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

It didn't even see Mayumi Haga raise her hand before it was hit.

What followed was an increasing number of Cupids.

Yuga Mayumi casually killed more than a dozen of them, but after realizing that these creatures could not be completely eradicated, she could not stop immediately.

More and more Kyubeys were fleeing behind Mayumi Haga, as if they realized that someone who could lead them away from danger was approaching.

Homura Akemi noticed this as well, her eyes flashing with anger, and she immediately chased after Kyubey, who had managed to escape.

Yumi Haga was temporarily slowed down by the large number of Kyubeys. By the time she finished dealing with them, the remaining Kyubeys and Homura Akemi had disappeared from sight.

She didn't have time to properly dispose of the bodies of these Cupids, and she followed them at full speed.

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

After school, Madoka Kaname and Sayaka Miki went to the CD store.

While listening to the CD, Madoka Kaname faintly heard a cry for help. It was the voice of a pitiful little boy, and without realizing it, she followed the sound to an abandoned floor of the mall.

It was a dark place, filled with dust and waste.

Then, a sound came from the ventilation duct above her head, and before she could react, a small, wounded animal fell down from above and landed right in front of her.

"Help me...help me..." The little animal's mouth didn't move, but its voice entered Madoka Kaname's mind.

It desperately sought help from Madoka Kaname.

Just as Madoka Kaname was about to lend a helping hand, a dark figure leaped down from a great height.

"Wait...!" Considering Mayumi Haga's direct fighting style, Homura Akemi realized that something was wrong.

However, it was too late.

The next second, the catching-up dark guardian descended from above and delivered a precise blow, crushing Kyubey's head as easily as stomping on an insect—

—In front of Madoka Kaname, they were less than half a meter apart.

The mysterious substance inside the skull splashed out.

Side Story: Mayumi Haga and Madoka Magica: Madoka Magica 5 - One of the two people always has no mouth.

to be frank.

When she saw Homura Akemi's eyes, Mayumi Haga suddenly felt that their fragile yet strong friendship was about to come to an end.

She is vulnerable because Mayumi Haga only met Homura Akemi last night, but she is strong because Homura Akemi becomes her companion in every reincarnation.

Mayumi Haga had never met a friend like Homura Akemi, who could use homemade bombs with her without any psychological burden and without showing any strange expression. She liked this kind of companion very much.

It's not that the other companions are bad, but for someone who uses self-destruction as a regular fighting method, the fact that they can accept and even fully cooperate with her, treating her as part of the tactics, is a real plus for Mayumi Haga.

Mayumi Haga was a warrior, not simply a pitiful person.

Although her fighting style was indeed horrifying, looking miserable and pitiful, and somewhat bizarre, she preferred to accept the sympathy of her comrades who agreed with her self-destruction and fought alongside her, rather than the sympathy of her friends.

So when Homura Akemi was willing to take the homemade bomb from her, Mayumi Haga did not refuse, and even seemed somewhat pleased.

She said that there must be someone who can appreciate the allure of self-destruction!

However, this friendship seems to have been fractured because of his direct and rude manner.

……ah.

Mayumi Haga suddenly remembered that Homura Akemi had reincarnated so many times just to save Madoka Kaname in front of her.

Because pink hair is easy to spot, she can recognize it at a glance.

Then, he scared Madoka Kaname.

Mayumi Haga turned around and met Homura Akemi's gaze; their eyes exchanged a frantic exchange in an instant.

—Oh no, I really didn't notice that. Sorry.

—It's alright. Maybe Madoka will develop a psychological trauma from this incident and won't be so guarded around Kyubey anymore...

Homura Akemi did not blame Mayumi Haga, after all, she had encountered countless similar incidents in her reincarnations, and she herself was a victim of Mayumi Haga at the beginning.

According to Mayumi Haga in the cycle of reincarnation, it seems that she was a little too excited because she had finally arrived in a more normal world from a world full of orange juice filters and was finally able to unleash her full power without restraint...

In the loops where Mayumi Haga appears, Homura Akemi and everyone else are easily frightened by this otherworldly guest whose fighting style is not so much like a magical girl.

However, Homura Akemi and Mayumi Haga have been partners for so long that they are already used to each other's moves.

