Chapter 118

Guiding Light ran along Sahara’s Guiding prosthetic as she leveled it at Teach. Guiding Force: Connect—Prosthetic Arm, Inner Seal Conjuration—Activate [Skill: Guiding Shot] Guiding Force: Connect—Scripture, 2:5—Invoke [Rejoice, for the wall that surrounds a pious flock of sheep shall never crumble.] Teach blocked Sahara’s attack with a defensive scripture conjuring, but Sahara charged her before the wall of light faded. Teach analyzed Sahara’s skills as they fought. Her Guiding prosthetic used a Primary Colors Concept, and she drew firepower from the Concept Dimension of Original Sin. She didn’t have a single respectable ability. While she’d been a quick study with conjurings when she was young, she’d clearly developed in a warped direction. Until a few days ago, Teach would’ve kept cautious in a battle like this. She would’ve used feints and diversions, looked for an opening, and determined the limits of her foe’s abilities before striking back accordingly. However, she had no need for such roundabout tactics now. An arm growing from her back extended unnaturally, the first of three attacks. Sahara dodged as it swung down for her. The ground caved beneath the strike. The blow was pure brute force without any Guiding Enhancement. Power. All Teach needed to win was pure power. “You’ve really become a monste—ngh!” Sahara had evaded the first limb and blocked the second. The third had only been meant to distract her from Teach’s thrown rapier, which pierced her through. The girl coughed up blood. The blade had found its mark, stabbing into Sahara’s chest and crushing one of her lungs. It was a fatal wound. As Teach approached to snap her neck and crush her skull, Sahara suddenly looked up. “Hey, Teach… You realize you seem really pathetic to almost everyone else, right?” Despite Sahara’s obviously fatal injury, she activated her Guiding prosthetic at point-blank range. Guiding Force: Connect— Before Teach could withdraw, Sahara completed a conjuring. “But I would never laugh at you.” Prosthetic Arm, Inner Seal Conjuration— “Because I get it. I know how it feels to be so jealous of someone that you feel like you might go crazy.” Activate [Skill: Pile Driver] Sahara poured all of her Guiding Force into the attack, driving a stake through Teach’s heart. The pile bunker–style strike at point-blank distance gouged a huge hole in Teach’s chest. The light faded from the monstrous woman’s eyes almost immediately. “You wanted to prove your life had value, not to the world…but to Flare.” Having just barely eked out a victory against a far stronger priestess, Sahara dropped to her knees. She was painfully familiar with how Teach let her jealousy control her, and she found herself wondering if there was a better way for Teach to live, and for herself as well. “I guess this was a draw…” With that, the life left Sahara’s body. Her corpse turned into dust and scattered on the wind. The spirit that held her personality passed through the flow of Guiding Force into a space separate from this world, and the stored materials there created a new body for her. Her soul entered this new spare body, and she was pushed back into existence. “…Except I had an extra life, so I’m not actually dead.” Thus reborn, Sahara stretched and flexed her Guiding prosthetic. “Man… I’ve only got one life left, though. I better not die until I can replenish.” Sahara’s fuel consumption wasn’t as efficient as Abbie’s. Concepts of Original Sin and Primary Colors coexisted in her body, and as a result, the separate space she had access to was exceptionally small. “Maya’s train…left already, of course.” If Sahara chased the train using Guiding Enhancement, would she make it in time to save Maya from the trap that surely awaited her? Sahara considered it for a bit, until someone croaked behind her “Not…yet…” Sahara’s eyes widened. It couldn’t be. Even transformed into a demon by a Concept of Original Sin, she couldn’t have survived after her heart, the demon’s core, had been destroyed. Yet despite all reason, Teach was still alive. “What? How?” Sahara stared in disbelief. She knew she’d blasted a hole in Teach’s chest so large that one could see through to the other side. Yet it had closed up. Teach had absorbed something nearby and made it a part of her body to replace her lost heart. It was the thing she’d sent flying when she first appeared, a