Infinite Journey: Dark Souls

The noise and bustle emanated from the hall, as if the entire city's energy had been concentrated here.

The onslaught of sound and heat made Ribbon Flame dizzy. She barely noticed that Ash, who had stayed behind, stopped at the door, and waited for them to go inside before leaving the hall again to begin her patrol. Mami and Kyoko, who had been wandering around the desolate city all day, both looked uncomfortable. They hesitated for a while before starting to look for a place to rest.

As a citizen, Asami was assigned a floor mat and a small space. She oriented herself in the bustling crowd, then, holding hands with Ribbon Flame and Anzu, she blended into the throng.

Compared to when they left, the hall was much more lively. Their arrival coincided with dinnertime. The hall was filled with the aroma of food, and the steaming bento boxes added to the festive atmosphere. Children frequently ran past them, laughing and scrambling for snacks. Mami noticed this and frowned.

"If I remember correctly, hot meals aren't provided during the evacuation period, are they?"

They were magical girls, yes, but outside of battle, they always disguised themselves as ordinary girls. So, at the very beginning of the evacuation, they also stayed in the gymnasium. At that time, the citizens' meals consisted only of bottled water and dry emergency rations.

Unlike now, it's like the whole stadium is hosting a banquet.

"Come on, come on! Fresh bento boxes are available in unlimited quantities. Anyone else who needs more, please come and collect them from me!"

Soon, Mami's problem was solved.

A flippant voice, mimicking a salesperson's advertising slogan, approached from the aisle between the stalls. Following the sound, two young men, just like the salesperson, carried two large trays of bento boxes, walking and hawking their wares—however, their customers didn't need to pay.

After watching for a long time, they finally realized that the two young men were actually distributing supplies, which was why they could receive them for free.

So, they're disaster relief workers?

"Buy one get one free! Free bento boxes! What are you waiting for? Don't miss this opportunity! Grab a box now—oh dear, you three ladies look tired from your journey and seem to need a good meal to replenish your energy. How about it? Fresh bento boxes are free, want to try one?"

The young man leading the group spotted three girls while hawking his wares. His eyes lit up, and he darted over to them, carrying the lunchboxes.

With a slight bow, he steadily held the plate of bento boxes in one hand and opened the lid of a sample box with the other. As the young butler's movements resembled serving food, a rich aroma filled the air. The bento boxes inside, appealing in color, aroma, and taste, were proudly displayed before the girls.

"Since it's free, I won't be polite."

Xingzi was already drooling from the aroma, and without saying a word, she grabbed a box.

"Wait!" Then Mami stopped the hand that was grabbing the bento. She stared at the young man distributing the bentos and asked, "Sir, I remember that the shelter's supplies are not plentiful. Why are you being so... um, extravagant today, distributing bentos, and hot ones at that?"

The person in charge of staying behind at Ash calmly reached out and handed over the bento box that Anzu had chosen.

"It's not difficult for us to go out and find supplies. That's the reason, Miss Magical Girl."

The moment Anzu instinctively caught the bento, he flashed his white teeth and revealed what he thought was a dashing smile.

At this point, Ribbon Flame discovered an ash that didn't look quite right.

PS: Yunxi: 744486102 actually missed updating one chapter yesterday... I'll make up for it today... ((/- -)/

PS1: Thanks to readers [Book Guest 2912076111], [Infinite Elf Radius], and [Snow Woman and Dead Fish Eye Man] for their monthly tickets!

The idea that everything is either good or bad is a false proposition.

"Don't worry about the supplies in the shelter. These bento boxes are to make up for the mess that someone made. We specially collected them from the city. It's also a way to compensate the frightened citizens and calm them down."

Behind the Ash with the out-of-place art style, another Ash explained in detail the reason for distributing the bento boxes.

Mami then remembered that she had indeed heard Iori mention that the stadium had been attacked.

The two people before them were naturally Aijo and his senior. As Aijo explained, while Kazuha's previous strategy had driven away the Monster Circle, it had still caused a riot in the stadium. A stampede even occurred. This forced them to take certain measures to quell the unrest.

Distributing bento boxes is one of the most effective measures.

