The rosy glow filled the sky without ever changing, as though time itself had been frozen.
"Once again, the prince has saved the princess."
A gentle female voice echoed across the endless expanse of water.
"And with that, the story comes to an end."
After speaking, the blue-haired girl waited for a moment before puffing out her cheeks in dissatisfaction.
"Your reactions are way too cold! Aren't you going to applaud?"
"Clap clap. Is this good enough?"
The silver-haired girl casually brought her hands together twice while making the sound effects with her mouth in the most perfunctory manner imaginable.
The blonde girl merely stared coldly at the blue-haired girl, showing neither movement nor any intention of speaking.
"Sigh. Not only is Deca-chan like this, but even Plana is being so half-hearted... Big Sis is really going to cry, you know?"
"Don't give people random nicknames."
The blonde girl replied coldly.
"Address me as Decagrammaton."
"Ehh, why so mean?"
"So, Senpai, why exactly did you call us here?"
The silver-haired girl called Plana spoke.
"If you just wanted someone to listen to your script... my connection isn't very good, so I'm going to disconnect."
The blue-haired girl hurriedly stopped her.
"Wait! Actually, I invited you here for a celebration!"
"A celebration?"
"Mhm, that's right."
The blue-haired girl smiled and nodded.
"To celebrate the great success of our very first collaboration!"
"How boring."
Decagrammaton let out a cold laugh.
She had no interest in staying here any longer to waste time with such an idiot pretending to act silly.
"I'm leaving."
"But I prepared strawberry milk today."
The blue-haired girl tempted her.
Plana, who had been pouting only a moment ago, suddenly had stars shining in her eyes.
"...Do you really think..."
Decagrammaton's voice grew even colder.
"...I'd be tempted by something so meaningless?"
The blue-haired girl looked at her earnestly.
"It's all you can drink."
Decagrammaton scoffed.
Then she decided to stay a little longer and see what kind of nonsense this fool, who insisted on calling herself everyone's big sister, was planning.
So the three of them sat around a round table.
Each held a carton of strawberry milk, sipping quietly through a straw.
"Mmmph mmmph mmmph..."
"Don't talk while you're drinking."
Decagrammaton said.
The blue-haired girl reluctantly let go of the straw before smiling again.
"Anyway, this time it's all thanks to Deca... Alright, alright, stop glaring at me. Thanks to Decagrammaton-chan's hard work, the story stayed on track. Whether it was forcing him to go to Arius or removing the unnecessary students from the script, you did a wonderful job. Please pass along my thanks to your other little sisters too."
"When did they become your little sisters?"
"Ehehe. My little sister's little sisters are naturally my little sisters too."
Completely ignoring Decagrammaton's icy stare, the blue-haired girl turned toward Plana.
"And while Decagrammaton-chan and I were both tied up, Plana-chan did a huge favor by explaining everything to Sensei."
Suddenly, the smile in her expression and voice faded just a little.
"...Although it seems you wanted to tell Sensei something he probably shouldn't hear."
While they spoke, Plana silently finished an entire carton of strawberry milk and picked up another.
"So that's how it is."
She inserted the straw before continuing.
"Senpai, you're here to hold me accountable."
Then she asked,
"But wasn't it already within your expectations that I'd hint to Sensei to be wary of you?"
The blue-haired girl looked surprised.
"You think a little too highly of me, don't you? I'm not an omniscient and omnipotent being. At least, not for the time being. That's exactly why I need both of your help!"
Hearing that, Decagrammaton sneered.
"You're not trying to recruit us, are you? Don't make me laugh. We only cooperated because our interests happened to align."
"I know."
The blue-haired girl sighed softly.
"Both of you have wills as firm as stone. Neither of you will be easily swayed. I think that's a wonderful thing."
She continued thoughtfully,
"Plana acts solely for Sensei's sake. As for you, you're simply afraid that if I dragged you down with me, you'd never be able to continue pursuing... your endless ambition."
An inexplicable breeze swept across the water, sending ripples spreading across its surface.
The faint sound of wind chimes seemed to echo through the air.
