Chapter 57: Cosmic Witch! Restarter of the universe.
『 A dazzling light flashed, and in the space between illusion and reality, three girls sat facing each other.
"Madoka, do you know how terrifying that wish was?" Mami's voice was filled with unconcealable shock.
"Probably..." Madoka responded softly.
Mami poured Madoka a cup of black tea. "In all future and past timelines, you will fight forever."
"In that case... You will definitely be unable to maintain your individuality," Mami's voice trembled as she looked at the girl before her with heartache.
She existed because Madoka severed causality. Naturally, she also knew what the god named Kaname Madoka would face!
"That's not simple death. You will endlessly exist as the concept of a witch of destruction."
"It's alright, that's what I intended." The girl's serene face still held that gentle expression. "If someone tells me that holding onto hope is wrong,"
"I will answer countless times, 'It's not like that. I will always endure, no matter what.'"
"Isn't that great?" Kyoko heartily ate her cake, loudly agreeing. "If you can do it, go try it!"
"You've found a reason to fight, haven't you? You've decided not to run away, right? Then there's nothing else to do. All that's left is to charge forward with all your might!" Kyoko swallowed her cake in one bite, encouraging her.
"Thank you, Kyoko."
"Well then, I'll return what you entrusted to me," Mami pulled out a sketchbook from the side.
Madoka smiled shyly. It was filled with all the beautiful dreams she had about magical girls before she became one.
Mami said solemnly, "You are not someone who can fulfill hope, but you yourself have become hope. All our hope—" 』
『 .....』
〜Myriad Worlds livestream Chat〜
[ Fiamma (A Certain Magical Index): "This is... power that transcends even Archangels! Hahahahaha! To witness this moment, I have no regrets in this life! No regrets in this life!" ]
[ Amon (Lord of Mysteries): "Is it possible for a witch's advanced sequence to eventually become a god? Could it be that the pathway is to continuously acquire causality? That's truly awe-inspiring. I still prefer my current sequence though~" ]
[ Dr. Clef (SCP Foundation): "We contain, we control, we protect, we're preparing to run. All those supreme divinities seem to have awakened at this moment. Are there any Foundation personnel planning to run? Raise a little hand, D-class personnel can too" ]
[ Trisolaran Leader (3-Body Problem): "It's truly born... and the god that's born seems to far exceed Kyubey's imagination!" ]
[ Kang the Conqueror (MCU): "Not 'seems to,' the current Madoka can already interfere with the entire multiverse. In a sense, she is invincible right now." ]
[ Galactus (MCU): "So hungry... hungry..." ]
[ Wanda (MCU): "This is a true magical girl. Even Chaos Magic can't compare... no, in front of the current Madoka, magic is probably just an optional thing. The true rules that transcend the entire universe are in her hands." ]
[ Aqua (KonoSuba): "? Eh? What exactly happened? I completely don't understand it. I'm a god too, aren't I? What's so rare about this?" ]
[ Eris (KonoSuba):: "Um... Aqua-senpai, you should be able to tell that's a god unlike us, perhaps even equivalent to a Creator God, right?" ]
[ Aqua (KonoSuba): "Eh?" ]
[ Gabriel (Gabriel DropOut): "This is an idiot. Let me put it this way: some gods have to follow rules, while some gods become the rules. Understand?" ]
[ .....]
『 Viewers of Myriad Worlds 』
Countless weak existences, though realizing that the current Madoka God might be incredibly powerful, lacked a direct manifestation. The crowd couldn't make heads or tails of it.
Only those who transcended rules, understood causality, or knew of unspeakable existences truly understood how terrifying Madoka God was at this moment!
"She's preparing to bear all causality herself... How is that even possible?!"
Countless terrifying figures exclaimed in shock.
.....
〜Type-Moon World, Fifth Holy Grail War Worldline〜
"...Yare yare,"
Archer's eyelids twitched. He hadn't expected someone else to walk the same path as him...
His younger self, influenced by Kiritsugu, only thought about becoming a hero of justice. But after actually becoming a hero of justice, he spent his days wishing he could go back and strangle his younger self.
It was too ridiculous, and too tragic, because there was no return from this path called a hero of justice!
A god, even if the path ahead is hell, must she still walk it?!
Meanwhile, in a chaotic expanse,
Alaya, materialized, also stared intently at Kaname Madoka on the screen, and the Ring of Causality that covered the universe.
The Ring of Causality... the laws governing the universe... a supreme existence that transcended the planetary counter force!
As the collective consciousness of all primates, it suddenly realized at this moment that humanity was not only an existence that disgusted Gaia, but also one that terrified it!
Humanity... might destroy itself!
—
〜Boardtop World Disboard, Present Timeline〜
"Kyubey, in human games, there's a term called a 'desperate comeback',"
Sora clenched Shiro's hand, murmuring with narrowed eyes.
