Crossover Anime: I Became Invincible Starting as an Ajin

Chapter 106 Witch's Night - Enhanced Version

Homura Akemi's gun trembled slightly.

QB's question struck at the deepest point of her confusion.

Wang Bai's appearance did indeed break her countless cycles of reincarnation.

His incredible power, especially the light that could "reverse" the seeds of sorrow, was a possibility she had never seen before.

Is it hope?

She wasn't sure.

But each cycle ends with Xiaoyuan's sacrifice, and each new variable brings new despair—

—Or perhaps, it is hope.

But she would never reveal a single word to QB.

"You guys talk too much nonsense."

A gray instant, as if time had stopped, covered the world.

In the stillness of time and space, Homura Akemi calmly walked up to each QB and precisely delivered bullets into their skulls.

Time resumed its flow.

The remaining QBs all fell to the ground at the same time.

Homura Akemi was panting, not from exhaustion, but from the pressure.

The incubators have already set their sights firmly on her and Wang Bai.

The city is turning into a giant vortex, a powder keg about to explode, composed of witches, magical girls, unknown variables, and indifferent observers.

She gazed into the distance of the city, where a new witch's aura rose.

Then, in another direction, and another one—

"I must—find him." Homura Akemi made up her mind. She could no longer face all of this alone. Whether Wang Bai was friend or foe, she had to contact him and confirm it. At the very least, she had to figure out what he wanted to do and whether he was capable of dealing with the terrifying civilization-level suppression from the Incubators.

Her figure disappeared from the rooftop, rushing rapidly towards the direction where she had sensed that strange light of redemption earlier—the location of Wang Bai's school.

In the shadows of the city, more QB emerged from the corners, silently watching the direction Homura Akemi had left in. Their red eyes held no emotion, only the endless stream of data flashing within them.

"Phase 1 of the plan: Construction of the stress environment, completed."

"Target Individual Wang Bai: Data on rule resistance, mental state, and special redemption ability have been updated."

"Target individual Homura Akemi: The probability of confirming her time-based ability has increased to 87.3%. Her attitude towards the variable Wang Bai: Highly vigilant but with an intention to contact him. Data has been entered into the core response model."

The prototype of "Executing Phase Two: Guiding the Witch's Night" arrived ahead of schedule, and tested the feasibility and limits of the "Third Law" under extreme conditions.

The cold, impersonal commands were transmitted at the speed of light through the network of the Incubator civilization.

For them, the chaos in Mitakihara was just the beginning of a larger and more sophisticated experiment.

Wang Bai and Akemi Homura were the two most important observation samples in this experiment.

In this experiment, they sensed that Wang Bai's power was a power from a completely different system.

The occurrences are illogical, and the resulting effects are also illogical.

This power is a direct challenge to the understanding of the civilization that incubated them.

A subtle ripple appeared in the space behind Wang Bai, and time seemed to stand still for a moment.

A cold, hard object pressed against the back of his head.

"Don't move."

Homura Akemi's voice was flat, but the gun barrel pressed against his skin conveyed an extremely tense emotion.

Wang Bai was not alarmed, and did not even turn around.

He simply dispersed the runes on his fingertips; the ordinary firearms used by the other party probably wouldn't even be able to scratch his skin.

Wang Bai calmly said, "Akami Homura, using time-stopping to approach someone who might be able to sense it is not a way to show friendliness."

Homura Akemi's heart skipped a beat. He knew after all!

-

He might even have sensed the standstill of time!

"What exactly are you? Your power doesn't belong to this world."

Homura Akemi didn't lower her gun; her tone grew even colder, "QB sees you as a huge threat. They're changing their strategies because of you, and this city is accelerating its slide into the abyss because of you!"

Wang Bai slowly turned around, ignoring the dangerous pistol, and looked directly into Homura Akemi's violet, weathered eyes.

"Who I am is not important. What is important is that, like you, I don't want to see Madoka Kaname sacrifice herself for a cruel deception."

Upon hearing Madoka's name, Homura Akemi's pupils contracted sharply, and her murderous intent surged instantly: "You're not allowed to mention her name! You know nothing!"

I probably know more than you think.

