Shallow Vernal moved restlessly between dimensions, creating and destroying in a ceaseless cycle. While she knew it would be difficult to completely defeat Kuromueina with this method, it was more than sufficient to buy time.
As she repeated her one-sided attacks, Shallow Vernal caught sight of a faint, shimmering flash and averted her face.
The light grazed her cheek, leaving a small wound that naturally healed in an instant. Despite the lack of real damage, Shallow Vernal came to a halt, her mind clouded with astonishment.
The harm from that blow was nonexistent—but the fact that it had reached her at all was staggering.
Shallow Vernal had been attacking from a vantage point where Kuromueina should have been unable to strike back. A counterattack should have been impossible, at least according to Shallow Vernal's knowledge of Kuromueina’s abilities.
And yet, the counterattack had come. That realization alone forced Shallow Vernal to stop. A moment later, she caught the fist of the Kuromueina who had manifested directly before her eyes.
Glancing at the numerous dimensions collapsing from the aftershocks of their contact, Kuromueina let a faint smile play across her lips.
"I finally found you, Shiro!"
"...As I expected, you won't let things go as I planned quite so easily, will you?"
The reason Kuromueina had been able to track Shallow Vernal down lay in the unique ability she had activated: Prologue (Beginning of the Story).
In essence, that power was the Generation of Possibilities. The moment she invoked it served as the prologue, and from that point onward, the story could transform in any way imaginable. The future became filled with infinite potential.
Until moments ago, instantaneous teleportation between worlds and dimensions had been impossible for Kuromueina. Now, it was well within her reach.
The power to turn the impossible into the possible—that was the Prologue. It was a power she possessed precisely because she had nurtured so many fledglings and stood at the starting point of so many others' journeys.
With that power, Kuromueina had gained the capacity for instantaneous teleportation and used it to close the distance. In this state, Kuromueina held the advantage, possessing superior direct combat power.
Of course, even this did not mean she could truly defeat Shallow Vernal. The two powers inherent to the being known as Shallow Vernal—Epilogue (The End of the Story) and Last Story—were fundamentally beyond the scope of logic.
Even if Kuromueina used the power of the Prologue to make it possible to prevent the Epilogue...
Kuromueina would simply meet her end as "the existence that made it possible to prevent the Epilogue." That power did not exist on a level playing field where battles or comparisons of strength mattered.
No one and nothing could resist that conclusion. No matter the means or the abilities employed, as long as any story remained, an end would never come for Shallow Vernal.
However, in this specific moment, that transcendent factor was irrelevant.
The Epilogue currently resided within Kuromueina, and Shallow Vernal had no intention of reclaiming it. Furthermore, Kuromueina’s goal was merely to stop Shallow Vernal, not to destroy her.
Under those conditions, it was indeed possible for Kuromueina to win the confrontation. The scales of this battle were already tipping in her favor.
"——"
"Wha—Shiro... You..."
"——"
"...Urgh!?"
However, even if Kuromueina achieved a tactical victory over Shallow Vernal...
"——"
"Shirooooo!"
That did not necessarily mean it would lead to Kaito’s salvation.
Kuromueina had miscalculated. She had failed to realize that Shallow Vernal had anticipated her own defeat from the very beginning.
Shallow Vernal had engaged in this fight only after ensuring that even her defeat would not result in Kaito’s rescue. She was acting as her own sacrificial pawn, using herself merely to buy time.
The very fact that Kuromueina had responded to this challenge was exactly the development Shallow Vernal had desired.
When I arrived at the university gates with Arisa, a familiar face came into view at just the right moment.
"Oh? If it isn't Iris? What a coincidence."
"...Kaito... Arisa... Good morning."
"Good morning, Iris."
Her name was Iris Reafeed. As her name suggested, she was an international student—an incredible beauty with snow-white hair and ruby-red eyes.
However, she had a very reserved personality, which meant she had struggled to fit in with those around her in the past.
Arisa and I had met her because our seats were close during our very first lecture. We had become fast friends, and now we all belonged to the same research lab.
"Oh, that’s right. Here, Iris, I have a souvenir for you too."
"...Thank you... What is it?"
"It’s a wood carving, the kind you find at almost any tourist spot."
"...Is that so? ...I’ll treasure it."
Arisa handed over a wooden ornament that was likely modeled after some sort of animal. Iris thanked her and accepted it, tilting her head with a curious expression.
As I watched the heartwarming scene, a sharp pain shot through my head again.
"Guh..."
"...Kaito? Are you okay?"
"Yeah... sorry. Just a bit of a headache..."
"W-We should call an ambulance..."
"No, really, it’s already gone. I'm fine!"
"...Are you sure? ...Don't overdo it, okay?"
Iris was truly a kind person, though she was also a bit of a worrier. Once, when I got a small papercut from a notebook, she had nearly called an emergency line in a total panic.
While I appreciated the concern, it was a bit much sometimes.
"Seriously though, Kaito, are you really alright? If you want, you can skip the lecture and go take a nap. If it's about the attendance sheet, I'll handle it with one of my secret journalist techniques: Complete Vocal Mimicry."
"I'm fine, really. Though I'd like to ask you exactly what kind of superhuman a journalist is supposed to be in your head."
I knew she was genuinely worried, but Arisa couldn't help but slip in a joke. That was just like her—though the scary part was that, knowing her, she might actually be able to pull it off.
Pushing aside my lingering questions about the sudden headache, I headed toward the university alongside Arisa and Iris.