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

"Ah! Mother! You've come! You've come to welcome us! Our mission is finally complete!"

Black tears streamed from her eyes, running down her dry skin.

The old woman's voice became decades younger, transforming into that of a young girl. She shouted in a trembling, youthful tone:

"Our bodies will become our mother's beacon, our lives will become her foundation! We will burn everything to offer our mother the greatest victory!"

Pfft.

The old woman's body was like a flattened paint ball, squeezed into a pile of tattered mud on the ground. The black mud merged with the surrounding mud, becoming one with the other black mud, and together they began to stir restlessly.

Plop, plop, plop, plop.

It was as if the sound of a seasoning packet being squeezed was constantly echoing through the streets and alleys, and behind each sound was the breaking of a non-human thing disguised in human skin.

Some disappear quietly alone, while others have their grandest farewell in the very center of the crowd.

The splashing mud landed between the rocks, on the road, and on the faces of people who didn't have time to dodge.

Regardless of age, they were all like this, like a group of fanatical believers who were willing to sacrifice themselves for their faith, casting a shadow over the hearts of the people of Moonsea City with their crazy behavior.

Sakura Hanako gripped her wand tightly and plunged into the crowd from the sky, sweeping away the filthy, fanatical believers.

But when they were exposed to Sakura Hanako's eyes, before she could rush over, they had already turned into a puddle of mud.

Sakura Hanako gritted her teeth, caught in a dilemma, and reluctantly returned to the side of the other magical girls.

"Senior, these guys... why are they here again? And what are they doing?"

"I don't know, but their retreat just now was obviously a feint. Now that Yuuki and Tenrai have entered the Dream Realm, there's no point in them stopping us anymore, so they retreated temporarily."

Mizuno Yu drew her bow and nocked an arrow; a shimmering streak of light pierced the night, piercing the chest of a little girl who had just raised her hands.

Black mud oozed from the wound, then froze under the magic emanating from the icy arrow. The little girl glared venomously at the building a kilometer away, her expression frozen in the thin ice that covered her body, before crumbling into scattered ice powder with a crisp cracking sound.

"Now they're starting to make noise again. Either they're trying to drain our magic, but that's unlikely. Or something is coming."

As Mizuno Yu spoke, she glanced at Koumori, who was clenching her teeth. Her mood seemed to have calmed down a little, but she hadn't taken any further action yet.

Meanwhile, Hyakki Chiyu stayed by Koumori's side the whole time, without making any other moves.

Mizuno Yu turned her gaze back and fired another arrow at the fanatical believers within sight, while simultaneously analyzing the current situation.

They conceal their presence with the black mud covering the ground, disguise themselves as others, blend into the crowd to spread chaos, and then bring fear to its peak.

Something is still missing; their purpose remains incomprehensible.

While calmly considering whether there were any clues she might have overlooked, Mizuno Yu fired another arrow, piercing and freezing yet another raging believer.

But compared to their self-destruction speed, Mizuno Yu was still too slow on her own.

Moreover, they are all hidden among civilians, and Mizuno Yu could not launch a large-scale attack to carry out indiscriminate cleansing. All she could do was to delay the inevitable disaster as much as possible.

This situation did not last long before no more people began to self-report.

But the black mud, just like before, was spread all over the ground and was now boiling violently.

Mizuno Yu changed her sniping target, shooting her arrow at the mud on the ground.

The mud coated the arrow, much like throwing a block of ice into a boiling pot of soup. The two substances canceled each other out, which indeed weakened the reaction considerably, but the effect was much worse than Mizuno Yu had predicted.

Mizuno Yu fired a few more arrows, cutting away the black mud in sight, but then the black mud underwent a new change.

The hedgehog-like black mud shed its sharp spines and, like raindrops flying backwards, slowly rose from the ground, summoned by some inexplicable force, returning to the embrace of the sky.

More spikes emerged, then detached, and black droplets rose from every corner of the city, densely packed, sending chills down one's spine.

If this scene were to be called a rainstorm, it would certainly be a downpour, a downpour that flies backwards.

