord, who was almost bursting through the ceiling, reached out his huge hand, which could grab the girl's entire body, without hesitation.

"Just based on the forbidden secret technique of my 'Heavenly Battle Sacred Yin Fist'—Sacred Soul Circulation!!!"

(End of this chapter)