I still did not know what kind of existence I appeared to be in the eyes of Gematria.
Even after everything had come to this, after it had long been confirmed that we were enemies who could never reconcile, Beatrice still made one final attempt.
"Even now, Sensei, are you willing to understand the value of this? You, who possess the absolute power to judge every student, or to save them..."
More than a dozen crimson eyes set against black sclera turned toward me all at once.
"Of course, you still seem to misunderstand me. As fellow adults who pursue what we truly desire through this world, all it takes is a trivial, necessary sacrifice to fulfill our long-cherished wish. From your perspective, is that truly so unacceptable?"
She presumptuously assumed she understood me, arbitrarily deciding that I was the same kind of person as she was. What an arrogant thing to do.
Unfortunately, she had come to the wrong person if she was seeking understanding.
I sneered.
"What nonsense are you spouting now? Everything you've done is for your own selfish desires, while the ones paying the price are everyone else. You simply want to place yourself above others."
Beatrice admitted it without hesitation.
"Exactly. What's wrong with that? If anything, how are you any different from me?"
The only thing we had in common was that we both acted according to our own wishes. By itself, I saw nothing shameful in that.
But I would never satisfy my own desires by exploiting innocent people as recklessly as she did.
The fact that she could even ask that question showed that, with her shallow worldview, she could never understand my principles or the line I refused to cross. She would only find them absurd.
There was no point arguing with someone like her, no point trying to explain convictions that could never be proven. It would only waste time.
So I ignored Beatrice's question and continued.
"There's one more thing you've gotten completely wrong."
"...Oh?"
Just as expected, I had her attention.
I spoke slowly.
"I can't save every student who loses their way or suffers. Nor do I have the right to judge everyone who has committed sins or mistakes. Even promises I've made with my own mouth, I can't say with certainty that I'll be able to keep them until the very end."
Could I really defeat Beatrice and rescue Atsuko, just as Arius Squad had begged me to?
Ever since I made that promise to Saori, the unease in my heart had never faded, not even a little.
"But precisely because of that..."
I looked at her earnestly.
"So that I won't one day regret a past I can no longer change, once I've made a decision, I'll devote everything I have to it."
At a single thought, a pure white halo shaped like a solar corona emerged from the void. The pyroxene crystals condensed from my own life continuously poured into it, feeding its silent blaze.
As I pulled the trigger of the Sword of Light and began charging it, my voice grew louder and louder as I made my final declaration.
"Beatrice, together with them, I will deliver judgment upon you, an unforgivable sinner standing right before us. And with that, I will lay the foundation for the path that will lead those deserving of a second chance toward salvation!"
By the end, my words had become a furious roar, powerful enough to shake the hearts of lesser foes.
The next instant, I invoked multiple Authorities at once, if only to slow Beatrice's reactions by the slightest fraction of a second. At the very moment the Sword of Light released its fully charged beam at one hundred percent, Arius Squad, having long since received my signal, launched their all-out assault.
Bombs, missiles, suppressing fire, sniper shots...
Each unleashed their strongest attacks.
The reason I had spent so much time talking was to stir up enough emotion to cloud her judgment and maximize the effectiveness of my Authorities.
There was no need to play fair against something this twisted. If anything, striking while the enemy was off guard was true justice.
An endless torrent of firepower poured toward Beatrice's position.
Even after explosions and smoke completely swallowed her figure, the barrage did not stop.
While the Sword of Light was charging, I had even drawn my pistol and fired several blind shots into the smoke.
Yet strangely, from beginning to end, Beatrice never let out a single cry of pain.
Only after Saori and Azusa had emptied an entire magazine each did Beatrice's icy voice, tinged with anger, emerge from the still lingering smoke.
"To commit such a rude act in the middle of a conversation... How crude. It's utterly repulsive."
As expected, it wouldn't be that easy.
The Sword of Light's charging process was so obvious that it was only natural she would prepare for it in advance. I had hoped the battle cry and overwhelming pressure would create an opening.
Then I heard the sound of cloth tearing apart.
"In that case, allow me to return the favor in kind... Engrave this deeply into your eyes."
The next moment, that bizarre, gigantic body slowly straightened its hunched back, which looked as though it consisted of a single spine, and raised its inhumanly long neck.
As the smoke dispersed, several torn strips of white cloth fell onto the ground where she stood, or rather, where she had rooted herself, as though they had been forcibly ripped apart from within.
Under the girls' astonished gazes, Beatrice, now looking exactly like the stained-glass figure in the window behind her, spoke in a voice that was different, yet still faintly human.
"This is my form after becoming a higher existence! My true form, the form of a great adult!"
Then, accompanied by a shrill screech, Beatrice bent her neck. The wings that formed her "face" folded together like a flower bud, trembled, then suddenly bloomed open.
Several crimson-black beams, each several meters thick and resembling torrents of laser light, spread outward in a fan. They radiated an unsettling aura and searing heat as they swept upward through the air at a speed that made evasion utterly impossible.
Isn't a move this absurdly unscientific a little too unfair!?
"I won't let you hurt Sensei! Haaah!"
Arona's voice rang beside my ear.
I only had time to instinctively swing the Sword of Light upright in front of me before I was completely swallowed by the ominous crimson-black radiance and deafening roar.
"Sensei!? Are you still..."
"I'm fine."
Still shaken by the sudden attack, I interrupted Azusa in a calm voice and brushed the dust from my clothes.
Protected by the Shittim Chest, my Divine Name, my Authorities, and the Sword of Light, I had emerged almost completely unharmed.
Aside from the Shittim Chest losing a few more percent of its battery and the additional lifespan it had cost me.
Beatrice's attack seemed to contain some kind of element that the Shittim Chest alone could not fully block.
Fortunately, there wasn't much of it.
I glanced at the girls. They too had been caught in the laser attack and looked a little dusty, but after a quick check, I confirmed that neither they nor the other members of Arius Squad had suffered any significant loss in combat capability.
"So that's all you've got?"
I mocked Beatrice with contempt as she appeared to still be recovering from the attack's recoil.
Then I declared solemnly,
"Everyone, let's go!"