Chapter 8: Save the Cousin! The Masochist Unleashes a Powerful Burst of Energy to Recharge Her Severe Illness!

It's the Yu Theory after all...!

The Yu Theory solves everything...!

Chapter 8: Save the Cousin! The Masochist Unleashes a Powerful Burst of Energy to Recharge Her Severe Illness!

(Ahhhh...! Onee-sama's magic is coming in────! ...It's hot, but it feels good... My head's getting all fuzzy, and it's making me feel that way────────♪)

Tomoe felt an overwhelming sense of euphoria, as Maria's magic flowed into her body, almost melting her away.

And along with the magic, she felt Maria's thoughts flowing into her heart.

("Please, I want this girl to be happy. I don't care what happens to me.")

That was Maria's genuine wish.

For Tomoe, it was something she hadn't felt in a long time—something called maternal love. It was an emotion she should have always received from her own mother.

Large tears streamed down Tomoe's cheeks.

This was fundamentally different from the kindness she received from her personal maid, Kanaya, and the head maid, Sougi.

It was pure, unadulterated love.

Her heart trembled at Maria's thoughts, and Tomoe was so overwhelmed with joy that she continued to cry uncontrollably.

"Tomoe, are you in pain somewhere?"

Mima had been asked by Maria to simply observe the situation, but seeing Tomoe's tears, she couldn't help but ask.

"...I'm fine, Okaa-sama...!"

Tomoe had no way to express in words the joy she felt from sensing Maria's thoughts, so she could only answer that.

But the sound of that voice, to Mima, sounded unlike anything she had ever heard before, filled with a brightness that made her heart ache once again.

Had I ever made her, my own child, make such a sound before?

For a while, Mima watched the two little girls, her mind swirling with such troubled thoughts, but then she suddenly realized something.

The abnormality of Tomoe's body continuing to absorb Maria's immense, extraordinary magical power.

From Mima's perspective, the amount of magical power Tomoe possessed was average.

In other words, the vessel that held that average amount of magical power—her body—was also average, and pouring more magical power than its storage capacity could destroy the body itself.

However, Tomoe didn't complain of pain; rather, she seemed to desire even more magical power.

Mima remembered Maria saying, "I might be able to remove Tomoe-san's shackles."

("Shackles"——! So, that's why! The reason Tomoe hasn't been able to use her magic until now, even though she possesses it...?)

Just as Mima was vaguely beginning to understand the strange events unfolding before her, a bird-like cry, unlike anything she'd ever heard, echoed through the room. 

It was a cry that seemed impossible for a creature in nature to produce, yet it was reminiscent of a bird's neigh.

A few moments later, Tomoe's entire body began to emit a flash of light.

It was a golden glow.

The golden light swirled around Tomoe, then formed two large streams of light.

Protecting their eyes from the dazzling light, the four people watching the scene saw it as two wings.

Those two wings of light spread out, filling the entire room.

'Kakyiiiiiiiiiiiiiinn'

Immediately afterward, a deafening roar echoed, like metal clashing violently.

At the same time, the golden light that had filled the room vanished.

And then, Mima, Sougi, Kanaya, and Kanaho all saw it.

A golden staff was floating above Tomoe's head.

"This... this... could it be...?"

Mima, seeing the golden staff, unconsciously murmured.

She had never seen anything like it.

But, for an Exorcist, no, for anyone from the Madozono family, one of the Three Great Families, it was one of the "Three Sacred Treasures", something they should naturally know.

The Phoenix Staff

The other three also had the name of that sacred treasure in their minds.

A treasure imbued with immense power to vanquish the Kaima.

According to legend, this staff was lost in an ancient war against the Kaima.

The truth behind its disappearance is clearly explained in the original setting of "My Beloved Flower Blooms at the Gate."

The Phoenix Staff almost completely consumed its power during the ancient war and nearly vanished.

Therefore, its fundamental material information data was converted into spiritual energy information data, and this information data was absorbed into the soul of the ancestor of the Madozono family,
and it entered a dormant state.

The Madozono family, over eons, passed down the soul from generation to generation,
and continued to accumulate the magical power necessary for its rematerialization.

The task of rematerializing the Phoenix Staff—that is, bringing its revival to fruition—was entrusted to Tomoe.

The oral tradition of the Phoenix Staff's revival was lost during the lineage of the Madozono family, and therefore, no one in the present day knows its details.

For this reason, Tomoe's inability to control magic was diagnosed as "Magic Manipulation Inability."

