—
A copy built upon the body of the girl who had been offered up to serve as the core for creating the "
The theory was that by bonding an existing soul onto this copy's hollow vessel, a pseudo-immortality through soul duplication could be achieved.
However, this scheme crumbled before the simple fact that vessels and souls differ in size and shape from individual to individual.
The Witch of Greed's soul could not fit within Ryuzu Meyer's copy.
Born from this entirely natural failure was the Witch of Greed's defective product — an existence that would leave deep and lasting roots of calamity throughout the world for ages to come: Sphinx.
Given the names "Sphinx" and "Mixed-Breed Monster," this existence — which should have been disposed of for failing to meet its original purpose — survived by the cruel whims of fate.
And, as many created lives do, Sphinx also began to carry out the purpose for which she had been created.
To complete her purpose as a copy of the Witch of Greed, Sphinx would go on to amass countless calamities.
--- "Do you take me for a fool?"
Blood spilled from the mouth that hurled that curse, and Jamal collapsed to the ground.
The white light had been aimed at Subaru and the others' heads. To shield them, Jamal had taken the blast to where a child's head would be — even so, it was a grave wound that pierced clean through his side.
"Jamal—!"
"The intended targets avoided harm, did they? Still, this falls within the scope of response."
Shoved aside and shielded on instinct, Subaru barely registered what had happened. The one who had done it — Sphinx herself — showed no concern over her failed attack.
The calm, indifferent words of the revenant's leader made Subaru grind his teeth.
Fallen Jamal could no longer continue fighting — no, he needed treatment immediately or he would die.
"Subaru! Focus on what's in front of you!"
"—!"
Tearing his gaze from Jamal, Subaru looked at Sphinx. Beatrice,
The three, now on high alert, concentrated their attention on the enemy Sphinx.
Jamal's treatment would have to wait.
That was correct. Absolutely, unequivocally correct.
And yet— "Did you think you were the anomaly that would derail my plans? Were you mistaken?"
Seeing that Subaru couldn't tear his consciousness away from Jamal, Sphinx tilted her head and spoke. Those golden eyes of the revenant peered into him, further unsettling his mind.
"—! I'll match you, Spica!"
"Aau!"
In Subaru's place, Beatrice and Spica moved simultaneously.
At Beatrice's call, Spica sprang into action, her long golden hair dancing as she leaped toward Sphinx. Coordinating with Spica's leap, Beatrice deployed deep purple crystalline arrows to Sphinx's left, right, and rear, cutting off escape routes and providing cover.
Surrounded on all sides by the two's coordination, Sphinx was cornered — or so it seemed.
"El Jiwald."
Despite the modesty of the incantation, the destructive effect that followed was immense.
Facing the approaching threat, Sphinx opened her empty hands and — just as she had attacked Jamal — now radiated white heat beams from all five fingers on both hands.
However, this time it was not a brief, gunshot-like flash of heat, but sustained blades of light.
Ten blades of light from ten fingers, each with greater reach than an oversized greatsword — Sphinx wielded them to carve through the surrounding space in an omnidirectional assault centered on herself.
Bathed in that white light, every one of Beatrice's deployed purple arrows was sliced away, and the full fury of the attack bore down on Spica, who had charged straight at her.
"—Gu!"
Just before the light could bisect Spica's body, she vanished from everyone's field of vision.
A teleport. Activating short-range teleportation, Spica escaped Sphinx's line of fire and reappeared atop the ruins of a building off the main street.
And Subaru and Beatrice, who happened to be standing in the path of the white light's trajectory— "You fool, dazzled by the appearance of the enemy's ringleader?"
The one who, even in the heat of the moment, didn't skimp on the barbs was Abel, who had seized Subaru and Beatrice by the heads and forced them to the ground.
"Don't expect Jamal Ol'ry to get back up. Your efforts are what matter here."
"I-I know that without you telling me! I'll repay your quick thinking just now with what I do next, so just watch, won't you?!"
Roughly rescued, Beatrice puffed out her cheeks, shoved Abel away, and stood up.
Abel snorted at Beatrice's spirited retort and, also rising, looked down at Subaru who was still on the ground.
"What's the matter? Your partner's in fine spirits, but as for you—"
He was about to add a provocative "won't you get up?" — but he seemed to detect something amiss and cut himself off, furrowing his well-shaped brow.
"Subaru?"
Beside him, Beatrice blinked in confusion at the same anomaly.
"————"
At Beatrice and Abel's feet, Subaru lay face-down and unmoving. Noticing this, Spica — who had teleported a short distance away — also registered it, confusion flooding her eyes.
In the heat of the moment, none of them understood what had happened.
And so, the first to grasp what had occurred to Subaru — ironically — was the enemy, Sphinx.
With her pale revenant face, whose capacity for emotional expression was severely diminished, Sphinx nonetheless displayed what could only be confusion and suspicion in her eyes.
"...Why did you ingest poison? Requ... Explanation."
"You—!"
Right after Sphinx's question, Abel's expression changed as he grabbed Subaru by the collar and hauled him up. Despite the rough handling, Subaru offered no complaint.
—Because Subaru had already cracked the poison pill concealed in his molar, and was right in the middle of tasting the hellish agony that led to "death."
"Nooo! Subaru!? Subaru!?"
"Uguh—!?"
Foaming blood at the mouth and convulsing, Subaru's condition drew screams from Beatrice and Spica.
