The Dimensional Tavern of the Mefilas Alien

"Before you refuse, why don't you use your own eyes to judge for yourself? If you're worried that others might deceive you, then it's okay for you to make your own judgment, isn't it?"

Homura Akemi still maintained her icy demeanor, but Kyoko Sakura sensed a sincerity in her expression.

“I…” Sakura Kyoko hesitated.

Homura Akemi immediately deactivated her transformation and took out her phone: "Let's exchange contact information! I'll contact you later."

After countless cycles of failure, Homura Akemi had made up her mind to stop caring about and depending on anyone. But now, the bar scene has brought her newfound hope.

Homura Akemi felt that in this cycle, she might be able to find a way to win over some teammates.

According to the shopkeeper, a single monster, or an alien of equal power, is enough to destroy a planet's civilization. He might not be able to completely drive Kyubey away by himself. What if there were two, three, or even more monster girls?

"Furthermore, our organization is currently researching ways to turn magical girls and even witches back into humans."

"What?" Sakura Kyoko exclaimed, "Is this true?"

"You can verify it for yourself!"

And so, in a daze, Sakura Kyoko exchanged phone numbers with Akemi Homura. It wasn't until long after Homura had left that she came to her senses.

Looking at the newly added number on her phone, Sakura Kyoko couldn't help but smile bitterly. What was going on?!

She opened her contacts, intending to delete Homura Akemi's number. But her finger hovered over the delete button, unable to press it.

What if? What if what she said is true?

Sakura Kyoko's fingers were trembling, and she was also struggling internally.

Homura Akemi gave up the witch that was within her grasp; surely she couldn't have done it just to deceive herself? In her current state, what could she possibly be so easily fooled? It couldn't be for the power of a magical girl, could it?

Sakura Kyoko chuckled self-deprecatingly. "You're kidding me, Homura-neechan!" she said. "She can wipe out a city's witches in two nights; I'd be lucky to even be a speed bump in front of her."

Although she claimed to be a pure egoist, the thought of potentially becoming an accomplice to the fall of the Earth still made her hesitate due to her deep-seated sense of morality.

Just then, Kyubey suddenly appeared in front of Sakura Kyoko.

"I suggest you go and take a look."

"Ha!" Sakura Kyoko scoffed, "So you really are up to something again, aren't you?"

Without waiting for Kyubey's reply, Sakura Kyoko stabbed it to death with a single shot.

Even now, while other things remain unclear, there's one thing Sakura Kyoko knows for sure: never give Kyubey a chance to speak. You can't trust a liar like that at all!

"Oh dear, what a waste of another body!"

In the distance, the resurrected Cupid licked his paws and sighed.

However, it did manage to gather valuable intelligence through this.

"Strange gadgets that can capture witches, technology that can turn magical girls and witches back into humans... The civilization of another world is truly something to look forward to!"

By observing the small details, it's clear that the Dark Legion, as Homura Akemi mentioned, is quite capable, both in terms of technological prowess and energy reserves, given that they are willing to waste energy on such seemingly meaningless technology.

"Or is it that they actually care a lot about magical girls?"

Kyubey fell into deep thought. Theoretically speaking, using magical girls as biological weapons wasn't entirely out of the question. While most magical girls and witches couldn't even withstand human firearms, there were powerful individuals like Witch Night, who had existed for countless ages and were capable of destroying a city or a country.

But if they already have the technology to travel across the universe, would they still be interested in this kind of technology? Surely their goal isn't also emotional transformation technology? But no matter how you look at it, the energy to travel across the universe is far greater than the energy born from the girl's despair.

I just can't figure it out. Now all I can do is hope that Sakura Kyoko can gather more information.

But that's not enough. Next, Kyubey plans to mobilize the magical girls from other Earths.

Since Homura Akemi likes to call herself an invader, then let's just confirm that.

Even if she is very powerful now, if all the magical girls come to defeat her, they will eventually find some weaknesses in her, and then they will have the opportunity to collect more data.

Kyubey doesn't care whether the magical girls will learn the truth after arriving here and turn against it.

When it comes to interests involving an entire universe, a mere magical girl is not so important.

Besides, the magical girls' fate was already sealed. If knowing the truth hastens their despair, it would only benefit their energy gathering.

……

Homura Akemi, who had been fighting the witch all night, quickly returned home and deactivated her transformation. After sorting through her loot and quickly washing up, she went straight to school.

It's fortunate she's a magical girl, her body powered entirely by magic. Otherwise, after two nights of intense battles without sleep, she would have passed out long ago.

