Kayama Esumi: Vanitas Vanitatum et Omnia Vanitas

For Jomae Saori, the members of the Arius Squad she led were all her "family."

Their bonds went far beyond typical student friendships, too strong to simply be called childhood friends, transcending the boundaries of comrades-in-arms and best friends alike. To Saori, they were figures she would trade her life to protect, and at the same time, the home to which she belonged.

That was why defying ‘her’ orders, the absolute ruler of the Arius Autonomous District, was something Saori could never possibly allow herself to do.

"The plan in question is just a step away from execution. However, a problem has arisen at this late stage."

Madam.

The tall adult woman, called by that name by the students of the Arius Autonomous District as well as Saori herself, let out a sigh as if burdened by a dreadful nuisance, and continued speaking while gazing out at the scenery of the Arius Autonomous District, still ravaged by the civil war from several years ago.

Standing at attention behind her, Saori quietly listened to Madam's words.

"Long ago, Arius was driven from its home by Trinity's tyranny. Enduring repeated oppression and persecution, we designated this land as our new homeland. An unknown territory hidden from the outside world. An illusory autonomous district, unknown even to Trinity and the General Student Council that governs Kivotos, not even found on maps. That is the Arius Autonomous District."

Madam nodded slightly a few times at the current, desolate, and utterly ruined appearance of the Arius Autonomous District.

"For our ancestors, this place must have been a paradise. No trembling in fear of oppression or persecution. No worry of being exiled from their homeland again... And yet, because of the civil war of the past, this blessed land has been utterly laid waste."

With nearly ten years having passed since the end of the civil war, the town has still not been reconstructed; instead, locations reduced to piles of rubble are being used as training grounds today.

Right within Madam's line of sight, students of the Arius Autonomous District were conducting drills, learning the arts of "killing" rather than engaging in enjoyable club activities or studies. The sight was abnormal by any measure. Yet, to those present, this was simply their ordinary daily life.

"Saori. Who was it that saved Arius, which was on the verge of following this land to ruinous collapse due to the prolonged civil war?"

"It is you, Madam... You saved us, the people of Arius."

Here, Saori opened her mouth to answer Madam's question.

However, her words were devoid of emotion, delivered like reciting the answer to a test question. Even so, Madam looked satisfied with her response, the corners of her mouth curving up slightly.

"Yes, precisely. It was the power of an adult—myself—that gave meaning to the lives of you who fought over limited resources, and reunited the splintered Arius Branch under the guise of consultation. And now, to exact retribution for what your ancestors suffered and become the new rulers in place of Trinity, I have been advancing preparations for the plan."

Yet here, Madam shook her head with a look of regret.

"However, the problem I mentioned earlier is standing in the way of our long-cherished desire."

"...What exactly is that?"

"Information. Information regarding Arius, which no one in Trinity even remembers anymore, unfortunately still lingers on. As you understand, the plan requires us to ensure Trinity does not catch wind of Arius's existence. Exploiting the enemy's complacency to quietly drive a knife into their throat. To achieve that, every single piece of information related to Arius must be erased from this world, leaving not a single trace."

"Yes. As you say, Madam. Does that mean we will infiltrate Trinity from now on and wipe away all remaining information about Arius?"

"No. For now, let us abandon the information stored within Trinity. While the plan cannot yet be put into motion, there is no need to cause unnecessary commotion in Trinity and draw attention to ourselves. Erasing the information remaining outside of Trinity takes precedence."

"Outside of Trinity, you say?"

Turning her face toward Saori at last, Madam wore a smile on her face.

Experiencing the illusion of being stared down by a snake, a faint chill ran down Saori's spine.

"According to my investigation, there appears to be a town built on the outskirts of the Gehenna Autonomous District by former residents of Trinity in the past. However, Gehenna and Trinity have always been at odds. Due to repeated troubles and the passage of time, the town itself perished long ago... The problem is that there is a church of the Justina Council in that town."

"...A church of the Justina Council?"

"Yes. The former student council that thoroughly oppressed Arius back then and unilaterally cast them out of Trinity. If it is a church owned by that Justina Council, information concerning Arius is bound to remain there as well. There is a possibility that no information exists at all, but one can never be too careful. Without delay, I want you to head to that town. If there is even the slightest trace related to Arius, you are to eradicate all of it."

"......Understood. Then I will immediately assemble the team to prepare—"

"No. This mission, Saori... you shall carry out alone."

"...Pardon?"

A voice escaped her in sheer surprise, and for the first time, Saori's composure fractured.

Naturally so. Up until now, no matter what happened, Saori had completed every harsh mission and training alongside her family members on the team. Even if they were separated during the course of a mission, she had never been assigned to a task entirely by herself from the start like this.

Just as an instinctual voice of protest rose to her throat, Madam cut her off and continued speaking.

"I repeat, the plan is not yet at the execution stage. Now, when constant caution is required, there is no need to make a fuss and send a large group on a mission simply to search for information in a ruined town. You are the most outstanding student in this Arius Autonomous District. A solo mission should be easily manageable for you."

"However... the destination is the Gehenna Autonomous District. If unforeseen circumstances arise..."

