Infinite Journey: Dark Souls

"emission!"

The jammed gears started working again, and Flame released her powers.

The golden-pink arrows burst forth, transforming into pink arrows wrapped with golden ribbons. They coiled around the damaged building, ultimately restoring everything the nightmare had caused to its original state.

"This kind of nonsense is a bit too much!"

Zhi was about to go crazy. Even with her magic eyes open, she couldn't understand the battles at all. All she knew was that the city, which had been destroyed, was back to normal.

"You'll get used to it... Now that I think about it, it doesn't seem so wrong to let a girl full of hope gain such unreasonable power just for a wish, while the price is that she will inevitably fall from hope into despair?"

Unable to find a solution, Xiaoyan's thoughts drifted in a dangerous direction. She muttered to herself about the source of her former power and wondered if she could achieve her goal through means other than fighting.

"However, the fact that that guy's time stop doesn't affect us is good news. So, was that really 'me' after all?"

Although Homura didn't notice when she activated her power, the loud noise she made when she deactivated it made her feel that familiar power at that moment.

Surprisingly, Zhi was unaffected, and the deep purple flames emanating from her body gave Xiao Yan some clues. She also remembered how much trouble she had caused her companions when she lost control.

"To repay her for her help, let her carry out the rest of the plan."

Then, he quietly designated Zhi Lie as the person responsible for executing the plan.

As for the other girl who is suspected to be a familiar, as long as she behaves well and doesn't cause trouble, that's fine.

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

Destiny VI Plan

The battle with the Nightmare continued. Under the combined attack of Mami and Madoka, the Nightmare was completely knocked away, but before it could land, it was grabbed by that large blue hand with strange markings.

"I understand how you feel, but calm down, Hitomi!"

Sayaka Miki, who had been waiting nearby, leaped between the buildings.

She eventually caught up with the nightmare and unleashed her magic atop a tower.

With a flick of her white cloak, five military knives were thrust into the top of the tower. She picked them up one by one and threw them all out.

"Kyoko!"

Further ahead, Sakura Kyoko, holding her spear, stood atop a church cross, unleashing her protective barrier in response to Sayaka's call.

The saber flew past, hooking out rows of red chains as it passed through the barrier.

While drinking "Weider on Jelly" brand energy jelly, Xingzi manipulated the saber connected to the barrier, chasing after the nightmare in the sky.

The large, blue hand alternately gripped the head of the nightmare doll, using this method to dodge the constantly slashing military knife.

But finally, the saber and chains trapped the nightmare from below. In a series of cuts, the blue hand was forced back by the saber, while the doll, which was the nightmare's true form, was captured by the chains.

Five military knives were arranged in a ring and nailed to a white platform. The chains tightened, and Nightmare helplessly became fish on the chopping board.

"It stopped."

"Well done, everyone, it's time to settle this!"

Five magical girls landed one after another, each standing on one of the five military knives. Finally, the strange little doll that Mami called Bebe landed on Nightmare.

The next moment, a new barrier unfolded again, and five girls sat around a round table that had appeared out of nowhere, looking at the nightmare trapped in a plate under a transparent glass dome, and began to sing a nursery rhyme.

"Cake, cake, round cake..."

The little doll named Beibei suddenly opened her mouth and spat out a giant insect wearing a clown mask.

"【CHARLOTTE】The Snack Witch?"

Having basically finalized her next action plan, Homura began to focus on observing the battles of magical girls in this world, only to be startled by a new discovery.

"Witches? Aren't they the enemies of magical girls? How come they're all together?"

Zhi had already closed her magic eyes. Her worldview had been shattered by this novel way of fighting. At this moment, she was staring with dead fish eyes at the five people who seemed to have finished their battle and started singing nursery rhymes and performing some kind of ritual. She habitually made sarcastic remarks.

"How should I know? This is not my original world at all. They've even changed their opponents. Former enemies have become friends. It doesn't make sense, does it... Tsk, when you touched her head, didn't your neck hurt a little?"

The snack witch stretched her neck, circled the platform, and then stretched her head next to Mami. Mami, facing this terrifying clown-faced giant bug, affectionately patted her long neck.

The nursery rhyme continued, and as the five magical girls sang out the names of the food items one by one, the food would appear on the plates and be fed to the nightmare trapped within.

"Alright, we've seen enough of this farce. Now let me tell you about our next plan."

"Huh? The next plan... Homura, you're not planning to bring that girl named Madoka back to the World of Fire, are you?"

"Of course, isn't that why I came here?"

"Haha... I thought you'd given up after seeing that there was another version of you in this world..."

Zhi scratched her head awkwardly. She had actually planned to treat the rest of her time in this world as if she had already been in the intermittent world. She didn't expect Xiaoyan to be so obsessed with that girl that she was now willing to snatch her away from "her".

"There's no need for such jokes anymore. Do you think I would come to this world empty-handed after going through so much trouble? How could that be? Even if the witches are no longer a threat in this world, I don't know if the Witch's Night, which forces me to keep reincarnating, will still appear. But how can I just let Madoka stay here? As long as she is a magical girl, she will never escape the spiral of the curse. So I will make her turn to ashes too. Only in this way can I truly save her!"

