Date A Live Fragment: Date A Bullet - Volume 8 - Chapter 1

Then, Go Kill Each Other With Your Ex-Best Friend

 The Neighboring World screamed. 

 Unable to be called anything else, a fierce battle had begun. The surrounding space distorted, creaked, and smashed apart every obstacle. Not to mention Quasi-Spirits including the Dominions, even Higoromo Hibiki hurriedly tried to move away and evacuate from that place. 

 At the center of that whirlpool of Reiryoku was Nightmare and Queen. 

 Let’s help or attack all at once. Such a proposal existed prior to this battle, but it wasn’t in a conceivable state right now. 

 For a comparison, this was like an indoor tornado or heavy artillery fired in one’s own quarters. Too fierce, too violent, they couldn’t think of any option other than running away. 

 That was the battle between Tokisaki Kurumi and the White Queen──or rather Yamauchi Sawa. 

 “──<Zafkiel>.” 

 “──<Lucifugus>.” 

 Tokisaki Kurumi, the monster who could control time. 

 The White Queen, the specter that could control space. 

 Both of them right now, to the very letter──made a desperate effort devoting themselves to killing each other. 

 “──The First Bullet <Aleph>!” 

 “──The Libra Bullet <Moznaim>!” 

 Kurumi attacked charging forward, but the White Queen avoided it by swapping positions with the surrounding structures. Pushing at Kurumi’s defenseless flank, the White Queen fired from her pistol repeatedly. However, Kurumi’s accelerated physical ability gave her the speed to avoid the bullets shot. 

 As Kurumi’s figure tremored like a heat haze, the White Queen’s bullets disappeared into the void. At this point, both sides were aware. 

 This battle wasn’t something that could be finished by just shooting blindly. A victory decided like that would purely be an accidental disposition of the heavens. Close to shogi or chess, this bout would be a competition of the tactics and skills between the two. 

 However, there was one decisive difference from those perfect information games. Both Tokisaki Kurumi and Yamauchi Sawa had fangs hidden from each other. 

 Kurumi didn’t know all of the abilities handled by the White Queen’s Demon King astronomic clock ──<Lucifugus>. Just knowing it had some effect on space rather than time was a terrifyingly vague understanding to follow. Honestly, that was like saying anything goes. Kurumi deeply sighed. 

 On the other hand, Kurumi also had an advantage over the White Queen. The White Queen was familiar with all of <Zafkiel>’s abilities due interrogating her clone Cistus──she must be thinking something along those lines. 

 However, that wasn’t the case. In the Fifth Region Gevurah, a region of sword and sorcery, Kurumi and the irreversible decision to distort <Zafkiel>. 

 The Eleventh Bullet <Yud Aleph>…that bullet now resembled the Seventh Bullet <Zayin>. Whether if it was a saber or gun, the moment any attack touched Kurumi whose time had been suspended──that is to say, it would be completely nullified. Certainly, it was a bullet of unparalleled absolute defense. 

 And the Twelfth Bullet <Yud Bet>. If the eleventh was an absolute defense, the twelfth was an absolute attack. Kurumi could affirm her victory if that blow landed. The problem was that the bullet could only be fired once when considering the total amount of Reiryoku and time needed. And even if it was an absolute attack, it wasn’t an absolute guarantee. There was the possibility that it could be avoided. 

 Kurumi thought the only way to defeat Yamauchi Sawa (Queen) is through the Twelfth Bullet <Yud Bet>. 

 That’s why, in this battle of wits of killing each other, she needed to somehow hit her with that bullet. 

 Kurumi considered this as she fought with even greater caution. However, this inevitably created an adjournment for Tokisaki Kurumi. In other words, she couldn’t use the Eleventh Bullet <Yud Aleph>. To be more precise, the timing for its usage was extremely strict. 

 The White Queen’s battle experience didn’t seem any less inferior to Tokisaki Kurumi’s own. Since she has waged life or death struggles against the other Dominions, she couldn’t be considered just an amateur indulging in extraordinary power. 

 The moment she shot the Eleventh Bullet <Yud Aleph>, which wouldn’t be recognized by Yamauchi Sawa, there is a high possibility that the Twelfth Bullet <Yud Bet> would be detected as her trump card. It was an expectation held for the White Queen she had fought against in this world. 

 Therefore, Kurumi’s first move must be cautious. She needed to start by confronting her with the bullets of <Zafkiel> she was familiar with like the First Bullet <Aleph>. 

 Be that as it may, she didn’t have an ample surplus of time. Kurumi inwardly grinded her teeth against each other. The reason for that was── 

◇◇◇

 Yamauchi Sawa didn’t know about the Twelfth Bullet <Yud Bet>. Not to mention, she didn’t even know about the Eleventh Bullet <Yud Aleph>. However, she did understand Tokisaki Kurumi. Having full knowledge of her, it was to the extent that she felt convinced to make this assertion. 

 (Hmm. I wonder if there is something.) 

 In other words, Sawa could read up to that point. Nonetheless, there was too little information. She knew there was a trump card, but couldn’t tell what that ace in the hole might be. 

 Sawa felt that the current status quo was advantageous to her in a ratio of 7:3. First of all, there was the disparity in physical abilities. Even with Kurumi accelerating with the First Bullet <Aleph>, her own speed without physical enhancement was almost equal. Of course, Kurumi has the Second Bullet <Bet> (slowing down) and the Seventh Bullet <Zayin> (time stop), and there was the disadvantage of a reversal if they could land a hit on her. 

 But in that regard, there were preventive measures from <Lucifugus>. A twice-fold slashing attack with the Cancer Sword <Sartan>, shaving space with the Leo Bullet <Arie>, and accomplishing position swapping instantaneous movement through the Libra Bullet <Moznaim>. 

 Numerous useful cards on hand, and most importantly Kurumi didn’t know all of them. That part was huge. 

 General hadn’t fought with all of her saber and bullet abilities. Therefore, Tokisaki Kurumi must move in constant vigilance regarding the ace up Queen’s sleeve. 

 Rather than using her abilities to drive her into a corner, she would drive her into corner by not using them and keep her second guessing. That was Sawa’s tactic against Kurumi. 

 Kurumi and Sawa exchanged gunfire at close range in order to observe each other’s facial expression and what was reflected in the iris of each other’s eyes. 

 Removing their bodies from the predicted attacks, not afraid to step forward to each other’s gun trajectories by flicking back with a saber and gun barrel, they avoided the deadly bullets in a presentation of mutual display. 

 Using close range combat with firearms, it was a distance that Tokisaki Kurumi should originally not be skilled at. 

 “The First Bullet <Aleph>, the Second Bullet <Bet>, two in a row…!” “Damn…!” 

 After shooting at herself, a souvenir (debuff) was placed onto Queen without a moment’s delay. Not able to avoid it, the bullet grazed her──at that moment, the perception of swinging her saber felt abnormally slow. If it had been an ordinary Quasi-Spirit, they would have been left confused over the gap between consciousness and movement at this moment. 

 “The Gemini Bullet <Teomim>.” 

 In a hurry, the White Queen stopped the attack by shooting a bullet at herself. The bullet bearing the crown of twins copied the White Queen’s body, and even transferred her consciousness to the new body. The former body crumbled away as the new body survived. 

 “…!” 

 “It shouldn’t be surprising. My <Lucifugus> controls space. Copying is easy as long as the Neighboring World is a world where existing with physical bodies is not necessary. Even you──” 

 Those words ran on reflex. Even after reaching this late in the game, she realized with a bitter smile that she wanted to continue talking to her. 

 That said, her thoughts as the White Queen issued out an alarm without interruption. 

 Kurumi using the First Bullet <Aleph> didn’t simply mean getting faster, nor did the Second Bullet <Bet> meant slowing down either. Accelerating time meant that everything was faster, with every ability important to combat also speeding up. 

 There were three principal components in the act of shooting a gun: setting up the gun, aiming, and pulling the trigger. All of the abilities required for those movements have accelerated. Swinging the arm, dynamic vision, speed at pulling the trigger, all of that were included. 

 But even with that mind, her advantage still hasn’t shifted── 

 ──She froze. 

 Kurumi’s <Zafkiel> was facing her head. And Kurumi’s smile, warping her cheeks like a clown, turned into fearless and brazen laughter. 

 Sawa saw the laugh and tried to jump at that moment. Her action was correct, but her choice was a little too slow. 

 At the same time as she jumped, there was an uncomfortable feeling coming from her ankles. Slender white arms extended out from the shadows, profanely and unknowingly clutching onto the Queen’s ankles. 

 “The Eighth Bullet <Het>…!” 

 Leading into this battle, Kurumi undid her self-imposed shackles. She lifted the ban on the forbidden bullet, the Eighth Bullet <Het>. 

 From the very beginning, she couldn’t predict what would happen. Will the past of Tokisaki Kurumi’s clone come, or will the past of the main body appear? 

 At any rate, this bullet may disperse further chaos onto the Neighboring World, In the first place, as a clone there was no guarantee she would be safe after using the Eighth Bullet <Het>. 

 This anguish, agony, and fear, all of it was thrown away by Tokisaki Kurumi. Defeat the White Queen. Defeat her even if it meant sacrificing herself. 

 Not because she was a Spirit, this was a duty and obligation as Tokisaki Kurumi. Because of this sense of duty, she needed to devote everything── 

 Tokisaki Kurumi exercised the authority of the Eighth Bullet <Het>. 

 “Kihihihihihi────!” 

 The clones immediately understood what to do. They understood that they were existences meant for fighting. As imitations of Kurumi’s thoughts without change, they behaved in accordance to that. 

 “Hinderances.” 

 Yamauchi Sawa crudely called them that, pointing at clone’s brows and shooting them on sight as they were being born. However, no matter how good the White Queen’s specs were, aiming at another target was nothing more than an opening in battle. 

 Kurumi didn’t hesitate as she kicked Sawa in the abdomen. 

 “…!” 

 Knocked back, Queen was sent flying and rolled onto an empty plain. The pain was only for an instant, but it was enough to make her gasp for air. With pursuit incoming, Queen prepared a bullet to intercept──but it never came. 

 Queen stood up to gaze in wonderment. She had lost sight of the Tokisaki Kurumi who was supposed to be in front of her. 

 “I see…so you’ve decided on your resolve.” 

 Saying she lost sight of her wasn’t completely accurate. Encircling Queen’s surroundings were a crowd, crowd, crowd of Tokisaki Kurumi. As they all were lightly smiling, Sawa also slowly smiled. 

 “Yes. This is great. When surrounded by Kurumi-san like this, it really feels like we are earnestly trying to kill each other. Of course, I need to show I’m serious too.” 

 Slowly laughing, her tone was gentle. However, the emotions contained in her words were like sharpened blade. 

 Kurumi thought about killing each other. 

 Really, it was now too late. She was going to kill Yamauchi Sawa. 

 “…I will come.” 

 “Please do.” 

 Volley firing that could disorient the eyes. There were no blind spots. If there were any it would be ground, but Sawa wasn’t planning to bury herself like a mole. In the first place, she didn’t even intend to avoid it. 

 “<Lucifugus>──Double-Style Heavenly Bullet, The Leo Bullet <Arie> / The Gemini Bullet <Teomim>.” 

 “…!” 

 Astonished, the surrounding Kurumi clones widened their eyes. The bullets surrounded the queen like a tornado. The Leo Bullet <Arie>, and the Gemini Bullet <Teomim> imitating it, the two of them devoured all of Kurumi’s bullets and nullified her shooting attempts. 

 Of <Lucifugus>’s abilities──this was a combination type. 

 “This is…!?” 

 One of the Kurumi clones created by the Eighth Bullet <Het> murmured that as if stunned. Being near Queen by chance, Queen mercilessly shot her to death. 

