3 - Don’t Know What To Say To “Goodbye”

Night came. The group was now in an abandoned building outside of town. It had once been a factory, but now that it was abandoned, there was nothing left but a dirt floor and a roof. Yoshie had remembered it and suggested they hide there, and Akuto had teleported them.

Right now, Zero was in control of the mana flow throughout the entire continent. The only three who could escape his sight were Brave, with his mana canceller, Akuto, with his vast power, and Keisu.

Akuto had brought a camping set and spread it out on the floor of the factory. Everyone was sitting around the light from the lamp. The spot seemed safe, and they would be able to stay there for a while.

Hiroshi had spent some time looking at the map before heading out to take a look around. After that, they finally had a chance to relax.

“I love empty buildings. They make me want to take photos. There’s a certain beauty in forgotten places and decay, isn’t there? Like a place where a cornered soldier dies, or something.”

Yoshie was very excited, even if nobody else was. But even as she talked, she was working. She was making the machine they needed for tomorrow’s plan. “It’s been a while since I’ve done any mechanical work. It’s making my craft girl blood boil. My only complaint is that it’s a little too easy.”

She was fixing up a beat-up old surface card. She’d found it abandoned on the side of the road and carried it here, and now was getting it running.

“So you’re good at any kind of engineering, huh?” Akuto asked, impressed.

“Once you make a program, you want to make a mana machine that uses it. And when you make a mana machine, you want to make a program that drives it,” Yoshie said, a little boastfully.

Akuto felt himself relax as he talked to her. It was the first time he’d talked to her when things were calm, and there was something about her frank manner that made you feel at peace when you spoke to her.

“What kinds of stuff can you make?”

“Quite a bit, actually. I can even make autonomous thinking machines, like Liradans or divine terminals. But I can’t make something with a mind of its own, like Zero.”

Akuto was intrigued by this. “The minds of humans and Liradans are different?”

“That’s right. One has a self, the other doesn’t. It’s hard to explain, actually... You can build machines that can replicate themselves, but they can’t have selves. An artificial intelligence that spends a lot of time around humans will get something similar to a self, but it’s different than a human, who has a self from the very beginning. It’s one of the mysteries of life, I guess.”

“The mysteries of life, huh?” Akuto whispered.

“Yup. How did life begin? If we knew that, we might know the secret behind the creation of the universe. If nothing else, it’s probably got something to do with the apocalypse that Boichiro Yamashiro talks about.”

“There’s somebody real close to us who probably knows the secret and just doesn’t know they know it...” Akuto glanced down at Keena, who had fallen asleep on his shoulder. She was snoring peacefully.

Looking down, she seemed just like a normal girl, but Akuto had seen the miracles she’d created many times. Boichiro Yamato had been after her, and it was possible that Kento would be too.

“Kento wants Zero sealed again, right? Not destroyed?” Akuto asked.

“If you destroy him, the gods will cease to exist. Well, maybe that’s what you want,” Yoshie said, and laughed.

“I do. Of course,” Akuto said.

Junko, who had looked like she’d wanted to say something for a while, finally spoke up. “Why is it so important to you?”

“Huh?” Akuto seemed confused.

“Why are you doing this? I don’t understand. Actually, I’m starting to not understand you at all.” There was a tone of fear in her voice.

Akuto’s face took on a serious tone. “I don’t understand me either. But that’s what I want to learn. Who am I? Somebody made me and gave me a role to play. I am who they made me, and if I don’t end that, I can’t become who I should be.”

Akuto’s answer was, to him, a serious one, but Junko just fidgeted. “That’s not what I meant. What I’m trying to say is...” And then she stopped talking. She was trying to find the words, but she couldn’t.

But it was Keena who picked up where she stopped. “Ackie, you need to think about us, too.” She must’ve woken up, because now she was looking up at him.

“‘Us’?” Akuto asked. Keena nodded.

“That’s right. Junko is saying she likes you.”

“Wh-What? I’m not...” Junko turned red and flailed her hands.

But Akuto nodded. “Sure, I like everybody else too. That’s why...”

“That’s not what I mean! We care for you you like a farmer cares for his rice!” Keena said loudly.

“That’s a weird metaphor...”

“Huh? It’s the easiest metaphor in the world! Farmers care for their rice when they raise it. Just because it’ll be eaten or sold in the end doesn’t mean that they forget about it or give up! So if rice could talk, it wouldn’t want to hear about harvest season, it would want to hear about how much the farmer loved it right now!” Keena said. Then, having apparently said what she wanted to say, she went back to sleep.

“D-Do you know what she’s talking about?” Junko said, her face red. She must’ve been relieved that the subject had been changed, because there was a smile on her face.

Akuto thought for a moment, and then spoke. “Is it wrong to think about everybody’s future happiness, if that happiness means sacrificing myself?”

