[A classroom in the special building. There are no surveillance cameras, and today is a day with absolutely no people around.'
'I left her there and called a guy over.'
'I'm heading your way now. Wait for me, Ryuuen.]
The phone screen displayed that exact message along with a photo of the restrained Mio Ibuki.
Ibuki's figure showed the second button of her white shirt undone, her cleavage and black underwear clearly visible.
It was shot from an obviously lust-inciting angle, and if a man driven by desire arrived at the scene, his fate needed no explanation.
"So, what are you going to do, Kamukura?"
"We have no choice but to save her."
With his super analytical ability, Kamukura determined it was definitely not fabricated.
In other words, it was a fact that Ibuki had been captured by X.
Whether the man would actually come was unknown, but in the worst-case scenario they had no choice but to go rescue her.
However,
"It's within expectations."
Ryuuen judged it as provocation and refused to let his composure crack.
The second half of the message named Ryuuen directly.
It had been written precisely to keep him pinned to the rooftop with the knowledge that the X he had been searching for would come to meet him.
Yet the first half implicitly told him to come save her.
The real question was who was being lured.
"So he chose not to fight me after all."
Izuru Kamukura understood.
X was luring him.
And that fact bored him.
At the same time, something indescribable stirred deep inside his chest, and he wondered why it was rising.
(…This development is going exactly as planned. Yet this… this pounding in my chest…)
Everything was as predicted.
He had already foreseen that Mio Ibuki would be used by X inside the Special Building.
The level of abuse had been expected to be nothing more than light restraint, so the actual outcome was unexpected, but Kamukura had observed every possible variation of this scenario.
Even so, he was surprised by the malfunction occurring within himself right now.
"What are you going to do? I can go instead if you want."
"…No. I'll go."
They were one step behind.
Whether Kamukura moved or Ryuuen moved, the situation would remain unchanged.
From X's perspective, he could simply decide his next action after seeing Kamukura act.
If Ryuuen went to help, X could crush the isolated Ryuuen. If Kamukura went, X could appear on the rooftop and crush Ryuuen.
Nothing would change.
Therefore the priority was rescuing Ibuki.
There was no choice but to take the bait.
"Kuk, I can't wait to see what kind of hand he'll play."
Ryuuen flashed a ferocious grin.
X's actions were the same as declaring he had stopped hiding.
And that action was exactly the invitation he had wanted.
"Hurry up and go. Who knows—Ibuki might already be getting fucked."
Get lost, nuisance.
The words were meant to stoke anxiety, yet they were also Ryuuen's form of consideration.
Kamukura kicked off the ground.
Because the situation might be a race against time, there was no margin to calculate stamina.
He poured every ounce of his running-related talents into full power and flew down the stairs.
Inside his head he kept analyzing Ibuki and X's possible locations while he ran.
Even if it was "a classroom in the Special Building," there were countless rooms.
The photo offered no location clues. The only lead was the phone's built-in GPS; he had no choice but to search using that.
But there was the possibility Ibuki had turned her GPS off, and even if it was on, he still wouldn't know the floor, so either way it would take time.
And buying time was exactly X's goal. While Izuru Kamukura was away, X planned to finish off Ryuuen.
If so, X's location was easy to guess.
Since X himself was racing against the clock, he had to be waiting somewhere near the rooftop.
He would need to confirm that Izuru Kamukura had left the rooftop before moving in, which meant he needed to see Kamukura at least once.
Even if that single moment of observation exposed his position, Ibuki was the hostage meant to stop Kamukura from coming.
"…If Ryuuen holds out and I make it in time."
There was only one victory condition.
The absolute prerequisite was that Ryuuen would endure X… Kiyotaka Ayanokouji's ferocious assault.
"Really, for someone like me to entrust hope to another person…
If Ryuuen didn't hold out, he wouldn't get to see Ayanokouji's unknown side.
That was why the wish for him to endure had been born.