 “Now, it’s my turn. Kurumi-san, please──” 

 Then, with a sweet smile just like spring sunshine, she continued. 

 “Don’t die so easily.” 

 Being told that, the Kurumi clones were enraged by that provocative remark pointed their guns again──but as they were standing still, Queen instantly closed in on the Kurumi clones. 

 The glistening blade of her steel sword──pierced through the heart of one of the Kurumi. That Kurumi vanished like mist at a moment’s notice. 

 “This…Queen…!” 

 The group of Kurumi frantically dispersed in order to continuing shooting from their guns without pause. But Queen’s combination of the Leo Bullet <Arie> and the Gemini Bullet <Teomim> was constantly guarding her surroundings. 

 They were just like a herd of hunting dogs being devoured for trying to break into enemy territory. 

 However, their numbers were still overwhelming──the Kurumi clones took the time to calmly and ruthlessly continuously shoot. And even the Leo Bullet <Arie> surrounding Queen was not perfect. 

 A few bullets slipped in through the gaps. 

 Queen was slightly injured, but she disregarded that entirely while searching for Tokisaki Kurumi. She understood that no matter how many clones created by the Eighth Bullet <Het> she killed, it was meaningless. 

 The important matter was to kill the main body (well strictly speaking she was also a clone) producing the clones. Healing these wounds can wait until after solving that issue first. 

 Examining the circumstances closely, if Tokisaki Kurumi were defeated at this time, this battle would come to an end. The White Queen would be victorious, the Quasi-Spirits defeated, and the Neighboring World would collapse. 

 Searching──searching──searching──she had taken notice. There was only one. Without bleeding impatience, there was a Tokisaki Kurumi looking at Queen with determined eyes and standing alone 12 meters ahead. She must have deployed the surrounding clones to remain inconspicuous. 

 “I. Found. You♪” 

 With that lighthearted voice, the White Queen charged forward. The Leo Bullet <Arie> disappeared as the simultaneous sweeping fire landed direct hits on the White Queen’s body. However, without stopping to flinch from the pain──in the first place feeling pain had disappeared a long time ago──Queen arrived at the main Tokisaki Kurumi. 

 “…!” 

 Kurumi set up her rifle as the queen raised her saber. 

 The speed of Queen’s thrust was slightly faster than Kurumi. Gunshots resounded at close range──but there was no pain felt by Queen’s body. 

 A blow convincing enough to have killed her. But then, Queen found herself shocked by her mistake. 

 The Kurumi who was pierced threw away her old-fashioned guns in order to tightly grasp onto her saber. With her not letting go, she reflexively tried to pull it away. 

 “You were a bit off, Sawa-san.” 

 That voice came from the side. Approaching before she was aware, Tokisaki Kurumi pointed <Zafkiel> at Queen’s forehead. 

 Disappearing, the Tokisaki Kurumi that Sawa stabbed had faded away with a laugh. She was definitely a clone created by the Eighth Bullet <Het>. 

 “If it’s you, I was convinced that you would find me. If it was Sawa-san, certainly──you would find me even on this battlefield.” 

 Ah, so that was it. It was such a commonplace rationale. What Yamauchi Sawa had thought, Tokisaki Kurumi had also considered. Then it was natural that she could build the appropriate countermeasures. 

 The best place to hide a leaf was in a forest. 

 But what if the leaves were neither brown or green, but rather a poisonous color that could be identified just by looking at it? 

 Answer: it would be a good idea to prepare leaves with the same poisonous color to make them stand out. 

 Queen faintly considered such a thing. It was clear that she didn’t have enough time to defend or evade. 

 And Tokisaki Kurumi wasn’t charitable enough to hesitate. 

 She fired. 

 Aiming at the crown of the head, she shot from <Zafkiel> without any hesitation. The clones ready their guns in unison to further the pursuit even more. 

 Then, she noticed the ground rumbling. 

 “This is…!?” 

 “Fufu, sorry. You guys weren’t in time.” 

 The girl shot through the head opened her mouth that was spewing out blood. Behind Queen, a huge door manifested with a sparkling glow. The shape looked familiar, but the presence it exuded was too different. 

 The gate that connected the regions to each other. That was exactly what was behind Queen. It was the goal that Kurumi had been aiming for all this time. 

 “The gate…for the First Region Keter…!” 

 And to make matters worse, the gate was open. 

 “Let’s start again, Kurumi-san. Fufu…now, shall we continue killing each other (date)?” Even after being shot in the head, Yamauchi Sawa laughed and jumped backwards. “Wait…!” 

 Queen disappeared. At the same time, the door was gradually closing. “Tokisaki Kurumi!” 

 A voice came from afar. Yukishiro Maya screamed to her while being in a frantic state. “Hurry! Go!” 

 With those words, Kurumi threw herself into the gate to the First Region Keter without any hesitation. Naturally, the surviving clones also passed through the gate one after another. 

 “I’m coming too──! Please go on ahead!” 

 A familiar voice arrived from far away. Kurumi slipped out a giggle as that inspiration help give her nothing to fear. 

 Tokisaki Kurumi…Kurumi-san entered the gate to the First Region Keter. She was determined to win no matter what awaited her. 

 As for the other one, for Higoromo Hibiki, there was no option to retire here. “Higoromo Hibiki, you should go too! Haraka!” 

 “Gotcha! Sorry, but let me send you flying in a sort of violent way!” 

 “I’m ready for anything! …Violent? Flying?” 

 Hibiki responded while easily influenced by the current mood. But then, after having something that felt like a tag slapped onto the nape of her neck, her face turned pale after understanding what that act entailed. 

 “Um excuse me. What did you just put my back──” 

 “Jet propulsion spirit talisman. Fly at the speed of sound and enter the gate!” “Aaaaah, it’s just like I thought!” 

 Flung while being super-accelerated from using the spirit talisman, Hibiki forcefully plunged into the closing gate. 

 Furthermore, had it been one second later, it would have been too late and ended up a huge disaster with Hibiki crashing into the gate. But whether fortunate or unfortunate, Hibiki didn’t know that as she had closed her eyes from going too fast. 

◇◇◇

 The First Region Keter. The supreme and sacred region where even those that knew of its existence couldn’t visit. 

 A place full of mysteries to the extent where even its location was uncertain, let alone if there was Dominion or not. 

 When Tokisaki Kurumi landed there, her clones looked confused and looked at each other. “We──do you all remember?” 

 “Yes, of course…” “I remember.” “How can I forget.” “Here is──” 

 This was the school building of Kyoou Girls Academy, the place where Tokisaki Kurumi spent time together with Yamauchi Sawa. 

 The twilight-colored sunset was spread out everywhere in the sky. Listening carefully──it felt like she could hear noise coming from students. With the gate connecting this region to the others having already disappeared, Kurumi felt like she had returned back in time to the other world. 

 “It can’t be…we have…returned…to the past …of reality…?” One of the clones nervously whispered that, but Kurumi immediately rejected that idea. “No…that isn’t it. This was just made that way.” 

 Maybe person who created the Neighboring World was connected to either Tokisaki Kurumi or Yamauchi Sawa. Kurumi humored the idea, but then immediately rejected that possibility. 

 Rather, it may be the opposite. With Yamauchi Sawa’s arrival, the First Region Keter may have changed to look like this. 

 “As I thought, this region must have originally held nothing. With Sawa-san…and after that our arrival, this region was reasonably controlled to look like this.” 

 Yamauchi Sawa and Tokisaki Kurumi. 

 The sanctuary where the two of them fostered their friendship and were allowed to talk in this calm sunshine. 

 The place walked was where they savored youth, experienced youth, and embraced youth together. 

 ──She remembered. 

 She remembered her past as Tokisaki Kurumi, and the memory of waving her hand to bid farewell to her friend. 

 However, the only feeling that arrived to Kurumi’s chest was an indescribable emptiness. Her consciousness had already switched to the mindset of killing each other. However, this landscape couldn’t help but make her feel nostalgic. 

 “Kurumi-san!” 

 And then, a lively voice mercilessly interrupted her thoughts. 

 “Ara, ara.” 

 “Yeah, I managed to sneak in at the last minute! For the time being, the other Dominions are also hurrying to catch up. It seems it’ll take some time to open the closed gate.” 

 “Well, I didn’t expect reinforcements. I suppose this either fate or destiny.” “…Is it a nuisance for me to come?” 

 “Yes, very much so.” 

 As Kurumi replied with a smile, Hibiki lowered her shoulders. 

 “That’s disheartening.” 

 After that smiled passed, Hibiki thought about what this meant for Kurumi. “Well, I don’t want to say anything boorish. But wasn’t she your best friend?” 

 “Yes. No matter what happened or what occurred, she was a close friend that I believed I would be together with for the rest of our lives.” 

 “────” 

 “That’s why I have to kill her. As a person who was once a friend, that’s why it’s absolutely my responsibility.” 

Kurumi announced her sad vow in a light-hearted manner. Hibiki couldn’t help but bitterly smile, deciding on what she had to do as while beaten by Kurumi’s higher resolve. 

 “Please do your best, Kurumi-san. …I’ll be praying here.” 

 She tightly hugged Kurumi and whispered like a close friend. 

 Kurumi was not entirely caught off guard, but this scene, sunset, words were all too warm. She almost unknowingly cried a little. 

 ──Hibiki’s sentiments were warm. It was difficult for her to leave. However, her hands grabbed Hibiki’s shoulders and slowly pulled her away. Her feet faced the direction of the school building. Before that, she flicked Hibiki with her finger for the time being. 

 “Then, let us proceed. We.” 

 Leaving behind those words, Kurumi and her clones started running. 

 Goal: defeat the White Queen──Yamauchi Sawa. Stop her by any means possible from destroying the Neighboring World. For that reason, throw away any hesitation. Even if it meant having to once more kill her former best friend. Or even if this led to destroying herself. 

◇◇◇

 Yamauchi Sawa decided to destroy the Neighboring World. 

 What was the purpose of this Neighboring World? Why was it born and why did it continued to exist like this? 

 Yamauchi Sawa didn’t understand either point. However, there was one thing she could say for sure. Rather than naturally occurring like the cosmos, this Neighboring World was an artificial world. 

 It was enough if she could understand that much. Rather, by setting that as a limiter for her understanding, perhaps she was afraid of being detected by the person who created this world. 

 However, asking what this world symbolized was a different matter. 

 Yamauchi Sawa understood. There are various rumors, studies, dissertations spread amongst Quasi-Spirits, but the general consensus was that this was the world after death. 

 Calling it the world after death was simple enough, but that image varies from country to country. Hell, underworld, Valhalla, and so on. 

 However, there was one universal point shared between every country’s religious views. The world after death is a world of only souls after abandoning their bodies. Even if their bodies had seemingly revived, that must mean at any rate──they must have at least once abandoned their bodies. 

 The Neighboring World was a world sewn together by enormous Reiryoku and an enormous girl’s soul. Enormous Reiryoku──let alone a sun, if that amount of energy was comparable to a galaxy, it could make the impossible be possible. 

 Input specific time and coordinates, and then releasing that energy towards that. 

 Time would rewind and the future could change. Yamauchi Sawa would never die and the past would be changed so she would continue existing as Tokisaki Kurumi’s friend. 

 …Unfortunately, she didn’t know the person who turned her into a Spirit. At the very least, if she knew who it was, it may be possible to change the past by extinguishing that person with the energy of the Neighboring World. 

 Up to that point, Yamauchi Sawa was thinking and acting on this while raising havoc through the Neighboring World. However, one problem created from there. 

 It was the means to unite the enormous Reiryoku squirming in this Neighboring World. After all, although there is only the soul in this Neighboring World, there are countless girls in possession of hearts. These girls could either scatter Reiryoku by using it, or simply choose to disappear. 

