――I just wanted friends.

That was my true wish, which I realized in my final moments.

At the very moment my life was ending, I confronted my own desire.

‘This is fine.’

The slash unleashed by Gatou Touraku came straight at me.

There was no need to resist.

This was a salvation meant to free me from the hideous form of this monster.

So, there was nothing to fear.

‘Aah, next time, I want to be a normal girl.’

I dreamed of an ordinary, everyday life.

Doing homework with Touraku.

Helping Mihaya with her love troubles.

Making lunch for Lutra.

That kind of ordinary life was now far from my reach.

The pure white slash closed in on me.

That untainted white, uncolored by anything, pierced through the tentacles created by Ouroboros’ defense mechanism, pressing forward relentlessly.

I quietly closed my eyes.

Exhaling, I prepared to accept death.

And then, just as everything was about to end…

The star appeared.

“――How pointless.”

A voice resounded as if denying my resolve and prayers.

Above the amusement park, a massive magic circle unfolded.

At its center, continuing to rotate as if marking time, a figure with striking silver-blue hair drew my attention.

‘…That is…’

It was Sorciera, the S-rank explorer who had been marked as a significant threat by the Silver Dusk.

Everything about her—her conditions for appearing, her goals, even her organization—was shrouded in mystery. Yet here she was, appearing out of nowhere.

But I recognized her figure.

Or more accurately, I recognized the sharpened magical power that surrounded her.

‘Could it be――you were the one inside that costume?’

My eyes, enhanced by Silver Dusk to see beyond the ordinary, made me realize it instantly.

The one looking down at me, the one who pushed me forward, was the same person.

So why now?

Why had she appeared at this moment?

I was just doing what I wanted to do.

I only wanted to die for my friends.

‘Don’t interfere. This is what I want.’

I extended my tentacles toward Sorciera.

Over a thousand tendrils spread wide, aiming to engulf the shining star that was Sorciera.

But, chains from the newly deployed magic circle restrained all of my tentacles.

I struggled, but even with my massive body, I couldn’t move freely.

The chains, made of material not from this world, originating from magic, were beyond my power to break.

As I struggled, Sorciera turned her attention toward Touraku and the others, launching concentrated bombardments at them.

It seemed she was trying to stop them from attacking me. Unnecessary.

‘Are you trying to prevent them from killing me?’

From where I was, I couldn’t tell what Sorciera and Touraku were saying.

I simply watched their exchange.

Eventually, I noticed the expressions of Touraku and the others change as they looked at the magic circle Sorciera had deployed.

In their eyes, I didn’t see hostility but something like resolve and sorrow.

I immediately understood what it meant.

They had realized that this monster was me.

‘You’ve figured it out. You understand now. Then, you know what you have to do, right?’

Perhaps due to the passage of time, the chains created by Sorciera’s magic started to lose their power and eventually snapped.

Simultaneously, the defense mechanism within Ouroboros let out a fierce roar directed at Sorciera.

How convenient.

I would be killed without anyone realizing I was this monster.

That was my wish.

And yet.

Why did hope flicker in Touraku’s eyes?

‘What are you planning?’

Avoiding my tentacles, Touraku and the others drew closer to me.

It was the most inappropriate action in this situation.

The correct strategy for defeating Ouroboros was annihilation from a distance with overwhelming firepower.

Concentrated bombardment was the proper method.

Even Lutra’s slashes could play their role effectively.

So there was no need for them to approach me.

‘Stay away!’

The closer they got to me, the higher the risk of death.

The tentacles, which moved freely in all directions, were obvious and deadly weapons, their sheer mass capable of delivering fatal blows if they connected.

Touraku and the others must have understood this.

And yet, they were fending off the tentacles, avoiding them by a hair’s breadth, steadily advancing.

I quickly realized what was driving their actions.

‘Sorciera!’

She must have said something to them.

As a result, Touraku and the others were now putting their lives at risk.

Perhaps my anger was misplaced.

Even so, I had no intention of suppressing this emotion.

The hero kills the monster. End of story.

That’s how it was supposed to go.

That’s what I had wished for.

‘This is the best I, weak as I am, can do! Understand that!’

As if mocking my desperate cry, Sorciera evaded my attacks, gracefully cutting through my tentacles.

Not only that.

She was also making sure that neither Mihaya nor Touraku were in any danger, moving in a way that showed clear consideration for them.

It seemed she wouldn’t even allow me the luxury of worrying about them.

Everything in the battlefield was under Sorciera’s control.

Where the bullets would fly, when to evade, the route she would take to charge in—all of it, including my attacks, was completely within her grasp.

Without losing a single ounce of her brilliance, Sorciera approached me.

To me, it felt like she was trampling on my resolve, and before I realized it, I was howling.

A roar from the heart echoed through the amusement park.

As a monster, I swung my tentacles wildly, consumed by emotion.

