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

……

The questioning of Ikeda Satoshi ended quickly, and a breakthrough was made in the case of the large-scale extraction of life energy from ordinary people using a branding-like method, causing them to faint.

However, this progress brought Yuuki Eri more confusion.

It's easier to start with the conclusion.

Starting with the perpetrator, the corrupted magical girl who repeatedly set up magic circles right under Yuuki Yukino's nose and made her escape simply doesn't exist.

However, the only thing that doesn't exist is that "the corrupted magical girl who has been branded" does not exist.

Yuki En's finding of the suspect, Ikeda Satoshi, was purely coincidental.

Yuki Yuki had planned to go to the restroom before the movie started, but as soon as she entered, she saw Ikeda Satoshi staggering out of the restroom and the very familiar brand on the wall of the toilet stall.

Yuki Yukino immediately activated her transformation, but unexpectedly, Ikeda Tomo's response was not to transform and fight Yuki Yukino or simply run away, but instead he collapsed to the ground.

Yuuki Yuuki has a lot of experience fighting magical girls, but this is the first time she's seen this kind of approach.

Yuuki Yukino exclaimed, "Oh wow, there's such a way to fight," as she used her tentacles to tie up Ikeda Tomo. After confirming that he posed no threat, she immediately rushed towards the brand.

Ultimately, Yuuki Yuki came to this conclusion—the real criminals were actually ordinary people influenced by the so-called "Witch."

Each instance of magic was different, making it impossible to track the magic or find the suspect. All these problems were solved by a chance encounter.

The perpetrator was also a victim, which allowed Yuuki Enishi to rule out the suspect from the very beginning of her reasoning.

The title "Witch" was used by Satoshi Ikeda himself.

The suspect, Ikeda Satoshi, who was brought back by Yuki Eri, was gesturing wildly with his hands in the air while speaking in a passionate and impassioned tone, just like a fanatic.

"I received a response from the witch! She can grant my wish! She really granted my wish! The witch is real! Although I've forgotten what my wish was, the happiness I felt after it came true is undeniable!"

The answer seems obvious: these ordinary people are just cannon fodder, and the real mastermind is someone else.

Returning to Ikeda Satoshi, when Yuuki Yuki captured her, she quickly noticed that there was no magic power in her body and she was not a magical girl, but there was a faint magical aura on her body that was very similar to the mark.

Therefore, Yuuki Yukino changed her mind at the last minute and brought Ikeda Satoshi back.

With Sumireko Yumehara around, Yuuki Yukino could save a lot of effort by simply having Sumireko search Ikeda Satoshi's mind to see if she could find any of Ikeda Satoshi's memories about the mark.

Then came the conversation that Ikeda Satoshi overheard.

Baqi tried to get Ikeda Satoshi to say something useful, but after talking for a long time, Ikeda Satoshi couldn't come up with anything coherent. It was clear that the "filler" that Yumehara Sumireko mentioned was working, preventing Ikeda Satoshi from saying anything useful.

Unable to speak out and unable to stay, Yuuki Yukino could only leave Ikeda Tomoya in a deserted place, telling her she was going back and threatening her not to tell anyone what she had seen.

Tomokazu Ikeda knew the infamous Pink Devil, and upon hearing that the other party would let him go as long as he didn't reveal this experience, he immediately became extremely cooperative and repeatedly agreed.

After seeing Ikeda Tomo off, Yuuki Yuki led the others back to Yumehara Sumireko's dream world.

This barrier can prevent the leakage of magic, and it's much more effective than the barrier that Nishio Reki set up near his home.

Capturing Ikeda Tomoya is nothing compared to the mark Yuuki Yukino gained.

Previously at the movie theater, Yuuki Yuuki had already used Nyaruko's ability to distort the rules of the mark itself, removing the self-destructive part of the mark, thus ensuring the integrity of the mark.

Once the surrounding environment allowed, Yuuki Yuki immediately sat cross-legged on the ground and began investigating the mark.

Yuuki Yukina raised her hand, and the brand that was bound and wrapped by countless thin threads appeared in her hand with the aura of magic.