"That is impossible. Gehenna at present has lost its former leader, pathetically losing its way and standing at a loss. They should have entirely no room to care about ruins on the edge of the district where former Trinity residents once lived... However, there is one concern."

"......"

"Beware of this student."

Where she had procured them, she handed several photographs over to Saori.

Inwardly wondering, Saori quickly scanned the received photographs. Therein was depicted a beautiful girl with pale blue hair and jade-green eyes; even Saori, who was conditioned to harbor only hatred and emptiness, could not help but internally think, how beautiful, toward this student.

Whether that reaction showed on her face, or whether she felt repulsion toward the student in the photo, Madam began to explain with a grimace of distaste.

"That student's name is Kayama Esumi. One we must loathe, a student attending Trinity. I've heard she possesses a prominent talent for art, but frankly, that is of no consequence. What can be said now is that we cannot afford for this student to catch wind of our existence. If you spot this student in that town, beat her down right then and there."

To those words, she could not ask, "Why?"

A person inspiring such intense aversion in Madam. That meant she was a presence the Arius Branch urgently wished to avoid any involvement with.

Besides, for Saori as well, this student named Kayama Esumi was a Trinity student toward whom hatred ought to be directed from the bottom of her heart. Beating her required no reason.

However, knowing the long-standing conflict between Gehenna and Trinity, Saori still harbored doubts as to whether Esumi, who should be a Trinity student, would ever voluntarily set foot in Gehenna.

"Will this student named Esumi truly appear in Gehenna?"

"Yes, she will come. This student has reportedly set foot in Gehenna several times two years ago as well. Furthermore, she became very close with local Gehenna students. Boldly stepping into opposing autonomous districts and even deepening exchanges there. This student is not merely a Trinity student. Something that defies even our common sense... Let's see. A presence beyond our understanding—shall we call her an angel?"

At that, Madam wore a fearless smile as if she had thought of something amusing, gently placed a finger on the photo Saori was holding, and said:

"Saori. For the sake of carrying out the plan without a hitch, as for what to do if you find this student Kayama Esumi in the town... simply beating her is insufficient. Kill her instead. To dispose of it as an unfortunate accident occurring in Gehenna, you must break this student's halo."

"Br-break her halo...?"

"Yes, precisely. This is the first step toward casting hateful Trinity down into hell. Drag that angel, reveling in her days in a peaceful paradise, down to the earth with your own hands."

Her hand left the photograph and was instead placed upon Saori's shoulder.

"If you care deeply for the well-being of that child... the royal blood, you should be able to stain your hands with your first murder."

"......"

"There is no need to hesitate. I should have taught you as well, the doctrine of Arius."

All is vanity. No matter how far one goes, all is merely vanity.

The doctrine that she had recited countless times flooded her mind, and the guilt and resistance toward the act of committing her first murder rapidly faded away.

She had no choice but to do it.

If she could not successfully carry out Madam's orders here... her family, their lives would be in danger.

"...Yes... Madam."

Therefore, Saori made her resolve.

"I have high expectations. By my estimation, if this Kayama Esumi learns of Arius's existence, the moment she sees you, she will immediately deduce that you are a student of Arius. If she fails to realize it, reducing her to an unconscious, critical condition will suffice. We can simply pin the blame on Gehenna's side. However, if... she recognizes you as Arius, break her halo as we discussed earlier. Whichever way it turns, troubles occurring within the Gehenna Autonomous District will create a massive chasm in relations between the two. There is no need to fear Arius's involvement being suspected."

Madam stared fixedly into Saori's lusterless eyes.

There was neither hope nor happiness there. There were only the eyes of a girl who had become like a pawn, quietly accepting whatever words Madam spoke and seeking to execute them.

"Will it be erasing Arius's information first, or encountering Kayama Esumi first... or both?"

Jomae Saori had no choice but to kill her own heart.

"Failure in this mission means the death of you and every single student living in this Arius. Engrave that into your heart."

After all, ever since back then, Saori had been entirely at the beck and call of the adult before her... Beatrice.

1-2

Right after being given the mission by Madam... Beatrice, Saori left behind words to the members of the team she led, saying, "I'll be leaving here for a bit on a solo mission," departed Arius, and set foot into Sodom, a town on the outskirts of the Gehenna Autonomous District.

Spending several hours thoroughly monitoring the surrounding area to ensure there were no signs of human presence, Saori thus confirmed that there were no residents in the ruined town and finally broke into the church built deep within it.

As it was a church holding the secrets of the Justina Council of Saints that once ruled Trinity, the entrance had been heavily locked so that no one could enter. Saori destroyed it with her gun without hesitation, then began exploring the interior of the church at random.

Perhaps thanks to the entrance having been sealed for many years, compared to the devastation outside, the interior of the church was only somewhat cluttered and completely unravelled. Overgrown plants caught her eye, but they were not particularly conspicuous; time stood still inside the church just as it had in the past, to the point where believers could be called in to pray at any moment.

Compared to the churches in the Arius Autonomous District, which were terribly battered by the civil war, the church in this town was still immaculate. Therefore, for Saori, whose memories were burned solely with the ruined streets of Arius, a place representing such a symbol of peace felt deeply unsettling.

