As the reality of the situation sank in, I descended into a state of pure panic.
"The night we went to the theater for the first time... were you the one who killed me?"
I asked the question, trying to unravel the truth one thread at a time.
"Yeah, I was," she said, confirming it without a hint of hesitation.
"Then who killed you in the second loop?"
That night, Ageha had left our room and never returned. I had found her body in the hallway later.
"I killed her."
"What do you mean?" I asked, completely lost.
"Well, to be more precise, she killed me," Ageha said, pointing to Black Ageha lying at her feet.
I see. It was Black Ageha who had killed her that night.
"Then who killed me after that?"
"I think it was her."
So Black Ageha had been the one to take my life in the second loop.
"You mean... you two were killing each other?"
"Mhm. We had an agreement that the winner would take control of the personality in the following loop. I won the first time, so I was the one who woke up. She won the next, so she took over. I won this time, which means I'll be the one to wake up in the next loop. That's what we decided together."
It started to make sense. That explained why Black Ageha's body was now lying on the ground.
"And what about you not realizing we were looping? You told me that before."
For some reason, I’d been under the impression that Ageha lost her memories of the previous timeline whenever we reset. It was why I’d felt I had to solve everything myself.
"That was a lie. I remember the last time, and the time before that. I don't remember this current run as clearly because she was the Master Personality, but I still have some of it."
"Why would you lie to me?"
"I didn't want you to know," she said, looking me straight in the eye.
"Why... why would you do all of this?"
I still couldn't wrap my head around it. I had no idea what her motive was or what she was thinking.
"Well..." Ageha hesitated, searching for the right words. "Hey, Kiska. Since we both know we'll just loop anyway, don't you think death is... a very trivial thing for us?"
"I mean, maybe, but..."
"Then, will you die for me one more time?"
"Wait, what?! Why?!" I took a step back, bracing myself for an attack.
"I'm so happy right now. Being with you... I don't want to destroy this happiness."
"Explain it properly! Give me a real reason!" I was getting frustrated. Her words were too vague; she was dancing around the point.
"Listen, Kiska. You said that 'Observer' sent you to this era, right? And that you could go back to your original time once the world was officially saved."
"What does that have to do with this?"
The Observer had said that. It was the reason I’d been so anxious when we didn't return to our era after the Demon King died. I’d been terrified that something else was coming to destroy the world. But with everything else going on—being hunted by a mystery killer—I’d pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind. I’d been more focused on the culprit than the apocalypse.
"Tonight, the Tyrant King will awaken. And the world will end."
"The Tyrant King?" I frowned. I’d never heard that name before. Where was this coming from?
"The one who leads the world to ruin."
"So... you're saying this Tyrant King is going to destroy everything?"
"Yes. Exactly."
"But you said before that you had no idea why the world was ending."
"That was a lie too. The battle isn't over just because the Demon King is dead. The Tyrant King is the real enemy. I've already seen the world perish at his hands once before."
"Is that... really true?" I shivered. So the world really was doomed to end tonight.
"I'm sorry, Kiska. I've told you so many lies."
"Yeah..." As I nodded, Ageha began to slowly close the distance between us.
"I'm so happy right now, getting to spend my days with you. I just keep thinking... I want this time to last forever."
"I understand how you feel, but that's impossible."
"It's easy, if you help me."
"What do you mean?"
"If you die every time this day comes around, time will rewind. The future will never arrive. If we do that, we can stay together for eternity."
It was true. If I died, time looped. If we used that, we could repeat these days forever. Was that really the kind of "happiness" she meant?
"Why can't we just work together to defeat the Tyrant King?"
"You can't defeat him. It's impossible," she said flatly.
Ageha was stronger than anyone I knew. If she was this certain that victory was impossible, just how monstrous was this Tyrant King?
"What kind of thing is he?"
"The moment he awakens, you'll die in agony. You'd be able to keep your consciousness for maybe a minute at most. I could probably hold out for three. Normal people? They wouldn't last a few seconds. They'd all just die without even knowing why. That's the kind of being he is. He destroys the world simply by waking up."
"What...?" I was speechless. I’d been imagining a physical fight, something with punches or swords. Her answer left me dazed. He destroys the world just by waking? It made no sense.
"Is he even human?"
"I don't know. I think he's something closer to the Domain of God. I don't know where he is, and I've never actually seen him."
"Then how do you know he's the cause? From your perspective, wouldn't it just look like everyone was dropping dead?"
"Because he spoke to me. Telepathically. That's how I knew this was the work of a conscious will. And I know his name is the Tyrant King because that's how he introduced himself."
"I see..."
"So, do you really think someone like you can kill a thing like that?"
I couldn't answer. I couldn't say "yes." How could I possibly beat something like a god? But wait... I came from the world 100 years later. That meant the world hadn't ended. And I'd never even heard of a "Tyrant King." If such a thing had existed, surely there would be stories or legends?
"Wait... how did we survive in the future? If something like that appeared, the world shouldn't have made it. But I've never even heard of him."
"Because I made a deal... I begged him not to destroy the world."
I’d assumed the Tyrant King was a heartless monster, but he was apparently willing to negotiate.
"Then just make the deal again."
"No! Never! I won't do it again!!" Ageha's face was twisted with raw desperation. I could feel her hatred for the idea radiating off her.
"What was the deal...?"
"I'd have to be sealed inside a barrier for another hundred years."
...Oh. That's why I'd found her in that barrier in my time.
"Please, Kiska! I'm begging you! Just die again so we can keep living this time together!"
She was pleading with me now. I thought I understood the agony of being sealed. I'd been sealed by Warrior Golgano once. If Vampire Eudite hadn't rescued me, I probably would have lost my mind. I couldn't bring myself to say something as cruel as "go back into the seal" to her.
If I died, the world would loop. When the ninth day arrived, I would die again. If we repeated that cycle, we could live these nine days forever. I would be with Ageha.
Maybe... maybe it wasn't a bad idea.
But was it really the right thing to do?
I just didn't know.