In that instant, Vespira's attack stopped dead. Her body froze in the air, paralyzed by a sharp pain that ran from her head to her tail. It was an agony that made her writhe without being able to move.

"......."

The battle around her became a distant echo, and her consciousness dissolved into a dense and total darkness.

The torment began insidiously. She found herself in the hallway again, but this time, she did not have Vespira's memories. Her only reality was that of a warrior, feeling the cold of the night, the weight of his sword, and the fear of seeing a scorpion shadow lurking in the distance.

(Why...?)

He heard those whispers in his mind and, then, felt a lethal impact. The pain of his death paralyzed him. Only in that instant, in his last breath, all of Vespira's memories returned to her, flooding her mind with the horrible truth. The cycle restarted.

"Haaa... Haaa... Haa..."

She found herself in a different place, in a dark alley, reliving the life of a bandit who had tried to rob her. She felt the terror of being cornered, the panic of seeing the edge of a scorpion's tail heading for his throat, and the burning of the venom scorching his body. He died again, and at the moment of exhaling his last breath, the memories of that man's life were seared into her mind: his hopes, his despair, his insignificant existence.

"S-stop.... N-no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, please, stop!!"

The cycle repeated thousands of times in what, in reality, had been no more than a few seconds. Vespira lived the lives of her countless victims without remembering who she was, without knowing why she was suffering. Only death in each of those lives brought a brief, cruel clarity. In the darkness of the illusion, the echoes of a child screaming for his mother mixed with the scream of a warrior who challenged her. The pleas of a civilian merged with the lament of a betrayed soldier. It was a personal hell, designed by her own history.

"Fifth manifestation: Chain~."

(Clatter, snap!)

"A-aaahhh.... Aaaaah..."

A voice with a charming, innocent, and childlike smile filled with curious charm resonated in the air, mixing with the mature voice.

And, in response to that command, the eight shikigamis, having eliminated all the drones, gathered around the magical girl, releasing multicolored energy chains that materialized in the air, flying toward Vespira's motionless body. Unable to resist, the chains held her, immobilizing her completely and leaving her body at the mercy of the punishment.

While her mind was being ground down in this endless cycle, her body in the air writhed in an expression of absolute horror and agony. Tears of blood flowed down her cheeks, and a trickle of blood dripped from her nose, mouth, and ears. She was being judged for her own sins, and the weight of her evil was an unbearable torment.

"How interesting, how interesting!"

While Vespira suffered, the magical girl's face lit up with an emotion that could only be described as joy. At a dizzying speed, his childish and mature voice intermingled, observing Vespira's convulsing and bleeding body with an almost academic interest.

"The body is alive... but the sensations aren't ours! It's as if she's feeling what she did to someone else! The blood, the pain, the memories of a moment that isn't hers! This is so interesting!"

He exclaimed nonstop with a tone full of curiosity and excitement, jumping with emotion at the scene.

"The hypothesis is that her pain is... a karmic reaction? Yes, yes, that must be it! That is, she is suffering all the pain she has caused others. And with that energy, we will be able to absorb it to use it against her. It's such a beautiful, curious concept! Wow, wow! This is fascinating."

"......"

On the other hand, Leo, exhausted, lay on the ground, his breathing ragged from shock and fear. His mind couldn't process what his eyes were seeing. He had witnessed everything: the "girl's" power explosion, the saw attack, the sudden halt of the battle... but what caused him the most confusion was not the abilities themselves, but the behavior of the one wielding them.

Throughout the night, he had been a witness to the extravagance and chaos of his new "companion." Her insatiable curiosity, her serpentine smile, the strange mix of a childish voice with a mature one... Everything felt out of place. The way the girl approached Vespira's body, dripping with blood and tears, with that expression of pure astonishment and joy, made him question the nature of her power.

It was as if a small child were playing with the destiny and life of a monster. The scene was horrible, but the way the girl analyzed it, with that glint in her eyes and that mix of innocence and malice, was what confused him the most. He didn't know how to describe the girl: she was a protector, yes, but her personality was more dangerous than the monster's.

"......"

Despite the horror he witnessed, in his confusion, Leo came to a single conclusion: although the girl was dangerous, she was not evil. Throughout the night, he had witnessed the multiple sides of her personality. At one moment, she would talk to herself as if having a conversation with someone only she could see. The next, she would play with toys that appeared out of nowhere, laughing with a disarming innocence. There were times when she used him as a horse, a dog, or even a servant, but in none of those actions was there a shred of malice.

It was as if she didn't fully understand what she was doing, like a child who doesn't grasp the difference between a person and an object. In every moment of that strange ordeal, she spoke to him with a brilliant smile, as if she had finally found a playmate capable of keeping up with her in her chaotic and lonely world.

Despite all the treatment he had received from the girl, Leo was not able to feel any animosity toward her. However, that did not prevent him from feeling a very real fear. Terror would not solve anything, and he knew it. He also knew he was incapable of stopping that girl, for deep down, he understood that she was not in a normal state. He remembered how everything had begun, the first time she had acted so erratically: it was right after he had given her that "choco bomb."

