Demonic beasts flew above the imperial capital. Fujiko had called in that army. Including the smaller ones, their numbers were quite high. The sky around the center of the capital grew dark as what looked like storm clouds flowed in.

“I can’t believe I’ve fallen so low that I’m willing to use them.”

Lily let out a cynical laugh as she looked up into the sky.

“If you cannot see their beauty, you have no sense of aesthetics,” responded Fujiko.

The two of them stood on a main street which was devoid of all other people.

L’Isle-Adams had set up a barricade to keep everyone out of the city center. The only people inside were the priests and some soldiers. In other words, only those under Lily’s command.

A knight station was located across the main street. It was filled with the imperial knights and L’Isle-Adams under Kazuko’s control.

Simply put, it had been a trap. Kazuko had used herself as bait and surrounded Lily’s rebel force.

“Either way, we just have to break in through the front.”

Lily rubbed her nose and Fujiko grinned.

“What we must do remains the same. We win if we defeat Kazuko.”

“That Issei guy wasn’t lying, was he? I hope Kazuko’s weakness he told us is true.”

“It was you who searched him out and interrogated him. Kazuko may have been a step ahead of us with this trap, but this changes little because she already had an overwhelming advantage.”

“That’s right. All that’s left is to hope for miraculous timing from those sealing Zero on the moon.”

With that comment, Lily raised her hand and shouted out.

“Charge!”

On her signal, the priests hiding in the gaps between buildings began to rush toward the knight station.

Fujiko raised her hand as well and the demonic beasts began to move.

Their numbers were limited, so they had always been planning to restrict the battlefield to the knight station. No changes to the plan were needed as the priests moved from the yard and into the station itself. They had not initially planned to use the demonic beasts, but they were being used to face the L’Isle-Adams surrounding them.

“This is a stereotypical layout for a losing battle,” commented Lily as she followed after the priests who broke through the sealed entrance of the building.

“You need to trust Akuto-sama more. Now, let’s go.”

Fujiko lined up next to Lily.

The front yard of the knight station was already filled with the type of close-quarters combat unique to veterans of magical combat. When you and your opponent’s magical power were almost equal, real bullets and mana spheres were ineffective. Sounds of shouts and clashing swords rang out. Just like the battles of old, the soldiers at the front maintained a set distance while their weapons clashed directly. They were pushing at each other from a distance.

“If we don’t break through quickly, we’ll be shot from above!” shouted Lily.

True enough, rifles bullets and mana spheres rained down on the priests from the station. The priests’ armor was mostly foreign-made body armor and helmets, so they were not meant to be used against mana. They were meant to block real bullets and a direct hit would still do a lot of damage. Their only option was to use their own magic power to create a barrier. Once they split off some magic power for that, they could not focus entirely on the sword battle in front of them. This all led to the priests being pushed out the gate they had already broken through.

“Argh! Open a path!” shouted Lily.

She jumped forward from the back and threw her fists forward. She was much too far away, but her arms stretched out and approached the knights faster than a bullet. The knights created mana barriers just as when defending against bullets, but the direct attack of Lily’s fists easily tore through them and struck the knights’ bodies and faces.

The knights’ bodies and heads were covered with armor, but that meant nothing when faced with Lily’s fists. The knights flew backwards as if they had been hit by a truck.

“This is how you pick a fight with the knights.”

Lily calmly walked up the cleared path and the knights moved backwards when faced with the pressure.

“Do not falter!” ordered a man who appeared to be a commander.

The knights responded by falling into formation. They attacked Lily from all four directions, but she dealt with them while continuing to walk forward.

“Secret Technique: Knight Killer!” she shouted.

She stretched her arm out toward one knight, grabbed him, and used him as a club to hit the rest of the knights. The knights in their solid armor were harshly shaken about within that armor until they lost consciousness.

“That’s why I told you not to falter!”

The commander yelled once more, but the knights were too afraid now.

“Commander! She’s too used to fighting knights!”

Lily laughed at that.

“Didn’t you know? I hate knights. Especially the ones who rule over the cities in such odd ways. They p.i.s.s me off so much I give them a nice punch whenever I see them. That’s given me the nickname Long-Armed Demon, but the un-cute nickname only p.i.s.ses me off more. Lately, I’ve been punching any knight that I hear using it.”

The knights truly began to panic when they heard that.

“Sh-she’s that rumored girl…”

“She’s the one who was said to have attacked and wiped out an entire knight station just because they irritated her. She’s the Long-Armed Demo-…bh!”

“I just said I’d punch you if you said it!”

Lily decked the knight who had mentioned the rumors about her and continued walking forward.

“Just clear the way. I’m here to punch your self-proclaimed empress.”

“Do not speak irreverently of Her Majesty!”

Mentioning the empress brought a serious look back to the cowering knights’ faces.

“Glad to see you’re taking this seriously. But this changes nothing. I’m coming in!”

Lily began to advance and chaos fell over the area. Lily’s fighting experience and greater strength made her overwhelming. She prevented the knights from even approaching her as she gradually approached the station door.

Fujiko did not need to help at all as she walked up behind Lily, but she began to panic as she watched the progress of the demonic beasts on a mana screen.

“Please hurry. The enemy has changed their strategy!”

“What do you mean?”

“They have begun to let the people in!”

“What?” asked Lily in confusion.

“I have no choice but to call off the demonic beasts. The L’Isle-Adams are using the people as shields while tightening their circle around us!”

Fujiko bit her lip.

