He Who Fights Dragons Becomes a Dragon

A New Week

Daniel sat down with the comic book he had just bought after work. He noticed the signal light on his phone flashing incessantly. He opened his phone without hesitation.

One look and he was shocked. Wow, the group chat had over 99+ messages.

As soon as he clicked in, his phone seemed to freeze for a moment.

"Whoa, whoa! This episode is really something. It's about the moment a girl becomes a woman!"

"I really want to slide-tackle the Porter, that jerk. How am I supposed to watch other magical girl stories now?"

"Don't even mention it. My brain feels like it's burning."

"After this episode, I suddenly think the senior's early death might have been a relief. If she had known the truth, she might have been even more despairing than Sayaka. I feel like this story is all about despair, except for the first two chapters."

After skimming through the group messages, Daniel turned off his phone.

He hated spoilers the most, and these guys might spill the beans any moment now!

But just glancing at a few messages made him even more curious about the new chapter.

Why did they say it was about a girl becoming a woman? Would there be scenes like that? But this is a magical girl story, with kid protagonists. The Porter wouldn't be that crazy, right?

And why say the senior's early death was a relief? It seemed very tragic to die just when she was about to have a companion.

And was Sayaka really that desperate? Thinking about chapter seven, she was somewhat, since she felt betrayed, but he thought living was better than dying.

Curiosity piqued, Daniel opened the new chapter.

Hope and despair go hand in hand.

Her wish was to become a magical girl "for the one she loves," but when that person was gone, the impact on Sayaka was immense.

In the previous chapter, she ignored her body's injuries to kill witches, showing her inclination towards despair.

In this new chapter, Sayaka's descent into darkness became more apparent.

She even said something very cold to her best friend Madoka, who came to persuade her.

"Then you fight."

"I heard from Kyubey that you have more talent than anyone. If it's for my sake, stand with me."

"Of course not," Sayaka's voice turned icy.

"You wouldn't give up being human just out of sympathy!"

"You can do anything, but you do nothing."

In the story, Sayaka, the blue-haired girl, is depicted with a vivid personality. She's impulsive, kind-hearted, single-minded, and naive...

But she always believed: using magical power for others is true justice.

When her friend Hitomi snatched away the boy she had a crush on, her belief crumbled.

Feeling inferior because her body was no longer human, Sayaka gave up competing with Hitomi and even regretted saving her.

Her desire for her crush's love conflicted with her belief in helping others. Realizing she had once regretted saving her friend made her feel disgusted with herself.

This pushed her back and forth on the edge of despair and darkness, leading her to say hurtful things to Madoka.

Though running in the rain, crying, and regretting her harsh words to Madoka, it didn't take long for her to overhear two scumbags on the train bragging about playing with girls' feelings. This, for someone already on the brink of mental collapse, was too much.

Initially, Kyoko and Sayaka were enemies.

But with similar fates, Kyoko eventually saw Sayaka as a friend and stayed by her side in her despair.

However... it was too late!

"Because nothing... matters anymore..." Sayaka said slowly to Kyoko, who came to find her. "In the end, what did I cherish? What should I protect? I can't figure out anything anymore..."

Sayaka took out her Soul Gem, which was once pure but now murky.

"I was... so foolish..."

Sayaka's tears fell onto her Soul Gem. A sudden burst of energy blew the unprepared Kyoko away.

The scene around them changed, becoming terrifying and eerie.

It felt like a witch had arrived.

Suddenly, Daniel remembered a message from the group chat: "From girl to woman..."

"No way..."

Daniel felt he understood something and turned the page.

However, there was no scene of Sayaka. Instead, it showed Kyubey standing on top of a tower crane.

With a low voice, Kyubey spoke:

"In this country, growing girls are called maidens, right?"

"Then you, who will become witches, should be called magical girls!"

The scene ended there!

At that moment, readers realized that the Porter used Sayaka's death in chapter eight to reveal why Kyubey was called the incubator and the truth about witches and magical girls!

Magical girls' Soul Gems were actually the eggs incubated by Kyubey. Ultimately, these eggs would hatch into witches!

"It makes sense... it's logical..." Daniel murmured.

Suddenly, he thought of something even more horrifying.

If magical girls = witches...

Does that mean the witches Madoka and the others killed were once magical girls? Meaning, I kill myself?

When Soul Gems become murky, they need to hunt witches and use Grief Seeds to purify the gems.

But if there are no Grief Seeds or witches left, the Soul Gems cannot be purified, and magical girls will become new witches. It's an endless cycle, like Russian dolls.

He who fights dragons becomes a dragon?

Wow, he thought the senior's death was the darkest moment, but then it turned out that becoming a magical girl was like dying.

Now it revealed that magical girls would eventually become world-threatening witches?

What's next? Would there be even darker revelations?

At that moment, Kyubey's cute appearance turned into that of a demon in many readers' eyes.