Mushi Uta:Volume 15

Novel Illustrations

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Prologue

There were supernatural beings known as Mushi.

Having suddenly appeared ten-odd years ago, these possessed adolescent boys and girls. By feeding on people’s dreams—their emotions such as wanting to do or become something—they gave their hosts varied abilities. Since they outwardly resembled insects, they were called Mushi.

Those possessed by Mushi were called Mushitsuki.

“Excuse me.”

Akamaki City, the capital city that held Japan’s most important agencies.

In one corner of this city, already evacuated by its citizens, stood Miguruma Yaeko. A JSDF soldier approached her, cutting open the thumbcuffs that bound her hands behind her back.

“Vice-Deputy—sorry, former Vice-Deputy of the Special Environmental Preservation Bureau, Miguruma Yaeko.”

A middle-aged man appeared in front of Yaeko. He was the vice-minister of some department, dispatched by the government.

“I hereby clear you of all charges.”

“Is that so?”

While smiling, Yaeko looked at the scenery around her.

She was currently in front of the half dome-shaped facility. Until just a few days ago, it was a place filled with excited audiences of all kinds for events such as sports matches and concerts, but now it became a barren battlefield.

Even other buildings around the dome crumbled down, and soldiers and armored vehicles guarded the entire area. This strict atmosphere felt like they were at the site of a terror attack.

However, what happened here wasn’t merely a destructive event.

“The SEPB has been disbanded. That is exactly like I declared.”

Akamaki City had turned into a battlefield due to a certain powerful Mushi going wild.

Super Class Rank 1, C.

By manipulating electricity, this Mushitsuki could control other people’s memories or dreams. As a result of a certain experiment, C had lost her personality and started operating only to fulfill the goal bestowed to her.

And C’s goal—was to turn all of humanity into Mushitsuki.

For that sake, she was attempting to absorb even the Original Three, those primal Mushi who gave birth to Mushitsuki, and thus drown the world in Mushitsuki.

Right now, Yaeko could see the devastated Akamaki cityscape.

These were traces of the battles made by those Mushitsuki who gathered in order to defeat C. They had the tables turned on them and had to flee—thus serving as proof that the winner had been decided.

All those who attempted to stop Mushitsuki from being born suffered a complete defeat against C, who was scheming to turn humankind into Mushitsuki.

Even the government agency created to capture Mushitsuki in secret—the SEPB—had received the orders to disband. This was the result of C using her abilities to brainwash the country’s leadership.

In reality, one could say that the country was now being controlled by a single Mushitsuki.

The purging of the old generation Mushitsuki by Super Class Rank 1 C had begun.

And now, she started the creation of a new generation—

“As of this moment, we establish the new National Unification Records Bureau and appoint you as Director.”

As the vice-minister gave this appointment to Yaeko, a golden spark momentary passed through his head.

Controlling the electric signals going through a person’s brain, his memories and actions were being manipulated. —It could be called one of C’s specialties.

“The National Unification Records Bureau—meaning, a record of the process of unifying the entire country?”

Yaeko’s long hair was fanned by the wind. Her face, with its striking narrow eyes and beauty mark under one of them, was just slightly dusty. The same went for her meticulously worn business suit. However, her exceedingly calm behavior that did not seem fitting to someone in her late twenties remained unchanged even as she stayed in this former battlefield.

“So that is C’s will.”

Yaeko smiled.

She’d come this far while always smiling.

Even when she used her scientist father and the rich people of the Round Table to create the opportunity for the birth of Mushi.

Even when she used every bit of her ingenuity to create the organization called the SEPB and thought of managing and concealing Mushitsuki in order to control them.

Even when she kept isolating Mushitsuki from the populace and continued researching the Undying in secret through them.

Even when she set her eyes on the young Mushitsuki called C during her experiments and researched the techniques to control a person’s body and heart, and by extension their dreams.

Even as C was losing control over her abilities and she imprinted into her the mission leading into the Undying, to turn all people into Mushitsuki and bring them back to life by reminding them of their dreams again and again.

She was constantly overflowing with love toward Mushitsuki and smiling.

That was how she was.

The one and only woman called Miguruma Yaeko.

“C will use the Deluge to wash away the surface. And after unleashing the Dove to confirm that the old generation of Mushitsuki has been fully eliminated—”

This was just like that old story about God’s creation.

“She will ride the Ark along with C, ready to create a new world. Are you telling me to write that story, then—C?”

The deluge will wash away the surface, and the white dove shall inform of the land being purged.

And those seeds chosen to board the ark will form a new world—

C was telling her to write these details down.

“It certainly was me who told you to leave all records as data. However, this is much like a baby crying for her mother’s attention.”

Miguruma Yaeko smiled as she watched over the ruined Akamaki City. A soldier handed her a tablet computer. There was already footage streaming on the screen.

“Is this the SEPB’s system…? Ah, so it’s live broadcast from the goggles of the Revived being controlled by C, then.”

Within the shaky footage, she could see a familiar face.

“Lady Bird.”

Blaze Class Rank 1, Lady Bird. Real name: Tachibana Rina.

She was a Mushitsuki who’d once fought against the SEPB by creating the resistance group called Mushibane. Around a year ago she had died a heroic death, but came back to life due to a certain person’s plan.

“Hmm… this appears to be a port somewhere.”

Right after running away from C’s pursuit, Lady Bird separated from her many comrades in order to allow the few weaklings to escape. However, even she seemed to have already gone out of Akamaki City. The footage showed her fighting against C’s assassins, the Revived; she knocked out more than half of them and was boarding a ship along with her few companions.

“Ah, the sea. —True, that is definitely the only place you can use to escape from C.”

Even C wasn’t as almighty out in the sea, where she couldn’t access electricity, the medium of her powers.

This was an excellent decision by Lady Bird, who usually just charged recklessly ahead.

“However, Lady Bird—you may have escaped being revived by C due to all those dreams you took with you, but this isn’t what I expected. Although you came back to life, I would have expected your personality to have collapsed long ago, in that sort of state. …Something doesn’t add up.”

She wanted to watch a little bit more, but the footage quickly changed over.

She immediately knew who she was watching now.

All because she saw those blazing flames as well as the human figure cackling within them.

“Irregular Class Rank 1, Harukiyo. He also seems to be in some harbor. I can see the container ship as well as the semi-trailer… is Alpha inside it?”

It was a somewhat unexpected combination.

Harukiyo was the strongest and freest Mushitsuki. It was unexpected for someone hailed as the demon of flames to come in contact with Alpha, who could be called the primal Mushitsuki. Even if they did end up meeting, she couldn’t understand why Harukiyo would be protecting him.

“Has the Akasegawa Group led him to it? Well, I wouldn’t be surprised for him to notice Alpha’s true worth, regardless… but it’s still odd.”

Yaeko narrowed her already narrow eyes even further.

“In my estimations, Harukiyo should already be showing signs of Maturation. After going through so many consecutive fights, he should have Matured already—”

For Yaeko, all Mushitsuki were like her children. She stood there and watched the moment the race known as Mushitsuki was born, and she always watched over their growth from the side.

For someone like her to miscalculate the timing when a Mushitsuki underwent Maturation—

Although the fight between the Mushitsuki and C had supposedly been settled, there was something wrong with how things continued this far.

Had C noticed this slight discrepancy?

“Harukiyo also managed to escape to sea…”

Yaeko muttered. The footage switched over again.

“—Yet another harbor.”

This time it was clearly a group fight.

These were the joined forces of the SEPB and Mushibane being forced into a defensive battle. One could say that practically all Mushitsuki combatants in this country were gathered there.

And they were being attacked by the Revived sent by C.

A gigantic tanker was anchored at this harbor where these intense battles were taking place. Not many people were capable of preparing something like that in a state of emergency like this.

“I see, so it means that it was Haji Keigo and Akasegawa Nanana who planned on escaping to the sea.”

Tactician Haji Keigo and the rich Akasegawa Nanana were trying to let the old generation of Mushitsuki escape to sea.

“Since Haji Keigo has guided them to the sea, their destination must be…”

She could imagine where the Mushitsuki were going to flee to, but there was something else that bothered her before that.

Yaeko’s eyes captured the armored vehicle on the screen.

“Sleeping Beauty, Arisu—”

The Rank 1 who’d fallen asleep in a decisive fight that was already forgotten.

The girl was a complete and utter irregular in everything that went with her; even the fact that she fell asleep again immediately after waking up had been unexpected.

She didn’t think someone like that would move according to her thoughts at this stage, but—

“…”

The same sensation of wrongness like with Lady Bird and Harukiyo assaulted Yaeko.

It was just an intuition with no basis behind it.

Even as Yaeko considered this, the footage switched over to the next one.

Next, she could see a petite girl.

It was a Mushitsuki Yaeko knew well.

“Secret Class Rank 1, Fuyuhotaru.”

She was the Mushitsuki who brought the SEPB to the brink of destruction a few years ago.

That girl had suddenly appeared and nearly ruined everything that Yaeko built up. Although they’d barely succeeded in her capture at the time, the astounding potency or her power remained unchanged.

Fuyuhotaru could be said to an existence close to C.

She was a Mushitsuki who possessed the power to destroy everything—so that the world can be rebuilt anew.

“So you’re saying that all the conditions for the creation of a new world were fulfilled, C.”

While stroking the screen with her fingers, Yaeko smiled.

“Yes, I will watch over all of it. I wait to see how you unleash the Dove from your Ark and start screening the entire world with the Deluge…”

The footage changed again.

It now showed a single boy.

“—The most dangerous Mushitsuki of all does no longer exist.”

Yaeko wiped her smile.

It was like that back when Mushi were born, too.

He—no, they—definitely always did it.

Neither changing nor destroying everything, they’d simply stand in front of the change Yaeko wished for the world to take—and try to stop it.

They were the Mushitsuki born by the member of the Original Three known as Sanbikime.

“…Kakkou.”

She mumbled.

Yaeko flicked away the empty shell of the Mushitsuki called a demon with her fingertip.

1.00 The Others

Akamaki City, who could be called the center of the country, fell into a mysterious state of chaos.

Although all citizens had been issued an evacuation order, the reason had to yet to be revealed. The mass media was gathering information as well, but it was clear from everyday news that they were unable to grasp the core.

This sudden situation made the entire country restless.

However, none of this was relevant for Taiki, who was nothing more than a normal high-schooler.

Also, he lived far from Akamaki City anyway. The only thing he cared about regarding the situation was seeing whether more of his classmates would take a break from school.

No—to be honest, there was something else.

These last few days, he dreamt about the people called Mushitsuki night after night.

Tachibana Rina.

Harukiyo.

He dreamt about Mushitsuki with these names.

Taiki had no idea why he started having these dreams.

And now, on his way back from school—

“You will tell me… why I’m having these dreams?”

The girl who was waiting for him there said she would give him that answer.

“Yes.”

The person called Ikarino Kirari nodded. She was a beauty with her bangs cut in a slanted line, and looked to be about the same as Taiki’s age. For some reason, she wore the same school uniform.

“W-what are you saying? Why would you even—”

“Because I know… what dreams you’ve been having.”

She first appeared to him a few days ago. At the time she was together with a foreigner journalist. She had introduced herself as his interpreter.

“You know—my dreams?”

Ikarino Kirari appeared to Taiki alongside the foreign journalist for an interview.

She said this was related to Taiki’s cousin—one Kusuriya Daisuke.

Now, however, she talked about something completely different than that so-called interview. After Ikarino Kirari so stubbornly clung to Taiki, this time she was apparently going to interpret his dreams for him.

While the cautious Taiki drew back, Ikarino Kirai spoke.

“It was about Tachibana Rina—and Harukiyo, right?”

“…!”

Taiki gulped and froze.

She got to the crux of the matter perfectly.

Until now Taiki lived a completely normal life without any serious difficulties. His only worries could be said to be about his grades in school related to his future. Obviously, he only knew Mushitsuki as an urban legend.

And he suddenly started dreaming about these Mushitsuki.

In his dream, they were all fighting against an enemy called C.

They challenged her, lost, and ran away, but even so they kept fighting intensely—

“—Takashiro Taiki. Your parents are in good health, and you have two little sisters called Noa and Ririe.”

Kirari spoke all of a sudden. Taiki was startled.

“According to the city database, you have no criminal record. No major illnesses, either. I did find a small record from your health insurance when a driver took his eyes off the road, hitting you and causing a bone fracture when you were young. According to the school records, your grades are the average of the average, and there doesn’t seem to be any problem with your conduct…”

Hearing her narrate this so indifferently, Taiki felt a chill run up his spine.

Had she investigated him?

That was without a doubt a crime. There was probably nothing as creepy as having a complete stranger check out his life.

“I have no intention of disturbing your peaceful life.”

Ikarino Kirari really had the gall to say something like that after being so creepy.

“However, I believe that’s something you have to obtain from your own choice.”

“Ha… what? W-who are you?”

He couldn’t understand what the girl was saying at all.

She appeared out of the blue, investigated him and then told him to make a choice.

In all honestly, this girl looked to him like someone deranged and disturbed.

“I’ve said this before, but—won’t you tell me about your dreams in more detail? I will definitely be able to help you solve all your questions and worries. Also…”

Ikarino Kirari suddenly looked up the sky.

“I think I can tell you why you’re the only one unable to hear the bells.”

Bells?

Just before, his classmates also said they could hear bells.

They said it was a very pretty sound.

“S-stop this.”

This was Taiki’s limit. He was just a normal student, after all.

He became scared at the girl’s incomprehensible actions and words and started walking in a fast pace. He walked past Ikarino Kirari who stood there to block his path.

“Since you’ve dreamt about Tachibana Rina and Harukiyo, you’ll definitely dream about her, too.”

While he passed by her, Kirai spoke.

“Sleeping Beauty, Arisu.”

Taiki’s shoulders twitched.

It was a name that came up countless times in his dream.

“S-shuddup. Don’t come near me ever again…!”

Grimacing, he started running.

He could hear the sad voice of the mysterious girl called Ikarino Kirari from behind him.

“In the end—”

Taiki left the place running, while Ikarino Kirari stayed in place.

And as he went—

“She hasn’t woken up…”

The girl’s whisper passed and vanished between them.

1.01 Arisu the Last

She stood atop a large wharf.

There were cranes and lifts meant for hauling catches scattered here and there on land, and several vessels were anchored. Thin clouds covered the orange-tinted sky as the curtain of darkness began to descend.

Many figures took violent movements within these premises.

These weren’t the fishers or marketplace people.

They were Mushitsuki.

Fighting defensively while covered in blood, they were the combined forces made from both former members of the SEPB as well as Mushibane. —They were also those who had gathered to annihilate the calamity known as C, had lost as a result and now had to retreat.

On the other hand, the Mushitsuki who surrounded them were the assassins sent by C. Either those who’d once lost their Mushi and became Fallen or else died, had their dreams being controlled by C, turning them into the Revived.

The Mushitsuki were attempting to escape to sea.

The Revived attempted to pursue and root them out.

After their series of battles, they were all dirty with soil and mud, and it was impossible to tell how many were even dead.

“As long as I’m strong—isn’t that enough?”

She smiled, looking down the transport truck being protected by the Mushitsuki. Her familiar scarf and the sensation of the silver spear grasped in her hand stirred up her drive for a fight inside her.

She didn’t need a mirror to tell how she looked now.

Right now, she was fused with her Mushi, the silver Morpho butterfly, and had a silver pattern over her entire body. Her face and thin limbs, constantly deathly pale due to fighting with an illness for a long time, were glowing silver, and her long hair was set afloat by the scales gushing out from the silver spear. —She looked exactly the same as back then, when she’d expired from her disease.

And a boy covered fully in a rusty, dark red was standing in her way.

“Right now—you aren’t Arisu.”

His SEPB-issued long coat was in tatters, discolored by dried blood and scorch marks. The goggles on his face were cracked, and his Mushi, the checkered beetle, stood on the automatic pistol dangling from one hand.

She knew well who this boy was.

Kusuriya Daisuke—Kakkou.

A Mushitsuki who supposedly already had his Mushi killed and became a Fallen.

“Then who am I, then?”

She was supposed to be dead.

Kakkou was supposed to be Fallen.

She couldn’t understand why two people who weren’t supposed to be there now faced each other like this.

It was also unnatural how the surroundings became extremely quiet since a while ago. She could see the Mushitsuki fighting on the wharf, but their voices wouldn’t reach the pair of people glaring at each other.

While they were at the same place, it was also like they were in different worlds.

In fact, wasn’t this situation purposely crafted by someone?

But she cared nothing for that.

“You should know who I am.”

Saying this, she glanced behind her.

A long girl was lying inside the cargo of the transport truck stolen from the military. She was sleeping while covered by a blanket and a jacket.

Sleeping Beauty, Arisu.

Right now, the Mushitsuki in the harbor all fought to the death, prioritizing her protection over their own survival.

“You alone. Right, Kusuriya Daisuke-san?”

“You are Arisu’s friend, as well as the first host of the Morpho butterfly… Hanashiro Mari.”

Turning ahead again, Kakkou spoke to her in a hoarse voice. She had no idea why he was already so injured, but apparently he could barely even stand.

She—Mari—grinned.

Right. Although she died from her illness in the past, she still remained inside the Morpho butterfly and kept protecting her best friend, Arisu. The number of people who knew about this could be counted on one hand.

No, this had nothing to do with the past.

No matter where she was, no matter when it was, if Arisu was there—

Mari would become Arisu’s guardian.

That was Mari’s duty and the only possible response for the friendship the girl gave her.

However, Kakkou looked at Mari and spoke.

“…But you’re not Hanashiro Mari right now. Never mind your appearance.”

The tip of Mari’s spear twitched. She wore a provocative smile.

“Then who is it standing right here, then?”

“…”

“And in the first place—who are you, even?”

Kakkou gave no answer to her question.

“I’ve seen it all through the Morpho butterfly. —You became a Fallen, right?”

After getting saved from the Central Headquarters’ Underground Fort, she saw everything. She already knew that the Mushitsuki called Kakkou retired from the battle between Mushitsuki.

“And yet I’m here. What a strange space… is this an attack by C as well?”

Other than Mari and Kakkou, everyone on the harbor were fighting.

She could see a huge tanker anchored in the backdrop of this soundless, mortal combat. Since she’d watched everything until now, she also knew that this was the only way for these Mushitsuki to escape C’s pursuit.

“Even Kasuou, Neiko-san or Himeko-chan are still fighting.”

Some of the desperate fighting Mushitsuki were people she knew.

“They’re still fighting…”

She unconsciously put strength into her arm holding the spear.

Although they were right next to them, no one seemed able to see the figures of Mari and Kakkou.

“—We’re here now not because of C’s attack.”

Standing there listlessly, Kakkou spoke.

“If you really were Hanashiro Mari, you were supposed to notice at least this much.”

“…”

Mari glanced behind her wordlessly. She looked at the sleeping Arisu behind her again.

“They’re trying to wake up Arisu because they need strong Mushitsuki, right?”

“…Yes, true.”

“I am Mari. If they need strong Mushitsuki, I will fight.”

She glared at Kakkou and put herself on guard.

“So—please don’t try waking her up.”

A massive quantity of scales gushed out of the spear in her hands. Pushed back by the raging surge of scales, the wounded Kakkou staggered.

“You’re just pretending to be your strong friend…”

However, Kakkou did not collapse.

“It was the same during the night of the meteor shower. You wanted to challenge Oogui, but once you saw your comrades collapsing, you got so scared you tried running away. —With how you are now, even if you’re slapped awake, you’ll probably run away again…”

“…!”

As Mari grimaced with fright, Kakkou’s eyes stared at her from behind his goggles.

“Hanashiro Mari’s gone. Stop clinging to your friend.”

“And you—who are you to say this, anyway?”

Anger welled within Mari. Was it because her friend Arisu was being ridiculed, or was it to hide other feelings inside her? Even she herself wasn’t sure.

“What’s up with you? I don’t know what you’ve been fighting, but you are too pathetic, unsightly and pitiful. —What have you been doing while Arisu was gone? She believed in you, and yet… you haven’t been able to do anything, right?”

This time Kakkou was the one who went silent.

Silence befell the two—but the boy finally opened his mouth with a small breath.

“I did it my own way—nah, I acted completely unlike myself and tried fighting the Original Three to finish everything before finding you. However—”

She wanted to believe that Kakkou’s breath was due to his fatigue.

If it was a sigh, then—it would be much too sad.

This pair had a chance meeting once, parted, and then met again in this state.

Rather than shed tears, hearing this sigh resounding over their reunion made Mari’s heart clench.

“I haven’t managed to beat them. Not even a single time.”

How should she call the feelings gushing out inside her?

Rage? Or perhaps disappointment at having her hopes betrayed? If she used a simple name—despair.

It was a sensation like the ground crumbling under her legs and such grim resolve she felt her vision darken made her want to scream. Mari clenched her jaw and swallowed back her indignation.

“Arisu told you to wake her up at the continuation to her dream, right?”

Looking at her friend sleeping inside the transport truck, Mari spat.

Her sleeping face was much too peaceful.

Even if Mari wasn’t her friend, she would feel it was too cruel to wake her up at a place like this.

“Why…?”

She furiously spat abuse at Kakkou who couldn’t answer her.

“Erii’s already gone, right?”

Horiuchi Erii.

This young Mushitsuki, who had once been close to Arisu—had lost her personality due to losing control of her ability. She now became their strongest enemy in the form of C, the Super Class Rank 1.

Waking up Arisu would mean that she had to defeat Horiuchi Erii by her own hands. Although she was now a mere shadow of her former self, she thought of this girl that doted on Erii as a younger sister.

“Kasuou and the others also lost, right?”

These Mushitsuki, like Kasuou and others, who challenged C and lost.

They now had less than half their numbers, compared to back at the domed base in Akamaki City. Even the surviving Mushitsuki were exhausted; with dark circles under their eyes, they rushed through the hellish battlefield like demons.

“And even you, of all people, became a Fallen, right?”

Mari already knew for a while now that the Kakkou in front of her eyes wasn’t the real deal.

Even that powerful Kakkou—even that man feared as a pitch-dark demon, who had once been Arisu’s trusty partner—even that Mushitsuki became a Fallen.

“Arisu’s here only because that kid called Kanon sacrificed himself—”

In a past battle, Arisu became Rank 1 but fell into a long slumber.

She did it in order to seal a single source of despair.

She thought that by the time she’d wake up again, it’d be because a way to block that despair had been found—but it didn’t happen like that. Someone simply subbed in for her.

“I-is that… true?”

Mari asked the phantom of Kakkou.

“Are you saying that this is really—the continuation of Arisu’s dream?”

Although she fell asleep during the battle everyone forgot about, Arisu still had hope. Even if she fell asleep along with that source of despair, strong Mushitsuki like Kakkou and Harukiyo existed. And there were many Mushitsuki who would fight in order to make their dreams come true.

Arisu had supposedly gone to sleep because she believed that—

She dreamed that all fights would end by the time she woke up, and yet—

“Saving all Mushitsuki. This was Arisu’s dream.”

Kakkou suddenly sighed and spat this.

“Right. That is—the continuation of your dream.”

“—”

Mari felt strength leaving her entire body.

Widening her eyes, she felt the boy’s words echo within her again and again—

“…”

She slowly readied her spear.

Standing in front of the transport truck to protect Arisu from Kakkou.

“Stop.”

Kakkou spoke.

“I wanted to apologize for being unable to do anything… but if you’re going to act like that—you’ll make me unable to keep my promise.”

“…I won’t let you wake her up.”

Still standing frozen, Mari shook her head to the sides.

“This situation isn’t the ‘continuation’ Arisu wished for.”

“No, you’ve said it yourself, Arisu…”

As Kakkou spoke by himself, the checkered beetle sank into his handgun. Transforming its body to tentacles, the Mushi fused with the gun and Kakkou’s body.

“You asked me to wake you up at the continuation of her dream.”

There was a silver flash.

Mari kicked the ground and thrust her spear at Kakkou. Even that simple action instantly closed the distance between the two to zero, and the blowing silver scales severed land and ocean into two.

Violent tremors and water sprays assaulted the harbor, but no response came from the Mushitsuki fighting around them. As expected, it appeared like the space that Mari and Kakkou inhabited was separated from their original world.

“…!”

Kakkou twisted his body to dodge the spear, turning his gun to Mari.

She calmly drew an arc with her spear tip. Kakkou’s arm holding the gun was pushed down, and she kept going to sweep up his legs.

“Gwah…!”

As Kakkou tumbled and got pounded against the ground, she tried dealing an additional blow with the scales. Silver brilliance burst with the boy in its middle, causing the asphalt ground to cave.

Mari was stunned at this being so effective.

The collapsed Kakkou raised an arm. He pulled the trigger, aiming at Mari.

She moved just one step aside and easily evaded the gunshot.

Kakkou used this brief opening to stand up. He leapt inside the dancing water sprays and dust, vanishing from Mari’s line of sight.

“You seem to have forgotten that my Morpho butterfly has sensing capabilities as well.”

Being led by the spear she held in hand, she swung her arm to the right without even turning.

She tore through the curtain of water and dust. Surging silver scales captured Kakkou who was hidden on the other side.

“—!”

Pulverizing a warehouse, the boy was flung into the distance.

Mari calmly jumped. She leapt over the ruins of the warehouse with superhuman leg strength.

“For you to not only become a Fallen but come here to wake up Arisu in such a beat-up form…”

She found Kakkou. He was half-buried in the wreckage.

“Since Arisu fell asleep, you’ve made such a horrible ‘continuation’…!”

Leaping high, she pounded her silver spear down at Kakkou using the momentum of her fall.

Silver light burst and the surrounding buildings were destroyed all around her.

“Aren’t you just pushing everything to Arisu?!”

Red sprays mixed in with the silver light filling her sight.

“—Yeah, that’s right.”

Kakkou blocked the spear’s tip with the grip of his pistol. However, he was unable to fully stop the strike, so his worn coat was fully ripped and fresh blood streamed down his brows.

“I couldn’t do anything… so I wanted to apologize.”

Mari arched her eyebrows in disappointment and anger, seeing how spineless this boy was.

However, receiving the kick unleashed from his leg, Mari grimaced.

“Ugh—”

“Well, only if you weren’t like this, though.”

While glaring at Mari who leapt back, Kakkou stood up, swaying.

“You’re just making excuses for not wanting to wake up. You even imitated Hanashiro Mari…”

Mari returned Kakkou’s glance.

“I am Mari.”

“No, you’re completely the same as when you fell asleep. An idiot who never thinks of anything, a coward who becomes scared once she sees her friends falling… a spoiled brat.”

Both Rank 1 Fusion Types changed their expressions.

Mari made the silver pattern covering her entire body glow, calmly readying her spear again. Within that silver spear dwelt the power that one of the Original Three—Sanbikime—had once called the strongest.

On the other hand, Kakkou—was a mere shadow of his former self. His coat was ripped at the chest area and there were no traces of the air of intimidation he had when he was known as the pitch-dark demon.

“—”

“—”

The fight of these two opposites opened silently.

It was a chain of nothing but unexpected happenings for Mari.

What she first found surprising—was that Kakkou was way too weak.

“Give up and vanish already…!”

Kakkou just barely dodged Mari’s attack, but it took everything he had. Where on earth had he gotten hurt so badly? He literally threw his body to the ground in order to dodge, then stood up with a grimace full of agony.

Even his belated gunshot counterattack was repelled by the wall of scales protecting Mari.

Mari had hit with her attacks many times now.

She thought Kakkou would easily fall in his state.

However, seeing that her estimations were far from reality, Mari was confused.

He wouldn’t collapse—

Although he definitely should have gone way past his limits, the boy did not give up on approaching Mari.

“Stop already…!”

Slowly but steady.

Covered in blood like vengeful spirit, Kakkou kept approaching Mari.

No, he was trying to get to what lay behind her—

The transport truck, where a girl was still sleeping.

“I won’t let you wake up Arisu…!”

Finally, the most unexpected thing of all happened.

At that same time, it could also be called the natural conclusion.

Kakkou—could no longer dodge Mari’s spear.

“—”

Her thrust spear pierced Kakkou deeply in his stomach.

It was such a simple attack that not only Mari, but probably Kakkou himself thought he could dodge. As evidence of this, both froze with the spear stuck in him, unmoving.

It was a fatal wound.

No, speaking about fatal, then even the wounds he’d incurred before they fought—

“…!”

Mari’s body twitched and shuddered.

Kakkou grabbed the hilt of the spear stabbed into him.

He started walking as if to push Mari back.

“L—let go!”

Although Mari resisted, she couldn’t put strength into her arms.

With every step Kakkou took, the spear stabbed deeper into the boy.

“Let go…!”

“—Are you afraid of your friends being defeated, just like what happened during the night of the meteor shower?”

While walking and pushing Mari back along with the spear, Kakkou let leak a hoarse voice.

Mari grimaced.

“Or are you afraid of the Morpho butterfly Maturing the moment you wake up?”

An endless amount of blood kept gushing from his stomach as the boy advanced with a lowered gaze.

“Since you haven’t even been a Mushitsuki until that fight it’s natural, though…”

Unable to stop Kakkou from advancing over the debris, and not even being able to inflict the finishing blow, at some point Mari—

Found herself pushed all the way to the front of the transport truck.

“Stop—”

Mari’s shaking arm became lighter.

Kakkou let go of the spear. She could feel the nasty sensation of the blade being pulled out through her arm.

“I—don’t want to see Mushitsuki die anymore…”

Tears rising to her eyes, Mari still reached out to stop Kakkou.

And the boy—didn’t even turn to look at the girl.

With neither mercy nor pity, he left Mari behind and got on the transport truck.

“—There are still surviving Mushitsuki.”

Kakkou got on his knees and drooped his head toward the girl sleeping on the floor.

This posture was much like a pilgrim praying for forgiveness in front of an idol.

“And even if—even if only a single person survived, saving them would still be your dream, right?”

“…!”

To save Mushitsuki—

That was the dream that made Arisu a Mushitsuki.

When her friend Arisu—no, when she wished for this, she never gave any thought to how hard and cruel of a dream it was.

“Since I couldn’t do anything, I don’t have the right to say this—but that’s also the continuation of your dream.”

Although Horiuchi Erii was on good terms with her, she became an enemy.

Even her reliable partner was gone.

The Mushitsuki kept losing, and it seemed like they’d get annihilated before long.

“Don’t run away.”

In this situation, if this was the continuation of Arisu’s dream—it was too cruel to bear.

If she needed to wake up in order to save Mushitsuki—it was too hopeless to bear.

“Don’t lose to your Mushi.”

Even so, he was trying to wake her up.

She wouldn’t go as far as to say she wanted a good morning kiss.

He could simply shake her gently awake, but instead he was going to forcibly slap her awake.

“Wake up, Arisu.”

The boy’s words sounded like a plea.

Or perhaps they sounded like him apologizing for his powerlessness.

“You’ve tried gathering your comrades since you’re so useless alone, right? If you open your eyes—you’ll find out you have so many of them.”

The boy slapped the sleeping girl again.

Comrades.

Even now, Mushitsuki such as Kasuou were fighting against the Revived at the harbor. They were wounded and tired—but they never gave up.

Nothing changed from before she fell asleep.

They were the people called Mushitsuki, all fighting to make their dream come true someday.

“You need to make your dream come true by your own hands…”

The boy’s voice as he struck the girl’s cheek was becoming feebler and feebler.

Even so Kakkou kept persistently slapping the girl—

“—Guh.”

Then held his stomach, rounding his body.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t bear the wound received by the spear any longer.

Perhaps it was because something far more painful struck him—a white fist.

The girl who supposedly asleep moved her arm and punched the boy’s stomach.

“…Arisu Punch.”

The one who mumbled this wasn’t the girl who kept her eyes closed, but the girl in the form of Hanashiro Mari.

“That’s enough… you went overboard.”

She looked at the boy with disgust.

The pair glared at each other wordlessly.

They fought together before and parted.

If they ever met up again, what would they discuss?

Both of them should have prepared many words. She didn’t know about the boy, but she herself had way too much time to think about that.

However, right now with her borrowing the form of her dead friend, she made no attempt to mouth them.

The boy also said nothing.

Therefore—she said what needed to be said.

“—Please call me.”

She had no idea who prepared this world, but it was apparently the deadline.

The form of the Kakkou in front of her eyes was becoming transparent as if he was melting into thin air.

On the hand, her part that was in the shape of Hanashiro Mari, and the part of her that kept sleeping even after hitting the boy back—

The mind and body of Sleeping Beauty, Arisu—were not fully awake yet.

However, she would no longer hesitate.

If her past partner told her that many of their comrades were fighting—she might be able to believe it and wake up.

“If you do that, I will wake up.”

Kakkou’s mouth loosened.

“Yeah… I’ll call you.”

“Let me say this in advance, but it has to be you as well, right?”

The moment she said this, the boy erased his smile.

“I’m…”

The wounded, exhausted boy leaking sighs would vanish at any moment.

She spoke to him.

“I only managed to gather two Rank 1s and a limited number of Mushitsuki.”

“…”

“But if I could really assemble all of them—”

She had no idea if he actually heard the rest.

However, the moment he vanished, the boy wore yet another weak smile—probably because he heard her voice.

Thinking this—no, believing this, Arisu fell into another temporary sleep for the time being.

1.02 The Others

Super Class Rank 1, C, perfectly grasped the current situation.

With her ability to control electricity and electric signals, she watched everything through all cameras that existed in the country as well as the footage sent to her by the Revived that she controlled like puppets.

The old generation of Rank 1s.

Lady Bird, Harukiyo, Sleeping Beauty Arisu.

The three Rank 1s and their allies all came from different places, yet all attempted to ride large boats at the same time as if they were coordinated. Their footage escaping out into the sea was brought to C.

They managed to shake off C’s pursuit and escape to sea.

According to C’s simulations, all these Mushitsuki should have already been long since destroyed.

They could be called the failed products of the old generation.

Not only that, but they would definitely try to erase C from this world again.

There were no surveillance cameras that could see where they were going. Although she attempted using satellites to ascertain their location, it was impossible. All these ships had Mushitsuki with camouflage abilities on them.

It was clear where all of them were going to reconvene.

That would become the place of their counterattack.

They were going to rest and challenge C again.

They’d undoubtably come looking for this place, where C’s real body resided—

“…”

C’s main body, or more precisely her flesh and blood body, was in heaven.

It was inside the Ark.

A new world filled only with the Undying Mushitsuki it would carry—the land that would begin it all.

This place, a few square kilometers in width, originally had a different name. However, Miguruma Yaeko, who could also be called the birth mother of Super Class Rank 1 C, renamed it as the Ark.

In the very depths of the Ark, C sat on a large bed.

Her completely nude body was wrapped in a faint golden glow. Her pale body and each and every hair of hers were suffused with the electricity created by her ability. She had neither the capes no crowns that her body doubles wore. She materialized them through using Shinpu’s abilities, but had no need for them in this resting place inside the Ark now.

In the very depths of heaven, C kept running simulations about her enemies.

Where were they going to escape to?

She made a general review of all the entire country’s digitized map information and incidents, and continued her calculations hundreds of thousands, millions of times.

Would C find where the old generation’s Mushitsuki escaped to?

Or would they enemies find C’s location first?

With a probability of more than 90%, C estimated that it would be her victory—

And a result, in fact, came.

“—Aoharima Island.”

C muttered.

It was a small island in the middle of the sea.

Since its very existence was already wiped off from the country’s records, it took her a while to find it.

The one who erased the land of Aoharima Island—was the Special Environmental Preservation Bureau. Erasing the records about the gruesome incident that took place there, they apparently tried hiding even the island itself.

After all, the one who caused the tragedy of Aoharima Island was the Director of the SEPB herself, Miguruma Yaeko.

Once, that place had one of the Original Three, the monster called Sanbikime, and the entire island’s residents were slaughtered in order to defeat it.

Only in the SEPB database remained the few top-secret records. There were even traces of C’s original personality, Horiuchi Erii, having tried to search the same information before.

By managing to calculate the enemy’s estimated destination, C started the next process.

She would send assassins to eliminate these failed products.

Also—

“It is time to unleash the Dove.”

She was now going to move the predetermined process according to plan.

She had obviously also hypothesized about her plans not going according to calculations. She prepared many backup plans in order to wipe the obstinate old world.

C would fulfill her own mission.

Instead of the old generation of Mushitsuki, she would create a world filled with Undying Mushitsuki.

“Then, the Deluge shall purge the earth and create a new world…”

At the Ark, which would become the center of the new world—

The small creator mumbled to herself with a doll-like, expressionless face.

1.03 The Others

That steel box advanced while cutting through the white-crested waves of the ocean.

It was a large oil tanker.

There wasn’t even a single crew member on board of the mammoth ship that could carry hundreds of thousands of tons. Lying on the board nearest the bow was only one person, a youth with a ghastly white face.

“…”

The young man threw up his lanky limbs and stared up at the perfect, blue sky absently.

Haji Keigo. The moment after he’d been appointed Director of the SEPB, C’s machinations cut off the organization itself from the country. The ship’s hold beneath him held his resting comrades. They were the Mushitsuki who challenged C and lost.

Keigo came up to the deck to try and arrange his thoughts, but his tired body was being dyed by the morning sun.

He was deeply aware he was the kind of being who fitted the shadows better.

“…Have you slept well?”

Noticing soft footsteps approaching him, Keigo opened his mouth.

It was a nostalgic sound, one that he heard every morning. Since the girl couldn’t see, her steps were uncertain, but she always tried walking more quietly than needed.

Almost as if she was a burden to him.

As if she didn’t want to cause any further trouble.

But even with these completely misplaced worries—she still ended up relying on him.

“Yeah.”

Keigo’s little sister, Haji Senri nodded and sat next to him.

Senri was a liar not at all inferior to Keigo.

She had a very rare sensing ability. Keigo knew that she spent the entire night vigilant against any pursuers of the tanker. It was definitely a lie that she slept well.

Come to think of it, these siblings always lived inside a lie.

Keigo hid the fact that Senri was a Mushitsuki, while Senri hid her weak body and always acted lively in front of her brother.

It was the same even after she found out she was a Mushitsuki.

Keigo pretended to be unconscious, and Senri lived in a world without her brother, acting out the part of a strong Mushitsuki—

It really had been a long time since the two of them talked by themselves like this.

The last time was before Keigo abandoned the battlefield—just before last year’s Christmas.

“You should leave your work to other sensors and go sleep. The captain’s cabin is free.”

“No way, that’s abuse of your authority. Everyone else is sleeping inside cold tanks and whatnot.”

“How about having my dream for the first time in a while? I doubt it’d help, though.”

“No. …I no longer eat anyone’s dreams.”

Still lying down, Keigo looked up at his sister shaking her head.

Her hair became longer. She apparently grew a bit taller, too. These small changes could only be noticed by Keigo, who lived together with her.

At the same time, there was things he knew only because he was her brother.

Although she was supposed to be tired, Senri’s profile as she was caressed by the salty wind—looked overflowing with vigor. Much more than it had during those peaceful days removed from any battle, when things were quiet.

He knew why.

After Keigo used all his time to pretend being injured and watch over her from the shadows, he finally figured it out.

And when he accepted this, he wanted to throw away everything and die. He was probably never going to confess to anyone about it.

“I might have already said this—but you’ve truly grown stronger, Senri.”

Looking at his sister’s face, he gave his honest opinion.

“…!”

Her breath caught, tears rose to Senri’s eyes.

The girl’s hand feeling around the deck found his own. She grasped it hard.

“Big brother… are you really there? Are you really here with me?”

“Yes, I am. It’s fine, both of us are alive and together.”

Grabbing back her hand, they felt each other’s warmth.

Even this reunited pair had many things they wanted to tell each other or ask each other.

Keigo in particular had a question he always wanted to ask his sister, who had resolved herself to throw herself into the battles of Mushitsuki. While watching how a sickly girl like her chose to fight and become much stronger and more resolute from the shadows, this doubt swelled even further.

—Perhaps it was actually me who was trying to kill you all this time?

He never considered Senri getting stronger.

Therefore, he hid reality from her and tied her to her bed.

Perhaps even someone foolish like him was actually an evil being who tried torturing his beloved sister to death.

Compared to him, perhaps it was actually Mushi that saved his sister?

He was scared of himself immediately feeling like that once they met again.

“We’re definitely here.”

However, while doing this—he came to realize that these doubts and fears held no meaning.

The sister who grabbed her foolish brother’s hand while crying denied his doubts.

Although he lied to her, she was going to save her brother who blamed himself.

And he was able to believe this lie from the bottom of his heart.

Nothing changed from before.

Since they only had each other, these siblings were going to keep lying to each other—keep believing in those lies, and live by supporting each other.

“Yes… yes.”

Senri nodded again and again.

Following that they spoke of nothing, simply letting themselves get hit by the salty wind. There were definitely many things she should have wanted to ask and inquire him about, but Senri said nothing.

Perhaps she wanted to feel each and every second of their being together in her own way.

If she let this present run away, she might never be able to gain that time again—

They were both aware that this possibility existed.

“—Haji-senpai.”

