NOVEL NEXT WORLD chapter 12
12. Movements of Both Sides!
〖Wuyue at Youyu’s Home〗
—
After the great sorrow, the two began to confide in each other, expressing their innermost feelings… but that never happened.
The reality was like this:
“Sorry! I still want to sleep a bit more! Let’s talk tomorrow, tomorrow!”
“Eh—?! But…”
Before Wuyue could finish her sentence, Youyu hurriedly slipped into his room and shut the door.
Inside the room, Youyu listened as Wuyue’s voice outside gradually faded, until the last remark, “Hmph, I don’t feel like cooking for Youyu tonight!” was heard.
Only then could he finally calm down, relax, and let out a long sigh.
“Wow, this is really… harder than acting just now…”
It was no wonder Youyu was showing this kind of demeanor.
Because just a moment ago, after they returned home, Wuyue seemed to have transformed into a different person…
Well, it should be said that her personality had been magnified, making her appear as if she had become someone else entirely.
In any case… after they got back, Wuyue’s enthusiasm for him became… unusually high?
If we were to use levels as a metaphor, it had evolved from a previous “not bad” level to a higher, “dangerous” level!
The danger lay in… after he returned home, Wuyue was extremely, extremely “concerned” about him.
In every possible way.
…Even more than before.
To what extent was her concern?
Let’s take a recent example.
“You just recovered and it’s still inconvenient for you. If you really need to take a shower now, please let me help you!”
That’s what she said when he was about to take a shower.
And at that moment… her tone was so firm!
Her gaze was equally serious!
It scared Youyu so much that he quickly abandoned the idea of showering.
To this day, he never wanted to think about how Wuyue had sounded when she said that.
Because it was simply… too torturous, leaving him dumbfounded.
“Uh… is it really that outrageous? Youyu?”
The Mamba inside him suddenly spoke up.
“This is just a normal phenomenon after they become magical girls… I’ve studied it, and it usually relates to their own thoughts.”
“So, it must be because of your influence that she has become this way.”
“…Do I not know that?”
After hearing Mamba’s words, Youyu responded with exasperation.
“Of course I can see that she’s influenced by me… It’s just that this change is really too sudden…”
“But doesn’t that just prove that your plan is effective? You should be happy about it, right?”
“And thanks to that, your power should have grown quite a bit, right?”
“When you were within you, I saw how those negative emotions rushed into your body.”
“…You still don’t quite understand.”
Negative emotions are secondary; right now, he only cares about one question.
That is, after this incident, how will Wuyue’s feelings for him evolve in the future?
He’s not a fool; from Wuyue’s current attitude towards him, he can already tell something is off.
“It’s related to one’s own thoughts…”
“……”
He still remembers that Wuyue said, “Then I will lock you by my side until you admit your mistakes; even if you die, you cannot leave…”—after that—
She became… a magical girl.
“……”
If what Mamba said is true, that the birth of a magical girl is related to one’s own thoughts…
Hmm, then there’s another question.
What does she mean by “mistakes”?
“Uh! The more I think about it, the more dangerous it feels…”
In any case, he now understands one thing.
If he continues to execute his plan now, then in the later stages, it will definitely lead to a huge explosion of events.
What exactly that is… he isn’t sure.
“……”
He can only say that he was too early to be happy; the so-called “regret for a lifetime” approach won’t go as smoothly as he thought.
The risks hidden within… he might not have fully grasped them yet.
“……Forget it, let’s not talk about this anymore. Overthinking is distressing; let’s discuss ‘battle’ instead.”
Sighing, feeling that the more he thinks, the worse it gets, Youyu chose to evade and shifted the topic.
He felt that if they continued, something bad would happen.
Though perhaps it was a bit of self-deception?
“? Have you figured out your method of fighting for the future?”
Upon hearing his words, Mamba asked.
“That’s right.”
This time, aside from Wuyue transforming into a magical girl and providing him with a wealth of negative emotions, he also gained an unexpected insight.
After all, having personally encountered the “Negative Beast,” he birthed some ideas.
Mainly because that bat… reminded him of a certain tokusatsu show he had watched in his original world.
Thus, through this association, he came up with a brilliant idea—
“Mamba, from now on, you will play the role of my ‘Contract Beast.’”
“? Contract Beast… what is that?”
“Hmm, let me explain the setting to you.”
“In simple terms… you are a monster from the ‘Mirror World,’ similar to the demons in human legends, who tricks people into signing contracts!”
“And then~ by chance, I signed a contract with you and gained power.”
“But the cost is… I have to do many things I don’t want to do for this power, which we can simply call evil.”
“Then, wielding this power, I inevitably crossed paths with those magical girls.”
“In the end, after countless battles, ‘I’ and the magical girls finally began to understand each other, but by that time, it was already too late…”
“So, ‘I’ once again died in front of them.”
“…It feels like you’ve skipped over a lot, Youyu. And this doesn’t seem to have much to do with the contract or the fighting aspect? Is this your plan moving forward?”
“Ahem! You have a point. Anyway, what I want to say is…”
He stood up, walked to the mirror, and pointed at his reflection, saying:
“I also want to—‘transform.’”
“For that, I need your help.”
“To play the Contract Beast?”
“Yeah… by that time, we will act under a second identity and intervene in the struggle between your ‘colleagues’ and the magical girls as a third-party personal force.”
“As for the name…”
“Let’s call it… the Serpent Knight!”
“And we’ll supplement the other settings later…”
————
“……”
Meanwhile.
“Boom!”
Thunder rumbled.
In a dark place.
A place unknown to anyone, a mysterious location.
It was also where Mamba once existed—
“The Dark Spire”
At this moment, after the first “offensive into the positive world,” all the “beings” within the tower had gathered together.
They were mostly like Mamba, having animal-like appearances.
And some… were creatures that only existed in legends.
In total, there were about seven of them.
But that’s not the main point.
Because they had come here to heed the words of the “being” who initiated this operation—namely, the Tower Master.
The Tower Master had been leading them ever since Mamba was banished.
Although they rarely saw Him, He was extremely mysterious, said to reside at the very top.
What would He say this time?
“…”
“This time… this operation has failed.”
The Tower Master spoke in a calm voice, his words fragmented.
“You must absolutely not… allow that traitor and the magical girl… to succeed.”
“…So, therefore.”
“Night Demon…”
“You must continue… your actions…”
“Until, until… success.”
“…”
“Yes.”
“Now… you all, disappear…”
After the Tower Master uttered these words, there was no further sound.
And they, unfazed, slowly left the Dark Spire.
As usual, it was a calm day.
“…”
“It seems our previous approach was not wrong.”
The Night Demon murmured.
“Removing ‘Mamba,’ the most threatening entity…”
“Will, it will be more beneficial for us to exert ourselves…”
Looking at the black, bottomless “black sphere” in his hand.
The Night Demon was even more certain of this.
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