Izuru Kamukura—the ultimate embodiment of the ugly desire to become humanity's hope—was now entrusting hope to someone else.
Kamukura felt something unknown in that very fact.
Surrendering himself to a small surge of excitement, he dashed through the school entrance.
Since there was no need to watch for danger while sprinting at full speed, he advanced at the absolute maximum velocity.
"I'm counting on you."
The monster laughed, savoring such an unexpected turn of events.
In the blink of an eye he reached the Special Building and began the search.
...
The moment Izuru Kamukura left the rooftop, Ryuuen moved toward Karuizawa.
Karuizawa, who still had no idea what was happening, leaned against the railing and kept blinking.
"Good for you, Karuizawa. Sounds like X is coming here soon."
Karuizawa's eyes went round.
Ryuuen's grinning words were hard to believe, yet she still reacted to that faint glimmer of light.
The shivering from the cold didn't stop, but her frozen heart began to melt.
Still, she couldn't completely rule out the chance that Ryuuen might do something to her, so she stayed on guard.
"Don't be so scared. I'm not interested in you anymore. I can finally have the face-to-face I've been waiting for."
Flashing white teeth, Ryuuen looked down at Karuizawa.
He's insane.
That was what Karuizawa genuinely thought.
She couldn't understand finding so much fun in fighting someone.
"Now then."
Ryuuen turned his body toward the rooftop entrance.
If the email was accurate, X should appear any moment.
Until just now Ryuuen had assumed a high chance of discarding the pawn called Karuizawa, but now he was certain X would show.
If the stage had been set by removing Kamukura from the board, there had to be something unexpected waiting.
And that premonition proved correct.
... The rooftop door slowly opened.
"…He's here."
Two figures emerged from the fully opened door.
One was Albert, who had been keeping watch.
The other was Kiyotaka Ayanokouji from Class D.
Ayanokouji slipped his hands into his pockets and stepped onto the rooftop ground without dropping his relaxed attitude.
After turning his head to confirm the surveillance cameras, he met Ryuuen's eyes.
"Kuk, so you're X?"
A light jab to savor the moment.
Ryuuen asked on purpose.
"Yeah, I'm X."
"I see… Kuk, I've been dying to meet you, Ayanokouji. Welcome."
Ryuuen shifted his gaze to Karuizawa.
He tried to make Ayanokouji understand the situation through her.
"If you'd shown your true self from the start, Karuizawa wouldn't have ended up like this."
"That's true. But I made it in time. Now I can save Karuizawa."
Ayanokouji also looked at Karuizawa.
Light had returned to eyes that should have been stained with despair.
Tears spilled over, and Karuizawa felt relief upon realizing she had not been betrayed.
"Those aren't the eyes of someone who was drowning in despair until a minute ago. Looks like Karuizawa's completely devoted to you."
Ryuuen glanced back and forth between them with clear amusement.
The very fact that Karuizawa placed that much trust in Ayanokouji proved he was X.
And he was curious how Ayanokouji had earned such trust, and why—despite earning it—there was still no emotion from him about wanting to help her.
"You taught her the happiness of being used as a tool? That's pretty ruthless, Ayanokouji."
"Aren't you the same?"
"Kuk, kuhahaha!! ... Yeah, that's right. We really are two of a kind."
Ryuuen laughed from the bottom of his heart at the human who thought just like him—the one he had waited so long to meet.
A human who shared the same abnormal mindset.
It was harder not to be interested.
"So what did you do to Ibuki? Already fuck her?"
Chin pulled in, hands readjusted in his pockets, Ryuuen asked.
The provocative words weren't born from arrogance.
"You worried about your subordinate? That's where we differ, Ryuuen."
Ryuuen couldn't hold back his smile at the counter-provocation.
He stared straight into those eyes that seemed colored yet colorless and understood.
They were the eyes of an abnormal being.
"Kuk, I'm not worried. I was just curious why you used Ibuki as bait. If that's your trump-card strategy to settle this, tell me all the details."