 She attacked the Third Region Binah to become Dominion, stockpiling on information from well-informed Quasi-Spirits in the process. But even so, she still couldn’t find a way to unify the Reiryoku. 

 However, one piece of information arrived to Sawa after she became Dominion. ──The story of a single boy occasionally slipped into the Neighboring World. 

 Even though she knew that gaze was directed towards someone other than herself, the myth of that love captivated her. 

 That was only a glimpse of a memory. What if the real thing appears? 

 Already captivated by the memories of the boy, Yamauchi Sawa attempted to test if they would work on Quasi-Spirits in this world. Those girls danced widely. Submitting to that boy’s words, they offered up the Reiryoku necessary to stay in this world and carelessly became Empties. 

 By using <Lucifugus>’s abilities, the Gemini Bullet <Teomim> and the Scorpio Bullet <Akrab>, it ended up becoming an imitation of the boy existing in the memories of those Quasi-Spirits. 

 “I’m shocked. Is that worthless love really so important?” 

 General scornfully sighed at this, while Lady who convinced in this belief. And then, there was Queen who didn’t understand it at all. 

 Regardless, that ability was fully utilized to her heart’s content. It played a substantial role in bringing ruin to the Dominions. The Virgo Sword <Betulah>──the blade that causes girls to fall into love. 

 “Tell me what love is──” 

 Sawa suddenly hummed a passage from Mozart’s The Marriage of the Figaro. She didn’t know. She had lived without knowing what the emotion of love was like. 

 No, should that even be invoked for the dead? The loneliness of not being able to reunite with family, the frustration of not be able to realize love, which one was worse? For Sawa, this didn’t make sense anymore. 

 For Tokisaki Kurumi, Sawa thought that girl would definitely choose love. 

 Love that functioned as madness. As a girl who died mad from love, she would unmistakably choose it. 

 “How vexing.” 

 Such feelings emerged. A Tokisaki Kurumi she didn’t know, a boy she didn’t know, just about everything felt irritating. It was irritating, but she wasn’t going to stop anymore. 

 Perish, perish, perish. 

 Sing, sing, sing. 

 Die, die, die. 

 From the onset, she was an inverted Tokisaki Kurumi. So then, her purpose was to hate love. “──Have you finished praying?” 

 The loving words of a loved one reached the back of Sawa who hated love. 
◇◇◇

 She couldn’t afford to leisurely look around this school building. But even so, Kurumi couldn’t deny the soft sense of yearning that engulfed her and scratched away at her chest. 

 The corridor she walked together with Sawa. The classroom where they studied and talked. From the chemistry lab to the gymnasium, from the sports grounds to the roof top, all of it was filled with nostalgia. 

 However, there was no Sawa in any of those places. 

 In that case, there was only one answer. The final destination of fate, a place where people mutually facing their backs to each other would gather. A place of salvation for those carrying sin, seeking either punishment or forgiveness. 

 A unique building on the premises──called a chapel, it was a location peculiar to this academy. 

 Sermons were held once a month, and the cathedral was only used during Christmas. But for students, rather than considered sacred, it was a place to get drunk on the secretive and solemn atmosphere. 

 There were girls who talked here after school, with some even confessing their love. Some even held wedding ceremonies to swear eternal friendship (or love). 

 Kurumi and Sawa also played here (even if it was reprehensible). Playing by offering prayers, playing by giving confessions, playing through make-believe sermons, otherwise it probably wouldn’t just be a sham marriage ceremony. 

 “Speaking of which.” 

 For some reason, she was always embarrassed imitating the wedding ceremony… 

 Such an insignificant thought came to mind. Going through, she opened both the heavy doors. Sitting in front of the altar, closing her eyes, and joining her hands together, there was a pure white girl praying. 

 It was Yamauchi Sawa. It was Tokisaki Kurumi. It was an inverted clone. It was the White Queen. 

 And, taking form from mixing all of that together, a pure white──person who was none of those people. 

 “Have you finished praying?” 

 “Yes.” 

 As Queen stood up, that faint hatred in her eyes──immediately disappeared and was replaced by a resigned, or perhaps complacent smile appearing on the surface. 

 “So, this is the First Region Keter. How strange.” 

 “You who arrived here became the Dominion. It’s not that strange.” 

 “I don’t think so. I don’t have much good memories for this school.” 

 “…For you, maybe that’s right.” 

 “Aren’t you also the same? Even a graduation ceremony couldn’t be done.” Aah──right, certainly it was quite like that. 

 “Here is a fragment of peaceful times, the residue of sunlight, things I can’t remember even if I want to remember. I can’t even remember what I remember in the first place. That’s all there is to it.” 

 Thinking it was perhaps like that, Kurumi nodded. 

 It was becoming very difficult to recall those foolish ordinary days, the childish small talk shared in that world. 

 “Even so. I still want to treat you gently.” 

 With said, she bitterly smiled at her own mismatched remarks. Sawa also grinned in response to her smile. 

 “You want to treat me gently even while killing each other?” 

 “Please don’t phrase it like that. What I am saying is, it’s unbearably──sorrowful to consider.” “That sadness and joy. Let’s leave it all behind here. Just about everything is unnecessary.” Distance was within 10 meters. Just like before, the two thrusted their weapons at each other. 

 A feeling of oppression grinded and crushed the atmosphere. The premonition of death that couldn’t help but linger in her mind. 

 Tokisaki Kurumi / Yamauchi Sawa, thus the final mutual killing had begun. 

 If the speed of their movements was at the speed of sound, then the speed of their thought process was at the speed of light. And the speed of their bullets, gouging out each other’s bodies to plunder their lives, was at a divine speed transcending even that. 

 Kurumi smoothly pointed to her own forehead and pulled the trigger. Jumping at the same time, she ricocheted off the wall like a rubber ball and instantaneously closed in on the Queen’s flank. 

 “──!” 

 Sawa, who stopped the blow with her saber, crossed her arms and pointed her gun at Kurumi’s eyebrows. Crouching──dodging. The thunderous roar echoing overhead would have been a fatal wound if just a second too late. 

 Something that was neither fear nor joy ran through Kurumi’s spine like an electrical current. Still crouching, Kurumi immodestly spread her legs wide and pointed <Zafkiel>’s rifle to the heavens. 

 She fired. 

 Everything from the jawbone to the crown of the head was blown away. However, this body lacked a soul. 

 “The Gemini Bullet <Teomim>.” 

 Rather than astonishment, she recognized the circumstances with a level of preparedness. What she destroyed was only an empty shell. 

 The saber stabbed Kurumi’s body, and her pistol, like parts of a precise machine, punctured Kurumi’s shoulder. 

 “The Fourth Bullet <Dalet>.” 

 Kurumi, who just incurred serious injuries, immediately regained her prior position with this short break. The White Queen had chosen a wait-and-see option rather than trying to force Kurumi into a corner without any pause. 

 ──There must be a plan. 

 That much was understood. She took a glance to see if there was some sort of trump card. Trying to grasp that plan──or at the very least understanding so even that secret weapon couldn’t overturn her advantage. 

 For Sawa to kill Kurumi, the option she was intending to choose. 

 ──Ah, how fun. 

 Sawa thought that something like this was the equivalent to an exchange of love. She had to consider her opponent with all her might, fostering murderous intent, and then devoting body and soul to killing. What else to call this besides love? 

 It may have been either Sawa or Kurumi who thought this. By relentlessly piling up thoughts of what could come next, reading the opponent’s next move had fallen into a state where they might as well have become their opponent. 

 Dissolving into a single murky lifeform──Kurumi was Sawa and Sawa was Kurumi. 

 However, in this war of mutual killing, their gambles competed for the sake of determining either superiority or inferiority. 

 “The Eight Bullet <Het>.” “The Virgo Sword <Betulah>.” 

 The black clones and white illusion mixed like a twill pattern. However, as Kurumi’s reinforcements rushed through the chapel door one after the other, black began to dominate this place. 

 While watching this, the White Queen spoke while quietly laughing. 

 “The Virgo Sword <Betulah>.” 

 “Again…! How pointless…!” 

 As Kurumi said that, she defeated the illusion in front of her eyes in an instant. ──Tokisaki, Kurumi? 

 There was a voice. 

 The voice changed into a low-tone voice that shouldn’t be heard in this world. 

 That wasn’t the problem. The problem was that voice was, that voice was, that voice was too emotionally resounding, chiming at the center of her heart like a bell. 

 At the same time, she knew that his voice right now was only an illusion brought about by Queen──but even so, Kurumi clumsily was struck by Sawa’s blow. 

 “Ka, ha…!” 

 Blown away. While being blown away, she ruminated over the illusion from just a moment ago. Consideration of the hateful consequences brought about instinct rather than consideration, indignation rather than disgust. 

 In other words. 

 Tokisaki Kurumi was absolutely livid. 

 “Queeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen!!” 

 By the time she landed against the wall, she lifted her arm to rapidly fire. The clones also simultaneously started shooting. Left to that furious firing squad, Sawa evaded with three dimensional like movements. 

 As if to entirely render those bullets null, simultaneous to her leaping to the sky, the impact of her second mid-air kick bounced off the very atmosphere itself. 

 Whether like a rebounded ball or quite possibly a ricocheted bullet, Sawa flew into the sky at inhuman speed. 

 The chapel collapsed from being unable to withstand the impact. With the roof blown away and the altar crushed by debris, the symbol for believers to pray had turned into a miserable corpse. 

 Sawa ran away with Kurumi chasing after her. 

 Sawa, who landed on the wall of the school building, kept running along the wall without pause. The downpour of bullets chased after her as she sprinted. The glass windows were blow away and the pure white wall was now hideously scorched. 

 “The Third Bullet <Gimmel>!” 

 Sniping done to the observed future. The wall that Sawa was stepping on had aged one step ahead. Unlike the bullets only meant to demolish, this one caused Sawa to unknowingly step into a trap. 

 “──!?” 

 The wall used as footing melted like mud. Naturally, her light jog across the wall ended here. “Volley fire.” 

 In response to Kurumi’s commands, the clones created by the Eighth Bullet <Het> concentrated their bullets onto Sawa. 

 Direct, direct hit, continuous direct hits. Unable to even scream, Sawa was blown into the school building. A feeling full of confidence──rather than an illusion of an empty husk, this was a certainly the bulls-eye on the genuine article. 

 But, if so. What was this unpleasant feeling? 

 “…Move out, we!” 

 Waving that thought aside for now, Kurumi and her clones entered the school building. Before entering, Kurumi glanced behind herself to recount her numbers. 

 The clones created by the Eighth Bullet <Het> were now around 30. Since she had originally created around 50, it seemed around 20 clones had already disappeared like the morning dew. 

 She immediately rejected the inward proposal that her numbers needed to be replenished. As expected, Tokisaki Kurumi was also just another one of the clones. She was a former silhouette that happened to be able to use <Zafkiel> by chance. 

 In other words, unlike the main body, creating clones through the Eighth Bullet <Het> was a terrible burden. 

 For a comparison, it was like shaving away at herself to gather materials. A huge amount of time, a huge amount of Reiryoku, and above all──a huge amount of herself. 

 Being shaven away, creating clones was nothing more than self-torment for Kurumi. 

 The original Tokisaki Kurumi didn’t seem to feel any pain using the Eight Bullet <Het>. Was there a difference in ability between the main body and a clone? Or perhaps── 

 Perhaps the mental framework of the original was leagues apart from her own. 

 When she entered, the scene had changed quite as if like in a movie. It transitioned from dusk to a dark alley during nighttime. 

 Chills ran through her entire body not because of this sense of impending crisis, but because of the despair from the bygone past. 

 At that moment, rather than be on alert, an opening was built. There was no one to blame but herself. The girl, who had slipped into the opening made by her distracted mind, closed in on her target, Tokisaki Kurumi. 

