Having revealed her true form, Beatrice had become a complete monster, both in mind and appearance.
The gradually rising organ music emanating from the silver ring I possessed likewise testified to just how powerful she had become.
Whenever that face, which literally resembled a fully bloomed flower, turned toward someone present, crimson-black light would gather out of thin air before unleashing laser attacks that were too fast to react to and could only be avoided through prediction.
There seemed to be three attack patterns.
The first was the fan-shaped laser barrage from earlier. The second consisted of small, fast-moving spheres of light with lower power and a smaller area of effect. The third required a long charging period, but fired an enormous beam with tremendous destructive power that covered nearly the entire battlefield.
After taking only two hits by accident, the Shittim Chest's battery had dropped by another huge margin, leaving it at just over eighty percent. The situation was becoming dangerously precarious.
At the same time, she also possessed the ability to summon Justina Council members, along with several mascot-like constructs that I seemed to remember seeing in Slumpia (Shiro & Kuro Raid). Although their numbers were limited, they made an already difficult battle even harder.
The one stroke of luck amid all this misfortune was that after returning to her true form, the lower half of Beatrice's body had transformed into something like tree roots, burrowing deep into the ground as though drawing power from the ritual.
But that also rooted her in place, turning her into a stationary target.
That allowed me to try attacking her with the pistol imbued with Saori's Authority, which possessed a special advantage against [Rulers].
Since she called herself the new Student Council President of Arius and the ruler of Arius's students, she should satisfy the conditions.
The problem was that Beatrice seemed to have realized just how dangerous I was.
Every time I raised my pistol to aim, she would immediately abandon whatever she had been doing and redirect her attacks toward me, forcing me to evade because preserving the Shittim Chest's battery took priority.
Or she would simply order the Justina Council members and mascot constructs under her command to shield her.
Ironically, she paid far less attention to the Sword of Light's fully charged beam. She simply relied on her body, sturdy enough to withstand a hail of bullets without budging, to endure the blast directly, even though it interrupted whatever she had been doing each time.
That reaction only made me more certain that my pistol's bullets would have an extraordinary effect on her.
As long as I could find the right opportunity.
But when would that opportunity come? And would it really produce the result I hoped for?
I couldn't be certain.
Much less anyone else present.
At least for now, defeating Beatrice still seemed impossibly far away.
Could we really hope to defeat an enemy that completely defied common sense?
Azusa had already answered that question with a single sentence.
Even in a hopeless situation, you fight with everything you have until the very end.
With me beside them and their determination to save their companion supporting them, the girls were able to overcome their fear, anxiety, and even despair, continuing to battle the monstrous Beatrice with all their strength.
I patiently directed the battle.
Whenever I found an opening, I alternated between the Sword of Light and my pistol to provide covering fire for Saori, Azusa, and the others, while remaining alert and dodging incoming attacks.
Yet amid this constantly shifting battlefield, where every ounce of concentration was required, I still found myself distracted for just an instant.
A faint worry surfaced.
For the girl who was no longer by my side.
How were Mika and Kei doing...?
...
Bang!
"Cough, cough... Ugh, that hurt..."
After knocking Barbara to the ground with a punch during close combat, only to be sent flying herself by Barbara's massive cannon, Mika flapped her wings, spun through the air several times, steadied herself, and landed gracefully.
Rubbing her side, she muttered to herself before turning toward the petite girl beside her, who was fighting a humanoid monster three or four meters tall with nothing but her bare hands.
"Um, you know, guns really are more convenient, aren't they? By the way, why didn't you bring a firearm when you came out? Isn't that a little strange? Or was the one you handed to Sensei your only one? If you want, I can go snatch one from one of the Arius students for you."
Then Mika moved on to the question she actually cared about.
"Oh, right, right. What's your relationship with Sensei? You two seem pretty close. Could it be..."
Mika's incessant chatter finally became too much even for the Guide of the Nameless Gods' Princess, whose resolve was as unwavering as ever.
Calmly continuing her battle against the replica known as [Barbara], Kei replied coldly,
"Do you have that much free time?"
"Ah, sorry. Not really..."
Casually firing two shots to eliminate the Justina Council members rushing toward her, Mika continued,
"Am I being annoying? You know, I have a friend who always gives me this really exasperated look because I talk so much... Though now..."
At that point, Mika smiled with a trace of sadness before cheering herself back up and casually knocking several Justina Council members away.
"Even my childhood friend gets angry at me all the time... I know my personality can be kind of troublesome. But you know, there's someone who always puts up with me, no matter how selfish I am. Almost every single time, with nothing but helplessness and kindness. Guess who?"
The corner of Kei's eye twitched.
Why would anyone choose a moment like this to ramble about such meaningless topics to someone whose name they hadn't even exchanged? She simply couldn't understand.
"Ehehe~ Saying it myself is a little embarrassing~ But it's probably easy to guess, so I'll just tell you!"
Without caring whether Kei wanted to hear it, Mika covered her burning cheek with one hand.
"It's Sensei~ Seriously, even though I treated him so terribly, I even thought about putting him in the hospital to teach him a lesson☆. Ah, well, Sensei did ruin my plan back then, and I guess I really was in the wrong that time... But after that, he just kept getting even closer to me!"
Hearing that, Kei frowned.
For the first time, she actually shifted part of her attention away from the enemy and looked directly at Mika.
"Honestly," Mika said, sounding as though she were complaining, though her tone was overflowing with pride, "it almost makes me wonder if Sensei has some kind of strange fetish..."
"...You too?"
Kei suddenly spoke.
"Of course I don't... Huh? Wait."
Realizing something, the smile that had unconsciously spread across Mika's face instantly disappeared.
For the first time, she carefully examined Kei with a scrutinizing gaze, her voice becoming unreadable.
"Just to be sure, let me ask. When you said 'too,' what exactly did you mean?"
"...Nothing. Focus on the battle."
"Wait! Hold on! What did you mean!? Hey!"
Ignoring Mika's persistent questions, Kei's expression never changed in the slightest from beginning to end.