Magical Girl with Demonic Time Magic-Chapter 136: Angel and Demon

"...Got a problem, Ayane?" Setsuna asks as I clutch my clothes. I was about to take them off for our first night together, but then I glance at the hourglass she’d placed on the dresser.

"...This isn’t right..." I look at Setsuna. The dark circles under her eyes are completely gone. Her gaze is now arrogant, frivolous, cynical, cold, and lifeless—something it wasn’t before, or at least shouldn’t be.

Actually... since when has it been like this? How long have I missed this strange look in her eyes... or did I just ignore it because I loved her?

"Ayane?... I—" Before she can finish speaking, I try to crush her with a barrier. Three small barriers float around her before violently expanding. She just vanishes from within the area of effect, reacting before the attack even fully forms.

"Why did you dodge, Setsuna? You seemed to know what would happen... but how could you know without ever seeing this attack before?" I look behind me, seeing her there in her complete magical girl outfit—that same all-white "coat," the entire elegant outfit made for cold weather.

"If I stayed there, I’d be crushed... Do you remember now?... We just got back... Ah, I see... Ayane, you’ve become a full-fledged elite angel. It seems you’re no longer human," Setsuna says as my wings unfurl and my magical girl attire materializes.

But this one is different. It’s a long, white dress adorned with elegant golden ribbons and lines, while a halo of golden roses floats above my head.

"I remember... not all the times... but I remember the most recent ones, Setsuna," I say, my voice heavy with sorrow.

"..."

"It seems this is the last time we’ll dance with time... so how about we make things more formal, Ayane? I am the new Demon of Time, Setsuna Shū," she says with a smile.

"...You are not the Setsuna I know," I say coldly, with a sharp tone I never imagined I could possess. But with all the things I remember now, it’s the only tone I can manage.

"Well... I’m still me. I’d just say I’m the [Upgrade], of course," she says as if it’s the most natural thing.

"..."

"Setsuna, please... just tell me why you did this," I ask with a sigh.

"..."

"Because I love you," she says immediately, as if she’d been waiting to give that answer.

"You love me? By killing me hundreds of times? By letting me be abused by monsters in another timeline? Is that your love?! Something so destructive and filthy can’t be called love," I say as my staff appears in my hands.

It’s larger now, with shades of violet and dark gold, while at its center a sphere glowing white floats without touching anything. The sphere’s glow resembles a 12-pointed star.

"...Ayane, you wouldn’t understand. You aren’t capable of understanding my feelings... or my goals... but I love you... I truly love you very much..." she says, but she doesn’t even seem to believe her own words.

"You became this monster now out of love, is that it? Do you think I’m happy to see the girl I love reveal herself as a demon who caused so much havoc?!" I say with tears streaming down my face because I know what I have to do.

This is no longer Setsuna. It’s just a demon that stole her place, a demon that pretends to love something just for its own amusement. And for a profane being like that, all that remains is to be "purified."

"...You seem ready to fight me... good... that’s good... let’s make this our final battle... if you win, do as you please. And when I win, you will be mine," she says with a confident tone as she goes on alert.

"...Setsuna, tell me.... was there ever any real love at any point?! Not this thing you call love, but genuine, true love—the feeling of wanting what’s best for the person you love and doing everything to see them well."

"Or... is all you feel this selfish desire to have me as a toy that entertains you?" Thanks to the memories I have, I just feel confused. I don’t even know where there was room for love to have ever arisen.

"I don’t know." When she says that, I feel more sad than disappointed. Because not even she herself believes that what she feels for me is love. She is... a pitiful being, who only learned to love through destruction.

Deep down, I still want to believe that Setsuna loved me. That she truly loved me at some point. But also, at some point, she got lost in love, merging a bunch of bad feelings together with love until it formed this unpleasant, clingy feeling of obsession.

"Setsuna, I thank you... I thank you for giving me the chance to defeat you... I want to believe this is a test. A test that before being a demon, you are still a being who could truly love, and who chose to make me stronger to stop you," I say as I swing my staff.

Immediately, Setsuna is split in two by a horizontal cut. Behind her, a circle with a counter that looks like an ancient clock appears, and her body’s time reverts to zero.

It’s not regeneration. Her body literally returned to the moment before she was dead. But fortunately, I gained memories not just of past lives, but angelic memories that I should always have had.

Memories of a beautiful garden full of golden roses. Memories of seeing a demon who was about to kill himself, and I stopped him. And above all, memories of how to truly end a demon.

It’s not magic, physical damage, or weapons. The true way to eliminate a demon is to destroy the essence they represent. And I think I know what Setsuna represents.

’I sense the presence of two demons in existence...’ It seems currently there are only two living demons. And unfortunately... there is only one angelic presence in existence... mine.

"It’s time for this sick game of cat and mouse across reincarnations to end, don’t you think?!" I say to Setsuna as numerous counters float around her. She grips her pistol, ready to fight me.

"Yes, I think this game has lost its charm. Time to put an end to it," she says while aiming her gun and firing at me. Because of my concept as an angel, I possess speed equivalent to time zero.

It means I’m faster than light, and any movement I make has instantaneous speed. However, the same applies to Setsuna, who blocks my kick aimed at her head.

"I forgive you for killing me... but I cannot let you continue to exist," I say as barriers appear, decapitating Setsuna and splitting her torso. Immediately, I try to attack again, but she recovers and fires shots at me.

I dodge by ascending, starting to fly to avoid affecting the city below, which has nothing to do with this fight that should never have happened.