The scenery before her eyes was wrapped in pure white.
There was not a single trace of darkness. Not a single sound could be heard. As if to drive away the sadness in Kurumi's heart, warm white light surrounded her, like she was standing in heaven.
But that happiness lasted only for an instant.
The light faded, and Kurumi returned to that forest covered in fallen leaves.
At so point, night had quietly arrived, pulling a dark curtain over the world. Everything was silent.
Then, from the cloudless night sky, unknown points of light began to fall. (TL:rember this detail)
They were like winter snow, yet held no chill.
They were like fireworks blooming in a sumr night sky, yet were so simple and plain.
Countless points of light danced in the wind, then gently scattered down upon the world.
It was a mysterious and dreamlike beauty beyond nature, like sothing from a fairy tale, enough to make anyone lose themselves in it.
But Tokisaki Kurumi paid no attention to it.
The only thing reflected in her eyes was that naless mound made of earth and dead wood.
And now, the girl who had been sitting before the grave marker was gone.
"——!"
Like an abandoned child, unease and fear spread through Kurumi's heart. She rushed to the grave, waving her hands desperately at the empty place, as if she wanted to grab sothing, as if she wanted to bring sothing back.
By chance, her fingers touched one of the falling lights.
In that instant, the point of light evaporated into glowing dust and vanished.
"This is... Yutsuki-san's spirit power..."
Feeling that familiar spirit power, Kurumi raised her head. Only now did she finally notice the lights falling around her.
In contrast to this dreamlike scene, cruel reality stood before Kurumi.
"Ah... ah...ah... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
Large tears rolled down her helpless face. Kurumi's mouth hung open blankly, and at last, as if she had broken apart, she released a heart tearing cry.
Ryougi Yutsuki is dead.
No matter how she cried, no matter how she called, she would never return.
But her crying had no aning. The more she cried, the deeper reality stabbed into Kurumi's heart.
After an unknown amount of ti, when her tears had dried, Kurumi knelt lifelessly before the grave.
"...What...have I been doing..."
In her daze, Kurumi could not help recalling her own life.
At the beginning, she had a warm family, a close friend, and a happy life. But because she was not satisfied with what she had, she believed Takamiya Mio's lies and beca that ignorant clown called an "ally of justice".
One innocent life after another died beneath her gun, yet she had been happy, as if she were playing house. It was not until Sawa died that she finally woke up from that false dream.
However, waking up did not an understanding.
Erasing the First Spirit and changing the tragedy from thirty years ago? That was only a pretty excuse she used because she could not let go of her childish pride, and because she wanted to hide her hatred toward Takamiya Mio.
Thinking back now, if she truly wanted to save people, she could have used Vav to return to a ti before she killed Sawa and the others.
Her life after that had continued to be filled with choices she regretted beyond words.
——Bang!
After that, the first person died by Kurumi's gun. She had not been deceived by Mio. By her own will, Kurumi had chosen to kill.
Although she had deliberately chosen scum who was trying to violate a woman, the guilt from killing soone for the first ti still made her vomit endlessly and kept her awake all night.
It was necessary.
If she could not obtain enough ti, then she would have no chance of winning against Takamiya Mio, let alone killing her.
And so, having cut off her own path of retreat, Kurumi could only continue stealing other people's lives, numbly walking down a road of self-destruction.
Then, she t Itsuka Shido.
A stubborn and gentle boy who, even knowing her sins, still reached out his hand and tried to save her with everything he had.
After that, she t Ryougi Yutsuki.
A girl who did not treat her as "the most evil Spirit," but simply treated her as Tokisaki Kurumi.
Perhaps eting those two was the kind of fortune others could only dream of. Their existence had given Kurumi's heart a little comfort and salvation.
But Kurumi still did not know how to treasure it.
She used him as a tool for revenge.
She used her as a shelter to hide from responsibility.
And now, here she was.
Those she loved, those she treasured, had all left her.
Only she remained alive in this world.
"Hehe... hehehehehehe——"
Looking back, what a foolish and laughable life it had been. Kurumi herself almost found it funny enough to laugh out loud.
(Really...why...am I still alive?)
"Ara ara, you're even more pathetic than I imagined, '.'"
"How was that sad little trip through the future?"
At that mont, familiar voices sounded in her ears. Kurumi raised her head blankly and saw several girls with the sa face as her standing before her.
"Ah... what... so it's 'us'..."
After glancing at them once, Kurumi lowered her gaze again.
These past years, she had never dared to use her Angel or her spirit power. First, because she did not want to recall those mories of Shido being killed again and again. Second, because she did not dare face her clones, afraid that they would look at her coldly and despise her.
The clones also seed to understand Kurumi's feelings. For these years, they had never appeared, only sleeping inside Kurumi's shadow.
But now, none of that mattered anymore.
"Hmph... Did you co to bla ... No, did you co to kill ...'us'?"
With a lifeless sneer on her face, Kurumi spread her arms, looking as though she would let them do whatever they wanted.
"You can... go ahead... Though I don't know what would happen if a clone killed the original. Maybe if you're lucky, after devouring my Sephira Crystal, you'll be able to take my place as the main body. Hehe——"
"Are you serious... ''?"
There was a trace of anger in the clone's voice.
"Mm... none of it matters anymore... after all, I... have no reason to live..."
——Slap!
Suddenly, a burning pain ca from her cheek, causing Kurumi to freeze.
"You bastard! Aren't you our original? Have you forgotten what you said when you summoned us?!"
