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

Laughing, laughing, the girl's laughter abruptly stopped, followed by an extremely serious rhetorical question.

"What about the excessive things the chairman has done to others?"

"Does having power mean you can do everything? The president clearly possesses unparalleled power, so why did he lose to a girl who can't even use God's Release? Why was he beaten to a pulp by a magical girl he'd never heard of? Why was he bitten back by the very prey he considered, and ended up in such a state?"

“I was wrong. I shouldn’t have thought you were capable of changing the status quo. I shouldn’t have thought you were qualified to shoulder our future. I shouldn’t have let your useless pride swell up to the point that you wanted to bite me back. Sigh, I was really wrong.”

"President, President, accept this reality. You are not special. You have no right to do those things presumptuously. You have no ability to initiate reforms. You are just one of the countless corrupted magical girls in Moonsea City, just a pathetic wretch desperately trying to cover up your failure."

"You now..."

As the girl spoke, she seemed to be tearing open Kuroba Laisei's wounds, revealing Kuroba Laisei's current predicament through her actions.

Fortunately, what the girl peeled off was not bloody flesh but something else; all that was revealed was a pool of mud.

But...? That's all?

Apart from Kuroba Reise herself, no one can understand the humiliation she is experiencing.

Do you think your situation is already pitiful enough?

The girl's words struck Kuroba Laisei's heart like a heavy hammer blow.

"Don't be silly. Aren't those whose future you stole pitiful? Aren't those who were treated with methods a thousand times harsher than what you're doing now pitiful?"

As the girl spoke, she mercilessly used her fingers to pluck at the most vulnerable string in Kuroba Laisei's body and heart.

Repeatedly, over and over again.

"President, you're nothing but a cowardly bully who preys on the weak and fears the strong."

Over and over again, coming in and out.

"Don't you understand yet? Hurry up and understand. Your pointless desires and pointless pride are not worth mentioning in other people's eyes."

Once again, at the very moment that Kuroba longed for in her next life, the girl stopped what she was doing.

Muddy fingers clamped down on Kuroba Laisei's tongue, forcibly pulling her in front of the girl with a breath that made her gag.

"The reason you've survived this long isn't because you don't deserve to die, but because letting you return to His embrace so easily would be too lenient for you."

The arrogance that belonged to Kuroba in her next life and her original personality had been shattered by endless torment. This time, the fallen angel with full wings had truly had her wings broken and fallen into the dust of the human world.

After more than a decade, she finally came to a clear understanding of a fact.

Yes, I am just the most ordinary and the most humble one.

Afterwards, Kuroba was once again filled with pain, falling into an endless cycle of hell from which he could not find liberation.

This cycle continued until the day her body and mind completely took on the shape of the sacred hymn.

……

“No matter what I do, I cannot undo the sins I have committed. I will accept whatever anyone does to me, but… my master, she does not deserve to be treated like this…”

Hei Yu Lai Shi, kneeling on the ground, spoke and pleaded.

"I can't do it."

Yuuki Yukino succinctly refused outright.

"The conflict between Seishion, Genki Mashiro, and Asahimi, who has abandoned her name and past, is ultimately just an internal conflict between them. It's not something I, as an outsider, should interfere with. I've only taken in you homeless people. I can't take responsibility for you, and I certainly can't start a war against Genki Mashiro and Asahimi, two magical girls who wield powerful wands, because of Seishion."

Kuroba Ryouse's shoulders twitched slightly, and she bit her lip tightly where Yuuki Yuki couldn't see.

"I advise you not to act rashly. Although I don't like you, you are still a living being, and I don't want you to die in vain." Yuuki Yukino's timely reminder followed by an additional sentence:

"Furthermore, if you're worried about Saint Shiyin and can't break the rules and restrictions she placed on you, or if you want to protect her because of those restrictions, I can help you tear that thing to shreds."

Kuroba Reincarnation remained seated: "That kind of thing is unnecessary. If it weren't for Master, I wouldn't understand just how terribly wrong I was in the past, much less... so..."

