Chapter 30 — Wrath

Wrath's hearing slowly returned while a high-pitched ringing echoed inside her head. Her vision blurred, and every muscle in her body screamed in pain as she forced herself onto one knee.

"..."

Dust filled the shopping mall, the blue light from the explosion slowly faded. As the smoke began to clear, she saw a familiar figure lying motionless on the shattered floor.

Pieces of broken glass and concrete surrounded her. Small sparks of blue Stellar Energy still danced across the ruined floor before fading one by one.

"...Greed."

Wrath's eyes widened.

"GREED!"

She rushed forward without hesitation and dropped to her knees beside her. Grabbing Greed by the shoulders, she shook her desperately.

"...Hey... Wake up. Open your damn eyes!"

Greed answered with only a weak laugh.

"Hehe..."

Her trademark delighted smile was still there, but it was noticeably weaker. Half of her body had been horribly burned by the explosion, while blue cracks of unstable Stellar Energy spread across her skin like poisonous veins, slowly consuming more of her body with every passing second. Each breath sounded painful.

For a moment, Wrath simply stared. The girl who always laughed no matter what happened now looked frighteningly fragile in her arms.

Wrath gritted her teeth.

"...Don't you dare. You can't die."

She tightened her grip on Greed's body.

"You're the bastard who filled me with despair. I'm the one who's supposed to kill you!"

Her voice trembled between rage and desperation, but Greed only managed another faint chuckle.

Wrath hated that laugh. She had hated it from the moment Greed first appeared before her. Yet hearing it now, weak and barely audible, terrified her more than anything else.

Several meters away, the remaining Next Generation Bravers stared in disbelief. The Red Braver looked toward the place where Blue had stood only moments earlier.

"...What... What happened to Blue?"

His voice shook.

No one answered. The others were equally stunned. Their companion had simply exploded.

Only a scorched crater remained where Blue had fallen. The surviving Next Generation Bravers stared at it in silence, unable to understand what they had just witnessed.

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Inside the military command vehicle, Yuki's restraint finally broke. She seized Gero by the collar and slammed him against a console.

"...You bastard! What did you do?!"

Dozens of nearby soldiers immediately raised their rifles.

"Protect Dr. Gero!"

Yuki ignored every weapon pointed at her. Her normally calm expression had completely vanished.

"You killed your own man!"

Gero looked back at her without the slightest trace of fear. Instead, he smiled.

"A necessary sacrifice. He was already defeated. His combat suit had become ineffective and the enemy was about to kill him regardless."

His smile remained unchanged.

"I merely gave a broken tool... an ending that served a purpose."

Yuki's fist trembled.

"...You..."

She drew back her arm to strike him, but a hand gently caught her wrist.

Endou.

He silently shook his head.

Yuki looked into his eyes. After several tense seconds, she slowly lowered her fist, still glaring at Gero.

Endou spoke quietly.

"...Is human life really worth so little to you?"

Gero calmly adjusted his collar.

"If sacrificing one soldier is enough to save humanity... then I will gladly make that sacrifice."

There wasn't a trace of regret in his voice. He looked back toward the monitor.

"Besides... we've gravely wounded the enemy leader."

His eyes remained fixed on the screen.

"Now... it's time to finish this."

Yuki and Endou exchanged silent looks. Neither of them said another word. They simply watched the screen, praying no more lives would be lost.

Around them, even the soldiers who had raised their rifles remained unusually quiet. Several exchanged uneasy glances, but none dared question Gero's decision.

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Back inside the shopping mall, Wrath continued holding Greed.

"...Greed! Open your damn eyes! You psychotic freak!"

Greed's breathing became increasingly shallow as the blue cracks continued spreading higher and higher, toward her neck and then toward her face. Wrath could do nothing except watch.

She pressed one hand against Greed's shoulder as if somehow she could stop the spreading Stellar Energy from poisoning Greed with her bare fingers. It did nothing. The blue cracks continued crawling upward.

Ryuen laughed.

"Hahahaha...Not exactly the ending I imagined... but I'll take it."

He slowly walked toward them. Wrath lifted her head, tears streaming down her face as her crimson eye burned with hatred.

Ryuen stopped several meters away.

"I'll admit... I'm surprised."

He smiled coldly.

"I thought you Witches were nothing more than monsters."

He looked directly into her tear-filled eyes.

"And yet... you can cry."

Wrath's hands trembled.

"...I'll never forgive you."

The atmosphere changed as Ryuen's smile slowly disappeared. A strange wind began circling around Wrath, lifting the loose strands of her black hair into the air.

"...I'll kill you... I'll kill all of you..."

The floor vibrated as a familiar pressure spread throughout the shopping mall, and Ryuen's eyes widened.

"...That Stellar Energy..."

Tiny cherry blossom petals appeared around Wrath, soft, pink, and beautiful. Ryuen stared at them in disbelief. He had seen this power before.

Memories flashed through his mind—the battles they had fought together, the unmistakable glow of that Stellar Energy, and the countless pink petals that had once belonged to one of his companions.

"...You are..."

He whispered.

The petals slowly darkened. Pink became crimson, and crimson became black.

An overwhelming aura of darkness burst from Wrath's body as the cherry blossoms transformed into countless black petals that swirled violently throughout the shopping mall.

The Next Generation Bravers instinctively raised their arms to shield their faces. The black petals sliced through the air like sharpened blades, carving thin lines across the shattered walls and broken pillars.

Ryuen's breathing stopped. He finally understood—the resemblance he had noticed earlier, the familiar presence.

"...Sakura...?"

He spoke the name almost unconsciously.

For the first time since entering the shopping mall, confidence completely disappeared from Ryuen's face.

Wrath slowly raised her head. Her tear-filled eye locked onto Ryuen, and her expression was no longer merely angry.

It was pure, burning hatred.

The storm of black cherry blossoms exploded outward, and the entire shopping mall disappeared beneath a blizzard of dark petals.

"DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!"

Wrath's scream echoed through every floor as the nightmare beneath the dark cherry blossoms began.