——Here, let me make one thing clear.
The fact is, if not for
Moreover, it was something that perhaps no one other than Emilia could have prevented.
"——Hah!"
Emilia exhales sharply, gritting her teeth, as she deflects the beams of light and orbs of light raining down from every direction with her polished ice armaments, desperately holding her ground.
Directly ahead, Sphinx—who bore an uncanny resemblance to the Witch
Emilia was always told by Subaru that "creativity is key!" and she took the detail of her ice creations' design seriously—but this time, that attention to detail paid off tremendously.
Because she always did that, she was able to quickly craft weapons to counter Sphinx's magic.
"Thanks as always, even though you're not here."
She thanked Subaru, who wasn't present, and Emilia eagerly donned her ice armor.
Subaru was probably somewhere in the imperial capital right now, holding hands with
Just thinking of Subaru like that made Emilia forget her fatigue and swing her massive ice hammer.
"——Task: elimination. Urgently."
Facing Emilia from a distance, Sphinx continued launching spells. Exposed to that relentless barrage, Emilia hadn't noticed that her opponent was starting to panic—though it didn't show on her face.
Originally, Sphinx had sneaked into this deserted place to accomplish something. Emilia had sensed this and rushed over—that was how the battle had started.
Whatever Sphinx was trying to do, she couldn't be allowed to do it.
Thinking this, Emilia focused entirely on disrupting her opponent—not her strongest suit, but she committed to it completely.
——Here, too, Emilia was making the one move that nobody else in the imperial capital could.
If Emilia were to take Sphinx's life, the "Witch" would carry the memory of that death back to her soul, recognize Emilia as a threat, and manifest a new individual with countermeasures prepared.
However, while Emilia intended to stop Sphinx, she had no intention of killing her.
Because of that, the situation Subaru called "escape through death" would never occur, and Sphinx would never send reinforcements to deal with Emilia—a threat whose information hadn't been shared.
This wouldn't have worked if it had been someone like Cecilus or
No one but Emilia could have kept Sphinx pinned down here.
"Grrah!"
Having pulled off this miraculous match based purely on intuition, Emilia kicked away an orb of light with her ice boot— "I don't know exactly what you're trying to do, but I won't let you! Also, tell me where Priscilla is! It's a promise I made with Shult!"
"——One-sided. And greedy. You really do resemble a Witch."
Emilia pressed forward eagerly, and Sphinx responded to her demands with a cold murmur.
But that murmur held a barely concealed frustration.
△▼△▼△▼△ ——A blinding white light engulfed his vision, and in the next instant, the world ended.
That was the new "Return by Death" situation that
"————"
Clutched under Roswaal's arm as he flew through the air, with Beatrice on the other side, and their hands tightly clasped behind Roswaal's waist.
Beatrice's presence, Roswaal's warmth, the sensation of wind battering his entire body—all of it felt real.
Not only that— "About the dragon extermination just now, I don't think it's very elegant to compete over the number of heads, you know? What you really want isn't trophy heads but thunderous applause, right? So for now, how about we just call it a draw between the two greats of Vollachia and
"Fine by me, fine by me. Standing out too much is its own problem—getting paraded around for post-war politics is a hassle too, after all."
Watching and hearing Cecilus and Halibel banter as they fell toward the ground, while the corpse dragon dissolved into mist in the sky behind them—their prize, literally slain in an instant.
The two of them were unquestionably among the world's peak, transcendent beings on equal footing—but even they couldn't defy the laws of physics and remain suspended in the air forever. There was a certain sense of rightness to that— "But right now—"
He needed to figure out what was happening, identify the new threat, and come up with countermeasures.
After stopping the mana cannon, after cutting down the approaching dragon, after witnessing the green light billowing in the distance blow away the clouds—the "Witch" still had tricks up her sleeve.
Before they activated, before the world was painted white, before Subaru and the others lost their lives, there wasn't much time.
Think, think, think. Think think think think think think think— "——Subaru."
Beatrice's strong, unwavering voice reached his ears.
She was holding his hand, so his mind and body—or rather, his soul—had surely conveyed the intense sense of loss he'd experienced, and his determination that something had to be done about it.
And yet Beatrice chose not to say more—that was the mark of her noble resolve.
"I'll say this much, though. Betty will help you with everything."
How much comfort he drew from her saying that without even asking for details!
Feeling, as he always did, a pang of self-loathing for always being on the receiving end, Subaru nodded.
