Chapter 2: A World Saved by Sacrifice Faces Destruction Once More

Night. The treetops along the mountain behind the school cut off the starlight, and it was dark.

This was the place we’d chosen to battle Kult. There was no one around, there were lots of obstructions to block his capsules, and it was easy for Hibiki to set her traps.

“...”

Hibiki stayed focused on her surroundings, ready to fight Kult wherever he might appear.

“......”

I just held my breath and waited.

This was nothing new, but I wasn’t in particularly good physical shape. There wasn’t much I could do to help. It would be Hibiki’s job to place traps and to fight Kult.

It was pathetic, but it was the same as always.

The best thing I could do was stay as quiet and still as possible to ensure her traps would work. I’d thought that would be easy, but it turned out that breathing quietly and not moving was more difficult than it sounded.

And then, after about an hour passed...

The first thing I heard was a loud noise. I only realized it was the sound of Kult’s boosters after he made his entrance. He was still wearing his white lab coat.

“So there you are! I’ve been looking for you!” he cried in his usual pompous voice. It was pompous, but he also kind of sounded like an idiot. It was strange that way.

His dowsing pendulum was pointing straight at Hibiki. Wait... If he could tell where Hibiki was, why did he have to “look” for her?

“Looks like the most that thing can do is give him a general direction,” Hibiki said.

Come to think of it, she was right. The pendulum could only point out a direction. In order to actually find her on this tree-covered mountain, he had to come down and look for her.

“Hmph. Even if that’s true, it doesn’t matter when I’ve already found you! My instant sorcery is unbeatable. I will capture you no matter what!”

“Just try it.”

“Most certainly!”

Kult drew a mechanical capsule from his lab coat and threw it in a snap. The capsule flew low, aimed at her feet, and she dodged it with a backstep. It struck the root of a tree, and the ground there instantly froze over.

Wh-What the hell was that? I was so sure it would be another binding or sleeping spell that I almost screamed, quickly clasping my hands over my mouth instead.

“Tch!”

Hibiki leaped further backward to get away from the ice covering the ground. It had swallowed everything around the tree root to a height of almost thirty centimeters off the ground.

“I didn’t want to hurt you, but you keep running. So I decided to put you on ice! I’m running out of time, you see!”

He laughed and threw three more capsules. Each one cracked and shattered, instantly spreading ice over the ground and any plants it touched. The whole area was getting covered in it. If she got trapped by it, it would all be over.

“...”

Despite the tough situation, Hibiki just furrowed her brow and kept moving.

“Fwahaha! You can’t keep running forever! Give up already!” Kult must have felt sure of his victory, because he let loose a high-pitched laugh.

It was true that, at a glance, things looked bad for Hibiki.

But Kult hadn’t noticed.

Hibiki was carefully using the cover around her as she ran, and leading Kult right where she wanted him. Right where she’d set her trap. And Kult played straight into it.

Then it was my turn!

I used the sturdy knife I’d borrowed from Hibiki to cut the wire, which sent a heavy, blunt object we’d borrowed from the base of the mountain flying at Kult like a swinging pendulum.

“Wh-What?!”

A small Buddha statue ripped through the air to headbutt him.

“Bwaaah?!”

He used his boosters to get out of the way just in time, but that was only the first stage of Hibiki’s plan. The second step was for me to leap out of the trees... right down on the distracted otherworld mage’s head!

“Nooooo! You...!”

“Gweh!”

Kult’s head rammed into my stomach so hard that I thought I was going to puke. We both tumbled to the ground.

“Gaah! Get off me!”

“No way!”

I was still fighting the urge to throw up as I held on to him. I’d made Hibiki do the dangerous work of playing the decoy in order for this plan to succeed. The original idea was for me to use the knife to threaten him, but I’d dropped it when I jumped out of the tree. But still, if I could just hang in there until Hibiki got him, I would win!

“Grrr! Fine! Take this!”

Kult’s eyes still burned with rage as he raised his right arm. He was holding another instant sorcery capsule.

“!”

Was he going to hit me with it directly?! We were so close that it would surely affect him too, but there was no hesitation in his eyes.

“!!”

I instinctively closed mine. And then...

“I won’t let you!”

Hibiki flung her police baton and knocked the capsule out of his raised hand. The capsule burst and activated the magic, but only as it was flying off along with the baton.

“Nooooo!”

Kult tried to take out another capsule, but I grabbed his hand. I wasn’t going to let him try it again! Then Hibiki finally made it to us.

“Gweh!”

“Gwbah!”

For some reason, I felt a heavy combat boot on my back.

“Wh-What are you doing?”

“I’m putting my weight on you so Kult Graphimore can’t escape.”