Junko seemed caught off-guard for a second, but when she understood the meaning of the question, she immediately nodded. “Yeah. It’s wrong. Of course it’s wrong. I mean, think about it. You’re doing all this because you don’t want bad things to happen to people, right? We’re the same way. In the same way it hurts you when the people you... care about... suffer... we also...” Then Junko shook her head, as if to say “Forget it.”

But Akuto nodded and looked straight at her. “I’ll make sure not to forget that there are people who are here to help me. Even if I was just made as a tool that dies in the end, until the last moment, I want to do what you want me to.”

“Y-You dummy... Why are you being so serious?” Junko smiled to hide her blushing

But Akuto answered seriously anyway. “But don’t worry. In two days it’ll be all over. Everything will be fine.”

“Y-Yeah...” Junko looked back at him and gulped. And then she slowly stretched out her hand to his.

“Yeah! It’d be great if we can put an end to all this!” Yoshie came up behind Akuto and grabbed both him and Junko.

“Hyah!” Junko yelled.

“Oh...” said Akuto.

“I’m glad you two are having fun, but if you don’t let me join in, I’m going to pout,” Yoshie joked. She rubbed her cheek up against Junko’s and grabbed Akuto by the ear and pulled. “Once this is all over, let’s see who wins this dunce for their own, okay? Or would you rather share him?”

“Y-You dummy... What are you...” Junko went red right up to her ears.

Yoshie ignored her, and suddenly spoke to Akuto in a serious voice. “Hey, are you seriously going to defeat Zero, not seal him? I think at this point, you’ll need a lot of resolve to do that.”

Akuto nodded. “Yeah. I understand what you mean.” The two of them seemed to understand what the other was trying to say.

“But you’re going to do it anyway? Your resolve hasn’t wavered after what you just heard?”

Akuto hesitated. “You’re right. I’m not sure what to do. My mind is starting to change, little by little.”

Yoshie nodded and smiled. “Okay, I guess I need to do my best so I can help you, too.”

“Hey... What are you two talking about?” Junko said suspiciously.

Yoshie’s mischievous voice returned. “Heheheh. Akuto and I understand each other without words. Are you jealous?”

“Wh-What are you talking about?” Junko’s face went red again as she flailed her hands.

“Hahaha. I’m just kidding. But the reason I like you is because Akuto and I get along.” She suddenly pushed Junko to the ground.

“Hyah! Stop it!”

“Ooh, your body feels different than Fujiko, but it’s still nice.” She began to rub Junko’s body.

“Wh-Where are you touching me...?”

“Where? Do you want me to say it? Akuto is listening.”

“Uwah! You dummy! Stop! You don’t need to say it!”

“Should I say it then?”

“Stop it!”

Suddenly Akuto looked away and spoke. “Let me know when you’re done.”

“You dummy! Make her stop!” Junko screamed.

○

Morning arrived. This was the morning that Akuto had decided they would leave for the moon.

“If it gets dangerous, then run,” he said to the rest.

The “rest” was Junko, Yoshie, Keena, and Keisu. They were all in a car, and Yoshie was driving.

“That’s the plan. But I do think there’s going to be a time when we’re all useful. Not that I don’t want to run when I look at this.” Yoshie suddenly felt a cold chill run down her spine.

The car was driving towards Constant Magical Academy, and they could see the rows of Liradans waiting for them. With just four of them heading into an army, it felt like being thrown out into the snow naked.

“That’s an anti-magic combat formation. They’ve decreased the amount of mana in the area they expect us to travel through, and are planning on shooting mana-accelerated bullets at us from outside that zone. Normally you wouldn’t drive up to a waiting army in a car, you know...” Yoshie said, analyzing the situation with her goggles.

Constant Magical Academy’s west side was a huge courtyard surrounding a small hill. The perfect place for a battle.

“There’s a VPS field, too. Just like we figured, Brave can’t help at all. It was probably right not to bring him.”

“But we’re going to follow the plan anyway. We’re not going to break through. I’m going to disable all the Liradans,” Akuto said calmly.

“Woah. Glad to hear you’re confident,” Yoshie chuckled as if to hide her fear.

Yoshie was an easygoing and curious girl; normally, dangerous places didn’t scare her. But this time, things were different. She’d never been in a real fight before.

Akuto seemed to sense her fear. He put a hand on her shoulder and nodded to Junko. “I’ll let Junko take care of you.”

Junko wasn’t used to having him call her name, so she let out a small “hyah!”, but then her face took on a serious look and she nodded. “Don’t worry. I know I can at least protect the car.”

Akuto smiled and nodded. “Yeah. I believe in you. I’ll handle the mana on our route. You’re all going to stay put until it’s safe. But Zero will probably still come after Keisu. The car can serve as a decoy.”

