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

She had heard phrases like "the will of the world," "fatalism," and "history cannot be changed" in many ACG works, and at first she thought that the original magical girl was something like that.

Is there some strange force in dreams that forcibly returns this nightmare to its most primal course?

Yuuki Yuki doesn't seem like it; there's a more plausible reason.

"So, you're impersonating the monarch to stop us?" Yuuki asked.

“It’s not pretending! There’s no pretending! It’s manipulation! I can manipulate them!” Sumireko stubbornly corrected.

"Then how did you get in?"

"This is marked! I can come in whenever I want!"

"So you also intruded into someone else's dream and were manipulating its course, weren't you?" Yuuki Yuen continued to ask.

I don't know if it was Sumireko Yumehara's intention, but she precisely avoided Yuki Eri's question.

"I only decided to kick you out because I found you had barged in!"

"But even if we hadn't shown up here, didn't you still want to...take her away?" Nishio Reki asked a sharp question after listening for a while.

This question really stunned Jinzi, who stared wide-eyed for a long time without being able to utter a single word.

“Anyway…” Sumireko stamped her foot, completely giving up on refuting Mizuno Yu’s question: “Anyway, you are all bad people! So I’m going to get revenge on you!”

Yuuki Yui fears enemies like this the most. Enemies with clear objectives and meticulous plans, like Gakuen Mashiro, are at most troublesome, but enemies without any logic are completely impossible to communicate with.

Yuuki Yuuki's first troublesome enemy, Tsukimi Rie, was somewhat similar, but at least as long as she didn't get close to Miyashita Mia, she wouldn't touch her sore spot.

What about Sumireko Yumehara? She comes up here saying she wants revenge and that she's a bad person. How is Yuuki supposed to communicate with her like that?

Just like when solving a case, if the murderer and the victim have a grudge, it is easy to solve the case. On the contrary, the mentally ill person who thinks, "The weather is nice today, I'll just go out and kill someone," is the most difficult to deal with.

Unfortunately, Sumireko Yumehara is such a mentally ill person.

However, this mentally ill person doesn't seem very bright. Although sometimes her speech is incoherent, she answers whatever you ask her.

However, Yuuki Enishi basically determined the two necessary conditions for falling into slumber. One is that only the dream's owner can fall into slumber, like when Hyakki Senyou fell into slumber and was immediately ejected.

Another one is that one must be on the verge of a mental breakdown or feel desperate.

Mizuno Yu has now regained consciousness and can no longer fall into a deep sleep.

In other words, what I just said about kidnapping your friend is actually a very childish threat, right?

Right, Yuuki Yukino finally remembered what her first impression of Yumehara Sumireko was.

childish.

Sumireko Yumehara is like a naive child, doing things entirely according to her own whims.

A little stimulation to this child might help them find their next target and prepare them for their impending dormancy.

After all, Mizuno Yu had only temporarily escaped death, but they had not found a way to break the slumber, nor had they escaped the danger of the slumber.

"So, who are you planning to arrest?"

“Her!” Sumireko Yumehara pointed a finger at Yu Mizuno, who hadn’t said much and seemed lost in thought: “She is the master of the dream! So I have no choice but to capture her!”

“Me?” Mizuno Yu pointed to herself.

It seems this child is really determined to fight with Mizuno Yu.

But this is for the best. With previous experience, they know what Mizuno Yu is worried about, so Yuuki and the others will be even more adept at putting Mizuno Yu into nightmares next time.

Furthermore, Sumireko Yumehara's unusual magical power, mixed with the magic of the original magical girl, needs time to accumulate, giving them ample time to prepare.

But will it really go that smoothly? Yuuki Yuki is still uncertain.

However, she can ask about things she's unsure about.

"But the nightmare is over, she's awake, and she can't possibly be in despair. The dream is about to collapse, so what right do you have to take her away?"

"You know nothing!" Sumireko Yumehara stomped her foot even harder: "As long as I catch the moment the dream collapses, I can drag her into an even deeper part of the dream!"

The moment the dream collapsed.

Isn't that right now?

As Yuuki Yukino contemplated this matter, the edge of the world was already at her feet.

The once solid floor beneath Yuuki Yuki's feet could no longer support her body, and a strong sense of weightlessness washed over her.

As Yuuki Yui fell, she watched helplessly as she grew closer to Mizuno Yu and Yumehara Sumireko, who stood unmoved on the verge of the world's collapse.

"You just wait! I'll arrest all of you bad guys sooner or later!"

These were the last words Yuuki Yukino heard from Yumehara Sumireko.

Immediately afterwards, Yuuki Yukari's body fell faster and faster, along with several other magical girls she had pulled into the dream.

Finally, Yuuki Yukino suddenly opened her eyes.

Chapter 118 Evasion Methods?

The girls sitting together all looked somewhat somber.

Without a doubt, they failed once again.

Mizuno Yu was still asleep on the bed, and no matter how much Zhou's father and the people around her called out to her, she showed no signs of waking up.

She was still asleep. The frail girl who appeared in Mizuno Yu's dream was telling the truth; she really could put people into a deep sleep.

After going through such a long and complicated process, and even acting out a play for so long with Mizuno Yu, who is still unaware that she is dreaming, the outcome still won't change despite their efforts.

