「巨人となったキュイを引っ張り上げた？伊達に永久機関とするべく作られた訳ではないようじゃな…！！」

「え、永久機関って…あれが！？なんてとんでもないものに憑り付いてくれたんだ、あいつは！」

　豪雨さながらに落ちてくる瓦礫の衝撃にキュイの身を案じていたミフィが、苦々しげなエルザの言葉に表情を険しくする。

「でも、どうしてあんな事ができたの！？あれは”私達”で構成されている、同じコピーの私か、憎悪の私でなければ同調すらできない筈じゃ…」

「…その答えは、憎悪だよ」

「リュート！」

　エルザに庇われているランの疑問に答えた声に振り返れば、すっかり血の気の引いた顔をしたリュートが、ピンクちゃんに支えられながらふらつく足取りで歩み寄ってきていた。

「あのままにしておいては危険なので、退避のついでにこちらへお連れ致しマシた」

「馬鹿者、何をやっておる！！こやつは怪我人なのじゃぞ、退避というならもっと安全な場所に連れて行かぬか！」

「も、申し訳ありマセん！」

　叱咤にピンクちゃんが首を竦ませると、「早くせんか！」と続けようとしたエルザをリュートが手で制す。

「僕が頼んだんだ。いくら呑気だマイペースだと言われている僕でも、この状況をただ傍観するなんて真似はできないよ、それに僕の事より奴をどうにかするのが先決だろう？…奴はキミ達に強い恨みを抱いて、その憎悪から死の瞬間に怨霊と化したんだ、そして…同じ霊体という事を利用すれば、自分の持つ自我で負の感情しか持たないＥ．Ｓの意識の主導権を乗っ取れると考えたんじゃないかな。Ｅ，Ｓの、コピー以外の異物に対する拒絶反応を捻じ伏せて強引に同調できたのは、おそらく奴を怨霊化させた憎悪がＥ．Ｓの霊波の波長と一致したからだと思う、何しろＥ．Ｓはまだ未完成の状態だからね、奴がそこまで計算していたかは解らないけれど、完全体とするのに必要な感情は、残るは憎悪だけだったから。勿論、そんな事をすれば異物を呑み込んだＥ．Ｓが自壊するのは時間の問題だ、解析するまで霊体構成を保てない事は目に見えてる…ああ、一気に喋り過ぎたかな、め、眩暈がする」

「そんな事を言ってる場合じゃねえええ！さあ吐け、お嬢が欲している情報を今すぐ吐けー！」

「待って揺らさないで今血が足りてないんだ…ぅえ、正しい意味で吐きそう…」

　両肩を掴んだミフィがリュートを激しくシェイクしている内に、キュイの体が天井に開いた穴の中にすっかり飲み込まれ、落ちてくる瓦礫が土砂に変わった頃、その中に異様な物が混ざり始める。足元に転がってきたそれを見たピンクちゃんは、ぎょっとして後ずさった。

　かつては白かったのであろう、土にまみれて煤けた色に変色したそれは、明らかに人間とは異なる、人間に近しい異形の構造を持つ生物の頭蓋。

「これって、モンスターの骨！？」

　見上げれば、天井の穴から瓦礫の山を埋め尽さんとする勢いで絶え間なく降ってくる土砂の中に、朽ちた異形の骨が大小入り乱れている様が確認できる。その数たるや尋常ではない。

「墓地に当たったとて、これ程のモンスターが埋葬されている墓地など、近隣には無い筈…！もしやこの上は…儂らの頭上にあるのは！」

「そう…かつて罪人のみならず、モンスターというだけで大勢が処刑され、処分に困った遺体を検体として秘密裏に取引する為に爺さんが地下に研究所を構えた場所、そして僕が霊体の研究をする為に相応しいフィールド・エンハンス効果を見込んで買い取った場所さ」

「処刑場跡地…！」

　天井に開いた大穴の行き着く先、それを聞いてエルザは掌に拳を打ち付けた。

「よし、場所さえ判ってしまえば座標の設定が可能じゃ、テレポートで先回りできる。それに、あそこはまず人が寄り付かん場所じゃ、多少派手な事になっても誤魔化しが効く！」

　実を言えば、Ｅ．Ｓが地上に出る前に、どうにか始末できないものかと考えていた。完全な霊体でありながら霊感の無い者の目にも映るＥ．Ｓと、外見は可愛らしくとも明らかに異形の者である単眼巨人のキュイが地上に出てしまえば、場所によっては多くの人間の目に晒される事になる。殊に現代は情報伝達の速度に優れた時代、過去の時代のような情報操作や個人の記憶の改竄だけでは、爆発的に拡散されていく情報を止める事など不可能だ。一つの情報を潰しても、その間に倍以上に増えていき、全く異なる発信源から広められていく、更に何処の誰がその記憶を持っているのかなど判別は不可能。結果、不特定多数の記憶からなる情報は、有限を持つ無限の電子の海の中で繰り返し消えては現れ、永遠に残り続ける事になる。下手を打てば、モンスターを畏れ、淘汰しようとする人間との全面戦争を引き起こす呼び水となってしまう危険を孕んでいるからだ。

　地上に出てすぐ人目に触れる心配が無くなったのであれば、次に考える事は如何にして人目に触れるより先にＥ．Ｓを討つか、である。

「自壊すると言ったろ？エルザ君が手を下すまでもない、放っておいても勝手に自滅するよ。それが解っているから、あのコピーはＥ．Ｓを追いもせずに、ここに残っているんじゃないのかい？」

　リュートの言う通り、エトランゼ・コピーは土砂が降り注いでくる天井の大穴を睨んだまま、動こうとはしていない。しかし、首を横に振るランがそれを否定する。

「違うよ。相手が生きていたからこそ、あの”私”には勝機があった。でも、膨大なエネルギーを生み出すように調整された、霊力の塊同然の”私達”を乗っ取られてしまった今、ただの怨霊のコピーに過ぎない自分の霊力じゃ太刀打ちできないって事が解っているから、悔しくて…何もできずにいるの」

「…あのコピーに自我があったという事は、エルザ君達のやり取りを聞いていたから解っているよ、撃たれたといっても気絶していた訳ではないからね。けど、どうしてキミにそんな事が解るんだい？」