“Roger.” Yoshie smiled, the fear gone.

“Alright, off I go.” Akuto waved and flew upwards, with a calm demeanor that made it hard to believe he was going to battle.

But even so, the minute he got there, the area in front of them turned into a battlefield. Far to the front of the car, they could hear explosions and see flames and blasts of light. Of course, all of these were attacks directed at Akuto.

“He’s probably fine, but... I’m still worried.” Junko whispered.

“You’re in love, huh? Well, let’s worry about ourselves, not him,” Yoshie said as she accelerated the car forwards.

She was right. There was no reason to worry about Akuto. All the attacks were reaching him, but he was easily deflecting them. Even those Liradans that targeted the car were easily defeated.

But still, he missed a few of them. They could see a unit of Liradans coming from the opposite direction where Akuto was fighting. Zero couldn’t sense Keisu, so he was probably having the Liradans search for her with their eyes. Or maybe they were just seeing the car as a target.

There were three units of five Liradans, each wearing soldiers’ uniforms. A mana ball came up from behind them, fired by Akuto when he realized the danger. It succeeded in blowing away two of the units, but the remaining five Liradans blocked the car’s path, reading their guns with the efficient movements of veteran soldiers.

“Uh-oh.” Yoshie moved to turn the steering wheel, but Junko stopped her.

“It’s dangerous to expose our side. Keep going forward. The mana density is high enough. Even I can block them!”

Junko jumped up out of the car seat. She landed in front of the advancing car, ran faster than it was traveling, and then dropped down low as she drew her sword and made five clones.

Each of the clones headed for a different Liradan. As soon as they saw the Junkos coming for them, the Liradans fired their rifles.

“Just rifle bullets...!”

All the Junkos deployed mana shields. A few of the bullets made it through the shields because of the weaker mana in the area, but Junko spun her blade quickly and split them in half. The clones did the same, and even their own blades, which were made of mana, severed the bullets in the same way.

“Hah!” Then she split the Liradan and its rifle in two. The clones followed along, and all five Liradans collapsed at once.

When the last one had fallen, the car caught up and stopped next to her. “Nice,” Yoshie said, impressed.

“There’s more coming,” Junko said. She wasn’t blushing. She was right; more of the Liradans that Akuto had missed were coming towards the car.

It wasn’t that Akuto was slacking off. The Liradans, in other words, Zero, had narrowed down their target to Keisu. A huge horde was bearing down on them.

“Drive the car around for a while to keep them away from you. I’ll handle this,” Junko said as she made even more clones.

They surrounded the car, keeping the charging waves away. The waves of Liradans collided with the wall of Junkos, giving off a powerful mana light.

“Aah!” Yoshie ducked, but not a single bullet made it through the wall.

Junko was wielding her sword like a demon, slicing through the approaching horde and knocking them away.

“Raaaahh!” Junko yelled.

It was common knowledge that the effects mana had could be changed by the power of your imagination. Just like with the battle between Zero and Akuto, the key to this battle was human imagination. In that regard, Junko’s highly trained mind was overwhelmingly powerful.

“Here I goooo!” After blocking the wave of Liradans, now Junko and her clones charged. The clones were so packed together that you couldn’t tell which was the real her, and when they charged they were like a rampaging bull.

As they raced forward, the ranks of the Liradan horde collapsed. As they started to fall back, Junko pursued them. Some of them managed to stop running and try to group up again, only to be blasted by even more powerful mana balls from Akuto.

Every one he saw, he crushed. Anyone that got close to him exploded with a glance. Anyone farther away found themselves with a hole in their stomach, courtesy of one of his mana balls.

The Liradans were all under Zero’s control, and functioned as a single organism, but Akuto was crushing each of that organism’s cells. Now there was no way for them to keep fighting. If they had any “self,” they would’ve frozen in fear like their souls had left their bodies.

“I’m glad he’s not my enemy,” Yoshie said. She was watching the battle like she would a show. “...But it also seems beautiful,” she whispered.

As Akuto stood in the sky, overwhelming his enemies without moving an inch, he had the bearing of a creature that could only be called the Demon King.

And as Junko and her clones stormed down the path, white blades flashing like a blizzard of ice, she seemed like one of the Demon King’s demonic servants.

“This’ll be over soon, I bet.” Keena said as she sat next to Keisu in the back seat.

“I bet.” Yoshie nodded.

Few of the Liradans were still even moving. The area around Constant Magical Academy was now piled up with corpses.

“But I feel bad for them,” Keena whispered.

“Yeah,” Yoshie said, “I feel bad for the Liradans. But right now he’s being cold... What’s coming after this is where it gets scary.”

“After this?” Keena asked.

“That’s right. Anyway, that’s it for the outside. Now we go inside the school,” Yoshie pointed in front of them.

