——After Subaru's explosive laughter had finally died down, Otto was confirmed to be who he claimed to be and released from his restraints.
Rubbing at the wrists that had been bound and the corners of his mouth where a gag had dug in, Otto glared at Subaru with a sullen expression, his face still flushed red.
"Thank you for saving me... except, I really don't feel like saying that sincerely right now."
"Hey, hey, watch your tone with the group that just saved your life. Word gets around that you're an ingrate and your future business dealings are going to get a whole lot harder—just strangling yourself, basically."
"Aaaah! So you already know everything about our situation here! Thank you! You literally saved my life! I really didn't think I was going to make it!"
Subaru's teasing tone carried a certain understanding of Otto's background as a merchant, and Otto hurled back an apology with equal parts exasperation and desperation.
The communication mirror taken from the insider, plus the two hidden outposts connected to it—one had been identified as the cavern where Petelgeuse was lurking, and the other was believed to be the last outpost's location that Subaru hadn't known about.
Which meant that parallel to evacuating
As a result, the
To boot, an even more welcome development was the lineup of prisoners Ricardo and the others had brought back—more specifically, that among them was a familiar-looking woman.
"The woman Petelgeuse possessed twice. So far, his possession rate with her is one hundred percent."
Setting aside whether Petelgeuse chose her willingly, if the Archbishop lost his current body, the probability of him possessing this particular woman was the highest—and she had been mixed in among the prisoners.
She'd been restrained and her consciousness taken away, which significantly lowered the chances that Petelgeuse would choose to possess her if he lost his current vessel.
And the other outposts that served as potential backup vessels had already been located—this could safely be called a major step toward victory.
The blank letter and the last of the Fingers. As various scattered pieces began to connect into a shape, Subaru could feel that he was properly assembling the jigsaw puzzle of the future.
That Otto had been rescued this time could be counted as part of that, too.
From the forest emerged the mercenaries' pack of ligers, along with Otto's own earth dragon hitched to a dragon carriage—both things Subaru recognized. Having had his entire fortune confiscated on top of having his life held in someone else's hands, the experience must have been utterly miserable for him.
In truth, it wasn't hard to imagine what would have become of Otto had things proceeded as they had before. If Subaru had simply cleared things the same way last time, there would have been no opportunity to reunite with Otto like this—which made the mistakes worth it, in a way.
"Well, I'll let you off the hook, then. Tch."
"What is that supposed to mean!? Did I ever do anything to you!?"
Otto squawk at Subaru's dismissive spitting gesture—half embarrassment, half frustration—but Subaru waved it off as "be that as it may" and changed the subject.
"So how did you end up getting captured? You were the only one—that doesn't add up."
"Well, you see... it's an extremely delicate matter that's difficult to put into words."
"Right now, most people who set foot in this territory are traveling merchants who came to Roswaal's estate chasing easy money after hearing about that decree from the capital—you know that already, don't you!?"
"Oh, I absolutely do know that! Yes! We seized the opportunity and jumped on the chance to strike it rich, everyone tried to get the jump on each other by barreling down bad roads to be the first there, and by sheer bad luck I stumbled right into the hideout of some guys who were camped out in the forest, and got captured! So laugh it up, why don't you!"
"I mean, hearing about how you got your greed-mottled hide into this mess doesn't really inspire me to laugh..."
"I'm not satisfied with this at all!!"
Subaru lightly crushed Otto's attempt to laugh it off with forced bravado, and smirked anew at the spectacle of him shouting so unfairly.
It was reassuring that, as far as his merchant instincts and somewhat reckless nature went, Otto hadn't changed one bit. Feeling genuinely pleased by this reunion conversation, Subaru gave Otto a once-over.
—To check whether there was anything suspicious in his demeanor, or any trace of hidden hostility.
Ricardo, watching the two from a distance, was performing the same scrutiny.
Given the circumstances of how Otto had been brought out from the hideout, it was fair to say the suspicion had been mostly cleared at this point—but better safe than sorry.
Considering that Ketty, the leader of the merchant group, had turned out to be the insider, even someone who'd built a reasonably close relationship with Otto couldn't be trusted carelessly.
