"Ah!?"

A dull shock ran through the left side of my chest and as I sat up. I smelled stifling greenery and felt damp humus. I felt the chilly night air of the forest. The hooting I heard overhead was probably from an owl or something. When I looked up at the sound for no real reason, I saw the pale moon.

…Where was I?

Still seated, I looked all around. At the very least, I wasn't inside the convalescent hospital. Nor was I in the facility's courtyard. There was nothing artificial about this place. Only rolling hills of damp earth and a sea of half-rotten leaves. I was surrounded by the twisted silhouettes of trees and about half of those were collapsing from rot.

I was deep in a forest with no sign of artificial caretaking, where the trees destroyed each other in the fight for sunlight and nutrients. The image reminded me of an elderly person covered in bedsores after being left in bed with no one to look after them.

I was outside the abandoned hospital.

I was deep in the forest.

"…What is going on?"

My memories didn't reach this point.

The Cla.s.s Rep and my sisters were nowhere to be seen. I could find no sign of what had happened to take me here from the Peace Committee Convalescent Hospital. I couldn't just a.s.sume everything until now had taken place in virtual reality. The Cla.s.s Rep had become a Dhampir and my stepmom was Archenemy Lilith. No matter how unrealistic it was, I had to accept it.

But then what?

If it hadn't been virtual and it had all been solidly real…then had I experienced something that caused me to lose my short-term memory?

The skin on my fingertips was crawling.

My memories were gone and I couldn't be sure what I had done in the meantime. The calmer I got, the creepier it felt.

I had experienced something similar back when I had built Disaster Environment Simulator Maxwell all on my own. Staying up all night had been the norm for me at the time and I had set my smartphone's alarm to ring on the hour every hour. That way I would only suffer a small time loss if I did fall asleep.

…But once I slept for six hours straight. And during that time, I had apparently eaten and chatted with Ayumi when she brought me a bento.

That didn't mean I had a second personality. I had been myself when I shut off the annoying alarm every hour and when I had eaten the bento with Ayumi. It was just that none of the memories had been written to my brain.

This felt just like that.

But that had been an abnormal situation brought on by working for about 72 hours straight. It wasn't something that just happened for no reason.

It took a lot to trigger it.

But what exactly had it been this time?

"Erika, Ayumi…?"

I spoke softly into the darkness and then tilted my head at my own action. Why was I keeping my voice so quiet? It was a lot like I didn't want to give away my position.

"Oh, right. Maxwell."

I searched through my pockets and was kind of impressed to find my smartphone was in its usual place. Right now, not even those normal things could be guaranteed.

"Maxwell, what in the world happened? Where did my sisters and the Cla.s.s Rep-…?"

"Warning: I do not recommend carelessly activating the backlight. Danger Level: Max. Top Priority."

I frowned at the message that interrupted me.

And just like bugs drawn to the sole light in the dark, dark forest, that stepped on the squishy humus. The sound came from behind me, so I looked back without thinking…

"Ah!?"

My pounding heart rang loud in my ears. They must have been supplying an excessive amount of blood because I didn't have to touch my throat to tell the blood vessels on the sides were throbbing irregularly.

I was still in the deep, dark forest. But my position seemed to have changed. And I must have rolled around on the ground because my hair and clothes were covered in humus and cold, wet leaves. It was as if I had been running away in an absolute panic.

…What had happened?

I felt in my pocket and pulled out my smartphone, but then my fingers stopped. Using my smartphone in this darkness was dangerous. The backlight would be visible from hundreds of meters away. I still didn't know what was in this deep forest, but it didn't seem like letting them know my location was a good idea.

The Cla.s.s Rep, my older sister Erika, my little sister Ayumi, and my stepmom.

What had happened to them? Why was I alone? Were they okay?

I slowly crouched down and carefully observed my surroundings. I couldn't sense anyone there, human or Archenemy. But that was not enough to put my mind at ease. It felt like the darkness as a whole had become a giant monster. It felt like a tremendous pressure was going to crush me from all sides if I let my guard down.

Whatever the case, I wanted information.

Earlier, my smartphone's backlight had let something know where I was. This time, I crouched down, dug down into the soft humus, stuck my smartphone inside, and then hit the switch. It was far from perfect, but it kept more of the light from escaping than before.

"Maxwell."

"Sure."

"What happened? My short-term memory was wiped clean twice now, so I can't rely on my own mind. I want an objective opinion."