Akuto and Junko were standing on top of a mountain of shattered Liradans. It was a chilling, but somehow powerful scene.

○

The group stepped inside the school. But there were no Liradans in the hallway. Akuto stood at the front of the line as they walked forward, but nothing happened. There were no traps waiting for them.

“What’s going on?” Junko asked as they walked down the stairs, carefully keeping their eyes peeled for anything around them.

“Basic tactics says you should concentrate your forces. Maybe they didn’t expect the forces outfront to actually accomplish anything,” Yoshie said as she walked in front of Junko. She used her goggles display to overlay the path Keisu had told them on their current route.

“...Here. This wall.” Yoshie pointed to a stone wall in the basement corridor — a place the others knew well.

“We use this corridor too, but there’s nothing—”

Yoshie ignored Akuto as she pressed a small spot on the wall. There was a low rumbling as it slid open and revealed another corridor.

“...I didn’t know that was here,” Akuto said in surprise as he looked down the corridor.

There was nobody there, but from the footprints in the thick dust, they could see that someone had already passed through.

They went down the hall, keeping Keisu surrounded and safe at all times. There was a staircase at the end that they followed several levels down. When they got to the end there was a light. Akuto, who was at the head of the line, stopped.

“That’s...” Yoshie looked. And then she groaned. “I knew it... I wish I’d been wrong, but... So this is his trump card.”

“Wh-What’s going on? You’ve been saying that since yesterday...” Junko said, surprised, as she poked out from the back. And then she gasped.

At the end of the hallway was the silhouette of a tiny girl. Past the hall was a space the size of a football field, with a teleportation circle several meters across in its center. That was the only source of light. The girl was standing in front of the circle.

“I cannot let you pass. I will kill all of you,” a cold voice said. It was a voice Junko knew well.

“Korone...” As she stepped forward, she saw Korone. This was what Akuto and Yoshie had been talking about, she realized. Akuto wouldn’t be able to defeat her.

Korone was in the same uniform she always wore. Her eyes were the same emotionless color as ever, but what was different was the way she moved. As she raised her hand, they saw a trace of Kazuko’s elegance and the moments Zero made in his human body.

“She’s being controlled...” Junko whispered.

“Probably. But whether she’s being controlled directly...” Yoshie said.

“Korone!” Akuto shouted.

“That is my individual name.” Korone said, “But now...”

She raised her hand, and the mana flow around her began to warp. There was the sound of space itself ripping apart as a huge teleportation circle appeared above her head.

“A weapon...” Akuto whispered.

A huge machine appeared from the circle. It was shaped like a combination of an airplane and a piece of construction equipment. It seemed capable of flying on its own.

When it had fully manifested, it slowly descended to just above her head, and then surprisingly, began to transform. What seemed to be a flying machine split open and spread out, and then divided itself into parts that fitted themselves to Korone’s body.

When it was done transforming, it became like an armor surrounding her. Or maybe, a giant twice the size of a human with her in its belly.

Korone waved a hand as if to test how it moved. Her hand gave off a powerful mechanical groan as it moved. She pointed it at Akuto.

“...This is the artifact of the God Markt: ‘The Hammer That Destroys the Demon King.’ Call me Armored Korone,” she said.

“That sounds like one of her jokes, but...” Junko murmured.

“She has traits of Kazuko and Zero. It’s not Korone who’s in control. Maybe they’ve mixed to some level,” Akuto said.

“...So that’s The Hammer that Destroys the Demon King. The ultimate armor in Markt’s temple,” Yoshie said.

“It’s the same as my Souhaya no Tsurugi?” Junko asked.

Each of the temples had a single weapon guarded by the priests. The weapons were all tightly linked with the gods, and some of the most powerful weapons an individual could use. They were supposed to only be used as symbols of peace, but...

“As the name ‘Hammer’ implies, it gives its wearer the hardness of steel, and a powerful weapon to bring down on lawbreakers. It’s a weapon that was used in the war,” Yoshie explained as she pointed to Korone’s right arm.

The right forearm was equipped with a steel appendage that looked like a huge stake-like metal rod. The rod unfolded into a hammer so huge that it threatened to tip her over, so big that it threatened to overwhelm anything around it.

“That huge hammer has a booster attached to it. It’s simple, sure. But it’s also incredibly powerful.” Yoshie’s usual monologue was much shorter than it usually was.

“Now, here I come,” Korone said as she suddenly charged Akuto and swung it from the side.

“...!” Akuto jumped back to dodge, but as the hammer passed, it compressed the air so quickly that it exploded. The exploding air turned into a shockwave that spread out in all directions.

“And that’s not all...” Korone spun around once, changed her angle, and once more brought the hammer down from above and diagonal. “Fire,” she whispered as she activated the boosters. The hammer struck at Akuto with a roar.