 Fortunately, Kurumi had allies right now. And it was only due to this luck that she defended against her attack. 

 Honestly, Kurumi may have done so instinctively. …Even though the enemy was here, she had taken a step back. 

 That step divided life from death. 

 Kurumi couldn’t react to the White Queen’s piercing slash and was torn apart. 

 However, cowardice, rather than confronting her sins, saved her life. The certain-kill slash only stayed as sustaining a serious wound. 

 “────!” 

 “Tch…!” 

 “We!” 

 As one of the clones screamed, Kurumi collapsed at the same time to the retaliating gunfire. Queen retreated back after her body received those bullet injuries. Meanwhile, one of the clones picked up Kurumi and fled. The thirty clones divided into two groups of ten and twenty, with the twenty clones chasing after Queen. 

 The ten protecting Kurumi left the alleyway and evacuated to a nearby private home. There were no people or furniture, but the clone judged that this was enough to hide themselves. “Are you okay, me…!?” 

 “Ah────” 

 Her closed eyelids opened. Confirming she was alive, the clones all felt relieved. Kurumi loosely reached out as if asking for something. 

 “Hibi…ki…san?” 

 “…Unfortunately, we are not Hibiki-san.” 

 “──Yes, that’s right.” 

 It felt like her lungs were growing cold. Kurumi stood up, firing the Fourth Bullet <Dalet> to go against the flow of time and heal her wounds. 

 “Let’s conduct a new strategy, we. I will chase after Sawa-san alone, and you all will surrounding me at the center. If I engage Queen, do not hesitate. Along with myself, keep a continuous suppressive fire.” 

 “Is…Is that really, okay?” 

 One of the clones asked her in response. Needless to say, suppressive fire was a tactic of pouring a hail of bullets for the sake of not letting the target escape. The damage would extend to Kurumi, who would be nearby Queen. 

 “I can hold on longer with the Fourth Bullet <Dalet>. In the first place, one of the reasons for this struggle is caused by her continuously skipping around to run away. With all of you shooting to pin her down, I also get to show off how crazy I am.” 

 With that said, Kurumi fearlessly smiled. 

◇◇◇

 Twenty was certainly an overwhelming number. However, these clones can’t use <Zafkiel>’s abilities, while the White Queen could utilize <Lucifugus>. 

 At this point in time, the difference in strength was overwhelming. The clones were aware of this and devoted themselves to stalling for time. They competed quality with the difference in the number of people. 

 “Honestly, such a poor plan to be useful.” 

 Sawa sighed while grumbling that. 

 Hating dear Kurumi, she continued killing them even if they were just clones. 

 In a sense, it could be said to be an exhilarating event, or it could appear to be a sorrowful event that could make one cry. 

 …In this battle so far, Yamauchi Sawa was suppressing her exceedingly strong emotions. She hated fighting, but was also fond of it. 

 She liked to love, but also found it distasteful. 

 She liked conspiring, but also hated it as well. 

 Even so, everything is for getting revenge on Tokisaki Kurumi──revenge? Revenge──if she didn’t think so, she couldn’t do this──no, this is what she wanted to do. 

 “…It hurts…ugh.” 

 A headache, Sawa shuddered at the phenomenon of having migraines. Until now, it was impossible for her to have a headache just from thinking. 

 A hail of bullets swooped down on her once more. Her emotions were overcome by irritation. “Hinderances…!” 

 She retaliated back at the Kurumi clones with that frustration. Two Kurumi clones were extinguished by <Lucifugus>’s Leo Bullet <Arie>. 

 Shaven away, the clones disappeared with resigned-like smiles. 

 The irritation was growing more and more intense. 

 She wanted her to regret, to despair, to express murderous intent just like herself. 

 And yet, no matter how much time passed, that girl would never direct anything to her besides a killing intent born from an obligation. 

 …If so, perhaps Kurumi was aiming to treat her like this. 

 She was a sworn enemy that should be hated. A nemesis that needed to be defeated. 

 But she couldn’t sense that. It couldn’t be felt. All that was directed towards her was an all too uncomfortable feeling of pity. 

 Pity. 

 Irritation flooded like the surging waves as it felt like she was drowning in hatred. 

 Did she feel pity towards her for being killed? Did she feel sorry for herself for being the one to kill? 

 If that was the case. 

 If it was like that. 

 “Aah──” 

 With this so unbearable, who should I strike down with these impure emotions. Who? 

 “…Yeah, you were there.” 

 Tokisaki Kurumi’s best friend. A pure girl with no background, past, or origin, she became her partner and followed this long, long journey to the very end. 

 Higoromo Hibiki. 

 Yamauchi Sawa recognized her as an enemy that should be destroyed. And, this headache. “…It hurts…” 

 It couldn’t be said that this headache was a discrepancy separating Yamauchi Sawa and the White Queen. 

 Sawa was trying to be the White Queen, by all means that was an emotional point that should never be reached. 

 With a ghastly expression, Sawa conducted a Reiryoku investigation as the Dominion. She relentlessly tracked for any stunted, frail Reiryoku. Ah, Sawa thought so that was why. 

 She understood why General captured her. She wanted to store her Reiryoku in their memories for sake of making tracking feasible. 

 “Well, if that was the case, I should have killed her at that time.” 

 She sighed. She tightened her concentration for both her sweetness and arrogance to become enmity. She had only considered her to be a trifling bug, but she was Tokisaki Kurumi’s greatest weak point. 

 Now, then. 

 It looks like she was able to find her. Then, let’s proceed to kill promptly without hesitation and mercy. No more being careless. 

◇◇◇

 “Ah, this is bad.” 

 Right after opening her mouth, Higoromo Hibiki sensed an exceedingly absolute crisis approaching herself. 

 In the first place, Hibiki was well-attuned to signs of this move being played. Even more so if it was coming from Queen. 

 After all, she was once caught and brainwashed. Perhaps at that time, the girl named Yamauchi Sawa memorized her signature, or something like the wavelength of her Reiryoku. 

 A small fly like herself…no, being much cuter, her frail Reiryoku was like a small bird. “Well, I don’t really mind.” 

 Fufufufu, Hibiki laughed. Actually, she was expecting this. It was no surprise. Higoromo Hibiki was Tokisaki Kurumi’s weak point, and she knew that better than anyone else. 

 So that’s why she perhaps shouldn’t have come to the First Region Keter. It may have been better to wait for Tokisaki Kurumi’s triumphant return in the Second Region Chokmah. 

 On the other hand, Hibiki was aware that she was key person. 

 When making a logic comparison between the abilities of Tokisaki Kurumi and Yamauchi Sawa (White Queen), there was no mistake that Yamauchi Sawa outperformed. Even Kurumi would (albeit reluctantly) admit to that. 

 On top of that, Sawa was about to kill Hibiki, Kurumi’s weak point. If Kurumi sensed that, she would need to fight while protecting Hibiki. 

 Even with the clones, having their forces dispersed meant that the Queen’s advantage in this fight wouldn’t waver. 

 ──However, in that case. 

 That’s only the story if Higoromo Hibiki continued being a weak person. “Now, without further ado…time to die!” 

 After cheerfully saying that, Hibiki closed her eyes to perceive the overflowing Reiryoku surrounding herself. Gulping, she confronted that terrifying potential head-on. 

 And then, immediately after that. 

 There was a creaking sound. 

◇◇◇

 Higoromo Hibiki was hiding in a small, uninteresting apartment within this expansive cityscape. She could have torn off the roof and entered that way, but Kurumi would take notice to that. So instead, she planned to quietly open the front door. 

 As for Higoromo Hibiki, coming this far she should have noticed the signs already. Even if she tried to flee, she would be hunted down and killed. Even if she tried to retreat to further indoors, she should understand that still meant death. 

 A typical bad end where each direction led to a dead end. 

 Therefore, that girl was either frightened of her impending death, preparing her last rites, or perhaps praying for a helping hand to arrive. She thought it must be one of those choices. 

 All of that completely missed the mark. 

 There was no fear, preparation for death, or prayers. 

 Higoromo Hibiki very naturally opened the door and went outside. Sawa, who had just arrived at the apartment, was left dumbstruck staring at Hibiki. 

 “…” 

 Yamauchi Sawa was at the mercy of a violent emotion that hadn’t been around for a long time. 

 It was equal parts rage and astonishment. The appearance of Higoromo Hibiki had completely changed. 

 “What’s wrong, Queen-san. Didn’t you see this coming?” 

 A transparent voice, so even the voice had changed. 

 She clenched her teeth so much that it felt like they would break. 

 Right, Higoromo Hibiki’s appearance had already completely transformed just like that time when she stole the power of the Queen. 

 “…Your Unsigned Angel <King Killing> must have already been destroyed.” 

 “Of course, it has. But I have used that to overcome crisis scenarios over and over again. Moreover, I have even used it to take over the Spirit called Tokisaki Kurumi. Rather than a physical texture, I’m using memories of the feeling at that time.” 

 “That’s absurd. That would be like trying to clear a hairpin curve with a F1 car without a steering wheel.” 

 “Then I would cut off one arm and stab it where the handle was to solve everything.” “──Oh, I see. It was quite the frantic move, wasn’t it?” 

 In response to those words, Higoromo Hibiki, whose looks resembled Queen, shouted “That’s right!” 

 Unsigned Angel <King Killing> allowed Hibiki to take the place of another person. Moreover, it was feasible to be able to exercise a portion of that person’s power. 

 Just like a slave trying to kill a king, this was a peak weapon for being extremely dangerous. 

 And even after being destroyed, its remnants remained within Higoromo Hibiki. Just before moving from the Second Region Chokmah to the First Region Keter, Hibiki had noticed that. 

 Higoromo Hibiki’s appearance was black and white. A form endowed with an imperfect and perfect inner world. 

 To sum it up, parts were taken from both Tokisaki Kurumi and Yamauchi Sawa. Nightmare and Queen, plundering half from each──this was the natural conclusion. 

 “I would like to ask for you impression.” 

 “Fufu. My impression…you say.” 

 Sawa was brimming with killing intent over Hibiki’s inquiry. Hibiki herself inwardly assumed a triumphant pose over her outlandishly terrible plan being a success. 

 …Needless to say, Higoromo Hibiki’s transformation incurred a high risk. For a comparison, things like cosmetic disguises weren’t as difficult in the Neighboring World as it would be in reality. Instead, it would be much easier in the Neighboring World where anything can be done through Reiryoku. 

 However, a genuine transformation──a phenomenon best described as transfiguration, was exceedingly difficult even in the Neighboring World. 

 First, there would be an image problem. It would mean disguising as someone you don’t know for a cosmetic facial change. But if it was only to that extent, a slightly dexterous Quasi-Spirit should be able to use that power on herself and others. 

 Like with Hibiki, even special abilities and appearance could be imitated to an extent through a special Unsigned Angel. 

 However, that wasn’t the case for Hibiki right now. Even with that, it should be impossible to build this metamorphosis. 

 For humans looking at a tiger──it’s impossible for them to become a tiger. 

 At any rate, they wouldn’t be able to comprehend it. Humans can neither understand the feelings of a tiger, nor can they imagine concepts like a tiger’s behavioral instincts and hunting performance. 

 But if it was feasible. 

 It must have been an unfathomably painful act. Everything from the skeleton, muscles, and skin was remade. Skin peeled off and repasted, hair torn off and re-implanted, muscles either enlarged or reduced, bones reinforced with titanium──that would be the real-world equivalent of what she had done. 

 This was no different from torture. But at least torture had a finite point where release may occur. This pain knew no such limits. 

 In fact, Hibiki was frantically trying to endure her entire body creaking in pain. And in that regard, Sawa also understood that well. 

 For this reason, Sawa’s hatred coincided with her being flabbergasted. 

