It had always been a phantom-like presence, appearing and disappearing at will.
It would manifest without warning to slaughter whatever stood before it. A mass of pure resentment and jealousy, it seemed eternally irritated by the very existence of others.
That was why it had decapitated the Vampire Eudite.
Knowing that a vampire would not die from simple beheading, the entity had meticulously crushed her skull, stirring the brain matter within. Only after the contents had been reduced to a bloody pulp did it finally feel the satisfaction of having killed the True Ancestor.
From there, it had begun to wander the Dungeon with slow, deliberate steps, hunting for its next prey.
And then, it had found them—the next targets.
"It’s just not fair."
the voice was viscous, thick with a clinging quality.
The entity glared down at us with piercing, judgmental eyes.
"Why are you the only one who gets to have it good? Why am I always the one stuck with the miserable roles?"
It wailed, the sound heavy with anguish.
"...Ageha?"
I stood there, paralyzed by a wall of sheer confusion.
The entity that had severed Ageha’s arm and sent me flying was Ageha herself.
"Ah... Aagh!"
At my feet, the Ageha who had lost her arm was still writhing in agony. There were two of them. Two Agehas stood before my eyes.
How...? What did this even mean?
It defied all logic.
"Who are you?" I demanded.
I wasn't even sure which one I was asking. Perhaps I was demanding an answer from both of them at once.
"I am Ageha Tsubaki," the one who had attacked us replied.
"How can there be two of the same person?"
At my question, she let out a sharp, self-mocking laugh. She pointed a trembling finger at the Ageha bleeding on the ground.
"That thing is a fake. An imitation of me. It pretends to be me so it can steal everything I have."
"What...?"
The explanation was so nonsensical that all I could do was let out a breath that was half-sigh, half-gasp.
According to Black Ageha—I decided to call the newcomer that to keep my own thoughts straight—she was the original, and the Ageha who had been traveling with me was a fraud.
I turned my gaze toward my companion, hoping for a rebuttal.
"I don't understand! I don't understand any of this! Why are there two of me?!"
Ageha clutched her head, her mind clearly fracturing under the stress.
I remembered then—Ageha had no memories. Even if she was accused of being a fake, she had no evidence to the contrary. She was the most confused person in the room.
"Hah! So you’ve just wiped every inconvenient memory so you can play house and start over? Honestly, your head is such a goddamn flower garden it makes me sick."
"I don't know anything about that!"
"The reason you don't know is because of your own choices! God... you’re absolutely pathetic!"
"I told you, I don't understand!"
Black Ageha and Ageha threw words back and forth like jagged stones.
"Kiska...! Please, help me..."
"I'm here."
Ageha reached out to me, clinging to my presence as her only lifeline.
I wanted to protect her, but I was at a loss. Even if I wanted to help, how was I supposed to "fix" a situation where two identical girls were claiming the same life?
"Ageha...?"
I noticed then that her shoulders were shaking violently.
Of course they were. If I were in her position—injured and confronted by a murderous double—I would be terrified out of my mind.
Driven by a simple need to ease her fear, I reached out and gently pulled her close.
"It’s just not fair," Black Ageha spat, her voice laced with poison.
"It’s so unfair. You get to play the victim, acting all cute so you can be doted on, while you shove every single unpleasant role onto me. You used me. Over and over and over again. I’m done. I can’t do this anymore. I’ve reached my limit. I wanted to be the one on that side. Because I loved ×××, too..."
The last part of her sentence was muffled, as if the world itself refused to let me hear the name.
But that didn't matter as much as what I saw next.
She was crying.
Black Ageha was weeping, large tears streaming down her face as she made her desperate appeal.
"I didn't... I didn't mean to..." Ageha stammered, trying to deny the accusations she didn't even remember.
I had to save her.
Honestly, I didn't know the truth of what had happened between them. I didn't know who was right or who was wrong. I didn't know where justice lay or who the "villain" was. I didn't have a single clue.
But when a girl is crying in front of me, I want to help her.
Of all the conflicting emotions swirling inside me, that was the only one that felt real. I reached out toward the crying girl instinctively.
"I can't do this anymore," Black Ageha whispered.
The fire in her eyes died out, replaced by a look of total, hollow resignation.
"If I knew it would end like this, I never should have saved it."
She looked around the room, her expression vacant.
"If this is what the world is like... then it’s better off not existing at all, right?"
Something was wrong.
Black Ageha was preparing to do something—something final. I didn't know what it was, but every instinct I possessed screamed that this was a catastrophe in the making.
"Stop! Ageha!"
I lunged forward, but I was already too late.
She spoke a single word, her voice barely a breath:
"<Reset>"