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

She turned her head back blankly, her neck stiff as a gear.

I was right.

The scaly man whose head he had smashed open staggered to his feet from the pile of rubble.

On her face, where only half a chin remained... no, perhaps it was the broken surface of her chin and neck cavity that gradually lit up with a deep purple light, like a small nightlight, but it was indeed shining, the radiance of magic.

If I could still sense the magic, I wouldn't make such a basic mistake.

It seems too late for Nishio Reki to think about such things now.

The headless, scaly figure limped toward Nishio Reki and the broken section of the ruins, purple light spots beginning to spill from her neck like gushing blood.

But it wasn't blood plasma; it was a soft solid, at least that's how Nishio Reki could tell.

Tentacles, the arms and legs of some kind of soft-bodied creature, were rushing out of the monster's neck.

Strange changes began to occur in the monster's body; it swelled up like a balloon or a sack, and the contents of the sack were trying to squeeze out of her body.

Lin Jiezi's voice rang in my ears again.

"Nishio-kun, stop looking! We need to run..."

Nishio Reki knew he had to run, but it might be too late.

The scaly man started moving again, but this time he wasn't running; instead, he rolled towards Nishio Reki like a tumbleweed blown by the wind.

From the strange man's neck cavity, wildly thrashing tentacles almost reached Nishio Reki's face.

Chapter 280 What, are you talking about me?

Seeing tentacles crawling out from the severed neck of the headless, scaly monster, seemingly about to climb onto his face at any moment, Nishio Reki gritted his teeth and once again swung the water pipe he had just picked up at the monster's head.

The same, even greater force, slammed solidly onto the monster's head—if those tentacles could be called a head.

But what happened was completely different from what Nishio Reki had initially experienced. Those soft tentacles seemed to have drained all of Nishio Reki's strength, and the steel water pipe slapped against it, making only a soft slapping sound.

Those tentacles actually climbed up the steel pipe in Nishio Reki's hand, just like when Yuuki Yuuki took away Tenrai Helica's warhammer during their previous battle.

As Nishio Reki watched the tentacles hurtling toward his arm, he didn't have time to think. He released the steel pipe and fell backward, managing to dodge to the side before the tentacles actually touched him.

The steel pipe, entangled by the tentacles emerging from its neck, emitted a teeth-grinding creaking sound. Then, like an ice cream stick, it was bent into a jumbled mess, finally falling to the ground with a clatter, rolling several times among the rubble and bricks.

This is the true power of a magical girl's creation. Bending a water pipe with her own strength is something not all magical girls can do. Even destroying a block of streets wouldn't have taken her much effort before, but asking her to deal with this kind of monster is simply courting death.

"Hey!"

Lin Jiezi used the same trick again, throwing large bricks at the monster. The bricks shattered on the monster's body, but it was still useless, leaving not a single scratch.

Compared to the monster's power, Lin Jiezi's blow, which was enough to knock someone unconscious, couldn't even be described as a child's whining.

"Stop looking!" Nishio Reki hurriedly scrambled towards Hayashi Mustard, shouting, "Don't worry about anything, let's go! Let's go!"

But Lin Jiezi didn't move. Instead, her eyes widened, and the look of terror on her face was even greater than before, as if she had witnessed the scenery of hell.

At the same time, Nishio Reki heard the sound of something being torn open behind him, like a heavy canvas bag suddenly having a large hole in it, and the contents inside began to spill out onto the ground.

She instinctively turned her head back, but what she saw almost made her heart stop beating.

The swollen body of the scaly monster was stretched open by the soft contents inside, and tentacles that swayed everywhere were wriggling out of its body, gradually brightening with a more dazzling light.

Nishio Reki saw it clearly: it was a jellyfish, born from its broken body like a nightlight, stretching out its tentacles in the empty, silent night.