train’s power source, ripped from the front car’s engine room. Teach had assimilated the Guiding engine as a replacement heart. The running engine revved and chugged loudly. With Teach’s demonic ability to absorb and consume organic and inorganic matter, she’d kept herself alive and even grown stronger. The machine fused with her in place of a heart distorted Teach’s silhouette further. Previously, she’d at least maintained the bare semblance of a human. Now there was no mistaking it. She was a horrific monster. Guiding Force: Connect—Scripture, 2:5—Invoke [Rejoice, for the wall that surrounds a pious flock of sheep shall never crumble.] Guiding Force: Connect—Scripture, 3:1—Invoke [And the oncoming enemy did hear the tolling of the bell.] Guiding Force: Connect—Scripture, 1:2—Invoke [Drive in the stake and make known the ground where all shall begin.] Guiding Force: Connect—Scripture, 8:12—Invoke [Kneel before the gate, for it is the path to the Lord.] Four different scripture conjurings activated at once. A pseudo-church appeared, large enough to envelop the entire station, its arrival heralded by the sound of a conjured bell. The building collapsed under its own sheer weight. Rubble came thundering down, swallowing Sahara before she had a chance to resist. Fire blazed around her. The pseudo-church attack had destroyed the trains, the piled-up containers, the machinery, and virtually everything else around the station. Most of the people nearby had already fled when Teach started rampaging, but a few weren’t lucky enough to escape in time and died to the monster. Something in the containers must have been flammable, because a fire had started in the station wreckage. Soon, the entire area was in flames. Teach stood among the detritus. The heat didn’t bother her. She’d won. She’d survived. When someone died, so did their beliefs. Which meant her beliefs were correct. Power was all she required. With enough, she could crush her enemies and prove herself right. Yet despite all that… “Hah!” That laugh wouldn’t stop ringing in her ears. She still heard the voice mocking her. It still wasn’t enough. What more did she need to do? “Are you stupid or what?” She turned around, searching for the source. A shadow hovered amid the flames, flickering. Teach stared dumbfounded at the silhouette that blocked out the light. It was a monster. What the hell is that thing? Only when she tried to voice this question aloud did Teach realize her vocal cords were gone. Now it all made sense. It was her shadow. Whatever made Teach who she was had been eaten away. There was no doubt about it. She’d been taken over by a Concept of Original Sin. Soon, she would lose what little strength of reason she had left and become a monster that blindly attacked people. Who’d turned her into this horrible thing? The scar Flare had left on her face throbbed. She touched its rough surface. Of course. That was when her pride as an Executioner had been wounded. Those words had cut to her core. “You incompetent fool.” Michele’s voice and Flare’s echoed together in her memories. “Rrgh!” Seething rage shattered Teach’s spirit to pieces. Before Teach lost herself completely, she concentrated the splinters of her mind on neither the governor of the Fourth nor Flarette. “MIIIICHEEEEEEELE!” the monster howled. By this point, it was closer to the sound of a Guiding engine roaring than a human voice. The eyeballs across Teach’s body swiveled to stare at a single point. In a field not far from here, Michele and Abbie were fighting. The monster broke into a charge. Running on two legs was too much of a hindrance now. It used the six arms sprouting from its back, galloping like a beast, but with a form and drive far more sinister. Maya ran as though propelled by the light of the rising sun. After she transferred to the next train, she reached the station nearest to the City of Ruins in about thirty minutes. This wasn’t like when she’d left Menou and the others. She hadn’t been lured away. She ran with a firm goal in mind. She’d been lost all this time, ever since meeting with Michele and hearing Hakua’s voice. Maya wanted to be needed. Hakua’s invitation knowingly played on that weakness. Now that Manon was gone, Maya didn’t care who she betrayed. In a world where her mother had died, she was willing to sacrifice anything. Because the only person who’d