Although magic resides within Tomoe's body, she cannot use it herself...

This is because the reviving Phoenix Staff was continuously absorbing the magic that Tomoe herself could generate and use.

Tomoe's own magic generation capacity is by no means low.

However, because the Phoenix Staff was continuously stealing her magical power as soon as it was generated, her body's survival instinct was severely suppressing and limiting her magical power generation function.

This was because, if she were to fully utilize her magical power generation function while her magical power was being continuously stolen by others, it would have endangered Tomoe's life activities.

Because of this, the Phoenix Staff was, so to speak, stalled before its resurrection.

The magical power necessary for a complete resurrection was to continue accumulating until ten years from this point in time, and until an event occurred in which she unexpectedly received a vast amount of magical power from the protagonist with whom she had nurtured love—specifically, until just before the Yuri H-Event in Tomoe's route—It was not supposed to accumulate at all.

And that's where Maria, our reincarnated person, comes in, with her thousand times the cheat-level magical power.

Maria poured all of her magical power into her, and as a result, the necessary amount of magical power to revive the Phoenix Staff was fully charged in just a few minutes.

She revived the Phoenix Staff with surprising ease.

Did Maria fully understand that this would happen...?

The answer is half YES and half NO.

Maria had, of course, already played through the event in Tomoe's route where the Phoenix Staff is revived.

However, Maria had skipped over the detailed text during that scene by clicking repeatedly, or by using the "skip to next scene" function.

Despite claiming that "My Beloved Flower Blooms at the Gate" was her "favorite game,"
Maria was a so-called "skip player," reading or not reading the text outside of the H-scenes.

A player who casually skips over the scenario that the writer painstakingly crafted with a few clicks—A TRULY WICKED PERSON WHO DESERVES TO BE CONDEMNED!!

Ahem!

Anyway, she knew virtually nothing about the detailed logic behind the revival of the Phoenix Staff, and was performing the magic infusion with a lighthearted attitude, something like, "Oh yeah, the protagonist was giving magic to Tomoe-chan."

However, her wish to make Tomoe happy was pure and unadulterated, born from a genuinely good heart.

On that point alone, Maria might have deserved praise.

Of course, the only person who knew of that wish was Tomoe, who received Maria's thoughts along with the magic.

But the feelings Tomoe now held towards Maria were not praise for Maria, but rather a simple joy.

A simple but immense joy of meeting someone who selflessly wished for her happiness.

At this moment, Tomoe didn't care whether her "Magic Manipulation Inability" would be cured or what the outcome would be.

It didn't matter anymore.

Today, she met a girl for the first time who would become her stepsister.

With this so-called "Onee-sama" by her side, she felt like everything would be fulfilled.

Tomoe was convinced of this without any basis.

"...It seems... to have worked..."

Maria lifted her forehead from Tomoe and looked up at the Phoenix Staff floating in the air.

Then, she smiled at Mima.

"Mima-nee-sama, please take the Staff. Anyone from Madozono should be recognized as its owner."

"Uh, ah, yes..."

Maria's words brought Mima back to her senses, and she hesitantly reached for the Phoenix Staff.

As Mima made up her mind and grasped the staff, the entire staff emitted a faint golden light.

The light frightened Mima for a moment, but she quickly understood that this reaction wasn't a bad one.

The Phoenix Staff was conveying that it recognized Mima as a member of the Madozono family and the rightful hand of the staff.

"That's good... Now, Tomoe-san too... finally...."

Maria said, and suddenly her body lurched, as if the strings that held her in place had snapped.

"Onee-sama?!"

Tomoe-san, still holding her palms together, frantically tried to support her, but a little girl's reaction speed and strength were no match for Maria's falling.

Just as Maria was about to collapse to the floor, Sougi quickly rushed over and held her in her arms.

"...! Maria-ojou-ssma has fainted!"

Sougi, who had caught her, immediately noticed Maria's condition and informed Mima.

Upon hearing this, Mima immediately realized the cause.

To revive the Phoenix Staff, Maria must have poured her magic power into Tomoe's body to its limit...!

No matter how immense Maria's magic power may be, she is still a young child.

Losing such a large amount of magic power all at once can be life-threatening, even for an adult.

"Maria!!!"

Mima's heart-wrenching cry echoed through the room...

AN:

Maria had fainted...!

Would Maria be alright...? (←In a veeeeryyyy disingenuous manner) (^_^♪)