Rentaro charged at Kagetane in a frenzy, tackling him down, his fists ruthlessly raining down on the man's face. His mind was in turmoil, as if infected and gnawed by some disease. All that boiled within him was the desire to destroy everything, and thus, one fist after another landed on Kagetane's face.
Kohina was restrained by Enju, but Kagetane seemed to require no assistance at this moment. He gave a sarcastic laugh, ignoring his mask that was nearly shattered by the impacts.
"Yes! That's the feeling!"
"Terror, brutality, mercilessness! It's absolutely wonderful!"
"You have cast aside your humanity!"
That last sentence caused Rentaro to freeze. His attack tempo stalled. Seizing the opportunity, Kagetane placed his hand on Rentaro's waist.
"Satomi Rentaro, I acknowledge you as the strongest spear. You managed to pierce my strongest shield."
"However, you lose."
"Endless Scream!!!"
The entire Force Field concentrated into a single point in Kagetane's palm. Then, it was released, forming a giant column of light that pierced the heavens, cutting across the night sky. An upgraded version of Maximum Pain, allowing him to use the Force Field like a cannon, annihilating his opponent in an instant.
Rentaro collapsed, the blood flowing so heavily that a large pool formed in moments. It was understandable, as an entire section of his waist had vanished.
"Rentaro!!!"
Enju desperately ran toward him, but before she could even get close, she was kicked away. Kagetane coldly shot Enju in the leg, neutralizing the girl's speed.
In the command center, Kisara, having witnessed everything, had been crying without realizing it, frozen in place. Seitenshi anxiously asked Sumire if Rentaro could recover, but only received a shake of the head. Given the recovery rate he had demonstrated earlier, Rentaro could not heal such a wound.
Rentaro was at death's door. He looked toward Enju, too weak to even beg the two villains to spare her life. In the moment Kagetane's gun barrel aimed at her head, his consciousness plunged into darkness.
...
Rentaro found himself lying in a pitch-black space.
"If I had known things would turn out like this, on the day my parents died, I should have died with them."
A childish voice spoke up. To Rentaro, the voice sounded oddly familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before.
He vaguely raised his head. Standing before Rentaro was a young boy with an indifferent expression. Moreover, that face was exactly his own face as a child.
"Is that me?"
Rentaro was utterly confused, hastily trying to push himself up, but he fell back down. His prosthetic arms and legs were all gone. Only now did Rentaro realize he was only seeing with one eye.
"Careful, your prosthetics have all been removed now."
"Why..."
"Come on, you never liked them anyway, so you never wanted to use them."
"All you ever wanted was to be normal."
Rentaro looked down at his missing limbs, where there was no flesh or bone, only pitch-black darkness, just like the space they were in.
"Did... did I die?"
"Yes, you died."
A large screen suddenly appeared before the two Rentaros, showing a familiar scene.
"A few days after your death, Tokyo was destroyed and massacred."
"Only 358 survivors remain. They will be evacuated to the Osaka Area for refuge."
The screen showed the wretched scene of refugees. Within the crowd, Rentaro saw the familiar figure of Kisara running back and forth with a worried expression, seemingly trying to find someone.
"Kisara is still alive and is being moved to the Osaka Area. And the person she's looking for is..."
Rentaro's voice was a barely audible whisper, and he quickly saw who it was.
"Enju..."
Her legs were bandaged, her clothes filthy, and on her face... the innocent smile was gone, replaced only by suffering.
"Enju miraculously survived. She followed Kisara on the way to Osaka. But..."
"But what?"
"She refused to go, stubbornly insisting on searching for you. She kept saying that you weren't dead."
"Kisara couldn't stop Enju and could only let the girl run off."
Bang!
Rentaro slammed the screen in fury, helplessness, and heartache.
"Why are you so foolish, Enju..."
Little Rentaro stopped for a moment upon seeing his adult self so agitated, then continued his narration.
"Enju continued to search for you. Even so, the girl never held a shred of hope."
The images rotated, showing Enju running through every nook and cranny of the heavily destroyed Tokyo. She ran through the rain, to every place they had been, every place they shared memories, every place in their past.
It was exactly like when he had searched for Enju.
Rentaro felt his heart being torn into pieces. He collapsed, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Why..."
"You know why."
Rentaro turned to look at Little Rentaro.
"You had Kisara, you had Tendou-san's uncle, you had Sumire, you had Suibara... many people helped you. But what about Enju? What does she have?"
Sumire had asked him this question before.
Only Rentaro.
"I know!"
"I have always known."
"My parents died. No matter how much I cried, no matter how much rage I felt, I couldn't bring them back."
"But I still hoped that one day they would appear before me, pat my shoulder, and tell me to come home..."
"I always wanted to believe that..."
The image changed again. Enju stood before their old house, clutching his photo—a picture marred by white creases from being folded and unfolded too many times, stained dark from too many tears. She collapsed on the spot.
"Enju!!!"
Rentaro clenched his remaining hand until it bled, punching the screen fiercely. But it didn't budge.
At this moment, he only wanted to rush out there and tell Enju, "I'm home."
Bang!
"Just wait a little longer, Enju."
Bang!
"I will smash this damned thing..."
Bang!
"And return to your side immediately!"
Bang!
"So..."
Bang!
"Please, don't cry anymore..."
Bang!
Rentaro's fist was stained red. The flesh over his knuckles was even mangled, but Rentaro continued punching, seemingly tireless and immune to pain, striking the screen that separated him from that small figure. Because compared to physical pain, simply witnessing Enju like this was no different from consigning Rentaro to purgatory.
"Life is cruel."
"Parents are gone."
"The body is no longer human."
"The world will no longer permit the mechanized soldier to exist."
"I lied to myself and to this world."
"I want to disappear."
"But after all these events."
"I just want this world to die."
Rentaro narrated dully, as if speaking to the Little Rentaro standing beside him, and also to himself.
But then, an image flashed before his eyes: the moment Rentaro rode his bike in front, with Enju clinging to his shirt sitting behind. Both of them were smiling naturally.
"Even so..."
"There are still small things I want to protect..."
"So this hatred, this damned world... who cares anyway?"
"That's right, who cares anyway?"
The two Rentaros, the adult and the child, spoke in unison.
And then, he swung his fist.