I had no time to consider that this might kill Touraku and the others.

I simply wanted to act unpredictably, to defy Sorciera’s expectations.

I didn’t want to lose to the shining star.

However, my rampage ended with nothing more than a slight sway of Sorciera’s bangs.

When I came to my senses, there was a clear path leading straight to me.

My rampage was entirely within her calculations.

‘Even though I finally figured out what I want to do… don’t interfere.’

I want to die.

Sorciera must understand that.

That’s why she’s offering her hand to me.

In that moment, our eyes met.

Even though I had abandoned my human form, her blue eyes caught mine.

They were a deep, dark blue, like the bottom of the sea, clear and calm.

When she smiled faintly, I heard a voice.

“Rinka!”

It was Touraku, calling my name.

Looking toward the sound of his voice, I saw Touraku, brandishing a white sword, rushing toward me.

Tentacles sprang forth to stop him, but Mihaya, stationed behind him, wouldn’t allow it.

“Let’s be friends again. Let’s start over from the beginning. We’ll always be waiting for you! So!”

Touraku dodged the tentacles and leaped high into the air.

Using the tentacles as a springboard, he rose higher.

At the sight of him, the emotions I had carefully locked away began to overflow.

I had sealed them within myself, knowing that if I let them out, I would surely regret it later.

‘…Touraku, Touraku!’

I called his name.

I just wanted him to notice me.

I’m right here.

Look at me, see me.

‘――Help me, Touraku. Please, save me!’

“I’m coming to save you now.”

It was probably just a coincidence.

But Touraku definitely responded to me.

With a light step, Touraku kicked off the tentacles and leaped even higher.

Turning in mid-air toward the center of Ouroboros, he kicked off the air itself.

At the same time, a blue-purple magic circle appeared behind him, propelling him forward.

With a burst of magical power enhancing his momentum, he became a white comet, hurtling toward me.

“Lutra, one strike is enough.”

With that, Touraku readied his sword.

Seeing this, I spread my tentacles wide to greet him.

And so, the shooting star fell toward me――.

“Will you be my friend again?”

‘…Yes. I’d love to, Touraku.’

At last, I made a friend.

■

Ouroboros was torn into two.

With the loss of half its core, Ouroboros began to self-destruct.

This was also one of the safety mechanisms attached by the Silver Twilight.

The tentacles unraveled like woven ropes, leaving only a boy and a girl at the center.

Touraku, holding Rinka in his arms, leaped from the core of Ouroboros and escaped.

“…Rinka, are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

“I see, that’s good.”

Seeing Touraku smile as if relieved, Rinka once again realized that she was truly alive.

Before long, Mihaya joined them at the scene.

The moment she saw Rinka, Mihaya snatched her from Touraku’s arms and hugged her tightly.

“Idiot.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“I’ll forgive you this once. But next time, I won’t.”

Rinka nodded silently to Mihaya’s trembling voice.

“Well then, will you officially be friends with me now… Agiri Rinka?”

At those words, the two exchanged smiles.

“Of course.”

Thus, Rinka made a friend.

That simple fact made her incredibly happy.

(“I deserve to live.”)

Mihaya gently stroked Rinka’s head as tears welled up in her eyes.

As they watched the two, Touraku suddenly noticed that Lutra hadn’t returned to her human form.

“Lutra, what’s wrong?”

‘The battle isn’t over yet. What’s come so far has been just a prelude.’

The sword in Touraku’s hand trembled violently.

Before long, the will to fight and the fear that Lutra felt began to flow into Touraku.

“Sorciera, isn’t it?”

‘She’s the first successful model of Demonsgear, designated as Prototype 0. Demonsgear designed to kill us.’

Hearing Lutra’s words, Touraku realized something.

Sorciera was gone.

The presence she had asserted so powerfully on the battlefield just moments ago had suddenly disappeared.

“Where is she… Wait, what is that?”

Looking around, Touraku’s gaze was drawn upward by a sudden flash of light in the sky.

There, she stood.

The magical circle that had appeared when she first manifested was glowing, pulsating as if alive.

“What is she trying to do?”

‘Touraku, the material around us is being converted into magical energy.’

Lutra’s words alerted Touraku to the anomaly.

Pale blue particles rose from the surroundings—rubble, fire, and tentacles dissolving as if melting into the world itself, transforming into particles.

And all of it was flowing toward Sorciera’s magic circle.

“A convergence of magic?”

Touraku gasped.

What was her specialty?

What had she done in the footage he had seen of her?

“Could she be preparing a converged bombardment…!?”

‘Touraku, five strikes. That should stop her.’

Noticing the shift, Mihaya spoke up.

“Touraku, is this…?”

“It’s Sorciera. She’s converting everything around here into magic power for a converged bombardment!”

‘Touraku, we have to go. We can’t let my sister take the initiative.’

“Yeah.”