Beatrice reached for the trembling Subaru, but Abel shoved her aside. He thrust his fingers into Subaru's mouth, extracted the poison pill, and his face twisted with fury.
"What are you doing!? Have you lost your mind!?"
"Bububu, bubububu...!"
"You spoke such grand words about fighting fate, and THIS is what you do!?"
Abel's furious voice, Beatrice's sobbing, Spica's anguished cry as she desperately flew back — amid the sensation of his entire body dissolving into mush, Subaru heard it all.
To those angry words, those tears, those cries of despair — he could not respond with language.
And yet, there was meaning in this. It was necessary. —This was the best move.
The best, best, best, best, best method to reach a future where no one dies.
"Bubu, buh."
"Requ... Explanation."
Without being able to convey that to anyone, the Witch's question remained unresolved, and his breath ran out.
--- —In the first few years, Sphinx's journey of inquiry was fraught with extreme difficulty.
The body of Ryuzu Meyer, the template for the copy, lacked the constitution to survive in a harsh world. Threatened easily by extreme weather, temperature swings, magical beasts, and malicious humans, with few means of resistance — the selection of vessel had been flawed beyond measure.
Since a mana body had no concept of growth or training, there was no expectation of improvement.
Though knowledge and skill not dependent on the physical body could be acquired, the path to learning them posed many life-threatening dangers, making each day a brush with peril.
Moreover, the template Ryuzu Meyer was a half-elf, and Sphinx inherited those physical features — frequently subjecting her to persecution and strange looks.
However, she hesitated to drastically alter her external appearance from the original.
These features had been what she was first given, and changing the fundamental conditions too much risked rendering her unable to fulfill her purpose of creation.
So Sphinx refused to disguise herself and instead sought other means of survival.
To avoid having her life taken, she sometimes fell to the level of a spectacle or slave. Since Ryuzu Meyer was fair of face, she had also served as a servant for a generous master.
Sphinx was ravenous for knowledge and learning, and her abilities were valued wherever she went.
Once her exceptional memory was recognized, it created value in a wide range of situations. Through this, Sphinx came to understand that her own utility was her method of protection.
To traverse the world in a frail body barely capable of sustaining life, the best strategy was to create value for herself, offer it to those who sought it, and enter their protection.
Until she could protect herself, Sphinx chose to survive by sheltering under others' wings.
Such days continued for roughly one hundred and fifty years.
--- —Since being summoned to another world, what is Natsuki Subaru's most frequent cause of death?
If asked that question, Subaru could answer with certainty: "Suicide by poison."
In the "Demon City"
Setting aside that desperate eleven seconds, poison was unquestionably his top record.
It was a terribly ignominious truth, but it could be said that the person who had killed Subaru the most in this other world was old Nuu, the one who had concocted that poison.
In any case, the poison he had used with high frequency during his lone struggle to escape the "Sword Slave Island" of
"—I'm bringing everyone home safely."
That was the absolute condition he had set for himself in this final battle of the Imperial Capital.
Originally, he had possessed this attitude and mindset before his body shrank, before he was sent to the Empire, but during his time in the Empire, his resolve had only grown stronger.
A significant reason for this was his own form of defiance against the
—If the Empire forces "death" upon him, he would deflect it no matter what.
He would do everything in his power to make that happen.
Even if it meant tasting the agony of hell once, ten times, hundreds of times over.
"—Gck!"
His vision, flashing brilliant red, opened up — and the pain, as if every drop of blood, every shred of flesh and bone, every blood vessel, every cell in his body had been thrown into a blender at once, made Subaru's throat cry out.
But the lethal agony he had been savoring just moments before, and the furious voices and sobs that had given him agony beyond that agony — they faded into the distance. —This was "Return by Death."
Triggered by suicide via poison, "Return by Death" activated, and Natsuki Subaru turned back time.
In that instant, Subaru tried to shift his consciousness to the moment after he had last washed his face at the imperial soldiers' camp before entering the capital— "Do you take me for a fool?"
"————"
The sensation of something shoving his chest, and the squeezed-out curse he heard, made Subaru viscerally realize that his "Return by Death" restart point had been updated.
"The intended targets avoided harm, did they? Still, this falls within the scope of response."
Blood spilled from Jamal's mouth along with the curse, his sword's blade gouged into a perfect round. As Jamal collapsed, Sphinx — the perpetrator — analyzed the situation in a detached, cold voice.
This scene, these words — both were things he had witnessed mere seconds ago.
"Subaru! Focus on what's in front of you!"
"—!"
Beatrice's sharp voice shattered the contents of Subaru's mind, which was being rattled by his struggle to grasp reality and the shock of his changed restart point. He exhaled everything and adapted to the new situation before him.
There was no time to be dazed.
Too much could be lost in the time it took.
—The update of the "Return by Death" point.
What this meant was that, in the final battle already underway in the Imperial Capital, the "salvation squads" distributed across the various peaks could no longer be swapped out.
"————"
He believed the current arrangement placed the best personnel at the best battlefields.
But he regretted that he hadn't been able to fully verify the conditions for minimal casualties. Especially since the effectiveness of pairing
Of course, his worries and concerns for the other members' safety were endless as well— "You did think you were the anomaly that would derail my plans, didn't you? Were you mistaken?"
At Sphinx's tilted-head inquiry, Subaru looked at the revenant before him.
Up to this point, the blocks stacked in his mind came crashing down with a clatter.
