As Su Mo leisurely led Madoka, Sayaka, and Homura towards the location of Walpurgisnacht, in the crater-like city center, within a hurricane-like shell, a massive witch in a formal evening gown stood silently in the center of the stage, her eyes closed.
In Kyubey's words, this was a super-dreadnought-class witch that no single magical girl could ever hope to defeat.
On the stage centered around this giant witch, various other powerful witches were also fused, and this large-scale stage device, composed of multiple witches, formed Walpurgisnacht, capable of annihilating civilization on the surface.
If witches represented despair, then the fusion of numerous despairs would give birth to despair for the world itself.
Walpurgisnacht was the result of this mechanism.
Since ancient times, Walpurgisnacht had wandered the world, destroying a city with each appearance.
When the hands of the clock on its stage reached midnight and the inverted doll at the top turned upright, civilization on the surface would be completely reset to zero.
This nearly unbeatable existence was the reason why, in the original timeline, even Madoka with her great potential was defeated. It was also the obstacle that Homura had failed to overcome even after a hundred loops.
For magical girls, its very existence could be said to be despair itself.
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"You've got to be kidding me. How are we supposed to fight a monster of that level?"
At the top of the school's rooftop, a magical girl with fiery red, waist-length hair took a hard bite of an apple, then glared at the beautiful blonde girl beside her. "Mami Tomoe, have you finally lost your mind?"
"Don't say that, Kyoko!" Mami said, offering a gentle smile to her former friend, from whom she had parted ways. "How do you know the outcome if you don't fight? Besides, not only do I have reliable companions, but I also have a trump card you can't even imagine."
For Mami, just like Sayaka, this period of time had been the happiest of her life.
What she had always wanted most was companionship.
She had once tried to mentor Kyoko, but the two had gone their separate ways due to the tragedy in Kyoko Sakura's family.
In the original timeline, she would have let her guard down after gaining Madoka and Sayaka as juniors, only to have her head bitten off by the Dessert Witch, Charlotte.
But in this timeline, under Su Mo's intervention, she not only had juniors to nurture in Madoka and Sayaka, a trustworthy companion in Homura, but also a reliable backer in Su Mo.
For Mami, who craved close relationships, the presence of Su Mo and the others fulfilled the deepest wish of her heart. It was no exaggeration to say that she had felt genuine happiness this past month.
In this state, as long as Su Mo and the others wanted to challenge Walpurgisnacht, she would brave it with the people she cared about, even without any guarantees. Not to mention, she had the invincible Su Mo as a safety net.
So, upon seeing Walpurgisnacht, even though she couldn't help but feel a little fear and trembling, she had no intention of backing down. She even had the time to write a letter to Kyoko Sakura, asking her friend to come and witness the miracle that was about to happen.
"You really have lost your mind!" Hearing Mami's words, Kyoko Sakura's expression grew more agitated. "What kind of trump card gives you the confidence to challenge a guy of that level? Don't tell me you're still stuck in the playing-house phase, thinking magical girls represent some bullshit justice?"
"Compared to that empty stuff, isn't life more important? We can still escape if we run now!"
There was no rule that said a magical girl couldn't flee from battle.
At least, in Kyoko Sakura's book, if she encountered an opponent she couldn't beat, she didn't mind running. Even if she was called selfish or cowardly, staying alive was what mattered most.
For Kyoko Sakura, being a magical girl was less about protecting the city and more about protecting her own hunting grounds.
If she encountered prey she couldn't beat, it was no big deal to flee miserably from her own territory.
She would just be driven out by other magical girls like a stray dog, but she wouldn't die right away.
With this thought, after a moment's hesitation, Kyoko Sakura crossed her arms, averted her gaze, and said in a harsh tone, "If you're not completely stupid yet, you'd better do as I say. If you do, I'm not opposed to temporarily sharing half of my hunting grounds with you!"
Clearly, she was a tsundere with a sharp tongue and a soft heart.
Hearing Kyoko's words, Mami's eyes curved into crescents as she shook her head. "Thank you for the kind offer, Kyoko, but I'm not running. And I don't think you will either. Otherwise, you wouldn't have rushed over so quickly after receiving the letter."
"You!" Hearing this and seeing Mami's resolute expression, Kyoko Sakura was completely exasperated. "You're really crazy!"
"But you'll stay with me, won't you?" Mami teased, having seen through her.
*CRUNCH!*
Seeing Mami's slightly smug look, Kyoko devoured the rest of the apple in her hand with enough force to shatter steel.
