“Now... what’s coming out of the ground...”
“I am your savior.”
“Do not be afraid.”
“...What is that?”
Monsters burst out of the ground, each one carrying a spear or a scythe-like staff. Every single one wore a mask, with wings and torn faces. They had tried to take on the shape of angels, but they were not angels.
“...Misaki... how many missiles do we have left?”
“...Thirteen... Hiyori has a few more in her bag.”
“...Understood. Reload immediately and fire. We need to assess their strength.”
Click!
Fwoosh!
Boom!
For a moment, the dust made it impossible to see. A being without a halo would die if struck by bullets or explosions. But—
“...Am I... seeing this wrong...?”
There were twelve monsters, glowing with light from their own bodies as they glared at them.
“I am your savior.”
“Do not be afraid.”
They kept repeating the same words. Haruta didn’t know what they were doing, but if he didn’t stop them right now, he would die. No—there was something even worse than death waiting if this kept going.
By the time that thought reached him, Saori had already chambered another round and aimed at Haruta, who was floating motionless in the air. If she couldn’t kill those monsters here... and that thing barely capable of speech...
She prepared to strike and bury them here.
“...Hiyori, how many rounds do you have left?”
“...Haaah... about forty... Leader.”
“...For now, even missiles aren’t landing at all. Even if we hit them, the monsters down there could still be enough to beat us.”
“...I understand.”
“And the [Sanctus Pater Filius] has been fully absorbed now.”
“...Then?”
“We can retreat now.”
“...Got it. Let’s fall back for now.”
“....”
Whoosh!
“Hup!?”
Rat-a-tat-tat!
The spear-wielding apostle hurled his spear straight at Saori’s head. But she barely dodged thanks to the halo’s protection, then counterattacked. No matter how you looked at it, she was incredible—but the apostle’s movements were on a completely different level.
Swish!
Clang!
“...What is that thing doing right now!”
Kang!
“Misaki! Retreat for now!”
“Got it! Princess! Hurry!”
“Haaah...”
And just like that, Haruta was the only one left on the battlefield.
“...”
Srrrk
The golden laurel wreath that had been shining brilliantly vanished, and Haruta descended.
“...Damn... this is way more exhausting than I thought.”
The moment [E.G.O] was released, he collapsed.
“...Haa... damn it.”
Thud
“...I knew it would be hard to embody the form of White Night as a mystery... and to manifest an apostle... but I didn’t think it would drain me this much...”
One thing was certain now. He had burned through most of his power. He had no strength left to keep fighting.
He had taken all of Hina’s wounds and pain into himself, and now he was utterly exhausted. His arms and legs hurt everywhere, with no part of him left untouched.
“...For now... just a little...”
“Kieeeeee!!!”
“Damn it.”
The forces in front of him numbered in the dozens... no, hundreds.
“...Fuck... and Sensei’s life or death is still up in the air...”
His mind was full of thoughts, and he had no bullets left. The only usable weapon he had was the BFG, and he could only fire three shots.
“...Damn it. Can I even win with this?”
The [Sanctus Pater Filius] had plenty of numbers, but each one was just a weak foot soldier. He could handle them well enough.
“...Then let’s run for now!”
Crash!
“...Why won’t this open?”
He had burned through almost all of his mystery in the previous fight, so he could only open a portal at close range.
“...Fuck, I’m seriously screwed.”
Tatatatat!
Dozens—no, hundreds—of bullets poured down and flew toward Haruta.
“...This is really bad—”
Papapap!
Bullets slammed into his body, and he felt searing pain.
“Aaaaaah!!!”
Whoosh!
Clang!
Kang!
His hand twisted and the technique came out wrong, but even that was enough to suppress them.
“...Haa... haa... damn it... I really have no mystery left now.”
Strength drained from his legs, and the sword he had forced with his will fell from his hand and returned to where it belonged.
“...What a damn mess.”
The [Sanctus Pater Filius] would move again to sweep away the students. Arius had gained an immortal army that would never disappear.
“...If I ever meet Beatrice... I’ll shove a [Crucible] into her head and turn her into a Titan...”
He spat out his rage inwardly, but he didn’t even have the strength for that anymore.
“Ghk... first...”
He headed for the hospital in front of him. With no strength left in his legs, he slowly... painfully crawled forward with the little power left in his arms.
“...Haa...”
When he took off his top, his whole body was red.
“...At this point, Hina must have really been in pain too.”
He was now bearing all the pain and injuries Hina had accumulated through the long battle. The wounds had transferred over exactly as they were, and blood was flowing from his head and from the injuries themselves.