Each time he repeated this cycle of doubt, Subaru felt a growing disgust at how his own heart was wearing down.
Even after looping through this world over and over, Subaru could never truly know the intentions of others, or their hearts, or their past—never grasp their essence. And so all he could do was keep doubting, struggling to earn their trust while remaining unable to place his own trust in them at the deepest level.
"I've really become a terrible person, huh."
"What is it?"
"I said I'm glad you're safe. As long as you stay in this village, there's no immediate danger—so just hold tight and wait. As for the easy money... condolences, I guess."
Masking his self-deprecation with a light quip, Subaru watched as Otto's eyes went wide and swept over the surroundings. It took a moment, but Otto finally realized what Subaru meant—the scenes he'd been hoping to find among these villages weren't there.
"C-Could it be...? Perhaps... maybe... it's already—?"
"The chance to cash in on the easy money has sailed, yeah. Well, you've still got your life—that's profit enough. Sucks to be you, but that's that."
Subaru sympathetically patted the shoulder of Otto, who had gone deathly pale, and left the man teetering on the verge of collapse as he turned to look over the others who were preparing to move out. His eyes met with Ricardo's, and Ricardo gave a slight nod of the nose—the signal that Otto's assessment was complete—before going to rejoin Mimi and the others.
So the veteran mercenary had given his stamp of approval too. Subaru let out a sigh of relief and proceeded to give Otto a rough rundown of the situation, hoping to avoid any more reckless moves from him.
Otto seemed a bit spacey throughout, but Subaru gestured animatedly while fielding his occasional interjections, and by the time he'd finished explaining— "Anyway, the forest bandits—you already know this, I'm sure—but this group is an expedition team formed to take down the
"O-Okay?"
"Glad you're on board. There'll be a few people staying behind—stick close to them, alright? Anyway, let's talk again once everything's wrapped up."
Leaving those words with the shell-shocked Otto, Subaru tabled the matter for now.
Instead, he headed toward the expedition force, which had finished forming its squads and lining up, and called out to Julius and Ricardo, who were each managing their own sections.
Julius turned, looked at Subaru, then glanced toward Otto in the distance.
"A reunion with an acquaintance, was it? Have you rekindled your friendship sufficiently?"
"Cracked dumb jokes, had dumb conversations, and peered right into the dark underbelly behind it all to make sure nothing was hidden. I feel like I've become such an awful person that I've turned into an idiot myself."
"I'm glad you seem satisfied. If you no longer need to suspect someone you didn't want to suspect, that alone should be enough. —What about him?"
Julius gently admonished Subaru's self-deprecating remark and asked about Otto's disposition. Subaru pulled his chin in thought and spread his arms toward the village.
"We'll leave him here. Either way, we were planning to leave a garrison behind, so we can have him guard the place with them. No sense in chasing after the evacuees and adding to the headaches."
"That's sensible. Then let's not waste any more time—we'd only be creating unnecessary risks by delaying. Shall we move out soon?"
Julius nodded in agreement at Subaru's answer, then narrowed his eyes and posed a question brimming with fighting spirit. At his signal, Subaru could sense the knights straightening their ranks and Ricardo's expression tightening.
The will to fight swelled, and the atmosphere of the battlefield grew thick and dense in the air.
Raising his chin and lifting his gaze to the sky, Subaru let his thoughts drift for a moment.
There were still some unknowns, but he was confident he'd crushed as many risks as he could. He'd done everything in his power to prepare, and now all that remained was to hope that fate smiled upon him.
If that was the case, then delaying any further or letting the army's resolve crumble would be nothing short of foolish.
"Let's do this. Rely on the plan as discussed."
Subaru lowered his gaze, swept it over everyone, and gave the quiet rallying cry.
The knights received it with a similar nod, each mounting their earth dragons or ligers.
Julius and Ricardo flanked him on either side, and with their gazes on his back, Subaru took a small breath and said: "Alright, everyone—let's go! I'm counting on you, so lend me your strength!"
--- Drawing on his experience from the previous battle, Subaru had arrived at a certain theory regarding Petelgeuse's "possession."
