Chapter 52: The first timeline! The beginning of the birth of gods and demons!
『 Viewers of Myriad Worlds 』
The truth that Homura Akemi had concealed was finally exposed!
At this moment, countless viewers also suddenly realized why Homura Akemi's behavior was so peculiar!
It wasn't precognition, nor was it divination!
It was time! The other party was a person who traversed the river of time!
.....
〜Three-Body Problem World〜
"A person who traverses the river of time?!"
A group of Trisolarians stared incredulously at the screen at what Kyubey said.
That girl actually controlled the power to traverse the time axis?!
If the most mysterious and powerful existence in this world was the legendary Returners, then the eternal constant was time!
The flow of time was an irreversible phenomenon; it could only move forward and could not be rewound or altered.
This was an insurmountable cosmic law, and also the most stringent law in the universe!
It shaped the order of the entire universe. Time was a linear progression, and this progression was irreversible.
The future might be knowable, but the past cannot be changed.
No matter how advanced the technology or how powerful the life form, none could transcend the fundamental rules of time.
In a sense, traveling to the past to change the future was itself a paradox. If one had already returned to the past, then how did the future one wished to change come into being?
—
〜Rick and Morty World〜
"Time travel, huh? Messing with that can lead to big trouble,"
The old man muttered, chugging an unknown liquid, his eyes glazed over.
—
〜Steins; Gate (β) Worldine〜
"It's meaningless,"
Rintarou Okabe murmured, lost in thought.
No matter how much it changes, won't it eventually lead to worldline convergence?
Within each main worldline, countless branches appear, like countless fine threads in a hemp rope, but these branches ultimately lead to the same source, which is the main worldline.
And everything Homura Akemi was doing now was drifting downstream through countless branches. Each change would cause its branch line to change, but what about the outcome?
Nothing would change.
—
〜Myriad Worlds livestream Chat〜
[ Ancient One (MCU): "So it's an ability related to time? It seems to be a top-tier time traveler, too, truly incredible. A magical girl can actually be an existence on par with the Time Stone." ]
[ Dio Brando (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure): "...No! Impossible! You can use 'Za Warudo', too?! Stopping the world for three seconds, you can't possibly do that!" ]
[ Aqua (KonoSuba): "...? Three seconds? Kazuma lasts longer than you. You're a three-second man." ]
[ Kurumi Tokisaki (Date A Live): "Oh my, I didn't expect it to really be a time ability~" ]
[ The Doctor ⦍11th⦎ (Doctor Who): "To travel through time without relying on any technology, solely with so-called magic, is truly astonishing." ]
[ Jibril (No game, No life): "Hiss~ Ha, ehehe, a Time Witch! Even rarer! She's practically one in a million!" ]
[ .....]
『 On the other side, in the dark train station, Kyoko found Sayaka, who was distraught, and saw her already tarnished Soul Gem!
At this moment, Kyoko realized that hope and despair were directly proportional!
Sayaka saved many people, but she also accumulated an equal amount of despair and resentment in her heart!
And a magical girl was, by nature, a cursed existence!
Before Kyoko's disbelieving eyes, Sayaka's Soul Gem shattered!
Then, endless resentment transformed into a Mermaid Witch. At the same moment, the Witch's Barrier unfolded. Although Kyoko saved Sayaka at the last moment, she also fell into a crisis!
At the critical moment, Homura arrived just in time, activated the Sand Timer, and brought Kyoko and Sayaka's bodies out.
Kyubey watched all of this with cold eyes—
In this country, growing females are called girls. So, those of you who will eventually become witches should be called magical girls. 』
『 .....』
〜Myriad Worlds livestream Chat〜
[ Luo Ji (Three Body Problem): "Growing females are called girls... and those who eventually become magical girls are called witches?! What kind of nonsensical logic is this?!" ]
[ Merlin (Type-Moon): "This Kyubey fellow truly has no emotions." ]
[ Goetia (Type-Moon): "No, it's merely a monster that doesn't know what emotions are, just like you, Merlin." ]
[ Merlin (Type-Moon): "Ugh, that's going too far~ Ah." ]
[ Fou: "Fou!" (Merlin, die!) ]
[ Conan Edogawa (Detective Conan): "So, creature named Kyubey, what exactly is your purpose?!" ]
[ .....]
『 Viewers of Myriad Worlds 』
Be it Homura Akemi's abilities or the relationship between magical girls and witches.
Now, everyone was even more confused about that cute creature, Kyubey, who went from being a symbol of miracles to a pile of dung.
What exactly was Kyubey's purpose?
It granted wishes for free, creating magical girls, and then constantly lured magical girls to fight witches, eventually causing them to fall and become witches.
What was the relationship between them?!
Could it be that Kyubey was just a mischievous entity, and its purpose in doing all this was to experience the despair of others?!
How could such a thing be possible!
If that world also followed the law of conservation of matter and energy, then where did the energy to grant wishes for free come from?
.....
『 Late at night, after a series of blows, Madoka had completely lost hope in Kyubey, even feeling fear.
"Is what Homura said true?" Madoka asked, hugging her knees in silence.
"There are no errors that need correcting," Kyubey replied.
