Staring at the cloud of dust billowing out in the distance, everyone could do nothing but gape in horror.
"Upupupu... so you finally did it...! Upupu, upupupu! Upupupupu!!"
Monokuma popped out and started laughing like he'd just witnessed the funniest thing in the world.
"I can't believe you actually blew it up...! I thought you'd use it as a threat... but you really went and detonated it...! Upupupupupu...!"
Even with Monokuma cackling his head off, nobody paid him any attention. They just stood there, staring blankly at the first island... no, at what used to be the first island.
"...W-Why?"
"Th-That kind of explosion... only Monokuma could do something like that... right...?"
"D-Don't tell me... Monokuma got sick of the killing game... and decided to kill us all..."
"Upupu!! What are you talking about!? That's wrong!!"
As soon as the kids started suspecting him, Monokuma barked in irritation, then launched into an explanation.
"This explosion has nothing to do with me... ah, well, I guess it does have something to do with me. Anyway... I didn't do it!!"
"Th-Then... who the hell would do something that insane...?"
"You know...? Someone crazy enough to pull off something like this...? Upupupupu!!"
The instant I heard that, the name burst out of me before I could stop it.
"K-Komaeda!?"
At my words, the others immediately started denying it, their faces twisted with disbelief.
"N-No way... even Komaeda-san wouldn't do something that insane... blowing up an island..."
"...Actually, he would. Easily."
"Th-That may be true, but... there aren't any bombs on this island, are there...? How could he even pull something like that off..."
"No, there are bombs..."
Tanaka spoke in a low voice.
"There was a bomb in the Final Dead Room. I saw it myself when I entered the prize room inside the Final Dead Room, and I even used it. The bomb that caused that deafening blast in Strawberry House before was that very same one."
"B-But... when Komaeda-san left the Funhouse, he wasn't carrying anything..."
"Upupupu... that's because of the [supreme weapon]!!"
As Monokuma began explaining, the color drained from everyone's faces.
"He can take weapons from the Final Dead Room and use them without limit...?"
"Th-That's impossible..."
"...If that's true, then that explosion makes sense."
Just as the kids were finally beginning to grasp reality, Monokuma suddenly grinned and held something out toward them.
"Wh-What is that... a laptop...?"
"...Hello? Everyone?"
""K-Komaeda!?""
On the laptop monitor Monokuma was holding out, Komaeda was calmly greeting all of us.
"I wonder if you liked my present... so? What did you think?"
"K-Komaeda!! You bastard... what the hell have you done...!!"
"Well, I mean, it's obvious... you're all thrilled, right...? Ahaha..."
"You bastard!! Don't ignore me when I'm talking to you..."
"...Owari, that's a recording. It's not live, so be quiet."
"Oh..."
Owari drooped and shut her mouth, and everyone focused on the video.
"You've probably figured it out already... I'm the one who blew up the first island. The reason I blew it up... was to prove that what I'm about to do is completely serious."
Komaeda smiled thinly on the screen, then dropped a statement so outrageous it made my blood run cold.
"I've planted bombs with the same firepower as that one all over every island. Of course, that includes the fifth island where you all are right now... Though I doubt you'll be able to find them...!"
"Wh-What...?"
"And... even if you do find them, it won't matter... because I set them to explode the moment they're discovered...!"
As soon as he finished saying that, Komaeda suddenly burst into wild laughter.
"Hahahahahahahaha!! You get the rough idea of what I'm trying to do now, right? I'm going to wipe these islands off the map...! Then... this meaningless slaughter can finally stop...! And hope will win, too...! Ahahahahahahahaha..."
The eyes of the Komaeda on the screen were saturated with madness. Worse, even that fragmentary glimmer of hope he used to cling to was nowhere to be seen.
"Th-That bastard... he's insane... completely gone..."
"....."
Overwhelmed by that naked lunacy, the kids faltered—but Komaeda didn't give them even a second to breathe.
"I've set the bombs to all go off at this exact time tomorrow. That will be the final day of this killing school life... if you fail the mission I'm about to give you...!"
"...Mission?"
"The mission is simple... find the 12 deactivation switches I've hidden all over the islands, and press them simultaneously before the bombs explode tomorrow. Well? Easy, right?"
Komaeda continued, wearing a deeply suggestive smile.
"Just so you know, if they aren't pressed at the same time... every bomb will explode. Well, if you don't believe me, you can always try pressing one...! But I'd rather you didn't lose the last chance I'm giving you over some pointless curiosity. Even if things turned out like this, I still want to prove that hope wins in the end...!"
