After who knew how long the battle had continued, the situation finally took a turn.
Beatrice, who had seemed completely unaffected by every attack from beginning to end, suddenly let out an incomparably shrill, agonized scream after taking another blast from the Sword of Light.
Then black smoke began pouring from her grotesque form. Her enormous body rapidly shrank, reverting to its original appearance.
"Guh... Aah... Impossible...! My Authority...! Impossible... Is it because the ritual hasn't been completed yet...? My power... Aah..."
Through the gaps between the numerous replicas standing in front of Beatrice, I could see that she had fallen to her knees, trembling in agony.
The sight lifted my spirits.
So all of our previous attacks hadn't been in vain.
Most likely, after transforming into that monstrous form, she had simply lost the ability to feel pain, or her sensitivity to it had been drastically reduced, creating the illusion that our attacks had done nothing. The damage had been real all along.
It might have been slight, but at this moment, I finally saw a genuine glimmer of victory.
"Everyone!"
I shouted.
"Beatrice is hanging by a thread! Let's finish her off in one push!"
Though both physically and mentally exhausted, the girls recognized Beatrice's weakening state just as I did. They rallied themselves and threw everything they had into clearing away the replicas protecting her.
"Don't celebrate too soon! You... You insignificant pests...!"
Beatrice glared at us with burning hatred as she roared,
"Call Barbara... No, every last unit inside the Basilica...! Bring them all back!"
The moment she gave the order, distant shrieks echoed from far away.
My heart tightened again.
If Barbara and the reinforcements really made it back in time, the scales of victory would once again begin tipping against us.
And how much longer could Atsuko hold on?
"It's not over yet!"
Saori roared.
"We have to finish this before the reinforcements arrive...!"
We had to speed things up.
That said...
I couldn't help wondering again.
How were Mika and Kei doing now?
...
"So this is... the choir room?"
Suppressed by the Justina Council's gunfire, Mika had been forced to temporarily take shelter in the nearest room. Catching her breath, she looked around.
The arrangement of the room was strikingly similar to the classroom where, before all the events that had changed her life, she had attended those dull weekly religion lessons at school.
Back then, Mika had always found the hymns unbearably boring.
"Please forgive us."
"Please grant me mercy."
...Depending on an existence she couldn't even see had always seemed incredibly strange to her.
Yet now, seeing such a familiar scene again, she felt a sense of nostalgia.
"An organ... sheet music... There's even a gramophone... I suppose that makes sense. Arius must have received the same education we did."
Murmuring to herself, Mika reached out and flipped the switch on the ancient gramophone, which was so dusty and worn that she wasn't even sure it still worked.
After waiting for a while, as expected, nothing happened.
"Well," Mika said helplessly, "it does look like it hasn't been used in ages. I guess it can't be helped."
She had expected that result from the beginning.
Even so, she couldn't help feeling a little disappointed, letting out a quiet sigh.
"How long are you planning to stay in there?"
At that moment, an out-of-place voice, cold yet carrying a trace of urgency, came from outside the choir room.
"Are you done resting yet?"
Alone against the steadily increasing number of Justina Council members and realizing the situation was worsening, Kei urged Mika.
But Mika abruptly asked,
"Um... I still don't know your name, but... do you like fairy tales?"
"...What?"
"I love them."
Mika spoke softly.
"The kind where the prince destined by fate rescues the princess from certain doom."
Kei's expression instantly darkened.
Closing the distance to one of the Justina Council members, she drove a straight punch into its chest and said bitterly,
"I hate them."
Ignoring Kei's reply, Mika simply continued talking, having only wanted someone to listen.
"They're filled with dreams like a child's... So beautiful, enough to make your heart race... I wanted to become the heroine of a story like that too."
"Reality isn't a fairy tale."
Picking up a broken pillar she had snapped off earlier, Kei swung it and sent several replicas flying.
"Even if something like that does happen, it's nothing more than a carefully woven lie made by someone."
"Wow, you're a little too extreme."
Mika smiled and shook her head.
"But for me... maybe that's true."
"I'm a [Witch], after all. There aren't any stories in this world where the villain who only brings destruction gets to have a happy ending."
For some reason, Kei fell silent, focusing only on fighting.
That suited Mika perfectly, as new thoughts surfaced in her heart.
The pink-haired girl murmured,
"Saori... I wanted you to experience the pain I went through. Because otherwise, it just wouldn't have felt fair. But... yes... Just like me, you all want to be saved too, don't you? You all... want to be happy too. I understand why you want to save Atsuko..."
"Even after deceiving so many people, even after falling into despair... if, at the very end, you can still save someone... then the life you've spent suffering will finally be rewarded... That's what you're thinking, isn't it? I understand. Because that's how Seia-chan and I felt too."
"How much longer are you going to dawdle!?"
Kei snapped.
"Saint Barbara will be here any minute!"
"Don't rush me!"
Interrupted, Mika pouted.
"She isn't here yet, is she? Judging from the sound, it'll still be a little while. You keep hurrying me like this. You're no fun at all!"
Did she even realize what was happening outside!?
Even Kei found herself grinding her teeth in frustration at Mika's spoiled stubbornness, sincerely regretting her decision to stay behind and help.
If she'd known it would turn out like this, she should have left on her own, even if Arisu would have scolded her for it.
But it was too late now.
There was no easy way to withdraw anymore.
All she could do was continue holding the line and hope that Mika would stop being so unreliable when it really mattered.
"Anyway... so, Arius Squad."
Having gathered herself again, Mika gazed into the distance with a gentle smile.
"I will pray for all of you."