——It took several seconds for the meaning of those words to sink in and be fully digested.
"Reid is…
The unexpected revelation scrambled Subaru's thoughts in a way entirely separate from the agony he'd wrenched from his allies. His brain was sluggish from the pain and suffering, the negative sensations he'd forcibly absorbed from his companions, but that was no excuse to stand idle.
Even if his brain were to melt out of his ears in a few hours' time, he couldn't afford to stop thinking.
"————"
Standing before him, displaying his imposing posture like a monument, was the red-haired swordsman — undeniably the most troublesome existence in the
Beside him, Julius held his knight's sword at the ready. There was no trace of falsehood in his expression as he fixed his gaze on Reid. He was never the type to crack inappropriate jokes in life-or-death situations — that had been Subaru's impression of Julius after forgetting everything, which made the situation all the more serious.
Because Julius's confident statement was an undeniable fact.
"So Reid is 'Gluttony'…?"
Reid had been one of the five obstacles residing in the Watchtower, yet his alignment in the friend-or-foe calculus had always been ambiguous. Now that his existence had been explicitly identified as one of the enemies — "So that's why you… over and over again, deliberately targeted us…?"
"——Hey, hold on, you. That's one hell of a boring misunderstanding you've got there."
"Huh?"
"I'm not joking, you. Hey, you. You, I said. You — don't tell me you actually believe some random fool was disguised as me. That'd be such a lame conclusion, you."
Hearing Subaru's trembling voice, Reid's cheeks twisted with unmistakable displeasure.
Subaru couldn't understand what that reaction meant.
——The Sin Archbishop of Gluttony, Roy Alphard, had manifested in Reid's form.
Having just witnessed Louis Arneb's transformation, Subaru had reached that conclusion through perfectly sound logic. Gluttony's Authority allowed one to steal the opponent's combat ability by assuming their very form — and the result of that was the Reid standing before him.
But that conclusion had made Reid openly irritable.
It wasn't the cowardly behavior of someone desperately trying to hide their true identity at death's door — it looked more like a simpler, almost childlike indignation.
The truth behind it was — "Of course I'm me. That's exactly why I'm here doing this. What, you disagree? You telling me I'm wrong?"
"————"
Reid touched the eyepatch over his left eye and bared his sharp fangs as he hurled those words at Subaru.
Hearing that, Subaru held his breath and furrowed his brow, trying to decipher the true meaning behind the statement. Then, realizing a certain possibility, he choked on his air.
"Julius, could it be…?"
"Yes. Your assumption is almost certainly correct."
Without breaking his gaze from Reid, Julius gave a curt nod in response to Subaru's strained whisper. The handsome knight wiped the blood from his own cheek against his shoulder, then — "My phrasing was poor earlier. Allow me to correct myself. — The man before us, that body belongs to Roy Alphard. But his mind does not."
"…His mind."
"Roy Alphard devoured Reid Astrea's 'memories,' and those 'memories' seized dominance over his own consciousness. That is why he was able to descend unrestricted to the second floor and come here."
"————"
The outlandish possibility had been confirmed by Julius, and Subaru was struck speechless.
Could such a thing really happen? Subaru — no, not just Subaru, but everyone present,
Certainly, Julius's explanation made everything fall into place. Reid, who should have been confined to the second floor as an examiner of the Watchtower's 'trials,' had been freely wandering the tower — that was the truth behind it. Across the countless loops Subaru had repeated, the chaos at the Watchtower's final stage had allowed Reid to move freely — he'd been leveraging Gluttony's actions to gain that freedom.
Yes. That was it. Now every inexplicable situation surrounding Reid made sense.
——Except the truth was so far beyond the norm that their jaws simply wouldn't close.
"So he was dragged down by the 'memories' and lost sight of who he really was?" Beatrice said.
"More simply put, the stronger sense of self won out. — In terms of sheer egocentrism, it's hard to imagine anyone surpassing him," Ram added.
Beatrice and Ram arrived at the same conclusion as Subaru, just a beat later. Crude as it sounded, Ram's words succinctly captured the truth of the matter.
