Madness Incarnate

In the concert hall of the 4th Seer of Death, the lively first movement of his symphony, the masterpiece that he has composed to inaugurate the end of the world, was about to end and after a short break, will be followed by the second movement.

"Maestro…"

"…"

All of a sudden, someone emerged from the audience seats and called out to the Maestro who gestured with his hand to keep quiet as the performance is yet to be finished. Shortly after, the piece ended, and he turned around to face his lone spectator.

"What is it, Mirai-chan?"

"Jester… He… he…!"

"…I see. He has chosen that path in the end."

Seeing the eldest in age yet youngest in heart and mind amongst the Seers crying, the maestro went down from his podium and approached the child whom he gave a gentle embrace to.

"Weep not too much, o dear child… Our journeys are far from over."

"H-huh?"

"I suppose that neither the Innkeeper nor the Juror has told you of it… after all, both you and Jester were deemed by I to be too softhearted to accept that there is no other way to achieve Spirit Nihil's will or to that fact any outcome near to it."

As Maestro let go of Mirai and walked back to his podium, even his fellow Seer and claimer of many lives herself can only shake in horror after seeing the utter amount of malevolence and bloodthirst that he exuded out.

"If like him and the Juror, you intend to choose another path with less pain and devastation that mankind shall be subjected, I implore you to hurry up, dear Child of Light."

"Khh!"

"After all, a masterpiece like this may immerse you and feel like a long time has passed since it began… but I assure you, it will end sooner than you expect it to do. And with its end…"

At the sharp drop of his baton, the second movement of the performance began with an ominous entrance.

"…so will the world."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

After a long time of evading or defeating the enemies that lined their path, Mana and the still unconscious Kaede arrived at the frontlines of the Sumeragi group's defenses.

"Friendlies! Open up a way for them!"

Mana ran as fast as she can into the lines and once inside, stopped to catch her breath.

"Agent Fujikawa! It's good to see that you're alive! Ah! Lady Kaede was with you as well?!"

"Y-Yeah… haah… Damn it, all that escape and evasion training really paid off."

The Kanbu officer of this defensive line asked Mana what happened all of a sudden in New Tokyo and Mana explained it as concisely as possible.

"We were about to break into New Tokyo when we got caught inside a special Subspace that covered the entirety of New Tokyo. I don't know much about what happened over there since we all got split up, but I believe that save for me and Vice Chief Chronia, as well as Hogosha Furuta, Akari and Kaede-sensei here, no one made it out there alive."

"T-that is-!"

"I know… we're basically screwed if we can't somehow survive against the incoming hordes of monsters. I'm willing to help out in this sector, but I need to contact Sunogahara-cho first."

"A-about that, Chief Fujikawa-! I'm afraid that Sunogahara-cho will not be able to receive your call."

"What?"

"You see… Sunogahara-cho as well as Kabuki-cho were simultaneously attacked by Malignances."

"-!!!"

"While we received a message from Kabuki-cho that Hogosha Moriyama has successfully driven away much of the invading hordes of Malignances, none of your men from Sunogahara-cho is yet to tell us if the same has been achieved there."

Learning that Sunogahara-cho is in danger, Mana disregarded his words from before and ran towards a discarded motorcycle she saw at the side of the road.

"W-Wait! Chief Fujikawa---!"

"I have no time to spare! I need to help out there as soon as possible!"

As her sudden departure surprised them, no one managed to notice a figure clothed in a white robe taking the unconscious Kaede and suddenly disappearing out of thin air.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Back inside the Subspace, the battle to the death between Akari and Renjiro became postponed as both prioritized gaining distance away from the battle that is vaporizing everything in sight.

"You think we're safe at this dis-"

*PYIII-!!!*

"Hell no!"

Due to the nature of the power being used, any distance that they try to gain to lessen their probability of dying ends up becoming useless and the same goes to any ruined building or debris that they try to use for cover as it simply becomes vaporized once hit by even just a near miss.

Little by little, the space where they can escape towards became scarcer as the battle between the two spread out more across the Subspace until it reached a point where they can see the hazy edge of the dimensional rift.

"Hey, Renjiro! Any bright idea about how to get out from here?!"

"Give me more time to think!"

Just as he gave that reply, a beam of light hit and immediately vaporized a ball of water that Akari was controlling on her left.

"Think faster or we'll both die here!"

"Khh-!"

