That night, the Holy Quintet splits up. Homura is currently still at the hospital.
While Mami and Kyoko leave Mitakihara to investigate Kazamino and Asunaro, Sayaka and Madoka stayed in Mitakihara to keep their eyes peeled for witches. And their investigations lead them to one of the many construction sites in Mitakihara where familiars have recently been known for running rampant.
As magical girls, the two are dressed differently from their school uniforms.
Madoka wore a poofy pink dress with a pink-white fade flower-like pattern, white skirt and petticoat, white gloves, white knee-high stockings, dark pink heels, and pink short twin-tail ribbons. Her pink soul gem can be seen on her chest in the shape of a teardrop.
Sayaka wore something like that of a swordswoman. She wore a blue and white button-down strapless top, white stockings, teal boots, standard-length white gloves over elbow-length midnight blue gloves, and a diagonal-cut skirt. It also came with a white thigh-long cape.
Sayaka managed to cut down two detected familiars with her cutlass, and Madoka shot down three with her bow. There was no sign of witches.
"No witch... There is usually a witch's barrier." Sayaka used her soul gem and it detected none. She sighed and shook her head.
"How will we be able to purify our soul gems without a grief seed?" Madoka was sort of scared to see what happened to soul gem if left unpurified.
"There must a witch somewhere in this site," Sayaka encouraged, "We'll just have to continue searching and save our magic for that fight."
While the two carried on, Madoka finally gets the chance to talk about her nightmare to Sayaka while they're moving along.
"Sayaka, remember that nightmare I had?" Madoka began.
Sayaka didn't forget about that. "Yeah, what about it? Was it really that bad?"
Madoka tried to recall every single thing that happened when she dreamt:
"Well, I was in Mitakihara, but it looks very different than that time with our fight with Walpurgisnacht. It look so... lifeless. There was this unusual person in armor with an army behind him. The knight approached me, carrying Homura's soul gem in his hand. He... He dropped it in front of me and crushed it with his foot. I gasped and I tried to move away. He then took out his sword an attacked me... That's all I can remember from it... I don't know what to make of it."
Surprisingly, Madoka would forget most of her dreams, but this one was one of the only few she was able to remember.
"Do you think a witch was making that nightmare up as you slept?" Sayaka wondered.
"No, I don't think so," Madoka answered, "It felt too... real. Are witches even capable of doing that?"
The two were then stopped by dark pillars that rose out of the ground. They glowed with red markings and formed a barrier, trapping Madoka and Sayaka inside the construction site. Alarmed, the two magical girls had their weapons ready just in case; as they surveyed their surroundings, a mysterious figure was present with them.
It's a knight in dark tarnished armor with a tattered cape and rusted steel. Eerie ivory white eyes can be seen through the Teutonic winged helmet. His arms were crossed and his breath was slow. A vibe of mystery emitted with a hint that he was not from here.
Madoka suddenly felt fear for she recognizes the knight and the knight she saw in her nightmare. Sayaka found the knight's presence unsettling, and she can tell that he can't be trusted especially with how Madoka is reacting towards him.
"Who are you?" Sayaka cautiously asked.
The knight didn't respond.
Sayaka cautiously asked again."What are you doing here?"
Again, the knight didn't respond.
This sort of annoyed Sayaka. "Answer me! We're both trapped in this—"
The knight finally responds, speaking in a deep, soft voice; it sounded noble and calm, but something about this voice made him suspicious at first. The words that came out of his mouth were eldritch and cryptic to the magical girls:
"All of you are trapped. Every sentient being in this universe is lost. I have come to guide you all away from such a path of ruin. And through me, you will be atoned. And through me, everything is possible. And through me, you'll know true salvation."
Madoka stepped back nervously, holding her bow close. She didn't like this little introduction that the Knight has given.
Sayaka had no idea what his message meant but she knew it made no sense at all. She has her cutlass facing the knight, holding the weapon with both hands.
The knight can sense Madoka's fear and Sayaka's hostility.
"You don't trust me?" The knight condescendingly questioned.
"How can we trust you?" Madoka replied. Despite being nervous, she tried to remain vigilant. "We don't even know who you are."
"Yeah, we have no idea what you meant by all that," Sayaka agreed, "especially if it's a stranger."
The knight didn't respond to the combative stance that Sayaka is making. He did respond to their concern about him being a stranger, so he properly introduces himself.
"My apologies for not giving a name then," The knight acknowledges, "My name is Vitomir Riley Pryus. And I've come to save your world from the wrongful and assure a future that will provide everlasting salvation."
"But this world is already saved." Madoka stepped forward, lowering her bow. She has a hand over her chest. "We stopped Walpurgisnacht here in Mitakihara."
"And may I ask how you stopped this being?" Pryus questioned.
"Hope," Madoka simply replied.
"Hope? Is that all?" Pryus laughed at that answer. "I've seen many universes with worlds 'saved' by hope. Let me ask this. Does it help you? Does it feed you? Does it pay you? Does it let you live? Think about it? Is it really saving you?"
