"Fu-ku-ku."
It came the instant
What rang out was a laugh that could no longer be held back. At first it was nothing more than a faint exhalation of breath, but it steadily grew beyond all restraint, swelling louder and louder until it became a full-throated cackle.
"Ha ha ha! Ah ha ha! Fuku— ah ha ha ha ha!"
Regulus threw his head back and roared with laughter as though he'd just heard a wonderful joke. He dug his fingers into his white hair and raked them through, the madman writhing in the grip of a laughter no one else could share.
In that ostentatious display, Subaru saw confirmation that Emilia's guess was correct.
"What the hell is so funny!?"
"Isn't it obvious!? You're the ones who should be laughing in despair at the hopelessness of your situation— no, really. Do you even understand what's happening? You're the ones tightening the noose around your own necks, one by one!"
"Guh…!"
His throat seized up.
Regulus's rebuttal, in this one moment alone, was a flawless argument with no room for counter.
Subaru turned back to Emilia and silently asked whether her theory held.
But Emilia shook her head in response to his pleading gaze.
"There's no mistake. I had the miniaudiences confirm it, and I can feel it myself— inside me, there's something extra that isn't part of me. It's disgusting."
Emilia's assertion, and the presentation of a devastating truth.
The effect of the "Lion's Heart" had transferred to Emilia. That meant the only way to dispel it was to stop the beating of Emilia's heart.
"Wait— so why Emilia's heart in the first place? Why was I wrong about how 'Little King' works? That heart of his, he can entrust it to anyone he—"
If that was truly how the ability worked, then Regulus's Authority had no openings. If Regulus could hand his heart off to even a complete stranger, then as long as humans drew breath, there was no way to kill him.
No— or rather, what if every living creature with a heart could serve as a substitute?
"Shameless."
"The howling of a loser sounds so lovely. Ha ha ha, say whatever you want. Grumbling about your defeat is the privilege of the vanquished— and I have every right to savor that privilege as the victor. Ah, not bad! Not bad at all!"
"You said I wasn't befitting of your wife, didn't you?"
"Shut up. Stop grandstanding about your precious rights. More importantly, what about the responsibility for killing my wives!? Do you have any idea how many years it took me to gather that many ideal brides!? And now— at your age— with not a single wife or girlfriend to your name— you're going to make me into some pathetic widower!? You have an obligation to be a stopgap until I find new wives, don't you!?"
Emilia spoke with cutting contempt, and Regulus countered with his absurd logic. The madman's delusional reasoning apparently justified his continued residence inside Emilia's heart. Which meant the possibility of it transferring somewhere other than Emilia's heart— "Want to test it? See whether there's anywhere else it can go?"
"————"
"The test is simple. Just kill the girl standing in front of you right now. If you snuff out her breath, it'll become obvious whether my Authority hits a dead end. Very, very simple and perfectly logical— ah ha! Of course you can't do it, right!? If you did that, the whole meaning and purpose of challenging me in the first place would vanish along with your precious self-justification!"
It was infuriating, but Regulus was right.
Subaru didn't have the courage to sacrifice Emilia. He'd be called selfish, he'd be called self-centered, he didn't care— he simply couldn't do it.
To defeat Regulus, his brides had thrown away their lives.
He could steel himself to accept those sacrifices as unavoidable— but he couldn't stake Emilia's life, or the lives of his other companions, on top of that.
"See? He can't do it. So why don't you do it yourself in his place? It's easy. Just do exactly what you did to the other brides. Or what— you can't? You can selfishly take other people's lives, but your own life is too precious to sacrifice? Amazing, really— it makes me want to puke."
"—Subaru."
"Wait. Stop. Not that. Anything but that."
Emilia called Subaru's name in a voice that carried a strange resolve. The sheer detachment in that tone frightened him, and Subaru stopped her.
She hadn't been provoked, and she hadn't given up.
But if Emilia saw no way to win, she was prepared to choose the worst option.
And Subaru had only the will to stop her from making that choice. But that, too, would mean defeat.
He called her name, he stayed her hand— and yet he had nothing else to say.
"So, can we wrap this up soon? Dragging around a wretched woman like you isn't my idea of a hobby, but I'll compromise for now. Think of yourself as a stopgap until the next bride comes along. I'll be killing him, though. For infringing on my rights to this extent… oh, right. Come to think of it, it's hilarious, isn't it?"