"Sure. Generally, such things are a subconscious attempt to reject a fact or existence that you find difficult to accept. This is not a physical change to you brain structure, so do not worry."

"You're kidding, right? That means I'm up against something that wipes your memories just by looking at it and it's wandering through this dark forest without any other witnesses. How can I not worry? Besides, why am I in the forest? What happened to the convalescent hospital?"

"It collapsed."

I had mostly just been complaining. I hadn't expected a serious answer.

And certainly not that answer!

"Coll…apsed?"

"Sure. It occurred approximately fifteen minutes ago. On your own instructions, the Peace Committee Convalescent Hospital's Ghost was commanded to evacuate by sending its data into online storage. But the s.p.a.ce requirements were too great for the target location and the command failed. The Ghost's physical engine seems to be contained in a protective sh.e.l.l similar to a flight recorder, but its connection has currently been lost. You said you would dig it up later."

"…I don't remember any of that."

I held my head in one hand.

I did understand the logic of it. An unidentified monster had risen from the convalescent hospital's bas.e.m.e.nt and the building had collapsed. Maxwell or the Bright Cross's Laplace hadn't been able to leave the Ghost there and had tried to rescue it. With the abandoned hospital itself gone, there was no more reason to stay there. And if the monster that had crushed the Peace Committee Convalescent Hospital had been let loose, we would have had to get as far away as possible. It was easy enough to see why I would be hiding in the dark forest.

But.

What had happened in the abandoned hospital?

What had happened to the others who should have fled with me?

"Maxwell, are you aware of what happened? No, of what showed up there?"

"Sure."

"It seems I lose my memories if I directly see whatever it is. So, Maxwell, I want you to tell me indirectly. …What happened? What kind of threat is here and what happened to the Cla.s.s Rep and the others?"

"Sure. Explaining it would be simple enough, but I am not certain that information would be helpful for you. I must warn you that I do not currently recommend this course of action."

"…What? Is it really that dangerous? Just to remind you, I've already seen a vampire, zombie, and demon lord with my own eyes."

"No. This is not a simple matter of bodily structure. This problem is related to your heart. It is too deeply connected to the very formation of your personality, so it is difficult to predict what internal changes will result from contact with the requested information."

Maxwell's roundabout and self-important phrasing left me initially unsure what that actually meant. But once I realized that was Maxwell's way of resisting when she could not lie in response to my command, the meaning gradually hit home.

"…Are you saying it's someone I know?"

"If that is what you have decided."

"Quit beating around the bush. Just tell me, Maxwell! Who came out of the bas.e.m.e.nt! Are they trying to harm everyone!? Just tell me!"

But Maxwell did not respond.

No, she sent a higher-priority message.

"Warning."

I didn't wait any longer. I switched off the smartphone to eliminate the backlight and slowly began to move while still crouching. I tried to make as little noise as possible as I walked across the damp humus and next to a nearby tree.

…I wasn't going to let the same thing happen again.

There was something different about this person than the Dhampir-ized Cla.s.s Rep or Archenemy Lilith. I couldn't directly face them when simply seeing them erased my memories. It was like being pursued by Medusa and her petrifying eyes.

…Rrr, rrr, rrr, rrr….

They slowly approached with some kind of mechanical noise accompanying them. Had they noticed me here or were they merely patrolling? I had no way of knowing. I simply tried to keep the tree trunk between us in order to hide myself.

My throat grew dry from tension. My heart pounded like it belonged to someone else. If I shouted, no one would come. Even if I called 110, the police would never arrive in time. This was no longer j.a.pan. It was the forest of some bizarre cult.

…Rrr, rrr, rrr, rrr….

I focused on the noise I had been hearing.

It had to be a chainsaw or something. The small engine had been lowered to idling and whoever-it-was was walking around with it held at their hip. It was obvious what would happen if their eyes captured a poor target. My heart was squeezed by a fear more grounded than that of vampires or zombies. Being dismembered alive by that brutal blade would be far more frightening than being bitten by an Archenemy.

I couldn't afford to have my memories taken from me in this dangerous situation. I doubted I could continue escaping if I didn't have a plan. I needed to understand. I had to find a way to understand who my enemy was and what the situation was. Only then could I decide whether to fight or flee. The idea of acting rashly frightened me more than anything.

…The conditions were still a mystery, but did I just have to avoid seeing them directly? So what if I did it indirectly?