He nodded, and— "——Take me right to the edge of losing consciousness. I'll give you the signal, so be ready to use that same trick again at any moment!"
△▼△▼△▼△ ——Above him, Subaru shouted at the top of his lungs, and black and blue streaked across the sky in response.
He hadn't been able to make out the specific content of the instructions. But in their place, he thought he heard something.
The sound of misaligned gears of the world clicking back into place, turning, to weave the time of light—surely, he heard that.
"————"
Whether it was an auditory hallucination didn't matter. In fact, it was supposed to happen exactly like that.
If Natsuki Subaru had considered the situation and made the best move to break through, then he could be trusted. —No, he had to trust him.
That was the meager best move of Al—Aldebaran—who had called out to Subaru that the "Witch" still hadn't exhausted all her schemes.
"Damn."
A short curse. It rang in his own ears inside the helmet, absurdly loud.
That made him aware that he'd unconsciously muttered it in the first place.
What did Aldebaran have to regret?
He'd known it from the moment he found Natsuki Subaru in this empire. When the time came, without hesitation, he should use Natsuki Subaru.
Hating it, loathing it—that was, in the end, nothing more than pointless pride.
——Being nothing more than a follower star, unable to do what that Natsuki Subaru could.
"……Task: reassessment."
At the voice he heard without warning, Aldebaran turned in silence.
There lay Sphinx, her body from the neck down solidified in tangible black light, sprawled defenselessly on the ravaged ground.
Her gate had been completely sealed—she was, quite literally, powerless. Yet Sphinx showed neither panic nor rage on that loathsome face as she stared intently at Aldebaran.
It was an unsettling gaze, as though she were studying him.
"Reassessment? You mean changing your mind? About what? No matter what you do, you won't even tell me what you're thinking!"
Curling the corner of his mouth, Aldebaran glared at Sphinx through his helmet.
That was also a fact. —Aldebaran had already interrogated this captured Sphinx countless times, confirming that she would not divulge her plans.
Ironically, among the infinite number of attempts Aldebaran could make, there existed a certain number of results that would never bend.
Even if dice were rolled to infinity, they could never land on zero or seven.
Right—Aldebaran couldn't.
"But listen. You're done. You've picked a fight with someone you shouldn't have. Even if you reconsider now—"
"I was reassessing my evaluation of you."
"Huh?"
"I had only regarded you as a mere retainer of Priscilla Barrielle... but you are the same as I."
"————"
"A martyr, unable to fulfill your purpose of creation, struggling through life for that reason. —I, who have fulfilled my own purpose of creation, cannot help but pity you as you remain stuck in place."
Even imprisoned, even robbed of her magic, Sphinx still looked at Aldebaran with genuine pity—not bravado, not sour grapes, but quiet, sincere pity.
There was no lie in Sphinx's eyes, and Aldebaran's throat froze solid.
And he was aware that the coldness gripping his throat was killing intent.
He had to kill this sharp-tongued, witch-faced woman. He had to snuff out her breath. No one else—no one at all—had the right to say such things to Aldebaran with that face.
——Who exactly did they think had made him into Aldebaran?
"You—"
"Al! Lend me your strength!!"
His vision went crimson, and his thoughts were about to be painted white.
One second later—no, just a few hundredths of a second later—and Aldebaran would have killed Sphinx. But a gust of wind, hurtling in at full speed, stopped him, accompanied by a shouting voice.
"I need your power! Just like you said, the 'Great Calamity' isn't over yet! This is an all-out battle!"
Descending right beside him, the figure called out to Aldebaran with an expression that had turned pale.
Flanked by the long-haired magician and the spirit in a dress—two reliable companions—and by the side of Natsuki Subaru, who could reach the light that even Aldebaran's outstretched hand couldn't, and who could grasp any number of solutions.
"You're asking me to lend my strength..."
"Shut up!"
"——!"
Every kind of frustration mixed together as Aldebaran let those words slip.
But Subaru, as though he knew nothing of Aldebaran's inner turmoil, thrust out his fist— "Right now, I don't have the luxury of comforting everyone one by one! So switch gears and cooperate with me right now! You said it before, didn't you!"
"I... said it before...?"
"That you were counting on me! I'm saying the same thing back to you!"
"——Ah."
Aldebaran caught his breath as Subaru shouted with a red face.
At the same time, he recalled his exchange with Subaru in the fortress city of
When Subaru's footing had been shaken by a girl named
At that time, what had Aldebaran said to him— "The confidence you lost, everything—you can only take it back through results. It's all the same as it's always been!"