“You don’t have to step on me too, though!”

“It’s your fault for being on top of him.”

Well, that much was true... But she could be little nicer, right?

“So, Rekka, do you think this is going to arouse interest in a new hobby?”

No way! I shouted silently at R.

But I also breathed a sigh of relief that we’d finally caught Kult. I relaxed for an instant.

“Gnnnuh... I’m not done yet!” Kult screamed and tried to knock me off of him.

He was going to use his instant sorcery again! But... his hand didn’t go for his jacket. It went for the cable reaching out of his backpack—the control for his boosters. There was a burst of flame from them as his hand hit the switch.

“Are you crazy?!”

Kult and I were dragged along the ground together. We were heading straight for statue lying there from earlier, so I quickly kicked off the ground. It sent the two of us flying into the air.

“Let go of me!” Kult yelled.

“I can’t!”

The soles of my feet were flailing a couple dozen centimeters off the ground as I clung desperately to Kult’s body. If I let go now, he’d escape into the sky.

“Rekka Namidare! Don’t let him go!” Hibiki yelled as she followed us.

In her hand was the knife I’d dropped just moments ago.

“Wait, are you going to stab me?!”

“Don’t move!”

Hibiki dashed ahead of us, then jumped toward Kult. There was a snapping sound as the blade embedded itself into Kult’s backpack.

But wait, doing that to the machine would...?!

Suddenly, a small explosion roared from the boosters, finally shaking me off of Kult.

“Ugyah!”

I fell. My jaw slammed hard into an exposed root on the ground, and I nearly bit off my own tongue. Hibiki was crazy. What would’ve happened if that explosion had been bigger?

“Kult Graphimore!” I heard her yell.

I turned toward the sound and saw Kult had summoned his blue door to try and escape again. Hibiki was in hot pursuit, and I quickly followed after her.

“Aaaaah!” Kult screamed as Hibiki chased him through the door.

“Rekka, run faster!”

“You don’t have to tell me!”

R involuntarily moved along with me and could fly. What did she know about running?!

The strange blue door was starting to waver a little, and was gradually becoming indistinct.

“Waaah! Wait! Wait!”

I leaned forward in a sprint and raced through it. My vision blurred instantly, and I lost all sense of direction. It was similar to the time I’d used the spaceship warp, or when I’d gone through the underground seal.

But... where was this going to come out? It was a little too late for regrets, but I had them anyway. I wasn’t sure if I was stuck in that weird space for a few seconds or a few minutes, but it ended abruptly.

“Gwah!”

How many times was I going to smash my face into the ground in one day? But this time, it was an actual floor rather than dirt. I rubbed my aching jaw as I stood up.

“It looks like I’m inside a building... Where is this place?”

If Kult was from another world, that other world was probably where he’d escaped to. I looked around the room. The ceilings and walls were all made of glass, like some kind of observatory. There was a staircase in the back of the room leading down.

I could see that it was light outside. It had been nighttime on Earth. Maybe it was morning or afternoon here? I turned around, and the blue door I’d just come through was... Huh?

“It’s red now?”

Sure enough, the blue door had turned red.

“Maybe the entrances and exits are different?” R suggested.

Neither of us were sure, but it was probably safe to assume that the blue door and red door formed a pair.

Just as I was about to leave the room to go after Hibiki...

“What is that?”

I saw something strange. Actually, it was more weird than strange, and more bizarre than weird. It was something I just couldn’t ignore.

I went over to the wall—or window, I guess—to get a better look. From the observatory, I could see what looked like a town. There were houses at regular intervals, and roads running through them like a net.

There were no big buildings. The largest houses were two stories. From the look of it, the building we were in was about three stories high.

Anywhere there wasn’t a house or road was covered in greenery, including trees here and there. I could see people walking about the town, too. And if that was all I’d seen, it would’ve been a peaceful sight. But there was something clearly out of place.

This world had walls. And I don’t mean figuratively. A literal wall stretched as far as I could see, reaching all the way up to the sky. It was like we were inside a dome. The walls emitted a faint, familiar glow.

“That looks like the light from Kult’s capsule...”

“Yup,” R nodded indifferently.

But the situation seemed pretty serious to me.

“Maybe Kult is ruling this world?”

From what I could see, this world looked like some kind of walled garden. That degree of planning in a city was normally impossible. That is, unless someone had designed the whole thing from scratch, like what I’d learned about Kyoto in history class... But then, who had designed it?

“...It has to be Kult, doesn’t it?”

The magical science-y light from the walls was proof. This world was cut off and isolated by Kult. I just didn’t know why yet.