Being called by this familiar voice, Keigo finally raised his body.

Appearing next to Keigo and Senri was a suited woman. Although she was a working adult, she hadn’t fixed her bed hair, but it could already be called her own unique style.

“Have you waited until now to call out to me, Goroumaru-kun? For you to be conscious about our family quality time like this, it seems like you’ve learned to read the room.”

“Y-yes, thanks… wait, are you angry? I did want to leave you for a bit longer, if at all possible, but we can already see the island.”

Being told this by his subordinate Goroumaru Touko and looking to the front of the ship, he could see a small dot floating at sea.

“Ah, so this is Aoharima Island.”

They were wary of their surroundings to a cowardly extent and took great care to have the ship take a detour to reach this place.

It was the island floating ahead—Aoharima Island.

Succeeding in their caution, they somehow made it safely there.

“Everyone’s coming here soon to give a sitrep and start creating our strategy for what we do after making landfall.”

“I see. So you came here alone to purposely inform me of that? When you could’ve just come along with everyone?”

“Geez, you sure are in a bad mood, you should’ve slept a little… n-no, there’s actually something I personally wanted to ask you about, Haji-senpai.”

Keigo stroked Senri’s head, then rose up. Leaning against the rails, he looked at the distant island’s shade.

Resolving herself, Goroumaru Touko spoke in a mumble.

“It’s about what Vice-Deputy… I mean, former Vice-Deputy Miguruma talked about. —Have you used Kanon-san and Mimic-san while being aware they won’t come back, Haji-senpai?”

“I have already denied that, haven’t I? You are a naughty subordinate, to disbelieve your boss like that.”

Seeing how Keigo wore his thin smile, Touko pouted.

His subordinate glanced at Senri for a moment. Her glare at his sister made him realize Touko’s goal.

“Ah, so you’ve calculated this exact timing, thinking that I wouldn’t lie in front of my little sister. Even someone who used to be as innocent as you became quite sneaky. It makes me sad.”

“I-I was being used as your replacement for so long. So I can do at least this much…”

She probably wanted to look resolved, but as she fixed her fallen glasses and tried patting down her bed hair, she looked nothing short of suspicious. It was clear she was forcing herself.

Not even a single time before had Touko gone against Keigo. So for her to ask about Keigo’s true aims now of all times—it probably meant she was feeling conflicted about it in her own way.

No matter what happened from now on, she couldn’t survive this battle without ascertaining her boss’s intentions.

If she acted like this after being resolved, she was a reliable subordinate indeed.

“—Yes, I knew they were not going to come back.”

Keigo said this casually.

“…!”

“Eh…”

Goroumaru Touko and Senri were speechless.

Keigo did not erase his faint smile. He spoke while looking at the island.

“You like Mushitsuki too much, Goroumaru-kun. Even though you don’t love them as much as Miguruma.”

“Th…that…”

Keigo turned around, looking at Senri.

That parasitic monster was tormenting his one and only sister.

And it was also—that ugly monster that was trying to take a sister away from her brother.

The hatred he felt for this creature remained inside him, completely unchanged from before.

“I hate them so much—to the extent that if every Mushitsuki on ship other than my sister was sent to fight C and they killed each other, it would be the best result possible.”

“—”

“But since we’d just lose to C if we did this right now, it’s an issue.”

While Touko and Senri were frozen, Keigo spoke in a joking tone.

Instead of Senri who was rendered speechless, it was Touko who wrung out her voice.

“Is that… also a lie? Haji-senpai.”

“I’m telling the truth. But, well, you won’t believe what I say either way. —That’s fine. There was and will be only one person who would ever agree with me.”

“One… person?”

Senri tilted her head. If possible, he wanted the only person in this world who understood him to be his sister, but that wasn’t the case.

“—‘It’s fine if only I survive’.”

His one and only understander wasn’t someone as kind as his sister.

“He was the kind of guy who’d just end everything with that one sentence, no matter how I used him.”

“…!”

Touko and Senri gasped. They probably guessed who he was talking about.

“Changing the world to one where Mushitsuki aren’t born—it was our only reason to work together. Thinking back on it, it almost felt like playing a chicken race. If one of us tried doing things too half-heartedly, the other would definitely turn his back on him… and because we knew that none of us would ever draw back—”

It was fun.

He cut off his words, since he was about to say something completely unlike him.

Until now Keigo cooked up countless evil schemes. Thinking back on it, he had the feeling that whenever he did something like that, he was trying to imagine not the face of his opponent caught up in his plan—but the response his lone comrade would make.

And at times he would be shocked, at times angry, and at times even turn his gun on him.

Keigo would deceive him with a thin smile, and while that guy would complain and complain—he would survive, and then survive the next time as well.

However—he no longer had that rival.

“What a letdown. To think that he’d be gone now, at the most vital of times.”

Saying this, Keigo wore a shallow smile.

He feigned a joke and pushed down the feelings inside him.

Although they were in such an inferior position, it’d be so much fun if that guy was still there—he painted over these feelings with lies.

“C’s trying to create a world made of only Mushitsuki. On the other hand, I’m thinking I want to make this a world without Mushitsuki.”

It was too early to look back to the past. It was useless talking of what-ifs.

Although his understanders were all gone, he couldn’t allow himself to stop in place.

“Look at me talking about changing the world despite not being any sort of God. I’m not planning on cutting any corners.”

Keigo stroked Senri’s head again and glanced at Goroumaru Touko.

“No matter what world it becomes, staying alive is also a form of victory. If you don’t like that world, then you should survive as well—and stand up against me.”

“…”

His sister and Touko made no attempt to say anything following this.

Perhaps it was only a matter of time before those two would end up viewing Keigo as an enemy.

For these two—no, for the things they loved, Keigo was way too merciless.

His hands were dirtied with blood, and he was the receptable for plenty of hatred.

Even if another person who tried living the same way tried defeating him in the future—

The person called Haji Keigo had to continue advancing in order to see this new world.

“Alright, the time for a pleasant chat is over. Although we’re about to start an unpleasant job, we might as well enjoy ourselves, if we have to do it. C’mon, give me a smile here.”

Keigo spoke, turning toward the people appearing on the deck in droves.

The approaching people looked between his little sister and useless subordinate and him—and forced themselves to wear awkward smiles.

“—Our forces are now at half of what we had back in the dome.”

It was the Rank 2 Mushitsuki called Terasu who started this report. Even this girl, who was a middle schooler in her civilian life, looked burdened by the fatigue of the battlefield.

“As for the safety of the forces that split off from us until we boarded… we cannot confirm it.”

The people gathered under Haji were the SEPB’s branch heads and their high-ranked Mushitsuki subordinates. Furthermore, there were the Mushibane admins, as well as the supplier of this tanker, Akasegawa Nanana.

“I see. I hope they’re all safe.”

Keigo nodded casually, and the surrounding air was that of anger.

In particular, Mushibane admins Namie and Aijisupa turned glances full of murderous intent to Keigo.

“What do you mean, split off…! We cut them off and turned them to decoys!”

The long-haired woman, probably the oldest among present Mushitsuki, lashed out at Keigo.

“Uh oh, let us not rehash this, Namie. We have already talked about this yesterday, haven’t we? If we hadn’t done this, none of us would have been here.”

“It’s not like I agreed to it!”

“No, you should. You were once my subordinate and the commander of the East Central Branch. While you might have betrayed us and turned over to Mushibane, stop pretending like you got your compassion back.”

As Keigo spat coldly, Namie’s face turned even harsher. She leaned forward as if wanting to keep this argument, but Keigo ignored her.

“I want us to forget all past discontent and unite SEPB and Mushibane again, but we have no time. There’s no need to change the current configuration of Terasu as the supreme commander and having Mushibane act as an independent unit under her. —Now, Terasu, continue.”

“…We are using both our sensor Mushitsuki as well as the radar equipment hastily constructed by the West Central Branch to be on guard, but we have found no pursuers just yet. However, since those with camouflage or healing abilities like Tamamo and Nene and the rest were working throughout the entire night, they will need to take a real break once we reach the island. The same goes for our nucleus of offense and defense until now, Kasuou and Yotsuba.”

“Right, I will allow it.”

“Although we’ve been using shifts to allow other Mushitsuki to rest as well, it only had our fighting forces to go up from 30% to about 40%. Furthermore, since the West Central Branch guys started remodeling important equipment without being asked to, this also lowers our fighting forces… this tanker doesn’t need any stealth or cannons.”

“Yeah, we don’t need them, and we don’t want the West Central Branch to waste their powers uselessly. After all, we’ll need them to lend us their powers once we reach the island to restore the water-purifying facilities and power generators and repair houses.”

Keigo turned his gaze to a girl standing a distance away who was looking bored. Noticing his line of sight, the Mushitsuki called Sakura swung her long-handled hand hammer and grinned.

“I’ll turn that island into a first-class resort in three hours.”

In this entire ship filled with fatigue, the only ones who were still lively were those who belonged to the West Central Branch. They were a gathering of weirdoes who had no interests other than building stuff, but they were extremely reliable in the present situation.

“Regarding the composition of guard and rest once we reach the island, I leave this to Terasu.”

“Yes sir.”

“By the way, Rinrin. Have you found out where our important enemy C is hiding?”

As Keigo looked to behind Terasu, a petite boy averted his eyes, uttering an awkward Ugh.

“C-controlling this ship’s steering system is hard enough, so there’s limit to using this slapdash equipment to search for our enemy… it’s also hard to keep taking over satellites to stop C from discovering us.”

“I’ve heard from your teacher Asagi that you are an excellent information officer who could serve as C’s successor, though. Once you run out of excuses, let me hear the conclusion.”

“P-please don’t compare me to that monster. —The only conclusion is that I haven’t found her yet… she can only be at some power generation facility that can handle vast outputs, so I tried looking into all the important power plants—but none of the country’s power plants seem to have anything like that.”

“Hmm.”

C’s power was vast. The amount of electricity she used should be accordingly large.

If so, then C was hiding somewhere where she could produce it—he estimated it would be a large-output power plant, but apparently it wasn’t that easy.

“Let me ask something for real.”

Someone behind Keigo suddenly raised their voice.

Turning around, he saw a boy carrying a hockey stick on his back put his chin on his palm. Although he was sitting atop the long and narrow railings, he was completely stable there as if he weighed nothing at all.

“Would we able to beat C, just all of us here?”

He was the Mushitsuki called Shiohara Shachito. He was powerful, but belonged to neither the SEPB nor Mushibane.

“I did tell Lady that we’re heading to Aoharima Island.”

Following Keigo, who spoke while wearing a thin smile, Akasegawa Nanana also added while spinning her cane.

“Earlier, I’ve had this Rinrin person help me and got in contact with my secretary. Harukiyo’s also heading to Aoharima Island.”

“Okay, so we’ll count Lady-chan and Harukiyo too. —So let me ask again. Do we have any chances at all?”

Shachito erased the amiable smile from his handsome face. Unlike his casual tone, the atmosphere of a battlefield grew heavier.

“Or are we survivors just going to escape into exile abroad?”

“The answer is no. To both questions.”

Keigo gave a straight answer.

Although the atmosphere on the deck grew colder, none of them tried blaming their weak commander.

Everyone present there knew that they were inferior in their battle against the powerful enemy called C.

No, even the expression inferior was too conservative.

“Try thinking about this. C can control an almost inexhaustible supply of electricity. Because she can freely use the most accessible form of energy in modern times, it’s like she holds the world in her hands.”

The depressed atmosphere sank even further due to Keigo’s casual speech.

“Furthermore, she can even manipulate the electric signals going through a person’s mind to control people’s memories. Putting it simply, she could send one of her body doubles to appear in front of some country’s prime minister and take control. And thanks to her also absorbing Shinpu’s power, she can even revive the dead or the Fallen under her control. Even if we were to escape overseas, it will already be filled with C’s puppets. —I seriously can’t believe that me so desperately trying to extend the non-aggression agreements with foreign countries all amounted to nothing.”

As the one who asked this, Shachito quietly listened to Keigo’s words.

“The more time passes, the more cornered we’ll become. Our numbers don’t matter; they’re secondary. The first condition we require for victory is—”

He raised his index finger.

“Finding out the location of C’s main body and send our forces there. —And it has to be as soon as possible. If we can’t do that, it wouldn’t matter even if we had multiples of Lady and Harukiyo. We’d eventually just run out of where to escape to and… game over.”

They needed to find C’s main base as soon as possible and send their combined forces there—

Was it possible or impossible?

Everyone there knew the answer.

Shachito made a complete reversal and spoke in a serious expression.

“It’s impossible for us to find C and beat her up like that. It’d be a miracle.”

“Right, C will definitely not wag her tail in front of us, and our forces are still lacking. —Sleeping Beauty hasn’t woken up, either.”

Shrugging, Keigo looked at the tanker’s route.

By now they approached Aoharima Island enough for it to become fully visible.

Takemi, the man who had served as the North Central Branch Head, stepped forward.

“…What are we to do, in that case? Are you telling us to simply hide and live on the island?”

For an ambitious man like him, retiring on a solitary island was probably unthinkable.

“There’s nothing else to do, right?”

As Keigo affirmed this, everyone on deck clamored as expected. Takemi was flustered.

“Hey, Keigo-kun. Are you being serious?”

“I am serious. Managing to live even a single day on that island—right now, that is the only thing we can do.”

He knew that the gazes directed at him were filled with doubts.

“We’re not the ones going to create our chances for victory.”

He mumbled as if talking to himself.

“Miguruma Yaeko.”

There was even more clamoring.

“She said it herself—that the ‘Dove’ would be unleashed.”

Right now, they had no way to win.

However—this didn’t mean there was no way for such an opportunity to be created.

“If we keep on surviving, then surely—the Dove will come.”

At that time, Keigo and the others were at the edge of despair.

But at the same time, perhaps their one and only hope would be born.

It was the sole remaining possibility for the remnants of the fighting forces—

“If we can’t find C, then we just need to call her to us.”

Probably not even a single person there understood Keigo’s monologue.

The tanker filled with an anxiety-filled silence—

Arrived at Aoharima Island.

There were no facilities to let such a large tanker anchor at the island. Keigo and the others lowered smaller boats and landed at the fishing harbor one after another. Mushitsuki who could fly started carrying personnel and foodstuff in a hurry.

The island that had been erased from the maps for several years now was in ruins.

It wasn’t because it was abandoned for all this time.

What made Aoharima Island uninhabited—were the scars of the cruel battle that took place there before. The fishing boats and houses used by the island inhabitants were all wiped away as though by explosives.

Scorch marks especially stood out. The island was covered in charcoals as if it had been completely engulfed by flames.

“Kasuou.”

While the branch heads and Mushitsuki were running about, Keigo called toward the girl standing at the fishing harbor.

The Mushitsuki called Kasuou was staring at the island absentmindedly. Unlike her elegant looks consisting of blond hair and blue eyes, she was the ace of the Central Headquarters, a berserker who was constantly shirked by enemies and allies alike.

“…Don’t act overly familiar, you shitty four-eyes.”

“Don’t be so cold with me. We were originally boss and subordinate in the same branch.”

Kasuou glared at Keigo who wore a thin smile. However, perhaps judging that even just listening to him was a waste of time, she averted her gaze and ignored him.

The relationship between Keigo and Kasuou began just as she became a Mushitsuki. Ever since then, they shared many events and bonds.

“Rest up while you can, Kasuou. I’m going to keep counting on you.”

Kasuou made not even the slightest response to Keigo’s light talk.

A single building was being distorted right in front of their eyes. It became a perfect rectangle almost instantly and transformed into a newly built house. It was probably the work of Sakura and others.

“Are you feeling emotional? You were also part of the Sanbikime cleanup operation a few years ago on this island, right? Are you feeling guilty at this stage, Anneliese?”

“…Don’t call me by that name. Also, since I was late to the party, I did nothing here. I haven’t seen you in a while, but nothing’s changed about me wanting to kill you after three seconds.”

“Even if you claim you did nothing, you’ve witnessed what happened here, right? And now you’re on the side protecting the island. Are you thinking this is a bad omen? How unlike you.”

He knew what Kasuou had witnessed here in the past.

But Keigo could tell from her profile that she couldn’t fully hide her complex feelings about this.

“…What should I do?”

Kasuou suddenly asked. Keigo snorted.

“You sure have become a lot meeker during the time we haven’t met. For you to ask me, of all people. If I asked you to save the world, would you do it?”

“…”

“Thinking about that is my job. All you need to do is defeat as many enemies as you can. And if you feel like it—you can even protect as many allies as you can. Just like you’ve done until now.”

Spitting this with a casual tone, Keigo used his index finger to fix the position of his glasses.

“And once everything’s over, just go and die along with your fellow Mushitsuki.”

“You die, bitch.”

Her beautiful smile distorted, Kasuou cursed him with a foul mouth.

If she had enough energy to cuss, she was still fine. He smiled and was about to leave when Kasuou stopped him.

“Hey, four-eyes jerk.”

Turning around, he saw that she was staring at him.

She looked like she wanted to say something—but stopped and closed her mouth. She was apparently hesitating.

“…No.”

Kasuou simply left this low voice behind.

What did she want to say to him?

No—Keigo knew very well who she wanted to talk about.

But he purposely didn’t point this out.

“Shitty four-eyes—come to think of it, it happened more than once or twice that you’ve set up a trap for me in every capture mission.”

Kasuou wore a violent smile. This was clearly different from what she wanted to say.

“Oh? Feeling grudge at this point? You managed to survive so there’s no harm done, right?”

“What I hate the most about you is how you can keep on waffling like that—but I’ll forgive you just this once. I’ll even do a kamikaze attack or whatever if we can win in this situation. I’m not gonna die so easily, though.”

“Haha, even that is much too late to say.”

Laughing it off, Keigo turned his back to Kasuou.

“I was already intending on having you do that.”

It wasn’t merely a probable loss, but a battle without any prospects of victory.

In order to grasp even a single thread of hope, it would probably require many victims.

It was also possible—that the price to pay would be much larger than Keigo estimated.

However, Keigo and Kasuou weren’t the only ones resolved for this.

None of the people who escaped to Aoharima Island had bright expressions. Even so they helped rearrange the island’s environment and spent their brief moments their calm doing both resting and guarding—

And the time to test their resolve came quickly.

“Something’s showing up on the radar! —A large ship’s approaching the island!”

Rinrin, who was in charge of all electronic devices and measurement systems, announced this.

Following Keigo, the combatants gathered on the coast and assumed ready positions—

“Ah, I really want to believe it’s Lady or Harukiyo arriving.”

Akasegawa Nanana appeared with a delay to voice this hope, but—

“I can sense multiple ‘flames’! …Enemies are coming!”

Even that was duly crushed by the declaration of Keigo’s sister Senri.

Rinrin’s warning did not stop.

“The number of ships keeps increasing… five, six—there’s even more! There are also flying objects! It’s probably fighter jets—”

The assassins sent by C.

Faced with the large enemy forces coming there to crush the old generation of Mushitsuki—

“All hands—assume battle positions.”

Keigo’s voice issuing orders was lower than normal.

“We’re going to survive this.”

1.04 The Others

The Mushitsuki at Aoharima Island took their positions in the island’s lone coast.

As if to protect the ferry landing on the shore, there was a very basic wharf made of a narrow breakwater that extended from left to right. At one end of it was a small lighthouse.

Commander Terasu and Kaguya, who specialized in long-ranged attacks, stood on top of the lighthouse. All other Mushitsuki formed lines on the breakwater, while on the shore there were other combatants on standby. Furthermore, the flying unit led by Kabuto were lying in wait on the anchored tanker near the fishing wharf.

Keigo was at a large warehouse near the ferry landing. It had apparently been used as a market in the past, and by opening the shutter one could see all the way to the Mushitsuki standing on the breakwater and through their gaps to the ocean clearly. It was a dangerous spot close to the frontlines, but there was nowhere to escape to, anyway.

“Four, five, six… man, there are a lot of large ships. I wonder how far C managed to infiltrate and manipulate the army’s chain of command.”

Keigo, who had an earphone-type comm device, counted the black dots floating on sea.

They were still far so he couldn’t see them clearly, but according to Rinrin, these were all warships. They apparently all stopped at a distance of about three kilometers away from the island.

“I doubt C’s main body’s there… but do each of these have about a hundred people aboard? Just thinking about the enemy numbers makes me depressed.”

“Then try looking like it. When you’re smiling it makes me extra nervous.”

Behind Keigo spoke Takemi, branch head of the North Central Branch.

Other than Keigo, all of the former SEPB Branch Heads were in the warehouse alongside bodyguard Mushitsuki. Included in the lineup were Keigo’s direct subordinate Goroumaru Touko, as well as Akasegawa Nanana who was clad in a completely out-of-place gorgeous dress.

“Let us calm down. This is no time to make a scene at this stage. —Look, it’s starting.”

While using his index finger to fix the position of his glasses, Keigo looked to the sky above the ocean.

For just an instant he could see a glittering, flashing point of light.

Yet it soon vanished and he saw a column of water rise from afar.

“What was that, just now? An attack?”

The voice of Terasu the commander was heard through the comms.

“Namie speaking. The light just now—was a missile shot from a fighter jet! Recall’s saying that the fog she spread in the sky caught twenty high-speed flying objects!”

“Did she manage to shoot them down?”

“Just as planned! All objects moving in a high speed that enter the fog are transported inside the ocean unconditionally!”

“M-missiles…”

“Once we know they’re coming, we can handle them. The problem comes after.”

Goromaru Touko’s expression was frozen, while Keigo wore a thin smile.

“What will the opponent’s first move be? If they approached us we could use Kaguya’s lasers to penetrate right through and sink them all in one fell swoop, though.”

“Keep defending against long-range attacks and focus on the approaching ship to sink it! If they make a landing, we have no chance here!”

One of the ships floating in the distance started advancing toward the island as if guided by Terasu’s issued order and the hailing Mushitsuki’s voices.

“It’s coming! All hands, prepare to sink it!”

If the enemy planned on encircling the island, they would attack each ship.

If they were going to focus their forces on a certain point, then those on the island was also going to focus their firepower and intercept them.

This was the defensive strategy that Keigo and others thought up.

They estimated it would become a war of attrition no matter what form the attack took, but—

“What an unbelievable speed! But the direction seems a bit slanted toward the harbor…?”

“I can sense a powerful ‘flame’! A strong Mushitsuki’s approaching!”

He heard through his headphones the voices of Rinrin and Senri, who were on patrol duty.

“Kabuto speaking! This is bad, our tanker’s being pulled toward the ship! This ability is—”

Kabuto was on standby on the tanker. Hearing his announcement, Keigo had a hunch.

It wasn’t just him; there was no doubt that each and every one of the defenders came to the same realization with a chill.

“—Asagi.”

“…Asagi!”

Keigo and Terasu’s voices overlapped.

The one who’d been responsible for coaching combatants in the SEPB had been the Mushitsuki called Asagi. She could control electromagnetism and had been a genius combatant, but she’d already died in battle, and was now being controlled by C as a Revived.

“T-to think her ability works from this far away…! Kabuto! Evacuate everyone from the tanker! At this rate, she’ll draw it to the other ship and make them crash!”

“It looks like they’re increasing their speed and trying to bump into us before sinking.”

Haji borrowed Touko’s binoculars and gazed at the ocean’s surface.

“Furthermore, Orion’s protecting the approaching ship.”

As if to guide the rapidly approaching warship, a small figure was running atop the ocean. She didn’t just control the water to make footholds, but even accelerated using water sprays.

She was Orion, a Mushitsuki who controlled water. She grasped a bizarrely-shaped sword.

“Orion…! We’ve defeated her at back at the Underground Fort, but she’s back…! Kabuto, turn the speakers I’ve given you toward the tanker! —Territory Isolation!”

“…It’s no use! Seems like the magnetism weakened for a moment, but Asagi’s powers—"

“Kuh…! We can’t be having a contest of strength with Asagi right at the very beginning! How was that girl called, Recall? Can she move the tanker itself like the missiles?”

“Don’t be ridiculous! Recall’s ability to transfer matter has limits!”

“I’m reluctant to do this, but… I’ll try oxidizing it to have it be unaffected by magnetism.”

“Hurry up, Sakura! If you’re going to rust it… then have Yakugami also help you!”

“Understood. But no matter how I look at it—we won’t make it in time.”

That was true.

The approaching battleship only gained further speed, and even if they handled the tanker right now, they’d be too late.

“I can’t believe they got so close all of a sudden…! All hands, attack! I don’t care how, just stop that ship!”

The battleship was already so close it could be seen in all of its large size.

Receiving Terasu’s orders, the Mushitsuki’s long-ranged attacks hit the battlefield.

However, these were all cut down by the water blade shot by Orion. Even when Kaguya’s lasers pierced through the warship, it wouldn’t have time to sink it.

“Even if we attack directly, it won’t work against Orion! We gotta do something to attack from the side—”

“From this distance and location there’s no issue.”

These curt words belonged to the boy he was pretty sure was called Aijisupa.

The ocean surface was covered by what looked like haze—steam.

The superheated oceanwater whipped up large amounts of steam that covered Orion and the warship. The next moment—

A large explosion shook the coast.

It was a steam explosion. He’d never directly met or spoken with the boy, but even Keigo heard about his prowess controlling steam in the fights until now.

While the Mushitsuki standing on the breakwater for fanned by the explosive wind, the steam cleared up—

“Yesss!”

Voices of someone rejoicing echoed through the comms.

The battered-looking Orion floated on the ocean. Even she had been unable to put up a fight against something so powerful.

“The ship hasn’t stopped yet! Attack!”

Terasu shouted.

Although its guard collapsed, the momentum of the warship did not stop. The Mushitsuki on the island immediately launched their attacks, but they couldn’t sink it.

And finally—

“We won’t make it in—”

Terasu’s voice was drowned by such a loud reverberation that it sounded as though Aoharima Island was split in half.

The tanker and warship clashed. The impact created tall waves, and the sound of these great masses of metal clashing shook the entire island’s air.

Although the flying units had already retreated, the tanker was half-ruined, its flank stabbed by the warship. Even the warship itself barely preserved its shape after getting hit by the Mushitsuki’s attacks.

“Some of the enemies might have survived that! Prepare for a follow-up attack!”

The Mushitsuki all prepared to attack the half-drowned ship.

However—no matter how much they waited, no enemy showed themselves.

No, that was wrong.

They couldn’t see anyone on the destroyed ship—not even a single enemy.

“W-what…?”

The moment someone’s voice echoed, the tanker and warship were wrapped in a violet glow.

Appearing on the ship’s surface—were Chestnut Tiger butterflies clad in purple electricity.

Keigo turned on the mic and spoke.

“Looks like the next one’s the real deal.”

“…!”

So many people were surprised probably because they looked to the surface of the sea.

From the vast distance, multiple outlines of ships were approaching the island.

The two ships who were sinking right next to the fishing harbor were being pulled together using powerful magnetism.

Most likely, the first warship had been used as a decoy to make them waste their energy, while this time the ships carried actual soldiers.

It was a perfectly executed scheme.

“If several approach us with this speed, we won’t be able to deal with all of them…! Sakura! Yakugami! You have to do something to neutralize and warship and tanker before that happens!”

“You’re asking that when there are now two huge objects? Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I’ll do it, Terasu-chan. —Kasuou-chan, could you help me? I’ll take you all the way to the ship, so don’t act rough.”

Speaking casually was Shiohara Shachito.

He was neither SEPB nor Mushibane, but he was in fact the very last disciple of the one torturing them right now, Asagi.

Two figures leapt on top of the tanker and warship.

“Don’t you dare touch any funny places!”

“It’s a perk, just let it go. —Throw it once I give you the go-ahead.”

The bay coast glowed in orange.

Many glowing objects, enough to cover the sky, rose from the surface of the tanker and the warship. Looking closely, these took the shape of hazy dragonflies—Autumn Darters.

Shiohara Shachito’s ability was the control of mass.

“C’mon, it’s fine. Throw it at a low altitude so it won’t get caught by Recall-chan’s transport ability.”

“Ha? Throw what—oh, I see now.”

The doubts in Kasuou’s voice soon changed into understanding.

Black mist rose up on the surface next to the tanker, and the blond girl landed on it. The mist coming from the girl condensed, became claws and stabbed into the tanker’s belly.

“ORAAAH!”

The gigantic tanker flew above the ocean lightly but accompanied by a fierce gale.

Kasuou’s controlled mist did have frightening strength, but it wasn’t just that. Shachito controlled the tanker’s mass, making it as light as he possibly could.

“A good throwing form.”

Along with Shachito’s voice, the tanker dancing in air had a swarm of Autumn Darters land on it.

With the initial velocity induced by Kasuou’s strength and the tanker regaining its former mass through Shachito’s ability—it went flying toward the distant ships as fast as a bullet.

“Have this one, too!”

The remaining warship was also flung by Kasuou.

Behind Keigo, Branch Head Takemi emitted a hoarse voice.

“T-this is ridiculous… so this is a fight between Mushitsuki, then?”

Although the two ships crashed into the sea after receiving air resistance, they kept rotating countless times like they were skipping stones and headed toward the enemy ships.

“Y-yes! That’s great, Kasuou, Shachito—”

This time the two ships actually hit the enemy battleships—but were then instantly annihilated by a harsh light.

“—”

All Mushitsuki who witnessed this sight went speechless.

The enemy also did the same as the defending side.

They shot down the approaching danger with a simultaneous attack using Mushitsuki powers.

However, the difference in their numbers was too great.

The Mushitsuki on the island were unable to sink even a single ship. On the other hand, the enemy’s concentrated firepower managed to blow two ships to smithereens.

“How many Mushitsuki are there over there…?”

Rinrin’s hoarse voice cut through the silence of the fishing harbor, echoing.

While the Mushitsuki all gulped, something like smoke rose from the battleship.

No, that was wrong. It was a small swarm of figures—a group of Revived with flying abilities. Perhaps cautious of Recall’s mist spread around the sky, they approached them while flying low above the water surface.

By straining his eyes, he could even see something that looked like fast boats approaching Aoharima Island. They probably had enemy Revived on board as well.

Keigo groaned in a low voice.

“Right, it’s natural to move on to a war of attrition if a surprise attack’s impossible.”

If the enemies used normal boats to attack, they could simply sink them before they arrived at shore. Because they understood this, the enemy specifically used these material tactics to waste their stamina.

“They’re really using some rather thorough and nasty ways to attack, huh.”

“All hands, assume battle positions! Don’t let them land!”

Under Terasu’s commands, the defending Mushitsuki instantly materialized their Mushi.

Thus started the full battle between the Mushitsuki and the Revived.

“Our first line of defense is Kaguya’s long-ranged attacks! Our second line is Kasuou! Us on the breakwater will aim for those enemies who managed to run away! Try pacing yourself!”

Golden lasers were launched from the lighthouse right next to Kaguya. The rain of light raining on the sea pierced through the approaching Revived and their high-speed vessels.

Floating in the sea was Kasuou, clad in black mist. The black claws she produced struck down those enemies that managed to weave between the lasers.

Those who managed to dodge and circumvent Kasuou were intercepted by the Mushitsuki lined up on the breakwater.

The small fishing harbor was filled with shouts, impacts, and all sorts of flashes of light.

“Kaguya, Kasuou! Switch up with Toramaru and Yotsuba and have Nene treat you! The battle’s only just getting started!”

“I can feel a ‘flame’ approaching in a straight line! Is it… in the sea? It’s a powerful Mushitsuki!”

“So they’re finally sending high-ranked Mushitsuki… Namie, Aijisupa!”

“Yes!”

“Gotcha.”

Common Albatross butterflies blazing in pure white danced in the sky. Cutting through the water surface and flying inside, they caused an explosion within, raising a large water column.

Blown to above the water, the person was then engulfed by the steam hanging over it.

A large explosion formed.

The figure struck back to the ocean started sinking.

“The ‘flame’ has vanished—no, it’s weakened, but not gone…! They’re going away!”

“So we let them escape… high-ranked really are tough. But it’s fine as long as we can stop them from coming to land, there’s no damage, right?”

“The weakened ‘flame’ is especially—uh? Uu…aaaahhh!”

“What? What’s wrong, Himiko?!”

“It’s the guy from before! She’s being poisoned by mental pollution! —Healing Punch!”

“Kuh… what’s her guard doing?! If our sensors get offed, we’re finished!”

“I-I’m fine now… More importantly, there’s a small gathering of ‘flames’ that took a large detour and are coming to the other side of the island behind us…”

“A flying column…! Shachito, take care of them! Just in case, take Yakugami with you, too!”

“I mean, sure. But should I head to the enemy’s main forces and sink at least one ship?”

“That’s only if the enemy’s firepower got dispersed! They have so many in one place and that includes Asagi, so we can’t take that bet!”

“So we can’t tag out and rest like that. Yeah, it really is just like teacher to do that.”

The attacks from above sea continued without pause.

Revived were being sent one after another, and powerful assassins dealt surprise attacks as if they were aiming for gaps where the defending side grew lax. If even one of them made landfall there was a danger of the defensive lines being eroded from the inside. Terasu and the others had to snipe all of them without fail, exhausting both energy and morale.

Even so, when about two hours passed into the defensive battle, the attacking side seemed to lay off.

They managed to preserve the island’s defenses.

However—the Mushitsuki’s hearts were definitely being shaved little by little.

Exactly as their enemy intended.

“…Are Asagi and these Revived the so-called Dove?”

While watching over the battle, Keigo mumbled to himself.

—And the Dove will be unleashed.

These were the curious words uttered by Miguruma.

If the Dove was the existence that Keigo thought it was, it fit.

“We still don’t have everyone here…”

As Keigo muttered this, Terasu’s low voice overlapped with his.

“The next batch is coming. …Everyone, prepare for interception!”

Just like the first wave, a swarm of Revived came from the enemy battleships. Judging from the number of fast vessels lowered onto the water, their numbers were higher than last time.

The defending Mushitsuki struck down the assassins one after another.

There were gradually more and more listless Revived floating in the waters as well as the remains of fast boats.

They managed to protect the defensive lines for an hour and then another hour—but both stamina and willpower of the Mushitsuki at Aoharima Island were slowly but surely wasting away.

When three hours passed, the laser beams raining over the ocean lost their momentum.

The same way, the claws of mist that wreaked havoc in front of the breakwater also grew duller.

Inevitably, the number of enemies approaching the island grew, and even the benched combatants came to rejoin the defensive battle.

Realizing this was a critical moment, the enemy sent more and more powerful Revived—

“Two powerful ‘flames’ are approaching from left and right…! And another one coming in a delay—”

“Tch, you pieces of shit! How dare you escape me…! If you’re gonna fight, come at me!”

“Poisonous Punch! Don’t use more strength than necessary, Kasuou! I have my hands full here, I can’t swap with you!”

“Recall can’t keep protecting from missiles for much longer, either! She’s still a child, she might have talent, but no stamina…!”

“So this is sink or swim… should we attack them while ready for honorable death?”

“Don’t be an idiot! Do you want to get bombarded by concentrated fire in the ocean where there’s no escape?”

He could hear these shouting voices all over the comms, but at the same time someone also spoke to him directly.

Terasu showed herself next to Keigo’s group who were at the warehouse.

Since the battlefield’s commander herself came to them, Keigo and the other Branch Heads realized the situation.

“…Thirty more minutes…”

Raising her goggles to her brows, Terasu spoke to Keigo.

“If they went through our defensive lines, we’ll be annihilated in no time.”

“Probably, yeah.”

While fixing the position of his glasses with his index finger, Keigo wore a thin smile. The other Branch Heads behind him started clamoring, but he paid them no heed.

Even if they evacuated starting now it was useless. Once the Revived pierced through the defenses, there was no doubt they’d scour the entire island to fully and thoroughly eliminate all Mushitsuki of the old generation.

Even if they tried escaping outside the island, they had no ship with which to do so.

Should they resolve themselves and fight as the very last line of defense as soldiers?

He thought that wasn’t bad at all, but they still had other things they could do before this.

“Terasu. The thing I’ve asked you to do before the fight—are there any mental control types still alive?”

“Ha…? Yes, that’s obviously—”

“Alright, then order that kid to wake up Sleeping Beauty.”

“…!”

Everyone there froze at Keigo’s words.

“This is different from the original plan—but we’ll use whatever we can. It’s fine for there to be some aftereffects. Anyway, let’s try kicking her off the bed and throw her in the enemies’ midst.”

“B-but that…!”

Exposing her agitation, Terasu argued back.

“She might go wild… and if that happens, we’ll incur victims even among our allies…!”

“You were the one who told me we were on the brink of annihilation, right?”

As Keigo spoke back, Branch Head Takemi grabbed his arm from behind.

“Are you saying we’ll self-destruct—no, cause ourselves to explode, Keigo-kun? If we’re going to do that, we should at least bet on an attack, or look for means to run away.”

“Self-annihilation is quite unthinkable. All of us just want to live as long as possible.”

Saying this, Keigo looked to the sea.

“Also, there is one thing I still do not understand.”

“Don’t understand…? At this point, you can shove your personal feelings—”

Each Branch Head began to object, and Terasu also fell into silence, unable to decide anything.

Ignoring all of them and looking into the sea, Keigo could see a red point being formed.

It looked like it appeared even further away than the enemy’s battleships. Curious, Keigo raised his binoculars and peeked at it.

“Terasu.”

“Ye…yes sir. I will now follow your orders—”

“No, forget what I said just now. We don’t need to unleash Sleeping Beauty just yet.”

Terasu looked confused. However, following Keigo’s line of sight to the sea, her face changed.

“Th—that is…”

Through his binoculars, Keigo managed to capture that red light.

For a moment he thought it was some sort of missile, but he was mistaken.

It was a blazing mass of flames.

A whirl of hellfire that could be called a second sun.

“It looks like—we’ve managed to hold long enough.”

Keigo’s mumble was erased by the air vibrating enough to shake to surface of the sea.

The sphere approaching the enemy warships burst and changed form to a gigantic Great Yama tiger beetle. Sporting tusks with differing lengths, this Mushi landed on one of the warships.

It raised a wave large enough to be clearly seen even from the island.

The Great Yama tiger beetle of flames swallowed the battleship whole. That impact and explosive wind created tall waves, shaking the surrounding ships.

It targeted another ship, but was blocked by a purple glow. The glow of haphazard electricity flying all over the sea surface and the crimson Great Yama tiger beetle began tussling and restraining each other.

“Ha—”

Even Goroumaru Touko’s voice coming from behind was blocked by the roar echoing from nearby.

In the part of the sea close to the fishing harbor, those Revived that hadn’t been defeated by those like Kaguya and Kasuou were now hit by a single strike.

It was done by a gigantic, half-dome-shaped Mushi. Suppressing the battles on the ocean in an instant, the Mushi flew along with the figure riding its head toward the storehouse where Keigo and the rest were.

It was a Mushi with seven spots on its wings, as well as its host.

Landing near Keigo, the girl jumped down from the Mushi’s head.

“I saw you fighting, so I came rushing here alone—but that was our enemy, right?”

With her beautiful face and the cloak she was wearing, her figure looked like the very picture of a hero.

Keigo shrugged.

“I do believe Kasuou got hit with some of the aftershock and is shouting toward us, though.”

The Great Yama tiger beetle flying all over the enemy ships became a fireball again.

Drawing an arc through air, it came flying at them with great momentum. As it landed nearby, running half the storehouse’s wall, a single human figure emerged from within, spreading sparks around.

“I saw somethin’ interesting, so I came here flying alone—but looks like I’m a little late, eh?”

Shaking his bright red hair, he wore a bold smile that spread smoldering flames.

“No, we’re still in the middle of this. Whether this is fortunate or unfortunate, I’m not sure.”

Keigo cracking a joke like this was the complete opposite reaction from all Mushitsuki gathered on the pier.

They were the beautiful girl controlling a seven spotted ladybug, and the flame devil in charge of a Great Yama tiger beetle.

Seeing these two people on Aoharima Island, Goroumaru Touko leaked a shaky voice.

“Lady-san…! Harukiyo-san…!”

As if in delay, there was a large cheer coming from the harbor.

Blaze Class Rank 1, Lady Bird.

Irregular Class Rank 1, Harukiyo.

These two aces that once couldn’t stand together now came to these dire straits—

As the defending side was on the brink of annihilation, they probably looked like Gods of salvation to them.

“...W-we’re saved—”

Terasu was about to collapse from relief, but regained her senses and hurriedly wore her goggles again.

“—D-don’t let your guard down! Reassemble the flying unit! Nene, you heal Kasuou! Create footholds for Kasuou to reach the enemy warships and also charge through the enemy ships with the Rank 1s and the flying unit!”

Keigo judged this decision to be correct.

It would be no exaggeration to say that the gap in power between them and the enemy forces shrunk down with the sudden appearance of Lady and Harukiyo. Since it would raise their morale, they should use this chance to attack.

“All hands, start the counterattack!”

It was time to switch defense to offense.

Until now they withstood a defensive fight, but they could finally see a hope for turning it all around.

“Wait a minute.”

Even so, one of the people vital for this—Lady Bird—stopped Terasu. Not covered by her fox mask, the beautiful woman’s eyes gazed straight at the enemy ships.

