Unlimited Ambition

She didn't undergo a transformation period, directly becoming a witch, and her power reached its maximum from the very beginning. It seems Sayaka's resentment has reached a terrifying level. Yet, equally, it evokes a sense of absurdity.

—I mean her appearance.

Just like I said before, it's a dog.

It's a... poodle.

A poodle whose entire body is covered in fur made of long knives.

This is what Sayaka looks like after she becomes a witch.

It's incredibly ironic.

I looked at Sayaka and felt like laughing. This is what Sayaka ended up like? She looks like an idiot. Disgusting, absolutely disgusting. Can I destroy this thing? I can, right? I can… I definitely can.

"Sayaka—"

This might be the last time I call her name. Then that strange, oddly drawn poodle, like something out of a schoolchild's crayon drawing, began to whimper at me, as if laughing. It revealed a mouthful of sharp teeth.

"Too slow." Accompanied by this background music, the cabinet superficially launched an attack on me.

"Kyubi—Danger!" If it weren't for Kyoko saving me this time, I'd probably have my throat crushed by this poodle by now—no, I should say, this poodle is about this big.

"Keep your body balanced, relax, don't be so tense..."

However, Sayaka did not seem to want to let me off so easily, so the hair on her body that looked like long knives suddenly grew longer and quickly stabbed towards me.

"Don't go all out when attacking, just go for 80% and leave some room for maneuver..."

And so, amidst my admonitions to Sayaka, she seemed to want to kill me in this way.

Of course, impossible.

Kyoko wielded her long spear with impenetrable skill, completely deflecting Sayaka's attacks—well, it's better to call her by that name for now. She then seemed about to continue her attack, but I stopped her.

"Retreat," I demanded.

"But Kyubey—" Kyoko seemed very unwilling. But after seeing my pitiful, pleading face, she finally softened and agreed.

Moreover, Kyoko finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although she was somewhat upset that my order prevented her from immediately killing Sayaka, she also confirmed one thing: I was still the same me, incredibly kind-hearted, even showing leniency to so-called enemies who had just become witches.

--wrong!

not like this!

Kyoko suddenly realized something—why was she being so accommodating to this witch? Before this, many magical girls she was close to had become witches—several even more were provoked by Kyoko "behind my back." She had seen her sad and heartbroken. But when it was time to fight, she never held back. She had never once shown mercy. But this time…why was she like this?! Did she think she couldn't beat that witch? Impossible! She had just sensed her power; the witch didn't seem very strong…and even if she couldn't beat her, wasn't there still that black-clad guy?

It was only then that Kyoko remembered Homura Akemi. However, when she looked over again, she couldn't find her anywhere.

"Didn't she leave the barrier with us? No. She must have left a long time ago. Just when that witch attacked my Kyubey... Hmph, how ruthless." Kyoko thought to herself, trying to calm the inexplicable fear in her heart. Then she heard my weak voice.

"Let's leave... Let's find a place to rest for a while."

Chapter Thirty-Six: Please help me no matter what.

Indeed, just as Kyoko imagined, I do have a way to restore Sayaka to normal—namely, Madoka Kaname. If she's willing to sign a contract with me—no, it only requires a tiny trigger. With just a little guidance, allowing Madoka to fully unleash her hidden potential, then turning Sayaka back into a cute girl or something else entirely will be no problem at all.

That's what I think. At least, that's how it appears on the surface.

That's pretty much it. After spending a disoriented night, completely ignoring Kyoko's graceful figure in the bathroom, her adorable appearance in her yukata drinking cold milk, and her obvious hint that she would climb into my bed, I stumbled out of this house that felt more and more like a cage.

"Where are you going?!" Kyoko seemed a little worried about my current state and called out to me before I left.

“…Go to school.” I turned my head and answered somewhat mechanically. My eyes were completely unfocused, and I looked utterly lost.

