What Shuu had said echoed forth from the back of Kari's head.

If it isn't safe in the one of few cities that has a magical girl, is there anywhere else that is safe?

If a bunch of magical girls couldn't stop South Africa's apocalypse, what hope did four of them have? As much as she would rather not admit it, their survival might depend on Flare and Jade simply because they were strong— and one of them was unfathomably stronger, as well as allegedly immortal.

There was a hope. The two mysterious magical girls. Were they friends or allies? More importantly, were either of them associated with Flare in any way?

For now, she needed to understand the gravity of what Minato City would face, and what Flare was scheming.

"So, my home city's ground zero. Then how come we aren't warning the government? City officials, mayor… Hell, even the National Diet and Prime Minister?" Kari asked.

"We did. They aren't listening." Jade frowned.

[Jade: But the truth is, they think we're enough to stop it. Flare refuses to push the issue of evacuating the city, too. Her word's got more weight than mine.]

"There are millions in Tokyo alone. We're just going to let them die?" Not that Kari cared, but something this big would upturn her friends' lives for the worse.

It was probably a done deal, seeing how hopeless South Africa looked. The only thing they could do was wait for the inevitable and try to minimize the damage… If they could survive.

The emerald magical girl shook her head. "Little we can do without the PM mobilizing the JSDF. My guess is the big wigs are preparing their bunkers."

[Jade: You saw how the last monster evolved like a fucking Pokemon. She wants to see how far one can go eating through Tokyo. Crazy bitch thinks she can take whatever it turns into.]

Crazy was right. All of this was crazy.

"So, what should we do?" she asked.

"Nothing," Jade answered.

Kari waited for a secondary response from her through the Apocalypse System, but none came. She was serious.

Everything seemed hopeless and uncertain like her future under her parents' roof. It wasn't until she broke the chains did things grow clear. Though right now, the immediate future was foggy at best.

Rocky held her gaze with worry written all over his face. She turned Jade's way and also found her staring.

"What?" Kari asked, feeling an irrational anger building within.

"I'm surprised. You've changed a lot in just a week, rookie." Jade scoffed.

[Jade: But don't expect an apology from me. You're still a temperamental brat.]

Kari had to pinch her thigh and clenched her jaw to keep from blowing up. She was about to ditch Jade here until she recalled the two other magical girls that should be investigated.

[Kari: I know you checked the contacts list. There are two other magical girls than us four public ones. Will they be able to help? Against Flare or the apocalypse?]

There was a pause, and she appeared almost reluctant to answer.

[Jade: I know one of them. Yuria Wakana wanted nothing to do with being a magical girl back then. She lives out in Mitsue with her grandma, east of Nara. The other one, Aiko Shigure? Beats me.]

As the name passed through Kari's ears with familiarity, and a powerful flash of deja vu wracked her mind. Yuria Wakana… could she be related to Iori, the school nurse? Or was that only coincidence?

The two of them flew towards Mitsue, a village in the mountains with many green peaks and fewer inhabitants living there than a single block in Tokyo. Most of the houses here were old and abandoned, just like the untended pastures where farmers once worked.

Flying right behind Jade, it was difficult fighting the urge to get a cheap shot off. But what good would that do now? Her feelings were in disarray. On one hand, Flare was the one who ordered Jade to leave her for dead. On the other… she could have very easily disobeyed.

Just what sort of fucked up priorities were these girls running on? At the same time, it's not like she might be no different.

"Do you think they made up?" Rocky could be heard asking Gauntlet from behind.

"Are you crazy? Does it look like they made up?" Gauntlet retorted.

"We're heading down." Jade pointed to a modest, one-story house surrounded by small trees and overgrown weeds in the front yard.

While Kari looked for a doorbell, Jade went straight to knocking.

"Just one moment!" a young woman's voice called from deep within the house.

When the door opened, Kari was astonished to see the woman standing on two prosthetic legs that looked like bent up ski blades. Her bright demeanor darkened as she laid eyes on Jade.