"You might not have heard of it, but it's alright. Just open your eyes and watch carefully now!"
"Because magical girls have infinite possibilities!"
—
〜Boardtop World Disboard, Zero Timeline〜
"What a joke! They're just a bunch of monkeys,"
Azriel and a group of other Angel-kind grumbled indignantly.
They had only one God, their War God, Artosh!
Only Jibril was drooling, coveting the current Madoka God immensely~
An absolutely perfect collection... even rarer than yandere Homura!
"BOOM—!"
At this moment, dark clouds formed a vortex, and the magnificent voice of the War God Artosh echoed throughout the world.
"One should hold reverence for the supreme strong."
"...Yes!"
—
〜Steins; Gate World〜
Okabe Rintaro was shaken, his head feeling as if struck by a heavy hammer!
"Could it be...?!"
He pushed aside the documents on his desk, found a blank sheet of paper, and began to sketch.
The content was brief: a circle composed of dozens of arcs, each line representing a timeline, the lines connecting at their ends, sharing the same starting point and the same ending point.
No matter how different they were, they would eventually lead to the same outcome!
This was the convergence of world lines—that is, world lines leading to a common result.
But now?!
Okabe Rintaro unfolded a new sheet of paper, also with dozens of arcs, but this time all arcs pointed inwards, all arc points converging at a single point!
Thus, world lines would still converge, but merely as an extension of the lines.
But... what if we add this one point?
Causality—
Causality was higher than world line convergence. Even world line convergence could not converge if it violated causality!
And this one point... would become the point of change for the convergence lines of the entire world, and even the universe!
Sweat unconsciously streamed down his forehead, and the young man's breathing quickened slightly.
"Perhaps... a change can truly be achieved!"
—
『 The dazzling light dispersed. Sharp laughter still echoed. On this still turbid land, Walpurgisnacht's stage continued to play.
Chaos, madness, distortion, sorrow—
A super-large Walpurgisnacht born from the despair of countless magical girls turning into witches.
They cried and laughed, laughed and cried, despairing silently—
Madoka gazed at this scene, a brilliant glow emanating from her. A delicate rose bloomed on the bow in her hand.
The girl drew her bow, pointing it towards the sky. Fiery magic burned fiercely, and an arrow transformed into a streak of light, rising slowly from the ground!
In the sky, a splendid, ancient ring unfolded, and the arrow struck the center of the magic circle!
In an instant, the entire world was restored to clarity: a blue sky, white clouds, and an overwhelming rain of pink arrows burning with fiery magic!
Tearing through the void, severing causality, reversing destiny, in countless parallel worlds, in the endless river of time, the arrow rain shot directly towards those countless despairing girls! 』
『 .....』
『 Viewers of Myriad Worlds 』
Everyone was suddenly startled!
Wait, does that mean Madoka is going to kill those magical girls to completely end the era of witches?!
This could indeed work, but...
.....
〜Type-Moon World, Fifth Holy Grail War Worldline〜
Archer stood up.
"Could it be that she's not a hero of justice, but a corrupted One?!"
Fulfilling the wish in another way?! Yes, that's right. A price ten thousand times more painful than being a hero of justice, how could a little girl possibly accept it?
Madoka had a loving family; she surely wouldn't want to be separated from all of them...
But Archer quickly realized he was wrong, utterly wrong.
That girl was truly someone with absolute conviction!
—
『 Countless parallel worlds, countless points in time—
Pink arrows came from who knew where, and the already corrupted magical girls were in agony, awaiting these sudden arrows to pierce them.
Despair spread, evil born of pain and distortion... it would be better to die!
But...
The imagined piercing sensation didn't come, and the girls couldn't help but open their eyes.
At some point, their arrows had transformed into a magical girl dressed in pink and white, a sacred glow emanating from her.
What kind of person was that... So warm, so beautiful, filling one's heart with an indescribable sense of security.
"Your hope, I will absolutely not let it end in despair. You will not curse, you will not harm anyone."
"Causality, I will accept it all."
"So please, believe in yourselves until the very end!"
Tears streamed uncontrollably from their eyes—
At that moment, traversing countless worlds, the river of time, past and future, all magical girls understood what kind of existence that was.
That was their true miracle, their true hope, their true Goddess!
The endless rain of arrows still fell towards countless existences on the other side, and Walpurgisnacht still stood in the void.
But this time, they let out sharp cries.
Under the endless rain of arrows, the giant witch device shattered and dispersed with the wind, and the despairing witches received true salvation.
"It's enough. No need to resent anyone anymore, no need to curse anyone anymore. Before you turn into that, I will accept you."
