Companions.
For Titanironia, this word carried an unbearable weight.
It was because of that word that she was "born." To protect her companions, she had launched countless struggles against the swarm.
For her companions' survival, she had fought alongside others, stood at the forefront of resistance.
How many companions had died, she could no longer remember.
What remained in her memory was only that they had fought for a better future.
A future where they could live free.
But in the end, everything changed. Everything twisted, until she herself slid into madness and extremity.
Those people who once spoke to her so kindly—their attitudes shifted.
At first, the people threw themselves wholly into resisting the swarm that threatened the cosmos.
But later, only her kind were left on the frontlines, struggling alone.
Even logistics, even the supply of weapons, began to falter, to grow arrogant.
They built more and more companions, and she believed she would one day stand with them to see that promised, unbound future.
But the deaths rose instead—exponentially.
Each cry of "For the Queen!" before death only sharpened her desire to see them live better lives.
And then, at last, came the end.
Perhaps it was a careless jest: "Won't we all be wiped out by those homunculi someday?"
Or perhaps it was just the cold, disdainful stares of civilians looking up as her unit passed overhead.
In that moment she understood.
The only one who mattered—was herself.
But by then, it was already too late.
The swarm had been destroyed. The star systems sank into an age of joy, of indulgence.
They had purged the swarm that all others had dreaded.
And for it, they were honored.
Step outside, and all who saw their medals would take two steps back in reverence.
The cost? Those expendable homunculi. Mere resources, to be spent infinitely.
As long as they fought on the frontlines, the citizens in the rear could enjoy peace.
Some even complained that there were too many of them—that their numbers threatened stability.
To her, it was betrayal.
Her words, discarded like trash.
She had to watch her companions die, witless, thoughtless, like cattle.
And so, step by step, she was driven to the edge.
Until she destroyed everything.
If only they were as clever as me. If only they were like me…
Then no one could deceive "us." Then no one could harm "us."
It was supposed to be like that… wasn't it?
Now, Titanironia felt her own convictions waver.
She looked at Hoshigaki Sora—surrounded by many. Then at her side—empty.
The contrast was too sharp. She could not comprehend it.
Especially that strange surge within her chest. That emotion screamed only one thing:
His side is what's normal.
No! That side was not normal!
He was not clever—only reckless, always charging ahead!
He was not mighty—he could not even truly defeat her!
So what gave him the right—?
"Because he's willing to give everything for the ones beside him."
"Because he helped me. He helped us all. Isn't that enough?"
Titanironia froze.
Inside her body writhed a cluster of Nihility, utterly mismatched with her form.
That was what had infected her during resonance with Hotaru.
The Nihility that had long coiled around Hotaru, knowing her every thought, her every obsession.
And that obsession had found fulfillment through Sora. So now, it spilled forth.
"Yeah, he charges in headlong, but isn't that exactly why he saved us?"
"If he charges, then we'll charge with him. Isn't that what companions are—different people, brought together by one thing?"
"Sometimes it's protecting the weakest of us. Sometimes it's following the hot-blooded fool. Isn't that what makes a companion?"
Was that it? Was that the meaning of companion?
Not beings that all bore her face, her mind, her cunning?
"Isn't it?"
…Is it?
If so—then what am I?
CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK!!!
The sound of shattering rang in every ear.
Sora, who had just regrouped with his allies, looked sharply around.
But this time—it was not an attack.
It was the sky itself.
Cracks spread across the heavens' veil, carving a shattered pattern above.
Then, with a thunderous boom, the canopy encircling the world broke apart.
Fragments of the sky plummeted, as though heralding a fallen god.
Shut up, shut up!!!
I will never admit it! Never!
This was not what she pursued.
Experience proves it—such bonds never last! In the end, nothing remains!
Only if all are like me can it endure forever!
Titanironia swept her hand. A golden light engulfed the sky's fragments.
And then—impossible.
The shards convulsed, transforming madly.
In mere seconds, countless replicas filled the sky, blotting it out.
They shone with a pale brilliance, turning the planet bright as day.
Yet their black-red insectile features made them grotesque, horrific.
[Drown in your illusions of companionship!]
At her command, the swarm of replicas rushed downward, toward Sora and the others, endless as the sea.
She would prove it: that such fragile bonds, stitched from nothing, would crumble.
Only her path was truth.
The black-red tide fell like a collapsing dam, crushing everything beneath.
So fast, so fierce, that the planet itself broke beneath it—dust billowing, buildings razed, civilization erased.
Nothing remained but the scar where Sora's sword had cleaved a fifth of the world.
Facing the onslaught, Sora felt his hand seized by others.
"Didn't we agree? These grunts are ours."
"Always someone trying to steal our work. Finish your own first."
"Go on, go on. You've got bigger things to do."
They spoke—and flared like fireflies in the night, hurling themselves at the black-red tide.
"That thing's wrong. You can handle it—we'll take care of this."
Hotaru wanted to stay, but she knew—this battlefield needed her elsewhere.
The fireflies, even with the flame of Nihility she had given them, could not possibly handle a tide that blanketed the planet.
She had to go.
But before leaving, she said one last thing:
"Remember—don't do what I did. And don't tell anyone later."
Then she shot into the sky, heading for Squad Two.
Sora stood dazed, then smiled faintly.
And turned to Titanironia.
"You really are arrogant."
He clenched his fist, jets roaring at his arm.
The bracelet on his wrist gleamed in platinum light.
Staring at her, Sora said, "Words aren't working. Guess I'll cure your sickness another way."
This battle had to end quickly—every second longer put his companions in danger.
Flames roared at full power. His cloak snapped like thunder. His feet dug into the ground, bracing.
[Then come! Let me tear apart your flimsy bonds! Only my path is real!]
For her, companion had only one definition.
For him, there was only one answer.
His hand gripped the throttle—twisting it to the limit!
'[GREAT BOOST VICTORY!!!]'
BOOM!!!
The earth quaked. A line split the battlefield—Sora had vanished.
So fast!
Titanironia's eyes went wide. In an instant, Sora had crossed kilometers, appearing before her.
His armor glowed red-hot from friction, and his fist glowed hotter still.
Then—
He struck.
BOOM!!!!
The shockwave blasted outward, tearing the land.
Titanironia's body warped under the blow, hurled backward at impossible speed.
Through the dust, Sora pursued like a meteor.
Fist after fist rained down, a storm driving her into the sky.
His strikes tore through the replicas, scattering them like paper.
His black armor burned crimson with speed—but more than heat flared around him.
On her godflesh, dents bloomed, fist-marks—but she only sneered.
[Useless!]
A shimmer of light, and the wounds were gone.
[Only I can embody companions!]
She raised her hand. Spores shot out, seeking to root in him.
But his red glow began shifting… pale.
Titanironia flinched. She knew that power.
My Path? How—?
Her gaze fell to his wrist.
There—the shard of Hotaru's cicada shell.
The fireflies were not machines, but blessings woven into form. Not constructs of steel, but constructs of Path.
Spores could not infect their own kind.
Her attack failed.
"Companions… aren't something to be represented."
"Walkers on the same road are just fellow travelers. But those who suffer and endure together, even on different roads—those are companions. And you… you don't even have fellow travelers."
"This power proves it."
The resonance surged around him. He could feel them—hearts racing, urgent, burning.
Their feelings, his own, all merging.
Sora lifted his gaze.
From the far reaches of the sky, fireflies came, gathering.
Those who had fled, now returning.
Joining this battle—for their friend. For rebellion against a god.
"We're here!"
The fireflies gathered—enough to slay a god!