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

The difference was that the tentacle was much softer than the girl's fingers, and it made a whistling sound as it was swung.

Then, the tentacle struck the flesh of Helica's waist with a crisp sound, adding another wound to Helica's body.

"Ugh—" Herica's desperate refusal turned into a wail the moment the tentacle fell, her clenched teeth making her jaw go numb.

But if she didn't do that, she simply wouldn't have been able to endure it until now.

The falling pink-haired magical girl easily suspended her helpless self in mid-air with her unsettling tentacles, and then committed heinous acts against her.

The tentacles' whipping wasn't too painful, but each time they tore a small piece of clothing, leaving a shameful mark on one's body.

Judging from the numerous marks covering Helica's body, she had been attacked at least dozens of times.

No matter how much Helica refused or cursed, the pink-haired girl remained unmoved, shaking her fingers and lashing her body with her tentacles.

　It's like a predator toying with its prey caught in a web; the other party is constantly humiliating itself in this way.

What shamed Helica the most was not the flogging itself, but the fact that she had made such a fool of herself in front of everyone, in front of the people she wanted to protect.

Pairs of eyes, radiating outwards from the pink-haired girl and Helica herself, were all fixed on the humiliated Helica in the center.

Don't look at me! Don't look at me like this!

Helica can't even scream anymore.

The pink-haired girl's waving fingers went into Herika's mouth and stirred them haphazardly and without any care, as if she only wanted to show off her own ugliness, making Herika's mouth a complete mess.

It seems that the other party's target is not just his mouth.

Herlica caught a glimpse of the pink-haired girl's hand, covered by a thin glove, sliding down her thigh.

"Ugh?! Ugh! No, no! Gugh ugh!"

Herlica launched her most frantic struggle yet, using every ounce of her strength to try and escape from her opponent's clutches.

Those voices of refusal were shattered by the stirring fingers.

Those attempts to refuse were completely blocked by the entangled tentacles.

Herika's last hope vanished without a trace.

It shouldn't be like this.

That person shouldn't have that kind of personality.

Although Helica didn't know why she thought that way, that's just how she felt. She just knew that the other person was completely different from the image she had in mind.

In Helica's memory, the other person should have been gentler and more considerate of her feelings.

She really didn't know why she would have such thoughts about a corrupted magical girl, but she always felt that something was wrong with her.

Although they were doing something ambiguous and indescribable, the pink-haired girl in front of him was simply venting and doing what she was supposed to do to achieve her goal.

At the pink-haired girl's fingertips, she could only feel humiliation and pain, not a trace of love.

Clearly, no matter the situation, even in childish squabbles, her actions were always filled with love.

Helica looked around with pleading eyes at the people who were also looking at her with cold eyes.

Those monotonous gazes sent chills down Helica's spine.

"Help..." Herika's lips moved, and she reluctantly, but had no other choice, uttered her plea.

But her plea only had the opposite effect.

"She's begging for mercy."

"Useless magical girl."

"They don't even know what they should be doing."

"To make such an expression in public is shameless."

"You're clearly enjoying it, aren't you?"

"The worst."

The crowd around them chattered amongst themselves, gradually closing in until they completely surrounded Helica and the pink-haired girl.

At this distance, Helica, dressed in rags, revealed a terrible expression and an unsightly posture, her grotesque pleading in a sickeningly sweet voice that seemed to be soaked in filth was unavoidable.

Those gazes were fixed on Herika, scrutinizing every inch of the girl's body, as if they wanted to see Herika completely naked.

There's no need for that; Helica is practically the same as if she were completely naked.

no!

No, no, no!

I didn't enjoy it, I didn't want to show that kind of expression, and I didn't want to be turned into that.

The problem is with you guys! You're completely hopeless!

I clearly, clearly tried so hard.

Herlica felt a wave of dizziness, and the clear scenery before her eyes blurred as blood rushed to her brain. Amidst the accusations, she felt as if she were about to lose consciousness.

She felt as if she were floating, as if she were flying in the sky or drifting with the waves, but every part of her body was out of her control.

Was it because I was too excited, or because I was stripped of my consciousness by the magical girl's judgment?

It's fine as it is, without any stains or imperfections.

Nothing matters anymore.

Anyway, I have no chance of getting out of here.

"Yes, you can't leave."

"I can't even protect what I want."

"Nowhere is a place for you to stay."

"Be lonely until the end of your life, you loser."

You bunch of bastards!

What are they talking about now?!

Herlica's blurry vision suddenly cleared with anger, her wide eyes filled with bloodshot veins.

But when those bloodshot eyes saw the people around them clearly, Teraly Herika was stunned.

Regardless of height or voice, everyone in the crowd who were watching and humiliating them was frozen in place, like a clay sculpture.

They maintained the same mouth shape as when they uttered the most scathing words at Helica, their faces contorted in a grotesque pose for a single second.

The color drained from their faces, turning them like yellow earth, like rotten wood, like the angry-looking statues I had seen in temples during my school trip.

They are not sacred; they are not even as good as a piece of rotten wood or a handful of yellow earth.

But they were there, all of them pointing towards Helica the Thunder.

In the vast sculpture group, Helica felt for the first time how lonely she was.

Even though the sound stopped at that moment, the overwhelming sense of oppression was driving Helica almost insane.

A crisp sound broke the silence.

A tiny crack appeared on the forehead of a person who had already lost all color in their skin.

The tiny cracks quickly spread like ripples throughout its entire body, reaching everyone around it.

Broken fragments peeled off them, revealing their formation.

That's my own face.

Every single one of them is.

Using a tone that should be familiar yet is utterly unfamiliar, and an expression that should be on your face every day yet you've never seen before, it's pouring out the most genuine malice at you.

"what--"

Helica couldn't help but laugh out loud, but the bitterness in her laughter almost suffocated her.

The space around her was empty. Everyone had disappeared except for herself and the pink-haired girl who was watching her expression with interest as she smiled.

It turns out that from the very beginning, I was the only person here.

Those bastards who mocked and ridiculed themselves and magical girls never existed in the first place.

Only Helica herself, gazing up at the enormous flower, resolutely swung her warhammer at it.

Only Helica herself was struck down by the dark tentacles and subjected to all sorts of humiliation by her enemies.

All sorts of annoying things, all sorts of annoying things, only Helica herself is annoying.

It turns out that from the very beginning, everyone believed in magical girls.

It turns out that from the very beginning, no one hated the magical girls who fought to the death for them.

That's wonderful.

From the very beginning, I was the only one who didn't believe in magical girls, who hoped for my own failure, and who mocked my inability to do anything.

That's wonderful.

She was the only one who kept saying she wanted to fulfill her duties as a magical girl and protect others, while arbitrarily believing that others were full of malice towards magical girls and towards her, and resisting interactions with others.

Then, he took the malicious picture he had painted for reality and arbitrarily became disillusioned with the whole world.

Trying to protect oneself with such a thorny shell, yet constantly hurting others.

It was Helica herself who turned away one person after another who wanted to get close to her and offer her warmth.

The guy who longed for a safe haven but ended up destroying all the places he could call home was all alone from the very beginning.

It turns out that I was the worst person.

That's wonderful.

As a magical girl, yet not believing in magical girls, I was already disqualified from the start, wasn't I?

In that case, I, this disqualified magical girl, can finally face the end in peace.

Are you really ready to peacefully face the end?

Someone is asking about Helica.