Give children a little self-destruction shock to their worldview.

As she was being scrutinized, Mayumi Haga could only keep her expression in order to avoid giving herself away.

The two of them, along with a small bear, are now entering the hospital's "inner space." Unlike the "outer space," which receives ordinary patients, the "inner space" is a special clinic created by a senior doctor who can use magic, using space stones, and is a mirror image of the original hospital.

Originally, it was a place to receive magicians, but ordinary people also relied on it for treatment when they were injured.

Although the probability of injury in this world is ridiculously low, there are still illnesses such as being corrupted by dark elements that require magic to heal.

That's why this magic clinic exists here.

People who had previously been infected by the Death Worms were also transferred here for treatment.

Mayumi Haga originally wanted to come and investigate on her own, but she was entangled by the magical girl Crimson and the bear halfway there. Her movement speed was not as fast as theirs, so she couldn't shake them off at all. Therefore, she had no choice but to come with the two of them.

However, this was somewhat accidental, since without magical abilities she wouldn't have been able to find the entrance to the magic hospital, and therefore wouldn't have been able to find the seedbed that was most severely corrupted.

The news reports said that all those attacked by the monster were out of danger, but being out of danger and being fully recovered are two different things.

The Death Worms are special monsters with the instinct to reproduce. To prevent the worm eggs from remaining in the human body and causing a greater tragedy, Mayumi Haga had to come and take a look no matter what.

With the magical girl Crimson leading the way, Mayumi Haga successfully entered the [Inner Space] and walked forward along the bright corridor.

The corridor here leads to only one door, and behind that door is where experienced doctors treat patients.

The corridor layout was exactly the same as a typical hospital, but the view through the windows was of a small garden on a sunny day, with butterflies even landing on the windowsills. Mayumi Haga only glanced at it quickly, showing no interest in looking out the window.

The magical scene was indeed dazzling to her, but that was all.

What bothered her even more was...

"Is it alright to bring in weirdos too?" After thinking for a long time, Mayumi Haga finally asked the magical girl Crimson.

Magical girl Crimson and the teddy bear she casually hugged both tilted their heads in confusion, a question mark appearing above their heads as if to say, "Is there a problem with this?" Their expressions were identically not very bright.

Haga Mayumi: "..."

Forget it.

Seeing this scene, Mayumi Haga didn't intend to say anything more; she just wanted the weirdo to stop causing trouble.

Maintaining this eerie balance, the magical girl Crimson pushed open the clinic door.

As soon as they entered, Sugiyama Rika looked up at them. Aside from the former magical girl who had come to help, the doctor seemed to know these people had entered her territory, continuing to prepare the magic she had never seen before without looking up, magical power constantly gathering in her palm.

Lying on the only hospital bed in the room is the victim who is still in a coma. This victim is the one most severely affected by the disease and is currently being kept alive by the life-giving potted plant grown by the senior doctor. His face is still bluish-black and surrounded by deathly energy.

His dangling hand was nervously held by a pair of small hands. The little girl, who looked only five or six years old and bore a five-point resemblance to the victim, was sobbing with fear, her eyes swollen and pitiful.

"Who is she?" Mayumi Haga's question broke the silence in the room. She stared at the girl in the corner, her face ashen.

The girl seemed startled, and when she looked up and saw the inhuman golden pupils and the unfriendly-looking face, she shrank back a little.

“This child is the patient’s daughter, don’t scare the child,” Sugiyama Rika said. Because the visitor’s appearance and build suggested he was a young man of similar age to her, she was a bit casual in her attitude.

Mayumi Haga stiffly shut her mouth.

She didn't mean to scare the child, but she was a little worried that the scene might traumatize the child.

Moreover, the threat of the Death Worm has not been completely eliminated, so how can we let the child come to such a dangerous place?

With mixed feelings in my mind, my words were not very gentle.

Sugiyama Rika looked at Haga Mayumi with a puzzled expression, then turned to the magical girl Crimson with a question: "Crimson, is this your friend?"

"This young lady is my friend, her name is..." The magical girl Crimson hesitated a bit when introducing her before even asking Mayumi Haga's name, and subconsciously looked at her.

The latter replied coldly, "Guardian."