“!” Akuto jumped to dodge this as well. There was a rumbling sound as the hammer smashed into the floor, sending stone fragments everywhere and making a giant crater.

Yoshie looked through her goggles as she gasped in surprise at its unbelievable power. “Its sheer mana density is so high that a mana shield can’t block it!”

Akuto gulped. “So I can’t block with mana...”

But the hammer was slow and unwieldy. If you wanted to attack twice like Korone did, you had to spin yourself around in a full circle.

“It’s simply to dodge, though,” Akuto whispered.

“And if you can dodge it easily, you can touch it just as easily,” Yoshie added.

She was right. Akuto dodged Korone’s next attack, jumped in close, and touched Korone’s right arm. He concentrated the mana there and tried to destroy it. “Haah!”

The mana control worked perfectly. But Akuto jumped back with an expression of surprise.

“He can’t destroy it!” Yoshie shouted.

“The armor is too strong to destroy with mana!”

“Correct. In other words, as long as I’m swinging the hammer, you can’t stop me,” Korone said.

No, from the different tone of her speech, perhaps it was Kazuko who was speaking.

“No, there’s a weak spot... but...” Yoshie said.

Akuto knew it too. The armor wasn’t covering Korone’s whole body. Of course, it wasn’t exposing her weak spots, but with Akuto’s magic power, he could destroy her body with a touch.

Korone must’ve known it too, because she grinned, an expression she normally never showed. It was Kazuko’s smile.

“The Demon King can’t do that, can he?” Korone, or rather Kazuko, said.

“Tch...!” Akuto dodged again.

“That’s why I used Korone as my last trump card. You can’t destroy her. I’m going to get you back for what you did before, though not directly.” Kazuko laughed through Korone’s body.

“This is what I was worried about. Of course Akuto can’t do it,” Yoshie said. She was right.

Akuto kept dodging her attacks. It was easy for him, but Korone wasn’t going to run out of energy either. The battle would continue forever.

“So does this just go on forever, then?” Keena suddenly asked.

Korone grinned, and answered in a way that she didn’t expect.

“Of course it would, if I only ever went after the Demon King. But if I went after somebody else with a blow that even the Demon King himself couldn’t stop...”

She swung the hammer back again and this time charged in a different direction. This time she was heading away from Akuto. She was heading towards where Keena, Junko, and Keisu were standing.

“She’s coming after us!” Yoshie gasped.

Of course, Korone’s body was now totally exposed to Akuto. He could stop her easily. But...

“What will you do? If you don’t kill Korone, Keisu dies. And Keena Soga and Junko Hattori die as well,” Korone said. As she raised the hammer high, Akuto ran out of time to make his decision.

“Now die!” Korone’s cruel hammer struck at Keena, Junko, and Keisu.

Akuto’s expression twisted. And then he whispered... “Coward.”

“Hahaha! Is that wrong?” Korone laughed.

The hammer came down from above where they were standing. There was an explosion and a shock wave rippled through the tiles.

The hammer was slow; you didn’t have to be Akuto to dodge it. In fact, two of them already had. Junko had grabbed Keena and jumped, but Keisu...

“I’ve won...! Now it’s over!” Korone yelled.

Keisu was right under the hammer. There was no dodging it. They couldn’t see any bit of her. But her parts, which had exploded into tiny little bits, scattered on the floor.

“Now it’s impossible to seal Zero. There is no point in fighting now. Zero will not disappear no matter what you do,” Korone slowly lifted the hammer. She smiled when she saw Keisu’s remains under it.

“And that means that even if you defeat me, Zero’s rule shall endure. But you can’t defeat me.” It was a perfect declaration of victory.

She was right. In a way, it was probably better to have Kazuko rule than Zero. Everything Akuto and the others had done was now a waste of time. But the light hadn’t disappeared from their eyes.

Korone realized that something was wrong. “Why aren’t you falling into despair? Don’t tell me...”

Korone began to speak into the void. She was probably talking to Zero. She had one mouth, but the words belonged to two people. “Did anything change?”

“What is this...? Something approaches me.”

“Approaches me? Aren’t you on the moon?”

“I am referring to the moon. Something approaches the moon.”

Zero’s words were a shock to Kazuko. “Impossible...” Korone said. “There aren’t any rockets left that can go to the moon.”

“But a shuttle is on its way,” Zero’s voice said, and then Korone turned to Akuto.

“What did you do?”

“What you destroyed was a doll we built last night. It moves, but it’s empty inside.” Akuto grinned.

Yoshie had made a fake Keisu doll that night. Even without an AI, they didn’t have to worry about Zero noticing it. Zero couldn’t sense Keisu anyway.

“Then where is the real one?” Korone said with a shaking voice.

