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

A few seconds ago.

It was as if a special ripple spread from Yuuki Yuuki's body, instantly covering all the magical girls who were fighting, and continuing to spread further and further.

The magical girls who came into contact with the ripples were not harmed in any way, and did not even react in the slightest.

They all maintained their original postures—swinging their fists, raising their whips, slashing with their blades, and drawing their bows, standing still like statues.

Not only magical girls, but also the dissipating magic, strange familiars, flying sparks, and shattered light—everything in this world is frozen in time, as if captured by a camera.

Yuuki Yukino put her hands behind her back, hovering in mid-air, and swept her scrutinizing gaze over everyone.

Then, the hand behind Yuuki Yui's back suddenly trembled, and a magic wand appeared in front of Mizuno Yui, pointing directly at Mizuno Yui's shoulder.

Mizuno Yu was not the only one threatened; Koumori, Sakura Hanako, Yumehara Sumireko, Miyashita Mia... a magic wand aimed directly at their vital points had silently appeared beside them.

Moreover, it wasn't just one bullet, but a whole barrage of bullets, seemingly designed to pierce people with countless holes. They were just waiting for Yuuki Yuki's command to launch an extremely dangerous attack on these girls who were about to become Yuuki Yuki's comrades.

Just as Yuuki Yuki was about to raise her hand and casually snap her fingers, Inuyama Tomoe's body moved.

The girl in black and white flashed past the girls like a bolt of lightning, leaving a bullet behind with each pause.

With a snap of her fingers, the bullets left behind by Baqi exploded simultaneously. The shockwave from the explosion dispersed the trap set by Yuuki En, leaving only the bewildered girls and Yuuki En with her brows slightly furrowed.

In the next pause, the blade of Inu no Kagura's sword and the semi-transparent, imaginary blade in Yuuki Enishi's hand collided at a position no one could have predicted.

The girls couldn't catch their movements—they were actions that magical girls couldn't capture with the naked eye. In even a moment of stillness, the two might have already exchanged countless blows.

Yuuki Yukino, who was currently fighting against Baqi, casually tilted her head and pressed down the sharp blade in her hand.

Compared to Yuuki Enishi's casual demeanor, Inuyama Tomoe, whose forehead was covered in sweat, looked much more disheveled. A translucent blade had cut a small wound on Tomoe's beautiful cheek, and bright red blood flowed down along with the sweat.

Inuyama Tomoe gripped her wand tightly in one hand, resisting the pressure from Yuuki Yuuki, while fragmented magical energy condensed within her other hand.

Baqi forcefully flung the magic in her hand, and the magic shattered the empty space, creating a crack in one corner of the space, like a chocolate shell, large enough for a person to pass through.

"What are you standing there for? Let's go!"

Chapter 286 Everyone Likes It the Same, Right?

The moment she saw Inuyama Tomoe tear this space apart, Yumehara Sumireko rushed towards the broken rift without hesitation, grabbed Sakura Hanako with one hand, used her trident to pick up Mizuno Yuu, and plunged inside without looking back.

Sakura Hanako and Mizuno Yu were both startled at first. When they realized that the person rushing towards them was Yumehara Sumireko, who meant no harm, they did not resist at first. Then, they disappeared from everyone's sight along with Yumehara Sumireko's back.

Koumori glanced at Inuyama Tomoe's back as she clashed with Yuuki Eri, her face immediately darkening. Without hesitation, she shouted at Hyakki Senyu.

"Let's go, just like you say, big sister!"

The worst thing in a battle between magical girls is to drag things out; even a moment's hesitation can lead to drastically different results.

The girls had already learned this lesson in their battle against Kuroba Reisei.

They were girls who had experienced that fatal choice that summer, and they understood even better what that brief moment truly meant. Then they too disappeared into that space.

Miya Miyashita and Rie Tsukimi were simply there to keep everyone company. They rushed into the portal because of the atmosphere. In essence, they didn't have a deep connection with Yuuki Yuuki and would have wanted to retreat long ago if conditions had allowed.

Now that Inuyama Tomoe has created an opportunity, the two of them have no reason not to retreat. After all, not everyone can make the decision to risk everything for Yuuki Yūki.

Only Helica hesitated for a moment, but Miya Miya's whip had already wrapped around her waist, and before she could react, it dragged her flying backward.

All of this happened in just a few seconds. The girls came in a grand procession and retreated with surprising speed. Even if Yuuki Yuki wanted to keep them, it would be quite difficult to do so under the obstruction of Inuyama Tomoe.

