——And so, once again, time returns to the same moment as the battlefield where dragon and tiger clash.
Garfiel, who had stormed in from the first apex of the star-shaped fortress at the south gate of the Imperial Capital
In the distance, an unnaturally thick mass of clouds had gathered across the sky—whether it was proof of the Cloud Dragon running wild, or preparation for her to unleash her greatest performance.
Either way, the die had been cast, and the battle to produce the desired outcome had begun.
Garfiel had been assigned the role of vanguard, and he had been the first to pin down Mezoreia's head precisely because the Cloud Dragon's mobility and offensive power would be the single greatest obstacle in the siege of the Imperial Capital.
A "dragon" capable of retreating to the upper atmosphere and launching ultra-long-range attacks with its breath was something no one short of a handful of extraordinary combatants could survive even a single hit from.
If those were unleashed indiscriminately and the team was helplessly slaughtered, that would be the worst possible strategy for the "Volakia Empire Salvation Force." —Garfiel had been tasked with blinding those eyes.
However, pinning down Mezoreia did not mean the rest would be smooth sailing.
There were other "difficult enemies" who could inflict catastrophic damage with a single move if the response was mishandled.
And so—— "Graaaaaah!"
With a barbaric battle cry that belied the elegance of his strokes, the twin swords traced refined trajectories through the air.
Swift footwork and the artful shifting of his center of gravity deflected the tip of the spear thrusting toward him, throwing his opponent violently off balance.
In that instant, the flashing white blade whirled to deliver a lethal slash at the enemy's neck—— "Idiot, don't kill them!"
"Wha—!?"
At the shout that burst forth, the white blade's trajectory wavered on instinct.
The blade that should have severed the enemy's neck instead cut the left arm off at the shoulder. The struck corpse leapt backward, then manipulated a spear with its remaining right arm, preparing to launch its next attack.
But that spear never reached any of their allies.
"——'White Cloud Lord' Gaoran Peishitt."
"————"
A quiet yet clearly audible male voice spoke the man's epithet and full name.
In that instant, the hulking, long-white-bearded corpse's spear-thrusting motion froze. Seizing the opening, three small shadows darted in quick succession into the dead man's chest.
For a heartbeat, the corpse looked down and met their eyes—the eyes of the living, utterly alien to the blackened whites and golden irises that stared back at it.
And then—— "Gaoran Peishitt!"
"Iyaaa iyau!"
What had once been Gaoran Peishitt's, the mark that he had once been alive—the role the corpse was brutally forced to play—was stripped away, devoured by the star called
Passing each other at a speed that seemed to shave the street itself, Spica waved her tiny hand, and behind her, the corpse whose role had been devoured—no, the body of Gaoran Peishitt—crumbled to dust.
"————"
Leaving behind only a final gesture at the moment of dissolution: planting his spear in the ground and bowing to the man who had called his name.
What sentiments of the perishing dead had compelled that gesture, no one could say.
"Atrem Nevi, Diphon Trevola, Gaion Tarpho, Leskar Blaine, Niorf Tradd, Yaren Swalker, Belam Joit——"
The same voice that had spoken Gaoran's name now recited a string of others without pause.
It might have seemed like the speed of someone rattling off names they had just made up, but that was not the case. These were the names of individuals who had each lived a real life.
These were the names of the corpses that threw themselves out one after another to block the Imperial Capital's streets from the advancing "Salvation Force."
Vincent Volakia, the black-haired emperor, called each of them by name without mistake—their appearances and existence utterly transformed from their living days—and pointed the path for the "Star Eater" to consume.
And, frustratingly enough—— "Heh, that's actually kinda cool, you bastard!"
"Well then, Betty's Subaru can't afford to lose either, I suppose!"
Abel stood tall and fulfilled his role with dignity; Subaru, cheeks twisted in a grimace, had his hand tugged by
In the Imperial Capital—that is, in the corpse-capital Lupugana that had become a city of the dead—Beatrice was a reassuring presence. With her unchanging appearance and unchanging love, she guided Subaru forward, the hem of her gorgeous dress trailing behind her.
With the hand opposite the one firmly clasped to Subaru's, she faced the street and wove spells toward the dead standing in their path with adorable lips and a beloved voice.
"El Minya!"
Simultaneous with the incantation, violet-blue crystals spawned from Beatrice's palm and shot through the air, tearing away the hands, feet, and weapons of the corpses to cripple their combat ability.
It was Beatrice's shadow magic optimized for fighting the undead, but shattering them completely went against the mission's objectives.
So, relying on fine-tuning and borrowing the power of her lovely partner, Subaru surged forward as well. And with his left hand—the opposite of the right hand linked to Beatrice—he hauled Spica forward with all his might.
