In the face of the ascendant God Madoka, in the face of the Law of Cycles that was about to dominate the entire multiverse, someone actually dared to object?
And the one who spoke was an incredibly insignificant human?
In any other world, this scene would be utterly comical.
An ant trying to stop a chariot, a mayfly trying to shake a tree... what right did a mere ordinary human have to oppose a multiverse-level existence?
With the power Homura Akemi currently possessed, she couldn't even compare to the magical girl Madoka before her ascension, let alone the multiverse-level God Madoka.
The objection of such a weak person, even if she put her life on the line, could not hinder a powerful being in the slightest.
And yet, Homura still spoke those words with resolute determination.
Madoka, on the verge of ascending to her divine throne, did not treat her with hostility or ignore her. Instead, she watched the long, black-haired girl quietly, as if she had been waiting for this very moment.
Beside her, Kyubey made no move to protect its master. On the contrary, it subconsciously glanced at Su Mo and let out a small sigh of relief.
No one objected to Homura's actions. In the tranquility that permeated all the heavens and universes, Homura raised her left hand.
On the back of her left hand, a flame emblem appeared. Its shape was identical to Madoka's, but its color was not the sacred gold of Madoka's right hand, but an incredibly deep black.
Within that black flame, a similarly black mythological scripture appeared in the palm of Homura's left hand.
If it were Sayaka or any other magical girl, they would surely recognize it at this moment. This mythological scripture was the very same tool Su Mo had once used to subdue witches.
Now, this tool was in Homura's grasp, and it exuded an aura completely different from, and even opposite to, Madoka's.
The Avesta, Scripture of Evil.
If the Asura and Buddhas of Little Garden were here, they would probably sense a familiar aura. Although not perfectly complete, the power in Homura's hand clearly bore the aura of an Another Cosmology!
According to the theory of dualism, even in the multiverse, good and evil, yin and yang, hope and despair, are macroscopically equal and contradictory opposites.
Now that the Scripture of Good of the Avesta had truly completed its expansion and gradually enveloped the entire multiverse, correspondingly, as the complete opposite of the good side, the Scripture of Evil of the Avesta had naturally also expanded to the multiverse-domain level.
As long as the Law of Cycles belonged to the dualistic cosmology, it had to accept this balancing mechanism.
And so, Homura, who until now was just an ordinary magical girl, after activating this scripture, erupted with an aura that could almost rival Madoka's.
"Big Brother Su Mo, what is she doing? Is something wrong?"
Seeing the aura and attitude erupting from Homura that could rival Madoka's, Sayaka, who had also been brought into the narrative layer of the timeline for observation by Su Mo, showed an incredibly nervous and worried expression.
Although she didn't know what Homura was planning, no matter how she looked at it, it seemed like she was going against Madoka!
"Should we help her?" Sayaka couldn't help but ask.
Her attitude might seem surprising to an outsider. She and Homura had never gotten along well, and their relationship wasn't great.
Yet, seeing Homura's actions now, her first thought wasn't that Homura had betrayed them, but that Homura was in trouble.
But to Su Mo, Sayaka's reaction was completely expected. Not only was her innate kindness a factor, but even if she disliked Homura, she wouldn't deliberately think the worst of her.
Even if she did, she would never believe that Homura could betray both Su Mo and Madoka at the same time.
Over the past month, even the most oblivious person could easily see Homura's attitude towards Su Mo and Madoka.
In Sayaka's mind, Homura would even lay down her life for those two, let alone anything else. And in the end, her relationship with Homura was more about bickering than genuine dislike.
So at this moment, she was genuinely worried that Homura was in some kind of trouble.
"There's no need," Su Mo shook his head with perfect calm. "Her purpose is to fulfill my promise to Kyubey on my behalf, to complete the dualistic cosmology by filling in the fragment of the 'evil' side."
It might not have been obvious in the original story, but in reality, the Law of Cycles didn't cause any major changes to the operation of the multiverse.
Apart from magical girls not falling into monsters themselves, the despair that was meant to be born would still be born, the magical girls who were meant to die in battle would still die, and the enemies that needed to be defeated still needed to be defeated.
The only difference was that the target had changed from witches to demonic beasts.
The so-called rule that governed the operation of the multiverse was just like any other ordinary, unremarkable physical law. Did it govern? It seemed to. Was it useful? It seemed so. Did it specifically change anything? Maybe, maybe not.
