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

Back when they were fighting Kuroba Reisei, Yuuki Yuuki had also experienced the situation where, after the other side finished fighting, she had to replenish her mana.

If he fights Seishin and then Yuuki Yukino says she needs to replenish her mana, Nishio Reki probably won't refuse.

As she thought about it, Helica began to lose control of her tone: "Why are you two getting shy! Nothing happened!"

"But nothing really happened." Nishio Reki blinked innocently, raised his hand to tuck his black hair behind his head, and had a completely harmless and innocent expression on his face.

The gesture might not seem like a big deal, but to Helica, it looked like she was deliberately showing off the ring on her finger.

Girls always like to do things that are risky, like celebrity couples who are in secret relationships insisting on wearing matching bracelets.

Herica asked about the origin of the ring, and Nishio Reki didn't hide anything, saying that it was a gift from Yuuki Yukino when they went shopping yesterday. He also told Herica that he had given Yuuki Yukino a similar bracelet.

If it weren't for the fact that Nishio Reki was wearing a red string ring on his index finger, proving that he was currently single, Helica would definitely be jealous, definitely.

Hmm, I think we can believe it, right? Otherwise, if you're dating someone and deliberately pretend to be single, it seems like you're just trying to cover something up.

However, what Helica cares about most about this ring is not its origin or the sentiment behind Yuuki Yuuki giving it to her, but rather that Helica has seen it in real life.

However, in reality, this ring is on Yuuki Yuuki's hand.

It's exactly the same as the one Nishio Reki has now, the only difference being that the ring is Yuuki Yuuki's wand—or more precisely, the wand before her fall from grace.

Helica couldn't quite explain the exact connection between the two things, but she didn't think it was a coincidence.

But instead of worrying about the ring, it would be better to just press Nishio Reki for answers.

"Really? Nothing happened?"

"Ahem, well, it's not like nothing happened." Yuuki Yuuki coughed softly twice, then retorted even more quietly.

"Huh?!" Helica knew that her voice had cracked because of Yuuki Yukino's words, and the veins on her forehead throbbed a few times.

How come just because I asked a question, Yuuki's father actually confessed?

However, what Yuuki Yuki wanted to say was completely different from what Helica thought.

Yuuki Yukina didn't confess what she and Nishio Reki had done or what had happened between them; instead, she talked about something much more serious.

"I haven't gone into details before, but last night I encountered that corrupted magical girl. She suddenly set her sights on Xiao Li and took her away when I wasn't paying attention. Luckily, I caught up with her, which prevented Xiao Li from being in danger."

Yuuki Yukino started getting down to business, and Helica, the magical girl, instantly got into the zone, not caring whether Yuuki Yukino was changing the subject or something else.

Jealousy is a personal matter, but if such important information is missed because of jealousy, it could affect all the magical girls.

From what Yuuki Yuuki said, it seemed that Yuuki Yuuki did not know that Seishine was not actually a corrupted magical girl.

Whether it was a deviation in the dream, or Yuuki Yuki truly misunderstood, or for some other reason Yuuki Yuki was hiding something, Herika had no idea, but in any case, it didn't match the information Herika knew.

Saint Shion is not corrupted. Although Helica feels that Saint Shion's condition is not much better than that of a corrupted girl, Saint Shion is indeed an ordinary magical girl.

What Helica was thinking was something Yuuki Yuuki couldn't possibly know; right now, Yuuki Yuuki was still calmly recounting her experiences from the previous night.

"The enemy has been repelled, but no one knows when they will come back. Moreover, she appeared before we transformed and targeted Xiao Li directly. Therefore, I judge that she has already obtained a lot of information related to us."

The other girls nodded in agreement, and Yuuki Yukino followed suit, continuing her speech.

"The two magical girls we defeated before have come after us directly, and I failed to completely defeat the corrupted magical girl who attacked us, so our current situation is not optimistic."

Helica frowned, as if she wanted to say something, but then she kept her mouth shut even tighter.

Does Yuuki Yukino's ending with this sentence imply some hidden agenda?

Helica wouldn't be so suspicious of others, but she's always very sensitive to people she likes.