Kyoko found it absurd. Go to school? What school?! Go to school my ass! Or is there any school in the world that can teach you anything? ...Although my science is indeed terribly bad, that's not the point. As long as my humanities are good, that's enough. I guarantee that no university professor or academic authority in humanities, geography, history, politics, or philosophy can compete with me—of course, that's not the point. The point is, at a time like this, why would I have the time to go to school? Kyoko found it slightly unbelievable.

"What are you going there for?" Xingzi watched as I turned around and walked outside, without stopping to talk to her at all. Her unease grew stronger and stronger, and then she followed me.

“…Go to school.” My voice was still hollow. I walked to school like a walking corpse. Just before Kyoko could bear it any longer and tried to stop me, I gently took her hand.

"..." Kyoko was slightly surprised, then it was as if she was hallucinating—I turned my head and gave her an apologetic smile: "Just, just indulge me a little bit, okay, Kyoko?"

“…Mmm.” Kyoko nodded unconsciously. Then came extreme regret. Kyoko had originally envisioned a beautiful future: since Sayaka was dead, there was no need to worry about this place anymore. And just as Kyoko only had me left, I only had her. We would lean on each other, rely on each other, lick each other's wounds, and live like this forever, until one of us couldn't bear it anymore, and then the other would follow…

That's how it should have been. She had even eliminated her only competitor, but... Sayaka, Miki Sayaka...

At this moment, Kyoko's hatred for Sayaka intensified once again.

During class—within the school. Kyoko concealed herself using a medium, after all, she's a girl I'm quite close to. So I taught her some very practical techniques. Kyoko seemed happy that I did this—of course, she wasn't concerned about how much these techniques would increase her chances of winning. Rather, it was that my attitude proved that I cared about her.

That's it. Kyoko is such an extremely simple-minded girl—to put it bluntly, she's single-minded—that's what makes her so charming.

Sometimes it's better to be a little silly. Especially for women.

Being too smart can be annoying. Just like now.

"Please, sign a contract with me and become a magical girl!"

I had already asked her for this favor.

"If you sign a contract with me and become a magical girl, I'll definitely be able to turn Sayaka back into her original form!"

The reasons are also very valid.

"I can't think of any other way but you!"

In addition, there's the uniqueness.

"...But...I need to see Sayaka first."

She still disagrees.

Madoka Kaname, a cautious woman.

Perhaps I underestimated her a little before. Not all innocent and kind girls are idiots.

“…Okay.” I thought about it for a moment and decided that showing her the current “Sayaka” wasn’t unacceptable, even though it would increase my guilt.

Okay, okay, I admit it, I don't feel any guilt or anything like that. As for Sayaka, it's not like I really can't do anything... like, the Soul Gem or something... like this thing.

During lunch break, I took Madoka and me to Sayaka's barrier. Although Kyoko had disappeared for some reason, it wasn't a big deal if we were just "taking a look" and not fighting. With that thought in mind, I took Madoka's hand and stepped into the barrier.

Before this, because Sayaka had transformed into a witch right in front of me, the beginning was in the central area of ​​the barrier. I didn't witness what happened in the memory corridor. So, when Madoka and I entered this time, it was truly embarrassing.

This is filled with all the little things Sayaka and I did together. There's absolutely nothing else.

The gaze from Madoka beside me was slightly hurtful. It felt as if she was saying: Sayaka's current state is absolutely related to you.

Okay, I admit, I did have my reasons. But I'm trying really hard to win you back, like right now. If you agree to sign a contract with me and become a magical girl or something, then there won't be any problem at all.

However, this is not an easy thing.

"The sound of fighting ahead?" I paused for a moment.

That voice...that voice is Kyoko's...

"Damn it." I gritted my teeth, grabbed Xiaoyuan, and prepared to run inside.

Then, a very soft "plop" sound rang out. I stopped abruptly, followed by the clatter of spent cartridge cases falling to the ground. Immediately afterward, Homura Akemi appeared.

