Chapter: 85. The New Protagonist
It’s so cold.
Why is it this cold?
As Kanade slowly sank into the pitch-black depths of the sea, he felt an unprecedented chill.
This cold did not come from the icy sea water surrounding him, but from the bracelet he held tightly in his hand.
Just the thought of never seeing the girl who wore that bracelet again made all the strength leave his body.
Even his heart gradually fell silent.
Why did it turn out this way?
Where did he go wrong that allowed Kokona to end up in such a situation?
If I could have confessed this true world to her earlier, before leaving Kawano City…
If I hadn’t left Kokona alone in the Shiki Pavilion, but instead had taken her with me to Noah Pavilion…
If I had possessed stronger power and not wasted so much time on Seiryu…
If…
Countless “what ifs” flashed through Kanade’s mind.
Yet at this moment, all that responded to him was the cold bracelet in his hand.
I’m sorry, Kokona, I still haven’t grown at all…
Both in the past and in the present, I couldn’t protect you properly…
But sadly, this apology can no longer reach Kokona’s ears, can it?
After all, if hell and heaven truly exist, a gentle, kind, and sunny girl like Kokona would surely enter heaven, perhaps even becoming a true angel…
Ah… how regretful…
Even after death, will I never have the chance to see Kokona again…
However, if it’s Kokona… she would surely smile gently and forgive me, forgive everyone…
She has always been such a gentle girl, even when hurt, she would smile and forgive everyone…
As Kanade gradually sank to a depth where sunlight could not reach, the light in his eyes faded away.
The swirling sea water rushed into his body.
It was like returning to the embrace of the ocean as a form of life—
Everything fell into silence.
Until, suddenly, a light resembling a star shone in the endless darkness of the abyss.
It was the star bracelet drifting from Kanade’s hand.
—————–
Above the sea surface.
Standing on the back of Chimera, Ototori quietly looked at the calm sea below.
That was the place where Kanade sank to the bottom.
At this moment, his figure had vanished completely, not even a bubble of air surfaced.
“Ah, how boring~”
Ototori sighed, displaying an expression of utter boredom.
The only witness to his victory had disappeared.
Ototori, seemingly losing interest in everything, turned to look at Seiryu, who was fainted at the tail of Chimera.
“Let’s go, Chimera, we’ll take this guy back to headquarters. In that domain, even that guy Mikage wouldn’t survive. Since our identities have been exposed, let’s retreat for now,” Ototori ordered.
“Although we couldn’t obtain that black box, since I’ve gotten the power of Aogiri, it will do as a result to report.”
Chimera nodded at the words, its wings flapping forcefully, and the massive body, empowered by Aogiri’s authority, shimmered with azure arcs of electricity and whipped up an astonishing storm, planning to leave in the opposite direction of the artificial academy island.
But at that moment.
An inexplicable wind stood in front of Ototori.
Before Ototori could regain his senses.
A razor-sharp blade of wind sliced through his head, splitting his face in two, and crimson blood gushed from the smooth cut like a waterfall.
“You dare to lay a hand on Tsukimi-senpai—”
Not far from Chimera.
An invisible wind lifted the extremely weakened Fuko Nishikawa.
Her slender figure hid in the shadows of dark clouds, making it hard to spot her at first glance.
The magical energy gathering in Fuko’s hand was so weak, like the scythe of death silently reaping the life of her opponent at the final moment.
After awakening in the ICU, Fuko had sensed an ominous sign in her heart and left Ark Academy at once.
Thus, she happened to encounter Ototori, Kanade, and the others leaving the artificial academy island.
At first, Fuko held her breath, worried about being discovered, until she saw Ototori throw the barely breathing Kanade into the icy ocean.
In Fuko’s heart, she didn’t truly like Kanade; while she admired the gentleness and kindness within him, it wasn’t from a romantic perspective, it was more about completing her transaction with Special Ring SEMA.
But in that moment.
She acted, transforming all her remaining magical energy into a deadly blade of wind.
Fuko didn’t know why she did this; she could have just stayed hidden, safe once Ototori rode Chimera away.
