Give children a little self-destruction shock to their worldview.

Before losing consciousness, all Miki Sayaka saw was the transfer student's indifferent face.

"..." After dealing with Sayaka Miki, Homura Akemi turned her head and looked at Mayumi Haga.

Silence, and more silence.

With her purple and black eyes fixed on her calmly, Homura Akemi's expression shifted subtly from initial alertness to heightened vigilance upon noticing the anomaly.

That is, the downward curve of the corner of the lip is increased by one pixel.

The other party meant her no harm, but this did not make the suspicious Mayumi Haga lower her guard, because the other party's vague familiarity with her made her even more wary.

“You know me,” Mayumi Haga said with certainty. “Who are you?”

"Homura Akemi." Homura Akemi introduced herself briefly, then turned her head to look at Sayaka Miki lying at her feet. "Take her back, and you come with me. I'll tell you everything."

Mayumi Haga wiped the blood from her face and put the remaining corpse materials into her backpack. None of these actions surprised Homura Akemi, who simply waited quietly at the alley entrance.

Then, looking at Sayaka Miki, she said to Mayumi Haga, "You carry it up there."

Mayumi Haga met the other person's gaze.

The other party returned a calm gaze.

There was another moment of silence between them, then Mayumi Haga nodded: "Which floor?"

Side Story: Mayumi Haga and Madoka Magica: Madoka Magica 3 - Homemade Bomb

In other words, the girl in front of him, who was only a teenager, went back in time again and again to save her friend Madoka Kaname's life, experiencing hundreds of desperate cycles to prevent her from becoming a magical girl and facing that tragic fate.

Mayumi Haga quickly understood the situation.

The reason was simple: Homura Akemi hadn't hidden anything from her. The two exchanged information rapidly, speaking frankly and directly.

"A visitor from another world, the last guardian, and most importantly... you are a sufficiently intelligent companion." Homura Akemi said this, her honesty exceeding Mayumi Haga's expectations.

According to Homura Akemi, there is about a 30% chance that she will encounter Mayumi Haga in these hundreds of reincarnations.

As an outsider, Mayumi Haga is a variable that only has a chance to appear at the beginning of each cycle.

Through dozens of trials and tribulations, they have achieved mutual trust.

That's why Homura Akemi waited at the location where Mayumi Haga appeared in this world, so she could bring her back.

"Just tell me?" Mayumi Haga asked this question after listening quietly.

She sat on the sofa, still wearing her blood-stained clothes, but the girl in front of her didn't seem uncomfortable at all, as if she had gotten used to having someone always covered in blood sitting there talking to her.

Homura Akemi's familiarity with her own behavior patterns, and the subtle tacit understanding between them, were the key reasons why Mayumi Haga chose to temporarily trust her.

Homura Akemi calmly replied, "Only you can accept it."

Mayumi Haga realized that the other person hadn't finished speaking.

During her reincarnation, Homura Akemi certainly tried to tell others about all of this.

However, for various reasons, directly revealing the truth would only make things worse. So, after trying every possible way to tell the truth, Homura Akemi became increasingly taciturn.

But as an outsider, Mayumi Haga is the only person she can truly trust.

After all, she has nothing to do with the interests of magical girls. The reason she helped Homura Akemi in the previous loop was simply because she was a kind-hearted, meddlesome, smart, and stubborn good-natured person.

The last sentence is Homura Akemi's evaluation.

Mayumi Haga was slightly taken aback: "...You're really a magical girl?"

"Unlike the magical girls you know, here, miracles and magic are the biggest deception."

As Homura Akemi spoke, she habitually extended her hand to Mayumi Haga.

Mayumi Haga didn't understand what she meant: "?"

"Give me some of your homemade bombs. Set the timer to two seconds," Homura Akemi said. "Give me 500 kilograms first, and divide them into 2,000 portions."

Mayumi Haga's "homemade bomb" was actually just pieces of her own body.

Her self-destruct ability allows her to create a powerful explosion from any part of her body, even detached body parts. Moreover, as she improves, she can even precisely control the explosive force and time the explosion.

