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

The hyacinth is very nervous.

Unlike the tension she felt before exam results were released, the tension she was experiencing now surpassed anything she had ever felt before, making the usually carefree Hyacinth extremely cautious.

"You've been wandering around there for ages. Senior Chixue just went in not long ago, it's still early."

"Hey, woof, hurry up and eat your food, or it'll get cold and won't taste good, woof."

Nightingale and Arum sat facing each other at a portable dining table not far from the defensive barrier, each holding a frontline support meal delivered by the Hero Association, and said to Hyacinth.

The boxed lunch consisted of two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes—braised pork with soybeans and twice-cooked pork with garlic sprouts, two classic dishes that go well with rice. There were also two plates of cold dishes and a bowl of tomato and egg soup on the table—the Hero Association's S-class standard lunch.

Tian Nanxing kept shoveling rice into her mouth, her tail wagging back and forth behind her, looking like she was thoroughly enjoying her meal.

Seeing the Bern Mountain dog girl eating so happily, Hyacinth suddenly felt a pang of hunger. She glanced back at the teleportation portal that was firmly protected within the defensive barrier, sighed softly, and simply walked to the dining table, picked up her own lunchbox, and shoveled down two mouthfuls.

"Don't worry too much about what will happen in the new millennium. With Senior Akashiki around, nothing serious will happen," Nightingale said to Hyacinth after swallowing her food.

"I know nothing serious should happen, but I just feel... sigh... let's not talk about this anymore, let's eat." Hyacinth shook her head helplessly, unable to explain where this feeling of tension in her heart came from.

Is it because the portal isn't secure?

Impossible. That portal was constructed by Qiu Gui, Bai Lili, and Xin Yuehu together, with Chi Xue also involved. Nightingale was responsible for reinforcing and perfecting the surrounding defensive barrier to ensure that no small-scale accidents would occur.

However, Xin Yuehu's original words were, "This portal is actually just an ordinary teleportation spell leading to the world of mental images," which makes it hard not to have some doubts—can an ordinary teleportation spell really encounter the [Millennium]? It would have to be at least legendary level, right?

Even Nightingale and Iris had no objection to this, and Hyacinth felt that with her shallow level of magic, it was best not to question such advanced magic.

.

A hot lunch can really replenish your energy.

After lunch, a bowl of hot tomato and egg soup made Hyacinth feel as if all the fatigue from the morning had been dispelled. Leaning back in her chair, she gazed at the portal, her eyelids starting to droop.

The portal was built last night, and Senior Chixue immediately went inside. Xinyuehu gave her a maximum communication silence period of 48 hours... which is tomorrow night.

According to Xin Yuehu's plan, if Chi Xue does not send a signal that the stronghold has been completed by tomorrow night, then it will be assumed that she is trapped inside, and preparations will be made immediately for the second round of rescue operations.

Being trapped inside is definitely not a good thing; perhaps that's the source of the tension. Hyacinth thought to herself.

As she pondered, the weariness after lunch quickly overwhelmed her. The girl yawned and slumped onto the cleaned dining table, squinting her eyes as her thoughts gradually drifted away.

Nan Xiaofeng felt as if she had just had a dream.

In my dream, I heard the cries of a baby, felt a warm embrace, and was gently patted and rocked to my back.

A blurry figure seemed to be swaying in front of me. I didn't know who this person was, or even what she looked like, but I instinctively wanted to reach out to her and hug her.

As sleepiness deepened, everything vanished in an instant.

"...Shh, she's already asleep."

The nightingale and arum beside her immediately began to whisper to each other, and even walked on tiptoe, quietly moving from the napping hyacinth to a distance where they could have a normal conversation.

"Hyacinth has been quite tired lately, running around every day and also having to study some difficult-to-understand magic with her seniors," Tian Nanxing added.

Why would she be so eager to meet with the albatross elder?