Renjiro repeated the rules of Subspaces again and again in his head, trying to look for a way to save both of them from being a collateral casualty between the two that are fighting and causing all the damage around them.

"Someone that can destroy the Subspace from the outside… Impossible. If what I am feeling is right, this is a special one where that cannot be done."

He thought up of the first condition that he immediately shot down upon deducting that this Subspace is not operating with the lone power of one Psychic.

"Break it from the inside… also impossible-! We've been shooting out all kinds of ridiculous attacks and it hasn't even wavered once!"

While Renjiro was racking his brain for answers, all of it were immediately shot down as soon as he tries to think if they are feasible. While he's busy doing this as well as evading the stray shots of light and debris that are falling around, the hazy border of the Subspace became nearer and nearer, effectively cornering them to inescapable death.

"Come on, Renjiro! Put that damn big brain of yours to use!"

"I'm doing all that I can! Just give me some more time!"

Seeing that the Subspace's borders are not that far anymore, Akari decided to stop evading the incoming stray shots and debris and instead, hold her ground to buy enough time for Renjiro to come up with a way out.

""

From below the ground, water pipes and aquifers alike burst out their contents to form a massive wave of water that caught the light beams and debris around them, absorbing their energy and turning into water vapor or softening their fall to the ground.

"Let me help with that! " 

From the surrounding structures, Renjiro pulled out all kinds of metals that formed into a ramp that decreased the friction and abrasion of the rushing water and thus, made it able to shoot out from the ground more consistently and with more power.

"Ghh-! I'll keep this up as much as I can, so please tell me if we can get out as soon as you can!"

While Akari was holding off the myriad of attacks that can kill them with even just one graze, Renjiro was still thinking up a viable way to escape from this Subspace.

"No, no, no! There must be some way! There should be a way to get out of this place!"

And yet, the solutions would either require someone to break it from the outside, which is impossible since no lone Psychic can possibly set off a Subspace this vast and robust against damage, or breaking it from the inside since it has shown no instance of giving way no matter how destructive the attacks that they doled out previously were.

"Khh-! AHH-!!!"

"…"

"Hurry up, Renjiro! The water is running out and we're gonna be toast soon!"

Yet there really is no way that they can break out from this place. That was just the cold and hard truth.

That was until Renjiro heard a faint voice from behind his ear that came out of nowhere.

"Well, well… For someone who is supposedly going to outsmart me, you sure do have a knack with not seeing ahead and getting into ugly situations."

"You-!"

"Now, now… I'll have the two of you exit from here for now. It's not yet your turn to play your part, after all."

"Hold on! We're---"

Just as Renjiro was about to turn around and reach out to the source of the voice, his vision flashed almost instantly between light and dark before falling down to the ground and saw that it was the colorful normal world.

"Hah! You did it! You---"

"…"

"Hold on… Are you saying that…?"

"This isn't my work… someone else appeared there and brought us out."

Instead of relief that they were saved from that life-threatening situation, what Renjiro and Akari felt was dread upon learning that there was someone in there that brought them out and slipped inside without breaking the Subspace. An ability that no Psychic had.

*Bzzt-!*

"-!"

"{Anyone--- In the east New Tokyo area!--- The frontlines are about to collapse!--- Reinforcements are needed!}"

From a half-broken radio set that belongs to the Sumeragi forces, Akari heard of the desperate situation in the area after they and their people that attacked New Tokyo was suddenly taken into the Subspace and Malignances came out to attack people.

"Stand up, Renjiro! We have to-"

"I'm not going."

"-?!!"

At that moment when she immediately thought of going straight to the frontlines to help out, she was reminded that the man she escaped from the Subspace with was far from being an ally.

"…Don't make this harder than it should be, Renjiro. I'm ready to hide the fact that you expressed your treachery against the Sumeragi group if you're going to come with me and help save our comrades."

"…"

"You should know that now that we're in the real world, you're far weaker than I am… and you're way more tired and wounded psychically that I am."

As Akari stared him down, showing that she isn't going to back down on continuing their fight to the death if he wouldn't comply, Renjiro spoke something that acted as his trump card against her orders.

"I saw the being that teleported us out of the Subspace. There was a woman beside him."

"…And why should I care?"

"…Because it's Kaede."

"---!!!"

"With that reaction, I guess I no longer need to tell you why this is important."

The fact that it was her of all people, made Akari shake both in frustration and shame. After all, Kaede is her daughter and with the fact that there was "someone" in there that she has been involved with, Akari didn't like what it might turn out to become.