Moreover, Inuyama Tomoe now possesses the power of Mushisha, so Yuuki Yukino's unexpected abilities will inevitably be greatly diminished in front of Tomoe.

Rather than risking harassment from Tomoe to chase after the others, controlling the leader, Inuyama Tomoe, is the best option for Yuuki Yuuki right now—not only Yuuki Yuuki knows this, Tomoe knows this, and even many of the magical girls who are retreating have realized this.

This is precisely the source of Baqi's confidence in holding off Yuuki Eri alone, allowing the others to retreat.

After several exchanges, the noisy space was filled only with the crisp sound of gun blades clashing against each other.

Seeing that all the other magical girls had withdrawn from the space inside their portals, Yuuki Yukino was no longer in a hurry to fight with Tomoe and Inuyama. She took a few steps back and gave Tomoe a reproachful look.

"You're always doing things I don't want you to do. Do you think it will make you a hero?"

"Haha, being a hero? Of course not! I'm a fallen magical girl, just like Xiaoyuan, someone who brings disaster to this world. How could I possibly want to become a hero?"

Baqi shook his oversized military uniform jacket, revealing a row of bright white teeth.

The clump of discolored hair on Baqi's forehead was slowly fading away, like dust being shaken off, signifying that her power to contend with Yuuki Eri in her current state was also dissipating like Cinderella's magic with the midnight bells.

But Baqi seemed unconcerned and stretched lazily: "What I'd rather do is be a little rascal with Xiaoyuan, playing pranks on the streets. What do you think?"

Yuuki Yukino narrowed her eyes slightly: "Is this your reason for staying and choosing to sacrifice yourself?"

"Oh, what self-sacrifice? I'm very selfish, how could I possibly do such a thing?" Baqi waved her hands left and right, her sharp little canine teeth making her mischievous smile even more cunning: "Besides, the reason I stayed is because there are some things I just want to verify."

……

pat.

The magical girls descended from the sky one after another, and the feeling of solid ground beneath their feet made them feel as if everything they had experienced in the portal was a nightmare.

But it wasn't a nightmare. Scattered monsters still roamed the streets of Moonsea City, and the enormous portal in the sky still silently shone with an alluring yet dangerous light.

For a moment, no one spoke. Entering Yuuki Yukino's territory was not a wrong decision, but it was undoubtedly a rash one.

Because of the girls' haste and recklessness, the price of their intrusion was that Inuyama Tomoe, one of their strongest fighters, was left behind.

If it's Yuuki Yuki, it shouldn't be detrimental to Tomoe, right?

Some people think that way.

However, this idea is based on the premise that the enemy he is facing is indeed Yuuki Yukino.

When Hong Moli was the first to realize this, she chose to remain silent.

Morale is already low, and revealing this would only further diminish the girls' fighting spirit.

Even if Hong Moli didn't say anything, the faint disharmony emanating from her had already subtly affected the other girls, or rather, the defeat itself had already dealt a heavy blow to their morale.

So what? What should we do now?

Even though Koumori and the other magical girls no longer have any grudges and have fought side by side more than once, the gap in their identities still exists. However, the presence of Inuyama Tomoe and Yuuki Yuuki has covered that gap with a band-aid.

It was this estrangement that made Hong Moli unsure how to face others at this moment. The cracks hidden within what was originally a not-so-solid but barely maintained whole were about to be exposed.

Therefore, Hong Moli doesn't know where to go next, and probably no one else does either.

Yuuki Yuki has always been the leader of the group, and even during the time Yuuki Yuki was away, Inuyama Tomoe took her place and discussed countermeasures with everyone.

Even though there were some inconsistencies, the girls were all working towards the same goal, thus ignoring the small missing piece.

With Inuyama Tomoe no longer by anyone else's side, the previous sense of disharmony was magnified many times over.

If left unchecked, the resulting disharmony will surely cause the entire alliance to break down completely, making it even more difficult to defeat Yuuki Yuki.

Unfortunately, someone added insult to injury at this crucial moment.

"I don't understand!" Having been released from divine liberation, Yumehara Sumireko reverted to her usual mischievous self, sullenly hugging her two bear paws, and suddenly squatted down on the ground, scratching the dust with her paws.

Koyuki's words brought the magical girls, who were at a loss for what to do, back to a focal point.

But what she's about to say is probably not what everyone wants to hear; the fact is already implied in Kosuke's complaining tone.

Koyuko opened her arms wide and complained even louder: "What have we done so far? What are we fighting so hard for?!"

