As they rounded the bend of the ruined camp—
A voice. Calm. Familiar. Dreadful.
Antares.
"You're all very noisy for victors."
They froze.
The voice came from behind them.
Kazuma's heart dropped.
He turned, shaking. "…No. No. NOPE."
Subaru slowly raised a hand. "Kazuma. Denji. Run."
His eyes glowed. He was preparing Shamac.
Denji revved his chainsaw in panic. "OH GOD, HE'S BACK?!"
Then they turned—
It was Aqua.
Drenched in tears, waving her hands. "WAIT!! STOP!! I WAS JOKING!!"
Her voice cracked mid-sentence, her skill Versatile Entertainer active. Sparkles shimmered pathetically around her.
Everyone paused.
"…What?" Kazuma said flatly.
"I was joking!!" Aqua sniffled. "I swear!!"
Her crying was somehow louder than the earlier explosion.
Kazuma stared. Then screamed—
"WHAAAT?!"
His voice echoed across the entire island. Birds flew from trees. Ryusui ducked instinctively.
"WHERE WERE YOU DURING THE FIGHT?!"
"I was fighting!" Aqua protested, pointing dramatically.
Everyone stared harder.
"…Fighting what?" Subaru asked.
Aqua paused. Then awkwardly lifted a finger.
"Flashback!"
Flashback—
The sky burned red. Antares roared overhead.
Aqua was crouched behind a half-buried beach umbrella.
"…What am I gonna do?!" she panicked. "Everyone's fighting! I'm a goddess! A proud… talented… beautiful—"
She shook her head. "No! Focus!"
Then an idea.
"…Buffing. I'll buff them!"
She peeked out. "Okay… aim at the bald guy and the guy in the hood. They're doing good. Just gotta aim right…"
She chanted: "Power… Speed Gain… Magic Resist…"
Her fingers glowed.
Aqua's spell fizzled forward. She squinted. "Yes! Go! GO—!"
A pause.
"…Wait. Who did I hit?"
In the distance, Antares' wing flexed. He roared louder.
Her eyes widened.
"…Oh no."
End Flashback
Silence.
Everyone stared at her.
Even the wind stopped.
"…You…" Subaru whispered. "You BUFFED Antares."
Aqua sniffled. "I-It was an accident! I couldn't see! I was so far!"
Kazuma's face went blank. His soul left his body.
"…Rev it."
Denji blinked. "What?"
"REV IT."
Denji obeyed.
BRRRRRRRRRRRRRR—
Kazuma pointed. "Kill her. KILL HER NOW."
Denji hesitated. "Woah, dude—"
"She ALMOST GOT US KILLED. KILL HER."
"STOP!!" Aqua wailed. "I SAID I WAS SORRY!! I COULDN'T AIM THAT FAR!!"
She fell to her knees in tears. "He was the biggest thing in the sky! I thought it was one of ours!"
Subaru facepalmed. "He was a giant dragon made of pure evil."
"I didn't know that!!" she cried.
Just then—
Megumin and Darkness walked up with trash bags.
"Ugh, I'm sweating…" Megumin grumbled. "This beach cleanup sucks."
Darkness paused. "Wait. Is that Aqua crying?"
The moment they saw her—arms limp, chainsaw roaring nearby—they rushed over.
"AQUA!!"
Megumin hugged her from behind.
Darkness tackled Denji out of the way. "How dare you threaten our priestess!"
"She's not a goddess!" Kazuma yelled. "She's a cursed hazard!! She buffed the boss!!"
Silence.
Then they both… laughed.
Megumin wiped her tears. "That's so like Aqua."
Darkness nodded. "Utterly useless in crisis. A true Aqua moment."
Aqua sniffled again. "You guys are so mean…"
Kazuma fell to his knees, twitching. "I want to go back to NEET life."
Ryusui walked up, sipping his coconut. "...So she buffed the kaiju?"
Everyone nodded.
"…Huh. Glad I missed that."
A beat.
Ryusui—muttered:
"…Didn't Kusuke leave a kaiju-killing gun?"
Everyone paused.
Kazuma's eye twitched. "Damn it all."
Itadori slowly turned toward the group, piecing it together. "Wait… so that's why Lloyd wasn't with us the whole time…"
They looked toward the beach, where Lloyd Frontera sat under an umbrella, sipping tea and staring into the void.
Itadori continued, "He was on the call with Kusuke. Trying to activate the Kaiju gun."
"Wait—what?" Denji blinked. "We had a kaiju gun?!"
"Apparently only Saiki could access it," Itadori explained. "Some DNA-locked security system. Lloyd was trying to bypass it."
Kazuma's head dropped. "We had a literal boss killer… and we couldn't use it because of Saiki's biometric locks?"
Itadori nodded. "Lloyd said it had five layers of security measures."
Flashback:
Lloyd, sweating, stood in front of a futuristic containment box.
