She was a "crimson" girl—vivid, like a blazing flame, rich and fragrant as blood.
On the top floor of the city hall building, which had suddenly transformed into a battlefield, the space was dominated by a single figure of violent beauty wielding a blood-red gleaming treasure sword—a presence that seized the eye amid the ravaged devastation.
Dazzling orange hair, a luxurious dress the color of blood, a feminine and alluring figure poised with a sword—this was someone who made an overwhelmingly intense impression even from behind.
"———"
Standing with arms spread wide, mouth agape, Subaru's thoughts were thrown into disarray.
For that single moment, he forgot the pain throughout his body and the breathlessness in his lungs. What bounced around his empty head in chaotic disorder was the spirit-word of the question—"Why."
Why was she here.
Why had she saved Subaru.
Why could she face
Why, why, why, why, why, why, why—the questions would not end.
Engulfed by unending questions, Subaru lost track of time's passage. Then, as if mocking the frozen Subaru, the crimson woman snorted.
"What a dopey look. Has my radiance burned your eyes?"
"—Do you have eyes in the back of your head or something?"
"Fool. Do you think I would mistake myself for such a monstrosity? I can tell a commoner's expression just by their breathing."
Without turning around, the woman answered so imperiously—Priscilla Bariel.
Stunned that the person who should not be here was answering him, Subaru could not even produce the words to deny the ridiculous claim that she could read expressions through breathing alone.
All he could do was stand there, dumbfounded. And before him, the situation began to move slowly forward.
"Now then."
Priscilla let out a short breath, treasure sword at the ready, and surveyed her surroundings.
The city hall building had been turned completely unrecognizable by the sudden intruder's rampage. Including the wounded Shudrak people and the unconscious Zikr, those who could barely move were Subaru,
And the one who had accomplished this was—— "——Arakiya."
"———"
Narrowing her crimson eyes, Priscilla quietly fixed her gaze upon her opponent.
The one who maintained silence before that gaze was Arakiya—the half-beast general with tanned skin and silver hair, ranked "Second" among the Empire's generals.
She was said to be the second most powerful individual in the Volakian Empire, and she had just demonstrated a glimpse of ability befitting that reputation. With her uncovered red right eye, she received head-on the forceful willpower concentrated in Priscilla's gaze—no, that was wrong.
"Your Highness……"
Until just moments ago, Arakiya had been maintaining her world of absolute self-assurance with superhuman composure. But upon being struck by Priscilla's gaze, after a single beat, her world collapsed.
What rose in its place was violent agitation, and an equally tremendous joy.
"Your Highness, Your Highness, Your Highness……!"
The dangerous atmosphere dissipating, Arakiya repeated those words over and over, as if trying to confirm.
It was the clinging attachment of a lost child reuniting with a parent, of younger siblings desperately reaching for the bond of an elder—a weak being desperately latching onto the strong.
The relationship between Priscilla and Arakiya—no one else could understand it.
Even now, Subaru did not know the reason Priscilla had come to this place. All he could surmise was that the two shared an extraordinary past.
And that past bond had just broken the fighting spirit of Arakiya—the most dangerous presence on this battlefield.
"——!"
Arakiya lowered the thin wooden branch she had been gripping, her face overcome with emotion, and moved as if to step forward. Or perhaps she had been about to throw herself into Priscilla's arms right then and there.
She would have embraced her, surrendering to the surging passion welling up in her chest.
But—— "Your Highn—"
"Silence."
That was not permitted.
The short, fierce command came accompanied by a horizontal slash.
A red gleam grazed the ground mere centimeters from the bare toes of Arakiya as she took that single step forward, and red flames erupted to bar any further advance.
"———"
It was a bonfire of a flame, scarcely reaching up to one's shins.
A fire Arakiya could easily step over if she wished—one she could vault with her long legs without effort. And yet, Arakiya froze completely, as though an impassable wall had appeared before her.
Coldly, Priscilla continued to address the wide-eyed Arakiya.
"Arakiya. Why did you attempt to come to me just now?"
"Eh…?"
"Surely you did not think I would be overjoyed at our reunion and sweep you into these arms, did you? If so, I can only be thoroughly exasperated by your blissful idiocy."