「”私”だもの、それくらい解るわ」

　己の出自に悩み苦しんでいた筈のランに、言外にエトランゼ・コピーと自分は同じものだと事も無げに言い切られ、リュートは驚いた。同時に、そういうものなのかもしれない、と納得もしていた。自身がコピーだったという事実に苦悩し、その上に己を成り立たせた事で彼女が強くなったのか、それとも手を差し伸べたエルザの彼女を想う心が、成るべくして成させた必然なのか。人の心の機微に疎いリュートには解らないが、そのどちらにせよ、エルザに肩を抱き寄せられて真剣な面持ちで少し照れているランは、もうエトランゼでもコピーでもない、ランという確かな意志を持った存在なのだという事だけは理解できた。

「元を同じくするからこそ、か。双子間のシンパシーに似ているね」

「かもしれんな。故に自壊を待つつもりはない、あの子達を解放してやらねば。奴が憑りついた時、Ｅ．Ｓとやらが悲鳴を上げておったのは、おそらく異物である奴の意志に強制支配され、Ｅ．Ｓの中でランの同胞達が苦痛に蝕まれておるからであろう。奴に苦しめられたまま共に滅びるのでは、あまりにも浮かばれぬ。ランと同じという事は儂の義妹も同然、妹を救ってやれんで何が姉か」

「凄い人だねキミは、見ず知らずの彼女達を、それだけの理由で受け入れられるなんて。…そうだね、方法は一つある。拒絶反応を捻じ伏せたといっても、Ｅ．Ｓにとって奴が異物である事には違いないから、Ｅ．Ｓの中では彼女達の異物に対する反発が続いている筈なんだ、そこを突いてＥ．Ｓから奴を分離させる」

「分離じゃと？可能なのか！」

「コアを取り除くのさ。Ｅ．Ｓには彼女達を繋ぎ止めてひとつに纏め上げ、Ｅ．Ｓの形状に安定させる為のコアがあるんだよ。今、Ｅ．Ｓはエネルギーを生成も放出もしない不完全状態で自律起動しているけれど、彼女達自体は正常起動時と同様、エネルギー生成に必要な負の感情を発する為に半覚醒状態にあり、奴のＥ．Ｓを支配しようとする意志と拮抗している筈だ。その状態を維持したままコアを失って制御を離れれば、Ｅ．Ｓとしての形ではなく自分の形を取り戻そうとし始めて、Ｅ．Ｓは崩壊を始める。付け入る隙があるとすれば、そこだ。気を付けなくちゃならないのは、コアは外因的要素による欠落防止に、対策として起動時にＥ．Ｓの一部として同化する形で霊体化しているから物理的に触れられないって事と、最重要パーツなだけに当然内部に埋め込んであるから、霊的に接触する場合もＥ．Ｓの霊体という外装を突破しない限り直接干渉できないって事だね。それに、取り除こうとすれば当然、奴の意志でＥ．Ｓは抵抗してくるよ」

「ふむ…設備と装備を整えて”手術”でも行わん限り、取り除くのは難しいという訳じゃな。なら、貫通力に優れる魔法で撃ち抜き、破壊してしまえば良い」

「そうだ、取り除けないのなら壊すしかない…ただ、それは難しいだろうね。特にキミには」

　研究者としての性か、状況を顧みずどこか楽しげだった解説から一転して真面目な声色に変わったリュートに、半ば呆れながら方法を模索していたエルザも表情を引き締めた。

「どういう意味じゃ？よもやＥ．Ｓはドレイク以上の魔法耐性を持つというのか」

「そうじゃない、コアが何であるかが問題なんだ。キミが選べる選択肢は二つ。Ｅ．Ｓの自壊を待って、彼女達を犠牲に原形を留めたままのコアを回収するか、それとも…妹の為に長年探し続けてきた物を、その手で破壊するか、だ」

　一瞬、沈黙が訪れる。

「…まさか…まさか、コアというのは…！」

　震える唇で、やっとの思いで口にできたのはそこまでだ。そうであってほしくはないという想いが紡げなかった言葉を、リュートは頷きでもって肯定した。

「そのまさかさ。Ｅ．Ｓのコアは、エトランゼ・シュトゥーリアという少女の遺骨だよ」

「貴様！」

　呆然としていた顔を怒りに歪ませると、リュートの胸倉を掴む。

「貴様が此度の元凶でない事は解った、事情は汲んでやる、その境遇を憐れんでもやれよう。ああ、解っている、頭では解っている…だが…だが、何という事をしてくれたのだ！」

「そう、事情はどうあれ、遺骨をコアにするよう設計したのは僕だ、気に入らないのなら殴ってくれて構わないよ。けど、選択肢のどちらかしか選べない現実は変わらないんだ。それが解らないキミじゃないだろう、魔法使い」

「このッ…！？」

　淡々とした物言いに激高したエルザの動きが止まる。感情のままに殴りかかろうとする固く握り込んだ拳を、ひんやりとした柔らかな手に包まれたからだ。

「ラン、何故じゃ、何故止める！？こやつの所為で、おぬしは！」

「だけど、この人の研究があったから私は生まれる事ができた。生まれてこられたからこそ私は、玉竜に、紫月に、皆に出会えて…あなたに受け入れてもらえた。だから私はここに居る、ただのエトランゼのコピーとして造られただけの存在じゃない、ラン・シュトラヘルツとして。それに…」

　そっとエルザの拳を下ろし、リュートの胸倉から手を外させると、ランはリュートの頬を平手で思いっ切り打った。

「…これは”私達”を代表して、私がやるべき事だから」

「キミには、もっと命に関わるレベルで報復されると覚悟していたのだけれど」

「今のは感謝と恨みの差し引き分よ。本当の意味での報復なら、もう憎悪の”私”が済ませているわ」

　それが研究の事を言っているのだとすぐに理解し、苦笑と共に頭を掻く。道中でエルザに語った通り、確かに祖父の名誉の為に仇を炙り出す事を目的に始めた研究だったが、いずれ世界の為になる永久機関として、研究自体は本気で取り組んでいた事もまた事実だった。その手段が、死者を弄ぶ外法であると自覚していながら。