“Aren’t the enemies… leaving?”

“That’s why I thought I was late. Or was I being too much of a scaredy-cat?”

Smiling calmly with a hand on his hip, Harukiyo spoke.

“I tried getting all of ‘em in a surprise attack, but that familiar magnetism woman zombie stopped me. I thought she was annoying, and they’d already started preparing for drawing back.”

“Eh…”

Pushing down her goggles again, Terasu groaned.

“The response was far too quick! Even though it took our forces time to regain their positions…!”

“Go and buy us some time already.”

“Why’re you talking as if you’re just sending me on an errand to the nearby supermarket? You go, bitch. There’s still plenty of ‘em, so how about you cool ‘em off with your specialty wind?”

Anxious eyes were directed by the surrounding people at the two Rank 1s with clashing gazes that were hot and cold.

Should they just let the enemies go to prevent any further victims?

Or should they pursue the enemy even in this insufficient state?

While everyone hesitated about this, their gazes naturally flowed toward Keigo.

“…The enemy ships divided into two groups.”

However, while peeking through the binoculars Keigo had other worries than attack or defense.

“No—they’re making way for something.”

Following his actions, everyone in the storehouse looked to the sea.

There was a small dot that passed by the ships creating a path for it. Since it was far and much smaller than the battleships, they couldn’t yet see any clear silhouette.

“I agree with your opinion. We might win if we attack right now, but it’s also true the enemy still has many remaining forces. Even so, it’s too soon for them to judge this an adequate retreat.”

Keigo kept staring through the binoculars, unmoving.

“There’s one thing for sure. The appearance of Lady and Harukiyo—means that right now, all of the surviving Mushitsuki are on this island.”

Finally, his binoculars managed to capture the form of the small figure approaching them.

“So this probably means that it was Asagi’s aim to get us to hole up on this island in the first place…”

Keigo sighed, throwing the binoculars to Terasu. While wearing a puzzled expression, she peeked into those binoculars which had better zoom functions than her goggles.

“…! B-but that’s… I see! So it really means our forces are gathered now! That’s why the enemy escaped—”

“…”

While Terasu raised a cheer, Keigo shook his head to the sides.

“Am I wrong? But she’s—”

“What’s that? It’s coming right here.”

“What’s this all over the area, rain?”

Lady and Harukiyo also seemed to notice what was approaching.

However, it was still far, so probably only Keigo and Terasu were able to clearly see it.

“Eh—she already managed to slip past the enemies, so why is she still using her ability—not only that, but it’s growing stronger and stron—ger—”

Watching through the binoculars again, Terasu gasped.

“This—can’t be, right…?”

As the girl began to tremble, the binoculars fell from her hands with a clatter.

Keigo now became convinced and spoke.

“That is—the Dove.”

Seeing her figure, he accepted it so readily that he wanted to laugh.

“God unleashed a Dove… and its return showed that the surface had been purged—”

He recalled the tragedy of a few years prior.

It happened one day, without any advance warning, all due to a single, young Mushitsuki—

The mere act of that elementary schooler walking around town nearly caused the annihilation of the entire Special Environmental Preservation Bureau.

And the boy who’d managed to stop this nightmare—was no longer there.

“Certainly, if the Dove managed to go back to C unscathed… it would mean that no more old generation Mushitsuki remained in this world.”

Keigo now realized Miguruma Yaeko’s—no, C’s aim.

The assassins that came riding the battleship weren’t sent there to rout the Mushitsuki of Aoharima Island.

She was waiting for all Rank 1s to gather in one place.

At the same time, she was waiting for the Dove who was sent there to arrive.

Waiting for the Mushitsuki to barely survive wasn’t for a chance to change offense to defense—

It was to set the guillotine upon the stage.

“N-no way, is she coming for us…?”

Keigo nodded toward the paling Terasu.

“—C-change in plans!”

Lowering the goggles to her eyes, she shouted.

“Refrain from attack! All hands, to defense—no, actually, take attack positions! It’s impossible to defend! I’ll give the signal, so attack using your full powers! K-Kasuou and Recall are to retreat all the way to the pier! Don’t touch that ability even by mistake!”

“Ah? Calm down, brat! Which is it, attacking or defending? In the first place, what’re you even talking about—”

Kasuou’s voice arguing back stopped.

Probably because she could see that figure first of everyone, being alone at sea as she was.

Even the Mushitsuki lines on the breakwater became able to see it with their eyes.

It was—a small boat.

They could see the lone human figure standing on it.

Who was it?

Although they weren’t close enough to see the face, everyone on the island understood.

“It’s fine, just focus on attacking—”

Terasu’s voice probably sounded like announcing the death penalty.

The morale that rose due to the arrival of Lady and Harukiyo was being dyed over by confusion and despair.

After all, only around the small boat approaching the island there was a certain localized phenomenon—

“If we don’t—we’ll just get annihilated in moments!”

Pouring down from the blue sky in complete regard of the season—

Was pure white snow.

1.05 The Others

She was the Dove.

After being unleashed from the Ark, her duty was to confirm when the surface had been purged for the creation of a new world.

As she stood on the small boat, her hair was dyed by a golden glow. On the surface of her out-of-place formal clothing flickered a luster like a diagram of an electric circuit for an instant.

“You are the Dove… Your duty is to confirm the land has been purged for the preparations in order to create a new world, and then return to the Ark.”

Both sublime and sweet, this voice whispered to her from the tiara she adorned on her head.

And the owner of this voice—could possibly be called God.

Perhaps that was wrong.

This distinction held no meaning for her.

Since her sins were forgiven and she became a being freed from all worries wracking her body—it felt natural to call her a goddess. Now that she was released from all suffering, she felt very blessed.

The enemies of the God that saved her remained on the island visible ahead.

What a foolish enemy—she had to purge those pitiful failed products.

Once she’d done it, she could say for the first time that the land was purged—

Spreading her arms, a small Mushi materialized in front of her.

It was a small firefly.

“Grant purging to this land… grant them salvation…”

The voice of the goddess transmitting from the tiara made the Dove’s cheeks blush.

A whisper came near her smiling self.

“Break…”

It was her own voice, but it didn’t come from her mouth.

Now that she had been saved by God, she finally noticed the feelings that were always inside her.

“Break… anything and everything…”

She wanted to break things.

This world, which had endless sadness and pain.

This world, that couldn’t stop fighting and hurting.

She would destroy everything down to absolute zero. She wanted to recreate it from square one.

She would change it into a new world, one without suffering or pain.

The goddess that saved her could definitely do that.

And she herself was the one who would inform of the change into this new world—as the Dove.

“Break…”

White fragments started pouring down from the clear sky.

It was snow.

She headed to the lone island along with dancing snow.

All in order to reach these failed products of the past that kept hurting, suffering and yet unable to stop fighting—to save them all.

“Break… everything…”

Her surroundings were wrapped by ear-grating sounds and blinding lights.

Attacks were launched from the island and hit her simultaneously.

The small boat decelerated. Not because it was pushed back by the enemy attacks; she was simply preparing to make landfall.

While the curtain of white snow repelled the attacks from the island, she could hear a voice from overhead.

“Shiika…? Shiika!”

She raised her face.

The person riding atop a Mushi’s head looked down at her with a sorrowful expression.

She was Lady Bird—no, her friend Tachibana Rina.

Why was this girl here when she’d died in battle before?

All reasons and explanations were converted to electronic data through the tiara, then transmitted to Shiika’s head directly.

Her friend came back to life through the Mushitsuki called Mimic sacrificing herself.

Her chest ached at seeing her friend’s nearly-crying face.

“What’s wrong with you? It’s me, Rina! Wake up!”

Shiika beckoned with her hands overhead, wanting to save her friend from pain.

“It’s fine, Rina. Let’s end all this pain already, alright?”

“…!”

Rina gasped and flew to the side.

White snow poured down the space Rina used to inhabit, and she evaded it by a razor’s edge.

The small boat stopped right at the edge of the breakwater. She came down to the ground with a light gait.

All Mushitsuki on the breakwater retreated already. Surrounding her from a distance, they kept attacking.

“Don’t stop your attacks! We can’t allow Fuyuhotaru to come any further to shore!”

A voice from somewhere in the fishing harbor echoed, and the attacks increased their momentum.

However, the curtain of snow remained unbroken, and all it did was shake her gold-glowing hair. She slowly walked on top of the breakwater, approaching her enemies.

“Haha!”

She raised her chin with a twitch.

The next moment, an impact not unlike an asteroid crashing down assaulted her. A part of the fishing harbor caved in only around her, and her vision was dyed crimson.

“You’ve grown into quite a woman to my liking, Fuyuhotaru! Zero sex appeal, though!”

Hearing this vulgar laughter, she slightly grimaced.

The density of the snow increased and pushed the flames back. As she did, she saw a person with an ugly smile.

Harukiyo, the flame devil. Since he could control flames against her snow, the compatibility of their abilities was bad; he was a troublesome opponent.

She started focusing in order to handle her largest obstacle.

However, something appeared at her feet—

“…”

A bizarre assassin.

A single arm grabbed the girl’s legs.

It was a thin arm glowing in blue. Growing out of the asphalt like in some out-of-season ghost story, the arm grasped Shiika’s ankle hard.

“…”

She controlled the snow to let a single flake fall down to her feet.

Just from the snow touching it—the ground was torn. Deep fissures ran in all directions, and a large amount of seawater came flowing through. It didn’t end at that, either, and the asphalt became like needles, stabbed each other, and crumbled down while leaving an echo not unlike a beast’s death throes.

This destruction took but a moment.

As several seconds passed, Shiika was standing on top of the debris—and the blue arm was completely gone. She had no idea whether it escaped or was annihilated without trace. It was probably hurt either way.

Forgetting about the disappeared assassin, she turned back toward the Mushitsuki on the fishing harbor.

They kept attacking her as always as if they were scared of her—no, perhaps they really were shaking in fear.

Harukiyo also added attacks of his own.

Dancing high above, Rina didn’t appear to be sending any attacks. She looked like she was hesitating.

Shiika smiled.

Getting attacked by the surviving Mushitsuki felt as though they were clashing with their lives against her. Their strength felt reliable, and made her happy.

She was also like that before.

“…”

But now she was different.

Now that she knew both the bitterness of surviving fights and the despair that awaited after that—she knew of the happiness that existed beyond it.

Everyone would be equally Mushitsuki.

Everyone would equally be unleashed from pain and death.

Since there was a being who could rewrite the world like this, Shiika just needed to wash everything away and attain the right to be reborn in this new world.

Only those baptized by the goddess known as C were eligible to board the Ark—

“—”

She crouched on the spot and rounded her body.

Hugging her own knees, she slowly closed her eyes.

And—she began to dream of a new world.

This world, where people only got hurt and wounded, was going to end right here.

A new world, filled only with happiness and tranquility, was going to start right here.

And she was not going to accept anything else.

She was going to completely reject anything other than the new world she wished for—

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

She felt her own power swell while curling herself on the ground. People’s screams lessened with time.

The snow of purging she controlled would travel from the shipping harbor to the entire port, and from there to the entire island.

In a world without any sense of time or light.

She felt true tranquility from the bottom of her heart.

This was—the place where she belonged.

No one was there. People wouldn’t wish for things from themselves or others, and wouldn’t hurt each other.

A world with nothing but tranquility.

After fighting to the end, any people who’d bother her long sought-after rest—no longer existed.

“—”

How much time passed?

When she opened her eyes again and got to her legs, she saw what spread in front of her eyes.

It became a literal uninhabited island.

Nothing there preserved its original form as far as the eye could see. Everything natural and man-made left nothing behind, becoming thin, silent plains.

In this world nothing moved but the waves and nothing could be heard but the waves.

She turned on her heels.

Unlike the destroyed island, only the small boat in front of the breakwater remained unharmed. As she calmly walked down to it, the engine started up as if waiting for her.

Since the boat held the power of a god, it automatically went out into sea.

And its destination was obviously to God’s side—

To the Ark.

She was going to inform God that the purging of the earth was complete, fulfilling her mission.

Since the boat was slow, it kept sailing throughout the entire night.

Night passed, it became night again, and when she saw land, she could no longer wait and stood up.

She leapt toward the coast from the boat that was parked near some bay coast somewhere.

She could see a large hanging bridge.

She quickly proceeded to the empty bridge. The clothes she was clad in and the tiara she was wearing told her that her God was there.

As she passed the bridge while being guided by her God, the fairies came out to greet her.

C-butterflies glowing gold and tiara-clad fairies. These all danced around her as she completed her mission, blessing her and singing.

When she saw one fairy step out to the front, she kneeled.

“No more of the old Mushitsuki exist… those failed products are gone.”

As she spoke this with an enraptured expression, the fairy reached out to her.

A small numbness assaulted her head. Her memories were being searched.

“Confirmed. —You have done well to fulfill your duty. My beloved Dove…”

Wearing a satisfied smile, the fairy hugged her.

“Come, please turn around and watch. You have the right to watch this through.”

She turned around as she was told and was stunned.

On the other side of the large bridge.

There was a change happening in the scenery of the capital with its lines of high-rise buildings.

“It is the time for creation. Now that all failed products are gone, it is time to wash over the world with the flood—”

It really was a flood.

And it was black.

A pitch-dark tidal wave swallowed the city whole.

However, it was not an actual wave—

“Let us see how many people are eligible to be invited to this land—to my Ark.”

It was a deluge of blackouts.

2.00 The Others

When Takashiro Taiki woke up, his room was dark.

“—Uh…!”

He tried raising his body, but was assaulted by violent pain.

His head was spinning and his body was heavy. Did he have a fever, or did he catch the flu? He grimaced while thinking.

Although he somehow managed to raise his upper torso, he felt dizzy. His throbbing head and body were so dull he felt like a puppet. This made him angry.

“Shit—not again…”

He felt an unpleasant sweat form all over his body.

“Those dreams about Mushitsuki—”

Recently, Taiki had been having strange dreams every night.

The events there felt too real to be dreams, and he felt worse each time he woke up.

Furthermore, even in reality he was being followed by a pair who introduced themselves as journalists and caused him nothing but trouble. Putting aside the foreigner that called himself John Mash, his assistant Ikarino Kirai was tenacious to an eccentric degree.

—You’ll definitely dream about her as well.

Ikarino Kirari’s unpleasant prophecy passed through his mind.

Although he shook her off and went back home, her prediction—hit right on the mark.

Taiki dreamt about another Mushitsuki.

Sleeping Beauty, Arisu.

And in this dream, at a place called Aoharima Island, Mushitsuki and people called the Revived were fighting.

“What’s up with that Fuyuhotaru Mushitsuki or whatever—”

Taiki’s mental state was probably at its limits due to the dream being so violent. So this was probably why he woke up so early in the morning.

His used his half-open eyes to peek at the clock nearby.

He thought it would be even before sunrise, but he was shocked upon seeing the clock’s hands.

“Eh—i-it’s already so late…? I gotta hurry—”

It was already past eight o’clock. He tried leaping out from bed without thinking, but then noticed.

No matter how much he looked around, the room was dark. There was no sunlight coming even from the curtains.

“W-what does that even—wah!”

He tried clumsily getting out of bed but then leapt back.

There was a small figure standing right in front of the door to his room.

“R-Ririe…?”

It was his youngest sister, Ririe. She was staring right at Taiki, without even turning on the lights.

“W-what are you doing here…?”

His sister remained unanswering. She was glaring at her big brother Taiki with eyes like those watching an insect. Since her body was so small even when compared to middle schoolers, she blended in with the dark.

“Ririe—it’s you, right?”

Was it not his sister, but just a ghost taking Ririe’s face?

As he began considering even things like that seriously, Ririe finally opened her mouth.

“Right, big brother.”

“Y-yeah… obviously… please turn on the lights—”

“I am Ririe. My big brother is Taiki. We’re siblings and we also have another sister, Noa. Our parents are a bit strict, but we’re an average, happy family.”

“…Ha?”

“But you’re a bit odd, big brother. I didn’t manage—to fix you properly.”

—You’re the one saying strange things—

He was about to say this to his sister who was definitely acting weird, but stopped.

That was because he could hear footsteps coming from the door behind Ririe.

“Big brother, you’re finally awake?”

Opening the door without knocking was their middle sister, Noa.

“Eh, Ririe, you’re also here? —Is your cold better? We have gruel if you’re hungry. I made it this noon but you were asleep…”

Noa asked from behind Ririe with a worried face.

While Taiki did feel relieved at seeing Noa act normally when everything else was odd since he woke up—it made him even more confused.

“Cold…? Sleeping through the afternoon—wait, is it night now? I took today off from school…?”

If Noa was right, this wasn’t eight o’clock in the morning, but rather 8 PM.

However, Taiki had no memories of this.

He knew nothing about catching a cold and couldn’t remember skipping school—

“What dream were you talking about before?”

Ririe’s eyes became harsher. It was an expression even her brother had never seen before.

“Big brother, don’t tell me—that someone did something to you?”

“Ririe…?”

He couldn’t understand what his sister was saying.

Noa seemed to also find it odd. She tried peeking at their sister’s face from behind.

“Ririe, what are you talking—”

For a moment, golden electricity ran through Noa’s braids and her head.

Noa’s eyebrows twitched, then she turned back to Taiki like nothing happened.

“Oh, but the gruel’s cold already. There’s been a blackout just now, so we can’t use the microwave.”

“Noa…?”

What happened right in front of his eyes just now was abnormal.

Taiki was confused, while Noa didn’t seem to notice anything.

Sandwiched between the two of them, Ririe was mumbling something incomprehensible while trying to corner Taiki.

Am I still dreaming?

Next to the confused Taiki, the glass window suddenly broke with a violent sound.

“Uwaah!”

“Kyaaa!”

A stone thrown from the outside broke the window.

While Taiki and Noa froze, Ririe mechanically moved her head toward the window.

“Taiki-san! Escape!”

A voice echoed from the other side of the window. It sounded familiar.

It belonged to Ikarino Kirai.

“E-escape…?”

Everything turned strange since the moment he woke up.

He thought it was morning but it was night, his sisters were acting odd, and just as the window was suddenly broken, he was told to run by a girl who had no relation to him. As an added bonus, there was a blackout.

Ririe stood in front of the door as though to block his path of escape.

If he were to run away—he’d have to jump out of the window.

In the first place, he was told to run away, but this was his house. Where exactly was he going to escape to, and why?

“…!”

However, he didn’t have time to think about it.

As Ririe slowly approached Taiki, her hand was clad in a golden glow. Seeing that, his body unconsciously headed to the window.

He unlocked it and opened the broken window.

He had no idea what was going to happen.

Even now that he had half his body out of the window, he hesitated—

“—Come here. Taiki-san.”

Waiting on the surface was the girl called Ikarino Kirari.

Seeing her frank yet powerful smile—Taiki threw his body into the air.

2.01 The Others

As far as Haji Keigo knew, the beings called Mushi and Mushitsuki were discovered ten-odd years ago.

The government captured Mushitsuki in secret, suppressed information about them and managed them. Behind the creation of this smooth process was probably the plan created by Miguruma Yaeko. There were also traces of her being backed by the Round Table, those influential people who controlled the business world.

In fact, in earlier days it was thought that the concealment, isolation and managing of Mushi was a success.

Because the organization called the SEPB operated and managed to quickly create the system to capture Mushitsuki. The abilities of the captured Mushitsuki were varied, and by training them as soldiers, they could manage other Mushitsuki more efficiently.

Although even society at large heard rumors about Mushi and Mushitsuki, it was only on the level of an urban myth. They were simply plausible rumors that caused them to become targets of vague hatred and fear. The monitor units embedded into the populace picked up these rumors and circulated them in ways that would assist capturing.

Mushi and Mushitsuki were handled perfectly.

So he thought—but then five years ago happened.

“It’s fine, just focus on attacking!”

On the fishing harbor of Aoharima Island, Terasu’s orders that were close to shouting echoed.

“If we don’t, we’ll get annihilated in the blink of an eye!”

A lone small boat was approaching the island.

Seeing the figure standing on the bow, Haji Keigo felt nostalgic.

It really was the first time in five years for him.

“Director Haji! Please give orders for retreat…!”

Terasu turned to him, asking instructions.

“Even if she’s being controlled by C, that thing—we can’t do anything against her!”

That day five years ago.

Until that time, everything went according to the government’s—no, Miguruma Yaeko’s plans.

Although it looked like they only just barely concealed them, in fact the existence called Mushi was being perfectly controlled.

Keigo had gotten into the SEPB for his goal of eradicating Mushi, but there was nothing he could have done at the time.

What finally formed cracks into this situation—was the event from five years ago.

It was a sight much like this one now.

In fact, it had been done by the girl who appeared in front of Haji and others now.

“—We can’t beat Fuyuhotaru!”

At the time, Anmoto Shiika had been an elementary schooler.

Later designated as Fuyuhotaru, a Secret Class Rank 1, she wasn’t someone with an especially important background. She wasn’t a tempered soldier and obviously not some kind of ESPer. She was somewhat alienated from the people around her, but otherwise a normal elementary schooler.

However—she cornered the SEPB to the brink of destruction.

One day, she suddenly became a Mushitsuki and just walked around town.

The SEPB tried capturing her like usual, but were all defeated in turn. Next they tried not to capture but to subdue her, and were defeated in turn. They already brought combined forces to try and keep the victims of the town in check as they challenged her—but were defeated in turn.

They simply couldn’t measure up to Anmoto Shiika. They were unable to stop a single Mushitsuki.

The SEPB that they spent years building up was half-destroyed in the blink of an eye.

With this incident as an impetus, the SEPB was forced to go through reform.

Estimating the second arrival of another Fuyuhotaru, they gave actual authority to each branch to be able to respond to all situations. They poured energy into the training of Mushitsuki, and rather than restraining them, they encouraged each to grow in their own way, and had no other choice to increase their fighting forces.

The lone Mushitsuki called Fuyuhotaru changed the Mushitsuki’s way of being that until then was being seized by Miguruma Yaeko.

By wedging himself into those reforms, Haji Keigo was able to increase his power on the inside of the SEPB—

“—Director Haji? Give us orders, quickly!”

While Keigo remained unmoving, Terasu wore a flustered expression.

On the verge of indulging in an uncharacteristic sentimentality, Keigo spoke while fixing the position of his glasses with an index finger.

“Don’t retreat.”

“Eh…? B-but—”

“Do you think there’s anywhere to escape to on this empty island?”

Hearing his words, not just Terasu but the other branch heads also fell into silence.

“Prepare someone with mental control abilities, Terasu. This time use them exactly as planned.”

Terasu startled.

“We’re doing that…? B-but, against Fuyuhotaru?”

“It doesn’t matter against whom. We’re all exhausted and don’t even know where C is. To be frank, we currently have no chances of victory.”

“…”

“However, Miguruma Yaeko said that the Dove was unleashed.”

While speaking, Keigo looked toward the approaching small boat.

“Meaning—Fuyuhotaru herself is the Dove. There’s no more doubt.”

“B-but the snow? How will we get the mental control ability user past it…?”

As Terasu spoke in a hoarse voice, her body was slightly shivering.

He knew he was asking the impossible. After all, five years ago Keigo himself had keenly felt just how terrible the disaster called Fuyuhotaru was right in front of him.

At the time, Fuyuhotaru destroyed everything.

Wherever she passed became a wasteland, and even the SEPB was broken down. By the same token, even the state of Mushi and Mushitsuki in the country until then.

At the same time, Keigo also saw hope.

It wasn’t just the person who destroyed everything, Fuyuhotaru—

It was the potential shown to him by another Mushitsuki, who stopped her.

“Five years ago, we managed to stop her.”

“…!”

Terasu shut up. Keigo continued.

“This time we have Lady and Harukiyo. To survive this, we have to win.”

It went without saying that Lady Bird rode on her seven-spotted ladybug and rose into the air. She obviously couldn’t sit still while her friend came there.

Harukiyo also covered himself in flames and became a fireball. He flew fiercely toward the small boat.

“…Understood.”

Breathing deeply, Terasu nodded. In her pale face there was the shadow of death—although that was always the case for Mushitsuki.

“Our attack target is Fuyuhotaru!”

As Terasu rushed toward the battlefield, her voice echoed from the earphones.

“We have determined that she is being controlled by C! Don’t hold back!”

“Keigo-kun… what are you talking about, what mental control ability?”

Branch Head Takemi and Goroumaru Touko approached him.

“Haji-senpai. Have you possibly anticipated that Fuyuhotaru would be sent to us…?”

“Anticipated? Well, sure, yeah.”

If he told them he hadn’t, that would be a lie.

Since years back, he’s been thinking about how to create the path for erasing all Mushi and Mushitsuki from this world. In the end he estimated there would be a great battle and thought of various ways this battle might unfold.

Naturally, he even considered the possibility of Fuyuhotaru being involved in it.

The strongest ace that could overturn everything. There was no way this card wouldn’t appear at the most important stage of the game. Even if not as an enemy but a card that he possessed, it was a bomb that could blow up the entire board and ruin everything.

Therefore, Keigo feared Fuyuhotaru—no, any and all “violators” that could end up flipping the board.

And he raised a single card that could stop such cowardly methods.

“I did anticipate it, but…”

It wasn’t a beautiful card that everyone would admire.

It wasn’t a card that could move more easily than anyone.

It also wasn’t a card that no one could tell what happened until it got flipped over.

And it obviously wasn’t a card that could destroy everything, either.

“I also intended on being prepared, but—”

It was a card who’d stand in the way of those who ignored the rules and violators, aiming a gun at them.

Five years ago, the Mushitsuki had proven their powers.

However, unlike back then—that most important card of his was no longer at hand.

Just a single person.

If only that Mushitsuki had been there—

Keigo wasn’t the kind of fool to speak aloud about what-ifs.

He was simply the fool who’d anticipated this situation yet had been unable to keep that card with him.

“—Anyway, this is the critical juncture.”

As Keigo spoke in a low voice, Branch Head Takemi asked a question.

“Are you saying that we can beat Fuyuhotaru if we defend against her here?”

“Defend? That’s wrong.”

While Keigo and the others were looking, Fuyuhotaru finally started fighting with their allies.

“We have just—started our counterattack.”

“…Eh?”

While hearing Goroumaru Touko’s stupid-sounding exclamation, Keigo slightly winced.

That scene repeated in front of his eyes was much harsher than he imagined.

Fuyuhotaru’s curtain of snow managed to cancel not only the Mushitsuki’s attacks, but even that of Harukiyo.

Seeing this scene, Keigo—

“However, the fact we have to first stop the Dove… is true.”

Started the countdown to their annihilation.

2.02 Shiika Part 1

As the Dove unleashed by C, Shiika came to Aoharima Island.

“Shiika…? Shiika!”

“You’ve grown into quite a woman to my liking, Fuyuhotaru! Zero sex appeal, though!”

The Mushitsuki who couldn’t give up on fighting and getting hurt assaulted Shiika.

Shiika pitied them, so she used her powers to save them.

Crouching on top of the breakwater, she focused everything she had on making it snow.

“…!”

“…!”

As Shiika curled herself and closed her eyes, she could hear the shouts and screams of Mushitsuki distancing.

Their resistance was violent, so it would probably take a while to exterminate them.

Without thinking of anything, Shiika just focused—

A prick.

She grimaced at a pain from her chest.

Shiika was supposed to have been released from all forms of pain by her Goddess, C.

Even so, what came to mind along with this impossible pain—

Was the vicious smile of Oogui she’d seen while fighting her at Akamaki City.

—That was a weird way of saying it.

It was from back when the Mushitsuki-creating monster, one of the Original Three, had directly given Shiika information she didn’t know.

—You spoke as if Kakkou-chan and Daisuke-chan are different people.

The moment she heard this, something that supported Shiika broke down.

The reason Shiika had been able to keep fighting was shaken from the very root.

“…”

Why had she recalled this now?

She closed her eyes shut and focused on purging the island, but the pain in her chest remained. These doubts that C was supposed to take away from her reared their heads again.

Shiika had lived while wishing only to fulfill her promise for a reunion with Daisuke.

Since Kakkou—someone who had the same dream—was fighting, she could also fight.

Even so he tricked her, pretending to be two people—

Why?

Because it was his duty as an SEPB member to capture her?

That was obviously natural.

However, if he pretended being a normal boy and approached Shiika for that—

—I want you to wait for me next year, too.

Was his promise with Shiika just another lie?

Was it nothing more than a means to keep deceiving his capture target, the stupid Fuyuhotaru?

“You mustn’t think of anything unnecessary, my beloved Dove…”

C’s sweet voice whispered to her from the tiara.

Throb—the pain stabbing the depths of her chest was unceasing.

“…”

Shiika was definitely stupid.

It wasn’t just that she hadn’t noticed Kusuriya Daisuke’s true identity as Kakkou.

After being continually deceived like that—she turned Kakkou into a Fallen by her own hands. In order to save the life of the Maturing Kakkou, she killed his Mushi.

She did it because she believed in Kakkou, as one who shared the same dream.

She believed from the bottom of her heart that he would definitely recall his dream just like her and come back—

Five years ago, he was the one who made her a Fallen.

They spoke about their identical dreams and vowed to never forget them—

She believed that he would come back to her at some point, and yet.

Right now—she couldn’t believe.

If his two faces as Kusuriya Daisuke and Kakkou were simply masks that he freely switched in order to conveniently capture her—

What Shiika and Daisuke did was merely killing each other’s Mushi.

Any promise they might have had was completely meaningless.

“What is the matter, my Dove…”

She didn’t know what to trust and what to doubt.

She wanted to hear the truth from Kakkou—no, from Daisuke.

However, that would never come true. She doubted it could ever come true.

He was a Fallen.

And it was Shiika herself who made him this way.

If she hated him, that would be her revenge.

No, that was wrong. She never thought about revenge—

With this repeat of answers and questions to herself, she felt like she was going crazy.

“Please calm down, my beloved—”

C’s voice, who once saved Shiika, vanished as though blocked by something.

At the same time her headache was gone, too.

All sounds vanished and Shiika couldn’t even feel the snow curtain protecting her anymore.

“…”

Had the purging of the island already ended at some point?

That thought passed through her mind, but it was wrong.

She could see neither the pouring sunlight, nor smell the sea.

Shiika could feel nothing at all as she crouched in an empty space.

No—she could feel just another presence.

“—…”

Shiika could feel the breath of another person as she curled up and hugged her knees.

Since she had her eyes closed, she couldn’t tell who it was.

She didn’t know, and yet—

Sweat formed on Shiika’s brow.

How was she able to feel someone else in this place?

She made it snow, so all other people than her should be rejected.

It was just her imagination—she had a bizarre confidence that wouldn’t let her think that.

Although she had no basis for it, there was no doubt that someone was there.

No, it wasn’t even a “someone”.

Shiika knew that sense of presence.

After all, this presence that felt as though only it and Shiika existed in this indescribable world—was something she’d already experienced before.

“…”

Exactly because she’d experienced it before—she couldn’t raise her face.

Why was this person here?

If he really was here, once she saw his form—

What reaction would Shiika show him?

Would she begrudge him for tricking her and cuss at him?

Or would she try asking for his true motives? Despite the fact she wouldn’t be able to tell whether he would speak the truth or not?

She might apologize for turning him into a Fallen and seek forgiveness.

Or she would abandon either believing or doubting—and then they would, as if it was natural for them, treat each other as enemies who made each other Fallen, and kill each other again?

“—”

She was scared of what to do.

She was afraid of what the other party would say.

Although her eyes were still closed, she was shaking so much she couldn’t raise her head.

Even if she called C’s name in her mind that wanted to escape, the tiara gave her no answer. The world of tranquility did not come, and for some reason Shiika couldn’t escape the strange space she’d wandered into.

She could do nothing but curl and shake.

As if she reverted to how she was five years ago.

She became a Mushitsuki with no advance warning and gotten lost; she was a child who could do nothing but protect herself while being unable to accept reality. All she did was raise a tantrum.

It was as though she hadn’t changed in five years. No, as if she got even worse—

And then—

“…Shiika.”

That presence finally called her name.

Shiika’s heart screamed for a moment as though torn apart.

“—”

It was unconscious.

Compared to five years ago, his voice broke, but it was no illusion.

Shiika—raised her face.

He was there.

Kakkou.

Kusuriya Daisuke.

He stood all alone on the breakwater of Aoharima Island.

She immediately realized this wasn’t reality. After all, both Shiika and Daisuke were there on the fishing harbor that was supposed to be a battlefield, and all the waves were frozen as though time itself stopped.

Even so, Kusuriya Daisuke was definitely standing there.

Clad in a pitch-dark long coat, with the goggles hanging from his neck, in the form of Kakkou.

“—”

“…Him… kill him—”

She heard these barely audible orders from the tiara.

Shiika grimaced and put strength into her fists clenched on the ground.

Perhaps—this was what could be called fate.

White snow began pouring down around the crouched Shiika.

As if responding to her hostility, he also raised his arm holding a gun.

She didn’t even need to be ordered by someone.

It was just like five years ago, or that winter less than a year ago.

Shiika became covered in a blizzard, and the boy readied his gun.

That was how they were originally.

Shiika was the dangerous Mushitsuki, Fuyuhotaru—

And he was Kakkou, the one with the duty to stop her.

Now that things became like this, she also had the excuse that he tricked her.

Shiika had been caught by her feelings to him and then betrayed—

So she didn’t have a single reason not to fight.

“—Ugh.”

Even so.

Shiika could do nothing but keep grimacing.

“Waaaah…!”

Raising a pitiful voice, she erased the blizzard and rushed forward.

As Shiika ran to him, the boy tried pointing his gun—

However, it fell from his hands.

“—AAaaaAAahhh…!”

They could only fight.

Although these two should have nothing to do other than fighting, they clashed defenselessly.

“AaaAAAhhh…!”

As Shiika leapt to his chest with great momentum, Daisuke accepted her wordlessly. The boy’s arms hugged the crying Shiika’s petite body.

The moment Shiika heard his voice, she was confused.

She was afraid of seeing his face.

The moment she heard C’s orders—she was somewhat relieved.

Because she knew that if it happened once more… no, it would happen again and again.

If she saw his face, they would fight and hurt each other.

They had only that reason, and they had nothing else to think about.

However, the moment she saw his figure, all dark feelings inside Shiika melted away.

“AaaaAAAh…!”

As for why—because the boy right in front of Shiika’s eyes was in tatters.

His black coat was ripped, exposing his skin. Blood covered his entire body and he looked to be suffering from burns as well. There was a pool of blood at his feet, the goggles hanging from his neck were destroyed, and blood dripped from his forehead in streams.

What on earth had he been fighting against to end up like that?

Had he fought some God or devil?

He looked as if he was struck by all possible disasters of this world.

No, thinking of it like this—

Then until this very moment—

How many times had he managed to survive fights?

For how long had he been fighting with those many feelings carried by him all alone?

She needed no words. She could tell by merely seeing him.

It had nothing to do with truth or lie.

Shiika—wanted to be with him.

She didn’t mind not being forgiven.

She wanted to be with this person who constantly got hurt and fought alone.

She only thought of this.

“—Shiika…”

Daisuke looked at Shiika bawling her eyes out.

The boy’s eyes were lacking vitality, and he wouldn’t meet Shiika’s gaze. Perhaps his eyes could no longer focus already. Although the breaths she felt from his mouth were unreliable, they were extremely hot. As if his very life was pouring out of them.

“—”

While Shiika leaked sobs, Daisuke didn’t know what to say.

Instead of words, his expression changed. He looked apologetic as he bit his lips, but then wore a severe face as though resolved on something. However, that soon vanished and he looked to be in pain.

“—There are things I have to say… too many of them…”

The voice he finally let out was hoarse.

Shiika desperately stifled the sobs trying to escape her throat.

She had to listen to what he had to say.

“I gave up on saying them… and forgot about everything, not wanting to fight…”

A little strength was put into Daisuke’s arm that was hugging her.

There were countless things she had to say.

And there were also countless things he had to answer.

However, he cut off his words as though swallowing everything. The eyes looking at Shiika regained their power.

“But what I want to tell you most has to be—”

He smiled.

“I miss you, Shiika.”

It wasn’t the pitch-dark demon called Kakkou—no, the arms hugging Shiika let her feel his absurd strength, but that voice shaking while holding back tears—

Belonged, without a doubt, to the normal boy she just so happened to meet.

It was the face of Shiika’s beloved person, who was neither Mushitsuki nor anything. To Kusuriya Daisuke.

“Right now—that’s what I thought.”

Shiika also held back her tears and made a clear nod.

She smiled just like him and spoke in a shaky voice.

“I also miss you, Daisuke-kun.”

She wanted to forget everything—to throw away even the promise of a reunion and run away.

However, just by seeing that face, all of her doubts and anxiety were blown away.

She wanted to see him again.

Shiika and Daisuke felt the same here.

If so, then the next place they should head to—was the same, too.

“—”

Kusuriya Daisuke’s figure was growing thinner as she was hugging him as if he was melting into the wind. Even the sensation and warmth that were so clear were vanishing.

The moment he vanished, Daisuke muttered something to Shiika.

Shiika nodded. Since he lost his silhouette in the blink of an eye, she was unable to hear his words, but the words that passed between them were already determined.

They would fight, get hurt, but even so survive—and see each other again.

As Daisuke’s form fully vanished, Shiika curled her body atop the ground again.

Their promised reunion shouldn’t happen in this strange space created by someone unknown.

She closed her eyes and heightened her consciousness.

“…!”

A pain ran through the back of her mind and Shiika frowned.

“Please eliminate the failed products of the old generation…”

She rejected the orders coming from the tiara.

Shiika wasn’t meant to be in an artificial paradise, in a world where doubts and pain were being kept away by the absolute tranquility of the Undying—

“—WOOOOOOOH!”

“A-all hands, retreat while attacking! Abandon the harbor! Reorganize your positions at the entrance to town!”

“Haha! Things are gettin’ quite heated up, eh!”

Shiika retrieved her five senses while curled atop the breakwater.

Her eardrums felt like rupturing from the screams of those fighting for their lives and the sounds of destruction. The combined smell of salt and blood tickled her nostrils.

She’d once rejected it, this world filled with agony and hatred.

However, it was also a world filled with dreams and hopes that Shiika liked.

It was neither paradise nor hell.

It was simply reality—and Shiika came back to it.

“…”

As Shiika rose to her legs, she could see the fishing harbor having been destroyed by the blizzard.

Including the breakwater, even the beach cracked and became a carpet of mixed seawater and debris. The Mushitsuki gathered at the entrance to the wharf were attacking Shiika.

What destroyed the fishing harbor and expanded in order to crush the Mushitsuki was nothing more than the snow controlled by Shiika’s Mushi.

Shiika wanted to stop it, but she couldn’t move her body.

“…!”

Shiika flinched at an impact to her head.

The tiara on her head emitted a golden zap. It struck Shiika like a whip, stimulating her as if stirring the insides of her head.

“Please purge the Mushitsuki of the old generation…”

This sweet voice whispered and Shiika’s Mushi broadened the scope of its snow again.

At this rate, everyone’s going to—

Shiika gritted her teeth and resisted C’s control. The Mushitsuki in front of her eyes were the same. They were those who challenged this tranquility and escapism, choosing to walk the path of making their dreams come true while suffering.

“…!”

The zap unleashed from the tiara whipped Shiika again.

“You are my Dove…”

C’s spell was powerful.

Even so, Shiika attempted resisting her.

She produced a single snowflake and made it flutter down to her head—

“—”

The shining flake weaved its way through the violent blizzard and fell slowly.

Shiika moved just her eyes, looking above.

She was attempting to look not at the flake she was controlling with all of her might—but at the tiara on her head.

She was going to destroy the tiara that held C’s will with her own snow—

This was a gamble.

She had no idea if a single flake could break through the curtain of snow.

Even if it did, would it be able to destroy only the tiara binding her?

Even if she broke the tiara, she didn’t think the Mushitsuki of Aoharima Island would stop their attacks. The moment after she unleashed the blizzard, she might get killed by their attacks.

However, even so—Shiika had nothing else to do right now.

“Break…”

Shiika’s Mushi whispered.

“Anything and everything…”

Her heart that feared getting hurt and wanted to run away.

C’s sweet temptations that whispered to her.

She wanted to break them all—and protect her tiny wish.

“—”

The Mushi’s whispering voice was erased by a high-pitched discordant sound.

The falling flake and the blizzard curtain clashed. The clash between fellow snowflakes distorted light, and the scenery of the fishing harbor started cracking like it was footage reflected on a mirror.

The glowing pierced through the curtain, heading for the tiara.

At that time, Shiika felt a certain presence. A line of sight directed at her.

Outside the blizzard, within the fragmented scenery, there was a familiar girl.

Tachibana Rina.

Her friend riding the seven-spotted ladybug looked at Shiika from above.

“—It’s the tiara, right?”

Rina managed to understand Shiika’s aim just from her line of sight.

“Are you trying to break it yourself? Doing that would be dangerous for you as well, Shiika…!”

Trying to reach the gap created in the blizzard by the single flake, Rina and her Mushi began diving from straight above.