needed Maya wasn’t around anymore. “Huff… Huff…!” Finally, she reached an area that was nothing but downward sloped wasteland as far as the eye could see. “There really is nothing left here…” Once, this place had been a city. The largest and most advanced megalopolis in the world. Shaking off the emotions the utterly transformed landscape stirred within her, Maya set her sights on the church, Hakua’s indicated meeting place. It stood atop a massive hole in the earth, one wide enough to swallow a small village whole. Several bridges spanned the gap to support the church suspended at the center of the yawning crater. Where a normal church had a steeple that rose into the sky, this one’s ran down into the abyss. The inverted spire was the path to the City of Ruins. Maya could see no one else around. Hakua had likely sent them all away. Maya walked across the unguarded bridge and entered the church built in midair. While Sahara had repeatedly told her this was a trick, Maya believed there was a good chance Hakua would come in person, if nothing else. After all, Hakua had no reason to fear Maya. Whether this was a trap or not, it was entirely possible that Hakua would appear to someone so weak as not to register as a threat. “Hakua! I’m here!” When Maya entered the place of worship, she spotted a girl waiting inside. Her black hair was far too long. Instead of a sailor-style school uniform, she wore a simple, sleeveless white dress. Her face looked just like Menou’s. This had to be Hakua Shirakami. “I knew you’d come. It’s been a long time, Maya.” “Yes. I certainly did. And I’m alone, as you requested.” “Mm-hmm, I see. You haven’t changed a bit. You look just like you did a thousand years ago. Unlike me—I’m completely different.” “I can’t believe you left the holy land,” Maya said. “Ha-ha… I didn’t,” Hakua replied, dismissing the very idea. Michele truly believed that Hakua had departed from her sanctuary for Maya, but she’d done no such thing. The person before Maya was and wasn’t the real Hakua. “After I let Flarette escape, I made myself a backup body in the holy land. Since time has stopped for my dear Akari, I actually have more time to spare now. Enough to make brand-new material that can become one with Akari again, although it’ll be a lot of work. This body is a prototype that I control with my spirit using Possession. It’s kind of like a body double, except…” Hakua held out her hand. The fingertips had turned pure white. There was no sign of life in the alabaster flesh. “It’s not quite a perfect match, I guess. My Pure Concept is slowly consuming this form.” That explained the time limit on this meeting. Once the white had spread across the host’s entire body, this so-called double that housed Hakua’s spirit would cease to function. “I don’t really care if your body is the real thing or not,” Maya said. “Oh yeah?” “Not at all. I came here so you’d tell me about what happened a thousand years ago. That’s all that matters.” “Well, not to worry. This is unquestionably my real spirit.” That suited Maya just fine. The place where they stood had once been the city center. Hakua copied Nono’s Pure Concept and turned her into a Human Error a thousand years ago on this very spot. At that same time, the Starhusk had been completed in the truest sense. “Tell me, Hakua. Why did you betray Nono? Why did you betray all of us? Did you have a reason?” When Maya forced out the all-important question, Hakua regarded her with empty black eyes. “Do you remember what happened here?” she asked. “Of course I do! How could I possibly forget?!” “Gotcha.” The girl who’d lived for a thousand years spoke in a hollow tone. “You see, I’ve already forgotten.” People can’t outrun time, no matter how impactful an event might have been. Only one human in this world had been given the right to challenge time itself. Only the Otherworlder with the Pure Concept of Time in her soul, Akari Tokitou, could do that. Guiding Force: Merge Materials—Sanctuary, Church Architecture Conjuring, Crest—Invoke [Multi-Wall Sanctum Barrier] The barrier conjuring that all churches kept at the ready activated. While the barrier defended against outside attacks, it also trapped people inside. Now Maya couldn’t escape. Hakua reached out the hand of the temporary body she controlled. She touched Maya’s chest, just as she had done to Nono Hoshizaki beneath