"But there's still one question…"
That being: why hadn't Reid's existence vanished from everyone's memories after being devoured? Up until now, everyone targeted by Gluttony —
"In principle, what Gluttony devoured from Reid was not his 'name' — only his 'memories.' You cannot devour 'memories' or 'names' from the dead. That was Roy Alphard's own claim."
"——! You witnessed Reid being devoured?!"
Sensing Subaru's doubts, Julius answered with one eye briefly shut. He gave a short "Yes," then glanced at the collapsed wall he'd come through — "Right after your instructions to ascend to the second floor. I happened upon Roy Alphard and Reid in the middle of a negotiation. Whether 'negotiation' is even the right word is debatable, though…"
"What do you mean, 'debatable'?"
"Because Reid was offering no resistance. — Most likely, Gluttony was exempt from the 'trial' for some reason. And so the examiner couldn't attack him."
"Hah! You're about half right and half wrong there, you."
It was Reid himself who interjected with a correction to Julius's speculation. Cracking his thick neck, he clawed at his own chest — "Sure, those ones weren't participants in the 'trial,' but I coulda done it if I'd wanted to. It's just, if I had, I wouldn't be here now, would I?"
"You were confident you could seize the other party's sense of self?"
"I ain't letting anyone take half-measures with me. If you're gonna take everything I've got, that's what makes the gamble exciting. That little runt just didn't get that part."
Setting aside the fact that he'd gained a new body, Reid spoke with utter indifference about the Gluttony Archbishop involved in the process. But the reality before them spoke for itself — Roy Alphard's ego had been completely overwritten by the monster known as Reid Astrea.
"If you wanna devour me, consume every last bit of me, you need a belly big enough to hold it all. This one didn't have that. So I tore through his gut from the inside. That's all there was to it."
"That's all there was to it…?"
Setting aside the unceasing nausea and accumulated physical and mental erosion, Subaru felt his head splitting.
In other words, to put it bluntly, what had happened to Reid was — "He came back to life… resurrection from the dead?"
"In effect, yes. Though it could only occur as a near-miraculous event — requiring a being with the ability to interfere with the 'memories' of the dead to encounter the right circumstances."
"A miracle…"
To witness the revival of a life that should have been lost four hundred years ago — even without Julius's intention, it could be called a bitterly ironic miracle incarnate.
Subaru had no intention of commenting on the miracle of resurrection itself, but — "Um, could I ask one thing?"
"Oh?"
The one who suddenly spoke up, having整理ed her thoughts on the events, was Emilia.
Since encountering Reid, Emilia had kept silent to avoid interrupting the conversation. Seeing that things had reached a pause, she turned her amethyst eyes toward Reid.
And then — "You are… Reid, right? You came back to life? And now you can leave that place, which is really, really wonderful, congratulations — but"
"Yeah, thanks to you, hot stuff. Now I can pin you down in a nice private spot. Pour me a drink tonight, will you? Other than that — ah, don't worry, I'll set everything up myself."
"? You're asking me out on a date? But I've only ever done 'da-date' stuff with
It was an exchange Subaru couldn't exactly ignore, but he had no bandwidth to jump on Emilia's date comment right now.
Oblivious to Subaru's inner turmoil, Emilia adjusted the way she was carrying him on her shoulder — "Now that you're free, could you please stop getting in our way? You might not know this, but we're really, really busy right now…"
"Don't make me say it, hot stuff. I've got a pretty good grasp of what's going on here. I mean, the brat whose body I'm wearing happens to know way too much about everything. — Ahh, I don't like that one bit."
Spitting the words out, Reid grabbed the cloth around his own stomach in annoyance.
Apparently, it wasn't just a simple resurrection — Reid had access to Roy Alphard's stored memories, meaning he could glimpse a facet of Gluttony's Authority. However, it seemed his aesthetic sensibilities found it profoundly distasteful — "This idiot didn't have the guts for it, so he went and did something this insane. Beyond saving. He lost everything because he didn't know his own place — serves him right."
"Just between us, now that you're free, why don't you go claim dominance over the open seas or something? It kind of dodges the problem, but…"
"You, don't you go getting all evasive on me. You're already pathetic enough being carried around by a woman. You wanna die feeling even more ashamed than that? Gonna add insult to injury?"
"————"
Subaru's attempt to avoid the fight and improve the situation had ended in failure.