"Here we go! Atrem Nevi, Diphon Trevola, Gaion Tarpho, Leskar Blaine, Niorf Tradd, Yaren Swalker——"
"Uau! U! Uu-uu! Aau! Uau! Uuu!"
Matching Abel's recited names to the corresponding corpses advancing with hostility—one by one, in perfect order, without missing a single one—Subaru paired each with Spica.
Spica understood her role. Against the approaching dead, she extended her hand—sometimes tracing, sometimes piercing, sometimes striking, sometimes flinging them away—activating the authority of the "Star Eater."
"Last one! Belam Joit!"
"Iyaaa iyau!"
Directly ahead, a sword strike hurtled toward Subaru's forehead. The corpse wielding it—Belam Joit, his face pale and deeply wrinkled—locked eyes with Subaru, who clenched his back teeth.
The blade stopped a hair's breadth from his forehead because Belam's right arm, from shoulder to waist, had been crystallized, rendering it immovable by the dead man's own will.
Giving silent thanks to Beatrice for that covering fire, Subaru urged Spica forward, and her hand touched Belam's chest.
And slowly, with a look of satisfaction twisting his features, the corpse dissolved into dust.
"Puh, haa…!"
Having witnessed the neutralization of Belam and the surrounding corpses, Subaru exhaled deeply.
The chaotic close-quarters fighting, more like a bridge battle than anything, evoked the brutal days on the gladiator island. As Subaru panted on his feet, Spica peered over his shoulder with an "Aau?" and patted his back, finally allowing him a moment's rest.
On Spica's other side, Beatrice had one hand on her hip and was glaring at Subaru.
"You charged in too recklessly! Betty said she wanted to see a dashing performance, you know. She has absolutely no desire to see a dashing death."
"I know. That move was entirely dependent on Beako's covering fire. I'm reflecting on it, honestly."
"……If you understand, then I suppose that's fine."
Subaru's straightforwardly contrite attitude deflated Beatrice's scolding mode, her lips pursing.
On a battlefield, there was no time for a lengthy post-mortem, but her expression said she was anything but satisfied. Still, Subaru wasn't brushing it off carelessly. Beatrice's admonishment was something he should take to heart.
Just now, he had nearly had his skull split open and killed. One step too deep into enemy territory and it would have been over. —That would have been a meaningless death.
"You nearly died charging in too eagerly right at the start of the battle. Show some restraint."
"Oh, come on……"
Reprimanded by Beatrice, thanked by Spica, Subaru turned back with a scowl at the zero-sympathy remark from behind him. Abel stood there with his arms crossed, having shown not the slightest inclination to assist their fight.
So perfectly unhelpful and hands-off that Subaru was almost impressed.
"I've been through a lot with you, but I've never thought you looked more like an emperor than right now."
"I merely settled one task. Consider it payment for the two at your side, and I'll overlook that insolent remark."
"You should be aware that from the outside, you look exactly like the worst kind of nobility—standing there with your arms crossed, watching children fight."
An emperor watching children battle corpses—that was a sight as ugly as post-apocalyptic entertainment after a zombie pandemic. There were limits to how bad one's reputation could look.
Still, given Abel's position, role, and the nature of his combat ability, it was honestly a relief that he wasn't getting in the way, so this was a mixed blessing.
And then—— "Tch. The sentries right inside the gate are dealt with, but at this rate, we're going to be bogged down no matter what."
Saying this, Jamal spat venomously at the ground.
Having contributed to the early victory by taking on multiple corpses, he surveyed his surroundings with both twin swords still in hand, adjusting his eyepatch.
"Just cutting down every corpse that comes at us would be the fastest way. Why don't we do that?"
"……You never listen, do you? If we did that, how are we supposed to 'jobutsu' the corpses with Spica's authority?"
"Huh? What the hell is 'jobutsu'?"
"It means a way to keep the dead from getting back up no matter how many times they're knocked down! Betty has explained this over and over by now, hasn't she?!"
Stamping her tiny feet in frustration, Beatrice's protest fell on Jamal's blank face. That reaction only made her redder, but the effort spent trying to drill complex reasoning into Jamal's head was, unfortunately, never going to pay off.
And so—— "Jamal Oreilly. Obey them. That is the optimal course, as I have judged."
"If Your Excellency says so, then I'll do anything!"
"Nnnnngh……!"
In the end, Abel swooped in from the side and snatched away all the credit, and Jamal's shamelessly compliant response left Beatrice grinding her teeth in frustration. Adorable.
That exchange lightened Subaru's mood just a touch, but Spica, whose hand had stopped rubbing his back, peered up at him.