Inky raindrops washed against the backdrop of the city where the girls grew up, cleansing the filthy ground and walls, leaving all the grime to the sky, only the broken streets and the bewildered people watching this scene.

People on the street raised their phones, flashes going off one after another, like a sky full of stars, as if the world had truly turned upside down.

This scene is definitely not normal. Anyone who comes here knows that the situation is extremely abnormal, but different people have different reactions. People are surprised, people are recording, and people feel the presence of crisis again after the joy of surviving the disaster.

The people who were running away all looked up and stared at the black mud flowing in the sky, outlining a new shape that they had never heard of or seen before.

"Mommy! Mommy! There's a painting in the sky! A very strange painting."

The little girl, who kept shaking her mother's arm, stood on tiptoe, trying every possible way to peek out her little head, as if she wanted to get closer to the sky.

The little girl's mother gaped, holding her daughter's hand tightly, as if afraid that a new, unsettling event would snatch the girl away from her.

"Sweetie, sweetie, don't look, let's go home, let's go home, okay?"

The girl's mother's voice trembled as she tried to calm her own fear by soothing her child, but this did little to help her.

Go home, run away, but where can I run to under this sky painted with strange patterns?

If even the safest place in one's home is within this area, then at what unexpected moment will this sword of Damocles hanging over one's head fall?

The little girl's mother didn't know the answer to this question, and nobody else did either. The nerves of the people who had just gone through that ordeal were already extremely fragile and couldn't withstand any more torment.

But the strange patterns gradually forming in the sky were not the end; these raindrops flying backwards meant that their nightmare would not end there.

Just then, someone recognized the truth behind the mysterious patterns floating in the sky.

"That! I've seen that thing on the news! Remember Rainbow Leaf City? Last year in Rainbow Leaf City! Something like that appeared there too!"

"What?! Could it be the magical girls from Rainbow Leaf City attacking? Someone save us! Where are the magical girls?! Please come and save us! Why is this happening to me?!"

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid! Everything will be alright! The magical girls will come to save us, everything will be alright!"

"Where are they? Where were they when we needed them most! I told you! Magical girls shouldn't even exist!"

Even without anyone to encourage them, the seeds of restlessness have already sprouted everywhere.

The time when they will blossom and bear fruit is probably not far off.

Meanwhile, another flower has already bloomed.

Ice flowers bloomed along the girl's fingers, and sharp arrowheads grew from them. Another ice arrow was grasped in Mizuno Yu's hand and aimed at the huge magic rune in the sky.

Before Mizuno Yui could press the bowstring against it, Koumori, whose pupils had been trembling violently, raised her hand to stop Mizuno Yui's actions, which she knew were futile but were still trying to delay.

"it's useless."

Mizuno Yu hesitated briefly, but then chose to believe Koumori's words.

The previous conflict between the two sides was almost completely resolved because of Yuuki Eri's presence. During the previous slumber incident, everyone spent some time together in the dream world. Even if Mizuno Yu couldn't say that she fully understood Koumori, she had some unique opinions of her own.

In the world of magical girls who value idealism, those who can calmly consider the current situation are rare. When such a person tries to stop her at this moment, Mizuno Yu believes it would be better to respect the other person and listen to their perspective.

Mizuno Yuu put down the Ice Bow, but remained standing on the edge of the building, looking down at the commotion below.

The black magic runes that spanned the entire city appeared once again, similar to those in Rainbow Leaf City, but with some differences.

The enormous black magic rune that appeared in Rainbow Leaf City seems more like an external organ used by Mashiro Urouge to store magical energy, and Mashiro Urouge has never actually used it to do anything extraordinary.

This time, it seems that Mashiro Gorgen has ulterior motives and is definitely preparing an extraordinary conspiracy.

"Why do you say that? Is it because the black magic rune has already taken shape?"

“No, that’s not it.” Hong Moli shook her head: “This black magic pattern… Yuuki Yuen once told me about it, and I have a general understanding of its composition. Now that I’ve seen it with my own eyes, I’m even more certain. It looks huge, but its composition isn’t anything special. It’s just a device that stores its magic power outside its body, so that if needed, it can directly use its abilities with this magic power. It’s just an appetizer.”

