Even if you're a corrupted magical girl, you still have to try to redeem yourself.

Yuuki Yukino's unrestrained and joyful laughter, combined with Nishio Ryū's suppressed groans, brought the stage to its climax.

Since it's a stage, there will eventually be a curtain call.

The last image in Yuuki Yukino's memory was a headbutt from Nishio Reki that struck her squarely in the chin.

All memories, along with Yuuki Eri's consciousness, came to an abrupt end at that moment.

When Xing Jiecheng came over, she found herself lying on the indoor floor, completely unharmed and looking peaceful.

My body is a little sore, and I feel like I don't have much magic left.

But where is this place?

Yuuki Yui tilted her head and met a pair of dilated pupils, and the owner of those pupils had a slightly open mouth and a face that had turned deathly gray.

"Ah!" Yuuki Yuuki screamed and jumped up from the ground like a frightened kitten.

Yuki En then noticed that next to her was a stack of Hayashi Mustard seeds.

Because all the mustard seeds in that room looked similar, Yuuki Yuen couldn't tell which one was which.

"Oh my, it's Lin Jiezi! You startled me."

Yuuki Yukina patted her chest to catch her breath.

Wouldn't it be even more terrifying if it were Lin Jiezi?

Startled by the sight of Hayashi Keko lying on the ground after waking up, Yuuki Yukina then remembered that her original purpose was simply to chat with Nishio Reki at his invitation.

Yuuki Yukino also recalled what happened next.

Because his emotions suddenly spiraled out of control, the Black Demon Mark went berserk, and his mind was consumed by strange emotions. He then entered a state of contamination that Yuuki Yuuki was familiar with but had never personally experienced.

Having experienced the pollution caused by the Black Magic Mark for the first time, Yuuki En couldn't quite describe what it felt like.

If all of a person's actions are constrained by morality, then the contamination of the Black Magic Mark is the key to unlocking those constraints.

The psychological shift from knowing "I can't do this" to "It doesn't matter if I do it" was completed the moment the black magic runes shone.

Then, the demonic armor on his body began to melt, and he felt a continuous flow of power flowing into his body, after which he did many terrible things.

Her clothes were still intact, so it seemed that only the magic armor had melted away.

Once the transformation is canceled, it will not affect the original clothing.

How exactly she recovered from that state, and what happened after she fainted and woke up—these are questions that Yuuki Yukino could never understand on her own.

It seems the only way to get a definite answer is to ask Nishio Reki.

Oh, right, Nishio Reki, I also did a lot of terrible things to Nishio Reki.

It was no different from what any other corrupted magical girl would do.

But is Nishio Reki really that weak, unable to even defeat himself in his corrupted state?

The answer is definitely no. Looking back on the battle between Nishio Reki and himself, apart from the final blow, he had been blatantly holding back before.

Why do you want to do this?

That would require asking Nishio Reki.

Nishio Reki's door was tightly closed, and no sound could be heard coming from inside. It was even unclear whether anyone was inside.

Yuuki took a few steps forward, but stopped just as her fingertips touched the metal doorknob.

She didn't have the courage to open the tightly closed door.

To be honest, she didn't know how to face Nishio Reki.

If you consider Nishio Reki a friend, Yuuki Yukino can't do that.

Yuuki Yuki remembers every single thing Nishio Reki did.

Yuuki Yukino is very stingy, so stingy that she doesn't think she can easily forgive Nishio Reki.

Moreover, even if they were friends, Yuuki Yukino would definitely be ashamed to face anyone if she did something so outrageous to a friend.

If I consider Nishio Reki as an enemy, I don't care what I do, even if I judge her to the point of being unable to recover.

However, Nishio Reki is not strictly speaking an enemy. He asked Lava Mountain Lantern to help him escape from trouble, and although the riddles he used were helpful, they also provided him with assistance several times.

One thing at a time, Nishio Reki is not someone who has to be completely wiped out just because someone did something against him.

Neither a person nor the world is simply black and white.

It would be better if I didn't go in myself, right?

Yuuki Yuuki turned her head and saw that the door she had kicked open had been barely repaired, but moonlight and cool breeze could still sneak into the room through the crack in the door.

Let's talk about it when we get to school tomorrow.

Yuuki Yukino thought to herself.

But the next day, Nishio Reki didn't show up at school at all.

Chapter Twenty-Two: This guy's not quite right either.

"I got another beating from Xiaoyuan, and another thorough stab from her, sigh..."

When asked why he didn't go to school today, Nishio Reki sighed repeatedly and gave a reason that left people wondering where to begin criticizing it.

"When I woke up this morning, I felt weak all over, dizzy, my vision was blurry, I was nauseous and dry heaving, I was in excruciating pain, and I felt like I was on the verge of death... Sigh, I thought I was going to die, so I took the day off."

When Yuuki rushed over to find Nishio Reki, she had already prepared for the worst.

