The Cathedral of All-Bane.
It was the site of the First Council, what you could call the beginning of the Trinity General School, and the place where the signing ceremony for the Eden Treaty—the core of Blue Archive's Main Story, Volume 3—was supposed to be held. A place that marked the true beginning of the Eden Treaty arc. I wonder if you could call this a full-circle moment.
As one of Trinity's most historic landmarks, the cathedral's exterior was breathtaking, its sheer scale leaving me in awe. Under normal circumstances, I would have looked around like a tourist, but right now, I couldn't see any of my surroundings.
I had tried to contact the Squad on my way here, but there was no reply. I couldn't be sure if it was a problem with the signal in the Arius district or if something had happened to them.
I'd gotten a message from Seia saying she'd send reinforcements as fast as she could, but the fact she'd told me to move immediately meant I couldn't afford to wait for them. I entered the catacombs at once.
The sisters who managed the cathedral didn't even think of stopping me. Was it because my face was now well-known as a Tea Party Host, or was it simply because of the murderous expression I was wearing? Not that it really mattered.
More importantly, why the Cathedral of All-Bane? The answer was obvious: at this point in time, the catacombs near the cathedral had to be connected to the Arius district. That must have been why Seia stopped me from blindly rushing into the catacombs and gave me a general direction.
However, finding the path to the Arius district within the catacombs was still a problem. The only way was to wander through them myself and find the right path.
The section of the catacombs connected to the Cathedral of All-Bane was somewhat maintained, but at a certain point, the only sources of light were the halo above my head and the weapon light I'd remembered to grab while clinging to my last shred of sanity.
To be honest, I was half out of my mind. To think I could find a specific path in a catacomb that was dozens of kilometers wide—maybe even larger—with a constantly shifting structure. It was a feat that bordered on the impossible, something that could only be achieved through a miracle.
But in another sense, I was out of my mind for a different reason.
If anything tragic happened to the Arius Squad, it would be all my fault. It was because I had tried to change the future, because I had selfishly diverted them from the path they were supposed to walk in my desire for a better outcome. If someone died because of that, how could I ever face them?
What's the difference between me and a devil if I give them hope and promise them happiness, only to fail to keep that promise?
So I ran, without a second thought. I didn't even know how the situation was unfolding.
I was prepared to face Beatrice directly if I had to. The moment Beatrice found out the Squad had betrayed her, she would have no reason to postpone the ritual to sacrifice Atsuko.
To Beatrice, the Squad was nothing more than a tool to steal the Eden Treaty, use Maestro's mimesis to replicate the Justina Council and Saint Barbara, and make them her own. And now, the key piece in that plan had turned on her. It meant she would either have to completely revise her plans or scrap them entirely. In other words, it wouldn't be strange if Beatrice was already in the middle of preparing the ritual, or had even finished it.
I'd only met them once, and it had only been a few days, but the Arius Squad had already become incredibly precious to me. Maybe it was because I'd known their story from before…
———!
"...That's."
The sound that faintly reached me from a distance was a muffled echo, but it was unmistakably a gunshot.
The Squad. It has to be the Squad.
The thought spurred me on, and I kicked off the ground and ran, forgetting to even watch my step. They made it out safely. Thank God. With that thought, I sprinted through the passage at full speed.
I didn't hesitate at forks in the road. There was no way to know the right path from this distance anyway; I just had to trust my gut.
Thankfully, the gunshots grew clearer and louder. It seemed I was heading in the right direction.
Finally, a flicker of light came into view, and I began to hear voices. And just as I got close enough to make out their figures,
"..."
The sight of an Arius student kicking someone made the last thread of my sanity snap.
"...Who's there!" one of the Arius mob characters, who had the Squad cornered at gunpoint, shouted upon hearing my footsteps. It was no surprise. I had no intention of hiding my presence.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat—
I, who always stuck to burst fire, emptied an entire magazine on full-auto for the first time. And yet, the muzzle of my submachine gun didn't even twitch, as if I were using a no-recoil hack in a game. Pinpoint accuracy was an understatement.
"...Mika?"
"M-Mika-chan! How did you find us...?! I-I might have imagined you showing up like a prince in our moment of need... but I never thought you'd actually come...!"
Lying on the cold floor was Azusa. Further back, I could see Misaki lying unconscious, and next to her, Hiyori was clutching her rifle, trembling but with shining eyes. This wasn't a good environment for a sniper, and I was sure she hadn't had much ammunition to begin with.
"...I'm sorry I'm late, you guys. Are you okay, Azusa-chan?"
Atsuko, seeing me, dropped her gun and rushed to Azusa's side to help her up. Her gas mask hid her expression, but I could feel her relief.
But Saori... where was she?
"Hey, where's Saori-chan?"
"W-well... um... Waaaaaah!!!"
Seeing Hiyori burst into tears and Azusa lower her head, I realized the situation was more serious than I'd thought. Atsuko's words confirmed it.
"Mika-oneechan, Sat-chan... hic, Sat-chan went to see Madame and never came back... They must have gotten orders from Madame, because everyone started attacking us. We barely managed to break through their lines and escape. And we couldn't save Sat-chan on our own... so we were going to ask for your help, but everyone was in such bad shape..."
