1

Running up the stairs that seemingly stretched infinitely, Kazuki finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. With each heavy step on the cascading path, the red light in the distance came closer and closer.

"We're almost there, Kimura. You ready?"

"U-um!"

He got his reply in the form of a trembling voice, but he was sure of her resolve. After the talk that they had, there was no more doubting her determination.

The urge to throw herself in harm's way just to atone was something that Kazuki related with to an extent. He still did not know too much about this girl, but he knew what kind of emotional stress the sense of responsibility and guilt brought people. Such was enough to make anyone do stupid things, and he figured that what Kimura was trying to do was not the worst that could have happened.

In a way, he admitted that a sense of admiration for her was born.

That, along with their talk at the beach not so long ago, allowed him to finally warm up to the girl that he once found nothing but annoying.

Just as she would not dare sit back and watch the giant Nullity wreck havoc, the same went for him and letting Kimura fight this battle for Hikari and the others by herself.

They're fighting this battle together, and he would have it no other way.

"Let's go, Kimura!"

They finally approached the light, and with one final leap, Kazuki threw himself forward and right into the light.

He had fully expected himself to be engulfed by the light and find his way in some other dimension. That did not happen, and what his eyes first saw was the wall of red, lined with some currents in motion, giving the impression of a blanket of auroras linked together.

On second thought, jumping in immediately was an incredibly stupid move.

Kazuki realized that a bit too late. Only when he found his feet touching nothing but empty air did that sink in. He fought the urge to scream as he fell straight down.

Luckily for him, he did not find himself falling into a bottomless abyss, and it took only a few seconds for him to find himself flat on the hard ground.

"Ow, that hurt."

He blinked repeatedly. His fall must have been a couple of meters. Not too high up, but it was nonetheless a risky fall. Had he not been physically enhanced due to being an Awakener, a careless landing would have been dangerous. Before he can think of his predicament any further, his thoughts were cut off by hearing a high-pitched scream coming from above him.

"Kyaaaaaaaa!"

Oh crap.

Kazuki had no time to react before he found himself staring at an incoming object that came in quick enough that there was no time to dodge.

He yelped in pain, but the shout merely came out as a muffled sound. His face had taken the full brunt of the force, and the impact admittedly hurt him more than his own fall.

"Whew! I thought I was done for. That's a surprisingly soft landing."

"E-excuse me..."

"Huh? Arata? Hiyaaaa!"

Kimura quickly leapt off from her seated position, much to Kazuki's relief.

Kazuki, on the other hand, shook his head vigorously to clear everything up before stopping himself at the sight of the girl's face.

As expected, Kimura's face was beet red, and confusion reigned in her facial expression. That was to be expected, especially after the awkward situation they had found themselves in. She still rubbed her butt while keeping her eyes glued onto him.

Kazuki sighed in relief.

If this had happened a week ago, he would have easily gotten a slap or a wave of expletives from the idol. Even now, he fully expected Kimura to eventually fail to hold it in and just snap.

"W-w-what are you staring at? You enjoyed that, didn't you, pervert?!"

"W-whoa, I didn't say anything, Kimura!" said Kazuki, trying his best at keeping a straight face. It was not an easy task, considering the fact that he still felt the weight of the girl's behind pressing down on his face.

If one were to take away all the "enhancements" that came as part of being an idol and getting all the financial support she could have wanted, Kimura had little sex appeal. For Kazuki, she's cute, no doubt, but she's also just plain in all areas, save for one. And he just had a firsthand experience of it a few seconds ago.

He tried to look elsewhere, anywhere that's not the girl staring daggers at him.

The awkwardness of the situation almost made him forget his goal for jumping into this world, but the powerful presence that closed in on him made him remember it almost immediately. The same seemed to go for the girl, as Kimura quickly stopped glaring at him and frantically looking at her surroundings.

Kazuki felt his chest tighten as his eyes darted from one end of the field to another.

Nothing but rocky ground as far as the eyes can see. It was a vast plain with no obstacle or hiding spots in sight. No visible walls either, and the curtain of red stretched on endlessly.

Upon a closer look, Kazuki noticed what seemed to be a thin layer, a film of energy that served as a wall to hole them in.

The two of them had landed flat in the middle of what he can only compare to a gigantic arena. His concentration would not last long thanks to an ominous premonition that struck him.

Kazuki quickly ran towards Kimura. Grabbing her by the arm, he pulled her close to him while positioning his shield.

"W-what—"

"Brace yourself, Kimura!"

The very next moment, he found his feet rubbing hard against the ground at the face of a powerful pushing force. Keeping the girl protected, he withstood the initial wave and stood firm as it ended.