"......Tch... The air here doesn't suit me..."

Consequently, reaching her limit before she could even search for the vital information concerning Arius, she bolted out of the church to catch some fresh air outside and decided to take a break a short distance away.

"...Trinity... Justina Council... Arius... That information is in that church."

Gazing at her newly tailored black leather gloves, Saori clenched her fist, pointing that hand straight toward the church.

Being gloves she had only recently managed to obtain in Arius where supplies were limited, she felt a slight embarrassment at how unaccustomed she still was to them, but Saori let out a soft sigh.

"......!?"

At that moment.

Someone's figure came into Saori's field of view. The distance was perhaps a few hundred meters. It was a bit too far to confirm visually, but that meant it was the same for the other party as well.

Hiding hastily in the shadows, Saori quietly aimed the muzzle of her assault rifle toward the approaching figure.

"Could that be... Kayama Esumi?"

To her surprise, however, the identity of the mysterious figure was none other than Kayama Esumi.

Long, flowing pale blue hair. A beautifully refined face, and a well-proportioned figure. Her expression looked slightly calmer than in the photograph, but there was no mistake. That was Esumi.

To think she would really come here...

She suspected whether Esumi had been lying in wait for Saori, but seeing her continue walking without stopping toward the church right in front of her, she apparently hadn't noticed Saori hiding in the shadows.

Watching her form enter the church, Saori lowered her muzzle and frowned.

"......"

This meant, essentially, how things stood.

Saori understood well that a golden opportunity had arrived to wipe away Kayama Esumi and the information of Arius all at once.

She gazed at the gun held in her dominant hand and took a deep, steady breath.

From here on, she would walk a path of no return.

For the family she had to protect. So that the plan would be implemented and that child would not be offered as a sacrifice.

All for the team left behind in Arius.

Donning her mask, Saori lightly inspected her assault rifle, renewed her resolve, and stepped inside the church herself.

1-3

Having judged that there was no longer any time to spare, Saori threw a homemade thermobaric bomb at Esumi, who—having picked up a certain sister's diary and realized something in a room deep within the church—had even acquired information such as "Arius Branch," "Justina Council," and "Catacombs." With that, Saori buried the information concerning Arius first of all.

Adjusted to spread fire easily, the books and documents in the room were already ablaze in an instant, meaning there was no longer any need to worry about information regarding Arius falling into the hands of others.

With only the disposal of Kayama Esumi remaining, upon hearing Esumi herself explicitly declare that Saori was a student of the Arius Branch of all things... Saori resolved to kill her.

The muzzle of the assault rifle held in her dominant hand was pointed at Esumi's forehead.

Yet, seemingly unwilling to be killed in silence, even while bleeding from the head, Esumi promptly drew a revolver with her right hand from the holster at her waist and successfully struck the head of Saori, who was pulling the trigger of her assault rifle.

It was a magnificent display of quick-drawing and accuracy.

Saori couldn't help but admire that she could counterattack from such a state. Thanks to that, the impact of being shot caused the muzzle of Saori's assault rifle to twist in an awkward direction, creating bullet holes in the wall rather than hitting Esumi.

In this instant, within the church of the long-ruined town called Sodom, the curtain rose on the battle between two students enrolled in Trinity and Arius.

1-4

(There's no way I can win.)

Under an atmosphere akin to being moments away from execution, Esumi made the split-second decision to draw The Man of Fire with her right hand, successfully hit Saori's head with a bullet, and immediately bolted out of the room driven by sheer survival instinct.

Saori's bullets chased after her back.

However, her opponent was a combat professional reigning near the very top of the original Blue Archive continuity.

Against her—someone who had fought one-on-one with Mika, whose physicality was practically peerless, while in a battered and bruised state—Esumi had no prospects of winning. A head-on match was out of the question, and even employing bizarre tricks wouldn't bring her to a draw.

After all, her dominant hand was impaired, and the weapon she used was a revolver akin to a museum piece. Compared to Saori, who was equipped with an assault rifle and handguns, it was an utterly dainty weapon.

(Still, I can't just let myself be killed silently here... and if life or death here were to end up affecting the subsequent original Blue Archive plot, that would be terribly bad...)

If there was anything she could do, would it be to lose gracefully against Saori?

Impossible. Bearing explicit murderous intent, Saori wasn't going to overlook her in a state like near-death.

Ideally, she had no choice but to fight it out to some degree and flee when the time was right, but once she left this town, where on earth was she supposed to head? The taxi for her transportation had already been sent back.

(Is this what they call a desperate situation... wait, watch out!!)

Immediately after, sensing an ominous premonition, Esumi ducked her head.

Several bullets passed right over her head. Had she not ducked, they would have undoubtedly hit Esumi's head. Given that her head was already injured from the blast, she wanted to minimize damage to it as much as possible.

"......!!"

She sprang up immediately and fired her revolver repeatedly toward her rear.

This time it wasn't The Man of Fire, but Niki, handled with her left hand. Its caliber was also superior, so she could hope for a fair bit of damage.

"......"

Unfortunately, Saori, a professional combat machine, hid in the shadows with swift movements and evaded all of Esumi's attacks. During that time, Esumi hurried to reload her revolver, but Saori launched an attack even faster.

