Did we win?
Saori revealed a pained expression as she dropped to one knee, clutching the spot where she had been hit and trembling all over. For the moment, it seemed she could no longer stand.
However, Azusa had not merely found an opening in Saori's defenses.
She had personally created one.
Using herself as bait.
Before Saori was struck, the bullet from her own gun had already hit Azusa first, causing the white-haired girl's body to sway unsteadily. Unable to remain standing, she began falling backward.
Having noticed something wrong beforehand, I rushed forward in time and caught Azusa's slender body before it hit the cold ground.
"Azusa, are you okay?"
"Sensei, I can still keep going... Also, until the winner is completely decided, please don't casually run out here..."
I frowned, conflicted over whether I should use the authority of [Holy Blood] to heal Azusa at the cost of my own lifespan.
During that brief moment, while Saori still could not move freely, Mashiro silently took aim and fired once more.
However, as though squeezing out the very last bit of strength left in her body, Saori suddenly rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack that would have completely robbed her of the ability to fight.
Using the momentum of the roll, she shakily stood back up. Blood from the wound at her temple stained her eyes red, but her gaze remained burning hot as she rasped:
"It's not... over yet... Azusa! Again! Prove your meaning to me, or acknowledge meaninglessness!"
Like a cornered beast making its final struggle, even if one more step would make her collapse completely, she refused to retreat.
Azusa was just about to rise and answer her in kind.
"That's enough already, Joumae Saori!"
Finally unable to contain my anger any longer, I shouted:
"You keep talking about meaningless, meaningless, meaningless, but what exactly is supporting you all this time if not something else!? What is it that's kept you fighting without giving up until now!?"
To me, Saori's words and her actions were contradictory to an absurd degree.
If she truly believed in meaningless, then wouldn't the mission itself also be meaningless?
Was secretly disobeying orders also void?
Saori froze for a moment, then raised her voice even louder in an attempt to rebut me.
"What would you understand!?"
"The one who doesn't understand is you! Do you think yelling louder makes you right!?"
I sternly demanded:
"Why are you so angry at Azusa? Is it because you think she betrayed all of you, or because you're actually jealous of her? Jealous that the companion you thought should've rotted together with you in the mud managed to abandon all of you and find happiness alone!?"
As though her ugly true thoughts had been exposed, Saori staggered backward with a pale face.
"Me...? Jealous of Azusa...? Ha, don't make me laugh! You don't understand anything at all... Do you think I never had the chance to make the same choice? But I still..."
"Since you knew you had a choice, then why didn't you choose me!?"
I roared. The agitation made even my wounds feel as though they were tearing open again.
"You were willing to follow Beatrice's orders, yet you pointed your gun at me instead!?"
Do good people deserve to have guns pointed at them?
Saori bit down hard on her lower lip, leaving deep marks from her teeth, completely unable to refute me.
Seeing that my words seemed to be working, I pressed on.
"How long are you going to keep lying to yourself!? Joumae Saori, you're just weak! You're afraid to believe there might be a better choice, afraid to disobey Beatrice's orders, and even more afraid to face the real world!"
"What else could I have done!?"
Saori's emotions became increasingly violent, her eyes already reddening.
"Sensei, you really were kind to me. You're the only adult willing to respect me, acknowledge me, and treat me like a normal person... But I'm not normal! I grew up in Arius. I'm someone who can only become a killer. I'm a tool that can kneel before someone I just met and offer up everything because of a single simple order!"
As though venting emotions buried deep inside her heart, Saori continued shouting endlessly, her voice deafening in my ears.
"You never even tried to understand the real me! You don't understand the hatred I carry at all! And you have no idea what kind of price I'll have to pay if my choice fails!"
Her pupils had nearly narrowed into vertical slits. Her eyes looked ready to split apart as she teetered on the edge of madness.
"You ask why I didn't choose you!? You're actually asking me that!? The one who can't see reality clearly is obviously you!!! Someone who thinks kindness alone can solve everything should just go back to the kind of world where that nonsense works and stop judging my life so casually!!!"
After screaming all of that, the color gradually drained from Saori's face until it became deathly pale. She was breathing even harder than before, clearly having wasted a massive amount of stamina through sheer emotion.
However, after hearing those words in person, both Azusa and I fell silent for a time.
Part of me felt it was unbelievable.
Was Saori actually saying that things turning out this way were entirely my fault?
What kind of twisted logic was that!?
But I had to admit that, in some way, her words, which sounded entirely like excuses, had still struck a hidden sore spot in me.
Since yesterday, under all the pressure, I really had wondered more than once whether things might have turned out better if I had done more, or done things better.
...Could it really have been my fault?
"I won't stop moving forward."
Having recovered slightly, Saori raised her gun and stubbornly said:
"I'll say it again. Sensei, if you want to stop me, then destroy my halo! Just like how I tried to kill you before, come on, kill me!"
That was a lie.
I clearly remembered how panicked Saori had looked when she realized I had been shot, though perhaps that had only been because of Beatrice's orders.
At the very least, she held no killing intent toward me.
But even though nearly every word from Saori's mouth was spoken in anger, the meaning behind them was correct.
Unless one side completely lost the strength to fight, neither of us would give up.
"Saori, our decisive battle isn't over yet."
Azusa stood back up.
"I will defeat you."
"Fine! If you think you can, then try it!"
The deadly battle was about to continue.
But at that moment, the sound of undisguised footsteps echoed through the cavern.
Then came an ethereal female voice I had never heard before, one that instantly changed both Azusa's and Saori's expressions.
"...No, there's no need anymore."
A purple-haired girl named Atsuko approached Saori's side. For some reason, part of the gas mask covering her face was missing, revealing crimson eyes and part of her delicate features.
With calm honesty, she said:
"Azusa, we lost."