"Show yourself!"

Still keeping Kimura wrapped around his arm, the black-haired Awakener awaited the arrival of the Nullity.

Appearing in front of him was a cloud of smoke and energy. Swirling into a vortex of mayhem, it slowly materialized into the being that he had already seen more than he would have liked. As it has always been, the shape of feet formed from the whirling madness. Then came the naked feminine body before the wings that forcefully shot out from all sides.

If he already felt all warning signs that his body can tell him go out in overdrive at this moment, what more for Kimura?

With his firm grip on the shoulder of the girl, he sensed a newfound emotion from her shaky body.

Fear.

She may have done a decent job of hiding it so far, but he felt that deep inside, uncertainty filled the heart of this girl, and she feared the being that was about to appear.

He himself found that same uncertainty upon seeing what happened next.

"Wait a minute..."

He knew the next sequence would be.

The formation of an indeterminate face with four eyes. The face of a shadowy horror known as the Render of Bounds.

Instead, he felt his heart thump when he saw a face that was not one that he expected. Instead of the nerve-wracking face of a four-eyed Nullity, what formed out of the finishing touches was a face of a woman.

A woman with medium-length shaggy hair. The four eyes were gone, and it would seem that the second pair of eyes have been replaced by uneven horns that sprouted from her forehead.

Her dilated pupils and an aura that surrounded the face gave her an otherworldly feel. One that reminded Kazuki of Setsura.

Kazuki cannot call this Nullity in front of him breathtakingly beautiful like Setsura, but her face was a far cry from the monstrosity that he had repeatedly encountered this past week.

"You called?" asked a sultry voice.

Words failed to escape both Kazuki and Kimura's lips. They also remained paralyzed, and Kazuki can feel an overwhelming strength radiating out of the monster that had grown even bigger since the last time, now roughly three times the size of a tall person.

Now, it only began to fully sink in as to what he had gotten himself into.

"This power..." his voice trailed off as he fought to come to terms with the signals that his body continued to tell him. It was a feeling that he had never experienced before, and he had only one term to describe the being that he faced.

"Class... S."

2

When he first became an Awakener, Kazuki did not pay too much stock to the classifications of Nullities. He knew that the classes of Nullities went all the way up to A, but even those were exceedingly rare. In fact, for all that he had been through, the times he had encountered Class A Nullities can be counted on one hand.

He had simply gotten a feel for the classifications with his ventures with Uehara and Ms. Sadohara. He knew when a Nullity was nothing but a minor one that can be disposed of easily, and he knew when one had enough power to start affecting the real world.

Everything was nothing compared to the Render of Bounds.

For something that far exceeded the strongest types that he had faced before, a new classification seemed very apt. This thing exhibited a presence far transcending Amagi's Nullity at Tenka Peak. Nor was it even like the hideous form that Touya Satoru had taken in that very same Fragment.

This was something that blew any Class A out of the water.

The Render of Bounds was a being on a tier of its own.

"Class S!" Kazuki muttered his unofficial term as he stared at the Nullity wide-eyed. Mixed thoughts filled his mind when he felt the overpowering malice and energy coming from the Render of Bounds.

It was a level of strength and energy that he had never felt before. It felt as if just by existing, the Render of Bounds could threaten the fabric of space itself.

Now, it came as no surprise as to why this thing had the power to shatter the border between the two worlds.

This Nullity was a dangerous existence by itself.

"Humans are frail, cowardly, and filled with fear and malice in their hearts. Yet against all that, you came into my lair."

The Nullity gave out a line completely fitting a supervillain, yet no strong emotions manifested from its face. The feminine face remained stiff and unemotional.

"Usually, when humans get faced with a tough situation, they turn tail and run. They grasp the slightest hint of power in their desperation. They do not run straight into the waiting jaws of a monster beyond their comprehension."

"To be fair, Ms. Nullity," Kazuki stepped forward. "I am only like this because you have something I want. If I'm not mistaken, you have the souls of thousands of people in there."

"Souls? You mean the life essence of those humans?"

Kazuki nodded. "I'm taking those back."

"I refuse to grant such foolish request. The only way they will be released back into your world is if I lose the ability to maintain my hold on them."

"So, it confirms that I can free all of them if I defeat you."

Silence.

Kazuki took a deep breath before letting his grip on Kimura loose.

"Well then, I have to tell you that you got it all wrong. I did not ask you to give them back. I said I'll be getting Hikari and the others back, and nothing will stop me!"

Taking in the adrenaline in his body, Kazuki made a run for it.

