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

However, the scene before Yuuki Yuuki's eyes suddenly began to collapse like a toppled tower of blocks.

Calling it a building block tower is not quite accurate; it's more like a folded origami.

All the scenery before my eyes began to fold in half, as if half the world had been turned upside down, and then it became a flat sheet.

Then fold it in half again, and then fold it in half again, until everything is reduced to a single dot.

As the world was being folded in half repeatedly, Yuuki Yuki felt a buzzing in her head before losing consciousness.

So how long have I been unconscious?

This was Yuuki Yukino's first reaction upon regaining her sanity.

In reality, for Yuuki Yuuki, it was just a moment of blankness, but the feeling of being lifted out of one water tank and thrown into another was exceptionally clear.

But the fact that the scene around her was completely different reminded Yuuki Yukino that something extraordinary had happened to her again.

This feeling was familiar; she had experienced it before, both on the Moon Sea Tower and in the inn during the festival.

This feeling is also comfortable in another sense. Each time I enter a dream, I am drawn into the dream world and into Sumireko Yumehara's memories...

In short, Yuuki Yuuki knew exactly where she was right now.

Xinghai City.

A place that exists only in Yuuki Yuuki's memories and is unknown to anyone else.

A space created by the continuous expansion of a magical girl's memories.

An upside-down city, an endless starry sky.

However, this place is completely different from the starry sea I was familiar with before.

The upside-down city teeters on the brink of collapse, with building fragments floating haphazardly like cosmic debris, occasionally colliding with deafening force, and the fragments destroying even more buildings.

The boundless starry sky grew increasingly dim, and at this moment, one could almost only see the darkness beneath one's feet.

Of course, there's also another version of yourself, standing quietly with your hands behind your back in the starry sky, looking at yourself with calm eyes that can't hide your weariness.

Yes, it's another version of yourself.

For some reason, it did not fall into that cycle, but instead existed in the Black Demon Mark, and came here with the souls of its different time periods from other timelines of the Nishio Calendar.

Perhaps it's just a fragment of a soul, like that insurance policy that exists in Sumireko Yumehara's memory, and can't be called a complete soul at all.

……

"Congratulations! You've come this far without my help and even learned a lot of information that I didn't know." The pink-haired girl clapped her hands, a bitter smile playing on her lips.

"Ah, yes, I've come a long way, but in the end... isn't it still..."

Yuuki Yui swallowed hard, her voice growing increasingly bitter.

"If you had appeared sooner, returned all your power to me sooner, and allowed me to master the liberation of the gods sooner, then... then I wouldn't be in this situation now..."

"Yeah, that's true." The pink-haired girl pouted and poked her lips with her finger.

Finally, the finger pointed in Yuuki Yukino's direction: "So, do you think I would harm you?"

A sentence that is both incredibly abrupt and yet seems to perfectly capture the current situation.

Yuuki felt as if she was being questioned, or as if a casual remark was made during a conversation. Even though the other person should have the same way of thinking as her, Yuuki couldn't understand what they meant.

Yuuki Yui seemed a little confused by the question, but still gently shook her head.

Thinking about it further is pointless; that's my answer.

"Ah."

The pink-haired girl nodded in satisfaction, then lifted her skirt and sat down on the ground, crossing her legs. Her eyes were fixed on the city cluster above her, which was still collapsing like dominoes.

"As you can see, Xinghai can't hold on any longer. I've been waiting for you here for a very, very long time."

Since Yuuki Yuuki entered the Star Sea, this destruction has never stopped, and it seems it will continue for a very long time.

But without a doubt, this place has already entered a visible countdown, just like the world that gradually collapses before each dream collapses, and its complete dissipation is only a matter of time.

In other words, there isn't much time left.

“You’re right. I should have given you that power sooner, but that power is both an aid and a burden to you. While it gives you power, it will also drag you into the abyss.”

The pink-haired girl said, turning her gaze back to Yuuki Yukino: "However, it's time."

Yuuki Yui knew perfectly well what would happen after she arrived here.

He will gain the divine liberation he has always dreamed of, and with that power, he will be able to go out and defeat Sumireko Yumehara's own creation, a fragment of her sister's former teammate.

However, Yuuki Yuki was not happy at all.

After defeating a powerful enemy, what happens next?

Can something lost be found again?

Will that allow me to lead the others out of the dream world? Will that allow me to find Sumireko Yumehara again? Will that allow me to return to my previous life?

how is this possible.

This is hardly a dream world!

If it's a dream world, then let everything be a happy one!