While moving from one tree to another, I focused on my smartphone. I obviously couldn't ask Maxwell. Activating the backlight to read the response would be suicide in this darkness. So with the screen still dark, I gently held it out from behind a tree trunk. Any middle or high school student would have used their smartphone screen as a hand mirror at some point.

If even this was enough to affect my memories, I would have to give up, but I couldn't make any progress just by avoiding them out of fear. And unlike in a game of chess or shogi, things were moving in real time. The person wielding the chainsaw would not wait around. The longer I hesitated, the more they would corner me.

…Rrr, rrr, rrr, rrr, rrr, rrr….

They were approaching.

At this point, I began to suspect they had known I was here from the beginning. But that still wasn't certain. If I gave into the pressure, screamed, and bolted, then they were guaranteed to lock onto me. So I had to bear with it. Bear with it and find the answer. I had to strip the veil of the unknown away from this source of fear.

Still hiding behind the tree trunk, I held out just the smartphone and gradually changed the angle. The branches and leaves overhead blocked out a lot of it, but there was some moonlight. Right now, I could see them. I could reflect them in the dark smartphone screen, and…

"Ah."

Then I saw them.

My mind had erased my memories to protect me, so there had been no reason to seek it out. It was obviously going to do more harm than good.

Thrill seeking, Pandora's Box, the joy of violating taboos. Those concepts came to mind and then vanished once more.

I regretted it.

The smartphone's dark screen reflected someone holding a brutal ma.s.s of metal far too involved to simply call a chainsaw. And that person was…

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?"

My memories left me again.

The next thing I knew, I was fleeing at random while tripping and falling over and over in the dark, dark forest. I doubted it was due to peeking at that "someone" using my smartphone as a hand mirror. I remembered screaming afterwards. I must have rushed out from behind the tree without thinking and then seen them directly.

I was scared.

So very, very, very scared.

…They had not held a simple chainsaw meant for cutting wood. It was clearly a custom device. It was held by a leather belt worn diagonally across the chest and a large V-shaped handle like a weed eater. For one thing, a normal chainsaw did not have three rotating blades lined up side by side. Nor would they have a giant crossbow - so big it looked hard to draw with human hands - attached at the top of the chainsaw, the area that would be the back of the blade for a sword.

That was not a tool; it was a weapon. And it was a human-hunting weapon with each part clearly designed to pursue bipedal prey through a dark forest.

If that was targeting me, I was dead at close or long range. There was no point in using the idling engine's noise to judge how far away they were.

But.

For some reason, it was something other than that direct threat which came to mind.

Would it be rude to refer to her as my "previous mom"?

But these days, the person I thought of as "mom" was usually Amatsu Yurina, who had brought Erika and Ayumi with her.

But that didn't mean I hated or disliked that person. Even if she had made less of a presence for herself than an Archenemy like Demon Lord Lilith, she had still been pretty for her age.

…To me, she had changed quite a lot.

No matter how kind she had been or how proud I had been to have her as my mom, she was never coming back. The rails had switched over and she was gone. I imagined a lot had happened between her and my dad. They had probably only gotten divorced after a lot of agonizing over the decision. But all that remained in my heart was a hopeless emotional fissure and the unwanted knowledge that even the common image of "a family that supported each other no matter what" could not survive a true storm.

I still couldn't forget that image.

I could still picture her back walking away after she left through the front door. And I could see the door after she never once looked back and it slammed shut. That was the moment when a family member became a stranger.

Why was I remembering that now?

Wasn't it obvious?

"Why? Why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why!?"

I ignored all a.s.sumptions and logic as I shouted and ran through the dark forest. They must have pressed the switch on the V-shaped grip because I heard an explosive roar much like a large motorcycle starting up. Behind me, that someone engaged the clutch for the three rotating chainsaw blades and the metal blades lined up like shark teeth began to ferociously rotate. But that didn't matter. I continued running and nearly tripped through the rotten forest. Meanwhile, I pulled out my smartphone again. The backlight came on brightly and I angrily shouted a question at Maxwell.

"Maxwell!!"

"Warning: In your current situation, bright lights and loud noises will-…"

"That doesn't matter. I don't have time to read all that c.r.a.p, so don't send long messages! More importantly, what is that? Why is my previous mom - to use her maiden name, Magatsu Taori - wandering around the forest with a murderous triple chainsaw!?"

"No. I do not understand the situation any more than you do."

I felt a pain deep in my eyes.

I could not look behind me. With a direct look, either the fear of the blades or something else would mess with my memories. So even as my spine tingled from the pursuing roar of the triple chainsaws, I kept my eyes forward and continued to run.