This time she scattered bullets in full auto.

The wooden chairs arranged in the hall were half-destroyed one after another by Saori's bullets, and fragments scattered around. Esumi closed her eyes with a split-second decision to avoid shards flying into her eyes and lowered her body.

However, that decision was a mistake.

Taking advantage of Esumi being unable to move due to her assault, Saori gleefully tossed a fresh thermobaric bomb right toward her. The destructive power had already been experienced in the room earlier. Rolling along under the numerous long benches where believers once sat, the thermobaric bomb reached Esumi and delivered the second attack of the day to her body.

"Ah... Urgh, hah...!!"

First, she took the full force of the blast, and then she was lightly blown away, slamming her body against a pillar of the church. This time she didn't sustain injuries from hitting her head, but taking a thermobaric bomb of immense power head-on—no matter how sturdy a Kivotos inhabitant's body was—meant she couldn't possibly be unhurt.

Esumi realized that the impact had undoubtedly broken a few ribs in her back or side.

Thinking that she hadn't died yet, Esumi scrambled to her feet, put her back against a pillar, and surveyed her surroundings once more. Saori resumed firing at her.

"Th-this...!"

While the pain was doubled thanks to the thermobaric bomb, a rain of additional bullets poured down.

Somehow using the pillar as a shield, Esumi fought back, refusing to lose, but an overwhelming disparity in the volume of ammunition arose between a revolver and an assault rifle. Before she knew it, the pillar used as cover was being whittled away rapidly by Saori's attacks, and Esumi hastily shifted to another pillar.

Ultimately, however, Saori showed no mercy, pouring down a rain of bullets on those pillars as well, sometimes even throwing grenades to destroy them, causing numerous pillars to snap and scatter debris everywhere. To her surprise, the ruined and neglected church began to creak with an eerie sound as their offensive and defensive maneuvers unfolded.

(No, no, wait a minute!? A Romanesque-style church is supposed to have superior durability compared to Gothic styles, right?! There's no way it should collapse from this much...!!)

Unlike earlier architectural styles that placed wooden ceilings atop pillars, Romanesque architecture adopted sturdy, solid stone ceilings. That meant the weight of the ceiling differed vastly compared to previous wooden ceilings, and since pillars alone couldn't bear the weight of a stone ceiling and would collapse instantly, they intentionally thickened the left and right walls themselves to enhance durability.

Therefore, the entire building shouldn't have been creaking simply because the interior pillars were destroyed like this; Esumi keenly realized that even if it looked pristine on the outside, the church had in reality reached its absolute limit long, long ago.

At worst, the church wouldn't be able to withstand their battle, the ceiling would cave in, and she would be buried alive in this church along with Saori.

Protecting the historic church came first, or protecting herself while preparing for the worst-case scenario of being buried alive.

Among the remaining options, the path Esumi was going to take was decided.

Esumi leaped out from the pillar she was using as cover. Of course, she couldn't afford to show her defenseless figure to Saori in silence.

She grabbed something that happened to be lying at her feet, and the moment she dashed out from the pillar, she hurled it toward Saori. Naturally, Saori directed her attention to dodge whatever had been thrown at her feet, but Esumi swiftly shot through it with her gun.

(——!?)

The moment Esumi's fired bullet struck it, a white powdery substance burst out from within it, scattering into the air and robbing Saori of her vision in the blink of an eye.

What she had just thrown was called a thurible, a tool used during worship to burn incense, which originally required putting charcoal embers inside beforehand, but she hadn't prepared any due to the emergency. Or rather, there weren't any.

Even so, she had succeeded in robbing Saori of her vision, if only for a brief moment.

Judging that she couldn't afford to fight inside the church any longer, Esumi didn't let this chance slip and sprinted toward the entrance at full speed.

"......Tch, you won't get away!"

However, Saori wasn't about to stay quiet either.

Though her vision hadn't recovered yet, refusing to let Esumi escape, she detonated a bomb she had rigged at the entrance beforehand.

Whether the timing was good or bad, right before Esumi's eyes, the church entrance was blown away by the bomb.

(Wha—are you out of your mind!?)

It was unclear what kind of bomb she had used, but except for a very small portion, the entire church was made of stone.

With destructive power capable of reducing that to smithereens, the wooden door vanished without a trace, the walls and pillars of the entrance collapsed with a loud crash, and the ceiling, losing its support as a result, caved in to block the path.

Fortunately, Esumi wasn't crushed beneath that rubble, but losing the sole exit in this church was a heavy blow.

Of course, since this was a church, there was a fair possibility of other exits existing elsewhere. However, wandering around the unexplored interior of the church while fighting that Saori was not a wise strategy.

Averting her gaze from the pile of rubble that had become the entrance, Esumi looked around with a reluctant frown.

(Should I use a window? No, bad idea... Romanesque architecture can't make large windows due to structural strength issues, and all the windows in this church are tiny... escaping like in the movies is practically impossible.)

Shrugging her shoulders as even looking at the windows promised little hope, Esumi took her beloved gun in hand and decided to leave the spot for the moment.

