Kari walked out into the sun and felt its tender warmth for the first time in ages. The shining rays of a passing summer beamed down on her like she was wrapped in an electric blanket, completely unlike the sweltering sun back in August. All that time the oppressive heat from Flare keeping an eye on them was exhausting. The sun had always gotten inexplicably brighter and hotter during odd times. Now, including the storm being gone, at least on this side of the country, it was as though an apocalypse never existed.

The ringing bell of a bicycle drew Kari's eyes to the left of the backstreet she was on. Kari took a step back off the street, but for whatever reason transformed and summoned [Destruction and Ruin]. The cyclist couldn't have stopped in time. She struck out too fast, cleaving the soul from its body.

The kicking and screaming soul clung helplessly to the blade. Wispy appendages like smoke were reaching for the body, which lay several meters away, collapsed on the ground. It was a man, dressed in a black work suit and graying hair spilling out of the helmet. Next to the body was his bike, front wheel still rolling and squeaking.

Kari hooked a finger on the warm soul and opened her salivating mouth. She could taste it already, the appetizing soul of man.

"Kari?"

Panicking, she whipped around to Shuu's croaking morning voice. He emerged from the back door of the house, tying the belt of a black and red plaid bathrobe as he stepped out.

Kari glanced down the backstreet and was relieved to see the same cyclist alive and speeding away to head to work. She swallowed the lump in her throat, realizing now that she wasn't transformed or wielding the soul-weapon, and neither was she holding a soul.

It was just her imagination. She hadn't killed again. But she couldn't shake the sensation of her soul-weapon's cold metal shaft and the writhing soul. Kari's relief was quickly dashed by the returning hunger.

"Hey, Shuu." Kari cleared her throat and shook away the jitters. "Woke up early and thought I'd get some air."

"I don't blame you. Seems like forever since I've seen or felt sunlight. Feels even longer since I've seen the sky without all the clouds." Shuu walked out and looked past the rooftops to the clear blue sky.

While Shuu stared up, Kari glanced down at her trembling fingers. Clenching did little to abate the shaking.

"Hungry?" Shuu asked, having taken notice of her shivering. "I know for sure you aren't cold. Chiyo ordered some American breakfast delivery. Grab some free grub like you always do before taking off, alright?"

When Kari entered the house, she was greeted by maple syrup and pancakes, hash browns, sausages, and cream cheese and bagels on the table. Tsubasa, Gauntlet, and Rocky were already helping themselves, not at all holding back from stuffing their mouths.

The amputated magical girl was having a hard time adjusting to a missing limb. Her entire face twitched as she cut into the pancakes, sawing them into pieces with the side of her fork. Without the other hand to hold a knife, she had no choice but to improvise.

"Kari, you have to try this! It's soooo good!" Rocky, whose mouth was bulging full, smeared a half-eaten bagel in cream cheese and raised it to her mouth.

"Honestly, anything that isn't wasabi peas is gourmet to you." Kari sat down and snatched the bagel anyway. She slid the morsel into her mouth expecting the mildly sour and sweet tang, but she tasted nothing instead. The creamy texture was there, including the slightly toasted bagel that scraped her tongue. Only she tasted nothing.

"What's the matter?" Tsubasa asked, finally cutting her pancakes into small enough bites to eat. "Ain't hungry?"

"No, it's not that. I… I need to use the toilet." Kari excused herself from the table and hurried to the bathroom.

She turned on the faucet and braced both hands to the side of the sink bowl.

"Meow!" Kiko leaping onto the counter startled Kari, but the calico cat from Nekomura only wanted to lap water from the open faucet. When she was done, her tri-colored tail flicked left and right, she cocked her head sideways at the mirror.

"What? Not afraid of me anymore?" Kari asked.

"Cats are fickle creatures."

"Fuck!" Kari jumped back, but her reflection in the mirror did not. It stayed perfectly still where it stood and stared. The black mists at her head billowed more intensely as it cackled.

"Kari, are you okay in there?" Chiyo's voice reached her from the other side of the door.

"I'm fine!" Kari called back. "Kiko gave me a scare is all…"

"Want me to come in there and grab her? Or are you undressed right now?" she asked.

"It's alright!"

Kari waited until the footsteps disappeared down the hall, then returned her gaze to the monster in the mirror. She remembered seeing something like it in Flare, a monstrous form that was her shadow.