The contempt for Arakiya was steeped into every word Priscilla layered upon her. Even the genuine exasperation contained in those words served to completely sever any approach toward Arakiya.
Perhaps Arakiya understood that chasm. Her eyes trembled in shock, and she desperately racked her brain seeking the optimal response to Priscilla's words.
But—— "P-Prisca…sama…"
"Prisca is dead. —Even after time has passed and you have gained status, have you changed not one whit?"
"——!"
"How disappointing. Even the soil of my long-lost homeland, so withered and thin as this—there is no sentiment in it."
Priscilla's impression, completely hiding none of her genuine sense of letdown, was delivered straight from the heart.
Honestly, Subaru lacked the understanding of Priscilla's feelings and the stability of the situation to even begin to gauge what was in her heart. And yet, even he could tell that those heartless words had deeply wounded Arakiya's heart and drawn blood.
The deep wound of being dismissed by someone precious, someone to whom she had forged a bond.
Arakiya's eyes had trembled at being told outright that she was a disappointment—she could well have crumpled right there. But instead of collapsing, she let passion kindle in her single red eye.
Not anger, but something more like a flame of resolve or determination.
"……I don't mind—what Your Highness thinks of me. It hurts. But I've made my decision."
"Oh? You've made a decision, have you? Can it capture my interest once more? Tell me—what is it you've decided?"
To Arakiya's quiet appeal, Priscilla hurled words in a provocative tone, whether she was genuinely interested or not. Receiving that, Arakiya raised her face and roared.
"Your Highness's place—I will reclaim it within the Empire! And for that sake—"
Arakiya's explosive emotions—the tip of that passionate lance was not directed at Priscilla, who stood before her with no ear for such pleas.
Her single eye swung away from Priscilla ahead of her, turning toward an entirely different direction. The lance of her passion pointed toward Abel, who was still watching events unfold from the balcony.
"You lying scoundrel—!!"
Eyes burning with fury, Arakiya's slender body launched high into the air. Ignoring the wall of flame between herself and Priscilla, she set her sights on Abel on the balcony.
Her leaping power was extraordinary. But for the second-ranked individual in the Empire, it was nothing to be surprised at.
The problem was that no one besides Priscilla possessed the means to stop this violent assault.
"This is bad, Abel is—! Priscilla!"
"Do not clamor so. And since when are we on a first-name basis, commoner? By whose permission do you speak my name so familiarly?"
"There's no time for—"
"I said. Do not. Clamor."
Priscilla, one hand still resting on the treasure sword at her side, did not deign to listen to Subaru's plea.
After the threat of that unpredictable next move, Subaru held his breath as Arakiya's figure shot through the air like an arrow toward Abel.
"———"
Abel, gripping the half-destroyed balcony railing, blood streaming from his forehead.
The man who had shown no sign of panic even at Priscilla's sudden intrusion still stood his ground, staring Arakiya down with those commanding black eyes, rooted in place like an iron statue.
Armed with nothing as always, and with it being well-known that he lacked the strength to face one of the Empire's strongest combatants head-on—Subaru could not understand how the man did not despair.
Without understanding—— "Abel—!!!"
Knowing it was futile, Subaru tried to rush forward, but his legs gave out on the very first step. He stumbled and fell, reaching out helplessly as Arakiya closed in on Abel—— ——In the next instant, the chain of events that unfolded exceeded Subaru's comprehension.
"———"
Gazing steadily at the approaching Arakiya, Abel stomped down hard on the balcony floor. Immediately, cracks spread across the half-destroyed structure and the footing collapsed all at once.
Naturally, Abel standing upon it would have plummeted helplessly—or so one would think, but that was not what happened.
Abel's falling body was suspended in midair. What his outstretched right hand had grasped was the curtain that had been drawn into the top floor from the balcony.
Having hidden a lifeline beneath his hand placed on the railing, Abel had deliberately collapsed the footing himself.
Against a lesser opponent, that strategy might have dragged them into the collapse and sent them hurtling to the floor below in one move.
But the opponent was one of the Nine Divine Generals—the ranked "Second" powerhouse.
