Give children a little self-destruction shock to their worldview.

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Moreover, the words chanted by the Guardian are also magical, a spell passed down through generations of water spirits.

Megrana sang those songs to her in her room every day, some of which were calming and others were spells that enhanced her allure.

Haga Mayumi wrote it down, and now it has indeed come in handy.

These monsters, which can use their songs to bewitch humans, resemble mermaids from fairy tales, but according to Mayumi Haga, they are more like the fish head sculpture in her house.

After discovering that the monster used sound to bewitch people, Mayumi Haga immediately tried using the water nymph song of Megaran, and the effect was amazing.

The white-haired guardian stepped forward and inquired about the two magical girls' condition: "Are you alright?"

"...It's nothing." It took Arisu Akari a while to come to her senses. She breathed a sigh of relief and awkwardly said, "Thanks."

During that short day of surviving alone in this world, Arisu Akari was in a rather miserable state.

Without her transformation ability, she's just an ordinary high school student. Despite undergoing a lot of physical training due to her daily idol activities, in this situation, she's only better at escaping.

Fortunately, the next day, the guardian lady who disliked her arrived.

The other party's adaptability is quite strong. While Arisu Akari was completely unable to adapt to this place, the other party had already gone to the city center to investigate three times on their own.

It all happened within a single day.

Akari Arisu had no doubt that if she hadn't been there, the other party might have already stormed into the city center and figured out how to get out.

How awful.

Realizing that she was inferior to the other person made Arisu Akari feel quite uncomfortable. She wasn't a very open-minded person, so although she was quite grateful after being saved, her attitude was still awkward.

"No need," the Guardian said calmly. "Just doing it on the side."

"..." Arisu Akari didn't know how to respond. The other person's communication skills were really making it difficult to get along with them, so she changed the subject, "By the way, this is my friend who just appeared here..."

She glanced at Yuri Takajo furtively, unsure whether she should tell the Guardian that Yuri Takajo was the magical girl Iris.

Although they got to know each other during this time, it was only under their secret identities. Arisu Akari's own identity being exposed was out of necessity.

Whether or not to reveal her identity is up to Yuri Takajo herself.

...Huh? Why aren't you saying anything?

It was only then that the two noticed that Yuri Takajo hadn't said a word since she regained consciousness.

She stared at the Guardian with a shocked look, a guess forming in her mind.

Without the rules of the surface world, the kind of situation where someone can't recognize a classmate they've known for three years just by wearing half a mask will naturally not happen in this world.

So the more Yuri looked at the Guardian's exposed lips and chin, and the more she looked at her face shape and hairstyle, the more familiar she seemed.

This face gradually began to resemble those of acquaintances.

...Just now, why did the Guardian's singing voice sound so familiar?

Isn't that Mayumi's voice?!

This unique singing style is something I, who have taken music lessons with Mayumi, would never mistake!

Main text: Chapter 186 The Soul of an Old Friend

"Mayumi-kun...?" Yuri Takajo's voice was still somewhat hesitant, but when the Guardian subconsciously turned her head and saw the familiar look in those bright golden eyes, she was certain of her guess.

Mayumi is the Guardian.

She wondered why only Hitomi could contact the Guardian, and why the two of them had such a good relationship for no reason... It turned out that Hitomi knew Mayumi's hidden identity even before she did!

After being taken aback, Yuri Takajo finally had the answers to the questions that had been lingering in her mind.

Wait, that means...

...Mayumi and Hitomi are in the ambiguous stage of their relationship, right?

Yuri Takajo was slow to realize what was happening, and her shock only intensified.

No, why... I didn't hear a single word about it?

Putting Mayumi aside, is Hitomi really the kind of person who can keep things to herself?

While Yuri Takajo was still brainstorming, Mayumi Haga saw right through her thoughts.

Actually, it's not that Hitomi Tono is very good at hiding her feelings... that girl wears her heart on her sleeve, and whenever she tries to conceal a secret, it's no different from shouting it out loud through a megaphone.

If it weren't for her identity as a magical girl and a guardian, it would be obvious at a glance that "Hitomi Tono likes Mayumi Haga".