Right then. Saori, finally having recovered her vision, put her unluckily empty assault rifle on her back and suddenly closed the distance. She must have judged that the trouble of reloading was a waste of time compared to letting her target escape.

In contrast, the revolver in Esumi's hand still had bullets remaining, but sensing that shooting Saori in her current situation wouldn't buy any time at all, she made a split-second decision and pulled out that pocket knife given to her by Nagisa.

"......!!"

Whether this knife would actually work against the bodies of Kivotos inhabitants who could shrug off direct bullet hits was unknown. But seeing the knife clenched in Esumi's hand, Saori looked slightly surprised, so it evidently possessed a certain degree of lethality.

With this, she succeeded in deterring Saori's approach.

(That being said, it's my first time ever using one against a person...)

This was, after all, a knife utilized as one of her art supplies. Esumi herself hadn't received training in handling weapons against people, and pointing a knife at someone was an entirely unprecedented act for her to begin with.

Perhaps that showed clearly in her demeanor. Seeing that Esumi was completely unaccustomed to handling a knife, Saori calmly and steadily closed the distance.

In terms of height, the other had the advantage. Physical capabilities and combat experience were also entirely superior on Saori's side compared to Esumi.

If she made a clumsy attack, she would be instantly countered and struck down.

Wishing that Saori would never come closer if possible, Esumi stepped back pace by pace, while Saori approached in tandem, maintaining a fixed distance.

"......"

"......"

While neither party gave an inch, what shattered that tension all at once was the debris of the ceiling raining down from above.

"What!?"

"Tch...!!"

Not expecting it to fall precisely onto their spot, Saori instinctively stepped right back to dodge it, whereas Esumi's reaction was slightly delayed, causing the debris to strike her body directly. Intense pain assaulted her body.

As a result, the knife slipped from her hand, and debris continued to fall from overhead during that time as well. Judging that this location was truly bad news, Esumi fled frantically deeper into the church interior without even having the luxury to pick up the fallen knife.

"......"

Meanwhile, Saori, who had calmly protected herself from the debris, looked up at the ceiling where the collapse had subsided to check for safety, and simply and calmly replaced the magazine of her assault rifle. Regrettably, she had allowed Esumi to escape, but where Esumi headed was the interior of the church. There was virtually no place to run.

"...A good knife."

Finishing the magazine replacement and confirming that nothing was wrong with her assault rifle, Saori's field of view caught sight of the pocket knife Esumi had been holding until just a moment ago.

An expensive knife that seemed thoroughly disproportionate for someone holding the occupation of an artist.

Picking it up to test and observing it closely, Saori perceived that this knife was of extremely high quality and custom-made.

"......"

Gently stowing the picked-up knife in her pocket, Saori cast her gaze toward where Esumi had fled, firmly gripped her assault rifle, and sprinted forward with vigor herself.

1-5

"...Hah... Hah...!!"

Esumi ran. She ran desperately.

Kicking off the ground, placing her hands against the walls, she forced her body to move frantically despite being unable to breathe properly.

"...Ah, agh!?"

Immediately after, a sharp pain shot through Esumi's back.

A bullet.

None other than a bullet had been fired into her back.

Even if Kivotos inhabitants had sturdiness as their strong point, it was merely "sturdiness," and their sense of pain functioned completely. Thanks to that, the bullet itself couldn't pierce Esumi's body, but the excruciating pain that resonated directly to her bones, let alone her nerves, was more than enough to twist Esumi's expression.

"...Damn it, you idiot!!"

Uncharacteristically voicing a curse aloud, Esumi instantly twisted her body and let loose with her beloved gun, Niki, held in her hand.

Considering the remaining ammunition loaded, she wanted to avoid wasteful shooting as much as possible, but she fired two or three shots in rapid succession purely as a suppression tactic. Whether one of them hit or whether Saori took cover from the gunfire, the other side suspended her attack.

Ideally, she would be overjoyed if that gunfire miraculously rendered her combat-incapable, but Esumi, already battered and bruised from the battle with Saori, quickly discarded that thought as the equivalent of clutching at straws.

"Hah... Hah... It hu-hurts......"

Hiding against a nearby wall, slamming her back against it with the momentum, she hurried to take deep breaths.

Esumi was widely known to the world as a beautiful girl, but no trace of that remained in her now. Long, lovely pale blue hair was terribly disheveled, parts of her clothing were scorched away, and as for her face, she was bleeding red blood from her head as if paint had been dripped over it.

The pain wasn't just in her back where she had been shot moments ago. Her entire body was screaming.

(While I still have time... I need to reload...)

Once she finally calmed her body down with a deep breath and confirmed that she had expended all her ammo in the counterattack earlier, Esumi began reloading her beloved gun while she had the chance.

However, her right hand—her dominant hand, which had a pre-existing impairment—suddenly began to throb with intense pain right here.

"......Urgh, r-right now!?"

Pain rivalling or exceeding that of her bullet-ridden back relentlessly assaulted Esumi.

Even so, she should have avoided overworking her right hand as much as possible, but come to think of it, lately it had been frequently aching out of nowhere even without overuse.

Because of that, let alone reloading bullets, the excruciating pain prevented her from thinking straight. Huddled on the spot involuntarily, Esumi breathed heavily and hastily pulled pills from her pocket.

