Kirara Clam had a dream.

It was to return this girl, standing before her, to what she once was.

To return the girl to what she had been before.

“You, you lot, do you even realize what you’re trying to do?!”

Somewhere within Kiso Academy.

In one of the abandoned experimental facilities, the Professor had been thrown down.

Immediately after being teleported, she was discarded, and now she was frantically scratching at her hair, shouting incessantly.

Watching him, Kirara’s expression twisted with disgust.

“I can kill him now, can’t I?”
“Yes, go ahead. But before that—”

Sorciera’s scythe struck the ground once.

From that point, a blue-purple magic circle expanded, covering the entire floor of the experimental facility.

■

Kirara, about to ask what had been done, stopped and turned back to face the Professor.

Every second was precious now.

“S-stop! If you kill me, you’ll be killing all of humanity too!”
“Shut up.”

Kirara dismissed the Professor’s nonsense with a single blow.

At her feet, frogs had appeared unnoticed and were now croaking.

“Do you recognize this face of mine?”
“Huh? Wait, I remember… Ah, right! You’re the sister of that student I killed earlier, aren’t you?!”
“…You’ve done terrible things to more than just that child, haven’t you? Ha… Enough already.”

To the Professor, she was just another faceless nobody.

Once that was clear, there was no hesitation left.

“I’ll kill you. And I’ll reclaim Hikari’s dignity.”

The human-devouring frogs leapt toward the Professor as if shot.

Each one was an autonomous bomb, powerful enough to tear through titanium alloy with ease.

A literal one-hit kill, swarming toward their target.

“Ah! No, get away from me!”

In a half-crazed state, the Professor unleashed the abilities of her current body.

What had once been called the Light Wings were wings of high heat derived from magic power.

But now, they were skeletal, looking more like spider legs as they spread.

“I… I must live! It’s for humanity’s sake!”

The Light Wings extended, piercing the human-devouring frogs.

But it was impossible to deal with them all. Before she knew it, one had reached her feet and exploded.

“Gyah!”

The explosion sent the Professor flying, leaving her alive but injured.

Thrown against the wall, she could faintly hear the croaks of frogs and kirara’s voice through her flickering consciousness.

“I won’t kill you right away. Professor, I’ll make you regret living, force you to atone, and then end you.”
“Th-this body isn’t even yours, is it?! Murderer!”
“You’re one to talk.”

The Light Wings shot forward like spears, eight in total.

Calmly, Kirara summoned eight human-devouring frogs, detonating them in front of each wing.

The directed blasts formed a wall, nullifying all the attacks.

Without a single hair burned, Kirara emerged from the flames and hurled more frogs toward the Professor.

The Light Wings pierced them instantly, causing explosions between the two.

At the same time, Kirara dashed forward.

The soles of her feet carried attached human-devouring frogs.

“Marchans!”

Explosions erupted beneath her feet.

The shapeshifting blast propelled Kirara’s body straight through the fire, closing the distance to the Professor in an instant.

“Wha—?!”
“Marchans!”

An explosion behind the Professor pushed her forward, closing the gap even further.

Kirara seized the Professor by the neck and slammed her to the ground.

“Ah, gah!”

The Light Wings thrashed, trying to break free, but the overwhelming number of human-devouring frogs pinned them down.

“Don’t bother struggling. My explosions are precise. I can kill only you with ease.”
“Haha… Killing me won’t save anyone.”
“Shut up.”
“Guh…!”

Kirara’s fingers dug into her neck.

With unwavering strength, she spat her curse.

“Apologize to Hikari. This body isn’t yours to use.”
“Gah…”
“Apologize.”
“Stop…”
“Apologize.”

With just enough force to allow shallow breaths, Kirara repeated the same words like a broken record.

The Professor clawed at Kirara’s hands.

But there was no sign of an apology leaving her lips.

An utterly self-centered soul.

As Kirara tightened her grip further, ready to end this blemish on humanity—

“—Ah, I see now. This is…!”

Words of realization.

They came from none other than the Professor, pinned beneath Kirara.

Her lack of understanding of her position only made Kirara squeeze harder.

“Do you even know the situation you’re in?”
“…Kirara, please stop…”
“Don’t call my name, you bastard!”

From deep within Kirara, dark emotions surged forth.

No more time to waste. This thing wouldn’t apologize.

It was a stain on humanity that needed to be erased.

Just as Kirara prepared to summon more human-devouring frogs—

“—It’s me. Hikari…!”
“What?!”

Kirara’s grip on the neck faltered.

But she kept her glare fixed, her suspicion unshaken.

“Stop pretending.”
“It’s true, Kirara. It’s me.”

In a hoarse voice, it laughed.

Then, it gave Kirara a smile buried deep in her memory.