Like ripples constantly spreading in the air, its umbrella-like cap seemed to encompass the entire universe, making its appearance indescribable by conventional colors. Moreover, its size exceeded that of any jellyfish that Nisio Reki had ever known.

It wasn't as bizarre as other monsters; instead, it possessed a strange beauty that couldn't be connected to the scaled human body from before.

But it is just as dangerous, no different from any other monster.

The jellyfish paused in mid-air for a moment, then, as if noticing Nishio Reki, it spread its tentacles, transformed itself into a bullet, and shot towards the half-collapsed wall top where Nishio Reki was located.

There's really no way to deal with this kind of thing.

Nishio Reki was filled with despair. He lowered his arms and awaited the inevitable end.

But a shadow flashed past his eyes, and even though Nishio Reki's dynamic vision was not weak, it was difficult for him to identify what it was.

Actually, there was no need for Nishio Arata to identify it; the thing was right in front of him.

The lance that fell from the sky pierced through the jellyfish's body, pinning the monster to the ground at an angle. The jellyfish, now pierced, could only weakly raise its tentacles, unable to touch anything.

Even though a few lances coiled around it, they couldn't replicate their earlier feat of snapping a water pipe. In the end, they just drooped helplessly, then exploded into scattered specks of light, marking their complete death.

The magical girl, who was standing on a lance with one foot, flicked her hair and turned to look at Nishio Reki behind her.

The night breeze ruffled the girl's disheveled hair, revealing a familiar face beneath it.

Nishio Reki had never imagined that this not-so-likable face could become so reassuring.

……

"That's about it. I met the two of them on the road who were being chased by monsters, and then I escorted them all the way here."

Having already deactivated her transformation, Sakuragawa Nana said this as she plopped down on the sofa where guests were being entertained.

This is Nana Minato's coffee shop, but given what happened in the city, there's no way any customer would have the leisure to continue enjoying coffee here. Even the shop door has been firmly locked by Nana Minato with a roller shutter.

It was only after Nishio Reki called Minato Nana and told her that he was at the store entrance that Minato Nana let the two of them in.

The lights were off in the shop at the time. Although the monsters weren't very intelligent, they still had basic thinking abilities and phototaxis, just like normal creatures. Pretending that no one was there was the safest thing to do, which was what Mina Nana was thinking. That's why she didn't risk going home but hid in the shop.

"You two must have been terrified, right? Would you like something to drink or eat?" Minato Nana wasn't in a hurry to ask about the cause and effect of the matter, but instead cared about Nishio Reki and Hayashi Mustard.

"No, thank you, manager."

"I...I don't...need not."

The two politely declined Nana's offer.

Nana Minato didn't press the matter, and first asked Nana Sakuragawa, "Are Rei and Aika alright?"

"My sister and Ling are both very nice. The live house is underground, and those monsters aren't smart enough to come in. I thought there might be something I could help with, so I came out alone. I was fighting and killing along the way when I happened to run into the two of them. They asked me to escort them for a while, and since I knew them, I helped them out."

Hearing Sakuragawa Nana say that everyone else was alright, Minato Nana breathed a sigh of relief: "Taki is fine too, she's staying at home, so she should be safe."

"Not necessarily. If Yuuki Yukino wants to find Hayashi Mustard, she will definitely go home, but... Tamaki-neechan shouldn't be affected, right? After all, she's Yuuki Yukino's sister." Nishio Reki first denied it, then muttered to himself to try and make amends.

Nishio Reki's words inevitably caught the attention of Minato Nana and Sakuragawa Nana.

"Yuki-neechan? What's wrong?"

"So... Yuuki Yukino did all this?"

As soon as Minato finished speaking, Sakuragawa Nana's eyes widened, and she turned to look at Minato in disbelief.

Looking at Nana Minato's knowing expression, and then at the expressions of Nishio Reki and Hayashi Mustardo, even if Sakuragawa Nana was slow to react, she could tell what was going on.