"————"
At Subaru's words, the girl holding his hand, the long-haired figure standing behind—all of them let their eyes shine with hope.
And Subaru, who empowered those around him, now reached out his hand to Aldebaran in return, as if returning the favor from that day, saying— "Come on, Al! —Bear this with me, the heroic fantasy!"
△▼△▼△▼△ ——The "Witch's" scheme, the destruction of the Vollachia Empire, "Death"—these had been accomplished many times over.
A death without pain, an end—perhaps that was the ideal way to go.
An ending that arrives without even understanding what happened might be the only merciful escape from the terror that haunts those who fear the inevitable end.
But still, he thinks.
"No, my ideal ending is to pass away peacefully surrounded by Emilia-tan, Beako, and the grandkids, so that doesn't work."
Even if the "Great Calamity" was some kind of final boss logic—bringing a painless, fear-free end to save all of humanity from sorrow and suffering—Subaru would flatly refuse.
Thinking of Emilia and Beatrice, who he would leave behind when he reached his ideal end, sent shards of glass stabbing through his heart—but that was a problem he needed to suffer through and find the solution for before reaching that point.
Absolutely not—he would not pawn off his fate onto someone else's sweet dream.
In any case, it was all hypothetical. The "Great Calamity's" purpose wasn't some gentle ending—it was about layering as many horrific schemes as possible to bring down the empire. The premise didn't even hold.
Therefore, there was no compromise to be had other than crushing the "Great Calamity's" purpose.
"……I'm starting to see it, little by little."
At first, the world had been painted white without him being able to do a thing, and Subaru could only be swallowed by the imposed "Death" without even knowing what had killed him or his companions.
Moreover, the point he returned to was right after Roswaal had caught Subaru and Beatrice under both arms, and the attacking dragon had been cut down by Cecilus and Halibel.
And barely a minute after that, the end would come.
"————"
The grace period was short, and there was much to do.
If Al hadn't told him about the "Witch's" scheme, it would have taken just as long just to expose it. Thanks to that, he'd probably shaved off five or more "Returns by Death."
Still, trial and error were necessary to figure out exactly what was happening.
And in the course of that trial and error— "The most likely thing is the 'Stone Mass'...
"The possibility that the enemy has a trigger prepared to cause the collapse of the imperial land, that great catastrophe, exists too, doesn't it~ — If it's one of Sphinx's standard tricks, some kind of magic circle could also be in play."
"Anyway, the biggest problem—the Curse of Thorns—was taken care of by Groovy, so I don't think there's any hidden trump card with a worse curse, do you?"
"Yes yes yes yes! According to Al-san, if Anya dies, the whole empire goes kaput, so that might be related too! In other words, there's also the possibility of a massive army being sent after Anya! Shall we do a thousand-man slaying for the first time in a while?"
"Ugh! Uwaah! Aah, ugh!"
"Are you quite well, child...! I hear young Tanz has been of tremendous help to you. If there is anything I can do, do not hesitate to ask."
"Sir Schwartz, I have a bad feeling... Is everyone in the battle group safe?"
"Young as they are, they have good eyes. My own star, while not to the same degree, seems to rely on them too. If need be, say whatever you require."
"Boss! I'm happy and all, but save the compliments for later! We ain't done yet, right? Just say the word—I'll do anything!"
"……Get lost. Don't lump me in with you brats."
"Disappear, they say... The dragons, they don't want... anything more..."
"The dragons don't want... anything more..."
"Subaru, I'm not good at thinking, but I'll try! You try hard too, Subaru!"
"Oh, sorry about that, but I've gone and lost both my hands, so could you find your own way back? At this rate, I doubt I can knead your soul back into its original shape. Kakkakkakka!"
He wasn't some Superman who could solve everything by cracking his head alone.
With the limited time of just one minute, paid for with "Death" and repeated again and again, Subaru was checkmating the board his enemies had built—one move at a time, one move at a time, with certainty.
The death of the "Stone Mass" Muspel, the magic circle, the Curse of Thorns,
"——Fool. Don't look down, Natsuki Subaru."
"I and you both have no time to be looking down. We decided to struggle, did we not?"
"I have no intention of giving up. —Who do you take me for?"
Behind those arrogant words lay a genuine reservoir of self-respect.
He wouldn't do something as crude as peeking into that hidden side. Fine by him. Let's do it.
Giving up was never an option for Natsuki Subaru.
"————"
No matter how hard he searched, he couldn't find her—yes, that too.
