Nikaido Hiro had not been sleeping well.
This stemmed from the confusion that had been lingering at the bottom of her heart all along—
Could the so-called Great Witch summoned by the Witch Sabbath Ritual truly save all of them?
She had already spoken with the Emma from the other world.
To hold the ritual and summon the Great Witch, all thirteen of them, the Witch Candidates, needed to undergo Witch-transformation.
But how could they guarantee that everyone wouldn't lose their sanity after becoming Witch-transformed?
That they wouldn't end up like those Debris Guards, becoming puppets controlled by others?
"Yuki..."
"Why do you want to do such a thing..."
"And can Emma truly... save everyone?"
Nikaido Hiro muttered to herself. At this moment, the prison cells serving as dormitories on the Underground Level were empty.
Almost all the young girls had gone to the Entertainment Room on the second floor to pull an all-nighter, holding a final gathering before their parting.
Everything was properly prepared; it seemed there was no longer any place requiring Nikaido Hiro's efforts.
Could she really set aside all her worries and burdens?
Taking out the fountain pen once gifted to her by her close friend named Tsukishiro Yuki from her bosom, Nikaido Hiro zoned out for a long time.
Her intuition had always been accurate. She always had a premonition that if Tsukishiro Yuki were truly watching all of this, she wouldn't remain inactive.
Perhaps everything before her eyes was exactly what she was happy to see.
There was an invisible game of chess, perhaps proceeding in the shadows.
But Nikaido Hiro was truly fed up with this feeling of handing the future entirely over to others rather than deciding it herself.
"Let's sleep first."
"After sleeping and waking up, everything will be better."
Nikaido Hiro attempted to close her eyes, urging herself to enter sleep.
...
The next day, inside the Tribunal, the Witch Sabbath Ritual was about to be held.
Standing upon the judgment seat, Nikaido Hiro watched as the pink-and-white maiden from another timeline revealed everyone's psychological traumas one by one.
That gentleman named Mr. Suke had gone to the Cafeteria.
He said that to celebrate everyone successfully turning back into normal humans, he wanted to prepare a luxurious feast for everyone.
truly a gentle person. Perhaps that is why the Emma from the other world achieved such growth.
Hikami Meruru, Sawatari Koko, Shito Arisa...
Hosho Margaret, Saeki Miria, Hasumi Rhea...
One by one, under Nikaido Hiro's gaze, the girls fell into Witch-transformation. If not for Hikami Meruru's "magic" that could even heal mental impulses, the scene would likely have long since descended into chaos.
"Hiro, it's your turn."
"Your 'Taboo' is... suicide? Mmm, that is a bit troublesome."
The Emma from the other world looked somewhat hesitant. After all, suicide was a specific act with hard conditions for judgment; her situation was different from Sawatari Koko, whose Taboo was "hiding."
"Please put on this ring, Miss Nikaido Hiro."
Hikami Meruru handed over a ring, smiling at her:
"This is a precious item given to me by Lord Great Witch. If you wear it and then trigger your Taboo, you will be fine."
There was no other way. Nikaido Hiro believed Hikami Meruru's words.
If it really didn't work, she would just Death Rewind to this morning and start over.
Hikami Meruru did not deceive her. After putting on this ring, she committed suicide using the noose raised by the tribunal mechanism. She successfully triggered the Witch-transformation, yet she herself did not Death Rewind to the past.
"Alright, now let everyone begin the Witch Sabbath Ritual."
The Emma from the other world did not suspect anything and prepared to begin the ritual according to the records in the Library.
"An-An, where do you plan to go after all this ends? Why not come to my troupe? Everyone will definitely welcome you!"
"This one intends to continue living here..."
"Hanna-chan, can I go to your house afterwards? You're a rich young miss, so you shouldn't mind raising one extra person, right!"
"Who would be willing to raise an extra you!... Forget it, if you want to come live with me, that's fine too."
"Hehe, I'll just stay here like An-An. After all, there's nothing good about society outside..."
"I, of course, am going to see 'My Oshi'! He must be waiting anxiously for me!"
"Big Sister, wait for me..."
The girls chattered away, discussing their futures like a flock of gathered sparrows.
The state of being Witch-transformed did not affect the girls' spirits. Some girls even began to size up their Witch-transformed selves, feeling that looking like this was actually quite stylish.
With the initiation of the Witch Sabbath Ritual, a beautiful future seemed to be right before their eyes.
Thirteen streams of flowing light converged in the center of the Tribunal, congealing in the void into a human silhouette that Nikaido Hiro felt was familiar.
