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

In the final moment, it was Sumireko Yumehara who activated her divine liberation, helping herself to complete that incredibly difficult step.

Having deactivated her transformation, Nishio Reki continued to fall towards Yuuki Yuuki. Now, she was just an ordinary person without her transformation.

Yuuki Yukino raised her hand, and circles of shimmering magic circles spread continuously in her hand, like a giant cannon, pointing its barrel at herself, ready to kill anyone who touched it.

But this time, I will absolutely not back down! And I will absolutely not fail!

Yuuki Yukino is not the only one who is lost and confused, nor is she the only one who needs endless cycles of reincarnation to be saved.

In what seems like an endless cycle of reincarnation, witnessing the end time and time again, the wounded heart, shrouded in despair, belonging to another version of myself, also awaits salvation.

Even if you are incredibly vulnerable, even if you want to escape, even if this kind of depression is unreliable, even if you are stuck in a predicament and unable to grow.

But Nishio Reki still stood there desperately.

But Nishio Reki still arrived here carrying everyone's hopes and wishes.

To reunite with Yuuki Yuuki and continue to paint an endless future with her is my only wish at this moment.

The only path ahead of me is success!

Within the nested magic circles, rainbow beams of light erupted, engulfing the fragile Nishio Reki.

Amidst the dazzling yet dangerous light, a resounding dragon's roar echoed.

"No, really? There's such a thing?" Koumori's jaw dropped in astonishment.

"As expected... as expected of Nishio... senpai..." Sakura Hanako looked up at the scene above with her eyes that were almost closed.

"Good, good, good, good... So amazing! So amazing! Cough cough cough..." Lin Jiezi, hanging on the Moon Bow, seemed to stutter even more as she got excited, and just saying these few words made her cough violently.

"This guy is really unbelievable." Covered in wounds, Helica suddenly snapped the long katana that had pierced her thigh in half, and raised her head as if she didn't care about her injuries or the impending attack on her head.

"Ha, you bastard, you tricked me, you bastard." Inuyama Tomoe pouted. "But I told you, magical girls are amazing, right?"

The beam of light that swallowed Nishio Reki was broken in two, just like a stream of water being separated.

At the very center of the beam of light, Nishio Reki tightly gripped the golden key to victory and his roaring spear, relentlessly advancing towards Yuuki Enishi.

Nishio Reki's attire changed from casual summer clothes to an indestructible suit of armor, and finally to a long, form-fitting dress that resembled dragon scales.

What this means is something that no magical girl could possibly be unaware of.

Becoming a magical girl, releasing her true name, releasing her godhood, and then—a full-force attack that tore apart the primordial darkness that was almost the pinnacle of being a magical girl.

If this scene were to be included in a story, it would undoubtedly end in a deus ex machina-like conclusion.

But magical girls, from the very beginning, have been the embodiment of miracles and hope, the guiding star that leads people out of darkness and into the light.

A final roar erupted from Nishio Reki's throat, briefly drowning out the buzzing, rainbow-colored beam of light that was trying to engulf it.

"Roar, Bahamut!"

The spear tore through the beam of light, ripped through the sky, and reached Yuuki Yuki directly in front of him.

It was this magic wand that set the cycle of despair in motion anew.

It was this very wand that tore apart the final shackles.

This key, which unlocked the entire story, will also soon bring this story to a final close.

The golden glint in Nishio Reki's palm vanished silently from the chest of the pink-haired girl who was looking on in astonishment.

Chapter 309 The Future After That Day

A warm night breeze drifted outside the window, carrying the slight dampness of the summer night and the clear chirping of insects. Clear moonlight filtered through the gauze curtains into the small room, illuminating the flushed profile of the girl sitting side by side on the bed.

Nishio Reki tentatively reached out and placed his palm on the back of the pink-haired girl's hand. The moment his palm touched her skin, he could feel Yuuki Yuki's hand tremble slightly, but she did not pull away.

A month has passed since the Pink Demon Extermination War, and everything in Moonsea City is gradually returning to normal.

Although it seemed to have a grand scale, the actual impact was much smaller than expected, at least smaller than the war in which Gen Urobuchi Mashiro tried to kill the original magical girl.

Finally, the primordial power entered Yuuki Yuuki's body. While the two powers were consuming each other, the consciousness of the primordial darkness that had been controlling Yuuki Yuuki's body surfaced.

The primordial darkness that had neutralized each other and whose power was infinitely close to zero was easily erased, as if Nishio Reki had blown a speck of dust off Yuuki Eri's soul.

And so, the war ended. Congratulations!

Of course, what's even more gratifying is that the thread that Yuuki Yuki gave to Urobuchi Mashiro, which could change everything, didn't come in handy.

However, this is also a potential danger. Perhaps one day, when Yuuki Yuuki is not paying attention, Gen Urobuchi Mashiro will suddenly appear and bring her evil plan to harm Yuuki Yuuki.

As for the cost of victory in the war, there were indeed some.

Yuuki Yuuki is essentially no different from a complete original magical girl, but the two forces that are constantly canceling each other out prevent her from even transforming. She could be considered both the strongest and the weakest magical girl.

Yuuki Yukino herself has no memory of these past few days, perhaps because she was completely controlled by the consciousness of the Primordial Darkness.

As for those things that made Nishio Reki feel something was off, namely the feeling that Yuuki En, who was fighting her at the time, was both like Yuuki En and definitely not the same Yuuki En she knew, it seemed to be the reason why the Primordial Darkness was trying to merge with or even invade Yuuki En's soul.

