Sometime in the night, a fire broke out across the academy, leaving no floor untouched, though the third took the brunt of the damage as that was the fire's origin point, no doubt caused by Izanami, even if unintentionally. Or at least, that was the most obvious and common theory. But a select few among the student body knew better. That fire had come from one of their own. Someone was still inside, doing her best to fight fire with fire in the most literal sense. And to the amazement of all, including the goddess and student in question, the mere mortal was winning.

Come sunrise, there were no explanations, and there was almost no academy. Although the fire seemed to have put itself out, it hadn't gone without taking a large swath of the school with it. And just like the fire, Izanami was no longer anywhere to be found either. Had she been sent away, or was she merely hiding? As the hours crept by, it seemed as though the former was the most likely. There were no return strikes from the angry and vengeful deity, and the survivors who fled to the forest knew they could not remain outside forever. Paralleling the night in the forest in Stage III, one by one, every student crept back towards the school.

"Oh my God…" Atop the crumbling remains of the roof, there was a tall, dark silhouette leaning against the flagpole, which was somehow still standing despite the massive beating the rest of the academy took.

"Is it Izanami?!" That was the common cry of fear rippling throughout the student ranks, but no, the longer everyone kept a wary eye upward, the less likely that theory became. The figure was unmoving, and seemed so much less intimidating. A much more hideous truth came to light not too much later. It was worse than Izanami. It was one of their own classmates.

Maho and Rika led the charge upstairs, Yuka still too injured and Dalia helping Shinobu and Kyoko with the electric fence.

"Oh… no…" Maho and Rika stopped short as soon as they finished prying open the door to the roof. "How are we going to tell Hiiro and Tsubaki?"

Was this why Izanami's rampage stopped? A blood sacrifice? Was her thirst for vengeance finally quenched? And most important and complex of all, was the price worth it? After taking a few photos, Rika bore the burden of the unpleasant task of freeing Aoi from their undignified resting place. They weren't actually leaning against the flagpole. They'd been impaled by a golden spear…

Maho couldn't help but look away until Rika held out the spear to her, commanding her to take photos while Rika dealt with the body. Maho winced and recoiled, but did her best not to be ill as she laid the spear down on the floor and took photos of it. It no longer looked as grand and powerful as it once did in Izanami's mighty hands. Even the golden color was duller, and when Maho went to put her PheFo away, she noticed that some of the paint had come off on her hands.

"D'you get all the photos?" asked Rika, one of Aoi's arms slung over her shoulder.

"Y-yeah…" Maho was dazed as she returned her PheFo to her pocket and slung Aoi's other arm over her shoulder. Her stomach again felt queasy as the scent of death assaulted her nostrils. It was a difficult walk back down to the ground floor, but it was even worse once they finally got there.

"AAOOOIIII!" Tsubaki screamed the moment she saw the body, collapsing to her knees. The others covered their ears, trying desperately to block out the sound. It wasn't just because of the volume or the grief, but how emotionally agonizing and guilt-inducing it was to hear. Maybe it was part of being the Ultimate Vocalist, but Tsubaki's wail was like a death knell, and none of them had any idea what to say.

No, nonononono! This can't be right?! Aoi was a survivor! They survived the last Stage! They survived Noa! So why!? How?! Who…?!

Even Hiiro didn't dare try to comfort Tsubaki in such a raw, emotionally vulnerable state. Instead, she could only stare at the body too. A tear forced its way from her lavender eyes and slid down her face. Her mouth was twisted in a silent scream of horror that echoed Tsubaki's.

Oh, Aoi, no…! You weren't supposed to be… Losing Nagisa was hard enough! She cast a mournful gaze at Tsubaki, an overwhelming wave of maternal and protective affection rushing over her. Hiiro was dying to scoop the other girl up in her arms, hug her, and hold her close, tell her that everything was going to be all right, because that was what Hiiro wanted to believe too. But… Hiiro's gaze turned upward again. I don't know if I'll ever feel real Hope ever again… This wasn't supposed to happen… None of it was… Oh… Aoi… Nagisa…

ooo

Days passed before anything changed. The blackout that began the night of the ritual was so total and complete that, for days, the power would not come back on anywhere in the entire academy. Even the backup generators were only able to offer so much. The Headcatster itself was still completely unresponsive and inactive, like a giant, over-glorified metal cat statue.