Now a powerful shockwave was added to the clashing of snow. The entire island’s air burst and the tremors robbed Shiika of her footing. The waves pushing on the fishing harbor swelled, pouring down from the sky with a roar.

Receiving the support from the seven-spotted ladybug’s shockwave—

Finally, the single flake of white snow got through the curtain.

“—Shiika!”

At the same time, Rina and the seven-spotted ladybug overtook the snow. As it landed powerfully, creating an earth tremor, Rina leapt down from the seven-spotted ladybug.

Getting hurt by the aftershock, Rina jumped toward Shiika.

Her hand reached and grabbed Shiika’s tiara.

“Ugh…!”

Electricity unleashed from the tiara attacked Rina.

While Rina was being numbed and paralyzed by the electric current, the snowflake Shiika made fall came fluttering down above her head—

“Don’t look down on me—”

The seven-spotted ladybug spread its wings.

The unleashed shockwave struck the back of its host, Rina. Thrown away along with Shiika, the tiara fell from her hand.

Passing behind Rina and missing her by a hair’s breadth, the snowflake fell to the ground. It crushed the asphalt at the breakwater and made the ocean’s surface explode.

Shiika and Rina got entangled, rolling on the ground. Even in this situation, Rina hugged Shiika tight, trying to defend her.

Finally, the momentum stopped and as Shiika raised her face—seeing that nostalgic smile from up close.

Although Rina was so enchantingly beautiful, it was the strength of that face that was attractive rather than her beauty.

“Long time no see, Shiika.”

As her best friend smiled at her while covered in wounds, Shiika smiled back with tears in her eyes.

“…You really are cool, Rina.”

Both were unable to move due to wounds and fatigue as many footsteps approached them.

The moment the tiara was removed from Shiika, the curtain of snow stopped. When Rina leapt inside, the Mushitsuki stopped attacking as well.

“You’ve done a great job resisting C with your own powers.”

A suited young man looked down at the collapsed Shiika, wearing a thin smile.

The Mushitsuki called Kasuou helped Shiika and Rina up. Other than her there were also Terasu and the Mushitsuki she was pretty sure was called Nene. She could also see many other figures rush toward them on the debris.

“Right now, you aren’t the Dove but Fuyuhotaru—am I correct in thinking this?”

“…Yes.”

Shiika nodded toward the youth who was making sure.

She’d definitely retrieved control of herself, but this wasn’t done by her own powers or anything.

It was thanks to the boy she met in that mysterious space, Kusuriya Daisuke.

As well as her friend that saved Shiika without any regard for herself, Rina.

“…!”

Shiika could suddenly see a small figure moving in the distance.

Behind the many Mushitsuki watching cautiously over Shiika from afar—next to a certain building on the shore, a blue figure turned to her.

Chiharu-san…?

She was Kakkou’s sister. Meaning—Kusuriya Daisuke’s sister, Ayukawa Chiharu.

It appeared like only Shiika noticed Chiharu. Everyone on the harbor was naturally focused only on Shiika—but as she looked there, Chiharu vanished as if melting into the building.

“I see. —But that’s no good.”

The youth’s unthinkable words brought Shiika’s attention back to the breakwater.

“If you don’t destroy us as the Dove, we’ll be in trouble.”

Saying this, the youth turned around.

There were two people rushing toward them. One was the girl with an eyepatch, probably Maimai. The other one Shiika didn’t know; they wore the white coat that belonged to the Central Headquarters.

“We’ll get annihilated here—and start our counterattack from there.”

As Shiika tilted her head, the youth moved his sight toward something.

It was the tiara that rolled atop the debris, glowing in gold.

2.03 Shiika Part 2

While kneeling on the ground, Shiika looked at the person that appeared right in front of her.

“We’re going to falsify your memories.”

It was the person clad in the Central Headquarters coat. Both voice and physique were androgynous, and their hair was as white as their coat.

“My ability is so weak that it has no effect with even the slightest rejection… but as long as it’s accepted, it can affect even your deep consciousness.”

“Meaning, you need to open your heart fully to it.”

Haji Keigo wore a casual smile.

“There are obviously not many people who’ll allow others to meddle even with their subconscious. That’s why it was designated as an unranked mental control ability until now.”

“What are you doing to Shiika?”

Tachibana Rina stood up for Shiika. Her beautiful, gallant facial features and the strength that protected Shiika were Rina personified. —She really didn’t seem like the Mimic that the tiara had told her about.

“…”

Shiika raised her face and looked back at the faces of the people looking down at her.

The fishing harbor was covered with the dust created from the ruins of the breakwater and the crumbling shore. The powerful Mushitsuki all stood on it, surrounding Shiika. In addition to SEPB fighters such as Terasu and Kasuou there were also Shiohara Shachito, as well as her Mushibane comrades, Namie and Aijisupa.

Shiika knew well why they hadn’t gotten any closer than Haji Keigo.

It was because Shiika appeared there as a raider, clad in an unfamiliar attire.

Rina had been revived, although her nature was still unclear.

Were these two really their allies? They were probably confused, unable to tell whether Anmoto Shiika and Tachibana Rina could even preserve their egos.

“Maimai, Rinrin, how about you? Can you do it?”

Ignoring Rina’s question, Haji Keigo turned to the side.

“I-I can do itititit!”

“I-It’ll be difficult, but somehow…!”

The two Mushitsuki wearing desperate expressions reached out toward the tiara that until just now had been on Shiika’s head. Something transparent that looked like jelly covered the tiara on the ground, and Rinrin was fiddling with the glowing circuits that appeared on it with his fingers.

“I remember C’s program from the time I was at the East Central Branch and when I touched the Bed a-at the Underground Fortotot… b-but, the power in this tiara is on a whole different level…”

“Leave the output and remodeling to me. You focus on analysis… kuh!”

Flinching at the electrified jelly, the pair continued some kind of work.

“Haji-senpai? What is going on?”

Goroumaru Touko appeared with a delay. Apparently, only very few people knew what Haji Keigo was scheming.

“Yes, I was just about to explain it, but—”

Haji turned to Shiika again.

“To be honest, you being able to resist C’s interference on your own was unforeseen.”

Shiika couldn’t say anything.

“What on earth happened? I did expect the Dove to be sent here, but for you of all people to be chosen… To be honest, it was really close. Despite us having Lady and Harukiyo on our side.”

Shiika looked at Rina and Harukiyo.

These two Rank 1s were silent and expressionless.

Just like Haji said, she was on the verge of massacring all Mushitsuki. Even if her enemies were Rina and Harukiyo, even if she took them down with herself, her duties as the Dove would be fulfilled.

And the one who saved her on the edge—

“…It’s because I met someone.”

Shiika smiled.

She knew nothing about what happened during that strange time.

However, the person she’d reunited with there was definitely not an illusion—

The warmth that allowed her to confirm this still remained in her chest.

“That’s all.”

As Shiika spoke briefly, Haji frowned.

Only two people responded to her words.

“…Aha!”

Suddenly, Rina snorted.

Among those who looked confused, Harukiyo also snorted at the same time. As if recalling something all of a sudden, Rina and Harukiyo started laughing.

After laughing for a while, the two of them at once changed their expression.

“How infuriating.”

“Annoying as fuck.”

Perhaps they realized something—but seeing the two Rank 1s speak angrily in unison, everyone else was befuddled.

Rina relaxed her expression and stroked Shiika’s hair.

“What she says is probably the truth. …It’s fine now.”

“Hmph.”

Harukiyo spun his body, looking sullen. As if saying he had no interest anymore, he exposed his defenseless back and left.

Haji Keigo went silent, as if he was thinking about something. Whether he had no idea who Shiika was speaking about or did know but had no intention of seeking any further answer, he soon opened his mouth.

“There shouldn’t be many people who’d cause you Rank 1s to act like that—well, never mind.”

He spoke as if switching over his feelings.

“If Lady and Harukiyo are no longer on guard, that’s good enough. As for me, if you were removed from C’s control, that’s fine.”

He wore a thin smile and continued.

“Also—if you go under C’s control again.”

“…!”

All Mushitsuki around paled. Kasuou and Namie hounded Haji.

“Hey, what the hell do you mean?”

“Are you sane? Are you saying we’re going to hand Fuyuhotaru over to C?!”

“Indeed. Should we even fly the white flag while we’re at it? After all, we currently have no chances of victory.”

Within this tension, Haji just shrugged.

“Because even if we wanted to counterattack, we have no idea where our enemy is.”

“No way—”

Rina gasped. She put strength into her two arms protecting Shiika.

“You’re going to use Shiika to…”

“Not Anmoto Shiika. Not even Fuyuhotaru. It’s the Dove part that’s important.”

The youth gave a side glance toward the two Mushitsuki who were doing something to the tiara.

“After completing its duty—the Dove will return to God.”

“—”

Everyone there gulped.

Shiika too. Even someone as dull as her understood the youth’s goal, now that he said this much.

Haji Keigo was going to use Shiika for—

“If you’re the Dove, C will call you to her side.”

They would send Shiika’s to C’s hiding place, becoming a transmitter to allow them to know the location.

No—they would make her into a ticking time bomb to explode on C.

That explosion would become a beacon for the Mushitsuki’s counterattack—

“The mental control we’re about to cast on you is powerful. We’ll set a keyword to remove it, but the one to chant it probably wouldn’t be at your side when it’s needed.”

Haji Keigo’s dispassionate tone echoed at the silent fishing harbor.

“There’s a high possibility you’ll never retrieve your own self. Even so, if you return to C’s hiding place, and you manage to regain yourself like you did now—please use your full powers. We’ll work on identifying that place.”

Shiika said nothing, simply listening to the youth.

“Until then we’ll feign our annihilation, hide and recover, but… by the time we sense your powers, Lady and Harukiyo will use the boat they rode on to head toward you in full speed.”

“Head toward her—in full speed?”

Rina’s voice shook with anger as she was glaring at Keigo.

“How many hours do you think it takes to reach the mainland? Are you telling Shiika to survive all on her own until then? As well as—in the enemy’s HQ!”

“Well, there’s no doubt it’s going to take time even if we use Mushitsuki powers to make the boat go faster.”

With cool eyes, Haji Keigo looked down on Shiika.

Their enemy was C. There were also many Revived being controlled by C.

Now that she had to face all of them and endure until her allies came—

Never mind Shiika herself, but even Haji Keigo thought it was impossible.

“So you’re saying we need to sacrifice Shiika to find out C’s location—”

Rina was about to grab Haji in her anger, but Shiika stopped her with a hand.

“—‘My beloved Dove’.”

Shiika spoke in a calm voice, looking up at Haji.

“C will definitely call me that.”

Saying that, she smiled at Rina who turned to her with a shocked expression.

“Thanks, Rina. But I’m fine.”

“Shiika…”

“I’m not afraid of being the Dove again, either. Because C saying that she loves me—loves us Mushitsuki—is not a lie.”

Including Rina, all Mushitsuki were shocked at Shiika’s words.

They probably feared that C’s brainwashing hadn’t been fully lifted. But that wasn’t it. The sense of security that wrapped Shiika until just now was definitely no fabrication.

“Feeling that I no longer had to suffer or get hurt was very warm… and relieving. After all, I always thought like this since I became a Mushitsuki—no, even before that. I believed from the bottom of my heart that if everyone became Undying just like, I’ll have nothing to fear.”

“…”

Rina grabbed Shiika’s hand with a sad expression.

“But it’s no good. I thought that wasn’t enough for me.”

Shiika grasped her friend’s hand back.

“Because even if I suffered or got hurt, I recalled what I wanted.”

And what was that?

Rina should know even without saying.

No—everyone here would definitely understand.

After all, they were all Mushitsuki, just like Shiika.

“So it’s fine.”

She did think it was terribly sad.

She thought it was foolish.

However, Shiika was confident and was able to do this.

“No matter how much C relieves me, I’ll come back to fight.”

She declared this with a smile.

“Since we’re fighting, I’ll never give up.”

Rina looked like she wanted to say more.

However, her beautiful friend swallowed back her words and closed her eyes with an intense expression. She probably realized that she wouldn’t be able to stop Shiika no matter what she said.

“So you’re the ‘Beloved Dove’, then. Right, let’s make this the keyword.”

Hearing Haji Keigo’s command, the white Mushitsuki next to him nodded.

“If C doesn’t use those words you’ll need to snap out of the brainwashing by yourself, though.”

Shiika nodded and returned the gaze of Rina who looked at her.

Rina bit her lips. She gave Shiika a tight hug.

“I’m definitely going to rescue you, so wait for me, Shiika. —This time, I’ll definitely be there.”

“Yeah… I’ll be waiting.”

This time.

She couldn’t understand the meaning of her words, but Rina’s feelings were transmitted to her from the arms hugging her to a painful extent. Courage welled up within Shiika just from her friend being there.

Rina let Shiika go. She spun, rose up with a resolute expression and turned her back to her.

Rina distanced herself with unhesitating gait and stopped in front of a certain boy.

“—Reiji.”

She faced the Mushibane admin called Aijisupa.

Lady Bird—Tachibana Rina and Aijisupa. —As far as Shiika knew, it’d been several years since the pair faced each other like this.

They definitely had plenty to talk about now that they reunited, but they spoke little.

“Please… lend me your power.”

Rina spoke while wearing a complex smile.

Aijisupa wore a bitter smile—however, he answered as though it was natural.

“…Sure.”

Finishing this short exchange, Rina left with the other Mushibane admins. They were probably going to think up a strategy to save Shiika, not wanting to waste time.

“It’s not going to take long. Do you feel ready?”

Haji Keigo said.

“Yes.”

Shiika closed her eyes without any hesitation.

Soon a feeling that was unpleasant and aggressive invaded into her head. She could feel it stirring up her most precious place—the parts even she wasn’t aware of—and rewriting it.

Shiika accepted this feeling that would vanish if she resisted it even a little.

What came to her mind was the few people that she believed in from the bottom of her heart.

The face of the boy she came to love.

Her friends and comrades who helped her.

When her heart was fully released, even the unpleasantness was gone.

As the faces of people she thought of slowly vanished, she found herself floating inside a dark ocean.

A faint voice stopped her from sinking into this bottomless sea.

“Fuyuhotaru…”

Golden light illuminated the dark ocean.

This sweet, gentle voice brought Shiika’s consciousness floating back.

“My Dove…”

This sublime voice filled with genuine affection woke Shiika.

And Shiika—

“…”

Having been saved by the creator called C, she opened her eyes into slits.

Rising from her kneeling position, she checked the sight in front of her eyes.

She saw the transformed Aoharima Island.

Everything in the fishing harbor was in pieces. The only thing moving there was the waves.

Of the old generation of Mushitsuki—was completely gone.

Shiika had fulfilled the mission given to her.

“…”

The tiara on Shiika’s head reflected the sunlight, emitting golden light.

Burning the sight of Aoharima Island becoming an uninhabited island again into her eyes, Shiika turned around.

She went back to the small boat and out into sea.

Shiika obviously headed toward the Goddess who’d sent her here.

To C’s Ark.

Since the boat was slow, it kept sailing throughout the entire night.

Night passed, it became night again, and when she saw land, she could no longer wait and stood up.

She leapt toward the coast from the boat that was parked near some bay coast somewhere.

She could see a large hanging bridge.

She quickly proceeded to the empty bridge. The clothes she was clad in and the tiara she was wearing told her that her God was there.

As she passed the bridge while being guided by her God, the fairies came out to greet her.

C-butterflies glowing gold and tiara-clad fairies. These all danced around her as she completed her mission, blessing her and singing.

When she saw one fairy step out to the front, she kneeled.

“No more of the old Mushitsuki exist… those failed products are gone.”

As she spoke this with an enraptured expression, the fairy reached out to her.

A small numbness assaulted her head. Her memories were being searched.

“Confirmed. —You have done well to fulfill your duty. My beloved Dove…”

Wearing a satisfied smile, the fairy hugged her.

—My beloved Dove.

Shiika’s eyebrows twitched, hearing that word.

“Come, please turn around and watch. You have the right to watch this through.”

She turned around as she was told and was stunned.

On the other side of the large bridge.

There was a change happening within the scenery of the capital with its lines of high-rise buildings.

“It is the time for creation. Now that all failed products are gone, it is time to wash over the world with the flood—”

It really was a flood.

And it was black.

A pitch-dark tidal wave swallowed the city whole.

However, it was not an actual wave—

“Let us see how many people are eligible to be invited to this land—to my Ark.”

It was a deluge of blackouts.

After the Dove confirmed the purging of the surface, the Deluge was going to screen out humanity.

What was going to start now?

Shiika knew.

The creation of a new world—

Also.

“—In the end, I came back here…”

The counterattack.

She felt her memories rapidly returning as if footage was being suddenly rewound.

As Shiika suddenly mumbled this, the fairies instantly leapt away from her.

The identity of the land she was currently standing on, the Ark.

As the sense of reality immediately returned to anything and everything, Shiika created a beacon.

It was in the form of a single flake of snow.

Glowing as it came fluttering down, this snow illuminated the Ark—illuminated that city.

“Now we can finally start the final battle…!”

This was the signal for the Mushitsuki of the old generation—

For those survivors who chose to fight rather than to rest, to start their counterattack.

2.04 The Others

Aoharima Island remained silent at night.

Just ten-odd hours ago there had been intense fighting on the fishing harbor, but now it was empty. Now transformed into nothing more than an empty plain with debris strewn around, the breakwater was illuminated only by the moon hanging in the sky.

A solitary island that banished all human presence from the surface.

Its peace was broken by a small voice echoing from somewhere.

“—‘Flame’ confirmed.”

The curtain of their counterattack was now raised.

The chagrin of those who became possessed by Mushi due to their dreams, were feared by people, and were finally pursued by the country. Their anger at being forced into a defensive battle all this time.

Giant doors sprung open one after another on the surface filled with debris. Multitudes of people came leaping out from stairs leading underground.

Under the moonlight, they immediately assumed battle formations, but the Mushitsuki at the center of those wearing white coats—were the combatants of the former SEPB.

Those gathered around the powerful combatants called Namie and Aijisupa were the members of Mushibane.

They were all annihilated by the assassin sent by C, Fuyuhotaru. —Creating this illusion had been a success because Fuyuhotaru’s second brainwashing succeeded.

Following that, Mushitsuki with matter control abilities used the destroyed large ships as materials to construct and underground evacuation shelter. All Mushitsuki retreated there temporarily and sent away Fuyuhotaru, who returned being the Dove, back to C.

The Mushitsuki that survived after these successive battles—now numbered in the whereabouts of just a few dozens.

“But it’s far away and hard to pinpoint the coordinates…!”

Groaning this was the Mushitsuki with sensing abilities, Himiko—Haji Senri. As she widened her unseeing eyes, red dots flashed on her hair.

“Looks like Fuyuhotaru’s reached the Ark, then.”

Standing next to his sister Senri, Haji Keigo mumbled.

And it wasn’t just Senri, but other high-ranked Mushitsuki as well. Other than the severe-looking Tachibana Rina or those like Shiohara Shachito, there was also the commander Terasu.

“Are you all feeling ready?”

Terasu was speaking not through the wireless, but calling to the Mushitsuki all physically present at the fishing harbor.

“Once we ascertain C’s current location, we’ll be able to move immediately!”

The Mushitsuki were able to rest while waiting for Fuyuhotaru to return to C. It definitely wasn’t enough, but since they recovered their stamina, their morale was high.

“Let’s start the counterattack—no, this’ll be the final battle!”

The voices of the Mushitsuki responding to Terasu’s cheer made the ocean around Aoharima Island tremble.

However—

“…! Multiple large ‘Flames’ appeared!”

Haji Senri paled.

Keigo and others promptly turned back to her.

“Multiple? Meaning, they’re where Fuyuhotaru is thought to be?”

“No, before I narrowed the location—ugh, it keeps spreading…!”

“What do you mean? Any sensors other than Himiko?”

As Terasu turned around, two Mushitsuki and Shiohara Shachito shook their heads.

“It’s too far away, I can’t even feel it…”

“I can feel it, but it’s not my specialty.”

Inevitably, all gazes around focused on their final hope, Senri. As hot-blooded as ever in readiness for this final fight, Kasuou glared at Himiko.

“Hey, what’s going on? Haven’t you just felt Fuyuhotaru’s presence?”

“I do not understand…! Similar ‘flames’ suddenly appeared all over the country, so I can’t tell which of them is Fuyuhotaru…!”

“—They’re dummies.”

Saying this was Rinrin, who specialized in electronic warfare just like C.

“C might’ve spread her own body doubles and had them transmit signal wavelengths that are similar to Fuyuhotaru. C should be capable of doing that…”

“Meaning that C found out our goal?”

Rinrin nodded at Terasu’s question along with a stifling silence.

The final hope for a counterattack left for the surviving Mushitsuki.

They all relied on Fuyuhotaru’s presence to designate C’s location. They couldn’t fight otherwise.

The Mushitsuki started clamoring.

“Looking at this in a different way, it means that Fuyuhotaru definitely managed to sneak right to C. Otherwise C wouldn’t have to slap together all those dummies.”

While fixing his glasses with an index finger, Haji spoke.

The first step of the counterattack plan, Fuyuhotaru’s infiltration, was a success. Feeling flustered due to C’s countermeasures was proof of this success.

However—C’s response came much faster than expected.

“Dummies are just dummies. I doubt she’d be able to fully copy someone as powerful as Fuyuhotaru. —Can’t you ascertain the real presence?”

“I will try…!”

Seeing his sister nod hard to his orders, Keigo felt himself grow depressed.

He simply couldn’t get used to see her fighting. He was supposed to be fighting in order to create a world where no Mushitsuki like his sister were ever born again, and yet—

He was relying on that very sister right here on this crucial moment.

He didn’t care about himself. He created many victims, resolved to get cursed by all Mushitsuki other than his sister. Since he’d conducted many inhuman actions, he’d definitely go to hell someday.

However, if the one to reap what he sowed was someone other than himself—

Every time he saw his sister fighting, he had a bad premonition.

Even so he couldn’t stop Senri—because to him she looked much livelier fighting like this than she had back when he’d been protecting her.

“—Is that true?”

At some point during Keigo’s ruminations Tachibana Rina came to stand next to him.

“What do you mean, Lady?”

“Don’t play dumb. You said it during our last strategy meeting. As long as we know where Shiika is, we’ll be able to get there not just in several hours, but instantly.”

Keigo recalled what happened inside the shelter. Before emerging to the surface, he’d gathered the Mushitsuki and made a small talk before they went for the final fight.

“Right, I did say that.”

“But you didn’t explain how. Why? If you dare and tell me it’s a lie at this stage…”

“It’s not that I haven’t explained it. I couldn’t. I don’t know how.”

Rina was speechless.

Keigo turned toward the sky behind him. A small shadow alighted down from the sky above the island illuminated by moonlight.

“It was like a bolt out of the blue. To think that in this situation and at this stage, a ‘collaborator’ would suddenly appear.”

“Is that a bird? —No, wait. A human…?”

Following Keigo’s line of sight, Rina narrowed her eyes.

“Is that the so-called ‘collaborator’? Who’s that?”

“For now, it’s a former SEPB combatant. But regarding her identity, I don’t know. According to her, there are other ‘collaborators’ as well. At some point she was inside the shelter—and promised that as long as she knew where C was, she’d be able to take us there immediately.”

“…Sounds suspicious. Do you really believe that?”

“I do.”

Perhaps finding his instant affirmation unexpected, Rina’s eyes gradually turned harsher.

“How can you say that?”

“’If a “Bird” or a “Cellphone” gets in contact with you, I believe you can trust them’—”

“…?”

“Contact came from one of the spies I’ve prepared just earlier. I do not know who this ‘collaborator’ is, but apparently they took this spy into their confidence.”

Rina grimaced, exposing her hostility.

“You really like that sorta stuff… you saying we can believe a spy’s information?”

“It’s obviously not quite that simple. After all, that spy had been too good of a kid both now and in the past, and asked me for a favor only one time before.”

“That being?”

“To give support when Kakkou broke.”

Rina’s expression froze. Haji continued nonchalantly.

“I don’t know how much that spy—that handyman—knows about the present situation and if she’s still working about it… but she’s doing enough to send me a message completely unrelated to my request. So those ‘collaborators’ are definitely good people that can be our allies. Those who, unlike me, haven’t dirtied their hands—”

He spoke with a thin smile.

“If they’re small fry that couldn’t become villains—I’ll trust them.”

“…”

“That Mushitsuki flying so happily over there in the sky looks like a ‘bird’ to me.”

There were other grounds to trust them.

If that “collaborator” actually belonged to C’s forces, there would be no need for them to set up such a roundabout trap. Besides that—if they feigned being a third party, it should be convenient for them, now that C and Keigo were fighting and exhausting themselves. For that reason, it wasn’t surprising for them to think it was in their best interest to help Keigo’s group, who were in an inferior position.

“Since the enemy called C is too big, there’s no other option but to combine all other forces together. Just like how the SEPB and Mushibane joined up despite being bitter enemies before.”

Speaking while fixing the position of his glasses with a finger, he added something in his heart.

Not to mention that they snatched away Kakkou who was supposed to get collected by the handyman… they have to be at least this helpful—

He could faintly sense that there had been another force hiding somewhere. If that force was connected to his own spy, they might become an unimaginable faction.

Right, and as long as his spy hadn’t forgotten her duty, she might lead even that faction into the revival of Kakkou—

“…I see. Well, I’ll accept it for now.”

Being glared with half-closed eyes by Rina, Keigo came back to his senses.

“Even someone like you isn’t going to speak so casually and lie to us in this situation.”

“I’m an honest man at heart, after all. I’m tired of pretending otherwise.”

Just like Rina said, he seemed to be lacking in calmness. If even the commander started having hopes that weren’t part of the plan, it’d be their end.

What card would he use to win against the almighty C?

It was Keigo’s job to think about it.

Right now, they only had a single card to use.

She was Keigo’s one and only little sister, and yet, looking at the current situation—

“Uh… kuh…!”

Her eyes glowing in red, Haji Senri was clearly suffering.

Naturally. She was spreading her range of sensing to the entire country. Not to mention this would determine whether they could head to the final fight or not. He couldn’t even imagine the burden of this responsibility.

“Well? Can’t find it yet? Should I go back to sleep?”

Harukiyo appeared, his voice lacking any sense of tension. Where was he until now? He carried a girl on his back like she was a sandbag.

Lying still on Harukiyo’s shoulders was the Mushitsuki called Arisu. She was clad in an SEPB coat, sleeping soundly.

Seeing Arisu, Kasuou made a complex expression.

“Are we really taking her as well?”

“I fulfilled my promise to her. If she doesn’t actually see it, I don’t wanna get blamed later for it. If we throw her into a battle she’ll probably wake up.”

“Why you piece of… so have you constantly been looking for Arisu?”

“I do these things properly. That’s who I am.”

Spitting this, the flame devil glared at Senri then.

“I do wanna do this properly. If I can’t, there’s no sense in me being here.”

The SEPB Mushitsuki all stood in his path as if to protect Senri.

Rina also stepped between Senri and Harukiyo.

“Then shut up and sit still. We’ll call you when we figure out where the enemy is.”

“Is it fine for you to say that, bitch? While we’re all standin’ around here your pal’s fighting against C for her life, you know?”

“That’s why I’m telling you not to stand in the way.”

The two Rank 1s directed eyes full of killing intent at each other.

Apparently it wasn’t just Keigo who wasn’t calm enough. Everyone on Aoharima Island was on edge right before the final battle.

Perhaps to try and distract the two prickly Rank 1s, Terasu tried urging on Senri.

“H-how about it, Himiko? Are you still unable to differentiate Fuyuhotaru?”

“They all look the same to me… if that’s not enough, more and more dummies keep appearing…!”

“W-wait a minute—”

Rinrin raised his voice timidly.

“What if C isn’t creating wavelengths like Fuyuhotaru, but instead just broadcasting her wavelengths in real time to all sorts of places as they’re fighting… in that case, there’d be no way to figure out which is real or fake, and as time passes, even her strength will change according to the real one—”

“To cut a long story short, it means no dummies will disappear as long as Fuyuhotaru’s fighting?”

Getting impatient, Harukiyo spoke.

“If Fuyuhotaru dies, the dummies will be gone, but we won’t be able to find C. —Meaning, we can’t find C either way.”

A stifling silence befell the harbor.

They had no way to find C’s Ark—

Not only were they unable to embark to the final fight like that, they’d never get any chance for a counterattack, either.

Now that C knew about their existence, she’d probably send assassins to Aoharima Island again.

Having no means for a counterattack, the Mushitsuki side would be unable to bear another war of attrition and simply lose—

“B-but even so, dummies are dummies. Since I’m interfering with C’s abilities, there should be some noise mixed in, something that’s not like the real one… so she’d have to find that subtle difference…”

Even Rinrin’s supplementation tapered off weakly.

Harukiyo turned toward Keigo wordlessly.

He tried thinking of an excuse to have Harukiyo stay there—but the demon sighed first. He shook his head and turned his back.

“I will find her—”

The one to stop the leaving Harukiyo was a powerful voice.

It came from Senri.

“I’ll definitely find Fuyuhotaru-san…!”

“—”

For a moment Keigo’s heart leapt—and not because he was impressed with his sister’s bravery.

He was supposed to be used to his sister’s profile and voice.

However, he suddenly found both unfamiliar. Despite being her own brother.

“Oh?”

Harukiyo turned back.

The red lights vanished from Senri’s eyes. She slowly held up her hand, raising her index finger and thumb to make a pistol gesture. And she used her other hand to support it.

“Big brother.”

Seeing his sister’s carefree smile as she turned toward him—Keigo now realized.

He knew what Senri was about to attempt now.

He knew what she thought about, causing her to be able to wear that most beautiful smile.

The moment he realized this—he felt as if something very heavy fell from his back.

There’s nothing for me to do here anymore—

They were about to embark on the final fight for all Mushitsuki.

However, only the man called Haji Keigo would be unable to relax and couldn’t pursue them any further, no matter how cruel it was.

When he realized this, Keigo also managed to wear an honest smile.

He spoke to his sister, who was playing it tough but couldn’t hide her body shake, to relax her.

“…It’s fine. I’ll follow you soon after.”

Senri happily widened her smile, turning to the side.

She was now looking to the Mushitsuki called Kaguya. Keigo heard that this boy called Ogata Akatsuki was her friend while she was a normal high-schooler.

“Senri.”

They’d probably already talked it over. Even so, although Kaguya made a pained face, he nodded, seemingly resolved. —There was no doubt that Keigo himself was making the same face right now.

“Thank you.”

Senri stopped shaking. Her smile vanished and she closed her eyes.

As Senri stood there quietly, a red glow began to emerge from her back. It formed a flickering silhouette in the form of a queen bee.

“So you—were also a ‘collaborator’.”

As Keigo mumbled this, Senri widened her eyes again.

In the depths of her widened eyes weren’t pupils that reflected anything—but a pair of rubies with a flickering glow. As though they were unfurling wings, these rubies emitted pillars of flames.

“Uh—everyone, stay away from Himiko!”

Hearing Terasu’s command, the Mushitsuki all distanced themselves.

Only Haji and Kaguya couldn’t part from Senri who was in the middle of transforming.

“Searching—”

While spouting fire from both eyes, the girl said this as though casting a spell. Small sparks hit her coat and it became ruby-colored as though stained. Even her long hair became dyed in bright red.

“Director Haji, stay away from her! You too, Kaguya!”

Terasu strained her voice.

“She’s Maturing!”

He knew that without being told.

He didn’t know how, but his sister immediately unleashed a power past her limits. Because of that, she was Maturing—meaning, the phenomenon where a Mushi would fully devour its host’s dreams and try to become free.

However, Keigo stayed standing in place.

“Searching—”

Clad in a robe of flames, the form of his sister with her eyes transformed into flames did no longer look human.

A red flare was created on the ocean surface where Senri’s thrust finger pointed.

More and more flares like this were created all over the ocean as far as the eye could see, dyeing it entirely in red.

“Searching—”

While her voice echoed with the machinelike repetition, the world was changing.

The ocean became entirely red and emitted a pale glow.

These flares started permeating even the ground of Aoharima Island, dyeing it red.

It was becoming a world of crimson—

“I-is she putting the entire country under her domain…?”

Someone groaned this.

Keigo remained silent, watching over Senri’s back.

These flares spread all over, but there was no heat.

She wasn’t attacking anyone, like back when she’d eat her brother’s dream.

“Searching—”

As her older brother, Keigo’s duty was protecting his much younger sister.

She was blind since birth, she was sickly, and she couldn’t even get out of the house without Keigo’s help. Her growing up properly and not twisted despite carrying all the difficulties was perhaps due to her not seeing all the filth of the world because of her eyes.

While thinking half-seriously about all of this, his sister was distancing herself from this world.

He only realized this was a silly assumption of his very lately. Meaning, only ever since Senri threw herself into the fights of Mushitsuki out of her own will.

“Searching—”

Senri could see.

Although she was blind, she could see through people’s hearts through their attitudes, voices and the like.

Among those Senri had seen through this far, most of them were likely evil. There were also those who were mad Senri couldn’t share their vision, and there were probably also those who tried attacking her.

Despite this Senri forgave them—and even tried helping them.

Why? Because she gave up on being a weakling. She probably thought that since she was weaker than normal people she didn’t have the right to stand against them, and that if she could help other people even a little bit, she had a duty to do so with her full powers.

This wasn’t kindness.

Since she was weak, she had to forgive people and help them.

His sister started thinking that way—because of none other than him.

Keigo had the duty to protect weak Serni, and because his little sister was a weak person—she had to follow this “duty”.

“Searching—”

Even though she was this strong—

It was Keigo himself who forced Senri to remain weak.

He kept pushing excuses to live and to attack other people on to his sister.

However, by allowing herself to get protected by her brother she supported him and so managed to grow up so much she could connect people’s hopes and end up much stronger.

“I’m the one who hasn’t dirtied his hands—”

Seeing Senri fight with her entire body and soul, a lone streak of tears ran down Keigo’s eye.

“Losing someone precious to you hurts so bad…”

His chest hurt so much his body twisted.

He was assaulted by such a freezing sense of falling that he wasn’t sure whether he was standing up or sitting down. He even thought that he wouldn’t mind falling down all the way to hell like this.

Keigo would most likely go to hell.

After sticking his sister in a birdcage to protect her, hurting and deceiving many people—

He was going to lose even the one and single reason he had to fight here.

There was no longer anything for Keigo to do—

“—Found her.”

Senri finally uttered the expected word.

Including Tachibana Rina and Harukiyo, all Mushitsuki now wore the expressions of warriors.

Keigo approached his little sister, hugging her slim body from behind.

“Thanks, Senri.”

“—Promise me, you two.”

The flame vanished from Senri’s eyes. Her normally kind eyes turned to Keigo—as well as Kaguya, who was behind him. She smiled.

“Big brother and Akatsuki-kun... even after the battle ends—you can’t lose.”

Keigo bit his lips hard.

So even falling to hell—wasn’t allowed to him.

Although Keigo dirtied his hands, he was restrained by his sister, not allowed even to surrender.

She told him not to step down from his own will, but to keep fighting until he couldn’t move even a single finger.

Since it was his one and only sister who wished for this—

That was the only thing he could do.

“I’ll be waiting for you...”

It was too late for the kindly smiling Senri. She could probably not hold back her Maturation any longer.

Saying their farewells, the two siblings snuggled and swore in their hearts.

A single, black feather fell nearby.

2.05 The Others

To come into the forefront as the main character of the fights between Mushitsuki.

A poor Mushitsuki embraced this completely unsuitable dream.

She was the Mushitsuki called Konomura Chami.

“I’m pissed off.”

Chami mumbled this, standing on top of a certain building’s rooftop in a town whose name she didn’t know. Her dangerous gaze that couldn’t be hidden by her rimless glasses was directed town at the dark townscape.

The girl standing next to Chami murmured to herself subduedly.

“…I knew it, I can’t find C’s location…”

The girl with long bangs hiding her eyes—the Mushitsuki called Konoha—was Chami’s pawn. Next to her was a Mushi shaped like two overlapping leaves standing upright.

“…C might be blocking my sight using her abilities or one of the Revived…”

“It pisses me off they didn’t even doubt me.”

While being blown by wind in a high place, Chami kept mumbling.

If Konoha managed to discover C’s location, she thought she’d have a chance again. That was why she looked for a place with a good view.

However—it looked like it was impossible anyway.

Therefore, Chami thought of another scenario.

“Those guys… Himiko and the rest—”

Chami clenched her fists and spat out.

“While running away from Akamaki City, such a suspicious woman called out to her… normally she’d doubt me. I also explained the risks. If she used my queen bee’s powers—it might be a ticket for an express train to Maturation. I told her she’d die…”

Konoha didn’t even turn to her. She kept listening to Chami’s monologue quietly.

“But she nodded without hesitating… despite me telling her this.”

Chami raised her right hand and reached with her index finger.

The silhouette of a queen bee came to her fingertip. This Mushi was her ability, and she could sting Mushitsuki to bestow a rapid enhancement to their abilities.

“’If I ever need your power—will you sacrifice yourself?’.”

Chami erased the queen bee.

“So I told her about the strategy. —Even Haji Keigo wasn’t prepared enough to launch the counterattack against C. There were too many holes in the script to set the stage for the battlefield…”

“…And you’re filling those holes, right…?”

Konoha turned to Chami.

“…None of us had any objections… not a single one… even Chiharu is currently—”

“Right, I knew no one’d refuse. That’s what pisses me off. Those shithead Mushitsuki… but what pisses me off the most is the one who’s written this shithead script. Me.”

Rounding her body, her shoulders shook.

She felt her body about to get ripped by anger, hatred and chagrin. Obviously, all those emotions—were directed at herself.

“Even in this script I wanted to see, that created so many victims, that did so much scummy stuff—”

—Kuhu.

She felt like she heard a cat laughing from somewhere.

Was it an auditory hallucination, or had her deceased partner crawled back from hell to mock Chami?

“I’m not part of the cast…”

Never mind dirtying her own hands.

She’d done plenty of crimes against humanity.

However, despite her constantly thinking of those as required actions for her to someday ascend to become the main character—who could have imagined she would set up a stage without any part for her?

All these girls accepted Chami’s invitations without hesitation despite them being the devil’s whispers.

These Mushitsuki all chose to become victims because Chami made them do it.

Not only that—

“I don’t even have the guts to rewrite the main cast…”

Chami had thrown away the red pen meant to fix the script.

Despite the fact that she’d fought to the death to obtain it.

“Konoha… please watch over what happens now closely.”

Raising her face, Chami spoke.

“These shithead sacrifices are going to bring the actors to the stage.”

After desiring the seat of the main character and writing the script for it—she never could write her own title.

Hearing the Mushitsuki’s ridiculous mutters—

“…Sure.”

Konoha silently nodded.

2.06 The Others

The night sky of Aoharima Island was full of twinkling stars.

The gentle wind mixed the scents of the sea and trees. This nostalgic air never changed ever since she was born.

Shirakashi Ubuki was born on this island.

“…”

As she circled around the island’s skies, moonlight reflected on Ubuki’s goggles, sparkling. The four black wings sprouting from her back were created from her Mushi fusing with her coat. The turban wrapped around her head was used to gather up her hair so that it wouldn’t get in her way while flying.

Ubuki made a sudden rise and raised her angle.

She then did a forward somersault, this time lowering her head, spun horizontally and let herself fall.

This was her favorite way of flying that she repeated constantly even during the time she only just became a Mushitsuki. She found the sensation as if the island was rotating above her, as well as being able to watch the entire ocean surrounding the island, to be very enjoyable.

As she approached the surface, she raised her head and kept her body level as though gliding. By doing this she almost felt like she could use the small island as a bed for an afternoon nap.

As Ubuki indulged in this nostalgic play, memories about Aoharima Island resurfaced in her mind.

It was her hometown, and many things happened on this island.

Her losing her parents shortly after being born was one especially sad event among them. Aoharima Island subsisted mostly on fishing, but there was rarely any fishing boat accidents. Ubuki was, however, one who lost her parents due to this rarity.

She’d been sent to the island’s orphanage and lived with other similar children as a family. They weren’t rich at all and they lacked plenty, but Ubuki loved her new family. They didn’t have the latest gaming consoles, but they always found things to play with in the nature around them.

Playing with the few children of her age, going to the very small school and before long even working in the marine food processing plant on the island, she lived as part of the island—

She wanted to live her life like that, without being dissatisfied with anything.

However, a while after Ubuki became a middle schooler, a certain person came to the island.

A young doctor.

Ever since meeting that person, Ubuki and Aoharima Island’s future changed.

Ubuki became a Mushitsuki.

This was something she only found out later, but the youth who came to the island—the one she was on friendly terms with, called only Sensei—was actually the monster called Sanbikime.

Unbeknownst to her, Ubuki had been turned into a Mushitsuki by him, and spent her days innocently making walks through the sky.

However, that did not hold out for long.

In order to erase Sensei (who was Sanbikime) from this world, a grand-scale massacre was carried out on the entirety of Aoharima Island. By that narrow-eyed woman, Miguruma Yaeko.