Wang Bai did not back down. The power of his artistic conception flowed naturally, and an aura as steady as a mountain and as profound as the starry sky spread out. It was not confrontation, but rather tolerance and understanding, attempting to soothe Akemi Homura's sharp hostility.

"I know you've reincarnated time and time again, I know your only wish is to protect her. And our enemy now is the same one—that incubator civilization that uses the hopes of magical girls as fuel and their despair as a harvest."

"What you don't know is that magical girls will eventually find a kind of redemption."

"At the moment when all magical girls are about to transform into witches, they receive help from a certain girl, no, or rather a certain god, thus escaping the fate of becoming witches."

"However, one of these redeemed magical girls is missing."

"And that one is the god who saved all magical girls, and the only magical girl who was forgotten by the world and remains."

"Madoka Kaname, when she becomes a magical girl, will be the only magical girl who cannot be saved."

.

After hearing what Wang Bai had said, Homura Akemi looked shocked.

She had never considered this possibility, but how could it be?

How could Madoka Kaname possibly make such a wish, and how could such a wish possibly be fulfilled?

"No, impossible! Your lie is utterly absurd!"

Looking at Homura Akemi in front of him, even though she was verbally opposing what he said, Wang Bai was actually beginning to believe her.

He didn't try to prove anything to Homura Akemi, nor did he continue to explain. Instead, he changed the subject, or rather, gave her a way out.

Wang Bai frankly stated, "But I brought a possibility. A possibility that magical girls can escape their fate without Madoka becoming a god. I call it the Third Law: Soul Materialization."

"This power does not originate from this world, therefore it possesses abilities that this world does not have, but also—"

"What this power will ultimately bring, what it will change, is all uncertain."

"But no matter how things develop from here, it's still better than the current situation, isn't it?"

Just then, in the direction of the city center, the sky suddenly darkened, and an aura of despair far surpassing that of any witch before, a devastating force that sent shivers down one's spine, rose into the sky, as if to drag the entire Mitakihara City into an abyss.

The dark clouds rolled like living things, vaguely forming the outline of a huge, distorted, weeping female face.

"What is that?!" Homura Akemi's face turned pale. This power reminded her of some of the worst possible end-of-life scenarios.

Wang Bai's expression turned extremely serious: "It seems these are the questions for their second phase of testing."

Wang Bai sensed the changes in Mitakihara through the barrier.

A large number of witches deployed witch barriers, filling the barrier set up by Wang Bai with various black holes.

Each black hole symbolizes a witch in action.

However, these witches seem to be constantly moving towards other witches.

The black holes gradually merged, forming an enormous vortex that slowly devoured everything around them.

No one knows what happened inside, nor what changes these witches will bring.

In the entire history of humankind, and in the history of magical girls, there has never been anything of this scale or with such a peculiar trajectory.

Wang Bai explained to the bewildered Homura Akemi, "The catalyzed and enhanced Witch's Night—or rather, a probe dropped by the Incubator civilization—was used to measure our limits."

Almost simultaneously, several QBs silently appeared on the water tank at the edge of the rooftop, their red eyes fixed on Wang Bai and Xiao Meiyan.

"High-value target Akemi Homura detected has made direct contact with high-threat variable Wang Bai."

"The 'Witch's Night' event has been successfully activated. Energy level: Critical threshold."

"The second phase of the experiment: a feasibility test of redemption under extreme conditions" has officially begun.

"Data recording: proceeding synchronously."

QB's cold voice announced the next step of the experiment.

Wang Bai looked at Homura Akemi, extended his hand, and said with a sharp and firm look in his eyes: "Homura Akemi, now is not the time to hesitate."

Is it to continue bearing everything alone, searching for a sliver of hope in yet another cycle of reincarnation; or to choose to believe in me this time, and join me, and perhaps others willing to rebel—

Can we confront this "probe" head-on and carve out a true path to survival for Madoka, and for all magical girls?

As Homura Akemi looked at Wang Bai's outstretched hand, then gazed at the suffocating dark clouds in the city center, Madoka's gentle smiling face flashed through her mind.

The exhaustion and despair that had been repeated countless times clashed fiercely with the unknown possibilities brought about by this "variable".