When at last the students were forced to return inside, on the way to finding the body on the roof, they searched what little remained of the academy and found Esora's body, still lying in a giant pool of pink blood in the VR lab, face up, green eyes staring in unseeing horror upward. They also saw the corpses of the other students still slumped over in their V4-VR chairs, helmets on, and a couple more still on the silver tables they were rolled in on. As gruesome and tragic as it was to say, there were more corpses than there were V4-VR seats, not that it mattered anymore. It was like something out of a nightmare or a horror movie. It felt wrong to leave the bodies to decay, but moving them was even more impossible of a task.

Then last and least, they found Monochio. It looked as if it was trying to hide behind a tall kiosk, yet it was completely frozen. No amount of poking, prodding, screaming, or shouting would rouse it either. In order to prevent any unnecessary provocations or risks, however, Maho, Rika and Hiiro appointed themselves as its official guardians, ensuring that nobody else got too close to it.

They didn't want it to wake up suddenly and lash out at any student foolish enough to try to dissect it. They'd seen enough death and destruction already, and they had far bigger things to deal with than running the risk of accidentally waking up Monochio. Not only did they have an issue with supplying power to the remains of the school, but they were still trying to escape.

Even though the academy itself was completely devoid of power, the giant electrical fence that bordered the perimeter was still alive and well, buzzing and humming with the type of power that could kill with just a single touch.

"Damn it! So it has an external source?!" Shinobu cursed and cussed, livid. "We were so close!" She bent down, picked up a rock, and hurled it at the fence with all the rage and hatred in her heart. It was blasted apart by the powerful electric zap, and Shinobu seethed even harder. Kyoko stood silently beside her, head bowed, cap creating a shadow over her face, obscuring her expression from any who dared even try to look at her.

Oh, God… We… we… we finally lost somebody… Esora… She could barely even bring herself to think the name, shame burning every inch of her body. Like Shinobu, she couldn't help but bitterly regret all the apologies that would never be. And Esora wasn't the only one they lost. There was Aoi, and all the other students they'd come so close to bringing back. Including Nagisa, Shinobu's cousin, whom she hadn't seen since Stage I…

They'd succeeded in their mission to resurrect the fallen students, but now, it was all over. With the third floor all but blasted to bits, the V4-VR would never be usable again, and the magical components of the resurrection ritual had been destroyed in the fire as well, including the AI-Ibuki's bracelet, and the grimoire. The power of resurrection was dead and buried, and for it, there would be no rebirth.

The only silver lining was that although no floor went untouched by the fire, it was less severe on the upper and lower floors, impacting mainly the middlemost floors, so the nurse's office was still mostly intact. Yuka, and several others, were taken there and cared for, although of course, it was much more difficult with no functioning electrical equipment.

Eventually, the PheFos came back online, charged by plugging them into some of the backup generators, but to conserve power, only a few of them were used. Out of habit, and a genuine desire to piece together just what the heck happened on that dark and fateful night, some of the students—including Yuka—went around collecting photo evidence, as difficult as it was.

Hiiro was the second-most avid about collecting evidence, wishing to do it for Aoi's sake, and knowing that Tsubaki was unable and unwilling. And already, she'd noticed something… odd… about Aoi's injury… especially when compared to Esora's…

So, it's up to ME to do it, for all of us. Aoi, Tsubaki, Nagisa… Hiiro's stomach tightened. She alone had to be brave for all of—"Huh?"

It was evident that Aoi had been killed before being dragged to the roof. Although, at first, it was difficult to see through the mess and soot of the rest of the academy, she noticed a trail of blood winding down the staircase that wasn't from Dalia and Maho, as it branched off at the juncture between the third and fourth floors. A little farther down the hallway, her foot hit something the soot had once buried. Bending over, the Ultimate Diviner made sure to take plenty of pictures before gently wiping away some of the soot. It was a small, metal doorhandle?

Hiiro looked left. Hiiro looked right. Of course, the fire had destroyed many doors, but why was this handle in the middle of the hallway rather than in any of the empty thresholds like all the others? And by the time Hiiro managed to locate the one room missing its doorhandle, it raised more questions than answers, as it was on the other side of the hall, closer to the VR lab. But Hiiro had found it closer to the side of the hall that contained all the workshops. Someone must've moved it there intentionally. But why?

ooo

Eventually, the students were forced to surrender and try to bring Monochio back online. Of course, none of them wanted to, but with the electric fence still on, and their supplies, energy, and resources dwindling, they had no other choice except to die a slow and painful death, or hope and pray that the Headcatster would know how to solve things. In the beginning, Rinku volunteered to scavenge food and water from the forest, and they could cook over open fires like on the night of their little campout in Stage III, but even that was not sustainable forever.