“On a shuttle that was stored in a museum. Supposedly it still works,” Akuto said.

Kazuko must have known the one he meant, because the fear in her voice rose. “But there’s no rocket capable of getting it to orbit...!”

“Someone was there to help us out,” Akuto’s grin widened.

“Brave...!” Korone said, shocked.

“He can take her all the way up to the edge of the gravity well. And Zero can’t detect him either. That’s right; he left two nights ago. He was able to get it going fast enough for it to reach in two days,” Akuto said.

“You...! Demon King! You coward!” Kazuko yelled.

○

—I can get her to satellite orbit. This shuttle used to go between the moon and an orbital station. It has the ability to penetrate the atmosphere, too. It can’t get to satellite orbit on its own, though.

Hiroshi remembered what Kento had told him two nights ago. He had checked the location of the museum on the map, picked up the real Keisu and carried her in his arms, and then flew to the museum with his mana canceller active. He snuck past the security guards and went into the building from the roof, and then looked up at the now-antique shuttle.

“You’re going to carry this up to orbit?” Keisu said, impressed.

They were in the exhibit hall, with the lights turned off. The hall was laid out like a giant warehouse, and in its center was a dusty old shuttle the size of a passenger jet. It had glider wings, something you almost never saw in the Empire since mana flight became commonplace.

“And once you get it up to orbit, some friends of CMID-8 will be there to fuel it. There’s still fuel left up there for rockets and satellite course corrections.”

“And the shuttle can get us to the moon and back, right? Let’s go, then.” Keisu said, impressed.

Of course, this plan was Kento’s idea. It was hard to know if he could be trusted, but this was the only plan they had left.

“What’s this Kento guy thinking, anyway?”

“Let’s not worry about it right now. Let’s just do it,” Keisu said as she walked around to the side of the shuttle.

Hiroshi lifted her up and floated several meters above the ground, then brought her over to the shuttle’s hatch and opened it manually. The airlock inside was manual too, and worked fine even with the shuttles electronics offline. It was totally dark inside, but Keisu didn’t seem to mind as she walked forward.

“We can do a maintenance check and repairs once we get to the satellite dock. For now, don’t touch anything.” Hiroshi waited for Keisu to nod, then closed the hatch and headed for the wall switch to open the large doors to the exhibit hall.

The doors were big enough to get the shuttle in, so they’d be big enough to get it out, too. But they ran off of mana, so once he opened them, it would alert the guards. He’d have to act fast once it was open.

He hit the switch, flew back, and then got below one of the shuttle’s tires. “Here we go...” He used the suit’s gravity control to lift the shuttle itself up. It wasn’t heavy, but he needed to be careful not to slam it into any walls. He lifted himself off the ground as he carefully slid the shuttle out of the hall. Then he started to rise faster into the sky.

A lot of people saw it, but few questioned what it was. It was hard to tell the difference between it and any other flying bus. Even those who could tell quickly forgot about the old, flying shuttle.

Of course, the guards would notice soon, and they’d file a report. Kento was going to do something to keep the report from being read by anyone who mattered, but of course, they still had to get it repaired and supplied fast. Even if Kazuko knew they were plotting to go to the moon, once they were off, nobody would be able to stop them.

Eventually Hiroshi reached orbit and brought the shuttle into the satellite maintenance dock. The thin strand of the space elevator was stretching downwards to earth, and at its edge was a cylindrical facility.

These days, people called it the space station. Its job was to generate power and control the satellites in orbit. There was a hole in one end that functioned as a dock. As soon as the shuttle arrived, dozens of people in protective suits swarmed out and silently began to inspect and refuel it.

Hiroshi tried to talk to them, but realize that he had no way to do so. And they didn’t seem interested in talking to him. Several boring hours passed.

“The instrument check is finished,” Keisu said, waking up from his dull reverie, “Everything’s working fine. The shuttle’s fueled up and ready to go. Get us into orbit, please.” She was contacting him from the radio in the shuttle’s cockpit, where she was sitting in the pilot seat. The lights were on in the shuttle now and he could see her through the window.

“The shuttle was designed to supply oxygen to its crew, so I’ve set the system to an environment where humans can operate,” Keisu continued.

Hiroshi looked back at the Satellite Conservation staff, who were backing away from the shuttle. He watched them go, but they neither spoke nor motioned to him.

—When it was just me, everybody waved at me...

Hiroshi felt a little lonely. Then he gasped.

—At some point I’ve started to expect people to like me. This is probably how people always react to Boss.

Only a few people really cared about what was going on in the world. The rest just did their jobs. They deliberately avoided thinking about whether it was right or wrong to launch this shuttle, or which side they should join. If he was in their place, he would’ve done the same thing. But the act of just carrying out the task one was given was probably what Akuto meant when he talked about the “stories” he hated so much. They wanted to protect the story that they were just ordinary people, who had no power to change anything. And that was what had made him a hero, and Akuto a Demon King.