"Then why do you turn everyone into witches after making them magical girls...?" Madoka asked, confused.
"While I hope you don't misunderstand, we don't do this out of malice towards humans." 』
『 .....』
〜Myriad Worlds livestream Chat〜
[ Tatsumaki (One Punch Man): "Heh, not out of malice? Are you going to say you're doing it to save the world? Give it a rest, stop trying to whitewash it!" ]
[ Gintoki Sakata (Gintama): "I'd like to see how this guy tries to wash black into white! Even if you talk until your mouth is dry today, I'll still say you're a bastard!" ]
[ Lady Avalon (Type-Moon): "Hehe, isn't it good to admit you're a troublemaker~ Kyubey?" ]
[ Shirai Kuroko (A Certain Magical Index): "Exactly, exactly! Nothing you say will work!" ]
[ Enoshima Junko (Danganronpa): "Haha~ What's wrong with that? Only by experiencing despair can one truly realize the beauty of the world, you know." ]
[ .....]
『 "We are not doing this out of malice towards humans," Kyubey said seriously, as moonlight streamed through the window, illuminating the dark room.
"It's all for the sake of extending the lifespan of this universe."
"Madoka, do you know the term entropy? Let me give you a simple example."
"The energy obtained from burning a bonfire is not commensurate with the labor spent cultivating a tree. Energy is lost when it undergoes form conversion."
"The total energy of the universe is evaporating unidirectionally, so we are here to find energy that is not bound by the laws of thermodynamics."
"And so, what we found was the magical power of magical girls—" Kyubey truthfully told Madoka what she wanted to know.
"You, what exactly are you..." Madoka looked at Kyubey with dimmed eyes.
"Our civilization invented the technology to convert the emotions of intelligent life forms into energy, but ironically, we ourselves have no such thing as emotion."
"So we investigated all the species in this universe, and finally found you humans."
"Using human individuals and reproductive numbers as parameters, the emotional energy generated by a human far exceeds the energy required for that individual's birth and growth."
"Your souls are sufficient to become an energy source that overturns entropy. The most efficient extraction occurs during the phase transition of hope and despair in adolescent girls."
"When your souls, which have become Soul Gems, burn out and transform into Grief Seeds, they release an enormous amount of energy. Our task as Incubators is to collect that energy."
Madoka couldn't accept it, "Are we consumables? Do we have to die for you...?"
Kyubey retorted, "Do you know how many civilizations in this universe are constantly vying with each other, and how much energy is consumed in an instant?"
"You humans will also leave this planet someday and become our companions. You wouldn't be happy if we handed you a depleted universe, would you?"
"In the long run, this should be a beneficial transaction for you."
Madoka still couldn't accept it. Their lives... it was too much!
"We at least made a contract with your consent. That should be conscientious enough, shouldn't it?" Kyubey said, perplexed.
Madoka believed Kyubey had tricked them.
But Kyubey didn't even understand the act of tricking; it couldn't comprehend human values.
"On this planet, there are currently 6.9 billion people, and your numbers continue to increase at a rate of one person every four seconds."
"Why do you get so agitated over the life and death of a single individual?" No matter how it thought, Kyubey simply couldn't understand.
"Since that's what you think... indeed, you are our enemy," Madoka said, her gaze firm, her voice somewhat cold.
As her words fell, Kyubey's body instinctively bristled. 』
『 .....』
『 Viewers of Myriad Worlds 』
...The end of magic is actually... science?!
You're playing with magic, yet you still adhere to the law of conservation of energy?!
If that's the case, why not just wish for the universe to continue existing?
In the myriad realms, countless viewers who were just now condemning Kyubey were all dumbfounded. This explosive truth caught everyone off guard!
Kyubey was actually trying to save the universe?!
.....
〜Myriad Worlds livestream Chat〜
[ The Doctor ⦍11th⦎ (Doctor Who): "Absolutely right, not a single lie. Whether it's that world or the Multiverse, the universe is tending towards destruction. But emotions can actually transcend entropy? That's a truly astonishing discovery." ]
[ Fang Yuan (Reverend Insanity): "If that's the case, why not just enclose humans and infinitely expand their reproduction?" ]
[ Cid Kageno (Eminence in Shadow): "Where did this living King of Hell come from?" ]
[ Homelander (The Boys): "Shouldn't the weak serve the strong?" ]
[ Kumoko (So I'm a Spider, So What?): "Damn it! Hmph! So annoying! We should just destroy these annoying things with a million-horsepower magnetic field rotation!" ]
[ Rudeus Greyrat (Mushoku Tensei): "Emotions converting into... energy? How does that sound a bit like all output relies on shouting?" ]
[ Rick Sanchez(Rick And Morty): "Kyubey is absolutely right. Survival is the first need of civilization. Second, civilization constantly grows and expands, but the total amount of matter in the universe remains constant. Everything Kyubey does is merely for self-preservation." ]
[ Goetia (Type-Moon): "From Kyubey's perspective, they are fighting to live. From the magical girls' perspective, they are also fighting to live. With different standpoints, neither is wrong. The only wrong ones are the weak." ]
[ Anti-Spiral (Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann): "The law of the strong and the weak in the forest is exactly that. In areas where civilizations burst forth, it's perfectly normal for advanced civilizations to monitor lower civilizations." ]
[ The Emperor (Warhammer 40k): "Either death or plunder. The human civilization here is too weak." ]
[ Papi (???): "Exactly! Hahahahaha! Only the strong have the right to make decisions!" ]
[ Beyonder (Marvel 616): "Hahahahaha! You talk so much nonsense, but I still don't agree, Kyubey! Do you know why? Because I'm human, hahahahaha! Mutants are people too, right~ Hahahaha!" ]
[ OAA (Marvel): "This is the best solution." ]
[ Gintoki Sakata (Gintama): "Holy crap... this guy actually got whitewashed?! How did the bastard Kyubey become a savior in just a moment?" ]
[ Shinobu Oshino (Monogatari): "Sacrificing individuals, even sacrificing an entire human civilization, to save the universe is indeed worth it. But if I'm the one being sacrificed, then sorry, I'd rather drown in a cesspool than let that happen!" ]
[ Alex Louis Armstrong (Fullmetal Alchemist): "Saa Gentlemen, this is war~ This is a civilization war between magical girls and alien races Gentlemen, I love war~ !" ]
[ .....]
