A hissing sound, like gas escaping.
In the next instant, an explosion rang out. A gas canister, which Haru had set up, had just been shot with a rifle-type Chronos.
The entire area, hero included, was enveloped in an explosive ball of fire. The old abandoned school building collapsed, on fire, almost as if it were laughing. While the explosion did not do any direct damage to the hero, the falling rubble managed to pin it into place. Just as planned—Kaguya began running, without waiting for a signal.
“Not yet. Stay back,” said Haru, curtly, over the comms. Kaguya slowed her pace. “We haven’t exhausted its options yet. We don’t know what kind of power it might still have.”
“It’s not like it can move anymore. Aren’t you being a little too cautious?” said Koyuki optimistically—despite what she said, however, she still fired a shot from the gun in her hand, just in case.
In response, a part of the hero, one of its tentacles, lashed out at Koyuki. Fortunately, she was out of range, and it didn’t hit her.
“Yikes! That was a close one!”
“I told you…”
“I still think you’re being a little too cautious,” said Rindou, sounding perfectly nonchalant. “We can’t waste too much time after…all!”
Laughing casually, Rindou delivered a gorgeous one-two punch with his brass-knuckled fists.
“I’m going in…,” said Kaguya, laughing as well as she gripped her Chronos lightly in hand. Even though she wasn’t able to fire it for some reason, when she pulled the trigger, she was able to talk to the heroes. She had faith in Azuma, who cleaved a path for her, and followed him. But he wasn’t there to protect her—it was a mutual relationship of shared trust.
“It looks like we might have a little trouble with this one,” murmured Azuma as he raced forward. “Maybe if Sakura were here.”
The hero they were fighting at the moment was a close-combat, tank-type hero, the kind where physical attacks really showed their worth.
“Yes, I agree,” said Kaguya, smiling and looking slightly into the distance. If Sakura were here. But… “But she’s gone now.”
For a brief moment, Kaguya recalled Second Lieutenant Sakura Arakawa’s ephemeral face as she disappeared. Kaguya wondered if Sakura had been reunited with her parents for real after that.
Kaguya hoped so. It was a nice thought.
Before she disappeared from this world, Sakura had asked Kaguya to take care of everyone for her. Kaguya didn’t believe in an afterlife, but if there were such a thing, it would probably be the endless field of flowers she had seen in Sakura’s world.
“If Sakura had lived, do you think she’d be fighting by our side like this right now?”
“Who knows? But she really was strong,” said Azuma, swiping quickly with his dagger, which he had now gotten used to wielding, before preparing for the next move. “Okay, Kaguya—you got this, right?”
“Leave it to me. I don’t care how far the Goddess tries to pull that kid in; I won’t let her.”
It didn’t matter how much darkness there was inside, Kaguya was never going to give up. She pointed her gun at the egg. Like a prayer, a plea for permission, she fired her empty weapon.
Kaguya was carried into the hero by her own momentum. What kind of world was it going to be this time? What kind of dream would they be dreaming?
“Stay back.”
Darkness, deep and vast. Kaguya was unceremoniously dropped into an abyss.
It didn’t matter how vast and impenetrable this darkness was, Kaguya was determined to save the person inside. It was her mission so long as there was even one ray of light to be found.
However—
“What…? What is this place?”
It took Kaguya a moment to realize she had no idea where she was.
Genuinely, no idea. The words escaped her stunned lips. This was like nothing she had ever seen before.
There was no light. It was darkness itself, a cold black gloom precluding her from seeing even an inch in front of her face.
Kaguya gulped. The inky blackness here was so deep that she couldn’t even see the tips of her own hands. She took a step back. It felt like something was eating away at her, but there was nothing there. Nothing before her. And nothing behind her, either.
Kaguya remembered something someone had once said to her.
“If you dive in too deep, you could wind up getting lost in there instead.”
This was the second time she had gotten lost. But this time Azuma wasn’t here. There was no one.
There was no way, in this moment, for her to resist.