"Hey, Yuria." Tsubasa transformed out of form to greet her.

"Couldn't very well leave me alone, huh?" Yuria remarked, expelling a heavy sigh. Her eyes filled with recognition as she turned to face Kari. "Alright, then. Since you came all this way, I should at least make you tea."

The four of them waited in a small tatami mat room furnished with only a low table and cushions. A sliding door was left open that offered them a view of the mountain behind the house. Kari and Tsubasa sat at the furthest corners from each other, while their anthems occupied the remaining cushions.

"Bad history?" Kari asked.

"Yeah," she said.

Yuria entered the room with a tray of tea and rice crackers, the latter which both anthems ravenously snacked on as soon as it was put down. She sat at the end of the table next to Tsubasa, but it was Kari whom she threw a glance at.

"I've been seeing you on TV a lot lately. If you two are here to bring me back into the fray, you've come a long way for nothing," she said, sipping quietly on her tea.

"Even if we tell you the apocalypse is nearing?" Kari asked, her eyes fixed on the prosthetic legs that went up to just below the knees.

Yuria smiled bitterly. She put her cup down and stared past them to the misty mountains of Mitsue. There was longing in her eyes.

"My anthem's dead. I can't level or use sigils. All I'm good for is clearing stray spawns around Nara and looking after my grandma."

Rocky and Gauntlet stopped chewing at the same time. A shadow fell over their faces.

"Yuria! Yuria!" The screaming of a panicked older woman startled them. Whoever it was continued to yell Yuria's name over and over again. Meanwhile, the person in question, whose deadpan eyes fell to the reddish-orange tea, merely sighed at the commotion.

"She quiets down after a while," Yuria assured them.

"If you're not going to help us, maybe the other one will. Don't suppose you know who Aiko Shigure is?" Kari asked.

"As a matter of fact, I do. Though I should warn you, she's grown unhinged over the years. I myself haven't spoken to her in years now," she said.

Yuria wrote down an address on a piece of paper and slid it across the table to Kari. The place on the note was Kurotaki, a village southwest of Mitsue. Not a far flight at all.

On their way out, Kari winced at the sound of Yuria's still screaming grandma. She hadn't stopped screaming, and in a remote village like this, made it all the more disturbing.

"You've been staring at my prosthetics for a while now. Want to know what happened to my legs?" Yuria suddenly asked as she saw them out the door. "

Kari nodded wordlessly.

"I tried being a hero," she said.

Somehow, the answer didn't surprise her. The ones always getting hurt were the ones going above and beyond for the sake of others. Rie, Makina, Iori…

Kari lifted her gaze with one more question.

"By any chance… are you related to Iori Wakana? She lives in Minato city working as a school nurse at Suginuma High," Kari said.

For the first time since meeting Yuria, her eyes appeared to fill with color upon hearing the name.

"You know my elder sister? If you see her, please tell her to stop sending us money. She should spend it on herself instead," Yuria said before shutting the door on them.

As they flew to Kurotaki, Kari couldn't get the screaming out of her head. They were more disturbing than hearing people being eaten by head hounds.

"You know something about why she stopped being a magical girl, don't you?" Kari asked Jade.

"Some people just aren't cut out for it. Better they stay out of our way, else inexperience bites us in the ass," she replied.

They followed the address to a shrine in disrepair, surrounded by a thick wall of trees at the top of a hill. The torii gate's red paint was peeling, a layer of dead leaves covered the ground, and overgrowth was creeping up the buildings.

"I think Yuria sent us on a sightseeing trip," Kari remarked coldly.

"Yuria's not the kind of girl to lie. Maybe you read the address wrong?" Jade suggested.

Kari was about to double-check the address when a shrine maiden emerged from the haiden, the shrine's worship hall, where prayers and offerings were typically made in front of. The woman wore the typical white robe and red skirt, and held a broom in her blistered hands.

