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

There are five shots left. To be on the safe side, we'll have to wait a bit longer.

The third attack means that the outcome must be decided before the next attack arrives.

The last two bullets were spat out of the muzzle, the explosions producing flashes as usual, but that was enough; this was the brief opportunity that Baqi had been waiting for.

A figure in military uniform plummeted vertically to the ground like a crimson meteor amidst the flames of the explosion.

Become!

Baqi was secretly delighted.

She wasn't the only one who fell vertically to the ground.

A crystalline arrow of ice cleaved through the curtain of ice and fire, hurtling straight toward her back at a speed faster than Baqi.

Just as Baqi was thinking of using the sparks generated by the collision as cover to escape the battlefield, Mizuno Yu also thought of this.

Therefore, Mizuno Yu shot not two arrows, but three.

The third arrow cleverly exploited a blind spot, following closely behind one of the arrows, thus breaking through the blast wave and dazzling light, heading straight for Baqi's body.

By the time Baqi realized what had happened, it was too late.

It's okay, there's one last shot...

Baqi turned in mid-air and raised her hand. It was her last gun, with one last bullet still in the chamber. If she could block this arrow, she would still have a chance.

The icy arrow tore through the barrel of the matchlock gun in Baki's hand before she could pull the trigger, colliding with the bullet that had not yet slid out of the chamber.

Even the bullets that failed to fire still possessed the attributes that Baqi should have had: the explosive power capable of shattering trees burst forth in her hands.

She deliberately left the last gun unused, which exploded before firing.

The shockwave from the explosion accelerated Baqi's fall, and her back slammed solidly into the ground, a metallic taste rising in her throat.

This wasn't the most serious damage. The magical armor on the arm that Baqi was holding the gun had completed its final mission—protecting her slender arm from breaking like a tree trunk, but the entire sleeve had vanished in the explosion.

Then, something else fell from the sky.

There was no escaping it, Baqi thought, and closed her eyes. But the falling object wasn't coming towards her; instead, a muffled thud sounded beside her, accompanied by a girl's soft groan.

When Baqi reopened her eyes and saw what was beside her—or rather, the people—she could no longer stop her pupils from trembling.

The one who fell beside her was Yuuki Yukino, who was already covered in wounds.

Chapter 55 This time, defeat is real.

Earlier, in the middle of the street, Helica, dragging her warhammer, stood in silent confrontation with a pink-haired magical girl with her arms hanging down opposite her.

This is a test of endurance; whoever strikes first is more likely to be countered.

Helica is not a patient person, but when it comes to her respected senior, she has to wait, and not only can she wait, she has to be able to wait and win the wait.

Finally, Helica saw the magical girl turn her neck and start moving again.

Come on! Heri perked up, ready to retaliate at any moment.

But the other party's actions were beyond her expectations.

Huh? Why did she run away?

Helica was surprised for a brief moment, then picked up the giant hammer and chased after them.

"Ouch! Help! I'm going to die!" Yuuki Yui screamed in her heart, dragging her swaying arm as she ran wildly towards higher ground.

Just by listening to the footsteps behind him, he knew without even looking that Helica had caught up again.

"Minor miscellaneous fish!"

With a whoosh, the hammer swept past Yuuki Yukino's head.

"nausea!"

With a resounding crash, the hammer swept across the spot where Yuuki Yukino had been just a second before.

"So weak!"

With a loud bang, the ground beneath Yuuki Yuki's feet was smashed to pieces.

Fortunately, Yuuki successfully dodged every attack.

It wasn't that Yuuki Yuki's movements had become more agile, but rather that Herika's movements had visibly slowed down.

Is it really because of the depletion of magic power?

But if you're consuming so much magic power, don't bother learning any of those little devil quotes!

Yuuki tried moving her arm a few times, but she still couldn't control it precisely. However, she was able to try raising and lowering it slightly, and the sensation that had been paralyzed by the lightning was slowly returning.

Thankfully, although I know that magical girls have extraordinary regenerative abilities, it would be difficult to explain to school tomorrow if this arm were really ruined.

"You filthy bastard! You pervert! Shameless! You pervert who wears socks on his stomach!"

Helica roared, and serpentine lightning gathered on the hammerhead, turning it a bright gold.

What nonsense are you spouting? Who's wearing socks on their stomach?!

Although this attack was weaker than the one that hit Miyako Miya, it still looked like a full-force attack, didn't it?

I'm not sure if I can block Yuuki Yukino's attack with my arm again this time. Not to mention whether my arm will be able to move after blocking this attack, I'm sure my clothes will be torn off.

I'm a girl, I can't expose myself! For this reason, Yuuki Yukino completely gave up the idea of ​​resisting.

Let's try again. Focus your magic and then dodge.

Yuuki Yui concentrated all her magical power into her lower limbs, and with her magically charged legs, she pushed off the ground, the recoil propelling her body forward at high speed.

This time, however, they weren't as lucky as before.

The warhammer's head failed to strike Yuuki Eri's body, but what fell was not only the giant hammer itself, but also thousands of bolts of lightning that circled around the warhammer, instantly enveloping Yuuki Eri's body. The rolling thunder abruptly stopped her from rushing out of the thunderstorm's range.

Her body was thrown and struck by lightning, and Yuuki Enishi was like a fish being swept along by the waves in a thunderous ocean.

