Thunderous applause echoed through the theater.

(W-What the heck is this~?!)

Ryuuko was the only one in that space still sane.

Was it because she was an S-Rank? Or perhaps because of the girl sitting next to her—Sorciera?

The people around them appeared to be genuinely enjoying the play.

Their pasted-on smiles and the eerily rhythmic clapping looked like something out of a badly made movie.

It was clearly an abnormal space.

(Baltius can’t use Dragon Rank Inheritance for some reason… and there are too many people around to go on a rampage.)

Up until a moment ago, she still had options.

She had some freedom, some room to intervene.

But now was different.

Despite being an S-Rank, here she was nothing more than an ordinary spectator.

“—D-Don’t come any closer!”

A scream rang out.

Looking up, she saw the scholar screaming and flailing her arms desperately.

It was a pathetic sight, like she was trying to shake something off—or flee from some invisible force.

Even Ryuuko, who had been at odds with her until now, winced at her grotesque behavior.

“Wh-What are you?! Stay away from me! I’m a scholar!”

The scholar kept darting around the stage alone.

Yes—alone.

“St-Stop resisting! I-I’m superior to all of you! Without a doubt!”

The scholar pointed at empty space, sobbing and yelling.

She kept snapping her fingers over and over again in desperation.

That was the sign she used when activating her ability.

She was supposed to have the same power as Hyououdou Rei.

But nothing happened. All that could be heard were her panicked breaths and strained voice.

“I—I’m… I’m…!”

Her eyes widened as she stared into the empty space in front of her.

A space that should have held nothing.

But then she collapsed where she stood, desperately flailing her arms as she crawled backward.

“D-Don’t… d-don’t come any closer, p-please…”

Her face was now a mess of tears and snot—her formerly intelligent and arrogant demeanor nowhere to be seen.

(Th-This is… seriously…)

Ryuuko turned to the girl next to her, clearly disturbed.

This entire situation had been triggered by Sorciera.

Which meant, naturally, that the scholar’s current condition must also be connected to her.

And then Ryuuko remembered—

『—Friend or foe?』

That question. Right after answering it, the scholar had been teleported onto the stage.

So if Ryuuko had chosen “foe” instead back then… what would’ve happened to her?

(…S-Scary…)

She shook her head to erase the thought.

(All the other S-Ranks are insane except for me. Yep. I thought maybe we could have some nice girl bonding, but no way. Sorciera is terrifying.)

She silently praised herself for not choosing “foe” and vowed in her heart to never get involved with Sorciera again—no matter how big the reward.

Watching the scholar continue to flee pitifully on stage only strengthened that resolve.

“Our powers shouldn’t be trampled by someone like that. Don’t you agree?”

“Eh!? Y-Yes, absolutely!”

Ryuuko’s voice cracked as Sorciera suddenly spoke to her, the monster herself.

She sat upright in her seat, drenched in sweat.

“An ability is a person’s life path—their will itself. Its singular brilliance should never be defiled by anyone. Don’t you think stealing a star’s shine is just crude?”

“Y-You’re absolutely right.”

(Nope. I can’t tell if Sorciera’s in a good or bad mood. I just have to be a total yes-man for now.)

While listening to Sorciera, Ryuuko kept watching the scholar writhing on stage.

It was way better than making eye contact with Sorciera.

“Violating a taboo, not even begging for forgiveness, and staying arrogant. She was so disgusting, I couldn’t help but feel like doting on her a bit.”

“…Yes.”

“Hehe, truly foolish… but so adorable.”

(Eeep! Sorciera is terrifying… she’s probably a monster in her private life too. I bet she has a bunch of slaves serving her. If any of them mess up, she drags them to the punishment room!)

In Ryuuko’s mind, Sorciera had been firmly classified as a terrifying being.

For some reason, she had been traumatized just as deeply as the scholar had.

“…Oh right, about that clone.”

As if just remembering, Sorciera spoke.

Ryuuko still couldn’t bring herself to look at her.

“You’re planning to hand her over to the Board, aren’t you?”

“Y-Yes, that’s right.”

