Hakua knew she’d failed when she sensed her double’s defeat. “Tch.” She clutched her forehead, surrounded by books containing people’s memories. It was the recoil from losing the piece of her spirit that she’d put in the body she’d sent to the north. Covering her face to fend off the dizziness, she muttered darkly, “…Like I care.” It was a shame that she hadn’t been able to get Maya’s Pure Concept of Evil, but Flarette had still lost more in this battle than she did. Hakua noticed the strength of Flarette’s Regression on Maya. That couldn’t possibly have come without a cost. Even Hakua’s last attack had been meant to provoke Menou into using a stronger Pure Concept conjuring. The power Menou had gained over the past half a year was only thanks to the Pure Concept. As long as Hakua was encamped in the library of the Star Memory, her advantage was secure. The only problem was where Menou had hidden Akari’s body. For better or worse, Akari was frozen in time. Hakua could dispatch Menou and take her time searching for her friend. That’s why she was laboring to create duplicates that could handle Possession. “You’ve let another piece of yourself get worn away, eh?” A voice echoed in the room, though Hakua was alone. Noticing that her long-distance communication device was active, Hakua scowled. “…Guardian.” There was obvious loathing in Hakua’s voice. “What do you want? I thought we’d agreed not to associate. Plus, you’ve been letting Flarette do whatever she pleases in Grisarika Kingdom.” “I am getting on in years. Those whippersnappers got the jump on me with all that energy of theirs. To make matters worse, the Director is baring his fangs at me. I’m at my wit’s end.” “Liar. I’m sure you’re up to something…and you purposely interfered in recent events, too, didn’t you?” “Hmm? Oh, that old thing? The Magician was being too lenient, that’s all. She’s always terribly naive when she’s young, eh? If you’re going to use someone up, you’ve got to really get the most out of them.” A wheedling laugh echoed through the library. But Hakua had a suspicion as to the real reason the Guardian had inserted herself into events. “…You’re jealous of that nun girl, aren’t you?” “Jealous? But of course I am. That metal arm is a splendid thing.” The Guardian didn’t bother denying it. “Why, with its circulating fusion of Concepts of Original Sin and Primary Colors, it’s essentially a successful perpetual motion machine of a new kind. If it really does work, then it won’t have the imperfect immortality we Elders suffer from. It could even be the sword that breaks entropy and frees us from the arrow of time.” The Elders didn’t die of old age. However, there were still ways to kill them. That was why the Guardian continued to search greedily for immortality in its truest form. “Just look at those fingers of yours. They’ve been eroded by Evil.” At this, Hakua glanced at her hands and found that her pinky finger had turned black. She’d assumed that any damage would only affect the body double, but the erosion had reached her real body by way of her spirit. Though there was no pain in the corrupted finger, Hakua cut it off without hesitation. She could restore such a minor loss in no time. “That Evil girl has more fight than I expected. Anyway, Guardian, I’m surprised you haven’t moved on to your next replacement yet. I thought you had a favorite picked out?” “I want to make sure everything is in tip-top shape first. You remember what a mess it was last time, don’t you?” “…Yeah.” For generations, the Guardian had chosen a member of the Grisarika royal family to possess. The woman whose body currently contained Guardian’s consciousness had learned of the fate that awaited her as a Grisarika royal and accepted it…only to drink poison right before she was taken over. “It was ridiculous, if I do say so myself. No normal person would ever think to do such a thing… Sadly, my dear little sister might very well take the same path. If I’m not careful how I win, she might decide to kill herself and take me with her. I’ve gone to great lengths to prepare to break her heart thoroughly so she won’t have the will to rebel.” The Guardian was a spirit-based being that specialized in Possession, particularly fusing with a host’s mind. By merging the claimed person’s memories and personality with their own, Guardian could greatly reduce the possibility of a transplant rejection. Since each new generation was a step further from the progenitor, even if they were blood related, such drastic precautions were absolutely necessary. “In that respect, Orwell really was most excellent. She used pilfered materials to make a host body with no chance of complications whatsoever. But that body went to you instead. It seems you’ve had some trouble with it, though, hmm?” “…Not really. It’s nothing for you to worry about. Besides, Flarette is nearing her limit. I doubt I’ll need to do anything.” The Lord of the west told the Guardian of the east, who’d been conspiring with her for a thousand years, that Menou was doomed. “Heyyy, I found the stairs! These must lead right to the City of Ruins!” Abbie called out in a bright voice. Not long after repelling Hakua, Menou