In front of Subaru, gritting his teeth, Regulus playfully twisted his lips.
Mana swirled around Emilia, her decision about to be set into motion. In the midst of it all, Regulus, as if he hadn't a care in the world, sneered.
"You're that guy, aren't you? The one who was yelling all sorts of things in the city before his wedding? 'I killed an Archbishop of Sin' or something… what a joke. If you thought killing one of those useless wrecks meant you could beat me, my condolences. Before becoming an Archbishop of Sin and after, that guy couldn't accomplish a single thing worth mentioning— the fool."
Regulus guffawed. The person his words referred to was, without question, Subaru's own bête noire— the madman Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti.
Petelgeuse was the lowest of the low, a fanatic beyond any possibility of defense. There was no way to feel even a shred of fondness toward that lunatic— he was a creature of malice and blood who deserved to die.
And yet, to hear an Archbishop of Sin— someone who should have been one of their own— mocked by Regulus brought a brutally primitive sense of discomfort to Subaru's heart.
Especially now, in this extreme situation where Emilia's life hung in the balance of defeating Regulus.
After all, Petelgeuse had been— "—Ah."
The hateful lunatic— that blood-soaked mad laughter surfaced in his mind, and as it echoed, Subaru raised his head. He clutched his own chest as though tearing at it and gasped.
Could it be… was that possible?
"Can I… do it…?"
He didn't know.
Strictly speaking, the possibility that had crossed Subaru's mind was guaranteed by no one— a theoretical pipe dream, no, closer to a delusion of Subaru's own making. His own private intuition, nothing more.
But precisely because of that. Precisely because of that, only Subaru could have inferred this possibility.
The idea came at the last second, the basis was pure instinct, and whether it would succeed even the gods didn't know— but, "Emilia."
"————"
Feeling the mana's influence rising to an extreme across his skin, Subaru called out to her.
Emilia wore an expression of grim resolve that could almost be called tragic. But deep in the eyes, a sudden emotion flickered— expectation and trust in Subaru.
Buoyed by that feeling, Subaru asked.
"Emilia."
"Mm."
"—Will you believe in me and leave everything to me?"
"Mm."
His strained question received a simple, unhesitating answer.
Emilia placed a hand on her own chest and, for the first time since returning, moved her cheeks into a smile.
"Because I believe you'll do it, Subaru."
Ah, damn it. How cowardly this was.
To be trusted so absolutely by the girl he loved— failure was not an option.
Whether he clung to it or bit into it, he had to make this succeed.
Subaru drew in a deep breath and let it out.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Regulus, who was watching in silence. Regulus hadn't interrupted their conversation— he stood with arms folded, waiting with languid composure.
"You're pretty confident, huh?"
"I am?"
Not a shred of losing was in him.
Regulus had revealed his entire hand and completely shut them down. In truth, the "Lion's Heart" Authority was perfect. Even after deciphering the trick, Subaru hadn't anticipated that victory would be placed so far beyond their reach.
But it was precisely because Regulus was certain of his immediate victory that he could watch with such dismissive amusement at whatever desperate flail Subaru and Emilia might attempt.
Without knowing what was about to happen. And Subaru was in the same boat.
"————"
If
Deep in his chest, the connection to the girl who was his partner still existed. Surely, once everything was settled, he'd be given an enormous scolding— and he would have to scold her in return.
So now, alone, he recalled what it had been like when he was alone, and he summoned forth the memories that remained in this heart— the primal landscape of fear and anguish that was by no means a pleasant thing.
"Subaru."
"————"
"Do it."
Emilia's voice, and with it the push of her resolve.
Subaru grabbed roughly at his own chest and focused his consciousness on the power that churned within him— something so dark, so foreign it hardly felt like his own— and set it free.
In this moment, let him rename it properly.
So that even the madman he'd just cursed would understand what was happening.
This power was inherited from the hateful lunatic.
"Come on… Invisible Proviiiidence—!!"
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ —Invisible Providence. Or the "Invisible Hand."
Subaru defined this power churning within him as a power of the
Until now, Subaru had never sought the origin of his power anywhere other than the Witch Factor.