 This woman, this insignificant Quasi-Spirit did this just to provoke Yamauchi Sawa. “Congratulations. Your plan is a success.” 

 “Oh. Well about 80% was because I thought it’ll be cool, so I’m glad it worked.” “Yes. I’ll have to kill you soon as thanks.” 

 Firing <Lucifugus>’s pistol──repelling with an imitation of Queen’s saber. “Fufufu, how this, ouuuuuch!” 

 With the impact of the bullets, the pain endured until then had exploded and scattered. “Well, I expected as much. This is an act of self-destruction. Can I ask you only one thing?” 

 “Y-Yes. This pain feels like a tatami needle stuck between my ear and chin, but I’ll answer if I can.” 

 “Why would you go this far?” 

 Of course, Sawa understood. She would say it was for Kurumi. But even with that in mind, this went far beyond putting one’s life on the line. 

 “…Can you already no longer return?” 

 “Ah, uh. I guess the cat’s out of the bag.” 

 In any case, she could no longer turn back. Higoromo Hibiki had abandoned her face. Every time she looked at the mirror, a face that looked like either Kurumi or Sawa would appear. 

 Despair that was impossible to imagine. 

 Moreover, the only thing that this could accomplish was contributing to Tokisaki Kurumi in this battle. 

 There was no praise or reward. So why would she go this far? 

 “…I don’t think be with Kurumi-san much longer.” 

 Hibiki spoke. 

 “With that said…trying stop Kurumi-san…yeah, I don’t even need to think about it. After all, if it’s the Kurumi-san that I know…” 

 Hibiki confessed. 

 “This dedication may shake Kurumi, but I’m convinced that in the end Kurumi-san will chose to head for reality. That’s what I know about Tokisaki Kurumi.” 

 Surmounting, surmounting, she would continue to overcome. 

 No matter how much suffering the journey contained, she would continue to walk and ascend without any concerns. 

 “So that’s why, well──fufu.” 

 And so, Higoromo Hibiki cheerfully laughed. 

 “I want to see her super shocked at the end! Ahahahaha! With this, I’ll surely win! She might even be left utterly speechless!” 

 “If that’s why you’ve gone and done that, then you definitely left me extremely speechless.” 

 The person, who responded to Hibiki’s slightly self-abandoning words, descended down from the sky. 

 “I am surprised. As it is, I’m not saying you were unbearable to look at, but there is the feeling that this is a better face. Then again, there are still traces of Higoromo Hibiki-san’s extortionary uniqueness that still needs to be worked on.” 

 “Um Kurumi-san? Isn’t that bit too slanderous?” 

 “──Really, there aren’t any traces of Hibiki-san anymore. You…” 

 A sad voice landed into Hibiki’s earlobe. 

 “But it’s fine. Now, let’s fight together. Ehehe, I can say those lines now.” That sadness was negated by her bright innocence. 

 Her regrets, despair, and resignation were postponed as she strived to do her best right now. While watching this situation frustratingly, Sawa readied <Lucifugus>. 

 “…It hurts…” 

 She frowned from her headache. 

 “────” 

 Kurumi was observing Sawa. To be precise, she was gazing at the hair on her head. Hibiki also seemed to notice as she pulled of Kurumi’s sleeves. 

 “I know. But not yet. …Hibiki-san, I think this goes without saying. Are you prepared to proceed to the ends of hell?” 

 “Of course!” 

 “I see. If so…let’s go!” 

 Kurumi and Hibiki both jumped together. At the same time, the surviving 12 clones also leaped. “How irritating…!” 

 Queen roared and howled. 

 While lamenting her expressing clear anger for the first time, Nightmare was glad at the same time. 

 Mutual premonition──after a few minutes, everything will be settled. 

 The only unknown was who would be left standing in the end. 

◇◇◇

 “The Eighth Scorpio Bullet <Het Akrab>──!” 

 For her first move, Yamauchi Sawa came up with an unthinkable outlandish scheme. At the same time, she tore off one of her arms and shot a bullet into the arm. Her arm swelled in the blink of an eye and became a clone of the White Queen. 

 “I’ll leave it to you.” 

 “I understand.” 

 The clone of Queen glared at Higoromo Hibiki. Just from that alone, Hibiki was convinced. 

 “Handle that one, we! I’ll shoot down Sawa-san!” 

 “Understood!” x12 

 Replying while chanting in unison, the twelve Kurumi clones shifted the blunt of their attack to the clone of Queen. The Queen shouted. 

 “<Lucifugus>!” 

 The astronomical clock was summoned. Almost at the same time, Yamauchi Sawa, who had quickly regenerated her missing arm, also announced. 

 “<Lucifugus>.” 

 Kurumi stared intently at the two astronomical clocks. 

 “She can also use it…!?” 

 “I exchanged my right arm after all, so I’ll be troubled if this much can’t be done.” 

 Sawa calmly answered. It was hard to notice since she had torn it off so quickly, but she didn’t seem to be in pain. Rather than a clone this was more like division…the equivalent to a partition of one’s own power. 

 “The Leo Bullet <Arie>.” 

 The bullet that shaved away space pushed forward as it pleased. The Kurumi clones avoided it in a hurry. 

 “Hibiki-san, take this!” 

 “I’ve got it!” 

 Receiving the old-fashioned gun from one of the Kurumi clones that threw it across to her, she turned around to aim. 

 Breathing together as if in sync, the clones retaliated with sweeping fire. Hibiki also avoided the Queen’s Leo Bullet <Arie> at the last second. 

 “As I expected…!” 

 Certainly, this clone could use <Lucifugus>, but that didn’t mean she could fully demonstrate its abilities. 

 The power distributed weakened, as the partitioning of superpower usually meant some sort of decline. 

 The principle was the same to how Kurumi’s clones couldn’t use <Zafkiel>. 

 That’s why tracking, which was a special characteristic of the Leo Bullet <Arie>, couldn’t be performed. 

 In that regard, this was just a tactless bullet that shaved away space. 

 Of course, receiving that blow would mean dying. If she could avoid that blow, then that would mean not dying. 

 “Aim!” 

 Hibiki politely said that as she set up the antique gun. She aimed at between the eyebrows and pulled the trigger. Smooth motions without pause, it flowed just like natural movements. 

 The skill of using firearms focused on three actions: setting up, aiming, and pulling the trigger. Tokisaki Kurumi and Yamauchi Sawa were both super top-notch at this, but Higoromo Hibiki was second-rate with skills far out of reach of first-class. 

 However, that would be the case if describing the original Hibiki. 

 Albeit slightly, she now inherited the skills of both Kurumi and Sawa. Higoromo Hibiki’s skills reached the same rank as those two and arrived to the White Queen’s clone capable of using <Lucifugus>. 

 The bullet landed right between the eyebrows. An artistic counter that forced the forward leaning White Queen to bend backwards. 

 However, her head wasn’t blown away. 

 “Sturdy…this…this…!” 

 Hibiki immediately gave up trying to say something impressive. Sometimes she just could find a good metaphor, because they mostly seemed more applicable to Kurumi more than anything else. That said, she could have said something about shooting from behind. However, as expected, she didn’t. The feeling of shooting only was already probably too much for her! 

 “──How fussy. Like I thought, I should have shot her dead right here and now.” 

 The clone expressed a fearless smile while informing Sawa, who clicked her tongue in annoyance as she agreed to that suggestion. 

 “Yes. So please don’t miss anymore. Please crush her, General.” 

 “Certainly.” 

 Kurumi nodded to show understanding of Sawa’s intent. In this clone, she had designed another persona to place her trust in. However, if that was the case── 

 That thought had to be temporarily push to the side. Sawa shot the Leo Bullet <Arie> to tear apart the space between Kurumi and Hibiki. Both of them understood the meaning behind that bullet. 

 “A one-on-one fight, bring it on…! Well, then again I do have all the clones on my side here!” Hibiki and General collided head-on, falling to the ground in a tangled manner. Breaking through the roof, the destination ahead of that was a café with a retro atmosphere. 

 At the counter of the store, Hibiki kicked to hurl a large jug of water at her. General instinctively sliced it with her saber, causing the downpour of water to blind her vision for an instant. 

 “Cram!” 

 With that one word alone, Kurumi clones understood what Hibiki was trying to accomplish. And from that, they used life-threatening tactics to be truly useful. 

 To oppose General from swinging her saber, Hibiki and her allies surrounding her with their numerical advantage to forcibly seal the saber. Close combat that went beyond the limits of close-range combat. With density reminiscent to a packed train, General and Hibiki began their fight to the death. 

 Rather than a contest of power and skill, this was a kamikaze performance, self-destruction with the willing resolve of deliberately letting flesh and bone be torn to pieces. 

 And to make matter worse for her adversary, this method was effective. 

 “Annoying…!” 

 “Yes, that’s quite right! Sorry for it being annoying! But well, I imagine all fights should be like that!” 

 Being shot at point blank, General moved beyond human intellect to dodge, dodge, graze, and dodge. Kurumi’s clones tried to entangled her legs──but that ended in failure. On the contrary, just as she was about to tumble, General thrusted her saber into a clone. 

 “Kuh…!” 

 As the clone disappeared, General firmly planted her feet and clutch onto her saber. Not letting her do that, Hibiki crashed her antique rifle into the saber. The saber still tried to kill Hibiki, 

 but its positioning had no choice but to be redirected from the constantly shooting from Kurumi’s clones. 

 They defended against both attacks and attempts at retreat. But on the other hand, it was certain that Hibiki and the clones had incurred several wounds. 

 The circumstances of offense and defense were rapidly changing. 

 Everyone there had temporarily forgotten about their goals. 

 Transparent murderous intent clashed against sheer fighting spirit. All past ties and connections, and even the next course of action, were directed towards the girl front of their eyes. 

 All to send that person flying…! 

 “Taaaaaaaaaaah!” 

 Hibiki roared and pointed her gun at General’s face. 

 General also held her pistol and shot directly at Hibiki. In response, a Kurumi clone elbowed her from behind. But the bullet, which couldn’t be avoided, crushed Hibiki’s left eye. In return, Hibiki also injured the Queen. 

 General couldn’t recover. Rather than not letting her use the bullet, the Queen’s healing technique──the Aquarius Bullet <D'li> had a field spanning recovery effect. 

 At this distance, not just herself, but the injured Kurumi clones and Higoromo Hibiki would also heal. As expected, enacting such a stupid move caused her to hesitate. 

 Of course, neither Hibiki or the remaining Kurumi clones could use the Fourth Bullet <Dalet>. All of these wounds, pain, and despair would remain. 

 Rather than a game of endurance, this was a showdown of conviction. 

 Thoroughly beat down your opponent and send them flying──until the very end, she would still stand up through sheer willpower. 

 “I. Won’t. Lose!” 

 Higoromo Hibiki used all of her strength in a straight right punch that exploded onto General’s face. 

◇◇◇

 Contrary to the heated battle between Higoromo Hibiki and the Queen’s clone, the final battle between Tokisaki Kurumi and Yamauchi Sawa was one where they mobilized all of their abilities to gruesomely kill each other. 

 “The Fourth Bullet <Dalet>!” 

 “The Aquarius Bullet < D'li>!” 

 Both took the time to heal. Constantly shifting positions to catch the other off-guard, both kept searching for an optimal shooting location. 

 While running on the roof, one person pulled the trigger on the enemy flying in the sky. Either there or using a cramped alleyway or other architectural structures, their roles of attacker and defender constantly swapped. 

 While doing so, they were struck by each other’s thoughts. Feelings that could be mistaken for an existence with physical mass. 

 “…Why are you doing this for him?” 

 “So, what’s wrong with it being for my own selfishness? Why is Sawa-san getting in the way?” 

 “Getting in the way? Right. I have to kill you because you are getting in the way. I am the same, everyone besides me are hinderances.” 