First: Petelgeuse's "possession" worked by transferring his consciousness into a different body when his current body ceased functioning.
Second: The vessel couldn't be just anyone—it was limited to the bodies of subordinates Petelgeuse called his "Fingers."
Third: Based on the word "Fingers," there were likely ten spare bodies in total, one stationed at each hideout, ready to be switched into in an emergency.
Fourth: Even if Petelgeuse were knocked unconscious without being killed, if another Finger detected it, they could force the current body to commit suicide, triggering the possession phenomenon and executing the transfer.
Fifth: If all of his Fingers were lost, Petelgeuse would use his final resort—possessing Subaru's body. This possession was so powerful that no matter how strongly one held onto their consciousness, resistance was futile. —Those were the five points.
"Looking at it written out like this, this isn't just 'kills you on first sight' level. Add the powers of the Invisible Hand and Sloth to that, and it's so absurdly unfair it's not even funny."
The Invisible Hand—jet-black hands that inflicted invisible fatal wounds.
Sloth—spiritual contamination that broke the will of anyone without resistance and drove them insane.
And on top of overcoming both of those, even if you somehow managed to take his life, you couldn't kill him in a single go thanks to Possession.
If this were a one-shot, one-life affair, it would be perfectly reasonable to throw in the towel.
Subaru was confident that if he charged in knowing nothing, he'd be killed a hundred times out of a hundred. It was only by keeping his memories and looping over and over, refining his strategy each time, that a sliver of hope had finally begun to emerge—and that alone explained why the Witch Cult had been able to spread its influence for four hundred years.
That was the power Petelgeuse wielded—power specialized in killing on first sight.
If you thought of it as an unbeatable pattern that worked on anyone, then it made perfect sense that he was so well-known even within the Witch Cult, and had been elevated to such a position.
And that was precisely why Subaru was indispensable in facing Petelgeuse.
Against a man who could execute first-kill with ease, Subaru was the only existence who could challenge him with experience of what came after.
It was none too strong to say that Subaru Natsuki was Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti's natural enemy.
——Pushing through the dense, overgrown forest, Subaru headed for the cave he had visited so many times before.
His field of vision was entirely swallowed by green, in a world where he could easily lose all sense of direction—yet his footsteps held no hesitation. This was a path he had traveled for the same purpose many times over. His instincts, his feet, his memory-carved experience guided him there unerringly.
Not once had Subaru ever headed to that place with the intent to fight.
Last time and the time before that, he had resigned himself to the role of a time-stalling piece—no, a decoy—and thrown himself into that position with nothing on his mind but seeing it through.
Before even that, he'd been drowning in nothing but killing intent, despairing resignation, and other dark emotions.
But this time was different. Only this time.
Subaru had come here with the resolve to fight—to settle the long, long chain of battles that had repeated themselves again and again, and carve the conclusion with his own hands.
"Oh my, how wonderful of you to come, favored believer."
The trees parted and the view opened up. Sunlight touched Subaru's eyelids, and the hard rock surface met the soles of his feet. Squinting forward, he saw a towering cliff face blocking the horizon, and before it stood a gaunt figure with arms spread wide in welcome.
This would be the fifth time they met face-to-face like this.
Meeting someone repeatedly ought to build at least some measure of favorable impression, he thought—but for this man, that was apparently impossible.
"I am the Witch Cult's Sin Archbishop of Sloth! Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti—DESU!"
Petelgeuse thrust the fingers of both hands toward Subaru and announced himself with the same catchphrase he always used. His black priestly robes billowing, his yellowed teeth bared in a grin, the madman looked Subaru up and down with a sprightly air.
"A wonderful day, DESU! A splendid day, DESU! To think that on this very fated day—the day I had resolved to carry out the trial—I would be blessed with the arrival of a new beloved child of love...! My heart is fit to burst with tears, with emotion, with awe!"
He pressed a hand to his chest and began to twist his slender body in an embrace of himself. Subaru struggled to keep the disgust off his face at the madman's antics, took a small, deep breath, and said: "It is an honor to meet you, Archbishop. To converge with you just before the execution of the trial is truly humbling. However, if you would grace this humble servant and this soul of mine with a place among the faithful carrying out this trial, I could ask for no greater honor."