Rather than worrying about it, the feeling of trust was stronger now. —She might be in danger, but a girl who'd never suit sitting quietly in a safe place was surely fighting hard to win the future.
So he would overturn it. —The "Witch's" board.
"Come on, Al! —Bear this with me, the heroic fantasy!"
△▼△▼△▼△ An impossible injustice was in the process of overturning the "Witch" Sphinx's final scheme.
"——I had made complete preparations."
That was what she should have done. And yet, one by one, they were being overturned.
The results she wanted, the supreme proposition of fulfilling her purpose of creation—the brief moment when a sense of true accomplishment had dominated her chest was over, and the situation was being twisted out of her grasp, one turn after another.
What was standing in Sphinx's way? In the "Great Calamity's" way?
"——
"————"
"——Aldebaran."
"————"
"——Natsuki Subaru."
As though curling up against Sphinx's innermost thoughts, red lips uttered those names.
Chosen as the "Great Calamity," Sphinx had begun the battle for the fate of the Vollachia Empire—and these were the deterrents who chased after her, trying to set the course of the stars right, to overturn everything.
"How do you evaluate them?"
In response to Sphinx's question, she turned to look, the sound of chains ringing.
Gazing at Sphinx through the water mirror, Priscilla Barrielle smiled at the question. It was not mockery, not pity—a smile.
Anyone who knew Priscilla would have been surprised to see it. There was even warmth in that smile.
The fondness that Priscilla Barrielle held toward Sphinx.
"Why..."
"That expression? Was your question not about my evaluation of those men just now? As expected of the Witch of Greed—even your questions are greedy."
"If this is mockery—"
"You know perfectly well that it is not."
Cut down sharply, Sphinx fell silent under Priscilla's gaze.
Neither her eyes nor her words held any hint of ridicule anymore. Then what did those crimson eyes hold?
That was what clawed at Sphinx's chest from the inside. A sensation she didn't know.
It was different from when she'd been driven by a sense of mission, compelled by the need to fulfill her purpose of creation.
For Sphinx, it was an unbearable, inescapable impulse.
"Remember this. That is what it means to burn."
"To... burn?"
"If you wish to obtain something beyond your own domain, you must endure the pain of being scorched by flame. There are those who do not seek such a thing, but such a life is worthless."
"————"
"Be burned. Listen to the pleas of your soul. Live as though ablaze. Love as though drowning. —This world was made to suit me."
At those words, Sphinx truly felt as though struck by lightning.
An unshakable self, an unwavering confidence, the inescapable heat of flame—and Sphinx, dying for the first time, felt what it truly meant to be alive.
At the same time, she burned. —With the desire to defeat this flame-like woman before her.
And therefore— "Task: countermeasure — no, defend if you can."
△▼△▼△▼△ The imperial capital, enclosed within a five-pointed star-shaped fortress. Laid across the five peaks of that fortress, like a mirror image, a pentagram magic circle—Sphinx and her copies, tasked with activating it, accepted the effects even as they questioned the incomplete formula.
The magic circle's effect targeted the now-exposed mana crystals of the Crystal Palace.
A massive lump of colorless mana—dismantling it, the "Witch" Sphinx intended to absorb the nearly depleted mana into her own soul and gain tremendous power.
Having succeeded in reproducing her soul as the "Witch of Greed," Sphinx now wielded the same power as her creator, possessing all knowledge of magic. All she needed was to secure the mana.
For that purpose— "To complete the magic circle—"
"I'm afraid your orders from His Excellency and the boss were to stop that."
In the next instant, the burst of sword light allowed no time to react, and Sphinx's head was lopped clean off.
Her long white hair was shorn at the point where her neck had been, and as the severed head tumbled through the air, Sphinx saw the youth who had killed her.
A flash too beautiful—but still, not enough. She couldn't end here.
Even an incomplete magic circle could give her soul a chance to breathe.
And then— "——Ah, I see. You too are drowning."
Sphinx's subsequent choice was met with the smile of
In Cecilus's field of vision, multiple Sphinxes—restored from souls that had carried back the memory of his cutting stroke, in an effort to prevent the magic circle from fully activating—stood in his path.
The Sphinxes stood before him, tilting their heads.
"There is no body of water here. What do you mean by drowning? Task: explanation."
"Rivers, ponds, lakes, even puddles—none of those are necessary. The thing called 'Oona Bara' exists in everyone's heart. Those who strongly desire something, they say, are all drowning."