"Oh, it's the Guardian." The magical girl Crimson, who felt they were friends now that they had exchanged code names, grinned foolishly. "You can just call me Crimson from now on."

Mayumi Haga wasn't interested in having to introduce her friend's underworld name again, even though they already knew each other. She turned her gaze to Rika Sugiyama and asked, "What's that kid here for?"

Her gaze was determined; she wanted an answer.

“This gentleman’s life force has been eroded at an alarming rate. Even though he’s temporarily out of danger by being kept alive by the potted plant, it’s not a long-term solution.” The doctor’s voice was languid as she explained to Mayumi Haga the purpose of bringing the child here. “We need to awaken his will to live so that we can take the opportunity to expel that strange energy.”

So they brought the man's child, hoping that the child's cries would wake him up.

Of course, it also requires the assistance of magic to transmit the child's purest spiritual energy to the father who is fighting against death.

In that case, we will definitely be able to pull him back from the brink of death.

Mayumi Haga stood there, patiently listening to this string of healing principles that were simply impossible in her world.

"Is it possible?" she heard herself squeeze out the question, her voice hoarse and dry.

This was something she once thought impossible. If it were that simple to do, everything she had gone through would seem both ridiculous and pathetic.

But her heart still yearned for a positive answer.

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Swarm and its Kin

The doctor did not provide specific data, as this was her first time treating such a patient.

Fortunately, after the girl's call was transmitted through mind magic, the treatment really worked. The father's complexion gradually improved, and the dark aura covering his face slowly dissipated.

The girl hugged her father, who was barely able to open his eyes, and wept with joy, creating a warm and loving atmosphere in the ward.

"That's great!" Crimson was so happy she almost jumped up, but when she noticed the Guardian beside her, her eyes widened in surprise.

...Miss Guardian, did you just laugh?

The gentle curve of the other person's lips seemed like an illusion; after a moment of stunned silence, the other person returned to their cold and hard demeanor.

The guardian lady silently left the ward, showing no intention of staying to continue enjoying this heartwarming and perfect scene.

The little bear sniffed the strong, unique scent in the air, the scent of the Guardian's emotions, and tears welled up in its eyes again before falling silently.

--Very good.

That's what the Guardian thought, and a surge of joy welled up in her heart.

For a fleeting moment, the thought crossed her mind:

How wonderful it would be if her world had such magic.

Everyone can be saved.

She didn't have to watch helplessly as her winged friends were encased in greasy, black slime, struggling and melting to death. She didn't have to see her child's skeleton curled up in her mother's arms, didn't have to check the bed for suspicious dark humanoid marks before going to sleep, and didn't have to worry about the reservoir filling with frozen, decomposed remains.

She tried her best.

The stubborn guardian lady went mad, searching the desolate land for any life that could still breathe, willing to pay any price to protect even just one person.

Perhaps the flesh and blood she abandoned exceeded the total number of lives on that despairing continent, but she couldn't remember them all.

What she couldn't achieve even after torturing herself to the point of near collapse, she accomplished with ease in this world.

This was a miracle she witnessed with her own eyes.

It may not be a big deal to the world, but to her, it was enough to erase all the meaning of her past.

Because she has completely failed.

Time cannot be reversed, and the destroyed world cannot be restored. She has lost her homeland forever, but she is seeing the dawn in this new world.

No matter how warm and cozy the scene is now, it is just as cruel to the guardian girl who has lost everything; the contrast is so great that it can drive anyone crazy.

However, the Guardian did not have the thought, "What exactly did I give up?"

She was genuinely happy about it.

Great, people won't die from this.

Even though such a comparison makes her past efforts seem futile, she still sincerely blesses this world.

Great……

Even the tear ducts, which had been dormant for a long time and thought to be dead, were starting to stir.

Mayumi Haga was so happy that she couldn't contain herself and almost lost control of her emotions in the hospital room.

For once, she showed a slight smile.

She has already lost her hometown, and she cannot bear to lose it again.

Even if it's just for this miracle, she would do everything in her power to protect everyone, just as she would protect her own world.

Where neither the magical girls nor the monsters could see, Mayumi Haga's expression softened.

.................................................. .................................................. .

Meanwhile, in the skies above the city.

Under the cover of night, dark mist slowly dissipated from the cracks hidden in the dark clouds.