No wonder?

Several months later, Mizuno Yu finally understood the purpose behind the massive black magic mark that Urobuchi Mashiro had set up in Nijiha City.

It was not only a storage device for magic, but also a lure used to capture primordial magical girls. Although Lin Jiezi was not caught in the trap at the time, if the primordial magical girl had sensed the power contained within, she would very likely have revealed herself directly.

Another point is that the Black Magic Mark was also a Stand device that Urouge Mashiro used as a precaution. Every time Urouge Mashiro used Yog's spatial abilities in Nijiha City, she used the magic power in the external Black Magic Mark. Even if the original magical girl really sensed it, its first target should have been the huge Black Magic Mark, not Urouge Mashiro herself.

However, none of these proved useful, so the magical girls only had a rough idea of ​​the composition of the Black Magic Mark. But if a real problem arose, this would be Mashiro Urouge's biggest guarantee.

Now the Black Magic Runes have reappeared.

Mashiro Gorgen is someone who makes thorough preparations for everything, regardless of whether it will be useful or not. This was true in Nijima City, and it is even more so now in Tsukimi City.

Since she dared to place this black magic rune so openly here without worrying about the magical girls destroying it, it means that she must have sufficient confidence or countermeasures.

In other words, Genki Shinshiro, who released this black demonic pattern, is determined to obtain it.

What happens next... how do we predict what will happen next?

What is she going to do? What is she capable of doing? What is the connection between these two things?

Mizuno Yu's train of thought got stuck here. She wasn't a corrupted magical girl, and the clues she knew were extremely limited, so it was difficult for her to fully immerse herself in the mindset of a corrupted magical girl to think about these things.

"So, what exactly is this thing used for? What does Genki Mashiro plan to do with it?"

“I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter now,” Hong Moli said. “Because He has already come.”

"Who is He?" Bai Gui Qianyou finally saw Hong Moli speak and quickly hugged Moli's shoulders to ask.

Hong Moli didn't answer directly. Instead, she raised her shoulders, which were being held by Qian You, and slowly extended her index finger, pointing towards the distant horizon.

"Hmm?" Sakura Hanako looked in the direction Koumari pointed, but apart from the black magic runes that they had either heard Yuuki Yui describe or seen with their own eyes, there was nothing on the horizon: "But there's nothing there? Nobody's showing up at all!"

Before Sakura Hanako could finish speaking, the black demonic runes in the sky began to stir.

The crowd below also began to stir.

In the blink of an eye, the black magic pattern shattered like a mirror, and the filthy black mud and ominous magic power vanished without a trace.

Behind the shattered mirror, something appeared, as if it had always been there.

Most of them are not lifeless things, but individuals, living people, magical girls who are prepared for battle and always on high alert.

Above the magical girls' heads was a huge skylight from which countless frenzied magical energies were gushing out, like a water inlet pouring its seemingly endless contents into a container called Moonsea City.

This magic...

Now they no longer need to ask Hong Moli why she was so shocked.

They had all been taken to the Dreamland by Sumireko Yumehara and had personally experienced the chaotic magic within it.

The magic leaking from that rift far surpassed anything existing in the Dream Realm in every respect.

"If I'm not mistaken, that place is..." Mizuno Yuya, like Koumori, began to feel her mouth dry. Saying a simple sentence was no easier than swallowing a large piece of rice. She had already thought of that unrealistic possibility.

"Yes."

Hong Moli slowly stood up from the ground, her scarlet eyes reflecting deep cracks like nebulae.

"That place is a turbulent flow where time and space have lost their meaning. It is the existence of this place that allows magical girls to exist. When magical girls lose their powers, their souls will return here. In the words of Sumireko Yumehara, that place is the 'cycle' of magical girls."

“But, Mari, isn’t that cycle completely imperceptible? The magic in the Dream Realm was created because Sumireko Yumehara transferred a large amount of magic to create a very similar environment. Now, not only can we not perceive it, but we can even see it with our own eyes.”