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

Meanwhile, the other Nishio Reki gripped the original magical girl's waist tightly, as if using all his strength to press her back into his body: "You really dare to say that? You scum!"

Was that just something said in anger?

No, no, Nishio Reki knew that no matter what happened, he would never say such angry words; what his other self said could only be an indisputable fact.

"Human life has its limits. Even if you imprison me, this scum, it's only a few decades too late."

The girl struggled fiercely, but her expression remained unchanged. The stark contrast between the two sent chills down the spine of Nishio Reki, who was watching from the side.

"Besides, you don't have many decades left. Countless reincarnations have already reduced your time to a minimum. What's the point of doing this?"

"A monster like you wouldn't understand!" Nishio Reki forced the original magical girl's body into his own, but it was no use against the girl who kept trying to climb out: "Yuki is my whole meaning!"

“I can’t understand.” The girl shook her head coldly, pulling her leg out of the body of the fallen Nishio Reki and crawling on the ground. “But you will witness the moment when all your meaning vanishes, and then you will change your mind.”

Nishio Reki's eyes narrowed, and the cold sweat on his back was dried by the anger that erupted from his heart, leaving only a surge of rage.

The original magical girl—this is an undisguised and blatant threat!

Xiao Yuan is the entirety of meaning.

That's right! Xiaoyuan is my entire meaning!

If you do nothing, you will lose your own meaning!

Although Nishio Reki knows there's nothing she can do right now, she still wants to do everything within her power.

This is the struggle of ordinary people!

Nishio Reki's body moved again, but instead of running towards his other self, he ran towards the red thread ring that had fallen to the side of the road.

If we can get this thing before that woman completely crawls out of her other self's body, maybe we can...

Nishio Reki didn't know why she thought that way, but that's just how she felt.

Intuition? Telepathy? None of that matters!

She had already done it before Nishio Reki figured out why she was doing it.

One step, two steps, Nishio Reki staggered toward the location of the red thread ring.

The girl broke free from the other Nishio Reki's grasp and forcefully pulled her knee away.

Three steps, four steps, and Nishio Reki got a little closer to the red thread ring.

Another Nishio Riku held the girl's knees tightly, preventing her from climbing out again.

Five steps, six steps, and the ring was right in front of me.

The girl, no longer having the strength, slammed her fist into the nose of another Nishio Reki, causing Nishio Reki's eyes to roll back.

Seven steps, eight steps, Nishio Reki could reach it simply by bending down.

Taking advantage of the other Nishio Reki's inability to stop herself, the girl pulled the body formed from the light points out of Nishio Reki's body, leaving only her ankles.

Nishio Reki had already obtained the ring, but it was too late.

Whether you run to give the ring to your other self or throw it over, it's too late.

Once the girl completely leaves the other self's body, the cage's function will fail, and all previous efforts will be in vain.

Once completely detached, the girl is absolutely capable of subduing herself and another version of herself in an instant.

What should I do? What is the best course of action?

With the power of fate in my hands, what exactly can I achieve?

Wait, how do I know that this ring is the God of Fate?

No, none of that matters anymore.

If it's Xiaoyuan's power, she'll definitely get a response from me!

While Xiaoyuan believed in him, he also believed in Xiaoyuan!

"God of Fate! Answer my heart's desire!"

Having never encountered the power of a magical girl before, and having no idea how to use it, Nishio Reki's palm suddenly burst forth with brilliant light.

A red thread, symbolizing destiny and hope, shot from her hand, binding the girl, who was just a hair's breadth away from completely escaping from her other self, firmly to that other self.

The girls, also bound by red threads, uttered completely opposite exclamations of praise.

"well done!"

"If I had known, I should have just snapped your neck."

Have I succeeded?

When Nishio Reki came to his senses, the red thread ring in his hand was still lying there quietly, and no matter how he called out to it, he could not get any response, as if everything that had just happened was just a mirage.

However, the red thread that tightly bound that original magical girl, causing her to fail, truly existed there, proving that Nishio Reki's actions and the feelings she received in return were not just a dream.

“That’s right, that’s it…” Nishio Reki, who was also bound by the red thread, gritted his teeth and used his magical hands to try to stuff the primordial magical girl who had crawled out of his body back into the prison inside him.

Bound by the God of Fate, the girl, unable to use her power, could no longer resist Nishio Reki's power. All she could do was let Nishio Reki slowly devour her with a resentful look in her eyes.

Compared to the first time, Nishio Reki, whose injuries were more severe, worked slower and in greater pain.

However, it was a success!

I've finally managed to be of some help!

Only after realizing belatedly that he seemed to have done something terrible did Nishio Reki sit down on the ground, panting heavily.