That it resembled the madman's ability was simply because the Witch Factor of "Sloth" he'd inherited had that particular nature. That was all there was to it.
He didn't even want to consider the possibility that Petelgeuse lived on inside him.
—But then what was this sensation?
Swirling, flickering, within Subaru a soundless voice rose in acclaim.
Acclaim for having been called forth. Acclaim for having regained the power. Acclaim for being needed and being able to deliver. And a joy beyond words.
This euphoria, this emotion, this gratitude that accompanied the release of power— This turbulent wave of inexplicable feeling was not something that could be settled as Subaru's problem alone.
"Hah!?"
Regulus's voice cracked in shock at Subaru's triumphant shout.
There was no way he could see it. This was a phantom hand beyond sight.
A death-dealing hand invisible to the eye— the very power of the useless wreck Regulus had mocked and belittled, the diluted power of a dilute version of that same useless wreck.
The number: one. The range: extremely short. The probability: unknown.
As a key to turning the tide in this situation, it was woefully insufficient.
"————"
The first stage— activating the phantom hand— had been breached. From here, the second stage of unknowns, and the final third stage.
Subaru moved his fingertips according to his will, pouring his desire into the shadowy hand he'd woven.
"Emilia!"
Once more he asked for the truth of her resolve, seeking her push.
Hearing his voice, Emilia closed her eyes, then nodded as if she understood.
"Oh, I see. —There you are, Juuice."
In her eyes settled acceptance and affection, and she opened her arms wide.
Reading Subaru's intent, she seemed to see what was about to happen, and she laid bare the shortest path to her own heart. Subaru didn't hesitate— he sent the phantom hand through.
"————"
The invisible hand slid into the center of Emilia's chest. When her fingertips passed through the white skin, Emilia's shoulders twitched faintly as though she'd felt something.
But the hand didn't stop. It passed through the sternum, threaded between the lungs, and reached the source of the heartbeat.
—The phantom hand had arrived at Emilia's heart.
The second stage was complete.
When the hand touched the taboo, the Witch's phantom hand would pass through Subaru's own body and damage his heart. This was an application of that effect. Whether the Invisible Hand and the Witch's phantom hand were of the same nature had been nothing but a gamble.
But the gamble had held this far. The problem was the last stage— the power with no basis whatsoever.
If all he wanted was to crush Emilia's heart, he could do it in this very moment. But that would accomplish nothing. This was not a power for that.
So what was this power for? —It was a power for saving, in this very instant.
"————"
Was it even possible? In a fraction of a heartbeat, Subaru held his breath.
Could the Invisible Hand actually save people? Under the madman Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti, how many lives had been taken by this power?
People said power depended on how it was used— but there were powers whose use was inherently limited. Wasn't the Invisible Hand simply another power meant for destruction?
That this was a power created to keep someone alive— he couldn't possibly— "Subaru."
In the instant of his hesitation, Emilia's voice reached him when it shouldn't have been able to.
"It's okay. —I believe in you. Both of you."
Both of whom?
Emilia's trust was directed at Subaru, and at one other person Subaru didn't know.
And she had accepted it so incredibly easily.
—That this hand would never hurt Emilia.
"Ohhhh! Roar, my third hand!!"
The doubt he couldn't bring himself to believe in regarding his own power finally dissipated.
Where this power originated no longer mattered. If it was here, in Subaru's hands, and Subaru had no intention of hurting Emilia, and perhaps even the power itself held something— Within Emilia's chest, the hand woven in shadow closed its fingers.
Its fingertips found the heart that pulsed with Emilia's life, and when they grazed the surface with a gentle, ticklish touch, Emilia let out a small gasp. It was a contact where a strange tenderness preceded even pain.
Blushing, Emilia watched from within her own chest as the closed hand seized— not the pulse that sustained her, but the excessively "small lion's heart"— "Got— it!"
To extract it? There was no leisure for that.
Subaru's phantom hand crushed the heart that audaciously continued to throb inside Emilia.
Not the organ of love— the parasitic organ that had existed in Emilia's heart only by proclaiming love.
Against the nonexistent third hand, Subaru felt a solid sensation. And then— "Guhaaah!"
A concentration unlike anything he'd ever mustered, applied to a power that was not his own, exacted its toll.
