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

Of course, this is only from a combat perspective. Out of personal considerations, Yuuki Yukino also doesn't want Hayashi Mustard to get involved.

Even though she possessed primordial power, she was merely a vessel for the primordial being in a moment of desperation; in essence, she was just an ordinary girl.

It's inappropriate to involve ordinary girls in the conflicts of magical girls.

Yuuki Yukino frowned, her tone incredibly gentle, yet firm enough to leave no room for Lin Jiezi to refute.

"This is dangerous, it's not something you should be involved in."

Wait!

Why did Yuuki Yuen assume that Lin Jiezi already knew about this when she said these things?

Yuki Yuen deliberately didn't invite Hayashi Keiko, probably because she didn't know what she was supposed to do. Although Yuki Yuen didn't consider Hayashi Keiko a fool, Hayashi Keiko wasn't a quick-witted girl who could figure out her plans from the smallest details or even by reading the air.

Lin Jiezi had no idea what Yuki Yuen was thinking. She simply lowered her head in front of Yuki Yuen, her fingers clenched tightly together, her voice trembling as she tried to stick to her own ideas.

“I…I know…but I…can help…I really…can…”

"But you don't have the ability to fight."

Yuki En patiently guided him, not caring how the other party knew his thoughts; his main priority was to keep Lin Jiezi here.

Yuki Enishi's words seemed to have really worked; Lin Jiezi stammered for a long time, seemingly unable to refute them.

“Right?” Yuuki Yui pressed her advantage: “It’s no big deal. We can handle this kind of thing, just like every time.”

"This...this time...it's different...this time, it's very dangerous, everyone might be in danger. But everyone else went...I want to too..."

"Hmm?" Yuuki Yuuki let out a soft exclamation.

Everyone discussed countermeasures without keeping it from Lin Jiezi, but Lin Jiezi definitely knew less information than the others, so it's a bit strange that she's saying this now.

Who told Lin Jiezi everything in such detail? Otherwise, how could she know so much?

If this is just a guess, it's far too accurate; it's practically impossible.

"And... I... I'm not incapable of doing nothing. I... maybe I can't do it myself, but... another power within me should be able to do it." Lin Jiezi continued to stammer.

Lin Jiezi mentioned the primordial power within her?

From the day of their school trip, the magical girls tried their best to avoid talking about anything related to Hayashi Mustard, at least in front of her.

After all, no one would be in a good mood knowing that they harbor a monster within them that could destroy everything. Yuuki Yukino, who felt the filth within her growing daily, understood this all too well.

Only Nishio Reki knows the truth about Hayashi Mustard, but because she is constantly being monitored by another part of the original power, Reki cannot tell the truth. However, Nishio Reki also said that Hayashi Mustard is harmless under normal circumstances.

The others were somewhat influenced by Xiao Li and avoided discussing these matters. Although Lin Jiezi lost control a few times later, everyone tacitly chose to remain silent.

People believe that this is protecting the forest mustard seed.

Perhaps it was because Lin Jiezi was too transparent in her usual behavior, or perhaps because she seemed too harmless, that everyone more or less overlooked her own thoughts and took it upon themselves to protect her.

But in reality, Lin Jiezi was never, and could never, a fool.

Although Yuuki Enishi decided to take action tonight, she wasn't in such a hurry that things were about to get really urgent.

It's not too late to chat with Lin Jiezi and ask about her recent situation.

"Lin, do you know what's inside your body?"

At this point, Yuuki Yukari knew that she might be embarking on a path of no return, and she was unusually frank with Lin Jiezi.

“I…I don’t know…but…she…she’s always trying to tell me something…and I…know some things too.” Lin Jiezi stammered.

"What do you want to tell me?" Yuuki asked in return.

“Sometimes… it’s a dream… sometimes… I just know… I know so much… things that Yuuki-kun hasn’t experienced… I know a lot,” Lin Jiezi said.

Yuki En recalled Lin Jiezi's unusual visit, during which she told him that she knew many things that Yuki En didn't.

She thought Lin Jiezi might be a time traveler or a player in a game, but the truth was actually simpler.

There was only one original magical girl, and there must be one and only one at any time and in any space.

For the original magical girl, any dimension such as time and space is meaningless; on the contrary, it is precisely because of her existence that time and space exist.

Just like a gamer sitting in front of a computer, even with countless save files, the game's progress only allows her to open one at a time.

Lin Jiezi is the embodiment of the original magical girl in this world. She herself is an anchor point, so while serving as an anchor point, her existence must also abide by the original rules.

Whether she likes it or not, the primordial power will exist through her. Just as Sumireko Yumehara has been tainted by magic for a long time, Hayashi Mustardko herself is also becoming more and more connected with the primordial power in a subtle way.

Therefore, Lin Jiezi can see things that happened at other times.

This is not surprising at all, but when Yuuki heard Hayashi Keiko say these words in person, she was still somewhat shocked.

"So, what do you know?"

Yuuki Yukari herself felt that her question was completely pointless, no different from her previous question, "What did she tell you?"

Amidst a sea of ​​possibilities, Yuuki Yukino herself was unsure what kind of answer she wanted to hear.

“I know… about the past of that power within me,” Lin Jiezi stammered. “And… about Yuuki-kun’s… ending.”

