"It's Ruri-chan!"
"Found her! Finally found her!"
After searching and wandering, they finally found the spirited away Kuroneko. The girls all grew excited.
"Wait."
Izumi Sora suddenly called a halt:
"That orb of light in front of Kuroneko seems very dangerous, everyone stay still for now."
The girls all stopped in their tracks, raising their guard.
"Mahiru, I'm leaving it to you."
Izumi Sora turned to look at Mahiru.
"Understood."
Shiina Mahiru exhaled softly and decisively activated Time Stop.
The entire world's pause button was abruptly pressed.
"Sora-kun..."
Angel-sama's pretty face flushed slightly as she stepped in front of Izumi Sora.
She was quite exhausted right now and didn't have enough strength to carry Kuroneko over. She could only ask Izumi Sora.
In the Time Stop state, if she wanted to restore Izumi Sora's ability to move, she could only...
Shiina Mahiru lightly bit her lower lip with her pearly white teeth. With a blushing pretty face, she stood on her tiptoes and gently kissed Izumi Sora's cheek.
"Mahiru-sama, thank you for the treat."
With Angel-sama's kiss, Izumi Sora quickly regained his ability to move.
Shiina Mahiru's pretty face was flushed, her bright eyes glaring affectionately:
"Sora-kun, don't talk. Hurry up and carry Ruri over."
"Yes, yes."
Izumi Sora agreed and quickly walked to Kuroneko's side.
Gokou Ruri stood alone in the middle of the tunnel, her back to them. Now that he was close, he realized Kuroneko's condition was worse than imagined.
The girl's small face was pale, her gaze blank and hollow. She had clearly lost her self-awareness.
Looking closely.
The black orb of light floating in front of Kuroneko was actually a gemstone emitting a black light, full of an ominous aura.
To be safe, Izumi Sora didn't touch it randomly. Instead, he reached out and gently scooped Kuroneko up, quickly returning to the girls.
"Sora-kun, I'm ending the Time Stop."
Mahiru gave a warning and quietly ended the Time Stop.
Elf and Yanami quickly regained their senses. They were already accustomed to Izumi Sora suddenly 'flashing' back. Their gazes all fell on Kuroneko:
"How is Ruri-chan?"
Izumi Sora's voice was steady as he held Kuroneko's icy-cold small hand:
"She's fine. She's still breathing and has a heartbeat. She must have just lost consciousness... Let's help purify her magic power first."
A moment later.
With the magic power purification complete, Gokou Ruri's eyelashes trembled gently, and she finally opened her eyes.
"She's awake, she's awake."
"Ruri-chan, we're here to save you."
Seeing Gokou Ruri wake up, the girls all became happy.
Gokou Ruri's expression was blank, clearly still not very lucid. Her gaze fell blankly on Izumi Sora's face. After staring for a while, she finally reacted, her pretty face quickly flushing red:
"A mere Sora! W-Who allowed you to hold me!"
Izumi Sora smiled:
"Very good. Still knows how to be chunibyo, looks like you've returned to normal."
"Ruri-chan, how do you feel now?" Yanami rested her hands on her knees, looking over with concern. "Are you feeling unwell anywhere? Do you want something to eat?"
Grumble grumble~
The sound of a cooing dove (stomach growling) happened to ring out.
Gokou Ruri's pretty face flushed red, and she subconsciously covered her lower abdomen:
"I am indeed a bit hungry..."
"You've been out of contact for so long, hurry up and eat something."
Elf quickly opened her backpack and took out bread and drinks.
"Thank you..."
Gokou Ruri must have been truly hungry. She ate two pieces of bread in one go and drank a bottle of water before finally stopping.
With her stamina replenished, Gokou Ruri's mental state was noticeably much better. She exhaled softly and talked about her situation:
"I took the subway back last night. I don't know what happened. I looked down for a moment, and then I was in this different spatial tunnel."
"Because I had experienced it with Sora before, I wasn't very panicked at first. I comforted myself while walking towards the exit."
"But no matter whether I walked forward or backward, I could never get out."
"In the end, I even started having visual and auditory hallucinations..."
Speaking up to this point, Gokou Ruri's small face turned slightly pale. She lightly bit her lower lip and revealed a shocking truth:
"I know why the subway tunnel twisted into a different space."
"Eh, why?"
Yamada Elf looked over curiously.
"Just now, in my muddled state, I received a vague memory..." Gokou Ruri bit her lower lip tightly, turning her head to look at the black gemstone behind her, her voice tense. "That's the memory of another magical girl. Because she constantly used her ability and had no one to help purify her, she was ultimately completely swallowed by magic power. The magic power twisted space, forming a subway tunnel from which there is absolutely no escape."
