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

The knight, bathed in dragon blood and transformed into a black dragon, and the priestess, bound in ropes and dancing gracefully, flew rapidly toward each other.

……

"No! That's not the real Nishio Reki! No, I misspoke, she is Nishio Reki, but I was completely wrong. This is not a dream. I should have noticed something a long time ago. We both gave the correct answer. This is... this is the memory that she experienced! The two of us are accompanying her through those things that happened in her memory."

Inuyama Tomoe slammed her fist against the wall and let out a heavy sigh.

"Memory? What memory? Explain yourself clearly? I don't understand."

A web of lightning formed a small umbrella above Helica's head, evaporating all the approaching rain. But as Helica anxiously pressed for answers, the lightning overhead seemed to grow even more volatile.

Baki waved her hand impatiently, but still explained to Helica.

“We were talking about this a few days ago. Every dream we had in the past was something we could change, but in this guy’s dream, we can only move forward along the predetermined path. Any action we take to change the plot will be fixed in the most direct and violent way.”

“But can’t we still meet and talk about these things?” Helica frowned.

Baqi shouted out as if she could no longer bear it:

"That's because we're not even in front of her! Ever since you transferred schools, my actions, your actions, the invincible Kuroba Reise, and the Saintess who has disappeared without a trace—it's all very strange, isn't it?"

"Well..." Herlica's brain seemed to be shutting down, and she couldn't come up with a coherent answer for a long time.

"No buts! You blond shorty, use your brain and recall everything we've discovered—yes, everything. Have we obtained any clues that this guy didn't know about?"

Baki rubbed her temples in exasperation at Herlica's clumsiness.

"What do you mean?" Helica continued to do as she pleased, still acting like a fool.

“It doesn’t make any sense! We can’t know what she doesn’t know, we can only experience what she experienced, and we can’t change what she witnessed!” Baqi slapped her forehead a few times.

"This world revolves around Nishio Reki! Don't you understand? There's absolutely no way we can stop Nishio Reki's despair. Even if we rush out now, her memories will definitely find some way to stop us!"

Helica nodded, half understanding, then her face turned grim: "In other words... the outcome of this battle is the beginning of Nishio Reki's despair."

Under Helica's expectant gaze, hoping Baqi would deny the answer, Baqi nodded heavily.

Chapter 197 Unreachable

The rain that had lasted all day finally stopped.

A few rays of moonlight quietly pierced through the seemingly impenetrable clouds, dispelling some of the darkness.

The moonlight, shining through the clouds, illuminated the puddles, reflecting the figures that occasionally met as they sped through the air, the sound of their collisions creating ripples on the surface.

The next second, the puddle was shattered by the heel of the shoe, and the splashed water left a dark stain on the girl's skirt.

The heels of my shoes, having broken through the puddles, caused me to stumble backward several steps before finally coming to a steady stop.

Nishio Reki raised his hand and stroked his rain-soaked armor. On the girl's shoulder, a crack about the thickness of a finger was widening on the magical armor, gradually covering the entire shoulder plate.

Splash!

The lower half of Nishio Reki's shoulder armor fell onto the rain-covered ground like a shattered piece of porcelain.

On the girl's smooth skin, a line of blood slowly seeped out, the bright red color flowing down her arm and mixing with the rainwater on her arm, the vivid red beginning to blur and dim again.

"Xiao Yuan, you really don't hold back at all!"

Yuuki Enishi landed slowly a few meters to the side of Nishio Reki. Her two-pronged wooden clogs were less than half submerged in the puddles on the ground. Although there was no wind, the shrine maiden's clothes fluttered and rustled.

To Nishio Reki, the falling Yuuki Yuki felt like a mountain crashing down, the immense magical power pressing down on him so much that he could barely breathe.

But what suffocated Nishio Reki even more was Yuuki Yuuki's incredibly calm expression at that moment.

Anger? Resentment? Reluctance? Hesitation?

The expression that Nishio Reki wanted to see was completely absent from Yuuki Yuuki's face.

The only thing Nishio Reki could read was a cold indifference that kept people at arm's length.

She didn't want to see that expression on Yuuki Yukino's face, on her childhood friend who had grown up with her.

She didn't want to stand against Yuuki Yuuki.

But when did I start to stand on the opposite side of Yuuki Yuuki?

Nishio Reki swallowed hard, took a half step back, and held the spear horizontally in front of him. He gripped the handle with both hands, one in front of the other, and the spear tip, pointing towards the ground, reflected a chilling light.

Shouldn't you answer yourself?

Nishio Reki already had the answer in his heart.

Xiaoyuan doesn't understand herself enough.

I must make Xiaoyuan understand, I must make Xiaoyuan realize my feelings, I must make Xiaoyuan willingly become my possession.