—But if everybody doesn’t believe in one big story, the world will stop running, and the shuttle won’t fly either. Do I have to fight to protect the story too?

Hiroshi couldn’t help but question himself, and suddenly he felt depressed. He thought about how he was carrying some heavy burden with a power that wasn’t his own.

—What is there that I can do with my own power?

Then he shook his head, reminding himself that he needed to focus on his work, then picked up the shuttle and leapt out of the maintenance dock into the blackness of space. He could see the blue light reflecting off of the Earth below, and in the distance he could see the pale light of the moon.

He pointed the cone of the shuttle towards the moon. Then he moved around to the front, and gave a signal to Keisu in the driver’s seat. “Do it.”

“Leave it to me,” Keisu answered. She turned on the engines and the shuttle began to accelerate, becoming smaller and smaller in his field of vision. In space you could see forever, but still, the shuttle was a point of light in a few seconds before vanishing entirely.

○

“You’re the coward. But now the tables have turned. All we have to do now is wait for Keisu to seal Zero,” Akuto said.

“Grah... you little bastards!” Kazuko screamed angrily with Korone’s voice. Then she turned to the teleportation circle.

This time it was Akuto’s turn to stop her. “You’re probably trying to go to the moon, but even if I can’t hurt you, I can at least keep you away!” he said, slamming his fist into the abdomen of her armor and blowing her back.

Korone fell back several meters before stopping herself. He could see panic on her face. Now it was his turn to stop her from getting into the circle.

“I know Kazuko wants to get into the circle... But why is she in such a hurry?” Junko asked Yoshie.

Yoshie nodded and answered, “Keisu said that up on the moon, Zero couldn’t stop her. Keisu was made to operate on the moon originally.”

“No, they knew that. So they probably have an army waiting for her. We predicted that they would, which is why we came here to the teleportation circle too...” Junko said.

“True, but think about how mana works. You can’t put an army on the moon. The only thing you can use up there is solar energy. Armies use a lot of energy, you couldn’t deploy them for long.”

“So now that things have changed, there’s probably an army heading here...” Junko looked towards the entrance. Just like she thought, they could hear footsteps in the distance.

“You handle them. If we can keep them out until Keisu seals Zero, we’ve won,” Yoshie said.

“Leave it to me. I’ll push them back!” Junko shouted as she created her clones. With a howl she ran out into the hallway, and began to emit the same vast power she’d used before.

Yoshie could hear the sound of gunshots and clashing swords, and she knew that Junko was succeeding.

Junko nodded to herself. They’d more or less succeeded in their goal of buying time. But there was an uneasy look on her face. She was looking at Korone.

“But... that means there’s only one thing the enemy is going to think,” Yoshie said.

“What do you mean?” Keena asked.

“They’ll try to take down Akuto no matter what it takes,” Yoshie said quietly as she pointed at Korone. Korone had been trying to break past Akuto, but now she’d given up on her attacks and was just standing there.

“Hasn’t she given up? Or maybe Zero was sealed and Korone is turning back to normal...” Keena said.

But Yoshie muttered something to herself and turned on her chainsaw. Then, Korone suddenly raised her hammer high. Then she turned on the rear booster and began to rapidly accelerate forward; the same powerful attack she’d kept using. But this time she had a different target.

“No!” Akuto and Yoshie started to run.

Korone was trying to bring the hammer down on herself. The armor opened, exposing her body.

“No!” Yoshie screamed.

In the next moment, there was a terrible crashing sound. Then there was a spine-chilling sound of something going “squish.”

“Gwah...!” Akuto spat out blood. He’d thrown his body on top of Korone’s and blocked the hammer blow himself.

No, it wasn’t right to say he’d blocked the blow. The mana he used to protect himself was less powerful than the hammer. He’d taken the blow instead of Korone.

“Akuto!” Yoshie jumped in from the side to knock Akuto away, dodging the next blow, which was aimed at him.

“I told you yesterday, stop doing that...” she said as she rolled along the ground with him.

“I just... can’t help myself. But I was willing to make the sacrifice,” Akuto managed out through the pain.

“That’s not a sacrifice. If anybody should be sacrificed, I’m sorry, but you should sacrifice her.” Yoshie got up off the ground and stood in front of Korone with her chainsaw. But even if she could dodge the hammer, she couldn’t deflect Korone’s blows like Akuto could.

“I’ll make it work. And my body’s regenerating right now. I won’t die.” Akuto was lying on the ground, but he forced himself to stand up and let out a voice like a moan.

“Believe me! Even you can’t block the next blow. Just don’t do anything!” Yoshie said as if ordering him.