 “That’s──” 

 “Because I was hindered upon, shouldn’t I also have the privilege of hindering you?” 

 While saying that with a smile, her hair flickered a little again. Sawa didn’t seem to notice it herself, but this firmly confirmed it for Kurumi. 

 “Perhaps that might be true. But you are the one who involved the Neighboring World.” …That’s right. 

 She dragged the Neighboring World into their mess. She got involved the girls who were earnestly trying to live here. They haven’t done anything. And even if they did, it’s not like they deserved to be unreasonably killed. 

 “I hope you haven’t forgotten what you did to Banouin Kareha?” 

 “…Who?” 

 In response to that, Kurumi struck Sawa’s face hard with a rather cheerful smile. 

 “Pardon me. To hear you of all people saying that would make even me act emotionally. But it can’t be helped. It’s too much to make someone fall in love, destroy them, and then not be even bothered to remember that person’s name.” 

 “Oh…that’s right. Lady did scheme all sorts of plans. ──But, the one who fell in love is in the wrong. After all, the cause was in the degree of what she felt.” 

 “For Sawa-san, those remarks are like a drainage pipe for sewage. To kill or be killed, that’s like asking which one is better at being worse.” 

 The current rebuttal was more about the White Queen’s brutality rather than about Yamauchi Sawa. Therefore, Kurumi didn’t hesitate to denounce Sawa’s words. 

 Sawa rounded her eyes at Kurumi’s words, after which she (perhaps unknowingly) started to ruffle her hair. 

 Once again, her color blurred. 

 “…It hurts…” 

 It ached. Perhaps incomprehensible to her, a mysterious pain struck her for a moment and then instantly disappeared. 

 “By the way, I have one question.” 

 “…What?” 

 She took a deep breath. In Kurumi’s eyes, emotions that had never been seen before had emerged. 

 “──Are you really the White Queen?” 

 Doubt. That was what this would be called. 

 “What do you mean? I am Yamauchi Sawa, the White Queen. No matter how much my appearance changes──” 

 “Yes. Rather than appearance, if both Sawa-san’s past and emotions are correct, I wouldn’t hesitate to call you Sawa-san. But you being correct as Sawa-san is only in regards to the past. If you are the Sawa-san I know, no matter how much she has fallen──would never show contempt to a girl who had fallen in love.” 

 “…!” 

 To those remarks brimming with confidence, Sawa involuntarily pulled the trigger on her gun. As it approached, Kurumi deflected the bullet by striking back with her gun barrel. 

 “I will ask you once more.” 

 Applying pressure with this idea, or perhaps with an expression that could kill, Kurumi asked her question. 

 “Do you really think you are Yamauchi Sawa?” 

 “Stop…screwing around…” 

 “It seems your head was hurting earlier, Sawa-san.” 

 “Can you shut up for a bit, Kurumi-san?” 

 A manner of speech that was similar to a blunt refusal. Kurumi calmly and coldly observed Yamauchi Sawa with the eyes of a hunter. Sawa probably didn’t understand it yet, but she could tell from looking at her from a third-person perspective. 

 To describe this in a single word, this was separation. 

 Up to now, Yamauchi Sawa and the White Queen were connected as the very same person. But originally, the two of them were different in just about everything from ideas, motives, hobbies, dislikes, and objectives. 

 ──The only commonality was hating Tokisaki Kurumi. 

 With that feeling alone, the two of them were accomplices that became the very same person. And, perhaps to seal that contradiction, multiple personalities were created. 

 General, Lady, Executioner, Agent, Politician, and Overlord. 

 By changing personalities frequently, she was constantly correcting potential contradictions. Yamauchi Sawa and the White Queen were originally existences that should never intersect. 

 However, as Sawa surfaced and continued to fight Kurumi, those inconsistencies could no longer be fixed. 

 Just like a personal computer continuing to let its cache memory pile up, her condition was worsening little by little. 

 “You may not have noticed it, but your hair color has come back a little.” 

 “…!” 

 Sawa reflexively pressed down her hair. She could tell from Kurumi’s expression that this wasn’t a lie. Understanding what this meant, Sawa’s face distorted in disgust. 

 “This, is.” 

 “In the end, complicity is born from sharing the same goal. The current Sawa-san and the inverted me are out of alignment.” 

 This was a conflict between surface level emotions and instinct. Like the hands of a clock going crazy, they would never again be in complete agreement. Once she started to slip, she would continue to suffer from this discomfort. 

 Sawa was in agony / Queen was suffering, and so she quietly admitted to that fact. “…That may be the case…” 

 Sooner or later, a collapse will come. Sawa’s hatred and the hatred of the inverted clone were categorically different. 

 A girl who hated because of being betrayed by her favorite person, and girl who had no choice but to hate because of the manner of her existence in the first place. 

 “…But, thanks to that…there are…some things I can see now.” 

 “…What can you see?” 

 “Reaching this point──I didn’t want to get my own hands dirty. I didn’t want to cross that final line. That’s what Kurumi-san is hoping for!” 

 Together with a bloodcurdling scream, Sawa fired from her gun. 

 “I despise having that leeway. That pity is annoying…! 

 Hate, hate, hate, there’s no way out of it. I absolutely have to destroy this right now! I am no longer me!” 

 Sawa fired from her gun while screaming like a banshee. Kurumi crouched down to dodge, and quietly left that place. 

 Not even bothering to think of the consequences, Queen chased after her. 

 With her eyes muddied by murderous intent and hatred, Queen lost the composure worthy of a queen. 

 Taking a deep breath, Kurumi wondered if the timing was sufficient now. Should she shoot that deadly bullet now? 

 Kurumi carefully guessed Yamauchi Sawa’s current state. 

 It felt like she had finally reached the despair deep within the Queen. It felt like right now was a good chance. However, on the other hand, the experience Kurumi cultivated denied such sweet notions──or perhaps it was rejecting the hope she was still cling onto. 

 She was just angry. She might calm down after a few seconds. This moment that seemed ready to attack might just be a state where Sawa could still exert her abilities immediately in response. 

 Still, while causing Sawa to lose control to this extent was a point in Kurumi’s favor, it was still too risky to use that bullet in these circumstances. 

 As expected, it would only work in that situation── 

 “It would need to be like that.” 

 Whether a human, beast, or Spirit, all living creatures have a moment where they are weakened. 

 The route taken will be decided based on that from now on. No matter how many detours must be taken or how close to death she would be in the process. 

 Tokisaki Kurumi’s judgement was correct. Sawa managed to regroup from her turmoil while chasing after Kurumi. As if to display her calmness, Sawa exercised her authority as a Dominion. 

 “…!” 

 Yet again, this was another place of memories. Moreover, this time the scope was quite minuscule. 

 “…This is…” 

 Sweet dripped. Her heart raced. She had no unpleasant memories here. This was a place filled with only good recollections. However, to all those good memories…it was entirely remade within the boundary of a certain day. 

 “Sawa-san’s house…what…is Hibiki-san around the attic?” 

 If Hibiki heard that, she would angrily mutter something in protest. …There were no signs of Hibiki in this home. Kurumi guessed that she was probably outside. 

 In that case, she was alone here with Sawa. But──here was a little inconvenient. Simply put, Kurumi’s weapons were guns. Leaving the pistol aside, the gun barrel of the rifle was 20 cm too long to use indoors. 

 In that respect, Sawa──the White Queen’s <Lucifugus> was the combination of a saber and a pistol. The saber would be a little tricky to move around, but it would still be much easier to use when compared to a rifle. 

 Both the 20 cm difference and the difference in weapon categories weighed heavily on Kurumi’s mind. 

 “It seems you’ve regained your composure, Sawa-san. I would imagine turning the tables through anger and cheap provocation is something that wouldn’t suit either of us.” 

 “In professional soccer, there’s something called a home-field advantage. It could be any place like Tokyo, Osaka, and so on. When playing at the home location, as expected the winning percentage is different.” 

 “Oh, the more I know. Did you like soccer?” 

 “Yeah, not at all. I think by dad like it though.” 

 “Then, what does Sawa-san intend to say with that piece of trivia?” 

 “Yeah. I am…I am going to beat Kurumi-san here.” 

 Clack, clack, clack, both of them halfway approached each other. The proud living room of the Yamauchi residence boasted a space of around 16 tatami mats. A long time ago, her family and a cat lived here. But now, there were only two people seething with bloodlust. 

 “Like I thought, in times like this… we should do it like that. The norm for any match.” “No, no, at times like this…we should make use of this.” 

 Kurumi said that as she took out a coin from her pocket. A silver dollar coin minted in the United States in 1903──more commonly known as the Morgan Dollar. With a size and weight that exceeded a 500-yen coin, it was a popular item among collectors. 

 “Why do you have that?” 

 “I’ve seen this in your home before. This is a pretty rare item.” 

 Ah, Sawa was convinced from that explanation. Her father often traveled abroad for work reasons. That’s why her childhood was delighted with rare souvenirs every time he came back. 

 However, there were some things that weren’t of interest to her. Oversea coins were one of them. Kurumi had come to her house several times──so she probably remembered it from then. “Sawa-san, are you ready?” 

 “Certainly, Kurumi-san.” 

 Letting out a small laugh, they smiled at each other. Both smiles were innocent like a maiden and crafty like the devil. 

 Silence. Kurumi flicked her finger and the coin spun in the air with a stiff sound. Both clenched their respective Angel or Demon King. 

 Both of them were foreign elements truly unsuitable for this living room filled with gentle affection and harmony. 

 The bloodstained weapons in their hands felt entirely mismatched for here. “<Zafkiel>.” “<Lucifugus>.” 

 And so, the final killing had commenced. 

◇◇◇

 “This is the end for me. Hibiki-san, the rest is──” 

 “Yes!” 

 The last clone created by Kurumi regretfully vanished. A crack opened in the antique gun in Higoromo Hibiki’s hands. Hibiki frowned as she sent Reiryoku to maintain its existence. However, as long as the owner disappeared, this antique gun would also inevitably vanish. While she could delay its disappearance by sending Reiryoku, this was just like trying to fill up a bucket with a hole in the bottom. 

 Probably within three minutes, the weapon in her hands would disappear. And also. 

 Hibiki turned her gaze over to General. She as still standing and breathing. However, the saber and pistol in her hands were a mere shadow of their former selves. She was severely bleeding from the head, upper right arm, and left thigh. Even more so, her left foot had a bone fracture, causing her to drag it along while walking. 

 Being wounded all over──it was strange she wasn’t dead yet. 

 However, she was still alive and able to fight. That ferocious gaze alone showed she had strength to spare in order to kill Hibiki. 

 Hibiki was also badly injured. The heaviest wound was her crushed left eye. She couldn’t finish dodging the bullet in time. Her left little finger, which was struck by her slash, was left dangling with a single layer of skin. It may be possible to heal it with Kurumi’s Fourth Bullet <Dalet> even if it was amputated, but this was a worthless thought for Hibiki right now. 

 Quasi-Spirits living in the Neighboring World lack physical bodies. 

 Therefore, it was the soul sweating with irritation, despair, and fighting spirit. Breathing heavily, forget moving her arms, even walking another step caused a terrible feeling of fatigue. There should be a fever, but her body was frighteningly cold from bleeding too much in the first place. 

 Only three shots left…no, she was limited to only two. After that, she had no choice but to fight unarmed. 

 “We are…both…close to death…huh…” 

 For the first time in a while, General opened her mouth. 

 “That’s right. I’m approaching my limits too.” 

 “But…our requirements are different. I…I don’t mind if I die here…you…you though…” 

 Ah, for sure──with that Hibiki was convinced. Not to mention defeat, even a draw would be bad for Hibiki. When she died, Yamauchi Sawa’s goal would be accomplished. 

 “…Then, I just need to win. I didn’t feel like dying in the first place…!” 

