Infinite Journey: Dark Souls

Sayaka was silent for a while, then went over and hugged Madoka, who was full of worry but also very disappointed because the truth had been kept from her, and gently comforted her in her ear.

"Of course I will tell Madoka everything that happened, but not now, so please be patient for a while... my goddess."

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The standoff between the two banks of the river continues.

Facing Mami's row of flintlock muskets, Flame gave her own answer, her Colt M1911 slowly pointing towards the woven fabric suspended by the yellow ribbon.

The moment the trigger was pulled, gray and white once again became the dominant color of the world. In front of Zhi, who was startled, the flintlock bullets and pistol bullets, trailing white trajectories, were about to intersect, but then stopped at the same time.

"Trying to use your ability to sneak away again? Too bad, it seems that as long as I'm connected to someone who isn't affected by your ability, I won't be stopped by time."

"cut!"

Deep purple flames burned on Zhi's body as she was pulled behind Mami by a yellow ribbon.

With this action as a signal, the dazzling barrage battle began.

Flame pulled out two MP7 submachine guns and locked onto Zhi, who was hanging in the air. The muzzles spewed out intense muzzle flashes, and the 4.6mm bullets drew a dense line of white lines in the still space, like a layer of shadow being painted flat on a gray canvas with a sketching technique.

The flintlock muskets also opened fire. Mami replaced the action of switching weapons with magic, and rows of muskets surrounded her, forming a rapid-fire platform with single shots but multiple tandem firing. In an instant, 80 magical bullets were unleashed, each one hitting a 4.6mm bullet, connecting the two white shadows.

The magazine was ejected from the MP7, and the static shadows, after the gray canvas was pulled away, turned into dense and deadly sparks, flashing in front of Zhi.

After firing, the muskets turned yellow and disappeared. Mami leaped towards the flames amidst the sky full of sparks. In mid-air, the muskets that were instantly summoned added another dazzling volley to this shimmering, deadly scene.

Flame also jumped up, dodging the bullets and leaving the volley of projectiles like pencil marks, leaving a trail of colorful bullet holes on the opposite bank of the river.

As the magazine was pushed into the chamber and the MP7's muzzle spewed flames again, the 160 bullets that had been previously imprisoned by time stop, now released, collided in mid-air. The sparks that filled the sky had just died down when a storm of bullets erupted once more between the two magical girls who had leaped up towards each other.

Two figures, one in yellow and one in purple, danced in the air, but there was no music or lights at the ball; only the clanging of metal echoed the rhythm of their gunfire, and only fleeting flashes of light illuminated their swaying figures.

The two closed the distance between them, and the flashes from their guns were enough to clearly illuminate each other's expressions. The metallic hissing had robbed them of their hearing, and the dense barrage of bullets almost blinded them.

As the dark muzzles of guns pointed at each other, the gamblers at Russian roulette risked their courage.

The gray world descended once more, with magic bullets and projectiles stopping before the two men. As the gamblers lost their bets, they activated their cheating techniques.

The flintlock musket and submachine gun were swung out simultaneously, clearing away the bullets in front of them and firing another bullet at the enemy.

The close-quarters gunfight began, with gun barrels replacing bullets clashing, and chaotic lines were once again drawn onto the gray canvas.

This time, the white lines did not intersect or depict neat shadows; instead, they intersected and outlined irregular grids.

The mesh was pressed tightly against the two men, and the muskets, submachine guns, arms, and feet kept colliding. Each person tried to make the mesh stick to the other, but in the collisions, the mesh was stretched into a funnel, and the two men were trapped in the center of the funnel.

As the space divided by the funnel grew smaller and smaller, the two men who had been fighting in the air spiraled and fell onto the river.

The gray canvas was pulled open again, and the funnel woven with white threads was instantly spread across the riverbank. Stray bullets sparked on the ground, walls, streetlights, and railings, and it was as if a torrential rain was falling on the river, turning the entire river into a white fountain.

Bathed in dazzling sparks, watching the surrounding buildings gradually collapse in the hail of bullets, Zhi prayed with trepidation that stray bullets would not hit her.

Fortunately, perhaps because Mami had been shielding her behind her, a perfectly intact road surface, extending from the river, covered her completely.

Even so, the memory of being surrounded by bullets will be deeply ingrained in her heart.

"What kind of magical girl is this?! It's practically two humanoid ultimate weapons!"

She could only soothe her inner powerlessness with hysterical complaints. After all, when science and magic are combined, caliber is justice, and firepower is truth. Even Ash's proud skills could only be defeated by them until they were refined to the extreme.