But he had his blue doors, instant sorcery, and dowsing pendulum.... Who knew what else his magical science could do? With all that technology, he might be able to cut off an entire part of the world.

“Earth to Rekka. How long are you going to stand there and space out?”

“I’m not spacing out. I’m just thinking.”

“Well, you’re free to use what little brains you have however you please, but shouldn’t you be following Hibiki?”

“Wait, you’re right! Where’d she go?”

If she wasn’t in this room, that meant she’d gone down the stairs. R and I headed to the floor below.

I didn’t know how many floors down they were yet, so I decided to start with the first one I came to.

“This floor’s a lot bigger than the first, huh?”

“Maybe the observatory just pops out of it?”

“Maybe, yeah.”

I began checking the rooms as I talked with R.

“It’s all libraries and labs,” I said.

“Well, he did say he was a magical scientist. So it makes sense, right?”

“Yeah.”

I checked the next room. There were machines and papers, as well as what looked like equipment for experiments. Looking at all this weird stuff was enough to make my head hurt. But... I found something in Kult’s mad scientist lab that didn’t seem to fit the mad scientist vibe at all.

“A photo?”

“Oooh, she’s pretty.” The floating girl from the future gave a catcall.

Just like R said, there was a pretty blond woman in the picture. She was smiling softly at me from the frozen surface. No, not me, but maybe the person who’d taken the photo?

“Well, I guess Hibiki isn’t on this floor.”

“Must be the next one then, huh?”

I didn’t need R to tell me that. I hurried downstairs.

And there I found Kult lying on the floor, with Hibiki on top of him, beating him to a pulp.

“Gyaaah! Stop! Please!”

“...”

Hibiki reluctantly lowered her fists. She was a little scary. And man, she wasn’t showing him any mercy...

It had taken me a few minutes to get down here from the top floor. Had she been beating him the whole time?

“H-Hey, that’s enough.”

“Rekka Namidare, you’re late,” Hibiki turned around and complained to me.

Her face was speckled with blood. It really was a bit chilling...

“S-Sorry. I didn’t know where you were, so I searched the other floors first.”

“Hmph. Did you find anything?”

“It was all labs and libraries. Nothing, really.”

“Useless.”

“Ugh... I’m sorry.” I looked away from Hibiki’s annoyed face.

“Well, whatever. I was just hearing what Kult Graphimore had to say.”

“It looks like you were just beating him up.”

“I’m interrogating him.”

“I won’t be able to talk if you keep punching me like that!” Kult screamed, half-sobbing.

“That’s not interrogation. That’s torture.”

This time it was Hibiki’s turn to look away from me.

I sighed and squatted down, then looked at Kult’s bruised face.

“Um... I won’t let her hit you anymore, so tell me what you’re after.”

“Mrrrgh...”

“I guess I have to continue the interrogation.”

“Fine! Just stop hitting me!” Kult gave in to the threat and raised his hands in surrender.

I felt a little bad for the guy...

Hibiki used the wire she was carrying to bind his hands, and then Kult took us to a different room. It was particularly spacious, taking up over half of this floor of the building. The walls were lined with complicated machines and what looked like computers. The ceilings and floors were covered with magical diagrams. It was a strange room that combined magic and science.

And in the center, I saw “her.”

“......”

Even when we came into the room, she didn’t react at all. She was lying in a large, clear capsule with her eyes closed. She was wearing a dress, and her arms were crossed and placed over her chest like Sleeping Beauty in the fairy tale.

“This is...”

It was the woman I’d seen in the photograph in the upstairs room.

“...”

She was asleep, perfectly still. She looked just like Harissa had after she’d been hit with the sleep spell.

“Did you put her to sleep like Harissa and do something terrible to her?!” I grabbed Kult by the collar and screamed.

“I would never do that!” Kult got angry. “I would never do anything to hurt Meifa!” His voice was huffy as he angrily denied it.

“Then what’s going on? Why is she asleep?”

“She is the one girl I loved in this world... And the goddess who protected it.” He gave a loving glance towards his sleeping beauty, Meifa, and spoke with a hint of sadness.

“Goddess...?” Hibiki and I both raised the same question at the same time.

For now, I knew that Kult really cared about this Meifa woman. But...

“What’s this about her protecting the world?” What did that have to do with her being asleep?

Kult looked longingly at Meifa for a moment, then turned towards us and said, “Twenty years ago, our world was invaded by ‘the Demon Who Eats Darkness.’ His name was Zolphiakd. He was a demon who devoured ‘darkness energy’—the energy that is the source of unhappiness and disaster—and used it to increase his power.”

A real demon, huh? Hadn’t had one of those yet...

But something seemed a little off.

“I don’t know what a ‘darkness-eating demon’ is, but if it eats the source of unhappiness and disaster, isn’t that a good thing?”