“You promised we’d go see the Sea of Stars together, didn’t you?”
“—Ah.”

That was the trigger.

The promise shared between Hikari and Kirara.

Something only the two of them would know.

The moment she realized it, Kirara recognized the being before her as the girl named Hikari.

The hand around her neck loosened.

Although she was still being restrained by Kirara Clam, at this very moment, the tables had turned.

“Ha…”

A dry laugh escaped.

At the same time, radiant wings extended, thrusting toward Kirara.

“!?”

To protect its master, the human-devouring frog leapt forward and exploded.

Blasted by the explosion, Kirara’s body was pushed back, evading the strike from the radiant wings and flying backward.

In mid-air, Kirara managed to adjust her posture and landed.

Glaring through the lingering flames with a hateful gaze.

Under normal circumstances, she would have died in that explosion.

Yet Kirara was convinced that the Professor was still alive.

(She saw it.)

That alone was the reason.

That alone kept the Professor alive.

(She saw that girl’s shadow.)

The human-devouring frog’s explosions were entirely under Kirara’s control.

Thus, Kirara wouldn’t be harmed by the blast and could manipulate it at will.

But now, that very ability had become her greatest shackle.

“What’s wrong, Kirara?”

The Professor stood up leisurely.

And smiled.

That same sunlit smile she’d shown on that day.

“Stop it. Don’t smile at me like that.”

“Kirara, I’ve been wanting to see you for so long! Ever since we fought that day, I’ve been wanting to apologize—”

“Stop it!”

Fueled by anger, the human-devouring frogs exploded.

Countless frogs charged at the Professor, detonating upon impact.

But not a single explosion ever scorched her body.

“You dyed your hair. The same color as mine… I’m so happy!”

“Shut up… No, stop… stop it.”

“Hey, are you waking up properly in the mornings without me? You have to eat your meals, too!”

The past.

Those words pierced Kirara;s heart like blades.

Even though she tried to convince herself it was a fake, a part of her believed.

It was a convenient dream—an impossible story.

A nonsensical tale where her friend was still alive.

“Don’t talk… Please, just stop…”

“What’s wrong, Kirara? Why that face? I’ve always told you—smiles are important.”

Those were words she’d heard once before.

“You’re so beautiful, you know? If you smiled more, you’d make plenty of friends!”

“Shut up!”

An explosion erupted at Kirara’s feet.

Blasted by the shockwave, Kirara clenched her fists and lunged toward the girl.

“Kirara… Are you really going to hit me?”

“Tch.”

Instinctively, another human-devouring frog manifested and exploded right beside her.

The sideways blast knocked Kirara off balance, and she tumbled to the ground, just shy of reaching the girl.

“Ah…”

“Kirara, are you okay!?”

The girl rushed toward her in a panic.

With a worried expression, she knelt—

—and drove a radiant wing through Kirara’s heart.

“…Ah.”

The searing heat from the wing burned her heart to cinders.

As the smell of charred flesh filled the air, Kirara convulsed a few times before her body shuddered once more.

That was her end.

“…Haha. I did it.”

Confirming Kirara’s death, the Professor clenched her fists.

And burst into triumphant laughter.

“Hahahahaha! As expected of me! Heroes have no enemies!”

Heroes rise by overcoming adversity.

A hero wouldn’t stop after taking the lives of a few dozen people.

The Professor possessed the qualities of such a hero.

—At least, in this world.

“Alright, stop, stop. That’s enough.”

“…Huh?”

A crack appeared in the air.

Kirara, who was supposed to be dead and lying on the ground, suddenly spoke.

“What… What’s happening?”

The world creaked and screamed in agony.

As the Professor prepared to dash off aimlessly—

“What a boring dream.”

The words were spat out like venom.

And just like shattered glass, the dream ended in an instant.

The world returned to its original state.

There was no sign of Kirara, whose heart had been burnt to ashes.

What remained was the Professor, bound to a chair with silver chains—

—and Sorciera, standing before her with a delighted smile.

“…What?”

“Looks like you enjoyed the dream. And I’ve finished analyzing you.”

Sorciera toyed with a magic circle in her palm, her smile tantalizing and sinister.

“What… What’s going on?”

“It seems to be some kind of hallucination.”

A voice came from behind.

When she tried to turn, the chains restricted her movement.

“You seemed to be having fun killing me. …As if I wouldn’t recognize Hikari from you.”

Kirara whispered from behind, gently placing her hands on the Professor.

“I’m going to kill you now.”

“Ah… Aaah! …Aaaaah!”

What lay before the Professor was pure, primal terror.

A massive scythe glinted coldly in the moonlight, reflecting her twisted, fear-stricken face.

At that moment, the Professor realized, for the first time—

—this was the end.