(Ceruno)
Crude as her words were, Heat Haze actually had a point.
The virtual New World was ultimately fake. It had left no real traces behind, and the twelve rounds of simulation that had already passed had left no sign they had ever existed, not even in my memories.
On the other hand...
"No matter how awful the New World is, it still counts as a step forward."
As I muttered that, Heat Haze linked her arm through mine and agreed:
"Exactly! Even if we still have to work for a living, who cares!"
"So what should we do?"
Miss Bai Ze also spoke up. "Even knowing the truth, there's nothing we can do. A lot of former magical girls have been anxious about that... This isn't like before. A god isn't something we can see or touch. We can't just defeat one through brute force, can we?"
It was impossible to defeat Mi Xue in this virtual world.
We might not even be able to do it in reality.
I answered, "This concert is the battle. I need the people's faith."
"What should those of us whose powers have weakened in this world do?"
"Wait for the right moment."
The closer Miluno's scale came to Mi Xue's, the better our chances of winning.
But that also meant Mi Xue's plan would be closer to completion, and we might run out of time to stop her.
So I was waiting for that fleeting, perfect moment.
Before that, though, I still had to find a way to contact Miluno. She could send us messages, but we still couldn't reach out to her. She was like someone tossing notes out through a prison window, while we had no way to toss any back inside.
*Sigh. We finally got out of Mi Xue's