Indeed, hot food is, to some extent, the best comfort for the soul.

"I see. You all have done a lot of work for the refugees."

"Oh, not at all. Our work is very insignificant. Besides, you ladies are the true guardians of Mitakihara. We, the newcomers who stayed behind, are just adding icing on the cake, doing nothing of note."

After Aya's explanation (or rather, debunking), the three magical girls learned about their senior's deeds. As the eldest, Mami naturally exchanged a few polite words with the unreliable but responsible Aya. Little did she know that he took the politeness as a compliment, and simply handed over the task of distributing the bento boxes to Aya, while he took some snacks and began to treat the magical girls.

Apricot, who was tired after a long day, gave him face and started eating her bento without saying a word.

Seeing that his hospitality had been appreciated, the oddly dressed Ash happily chatted with them. That night, back in the stadium, they finished their dinner amidst this banter. It must be said, Jiba's witty remarks effectively eased their discomfort of returning to the crowd.

Ribbon Flame sat on Mami's bunk, eating her food idly. She continued observing Ash's actions, but Kyouba's behavior only deepened the doubt in her eyes. She couldn't understand how this unreliable guy had become the leader of the garrison.

"By the way, this Miss Akemi is quite different from Lily. You know, she's the second most mischievous person in the group after me. If she hears me rambling on like this, she'll definitely be tempted to play pranks. She's not going to sit here quietly like Miss Akemi."

After observing for a while, it naturally caught the attention of the demon. He smiled at the ribbon flame and uttered the above remark.

"..."

"……"(laugh)

"..."

"..." (awkward laugh)

"...I think she's the abnormal Homura Akemi."

She remained silent for a long while, until the corners of Jianba's mouth twitched with laughter, before she finally responded.

"Haha, that's true. She's completely abandoned her aloof demeanor and doesn't resemble Homura Akemi at all. But it's precisely because of this that she's able to display that lively attitude and cultivate her own unique charm. This is much more distinctive than your taciturn, cold-faced imitations."

"..."

Another long string of casual comments came out of Jianba's mouth.

Then, he continued to respond with silence, which was the result of his teasing.

"Um...right, right, I also need some juice. Would you guys like some?"

In the silence, Eba felt a little uneasy under the gaze of Ribbon Flame. He quickly changed the subject, took out a large bottle of juice and several cups, poured drinks, and distributed them to the magical girls.

"I heard that when you were attacked at the stadium, you were threatened by monsters that could not be seen by ordinary people, who infiltrated the crowd?" Ribbon Flame did not take the cup from Jianba, but instead asked a question as if by some strange impulse. "At that time, why did you choose to protect the citizens to the greatest extent possible? You should know that you have no connection with this world and could have completely abandoned the civilians."

Because she suddenly realized that the Ash in front of her, whose style was out of place, had faced a similar situation to that of Ori.

Little Flame told her why the Orchid chose to save her as a hostage. She also wanted to know if every Ash thought the same way.

"Huh? That matter? It's impossible to abandon the citizens no matter how you look at it. We Ashes are different from humans, but before we became Ashes, we were the same kind as you. Human morality still binds us; we are not so cold-blooded as to stand by and watch people die. Besides, protecting the stadium is my responsibility. Whether it's Ashes or humans inside, they are all my targets."

When suddenly asked a strange question, Jianba answered without much thought.

He spoke so matter-of-factly, as if he had never been confused when dealing with the situation.

"But in the end, your defense failed, and you couldn't keep the monster. Didn't you ever consider that if you ignored the civilian casualties, you could have captured the monster and prevented it from leaving?"

This answer left Ribbon Flame feeling resentful, because he had failed so readily.

In contrast, isn't it ironic that I, who have failed three times in a row, am still wondering why I failed?

Perhaps she has been failing all along, failing in countless cycles.

“Miss, isn’t that a strange question? My duty was never to keep the monster away. It’s true, I couldn’t stop her from taking the little boy away, so I failed. But the little boy is also a citizen. To abandon the majority of citizens in order to save one citizen is to put the cart before the horse!”

They still answered so confidently, and still didn't regret their actions.

His words vaguely confirmed one thing for Ribbon Flame, but she still refused to agree.