It was medicine specially prescribed by the hospital to alleviate the pain in her dominant hand.

Medicine that had dulled this agonizing pain several times before and restored peace to her. Pulling it out, she immediately popped the pills into her mouth and forcefully swallowed them with her saliva, without water. The pain should subside within a few tens of seconds.

"...You've got to be kidding me..."

Yet for some reason, the medicine wasn't working at all.

Tens of seconds. No, even as nearly a minute ticked by, far from subsiding, the pain itself wasn't even reduced.

Esumi cursed inwardly once more.

(For the medicine's effect to wear off right here is the worst possible timing.)

She had previously received a warning from her attending physician that "the medicine will stop working soon," but of all times, right now... It was the worst.

Keenly feeling her utter lack of luck, she decided that if the medicine wasn't working, she would just have to force herself to endure it, and started frantically reloading her bullets while desperately resisting the terrible pain.

However, something was tossed right toward her.

A stun grenade.

A non-lethal weapon that temporarily immobilized an opponent's actions with sound and flash.

(Oh no!!)

Following her intuition almost entirely, Esumi kicked it away with force.

Be that as it may, perhaps it had been thrown after pulling the pin and letting a fair bit of time pass, for the moment she kicked it away, it exploded, emitting a loud blast and a blinding flash.

Unable to kick it to a safe distance, Esumi, who took the full brunt of the stun grenade's effects, barely managed to protect just her eyes while enduring a splitting headache.

Now, the person who had thrown that stun grenade right at her—Jomae Saori—charged in without a shred of hesitation. To strike without missing even a trivial opening—she was indeed quite an adept hand. It was the movement of a veteran thoroughly accustomed to combat.

(——!!)

(...Urgh!?)

The moment Saori confirmed Esumi's figure, a swift yet heavy kick flew toward her.

Esumi, whose eyes were thankfully safe, blocked it by a hair's breadth with her left arm, but instead dropped her beloved gun from her hand due to the opponent's kick. Since she had been in the middle of reloading, the bullets scattered all over the place upon hitting the ground.

Even so, her attacks did not stop.

Relying solely on her own eyes and reflexes, Esumi thoroughly devoted herself to defense.

Then, sensing that this wouldn't resolve anything, Saori stepped back a short distance from Esumi. Was it a preparatory motion in anticipation of her next attack?

(...Now's my chance!!)

She could not afford to let that moment slip away.

Forcing her aching right hand to move, Esumi drew her other beloved gun, The Man of Fire, from its holster. It was a beloved gun that she rarely had any occasion to use normally, but since Niki wasn't at hand, she had no choice but to rely on this one.

That said, mastering this gun with a right hand still wracked by intense pain would be practically impossible. Fortunately, however, the distance from Saori was not all that great. That meant the probability of hitting her even with reckless shooting was high.

That was more than enough to stake a faint hope on.

(——!?)

Saori apparently hadn't expected Esumi to pull out another gun at this timing, and moved semi-reflexively to ready her own weapon.

Esumi blasted it away with a bullet from her beloved gun. It was hip-firing with exceptionally poor accuracy, but she fortunately managed to disarm Saori somehow. Yet having no time to breathe a sigh of relief, the moment Esumi attempted to fire again, the other forcefully kicked Esumi's beloved gun away with her foot.

Following Niki, now even The Man of Fire.

Esumi grimaced with distaste as her beloved guns were kicked down one after another, but Saori showed no mercy, this time delivering a kick aimed at sending Esumi's torso flying. That heavy, forceful kick blew Esumi all the way back to the wall behind her just as the opponent intended.

(Ugh, guh...!?)

Slammed against the wall without taking proper ukemi, and striking the back of her head hard against it, Esumi felt her consciousness slip away for a fleeting moment.

However, losing consciousness under such circumstances was a matter of life and death.

Gritting her teeth, she suppressed the pain coursing through her body with sheer willpower.

In her eyes, barely maintaining consciousness, she saw a gleaming blade flash.

"Ah... I see."

The moment she realized that it was the knife given to her by Nagisa, she recognized that the opponent was truly coming to kill her. It wouldn't end with fractures or fainting. The opponent genuinely intended to reap Esumi's life.

Even knowing that, unfortunately, due to the impact of slamming into the wall, Esumi couldn't move her body properly yet. Dodging that knife was practically impossible.

No beloved gun. No means of defense.

“——!!”

With the blade pointing straight ahead, Saori swung the knife down with force.

(...Out of all things, to be killed with that very knife.)

Was that knife aiming for her neck, or perhaps her heart?

Esumi gave a wry smile.

She had constantly thought she wanted to quietly slip away from this stage before getting dragged into the main Blue Archive plot, but she never imagined that a summons would come early from the other side in the form of death.

(...Ah... how frustrating...)

And the swung-down knife pierced firmly and without a hair's breadth of error into Esumi's life.

1-6

“......!?”

The knife Saori swung down had indeed pierced into Esumi's ‘life’.

However, it was not her heart.

"...You... your right hand?"

“—————!!”

Right before the knife could pierce her heart, Esumi thrust her own right hand out in front of her chest and caught the blade in its place.