“Hah! Only a fool would—GYAH!” Kult had indignantly puffed out his chest only to get punched by Hibiki.

“Explain. Now.”

“R-Right... In the simplest terms, there is no kind of energy in this world that isn’t needed. Even darkness energy is necessary. The world is a mixture of many different types of energies.”

“So even if it’s dark, it’s still bad if it disappears?”

“Indeed. If the energy runs out, the world will be destroyed. Zolphiakd was a demon with the power to destroy an entire world on his own.”

“So what does that demon have to do with her?” Hibiki crossed her arms and tapped her fingers impatiently.

“Meifa possessed magical aptitude to match her beauty... She was the only person who could possibly seal away Zolphiakd.”

“Then she sealed him away?”

“You could say that. But not quite. Meifa had powerful potential, but she lacked my knowledge of magic. The spell to seal a demon of Zolphiakd’s power requires considerable training, and this world didn’t have that much time left.”

“...So what did you do?”

Kult’s face twisted into a bitter frown. He must have been remembering what had happened, because he took several deep, pained breaths.

“It was Meifa who made the decision.” After a long pause, he continued. “She asked me to make her the vessel for the sealing. Using magical power and a catalyst as a base, I came up with a way to synchronize the vessel with Zolphiakd’s mind, and ultimately seal it.”

“Synchronize with his mind?”

The “vessel” was probably Meifa. Did that mean he connected her to the demon’s mind?

“I see. In other words, as long as she’s asleep, the demon will continue to sleep within the seal?” Hibiki asked, and Kult nodded.

“...She chose to sleep eternally in order to protect our world.”

“Sleep eternally...”

Was that what the magic that put Harissa to sleep was originally made for?

A realization made me gasp.

“So you sacrificed the girl you loved?!”

“...That’s right.”

“But...”

“There was no other way!” Kult’s shoulders were trembling.

“I’m sorry...” I apologized for my thoughtlessness.

“...Objectively speaking, it was the only way to protect this world. It was what she wanted, too. I was weak. I didn’t have any other choice.” Kult glared at me sadly.

I gulped, overwhelmed by the depth of his feelings. He had to choose between the girl he loved and saving the world... Of course that choice had to hurt.

There’d been times when making the wrong choice would have prevented me from protecting someone I loved. And the only reason I’d made it this far was good luck.

I realized how blessed I’d been, and I suddenly had nothing to say.

“So you used that white jewel pendant to seal the demon?” Hibiki pointed to the capsule and spoke calmly.

I followed the line of her finger and saw a pendant with a white jewel embedded in it resting on the woman’s chest. There was a strange pattern at the center of the jewel, and it was flashing in time with her breathing.

“Is this another magical science item?”

“That’s right.” Kult nodded in answer to Hibiki’s question.

I looked at the white jewel again. Was there really a demon inside with the power to destroy the world...?

“As long as the jewel that functions as the catalyst doesn’t break, and Meifa doesn’t wake up for some reason, Zolphiakd will never come back to life.”

“I see.” Hibiki nodded a little... then sighed. “I thought that this might have something to do with the story, but it turns out it was just a waste of my time.”

“A... A waste of time? Hey, you can’t just say that...”

Hibiki sighed in disappointment, and I got mad at her.

“Hmph. Don’t get the wrong idea, Rekka Namidare. We didn’t come here to listen to some tear-jerker. We’re here to solve the story that’s happening right now.”

Sure, maybe this story about Meifa and the demon didn’t have anything to do with the reason Kult attacked Hibiki... But it was still mean to call it a waste of time, right? I shot her a judgmental glance without thinking.

“...Hmph.” But she just snorted and ignored me. Then she stormed over to Kult and grabbed him by the collar. “Okay, we’re done talking about stuff that doesn’t matter. Tell me why you came after me.”

“G-G-Gah! I can’t breathe!”

“Hey, knock it off,” I tried to intervene.

“Stop interrupting me. You’re making this take forever.”

Things got a little heated, and Hibiki and I yelled at each other for a minute.

“...Enough. Just tell me already,” Hibiki said after she finally calmed down.

“R-Right.” Kult nodded, looking a little scared. But there was a tinge of anger in his eyes, and it was directed at Hibiki.

This was bad... If their relationship deteriorated any further, we might never get the real story out of him.

Moreover, I was gradually starting to think that maybe Kult wasn’t such a bad guy. I still didn’t know what he was after, but maybe we could work together and find a way to solve the problem without sacrificing Hibiki.

For that to happen, though, we had to get closer...

“Before I continue, can I at least sit down? It’s starting to hurt to stand up all the time.”