"If I let you go, what do you plan to do then?"

"...As I suspected, the Subspace we were in is special. But the fact that we got out means that there must be a way to get back in. In which case-"

"You're going back in?"

"Exactly."

"Then how are you supposed to deal with those two monsters and… I know enough about Kaede to know that she won't back down from this opportunity to meet with "him" again."

"…"

For a moment, Renjiro looked away and after a long sigh, gave his answer.

"I'll give it all that I can… No matter what it may cost."

"…Hah. "No matter what it may cost", he says."

Akari turned to the direction of Chiba and before running away, told Renjiro one thing.

"If possible, bring her back… like you, she's likely a traitor now… yet as her mother, I still hope that it wouldn't be the case."

"…She's my precious junior too, I'll be rough if she fights back, but I will do all that I can to keep her alive."

"You have my thanks."

With that, an explosion of dust followed shortly after Akari sped away towards the direction of Old Tokyo and Renjiro was left to look back on New Tokyo that is being destroyed just as much as its Subspace counterpart.

"Now… let's see if I can do outsmart you, Knowledge."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

In the civilian bunker of Sunogahara-cho, the upset civilians were somehow convinced to stay calm by the arrival of good news from the surface.

"They say that save for some Delta and Beta-class Malignances, there are no more dangerous monsters in the surface."

That good news calmed the nerves and frustrations of the people. However, it came at a great cost.

"They say that almost half of the Psychic department are dead alongside countless Agents who helped to contain the monsters."

"It's heartbreaking, but let's not ruin their sacrifice by thinking that it's unnecessary."

At the corner of the saferoom where the family of Ephraim are staying at, they received a guest that was talking to the mother and daughter of Ephraim.

"You're his classmate, you say?"

"Right. I was our class representative and because of that, was the one assigned to help him acclimate to life here."

The guest was a young lady younger than Ephraim but still a few years ahead of Hannah's age. She talked calmly with the two, telling them about the things that Ephraim never mentioned to them before.

"I see that he at least managed to make a few acquaintances after he failed to follow on Jonah's footsteps… but I can sense that there are some aspects of him that stopped him from fully integrating with the others, yes?"

"A-ah."

"No need to hide it, young lady… I know enough about my son to know that he had his share of problems over here."

"You're right about that, mom. Brother is a headache that no one would want to cross… if your stories are right about Dad, Brother likely got that side from him."

After she was roused from her nap, Mio awoke to the sight of her two adoptive relatives talking with someone whose face was familiar to her.

"G-Granny… why are you talking to her?"

"Oh? Did we wake you, Mio?"

"We're sorry if we made too much noise, Mio-chan."

Instead of answering her question, the two asked her if they were too noisy that they woke her up. Instead of answering though, Mio stood up and pointed at the person they were talking to.

"Amakano-san… why are you here again?"

"…I'm surprised that you still remember me, Miyazaki Mio-chan."

"H-how can I forget you when you hurt, Rai-san!"

"…"

Hearing the child's exclamation all of a sudden, both Catherine and Hannah's expressions changed from surprised to dubious of the woman in front of them.

"Amakano-san, isn't it?"

"Care to explain why little Mio here would make that claim?"

Sayaka looked at the two and immediately understood that Mio's exclamation snapped them out of their belief that she is a perfectly normal and friendly person.

"Haah… if only you didn't add into it, this could've ended in a better way."

"-!"

In an instant, Sayaka disappeared from sight as if she was a shapeless blur and reappeared right in front of Mio's eyes.

"Mio-chan---!"

Hannah sprung forward to reach out to the child but before she can even raise up to her feet, Sayaka has already grabbed her throat and forcefully pushed her towards a wall meters away from the others.

"Hnngggh! Ggghhh---!"

"Seems like Knowledge didn't trick us after all… you really are what he said you are."

Hearing the commotion, the nearest S.S.S agent ran towards them and raised his gun towards Sayaka before issuing a warning to her.

"You! Let go of the child!"

"…"

"I said let go of the child!"

As the other agents arrived at the scene and surrounded her, Sayaka finally turned her head around to look at the armed men who are adamant about their warning.

"You're all fools… Child? Hah! This girl is not a child! She's not even human!"

"NGGGGGG---!!!"

Sayaka tightened her grip around Mio's throat, not just causing pain but slowly depriving the girl of air and blood to her head.

"MIO-CHAN---!"

"Let go of the girl or we will shoot!"

