Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

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Mami Tomoe, who should have turned into a large castle, actually came out from behind the door.

Her clothes became even more gorgeous, a long dress that accentuated her figure, the fabric showing a smooth, plaster-like texture under the light, and a semi-transparent veil, like a wedding veil, draped over her shoulders.

With each step Mami took forward, the castle behind her shrank a little.

Driven by some force, the white marble folded inward, shrinking like a magic cube. By the time Mami reached Alina, the sprawling castle had shrunk to the size of a palm-sized gem.

That was Mami's soul gem, and also her world-destroying flower.

Originally a bright yellow-toned Soul Gem, after its final transformation, it became a pure white with a few yellow diamonds as embellishments for intricate patterns.

Mami, holding the jewel, raised her eyes and looked at the people around her:

"Go and prepare yourselves, don't worry about me."

Once everyone around her had dispersed, she turned her gaze to Alina.

“Your Holiness, your attire…” Alina looked her up and down curiously.

You should know a little about the characteristics of flowers.

"I have heard a little about it."

“Then there’s no need to explain further. I have something else to tell you.” Mami squinted at Alina.

"Hmm?" The nonchalant magical girl raised an eyebrow.

"You should not participate in this operation."

"Huh?!" Alina's mouth dropped open. "Why?"

“Go back to this side, and then wait for someone who looks like this to appear at the library.” Mami handed her a photo. “She will go to the library regularly during this time.”

The person in the photo is Medine, with long black hair and dead fish eyes.

"Who is this?" Alina asked.

“Our true leader,” Mami whispered, “your mission is to protect her.”

Alina had never met Medien. Of all the members of the Ode to Praise in Kamibama, only Mami had seen her. Even if others had, they wouldn't realize how important this ordinary person, who was almost thirty, was to the Ode to Praise.

Or, to put it another way, of all the eulogists in Kamahama, Medion only chose Mami as her contact person—even though she herself had established the organization.

"WTF?!"

"I know this is hard to believe, but—"

"—Is there any seat left for me in this operation?!"

Alina's question wasn't about Medien at all; she didn't care about Medien. All she cared about was whether she could witness the resurrection of the Witch of the Other Shore... No, if the plan succeeded, the entire universe should have been wiped out. Why would she bother protecting some cult leader?

"You mean you'll fail?" Alina's face darkened as she glared at Mami. "Is that what you mean?"

“No, I will succeed.” Mami looked up and met her gaze. “You don’t need to worry about that.”

"Then why do I have to accompany some old woman who just appeared out of nowhere?"

"Just to be on the safe side, even if the ritual succeeds and the witch on this side is successfully resurrected, it is uncertain whether her power can be activated correctly, and even if it is activated correctly, it is uncertain whether it can annihilate the entire universe."

During the Manhattan Project, it was speculated that the chain reaction triggered by a nuclear bomb explosion could destroy the entire Earth. Although this did not ultimately happen, that tiny possibility still worried many people before the nuclear test.

Conversely, what if a weapon originally intended to destroy the world fails to perform its intended function?

“Then I can wait until the ceremony is finally finished. What’s the difference between going back to June 1st to find the old woman and going to find her now?” Alina crossed her arms. “In terms of pure strength, I’m no worse than you were before you had the flower.”

"...Then it's up to you." Mami turned around and walked away into the distance. "Just don't die."

She raised her head and looked at the distant sky.

Toyokawa Shoko......

What are you thinking about right now?

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"Here we are."

Xiangzi stopped and looked back at everyone.

"Why did you call us to the back mountain?" Xingzi asked, arms crossed, puzzled.

"Make some preparations."

They are currently in a fairly open space on the back hill, with cement under their feet. It is said that this used to be the foundation of some building, but the project was abandoned after the foundation was laid, and this flat foundation was left here.

Regardless, this was a good place for Xiangzi.

"What preparation?"

“You wouldn’t understand even if I explained, just follow my instructions.” Xiangzi raised his hand and tapped Xingzi on the head.

Bang bang.

There seems to be an echo.

"Are you insulting my intelligence?" Xingzi slapped Xiangzi's hand away. "Just tell us first. Whether we understand or not is our business. What's there to hide?"

"..."

Beneath the mask of his protective suit, Xiangzi raised an eyebrow.

"Alright, since you insist..."

Xiangzi took out his notebook and turned to the page where the subsequent plans were recorded.

[Fast forwarding at 8x speed...]

"So, so, and so on, so its principle is like this..." Xiangzi closed his notebook, looked up at Xingzi, and said, "Do you understand now?"

On June 1st, they will face the most powerful Mami, as well as countless members of the Ode to Joy faction. PasPale's support can help hold off the Ode to Joy faction, but Mami can only be dealt with by the six of them.

The ritual to revive the Witch of This Shore took place behind Mami, who should now have completed her incubation and become the Flower of Destruction.

Xiangzi learned its name from the notebook.

Brutal justice.

Its nature is justice; it establishes rules and requires everyone to follow them, which is what is called "justice." If people do not follow them, they will be judged.