If this attack hits, it will be able to reach Xiaoyuan!

boom.

Magic exploded from around Nishio Reki, sweeping away the puddles on the ground.

The magic, seemingly capable of piercing the heavens, could not even conceal the dark clouds above. The dark clouds that had lingered above the girls' heads for so long, even moonlight could not penetrate them, were swept away completely.

The moonlight surged and squeezed into the gaping hole in the torn clouds, making the tip of Nishio Reki's spear even colder.

Nishio Reki tiptoed, seemingly touching the ground lightly, yet his body shot into the air like a shooting star.

The girl seemed to be frozen in mid-air, one foot standing in mid-air, while the other leg remained curled up in the same position as when she was airborne, with the raised knee parallel to the other leg.

The spear he had been holding in both hands was now handed to his right hand, and it was hanging down naturally, seemingly pointing to the ground, or perhaps locked onto the direction of Yuuki Enishi.

Amidst the surging momentum, a pair of dragon wings, matching the girl's size, unfurled behind her. A faint roar, seemingly indistinct, caused the surrounding water to ripple wildly.

Is that all?

No, that's far from enough. I can become stronger and do even more!

The magic power, which had already reached its peak, continued to surge. With Nishio Reki pouring magic power into the area at any cost, several dark bands of light, centered on Nishio Reki, raged as if they were about to ravage everything in sight.

The dancing light strips resembled pythons or dragon tails, each covered with dense dragon scales, exuding a raging and unrestrained madness.

After a brief pause, the girl, who seemed to have transformed into an evil dragon, fell along with the tip of her spear.

Breaking the sound barrier, tearing through the air, like a malevolent star, like a calamity, what falls is a final lament of ruthlessness, despair, and certain death.

The girl fell, and all was silent.

The next second, the sky collapsed and the earth shattered.

In a world fragmented like this, a black-haired girl lies on the ruins, gazing at the sky in the distance.

The sky behind the huge hole hidden between the clouds was so clear, and yet so distant.

A dim shooting star streaked across the sky, only to vanish in an instant.

The girl reached out her hand towards the distant horizon, as if trying to grasp the dying star.

Of course, her clenched hands were empty.

No matter how high you fly, you can never reach a corner of the sky.

Wanting to stand shoulder to shoulder with the sky is nothing but a pipe dream; in the end, all you'll have is nothing!

If it hadn't been for its own insistence on flapping Carmen's wings so vigorously, perhaps it wouldn't have fallen from the sky to the ground.

The rain had stopped, but for some reason, the girl's vision began to blur again.

Tap, tap, tap.

The sound of the two-pronged wooden clogs hitting the ground grew closer and closer; in the still of the night, even the faint sound of small stones hitting each other was exceptionally clear.

A strand of pink hair entered my blurred vision.

"Xiao Yuan".

Nishio Reki opened his lips, but his voice was barely audible.

This was the umpteenth time she had called out this name tonight, and it was also the softest she had ever spoken tonight.

"Well, I'm here."

Yuuki Yukino answered softly and clearly.

"Ah..." Nishio Reki dragged out a series of trembling sounds, looking through his blurry eyes at the girl who was leaning down and looking at him as well.

What do I want to say?

You must have a lot to say, right?

However, Nishio Reki couldn't say anything, and even after another night's rest, she still couldn't say anything.

Nishio Reki closed his pale lips and his eyes, his long eyelashes shaking off water droplets and stardust.

It's over. It's all over.

Are you unwilling to accept this?

Actually, there is a little bit of that, isn't there?

However, it wasn't because he couldn't defeat Xiaoyuan, but because, in the end, he couldn't successfully convey his feelings.

But, isn't that how it should be?

Only what is unattainable has the value of something worth pursuing for a lifetime.

Although I have already reached the end.

Being able to be with the person you love until the very end is a kind of happiness, isn't it?

As expected, I'm still not satisfied.

Sure enough, even though he gained power, even though he tried his best, even though he had exhausted all his strength, he had not grown at all from beginning to end.

Nishio Reki waits, waiting for his own ending.

But the ending he was waiting for never came.

All that came was a warm embrace. Through that embrace, Nishio Reki could feel the other person's body temperature, hear their heartbeat, and smell the raindrops and their scent.

"I'm sorry, Xiao Li."

Nishio Reki slowly opened his eyes. Above him was still the same starry sky that seemed to never change, but a few strands of a girl's pink hair appeared in his field of vision, brushing against his nose with the gentle breeze.

"I'm sorry. You were right next to me, but I never paid attention to your feelings. I should have realized it sooner."

"I'm sorry, if I had noticed it sooner, much sooner, I could have brought you back."