"Do not give up. Keep smiling. As long as we can still smile, there is still hope. We haven't lost yet." Miku Izayoi's unyielding voice echoed in everyone's hearts. Then came her stirring, soul-trembling song.
At last, I finally see…
All dreams have begun to bloom,
The youth that chases them—
How loud their song resounds.
Miku's song was one sung with her very life. Born to sing, the Spirit of Music stood upon the stage of the world, facing all humanity. How could she give up now? How could she end here?
Miku Izayoi would never allow her voice to falter. She would never allow those who listened to her song to be erased. So she sang.
At last, I soar—
With all my heart, I gaze without fear,
Wherever there is wind—
There I will fly.
Pouring her entire Void, her life, and her soul into the song, Miku sang. She sang to defy fate itself. I will not lose. I am the Spirit of Music. I am the Songstress. My voice will never lose.
I won't think about
Those who bask beneath a brighter sun,
I can see
Even the sunset changes every day,
I know
I've always had invisible wings,
That carry me—
And give me hope.
Tears blurred many eyes. Even those half-crystallized smiled peacefully. When people knew their lives had only a day, an hour, or even just half an hour left—how did they respond?
Despair? Madness? Hatred? Corruption? No—none of these. When life was reduced to ten short minutes, there was no time for darkness. Humanity remembered—cherished—its moments of happiness.
The elderly thought fondly of walking their beloved dogs one last time under the warm sun, smiling serenely as if they had seen through the illusions of the world.
Husbands and wives, setting aside work and regrets, held their long-neglected child's hands—left and right—strolling together, not on a trip, but through the streets of their final day.
Mischievous children wondered, Have I ever truly repaid my parents? And so, in those last ten minutes, they tried to be good sons and daughters—so their parents would no longer have to worry.
They smiled. Everyone smiled through their tears. In the face of death, humanity smiled. This was humanity's miracle—to be reborn in the face of death.
"Come on, damn virus! We're not afraid of you! I'll fight you myself!" In America, beneath the statue of the Angel, the half-crystallized people stood proudly. They faced the virus without fear.
"Oh Angel! How divine you are! I will sing praises of your purity, hymns to your greatness!" In Britain, inside vast cathedrals, nuns with crystal creeping across their bodies fell to their knees, singing hymns of devotion to Miku's song—worshiping her voice with their very souls.
Japan, Tokyo Bay—
"I only ate until I was seventy percent full, but I guess there's no more time." Tohka's childish, goofy expression vanished as she looked up at the descending colossal viral form, her eyes sharpening with warrior's resolve.
"Astral Dress, Mode One—Sandalphon." The violet armor enveloped her. From beneath the ice, a massive throne emerged, and upon it was embedded a grand sword—Sandalphon, the Massacre Ruler.
"Astral Dress, Mode Two—Final Sword!" Gripping the blade with both hands, Tohka's body erupted in a pillar of violet energy that tore through the sky. Waves of destructive force rippled outward, disintegrating the viral swarms both in the air and on the ground. The space around her sword itself seemed to fracture under the invisible weight of her power.
"Origami, with your power equal to my Final Sword—let's cut through the virus shell together!" Tohka ascended from the stage, soaring toward the massive jellyfish. At the same time, high above, Origami forced open her weary eyes, gathering the light of her halo into a massive, cannon-shaped focus before her.
"Final Sword!"
"Crown Cannon!"
Two colossal beams of energy tore through the jellyfish's skull, piercing the heavens. The twin attacks, one following the other, sliced through its head completely. The gigantic creature split cleanly in half, falling into the frozen ocean below.
The shattered ice exploded into fragments as waves surged skyward. From where the jellyfish's head had been, Mana's body appeared—her eyes glowing with gray-silver light, three pairs of insect wings sprouting from her back, their edges lined with razor-sharp barbs.
"Shu Ouma, only your attack can expel the virus from Mana's body without harming her soul. We'll create the opening—strike when you can!" Kotori Itsuka, now recovered and barely caring about her disheveled attire, joined Tohka and Origami in attacking the exposed core of Mana.
"Yamai! Go too!" Kurumi pressed a hand to her wound, her voice strained.
"But Kurumi-chan!" Yamai hesitated, glancing at the endless swarm of insects. With the jellyfish collapsing into the sea, their number and strength had increased tenfold. She and Yoshino were barely holding the defensive line—leaving now would mean its collapse.
"There's no time. The entire world is infected. Every minute we delay, countless more die. We can only gamble everything." Kurumi gritted her teeth, raising her flintlock pistol and pointing it at her own head.
"Angel-sama, what are you doing?!" Daryl, who had been keeping watch over her every moment, went pale and instinctively tried to snatch the gun from her. Why would an Angel attempt suicide?!
Bang! The gunshot rang out. A vast black curtain spread across the sky, engulfing the swarm of insects.
From within the darkness emerged countless Kurumis, each wearing her Astral Dress. An endless sea of identical figures filled the heavens, even amid the plague of insects—an awe-inspiring sight.
The Kurumi Army—has arrived!
"Yamai, go! Yoshino is gentle by nature. Leave the defense to her and me!" Kurumi's voice was resolute. The entire sky had become a battlefield. The Kurumi Army and the viral swarm collided head-on, Kurumi pouring every ounce of the time she had ever devoured into the fight.
DONG. Zafkiel, the great clock, tolled once. The hour hand, once pointing at twelve, fell back to eleven. Kurumi had expended one-twelfth of her total time-force—equivalent to two-fifths of the world's human lifespan.
"Ahh... it hurts..." Kurumi suddenly clutched her head, her body trembling in agony. Each clone that died sent waves of excruciating pain back to the main body—the despair of countless simultaneous deaths transmitted into her soul.
