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

In the race against time, Sakura Hanako could only watch helplessly as Hayashi Mustard got closer and closer to her.

Even though Sakura Hanako had tried her best to get away from Hayashi Keiko as if she were squeezing out all the potential in her body, she could not escape the pursuit of her senior who was usually cautious but now showed a completely different side.

Sakura Hanako knew that the other party's target was not her, but Yuuki-senpai in her arms.

That's why Sakura Hanako is even more determined to protect Yuuki Eri.

It's no secret that Yuki-senpai's situation is what he's facing. Back in the Dream Realm, it was Yuki-senpai who did everything in his power to bring him out.

Although Yuuki-senpai is a corrupted magical girl, she is also a senior whom Sakura Hanako acknowledges.

It was precisely because Yuuki-senpai was a corrupted magical girl that everything she did was more recognized by Sakura Hanako.

Although it may sound a bit formal, I must do my best to find a way to repay Yuki-senpai's kindness.

However, there is only one thing I can do now: escape with Yuuki-senpai.

Even something as simple as running away, Sakura Hanako couldn't do well.

Just as Sakura Hanako was feeling helpless, a slight noise coming from her bosom caught her attention.

The sound was from Yuuki Yukino, whom he was holding in his arms, proving that she had woken up from her coma.

Sakura Hanako lowered her head slightly, but dared not slow down her flight at all: "Yuuki-senpai? You're awake?"

Yuuki Yui didn't answer, but just slightly moved her shoulder.

"Senior Yuuki, can you transform now? If so, I'll hold off Senior Lin, and Senior Yuuki can find a place to hide."

Yuuki Yuki still did not answer, but in the halo of transformation, the purplish-black magical armor had already begun to take shape on her body.

Before Sakura Hanako could even feel happy about Yuuki Yukino's awakening, the surge in magical power made her feel uneasy.

Direct contact with Yuuki Enishi's torrent of magic gave Sakura Hanako a feeling as if she were about to be crushed. Although it didn't cause her any harm, the magic power of that corrupted magical girl still made Sakura Hanako feel uncomfortable.

So, Sakura Hanako instinctively released Yuuki Eri.

Just like the instinctive dodge when pricked by a needle, burned by fire, or about to be hit by a phone, Sakura Hanako hadn't even realized why she was doing this before her body had already acted.

But Sakura Hanako's action undoubtedly saved her.

Yes, he saved himself.

As Yuuki Yukino was released by Sakura Hanako, clapping and cheers erupted around her body, as if the opening of an evil festival had begun.

Magical power, like a bucket of water poured over her head, descended from the sky, washing over Yuuki Yuki's body, as if melting her body along with it.

If she were to be drawn into that kind of magic, Sakura Hanako could hardly imagine what she would become.

Without any particular order, Lin Jiezi also arrived at the very center of that chaotic magical power.

Lin Jiezi, who had briefly lost sight of her target, had a look of confusion in her empty eyes, and she stopped moving.

Until a shadow, like a ghost haunting a young girl, quietly appeared behind Lin Jiezi. The sleeves of her unusual shrine maiden outfit seemed to dance a kagaku dance as they slapped down on Lin Jiezi's head.

Lin Jiezi twisted her waist and turned around, her arm already positioned in the path of the shrine maiden's outfit, precisely intercepting Yuki Eri's attack after the god was unleashed.

The two people's movements seemed powerless, but when their arms met their sleeves, it was as if a bomb had been detonated. The wind pressure caused the surrounding snow-covered branches to bend outwards around the two people, making a piercing creaking sound as if they were about to break, and stirring up clouds of snow mist on the snowless night.

Sakura Hanako's eyes widened in surprise, her nurse's uniform fluttering in the wind.

However, Sakura Hanako quickly snapped out of her daze and shouted at Yuuki Yuuki, "Yuuki-senpai! You go first! Don't get entangled with Hayashi-senpai, she's after you!"

Yuki En acted as if she hadn't heard at all, and swung the sleeve of her other hand in a wide arc, slapping it down at Hayashi Keiko.

Lin Jiezi, naturally, was not to be outdone. She raised her hand to meet Yuki Emi's attack head-on, but the attack failed to cause any real damage.

In Lin Jiezi's blind spot, interwoven purple lines formed a slender tentacle, like a spike in a trap, stabbing towards Lin Jiezi's side.

Lin Jiezi didn't even glance at it, and stepped on the tentacles behind her, crushing them to pieces as if they were tiny insects.

But what awaited Lin Jiezi next was Yuuki Yuki's even more ferocious attack, with countless imaginary magic wands surrounding her and hidden among the tentacles.

The sounds of crackling and popping battles, accompanied by the explosions of magic, filled the air. On one side, there was a dazzling barrage of magic wands and tentacles woven into a giant net of projectiles; on the other side, there was the unadorned, absolute power that simply used one's own body to shatter all the fancy attacks.

Even the magical girls who arrived just in time couldn't help but widen their eyes when they saw this scene.

"This...this is really Yuuki Yukina?" Tenrai Herika murmured in disbelief. Lin Jiezi, whom they couldn't restrain even when they joined forces, was now being fought on equal terms with Yuuki Yukina. It was no wonder that Tenrai Herika was so surprised.

“Yes, but it feels different. The current Yuuki is using his magic power recklessly. Although he looks the same as the Yuuki of the past, this is definitely not Yuuki’s fighting style.” Mizuno Yu frowned slightly.

More ferocious and more bizarre, although her movements and abilities are almost identical to those of Yuuki Yukino in the past, that subtle difference is the key to the significant improvement in Yuuki Yukino's combat power.

That's right, Yuuki Yuuki is definitely stronger now than she was before, and she is much more adept at manipulating her magic and using her abilities.