In the depths of his being, Leo understood that all the events of that night had been caused by his own fault, by being the initial trigger. He remembered how, throughout the night, he had heard the sound of the explosions, the smell of fire, and the destruction in his path through the base, while carrying the girl on his back, like a horse for his "playmate."

"♪♫♬ ♩♪♫ 𝅘𝅥𝅮 ♪♬ ♩♫ ♪..."

"!?!"

But at that moment, a melody began to sound, pulling Leo from his deep thoughts and the heavy burden of guilt. The sound filled the air, conveying an aura of curiosity and amusement. The notes rose and fell like a whimsical idea, while an unusual note introduced a touch of surprise or something unexpected, as if discovering something fun or perhaps cruel.

"Mom!"

Upon hearing the melody elsewhere in the base, Silver's human form came to an abrupt stop, staring intently in the direction of the sound. In a flash of silver light, his form returned to that of a small, cheerful armor, which began to run at full speed toward the origin of the melody.

("Mom!!")

"...♫ ♪ ♪...♩...♬...♪..."

From there, the melody became slower and the notes spaced out, almost as if sighing, as if a weight was settling in the air. Now only a melancholy of silent pain was conveyed.

(...Mom)

(It's Mom...)

(Mom~)

On the other hand, in the shattered remains of some machinery, the monstrous forms of the straw dolls, which were still wreaking havoc, stopped abruptly. Upon hearing the melody resonate, their bodies shrank, reverting to their usual small, tranquil, and harmless straw doll forms, which headed towards the melody.

"♩♫♬ ♩♫ ♪♫ 𝅘𝅥𝅮 ♬♫♪"

Suddenly, the melody changed to return to energy, conveying a spark of life, but this time with a different resonance that had a touch of comedy, yet as if something else were mixed in, adding a sense of pain.

("... Sound... Mom...")

Goldie, who was floating peacefully, wrapped himself in a golden glow upon hearing it, returning to normal. Without hesitation, he headed toward the origin of the sound.

"...♪...♩...♪♬..."

Finally, the music sounded like a combination of slow, reflective notes, followed by a small flourish. Tragedy and comedy united in a bittersweet resolution, leaving an echo of peace throughout the place.

"♩♪♫♬ ♪♫ 𝅘𝅥𝅮 ♩♬♪..."

Or so it seemed.

A new melody began to resonate, much more strident and playful. The notes flew with a chaotic emotion, rising and falling in a dizzying rhythm that narrated the beginning of a crazy and fun arc.

"Let's go~♪"

The music felt alive, almost like unrestrained laughter, celebrating destruction and chaos in a cheerful and carefree way.

"♪♫♫ ♩♬♪ 𝅘𝅥𝅮 ♪♪..."

The rhythm suddenly accelerated, with a frenzy of notes that represented an escalation of emotions, like a climax approaching. It narrated the moment when the game became more intense, when curiosity reached its highest point, a climax that felt fun and exciting.

"♬♩♬ ♪♩ 𝅘𝅥𝅮..."

Finally, the notes became fast, chaotic, and sharp, to end with a bittersweet tone. The rhythm represented a sense of satisfaction and a touch of regret, wishing for a new beginning.

To the tune of the cheerful melody, the magical girl began to dance. Her movements were light and carefree, flitting through the air with a childlike grace. Her pan, which she held with one hand, was becoming increasingly illuminated, emitting a torrent of flashing celestial light that extended down the dark hallway, destroying the emergency lights that were still flickering. The base, shrouded in gloom and destruction, was now illuminated by the celestial glow emanating from the girl's weapon. She was a radiant figure in the midst of chaos, dancing joyfully as she advanced step by step toward Vespira.

"... Be-beautiful..."

The monster, still suspended in the air by the multicolored energy chains and suffering the karmic torment, watched the luminous figure's approach with desperation. Her body convulsed uncontrollably, tears of blood continued to flow from her eyes, and in her mind there was only one longing: that this light would mean the end of her suffering, that the grim reaper would finally arrive to grant her the liberation of death.

"Please... kill me..."

With every step the girl took, the celestial light intensified, bathing the hallway in an epic glow. The chains holding Vespira jingled to the rhythm of the music, and the monster, with her face disfigured by agony, uttered a last, desperate plea.

In her mind, she no longer saw the demon she had feared, but a being of absolute power, an angel or a deity who had come to judge her. She felt a strange honor in knowing that her life would end at the hands of such a glorious existence.

In the distance, the figures in black, the straw dolls, Goldie, Silver, and Leo watched the scene, completely enraptured by the magical girl's dance. It was a hypnotizing vision, a mix of beauty and horror that left them breathless.

The girl finally arrived in front of Vespira, and with a smile that mixed amusement and a melancholy only she could feel, she raised her pan high, where the torrent of celestial energy concentrated into a resonant point.

"Good night~!"

And with a lethal grace, she lowered her arm and pronounced the final words:

"Maximum Voltage: Surge~!"

The light exploded. An immense wave of pure energy detached from the pan, launching itself against Vespira's body.