The Second Sun Descends
The building began to shake violently, far more intensely than before, as if it could no longer endure. "Team Leader? That form...?"
"No time for idle chatter now."
As the angel beat her wings powerfully, countless feathers of light scattered, showering the surroundings with brilliant fragments. She soared upward and swung her arm once, unleashing blazing blue flames that incinerated every obstacle in their path and carved a clear route to the sky.
"Ah, you're safe...!"
Before I knew it, I had risen to a vantage point overlooking the people gathered on the building's rooftop. The roof itself was no safer—cracking and splitting apart under the violent tremors, threatening to collapse at any moment. Yet when the angel extended her merciful hand toward them, spheres of blue light formed around their bodies, just as they had shielded me from the encroaching darkness moments earlier.
"It's been a while, so it feels rather awkward."
If not for that familiar voice addressing me so casually, I never would have recognized her as the same person.
"It couldn't be helped. I didn't particularly want to use this method, but I knew it would work."
"?!"
Whoosh...!
Was it light, or flame? What sprouted from her hand radiated intense heat while shining blindingly bright—almost resembling a sword in shape. Like a blue flash that left afterimages as if staring directly at the sun, it was swung without hesitation by the angel, slicing through the empty space beyond the gathered people. When the ominous darkness blanketing the area receded, the scene beyond was the same collapsing rooftop... except now the familiar forest of buildings and the beloved nightscape of the city stretched out before us.
While I stood dazed by the sight of space itself tearing open, the angel shook the light from her hands and skillfully guided the spheres containing the people through the rift, floating them safely to the other side. She had saved me and everyone else with effortless grace.
But...
"Team Leader, without your mask..."
"It is rather inconvenient. I'm practically naked right now, after all."
"Excuse me?"
I couldn't help but perk up at that, but that wasn't what I had meant to say.
"This armor is fundamentally composed of my divine power. To manifest it, I must first be naked."
"...No, that's not what I..."
"Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time, so even my undergarments burned away completely."
"..."
Rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble!!!
Crash...!
Grumble grumble grumble...!
She fell silent for a moment, then turned her attention back to me after safely lowering the people to the ground and reuniting them with the field team waiting outside, leaving the thunderously collapsing building behind.
"It's a strange feeling. Embracing a man while naked..."
"No, that's not it...! Won't this put you in danger?"
Remembering how she had relied on the Founder's help the first time she revealed her face, I realized she had taken a significant risk to save us. It was a decision that diverged from her earlier words about abandoning others if the situation grew dire, as long as her own objective was achieved.
"Ah, you meant that? Of course. This will have revealed my existence to them as well."
"Really... is this okay?"
"I saved you, at least... and I thought it would be painful if the people who saw my face died. It's purely a mental care service. A service."
Watching her casually wrap up the conversation about those she had saved while emphasizing the word "service," I understood that her repeated attempts to steer the topic toward her nakedness had been deliberate all along.
...Previously, the Team Leader had mentioned not knowing why her wings hadn't turned black, but now I thought I understood the reason. Still, bringing it up now would only make me seem tactless.
"I was certain I was going to die. Thank you... truly, for saving me."
"Don't mention it. By the time the building first started shaking, the ability user's power must have run out—the spatial distortion had completely vanished. Thanks to that, I made it in time."
"...Then why is that strange space still there? That rift in the first place..."
Even as I breathed a sigh of relief at how close we had come to disaster, an unresolved question lingered. If the ability user's power had run out, why hadn't that dark, bizarre space disappeared?
"Because that isn't an ability. It's a form of authority."
"Authority...?"
Another unfamiliar term.
"I've faced it before. The betrayer is my senior, but in truth, she's my twin younger sister."
"I see... Wait, what?"
I nodded at first, then belatedly questioned the words "twin younger sister."
Younger sister? The Team Leader's...? Twin younger sister?
"She has many amusing epithets—the first fallen morning star, the angel who accepted corruption, the great sinner with blackened wings, and so on."
"Don't tell me..."
I didn't attend church or cathedral, but I knew the famous angel names like the Team Leader's—Michael. And if it was the name of a fallen angel often used in creative works...
"Yes, I'm talking about Lucy."
"...Not Lucifer?"
"Ah, slip of the tongue. That is her name. If she had come here in the first place, there would have been no need to hide anymore... but I don't see her form."
Was it a nickname? Still, calling a fallen angel her younger sister didn't seem strange.
"It was so long ago that I'd forgotten. So that space and the unpleasant darkness... aren't the product of spatial distortion, but the collapse and inversion of space itself. That's why it was possible to tear through the rift with my light and flames."
"I... see."
I wanted to ask how long ago, but thankfully held back.
"But it's not over yet. Rather, this is where it begins."