"Child's play…!"
Arakiya bared her fangs at Abel, who swung like a pendulum from his lifeline.
Having lost her landing point after the leap, Arakiya's advantage lay in her superhuman physical abilities augmented by equally superhuman supernatural power.
As her feet shimmered like heat haze, her lower legs transformed into flame, and she controlled her position in midair like a combat vehicle firing thrusters from its legs.
The fire that had burned Mizelda, the ferocious tornado that had scattered the soldiers, the candy-work that had held up falling pillars, the gale that had disarmed Rem, and finally the power to transmute parts of her own body into flame.
The sheer versatility of Arakiya's supernatural ability was a threat of bottomless depth.
"You, die—!"
Without pausing, Arakiya pointed the branch—whose destructive power was unknowable—at Abel, who could not maintain his position and was spinning helplessly.
Whether it would pierce, or a spell would be launched, or some entirely different supernatural effect would manifest was unclear. —It was unclear, but Subaru was certain Abel would be obliterated.
That certainty alone was enough to make Subaru's black pupils constrict with urgency and tension.
But—— "Man, this is rough, brother. I wouldn't have even known you were my brother if I hadn't heard your voice just now."
In that instant, a figure interposed itself between the terrifying Arakiya and the suspended Abel.
The figure sprinted along the pillar that Rem had toppled and Arakiya had pinned down, then launched a sideways strike at the brandished branch. The wide blade of the blue dragon glaive clashed against it—Arakiya deflected the blow with a flick of her wrist, but the force of the charge sent her spiraling into the air.
Meanwhile, the one whose all-out surprise attack had been deflected so effortlessly stamped the ground in frustration upon landing.
"Damn, my arm hurts! Don't go deflecting someone's full-power strike like it's nothing—it's depressing, you know!"
Backing away and shaking his injured arm, the man grumbled through the whole exchange. And once again, the person who had done it was beyond Subaru's wildest imagination.
A man with an unusual appearance: his head encased in a pitch-black full helm, his body below the neck decked out in bandit-like fashion. With his rugged, ranger-or-highwayman appearance, the most distinctive feature was his single remaining arm—his left arm lost from the shoulder down.
It was a face Subaru recognized. Someone who, if Priscilla was here, would naturally be here too—his brain should have made the connection sooner.
It was—— "——Al?"
"Yo, brother! Who would've figured we'd run into each other across the border like this. I'd like to get your thoughts on the outfit and celebrate this fated reunion, but…"
Tilting his head, the one who spoke in an off-key, deliberately clueless voice was Priscilla's knight—no, her retainer, Al.
He responded to Subaru in his usual carefree manner while simultaneously keeping Arakiya, who was hovering in midair on legs of flame, in check.
In this case, should one be more astonished by Al having blocked even a single one of Arakiya's attacks, or by the durability of a plain wooden branch that could clash head-on with a blue dragon glaive without issue?
"You can be impressed. It's not like I pulled it off in one try or anything."
"Get out of the way! I won't let you kill him!"
"I specifically came in here to interfere—what makes you think I'd get out of the way? If I stand by and let this slide, my head's gonna part ways with my shoulders. But still…"
Arakiya roared with rage, and Al looked her up and down without a shred of tact.
Arakiya's attire was extremely revealing, but there was no lechery in Al's gaze. What was there was something like a wistful, nostalgic sentimentality.
In truth, Al let out an impressed sigh of "Waaah," and then: "Man, you sure grew up. I figured you'd turn out a beauty, but wow."
"……Who are you?"
"That's cold. Seriously hurts to hear, you know. We trusted each other with our lives once!"
To Al's familiar greeting, Arakiya furrowed her brow in confusion. Al kicked a floor fragment toward her slender form as a feint, maintaining his distance.
Watching Al's maneuvers, Priscilla called out to him curtly— "Al."
"You understand, don't you—my reason for bringing you rather than Schult. Do your job."
"I'm on it! Does it look like I'm just having a ball playing around with this cute lady? If I zone out for even a second, I'll be torn to shreds!"
"Well, from the looks of it, you're about the same."
"I mean, I'm at least better than shreds, right!? Wh—guah!?"