the Starhusk so long ago. Those pure white fingertips touched the skin that was exposed by the hole in the center of Maya’s one-piece dress. “All I remember is that I missed my chance to collect something important last time—your Pure Concept of Evil.” Maya stared directly at Hakua’s face. “So…you don’t even remember why you tricked us?” “That’s right. I don’t care about the past. I’m only here because your Pure Concept will be useful for taking down Grisarika Kingdom.” Hakua nodded without a shred of guilt. Her gaze was fixed on something distant. She dug through the memories that had become mere information to her, trying to find emotion, only to be disappointed by her unmoved heart. “…Yeah, that’s it. All I remember is that I fooled you all from start to finish. I didn’t really care how or why anymore. I can’t.” After giving that emotionless statement, she activated her Pure Concept. “That is my crime, and my punishment.” Guiding Force: Connect—Perfect Attachment, Pure Concept [Ivory]—Invoke [Blanch] Hakua’s Pure Concept of Ivory could use a conjuring called Blanch that interfered with the soul and erased all traces of mind and personality. It was especially powerful against Otherworlders, who became Human Errors when their memories were consumed. Yet Maya didn’t look concerned at all. Hakua seemed puzzled by her conjuring’s lack of effect. Was it because she was using her Pure Concept in an imperfect body, even though it contained her soul? Or perhaps it had something to do with the unique properties of the Pure Concept of Evil Maya carried? Normally, the conjuring erased all the victim’s memories instantly, but it seemed to be working very slowly, if at all. “You said that this is your real spirit, if not your body, didn’t you?” Maya asked. “Yeah, so what?” Hakua replied. Even knowing the truth of Hakua’s betrayal from a thousand years ago, Maya wasn’t terribly disappointed. It had been evident from the beginning that Hakua was luring her into a trap. As the Blanch slowly ate into her, Maya grabbed Hakua’s hand that touched her chest. She’d been waiting for this, the moment that Hakua would touch her, unguarded, to access her Pure Concept of Evil. Maya smiled fearlessly. “So you’re not the only person who can use conjurings that affect the spirit, that’s what.” She knew right away that Hakua desired her Pure Concept. Hakua had known how weak Maya was a thousand years ago, so Maya had suspected she’d show up in person to steal her Pure Concept. Maya had gotten an idea when she’d received Hakua’s message asking to meet one-on-one. “My Pure Concept of Evil can erode the soul, too.” Maybe, just maybe, her Pure Concept would be able to defeat Hakua. Guiding Force: Connect— Chaos Collusion, Pure Concept [Evil]— “Wai—” “No way.” Maya wrapped her fingers around Hakua’s hand when she tried to pull it away and held on tightly. If she used all her power here, she could beat Hakua without Menou or the Starhusk. She could get back at the world that had wronged her over and over by saving it all by herself, proving everyone wrong. Maya had come here alone, betting on a possibility that no one else had seen in her, to outwit everyone. Erosion [Pure Concept: Evil] Maya’s hands slipped into Hakua’s flesh. There was no pain, only slight discomfort and the strange feeling of goose bumps running all over her body. She endured it and tracked down the spirit trying to escape. “Nn…gh…!” Hakua’s spirit wriggled and resisted. The Blanch conjuring offset the encroaching Concept of Original Sin. A conjuring that had consumed countless other conjuring phenomena could stand against the assault from the Concept of Original Sin, if only barely. Maya wasn’t confident that she could win, though. Blanch was the worst possible conjuring for an Otherworlder to face. It was far more likely that Hakua would manage to absorb Maya’s Pure Concept, and that would be the end for her. Even so, she fought. Maya gave everything she had to try to change the world on her own. “Nnn… Nooooo!” She poured the Guiding Force attached to her soul into her connection with Hakua, filling it with all of the memories she’d received from Manon and built up with Sahara and the others. What was the root of all Evil? What was a Concept of Original Sin? Maya couldn’t answer those questions. There was an underworld that had always existed separate from this world, and