　そしてコピー達の怨念は、数々の偶然を重ねてランという奇跡を生み、彼女達の目論み通り復讐は成された。自分が成し得なかった元凶の尻尾を炙り出し、彼が計画に利用しようとしていた研究成果と研究データの全損という形で。

　自分のしたかった事を奪われ、自分のしてきた事を奪われた。これはまさに自分への復讐でもあったのだ。

「そう…か、その通りだね。エルザ君はどうなんだい、まだ殴りたいというのなら、どうぞ？」

　ランの思いも寄らぬ行動に呆気に取られていたエルザは、溜息をひとつ吐くと肩を竦める。そこには寸前までの怒りは無くなっていた。

「ランがそれで良いというのなら、これ以上儂には何も言えんし、何もできん。思うところはあるがな」

「はは、下手すると殺されかねない勢いだったしね、命拾いしたと思っておくよ。で、その様子だとキミはもう決心が付いているみたいだね、ええと、ラン君、だったね？」

　エルザとリュート、成り行きを口を挟む事もできずハラハラしながら見守っていたメイド達、これが正しく自我を得た者かと得心するロリント、それぞれの視線を集めたランは、天井を見上げる。おそらく建物の基礎部分にまで達しているのだろう、瓦礫の山を覆い尽くさんと未だ断続的に大穴から降ってくる土砂に、細かなコンクリート片が混ざり始めていた。

「私がやる」

「小お嬢なら、あれの中に侵入してコアを抜き取れるのか！？」

　最後の最後で切り札が小お嬢とかカッコイイな、とハシャぎかけたミフィの口を塞ぎ、真剣な目をしたエルザがランの顔を覗き込む。

「ラン。おぬしが、オリジナルの遺骨を自分で破壊しようというのか」

　ミフィと似たり寄ったりの事を考えていた一同に動揺が走る中、ランは躊躇う事無く頷いた。

「さっき言っていたじゃない、苦しめられたままあいつと一緒に滅びるんじゃ浮かばれないって。私だって同じ気持ちよ」

「しかし、そんな事をすればおぬしは、二度と五体満足には戻れんかもしれんのじゃぞ！」

「そうかもしれない。でも、”私達”を救えないまま体を取り戻したって嬉しくなんかない、後悔の方が大きいよ、きっと。だからせめて、”私”の手であれを壊すの。あの”私達”は私が私になるきっかけをくれた、今度は私が、私に救いを願った”私達”を救う番なの！」

　一片の迷いも無い眼差し。ランが本気である事を悟り、ランの頬に手を当てる。

「最早、儂が止めても…聞かんのじゃな？」

「うん、力尽くで止めても私はやる。それに、あれは結局、私じゃなくてエトランゼの遺骨でしょ。取り戻しても、元々欠けた状態でコピーされた私の体に影響するかどうかも解らないし、エトランゼには悪いけれど壊させてもらうわ。…助けてもらったのに、我儘を言ってごめんなさい、お姉ちゃん」

「良い良い。妹は偶に我儘を言うくらいが丁度良いのじゃ」

　細い体を抱き締めて頭を撫でると、ランの手が背に回り抱き締め返してきて、エルザは感極まって一層強くランを抱き締めた。

　覚悟は伝わった。ならば手助けをする事に一切の躊躇はない。

「でも、どうやってコアを壊すんデスか？壊すと決まったなら、やっぱりお嬢様の魔法が一番効果的だと思うのデスが」

「儂はランの意思を尊重したい。よって儂の出番はランが失敗したその後じゃ」

「失敗する気は無いよ。こんな事もあろうかと、って訳じゃないけれど、少しは訓練させてもらったし、大丈夫だと思う」

　抱擁を解いたランの視線をエルザも追い、言わんとする事を理解する。

「訓練って…あ、そういう事でございますか。確かに小お嬢様は、短期間の内に随分ご上達なされましたからね」

　視線の先で、赤と紫の瞳を向けられてきょとんとしていたコルだったが、すぐに表情を改め手を打った。ランがしようとしている事に必要なものが、二挺の愛銃である３５７マグナムだと思い当たったのだ。

「そっかー、戦闘モードのお姉サマが使う弾は、お嬢様にエンチャントして頂いたものデスもんね。確かにそれなら霊体も撃てマス！」

「良い案だけれど、残念ながらそれじゃ駄目だね。Ｅ．Ｓの耐霊撃強度はかなりのものだ、戦車並みとまではいかなくとも、マグナム程度じゃ豆鉄砲にしかならないよ。撃ち抜くなら対戦車ライフルクラスのものじゃないと。キミにそんなものを撃てるとは到底思えないね」

「そんな…」

　折角、自分の手でケリが付ける手段はこれしかないと思っていただけに、リュートのダメ出しにランの手が止まる。が、落胆しながらも諦めきれていない事は傍目にも見て取れた。

「なら、おあつらえ向きの銃があるじゃないか」

「あ、ちょっと…」

　手を引っ込めようとしないランを見かねてそう言ったのは、コルがエプロンの帯を使って腰に差していたギガントを掠め取り、ランに差し出したロリントだった。

　ランにしてみれば初対面の（としか思えない）幼女に、あの構える事さえできなかったデザートイーグルよりも大きな銃を手渡された所為か、困惑を隠せない。

「対戦車モンスターバレルＡＴ１４Ｃ－７Ｇ、通称ギガント。かの冷戦に…いや、この一挺を除き量産にまで至る事の無かった対戦車ハンドガンだ、弾丸にエンチャント・ウェポンを施せば、エンチャント弾同様霊体にも有効になる。こいつの威力は本物だぞ、何せあの大トカゲの腕を吹き飛ばしたんだからな」