In a world without resistance, people who come into contact with this mist will disappear within a few breaths, as if corroded by strong acid, leaving behind at most a strangely colored liquid.

For example, the world it once devoured, called "Alamo".

That world had very few wizards with magical abilities, and most of the guardians chosen by the world's consciousness had no magical resistance. It only used a little trick to ambush a few threatening wizards, and then encountered no further significant resistance.

Simply releasing the most basic [insect] is enough to devour such a large amount of life energy.

The Death Worm is not without intelligence; rather, each individual worm does not possess independent consciousness, and all worms are controlled by the same consciousness.

This consciousness, perhaps more accurately termed a "swarm," possesses a relatively basic level of intelligence.

In the beginning, the "Swarm" was not actually a swarm, but as it devoured and assimilated enough Zerg minions, the name naturally became more fitting.

It could sense that the world it had descended upon was different from the previous world that it could manipulate at will, filled with a magical aura that it found unbearable.

The life forms here also possess considerable resistance; the [insects] they release cannot even assimilate several ordinary humans.

This is really troublesome... The swarm was somewhat annoyed.

The number of followers obtained from the previous world was also disappointingly small. Those cunning guardians had already traded their souls to the world consciousness. Although I had taken the core and wanted to assimilate it, the progress was pitifully slow. I had been drifting in the void for tens of thousands of years, but I had only analyzed one of them and had not even been able to completely assimilate it.

It's all because of that troublesome world consciousness.

Despite having almost no innate resistance, the world consciousness of Alamo was far more cunning. It had entrusted the [seed] of world revival to the guardian beforehand, and then sent the guardian to another world at the moment of the world's destruction.

If the [Spark] of the second world is devoured, the [Swarm] will be able to grow further, and its ability to assimilate its followers will naturally increase significantly.

By then, this magical world will no longer be a problem for it, unlike now, where even knowing the escaped guardian is here, it will be difficult to take action.

Perhaps the previous experience was indeed too smooth... We need to deploy a higher-level family member.

With that thought in mind, the [Swarm] lowered its consciousness.

In the void of the ocean, countless mournful cries converged into a concerto of hell, and in the deeper reaches, a gray core was embedded with fine, black patterns.

If Mayumi Haga were here, she would recognize whose Guardian Core it was at first glance.

A pair of golden eyes slowly opened.

Main Text: Chapter Twenty-Three: Fragments of Memories from Another World

Kagura Yu also heard strange noises tonight.

She couldn't help but pull the blanket over her head, trying to gain some sense of security.

Everything was normal at the hospital during the day, but at night, strange conversations could be heard occasionally. The first few times she heard them, she thought they were people talking outside in the ward corridor, but when she asked the caregiver to go out and check, there was no one there.

Moreover, it seemed that only she could hear the sound; the caregiver and the doctor present couldn't hear anything.

Is it just my imagination...?

Kagura Yu didn't know if it was something wrong with her. She couldn't understand why she was experiencing auditory hallucinations when she had only injured her leg, not her brain.

But hearing girls around my age talking late at night, along with the faint sound of children crying, was truly terrifying…

I will never come to this hospital again.

With these thoughts in mind, Kagura Yu fell asleep uneasily. Fortunately, her cousin came to accompany her during her rehabilitation today, which gave her more energy, and she was able to fall asleep more quickly after expending her strength.

Thus, Kagura Yu, whose magical talent was extraordinary, had a rather strange dream amidst the noisy sounds emanating from the magic clinic in the hospital's [inner space].

Because of her exceptionally high inspiration level and the fact that her ward was affected by the hospital's spatial magic, she drifted off into a dream and dreamed of fragments from her past from another world.

That was an encounter with the [Guardian] from someone's first-person perspective.

.................................................. .................................................. .

She was processing the potion ingredients, whose original form was not clearly visible. She threw the foot of some kind of amphibian into a pot and mixed it with the liver of a still-wriggling purple monster. She then threw in some kind of branch with green fruit and stirred it again.

A nearly broken medicine notebook lay open beside me. The handwriting on it was mostly blurred and illegible, so it could only provide limited guidance. Most of the formulas were also incomplete, so I had to figure them out by myself.

The interior furnishings didn't look modern; they resembled a dark corner in a fairy tale where a witch brews potions.