“If it was just you, you would’ve chosen to kill the people, but you know Sai Akuto hates that kind of thing. Right now, you won’t kill the innocent people. Of course, if you did harm the people, I’d make you pay. But either way, we just have to go punch their leader.”

Lily’s mouth twisted in displeasure.

Her resistance grew all the more intense. The knights formed a human wall to prevent her entry at all costs, but Fujiko used the demonic beasts against them. The beasts surrounded the outside of the station and a lot of them were lost, but the wall of knights was destroyed once the smaller demonic beasts snuck in via the sewers.

“You even use the bugs? That’s disgusting,” said Lily.

She treaded on the collapsed knights while entering the building. Countless punches had not been enough to break through them, but the small insect demonic beasts had latched on and defeated them.

“How can you call them disgusting when they live off of Akuto-sama’s mana waves? Although I will admit I am not fond of the bugs either.”

Fujiko used shooing motions to distance the bugs as she continued further in. The knights had no way of resisting and no way of preventing the insects from entering their armor, so they collapsed one after another as they tried to block the pa.s.sageway.

“They are making this easy. The power I am borrowing from Akuto-sama really does spread fear and despair.”

“But it looks like that will no longer cut it.”

The insects tried to pa.s.s through one door, but they were repelled as soon as they tried to crawl under it. A terrifying pressure seemed to leak from the room beyond.

“I lost to her once already. To be honest, my legs are freezing up,” muttered Lily.

“My legs will work well enough to take me to safety. Or are you going to flee with me?” asked Fujiko mockingly, but her voice was trembling.

“Hah. I can go on alone. Now, let’s go!”

Lily shouted as if shaking free of something and slammed her fist against the door.

“I’m here to see you!”

She may have realized she was feigning confidence because she entered the room with exaggerated actions and folded arms.

“Are you here to be crushed once more?” replied a voice.

The room was the knight commander’s office. It was a grand room, but it was laid out practically rather than luxuriously.

Kazuko was the only person inside. She sat on the reception sofa while sipping tea and eating dried plums. That was all she was doing, but Lily and Fujiko distinctly felt a strange level of tension in the room.

“The attempt to seal Zero on the moon just failed,” said Kazuko.

It sounded like a bluff to distract them, but the information from the demonic beasts told Fujiko that the L’Isle-Adams that demonstrated Zero’s control were still active.

“It is true, the predicted time has long since pa.s.sed,” she muttered.

Based on the information Akuto had given them just after he left, it should have been over already.

“What does it matter if that’s true? The person whose a.s.s I need to kick is right in front of me.”

Lily clenched her fist and held it up.

Kazuko, however, did not even stand up.

“True, but my rule will be a.s.sured as long as I defeat you all here. After all, the demon king has remained on the moon and will not return.”

“What?”

Lily looked confused and Fujiko was too surprised to speak.

“It is a pain, but I suppose I will deal with you. Otherwise, you would grow angry once more and destroy the surrounding area.”

While still sitting, Kazuko held out her hand and gathered Yasakani no Magatama mana spheres around it.

“This is not the time to chicken out. Let’s do this as planned,” instructed Lily.

“Right,” said Fujiko with a nod. “Akuto-sama is not dead. The demonic beasts prove that.”

“Then the two of them must be fighting up on the moon. Let’s ring the gong for them.”

Lily leaped to the left within the room.

In that instant, a dark light appeared in Kazuko’s eyes and multiple mana spheres shot toward Lily.

“I cannot have you acting on your own. I hate not being the first to act.”

“And I hate self-righteous people like you!” shouted Lily as she punched at the mana spheres.

The mana spheres were slow, but Lily could not oppose them evenly without punching them at full strength.

“Tchhhh! After all this, nothing has changed. But…”

Lily glanced toward Fujiko and Fujiko nodded.

Fujiko jumped to the opposite side of the room and fired mana spheres at Kazuko.

Kazuko stood up and avoided them while smiling toward the two girls.

“Do you think fighting two-against-one will change anything? The Yasakani no Magatama is specialized for handling multiple attacks at once.”

She sent several mana spheres rotating around her own body.

“No need to get so desperate. I will show you something different from before.”

Once Lily finally managed to punch down all of the original mana spheres, she circled around to Kazuko’s left.

Kazuko watched her interestedly and smiled calmly.

—Kazuko was created via genetic manipulation, but she was still born with a twin. That twisted her character and gave her a weakness.

Lily thought back to the information Issei had provided them.

—When she sees an existence identical to her own, her full attention turns to them and she loses sight of everything else.

Fujiko was reciting the same information in her mind.

There had been a reason behind the unusual cruelty with which she had killed 2V.

Lily and Fujiko exchanged a signal and moved at the same moment. Lily moved to a position behind Kazuko while Fujiko circled in front of her.

“I already told you I can handle multiple attacks.”

Kazuko began freely controlling the mana spheres as if they each had individual minds.

But…

“Call forth an image from deep in your memory!”

Fujiko muttered those words to raise her focus as she used black magic. This illegal spell showed one’s opponent any image one wanted.

Fujiko showed Kazuko an image of Kazuko herself. More specifically, she created a false Kazuko next to Fujiko that mimicked Fujiko’s actions exactly.

“What…!?”

The look in Kazuko’s eyes changed. Her smile disappeared and madness filled her eyes.

“Haaahhh!” she howled.

She produced a sword of light in her hand. This spell was too destructive for this kind of fight, but she tried to fire it toward the phantom version of herself.