“Stay standing,” Hibiki said.

“Yeah, go ahead and sit,” I said.

We gave opposite answers to Kult’s request.

“...”

Hibiki glared at me, but I ignored her.

“Um, where can I find a chair?”

“Thank you. The chair is over there.”

“Oh, at that desk?”

I took Kult over to a work desk that was situated between the rows of machines on the wall.

“Whew. My legs were getting numb.”

“Just spill it already.”

Kult sat down in the chair and sighed, and Hibiki angrily urged him to start talking.

For some reason, it felt like she was mad at me, too. I felt a little awkward.

“Indeed. Then... Oh!” Kult suddenly gasped as he looked at Meifa.

“What?!”

Hibiki turned around, and I prepared myself for the worst. But nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

“Oh, sorry. I thought Meifa moved, but I must have been imagining things.”

Imagining things? Well... Whatever.

“...”

Hibiki looked even more irritated as she started to tap her foot. She was about to snap.

I gave Kult a look, trying to tell him he should start talking. And fast.

“I... I needed you to save this world.” Kult seemed to take the hint and began to talk, sweating profusely as he did so.

“Huh? Wasn’t this world already saved?”

“Indeed. Meifa saved this world once. But it’s now facing a second peril.”

“A second... peril?” My eyes went wide in surprise.

Hibiki seemed a little shocked too, and stopped tapping her foot.

“What do you mean?”

“Just like I said before, Zolphiakd is a demon that eats darkness energy. He himself was sealed away by Meifa, but the darkness energy he ate hasn’t come back to this world.”

“Well... I guess that makes sense.”

They’d sealed away the guy who ate it, after all.

“Are you two aware of the law that states the universe is inherently getting colder?”

“Huh? What’s that?”

“Tch...”

I cocked my head to the side, but Hibiki clicked her tongue in annoyance.

“The second law of thermodynamics. Put simply, it states that if you put a hot cup of coffee on a table and leave it alone, it will eventually cool.”

“It’s that normal?”

I tilted my head again, but this time Hibiki looked more disgusted than annoyed.

“Are you following? Getting cooler means losing heat energy.”

“Losing energy...”

“That’s right. The world gradually loses energy, even if you don’t do anything. In other words, the world is getting colder. And since Zolphiakd stole a bunch of energy from this world, that reduced the time we have before it completely freezes.”

“The ‘heat death’ of the universe, huh?”

An image of the whole world frozen solid flashed through my mind. Just thinking about it made me shiver.

“What the hell...?”

This was the world that Meifa wanted to save, and that Kult had sacrificed the woman he loved to save, right? How could it be on the verge of destruction again?

“That’s just not fair...”

A story like that was far too cruel. But Hibiki didn’t react at all.

“I understand that this world is about to meet heat death... But what does that have to do with me?” she asked calmly.

...Even after hearing that awful story, she didn’t feel a thing?

“She’s pretty stoic, huh?” R finally chimed in. She must have been thinking the same thing I was. It was hard to tell.

Kult furrowed his brow. It seemed Hibiki’s attitude rubbed him the wrong way too.

“...To save this world, I first gathered all the remaining energy and made a walled garden.”

“You mean the walls of light I saw from the observatory?” I tried to keep the conversation going, hoping it would calm things down a little.

“That’s right. By minimizing the size of the world, I was able to conserve enough energy inside the walled garden to sustain human life.”

He made it sound easy, but wasn’t that actually pretty amazing? He could sound like an idiot, but maybe he really was some kind of genius.

“But just salvaging that energy isn’t enough. If left to its own devices, the world will still cool. Thus, I invented a tool to allow me to travel to other worlds so that I could find the means to save this one.”

Did he mean the red and blue doors?

“I traveled through world after world, using the dowsing pendulum and crystal ball to guide me. And finally, I found something that would meet my needs. That armor.” Kult nodded his head toward the other side of the room.

The room was so big that I hadn’t noticed it before, but sure enough, there was full suit of plate armor across the room. It was connected to another device beside the sleeping capsule, and the gauntlets and greaves were softly shining.

“That is an improved version of the armor used by the hero of a certain world.”

“A hero? But why armor?”

A hero’s armor sure sounded impressive, but how was it going to help solve this world’s energy crisis?

“Hmph. Let me finish.” Kult looked at me as if he pitied me for some reason. “That armor has the ability to transform its wearer’s Fate Ratio into power.”

“‘Fate Ratio’? Where have I heard that before...?”

“He said something about me having ‘a great Fate Ratio’ at your house, remember?” Hibiki wasn’t even trying to hide her exasperation at my interruptions.