A pain as though his insides were being wrung, and a sensation of loss as though he were being defiled— it tore through him, and Subaru dropped to one knee. He coughed violently; blood spilled from his mouth.
"Subaru!"
Emilia reached out toward Subaru, who knelt on the water-soaked ground with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. He seized her outstretched hand and pressed it to his cheek.
"Ah…"
"You're alive, right?"
"…Mm, I'm fine. My heart— my heart is beating properly inside me."
As Subaru confirmed the feeling of her living hand, Emilia used her free hand to check her own pulse. It was beating— a heartbeat that blessed the fact that she was here.
And the two of them were watched by Regulus alone, his face twisted beyond comprehension.
"Hah? What— what is this!? You guys understand each other and leave everyone else behind? What kind of cheap melodrama is this!? What happened, what did you do—"
"…You haven't noticed?"
"Hah!? What are you going on about— haven't noticed? Nothing's changed—"
"Your feet are wet."
"—?"
As Regulus was about to throw himself into a tantrum, Subaru pointed it out for him. Regulus glanced down at his own feet in confusion, went silent for a moment, and then his eyes went wide.
His white tuxedo— the white shoes and hem— were soaked through with the water pooling around his feet.
"You—!?"
Realizing far too late what had changed, Regulus bared his teeth and raised his arm to strike. But a long, pale foot swung up from the side and kicked him狠狠 across the face.
Regulus took the blow square on, defenseless. He cried out in pain and was slammed into the waterlogged ground. Half his body soaked further, and a bootprint was clearly imprinted on his face.
"Guh, bleh… how… how…"
As if he couldn't believe it, Regulus raised his dazed face. Staring down at him, Emilia tilted her head slightly after delivering the beautiful kick.
"Got it. It finally hit."
"You— you—!"
At Emilia's brief note of accomplishment, Regulus's face flushed red with fury. He surged to his feet, scooping up water, and flung a spray of it at Emilia.
But the pain from the kick had broken his stance— the water projectiles went wild and flew off in the wrong direction, leaving his torso wide open for— "Ice Brand Arts!"
"Gobeh!"
An ice hammer formed in Emilia's hand and struck Regulus dead center.
The full-force swing would have cracked bone, and the madman's body went tumbling through the water. Coughing, punching the water again and again, Regulus glared at Subaru and Emilia with bloodshot eyes.
"Why!? Why why why why!? You people— how did you, how did you do it, how did you undo the Greed Authority!? My rights!?"
"If you can't figure it out just from watching, then explaining it to you would be a complete waste of time. Well, it's simple, really."
Pitying the sputtering Regulus, Subaru endured the scream of his own innards and sneered.
With a grin every bit as vicious as Petelgeuse's.
"You were too busy running your mouth and got counterattacked."
"—!!"
Even if the meaning of the words didn't register, the mockery came through loud and clear.
Regulus let out a soundless scream, ignored Emilia entirely, and drew back to launch himself at Subaru. But Emilia was faster.
"The first attack— the brides' attack— didn't seem to connect, so let me make sure it hits this time."
"Don't— you dare—!"
Generated above Regulus's head: an enormous volley of ice pillars.
Each one was different in size, but if they all pierced him, death was a foregone conclusion. Emilia's hatred for Regulus had reached a level that forced even her gentle nature to grant no quarter.
Regulus sprang to his feet and batted the downpour of ice pillars aside with sprays of water. The pillars shattered, but even the smaller fragments that remained served their purpose.
Wave after wave of ice projectiles rained down in a storm, and Regulus ran through the water while bathing in the barrage, screaming curses too awful to hear.
White ice crystals produced a fog, and the waterlogged streets froze solid. Subaru, too, found a film of ice forming around the puddle where he knelt, and had to wrench his hand free in a hurry.
Even with consideration for Subaru, the damage here was considerable. Naturally, the damage to Regulus, the actual target, was far worse.
But— "…You're still alive?"
In the frozen landscape left when the ice barrage ceased, Regulus stood intact.
Bracing himself on his knees, heaving ragged breaths, drenched from head to toe— he had managed to avoid the end that should have come in the form of a kebab.
"Haaah… haah… ah… haa…"
Gasping for air, Regulus clutched his chest.