when Maya was summoned as an Otherworlder, it used her as conjuring materials to form a connection. Maya didn’t create Concepts of Original Sin. They had existed since long before humanity first walked this planet. Essentially, the world of Original Sin was full of power without physical form. The Guiding Force there was akin to a life-form with no will of its own. When people gained Guiding Force, it took on their will. The eroding force of Original Sin Conjurings only ever attempted to make the laws of this world match the natural workings of its own. Now that force used Maya’s body as an entrance to consume Hakua. “Why…would you do…this?! Aren’t you afraid…of reverting to…a Human Error?!” “Of course I am. But I made up my mind. I’ll never, ever forgive you for betraying us, or for killing Manon. So I’ve decided to get revenge.” Maya glared with intense resolve and emotion. “My power isn’t weak.” The Pure Concept of Evil had never been the worst of its kind. When it became a Human Error, people whispered of it with hushed terror worldwide. “I can give things to people, not just take.” Maya’s concept had created a conjuring that gave people a semblance of life, just as it provided Sahara with a body when she was reduced to only a spirit. Even if it seemed like a repulsive power, it could be beneficial depending on how it was used. Had Maya come to terms with her Pure Concept sooner, perhaps her future would’ve been different. She’d assumed her power was nothing but a terrifying ability to summon life from the underworld, life that would erode and transform everything into horrors. Still, it might have been useful if she’d only allowed it to be. A thousand years ago, Maya hadn’t thought she’d ever be of help to anyone. The experience of being used as an unwilling Pure Concept specimen had traumatized her. She’d been terrified of what her powers might do if she became a Human Error. She didn’t dare test them by accessing her Pure Concept and depleting her memories. “And I can change myself, too.” Maya wasn’t the same girl she used to be. She wasn’t the pitiful Maya Ooshima who’d been captured and tormented. After enduring so much, she’d made up her mind. She would offer herself in exchange to stop Hakua Shirakami, who would do more harm than any Human Error. “I get it…” The Concept of Original Sin was moments away from overtaking the blanching phenomenon. And that’s when Hakua smiled softly. “You’ve changed. You used to be so weak. You must have met someone really special.” Maya drew back in alarm. She’d accepted that she would lose herself. What attachment did she have to this world anyway? Why not return to being a Human Error? There was no one left who needed her. Defeating Hakua, the one who’d betrayed her and killed Manon, would make it worthwhile. Maya had never imagined… “I’m sure Menou can make you feel needed, even if I can’t.” …that Sahara would say something like that. It was so silly, so ridiculous, that Maya felt tempted to believe it. Perhaps she could have what she wanted, after all. Someday, there might be someone who needed Maya precisely the way she was. Her short time with Sahara had left her wondering. “That’s right, Maya. You’re still so young, full of promise…” Hakua’s gentle voice reminded Maya of her lingering attachments to life. Instantly, her resolve to take Hakua down with her crumbled. The feeling of loss as she exhausted her memories became too much to bear, and soon, Blanch had the upper hand. By becoming aware of the connection she’d found on the trip here, Maya had a new reason to fear becoming a Human Error. “…And that’s why you’re so weak.” No matter how determined Maya believed herself, or how much she’d accepted her Pure Concept, she was still only a child. If Maya didn’t have any remaining attachments to this world, perhaps she would’ve been able to win against Hakua. Her Pure Concept had successfully captured Hakua’s spirit, even if it was housed in a mere double. Unfortunately, Maya was still hopelessly weak. So much that if there was someone who still needed her, she couldn’t help but want to live. Maya stopped the erosion while she still had enough memories remaining. “Ah…” Immediately, the blanching phenomenon spread across her body. Hakua reached out again to claim the Pure Concept of Evil for herself. “It was a good try, Maya. You almost—” The church trembled