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

"Huh? Huh... I... I..."

Lin Jiezi was stunned for a moment, then immediately began to fidget. Having never experienced a real battle before, she certainly wouldn't be as calm as Yuuki Yukino was now.

Lin Jiezi's movements pulled on her coat, and combined with her own weight, it tore a large hole in the coat. Losing her support, Lin Jiezi fell off the street lamp with a thud, landing on her back on the ground.

It's a bit pitiful, but at least Lin Jiezi is alright.

Just as Yuuki Yuki was about to breathe a sigh of relief, the owner of the lance rushed up to her in a panic.

"Phew, phew... thank goodness, I made it!"

The magical girl, having landed, clutched her chest and opened her palms to the side. The enormous lance, summoned, flew back into her hand.

The girl glanced at Lin Jiezi, who had fallen to the ground and was struggling to get up, then turned her face to Yuki Yuki beside her.

"Are you alright? If I'm not mistaken, you just..."

But the girl swallowed her words halfway through, and instead let out an incredulous scream.

"Yuki-neechan?!"

Yuuki Yuuki had long felt that the wand looked somewhat familiar, but after so many things had happened, her brain cells were already running out of steam.

Upon seeing this face, Yuuki Yuuki finally remembered who the wand belonged to.

She had fought her twice before, and she had even crushed the lance with her own hands once. However, her opponent was simply too weak. In addition, Yuuki Yuuki had been dealing with all sorts of new corrupted magical girls recently, which made her memories a bit blurry.

"Sakuragawa Nana?" Yuuki Yuuki frowned slightly. The situation was special now, and there was no time to think about cognitive impairment or anything like that. Besides, so much had happened on Christmas Eve, so it didn't matter if she called out Sakuragawa Nana's name directly now.

“Yuki-neechan! It really is you! You…” Sakuragawa Nana’s eyes lit up and she ran towards Yuki Yuki.

"Don't come any closer!" Yuuki Yui immediately shouted.

She simply cannot control the magic power within her, but that doesn't mean she's no longer a magical girl. The most basic magical girl ability—the ability to perceive magic—is still there.

Yuuki called out to Sakuragawa Nana because she sensed a powerful magical force rapidly approaching.

No, there's no need to sense magic anymore.

Enveloped in black mist, Saint Shion stood between Sakuragawa Nana and Yuuki Yuuki.

She appeared here suddenly.

It was as if she had always been there.

Chapter 231 The Unpleasant Smell Continues to Spread

"Sakuragawa Nana?"

Yuuki Yuuki looked at the familiar face of the magical girl who had saved Hayashi Kikuko at the last minute, and couldn't help but be a little surprised.

She didn't have much dissatisfaction with Sakuragawa Nana. Firstly, the child was quite respectful to her, and secondly, she wasn't Nana's guardian, so there was no need for her to personally correct Nana's mistakes.

During this period, Sakuragawa Nana was indeed very well-behaved. Yuuki Yuuki could only see her in the classroom of Tsukimi Middle School, or occasionally in the air above Tsukimi City. Whether it was her job as a magical girl or her job as a student, Sakuragawa Nana did a good job during this time.

"Yuki-neechan! It really is you!" Sakuragawa Nana exclaimed in surprise, running towards Yuki Yuki's direction, seemingly forgetting about Hayashi Keko, whom she had impaled on a telephone pole with her lance and then slammed to the ground.

"Yuki-neechan, did you transform just now? Although I know that Yuki-neechan is a magical girl, and everyone with Yuki-neechan is a magical girl, I still don't know what kind of abilities Yuki-neechan has!"

Yuuki Yukina slightly raised her head and watched as Hayashi Mustard, behind Sakuragawa Nana, struggled to get up from the ground, rubbing her sore bottom as she began groping around for something.

Judging from her expression, she was probably looking for the glasses that had just fallen off.

Since the glasses could be found, it meant that Lin Jiezi was not seriously injured, and was not hurt by the sudden shot thrown by Sakuragawa Nana. Yuki Yuki finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Perhaps because Lin Jiezi is not a standard magical girl, but is possessed by the power of the primordial, her actions seem to be unimpeded. On the other hand, Yuuki Yuki, who has mastered one of the three pillar gods, is having great difficulty even moving her fingers. Compared to her, her own situation is probably worse than that of Seishin.