"It's simple. To drive away Izuru Kamukura. For that purpose, the woman named Mio Ibuki was the most effective bait."
"You went to all this trouble just to lure Kamukura? Why walk straight into such an obvious trap?"
"I came to save Karuizawa. Nothing more, nothing less."
"…Don't bore me, Ayanokouji. Is that really all?"
Ryuuen let an irritated tone slip out without thinking.
He felt annoyed, sensing disappointment flicker across that unchanging poker face.
"I've been waiting for you. Enough with the shitty act."
"What act?"
"…Kuk, looks like you want me to say it myself.
But is that okay? If I say it out loud, all of Karuizawa's hard work will go down the drain, you know?"
Ayanokouji didn't answer and simply looked at Karuizawa.
Fully relieved, Karuizawa closed her eyes as if entrusting every decision to him.
"It's fine. I don't care what happens to me anymore. I'll accept everything."
After clicking his tongue, Ryuuen gave the answer.
"…Then, as you wish, Karuizawa.
I already knew Ayanokouji was X. The clever bastard who manipulated Class D from the shadows and came after me—I had already smoked him out."
"…So today's goal really was just to crush me."
"That's right. The choice was between crushing you or crushing the Ayanokouji who showed up so boldly.
Either way, it was a delicious option for me."
Finished speaking, Ryuuen glared at Ayanokouji.
"You look pretty displeased."
"I never planned to reveal that fact.
I don't like being forced to say it by you."
"There's no point in me exposing it."
"There is. To check Karuizawa's mental state. And even if she breaks from that fact, it becomes one move for you to replace her as the new pillar."
Ryuuen kept glaring at Ayanokouji as if he saw through everything.
Ayanokouji answered calmly, showing not the slightest flinch.
"I have no such intention. I don't plan to push Karuizawa any further."
"Don't lie. I understand perfectly that you're not the kind of guy who acts without thinking.
That's why you showed up here today, right?"
To Ryuuen's serious question, Ayanokouji took his hands out of his pockets.
And his gaze changed.
"Yeah. Let's drop the monkey show and finish this quickly.
Both you and Ibuki have shown more growth than I expected. It'd be a pain to waste any more time."
...Kuku, so you've finally decided to get serious, huh?
So? What kind of scheme are you going to show me in this situation?
You wouldn't be planning to use Karuizawa and your true identity as a shield to run away now, would you?"
Ryuuen analyzed the situation as if he had just laid bare Ayanokouji's plot.
And this was indeed fact.
If he used Karuizawa's past and Ayanokouji's true identity as a shield, Ryuuen would receive punishment for the fact that he bullied Karuizawa, so he couldn't leak information about Ayanokouji and the others.
It would be mutual silent suffering.
Escalating into an all-out brawl off the field carried too high a risk.
"I know that method wouldn't satisfy you.
You wouldn't end things there. You wouldn't change your policy just for your own pleasure."
"...Did you appear here knowing what I would do?"
With his smile gone, Ryuuen spoke with a serious expression.
"Yeah, it's been a long time since it was revealed that you're the kind of person who uses violence to dominate your opponents.
Once this situation where no one can see is created, you'd try to beat me down with violence."
"Still, I don't get it. If you understood that much, why did you charge in alone?"
"It's a simple story. It was a good opportunity for me too."
"...A good opportunity?"
"... Don't you understand yet, Ryuuen? This situation where no one can see is a stage both of us desire.
And this place today, this situation, is one I prepared. I set it up to reliably break your nose."
Ryuuen's thoughts stopped at the unexpected statement.
That fact was worthy of astonishment for Ryuuen.
"...What the hell are you saying? I was the one who made this place today. To crush one of your pieces."
"I'm saying I guided you to take that action. If I were seriously hiding my identity, I wouldn't have used Manabe, Ryuuen. Why would I need to leave evidence that so clearly lets you grab my tail?"
He was about to get emotional, but Ryuuen reconsidered once.
