I could never shoot you, Takamasa.
Criminal AO had lost because he’d failed to consider the true meaning of those words.
✦ ✦ ✦
The place was a mess.
“Grh…”
Kaname groaned as he stirred on the floor of the collapsed chapel. They might be nonlethal, but stun rounds still weren’t supposed to be fired at people’s heads. That said, Kaname had been left with little choice. On top of everything else, Short Spear hadn’t been the best gun for the job. The barrel was much longer than a handgun, making it much harder to aim at himself.
All that aside, Takamasa had been incapacitated. Kaname had successfully captured him, foiling his plan to slaughter the Magistelli and wipe out snow. It may have been justified, but Kaname couldn’t abide a plan that would cause so much suffering.
“…You think that’s it, Kaname?”
Takamasa, like himself, could barely move a muscle, thanks to the electric shock. It was all he could do just to talk.
“You haven’t addressed the fundamental problem,” he continued. “You’re going to regret this.”
“I don’t think so,” Kaname responded. “As long as I don’t have to fight you anymore, there’s nothing to regret.”
Kaname and Takamasa were neck and neck. Right now, it was all about who would recover from the paralysis first. But Kaname had an advantage his friend did not. Midori and Meiki were on their way. They would be here to restrain Takamasa before either of the two boys could get up.
This was checkmate.
Whatever Takamasa had to say, it would change nothing.
“Do you really believe my sister will uphold her promise to you? I wouldn’t be so sure, Kaname.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“It’s not her fault. This is bigger than her. It’s not something she can ever hope to confront by herself.”
Clack.
He could hear soft footsteps. They must belong to the girls Kaname was waiting for.
“Time’s up,” said Takamasa.
Click. Clack.
What was Takamasa thinking as he lay there, listening to those slow, patient footsteps?
“Kaname,” he said, “you’re about to feel my pain. Experience my despair. Whatever happens, I want you to remember you asked for this. You’d better see it through to the end.”
“Wait… Why are you talking like that? Did something happen to Midori?!”
Suddenly, Kaname felt something squirm in the pit of his stomach. There were still a few questions that hadn’t been answered.
✦ ✦ ✦
Midori’s Magistellus, Meiki, for example. On bad days, she doesn’t come out no matter how much I ask. Why was that? Was there a bug that could cause such a thing?
✦ ✦ ✦
And Takamasa. Why was he so driven to protect people when he was normally mild-mannered and conflict-averse? He said he wanted the humans to win, but which humans? Who was it he was willing to go so far to protect, and how bad a situation were they in?
✦ ✦ ✦
Then there was the change in Takamasa’s personality that occurred after he Fell. When exactly had he become so ruthless? Was it possible it was only after his sister entered the game to look for him? After something changed in her?
✦ ✦ ✦
“…There are demons in this world, Kaname.”
It was time to face the truth.
Takamasa had tasted despair already. Now, as they lay there, he would share it with his friend.
“Money (Game) Master is a simulation of reality based on the four fundamental forces of quantum mechanics. It was humans who started calling it a game. Essentially, that means anything being simulated in the game exists in reality, too. Demons are real. They’re not just NPCs. They exist.”
“…”
“But then what about their inverse? What if angels existed? What if there was a God? Do you really think they would leave this game alone?”
“They can’t be…,” Kaname replied. He was already starting to regret his final gambit. Paralyzed, he could do nothing but wait.
“I heard from Tselika that the Day of Revolution is when the Magistelli plan to extend the scope of their simulation to heaven and thereby gain indirect control of it, just as they already control humans with money. That means there can’t possibly be angels in the game already! It wouldn’t make sense! It’s too soon!!”
“Ha-ha. I guess you’re not as good with mythology as I thought, Kaname. If you want to enjoy this game, you’ve really got to loosen up a little. Channel your inner middle schooler.”
Mythology. Beings that carried away souls or presided over one’s fate.
Hadn’t Tselika mentioned them? The Valkyries, the Moirai—goddesses with a sinister side who showed up here as Magistelli—beings free from the distinction between good and evil.
But those weren’t what Takamasa was talking about.
“They’re not Magistelli.”
“Wh-what?”
“They’re here, in our world. Beings with both demonic and angelic aspects—so-called Rejected Angels, created by God as angels, but cast out and reviled as demons by man. These aren’t beings who trespassed against the Almighty, Kaname. These aren’t imprisoned traitors like Lucifer or corrupted old gods like Beelzebub. After eons, man forgave them, and they have been known to do both good and evil, according to their fancy.”
There was a click as Takamasa removed the underbarrel machine pistol from his battle rifle. Like a true engineer’s, his hands were precise, even while trembling from the aftereffects of the electric shock.
“…This isn’t going to look natural. You know, Kaname, I really wish you’d killed me when you had the chance.”
“Hold on, Takamasa. What are you doing?”
“Listen to me, Kaname. Never forget the name of your foe.”
He couldn’t move. He couldn’t do anything. Kaname had won this fight, but for what? Still numbed by the electric round, Kaname could neither understand what had happened to Midori nor do anything to stop his friend.
In the end, all he could do was watch.
Watch as Takamasa slowly lifted the gun to his own temple, a smile on his face.
✦ ✦ ✦
“The archangel Uriel, who swims freely in the gulf between good and evil. He’s been walking with Midori this whole time.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Bang!! The sound of a gunshot rang out.
Kaname could not understand what had pushed his old friend to take his own life.
He followed the spray of blood with his eyes, and at its end he found a single girl. That young girl with the twin tails whom Kaname had come to know so well. Only now, a pair of brilliant, swan-like wings, white as snow, sprouted from her back, and the girl’s dark hair had turned a majestic gold.
Gold, the bounty of the earth. The shining light of dawn.
“This is a warning.”
Amid the ruins of the chapel, Kaname heard a strange voice issuing forth from a mouth to which it did not belong.
“You have learned too much, Kaname Suou. I am Uriel, the archangel tasked with saving the righteous and punishing the wicked on Judgment Day. I am the sword that stands against that hive of corruption, the Mind. I cannot allow my existence to be known. Therefore, I must use the power vested in me to strike you down. This is prophecy. Be now glad and accept your fate. The Almighty shall see you to your eternal reward.”
What the heck?
Kaname didn’t know what was happening, and he wished this Uriel person would leave him out of it.
He didn’t want to kill all the Magistelli. He didn’t want to fight Midori. Why was this “God and destiny” crowd so set on battle? It was as though the world itself was laughing at Kaname for being foolish enough to try to save mankind and demons both.