Once they reached the halfway point, they took a 5-minute break before Tomoe lifted all of them up, with their bags, and carried them the rest of the way. He said, "With training and proper use, Aeq can do these things easily. It will always be a battle of endurance, rather than strength so increase that as much as possible and you will always win." Those words felt cringey, but empowering. "Or you could cheat it, but, not too recommended..." and Tomoe made everything awkward. It was mostly silence for the rest of the climb.

  Eventually, they reached the top. They saw Wrath praying at the shrine. It seemed as though, the difference between the steps and the shrine had been widened to an impossibly large degree. It was all empty and flat. With cement paving the floor and shrine maidens standing at the very far sides next to the lanterns.

  "How are you, Dout?"

  "I thought we had a deal. Can't tell if you're foolish or just stupidly brave."

  "I'd respect our offer if you didn't stop looking down on us."

  "Heh. Fine, I'll change the rules of our game." He then picked up a pebble from the ground.  "20."

  "Sh*t, he's counting down. EVERYONE, RUN BA-" Tomoe wasn't able to say anything.

  "19" Kurogame, Shuichiro, the Monz siblings and Kyoji, Feta, and Danye all ran at him.

  "YOU GUYS, GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW." He was ignored.

  "18

   17" they weren't even quarter-way yet.

  "16

   15

   14

   13" Danye got tired so he gave up.

   "12

   11

   10

    9" Shuichiro was getting creeped out by the stares from the shrine maidens and even said,

  "Hey, maybe we should head back?" However, he was ignored.

  "8

   7

  6" Kurogame was already halfway and was getting even faster. The ones who hadn't given up weren't too far away either.

  "5

   4

   3

   2" Kurogame was already three-quarters of the way there.
  "1

   0" He then threw the pebble he was holding. It went so quickly with such a strong force that the wind pushed everyone. Not many remember what happened after that. They do remember the feeling, of being in the air and falling hundreds of feet up.

  "Ugh...." He woke up in a bed he didn't recognise. In a room with strangers he had never met. In clothes he never wore before. And in a place he's never been in.

He stood up slowly, with a headache killing him. He saw a nurse tending to someone past one of the curtains. He thought, "I see. I must be in a hospital. Did I...make a mistake somewhere..." and continued walking. He then got to the cafeteria and saw his classmates at a table. He joined them and asked, "Where's teacher?" 

  "Visiting Kurogame. He practically took that thing point blank so he's in the worst condition. Probably'll live but, who knows." replied Kyoji.

  "I...see...how's everyone else?"

  "You don't have to worry about us! Just because you're class rep doesn't mean you can't take care of yourself first, Shuichiro." said Feta.

  "I. I guess you're right. Thank you."

  Several chains across a metal door with locks covering all of it. It was like a modern-day(their modern-day)solitary confinement cell. Tomoe took of all the locks one-by-one and entered the dark room. Kurogame never even bothered to turn on the lights.

  "I've heard you've been doing better now."

  "Yeah...used the things you taught me so I'm recoverin' real quick!-" He started coughing 'cause he spoke too fast. "Sorry teach. I did something real stupid."

  "Don't beat yourself up about it. I was planning to do a similar plan, though it had to do with you guys having amnesia rather than faking death."

  "Aww, that makes me sad now. I would've been a real good-" He started coughing again. Tomoe gave him some water and said,

  "You should recover in a month give-or-take. I'll come here to give you shortened lessons so rest up."

  "I can't even rest fully without learning?"

  "Heh, no."

  "Well, I guess that's my own fault. Alright, tell everyone I said hi."

  "All right. Try not to go berserk again."