"Don't you want to find a way to resolve this perfectly that satisfies both sides? Why should you readily admit that a little boy was kidnapped?"

"...I think I know what you're asking, Miss. In your proposition, the citizens and the little boy are completely unimportant. What you can't accept is that my method is imperfect, and that I calmly admit defeat after failing because of this imperfection. Yes, I am calm, because the outcome is already predetermined—"

His attitude remained the same, but it didn't have that frivolous feel.

His serious demeanor was exactly the same as Ribbon Flame's impression of the Ashes.

"Even if I come up with a perfect solution, it's impossible to turn back time and change the outcome!"

A hint of complexity mingled with his seriousness as he delivered his final conclusion, recalling another Homura Akemi.

"..."

Silence descended once more.

The ribbon flame confirmed the answer.

It turns out that her thought process had long been destroyed by the endless cycle of reincarnation.

Fifty is a destiny where there are always problems that cannot be solved through repeated attempts.

The biggest difference between games and reality is that no matter how difficult a game is, players can repeatedly try to complete it. The existence of save and load functions gives players the opportunity to correct their mistakes, so no one is so afraid of a game that they wouldn't even dare to try it.

Of course, purely horror games are an exception.

What would happen if humans gained similar save and load capabilities in the real world?

Homura Akemi's experience perfectly illustrates this hypothesis.

Unfortunately, they got stuck on their save point and kept trying to clear the Witch's Night dungeon over and over again. It seems their cheating abilities weren't paying off. But don't forget, if they hadn't rewound time, Kaname Madoka, whom they considered most important, would have already died completely in the first playthrough.

The ability to cheat prolonged death and had far more consequences for them than just that.

Thanks to this influence, Madoka Kaname survived until the time was right to become a god, and Homura Ribbon's thought process was completely destroyed.

The destructive aspect was that she developed a habit of not accepting failure. Because every time she failed, she could start over, and after starting over, she would pursue a perfect ending again. Failure was covered up, and she would start again, fail again, cover it up again, and start again. This constant repetition kept her thinking focused on a single problem.

This ability to repeat has now completely disappeared.

Yet, she stubbornly clung to her ingrained habits. She was filled with resentment at every failure, a resentment that constantly reminded her of her defeats. But she couldn't turn back time; the accumulated resentment couldn't be changed by rewinding. The mark of that resentment remained, until she was filled with fear for her own actions.

"Am I doing the right thing?" "Will this have bad consequences?" "What should I do if the outcome is bad?"

These questions echoed in her mind as she tried to act. Although the spiritual growth she had gained from over a hundred reincarnations had made her act with little hesitation, the underlying confusion, after a series of unacceptable failures, was finally exposed in her dialogue with Jianba.

Perhaps it was revealed much earlier, when she recklessly waged war against the Ash Flame without asking the truth. When she indiscriminately pursued the sand without seeking explanation. And even in the end, when she mindlessly charged directly at the giant monster.

Her unwillingness to accept failure eroded her confidence, completely eliminating reason and leading her to act solely on impulse—not by reasoning and confidently following her own course of action, but by acting rashly without considering whether it was right or wrong.

This was the difference she vaguely sensed between herself and the ashes.

Ash was the former, while she unfortunately became the latter.

————————————————————————————————————————

Night fell on the city that had been bustling all day.

The stadium, where the lunchbox party was held, fell silent as night deepened.

Citizens slept soundly in their respective bunks, family units, with only emergency lights illuminating the dimly lit hall. The sounds of snoring rose and fell, perfectly complementing the sweetness of their dreams. Occasionally, light footsteps would accompany the snores—these were the ashes, who needed no sleep, patrolling the night. They watched over the citizens' peaceful dreams.

However, not everyone can sleep soundly.

Ribbon Flame's mind replayed several conversations with Ash, which dispelled her sleepiness.

She was lying in Mami's bunk. Three girls slept on the not-so-spacious floor. They were huddled back to back, lying on their sides, spending the night together in peace. Wait, peace? Leaving aside the still-asleep Ribbon Flame, even Mami and Kyoko, huddled together, were occasionally making suggestive noises.