Infinite Journey: Dark Souls

The music rose again, as if the song was about to end.

Never be discouraged, no matter what happens.

However, Homura's movements gradually slowed down during the final section of music.

[Waiting for tomorrow]

With his hands clasped together in front of his chest and his head slightly bowed, he seemed to be praying for something.

Instead, the blonde girl started dancing intensely, making all sorts of moves that exceeded human limits, and finally ending the dance in a rather strange pose.

The music stopped abruptly, leaving only the frantically spinning clock and the sickening clanging of its gears in the entire arcade.

"...Xiao Yan?"

Her throat bobbed, and Zhi tentatively asked a question.

"Ah... I'm alright now."

She lowered her hands from behind her, tilted her head slightly, and looked at Zhi at a 45-degree angle to the side and behind her.

"Really?"

After retracting her movements, Xiaoyan slowly stepped off the dance machine and punched Zhi in the stomach as she passed by.

"puff--!"

"fake."

Ignoring Zhi, who was bent over from being hit again, she walked straight up to the girl who was posing.

The pistol was drawn, and with the action of cocking it, magic was channeled into it. Xiaoyan pointed the gun directly at the girl's forehead.

"Familiar, what is your purpose in trapping us here?"

The girl remained motionless in that cool pose, only her two large eyes darting around.

"...I'm stupid too. What kind of information can I get from a familiar that has no mind?"

She turned her head away, seemingly giving up on pressing for answers, but the next moment, her finger pulled the trigger.

Bang! — Ding! — Sizzle — Click!

The magic bullet pierced the dance machine. The poor machine, after a flash of electric sparks, emitted a puff of blue smoke and completely broke down.

The blonde girl, who had been tilting her head, straightened it with one hand and then wiped her forehead, whether from sweat or from a non-existent wound, it was unclear.

This is the second time today that someone has dodged my bullets, isn't it?

And all at such close range, the strength of these familiars is ridiculously high.

Xiaoyan dared not be careless any longer, and immediately pulled out another pistol, aiming it at the abdomen of the girl who seemed to be a familiar, but pulled the trigger at the same time as the contact.

The magic bullet left a trail on the ground before bouncing towards the nearby game consoles. The blonde girl clenched her fist and just managed to deflect Xiaoyan's pistol.

With alternating swings of her hands and her feet moving in sync with her movements, Xiao Yan adopted a close-quarters combat stance, combining it with her firearms to bring her gunfighting skills to their fullest potential.

What is thrown is both a fist and a gun. If the swing misses, the bullet's range makes up for it. The footwork is occasionally kicked out to disrupt the opponent's pace while closing the distance to the optimal attack range. There is no need to charge up or make any big movements. As long as the gun muzzle is aimed at the opponent's body, the magic bullet can deliver a fatal blow.

The magic bullets rained down, bouncing wildly throughout the arcade. Even Zhi had taken cover behind a sturdy counter that resembled a cash register. However, the blonde girl skillfully countered each attack, always managing to deflect Xiaoyan's gun at the most crucial moments and calmly avoid the direct hits of the magic bullets.

The two knees bumped together, and Xiaoyan suddenly turned around, pressing both pistols against the familiar girl's chest and abdomen at the same time. However, just as she was about to pull the trigger, the familiar girl grabbed the barrel and pried it off.

The two were locked in a stalemate, but Xiao Yan couldn't pull out his pistol no matter what he did. So he simply let go of her hand, instantly switched to a longsword, and slashed at her.

Little did he know that this guy, while holding a pistol, raised his hand and made a gesture that was extremely familiar to Xiao Yan.

"What the hell? You can parry with your bare hands?"

Instead, Zhi, who was dodging stray bullets, exclaimed in surprise, because it was a very standard shield parry. Xiaoyan's attack was also deflected. The only difference was that the blonde girl did not have any parrying aids on her hands.

Holding pistols in both hands, she made an execution gesture at Xiaoyan, then yelled as if celebrating her victory.

Are you... teasing me?

Xiaoyan trembled slightly. Although she had already realized that having lost most of her power, her combat ability in her original world might be very low.

But to my surprise, even a familiar can now outwit me.

She instantly recalled the location of the battle, returned to the twin pistols in her hands, and unleashed all her magic power in the next moment.

Like a barrage of purple bullets fired from multiple heavy machine guns, the familiar girl was instantly overwhelmed.

However, after the purple flames dissipated, the familiar girl still stood there unharmed.

However, she didn't seem to know why she was unharmed. When the light dissipated, she was covering her face with her hands. Then she touched her whole body in confusion. When she found that there were no wounds, she tilted her head in confusion. In the end, although she didn't understand what happened, she still put her hands on her hips and looked smug.

How could that be?

The most incredulous one was Xiaoyan. She examined her dual pistols in astonishment, even questioning the very weapon that had accompanied her through the Undead Settlement.

Nothing seemed amiss, so she could only silently put away her dual pistols, switch to a reinforced wooden stick, and swing it heavily at the familiar girl's head.

And this arrogant guy, with his hands on his hips, neither dodged nor avoided the blow.

Naturally, he was knocked to the ground and rolled around on the floor, clutching his head.

"Oh, so it's just that magic attacks are ineffective?"