Seeing him like this, Subaru understood. The invincibility granted by the "Lion's Heart" was still usable even with the heart lodged inside someone else. However, "To make yourself invincible, you have to stop your own time— and that means stopping the heart you've placed inside, too. —So your invincibility is time-limited, huh?"
"Guh…!"
Pierced right through, Regulus bore the agony in his chest with a face twisted in fury. If it was time-limited, then if Emilia kept pouring on attacks, eventually they would break through.
If that happened, Regulus was nothing more than a minion who had gone all-in on attack power.
"Hey— hey! Don't you think this is unfair!?"
As Subaru analyzed their respective combat strength, Regulus pointed a finger at him. Then Regulus pointed his finger at Emilia as well, glaring at them both in turn.
"Two against one, ganging up on one person— doesn't that sting your conscience!? Doesn't something important inside you break when you do that!? Don't you have any doubts about yourselves!? Of course you should!"
"…You're really something, you know that."
When the "Lion's Heart" effect had given him the advantage, he'd talked whatever he pleased with that same mouth— and now that the effect was gone, he was demanding the other side's legitimacy based on his own disadvantage.
Subaru was beyond exasperated; he almost wanted to admire it. He would never again encounter a being so utterly devoid of human charm, not before or after.
"So basically— are you saying? Two-on-one is cowardly, so we should have a one-on-one, fair and square? That's what a real fight should look like— is that what you're getting at?"
"That's right! You just do things properly and fairly, right!? I— who do you think I am!? I am
His voice trembling, Regulus looked down at his own hands.
Subaru had nothing left to say. So in his place, Emilia spoke.
"You change your mind in an instant, and everything you say is hollow. I think you might be the most pitiful person in the entire world."
"—! Don't make me laugh! I'll make you regret making a fool of me— me… the 'Greed'!"
Even his anger at being despised was shallow. Regulus spat out insults again and again.
Watching that hopeless display, Subaru felt a measure of relief. Regulus truly knew no way to win other than from the most advantageous position possible.
If he could still use the "Lion's Heart" even for a short time, there were countless winning strategies available.
And yet, at the first difficult turn, without examining the board from corner to corner, he threw in the towel.
"Coasting through life on easy mode will trip you up somewhere unexpected."
"Hah…?"
"Nothing. Just talking to myself. But hey— I'll accept that one-on-one."
"—! That's right. That's what I'm talking about! Of course, a knight wouldn't let his lady go ahead of him, right?"
Regulus jumped at the convenient offer, trying to push for even more advantageous terms.
Between Subaru and Emilia, who was more powerful wasn't even worth comparing. If he killed Subaru first and could throw Emilia off balance, he might stand a chance. It was a rational conclusion reached by a petty mind trying to best Subaru.
But if that was Regulus's approach, he was infinitely off the mark.
Finding a winning path in a checkmate board— that was Subaru's way of fighting.
In their very approach to the battle, Regulus and Subaru were polar opposites.
"That's right. The knight fights. That's only proper."
"Then—"
"So— sorry, but I'm leaving the finish to you, again."
Standing with his feet still in the puddle, Subaru said it as though exhaling.
Regulus tilted his head with a "Hah?" But Subaru's words hadn't been directed at him. They were directed at "him."
"Ah, understood. —As a knight, I accept the challenge of a duel."
What answered was fire.
Through the waterlogged streets— without so much as disturbing the surface of the water—a young man walked forward. Not the counterfeit mystery Regulus wielded, but a blessing bestowed by heaven's favor.
"A knight of the Royal Guard of the
Stepping before Subaru and Emilia, the knight turned his sheathed sword toward Regulus. The posture of two combatants announcing themselves, seeking a fair and honorable duel.
A duel recognized and upheld even by the likes of "Bowel Hunter" Elsa— a righteousness known to all.
In response, Regulus stumbled to his feet, thrust both hands forward and— "Wait— wait! This is— this is insane, right!?"
The Sword Saint would show no mercy to one who had defiled a sacred duel and denied the code of the warrior.
A rising slash entered from between Regulus's legs and cleaved his body vertically in a single flash— without even a scream, Regulus was launched high into the sky.
"————!!"
To a height so great he could look down on the entirety of the Water City he himself had destroyed.
A sound that was neither scream nor curse echoed in his wake.
Next time, Regulus's name is recalled.