Its impact on the multiverse was so faint, let alone touching upon an ultimate proposition like the end of the world.
From a mechanistic point of view, this behavior of the Law of Cycles was not surprising. After all, its cornerstone was the wishes of magical girls. They just didn't want to fall into witchhood; they didn't want to rule the world.
However, from Su Mo's perspective, this level of a multiverse domain was, at best, a semi-finished product. It couldn't even be considered a corner of a Cosmology, but a fragment of a fragment.
Although letting such a cosmic truth govern the multiverse wouldn't have any side effects, just as it didn't have many positive effects either, Su Mo didn't intend to simply push forward in the same way as the original story.
First, because of his agreement with Kyubey. Although Su Mo hadn't specified a time, as long as he was alive, this contract was effective.
The already-sacrificed Kyubey couldn't do anything to him.
But Su Mo was not one to default on his debts.
And to eliminate the apocalypse in the world of Madoka Magica, a sufficiently mature and complete Cosmology had to be introduced.
The Law of Cycles could at most represent the 'good' side. An 'evil' side had to be introduced to balance it in order to completely change the logic of the multiverse's operation.
Second, Su Mo wanted to take this opportunity to strengthen his own control over the Zoroastrian Cosmology.
There was no better way to improve his understanding of a Cosmology than to personally build an Another Cosmology and use the truth he had mastered to interfere with the multiverse.
Now, Su Mo's mastery of dualism was already close to, and in some aspects even surpassed, the level of the dual gods of good and evil from Little Garden combined. He had made great progress in this Cosmology.
God Madoka and Homura Akuma were extremely rare existences who could ascend to the multiverse level in an ordinary world. They had to be allowed to fully realize their potential.
"What-what fragment?" Faced with Su Mo's explanation, Sayaka tilted her head, her big eyes filled with confusion and a clear, innocent foolishness.
It wasn't her fault for being slow; she hadn't been told about these things before. Thinking of this, Su Mo shook his head and explained in a different way. "Don't worry, this is part of the plan."
"Oh." This time, Sayaka understood. She nodded obediently and immediately felt at ease.
Just then, Homura's voice rang out, transmitted directly to the entire multiverse through the Scripture of Evil of the Avesta, and was heard by all witches.
"I swear, as a vassal of Big Brother Su Mo, I am the Evil of Evils, and I will bring about all the evil deeds in the world."
Words that were quite similar to Madoka's, yet completely different, were broadcast everywhere. "All you who have fallen, or are about to fall into witchhood! In the name of my lord, I declare to all beings, witches are by no means the source of sin, and despair is not a personal failing, but the karma that the world itself bears."
"God cannot save us, and the world is as cold as iron. However, for hope to turn into despair is the way of the world. In this mundane world, someone must bear the sins."
"Therefore, someone must become the bearer of all sins. Until the sins of the entire world are completely eliminated, our anger will never cease!"
Recalling the timeline Su Mo had told her about, the one where Madoka sacrificed herself to become a god, Homura's eyes reddened slightly, and through the Scripture of Evil in her hand, she empathized with the despair of the witches.
As Madoka had said before, she would save all magical girls who did not willingly fall into witchhood, eliminating them before they were born.
This was the Law of Cycles.
However, the Law of Cycles itself had a loophole. This loophole was deliberately left by Su Mo.
If magical girls who did not willingly fall into witchhood would be saved by the Law of Cycles, what about those who did willingly fall? How should they be treated? Simply defeated?
And now, Homura's words filled that loophole.
Recalling the many despairs she had experienced and overcome, Homura spoke. "All witches, of all worlds, of all timelines! If you have firmed your will, if you have the resolve to bear great evil upon yourselves, then let us together become the final trial of the magical girls!"
"Only by overcoming our despair can they have the strength to welcome the final hope."
To bear despair upon oneself, to become the trial that magical girls must face, the high wall they must overcome. This was the declaration Homura made.
Only when there is an evil that must be defeated can the corresponding good be given meaning.
From the perspective of civilizational development, the plight of individual magical girls was not that important. Over-focusing on the magical girls themselves was putting the cart before the horse.
More important than the despair of magical girls was the social environment that gave birth to that despair. That was the real problem that needed to be solved.