Distracted by his master's callous encouragement, Al nearly took a fatal blow from Arakiya.
Soaring through the air, Arakiya spiraled with more freedom than a bird, and Al desperately deflected her successive branch attacks—one strike, then another.
"Annoying…"
"Hearing a girl that age say that really stings this old man's heart."
Abel hung suspended, Al continued to shield him. Looking down at the pair with burning fury, battle aura blazed from Arakiya's entire body. Yet the reason she did not unleash the devastating area attack she had shown at first was—— "Priscilla…"
Arakiya called her "Your Highness."
Priscilla's attitude was cold and utterly estranging—but to Arakiya, it was not so. That was why she held back that great destructive power.
If someone could move this situation forward, it should be Priscilla, the variable on the battlefield.
"———"
"Do not give me those beseeching eyes, commoner. I might deign to compliment that manufactured beauty of yours, but if you think you can move me with it, that borders on treason."
"Ngh…!"
Kneeling, Subaru turned toward Priscilla, who regarded him with imperious disdain.
The one who moved instead was Rem, who had been sheltering behind Subaru until moments ago. Lips pressed tight, she stood unsteadily before Priscilla.
And then—— "Please. I beg you—lend us your strength."
"……Hmph. What a humble way to ask. Compared to the commoner, at least you possess some manners."
"In that case—"
"Don't be hasty. And look. The pieces to move this situation are already in place."
Rem's plea, or rather the possibility of incurring Priscilla's displeasure, sent a chill down Subaru's spine. But Priscilla did not act rashly. She tilted her chin toward the battlefield.
At that gesture, Rem turned in surprise with a small "Eh," and Subaru followed her gaze.
The balcony battlefield—at this rate, Abel and Al would be cut down by Arakiya in a matter of seconds. In fact, that situation was still ongoing.
"Gah! Da! Ag! Gah! Uboah!"
Arakiya danced through the air on her burning legs, striking and retreating in rapid succession. Al defended against her attacks in a fashion that was hopelessly clumsy and graceless, but somehow functional.
But even miracles cannot last forever. The accumulated impacts began to slow his reactions visibly, and a heavy blow finally sent his upper body swaying.
His posture broken, Al was about to be left wide open for the next attack—when it happened.
"—!?"
Arakiya, who had been about to kick off the air, her body lurched unnaturally, her control thrown into disarray.
That this was not some ordinary combat movement was made clear by her wide eyes of surprise and the stifled groan of pain.
"———"
Everyone was startled by the change that had come over Arakiya.
The two who were not swept up in that surprise were Priscilla, calmly surveying the situation, and the mastermind who should have been in the thick of the fierce exchange—— "——Strike now!!"
The command was hurled into the air thick with the smell of scorched earth and dust.
The voice that rang out—more strict than angry, more grandiose than arrogant—belonged to Abel, still hanging from his curtain. The man dangling there cried out at the opportunity that had appeared in the battle above.
As though he had been certain this moment would come.
"Explanations later, I'm begging you!!"
Accepting Abel's forceful order, Al launched himself forward.
The ungainly leap, the blue dragon glaive strike fired while twisting in midair—it traced an arc and slammed mercilessly into Arakiya's unguarded slender frame—or rather, not quite mercilessly.
The wrist gripping the glaive turned, and the flat of the blade, not the edge, met Arakiya.
"Fool."
Priscilla spat out a short word, recognizing the non-lethal feint.
And her penetrating gaze, befitting the deep strategist she was, had correctly foreseen what would follow.
"Stay down…!"
At the moment of impact, a dull sound rang out, and Subaru wanted to turn away.
Al's all-out strike hit Arakiya precisely as aimed. She took it head-on with her raised left arm. Her elbow bent the wrong way, fractured bone piercing through tanned skin, blood spraying.
A gruesome sight—but not a fatal blow.
Deep within the pitch-black helm, Al let out a low growl, his cheeks stiff with surprise.
Immediately after, Arakiya's slender foot smashed into the side of Al's neck. The violent impact drove his body into the floor. He bounced, and was hurled out through the destroyed balcony.
"D-aaahhh—!!"