But none of that matters anymore, since the Primordial Darkness no longer exists.

But magical girls will continue to exist, and new magical girls will certainly emerge in the future, and new magical girls will fall into darkness. From this perspective, it seems that nothing has actually changed.

These costs are all negligible, but the slightly greater one is that the Pink Demon's reputation has become that of a fearsome villain in Moonsea City.

After that incident, the way mothers coaxed their children to sleep became: "Go to sleep now, or the pink devil will come out and take you away."

Yuuki Yukino was quite distressed about this, but in her own words, "Anyway, I've already been the subject of many bizarre rumors, so I don't care, I don't care at all! It doesn't matter!"

Although that's what she said, Yuuki Yukino's expression when she said those words was genuinely disappointed.

These costs are not too heavy; the heaviest loss is, of course, the damage caused to Moonsea City.

Yuuki Eri's attitude was also very clear: although these were not what she wanted, what she did was an objective fact, so she would do her best to contribute within the limits of what she and those around her could do.

"Xiao Li, what are you thinking about?"

Yuuki Yukino's voice rang in Nishio Reki's ears, carrying a hint of doubt and a touch of pitiful animalism.

Ever since Yuuki Yuuki lost her ability to transform, Nishio Reki felt that the wicked allure about her had disappeared, and she was no longer the wicked girl she was when she was a corrupted magical girl.

But perhaps it was just Nishio Reki's imagination, because Yuuki Yuuki still played pranks, still laughed and joked with everyone, and nothing had changed.

As Nishio Reki pondered, he gently shook his head and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

What are you laughing at?

Yuuki Yukina gave Nishio Reki a hard push with her elbow, but it looked like she was being coquettish.

Nishio Ryū brushed a stray hair from his forehead, revealing his forehead: "I just feel that Yuri doesn't seem to have changed at all."

"Hasn't it changed at all?" Yuuki Yuuki poked her head out like a curious kitten, blinking her big, star-like eyes at Nishio Reki for a long time, making Nishio Reki feel a little uneasy for no reason.

It's impossible that nothing has changed; too many changes have occurred in the past year.

But Nishio Reki nodded slightly.

"Yes, it hasn't changed at all."

Before Nishio Reki could finish speaking, he felt a soft touch brush against his lips, as nimble and swift as a kitten chasing a butterfly with its furry paws.

Startled, Nishio Reki shuddered and shuffled several times on the bed, only to be met with Yuuki Yukina's innocent expression.

The fact that it's a serious prank remains absolutely unchanged!

But it seems pretty good, doesn't it?

Nishio Reki took a few deep breaths, then moved his body back to Yuuki Yuuki's side, resting his shoulder against hers.

At such close range, Nishio Reki could feel Yuuki Yuuki's warm body temperature and the faint scent of summer.

Indeed, this feeling is the most reassuring.

Nishio Reki was still staring at Yuuki Yuki, at her eyes that he could never quite understand, as if trying to find out what was going on, and then he moved a little closer.

Until Nishio Reki could no longer get any closer, until Nishio Reki had tasted the flavor of Yuuki Yuki in another way.

It has a hint of vanilla, like pudding; a refreshing cucumber, like toothpaste; and the most intense scent, like the salted cherry blossom, unique to Yuuki Yuki, like her hair color.

What do salted cherry blossoms taste like? Besides being salty, they probably don't have any other flavor, right?

Even the salty and astringent taste is so irresistible that Nishio Reki feels he can't stop eating it.

Once again, just as Nishio Reki was still reluctant to leave and wanted to savor more of the flavors that belonged only to Yuuki Yuki, her wrist was grabbed by Yuuki Yuki's hand.

"You're pushing your luck."

Yuuki stuck out her tongue, then pushed Nishio Reki away with her almost powerless hand.

"It was clearly Yuuki who got it first." Nishio Reki said with a hint of grievance.

"It's clearly Xiao Li who's overthinking things."

"It's obvious that Xiaoyuan is nervous about the admission list for Dongye University tomorrow, so she came to me to ease her tension. Besides... Sister Huan isn't here today."

"Even if it's to relieve tension, this isn't the way to do it, is it? Besides, I'm really nervous."

"What's there to be nervous about? With Inuyama Tomoe teaching you, what are you afraid of? Besides, isn't Tenrai Herika also the one she's hoping for... that..."

"It's Niohara University."

"That's right, she was also admitted to Niohara University. Didn't Xiaoyuan do well on the entrance exam questions for that university? So don't worry."

"That's true, but I'm definitely still nervous, it's Higashino University after all!"

"Go to sleep! Why are you thinking so much!"

"That's true..."

Yuuki En mumbled a reply and crawled into her bed.

……

The next day, the sun shone brightly, and perhaps even a little too brightly.

However, a certain little sun seemed to be emitting its own high temperature, causing beads of sweat to drip down the foreheads of Yuuki Yuki and Nishio Reki.

"Relieve tension! Is this how you relieve tension?!"

Inuyama Tomoe gritted her teeth and pointed at Nishio Reki, whose dark circles couldn't be hidden even with light makeup. She then looked at Yuuki Yukino, who also had dark circles and was deliberately pulling her collar tighter as if to cover something up, and looked like she regretted not being herself.

Although Baqi knew in her heart that if it were her, Yuuki Yukino's dark circles would definitely be even worse.

"Because I was so nervous I couldn't sleep." Yuuki Yu's eyes darted around, her face full of guilt.

Baqi angrily repeated her last sentence loudly: "Is this how you relieve tension?!"