"However, it is undeniable that this Magatsu Taori climbed the stairs from the convalescent hospital's bas.e.m.e.nt floor."

What did that mean?

Was this the monster sealed in the bas.e.m.e.nt because the abandoned hospital had feared it more than anything? Was this who was wandering the late-night forest with a human-hunting toy made from combining a triple chainsaw with a crossbow?

Was it all my…blood-related mother?

"This is insane…!"

I could understand that my stepmom, Amatsu Yurina, was an Archenemy. The origin of my vampire older sister and zombie little sister was pretty suspicious, so my stepmom might have had a secret too. But Magatsu Taori was my blood-related mother. Half of my blood was inherited from her. If she was an Archenemy, I would be a half-Archenemy. But I'd never heard anything about that. It was true Itou Helen the Witch hadn't been aware she was an Archenemy, but this was different from that. There hadn't been any hints of this whatsoever. I just couldn't believe that I wasn't a pure human.

Or had my mom been bitten or otherwise turned into an Archenemy after the divorce? If so, that was very sad and hard to accept. I thought I was fairly understanding of my vampire older sister and zombie little sister, but I didn't want them to spread their damage indiscriminately.

"Pant, pant!"

The b.u.mpy forest floor of soft humus was poor footing. Unlike a schoolyard or asphalt, it sapped my strength and I was gasping for breath in no time. The military manuals lying around the internet often said not to leave footprints and not to break any branches, but I couldn't give things like that any focus whatsoever with a murderous triple chainsaw and crossbow pursuing me from behind. It was clearly all over once she caught up with me. I couldn't sense any of her former motherly love in the brutal roar of that engine. Before we could even speak, she would slice vertically through me or fire a metal bolt between my eyes or into my heart. Then it was the end. That was the only possible future. That back that never once looked back and the echoing sound of the door coldly slamming shut would not leave my mind.

But using that memory to escape this frightening reality was apparently a bad idea.

"Gh!?"

Without warning, a slender arm stuck out horizontally from behind a tree trunk in front of me. I spun around it by the neck as if I had been hit by a lariat. I didn't have time to figure out which way was up. While I began choking on reflex, someone's soft hand covered my mouth and their other hand grabbed my collar and pulled me behind the thick tree.

It was a bewitching woman with her fluffy long red hair tied back with a hair tie. She wore a blouse so thin her black bra showed through and jeans so tight the shape of her b.u.t.t showed through.

"Yahoo, Satori. How have you been?"

"Mom…"

"Heh hehn. So you still see me as your mom, do you? And that's after the major bombsh.e.l.l about being Archenemy Lilith. Heh heh heh. How cute."

I couldn't move while trying to catch my breath and she took advantage of it by embracing my upper body and rubbing her cheek against me. Her behavior was a bit of a problem when she only looked college aged and yet had been born in BCE times. I wasn't blessed with a "normal" family due to my parents' divorce, but I was pretty sure this was not normal behavior between a mother and her son!

"Ugh, cough. Mom…what is going on? Where are the Cla.s.s Rep and my sisters…?"

"Hmm? I can't be certain since we got split up as we ran away, but I'm sure they're fine. First, Magatsu Taori has no real reason to attack the Cla.s.s Rep from next door. And even if she does defeat Erika or Ayumi, she should take them hostage instead of just killing them. From her perspective, she was driven to divorce over the Bright Cross's stance on killing monsters, but the next thing she knew, her husband had married one of those monsters. She must not have been able to forgive me for that. I imagine it makes her feel like a fool for leaving over her fierce opposition to Archenemy persecution."

"It's so troubling, isn't it? She was probably an amateur Archenemy advocate who had heard bits and pieces of information. She must have been a sensible person who attacked your father for working with the Bright Cross, but she was unaware he was shouting for reform from the inside. But the depths of her benevolence must have grown into twice the hatred once it cooled."

Wait, don't tell me…

Does this have nothing to do with the Calamity or Absolute Noah?

After all this, is it a personal problem!?

"Whenever Magatsu Taori made her appearance, I knew she would target my daughters to lure me out. In fact, as she is now, she could probably singlehandedly destroy Absolute Noah which is designed to withstand the Calamity. …So I thought I would settle this myself before I had to be on guard 24/7. Although I didn't expect her to break through the sealed wall with brute force. I apparently didn't arrive quite in time."