"This shrine isn't open to the public right now. Can I help you?" the shrine maiden asked.

"Took a wrong turn." Jade turned to leave, but the woman called out to stop them.

She hesitated, surprised that they had stopped to give her their attention. "It's been ages since we've had any visitors. People often said praying here gave them a sense of peace. Perhaps… speaking with the enshrined god here might grant you wisdom in what you're searching for?"

Kari and Jade traded glances. They knew right away something was off about this woman. She appeared to be around Yuria's age. By all accounts, she could very well be Aiko Shigure. Yet her anthem was nowhere to be seen and the sleeves were too long to check for a ring.

"Do you happen to be Aiko?" Kari asked, staring hard to see if the woman before them would react to the name.

Unfortunately, she seemed more confused than anything.

"Where are my manners? I'm Hinata. If I'm not mistaken by your clothing, you two are magical girls?" she inquired in return.

Jade stepped forward and put a hand on Kari's shoulder. "You know what? I'm feeling like getting blessed today. We'd be happy if you could show us around."

The woman named Hinata smiled brightly, eager to bring them further into the shrine.

[Kari: You think Aiko's trying to show us something by playing along?]

[Jade: Has to be. Sure as hell ain't around to clean this place up by herself.]

Kari slapped Jade's hand away and followed after the shrine maiden. However, where she led them wasn't to the haiden, but behind it to the honden, a sacred building which enshrined a god and was forbidden to the public. A real shrine maiden would never lead them to this part of the shrine.

A strong breeze rustled the trees around them and sent fallen leaves scattering across the sacred grounds, consequently revealing droplets of red paint smeared on the stone. The two wrinkled their noses at a foul stench coming off the honden that gave them pause, yet Hinata was undeterred. She climbed up the decrepit steps, wooden planks groaning under her feet, and prostrated herself before the doors.

"Hear me, divine one! These magical girls have come to pay worship! Your humble priestess beseeches you to descend and grace us with your presence!" Hinata was perplexed, as if there was supposed to be a different response other than silence. She glanced over her shoulder to them and frowned. "You have to be on your knees, or she won't answer me."

"You're joking, right?" Jade scoffed.

"I beg you! If you don't, this transgression might invoke her wrath!" the cosplay shrine maiden pleaded desperately.

This was becoming more outrageous by the second, and Kari had grown impatient the moment the shrine maiden called herself Hinata.

"Quit fooling around, Aiko. We're just here to talk!" Kari shouted to her back.

"M-My name is Hinata! You have to show the enshrined god your respects! Please!" Her words— doubtful as they were— sounded like she was trying to convince herself of that.

Rocky and Gauntlet were at the honden's roof, trying to peek in through small cracks. Both of them pinched their noses and reeled back, then waved to them in distress.

"Something's inside," Jade said.

"No, stay away!" Hinata cried as Jade marched up the steps. "You can't—"

"Come here!" Kari pulled the struggling shrine maiden into her grasp.

Jade threw open the doors and staggered back at the sight of a dozen maggot-infested bodies in various states of decay. They were all in the prostrating position as if praying. Flies buzzed loudly from within, many of them escaping once the doors were opened.

At the very center where a shrine relic like a mirror was supposed to sit, was the skeletal remains of a small animal that might have been a squirrel.

"Transform!" Aiko's shrine maiden robes changed into a deep blue dress. She broke free from Kari, who was briefly stunned by what was inside the honden, and shoved Jade aside to race in, stepping over the rotting corpses to cradle the animal bones.

"You're fucking crazy…" Jade uttered in horror.

"It's okay, Pochi… I'm here. Everything will be okay…" Aiko mumbled deliriously.

"Is that really… P-Pochi…? She's been dead this whole time?" Rocky and Gauntlet swallowed hard.

"Pochi's not dead!" she screamed. "I enshrined her here for people to worship her! So when she reincarnates,, we'll save the world together like we promised… I'll be the strongest magical girl in the world!"