She then glared at Mami with a fierce look. After a long moment, she began to slowly chew the fruit in her mouth. "I'm crazy too," she sighed, pulling out her red chain-spear. She stopped talking to Mami and made no move to leave.
"Kyoko, you're so cute!" Mami said, smiling at her, which earned her another glare.
A few seconds later, both of them sensed other presences approaching and turned around.
"Ah! Su Mo-senpai, you're finally here!" Mami's eyes lit up with joy. The moment she saw Su Mo, the tension caused by Walpurgisnacht's aura vanished.
"What's going on? Why is an ordinary person here?"
Unlike her reaction, Kyoko Sakura frowned deeply upon seeing Su Mo's group. Homura and Sayaka were both magical girls and could be used as combatants.
Madoka was clearly still an ordinary person, and Su Mo, an adult male, could absolutely not possess the power of a magical girl.
She noticed the look in Mami's eyes and knew that Mami's trump card was these people.
But no matter how selfish she was, she hadn't fallen so low as to actively involve ordinary people in a battle with a witch. Not to mention, ordinary people would be completely useless in a fight of this level.
What was wrong with Mami? Had she really gone insane?
While Kyoko Sakura was contemplating whether to just knock Mami out and run away with everyone, Su Mo's group was observing Walpurgisnacht in the distance.
"So this is the enemy we have to face this time... Isn't the difficulty spike a bit too big?" Sayaka, who had always been full of confidence, couldn't help but mutter to herself as she looked at the towering figure of the witch.
Forget training for a month; even if she trained for a year, or even ten, she had no confidence in defeating this final boss.
"The witch of despair, accumulated over tens of thousands of years..." Madoka looked at Walpurgisnacht with a hint of pity.
She knew that many of the witches fused within it were once powerful magical girls who had challenged Walpurgisnacht themselves, only to fail and be absorbed.
This kind of ending, where heroes fall and become demons, always elicited a sense of lament.
"If I take her down! I can be with Madoka and Big Brother Su Mo forever!" Homura's gaze was much simpler. She didn't care about anything else, only Su Mo and Madoka. And according to their plan, this time, she could finally end her eternal loop. Today was the day of the decisive battle.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Su Mo was about to speak when the red-ponytail-haired girl couldn't hold back any longer and stepped in front of him. "Hey, are you listening to me?! You two magical girls, even if you're rookies, you should know how dangerous this monster is. Why did you bring ordinary people here? Do you have a grudge against him?"
The red-haired girl looked at Homura and Sayaka angrily, clearly wanting an explanation.
"Uh, this..." The simple-minded Sayaka scratched her head and glanced at Su Mo.
Having never seen his true strength, she felt that although Kyoko's attitude was rude, she had a point. It was one thing when they were facing other witches, with Homura always there to protect Su Mo.
But this Walpurgisnacht was clearly the final boss. By bringing Su Mo to such a dangerous place, could they really protect him?
"That's none of your business, Kyoko Sakura," Homura shot back coldly. What right do you have to speak to Big Brother Su Mo with that attitude?
Faced with Homura's firm reply, Kyoko Sakura's eyes immediately became dangerous. She and Homura had the worst compatibility; she just didn't like the look of her.
However, before she could start arguing, Su Mo's voice rang out. "You're the one Mami mentioned, her former best friend, Kyoko Sakura, right?"
At these words, the red-haired girl was stunned. She turned to look at Mami with a flustered expression. "B-Best friend?"
The momentum she had been building up vanished instantly, her rhythm completely broken by Su Mo.
"That's right!" Hearing Su Mo's words, Mami was also slightly surprised, but her high emotional intelligence kicked in quickly, and she nodded in confirmation.
"Hmph! A boring title," Kyoko Sakura said, turning her head away with a disdainful tone, but her aggressive aura had completely dissipated.
Only then did Su Mo continue. "Miss Kyoko, there's something I need to make clear. Mami called you here not to help us fight."
"Hmm?" The red-haired girl looked up in surprise. "What do you mean?" She had already prepared herself to fight with her life on the line, and now he was telling her she wouldn't be fighting. If so, why was she here?
"To witness a ceremony, perhaps," Su Mo said, his gaze passing through Walpurgisnacht as if he were looking at a similar situation in another universe.
"Witness a ceremony?" Kyoko Sakura tilted her head, a question mark written all over her face, just like Sayaka. "Whose ceremony?"
"A god's."
Su Mo replied calmly, then turned to look at the pink-haired girl behind him.
"Madoka, are you ready?"