Even if someone other than Subaru had made the proposal, it probably wouldn't have gotten through. In the end, Reid had no intention of abandoning his role as examiner — even if he was now free.
Or perhaps it wasn't about clinging to the title of examiner, but rather a kind of warrior's pride: once he'd decided to cross swords with someone, he wouldn't let them go.
In any case — "…Fine. If you won't step aside, then I suppose I have no choice."
That response — tinged with a sigh that carried the nuance of "it's a shame" — was more than enough for Emilia to decide on attacking Reid.
"Sorry."
It took a full second before Subaru realized that one word had been directed not at Reid, but at him, on her shoulder.
Because a second later, Subaru's body was lowered from Emilia's shoulder and gently tossed to Beatrice beside her.
——In the blink of an eye, Emilia crossed the corridor like a bullet and brought an ice sword crashing down on Reid.
The atmosphere shrieked as it crystallized into ice, and a blade of beautiful, cruel frost swept through the smoke-filled corridor. Both strikes aimed for fatal wounds without a shred of hesitation — once Emilia had decided to act, she held nothing back. That much had been evident from the battles up to now.
"Hah!"
Those strikes — so fast that even Subaru could barely track them with his eyes, nearly ambush-level attacks — Reid caught with an arm drawn from within his kimono and the chopsticks gripped in that hand, easily and without effort.
It wasn't the first time Subaru had seen Reid wield chopsticks as a weapon. But no matter how many times he witnessed it, it never got easier to accept. The abnormal was still abnormal — that assessment hadn't changed.
"That guy…! Emilia!"
"Su, Subaru! You mustn't do anything reckless! Just stay still, okay!"
Subaru cried out, worried for Emilia against Reid's inhuman sword skill. It was Beatrice who — having caught the body Emilia had released — admonished Subaru to be careful.
Supported by her small frame, Subaru knelt in the corridor and forced his eyes open.
In that time, Emilia continued her fairy-like sword dance amid swirling diamond dust, switching between ice armors that were shattered or cleaved by Reid's chopsticks one after another.
Reid swatted them aside with leisurely ease, then let out a shark-like laugh — "Ha ha!"
"Hah! As expected, you're quick to get to it, hot stuff! But you — do you get it? Your 'trial' is already over, you know?"
"Then make everyone else pass too!"
"Hey, hey, what kind of logic is that? There's no reason for me to do that."
"Because I'm asking you!"
"Your begging's got zero charm to it. First things first — take off your clothes, hot stuff."
Reid was dead serious despite his words, but he had no ear for Emilia's plea.
Just as with the opening strike, he deflected and dodged each subsequent flurry with his impossibly elegant chopstick technique. Subaru couldn't close his mouth at that abnormal sword skill.
Of course, Subaru already knew Reid was no ordinary swordsman.
But even Emilia — who hadn't backed down against Gluttony or the Great Scorpion — possessed overwhelming power compared to any regular warrior. At the very least, a hundred Subarus couldn't hope to match Emilia. And yet, for Reid, she was literally child's play.
Emilia's desperate offense and defense looked clumsy as a children's game to Reid.
After only a handful more exchanges, Emilia was pierced through by a chopstick and defeated. The gulf in ability between them was visible even to an untrained eye.
However — "A reason to withdraw? That's easy."
"Hah?"
"Because you're going to lose pathetically to Ram and the others right here."
A small figure cut into the battlefield, and from behind Reid, Ram delivered those words.
——She had taken Reid's back.
That alone would have been plenty astonishing, but Ram's true terror lay beyond that.
Against Reid Astrea, Emilia had been attacking without the slightest mercy. Ram had synchronized perfectly with Emilia's instinct-driven fighting style, with an almost divine sense of timing.
It was a movement that Subaru couldn't have read at all — as if she'd anticipated even Emilia's very first surprise attack. In truth, she almost certainly had.
"————"
The next instant, Ram's fist drove into the side of Reid's kimono.
At the moment of impact, the sound of flesh and bone creaking rang out, and the penetrating force of Ram's white fist seeped into Reid's organs. Even as Reid tried to hold his ground, the zombie's soles cracked the corridor floor beneath him.
"It connected…?!"
Without thinking, Subaru clutched Beatrice tightly.