"...?"
Following the Team Leader's gaze, I saw that the rift she had torn open remained unclosed at the original rooftop location, now buried under the dust cloud of the collapsed building.
"The field team will have their work cut out for them. With the response team all dragged out here, today will be a delightful overtime shift."
"..."
Since the building had collapsed, sirens from fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances could be heard in the distance—but they remained distant, not approaching. The response team was blocking the area to prevent too many people from gathering at the scene.
"And as a superior, I should set a proper example."
"...?"
"Light trapped in inverted space falls and takes on the visible form of darkness, seeking to devour life force. Since that complex maze wasn't the main issue but rather this, it makes sense they were simply waiting for us to be trapped and die."
The Team Leader beat her wings once more and approached the rift we had escaped through, peering down into it. Now I could see it too. The massive pit, as large as the collapsed building itself, and the fallen light writhing and rising within it.
"I'm sorry to the fox still trapped down there, but I can't just leave such a huge pit alone."
"Huh?"
Rumble...!!
Just like when the building collapsed, a thunderous roar tore through my ears. I reflexively shut my eyes, but even with them closed, light flooded my vision so intensely it pierced my eyelids.
"Ugh..."
When the light finally dimmed enough, I cautiously opened my eyes to see a massive pillar of light still plummeting into the pit, illuminating the night sky as brightly as day—clear proof the Team Leader had decided to stop hiding.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh...!
The sound of the cascading light gave the intense impression that even the slightest touch would burn everything to ash.
"...The rift..."
The fallen light filling the pit resisted stubbornly, but the archangel's full-powered strike purified it in an instant, melting the pit's walls and restoring proper connection to the original space.
"Haa..."
Stumble.
The stream of light that had poured from the sky gradually thinned, tapering into a thin line before snapping with a soft pop, scattering a few particles of light as it vanished—along with the massive pit the size of an entire building.
"Team Leader? Are you all right?"
"...Using my power after so long is a bit tiring."
"Even without that, you've worked hard today..."
The Team Leader descended unsteadily onto the ruins where the pit had been, now restored to normal space. Folding her wings, she tapped my suit jacket and gestured for me to hand it over.
"...?"
When I obediently passed it to her, the brilliant armor of light surrounding her body crumbled into dust the moment she accepted it. Just as the silhouette of her beautiful feminine form began to show, my jacket was draped over her.
"At least the mask didn't burn. That's a relief."
Click.
The sight of the slender, graceful curves of her body covered only by a single ill-fitting men's jacket carried a secret thrill all its own. Soon, however, I saw a man of similar build to me wearing nothing but the jacket. Naturally averting my eyes from the sight that threatened to burn them, I watched as the field team rushed over and provided her with spare clothes.
"Phew...!"
Clatter...!
Rumble rumble rumble...!
"Ack, hot... hot... it's hot, damn it!"
Only after seeing the field team leader emerge from the rubble, his clothes tattered and covered in burn marks, did I finally feel relieved. At the same time, my gaze drifted toward the group of rescued people. Since he hadn't been with the field team leader, that student's friend was probably... already trapped earlier. Even after being submerged in that darkness, the field team leader had survived somehow, but an ordinary person...
"...So this was your doing?!"
Paying no mind to my somber thoughts, the field team leader strode toward us as if nothing had happened, ready to argue about the recent bombardment of light. Apparently, he really wasn't unscathed after all.
"Hah..."
Stagger... Thud.
"Ugh, I must've been drained too much..."
Just like the Team Leader, he stumbled and dropped to one knee. Watching this, a thought suddenly occurred to me.
"..."
This was the first time I'd seen these two powerful figures so exhausted. If I were to ambush them... now would be the perfect opportunity, wouldn't it? And where was that ability user the Team Leader said had been with them? The building had collapsed, and the area was completely sealed off by the field team.
"Long time no see...!"
"...!?"
Before I could voice my questions to the Team Leader, a cheerful woman's voice rang out, echoing across the noisy night sky as if answering them. A massive spatial rift, different in feel from the previous tear, appeared in the sky. A red-haired woman fell from it, her arm raised high. I soon understood why the rift hadn't closed immediately after she passed through.
No... rather, I understood why such a large rift had opened in the first place—one far too big for a single person.
A massive fireball... calling it simply a fireball felt like an insult to its overwhelming size. It blazed brilliantly in the woman's hand. A small sun that seemed capable of scorching everything it touched.
Rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble...!
And before anyone could think of a response, the woman's arm swung downward.
"Really... really really, I missed you so much. You damn bitches."
Even from this distance, the heat was intense enough to sear my face. The small sun-like blaze... fell for the second time that night, illuminating the sky as it descended.
...Directly toward our heads.