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

A soft sigh escaped from Nishio Reki's lips.

"Never mind, this shouldn't be your fault in the first place."

Regardless of what happened before, Nishio Reki is a victim after what happened last night. At this moment, Nishio Reki is still speaking up for himself, which will make Yuuki Yuki feel that he dares to do something but doesn't dare to admit it.

"How can you not blame me? I did so many terrible things to you," Yuuki Yui argued.

Nishio Reki spoke with some difficulty, as if he was holding something back: "This really isn't your fault."

"It was because I lost control of my emotions that I was corrupted by the Black Magic Mark, which is why... I became like that." Yuuki Yuen was still not giving up and continued to speak.

Thinking back on her thoughts at the time is terrifying. She found Nishio Reki annoying, wanted to break ties with him, and even planned to take action against him.

This extreme idea is just like Helica, who acts without considering the consequences.

Helica's actions were impulsive, but she is, after all, a magical girl, and she still has her bottom line.

The consequences of Yuuki Yukino's impulsiveness could be far more severe.

It was because of these thoughts that the pollution of the Black Magic Runes invaded itself.

"You've got it backwards. Your irrational state has little to do with your extreme thoughts. The root of the problem lies with the Black Demon Pattern; it's what caused you to have those extreme ideas."

Nishio Reki sank his entire body into the back of the sofa, tilted his head back, and stared silently at the ceiling.

Nishio Reki must know something.

Yuuki Yukina turned her head to look in Nishio Reki's direction, but Nishio Reki turned his head even further away.

What do you know?

Yuuki Yukina stood up from the sofa and sat down on the side that Nishio Reki was facing.

"The essence of the Black Magic Pattern is to provide a reasonable motive for doing things or evil deeds that you would not normally do, so that you feel it is okay to do them."

"For example, a mentally ill patient believes that someone wants to harm her, so she is afraid to eat the food that others give her. So she can only steal food that others have eaten. Her motive is reasonable, but what we see is a madwoman who only knows how to steal food that others have eaten."

"Let's take someone you definitely know as an example, Rie Tsukimi, that love-obsessed girl. She's a typical example of someone influenced by the Black Magic Mark."

"Because the black magic mark amplified certain emotions in her heart, her thoughts deviated from those of a normal magical girl or a normal human, and that's how she became like that."

“The same goes for magical girls affected by the Black Magic Mark. You can think of the Black Magic Mark as an illness. The thoughts you have and the things you do are not because you want to do them, but because you are sick.”

Yuuki Yuen understood. Based on her own experience, she could guess most of what was going on. Nishio Reki meant that he had been affected by the Black Demon Mark, which was why he had those irrational thoughts.

One's own unwarranted impulses and unrealistic ideas are not the key to triggering the Black Magic Rune's rampage, but rather a sign that the Black Magic Rune has already begun to rampage.

But this leads to the second question that Yuuki Enishi was curious about.

Miyashita Mia wanted to take herself away because she was indeed able to eliminate the effects of the Black Magic Mark.

But why did my special ability suddenly stop working?

"Don't I possess the power to eliminate the corruption of the Black Magic Mark? Back then, you even sent me to the Moon Sea Tower to help Tsukimi Rie because of this. How come I'm still being affected by it now?"

Yuuki asked bluntly.

“This is a bit complicated to explain…” Nishio Reki ran a few fingers through his hair: “Just tell Yui the conclusion directly. Yui does have that ability, but it’s currently in a semi-ineffective state.”

“If it’s useful, it’s useful; if it’s not, it’s not. What does ‘half-ineffective’ mean?” Yuuki asked, frowning.

"To put it in a way that Xiaoyuan can understand, Xiaoyuan was originally a perfectly connected charging cable, but someone stepped on it. Although it can still charge after a simple repair, you don't know when it will break again, and maybe next time it will be impossible to fix it."

Nishio Reki was gesturing with his hands as he spoke.

"Why don't you just say it works sometimes and doesn't work sometimes?" Yuuki Yuen sighed, rubbing her forehead.

"That's why I said from the beginning that Xiaoyuan's ability is in a semi-ineffective state," Nishio Reki replied.

Yuuki En was too lazy to argue with Nishio Reki over wordplay.

Since Nishio Reki said so, and considering the whole process of what happened last night, it's not hard to guess how I ended up like this.

"So, it was Lin Jiezi who disabled my abilities?"

Yuki asked again.

"Yes, I know the specifics, but I can't tell Xiaoyuan. If I do, then..." Nishio Reki gestured towards the Lin Jiezi lying on the ground.

Yuuki Yukari instantly understood. This mysterious entity was inextricably linked to magical girls and corruption, much like some kind of supernatural tale. If Nishio Reki said anything superfluous, he might be restrained by some kind of power.

Honestly, why did I think of rules again? Ever since that day when Seishin mentioned using the covenant to trick Baki into going back to be the student council president, Yuuki Yuuki feels like she's been hearing the word "rules" non-stop.

“Okay.” Yuuki Yui gave a noncommittal reply: “There’s one more thing. Now that I’m back to normal, it means my ability is still working. So how did you fix my charging cable?”