Thanks to that, the blade of the knife, swung down with force, stopped after piercing deeply through Esumi's right hand; unfortunately, it failed to pierce her chest, but an unprecedented agony assaulted Esumi.

Kayama Esumi's precious right hand—her tool of the trade as an artist and painter.

That life, which held value equal to her heart for her, was screaming out right now.

Even someone like her who had endured irregular bouts of pain from the start let out a wordless scream at this, tears spilling one after another from her eyes.

Yet, why was that?

Why did Esumi do such a thing?

Why didn't she protect herself with her left hand instead of her right?

Why was she smiling right now, enduring excruciating pain that would warrant fainting?

It was utterly incomprehensible.

Not fear, but sheer bewilderment dominated her brain, and Saori forgot to pursue her, naturally distancing herself from Esumi. It made no sense. What on earth was this person thinking? Word had it she was a figure who poured her love solely into art, but her action just now was equivalent to willingly casting that love away.

"......What on earth... what on earth are you..."

Who are you?

The words did not continue. The moment she harbored that question, the church, which had finally reached its limit, began to collapse all at once.

The walls of the place where Saori and the others stood began to crumble with a loud noise, collapsing toward Saori first and foremost.

"Damn it—!?"

Having her entire consciousness stolen away by the incomprehensible figure of Esumi, Saori stood there dumbfounded, and unlike when she dodged the ceiling debris a little while ago, this time her reaction was delayed. Even though she understood better than anyone that such carelessness invited death in a situation like this.

The walls and pillars, no longer able to bear the weight of the stone ceiling, closed in to crush Saori.

Gazing at that spectacle, Saori cursed her own carelessness.

"...You shouldn't die here."

Yet, however.

When had she closed the distance? Esumi whispered that to her in a strained voice right by her ear. Just as Saori was about to have her consciousness stolen away by Esumi once again due to the incomprehensible actions happening back-to-back, before she knew it, she had been kicked away hard by Esumi.

"Gugh, ah...!?"

Since the knife was still embedded in her right hand, she may have judged that using only her left hand was impossible to push away Saori, who was larger than her.

Or perhaps it was meant as retaliation for being battered in the hand-to-hand combat earlier.

Either way, the remarkably powerful kick was enough to blow Saori away from the spot.

So much so that she wouldn't fall victim to the encroaching walls and debris.

Though in the place where Saori had been until just moments ago, Esumi was there instead...

"You... what are you doing—!?"

Even as she forgot to brace herself on the ground where she had been kicked, Saori's gaze remained fixed on Esumi until the very end.

Bathing in Saori's gaze, Esumi let out a sudden, satisfied smile, closed her eyes, and was buried under the collapsing walls and rubble. Saori felt that she was a girl who took incomprehensible actions until the very end.

Afterwards, the church, which should have boasted a long history, began to collapse in the blink of an eye. Judging that staying inside any longer was dangerous, Saori made haste to flee in order to protect her own life as her top priority.

Even while fleeing, however, Esumi's figure from moments ago constantly flickered inside Saori's mind.

1-7

The collapse of a historic structure.

Honestly, perhaps influenced by growing up in the Arius Autonomous District, which was ravaged beyond recognition by the long civil war, seeing an old church turn into a pile of rubble right before her eyes caused Saori—the very perpetrator—virtually no heartache; rather, she held impressions from a different perspective, thinking, so this is how it collapses.

"......"

She ground the rubble rolling beneath her feet with her shoe and cast her gaze down upon that thing which, just a few minutes ago, had been a church grand enough to be the most prominent building in this town.

"...How anticlimactic."

When she first laid eyes on the church here, Saori had been genuinely surprised by its massive and sturdy-looking exterior. Yet through the destruction of pillars and the bomb planted at the entrance, the church collapsed with a crash without even lasting an hour.

No doubt when it was first built, it wouldn't have budged an inch against that level of destruction.

For human maintenance to cease and the mere passage of a long time to bring about such a result. Saori directed her eyes toward the pile of rubble with an indescribable expression.

"... Hm?"

At that moment, something struck the cap she was wearing.

No, to be precise, should she call it dripping down? Saori raised her face upward and let out words upon discovering what it was.

"...Rain."

That's right.

Before she knew it, dark clouds covered the sky above her, and though there was no thunder, a smattering of rain began to fall, gradually increasing in intensity. It was like a shower of rainwater.

Beaten by rainwater cold enough to be more than sufficient to cool down Saori's body, which was heated up considerably from the battle moments before, Saori suddenly began walking toward the pile of rubble as if searching for something.

The rain continued to increase in intensity. If she remained out in the rain for long, even Saori would fall ill. Normally, she ought to return to Arius immediately.

Yet she kept walking. Trampling over rubble, with her vision restricted by the rain, she walked desperately.

"...So you were there."

And Saori found her. No, she found her.

The other survivor, who had somehow managed to crawl out while buried under the rubble and was lying on the ground.

Kayama Esumi.

Yet she was unconscious.

Perhaps she had managed to crawl out of this pile of rubble on her own after that, but with a knife still deeply embedded in her right hand and blood still flowing from her head, for someone covered in wounds all over her body from the battle with Saori, maintaining consciousness might have simply been impossible.

