But more people still lay where they had fallen, as if nothing mattered anymore.
The journey to save the world had failed.
The sky was dim and indistinct.
"Kira!" Athrun and Cagalli finally found Kira with their lamps.
After confirming that Kira was unharmed, Athrun breathed a sigh of relief.
Cagalli, meanwhile, immediately embraced Kira.
"What... are we supposed to do now?" Kira murmured.
Athrun and Cagalli both fell silent.
If the enemy had also been on Earth, they could naturally have fought.
But now, they could not even touch the enemy. That was the deepest despair of all.
The enemy was right there in the sky, yet they were utterly powerless to fight back. They could not even see their opponent.
"Fight." A clear voice rang out.
Kira looked toward Inori Yuzuriha.
Inori Yuzuriha looked back at Kira.
"Indra is an AI. But this AI believes in humanity's miracles. Since that is so, we must believe in ourselves as well. Because the final hope still exists," Inori Yuzuriha said.
"But that thing is in Heliopolis! Without me—"
"No." Inori Yuzuriha said, "The final hope is right here."
"Inori...?"
"Even an AI believes in humanity's miracles. So why can't we believe in our own strength?"
Inori Yuzuriha took Kira's hand.
The sky was gloomy, darkness shrouding everything.
But the eyes of the girl before them were brilliantly bright.
That was right.
Even the enemy believed in humanity's miracles.
So why couldn't we believe in ourselves?
What did it matter if we were destroyed?
The resistance would continue.
Just like Setona. She had been bound by fate, yet had escaped from it.
And Canaris. Though she had suffered defeat after defeat, she had continued fighting after every loss, forever unyielding as she marched toward the far side of fate.
And Lacus.