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

"I've realized that this is my dream, and the dream is starting to collapse because of our destruction. No, actually it collapsed even earlier, when we started fighting."

As Helica spoke, she looked around. Apart from the ruins where they were sitting, everything had turned completely black.

The road beside them was also gradually turning into dust, like a collapsing sandcastle, flowing into the darkness and disappearing.

"We all know what the collapse of the dream means, right?"

As Helica spoke, she revealed a smile that she would never normally show.

Bright, bitter, and without any impurities, like tea brewed from freshly picked holly leaves, she, who was good at hiding herself, appeared incredibly pure at that moment.

"So, my love, when I'm lost in my dreams, please remember to find me, okay?"

Yuuki nodded vigorously. She wasn't a crybaby, but at that moment her nose felt a little sore.

Sometimes things happen so suddenly. One second two people are having a pleasant conversation, and the next second they may face a separation that could be their last.

"Hmm... anything else you want to say?" Helica scratched her head. "I like you, you know that."

Yuuki nodded vigorously again.

"And...and...ah, I've already said so much to you before I went to sleep—apologies, heartfelt words—and now I don't have anything left to say." Helica flashed a silly grin, revealing her pearly white teeth.

This expression is definitely not something Helica would normally show.

"How about this, I'll... just be a little selfish one last time, can you grant me one request? No, a request? A plea? Anyway, can you grant me one?"

Herlica pouted, seemingly deep in thought, and moved closer to Yuuki Yuuki.

"Can I hug you again?"

Yuuki Yukino bit her lip and nodded with the most force.

Yuuki Yukina reached out her hand, wanting to put her arm around Helica's shoulder.

However, her hand only touched the air.

Beneath Yuuki Yuuki's feet lay nothingness.

Immediately, the girl's dream collapsed completely.

Chapter 144 So that's why you care about me so much.

"Helika!"

Yuuki Yukino awoke from a dream, from the dream of the best magical girl who was always dissatisfied with the world around her.

What she wanted to hold onto was just a hug, something she could easily do.

But she had no chance, and perhaps she would never have another.

"hateful!"

Yuuki Yukino doesn't like to vent, and she certainly doesn't vent like Helica by shouting and yelling.

But she couldn't help it.

Her fist slammed heavily onto the ground, the solid cement making Yuuki feel as if her hand was about to break.

But compared to what Helica went through, what I was suffering was nothing.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it all!"

Yuuki Yukino pounded the ground again and again, letting out shouts to vent the pent-up frustration in her chest that seemed to never be released.

But the dark clouds hanging over her chest only grew thicker and thicker, as if they were about to swallow Yuuki Yuki whole.

"Yuki Yuuki, what's wrong with you! Have you lost your mind?"

A merciless rebuke rang out from behind Yuuki Yukino.

"What are you saying? It's Helica, Thunder Helica! She's been put into slumber!"

Yuuki Yuuki suddenly turned around, wanting to give a good scolding to this person who knew that their companion might never wake up again, yet not only remained unmoved but also wanted to blame her.

Although Yuuki Yukino herself knew that she was just transferring her hatred, she couldn't stay calm at the time.

No matter what, Helica is still my favorite character, so if anyone's going to bully her, it's only me.

But the person who spoke made it impossible for Yuuki Yuki to rebuke him.

Helica was frowning, looking at her own shouting with an expression that suggested she was an idiot.

"Uh……"

Yuuki Yui swallowed back all the complaints she had prepared, and in the end she could only awkwardly utter a long syllable.

Herlica's gaze became ambiguous, and she pursed her lips, seemingly happy.

Although it wasn't the right time, Helica was certainly happy.

On one hand, she was already preparing to fall into a deep sleep, but she inexplicably woke up, even a little earlier than Yuuki Eri.

On the other hand, no matter who was in a deep sleep, Yuuki Yui had never reacted so strongly. Although Yuuki Yui had just scolded him, she did it for his sake.

The fact that she was so anxious when something happened to me shows that I must hold a very high position in Yuuki Yukino's heart.

At least after all the stupid things I did before, the impression I left on Yuuki Eri was still not too bad.

Yuuki Yui had no idea what Helika was thinking, but she still had to say something to ease the awkwardness.

Although her stammering was worse than not saying anything at all.

"No, it's just... how... how did you... wake up?"

"You're asking me? How would I know? Maybe I'm too amazing, so I woke up."

Helica, who was sitting on the ground with her legs spread apart, changed her posture and smirked proudly.

"Okay, okay." Yuuki Yui wanted to grab the bed sheet to ease the awkwardness, but she was sitting on a solid concrete floor with no bed sheet to grab onto.

