Chapter 65: Requiem

During the previous reconnaissance missions, Black Coral had relied entirely on dolls, but during the formal operation, avoiding detection altogether remained a daunting challenge.

Fortunately, String Heart had acted swiftly enough that the two magical girls in the darkness failed to clearly identify the intruders, meaning their identities were still temporarily concealed. However, once the other patrol personnel noticed the intrusion, sounding the alarm would be inevitable.

Most of the intensive care ward cells were located underground, with only a massive steel dome exposed on the surface, anchored against the coastal cliffside to allow for rapid demolition and burial if necessary.

Following that unexpected incident, the two advanced further with heightened caution, managing to avoid bumping into any more guards head-on.

The individual patient rooms resembled silent tombs, all tightly sealed with zero visibility inside. The only distinguishing features were the black-and-white photographs of young girls posted on each door, many of which lacked even a name.

Given Requiem's age, she normally would not have been confined to a facility dedicated exclusively to young girls.

However, Black Coral explained that Requiem had erased a vast amount of personal information before being discovered, making it impossible to verify her exact age. Besides, the true forms of magical girls always appeared far younger than their actual years.

It was only because her trance-like weeping symptoms were so bizarre that she had been detained as a suspected subject.

[So, they still aren't certain whether she's a Stranded One?] String Heart asked.

Black Coral replied, [They couldn't confirm her identity. It was only after I visited her previous dwelling that I managed to track down some clues and ultimately found this place.

[As for the method of using magic ash to verify identity that you mentioned last time, I believe the Magic Affairs Bureau has not yet mastered it.

[Even if they had acquired this information, they likely wouldn't dare take the risk. Although this is a psychiatric ward where slipping something into the medication is easy, they wouldn't dare risk actively providing these girls with an opportunity to transform.]

String Heart nodded and continued walking deeper into the ward area.

[However...] Black Coral added, [I believe that forced transformation via magic ash could actually be an excellent alternative to Death Scars or transformation devices under certain extreme conditions.]

[Let's discuss this later.]

Before long, Black Coral expertly navigated the familiar route to Requiem's room.

She hijacked the nearby equipment to paralyze the electronic lock, then motioned for String Heart to step forward and unlock the mechanical deadbolt remotely.

Pushing open the door, the two saw a figure encased in a straitjacket curled up motionless in the corner.

She wore a specially crafted blindfold, and her exposed face was covered in tear tracks. She showed no reaction whatsoever to the sound of the opening door, merely sitting in the corner with her head slightly bowed. Her once-beautiful long hair had been cropped to less than half an inch, appearing patchy and incomplete, a heartbreaking sight.

[Requiem...] Even though she knew there would be no reply, Black Coral called out through telepathic resonance, [We've come for you.]

String Heart walked up to her, knelt on one hand, and with slightly trembling fingers, removed Requiem's blindfold.

What she met were a pair of eyes so hollow they were chilling.

Prolonged and continuous crying had long since destroyed Requiem's tear glands, requiring regular doses of medicated drops administered through her blindfold to maintain moisture. Her eyes were bloodshot, the surrounding skin red and inflamed, and her entire face looked haggard beyond measure.

String Heart raised a finger and unfastened her straitjacket. Her emaciated frame could barely hold up the hospital gown, forcing String Heart to retrieve several straps and retie the loose garment securely.

She carefully wiped Requiem's face and levitated all the neglected dirt and grime away from her body into midair, yet Requiem never once glanced at her the entire time.

While String Heart tidied up Requiem, Black Coral busied herself crafting a doll nearby.

She spent another two minutes completing the final details, dressed the doll in the exact same straitjacket, and said to String Heart, [Let's go.]

To avoid hurting Requiem, String Heart refrained from holding her in her arms, instead manipulating gravity to gently lift her body, preparing to depart the room.

Yet the moment she left the floor, Requiem suddenly dropped back down.

A jolt of alarm went through String Heart as she hurriedly checked to see if she had been hurt, only to find Requiem weakly propping herself up, sitting on the floor with her knees clutched to her chest, burying her face deep between her knees.

Black Coral couldn't help uttering a gasp of surprise: "She moved!"

And immediately switched to telepathy: [Ever since she was admitted, this is the first time I've seen her make a movement of her own accord!]

[That might not be a good sign, though.] String Heart frowned, [It wasn't my control slipping just now; she actively nullified my magic.]

Black Coral looked at her with an even more astonished gaze.

String Heart reached out, hesitated for a moment, and gently rested her hand on Requiem's arm: "Let's go, Requiem."

Moments of silence later, a hoarse voice emerged from the crook of Requiem's arm: "Where... to..."

String Heart and Black Coral exchanged glances, both catching a glimmer of pleasant surprise in each other's eyes.

They hadn't expected her to respond at all!

Yet recalling the anomalous behavior of the gravity magic, a deeper unease welled up inside String Heart.

"Going home," she told Requiem. "We're here to take you home."

"I... don't have a home anymore..."

Black Coral knelt down as well, taking hold of Requiem's little finger, resting her forehead against the side of her face which was buried almost out of sight: "Let's go, Requiem. No matter what, let's leave this place together first."

"Requiem... who is that?"

Black Coral's eyes gradually widened as she slowly turned her face toward String Heart.

Outside the door, the alarm had already begun to wail.

[How can this be? How can this be?] Confronted with this unexpected turn of events, Black Coral completely lost her composure, [I feel like something is terribly wrong with her!]