「…自画自賛？」

　コルのツッコミを無視し、ロリントはこう付け加えた。

「ただし、並のマグナムを上回る大口径を、その華奢な手で扱う事ができればの話だ。タイムリミットも近い、無理なら大人しく、姉に…そこの魔法使いに任せるんだな」

　それに対し逡巡していたランだったが、何かを思い立ち、表情を引き締めてギガントを握り締める。

「お前では構える事すらままならん銃だぞ。それでもお前は…やろうというのか？」

「私がやらなきゃ意味が無いの。それに、これを撃つ方法ならあるわ！私にはお姉ちゃんみたいに二つの奥の手は無いけれど、銃を構える手は四つあるもの！」

　言葉の意味を理解できない一同を前に踵を返したランは、天井を睨み続けるエトランゼ・コピーの手を取った。

「あなたの力を貸して！”私達”をあいつから解放するの、私達二人で！」

『！？』

　驚きに手を引こうとするが、使われているフリをしていたエトランゼ・コピーがランを攫った時とは逆に、今度はランがエトランゼ・コピーの手を強く握って離れない。

「今なら、私達にできる。やりましょう、エトランゼの、”私達”の怨念を、断ち切るのよ！」

『怨念を…断ち切る…』

　ランの熱意に刺激され、黒く淀んだ憎悪が不思議な熱を帯びていく。決して自分が持つ事の叶わなかった、けれど酷く懐かしい感覚。

　迷いは無かった。

　分かたれた者同士、時を超えて想いがひとつになる。何の迷いがあろうか。

『…ええ、やるわ』

　熱が命じるまま、エトランゼ・コピーはランの手を握り返した。

　断罪や弾圧の名の下に多くの血を啜り、歴史を刻んできた忌まわしき地。

　古き流血の時代を見届けてきながらも人の手を離れ、風化の一途を辿る寂れた建物の屋上を足元に頂き、三人の人影が空中に現れる。

　建物は老朽化したその身を微弱な振動に震わせていた。近い。

「人が寄り付こうとせん訳じゃな。溜まりに溜まった怨念と無念が空気を蝕んでおる、常人であれば少しの油断で精神を病むぞ。こんな場所に立ち入れるのは、余程の覚悟を持った者か、余程ものを考えん馬鹿共くらいじゃ」

　その覚悟を持つ者であるエルザが、そんな評価を下す。だが、本来なら救いと怨恨と嫉妬を抱え、生者という光を求め、殺し、奪う為に我先にと群がる亡者の念は、エルザに関心を示さず、ある一点に向けられていた。

「…お膳立てもできておる、と。発明卿め、よもやこうなる事まで計算していたのではなかろうな」

　だとすれば、自分は数ある計算式の中のひとつに示された、可能性という名の役者だ。演じるのは、起こり得るかもしれない不確定の筋書きに自覚の無い主要な登場人物を巻き込み、ありもしない台本に記されたラストシーンに向けて進行させる物語。或いは、予め用意した舞台に放り込んだ無関係な者達に思い通りの結末を迎えるまで何度でも繰り返させる、全てが出たとこ勝負の群像劇。

　考え過ぎだと解っているが、複雑な笑みが浮かんでくるのを抑えられない。

（ま、この際何でも良い。精々利用させてもらおうではないか）

『来るよっ！』

　一際大きい振動、直後に盛り上がった地面から抜け出たＥ．Ｓが美術品さながらの肢体を夜空の下に晒し、次いで淡い月明かりの中に現れたのは、Ｅ．Ｓの足を捕えて離さず遂に地面を突き破って引き摺り出された巨大な手、そして全身を土で派手に煤けさせた巨体で建物をハリボテよろしく崩壊させるキュイだ。

『ガアァァァァァ！離せェェェェェェェ！』

「絶対に…んぅっ、離さない…！！」

　藻掻き、暴れるＥ．Ｓの上昇が止まる。上半身だけが地面から生えたような格好になったキュイが、控えめな膨らみが露わになるのにも構わず、遂にＥ．Ｓを引き降ろし始めたのだ。

　足を掴む片手に渾身の力を篭めて引っ張りつつ、地面に埋まったままの片手を自らの開けた穴の側面に突き刺し、足と腰をつっかえ棒にして、Ｅ．Ｓの力に抵抗する。均衡はキュイに傾きはしたが、キュイを中心に舗装された敷地に幾重にも亀裂が走り、不自然な隆起が始まっているのを見るに、その均衡はすぐにでも覆されるであろう事は誰の目にも明らかだった。

　Ｅ．Ｓにとって不運だったのは、僅かな間のみ得たに過ぎないイニシアチブを、圧倒的有利に変えてしまえる存在が居た事だ。

「アストラル・バインド！」

　地中から、無念と恨みを訴え苦痛に歪む顔をいくつも貼り付けた怨念の手が無数に伸び、空中のＥ．Ｓを絡めとる。初めこそ纏わりつく見えざる手を振り払い、逃れていたＥ．Ｓだったが、群がる怨念は次々と地中から現れては増え続け、それまで遠巻きに取り巻いてＥ．Ｓに向けて呪詛の声を吐いていた亡霊達までもが加わり、エルザの魔力という後押しをも得た怨念の手に巻き付かれ、動きを封じられていった。

（ユルサヌ）

（ノガサヌ）

（ワレラガウラミ、イマコソハラシテクレヨウゾ）

『き、キサマ等ハ…！？キィィィ、ヒイィィィィ！く、来るナ、私に触るナァァァァ！！！』

　夥しい数の怨念が発する声に、Ｅ．Ｓが恐慌を露わに絶叫した。それらはエルザの魔法に呼び覚まされた、地下施設に転がり落ちたものを含む、人知れず地中に埋葬されていた異形の遺骨、その主達だ。夜空を透かした髪を振り乱して振り切ろうとするも、怨敵を前に悲願を成さんとする怨念達が許しはしない。

　その間に、コアを宿すＥ．Ｓの下腹部にランとエトランゼ・コピーが近付いていく。

　起動前とは違い、薄っすらとしか視認できないが、確かにそこに存在している事を主張するコアを確認した二人が、ギガントを構える。再装填された弾丸は、テレポート前にエンチャント・ウェポンで強化済みだ。