He wanted to cheer, but no sound came out. In its place, there was a burning heat in his blood. Because this was, without question, the first damage Subaru had ever seen inflicted on Reid.
"Ha — aaaaahhh—!"
A fist with power that seemed impossible from such slender arms pounded into Reid like a storm. Reid took it with his exposed half, staggering backward.
It wasn't that he was unguarded — he simply had no free hand to defend against Ram's attacks because both chopsticks were occupied fending off Emilia's onslaught.
So Reid's body was sent flying by the tremendous force of those blows. As he was knocked back, Emilia hurled an ice dagger forged in both hands, and Reid deflected the arcing slash with a chopstick strike before crashing flat on his back in the corridor.
"Did we… get him?"
Subaru stared, aghast, at Reid lying face-up in the corridor.
He'd blocked Emilia's follow-up with a last-second reflex, but all of Ram's attacks had connected without resistance. Each blow carried bone-rattling force — naturally, Reid wouldn't walk away unscathed.
Emilia's fierce effort certainly played a part, but had Reid lost because he'd underestimated Ram's combat strength?
With the effect of Cor Leonis allowing Ram to move without hindrance, her power had reached a level where she could cut down an opponent before Reid even went all out — "——! Now's our chance to pin him down and incapacitate him! Emilia! Restrain him with ice…"
For a moment, his mind froze, unable to commit to the belief in victory, but he couldn't let this priceless opportunity slip by. Subaru hastily instructed Emilia to bind Reid.
He was about to call out to Ram, who had fought valiantly — "…Subaru, when did you get your strength back?"
"Huh?"
Beatrice, who had been supporting him, suddenly posed that question.
Hearing it, Subaru belatedly realized he was standing on both feet and had been issuing orders to Emilia. — The agony that had been consuming his entire body like a curse had vanished.
"——Ka… fu…"
The moment he grasped what that meant, Ram's body swayed.
Her back was still turned to them, and her upper body listed to the side before her legs buckled and she collapsed to her knees.
"Ram!!"
"Gah!"
Unable to even brace herself, Ram fell like a puppet with its strings cut. It was Julius, who'd been watching for an opening to join the fight, who lunged forward to catch her collapsing body.
Supporting Ram's limp form, Julius checked her condition — and his expression froze. The cause was Ram's complexion and the deep red blood soaking his clothes.
Blood was pouring from the wound on Ram's abdomen that she'd sealed. The blood loss was indeed threatening her life gravely, but the problem didn't end there.
The biggest issue was directly connected to Subaru's recovery.
In other words — "The effect of Cor Leonis has… worn off…"
"——Ah, so I finally got to cut through it. You — don't go wasting my time like that. You're just hiding behind a woman, aren't you? You're lower than a larval fish, you."
"————"
Before the stunned Subaru, Reid swung his legs down and sprang back to his feet. He casually brushed off his backside, then rolled the arm holding the chopsticks in a circle from his shoulder.
He showed no trace of the damage Ram had inflicted — Subaru was horrified by that, but even more shaken by Reid's preceding words.
——Reid had said he cut through something. What exactly?
"Just a boring game, that's all. Seriously, with your gut torn open and blood streaming out, and you're sitting there saying you don't feel pain or anything? Are you mocking me, you?"
"Ugh… ahh…"
"If you want a fair fight at full strength, I'll gladly take you on. But this one — no good. You — she's no good, you. Can't you see? This woman's gonna die before she even gets cut."
At Reid's menacing, low voice, Subaru turned his gaze toward Ram in Julius's arms. Julius gave a slight nod.
"His words are correct. The Lady Ram's wound is far from trivial. She is in critical condition even now."
"——!"
"The bleeding won't stop because a coagulation-inhibiting agent was likely used. Beyond that, this is probably the backlash from her body being pushed beyond its limits."
Each piece of Julius's analysis carved painful new holes in Subaru's chest.
He'd failed. — Subaru's Cor Leonis had piled mistake upon mistake in his own self-serving judgment.
"————"
Taking on Ram's deterioration and creating a state where she could fight — That hadn't been a wrong decision in itself. But he'd underestimated the wounds she would sustain — no, the mistake was letting Ram underestimate them herself.