However, this world tends to be quite biased when it comes to things like the true identity of magical girls.

As long as it involves matters of secret identity, even if you only wear a half-face mask, or just dye your hair and change your clothes... even such a simple disguise will not be exposed.

Such absurd things are indeed the true rules of the world.

Therefore, when the relationship between Hitomi Tono and Mayumi Haga involves their secret identities, it is very difficult for others to discover.

When they arrived in this inner world, the rules of the outer world became invalid, and all the previously overlooked doubts became clear, since these were issues that could be understood simply by looking at them.

—It's all the same person!

"...Huh? You two know each other? At school?" Arisu Akari, who only knew the Guardian and not Haga Mayumi, was surprised by Takajo Yuri's sudden realization.

But... the Guardian looks older than them. She's an adult, so why is she called a "classmate"?

As Arisu Akari was confused, Haga Mayumi realized that she had indeed been recognized. She didn't have time to make excuses for herself. At this point, she could no longer deny it, so she took off the mask that had been covering her face.

After arriving in this world, the mask that originally covered the lower half of her face was turned upside down, covering her face from the nose upwards, but revealing her lips and chin.

The white-haired guardian raised his hand and removed his mask, revealing Mayumi Haga's face beneath it.

Without the previous scars, this face is all too familiar.

His white hair was a little longer than usual, falling smoothly over his neck, and he had bright golden eyes and a perpetually aloof and heroic face.

Although she looked older than the Mayumi Haga I knew, it was undoubtedly her; at most, it was just a difference between a few years ago and a few years later.

Moreover, Yuri Takajo has now realized what's happening.

Mayumi's ears suddenly turned into pointy elf ears one day, and the Guardian's ears also turned into the same shape... How could this be a coincidence? It's the biggest flaw!

However, this age gap...

"Could you be Mayumi from five years in the future?" Yuri Takajo wondered what she was imagining again.

She thought about the anime she had recently watched, which did indeed have a plot where a character from the future traveled back in time and acted simultaneously with their past self. Considering Mayumi Haga's current appearance, she couldn't help but overthink it.

Yuga Mayumi remained silent, simply putting the mask back into her backpack and quietly removing her white-haired appearance.

The Guardian outfit on her body remained unchanged, but her face and hair instantly reverted to the look that Yuri Takajo was familiar with. The black-haired girl, who had shrunk by five or six years, didn't speak, but simply looked at the other person with silent eyes.

Yuri Takajo said sheepishly, "Looks like I was overthinking it..."

So, just like magical girls, the Guardian class also has a similar transformation mechanic?

It's amazing how quickly I've become an adult.

Instead, it was Arisu Juri standing next to her who was taken aback: "What?!"

What? This guardian is actually the same age as me?

And so this is what the Guardians look like? They're quite good-looking.

Even though she had seen many outstanding-looking peers in the idol industry, including some rare and beautiful boys and girls, Mayumi Haga's appearance was still quite unforgettable among the people she knew.

Perhaps it's because the other person has a unique temperament that allows them to capture attention at first glance without hiding their brilliance.

hateful.

Although Arisu Akari wasn't the type to judge a book by its cover, during the time she was at odds with the Guardian, the other's hideous mask had deeply affected her, and she always felt that the person under the mask must also look very fierce.

The result is actually quite nice.

And he doesn't look particularly fierce... or should I say gloomy? But more than that, he has a maturity and composure that doesn't match his age.

At seventeen, Mayumi Haga's figure wasn't much different from when she was in her twenties, except that her face looked a little younger. She could still fit into her Guardian outfit perfectly, and her movements were nimble and decisive.

She didn't care what the two of them were thinking; after all, now was not the time to dwell on such things.

The most urgent thing is to leave here.

Without the ability to transform, the magical girl before her was practically useless. Mayumi Haga didn't expect ordinary people to do anything for her in battle; she was always prepared to fight alone, even with burdens.

However, even though it might become a burden, it's still necessary to explain the current situation clearly so they understand what they should do next.

Ignoring the inner turmoil of the two women, Mayumi Haga explained to them what she had discovered.