"".....""
"For the record, I'm in the hospital. Ah, but if anyone comes anywhere near the hospital, I'll blow up Kuzuryu's hospital room. So don't try anything stupid... Though, come to think of it, I guess that means there's one less place where a switch could be hidden, so maybe that works in your favor?"
At that, the kids exploded in fury.
"Y-You filthy bastard...!"
"You... don't care if you die too...?"
"Th-There are... Saionji and Pekoyama there too..."
Koizumi said it in a trembling voice. Then, on the screen, Komaeda suddenly turned to look straight at her and spoke.
"That's why I reduced the number of deactivation switches to 12, isn't it? If you exclude me, Kuzuryu, Saionji, and Pekoyama, that leaves 12 of you."
"U-Uwaah!! It wasn't a recording—it was live video!!!"
"Y-You bastard!!! Why the hell are you doing this!!!"
"Ahaha, well then... good luck, everyone."
With that, Komaeda cut the transmission.
"".....""
After the connection ended, a long, suffocating silence settled over the group.
"Upupupu... my arm was about to fall off... Honestly, Komaeda treating me like some carrier pigeon... Still, I'm about at my limit trying to withstand the Future Foundation's attacks, so... it can't be helped. I had to help..."
Monokuma muttered to himself in the silence, then turned to the kids and spoke.
"Upupu? What are you all doing? Shouldn't you be hurrying up and looking for the switches?"
.
.
.
.
.
"So far... everything's gone according to plan. I guess when overwhelming misfortune comes crashing down on me... things really do work out..."
'E-Everyone...'
"Saionji, I told you not to move... maybe you didn't hear me properly...?"
"K-Komaeda... why are you doing this...?"
Bang!!
"...Kyaah!"
"You bastard..."
"Ahaha, Pekoyama. Even you can't slash a flying bullet out of the air with your sword... right? And... before you can reach me, I'll shoot Kuzuryu. So you'd better stay still."
"...Ghk."
Komaeda stared at the two of them grinding their teeth, then his expression suddenly went flat.
"What is that look supposed to mean...? Like you're asking why this is happening to you when you've done nothing wrong...?"
"Th-That's because it's true..."
"I really do feel like killing you right now, you know...?"
Saionji, who had been about to say more, shrank back and fell silent under the icy pressure pouring off Komaeda.
"Komaeda... let those two go... I'm enough of a hostage on my own, aren't I...? It's not like I can even stand properly right now..."
Kuzuryu pleaded desperately, but Komaeda coldly cut him off.
"Shut up, Kuzuryu. And the same goes for you two. You've been yapping nonstop, and it's getting on my nerves."
"Why... are you taking those two hostage too...? Why!?"
"Haah, because... you three need to witness my death and trigger the body discovery announcement. Monokuma's announcement only plays when three people witness it, after all."
"...What?"
As soon as he said that, Komaeda threw off the coat he was wearing. The moment the three of them saw what was underneath, they recoiled in sheer terror.
"Wh-What is that...!?"
"B-Bombs...?"
"You bastard...! What the hell are you trying to do...!"
Komaeda had strapped 11 bombs to his own body, and he was grinning like a man possessed.
"Hahahahaha... when these go off, my body will be blown to pieces and vanish... so it would be hard to discover a corpse, wouldn't it? That's why... I need people to [witness] it...!"
"Y-You're... planning to die...?"
Kuzuryu asked with a sickened expression, and Komaeda answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Yeah, of course. I've committed a sin worthy of death."
"...You may have interfered with us and stirred up trouble, but... that doesn't deserve death..."
"Because of what I did... hope died. And it died to protect 'despair,' no less... haha..."
"What...?"
Komaeda muttered with a hollow expression.
"I was wondering why misfortune hadn't come for me in such a long time... and then, of all moments, I caused something like that to happen. In the end, it all happened entirely because of me... right...? Haha... that's pretty despair-inducing, isn't it?"
".....?"
"So... I'll die too... and I'll kill all the despair along with me and end all of this... hahahaha..."
As Komaeda kept muttering in a daze, the three of them finally gave up on communicating with him and started silently thinking through countermeasures instead.
Meanwhile, Komaeda watched them and snorted inwardly.
'That's right... go ahead and wrack your brains... It won't matter anyway. Ten seconds after my bomb goes off, the hospital is going to explode with you in it. Still... despair really does struggle desperately to survive, doesn't it...? While hope... gives up even its own life so easily.'
Komaeda let out a weak smile and murmured under his breath.
"Nanami... so I'll make sure you live, even if I have to force it."