"What the fuck are you?" Kari asked.

"I am what you call the monster, nested within the breast of your soulless cage of flesh."

"I've got to be hallucinating again—"

"You're not hallucinating. I am your reality and eventuality, but you're trying so hard to stave me off. We were going to do so many great things together. Yet you stopped feeding. Why? Why would you starve your better half, Kari? I'm starving. You're starving. Let us sate this hunger together, shall we?"

The long draw in the monster's voice, coupled with an undertone of malice, came to her like a dear friend. Although she wasn't able to taste the cream cheese bagel, she could taste the sweet temptation of giving in.

"And turn into something like Jaws? That's what she was, wasn't it? A magical girl that gave into eating souls and didn't look back. Thinking of nothing but swallowing the next meal and still feeling hungry. No thanks. You can screw right off." Kari headed for the door until Kiko meowed again.

The cat leapt from the counter and landed next to Kari's feet.

"But you will eat again. No one's looking. No one will know. Carve the soul of that creature there. Consume it, the little morsel."

"No," Kari said, opening the door for Kiko to dart out of the bathroom, then leaving herself.

After breakfast, Shuu, Chiyo, and Yuuko saw them off at the door. Kari glanced over her shoulder to the mostly empty streets and felt a burning gaze on her back, but no one was there except for the garbage collector and a man walking his dog.

"Sure I can't convince you to stay another night?" Shuu asked.

"I really won't mind. It's kind of cute having these little anthems around. Haven't seen 'em up close until now," Chiyo said, scratching Rocky and Gauntlet's chins.

"We got a whole lotta unfinished business to take care of." Jade shook her head, then threw an arm around Shuu's shoulders. He went beet red from being approached so aggressively. "Let a girl get at your number though. How about you take me on a date if I survive this?"

"Uhh… Am I allowed to get friendly with magical girls?" He turned to Kari for answers.

"You're an adult. Make your own choices." Kari teased.

Jade was all smiles after exchanging numbers with Shuu. It was honestly not a side of the delinquent that Kari expected or wanted to see, but everyone needed something to keep them going. After losing her left arm, this was probably the best gift she could get.

"Before you four leave," Chiyo began, clutching the side of her trembling arm. "I really have to ask— Is Flare really insane like you say she is?"

"Bitch is about as batshit insane as they come by. She's just good at pretending not to be," Jade said, nodding to Kari who thought the same.

"Flare played the JSDF, too. It's why their response to the apocalypse was so slow. Wouldn't put it past her to have messed with the PM," Kari added.

Shuu heaved a sigh. "I'm sure you could be right. I'll be the first to admit it when I see it, but I personally haven't seen her pulling anything that warrants me to think so. As far as I can tell, she's got me and everyone else fooled. You, on the other hand, Kari, there's pictures and videos everywhere of you hurting people."

"I know… I'm the reason Makina's doing what she's doing, too. I have a lot to make up for, so… thank you for being the first to not look at me like a monster." Kari bowed to the three who had shown them nothing but kind hospitality, even when the rest of the world believed she deserved otherwise.

"Hey, that picture you showed us of Flare last night," Jade reminded him. "You said it was recently found, right? From where?"

"Right after the PM committed suicide, the entire cabinet went tits up from his letter about magical girls. A lot of officials' computers were hacked. That photo was found in a cabinet member's PC. People are thinking it was an inside job though. The reason— an interim prime minister is being selected," Shuu said.

"I heard about that," Chiyo chimed in. "One of the frontrunners is Koutarou Shimizu. The guy is pretty hot against magical girls, and a lot of the Naoki's cabinet were pro-magical girls. It's feeling like he's outing those in particular."

Jade clicked her tongue, and Kari understood why. The landscape was changing right before her eyes. Distrust in magical girls was going faster than they could try and repair their image.

Wanting to waste no more time, Kari and Jade thanked them again and flew off towards Sendai to confront the imprisoned Flare.

All across the cities they flew over, posters and advertisements of magical girls were being taken down. Merchandise of magical girls and anthems filled trash bins and dumpsters by the loads.

When they passed over Tokyo, Kari couldn't bring herself to look at her hometown of Minato city. It was mostly in ruins anyway, and even her house likely festered with the rot of her parents' dead bodies. Kari had no home to go back to, and it was at that moment they crossed the prefecture that she empathized with Sachi's pain.

Pain of a broken friendship that was far too late to mend.

