The wind whimpered softly in her ears, carrying with it the sharp sound of tearing air.
A flash of crimson suddenly lit up the spinning world. Mei knew it was the lightning that had been flashing ceaselessly all day. The light always came first; the thunder was always fashionably late.
But today was different. Today, she probably wouldn't have the chance to hear that thunder again.
Mei's body tumbled through the air, but strangely, she felt no fear.
In fact, it was quite the opposite. In these final moments, all she felt was an unparalleled sense of freedom. She could stretch her body to her heart's content in the air, striking any falling pose she desired with the help of the wind. She didn't have to care about her father's judgment, or the gazes of her classmates and teachers. She didn't have to respond to any expectations, nor any scrutiny.
She was about to die. That would be the end of everything, the antonym of the reality of existence.
She suddenly felt that this way of dying was the greatest gift to her. At least she could experience the feeling of flying freely before death, a final joy that suffocation or eating a bullet could never bring.
But, it was still a bit selfish, wasn't it...
She hadn't said a proper goodbye. Kiana would be sad, Bronya and Seele would be sad, her father would be sad, and Michael... who would he be sad for?
Everyone would be a little sad, wouldn't they?
Would they really?
"I don't think so. It's also possible that everyone will just clap and cheer—'Ah, the witch who destroyed all of Nagazora is finally dead.'"
"!"
Mei took a deep breath, almost thinking it was her imagination. But after blinking, it seemed she had truly arrived in a whole new world.
It was just that everything around her was pitch black, without any light.
But... if there was no light, how could she perceive the darkness? Was it because she had seen light before?
Where is this? The afterlife? I thought it would hurt...
"You crybabies have way too much internal monologue. Don't worry, you're not dead yet. At least not right now, not this second!"
"You are..."
The moment the words left her mouth, Mei understood the other's identity.
Such a familiar voice. Unless her mother had given birth to twins, there shouldn't be a third person with it.
"You are... the Herrscher!"
"Oho! Not slow on the uptake, are you?"
A bit of purple suddenly mixed into the blackness before Mei's eyes, like fine purple sand mixed into black quicksand. As the voice spoke, the sand flowed slowly, seeming to take a long time, yet also just an instant, to emerge from the black sea of sand before her, forming a purple ring the size of a human head.
Mei suddenly understood. The reason she felt it was dark here was because there was indeed light. The darkness in her eyes was actually just an extremely dark shade of purple.
She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. At a time like this, her mind was occupied with such things. It was truly laughable.
But this was just the beginning. A much larger, broken, irregular purple ring gradually emerged around the first one.
With that, the purple light grew a little brighter, gradually outlining the human figure in front of the ring.
It seemed "she" had originally been lying on the ground, and had no intention of moving even after sensing Mei's arrival.
Only when there was light did she push herself up with her hands, lifting her upper body bit by bit.
Her long, waterfall-like hair hung limply to the ground, its color shimmering with the purple light that edged it. Further down, there were only simple lines sketched by the light, but Mei was no stranger to them.
It's strange, isn't it? A human can never know their true appearance in their entire life, yet if a body identical to their own were placed in front of them, no one would ever mistake it.
So strange... On any other day, it might have been enough to make one smile, but not now, not here, not for Mei.
"What are you doing now? And where... is this?"
She looked at the Herrscher before her warily. She should have been a pile of mush on the ground after experiencing this final stretch of freedom. That was the price for this last bit of freedom, and the sin she had to atone for.
But now she had appeared here...
"What? You don't think this is the afterlife anymore?"
The Herrscher teased lightly. Mei was a strange one. In the half-day that had passed, she had mistaken her surroundings for the afterlife countless times. It was enough to make one... laugh their head off.
"I had hoped it was, but since you're here, I think I'll pass. I wouldn't want to be your companion in death."
"Ah, it seems you hate me quite a bit. Understandable. After all, from your perspective, I did kill your second mother."
Mei took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She hated the Herrscher's casual tone, especially when she brought up the very source of Mei's pain.
Mei suppressed the anger in her heart. When facing this being, such emotions were useless.
However, the next moment, her anger was ignited again—
"Is it just because of that? You think it's just because of that?"
Of course, it wasn't just Mobius. It was the millions of people in Nagazora as well.
But what did that have to do with the Herrscher? She wasn't human. Do humans truly care about how many chimpanzees die in the African forests?
"It seems you came all this way just to say these pointless things, Raiden Mei."
There was a hint of weariness in the Herrscher's voice, but she quickly masked it.
