Chapter 57: S-Class Slayer, the Blue of Wrath.

Splaaaash.....

Through the cracks in the floor, now filthy with the scars of battle, preservation formalin overflowed as it sought to find its equilibrium.

Due to my position, I was the first to be drenched by the liquid. At the same time, I caught her body as it was released, draping my jacket over her.

Wrapped in my suit jacket, her small frame—from her neck down to her thighs—was completely hidden. She was so tiny, far too small to have been forced to shoulder the weight of such ugly adult politics.

Then, she opened her eyes.

"....."

"I'm sorry."

Before any confirmation, before anything else, those were the first words out of my mouth.

"In the end, I was the one who made the choice. My ego is going to make you suffer all over again... and I just couldn't stop worrying about that. I'm so pathetic for apologizing first, just because I was hoping for some comforting words telling me that isn't the case."

"....."

"But I just can't give up on either of you. I never want to answer the question of which one of you is better—not even if it kills me. I want you both. I want both of you to be able to smile."

“.....”

"I've gone and forced that selfishness on you again. How am I any different from the adults who have spent their lives hurting you?"

"I'll say it anyway. That isn't the case."

".....!"

"It wasn't just the initial promise. You've more than fulfilled all the unreasonable demands I made afterward, haven't you?"

With those words, she reached into the breast pocket of the jacket I had draped over her and pulled out a weathered old lighter. She gently pressed it into my hand, which was still supporting her.

"I'm borrowing this. Hold onto it for me just a little longer."

".....I will, even if it takes the rest of my life."

She didn't look back at that vow. She simply walked toward Alter, who was staring at the scene with a dazed expression. She approached with zero defense, closing the distance to a point where a single surprise attack would mean instant death.

"D-Don't come any closer!!"

"Alter..."

"Too bad, hero! The foolish masses you were trying to protect have already been weeded out! I'll make sure to block any reconstruction efforts, too!"

"It's okay now, Alter. It's enough."

".....Asuna."

"Thank you, Newbie. For holding Alter back."

Asuna caught Alter in an embrace, supporting her as the strength drained from her body.

"I'm sorry. I always thought of you as a sister, even without your permission. And yet, before I knew it, I left you carrying a burden far heavier than my own for all this time."

".....!! W-What are you saying!? I was the one... I was the one who made you wait for so, so long...!! Even without my memories, I thought... if I had a family, it would feel like this!!"

"I just wanted to spend time together. I didn't care what happened to the surface world where we spent our moments, as long as the most important thing was right beside me."

"But I wanted too much. I wanted to truly share my heart with Asuna, even though she was a Lica... even though I concluded long ago that it wouldn't matter even if we couldn't."

Alter’s grip tightened around her, a squeeze so forceful I could practically hear it.

"It could have been one-sided for all I cared. We’d take a croquette so small and thin it could fit in the palm of a hand, call it a luxury, and split it. Knowing you, you would have given me the bigger half anyway."

"It didn't matter what we shared. We could have taken a piece of bread from a half-ration and split it again. Even if it were crackers that tasted like wood shavings, or a synthetic milk cake."

"I just wanted to be with you... and yet even that couldn't come true."

After they embraced for a long while and finally composed themselves, Asuna turned to speak to us.

"We need to leave this place. No matter how you look at it, what Alter did constitutes a capital crime in this country. The S-Class Slayers will be here any second."

".....I'm sorry, Asuna, but I still can't trust Alter. No matter the circumstances, you can't just massacre innocent people who didn't know anything...!!"

Faced with that passionate surge of wrath, Asuna responded with a perfectly nonchalant face.

"Alter didn't do it. She doesn't have that kind of nerve."

"Wait, what!?"

Was she serious? But there was no reason for Asuna to lie in this situation.

"Are there any paths left that are still safe?"

"This way. The path we took to chase Alter is still intact— Get down!!"

KABOOOOOOOM!!!!

"The... the ceiling..."

"Damn it, they're already here!!"

"Is it... a Slayer!?"

"Who the hell showed up? The ones at the Round Table were Commander Rouge, Guardian Green, Anger Blue, and Balancer Violet."

The Slayers were actually here!?

"Red and Green almost never show up. Red usually stays neutral, and Green is an anti-humanist. Violet isn't likely to show either after our draw... This is the worst-case scenario. Out of all of them, the one person I least wanted to deal with happens to be free!!"

In that moment, a Phantasm Girl who looked like a slender young man emerged from the rubble. She had messy bedhead that stuck out lazily, and the color of that hair told the story.

"Hmm? And here I thought that would have crushed you."

"Anger: Hypnos Blue!!"

"I've come to collect you, White Chrono and Alter-Ash."

"That wasn't exactly a 'collecting' kind of attitude!!"

"Yeah, well, I didn't crush you on purpose. Aren't I good? I could have just killed you right there."

"What are you talking about? You just expressed doubt that we weren't crushed a moment ago— *Guh... cough*...!!"

No sooner had Alter spoken than she coughed up blood.

"Alter!!"

"Watch out, Newbie!! Every single move she makes is a killing blow meant to end us!!"

"What just happened!? He's 'Anger,' right!? So why did Alter suddenly—"

Where in that sequence was there any element of "wrath"...?

"That's not 'Anger'!! The ability is called Cosmic World—Absolute Perception. It allows the user to attach interpretations and reasons to their own actions to impose penalties on hostile entities."

A single bullet was fired between his words. It didn't hit; it missed by a wide margin and vanished into a pile of rubble.

"Oh, I missed. I guess I'm really no good with guns."

"But you see... I missed that on purpose just now. If it were a real shot, some kind of miracle would have happened and it would have hit you. Isn't that cruel?"

A hole opened in Asuna’s shoulder.

"Asuna!!"

"Ugh!! The Benevolent... that's who she really is...!!"