“...It’s been a while since I’ve actually bled.”
In the completely ruined hospital, he found a few bandages and wrapped them around himself.
“...For now, this should be good enough.”
After putting his clothes back on and looking out the window, all he could see was the [Sanctus Pater Filius] and fleeing students.
“...Information comes first right now!”
One thought kept flashing through his head: he needed to know whether this situation was unfolding exactly like the original story or whether it had changed.
When he turned on his phone, Akashi greeted him.
“...Akashi, what’s the situation?”
“For now... Trinity is in serious trouble... the Pater faction has declared martial law, and Trinity’s system of separation of powers has collapsed. The Pater faction is currently carrying that out...”
“So in short, it’s still following the original story... right?”
“...Yes. At least for now, it’s following the original.”
“Got it... first I need to find Sensei.”
“...Haruta?”
“Haa... what?”
“Please... please survive...”
“Of course I want to survive! When else am I going to get a chance like this!”
“For now... Hina is at home after the shock of failing to protect Sensei. More precisely... you could say her mental state has completely fallen apart...”
“You just sent Hina home through the portal.”
“For now... Haruta, Sensei is the priority! Hurry to Gehenna!”
“Yeah... with this much mystery left, I can make it there without trouble.”
Crash!
After crossing through the portal, he saw Sensei lying on a bed.
“Sensei!!”
“Ah... Haruta from earlier?”
“Ah... you’re Sena Himuromi, third-year in the Emergency Medicine Department, right?”
“...Was I that famous?”
“Ah! First, how is Sensei’s condition?”
“For now... the important organs, the kidneys and colon, weren’t pierced or anything, so there’s no immediate danger.”
“...Phew.”
“However...”
“However?”
“At present, it’s uncertain when Sensei will wake up.”
“Haa... understood. Then what about Hina?”
“...Hina isn’t answering her phone either.”
“Haa... then when Sensei wakes up, tell her I went to Hina.”
“...Yes. Understood.”
“Then I’m going.”
“...Haruta? You’re bleeding right now...”
“It’s fine. This much won’t kill me.”
“Then... at least treat the wounds lightly—”
“I don’t have time for that.”
He quickly dealt with Sena and tried to make another portal.
“...Damn it... again.”
He was short on mystery again.
“...Haa... I’ll rest for a second and then go.”
“...Understood...”
The moment he lay down on the bed and closed his eyes, he felt as if he were being sucked into it. Then he opened his eyes again.
“...Huh!”
“Haruta?”
“How long has it been?”
“A little over two hours.”
“Sensei!?”
“Not yet...”
“Got it... I’m leaving right away.”
Then he checked his phone and saw a message waiting for him.
“...Damn, already?”
It was a text from Hifumi saying Azusa had disappeared, along with a strange line about destroying a halo. He knew exactly what it meant.
For now, he had to somehow put Trinity back the way it was.
“First... before that, I should meet up with Arius Squad again, right?”
Crash!
---------------------------------------------------------------
“...Azusa... she ran away again.”
“So, Leader? What are you going to do?”
“Don’t worry. Azusa will come back.”
“Huh? How do you know that?”
“Azusa won’t just throw away a precious gift from a friend and leave it behind.”
“So... she’ll come back?”
“Yeah. She’ll probably come back to get this.”
“...Got it.”
Beep
Beep beep
“But what’s that sound?”
Saori used a knife to tear open the doll and check inside.
“...Princess! Move!”
Boom!
A blinding flash engulfed Saori’s body, and then an extreme pain swept through her.
“...Azusa... you’ve grown... As expected, everything is vain and empty.”
“Haa... when I gave her food before, she wasn’t this vicious...”
“...?! You are!”
“That’s right. The agent of chaos is here.”
“...How are you here right now...?”
“That’s none of your business. Just come at me.”
Click
Bang!
Saori’s gun spat fire as bullets flew toward Haruta.
Swish
Thud!
“Ow, hot... but... this is manageable.”
“?...You caught the bullet with your hand?”
Thud!
“Yeah... I’m a little sorry right now, but... well, what can you do?”
Bang!
Bang! Bang! Thud!
Three times in a row, he grabbed Saori by the head, slammed her into the floor, and then Saori got back up again.
“...Cough!... Haa...”
Saori wiped the blood from her mouth, stood up, and glared at him.
“...Wow... I didn’t think you’d endure that.”
“What... are you...”
“Just a normal person, that’s all~”
“...”
Saori signaled something to Misaki with her eyes, and Misaki slowly aimed the Stinger.
