A single man descends from the massive floating aircraft carrier.

Road Earthguard has set foot in Tokyo Bay.

Behind him ride what must be his forces—KOG units aboard transport ships.

There are ten such ships, and judging by their size, each carries around ten KOGs.

In other words, he’s brought exactly one hundred KOGs, just as promised.

“Road… you really came.”

And waiting in Tokyo Bay is the white machine.

Including the Takemikazuchi piloted by Kenya, numerous KOGs from the World Alliance stand ready.

The Japanese military has also withdrawn everything but their own hundred KOGs from Japan.

And per the prior agreement, no KOGs are permitted inside the 13th District Military Academy.

All weapons are to be thoroughly inspected as well.

“This is far enough. I’ll go alone from here. Head to the academy ahead of me.”

“S-Such! Lord Road, that’s far too dangerous! This is World Alliance territory!”

Road issues orders to leave all his escorts behind, then proceeds on foot alone.

Straight ahead, toward.

“Will you take me, Kenya?”

In front of the Takemikazuchi piloted by Kenya.

Kenya crouches down and extends a hand.

Gently scoops up Road, then sets off toward the academy.

The world beholds that sight.

No one could comprehend such actions.

Except for two girls.

“In a sense, it’s the safest place in the world.”

“…I don’t like it. Taking advantage of Kenya’s kindness.”

Road understood.

That Kenya—who had promised to negotiate—would absolutely never harm him.

That even if someone attacked, Kenya would definitely protect him.

That even against a hundred World Alliance machines, Kenya would cut them all down.

“Hey, Road…”

“Kenya, there’s somewhere I want to go first. Bear with me for a bit.”

“…Got it.”

Kenya complies with Road’s request.

Their destination lies within the academy grounds—but it’s a separate facility from the negotiation site.

“There’s only a simulation room here.”

“Yeah. Shall we get down? You too.”

Kenya and Road dismount from the KOG.

They come face-to-face.

“Feels like ages have passed, even though not a full month has gone by.”

“Hey, Road. Why are you doing all this? World unification?”

“……Let’s walk a bit.”

Road and Kenya head straight for the simulation room.

“Remember how I said my mother died of illness long ago?”

“Yeah. The day I crushed the Earthguard forces and aided the resistance.”

The fabricated past that Road had once shared with Kenya.

“Yeah. But that wasn’t true. My mother… I might as well have killed her myself. To be precise, it was suicide.”

“Huh?”

“My mother had been taken hostage by Earthguard. The emperor back then, Orgord Earthguard, promised that if I won a hundred battlefields, she would be released. So for her sake, I destroyed my homeland—the European Union. As a naive child, I truly believed that would make her happy. That slaughtering countless people to save her… And when my mother, Scarlett, learned the truth, she tried to kill me. When that failed, she took her own life. That’s the reality.”

Road recounts it all concisely, matter-of-factly.

Yet precisely because of that flat delivery, the truth sinks deeply into Kenya.

The words Kenya desperately wrings out after agonizing thought are.

“…Road, it wasn’t your fault.”

That’s all he can manage.

“…Objectively speaking, it might have been unavoidable. Even so, I can’t forgive myself for it. That’s why, back then, I swore to my heart: someday, I’ll create a world without war.”

“And that’s your idea of world unification? How many people do you intend to kill for it!”

“…Someone has to do it, Kenya. Your country proves it too, doesn’t it? It endured endless ages of war and chaos before becoming the single nation of Japan. Every country in the world is the same. The stability we have now is the result of blood spilled across those long wars—countless lives lost. I won’t let anyone call that peace a lie. To do so would blaspheme all those who died for the greater good, for an era of tranquility.”

Kenya falls silent before those forceful words.

He has no ideas or words capable of overturning such resolve.

“I’m not asking you to understand. But resist me, Kenya.”

“Huh?”

Yet Road leaves those words hanging.

He opens the door to their destination.

“Alright. Shall we, Kenya?”

“?…No way.”

And sure enough, they arrive at the simulation room.

“You want to fight me?”

“Just once—cross swords with me.”

Without a word, Kenya boards a simulator at Road’s request.

With practiced motions, he boots up the system; Road climbs in as well.

Before their eyes, the start signal.

The two KOGs face off, and then.

The countdown reaches zero, and the match begins.

But Kenya remains still. Seeing this, Road lunges first.

“Not moving after all, eh? Then I’ll come to you!”

Road advances on unsteady feet.

He swings his sword down.

But Kenya deflects it effortlessly.

Again and again.

“What’s wrong, Kenya! Why won’t you fight! Try to take me down!”

“…”

“You think you can change the world like that!!”

“…”

“Is that all the spine you’ve got in you!!”

Road presses on as if to rouse Kenya’s fighting spirit.

But his strikes are far too clumsy—none even graze Kenya.

Yet that sentiment pierces straight through.

“I see…”

Kenya finally understands.

Why Road is doing this.

Why he wants to fight someone he could never hope to beat.

The instant the reason dawns on him, tears well up.

“Road… so that’s it.”

“Hah… hah… What’s wrong! I mean to defeat you! Are you just going to stand there? Kenya!! Is that the extent of your resolve all this time!!”

Again and again, channeling every ounce of killing intent.

Road unleashes killing intent so faint, no amount of focus could sense it.

“Don’t spout naive drivel about saving everyone! Crush your enemies! Steel yourself to kill—or the world will never change!!”

Kenya senses it all, Road’s true intent included.

Still, the tears keep flowing.

“I get it now… your resolve.”

Road swings his sword.

Unlike before, Kenya parries it in earnest—sending it flying.

Road responds with a gentle smile, as if he’d been awaiting precisely this.

“That’s more like it.”

Kenya understands now—truly grasps it.

Road is forcing him to steel his resolve.

It’s merely a simulator—no one dies.

Yet here, Road seeks to forge that resolve in Kenya.

The resolve to kill him.

To make Kenya accept cutting him down—right here.

And to convey that he himself already possesses it.

That Road already harbors the resolve to kill Kenya.

Therefore.

Kenya cuts Road down.

The two climb down from the simulators.

Tears brim in Kenya’s eyes, staining them red.

He gazes at Road through those glistening eyes.

But Road refuses to turn around.

With iron will, he keeps his back to Kenya—never facing him.

As if vowing never to meet his gaze again.

As if he doesn’t want his own face seen.

In a voice detached, like addressing a stranger, Road speaks.

“…This is far enough, Mikazuki-dono. My thanks for the escort.”

“Y… yes.”

And so, in that simulator room, Road and Kenya bid farewell.

Road heads straight for the negotiation facility.

Kenya returns to the Takemikazuchi.

On this day, the path they had walked together splits in two.

A lone set of footsteps echoes down the hallway.

Clack… clack… Lonely footsteps reverberate through the empty school building.

“Th-thank you… up till now. Kenya.”

In a voice too quiet for any ear, the lonely boy’s trembling words fade into the silent corridor.