"The things I wanted to say, the questions I wanted to ask, I've already said them. It was you who didn't answer me."
After Mei said this, she received no response for a long time. She stared at the Herrscher's silhouette, which remained motionless, as if time had stopped.
"Cough, cough... Heh! What do I want to do? I just want to mock you, you crybaby, one last time."
"What? This time, you're out of options, aren't you? Die here with me, Herrscher!"
No more words were needed. Where was this place? Why hadn't she hit the ground after so long? None of it really mattered. Mei had already taken that final step. She didn't believe the Herrscher had any other way to save her life.
"Pfft! Hahahahaha! Raiden Mei, you're underestimating me. You think I'm out of options? Remember how you got to the rooftop?"
Mei's eye twitched. That was the first and only time she had begged the Herrscher for help.
She wanted to go to the rooftop, she wanted to end it all, but she knew that Bronya, Seele, and Kiana, who were guarding the door, wouldn't let her leave.
So she begged the Herrscher to help her, and the Herrscher responded.
And so, before she knew it, she had turned into a flash of lightning and appeared on the rooftop.
"Hey, crybaby, has anyone ever told you that lightning is also a kind of light?"
Yes, if the Herrscher could turn her body into a flash of lightning to take her to the rooftop then, she could definitely do it now.
But...
"You can't do it now."
Mei said with certainty.
"If you could, why would you be talking to me now? That time, I voluntarily gave you control of my body, but not now, right?"
Mei suddenly felt that she was becoming calmer and calmer. Perhaps it was because after truly taking that step between life and death, all her attachments, all her pain, all her unwillingness, all... all of it was thrown to the back of her mind, no longer able to interfere or be undone.
But for the Herrscher, this was clearly bad news.
"Do you have anything else to say? If not, I'm leaving."
Mei silently turned around and, without even waiting for the Herrscher's reply, took a step.
She didn't know how to leave this place, but her intuition told her that if she wanted to leave, she could.
So, all she had to do was boldly step forward, to embrace the death she could no longer escape, which was also her liberation.
"Hmph... heheh... hahaha! Since when did you become so brave? Are you sure about this? If you take another step, I won't be able to save you!"
"Perhaps I need someone to save me, but it's definitely not you."
Seeing Mei walk away from her step by step, the Herrscher finally couldn't help but get anxious.
"Raiden Mei, are you crazy! Do you really want to die!"
Mei didn't answer, just kept walking forward, step by step.
"You're not that brave at all, you're just scared! You're afraid that if you talk to me any longer, you'll waver, you'll regret your decision, won't you? You're still that crybaby, that useless piece of trash who just cries and runs away whenever you encounter something you don't like, something you're afraid of, something you don't want to face!"
Mei's footsteps stopped.
"So what? So what if I am?"
For the first time since entering this world, Mei's voice was laced with tears.
Her feigned determination, her feigned courage, was so easily shattered by the Herrscher who knew her best.
"What's wrong with running away from things I don't like! Especially death..."
She shouted and threw a punch at the darkness in front of her, but her fist passed through nothingness. She hit nothing.
"Who isn't afraid of death? Who dares to say they like death? But I did it. I took that step... Heh, Herrscher, it's no use no matter how unwilling you are. I won't fall for your tricks. I won't give you my body. Take your anger and die with me!"
Saying this, Mei took another step forward, but this step was different from the previous ones. It was heavier, as if countless tentacles were wrapping around her calf, then her knee, her thigh... In the end, she didn't know how, but the step that should have been taken was pulled back.
She finally stopped where she was.
"Haha! Who was it just now who said they wanted me to die with them? And who was it shouting here, saying what's wrong with running away from things you don't like? You're contradicting yourself, you know?"
"Say what you want, but I won't be swayed by you."
"Swayed? You think I'm swaying you? Then I can't let that accusation go to waste. I should properly sway you—come on, the reason you want to die is because you think you've killed so many people, and if you continue to live, and I take control of your body, you'll kill even more, starting with those three girls with you, right?"
"..."
"You're so considerate of them, of humanity. It really moves me, a non-human being. But, are you sure they'll appreciate it?"
"What are you trying to say now?"
Mei's eyelid twitched. She had a bad feeling.
"Raiden Mei, don't you want to know if your friends, after personally witnessing you kill Mobius, will still care about you, will still be willing to save you? Yes, even if I don't do anything, you're not guaranteed to die. I've observed the skills of those three girls. From the height you jumped from in the real world, if every one of them is willing to do their best to save you, it's entirely possible to pull you back up. But do you think they'll do that?"