Some people were just too far gone to reason with. Aiko was one of them. Having lost touch with the world after losing her anthem and place as a magical girl, she came here thinking to resurrect an old friend.

Or something else?

"Snap out of it, we're not—" Jade clammed up, but Kari couldn't see why from where she stood.

"None of you have any idea… but I've seen it. Kill enough humans and you become one of them. I'll show you not to mess with me and Pochi! The gods will witness my devotion! Explosive finale!" Aiko pulled from under her sleeve a dynamite stick in which the burning wick was nearly at its end.

Kari saw too late the deranged bloodlust in Aiko's eyes and realized that they were in very real danger.

Magic? Real? Which is it?!

She shouted her sole defensive skill nonetheless as her vision flashes white. A massive explosion soon followed, knocking her off her feet and through the worship hall that was to her back.

"What was… that?" Her health status updated, taking far more damage than expected.

[200/200] ⇒ [101/200]

The entire shrine grounds from the honden to the torii gate was levelled. Trees and branches were blown naked, leaving them as spiked remnants of their former selves.

"Her skills are magic-based. Effects a large area and deals insane damage, but they have a sort of timer." Jade landed beside her with both of their anthems safe, but herself a smoking mess and more or less just as injured.

Across the way, with the ruins of the worship hall between them, stood Aiko in a defiant showdown. She still carried Pochi's remains

"You should have prayed. The gods wanted your devotion, too. They gave you life, but you spat in their faces. Don't you want to be whole again? Is that how you show your thanks?!" Aiko was becoming more unhinged with each word she spoke.

None of them came looking for a fight, but now that it came to this, what was the right play?

Without giving them a chance to formulate any sort of plan, Aiko cast a volley of marbles. "Cherry Bomb!"

"Iron Fortress!" An army of knights materialized to intercept the explosions. "Advance!"

The ones that survived came to life and marched forward, but further explosions dwindled their ranks to zero.

"I can incapacitate her!" Kari said, summoning her soul weapon before jumping into battle.

"Wait— what?! Don't come any closer! Anything but that! Cherry Bomb! Cherry Bomb! Cherry Bomb!" Aiko cried hysterically, throwing all the explosives as she could.

Kari was far too slippery now that she knew what to expect. The bombs all had a slight delay before exploding, and as long as she continued unflinchingly, none of them would catch her in the blast. She was soon on top of her.

"Cherry… ah—"

The axe came down on Aiko's right shoulder, but instead of carving her soul, it cut into flesh and bone. Her magical girl form dropped, returning to the shrine maiden's robes. She fell limp to the ground, silent at last.

"She's… dead…" Rocky said.

"For fuck's sake. You straight up killed her?" Jade exclaimed in disbelief.

"No, that isn't what [Ruin] does… It's supposed to carve souls, not flesh," Kari argued.

Aiko Shigure was split down from her right shoulder all the way to the center of her waist. The white robes, stained by the pool of blood, quickly turned as red as the skirt. A sapphire-studded ring enlarged its band until it slipped off her rigid finger.

A magical girl was dead, killed by Kari's own unshaking hands. She gasped as her body violently seized up.

[+400,000 Apocalypse Points].

Points? From killing Aiko…?

"What's wrong?" Jade asked, but was reluctant about laying a hand on her.

"I… Nothing. I just can't believe I killed her…" Kari answered, feigning grief.

More pressingly… Kari held [Destruction and Ruin] to her face and wondered what went wrong. She was able to carve the souls of Principal Nishida and monsters alike. Why did that not happen for Aiko?

When she drew her hand against the bladed edge of her weapon, it did what any cut would do, but not what [Ruin] should— bleed.

"You said it's supposed to cut souls? Try me." Jade stuck her hand out, letting Kari make a small lateral cut across the palm. Again, blood. She stared at the wound and clenched her fist shut.

"If you're bleeding, then… that means...?" Rocky didn't need to finish his sentence for Kari to draw the same conclusion.