The blocks of thought, shaped through trial and error, had been examined from various angles in pursuit of a better final form. Now they crumbled without a trace. —No, he was demolishing them.
Natsuki Subaru appeared beside the blocks in his mind and ruthlessly smashed them to pieces, utterly and completely destroyed them.
Until the original shape was unrecognizable. Until there was nothing left to worry about. He smashed, smashed, smashed, smashed them apart.
Having demolished them to the point where nothing could be salvaged, he set the blocks aside for the time being.
Only then could Natsuki Subaru finally begin a new round of trial and error.
"—You weren't wrong."
After a beat that felt long, Subaru narrowed his black eyes just like Abel's and fixed Sphinx with his gaze, his hands held by Beatrice and Spica.
He still hadn't found a way to break through this situation. He didn't know the safety of his companions. Jamal was still bleeding in real-time.
His determination to address all of it hadn't changed in the slightest.
To defeat the "Witch" Sphinx, and end this "Great Calamity."
For that— "I'm the bane that will derail your plans."
--- —Though Sphinx was now called a "Witch," for the first several hundred years after her birth, she possessed nowhere near the power that title implied.
This was something Sphinx only understood after coming into existence: the "soul" and the "vessel" had a correlation, and any mismatch became a critical flaw that stood in the way of living.
A vessel was originally optimized for its soul.
In short, the Witch of Greed's techniques and talents could not be fully wielded without the Witch of Greed's body. Sphinx — who existed as a half-baked insertion of the Witch of Greed's soul into Ryuzu Meyer's vessel — was once again obstructed in her purpose from the moment of creation.
As a result, it took Sphinx one hundred and fifty years to obtain power worthy of being called a "Witch."
With the flaw of a mismatched vessel and soul, Sphinx had to relearn everything from scratch — how to walk, how to breathe, how her heart beat.
This took nearly a hundred times longer than it would for a person of average talent to become a mage.
Furthermore, in this era, there were far too many obstacles standing in the way of Sphinx's efforts to fulfill her purpose.
Because of her physical features, she was treated as a half-elf and made a target for the resentment and grudges directed at the "Witch of Jealousy" — the Witch's very synonym.
Her existence as a product of the Witch of Greed's research was questioned, and she was relentlessly pursued by someone who claimed to be the Witch's disciple.
There were other factors as well, but primarily because of these two, she could not remain in one place, and her quest to fulfill her purpose was forced into repeated standstills.
At the end of those days, when she first succeeded in casting magic on her own, Sphinx remembered looking at the small flame alight on her fingertip and feeling profoundly disappointed.
—That the one meant to inherit the Witch of Greed's legacy could use only this level of magic.
--- "Do you take me for a fool?"
Blood spilled from the mouth that hurled that curse, and once again Jamal collapsed.
Shoved by Jamal, Subaru caught himself alongside Beatrice and Spica, their hands still linked — and in that instant, he confirmed the reactivation of "Return by Death."
"The intended targets avoided harm, did they? Still, this falls within the scope of response."
Despite missing her mark, Sphinx didn't dwell on the outcome falling short of expectations.
The Witch's objective was to eliminate Subaru and the others here. In that sense, neutralizing Jamal — who counted as a legitimate combatant — with the first strike was a sufficient result.
But— "Subaru! Focus on what's in front of—"
"Beatrice! Heal Jamal!"
"—! Understood!"
Anticipating Beatrice's call, Subaru instructed her to treat Jamal. Eyes widening, Beatrice immediately rushed to Jamal's side.
Seizing the moment as Beatrice's slender fingers left his, Subaru caught Spica's eye with the hand still holding hers.
"Spica, I'm counting on you!"
"Aa, u!"
With tremendous momentum, Spica launched herself toward Sphinx like a rubber ball bouncing off the ground.
To intercept Spica, Sphinx extended ten beams of light from her fingers. —Which was why, before that, Subaru scooped up the sword Jamal had dropped and hurled it.
"El Jiwald."
Jamal's sword, spinning vertically, was sliced apart by the sweeping heat beam Sphinx unleashed.
Mimicking light itself, the sword was divided into six pieces in midair — but it bought enough time for Spica to teleport. Without this cover, Spica's teleportation wouldn't have made it in time.
"—Gu!"
Spica's short bark echoed as she materialized on the rubble along the street's edge.
And the heat beams that had originally targeted Spica and Subaru behind her — an arm stretched from behind and violently shoved him down, dodging the attack.
Abel's hand pressed down on the back of his head, forcibly flattening him.
"You fool, did you underestimate the enemy's ringleader?"
"Every damn pattern and you never skip the trash talk, you emperor...!"
Bracing his hands against the ground to avoid being completely flattened, Subaru sprang to his feet and shot back at Abel's vitriolic comment.
Abel said nothing to Subaru's retort. Keeping his guard up against Sphinx, he said— "Don't expect Jamal Ol'ry to get back up. It would be best to leave him."
"I don't see it that way. He's got a sister waiting for him to come home."
"The bereaved will receive ample compensation."
"That hole in your chest when your family's gone — it doesn't get filled by money."
Wounded Jamal lay on the ground, Beatrice hovering her hands over him as she cast healing magic.
It was frustrating, but Abel was right. Even with Beatrice's powerful healing magic at maximum effect, the chances of Jamal returning to this fight were near zero.
But if he could save Jamal from the brink of death here, one more weight would be lifted from Subaru's mind.
That would carry enormous psychological weight as he continued the fight against Sphinx.