"Uau?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. What about you, Spica—anything feeling off?"
"U! Aa-u!"
At Subaru's question, Spica straightened up with a refreshingly vigorous expression and puffed out her chest to assure him she was in perfect form. Seeing no dishonesty in her demeanor, Subaru clenched his fist—reassured that the "Star Eater" was not working against Spica and that the operation was proceeding as planned.
Catching Subaru's profile as he did so, Abel narrowed his black eyes.
"As grudging as it is, your read seems to have been accurate."
"I don't know why you'd find that grudging, but what about?"
"The obvious. —The enemy's main force has been directed toward the fortress city with the bulk of their strength. What remains in the Imperial Capital is a fraction of the corpses and soldiers unsuited for war."
"……Right. The ones left behind can't act as a cohesive unit. Every one of them is annoyingly strong, but by the bad Imperial standard, that actually works in our favor."
Subaru nodded in agreement with Abel's assessment of the capital's situation.
Just as Abel had said, the main body of the corpse army was besieging the fortress city of
The essence of this operation was a blitz to strike down the capital's leadership while the fortress city held the enemy's gaze.
However, if the enemy at the fortress city prioritized "quantity," then the enemy in the capital prioritized "quality."
Starting with the "Cloud Dragon" Mezoreia, who blanketed the capital's skies, every combatant left behind in the city's defense was a transcendent being of extraordinary power—each worth a thousand ordinary fighters.
That was precisely why—— "——A simultaneous assault on all apexes. A two-layered feint."
The words from Subaru's mouth sharpened the expressions of Abel, Beatrice, and the others.
Currently, Subaru's group was positioned at the northwest of the capital—near the fifth apex. They had heard that the star-shaped defensive wall's massive breach in that area was the handiwork of Garfiel during the capital's siege.
How reliable Garfiel would become in a short time was beyond measure, but the fact that they had infiltrated from the landmark he had carved was a deliberate choice. Subaru and Beatrice with Spica, paired with Abel and Jamal—a lopsided master-servant combination that seemed, in terms of raw combat power, like a reckless allocation. But this was the optimal deployment.
Any other grouping, and the "Salvation Force's" operation would certainly fail.
However, even having achieved this formation, they were merely standing at the starting line.
"The main arrow is us, and the destination of that arrow is that massive Crystal Palace—no question. If anyone besides us fights
Sphinx—the being who had run rampant across two nations, the Kingdom and the Empire, over an impossibly long span of years. The mastermind behind the "Great Calamity." If Sphinx escaped, there was no telling what disaster would be planned next.
The only way to kill Sphinx in corpse form was Spica's "Star Eater." There was no alternative.
But—— "Then before a bunch of unnecessary obstacles come swarming out, we bolt straight from here to the Crystal Palace and smash the enemy boss! After that, the Emperor declares the capital's reconquest!"
"Uuu!"
"That's the ideal, but it won't be that simple."
"Huh?" "Aau?"
Jamal, fired up and pointing his sword toward the Crystal Palace—the enemy's stronghold—with Spica echoing his enthusiasm, had their momentum deflected by Subaru, who turned to face them.
But Subaru shook his head slowly.
"We can't go straight to the Crystal Palace. We can't even approach the castle carelessly."
"You—don't tell me you're getting cold feet……"
"It can't be cowardice, can it? What's waiting there?"
"——A curse. It disables anyone who gets close to the castle."
Cutting off Jamal's gritted teeth, Subaru answered Beatrice's questioning gaze. He pressed a fist to his own chest, recalling the unavoidable, unbearable pain.
As long as that obstacle existed, the castle was unreachable. —Worse still, no one would be able to function properly anywhere in the capital.
"So how the hell do you know that when you haven't even tried it? Huh?"
Naturally, not everyone could easily accept Subaru's explanation.
Jamal was the chief among them. Unlike
And the same could be said for Abel.
Between Subaru and Abel, there was no such trust as existed with Emilia and the others.
That was why Abel—— "Behind this act that appears reckless or roundabout, you have a deliberate intention."
"Your Excellency!?"
"Hold your tongue, Jamal Oreilly. There will not be a third time. Obey them—obey him."
Emperor Vincent Volakia did not judge based on trust in Subaru, but by linking Subaru's actions and true intent to his own intellect and strategy.
At the emperor's repeated command, Jamal's single eye widened. He fell silent, then struck his own forehead with the pommel of his twin swords. He struck, and struck, and struck until blood seeped from his brow.
"——Understood. I will never make you say it a third time."
With all hesitation gone from his face, he bowed deeply.
At Jamal's answer, Vincent gave a nod, while Beatrice bristled.