Generally speaking, apart from Mayumi Haga herself, everyone else felt resistant and disgusted to using her body parts as explosives.

But Homura Akemi in front of her was already quite accustomed to using her time-based magic, and was engaging in such a terrifying collaboration with Mayumi Haga.

It seems that in the previous cycle, Mayumi Haga did indeed cooperate quite well with this child.

Homura Akemi looks to be only fourteen years old, while Mayumi Haga's current physical age is seventeen. Judging from her appearance, Mayumi Haga is indeed older than the former and can call the other a child.

Even if you factor in the time of reincarnation, they might not be older than you.

Two people who are quite similar in some ways have finally achieved a real collaboration at this moment.

Mayumi Haga asked, "Should we take it out here? The smell and traces will be quite strong."

“I rented a large enough freezer,” Homura Akemi said. “It’s more convenient to put it there and freeze it solid.”

It seems the other party was quite well prepared, even having two large freezers in their home.

Even Haga Mayumi, who was the first to use such an outrageous skill, felt somewhat conflicted.

She sensed that a certain common sense was slipping away from her, but since the magical girl in front of her had no objections, she wouldn't jump out to emphasize common sense at this time.

It was getting late, and Homura Akemi had to go to school the next day.

"Good night." After discussing everything, Homura Akemi said to Mayumi Haga, "Your room is on the right, and the bathroom is just beyond that."

Mayumi Haga was opening the freezer when she discovered that it was indeed bought specifically for her "homemade bomb," but there was nothing inside.

After filling the two freezers, she casually opened the refrigerator next to them.

Sure enough, she saw the bento that Homura Akemi had bought for her in advance. It was bought at 3 p.m., while Mayumi Haga didn't arrive until the early hours of the morning.

After eating a little something to fill her stomach, Mayumi Haga, covered in blood, entered the bathroom after a long absence.

.................................................. ................

The next day, Homura Akemi left for school early in the morning, but Mayumi Haga left even earlier.

Mayumi Haga changed into clean clothes, with the house key and cell phone given to her by Homura Akemi in her pocket, and went out to familiarize herself with this somewhat unfamiliar world.

After her own world was destroyed, she ended up in a children's world that was harmless, where even her blood would be harmonized into orange juice by the world's rules.

The magical girls there are innocent and naive, and the monsters who are their enemies don't have any bad intentions. Despite their mischievousness, they are also clumsy villains who will help children up when they fall and then frantically comfort them.

But the world seems to be very different.

This world also has magical girls, but the enemies of these magical girls are monsters called "witches".

However, the so-called "witch" is actually the final destination of magical girls.

A magical girl can transform into a witch if she falls into darkness because hope turns into despair, or if her spirit core is not purified in time.

The witch hid within her own barrier, spreading despair everywhere.

After the magical girls defeat it, it will drop "Gratitude Seeds," which are used to purify the Soul Gem that has become corrupted after using magic.

The Soul Gem is the source of magic, proof of a magical girl, and a vessel for her own soul.

This separation of soul and body is so similar to the core of one's guardian.

Mayumi Haga read the information Homura Akemi had given her while thinking.

However, Homura Akemi also noted: "[Unlike your core, Haga, the Soul Gem is much more fragile in comparison.]"

So there's such a difference.

Mayumi Haga found a family restaurant to eat her three meals a day and waited for Homura Akemi to get out of school.

Soon, it was time for school to end at Mitakihara Municipal Junior High School.

As dusk fell, Homura Akemi sent her location.

Side Story: Mayumi Haga and Madoka Magica: Madoka Magica 4?

In order to stop a creature called Kyubey from luring Madoka Kaname into becoming a magical girl, Homura Akemi plans to stop Kyubey before it comes into contact with Madoka.

Because of her time travel ability, Homura Akemi knows of Kyubey's existence, but Kyubey is not familiar with Homura Akemi, a magical girl who has not yet signed a contract with it at this point in time.

Therefore, Kyubey was somewhat confused when faced with Homura Akemi's pursuit.

The strange creature named Cupid was unusually emotionally stable.