“This is more than enough of an opening!”

Lily held her right arm up. She normally clenched her fist, but now she held her fingers out straight and hardened them with mana. Her fingertips glittered with a sharp light.

“This is no punch. It’s a killing technique!” shouted Lily.

She fired her arm. Her arm normally extended out straight, but this time it contained a twisting motion. Her arm literally spun around and the fingertips at the end rotated. Her hand would do more than stab into the person it struck. This technique was meant to reliably kill. It was not suited for someone who loved fistfights like Lily.

The sharply rotating hand shot past the protective mana spheres rotating around Kazuko and approached her defenseless back. Kazuko was just about to fire the sword of light at the illusion before her, so her focus would not be turned toward her back.

“We’ve won!”

Fujiko grinned as she jumped back and away from the overwhelming pressure of the sword of light.

“Oryaaah!”

Lily increased the rotation of her arm and poured magic power into this strike that would turn a normal person to mincemeat.

The instant her fingertips were about to stab into Kazuko’s back, the empress’s expression completely changed.

“Just kidding.”

She suddenly smiled, eliminated the magic power intensive sword of light, and twisted aside to avoid Lily’s fingertips. She then pressed a mana sphere into the side of Lily’s arm and deflected the arm.

“Impossible!”

“It can’t be!”

The two were dumbfounded.

“Ho ho… It was a decent attempt.”

Kazuko smiled.

“You mean it was all an act?” asked Fujiko.

Kazuko shook her head.

“No. It is true I lose my calm when I see my own face. That is why I always smile. Otherwise I would attack every mirror I come across.”

“Then why?” muttered Lily.

“Oh ho ho ho ho!” laughed Kazuko. “I found it odd as well. Once I killed my disgusting twin, I managed to calm down a bit. Experience is important in all things, after all. Hiding away keeps you from breathing properly.”

“d.a.m.n you…”

Lily clenched her teeth while Fujiko attempted to flee.

Kazuko cleared her throat cutely and fired mana spheres. Lily fought back with a fist, but one mana sphere circled in front of Fujiko, knocked her back, and forced her back into the room.

“It is time for your punishment.”

Kazuko returned to the sofa, sat elegantly in it, and increased the number of mana spheres attacking Lily and Fujiko.

“D-d.a.m.n it…!”

“B-but we’ve come so far…”

Lily resisted, but she was once more overwhelmed by the pressure of the mana spheres, struck again and again, and ultimately fell to her knees. Even so, the strikes mercilessly continued and she was knocked into the air again and again after going almost completely limp.

Fujiko had already fainted from the first strike and her body twitched a bit as the attacks continued.

“No one will interfere this time. I will not stop until you are dead,” announced Kazuko calmly yet coldly.

In the end, her strategy had been based on confidence in her overwhelming power. She had meant to draw out Lily and Fujiko, so it had been a wonderful success.

But someone did interfere this time.

She turned toward the door.

Standing there was Hiroshi…no, Brave.

“Why are you here?”

“Stop! Let go of those two!” shouted Brave.

Kazuko carved her smile even deeper into her face.

“Oh, my. Why do you think you can give me orders? Also, I know your suit is almost out of energy. After all, this area is surrounded by a virtual alternate dimension field. You knew that, didn’t you? That is why you were not a part of this operation.”

The mana sphere attacks grew even more intense.

Brave stepped forward. His energy had indeed run out. He had enough for life support, but fighting was out of the question.

“Please stop. I beg you.”

He lowered his head.

Kazuko’s smile changed.

“So now you are begging me?”

Hearing Kazuko’s mocking voice in her fading consciousness, Lily opened her eyes just a bit.

—You idiot… I told you to stay out of this.

She recalled her conversation with him when he had asked for advice before the mission. He had been troubled by the fact that he could only act using borrowed power.

“I can’t fight this time either because of the virtual alternate dimension field?”

“You have no choice. That’s the suit’s weakness. If you could fight without the suit, it wouldn’t be a problem, but all of your combat experience is with the suit.”

“You mean I’m no help at all? It’s just the suit?”

“I didn’t say that. You’ve just gotten too used to using borrowed power, so your actions as Brave are borrowed as well. There’s no point if you yourself don’t act as your own kind of hero.”

“But I’m not that great a person. I’m weak and pathetic.”

“You don’t have to be great, you can be weak, and you can be pathetic, but as long as you protect people and do what is right, you’re a hero. Just think about what you can do on your own. Think about how you can protect that girl without the suit.”

—So this is his answer.

Lily felt as if her chest were growing tight.

Brave went to his knees.

“Please spare the two of them.”

Brave prostrated himself before Kazuko and pressed his forehead to the floor.

“Oh, my. Are you hoping I will be lenient? Only in fairy tales can you make a request to an emperor without even bringing a present.”

Kazuko laughed mockingly.

Without raising his head, Brave spoke.

“I will of course work for Your Majesty from now on. I will clean up this battlefield. Control of the demonic beasts has been lost, so I will hunt them down and make an appeal to the people.”

“And you want me to spare these two in exchange? They will still be imprisoned.”

“There is no avoiding that, but I ask that they are treated well.”

“Do you now? In that case, go demonstrate your sincerity. First, mop up the demonic beasts and make an appeal to the people in my place.”

Kazuko waved her hand as if ordering around a dog.

The mana spheres stopped moving

Seeing that, Brave stood up.

“You…idiot…” groaned Lily as she looked up at him with swollen eyes.