and Maya had managed to meet up with Abbie, who was carrying Sahara. Although Menou had blown away the aboveground portion of the church, the inverted steeple leading to the City of Ruins remained intact. As the reunited group of four descended, they found a spiral staircase built along the walls of the inverted steeple. It ran down the length of the spire, so long that it seemed to go on forever. “So this is the entrance to the City of Ruins.” In a surprising turn of events, Sahara had seemingly had a change of heart. She was actually being proactive, even though she’d initially been brought here against her will. When Menou looked at Sahara, she thought the girl’s expression seemed somehow clearer than before. The City of Ruins awaited beyond the great, winding staircase. “That’s an awful lot of steps… I’m so tired of walking already. Sahara, you’ll carry me, right? Since you’re my servant and all.” “Huh? That’s not right. What happened to your promise to provide for me?” “You want your big sis to provide for you?! Oh my gosh, I finally get to take care of you?!” Maya and Abbie had been getting along better since reuniting, mostly by keeping Sahara between them. Though the events of the past few days had been dangerous, the group had managed to drive back Hakua’s body double and damage her, get by Michele, and reach the entrance to the City of Ruins. The first hurdle toward their goal was seemingly behind them. “By the way, Maya, what did you mean by the question from earlier?” Menou said. “What question?” “You asked how we planned on talking to the Astrologer without you. Do you mean you’re confident the Astrologer will speak with you if we find them?” “Oh, that? It’s simple. We were really close, you know.” Maya answered easily. She’d secured a position for herself. There was no reason to hold back information to use as leverage, so she willingly revealed the Astrologer’s identity. “The Astrologer’s a conjured soldier, but not one like this piece of scrap. She’s really shy and only talks to people she trusts, but she’s very sweet.” “Excuse me? I’ve got way higher specs than some conjured soldier from a thousand years ago, just so you know,” Abbie protested. “Is there a big difference between— Hmm?” While they chatted and approached the steps, Menou felt a tug on her ponytail, like someone had grabbed her hair. She stopped and discovered that her ribbon was caught on part of the entryway to the stairwell. “What are you doing, Menou? You’re so silly,” Maya said. “My ribbon got stuck, that’s all… I’m sorry. You three go on ahead and make sure the path is clear.” Menou flashed a light smile at her companions, then touched the black scarf ribbon. As she detached it from where it had snagged, being careful not to rip it, she tilted her head thoughtfully. She’d always used this scarf ribbon…but where and when did she get it, exactly? “……” Menou dug her diary out of her bag and flipped through the pages, fighting back an indescribable feeling of loss. “…Yes, that’s right. I have an assistant…a girl named Momo. And she…gave me this ribbon.” She confirmed this to herself in a halting whisper. One of the more recent pages of the diary had a note warning Menou to never let this assistant “Momo” know she’d forgotten her. It claimed that if Momo discovered Menou was losing her memories, she would try to stop her. “She really cares about me a lot, it seems.” And Menou must have cared a lot about her, too. After all, she’d trusted her so completely that she’d entrusted Akari to her. The events recorded in the diary made that clear. This assistant had been very dear to Menou. It was frustrating she only knew that by reading about it. Menou ran her hand along the ribbon. It had to be very precious if it was a gift from that girl. She knew it was important, even if she didn’t feel that way anymore. If this Momo was an adorable younger girl, maybe she was something like what Maya was to Menou now. Menou had used the Pure Concept many times to get here. How much a Pure Concept wore away at a spirit varied from one individual to the next. Akari and Maya seemed to be on the slower end. Some were affected after a single use, while others were able to use theirs for many years. And Menou…was about average, she supposed. In the past six months, she’d used the Pure Concept more than just once or twice. Generally, she’d staved off the worst of the memory loss by using the Guiding gun as a conduit and weakening the Pure Concept’s power. But the Regression she’d called upon to save Maya and the Acceleration necessary to destroy Hakua’s false body had consumed many of Menou’s memories. It wasn’t enough to affect her personality yet. At the very least, Menou felt fine. She could make it for now. At least until she saved Akari. “It’ll be more than enough.” She couldn’t let the others catch on, not yet. Her wish to save Akari and her desire to settle the score with Hakua were feelings that bordered on obsessions, subconsciously driving Menou’s motivation and decisions. Menou knew what would remain as she continued to lose her memories. Eventually, she was bound to forget about Sahara, Maya, and Master Flare. Only her greatest