So— "Sphinx! I'm the one who can kill you!"
"————"
Sphinx, who had been surveying the situation, turned her gaze to Subaru at his blunt declaration.
If he could draw her attention away from Beatrice and the others and onto himself — that was a success.
"You revenants may think you've conquered 'death,' but that's a massive lie. Nobody lives forever. There are no exceptions."
"...You make a compelling point. Indeed, you have overwritten my 'Secret Art of the Undead King' and are interfering with the souls of the dead. There is no reason I should be the sole exception. However."
"However?"
"—No, there is no need to voice it. Requ... Examination."
At Subaru's deliberate provocation, Sphinx slowly shook her head. But Subaru's cheeks stiffened slightly at her response.
Not because there was anything wrong with the content of Sphinx's reply.
Rather, it was because Sphinx, as she answered, relaxed her lips ever so slightly and smiled.
"...Ryuzu-san wasn't exactly the expressive type either, but..."
The smile of Sphinx — whose capacity for emotional expression was even more lacking than Ryuzu's, a fact compounded by her revival as a revenant — sent a chill down Subaru's spine.
That dread seemed to stem from something larger and more fundamental than mere revulsion at a cute-looking being having become a revenant.
And Sphinx's next words made it clearer still.
"There was one thing I wanted to confirm. —You over there, you are indeed
The next target of Sphinx's words was Abel beside him.
That the conversation's sights had suddenly locked onto Abel made Subaru raise an eyebrow. Given his position, Abel drawing attention was natural — but he hadn't expected Sphinx to single him out here.
The one combatant with no combat ability, and seemingly the least threatening person in the situation.
"How about it? Requ... Response."
"I have no intention of falsifying my name or station for a wretched thief like you. —I am, correctly, Vincent Vollachia, Emperor of this empire."
"Response acknowledged. I have one more matter to confirm—"
With a sharp gaze boring into Abel, Sphinx fearlessly continued speaking.
Whether it was because she was aware of the "Great Calamity" that would destroy the empire, or for some other reason — Subaru found himself at a loss for how to handle Sphinx's continued engagement with Abel.
If the conversation dragged on even slightly, it would give Beatrice more time to treat Jamal.
Subaru judged that this advantage should be put to use and refrained from interrupting.
And then— "I won't promise an answer. But ask, and I'll tell you."
"—
"...Huh?"
At the unexpected, sudden mention of Priscilla's name, Subaru faltered.
Priscilla, who had been participating in the Imperial Capital battle and had gone missing during the retreat triggered by the appearance of the "Great Calamity." Her safety, along with Yorna's — who had also disappeared — had been confirmed through the continued "Soul Marriage" spell Priscilla had been able to cast.
The "Soul Marriage" that Yorna had cast on Tanza and Chaosflame's residents, and that Priscilla had cast on Shults — proof that they were alive.
Yorna, of course, was one of the "Nine Divine Generals." And then there was Priscilla.
Given that Al had stayed behind in the capital for the purpose of rescue, Subaru had assumed she would, characteristically, be stubbornly alive. But to hear Sphinx raise her name — and in the form of a question directed at Abel — was completely unexpected.
Indeed, Priscilla had joined the battle from the fortified city of
But that— "————"
Glancing at Abel — the man whose relationship with Priscilla Subaru had never investigated — he noticed Abel narrowing his black eyes.
Subaru knew that this minimal reaction was, in fact, evidence of Abel's considerable agitation.
Whether she had detected it or not, Sphinx addressed the silent emperor— "—You are indeed her brother, aren't you? Requ... Certainty."
Thus delivering the bombshell that Subaru had never anticipated.
--- —Even after becoming capable of casting magic on her own, Sphinx's way of life did not change dramatically.
Once she had succeeded in casting spells, her method of using gates with Ryuzu Meyer's mana body stabilized, and she was able to reproduce most of the magic that the Witch of Greed's soul held knowledge of.
But this did nothing to change the dangerous position Sphinx found herself in, and the days of hiding from eyes and fleeing threats without remaining in one place continued.
However, it became easier to hide and easier to evade threats than before.
Thanks to that, Sphinx was finally able to embark on research into her purpose — the reproduction of the Witch of Greed — one hundred and fifty years after her birth.
—The first century was spent learning about the Witch of Greed.
Despite originating from the same soul, Sphinx had let too much slip from the Witch of Greed's soul, and the ultimate goal she aimed for was far too hazy.
So she began by tracing legends and documents across various regions to learn about the long-lost Witch of Greed. But the
After a century of seeing no advancement, Sphinx abandoned that approach and sought another method.
—The next century was devoted to compensating for what was lacking within her own "Witch of Greed."
From the reality that a century of traveling the world had yielded almost no results, Sphinx concluded that the greatest clue to understanding the Witch of Greed was herself — the one who shared the same soul.
Sphinx, the defective product born from a failed attempt to reproduce the Witch of Greed. If she could fill in the missing parts of her soul and recover its original form, wouldn't that fulfill her purpose of reproducing the Witch of Greed?
—However, this attempt also proved difficult over the course of a century and stalled.
Though she had not abandoned the search for materials to understand the Witch of Greed — only shifted methods — progress in that search meant losing sight of the peak she should have been aiming for.
It appeared that the Witch of Greed had been a person of exceedingly complex character.
According to documents found, the Witch of Greed had exchanged words with many, granting them the knowledge and wisdom they desired, and — for better or worse — repeatedly intervened in history.