Hiroshi’s actions were certainly founded in courage.

If the rebel forces were not killed here, a chance would remain. There was still a chance Akuto and the others would do something. And even if everyone was utterly defeated, pretending to obey Kazuko greatly increased the odds of saving someone later.

—So this is Hiroshi’s style of hero.

Lily watched Brave leave the room and then she fell unconscious.

Brave flew outside and used his recharged energy to hunt down the demonic beasts that were beginning to attack the people in an uncontrolled rampage.

The people cheered as Brave protected the empress from the army of the demon king.

Meanwhile, the priests were arrested by the L’Isle-Adams and knights.

None of the cheering people could have imagined what expression lay below Brave’s mask at that moment.

“I have captured those who have opposed our august empress! The remnants will be hunted down before long, but Her Majesty has graciously decided to forgive them! Please remember to hate the sin but not the sinner!” announced Brave.

It took a day and a half for the shuttle to return to Earth. It had originally been meant for only Keisu, so it had contained no food. During that day and a half, Keena, Junko, and Yoshie had been forced to survive only on the little bit of water available, but they had been depressed enough that they were unlikely to have eaten even if there had been food.

“The dock has refused to accept us,” said Keisu after communicating with the dock.

The shuttle had entered orbit around the earth. Refusing them was a big deal and these were the people who had maintained the shuttle before it left.

“I guess Kazuko’s influence has reached them.”

Yoshie always sounded lighthearted, but her voice was heavy now.

“Then…”

Junko began to say something that would produce dark speculation, so she stopped.

“Let’s head down to the surface,” instructed Yoshie. “This shuttle can reenter the atmosphere, after all. But there are no aircraft that use runways anymore, so finding a place to land will be hard. …I guess there’s the crater in the center of the city. It’ll be a bit rough, but it’s better than in a forest or on the ocean.”

Keisu nodded.

“Understood, boss. Everyone, return to your seats and strap in.”

The shuttle descended toward the planet. Its wings slid through the atmosphere and it landed in the several hundred meter crater.

Before the hatch even opened, L’Isle-Adams were visibly beginning to surround the shuttle.

“Do we have to fight again?” asked Junko with a cynical smile.

However, her expression tensed up when she looked in front of the shuttle.

Hiroshi was floating there.

“Please do not resist. You will be treated well,” he said.

“Did you betray us!?”

Junko clenched her fists, but Hiroshi wordlessly turned his back.

“Say something!”

She shouted angrily, but he did not turn toward her. She tried to jump out toward him, but Yoshie held her back.

“This means we lost. If we obey here, we might not be killed. Look.”

Yoshie pointed toward the city.

Beyond the crater, the city had returned to everyday life. However, L’Isle-Adams were monitoring the people all the while. No one gathered to watch the shuttle. The people must have been instructed to stay away.

That scene told Junko they had truly lost.

“You mean it’s all over!?” she shouted.

“Please don’t think badly of him.”

Lily was actually lowering her head for once.

“But president...”

Junko was clearly displeased.

A few days had pa.s.sed since the shuttle had returned. Lily, Fujiko, and those from the shuttle were confined to the girls’ dorm of Constant Magic Academy.

How they were to be dealt with was under consideration. They were all legally minors and all but Yoshie were students. The headmaster had not fought back during the whole ordeal, so his appeal on their behalf had helped. They were currently under house arrest until they were called to court. Naturally, they all understood that this kind treatment hid some ulterior motive.

“We’re going to be brainwashed, aren’t we? Are you telling us to forgive him because he was brainwashed ahead of us?”

Junko glared angrily at the president.

“No. He wasn’t brainwashed,” denied Lily.

They were all sitting in the cafeteria. They had nothing to do, so they continued to repeat the same arguments with the same results.

“Being a hero is tough. That is one way of carrying justice.”

Lily shook her head. A mana screen in front of her was showing Brave’s actions. When the priests would cause sporadic resistance, he would capture them unharmed. When the released demonic beasts would appear, he would slay them with a single strike.

“From what I have heard, I must agree to a certain extent,” said Fujiko in Hiroshi’s defense. “While he is not on Akuto-sama’s level, he is doing this for everyone’s sake. I do not like it, but I would have been killed if it was not for him.”

“I know that… But no one knows what is really happening. They just let this insane empress rule over them. I cannot imagine allowing it to happen.”

As Junko watched the same old images shown on the screen, she leaned weakly back in her chair.

The announcer excitedly stated that Kazuko would soon hold a ceremony to announce the restoration of order and her own rule.

“Everyone thinks it’s strange, but time goes on and no one does anything about it,” complained Yoshie. “Even if they think there is a hidden truth, that inquisitiveness is used by a liar who claims to know the truth. This leads people to believe in two contradictory things. Ask anyone and they’ll probably tell you they don’t like the idea of the empress’s dictatorship but that it won’t be a problem if things go well. And yet this is no different from when Zero was in control.”

“That’s because they go to the L’Isle-Adams when they’re in trouble. The empress may be controlling Zero, but Zero has permeated the will of the G.o.ds too much. The people are merely controlled by something like they were during that month. And with Keisu taken away, there’s nothing we can do.”

Lily stared up at the ceiling.

“Can we expect any help from Hiroshi-kun?” asked Yoshie.

But Lily looked doubtful.

