"...Does it matter what tool is used?"
Saori shook her head while slowly yet swiftly pulling out a rifle from behind her and aiming it at Azusa. At the same time, she casually put away the handgun that felt increasingly scorching hot even through her gloves.
"What do you think drives people to kill? The answer is whether killing intent exists or not. Azusa, as long as there's killing intent, it doesn't matter what tool is used. The only thing that truly matters is the will in one's heart."
After hearing that, Azusa continued questioning her.
"So back then... did you harbor killing intent toward Sensei?"
Saori narrowed her eyes and said with emotion:
"Do you still not understand even now, Azusa? To us, Sensei was nothing more than a useful tool. Just like cruise missiles, halo bombs, and the guns we use... everything was only to prove our hatred toward Trinity and Gehenna. That was all."
"'Whether you believe it or not, that wasn't my true intention.'"
Azusa repeated the response Saori had given earlier to her questioning, then quietly said:
"That's what you said before."
"...Azusa, do you know why you lost?"
After a moment of silence, Saori threw out the question. Without waiting for Azusa to answer, she gave the answer herself.
"Because you're too weak. Even now, you're still obsessing over such a completely insignificant problem. How weak."
Hearing that, Azusa asked again:
"Then why won't the strong you listen to answer an insignificant question directly? Saori, you really are..."
Bang!
Saori, pushed beyond her limit by the questioning, responded with a bullet.
Amid Azusa's quiet cry of pain, Saori sneered.
"How weak, Shirasu Azusa. It's that laughable weakness of yours that's binding you down. Were you happy at Trinity? Living together with people you like, staying with people who understand you... hehe, how hollow."
"...Just like how you were at Schale, guh!"
"I told you, I'm not like you! I knew that was only a mission!"
Saori fired another shot and let out a suppressed roar.
"Remember it already! The only ones who can truly understand and accept us are on this side! How long are you going to keep running from reality? It's exactly this weakness that made you lose so miserably!"
"Who's the one deceiving themselves here!?"
Azusa glared furiously at Saori as well.
"Arisu-san already told me everything about how you were at Schale! Saori, tell me, why do we have to be bound by the hatred we learned in that place? Why can't we have happiness? That hatred, whose is it really supposed to be...!"
"...Hollow."
Saori pulled the trigger once more, interrupting the infuriating questioning.
Then she suddenly noticed something and snatched a fluffy white object from Azusa's waist.
"What is this? A stuffed toy? Heh, even in this situation you still won't part with it, huh? The first gift you received from a friend..."
Feeling something unusual from the back of the chicken-shaped doll, Saori casually flipped it over for a glance, then suddenly fell silent.
There was a photograph attached there.
Saori was more familiar with the person in the photo than anyone.
"Peroro is a gift from a friend, but the photograph was given to me by Sensei."
Azusa paused briefly.
"Do you have one?"
"...Heh. What stupid nonsense are you talking about now?"
Saori suddenly let out a cold laugh and tossed the stuffed toy aside.
"Truly hollow."
The next instant, flames burst from the muzzle as a rain of bullets poured forth, continuously striking Azusa's frail body.
"Hollow, hollow, hollow, hollow, hollow, hollow, hollow, hollow..."
Every time a bullet struck, she repeated that word, one long carved into her very bones by Arius's cruel education.
Until two magazines had been emptied, Saori stared at Azusa, whose entire body trembled in pain yet showed no intention of yielding. The expression beneath her mask twisted further and further.
"Friendship... and even love...? Truly hollow, Shirasu Azusa. To betray us for such hollow and useless things... if that's the case, then let me tear them apart with my own hands."
Just as Saori prepared to reload another magazine, her arm was grabbed.
Turning her head, she saw Atsuko shaking her head at her. Saori's expression softened slightly, and her tone calmed considerably.
"Princess... don't worry. I already held back. She needs to understand which side she truly belongs to..."
Yet seizing that opening, Azusa, who still had strength remaining, flipped up from the ground and leapt away like a fleeing rabbit.
Seeing this, Saori shouted furiously:
"Azusa, you're still trying to run!?"
Not having had time to reload her rifle magazine, Saori instinctively pulled out the handgun from her chest. The instant she realized she had grabbed the wrong one again and hesitated, Azusa had already detonated another booby trap and escaped using the explosion as cover.
By the time the smoke cleared, the white-haired girl's figure had completely disappeared.
"...Still just as fast at running as ever."
Saori said calmly, lowering her gaze without any intention of continuing the pursuit.
"Forget it. That girl will come back again anyway."
Atsuko tilted her head in confusion.
Saori picked up the stuffed toy and casually tore something off the back before slipping it into her pocket as she explained:
"Because she dropped this important 'proof of friendship.' That girl will definitely come back for it."
Hearing that, Atsuko signed her concern at Saori's certainty.
"...A bug that sees light in the darkness can't survive without it. This kind of boring thing is probably the light supporting Azusa's heart. She can't give it up. She'll definitely come back for it. When that time comes, we'll catch her and teach her the truth of this world again. That's right, even if we have to force it into her..."
At that moment, Atsuko made several more gestures, causing Saori to pause before sighing.
"...Princess, I'm not a bug either, and I won't be tempted by boring things..."
However, Saori suddenly frowned at the abrupt beeping sound.
After slicing open the stuffed toy with the knife she carried, her expression drastically changed as she stared at the foreign object buried inside that had already begun counting down.
"This is the one handed to her during the attack on Seia... Run, Princess!"
The next instant, white light swallowed everything.
Meanwhile, after pressing the button with resolve and fleeing the building without once looking back, Azusa continued desperately running for her life.
Only dozens of minutes later did she finally stop, sitting dejectedly by the roadside with her face buried in her knees.
At first came a muffled sob.
Then that sob quickly turned into heart-wrenching wailing.
The drizzling rain could not cool the burning tears, nor wash away the sins that had been committed.
...
A drop of coldness suddenly fell onto my head.
"...So it really started raining."
But there was no longer any need to open an umbrella anymore.
Shaking my head, I quickly walked into the dormitory building ahead of me.