“A Fate Ratio is, in its simplest form, the weight of a person’s fate. Someone whose life contains very few ups and downs will have a small Fate Ratio, whereas someone who leads a life of adventure will have a great one. Someone with a Fate Ratio sufficient to make them a hero has a great deal of power because of it.”

Hmm... It made sense that someone with the Banjo bloodline like Hibiki would have a strong Fate Ratio.

“I modified this armor to allow for one’s Fate Ratio to be transmuted into energy, rather than power, and return it into the world. The name of this device is the Infinity Reviver. All I need now is for someone with a powerful enough Fate Ratio to enter the Infinity Reviver, and I’ll have a perpetual energy machine that can save this world,” Kult said with his eyes shining as he looked at Hibiki. “Meifa sacrificed herself to save this world. I have to protect it no matter what.”

“Hmph. I see.” Hibiki glared back at Kult, then glanced over at the Infinity Reviver.

If he could put her to sleep, or freeze her, and then lock her inside that machine, he’d essentially be creating a device that would supply energy to this world forever. That would successfully resolve Kult’s story.

But in order for that to happen, Hibiki had to sacrifice herself.

“...”

I silently stood between them.

I mostly understood Kult’s story now. I knew his motives, how he intended to achieve his goal, and his sad past.

But sacrificing Hibiki to save his story was out of the question. I had to find another way.

“Kult, I have some questions, okay?”

“...What are they?”

“That crystal ball you were talking about earlier... That lets you find what you’re looking for, right? Can’t you use it to search for something to save the world other than this armor?”

The Infinity Reviver wasn’t necessarily the only item that could save the world. If we could find something else, we wouldn’t have to sacrifice Hibiki.

“It’s not impossible, but it would be difficult. The crystal ball is powerful, but its search radius is limited to a single dimension.”

“A single dimension?”

“If what you’re looking for is in another world—in another dimension—it won’t show you anything,” he explained. “Even if your world had some machine that could create infinite energy, the crystal ball couldn’t detect it from here.”

So trying to find an item in another world would mean actually having to go to that world... And without knowing what world it was in in the first place, it was a needle in an interdimensional haystack.

“So it was a total coincidence that you found Hibiki?”

“...Yes, I suppose you could say that.”

Functionally, relying on the crystal ball to find another way to save this world would be as good as leaving it up to chance. I didn’t know how long this world had left, but Kult made it sound like the situation was pretty dire. So as to whether or not there was time to rely on luck...

“...”

If I just wanted to save Harissa, I could simply threaten Kult into giving me a way to break the sleep spell... but I didn’t want to abandon this world if I could help it. Yet, as always, the situation was bad and I had no idea what to do.

If I didn’t act fast, I might even be caught up in the heat death of this world.

But I still didn’t want to abandon anyone. I had thought Kult was our enemy, but now that I knew his story, I wanted to help him too. I wanted a happy ending for everyone.

But...

“Rekka Namidare, we’ve wasted enough time.”

Suddenly, Hibiki interrupted my train of thought.

“I’ll make this as plain as I possibly can. Give up on Kult Graphimore, and on this world.”

“What?!” Kult screamed.

“Hibiki, what are you saying?”

Hibiki’s words were so unexpected that I was more surprised than Kult was.

“What’s important here is human lives. He’s got a tool that can take people to other worlds. Using that, he can safely evacuate everyone to anywhere he chooses.”

Hibiki’s solution was simple, clear, and effective. Everybody in this world who survived was gathered inside Kult’s walled garden. It wouldn’t be that hard to move them somewhere else.

But Kult was frowning.

...Wait a second. If the solution was that simple, why hadn’t Kult come up with it himself? He was the one who’d invented colored doors in the first place.

“Is there some reason you can’t move to another world?”

“That would mean leaving Meifa here alone,” Kult solemnly replied. “The spell used to seal Zolphiakd is a delicate one. It wouldn’t withstand the dimension jump through the door. If I tried to force it, it could destroy the seal.”

“I see...”

Even if the woman he loved was never going to wake up, Kult couldn’t leave her behind in a doomed world that was going to be destroyed.

“Of course, I intend to move everyone out of this world before the end. I just can’t leave Meifa behind while there’s even a one percent chance. Even if that means I die along with this world.”

The glimmer in Kult’s eyes spoke to the strength of his will. I was moved by his conviction, but...

“Hmph. That’s stupid.”

Hibiki wasn’t.

“There’s a guaranteed way to save this world. Why wouldn’t you do it? What if something unexpected happens and someone dies, all because you’re too busy screwing around?”

“No... I mean, maybe, but at least think a little about how Kult feels.”

“Which is more important? Human lives, or his stupid feelings? Are you an idiot?”

“Ouch...”