If Subaru absorbed the pain and suffering of her wounds, there was no way she could be aware of how serious they were. And if Ram acted as though she were fine, Emilia and the others would have no way of knowing.
"Something similar to Nect, a sensation-sharing magic, but different. A different power was at work. And you cut through it."
"Cutting through things you can't see is kinda my specialty. Well, doing it by feel is rough work. And that's why it took a while. Then you lot went and wailed on me."
Reid grumbled about the reason he'd endured Ram's storm of blows. Yet despite everything that had happened, he showed almost no sign of actual damage.
Julius explained the mechanism as well. Still cradling Ram, he gently directed his gaze downward — toward the corridor floor cracked and shattered by the battle.
"You deflected all of Lady Ram's attacks through the soles of your feet into the floor."
"A trick my old acquaintance Trisha used to be fond of."
Reid let out a "Heh" and stamped his zombie feet on the corridor floor with a series of thuds.
Hearing their exchange, Subaru looked at the fractured corridor with a chill. The countless fissures in the floor were proof that Reid had been channeling Ram's attacks into the corridor itself.
By some method, he had diverted the force of the blows elsewhere. — The pinnacle of martial technique, one could call it.
"…Ah"
In truth, when Ram's first punch had landed, Subaru had seen the corridor crack violently with his own eyes. That same principle had applied to every subsequent strike.
All of this, everything — "To sever the connection between me and Ram…? But how could he even do that in the first place…"
"I told you, didn't I? I cut what I want to cut, go where I want to go, and take the woman I want to take. — A boring little game like this? I'll swat it aside whistling a tune."
Reid declared it all with complete nonchalance.
To cut the invisible. Or to sever threads that didn't exist. If that was what being called the "Sword Saint" truly entailed — that was their real power.
"But earlier, when I hit you hard from above, you were in pain…!"
"Conditions are different now, hot stuff. I came here looking forward to a fight more than a 'trial.' When it's a real brawl, I go harder than I do for the trial. Isn't that right, you?"
Reid brushed off Emilia's protest with a snort and raised his chopsticks into a stance — the same casual way one would hold them during a normal meal. He pointed their tips toward Julius, and his blue eyes blazed with fierce light.
"So that's how it is. You get what I'm saying, right, you? Yeah, you. You, I'm talking to."
"——You intend to settle this with the sword?"
"That's right. But let me warn you — as long as it's not a sword, I'll deflect anything. Punches, magic, doesn't matter. If you wanna beat me…"
Reid tapped his own chest, pointing at his heart.
In other words, the only way to stop his breath was to go through his heart.
That was, in turn, proof that the matchup Subaru had designated was correct — "Why are you fixated on me?"
"Hah? Me fixated on you? Don't make me laugh. A smooth-talking pretty boy is exactly the type I hate most. And why would I be fixated?"
"Then…"
"The one with a reason to fixate on me is you, isn't it? You think I'm really okay with just backing down from here?"
"————"
Julius's question was met with an answer from Reid that was anything but clear.
Reid was the type who saw no value in articulating every aspect of a situation in words. As such, his response was mostly intuitive and difficult to follow.
But to those who understood — it was the most perfect answer possible — "——Tch. I've got a real nuisance on my hands now."
Before Subaru could fully digest that answer, Reid clicked his tongue in annoyance.
And the cause of that irritation came barreling down the corridor behind Subaru's group — or rather, it came as a streak of white light, hurtling toward them.
"Subaru!"
Just before the white light could evaporate Subaru, Emilia's ice sword cut in. The sound of shattering ice rang out, and the deflected light pierced into the corridor. — A massive tail stinger, dissolving as if fraying apart.
In other words, it was a baptism from the guardian of the Sage's Tower — "——
"————"
Deep in the corridor, crimson compound eyes rose into view, and a colossal scorpion with multiple legs appeared. Its jet-black carapace and fearsome great pincers were as ominous as ever.
However, Rai Batentschitos — who should have been fighting here after being abandoned — was nowhere to be seen around the giant scorpion. It would be a blessing if he'd simply been defeated and eliminated, but — "Reid and Shaula at the same time…"
"Su, Subaru…"
Sandwiched between two formidable enemies and unable to make any careless moves, Subaru held his breath as Beatrice called to him in a trembling voice.
