He exhaled sharply through his nose.
Pushing through the blood of the tendrils, slicing down insects, and kicking apart armored foes.
In a sliver of breathing room, he barely managed to exchange the air in his lungs.
In enemy territory like this, even a breath could pull the trigger of death.
But the same held true for their opponent.
The endless spawning of vanguard troops from the swamp, the blades striking from above and below, it was impossible not to tire.
Another red gash appeared on Kokujou’s body.
Their own injuries were starting to pile up too, but the tide was unmistakably turning.
They were whittling her down, bit by bit.
—Push through…!!
Just like that time. Once more.
Kokujou’s strongest attack, her ultimate move, to put it plainly, still hadn’t shown itself.
No, it couldn’t.
Her secret technique boasted overwhelming destructive power, but it required time to activate.
In the original timeline, it had caught them off guard, resulting in Rui’s death in a mutual kill.
But because Aoi had foreknowledge of that event, he had been able to bring her down back then.
And now, with the momentum on their side, he would never give her the chance to use it.
「AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!」
Each wound, each glancing strike to a vital point, only made Kokujou laugh harder.
Her resolve was horrifying.
Perhaps her values were simply too alien from theirs.
Without even turning, Kokujou angled one of her swords behind her and deflected Rui’s strike.
Her physical strength and reflexes were astounding, but more than that, years of battle had honed a spatial awareness that saw in every direction.
Clash and scatter.
They engaged again and again, always missing a fatal blow by a hair’s breadth.
But through it all, the entwined strength of Aoi and Rui’s bond was beginning to touch Kokujou’s heart, if only faintly.
However, just like a wounded beast baring its fangs, Kokujou’s movements grew sharper with every second.
「Gah…!?」
Pain surged through Aoi’s abdomen, and he staggered back.
Blood gushed from his mouth as internal injuries pushed up into his throat.
Like a cage snapping shut, puppet soldiers burst forth from every direction.
There was no time to waste dealing with them.
Aoi vaulted off a fallen corpse’s shoulder, blade raised, and leapt straight for Kokujou.
「If you’re still standing here, you better not even think about collapsing!!」
「I know!! I’m not dying!!」
A countless number of azure sword flashes surged forth in an instant, carving afterimages of light into the void.
Riding the momentum of her words, Rui stepped boldly into dual-blade range and swung upward in a reverse diagonal slash.
Flames scorched flesh, and blood spilled from the wound, it was visible, unmistakable.
But before they could even register the impact, black particles exploded outward from Kokujou’s body in a pulse, blasting Aoi and Rui away.
「Ahaha! Yes, that’s it. I won’t die either.」
Jamming their blades into the ground to kill the inertia, Aoi and Rui launched themselves back into the fray.
「If I die, I won’t be able to experience battles that make my heart tremble anymore! I won’t go back there! Never again! Ah, it’s terrifying, isn’t it?! So frightening! AHAHAHA!!」
「…If you really died once, then did you never once mourn the lives of those you’ve killed?! Did you never reflect on how precious every single moment they lived must’ve been?!」
She couldn’t stop herself from shouting.
Aoi felt the same. Completely.
But shattered glass doesn’t mend just because you speak to it.
Kokujou sneered at Rui’s words and slammed her twin blades down.
「They died because their desires were pathetic! Because they were too weak to even live how they wanted! That’s all!」
No more.
This woman could no longer be allowed to remain on the rails of this world’s story.
Muscles burned hot as they drove his body forward.
He shouted silently at the grip fading from his hands, each strike of steel taking a toll.
Behind that vicious clash of blades, those sky-blue eyes, wide in ecstasy, brimmed with gluttonous madness.
「Who decided that caring for others was beautiful? Who decided that killing was evil? Life is short, and you only get one!! You chase what you want, and crush anything in the way!! That is the right way to live!! Just like you killed me!!」
Kokujou’s gaze locked onto Aoi.
—…You really know how to say the worst possible things.
Gritting his teeth, Aoi deflected her bloodthirsty slash and returned one of his own, roaring with defiance.
「You and I are the same!!!! We live straight and without regret, so now, let’s fight!! For our own desires!! …Though I am the one who’ll win!!」
Those burning eyes nearly swallowed him whole.
Rui and Aoi jumped back from her sheer-force strike, the three of them pouring every ounce of strength into their blades.
The swelling surge of the supernatural stirred a bloody tempest.
Their skin felt like it might tear.
A violent wind forced its way into their mouths, nearly stopping their breath.
Rui spat her words with a deep, seething hatred.
「How strange. If you and Sazanami are the same, then why isn’t your way of living beautiful?」
Twin lights surged forth, burning away the mire like crashing waves.
Blue and black clashed violently, each stroke dazzling in intensity.
Through the glare, Aoi saw Kokujou’s grin widen even more.
☆
Darkness bled into her consciousness.
A suffocating pressure, like tendrils constricting her whole body, left her unable to think.
Akane groaned, but her awareness had already been shoved deep down beneath a blanket of madness, one that threatened to crush her entirely at any moment.
『Hey, you!! Don’t you dare let go of your consciousness, I will save you!!』
A sharp, resolute voice pierced through the murk.
Her body wouldn’t obey, not in the slightest, but Akane tried to lift her head.
It felt like someone had stoked a fire in her chest.
There’s no way Saotome Rui could’ve known.
That among the many gazes reading her emotions and watching her gestures… was one tinted with jealousy.
There’s no way Nakahara Kasane could’ve known.
That while he eagerly gazed at the cover of the latest volume, Akane was watching his back with a puffed-up, pouty face.
It might’ve seemed ridiculous to envy paper, but for a teenage girl, it wasn’t so simple.
She envied Rui, who clearly had his affections.
『You don’t have to tell me that…』
Kasane was trying to save her.
She had to believe in that, had to hold on just a little longer.
『You’ve changed, Nakahara.』
It was like he was a different person.
Not just his appearance. His expression… it had something solid at its core.
If he could change this much… then maybe she could too.
That thought alone gave her strength.
She’d died with deep regrets.
She wanted to live, strongly, happily.
In this second life, free from the chains of her past, she wanted to shine.
To live without any regrets.
…Just like him.
Kiyosato Akane made that wish from the depths of her soul, and reached for the chains binding her.
Enduring the static crashing through her mind, she let out a scream.
She would endure.
Until he saved her.
In defiance of Kokujou’s invading consciousness, Akane,
『–Huh?』
Her thoughts stopped short, like being tripped mid-step.
Kokujou’s thoughts were constantly flowing into her mind.
And those thoughts… were so deranged, so unhinged,
That if she’d had control of her body, her face would’ve gone completely pale.
『N-No way…?』
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