A threat to the world and salvation from it.

It was all on a ridiculous scale and I still didn't want to board the Absolute Noah that would smile while letting everyone else die.

But my mom, Magatsu Taori, took things too far in the opposite direction. If something was even slightly connected to the woman she hated, she would destroy it. The fate of 7 billion people was of no consequence. In a way, you could say she was very thorough.

The roaring of the rotating blades on the murderous triple chainsaw pa.s.sed by quite nearby. It slowly moved just on the other side of the thick tree. She might not have noticed us.

I crouched down and held my breath, but Amatsu Yurina smiled.

"However, Magatsu Taori has no reason to kill you, Satori. That alone I can say with certainty. You can't scream and run away when you see her. I imagine that has been confusing her pretty badly."

"Why…? I didn't matter to her. I still remember being left all alone in the entranceway. She didn't look back even once, the door coldly slammed shut, and that was that. I waited and waited, but it never opened. So why would she suddenly care now?"

"Hey, Satori."

My stepmom held my head to her chest and stroked my heir like she was soothing an unreasonable child.

"What you're saying might be true. Including the fact that I never would have become your mom without that decision. …But, Satori, was waiting all you did? Did you not open the door yourself, run out of the house, and embrace Magatsu Taori from behind?"

"Ah."

"She might have been waiting on the other side of the door. Maybe you weren't the only one that felt abandoned. Maybe she felt exactly the same. Asking an elementary schooler to abandon his family and come with her is certainly a harsh demand. But that was why she hoped for a miracle. Since she couldn't put it to words, she tried to show you through her actions, but when no one came with her, she couldn't go back. Couldn't that be what happened?"

…I couldn't believe it.

Of course, there was no proof that what my stepmom was saying was right. It was nothing more than a possibility given from Amatsu Yurina's point of view. But she was the one currently being targeted by that triple chainsaw. Being Magatsu Taori's enemy had to have made her judgment harsher. Was this really a situation that would lead to that point of view? Back then…no, until today, I had only ever thought I was the abandoned victim and that I had been saved when my new mom and sisters had arrived.

But had that been an act?

And when I hadn't budged, when I hadn't moved from the entranceway, and when I hadn't taken a step out of the house, had she been unable to turn back???

Yes.

That's right.

Even before the actual divorce, I hadn't been able to join in and stop my parent's from fighting because I was a kid and they were adults, so I had fled to the Cla.s.s Rep's safe house next door whenever there was an especially devastating clash. But had that been the right thing to do?

It was easy to say what you should have done after the fact. But that had definitely been a small war wreaking havoc on that home back then. If I had made a different decision, it might have ended even worse for a powerless child like me. But could I proudly hold my head high at what I had done?

"Satori. Make no mistake: This isn't about anyone or anything being wrong. So there is nothing forcing you to feel guilty about how it turned out. There are countless forms of happiness. Maybe Magatsu Taori could have remained Amatsu Taori and lived a happy life with you and your father. But Archenemy Lilith arriving with two daughters and become Amatsu Yurina was another option. You chose one of those and you have lived that life ever since. So make no mistake: there is no solution to this problem that brings everyone together in a single friendly group. To choose one means to abandon the other. The answer you chose was like a nightmare for Magatsu Taori, but I'm glad you chose it. The happiness you found while smiling with Erika and Ayumi is a priceless treasure to me. Enough so that I'm willing to turn my back on the world's 7 billion people and bring you aboard Absolute Noah."

I…

"And no matter how justified her reasons might be, I cannot allow Magatsu Taori to slice it apart with that murderous triple chainsaw. This is a clash between two futures that were split apart by a single decision. Both have their justifications and both have their happiness. So don't think about fighting on that level. I simply want to protect the choice we have now."

This was too confusing for a high school boy like me.

I couldn't even hazard a guess at how many loves I would have to experience before I could arrive at the answer to this question.

Time pa.s.sed and I still didn't say anything, so my stepmom slowly narrowed her eyes. She was saying that was good enough. Her eyes told me this was a family issue, but it was not an issue that the child had to try to carry and get crushed by.

However.

Wasn't this the same? Hadn't nothing at all changed since back then? Back when I had fled all alone to the neighbors whenever I heard the sounds of something being destroyed in that closed house?

It was true I was a child.

But could I remain a child forever?

Was that really okay?

"Now then."

My stepmom, Amatsu Yurina, gently pressed my upper body against the tree trunk. She lightly clapped her freed hands together to brush off the humus and she slowly stood up.