　ランとエトランゼ・コピー、それぞれの左手と右手でグリップの後部を、それぞれの右手と左手でグリップの前部を握り、二本の指がトリガーにかけられた。

『これだけ近付いても結構距離があるけれど、当てられるの？』

「自信なんて無いよ。でも、どこを狙っても急所に当たっちゃう危なっかしい癖を、今は信じてる」

『そう…なら、私も信じる。あなたに希望を託した、２０年前のあの日のように』

「うん。きっとやれるわ、今はあなたも居るもの」

　二本の親指が重いハンマーを起こす。

『ナ、何をしてイる…？おイ、まさか、よせ、やめろぉぉォォォォォォ！！！！！』

　二人に気付いたＥ．Ｓが、怨念の手に抑えつけられ微動だにできぬまま叫ぶ。仮に二人が制止に従うつもりがあったとしても、もう遅い。既にギガントの反動で後ろにふっ飛ばされた後だったのだから。

　空気を捩じり、激しくうねる気流にも似た衝撃波を生みながら、魔力の淡い光を帯びた弾丸がＥ．Ｓの霊体に食い込む。弾丸は螺旋を描いて霊体を大きく抉り、勢いを衰えさせぬまま遺骨に到達、見事尾てい骨の中心を貫通した。

　中心を貫かれ、ヒビ割れて脆くなった遺骨を余波で跡形も無く粉砕し、なおも突き進んでＥ．Ｓの霊体に風穴を開けた弾丸が、虚空に消えていく。

　不意に掴んでいた足の感触が消えたのを不思議に思ったキュイが見たものは、コアを失い形を保てなくなったＥ．Ｓの姿だった。

　何処か美しくもあったＥ．Ｓの体が、起動前と同じく急速に黒く染まっていき、輪郭を失って怨念の手の隙間から黒い霧となって霧散する。散り散りになった黒い霧は四つに別れ、その内の三つが寄り集まってエトランゼ・コピーと同じ姿を形取り、残されたひとつが黒い霧のまま漂っていた。

