Chapter 8: Under the blue sky.

"Don't move. Drop your weapon and put your hands behind your head."

"Minato, you little…!"

"You…! Kya!?"

Minato pressed the muzzle of her gun against the squad leader’s back. I couldn’t react—just stared, stunned—but of course Senpai Mayu was different. She moved instantly, assessed the situation, assumed Minato-senpai had betrayed us, and raised her beloved rifle… only for a sharp gunshot to knock it out of her hands.

The gun clattered across the weathered stone pavement. Following the bullet’s path with my eyes, I saw it: the familiar sniper rifle from earlier—and its owner. And behind her, spilling out in a nauseating wave, were soldiers in gas masks, surrounding us.

Even an idiot like me could understand by now.

It was a trap. We walked straight into it.

"…What do you think you're doing, Minato?"

"I negotiated with the enemy commander… Beatrice."

"What?"

"I… I can’t join in on that kind of gamble."

"A gamble?"

"If we surrender, our safety is guaranteed. The war is over. We’ve spent all sixteen years of our lives in Arius. Arius is the only place I belong. Arius is my world. Outside Arius… there’s no place for us. Outside Arius, our world doesn’t exist."

Her voice trembled. Her pupils darted, unstable. Was this really what she wanted? Had she even had time to doubt herself? Probably not. But it was too late—once she took aim, there was no turning back.

"I can’t bet on the unknown outside Arius. I can’t stake myself… or worse, my comrades’ lives on something like that."

"Yeah? Well, I’d say trusting the pals behind you is an even dumber bet…"

"More importantly!"

Tears welled at the corners of her eyes as she shouted.

"I can’t trust you! Three years ago, because of your mistake, I lost my squad! They can’t even live normal lives now, and I got sent to the reserves! I won’t let something like that happen again!"

"Tch! That’s why I—!"

"Shut up!"

The muzzle that had dipped for a moment lifted again.

"Enough. Drop your weapons. Hands on your head."

"…You’ve done something incredibly stupid."

"Hurry u—"

"That’s enough."

With a heavy wham, a rifle butt slammed into Minato’s head, knocking her out cold. The culprit—the enemy sniper—turned her weapon on the squad leader in Minato’s place. At the same time, the surrounding soldiers aimed their rifles at us.

Ha. Looks like Minato-senpai got tricked too.

The choice she made… was never going to end well.

"Minato…"

"Madam’s orders are to secure the students. Or eliminate them. Adults are unnecessary. We’ll dispose of them here."

"…Come on now. Isn’t that a bit extreme?"

"……"

"Not even small talk? One of your pals back there sure liked running his mouth."

The squad leader tapped the ground twice with his foot.

A prearranged signal. Mayu-senpai and I squeezed our eyes shut and covered our ears.

"—!! Flashbang!?"

"Run!"

The instant the flash faded, we bolted into the catacombs after the squad leader. His body was packed with hidden weapons. As he liked to say, “All adults are like this. If you’ve got a mechanical body, you might as well make the most of it.” I really wished he was the only one.

"Squad leader! What about Minato!?"

"Forget her! That was the path she chose! And they didn’t loosen their grip on her even while flinching from the flash! They’re used to this! They’ll be on us any second!"

"Ah—m-my ears still…"

Inside the catacombs, it was completely dark. Without our handheld lights, there wouldn’t be a single thread of illumination. They called this place an underground cemetery, but it wasn’t maintained at all—no footprints, no signs of visitors. The corridors twisted like a maze, and without the squad leader, we’d be lost corpses in minutes. Even the ghosts down here would probably lose track of their own coffins. I’d never want to sleep in a place like this.

"—!? They’re already here…!"

"!? Grazed me—! It brushed my ear!"

"Dammit! Run, run!"

We ran through a storm of bullets. Just ran.

Through the darkness where we couldn’t even see the path ahead, trusting that somewhere in it, light still existed.

"How about you give up already?"

"Kou!"

"Kya!?"

Mayu-senpai shoved me aside just as a heavy impact rattled the shield she was carrying.

"In this darkness…!"

"Mayu! Are you okay!?"

"Yeah. But I’m reaching my limit."

She stopped running and raised her shield, staring hard into the darkness behind us.

We couldn’t see them, but the countless footsteps were closing in fast.

"Squad leader. Take Kou and go."

"Mayu-senpai!?"

"……"

"It’s a senpai’s job to protect her junior. And… this is the perfect chance for revenge."

"…Sorry."

"Hey—!?"

The squad leader lifted me into his arms and ran.

Mayu-senpai’s back grew smaller… and eventually disappeared into the darkness.

"Squad leader! Let go! Squad leader!"

"……"

"Let… go!"

"Tch!"

I thrashed until I finally broke free of his grip.

We had already gotten far from where we left Mayu-senpai.

"I have to go back! Mayu-senpai is—!"

"…Kou."

"Minato-senpai might still make it too…! We have to hurry!"

"…Kou."

"What are you doing!? We need to go back—!"

"Kou!!"

"—!"

A harsh crack exploded across my cheek as he punched me.

"I'm the squad leader of this unit. My judgment is absolute."

"…So you’re telling me to abandon them…?"

"That's right."

"…Don’t kid around."

"Huh?"

"Don’t screw with me! You— you worthless piec—"

Before I could finish, a sharp kick slammed into my mouth, cutting me off.

"Did you forget who I am? Who trained you as a tool? Did you hit your head or something? Should I hit you again until you remember? Fine—I’ll keep hitting you until you do."

"Ah…"

"That’s right. That’s how it should be. You’re a tool. A tool for my promotions. No—now you’re a tool for my survival. Tools don’t talk. They get used. Don’t you ever forget that again."

"………"

I couldn’t resist the fear carved into me. No matter how much I hated him, no matter how desperately I wanted to run from his orders, my shaking wouldn’t stop. The ability to choose anything else had been taken from me long ago.

"Hmph. The surroundings are changing. It’s different from when I came here before… but we’re probably close to the exit."

"………"

"Kou."

"…!"

"There may be traps ahead. From here on, you take point."

"………Yes."

I felt awful—sick with myself. I wanted to punch the part of me that ever thought this man might be a good person. It was him—because of him. If we had surrendered quietly, if we had followed Minato-senpai, maybe none of this would’ve happened. If he hadn’t kept resisting out of fear for his own life. And does the world outside Arius even exist? Is there really a place for us out there? Only despair and distrust kept building.

The only sound was the clack clack of our boots on the stone floor.

I kept walking. Unable to go save my seniors… only able to serve as a disposable pawn for this worthless rebel.

Then suddenly, the footsteps behind me stopped.

"………"

"Kou. From here… you go on alone."

"…What?"

I turned around in confusion—just as an explosive crack echoed through the tunnel. His shot punched a hole in the crumbling ceiling, and with that final impact, the weakened structure collapsed in a roar of falling debris.

"Minato… Mayu… I still have things I must do."

"Kou."

"…We’ll meet again."

Through the tumbling rubble, the last thing I saw was his broad back—and then, emerging from the darkness, that blood-soaked sniper.

"…Instruc…tor…?"

Why?

"Why…"

Why?

"Why…"

Why would you risk yourselves… for someone like me?

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I passed through the tunnel and stepped out of the darkness.

Sunlight poured down, burning eyes that had grown far too used to the dark.

Towering skyscrapers like I had never seen before. People walking the streets with bright, carefree expressions.

It was beautiful, dazzling, overwhelming.

And above it all, the sky stretched out in a blue so vivid it almost made me hate it.