"Inori, was there something you needed to say to me all the way out here?"
Souta Tamadate was nervous and expectant in equal measure. This was the first time a girl had ever asked to speak with him alone, and she happened to be the idol singer he'd always looked up to. Could it be that all his effort was finally about to pay off?
"Souta, your Void really is impressive."
Inori Yuzuriha glanced around to confirm there were no onlookers, then stopped walking.
She turned to face Souta with a faint smile, and took a step closer.
"Inori... what is it you actually want to tell me? If you need my Void, I can bring it out anytime!" His face was still flushed. He thumped his own chest, projecting a bravado he didn't quite feel.
"Souta, you really are a brave and hardworking young man. A boy like you must be popular with the girls, right?"
"N-no, not really..."
Seeing Inori's breathtaking face at such close range sent his heart hammering. Most boys his age would have been stammering incoherently by now, but Souta was different. A sudden surge of courage overtook him, and he seized what he saw as the perfect moment to lay his feelings bare.
"Inori... the truth is, I've always—"
"But it seems you still don't understand me very well." Her tone shifted without warning. The smile vanished. She exhaled softly, and when she spoke again her voice was ice cold. She cut him off before he could finish.
"Having someone you despise confess their feelings to you. Is there anything more revolting in this world?"
"Huh?"
A chill ran through Souta. He stared at Inori's face and felt, on some primal level, a crushing pressure and fear.
"If it weren't for your little act of goodwill, I would've wiped out Keido and his people by now. You nearly got Hare killed, too. Do you understand? That is the one thing I will never tolerate. If I had to put it in more fantastical terms: a dragon has a reverse scale, and anyone who touches it dies."
"I'm sorry, Inori. I really was just trying to help you... I was wrong. Please, can you forgive me?"
"Hmm, that's a very sincere apology." Inori tapped her chin and smiled again, then reversed herself in an instant. "But I don't accept it."
"Th-then why did you bring me all the way out here..."
Something lit up behind Inori's eyes. A slow, meaningful smile spread across her face. She had finally thought of a fitting end for Souta Tamadate.
The old saying went: blood for blood, tooth for tooth. Since he'd used that exact method to get Hare killed in the original world, she would let him taste that same fear for himself.
"Your Void. Let me borrow it."
Inori reached out and forcibly extracted Souta's camera-shaped Void from his chest.
What a fine weapon. Too bad its owner doesn't deserve it. In Shu's hands, this thing could crack the most sophisticated locks in the world. In her own hands, it could even be weaponized to bombard space itself. But in the hands of its actual owner, it was little more than a can opener.
"So that's what it looks like... I never knew. Hehe, what can it do? Inori, if it can help you beat GHQ, I'd be so happy."
Inori didn't let him say another word. She drew her pistol and emptied several rounds into the Void, firing until its structure cracked and began to shatter.
"I-Inori?! What are you doing?!"
The instant the camera broke apart, Souta felt his body grow abruptly, impossibly heavy. Something inside him had ruptured.
"Shut up."
"I don't want to hear another word from you, Souta Tamadate."
Inori holstered her pistol, tossed the shattered Void at his feet like garbage, and walked right past him.
Souta tried to speak in his own defense but found his throat could barely produce sound. His legs buckled and he collapsed, his body striking the ground with a sharp, mineral crack. Through his blurred, hollowed-out vision he watched his own flesh crystallizing at a visible rate.
"Why, Inori... why would you do this?! What did I even do wrong?!" He summoned every last shred of strength, screaming through the agony of crystal growths tearing through his throat.
"Please... save me... I already apologized to you... Why are you still doing this to me?"
"Oh?" Inori heard this and decided she might as well let him die with some clarity. She stopped, turned back, and looked down at him with another smile. "You think an apology automatically earns forgiveness? Think carefully. The world doesn't work that way. Especially not for scum like you."
More than half of Souta's body had fully crystallized. He lay prone, crawling forward in a pathetic display of groveling that reminded Inori of a creature from a game she used to play. A Crystal Lizard, if she remembered correctly.
"You monster! How could you... you're killing someone! You're committing murder! This is too much!"
Inori's read on him was spot-on, just as in the original story. Simply because Shu had refused to accept his apology for getting Hare killed, Souta had betrayed him, personally pushing him into a trap. Now Inori had done the same thing, and unlike Shu, she hadn't left Souta to fend for himself. That wasn't her style.
Shu had mercy in his heart. She did not. Repaying every grudge in full was how she operated.
"Aah... it hurts, it hurts... please... mmph—"
A brittle shattering sound rang out, and with it his pathetic whimpering stopped.
The creature known as Souta Tamadate no longer existed in this world. Not a single trace remained. He had simply dissolved into countless virus particles, drawn skyward to join the coming Apocalypse.
"Whew. Much better."
Inori shrugged.
She'd originally planned to ignore the kid entirely, to let him fade into irrelevance the same way Shu had in the original story. But no, the fool had gone and pulled a stunt like that. Dancing on a minefield.
By the time Inori returned, everyone had gathered together. The ravaged battlefield and its smoldering remnants lay in the near distance.
The three girls wore the relieved smiles of people who'd narrowly escaped with their lives, sitting far off beneath a tree and waiting quietly.
Shu Ouma and Yahiro Samukawa, inseparable as ever, stood at a spot overlooking the sea and the Ivory Christmas Tree, deep in serious discussion. Shu looked unhappy.
"Inori... you're back! Huh? Where's Souta?"
Hare Menjou spotted Inori approaching from a distance and rushed to meet her. Kanon and Arisa followed naturally behind.
"Ah, it's a bit of a shame, actually."
Inori glanced away, managing only an awkward smile.
"I just told him his Void was too dangerous to pull out carelessly, and he suddenly got scared, started crying, and ran off on his own."
"Huh? What a weird guy. He's the one who dragged us all out here in the first place." Kanon blinked, baffled.
"Everyone's got their own reasons. Can't force someone to stay." Inori said it lightly, then glanced at the two boys keeping their distance. "Right, Shu? Yahiro?"
"...Yeah, sure. Souta's always been the straightforward type. He probably just got scared." Yahiro managed an uncomfortable laugh. His agreement sounded painfully forced.
He and Shu both knew exactly what kind of woman Inori was. She had taken Souta away and come back alone. There was no need to ask what had happened.
"Inori, are you going back to fight?"
Hare didn't care about that person. She only cared about Inori.
"Yes. But this is the last time, Hare."
Inori's expression sobered as she answered.
She would sever every chain of sin today.
She had already laid everything out clearly. Souta's interference had wasted far too much time, and she didn't know how things were progressing on Keido's end. Then again, her plan had always required Gai to become Adam first before she could act, so the delay made little real difference.
"Yahiro, get everyone somewhere safe. Shu, let's move."