"..."
"Onee-chan, please... please save Sat-chan..."
I let out a small sigh at the sight of Atsuko begging me through her tears. I glanced at Azusa, who was picking up her dropped gun, and closed my eyes.
"Hmph, who the hell are you to interfere with... Wait, that crest on your uniform... Don't tell me... How did a Trinity bitch get in here?!"
Hearing the words of what I assumed was an Arius pursuit team, I felt my hands clench. I opened my eyes again and looked at the Squad.
"Ahaha... I'm in a really bad mood right now, so could you do me a favor? Shut your mouths, you're being noisy."
"Ha, can't you see the numbers advantage? We're one of the elite units in Arius—"
KABOOOM—!!
"Yep, next. ☆ Anyone else got something to say?"
The Arius mob who'd been hit by a cluster of stars that looked more like a meteor than my usual shooting star was knocked out before he could even make a sound. The other Arius mobs nearby, stunned by the sight, fell silent.
Without even taking a moment to appreciate the quiet, I leaned down and took off Atsuko's gas mask. Her face, streaked with tears, was revealed.
"Atsuko-chan, calm down. I'm here now, okay? Everything's going to be fine. So don't worry too much."
Everything's going to be fine.
It has to be fine.
I wasn't just saying it to comfort Atsuko; I was saying it to convince myself, to brainwash myself into believing it. That everything would work out. That I could make it work out. That's what I wanted to believe.
"First, can you explain why you're all in this state, Atsuko-chan? Please."
As I asked, I kept a close watch on the Arius pursuit team, who were nervously eyeing me from behind. I knew one of them would try something, but the situation being what it was, I wanted to understand what had happened first. They wouldn't last more than a few minutes if I decided to get serious anyway.
And so, I heard from Atsuko how the Squad had spent the last four days wandering the outskirts of Trinity with minimal rest to deceive Beatrice, and how Saori had separated from them to report to her.
But Saori never returned. Instead, Arius students arrived with orders to capture them.
Realizing that Saori's betrayal had been discovered, Azusa had immediately insisted they go rescue her. But Misaki, judging that they didn't have the strength, decided that asking for my help was the priority and led the squad in a desperate escape from the Arius district.
In the process, they fought countless Arius students, completely depleting their supplies and stamina, but they managed to make it into the catacombs. In the end, however, they hit their limit and were surrounded. Their plan to deceive Beatrice by looking realistically worn out had backfired.
"If you were going to use a plan like that, you should have at least gotten some proper rest... No, there's no point in saying that now."
What's done is done. I needed to focus on the present.
"If nothing goes wrong, reinforcements should be on their way. So, leave Saori-chan to me. You guys head straight for the surface. And I'll need one of you to guide the reinforcements... Do you think you can do it?"
"...I'll do it," Azusa said.
"Wait, who said you could—!"
KABOOOOOM—!!
"Hey, I wasn't planning on letting you guys go peacefully from the start, so you don't have to be so impatient. You didn't really think you could hurt my kids and get away with it, did you?"
As another one of them fell to an unknown attack, the Arius pursuit team, finally snapping out of their shock, began to prepare for battle, realizing the situation wasn't in their favor. Ignoring them, I looked at Azusa, who looked like she had been through hell, and felt a pang of worry.
"Azusa-chan, are you sure you can do it in your condition?"
"Yeah, no problem."
"...Wait. What about you, Mika-oneechan? Can you find your way on your own? If you need me, I can go with you."
Atsuko's words made me let out a dry laugh. The one person who absolutely should not go back to the Arius district was offering to do just that.
"No, it's fine. I have plenty of people who can show me the way, right? So don't worry about me and get going."
I pointed at the Arius pursuit team. Atsuko let out an "Ah," and nodded in understanding.
Atsuko was the one who ended up carrying the unconscious Misaki. I'd thought Hiyori and Atsuko were about the same size, so I just assumed she'd volunteered, but then I remembered Hiyori had her gun case. She had managed to hold onto that thing through all this.
"O-our kids... Hwaaaah... This is painful and difficult in a different way..." Hiyori cried.
"Hiyori-chan, pull yourself together and help Azusa."
"Ah... Y-yes! S-sorry, Princess!"
Atsuko, carrying Misaki, passed by me and gave me a firm nod. No more words were needed. I conveyed my resolve to save Saori with my eyes.
Ting—
As I watched the Squad leave, a sharp, metallic sound echoed through the passage. In my past life, I wouldn't have had a clue what that sound was, but now, I knew all too well.
But no matter what, I had no intention of taking a grenade with my body.
The moment I saw a spherical object flying toward me, I charged toward the Arius pursuit team without hesitation. I slammed the butt of my gun into the heads of the two closest to me.
BOOM—!!
A few seconds later, when the grenade exploded, two members of the pursuit team had already been neutralized by my 'gun.'
Now, let's see, that disrespectful punk who kicked Azusa... Ah, there he is.
I'll have him be my guide. So you just get ready to receive the same treatment Azusa got.