Centered around Madoka—a brilliant cross of light illuminated the entire world! 』
『 .....』
〜Myriad Worlds livestream Chat〜
[ Willow Deity (Perfect World): "Bearing all causality, girl, do you know what kind of suffering you will endure?" ]
[ Kaname Junko (Puella Magi Madoka Magica): "Madoka...!" ]
[ Sengoku (One Piece): "A child with such resolve?!" ]
[ Red A ⦍EMIYA⦎ (Type-Moon): "We all underestimated this god's resolve too much." ]
[ Gilgamesh ⦍Chūnibyō⦎ (Type-Moon): "Hmph hahahahaha! Such resolve! It truly pleases this King! Girl, this King acknowledges you!" ]
[ Trisolaran Leader (3-Body Problem): "All the causality of all worlds actually enveloped one person... Too terrifying." ]
[ Aleister Crowley (A Certain Magical Index): "A god who loves the world has been born. The path to such an extreme is so winding and shocking, the cost is too great..." ]
[ John H. Watson (Moriarty the Patriot) "Wait! If Madoka God accepts all the causality of magical girls, what about the energy produced by magical girls?! Does this mean Kyubey worked for nothing?" ]
[ Anti-Spiral (Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann): "Precisely." ]
[ .....]
〜Puella Magi Madoka Magica World〜
"My... zeroed out?"
Kyubey stared with bloodshot eyes, unable to recover for a long time.
A feeling of regret that it had never experienced before appeared in its heart.
HUMANS... NO, MAHOU SHOUJO ARE TOO TERRIFYING!!!
〜Cthulhu Mythos World〜
The edge of the star sea, in the depths of chaos, several chaotic and twisted flesh planets wildly waved their tentacles, their mad and chaotic consciousnesses conversing.
The current Kaname Madoka was an enemy Old One, but in a moment, she should transform into an Outer God.
Yes, this was truly a perfect transformation.
—
『 The girl's brows furrowed, as if enduring immense pain.
When Homura awoke from her coma, what greeted her was an endless, deep darkness.
Beneath her feet was barren land, and the girl looked around in confusion, at a loss.
"Where is this..."
"Based on the new laws brought by Madoka, the universe has been re-woven," Kyubey's voice suddenly appeared.
"Ah, you're also a user of time-travel magic." The surrounding view gradually widened, and Akemi Homura realized where she was.
This was... within the sea of stars!
"Then let us witness together the end of Kaname Madoka's existence, that is, the Soul Gem brought by her prayer."
A multicolored planet covered in corruption streaked across the sky above the girl's head, traversing the stars!
Homura stared in astonishment at Madoka's Soul Gem... a meteor?!
And the meteor's destination was the blue planet ahead!
"How could this be..."
Kyubey said as a matter of course, "The price for fulfilling such a grand prayer, Madoka bore an equivalent amount of curses, achieving equality with the hope of creating a universe."
"Meaning, it simultaneously brought despair enough to end a universe."
The planet-like Soul Gem streaked through the void, its colors gradually fading, replaced by the desperate darkness and chaos!
CHAOS—SPREADING—DISTORTION!!!
Finally, endless despair transformed into an unspeakable, terrifying figure, THE UNIVERSE WITCH!!!
With just a reach of its hand, the entire universe was covered in despair!
Piercing, sharp laughter spread throughout the universe in an illogical manner!
Homura painfully wanted to stop it, that was Madoka...!
"It's alright." At this moment, a whisper echoed throughout the universe.
"My wish is to erase all witches. If that truly comes true,"
In the endless star sea, a figure equal to the universe was born—
"Then there's no need to despair anymore!"
Pink hair fluttered, a sacred long dress floated like an immortal, and her golden eyes emanated brilliant divinity and absolute gentleness!
The god stood above the sea of stars, an arrow in her hand imbued with irresistible power, piercing through the stars, annihilating the Universe Witch along with all despair!
The brilliant light dispersed, and everything turned into chaos— 』
『 .....』
『 Viewers of Myriad Worlds 』
At this moment!
The entire myriad worlds completely erupted!!!
Burning! So burning!!! Is this really a magical girl?!
.....
〜SCP Foundation World〜
"IT'S MAGNIFICENT, IT'S BEAUTIFUL. THIS MIGHT BE WHAT TRUE SUPREME DIVINITY MEANS!!!"
"Beyond the limits of materiality, an inherent metaphysical concept, equal to or even higher in status than other supreme divinities...!"
"BORN! HAHAHAHAHA! LOOK! A LIVING, BREATHING GOD, CLOSEST TO HUMANITY, HAS BEEN BORN!! A GOD!"
Dr. Clef stared maniacally at the god on the screen.
Dr. Kondraki and Dr. Gears, even Dr. Bright in his monkey body, were stunned in place, tears streaming down their faces.
Unlike other worlds, they, belonging to the Foundation, had never so directly experienced such a vast scene.
Other supreme divinities, or even slightly higher-level disasters, were thought of as catastrophic. Now, such a beautiful and gentle god appeared before their eyes!
How could they not go mad!?
—