It's unlikely that everyone will be in a good mood.

Yuuki Yukino secretly bit her lip, her chest rising and falling slightly, trying to sort out the pent-up frustration that felt like a big ball of cotton stuck there.

Yuuki took a few more deep breaths, then pursed her lips and swallowed.

"Although we failed to help Mizuno Yu escape her slumber this time, and it took a lot of effort, our efforts were not in vain."

After everyone sat down, Yuuki Yuki was the first to speak.

But her opening remarks didn't seem to lift everyone's spirits much; everyone looking at her wore expressions of exhaustion.

After tossing and turning in my dreams for so long, I only slept for a few hours in reality. Now, as dawn breaks, both my body and mind are pushed to their limits by this renewed deep sleep.

Everyone knew that Yuuki Yui was trying to comfort everyone, but the others, who were exhausted both physically and mentally, simply didn't have the energy to respond to her.

Perhaps my words will make the atmosphere even worse. Everyone thinks that way, and they've been thinking that way since the beginning.

Therefore, Yuuki Yuki was the first to stand up, which showed both great courage to break the status quo and was touching because even though Yuuki Yuki was just as frustrated as everyone else, she still stood up to comfort others.

Even though the others ignored her, Yuuki Yuuki wasn't discouraged. She hugged her legs to her chest and rested her head on her knees. This position made her more comfortable and allowed her to rest as much as possible while she was tired.

“In the past, we knew nothing about slumber, not even what it was or how it came about, but this time it’s different. We have gained a lot of new and extremely important information.”

Everyone agrees that Yuuki Yuki is right, but everyone also knows that the price paid to obtain this information was far too high.

Will everyone take the lead in completely deconstructing the dormancy, or will everyone be completely resolved by the dormancy before they can solve their own problems?

Even if the problem can be solved, can those who have already fallen into a deep sleep return?

How much more will we have to pay?

no one knows.

But everyone knows one thing: they've long since run out of options.

As long as she remains a magical girl, being attacked by the Sleeping One is only a matter of time.

However, it can no longer be called a dormant attack; rather, it was an attack launched by the corrupted magical girl named Sumireko Yumehara.

This is exactly what Yuuki Yuki wanted to say: their biggest breakthrough.

“In the past, we didn’t know the enemy’s identity, or even whether the enemy existed. We didn’t even know what we were fighting against, so how could we win?”

Yuuki Yui first asked a question, although she knew that she was not managing her expression very well, and the sorrow in her eyes because of the loss of Mizuno Yui was still lingering.

"But things are different now. We know it was the corrupted magical girl who did it. We also know what she looks like and her name."

"Yes, we also found out her name. If I find her, I'll twist her head off."

Helica clenched her teeth fiercely and finally broke her silence.

Now that Helica is the only magical girl left, if she can't avenge her two other Nijisanji comrades...

No, I shouldn't always think about hatred. Even in my dream, Mizuno Yu was blinded by hatred.

Herlica knew she was easily impulsive, but if she continued to act impulsively, who would stand up for Mizuno Yu and Sakura Hanako?

Helica suppressed her anger and sighed heavily.

"But I definitely can't find her on my own, so what can I do now? Just tell me what you can do."

Yuuki Yuen raised her eyebrows in surprise. Herica, who had been furious and about to smash the floor just a second ago, suddenly calmed down. Even Ao Chen hadn't calmed down so quickly.

Moreover, Helica didn't sink at all; she was full of confidence right now.

Thinking of this, Yuuki Yukino slightly raised the corners of her lips, and the oppressive feeling of being a one-woman show because no one paid attention to her was greatly reduced.

"Don't worry, your time to shine will definitely come."

The relationships between these individuals are quite complex. Some dislike each other, while others maintain cooperation but don't actively contact each other. However, one thing is undeniable.

They know each other very well.

Even someone like Helica, for some reason, calmed down and went to ask questions, even handing over her command to Yuuki Eri, who was openly an enemy. Neither of them could show weakness.

"Xiaoyuan, why don't you summarize our findings?"

"That's right, that's right. Maybe we can discover something we didn't know before by brainstorming together?"

Yuuki nodded to everyone and moved closer to the center.

“We’ll start from when we first discovered sleep. The opportunity that led us to discover the existence of sleep was that some people would mysteriously fall asleep in various places and could not be woken up no matter what they did. But when they woke up, they would tell us that they had nightmares.”

“I interviewed several ordinary people who were in a deep sleep. One of them, who was afraid of insects, dreamed that she was taken into a forest and attacked by many insects disguised as little girls, and then she woke up.”

"There was another college student who was full of confusion about her future. She had a nightmare in which she could not graduate, lost her lover, lost her job, and was killed by her parents. Then she woke up."

"There are three problems here: first, the targets of the attack; second, they all wake up; and third, they all have nightmares."

"First, I don't know if you've noticed, but this only applies to young girls. There are no children or older people. Everyone's age is suitable to become a magical girl."

"Secondly, they all eventually woke up. The corrupted magical girl in the dream said she was going to kidnap Mizuno Yu. We also saw her in Hyakki Chiyu's dream, which means she could consciously kidnap people."