As part of his investigation, he had simulated this situation many times.
There was no such situation that Ayanokouji described among them.
But now, incorporating that situation anew, he thought about the current one.
"By the way, the fact that my identity was exposed to you didn't matter.
Whether you noticed my identity and read deeply into it or not, in the end this place was completed.
A king is finished the moment he's underestimated, after all."
And finally, he caught up to Ayanokouji's thinking.
Indeed, if he was seriously hiding his identity, Manabe wouldn't be used.
Using a person who gets scared by Ryuuen's terror and spills easily has too many uncertain elements.
But if he deliberately made her talk and used it to start the search for X, it made sense.
Then he grasped the connection with Karuizawa and schemed to end everything on this day when Ryuuen would call her out with full confidence.
"...Kuku, Kukuhahaha! So even our conclusions are the same! We really click, Ayanokouji. You understand me so well!!"
Ryuuen finally understood everything.
Why Ayanokouji had stepped onto his turf.
Why he had assumed this situation would be unfavorable for Ayanokouji.
Even though he understood many times that he and Ayanokouji were similar, realizing he hadn't noticed that assumption made him understand that a slight arrogance remained.
They were the same kind of abnormals. It wasn't strange if their final methods of settlement were similar too.
At that fact, Ryuuen showed a belligerent smile once again.
However, Ayanokouji didn't respond and returned an expressionless face.
"It seems I thought I was swimming in your scheme, but it looks like I hadn't reached the bottom yet.
I lost, Ayanokouji. In wits, it's your victory.
But when deciding the strength of 'violence,' I can't afford to lose."
"If you lose, your mental pillar will collapse, you know?"
"Kuku, you don't understand, Ayanokouji. I won't lose. Your equation has already crumbled, hasn't it?"
"I see. I also think I won't lose.
So... let's settle this black and white."
With those words as the last, silence enveloped the rooftop.
If both sides had the same purpose, conversation was unnecessary.
All that was left was to execute.
"Ishizaki, Albert."
Ryuuen gathered his two subordinates with a look and gave the attack order.
The two obeyed their king's instructions without hesitation.
They had their thoughts. If Ayanokouji wasn't accustomed to fighting, it might just turn into a lynching.
But since their king showed no signs of letting his guard down, the two decided to faithfully carry out the orders.
"Don't call it cowardly, okay? In a fight, the one who wins in the end is justice."
The two attacked Ayanokouji simultaneously.
The battle's fuse was lit when Ayanokouji lightly parried the two's charges.
To Ayanokouji who fought while keeping distance, the two continued attacking to close that distance.
Albert swung his fists repeatedly in the style of boxing. Ayanokouji followed those punches—one by one capable of dealing great damage to the human body—with his eyes and dodged or deflected them with composure.
Ishizaki rained down large swings toward his face one after another as if piling on.
However, Ayanokouji continued to avoid those attacks too.
Dodging and dodging, he changed the pace at the moment when their punches slowed from fatigue.
"...Ugh!?"
A backhand fist struck Ishizaki directly in the nose.
Driven by intense pain, Ishizaki covered his nose with his hand.
But that was a bad move. Covering your own field of vision during a fight was the height of stupidity.
Ayanokouji's kicks stabbed into his stomach in succession, sending him flying without any way to resist.
"...shit!"
Albert, who was in the straight line, caught such Ishizaki with both hands.
After confirming Ishizaki was combat ineffective, he quickly pushed him aside and tried to swing his powerful arms once more to finish Ayanokouji.
But while he was looking away, Ayanokouji had closed the distance he had kept in one go.
Ayanokouji's fist slammed into his solar plexus as if being sucked in.
The punch to a human weak point distorted Albert's face.
However, Albert's blessed physique didn't stop functioning from just that.
"...You're tough."
Enduring the pain, Albert continued attacking.
However, his punches were duller than before.
Ayanokouji deflected them one by one carefully, then released a particularly powerful kick to his left knee.