Zhi fell silent. She had indeed underestimated Homura's determination, or rather, she hadn't understood the deep entanglement between magical girls and witches at all. She had no right to express her opinion and could only silently listen to Homura's plan.

"Sorry, I got a little excited just now."

"It's nothing. I really don't know your story, so! If you have any plans, just tell me. As your knight, I, Ryougi Ori, will absolutely do my duty!"

Zhi was going all out; wasn't this what she came to this world with Xiaoyan for? Although she was horrified by the magical girls' abilities in the battle just now, what could she do? She was a knight, and if the princess gave the order to fight them, she would have no choice but to bite the bullet and go for it.

"...Thank you, it's so good to have met you, Zhi."

A long-lost smile flashed across Xiaoyan's face, but before Zhi could even savor this rare reward, Xiaoyan leaned close to her ear and slowly explained the plan.

“I know that we, as Ashen Ones, are far inferior in combat, so I don’t intend to take it by force this time. My plan is this…”

As Xiaoyan explained, Zhi, who was initially a little shy because Xiaoyan was too close, gradually opened her mouth in surprise.

"Are you sure you want to do this? Me, pretending to be an ordinary girl and getting close to them..."

"No problem. Madoka is a very kind-hearted girl. As long as you pretend to be an unlucky guy and keep embarrassing yourself in front of her, she will definitely come to your aid. Over time, once you get to know them, if you accidentally get involved in a battle with a familiar, they will accept you as one of the magical girls."

"Then why should I play the role of a carefree, naive young girl?"

Do you think it's possible for you to play the role of a shy, introverted girl?

"...Uh, this is even more unacceptable!"

After imagining a shy and bashful scene, Shiki decisively dismissed the idea.

"That'll do. In the end, I'll have that guy over there find a moment when they're all there and attack you. That way, you can completely blend in and gain their trust. Once you've got them on your side, you can lure Xiaoyuan out alone. Then, whether it's an ambush, persuasion, drugging... cough cough, there are plenty of ways to kidnap her."

"It still feels very unreliable!"

"Do you have any other good ideas?"

"...No, but are you sure you can get that guy under your thumb?"

Zhi pointed to the familiar girl who had been wielding a large knitting needle like a baseball bat since earlier.

"Hey, girl!"

Xiaoyan casually called out, and then the familiar girl, who had just swung her staff, turned her head back while maintaining the swinging posture.

Will you listen to me?

She tilted her head, thought for a moment, and then nodded.

"See, no problem."

"..."

Zhi said she didn't understand their interaction at all. They were fighting fiercely in the arcade just now, how did they suddenly become a master and servant with perfect understanding?

"Alright, I'll go all in! Making friends with them is nothing, right? Watch how this knight handles them!"

A pathetic girl, who only had three people—including Homura—made a declaration.

"Great, then we'll arrange a chance encounter between you and them when you go to school tomorrow!"

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

"Tonight's dream was a bitter one, a dream with cats on a plate."

While Xiaoyan and Zhi were making their plans, the nursery rhyme was coming to an end. After eating a lot of sweet food, Nightmare's eyes began to sparkle with little stars. Taking advantage of this moment, the five girls each grabbed a corner of the round tablecloth and then tore it open at the same time.

"Round and chubby, let's eat!"

Suddenly, the enormous cake rose from the plate. The snack witch's long neck coiled around the rising cake, climbing higher and higher. Once it reached above the cake, she opened her mouth full of sharp teeth and swallowed the cake whole.

The platform exploded again, and the five girls, along with Beibei, who had become chubby after eating the cake, fell onto the lawn outside the city.

As Sayaka landed, she stepped on Beibei's back, causing Beibei to vomit a bunch of sheet music and a Yukuri-shaped image of Hitomi's head.

Picking up the gently falling Hitomi, whose eyes were filled with tears, Sayaka picked up a piece of paper with a violin drawn on it and tossed it into the air.

The paper transformed into a real violin, which began playing a melody familiar to Renmei.

During the music, the violin twisted again, this time transforming into Hitomi's long-awaited boyfriend—Kamijo Kyosuke, dressed in a tuxedo, appearing as if he were making an entrance at a concert, playing a piece of music just for Hitomi.

The nightmare turned into a beautiful dream. Tears streamed down Renmei's face as she staggered after her boyfriend's figure in the oil depot, finally disappearing from her dream.

The magical girls completed their mission, and the dream's master left a final blessing. The clear thoughts transformed into a pure light mist, cleansing and refreshing the soul gems of all the girls.

Renmei's bedroom was restored to its original state, and she was sleeping soundly on the princess bed.

The barrier that had enveloped the entire city dissipated, and on the horizon, the rays of the rising sun faintly illuminated the sky.

"ended."

"Yes."

Watching the five girls gathered together and joking in the distance, Xiaoyan and Zhi chatted quietly, while the familiar girl beside them continued to carefree swing her knitting needles.

"Then our plan will begin. Let's move to the entrance of Mitakihara Junior High School now."

"No problem, sir!"

Just as Zhi was about to turn around and leave, she saw Xiaoyan raise a hand towards her.

She paused for a moment, then broke into a bright smile and clapped her hand over.

With their palms touching, the Ashes, partners, officially began their conquest of this world.

"Target: Kaname Madoka! Let's go!"

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