The residents were slaughtered by fire, and only Ubuki the Mushitsuki had survived, becoming a member of the SEPB.

She lost her beloved Aoharima Island.

She left it.

Betraying the SEPB, she created her small revenge against Miguruma Yaeko.

Along with new friends and comrades, she gained a new dream.

For some reason, although she returned to Aoharima Island, it was again covered in flames.

Right now, this island would become the land of the counterattack that would change the world.

“…I can hear your voices, y’all.”

While freely flying in the nighttime air, Ubuki closed her eyes.

She said “all”, but it wasn’t the voices of the many Mushitsuki beneath her.

It was the people who used to live on Aoharima Island.

The voices of Ubuki’s family, friends, and other workers—the people who lived here more freely than anyone, who spent their last moments here in an unwanted way.

If this was the period where she lived only for revenge, she’d definitely hear voices of resentment. The curse created by the murdered island residents would probably spur on Ubuki’s revenge and desire for destruction.

However, what Ubuki heard now—was laughter.

Only fun memories with the island residents who raised Ubuki passed through her mind as she danced through air.

The only resident who knew about the tragedy that befell the island was Ubuki.

But at the same time, the only one who knew how freely the people lived on this island was also just Ubuki.

She became able to think like that probably because she herself had changed.

“I’ll bring back this island, y’all. The same island from that time…”

That was Ubuki’s new dream.

To make Aoharima Island just like it was before, a place overflowing with smiles—

It was a much more difficult dream than mere revenge.

However, it wasn’t impossible as long as she was alive.

She was taught this because she had important friends.

“But I’m sure—y’all can wait just a little.”

Opening her eyes, the scenery of the island completely changed.

Both island and sea were enveloped in a vivid ruby color.

It was as though it had been instantly encroached by an entirely different world. Looking down on the surface, she could see the figure of Haji Senri clad in a cloth of flames, struggling.

“Before making my dream come true… I gotta save my friends.”

There was something Ubuki had to do now.

She’d infiltrated the shelter and gave Haji Keigo what she needed to.

And she was able to have her fill of flying above the island like in the old days.

All that remained was to fight.

“Because you’re my friends… as much as everyone on the island.”

She started falling toward the wharf.

The crimson world was starting to regain its normal color. The red glow dyeing the ocean surface and Aoharima Island was slowly vanishing.

Haji Senri managed to designate C’s location.

She was convinced of this even without checking.

Ubuki controlled the wings at her back, landing next to the hugging Haji siblings.

All the Mushitsuki around seemed shocked at Ubuki’s appearance. However, neither Haji Keigo nor Haji Senri moved a muscle. Even Ubuki wasn’t about to say something unneeded at this stage.

“Coordinates?”

Ubuki asked just this one word.

Being hugged by her brother, Senri looked at Ubuki sadly and shook her head. Her blazing eyes appeared to return to how they were, but her robe of flames wasn’t gone. It didn’t seem to hurt her brother—but it was obvious at a glance she already lost control of her Mushi.

“We don’t need coordinates…”

Prefacing with this, Senri mumbled.

“The place is…”

That land.

The place of the Ark, where C’s main body resided.

Ubuki knew it.

“…!”

Haji Keigo showed an expression of surprise. There was no doubt that seeing someone as rational as him be speechless was rare.

“—I’ve been such a fool…”

He mumbled only this.

Ubuki nodded, then raised her voice toward the many Mushitsuki behind them.

“Recall-tan!”

“…”

Not a moment passed since she was called that mist gushed next to Ubuki. It condensed, forming the form of a girl in her early teens. Her short hair and expressionless face coupled with plain clothes gave her the impression of a girl people would often ignore.

“We’re going.”

As Ubuki hugged the girl called Recall, a red glow rose from her.

It was a crimson queen bee.

Ubuki’s wings grew many times their size, creaking. The black pattern caused by fusing with her Mushi encroached up to her face and covered her eyes. Her pupils became sharper.

“Transfer condition—only Mushitsuki.”

As Recall muttered this, a queen bee appeared behind her as well.

The lower torso of the girl being hugged by Ubuki literally dispersed. The mist instantly propagated, covering all the Mushitsuki at the fishing harbor.

“Recall…? You—”

Mushibane’s admins, Namie and Aijisupa, wore expressions of shock.

Recall reached out a thin arm from within Ubuki’s embrace and lightly waved it.

“Bye-bye.”

With this farewell greeting as the signal, Ubuki leapt into the air with Recall in her embrace.

Reaching a high altitude, she then started flying horizontally.

And—accelerated.

Faster.

Faster.

“…We gotta go quickly.”

The form of the smiling Ubuki became something unsightly. Her wings kept growing larger and gradually the coat and wings melted into each other. Her face became pure black, and behind the goggles, her eyes were becoming compound eyes, like those of a dragonfly.

“You’re working too hard, Shiika-tan.”

As she increased her flying speed, Ubuki felt important memories inside her gushing away. She could tell that her dream, a source of power much unfitting for such a powerless, unranked combatant Mushitsuki like her, was being devoured by her own Mushi.

However, she didn’t mind it.

The important people who lived on Aoharima Island and the new friends she’d made.

As well as her important—Sensei.

She knew the memories of these irreplaceable people would definitely remain with Ubuki to the very end. Ubuki would never lose to her Mushi.

“Recall-tan, you okay?”

Even her voice became much lower, sounding like a different person.

The girl protected from wind pressure by Ubuki hugging her was losing her lower torso. Not only that—but the further away from Aoharima Island she went, the more her body began vanishing. Just like a scarf being unfurled by its threads, her body already vanished all the way to the chest.

“As long as my head remains… probably.”

“…”

“I can only transport people to places I can see… it’s a bit far, though…”

The girl mumbled this expressionlessly.

Ubuki felt like lowering her speed—but she gritted her teeth and accelerated further.

“Shiika-sama—”

Recall kept mumbling.

“Taught me… that it’s fine to fight even if you’re weak.”

Ubuki hugged hard the girl who was becoming lighter and lighter.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

All she could do was fly.

She had no other abilities.

Therefore, doing that—was her way of fighting.

“Shiika-tan’s also fighting now, y’know.”

As she gained speed several times—no, dozens of times past her limits, the scenery visible to her also changed.

There was no difference between the starry sky and the sea, and she couldn’t even see the waves undulating.

Ubuki and Recall cut through the interval between black and black as though sliding.

“So we gotta—go faster—”

Ubuki’s consciousness was dimming.

Could she hear something crumbling because her body was also crumbling along with her dream?

Even so she kept accelerating in this world where she lost not only recognition of color, but even of time—

Ubuki certainly felt it.

The fragrant, nostalgic air above Aoharima Island sky.

And that day.

Thank you…

On the island’s solitary clinic, herself from when she received the necklace.

The presence of the smiling youth—

“—!”

She just barely managed to hang to her consciousness.

She fought with her own efforts—no, it was the feelings she’d received from those important to her that helped her resist the Mushi feasting on her dream.

As she wrung out her very last powers, her sight retrieved colors.

The world where only black and black existed now changed.

She arrived at the mainland.

Ubuki strained her eyes, climbing above and looking for the place that would serve as the landmark, aiming for her goal in a straight line.

Then—

“—!”

Ubuki flew down to a land in the city far away from Aoharima Island.

She didn’t have the leisure to soften her momentum. Rolling on the hard asphalt, she hugged Recall tightly to protect her from the impact, crashed against a wall—and stopped.

“—”

She felt the very last drops of her dream fall out.

Within her vanishing consciousness, reflected in Ubuki’s faintly open eyes was—

A swarm of glittering neon lights.

As well as something turning toward her somewhere nearby—the face of a precious friend.

“—Ubuki!”

An innocent face with a white blizzard surrounding her.

There was no doubt.

She was Ubuki’s precious—

“Transfer location—”

Recall’s head came rolling from Ubuki’s embrace. The girl’s face changed.

The surrounding mist shrouded over.

“—Here.”

The remainder of the girl’s head dispersed without trace.

The phenomenon that occurred at the same time looked like changing the TV channel.

Where only the blizzard-clad girl stood before, now many figures suddenly appeared.

Seeing this, Ubuki reached her limit.

Anmoto Shiika infiltrated it, Haji Senri found it, and Ubuki carried them there.

Everyone sent there knew that place.

3.00 The Others

“—Come, Taiki-san.”

Following the voice that called to him from outside him room’s window—

“…!”

Taiki jumped out of the window.

His room was on the second floor, but it wasn’t that high. They also had a lawn. Even taking in mind all these conditions—his own body very easily absorbed the impact of the landing. Taiki, who never gave any effort during gym classes and always focused on studying, somehow made it.

“Here!”

Her diagonally-cut bangs swaying, Ikarino Kirari spun her body. She leapt over the low fence, nimble as a cat.

“—”

Taiki looked up toward the window of his room. He jumped down due to a bad premonition and impulse, but he still couldn’t wipe away his anxiety.

“Big brother.”

His sister Ririe looked down on Taiki expressionlessly. She was petite even among fellow middle schoolers, and although not very sociable, she was their smart youngest sister.

“Taiki-san, hurry up!”

From the top of the fence, Ikarino Kirari shouted at him.

He flinched from his own family and followed a complete stranger. —He knew perfectly well that this wasn’t a natural situation in the least. However, that impulse without a cause urged Taiki to move.

Turning his back to Ririe, he tried following after Kirari.

“…!”

The surroundings that were dark due to the blackout or whatever suddenly became bright.

Taiki soon realized what light source illuminated them.

It was the sky.

“What—is that…?”

Could he call it a rain of light?

A swarm of stars floating in the night sky became a large mass of light. While lighting up the city like lightning, the mass of light was slowly changing its shape.

It became a golden, glowing, divine shrine—

A gigantic shrine was now floating above Taiki’s town. Its tremendous size was likely several times Taiki’s high school.

And there wasn’t just one.

Even within Taiki’s vision alone there were three. Although they were so far away that he couldn’t see their shape, he could see other floating objects that emitted light of the same type.

“Ah…!”

Ikarino Kirari grimaced. She held her ears.

“These—bell sounds…!”

Bell sounds.

Yesterday afternoon as well, Taiki’s classmates said that they heard it.

However, just like back then, Taiki couldn’t hear anything. Rather than that Taiki had been more taken in by the mysterious shrines popping overhead, but hearing a sound from overhead, he came back to his senses.

It was from right next to Taiki’s room.

She probably put her head out due to all the lights and sounds. His middle sister Noa opened her door’s window, glaring at the mysterious shrines floating in the night sky.

“Noa…!”

Noa made no response at all to Taiki’s voice. She was just staring, her expression vacant.

Just as Taiki found Noa’s behavior suspicious, this time the front door opened. His parents came out and looked up to the shrine with the same expression.

He was paralyzed by this bizarre sight, but it wasn’t just his family acting strange.

“…!”

Even from the neighboring house and on the other side of the street the residents came out and opened their doors, one after another. Their faces were vacant.

W-what’s going on? Is this real life?

Taiki was about to panic. It felt like seeing a nightmare, but the sensation of the grass touching his bare feet was too real.

“—Taiki-san! Quickly!”

Struck by this sharp voice, Taiki gasped.

Even while holding her head, Ikarino Kirari reached a hand toward him.

“B-but my family…!”

Unable to know what to believe in, he turned toward them.

“Don’t go, big brother.”

Ririe also reached toward Taiki. Taiki groaned.

“Taiki-san! There’s nothing you can do here!”

Ikarino Kirari was urging him, her face looking desperate. His family was acting completely abnormal.

Who should he believe in? Who should he go to? He didn’t even have to hesitate at this decision.

Even so, Taiki took an action unbelievable even to himself—

“—There are people waiting for you!”

Hearing those words, his body moved on its own.

Kicking the ground and running, Taiki took—

“We have no time.”

The hand of the grinning Ikarino Kirari.

Shocked at his own actions, Taiki turned to his house.

“…”

Ririe was staring at Taiki. Guilt stabbed his chest.

“—Sorry, Ririe.”

He couldn’t just abandon his family.

Right now, Taiki had no idea what made his family act so weird. Just like Kirari told him, he doubted there was something he could do by staying there.

He felt like it was the girl called Ikarino Kirari who knew the truth. If he could do anything for his family, it would have to start from asking her about the situation.

Because he had this intuition, he chose to part from his family for now.

“Get on, Taiki-san.”

A motorcycle was parked on the other side of the fence. Jumping down from it, Ikarino Kirari immediately rode the bike.

Taiki sat in the back just like he was told and Kirari grabbed his arms. She forcibly put them around her waist.

“Hold on tight.”

Saying this, Kirari revved up the engine.

It appeared to be an electrically operated motorcycle. There were no engine sounds and the motorcycle cut through the residential district like it was flying.

Kirari’s driving was excellent. As the motorcycle soundlessly slipped through alleys, it leapt out of the block where Taiki’s house was in no time flat.

Every window Taiki could see was open, and the residents all gazed at the shrines floating in the night sky.

“What’s up with that… what is going on…”

“Since there’s a blackout, they’d end up seeing these lights—”

For a moment, the girl grabbing the handlebars froze as though her head was struck.

“And… if they hear those bell sounds, everyone would end up looking up at the sky.”

Although there were no engine sounds, he could hear the girl’s voice well.

“The deluge of blackouts, as well as the deluge of light and sound—everyone in the country is probably being attacked by both of them right about now…”

The entire country was in a situation like this—

This sounded unbelievable, but he couldn’t laugh at this either. Although they were already far from his home due to Kirari’s driving, the lines of shrines floating in the sky were endless.

“A-are you alright? Why are only you…”

“It’s because I’ve gone through training to resist things like this before. The only ones not affected by this bell are probably those that went through special training like me—or Mushitsuki.”

“Mushitsuki—”

Taiki’s body stiffened.

In the first place, strange things started happening around Taiki ever since he started dreaming about Mushitsuki. All of a sudden Ikarino Kirari appeared in front of him and it finally became like this—

“Right, Mushitsuki. —Those Shrines are nothing more than triggers to create Mushitsuki.”

“Eh…?”

“It was probably originally the ability of one the Original Three—those Primal Mushi that gave birth to Mushitsuki. Since C absorbed the Church and the bell sounds, it became like this…”

Taiki paled. He couldn’t really understand what the girl was talking about, but she said things he couldn’t ignore. —That Shrine gave birth to Mushitsuki.

“No way… so my family’s also going to become Mushitsuki?”

“The originals could only make young people into Mushitsuki… but since C learned how to manipulate dreams and memories, she absorbed the Original Three.”

Ikarino Kirari was speaking.

“Even adults wish for things. C might be able to upgrade even simple wishes such as eating good food to dreams.”

“—”

“C’s goal is to create Mushitsuki and then make them into Revived that can come back to life again and again.”

Ikarino Kirari’s tone was detached.

“By doing that, she wants to fill the world with a new mankind—the Undying…”

He knew she was saying something very scary.

No—a world where no one could die was perhaps not scary, but actually good.

However, whether it was good or bad had nothing to do with Taiki right now.

His own family was in danger of becoming Mushitsuki.

Should he go back home? However, what could Taiki do even if he did?

Thinking this far, he noticed a contradiction.

“—What about me, then?”

He could feel the girl twitching a little.

“Why am I… fine, then? I’m not a Mushitsuki, but when I look at that Shrine nothing happens and I can’t hear the bell like you…”

“…”

“What does it mean? Hey!”

“There is—a reason for that.”

She sounded utterly convinced. Taiki felt his heart beating harder.

“Did you… do something to me?”

“The reason you are unaffected by the Shrine is different… but I did do something to you. I’m sorry.”

“Ha…? W-what do you—”

“The one who found you is the Mushitsuki called Konoha, but I was the only one who could approach you… because any Mushitsuki would get noticed by C. So I received something from a certain person and tried delivering it to you in secret. —And this happened before I acted the part of that journalist’s interpreter to see your reaction.”

Taiki couldn’t understand what she was saying at all.

“Eh…? Before the interview…? But we never—”

“I don’t have any distinguishing features other than my hairstyle… so if I hide that, wear a disguise and change my voice, I can infiltrate pretty much anywhere. I delivered you something many times, whether you were on the way to school or inside it. And every time I did that—you dreamt of Mushitsuki.”

“…!”

Receiving this impact that felt much like getting hit on the head by a club, he felt dizzy.

The origin of these dreams that Taiki worried about—was right in front of him.

“Why—h-how—”

“Because it was a request from the queen bee—from a certain Mushitsuki.”

For just a brief moment, her tone dropped as she said this.

“And because… doing this is my duty.”

“What—did you do to me?”

The moment Taiki asked this, the motorcycle decelerated.

They reached a certain corner of town illuminated by the Shrine’s light. Having stopped its engine, the motorcycle now approached a large, three-storied building using inertia alone.

“I’ll explain now.”

The residence’s garage facing the road remained half-open. As far as Taiki could see, that large house was wrapped in silence, and there were no residents peeking from the windows.

“…Including the reason you’re not affected by the Shrine.”

The motorcycle parked just as they slipped into the garage. Ikarino Kirari got off first.

While Taiki timidly got off as well, he felt the presence of a person there.

Within the dark interior of the garage there was something humanlike. —The golden light peeking through the half-open entrance illuminated their lower torso.

“W-who’s that…?”

Responding to Taiki’s voice, the person inside approached.

Revealed by the light was a girl who looked about Ikarino Kirari’s age. Perhaps having sustained some injury, her limbs were wrapped by bandages, and it looked rather painful.

That girl wearing a casket hat instantly reached for Taiki upon seeing his face.

“—Daisuke…”

The girl’s fingers touched Taiki’s cheek.

As this complete stranger took an unexcepted action—Taiki’s body was paralyzed. Her crying like this and forcing her wounded body to move in order to touch Taiki looked like it could be a famous scene from some movie.

“She’s Ayukawa Chiharu-san.”

Ikarino Kirari moved next to her, turning to Taiki.

“Ayukawa… Chiharu.”

Taiki didn’t know her.

However, the person called Chiharu appeared to be mistaking Taiki for someone. “Daisuke”, she called him—wait, did she mean his cousin Kusuriya Daisuke?

He’d also be the first to admit it, but Taiki had no distinguishing features in his appearance. He was of a medium build and height, and his hair was neither short nor long. He was a normal high-schooler who could even be called plain.

It’d be natural for him to be mistaken for someone else in this limited lighting.

“Y-you look hurt… shouldn’t you be going to a hospital?”

As Taiki said this, Chiharu’s expression froze.

“And she, err, seems to be mistaking me with someone, so she should at least rest until she calms down…”

He tried worrying about the girl.

However, as Chiharu raised her brows sadly, Kirari sank into a pregnant silence.

“…?”

Taiki frowned.

Chiharu bit her lips. Inserting her hand into her shirt, she pulled out a necklace from inside her collar. There was a gold ring hanging from the chain.

“I’ll bring you back to yourself now—”

“…!”

Inside Chiharu’s palm, the ring started glowing in azure.

Chiharu brought the glowing ring closer to Taiki—

“—”

Both Taiki and Chiharu’s expressions stiffened and they froze on the spot.

Why did they stop moving?

That was—because Ikarino Kirari stuck out something toward Ayukawa Chiharu’s temple.

“Kirari-san…?”

It was a gun.

And it was a large automatic pistol, the kinds of which he’d only see in foreign movies. It looked so heavy for Kirari’s thin arms it was a wonder she could hold it like that.

The moment after, a light burst at the entrance to the garage.

“—Big brother.”

As Taiki turned around in shock, he saw his little sister Ririe standing there.

“Kirari-san, are you… being controlled by C—”

Chiharu groaned, her voice hoarse.

3.01 The Others

Pointing the gun at Chiharu, Kirari spat in a cold voice.

“Don’t move, Ayukawa Chiharu-san.”

Standing at the garage door, Ririe glared at Ayukawa Chiharu and then mumbled.

“Aria Varei—”

“You too.”

Ririe stopped as Kirari looked to her as well.

“Tell the Revived outside to also show themselves and stay still.”

Ririe was speechless.

“If you don’t—I’ll kill Ayukawa Chiharu-san here.”

Chiharu shuddered. Taiki didn’t know what to do at this sudden development.

“Kirari-san…? What are you doing?”

Ignoring Chiharu’s question, Kirari spoke to Ririe.

“You want to absorb the Original Three—Aria Varie—that’s inside her, right? But if the vessel dies here, then Aria Varei who’s fused with her will be gone as well.”

“…”

“By killing the vessel, I could kill Aria Varei. Miguruma Yaeko knew them to be such a fragile existence—which was why she attacked Aoharima Island, trying to kill Sanbikime along with the vessel.”

Kirari and Ririe glared at each other.

“All I want is to have a little talk with you. —However, if you’re not willing to talk, I’ll kill Ayukawa Chiharu. Before she gets absorbed by you and you become an even larger threat.”

“Talk…?”

Chiharu was shocked, turning her face to Ririe.

“With her—with C?”

C.

This time it was Taiki’s turn to shudder.

He heard this name so much every night in his dreams that he was sick of it.

The C he knew and his sister weren’t alike at all—no, perhaps there were a few traces of that in her face, but they were definitely different people. He couldn’t understand the meaning behind Ikarino Kirari’s actions, but he could understand Chiharu’s words even less.

“You know what kind of person I am, right? Even if you know, you can’t say this is an idle threat, right? Since you’re C—you can think logically about it.”

She definitely wouldn’t lose against Ikarino Kirari’s resolute actions. However—

“…”

Ririe’s eyes softened and she became expressionless again. Behind her, many boys and girls appeared in front of the garage. All of them were expressionless as if they were mimicking her.

“Ririe…?”

Seeing his little sister commanding all these strange people, Taiki felt like he didn’t know her at all.

“Thank you very much for agreeing to talk.”

Ikarino Kirari thanked her and bowed politely.

Now retrieving her calm, Chiharu glared at Kirari. There was a very unsettling atmosphere throughout the garage.

“…Can you explain what you’re doing? Kirari-san.”

“Thank you very much for using my services. I am Handyman Kirarin✩.”

Still holding the gun, Kirari bowed again.

“I am currently fulfilling two requests. However, their contents are one and the same.”

The girl who managed to seal the movements of both Ririe and Chiharu looked at Taiki.

“That is, returning a certain Mushitsuki to the frontlines—namely, Kakkou.”

Taiki was confused.

He had no idea who Ikarino Kirari was, and he didn’t care for her goals.

However, for some reason—she looked straight at him and started talking.

“He continued fighting ever since he became a Mushitsuki. For a long time… he hurt many people and he also saved many people. Like, Fuyuhotaru, Lady Bird, as well as… a certain Marker-User. Without him, perhaps the entire country would have gotten affected by their rampage.”

Kirari’s tone was detached. Was she speaking about some stories from the past Taiki knew nothing about?

“—But he then exhausted himself.”

This had nothing to do with him.

Even so, strangely—he felt something stir within him.

“Just as he was about to Mature… he got his Mushi killed by Fuyuhotaru, and his life was saved. In return, he became a Fallen with neither memories nor feelings… but even in that state, he was still needed. By the queen bee’s group, including Ayukawa Chiharu right here.”

“I—I’m not like Chami-chan—”

Ayukawa Chiharu tried denying it, but soon wore a pained face and went silent.

“However, Kakkou rejected Chiharu-san’s call. Because he knew that if he woke up, he’d have to fight again. He was… too tired.”

While Kirari spoke matter-of-factly, Chiharu averted her face.

“However, the queen be—did not allow Kakkou to sleep.”

“Thinking that if calling him wasn’t enough, she could let those who knew him well try to convince him, the queen bee split the personality she pulled out of Kakkou and sent it to his close acquaintances or those of the same power level—to the Rank 1 Mushitsuki. If they resonated with each other, they might be able to forcibly wake up Kakkou… this was her gamble.”

Taiki’s heart felt like it jumped inside his chest.

Resonating with the Rank 1s—

Hearing these words, the bad premonition inside Taiki was growing worse.

“Letting Kakkou’s personality come in contact with the Rank 1s and recollecting it was Ayukawa Chiharu’s job—and I was requested to deliver it to Kakkou’s body. It also overlapped with a request I’d been given by another person before…”

“—W-wait a minute—”

Wait.

Taiki wanted to stop her, but Ikarino Kirari continued forcefully.

“Kakkou’s body was found by the queen bee’s comrade, who could use an ability to see afar—but two unexcepted things happened.”

The girl’s eyes watching Taiki narrowed in sadness.

“Firstly, apparently Kakkou-san’s fragments I collected had some of the Rank 1 memories copied into them—”

The memories of the Rank 1 Mushitsuki—Tachibana Arisu, Harukiyo, as well as Sleeping Beauty, Arisu.

For some reason, their names rose to Taiki’s mind.

It was because he dreamt about them every night—because he watched parts of their memories.

“And another miscalculation—was that Kakkou’s body was living as a completely different person.”

“—”

Ririe’s brows twitched and she tried moving her arm.

Ikarino Kirari immediately put power into her hand holding the gun, keeping Ririe in check.

“I did think I was mistaken at first. There’s been such an ingenious, careful falsification of reality. —I couldn’t believe it had been done in so short of a time.”

Falsification of reality—

Taiki heart beat to a painful extent. Even so his body felt heavy and he couldn’t move even a single finger.

“With none the wiser and with no one noticing—a certain household suddenly had two more kids. Starting with those parents and their only daughter, to the people living nearby and even classmates, any and all humans related to them had their memories manipulated. She created two fake lives, carved those into everyone’s memories, falsified the family register, grades and all other relevant digital data, and even prepared rooms. There was even an album with composite photos…”

It was there that Taiki’s thought short-circuited.

He simply couldn’t understand what the girl was saying. —Or wouldn’t.

While holding the gun, he didn’t know why she was making such a sad face.

“I just barely managed to find an old official copy of the family register… not a digital one, but one that was no more than yellowed paper. If I’d been just a little late in finding it, it would’ve been purged as well.”

“…”

“There was only three people’s worth of information written there. Among the two not written there, one was the body double of the falsifier herself, C—”

Ikarino Kirari looked at the girl standing at the entrance to the garage.

“Takashiro Ririe.”

Ikarino spat this, then tried turning toward Taiki—

“And the other one is—”

“Wa—wait—”

He blocked her sight with a hand, as if he didn’t want to look at Kirari’s face.

“…Please wait…”

He repeated this, his eyes widened.

Ikarino Kirari’s explanation were too hectic, something that could just be laughed off.

Even so—the heartbeat pounding inside his chest wouldn’t let him do so. Cold sweat erupting all over and the sounds pounding in his chest urged Taiki violently.

Get out of here, quickly—they seemed to be saying this.

“Why would you do that…”

After being rejected by Taiki, Ikarino Kirari turned her face to Ririe.

“If you were just scared of Kakkou-san, you should’ve just hidden him somewhere no one would find him—no, you even had the choice to kill him! So why would you go through the trouble of doing all that…!”

“K-kill…?!”

Kirari blamed Ririe, while Chiharu blamed Kirari in turn.

“—I do not fear Kakkou.”

Seeing his little sister suddenly say this, Taiki felt his breath stop.

His little sister, who he was so used to see, started transforming. Golden lines surged around her and her hair ends and fingertips became covered in glowing lines of electric flow.

“—”

Seeing his little sister transform into something inhumane, Taiki felt the very last traces of his rationality crumbling away. His head became blank.

“I am not afraid of anything. The system called C is to make all of humanity into Mushitsuki, make them Undying, and lead them to eternal rest. Leaving aside the Mushitsuki of the old generation trying to eliminate me, I have the right to screen all other people with my Deluge.”

All human emotions were gone from Ririe’s expression. She was looking at her supposed brother Taiki with doll-like, round eyes.

“There are no exceptions. No one is special to C.”

“If he’s not special, then why…!”

“Since the Mushitsuki called Kakkou stood in my way, I have eliminated him. If he was a Fallen, I could revive him into the Undying and thus saved him.”

Ririe’s mouth did not move at all. Even so her voice kept echoing.

“However, when I picked him up, he was empty.”

“…!”

Ikarino Kirari and Ayukawa Chiharu widened their eyes—and looked at the shining necklace.

If the story from before was true, Kakkou’s personality was in there.

Originally, it should’ve been inside the owner’s body.

“This was my first time handling an empty body. Since this was an unprecedented case, I had to experiment. It was needed in order to gain more data for the creation of a new world, too.”

“An… experiment—”

As Taiki muttered this unconsciously, Ririe’s eyes passed at him.

“Creating a personality and giving it to an empty body.”

Finally—

What Taiki already understood for a while now, those words that would ruin him—

“The personality called Taiki didn’t exist until now.”

Came right from the mouth of his little sister Ririe.

His memories of living with his two sisters ever since he was young.

His memories of playing with childhood friends as well as other friends he made while growing up.

All of them—were simply fabrications.

He wanted to laugh it off, say there was no way it was true—but right now Taiki was surrounded by far too many unrealistic things.

Right, to the extent that the balance between reality and fiction was reversed—

“Apart from giving you a personality, I gave you the right to be chosen by the Deluge. —So there’s no exception, and nothing special about you.”

Ririe’s mechanical tone sounded terribly creepy to him.

“That is also a needed process in order to create a new world. Once I eliminated all the failed products and bequeathed rest to everyone turning them into the Undying, there would no longer be any need for humans to fight. —Then, as long as life activities are preserved, I can reconstruct the world.”

Although no one was even listening, Ririe continued talking.

“By controlling the memories of the new mankind called the Undying, the very concept of death will be gone. As long as life activities and breeding will be preserved, I will give everyone personalities lacking any violence, preserve birth rates and make the newborn into Mushitsuki as well—and recreate the world as one without any fights or fear.”

Ririe recited her own duty disinterestedly.

“Everyone will continue forever without losing anything. —The world will become Undying.”

Neither Taiki, Ikarino Kirari or Ayukawa Chiharu could say anything.

They were probably all thinking the same.

Taiki especially noticed it with pain that felt like his entire body was being twisted.

“And the failed products are resisting the world where no one loses anything.”

“—Then why?”

Taiki’s mouth moved on its own despite his intentions.

He didn’t want to say this—but he ended up spitting what he shouldn’t.

“Why is… nothing happening to me now?”

Kirari and Chiharu probably understood.

Therefore, both averted their eyes from his with pained-looking expressions.

“That Deluge or whatever already started, right? But I can’t feel anything… I can’t even hear the bells… Does that mean I’m not being selected…? I’m not even a Mushitsuki, so why am I the only one…”

That was the biggest reason why Taiki couldn’t believe in his existence.

“Why do I feel so sad, hearing all of this now…?”

The world that Ririe—no, C created shouldn’t have any pain in it.

Taiki himself was supposed to be a personality created by C.

The fact he was feeling pain was a contradiction.

“…”

The thing that took Ririe’s shape looked at Taiki and thought.

After thinking, she mouthed her conclusion.

“You’re a failure.”

“—”

These three words seemed to cut off the being known as Taiki and throw him away.

Just like trash.

Just like a used teabag, his life was thrown into the trashcan.

“My personality-fabricating program was standardized based on the memories and feelings from the Mushitsuki I touched. I should have given you enough years’ worth of memories to have a dream, but it was unexpected you would have no reaction to my Shrine. And since you are physically fine, bearing no wounds or mental stress, it’s also abnormal for you to feel pain. I shall now fix—”

“Stooop!”

Shouting loud, Taiki leapt back from Ririe who was raising an arm.

“Don’t do… anything else to me…!”

“Why are you rejecting me? I only want to remove your pain and fear—”

“I told you—don’t try anything.”

Ikarino Kirari put strength into her finger holding the trigger. Ririe stopped moving.

“You’re not the one to decide here, C. Also—it’s not you, Chiharu-san, either.”

Chiharu’s face froze.

Shaking her diagonal bangs, Kirari looked at Taiki.

“The one to decide is Taiki-san.”

“…!”

“Right now, only the person called Taiki-san has the authority to decide what to choose.”

Choose?

Being suddenly told that, Taiki was confused.

What did Taiki need to choose right now?

“Chiharu-san, I have the same goal as you. However, you can’t just ignore the opinion of a completely unrelated person.”

Chiharu became speechless at Kirari’s words.

“Since you were trying to sacrifice someone who wasn’t given the choice to try and call him back—I doubt Kakkou will respond to your call.”

“…!”

“You don’t wish for it either; you’re just forcing yourself due to your sense of duty and responsibility, right? You want to carry all sins on your back. —Since Kakkou had done the same until he exhausted all his powers again and again, he would definitely not wish for this.”

Chiharu’s expression became more and more twisted. She looked like she wanted to deny it, but her body shook so much that no words came out.

“C.”

Ikarino Kirari turned to Ririe next.

“To me it does look like Taiki-san’s special to you. You may call it an experiment, but I don’t believe you needed to make such meticulous preparations, in that case… not to mention you putting your own body double as his sister. If you just wanted to watch over him, you had plenty of ways.”

“I am C. There are no exceptions. I have no one special to me.”

Ririe spoke naturally.

“A family living together is the most popular arrangement.”

“…Eh?”

Taiki let out a stupid voice without thinking, glaring at Ririe.

The girl who was but wasn’t his sister spoke.

“I am a special body without any personality either. Therefore—me and Taiki are siblings.”

Siblings.

That was too much of a leap in logic; there was probably another way of saying that.

However, if there were only two similar existences in this world—

Perhaps they could be called family.

He could almost believe this—since Taiki felt like he was going to stop breathing from loneliness, he had the sense like this was a very small salvation.

“…I can only think of what she’s doing—of the world she is trying to create as a boxed garden that uses people as playthings. If you abandon people who aren’t Mushitsuki, you won’t last long anyway…”

Ikarino Kirari spoke.

“But I myself want to accept the person called Taiki-san.”

The girl with a gun changed her expression, glaring at Ririe.

“It’s been only for a short while, but the Taiki-san I’ve seen was definitely human. That’s why I believe he should be the one to decide. —C. If you claim you two are siblings because of this experiment you’ve conducted on him, then his next actions should also be data for you. I don’t mind what you do to us after he makes his choice. How about that?”

Ririe looked between Kirari and Taiki’s faces.

“—Agreed.”

Her response was quick.

“However, C declares that she won’t attack anyone here after Taiki’s choice. Showing any hostility toward you two might end up influencing his decision, after all.”

“Thank you very much. …Chiharu-san.”

Ikarino Kirari turned her face to Chiharu.

“The one you see now isn’t Daisuke-san. It’s Taiki-san. He also has a family. —Even if it was fabricated, it’s becoming reality.”

“—uh.”

Something like a hiccough leaked from the depths of Chiharu’s throat. Looking at Taiki desperately, her face ended up distorting painfully.

“He has the right to live a life without fighting.”

Chiharu’s hand holding the necklace—grasped it. The ring’s glow was vanishing.

“…I don’t get it…”

Hugging her clenched fist, Chiharu squatted down.

“I mean, Daisuke… probably wished for this life…! If I steal it from him again, I… but if I don’t do that, Daisuke will…! I don’t know anymore—”

Rounding her body on the ground, Chiharu raised her tear-stained face.

“Sorry for being such a lousy sister…!”

Sister.

Taiki looked at the sobbing Chiharu with a start.

She was—the older sister of the person called Kakkou. There was something so ghastly in her eyes looking at him because she looked at her family member inside him.

“Taiki-san, tell us what you want to do.”

Kirari looked at Taiki.

Ririe and Chiharu also looked at Taiki.

“Eh… what I want to do—meaning—”

The girls said they’d let Taiki choose.

They asked him what he wanted.

Wasn’t there only a single thing he wished for?

“But that’s—”

He wanted to go back to his previous normal life.

Did they think he had any other choice?

Or were they thinking that he was about to hand over his body to the one called Kakkou? If so, they considered Taiki too much of a fool.

“I, I want things to be like they were until now—”

Ikarino Kirari was made no reaction.

Ayukawa Chiharu twisted her face.

Ririe—was expressionless, much like she was watching something on a screen.

Seeing his sister’s unknown figure, he started muttering.

“I, I…”

Just like they were until now?

Even though—he now knew that these were nothing but fake memories created by C?

No, he didn’t mind that. Well, he did mind it, but it wasn’t a problem. Even if all of this was a lie, Taiki had been able to live his life just fine. Because he had been given this choice.

If so, then why did Taiki hesitate so much?

“Taiki has no reason to lose his personality and return being Kakkou.”

Ririe spoke.

“If you say you’re hurt, I will remove that pain.”

That voice sounded somewhat kind—because Taiki finally understood something.

Ririe—no, C—wasn’t Taiki’s enemy.

She didn’t have any intention of hurting Taiki; rather the opposite. She was trying to save him from pain. It was true that he had no reason to reject her at all.

However—

“…”

Seeing the people behind Ririe, Taiki couldn’t help but feel anxious.

The Revived. Since he saw them in the Rank 1s memories, he knew what they were very well.

The were the Undying, revived by reusing the power called a dream.

They also said that they were given personalities like Taiki to create a painless new world.

And these people also looked extremely creepy to Taiki.

“…Thanks, Ririe.”

Taiki smiled at his sister Ririe.

It was a very awkward and forced smile—and he had the feeling that he smiled for the first time in a long while.

“You’re my family. …Noa, dad and mom, too.”

“Yes, true.”

Her mouth was unmoving, but Ririe nodded.

What Taiki wished for was a peaceful life like what he had until now.

Even if it was manufactured. Even if he had fake memories.

His father was a bit strict, but he prided himself on protecting his family. His mother was noisy, but she supported her husband and children. Although Noa was starting to show signs of being rebellious, she never troubled her family, and he was looking forward to see the smart Ririe’s future.

That was Taiki’s family as he knew it.

Unlike those people behind Ririe who had expressions like dolls—

“…I wonder. Can this guy called Kakkou…”

His legs started shaking as though convulsing.

Fear and anxiety made even Taiki’s voice shake.

“Win against C…?”

Ririe remained expressionless.

Ayukawa Chiharu slowly raised her face.

Ikarino Kirari—shook her head to the sides.

“—I don’t know.”

Right.

He saw the memories of the Rank 1s to a painful extent.

He knew there was no guarantee to win against the unprecedented threat called C.

Even so, he had to make sure.

“My family… would they have helped, before becoming like that…?”

If not, he would feel like he was going to get crushed by the action he was about to take.

If he had even the smallest excuse—he would make it into a reason why he couldn’t do this to protect his family.

Then, he’d have C erase even this guilt and live his life to the fullest.

Was it the human decision to make?

But it made him feel sick.

For Taiki to not only pass over the one and only method for someone like him to protect his family—but even forget about this fact and start living a normal life.

Not feeling sick about it—

Would surely mean he wasn’t human.

“…I don’t know.”

Ayukawa Chiharu, who wrung out this honest answer, probably felt the same.

She could lie and she could trick him.

However, she’d obviously feel bad as a human, doing something like that.

Taiki looked at Ririe.

“…You’re also my family. But—I do believe that people should decide for themselves…”

It scared him to even think about what happened, and mumbling this took everything he had.

He was deathly scared of what would happen to him now.

At this moment, his head was filled with excuses and doubts.

Even so, he extended a hand to Chiharu.

“…”

Chiharu made a befuddled face, but she timidly presented her arm forward.

Her clenched hand opened slowly.

Taiki unconsciously averted his gaze from the ring glowing a pale azure.

“Can this guy called Kakkou—”

He raised his voice, trying to force himself to find his resolve.

He looked at the lines of creepy Revived who blocked the exit from the garage.

Everyone had dreams.

The scenery he saw until reaching the garage taught him that. All humans had dreams, whether big or small, of wanting to become something.

Therefore, everyone responded to C’s Deluge.

There was probably only a single person in the entire country who hadn’t—

“Hold this pain of not even having a dream…?!”

Nothing happened—to Taiki alone.

Even his hope of living a normal life was perhaps no more than a wish created by C as well.

Maybe it wasn’t.

However, this hopeless sense of loneliness threatened to crush Taiki.

Enough to make him feel so happy that Ririe referred to them as siblings.

Taiki turned back, his eyes full of tears.

Ikarino Kirari and Ayukawa Chiharu.

Both girls looked straight at Taiki.

“Yeah.”

“Yup.”

They said this and nodded.

If these two honest girls—the girls who could have just as easily lied to him to force him to fulfill their goals and yet kept being honest with Taiki to the very end—said this, it was probably the truth.

It meant that Kakkou was that kind of person.

He even starting feeling a little—

That he wanted to become like that.

“—”

Taiki grasped the ring held atop Chiharu’s palm.

A whirl of emotions passed through his arm like a violent storm.

Anger, hatred, pain burned Taiki from the inside like roaring flames. At the same time, a cold sadness and pain froze his legs, making him unable to move from the spot.

And there was a small handful of warmth.

—I want to see you again, Daisuke-kun.

A certain girl’s smile shook off the flames and melted the ice.

“Yeah, I understand, Daisuke—”

Chiharu touched Taiki’s shoulder, and made a gesture as if she sucked in something large.

“Mushitsuki can recall their dreams again and again…”

Something born within Taiki—something important that he recalled—fell down.

