Arifureta_s2_05_pro_acb.mkv

Hajime didn't turn around. "Stop apologizing. The labyrinth feeds on hesitation".

Kaori flinched as if struck. "I just... I want to be the one by your side. I thought if I followed you here, I could make up for what happened in the Orcus Labyrinth". Arifureta_S2_05_Pro_ACB.mkv

But Kaori couldn't stop. The phantom images of the ruins—visions of people torn apart by the "games" of a cruel god—mirrored the turmoil in her own heart. Every time she looked at Hajime , she saw the person she failed to protect. Every time she saw him with Yue , she felt a hollow ache of inferiority. Hajime didn't turn around

"Hajime-kun," she whispered, her voice trembling. "I... I'm sorry. If I hadn't let my breath slip when we were in the water, we wouldn't have been separated". Kaori flinched as if struck

The truth was cold, but it acted like a splash of freezing water, clearing the illusions that had begun to crowd Kaori's mind. She realized that her love had become a chain of self-pity. To truly stand beside Hajime , she didn't need to be Yue ; she needed to stop being the girl who was sorry for existing.

As a group of spectral pirates manifested from the shadows of the ruins, Hajime raised his weapon, ready to clear the path. Kaori took a breath, gripped her staff, and for the first time since entering the ruins, her eyes were clear. She wasn't just a classmate following a hero anymore; she was a woman fighting to prove she belonged in the world he had built.

The air inside the Sunken Ruins of Melusine was thick with the scent of salt and ancient, lingering magic. Hajime led the way through the labyrinth’s shifting halls, his guns drawn, but his focus was fractured. Beside him, Kaori Shirasaki moved with a hesitation that was uncharacteristic of the "Saint" of their class.