Korone smiled and raised her right hand, ready to hit herself with the hammer again. If Akuto tried to block that blow too, he wouldn’t be able to regenerate in time.

“Don’t! Yoshie yelled.

Akuto, with a power he didn’t know he still had left, moved faster than anybody else and flung himself in front of Korone’s body again.

“Oh my. You truly are a fool.” Kazuko’s mocking words came out of Korone’s mouth with her voice.

“Laugh if you want,” Akuto said.

The hammer’s booster turned on again. And then...

“No! Korone! Wake up!” Fiercer than the sound of the booster, louder than the sounds of Junko’s battle outside, Keena’s voice overwhelmed every sound in the room.

Everyone froze, like the atmosphere had suddenly turned to ice. Even Korone was no exception.

“Aah...”

The only ones who knew what had happened were Keena and Akuto. As he looked right into Korone’s eyes, Akuto saw a trace of her true self. She had the same expressionless look as ever, but it was definitely Korone.

“This won’t last long. Please get away from me. We will see each other again in the next world,” Korone said. It was a strange thing to say, just like most of her words. But Akuto could feel the weight in what she spoke.

“Korone..!” He stretched out a hand towards her, but she quickly removed her hand from the armor’s covering and pushed him away, hard.

“Korone...!” Akuto was knocked back. Yoshie was waiting to grab him.

“Let me go... Korone’s back to normal!” Akuto yelled, struggling.

But Yoshie shook her head. “No. If she’s back to normal, then that’s all the more reason...”

He knew exactly what she meant. In the next moment, her expression turned back to Kazuko’s, and she began to communicate with Zero again.

“Zero. Why were you unable to control this Liradan?”

“The reason is unknown. And because it is unknown, this Liradan may pose a future threat,” Zero answered with Korone’s mouth.

“I see. Then let us destroy it,” Kazuko said.

“No!” Akuto screamed.

Korone grinned. Now Kazuko was back in control. With a terrible smile, she ejected Korone from the armor. From the dangerous height in which she sat, her body fell forward.

“Korone...!” Akuto screamed, knowing exactly what Kazuko was trying to do. But there was nothing he could do; Yoshie was holding him tightly.

“Don’t go. Just get inside the circle. I’ll handle the rest...” Yoshie tried to drag Akuto away, but he didn’t move.

The armor instantly changed into flight mode again, and the hammer booster activated, once again heading for Korone’s exposed body. Akuto saw Korone falling through the air. She looked the same as she always did.

“...!” He couldn’t speak. He saw her lips form the word “goodbye.” The hammer slammed into her body, sending her limbs flying in all directions.

“Korone!”

“Korone!”

Akuto and Keena both screamed. The sound of the booster echoed as if to laugh at their cries. Then the hammer flew straight into the teleportation circle and vanished.

Yoshie let go and began to shout as soon as she saw the light from the circle. “Now that she’s inside, they’ll try and destroy the circle! Hurry and get inside!”

Then they heard Junko as well. Her voice was almost a scream. “They’ve brought bombs! They’re self-destructing! I’m coming back! Hurry into the circle!”

Yoshie gave Akuto a hard push. Akuto’s eyes were empty, but he nodded, realizing that there was still work to do, and headed towards Keena. The two of them took each other’s hands and headed into the circe.

The shock had slowed his regenerative powers, and he was walking slowly. Once Yoshie saw that Akuto was moving, she approached the remains of Korone’s body, picked up her bag, and took a beam weapon out from it.

Then she went to help Junko, who had come back into the room and left her clones in the other room.

“The suicide bombers are coming soon! Let’s get into the circle!” Junko said.

Yoshie nodded. “Got it. But give me a second.” She started to put the beam weapon into the bag.

“There’s no time! I know we need a weapon, but...” Junko yelled.

“Don’t worry. Just go on ahead. Go help Akuto and Keena!” Yoshie said as she fiddled with the bag.

“Hurry!” Junko said, and used the high-density mana from the Sohaya no Tsurugi to instantly leap next to the teleportation circle. She gave Akuto and Keena a push. Once they were inside the circle, she turned around.

Yoshie was running towards thm. She’d turned on the chainsaw and was letting its teeth bite into the ground behind her.

“Hurry!” Junko shouted. The clones couldn’t buy a lot of time; the Liradans were already swarming in from the entrance. Several of them were carrying explosives strapped to their bodies.

“If they blow, they’ll take out the whole basement! Hurry!” Junko waved her hand to Yoshie.

“I’m almost there!” Yoshie screamed, but the Liradans were right behind her.

“Hurry!” Junko kept waving her hand.

“GO!” Yoshie leapt into the circle at the same time as the Liradans behind her, who promptly blew themselves up.

Junko and Yoshie disappeared into the circle’s light as the explosion filled the basement.