“I’m sure he’s waiting for an opportunity, but he’s actually binding himself by thinking his actions are for the people. Honestly, the role of law and order is so confining. You’re forced to obey the indefinite monster known as popularity and people’s opinions. No matter how rotten something is, you have to bow down to it so long as it’s popular. If you don’t, you can’t protect the people.”

Hearing that, Yoshie smiled bitterly.

“So whether we’re brainwashed or not, do we have no choice but to obey until the early end of our lives? Of course, living life indoors is not a problem for me.”

“Can’t the House of the Lords do something during the Diet’s next election? Then again, I feel like that has always been more a place for churches to fight with each other rather than for democracy.”

“To the normal citizens, it is all a struggle for political power that is none of their concern. That is why it was necessary that we freed magic for everyone,” explained Fujiko with a cynical smile.

Lily gave an identical smile.

“True. All of us are in different positions and think differently. It’s like a bad joke that we’re all sitting here discussing this.”

“But we’ll have to fall silent eventually,” said Yoshie.

None of them could say anything in response, so silence fell.

That silence was finally broken by Keena who had said nothing until now.

“No! We can’t do that! We can’t stay silent!”

She banged on the table and stood up.

“But what are we supposed to do?”

“We did everything we could.”

“We can only wait for Hiroshi to do something.”

“I don’t know what Brave can do, but it’s true we can only wait.”

They all spoke as if rebuking Keena.

But Keena vigorously shook her head.

“No! If all we do is wait, no one will do anything! The people who are doing their best and the amazing people need someone to call out to them! If we don’t do that, nothing will happen! You have to tell them to watch!”

As she spoke, Keena began stripping off her clothes.

“Wait. What are you doing?”

Junko held out a hand, but Keena slipped past it.

“I can’t remain silent!” she shouted.

In no time at all, she had stripped naked and vanished.

“Wait! You can’t just disappear!”

“Sure, you may be able to move freely…”

“But it will increase our crimes when we are left behind. …Then again, I suppose that does not matter now. Why not just let her do what she wants?”

Fujiko and the others called after Keena for a bit, but they stopped after receiving no response.

After a short delay, a window opened near the ceiling.

“Oh, she just left.”

“She’ll get hungry and come back. She’s been doing nothing but cry and eat bowls of rice.”

“The sky is so clear… He must still be fighting up on the moon beyond that sky,” commented Yoshie blankly.

However, a few days pa.s.sed and Keena did not return. It seemed a search party was formed, but they discovered nothing.

Junko and the others remained confined, but one morning they were brought to view Kazuko officially announcing the return of law and order. They were given restraining bracelets which would provide an electric shock if they strayed beyond a set area and they were forced to attend the ceremony.

“I feel just like a prisoner.”

“That is because we are prisoners.”

“Are we going to be publicly shamed at the ceremony?”

“We might be made to announce our change of heart and willingness to cooperate with Kazuko. If we refuse, we’ll be publicly executed. Of course, they won’t execute us on the spot. We’re cute girls, after all,” said Yoshie cynically.

L’Isle-Adams brought them to the city center.

The crater in the center had been filled and levelled. It was nothing but dirt, but a temporary a.s.sembly area had been constructed. Chairs were laid out for the attendees and the surrounding area was decorated simply.

The location had been chosen as a symbol of recovery.

No one was left to oppose Kazuko and everything was going as she wished.

During the morning, the attending priests had arrived and were sitting obediently in their seats. These were the approximately half of the priests who had not taken part in the resistance. They were split between those who mocked the resistance and those who were embarra.s.sed over waiting to see how it would turn out, so their conversations were perfectly harmless. But at that time, it was well known that Kazuko was using the L’Isle-Adams like a dictator, so all of the priests felt powerless.

A powerful and logical system was managing the humans while ignoring the individual wills of the people. No one knew what to say about the strange fact that an individual with power was controlling that system.

As long as the empress was popular with the people, all they could do was let the empress do what she wished and try to build up a system in which everyone could influence her. Even if that was not quite the same as justice, the priests had to believe that was the best they could do for the people.

Both the primitive system of control based on the story of the empress and the mechanically logical system of control that had freed itself from that had failed. Even if a hopeless society was all that remained afterwards, there was nothing they could do but pray.

Finally, the normal citizens began to gather. The empress could only be seen at the New Year’s greeting or on her birthday. This announcement was a rare and therefore exciting event.

From the people’s point of view, it was celebrating the end of both the L’Isle-Adams’ rebellion and the renewed fear of the demon king war. Food stands were lined up in the streets and a celebratory mood filled the air.

Junko and the other girls sat in the very front. The L’Isle-Adams had relayed a demand that they not speak a word. They were to play the role of girls who had been tempted by the demon king but had had a change of heart.

The four of them sat silently, unable to even complain. Finally, noon arrived and the ceremony began.

When Kazuko appeared onstage, the excitement reached its peak. The gathered people let out a cheer and waved the imperial flag.

Decorative lights that produced mana light illuminated Kazuko and countless mana screens showed her to the crowd filling every inch of the streets.

“Our empire was in a dreadful state up until yesterday. Zero, the original demon king who could control the L’Isle-Adams, was accidentally awakened and he rebelled,” she began.

The people hung on her every word. The streets were absolutely packed with people, but not even a single whisper could be heard coming from them.

“And then the demon king saw a chance to destroy the world. He took issue with Zero and the two of them began fighting. They ultimately caused an explosion great enough to destroy the palace and otherwise threatened people’s lives.”

Kazuko calmly altered history for her own convenience. Those who knew it was a lie had no definitive proof and were not allowed to speak out. The rest of the people felt fear at the grandness of that history.