"Arata!"

The panicked cry of Kimura registered as nothing more than background noise for Kazuki. The distance between him and the Nullity remained at a steady five hundred meters or so while he ran in a circle, hoping to get a glimpse of the Nullity's flank.

"Foolish human being."

One of the gigantic wings of the humanoid Nullity reared up, and Kazuki activated his shield's defensive extensions.

The powerful gust from the Nullity hit like a truck, and he found himself off-balance.

Before he can regain his footing, another of the large wings extended and swung down in his direction.

Barely positioning the shield, he deflected the first wing, but soon after, he found his back rubbing across the floor after another vicious smack from the side.

Fighting off the pain across his spine, Kazuki pulled himself up, realizing that he had been lifted and tossed several meters away.

He had little time to rationalize that when he saw the figure of the Nullity gliding towards him.

It was an attack that he cannot dodge. Not at this rate, not at this distance.

The Render of Bounds would run him over and probably finish it in one blow.

Carefully holding the shield up, he gritted his teeth and braced for impact.

There's only one way around this. Take the attack head-on.

"Assimilator's Core!"

He saw his Armament transform into its bladed variant, and he raised his left hand. With the enemy closing in at full speed, there would be no time to charge shots from the crossbow form of his Armament.

If luck would be on his side, he would be hitting one of the wings of the Nullity, while sending it tumbling.

He narrowed his eyes and focused on a possible strike point.

In spite of his shaky legs, he forced himself to prepare for the decisive strike.

Then, it struck him. He remembered his previous encounters with the Nullity.

His attacks just phased through it, and going melee would likely not change anything. Realizing the mistake a bit too late, he was stuck in place like deer facing headlights.

It's impossible.

It must be his focus on the Nullity that caused him to flinch when he saw the Nullity's trajectory change and its charge interrupted. Something had hit it from the side, and despite the beams phasing through it, it reacted in surprise and lost its balance.

The ground shook with each crash it did, causing Kazuki to turn to the direction of the beam attack.

"Kimura!"

"Geez, you just had to run off on your own and play the hero again." The idol planted her staff on the ground and pouted. "It's two against one, got it?"

"I'm not sure you should be the one doing the lecturing, but thanks, Kimura."

3

Yui Kimura's hands felt numb, something that she hoped her swagger masked.

Using the most of her strength, she maintained her grip on her weapon, the staff that shot a powerful energy beam at the direction of the enemy. Despite the rest of her body telling her no, she forced her heart and will to remain firm in her resolve.

She had done enough sitting by and watching. While a part of her wanted to think of something snarky, she instead found herself smiling upon receiving Arata's thanks.

This person and she had so little in common, but after talking it out, she could see at least one part where their minds and hearts were alike. There was one common ground where she can be sure of their union, one area where they can at least agree in.

Both of them hated the feeling of regret.

It was because of her accepting this monster's pact that this whole mess was here to begin with. Should those people who came to watch and appreciate her all lose their lives in this tragic incident, she would carry that guilt and regret all the way to the afterlife.

Those fans were the only bonds that she had. A lot of those people may end up being fickle, but she knew that she valued each and everyone of them. All of them came together to fill the pool of loneliness that is in her heart. Even if their support may be fleeting, she refused to let them down.

However, the first statement was something that's wrong. That did not completely hold true anymore for Yui Kimura.

What am I thinking? I'm wrong. There's at least one person who is different. There's at least one person who never saw me as just an idol, a mere object of fantasy. There's one person who saw through the liar that I really am and still accepted me and wanted to share my burden.

Finally getting a bit of the feeling on her hands back, she straightened herself up and smirked at Kazuki.

"Arata, thank you."

"Yeah, let's do this!"

They both turned to where the Render of Bounds had landed, and right on cue, it sprang back up with its menacing wings spread out.

"So, the pathetic host has finally struck out. You're looking a lot different from the pitiful wreck you were when we first bonded."

"Of course I have changed. Back then, I was desperate for life. Even when I had escaped death, I still had nothing but myself to live for. Nothing but a selfish need for validation and an unbeatable loneliness. However, I have found a special someone to change that. I would not fall anymore!"

"Proud words, but can you back it up?"

Following those words, the Render of Bounds spread her wings out, and from each wing, Kimura saw a purple sphere form.

While each sphere grew, she found her eyes glued onto them. Unsure of what to do, she found herself glued to the ground as magical energy from the spheres converged into one.

"Watch out!"

Snapped out of her stupor by the voice of her companion, she rolled on the ground before the loud sound of an explosion pierced her ears. The giant beam from the wings shook the ground and bored a hole through it.