“You don’t need to explain these things to me. Just do what you think you should do and what is right.” Yuuki Yuuki waved her sleeve and turned to leave towards the warehouse door. “Oh, and one more thing: just don’t bother us.”

Hong Moli and Bai Gui Qianyou were slightly taken aback. From Yuki Yuki's words, it seemed that she wanted to let Kuroba return to freedom in the next life.

Releasing a tiger back into the mountains is an absolute no-brainer.

But since the two of them have already made such a choice—that is, not to completely exterminate the Black Feather Reincarnation—it seems a bit inappropriate to try to control the Black Feather Reincarnation now.

The two exchanged glances, understanding each other's thoughts, and then followed Yuuki Yuki's steps, leaving the abandoned warehouse together.

"Yuki Yukino, are you just going to let her go like this? Were you lying to me when you said you weren't worried about her?" Halfway there, Koumori couldn't help but ask Yuki Yukino what she was thinking.

"Neither of you intended to kill her outright, did you?"

“That’s different. I think it’s more meaningful for her to live than for us to kill her. Besides… now that the Primordial Darkness has escaped, who knows what consequences executing a corrupted magical girl would cause? I don’t want to take that risk. Furthermore… cutting someone up isn’t fun at all. I don’t want to see that kind of thing, and I certainly don’t want to be like those guys I hate the most, arrogantly and casually controlling other people’s fate.”

"Oh? You actually thought of this?"

"Don't underestimate me, but speaking of which, are we really just going to let her go free like this? Let her run around on her own?"

“Who said I let her run around on her own? Everything she did was under my control.” Yuuki Yu rubbed her fingers together, revealing a barely perceptible purple line at the tip of her finger and an incredibly cunning smile: “Besides, someone will volunteer to step on the landmine, why should we risk our lives?”

"Tsk tsk tsk." Hong Moli looked completely defeated. "I used to think that Kuroba Rei was the representative of the corrupted magical girl, but now it seems that you are more like the villain than her."

Yuuki Yukino laughed even more heartily, putting her hands behind her back.

"Thank you for the compliment."

Chapter 137 As Always

Koumori was Yuuki Eri's first target, and Mizuno Yu was the second.

There was no other reason; it was simply because Mizuno Yuu truly possessed the ability to calmly analyze and think.

Although when Yuuki Yu entered Mizuno Yu's house and saw Mizuno Yu's body wrapped in a bath towel and the half-closed bathroom with a large bathtub filled with ice, her trust in Mizuno Yu was greatly shaken.

Discussing strategies wasn't part of Yuuki Yui's plan for tonight; she simply needed to inform Mizuno Yui of the news and warn her to be extremely cautious.

To put it a little more pessimistically, Yuuki Yuki simply didn't want to be the only one suffering from this less-than-optimistic reality, so she wanted to share her troubles equally with her good friends.

People with good minds always think alike, and Mizuno Yu asked Yuuki Yuki a similar question.

"Yuki, you came to me alone, and you don't want me to share this worst-case scenario with others, do you?"

"No, not really. I just wanted to hear your opinion. As for the others... we'll see. They might be indecisive because of their personalities or their relationship with me, and could do something irrational. So I think it's better to share some information with you first."

Yuuki Enishi answered in this way, and since it was the second time she had answered a similar question, her answer was certainly more thorough than the one she had given to Koumori.

Mizuno Yu didn't say much about Yuuki Yu's answer, but instead analyzed the current situation with Yuuki Yu.

The coffin containing the Primordial Darkness at the Holy Eternal Academy has been opened, meaning the Primordial Darkness has undoubtedly been released but is currently missing. This could trigger changes to the entire magical girl system.

Therefore, Koumori did not choose to use the "trial" method to deal with Kuroba Reisei, and Mizuno Yu supported this decision.

As for the choice to let Kuroba Laisei go, Mizuno Yu didn't have much of an opinion.

