"Big Sister. I’ve decided to start dating Ray."
"Eh...?"
It had begun.
I left the stage to Maria. I did so because she had looked at me with eyes full of resolve and told me she wanted to handle it herself.
I quietly watched the scene unfold.
"Is... is that really true?"
Rebecca-senpai addressed me, not Maria.
I nodded, of course. Even though I knew it was a lie, I had no other choice.
"Sorry, Big Sister. I just thought I should let you know."
"I see... Is that so..."
Her shoulders slumped, and she cast her eyes downward.
However, she immediately forced a smile, attempting to maintain her usual composure.
"C-Congratulations! Um... I’ve always worried that Maria might never find someone nice, so I’m happy for her! Ray-san, please take good care of Maria from now on, okay?"
"Yes. Of course."
I could tell she was deeply shaken.
But all I could do was allow myself to be swept along by the situation we had created.
"Well, I’m sure some people will make a fuss about Ray being an Ordinary. But I don't care. We love each other so much, after all."
Maria clung to my arm, hugging me tightly.
I returned the gesture, holding her just as she held me.
Seeing this, Senpai clenched her fists until they white and turned on her heel.
"Then, if you'll excuse me... I'll be going..."
At that moment, Maria spoke again.
"It must be nice for you, Big Sister. You’ve always had everything I lacked. That’s why I’m going to be happy now. I’m going to seize the happiness I’ve chosen for myself, by my own will. But that's fine, right? After all, you have everything. You couldn't choose your fiancé, sure, but he's a good person and his family lineage is flawless."
"..."
It was the first time I had ever seen it.
In Rebecca-senpai's eyes, there was anger.
It wasn't just her eyes. Her entire face was warped with rage.
Hideously so.
I had always perceived Senpai as a kind person. But that was merely my own assumption. Every human possesses a full spectrum of emotions.
It wasn't strange for her to be angry.
Nevertheless, her fury was extraordinary.
Wrath.
That was the only word for it.
"What? Do you have a problem?"
Maria was baiting her.
Releasing my arm, Maria strode forward and looked down at Rebecca-senpai, her voice dripping with provocation.
"You’ve always been like that, Big Sister. You’ve always held what I wanted in the palm of your hand. So it’s fine, right? Well? Say something."
"..."
Senpai stood trembling, her head bowed.
The atmosphere was incredibly precarious.
I felt a chill of genuine fear.
Maria confronted Rebecca-senpai head-on.
"I—! You have no idea! No idea what kind of feelings I’ve lived with!!"
A roar of anger.
Her voice turned harsh and jagged.
The Senpai I knew was nowhere to be found.
Surrendering herself to pure rage, she hurled vitriol at Maria.
"Huh? How should I know? What’s your point?"
"You're always like this! You just hide in my shadow and run away!!"
"What are you talking about? I've had it rough too! Always being compared to you, Big Sister!"
"It was the same for me! It was agonizing! I've spent so long in nothing but pain! But I told myself it was for Maria's sake! I truly believed that... and yet, to hear you say such things... I can't believe it!"
Rebecca-senpai’s breathing became heavy and labored.
Suddenly, a sharp crack echoed across the roof.
"Eh...?"
Maria had slapped Rebecca-senpai across the cheek.
"Getting all emotional like that is pathetic. You did all those things on your own, didn't you? It's a bit late to bring that up to me now."
"...You!!"
Rebecca-senpai slapped Maria back without a moment's hesitation.
Both of their cheeks began to swell, turning a vivid red.
Maria watched calmly. She watched Senpai, who was hyper-stimulated by her own surging emotions.
But it wasn't enough. It hadn't reached the breaking point yet.
My heart ached. This wasn't what I wanted. I didn't want to do this.
But I had to push Senpai even further.
It was agonizing. I felt as if I were about to break as well.
Clenching my fists, I stepped between them.
"Please stop, Senpai."
"Ray-san? Why...? You were always on my side..."
Her eyes were pleading.
Her face was etched with the look of someone suffering from a shock they couldn't process.