『ああぁ…Ｅ．Ｓガ…私ノＥ．Ｓが…！！よくも…ッ、うぐアッ！？』

　最早、形を成す事もできず怒りに呻いていた黒い霧に、一体の怨霊が喰らい付く。

　それを皮切りに、怨念の手を形作っていた怨霊達が、亡霊達が一斉に、黒い霧に殺到していった。

『うァアッ！！ぐ、寄るナ、アガッ、ぐ、アアアアアアア！！』

　止まらない。

　ある者は食い千切り、ある者は毟り取り、競い合って黒い霧を奪い合う。己が成仏さえできず怨霊と化した元凶を、彼等は知っているのだから。

『ギャァァァァァァ！やめろ、やめてくれぇぇァァァアアァァァ！！』

　無くなっていく。

　許しを乞うても止む事無く。

　少しずつ、削り取られ、奪われ。

　意識を失う事も、狂う事も、輪廻の枠に戻る事も許されず。

　ただ無慈悲に自分が無くなっていく恐怖。

　彼という存在が消えて無くなる前に聞こえたのは、凛とした二つの声。

そして、彼は世界から消滅した。

"She's pulling Cuey up as a giant? I guess turning her into a perpetual machine wasn't just a boast...!!"
"Perpetual machine... that!? That's something pretty amazing to possess!"
Mifi, worried about Cuey as debris rained down on her, had a grim expression upon hearing Elza's words.
"But how could that happen!? That's made up of "us", and he wouldn't be able to be in tune unless it's a copy like me or have my hatred..."
"...The answer is the hatred."
"Ryuuto!"
Ran, protected by Elza, turned back to look at the voice answering her question. Ryuuto's face no longer looked pale, and he unsteadily walked towards them as Pink-chan was trying to hold him back.
"It'll be dangerous if this keeps up, so please evacuate this way."
"You fool, what are you doing!! He's injured, so evacuate him and bring him somewhere safe!"
"I, I'm sorry!"
Pink-chan lowered her head as she was scolded, and continued to say "hurry up!", but Ryuuto held up a hand to stop Elza.
"Please. I may be carefree and do things at my own pace, but in this situation, I can't just sit idly by, and more importantly, dealing with him takes priority over me? ...He has embraced a powerful grudge, and from that hatred, it transformed him into a vegeful spirit at the moment of his death, and... if you use a similar spiritual body, he can take control of E.S., who only has a sense of self born from negative emotions. For something other than an E.S. copy, to be able to forcibly become attuned and override a transplant rejection, I think it's probably the hatred that turned him into a vengeful spirit has the same wavelength as the spirit waves of E.S. In any case, E.S. is still incomplete, and I don't know if he thought it out that far, but for a complete body, the only necessary emotion, the one that's left is only hatred. Of course, if that happens, it's only a matter of time until E.S. self destructs due to the discrepancy. It's clear that they aren't preserving the spritiual body composition for analysis... Ah, I've talked for too long, I, I feel dizzy."
"This isn't the time for that! Just spit it out, tell us what the mistress wants to know!"
"Wait, he's suffering from blood loss so don't shake him... Whoa, it looks like he's literally going to spit it out..."
As Mifi gripped Ryuuto by both shoulders and shook him, Cuey's body was now partway through the hole in the ceiling that it had made, and debris that was falling through was now dirt with some strange things mixed in with it. Looking at what fell near her feet, Pink-chan stepped back in surprise.
It probably had once been white, but being covered with dirt had changed its color. It was a skull, clearly not human, but something that had a similar shape as a human.
"Is this a monster bone!?"
Looking up, the mountain of rubble made by the hole was now being covered by an endless rain of dirt. Among it, differently shaped bones, both big and small, could be seen. The number of them was more than one would normally expect.
"They must have hit a graveyard, I didn't think there was a graveyard where this many monsters were buried so close by...! And for it to be above... right above us!"
"Yes... It wasn't just criminals, but also a large number of monsters that were executed, and the corpses that couldn't be handled normally were secretly sold to my grandfather, that's the reason for establishing this underground facility here, and for my research into spiritual bodies, it had a good field enhance effect so I bought it."
"The ruins of an execution site...!"
Hearing this, Elza hit her palm with her fist, just as the hole in the ceiling grew bigger.
"Okay, now that I know where we are, I can set up the coordinates, and get there first with a teleport. Also, it's somewhere where people won't go, so even if we do something that draws a lot of attention, we should be able to talk our way out of it!"
In reality, she was thinking that they won't be able to resolve this before E.S. gets above ground. With a fully spiritual body, she would be invisible to anyone without spiritual sense, and though cute, Cuey was an obvious one eyed giant, so if she appeared above ground, depending on the location, lots of humans might see her. Unlike the old days, where it could be managed by news control and manipulating invididuals' memories, in these modern times, with the fast speed of news, it would be impossible to stop the explosive spread of news. Even if you stop one source of news, in that the time it took to do that, it would have more than doubled and spread to all different sources. As a result, the information contained in the memories of an unknown number of people in an infinite electronic ocean must be continually erased, and for all practical purposes, would still remain forever. If done poorly, there's the danger that humans would fear the monsters, and start an all out war to exterminate them.
Now that the worry that she might be immediately seen by the public when they get above ground was gone, the next thing to consider was how to defeat E.S. before the public could see them.
"I said she'd self destruct? Elza-kun, you don't need to do anything, if will self destruct on its own. You know that, so the copy doesn't need to follow E.S., she can just say here?"
As Ryuuto said, the Etranger copy was staring at the hole in the ceiling where the dirt was raining down, with no indication of her moving. However, Ran shook her head in disagreement.
"No. Since she's alive, that "me" has a chance to win. But, by using the huge amount of energy that was created to take over a mass of spiritual energy like "us", a mere copy of a vengeful spirit like us doesn't have the spiritual energy to fight it. We know this, and it's vexing... We can't do anything."
"...I realize that that copy has a sense of self, since I've been listening to your conversation with it, even if you attack it, it won't go unconscious. But, how do you know that?"
"It's 'me', so I know."
Ran had been in torment over her origins, so the fact that she was implicitly saying that she was the same as the Etranger copy was surprising to Ryuuto. At the same time, he realized that it might be true. The truth that she was a copy had tormented her, but it made her grow and she became stronger. Or maybe how Elza reached out her hand to her and felt about her had made her grow. Ryuuto did not understand the intricacies of people's hearts, but in any case, as Ran held on to Elza's shoulders with a serious expression and a little embarrassment, he knew that she wasn't Etranger or a copy anymore, but just an existence with a definite mind known as Ran.
"So it's because you have the same origin? Similar to the sympathy between twins."
"Perhaps. So I don't plan on waiting until it self destructs, we have to release them. When he possessed her, E.S. cried out, so as something that's foreign, he is probably forcibly suppressing her consciousness, and within E.S., Ran's brethren are wracked with pain. They suffer from him, and will be destroyed, and I can't allow that. They are the same as Ran, so they're like my sister, and as the elder sister, I will save my sister."
"You are an amazing person, to accept those who you've never met for just that reason. ...Yes, there is one way. Even though she's being forced, it is certain that E.S. considers him to be something foreign, so those inside E.S. should be trying to resist, and if we use that, he can separate him from E.S."
"Separate? Is that possible!?"
"Removal of the core. E.S. binds them together and forms them into one, and the core stabilizes E.S.'s form. Right now, E.S. has been automatically activated in an incomplete form, neither creating or emitting energy, but just like when they are normally activated, the negative emotion that would activate the energy creation has them half awakened, and they should be fighting for control of E.S.'s consciousness. If that situation continues, the core will be lost and control will break down, and it won't be E.S.'s form, but their own form will begin to assert itself, and E.S. will start to break down. That would be your best chance. You must be careful, the core is superficial so as a partial suppression countermeasure, when it activates, that part of E.S. will turn ghostly and can't be touched physically, and as the most important part, it's naturally deep inside, so even if you touch it spiritually, E.S.'s spiritual body will act as protection that must be penetrated in order to hit it directly. And if you try to remove it, with E.S. under his control, there will be resistance."
"Hmph... Since we don't have the equipment or time to prepare a 'surgery', it'll be difficult to remove it. In that case, I'll hit it with sorcery with lots of penetrating power and destroy it."
"Yes, if it can't be removed, then there's no other option except to destroy it... But that would be difficult. Especially for you."
Ryuuto's voice changed from his casual and somehow cheerful researcher explaining voice to a serious voice. Elza was thinking of a way, and was half surprised by the change in his voice, and her expression hardened.