“…………”

Nightingale didn't answer Tiannanxing's curious question. Instead, she took out a bag of hard teething biscuits from her pocket and stuffed them in front of the dog girl, silencing her with the biscuits.

Everyone tacitly avoided mentioning it, but Nightingale could read the magical girls' possible feelings about it from their expressions—

Many people have probably guessed the relationship between the albatross and the hyacinth, and even Xin Yuehu may have guessed some clues, but the hyacinth itself is still in the dark.

But this is also a good thing. If Hyacinth knew the truth, it would be hard to say whether she could maintain her current state.

"I hope Senior Akashi will return safely," Nightingale prayed silently.

The first day passed in this calm anticipation.

Twenty-four hours passed, and the girls looked at the communication device, which remained silent, and wondered what hardships Chi Xue had encountered inside, that even a veteran like her had taken a whole day to resolve.

However, when the time came to the evening of the next day, with only 6 hours left before reaching the time limit set by Xin Yuehu, the communication device that could theoretically contact Chi Xue still did not make a sound.

The scene was deathly silent.

Bai Lili and Qiu Gui stared intently at the communication console, hoping that Chi Xue would send a message as soon as possible, but the silence that followed shattered the girls' expectations.

At the same time, the hyacinth's tension reached its peak:

She paced back and forth in front of the portal, clenching her fists and then briefly relaxing them, glancing back at the still silent communication station every now and then, biting her lip as she tried to suppress the restlessness in her heart.

"It's been 42 hours."

Bai Lili finally spoke.

"In another 6 hours, we will be able to basically determine that Chi Xue is lost in the Millennium... We need to prepare a complete team to rescue her."

"Although I really don't want to believe it, even Chi Xue stayed inside for almost two whole days..." Xin Yuehu exclaimed.

She's a veteran magical girl who once single-handedly fought against the Garuda incarnation in the Winged Village. Even when she hadn't fought for a long time and was facing a rusty situation, she was still able to defeat and banish that incarnation. Her strength is beyond question.

If even veterans of this strength would be trapped inside...

"I think we can wait a little longer." "No, we need to be prepared now." "But what about the candidates? The few of us?"

The girls began to discuss countermeasures intensively.

Hyacinth stared blankly at the teleportation portal.

For some reason, the girl had had a strange feeling in her heart ever since earlier:

There seemed to be a voice urging me from the depths of my being—hurry up, hurry up, or everything will be over.

This indescribable feeling lingered in her heart, gradually rising and expanding, as if it wanted to tear her will apart and rip her body into countless pieces.

"Are you just going to stand by and watch her walk towards death?"

"She willingly threw herself into the endless cycle of death to protect you."

"That was a one-way ticket with no return."

"She knew what was going to happen, and for you, she didn't hesitate at all."

"What can you possibly give her, [Nan Xiaofeng]?"

It was as if a taut string had snapped in Hyacinth's mind, producing a silent hum.

The girl opened her mouth and said in a hoarse voice:

"I'm going to save them."

"...Huh? Hyacinth? What did you just say?" Bai Lili didn't hear Hyacinth's hoarse and low voice clearly, so she turned around and asked her.

Seeing the hyacinth's movement, the fair-skinned girl's eyes widened, and she quickly shouted:

"Hey! Hyacinth, calm down! You absolutely cannot—"

"...Respond to me, stars."

A beam of sky-blue light shot into the heavens.

The greatsword shattered the solid defensive barrier before the portal, and a brilliant galaxy flowed across her knightly light armor, its magical ribbons fluttering and spreading out:

Magical Girl Hyacinth☆Shadow of the Stars

"Whoosh!!"

A magical whirlwind swept across the football field.

Hyacinth stood alone before the one-way ticket to the new millennium, her eyes resolute, without a trace of confusion, and even the tension that had been lingering around her earlier had dissipated.

The girl glanced back at her companions and repeated her earlier murmur:

"I said, I'll go save them."

The azure figure leaped and disappeared.