“I know that before you left with your power, you had many questions you wanted to ask me, and I know them all.” The girl patted the empty space beside her.

Without saying a word, Yuuki Yukino sat down cross-legged just like the girl, her posture exactly the same.

"I think you've already guessed it, but even if I ramble on a bit more, you probably won't mind. This is my memory, a space built entirely with my magic, much like the Dream Realm, but it only exists within your body."

"And the me now is a fragment of my soul that was once the whole me, only this fragment may be a bit larger, so when I first met you, what I said about AI and such wasn't exactly a lie, was it?"

"As a fragment, there are many, many things I can do. Of course, I have also interfered a bit too much in your life, such as limiting your power."

"I don't intend to apologize to you for this, and there's nothing to apologize for. Even if it were next time, or if it were you, you would probably do the same thing, since I know what you're thinking."

"You already know what kind of wand Nyarlathotep is. It is powerful, but it is also accompanied by an equally powerful taint, a taint that even our magic cannot purify."

"That filth will only grow stronger, seeping into your very bones, becoming completely fused with your body and soul, never to be separated again. And all I can do is hold onto this power while bearing that pollution for you."

Yuuki Yukino has always been strange.

Why is it that, apart from being attacked by Lin Jiezi, I am completely unaffected by any black magic runes?

Yuuki Yukino believed that her magic possessed an innate ability to resist corruption.

But why did I lose that power and fall into an even darker rampage when I was attacked by Lin Jiezi?

The answer is already quite clear.

Every single day of her life is a journey borne by a girl who was once herself, and who may become in the future, a girl who can no longer be called a girl.

To be honest, I wasn't particularly moved.

However, if it is necessary someday in the future, I will resolutely do the same thing.

A future girl with the same memories and personality as herself will not be moved by this either, but will still carry on the legacy without hesitation.

That's just my personality.

A clumsy, inarticulate, sensitive, yet yearning to embrace the sunshine, and even more so, wanting more people to embrace the sunshine—a complete idiot.

In the end, Yuuki Yukino simply asked softly:

"and then?"

“And then,” the girl shook her head, “that’s it. The soul, the black runes, and I are all one. Once I give you all my wands, I will cease to exist. Until then, that’s all I can do.”

"But you're not wrong either. I should have come out to help you back when Mashiro was there. Maybe I should have? But even if you had the complete wand, you would only have been able to witness Mashiro's full power. The outcome wouldn't have been any better."

"You know about Genki Mashiro?" Yuuki Yuuki interrupted again.

“No.” The pink-haired girl shook her head: “I don’t know her, nor do I know what happened to her. The only thing I know is that even if she intentionally hides it and doesn’t use her true power, I still know what her wand is.”

"By the way, Xiao Li probably didn't know about this either, so even she was tricked."

Then the girl continued talking, slowly and softly, saying a lot.

What is useful to Yuuki Yuuki, what is useless to Yuuki Yuuki, what Yuuki Yuuki can remember, and what Yuuki Yuuki cannot remember.

What Yuuki Yuki is interested in, and what Yuuki Yuki is not interested in.

But most of them are just boring everyday conversations, unfounded complaints, or empty expectations.

"..." Yuuki Yui remained silent, unsure of where to begin her sentence.

As they talked and listened, even Lian Jiecheng Yuan felt a little sleepy.

However, it was very peaceful, as if we hadn't been able to reach such peace in a long time.

I really want to just fall asleep right now.

But that won't work.

This is the last time. Listen carefully to her clumsy farewell, which never explicitly mentioned parting.

Even if this is the last time, I still have things I must do, and I still have a responsibility to prevent things from getting worse, even if it's beyond redemption.

You always have to set off on your own journey.

But before that, I should accompany her on her final journey.

This isn't some kind of telepathy or tacit understanding; it's something that's natural and inevitable.

Gradually, this final narration came to an end.

"I should have so much to say to you, but I don't know what to say."

The girl smiled, then lay down on the ground in a starfish shape, lazily stretching her body, and faced the crumbling city above her with a wistful expression.

They collided more violently, and every now and then, huge buildings would glide past the girls and fall into the pitch-black starry sky beneath their feet.

Even Yuuki Yukino could see that time was indeed running out.

"I said, can I trust you?" The girl tilted her head and looked at Yuuki Yukino beside her.

"Trust me?" Yuuki Yuen frowned.

"Yes, I believe in you. I believe you can go further in Ersi, to places no one else can reach. In a desolate wilderness, you can carve out a path to the direction I long to see."

The girl's eyes curved into a smile again.