Unable to move, Yuuki Yuki lowered her head and watched Sakuragawa Nana run up to her, sharing some of her personal experiences.

"Yuuki-neechan just fought, right? Against those monsters! How's it going now? Is the problem solved? But I still feel a lot of strange magic, there are corrupted magical girls, and ordinary magical girls, and some of them seem particularly powerful. Actually, I was fighting the whole time, and I even helped evacuate the people. That's all I could do. I felt I was being a bit too willful before, but no one really criticized me. I can't keep going like this; I have to do better. So I've settled Neechan and Rei-neechan in. I don't know where Yuuki Tamaki-neechan is, and… Minato Nana… she's alright. Anyway, Yuuki-neechan, you still haven't answered me!"

The battle that night must have put a lot of pressure on Sakuragawa Nana, right? Otherwise, she wouldn't have shared so many things about magical girls with me right from the start.

But the story doesn't end there!

Just as Yuuki Yukina was about to call out to Sakuragawa Nana, a black figure appeared between them.

The black mist, the long pale yellow hair, and the lifeless eyes—it was none other than Sheng Shiyin.

How did she end up here? And how did she get here?

The moment Yuuki Yukino saw Seishin, countless questions popped into her mind.

Before Yuuki Yuki could find the answer, Seishion had already walked towards her.

To Yuuki Yuuki's surprise, Sakuragawa Nana also ran towards him, brandishing her lance and preparing to block his way.

"Don't come any closer!"

Before Yuuki Yuki could finish speaking, Sakuragawa Nana was already sent flying by the black mist that Seishine casually swung her arm, and her whole body was embedded in the high wall of the building next to her.

Yuuki Yukina knew that even she herself had difficulty dealing with the primordial power, so having Sakuragawa Nana do it was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

Instead of worrying about Sakura Nana, you should worry more about yourself.

Saint Shion's hand was already in front of Yuuki Yuuki, and she grabbed Yuuki Yuuki's collar with one hand, lifting her up as if she were a light, floating bubble.

Saint Shion's seemingly effortless movements caused Yuuki En to feel a suffocating pain, as her entire neck was tightened, making it increasingly difficult for her to breathe.

However, her body still felt like it didn't belong to her; her limbs were as heavy as lead, and no matter how Yuuki tried to move them, she couldn't budge an inch.

Yuuki Yuuki has always taken the power of magical girls for granted. She may have fantasized about what life would be like if she lost her magical girl powers, but she never thought about what would happen if these powers turned against her.

Yuuki Yui gritted her teeth and watched as Seishin lifted herself up with her slender arms and walked step by step toward Hayashi Mustard.

With just a little contact, Yuuki Yukari already knew what Seishine was planning to do.

This is really bad!

Lin Jiezi hadn't found her lost glasses yet, but that didn't stop her from seeing an ominous figure walking towards her step by step.

While in mid-air, Lin Jiezi suddenly felt all her strength disappear, and then she plummeted from the sky at high speed. Just when she thought she was going to die, she was saved by a flying lance.

This series of unexpected developments had already left Lin Jiezi's brain reeling. Her search for her glasses was still an instinctive, thoughtless action. But now, seeing Sheng Shiyin approaching, Lin Jiezi's brain completely shut down, and she remained motionless in her dark, crawling posture.

When Lin Jiezi saw Sheng Shiyin's hand reach out in front of her and lift her up with one hand, it was too late to struggle.

After mentioning Lin Jiezi, Sheng Shiyin made no further moves and simply stood still.

But the fact that Sheng Shiyin didn't make any extra movements didn't mean nothing had happened. The black mist surrounding Sheng Shiyin's body seemed to come alive, spiraling up her arms and crawling towards Lin Jiezi and Yuki En.

"Let go of Xiaoyuan!"

A loud shout came from above Yuuki Yuki's head, followed by a hail of bullets.

The flames from the explosion burned Yuuki Yuuki's cheeks, causing her to feel a sharp pain as if her whole body was on fire. The smoke and dust obscured her vision, and the smell of gunpowder filled her nostrils, making her want to cough, but she found it even more difficult to breathe because her throat was being choked.