Subaru bowed low, dropped to one knee, and extended his greatest display of respect toward Petelgeuse. Observing this, Petelgeuse once again welled up with emotion, tears streaming down his cheeks in torrents.
"Oh, oh, what a magnificent resolve! What a pure and shining expression of love! I have never—never once in my life—cursed my own slothfulness so deeply! You! A devoted believer of love such as you! To have never welcomed you as a fellow faithful before—this is nothing less than the depravity wrought by the Witch Cult's, my own, slothfulness! Ah, please forgive me! Please forgive the slothfulness that might have missed even a single drop of the love you pour into this world!"
Countering Subaru's kneeling—or perhaps simply expressing the depth of his own emotion—Petelgeuse threw himself to the ground, limbs splayed, and began to punish himself by slamming his forehead against the rock surface. The merciless force split his forehead open, blood flowing freely, and he showed no hesitation in this act of self-harm.
Between this and the finger-crushing, Subaru had assumed this was simply someone who indulged in self-injury—but now that there was a possibility this body wasn't Petelgeuse's own, he could no longer dismiss it as mere self-harm.
Either way, it would be bad if his self-injury went too far and he actually died.
Their covert plan hadn't progressed far enough yet. The stalling had to continue, and the situation had to be brought to the anticipated development.
"Archbishop, please stop! Such an act will not please the Witch."
"Ah, but but but but but but! To atone for the slothfulness of my actions! The foolishness! The faithlessness of not repaying love! There is no way but to punish and discipline myself!"
"Not at all. The Witch would surely be pleased not by seeing her beloved believer wounded, but by having the trial carried out in a way that befits her favor."
Subaru approached and restrained Petelgeuse from further self-harm, speaking firmly. At that, Petelgeuse halted his thrashing movements and looked up at Subaru with wide eyes. A chill crept up Subaru's spine at the sight of those parched, desperate eyes, but he held his expression and gave a silent nod.
Suddenly, a bony, sinewy hand seized Subaru's arm with surprising force.
"Everything you say is absolutely right, DESU."
"——!"
"Ah, I was wrong, DESU! I was mistaken, DESU! I was incorrect, DESU! Yes! The trial—what I must do now is not self-punishment, not self-harm, not self-destruction, but the trial! To repay the love of my beloved Witch—carrying out the trial is the very mission to which I must devote my life! To forget that and wallow in self-deprecation—how foolish! Ah, your words have opened my eyes, DESU! Wonderful, wonderful, WONDERFULIIIIIII—!"
He violently shook Subaru's arm up and down, professing his one-sided gratitude, and rose to his feet. He roughly wiped the blood dripping from his forehead with the sleeve of his priestly robe, then shoved a finger into his mouth—which he had just declared was wrong to crush—and bit down on it.
"My slothful self is worth nothing, DESU! Diligence is the most noble thing in this world, and sloth is the most despicable vice! Therefore, I shall use diligence to cast sloth, the karma that clings to me, far away for eternity! Ah! You are such a diligent person, DESU! To welcome you as a new believer—truly, truly, truly, truly, truly, truly, truly—what a joy, DESU!"
His words and actions had lost all coherence, logic entirely shattered.
He spoke of regretting his self-harm while crushing his fingers. He shed tears in shame over his rash behavior, then seemed to forget everything and burst into gleeful laughter.
Subaru had known that Petelgeuse's words and actions were fractured, but even knowing that, he still couldn't keep up with the man's pace.
The sheer insanity of the man's nature was laid bare—enough to make Subaru, who was trying to keep the conversation going with the goal of stalling, fall silent involuntarily.
"——Shall we talk about the trial."
Subaru held his breath, closed his eyes, and forced those feelings of incomprehension down before speaking.
He'd brought up the "trial"—the great purpose of this attack that the madman had repeated so many times. As far as Subaru knew, Petelgeuse had never once actually delved into the specifics of what the trial entailed.
Petelgeuse called this attack a "trial" and made statements to the effect of testing Emilia, doing so over and over each time. So what was the true meaning behind it?
