Tsukatsuki Rion fell into a brief moment of contemplation. Is what she’s doing right? It was a topic that had caused her countless doubts before.
But the conclusion at the end was always the same.
Tendo Aris must die. For that one singular proposition, Rion was willing to do anything.
Eliminating any obstacles was essential. Thus, Misono Mika had to remain confined until everything was concluded.
Originally, Mikamo Neru, who should have moved like her own limbs, was already turned away, so she was excluded from all plans as well.
After all, Toki was a better choice to pull out against Mika than Neru, and in the situations that might arise afterward, Neru wasn’t a completely trustworthy ally.
Having already faced defeat, and with the unpredictability of her actions, Neru didn’t inspire confidence.
And the loyal subordinate that she had cultivated with great care, whom one could rightly call a shadow.
Naturally, trust had to be placed in Toki, and the lacking firepower was sufficiently compensated by Aabi Eshuh, who had faithfully harnessed the skills of the Nameless Priests.
‘…It will take about 8 hours for Aabi Eshuh’s repairs to finish. Or maybe around 7 hours.’
In fact, Rion had never imagined that Aabi Eshuh would sustain this level of damage. Even if the opponents were Mika and Neru, both of them.
Aabi Eshuh’s identity was literally the ultimate weapon that pulled all the power of Eridu and the processing capabilities of its network.
Thanks to Mika, Rion was able to secretly secure a significant amount of funding, resulting in an expanded Eridu—about 1.5 times larger than the original design.
The performance of Aabi Eshuh, based on Eridu, had reached a level where victory could be anticipated even against both Mika and Neru at the same time. By reinforcing the performance of the exterior armor with the remains of Vina, its durability was also nearing completion.
The fact that such a powered suit, boasting monstrous specs, encountered a situation where repairs were needed was completely unexpected for Rion.
There was almost a crisis when Toki lost to Neru… but since things went back to the original plan from there, Rion felt like she was riding a tiger and couldn’t jump off now.
Making that kind of choice that would render all her past efforts pointless was the most irrational thing in the world.
Therefore, Rion had vowed to run straight ahead until the last moment.
Mika.
Himari.
The seminar’s underclassmen.
The teacher from Shalle.
No matter how much everyone who cherished Aris rushed in to interfere with her, Rion was resolved to commit to what she believed was right, even if it meant dying soon.
“…Aris.”
“Rion-senpai…? Your expression hasn’t been good since earlier. I think you need a healer’s help!”
“…Yeah, maybe you’re right.”
If there was someone who could help her regain her scattered senses, that person would truly deserve to be called a healer.
“Um, that’s fine. Right now, there are more important matters than such trivialities.”
“Y-Yeah, but… Rion-senpai’s health is certainly not a trivial matter!”
Hearing Aris’s concerned words darkened Rion’s expression further.
Those kind-hearted words Aris casually threw out were like knives that cut into the wound on her heart, which had never healed from before.
Time was running out for those wounds to multiply, but would she really be able to endure the pain of all the scars she’d accumulated…? Rion honestly had no confidence in that.
“The mapping wasn’t as boring as I thought? In Eridu, there’s also the hidden treasure chest you wanted, Aris. Puzzles and anything else you would be interested in are not particularly hidden.”
So Rion continued to hesitate before the words she had to say.
Knowing she had to act, she had made the resolution to follow through. Nevertheless, she was afraid to wake Aris up to the cruel reality.
Perhaps she was more frightened by how predictable Aris’s reaction would be.
“Yes, this place didn’t have any of the great treasures Aris was looking for. Maybe, it’s a little disappointing…”
“Of course, that’s what you’d think.”
“But it wasn’t boring at all!”
“…Hmm?”
“Adventuring together… with Rion-senpai. Aris was happy just with that!”
“…”
Rion faced Aris’s bright smile. A feeling of something choking her heart surged up.
“…Rion-senpai?”
Why is the world so harsh like this? Is it too vast to be filled only with beautiful things?
The girl before her must die for everyone else to live.
Then it was only right that she should die.
“Why…”
Is it not human to measure each trivial choice carefully? How could one choose a single life over the destruction of the world?
Aris must die for everyone. For the sake of those she loves, it must happen.
“Why are you crying…?”
So, I must say this. That is the truly rational thing to do.
Rion steeled her resolve.
Wiping the tears that began to flow down her cheeks, Rion looked down at Aris. From now on, she couldn’t show weakness—
“I don’t know exactly, but everything will be fine! If there’s a problem, I’ll solve it! Because Aris is…”
“…a hero.”
“Yes, Aris is a hero!”