Moreover, Yuuki Yuki's sometimes cunning ideas caused Helica a lot of trouble, so she couldn't help but think more about it.

Apart from Helica, the others were all sitting at the table. If Yuuki Yuki didn't turn her head, she might not be able to see the other people's expressions clearly, but she could definitely see Helica's subtle expressions clearly.

"What I said was misunderstood. I didn't mean that everyone should stay home today. I didn't mean anything by saying that the current situation is not optimistic."

Yuuki waved her hand hastily, explaining to Helica, "I was planning to tell everyone about these disappointing things before we go out, so that everyone could be mentally prepared. I didn't mean anything by it."

Seeing that Yuuki was explaining in a flustered manner, Mizuno Yu took over the conversation and helped Yuuki out of the predicament.

“I understand what Yuki means. It’s better for everyone to be prepared beforehand for something this important. If we keep quiet for fear of ruining the atmosphere, it will only be more disappointing if something goes wrong.”

Helica just has a bad temper, and she also wants to control her personality; she's not someone who won't listen to any explanation.

Although it was easy to misunderstand, Yuuki Yukino's actions were not wrong. After realizing that she had really misunderstood Yuuki Yukino's words, Herika's expression gradually relaxed.

With the misunderstanding on Helica's side cleared up, Yuuki Yukino didn't waste any more time and got straight back to the main topic:

"Next, I'm going to talk about something quite important. Although it might be a bit of a downer to talk about the East Penguin right now, I'd better tell you first. Didn't I mention yesterday that Xiao Li was taken away to some place by that corrupted magical girl?"

"That place is inside the Holy Ancient Academy, right where I mentioned before, where I sensed an ominous magical power. It's the garden maze. Underneath the garden maze, there's a building that we don't even know about."

"At the time, we were busy rescuing Xiaoli and worried that the corrupted magical girl might come back at any time, so we didn't have time to investigate carefully. But I think there must be something ominous about that place."

Herlica's brow, which had just relaxed, furrowed again, but this time the reason wasn't because of Yuuki Yuki.

In this nightmare, it seems I heard some terrible information.

Dreams are all constructed around the dreamer, and can be considered a reflection of the dreamer's memories and fantasies. Helica is quite certain of this based on her past experiences.

Since such a strange place exists in this dream, Helica felt that no one would conspire to imagine that there was such a threat to the Holy Eternal Academy, which meant that there must really be something underground in the Holy Eternal Academy.

"Yes, Xiaoyuan didn't ask me about this, so I didn't bring it up either. Now I'll share my findings with everyone. Although it was very dark at the time, I could roughly see what kind of place it was."

Reki Nishio also joined the conversation, recounting his bizarre experience of being tied to a bench.

The story told by Nishio Reki is indeed bizarre and detailed, making it easy to suspect that she had a strange dream.

But Helica had no doubts; the bizarre scenes she had witnessed were far more exaggerated than what Nishio Reki had described.

Lin Jiezi, transformed into the primordial magical girl, shrouded the entire city in black magic runes. The underground cathedral, compared to what Helika had witnessed, seemed quite normal.

The place resembled a church, had many strange nuns, and was underground. Piecing together this information, Helica could easily figure out what kind of place it was.

Saint Yuu Academy was the predecessor of a certain church whose bishop was Saint Shion. Saint Shion once appeared with a group of strange nuns, and some of her past experiences were connected in Nishio Reki's narrative.

Herlica wasn't good at detailed thinking; reasoning was her weakness. Even if she tried to think, she would only come up with many far-fetched answers. It was better for her to remain silent and listen to how others judged the situation.

The crucial problem is that in this dream, no one knows the identity of the bishop Saint Shiyin, nor do they know about the strange nuns.

Therefore, Helica could only watch anxiously as the magical girls made guesses without any information.

However, Helica couldn't offer any advice, as she hadn't even figured out whether this was Nishio Reki's or Yuuki Yukino's dream yet, so taking any rash action was definitely not an option.

After listening to everyone discussing things in the wrong direction for a long time, Yuuki Yukino finally brought the discussion to a temporary close.

"So far, we have too little information. Even if the few of us discuss it here, it will be difficult to make progress with such limited information, and we may even be wrong."