“But we…yes, we won. I say ‘we’ because I had a reliable helper. I refer, of course, to Brave!”

Kazuko threw up her hands and indicated where Brave was floating.

The people gave him an enthusiastic welcome.

“He drove the two demon kings to the moon. Yes, that moon above our heads. We no longer must fear the threat of the demon king and the L’Isle-Adams are free once more.”

A group of L’Isle-Adams waved while lined up on the stage to either side of Kazuko.

“They will no longer rebel. However, direct control from the empress is needed to ensure that.”

With that, she raised her hands and produced the Yasakani no Magatama and the Ame-no-Murak.u.mo no Tsurugi. The crowd watched the mana sphere and sword of light.

“These two powers are the techniques pa.s.sed down by the imperial family, the Yasakani no Magatami and the Ame-no-Murak.u.mo no Tsurugi. Only those of the legitimate imperial bloodline can use them and their use also requires that the Imperial Regalia reside within one’s body. Also, the third and final technique is the Yata no Kagami.”

Kazuko brought her hands together and produced a mana mirror.

“This technique allows one to speak with the G.o.ds at the core of the L’Isle-Adams. As long as I possess this, the L’Isle-Adams can never again rebel. Also, the priests will no longer be the only ones to speak with the G.o.ds. To revive an ancient and beautiful tradition, I will speak directly with the G.o.ds for the sake of society.”

Her words elicited a great cheer.

Even though she was essentially announcing her dictatorial rule, no one could raise their voice in protest, so it was a.s.sumed to already be an established fact.

Junko and the others listened to it with doubt in their hearts. Lily bit her lip so hard it bled.

Amid the festival mood, they alone felt despair.

“In ancient times, the G.o.ds were natural things and nations were families. In modern times, all of that has grown much more complex and changed form. The G.o.ds now manage our lives and are much more manmade. But there are some things which have not changed: we must speak with the G.o.ds and, more importantly, we must think of everyone as our family. I am the matriarch of this empire and I wish to fulfill the duties of that role,” said Kazuko calmly.

The despair in Junko and the others’ hearts only grew heavier. Their only hope was not something they could reach for themselves. They could only wait for a miracle.

Was it all over?

Was there no hope left?

Would no miracle occur?

“Then let me ask you this: what should the family do when their matriarch has made a mistake?”

A new voice asked a sudden question.

That voice drowned out Kazuko’s voice which was being broadcast from the many mana screens.

“Wha-…?”

“It can’t be…”

The people recognized the voice.

That was the voice of the boy who had terrorized them with that giant explosion.

“It can’t be…”

Junko and the girls muttered the same thing.

But they meant it in a completely different way.

For them, hearing that voice meant a miracle had occurred.

“It can’t be…”

“Did someone record his voice?’

“Is it an imitator?”

They whispered among themselves.

As if to answer their questions, all of the mana screens suddenly displayed an image of him.

Look, it seemed to say.

Look at the boy in the sky.

He looked down at the people as if to prove that miracles did indeed happen.

“I will answer for you: the children do not choose the head of their family, so they have that head retire from her position when she makes a mistake,” said Akuto.

An uproar fell over the people gathered in the city center. They panicked and sought a means of escape.

To calm them, Kazuko spoke even louder than Akuto.

“While the head of a family may make mistakes, the empress cannot! Do not worry, everyone! Brave will not lose to this demon!”

She called for Brave from the stage. At the same time, she pointed toward Junko and the other girls so only he could see. She was reminding him that their restraints could send out electric shocks.

Brave nodded.

And he rose up into the sky.

Brave…no, Hiroshi had no worries or hesitation. He simply had to use all of his power against Akuto. He was confident that Akuto would break past that power.

“After causing this miracle, you can easily defeat me, right?”

He grinned below his helmet, spoke so only Akuto could hear, and charged toward him.

But Akuto shook his head.

“Sorry, but this miracle wasn’t my doing,” said Akuto evasively. “So how about you fight the one responsible?”

“Eh?”

Hiroshi’s confusion turned to surprise as a naked girl suddenly appeared in his path.

“Wah!”

He tried to stop, but his momentum sent him crashing into the girl.

“Ow!” cried Keena.

“You can play with this hostage!” shouted Akuto so everyone could hear him.

He then slipped past Hiroshi and Keena and descended. On his way past, he removed his coat and placed it over Keena.

“I see.”

Hiroshi understood, so he put on act of trying to decide whether to pursue Akuto or not. He then descended in order to place Keena safely on the ground. Kazuko could not complain because the act was necessary to maintain the people’s high opinion of Brave.

As he watched Hiroshi descend, Akuto continued his descent toward Kazuko.

“Can you not see that?” asked Kazuko via telepathy.

She was pointing at Junko and the other girls.

“The restraints? That’s just cruel. Unfortunately for you, they won’t work,” he replied confidently.

“Do not be ridiculous.”

She waved her hand, but they would not activate.

“Why!?”

“Because I am controlling the mana,” he answered casually.

“But I should be able to do the same. Zero is under my-…”

She trailed off in confusion.

“Impossible! Zero! Why…Why won’t you answer me!?”

“He saw a miracle and realized he was mistaken.”

“Do not be ridiculous!”

She looked up at Akuto in the air and produced a sword of light in her hand. It shined just as brightly as before, but the light looked somehow empty.

“Resistance is useless,” warned Akuto as he accelerated down toward her.