before she could finish her sentence. It was an attack from outside. Hakua’s hand stilled. “What?” A barrier was in place around the church, one that used the structure and supporting bridges as a conjuring circle. It wouldn’t strain and break easily. Another attack struck. The barrier shook a second time, then a third. By the fifth hit, the Guiding Light that protected the church finally cracked and shattered. A wall was blown open, and light poured in from outside. In stepped someone with Hakua’s face. She held her yellow mantle over her mouth to keep from inhaling dust as she entered the heart of the church and took Maya from Hakua in one smooth motion. “For someone who loves sneaking around and scheming, you’re not very thorough with the finishing touches, are you? I certainly hope that habit of cutting corners hasn’t affected me just because I was created based on your sorry self.” Hakua scowled when she saw who’d come to rescue the lost child who’d dared to challenge her. Maya, who’d meant to fight Hakua alone, was astonished. Her eyes went wide. “Menou?!” “That’s right.” Menou smiled gallantly at Maya to reassure her. “I’ve come to rescue you.” Michele was turning pale. She was focused solely on the projection, no longer trying to fight Abbie. Even Abbie was taken aback by the unexpected effect the display had on her opponent. “It can’t be…” Michele had wanted Hakua and Maya to make amends. For someone who had complete faith in Hakua, the sight of her Lord attempting to harm Maya was shocking beyond words. And there was something even more unbelievable. “Lady Hakua…attacked Miss Maya…? And this Possession she mentioned…,” Michele muttered, dazed. The feed cut off there. “Ah.” Abbie gave a small sound of surprise. A monster had landed between her and Michele with a resounding thud, stomping on the projecting insect. “MIIIIICHEEEEEEEEELE!” The shrieking creature had six freakishly long legs. There were countless eyes and ears on its body, and its distorted torso contained a train’s Guiding engine in place of a heart. There was barely any evidence that the creature had once been human. Michele’s eye twitched with irritation as she beheld the abomination. “Of all the… How did you turn into a monster?! Surely this wasn’t Miss Maya’s work!” She cursed this bizarre development. A low howl rang out. Opening her mouth, the monster that was once Teach spewed out Guiding Light from the engine and began to charge. Although she’d lost all reason, Michele was clearly her target. That meant Abbie was now free to do as she pleased. She leaped on top of Teach, touching a hand to the Guiding engine that was the monster’s heart. “Ha-ha! Since this soul’s been taken over by a Concept of Original Sin, it doesn’t matter what I do with this, right?” “Wait! Stop!!” Guiding Force: Merge Materials—Ability Control—Invoke [Confer Skill: Berserker] The gear symbol on Abbie’s lower stomach rotated with a clink. She poured a generous amount of material into the Guiding engine, turning it from the motor that powered a locomotive to a Guiding furnace that would power a city block. There was an ear-piercing sound that could’ve been mistaken for a human scream or a machine going into overdrive. The heat from the furnace blasted out and vaporized the surrounding snow. “I still can’t get the Guiding Force to circulate like my li’l sis does… Oh well. That should be enough to slow you down.” Unable to keep up with the heat from this increased output, Teach’s body began to melt away. Bereft of a conscious mind, Teach was driven purely by passion and readied her scripture conjurings. Michele turned to face her, recognizing that this was a threat that couldn’t be ignored. Abbie cackled delightedly while watching from a safe distance. “You reap what you sow, huh? All that scheming, yet you fell prey to someone else’s plan instead! How’s it feel to be outsmarted and stopped by the people you were trying to beat?” Abbie stuck out her tongue with glee. “Serves you right!” The conjured soldier with a strange relationship to humans laughed mockingly at Michele, who was older than her. Guiding Force: Connect—Improper Communion, Pure Concept [Time]—Invoke [Regression] Seeing the blanching phenomenon spreading across Maya’s check, Menou immediately invoked Regression without using the Guiding gun as a medium. She felt a sizeable piece of her