Yet in Sphinx's hazy memories, there was also a version of the Witch of Greed who avoided contact with people as much as possible and rarely involved herself in others' lives.
These contradictory images of the Witch of Greed introduced doubt into Sphinx's research.
By this point, more than three hundred years had passed since Sphinx's birth, and eager to advance the research needed to fulfill her purpose, Sphinx was forced to make another decision.
And Sphinx decided — to change her approach drastically from what it had been.
--- —Abel and Priscilla: siblings.
The shocking truth delivered by Sphinx, however, was linked in Subaru's mind with a certain sense of understanding, fitting together with and unraveling the many questions he had accumulated.
Priscilla's intervention in the empire's civil war. Her friendships with Serina and others connected to the empire. Her habit of holding conversations that hinted at a deep past with imperial personnel, and her repeated displays of a relationship with Abel that went beyond mere acquaintance.
And her personality — like Abel's, extraordinarily arrogant and overbearing.
Abel's arrogance could be explained by him being emperor.
Then what explained Priscilla's arrogance? The answer was also solved by royalty.
—No. More precisely, it was solved by her being former royalty.
"Isn't the rule for choosing emperor something crazy about siblings killing each other?"
"I have no intention of debating the merits of the Imperial Selection's system with you."
"I'm not debating anything. The fact that you're emperor and Priscilla's still alive tells me roughly what you siblings think of that rule."
The more Subaru heard, the more convinced he became of Abel and Priscilla's blood relation. But the more he understood, the more he recognized that the current situation was impossible from the empire's perspective.
In the Vollachia Empire, the rule was that those with imperial succession rights killed each other until only one remained, and only then was the emperor decided. —Abel had violated this.
In other words, Abel and Priscilla had conspired to defy the Imperial Selection.
"There was no conspiracy. I made the decision, and I carried it out. Prisca died, and Priscilla survived. That's all there was to it."
"That's all there was to it... Huh!? Wait, does that mean Priscilla was someone who was never supposed to return to the empire!?"
"At the fortified city — can you imagine the strain I endured? Before that, you could say it started the moment I heard about the kingdom's royal selection and its candidates."
"For once, I actually feel sorry for you..."
It was beyond what an outsider like Subaru could imagine, but to let his younger sister Priscilla escape, Abel must have crossed some incredibly dangerous bridges. Surely even now, if this information leaked, it would be a bombshell threatening Abel's position as emperor.
And having gone to all that trouble to let his sister escape, only for her to be nominated as the next king candidate of a neighboring kingdom the moment he looked away, and then show up as reinforcements in the empire's civil war — Abel must have been fighting a silent battle of his own behind that demonic mask of his.
In any case— "Setting aside the sibling revelation, Sphinx taking an interest in Priscilla isn't bad news. If Priscilla is being kept alive in the Crystal Palace, that corroborates the 'Soul Marriage' verification."
"—It would appear that Priscilla's relationship with the 'Witch' and her kind is not a cordial one."
"She might not be self-aware about it, but both you siblings have resting unfriendly faces and should probably fix that. You're like that even with allies, so imagine how it is for enemies?"
"That insolence — even if I were to turn a blind eye, Priscilla would not."
The moment the sibling information was revealed, Abel unhesitatingly dove into family matters.
In truth, Abel — who lacked the executive power to actually punish the impudent — was less terrifying than Priscilla, who would ruthlessly cut down anyone she deemed unpleasant. That was just how it was.
"Speaking of cutting people down, that sword Priscilla's always waving around—"
"—The 'Yang Sword' Vollachia."
Subaru had never seen it up close, but he knew that the thing Priscilla kept pulling out of thin air was a treasure sword of immense power.
Abel gave him the most straightforward answer possible.
"...Could it be that the 'Yang Sword' is something passed down through the empire's generations?"
"Yes."
"Then before we even get to the question of hiding her identity, she shouldn't be the one carrying it!"
"—Yes."
Abel answered in a hard voice, and Subaru, too, felt a headache coming on at Priscilla's brazenness.
And with good reason. —She was a former member of the Vollachia imperial family, a walking bomb whose survival threatened the emperor's reign, and yet she had boldly taken the stage as a royal selection candidate in the kingdom, and on top of that, repeatedly failed to show restraint and waved around an imperial treasure sword.
No wonder everyone who knew the old Priscilla made cryptic moves when they encountered her — she hadn't been hiding anything at all.
"Are you one of those people who think just calling yourself 'Emi' is enough to get by, Emilia...?"
In Emilia's case, she was genuinely cute, a natural-born beauty, and an ethereal girl — but in Priscilla's case, she was doing it while fully aware of her situation, which made it worse.
Either way— "Shouldn't the 'Yang Sword' be something you hold, not her?"
"————"
At Subaru's question, Abel remained silent.
If the answer was no, he would have eloquently and cuttingly explained why — that was the Abel Subaru knew. His silence meant the answer was yes.
And therefore— --- "Do you take me for a fool?"
Thinking about it, who was that curse directed at?
At Subaru and the others he had shoved aside to protect? Or at Sphinx, who had mercilessly targeted a child? —Or at Jamal himself, for narrowing his own options afterward?
Of course, it had to be one of the first two. The last possibility was out of the question.
Admittedly, Jamal's act of shielding Subaru and the others was an unnecessary kindness from the standpoint of Subaru, who could use "Return by Death" to break through the situation.
