One-way traffic

The girl was instantly struck by the spikes.

Her left arm was pierced, and a look of shock appeared on her beautiful face as blood spurted out instantly.

"Woo——!!"

Despite the pain, she was forced to fly backwards for fifty meters.

Then I finally saw it clearly.

A huge shadow emerged from the flames on the sea.

"Hehe...hehehehehahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha—?!"

The Witch's Night has not disappeared.

Rather, it would be more accurate to say they were completely unharmed.

"Ugh—ah—!"

I should have thought of that sooner.

That scale of power, that scale of enormity, that scale of despair.

How could it possibly be something that a human being like myself could resist?

The girl fell to the ground.

Boom! The building on one side collapsed instantly due to the Witch's Night attack, and countless sounds could be heard ringing in one's ears.

That enormous, nightmarish shadow of despair had already descended from the other side of the sky and landed above him.

"We need to... do it again..."

This is all that can be done.

If I am killed, it will all come to an end.

There's no way to count on the other two people anymore. Although we don't know why they couldn't come, there's no way to salvage the situation at this point.

Even the closest possible cycle to hope is meaningless.

Thinking this, Homura Akemi placed her right hand on the compass on her left arm.

"That compass is used to reverse time, isn't it?"

"—!!"

A familiar voice came from behind.

She turned around and looked behind her, only to see the shadow she least wanted to see.

"Chu...bi..."

"Oh dear, although I expected you to do this, I really didn't expect you to face the Witch's Night alone."

It's probably as dangerous as someone facing a nuclear bomb with their bare hands.

Suddenly appearing, Kyubey wagged its tail and walked leisurely to the girl's side.

"Do you know why Madoka Kaname was chosen as the most suitable candidate to be a magical girl? Homura Akemi, do you know why?"

"What…"

I have a bad feeling.

The girl stopped what she was doing and stared wide-eyed at Kyubey.

"What...are you trying to say...?"

"Oh dear, I've figured it out. The reason you know so much is entirely because of your magic, which can travel through time and space and reincarnate countless times, right?"

This was no longer an unexpected situation.

But, but what does that sentence mean?

"It means exactly what it says, Homura Akemi."

That's it.

Facing the girl, Kyubey uttered the most desperate words for her.

"Because you keep resetting time and space in an attempt to help Madoka Kaname, Madoka Kaname's own karma keeps overlapping, and thus—"

"She will become the most talented magical girl!"

Eh?

The girl was completely stunned.

Is that so?

—Because every time he reversed time was for Madoka's sake, every time he intended to prevent Madoka from becoming a magical girl, and every time he did it to save her.

Therefore, every cause and effect overlapped with her.

Therefore, her potential and aptitude to become a magical girl are the greatest.

That is to say-

"Thank you so much, Homura Akemi."

When Cupid turned around, surprisingly...

For the first time, a look of joy appeared on his face.

"If it weren't for you, Madoka Kaname would never have been able to become such a talented magical girl."

"Thank you so much for helping us cultivate such wonderful material, human, Homura Akemi~!"

pat.

The Soul Gem fell to the ground.

The girl's hands were trembling, unable to even hold the gemstones.

"How...how could this be..."

So, the greatest despair was actually caused by myself?

The more he tries to save Madoka, the more he gets things backward, causing the cause and effect of Madoka becoming a magical girl to keep overlapping and repeating itself endlessly—

It's all my fault.

In any case, it will only make the situation of Madoka Kaname becoming a magical girl even worse.

In this case…

"In that case... what... what I did... what was the point of what I did!"

Tick-tock. Tears fell onto her compass.

The purple soul gem gradually began to become cloudy.

The girl gave everything to save another girl who was most important to her, but... everything she did only made things worse for her friend.

No matter how much help is given, there is no hope.

All that awaited him was pure darkness.

Finally, what I did.

It's all meaningless.

"Why...why!!"

"Why, why must we endure this unfair treatment? Why must we suffer this meaningless despair?!"

She screamed her heart out, expressing everything she had to say.

Pointless.

"There's no way around it. The power that you humans unleash when your emotions reach their peak is indeed the most suitable product to save this universe."

"Therefore, what we need most is the power of emotion that you human girls possess..."

There's no way I can care about Cupid anymore.

Homura Akemi collapsed to the ground, having already given up even her plan to reverse time.

Why…

Why...?

Xiaoyuan is just an ordinary girl, and so am I... Why... Why do we have to accept such a hopeless future...?

The soul gem, as black as an abyss, caused the girl to close her eyes in despair.

Tears fell onto the Soul Gem on the back of her hand.

boom--

The Witch's Night returned, bringing even greater destruction; flames all attacked her.

It's okay...

Even if time cycles are repeated, it will only cause Xiaoyuan's karma to increase again.

But... but oh!

So desperate, so cold, so lonely…

We're just ordinary fourteen-year-old girls... Why do we have to suffer like this?!

Anyone, anyone can come…

The girl instinctively hugged herself together, curled up, and murmured listlessly with vacant eyes.

"Is there anyone who can save us...?"

In this unfair, unreasonable, and hopeless world.

The Witch's Night, representing nightmares, completely devoured everything.

……

No.

Cause and effect have been reversed.

Thump—! A simple tree trunk slammed into Witch Night's body, and in that instant, its massive form was sent flying backward.

That was a strike with speed and power surpassing even the third-ranked Railgun in Academy City.

Eh…

Homura Akemi couldn't help but open her eyes.

Someone appeared before him.

white.

"Cheer up! I'll treat you right now—!"

Buzz—! A faint glow surrounded Homura Akemi, and Hatsune Miku, already dressed in her Magical Future outfit, began to heal her.

The white figure stood before him, arms casually placed beside him.

"Why…"

The girl spoke softly.

"We're too late..."

"Ah, sorry, I'm late because of some bastards' business."

It was a rude voice and tone, but strangely reassuring.

"Accelerator, you really did come."

It is Cupid.

It stared at the first person in front of it and spoke in a very ordinary tone.

"Now that things have come to this, do you really think there's still hope?"

"With your strength, can you really defeat that Witch Night? She didn't even use one percent of her power."

Perhaps even nuclear weapons can't defeat that guy.