After a long while, the tremors finally subsided.

People, shaking, helped one another to their feet. They were all dazed. The mountainside was a mess— their homes… gone.

If not for that eerie oracle, if not for the accident that kept them on the mountain… They couldn't even imagine the consequences.

Mitsuha's father stood there like a man whose soul had slipped away. He looked down toward the foot of the mountain, then back at Mitsuha—pale but with a trace of relief on her face, ringed by Sayaka and Tessie—his eyes a storm of conflicting emotions.

"…"

He moved his lips, but in the end nothing came out.

…

Mitsuha herself was trembling.

In the distance, flames and billowing smoke were devouring the entire basin. On the nearby slope, a dense crowd stood, still in shock.

Just when Mitsuha thought it was all over, she realized she hadn't seen that familiar figure.

After a brief, deathlike silence came a crashing, surging collapse.

"Yotsuha—!!!"

A scream so raw it seemed to rip open the night burst from the crowd.

Mitsuha searched but couldn't find any sign of Yotsuha; even her grandmother said they'd gotten separated in the chaos.

Mitsuha crumpled as if every bone had been pulled out of her body, and the people beside her scrambled to catch her.

Miyamizu Mitsuha felt as if a red-hot blade had been rammed into her eardrums, grinding up her brain—until her whole world was nothing but a loud, buzzing roar.

Yotsuha? Dead?

Her lively, laughing little sister who'd begged for fried fish that very morning… dead?

No! Impossible!

She'd brought everyone up the mountain. She'd done it—hadn't she?

Why… why would Yotsuha—

"Do you know when you last saw Yotsuha?"

Her father's voice was hoarse and urgent as he questioned the person who said they'd seen her, terror quivering beneath forced restraint. He grabbed the man by the arm.

"Speak clearly!"

"N-Near the town elementary school…" the man choked, unable to go on.

Near the elementary school…

Mitsuha remembered. At dusk, Yotsuha had muttered about going to a classmate's house to grab a forgotten workbook. That classmate lived… right by the school!

All of Mitsuha's attention had been locked on her plan. She'd—she'd completely failed to notice! Completely failed to stop her!

Cold remorse stabbed every inch of her skin, every cell, like a thousand needles.

She had saved so many people, and yet the one she missed was her dearest sister.

More wails rose from below the mountain—clearly, the bad news was not just one. Those who hadn't made it up in time, or who'd stayed in town for any number of reasons… their families were enduring the same hell.

The joy of success hadn't lasted a heartbeat before brutal reality ground it to dust.

Rescue had never been complete. Death still took its tribute with precision.

Miyamizu Mitsuha stood there, motionless.

The cries, the gasps, her father's stifled breathing, a soul-rending howl somewhere in the crowd— all of it grew distant and muffled, as though behind a thick, icy pane of glass.

Her vision lost its focus. The colors before her—the red of fire, the black of night, the ashen faces—bled away, leaving only a dead gray.

The world lost its meaning.

She had done so much, wagered everything, even pretended to be a god… and for what?

She hadn't saved her own sister.

A sharp, physical pain stabbed where her heart was, so fierce she could barely breathe.

Something jammed in her throat so tightly she couldn't make a sound—couldn't even cry.

She just stood there, like a broken doll abandoned in the ruins.

Her father let go of the messenger and staggered a step. The habitual severity and rigidity of his face cracked, revealing the raw pain and confusion beneath.

He had lost a daughter.

His gaze went to Mitsuha, standing there blank and hollow-eyed, as if her soul had slipped free. His lips parted, as though to speak, but in the end… any words of comfort felt hopelessly pale.

He knew the one hurting most right now wasn't him, but Mitsuha—Yotsuha's closest person. He was the one who had flatly dismissed her warning. And she was the one who had given everything, only to be left with an irreparable regret.

He reached out, meaning to pat her shoulder, but his hand fell limp before it touched her.

Any comfort, in this moment, was futile.

Time seemed to stop—yet also race by.

Mitsuha had no idea how long it was. Maybe only a few minutes. Maybe a century.

The soundproof, lightless bell jar smothering her finally shattered under a stronger force—an icy yearning rising from the marrow of her bones.

No.

Not like this.

Yotsuha can't die.

This cannot be the end!

There's still a way… one last hope!

…

Her eyes snapped back into focus, a near-mad, obsessive blaze igniting within them.

She almost shoved aside the people trying to steady her. Her shaking gaze fell to the group-chat interface only she could see.

The screen lit up. Right now, that chat icon felt like her only salvation.

She ignored the messages that were still flooding in, scrolling instead for Rei Ao's name.

A moment later—

[Trade Request]

[Trader]: Miyamizu Mitsuha

[Terms of Trade]: Make everything that happened change!

[Consideration Offered]: "Unlimited usage rights of my body"

She didn't even think—she threw everything she could think of onto the bargaining table!

The price!

If it would bring Yotsuha back, reset everything, she would pay any price— even this body, even this soul!

The instant the message sent, it was as if all her strength was drained away. She stared at the screen without blinking.

Almost at once, what had been a private chat with Rei Ao was mirrored into the main chatroom.

[Trader]: Miyamizu Mitsuha

[Terms of Trade]: Make everything that happened change!

[Consideration Offered]: "Unlimited usage rights of my body"

~~~

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