"You will shoot? Go on then! Do it for me!"

"Khh-!"

The S.S.S agents who already had their guns unlocked and ready to fire had to remove their fingers from the triggers of their weapons as Sayaka raised Mio to her front, using her as a human shield.

"Go on! Come and shoot before I snap her neck myself! If she's going to die, how it happens will not matter anyway, won't it?!"

"Gh-! Lower your guns! I said lower your guns!"

"Heh! Still holding onto your principles? I see now why you guys are ready to fight and die against Malignances."

"What the hell are you doing?! Take her down and get Mio-chan---"

"They can't risk it, Hannah! Mio might get shot if they didn't do this!"

Stuck in a rapidly worsening hostage situation, the leader of the agents was forced to order his men to lower their weapons, not willing to risk harming Mio.

"Since it seems like you lack the stomach to do it, it seems like I have to do it in the end."

"Wait-! DON'T-!!!"

"It's lights out now, Rep-"

At that moment, a blur went past the guards that surrounded Sayaka and before her hand can tighten to crush Mio's neck, her wrist flickered and not even being given a second to react, it fell on the floor alongside Mio.

"AAAHHH---!!!"

"HAAA!!!"

After she was let go, Mio drew a sharp intake of breath and saw a familiar woman holding a bloodied sword and a face filled with rage.

"I've always thought that you're the kind of person that I can never be friends with… even before everything in this world went to hell."

"Khh! YOU-!!!"

"Seems like my haunch is right… I guess I saved Ephraim from the trouble of being associated with you."

"D-Department Chief!" shouted the S.S.S agents who finally recognized Mana

"…"

"…"

Mana and Sayaka stared at each other with terrifying expressions and after flicking her sword to clean off Sayaka's blood before sheathing her sword, she gave an order to the S.S.S Agent.

"You, get the kid and give us some distance."

"W-What?"

"DO IT! NOW!"

"Y-Yes!"

"I won't let you---!"

"Back off!"

The S.S.S Agent dove for Mio and seeing this, Sayaka dashed to take her again but was immediately blocked by Mana who planted a solid knee blow to her abdomen.

"GU-HAK---!!!"

Sayaka flew back to the wall where she held Mio against. She recoiled after hitting the wall and would've fallen to her knees if Mana didn't dash towards her and released a flurry of punches towards her body and face.

"Ora! Ora-ora-ora!"

"Ghh! Argh!"

""

"-?!!"

Mana redrew her sword and assumed an attack stance.

"Imamura Iaidou… " 

(T/N: Daybreak)

The sword slash was followed shortly by a blast of fire so blindingly bright that everyone that looked at them closed their eyes instinctively. 

This however didn't hit her as Sayaka was able to dodge by a hairbreadth. She attempted to counterattack but Maya didn't let up her attacks.

"Imamura Iaido!

(T/N: Dusk/Sunset)

At the reverse of the direction of her initial swing, Mana caught Sayaka's hand that was somehow able to catch and stop her blade.

"Get out of my way, Fujikawa!"

"NEVER! "

Mana reignited the fire on her blade and struck with the last of the iaido attacks that she has perfected.

"Imamura Iaido! "

(T/N: Fire Moon)

"AHH-!"

Mana once again reversed the direction of her sword slash and swung it with great force. It was then followed by a pillar of fire that burned everything it touched to fine ash.

"Darn-"

"HAAH!"

Sayaka's hand that caught the blade could have been cut apart if she didn't let go of it and backed away. After which, Mana swung her sword with extreme precision and efficiency, making sure that the fire she is emitting are not reaching the people around them.

"This ends here!"

"Ghh! I won't let you---"

*BANG-!*

"Wha… Kak!"

Sayaka managed to dodge every fire-enhanced sword slash that Mana let out but was not able to sense nor dodge the bullet that Mana fired from her other hand. It hit her squarely on the left-side of her chest.

"What? You didn't expect me to hit that? Even someone like me can hit you when you're this near."

Sayaka fell on her knees and desperately clutched the gunshot on her heart as her consciousness began to fade.

"Now… any last words?"

"Heh…"

"Hm?"

As Mana gave her one last moment to utter her dying words, what she received instead was a very grave warning.

"Unlike me, you can't change your fate, Fujikawa…"

"…"

"In the end, you will lose everything… Just like your friends, and your paren-"

*SHI-YAK!*

"Ahh!"

"Look away, darling!"