What would need to happen for the "trial" Petelgeuse had set to be considered overcome? Subaru had no interest whatsoever in understanding the madman, but without believing that there was some rationale behind his actions, it was impossible to engage with him.
At the very least, he had to be able to understand—what were they after at the end of these absurd deeds?
"On the occasion of this convergence, I would very much like to hear about the purpose of this operation—the trial, Archbishop."
"The trial."
Petelgeuse murmured, as if the emotions he'd been displaying moments ago had suddenly vanished.
A chill raced up Subaru's spine at the sight of this quiet demeanor, but he barely managed to keep it from showing on his face as he waited for what came next.
The last time he'd tried to broach the topic of the trial, Petelgeuse had demanded to see his Gospel and the conversation had fallen apart. What would happen this time?
Subaru swallowed with a painfully difficult gulp, feeling his stomach burn in the silence.
Just as the cold sweat beading on his forehead was about to become impossible to hold back— "The trial! Yes, the trial, DESU! It must be carried out, DESU! I must test, I must be tested—that is why I came here!"
Petelgeuse's face lit up, and he began to bounce around on the spot.
At the sudden outburst, Subaru—who had been frozen with tension—was momentarily dumbfounded. Before him, Petelgeuse continued in the same high-pitched, strained voice: "I must test her! Whether this half-devil, whose existence has newly come to light, is fit to bear the Witch! If she proves worthy as a vessel, she will be secured—and if not, she shall pay the price for her blasphemous birth!"
"Bear the Witch? A vessel? ...A price?"
"Her loneliness! Her negative emotions! That stifled suffering—that is the essence of a worthy vessel! I must elevate it to befit the Witch! Therefore, I—this slothful self, my will, my Fingers—must carry it out flawlessly! Ah! I must repay! I must repay love!"
As Petelgeuse extended his fingers skyward in a madman's gesture as if trying to grasp the heavens, and as Subaru absorbed the content of his words, he saw a certain answer and felt his blood run cold.
If the words "vessel" and "bear the Witch" meant what he thought they meant— "So the result of the trial—if that half-devil is found to be a worthy vessel... the Witch will be placed into that vessel..."
"The Witch of Envy,
Petelgeuse's voice rang with rapturous joy, tears streaming down his face in torrents.
Listening to this, Subaru tasted a revulsion more intense than nausea at just how vile the Witch Cult's true purpose was. So they had committed all those atrocities, carried out all those massacres, pushed Subaru into such desperate corners—and all along— "They don't see any value in Emilia herself."
To them, Emilia was nothing more than a vessel to contain the Witch's soul.
Before the Witch's soul entered her body, it didn't matter how noble the vessel's owner was, how desperately she fought, how many people loved her—not a single shred of it meant anything.
It was an endless insult to Emilia as a person, and for
In the process, reducing an entire village to scorched earth didn't register as anything worth feeling remorse over, not even a passing twinge. They could subconsciously dismiss the fact that every life they took held its own story, its own dreams and tomorrows.
Otherwise, how could they carry out such acts with composure—neither laughing them off nor treating them with any gravity?
"—Monsters."
For just an instant, a single word of Subaru's hostility escaped his lips. Petelgeuse did not notice.
A being with thoughts that could not be understood, with convictions that could never be sympathized with, with whom understanding would forever be impossible—a monster. That was Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti.
"Archbishop, I am deeply moved by your words. The ideals of the Witch Cult are even more inspiring than I had heard. I shall see the trial through without fail."
"Oh! As I knew—you are splendid! Yes, DESU, that is how it must be, DESU! We must unite as one, single-mindedly, devoting ourselves to the cause—or we will lose our purpose! My fingers, my feet, my eyes, my nose, my mouth, my tongue, my blood, my bones, my flesh, my soul—all of it exists to be offered to the Witch! From the moment I received her favor, from the moment I knew I was loved, I—this existence that is I—became nothing but dust and chaff whose sole purpose is to repay love with every fiber of my being... Ah! How slothful of me!"
Petelgeuse received Subaru's saccharine flattery—words coated in enough sweetness to rot one's mouth—taking the surface meaning at face value without the slightest suspicion.
