Inviolable

(Sun Yao)

To protect me, Miluno actually charged headfirst into the humanoid girl formed from Dark Energy.

But she wasn't thrown away by the immense force like Liu.

Instead, it was like falling into quicksand or a swamp; the Shadow Girl transformed into writhing Black Mud, completely enveloping Miluno.

"Ceruno! Use your magic to separate them; it wants to turn Miluno into a new witch!"

That's what SpiCa said.

Even if I put bubble wrap around them, I don't know how to stop the situation from getting worse.

There's nothing I can do!

Even if you're confident you can stop the Dark Energy, you can't separate them.

"No, I didn't know I had to do that. The concentration of this Dark Energy is too high; my bubble can't even budge it!"

Worse still, the black mud began to seep into Miluno's body, and somewhere on her chest, like a drain in a bathroom, it was rapidly draining the darkness clinging to her skin.

That should be the location of the Star Crystal inside her body.

"That's practically the entire field..."

Neither the Black Crystal that Old Man and Halley came into contact with contained this much Dark Energy.

In the end, I could only watch helplessly as that power was completely absorbed.

Will Miluno become a witch like her father?

Can she maintain her willpower?

I'm afraid of her lying motionless with her eyes closed, and I'm also afraid of her opening them and becoming a stranger. The fate of Yezi and her mother in the cage is unknown. If something else happens to Miluno, then I...

Sirius, however, put his arm around my shoulder.

"Ceruno, only your magic can help her now. The only chance to extract the Dark Energy is while she's still asleep."

Of course I understand, but should I do this?

Miluno's magic is the manipulation of time.

If she were to become a witch, she would undoubtedly become an insurmountable enemy, one we must absolutely avoid...

No, wait.

"... Miss Sirius, can you see what's happening inside Miluno's body?"

Because I also have some Dark Energy within me, I can sense the abnormality within Yezi's body.

The Dark Energy has become very strange.

"Hmm, her Crystal is purifying... no, it's absorbing Dark Energy... I didn't expect the evolved Crystal to have such an ability."

Evolution?

Indeed, the Crystal inside Miluno's body appeared to be much larger.

Sensing an existential crisis, the frenzied darkness tried to escape Miluno's body, only to be grabbed and violently pulled back by the unconscious Miluno. I had never witnessed such a bizarre scene...

Just as Sirius said.

The Morning Star Crystal is consuming Dark Energy.

Moreover, they eat very quickly.

"Not only will it not fall into witchhood, it can even absorb and use it to strengthen itself. Even I can't do that... No, without choosing a suitable candidate, I could never evolve like this."

Sirius was making fun of himself, but he also seemed much more relaxed.

Achernar went to check on Miluno's condition.

"At this rate of absorption, the Witch's Domain will soon collapse... and then we'll be able to get out."

This time, it's finally going to end, isn't it?

The last trace of Dark Energy vanished within Miluno's Crystal.

She finally opened her eyes.

"... Ceruno?"

"I'm so glad you're alright."

I was just sitting next to her.

"... What's wrong with me?"

I replied, "Your Star Crystal absorbed that dark power."

"Eat it?"

Miluno looked confused.

She had no idea what happened after she fell into a coma.

"But you did not become a witch, and the Morning Star Crystal was not corrupted... To the Dark Energy, you are a sacred and inviolable saint!"

"A saint...?"

"Should we still call her a saint?"

"Don't joke with me."

As the Dark Energy completely dissipated, the entire studio began to crumble into fragmented, illusory pieces.

"See? It's all just an illusion."

I sighed with emotion.

"Miss Halley is truly pathetic to mistake this false reality for a realized dream."

It's like treating a fictional character as your wife—a pointless self-deception.

Don't say that.

Miluno shook her head.

"Halley saw no way out. She was like a person dying of thirst, willing to try poison even if she knew it was poison. It was precisely because of this desperate state of mind that the Black Crystal chose her... She has done a great job of persevering during this time."

The fake curtain was torn away, and we returned to the Greenfield Stadium.

Apart from the unconscious audience members and staff, everything was as it was before.

The barrier separating the New World has disappeared.

Without the support of Dark Energy, wormholes become difficult to maintain.

"Witch's Domain? This is troublesome..."

Medical personnel rushed in from outside the barrier and began to treat the unconscious audience members, but their numbers were not large.

"Will the magical girls of Skyreach City have to face this kind of scene frequently in the future?"

If it weren't for Miluno's special Crystal, the other magical girls wouldn't have been able to fight against that Shadow Girl who was the embodiment of Dark Energy...

"Ceruno, Miluno."

Miss SpiCa walked up to us.

Behind her was Miss Halley, who was bound like a mummy with White Silk.

"Please lend me your power. As I said before, I want to assemble a special operations team dedicated to handling witch-related incidents."

The situation is becoming increasingly dire, with pressure being exerted from the Other Side, leaving us little room for maneuver.

"I'm in."

Miluno made up her mind earlier than I did.

Indeed, she can absorb Dark Energy, and combined with my bubbles, she can break the Witch's Domain... This is currently the only solution.

"Then I want to join too."

"Very well, but now... you all need to go to a medical facility for a checkup, especially Miluno. You absorbed such a massive amount of Dark Energy, didn't you feel anything unusual?"

"I'm fine, and I don't need a medical checkup."

She picked up a lock of her long hair, the ends of which were already turning white.

"If I had to say something, it's this little bit of an impact... we could just cut it out."

"This is a very serious consequence; go for a medical checkup!"

Miss SpiCa looked very serious.

"I've known your identity for a long time, Miluno. Now that things have come to this, stop being irresponsible with your body because of these concerns."

These words, though spoken with concern, caused Miluno to frown in displeasure.

"As expected, the Association still can't be trusted."

"How about you trust me then?"

The voice of Sirius.

She hugged me tightly after giving birth, then looked at Miluno.

"Based on SpiCa's proposal, let's organize a special... magical girl idol group!"

She did mention this morning that she wanted to organize a girl group or something.

"Sirius, this is not the time for jokes."

"Hey, do I look like I'm joking?"

You always seem to be joking around.

"Ugh, after all these years of friendship, you still say that..."

Sensing SpiCa's indifferent gaze, Sirius changed his tune.

"Ahem, I've thought this through carefully. Creating a top-notch magical girl group would be beneficial to the current situation, and the two of you possess irreplaceable qualities, making you the best candidates for the group."

Sizzle--

A static sound came through my in-ear monitor.

Once outside the barrier, communication functions returned to normal.

"Phew, great, the call finally connected!"

But it was Luer's voice.

"No! That's not what I'm talking about... The branch headquarters was attacked too!!"