Pain was the only sensation Yuuki Eri could feel. The lightning, like the claws of a wild beast, tore at her body mercilessly, her skin burning as if on fire. With each attack, the magical armor she wore would be torn open in several places.

The raging heat lasted only a few seconds before dissipating along with Helica's wand, but Yuuki Yuuki felt as if centuries had passed.

"Ha..." Helica swayed a few times, almost falling to the ground. Her breathing became heavier, as the attack of this scale had taken a toll on her.

In comparison, Yuuki Eri's current state is even more miserable. She is lying on her back on the ground, her magical armor completely ruined, now barely covering her body. The massive lightning strike has caused all her muscles to spasm, and only the slight rise and fall of her chest and the occasional twitch of her body prove that she is still conscious and breathing.

What's the use of being sober? Helica had already dragged her tired body over to her.

"Ha—" Helica looked down triumphantly at Yuuki Yuuki lying on the ground, bent down, grabbed Yuuki Yuuki's collar, and leaped up to the top floor. The excessive force tore another hole in the fragile magical armor.

The rooftop, deserted and piled with all sorts of neglected clutter, was covered in a thick layer of dust. Herica casually found an open space not covered by the clutter and tossed Yuuki Yuki there.

Herica's reasons for choosing this place, and how a defeated magical girl would be treated, are obvious even to a fool.

It's all over, all over. What identity, what undercover agent, what whitewashing plan? If I had known this would happen, I would have pretended not to know anything and stayed home quietly for one night.

Yuki Yuki deeply regrets her actions.

"Hey, can you still talk?" Helica clapped her hands, squatted down in front of Yuuki Yuuki, and pinched Yuuki Yuuki's chin.

The answer is obvious: Yuuki Yuuki's paralyzed throat is completely unable to produce any sound.

Maintaining her transformed state alone had already exhausted all her strength; not letting Helica discover her true identity was Yuuki Yuuki's last act of defiance.

"What a pity, I wanted to ask you some other things. But, it's better to undo your transformation first."

Helica said this, but she didn't show any regret. She released Yuuki Yuuki's face and gently placed her hand on the black magic mark on Yuuki Yuuki's stomach.

"I have to tell you, I'm in a very bad mood right now."

Next, she inserted her fingers through a small hole in the semi-transparent black gauze, then hooked her fingers to widen the gap in the tattered fabric covering her stomach.

Is this to humiliate oneself? Or to facilitate an unspeakable next step?

Yuuki Yui quickly got the answer: Herika simply wanted to make direct contact with her body. The electric current emanating from Herika's fingertips started from her abdomen and flowed through her entire body in an instant.

"Whole body" means that it's not just a surface-level shock like lightning; the current travels through every inch of skin, every drop of blood, and every cell of the body. It's much gentler than a lightning strike from a warhammer, but in some ways, it's far more unbearable.

A lightning strike to the body is merely a matter of pain, but the electric current released by Helica has a more complex effect.

"Ughhhhhh—" Tortured by the electric current, Yuuki Yuuki clenched her teeth and trembled incessantly. Her vision went black as if she were about to see heaven. Her eyes rolled back and she squeezed out a high-pitched wail from between her teeth in a daze.

Yuuki Yukino never dreamed that such a terrible expression would one day appear on her face.

Fortunately, Helica stopped before she reached her limit.

"You still haven't broken the transformation? You're something else."

She heard Helica say that.

"But doesn't this allow me to make a sound properly?"

Chapter Fifty-Six: In dire straits!

Let's go back to the moment when Baki was shot off the roof.

If the pink-haired girl who fell next to Baqi hadn't been still in her transformed state, Baqi's mental defenses would have collapsed instantly upon seeing the person she trusted most in this state.

Even while maintaining her transformed state, Yuuki Eri's condition was far from optimistic. She suffered burns in multiple places on her body, was mentally unstable, and was on the verge of collapse, perhaps only one straw was about to break the camel's back.

It's hard to imagine what she went through before this.

“Little…” Ba Qi exclaimed in surprise, instinctively wanting to call out Yuuki Yukino’s name, but then she remembered her current situation and swallowed the words back.

"cough--"

Yuuki Yukino coughed a few times on the ground, as if a rag was stuck in her throat, muffled and hoarse.

"Looks like you're done too, well done." Helica, who had appeared on the rooftop at some point, withdrew the hand that had thrown Yuuki Yuki to the ground and patted each other on the back. Her petite figure stood straight in the setting sun. "As for this guy, even though he's injured like this, he didn't revert to his transformation. I actually admire him a bit, so I brought him along."

Mizuno Yuu floated in the air and took a step downwards. With each step, a small hexagonal snowflake appeared beneath her feet, making it seem as if she were descending stairs, walking down from a height step by step: "Did you find out anything?"

"She's in this state, what do you expect me to get out of her? Can't you use your brain? You have such a smart face, why don't you think about anything?" Herica landed more directly, leaping off the roof to stand side by side with Mizuno Yu.

Two figures stood before Ba Qi against the backdrop of the setting sun, their shadows stretched long by the fiery red sunset.

Baqi lay in the shadows, backlit, unable to see the expressions of the two magical girls. She could only feel that they were so tall, as tall as a city wall, insurmountable and indestructible.

This was her first time facing a magical girl head-on, and she hadn't forgotten what Yuuki Yuki had told her about the treatment a fallen magical girl would suffer.

Yuuki Yukino, with her tattered clothes, occasional body twitches, and eyes rolling back, is the best example.

How awful, is this what despair feels like?