"Rookie," Jade suddenly called to her. "You looking worse than me, and I'm missing a fucking arm. Don't tell me that monster inside you is growing?"

Kari flinched and figured that Jade had made a lucky guess.

Pretending not to be shaken by the question, she said, "I have it under control."

Jade grabbed Kari by the arm and pulled her to a stop on the outskirts of Sendai city. They had been flying all morning and had only reached their destination in the early afternoon. The sun was still high in the sky, casting a somewhat warmer heat on them now that they were farther north.

"We're about to talk to Flare. I can't have you blowing a lid in the middle of the city. I know you're ticked off and want nothing than to fuck her up— I do, too— but now ain't the time to be putting anymore innocent people in danger." Jade tightened the grip on her shoulder.

"I told you, I have it under control." Kari brushed her hand away. "What I really want to know is how we're meeting her with all those guns around."

JSDF armed to the teeth swarmed the grounds of Camp Sendai, the general headquarters of the Tohoku district. Armored vehicles, tanks, helicopters, and even police cars were gathered at the administrative garrison converted into a forward assault camp. Soldiers made laps around the base, staying in shape for any battle that might arise.

This had to be the largest force Kari's seen from Japan so far, larger even than the group at Kyoto. But it wasn't a surprise, seeing as the final seraph was in Hokkaido. On top of the fight against monsters ahead, they were guarding the world's strongest magical girl— Flare.

"Don't worry. I called ahead," Jade said, deftly twirling her smartphone

"And they're just going to let me in?" Kari asked.

"It wasn't easy, I'll tell ya that. General Yanagi's allowing it on the condition I make sure you don't do shit. Count on it that I'll turn on you the second shit hits the fan. Anyway, as soon as we land, you better make sure you stay in magical girl form. Ever seen someone fire an M24?"

"No?"

"Won't matter. You wouldn't see it coming anyway," she warned.

"Oh, god… Now I'm scared," Rocky mumbled.

Following Jade's lead, they flew down to Camp Sendai, where a battalion of soldiers quickly formed a square around them to the left and right. Kari's eyes darted to every building and saw the distinct shine of the scopes of many rifles trained on them. They had landed in front of an administrative building, with glass windows, polished steps, and aesthetic granite columns along the edges, nothing like what she expected a military camp to have.

The Japanese flag of the rising sun fluttered listlessly at the rooftop, as though waving at their arrival.

Two older gentlemen in camo uniforms exited the building at a brisk pace. One man, whose skin was tanned to a deep walnut color, pulled his cap off and wiped the sweat from his forehead before putting it back on.

"Jade." His voice came out husky and weary. "I see you really brought a war criminal wanted by the entire country and most of the Americas. It's too bad Kari isn't here to turn herself in, because that would make my job a helluva lot easier."

"No, it wouldn't. There's no way in hell you can beat the last monster and Hurricane over in Hokkaido without me. Not that you can put me in prison anyway. I'm not planning to turn myself in like Flare did," Kari said.

"General Yanagi here's been after your ass since you dusted his guys in Kyoto. Anything to say for yourself?" Jade asked.

"That wasn't me… it was Sniper and Sister Claire," she muttered.

The look on the general's face showed little interest in hearing excuses.

"I understand you're here to speak with Flare. May I ask why?" the general asked, raising a brow.

"Just some magical girl bonding time," Jade jokingly answered. "Seriously, we wanna know what the hell she's thinking when the apocalypse is still wreaking havoc in Hokkaido. Don't suppose you got any ideas?"

The man to General Yanagi's side adjusted his glasses and said," None, whatsoever. It came as a surprise to us, too. One moment we're preparing an assault on the seraph in Sapporo, the next we receive a call from the prefectural police that Flare wants to turn herself in."

"Are you going to let us see her or not?" Kari asked.

General Yanagi and his aide traded uneasy glances. The other man whispered something into a radio, then threw an arm in the air to gesture towards the building they had come out from.

"I don't care what you have to talk about, but whatever you have to say— we'll be listening. No funny business, Kari. You're on thin ice, apocalypse or no apocalypse." The general stepped back as Flare, in her human form, cuffed up, and dressed in a dull blue prisoner's jumpsuit, was escorted down the building to them.

When their eyes met, the fiery magical flashed an almost happy smile.