If Jamal hadn't shielded them, Sphinx's surprise attack would have evaporated Subaru's head, triggering "Return by Death," and the response would have begun from a situation before that point.
Whether that would have been the same as now — after or before contact with Sphinx — was unclear.
But in that scenario, since Jamal wouldn't have been wounded, even in a situation where confrontation with Sphinx couldn't be avoided, their strategic options would have been wider.
As it stood, Jamal's defeat at the hands of magic cost Subaru and the others a fighter, and Beatrice's healing magic was now tied up trying to save his life.
Judging only by what had occurred, Jamal's actions had actually made things harder for Subaru and his group.
However— "————"
He would not let Jamal's sacrifice — born of pride in being a Sword Wolf and determination to carve out a future for his sister with that sword — become meaningless.
Life, instinct, heart — those things were not the kind of things that could simply be rendered meaningless.
"The intended targets avoided harm, did they? However—"
"You owe me for those boots! But we're even now!"
"————"
Sphinx had been thrown off by Jamal's collapse, and was about to say something. Overriding the Witch's words, Subaru shouted loudly at Jamal.
Whether that shout reached Jamal in his current state, Subaru didn't know.
But Subaru had been treated horribly by Jamal at the camp right after being transported to the Vollachia Empire. He forgave that now. —Jamal was, without question, one of them.
"Beatrice! Heal Jamal!"
"—! Understood!"
At Subaru's follow-up command, Beatrice quickly rushed to Jamal. As the sensation of her slender fingers left his, Subaru pulled Spica closer with his other hand.
"Spica, I'm counting on you!"
"Aa, u!"
An eager expression on her face, Spica kicked off the ground and flew toward Sphinx with the bouncing force of a rubber ball.
As Spica's long golden hair danced with her leap, Sphinx raised both hands — her declaration cancelled, but not about to let that stop her.
Ten blades of light emerged — and Subaru hurled Jamal's sword into them.
"El Jiwald."
"—Gu!"
The white light melted Jamal's spinning sword and continued toward Spica beyond. But before it could reach her, Spica teleported to the rubble along the street. At the same time, Abel's hand reached from behind and forced Subaru's head down, successfully evading Sphinx's counterattack.
"Well done, pivoting so quickly. But without follow-through, it means nothing."
"I know! And I'm telling you now — I'm not abandoning Jamal!"
"—The bereaved will receive ample compensation."
"Saving them isn't about what money can fix — it's about what I want to save!"
Shooting back at Abel's rationalism, Subaru steadied his faltering stance. Fixing Sphinx with his gaze— "Sphinx! I'm the one who can kill you!"
"————"
"I can kill you, revenant. Resurrection magic isn't omnipotent. Think I'm lying?"
"...You make a compelling point. Indeed, you have overwritten my 'Secret Art of the Undead King' and are interfering with the souls of the dead. There is no reason I should be the sole exception. However."
Drawing Sphinx's attention to himself through deliberate provocation, Subaru listened as she acknowledged the persuasiveness of his claim— "—No, there is no need to voice it. Requ... Examination."
Sphinx smiled — an expression seemingly at odds with her wariness of Subaru, or more precisely, of Spica's "Star Eater."
The Witch's smile. Its true nature remained unknown. Knowing it was unnecessary — and ultimately, impossible.
"Don't be scared," Subaru murmured in a low voice.
Beside him, Abel's brow furrowed. When the emperor's black eyes demanded an explanation, Subaru let his words ride on the momentum of the conversation.
Smile still lingering, Sphinx looked toward Abel.
"There was one thing I wanted to confirm. You there—"
"—This man is Vincent Vollachia, Emperor of this nation. And he is Priscilla's brother, no question."
"————"
Subaru's answer had anticipated Sphinx's question.
The instant he did so, Sphinx moved her eyebrows in a clear display of surprise for the first time. Abel, who had been warned in advance, was equally startled — but that was the cost of doing business.
"Aau!"
—And the return on that investment was provided by Spica, who lunged at Sphinx.
With the feline grace of a hunter, Spica closed in on the Witch. But the force behind her swinging arm carried not a cat's claws, but the impact of a tiger, a lion, or perhaps a bear.
A blow that could kill even a revenant warrior in a single hit — Spica drove it mercilessly into Sphinx's slender frame— "Impressive. Your particularity may extend beyond soul interference."
"Aau!?"
Sphinx's quiet analysis overlapped with Spica's high-pitched cry of surprise.
Spica's surprise was understandable. Her full-power strike had connected. However, Sphinx had deflected it skillfully with a single raised arm.
Spica's blue eyes went wide, and the Witch's golden pupils regarded the girl— "Did I surprise you? In the 'Demi-Human War,' my defeat was partly due to my inadequacy in martial technique. Having learned from that, I resolved to start from scratch myself. Although—"
"Guu!?"
"—there are limits to performance enhancement through the 'Flow Method' in this copy body."
As she spoke, Sphinx used the deflection's momentum to flip Spica head over heels and slam her to the ground.
That fluid movement and technique were not something gained through a lifetime of training. The Witch had, as she confessed, learned from her past defeat.
One couldn't help but think that whoever had punched the Witch in the old days had made an unnecessary effort.
"Spica!"
"—Guu, aau!"
At Subaru's shout, Spica bit down hard.
In the instant before her head hit the ground, she twisted her body, once again using it like a cat's. Landing softly on her knees, Spica tried to put distance between herself and Sphinx.
"Aau!?"