〜Three-Body Problem World〜
The moment the Trisolarians finished listening, feelings of dread and excitement simultaneously surfaced!
Kyubey... was not some miraculous, unscientific existence at all, but a truly supreme race, a god-tier civilization!
The technology they controlled was something the Trisolarians couldn't even imagine!
This also meant that if they could glean even a tiny bit of insight from it, the benefits to them would be unimaginable!
And precisely because of this, they also felt dread. Sometimes, knowing more doesn't necessarily mean it's a good thing. The more you know, the more you fear...
Now, the Trisolarians not only harbored no hostility towards Kyubey, but even more so, they felt worship and gratitude.
Thinking about it this way, wasn't Kyubey already a great benevolent being for not directly enclosing all galaxies with humans and constantly repeating this energy extraction process!
In an instant, all the Trisolarians had the same thought—they must cling tightly to Kyubey's leg!
They couldn't and dared not disturb the Lord, but what about Kyubey?
The Dark Forest Law couldn't affect them there. Besides, would an entity considering the survival of the universe care about their civilization, which was barely even a Type 2?
—
〜Type-Moon World, Kaleid liner Prisma Illya Worldline〜
"It actually escalated to the universe? Truly, no existence can escape destruction. Self-salvation, huh?"
Ainsworth mocked himself.
It was the same in every world, just like his own world, which was on the verge of destruction.
If it weren't for saving the world, why would they need to search for a divine child? And why would the Holy Grail need to open Pandora's Box?
"Let those who claim to be allies of justice see whether it's sacrificing one to save the world, or abandoning this world and letting everyone face destruction!"
—
〜A Certain Magical Index World〜
The safest city—Academy City
"I see—"
Aleister couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.
This was the perfect combination of science and magic, a dream he had always pursued.
But he was regarded as a heretic... Now, a living example was right before his eyes!
However... Kyubey didn't seem to be as powerful as imagined, or rather... inferior to a Magic God.
A so-called Magic God refers to someone who uses magic to destroy and create everything in the world. They dominate all laws, capable of reversing the expansion of cosmic galaxies.
Making 1+1 equal 3, stretching a meter's length, increasing or decreasing a gram's weight, and so on.
From this point alone, Kyubey was inferior to a Magic God. And what Kyubey described about Madoka's strongest ability was merely being able to distort laws.
Could it be... he was mistaken? The so-called infinite box wasn't what he understood it to be?
Was the infinite box just another name for a Magic God?
—
『 Unable to let Sayaka, who had transformed into a Witch, run rampant, Kyoko took the initiative to attack.
In front of the powerful Mermaid Witch, Kyoko knew that Sayaka could no longer be saved, and ultimately chose to give her all, willingly perishing with her!
And with Kyoko's death, only Homura Akemi remained to face Walpurgisnacht.
Kyubey approached Homura Akemi again, stating bluntly that Homura would not be able to stop Walpurgisnacht, and Madoka would definitely become a Witch! 』
『 .....』
〜One Piece World〜
"Argh, this thing is so infuriating to watch!"
Luffy's rage spiked.
"To lay hands on such a lovely lady, absolutely unforgivable!"
Sanji agreed.
Next up is Walpurgisnacht? Does Homura Akemi really stand a chance?
From a distance, Robin watched the two shouting idiots, lost in thought.
But at this moment, the scene appearing on the screen startled Robin. It was...!
—
『 "Th-that... My name is... My name is Homura Akemi, please... please take care of me."
Old-fashioned glasses, twin pigtails, a shy and awkward girl stood at the podium, her face flushed as she introduced herself. 』
『 .....』
〜Puella Magi Madoka Magica World〜
〜Myriad Worlds livestream Barrage〜
Wow!
Woohoo! The first timeline begins!
The birth of gods and demons!
The entire episode is high-octane!
"The first timeline's... Homura!"
Madoka's eyes widened. She had to know what Homura had been through!
—