Outside the world, the two major elements of the dualistic cosmology were finally complete.
The Law of Cycles, represented by Madoka, symbolized the side of good.
The Sin of Witches, represented by Homura, symbolized the side of evil.
Kyubey existed as the cornerstone of it all, a sacrifice and an observer.
In the contradictory spiral of good and evil, the entire multiverse was drawn into the new Cosmology.
The enemies of magical girls were still witches. However, this time, they could mostly only fight the witches' familiars. To truly erase a witch, they had to erase the conditions of its birth.
For example, Kyoko Sakura's despair was related to cults and her family's upbringing. Nagisa Momoe's despair was related to basic medical and educational conditions.
To eliminate these despairs, rather than fighting, magical girls probably needed to act more like civil servants or corporate drones to change the entire world.
Under the interference of the Sin of Witches, the Law of Cycles' impact on the world was finally no longer the mild, almost unnoticeable change from the original story, but a world-altering, earth-shattering transformation.
Although the style was a bit off, the rules of the new world were indeed more vibrant than the old.
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"I see. No wonder Big Brother Su Mo said that a complete Cosmology was needed to change the entire universe."
In Su Mo's mansion, the five-colored squadron was gathered in his living room, waiting for the sukiyaki to finish cooking.
Madoka, Homura, Sayaka, Mami, and Kyoko—this was the magical girl five-colored squadron's routine gathering in the new world.
Of course, whether Madoka and Homura could still be considered mere magical girls was currently a matter of debate.
One look at Kyoko and Mami's expressions, and you could tell they still held a sense of awe for the two. After all, no matter how dense one was, one couldn't truly treat beings of their caliber as juniors or ordinary magical girls.
Of course, the truly dense Sayaka was an exception. Apart from a brief period of adjustment, she had quickly reverted to her old attitude towards them.
So, hearing Madoka's words, she cheekily stole the crab mushrooms from Madoka's bowl while scratching her head and retorting, "But I don't feel like the world has changed that much!"
"Before, we fought witches, but now we can only deal with their familiars... and the familiars are getting harder and harder to deal with, even tougher than the old witches!"
Under the effect of the Law of Cycles, the vast majority of magical girls would be absorbed into the Silver Garden, so the number of witches had plummeted.
After all, there really weren't many people with the corresponding resolve to willingly fall into witchhood.
However, the witches' side had not become easier to deal with. On the contrary, they had become even more troublesome. After all, the weight of hope and despair was equal.
As long as the total amount of despair remained unchanged, the fewer the witches, the stronger the power distributed among them.
And that was indeed the case. The rare witches of today were no longer something an ordinary magical girl could hope to defeat.
Regular magical girls could only fight familiars, and even then, they might not win and had to fight in groups. As for the witches themselves, they were far beyond the capabilities of a single magical girl.
To put it bluntly, according to Kyubey's previous classification, the witches of today were at least super-dreadnought class, on par with the old Walpurgisnacht.
Sayaka, who had defeated many witches, naturally felt this change keenly.
I defeated so many witches before, so why is it so hard to deal with even familiars now? Did they level up without me?!
Hearing Sayaka's complaint, Kyoko, sitting beside her, pursed her lips, disagreeing with her view. "Although they've gotten a bit stronger, the number of familiars is also less than before. And now you can get Grief Seeds just from familiars. That's a lot more convenient than before!"
In fact, the familiars had taken over the ecological niche of the old witches.
They were responsible for absorbing human despair, condensing it into Grief Seeds, and delivering them to the witches themselves to enjoy.
The rewards for defeating them were about the same as defeating a witch before. For a magical girl, defeating one familiar a year was enough to cover her own consumption.
Unlike Sayaka, Kyoko valued practical benefits more, and she was quite satisfied with this change in the setup.
Of course, she had her own complaints, but she hadn't dared to voice them before. Taking this opportunity with the foolish Sayaka, she grumbled in a small voice, "Compared to that, forcing magical girls to go to school is even harder to understand, right? I can get rewards just by defeating familiars, so why do I have to go to school?!"