The only ones who suffer a truly tragic fate are the others, who are terrified every time they encounter Mayumi Haga's reincarnation.

Leaving aside Sayaka Miki, who was terrified into unconsciousness by the dismemberment killer last night, Madoka Kaname, standing in front of her, was also experiencing a momentary mental standstill from shock before.

Homura Akemi originally wanted to stop all of this from happening, but because it had been a long time since her last encounter with Mayumi Haga, it was too late for her to react this time.

Fortunately, it was only Cupid's head that got blown off, not his brain or anything like that.

Otherwise, this could be enough to make someone with a fragile mind see a psychologist.

Moreover, Xiaoyuan is a person with a strong will.

The pink-haired, twin-tailed middle school student was startled by the sight before her, almost screaming, "How could this be... This is so cruel..."

The dark guardian explained earnestly, "This guy is no good."

However, given her attire, her blood-covered appearance, and the current scene, this explanation doesn't seem like something a good person would say.

Furthermore, Mayumi Haga speaks coldly and briefly, and doesn't sound like someone with good intentions.

This resulted in Kaname Madoka, based solely on her first impression, not having even the slightest bit of trust in her explanation.

The headless carcass of the cruelly murdered animal was right in front of her. Madoka Kaname had come because she heard its cries for help, but when she arrived, the little guy's head had turned into a pulp in front of her.

Just as Kaname Madoka was about to say something, there was a sudden sound of chains falling, which was jarring in the otherwise quiet setting.

Kaname Madoka subconsciously looked up in the direction the sound came from, only to see Akemi Homura, the transfer student who had joined the class that day.

The other person had appeared in her dreams before. To Madoka Kaname, Homura Akemi, who had a complicated attitude towards her on her first day at the new school, was a very strange person.

Even though the other person is now standing with the person who killed the small animals, Madoka Kaname cannot feel any hostility towards them.

“Xiao Yan…?” she asked in surprise.

Meanwhile, Mayumi Haga glanced sideways at Homura Akemi to confirm:

—Iron chains?

—It fell down by accident.

This abrupt appearance was not what Homura Akemi wanted, but she just wanted to talk to Madoka Kaname and consolidate the results of tonight's hunt for Kyubey.

"Leave this guy alone, ignore him," Homura Akemi said coldly.

Kaname Madoka exclaimed in disbelief, "But... why are you doing this...?"

Could it be that Xiaoyan and this person who abuses animals are really in cahoots? But why would they cruelly kill such adorable animals...?

“It has nothing to do with you,” Homura Akemi said, and walked past Mayumi Haga towards Madoka Kaname.

Logically, this is a good opportunity to explain one's motives to Madoka Kaname and to clarify why she should not get close to Kyubey and should not form a contract to become a magical girl.

However, neither Homura Akemi nor Mayumi Haga are good at providing supplementary explanations.

Both of them use only the bare minimum of language when communicating with others, even though this could very likely lead to deeper misunderstandings.

“This child is calling me… I heard it, it’s saying save me!” Kaname Madoka said urgently.

Homura Akemi replied coldly, "Is that so?"

Mayumi Haga made no other move; she simply stood there, watching Homura Akemi's seemingly indifferent back.

Despite her calm demeanor and seemingly indifferent attitude, Homura Akemi's slightly stiff back view revealed the intense inner turmoil she was going through.

Perhaps Homura Akemi wanted to say something to her friend in front of her, just like in the previous loops, but those surging emotions were ultimately buried deep in her heart, turning into a cold and hard "Is that so?"

Mayumi Haga suddenly said, "It's lying."

Madoka Kaname and Homura Akemi's attention was drawn to her sudden words. They only saw the black Guardian's hand open, and more than a dozen Kyubey corpses fell from under her palm and piled up on the ground.

“It has countless bodies and cannot die,” Mayumi Haga tried to explain, “So it asked you for help because…”

Halfway through their conversation, dry ice smoke suddenly hissed from the side, completely obscuring the vision of Mayumi Haga and Homura Akemi.

Sayaka Miki rushed over with a fire extinguisher and scooped Madoka Kaname away.

Side Story: Mayumi Haga and Madoka Magica: Madoka Magica 6 - The Strange Transfer Student and Her Serial Killer Friend

"Xiaoyuan, over here!"

