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

Sealing away an invincible monster and hoping that future generations will unleash even greater power to defeat it is a helpless act.

That's how Red Rose did it back then.

She sealed the astral rift and watched over it for decades, finally getting the chance to heal it—a new generation of magical girls gathered in Sui City, and several Star Shadows participated in resisting the powerful monsters emerging from the rift, including the first confirmed astral behemoth, Leviathan.

It can be said that Albatross made a similar choice to Red Rose: to use a time loop to trap the unsolvable Astral Jellyfish, and then find another way to solve the problem.

However, she also faces a very unique problem: the jellyfish's "immortality".

Even if only a small fragment remains, or even just a few specks of dust, it can silently grow into a new hydra, and then strengthen itself by plundering magic or merging with others, eventually transforming back into the firmly rooted giant hydra.

This cycle repeats itself endlessly, and it seems impossible to find a way to completely eradicate it once and for all.

It's as if "death" doesn't exist for it at all; it's just another form of life. How can you kill something that doesn't even have the concept of "death"?

This is an unsolvable problem, but the albatross has provided an answer full of "the power of my contemplation":

If we treat the jellyfish itself as a material for a massive magic spell, and use it as part of the "Death Cycle," wouldn't we be able to create a wonderful combo?

"Bang! Bang bang bang!"

A series of rapid gunshots echoed over Chengdu in the new millennium.

A crimson magical girl swept across the sky, weaving and dodging between buildings, her lever rifle firing in rapid succession, igniting several jellyfish that tried to escape into a wisp of ashes.

The girl cocked the lever, landed on the roof, and braked. She glanced down at the compass in her hand, which was printed with a radish pattern, and searched for any other jellyfish or hydra that might be trying to sprout.

But the compass was covered with jellyfish patterns, which made Chi Xue's scalp tingle.

I originally thought this thing could only detect things up to a hundred or two hundred meters away at most. After all, the jellyfish's magical essence is not much different from that of the monster. From a distance, you can only see it with your eyes. You can't distinguish the monster's magical characteristics from the huge background magic of [Death Cycle].

What does it mean that the effective range of this compass can cover the third ring road of Chengdu?

"What are you looking at?"

"...A very interesting gadget. It was supposed to be a very useful thing, but it seems to be too useful."

As she put away Xin Yuehu's [Strange Person Detection Compass], Chi Xue glanced back at the albatross that had followed her closely to the roof of the office building.

"If you ask me, you shouldn't have impulsively set up this time loop back then."

"Hmph! Now you're starting to look down on me? I didn't have a better solution back then!"

The latter, who was gripping his wand with both hands and preparing to cast a spell, immediately puffed out his cheeks and pouted to express his dissatisfaction upon hearing his companion's words.

"Although there's not much to criticize about your plan... I feel like there's some other way we haven't thought of yet," Akayuki replied, shrugging.

"Now we're both trapped inside."

"You know what, it's precisely because you came in to support this plan that it was able to continue as Mengmeng and I had arranged beforehand. Otherwise, I would have already—"

A sharp screech erupted in the center of the city, interrupting their conversation. Albatross immediately slammed his wand into the ground, preparing to attack.

"It woke up early; that's not a good sign," the albatross said gravely.

"Perhaps it sensed that we were trying to seal it off with a time loop, so its adaptation time after the cycle restarted became faster and faster, this time it even only took five hours."

"Can you hold on, Akashi?"

"..."

The crimson-haired girl did not answer. She looked up at the Chengdu TV station signal tower in the distance, its top shimmering with a faint magical light as it attempted to send messages to the outside world.

Will Xin Yuehu and the others be able to receive their own signals?

Whether she receives it or not, today will be the last battle for [Red Snow].

The final battle in the true sense.

The girl turned her attention back to the albatross and said softly:

"...Perhaps."

.

【Click】

[This is Chixue. This is my fifteenth attempt to contact the outside world. I don't know if I can successfully communicate this time, but I hope you can hear my last words.]

[This is the beginning of the sixth cycle of reincarnation. The death cycle plan has gone slightly astray—it has spiraled out of control.]

The moment Hyacinth returned to the new millennium, the communication stone given to her by Heart Moon Fox, which she always carried with her, began to ring out a series of sounds.

These sounds seemed to be set to loop, playing repeatedly as she tried to find her way around. Even if Nan Xiaofeng wasn't very bright, she could still make out some of the details:

[I would say that it was more expected that it would get out of control; Albatross's magic has never been very reliable.]

However, it was precisely because the magic went out of control that I gained a crucial insight.

We can no longer control the start of reincarnation according to the Albatross's original plan, and have completely left it to the raging astral magic to operate on its own. In a way, this has actually promoted the establishment of a perfect 'time loop'.

I will try to perfect this magic and fulfill the albatross's wish... until we burn out.

[If anyone hears this message, immediately halt all rescue plans and dispel all teleportation spells leading to the millennium.]

Let this place become an island of time, an eternal prison.

Hyacinth silently turned off the automatic reception and playback function of the Divine Stone and looked ahead.

This city, just like it was twenty years ago, is still full of the dream core of the millennium. I'm sure this isn't my first time here, but no matter how many times I see the scenes from the past, I always feel a sense of nostalgia.

"...I don't understand what 'suspending rescue' means."

Hyacinth muttered to itself, slung the greatsword over its shoulder, activated its flight magic, and sped toward the Astral Jellyfish that was roaring above Rongcheng.

The feeling of being torn apart still lingers in my heart.

We must hurry and get to them. They need help, and this is our only chance!

Hyacinth covered the 20-kilometer distance in just one minute.

The sounds were left far behind her, and the world in her eyes became incredibly noisy in that minute: the sonic booms, the howling winds, all transformed into a magical band of light that tore through the air and streaked across the millennium sky.

.

Red Snow severed another jellyfish tentacle that was attacking.

The shotgun fired, magic erupted, and surging hydra and tiny jellyfish burned in the flames—yet countless jellyfish still surged toward this side.

"There are so many of them! They're everywhere!"

Chi Xue shouted behind her.

"Has this cycle of reincarnation not started yet?!"

"It will take at least another half hour." Albatross casually tossed out countless magic missiles, and called out in the direction of Red Snow.

If it survives until the cycle of death begins, the jellyfish will be destroyed as magical material by the entire mental world, but its immortality allows it to recover quickly.

Before the cycle of reincarnation begins, the awakened jellyfish will instinctively wreak havoc on its surroundings. You and the albatross must stop its destruction and hold out until the cycle restarts.

The imperfect cycle of reincarnation made the jellyfish grow stronger and stronger, and this sixth cycle seemed to be the last one that Akashi could suppress with all her might...

"Crack!!!"

A violent explosion suddenly erupted on the jellyfish.

The two were startled by the loud noise and looked up at the giant jellyfish that had been completely cut in half—and the magical trail that stretched across the sky above Chengdu.

"Senior Akashiki! Senior Albatross!"

The hyacinths flew in the air, shouting loudly.

"I've come to save you!!"