It seems that this isn't just the ground level; looking around, you can also see the entire city's night view.

There seems to be a familiar-looking crater, which looks like... it was made when Tsukimi Rie and I were fighting?

But it seems there are quite a few new wounds on the top of Moonsea Tower.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, this is the Moon Sea Tower, right?" Yuuki Yuu pressed her temples with both hands as she thought, then held up one finger.

“Yes, I brought you to the Moon Sea Tower,” Nishio Reki, sitting next to Helica, continued.

“I already told the blond dwarf the first part of the story,” Baki continued, and then Helica muttered under her breath, “Who is the blond dwarf?”

However, Baqi didn't mind the blond-haired dwarf's teasing and continued:

"The original magical girl was awakened by you in your dream. Nishio Reki successfully pulled her back to reality by jumping off a building in her dream. Then, worried that the battle would affect the surrounding area, she brought you here."

Reasonable.

Yuuki Yukina thought to herself.

He only thought about taking Lin Jiezi out of the dream, but he never thought about how much destruction a war in a residential area would cause in reality.

The last time I saw Hayashi Mustard's magical girl form was near the collapsed hot spring inn. The students had already evacuated because of the conflict between him and Helica, so there were no casualties.

But this time... Yuuki Yuki felt a chill just thinking about it, and at the same time, she was glad that Nishio Reki had made the right decision.

"Later, I followed in Sumireko Yumehara's footsteps and found that she had entered a deeper place, which was probably where she brought others into slumber. I wanted to follow her in, but it seemed that I was rejected and then bounced out."

"When I say 'bounced out,' I don't just mean 'bounced out from that place,' but also 'bounced out of the blond dwarf's dream.' I woke up immediately."

Nishio Reki appropriately continued from Tomoe's words, "Fortunately, Inuyama Tomoe woke up. It took the two of us a lot of effort to drive that guy away. She only left because she couldn't keep going."

“Then we noticed that Xiaoyuan’s black magic markings suddenly became agitated, and we wondered if something had happened in your dream,” Baqi said.

"It's because Xiaoyuan accidentally got hurt while protecting me in my dream, so... it's a bit complicated to explain, and I can't really say it, but that's basically the situation," Nishio Reki added.

That sounds like the whole experience during my sleep.

Next, Tomoe and Nishio Reki provided some additional explanations, the only noteworthy point being that Sumireko Yumehara escaped when Tomoe was chasing her.

Yuuki Yukari and Tenrai Herika also recounted their later experiences to the other two, thus completing the information exchange.

Yuuki En also gained a lot from this exchange of information.

First, it's about my own corruption.

Last time, I was kissed by Lin Jiezi's clone, and this time I was hurt by Lin Jiezi again.

Yuki En wasn't stupid; in an instant, she guessed that some of the things Lin Jiezi had done to her were the key to her falling into darkness.

She couldn't guarantee that getting rid of Lin Jiezi would undo her corruption, but the matter of clearing her name seemed to be even more closely related to Lin Jiezi.

Secondly, there's the question of why Helica didn't fall into a deep sleep.

“I think one possibility is that the original magical girl appeared in the dream. Because there was a more powerful being, Sumireko Yumehara lost control of the dream, which is why she had to run away and couldn’t bring Helika into the place that Baki mentioned.”

Yuuki Yukina analyzed the possibility she had guessed for the others.

“It’s also possible that it’s not that complicated; she was simply scared away, so she couldn’t do anything to me.” Helica’s viewpoint was more direct and more credible.

“However,” Yuuki Yuki sat up straight, “I’m more curious about where Sumireko Yumehara escaped to, and whether she really brought the magical girls who were in a slumber there.”

This question caused everyone to fall silent.

It's not that we have nothing to say, but rather that everyone has their own things to think about.

"Since you're so curious, why don't you come in and take a look?"

It wasn't any of the four who broke the silence first.

This sound alerted everyone at the same time.

That voice belonged to Sumireko Yumehara.

Soon after, more and more chaotic anomalies began to occur around them.

First of all, they should be sitting on the platform at the top of the Moonsea Tower at this moment, which is in the real world.

However, the platform beneath their feet collapsed, as if it were a mirror reflecting reality, breaking down without warning.

They didn't even sense much magical fluctuation before they discovered that the boundary between reality and dreams had suddenly become blurred.

Beneath the shattered space lay a world of dreams they knew all too well, an endless darkness.

In the endless darkness, the weightless girls began to fall faster, just like when they fell into a dream.

Now Yuuki Enishi saw it too. The ominous space that Baqi had mentioned seemed to be filled with chaotic evil thoughts, like a giant beast with its mouth wide open, waiting to devour everyone who fell into it.