A very thin tentacle reached into the brand, and like stirring a dye vat, it began to wander along the magical lines, probing the secrets that existed within.

The three girls who went on the date with Yuuki today stood beside her, ready to react immediately if any unexpected situation arose.

The girls didn't mention the date again. They could tell what was more important than what Yuuki Yukino was doing right now.

Yumehara Sumireko stood silently beside him, holding the trident in her arms and watching Yuuki Eri with a look of worry that was no less than that of the others.

"I found it, the memory she lost."

Yuuki Yukino was still controlling the tentacles when she suddenly uttered this sentence.

"What?" Ba Qi asked hurriedly.

"It's that girl from just now. There's a gap in her memory because that part of her memory and soul were stripped away together, and they actually exist in this mark." Yuuki Yuen carefully manipulated it.

"She's the one who was arguing downstairs at the Nijisanji building a few days ago. She likes that girl named Suzuka or Suzume."

"Shouldn't it be called Suzuki Haruka?" Helica corrected.

"It doesn't matter what she's called, it doesn't matter anyway, she likes this Suzuki Haruka. Then on her way home, she saw a forum where a legend circulated that only the chosen ones could enter the forum's inner world."

"This inner world is actually a hidden interface, or you could think of it as a new forum. But that's not the point. The point is that everyone who enters the inner world has one thing in common: they've all been chosen by the 'Witch.'"

"This woman hopes to have her wish granted through that 'Witch Lady,' so she spends every day praying, posting, chatting on the forum... basically just wasting her time. But only by doing this can she gain the 'Witch Lady's' attention."

Nishio Reki noticed a loophole in Yuuki Yukino's words and asked directly, "Hasn't she already been chosen? Why does she need any more attention?"

Yuuki Yuen immediately gave the answer: "This is quite easy to understand. Being selected is just the first round of testing. There will be a second round of testing next. In short, it's like a job interview. In the end, only one person can get this honor."

The girls nodded knowingly at this vivid analogy and fell silent, waiting for Yuuki Yukino to continue her explanation.

"Based on her memory, it's clear that the people on the forum are all bad. They want to get revenge on people they hate, they want to get something for nothing, and they want to be popular with women... To put it another way, they want different girls to keep them company every night. Anyway, they're all awful."

"Another thing they have in common is that all the people who enter the forum are young women, around the same age as us... Never mind, it's not important. Anyway, this woman has been given the opportunity to fulfill her wish. Don't rush, I'll continue reading."

Yuuki Yui continued operating, and the scene that appeared in front of her was that of the 'Witch's' messenger, who handed the 'Witch's' talisman to Ikeda Satoshi.

"Tsk."

Yuuki clicked her tongue in displeasure and slowly retracted the tentacles that had been entrenched around the brand.

"I think I know who caused this huge commotion."

Chapter 151 The Boring and Lengthy Decryption and Outburst

The brand surrounding Yuuki Yuki's palm with tentacles grew increasingly dim, and Yuuki Yuki's face became even more gloomy as the brand faded.

After Yuuki Yukina completely removed the mark, she sighed and then slowly spoke.

"I will explain the current situation to you as simply as possible."

The other girls watched intently, nodding as they waited for Yuuki to reveal the answer without disturbing her.

Although the answer to this mystery is anything but exciting.

Yuki Yukino's first words caused everyone's expression to change drastically.

"The girl I just brought back became a magical girl at a certain moment and lived out her magical girl life in its entirety."

Even though none of the girls spoke, the look of confusion on their faces couldn't be clearer.

"Absorbing desires, granting power, then seizing that power along with the girl's soul, and then sending them into that enormous cycle existing in Moonsea City... This mark has so many advantages; it's practically like..."

Nishio Reki continued Yuuki Yukino's words, revealing the answer that Yuuki Yukino had not uttered.

"It's practically like a miniature magical girl system."

Yuuki Yui nodded slowly, acknowledging that what Nishio Reki said was correct, and then added: "To be precise, this thing is practically a miniature system for producing corrupted magical girls."

To explain the composition of this strange mark in detail would take Yuuki Yuki quite a while, but just as a mobile phone user doesn't need to know the function of every single component, Yuuki Yuki doesn't need to explain it in every possible way.