'I have a vague sense of unease...
Nikaido Hiro watched the congealing silhouette and the Sakuraba Emma belonging to this world of hers.
The latter appeared exceptionally quiet after Witch-transformation—quiet to the point of abnormality.
"Yuki!"
"It's you, right? Please remove everyone's Witch Factors and return our future to us!"
The Emma from the other world was the first to shout out to the silhouette congealing in the center, her voice incomparably sincere.
"Oh my?"
"How rare. To think there are two Little Emmas."
A silhouette whose face could not be seen clearly appeared with a smile. Her appearance caused the chattering girls to gradually quiet down.
"However,"
"One Little Emma is enough."
"After all, you are a bit in the way... you counterfeit."
"Yuki? You... Urgh—?!!"
The expression of the Emma from the other world turned solemn, but before she could make any move, a spear condensed from the invisible pierced through her chest cavity from behind.
—?!!!
All the girls widened their eyes, looking in disbelief at the Sakuraba Emma belonging to their world, who had stood up from the judgment seat at some unknown point.
In her hand, she gripped a magnificent bone spear, piercing through her other self with a single thrust.
One hit, one kill.
"Beautifully done, Little Emma."
"Just like that, kill the others too."
"Then, how about you obediently go die yourself?"
The Emma whose body was pierced turned into flowing light and scattered, leaving not even a corpse behind.
The elegant white-haired Great Witch adjusted her sun hat, smiling as she issued the command to her.
"Lord Great Witch!"
"I finally... finally see you again!"
The girl known as Hikami Meruru ran happily toward the center of the Tribunal.
She arrived before the existence named the Great Witch and knelt beneath her skirt, her appearance incomparably devout and loyal.
"It's Meruru."
"You've done well. I will give you a reward later."
"But for now, could you please go die as well?"
"Of... Of course!"
The Great Witch extended her hand, gently stroking Hikami Meruru's head.
Hearing that the existence she followed wanted to grant her death, what surfaced in the devout and fanatical nun's eyes was not fear, but peace of mind.
Immediately, she took out the Witch-killing potion she had prepared long ago and drank it of her own accord.
Her limbs went limp, her life force vanishing instantly.
She died just like that, blissfully in the arms of the person she wanted to see, without a shred of hesitation or regret.
"Yuki... Why do you want to do this!"
"No, it's not like this, you can absolutely not be Yuki!"
Her body was trembling, her soul was resonating.
Nikaido Hiro felt as if her heart was about to jump out of her throat. She pointed an accusation at that white-haired Great Witch figure with a trembling voice.
But in just the blink of an eye, the majority of the girls originally in the judgment seats had been killed by the Witch named Sakuraba Emma.
Their severed limbs and minced flesh splattered everywhere, the expressions of terror on their faces still frozen.
Quite a hellish scene.
And Nikaido Hiro was personally situated right in the center of this hell—
"Hiro, it has been a long time."
"You are still naive as always, always liking to entrust hope into the hands of others."
"If you feel guilty, then go reincarnate. Reincarnate to that one time where you find a way to defeat me."
"I won't mind, you know?"
Her legs felt as if they were frozen; she could not take half a step.
Nikaido Hiro just watched like that as the Great Witch named Tsukishiro Yuki walked up to her,
Extending those slender fingers wrapped in black silk gloves to stroke her cheek.
Accompanying this was the long spear held by Sakuraba Emma, which similarly pierced and tore through her heart—
It... It hurts so much...
Her consciousness began to dim, her vision began to blur.
Why... did it turn out like this...
The blood spraying from her chest couldn't even stain the Great Witch's pristine white dress. Nikaido Hiro collapsed weakly just like that.
And it was also after killing her that Sakuraba Emma decisively raised the long spear and chose suicide.
Her corpse lay right beside her, her blood scorching hot.
"The obstructive little friends have finally all been cleaned up... The flawed 'World' has also been healed..."
"Let us begin yet another brand new journey..."
I must... I must...
In the moment before the magic known as [Death Rewind] activated, this was the commotion Nikaido Hiro heard.
It was the soothing sound of footsteps from the male named Suke. He seemed to not yet know everything that had happened inside the Tribunal.
He walked into the Tribunal, his body's movements stopping as if frozen stiff.
And it was also in the next moment that Tsukishiro Yuki lightly parted her vermilion lips:
"You were slower this time than many of the times before..."
"My Animus?"
It was also at this very moment—
The girl startled awake from her dream.
____
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