It has an innocent and adorable appearance that makes little girls unconsciously lower their guard, with a white, fluffy body, red eyes, and long, large ear-like hairs adorned with golden rings that give it a magical creature feel. Its tail is also soft and fluffy, with a bright red circular pattern on its back.

Perhaps because it doesn't need to use its vocal cords to speak, but instead transmits its voice directly to a specific person's ear through magic, it can still speak to Homura Akemi even when being chased by her.

"Who are you?" Cupid asked.

Homura Akemi did not answer. The pink magic bullet exploded on Kyubey's back, sending its small body flying. Then, several more magic bullets followed closely behind, each one aimed to kill Kyubey instantly.

However, this thing was very agile and managed to dodge Homura Akemi's attacks by using the terrain. It fled in a sorry state to an abandoned floor of a shopping mall, where the numerous and messy obstacles slowed down Homura Akemi's pursuit.

Even in the cycle of reincarnation, Homura Akemi rarely manages to catch Kyubey immediately when he tries to escape.

After all, the other party is not an ordinary small animal.

However, with Mayumi Haga by your side, things become much simpler.

Kyubey was leaping up to dodge Homura Akemi's magic bullet, but in that brief moment of airtime, a cold glint flashed in his peripheral vision.

Almost at the same instant, the arrow pierced through its body, and the irresistible force pinned the arrow and the bird to the wall, with the entire arrow penetrating three-tenths of the wall.

Cupid struggled, but with its body nailed shut, no matter how hard it struggled, it was like a fly stuck to a sticky fly.

The pitch-black guardian leaped down from the height and landed without making a sound.

Putting the bow back into his backpack, Mayumi Haga lifted his hood, revealing his face, and nodded to Homura Akemi.

...bow and arrow?

Without using any magic, he captured himself using only this primitive hunting method?

Cupid was confused about the current situation.

Homura Akemi is a magical girl, so it could understand the power she possessed. But the abilities of the person in front of it were beyond its comprehension.

At least, humans on this planet cannot achieve that.

The opponent's fighting techniques seemed simple, but Kyubey keenly sensed that the opponent's physical qualities and basic abilities far exceeded those of ordinary people.

Furthermore, no magic was used.

“You’re strange.” Despite its nearly destroyed body, Kyubey was still able to speak in a steady voice. It said to Mayumi Haga, “You don’t seem to be from this world. I can’t sense any connection between you and this world.”

Mayumi Haga turned her head to look at Kyubey: "Can you still talk?"

For a moment, Cupid couldn't tell if the other person was mocking him or genuinely doubting him: "...But your aptitude is excellent, perhaps..."

boom!

Kyubey's head exploded in front of Mayumi Haga. Mayumi Haga turned around and saw Homura Akemi putting something smoking back into her shield.

She and Homura Akemi exchanged a glance, and the latter said, "Don't trust Kyubey."

"Are you nervous? Why?" It was Cupid's voice again, but it came from another corner.

Behind the iron box, another perfectly intact Cupid peeked out.

It crouched high up like an animal, and its voice, which should have sounded innocent and pure, sounded eerie against the backdrop of another corpse, the body of a kiwi.

“This young lady can transform into a very powerful magical girl; I suppose she can grant any wish,” Kyubey said, his round, bright red eyes fixed on Mayumi Haga.

Despite the flat tone, Mayumi Haga could still sense a certain longing in the other person's voice.

She sensed something was wrong and frowned: "A pyramid scheme?"

Where did such a wonderful thing come from, where you can have your wishes fulfilled and gain power at the same time?

Moreover, she has already signed a contract with her own world. If she signs another contract, how will the core and soul gems be divided?

However, the negative impact of this thing on teenagers is immeasurable.

Mayumi Haga's face darkened.

Kyubey couldn't understand why the person in front of her, who should also be a young girl, had no longing for such a wonderful profession as a magical girl, and instead felt even more disgusted with herself.

Perhaps the problem lies with Homura Akemi, the other party's companion.

Just as it was about to say something more, it felt a chill on its throat, and another arrow pierced its neck, causing its body to collapse limply.

Then, another Cupid appeared.