An ugly scream trailed after him as Al vanished from sight.
Whether he was alive, of course, mattered—but with this, the last obstacle between Abel and Arakiya was finally gone.
Returning her feet from their flame state to normal, Arakiya planted her soles on the floor. And now, at last, she would reach out and seize Abel's life.
——Toward Arakiya's back, a dark figure lunged with savage force.
"G-oooohhhh—!!"
Blasting through rubble with a bestial war cry, the shadow ambushed Arakiya. It was a figure gripping a large knife in a reverse grip, attacking purely on hunting instinct.
For an instant, the sheer ferocity of the ambush nearly overwhelmed comprehension of who it was.
Scarred, burned black, a tall and hardened body. Black hair dyed with red pigment, and upon the skin, the white markings of the Shudrak people—and Subaru realized with a start, shouting: "Mizelda!!"
"Gaaaaaa!!"
Ignoring the name called out, Mizelda continued her blood-curdling roar.
She had been the first victim of Arakiya's initial rampage when she intruded. With her entire body burned, she fought on as though burning away the last of her own life.
Every merciless swing of her blade targeted Arakiya's vitals.
Unlike Al, there was no hesitation or mercy when cornering prey. Watching her fight, Subaru belatedly understood—Abel's command to "strike" had been directed at her.
Having foreseen Arakiya's vulnerability and rallied the dying Mizelda to fight—Subaru could not begin to imagine how many brain cells Abel had burned through to formulate this strategy in what had seemed like an instantaneous, irrecoverable situation.
But even so, one step was not enough.
"———"
Despite Mizelda's desperate efforts, Arakiya's response even in her impaired state was that of a master.
She grimaced with irritation at the dying Mizelda's barrage of attacks but deflected them easily with rough swings of her wooden branch.
There was no point in commenting on the branch's durability anymore.
The impact of a sweeping blow knocked the knife from Mizelda's hand, and in the next instant, the branch pierced straight through her now-defenseless torso.
Trained steel abdominal muscles gave way with a sickening sound as the branch drove through without resistance.
It raked cruelly through Mizelda's insides, destroying vital organs wholesale, about to drive the indomitable warrior woman to death—— "Finally, at last…"
"——Where are you looking?"
At the instant Arakiya's attention shifted, believing she had eliminated the nuisance— Mizelda's eyes blazed with fierce light, foam of blood at the corner of her mouth. She bared teeth stained red in a savage grin and seized Arakiya's branch-wielding right hand with both of hers.
She gripped it tight, tight, tight—locking her in place.
"———"
The brief moment of stalemate that was born—perhaps it was the final, fleeting chance.
But no one among their allies—including Subaru—could seize the moment that Abel's cunning and Mizelda's devotion had created.
The Shudrak people, rallying around their chieftain in battle, had not recovered from the preceding storm. Subaru, barely maintaining consciousness through their shared link, was no better.
Rem, who had toppled the pillar, could not reach them in time with her chronically impaired legs.
If everyone could not unite as one, the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity would slip away.
However—— "——You may be proud, demon girl. Your plea called forth a single stroke of mine."
However, the one who could reach them was not an ally—it was the third party.
"———"
Priscilla, having surveyed the battle from above, closed the distance in a single step, targeting Arakiya's unprotected back.
For an instant, Arakiya sensed the presence behind her and moved to counter—she would hurl the tall Mizelda gripping her arm backward, smashing her into the approaching enemy.
But she could not. —She realized who the presence was, and chose not to.
"Your Highn—"
Arakiya, who had never been able to sever her attachment to Priscilla, was struck by a single crimson sword flash.
Blood sprayed and sizzled as it was scorched by flame, and Arakiya's body lurched violently.
"I told you, Arakiya. —The next time we meet, have your resolve ready."
The promise they had exchanged in the past—its true meaning was something no outsider had the right to know.
All Subaru understood was that this promise was both the answer to Priscilla's merciless strike and the answer to Arakiya's lingering attachment.
"———"
Struck across the back by the crimson treasure sword, Arakiya's body collapsed to the floor.
Mizelda, who had been gripping her arm to immobilize her, was caught in the fall. The two toppled together, limbs splaying limp like dolls with severed strings.