Four years ago in South Africa's apocalypse, it was Flare who went in and screwed them. Messiah had a member there, too, but she played a smaller role in their loss. After killing Inyanga and taking her ring, Flare returned to Japan. The following year, she fought an angel. In the stretch of time between then and now, she supercharged the ring with other magical girls.

It couldn't just have been a test.

What did she want with me? Kari asked herself, feeling angrier by the second from seeing Kanae's shit-eating grin.

They were finally face to face again. Flare, Kari, Jade… but one among them was missing. In fact, Kari thought it too bad that the four of them were never able to stand on the same side together even once.

"Hey, Tsubasa. You lose some weight? It's the hair, right? Got a new hairdo." Kanae smirked, pointing a finger at Tsubasa who was less than amused.

"What's your game this time? First you go and get yourself caught by the Americans, and now this." Jade squinted at her.

"Not sure what you're talking about. Prime Minister Naoki told everyone not to trust magical girls anymore. I did the right thing and turned myself in," she said.

"Bullshit!" Kari growled. "You don't give a rat's ass about doing the right thing. Where's Makina? You were with her at the beach."

Kanae raised her cuffed hands and shrugged, flashing a smirk as she did. Kari jerked forward, but Rocky pushed against her from the front and shook his head.

"Say, what level are you now?" Kanae asked.

Kari brought up the Apocalypse System.

Apocalypse System

User Information

Offensive Stats

Defensive Stats

User:

Kari Tachibana

Physical Strength:

46

Health:

320/320

Total Level:

Lv. 11

Magical Strength:

10

Magic Capacity:

130/130

Class:

Lv. 5 Destroyer

Haste:

39

Physical Resilience:

39

Subclass

Lv. 6 Siegemaster

Magical Resilience:

39

Soul-Weapon

Destruction and Ruin

Current Points:

826,000

"My total level is 11," Kari answered.

"Oh. Big girl now. Guess Jade shouldn't go around calling you rookie anymore. You grow up so fast, I almost want to tear up," she said, feigning a quivering voice.

"Quit screwing around with us, Flare. There's still a seraph we gotta deal with. We know you have the stake, and we know you got an idea of where Makina is. Just throw us a damn bone here," Jade pleaded for once and was clearly at her wits' end.

General Yanagi and the other JSDF soldiers were listening more intently now. It had gotten so quiet, one could hear the falling leaves hit the ground.

"Fine, fine. It's coming back to me now! I remember where I left the stake. It's in the hands of the goody two shoes magical girl. I tried telling her not to go, but she insisted. 'I have to show Kari I can protect myself,' is what she said," Kanae explained in an uncharacteristically higher pitch and playful voice.

"Makina… said that?" Kari stammered.

"Go?" Jade quietly repeated. "Go where? Don't tell me…"

Grinning and delighting in her little game, she nodded with a finger pointed upwards. "That's right. To Hokkaido to finish the job."

There was no way Makina could take on the monster and Hurricane alone, let alone both at the same time.

"You… You let yourself be caught on purpose… didn't you?" Kari asked, trembling with rage.

"Now, why would I do that?" Kanae wondered aloud, tilting her head to the side.

"You let Makina go alone so she could be fed to the monster, you bitch!" Kari summoned [Destruction and Ruin] to her hand, causing General Yanagi, and every armd JSDF soldier to draw their guns.

"Kari, you said you'd have it under control!" Jade shouted, snapping between her and Kanae. She also summoned the golden javelin, and Kari could see the gentle glow in her peripherals.

Was there any better time?

The untransformed Kanae stood there with a bemused smile on her face, like this was what she wanted. Although it was silent a moment ago, everyone was now shouting over each other. Kari tuned them out and only saw Kanae in front of her.

However, in that quiet second, Kari heard a familiar chirp. The sound of an impossibly sharp blade cutting through the air, followed by the vacuum of wind.

Kari flinched from the lateral cut across her shoulder and lost hold of her own soul-weapon. She and Jade turned their gaze to the shadowy figure behind Kanae, wielding both the hammer axe and shiv, primed to carve into her.

"You're mine now!" Sachi tearfully shrieked.

"This just gets better and better." Flare transformed in an instant. "Solar Combustion!"

Her lips curved into a triumphant smirk as her entire body ignited in flames just before Sachi plunged the soul-carving weapons into her back. Kari tried to pull Sachi away with [Come Here!] but she was too late. A cataclysmic explosion erupted from Flare's body.