Hearing Kuroneko's words, the girls were all greatly shocked.
"What?"
"Being a magical girl is actually this dangerous?"
"There truly is no love without reason in this world..."
"..."
Magical abilities are both a gift and a curse.
Just like Pandora's Box, once opened, while possessing abilities, one also shoulders a curse.
There is never an absolutely unique existence in the world.
In unseen places, there must definitely be other magical girls.
But those girls were not lucky. They didn't meet Izumi Sora and couldn't purify their magic power. In the end, they suffered from magic power backlash and vanished from the world.
"And here I thought it didn't matter if the magic power wasn't purified..." Yamada Elf stuck out her delicate pink tongue, feeling some lingering fear. "I didn't expect Sora to be much more important than I imagined."
Izumi Sora heard this and looked over: "I'm just a heartless hand-holding robot."
Angel-sama lightly bit her lower lip:
"Right at this moment, there must be others suffering from the pain of magic power corrosion, right?"
"Don't think too much about it. It's enough that we take care of ourselves right now." Izumi Sora stood up. "We've found Ruri, we can leave."
"Going back, going back." Yanami's eyes lit up. "I've wanted to leave for a long time."
Gokou Ruri lightly bit her lower lip, lowering her gaze:
"We... can't go back."
"What is Ruri saying?"
Elf looked over in confusion.
Gokou Ruri lowered her voice:
"While in a muddled state of consciousness, I faintly learned how to get out... Someone must absorb and contain the out-of-control magic power to end the state of being lost in space."
Izumi Sora raised an eyebrow slightly:
"We got out once before."
Gokou Ruri shook her head: "That was because the different space had just formed at the time and was very unstable, giving us a chance to escape. Now, there's no way out."
Angel-sama said softly:
"Whether we can get out or not, we have to try to know."
"That's right." Yanami Anna offered encouragement. "Since we could get in, we definitely can get out. Anyway, let's try first."
"..."
The group turned and walked back.
They tried to retreat and leave the bizarre subway, but unfortunately, it had no effect.
No matter how they walked, they completely couldn't get out of the empty subway tunnel.
The atmosphere grew increasingly silent.
The girls silently accepted the fact:
"It seems we really can't get out."
Gokou Ruri clenched her pink fists, her gaze quietly becoming resolute:
"Thank you everyone for coming to save me... I'm very happy, so let me do it."
Izumi Sora firmly grasped Kuroneko's soft hand, saying seriously:
"What will happen if you absorb that magic power?"
"N-Nothing will happen..." Gokou Ruri averted her small face, feeling somewhat guilty. "Sora, let go of me quickly."
Angel-sama gently furrowed her delicate eyebrows:
"That black mist gives off a very ominous feeling... At a time like this, Ruri, please tell the truth."
"That's right." Elf put her hands on her hips. "Everyone is here, Ruri-chan, don't try to bear it alone."
Gokou Ruri parted her pink lips, ultimately telling the truth:
"That black mist is actually the despair and pain of the previous magical girl. To bear the magic power means absorbing the pain and despair along with it..."
The girls instantly fell silent.
The final despair and pain of a person, that must definitely be unimaginably heavy, right?
Izumi Sora exhaled softly, his voice calm:
"I'll do it."
Izumi Sora said softly:
"As long as my mental strength is strong enough, I will definitely be able to bear it. Not to mention I also have the purification ability, maybe I can purify the despair and pain together."
Yanami reached out her right hand, tugging at Izumi Sora's sleeve, her gaze resolute:
"I'll be with Sora!"
"You didn't say only one person has to sacrifice themselves. Two people should definitely be fine too, right?"
"Makes sense." Yamada Elf's eyes lit up, grasping Yanami's hand. "Count me in, I'm joining too."
Looking at everyone in front of her, Kuroneko's eyes were bright as she grasped Elf's small hand:
"Then we'll face it together."
Angel-sama took a deep breath, grasping Kuroneko's other hand: "If Sora-kun is in danger, I will rewind time. Everyone, please rest assured."
With the ultimate insurance policy in place, the girls were full of confidence, completely unafraid.
The group, holding hands, stepped towards the black gemstone floating in the tunnel.
"Is everyone ready?"
"Ready."
"Sora, begin."
"Go for it!"
Under the girls' tense gazes, Izumi Sora reached out his left hand and firmly grasped the black gemstone.
The next second.
The black mist violently invaded Izumi Sora's body, then rapidly dispersed through everyone's joined hands.