Finally, we can put this matter to a temporary halt!

"Ugh, ugh? Ah...you, you, you...are you...injured?"

Another girl's voice came from beside them.

Trembling, halting, and stuttering, filled with fear and worry.

Nishio Reki looked at the girl, and Nishio Reki, who was working hard to re-imprison the original magical girl, also looked over.

Her hair was milk tea colored long, her lips were constantly moving, and her pupils were trembling like an earthquake. A pair of thick glasses were perched on her nose.

The girl, whom neither of them knew, asked cautiously, seemingly wanting to reach out to them, but her trembling fingertips clenched into fists several times.

"No, this is terrifying! I... I shouldn't have spoken! I shouldn't have said anything!" The girl grabbed her face with both hands, her complexion turning even paler.

"No, no, someone's hurt! No, no, I need to be brave! Um, ah, I, I see you all, I feel uncomfortable, yes, I feel uncomfortable!"

Neither of them could understand what the girl was doing, but they could clearly sense the kindness emanating from her.

“My home is over there…” The girl raised her finger and pointed to the building not far away—the place they had just run over: “I have a first-aid kit and I can call… the hospital, so I can help you.”

what happened?

Can't this girl see the original magical girl trying to crawl out of her own body?

Why can I see it myself? And why am I able to physically experience it?

As Nishio Reki pondered and looked at the unknown girl, another person also looked at the trembling girl.

"Do not……"

Before the other Nishio Reki could finish speaking, the primordial magical girl, who was about to be completely imprisoned and bound by her, exploded.

The half of Nishio Reki's body that was still trapped inside him disappeared, while the exposed part shattered into specks of light, all rushing toward the stuttering girl.

The injured Nishio Reki stretched out his hand, and magical power swirled rapidly between his palms, capturing the escaping specks of light like a vacuum cleaner.

But it was too slow. The amount that Nishio Reki was able to capture was only a drop in the ocean compared to the amount that had already entered the girl's body.

thump.

The girl with glasses and the injured Nishio Reki fell to the ground at the same time.

"What...what happened?"

Nishio Reki looked around, then hugged his injured self.

“She escaped…” The injured Nishio Reki gritted his teeth, his face full of regret: “No, she destroyed herself.”

"Destroy, destroy?"

"She completely erased her existence. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing... On the bright side, being imprisoned by me, she wasn't as calm as we saw her, and we no longer need to face the complete her."

What Nishio Koyomi didn't know was that if she continued to imprison the original magical girl inside her body, although the thing inside her was a time bomb to Nishio Koyomi, she would also have enough time to think about how to defuse the time bomb inside her.

Even if it's not demolished, Nishio Reki should be able to find a way to make this cage exist for longer.

Once Nishio Koyomi finds a way, the original magical girl will not only be unable to continue pursuing him, but also unable to interfere, which is an outcome she does not want to see.

After all, she had used the same method to imprison a power that absolutely could not be leaked for centuries.

No matter the cost, those forces must not be allowed to reappear.

"But from a negative perspective...this girl."

As the injured Nishio Reki spoke, he got up from the ground, but instead of getting up immediately, he sat down cross-legged and pointed at the bespectacled girl who had fallen to the ground.

"She is now the original magical girl."

It wasn't about stealing a body or taking away a life; the original magical girl was simply finding a place to live.

But the price the original magical girl paid for this so-called place of refuge was astonishing.

The original magical girl has disappeared from history almost forever.

Instead, almost all the scenes where the original magical girl appeared have been replaced by a girl named Hayashi Mustard.

History changed in an instant, and this was merely a ripple effect from the anchor point that held the world line in place.

These are things that Nishio Reki only learned later.

Although she seems to have done something extraordinary, she is still completely unaware of what is happening or what will happen.

“The original magical girls could use this girl’s body to recover their power and wait for an opportunity, but I have no way to separate them. There is only one person who can do this… and that is Yui, who will completely control Nyarlathotep in the future… No, you may not understand what I’m saying, just know that we are out of options now.”

“If we have no other choice, then what if we take her…” Nishio Reki also pointed to the girl who was lying on the ground.

"Do you think Xiaoyuan would allow us to do this?" Another Nishio Reki interrupted directly: "Even if Xiaoyuan allows it, or if we secretly do something that is absolutely forbidden, it will be meaningless. Although she has escaped my body, she has also imprisoned herself in this girl's body in a roundabout way."

"I... I still don't understand..."

"You don't need to understand. You just need to know that if either I or this girl, who is the prison, is destroyed, then the original magical girl will escape from the prison, perhaps for a moment, or perhaps forever."