 Hibiki said that as she held onto her gun with trembling hands──with all of her body’s strength, as it was being slashed. 

 The blade of the saber sliced apart <Zafkiel>. 

 “A-Aah…aaah…!” 

 “Damn…it…!” 

 Hibiki feel down to her knees with a shocked look as General’s face warped with delight from her success. 

 With empty eyes, Hibiki gazed at what was approaching her. 

 ──What should I do? 

 Actually, the answer had already given. There was only one thing she could do. If she failed, it meant dying and incurring death without accomplishing anything. 

 That’s why this needed to be done. 

 (…Oh, I’m scared…) 

 Scared of defeat, scared of dying, scared of not being able to meet with Kurumi-san anymore. But in the end, the scariest thing was something else, 

 “Now…it’s over…!” 

 After Hibiki died──she was most terrified of Tokisaki Kurumi tossing her into the number one sad memories category…! 

 The saber raised overhead was aiming for Hibiki’s neck. Just before it swung down, Hibiki mustered the last ounces of her energy. 

 For her first move, she shifted her leg. Scrapping her knee forward, she changed to a state where only one leg was kneeling. Preoccupied with swinging the saber, General failed to notice this move. 

 For her second move, she vigorously raised both of her hands up. Rather than the blade of the saber itself, both hands aimed for the single hand holding onto the sword handle. 

 “──!!” 

 General’s response was to grudgingly acknowledge this as splendid. She thought that Hibiki’s attack was more focused on stealing her saber rather than defending herself from being slashed. So, she let go of the pistol she was holding onto with her other hand. Hibiki’s palm thrust aimed at her saber holding hand wasn’t damaging. However, with only one hand gripping her saber, she could lose her balance and have her weapon plundered. 

 She would stop swinging down for now and move her other hand to her saber’s handle. After gripping tightly with both hands, General would resume slashing to her hearts content. 

 It was a wonderfully quick response. Had she continued swinging down with only one hand, she would run the mistake of her slash being nullified from this grabble, which would thereby further complicate this battle. 

 However, that was actually what Hibiki was afraid of the most. 

 Against a saber held and swung down with both hands, Hibiki vigorously pushed her palm upward. 

 Clash. There was a slight delay in General’s slash from the transition of one hand to two hands. It was obvious that the downward swinging side had the advantage, but that delay slightly weakened the strength transmitted to General’s saber. 

 The result of the collision was a draw. Before the saber was completely swung down, it was stopped mid-air by pushing up from below. 

 However, General wasn’t in a hurry. Whether Hibiki stood up from her current position or jumped at her, she could take the initiative in either option. 

 She just needed to slash once more to decapitate Hibiki. That should bring about the end── 

 Hibiki’s last move was neither standing up nor jumping. Hibiki’s aim was to stop General’s movements for an instant while she was fixated on decapitating her with the saber. After that brief pause, she would pick up what had just been tossed away. 

 “Ah────” 

 In Hibiki’s hands held <Lucifugus>. A pistol like a precise machine was firmly aimed at General. She tried to bring down her saber, but this girl already knew it was too late. 

 ──Oh, this won’t make it on time. 

 Hibiki shot. She firmly aimed and released the bullet containing her killing intent. The bullet, which pushed forward without fail, entered her chest and pierced through her heart, causing a fatal wound in the process. 

 General, who was blown backwards from the impact, didn’t even have enough strength to swing down her saber. 

 Furthermore, Hibiki showed no mercy. Since she decided to live, she couldn’t allow the person preventing that to do the same. So, she stood up and continued to pull the trigger. Five shots. Despite it being overkill, Hibiki still kept holding onto the gun, driven by anxiety and despair until she disappeared completely. 

 General touched and wiped her chest with her hand, looking at the sticky blood──she smiled a little in satisfaction. 

 “…Good aim.” 

 There were no lies in her words of praise, but there was a strange feeling placed in her voice. 

 No more, no less, she was a clone just born to imitate the Queen. However, giving praise truly brought about a strange feeling of relief. 

 Hibiki likely spewed out her next words because of that. 

 “I also.” 

 “…?” 

 “I also be joining you soon at any rate.” 

 A little desperate, those words would otherwise indicate giving up. Hibiki, in front of the clone that would disappear at any second, had nothing left to lose in revealing her motives. 

 “That’s not like you.” 

 “What do you know about me?” 

 As Hibiki faltered in what to say next, General smiled a little. 

 “I understand. …I understand. But Higoromo Hibiki is the one who chose that path. The responsibility lies with you and not anyone else.” 

 “That’s──” 

 “Go, advance forward, and clear out a path. Aren’t you still very much alive?” 

 Those words caused Hibiki to gulp. This annoying person understood her better than she knew herself. While thinking that over, Hibiki turned around. 

 There was no voice left behind. There was no need to look back. Her actions could be understood through what was in her hands. Don’t give up until the very end. Picking up the <Lucifugus> that Hibiki left behind, she tried to pull the trigger 

 “──Oh.” 

 Realizing that she didn’t have the strength to do even that, she sighed and gave up. The clone left behind by Yamauchi Sawa. The last one disappeared just now. 

 There was only one enemy left. And to that last person, Higoromo Hibiki would never be able to touch her. But that didn’t mean she could just give up. 

 That’s why later she needed to move for her own sake. 

 “Yeah. Let’s go, advance forward, and carve out a path!” 

 Higoromo Hibiki could only do that. 

◇◇◇

 The familiar living room, a place to enjoy a moment of relaxation, had transformed into a blood splattering battlefield. It was Yamauchi Sawa who kicked the dinning table where she had eaten with her family. It was Tokisaki Kurumi who destroyed it with her gun without even giving it a second thought. 

 All the warm memories were discarded as unnecessary. 

 They concentrated only on destructive conduct to their opponent. Kurumi and Sawa were already like a bullet and blade confronting each other. 

 <Zafkiel>’s gun pierced through the wall as if it was made of paper. <Lucifugus>’s saber howled and smashed apart all of the indoor memorable items. 

 And also, both of them made full use of their abilities. 

 “The First Bullet <Aleph>.” “The Taurus Sword <Shawl>.” 

 Kurumi and Sawa both accelerated. Kurumi charged in the style of a ballistic barrage. Sawa advanced while thrusting the tip of the saber to her target. 

 Coming and going while injuring each other, the bullets and blade respectively inflicted minor wounds. However, after mutually deciding that these wounds could be endured, both turned back to facing each other. 

 ──How beautiful. 

 ──How ugly. 

 Both thought of the other like that. Their bloodstained Astral Dresses showed signs of damage here and there. Sweat flowed, and their faces distorted in pain. 

 And yet, even so they could still move their bodies and use their weapons. This seething murderous intent lingered. 

 However, Kurumi suddenly thought. Certainly, there was a time that this living room told. She played with a cute cat here, and even had dinner with the entire family. 

 All of it was destroyed as just obstacles. The beautiful plate used for dinner, a large cup for drinking cocoa, the treasured silver candlestick. Everything was destroyed, scattered in the air, and now poured down like the rain. 

 There was no regret or grief. There was only the thought that she had come too far. The impermanence of life, the meaningless of memories, something faint like that was shining in the reverse side of her thoughts. 

 Her body moved. Kurumi deliberately backstepped into the hallway leading to the entrance 

 Sawa followed in pursuit. Sawa had a wealthy home, so hallway was rather spacious──however, it was only a little wider than a normal corridor. It wasn’t built for wielding a rifle. 

 Sawa closed the distance while shooting from her pistol. While avoiding being fatally injured, Kurumi also retaliated. Sure enough, in this corridor, while she could still spin herself around like a top, it was no longer possible to conduct the acrobatic shooting with her rifle. 

 On the other hand, Sawa was able to thrust her saber. 

 “The Taurus Sword <Shawl>!” 

 As Sawa charged forward, Kurumi jumped in order to dodge. She then kicked the wall to go further up. 

 A sudden chill struck Sawa. Right, there were three options to change locations in this hallway. The entrance, but that had been sealed away with the Dominion’s authority, the living room where they were fighting earlier, and finally this hallway opened to the second floor…! 

 “Dodge…The Gemini Bullet <Teomim>!” 

 “──I won’t let you.” 

 Kurumi kicked against the wall, and then leaping from the handrailing to spin upward. She quickly aimed her rifle at Sawa, who was looking up from the first floor. 

 And then, without giving her the margin to separate with the Gemini Bullet <Teomim>, Kurumi sniped with her rifle from directly above to down below. Just before Sawa could finish splitting due to Gemini Bullet <Teomim>, the bullet pierced through from her shoulder to her abdomen. 

 “Ga, ah…!” 

 While howling, Queen flew to the second floor. Thoughts of escaping didn’t even come to mind. Revenge for having been fallen prey to her attack──while that logic was not without any merits, there was something even more important than that. 

 Leave behind every mistake here. Then, she can win against Kurumi-san. 

 Pleasure and fighting spirit were like an electrical current running through her body. Defeat her, be sure to defeat her right here and now. Since this was her house, she should know where and what everything was. 

 Her memories from the time she was human hadn’t faded. Her malice from the time she was human hadn’t diminished. 

 That’s why it must be painful, so painful to fight here. On the second floor, there should be something there that can stop Tokisaki Kurumi’s movements. 

 Devoting prayers not to God, but to herself. Please, please, so that she can do this without regrets until the very end. 

 Tokisaki Kurumi remembered that Sawa’s room was on the second floor of the Yamauchi residence. The room was smaller than the living room, but it should be spacious enough to swing around a rifle at the center. Of course, there was the fear of the gunstock getting jammed when pressed into a corner. 

 She tried to remember Yamauchi Sawa’s room from her distant, distant memories. However, other than its size, what she could recall was horribly vague. 

 At best, there was a sturdy desk or something like that. The rest was── 

 “Oh, that’s right. I was so absorbed in Maron that I could hardly focus on anything else…” 

 Kurumi was greatly troubled, but by no means disheartened by the reality discovered by entering there. 

 That said, there shouldn’t be any obstacles in fighting here. Kurumi entered Sawa’s room and nimbly landed on the center. 

 Ah, how nostalgic. They used to hang out in the living room, but Sawa’s room was the place she was most familiar with in this house. 

 The memories came back just by looking at the cushions, bed, small table, and plushies. This room was like a condensation of those soft and gentle days with the girl called Yamauchi Sawa. 

 Her chest was hurting. No joke, it was really aching. Both Yamauchi Sawa and Tokisaki Kurumi lived innocently when spending time here. 

 The days where she didn’t perceive any malice, fighting spirit, despair, murderous intent, and aspirations at all. 

 With that in mind, it was quite the overwhelming regret tormenting her──but on the other hand, Kurumi, who had just stomped on the small table in the center of the room, should only be thinking about where and how Sawa would launch her next attack. 

 Her survival instinct and fighting spirit, both let out a warning signal that told her, “Focus on the battle in front of you rather than be distracted by such a thing. Otherwise, you’ll die. So, place your regrets in the corner of your mind.” 

 …Kurumi’s thoughts were essentially correct. Currently, she couldn’t afford to think of 

 anything extraneous. However, only at this moment was her regrets also correct. 

 If she completely forgot her regrets, then she would be leaving behind her own sins while opposing that very regret right in front of her eyes. 

 “The Cancer Sword <Sartan>.” 

 Hearing that voice and the faint clicking sound from <Lucifugus>, Kurumi followed her intuition and shot the First Bullet <Aleph> at herself. 

 The walls of the room strongly shined for a moment. 

 Realizing that it was a sideways slash attack, Kurumi naturally jumped backwards to avoid its trajectory. 

 She pressed her body against the opposite wall. The slash passed through right in front of her eyes. Curiously, the walls haven’t been destroyed. If she had to guess, this was likely some sort of sword technique. 

