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

The heavy hammer that came crashing down through the howling wind was stopped by the purple, transparent halberd held by Yuuki Yuki's hands. The trembling, buzzing sound made the onlookers in the courtyard cover their ears.

"Thank you for the compliment."

"That's... Nishio Reki's wand?" The warhammer, which had been deflected, came crashing down again, grazing past Yuuki Yuuki and leaving a new wound in the already tattered room: "With this kind of power, do you still need to hide behind us?"

Yuuki Yui remained noncommittal as her side blade and Helica's warhammer became entangled. The wands, locked in a struggle, spun together in mid-air, leaving a hole the size of a football in the floor. The trembling ground brought the room one step closer to becoming ruins.

She knew that Herlica's purpose was very clear: to take action against her was to put an end to their feelings for each other, but in reality, it was a magical girl's punishment of a corrupted magical girl.

But what can I do?

Should I just accept this outcome? Of course not. I only came to this point in the first place to avoid going down this path.

To completely defeat Helica and turn her into a fluffy ball that only meows? Such a choice was not in Yuuki Yuuki's option pool from the beginning.

Run away? Where could I run to in this situation? Even if I managed to escape temporarily, what would I do the next day? What would I do after returning to Moonsea City? What about my future?

This battle was inevitable, but there was never a solution for me.

Before the conversation even began, Yuuki Yui knew that regardless of whether that utterly failed conversation took place or not, she was likely facing a dead end.

"With such strength, why have you been hiding behind us all this time?" Helica swung her dazzling warhammer even faster, forcing Yuuki Yuki into a corner.

"..." Yuuki Yui remained silent as the rampaging tentacles surrounding her smashed the entire wall behind her to pieces. The burst water pipes gushed out warm hot spring water, which poured down like raindrops, soaking the tatami mats beneath her feet and Yuuki Yui's demonic outfit.

Yuuki Yukino could create new paths on a physical level, but she was pushed further and further by Helica, losing all her options.

The clanging sounds were like iron blocks being forged in a furnace. The chaotic gold and purple colors shone brightly against the dark background of the night, like fluorescent pens being waved, and they launched one battle after another at a speed that was hard for the average person to keep up with.

"It's strange," said the student who later recounted this unforgettable school trip to her younger schoolmates.

"We were all getting ready to sleep when suddenly a bolt of lightning struck the roof, and the two magical girls seemed to appear out of thin air."

"That's the Pink Demon, the infamous Pink Demon of Moonsea City. She was completely powerless against that Warhammer Magical Girl and was forced to retreat from one side of the corridor to the other."

"No, now that I think about it, the pink devil wasn't completely defenseless; she never intended to actually fight back."

"Arrogant? Disdainful? No, no, no, that's not it. Although the pink devil looks terrible, she's not the kind of villain who looks down on everyone. If you ask me, she's just a pure entertainer."

"Yes, the fun-loving person is always playing little pranks, but sometimes it's awkward that she doesn't want to cause trouble. Compared to those terrifying and evil magical girls, the pink demon is indifferent to harming ordinary people."

"Speaking of which, there must be another reason why the Pink Devil didn't want to take action. Also, although I said she was a fun person, the Pink Devil didn't seem happy at all back then."

"It's like... being forced into a corner."

The boiling lightning spears plunged one after another into the floor in front of Yuuki En, piercing through the entire precarious floorboards.

The entire corridor where the two had fought was now a scene of utter devastation: charred carpets, broken rubble, and collapsed walls.

"You neither fight nor run! What exactly do you mean?! When you were causing me trouble in the past, when you attacked me, why didn't you hesitate at all?!"

Herlica's entire body, along with the warhammer in her hand, spun like a windmill, smashing through the layers of defensive barriers that Yuuki En had created with his tentacles with overwhelming force.

"..."

"Have you gone mute? Can't you speak anymore? Are you thinking of ways to fool me? Whether you try to deny it or confess, you have to say something to me!"

The powerful, sweeping hammer blows shattered everything in sight into fragments, just like the broken heart of a young girl.

The heavy warhammer fell, and spiderweb-like cracks spread from the floor, making a teeth-grinding creak, covering the entire floor of the hotel.

Immediately afterwards, the tatami floor beneath the girls' feet completely collapsed, like a greedy maw, devouring everything around it without exception.

The shattered floorboards plummeted down along with the two magical girls. The girls, who had already pushed their way to the inn's entrance, could only hear the deafening crash of the collapsing building mixed with the unmistakable clanging of metal against metal.

"Huh? You're asking me who won that battle between the two of them?"

The girl, biting her finger, recalled what had happened back then.

"As you know, both of them are still alive and well in Moonsea City. The battle back then should be considered a draw, right?"

"If we really had to choose a winner, then the real winner would be someone else."

Everyone could see a giant hand, its fingers several meters long, a colorful hand that seemed to emerge from a canvas, slowly reaching out from between the collapsed ruins.

But no one could see what the giant hand did or what it grabbed.

All they could see was the giant hand that suddenly appeared from the ground, its five fingers clenched together, as if it were grasping something.

Then, as if a ball of paint had been crushed, or perhaps the giant hand itself was like a crushed ball of paint, it burst open with a bang, and the splattered mixed colors rained down on the ruins of the hot spring inn, absurd as a strange dream.

Only one person saw clearly what actually happened.

Helica witnessed firsthand Yuuki Eri's pupils suddenly shrink and her bewildered expression before the stitches were closed.

And after that hand exploded, all that remained was a pile of ruins covered in paint, with no sign of Yuuki Yuki.