"What do you mean by that? Does E.S. have a higher magical resistance than a drake?"
"No, the problem is what the core is. You have two options. Wait for E.S. to self-destruct and sacrifice them and recover the core in its original form, or... destroy the thing that you've been searching for on behalf of your sister for years."
Silence filled the room.
"...No, no the core can't be...!"
With shaking lips, that was all she could manage to put into words. Ryuuto nodded and confirmed the thoughts that she didn't want to be true and couldn't form into words.
"It is. The core of E.S. is the remains of the girl known as Etranger Shutulia."
"You bastard!"
Her stricken face distorted with rage, she grabbed Ryuuto's collar.
"I know that you aren't the one behind all of this, and I'm trying to keep that in mind. Ah, I know, I know it in my head... But... But, you did this!"
"Yes, despite the circumstances, I was the one who planned to use her remains as the core, if you don't like it, you can beat me if you want. But, that won't change the fact that you have to choose an option. You know that, wizard."
"You...!?"
Elza was pissed at his indifferent way of speaking. As she clenched her fist and was about to hit him, a cool, soft hand grabbed her fist and stopped her.
"Ran, why, why are you stopping me! It's his fault that you!"
"But I was born because of his research. And since I was born, I was able to meet Tamaryuu, Shizuki, everyone... and accepted by you. So I'm here, and not just another Etranger copy, but Ran Schtlehertz. And..."
Gently, she brought Elza's fist down, and had her left go of Ryuuto's collar, and then Ran suddenly slapped Ryuuto's cheek.
"...That was something I had to do for the rest of 'us'."
"I was expecting to be retaliated against at more of a life threatening level."
"Our malice was offset by our thanks. If you want true revenge, that is done by the "me" of hatred."
Since this was about research, he immediately understood and scratched his head with a strained smile. As he had told Elza on the way here, he had started his research with the goal of rehabilitating his grandfather's reputation, but eventually, he really got into the research to make a perpetual machine for the good of the world. All the while realizing that this method was illegally messing with corpses.
And the copies' malice, through several bits of good luck, had created the miracle called Ran, and just as they planned, their revenge was ready. Though they could not do it, they could expose the ones behind it, and cause the loss of the results of their research and data.
Taking away what they wanted to do, what they came here to do. That was the true revenge against them.
"I... see, that's true. What about you, Elza-kun, if you still want to hit me, then go ahead?"
Elza was surprised by Ran's thoughts and restrained actions. With a sigh, she shrugged. This had made all her previous anger disappear.
"If Ran is fine with this, then I can't say or do anything more. That's how I feel."
"Haha, I think if it poorly I would probably be killed and so had a close shave with death. So, with this situation, it looks like you are still determined, umm, Ran-kun, yes?"
The maids didn't dare to say anything as the situation between Elza and Ryuuto progressed as they watched in rapt amazement. Lolint understood that meant that Ran had a true sense of self. Ran was the focus of all of their attention, as she looked up at the ceiling. He had probably reached the foundations of the building, as dirt with a slight bit of concrete was still intermittently falling onto the mountain of debris from the huge hole.
"I'll do it."
"The little mistress will be able to get inside that and extract the core!?"
Mifi, excited, thought that the little mistress looked so cool in this final last resort, but it got stuck in her throat. Elza looked at Ran with a serious look in her eyes.
"Ran. You're saying you will destroy the original remains yourself."
Thinking similar thoughts and getting excited like Mifi, Ran nodded without hesitation.
"You said it before. We can't leave them suffering and being destroyed along with him. I feel the same way."
"But, if you do that, your body will never be complete again!"
"Maybe so. But, I can't be happy getting back my body and not saving 'us', and I'll regret it greatly, I'm sure. So, the least I could do is destroy it with 'my" own hands. The 'we' gave me a chance to become me, and now it my turn to save 'us' who wished to save me!"
Her gaze didn't have an ounce of doubt. Realizing Ran was serious, she touched Ran's cheek.
"Even if I try to stop you... you wouldn't listen?"
"Yes, even if you tried to stop me with everything you had, I'd still do it. And, in the end, that isn't mine, but Etranger's remains. And even if it were to be retrieved, I was originally a copy that had that missing, so I'm not sure if it would have any effect on my body, and while it might be bad for Etranger, she'd let me destroy it. ...Even though you saved me, I'm sorry for saying something so selfish, Onee-chan."
"It's all right. A younger sister is supposed to say selfish things once in a while."
As she hugging her slender body and patting her head, Ran hugged her back. Feeling this, Elza was overcome with emotion and hugged her even tighter.
She had voiced her determination. So this was no time to hesitate to offer to help.
"But, how are you going to destroy the core? Since you've decided to destroy it, the mistress' sorcery would be the most effective way I think."
"I want to respect Ran's intention. So my turn will only be after Ran fails."
"I won't fail. It's not as if I was expecting this to happen, but I've had a little practice, so I think it will be fine."
Releasing from the hug, Elza followed Ran's gaze and understood without anything more said.

"Practice... ah, you mean that? It's true, the mistress made quite a bit of progress in a short amount of time."
With red and purple eyes, their gaze was turned towards Col, but her expression instantly changed and she clapped her hands together. She realized that what Ran needed for what she wanted to do. It was her two favorite guns, the .357 magnums.
"I see, the bullets Onee-sama uses in combat mode were enchanted by the mistress. With those, you can even shoot spiritual bodies!"
"It's a good idea, but unfortunately it won't work. E.S.'s anti-spiritual shot resistance is quite high, and something on the level of a tank won't work, let alone small arms like a magnum. If you're going to shoot it, you need something like an anti-tank rifle. And I think it would be impossible for you to fire something like that."
"That's..."
It was the only method that she could think of where she herself would end it, so hearing Ryuuto's criticism made Ran's hand stop. But, even though she was discouraged, anyone could see that she hadn't given up yet.
"Then, is there a gun that's more suitable?"
"Ah, wait..."
Seeing Ran's hand still held out, Lolint pulled out the Gigant from Col's apron waistband, and presented it to Ran.
Ran, was being offered a gun by a little girl that (she could only think) she was meeting for the first time. It was even bigger than a desert eagle, which she hadn't even tried to shoot. Ran couldn't hide her confusion.
"Anti-tank monster barrel AT14C-7G, nickname Gigant. During the cold war... well, this is an anti-tank handgun that was never mass produced, and if you apply Enchant Weapon on the bullets, it should be equally effective on spiritual bodies as enchanted bullets. It's destructive power is real, and in any case, it blew off that huge lizard's arm."
"...Are you bragging?"
Ignoring Col's tsukkomi, Lolint continued.
"However, the caliber is much larger than a normal magnum, so that's only if you could use it with those slender hands. We are close to the time limit, so if you can't, then you should quietly let your sister... that sorcerer over there take care of it."
At that, Ran hesitated, but then deciding something, her expression hardened and grabbed the Gigant.
"That gun is not something that you can wield as you are now. But you... still intend to do it?"
"It's meaningless unless I do it. And, there's a way for me to fire it! I don't have 2 trump cards like Onee-chan, but I have 4 hands to wield a gun!"
Ran turned around towards everyone, who didn't understand what she meant. She grabbed the hand of the Etranger copy, who continued to stare at the ceiling.
"Lend me your strength! The two of us will free 'us' from him!"
'!?'
Surprised, she tried to pull away her hand, but in a reversal of when the Etranger copy was pretending to be used and kidnapped Ran, this time Ran tightly gripped the Etranger copy's hand and wouldn't let go.
"Now, we can do it. Let's do it, we'll sever Etranger's, 'our' hatred!"
'Sever... hatred...'
Excited by Ran's fervor, the black stagnant hatred became oddly hot. While she couldn't accomplish it herself, it was an extremely nostalgic feeling.
There was no hesitation.
Though separate, their feelings that surpassed time became one. What would there be to be hesitant about?
'...Yes, we'll do it.'
The fire taking hold, the Etranger copy grasped Ran's hand back.
The blood drank in the name of conviction and punishment, history of the disgusting place etched in their minds.
The one who had seen the old days of bloodshed let go of their hands, as their feet touched the rooftop of the completely decaying building. 3 human sillouettes appeared in the sky.
The building shook with a slight tremble. Near by.
"People won't draw near here. The hatred and regrets accumulated here have corrupted the atmosphere, and any normal people who have not taken any preparations will suffer mentally. The only ones who would enter here are those are strongly resolved, or fools who did not think at all."
Elza, who had the resolve, gave that assessment. However, the feelings of the dead who embraced salvation, hatred and envy, searching for the light of the living, killing, trying to take what they could before anyone else. Those feelings did not concern Elza at all, and she focused on one thing..
"...He could good at preparing. That Lord Inventor, even all of this was probably within his calculations."
If it was, out of the countless formulas, one stood out, the possibility that he was a great actor. The act was to get the important characters involved in an uncertain plot without them realizing it, and have them advance towards the last scene in this unwritten script. Or perhaps, to keep on adding unrelated characters to his prepared stage, until they got to his expected ending, a battle where everything comes out.
Knowing that she was overthinking it, she was unable to suppress a complicated smile.
(Ah, if that's the case, it's fine. I'll let myself be used as needed.)
'Here it comes!'
There was an extra large vibration, immediately followed by E.S. bursting out of the ground. It looked like a work of art, with her body exposed to the night sky, appearing in the faint moonlight. Still gripping E.S.'s leg and not letting go as it burst through the ground, pulled along, was a giant hand, followed by the rest of Cuey's giant, dirty body, ruining the building like it was paper mache.
'Gaaaaah! Let goooooo!'
"I'll never... urg, let go...!!"
Struggling and floundering, E.S.'s upward movement was stopped. Looking as though the upper half of her body had grown out of the ground, Cuey wasn't at all concerned that she was exposed, and had finally started pulling E.S. down.
With one hand grabbing its leg with all her strength, her other hand was still underground, thrust horizontally into the hole she had made, using her legs and torso to wedge herself sideways, resisting against E.S.'s power. They were about equal, with Cuey having a slight advantage, but there were many cracks in the pavement above her, and she could see there were some unnatural bulges starting to form. It was clear that this balance would soon be disrupted.