Mei didn't know how to answer.
If she said "yes"... of course she wanted to say "yes" with conviction. But in doing so, would she be indirectly admitting that she didn't firmly want to die? Would she... be mocked by this person again?
But what followed was an even deeper doubt.
Would Kiana and the others really save her? If this question had been asked before the Herrscher used her body to kill Mobius, she would have answered "yes" without hesitation. But now, she didn't dare to be so sure.
Imagine, if the roles were reversed, if she had personally watched Kiana kill Mobius, could she guarantee that she would have no suspicion of Kiana? Could she guarantee that when Kiana voluntarily jumped off the building to end her life, she wouldn't think to herself—
"Forget it, let it be. If she continues to live, she'll only hurt others. It's better if she ends her life like this."
She wouldn't have to do it herself, and she wouldn't even be burdened by the moral dilemma of "being able to save but not saving," because if she hesitated for even a moment, it would be too late.
"What? Lost your confidence already? I thought you'd at least pretend to be confident."
Mei knew the Herrscher was provoking her, because her silence had said it all.
But even knowing this, Mei still took the bait.
She would rather believe in something she herself didn't believe in than believe in something she didn't want to believe in.
"They will save me. Definitely."
"And after they save you? The situation in Nagazora can't be hidden from the whole world. If someone finds out that Mr. Raiden Ryoma's precious daughter, Raiden Mei, actually left Nagazora alive, hehe... those three girls, can they really protect you from the pressure of the whole world?"
"But Michael can."
"Ha? Raiden Mei, you're going to make me die of laughter. Don't forget who you just killed."
Yes, perhaps in the eyes of this selfish person, Michael was just an all-powerful wish-granting machine. She seemed to have really treated him like a machine that could do anything, without considering that he had his own feelings.
Mei's silence didn't last long.
"If he's willing to do it, I'll spend my whole life repaying his kindness in any way I can. If he's not willing, then I can only... let him kill me."
"Well, there's another possibility. Mobius came to kill you on Michael's orders."
"Then he just made the right choice."
Mei answered without hesitation.
The Herrscher sighed for some reason, then suddenly laughed.
"Looks like your thinking has changed."
"!"
Mei hadn't even realized it herself. The Herrscher had used just a few words to temporarily dispel her thoughts of suicide.
"You seem to have a lot of faith in humanity. Very good. This stalemate between us, you're tired of it, and so am I. So, let's make a bet."
"Hm?"
"Whoever understands humanity better is more qualified to live, right? If they are willing to save you, if the whole world can accept you, then you win. I will no longer covet your body, and will only help you master your power when you need it... But if it's the other way around, you will give me this body. How about it?"
"...Alright."
Mei, as if possessed, agreed.
"Then... let's reveal the answer!"
"Mei!"
SLAP—
Mei felt her left hand being grabbed. It took a long time for her vision to stabilize from the spinning.
And her vision was clear for only a moment before it became completely blurry.
"Kiana..."
The girl was tightly gripping her left arm with both hands. Her two braided pigtails hung down, even past her arm. This was all due to her current posture—she had also leaped over the rooftop railing, hooking her knees on it to barely keep from falling with Mei.
"You idiot! What are you doing? Let go!"
The words she had just spoken with the Herrscher were thrown to the back of her mind in an instant. The happier Mei was at this moment, the more she wanted Kiana to let go and leave her alone.
But her right hand had been broken by herself earlier. Now she couldn't even pry Kiana's hands open.
The two of them were like wind chimes tied to the rooftop railing. If the night wind blew a little harder, that fragile connection would snap, wouldn't it?
CRACK—CRACK—
Two crisp sounds from the railing made Kiana turn her head. This time, Mei was really crying. She wanted to scream for Kiana to let go, but Kiana spoke first.
"Don't bother telling me to let go. Mei, I won't let you die!"
"But... if this goes on, you'll..."
"But even if I let you go, I can't get back up!"
Kiana said it with such righteous indignation that Mei was at a loss for words.
"Idiot Kiana! Where's Mei-neesama?"
"Bronya is here—"
Kiana had just turned her head to shout when the railing she was hanging from snapped. Bronya, who had just rushed onto the rooftop, dove without hesitation and grabbed Kiana's ankle. But she was the smallest of the four, and caught off guard, her entire upper body was pulled over the edge.
"Bronya-neesama!"
"Seele—don't worry about me—go find a rope!"
But how could they afford to do so much in this situation? And where would they find a rope at a time like this?
Seele lowered her head, took a deep breath, and a red light flashed in her eyes.