At those words, Sphinx's tilted head did not straighten.
But Cecilus didn't let that bother him. Placing his hand on the hilt of his sheathed blade and tensing, he declared— "——Swordsman, Cecilus Segmunt."
"——The 'Witch of Greed,' Sphinx."
Before she knew it, those words had spilled naturally from the Sphinxes' mouths.
△▼△▼△▼△ As the "Blue Thunder" and the "Witch's" techniques shook the imperial capital, fierce battles to stop the activation of the magic circles were simultaneously erupting at three other locations.
"——'The Admirer' Halibel."
"——'Witch of Greed,' Sphinx."
"——The sixty-first Emperor of Vollachia, Yurgal Vollachia."
"——'Witch of Greed,' Sphinx."
"——'Gorgeous Tiger,' Garfiel Tinzler."
"——'Witch of Greed,' Sphinx."
Natsuki Subaru's handpicked elite stood against the "Witch," weapons in hand to crush the "Great Calamity's" final scheme, and were exposed to the onslaught of terrible magic.
If the mana crystals of the Crystal Palace were fully dismantled and flowed into the "Witch's" soul, it would no longer be possible to prevent her plans.
Because the possibilities would expand to infinity.
Magic could extend its branches of possibility infinitely, limited only by the user's ingenuity and adaptability.
In other words, by obtaining supreme mana, the "Witch" Sphinx would gain the power of a transcendent being capable of turning virtually any impossibility into possibility.
And that would give her the key to overcome every obstacle and fulfill her deepest wish.
But what was truly terrifying about Sphinx was not the vision of obtaining that tremendous power.
What was truly terrifying was the thoroughness that wasn't single-mindedly devoted to that one purpose.
"Beako! Roswaal!"
"Minyaa!"
"Ur goaa!"
A storm of purple arrows and fireballs spread outward with no escape, blowing away the approaching zombie hordes.
But even as the vanguard was repelled, the zombie soldiers trampled over them and surged in—their sense of self now completely shattered, they attacked as puppets following orders. —To kill Arakiya.
Stopping the magic circle wasn't the only condition for Subaru and the others' victory—preventing that attack was necessary too.
"Al!"
"I know!"
Breaking through the encirclement, Al lunged at the zombies targeting the young girl, thrusting his stone block Blue Dragon Blade into them, causing it to expand inside the enemy, then detonating it from within.
He hadn't seen Al fight since the Chaos Frame battle, and seeing it again, it was still far too reckless—it was nerve-wracking. He could never be called a battle veteran.
Still, this was an all-out battle where everyone was pitching in with whatever they had.
"——One minute has passed."
Having crossed the lethal threshold of before, Subaru could feel the situation progressing.
Sphinx, leading the "Great Calamity"—honestly, the shock of seeing that form, so eerily like Echidna's, had been extraordinary. But what had steadied Subaru through his confusion was Beatrice.
Even upon seeing the "Witch" who was identical in form to Echidna—the being who could be called her parent—Beatrice had maintained her composure.
"Subaru, that is a different person from Mother."
"Indeed. She's nothing like the 'Witch of Greed,' Echidna. —She is an exceedingly, insufferably unpleasant opponent, though."
For some reason, Roswaal's words—spoken with the same certainty as Beatrice's—also backed him up, and Subaru focused his attention less on the eerie "Witch's" appearance and more on seeing through her objectives.
The fact that the "Witch," who should have been incinerated by Abel's "Yang Sword," had changed her appearance and survived—that in itself was the ultimate counter to both the "Yang Sword" and "Star Eating."
That, too, had to be factored into the equation.
But for now— "If we can completely stop the magic circle from activating—"
The moment he thought that— A massive water mirror spread across the imperial capital's sky, projecting an image—and what was thrust before them was the desperate crisis of the "Fortress City"
△▼△▼△▼△ "——Abel!"
Medium called out to Vincent in a strained, urgent voice. With Madeline clutched in one arm, she pointed her barbarian sword at the sky with the other.
There, a massive distortion of light covered the imperial capital's sky. Soon, Vincent understood that it was a thin, spreading mass of water. For an instant, he braced himself for the "Witch's" next attack—but when ripples appeared on the water's surface and a scene from somewhere was reflected, his wariness turned to certainty.
It was, indeed, the "Witch's" attack.
But it was not the straightforward kind that inflicted physical harm. Rather, it was an assault on the mind—one that, in inescapable form, forced an inescapable reality upon everyone who couldn't look away.