At that moment, Rion’s heart shattered pitifully.
“Aris… there’s something you must definitely hear… sniff, something I must do…”
Kneeling down to the hard floor, Rion hugged Aris tightly, uncharacteristically. Aris, trapped in her arms, trembled.
“Rion-senpai…?”
“Aris… listen carefully again. You…”
For all the things you love… you must sacrifice yourself.
That is something only a hero can do. It’s something you can do because you are a hero.
The delicate girl, who had willingly taken up the mantle of the Demon Lord, whispered to the hero.
*
[I’ve found it!]
“Oh my, Yuuka. That was quicker than I expected…?”
[W-What? It wasn’t that difficult. I just tracked the flow of the seminar’s funds through remnants of deleted or concealed data in the seminar’s database. That led me to confirm the data matched perfectly with the coordinates you mentioned.]
Through the communication, Yuuka confidently exclaimed. Hearing this, Himari nodded, thinking it was truly the work of a talent supporting the seminar.
However, on the other hand, she was also surprised at how uncharacteristically Rion seemed. It felt somewhat careless, even.
No, perhaps it wasn’t so careless since Yuuka had successfully concealed everything so thoroughly while being closely connected to the Supernatural Special Forces, Himari thought.
[What you mentioned is a massive fortress built after Rion, the Student Council President, funneled the seminar’s funds into it… codenamed Eridu. A fortress city to prepare for the impending destruction approaching Kivotos.]
“Should I call this a little shocking…?”
“Oh my, this is something I can’t possibly acknowledge, even with Rion as the opponent…”
Confirming the documents Yuuka had sent, Himari blinked in surprise.
“When considering the manpower and material costs required to construct a city of this size, it’s astonishing to think this has only now surfaced.”
“No, the manpower part isn’t a big issue for Rion. Most of the construction work would have been carried out by the robots and drones she operates… so transporting materials to the Eridu construction site without getting caught would have been the main challenge.”
“Even so, for this scale, isn’t it impossible to completely conceal the flow of funds…?”
The scale of Eridu was astonishingly gigantic. As Amy said, the fact that no one recognized the construction of a city of this size was problematic in many ways.
“Well, the reason for that is… another person has been indiscriminately using the seminar’s funds lately. I wonder if things were buried due to that.”
[Ugh. Koyuki…!!!]
Even Noah was pulling out such a hypothesis, which indicates how enormous Koyuki’s embezzlement was. Perhaps the funds that Rion embezzled were also estimated to have originated from Koyuki’s account.
However, neither Noah nor Yuuka felt any sympathy for Koyuki. The things she did were simply insane.
The only part that might have gained some sympathy would be Koyuki’s luck in pouring money into something only to suffer a miserable defeat in the lottery… but considering she got away without being sent to the correctional office after doing such things, that might have been good luck.
“Such trivial matters don’t matter. I believe I shouldn’t simply take this situation at face value. That’s how I feel.”
“…Himari-senpai, what do you mean by that?”
“I can’t know how Rion lured Mika-chan to this place called Eridu. Perhaps it was not a lure, but Mika-chan herself uncovered something and headed there. However…”
Himari’s mind began to fit together the given information like puzzle pieces. She was one of the three who possessed a universal degree in Millennium’s history and a brilliant, albeit frail, girl hacker.
No matter how arrogant and self-absorbed she was, Akeboshi Himari was undoubtedly a genius no one could deny.
“A city built to prepare for destruction. Mika-chan, who lost contact after heading there. Likewise, Mikamo Neru, who ended up in the same predicament while pursuing the same circumstances…”
A hypothesis was formed.
“Rion is probably in the process of executing a plan where Mika-chan’s mere existence acts as an obstacle.”
However, she was not at a stage where she could say it with certainty. There were too few puzzle pieces at the moment.
“…Ah!”
“Noah? Why the sudden outburst?”
“It’s as Himari-senpai said. This matter could be far more complicated than our imaginations. Yuuka-chan!”
[Huh?]
“Could you ask for help from the teacher at Shalle? It’s urgent, and I believe the teacher will certainly lend us a hand.”
[A-Alright!]
With a slightly brightened expression, Yuuka stepped away to contact the teacher. Meanwhile, Noah held a crucial piece of information regarding the entire situation tightly.
“Rion, the Student Council President, summoned Aris-chan today. That means that Aris-chan is somewhat involved in this matter—”
“…Amy! Can you go check on the Game Development Club right away?! I need to confirm whether my cute underclassman has returned properly!”
“Got it. Leave it to me, Leader.”
And thus, the uninvited guests for the ball began to gather one by one.