Chapter 112 Why do you look like me too?

Has a winner been decided between them?

"What... what is that hand? Am I seeing things?"

"Look! That thing—I don't know what it is—that thing that's always been in the sky has suddenly disappeared."

After a brief pause, an even greater riot broke out in the crowd.

To the relief of most people in Rainbow Leaf City, the enormous black magic pattern that had enveloped almost the entire city in the sky had completely disappeared.

The sky, now devoid of the Black Magic Mark, seemed even darker. Rolling dark clouds obscured all the moonlight, forming an even larger barrier that plunged the city into gloom.

The rumble of thunder began from the horizon, like the city's sobs, foreshadowing a sudden, unpredictable downpour, as capricious as a young girl's mood.

Just as a movie often ends with a torrential downpour to wrap things up, rain always washes away the traces of the past, drawing a perfect or imperfect conclusion to the story.

But for some, this sudden downpour was just the beginning of a nightmare.

"What happened?"

Standing in the rain, Inuyama Tomoe's lips trembled uncontrollably, the color draining rapidly from them, her small fangs digging into her lips as if they might tear a piece of flesh from them at any moment.

Rain dripped down the girl's wet silver hair and flowed into the shallow puddle at her feet.

Baqi's clothes were completely soaked, clinging to the girl's body in a wrinkled mess, mirroring her twisted emotions.

The wet gun blade in Baqi's limp hand seemed to have lost its edge, showing no trace of its former sharpness in battle, as rainwater streamed down its surface.

Helica stood there, stunned, her eyes filled with confusion. She seemed to still be frozen in the moment she witnessed the giant hand that had suddenly appeared and disappeared. Her teeth were grinding as she bit them between her half-open lips.

At the girl's feet, lightning from the horizon illuminated the pool of colors, a mixture of unknown hues, which flowed along with the rain into the rubble of the ruins, washing away the last traces of what once existed.

Helica knew without even guessing whose hand it was.

Mashiro Urouge, the magical girl whose name Helica doesn't know, is the only option.

No, that shouldn't be the case.

This should be the best time for me to say goodbye to the past and put a period to my relationship with Yuuki Yuki.

But why is it that guy who has to come out and get in my way?

Why did that guy attack Yuuki Enishi instead of me, who had escaped?

Why did Yuuki Yuki disappear so quietly and without any resistance?

Will it disappear?

Has Yuuki Yuki truly disappeared? Or has she become a shattered ball of paint in that hand, mingling with the colors gradually washed away by the rain?

Helica didn't want to think about it, and dared not think about it.

Her soul seemed to vanish with the squeeze of that giant hand, leaving only a numb shell, numbly watching the scene change before her eyes, watching the torrential rain soak her bangs and obscure her vision.

Helica wasn't the only silent magical girl; there was also Mizuno Yu, who came down from the Moon Ship and silently watched everything.

The vanished black magic runes, the collapsed ruins, the colors scattered on the ground, the students soaked in the rain, and the distraught Helica.

Of course, there's also the angry Baki.

All these unusual occurrences tell Mizuno Yu that she and Tomoe have lost their reason to fight, even if only temporarily.

Before the decisive battle with Baqi, there must be something more important that takes precedence.

Reality, after all, is not a video that can be paused; the frozen frame begins to flow again as someone makes a move.

"I'm asking you, what happened? You damn shorty! Where...where is she?!"

Baqi grabbed Helica by the collar, her bloodshot eyes looking as if they were about to shed tears of blood, her expression so ferocious that it was impossible to recognize the innocent and carefree smile she used to have.

"Let go."

Mizuno Yu, who was watching from the sidelines, grabbed Baqi's wrist with one hand and supported Herika's body with the other, trying hard to separate them.

But Baqi's strength was too great, and Mizuno Yu was unable to pull her away for a moment.

Even the goddess of the hunt was helpless against Baki, this terrifying beast blinded by rage.

"Speak! Huh? Are you mute? You can't even speak anymore?" Baqi's wet gloves were being squeezed until water seeped out, but she still continued to question him, gripping the gun blade in her hand even tighter.

I said let go!

Mizuno Yu clearly saw Baki's subtle movement as she gripped her wand. Her words, usually reserved, now carried a threatening undertone, and her tone turned cold.

With a push and a pull, Herika's head swayed a few times, and her wet hair was flung behind her head by gravity, exposing her face, which was previously hidden by her hair, to the heavy rain.

"what."

Hearing the questions that sounded exactly like the words she had said not long ago, Helica slowly raised her rain-streaked face, looking as if she had almost drowned in her beloved.

Herlica raised her eyelids and gave Baki a hard-won glare.

"So it was you?"

Such a bland reaction, and that look in his eyes that clearly saw through her identity, added fuel to the fire in Ba Qi's already agitated heart.

"I'm asking you a question! What exactly happened just now?"

Baqi's shoulders twitched, but she ultimately didn't raise the wand.

The hand that was tightly gripping Herika's collar was forcibly pried open by Mizuno Yu, causing her to take a few steps back and step onto the soaked bedding that had been used by who knows who, glaring angrily at Herika.

Moreover, Baqi herself knew that she was currently just experiencing impotent rage.

"Didn't you see it?" Helica asked calmly, looking at Baqi's angry and distorted expression.

Baqi did indeed see it; as she and Mizuno Yu silently ceased their fighting and rushed towards the inn, the giant, multicolored hand that stretched out from the mountaintop like a fleeting ephemera.

Just by looking at the mess on the ground covered with inedible jam, Baqi could guess the cause and effect of what had happened.