“Impossible! Impossible! There is nothing you can do! Not you! You are nothing but a weapon! You are just an abominable combat machine!”

She cast away the kind smile and cried out with the expression of a wild beast.

“Impossible! There are no miracles! Die, you demon king!”

Akuto shouted back.

“Regret what you have done, empress!”

Akuto become a bolt of lightning that scattered fear as he shot toward Kazuko.

She fired the sword of light upwards.

A tremendous flash of light burst out, but it was not caused by the sword of light. Akuto fully grasped the mana. He eliminated her sword and released a great light to hide the cruel scene from the people’s eyes.

A great roar and a great light burst out and spread in every direction like a wave, but the damage was limited to the very center.

It was over in an instant.

Akuto stood triumphantly on the stage at the center of the people’s attention. Kazuko stood unsteadily in front of him. A very small crater had appeared at her feet. She had been struck from above.

But she was still alive. Her mind was hazy and blood flowed from her forehead, but she turned toward Akuto and raised her hand to attack.

She had cast all else aside, so she had nothing but destruction left.

“If you agree to retire, I will let you live,” he said.

Those words brought a smile to her face.

“The empress does not take orders from anyone.”

“Hah. I can’t appreciate that way of living,” he said coldly.

And someone else climbed up onto the stage.

“Demon king!”

It was Lily. She stretched out her arm toward him in her unique attack.

Akuto took the blow on the chest. It caused no apparent damage, but he pretended to falter and he jumped back.

Akuto understood what Lily was doing. He had to play the role of demon king here or the people would fall into confusion.

“That’s quite the punch,” he said.

She looked up at him.

“Don’t joke around. What did you do to the empress!?”

“The empress and Zero were trying to control me and my power, so I came here to get rid of her. Do not forget that the demon king and his power belong to no one.”

He spoke so everyone could hear.

Lily circled around to face Kazuko.

“Is it true you tried to free the demon king’s power? That is the same reason why the priests and I rebelled. We accused you of creating a dictatorship using Zero’s power.”

Lily was attempting to inform the people of the truth.

Kazuko did not affirm or deny the accusation. She simply gave a disagreeable smile and spoke.

“If the imperial bloodline dies off, no one will be able to use the Imperial Regalia. No one will be able to prove whether those regalia can be used to freely control Zero’s power.”

In her speech, she had only claimed they let her “speak with the G.o.ds”. As far as the general public knew, that was the Yata no Kagami’s only power. No one would be able to disprove her lie if she died.

“Wait.”

Realizing what Kazuko was after, Lily held out her hand. Akuto had not taken her life, but now that her plans had been destroyed, she could at least protect the story of the empress and demon king by taking her own life.

“Call a doctor! Brave! Take the empress to a hospital!” called Lily.

She held a hand to Kazuko’s neck, but it was too late.

Even as she stood, Kazuko was already dead.

“Tch!”

Lily bit her lip.

The crowd filled with noise. The normal people muttered uneasily and the priests gave mental cheers of joy.

The original world would return.

Humans would be managed by the system of the G.o.ds. It was not perfect, but the world had found no better system.

But those who had worked to bring that world back would be viewed as heretics under that system.

Akuto had worked in secret to bring this about, but he alone could not return to his old life when the old world returned. The G.o.ds needed to be destroyed, but that time had not yet come. It would not come as long as the people relied on the system they believed was the best. And as long as that system continued, he would continue to be the demon king.

He then began the final part of his act.

“Do not forget the fear you felt today! I will be watching you all no matter where you are!”

Before his echoing words vanished, he rose into the sky and vanished.

Before one of the greatest shocks in imperial history had faded away, an even greater commotion began.

A crowd of people was gathered around the standing corpse of the empress. They parted to form an opening for Hiroshi who descended while carrying Keena. Only the palace doctor could confirm the empress’s death. Her body had to be carried there.

Hiroshi lowered Keena to the ground while she wore Akuto’s coat and he approached the empress.

She stood with her eyes closed and a trail of blood leaked from her mouth. Her body suddenly trembled and he watched closely, briefly thinking she had come back to life. However, something else was happening. Several hard ma.s.ses of mana slipped out from her body. A small sword left her mouth, a small and round mirror left her chest, and a green magatama left her right arm. These were clearly the Imperial Regalia that were pa.s.sed down via the imperial bloodline.

They flew through the air of their own will and flew toward Hiroshi.

“Eh? Eh?”

He panicked, but the Imperial Regalia flew past him.

And all three of them slipped into Akuto’s coat and into Keena’s body.

“Eh? Eh? Eh?”

These sounds of surprise came from Keena herself.

“Wh-what is going on!? Let me see!”

Surprised, Lily stretched a hand out toward Keena and tried to remove the coat.

“Kyah! Wait! I’m not wearing anything underneath!”

“Shut up! This is serious! What did you do!?”

Lily tried to forcibly rip off the coat.

“Nooooo!”

The instant Keena shouted out, Lily was blown backwards.

“Gh!” she grunted lightly.

She shook her head, sat up, and realized with astonishment what had knocked her flying.

“Is that…!?”

The mana spheres Kazuko had used were flying around Keena’s body.

“That can’t be… That would mean…”

Lily was dumbfounded and everyone else fell silent as well.

“Eh? Really?”

Keena held out her right hand as if she could barely believe it herself. With a roar, a sword of light appeared in it.