“You too, Kult Graphimore. I’m not going to let you die either. You’re leaving this world with me. Soon.”

Everything Hibiki said was right, and there was no way I could tell her she was wrong. But...

“What about Meifa? If we’re talking about people’s lives, what about hers?” I pointed to the woman in the sleeping capsule.

Hibiki frowned.

“What is it with men...? She’s not waking up anyway. She can’t, right? She’s using herself to seal away a demon. It’s better that she go to sleep with this world and never wake up again. It’s more compassionate for her, and it’s a good way to get rid of the darkness-eating demon for good, right?”

“Why you...!” Kult trailed off. He was staring down Hibiki, seething with rage.

“...Hibiki.” I frowned at her.

“What? Did I say something that was wrong?”

Maybe she wasn’t wrong, but...

“There still might be some way to save them, right? Both Meifa and this world.”

“And what if someone else gets hurt because you dragged this story out unnecessarily while chasing some pipe dream? Would you take responsibility for that?”

“Gah...!” I groaned a little. She had me there.

Keeping other people from getting involved... That was what mattered most to Hibiki. It was the reason we were together now.

“We bring enough misery to the people around us already. We should always be doing whatever it takes to minimize that.”

“Still... I don’t think this is the best happy ending.”

“The best happy ending? You know that’s impossible for us to ever achieve. We can’t even protect the people we love.” Hibiki’s past guilt oozed from her words.

I knew how she must feel, but...!

“But if we just give up, that’s the end!”

“Shut up. You’re only saying that because you don’t want to feel guilty about what happens.”

She had me there, too. And yeah, I knew it. I was just being selfish.

But... even so...

“I don’t like giving up without a fight.”

I refused to give in.

“Wow, sounds like you’re having a rough time,” came a voice from above. R was floating in the air, lying flat and looking down at us dispassionately.

Hibiki was the one to break the stalemate.

“...!”

“Gwah!”

She closed the distance in a single stride and punched me in the stomach.

“Looks like I need to teach my husband a lesson.”

“Husband? Are you still talking about that?”

I dropped to my knees, sweating profusely.

“You’re weak. I guess I’ll train you a little while I’m at it.”

“...Don’t underestimate me!”

I stood up, trying my best to ignore the pain, but Hibiki knocked me back down with a leg sweep.

“Gwahh!”

“You’re too weak.”

Damn it! I didn’t even stand a chance! Another strike came down on me mercilessly as I lay there.

“Gwah! That hurts! Those boots are steel-plated, aren’t they?”

“You’re imagining it.”

“You’re going to kill me!”

“I’m going easy on you.”

“You’re definitely lying! Gyah! Mgyah! Ggah! Stop! Stop it!”

I curled myself into a ball as she kicked me again and again. I couldn’t even hold my own against her. There was no way I could beat her. I just had to endure while trying to talk her down.

“There’s still time! We don’t need to jump to conclusions! We can think about this and find a better way!”

I tasted blood in my mouth, but I kept yelling at her anyway. And the only reply I got was more wordless kicks.

Crap... I didn’t expect to have to argue with her in a place like this! I needed some way to get her to rethink things—Huh?

I saw something move out of the corner of my eye.

As she lay in the capsule, there was something that looked like a black mist swirling around Meifa’s chest...

“Hbwah!”

I felt a blow to the back of my head, and then I saw stars.

Ugh! I needed to concentrate on Hibiki, not some weird haze. But there was nothing I could do...

“Lie there and think about how stupid you are for a while. I’ll handle the rest.”

“You...!”

I looked up at her, frustrated, but then...

Somehow Kult had undone the ties on his hands, and he was now standing up.

“Jump to the right!” I screamed out of reflex, and both Hibiki and I leaped.

Not a moment later, Kult’s capsule shattered in a flash of light, freezing over where we’d just been standing.

“Fwahaha! You should never let your guard down!”

As Kult laughed, I saw what looked like a pair of nippers and a sliced-up spool of wire at his feet.

...That jerk. Had he said he wanted to sit down because he knew there were nippers in his desk drawer? And the way he’d shouted out and gasped earlier must have been to distract us while he got them out...

After he laughed, Kult glared at us angrily.

“I will not give up until the end! I made a promise to Meifa that I would protect the world she saved, no matter what! And I’ll do whatever it takes!”

I realized he meant that he still intended to use Hibiki to activate the Infinity Reviver and save this world.

But I didn’t want to sacrifice anyone!

“Kult! Please, wait a second!”

“Not a chance!”

No dice, huh? He didn’t look like he was willing to parley.

“We’re getting out of here for now. We can’t beat him unless we’re fighting close quarters,” Hibiki said, still calm.