“I see.”

Once again, only the scholar’s screams echoed around them.

Ryuuko, gathering her courage, glanced toward Sorciera.

“U-Um, are you after her too?”

“Of course not. She’s worthless. Didn’t I say it’s a taboo? An untouchable domain. That life born from it… I wonder what the proper way to handle it would be.”

Sorciera twisted her lips as she spoke.

Based on her behavior so far, Ryuuko quickly arrived at one conclusion.

Or maybe she was being led to think that way.

“…Are you going to kill her? That girl?”

“And if I said yes?”

“I’d stop you.”

Ryuuko said it without hesitation.

Her eyes still brimmed with fear.

She was deep in enemy territory, with all the odds stacked against her.

Up against a monster far stronger than herself.

But none of that mattered.

“You think you can win?”

“I’ll fight with that in mind. …Though honestly, I don’t care if I lose. If people can say, ‘Watarai Ryuuko stayed a good person to the end. She never abandoned anyone. She lived like a decent human being,’ then that’s good enough for me.”

At Ryuuko’s core was the desire to like herself.

If everything ended with her, she’d surrender immediately.

She’d lick shoes. Drink muddy water while sobbing.

But if someone else might suffer instead—she’d resist with all her might.

Because to her, being branded “someone who abandoned others” was worse than death.

(Dying for someone else… yeah, that’s kinda cool.)

Her logic was a bit warped, but that self-centered outlook wasn’t unlike Rokuhara’s.

That’s why, when the time came, she made the same kind of choice as him—

The choice to fight Sorciera.

(I’ll lose if I fight… but even so, if I can end things as someone who fought for others, that’s good enough.)

From the outside, it was an incomprehensible emotional process—but Ryuuko had made up her mind.

Seeing that, Sorciera’s face softened just a bit.

Unlike her previous terrifying smile, this one was… gentle.

(W-Whoa… she’s actually gorgeous…)

“It was a joke. I have no intention of fighting you. For now, anyway. …But let me give you one piece of advice.”

Sorciera continued speaking.

“If you hand over that clone, she’ll be terminated. The Board has no use for her.”

“…What?”

“Isn’t that perfectly reasonable? A weapon with S-Rank abilities. There’s no point in keeping something like that. It’s too risky.”

Ryuuko opened her mouth to argue, then fell silent.

She understood the risk of an S-Rank clone.

Dissecting her could reveal the secret to mass-producing S-Ranks.

If that happened, many organizations would target Rei, even if it meant opposing the Board.

And Ryuuko knew the Board wasn’t kind-hearted enough to shoulder that risk for someone else.

“…So what should I do?”

“I don’t know. Think for yourself.”

With that, Sorciera stood up.

At the same moment, every person in the theater stood and applauded the scholar in unison, all smiling.

The thunderous applause shook the theater.

The scholar, receiving it all, frantically looked around and screamed.

“A-Aaaaaaah! Stop! Don’t look at me! Stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it—”

She clawed at her head, tripped again and again, slammed into walls, then fled the stage.

Her face was bruised, her hair disheveled—nothing like the scholar they had first met.

She was no longer a scholar.

“Well, I’m off. I have to give her a reward for her wonderful performance on stage.”

(That’s definitely a horrible “reward”… like “Thanks for the fun—now I’ll kill you” or something.)

Ryuuko nodded, pale-faced.

“Anyway, I’ll leave the rest to you. The real Hyououdou Rei is behind that door.”

“Huh?”

She made eye contact with Sorciera.

Her blue eyes now shimmered with geometric patterns.

“M-Magic Eye—”

“See you again someday.”

A flash of light made her instinctively close her eyes.

And when she opened them again, Sorciera was gone.

The applauding audience was also nowhere to be seen.

In fact, the massive theater had become a small, plain room.

“E-Eh…?”

Ryuuko looked around in confusion.

Then, in the front row, she spotted a familiar head of blue hair.

She rushed over, smiling with relief as she exhaled.

“Still asleep, huh?”

The girl called a “taboo” remained peacefully asleep.

Her expression looked like she was dreaming of something happy.