 However, at the next moment, she realized her prediction was off the mark. The reason for Kurumi taking that action was an unexpected good stroke of luck. The slash didn’t destroy the walls, but rather whatever inside the room was destroyed. 

 A small cat doll tumbled down. Kurumi had bought it as a souvenir and given it to Sawa. Almost unconsciously, Kurumi leaned forward in an attempt to pick it up. 

 Another slash attack──moreover, it was coming from the opposite wall she had been leaning against. Kurumi, who was about to bend down, immediately laid down on the floor. The slash passed through and collided with the forward slash she had just avoided beforehand. 

 “Wha…” 

 Impossible. Shooting slashes from the walls on opposite sides of the room almost simultaneously was impossible unless time was stopped. No, this was different. Her <Lucifugus> had techniques to control space. 

 Then this current slash was── 

 Kurumi moved to the center of the room again while thinking. If she was at a corner, it would be difficult to prevent a slash that could phase through the wall. 

 But even with that said, Kurumi found it difficult to leave this room. There was only one door to this room. If she moved to here, Sawa would notice it and shoot a slash from the hallway and towards the door. 

 This was reminiscent of the bullet the White Queen once shot to scrape away space. Cancer Sword <Sartan> should be consider a sword with similar special characteristics. 

 Like a crab──two pincer slashes──with timing almost the same. No, not almost, it was entirely the same. 

 The table she was on made a loud noise. At same time she jumped, Kurumi twisted her body to leave that spot. 

 Sure enough, it was as Kurumi had expected. At the same time the slash occurred from directly under the table, it collided with a similar slash that appeared from the ceiling. It would have definitely been a direct hit if she had tried dodging the first one just by going upward. 

 “But I was able to read it…!” 

 Sawa’s unleashed Cancer Sword <Sartan> was the ability to pierce and pincer apart space. At the same time as the first blow is released, the same slash is copied, causing the target to be sandwiched in both directions. 

 Including its power to permeate through space, this could be best described as a sword technique meant for surprise attacks. 

 After all, Sawa only needed to release a slash. Just from that, another slash would spontaneously appear to pincer-attack the target. 

 “But this sword technique is only good for a sneak attack. It was a mistake to use it twice.” 

 Kurumi was convinced. As long as the principle behind it was seen through, she just had to pay attention to where the first slash was coming from. Because it was a pincer-attack on her, it wasn’t necessary to even look for where the second slash would occur. 

 She would confirm her theory with the next blow. At the same time, she would shoot <Zafkiel> at the source. Kurumi decided on that and waited patiently for the next attack. 

 Sure enough, the third attack drew a diagonal trajectory, swopping down from the right ceiling corner of the room. Then, the same slash also appeared from the opposite direction. 

 At the same time as dodging, she pointed both her long and short guns in the direction where the slash had first appeared. 

 She fired. Six immediate shots──there was a response. She was confident that an injury had been dealt. Kurumi thought that it was finally time to escape from this room. 

 “…Ah.” 

 She couldn’t move. 

 With the sturdy desk destroyed by the last slash, the photo frame that was there had risen up softly. 

 A snapshot of Tokisaki Kurumi and Yamauchi Sawa. Only from a time when this blood - covered space wouldn’t be a familiar scene. Back when she was surrounded by that innocent happiness. The person that Tokisaki had parted ways with: Yamauchi Sawa was a person that had been snatched away from her. 

 The regret, which should have been trapped in the corner of her mind, resurfaced like the surging waves. 

 For two seconds, Kurumi was frozen. If this was a direct battle against an opponent, Kurumi might have chosen to fight rather than freeze. 

 However, she was currently the only one in this room. And after avoiding three separate slashes, Kurumi was caught off guard after managing a counterattack. 

 She tried to shoot that bullet, one of her trump cards, at herself. But she noticed there wouldn’t be enough time. If asking for the reason why, it was because Sawa had already shoot her bullet. 

 One second to move into place, one second to load, one second to fire the shot. 

 “──The Sagittarius Sword <Keshet>.” 

 This was sword, but also a bullet. A bullet, but also a sword. With tremendous speed exceeding Mach 10, the White Queen’s single trump card had the destructive power to hollow out this entire area. 

 She hadn’t used it so far because none of the previous scenarios had been appropriate enough. 

 It would have been noticed if they were directly facing each other. 

 Countermeasures could be taken before it was released. And once used, it could never be deployed again. 

 ──But now, all the circumstances had been optimized. 

 Kurumi was caught off guard. Kurumi had lost sight of Sawa. Kurumi was blankly looking up. Kurumi had missed the timing to use <Zafkiel>. Because of the ceiling, Kurumi was too late in understanding what Sawa was trying to do. 

 Everything had provided a tailwind for the White Queen. 

 With her controlling space, the Sagittarius Sword <Keshet> carried her desire for destruction. 

 It was a no-questions blow that flew in a straight line and left behind nothing in its wake. 

 Kurumi couldn’t resist. There was no technique she could use to resist. Kurumi had no technique that was faster than this blow. 

 “Be firm, me!” 

 That line didn’t come from Kurumi. It was issued by a Kurumi clone. After saying those words, there was a Kurumi that had slipped out from the shadows. Who was the one who came up with the idea that it would be better to hide in the shadows? Was it the main body in this Neighboring World or was it the clone? 

 She remembered her appearance. She was a beautiful woman who mimicked Kurumi’s appearance from 10 years in the future. 

 And she took the only possible option in this situation. 

 “Ah────” 

 Protect her. 

 Protect the Kurumi who served as the main body in this Neighboring World. She reached out her hands and tried to catch the light. 

 (Stop…stop…!) 

 The intense light struck before she could even speak. But even so, it would never reach her. Sliced through and skewered, absolutely every part of her corpse had melted away. But she served as a shield. The clone that dispersed into Reiryoku only had an energy body made of Reiryoku. Even so, she staked it all for the sake of this gamble──as an energy body she would collide against this and disappear. 

 Kurumi’s mouth, which had tried to tell her to stop, immediately closed itself. 

 Her dedication, she couldn’t waste her prompt decision. 

 Of course, for such a fragile shield──the protection of the clone lasted for less than a second. 

 However, in that moment, Kurumi shot a bullet at herself. 

 “──The Eleventh Bullet <Yud Aleph>.” 

 Enormous Reiryoku, enormous killing intent, enormous destructive energy. 

 Yamauchi Sawa, or rather the White Queen, looked from the ground with the satisfaction that, let alone the ceiling, the entire house had been blown away. 

 And at the same time, she deeply grieved having to kill Tokisaki Kurumi. She killed her best friend. Oh, my goodness, how sorrowful, how revolting, how unpleasant, how despairful. 

 Yamauchi Sawa (White Queen), or perhaps the White Queen (Yamauchi Sawa), calmly accepted that terrifying duality. 

 There was a chance. She was caught off guard. So, she killed her. 

 She loved her. She trusted her. So, she killed her. 

 She won the game that used her own life as a gambling chip. For that reason, she burned down her own house to ashes. For that reason, she wagered everything on the presumption that Tokisaki Kurumi was still thinking about Yamauchi Sawa. 

 The photo on the sturdy desk destroyed by the Cancer Sword <Sartan> would certainly catch Tokisaki Kurumi’s eye. 

 And so, now that the enormous amount of energy had disappeared, she turned to look at a space where nothing remained──── 

 “────What?” 

 This time it was Yamauchi Sawa caught off guard. She was so surprised that her consciousness was interrupted. She was so surprised that her movements came to a halt. A space of nothing, a space that should have lost everything, a single person lightly emerged from the spherical space hollowed out by the Sagittarius Sword <Keshet>. 

 Impossible, that girl was standing. 

 Being pointed by the gun───her thought process started up. 

 The trigger was pulled───her thoughts determined a course of action. 

 The bullet was fired───move her legs to avoid it. 

 The bullet was approaching───what floated in the air became resentment. Even though she took a step back, thinking up something to cushion this blow was necessary. 

 The bullet pierced into her───still there was no problem if it was just one bullet. Even if it’s the Seventh Bullet <Zayin>, it wouldn’t have enough destructive power to kill her. 

 That expectation was correct. Yamauchi didn’t know this, but Tokisaki Kurumi couldn’t bring down a certain Spirit even when using the Seventh Bullet <Zayin>. 

 And most of all, her existence as a clone also played an important role. Tokisaki Kurumi was alone, so no matter what she did, Queen could breathe easy. Take a deep breath, she had no means to take her down in a single beat. 

 The relief of that thought was rejected by an instinct deep within Sawa. 

 ──Then why is Kurumi-san still alive? 

 She considered it while receiving the bullet. Yes, that’s strange. It was unlikely for her to be alive. Whether through fortune or sacrifice, she had no explanation to live from that blow. The Fourth Bullet <Dalet> wouldn’t make it in time. Moreover, that was a blow meant to instantaneously kill her. 

 ──In an instant, she immediately noticed. 

 Innumerable knowledge and information were connected in her mind like an inner network. 

 The abilities of <Zafkiel> that the White Queen made the other Tokisaki Kurumi spew out. 

 Acceleration (1st), deacceleration (2nd), aging (3rd), regression (4th), future vision (5th), connecting to the past (6th), time suspension (7th), summoning the past (8th), ignoring time (9th), memory reading (10th), and 11th and 12th which govern time jumps. 

 However, time leaps were a sealed bullet. In the first place, the concept of chronological order was not constant in this Neighboring World. A Quasi-Spirit who realized she died twenty years ago could have arrived here five years ago, and a Quasi-Spirit who got lost here a year ago could have visited from ten years ago. 

 Therefore, there was no point in using 11 and 12. And most importantly, there was no advantage gained by using those bullets. Even if she wanted to go back in time to kill the White Queen, the compass itself pointing to the direction of the past was uncertain. 

 ──However. But. Yet. 

 The Fifth Region Gevurah. The barren land of flames and illusions that was filled with dungeons, skills, and swirling Reiryoku. It was the ultimate ordeal region where it was feasible to modify one’s Unsigned Angel. 

 It was feasible to modify. 

 Did she do it? 

 In this Neighboring World, to the artistic beauty that is <Zafkiel>, did she entrust it to her desires and defile it? 

 Oh── 

 By looking forward, she understood it immediately. The beautiful clock piece that was <Zafkiel>. 6 had been damaged for some time now, but looking closely, 11 and 12 were also damaged…no, it had changed for the worse. Instead of a beautiful superiority, it had completely changed into a flirtatious and depraved-like font. 

 And on that clock dial, 12 was shining brightly. 

 What was this bullet? There was no doubt it had something to do with time, but the question lies in whether it was for stopping or killing the opponent. Even if it was for stopping, she was fine. She can win. She can definitely win. Endure this bullet and devise countermeasures to reverse this situation. Endure, endure Yamauchi Sawa. 

 “I / I /I’m not going to let it end…in a place like this…!” 

 To that scream, Tokisaki Kurumi nodded in agreement and whispered. 

 “Yes, it won’t end. This Twelfth Bullet <Yud Bet> is the origin bullet. It’s a bullet I kneaded to overthrow you.” 

 And so, the bullet twisted into Sawa’s chest. 

 There was no pain. Her condition didn’t worsen. Time didn’t accelerate or deaccelerate, nor did it appear to have stopped. 

 Only── 

 “Huh?” 

 Falling down. She was falling. No, she wasn’t falling from the sky. Her body and vision hadn’t changed, and the White Queen’s body was still there. 

 It was her consciousness that had fallen. Feeling like being dragged into the deep sea, Yamauchi Sawa perceived a fear she hadn’t felt in a long time. 

 The fear of falling, the fear of being thrown into a realm where she didn’t exist. 

 That was the last emotion Yamauchi Sawa perceived in the First Region Keter.