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Battlefield That Belongs Only to You

the night before.

Nishio Reki felt as if he were drowning in an endless deep sea.

Looking around, countless purple tentacles were dancing wildly all around, crawling all over his body with an immense pressure that seemed to want to crush him.

The intense feeling of suffocation was as if it were taking away even the right to breathe, forcing Nishio Reki to greedily draw in fresh air from the few gaps he could find, swallowing it along with the unsettling tentacles.

The most obvious manifestation is the savage invasion that remains within one's body, constantly eroding one's physical strength and consciousness.

In Nishio Reki's world, it seemed that only this one color remained, accompanying her consciousness as it gradually sank into the deep sea.

Ahead in the blurry vision, as if a drop of paint had been spilled onto a pure purple canvas, a vibrant pink hue appeared.

Just like the ephemeral fluorescent jellyfish that shouldn't appear in the lightless sea, it is waving its tentacles in the dim light, dancing wildly among the purple coral reefs.

This striking color is so captivating that it's hard to look away; it's like another, even more mesmerizing abyss.

But the more vibrant something is, the more dangerous it is.

That pink creature wasn't an innocent creature that strayed into the dark trench; it was the root of all evil, dragging everything to the bottom of the sea and swallowing it whole.

That magical girl was Yuuki Yukino, who went berserk due to the influence of the Black Magic Mark.

Now that things have come to this point, shouting things like "Yuki Yuuki, calm down" will definitely not be enough to pull Yuki Yuuki out of the quagmire called Black Demon Mark.

Nishio Reki knew very well that reality wasn't the kind of fairy tale where shouting about love, peace, and justice would ultimately lead to a happy ending.

If Nishio Reki had gone all out from the beginning, he wouldn't be in this predicament now.

However, if Nishio Reki really did that, the fate of the others affected could be dire.

Nishio Reki was well aware of his physical condition; if things continued like this, he would soon reach his limit.

What is happening now is unlike any future that Nishio Reki has ever seen; she has no experience to draw upon.

This was a completely unfamiliar road. She didn't know where it led, nor whether her choice was the right one.

She was even more unsure whether doing this would leave her with a future.

But she still wanted to try to believe, to believe in the incredibly small possibility that Yuuki Eri might have.

As Nishio Reki's tense body gradually softened with each spasm, his vision grew increasingly dark.

Was it really a mistake in my choice?

Is this the end?

Faintly, Nishio Reki heard someone calling her name.

"Hey! Hey! Nishio Reki, wake up!"

That was Yuuki Yukino's voice.

Koshio Reki was so sleepy that he couldn't even keep his eyes open.

"Wake up! I know you're okay! Get up!"

There was a great force shaking my shoulders.

Although I was very sleepy, after being disturbed like this, I definitely wouldn't be able to sleep.

Nishio Kore frowned and closed his eyes even tighter.

"Get up quickly! Otherwise you won't wake up!"

The force of shaking his shoulders felt like it was trying to even out Nishio Reki's brains, causing his chin to repeatedly hit his shoulder blades.

"Ah..." Nishio Reki let out a series of groans and suddenly opened his eyes.

My whole body aches uncontrollably, as if I've taken a bath in vinegar. Even the slightest movement sends waves of intense soreness straight to the top of my head.

Nishio Reki also had a vague premonition; she hadn't just been sleepy, she had almost fainted again.

Yuan Ji had just fainted.

The ground beneath me felt soft, unlike the feel of the ground itself. I didn't feel that cold, and the ceiling above me felt quite familiar.

This is Nishio Reki's own room.

He was lying in bed, covered with his own blanket.

The fact that I was able to return to my room on my own means that someone must have helped me.

After realizing this, Nishio Reki shook his head, as if that would shake away the discomfort in his mind.

Then, Nishio Ryū looked down at the hands that were pressing on his shoulders.

It was both unexpected and perfectly reasonable for Nishio Reki.

The owner of those hands—Yuki Yuki, wearing the Tsukimi Middle School uniform—was sitting cross-legged on the edge of the bed. She withdrew her hands and placed them on her thighs.

"You didn't resist at all in such a dangerous situation. You almost couldn't get up again. Are you an idiot, Li?"

Yuuki Yukino's hand hadn't lingered on her leg for long before she stretched out her index finger and poked Nishio Reki's head hard, leaving a small nail mark on his forehead.

"Isn't it because I believe that Yuuki would never hurt me?" Nishio Reki turned his hand over and rubbed his forehead, which was a little sore from being poked by Yuuki.

"Xiao Yuan? Are you alright?"

After asking the question, Nishio Reki shook his head, denying the claim himself.

Yuuki Yukino wouldn't be that intimate with me.

At least, Yuuki Yukino wouldn't call herself by her own name.

That leaves only one possibility.

"No, you are..."

"Shh—" Yuuki Yukina placed her finger on Nishio Reki's lips, stopping the words Nishio Reki was about to say from her lips, which were swallowed back down her throat as she swallowed her saliva.