He spoke with pride of the selfish faith that overflowed from within him, then reached into the folds of his priestly robe and withdrew a black-bound book—the Gospel—and began flipping through its pages.
"The words inscribed in the Gospel—they speak of love! They compel me to act! To uphold love, to see one's deeds through to the end, obstacles are essential! Obstacles are necessary! Obstacles are natural...! And therefore—this is the time, the moment when my daily diligence, my faith that resists sloth, is tested, tested, tested—the trial bestowed upon me!"
Tracing the characters on the page with his finger, Petelgeuse's eyes ran wild with bloodshot fervor, foam gathering at the corners of his mouth.
For Subaru, who had once successfully snatched the Gospel from Petelgeuse's hands, the book in the madman's possession was as incomprehensible as a foreign text filled with undecipherable characters.
But those inscribed words were clearly intelligible to Petelgeuse.
With each character he traced, his cheeks flushed with excitement, colored by fervor, and his eyes filled with joy and obsession—it was all unmistakable.
And then— "The presentation... of the Gospel."
Petelgeuse tilted his head ninety degrees, leaned his torso, and swiveled to face Subaru.
Hearing those words, Subaru stopped moving for a beat and closed his eyes, recognizing the inevitable moment had arrived. From past experience, even when conversation seemed to be going smoothly, this was the point where Petelgeuse would deliver a hard cut.
Every single Witch Cultist was said to be delivered what amounted to a holy scripture—the Gospel.
How it was selected and by whom it was sent—this was part of the Witch Cult's dark depths that even Wilhelm and the others couldn't ascertain.
But setting aside those unknowns, possession of the Gospel was an essential mark of identity for a Witch Cultist.
"I would like to request the presentation of the Gospel, DESU. You have been recognized as a believer—what exactly has the Witch bestowed upon you—I would very, very, very, very, very, very much like to know, DESU."
With each repetition of "very," he tilted his head left and right in a rhythm that threatened to make the viewer dizzy, staring intently at Subaru.
Judging from that posture and attitude, the signal Subaru had been waiting for still hadn't come. His role as a staller was still in effect—so first, he took a breath to keep the conversation going.
"About the Gospel, you see..."
"Yes, the Gospel, DESU. If you have been recognized as a believer, you should have it in your possession..."
"Actually, due to some sort of mix-up, the Gospel was never delivered to me."
Subaru cut through Petelgeuse's words of agreement and confessed that he did not possess the Gospel. At this, Petelgeuse's eyes went wide—but before he could say anything, Subaru thrust out his palm and interjected, "Now wait just a moment!" And then: "I do not, in fact, possess the Gospel! I do not! However, my love for the Witch burns true within this heart, overflows from within! Even without a tangible Gospel in my hands, if this formless devotion of mine—the cry of my soul to repay the love I have been given—is not genuine, then what else could it possibly be!?"
"You are—"
"Though my form differs from yours, I am, like you, but a single leaf devoted to the Witch! I will assist in the trial with everything I have! I offer all of me in service to the Witch! No—in truth, every last fragment of my soul, my very being has already been surrendered entirely to the Witch!"
Subaru's words poured forth in a rapid barrage, giving Petelgeuse no room for rebuttal. He raised his fist, stamped his foot, and contorted his face as if wringing out every last drop of his conviction.
"Or perhaps—Archbishop! Petelgeuse! Would you deny this cry of my soul!? Would you mock my pathetic, foolish clinging to formless love!? If so, then so be it—I can accept that! But even then! Even then, my faith cannot be broken by anyone! Love—love is everything!"
Subaru thrust his fist skyward, having said every last thing he wanted to say.
As for Petelgeuse—he listened quietly to Subaru's impassioned words, and at the final cry, let out a soft "Ohhh..." breath.
"What a vivid, crystalline whisper of love, DESU..."
As though struck by lightning, all traces of sharpness drained from Petelgeuse's expression.
The madman was moved by Subaru's words, his face washed clean as if his heart had been purified, tears spilling down his cheeks.