"You're a failure who killed twenty thousand people and still accomplished nothing. What right do you have to sit here acting pitiful like a victim?"
"...What do you know!!"
Being insulted like this not by soone else, but by her own past self, made Kurumi clench her teeth and roar.
"It's all already over! DEM, the Spirits's Inversions, the problem of the Origin Spirit—everything has already ended in this future. In a place unrelated to , without doing anything, everything ended! Everything I did, everyone I killed, all of it beca aningless! In the end, I still couldn't save anyone. All I did was hurt people. Why am I still alive!?"
"Then... why didn't you kill yourself? Why are you asking 'us' for help?"
The clone grabbed Kurumi by the collar and forced her to look at her, questioning her fiercely.
"..."
Hearing the clone's words, Kurumi was left speechless.
"You can't kill yourself because you understand that Ryougi Yutsuki wanted you to live."
"You want to respect her wish, but you can't find a reason or goal for yourself to keep living."
"That's why you unconsciously summoned 'us.' You wanted 'us' to end it for you."
"Coward."
"Sh-shut up."
As if her thoughts had been seen through, Kurumi angrily shook the clone off.
"If that's the case, then tell . What am I supposed to do?"
"Who knows. Actually, deep in your heart, you should already have the answer."
As she spoke, one clone took out two flintlock pistols, one long and one short, and threw them in front of Kurumi.
"Zafkiel..."
Kurumi held her breath and softly spoke the Angel's na.
"To you, this place is both the present and the future."
"For other people, everything in the past can no longer be changed. Even if they regret it, they are powerless, and can only accept the result and continue forward. But you are the only one in this world who has the right to make 'if' real."
"Though this road has almost no hope, there is still a small possibility."
"But that also ans everything will begin again. This future Ryougi Yutsuki created will vanish like foam. And the next future may be even worse than this one."
"It has nothing to do with Takamiya Mio, nothing to do with Itsuka Shido, and nothing to do with Ryougi Yutsuki. How you choose is for you to decide."
"But the option of dying—we will absolutely not allow that."
Listening to the clones' words, Kurumi silently picked up Zafkiel.
Her fingers trembled slightly. The instant she picked up Zafkiel, the sight of Shido's countless deaths, and Yutsuki's final smile, began surfacing in her mind.
"I..."
——
① I cannot accept this future.
② I will accept this reality. (TL: we will do this route right after)
——
Kurumi clenched her teeth and gripped Zafkiel's handle tightly.
"Hee——heeheeheeheeheeheehee. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha——"
The corners of her lips curved into a joyful arc. Kurumi raised her head and laughed loudly in that silent forest.
It was a laugh that seed to sweep away all the fear, weakness, and confusion in her heart, leaving nothing behind.
"Hahaha... Really... All this ti... what exactly was I thinking so hard about?"
After laughing until she almost choked, Kurumi finally stopped, and spoke with a sowhat speechless, bitter smile.
"I'm sorry, Yutsuki-san. You went through all that kindness for , but I cannot accept this future."
"I won't give up on Shido-san, and I won't give up on my own purpose. I will completely deny this future and move toward the future I believe in."
"Astral Dress Number Three, Elohim."
In the next mont, the light of spirit power gathered around Kurumi, changing her plain clothes into a black and crimson frilled dress.
At the sa ti, a giant clock appeared behind Kurumi. From the mark of XII carved at the very top, thick black mist poured out and filled the gun chamber.
"Zafkiel——Yud Bet."
Among Zafkiel's bullets, there were two that could return to the past. Yud Bet could jump farther through ti, but could only remain in the past temporarily. Vav's ti jump was shorter, but there was no need to worry about running out of ti. However, if Tokisaki Kurumi did not exist at the point she jumped to, Vav would fail. Furthermore, if Kurumi at that ti did not have Vav's ability, she would not be able to return to the past again.
With only Yud Bet or only Vav, Kurumi could not return to the past seven years ago.
So she had to combine them.
(First, I use Yud Bet to return to February 14th seven years ago, a ti when I did not exist there. Then I use Vav to jump to February 13th, before Shido-san was killed.)
After confirming that this thod was theoretically possible, Kurumi took a deep breath.
"Oh, is vacation ti over?"
"Have you decided, ''?"
"Mm. Sorry to keep you waiting, 'us.'"
Facing her clones, Kurumi said with so sha.
"Next, I will return to that hell once more. And after this... I may end up denying everything we have worked so hard for until now."
"Heehee——What are you saying at this point?"
"We are you, your past selves."
"You are the accumulation of us, and the destination we will reach in the future."
"Therefore, every choice you make, every decision you choose—whether it is sacrifice or escape—we will accept it."
"...Thank you."
Looking at them as they laughed happily, Kurumi sohow felt as if she had been defeated by herself, and strangely convinced.
"Then——let's go back. To the 'present' waiting for us."
Moving the flintlock pistol to her temple, Kurumi pulled the trigger with an incredibly strong wish.
"This ti, I will absolutely break that loop."
——Bang.
With the sound of a gunshot, the naless grave hidden deep in the forest, along with the rain of light falling from the sky, returned to silence.
The Future Where He Does Not Exist-True End.
TL:It's just...so peak....I WILL GLAZE THIS FANFIC TILL THE END OF MY LIFE.
TL2: also we will go to another if route next chapter, where kurumi choose option 2 and stay here, and we will also learn about each spirits's story in this new tiline and their conclusion.It's just as peak.
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