Unlimited Ambition

Page 296

My answer seemed to have put Xiaoyuan at ease.

However, they were still not satisfied.

"So, the next question." Xiaoyuan took a deep breath, then seemed to have mustered up her courage: "Do you... like me?"

"..."

If the previous question felt like that of an older sister standing up for her magical girl sisters, then this one is purely out of personal bias. It's a little hard to accept—Madoka, do you realize how much that question has ruined your perfect image?

I'm a little speechless.

But she still answered: "Before...maybe a little. But after seeing you now, it's much more. I might even have fallen in love with you now."

"Still the same as before, glib and smooth-talking."

She blushed slightly, but she seemed quite satisfied with the answer. Because a smile involuntarily crept onto her face—but…

They showed no mercy; it wasn't like playful banter between lovers, but rather they genuinely wanted to kill me.

In an instant, Xiaoyuan drew her bow and nocked an arrow, which then flew towards me with terrifying power. It disappeared about halfway through the flight and then reappeared behind me—no, not behind me. Nor was it in any of my directions, but rather in the void, a fixed point: it would hit me.

That's it.

It is completely impossible to dodge, block, or neutralize. Because it "will hit," it is guaranteed to "hit," and there is no way to counter it.

"Such a foul ability." I muttered this to myself 0.0001 seconds before the magic arrow hit me.

Then, unsurprisingly, he was shot in the heart. He took a heavy hit and was completely obliterated.

The End.

Of course not.

Although it did hit me and unleashed extremely terrifying energy, blasting everything within a radius of hundreds or thousands of kilometers into nothingness.

However, it shouldn't be like this at all.

Having reached this level, Madoka Kaname naturally noticed the clues. Such an attack certainly looked impressive, but to think it could kill me... that's simply unbelievable.

Sure enough, after the smoke cleared, I stood—or rather, floated—unharmed in place. I patted my chest, a little affectedly, and said, "That was close, I was almost killed..."

Chapter 43: Detection of a Large Number of High-Energy Signals

The war has now reached a fever pitch. Madoka Kaname's strength is even greater than I imagined. I am already covered in wounds. And less than half of the thirty-minute time limit remains.

"Shall we continue fighting, Mr. Cupid? Or would you like me to call you Wright Baldwin?" Xiaoyuan looked to be in excellent condition, radiating a healthy glow, with not a single scratch or sign of fatigue.

Because I'm a gentleman, I would never do anything tasteless like bullying girls.

Of course, that's not the point. The point is...

"Actually, shouldn't I be the one saying this to you?" I said to Xiaoyuan, a little annoyed.

"Oh?" Xiaoyuan raised her eyebrows slightly, her expression a mix of bravado and restraint. Her saintly demeanor crumbled once more: "How can you say something like that when I've beaten you so badly you're covered in bruises?"

"Stop fooling yourself, okay?" I finally couldn't help but laugh out loud. "This level of injury can be healed in just a few seconds, and even if I leave it alone, it won't affect my strength at all. After all, at our level, the so-called physical body isn't actually that important. Even the soul... Hmph."

At this point, Xiaoyuan's melting finally stopped. His expression also became serious.

Even so, it at least proves that I have the upper hand right now. Doesn't it?

"But the energy you consumed before this was hundreds of times more than mine."

"..."

"After all, they've only just reached this level. The time has been so short. Even with amazing talent and immense potential, it's still a power they've only recently mastered. It's not surprising that they can't control it well."

"..." She remained speechless. It seemed that Xiaoyuan no longer wanted to use any words to continue putting on a brave face.

A new round of battle is about to begin.

Weird.

In fact, just seconds before Ai Xiaoyuan was about to make her move again, I raised my hands in surrender.

"do not fight."

"Huh?"

Xiao Yuan's eyes widened in slight surprise.

"why?"

“Because it’s pointless.” I shrugged. “Didn’t I say before that everything I’m doing here is for experimentation?”

"Never heard of it."

"Oh, then I'll have the girl with long, straight black hair next to you tell you about it," I said irresponsibly.

"..."

"So, up to this point, my last experiment is complete. This world has no meaning for me anymore. Therefore, I am ready to leave."

"You've made a mess of the world, and then you're just going to walk away?" Xiaoyuan gave a slightly dissatisfied snort. That's what she said.

"Say whatever you want."

"...While I do want to teach you a lesson and avenge the magical girls you bullied, it seems I'm no match for you." Madoka frowned. Then she said, "Then that's settled. Please leave as soon as possible."

There are less than five minutes left until the thirty-minute time limit. I can practically feel the presence of death.

"Well then, goodbye."

Xiaoyuan also sensed an unusual force rapidly approaching. And Xiaoyuan seemed to understand that this force's ultimate target was me. So…

I hesitated a little.