"I heard it all from Maria. Maria has been suffering this whole time. Using violence like that is the lowest thing you could do."
"Ah... B-But!"
Rebecca-senpai's face turned deathly pale.
In contrast, Maria clung to me again.
"Look, Ray. It hurts... Big Sister hit me..."
Maria looked up at me with tearful eyes. I stroked her head, accepting her.
I condemned Rebecca-senpai while validating Maria’s words and actions.
From Senpai’s perspective, it must have been unbearable.
The fact that the sincerity I had shown her up until now was being used as a weapon against her was almost more than I could stand.
Maria gripped my arm with painful intensity.
It wasn't just Rebecca-senpai.
All three of us were in agony.
Maria and I, knowing the truth, were simply miserable. But Rebecca-senpai was suffering far more. She must have felt utterly betrayed by both of us.
I couldn't even begin to imagine the depth of that pain.
"Hey, Big Sister."
"W-What...?"
"I knew you were suffering."
"Eh...?"
"The truth is, the reason you’re so angry right now is probably—"
Before Maria could finish her thought, Rebecca-senpai raised her hand again.
She slapped Maria’s cheek just as she had done before.
Panting, Senpai glared at her sister with eyes full of pure hatred.
"...Don't act like you know! When you don't know anything! You don't know anything at all!!"
"I do know. We're sisters, after all. I'm sorry, Big Sister."
Maria smirked.
It was an blatant attempt to taunt and provoke.
"U-Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!"
Finally losing all control, Rebecca-senpai lunged at Maria.
The two of them tumbled to the floor. Rebecca-senpai mounted her, slapping her and screaming through ragged breaths.
"You don't know a thing about me!!"
"You're always like this, Big Sister! If you have something to say, just say it!!"
"I can't say it! I’ve had no choice but to endure it all this time!"
"Because you bottle it up! Because you run away from your true feelings! That's why you regret everything!"
"Shut up, shut up, shut up!! I hated you, Maria! I’ve always, always hated you! Always being protected, always acting the pitiable tragic heroine—I hated you! I always hated how you could act so freely!!"
"I felt the same! Unlike me, everyone praised you. You were beautiful and graceful, and I hated you, Big Sister! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you so much!"
They were both physically and mentally spent. Their faces were distorted by tears.
Both Rebecca-senpai and Maria were weeping.
I should have stopped it. But I didn't. I simply stood there, watching the scene unfold.
"Then you should have just said so from the start!! That you hate me and wish I’d just disappear! You’ve always thought that, haven't you, Big Sister?! That you didn't need me! That House Bradley didn't need me!"
A tragic, piercing cry.
Tears streaming down her face, Maria bared her soul to Rebecca-senpai.
"How... how could you think..."
Rebecca-senpai lost her momentum and simply slumped onto the ground, dazed.
Her uniform was in tatters, and tears overflowed uncontrollably from her eyes.
"I... I..."
Rebecca-senpai continued in a trembling voice.
Maria and I just watched her silently.
"I never once... thought I wanted Maria to disappear... I hate you. There are things about you I hate!! But I love Maria!! Don't say such things! Don't say something so sad!"
Rebecca-senpai directed her own tragic cry back at Maria.
"...Big Sister."
Without pausing to fix her disheveled hair, Maria watched her sister's condition with a grave expression.
At that moment.
I sensed something go wrong.
"Maria is... Maria is my precious little sister. And Ray-san too. Everyone... A-Ah, my head... It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"
A torrent of Prima Materia began to overflow.
As I had feared, what Maria had warned me about was true.
"Maria!! Get back!!"
"Y-Yeah!!"
Picking up her small frame, I retreated with Maria. I had already established a barrier within this domain.
I had fully restored my power as the Ice Sword Sorcerer. It was a strange sensation. I felt as though my senses were harmonizing with my power better than ever before.
Was this... a resonance with Senpai?
"Maria. Wait there."
"Please... take care of Big Sister..."
"I will."
I stepped forward.
The overflow of Prima Materia showed no signs of stopping.