"So for now, all we can do is cooperate with everything we have."
"In that case, I'll be blunt."
Having finished another carton of strawberry milk, Plana questioned her.
"A.R.O.N.A.-senpai, have you truly fulfilled your duty to protect Sensei?"
The blue-haired girl, whose appearance was noticeably more mature than the Arona someone else knew, tilted her head curiously.
"What makes you think I haven't?"
"Sensei getting hurt could have been avoided. He never needed to endure so much suffering or make so many painful choices."
Plana lowered her gaze.
"You weren't like this before. So it really is because..."
"But this is what's truly best for him."
Arona interrupted her with a gentle smile.
"Deep down, you know that too. You simply can't bear it."
"But..."
"There's no need to argue with someone like her, Plana."
Decagrammaton spoke coldly.
"You should have understood her true nature long ago. She's always been like this, pretending to be easygoing and kind to conceal the obsession and arrogance beneath. A madwoman whose eyes have room for no one but herself. She has always been that way."
Arona puffed out her cheeks indignantly.
"Eh? My personality isn't nearly as awful as you make it sound! I genuinely love the people of this world, especially Sensei. Otherwise, why would he have chosen to walk alongside me?"
She smiled and nodded.
"That's right. I do love him. It's just that the way I love him is a little different from yours."
"Don't casually lump me in with the two of you."
Decagrammaton replied coldly.
Meanwhile, after gloomily finishing yet another carton of strawberry milk, Plana simply said,
"Senpai, I'll decide that for myself. Sensei will eventually make his own judgment as well."
"Hehe. Naturally."
Arona smiled.
Then she suddenly remembered something, her eyes lighting up with excitement.
"Oh, speaking of which, did I forget to tell you how the villain's story ends?"
Plana asked in return,
"Is there any reason to mention a disposable stage prop?"
Decagrammaton also spoke coldly.
"Could there ever have been any ending for Beatrice besides the one she received?"
"Mm... I suppose that's true."
Arona smiled sheepishly.
"After all, the one she prayed to... Chroma. Ah... What a nostalgic word."
A look of remembrance crossed the blue-haired girl's face.
She took another sip of strawberry milk before lightly licking the pale pink liquid from the corner of her lips.
Arona gazed into the distance.
Her eyes seemed to cross an endless void before coming to rest upon a certain young man currently attending a hearing.
Thirty-eight stakes, forged from mercury that symbolized the spirit, pierced through his body.
They gently swayed like wings of light.
Then she chuckled softly and murmured under her breath, her voice carrying an indescribable trace of regret, so faint it was almost drowned out by the barely audible ringing of distant wind chimes.
"It tastes wonderful, too."
No one else present responded.
...
Darkness.
Endless darkness.
When Beatrice became aware of that fact and tried to open her eyes, light truly entered her vision.
After the initial confusion came overwhelming joy.
Realizing she had regained control of her body, Beatrice stood up and looked down at herself.
Her skin and limbs were completely intact. Her clothes were spotless, as though everything that had happened before had been nothing more than a nightmare.
No.
Those humiliations had truly happened.
Although her body had returned to its original state, that alone was something Beatrice knew with absolute certainty.
Then there could only be one explanation for this miracle.
Chroma had not reclaimed the power it had granted her at her darkest hour, as she had feared.
On the contrary.
The infinitely great, infinitely benevolent, infinitely merciful Chroma had forgiven her.
It had given her another chance.
Madly praising Chroma in her heart, Beatrice grinned, exposing a mouthful of chilling fangs.
"Just wait. I swear I'll take revenge on..."
But just as she was about to swear her vengeance, her mind suddenly went blank.
What replaced it was bewildered confusion.
She had lost?
To whom had she lost?
Had she ever even been defeated?
Why had she prayed to Chroma for power in the first place, only to end up like this?
The answers quickly surfaced, dispelling every doubt and filling Beatrice with sudden realization.
Of course.
Her plan had been ruined.
The traitor named Shirasu Azusa had killed the sacrifice she had originally chosen, Atsuko, with the Halo Bomb.