soul being expended in the process but paid that no mind, focusing on controlling the Pure Concept of Time. Given the power of Blanch, it was possible it wouldn’t work. Fortunately, perhaps with help from the Concept of Original Sin in Maya or because Hakua was working through a host body, the Regression canceled out the blanching and restored Maya’s skin to normal. Though she kept a calm expression so Hakua couldn’t tell what she was thinking, Menou was relieved. Maya was safe. The girl had been far more heroic than Menou expected. She’d fought against Hakua alone and nearly won. Maya had faced her fate and battled without fear of her Pure Concept. It was far from Menou’s assumption that Maya had fallen for a trick. Menou had thought Maya was a weak child who couldn’t fight. She’d come running thinking to save her from a trap, unaware that was condescending. “I really am dense sometimes.” Now she realized that her judgment had been clouded. “Maya…” She couldn’t talk down to the girl like a guardian. “I’ll take it from here.” Menou made it clear that she was continuing a battle that Maya had started. The girl nodded with tears in her eyes. Standing in a derelict church, Menou faced her mortal enemy for the first time since the destruction of the holy land. The smile she’d given Maya was gone, replaced by an icy expression. She aimed her Guiding gun at her opponent. “You have some nerve, trying to trick my friend. I hope you’re prepared to face the consequences.” “Maya is my friend, not yours,” Hakua replied. “Even though you tried to hurt her? Don’t forget she nearly took you down. Hardly sounds like a friend.” Menou smirked with gratification, and Hakua scowled. It was deeply satisfying to know that Hakua had tried to lure Maya into a trap and suffered a serious counterattack for her trouble. “What happened to Michele? I doubt you’re strong enough to get past her alone.” “Why should I tell you anything? It’s upsetting enough just having to look at your face. Disappear already, will you? Though even if you do…I’m sure that’s not your real body.” “That’s right. It’s a double. My Pure Concept is a lot weaker than when I’m in my real body, you know.” Hakua gave a cold smile. “This body is a lot like you.” It was an obvious jab, but Menou was unperturbed. “I’m not looking to chat with you. Right now I’m only interested in talking with Maya… Oh, while we’re here, though, I should probably thank you.” Menou grinned. “Since you didn’t station Michele at the entrance, we’ll be able to get into the City of Ruins much more easily than I’d anticipated.” “You don’t know anything. Meeting with the Astrologer will be the beginning of the main event.” “Oh? Well, you won’t be around to see it. It’s a shame you’ll be left out of your own story.” “…True. This body is already at its limit.” Between the erosion from the Concept of Original Sin and the backlash from her own conjuring, Hakua’s body double was starting to fall apart. That was how difficult it was to create a form that could withstand a Pure Concept. However, Hakua still had enough strength left for one last Pure Concept conjuring attack. “If you survive this, you can go ahead into the City of Ruins—if you’re still in one piece, of course.” Hakua began constructing a conjuring, muttering ominously. Guiding Force: Connect— It was slow and deliberate, like she was making a show of it. But the way she gathered more and more enormous Guiding Force, forming an overwhelmingly powerful conjuring that struck fear into the hearts of all who saw it, was just like the attack she used when they’d fought in the land of salt. Perfect Attachment, Pure Concept [Ivory]— Last time, all Menou could do was desperately try to avoid Hakua’s Pure Concept conjurings. She’d been paralyzed with fear, assuming she could do nothing, a cowardice she’d later regretted. Half a year had passed since, and Menou had found new strength. Guiding Force: Connect—Dagger Gun, Crest—Invoke [Thunderclap] Menou aimed the Guiding gun and activated the crest, transforming the bullet into a concentrated Thunderclap attack. Then the weapon in her hands changed shape. The Guiding Branches that formed its barrel twined up Menou’s left arm as though fusing to her, creating a massive, shining muzzle. “Pure Acceleration.” She spoke aloud to focus on the conjuring, sinking her spirit deep into her soul. Guiding