ally and worst enemy would remain in the end. And when that time came, Menou would have to kill again. To take one more life before it became a Human Error—her own. Sahara returned from checking the stairwell. “Hey, Menou. Looks like the coast is clear. That’s what Abbie says anyway.” “Good. Sorry for the wait. I’m coming.” She’d kept them for too long. Donning a sheepish smile, she closed the diary and tucked it into her bag. No matter what she lost in the process, if she could defeat Hakua, stop Otherworlders from being summoned, and greet Akari with a smile that held no regrets… That way, Menou could enjoy one last warm moment before meeting her end. “Let’s go get the Starhusk.” Having long since made up her mind, Menou hurried to rejoin her friends. Michele stood alone in the charred remains of the freight train station, lost in thought. Before her was the corpse of what had once been Teach. Due to the nature of Concepts of Original Sin, which could revive for each sacrifice they had consumed, it had taken a while to defeat the monster for good. It had been reduced to a heap of flesh with no discernable shape. Michele would never lose to an abomination, even if it was a bit more challenging without her scripture. That wasn’t what troubled her. Not at all. “She was possessing a body double?” Michele muttered to herself as the scene Abbie had showed her replayed in her mind. The conflict between Maya and Hakua had been shocking enough, but Hakua’s method of coming to the north worried Michele even more. Dividing her spirit and using Possession to put a piece of it in someone else to control them didn’t seem like something the Hakua Shirakami she knew would do. If anything, it reminded Michele of one of Hakua’s enemies. Namely… “Impossible. It’s been a thousand years.” Michele shook her head, dismissing the notion. Nothing remained unchanged after that much time. Michele herself was proof. She’d renounced the idea of maintaining her consciousness continuously for those thousand years. Despite her vow of loyalty to Hakua, she’d chosen to live fifty years at a time, then erase her memories and regain her youth when her body started to decline. That was how difficult it was to bear such a long existence. A human spirit was designed to break after a mere century or so. Since she’d abandoned the idea of experiencing a thousand years herself, Michele had no right to criticize the Lord’s changes or betrayals. Dividing one’s spirit was obviously an excellent ability to have. Of course she’d sought to learn it herself, even though it was the technique of her worst enemy. “…Yes, of course.” Once, it had been the preferred method of the person who managed the research institution that summoned Maya Ooshima and bled her dry. That same person had funded the facility where Michele was used as a specimen, used wealth to gain power, summoned and taken possession of Otherworlders to gain as many Pure Concepts as possible, and managed the Grisarika Conglomerate that oversaw countless tests in search of immortality and eternal youth. “Nothing Lady Hakua does could ever be wrong.” Doubting her savior was deeply disrespectful. As Michele reminded herself of this, she turned her gaze to the great crater directly beneath the Starhusk. Beneath the surface of the Wild Frontier, a vast expanse bereft of the flow of Guiding Force stood the City of Ruins. That mysterious place was home to the Astrologer, another Elder who served Hakua like Michele. Michele’s plans thus far had gone awry, owing to too many unpredictable factors. However, she intended to enter the City of Ruins with her direct subordinates. Next time, no rebellious Executioners would get in her way. The people Michele selected for the Lord’s Own Army included some individuals that would shock any sensible member of the Faust. Her quest to gather the most useful personnel had found many taboos. But there were plenty of perfectly normal priestesses among the group’s ranks, too. Hooseyard was far removed from anything taboo, and there were others like her. As it happened, the priestess approaching Michele now, dragging a white suitcase after her, was incredibly skilled and bore no links to anything heretical. “You made it.” “Sorry I’m laaate.” She called back in a sweet drawl. This girl was the most talented of all Michele’s subordinates. Clad in indigo priestess robes, she listened as Michele outlined their next order of business. “We’re going to kill Flarette in the City of Ruins. You’ve familiarized yourself with the target, I assume?” “Of cooourse. Once we meet up with the trash waiting for us, this mission will be a piece of caaake.” Two scrunchies held the girl’s pink hair in pigtails. “…As she is she now, I don’t think I’ll need to hold back anyway.” “Hold back?” “Oh, nooo. It’s nothing at aaall. Don’t you worry about a thiiing, my darling Michele!” The girl smiled innocently. She was a member of the Lord’s Own Army, brought in under Hooseyard’s recommendation. “Once I bring Flarette down for gooood, be sure to shower me with praise, darliiing!” Momo, who’d always been Menou’s faithful assistant, gave her new boss an adoring smile.
Chapter 120
14 min read