"It's about time I got going."

"What are you-…?"

"You saw what things were like below that abandoned hospital, didn't you? All the entrances were sealed with reinforced concrete, layer after layer of mystical barriers were erected, and she was enclosed in there for more than three years without any water, food, or oxygen. …And yet she still has that much strength."

When she laid out all the conditions like that, I felt a chill down my spine. Not even a vampire or zombie would be fine in an environment like that. What had happened to my mom's body? How much had she hated the Archenemies that joined the Amatsu family if she was willing to mess with her body to that extent?

"She has become such a perfect hunter that not even Erika or Ayumi would be up to the task. I can see why the convalescent hospital couldn't dispose of her and simply sealed up the entire area. That secret facility was filled with technology and data for fighting Archenemies, but not even they could think up a way to kill her. So it seems to me that this demon lord needs to put her life on the line as everyone's representative."

"Mo-…"

I didn't have time to stop her.

Amatsu Yurina left me behind and charged out from behind the supposed safety of the tree.

"Hey, hey, heyyy! What's the matter, you withered first wife? I think what you're looking for is over here."

"…Found her. My enemy…"

Once again, I could only watch her go. I could only follow my mother's back with my eyes.

And the frightening roar of the triple chainsaw reverberated endlessly through the forest.

The roar of the engine and the high-pitched sounds of clas.h.i.+ng metal continued on and on.

All the while, I crawled along as if half-buried in the humus.

But I wasn't trying to escape.

I was moving into the vortex.

I was getting as close to the center as possible.

Not even I knew what was right. If I had a time machine and could redo it, which would I choose? Was it right to run after my mom and desperately cling to her back now that I knew that was a love-starved show? But if I did that, my stepmom, Erika, and Ayumi would disappear. However, did that really mean it was right to abandon her again? Now that I understood my mom's pain and knew it was a twisted misunderstanding, would I feel no guilt for repeating that decision? …There was no way I could come up with an answer. It wasn't a question that had a single answer.

"Warning: Approaching any further would be dangerous."

"…It's fine."

But it was those decisions that had led to my current life. I might have just gone with the flow without realizing the weight of my choices. But even that had led to the smiles we had now. So I couldn't let someone trample on that. At the very least, my mom's murderous triple chainsaw was not a time machine. No amount of swinging it around and destroying things would overturn that decision.

I had to do this.

I had to stop my two mothers.

I could no longer just wait for her to call out to me and to turn back toward me. I was still a troublesome child to them both and that may have been why they felt the need to do something about it themselves, but that wasn't enough. I couldn't rely on them forever.

I had to grow up.

I had become someone who could protect his family.

I crawled and crawled and crawled until I finally approached the source of the noises. I could not look directly at my mom who had become the perfect hunter. She was like a wicked sun. To make sure the overwhelming fear did not mess with my memories, I lay on my back behind cover, held up my smartphone screen like a hand mirror or periscope, and observed indirectly. I could tell what was happening in the dark, dark forest.

It was chaos.

First, there was my mom, Magatsu Taori.

As far as I could tell, she really was human. I could sense that some time had pa.s.sed since my memories of her. She wore a dress long enough to reach her ankles and she wore a cardigan over that, giving her a relaxed impression. Her hair was a glossy black and it fell to her shoulder blades. She had likely chosen against longer hair to retain the part that was still beautiful and supplied with nutrients. And because she was an adult woman with a graceful air about her, the murderous custom triple chainsaw held at her hip like a weed eater seemed all the more out of place and violent.

She held that combination of a large-engine triple chainsaw and crossbow in both hands and she swung it in every direction imaginable by spinning her entire body around with it. It reminded me of someone waving a large flag around in a parade. Whether the blades were rotating or her dress was spreading out around her, she seemed to be switching the clutch between the two weapons for long-range and close-range use. The large crossbow looked like a siege engine and its powerful bowstring could never be drawn by human hands, but she used the power of the engine to draw it quite quickly. The bolts being set were probably made of silver. But it wasn't just one at a time. Several dozen long and skinny bolts were held together by a band of paper, making them look like a bunch of precooked somen. She then held the weapon at her hip and fired. The flurry of bolts spread out in a fan shape, so she didn't need to aim carefully. They seemed to fill the entire s.p.a.ce.

Lilith had parted ways with Adam before he and Eve were inflicted with original sin, so a normal human could not defeat her. But my mom pushed through even that with brute force.