The crimson Prima Materia swirled around Senpai in a violent vortex. I began to suppress it using Deceleration and Lock.
Rebecca-senpai was currently undergoing a Magic Area Overheat.
I knew this because I had experienced it myself.
And this had been our objective.
To artificially trigger Rebecca-senpai’s Magic Area Overheat.
That was my role.
A Magic Area Overheat can be caused by the excessive use of sorcery, but it can also be triggered when emotions become too intense to contain.
Senpai's case was special, but my reason for being here was to draw it out and then suppress it. The power she possessed had to be sealed.
And I was the only one capable of handling this Magic Area Overheat.
"Senpai."
"R-Ray-san...?"
She likely couldn't even see me properly.
Rebecca-senpai was simply crouching in the center of the vortex.
"I... I did something horrible to Maria... I knew I shouldn't have acted like that... I'm so ugly, aren't I?"
"..."
"Haha... are you disillusioned with me?"
While suppressing her Prima Materia, I faced her as she wept.
"Not at all. Everyone carries such things inside them. I still respect you just as much as I always have, Senpai."
"But..."
"Besides, I'm the one who made you suffer..."
I felt a surge of regret.
Perhaps there had been another way.
But I had executed the plan exactly as Maria had suggested. I did it because I believed this was the best course of action—the only way.
Still, what remained in my heart was a heavy sense of atonement toward Senpai.
"What do you mean by that...?"
"I'll tell you everything once this is over. For now, please sleep."
I gently pulled Senpai’s body into an embrace.
As if to shield her from the world, I wrapped my arms around her gently and slowly.
Then, I ran the Code.
<<Prima Materia = Encoding = Material Code>> <<Material Code = Decoding>> <<Material Code = Processing = Deceleration = Lock>> <<Embodiment = Phenomenon>>
"—Chronos Lock."
The sorcery I activated was Chronos Lock.
I locked Senpai’s specific Magic Area.
With that, the surrounding Prima Materia began to converge, and Rebecca-senpai lost consciousness.
"...Big Sister. Is she okay?"
"Yeah. It was a success."
"Thank goodness..."
Maria slumped down where she stood.
She seemed to have completely relaxed now that the tension had broken.
"Maria. About that..."
"It's fine. What I said was how I really felt, and I knew I needed to face Big Sister eventually. But, ahaha... I never imagined Big Sister would hit me that hard. I ended up hitting her for real, too."
"...I'm sorry. All I could do was watch."
"I told you! It's fine! Honestly, pull yourself together."
"Yeah. You're right."
Just as I was thinking of carrying Rebecca-senpai to meet up with Master and the others, a voice called out from behind us.
"Whoops. I'm gonna need you to leave her behind."
I turned around.
Standing there was the man I had met that day.
This was as expected.
I had suspected he would show up at exactly this timing.
"Maria. Watch over Rebecca-senpai."
"...Understood."
I had already explained to Maria that a battle might occur.
And so, I faced him.
I completely released my own abilities.
A pale blue Prima Materia overflowed from me. Seeing this, my opponent gave a defiant smirk.
"So you really were the Ice Sword after all."
"Yes. And you are Paratrogo, correct? Known in some circles as Gluttony. You're quite famous in the underworld."
"Ho... many know me as Para, but you know that much? I see. It looks like the one pulling your strings is that person."
"Yeah. And you and I fighting here is part of a prepared scenario."
"Hahaha! Yeah, I know! But to think I'd get to fight the current Ice Sword... Hahaha! I'm getting pumped up!!"
A massive frame.
His body was incomparably larger than Evi's or the Club President's. Furthermore, the quality of the Prima Materia he was clad in was different.
I could tell just by his aura. This was a sorcerer drenched in blood, one who had spent his life committing slaughter after slaughter.
I knew, because he was just like me.
I ran the Code and activated my sorcery.
I gripped the manifested Ice Sword with both hands.
"—Here I come."
"Yeah! That's exactly what I wanted!!"
Illuminated by the faint moonlight, our battle began.