Of all the things we got to resurrect for more than like four minutes, it had to be THIS fucker… Shinobu scowled at the unfairness of it all as she watched Maho, Rika, and Hiiro carefully connect the fat, ugly, stupid cat to a long, snaking line of extension cords that led all the way down to one of the backup generators. In just a few hours, the horrid Headcatster's eyes would begin to glow as it came back online. Like the rest of the students, it had no clue what had happened, how, or why. All it knew was that the dream of resurrection was over. They were all horribly awake now.

"And you know what, you little shits?" The hatred in Monochio's voice was so immense that even the bravest students trembled. Never had they heard it sound this angry or hateful before. "We're still having the class trial! So collect your evidence and get on with it! After everything you've done to me, this is my wrath and revenge, my blood sacrifice! You guys are gonna do this trial even if it's the last thing any of us do! On with the Killing School Transfer forever!" But it wasn't just fury and desire for justice that led the Headcatster to utter such a decree.

How the HELL did this happen? Who nearly compromised my and Junko's security systems?! This shouldn't have happened… It shouldn't have even been possible! And whenever I find out who… A gory vision of executions filled its head, the closest it had to a consolation prize. The guilty one would suffer and endure every last execution the academy had to offer. I'm gonna give it EVERYTHING I got! For their sakes, those damn little brats better "hope" that they can do the same!

ooo

When Monochio deemed that enough time had passed to begin the fourth class trial, it led them all to the trial room once more, one of the only floors almost completely untouched by Izanami or the fire. It was evident, though, that something had changed the room anyway. This time, it resembled a mashup between the VR lab and the library when before it mimicked the forest (and in the time before that, an old, wooden classroom; and in the first stage, a traditional class trial room).

The walls, ceiling, and floor flickered and changed like a screensaver, sometimes flashing the students into the white void they saw as they logged into the V4-VR, and other times flashing images of various settings they saw within the V4-VR, including archives and stacks with scrolls and portraits adorning the walls. But there was a summoning circle in the center of the ring of podiums rather than a giant, tile DJ disc, and sometimes white wisps would float through the room. Ghosts, perhaps? Or something electronic?

And this time, the death portraits of their fallen classmates were hologram images of painted scrolls hovering above the chrome podiums, which were designed to look futuristic and high-tech, with sleek designs, buttons and lights on the handrailing-console, though none of the buttons did anything. It was purely aesthetic. No matter how torturous the Killing Game, Monochio simply couldn't resist its love of the finer things in life.

Esora's holographic scroll painting had her face crossed out with two dollar signs and Tsubaki at last got to see Aoi's death portrait. It showed a rose with tiny thorns crossed with a spoon dripping something pink, most likely jam. It was silly and stupid and Tsubaki bitterly regretted jinxing it the previous trial by thinking how grateful she was that she hadn't known what Aoi's death portrait looked like.

And… and… and… Tsubaki had never told Aoi how much she loved them.There was no fight left in her. The protective vengeance and desire she felt when facing off against Noa was gone. What did it matter when Aoi was dead either way? The resurrection ritual had been a total failure! It worked in reverse, taking away students rather than giving any back. Was this always destined to happen? Was fate really so cruel that one of their death warrants had been signed from the second Monochio uttered the horrible, evil fourth motive?

I knew it! she thought bitterly. I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! This was bad idea from the start! I knew magic wasn't real. She knew it was too good to be true… And yet… She believed. Why? Why did she do that? Because of Hope!

Tsubaki's thoughts turned angry. Hope, that foolish thing I put all my faith into because of Aoi, and now Aoi is GONE! What has hope ever done for me except bring more despair?! If it hadn't been for Hope, I would've trusted my head rather than my heart, and maybe Aoi would still be here…

How dare anyone speak positively in the name of Hope? Tsubaki never wanted to hear that word, or Despair, ever again. But if there were any words she was going to have to listen to again, whether she liked it or not, it was these:

Trial. Start. All rise.