She was probably planning to retreat, and then catch Kult in another trap.

“All right. But we can’t just run. This walled garden world is pretty small. There aren’t many buildings, and they’re all small. The terrain is open, too. I don’t think it’s a good place to set traps or ambushes.”

“So even if we run, he’ll catch up to us and then it’s over, huh? So what do we do instead?”

“...Run back to our world. The red door on the top floor didn’t disappear like the blue one did. If we go through it, we can get back to our own world. Probably.”

“I guess that’s our only choice.”

We whispered our plans to each other.

“Now give up!” Kult shouted.

“Run!”

I gave the signal to Hibiki as Kult yelled. We turned and bolted.

“Gnuh! Wait! You can’t escape!”

I could hear Kult yelling at us from behind.

“Don’t turn around! Run as fast as you can!”

“R-Right!”

If we were going to run, we had to do it fast. And we kept going without looking back, leaping up the stairs two at a time as we went.

“W-Wait! Wait! Waaait! Gwaah!” Kult was still screaming in the distance, but he almost sounded hurt.

Oh, that’s right. Hibiki had destroyed his jetpack. He couldn’t fly now. Maybe he hadn’t had to run in a long time. He certainly didn’t look like he got much exercise.

And so we left the slowpoke magical scientist behind, and reached the third floor without trouble.

“Rekka Namidare! Open it fast!” Hibiki shouted, looking at the red door.

“R-Right!” I grabbed the doorknob and turned.

And then...

Clackety clack.

Huh? Did the doorknob make a weird noise?

“Hurry up and go in!”

“Uwah!”

Hibiki kicked me in the back, and once again I went headfirst into the weird, squished space beyond the door. The sensation of being in a pool of sticky liquid covered my whole body as I fell through to who-knew-where.

But when the feeling subsided...

“Gyah!” I landed on my face. Again.

And then Hibiki came right behind me and stepped on my back.

“Fgyah!”

“...Why are you lying on the ground?”

“Just move. You’re heavy.”

“...”

Crunch.

“Gnyah!”

Why did she have to step on me twice?! This really wasn’t my day.

I stood up and turned around just in time to see the blue door disappear. I figured they were only meant to be temporary, while the red doors were permanent. I didn’t know what the real difference was, but that seemed to be how they worked.

“...Hey, where are we?” Hibiki asked.

“Well, we’re out behind the... school?” I started to answer her, but suddenly stopped.

I hadn’t noticed because I was busy eating dirt and getting walked on, but... Why were there trees laughing at us? Why were their nuts laughing at us?

“Whoa!”

There weren’t any psychotic plants like this on the mountain behind the school. What was this freaky fantasy forest? It was sufferable now that it was still light out, but once night fell, it would be seriously scary.

“Wait, why is the sun out anyway? When we went through the first door, it was nighttime on Earth.”

And then something fell on Hibiki’s shoulder.

Um... It was kind of gelatinous... Wait, a hairy bug?!

“Hibiki, there’s something weird on your shoulder.”

“Hm? KYAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Hibiki took one look at hairy jelly bug on her shoulder and let out an unearthly scream as she grabbed on to me.

She was... surprisingly soft.

“Hey! Wait!”

There was something dangerously soft being pushed up against my chest. That... That something soft was rubbing against me! And her face was close, too!

I quickly tried to shake her off, but she was holding on to me too tightly.

“H-Hey, Hibiki! Get off me!”

“It’s s-slimy! It’s a slimy bug! I hate both those things! Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!”

I don’t think she heard me at all. She only held on tighter.

She was practically strangling me now, and things were starting to get dangerous somewhere else... I quickly knocked the hairy jelly bug off her shoulder.

Ugh... And I got a little of the green jelly goo on me.

“See? It’s gone.”

“It... It is?”

She still sounded on the verge of tears as she fearfully looked at her shoulder, but she sighed with relief when she saw that the bug was actually gone.

When she looked back up, her eyes met mine.

“......”

“......”

What was going on...? It was weirdly awkward.

“You sure get all the cliché events, don’t you? Is that part of the bloodline of the Namidare, too?” R asked in a strangely serious tone.

I ignored her.

A moment later, Hibiki pushed me away.

“S-Sorry...” she said.

“No...”

Hibiki looked away from me. Her face was beet red. This was so different from how I’d seen her act up until now. I just scratched my cheek, unsure of how to react. But if she was scared of slimy things and bugs, that almost made her seem like a normal girl.

Anyway... So after a moment of being sidetracked, it was time to get back to business. I was reaching the limit of how long I could avoid eye contact.

I raised my head and looked around again.

“Where are we?”

The trees just kept laughing in answer to my question.