If anyone goes to see Mami without any preparation, everyone will be wiped out within a minute of coming into contact with the world-destroying flower that is Mami's incarnation, leaving no possibility of adapting to the situation.

The enemy is terrifying, but Xiangzi already has a way to deal with them.

The notebook contains intelligence passed back by Xiangzi's future self; it represents Xiangzi's temporal pincer movement.

The document records the Flower of Destruction: Brutal Justice, which is all of Mami's actions and logic. Like a stage play, it requires everyone's precise actions and seamless cooperation to have even a slight chance of breaking through.

To prevent everyone from dying as soon as they meet, Xiangzi must make preparations in advance.

It was something she prepared; well, others might not be able to understand it, only Xiangzi himself could understand it.

So after rambling on and on, everyone around was dumbfounded.

“…” Kyoko slowly turned her head toward Sayaka, casting a pleading look at her.

Sayaka replied with her eyes: What are you looking at? I don't understand either.

Then Kyoko turned her gaze to Homura and Madoka.

The reply was: We are powerless to help.

Because they couldn't understand it either.

Finally, there's Mu, this young senior.

Harmony: Loading............

Okay, Kyoko gave up.

"Just tell us what to do directly..."

"Hmph~" Xiangzi put away his notebook and proudly raised his chin. "I told you so."

She patted Xingzi's shoulder, curled the corners of her mouth, and whispered in Xingzi's ear.

"But don't worry, I will teach you properly and make sure there won't be any mistakes."

For some reason, Xingzi felt a chill run down her spine.

The Tale of Reincarnation: The Shore of Oblivion: Chapter 540 - Montage of Preparations

Soon, Kyoko understood why she had that feeling.

Xiangzi seemed to have used the flat foundation as a stage, and he painted many marks and diagrams on the stage, with different serial numbers written on the diagrams.

"Is this... to ask us to rehearse a stage play?" Yan looked at the marks on the ground, somewhat confused.

She could tell that it was a map showing everyone's route, but she couldn't understand the details.

“…A stage play?” Xiangzi paused, then his eyes lit up. “Yes! It’s a stage play, you can think of it that way.”

With his fingers naturally pressed together, forming a standard Merkel diamond shape, Xiangzi turned to face everyone.

"To ensure everyone's survival, this stage play must be made to perfection." Xiangzi smiled gently, his crescent-shaped eyes sweeping over the audience. "So, are you ready—"

Xiangzi squinted, took out his phone, opened the music app, and pressed the play button on the screen.

[Now playing - The Greatest Show]

"—Let's prepare for a grand performance."

【Woah~】

"The location is wrong. Aren't there markers on the ground?"

With a snap, Xiangzi slapped Sayaka on the head with a chopstick.

"Oh! I'm sorry!"

"And you too, daydreaming! Do you know how far this spot is from your planned spot? One more step and you'd bump into Xiaoyuan!"

The second smack landed on Xingzi's head.

"Ouch! That hurts!"

"Xiaoyuan is very good, but Yan is still a bit lacking. Try not to look down at the signs, or there won't be any signs for you to see later."

"—Ugh... I understand..."

"Mu, you can't slack off either. I know you've practiced ballet, but... well, never mind, you're fine here."

—“.......”

"Xingzi, no slacking off! Remember how many steps you need to take, find your relative position, and if there's really no reference point, use the people next to you as reference points!"

"This arrow means to follow this path, not to run straight out."

"Also, as I've said many times, intersecting routes must be ordered according to their arrival time."

"What? You're asking why I don't practice myself? I'm here to teach you guys, of course we'll rehearse together."

"Hey, don't try to distract me. And over there, Flame, you're in the wrong position again. If we stand in the wrong position, we'll all die, you know that?"

"Today was just a matter of you guys taking your positions, and everyone except Mutsu and Madoka performed so poorly. How can you expect to handle Mami in just a few days?"

"With such a big stage, how do you manage to bump into each other every time?"

"Sigh, I'm tired. Let's destroy it."

【Woah——】

The sun rises in the west and sets in the east, and countless clouds drift across the sky, changing from azure to golden yellow, and then to a deep, unfathomable blue.

"This is not the way to go."

Xiangzi crossed his arms and looked at Xingzi and Yan, who had bumped into each other due to their movement, and shook his head.

“The progress is too slow,” Delete said, squatting down at her feet.

"I made a mistake. I didn't expect it to be so difficult to teach."

She felt that arranging these things was quite simple. After all, she had been thinking about Mujica's appearance on a commercial stage for a long time. The five of them had rehearsed and had dress rehearsals. Overall, it was quite easy, at least not as unsuccessful as today.

Xiangzi forgot one thing: he and the others in Mujica all had some stage experience. They weren't necessarily experts at following the signs and directions on the ground, but at least they knew how to do it.

The four girls from Mitakihara had absolutely no experience with this kind of thing, and the symbols that Shoko drew on the ground were probably just scribbles to them, something they couldn't understand at all.