One-way traffic

She doesn't actually have that icy personality, and she might not even be a magical girl.

At that time, she was just an extremely naive, ordinary girl who couldn't do anything.

She lived an ordinary life, an ordinary routine, but this ordinariness, in her eyes, actually made it impossible for her to catch up with others her age.

Whether it's studying, cooking, or life skills, she can't compare to people her age in anything.

She'd be better off dead.

Thinking this way, Homura Akemi encountered people and events on that day that would change her life.

Witches, and magical girls.

A magical girl wielding a pink longbow appeared before him, saving him and giving him hope to live.

Her name is Madoka Kaname, and she is both a magical girl and her classmate.

Since then, Homura Akemi has been cared for by Madoka Kaname and Mami Tomoe, who is also a magical girl. The three of them fight against witches together. Although Homura Akemi has not yet decided to become a magical girl, it is enough for her to be able to help others in this way.

Then, that day came.

On Witch's Night, they attacked Mitakihara.

The apocalypse of destruction swept through the city, and no one could defeat it, not even Madoka Kaname and Mami Tomoe.

She could only watch all of this in despair.

If only I could go back in time and start over.

With this wish in mind, Homura Akemi made a wish to Kyubey, the one who could turn girls into magical girls.

"I... want to meet Kaname-kun again."

"Not as someone she protects, but as someone who can protect her!"

This wish transcended cause and effect, leading her to a completely new time and space.

In other words, time travel.

She traveled back to a month earlier, to a time before she met Madoka Kaname.

That's right, exactly.

Magical girls all possess their own unique magic.

Homura Akemi's magic is the ability to stop time and rewind to a month in advance.

Since then, Homura Akemi has been fighting desperately to end it all.

She learned a lot, gaining knowledge she wanted to know and knowledge she didn't want to know in these countless cycles of reincarnation.

The matter of magical girls.

The matter of the witch.

And, about Cupid.

To prevent the Witch's Night from coming to this city.

In order to prevent Madoka Kaname from facing another despairing ending.

So no matter what, no matter how many times she has to start over, she will get back up.

We must achieve this redemption.

This is Homura Akemi, a magical girl... a time traveler who can traverse time and space.

That's why she was able to know everything.

Homura Akemi sat calmly on the sofa, gazing at the person in front of her.

…The other party seemed stunned.

"Were you scared?"

"Not really."

Accelerator was indeed surprised.

However, it's not quite that shocking.

Because he himself is the embodiment of miracles and supernatural power, he is not surprised even when faced with such extraordinary events.

After all, he has successfully traveled through the world.

This explains everything.

Not only did Homura Akemi learn about the Witch's Night, but she also learned everything directly.

That's right.

Including the truth between magical girls and witches.

"If that's the case."

Actually, there's a clever point to this.

Why are magical girls called magical girls? Why are witches called witches?

Upon closer reflection, don't you think these two names have some interesting similarities?

"So-called witches are magical girls who were cursed out of despair."

When magical girls face despair, they transform into witches who represent curses.

In other words, magical girls are witches, and once you become a magical girl, you can never escape the fate of being killed by other magical girls after becoming a witch.

This is precisely why the Seed of Lamentation can remove the contamination of the Soul Gem.

I had a similar feeling back when I first analyzed the Seed of Lamentation.

At that time, Accelerator noticed that the aura contained within the Grief Seed was very similar to that of magical girls, and the formula derived from the Grief Seed could also be applied to magical girls.

It seems this is no coincidence.

……but.

He fell silent.

Accelerator was not intimidated by this. He was a malevolent monster born from the dark forces of Academy City. Although he was extraordinary, this level of malice was not enough to frighten him.

However, there is one difference.

This is not Academy City.

Even so, such vast darkness still exists here.

This world is not as bright and upright as it appears on the surface; in its deepest recesses, there lies a darkness no less intense than that of Academy City.

"...Why are you telling me this?"

Although he had already guessed the outcome to some extent, Accelerator still intended to reveal it.

He asked Homura Akemi a question.

"According to you, you have tried to tell others these things in countless reincarnations... but the results were not as you wished, so why?"

Why are you trying to tell me these things this time?

His only response was a complicated look in his eyes.

"I have never seen you in any of the cycles of reincarnation."

This is what Homura Akemi cares about.

"No matter which cycle of reincarnation it was, there were never two humans, 'Accelerator' and 'Hatsune Miku'. Whether it was a defeat or destruction, there was no information about you. But this time you appeared in this city... It's as if you were transferred from another world."

"So you think that telling me, a complete stranger, about these things will give you a chance to salvage the situation?"

He couldn't help but laugh.

"Who do you think I am? I'm not a hero. This isn't about whether I'm willing to do this kind of thing or not; it's just a fundamental question."

"What you want me to do is undoubtedly within the scope of 'salvation'. I may protect ordinary people who are involved in my affairs for some reason, but that does not mean that I can save all of you who have fallen into darkness."

Do you understand what I'm trying to say?

Accelerator laughed.

He laughed as if it were self-deprecating.

"I am a villain, a monster who only knows how to kill and destroy everything."

"Even if I really wanted to save you, to help you, do you think I truly knew how to do such a thing?"

"This is already within the realm of heroes. It's not that I don't want to do it, but that I can't."

This isn't a question of whether or not to agree, nor is it a question of whether Accelerator himself wants to do it.

He had witnessed countless instances of darkness and malice, and after seeing Last Order and the bright world around her, he vowed to protect that world no matter what.

However, one thing must be made clear.

He only knows how to use his power to destroy everything in front of him.

He simply doesn't know how to save a person.

The strongest superpower in Academy City is an all-powerful ability that can accomplish almost anything, but there is one thing he—Accelerator—can never do: save others.

This isn't about whether he wants to do it or not, but whether he's capable of doing it.

His ability can only be used to destroy and ruin everything, just like a spoon can only be used to eat and not as a gun. He is a person who only knows how to destroy everything.

For Accelerator, saving others is not an option.

That was no longer simply the domain of evil parties.

It's not that he's unwilling to help Homura Akemi or other simplistic ideas.

That was something he wanted to do but didn't know how to do; it was something only a hero could understand and accomplish.

As a member of the villainous party, he had no idea how to save others.

If that's the case, how could you possibly solve cardinal multiplication problems if you haven't even memorized the multiplication tables?

This is what Accelerator wanted to convey to Homura Akemi.

It wasn't that he didn't want to help her, but rather that he simply didn't know how to save everything.

…but.

But ah.

"That's not the case."

The girl sitting in front of me denied the claim that I was number one in Academy City.

"If you truly don't even understand what salvation is..."

These words, in this way, seeped into the other person's heart.

"So how have you managed to get to where you are now?"

--yes.

If Accelerator truly doesn't understand what salvation is.

What about Mami Tomoe, Sayaka Miki, and Madoka Kaname, whom he has protected so far?

…and that's not all.

In the deepest recesses of my memory, those figures slowly surfaced before my eyes.

It was at this very moment.

boom--! ! !

The entire apartment building was plunged into a power outage in an instant.

"--What?"

This was something that both Homura Akemi and Accelerator were astonished by, and their eyes widened in surprise.

It's not just a simple power outage.

They could clearly feel the entire building shaking violently.

In less than three seconds, the shockwave had already traveled from a distance into the room.