If Lancer knew what Mami Tomoe was thinking right now, he would surely tell her she was overthinking it. After all, "Kyubey" true name was "Incubator." From the moment they were created, they lacked anything resembling "emotions," so "anger" was a physical impossibility.
The feeling that Kyubey was angry was merely Mami subjective interpretation, but the meaning behind the creature's words caught her full attention.
"Destroy the world? Kyubey! What do you mean by that?!"
"What do I mean? Exactly what I said. This man's actions will lead to the destruction of this world!"
Kyubey proceeded to lay out the theory regarding "entropy." Unfortunately, no one present really understood the scientific jargon, but they understood his final conclusion perfectly.
"...Based on our observations, the humans of this planet possess extremely rich emotions. Specifically, females in the stages of primary and secondary sexual characteristics are several times more emotionally volatile than others. That is why we chose females of this age group as our targets. According to our research, the emotional energy released when they fall into absolute despair is countless times more powerful than normal. So, Mami, Kyoko, there is no need to be angry. After all, I obtained your consent by offering a 'miracle' as payment, and you will give of yourselves to save the universe. Isn't that a good thing?"
Looking at Kyubey genuine confusion, Kyoko Sakura could no longer suppress the fury in her heart. But just as she raised her spear—
Pshht!
With a sickening sound, an ice spear as thick as a baby's forearm suddenly erupted from the ground, skewering the creature through the abdomen.
Kyubey, no larger than a house cat, was left dangling in mid-air. He didn't die instantly; instead, he tilted his head with a twitch as a man clad in red leather armor slowly approached from the distance.
The man walked up to Kyubey, clamped a hand around its neck, and hoisted it up.
"Sacrificing a group of innocent girls to save the world? You are the one planning to destroy this world. What happens to the living when they find out the world they inhabit is supported by a group of innocent girls falling into the abyss of despair?"
"This is sacrifice. Necessary sacrifice. They are heroes, messengers of justice. Everyone will remember them..."
Kyubey seemed like he was still trying to persuade Lancer, but Lancer had no intention of wasting more words. His right hand tightened, his eyes boring into the creature.
"Justice—how much evil is committed in thy name!"
This wasn't an original quote; it was a variation of the famous words spoken by Madame Roland, a leader of the Gironde during the French Revolution, before she was sent to the guillotine by the Jacobins on November 8, 1793: "Ô Liberté, que de crimes on commet en ton nom!" ("O Liberty, what crimes are committed in thy name!")
But it was perfectly suited to Lancer current environment.
In Lancer eyes, Kyubey was just like those people who radiate malice while standing on a moral high ground to attack others.
Lancer never called himself a hero, even though he had saved the world several times. When he introduced himself, he usually just said, "Lancer, a Spearman."
It wasn't because he looked down on the word "hero"; on the contrary, it was because he respected the word from the bottom of his heart.
Only those with the resolve to sacrifice themselves to protect others without hesitation were qualified to be called "heroes." Lancer hands were stained with too much innocent blood. No matter what he did later, he could never cover up what had already happened. Even if his goals were noble, he could not erase those experiences that should not be forgotten.
Compared to them, Lancer was just "selfish" enough to want to protect those around him, so he felt he had no right to the title.
Similarly, if danger were imminent and Madoka and the others chose to sacrifice themselves to save the world, Lancer might regret his own weakness and blame himself for achieving nothing...
But he respected those who sacrificed themselves for the world from the bottom of his heart. Their decision to save the world after deep deliberation deserved his respect. However, if he discovered a black hand manipulating it all from the shadows, he would cut it off without hesitation!
"Don't you dare defile 'sacrifice,' 'hero,' and 'justice'! Those are the brightest things about this weak race called humanity! Furthermore, making these children sacrifice themselves—are you looking down on us adults?!"
In a pitch-black abyss, a small flame lighting itself to save the world is indeed moving and admirable. But it is also profoundly tragic.
His tightening grip made Kyubey voice come in broken gasps...
"You want to break... the cycle... but the price is the world's... destruction. For these girls... do you intend to... abandon... the world? You... 'demon'..."
Kyubey was an entity of absolute rationality. From his perspective, sacrificing the few to protect the many was the most correct choice. Unfortunately, the person standing before him was not a rational being like himself, but a man who swung his spear based on hot-blooded passion.
"Abandon the world? I don't have the standing for that. But 'Demon' is a pretty good title. As you said, 'Magical Girls' are girls who haven't become 'Witches' yet, so does that make me an 'Evil Sorcerer'? But that's not enough!"
He yanked the creature close to his face, eyes full of a rage that seemed capable of incinerating it.
"'The Bird of Death,' 'The Empire's Executioner,' 'The Villain Who Ravages Heroes,' and 'The Lord of a Hundred Demons'—those are all me! You think a mere 'demon' is enough to describe me?! If you must call me something—call me the 'Demon King'!"
CRACK!
Amidst Lancer mockery, his right hand suddenly exerted force. Kyubey body went completely limp. Without a doubt, this body had been thoroughly killed. Lancer tossed it aside like a piece of trash.
The bounded field fell into a sudden silence. Lancer wiped his hands and turned to leave, but just then—
"Doctor Lancer!"
Mami Tomoe called out, her expression extremely complex. Though she had been mentally prepared, hearing Kyubey refer to her as a "consumable" with his own mouth—even if it was a consumable to maintain the universe—one could imagine her inner turmoil. Yet, seeing Lancer strike Kyubey down for their sake without a moment's hesitation made her heart swirl with emotion.
There was the self-abandonment of being a "consumable," mixed with the joy of being protected.
Overwhelmed, she couldn't find the words for a moment. But then, her right hand was suddenly grabbed. Kyoko Sakura, who had been silent in her rage, had walked up and taken her hand.
"Thanks."
A simple word. Mami realized that anything else would be redundant right now. A simple "thank you" was the most appropriate answer.
"Thank you, Doctor Lancer."
But at that moment, Lancer, who had been facing away, turned around and walked toward them. He reached out and—placed his hands on both their heads.
He roughly ruffled Mami twin tails and Kyoko ponytail into a mess.
"I told you. Protecting the young is the instinct of any living thing. How could humans, who call themselves the soul of all things, be any different? Like I said, I'll protect you. You're just kids; you only need to wait for this to be over. For now—fix your hair."
The two girls, who had been bewildered by Lancer rough hands, looked up after he stopped. They saw a sight they had never seen before.
This man, who always wore a stiff face, was showing an extremely gentle smile.
But the gentleness was fleeting. Lancer quickly retracted the smile and returned to his usual serious expression.
"Protect the other three. This thing... I'll be the one to settle it!"
With that, Lancer truly departed without delay. He had rushed here because Olga Marie told him someone had intruded into her bounded field. What was weirder was that while the spell was breached, no combat had occurred inside, and the method of intrusion was bizarre.
It wasn't a violent breach or a delicate decryption; the intruder had appeared inside the spell as if out of thin air.
Lancer had initially thought it was a Familiar or a Witch, but he was surprised to find "Kyubey" when he arrived.
He had cut off the creature's "monologue" mid-sentence.
It had to be said that Kyubey way of speaking from a moral high ground was very persuasive. To those he looked down upon, it felt like there was no way to even resist the logic. For girls with a simple worldview, they were practically defenseless.
Unfortunately for him, he met Lancer—a guy whose "reputation" had long since been dragged through the mud.
Reputation?
Ever since the day he was called "The Stallion of the CCG," that didn't exist anymore...
While lamenting his long-gone sense of integrity, he was also wondering about one thing: how did Kyubey get here? Wasn't he locked in an "Ice Prison" earlier?