Turning back toward Beatrice, Subaru noticed her blanched expression. The terror written across her face squeezed his heart.
Wanting somehow to dispel the anxiety in her heart, Subaru searched for words — "Beatrice, it's okay. We haven't found any solution yet, but it's okay. We can still turn this around —"
"No, it's not — something's coming!"
"Coming?"
Eyes wide, face drained of color — at Beatrice's desperate plea, Subaru looked once more toward the giant scorpion.
If we're talking about threats, Reid was right here and the scorpion was over there. They'd already gathered all the terrifying opponents they could handle, so what else could possibly — "——No way."
"That's exactly what I said, didn't I? A real nuisance has shown up."
As if confirming the thought that had just flashed through Subaru's mind, Reid spoke.
His tone was dead serious — he, too, seemed to find this situation deeply unsettling.
——The next instant, a shock surged up from below as an earthquake that shook the Pleiades Watchtower to its foundations.
"————"
No exaggeration — the impact lifted Subaru off his feet, and his sense of up and down flipped entirely.
Blown away without recourse, Subaru saw — in the periphery of his vision — the inhabitants of this fantasy world performing astonishing feats.
In midair, Emilia kicked off an ice platform and deflected, one after another, the scorpion's tail stinger that had been fired with pinpoint accuracy at her allies — no, at Subaru.
Julius sprinted along the tilted wall as if it were flat ground, closing the distance on Reid, and initiated a sword duel with the supreme swordsman using his knight's sword.
And Beatrice flew toward Subaru, who was clutching Ram tightly — "——Murak!"
The moment she finished the incantation, Subaru realized he was enveloped in a different kind of floating sensation from the shock he'd been swallowed by. Like being freed from gravity's yoke and cast into a weightless world.
With the entire world turned upside down, even that was of little consequence.
Each of them was taking the best action available to them — "——Ah"
As if mocking that very effort, an immense volume of pitch-black shadow swallowed the tower whole.
"————"
A tremendous compression sound rang out, and the Watchtower — built to a durability that seemed far beyond mere stone — crumpled. This was the tyranny of shadows, which by all rights should have possessed no mass at all.
It could no longer be called mere destruction. The arrival of this cataclysmic impact — akin to a natural disaster — effortlessly engulfed and crushed even those who could be called superhuman in this world.
Emilia, who had been fighting valiantly with her magic and martial arts against the great scorpion.
Julius, who had been driving himself to challenge a legend with his knight's sword.
Beatrice, who had been casting magic with her small body to protect Subaru.
In the span of a single blink, they were ensnared by the rising shadow and vanished from sight.
"————"
Without sound, without lingering resonance, the figures of Emilia and the others disappeared.
Subaru's mind couldn't find the right words to describe what had happened to them in that instant.
But there was one thing he could say clearly.
"——I failed."
*I love you.* He registered reality and heard the murky declaration of love at the same moment.
Delivered with terrifying directness — whispered in his ear, or pressed upon him through a kiss, or wrapped around him in an embrace, or caressed against his very soul.
He understood immediately. The five obstacles — the greatest among them.
A shadow that consumed everything, its arrival so questionable that any countermeasure seemed futile, had come.
"————"
This was the third time Subaru had seen this shadow, and each time he had lost his life.
This time was no exception. The moment the shadow appeared and reached him — "——You, what are you spacing out for, hey!"
In that instant, the pitch-black shadow enveloping Subaru was slashed apart by a single, sweeping stroke.
"You're kidding…"
"Open your damn eyes and look. What do you mean, 'you're kidding'? You — are your eyes open? Open them and look properly. What about me is a lie?"
So saying, Reid casually swung the knight's sword and cut the shadow away. In his hand, he held not chopsticks but the knight's sword — Julius's sword, its previous owner now gone.
That the blade, devoid of its rightful owner, was being wielded with even greater power in the hands of the "Sword Saint" was deeply ironic, but there was no room for such musings.
Because Subaru, standing frozen, took a kick to the midsection from Reid's zombie foot.
"Gu — agh"
In the narrow corridor, his airborne body struck neither ceiling nor walls.
The Watchtower's structure had already collapsed, and he'd lost all sense of where the walls and ceiling were. All around Subaru was endless black sky, endless black abyss — a world of darkness.