"Why would you hurt yourself!? Heal that immediately!"
"Huh!? Damn it, shrimp, stop fussing! This is my oath of——"
"You only have one eye! What happens if blood gets in that one? You never think ahead, and Betty is the one who has to deal with it!"
Squabbling loudly, Beatrice deftly healed Jamal's forehead wound.
Watching this exchange from the side, Abel turned to Subaru with a "Well then."
"If we can't reach the castle from here, shall we quietly wait for the others to move the pieces and create a path? Surely that isn't the case?"
"Love the 'show me what you've got' tone. ……Our fight has its own purpose too."
Meeting Abel's probing gaze, Subaru placed a hand on Spica's head beside him. The operation's key player, Spica, looked up at him with an "U?", and Subaru nodded back.
Rushing headlong into the Crystal Palace was suicide, and there was no way for Subaru's side to engage with the "curse" proactively. Currently, no one could breach the castle.
Yet if they wanted to confront Sphinx inside the castle, there was only one way.
"That's why——"
The moment those words left Subaru's mouth, a sudden explosion of noise violently shook every eardrum.
Multiple buildings collapsed, spewing smoke and rubble as the street was remade. Subaru's group instinctively spun toward the sound, and Jamal and Beatrice—who had been arguing moments ago—stepped in front of the combat-incapable Subaru and Abel, glaring into the billowing smoke.
And there, beyond the smoke, the figure that revealed itself—— "……Being the boss's bodyguard ain't easy, I'll give it that much."
Jamal twisted his cheek and muttered as the figure emerged from the depths of the smoke.
No one among Subaru's group could argue with Jamal's words. Whether great or small, the unease he felt was the same unease they all shared.
"——Oooooh."
A low, deep, ominous sound—like wind howling through a cavernous tunnel—as the abomination dragged itself forward through the capital, scraping and slithering along. It may have once been human, but the number and shape of its limbs bore no resemblance to their original form, looking for all the world like the crude, innocent scrawling of a small child's first attempt to draw a parent—pure, unself-conscious chaos.
Its grotesquely long, branching right arm swung like a beast's tail, while a short, stubby left arm clawed at the ground to pull the torso forward. Its legs, which should have been the more functional limbs, were four in number yet utterly useless, dangling limply as they were dragged along.
Its body was distorted—thicker in the chest, belly, and shoulders—entirely asymmetrical, but atop what appeared to be its head sat a single large golden eye—— "——Subaru."
"Yeah, I know."
Called by name by Beatrice, Subaru answered with a look that said "you don't need to tell me."
This was not their first encounter with an abomination of this kind. The reunion with the thing they had believed the dust explosion had finally finished off—— "——Ooooooh!!"
Before they could even wipe the cold sweat that broke out at that realization, the malformed corpse ripped open its torn mouth and let out a thunderous roar.
△▼△▼△▼ ——At the very moment Subaru and Abel's group faced off against the abomination.
The Imperial Capital Lupugana, once again a battlefield not many days removed from the siege.
The war surrounding that empire, though the pieces on the board kept shifting, remained fundamentally unchanged. It was a decisive battle—a strike at the head of the ruler of the beautiful Crystal Palace that towered at the capital's deepest core.
The same was true not only of the victory conditions but of how the battle itself was conducted——that is, the struggle for the five apexes of the star-shaped fortress surrounding the capital would determine the outcome.
And so—— "Still, still! The 'Iflueran with No Chance of Winning' starts right here, Nosebleed Dragon!"
Forgetting his pain beneath the surge of fighting spirit and exhilaration, striving to live up to the unbreakable trust placed in him, the boy burned his very soul to challenge a myth.
"O celestial watchers—bear witness. To what the world shall choose."
Singing, preening, laughing as if posing—he danced along the boundary between what was fitting and what was not, as the young figure of lightning carved into the bloated second sun with the defiance of someone who refused to accept despair.
"——At last. At last, I am able to see you once more."
Carrying unconcealed joy in her voice, the deer-antlered girl in her kimono arrived with snow in tow, coming to the aid of the precious person whose reunion she had long awaited.
"I'm not letting you go anywhere on your own anymore. Talk to me properly, Brother Baru."
Dropping her sunnily cheerful expression to something harder, the girl who had steeled herself for a cruel reunion locked eyes with the sky-ruling wyvern rider through the mage's borrowed power.
And then—— "How about that. A nasty piece of work for a spellcaster. —There's no love in it, is there."
The black kimono and black fur—the wretched beast raised its golden eyes, slitted and gleaming, before a curse far more abhorrent than its own very existence.
The Imperial Capital's decisive battle. The siege of the five great apexes. The battle to drop the star—had truly begun.