Nishio Reki didn't waste any words. He knew that Yuuki Enishi might have anticipated his visit to Minato Nana, so he succinctly explained his guess.

Sakuragawa Nana was as if she had discovered a new continent, and she was dumbfounded the whole time. Even though Nishio Reki didn't say much, the amount of information was enormous, and she needed to digest it properly for a while.

Minato Nana had heard Helica explain the whole story, and besides, the fact that everyone was in a meeting and then ran away because of the magical girl's appearance was something that happened last night, so she didn't find it hard to understand.

"You, no, all of them, magical girls went to Hoshimi City to find Yuuki Yuki, but Yuuki Yuki returned to Tsukimi City at this time. Isn't that... deliberately diverting you away?"

The situation was so easy to understand that Minato Nana couldn't help but come up with this possibility.

"I...I don't know." Nishio Reki shook his head.

Whether Tsukimi Rie is an accomplice of Yuuki Yuki is still unclear, but the question that everyone found strange last night—why Tsukimi Rie was able to escape from Yuuki Yuki's clutches—now has a suitable answer.

Regardless of whether Tsukimi Rie was truly anxious or not, her return to Tsukimi City was part of Yuuki Yukino's plan, including her leading most of the magical girls back to Hoshimi City. Yuuki Yukino needed to create this opportunity.

It now appears that all the magical girls have been lured away, and Yuuki Yukino's plan has been a complete success.

"That's right! The phone! I need to call them."

Nishio Reki quickly pulled out his phone, and after dropping it several times on the ground, it was a stroke of luck that the phone wasn't damaged.

Who should I call? Who should I call?

In a moment of desperation, Nishio Reki opened his contacts, found Inuyama Tomoe at the top, and dialed her number.

The phone went busy once, but no one answered on the other end.

The second sound was followed by utter silence.

Just as Nishio Reki was anxiously about to hang up the phone, Inuyama Tomoe's voice came from the other end of the line.

"Hello? Nishio Reki? We've arrived in Hoshimi City and even met Yui. The situation is a bit complicated, but don't worry, we have a plan."

What was that? And I even saw Xiaoyuan?

Nishio Reki was completely confused.

No, no matter what happened on their side, our side is more important.

"I'm not asking about the situation over there!"

Nishio Reki shouted the moment he realized what was happening, so loudly that Sakuragawa Nana instinctively raised her hand to cover her ears, but due to the current environment, she didn't raise her hand completely.

Inuyama Tomoe's voice sounded a little confused: "What? What's wrong? Why did you call me?"

Nishio Reki didn't care about anything else; the situation was so urgent that getting them back as soon as possible was the top priority.

"Regardless of whether you saw the real Xiao Yuan or a fake Xiao Yuan, you—no, we've all been deceived! It was Xiao Yuan who did it! We've all been deceived by Xiao Yuan! Xiao Yuan has already returned to Yuehai City!"

On the other end, Ba Qi's voice was even more confused: "Back to Moonsea City? What do you mean?"

Nishio Reki was unaware that Baqi and the others had just fought with Yuuki Yuki, but to Baqi, the idea that someone she had seen not long ago had already returned to Tsukimi City was utter nonsense.

"It means exactly what it says! Yuuki Yukino is back! She's in Tsukimi City..."

Nishio Reki stopped there.

She heard an even more heart-stopping sound.

A muffled thud came from the main entrance of the coffee shop.

They were all sitting not far from the main entrance, and everyone's attention was drawn to the loud noise, making the situation at the main entrance immediately clear.

Although this only applies to indoor situations.

The door to Minato Nana's coffee shop was tightly closed and blocked by a roller shutter. To prevent people from seeing what was happening inside the window, even the window was completely covered by hanging blinds. However, these blinds made it impossible for people inside the room to tell what was happening outside.

"Shall we go take a look?" Sakuragawa Nana asked softly.

"No, don't go yet... Pretend there's no one here." Minato Nana lowered her voice, her tone harsh.