——Reflected in the sky-high water mirror was the Fortress City, surrounded by a massive army of the dead.
The zombie legions, drawn to the Fortress City—like Vincent and the others, waging a battle for the empire's survival—the sword wolves' bastion, with starlight pouring down from the sky above.
It was a beautiful harbinger of destruction, descending to bring ruin just as it had here in the imperial capital.
If that fell upon the Fortress City, the walls and the bastion would collapse, and the vast majority of those holding out inside would die. And that would mean the destruction of an empire that could not be rebuilt, even if the operation in the capital succeeded.
Starlight over the capital, fire of destruction, the berserking magic cores, and the magic circle targeting the Crystal Palace.
The "Witch's" successive schemes of annihilation pointed not just at the capital, but at the empire's very destruction.
A true strategist strikes with a truly fatal blow, never letting the enemy see it coming.
And therefore— "——Our pessimism was on the mark, Natsuki Subaru."
That was what Vincent said the moment the words left his lips.
——From a hole torn open in the sky, as though smashing through the water mirror, the fire of destruction shot straight north from the imperial capital.
△▼△▼△▼△ ——The genuine trump card of Natsuki Subaru and Beatrice.
Using Al Shamac to send the mana cannon's fire of destruction into another dimension, then using the next Al Shamac to bring it back from that dimension—shooting down the starlight that was meant to end the "Fortress City."
Thanks to the help of Cecilus and Halibel, the trump card they hadn't needed to use against the Obsidian Dragon pierced through the "Witch's" final move designed to rattle them.
"——!"
The shattered water mirror dissolved into a torrent of raindrops that fell over the imperial capital like a passing shower. Drenched in that rain, Subaru was hit by an overwhelming sense of exhaustion, his vision spinning as blood gushed from his nose.
This was the backlash of pushing Beatrice to her limits for hours on end.
Beatrice's display of cuteness might be priceless, but the cost of having her demonstrate her competence was enormous. Even splitting the burden with the Pleiades Battle Group had its limits.
That limit appeared before him, and Subaru found himself dropping to one knee.
"Subaru!"
Beatrice cried out as she supported him, but even if he wanted to reassure her, he couldn't get the words out.
Drip, drip—the nosebleed flowed ceaselessly, and Beatrice tried to stop it with the sleeve of her dress. He wanted to stop her from ruining her lovely outfit, but his arm simply wouldn't rise.
"Not yet, not yet..."
He couldn't stop here.
There were still roles to fulfill, still schemes to prevent.
He was the one who had decided on an all-out battle.
For that Subaru to be the first to collapse—what kind of ridiculous notion was that?
So— "——Huh?"
"Subaru? Don't push yourself! You need to rest, even just a little—"
Beatrice, noticing Subaru had paused, hurried to stop him. But her words cut off halfway—because Subaru had risen to his feet.
"————"
Beatrice stared wide-eyed as Subaru stood up. Under her gaze, Subaru looked down at his own hands, confused.
The crushing exhaustion that had gripped his entire body just moments ago had vanished without a trace. —No, it hadn't merely vanished. Quite the opposite.
"Power... is surging up?"
Subaru murmured in a daze, and as his words described, vitality flooded through every fiber of his being.
It was similar to—but not the same as—the feeling of sharing one mind and spirit with his Pleiades Battle Group comrades, which amplified their combined strength—it was the omnipotence of being embraced by a great flame.
And Subaru quickly understood what had caused it.
——The shattered sky mirror. The fire of destruction, trailing a ribbon of light, piercing through the distant starlight. In the imperial capital's sky, where those forces had clashed, a new light was born.
Compared to the starlight it was small, compared to the fire of destruction it was smaller still—but in terms of sheer radiance, it not only matched but overwhelmed them with its brilliant flashing.
Falling from the sky, clad in a blood-red dress, a woman like flame— "——It is an honor."
Even the water mirror that had tried to project despair made everyone lift their gaze to the sky. But this exceeded that—it drew the eyes of every living being in the capital skyward with even greater brilliance, searing their souls.
She was descending. Orange hair streaming, crimson eyes blazing—the sword wolf mare— "Extra words are unnecessary. —Call my name."
In her hand, a crimson holy sword. The princess falling like a sun toward a city in dire strait—looking up at her, Subaru couldn't help but play right into her hand.
That is to say— "——Priscilla."
Yes, he called the name of the descending goddess.
——With a flame kindled in his right eye, as one who received the sun's blessing, he called her name.