"T-t-thanks!" said her in between hysterical breaths.

To her surprise, the ground that was destroyed slowly repaired itself, as magical particles from whatever's below them hurriedly filled the gap.

She turned to her rescuer, and words struggled to escape her mouth.

"W-w-what should we do?" she said in a panic. She was able to blindside the Nullity a while ago and shoot out magical spheres, but she knew that it was a fluke that she cannot replicate.

Even then, the Nullity just shrugged her attack off.

Before receiving her answer, she turned her head to the sight of the Render of Bounds gliding her way towards them. Before the enemy can fully close the gap, she was met by Kazuki and his shield.

"Raaaarrrghhh!"

With his shield reverted back to its original form, he deflected each strike coming from the Nullity's wings.

Kimura's senses struggled to keep up with what was happening, but the next thing that she saw was her ally's shield meeting with the Nullity's wings and the explosion that followed.

The two combatants separated after that strike, with the Render of Bounds being knocked back a few meters back while Kazuki tumbling to the other side.

In her hurry, she dropped her staff and ran beside him.

"Arata!"

"Kimura, don't come!"

Pushing her aside, Kazuki transformed his shield into its crossbow form. Taking aim at the Render of Bounds, he let loose a volley of shots that scattered and spread out.

She had no way of checking whether the shots were accurate, but when she turned to the direction of the enemy, she put a hand over her mouth in shock.

A barrier now protected the Nullity. Its wings glowed, and the magical energy that was used to form the concentrated beam was now being used to maintain an energy sphere that protected it.

Meanwhile, she heard a cough, only to see Kazuki struggle back to his feet.

She was not sure what to make of it, but she did see magical energy start leaking out of her ally. Then, his shield shattered, and his knees buckled, but Kimura's stretched out arms managed to support him.

"Hang in there, Arata!"

In response to her aid, she felt a gentle shove from the youth. He was panting, and underneath where his clothing had been torn off, blood flowed from cuts. It was a sight that Kimura wished she could forget.

"Kimura, you figure out what that Armament of yours does. We need to come up with something."

"W-wha?" she asked as she recovered the staff that she had dropped when Kazuki tackled her away from the beam.

"I'm counting on you!"

She said nothing and watched him finally get back to his feet. With a pained expression and a difficult yell, he resummoned the shield on his left arm.

Kimura had seen a different meaning underneath his pained expression. It may be the way he said his words, but she suddenly felt a heavy weight burdened on her shoulders.

"How reckless. Such is the primal instinct of humanity. Not the most prudent part, I would say!" shouted the Nullity

"Unfortunately, I am not the smartest guy around," replied Kazuki.

Before Kazuki could get in close, he found himself assaulted in all fronts by the wings once again. This time, instead of blocking, he hopped back and carefully maneuvered his body around the wings.

It was touch and go, with him retreating and advancing, awkwardly dancing around the wings that stabbed and slapped at him.

Kimura found this amazing, especially coming from a high school student. Unknown to her at first, the sight of the battle had made her tighten her grip on her staff.

It was an expression of frustration.

Even now, why was she so useless? She had the whole idea of coming in and saving everyone, but when push came to shove, it was the guy doing all the work.

If she failed now, it could very well be the end of the two of them.

Not only them, but even the thousands of attendees. She could only imagine the aftermath of failure here. What if this monster decided to invade their world again? But now in her far stronger form?

She hated every bit of it. Thinking about those scenarios made her knees weak, and she wanted to fall down her knees.

Just what can she do?

Actually, why was she asking herself these questions?

She wanted to be the support and the unwavering guide to this honest person. It was the least that she could do out of gratitude.

As she focused on those thoughts, she felt something resonate deep within her heart.

The distant sound of two fighters clashing were blotted out in her state, and she felt her emotions connect with the staff she held.

It was a feeling that she had never experienced: a feeling of finally creating a link between her and the staff.

Is this what Arata was talking about?

The funny thing was that it was there all along. She may have only been fighting with this staff for the past few minutes, but she felt as if she had a special connection with it ever since it was first conceived.

Is that what makes an Armament so special?

She opened her eyes and raising her staff, shouted a name that she never knew before.

"Prismatic Reverb!"

At her call, magical energy in the form of lights from her staff floated upwards in a streamlined fashion. At the place where the flow of energy gathered, the rainbow lights swirled and formed a crystalline sphere.

"That is..." Kimura failed to say anything else in amazement. Her focus was completely on the brilliant object, and it turned out that she was not alone.

The downed Kazuki and the Render of Bounds looked at this mysterious sphere that had materialized.