“Saint Shiyin is no longer here. Even if you keep her, she will definitely be a hot potato. Getting rid of her is indeed the most appropriate choice.”

The biggest gain that Yuuki Yuen gained from tonight's exchange was not this information, although Yuuki Yuen herself could not say whether the new discovery counted as a gain.

"The 'Saint' can withstand the power of the primordial magical girls to seal the primordial darkness, but if that's really the case, why put them in that coffin in the first place?"

Mizuno Yu asked this question, and then put forward a completely opposite hypothesis.

"Is it possible that we're thinking in the wrong direction? It's true that the 'Saints' are responsible for sealing the Primordial Darkness with their own bodies. But their actual method is to bear all the power of the Primordial Darkness themselves and then seal it themselves with the power of the Primordial Magical Girls, thus fulfilling their destiny?"

"It is possible that the teacher is [?]".

If Mizuno Yu's guess is correct, then the answers to why Urouge Mashiro needs Seishin, why Seishin cannot withstand the power of the primordial, and why she can save Seishin through this method are all answered.

By stuffing the power of the Primordial Darkness into Saintess's body and then killing her along with that power, the Primordial Darkness would be killed.

That's right, that's also my goal. If the power of the primordial darkness is completely exorcised, then the ever-deepening corruption on Yuuki Eri might also dissipate.

Yuuki Yui had never felt that success was so close to her.

However, with Mizuno Yu's conjecture, Yuuki Yuu noticed a new contradiction.

"That's certainly possible, but that's not right. If we did that, they would only have achieved half of their goal."

Yuuki Yui shook her head as she spoke, using magical lines as chalk and the empty space as a blackboard, drawing and explaining her views to Mizuno Yui.

“The goal of Mashiro and Asahiya is not just to completely eradicate the existence of Darkness, but to eliminate the magical girl herself. If they want to achieve this goal, the primordial power existing in Rin's body is also a part that they must eliminate.”

“That’s right, that’s true. But we’ve been overlooking a more fundamental question—as members of the ‘Saints,’ they should have continued this system. What happened that made them abandon their mission and turn against what they were supposed to protect?”

……

In a secluded little room.

"I am back."

Asahimi pushed open the door, took off his coat, and slowly walked into the room.

Welcome back.

In the brightly lit entryway, a hand had been waiting there for a long time. It took the coat from Asahimi's hand with perfect ease, folded it evenly into thirds in the air, and carried it to the coat rack.

As Asahimi changed into her brand-new dark blue pajamas, the last dish was served, as if it had been timed perfectly to coincide with her return.

Asahi Mirai slowly sat down in the chair next to the dining table, then put her hands together and gently clapped her hands with the girl sitting opposite her, both speaking in unison.

"I'm starting to eat."

The clinking of chopsticks against plates, the faint sounds of chewing and swallowing, and the dwindling food on the table in the silence.

Finally, after all the food on the plate was gone, Asahimi placed the chopsticks together on the rim of the bowl.

Thank you for your hospitality.

The girl said contentedly, got up from her chair, and began to clear the dishes.

The sound of running water filled the air as the brush scrubbed the ceramic bowls and plates, making a soft rustling sound. A rag wiped the tablecloth-covered surface, removing the grime.

Everything proceeded silently and in an orderly fashion, as if this daily routine had been going on for a very long time.

All of this was observed by Sheng Shiyin.

But there was nothing she could do but watch.

A shimmering collar was fastened around the girl's neck, blocking all the magic within her. The wrist of her only remaining arm was handcuffed to the armrest of a soft-backed chair, and the same restraints were placed on her ankles near her bare feet.

A pure white nun's habit was put on Saint Shiyin's body. It was her own clothes, and it was once her pride, but the clothes looked particularly conspicuous in the quiet flow of daily life.

This seemingly peaceful daily routine is actually just as jarring to Sheng Shiyin herself.

Her mouth wasn't sealed, but she had nothing to say, nor did she want to say anything.