Chapter 390. Emilia: Hachiman, Who Is That? (Part 2)
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka cast a side-glance at the utterly indignant Horikita Suzune and let out a cold laugh. "Stop deceiving yourself. A loss is a loss. Even if I hold Hikigaya Hachiman in high regard, when he produces the factual result of failure, I face it properly."
"But!" Horikita grit her teeth and slammed her fist on the desk. "No matter how it was before, at least those losses weren't such a total mess. But this time, his memories are devoured, his existence is stripped away, and even Return by Death might have been invalidated."
"How can you remain so calm in the face of such an end?!"
"You are too foolish, Horikita." Ayanokouji sat placidly in his chair, poised and unruffled, lacking even a hint of the panic or bewilderment shown by others. He even had the leisure to lecture her once more.
"Hikigaya's loss indeed signifies that you, who are inferior to him, are even more incompetent. But even if he were to succeed in a counterattack and defeat the three Gluttony siblings, it wouldn't mean your worth increases by association, nor would it prove your own intelligence."
"He is not bound to you. Don't flatter yourself by trying to bask in his light."
Thud!
Having been insulted multiple times and pushed beyond her limit, Horikita had hoped for a compromise, but Ayanokouji refused to give her even that much of a way out. Her eyes were bloodshot as she glared viciously at the machine-like Ayanokouji.
"Fine, so I'm incompetent—but what do you have to be so proud of? You said it yourself: Hikigaya Hachiman has entered the greatest predicament of his life. In this situation, you, who actively bound yourself to him, are also incompetent, a total waste, aren't you?"
Horikita's mindset shifted. Since she couldn't climb to his level, she might as well celebrate Hikigaya Hachiman's total failure.
"Go right ahead and follow Hikigaya Hachiman into the depths of a desperate hell, you arrogant prick who has no right to look down on anyone!"
Having spat out such a taunt, Horikita braced herself for a physical retaliation. To her surprise, Ayanokouji merely looked at her and nodded with a hint of gratification.
"Not bad. It seems my judgment wasn't entirely clouded. At least after repeated blows, you still have the courage to confront me head-on. Good, quite good."
He curled his lips into a mechanical smile and clapped his hands. "However, I never said Hikigaya Hachiman has entered hell. As for a way to combat the Authority and reclaim his memory and existence... I already have a lead."
"The method is purely speculative—very simple, not very reliable, but it doesn't hurt to try. It's better than having no ideas at all... I believe Hikigaya Hachiman, having experienced this once before, has definitely thought of it as well."
"Be quiet and wait. Join me in appreciating what might be Hikigaya Hachiman's final performance."
Ayanokouji's attitude had become considerably more tolerant, but Horikita took this as an invitation to push further. She let out a cold snort, showing no gratitude: "He might be finished, yet you can still be so nonchalant?"
"Nonchalant?"
Described as such, Ayanokouji laughed out loud. "Wrong, Horikita. Right now, I am incredibly excited—without Return by Death, without memories, and without a sense of existence, in a predicament that exceeds even the Sanctuary, how will Hikigaya Hachiman clear this in a single life?"
"Or perhaps he might fail and be replaced by Gluttony. Human strength has its limits; even a peerless 'demon of wisdom' like Zhuge Liang had things his intellect couldn't achieve, let alone Hikigaya Hachiman."
"But whether he succeeds or fails doesn't matter. The focus isn't the result, but his performance along the way."
"I have already been captivated by this; I'm obsessed to the point of no return."
"My 'love' for him is this kind of 'love'—not something as shallow as the love of an Emilia or a Crusch. You, who understands nothing, just watch closely."
Ayanokouji ran his left hand through his bangs, his face refreshed with enjoyment. He raised the index finger of his right hand, signaling not just Horikita but the entire class to be silent.
"So, for such a brilliant scene, I intend to appreciate it with ten thousand percent of my heart—don't make a sound during this time, okay? Otherwise... I'll kill you."
He spoke those final words with a gentle smile and a soft voice, one that didn't even sound like a threat.
Because it wasn't a threat; it was a notification.
Ever since the battle in Watergate City ended and the four Archbishops were defeated, Ayanokouji had been bored. Since then, there had been no situations where Hikigaya Hachiman showcased his wisdom, stepped into a desperate situation, and then counterattacked—nothing to make his heart race.
Even being killed once by Ram in the sand dunes was just a scene similar to his death at Rem's hands; he had sampled enough of that.
Ayanokouji wasn't a demon; he didn't merely want Hikigaya Hachiman to die or fall into despair. He simply had zero interest in the safety of people like Emilia, Crusch, or Anastasia.
When it came down to it, all this talk of "love"—which of these women loved Hikigaya Hachiman as deeply, to the very bone, as he did?
These boring women were truly tiresome.
Now that they had forgotten Hikigaya Hachiman's existence, he actually had to thank Louis. If he ever had the chance to go to this other world, he would surely repay her.
Repay her in Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's unique way.
Watching him—this man who revealed a rational madness, possessed unique values, and was both paranoid and functional—everyone, including the two biggest troublemakers, Horikita Suzune and Koenji Rokusuke, instantly became as quiet as cicadas in winter. At this moment, they could finally empathize with Hikigaya Hachiman.
They could truly feel the immense terror Hikigaya Hachiman felt when facing Sin Archbishops like Petelgeuse—the current Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was exactly that kind of Sin Archbishop-like, rational yet inscrutable madman.
"Hikigaya-senpai... as I thought, we shouldn't listen to the one-sided words of the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony. He should still try Return by Death to see if he can reclaim his existence by turning back time, right?"
At the Shirogane household, Shirogane Kei felt a chill of terror crawl over her skin. Her teeth chattered as she murmured tremulously, trying to comfort herself: "Senpai will definitely be able to reclaim his existence that way. Yes, definitely!"
"That's impossible, Kei."
However, her brother, Shirogane Miyuki, shattered her delusion.
"But, it's not right to just give up on Return by Death based solely on the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony 's words, is it?"
Kei argued her point. "Hikigaya-senpai values 'The Genuine' so much; if a single Return by Death could reclaim his existence, it would definitely be worth it. In fact, it's something he must do, right?"
"You're right, Kei." Miyuki nodded, but his eyes betrayed a deep sigh for Hachiman's current situation. "One shouldn't cut off their own limbs by blindly believing Louis's one-sided claims."
"Then..." Kei was overjoyed, but in the next second, her brother's voice made her feel as if she had fallen into a pit of ice.
"But who told you that the reason Hikigaya isn't using Return by Death to reclaim his memory is because of Louis's warning?"
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