"———"
The situation that had been spinning at dizzying speed, the air that had been continuously stirred by sword and flame—all of it was swallowed by sudden silence, and Subaru experienced the illusion that time had stopped.
One breath, or perhaps just one step more, and everything would be ruined—everything would scatter like a dream. That obsessive thought gripped him—— "——Mizelda!"
It was Rem's tense voice that shattered the stillness.
She moved across the floor on halting, stumbling steps, rushing to Mizelda, who lay tangled beneath Arakiya.
Mizelda—whose entire body had been burned, blasted by a gale, and then pierced through the abdomen.
Kneeling beside her, Rem held her breath and pressed both hands against Mizelda's body with a look of desperate resolve, channeling the pale light of healing magic to hold her together.
"This is no time to be dazed. Help me."
"——Ah."
Rem's words cut through the stupor that had frozen Subaru in place. Abel's voice reached his ears.
Still unable to climb up from his hanging position, Abel looked up at Subaru with his sharp gaze.
"You survived, huh. You've got strong bad luck."
"……Looks like you've still got plenty of venom left in that tongue of yours."
Abel's cutting remark twisted Subaru's cheeks into a grimace, and he grabbed the curtain to haul the man up.
Honestly, Subaru was battered, and Abel being pulled up was just as beat up. He wanted nothing more than to collapse and lose consciousness, but he could not afford that.
"Not just Mizelda…"
People were scattered everywhere, injured by Arakiya's rampage.
In an environment where healers were rare, non-magical first aid was also necessary. There was no luxury of letting consciousness slip.
To fall here meant accepting the loss of lives.
That could not be allowed.
So—— "Hurry up and… get up here…!"
Gritting his teeth, Subaru dragged the curtain until Abel's hand came within reach. Feeling the grip return, he somehow pulled up the taller man.
Abel, back from his dangling position, let out a slight breath of relief as Subaru landed on his backside.
"That was laborious. I commend you."
"Shut up…"
Subaru spat out the praise, which contained not a shred of sincerity, and let out a small click of his tongue.
Then, as he tried to rise to begin moving other wounded to safety—— "Do not move on your own, commoner. Do you know who commands this place?"
"———"
Subaru, sitting on his backside, and Abel, on one knee, both fell silent.
The one who quietly intimidated them was the crimson beauty who folded her arms, raising her full figure in an almost showy display of poise—Priscilla, with her gaze and a single command.
They knew her face. They were not strangers.
But if asked whether they were on good terms—hesitation would follow. Not merely because they had been opposing factions in the royal selection, but because of Priscilla's temperament.
Priscilla, who was imperious to everyone and knew not how to yield, could be a powerful ally when tackling the same problem—but an unpredictable bomb when otherwise.
In the battle at the Watergate City of Pristella, she had been a dependable ally. This time, however?
After she had helped drive back Arakiya—could she really be considered an ally?
Either way—— "I hate to admit it, but the one commanding this situation would be you, Prisca Benedict."
Unable to move or speak, Subaru was saved by Abel's voice taking his place.
Still on one knee, Abel addressed Priscilla by a different name. But that name was the same one that Arakiya had uttered before falling.
At being called that, Priscilla let out a small sniff.
"As it happens, Prisca Benedict was defeated in battle and died a wretched death. The one who now lies beneath the earth would hardly stand here speaking so brazenly, would she?"
"……I see. Then—who are you, and by what name shall I call you?"
"——Priscilla Bariel. That is my name. Remember it well, Vincent Abelx."
Answering his question with authority, Priscilla and Abel locked eyes.
The storm of gazes between them crackled with pressure as though lightning were being exchanged. Subaru, standing beside them, could only duck his head to avoid being blown away.
Priscilla, who had known Abel's name, and Abel, who had called Priscilla by a different name.
Sensing the extraordinary relationship between the two, Subaru quietly held his breath.
And then, into that charged atmosphere— "——Hey, anyone? A little help? I'm kinda reaching my limit here."
From the outer crystal lamp where he had been knocked off the balcony, Al's pitiful cry for help was the only thing that wavered through the empty air.