The kick landed directly on Albert, whose response was delayed, breaking his posture.
Aiming at the lowered head with an unreserved right straight, he swung through, and finally that giant body prostrated on the ground.
"I have to hand it to you, Ayanokouji. That's some violence that makes one fall in love."
Ryuuen clapped as if expressing honest respect and walked up in front of Ayanokouji.
Ayanokouji understood that his bold approach came from the confidence cultivated through numerous fights.
"But what decides victory or defeat in violence isn't just arm strength. The strength of the heart is also involved."
Raising his right leg, Ryuuen unleashed a front kick.
Ayanokouji dodged that kick carrying his body weight by a paper's thickness and pushed Ryuuen's body to disrupt his balance.
Though forced into an unstable posture, Ryuuen prioritized attacking over defending and closed the distance once more.
Ryuuen's fist swung aiming at the abdomen.
However, it was caught before it could reach.
Ayanokouji pulled the fist in and drove his right elbow into Ryuuen's forehead.
Unable to defend in time, Ryuuen ended up with his brain shaken.
His judgment delayed, he took three pursuit punches to the abdomen and slammed into the rooftop fence.
"Sorry, but I have no intention of going easy. I'll grant you a defeat without a shred of dignity."
"...Kuku, I thought looking down on others was my exclusive right, but I guess I have to give that up.
But... that superiority is only for now, Ayanokoujiii!"
Ryuuen, who stood up using the fence as a cane, lowered his waist and charged.
His aim was Ayanokouji's waist.
A full-force body tackle like a rugby player's assaulted him.
A backstep would be meaningless as he'd be in the direct line of the charge. Judging he'd be caught sooner or later, Ayanokouji lured Ryuuen in until the last moment and flew to the side.
Then, inserting a light step, he unleashed a high kick rivaling a kickboxer's at the defenseless Ryuuen.
Ryuuen inserted his right arm between the approaching leg and his face to avoid a direct hit, but couldn't completely kill the power and rolled on the ground two, three times.
"...N-No way..."
Karuizawa, who had been silently watching this situation, let out a voice at the end of her astonishment.
Stunned by the true ability of Ayanokouji who said he would protect her, her chest gradually grew warm.
However, as if to erase that emotion, Ryuuen slowly stood up.
"...With that much power, why do you hide your abilities, Ayanokouji?"
Ryuuen spat out saliva and wiped the blood with his sleeve.
"Because I have no intention of standing out."
"Kuku, that so... Then starting today, I'll teach you. The terror of being targeted by this me on the main stage!"
Ryuuen correctly understood exactly what Ayanokouji hated.
If that was the case, there was no reason not to pour power into it.
Lowering his waist once more, Ryuuen advanced toward Ayanokouji.
"Terror? There's no need for me to learn something like that at this point."
"Hah! You claim you know terror?"
"Who knows. What about you, Ryuuen?"
Straight line again, just like before. But this time he slowed his speed right before entering Ayanokouji's range.
He stepped sideways to circle to Ayanokouji's flank, then instantly returned to maximum speed.
Aiming for the cheek, he threw a jab-like punch that prioritized speed over power.
Yet even that was evaded with the barest minimum movement.
"I know it! But I'm the kind of human who can overcome terror!!"
Before Ayanokouji could slip away, Ryuuen seized his left wrist with his own left hand.
He yanked him in to chain the combo.
But—
"...!?"
It didn't budge at all, as if he had pulled the roots of a massive tree.
"...Overcome it, huh. Then indeed, it seems your spirit would break more easily if you learned the unknown terror of absolute impossibility to win."
"Try it, Ayanokoujiii!!"
Ryuuen switched gears instantly.
If he couldn't pull, he would chip away. He formed a knife-hand with his right and slammed it down toward Ayanokouji's left elbow—the joint.
Yet as if it had been predicted, Ayanokouji's right hand caught it.
Their arms crossed.
Through the narrow gap, a cold, expressionless face and a desperate, contorted one glimpsed each other.