After school, Miki Sayaka walked home with Kaname Madoka, and it was she who first suggested going to the CD store. While they were listening to CDs at the store, they saw Kaname Madoka seemingly bewitched by some sound as she left.

So Sayaka Miki, concerned for her friend, followed behind.

From her perspective, Madoka Kaname found small animals that had been abused and killed, and bumped right into a vicious animal abuser.

Without even listening carefully, Sayaka Miki grabbed the fire extinguisher and sprayed it wildly at the two dark figures. Before they could react, she grabbed Madoka Kaname and ran away.

This has led to the current situation.

The dry ice from the fire extinguisher was nothing to Mayumi Haga. She instinctively wanted to chase after him, but after recognizing the blue-haired middle school student as the one she had scared unconscious last night, she paused for a moment.

There's really no need to chase after them.

Anyway, Kyubey has already been killed by her and Homura Akemi, so there's no point in chasing after him.

Perhaps in other reincarnations, he and Homura Akemi had a good relationship with the two people in front of him, but now they are just strangers.

Having figured this out, Mayumi Haga didn't take any further action. She simply raised her hand and easily caught the fire extinguisher that Sayaka Miki needed to grab with both hands and swing it to throw, then put it aside.

She tilted her head: "Next step...?"

Before she could finish speaking, her gaze sharpened. The surrounding environment underwent an unexpected distortion, instantly raising her guard.

Homura Akemi's expression was equally grave: "At this time..."

Witch's Barrier.

Unlike the art style of the normal world, it is filled with frenzied ramblings and haphazardly pieced-together fragmented symbols. The color palette is bizarre, distorted, and abstract... Just one glance upwards is enough to sense an abnormal will permeating this boundless space.

Butterfly specimens, television, playing cards, thorns, a bearded familiar...

In an instant, countless things bloomed and withered before Mayumi Haga. These absurd things, completely unlike anything in the human world, were layered upon each other within this witch's barrier.

Witches are the ultimate destiny of magical girls. When the Soul Gem is completely tainted by despair and turns pure black, a witch is born from it.

Witches possess barriers, and usually hide within them. However, they lure ordinary people into their barriers using a mark called the "Witch's Kiss," then drain their life force. Only magical girls can discover and defeat witches.

Standing next to Mayumi Haga was a genuine magical girl from this world, but considering that the two people who had just fled had vanished right in front of her, and their footsteps had stopped in an instant, this time the witch's barrier must have lured those two people in.

They also included Mayumi Haga in the package.

In this world, Mayumi Haga, who did not sign a contract with Kyubey, is strictly speaking classified as an ordinary person.

After Mayumi Haga entered the witch's barrier, she found that Homura Akemi had also entered and was standing next to her.

But there was still no sign of Madoka Kaname or Sayaka Miki.

Mayumi Haga cannot use magic and is unable to sense the location of the other two. Fortunately, Homura Akemi is experienced and immediately found the direction.

The two still didn't exchange a single word during their collaboration, but their almost simultaneous, full-speed movement was something that didn't seem like a first-day partnership.

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

On the other side, there's Sayaka Miki and Madoka Kaname.

"What's that? Is this cosplay mixed up with a serial killer?" Sayaka Miki snapped out of her daze, remembering seeing those two faces in her nightmare last night, and panicked. "I have to run, or I'll get killed too..."

She remembered!

That person in dark clothes and a black hood is none other than the murderous maniac who dismembered people last night!

How did that annoying transfer student end up hanging out with a murderer?

And it looks like the two of them were torturing animals together... Speaking of which, what kind of animals were they? Hamsters? Rabbits? Aliens?

Ughhhhhh, my mind is so confused!

This was the first time Miki Sayaka had ever encountered such a vicious person. In the mind of a middle school student, the fact that the transfer student who had just joined the class was hanging out with a murderer, and that the murderer had even committed acts like dismemberment, was simply too far beyond the realm of ordinary life.

If things had continued at the same pace, Homura Akemi would still appear to be the same age as others, and although her behavior was a bit strange, it wouldn't have reached the point of murder.

But Mayumi Haga is very different.

She left the impression of a murderer during her first meeting with Sayaka Miki, and the scene of dismemberment was so shocking that it left a deep psychological scar on the middle school student.