String Heart sensed it too.

An oppressive magic power, tangible as physical substance, emanated from Requiem. Even though she hadn't transformed yet, it made the entire room feel compressed and suffocating.

[The guards are closing in, but we can hold out for a bit longer.] Black Coral pressed a panel button on her wrist.

The drones hovering above Ash Island received the command immediately, opening their metal cages and releasing a batch of imp-beasts. These winged demonic beasts, fond of tossing fireballs everywhere, were elite monsters more than capable of keeping the guards outside busy for a while.

Taking advantage of the diverted defense forces, String Heart cast aside other concerns, swept Requiem's body up into her arms, and bolted toward the door.

Fortunately, although Requiem resisted gravity magic, she could still be physically carried.

Clutched in her arms, Requiem no longer curled her legs tightly, but she continued to shun the outside world, burying her face deep into String Heart's chest.

Black Coral cleared the path ahead, no longer restricting herself to merely disorienting the guards, but directly diverting them away from their escape route.

The three quickly reached the surface, evaded the magical girls engaged in combat with the imp-beasts, and clustered tightly together.

Amidst a violent tremor, they soared instantly into the high altitude under String Heart's magic, the isolated island beneath their feet rapidly shrinking into a tiny dot.

Black Coral drew out a single-sided earpiece, pressing it firmly against her ear: "Ravens, the situation has changed. I need you to move up your arrival."

"Understood, Miss. Your coordinates are confirmed."

Having arranged the extraction, she manipulated the threads in her hand, causing the imp-beasts to break away from the battlefield, fly far off into the distance, and self-terminate, sinking their carcasses into the sea.

Only after completing all this did Black Coral let out a long breath, lowering her gaze toward Requiem: [Can you really fly with gravity magic just by holding her like that? I'm almost envious...]

"Stop talking nonsense." String Heart muttered with disdain.

Just as she was about to tell Black Coral that she could let go now—that maintaining physical contact wasn't necessary within the magic's radius—she saw Requiem suddenly snap her face back around and let out a harrowing, miserable cry!

"No!!!"

She struggled violently, pushing away String Heart's hands and breaking free of the gravity magic once more, plunging downward unawares.

String Heart dove after her instantly, and Black Coral rushed over as well, scattering threads across the sky in an attempt to weave a net and catch Requiem.

Yet Requiem ignored even those threads.

String Heart quickly overtook her, turned back to grab Requiem in her arms once more, and abandoned gravity magic in favor of basic magical flight to pull her back up above the clouds.

However, from Requiem's wide-open mouth, an unknown flower blossomed without warning.

Immediately afterward, a dense sea of blossoms burst into bloom in an instant, swallowing up the entire space within a hundred-meter radius!

Black Coral was shoved aside by the exploding cluster of flowers. Regaining her footing with difficulty, she hurriedly asked through telepathy: [String Heart, are you alright!]

[I'm fine... Tell Uncle Ray not to come over yet.]

The massive floral cluster composed of countless blooms floated high in the sky like some sort of visceral organ, pulsing a few times before doubling in size!

Watching the flower petals along its edge constantly wither into black ash, Black Coral gritted her teeth and issued a warning to Ravens.

Then she called out telepathically: [String Heart! If this thing keeps expanding, even the clouds won't be able to hide it!]

[I know!]

Dammit, was this an out-of-control state? Watching the flower petals scattering endlessly from Requiem's body, replicating with virus-like madness, String Heart knew another wave of explosion was bound to happen before long.

"Wake up, Requiem!" she called out time and time again in vain.

Why couldn't she hear? Why was she losing control?

What on earth could make it stop?

Submerged within the sea of flowers, she was already pierced all over with blood by the thorns beneath those brilliant petals, her body covered in wounds from entangling vines.

Though constructed entirely of magic power, her body felt as fragile and battered as a mortal flesh-and-blood form in their presence.

Who was Requiem?

She recalled that powerless question.

Had she forgotten herself?

String Heart lowered her gaze to look at Requiem in her arms, still refusing to let go even now.

"Have you forgotten?" she asked softly, looking at her haggard face. "You are an angel on the battlefield, a goddess who heals the wounded. You are the hope of us all, the magical girl who cures everything."

A drop of blood soaking through her white dress dripped onto Requiem's face, sliding down to her lips.

Her hollow eyes trembled slightly.

"Those... are not me..."

A surge of emotion stirred in String Heart. She was finally willing to respond again.

But why...

Was it not amnesia, but avoidance?

Enduring the agonizing pain, she wanted to say more words of encouragement to Requiem, only to find her glaring at her with furious eyes.

"It's you! String Heart... I will never forgive you!"

Her hands wrapped tightly around her neck, pulling with the ferocity of tearing flesh, though she could only weakly scratch a few shallow marks.

Yet the vines and thorns twisted tighter and tighter still.

"I will never forgive you," Requiem repeated.

String Heart looked back at her with eyes full of remorse, and only then did the realization hit her like a thunderbolt.

She had been such a fool... These were words she should have said long ago, words she should have spoken the very moment they met.

"I'm sorry," she told Requiem. "I'm sorry, Requiem. It was me who brought death to those innocent people..."

Requiem's eyes, filled with bitter resentment, suddenly emptied out. She stared at her blankly, and then wept without tears: "No, I am the one who is sorry..."

The giant floral cluster withered in response, dissolving into the night sky without a trace.