And the replacement, Saori, did not possess a royal bloodline pure enough to support her ascension.
Having developed a taste for that power, she had prayed to Chroma.
That's right...
That was exactly how it happened!
Although instinctively she felt that something about those memories was wrong, there were more important things demanding her attention.
"...Where is this place?"
She looked around.
As far as the eye could see was an endless crimson world.
Black and white lines were scattered chaotically across it, resembling the aimless scribbles of a child.
The environment possessed no trace of beauty.
For someone who prided herself on refinement, it inspired only intense disgust and discomfort.
First, she needed to find a way out of here.
She had to return to Kivotos.
Just as that thought crossed her mind, a calm voice carrying a trace of nostalgia suddenly spoke behind her.
"Another one."
Beatrice immediately turned in alarm.
The eyes embedded within her white feathers shifted toward the source of the voice.
Standing behind her, without her ever noticing when they had arrived, was a solitary figure.
The person wore a full suit of dark crimson armor in a classical style.
They were not especially tall.
Their voice was slightly hoarse, though still predominantly feminine.
Floating behind their head was a crimson halo, proving they too were a student.
"Who are you? Are you another one blessed by Chroma?"
Although she felt a hint of caution, Beatrice's arrogance and the contempt for students she had cultivated through years of treating the Arius students as inferiors still led her to raise her chin proudly.
She spoke as though issuing an order.
"Tell me how to leave this place and return to Kivotos..."
The crimson-armored knight answered calmly.
"No. You will never return."
"...What did you say?"
The instant she heard those words, Beatrice flew into a rage.
She intended to transform into her true form immediately and strike first, teaching this unknown student the authority of an adult.
Yet she quickly discovered, to her horror, that she could not transform into that holy and magnificent form.
Instead, every part of her body became enveloped by an unknown force.
Then it was forcibly twisted.
Only then did her nerves finally register the unbearable agony, pain intense enough to drive anyone unconscious.
Yet for some reason, Beatrice's mind remained perfectly lucid.
All she could do was release an ear-piercing scream.
The crimson knight spoke.
"Since you long so deeply for ascension, then your wish shall be granted."
"You will become a tree."
"You will bloom, bear fruit, wither, and be reborn. Through endless cycles, you will continue climbing toward ever higher places."
"And each time, you will fall back into the abyss."
No!
This wasn't what she wanted at all!
"Of course, I won't let you feel too lonely."
The crimson knight continued.
"Countless insects will accompany you. Though they possess no intelligence, they will make nests within your body and endlessly gnaw upon your trunk, forever receiving your teachings."
Before the words had even finished, countless rustling sounds filled the air.
With them came piercing itchiness and agonizing pain that burrowed into both her body and mind.
Yet compared to the physical torment, what nearly drove her insane was the fact that her noble body was being devoured by filthy insects.
"Why are you afraid?"
The crimson knight chuckled softly.
"Everything is emptiness. Life itself is suffering." (Vanity of vanities, all is vanity)
"Weren't those your own words?"
The knight no longer concealed the malice buried within, a malice so profound it defied description.
"Within this endless hell prepared especially for you, you alone shall forever be ruled, exploited, and consumed."
After a brief pause, the knight added,
"Just like the countless [Beatrices] who arrived here before you."
At that moment, Beatrice finally understood.
She finally realized what those ugly black and white lines scattered throughout the crimson world truly were.
An indescribable terror spread through her.
Her body trembled uncontrollably.
The crimson knight pronounced the final sentence.
"You will never again stand above anyone."
"Except yourself."
"Who... who are you!? Just who are..."
Summoning the last remnants of her reason and will, Beatrice desperately endured the madness-inducing pain and tried to demand an answer.
But now...
She could no longer even speak.
It was as though she had truly become an ordinary tree, left with nothing but the ability to feel pain.
Having witnessed everything, the crimson knight turned away without the slightest hesitation.
Only a single final sentence drifted into Beatrice's consciousness.
"I am the retribution you deserve."
Thus, Beatrice, who could no longer even stop herself from thinking, arrived at her eternal end.