He felt it getting absorbed into Ayukawa Chiharu’s mouth.

3.02 Daisuke Part 1

He felt like he came back to life—no, this experience did not fit that sort of expression.

His body was as heavy as though he was standing in the depths of the ocean and he couldn’t breathe. There was nothing wrong with his body, but he felt as though he was carrying several people on his back.

No, it wasn’t just a feeling.

When he was the boy called Taiki, he’d seen four Rank 1s’ worth of dreams.

He could feel part of their lives along with a fragment of their memories still inside him now. He was further carrying the “pain” of yet another person.

“Dai…suke…?”

As he stood there voicelessly, Ayukawa Chiharu looked up at him, her face wet with tears.

He opened his clenched hand.

“Thanks, Chiharu.”

He—Kusuriya Daisuke—smiled, returning the necklace to his sister.

Large tears started streaming down Chiharu’s eyes. She rose up as if to leap into his arms, but soon shook painfully and crouched again.

“How can you—no… I just—”

“What about Sanbikime?”

As Daisuke asked this, Chiharu’s movements stopped.

The girl fused with one of the Original Three, Sanbikime, wiped her tears roughly. Raising her face, she smiled toward her younger brother, Daisuke.

“Don’t worry. Aria—will stay with me forever.”

By eating people’s dreams, Sanbikime would keep only moving from their vessel again and again. It was the only reason they managed to live thus far without getting found out.

Staying with that monster for life meant she would no longer give birth to any Mushitsuki.

Meaning that as long as Chiharu was alive, she would have to keep suppressing the hunger to eat a person’s dream.

It was probably hell.

However, Chiharu was resolved to live this life of suffering along with Aria Varei—

“Don’t make this face, Daisuke. Rather than that, take this—”

As if to avoid Daisuke’s eyes, Chiharu brought out something other than the necklace.

It was an old model cellphone. It was wrapped by something like a bizarre mist.

“It has Recall-chan’s ability on it. We believe you’ll be able to get to the Ark with everyone if you have this…”

Chiharu’s hand holding the cellphone was slightly shaking. She probably didn’t want to hand it over to him.

“Got it.”

As Daisuke accepted the cellphone from his sister’s hands, a voice called to him from the side.

“Daisuke-san.”

Ikarino Kirari presented him with an automatic pistol and a black long coat. At her feet was an opened bag and large goggles.

“…Thank you too, Kirari.”

Daisuke received his equipment and put it on.

“—You told me you’d let me choose, but you actually knew this, right?”

As he wore his goggles on his head, Ikarino Kirari gave a low bow.

“Thank you for using our services.”

Raising her face, the girl suddenly looked like she was crying.

It was the exact same expression Kirari had when she’d seen the ending of a certain Mushitsuki along with him.

“We will probably never meet again.”

Whenever Kusuriya Daisuke and Ikarino Kirari met, someone would vanish from the world.

She didn’t want to repeat the same kind of tragedy ever again.

Her words of farewell contained this wish.

Daisuke turned his back to the handyman called Kirari and back to the entrance to the garage.

“—Ririe.”

He calmly faced the girl in control of the Revived.

“Thank you for waiting for my—for Taiki’s choice.”

“The experiment has failed.”

The girl clad in a golden glow spoke in a voice without any inflection.

Daisuke shook his head to the sides.

“That was probably—a good family.”

“…”

Those two who were siblings not long ago looked at each other.

As he lowered the goggles over his eyes, mist started slowly wrapping around Kusuriya Daisuke—the Mushitsuki known as Blaze Class Rank 1, Kakkou. It came from the cellphone handed to him by Chiharu.

At the same time, Ririe—C’s body double raised her face with a twitch. She looked to the distance for a moment as if in response to something, then turned to Daisuke again.

Those two who were family until yesterday would now go back to their previous relationship.

Although various feelings crossed between them in this short time, in the end nothing changed.

The new generation of Mushitsuki, trying to create a new world without any pain.

The old generation of Mushitsuki, who fought in order to make their dream come true despite choosing pain.

“Let’s settle this.”

“C accepts.”

The two glaring at each other were wiped away from the garage.

C probably returned her body double to the original.

On the other hand, Daisuke—felt like he was falling. In the space of a few seconds, he flew through a strange space where darkness and light mixed and moved as an expanding mist—

And appeared on top of the supporting pillar of a huge bridge.

Fanned by the side wind, his long coat fluttered.

Apart from him other clumps of mist appeared on the ground, and people who looked like Mushitsuki appeared one after another.

Including Daisuke, the Mushitsuki were all led there.

It was a star-studded Ark of light—

No.

Daisuke knew that place.

It was originally created as part of a development plan, a reclaimed land on top of the sea. With a lone hanging bridge and train lines connecting it to the shore, it commanded a wide area. On the coast were a series of high bridges surrounding the premises, while inside them there were rows of multi-tenant buildings and roads.

Unlike the mainland assaulted by the deluge of blackouts, here all lights were on. Above all else the blinding lights of the capital were gathered right in the center.

In the very center of these high-rise buildings there was a single especially tall building. With a silhouette that looked like a giant spear piercing Earth, it was wrapped in a golden glow. —That building was the only thing Daisuke didn’t know.

It was a city developed as an experiment, able to house a population of 100,000 people.

Daisuke knew everything about this city.

After all, this place was under the jurisdiction of the East Central Branch, where Daisuke belonged—and in fact, was the collection facility for the empty shells of Mushitsuki, called the Fallen.

“It’s GARDEN…!”

East Central Branch jurisdiction, Fallen Assembly Facility, Hashiba City.

It was once called GARDEN—

And at present, it was the Ark taken over by C.

3.03 Shiika The Last

“—So in the end I’m back here…”

Anmoto Shiika had disguised herself as the Dove and came back to C.

It was a giant city, studded with twinkling lights.

GARDEN.

“And now—”

Shiika was at the entrance to this reclaimed land called Hashiba City.

Behind her was the giant hanging bridge connected to the mainland. On both sides were the coastal road and high bridge connected from the interchange. And ahead of her—was a swarm of high-rise buildings jutting from the ground.

As Shiika had C’s brainwashing lifted from her, this scene looked like paradise to her.

A sea of blinding neon, as well as the golden fairies and C-butterflies filling the place.

It was heaven, and it was also like a shrine housing a God—

However, it was also a boxed garden without any feeling of life.

Shiika had once lived in this city.

She became a Mushitsuki, got turned to a Fallen by the boy who had the same dream, and lived in this land—a collection facility that existed only to manage and observe the Fallen.

She thought of nothing.

She felt nothing.

For long four years, in this city—

Now she came back to this city, called GARDEN.

“It’s finally time for the final battle…!”

Shiika held both hands aloft, materializing her Mushi.

“…!”

The fairies and C-butterflies who gathered to bless her noticed the abnormality and distanced themselves.

White snow began falling down from above.

At the same time, Shiika touched the tiara on her head.

“Uh…!”

Withstanding the surging electric shock, she forcibly removed the tiara from her head. Unlike back at Aoharima Island, Shiika’s body was free, this time.

A single flake of snow landed on the tiara falling from Shiika’s hand.

Along with loud sounds of destruction, light surged through the entrance of GARDEN. Large fissures ran through the ground and the tiara broke down to smithereens, causing bursts of golden light. Flinching, Shiika gritted her teeth to remain conscious.

“She is not the Dove—regard her as an intruder.”

All of C’s body doubles fairies spoke in unison. The fluttering C-butterflies and fairies on the surface were all linked together through golden electricity.

It was a close shave.

The moment after Shiika defended herself with the pouring snow, her view was dyed with golden light.

A large earthquake shook her footing. For a moment, Shiika’s small body floated in air from the tremor.

A massive lightning strike assaulted Shiika.

“Urkh…!”

She fell down, but soon rose up again.

The curtain of snow protected Shiika from lightning. Touching the snow, it broke down completely, flying to all sides like a living being in agony. It was something physically impossible.

“—She’s, nearby…”

Shiika groaned, heightening her consciousness while raising her Mushi aloft.

She thickened the raging blizzard, using everything she had to protect herself.

“C is somewhere in GARDEN…!”

Even someone as stupid as her could understand this clearly.

The pressure created by the lightning attacking her was something completely different from C’s power that touched her in Akamaki City.

Furthermore—

“She is not the Dove. That is Fuyuhotaru.”

“None of the old generation of Mushitsuki have the right to be invited to the Ark.”

“All intruders—”

“Shall be eliminated from the Ark.”

There were too many fairies and C-butterflies.

Even the number of Revived who were brought there after being guided by the voices of fairies—were already over a hundred.

“—”

With hundreds of guardians facing her, Shiika gulped. She felt cold sweat trickle down her forehead.

C was probably using the independent generators of GARDEN itself. Enough power to make an entire city function became the source for her powers—

“—C’s there…!”

Trying to snap herself from fearful paralysis, Shiika took a single step forward.

The isolated and unassisted Shiika faced hundreds of enemies.

And that very first step—

“—Kyaaah!”

She was repelled back by a golden flash and colorful lights.

She had no idea what was done to her.

No, it was something very simple.

She received a concentrated, simultaneous attack by the fairies, C-butterflies and Revived.

She tried walking forward, but the impact blocked her, pushing her back.

She just barely stepped in place and managed to prevent herself from falling down, recovering her blizzard curtain.

“She’s definitely here—somewhere in GARDEN…!”

Even C couldn’t control this much power from far away.

It was the sensation of the attacks hitting Shiika that told her this truth the most. She knew that she was attacked the most of everyone, ever since becoming a Mushitsuki.

The attacks carried out by the fairies—were for “defense”.

They weren’t meant to defeat Shiika. Obviously their main goal was to eliminate her, but it looked like the fairies and Revived just stayed in place, watching Shiika’s reactions and attacking her by force.

What were they protecting?

It went without saying.

“If C is somewhere here… then I—”

Bending down, she advanced along with the blowing blizzard.

If she just protected herself, she’d be chased out of GARDEN quickly. She couldn’t allow that to happen.

“I can’t afford to lose… until everyone comes…”

Shiika’s role was to keep remaining near C until her comrades arrived.

In order to approach even a step closer to C, she kept advancing toward where the pressure was the strongest. C was located where the fairies tried to protect.

“Kuh…!”

The attacks aiming for Shiika could only be expressed as “terrific”.

Lights and impacts bursting at the entrance to Hashiba City ripped the night sky and ground haphazardly.

“Until everyone comes—”

Right about now, the Mushitsuki on Aoharima Island should be moving.

They should sense Shiika’s powers during her fight and come rushing there.

Until then, all Shiika had to do was focus on approaching C.

She never thought she’d be able to beat C alone in the first place. Even just defeating the Revived who surrounded Shiika from a distance was probably impossible.

But that was fine.

Shiika was just a lighthouse.

All she had to do was wait for her comrades to come there by relying on the light she emitted—

“—”

She took a step.

And another step.

Being pushed by the impacts, she stood in place for a while.

She took another step, then got pushed back.

“…Hah… hah…”

How long did this fruitless endeavor continued?

After struggling for a what felt like eternity, Shiika glanced behind her with a pale face.

She ended up smiling.

Shiika hadn’t taken even twenty steps from where she started.

There were too many enemies.

Perhaps still cautious at being unable to beat Shiika at one go, the fairies and Revived kept taking their distance from her.

“You are advised to surrender.”

Not lessening the attackers, a fairy spoke.

“Secret Class Rank 1, Fuyuhotaru. I do not understand your reason to oppose C. The possibility of you beating C with your full powers is close to zero.”

Shiika couldn’t beat C. Shiika alone couldn’t even approach any of the Revived blocking her path.

However, it was a different story if her comrades were there.

If all these reliable Mushitsuki were there with her, Shiika would be able to reach C—

“The Mushitsuki of the old generation will not appear here.”

The fairy asserted this resolutely.

“I copied the same wavelength of the battle occurring here and started transmitting it all over the country. A sensor that can differentiate them doesn’t exist.”

Shiika put strength into her two legs, advancing further.

“You are all alone—and powerless.”

No one would appear next to Shiika.

If this was the past Shiika, she would definitely be shaken by C’s words.

But Shiika knew.

She hesitated, worried, and even started doubting the boy Kusuriya Daisuke with whom she promised to reunite, and escaped to the peace given to her by C.

And while that happened, Shiika came to know a certain fact.

Compared to doubting or running away—

“They’ll definitely come—”

She felt the happiest when she believed.

Belief could make you stronger.

Even now that she was a moment away from collapsing, just by waiting for those precious to her—

Shiika could keep walking ahead.

“Definitely…!”

Announcing this, she took yet another step forward.

Narrowing the span of the blizzard, she also increased its richness to protect herself. She was bad at controlling the snow and it took a lot out of her, but it should help her move further.

She wanted to approach C’s main body as much as possible before her comrades came—

She was resolved to do this.

“…!”

At that moment, Shiika felt wind.

It was a refreshing sea breeze.

Since she was protecting her body with the blizzard and was exposed to so many violent attacks, it should have been impossible for her to feel something like that.

However, she did feel it.

This familiar presence—right, that air mixed with the smell of grass on that island.

The wind of freedom.

“…!”

As if noticing something, the fairies all raised their faces.

They stopped their attacks and fell back, cautious.

Shiika heard the sound of cutting wind from behind her.

“—”

As she turned around, what jumped into her sight was a black bird appearing from the sky—

No, it was a human figure with large black wings sprouting from its back.

It leapt over the hanging bridge, crashing down on the entrance to Hashiba City. Rolling atop the asphalts devastated by the fight between Shiika and C, she crashed against a building and stopped.

This sight of her entire body dyed in black and her gnarled wings crumbling was abnormal.

However, Shiika realized at a glance who she was.

“Ubuki…!”

Shirakashi Ubuki.

Ubuki was the Mushitsuki who saved her when she’d been captured by the SEPB in the past. After that, they met with the companion called Ebina Yuu and had a short escape journey.

Why did this precious friend of hers appear here?

Why had she been reduced to a shadow of herself like that?

Before she could think of answers to those questions, she tried rushing to Ubuki—

“Transfer location—”

Seeing what rolled away from the chest of the unmoving Ubuki, she froze.

It was a girl’s head.

All body under her neck became mist. Shiika knew that face well.

“—Here.”

“Recall-chan…!”

She was a Mushibane member and Shiika’s comrade—Recall.

This young girl’s expression changed. The moment her widened eyes were dyed in black, even her remaining head dispersed to mist.

Then, great lumps of mist appeared at the entrance to Hashiba City.

As the fairies and Revived distanced themselves even further—

“…!”

People’s figures began appearing one after another from the mist covering the interchange.

She could see more and more people around the coastal road and surrounding buildings, on rooftops and such.

All of them facing the fairies and Revived in GARDEN, they were—

“This is—GARDEN!”

“Haji you bastard, your own turf got taken over by C!”

Including Terasu and Kasuou, they were the elites of the SEPB.

“GARDEN… is the Ark—”

“Who cares as long as C’s there.”

The forces of Mushibane led by the confused Namie and cool Aijisupa were also there.

“Shiika…! Are you fine?”

On the roof of a low building there was also the worried-looking Tachibana Rina.

Standing on top of a street light was also a figure carrying a sleeping girl on his shoulders.

“Haha, what a fitting place for zombies.”

They were the flame devil Harukiyo, as well as Sleeping Beauty, Arisu.

“You guys…”

Her comrades from Aoharima Island finally came.

She was not surprised.

Because Shiika had believe they were coming.

Therefore—she wasn’t surprised.

Even when another small mist appeared on top of the hanging bridge.

“…!”

Everyone was the same as Shiika.

As they looked at the black figure that appeared on the pillar supporting the hanging bridge’s wires, none were surprised—but seeing that stance, they probably all felt something well up inside them.

It was that Mushitsuki with hair standing up like the horns of a demon, with a black coat fanned behind him like demon wings, with his goggles’ lens appearing like red, demonic eyes.

He was someone supposed to be there.

However, even so Shiika felt tears rising to her eyes—

She couldn’t help but name him.

“Kakkou-kun…!”

Fuyuhotaru—Anmoto Shiika.

Lady Bird—Tachibana Rina.

The flame devil—Harukiyo.

Sleeping Beauty—Arisu.

As well as Kakkou—Kusuriya Daisuke.

“—Daisuke-kun.”

Shiika mumbled that name only to herself.

In the paradise of the Fallen, in the land of genesis for a new world.

All five Rank 1s assembled for the decisive battle in GARDEN.

3.04 Daisuke Part 2

“Kakkou-kun…!”

Reacting to this voice, Daisuke looked down from the hanging bridge to the surface.

The girl wrapped in a curtain of blizzard stood there.

He never forgot that face. —Ever since he turned her into a Fallen by his own hands five years ago to now.

Anmoto Shiika.

He fought and survived in order to meet her again.

Even so, he gradually got hurt, tired, exhausted himself and was about to sink into the depths of forgetfulness—

But he came back to the battlefield to meet with her.

“…”

However, he still couldn’t fulfill his promise to reunite with “Anmoto Shiika”.

His Mushi the checkered beetle landed on top of the large automatic pistol dangling from one hand. It transformed into tentacles that stabbed into the gun and his body.

The muzzle sprouted sharp fangs, becoming the checkered beetle’s maw. A pattern glowing in green wrapped Daisuke’s entire body, granting him supernatural physical abilities.

Right now, Daisuke was Kakkou.

And the girl beneath his eyes wasn’t Anmoto Shiika—she was Fuyuhotaru.

Before they could meet as Kusuriya Daisuke and Anmoto Shiika, there was something they had to do first.

To end the battles between Mushitsuki—

Daisuke went through countless battles for this sake, finally arriving here.

The Mushitsuki on the surface knew that as well. That was why they all looked up at him, and probably why they weren’t confused about the Mushitsuki called Kakkou being there.

Among the Mushitsuki there were Tachibana Rina, Harukiyo, and even Arisu.

It wasn’t just the five Rank 1s, including him and Fuyuhotaru.

All Mushitsuki there went through their own battles, survived and now stood here—

In GARDEN, the final battlefield.

“…”

Daisuke raised his gun voicelessly. A bullet rotated within the maw of the gun transformed by the checkered beetle, spreading roaring flames.

He aimed this first attack, literally pulling the trigger on this final battle, toward one of fairy C’s body doubles—no, he actually shot it toward a lump of black mist wafting in air.

“…!”

All the Mushitsuki and fairies on the surface turned to look where Kakkou was aiming.

And there was—

“—aaaaAAAAAAAaaaAAAAHH!”

Even while pierced by the bullet, the mist was taking a human shape again.

Shaped like a young girl, it looked like a ghost—no, like an evil spirit raising its eyes. Her wide mouth was a cavern and she was trying to evade the bullets by teleporting from place to place in the blink of an eye.

“Recall…!”

A pained voice came from the ranks of Mushibane.

Daisuke fired mercilessly, piercing through the girl spirit.

“Mushitsuki who are out of time—are nothing but a hindrance to the battle.”

As the evil spirit raised a shout every time it was shot, she transported right in front of Kakkou.

Calmly launching the finishing blow, he pierced the ghost’s chest.

“—”

However, this didn’t fully defeat her.

The girl’s evil spirit weakly yet barely tried taking shape again—

A shockwave grazing Daisuke blew the mist completely away.

“Lady!”

Looking down to the surface, he could see Tachibana Rina was commanding her giant seven-spotted ladybug. Still in the same pose as when she fired that shockwave, she was biting her lips and wearing a harsh expression.

“You were just tormenting her needlessly with your attacks…!”

“…”

Below Daisuke, a small mist was formed on top of the hanging bridge.

It became the petite girl called Recall, who then fell to her knees. Her emotionless, empty expression was proof that she had her Mushi killed and became a Fallen. —Since her Mushi had been killed before it fully ate her dreams and Matured, she remained alive.

Daisuke silently turned the muzzle toward his next target.

“UuuuuuAAaaAAAAH—”

Nearby there was a Mushitsuki with wings growing larger and larger.

Shirakashi Ubuki. Her body already turned black, and something that looked like carapace spreading from her wings at her back was trying to encroach from her shoulders to her neck.

It was too late for her as well.

Daisuke tried pulling the trigger—but after noticing something, he lowered the muzzle.

A small light was fluttering toward Shirakashi Ubuki.

“Ubuki—”

It was white snow.

“Thank you—I’m waiting for you…”

Shiika had her face scrunched up, shedding tears.

While Maturing, Shirakashi Ubuki looked toward Shiika—and smiled.

The snow touched Ubuki’s wings.

The giant black wings burst, twisted and scattered with a high-pitched sound. Even splitting from Shirakashi Ubuki’s body, they were unable to escape the snow’s destructive power that pulverized even the very last fragments.

As her Mushi was killed, Shirakashi Ubuki bent backward—and collapsed soundlessly.

She made no move after that.

“…”

Seeing off both Recall and Ubuki turn into Fallen, Daisuke turned his muzzle toward the last target.

A Mushitsuki who already had the signs of Maturation and could no longer control her own Mushi.

That final person was—

“…Senri.”

Clad in a robe of flares, the girl couldn’t even support her own body.

Haji Senri. She was the little sister of Daisuke’s boss Haji Keigo, and since she lived with him once, she was also like a sister to him.

“Thank you—Dai-kun—”

Her unseeing eyes looked to Daisuke. As the girl raised her hands, a sphere of ruby-colored glowing flames emerged above them.

“But—”

The smiling Senri’s gaze moved toward the boy hugging her from behind.

He was Kaguya—Ogata Akastuki. His handsome features distorted, he was already crying. He materialled his Mushi the mayfly.

“Akatsuki-kun—is going to do this for me, so—”

In the state of Semi-Maturation, unique for this mayfly, its tail started glowing. It emitted laser beams from the sharp tip, piercing the Mushi that Senri held up.

“—!”

Akatsuki hugged Senri’s body tightly as she jumped from the impact.

Daisuke naturally understood that the reason these three girls’ Mushi were Maturing before the fight was because they combined their abilities. It was probably thanks to them that he and the many other Mushitsuki could reach this decisive fight.

And not just the three of them.

To challenge C to this final fight, many Mushitsuki became sacrifices.

“This makes it… so that the only classmates who survived from back then… are just us two…!”

Raising his tear-stained face, Akatsuki glared at Daisuke.

Many Mushitsuki collapsed up to this point.

There were also those who finally woke up after reaching here.

“Haha! If you nap like this, you’ll be left wide open!”

Harukiyo leapt down from the street lamp and flung the girl he was carrying to the ground. He also threw the silver rod he found somewhere near the girl.

“Right, Arisu?!”

Standing atop her seven-spotted ladybug, Tachibana Rina also turned toward the sleeping girl.

“Arisu!”

“Arisu… san?”

Wiping her tears, Anmoto Shiika also turned back.

Daisuke also looked down on the girl with her eyes closed down on the surface.

He saw that her familiar features became slightly more mature. Although she had kept sleeping for a while, her appearance grew up from when the time she was with Daisuke.

“Wake up already.”

However, her insides probably didn’t mature.

Since he was convinced of this, Daisuke called the girl’s name for the first time in many long years.

“Idiot Arisu.”

She told him to wake her up one day.

She told him to call her.

As Daisuke fulfilled his promise and looked at her, the girl’s brows twitched.

A blinding light not at all inferior to any of GARDEN’s neon lights emitted from silver scales fluttered down to the girl lying on the road.

It was a silver-colored Morpho butterfly.

The rod rolling on the road extended to several times in length. The Morpho butterfly landed on top of it, transforming its beautiful wings to tentacles.

“—”

The girl’s arm moved and grabbed the rod.

The rod and the girl’s body began being dyed with a silver pattern. The rod’s tip became large, unfolded wings like a blooming flower, closed them again and became a sharp spear.

The girl used the momentum caused by this action to jump to a standing position. She opened her eyes.

Dark pupils that looked like an unblemished abyss of the deepest ocean and long hair. A white coat that belonged to the SEPB equipment. In her hand was a silver spear dyed with such vivid patterns that they looked artistic. —That form covered in silver scales looked as gallant as a knight.

Arisu opened her eyes, but the fairies and Revived all still remained silent.

“Looks like she stopped herself from Maturing, but she’s not fully awake, either.”

“As long as she can differentiate enemies, that’s good enough for now.”

Harukiyo laughed at Daisuke’s reply. Meanwhile, Rina looked at Arisu worriedly, while Shiika, who never knew her, looked puzzled.

Arisu raised her spear.

The glowing spear’s tip was pointing toward the spire at the very center of GARDEN.

“Is C over there?”

Arisu nodded to Daisuke’s question. He asked this because she had sensing abilities.

Now all the Mushitsuki and fairies who were frozen glaring each other became tense.

The enemy Daisuke and others had the defeat, C, was in the center of GARDEN.

All the fairies and Revived that were supposed to protect C were in the center of the Ark.

Everyone used all their strategies already.

All arguments between the two sides had already broken down.

All that was remained—was to start this battle for survival.

Only one side would win and survive, while the loser would perish.

That was all.

“—Fuyuhotaru.”

Daisuke called toward Shiika.

Right now, Daisuke didn’t have the right to use her real name.

“Y-yes.”

Although confused, Shiika raised her face.

Daisuke raised his arms, pointing with his muzzle at the central part of GARDEN.

“Charge.”

Shiika and all other Mushitsuki looked to where the gun was pointing.

“We’ll definitely help you reach there.”

There was no longer any need for tricks or strategies.

With this short order handed by Daisuke—all of them knew what they had to do.

“—Yes.”

Nodding strongly, Shiika wore her curtain of snow.

The enemy also realized what they needed to do. Trying to stop Shiika’s advance, they stood to block the Mushitsuki.

A world where no Mushitsuki were born, or a world filled with Mushitsuki—

The battle to decide this new world—

Began with Shiika taking her first step.

3.05 Daisuke Part 3

The spire Arisu pointed at was a building that even Daisuke, who was familiar with GARDEN, saw for the first time today. C probably created it with the Revived’s powers.

Much taller than any other building, it looked as though it was made to be able to watch over all of GARDEN. Its tip was sharpened to a point, and its gently curving body stabbed into the ground. Some sort of construction that looked like a spiral piece of art coiled around the entire building, so it looked like a snake was hugging some treasured sword.

Shiika stepped toward that building that could be called a pagoda.

“Break…”

Whispering this was not Shiika herself, but her Mushi.

White snow became a protective wall around Shiika.

Trying to intercept Shiika and the other Mushitsuki, the fairies and C-butterflies increased their glow. The Revived also took battle positions at once.

“—”

However, the one who moved first was Sleeping Beauty, Arisu.

Swiping her spear horizontally, multitudes of scales gushed out from it. They covered the fairies and the Revived that blocked Shiika’s path.

When this happened, the fairies all started slowly closing their eyes. They noiselessly fell to the ground, unmoving. The C-butterflies and the Revived similarly collapsed one after another.

It was another of Arisu’s abilities. She had the special power to put Mushi to sleep.

“All hands, begin battle! Eliminate all fairies and Revived blocking the path!”

A girl’s voice echoed through the goggles.

“Create a path for Fuyuhotaru!”

Looking to the surface, a girl wearing the West Central Branch coat looked up to Daisuke.

She was Terasu.

“I won’t hand over command to you at this point—Kakkou.”

“…”

“You Rank 1 lot won’t listen to my orders, anyway.”

Apparently the opposition and hostility she felt for him remained unchanged even at this late stage.

However, she was reliable.

He knew that she was using the hatred she held inside her to lessen his burden.

She would take on overall command so he could fight freely with the Rank 1s—she was telling him that.

“Yeah. —Leave Fuyuhotaru to me.”

Terasu gave no reply as he decided to take care of the most important person. She silently glared at Daisuke, then turned to the enemy at front.

“Keep advancing while staying close together! Focus and aim your attacks on fairies that look like they’re going to shoot lightning! Sakura, set up lightning rods at fixed points! Tamamo, Kasuou, protect everyone with barriers! —If you get away from the squad even a little, they’ll finish you with concentrated attacks!”

The Mushitsuki’s attacks made the fairies and Revived retreat little by little.

“Because she controls so much power, C’s main body shouldn’t be able to leave from the facility supplying her electricity! We’ll get to that tower no matter what!”

Now with less pressure on her, Fuyuhotaru managed to advance step by step.

However, her gait was slow and she would require some time to reach all the way to the pagoda.

“Hey, Lady! How about we go over there for a little date?”

Tachibana Rina raised her face at the flame devil’s invitation.

Ahead of their two gazes was the towering pagoda.

“—Sure.”

Rina looked at Shiika only once and nodded. Riding her seven-spotted ladybug, she rose to the sky.

Harukiyo wrapped himself in flames and then looked at Daisuke.

“…”

Daisuke couldn’t stop the seven-spotted ladybug and the crimson fireball from flying together to the sky.

Even he wasn’t planning to count on Fuyuhotaru alone. He wanted to strike C down if he had the opportunity, and since those two could fly, they were well-suited for a surprise attack like that.

Leaping over the Mushitsuki fighting on the surface, Rina and Harukiyo flew toward the pagoda.

If these were the opponents he’d fought against this far, they’d never be able to stop those two.

However—Daisuke’s ears caught a certain sound.

“Come back, Lady! Harukiyo!”

The moment after Daisuke shouted this, some smoke appeared.

Clouds of white smoke from the entirety of GARDEN.

They numbered more than one or two. As if eruptions happened all around the city, those clouds of smoke pursued the seven-spotted ladybug and the fireball with great speed.

And that wasn’t all. Flashes of light launched from the surface along with roars assaulted those airborne Mushitsuki.

The night sky was wrapped in great explosions.

Furthermore—there were golden lightnings, bursting with violent glows.

“—”

Having witnessed this tremendous attack, all Mushitsuki stood in place, shocked.

What Daisuke heard—were the sounds of bombardment.

They were surface-to-air missiles.

The attack launched from the surface in a delay probably came from autocannons. It was apparently C’s lightning that set off both the missiles and the autocannons.

Having been attacked by this concentrated bombardment in the sky where there was no cover to protect them, the two started crashing down to the surface while raising smoke. Although they heard Daisuke’s voice and took evasive actions, perhaps it wasn’t enough.

“…Tch!”

Daisuke clicked his tongue and leapt down from the hanging bridge. Taking a detour around where Fuyuhotaru and other Mushitsuki were fighting, he was headed to the inner part of the city through the coastal road.

He rushed between buildings, aiming for where Rina fell down.

Several fairies stood in his path. They were linked to the C-butterflies around through golden lights.

Light burst beneath his feet, shooting lightning aimed at the sky.

He leapt, kicking the wall of a building to dodge.

Leaping over the fairies, he turned at an alley and came out into the road.

As he did, a shockwave passed right in front of Daisuke’s eyes.

“What did you come here for?”

Her face covered in soot, Tachibana Rina turned to Daisuke. She appeared to be uninjured, but the seven-spotted ladybug spreading its wings nearby had scorch marks all over it.

Nearby, there was a toppled autocannon. These anti-air autocannons were loaded onto a battery with caterpillar tracks.

“Did you really think they’d get me so easily?”

So the city had not just fairies and Revived, but even modern weaponry. Since C was better at controlling machinery than people in the first place, perhaps that was obvious.

“No, I came here to warn you.”

“Warn me?”

“You need to get away from here—”

Before he could finish talking, several unmanned self-propelled artilleries appeared on the other side of the road. Furthermore, fairies and Revived came swarming out from the shadows between buildings.

Daisuke and Rina were completely surrounded in the blink of an eye.

“…! She sure responded quickly. Isn’t she supposed to be busy with Shiika and Harukiyo?”

“That’s not C.”

Daisuke could see a lone figure as he looked up. Rina followed his gaze.

There was a slim figure sticking to a wall of the high buildings. That figure stood upright horizontally as though both legs were glued to the surface.

It was a Revived wearing a yellow raincoat. It also seemed to miss an arm.

Rina’s face twisted and she groaned with a pained voice.

“So that woman’s controlling them…”

“I’ll deal with her. You go and deal with as many weapons and Revived on the surface as you can. —Since anyone flying will just get shot down, we have to somehow control the surface.”

“I know that. How about you go already?”

As Daisuke turned his back to her, he felt Rina sighing behind him.

“To think I’d end up joining forces with you here in GARDEN… I want to laugh, but I can’t.”

“Not to mention with Arisu and Harukiyo, too.”

Rina had expired within Daisuke’s arms around a year earlier in GARDEN. It would be much too cynical to call this a fateful place.

Looking even back further in time, there was also the fight on the night of the meteor shower. Originally, Daisuke, Rina, Arisu and Harukiyo were supposed to join forces there.

“Don’t make Shiika cry anymore… Kusuriya.”

And Anmoto Shiika herself—Fuyuhotaru—had been enclosed here in GARDEN for four years.

It felt as if the fate that got twisted over many times by now finally got reconnected here.

Obviously, if they lost here—it would all become for nothing.

“Of course, Tachibana-san.”

Daisuke and Rina. How much time it had been since those two spoke alone?

Perhaps they would never have this opportunity again. —At the very least, the possibility would be gone if they died here.

The fairies and C-butterflies were wrapped in a golden glow.

Daisuke leapt from the spot.

A moment later, the seven-spotted ladybug’s shockwave mowed down the surface. Both fairies and Revived were blown away in all directions along with destroyed buildings.

Daisuke kicked the wall before it collapsed by the shockwave and leapt yet again to aim for the Revived wearing a yellow raincoat—Shishidou Inuko, aka Asagi.

“Wanko—”

Turning his gun toward his past comrade in arms, he pulled the trigger midair. The muzzle spat fire.

Purple lightning flashed.

The raincoat figure vanished and purple afterimages rushed around the entire city. She easily dodged the bullet and in no time at all appeared directly besides Daisuke.

“—!”

An impact struck Daisuke’s temple.

Receiving this superspeed attack, Daisuke was pounded on the ground. Just as he sank into the caved-in asphalt, an unseen power pulled him out again.

After being struck directly ahead, this time he flew to the side. —This strange phenomenon assaulting Daisuke was created by Asagi’s ability. On her first attack she charged Daisuke himself with electromagnetism, then used it to draw him toward the towering building next to them.

“Gwah…!”

The impact caused by crashing into it made the building’s wall crumble. Daisuke got buried and was getting crushed both by the mass of the debris as well as the pressure of the steel concrete.

“—WoooHHH!”

The patterns all over Daisuke body glowed. He used superhuman strength to push the concrete away and stood atop the debris.

“Gah…!”

The moment he exited to the surface, an impact pierced his sides this time.

It was another of Asagi’s attacks. Purple flashes flew between all buildings, power poles and lamps—meaning, all magnetic bodies around GARDEN.

Meanwhile, Daisuke had his legs caught up by the steel concrete, and he couldn’t follow this fast enemy with his naked eye.

Not only did Daisuke have no means to attack from range, he also had no way to remove the electromagnetism from him. Although he knew the enemy’s ability—no, because he understood the enemy’s fighting capabilities, he had to admit he was badly matched against her.

However, he had to defeat her here.

He definitely wanted to avoid having Asagi’s experience and intuition to C’s calculation abilities. Even if they managed to corner C, Asagi might appear at any moment to trip them up.

“—Are you really that happy, Wanko?”

Could she hear Daisuke talking while bleeding from his forehead?

The raincoat girl appeared, directly facing Daisuke. She fashioned herself a makeshift hockey stick made by using magnetism on steel pipes and tubes, resting it on her shoulder.

“There is nothing as pitiful as a warrior being hated by the battlefield… you used to say that a lot. And now you’re finally able to participate in a large battle. Even in that form.”

The berserker clad in purple lightning looked like she was smiling—

It probably wasn’t just an optical illusion.

“You’re the only one among the Revived looking so lively.”

He said this and readied himself.

“There’s something I gotta apologize to you about—but I ended up not caring about it, seeing that face. You feel the same, right?”

While Daisuke made his entire body’s patterns glow, Asagi raised her hockey stick in affirmation. Golden fairies and C-butterflies gathered around the raincoat.

He thought they’d shoot another lightning, but he was wrong.

The fairies and C-butterflies joined and fused with Asagi’s hockey stick. As a Revived, Asagi didn’t have to worry about getting numbed by her own electricity.

She readied her charged hockey stick.

“Tch…”

He was always able to take a lot of punishment, but now he lost this sole advantage. Daisuke was definitely tougher than a normal person, but even he wouldn’t be able to survive getting struck by C’s lightning again and again in speeds he couldn’t follow. Never mind any of the other flesh-and-blood Mushitsuki.

Daisuke and Asagi kicked the ground at the same time—

“…!”

Suddenly, Daisuke’s sight was dyed by orange. The steel pipes fell from his legs.

“What are you doing?”

A boy abruptly showed himself between Daisuke and Asagi.

He was Shiohara Shachito. With his casual wear and flippant smile—as well as the hockey stick carried on his shoulder—he looked much more fitting to some sports venue rather than a battlefield.

“You have no sensing ability or speed, so it’s gotta be tough for you to take on Inuko. Stopping you here is also part of Inuko’s strategy, you know?”

The boy who called himself Asagi’s last disciple spoke.

Daisuke had felt dubious about this until now, but looking at him like this, he had to accept it.

His stance, smiling like that with a hockey stick in hand—was like a mirror image of the other berserker in front of his eyes, Shishidou Inuko.

—One day, those I’ve raised will fight alongside you.

During the conversation they had in her last moments, she told him this.

Her prediction became reality in a way that surprised even Daisuke.

“Leave this student and teacher fight to me.”

Speaking casually, Shachito then erased his smile.

“Right… Inuko?”

His expression looked sad.

Daisuke glared at Asagi.

The gaze of his past comrade in arms—went from Daisuke to Shachito.

Seeing that, Daisuke also looked away from her.

“—Sorry, Wanko. I told you to return to the battlefield, but…”

He turned his back to Asagi, entrusting that place to Shachito.

It was just like Shachito said. Daisuke had to fight more than one Revived.

“I never would have expected—you’d manage to raise a warrior even stronger than you.”

Leaving this behind, he kicked the ground and went away.

He could immediately hear violent sounds of battle coming from behind him. He felt an explosion, then immediately heard lightning rumbling in the distance. It happened on both surface and air.

Daisuke ran through the city, eliminating any and all enemies he ran across.

He used a burning bullet to destroy an autocannon on the road. Revived trying to surround Daisuke closed the distance, and he broke their Mushi to smithereens with punches and kicks.

“…!”

The number of light sources illuminating the night sky increased.

These were fighter helicopters. Clad in a golden, electrical light, they were equipped with missiles and guns. Connected to the lightning strike from the surface, they created a waterfall made of electricity.

Dragged by these destructive waterfalls, the helicopters were deployed throughout GARDEN. They probably numbered more than twenty.

He could see these waterfalls of lightning—that acted much like pillars supporting the shrine—mowing down the surface. They also shot their machineguns embedded with electricity, spreading destruction in three particular areas.

They were probably attacks against Rina, Harukiyo and Arisu.

“So they managed to split the enemies forces from focusing only on Fuyuhotaru… but since the number of enemies just keeps on growing, it’s probably meaningless.”

Two helicopters even approached Daisuke. Their lightning waterfalls mowing down everything below them, they got close to him.

Daisuke aimed his gun at the upper sky. He pulled the trigger and shot. The impact caused by the discharge blew away the Revived trying to surround him.

Two more bullets shot in succession destroyed two of the attack helicopters.

As Daisuke saw them lose most of their body and start falling down—it created an opening.

“—!”

Although the attack helicopter was supposed to lose all control over its flight, it started firing its guns toward Daisuke.

The vehicles controlled by C required no pilot. Even if they couldn’t fly, they could attack. He immediately took evasive action, but countless bullets hit all around Daisuke. Golden lightning rose from every spot they struck, one after another.

“Gwoaaah!”

Daisuke kept shooting back bullets even while being washed by the lightning attacks. This time the attack helicopter broke down without a trace.

“Kuh…”

He just barely avoided any direct hits, but his legs were numb and his head felt hazy.

He was probably able to avoid any follow up attacks because Shachito was holding back Asagi, who was in charge of commanding the Revived. Dodging the fairies and Revived that arrived in a delay, Daisuke withdrew.

“Helicopters coming! Kaguya, change your aim to the skies!”

“But we won’t be able to hold back the Revived like this!”

“Just go back to aiming at the surface after downing those helis! Until then, I’ll handle ‘em! —Sense Isolation!”

The voices he heard from the goggles informed him of his comrades’ struggle.

They had too many enemies.

Never mind gaining control of the surface, they might run out of stamina before that.

What do I do here… should I try to go all for nothing and charge to the tower alone?

He shook off this thought entering his mind along with the remaining dizziness.

It was easy to imagine there were way more enemies nearer the pagoda. Also, C might have laid traps for them.

It wasn’t a battle Daisuke could win on his own.

He should scatter the enemy forces and then make a surprise attack on the pagoda—but if both were impossible, there was only one thing he could do.

Daisuke leapt, kicking walls to alternate between two building and climb like that, landing atop a high rooftop.

The GARDEN he could see from his vantage point really looked like a battlefield. All around the city there were violent explosions and columns of smoke.