Irritated by the deadlock, Ryuuen tried to spit saliva straight into that Noh-mask-like face.
"...Guah!!"
Ayanokouji's mid-level kick slammed into his right flank first.
The sheer force made both hands release.
Ryuuen folded into a V, rolled across the ground several times to absorb the impact, yet still couldn't shed the damage entirely.
Worse, the saliva that had pooled in his mouth unluckily splattered onto his own clothes.
Yet Ryuuen paid it no mind and tried to rise, his legs trembling like a puppy's.
"...This strength isn't normal. Ayanokouji... where the hell did you gain power like this?"
Ryuuen spoke with visible difficulty.
Swollen face, limbs where pain refused to fade, joints screaming.
Somehow he had forced his body upright, but damage had piled to the absolute limit of endurance.
The number of blows received was nothing major for someone as fight-hardened as Ryuuen.
The problem was the power itself.
Ayanokouji's violence was on an entirely different level from any punch or kick he had ever taken.
Ayanokouji gave no answer, closing the opened distance one deliberate step at a time.
Yet even at that merciless attitude, the abnormal laughed.
"Kuku, is it fun to look down on those weaker than yourself?
Or are you scared because you can't completely erase the possibility of a counterstrike?"
If he was losing in violence, then switch to a war of words.
Using whatever was available—that was Kakeru Ryuuen's way.
"I've never once thought about looking down or not looking down. Whether others succeed or fail has nothing to do with me.
And there's no reason for me to be scared either."
"There's no way that's true. Humans are lumps of desire.
Even someone possessing every possible talent will have new desires appear. Humans can't throw desire away."
Ryuuen brushed his hair back and laughed, flatly denying Ayanokouji's view.
Even the incarnation of talent he had watched since enrollment still held human-like desires.
From that experience Ryuuen could declare it with certainty.
"Violence lays desires completely bare. I'm gradually starting to see it... your desires!!"
Ryuuen broke into a run straight at Ayanokouji.
To subdue the opponent with his own violence, to analyze those desires by receiving Ayanokouji's violence.
No matter how it turned out, there were benefits—he had concluded that and kept attacking.
But the accumulated damage dulled his movements.
Compared to the beginning, the charge was noticeably weaker.
"Gah!?"
Ayanokouji easily dodged the incoming fist and sank a devastating counter into Ryuuen's cheek.
Yet Ryuuen refused to be blown back; he planted his feet stubbornly and steadied his staggering body.
He immediately counterattacked, aiming for the opening after the strike.
But it was too slow.
The swaying punch lacking hip drive was handled with perfect efficiency by Ayanokouji.
Deflected aside, Ayanokouji stepped into his guard with flawless footwork and unleashed a machine-gun barrage of strikes into his face, chest, and abdomen.
The finishing uppercut finally lifted Ryuuen's body into the air.
He had no strength left to break his fall; his head smashed into the hard floor and he sprawled out flat on his back.
"You should understand by now, Ryuuen. No matter what, you can't win against me even if heaven and earth were flipped."
He still hadn't unclenched his fist.
The masterpiece never let his guard down.
Grabbing the fallen Ryuuen's collar with both hands, he forcibly hauled him up.
His knees remained planted on the floor, but his upper body hung limp as if the soul had left it.
"Stop pretending to be down, Ryuuen. I still haven't learned terror from you. And I haven't finished teaching you terror yet."
"...Ooooooh!!"
Ryuuen roared.
Using his abdominal and back muscles to the absolute limit, he generated momentum and drove a headbutt forward.
But the desperate effort was futile; Ayanokouji's widely opened right hand stopped it cold.
Fingers dug in with grip strength that seemed ready to crush the skull.
"Gu... ga..."
Beast-like sounds escaped Ryuuen in broken bursts.
At pain far beyond what any normal person could imagine, he desperately strangled back the screams.
"Still not broken?"
"...It's barely lukewarm."