My stepmom who wore a blouse so thin her black bra showed through and jeans so tight the shape of her b.u.t.t showed through would hide behind the thick trees to escape harm, but it didn't seem like Magatsu Taori was actually trying to kill her with those. She was buying time. While my stepmom was pinned in place by the flurry of bolts, my mom would quickly approach and operate the clutch. The large triple chainsaw would give a roar and she would swing it horizontally to slice right through the thick tree trunk my stepmom was using as a s.h.i.+eld.

Then there was my stepmom, Amatsu Yurina.

She had no set weapon, but she was the master of adaptability. Or so it seemed to me. She flipped around and all of a sudden she was on a branch located at twice my height. By the time the tree was felled by my mom, she held a broken branch with a sharp point in each hand and she was down the falling tree trunk while jabbing the branches like shooting stars. When the weapons proved ineffective, she readily threw them aside, kicked up a stone at her feet, grabbed a vine from the tree trunk and swung it like a whip, or made a weapon of a rusted was.h.i.+ng machine or bicycle that had been dumped in the forest.

Neither side had an advantage.

The demon lord and the human both wielded dreadful power.

They were evenly matched.

It was like watching a CIWS Gatling gun shoot down anti-s.h.i.+p missiles approaching at supersonic speeds just above the ocean's surface. This was not a s.h.i.+eld or armor. It was a nightmarish quant.i.ty of attacks that had both the accuracy and speed needed to shoot down a projectile with a projectile.

Until now, my two moms had been going unbelievably easy on us.

Now I saw a true fight to the death.

It was enough of a shock to feel a tingling pain on my skin and it held the same mysterious power to draw the eye as a battle performance by experts. Or maybe this was the allure of a beautiful but dangerous katana or magic sword.

Orange sparks scattered between them. Those were lives. It was the glow of lives being scattered in death and agony. I could more or less tell that I would fail to shoot down even one of those and it would crush my head. They were on an entirely different level. If they had teamed up, couldn't they have destroyed the Bright Cross in a direct attack, no trickery required? That thought occurred to me even though I knew that "choice" simply wasn't possible.

"…If only…"

They used not just the ground but the tree trunks and branches in their high-speed and high-density three-dimensional battle where blinking could cost them their life, but it was that maledictory voice that wore down at my lifespan the most.

It was my mom.

A colorless darkness surged from Magatsu Taori's mouth.

"If only you hadn't been there, I…!"

"You might have been able to rejoin them after leaving?"

She swung the triple chainsaw vertically, horizontally, and every which way, so not even Lilith could defend against it all. My stepmom made a quick backflip to skillfully avoid the many paths of steel and I saw a smile on that demon wearing a blouse so thin her black bra showed through and jeans so tight the shape of her b.u.t.t showed through.

"Don't be childish. It was the kid's fault for not stopping you? You left because he didn't stop you? It was the kid's fault for not realizing the true meaning of your act? To h.e.l.l with that! That small child was worn down day and night by your arguing and you still have the nerve to force responsibility for your selfish expectations onto him!! What happened to you was a tragedy. But if you're going to keep my son tangled up in all this, then I'm cutting him free of the rusted chains named Magatsu Taori!!"

The murderous chainsaw with three rotating blades gave a ferocious roar.

"He is my child!! I poured my heart's blood into protecting my family and my child. I built it all from the ground up. And then you come along, dig up that large tree, and plant your own garden there!!"

"You knew all the effort you had put into it, but who was it that couldn't speak her mind and tried to get by with a silly act instead!? Satori said he kept watching that door after it slammed shut but it never opened! As his mother, I can't leave Satori's future to someone like that!!"

"…!! You inhuman monster! Don't act like you understand, Archenemy!"

"Then what are you now that you have the power to kill Archenemies like me without hesitation!? Did you swallow a saint's blood? Did supposedly nonexistent wounds appear on your hands, feet, and side? I'll admit it's impressive and quite a miracle. But is that the kind of mother that child wanted to rely on but wasn't allowed to!?"

"Kh."

"There isn't just one kind of human strength that can fight against Archenemies. I really am proud of Satori for fighting all on his own to protect the Archenemies close to him from the international Bright Cross that had its roots in more than a hundred countries! But that strength wasn't combat strength that rejects his humanity!! It was the kindness to never abandon someone, human or Archenemy, crying in front of him and it was powerful enough to not even hesitate to throw out his priority ticket for Absolute Noah!! The strength s.h.i.+ning in that child isn't something I taught him. I can't pa.s.s something onto my child if I don't have it myself. So it's too bad. Since he already had it, I had a.s.sumed it was something you taught him!!"