On her way to school, Homura Akemi saw Madoka and her two friends again. Madoka wanted to talk to her, but seeing Homura's aloof demeanor, she hesitated for a moment, and then Sayaka pulled her away.

After finishing her classes as usual, Homura Akemi sent a message to Kyoko Sakura: "See you at the usual place!"

After receiving the message, Sakura Kyoko hesitated for a long time, but still came.

"I have to tell her that I have no intention of getting involved in her fight with Kyubey!" Sakura Kyoko said to herself.

As a result, when she arrived at the location, Homura Akemi immediately summoned the gate of the tavern.

"let's go!"

"Wait!" Sakura Kyoko exclaimed anxiously, wanting to say that she had no intention of going with her.

"We've come all this way, are you really willing to just leave without even taking a look?" Homura Akemi reached out her hand to him. "Don't you want to see the reality of this world? Don't you want to go back to being an ordinary person?"

“I…” Sakura Kyoko was speechless for a moment.

Homura Akemi tried hard to recall the circumstances of the first few loops, adjusted her expression, and took Sakura Kyoko's hand.

"Kyoko!" Homura Akemi's voice became much softer and cuter, and her expression also became similar to her weak appearance at the beginning.

Sakura Kyoko's deep-seated protective instincts surged up, and without a word, she was led into the bar.

Once inside the bar, Sakura Kyoko realized what was happening and couldn't help but feel annoyed.

What's wrong with me? Why did she seem so familiar for a moment just now? I'm not even myself anymore!

Sakura Kyoko looked around in distress, then seemed somewhat surprised.

"This looks like a bar."

Homura Akemi went to such great lengths, even summoning a mysterious door. Could it be that she was trying to lead Homura Akemi to violate the law prohibiting minors from drinking alcohol?

Chapter Thirty-Three features the Mefilas aliens, who are afraid of violence.

Just as Homura Akemi and Kyoko Sakura entered the bar, Murphy's transformation of Jamila was at a crucial moment.

In the future timeline, Hikari found a way to restore Max, who had been corrupted by Gordis cells, in just three days. Although this was with the support of the Land of Light's equipment and technology, Jamila's mutations were clearly not as severe as Max's. Therefore, Murphy had already found a preliminary idea for the modification in just two days.

Murphy glanced down at the unconscious Jamila, hesitated for less than a fraction of a second, and then made his decision: as the owner of the bar, serving guests was his job. He believed that Jamila, as a bar employee, would understand his good intentions. So, he used his telekinesis to freeze Jamila's state and then walked out of the laboratory.

"Welcome... Oh, it's Yan!"

Murphy's initially high spirits dissipated considerably upon seeing Homura Akemi.

"There really are aliens!" Sakura Kyoko exclaimed in surprise as she saw Murphy walking out of the kitchen.

Homura Akemi looked at her silently. What kind of talk was this? It sounded like she was lying to her!

Sakura Kyoko looked back defiantly.

Anyone who sees a bar that looks just like it does on Earth would never guess that it's actually an alien base.

"Flame, is this your friend?"

Looking at Homura Akemi and then at Kyoko Sakura, Murphy sensed something was up.

He saw the same type of energy in Sakura Kyoko as in Akemi Homura, and looking at how the two of them interacted, Murphy felt that the fun he had been waiting for was about to begin.

“She and I are not companions,” Sakura Kyoko immediately denied.

She gave Murphy a strange look. To be honest, the appearance of the Mefilas aliens fit Earthlings' stereotypes about extraterrestrials. In comparison, Kyubey looked far too much like a pet.

However, she didn't sense any aura of power or pressure from Murphy at all. Judging from his clothes, ignoring his inhuman appearance, he was no different from an ordinary izakaya owner.

Could this actually be an intelligence station for aliens? Sakura Kyoko's mind immediately flashed back to the plot of a movie she had seen before: Could this alien who looks like a working-class person actually be a secret contact?

"Manager!" Homura Akemi's address seemed to confirm Kyoko Sakura's guess.

"Her name is Sakura Kyoko, and she is also a magical girl. She came here to confirm the truth about magical girls."

"What a pity! I thought she was a guest you brought along."

'So you guys are really serious about running a bar?' Sakura Kyoko thought to herself, 'And selling drinks to minors is illegal, right? But since they're aliens, Earth's laws probably don't apply, right?'

