The villainous magical girl's daily mission is to find fault.

The idea of ​​"going back to the past" is almost impossible to achieve in the current material plane.

It would trigger a series of time paradoxes—if a person went back in time and killed his own grandmother, then he would not be born again, and there would be no traveler from the future who would kill his grandmother.

Besides the famous grandmother paradox, there are many other similar time paradoxes, making this an insurmountable barrier.

"But as you know, just because it's not feasible 'in the prime material plane' doesn't mean it won't work in other planes."

"For example... Far beyond the astral plane, there is a rift in the world that leads to an endless abyss. From that rift, one can peek into the interior of the abyss, where all time, space, and fundamental rules are invalid. No one knows what's inside."

"According to magical theory, as long as one can obtain the 'magical elements' related to the abyss, one can transcend the laws of time and achieve the feat of 'returning to the past' in the present world."

The azure-blue girl stood on the rooftop, looking down at the football field that was tightly sealed off on the ground and the teleportation gate that was firmly protected in the center of the green field, and spoke to the person next to her.

"The only thing in the world that could theoretically come from that distant abyss is the secret manual I gave you. Did you use the ancient magic recorded in that book, little fox?"

"...I guess so." The golden-haired fox girl nodded, not daring to cheat or deceive the person next to her.

A living fossil-level predecessor, the Azure Reaper who was evenly matched with Red Rose, Magical Girl☆Mercury, the former holder of the Codex.

She is the number one guide who enabled this fox to successfully conjure the teleportation spell beneath its feet.

Su Tianqing felt that her senior's abilities were somewhat wasted here, but her willingness to help really relieved the predicament of her overloaded fox brain while researching this super legendary magic.

"But why don't you just show yourself in front of everyone, instead of helping in such a secretive way?" Su Tianqing asked curiously.

Mercury was silent for a moment, then turned to look at the golden-haired fox girl beside him.

"Who do you think has a better reputation, the two of us?" Mercury asked, posing a probing question.

"I understand now," Su Tianqing said, suddenly realizing.

Perhaps because so much time has passed, people have gradually forgotten what Mercury did as the world's first villainous magical girl. In addition, the newcomers have always been respectful to the older generation, so their attitude towards Mercury is more one of admiration than the sharpness of the veteran magical girls.

Coincidentally, veteran fighters like Chi Xue were among those participating in this operation.

Mercury didn't press the matter about what magic the fox had obtained from the secret book; she seemed uninterested in it, her attention instead focused on Hyacinth, who was staring blankly at the portal.

"Hyacinth seems quite bothered by the fact that she wasn't chosen as a vanguard," Mercury said.

"Yes... her relationship with the albatross is very subtle. Although we do not have conclusive evidence at the moment, there is no doubt about the power of this kind of cognitive obscuring that transcends magic."

"...I guess this is fate." The two sighed in unison.

All that's left to do is wait quietly.

Chi Xue took the lead, relying on her familiar memories of Chengdu in the millennium and a bunch of magical fox gadgets she got from Hyacinth, and plunged headlong into the [One-Way Ticket] portal.

Will she be able to return safely? Only time will tell.

Unfortunately, time doesn't favor either side.

.

"This is probably fate."

On the dilapidated rooftop, an albatross, wand in hand, murmured softly, seemingly talking to someone.

This is the third cycle of death.

In the center of the ruined city, the remains of a jellyfish floated in mid-air. Almost all of its tentacles and tentacles had been destroyed, but it still retained its original general shape, which was very different from the previous two reincarnations.

A weary meerkat spirit perched on her shoulder, struggling to draw magic from the albatross to replenish its energy, but to no avail.

"Mengmeng, are you feeling better?" Albatross said to its companion on its shoulder.

The stargazer shook his head.

"Not yet. The third cycle is more taxing than I expected. Perhaps we didn't do something right at the end of the last cycle?"

"I don't think it has anything to do with that," the albatross said softly, his gaze drifting into the distance.

"According to our theory, the spacetime annihilation caused by this magic should have destroyed most of its body. This was the case the first two times, but this time so many body parts remained."

"All the steps were correct, even the injection of magic and the timing were exactly the same. Theoretically, it is impossible for there to be such a huge error."

"...The only error is that."

The albatross points to the astral jellyfish that is trying to restore its body.

The cycle of reincarnation is not perfect; each time it is activated, a portion of the magic power is lost, and the jellyfish extracts its power from this dissipated magic power.

It has become stronger.

In theory, Mengmeng has 12 Guardian Stars in her inventory, enough to support her in unleashing 12 special Starry Shadows, but that is an ideal situation based on abundant magic power without excessive consumption.

The jellyfish is gradually growing stronger, but its magic power is being worn down in the cycle of reincarnation. It will be exhausted in less than 12 cycles and will be unable to restart the cycle of death. The method to perfect this cycle has not been found, and countless attempts have ended in failure. It is almost an unsolvable problem.

"I have no way back."

The albatross took a deep breath and said,

"Since it will keep regenerating and reviving, I will destroy it again and again until a perfect closed loop is established."

"...How many chances do we have left?"

"At most three times. By then, the total amount of magic power that the jellyfish has seized will exceed the amount of magic power you can mobilize. At that time, you will no longer be able to activate the Death Cycle, but the time in this mental world will no longer match that of the real world, and you will be forever adrift in the rift between planes."

The meerkat spirit said,

"If we cannot complete the perfect time loop, it will devour all the magic of this mental world, and everything here will cease to exist."

"The Kraken's power will become incredibly strong, but it will only be driven by instinct and will never be able to escape this place. It will decay and perish here, only to be reborn again... repeating its own unique cycle of death."

Mengmeng paused for a moment,

"If that happens, we will also lose the chance to leave here, the Death Cycle Project will fail, and it will be converted into the Eternal Prison Project."

The albatross grinned and replied:

"Ha, thankfully I never intended to get out of here alive. Sounds pretty good, doesn't it?"

"In that case—"

Is this the ending you wanted?

A voice that could never possibly appear in her mind suddenly rang out, interrupting Albatross's soliloquy and causing her to stop abruptly.

She turned to look at the source of the sound, her eyes wide:

Behind him was a girl in fiery red, her hooded dress shimmering with starlight.

Magical Girl☆Aka Snow

"Red Snow...?" Albatross blinked, surprised. "Why are you here? I clearly excluded you..."

"Yeah, you never ask for my opinion before doing things like this, even though I'm the captain."

The crimson-haired girl took two steps forward, walked up to the albatross, tilted her head slightly to look at her, and frowned.

The two former companions stared at each other for a long time until Chi Xue sighed helplessly, which eased the tense atmosphere that had been so intense.

"You came up with the Death Cycle Plan? That's ridiculous."

"Ah... well... hehe..." The albatross was at a loss, scratched his cheek, and chuckled.

Immediately afterward, he noticed something was amiss and quickly questioned Chi Xue:

"Why are you here? How did you get in, like a hyacinth?"

"I used some underhanded methods, but none of that matters."

Chi Xue walked to the edge of the rooftop and looked down at Chengdu, the city that evoked countless memories for her in the new millennium.

...Of course, there was also a rather unsightly astral jellyfish.

"Is this the guy you wanted to trap?"

"Yes, this is the only way I can think of to deal with its immortality." Albatross shrugged.

"Do you even realize how dangerous you're facing?"

"This risk is necessary to protect everyone," the albatross said confidently.

Chi Xue couldn't maintain his serious expression for a moment and shook his head with a wry smile.

"I really can't do anything with you..."

"In that case—count me in for an extra one-way ticket!"