To be honest, from my perspective, there had always been a problem with Seia.
Perhaps because she was born with the ability of prophetic dreams, compared to the reality within reach, she cared more about the distant future beyond grasp.
Her choice to fake her death and escape after being attacked, her decision to very likely sit back and watch Mika launch her coup, and her confident early celebration after returning, all made that especially obvious.
"Though I guess it is a bit unfortunate..."
I changed the subject slightly.
"But since we discovered that the future you see is no longer accurate, at worst it just means losing one source of information. Looking on the bright side, it's good that we found out now. That way we can avoid being misled."
Seia frowned, wanting to argue back.
"But..."
"Ara, I see."
At that moment, Kuzunoha beside us smiled and nodded.
"Mm. Should I call it coincidence, or perhaps a meeting of minds? This one happens to share the same opinion as Sensei."
Interrupted mid-sentence, Seia glanced sideways, her gaze growing deeper.
Meanwhile, Kuzunoha blinked at the close friend she had only recently met yet instantly connected with. Her expression was open, sincere, and innocent.
I had no idea what kind of silent exchange those two had been having this whole time. It vaguely resembled jealousy, yet not quite.
Suppressing my confusion, I continued:
"So compared to the issue of the prophecy being distorted, the more urgent matter is still how to deal with Arius... wait a second."
At that point, I suddenly noticed a severe problem I had overlooked earlier.
"Seia, if you're dreaming right now..."
I asked suspiciously,
"Who's currently running Trinity?"
Seia's ears twitched, and a puzzled expression appeared on her face.
...
On the street outside the Old Cathedral, faced with the sudden voice, every member of Arius Squad quickly recovered from their brief surprise and returned to full alert.
Aside from Atsuko, who continued restraining Azusa, the other three simultaneously aimed their weapons toward the source of the voice, a girl with an innocent-looking face.
The fact that no suppression from the Tea Party had appeared meant she was not a student from Trinity or Gehenna.
And for her to approach without making a sound... even if Squad's attention had mostly been focused on Azusa, the newcomer's strength absolutely could not be underestimated.
"That uniform is..."
Misaki examined it.
"A Millennium student?"
Just as she was about to ask the captain how to handle the situation, Misaki suddenly noticed Saori's pupils contract sharply, her eyes filled with wariness.
"Tendou Arisu?"
"Eh? Saori-senpai? Azusa-san? Good afternoon!"
The petite black-haired, blue-eyed girl happily waved to the two students from other schools she had met through similar circumstances, then asked half-nervously and half-confused:
"Um, what are you all doing here? Are you here to see Sensei too? Why does it look like there's a conflict?"
"...You came to see Sensei?"
Saori's body tensed as she gripped her rifle tightly, already prepared to flee at any moment.
Not fight.
Flee.
To someone like her, who had once fought against Arisu after her eyes had turned purple-pink, beneath that harmless appearance hid a genuine monster.
Even if Arisu's overall combat ability was roughly on par with her own, and Saori was confident she could outmaneuver her through guerrilla tactics and superior combat experience, and even if her companions were beside her now...
Arisu possessed the ability to summon bizarre mechanical constructs, similar to how they themselves had formed a contract with the Tea Party. While those constructs were not individually as powerful as the Tea Party's, their numbers seemed endless. Defeating her quickly before reinforcements from Trinity and Gehenna arrived was practically impossible.
More importantly...
Just like the magicians from the storybooks Atsuko used to read to them after their harsh childhood training sessions.
Saori clearly remembered the destructive aura that gradually rose from Arisu after she recited a long, incomprehensible chant during their close-range battle.
It was a terror so overwhelming that Saori's proud instincts screamed warnings at her, telling her that if she did not run immediately, she would die.
Saori was no longer childish enough to believe magic or miracles existed in this world.
That was why Tendou Arisu was a monster.
A far purer monster than even her, who wielded the Tea Party's power.
"Y-Yes! Arisu came to see Sensei!"
Arisu nodded vigorously, then sniffed the air as worry appeared on her face.
"Arisu sensed through the Hero's intuition that Sensei was in danger... Sensei's scent is still lingering here. He seems to have been injured, and is probably still at low HP right now. So really, now isn't the time for infighting..."
Despite sensing the strange atmosphere, Arisu still tried to smile.
"Even though Arisu doesn't know what conflict Saori-senpai and Azusa-san have, and even though Arisu once did bad things to Saori-senpai... Arisu knows this much. At least when it comes to protecting Sensei, everyone here should be companions standing on the same side!"