"Didn't I tell you not to lay a hand on Xiaoyuan?"

"..." Damn it, why did it have to be at this time?!

"...Homura?!" Madoka was slightly surprised, and also a little unhappy that Homura Akemi was blocking her way.

"This has absolutely nothing to do with you, Madoka. You have absolutely no responsibility for this. And you don't need to listen to this guy because of it. This is not something you should be doing." The long-haired black-haired girl continued to say things that Madoka couldn't understand at all. At the same time, she raised the silenced automatic pistol in her hand.

"Go back. Otherwise, the next bullet will be in your head." The long, straight black-haired man looked at me expressionlessly and said this.

Is Chapter Thirty-Seven really such a simple requirement?

"You're as annoying as a cockroach!" Faced with this persistent, persistent advances from the long-haired woman—like an ex-girlfriend desperately trying to get back together—I got angry too. My tone wasn't so pleasant anymore: "Get out of my way!"

"I won't move, so what?!" Homura Akemi snorted, seemingly enjoying my exasperated state. A mocking smile appeared on her lips.

"Flame-chan... please stop arguing like this, can't you just let us go over there?" the little round-faced girl pleaded.

"...No." The woman with long, straight black hair was noticeably more lenient towards the round-faced girl. Speaking of which, what exactly is the relationship between the two of them? Or rather, after so many years, how have Homura Akemi's feelings for Madoka Kaname evolved? Although it would be easy to figure out with a little bit of her ability, such an easy figure-out wouldn't be fun.

So, I don't want to use this almost cheating ability to know everything. Instead, I want to use my own abilities to deduce what's going on. Of course, none of that is the point right now. The point is that I want to get this guy with long black hair, who looks a little annoying, to move aside.

"Well then, I'm sorry, Homura Akemi with her long, straight black hair—"

At this moment, like a demonic sword drawn from its sheath, his aura completely transformed into that of the ruthless demon prince of yesteryear. This caused Homura Akemi to involuntarily take two steps back.

"What...did you call me?" Homura Akemi was slightly dazed. Her arm trembled almost imperceptibly, but not because of the killing intent and aura I was emanating. After all, she had been reincarnated for hundreds of years and had witnessed my true power a few times. Naturally, she was somewhat prepared.

It's because of my nickname. Homura Akemi, with her long, straight black hair.

Back then, countless lifetimes ago, when Homura Akemi finally made up her mind, became prepared to sacrifice herself, and transformed into this dark and cool gothic style, that's how I called her.

At that time, how far had our relationship progressed...? Hmm...

forgotten.

Although I know this isn't the time to think about such things, I still can't help but want to laugh out loud—no, more importantly, I feel helpless. Because Homura's defenses are more fragile than I imagined. Just a simple address is enough to make her waver like this. I'm increasingly losing hope that Homura can pull off this turnaround.

Perhaps, after this cycle of reincarnation, I can restore this world to its original state and apologize to them properly. I'm sure the girls will forgive me then.

perhaps.

"So, can we move now?" I gripped the hilt of my sword, asking impatiently.

Homura Akemi is still in a dazed state and shows no intention of answering my questions.

...Since that's the case.

While Homura Akemi was still in a daze, I grabbed Madoka's hand and ran past the long-haired black-haired girl inside.

The sounds of fighting grew louder and louder. Interspersed among them were Kyoko's angry roars and muffled groans that sounded like she had been hit.

"Kyoko—what are you doing, you idiot?!" Since I could hear Kyoko's voice, she must be able to hear mine too—so I shouted.

At the same time, upon hearing my voice, Kyoko, who was engaged in a fierce battle with the poodle witch, froze—and was then pierced through the body by several sharp swords.

"Damn it... you bastard..."

Anzu, seeing the extremely bizarre and grotesque poodle that seemed to be mocking her, finally erupted in fury.

"I'll kill you—you bitch!!!!!!!!!"

……