The fountain on the water surface sprayed again, indicating that the two extraordinary girls were still engaged in a fierce battle even after falling into the water.

Finally, a powerful jet of water shot into the sky, and the two figures simultaneously parted the spray and landed on the embankment on the other side of the river.

The intense battle left them breathless, their clothes, barely soaked, were dried by the surging magic.

The two men simultaneously discarded their unloaded weapons, and the next moment, the muzzles of their muskets and pistols were pointed at each other.

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Destiny Twenty-One: Ashes and Magical Girls (Part Two)

"Unbeknownst to me, Xiaomei has grown to this level. Even with her most prized magic restricted, she can still fight me to a standstill. Does this mean that firearms are indeed humanity's most brilliant weapon invention?"

The two men, once again aimed at by muskets and pistols, resumed their conversation during this brief respite.

"Tomoe-senpai, don't you feel that there's something wrong with Mitakihara where we are?"

"The one who's acting strangely is you, isn't it? Haven't you noticed that every time you pull the trigger, your killing intent is almost overflowing? At first, it was only aimed at Ryougi, but later it was all coming at me, wasn't it?"

"Tsk..."

This was something that couldn't be refuted, and Flame didn't want to refute it either. She never let up on pointing the pistol at Mami, and the direction the pistol was aimed at unknowingly shifted towards the Soul Gem on Mami's headdress.

"Liangyi did indeed keep some things from us. Because I was worried about her safety, I placed my magic on her feet and heard some things I shouldn't have heard. But I still think there's room for communication between us, instead of just killing her like you did."

Zhi, who had been watching, was also shocked. No wonder Mami hadn't let go of her ribbon. It turned out that she had been on Mami's blacklist for a long time. When she left, she used her magic eyes to counter Beibei's surveillance. Besides, Mami had only meant well in connecting her to the ribbon, so she hadn't noticed anything.

And it was after turning off the Mystic Eyes that he revealed a lot of things to Mami.

Even so, Mami was still willing to resolve the issue through communication, which made her, someone whose motives were impure from the beginning, feel somewhat ashamed.

But she was only ashamed. Different positions lead to different perspectives. She would always stand on Xiaoyan's side. If she had to choose to hurt her, she could only apologize to this strong yet fragile young lady.

While they were talking, the Weaving Demon Eye kept searching for a way to escape.

"They're after Madoka! Not to mention, she might also be controlled by the witch!"

"Hey, hey, hey! Didn't I already explain that I have absolutely nothing to do with witches?"

"Who knows if your memories were also altered by the witch, and you forgot that you were in cahoots with her?"

"Wait a minute, your previous questions and answers were already very strange, so what exactly is a witch? Shouldn't our enemies always be magical beasts?"

Another unexpected new term left the three people present stunned.

"...Yes, I've always been fighting monsters... So what exactly is Nightmare...?"

As Mami muttered to herself, Ori was completely bewildered. How could another enemy she had never heard of have appeared? And unlike the witches and monsters that Homura had explained before, she had never heard Homura mention them at all.

Flame was stunned, and even the gun pointed at Mami's Soul Gem dropped.

However, she recalled much more than Zhi. As mentioned before, memory is a troublesome thing. Once you find one, you inevitably recall more details. Even though Yan didn't want to recall these things at the moment, fragments of memory flashed through her vision like a slideshow.

The clues connected, and a question she had been avoiding before came back to her.

Madoka should rightfully have become the Law of Circles, and the souls of all magical girls should rightfully be collected by her before they become witches. The magical girls' current enemies should rightfully be monsters. The witch who created this false Mitakihara should rightfully not exist. She should be the only one who knows all of this, and Madoka, who is currently in the barrier, should rightfully...

Rational analysis could only lead to the result she least wanted. Her resentment towards that guy who might be a witch grew stronger and stronger, and along with him, the suspected Zhi once again became the target of her anger.

"It's all because of that clueless guy! Madoka is clearly... yet he still lets a fake version of her smile gently in front of me. Unforgivable, unforgivable! The world should be guided by new principles, and we magical girls should fulfill our mission to fight against monsters! This incomprehensible world, this cowardly escapism, this farce will only make Madoka's sacrifice in vain! You... cannot be forgiven!"

Mami was also troubled by the flood of her memories. Before she could react, she pulled out the flame of her MG-42 general-purpose machine gun again and unleashed her inexplicable anger on the still bound Zhi.

"It's over," Zhi sighed.