Finally, she suddenly raised her head, the confusion in her eyes replaced by determination.

She didn't shake Wang Bai's hand, but instead deftly put the pistol back into its holster.

"If you lie to me, or if your plan fails and Xiaoyuan gets hurt—"

Her voice was as cold as ice, "I will riddle you with bullets in a time-stopped world, no matter how many times you need to die."

This is Homura Akemi's kind of "cooperation" commitment.

Wang Bai smiled slightly: "That's very fair."

His gaze shifted to the dark clouds in the city center, and runes began to shimmer in his eyes.

"Then let's go and see this great gift the Incubator civilization has given us."

Incubator Observation Log (Excerpt):

Target interaction confirmation: The variable "Wang Bai" and the key individual "Xiao Meiyan" have reached a temporary cooperation consensus.

The basis for cooperation: the desire to protect "Madoka Kaname".

Environmental pressure is applied: "Witch's Night Prototype" has been successfully deployed, and the concentration of despair energy in the city has increased dramatically.

The Incubator Civilization observes this experiment through the eyes of QB.

The original streets and buildings are now like a mirror maze in an amusement park.

Twisting, stretching, breaking.

The sky was an unsettling purplish-red, with huge, dark clouds resembling the silhouette of a weeping woman (the witch herself).

It hangs low, constantly sprinkling black "tears"—each drop explodes upon landing, transforming into countless wailing miniature familiars.

The entire space was filled with a suffocating sense of despair, far more intense than any prelude to a Witch's Night that Homura Akemi had ever experienced.

"Is this... the catalyzed form?" Homura Akemi gripped her pistol tightly, her face pale.

This force instilled in her an instinctive sense of fear.

"Calm down." Wang Bai's voice rang out beside her, carrying a strange, comforting power.

He quickly drew his hands in the air, and the ancient rune Algiz (symbolizing protection and guardianship) emitted a soft yet resilient light, forming a semi-transparent shield that enveloped the two of them.

Black teardrops struck the shield, creating ripples, but were firmly blocked.

"Its core lies at the center of that dark cloud," Wang Bai's eyes blazed. This aura of despair was the perfect sustenance for the Imaginary Tree, instinctively guiding him to its location. "But the entire barrier is its domain, limiting the effectiveness of conventional attacks."

He clasped his hands together, then suddenly pulled them apart, instantly forming a more complex rune, Tiwaz (symbolizing the god of war, justice, and victory), which contained the concepts of "opening up" and "penetrating," radiating dazzling light.

"Homura Akemi, buy me three seconds! Clear a path to your main body!"

Homura Akemi didn't hesitate for a moment. The gray area where time had stopped unfolded once more, not targeting the witch, but rather the swarming familiars!

In a static world, she transforms into a ruthless Grim Reaper, with her arsenal fully operational, heavy machine guns and rocket launchers precisely positioned at the optimal firing points.

Time Restored!

"boom-!!!"

The violent metal storm instantly cleared out all the familiars in the fan-shaped area in front, blasting out a brief passage!

"Now!"

Wang Bai shouted and hurled the Rune Culture, which he had condensed to its fullest extent, into a long spear and shot it toward the core of the dark cloud!

Wherever the spear passed, the distorted space was forcibly "corrected," leaving behind a straight golden trail of light!

"howl-!!!"

The witch prototype let out a sharp, mournful cry, clearly sensing a threat.

The dark clouds churned violently, and countless enormous arms made of shadow reached out to grab the rune. At the same time, even denser black teardrops pelted Wang Bai and Akemi Homura like a waterfall!

"Don't even think about it!"

Homura Akemi activated Time Stop again, moving rapidly in the instant she was still, and precisely threw a high-explosive grenade at the joints of those shadowy arms!

Wang Bai wasn't idle either. He maintained the shield with one hand while quickly sketching runes symbolizing fire with the other.

Crimson beams of light, formed from the condensation of extreme flames, pierced through the sky.

The black teardrop familiar, the gray explosion smoke, and the crimson high-energy beam instantly dominated the battlefield in the sky, as if a legendary mythical battle had been re-enacted before the world.