After I left this plane, Xiaoyuan continued to sense it. I changed direction, and then that force—no, it should be ten, a hundred, thousands upon thousands, of forces, no less powerful than myself, were rushing towards me.

What on earth is going on?!

Xiaoyuan originally thought that reaching her level of power was the limit. Although the multiverse is boundless, finding a being as powerful as her would be very difficult.

Originally, this line of thinking was indeed correct. It's just a pity. Some things cannot be calculated using common sense. Just like the relationship between gods and humans. The same applies to the relationship between gods themselves.

Madoka swallowed hard. Then she turned around and looked at Homura Akemi, who seemed to be expecting something: "I'll go take a look." But she couldn't bring herself to say it.

"Shall we go back?" Homura Akemi was equally puzzled by my sudden disappearance. However, unlike Madoka, who had become a god and possessed an extremely open mind, Homura still harbored deep hatred for me. Of course, this was perfectly normal. No one would feel any affection for someone who treated them like a test subject and manipulated them at will.

Except for M.

However, Xiaoyuan was different.

In a sense, Xiaoyuan is indeed an M.

Aside from that, the reason Xiaoyuan owes me a favor is because of me. In any case, her achievements today are inseparable from me. If she hadn't signed a contract with me and awakened her power, even if she lived to be a hundred, she would have simply wasted her exceptional talent and died like an ordinary person.

So, after a slight hesitation, Xiaoyuan finally made up her mind: "Homura-chan, wait a moment, I'll come find you later."

Before Homura Akemi could say anything, Madoka Kaname sent her back to the Earth's surface. At the same time, Madoka Kaname also disappeared from the spot.

Dozens of planes apart. I encountered a large number, a total of 257,584 Death God clones, on the roadside. The two sides were on the verge of battle, and the atmosphere was extremely tense.

However, there's something slightly strange here—if each Shinigami clone only possesses one ten-thousandth of the Shinigami's power, then there should be a total of one hundred thousand clones. So what's the deal with the extra one hundred and fifty thousand?

Moreover, the enemy's numbers are still increasing, still increasing, still...

A little while later, the number of Death's clones reached one million. And it was still increasing. These guys remained silent, their faces expressionless, seemingly unwilling to speak to me.

"...If this continues, things will get a little complicated. The current power amplification is only five million times. The maximum output is only fifty thousand times." I felt a little guilty, and the previous thought of "competing with Death" faded slightly. I started to think about a way out.

Meanwhile, the little circle, which had been surprised by the sheer number of people, was different from me. Instead of retreating, it was even more eager to come and take a look...

Even gentleness in the final chapter is a kind of poison.

In the end, what I awaited was not a devastating attack from the hordes of Death God clones, but Madoka.

This is a little strange. I always thought that Madoka Kaname and I weren't very close. If it were anyone else—Kyoko, Asami, Sayaka—or even Homura Akemi, I wouldn't be too surprised. But with Madoka Kaname…

I'm a little narcissistic, am I really that lovable?

Of course, I couldn't say such things aloud. It was fine to just fantasize about it in my mind. But if I said it out loud and Madoka denied it afterwards, I'd probably die of shame without even needing the Grim Reaper's intervention.

However, regardless of the circumstances, Madoka has been incredibly loyal lately—even though her strength is among the top in the plane's main gods, she's only at the level where she can barely fight a Death God clone one-on-one. Moreover, her battle with me before this also significantly depleted her strength. Most importantly, my relationship with her isn't exactly good; to be honest, I had previously planned to use Madoka to improve my own power.

However, Xiaoyuan still stood beside me. She drew her bow and arrow, looking as if she would advance or retreat with me.

Since you're touched, you should appreciate it.

At the very least, I can't let Xiaoyuan become another thing that will cause me lifelong heartache. And given my current state of mind, my life is basically "forever," meaning I'll be sad forever.

Perhaps, such an ending is worse than death.

"What are you doing here?" I looked at Xiaoyuan with a little surprise. "It seems like there's nothing for you to do here, right? Or have you suddenly changed your mind and want to continue fighting with me? A tag-team battle is forbidden, you know. And it's extremely unethical."

……

Xiaoyuan didn't seem angry at what I said, and remained standing beside me without saying a word.

"Then wait a moment. I'll chat with this group of beauties across from me for a bit, and then it'll be your turn."

"..."

He remained silent, and showed no intention of backing down.

"So, at least let's talk about first come, first served."

"..."

"Fine—if you don't leave, I'll kill you."

"..."

On the other side, the Death God clones strangely did not react at all, but simply watched this scene in a very, very quiet manner.

"We're going to die, aren't we?" Xiaoyuan asked me in a very calm tone without turning around.

"...If, uh, if you don't leave... I'll kill you?"