Her left arm was mostly covered by arm guards and gloves, but when she took off her hood, the glowing patterns on her left arm could still be seen.

That's the Shrike, her built-in encyclopedia of witchcraft.

After arriving in this world, Mayumi Haga discovered that it was very similar to the world she had once lived in.

Without the overly vibrant world filter, and without the constraints of the orange juice rule, buildings don't automatically regenerate after being destroyed... everything is very similar to her world.

After a brief investigation, she became even more certain of one thing.

"This world and the place you live in are two sides of the same coin... that's how it should be." Mayumi Haga saw through the essence of the other world, but then shook her head in denial.

Because this other world is no longer what it used to be.

The previous calamity destroyed the spiritual veins, greatly weakening their original protective capabilities, which gave some alien objects from outside the world a chance to enter this world.

For example, 3904, who fell into this world by accident, came from another world.

According to the filtering rules of the children's world, 3904 could not possibly enter this world at will. After all, her inherent armor-piercing and shield-breaking abilities, as well as her magical defense, make her a natural enemy of magical ability users and monsters in this world.

Letting in such outsiders rashly will destroy the world's originally healthy ecosystem.

Like 3904, the "outsiders" who inexplicably enter this world are not necessarily human; they may be fragments of a destroyed world scattered in the void.

Like the temple that Sugiyama Rika saw in the deep cave earlier, it is also a fragment of the world.

A rather terrible fragment of the world fell into this world.

No, perhaps it should be said that the alien beings that would pose a threat to the surface world were sent to the inner world.

When this massive fragment of the world collides with the inner world, it will inevitably cause chaos in the inner world as well.

The fluctuations in the inner world caused what is known as divine disappearance.

Mayumi Haga investigated the world fragment that had fallen in the center of Miracle City in the Otherworld.

She just felt it was a difficult situation.

The reason is simple: this is her world-famous "underground labyrinth".

It is filled with souls that are bound and unable to be reborn.

This labyrinth is filled with monsters, ghouls, and spirits, which, after being corrupted by the labyrinth, have become something completely different from the monsters and human souls of the outside world.

Most of these vengeful spirits are adventurers who died inside and were never recovered or sent to be resurrected, while some are ancient inhabitants who lived there since the time of mythology.

Corpses in the maze can be resurrected if they have been dead for no more than thirty days.

This underground labyrinth is the only place in the Alamo world not bound by the rules of the River of Life. Souls here cannot leave nor dissipate; they are imprisoned within for eternity, subjected to torment.

Correspondingly, if one can use resurrection magic to put the soul back into the body before it is corrupted, that is "resurrection".

This labyrinthine island was originally a private island, developed by a lord from the southern kingdom. The lord intended to clear the land for farming, but during the clearing process, the farmers discovered the entrance to a labyrinth in the wilderness.

The entrance to the labyrinth was blocked by a giant boulder, on which were written the following words:

Whoever can reach the bottom of the maze and open the treasure chest will become the master of the maze.

From then on, an adventure craze centered around dungeons and labyrinths ignited in the southern lands.

In her fifty-second year as a guardian, Mayumi Haga, guided by the world's consciousness, came to the island where the labyrinth was discovered.

The rulers of that labyrinth island used the countless precious materials and monsters within the labyrinth to amass wealth, while adventurers actively explored the labyrinth in order to obtain it. As a result, ample food and water, resurrection facilities, and equipment shops were also essential... In the end, this led to the local economic boom.

Mayumi Haga arrived in the labyrinth as a lone adventurer, where she experienced many battles that were significant to her and made the acquaintance of many other adventurers.

It was here that she received the blessing of "an eye for an eye" from a senior guardian.

The souls of the adventurers she met, and that senior, were all left deep within the labyrinth.

Now, she has to conquer this perilous labyrinth all over again, and she has to bring along two magical girls who can only transform for a very short time.

Fortunately, 3904 should come in quite useful. That guy has been through life-and-death battles before; he shouldn't lose his life under my protection.

...Although this might have pleased 3904.

But this guy will become very troublesome if he dies now...