“So we were thinking the same.”

The fights occurring in the outer perimeter of the town were starting to converge in one place.

Toward Fuyuhotaru.

While he stood on the rooftop, Daisuke started getting bombarded by self-propelled artillery shooting at him from the surface.

The moment before these autocannons hit their mark, Daisuke leapt down from the roof. Landing on the ground, he left the explosions echoing overhead behind him, running ahead.

Beating down the Revived swarming toward him, he mowed down the fairies and C-butterflies with bullets. He dodged the self-propelled artillery launched by the autocannons, kicked them into the air while passing by them and turned them over.

By rushing through the alleys, he soon leapt out into a wide roadway.

It was wide, two-laned road that connected all the way to the pagoda in the center of GARDEN.

A fierce battle was unfolding there.

He could see the blizzard-clad Shiika going in the front and behind her a group of fighting Mushitsuki. Rina, Harukiyo and Arisu were already there.

“Kakkou’s also back!”

“The helis are gathering…! There are suddenly many more Revived, too!”

“Why are they all coming back here! Change in strategy?”

While listening to Terasu’s tense voice, Daisuke looked at the traces of Shiika’s passage.

Too slow—

Right now, the hanging bridge that served as the entrance to GARDEN was still visible from their current location. Regardless of the unobstructed view created by destroyed buildings, roads and such. They only advanced a few hundred meters.

Even including the fact that the four Rank 1s attracted their enemies to lighten the combatants’ burden, if they kept going in this speed—the Mushitsuki were definitely going to exhaust themselves before reaching the pagoda.

Operating the goggles, he broadcast his voice to everyone.

“It’s useless for us to try approaching the tower on our own. And even if we lower the number of enemies on the surface—it’s probably useless. Because it looks like she’s sending weapons into GARDEN from the outside.”

“Should we gather and advance together like I thought, then? The enemies in GARDEN are assembling, but since we also have the Rank 1s, we might be able to somehow keep this pace—”

“It’d be too late. —Everyone here already understood this long ago, right?”

While in the middle of violent fights, a complete silence befell the comms.

Not even a single person denied Daisuke’s words. The already wounded Mushitsuki’s expressions becoming severe wasn’t just due to their injuries and fatigue.

Above all else, Shiika’s sorrowful face told it all.

It wasn’t like she was feeling pain for those Mushitsuki who fought in order to let her advance.

It was because—she knew that sooner or later, her comrades would just exhaust themselves.

“At this rate, we’d all die pathetically before even reaching the midpoint.”

“What are we supposed to do, then?! We can’t go back anymore, right?”

“Raise the pace.”

All Mushitsuki other than Shiika turned to Daisuke. —She was the only one without any equipment.

“All Rank 1s other than Fuyuhotaru will create the path to the tower. All other combatants are to take detours away from the front and clear the enemies. Now that Asagi isn’t here, the enemies shouldn’t be making any complex attacks.”

“Are you telling us to run all the way to the tower in one go?! We’ll never hold up for so long!”

“It’s fine as long as Fuyuhotaru reaches there.”

He could hear all Mushitsuki gasping through the wireless.

However—not a single one opposed his suggestion.

“C’s afraid.”

With the pagoda in the very center visible in the distance, GARDEN was ablaze with the color gold.

She mobilized the fairies, the C-butterflies, the Revived, the autocannons and even the attack helicopters to protect the one and single spire towering over the center.

“It’s clear, right? C’s being this cautious not because she’d scared of us. She’s afraid of one person and one person alone—Fuyuhotaru—coming to her.”

“…”

“We need no strategy or anything. As long as Fuyuhotaru reaches that place, we can end this.”

From the very beginning it had nothing to do with the Rank 1 or anything else.

C had attacked Daisuke and the other Mushitsuki simply because she feared a surprise attack. She was convinced she could beat any Mushitsuki at all if she isolated them and attacked with concentrated firepower.

Only a single Mushitsuki was the exception.

Only one person who wouldn’t let even a single attack pass, whose attacks could never be defended against.

That was—Fuyuhotaru.

A step.

Yet another step.

There was no doubt that her slow steps sounded to C like the clock ticking her own countdown.

As long as white snow kept falling from the star-studded skies—

The battle between the Mushitsuki and C would never end.

“…”

Not a single one of his comrades were able to utter any voice.

They had no way to win at this rate. Even so, charging while putting their lives on the line was a huge gamble. If they went on that one-way street, they might encounter the ending known as annihilation waiting for them.

However—all their remaining hopes were just ahead.

“—Once the Rank 1s begin their attack, we’ll deploy to both sides and behind Fuyuhotaru! You don’t have to watch the front! Just don’t let any enemies attack from the sides!”

Terasu’s order spread to all units.

Daisuke leapt, landing in front of Fuyuhotaru.

As he readied his gun, Rina, Harukiyo and Arisu also landed to his left and right. The four Rank 1s that assembled in front of Fuyuhotaru prepared to face the enemies ahead.

“Let’s go!”

A bullet clad in raging flames was launched from the gun’s muzzle fused with the maw of the checkered beetle.

The large seven-spotted ladybug unleashed shockwaves.

A crimson, blazing Great Yama tiger beetle was unleashed along with a roar.

The spear fused with the silver Morpho butterfly sent slashing attacks with scales.

“Chaaarge!”

Embodying overwhelming destruction, these attacks blew away the fairies in their way.

While opening the path ahead, this impact wouldn’t stop, creating a large path in front of Daisuke’s group.

—Or so it should have.

“—”

As Daisuke wanted to rush ahead, his legs stopped.

At first he couldn’t understand what happened in front of his eyes.

Up to the point they blew the fairies away, their attack went just like they expected it to—but no path opened up.

Because something flew out of the ground along with a tremor.

Higher than the surrounding buildings, there were creepy patterns tightly etched into its black surface. This rectangular object’s material looked like aged wood, but also like thick metal.

It looked like a coffin—but it was much too large for that.

The attacks launched by the four Rank 1s struck even this large coffin to smithereens.

However, inside the destroyed coffin—

Was another one.

Destroying even that, another one appeared behind it—

“This—is—”

He could hear Terasu’s groan from the wireless.

Daisuke and the rest’s attack was finally blocked by the fourth coffin.

That wasn’t the only strange thing.

A white brilliance was formed in front of their target, the towering pagoda.

Swelling from between the high-rise buildings and while crushing those, appearing as though to protect the pagoda—was something much too large to be acknowledged as a Mushi, a much too beautiful monster.

Its long and thin body was pure white and emitted a pale glow. Its sharpened, blade-like, smooth legs stepped firmly on the ground, and on its raised upper torso it readied a single, curved scythe. Its oval head had eyeballs like pearls, and on its back it unfurled wings that were pink like flower petals.

It was an orchid mantis glowing in white.

And even a veteran like Daisuke had never seen a Mushi so large.

“Genius—”

He heard the voice of Ogata Akatsuki coming from the goggles. Apparently he and Terasu knew this monster’s identity.

The orchid mantis made a deep howl.

Countless coffins began sprouting from all around the pagoda and the orchid mantis from the surface. Even seen from afar, they were large and formed a circle with no openings.

A moment later, even further new coffins appeared to draw a circle around their outer perimeter.

Earth tremors kept echoing one after another, and further coffins appeared—

The tremors finally stopped when the wall of coffins came right in front of Daisuke’s face. With electricity running through all of them, the coffins were glowing in gold.

“—No, way—”

Someone groaned this with a hoarse voice.

Enough coffins appeared to form a wall around the pagoda. If GARDEN was viewed from the sky, they would probably be able to see the circle of golden coffins like the loops of a cut tree.

Looking up the towering coffins, the Mushitsuki were frozen still.

Along with curtains of lightning, attack helicopters approached from the skies.

Even the fairies and Revived began gathering where Daisuke and the others stopped their charge.

Furthermore—

White lines passed through the sky and something was thrown toward the Mushitsuki on the surface.

An aircraft was carpet bombing the surface. Since they sparkled in gold, it probably meant that these bombs were also embedded with C’s lightning.

“—”

Watching the golden glows drop down from the sky as though in slow motion—all Mushitsuki felt despair.

However, even in such a situation—

Kasuou.

Harukiyo.

Arisu.

These three Mushitsuki instantly erecting a defensive barrier with their abilities was close to a miracle.

The three-layered barrier of mist, flames and scales engulfed all Mushitsuki. However, they weren’t able to fully defend against this overwhelming attack.

Attacks made by golden lightning, violent explosions or the Revived that managed to break through the barrier hit the Mushitsuki on the surface.

“WaaAAAhAAAH!”

“Ah—”

“KyaaAAAaAH!”

The wireless was filled with the dying screams of Mushitsuki.

While their sight was filled with flashes of light and explosions, the Mushitsuki collapsed one after another.

“Aah—Ah…”

Protecting herself with a blizzard, Shiika saw their end with a sorrowful expression. While the Mushitsuki were injured by golden lightning and explosive wind, she just stood there, unable to do anything.

“Uh—”

He heard a new scream through the goggles.

One of the Mushi desperately protecting themselves was trapped inside a coffin around two meters tall appearing from the ground. The moment it trapped the Mushitsuki, the coffin was enveloped by golden lightning.

More and more new coffins leapt from the surface. Quite a few Mushitsuki were taken inside and vanished.

Urgent voices of his comrades including Ogata Akatsuki echoed in the goggles.

“Genius is a Mushi-eating Mushi! If you get swallowed by the coffin it’s all over…!”

“Gwah! H-how many were taken down?!”

“Already, more than half our forces…! T-Terasu, give your orders…!”

“Uuh—if I Isolate the territory right now, Kasuou and the rest’s barrier will also be gone—t-try and resist by yourselves, somehow…!”

Terasu’s voice was also swallowed by explosions and he couldn’t hear her clearly.

Even if he could hear her, it was probably meaningless. A lone word probably came to the minds of all Mushitsuki there, including Terasu.

Annihilation—

Their worst prediction would probably become reality in a few minutes.

After the exhausted Mushitsuki fell, even the powerful Mushitsuki who lost their support would fold up one after another. And this would continue until even the Rank 1s like Daisuke fell.

The one remaining last—would be Shiika.

Left alone, even Shiika would be unable to either proceed or draw back, and eventually run out of power—

It was the common image that rose to all Mushitsuki’s minds.

For Daisuke, too.

However…

“Fuyuhotaru!”

It wasn’t over yet.

It was clear they wouldn’t be able to avoid annihilation at this rate.

If so, then Daisuke and the rest had only one way to survive.

Daisuke’s loud voice reverberated in the battlefield engulfed by the sounds of battle and flashes of light.

“Stop your ability!”

Forgetting about the situation, the Mushitsuki gasped. Everyone turned to look at Daisuke.

The patterns etched all over Daisuke’s body emitted green light. Grasping his large automatic pistol, he stepped hard on the ground.

Stopping Fuyuhotaru’s ability in this situation?

Removing the snow now would be suicidal—

Everyone probably thought this.

“Stop making it snow… and run!”

Howling, Daisuke kicked the ground. Rushing ahead, he struck down the overlapping barrier of mist, flames and scales from the inside.

“All other Mushitsuki, protect Shiika with everything you have!”

As he leapt outside the barrier, a storm of lightning attacks was immediately revealed. However, without considering his own injuries, Daisuke approached even the towering gold coffins in front of his eyes—

And shot a bullet with his full powers.

The flaming bullet struck through the coffin that was like a high-rise building.

At the same time, golden lightning surged from the broken coffin. This golden glow pierced Daisuke.

“—GAHHHH!”

He was assaulted by a strike that felt like it should blow him into a hundred pieces. His sight was dyed in white and his consciousness felt about to get blown away.

However, he couldn’t allow himself to stop here.

There were still more walls protecting the pagoda.

If he couldn’t break down all of them and then also defeat the monster called Genius, he’d never be able to reach all the way to C.

If he couldn’t reach her—they’d be all annihilated.

When Daisuke and all the rest died, it would be C’s victory.

The world would become one where Mushitsuki were born endlessly—

“Gu—uh…”

Daisuke tried rushing toward the next coffin, but his body wouldn’t move. Without him even realizing, his knees fell touched the ground and his head was hazy.

If he stopped here, he would get hit by another concentrated attack.

While he understood that, as his body was numb and unmoving, above his head appeared—

Something like a fluttering butterfly.

Like a bridge connecting hope to hope.

A lone silver glow leapt over him.

“—Arisu—”

The moment she passed next to him, the silver spear-wielding girl looked at Daisuke.

She spoke no words.

However, she wore a bright smile like that of her original self. Just like back then when she might have ridiculed Daisuke, but fought to save Mushitsuki.

Arisu got a running start and thrust the lance glowing silver straight ahead.

Cracks ran through the gigantic coffin blocking the path ahead.

The next moment, as the coffin blown apart while spreading scales around—she received a violent electric shock.

“—!”

Struck by lightning, Arisu was thrown to the ground. She apparently immediately protected herself with scales, but it wasn’t the kind of damage she could fully nullify.

Having witnessed the second coffin getting destroyed, someone overtook Daisuke again.

They were Harukiyo with his body clad in flames, as well as Rina riding her seven-spotted ladybug. Without even turning to Daisuke, both looked ahead.

Furthermore—Shiika sprinted next to him.

Shiika was limited in how fast she could move while using her ability. However, since she stopped making it snow and ran, she was now much faster.

“...”

Shiika’s eyes that he saw for only a brief moment—were powerful.

She believed without doubt that Daisuke would rise to his legs again.

While protecting Shiika from the fairies and Revived, many Mushitsuki also passed by Daisuke, running. None of them worried about Daisuke or looked at him.

“—Guh!”

Howling, Daisuke got up. The pattern all over his body emitted a glow again.

The sight of Harukiyo destroying the third coffin leapt into his eyes. Unable to fully evade the lightning attack released from the destroyed coffin, the flame devil rolled on the ground.

Daisuke broke into a run.

He overtook Arisu who tried getting to her shaking legs.

He overtook Shiika and the Mushitsuki protecting her.

Her overtook Rina, who was blown back along with her seven-spotted ladybug by the lightning emitted by the fourth destroyed coffin.

He struck his clenched fist at the fifth coffin towering ahead of him.

“Gwah...!”

The moment the coffin broke down, Daisuke was struck by lightning. This impact that was superior even to the previous one caused him to fall forward. His limbs were numb and paralysed and his head was swimming.

Even so, as he raised his face and tried getting up again, Arisu overtook him. Her white coat was stained with fresh blood.

Arisu destroyed the next coffin again and was struck by lightning.

And once more, the Mushitsuki with Shiika in the center ran ahead. They numbered less than before. Either getting caught by coffins that came flying out of the ground or else protecting Shiika from the fairies, the Mushitsuki collapsed one after another.

Transforming into a fireball and reaching the very front of the group, Harukiyo destroyed the next coffin.

“AaAAH!”

Daisuke shouted and rose. His long coat was scorched and in tatters, and his face was dirtied by blood and soot. If he collapsed like this, he might get mistaken with debris.

Even so Daisuke ran ahead.

Overtaking his comrades, overtaking his collapsed comrades, he was headed to the frontlines.

Although their numbers went down, the Mushitsuki rushing with all of their power were approaching the pagoda.

A coffin was destroyed again and the seven-spotted ladybug was pierced by a golden flash.

“—!”

Bending back, Rina fell to her knees and remained there—

Daisuke broke the next coffin with bullets.

Even as his sight was dyed in gold, he didn’t feel any pain—because he lost consciousness for a second.

He regained it because Arisu poked him with the handle of her spear as she passed next to him. Kasuou and Terasu also struck his body. It was also thanks to the healer Mushitsuki called Nene who kept singing despite her face being blue on the verge of asphyxiation.

While switching with each other to destroy the coffins, the Mushitsuki kept advancing toward the pagoda.

Already, the only traces to their passage were debris strewn with collapsed Mushitsuki or Revived.

All those who were running were covered in wounds without exception. Even Shiika who stopped using her powers was bleeding from her forehead, perhaps from an attack that their comrades hadn’t managed to fully protect her against. Even including Shiika, those who still ran together numbered no more than about thirty.

“—...”

Daisuke stood up, wavering. He stepped ahead with a weak gait.

As he hastened his pace, the patterns on his body increased their glow. Switching his legs from walking to running, he finally raised his head and looked ahead.

They were approaching the pagoda.

As well as the orchid mantis that stood in front of it like a watchdog.

Overtaking the collapsed members that were pulled up by their comrades, Daisuke ran.

Rina destroyed another coffin.

Only one coffin remained—

“OOOooOOOOOHHH!”

Daisuke’s fist struck through the final coffin.

As he was struck by lightning, it finally opened up the view for him and the Mushitsuki following from behind.

Appearing on the other side of the raining coffin fragments—

Was the gigantic orchid mantis they needed to look up at.

As well as—a gigantic Shrine floating in the night sky.

“—“

Seeing the Shrine that appeared at some point, the Mushitsuki all froze.

Looking down on them, the orchid mantis swung down its massive scythe. A warm wind blew through the battlefield, and a swarm of white spheres was created on the surface.

“T-this is... Genius’s mental pollution—”

Terasu’s voice was cut off in the middle—because time itself seemed to stop.

Anything and everything was dyed in white.

In a world where even his blood was dyed white, Daisuke—

Was struck by lightning, losing all sounds and sense of time.

3.06 Daisuke Part 4

Daisuke woke up from his head being hit.

“Hey, Kusuriya. We’re moving classrooms.”

His classmate Tachibana Rina was smiling at him. He’d apparently fallen asleep on his desk.

While rubbing his eyes and raising his face, he could see fellow students streaming out from the classroom of Class 2-F of Ouka High School.

His next class was an elective subject of Art. Since it was Rina’s specialty, she looked fired up.

“Dai-kun’s awake?”

“Yeah, but I wanted to see how long it’d take him to wake up.”

“Akatsuki… did you have that sort of personality?”

“It’s fine, Senri. Let’s just leave him alone and go ahead?”

Just like Rina, the four classmates peeked into his face.

Haji Senri, Ogata Akatsuki, Endou Iori and Sunakozaka Azu.

Daisuke looked at their faces absentmindedly.

Watching his friends wear rich expressions and smile—he returned a pained smile.

“…Maybe I should ditch class. I’m still so sleepy.”

“Do it if you want to? You’ll get scolded by the teachers, though.”

Saying this abruptly, his friends all went out of the class with Rina in the lead. Only Iori stayed behind. “C’mon,” he said, grabbing Daisuke’s arm to force him to rise from his chair.

Leaving the classroom with Iori, they reconvened with Rina and the rest in the corridor.

While shivering at the coldness of winter, Daisuke looked outside the window.

He could see the bare trees and the students heading to the school gym by cutting through the courtyard.

“You’ll come for karaoke today, right?”

“Oh… sorry, I have plans today.”

As he rejected Iori’s invitation, his friends all smirked.

Rina also turned aside and smiled.

“We need to get that girl a personal alarm. Three of them.”

“Oh, I see…”

This time she had no retort, just accepting it with an amiable smile.

After that, Daisuke went through art class properly. He submitted his picture which was below average in class and attended his next period.

At lunch break he chatted with his friends and attended afternoon classes properly too.

After going through normal classes like usual, he wore his coat to head home and found a petite girl waiting for him at the entrance to the classroom.

“—Well then.”

His friends turned around as he said this and left first.

They all exchanged words of farewell.

Burning their figures into his sight, Daisuke left the classroom in a fast pace.

“Sorry for making you wait, Shiika.”

“No problem.”

Anmoto Shiika, who was waiting for Daisuke, wore a carefree smile.

Walking together out of campus, they were blown by the winter’s cold wind. As they shrugged and brought their bodies closer, Daisuke and Shiika shrunk the distance between them.

Going into town, they saw many colorful, glittering illuminations.

“It’s almost Christmas, huh.”

As Shiika mumbled it, her profile seemed excited at seeing the decorative lights filling town.

“Yeah. Iori and the others said we’re going to have a party at Senri’s house.”

“Rina too?”

“Who knows? That girl seriously has too many friends. I’m sure her schedule for Christmas is packed full.”

“Wow.” Daisuke was joking, but Shiika seemed to show serious admiration. He almost ended up grabbing her hand without thinking, but recalling the existence of the personal alarm, he stopped himself.

Daisuke and Shiika went to an arcade and played with the prize corner, then just bought some sweets and went on the road back home early. Since the days were getting shorter, they also had less time for dates.

He walked through the residential district, escorting Shiika back home.

They walked, the setting down creating long shadows behind them.

As he turned his gaze aside, his eyes suddenly met with Shiika’s.

She smiled happily.

Daisuke returned that smile.

“…How many times will you show us the same illusion, C?”

“C will use whatever she can to eliminate her enemies.”

Shiika erased her expression. Watching Daisuke with doll-like eyes, her mouth moved mechanically.

“By overlapping the mental pollution abilities of Genius and Shinpu, I created an effective attack method to interfere with the deep subconscious. At present, I managed to affect all enemies.”

It certainly worked.

He knew it was an illusion from the very start, but couldn’t get out of it.

Apparently even C was aware that he hadn’t been completely affected.

“This is not an illusion. I can recreate these exact environments in the new world as well.”

“By manipulating our memories, right? I already rejected that as Taiki.”

“Taiki did reject it. However, what about Kakkou—Kusuriya Daisuke?”

“…”

“You are very tired. You must want to rest.”

Daisuke gave no answer.

Kusuriya Daisuke and Anmoto Shiika—or rather, C who took her form—walked back shoulder to shoulder.

Whether Daisuke really had a home to go back to in here—he didn’t know.

C had called this illusion an attack, but he felt no pain. In fact, he was even filled with relief that he didn’t need to fight anyone.

“Do you know why until now some people became Mushitsuki while others didn’t?”

Daisuke remained silent and unanswering.

“People have desires. Since they have instincts, that is natural. Even hunger can become a dream. Perhaps even those who aren’t human, like animals—perhaps even a cat on the side of the road might be holding potential to become a Mushitsuki.”

“…”

“But do you know what is a dream strong enough to become Mushitsuki? One so strongly wished for that it can even control people’s life and death?”

Although Daisuke and C were enemies, they kept walking the road without fighting.

What waited ahead?

Ahead of these Mushitsuki walking toward the future—he could see nothing but the road continuing on and on.

“That is—a dream that cannot come true.”

It was Anmoto Shiika’s voice, but she spoke in an inorganic tone.

Daisuke slightly narrowed his eyes. But he said nothing.

“Because it can’t be granted, they wish for it strongly and can even reject death. —Miguruma Yaeko hypothesized that the Primal Mushi called the Original Three are people who anticipated this fate.”

“…”

“While getting in contact with Shinpu, C—Horiuchi Erii also noticed this. She was unable to accept this truth, threw away her personality and ran away.”

“…”

“C takes Mushitsuki who can’t grant their dreams, fixes them in the form called the Undying and saves them from destruction. I am not an enemy of Mushitsuki. I actually—love Mushitsuki.”

“…”

“You should have realized this long ago, right? Both about dreams being unfulfillable, as well as me not being your enemy.”

Daisuke smiled.

Neither affirming nor denying C’s words, he said only one thing.

“They can be fulfilled.”

The girl in the form of Shiika looked at Daisuke’s face.

There was a car honking from somewhere.

“At present, no Mushitsuki who fulfilled their dream exist. —If such a Mushitsuki ever appeared, they would be a defect to the Mushitsuki system. An irregularity that can be called a bug. It is unknown what sort of being this Mushitsuki would transform into.”

His expression unchanging, Daisuke just kept walking while listening to C’s words.

“They even have the potential to be reborn as a frightening monster the likes of which humanity had never seen before.”

“…”

“Rather than risking the creation of monsters, evolving into the Undying is the right choice for Mushitsuki.”

Daisuke shook his head to the sides.

Raising his face, he looked around this world that had neither battles nor conflict.

“I don’t care about the Undying. It’s just that for me, the Revived—those who conveniently lost their pain and anything else—don’t look like normal people.”

This time C was silenced.

“It’s not like I wanna fight either, and I am tired. —Even so, I don’t want forget what happened to me or to others. I want to decide doing something for myself while not forgetting that. Because I believed doing that is what a normal person would do.”

Right now, Daisuke wasn’t walking in a created path like he was now.

His path that included him fighting, getting hurt and hurting many people was already soaked in blood, but even so—it was the proof of the person called Kusuriya Daisuke having lived.

“Those standing in the way are Mushi and the Original Three. Also—if you are going to take that and decide by yourself to make people into Undying…”

Daisuke looked at the girl walking right next to him and spoke.

“It looks to me as if you’re the one who’s becoming a monster.”

Shiika’s expression looked frozen—or perhaps it was just Daisuke’s imagination. Perhaps in reality she simply couldn’t understand his words and was trying to analyze that truth.

“I’ll make my dream come true.”

Daisuke’s heart was beating.

And that heartbeat—was no illusion. Relying on this heartbeat he certainly felt, he focused his consciousness.

His face became not that of Kusuriya Daisuke, but of Kakkou.

Convinced of the breakdown in negotiations, the girl transformed into not Anmoto Shiika, but C.

“By doing this, just by fulfilling my dream—I will become a mere human.”

It was already too late for C to swing her electric-clad arm.

Trusting his own heartbeat, Daisuke retrieved the sensations of his real body.

And—he howled.

3.07 Daisuke Part 5

“—aaAAAAAAAHHH!”

Howling from the depths of his stomach, he forced his consciousness to come back to reality.

GARDEN dyed in white retrieved its previous colors and the flow of time resumed.

It wasn’t just Daisuke.

All Mushitsuki in that battlefield shouted loud.

It wasn’t just to resist the combined mental attack by C and Genius. Even as they were hurt and collapsed—they vowed that they’d fight, walk their own chosen path.

They were Mushitsuki who sang their dream’s praises as loud as their voices let them.

And the number of those among them who fell to the mental attack—was zero.

“—”

The surrounding air all rose up to the high sky. The gigantic orchid mantis blocking their sight swung up its large scythe.

Reversing the winds it whipped up, Genius swung down its right scythe.

This combination of mass and speed was aiming for the Mushitsuki on the surface—

“Haha!”

Harukiyo’s full-powered fist repelled it. The vast heatwave burned up Genius’s scythe in an instant, blowing away the fairies and Revived on the surface.

Genius swung his left scythe horizontally to swipe.

Cutting a high-rise building into two, the pursuing giant scythe’s tip—was pierced by the Arisu’s thrust spear.

Scales came gushing out from the silver lance fused with the Morpho butterfly. Not coming to a rest even after breaking Genius’s scythe to smithereens, this impact erased even the crumbling building’s remains.

“Arisu!”

Daisuke shouted and asked.

“—Where is she?”

Sleeping Beauty accurately surmised the meaning behind his question.

The tip of the silver lance raised aloft pointed to the head portion of Genius.

No—it pointed behind this thin and long head, to a certain point in the pagoda.

“…!”

Looking up where the spear pointed, Daisuke was wrapped in an orange glow. His body suddenly became lighter.

Turning around, he could see a boy on the other side of the swarming fairies and Revived.

It was a blood-soaked Shiohara Shachito. Kneeling on a collapsed building, he pointed the hockey stick at Daisuke. —Him being here probably meant that the fight between teacher and disciple was over.

His body now lighter, Daisuke kicked the ground and leapt high.

As he tried leaping over Genius, the orchid mantis opened its mouthpart wide to stop him.

Mountain-like fangs that attempted chomping down on him—were shattered.

The shockwave emitted by Rina’s seven-spotted ladybug struck the orchid mantis’s jaw from below as though it was an uppercut.

Daisuke kicked the orchid mantis’s head and used the momentum to leap again—

“—OOoooOOOOOH!”

His left fist pierced through the pagoda’s wall. Using that momentum, he stabbed both feet through the wall to hold his body in place.

“Gwuhhh!”

A fierce storm of electricity blew all over the windowless pagoda’s surface.

Daisuke held himself at the place close to the pagoda’s summit—the spot Sleeping Beauty Arisu had indicated with her sensing ability.

“OOooOOAAAAAAHHH!”

While receiving enough electricity to brighten up the entire sky above GARDEN, Daisuke put his gun muzzle against the wall in front of his eyes. Pulling the trigger, he destroyed the thick metal wall.

He finally reached the pagoda that held C’s main body.

He wasn’t going to leave it just for Fuyuhotaru.

Wringing out his remaining powers, Daisuke invaded the tower.

“AAAAaaAAHHH!”

The dark interior had nothing in it other than ceiling and floor. Daisuke destroyed the wall using his left arm while firing the gun with his right. He was constantly getting hit by the electricity raging through the building’s interior, so Daisuke was losing the sensation of his arms.

Destroying everything he found, Daisuke rushed through the floor. In this state where his consciousness was held only through sheer force of will, he searched for C’s main body, and his eyes—

Finally found it.

It was a spacious space with a freezing air.

There were no lights in that room, and there were electric devices blinking on and off that looked like bookshelves.

And further back—

There were two eyes staring at him.

Daisuke readied his pistol.

“C—”

The next moment, light holding vast amounts of energy burst.

Ceiling, floor and walls all broke to smithereens. Having lost his footing, Daisuke was flung back outside the pagoda helplessly.

As he was thrown into the air, what Daisuke saw was the scenery of the crumbling pagoda. He saw the building’s top part explode while the foundation burst into smithereens.

What remained after the crumbling pagoda was two figures floating in air.

One of them was inside a transparent box that was linked to the surface through golden electrical discharges. Rounding her body and covering both eyes with her hands was the girl Daisuke knew as Horiuchi Erii—C.

The transparent box was housed in a majestically-decorated enclosure, itself resembling a large chair or a bed. The girl sleeping inside didn’t move a muscle.

And the other figure—was sitting with her legs crossed on top of the sleeping girl.

Her face was the exact same as Horiuchi Erii. However, her body clad in something like a transparent negligee was pale and slightly see-through. Her worn tiara was shining, and eyes covered by eyelashes bursting with gold looked down on Daisuke.

It was C’s main body—and her body double that could be called the medium of her power.

“Guh…gaha…!”

As Daisuke fell right next to his friends, the orange glow left him and vanished. Since his mass was no longer reduced, the damage he’d accumulated made it impossible for him to move. He couldn’t get up. The healer Nene rushed next to him.

“C…!”

“So that’s her real body…!”

The Mushitsuki fighting with Genius all looked up at C floating above the debris of the treasure tower.

Looking down on them getting pumped up, C widened her eyes.

Much like a balloon instantly inflating—the remains of the pagoda gathered around the floating C. Revolving around her much like a planet’s rings, they formed a perfectly round shape. The sphere’s radius was probably several dozen time the petite C’s height.

And it didn’t end with this.

“…!”

While the Mushitsuki were looking up, C’s expression changed.

Golden wings slowly unfolded from the back of the girl who narrowed her eyes in anger. Patterns drawn with golden threads looking like the veins on a leaf drew the shape of the letter C.

Sitting on her majestic bed, the girl sprouting gigantic wings—

Was her form that of an angel with a halo?

Or was it a buddha with a mandala?

These golden wings—clearly holding vast powers—caused light to surge in the sphere protecting C. All the debris became connected through golden threads, transforming into a glowing golden sphere.

“N-no way, is she trying to Mature…?”

He heard Terasu’s mutter.

“No—t-that—”

Ogata Akatsuki denied this.

Her transformation done, C looked down on the Mushitsuki.

Her gaze was unchanged from how it was before.

“It’s Semi-Maturation—”

It was the ability of Akatsuki’s, Mushi the mayfly. She controlled it so perfectly it could be called Half-Maturation. Since C could control the life and death of Mushitsuki, she was now attempting to control even the phenomenon of Maturation—

“…!”

Genius also started changing in front of the shocked Mushitsuki’s eyes. White blobs gathered toward its lost leg and the large scythe was regenerating.

The entire orchid mantis’s body was transforming as well. It became even larger, and the remaining legs also became sharp scythes.

Furthermore—

The Mushi of the Revived surrounding the Mushitsuki also began to change.

“All of them—”

While holding down his shaking legs, Daisuke rose up.

It wasn’t just C. Even Genius and the Revived, meaning the entire enemy forces, were Maturing.

On the other hand, all surviving Mushitsuki were already with a foot in the grave. They sacrificed plenty to reach this far, using up their very body and soul to fight.

Coming all the way here—they no longer had the powers to face against such powerful opponents.

“—Leave the surface to us, Rank 1s.”

A soprano voice echoed in the despair-filled battlefield.

As Daisuke turned around—he could see Kasuou transforming into an entirely different person.

“You bastards need to go and beat the crap outta C already.”

Kasuou’s vivid golden hair was being dyed pitch black. One arm vanished, and she used condensed mist to sprout a clawed giant arm in its stead. A single eye became a black void, and her exposed teeth were growing sharper.

“Before it’s too late for all of us, like that stupid Himiko.”

Just like the groaning Kasuou said, all Mushitsuki other than her were also transforming.

The Mushi equipped to Terasu’s throat now covered her all the way to her mouth, becoming a mask with countless breathing holes.

Yotsuba’s limbs became dyed in white and black, her entire figure wavering while drawing faint afterimages.

Namie’s common albatross butterfly burning in white started multiplying as if engaged in cell division.

Aijisupa’s hairband and clothes were dyed in pure white, the steam making his body float in air.

“…!”

He could see other Mushitsuki change their forms as well.

They were Semi-Maturing just like the enemy—or not.

What Kasuou and the rest were doing was nothing more than a rampage, inducing themselves to Mature out of their own volition. It would increase their powers, but it wasn’t a state they could hold for long—in the first place, there was no guarantee they could go back to normal after this.

It wasn’t them just betting their lives.

A few minutes. Once this much time passed, it would be too late for them, and if they actually Matured—they would just increase the number of threats on the world.

However, right now, they judged this to be the time to fight and bet on everything.

And that was—the same as Daisuke.

“Yeah, we’ll beat her.”

The seconds hand counting down hundreds of seconds to decide this heroic fight already started moving.

They could no longer go back—

“ORAAaaAAaaaAAHHH!”

“WooOOOooOOOOH!”

“AaaAAAaaAAAHHH!”

The howling Mushitsuki and the Semi-Matured Revived clashed directly. Genius, that became even larger, swung down its sharp scythes.

The goggle’s wireless functions already broke long ago. His comrades’ shouts and the explosive sounds and impact filling the surface right after them shook his eardrums.

“OOOOOH!”

Daisuke made the pattern on his entire body glow and unleashed a bullet toward the floating C.

However, the electric attack shot by fairies from the surface and a concentrated fire from the autocannons, as well as the lightning from the golden planet protecting C, intercepted the bullet.

The same happened with Harukiyo’s flames, Arisu’s scales and Rina’s shockwaves. Their attacks were cancelled, not even reaching the sphere engulfing C.

Attacks from long range weren’t going to work.

Since he estimated this, Daisuke did not hesitate. He kicked the ground, rushing ahead.

“—ooOOOH!”

Avoiding obstacles, he ran through the battlefield where Mushitsuki and Revived fought. As he accelerated, the patterns over Daisuke’s entire body increased their glow.

“—ooOOOOOOOHHH!”

Making himself into a green-glowing bullet, he leapt with great momentum, kicking the earth.

Genius’s scythe swung down, attempting to intercept his leap.

The next moment, Genius was struck by a concentrated attack from all Mushitsuki on the surface. Attacking together while not caring about any damage to themselves, they managed to carve through the orchid mantis’s large body.

Enemy attacks were launched at Daisuke again and again.

The Mushitsuki on the surface blew all of them back.

He took a full-powered running start, followed by a full-powered jump.

And obtaining the full-powered support granted to him by his allies—

“—OoaaaAAAaaAAAAAHHH!”

Daisuke landed right on the top of the sphere protecting C.

Immediately fearsome lightning assaulted Daisuke—but his left arm and right leg covered by a thick, burly carapace grabbed onto the pagoda’s debris forming the sphere and wouldn’t let go.

Having released his power to the very brink of losing control, the change reached all the way to his right arm as well. It fused with the gun, becoming a giant maw of the checkered beetle spewing hellfire.

“aAAaaAAAAHHHH!”

The sides of his mouth ripped and spouted fangs. Daisuke emitted a bestial howl.

The bombardment unleashed from the beetle’s maw struck the golden planet protecting C from zero range.

Mixing with the lightning assaulting Daisuke, it caused so much light to burst that it felt like it was going to destroy the entirety of GARDEN.

“HahaaAAaaAAHHHH!”

The flame devil, Harukiyo, followed Daisuke. Becoming a crimson flame, his right arm stuck to the sphere of light, persistently pounding it with a fireball. As he sneered in great joy, the lower half of his body began transforming into ethereal flames.

“—!”

Sleeping Beauty—Arisu also leapt to the sphere of light. Her long, black hair became silver, and a slashing attack that once parted the sea struck the light sphere again and again. She also emitted a blowing storm of scales that weakened C’s abilities, covering the entire sphere.

“…aaAAAAHHH!”

Lady Bird—Tachibana Rina also pursued the sphere of light. Having swelled up to several times its size and sprouting nasty-looking thorns all over, the seven-spotted ladybug unleashed a shockwave that once half-destroyed GARDEN.

“—”

Even while getting hit by these four focused attacks, the expression of the C sitting atop her real body did not change.

Turning her eyelashes spreading golden sparks ahead, she raised her thin arms aloft. Light surged from her ten outstretched fingers, and she supplied the golden sphere protecting her with the energy known as electricity.

The lightning unleashed from the surface of the sphere became even stronger.

All four Rank 1s including Daisuke were assaulted by further impacts.

“Vanish, all of you incomplete Undying—”

“ooAAaaAAAAHHH!”

“HaaAAAAHHH!”

“—!”

“aaAAAAHHH!”

Lightning ripping through the night sky kept piercing through the Rank 1s—

Daisuke continued his bombardment single-mindedly.

Harukiyo clashed with fireballs.

Arisu swung down her spear.

Rina unleashed shockwaves.

“You failed worms—”

C’s golden pupils glared at Daisuke.

However, he and the others did not stop their attacks.

They clung to the golden sphere—literally like worms, continuing their attacks.

Impacts caused by these midair clashes reached even GARDEN’s surface. All high-rise buildings in the center of town were unable to withstand the storm of blowing energy, crumbling down.

C’s eyes glaring at Daisuke turned even harsher.

Lightning kept increasing its limitless power as it struck the four Rank 1s—

On the other hand, the attacks made by Daisuke’s group started weakening at some point—

At last.

All four exhausted at the same time.

“—…”

Using up power beyond their limits, they couldn’t even raise screams.

As tattered as a squeezed rag, they were finally blown away from the sphere.

And the result of this assault by the four Rank 1s, regarded the strongest, was—

Not even a single crack appeared on the sphere protecting Super Class Rank 1, C. It appeared like this unimaginable defensive hardness denied everything, creating an isolated territory. Not only that, but using her precise control she would instantly change to other domains, constantly repeating regeneration and hardening.

Daisuke, Harukiyo, Arisu, Rina.

The fight between the four Rank 1s and the Super Class Rank 1 ended in the former’s utter defeat.

However—they had no regrets.

Nor pain.

While returning to a humanlike form after spending their powers, they were falling down toward the surface.

Those four all had the exact same expression.

As for why—

“—The world, will change…”

All of them muttered this because they saw the same scene.

Super Class Rank 1, C, was descending on GARDEN just like a goddess.

Another glow appeared above that divine figure.

It was just a small glow.

But it was—the light that would change the world.

“…To a world where no Mushitsuki will be born again…”

Looking down the four smiling Mushitsuki, C widened her glowing eyes.

It was because she noticed while Daisuke and the rest were falling, that the surviving Mushitsuki had already vanquished Genius.

And because she saw something standing on top of the unmoving orchid mantis.

A lone girl—

“…!”

She looked above her.

There she finally noticed the small light coming down on her.

It was—a single flake of snow.

“…It’s our victory.”

Daisuke and the other three Rank 1s could not compare to the C.

However, there was another Rank 1.

The girl standing atop the defeated orchid mantis—was Secret Class Rank 1, Fuyuhotaru.

The one C feared the most—

The one Daisuke and the others defended to the death—

The course of the destruction that no one could evade finally reached their archnemesis.

“—aaAA—”

What meaning did this whisper-like voice leaking from C’s lips hold?

Sitting on the bed where her real body slumbered, C raised her arms right above her.

An electric strike surged from the golden sphere.

All autocannons installed around town immediately launched a volley of bombardments and ground-to-air missiles.

Fairies, C-butterflies and the Revived on the ground launched attacks straight above them.

The sky of GARDEN became filled with golden flashes of light.

“—“

However, the snow that broke down even through all of those did not slow down its fall in the least.

C looked down at the surface. She reached out toward Anmoto Shiika.

However—

“...!”

Shiika calmly covered herself with a curtain of blizzard.

Even while protecting her body, she kept her gaze trained on above C. With a strong gaze that lacked any doubts she focused her consciousness on the flake of snow.

And the falling snow—touched the golden sphere protecting C.

Destructive noise loud enough to rupture eardrums echoed throughout the entire GARDEN.