Force: Connect—Improper Communion, Pure Concept [Time]— When it touched Menou’s spirit, the Pure Concept of Time stole something away from her, something that supported her very self, made all the more important because she couldn’t see it. Once lost, it could never be regained. For some reason, the sensation assaulting her heart tinted her vision a pale blue. The pathway connected to Menou’s soul was taking a piece of her consciousness to a distant place. It was a very quiet world. A small and self-contained realm, like a garden or a playset. There was perfect peace and quiet there. That world, as beautiful as a jewelry box locked away in a cupboard, existed solely for one girl. She sat crouched, hugging her knees. A pure white blade protruded from her chest. The headband she wore on her journey with Menou was gone. In its place, blue butterflies rested on her head like hair ornaments. The gentle fluttering of their wings was the only movement in the world. It was her. “Aka…” Menou started to speak her dearest friend’s name and reached out with a hand. “…ri.” The small world vanished, and Menou’s mind came back to reality. Her glimpse of Akari came and went in a blink. Hakua and Menou faced each other, each about to let loose a conjuring. There was only Menou’s worst enemy now. Menou kept a tight hold on the reigns of Time and sent it flooding into the Thunderclap she had loaded in the Guiding gun. “Someday, I’ll kill your real body, too,” she said sharply. “So prepare yourself for death.” “Not a chance. I’m going to take Akari back.” Hakua finished preparing to use her Pure Concept, and Menou pointed the glowing gun made of Guiding Branches. Invoke [Chaos] Invoke [Acceleration → Guiding Bullet] As Hakua’s conjuring took shape, she held out her palm, dyeing all before her hand white. Menou watched the phenomenon that overwrote the world and reset it to whiteness spread toward her as she pulled the trigger. Lighting lanced forward at the speed of light. The recoil knocked Menou’s arm back. The Guiding Branch barrel shattered. Accelerated beyond any measurable number, the Thunderclap smashed through Hakua’s conjuring. There was no struggle for supremacy, no question if they’d negate each other. The conjured lightning ripped right through the Chaos conjuring and into the body containing Hakua’s spirit, mercilessly shattering it to pieces, then continued and blew off the roof of the church. Menou’s lightning turned the indoors into the outdoors, destroying the building and carving a line through the ground. It even melted a layer of snow around the area from the sheer heat. It was an unquestionable victory. Menou stretched, released the Guiding Branches that had formed her gun’s barrel, and beamed brightly. “Ahhh, much better! That really felt great.” Her smile was almost uncharacteristically cheerful. She’d seen for herself that she had grown enough to fight back against Hakua, and she’d even gotten a glimpse of her best friend’s face, though that could have been a hallucination. This was likely the first time she’d felt so good after defeating a foe. Still wearing a sunny smile, Menou knelt to look Maya in the eyes. “Now then, let’s get going. We’re so close to the City of Ruins.” “Y-you’re not going to get mad at me…?” For once, Maya looked sheepish. While she’d have some chance of winning against Hakua, it didn’t change the fact that she’d gone off on her own. If Hakua had gotten ahold of Maya’s Pure Concept of Evil, Abbie and the rest of the conjured soldiers would’ve been at a serious disadvantage. Hakua had been moments away from gaining the power to take down Grisarika Kingdom without any real difficulty. If that happened, Menou would lose her only base and be crushed by the sheer numbers of the Faust before she could ever reach Hakua. “Listen, Maya. I’m the one who should apologize. I’m sorry.” “Huh?” “I admit, I did think you were weak. I only saw you as a child who needed to be protected. I couldn’t think of you as anything but an Otherworlder, and I thought I needed to make amends to you for my past misdeeds.” Menou hadn’t seen Maya as someone she could count on. She had been a child to be protected and an Otherworlder to atone to. There’d been too many barriers to treat her like an equal. Menou had viewed Maya as a symbol of her own guilt. Now Menou met Maya’s gaze steadily instead of looking away.