"I see I see. It was sloppy of me to let my memories get erased like that, but since it would let me start fresh all over again, I figured it would let me enjoy it even more. Man, I have a terrible personality. Thanks to that, the ending is going to turn out a little disappointing. I have nothing against you, Maio, but at this point there's nothing I can do to stop it." Touko looked up at thte ceiling. "Recently, I've been dividing things up. Though there recently haven't been so many attempts on my life around the Clock Tower...I see, I didn't tell you, did I?"
A strange cracking sound filled the air.
Not like one that sends waves through the air, perceived by the ear. Something more fundamental - a kind of friction that didn't belong in this dimension.
A sharp, scraping sound, that felt like it was being perceived directly by the soul. "Sorry, but I'll have to ask you to hold this for me for a bit." Touko said, throwing a small
paper box to my master.
A box of cigarettes.
Inorai's expression shifted. "Touko, you-"
"Haha, of course you figured it out." Touko said with a smile, the bizarre otherworldly sound increasing in volume as she did so.
No, I was the only one who understood.
(...when we were fighting, in that forest...)
At that time, I felt a bizarre presence from the too-large bag Touko carried with her. An extreme, despair inducing magical energy that made me wonder if it could even stand
up to Rhongomyniad. Now, that same feeling was leaking out of Touko's own body.
This was the true form of the contents of that bag
"Long ago, I got done in by surprise, so I've learned to take some countermeasures. Now, it's in here - oh, and don't worry. It is restricted to acting as a Counter. As long as you don't get in its way, it won't hurt anyone but the person who attacked me. Lord El-Melloi II, I'll be dropping by later to pick up those cigarettes."
With another crack, Touko's stomach broke open. Clothes, bone, and flesh alike split apart as if she was no more than a statue - and inside the open wound, a kind of 'door' awaited.
An oppressive darkness.
Not endless, but without dimensions altogether - an eternal, infinite hell.
I learned later from my master that that monster had no name. Since its existence was only known through Touko's magecraft, no one had managed to discern the nature of the
Mystery that lay behind it. There was the possibility that even Touko was unaware of the
truth behind that beast.
It was like a horror movie.
Unspeakably silent.
Understood by no one. And more than anything...immortal.
Within the depths of that ceaseless darkness, where no magecraft could ever hope to
reach it, two lights shined.
-the two eyes I saw at that time!
To the sound of Lord Byron's strangled scream, Touko's body completely broke apart, the
shadow within her bursting forth. Like a thorned plant, a clawed tentacle shot forward, taking hold of the pharmacist that
had hurt its master.
"May!"
In response to Rejina's scream, Maio could only give a muffled grunt.
It appeared like he had already given up.
In less than a moment, he would be dragged into the 'door' that was Touko Aozaki, where
he would be devoured by thousands of sets of jaws. Ah, that's right. There's no way to respond to that.
In a way, it was on the same level as that temporary Princess of Gold. Though thoroughly
its opposite, that monster's existence was enough to completely crush the soul of a human being. Even had it only been big enough to devour you one fingertip at a time, terror would
overwhelm all other sensations.
The end. The end.
The incident, everything, everything was over.
Like some sort of Deus Ex Machina, everything would be concluded here, bite by bite.
(...is that okay?)
Someone asked.
A question posed to me, from myself.
I was afraid of that hero of the past that tried to overtake me.
This person had just been overwhelmed by that absolute ______
Really, the difference between us was small. The difference between offering up oneself. or another. Whether we had a chance afterwards or not.