Before she can even finish her words, Mana swung her sword and tore open the throat of Sayaka who fell on the floor in a bloody mess. The people around turned their children away from the sight of the killing.

"This wench… appearing out of nowhere and doing all of this mess… Huh?"

They all saw her die by Mana's slash. However, Sayaka's corpse began to spasm wildly which startled those around to see it.

"W-whoa! What the hell is-"

"-! Everyone! Get down! Get down as close to the floor!"

Hearing her order, everyone from the agents to the evacuees fell down to the ground as a pulse of energy passed over their heads and from the pillars that were hit, they saw why Mana gave such an order.

"Darn! That almost cut through the pillars!"

"What happened to the hostile?! Is she still up!?"

"No… that wasn't even her real body."

At the spot where she was cut down and supposedly died, nothing was left but the pool of blood and suspended on it are ashes from the disintegrated substitute body.

"Strange… She was emitting Astra energy, but she never used psychic powers. Does that mean that she hasn't awakened yet… or…?"

"Chief Fujikawa!"

Before Mana can think through what just happened, her attention was taken by a familiar voice from behind.

"Y-Yurippe!"

"Director! And vice-director too!"

From the entrance of the bunker approached a pair carrying guns and had visible injuries that already received appropriate first aid. It was the S.S.S Director Yuri and Vice-director Hinata.

"Yurippe! We have to-"

"I'm sorry, Mana. But this is urgent. Come with us."

"W-What?"

"Follow us, Mana. We need to ask something to you."

Mana followed them outside at the surface where a small camp has formed. An improvised gathering spot after they managed to clear all the Malignances in Sunogahara-cho.

Inside a tent where the wounded are being tended to, Yuri and Hinata turned to Mana with a question.

"Ephraim, where is he?"

Hearing that question come from a dead serious Yuri made Mana nervous about what would follow after that.

"The last time I was with him, we were fighting inside an enormous Subspace in New Tokyo. Our opponent was Miyazono Gardener Aokigahara Yoshino."

"If you're out here then that would mean that you won. Where is he?"

"That is not the case! As far as I know, he's still inside the Subspace and fighting against Yoshino alongside Kai-kun."

"Kai-kun? Are you talking about the Replicant of Imamura Kai?"

"Yes."

After Hinata asked that question and she confirmed that it is so, Yuri's eyebrows became knit as if annoyed about it.

"Stop spouting nonsense, Mana! We all know that his Replicant was decommissioned and disposed months ago!"

"And I'm saying that he was there! Well enough and even stronger than before!"

Seeing the seriousness on her eyes, Yuri understood that she wasn't lying… but she also weighed the possibility that Mana was simply not informed about what is truly happening.

"Alright… let's say that we believe you. How did you leave the Subspace then?"

"I… I don't know how, but Ephraim was somehow able to cut open a portal between the Subspace and the real world. We were fighting Yoshino and suddenly, Kai put Kaede-sensei on my arms before Rai opened this portal that made me and her land out here."

"A portal? Are you saying that he just sliced open a hole that allowed you and Kaede-san to get out without breaking the Subspace?"

"Yeah… I don't understand it too, but it seems like Kai-kun knew that Ephraim was capable of doing this since he entrusted Kaede-sensei to me."

"Then you're saying that he's still inside the Subspace?"

"Mm… As far as I know, that is where he is and he's likely still fighting Yoshino."

After she told the two about it, Mana sensed that there was a change in their expressions and asked why they asked all of this in the first place. However, she received a reply from an unlikely person.

"Because all this time, Ephraim was hiding something from all of you… not just to the S.S.S but also to his loved ones."

"Y-you---!"

"Put that sword back, Mana… she's still under our custody and are cooperating with us."

"But Hinata-san! She is---!"

"I know… but right now, she's cooperating with us. Now, put your sword back in its sheath."

Begrudgingly, Mana put her sword back in its scabbard yet never spared the other side of a spine-tingling death stare.

"Before you stare at me to death like a bloodthirsty dog, I'll show you why I said those things. Nakamura-san, Hideki-san and Fujikawa… follow me."

The three walked out and away from the camp and into the desolate streets of Sunogahara-cho. There, they saw S.S.S agents cleaning up debris and gathering their dead comrades. Some of them even fell on their knees, crying over the dead bodies of what could be their family or friends.

A bit later, they came across a group of S.S.S Psychics that piled the dead bodies of Malignances and burned it away with pyrokinetic fire, making sure that not even ashes would remain and possibly infect and mutate people.