Mo Tong clearly depicted the marks of each bullet, but even though she could clearly see every gap between the bullets, she was unable to seize these openings to survive, despite being tightly bound by the yellow ribbon.

As expected, simply praying for help will never save you. Mami's intervention only delayed her return to the World of Fire. It seems that besides going back to think about how to apologize to Homura, it's also time to find a way to improve her strength. She is still... too powerless.

Her expression was obscured by the dazzling magic light, perhaps simply because her thoughts were too complicated at that moment.

However, even the most complex thoughts can be processed in an instant, leaving only the time to helplessly await death.

At least let me record this death. Next time, I must not die so helplessly!

A deep purple hue flashed in the demon's eyes; it seemed her apology would have to be done sooner rather than later.

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Xiaoyan had already located the battlefield on the riverbank by observing the burns on Zhi's body, but the scene before her was much better than she had imagined—or perhaps much worse.

Ori was saved by Mami, but if Mami hadn't intervened, Homura wouldn't have had time to save her either.

She unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Zhi hadn't been sent back to the world of the Flame through death immediately after she made the vow to bring her back intact. Otherwise, she wouldn't know how to face Zhi.

Filled with gratitude for Mami, she found a spot and quietly watched how things unfolded.

A spectacular gunfight was unfolding before her eyes. Her scalp tingled as she compared her own combat strength with that of the two, and she finally concluded that unless she got extremely close to them from the start and immediately suppressed them through close combat, she would have no chance at all in this barrage of bullets.

As expected of the most senior magical girl, Mami felt that Homura could only keep up with the rate of fire of two submachine guns by using her enhanced pistol and time reversal. However, Mami was able to hold her own against Homura in the barrage of bullets simply by switching guns with magic. Her proficiency in magic was no joke.

Flame could launch attacks entirely using the capabilities of her firearms without expending any of her own power. Even so, she was forced to activate time stop to reduce unnecessary mistakes.

Seeing the two fall into the river, Xiaoyan tried to take advantage of the moment to rush over and save Zhi, but after the time stop was lifted, the barrage of bullets made it impossible for her to get close.

The opportunity was fleeting, and the two leaping out of the river again made Xiao Yan hesitate and stop her rescue attempt.

Ultimately, she still didn't want to directly confront her other self.

Asami and Homura continued their conversation, but she was no longer paying attention to it. She kept running around the battlefield, searching for a way to directly rescue Ori.

"They're after Madoka! Not to mention, she might also be controlled by the witch!"

I admit I had designs on Madoka, but as a witch, you've altered your own memories. You're the one who's controlling yourself.

As she wandered around, unable to think of a way to rescue Zhi without revealing herself, Xiao Yan grew increasingly frustrated. While desperately searching for a breakthrough, she angrily complained about the two's words.

"Wait a minute, your previous questions and answers were already quite strange, weren't they? So what exactly is a witch? Shouldn't our enemies always be magical beasts?"

So, a witch is someone who bites off your head; remember the fear of living with a witch.

Xiaoyan had slowly made her way through the buildings destroyed by bullets and was just a few steps away from reaching Zhi, but she was unwilling to make any rash moves because of Yan, who was facing this way.

What is this "monster"? Did Homura Akemi create a new enemy for Mami's false memories after Nightmare?

"It's all because of that clueless guy! Madoka is clearly... yet he still lets a fake version of her smile gently in front of me. Unforgivable, unforgivable! The world should be guided by new principles, and we magical girls should fulfill our mission to fight against monsters! This incomprehensible world, this cowardly escapism, this farce will only make Madoka's sacrifice in vain! You... cannot be forgiven!"

You're the one who can't forgive yourself! What fake Madoka? I really held her in my arms... I even still have her Soul Gem in my hands! This incomprehensible world, this weak escape, isn't this farce all your own doing, orchestrated by you as a witch?

Her companion was right in front of her, and the witch pulled out a murder weapon. A twisted will and a twisted will clashed in an invisible way. The P220 pistol appeared in Xiaoyan's hand, and deep purple flames rose from her body.

The magic eye woven was dazzlingly beautiful, and although the mind reflected within it was so complex, Xiao Yan understood it in an instant.

An apology? Helplessness? Why are you so stubbornly determined to become my knight? What I need isn't a dagger, nor a shield, but a comrade-in-arms to fight side-by-side with me to the very end! So—

"Don't give up on me like that, my comrades, we're not that weak!"

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Destiny Twenty-Two: Ashes x2 and Magical Girl x2

A deep purple hue flashed in the demon's eyes; it seemed that Zhi's apology would have to be delivered sooner than expected.