"I doubted you—please forgive my slothfulness, DESU. You are splendid, truly and without reservation splendid. You possess a confidence to proclaim love aloud even without a tangible Gospel, even without the Gospel—nothing at all like the wretched me, DESU. You who are loved without needing to say a word, who carry such dense favor—you are truly worthy, DESU!"
Overcome with admiration, Petelgeuse dropped to his knees and placed a hand over his heart in a gesture of respect for Subaru's faithfulness. Taken in isolation, it did lend him the air of a devout religious figure.
Seeing that attitude, that posture, Subaru could not help but feel a certain sentiment. It was— "This guy's a pushover, isn't he."
"Did you say something, DESU?"
"Please rise, Archbishop. I am not nearly important enough to be treated so. More importantly, are we not both equally bathed in the Witch's love, working together to repay that love?"
With a smile of perfect sincerity—pure facade—Subaru extended a hand to Petelgeuse. Petelgeuse blinked, said "That is so, DESU," took Subaru's hand, and rose to his feet. He then snapped the Gospel shut with a sharp sound.
"Calling myself a Sin Archbishop, I see that my perspective has been far too narrow, DESU. I am ashamed of myself. On that note, I thank you for your graciousness. And I swear—by the greatest diligence within me—to repay the love of the Witch who brought about this meeting!"
"Yes! Absolutely! Let us continue to push each other to new heights!"
"Oh, what joyous words, DESU! Such conviction even without a Gospel—is it not magnificent? Given such strong favor, you are perhaps 'Pride,' are you not, DESU? If so, then even without a Gospel, you should be conscious of having absorbed the Witch Factor..."
"Witch Factor—?"
Another term Subaru had heard before but couldn't place. He tilted his head in puzzlement.
Petelgeuse nodded. "Yes, DESU."
"The believers receive the Gospel, and those of us who are Sin Archbishops receive the Witch Factor along with the Gospel, DESU. Without the Witch Factor, to speak of the trial—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
When Subaru frowned at this sudden pause, Petelgeuse tucked the Gospel back into his robes and instead withdrew something else from within.
In his open palm, he held a hand mirror that emitted a faint glow—a Dialogue Mirror— "——!"
"My apologies, DESU. There appears to be a message from one of my Fingers... It seems something has changed in the situation. Perhaps because we've met up. I hope it is good news, DESU."
Petelgeuse dropped his gaze to the Dialogue Mirror, unaware that Subaru's expression had shifted ever so slightly. Without noticing, he opened the mirror and spoke to his own reflection.
"It is I. Is there some change—"
*'Umm, what was it again? Oh, right! Tra-tra-tra!'* "Ha?"
Petelgeuse's face froze solid at the sight and words of the person reflected in the mirror.
Watching Petelgeuse go rigid before him, Subaru understood—without being able to peek into the Dialogue Mirror himself—who and what must be reflected there.
The person in the mirror was wiggling cat ears, waving, sticking out their tongue, and reciting the code phrase exactly as they'd agreed upon.
"Who are you...? Why are my Fingers...?"
"Tra-tra-tra."
"Ha?"
Before Petelgeuse's questioning gaze, Subaru softly repeated the phrase.
Petelgeuse cocked his head at the sound. Subaru, confronted with Petelgeuse's clearly puzzled demeanor, turned to him with a full-faced grin.
Not the forced smile from before, but his real one—the twisted, fang-baring grin of a mischievous brat.
"Code for: 'The ambush was a success' — that's what it means."
"What? What does it mean... I don't—"
"You don't get it? Yeah, don't worry about it."
Subaru explained the code phrase with painstaking thoroughness, then nodded cheerfully at Petelgeuse's continued incomprehension. And then: "—Because I didn't have the faintest idea what you were saying either!!"
His right fist connected squarely with the madman's face—a straight blow carrying every ounce of the patience and frustration he'd been swallowing all day. The full-force punch sent the gaunt body flying.
Petelgeuse tumbled to the ground with a groan, eyes rolling back, unable to conceal his shock at the sudden violence.
Looking down at the pathetic man, Subaru unclenched his fist and pointed a finger at him.
And declared: "I've held back more than enough—it's over. Time to put you down for good, Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti!!"