A hand reached out from the smoke and dust, its target undoubtedly himself.

But before that hand could touch her, Yuuki saw the black mist, which was supposed to be pointing at her, turn around and slap the hand back.

More attacks began to descend: dazzling lightning, cold moonlight, boiling blood, and turbulent waves.

One thing after another, they all came rushing toward him, toward the hymns that were gripping his collar.

As if dancing, Saint Shion dodged and weaved through the torrent of magic, occasionally waving her arms to splash the black mist around her like a great artist painting the sky, thus obscuring the girls' vision and blocking their powerful attacks.

No, that's absolutely not allowed!

Their teamwork was fairly good, and they hardly got in each other's way. However, such an attack was something that neither Higanbana nor Kuroba Reisei during the festival could defeat!

When did these guys become so weak?

Was it exhaustion? Had the series of battles significantly reduced their fighting ability?

No, that's not it at all. It's because of themselves. Because they and Lin Jiezi are still in Sheng Shiyin's hands, they want to stop Sheng Shiyin, but they are also worried that the aftershocks of the battle will harm them and Lin Jiezi who cannot transform. That's why they are fighting with restraint.

During the time when Yuuki Yukino was still hiding her identity, she received protection from her companions more than once. They would let her escape first during battles and cover her retreat when she fled...

Yuuki Yukino never had any particular feelings. Ultimately, it was because Yuuki Yukino herself had strong enough combat power to handle most situations, so she didn't have the thought that she was a burden to everyone.

But now, she suddenly understood. She understood why Xiao Li would rather cooperate with Sheng Shiyin than not stand by her side. She understood why Helika had such a strong obsession after losing to her. She understood the anger and pain of Baqi when she almost lost herself. She understood what it felt like to be truly weak. She understood what it felt like to be powerless to do anything.

No, why am I even thinking about this kind of thing?

This isn't something I should be thinking about right now, is it?

Perhaps it's because they truly have no way to change the situation.

Yuuki Yuuki coughed a few times, looking down at her chest, which was stained red and throbbing with pain; she felt as if something was gripping her heart and soul; she heard the voice calling her name beside her ear, and her consciousness was fading away.

"Xiao Yuan!"

"Yuki!"

"Senior Yuuki!"

The sudden change made the girls' hearts tighten.

Saint Shiyin briefly disappeared from her spot, and when she reappeared, she was already several meters away.

This was achieved through the power of time.

But that's not the point at all! How she did it is completely unimportant!

Behind Yuuki Yukino, who was being carried by Seishin with one hand, a clump—no, a sharp blade formed entirely of black mist—was sticking out. Dark water stains slowly spread across Yuuki Yukino's coat, and a pungent smell of rust slowly permeated the air.

Chapter 232 Holding it tightly in my hand

Tick, tick, tick.

The sound of dark red blood falling to the ground echoed through the street. It was a sound so subtle that anyone could easily ignore it, yet it was heard with unparalleled clarity by the magical girls.

The magical girls who had just been launching a fierce attack on Saint Shion froze in place. Not one of them could take their eyes off Saint Shion, who had suddenly appeared not far away. Their pupils constricted in disbelief at the scene before them. Then, the pale moonlight and streetlights revealed a scene that could only be described as hell.

Lightning dissipated into pale sparks in mid-air, the barrier of frost turned into dust and fell in a flurry, and black water streams poured down from the sky in a broken drizzle.

Dark red blood was gushing out from the black mist that had pierced Yuuki En's chest, falling along the hem of his clothes and shattering on the ground, its surface shimmering faintly in the moonlight, a sight that made one's heart clench.

Nishio Reki's knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground, clutching the fabric of his shirt tightly with one hand, letting out a muffled sob, as if this would lessen his pain.

But in reality, nothing could be changed. It only made Nishio Reki's internal organs churn violently. The surging stomach acid made Nishio Reki suddenly cover her mouth, and broken gasps and broken calls of "you" came out of her throat, as if this was the only lifeline she could grasp at now.

It was as if the chest pierced by the sacred hymn was Nishio Reki himself.

"asshole……"

Inuyama Baki's teeth were grinding together, as if all her sharp teeth were about to shatter from her excessive force.