“Are you really going to attack Sorciera? You can’t! That’s insane!”

‘Touraku, hurry.’

Mihaya tried to stop Touraku, while Lutra urged him on.

The hesitation created by this moment was more than enough time for Touraku to be bound.

Suddenly, silver chains emerged from beneath Touraku’s feet, binding both him and his sword.

“Damn! What is this!?”

‘Too late. If it comes to this, I’ll have to signal the other Demonsgears—’

As Lutra, sounding half-defeated, tried to act, Touraku could only look up in resistance.

There she stood, unchanged.

Sorciera glanced at him and spoke.

“Don’t interfere. You’re of no use to me anymore.”

With that, Sorciera turned her back to him, as if to say there was no further need to waste time.

Ahead of her lay the disintegrating Ouroboros, which had begun to collapse after Rinka’s departure.

Even as its form fell apart, the tentacles gathered as if preparing for something.

“It’s… absorbing itself.”

Rinka was the first to realize what Ouroboros was doing.

It was a desperate attempt to survive by using its regenerative ability.

Ouroboros, having lost Rinka, its core, was trying to reconstitute itself by continuously absorbing its own form.

“If it loses human control, it’ll truly become a monster!”

Up until now, Rinka had been able to exert some level of control.

But even with that, the results had been horrific.

It was easy to imagine what would happen without any restraint.

“Could Sorciera have known this all along…?”

The magic circle had been in place since she appeared.

Now, its convergence-based formula was coming into full effect.

The rising light in the sky faded.

At the same time, the magic circle’s glow intensified.

“What a pitiful soul. I’ll end it for you.”

Sorciera spoke to Ouroboros in a voice filled with pity, then adjusted her grip on her scythe, pointing the muzzle at it.

In that instant, several blue-purple tubes extended from the magic circle and connected to her scythe.

With each pulse, the magic energy absorbed by the magic circle flowed into the scythe.

The vast amount of magical power converging in one place resembled the birth of a star.

Multiple magical circles appeared in front of the muzzle.

They seemed like a long barrel, pointing toward Ouroboros, spinning rapidly.

Sorciera, holding this monstrous weapon, far too dreadful for one girl to wield, chanted as if singing.

“—Behold the brilliance of a star.”

The trigger was pulled.

That was the last movement Touraku could register.

Beyond that, it was impossible to observe anything more.

Everything around them was enveloped in blinding silver light.

“Get behind me, both of you!”

Touraku shouted, positioning himself in front of the two and readying Lutra.

He used all the magic power he had to create a shield.

Everything except the spot where they stood was consumed by the silver light.

“So this is a converged bombardment!? There’s no way… How could the council look at this and call it just a converged bombardment!”

Mihaya shouted while protecting Rinka.

(“This is completely different from any converged bombardment we’ve seen. But now I understand what Silver Twilight meant.”)

Facing the light, Rinka finally grasped the meaning of the organization’s words.

This wasn’t just an anomaly—it was beyond the realm of living beings.

“Lutra, are you okay?”

‘Withstanding the aftershocks is fine. But if we were directly targeted, we wouldn’t stand a chance. Only Eina or Trim could even hope to withstand it.’

Lutra calmly stated.

“…This is her full power.”

After about ten seconds, the silver light subsided.

Nothing remained.

Where Ouroboros had stood, even the ground itself had been scraped away, leaving no trace of buildings or terrain.

Touraku dispelled the magic shield.

A cold wind blew through the empty space.

The scene of destruction left behind by the silver light was silently watched by the Queen of Stars.

“Gatou Touraku.”

Sorciera called his name.

He couldn’t even ready his weapon.

“Come to me. If you don’t… you will lose everything.”

Leaving those words, Sorciera disappeared into a magic circle beside her, vanishing to somewhere else.

As Touraku stood there in shock, Lutra returned to her human form, her forehead damp with sweat.

“We were spared. No, I was never her target to begin with. Did the other Demonsgears do something?”

Muttering, Lutra seemed a bit shaken but otherwise unchanged.

“We can’t afford to stand around like this.”

Mihaya, who had known Sorciera beforehand, was the first among the three to regain her composure.

She lightly tapped Touraku’s head and spoke.

“You did well. You saved Rinka, and in the end, Ouroboros is gone. That’s a good outcome.”

“…Yeah.”

Seeing Touraku still in a daze, Mihaya sighed.

She cupped his face with both hands, forcing him to meet her gaze.

“Focus. Sorciera is gone. What do we need to do now?”

Mihaya’s words finally brought Touraku back to his senses.

“…Check for survivors.”

“Exactly. You understand. Now, let’s go together, Rinka.”

Mihaya patted Rinka’s shoulder, causing her to flinch before nodding.

“Y-yeah, you’re right.”

“Let’s start with the area near the Ferris wheel in the amusement park.”

The two nodded, and they began to move.

That night, the stars were clearly visible.