“...Heh. You think you can stop me with that?”
Pow!
Thud!
Crack! Boom!
“...What... was that just now?”
Haruta caught the missile with his hand and detonated it.
“...A human... can do that?”
Ambushes didn’t work. Techniques didn’t work. Bullets didn’t work.
“Now then... will you surrender here and leave, or keep fighting me until all your heads get ripped off and roll across the floor? Choose.”
“...”
Click!
“Haa... then I guess I have no choice.”
Whoosh!
“?!?! Princess!!!”
Haruta took Atsuko hostage. Then he whispered into her ear.
“...Sorry... but really, just for a little while... I’ll let you run away, okay?”
At those words, Atsuko only made a suitably vague gesture.
“...Let the princess go...”
“If you just say you’ll retreat and leave like this—”
“...Understood...”
“Here, take her.”
Haruta slowly stepped forward, let Atsuko go, and turned to leave.
Shuffle shuffle
“...Princess? What does that mean...?”
Scratch
“...Understood... then we’ll retreat for now.”
“Haa... for now, I have to let the story unfold as it should... I can’t help it.”
He had warned Arius, but they would come back anyway.
“...Right now... I still don’t know what’s going to happen...”
------------------------------------------------
And now, to get a precise grasp of the situation, he headed for the prison classroom where Mika was.
Crash!
“Mika! The situation right now...?”
At the moment, dozens of students were beating Mika and cursing at her. Koharu was trying to hold them back alone, but it wasn’t enough.
“No! Stop it!”
“...”
Koharu was protecting Mika and keeping her safe.
“Hey.”
“What! Who are you—”
Once they saw his face, everyone stumbled back.
“Haa... tell me who you just hit.”
“H-Haruta?”
“Ha! S-so what if he is... isn’t he a criminal!? He’s taking on dozens of us by himself!”
Click!
Step
“Get lost.”
With a single word, Haruta drew a line on the floor with his blade.
“From this moment on, anyone who didn’t hit Mika, step over here. Move.”
And then, with proud expressions, none of them stepped forward.
“Haa... Mika?”
“H-Haruta... I...”
“Did they hit your face?”
“...Yeah...”
Boom!
In Haruta’s hand was a Tea Party teapot.
“...”
Boom!
Bang!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Hey, say it with your own mouth. Did you hit her or not?”
“S-Sorry...”
Bang!
“Did you hit her or not?”
“...I-I did...”
Boom! Boom! Crack!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Rat-a-tat-tat!
“...”
Haruta even pulled out the gun he usually never used and put six rounds into their heads.
“...Haa... next.”
“...”
At those words, everyone fell silent, and even Koharu went quiet for a moment.
“Ah~ so everyone here did it?”
“N-no! I—”
Then one of them raised a hand and said,
“I was! I was just forced—”
Boom!
“What? I can’t hear you~?”
“I-I mean, I was just... forced!”
Bang! Bang! Crack!
“Listen up, you bastards. From now on I’m going to half-kill each and every one of you one by one, so if you’ve got a complaint, raise your hand.”
No one could raise a hand. The silent pressure made it clear that if they did, they might see something even worse here.
“...Haruta... it’s okay... I’m—”
“Weeds should be killed before they even grow.”
“...No... I’m really fine.”
“Haa... fine.”
At that moment, the door opened and someone walked in.
“Haruta, are you okay!?”
“Sensei... thank goodness...”
“S-Sensei!?”
“Sensei... as in the Sensei from Schale!?”
“Yeah, the Sensei from Schale.”
“What happened here?”
“For now... those Trinity students over there said they took turns beating Mika, so I was beating them a little.”
“I see... well done.”
At those words, the students on the other side all looked bewildered.
“S-Sensei! You can’t do this! You’re discriminating against a student—”
“Kids, you committed collective bullying, and this is the punishment for it.”
“You heard that? Now then, does anyone have a complaint?”
“...”
And so, that day, somewhere in Trinity, there were said to have been sounds of something exploding.
“...Anyway, Sensei, are you feeling better now?”
“...Well... I’m still a little sore, but... I can manage.”
“...Understood.”
“Haruta... then now—”
“Hina is probably under a lot of mental strain right now.”
“...Got it. I’ll handle the situation here first.”
“Yes... then I’ll be going.”
“...Understood. First let’s handle the situation.”
“Yes... take care of yourself.”
“Yeah, you be careful too.”
After finishing a brief conversation with Sensei, he left the room.
“...Now then, Hina... I should go meet her...”
Crash!
“Hina.”
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