“Luxion, what’s our situation?” I asked. Unable to move my body, I couldn’t very well look myself to find out.
“I gathered all the drones that survived. They are repairing Arroganz as we speak,” he said.
One unloaded a container and attached it to Arroganz. It wouldn’t be a full repair, but at least Arroganz would be functional.
My mind wandered to Julius and the others. “Are the guys okay?”
“Due to the density of airborne demonic essence, I cannot assess their current status.”
“All the same, I hope they made it,” I said. “I’d feel awful if any of them died.” My stomach knotted with worry.
The idiot brigade and I were inextricably linked, whether we liked it or not. Oftentimes I didn’t like it, but they weren’t so bad. When I played the game, I’d hated them. It wasn’t until we’d actually interacted over a long time period that I changed my mind. They were good guys—better than I’d expected, really. I had hoped we could grow even closer.
I lifted my chin so I could see the monitor. Through it, I viewed Arroganz’s hand, still tightly clenched around Brave’s longsword. “If Finn were still alive, I know he’d ask me to save Mia.” That was more than I could realistically achieve, but I couldn’t help wanting to do so all the same.
“Master,” Luxion said in a scolding tone, “it’s not necessary for you to do that! You have already gone far past your limits.”
He was right about that, but I knew I couldn’t abandon Mia. If I did, I’d never be able to face Finn in the afterlife.
“Whatever the case, we have to stop her,” I insisted. Livia’s impressive display of power had at least bought us extra time, but she hadn’t been able to destroy Arcadia.
As if on cue, Mia touched down on the deck. The spikes that once protruded from the base of her body were gone. Her form was all that remained. It was still coated in silver, and black armor plating now covered her. A lopsided breastplate shielded only the left side of her chest, and from it protruded Arcadia’s grotesque eye.
The drones surged forward to protect me, but Mia destroyed them easily enough. Although her form was much smaller than before, she’d have no trouble killing me.
“Luxion, this is my last order for you,” I said. “Administer the enhancer.”
I had to stop Mia here. If I didn’t, there was no telling what she’d do after I died. She was too emotionally vulnerable. Arcadia could probably get in her head and talk her into annihilating Holfort next. Before that happened, I had to summon my strength to stop her.
Luxion didn’t respond. He was probably looking for a reason to refuse my command, so I told him, “Things won’t wrap up nicely unless we finish this together. We’ve got to save Mia to make sure everyone gets a happy ending. Or, I guess, a better-than-the-alternative ending.”
Looking at this in game terms, it was as close to a bad ending as could be. We’d have cleared the game, but the way things went down would leave a bad taste in the player’s mouth. That kind of ending fit me perfectly, though.
“Master, will you find happiness by doing this?” Luxion asked.
Happiness? Yeah, I guess I’ll be happy when all’s said and done. I forced the best smile I could. “You know, I’ve often wondered why we reincarnated into this world. I figured there must be some reason, right? I mean, if not, oh well. That would just mean we had to make one ourselves. I couldn’t rescue everyone, but as long as I save as many people as possible, that’s what matters. That’s the happiest ending I could hope for.”
“Is that the mentality one must have when sacrificing themselves? I cannot fathom it, Master. You are a fool.”
“What, you didn’t know that already? I’ve been a fool since the very beginning.”
Souls were said to continue reincarnating until they reached true enlightenment. That was why someone lowly, like me, had to reincarnate over and over again. That’s a Buddhist concept, right? I couldn’t remember. Ah, well, doesn’t matter.
When it came down to it, thinking that my life had meaning was my main salvation. The objective reality of that didn’t matter. All I cared about was feeling like I’d served some purpose.
“Please, partner,” I said. “I’m pretty sure this’ll be the last order I give you.”
“I cannot permit it. If you do this, Master, your life…your life will…” I glimpsed what I thought was sadness in Luxion’s eye, but surely I had to be seeing things.
“If you can’t permit the order, consider it a favor instead. Help me do this, partner.”
His robotic voice trembled as he stammered, “I-I will administer the performance enhancer.”
This was my third time receiving it. After the needle bit into my skin, a wave of intense pain soon followed. My body couldn’t withstand it; I started vomiting blood. Fortunately, that soon abated, and I felt unbelievably light. The agony moments earlier was gone, and energy surged into my muscles, which had been too weak to do anything.
I grabbed Arroganz’s controls, forced it to its feet, and lifted Brave’s longsword.
Mia bristled when she saw that. “Give that back! It belongs to Sir Knight and Bravey!”
Now that I felt better, I could finally respond the way I normally would. “Come take it if you want it so badly, you crazy spitfire!”
Arroganz braced itself with its two new legs, and I swung the longsword at Mia. Despite how small she now was, her hand safely caught my attack.
“Luxion, can we separate Mia and Arcadia?”
“Investigation in progress,” Luxion answered. He’d started analyzing the data coming in from her before I even asked.
Mia kicked off from the ground, leaping into the air. She drew her fist back and swung wide at me. I deflected the blow with the flat of my sword, surprised to find how much power was behind her bare fists.
✦ ✦ ✦
Back inside Arcadia’s fortress, Finn cracked his eyes open. Wincing, he clapped his right hand over the bleeding stub that had once been his left arm.
“What am I doing here?” He climbed to his feet, hissing in pain. “Kurosuke?!” Somehow, he already knew that Brave was gone. A tear escaped the corner of his eye. “You stupid idiot.”
Brave’s sacrifice was the only reason Finn was still alive. Memories raced back to him…
Finn was furious at himself for the part he’d played in the reactor’s destruction. Although there was no point fighting anymore, he resolved to chase after Leon and put an end to him.
The reactor was on the cusp of a violent explosion.
“Even if it’s the last thing I do…” Finn seethed, words dripping with resentment.
He’d already forgotten his original goal. His single-minded hostility unnerved Brave, but regardless of either’s feelings, they couldn’t back down. They had to fight for Mia’s sake.
“This is where we part ways,” said Brave.
“Kurosuke?”
Before Finn could ask what he meant, he was unceremoniously launched out of Brave. A magical barrier wrapped around him, gently guiding him down to the ground. Because of the enhancer he’d taken, he hadn’t even noticed that he’d lost his left arm at some point during the battle.
“Why?” Finn demanded. “Why are you betraying me?!” He reached toward Brave with his only remaining hand.
“Because you’ll die if we keep fighting,” Brave answered, a mixture of embarrassment and heartache in his voice. “I want you to keep living. That’s why this is goodbye.”
In the course of the battle, Brave had far surpassed his limits. He knew he couldn’t defeat Arroganz, which was why he at least wanted to spare Finn’s life.
“Brave, don’t go!” Finn clutched desperately at the empty air, as if he could pull Brave back to him.
He almost thought he saw his partner grin back. “Don’t you mean ‘Kurosuke’?” Brave paused, then added, “You know, I never actually hated it when you called me that. Farewell, Partner.”
With that, he sped after Leon.
Thanks to Brave, Finn had escaped with his life intact before losing consciousness.
Fresh tears rolled down his cheeks. “I wanted you to survive too. I wanted the two of us to be—Mia? Where’s Mia?!” He had no idea how long he’d been out or what had happened in the meantime.
Finn lurched forward, scrambling toward the command room.