Eyes gleaming like a predator's prey glared at Ayanokouji through the gaps in the fingers.
Ayanokouji returned the gaze with his own darkness.
For an instant, Ryuuen's body shook unnaturally.
"...Hah, I get it. So that's how you planted terror in Karuizawa too.
You're a terrifying bastard... Ayanokoujiii."
With a smile that looked ready to tear his face apart, Ryuuen moved his mouth to bite into Ayanokouji's hand.
Yet Ayanokouji wouldn't even permit that desperate resistance.
He released both the hand gripping the head and the one on the collar.
Ryuuen, whose body had been supported, collapsed sideways.
"You can still laugh in this situation? Indeed, mental strength beyond all expectations.
But time left is short now. Let's finish this."
Cold eyes looked down at Ryuuen.
But Kakeru Ryuuen would not break.
To win in the end, he would do everything he could.
Even if he lost here, he would not lose for nothing—he would leave claw marks in resistance.
"...Time is short, huh. Kuku, kukuku, does that mean your terror is coming back?"
"Not my terror, but it does mean Izuru Kamukura is returning."
"Kukukukuku, just as I thought. You're properly scared too, aren't you.
You figured you'd lose if he was here, so you erased him from this place.
... You're terrified of losing."
Ayanokouji's eyebrow twitched ever so slightly.
Ryuuen, looked down upon, did not miss that movement.
"...Finally showed it, Ayanokouji.
Kukuku, you fear losing.
You're scared even of a single defeat. ...Lukewarm, so lukewarm, Ayanokoujiii."
At last spotting the opening, Ryuuen launched his verbal assault.
Provoking to fan the flames of Ayanokouji's terror even a little.
"Defeat, huh."
"Yeah, that's right. You fear defeat. You're trying to win even by playing dirty tricks on Ibuki.
And that's why you wield violence. No, why you desperately hide your true identity."
Without raising his voice, Ryuuen declared each word clearly so they would sink in.
Ignoring the blood leaking from his mouth, he stared fixedly at Ayanokouji's expression.
Not missing even a millimeter of change.
"So?"
The expressionless face simply looked at Ryuuen.
Not shaken in the slightest even though his inner thoughts had been read.
No—
"Y-You have no heart—"
"... I know exactly how miserable and terrifying it is to become a defeated person."
Ayanokouji spoke right over him.
Ryuuen had touched the essence.
Because Ryuuen had learned terror from Izuru Kamukura, he had touched a fragment of the inside of that monster that could only be called taboo.
"Izuru Kamukura is certainly a threat. He holds the possibility of leading me to defeat.
But to prevent that, I laid plans. Whether Mio Ibuki becomes a defeated person or not doesn't matter in the slightest.
No matter how much others suffer and despair, no pain will reach me.
I thought of a way to protect myself and carried it out. As long as I myself remain safe, that is victory."
... As long as I am the last one standing, that's enough.
With those words as the final note, a powerful stomp slammed into Ryuuen's face.
Without grinding like kicking a corpse, Ayanokouji withdrew his foot.
After confirming Ryuuen's consciousness had been reaped, he exhaled deeply.
With this, Ryuuen's pride had been shattered; all that remained was cleanup and everything would be over.
Yet he still could not relax.
Dealing with Karuizawa remained.
He needed the ritual to enter the depths of her broken heart and turn her into a perfect tool.
Ayanokouji turned his body toward Karuizawa and started to take a step.
"Sorry, quite a— what?"
An anomaly struck Ayanokouji.
The foot he tried to step forward with would not lift. He felt a strange sensation at his ankle.
By whom, why, how.
The questions that rose remained unanswered.
Ayanokouji slowly, slowly lowered his gaze to his feet.
A right hand was gripping Ayanokouji's ankle.
Lying prostrate as if kissing the ground, not twitching.
Tattered, miserable, the fitting end for the defeated.
From there, a right hand stretched upward as if crawling out.
That was unexpected for Kiyotaka Ayanokouji.
***
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