From an outsider's perspective, she presented an appearance equivalent to a dead person.

Her chest rose and fell faintly with each breath, so she seemed to have life in her, but this heavy rain. If she didn't wake up soon, her body temperature would be stolen away by the cold rainwater, leading eventually to death.

Indeed, she was currently so severely weakened that Saori had no need to deliver a finishing blow.

"......"

Saori fell silent.

Feeling on her skin the process of rainwater soaking into her clothes and dripping down onto the ground in plops, her gaze was fixed on Esumi. What on earth was she thinking? What did she intend to do with this chance thrust right before her eyes?

Before long, Saori hurried over to Esumi, unceremoniously reached out her hand toward her right hand, and gently pulled out the embedded knife.

"...Gh... Ah..."

Even unconscious, her sense of pain must have been active.

Esumi knitted her brows slightly, but did not open her eyes. Relieved at that sight, Saori stowed the knife, smeared heavily with Esumi's blood, into her pocket, and instead pulled out bandages to staunch the bleeding on Esumi's right hand.

It was medical gear she had originally prepared in case she herself got injured, but she never thought she would end up using it in this manner. However, Saori, who had frequently been injured during training, possessed a splendid skill set even if it was merely first aid; by the time she finished, a proper bandage was wrapped around Esumi's right hand. With this, the wound would hardly deteriorate from getting wet in the rain.

And finally, so that she wouldn't get soaked in this terrible downpour, she offered the black glove she had been wearing on her right hand to Esumi. Of course, she understood that this action was merely a form of psychological comfort.

Putting her own glove onto Esumi's hand meant little in this downpour. Getting wet was only a matter of time.

"With this, we're even."

Yet for Saori, it was more than enough of an action.

From here on, she had no intention of ever helping her again. Would she miraculously recover from this and take revenge on Saori? Or would her body temperature continue to be stolen by the rain, extinguishing the light of her life?

For now, if Saori abandoned her, nine times out of ten, Esumi would undoubtedly die. But even so, it mattered not.

Treating her right hand was merely an expression of gratitude for protecting Saori from the collapsing rubble; until a moment ago, she had been fighting desperately with the intent of taking her life. To reveal her inner feelings, she even felt a small measure of relief at seeing her in this near-death state.

Saori gently placed her hand on Esumi's head and murmured:

"...All is vanity... No matter how far one goes, all is merely vanity..."

For someone who had been forbidden from holding happiness or hope, wishing for a miracle for Esumi was out of the question.

Put simply, this was the conclusion. In this town where no one else existed besides them, Kayama Esumi would put a full stop to her life right here, and Saori would stain her own hands for the sake of the family she had to protect, continuing to live the rest of her life with this scene etched into her memory.

She would undoubtedly fall into hell. Convinced of that, Saori stood up.

"Kayama Esumi. I will not forget you... absolutely not."

And without even witnessing her end, Saori walked away from the spot.

Afterwards, Saori's gaze never turned once more toward Esumi, lying as she was beaten by the rain.

1-8

Now, after Saori had walked away without witnessing the end like that, and a while had passed with only Esumi left behind at this place, with body temperature steadily being stolen away from Esumi by the rain showing no sign of stopping at all, leading her to literally meet death in less than a few more hours... it was then.

"What on earth... happened here?"

A mysterious figure suddenly appearing from the pile of rubble.

Her stature was quite small, but the weapon she held was as large as her height. It can be classified as a machine gun.

Judging by the clothing she wore, she appeared to be a member of Gehenna Academy's Prefect Team, but since this town was on the outskirts of the Gehenna Autonomous District, it was basically outside their top-priority patrol routes. Despite that, she might have caught wind of some anomaly.

The Prefect Team girl looked around, and upon seeing Esumi unconscious and lying on the ground, she immediately twisted her face and hurried over in a panic.

"You're... Kayama Esumi of Trinity... Such terrible injuries. Were you done in by someone from Gehenna?"

Less than an hour had passed since the rain started, but Esumi's body was already turning cold.

Showing a perplexed expression, the girl nevertheless thought saving her near-death state was top priority, and hurriedly pulled out her smartphone.

"Hello... Yes, it's me. Hina... I need help urgently. The injured person is a Trinity student, Kayama Esumi. Yes, that famous one. But we don't have time. Judging by the looks of it, her injuries are severe and she's still unconscious. She has fractures, bruises, and bleeding, but worst of all, her body temperature is gradually being stolen away by the rain... No, it's unknown who's responsible. But get here as quickly as you can, Sena."

Hina.

The girl who spoke her name, after finishing the call and stowing her smartphone, scooped up the unconscious Esumi in both arms and evacuated her to a spot sheltered from the rain.

"...M-me...... the pr-promise... protect... i-i'm sorr-y......... s-sensei..."

During that time, words were faintly muttered in distress from Esumi's mouth, but they were drowned out by the fierce sound of the rain, failing to reach Hina's ears.

The town of Sodom continued to be battered by heavy rain seeking to wash everything away.

The spectacle was as if recreating the biblical Sodom destroyed by the rain of sulfur and fire pouring down from the heavens.