Ultimate Antihero

Volume 4, Chapter 1 Part 4

Ichinotani Chikori was cursing herself.

Of her shameless self who had brazenly survived like this.

“I, couldn’t do anything.”

No, it was still better if she did nothing.

She would be saved if she was just useless.

But what about the reality.

It wasn’t something as cute as being useless.

“I, killed Dorothy-san……”

Because she did something foolish, Dorothy-san was now dead.

On top of that, she couldn’t even take revenge for Dorothy.

She was only being a burden until the end, she didn’t make any result, only surviving meaninglessly.

――Hateful.

This was the first time.

For her to feel this hateful to herself.

(What hero……that will protect everyone.)

Someone this useless, wouldn’t it far better to not exist at all.

That was why,

“……I won’t, fight anymore.”

Ichinotani Chikori hung her head down and told that to Sumika without meeting her gaze.

After all if she was there, she would be nothing more but a bother.

In regard to this, Sumika kneeled in front of Chikori and encouraged the girl by putting her hand on Chikori’s shoulder.

“Chikori-san. Please don’t just look at the thing you lost. There are also lives that were saved thanks to the two of you holding back the <Special Missionaris>. The hard struggle of Chikori-san and Dorothy-san was by no means meaningless.”

That was the truth.

If Chikori didn’t fight hard, the <Special Missionary> Gimel would surely kill a lot more people.

During the time when Sumika protected the city before she fired <Grim Bullet>, it was only because Chikori was fighting that the only one who became sacrifice due to Gimel was just Dorothy.

But, ……for Chikori who was taken captive by the imaginary [what if], she couldn’t listen to such logic.

“Leader, is really strong……”

Chikori murmured with her face kept looking down.

“I cannot do it……. I can see nothing but the thing I lost……”

Only the result that she couldn’t take back kept tormenting her heart.

Something like the thing she had protected, she didn’t even have the willpower to think about it.

Moreover――

“Leader isn’t sad……? Master is……”

――Dead already.

That mouth of Chikori who was going to say that pursed tightly in the middle.

That was just too stupid of a question, even her ragged heart realized that.

“……I’m sorry. I, to say something really stupid……”

But, that word of apology of Chikori, ――was cut by no other than Sumika.

“I’m mortified.”

With brief words, as if squeezing them out, she returned the answer to the question Chikori swallowed back.

“Morti, fied?”

She wasn’t sad, mortified.

Chikori couldn’t understand well the meaning of that emotion.

That was why Chikori lifted her head and asked what kind of emotion was that.

Toward that Sumika,

“Yes. Because I hate Homura-san’s way of living.”

An answer that was spitted out exactly following her feeling.

“Taking all the burden of everything by himself, that way of living that shouldered all of that in isolation, I really hate it. That was why one day, I told him. ……After one year, I will become an existence that can stand side by side with him without fail, that I will forcibly take half of his burden. ……For that declaration to not come true, it can’t be helped that I’m feeling mortified. Because I……love Homura-san.”

“Leader……”

“But, even if now Homura-san is not here anymore, it doesn’t mean that the promise is also gone. The promise I exchanged, is still remaining inside this heart for sure. That’s why, there is no free time to drown in sadness or anything. ――We get through this predicament without relying on Homura-san, even we can do it if we try, I want to say that to him.”

Because she believed……that was the only thing that could become Homura’s salvation.

But――

“But, to accomplish that, is impossible with my strength alone.”

Saying that, Sumika once more stared at Chikori’s eyes and declared.

“In order to accomplish that, everyone’s strength is needed.”

Yes. Facing this predicament, witnessing how every single one were doing what they could with their all, Sumika understood.

{Sumika-chan. That guts of attempting to stand side by side with Homura-kun is splendid but, that’s something impossible. There is no way anyone is like him, possessing such nobility, combined with a talent that counterbalances it. ――However, something like that is just a trivial problem. Because the true strength of the race called human is not there. ――That is, something you mustn’t forget.}

The true meaning of those words of <The Crawling Chaos>.

Indeed it was just as <The Crawling Chaos> said, there was no other heroic figure like Homura.

He was the <Ultimate One>. Matching him in power of [Individual] was an impossible story from the beginning.

However such thing was not a problem.

For that reason right now, exactly because it was this kind of now, Sumika understood that.

If she couldn’t reach him with the strength of [Individual], she could just reach him with the strength of [Group].

“In front of an overwhelming difference of strength, even so we won’t give up and face it by banding together as one. That is the strength that angel and demon, and not even that Homura-san has, the strength that only we the weak have. And then, it’s exactly this strength, that gouges a hole at the despair that covers even the sky……!”

And then, to destroy the despair.

Just like a single ant nest, destroying a firm castle.

“In that battle, I want to borrow Chikori-san’s strength.”

Saying that, Sumika took out something from her pocket and made Chikori’s hand grasped it.

When Chikori opened her hand wondering what it was, it was something like a candy wrapped in a wrapping paper.

When she opened the wrapper, a candy ball that shined in rainbow color which looked tasty was undoubtedly right inside.

But――

“This is, wait……, don’t tell me!”

The moment she saw that, Chikori who was a magician understood.

The presence the rainbow candy had, she knew the extremely cruel story from what the owner of this presence told her.

And then the realization of the girl was correct.

The name of this rainbow colored candy was, ――Fairy Pill.

This thing became the reason of fairy race being cornered in the chaotic demon world, this was the magic power supplement food that was created from fairy’s life as its raw material.

Just why in the world Sumika was carrying something like this.

Sumika answered Chikori who asked that with widely opened eyes from shock.

“Elfiena-san and others, will fight together with us.”

“……!”

Yes. This fairy pill was something brought by no other than Elfiena. The fairies who were weakened from long life on the run and became unable to fight satisfactorily, crystallized their life like this by their own will.

So to speak, this was the embodiment of their fighting spirit.

What saved Sumika from her predicament of running out of magic power was also the will of those fairies.

That was why Sumika handed that over to Chikori this time, and spoke.

“You are not a girl who will just mope around in this kind of place. No matter what kind of criticism and scorn you faced, you didn’t lose, didn’t give up, and continued to be there straightforwardly until the end even at that time when I was rotten, that soul of yours, is nobler than anyone, is stronger than anyone else. I know that well more than anyone. That’s why, ――I will wait for you at the battlefield, together with everyone……!”

She believed in her.

Sumika took her leave with those words as her last.

“……I, am…………, even so, I am…………–……!”

On the other hand Chikori buried her face into her knees once more.

As if to reject all the reality in front of her.

However, even so――

“…………-, ……”

Chikori’s hand, tightly grasped the undulating strong will entrusted to her from Sumika, without letting it go.

***

Sumika who distanced herself from Chikori’s position returned to Lily who was waiting for her at slightly distanced location.

“I wonder, if that child can stand up. She is looking really haggard though.”

Sumika nodded unhesitatingly toward that worried question of Lily.

“She will be fine. Because Chikori-san is a magician that Homura-san had expectations for. ……Chikori-san will come for sure.”

Yes. Chikori would surely stand up again. She believed that.

However――

“But……it’s still not enough.”

“Not enough?”

“In order for us mankind to win, there is one person, who we have to obtain her cooperation no matter what.”

Sumika thought.

Without the girl’s assistance, they would surely be forced into an exceedingly bitter fight.

If she could, she wanted to obtain that girl’s cooperation too.

That was why,

“Let’s go Lily. Toward the location of the grimoire of beginning. <Liber AL vel Legis>.”