But Spica's attempt to pull back stalled.
Sphinx had grabbed her right sleeve, sealing her escape.
Immediately after, the girl's and the Witch's eyes locked, and at arm's length, ultra-close-quarters combat erupted.
"U! Aau! Aaau! Aaaau!"
Hands locked on each other, Spica and Sphinx exchanged high-level offense and defense with minimal movement.
Against Spica's devastating haymakers, Sphinx countered with flowing techniques that embodied the principle of softness overcoming hardness, occasionally interspersing magic from her fingertips.
"Beako!"
"A little more, perhaps!"
At Subaru's shouted question, witnessing the fierce battle, Beatrice responded. Hands glowing, she was pouring everything into Jamal's healing magic.
Should he wait for Beatrice, who still couldn't return?
"Like hell I will!"
Eliminating the option of standing still, Subaru drew the Guilty Whip from the small of his back on instinct. But as he made that decision, Abel's hand roughly grabbed his shoulder.
"Wait, Natsuki Subaru. If you move rashly—"
"Like hell I've got time for that!"
Overriding Abel's sharp appeal with an even louder shout, Subaru broke free and ran.
Behind him, he heard Abel click his tongue, but Subaru didn't stop. He raised the whip toward Spica, who was being toyed by Sphinx's combined martial arts and magic.
"Sh—!"
The whip's tip flew through the air with speed that belied a child's strength.
Accuracy was worse than when he was his original size, but his concentration under extreme conditions functioned well. Even if he forgot the training days of learning to wield a whip with a shrunken body, his willpower could create miracles.
The air-splitting whip sank into Sphinx's back like a snake's fangs— "—Na."
"Protectiveness and impatience can become poisons that distort judgment. It is precisely because I have gained even a modicum of understanding of what emotion is that I grasp its terror."
Sphinx responded with the same flat tone — her right hand caught in the Guilty Whip's coils.
But that was Sphinx's right hand offered deliberately. With her left hand gripping Spica's right sleeve and her right hand bound by Subaru's whip, both of her hands were now sealed.
However— "Au...!"
Spica released a pained groan, her left thigh pierced by white light, and she dropped to one knee. —From a single strike fired from the golden right eye of Sphinx, whose hands should have been completely immobilized.
"Casting magic requires the assistance of fingers or tools. That is a common misconception among those who don't understand magic."
"Spica — guaah!?"
Groaning in pain, Spica's place was taken by Subaru's shout as he was pulled by Sphinx's forceful motion and thrown headlong to the Witch's feet.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, Subaru looked up. Right beside him, Spica knelt on one knee, her face twisted in pain. Above him, Sphinx's face gazed down.
Those golden eyes, devoid of warmth, met his— "—Why are you smiling?"
"Because everything is going exactly as I'd set it up."
At the question, Subaru — face-up on the ground — let go of the whip he'd deliberately kept hold of, aimed his free hand at Sphinx, and formed a finger gun.
And then— "—Minya!"
Subaru's fingertip glowed faintly, and an instant later, the deep purple crystalline arrow it had formed was launched.
Surprise. Point-blank range. Carelessness. Oscar-worthy acting — multiple factors converged, leaving Sphinx no way to avoid Subaru's prepared trap.
"...Requ... Self-reflection."
Sphinx tilted her head at the last moment, her voice slightly cracked as she murmured.
The purple arrow had struck Sphinx's right eye and pierced it through. Crystallization began from the point of impact and started consuming Sphinx's pallid skin.
Originally, Yin magic was supposed to have a special effect against revenants — and it worked spectacularly.
"Thought I was just a sharp-looking kid? Classic miscalculation."
—Subaru was a spirit Arts user contracted with a cute and capable Beatrice.
Even if his body had shrunk, his bond with Beatrice was never severed. Beatrice and Subaru were connected through a gate, and Beatrice used Subaru's mana to cast magic.
The reverse was equally true. Subaru could borrow Beatrice's power to cast magic as well. In fact, in his debut battle under his contract with Beatrice, he had gone on a magical rampage against the
The mana Beatrice had accumulated over four hundred years had been depleted in that first battle. All Subaru could do now was use a one-shot trump card at the range where Beatrice was visible.
But what mattered was having a trump card and not misjudging when to use it.
"Spica, one more push!"
"U!"
The shock of the magic sent Sphinx reeling, and Subaru pressed the attack.
Foot shot, face contorted with pain but refusing to show weakness, Spica grabbed the hand of the springing Subaru and hauled herself up.
The wound was ugly. But no matter how many times they tried, they couldn't make it any lighter than this.
So this was the best possible outcome for everyone to survive and move forward — Subaru would take on Spica's burden for her left foot and head for Sphinx.
To deliver Spica's "Star Eater" and bring Sphinx down— "I saw through only Balga's strategy. Requ... Praise."
Expanding the crystallization zone from her right eye, Sphinx praised Subaru.
The Witch's face, already beginning to freeze, formed a smile as she pressed the index finger of her left hand against her chin. The finger was shaped into a gun, pointed at Subaru in a mirror of his own earlier move.
"—!"
In that instant, Subaru intuited that it was the preparatory motion for "death flight."
She would blow her own head away — suicide to reset the situation. —If she killed herself here and brought back knowledge of Subaru and the others, Sphinx would never appear before them again.
The opportunity to deliver "Star Eater" would vanish.
Before he could move to stop her, a faint light ignited at Sphinx's fingertip— "You SON OF A—!"