"But it's okay if you don't want to drink." Although he was eager to see some fun, Murphy reluctantly tried to sell, considering that he was the boss after all: "Apart from the items on the menu, anything I can make and you can pay the price for, you can order it!"

"Is it possible for me to turn back into a human if I want to?"

"That's what Sakura Kyoko blurted out. Of course, she didn't think a bar could turn her back into a human. Even if the legion Homura Akemi joined had that technology, it would definitely be in a more important base, or even headquarters. She said that just because she was a little annoyed at being forcibly dragged to such a strange place by Homura Akemi, so she wanted to be a little sarcastic."

“Sure!” Murphy nodded.

"What?" Sakura Kyoko doubted her ears.

"You're not lying, are you?"

"Don't underestimate me!" Murphy said proudly, arms crossed. "Back in the day, I was the top scientist on Mefilas! I'm just retired now."

"The number one scientist..." Sakura Kyoko was skeptical. A bar owner being the number one scientist on a planet sounded as absurd as a homeless person on the street being a former professor.

But after glancing at Homura Akemi, who had somehow transformed into Guts-chan and was diligently sweeping the floor, Kyoko Sakura suddenly felt that it wasn't entirely unbelievable.

After all, her power, which completely surpasses that of magical girls, is not fake.

"Wait, didn't you say you wanted to show me the real world? Why are you suddenly cleaning the house!"

After entering this strange bar, Sakura Kyoko felt like she had endless complaints.

“Because I’m the mascot here,” Homura Akemi replied matter-of-factly.

Sakura Kyoko's eyes widened: "You're not a combatant under the Dark King, are you?"

"Dark King?"

Murphy's eyes sharpened.

"Yan, did you see my good-for-nothing brother while I was away?"

Before Homura could answer, Murphy angrily said, "Don't listen to that guy's nonsense! I told you back then that His Majesty is not a wise ruler, and the Land of Light is not so easy to conquer! If I hadn't intervened back then, he would have been killed by Belial long ago!"

"???" Sakura Kyoko couldn't hold back anymore. So there really is a Dark Legion and a Dark Emperor? Not only that, but this seemingly approachable alien shopkeeper in front of her seems to be a hidden big shot?

Homura Akemi bowed deeply to Murphy at a ninety-degree angle: "I'm sorry, Manager! I had to use your name and tell a little lie to save Madoka."

"Oh, that's alright!" Murphy calmed down instantly. "As long as I don't go fooling around with His Majesty. Joining the Dark Legion, if I'm lucky, I'll be killed by Ultraman; if I'm unlucky, I'll be executed by His Majesty!"

Kyoko Sakura listened intently. Finding amusement in gossip is in the nature of intelligent beings, and she was no exception.

"So, the boss she was talking about is you?"

"What did she say about me?" Murphy asked, a little curious.

Kyoko Sakura relayed everything Kyubey had told her to Murphy.

Homura Akemi was a little nervous. Not because Murphy herself knew about her lie. She had reincarnated dozens of times, her heart had grown cold, and her skin had thickened. As long as she could save Madoka, telling a little lie was nothing. She was just worried that Murphy would be displeased.

But she didn't intend to hide it, otherwise she wouldn't have brought Sakura Kyoko with her.

Murphy was her benefactor and her opportunity. If she wanted to completely expel or even wipe out the Cupids in the future, she would have to be honest with Murphy.

"Oh, not bad!" Murphy didn't blame Homura Akemi, but instead reached out and patted her head.

"As expected of my subordinates!" Murphy laughed heartily. "Compared to mere violence, using words and intrigue to strike at the enemy is true elegance!"

……

Chapter Thirty-Four: Earning Her to Go Up the Mountain

Kyoko Sakura was terrified when she heard this.

Kyubey isn't a good person, but this alien who looks like just a bar owner doesn't seem much better either.

"So, how much of what she said is true?" Sakura Kyoko asked cautiously.

Murphy thought for a moment: "Aside from the part about me being the Dark King, most of it is true, right? Given His Majesty's personality, if he knew about the existence of your universe, he definitely wouldn't let it go."

Sakura Kyoko's mind went blank for a moment.

A self-proclaimed egoist, she immediately began to consider whether she should be a wise person to seize the opportunity and join the group. However, a sliver of kindness remaining deep within her made it difficult for her to bring herself to do so.

At this moment, Homura Akemi revealed her shield.

"Shopkeeper, I've caught a few witches. Do you think these are enough for your research?"

With a "whoosh!", Homura Akemi poured out a bunch of red and white balls from her shield.