Perhaps it was because in Kanade’s lost expression, she saw a reflection of her own past.
The version of herself who had lost everything longed for someone to appear by her side.
Even if the person couldn’t save her, just knowing they were on her side was enough—
As Fuko felt herself losing the last bit of strength and contentedly fell from the sky into the ocean.
She caught a glimpse of an unbelievable scene from the corner of her eye.
If Ototori were still human, then what was on him would be an indisputable fatal wound, yet, despite having half his head severed, he was next swallowed whole by Chimera, which opened its large, bloody mouth.
“Tsk, so close, you almost snatched victory from me…”
In the next moment, Chimera’s head transformed, suddenly splitting apart, turning into a lion-like maw from which Ototori’s voice emerged.
That was Ototori’s voice.
“But unfortunately, Chimera can swallow me and turn me into a true perfect existence—”
As the words fell, Chimera abruptly spread its wings; its massive wings flapped, summoning a violent wind, its enormous body inflated several times in an instant. The bones let out a chilling crack, azure arcs of electricity flickered along its skin, and the entire body radiated an overwhelming momentum.
“Ahh~ I can feel it~ this boundless power—!!!” Ototori’s laughter echoed in the sky, his exterior covered in a thick layer of scales, flickering with cold brilliance between the scales.
And he himself opened his arms, wings spread, like a deity descending from darkness, overwhelming pressure enveloped the entire world.
He stood in the air, looking down majestically, with madness and confidence in his eyes.
“Then, Nishikawa-senpai, as a token of your near success, let me send you to hell alongside Tsukimi-senpai~” Ototori reached out his enormous claws towards the direction Fuko was falling.
An azure domain unfolded silently.
Aogiri’s authority wrapped around him and Fuko—
“Judgment.”
Accompanied by Ototori’s voice, a massive eye formed of electric current appeared above his head.
Before this eye, which symbolized divinity, everything was laid bare, accepting judgment equally from the heavens and the gods.
“Condemnation—”
Countless arcs of lightning poured down toward Fuko like a torrential rain—
—————–
Deep in the sea.
The moment the star bracelet slipped from Kanade’s palm with the surging seawater—
Plop.
Strong and powerful heartbeats echoed in the still depths of the sea.
An invisible ripple spread outward from Kanade.
“Ah, even if Kokona would smile and forgive everyone—”
Kanade’s eyelids suddenly flew open, brilliant golden light filling his eyes.
The golden glow illuminated the lightless seabed.
“And I will not forgive this world—”
“Why must Kokona encounter such unfairness?”
“She is clearly just a gentle and kind girl; why can’t someone as wonderful as her have a happy ending?”
“I won’t accept it—”
“I refuse to accept such an ending; I do not agree with this fate—”
Crack.
That was the sound of a soul fracturing.
The crack slowly transformed into a pitch-black void, and from the other side of the void—
Countless black flames surged forth.
In an instant.
Kanade’s whites were stained with ominous black, while the center of his pupils radiated a dazzling golden light—
“If this world can only offer Kokona such an ending, then I—”
“Will change it—”
——
「Change the world▍▍」☆
「▍▍▍▍▍▍」
▍▍▍▍▍▍▍▍▍▍▍▍
—————–
“!?”
A black flame broke through the water’s surface, tearing apart the surrounding waves.
Like a raging flame shooting into the sky, it stood between Fuko and Ototori, the spreading firelight stirred up fierce ripples on the sea surface.
Countless arcs of lightning were blocked by this ascendant flame and swiftly penetrated by this power, beginning to twist and deform.
“What?! This power is—”
Aogiri’s domain instantly collapsed.
Plop, plop—
Those were enormous heartbeats, resonating in harmony with the world.
This was the harbinger of “awakening.”
The black flames engulfed the sky, turning the bright moonlight into profound darkness, and the night sky completely lost all brilliance.
In the next moment.
A deafening beast roar, like the rumble of the heavens and the earth, tore apart the silence of all things, echoing in every corner of the world.