Only one with imperial blood could use the Imperial Regalia. That was common knowledge and Kazuko herself had announced it earlier. Which meant…

“Y-Your Majesty!” cried someone.

The chamberlains and knights, who should have rushed in to save Kazuko, all fell to their knees.

“Um… What am I supposed to do?”

Keena hesitated.

Lily stood up, walked back over, and whispered in her ear.

“Only you can settle this issue. This will help Sai Akuto as well.”

Hearing that, Keena realized this was no time for hesitation. She shook her head and stiffened her face.

“Everyone, it seems I am of the imperial bloodline,” she declared.

The mana screens displayed her face for the crowd.

The look in her eyes changed and her voice gained a dignity one would never have expected of her.

“Now that I have inherited the Imperial Regalia, I understand something. The previous empress used the power of this mirror to resurrect Zero and was attempting to make his power her own. The result was the battle you all witnessed. As such, I now retract everything the previous empress said!”

“What exactly happened?”

“What is going on? Where did Akuto-sama go?”

“The palace and churches need to be rebuilt. You need to hurry up and give approval as empress.”

“This has gotten interesting, don’t you think? You had imperial blood and didn’t even know it. And you were an orphan, right? It’s so exciting.”

“I can’t answer all of you at once!” wailed Keena.

Junko, Fujiko, Lily, and Yoshie were all speaking over each other. After the announcement, they had convinced the chamberlains to let Keena join them in a nearby building by saying they had a change of clothes for her.

“First, tell us what happened in order,” said Junko.

Keena nodded.

“First, I flew.”

“You flew? Oh, when you disappeared and left the girls’ dorm. What happened after that?”

“Like I said, I flew.”

“I know that. You flew away from the dorm. But how did you meet up with Akuto?”

“I went to get him,” said Keena.

The rest of them were dumbfounded.

“Eh?”

“On the moon.”

“You went to get him? On the moon?”

“Yeah. I flew. I knew I had to go to him, so I flew.”

“Through s.p.a.ce?”

“Yeah.”

“While naked?”

“Yeah. No one was watching, so I didn’t have to stay invisible.”

“That isn’t the issue!”

“Yeah, but…I did it.”

The others clearly did not believe her, but that did not change the result. Akuto had indeed returned.

“Well, it’s possible this Akuto is an illusion. Where did he go?” asked Lily.

Keena’s expression turned dark.

“He knew he had to defeat the empress, so he said he wouldn’t be able to appear in public again.”

Junko’s expression turned dark as well.

“You mean…”

“He was prepared. He said he would go to the moon or somewhere once it was over.”

“That is…a problem.”

“Yeah. I know. That’s why it’s perfect that I became empress.”

“Perfect?”

“Let’s call A-chan back to the school!”

Keena made it sound much too simple, but no one rejected the idea.

“Can you really do that?”

“It does not matter. We must bring him back,” said Fujiko.

“I guess it isn’t all that selfish compared to the previous empress. But there’s going to be a lot of confusion in the near future. There were too many sacrifices,” said Lily as she opened the door.

Zero slept peacefully in the city on the moon.

He himself had chosen to fall dormant.

Before falling asleep, he had gazed upon the wasteland of the moon. That was the first time that rocky wasteland had appeared beautiful to him.

During his days-long battle with Akuto, a girl had arrived after he had lost interest in counting how many blows they had exchanged.

A light had fallen on the wasteland of the moon and bright red hair and white skin had followed.

“There is a truth unique to humans,” the demon king had said.

No, it had been the human side of Akuto who had said that.

A flesh-and-blood human had flown through s.p.a.ce. Of course, the very fact that such a thing was possible may have meant she was not human, but that did not matter. What had descended to the surface of the moon was a truth that exceeded the truth of living creatures. Something great had descended there.

“Is this the miracle to which you referred?”

“It is. If that is not a miracle, what is it?”

“Is that the story to which you referred?”

“Yes. That is the great, foolish story that can bring an end to stories.”

As the two of them had spoken, they had both stopped fighting. When faced with such a ridiculous reality, their fistfight had lost all meaning.

Zero and Akuto had clasped hands. That had allowed them to continue speaking in the airless s.p.a.ce without fighting.

“Then is that what you call love?”

“Yes. There is something great there and it loves mankind. That is the kind of story it is. It may be foolish, but if you do not believe in it, countless small and incorrect stories will hurt people.”

“Are you saying even I am loved by that kind of existence?”

“Yes. There are some who slip from the hand of love like spilled grains of rice, but they were certainly loved at the moment of their creation,” Akuto had said.

Zero had nodded.

“Return. She has come for you, so you must go with her.”

“What about you?”

“I will sleep. I will leave the management of mankind to all of you.”

“That management is your job. Are you no longer intent on carrying it out?”

“I will not say all of my management is meaningless, but I understand now that I was wrong. If I continue managing mankind, my mistakes will only grow. I have merely made the logical decision.”

“In that case, there is no need for you to sleep. You can stay awake.”

“I do not want to be used by the empress. She is even more mistaken than me.”

“I’m pretty mistaken too, you know?”

“I am saying I have had enough of humans.”

Akuto had understood that comment was a joke, so he had smiled.

“Okay. Goodbye then.”

“Yes. We are quite similar, so return here if you lose your place back on the planet.”

They had strengthened the grip of their handshake.

And then Zero had begun walking back toward his tower.

But he had turned around a moment later.

He appeared to say something, but Akuto had been unable to hear him.

However, Akuto knew what he had said.

“My friend.”

That was what Zero had said.