This lone flake pierced through the sphere that Daisuke and the others hadn’t left a single scratch on. It broke through even C’s territory, and the snow glowing white got in contact with C’s body double.

“—”

C kept resisting, reaching her hand toward the snow.

However—

As if those golden eyes of her saw through this inescapable fate—

She let her arms that tried protecting against the snow drop down.

“…”

Why had she done this?

C erased her angry expression—and looked at none other than Daisuke.

And then—smiled.

“…”

Why had this being called Super Class Rank 1, C, smiled at Daisuke in her last moments?

He was thinking while watching the snow finally touch C.

Most likely, he would spend the rest of his life wondering about what this meant—

Daisuke was convinced of this.

3.08 Daisuke Part 6

The moment the lone flake of snow touched Super Class Rank 1 C—a change occurred.

The sphere protecting C lost its brilliance, and even the connections connecting the bed and the surface vanished.

Genius’s corpse scattered along with a white light.

The fairies and C-butterflies filling the city’s center all vanished without a trace immediately. All the Revived collapsed one after another like puppets with cut strings.

And that wasn’t all.

All the neon lights illuminating the city turned off one after another.

All lights in GARDEN vanished from the center and to the outer circumference like a receding wave—

“—!”

While falling to the surface, Arisu swung her silver lance.

Gushing scales wrapped all the Mushitsuki on verge of Maturation.

Including Kasuou and Terasu, they all stopped their movements. They all gritted their teeth with desperate expressions to suppress their Mushi—and now that the ability of Arisu’s scales affected them, they just barely retrieved their previous shapes.

The moment before they fell to the ground, the four Rank 1s were wrapped by an orange glow.

Shiohara Shachito probably helped them from somewhere. Becoming lighter, Daisuke and the rest landed on the debris noiselessly.

“…”

Falling spreadeagled on the ground, he looked at the scenery visible in the sky.

The young Mushitsuki called Super Class Rank 1.

Her last moments were incredibly silent.

The moment the snow touched her, C’s body double lost its light.

Its golden brilliance absorbed by a single flake, it become a black statue.

And—along with a small light afterimage, it broke to smithereens and scattered.

“C…”

He could hear Shiika’s mumble.

Even the sphere of light protecting C returned being powerless debris. It crumbled down and rained down on the surface so noiselessly it felt lonely.

At the same time—the rectangular object also fell to the surface.

The bed where C’s main body slumbered.

Within the bed stabbed into the top of the pagoda’s debris, C faintly opened her eyelids.

However, there was no life in them.

A mere Fallen that lost her Mushi was there.

This was the Mushitsuki who tried making all people in the world into Mushitsuki and then Undying to grant an eternal calm to the entire humankind.

This girl had tried absorbing even the Original Three, and held much more power than any other Mushitsuki.

She wished for a new generation of Mushitsuki so much that she threw her original personality of Horiuchi Erii away—

It was the instant she ended within this boxed garden called GARDEN.

“…”

No one said anything.

Tottering, Daisuke rose up to his legs.

On the surface where the moonlight alone illuminated them, all other Mushitsuki also rose to their legs one after another.

“…What’s going to happen now?”

Acting as a representative of all surviving Mushitsuki, Kasuou mumbled.

Only about a dozen people or so still remained standing in GARDEN.

They had no idea how many of the Mushitsuki who collapsed in this city could recover. Even if they started treating them right now, it was probably too late for many of them.

It was certain they fought and survived.

But at the same time, they also felt as if they remained alone in this spacious world—it was this kind of loneliness.

They managed to prevent a future where everyone in the world became Mushitsuki.

However, it also meant that in this world, the Mushitsuki were the only ones left behind.

“You mean… to the world? Or to us…?”

Even Terasu’s voice muttering this felt somewhat lonely.

“I dunno.”

Daisuke spoke.

“I dunno how things turn out—but there’s still something we have to do.”

While everyone looked confused, only the girl Daisuke was looking at seemed to understand.

Anmoto Shiika.

Only the girl who held the same dream as him smiled while looking at him.

“—Do you still have power left to fight?”

Daisuke said, looking around all Mushitsuki on the ruins of the battlefield.

Everyone was so injured that his words sounded like a bad joke.

Even Daisuke himself was smeared with blood and went past the limits of fatigue. Even just standing there took everything he had. And everyone there was the same.

However, even so the Mushitsuki all laughed.

“Easy peasy.”

Harukiyo represented their feelings.

Daisuke smiled as well.

He had no idea what the world would become now.

He didn’t know what would happen to the Mushitsuki survivors, either.

However—it was way too early to think about that sort of stuff.

“…Leave Fuyuhotaru and me alone and get back.”

Saying this, Daisuke faced Shiika.

3.09 Daisuke The Last

GARDEN that became an empty lot was wrapped in silence.

Even leaving aside the pagoda smashed to smithereens, not a single place in town kept its original shape. Crumbled tall buildings and wall, destroyed cars and autocannons and fallen helicopters all reflected the moonlight, glowing dimly.

Perhaps this was the sight of the end of the world.

However, what ended here wasn’t the world.

What ended here—was the fight deciding the fate of Mushitsuki.

And the world would start from here again.

“…”

After looking over the destroyed townscape, Kusuriya Daisuke looked at the girl standing right in front of him.

Her name was Anmoto Shiika. She was a Mushitsuki girl who held the same dream as him.

Right now, only Daisuke and Shiika were there. The other Mushitsuki were all taking refuge nearby.

“—So this makes us the only survivors.”

Daisuke said this to Shiika.

Although they defeated their biggest enemy, C, he recalled that his comrades were still anxious.

A world where no Mushitsuki would be born.

If that became reality—then the existing Mushitsuki really would become “survivors”. They were the people burdened with the fate of being host to the supernatural beings called Mushi that might eat their dreams and cause their deaths one day.

They wished for no further misfortune to occur.

However, in exchange—they would have no new comrades.

They would be survivor Mushitsuki, waiting for extinction.

Anxiety.

Loneliness.

They’d just keep living with all of those emotions.

However—

While they knew this, Daisuke and the girl opposite to him smiled.

“Right.”

Shiika raised her arms aloft.

Her Mushi appeared, resplendent in white light.

Daisuke also materialized his checkered beetle and fused it with his gun.

Although they hadn’t spoken about this at all—both knew what they had to do.

“It’s finally over… I can finally put an end to this—”

While he spat this, he could only taste blood. He was dyed by dried blood from head to toes, and his goggles had long since broke down. His tired legs were shaking.

All fights ended.

However, what they were about to do wasn’t a fight.

It was simply—

Putting an end to everything.

“Yup, finally…”

Even the crying Shiika had blood running down her head. Not even a single person among the survivors remained unharmed.

“I—we came all the way here…”

“We almost gave up many times, but managed to get here…”

They smiled at each other.

Above the boy’s head, a glowing snowflake appeared.

Daisuke put strength into his finger on the trigger.

This silence, that was as though only the two of them existed in this world—was torn by loud gunfire.

The bullet launched from the gun shot through Shiika’s Mushi.

“—!”

Grimacing, Shiika bent back.

Her white Mushi was blown to smithereens, became fragments of light and scattered.

At the same time, a disharmonious sound echoed from Daisuke’s handgun as snow touched it.

The checkered beetle separated from the gun and was being crushed by some invisible force.

“—”

Being assaulted by a sensation as if something inside his chest was being crushed by a fist, Daisuke fell to his knees.

That was—the sensation of despair as the thing he cherished the most until now, his dream, was being crushed.

And there was also the relief at this harsh battle finally coming to an end.

The Mushi’s death throes sounded as though they lamented and cried over these two conflicting emotions.

Their cries overlapped and echoed in the ruins of paradise—

Then, fully vanished.

“…”

As the two Mushi were annihilated, their Mushitsuki collapsed to the ground.

Daisuke and Shiika crawled on the ground, reaching out to one another.

Their fingertips touched.

It was a nostalgic—and warm sensation.

While feeling each other’s warmth, Daisuke and Shiika smiled.

Although their fingers touched only for moments, he could feel Shiika’s heartbeat from them. Shiika could definitely feel his as well.

When he first met Shiika, he made her into a Fallen.

Reuniting with her grown-up self, he didn’t realize it was her and hurt her again.

They kept getting involved with and hurting each other, but now it was going to end.

Their fates of running into each other all the time was going to end.

“…”

Daisuke and Shiika’s eyes lost their lights at the same time.

Losing their Mushi, they were becoming Fallen without any emotions and feelings.

Their fingers still intertwined, the two collapsed to the ground—

This was the ending of the two Mushitsuki called Kusuriya Daisuke and Anmoto Shiika.

Why had they chosen this ending?

Why had they chosen to close the curtain on their story by becoming Fallen?

That answer—came to dye the skies of GARDEN.

Moonlight.

Twinkling stars.

These lights all slowly vanished.

GARDEN, created as a paradise for the Fallen, was being wrapped in pitch black. Lukewarm wind blew and soon became a fierce gale that blew through the surface.

Instead of the vanished moon and stars, purple glows illuminated the city.

Emitting this glow were wings gigantic enough to cover GARDEN’s skies—

Of an elegant swallowtail butterfly.

The drizzle of purple scales headed toward the surface congealed and took a human form midair.

A slim woman clad in a crimson coat. She floated in air without any assistance, and her eyes glowing in rainbow colors were clearly inhuman.

The woman went down toward the pair on the ground as if she was a divine messenger.

Her gaze looked much too enraptured, and she was slightly flushed. Remaining silent in the sky above the two collapsed on the ground, she moved her nose as though sniffing something.

“Ah. I knew it. A splendid dream—”

Curling her bright red lips, she sneered, looking happy from the bottom of her heart.

“An especially scrumptious one among those I ate… my main dish.”

The woman opened her mouth so wide it almost looked like it was ripped.

A small glow rose from Daisuke and Shiika.

Rising to the sky and scattering, that glow came flowing into the woman’s wide-opened mouth.

And then—

The two Mushitsuki called Kusuriya Daisuke and Anmoto Shiika.

They—restarted.

Their touching fingertips twitched.

“Ah, so delicious—it makes not only my tongue but my entire body melt.”

Daisuke’s sister, Ayukawa Chiharu once said.

—Mushitsuki can recall their dreams over and over…

Those were also the words of Sanbikime inside her.

As long as they had an opportunity, Mushitsuki could recall their dreams.

The Mushitsuki designated as Super Class Rank 1, C, had manipulated the memories and feelings of the Fallen to fabricate that opportunity. And by using Shinpu’s abilities, she could revive Mushitsuki again and again.

However, right now Daisuke and Shiika didn’t need C.

There was the warmth they felt from their fingertips.

There was the heartbeat shouting their dreams transmitted from it.

The chance to recall their dream—was right in front of them.

“—…”

Raising their heads as if emerging from the deep sea—

Daisuke and Shiika stood up at the same time.

While receiving back the memories and feelings that came to them with frightening momentum, they looked at their opponent—and smiled at each other.

Next to them, a green checkered beetle and a white firefly were formed.

“—Thank you for the invitation.”

Daisuke and Shiika raised their faces toward the voice echoing from overhead.

It was there, floating above the city turned ruins.

One of the Original Three, Oogui.

Among the three Primal Mushi who gave birth to Mushitsuki, she was the one with an especially strong appetite—no, a monster whose behavioral principle was nothing but gluttony.

Once this monster felt dreams with strong emotions, no matter the situation, she couldn’t help but want to eat them—

“It was the best… and very last dinner.”

Wearing a full smile, Oogui calmly looked down the surface.

Already, all over the ruins—many Mushitsuki were standing.

Daisuke and Shiika. Harukiyo, Rina and Arisu were also there. Including Kasuou, the surviving Mushitsuki were all in battle formations.

The wings of the swallowtail butterfly dancing in the sky—which was the conduit for Oogui’s ability—were already being put to sleep by Arisu’s scales.

“Goodbye.”

Sneering at them, Oogui was wrapped in a flash of light and an impact.

They didn’t even give her a chance for a counterattack.

They wouldn’t allow her any resistance.

The attacks shot from all possible positions at once broke through Oogui’s body.

The swallowtail floating in air was being burnt to a crisp by a crimson Great Yama tiger beetle. Its wings, scattering around like ashes, were eliminated by Rina’s shockwave such that not even a speck of dust remained.

Even as her body broke down, Oogui smiled as if from the aftereffects of her full stomach. Leaving behind her sneering head, the body that received white snow was erased without any remains.

The Original Three.

Supernatural beings that were Primal Mushi who gave birth to Mushitsuki.

Until now—they were seen like that.

However, the truth was slightly different.

They could turn people into Mushitsuki, and, if Mushitsuki who became Fallen could recall their dreams again—

They could produce Mushitsuki any number of times.

These were the monsters called The Original Three, simply ruled by gluttony.

And in the end—

“Goodbye.”

Daisuke gave his words of farewell accompanying them by gunfire that erased the remaining head.

4.00 The Others

A fir tree laden with electric decorations was being displayed at a small bakery’s window.

Carrying paper bags in front of the store, she looked up the sky with irate eyes.

The skies of Ouka City were laden with clouds and it began drizzling. She hated getting her blond hair that was longer than her white duffle coat wet, so she was forced to enter the bakery to take shelter.

“Yup, I’m at the bakery. Let’s change the plan, you come to me.”

She spoke on her cellphone with a soprano voice. White breaths leaked from the mouth hidden by her scarf.

Cutting off the call violently, she could hear light background music come from inside the bakery.

It was a Christmas song she could hear anywhere these last few days.

“Yeah, yeah, merry whatever. You piece of shit. It’s so cold, die already.”

She mumbled to herself.

While shaking from the cold, the number of cars passing through the road in front of her kept growing.

About two months passed since the government’s functions passed from the capital of Akamaki City to Ouka City. The large-scale repair work on Akamaki City following what was officially called the “Localized Hurricane Disaster” kept advancing.

Even after so many days, people didn’t stop voicing their doubts regarding the truth about what assaulted Akamaki City. On the other hand, many voices also called to relocate the capital to Ouka City.

She herself didn’t care about any of that.

The storm passed. No matter what theories came, the city would regain its form soon.

Just as her anger at the cold and the rain grew worse, a white limousine parked in front of her. The stupid long car’s door opened up on its own.

“Oh, it’s so warm inside.”

The moment she leapt into the car, she brought out bread from her paper bag. She gave it a hearty bite.

Inside the car there was a long, rectangular seat. The girl sitting on the other side of the thin, long table raised her brow.

“Hey, don’t spread crumbs all over. I’ll charge you for the cleaning fees.”

She was the girl called Akasegawa Nanana. Inside the heated car she wore only a thin dress and had a long cane in hand. Her doll-embracing secretary also sat next to her.

“Your face’s pale. Are you alright?”

Saying this was the one sitting at the back, Tachibana Rina. Her neat features and long limbs weren’t hidden by her casual outfit of jeans and a sweater.

“Aren’t you tired, Kasuou?”

“What’s so bad about being tired on Christmas Eve, eh? Don’t have any time for eatin’ bread, either.”

Ripping the bread with her teeth, Kasuou cussed. Ignoring Nanana’s secretary who brought out a hanger, she threw her coat toward the seat next to her.

The door closed on its own and the limousine set out.

Excluding the driver seen through the other side of the soundproof window, only four people—Kasuou, Tachibana Rina, Akasegawa Nanana and her secretary—were inside the car.

“There’s been a bit of trouble this morning.”

“Trouble? What happened?”

While shaking a glass containing red liquid, Nanana tilted her head.

“A runaway. One Mushitsuki vanished without any contact. Told me to form a search team to find him… what a bother.”

“Oh, what a coincidence. Happened to me too. Mine left a letter behind, though.”

“…I see.”

Seeing the sighing Kasuou and Rina, Nanana also made a huge breath. Perhaps uninterested, she asked no further questions about that.

“Well, leaving that side, let’s wrap up things already. I’ve got a party after this. If we don’t finish this quickly, the smell of that cheap bread’s going to get all over my dress.”

“You really piss me off just like always … You’re the one who set the condition that we’re to meet up whenever we’re sharing information.”

“Obviously. That’s the right of the one providing all sorts of help.”

“There there, it’s fine… so, what about that four-eyes? He’s got a message for us, right?”

Being prompted by Rina, Kasuou clicked her tongue as she removed her gaze from Nanana.

“He said, isn’t it about time Mushibane joined us?”

Hearing her words, Nanana and Rina’s expressions changed.

On the window outside the limousine now wrapped in silence, the scenery of Ouka City getting pelted by the rain was flowing.

The people walking through the decorated town looked like they were floating while holding umbrellas.

No one had any way of knowing that just recently, not far away from here, a battle that decided the fate of the world had been held—

“Have things calmed down already? It’s too early, right?”

Rina said as if to warn them.

It happened after they defeated Super Class Rank 1 C, and Oogui.

All the Mushitsuki—split up into the SEPB and Mushibane again.

This was Haji Keigo’s suggestion.

The crux was that the SEPB was going to shoulder everything related to the work in order to rebuild the country again, as well as the negotiations to stop the international community from interfering.

All foreign countries already held interest in the supernatural beings called Mushi since long ago. It was Miguruma Yaeko and Haji Keigo who repelled them.

However, the international community were trying to use this incident as a pretext to send force with the stated goal of “preserving the peace”. If they let them, there was a decent chance all scattered Mushitsuki would get illegally kidnapped to other country. If that happened, it might as well cause another problem on the government level—and might even cause a new problem on the military level.

“What’s Haji the bastard been doing while he pretended to be asleep? He’s been apparently negotiating with some guys overseas. Probably laying the groundwork for everything after the battle.”

The reason he decided to split the Mushitsuki into two groups even after finally uniting them was probably due to something like insurance.

Even if the fight ended, there was no guarantee that the Mushitsuki would safely return being under the country’s authority again. If those at the core of country had C’s brainwashing lifted, and if the state kept targeting the Mushitsuki—they needed an organization to act as a receptable of Mushitsuki.

That was Mushibane.

In order to secure their own position, the SEPB’s Mushitsuki became busy with missions. So they needed manpower in order to search out the surviving Mushitsuki all over the country and secure them. Mushibane took on that role.

That was apparently a suggestion made by Haji Keigo right after the battle.

All Mushitsuki—agreed to this plan unanimously.

“Besides… the effects of what C did were surprisingly small.”

Kasuou kept talking.

“I mean, Akamaki’s still in that horrible state and GARDEN’s all broken up… and since she became Fallen all those brainwashed guys woke up, so that’s huge. Even that Deluge thingy that aimed for all the country’s people apparently ended up without anyone becoming a Mushitsuki because we all got into GARDEN immediately.”

“…”

“So the real problems came later. This country needs Haji to manage the surviving Mushitsuki and negotiate with overseas. Even that bastard wants to take advantage of it and go all out. Without caring at all that we need to run all over the place for him.”

Nanana opened her mouth.

“Regarding foreign countries, I also handle some of the negotiations, albeit unofficially. They keep telling me to sell them Mushitsuki. Leave finding those sorts of idiots to me.”

Saying this, she wore a bold smile and shook her glass.

“This country will probably sink for a while from the battle’s aftereffects… but I can already see signs of its imminent revival. If something bothersome reaches out, I’ll shut them up not with Mushitsuki, but with the powerful magic of money.”

After defeating C, Haji Keigo first revived the organization of the Special Environmental Preservation Bureau.

Rina rescued all the scattered Mushitsuki and protected them.

Akasegawa Nanana supported both of them in all aspects.

After the decisive battle, appearing in this sort of three-way discussion—

This would probably be their last time.

From now on, they really would create a single, new path to take, in the truest sense.

Rina smiled.

“Once we added up those Mushitsuki who weren’t part of the C operation in Akamaki City with those that Terasu secretly let escape when we got out of Akamaki City—it’s quite the number of people.”

Kasuou laughed back.

“Terasu’s going to collapse again. Even though she already almost died from overwork last week.”

“If she doesn’t suffer any work-related injury, tell her to come to me. I’ll hire her for ten times the salary.”

Nanana laughed as well.

Kasuou turned toward the glass window behind her, watching the flowing cityscape.

Rina and Nanana also looked outside, each with their own thoughts.

“…So, any new people revived from the Fallen state?”

“I’d like to know that, too. Was it just that one person Ayukawa Chiharu-san helped?”

“Even a single person is great. —It’s Alpha that we’re having no progress with. I knew it was going to be lengthy, but the research fees just keep on growing…”

“There was another guy at SEPB who’s almost Matured. I killed the Mushi, though.”

“We had two. I—took care of them.”

“You look much paler than Kasuou. Should I introduce you to a hospital?”

“How’s your father?”

“As always. …Yeah, once Mushibane no longer needs me, if father allows… I’ll ask Arisu to take this body and—right, how is she?”

“Getting there slowly but surely. She’s now able to stay awake for about two hours a day. Oh right, Nanana, she said she wants to meet you.”

“I see… oh, well, in due time. —That aside, do you know a journalist called John Mash? He’s using the Chronicler’s footage to do activism about Mushitsuki rights. What a riot.”

“That Haji bastard said it wasn’t something to just throw away. He blabbed something about how Mushitsuki’s existence becoming clear to the wide public might actually be helpful—”

Their useless conversation came to a sudden end.

The limousine got caught up in red light in front of the Ouka station.

Kasuou could see a single boy standing in front of the station. His back was turned to her and he looked like he was waiting for someone.

“Kasuou. That guy’s the runaway you’re looking for, right?”

Rina looked outside the window, wearing a mischievous smile.

“…I toldja, I’m busy.”

Kasuou wore a bitter smile and turned her face away from the window.

“Busy pretending I’m lookin’ for him.”

Nanana also looked outside and laughed.

“Yaha, you’re not just pretending, but actually helping him.”

“I don’t wanna hear that from you. …He worked more than anyone until now, and we already finished our business, the way I see it. Got nothing to do with him anymore. If he says he don’t need either the SEPB or Akasegawa for support, I don’t give a fuck.”

Saying this, Kasuou smiled back at Rina.

“About the one that escaped you… she’ll probably appear if we wait here, won’t she?”

“It’s fine. …That girl also did her best until today.”

Saying this and smiling, Rina looked happy.

The light changed to green.

The white limousine slowly drove off.

No one told it to stop.

“Well, it’ll somehow work out. —For us as well.”

Kasuou mumbled as Rina and Nana smirked at her—

And made a small nod.

4.01 The Others

Konomura Chami was fed up with the Christmas song she could hear everywhere.

Sitting in a four-people table at a family restaurant, she blankly stared at the outside scenery. Ouka City was gloomy with some rain and clouds, but the expressions of the passing people were bright.

A burp escaped her throat as she played around with the straw.

“Wooow, how dirty, I can’t believe it. Chami-sama, you’re so unfeminine!”

“You know, there’s this saying that you should keep your manners even when you’re with people you know well. When communicating with others, not only do you not lower your guard, but you end up imposing your excessive self-esteem on the other party—”

“…The worst…”

She heard concentrated complaints from her companions. The veins in Chamis’ temple popped out.

Next to Chami sat Lucifera, her various accessories jingling.

Opposite to her was Satou Youko, wearing a thick coat despite being inside, and Konoha, her eyes being hidden by her long bangs.

“You lot… don’t get too carried away or I’ll sting you with my ability again.”

“But Chami-sama, you were the one who dispelled that despite us not asking you to.”

“Right, we’re no longer your pawns, Chami-chan.”

“…She’s feeling bad because Chiharu won’t come today…”

It was apparently useless to even speak here.

After the battle with C was over, Chami released her pawns from their shackles.

There wasn’t any reason in particular.

It was just that she had no particular reason to keep them shackled, either.

“More importantly, what’s up with you calling me out on Christmas Eve? I have plans, y’know.”

As she sighed and said this, the three of them glared at Chami with expressions she’d never seen before.

“…What’s with those surprised faces… It’s just a part-time job. A low-paying one.”

“Ohhh, oh, what a shock. This is the greatest shock since I’ve met you, Chami-sama! I thought that maybe Chiharu finally cheated on you with a guy!”

“Is that part-time job at the cake shop from before? Still, even if you were introduced by that handyman, for them to be hiring you despite not having any resume, she sure has some serious connections… yup, sure looks busy today.”

“…Chami making cakes… Pfft…”

“Ah, I’m gonna kill all of you. You shitheads.”

Falling atop the table, Chami made a huge sigh.

Looking at the people walking outside with stupid expressions and her lax companions, she felt deflated.

No, talking about her being deflated—then it started ever since the battle ended.

“Spit it out, Konoha. Why did you gather us?”

Chami spoke.

She was tired of wasting time on this stupid talk.

Even not including Chami, who still had some time until her shift, no one here should have this much free time. —Perhaps that was why they all took this breather.

“…The SEPB and Mushibane are joining up again…”

Konoha mumbled this.

All those around the table looked momentarily serious.

“—I see.”

Chami wore a bitter smile.

Those words truly closed the curtain on Chami’s ambition.

The enemy was defeated. If the situation really was as stable as to allow the Mushitsuki to join up again—it means that the preparations for both the main and minor roles to get off the stage had already finished.

Chami would not end up snatching the seat of the protagonist, but just vanish secretly.

She wouldn’t do anything as boorish as pulling the actors back to a final curtain call—

“It doesn’t mean that the situation’s this stable, alright? I do think they’d stir it up a lot, though?”

Satou Youko raised her face, alluring Chami with a bewitching smile.

Chami spat with a glum face.

“Are you itching for action, ex-Demon Lord…? Ha, don’t lump me in with you.”

In the first place, she was the one who understood her vessel the most.

She didn’t find this result of her not being able to become someone important all that painful.

Not thinking of it as painful—was a bit painful.

So she kept being stubborn and decided on being herself, even if she was a nobody.

Not relying on anyone, not belonging anywhere, being neither a normal person nor a Mushitsuki—

She just wanted to be free.

“—Well then…”

Lucifera rose from her seat.

“I’ll be going back to Mushibane now.”

Konoha rose as well.

“And to the SEPB for me…”

Satou Youko also got up, carrying her suitcase.

“And I’ll go back helping the handyman.”

All of them went back to their places.

The three people vacating their seats looked at the seated Chami and smiled.

“What will you do, Chami-sama?”

“—I won’t do anything.”

She wore a bitter smile.

If Chami got up and said something like, “I’m going to turn over the world!”, would they follow her?

Even such delusions—sounded boring to her.

“I’ll work my low-wage job, grab a bento from the convenience store and go back to my apartment.”

She thought they’d feel disappointed by her answer.

All three wore a funny smile and said nothing.

Apparently, these impudent pawns all saw through their former master’s disposition—

“…”

Watching the three of them leave, she wondered when they’d meet like this next.

Of course, this was but a delusion.

She had nothing to do with where they were all headed to, now.

There was no longer any need for them to glance at each other again.

“—Please allow me to start by apologizing.”

A grinning woman suddenly came sitting in front of Chami without giving her any chance to refuse.

“Special Class Rank 10, Owl. I have misjudged your capabilities. Depending on the usage, your ability should receive a far higher ranking. I do beg your forgiveness.”

Narrowing her already thin eyes, the woman wore a kind smile. Her neat outfit and her gentle-mannered bearing were the exact opposite of the wild Chami.

“The ability to magnify people’s emotions… I wonder what would happen if you narrowed it down to the shape of a ‘dream’? Have you ever tested this?”

The woman and Chami might have looked like sisters with a large gap in age. Or perhaps a delinquent student being kindly admonished by a popular teacher.

They obviously didn’t have this sort of relationship.

Not only that, but Chami had been instantly taken in by the calm woman’s eyes and tone. Her body became heavier and she felt captive.

It was as if she was being gently and kindly—wrapped by chains.

“It will probably be a difficult experiment. However, if we find a guinea pig like Alpha and try pouring your ability into it—perhaps ‘something’ will be born again.”

The woman smiled.

“You possess the power to change the world.”

Miguruma Yaeko.

As the one who created the opportunity for the creation of Mushi, played with Mushitsuki and even created the powerful enemy called C, this woman could be called the root of all fights.

Miguruma Yaeko had used the chaos caused by the end of the battle in GARDEN and hid until this very moment. And now—she came to Chami.

“—Can’t even begin to imagine it.”

Chami laughed.

As Chami raised her eyes and mouth to laugh, the silhouette of a crimson queen bee appeared behind her.

“Joking aside, the world’s people are looking for you. How did you manage to hide so perfectly despite that? I thought you already went up and defected overseas, but here you are, still in Ouka City.”

Her body trapped by the Smile of Shackles retrieved its freedom. She could resist Miguruma Yaeko by heightening the emotion of “anger” within her.

“Well—I did imagine it was something like this.”

“…Have you stung yourself using your own Mushi?”

Although she saw Chami change her expression, Miguruma did not let her own smile falter.

“If you could strengthen even yourself, I really have great expectations for the experiment. As you are right now, you might become a Rank 1—no, there’s even the chance you’ll become something like the Original Three—”

“I don’t give a damn. No, I bet even you don’t give a damn.”

Kfu—

The illusion of a white cat sitting atop the table laughed.

“About the fact that your experiment or whatever—killed a single cat.”

And it wasn’t just Chami’s one and only past partner.

Way too many people became victims.

Way too many Mushitsuki were defeated.

“I’ll show you my full powers just like you want. Let’s fall to hell together.”

While they were glaring at each other—no, it was only Chami who was glaring at Miguruma—the atmosphere of the family restaurant instantly changed.

She didn’t know why.

All customers were suddenly gone from inside the shop. Even the staff vanished without trace.

“I don’t have any power to change the world. And even if I did—”

Instead of customers and staff, people exuding threatening auras appeared.

Gathering there one after another, they surrounded Chami and Miguruma’s table.

“It’s the power to finish you off and protect the world.”

And coming out in front of all those people—

Was the flame devil, Harukiyo.

This Rank 1 Mushitsuki looked down on Miguruma with flaming eyes. —They probably also theorized that Miguruma was going to show herself to Chami as well. She’d noticed they were sniffing around her for a while now.

But even if her opponent was a Rank 1, she wasn’t going to hand this over to him.

This little sting was none other than Chami’s.

“So—will you tell me your dream?”

She once had a dream of going up the stage as the main role.

But she finally accepted her life for what it was, knowing it wouldn’t happen.

The story of such a small-time Mushitsuki—

“If you’ve got something like it, that is.”

Came to an end with her dragging the worst scriptwriter of all off the stage.

4.02 The Others

The smell of the salty sea and green grass wafted in the air of Aoharima Island.

Twice it was assaulted by the flames of war.

The massacre brought by Miguruma Yaeko as well as the preliminary fight before the final battle against C.

The traces of the battle were the houses that became unlivable ruins as well as the wharf still filled with debris.

Although only the sounds of the waves and the wind came to Aoharima Island—

New sounds were born there again.

The sounds of striking metal and ships carrying materials cutting through the sea.

As well as—small laughter.

She could even smell the fragrance of food from somewhere.

She could see it well from the sky.

Among the devastated houses, several were being fixed. The sound of striking metal was the construction work of people who came from the mainland.

A part of the wharf was being filled with concrete, so it could barely allow ships to anchor.

There were still only few people on the surface. Most of the them were the workers brought from the mainland for the construction work and their families.

Among them, there were also small figures running atop the small hills.

The fire before robbed most of the island’s lives.

However—there were some survivors.

They were young children. The young man called Sensei had protected them on this island and they were sent to childcare facilities on the mainland afterward. She only unveiled this truth fairly recently.

The surviving children came back to Aoharima Island.

And now, climbing up a small hill, they waved at the sky.

“Big sis Ubuki! Don’t slack off, come down already!”

The voice calling to her revived the hope of this island.

And even she herself was one such hope.

Because she was the one and only Mushitsuki who came back from being a Fallen following the final decisive fight.

This didn’t mean she became a normal person again—but it showed them without a doubt that this was possible.

“What are you doing there, just flying all the time!”

She freely flew the skies above the island with the black wings sprouting from her back.

While feeling a small hope—

“I’m looking for a pretty dream.”

Shirakashi Ubuki laughed.

Epilogue: Merry Christmas

Kusuriya Daisuke pulled out his umbrella and stood at the plaza in front of the Ouka station.

There were many people around, coming out of the entrance with its decorated fir tree. A worker in a Santa Claus costume was handing out coupons in front of the station’s coffee shop.

Since the main functions of the country were moved from Akamaki City, the redevelopment of Ouka City was accelerating. Even here he could see that the roundabout in front of the station was currently being expanded. More bypasses were being constructed within the city and more residential neighborhoods were being built in the suburbs.

He even heard that GARDEN—Hashiba City—was advancing a large-scale redevelopment program. This time not for the Fallen, but as an actual, normal city for people to live in. The Fallen were all admitted into a large facility at Higano City, where they were now treated much more humanely.

The time was just around noon.

“…”

While being pelted by the rain, Daisuke waited for a certain girl.

They hadn’t decided on a time to meet or anything like that.

In the first place, he didn’t know whether she’d appear there.

After all, they only made a very vague promise.

Let’s meet after a year.

I’ll end everything until we meet again—he also swore this.

It was hard to say everything was solved, but he did feel like he did what he could. At the very least, there shouldn’t be anything that needed a Mushitsuki like him again. He was going to spend his life atoning for everything he should, and he was going to carry any and all misfortune that came to him on his own.

Therefore, he came here to fulfill their promise of a reunion.

Simply as Kusuriya Daisuke.

Believing his promised partner would arrive, he stood there.

He didn’t think she’d forgotten their promise.

However, whether or not she would come was a different issue.

Not only that, but she might miss Daisuke in this crowd of people. After all, Daisuke had no distinguishing features, and even his coat was plain. If there was any way at all to recognize him, it was probably only the band aid on his cheek—

“…”

The anxiety swelling in his chest melted away.

Daisuke smiled.

Among the many passing people, at the entrance to the station—

Stood a person waiting for him.

She was smaller than those her age and had a baby face. She wore the exact same ribbon as last year in her hair. Her cute coat looked a bit too big for her.

Anmoto Shiika.

The girl Daisuke first met five years ago looked at him and smiled.

Daisuke walked to the station.

Closing his umbrella, he finally reunited with this girl.

“…Err.”

This first pathetic voice came out of Daisuke’s mouth. Although he waited so long for today and was looking forward to meeting her, he couldn’t speak well.

He didn’t know what to say.

Or should he apologize? There were many things he needed to apologize for.

“Hello, Daisuke-kun.”

Perhaps not realizing Daisuke was stammering, Shiika opened her mouth first.

“It’s been a long time, huh.”

The girl grinned at him.

Daisuke and Shiika hadn’t met each other in two months. After the battle at GARDEN, they returned to their places—the SEPB or Mushibane—and never met since then.

Right, because they quickly parted back then—Daisuke hadn’t been able to apologize about the fact he was hiding that he was actually the Mushitsuki called Kakkou from her.

He deceived Shiika and he knew that she was deceived by him.

So before all else, Daisuke had to start by having her forgive him for that—

“We haven’t seen each other since last year’s Christmas.”

Shiika said.

There were tears in her eyes.

Surprised, Daisuke looked at Shiika.

She said nothing following this.

She knew everything—and yet said that Kusuriya Daisuke and Anmoto Shiika, who weren’t Mushitsuki or anything, met again for the first time in a year.

She was saying that she’d allow him to fulfill the promise.

“Yeah… Shiika.”

Daisuke nodded and smiled back at her.

Something heavy that he’d been accumulating for a long year—

Started slowly melting away with this warmth.

“I finished up my business… but are you fine, Shiika?”

“Yeah, it’s—fine already.”

Shiika nodded.

Looking at each other, only at this point he became embarrassed and averted his eyes. Shiika also blushed and looked away in a delay.

And then.

As their eyes met again—all anxiety and doubts vanished.

“Then—let’s go.”

As he took her hand, Shiika looked down bashfully. She might have nodded.

He had no idea what would happen from now on.

He had no idea where they were headed, and what conclusion awaited them.

Above all else, he didn’t know how to call the shape of their dreams.

“I want a place where I belong”—

All he knew was that both wished for this from their very hearts.

“Let’s start with lunch, then. Have you eaten yet, Shiika?”

“N-no. And after that, Daisuke-kun…”

“I remember. The amusement park, right.”

“Oh, but it’s raining, so I wonder if it’s fine…”

“They’ll probably have the parade. Also—”

There was only one way to make their dreams come true.

He could feel with his heart that the both of them walking side by side like this meant they went on the same path ahead.

Because they kept dreaming, got hurt, and especially because they didn’t give up despite that—

They could keep going even further.

“They’re saying it’ll start snowing this afternoon.”

Daisuke and Shiika smiled at each other, and while feeling each other’s hands’ warmth—

Vanished within the crowded station.

Afterword

Hello, this is Iwai Kyouhei.

Thank you for supporting me for so long.

Now, the Mushi Uta series has been concluded.

Since the first volume had been sold on the fifth month of Heisei 15, the curtain closed on it exactly 11 years later. Thinking back on this time, I can offer nothing but my gratitude.

While thinking that anything else would be superfluous, I want to use this opportunity of the book’s conclusion to look back on various things.

Or well, it’s only personal things.

Mushi Uta is actually the second series I’ve written since my debut.

Just like I wrote during the first afterword, it started with the simple idea to mix up something I love with something I hate: dreams and insects. Also, because I went with something much more logic-based for my debut work, I wanted to go with something more emotional next.

Right after starting the series, my liking of side characters was made even worse, so I started troubling the editor by wanting to do selfish things such as changing the main character every volume, a so-called omnibus format. I’m really glad I was told that “the readers want to read Kakkou’s story, you know” and it became like this. Well, I still ended up straying away from the main story around the middle part and was told the same thing a lot, though.

After this I had nothing but welcome developments; the serialization of the prequel Mushi Uta Bug, as well as the manga and anime adaptations.

Leaving aside those that I could leave to the professionals, the short stories started from a place of confusion and anxiety. Because I’d never written a volume of short stories before. It’s like they say that it’s harder writing short sentences rather than long ones.

Even so, I finally started enjoying it more around the middle. Perhaps because I set my goal to be a battle known to be lost from the main story it, agreed with my strange tastes as a creator.

But as I grew used to it, I got carried away and it ended up introducing a lot of new characters. In that sense, although it was fun to write, it ended up causing many other problems. I ended up troubling my editor by saying I want to put out a Mushitsuki that can drop meteors, and even caused trouble for the illustrator llo-san by creating so many characters. I really do apologize. This serialization became the number one motive and motivation for me to work on writing the Mushi Uta main story.

Looking at it like this, I am only thankful for all these things. Looking back on this happiness, it also makes me realize all the blunders I made on the way, so while I am ashamed, it was also very fun.

Now, including the prequel, the story now has more than 20 volumes in all, but how was its conclusion?

Because it was such a long story, I believe many readers worked their imaginations to try and guess how it would end.

I have received many of your impressions and words of encouragement, but while many told me about your favorite stories and characters, my impression was that most tried predicting future developments.

Among those especially many were, as expected, about the future of Kakkou and Shiika as main characters. And also as expected, most wished for a happy end for them.

Above all else, they wished for a connection to “after” the conclusion.

I believe the best sort of ending is one where you can imagine how it continues after the end.

Many things happened to the author himself during these long years as well.

Not just private things, but I learned a lot about writing as well.

I gained the opportunities to serialize other series, manga and novel adaptations, and each such time I was in the care of readers like you or other people in the business.

After I had the unprecedented experience of Mushi Uta, I think about writing new stories.

Even just in the sense of returning all the favors people gave me, I want to pour my everything into a new series.

Please look forward to it.

Allow me to once again thank everyone related to this series.

Onnai-sama who was in charge of me until now, Yamaguchi-sama, Taiki-sama and everyone of the editorial department all go without saying for all the help you’ve given me. The only reason such a helpless writer who always said the impossible could be controlled and continued the serialization was thanks to you. Thank you very much.

And the illustrator, llo-sama. Despite the fact that I have undoubtably caused you constant problems with so many characters and my slow writing, you have always drawn wonderful pictures for me. So many were rejected especially because of my slow writing and revisions… and you bore the brunt of my schedule… I feel nothing but gratitude for you. Thank you for sticking with me for so long.

There were also many people in charge of design, production work and the like.

I can’t hold enough gratitude for all the multitudes of people who helped me thus far.

And lastly.

I want to exhibit my heartfelt gratitude to the readers who followed Mushi Uta thus far.

Without your support, I never would have managed to continue the series for so long.

Thank you for helping not just me as the author but the series itself constantly evolve. I received countless words of support that gave me strength.

I hope I can continue to encourage you to pick up my works for your reading life.

I await the day we’ll meet again through another work.

Iwai Kyouhei

---

Congratulations, it’s finished! Good job. I’m the artist.

Since the 1st Volume was sold on May 2003, we’ve been together for eleven years.

If I were to live to be 110 years old, this would mean that Mushi Uta was a full 10% of my life, you know?

It means that every 2 and a half hours of my life were Mushi Uta. That’s incredible.

Many things happened during this long time, but I want to thank Iwai-sensei, all the editors and, above all else, the readers who accompanied us this far. Thank you very much, truly.

I’ll be happy if we meet somewhere again.

Notes

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