The giant sword, shattered by the fist, transformed into tentacles and stabbed at Lin Jiezi's body again. The chainsaw chain that Lin Jiezi had torn apart reconstructed into a long whip, delaying Lin Jiezi's movements. These subtle actions were used by Yuuki Yuen one by one at all times, as if they were instinctive reactions that did not require any thought.

If Lin Jiezi's reckless attacks and pursuits are considered "going berserk," then Yuuki Eri's situation is quite different.

But everyone is familiar with the word that can be used to describe Yuuki Yukino's current situation.

Dark fall.

Like Tsukimi Rie, Miyashita Mia, and Kuroba Kisei, they were completely dominated by the dark magic, resulting in a distortion of their personalities, which is what Yuuki Eri is like now.

Everyone else had just become a bit more extreme, but Yuuki Yuki seemed like a completely different person. She was no longer the carefree, considerate girl who was always the first to rush to the rescue when problems arose.

This unfamiliar Yuki Yuki is a little scary.

"But, this should be alright, right?" Baqi's voice trembled slightly, but she still tried to encourage everyone: "If we separate Xiaoyuan and Lin Jiezi now... it should be easier, right?"

Although that's what Baqi said, no one should easily interfere with the current situation. No one knows what will happen if a variable is suddenly added to the seemingly balanced battle.

Ba Qi swallowed hard, then forced everyone to feel reassured: "It's alright. If the situation changes, I'll be the first to rush over."

"It's not that simple." Nishio Reki's hand trembled as he gripped his wand. "Herrica, do you remember what I told you when we first met?"

"Said to me? What is it?" Helica frowned, her eyes fixed on the battle ahead.

"The future Moonsea City will face a huge crisis, not only for Yuki Emi, but also for everyone you care about, and people you don't know. Almost everyone in Moonsea City will be involved in this crisis."

Nishio Reki repeated exactly what he had said to Tenrai Herika during that summer night festival.

"A magical girl will appear in Moonsea City, and she is the source of the crisis."

Reminded by Nishio Reki, Helica also remembered the situation at that time.

After she finished replenishing her mana with Yuuki Yukino, whose identity was unknown at the time, she planned to go back and settle accounts with Kuroba Reisei. However, Nishio Reki suddenly stood in front of her and said these words to her.

Helica also remembers the conversation that followed.

Just take down that magical girl, right?

This is a question I asked myself.

I guess so.

This is Nishio Reki's answer.

Having spent so much time with Nishio Reki, and with Nishio Reki never mentioning the matter again, Helica had almost forgotten that they had ever had such a conversation.

But the fact that Li brought this up at this crucial juncture sent chills down Helica's spine just thinking about what it meant.

Herlika asked, her throat dry, "You mean, the source of that crisis was Lin Jiezi?"

“No,” Nishio Reki replied.

"So that's the Rise of Tsukimi you were talking about, the original magical girl..." Herica asked immediately afterward.

But when she saw Nishio Reki's expression, she knew she had guessed wrong again.

This negative answer is even more unacceptable than the assurance that everyone will fight against such a magical girl and stop the source of magical girls.

If it weren't for Lin Jiezi, there would only be one person left.

Then I thought about what Nishio Reki had said in the past.

"I am from the future."

"I only want to save one person."

"I wouldn't mind saving the whole city to save her."

There was also the fleeting bitterness in Nishio Reki's voice when Helica asked if the matter would end if they could just defeat that magical girl, and that line.

"That's it."

Damn it, what is that?

How could this be the case?

“That’s troublesome.” Helica felt her tongue was tied in knots, making even normal speech difficult: “That magical girl who brought devastation to the entire Moonsea City, is… Yuuki Yukino?”

With just a nod, Nishio Reki extinguished the spirits of Helica the Thunder God, and of everyone else.

After a long silence, Nishio Reki finally spoke with difficulty.

"Xiao Yuan will destroy everything because she cannot bear the price of that power, and that crisis can only lead to one outcome, which is the best outcome for everyone, except for Xiao Yuan."

Nishio Reki was still watching the battlefield when Hayashi Keko used her sharp fist to tear through Yuuki En's heavy attacks and hit Yuuki En's shoulder directly.

The force contained in the fist directly shattered the shrine maiden's robe on Yuuki Enishi's shoulder into pieces. Yuuki Enishi, who was hit, also groaned and took several steps back, a shocking bruise slowly appearing on her fair skin.

Yuuki Yui turned her neck, grabbed the torn hem of her clothes with one hand, ripped off the front of her shrine maiden outfit, and tossed it aside, leaving only the pure white cloth covering her chest. She then launched another charge towards Hayashi Mustard.

Yuuki Eri, who has completely fallen into darkness, and Hayashi Mustard, who has gone berserk, have never appeared together before.

Even in Nishio Reki's countless memories, it was the same.

Apart from the ending she had seen countless times.

“Every time, it can only end with Xiao Yuan, who is capable of overturning the entire Yuehai City, being defeated by Lin Jiezi, who was awakened because of her. The ending I want, the ending of the story, should not be like this at all.”

As Nishio Reki said this, everyone seemed to already see the ending that none of them wanted to see was just around the corner.

Even Nishio Reki himself delivered a final verdict on the despair of the current situation.

"We absolutely cannot let Xiaoyuan in this state meet Lin Jiezi herself, otherwise... it will develop into that situation."

How to do?

After hearing what Nishio Reki said, everyone had the same thought in their minds.

If we let them continue fighting, it will inevitably escalate into the most desperate situation that Nishio Reki described. If we don't do this, it will be by no means easy to disrupt this delicate and short-lived balance.

Everyone has their own considerations, but each consideration has only one purpose.

Both Yuuki Yuki and Hayashi Mustard can't afford to have any problems.