Chapter 973: The Girls' Battle (Part 1)

Countless attacks exploded on Walpurgisnacht simultaneously, the smoke and dust from the explosions obscuring Walpurgisnacht's figure.

A strange, giggling sound emanated from within the smoke, and Walpurgisnacht's figure charged out from the explosions. Numerous wounds appeared on Walpurgisnacht's body, but these wounds vanished very quickly.

"Possessing powerful defensive capabilities while also having terrifying regenerative abilities—this really is a difficult opponent to deal with!" Tomoe Mami could not help but frown.

"My attacks are not just limited to this!" Akemi Homura let out a soft cry, and countless munitions poured out from her side, roaring toward the direction of Walpurgisnacht.

Watching Akemi Homura, who looked like a queen of munitions, the other Magical Girls were all somewhat sluggish. By the time Akemi Homura brought out a tanker truck and even a surface-to-ship missile, the others were simply dumbfounded.

"I, I just feel like this isn't Magical Girl-like at all!" Sakura Kyoko said, looking sluggish.

"But even with attacks like these, it might not be enough to cause sufficient damage to Walpurgisnacht!" Sensing Walpurgisnacht's magical power fluctuations, which showed absolutely no signs of weakening, Tomoe Mami could not help but frown.

"Whoosh—"

A black beam of light suddenly shot out from the flames of the explosion, firing rapidly toward Akemi Homura and the others. Although the attack came without warning, the reactions of the Magical Girls, who had experienced Lingyun's training, were extremely swift, and they avoided the beam's attack as their figures flickered.

The beam of light disintegrated in mid-air, transforming into individual pitch-black familiars that assaulted the direction of Akemi Homura and the others.

Akemi Homura and the others, who were engaging the familiars, simultaneously felt the power of these familiars; they were completely incomparable to the familiars they had faced before. This powerful combat strength even made them think they were fighting individual pseudo-witches.

"If we hadn't undergone Lingyun's training, I'm afraid it would have been extremely difficult for us to deal with a Walpurgisnacht of this strength." The command sword in Sayaka's hand danced, creating a blur of afterimages as she engaged the familiars around her for dozens of moves in an instant.

"That's right, these guys are even harder to deal with than I imagined!" The spear in Sakura Kyoko's hand swung rapidly, knocking the two familiars beside her flying.

"Tsk, couldn't kill them in one hit?" Looking at the familiars that had fallen to the ground, Sakura Kyoko said with some annoyance.

Several familiars surrounded the two from all directions. Sayaka and Sakura Kyoko stood back-to-back, their command sword and spear meeting the enemy simultaneously. Between offense and defense, the tacit cooperation of the sword and spear instantly routed all the familiars.

"What amazing coordination!" Momoe Nagisa watched their movements and could not help but call out softly.

Floating around her were countless bubbles. These bubbles all reflected Momoe Nagisa's figure, making it look as if there were countless Momoe Nagisas. Walpurgisnacht's familiars rushed into this field of bubbles, yet they could only ever see Momoe Nagisa's back, completely unable to discover where Momoe Nagisa actually was.

"Boom—"

A building was cut in half under Walpurgisnacht's attack and fell toward the direction of Akemi Homura. Akemi Homura subconsciously wanted to stop time, only to find that her Magic did not activate. She looked at the shield in her hand; inside the shield, the sand above the hourglass had all fallen, which meant that apart from the Magic to turn the hourglass and return to the past, her other time Magic could no longer be used.

"So it's true, this is the limitation on my Magic that Kurumi-sister spoke of! But, the me of now is already different from the me of the past!"

Akemi Homura's right hand pressed against her arm shield, and purple light emanated from her body. In the upper half of the hourglass, grains of fine sand flickering with purple light appeared. Immediately, time stopped!

Having stopped time once again, Akemi Homura's figure flickered as she quickly left the attack range of the falling building. The building slammed heavily into the ground, kicking up a sky full of smoke and dust. Akemi Homura brushed her hair with her left hand, and a touch of firmness added to her gaze as she looked at Walpurgisnacht.

"It seems we lack the ability to launch a decisive blow against Walpurgisnacht!" Tomoe Mami used the flintlock in her hand to force back the familiars around her and landed beside Akemi Homura. "If we cannot deal a fatal blow to the enemy, then under the opponent's regenerative ability, which rivals Sayaka's, we will be dragged into a war of attrition. This situation is quite unfavorable for us!"

"This Walpurgisnacht is somewhat abnormal!" A sense of heaviness could not help but rise in Akemi Homura's heart.

This current Walpurgisnacht was far too much stronger than the Walpurgisnacht she had fought in past Cycles. Otherwise, how could five Magical Girls working together have absolutely no way to deal with the Walpurgisnacht before them?

"It looks like the results of Lingyun's special training can no longer be hidden," Tomoe Mami said softly. "To be honest, I really don't want to face such an existence at all!"

"Your... special training results?" Akemi Homura looked at Tomoe Mami with a hint of doubt in her tone.

Previously, Akemi Homura had always been cultivating by Tokisaki Kurumi's side and did not know what kind of training Tomoe Mami had actually undergone under Lingyun's guidance.

"Whoosh—"

Countless ribbons suddenly spread out from Tomoe Mami's side, weaving together in mid-air with the help of the high-rise buildings everywhere to form a large net. And on Tomoe Mami's shoulder, a small figure faintly emerged.

"This aura is? A witch?!" Akemi Homura stared wide-eyed at the blurry phantom that had appeared on Tomoe Mami's shoulder.

She remembered that in the past World Line, Tomoe Mami had fallen into a collapse after learning that Magical Girls would eventually turn into witches, almost wiping out the other Magical Girls. But what was the situation now? Tomoe Mami was actually using the power of a witch, and could the two powers of Magical Girl and witch really be displayed on one person at the same time?

"Well, no need to be so surprised. If it were the me of the past, collapse would have been inevitable after learning this cruel reality. But the me of now is not as fragile as you imagine!" A confident expression appeared on Tomoe Mami's face. "The me of now, even when facing Walpurgisnacht or the cruel future of Magical Girls, has nothing to fear, because by my side, there are you, and there is Teacher!"

As Tomoe Mami's voice fell, a small doll landed gently on Tomoe Mami's shoulder.

"Nagisa will do her best too!" The small doll raised its hand and emitted Momoe Nagisa's voice.

Countless ribbons whistled out, forming a larger ribbon in mid-air that wound toward the direction of Walpurgisnacht and firmly bound Walpurgisnacht's hands.

"Let's go too, Kyoko!" Sayaka said, turning her back to Sakura Kyoko and looking up.

"Can you do it?" There was a hint of worry in Sakura Kyoko's voice; she still remembered the look of disbelief on Sayaka's face when she had displayed the power of a witch under Lingyun's guidance.

"A mermaid? That really is a sad story, but everything is unimportant now, isn't it? You, Teacher, and Madoka and the others supported me as I walked this far. The mermaid of now is not a mermaid who turned into bubbles, but a mermaid Princess!" Sayaka scratched her cheek and said, one hand quietly grabbing Sakura Kyoko's hand.

"Well, really, I truly have no way to deal with an idiot like you!" Sakura Kyoko sighed slightly and gripped the spear in her hand tightly. "We're going!"

One red and one blue ray of light intertwined, rushing into the sky in a spiral shape and illuminating the sky, which had been shrouded by dark clouds.