Most of those questions were unfairly unanswerable. All hope did is help Mitakihara and the Holy Quintet endure and defeat Walpurgisnacht, assuring a future. Why is Pryus questioning this? Madoka and Sayaka refused to reply to his question, having no exact answer for them.
Pryus sighed and spoke proudly. "See? You cannot depend on hope like how a dog depends on his master. It is nothing but a concept of human nature."
"You're wrong!" Madoka argued.
"I am wrong?" Pryus narrowed his eyes, slowly stepping forward. "You dare question my wisdom after what I've just proven about your 'hope'? It saves your home, yes, but it has no other use. Thus, you are all doomed."
Sayaka stepped forward and halted Pryus' advance with her cutlass pointed at his chest. Her message is clear to Pryus with this action: stay back.
Pryus did so, and he points at them. The earth roared and then shook; a terrifying power was coming from Pryus, holy yet unwelcoming.
"Then you two shall be chastised for your false hope." Pryus was then hit in the shoulder by an arrow shot by Madoka. The arrow didn't pierce his armor and deliver damage. He breaks the arrow off. "You will repent for that, girl."
A crystal of steel, bismuth, and obsidian suddenly sprouts over Pryus left arm, taking the shape of a shield for any knight. From his right hand, black dust and embers appeared, taking the form of a crusader's steel sword. He is ready to fight, and since there was no way out of this construction site, Sayaka and Madoka had no choice but defend themselves.
This knight is making no sense, Sayaka thought.
Sayaka started by closing in and try to slash at him, but he was quick enough to block the slash with his shield. When she tried to slash at the legs, shoulders, arms, and back, she thought she has dealt damage to him. However, it turns out they only left scratches that didn't pierce the armor. Pryus moved back a bit and continued his focus on her.
"No way!" Sayaka is shocked.
"It will take more than that to defeat me," Pryus mocked, "You lack the strength."
"Shut up!" Sayaka jumps into the air and slashes downward.
Pryus blocked it using his shield again.
Madoka fired a few pink arrows to distract Pryus so that Sayaka can get an upper hand, but Pryus pushed Sayaka away. He then came towards Madoka to strike her down for those hits she made. Sayaka acted quickly and came to Madoka's aid by pushing Pryus back.
"You okay, Madoka?" Sayaka tried to not let her guard down.
Madoka nods.
"Leave it to me for now," Sayaka suggested.
"No, we have to do this as a team," Madoka argued.
Sayaka sighed. "Alright... just don't let him close in on you like that."
Madoka nods and she kept her distance, delivering a few arrow shots while Sayaka made sure the distance between her and Pryus was far enough.
As the fight continued, Sayaka ended up getting grabbed and thrown around by Pryus. She was able to recover and continue trying to strike Pryus. Soon, he grabbed Sayaka one more time, and this time it's by the neck. He then tightened his grip on Sayaka's throat, trying to asphyxiate her to death. She struggled to free herself from his grasp, but Pryus shows no sign of stopping. Not even a kick more a punch force Pryus to let go.
Madoka didn't want to lose Sayaka. She immediately fired some arrows at Pryus while his back is turned.
"Let her go!" Madoka demanded. She had another arrow aimed for the head.
Pryus looked at Madoka once she said that. He then threw Sayaka at Madoka, knocking them down to the ground. Pryus' sword and shield then crumbled into ashes, and he crossed his arms.
The fight was over for now.
"That's enough," Pryus declared, "I must confess that I only went easy on you two."
Sayaka was gasping for air, but her soul gem was able to make her recover quickly. Sayaka was then breathing heavily, glaring at Pryus as Madoka helped her up.
"You show resistance, but that doesn't matter," Pryus states as he turns his back on them, "I will bend the Multiverse to bring this one to its knees. Then you'll never think of defying me again and defending this nonsense about 'hope'."
His words were more things that Sayaka and Madoka don't understand. In the end, they now know he isn't from this world, coming from somewhere in this 'multiverse' that he mentioned. Sayaka played along with Pryus' nonsense.
"Leave our world," Sayaka demanded quietly, "Never come back."
"Very well... but for now..." Pryus turns and pulled out a crossbow with a crystal bolt loaded. It was aimed directly at Madoka. "Let this girl be an example."
Madoka is alarmed.
As the trigger is pulled Sayaka immediately defend Madoka again, using her cutlass to try and deflect the bolt away. She steps in the way and tried to cut the bolt down. Instead, this bolt broke Sayaka's cutlass in two and it pierced into Sayaka's chest, puncturing a lung. Her healing factor wasn't able to heal this wound for some reason.
"Sayaka-chan!" Madoka caught Sayaka as she collapsed.
The barriers soon disappear, and Pryus steps away, disappearing into the darkness. Madoka quickly carried Sayaka out of the construction site, changing from their Magical Girl form to their normal school girl uniforms. Madoka tried to call for an ambulance while making sure Sayaka was still breathing.
Their witch-hunt had to ended that night.