> "Security Level 1: Passcode Required."
"Incorrect."
"Security Level 2: Voice ID Verification."
"Voice mismatch."
"Security Level 3: Retinal Scan."
"Please remove colored contact lenses."
"Security Level 4: Psychic Brainwave Signature."
[Error. Error. Error.]
Lloyd clenched his fists. "Why would you install a psychic brainwave scanner?!"
> "Final Layer: Authorization via Saiki Kusuo's favorite dessert."
Lloyd blinked.
"…Is it coffee jelly?"
> Access Denied.
Back in present—
Itadori scratched his head. "By the time Lloyd was on the final layer… Antares was already dead."
Everyone just stood there.
Kazuma fell over into the sand face first. "WHY IS OUR LIFE A CIRCUS?!"
Denji muttered, "I kinda want that gun though."
Aqua, still crying, pointed at Lloyd. "He didn't even help!"
"Don't blame him!" Subaru said. "He was trying! It's Kusuke's fault for making it a quiz show!"
Ryusui sipped again. "This place is insane."
Darkness giggled. "Just another day in paradise."
Reinhardt arrives panthing."Am I late?"
"Where are we're you this time?" Subaru asked asually like it always happened.
--- Penthouse ---
Back in the penthouse, an eerie silence settled over the room as the last crackles of energy from the death-transformation faded. Everyone slowly turned their heads toward Light Yagami, who stood calmly brushing dust from his blazer as though he hadn't just caused a dragon to spawn in the living room.
Gojo adjusted his blindfold. "Okay... so I'm just gonna say it: what the actual hell was that?"
Kazuma pointed an accusatory finger. "You! What did you do?! Why did he explode into a dragon?! Was that a hidden boss fight?!"
Denji managed a suspicious squint. "He looked kinda cool… but also dead."
Saiki narrowed his eyes but said nothing, though his psychic senses were already scanning Light's past.
Light gave a smooth, unbothered smile. "It was… unfortunate. But not unexpected. The man's name was Antares, correct?"
"Don't play coy," Makima said, folding her arms. "Explain."
Light held up his wrist—specifically, the watch. With a deft twist, the secret compartment sprang open, revealing a sliver of aged black paper, humming faintly with unnatural energy.
"The Death Note," Light began, "has a unique property. Any human whose name is written in it will die. But I've only ever kept a fragment hidden. Enough for a single name. Antares' name was real—at least in his human form. That's all I needed. I assumed that would be enough."
"But he turned into a DRAGON," Denji yelled, eyes wide. "Like... Final Boss Dragon!"
Ryusui added dramatically, "A beautiful transformation, if not for the massive property damage."
Light explains the Basic Rules of the Death Note
1. The human whose name is written in this note shall die..
"Given that, Jinwoo mentioned his name."
2. The note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing the name.
"This prevents killing people with the same name. Jinwoo conjured up a mental image."
3. If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen.
If no cause is specified, the person will die of a heart attack.
"Given as I said 40 seconds."
4. After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
5. The Death Note only works on humans.
"Which killed him, his human form at least. Must've been a vessel."
Denji asked. "Have you tried non-"
Before Denji could finish, Light answered. "Yes, I've tried. The ink will just disappear."
Kazuma hurrily said. "So, you would've killed us if you knew our name!?"
Light said. "But i didn't. I could've."
Denji stood up, pulling on his chainsaw. "Is that a threat?"
Senku rubbed his chin. "Fascinating... So he triggered a reversion to his original form. Like a last defense mechanism. But the human shell—was real enough to be targeted."
"Which means," Subaru muttered, "we never saw his real body until he died... That's terrifying."
Yuji gave a slow nod. "That thing wasn't even his final form…"
Silence.
Then Lloyd: "Confiscate it."
With a snap from Saiki, the sliver of Death Note vanished from Light's hand and reappeared, sealed in a telekinetic cube, hovering between him and Senku.
"We're locking this down," Senku said, taking it with gloved hands. "This goes beyond scientific anomaly. This is metaphysical weaponry."
"Beyond even the Kaiju-class anti-matter cannon," Kusuke added, materializing beside them with an unsettlingly gleeful expression. "And I secured that with nine layered biometric safeties and a temporal decoy loop."
Senku nodded solemnly. "Then this gets ten."
They both grinned too much for anyone's comfort.
As for Light, he was once again back in the isolated underground containment wing with Kusuke, strapped loosely to a comfort-enhanced, high-tech chair with several emotion-monitoring devices hooked to his temples.
Kusuke gave an unsettling chuckle, flicking a switch that caused a panel of surveillance screens to activate. "Don't worry, Light. We'll rehabilitate you perfectly. We have lots to talk about… like your fascination with power, morality, and notebooks."
Light gave the faintest smile. "I look forward to the challenge."
The lights flickered ominously.
---
End.
*******
A/N
School started so I won't able to upload as frequently anymore. ToT