The exchange of words may have been meaningless. But I felt like things were s.h.i.+fting in one direction. That was how it looked. One side was leaning on the other and the other side was breaking. I could sense that invisible trend in my skin.

My stepmom, Amatsu Yurina, had said there was no solution to this problem that brought everyone together in a single friendly group.

She had said I had to choose one and abandon the other.

So if I just left this to Archenemy Lilith, I would regain one choice and the peaceful days that came with it. But in exchange, the other one would be forever…

Could I really do that?

Could I repeat it all again?

Were you really okay with that, Amatsu Satori?

The conclusion was nigh.

If I was going to intervene, it had to be here at this very moment.

So choose.

What was it I really wanted to do!?

"I will save Amatsu Yurina."

"I will save Magatsu Taori."

No!!

"I will save them both."

A dull sound came from my side.

"Satori!?"

"Satori-chan…!!"

It happened just as the thoroughly-modified murderous triple chainsaw moved in more of a jab than a slash. I couldn't hesitate any longer. I moved in between the two of them. My mom, Magatsu Taori, immediately noticed the oddity and disengaged the chainsaw's clutch, but what had happened? My clothes were shredded on my side and tangled in with the shark tooth blades. And the sticky stain on them was more than just machine oil. Some of it was clearly a dark red liquid with a rusty smell.

But this wasn't enough to end it.

It was lucky my stepmom, Amatsu Yurina, only held a broken branch with a sharp tip. If she had been swinging around a rusted scooter, I couldn't have stopped it. At any rate, I swung up my arm and blocked the tip aimed for Magatsu Taori's head. Unlike with a sharp knife, I felt a dull and ominous pain reach the arm bone.

…Oh, no. I'm not sure I have it in me to even stay standing…

But I had to say it.

If I didn't sever her bonds here, she would always be like this. Magatsu Taori wouldn't have the strength to find a new path forward in this world that seemed formed from decisions that worked against her.

I had already chosen.

There was no changing that. But I couldn't let it end there. I couldn't just ignore what happened to her after I abandoned her. I had to take responsibility for my choice. It was my job to provide the proper care for what I had done.

"Mom…"

"I'm sorry…I couldn't call out to you back then…"

And I couldn't let the responsibility fall on my stepmom, Amatsu Yurina. If she killed Magatsu Taori here, we would gain a kind of peace. I would resent the stepmother who only unilaterally loved me, I would criticize that compromise, and she would become the wicked woman who ensnared my father and killed my mother to hijack the Amatsu family. She would protect our peace, but she would carry that sin while I enjoyed that happiness as a pure victim.

However…

Was that really okay?

Of course not!

…So I would protect my family. I was only a child, but I was still a part of the family. No matter what form it took and even if it was already over, I had made that decision and I had to take responsibility for it…

Maxwell: This is the anti-Archenemy weapon personally built by my user's blood-related mother, Magatsu Taori. The main three blades rotate in alternating directions to bite into the flesh and tear it from the top and bottom instead of just cutting. And the large crossbow (which is closer to being a ballista siege engine) fires several dozen silver bolts in a fan shape with enough speed to prevent the Archenemy from escaping. The entire weapon weighs more than 70kg, so the ability to freely swing it around like a weed eater is enough to prove how extraordinary Magatsu Taori is.

Yes, yes.

That was why you had me prepare that distributed format, wasn't it? So please tell me what to do next, miss.

The socket is open.

If you remove the contents of the recovered sh.e.l.l and hook it up, you should be given full rights to the system.

But now it's Maxwell, Laplace, and that Ghost Cat. Using a cat contained in a box to observe the outside world is certainly an ironic setup.

Do you think the AIs will fight with each other? I'm a little worried about that since we'll be placing them on Absolute Noah.

Oh? So that's the point of that boy?

Well, I agree some personality manipulation is necessary before making the final decision. After all, this isn't just about a single nuclear missile. This ark is meant to protect the future of the entire human race. Simply relying on a machine would be too dangerous.

Oh, whoops. I should have said the human race and Archenemies. Or is it more discriminatory to make that distinction? I apologize, but I'm still not used that boy.

In that way, that boy is the only real problem left. Honestly, how did you raise him? Why not read a book on raising kids, Miss Yurina?