E.S.'s bad luck was that her small initiative could be turned into something extremely good.
"Astral Bind!"
From underground, faces warped with regret and malice and pain, countless hands of limitless hatred reached out towards E.S. in the sky and bound her. At first, E.S. shook off the the coiling, invisible hands were shaken off and escaped from them, but the swarming hatred coming from underground only continued to increase, surrounding E.S. and turning the cursed voices of the dead spirits towards it. With Elza's magical power bolstering them, the hands of hatred latched on, stopping E.S.'s movements.
(No forgiveness)
(No escape)
(This time, our malice will be lifted)
'W, what are you...!? Kiiiiii, hiiiii! D, don't get closer, don't touch meeeeee!!!'
Hearing the voices produced by the countless grudges, E.S. screamed in fear. They had been awakened by Elza's sorcery, fallen into and staying in the underground facility, the strange remains buried in secret in the ground. Like hair wildly waving in the night sky, the grudges had no mercy for their enemy trying to complete his goal.
While this was happening, Ran and the Etranger copy approached E.S.'s nether regions, where the core was located.
Unlike its pre-activation state, it was faint and could only be confirmed visually, but they could confirm that the core was there. They wielded the Gigant, which was loaded with bullets that had been strengthened by Enchant Weapon before they had teleported.
Ran and the Etranger copy were holding onto the back part of the grip with their left and right hands, and the front part of the grip with their right and left hands, respectively, with 2 fingers on the trigger.
'We've gotten this close, there is still quite a bit of a distance, but can you hit it?'
"I'm not confident. But, no matter where I aimed, I always hit somewhere vital, so I believe I will."
'I see... Then, I'll believe as well. Just like 20 years ago, the day we entrusted our hope to you.'
"Yes. I'm sure I can do it. And you are here too."
Two thumbs cocked the heavy hammer.
'W, what are you doing...? Hey, no, you, stooooooop!!!!!'
E.S. noticed the two of them, and cried out as the hands of hatred held it, unable to move. Even if it had planned to stop them, it was already too late. Because it would have been after the Gigant's recoil had blown them backwards.
The air twisted, and a shockwave like a powerful blast of wind was created, and a bullet tinged with the light of magical energy was driven into E.S.'s spiritual body. The bullet gouged out a large spiral into the spiritual body, and without slowing it down, it reached her remains, and amazingly pierced through the middle of the tailbone.
With a hole in the middle, the brittle remains were demolished by the ensuing shockwave. The bullet flew on, making an exit wound out of E.S.'s spiritual body, and disappeared into the sky.
Cuey thought it was strange, feeling the leg she was gripping suddenly disappear. Looking at it, she saw E.S.'s shape dispersing due to the loss of the core.
E.S.'s beautiful body quickly turned black, like how it was before activation. Losing her outline, she began to disappear into a black mist between the gaps in the hands of hatred. The scattering black mist split apart into 4 parts, 3 of which gathered and took on the same shape as the Etranger copy. The 4th part stayed as a black mist.
'Ah... E.S.... My E.S....!! How could... ugah!?'
Already, the black mist could not longer form into a shape, and moaned in anger, as a vengeful ghost approached to devour it.
That initiated it, and the vengeful spirits that had created the hands of hatred, the dead spirits, all rushed towards the black mist.
'Uwaaah!! D, don't come here, agah, guaaaaaahh!!'
They didn't stop.
One of them tore off with its teeth, another tore off with his hands, struggling against each other to get at the black mist. They knew what the source of them not being able to find peace and turning into a vengeful spirit was.
'Gyaaaaaaa! Stop, stop iiiiiiiiiiiit!!'
They didn't.
Even has he begged them, they didn't stop.
Piece by piece, it was torn away, taken.
Not letting him lose consciousness, or go crazy, or be reincarnated.
Only the fear of mercilessly disappearing.
Just before his existence vanished, he heard 2 cold voices.

Then he was exterminated from this world.