I called out to Arona countless times in succession, yet she never responded.
In the end, I had no choice but to accept the reality that the Shittim Chest had completely run out of power.
Even after using my authority, my thoughts remained chaotic, impossible to truly calm.
How long had it been since I'd found myself in such a desperate situation?
The last time was several months ago at Millennium, when Kei had taken me hostage.
It was also during that incident that I had nearly lost my life because of my recklessness.
Or rather, I had already died once.
Ever since then, I had never let Arona leave my reach again, and I had always kept the Shittim Chest fully charged.
But this time?
Without the Shittim Chest, would I end up facing the same fate?
"Um, Sensei...?"
The black-haired nun beside me looked at me worriedly.
"Are you alright?"
"...Yeah."
Realizing I'd lost composure, I took several deep breaths and forced a smile toward Hinata.
Just as I was about to speak, I suddenly heard hurried footsteps approaching from several directions.
Before I could even identify who was coming, every hair on my body stood on end instinctively.
I immediately released the Divine Name of the [White Crown King], receiving the halo's protection.
Though my life once again began burning like a candle at hundreds, thousands of times its normal rate, I also felt an almost tangible warmth from it.
Only after calming slightly did I look toward the approaching figures.
The ones who had arrived were two girls wearing standard black sailor uniforms.
The chairwoman and vice-chairwoman of the Justice Task Force.
"Sensei!"
Hasumi urgently asked,
"Are you alright?!"
"Sen... Sensei..."
Beside her, Tsurugi's face was also filled with concern.
I nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
How could I possibly be fine!?
But as Schale's Sensei, until the situation became clear, I had to appear fine, even if I had to fake it.
Looking at the girls, whose clothes were torn and stained with blood, I asked:
"What's the situation right now? Are everyone's injuries serious?"
"These injuries aren't much, but..."
Hasumi bit her lip.
"Although we were prepared beforehand, the explosion just now nearly wiped out both the Justice Task Force and the Prefect Team. Most of the higher-ups from both schools who transferred into the safe rooms beforehand are safe, but Nagisa-san and Sakurako-san personally went to the front lines... The same goes for Gehenna. A lot of people are currently missing."
Things had already become this severe?
I forced myself to think rationally.
Since both Nagisa and Sakurako were gone, if we wanted to unify Trinity's forces, we could only rely on Seia, Hanako, Mine... or me.
Seia still needed to maintain order within Trinity's main campus, and with her weak physical condition she wasn't suited for going out. Hanako's direct combat ability was similarly lacking, but with Azusa and Hifumi protecting her, reaching this place shouldn't be difficult.
As for Gehenna, hopefully Hina was unharmed.
Still, I had a bit of influence there myself.
The top priority now was undoubtedly rescuing as many surviving students as possible and gathering everyone capable of fighting before the Arius students arrived, buying time until reinforcements came...
Only then did I finally notice something I normally should have realized much earlier.
"Where are Mine and Serina?"
The two Remedial Knights members who had escorted me here to the Old Cathedral had gone to find parking nearby because the lot was full.
They should have avoided the blast radius and heard the explosion, meaning they should've already rushed over by now.
So why was Hinata the first to reach me instead of them?
More importantly, the ordinary Tea Party and Pandemonium Society members who had guided me here were probably buried beneath the nearby marble slabs just like I had been.
Just as I was about to ask Hinata and the Justice Task Force to help search for them, someone suddenly spoke, seemingly aware of the Remedial Knights' whereabouts.
"Are you talking about Aomori Mine?"
Alarm bells instantly rang through my mind.
Turning toward the voice, I saw a black-haired girl wearing a black mask, her eyes empty and lifeless.
Leading several Arius students, she had appeared on the opposite side without anyone noticing.
Apparently having heard my earlier question, she glanced over her shoulder before calmly continuing:
"Just as the intelligence reports stated, Aomori Mine is a very troublesome individual. Along with Tsurugi and Mika, she's one of the people Trinity requires the most caution against. The student beside her wasn't even listed in the reports for some reason, but she's also extremely difficult to deal with. Keeping the two of them occupied outside took us quite a bit of effort."
The moment I heard that, a terrible premonition rose within me.
"What did you do to them...?!"
Ignoring my question entirely, Misaki, with whom I'd already crossed paths once before, looked toward us and raised a hand to her ear, apparently communicating with someone.
"We've discovered remnants of the Justice Task Force... no, correction. Not remnants."
The Arius students beside her opened fire without hesitation.
Yet the targeted girls effortlessly dodged the bullets while shielding me completely.
Misaki continued calmly:
"They are the essence of the Justice Task Force. Tsurugi and Hasumi... divert the troops here. We are commencing engagement."
The moment she finished speaking, more and more Arius students began emerging from every direction, forming a complete encirclement around us.
A rough estimate already placed their number at several dozen, and they were still increasing.
"So many troops...? The surrounding area was under total lockdown, so they really did come from underground? I see. Taking advantage of the chaos after we were attacked, you slipped out from the catacombs beneath the Old Cathedral, didn't you? So this disaster really was your doing, Arius!"
Clearly enraged, Hasumi gritted her teeth and stepped forward.
"...Unforgivable. This grudge, right here and now, I..."
"Hasumi."
Yet in this dire moment, Tsurugi, who was strangely calm, pressed a hand against her shoulder and stared into her equally crimson eyes, now overflowing with fury.
"Calm down."
Hasumi froze briefly before glancing back at me.
"...Mm. You're right. Thank you, Tsurugi. Right now, the highest priority is protecting Sensei's safety... We need to get Sensei out of here."
"Exactly... The one who should go wild here is me. Guhihihihihi... Come on!"
Tsurugi burst into loud laughter, raising her gun toward the Arius students as she shouted:
"Alright then, insects! I'll play with all of you! Come at me!!!"
Gunfire erupted immediately afterward.
"Sensei."
Hasumi spoke to me.
"Let's go!"
"But..."
I knew full well that retreating was the smartest option when we were so heavily outnumbered.
The problem was...
No. This wasn't the time to hesitate.
Taking a deep breath, I lowered my voice and quietly pointed in a direction.
"Hasumi, next, we're breaking through over there."
"...Huh?"