It may take a grand speech to ignite people's fighting spirit, but it only takes a whisper to destroy the beliefs of young girls.

Everyone who heard this couldn't help but ask themselves why they were fighting so hard and what they were fighting for.

She was living an ordinary life in another city, as if being a magical girl was a thing of the past that could be erased. However, due to a chance encounter with a girl who had done her a favor, she was drawn into a conflict she had never intended to get involved in, and one that was unprecedented in scale.

Miya Miyashita and Rie Tsukimi couldn't help but think that they were just fallen magical girls who only wanted to repay Yuuki Yuki. Was it really necessary to go to such lengths for Yuuki Yuki and for that apocalyptic catastrophe that no one had ever seen?

The subtle change in atmosphere began at this point and quickly spiraled out of control.

Hong Moli felt Bai Gui Qianyou grip her hand tightly; this was one of the few times Hong Moli couldn't understand Bai Gui Qianyou's intentions.

Hong Moli never considered backing down, never. Even now that everyone's situation is so unfavorable, she has never considered whether she should give up.

She and Qianyou's lives were saved by Yuki Yuki's life. When Yuki Yuki asked her older sister to retreat with her, she did not hesitate for a moment in the face of the blade of the Black Feather Rebirth. If she were to back down even a little now in order to save Yuki Yuki and her older sister, Hongmo would look down on her for the rest of her life.

However, the future that Qianyou and I had worked so hard to achieve was not something to squander.

To risk one's life for victory is selfless; to blindly sacrifice oneself for an unseen victory is foolish.

Hong Moli is not afraid of defeat; it is already a miracle that she is still alive. What she fears is wasting her life in vain, causing the scales that could have tipped in favor of victory to tip to the other side.

What she feared was that the growing divide would tear the group apart, preventing it from achieving victory.

However, the rift had already appeared because of Koyuki, and she had no way to fix it.

"What are we fighting for?" Tenrai Herika repeated Yumehara Sumireko's words in the eerie silence, then answered loudly.

"Of course, it's for the sake of the entire Moonsea City! Do you see it? There are still so many monsters on the streets of Moonsea City. Look what Moonsea City has become! If we're not doing this for Moonsea City, what else could we be doing this for?"

Every word Helica uttered was grand and righteous: to fight for this city, which is, of course, the duty of every magical girl—that is an indisputable fact.

The premise is that she is telling the truth, and her words can convince others, or at least convince herself.

But the more Helica spoke, the more her unstable tone proved her guilty conscience.

Even so, a seemingly respectable reason can still motivate people to move forward.

"You're all liars!" Koyuko raised her bear paw, mercilessly exposing the lie that everyone was deliberately ignoring.

Herlica's shoulders trembled violently, and she couldn't say a word, listening silently as Koyuko launched into a tantrum, blaming her.

"You just like Yuuki Yuuki! Otherwise, why would you go so far to find her? You only went with everyone because you like Yuuki Yuuki and want to protect her! You weren't doing it for Tsukimi City at all!"

Helica retorted sharply, "There's no conflict! I'm a magical girl! What's wrong with me protecting Moonsea City?"

"Of course you did! You said you wanted to protect Yuehai City, but you didn't consider anyone else at all! You ran away by yourself! Everyone should have gone to care about you! If you hadn't gone, Yuuki Yukino wouldn't be in this state! If everyone hadn't gone, Yuuki Yukino wouldn't be in this state! What exactly did you protect? You didn't do anything at all!"

Koyuko puffed out her chest and started arguing with Helica, loudly criticizing Helica's mistakes.

Xiao Jinzi was just throwing a tantrum, everyone knew that, but what she said was rather immature.

So, do these mistakes truly belong to Helica the Thunder God?

This is a question that probably no one can answer. Helica the Thunder God could not possibly be the culprit behind everything, but it is absolutely impossible to say that Helica the Thunder God has no connection with this series of events.

On one side is a willful and unreasonable child, and on the other side is a short-tempered and deeply hurt Helica. No matter what they say, they will only get burned.

That's why, during this argument, no one knew how to mediate, and could only listen to the two arguing fiercely.

"Yes! I haven't accomplished anything! That's why I want to do something!"

"What can you do?! You went to Hoshimi City! And then Yuuki Yukino ended up like this! Everyone went to Hoshimi City again! Something happened in Tsukimi City! And you rushed into Yuuki Yukino's territory first! And then Inuyama Tomoe got into trouble too! What are you going to do next?!"