Those words overflowing with confidence left Saori at a loss for how to respond, and for a moment, she froze.
Taking advantage of that opportunity, Azusa, who had remained silent until now, suddenly exploded into motion. Breaking free from Atsuko's restraint, she threw a smoke grenade for cover and beat her wings, retreating dozens of meters away in an instant.
Then she loudly warned the girl who supposedly shared the same side as her:
"Arisu! Be careful! Saori is the one who hurt Sensei! Also, Sensei was already rescued by Gehenna students!"
"What...!?"
Arisu first widened her eyes in shock, then let out a sigh of relief, and finally hesitantly asked:
"Saori-senpai, is what Azusa-san said true?"
"...That's right."
After a moment of silence, Saori replied in an even lower voice.
"I was the one who shot and injured Sensei. The reason I was sent to infiltrate Sensei's side was for today. Tendou Arisu, I was never your companion."
By the logic of the training she had received, there was no reason to waste words at this point. Launching an attack first and using the chance to retreat would have been the correct choice.
But for some reason, Saori felt compelled to say a little more.
"H-How could this be... Saori-senpai actually..."
Arisu murmured with a devastated expression, clearly unable to accept the truth.
Just as Saori was about to continue speaking, Arisu's clear, watery blue eyes suddenly lit up.
"Arisu understands now. Saori-senpai must have been controlled by some evil existence too, just like Arisu was before!"
After saying that, she looked at the girl with hopeful eyes, leaving Saori speechless.
Nearby, Azusa, who had remained wary the whole time, looked at her former captain with even more complicated emotions after hearing that.
"...You've misunderstood."
Saori spoke stiffly. She wanted to tell Arisu, just as she had originally intended, that she was an irredeemable murderer, exactly as Beatrice had always taught her.
But she was interrupted mercilessly again.
"There's no need to explain. Arisu already completely understands."
Arisu instead tried to comfort her.
"It must hurt, right? Being forced to do things you didn't want to do. Saori-senpai must feel really guilty. Arisu understands that feeling..."
It was precisely that attitude, no different from pity, that deeply pierced Saori's supposedly iron-hard heart. A nameless anger surged up within her, driving her to sharply demand:
"What could you possibly understand!?"
"Sorry."
After thinking for a moment, Arisu sincerely apologized.
"Arisu isn't Saori-senpai, so Arisu can't completely understand Saori-senpai's feelings. But because Arisu really did have a similar experience, Arisu knows what needs to be done right now."
Under the guarded gazes of Arius Squad, she removed the Sword of Light from her back and slowly said:
"No matter what reasons there were, the fact that Saori-senpai hurt Sensei has already happened. So... as a Hero, and as Sensei's important Princess..."
Arisu fearlessly stared directly into Saori's equally blue eyes and loudly declared:
"Arisu will defeat Saori-senpai right here, just like Saori-senpai once did to Arisu. Then Arisu will make Saori-senpai ask Sensei for forgiveness too!"
Saori responded with a harsh threat.
"...If you can do it, then come at me!"
"Okay!"
As if unable to understand the true meaning hidden in Saori's words, Arisu answered solemnly before continuing:
"With these hands that once hurt Sensei too, but were gently held by him... and with this Sword of Light that carries Arisu and Sensei's feelings, along with everyone's blessings!"
Once again, Saori froze after catching a certain keyword in those words.
"Let's settle this, Saori-senpai! Here I come, Sensei!"
Arisu raised the Sword of Light. Brilliant radiance bright enough to burn any creature dwelling in darkness gathered at the cannon's muzzle.
"O light...!"
Ahh, just as I thought.
Saori blankly watched the scene unfold and thought to herself.
The being before her was completely different from herself.
A pure monster, taken to the extreme.
"Captain? Should we engage?"
"...No."
Turning her head, Saori loudly gave orders to the companions she treasured, who had been waiting for her command the entire time.
"Everyone, retreat!"
"...Eh?"
Arisu tilted her head in confusion, then immediately fired a fully charged 100% light cannon toward the fleeing Arius Squad without hesitation.
Yet the seemingly unavoidable strike was blocked by the immortal Tea Party members, who used their own bodies as shields.
"Eh? What's this? Ghost-type enemies?"
"Damn it! Saori! Don't run!"
Azusa shouted as she too became entangled by the Tea Party, able only to helplessly watch her former companions disappear at the end of the road.
All she could do was stomp her foot in frustration before turning back to fight alongside Arisu, while thinking over several concerning details from the conversation she had just heard.