Perhaps Nishio Reki's former residence is now deserted, and Nishio Reki has disappeared from the city again, becoming that mysterious person that no one can find.

As soon as she opened the door, Yuuki saw Nishio Reki leaning back on the sofa watching a sitcom on TV, holding a huge bowl of ramen that was almost all soup left, with a handful of noodles in his mouth.

Nishio Reki was laughing so hard he was doubled over while eating noodles.

In the corner of the room, facing a pile of mustard seeds, Nishio Reki in the center of the room was leisurely watching TV as if nothing had happened. I really don't know whether I should praise Nishio Reki for being carefree.

Upon seeing Yuuki Yuki, Nishio Reki immediately slammed his ramen bowl onto the coffee table and slumped onto the sofa, groaning softly.

It's just pointless complaining.

Aside from Hyakki Senyū, Yuuki Yuuki didn't think anyone she knew could finish such a large bowl of ramen by themselves.

This doesn't look like someone who's dizzy, in excruciating pain; this is someone who's living a very comfortable life!

That ramen was delivered, wasn't it? I could see the brand logo on the ramen bowl!

Is Nishio Reki really that kind of person?

Yuuki Yukino thought she was either a love-obsessed person or a riddle teller.

However, thinking about it from another perspective, it's not surprising that Nishio Reki acts this way, since such a personality is more like that of the protagonist in the game.

Otherwise, she'd always look so bitter and resentful, and all she'd say would be secrets and the future—she's not the real Homura Akemi.

If Nishio Reki really turned into that, people would really be worried about his mental state.

Yuuki En had originally planned that if she had the chance to meet Nishio Reki, she would sincerely apologize to her and then ask her to come back.

This alone has already caused indelible damage to Nishio Reki.

He wasn't seriously injured and even suddenly returned to normal from his berserk state of corruption; he could only blame it on Nishio Reki.

However, judging from Nishio Reki's relaxed attitude now, he probably doesn't need to apologize, right?

"Why didn't you tell me you weren't going to school today?" Yuuki Yuuki crossed her arms, nudged Nishio Reki's legs with her butt, and sat down on the sofa.

"Is Xiaoyuan worried about me? That's great, I knew Xiaoyuan was worried about me..." Nishio Reki rubbed his hands together.

"Stop, answer the question. Why didn't you tell anyone you weren't going to school?!" Yuuki Yui interrupted Nishio Reki irritably.

"I did tell no one. I did mention to others that I wasn't going to school."

Nishio Reki blinked, changed from lying on the sofa to sitting, picked up his slippers with his toes, and slurped up the noodles that were almost gone from the coffee table.

Has Nishio Koyomi mentioned this to anyone else?

If that's the case, then this person must be from Yuehai Middle School.

Is it Helica? Did they make some kind of deal in secret? Or is it Mizuno Yu? As members of the original Three Colors Team, their status should be similar to hers.

Or perhaps it's Sakura Hanako? Could there be some other magical girl I don't know about...?

While Yuuki Yukino was frantically racking her brains, Nishio Reki casually added, in a rather irritating way, "If I don't tell the teacher, how do I ask for leave?"

So that's what it means?

Actually, what Nishio Reki said wasn't wrong, but why does it sound so infuriating?

"Then why didn't you tell me?!" Yuuki Yuen rubbed her temples, trying to ease the headache that was aching from Nishio Reki's words.

"Because I knew that Xiaoyuan would definitely come to find me, and Xiaoyuan really did come, didn't she?" Nishio Reki slurped down a mouthful of noodles, picked up the bowl, and drank a few more mouthfuls of the ramen's soy sauce broth.

Damn it, why does this guy always look so infuriating today?

Nishio Reki is not usually like this.

Right, Nishio Reki is not usually like this, there must be a reason for her unusual behavior.

So, how much of Nishio Reki's series of actions was intentional?

But Yuuki knew that Nishio Reki's childish actions were definitely not malicious.

Nishio Reki's actions before entering the room were simply a reflection of his personality. His subsequent seemingly relaxed and even somewhat nonsensical conversation lightened his originally heavy mood.

Otherwise, I would probably have given Nishio Reki a serious apology with a stern face, and then asked those questions in a tense atmosphere.

Yuuki Yukino will apologize.

"I'm really sorry about what happened yesterday."

Yuki Yukino paused for a moment, giving Nishio Reki a chance to speak. However, Nishio Reki did not intend to interrupt. He picked up the bowl of ramen and gulped down the remaining broth.

Nishi-Rin (西〆〆林) [$污山{[尾历是意点做做]] did this on purpose.

Since she didn't want to talk, Yuuki Yui continued talking on her own.

"I thought something like that had happened and caused you great harm, so you were going to avoid me again."

"You still know that you've caused me a great deal of harm?" This time, Yuuki Yuki could truly tell from Nishio Reki's tone that she was feigning nonchalance.

This time, their positions were reversed. Nishio Reki was waiting for Yuuki Yuki to say something, but Yuuki Yuki had nothing to say except for silence.