Chapter 225: Welcome Back

This sword strike that pierced heaven and earth took a long time to slowly fade away.

As the eternal night of the Outer Realm was banished, the Place of Origin also began to rumble and shake.

The girl deity's crimson eyes gazed upon the golden Sacred Tree radiating warm radiance.

She made no additional move, but the giant tree and the star-like Fragments of Hope above it once again burst into brilliant light. The golden glow extended once more from where the trunk met the water's surface, reaching into the reflection within the water.

It was a perfect reflection, a perfect symmetry, complete and resplendent.

Just like that saying known by every citizen of the Federation, words allegedly recorded in a certain deity's original alchemy manuscript.

[As above, so below; as below, so above, thereby fulfilling the miracle of the One.]

From this day forward.

Within the Place of Origin, at last, there remained only this single Sacred Tree truly supporting heaven and earth.

And the outside world was the same.

There was no longer any need to erect barriers, nor was there any distinction between inside and outside the boundary. The Abyss, as if obeying the will of the supreme deity, vanished into nothingness within that Domain capable of twisting reality itself.

In the skies above Kazenari Town, the massive livestream projection finally dissipated.

What everyone could hear was something they seemed to have witnessed countless times before, yet it never failed to astonish.

- The singing of the wind.

Like a maiden, the deity gently extended her hand, and that miraculous wind softly brushed through the hair of all the magical girls still standing upon the battlefield, sweeping across this land riddled with scars.

Happiness Peace Committee rooftop.

A man in a black suit stood within the gentle breeze, the tails of his suit jacket flapping loudly. Those emerald-green eyes were lost in thought, gazing at this city full of wounds and devastation.

The once-shattered and cracked asphalt roads re-fused and smoothed themselves as if time were flowing backward. Countless chunks of concrete and steel automatically flew up and pieced themselves back together, restoring brand-new walls.

Collapsed buildings rebuilt themselves, transforming into pristine appearances, even the interiors seemingly restored as faithfully as possible.

One could even hear the heavy air-raid isolation doors slowly opening in every corner of the city, accompanied by a deep mechanical rumble.

At the same time.

In the sky, a pink figure landed beside Su Jingyan.

Pop.

The transformation dispelled amid scattering specks of light. That familiar wine-red figure stood shoulder to shoulder with him, together watching this world, this city, the pink ring on her hand glimmering brightly.

Mogong Ma smiled: "What are you looking at, dear?"

"I was thinking... this world is actually like this now."

Su Jingyan gazed at the city: "Initially, I only set up that initial town, something like a small village, with a population of only a few tens of thousands. That's why it was called Kazenari Town."

"But looking at it now, I don't recognize it at all."

"...That's a load of nonsense."

Mogong Ma said softly: "It's been three hundred years, after all."

"Even counting just recorded history, it's been a hundred years. How could things remain unchanged?"

"You really made me wait so long."

- For these three hundred years, Mogong Ma had lived through different cycles with roughly the same identity.

This ring was the contract between her and Su Jingyan, and likewise a contingency he had left behind before being ambushed by the Pride Witch.

Before it was activated, though it didn't preserve the memories of each cycle, it helped her retain the final echoes and her own existence.

But...

Until Su Fang entered this world, Mogong Ma had lived each cycle entirely alone.

No husband, no daughter.

She truly spent a very, very long time all by herself.

"Mm."

This time, Su Jingyan did not dodge or evade. He simply turned around and opened his arms to his wife.

"However many punches you want to throw, it's up to you."

He took a deep breath and said earnestly: "I'm sorry, Ma."

Almost the moment the words left his mouth, that delicate little fist was already whistling through the air toward his face.

Su Jingyan instinctively closed his eyes, bracing to take the punch.

But just before it struck his face, the hand shifted, and her arm wrapped around his neck, gently encircling him.

Su Jingyan opened his eyes and instinctively embraced his wife.

She said with mock annoyance: "The children are all back. Do you want them to see us making a spectacle?"

"You may be able to lose face like that, but I can't."

Su Jingyan was startled, then understood what she meant.

The next moment, holding Mogong Ma, he leaped down from the rooftop and landed at the glass door entrance of the Happiness Peace Committee.

Right on time.

The girls' figures stepping out of the light portal came into view of the couple.

The girl who had saved the world, the one who had created an inconceivable miracle, had also already dispelled her transformation. Her hair and eye color had returned to that soft sakura-red, and her face was still just as sweet and composed.

And in her right hand, she clutched a gem.

The gem sparkled, clear and transparent, radiating a pure silver light.

The girl with wine-red hair squeezed herself into the sakura-haired girl's embrace, wrapping her arms around her waist and rubbing her face against the other's cheeks.

The purple-haired girl and the black-haired girl each wrapped their arms around the sakura-haired girl from left and right, likewise staking their claim, absolutely refusing to let go.

The golden-red bird, as if throwing a furious tantrum, stood on the sakura-haired girl's arm and viciously pecked at the silver gem in her hand, squawking insults with every peck.

The girl with amber-colored eyes followed at the very back, her smile happy and gentle.

Noisily bickering, they walked out of the light portal and returned to the Magical Girl Association Headquarters.

And the next second, Su Fang's emerald-green eyes met the couple beyond the glass door.

Her footsteps suddenly stopped.

And so everyone's words and footsteps stopped as well.

Beep.

The glass door sensed the magic power and slid open silently.

The parents gazed at the daughter who had grown up without them even noticing.

The daughter also gazed at the parents she had thought she would never see again.

The mist in their eyes could no longer be held back. It condensed into substance and fell.

A full dozen seconds passed.

Then Su Fang's lovely face broke into a radiant smile, and she spoke first:

"Welcome back."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In Kazenari Town, hundreds of shelter facilities were bathed in light at this very moment.

Citizens helped one another leave the shelters and stepped onto the streets that had regained their vitality.

Warm, bright sunlight poured unhindered onto every face.

At first, the streets were dead silent.

No one knew who let out the first sob.

The next moment, deafening cheers and sobs interwove and soared straight into the sky.

"Thank the Sacred Tree... thank the Sacred Tree for blessing and protecting us..."

"We should be thanking Lady Mengmengxiang! She defeated the enemy, saved us, and revived the Sacred Tree!"

"We should also thank the other magical girls!"

"Ah... right! Long live Lady Mengmengxiang!! Long live the magical girls!!"