Editing Apocalypse Witch:Volume5 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 8===

Utagai Karuta and Crystal Girl Aine walked side by side.

Anywhere would have worked, so they slowly walked toward the nearby concrete embankment running alongside the ocean.

They said nothing.

That may have been normal for Aine. She generally never said a word unless he spoke to her first.

She stuck to that even now.

Her outlines wavered and blurred as a cracking sound came form her. Someone whose existence relied on Crystal Magic was vanishing as she broke apart from the inside.

“Aine,” called Karuta.

“Yes, Sacri-sama?”

She could still respond. Just like always. That should have made him happy, but he couldn’t help but see it as a final resistance on her part.

“Sorry about all this,” he continued.

“You have done nothing requiring an apology.”

The embankment was not a road.

It would end eventually. It didn’t lead anywhere, so they would eventually reach a dead end. From there, they would only find the sea, which felt like a symbol of death.

There was nowhere to go.

They couldn’t get around this one.

Utagai Karuta bit his lip. He was trembling. Aine’s outlines began to fade, but she tilted her head like she always did.

“Ahhh.”

He couldn’t take it anymore.

Maybe it helped that no one else could see him. All the emotion rushed into his chest at once.

Why did everyone call him the world’s strongest?

He was entirely powerless here.

“Ahhhhhhhhh!! Gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

He clung to her.

He fell to his knees and clung to her flat chest to confirm she hadn’t shattered into nothingness.

But the most desolate sound he had ever heard had not stopped.

“No. How is this fair!?”

“Sacri-sama.”

“We fought the 300 million Threats and defeated Transline even after she offered us a path to an unacceptable peace!! We worked so hard to keep everyone alive, so…so why does it have to end like this!? Why does eliminating the Threat have to take you from us!? The world won’t let us have anything, will it!!?”

The Problem Solvers had trampled everyone in their path as the lonely elites at the top.

Riho, Sanae, and Alice had burned with rage when someone they cared deeply about was taken from them.

The Armored Warrior had its dreams and ideals about humanity shattered.

Even the human string pullers had stooped to such depths because there was something they wanted to protect.

But.

But.

Who said Utagai Karuta’s pain and anger were in any way inferior to theirs?

“Sacri-sama.”

The crystal girl called to him just as briefly but more strongly than before.

“Crystal Magic is a half-baked phenomenon created from the conflict between the energy pouring down from space and the energy of the Original Crystal Embryo. It is like the sparks produced when two electrodes collide. You knew that from the beginning.”

“…”

She was the partner who had stayed by his side this whole time, accepted his weaknesses, and never gave up on him.

Why couldn’t he save her?

Why couldn’t he think up some way?

“I knew this was coming because the Original Crystal Embryo at the center is also supported by magic. But I could not abandon the 5.5 billion remaining on Earth. Wasn’t that our choice as the Four Living Gods? So I fought until the very end. I thought you felt the same.”

Yes, he had.

He had thrown out the fantasy of seeking happiness for just the four of them!!

And he had held some fundamental doubts about their Crystal Magic from the moment they decided to settle things with the Threat!! But still!!

“I thought a miracle would happen.”

“A miracle?”

“No, I had no reason to think one would. No, I didn’t have anything prepared. But. But you worked so hard. There are 5.5 billion people alive now because of your power! So can’t the universe throw us a bone just this once!?”

“All of our battles should have taught you that hoping that things will turn out all right ‘just because’ never solves anything.”

Miracles did not happen.

For better or for worse, if you wanted to win, you needed to find a path to victory yourself.

Nothing remained to support Crystal Girl Aine.

She had been summoned as an error when the Crystal Blossom was activated before a god’s name was sealed inside. Utagai Karuta knew more about her than anyone, but not even he could find a way to support her here.

“Is there anything I can do?”

He raised his mess of a face.

[[Image:ApocalypseWitch_v05_bw5.jpg|thumb]]

She was as expressionless as ever even as cracking sounds continued to come from her. She remained faithful even now.

He wanted to pull something out of her. Maybe he could only extract her mind, but he wanted to permanently preserve it somewhere.

So.

“No one can deny that you saved this world. 5.5 billion people owe you their lives. So you can ask anything and I mean anything. Is there anything at all I can do for you?”

“Then I do have one meaningless and selfish request before I leave.”

She placed her small hands on his shoulders and whispered something in his ear. He looked surprised at first, but he finally nodded.

He shut his eyes.

She stood up on her toes and stretched upwards just enough to cover the space between their lips.

That was all.

He felt nothing on his lips as her outlines fully vanished from the world.

The Crystal Blossom at his chest shattered and the wind carried it away.

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