Lancer cruel evaluation caused the atmosphere in the car to stagnate, but Kyubey didn't refute his words. After all, Kyubey was essentially just an emotionless "program." He would deceive, but he wouldn't argue against facts.
However, he didn't give up.
"The horror of 'Walpurgisnacht' this time far exceeds the two Witches you encountered before, Mr. Lancer. If Madoka and the others have the power of a 'magical girl,' they might still be able to protect themselves. But if they don't, their safety can't be guaranteed at all..."
Another classic Kyubey-style deception.
True, becoming a magical girl might increase the chance of survival, but it almost certainly guaranteed a future tragedy. It was no different from drinking poison to quench a thirst.
"Then we'll just have to deal with 'Walpurgisnacht' before it reaches Mitakihara!"
"That's not possible~ No one knows where Walpurgisnacht will descend. After all, its 'movement' is just my guess. Usually, when 'Walpurgisnacht' happens, it means destruction..."
"Tsk~"
This was the first time Lancer made such a bluntly annoyed sound, but he couldn't be blamed. He really didn't know much about "Walpurgisnacht," other than the fact that the opponent was strong.
But Kyubey just tilted its head.
"And as I said, 'Walpurgisnacht' will appear within the next day or two. As for exactly how long, I'm not sure, maybe—"
"BOOM!!"
Before Kyubey could finish, a massive roar suddenly echoed from the distance. Following that, Lancer pupils shrank as he sat in the driver's seat.
In the eyes of an ordinary person, all they saw was a billboard collapsing without warning—perhaps due to age or some other reason—and the only silver lining was that no one was hurt. But in Lancer eyes, he saw a patch of distorted space.
Only then did Kyubey voice come from behind.
"It's starting."
In a situation Lancer hadn't expected at all, "Walpurgisnacht" had suddenly arrived.
"Everyone, hold onto something!"
Lancer expression right now was like he'd just been royally screwed. He'd been in this world for barely a month and he was already running into his main quest target? How was he supposed to spend the remaining five months?
But before thinking about those problems, the most important thing was to take down the opponent in front of him.
"Weapon Overload."
A skill originally intended to strengthen his weapons was now used by Lancer without hesitation on the car he was driving. The SUV, which had a limit of maybe 220 km/h, instantly started throwing off electric sparks. The speedometer representing speed hit its limit in a flash as Lancer floored the gas again—
"VROOOOM!!"
The massive roar and violent shaking made one seriously doubt if the car was about to fly apart, but Lancer couldn't care less. Swarms of Familiars were already charging straight toward them.
True, mere Familiars were nothing in Lancer eyes, but the problem was they were still on the main road. He had no idea how much damage those trailing Familiars would cause, so his priority was to lure them to an uninhabited area.
Subsequently, the traffic police of Mitakihara City encountered the second "legend" of their careers.
First, it was a headless rider; now, it was an SUV covered in electric sparks racing down the city's main road. The driver's speed was approaching 250 km/h, and the ground the car passed over cracked for no apparent reason, while countless glass windows along the route were shattered. For a moment, the police station phones in Mitakihara were ringing off the hook.
Meanwhile, Lancer had no time to worry about the police. Even with the "Riding" skill, street racing still required absolute focus.
"Orga! How much further to the nearest 'battlefield'?!"
"14 kilometers!"
"Good! I'm speeding up!"
Since Lancer knew he'd have to show his hand to Kyubey eventually, he had naturally selected a battlefield in advance. What Lancer called a "battlefield" was a nearby area where people could fight freely. As for "speeding up," he naturally used the Tactical Orbment at his waist.
With "Wing of Wind" cast onto the car body, the speed actually increased a bit more.
But right then—
"Walpurgisnacht has arrived. The only way to defeat it is for you to work together..."
"Shut up!"
"CRACK CRACK!!"
At Lancer low shout, countless ice crystals suddenly appeared around Kyubey as he stood on the seat back, completely encasing him. Strangely, Lancer left enough space inside so as not to turn him into a "popsicle" directly.
"Lancer, why didn't you just kill that bastard?"
If Kyoko Sakura had only suspected that "magical girls" and "Witches" were related before, the sudden appearance of Walpurgisnacht almost made her certain that Kyubey was the mastermind behind everything.
If she'd felt she was just taking her anger out on Kyubey before, right now she felt like tearing him apart with her bare hands.
"Killing it is useless. If this thing were that easy to kill, I would have done it long ago... Hold tight!"
As Lancer voice fell, he yanked the steering wheel hard while his right hand slammed the shifter and ripped up the handbrake. Amidst the screech of friction, the car left four black marks on the pavement, but the chassis instantly completed a 360-degree spin before heading down a small side road.
This sudden turn sent the five girls in the car piling into each other. The three in the very back were completely bewildered, seemingly not having reacted to what was happening yet.
Up until a moment ago, they were just accompanying Kyubey to find Mami-senpai, but the moment they stepped into this car, their entire worldview had been violently shaken.
First, there was the intense verbal sparring between Lancer and Kyubey, then the "Walpurgisnacht" Kyubey mentioned suddenly appeared, then Lancer directly froze and imprisoned Kyubey, and that girl named Kyoko Sakura was even threatening to kill him.
None of this matched their image of a "magical girl" life.
In their minds, weren't magical girls supposed to just fight little monsters to protect everyone, then eat cake with their friends in their spare time?
So why were they now in a car throwing sparks, dodging enemies, and discussing killing the guide who led them to become "magical girls"?
Had the world developed a bug?
But at that moment, something even more unexpected happened. The car was almost at its destination, but—
"SNAP! BANG!!"
Everyone looked at Lancer right hand and the handbrake in disbelief. Had he just snapped it off?!