Having been used to freedom, she found this completely incomprehensible. She had to go to school before becoming a magical girl, and she still had to go to school after. Didn't that make becoming a magical girl pointless?
"That... I think it's a national requirement?" Unlike Kyoko, Sayaka didn't have much of a problem with school. She tilted her head and looked at the white mascot beside her. "Right, Kyubey?"
Faced with her question, Kyubey flicked its tail and explained, "Yes. According to the new world's policy, magical girls must be assigned to normal academic and work duties like everyone else. This is a worldwide consensus. The United Nations' explanation is that only through socialization can one experience the troubles and despair of ordinary people, and thus better understand and defeat witches."
"Sounds reasonable," Sayaka nodded in understanding.
The witches and familiars of today were less like the stat-monsters of the past and more like gimmick-bosses. Understanding the reasons for their birth was a great help in battle.
"It's not reasonable at all! If that's the case, can I investigate the despair of those dropout witches? If I drop out, I'll be able to understand their despair!"
Kyoko said, grabbing a piece of beef and slumping onto the table. It seemed that school had really worn her out.
Seeing her like this, Mami smiled gently. "Give it up, Kyoko! Ever since that child who wanted to go to school but was refused and imprisoned by her stubborn parents became a witch, there have been no more dropouts in the country. Even joining the yakuza has educational requirements now."
If there were loopholes in compulsory education before, they were completely gone after the corresponding witch incident. To avoid huge economic losses, the national organizations were extremely strict in controlling the conditions that had previously bred witches.
"Damn it!" Kyoko gritted her teeth, very displeased with that witch who had already fled to Southeast Asia. Doesn't that girl know she violated others' freedom to not go to school?
"Don't be like that!" Seeing her, Mami added a piece of meat to her bowl and comforted her gently. "Although you have to go to school, in return, doesn't the country give a lot of subsidies? And as a magical girl, you have exclusive benefits and rights. That should be enough to compensate for your dissatisfaction, right?"
In today's society, the social status of magical girls was quite high.
After all, the defeat of familiars could almost only be done by magical girls.
And the defeat of witches required the joint efforts of official organizations and magical girls.
The official organizations were responsible for allocating social resources and eliminating the conditions for a witch's existence, while the magical girls were responsible for delivering the final blow.
Under these rules, as magical girls who saved the world and fought for love, hope, and justice, they, for the first time, received a social status that matched their contributions.
Although most magical girls chose to remain anonymous, the benefits they received were substantial. As long as they had proof, they could enjoy many privileges for free.
This model of cooperation between the officials and magical girls was the most effective model for suppressing witches that had been verified under the current conditions.
Although it placed some restrictions on the magical girls, it also brought them many benefits. Mami felt there was nothing to be dissatisfied about.
"Ahem! That's true..." Having taken and eaten, one feels obliged. Kyoko, who was used to her five-finger discount, immediately looked guilty upon hearing this and nodded vaguely.
In fact, a girl her age didn't have employment pressure, and it wasn't that she truly hated school. She just wasn't good at getting along with her peers.
In any case, in Mami's eyes, Kyoko and Sayaka's relationship seemed to be getting better and better lately, which was a good thing.
Listening to everyone's conversation, Madoka, while busily accepting the food that Homura was serving to her and Su Mo, nodded and replied, "This change is already big enough! Witches can always point out our mistakes, and we can always remedy them. Isn't that great?"
At least in her opinion, compared to before, this world had improved a lot under the rules of the dualistic cosmology.
Every time a witch was defeated, it was ensured that the witch would not be born again. If this pattern continued, wouldn't they be able to build a heaven on earth sooner or later?
The magical girls, including Homura, all agreed with her opinion.
The only one who had a different view was Kyubey.
"But I haven't seen any change to the real problem yet," the white mascot said.