Chapter 177 The Story Before It Begins

When Yuuki Yuuki stood on the ground again, the feeling of being grounded gave her an extremely strong sense of unreality.

The chirping of insects, which she hadn't heard in a long time, lingered in her ears. The warmth brought by the night breeze caused beads of sweat to appear on the nose of Yuuki Yuen, who was wearing out-of-season clothes. Everything in front of her was completely different from what Yuuki Yuen had seen at the end.

It's as if everything that happened to me was just a dream.

Apart from himself, and the huge, pure white coffin silently standing behind him.

Their presence reminded Yuuki Enishi that everything that had happened in the past few hours was real.

Yuuki Yukino rubbed her temples, slowly recalling the events of the past.

On an ordinary night, Nishio Reki found herself, showing off her dark magic markings after her corruption, saying things like she could decide her own future, and started a battle with herself.

Afterwards, she won, and she prepared to do to Nishio Reki what magical girls should do to fallen magical girls. She even accepted her confession.

However, a mysterious force erased the corrupting power from Nishio Reki's body, and Nishio Reki revealed the whole truth to him: the one who started it all was Seishine from Seishi-Yuu Academy.

So, Yuuki Yuuki and Nishio Reki rushed to St. Yuuki Academy, found out about Seishin, but in doing so, they opened Pandora's box.

The girl sealed in the pure white coffin was brought back to light, and with her awakening came what seemed to be endless darkness.

The unknown girl's power was so great that even the combined efforts of Yuuki Yuki and Nishio Reki had no way to resist it.

In the final moment before the girls were about to be swallowed by despair, Nishio Reki sent Yuuki flying through the layers of encirclement, causing her to crash next to the girl's sleeping coffin.

If Yuuki Yuki and Nishio Reki's guesses are correct, this coffin and this magic wand must contain a way to re-seal the girl.

Yuuki Yukino touched the coffin. Although she couldn't find any way to put the girl back in, she touched the last remaining power in Pandora's box, a power called hope.

Although hope shouldn't be pitch black, nor should it exude an ominous aura that Yuuki Yukina could sense just by looking at it, anything that Yuuki Yukina could grasp or rely on was hope to her.

So she grabbed the only thing left in the coffin, a dark purple orb of light, and tore it out from the layers of decaying magical chains.

With Yuuki Yuuki's help, the ball of light broke free of the chains binding it and fell into Yuuki Yuuki's palm.

It slowly merged into the girl's body along Yuuki Enishi's palm.

Thinking of this, Yuuki Yuen's mind felt as if it had been struck by a warhammer, constantly emitting a dull buzzing sound.

Yuuki Yukino slowly sat down, leaning against the massive coffin, rubbing her throbbing temples with both hands, recalling what had happened afterward...

Yuuki Yui only remembered that her head hurt a little back then, just like it hurts now.

The abandonment (later...)

After that, Yuuki Yuuki seemed to hear countless voices, some joyful, some angry, some sad, and some fearful.

Some were dull, some were shrill, some were rapid, and some were long; all sorts of different sounds and emotions exploded in Yuuki Emi's mind at the same time.

Just recalling that feeling made Yuuki Yukino's head ache even more, making it difficult for her to continue thinking.

"Haa...haa..."

Yuuki En was breathing heavily, tilting her head back and looking up at the waning moon in the sky.

After a long while, Yuuki Yuuki finally felt her brain, which had been like mush, begin to clear.

Later, relying on the power that had merged into his body, he forcibly used the coffin—the wand that, for some reason, could exist in a physical form—to send himself and the coffin, along with the coffin itself, against the flow of time to the present moment.

For some reason, Yuuki Yui knew that the coffin possessed such power, and she believed that she could definitely do it herself.

So, what time is it now?

Judging from the current temperature, it should be summer, right?

No wonder it's a bit stuffy, but it shouldn't be the height of summer yet.

As Yuuki Yui thought about it, she unbuttoned her coat, rolled it up, and threw it into the coffin, leaving only a thin, sweat-soaked shirt clinging softly to her body.

Although a shirt is a bit too much for this season, the most Yuuki Yukino can do is roll up her sleeves.

The surrounding scenery is very familiar to me. It's not too far from my home. Although the seasons change, it's almost the same as I remember it.

If I succeed, then this should be the early summer before everything started, right?

It was the summer before all the stories began—the summer before she met any magical girls, before she fought against the corrupted magical girls led by Kuroba Reisei.

To confirm her thoughts, Yuuki Yuuki called over a passerby and, under the guise of asking for the time, found out the exact time.

Just like Yuuki En thought, she was accurately transported to the present by that ability.

It has to be said that this time of day is indeed a bit hot and humid.

Yuuki Yukino lifted the hem of her shirt and fanned herself a few times, letting the cool breeze blow on her stomach.

Just then, Yuuki Yui noticed something on her body.

Dark purple patterns were clinging to his body, flowing with a dark glow.

This is... the Black Demon Pattern?

The last missing piece of the puzzle in Yuuki Yuuki's memory was also completed at this moment.

The power I received from the pure white coffin at that time was the power of a fallen magical girl.

And its name is...

"Nyarlathotep".

As Yuuki Yukino uttered the name of the magic wand, a dark purple aura enveloped the girl's entire body, replacing her sweat-soaked clothes with a long purple dress that barely covered half of her skin.