If this brand is the phone itself, then the instruction manual is included inside the phone, and its presence is unavoidable as soon as you get the phone.

That's right, it's the instruction manual hidden in the mark. When Yuuki Yuuki came into contact with it, she discovered its existence. This instruction manual allows even someone who knows nothing about magical girls to use the mark correctly.

The imprint grants power to the user according to their wishes, but this phone consumes a lot of power. Fortunately, it has an automatic charging function—it indiscriminately absorbs the magic power of everyone around it, including the user, to power its functions.

Next, just as Yuuki Yukino said, she was given power, and then that power was taken away, like dipping a piece of fish in wasabi, tearing off a large chunk of the user's original soul.

Finally, the brand will self-destruct, and what is inside will be released, thus completing a perfect crime.

Unable to find the suspect, the magic was different each time, and the mark would self-destruct. If it weren't for Yuuki Yukino's stroke of luck, they might have had to take many more detours.

The reason why Yuuki En calls it a production machine for corrupted magical girls is not only because the aura it originally retained was unique to corrupted magical girls, but also because the desires that this mark responds to are all selfish and greedy.

Yuuki Yukina shared all the information she knew with the girls in a few words, and the final answer became increasingly clear.

"I know who the real mastermind behind this is."

Even without Yuuki Yuki saying anything, everyone already has a suitable candidate in mind.

It grants power to ordinary people, which is then withdrawn at specific times, gathering that power into black magic runes...

Apart from Sumireko Yumehara, who was still in a semi-conscious state at the time, all the other magical girls had witnessed this firsthand.

"Is it... Gen Ken Mashiro?" Helica couldn't help but blurt out the answer that everyone else had.

If it really was Mashiro Gorgen who did all this, then her research results have made leaps and bounds compared to those in Nijiha City.

However, none of those present responded to Helica's guess, even though they were all thinking the same thing; the obvious answer only fueled their suspicions.

It is precisely because the clues are so obvious that people dare not guess the obvious answer, for fear that someone is deliberately misleading them.

It's even possible that Mashiro Gorgen herself wanted to take the blame, so that the other girls would misunderstand and protect the real mastermind, Asahiya.

When Yuuki Yukino thought of this, she couldn't help but wonder if it was Gorgen Mashiro deliberately making her think this way, but the other party's level was actually higher?

If you keep thinking about it, you'll inevitably fall into an endless cycle of suspicion.

"Whether it's Genken Mashiro or not doesn't really matter." Yuuki Yukino was the first to break free from this strange cycle, interrupting everyone's speculation.

In any team, Yuuki Yukari is considered to be one of the more central members, someone whose presence is immediately noticeable. Now that she has spoken, the girls have stopped the turmoil in their minds and are ready to listen to what Yuuki Yukari has to say next.

Yuuki Yukino paused for a moment.

"What's really concerning is what the perpetrators of this series of crimes were planning to do with these bizarre cases?"

……

The girls' discussion in the dream world was quite scattered, but there was one thing they all agreed on.

This matter is definitely related to Mashiro Gakuen or Asahi Miyako and her group.

The fact that the blame could be shifted onto Mashiro Gorakuen proves that the people who committed these crimes were either Mashiro Gorakuen herself or someone who knew her, which already narrows the scope considerably.

While it's possible that this incident has nothing to do with them, the possibility is extremely slim.

On the way out of Yuuki Yuki's house, the atmosphere among the girls seemed to become even more somber, as if a heavy weight was pressing on their hearts, making each heartbeat feel inexplicably oppressive.

Nishio Reki felt it most acutely; every breath he took felt as heavy and difficult as after running the 100-meter dash at school.

Not just Nishio Reki, everyone knew the reason for the somber atmosphere.

An unexpected event disrupted their peaceful lives and led to a whirlwind romance.

The unexpected happened so suddenly. Everyone was enjoying their Valentine's Day date when Yuuki Yuuki suddenly discovered a new clue, and the date was suddenly called off. Suddenly, they were involved in the plans of the enemy of St. Yuuki Academy.