"Mmm..."
"S-So uncomfortable..."
The girls' agonized, muffled groans echoed one after another.
Izumi Sora bore the brunt of it, single-handedly taking the greatest impact. He only felt countless, indescribable feelings of suffocation and despair surging towards him.
Fortunately, his physique had now broken through the human limit, and his mental strength was exceptionally resilient. He firmly stabilized his consciousness amidst the impact, immovable as a rock, indestructible.
After an unknown amount of time, the black gemstone quietly disappeared.
At the same time.
A game panel appeared before Izumi Sora's eyes.
[You have merged with the Magic Gemstone.]
[You have acquired basic mastery of Spatial Magic.]
[Please note, the purification is incomplete. Side effects will occasionally appear. As your character level continues to rise, the side effects will be gradually eliminated.]
Elf: "Is it over?"
Yanami: "It was so uncomfortable just now. I felt like the whole world had turned gray."
Mahiru: "Sora-kun, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, just a bit mentally exhausted." Izumi Sora rubbed his brow, looked at Kuroneko, and smiled. "Ruri, we can go home."
Kuroneko tilted up her pretty face. Her eyes held only Izumi Sora. She only felt her own heartbeat was incredibly clear.
"Sora..."
Although she didn't want to admit it, she could no longer deceive herself.
"Sora... I like..."
"Going home, going home." Yanami's voice was crisp. "Let's go quickly."
The girls walked forward along the tunnel. This time, they finally weren't caught in a loop and successfully found the stairs leading up.
Climbing up the stairs, they successfully left the subway tunnel. Building after building of towering skyscrapers with flashing neon lights came into view.
Yanami Anna took out her phone to check the time, startled:
"It's 12:30 AM. The last train is gone... What do you guys say now, are we still going back?"
"It's too late now. It'll take half an hour to take a taxi back, and we still have to wash up when we get home." Angel-sama pursed her beautiful lips. "...How about we stay at a hotel for the night and leave tomorrow morning?"
Yamada Elf nodded: "Mahiru makes sense. I'm so sleepy right now, my head is spinning."
Gokou Ruri looked up, speaking softly:
"Everyone, come to my house."
Izumi Sora shook his head: "It's already so late, we won't impose."
"It's not an imposition." Gokou Ruri's gaze was firm. "My house is just a few minutes' walk away. Besides, it's definitely inconvenient to find a hotel this late."
Seeing Kuroneko's resolute attitude, the girls could only agree.
As they spoke, Kuroneko's phone rang.
Mrs. Gokou's trembling voice came through:
"Little Ruri?"
With the shattering of the different space, Mrs. Gokou remembered everything again.
A misty fog quickly welled up in Kuroneko's eyes:
"Mom, it's me..."
"I'll go to the convenience store to buy a shirt for Sora-kun." Angel-sama exhaled softly. "Sora-kun, please wait a moment."
Izumi Sora was still bare-chested right now, he indeed needed to wear a shirt.
When Mahiru returned from buying the shirt, Kuroneko had just finished her phone call. The group, led by Kuroneko, headed towards the Gokou residence.
The journey was silent.
Just after turning the corner, they saw a house with lights on, Mrs. Gokou standing at the door looking eagerly.
When mother and daughter reunited, there were naturally endless things to talk about.
Because they had encountered a supernatural incident, they couldn't just gloss over it, so they had to tell the truth.
Mrs. Gokou bowed incessantly in thanks, immensely grateful.
Next was the room arrangements.
Kuroneko's dad wasn't home, so Kuroneko would sleep with her mother tonight. The others would sleep in Kuroneko's room.
Although the room wasn't large, squeezing in wasn't a problem.
The girls showered first. After showering, they went to Ruri's room. Mrs. Gokou had already laid out the futons. Izumi Sora was the last one.
"Sora, these are my dad's pajamas."
Ruri, having changed into white pajamas, walked over. Her voice was unusually gentle:
"Thank you so much for today."
Izumi Sora took the pajamas and said casually:
"If I were in danger, Ruri would definitely come save me too, right... I'm going to take a shower first."
Watching Izumi Sora's back as he walked into the bathroom, Gokou Ruri's gaze quietly softened, the temperature of her face quietly rising.
When she accidentally wandered into the bizarre subway and her consciousness was gradually fading, the only hope in her heart was for Izumi Sora to appear before her.
When she woke up from her muddled state, the first thing she saw was Izumi Sora's face appearing before her eyes...
The warmth and sense of security at that moment were already branded deep into her soul, something she would never be able to forget in her lifetime.