Everything was becoming incomprehensible. — No. In his arms, something warm stirred.
"——Mm"
It was only Ram's unconscious, feverish body that insisted on its existence.
"——!"
Subaru clenched his back teeth, bit through his lip, and forced himself to stay focused.
In that instant when everything had been about to be painted black, had Subaru been ready to give up on understanding the situation and surrender to the end?
That was unforgivable in the face of a life fighting with everything it had in this moment.
"——There's still something."
Even in this situation, there had to be something to be gained.
So far, twice now, Subaru had been swallowed by this pitch-black malice and lost his life. But both of those ends had been abrupt — he'd never had time for this.
What gave him this time was Ram's presence, her frail life still insisting on itself — and — "——Hah."
The fierce, savage kick from Reid, who stood in the same darkness as Subaru, grinning ferociously.
Of course, Subaru felt no gratitude.
His solar plexus throbbed as if gouged, and besides, the time it had taken for the shadow to consume the Watchtower had been cut short because Reid had interfered with no regard for the situation.
So — "I'm going to take you down too. — The 'finest' knight I know."
"You — at least finish this looking cool to the very end, larval fish."
Below, Reid aimed the knight's sword — held in a reverse grip — up at Subaru. There was distance between them, but for Reid, a few meters might as well have been nothing.
And beneath Reid, who had locked his hostility onto Subaru, the pitch-black shadow surged forward with increasing ferocity. Even that, Reid's sword pressure treated as nothing.
Subaru may not have been conscious of it, but perhaps in that moment, he glimpsed a scene from a legendary tale said to have taken place four hundred years ago — a fragment of the '
"Just…"
One second longer. He wanted her to live.
Pouring that wish into his embrace, Subaru pulled Ram's body tighter against him.
The next instant, a torrent of light that could not have been a sword flash swallowed Subaru — ※※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ——Lost each time, retried each time, called upon each time, adrift.
Over and over again, repeating and repeating, piling up endings that were supposed to come only once.
And he thinks, suddenly.
That perhaps it was always a blessing to have someone beside him at the final moment.
If not facing that moment alone was what gave him the strength to stand back up.
But at the same time, he thinks this: Why is it that
※※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ "————"
Dust rose into the upper atmosphere where it shouldn't have been able to reach.
On the balcony of the Pleiades Watchtower, hundreds of meters above ground, a horde of magical beasts had surged across the land below and was launching an assault on the tower to bring it down.
What held them back was Meili, struggling with all her might using her power to command magical beasts.
Julius had gone down to Reid on the second floor.
And Subaru's group needed to rush to Emilia and the others, who should be clashing fiercely with Rai Batentschitos — but — "Master? Are you alright?"
The girl tilted her head, her long black braid swaying, in response to Subaru's call.
There was no trace of impatience or irritation in her expression, in her eyes. Nor was there any hint of cunning scheming directed at them.
Whether this was due to her mimicry or her genuine feelings, Subaru couldn't tell — "Master, are you listening? It seems like the others besides you and me have gotten caught up in something troublesome too… Is there anything I can do for you, Master?"
"Yeah, there is. …Something you can do for me, huh?"
"Yes! If it's for Master's sake, I'll go through fire, water, massive waterfalls — I'll fly away with a smile! That's a promise!"
Saying this with boundless energy and no malice, raising both hands above her head — Shaula.
Staring at that carefree smile, Subaru turned around and held his breath.
He'd come back. He'd returned to this moment once more.
What he needed to do hadn't changed. There were people he wanted to save, enemies he needed to defeat.
And so, with no hesitation, Subaru performed the ritual he needed to confirm his resolve.
Which was — "Shaula, if I tell you to do something, will you do whatever it is?"
"Of course, Master! I'll do whatever Master asks! If Master begs for it, I'll even do something a little extreme! A-a-a-ah, could it be that Master has finally reached the limit with my dynamite body? And now you've sent the others away so it's just the two of us? Oh my, oh my, oh my! Master, you're so —"
"——Shaula."
Shaula squirmed, pressing her own cheeks with her hands as she flushed at Subaru's words.
But Subaru didn't engage with her flustered response. He looked straight into her face.
And then — "——If I told you to die, would you die for me?"