It was not the death of one person—it was thousands, tens of thousands, dying in unison. Her body felt crushed to dust, her soul shredded by a thousand blades.
"Angel-sama..." Every soldier's eyes went blood-red. They charged madly into the swarm, fighting like demons. These creatures dared to harm the Angel—unforgivable, utterly unforgivable!
DONG... DONG... DONG... The tolls of Zafkiel echoed endlessly as Kurumi's time-force drained away. Her army of clones was annihilated again and again, only to be reborn, fighting without rest. Kurumi was caught in an eternal cycle of death and resurrection.
At last, her core consciousness succumbed to the darkness, collapsing under the strain. In that instant, every clone lost contact with the original Kurumi.
"Kill! Destroy! Annihilate! Obliterate!" Madness swept through the clones—they had blackened. Every Kurumi turned into a berserker, their battle against the swarm becoming a storm of chaos and blood. The Kurumi clones fighting alongside the other Spirits inverted their Spirit Cores, transforming into Dark Spirits. Their power surged to catastrophic levels, and together they clashed with Mana in a self-destructive frenzy, both sides falling from the sky in mutual devastation.
Boom, boom, boom! One after another, the Spirits plummeted from the heavens. Origami, Tohka, Kotori, and Yamai's avatars were obliterated, their essence absorbed back into Kurumi's body. Mana's insect wings shattered completely, her body covered in four different types of wounds.
"Ah!" Protected by the will of the world itself, Shu Ouma spat blood but stood back up, grasping his radiant silver sword. Mana staggered to her feet, her expression wavering.
"Little brother... are you going to kill me?" she asked, despair flooding her silver eyes. With Gaia's will wounded, her own consciousness had returned.
"Sister, my sword cannot harm life—it exists only to expel the virus," Shu said softly, charging forward, his gaze filled with unwavering tenderness.
"I know... I was afraid too. Ten years ago, you didn't reach out to me—and that fear hurt us both," Mana whispered, frozen as the Void Greatsword pierced forward.
"So this time, I will never let go, Sister. I will save you from the virus. I will protect you. Sister, accept me—this is my love for you. I want to be with you forever." Shu Ouma's face shone with serene compassion, his eyes overflowing with gentle resolve.
"Little brother!" Tears welled in Mana's silver eyes. She did not dodge. Instead, she opened her arms and lifted her chest to meet the strike. Come, my brother—love me, even if your love pierces me with a blade.
Suddenly, gray-silver energy erupted from her body, but though her entire frame trembled violently, Mana refused to move. She allowed the blade to pierce her without resistance.
Without the aid of the four Spirits, Mana and Shu's duel would have been hopelessly one-sided. Shu would have fallen without question.
Yet Gaia's will had made one fatal misstep. After this long battle, it could no longer suppress Mana's consciousness. Gaia's control faltered—and in that instant, its will was defeated. Mana Ouma, her soul freed, embraced Shu's tenderness and cruelty alike. She accepted his love—pure, tragic, and absolute.
The sword sank into Mana's body, yet its point did not emerge from her back. Instead, waves of gray-silver light poured rapidly out from within her.
Pushing on the Void Greatsword with all his strength, Shu drove it fully into her. In that moment, the gray-silver light was completely expelled from Mana's body.
But Mana's body itself had been reconstructed from the virus. With its removal, she should have disintegrated into dust. Yet Shu's own Void served as her vessel, his essence becoming her anchor. Mana's form turned luminous—her body transforming into a spiritual projection, a being of Void itself.
"Little brother..." Mana gasped, her entire being suddenly light and free. She threw her arms around Shu, trembling. Since the day the virus had claimed her, she had lived in constant torment. Now, for the first time, her body felt pure—her soul liberated.
More than that, she could feel Shu's heart. She could feel the warmth and love that filled him—tender, sincere, and overwhelming. She buried her face against his chest, smiling through tears.
But above them, the expelled gray-silver light coalesced once more into a dark, swirling cloud. Gaia's will sought to reclaim its host.
"Mana!" At that instant, Gai Tsutsugami appeared behind her, interposing himself between Mana and the seething cloud. He used his body as a shield—but the virus no longer cared who it took. It surged toward him, devouring everything.
Only Mana's body could endure the virus. Only she could contain Gaia's consciousness. Gai's form was far too fragile. His body began to crystallize almost instantly.
"Mana... please... look at me. Just once—look at me," Gai tried to speak, but the infection had already stolen his voice. His lips moved soundlessly; no words came out.
"Sister, my Void is now your body. My heart beats within you. Will you enter my heart—become one with me—so that we can be together forever?" Shu lifted her chin gently, his eyes locking onto hers, radiating an impossible tenderness.
And yet, behind that tenderness, his gaze flicked coldly toward Gai—whose body was now half-consumed by crystallization. That look—so serene, so loving—was also merciless beyond measure. The gentlest love could be the cruelest of all.
"I will," Mana whispered, her cheeks flushed like those of a bashful maiden. She closed her eyes and tilted her head forward, lips trembling as she leaned toward him.
"Mana... please... look at me—see what I've done for you!" Gai's eyes were filled with despair, but no sound emerged. The only gaze that met him was Shu's—cold, detached, and absolute. Gai's golden pupils shimmered with tears.
His body fractured, splintering into glimmering shards. For the woman he loved, he had fought all his life—for her, he had defied the world itself, stood alone in the darkness, abandoned by all—and never once had he shed a tear.
Yet in his final moments, as he begged his beloved to look at him just once, even that simple, innocent wish went unanswered. Gai Tsutsugami wept. His tears drifted away with the virus crystals, scattering into the wind.