Having confirmed the attack was effective, Xiaoyan took out a spiked hammer spear, the brutal weapon of the mentor in the Deep Cathedral, and slammed it down hard on the familiar girl rolling on the ground.

The spiked hammerhead smashed a hole in the floor, but it was repaired in a flash of purple light.

Xiaoyan didn't care. She treated the entire arcade as a barrier set up by this familiar. She dragged her hideous hammer and spear, chasing after the girl who had already gotten up, and kept swinging it.

Zhi sighed silently beside her. In her opinion, the two of them were more like playing around than fighting.

However, it seems that Xiaoyan has already emerged from the shadows, which is truly a cause for celebration.

However, even Zhi didn't notice that the clock's hour hand, after spinning wildly for 720 revolutions, came to a complete stop.

PS: Yunxi: The content in 【】 is research on Madoka Magica, and all information comes from the Madoka Magica Baidu Tieba forum.

Destiny's Four Nightmares

"It's so beautiful."

"Um"

At night, in the flower gardens on the outskirts of Mitakihara Castle, the soft lights illuminate the colorful flowers, filling the green lawn with patches of colorful light.

"Xiaoyan has been here for a month now."

"It's incredible... It feels like we've always been together, yet the time we spend together feels incredibly short."

Under a canopy that resembled both a pavilion and a curtain of light, a pink-haired girl sat side by side with Yan.

"Hehehe, hopefully the nightmare won't happen tonight, so everyone can get a good night's sleep."

As the pink-haired girl chatted, she began to tease the white, unidentified creature at her feet that resembled both a rabbit and a cat. The strange creature, like an ordinary pet, kept rubbing its head against the girl's palm.

"It feels so unbelievable. I feel like I've always wanted to be able to chat with Xiaoyan so leisurely like this. It's strange, isn't it? It's nothing serious... Anyway, we'll see each other again at school tomorrow."

"Yes, but I feel the same way you do. I feel like I've been waiting all along to be able to spend time with you like this."

The yacht's engine roared in the sky, carrying the two girls' heartfelt words to distant places.

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

"That's right, Kamijou-kun is always so hardworking... He's so cool and impressive..."

On the same night, in a spacious bedroom that resembled a princess's palace, on a magnificent and exquisite bed, the room's owner was holding a cell phone after finishing a call, talking to himself.

"But...it's okay for you to make an effort for me once in a while, right?"

Suddenly, she threw her phone aside, tossed her pillow into the air, and punched it repeatedly.

Then, in a desperate attempt to strike, he slipped and fell, landing squarely on the bed where a flying pillow struck him.

She hugged the pillow tightly, and colorful lines began to appear in her tear-filled green pupils.

"I don't want Sundays, the concert can just be canceled!"

The girl was thrashing about in bed, her nightmares materializing as thick threads that surged from beneath her bed, spreading out like ripples of water, carrying the babbling girl on the crest of a wave, adrift with the current.

"That way, I can... I can..."

The strange fish, drawn by the child like random scribbles, leaped out from beneath the waves formed by the lines, swimming around her and listening to her resentful cries, until finally, the twisted lines of the nightmare filled her eyes, and she fell off the bed, plunging into the mattress.

The next moment, after the girl fell into a deep sleep, nightmares erupted and filled the entire room.

The nightmare appeared beneath that full moon.

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

"Stop right there! You mere familiar, how dare you provoke the Ashes of No Fire? I'll show you the power of the Chicken Leg Cult!"

Inside the arcade, the chase continued as Xiaoyan, wielding a spiked hammer and spear, panted as she chased after the familiar girl.

However, she has probably recovered from the shock of discovering that there is another version of herself in this world, and she has even started using terms like "Chicken Leg Cult," which are exclusive to the world of the Fire of Life, again.

Zhi leisurely held her head, following behind them, watching the energetic Xiaoyan, and smiled with satisfaction.

During the playful chase, the blonde familiar girl suddenly stopped under the clock, and Homura, unable to dodge in time, almost crashed into it.

"Great, you've finally stopped running! Come on, let me help you get into the zone!"

She swung her spiked hammer and spear, aiming it at the familiar girl's head.

Clang—!

Suddenly, the familiar girl pulled out a black weapon that looked like an oversized knitting needle and blocked Homura's hammer and spear.

"Are you kidding me! Why do you, a mere familiar, have such great strength?"

Both of them were trying to press their weapons toward each other, but even though purple flames ignited on Xiao Yan's body, the hammer and spear in her hand were still gradually pressed closer to her.

"I am the ashes without fire—Akatsuki Homura! I am the one who will take Madoka Kaname away from this world! You lowly familiars, get out of my way!"

The purple flames burned to their peak, but Little Flame was completely unaware that the magic power, which should have been burned out long ago, not only did not extinguish her flames, but instead, a thing that vaguely appeared on her chest, resembling a spindle or a seed and covered with circular patterns, suddenly hatched into a lizard-shaped ornament burning with deep purple flames.

【SALAMANDER】

In an instant, the purple in his pupils disappeared, replaced by a firm and deep black.

After burning intensely, the raging flames quickly subsided, leaving only tiny, purplish-black sparks floating on her body.