Helica wholeheartedly agreed with Yuuki Yukino's words.

Apart from myself, who was in the know, the discussions of others, while having some merit, were still far from the mark.

Helica didn't want to watch these people go further and further down the wrong path, and she didn't want to be unable to remind them when she knew they were wrong.

Fortunately, Yuuki Yuki's intelligence came in handy at this time.

Not only Helica, but several others also agreed with Yuuki Yuuki's statement.

“I think so too, Yuuki-senpai. If we don’t investigate properly, we’ll never get the right answer no matter how we guess. It’s like we’re missing a few important puzzle pieces, so we can’t put the whole picture back together.”

Sakura Hanako adjusted her glasses, the lenses gleaming with wisdom. Had she not steered the conversation in the wrong direction earlier, Helica would have appreciated her even more.

After Sakura Hanako, Mizuno Yuu, who had been the most active in the discussion and had put forward many novel viewpoints, also agreed with Yuki Eri's statement and cautiously offered her own suggestions.

"Shouldn't we find some time to investigate this carefully? So far, all our information comes from Nishio and Yuki's accounts, which may lead to some discrepancies. To ensure accuracy, it would be better to see it for ourselves."

Mizuno Yu's judgments were mostly accurate. For example, she deduced without knowing the facts that the church that was the predecessor of St. Yuu Academy still existed, and that their beliefs were not the beliefs known to the general public.

The ending that Yuuki Yukino drew seems to be triggering something she doesn't want to see at all.

"Yes, that's what I'm trying to say. We should go back to that place and take a look."

Herica felt that what Yuuki Yui wanted to say was the same thing that Mizuno Yui had just said.

What they were saying was not wrong in itself. A group of magical girls were sent to investigate a place that looked dangerous in order to uncover the enemy's shocking conspiracy. That's what magical girls are supposed to do.

Moreover, the information they receive in their dreams is very likely to be consistent with that in reality, so Helica should agree to Yuuki Yukino's suggestion.

But Herlica absolutely could not agree to Yuuki Yuuki's suggestion.

There is one more very important thing that Helica has never forgotten.

They were in a dream, and a nightmare.

They cannot act rashly precisely because they are currently in a nightmare.

Currently, the most likely thing in this nightmare to become the bomb that detonates the dream is the huge space hidden beneath the Holy Ancient Academy mentioned by Yuuki Yuuki, and the huge secret behind that space.

This could very well destroy the entire nightmare, causing everyone to fall into Sumireko Yumehara's trap and be dragged into deeper darkness.

The threat posed by Sumireko Yumehara now appears to be far more critical than the great void beneath St. Yuu Academy; Herika is able to distinguish which is more important.

"I don't think so."

Helica chose to refute the statement publicly.

"Why?" Mizuno Yu asked Helica. Her expression, which was usually serious, seemed even more so now, causing Helica's heart to race.

why?

How would I know why!

But if I don't give a clear explanation, I'll definitely be seen as someone who invited everyone out to cause trouble.

Being seen as a troublemaker is a minor issue; the real disaster would be if everyone actually stopped playing Yuuki Bond and immediately went to explore that unknown church together, only to encounter an accident during the exploration.

"Well, look, it's like this..."

Herlica used three interjections in a row, but didn't mention a single word of the main text, which only made the others more anxious.

Doesn't that make me seem like I'm being unreasonable?

"Don't rush, take your time. I don't think she would stop us for no reason." Yuuki Yui was still trying to reassure Helica, which made Helica even more anxious to think of an excuse to explain her strong opposition.

“Yes, isn’t that place very dangerous?” Helica said.

But she felt that what she said was no different from not saying anything at all; it had absolutely no persuasive power.

"Yes, it's extremely dangerous there. Even though I can't sense the magic, I can feel how ominous it is. There are those strange women dressed in nun's habit, and the decorations that don't conform to any religion. Oh, and the ominous magic that Xiaoyuan mentioned."

Nishio Koyomi tapped her fingers on the table, as if she were writing something down in a notebook, explaining her deductions one by one.

This gesture is very similar to Yuuki Yuki's. Helica has seen Yuuki Yuki make the same gesture more than once when she is thinking.