Finally, they arrived at a cemetery that was damaged during the fighting and there, they stood in front of a grave that was etched with the following words.

[Miyazaki Family grave]

"Miyazaki… is this where the dead parents and sibling of the little ones are buried?"

"Yes. As you can see here side-by-side, that's the name of their father and mother… and under that is the name of Miyazaki Hiro as well as their half-brother, Miyazaki Koshiro, who came from their father's first marriage."

The family grave, unlike the other ones in the cemetery, was clean and even has a fresh bottle of Sake that was clearly placed there not too long ago.

"Why are you showing this to us now? I know Hiro since we were from the same school and ever since we became comrades in the S.S.S, I learned of his story from Ephraim."

"Patience, Mana… if I were you, I would've prepared myself for this thing rather than yapping."

Suddenly, Himari held a portion of the gravestone and began to tighten her grip, causing it to slowly crack away.

"H-hey! Stop that! At least respect the memory of the dead, will you!?"

"…"

"Are you listening to me?! I said stop---"

Even against Mana's insistence, Himari continued to hold the gravestone until it finally broke and fell apart.

"I didn't break it… or at least, not how it should originally be."

"What?"

"Look at that…"

Himari broke off the part of the gravestone that she crack from the whole stone slab and there, the three saw what she wanted to show them this entire time.

"You said that I should honor the memory of the dead… in truth, it was him who should've done. After all, he was the one that put this here to cover up the truth."

"N-No way…"

"I see, this explains things…"

"I guess he really wasn't on our side at all."

"What are you talking about, Yurippe and Hinata-san?! Ephraim… Rai-kun may have a good reason to do this!"

Even in front of the evidence of the contrary, Mana was still insistent about defending Ephraim's innocence… even if deep inside, she has begun to doubt him as well.

"Good reason? If he really wanted to protect them, he should've come clean with all of us in the first place!"

"They are children, Hinata-san! Children that he was left with to protect! Are you saying that you'd rather have him expose this truth and subject them to different treatment by the people around them rather than hiding it and letting them experience a normal life?"

Mana's outburst was in her eyes, justified. After all, under the name of their brothers, there were three more names etched on the gravestone:

[Miyazaki Mio]

[Miyazaki Yukari]

[Miyazaki Rea]

"I need you to understand that rules about this very thing are placed to protect not only normal people but people like them too. Even if it's him, as your superior in the S.S.S and the leader of Sunogahara-cho, I cannot let this thing go… We all live equally under the law, Mana."

Hearing both Yuri and Hinata argue against her about all of this, Mana finally let go of her last string of respect to the two and spoke about her true feelings.

"Can you two even say that right in front of their faces…?"

"-?!"

"Don't you remember how we used to eat together alongside those three? How you fawned and cared for them when we didn't know about what they are?"

"This isn't the right time to say that, Mana. While it's true that I feel extremely sick about having to declare this myself, Ephraim… Ephraim is hiding far too many things such as this for us to actually trust him."

"I agree with Yurippe. Even if it makes us sick, the truth of the matter is that Ephraim is becoming more and more of a danger to us… and considering our current situation, he might even be worse than the Miyazonos."

"-!!!"

"AAH---!"

Hearing those words come from the two, Mana finally snapped, and she grab hold of Himari by the collar and slammed her at the wall behind the gravestone.

"Mana!"

"Agent Fujikawa! Put her down right now!"

Embroiled in her rage, Mana ignored her two superiors and forced an answer from her captive's mouth.

"Why are you doing this?! What are you aiming for now!?!"

"Urgh-! W…What I should've done long ago, that is."

"Tell me!!!"

"Unlike me…"

"---!!!"

"You… cannot change your fate, Fujikawa."

Hearing those words again made Mana stagger back and let Himari off her grip.

"Kak! Kah!"

"Goodness gracious, Mana!"

"What the hell entered your mind now, you reckless girl!?"

While Himari was having a coughing fit on the floor and both Yuri and Hinata was verbally reprimanding her, Mana's mind wandered on all the things that has happened so far and she finally pieced together something.

"Y-Yurippe… I think I know what Ephraim is trying to do."

"Huh? What are you talking about now?"

"Yurippe. Get the kids and put them in a safe place."

Mana was still thinking things through in her mind that she was unable to speak it out properly. However, she did manage to say one thing that made both of her superiors to understand the same thing.

"Ephraim has kept them as his last ace against all of us… against all of humanity."