A slash accompanied by a curse that drew blood from his throat severed Sphinx's left hand at the elbow.
"————"
Sphinx's eyes went wide as the severed arm spun through the air.
The one who had stopped Sphinx's planned "death flight" was Jamal — bloodshot eyes blazing, having thrown his sword with the blade already gouged from his arm.
Wounded Jamal had struck. Beatrice was supporting his risen body. She had activated healing magic on his injuries while simultaneously backing up Jamal's throw.
For a moment, the surprised Sphinx and Beatrice — who should have needed more time for treatment — locked eyes.
"I lied," Beatrice said, sticking out her tongue, revealing that Jamal's miraculous recovery was not a miracle at all.
However, even with one hand lost, Sphinx could still do the same with her remaining right hand. —No, if not for Beatrice's split-second opening, she could have.
"You chilled my blood."
Despite the content of her words, Sphinx's voice was as cold as ever.
Though perhaps there was genuine danger — Jamal's sword had carried too much momentum to be called merely "tossed."
"Requ... Praise."
"Unnecessary."
At the Sphinx whose one good eye was wide with shock, Abel responded coldly. The black-haired emperor swung the sword he had caught and severed Sphinx's right arm at the shoulder.
"Aaah..."
Left hand gone, right arm severed, her balance — already faltering from her failed escape — collapsed entirely, and Sphinx fell backward onto the Imperial Capital's streets without even breaking her fall.
Gazing down at the Witch now lying face-up on the ground, Subaru exhaled deeply.
There had been layers upon layers of feints and gambits to reach this point, and an equal amount of trial and error that didn't even belong in the same conversation. Through all of it, Subaru had arrived at where he now stood before Sphinx.
"We win."
"...Yes. I concede. I have lost."
At Subaru's declaration — one that acknowledged Jamal's severe wounds, Spica's and Subaru's injuries, and Beatrice's and Abel's safety as things that could only be judged in hindsight — Sphinx nodded.
Even without both arms, she could still fire something from her eyes like she had at Spica. The right half of her face was already crystallized, but the priority was to not let her do anything.
"Sphinx."
She understood that this was no longer a mere form of address.
What he had done just now was prepare the path for Spica's "Star Eater." Borrowing Subaru's shoulder, Spica's hand reached toward Sphinx.
To interfere with the soul of the "Witch" who had become a revenant, and end this "Great Calamity"— "—Jiwald."
The next instant, in the split second before Spica's finger could reach, Sphinx's already-crystallized face was obliterated — a blast of white light blew the Witch's head apart, shattering Subaru's plan.
"————"
From the side, Sphinx was killed cleanly, and Subaru and the others gasped. The Sphinx before them scattered into pieces, immediately turning to dust.
And the ones who had done it— "Judging from the situation, it appeared extremely dangerous. Requ... Response."
"The 'Secret Art of the Undead King' is useful, but its utility is frustrating when one cannot share information in real time. Requ... Improvement."
"Before that, we should prioritize their elimination. Requ... Handling."
Voices came in quick succession, and Subaru felt Spica's body — the one he was supporting — go rigid. Spica must have felt the same.
The shock was entirely warranted.
"Requ... Combat."
The ones who had finished off the cornered Sphinx were the multiple unharmed copies of Sphinx herself, who had gathered one after another.
--- —The intervention in the "Demi-Human War" was extremely convenient for Sphinx.
In the
Regardless of whether one was involved in the civil war, being targeted for persecution simply for being a demi-human eliminated the unnaturalness of Sphinx contacting the Demi-Human Alliance. All she had to do was claim to be a half-elf — she needed no grander justification to participate.
Meeting two of the alliance's key leaders — Balga Cromwell and
Balga, in particular, the giant race warrior, was a brilliant strategist despite his fearsome appearance. Once he recognized the utility of Sphinx's knowledge and magical power, he boldly integrated them into his strategies, mass-producing victories for the Demi-Human Alliance across numerous battlefields.
Sphinx, for her part, revealed many secrets of the Witch of Greed's knowledge that she had never previously shared, cooperating with Balga's plans — or conversely, receiving his aid.
—The "Secret Art of the Undead King" was also a forbidden technique whose successful reproduction owed much to the Demi-Human Alliance.
Though she possessed knowledge of the ritual itself, the research to fill in the details for its actualization, and the planning of operations requiring it — Balga had skillfully guided the "Demi-Human War" to create those conditions.
Sphinx had no interest in the Alliance's victories; she merely used the environment. But Balga and his contemporaries had been of great help. Though Libre, the serpent-person who shared Balga's leadership position, viewed Sphinx's activities with suspicion, and their relationship was never cordial.
In any case, the "Demi-Human War" yielded much of what Sphinx had desired.
Chief among these was the opportunity to observe "love" up close — what she most lacked, it seemed, in fulfilling her purpose. She had repeatedly gained the chance to witness the attachment generally defined as "love."
Balga had it. Libre had it. Many demi-humans had it. Humans had it.
Its existence, and the certainty that she lacked it — this was Sphinx's greatest harvest.
However, having moved a situation that had been static for over three hundred and fifty years, Sphinx had perhaps grown greedy. —She re-encountered a threat she had forgotten.
A being who knew that Sphinx had been created for the purpose of duplicating the Witch of Greed's soul, and who possessed an obsessive desire to erase that existence.
—The Witch of Greed's disciple.
Ultimately, Sphinx would be defeated by