Laughter echoed across the Rifaus Highway.
The
Subaru couldn't hold back the skin-crawling revulsion that seized him—a sensation entirely different from having his eardrums punched.
Their preemptive assault had been ferocious, and with Wilhelm and the beast-man mercenary corps fighting with extraordinary vigor, the damage dealt to the White Whale was far from negligible.
Their total firepower would be more than enough to kill Subaru a hundred times over, and if he narrowed the comparison to mabeasts, it was enough to annihilate the Urugarm pack ten times. The White Whale had taken all of that head-on. He had expected it would suffer significant damage and fall to the ground—even if it wouldn't end things outright— "Crap, the fog—!!"
Shrieking with her entire body, the countless mouths of the White Whale simultaneously vomited 'fog' in every direction. Across a vast stretch of the highway, the fog rained down from the sky and corroded the world, gradually, gradually painting everything in a washed-out white.
This was the true mastery of the fog mabeast.
The highway filled with fog, vision was obscured, and individual coordination broke apart. And above all, despite being a body so colossal you had to crane your neck to look up at it, the White Whale dissolved and vanished into the white sea the fog created, as though melting into it.
"You've gotta be kidding...!?"
"——Subaru-kun, entrust your life to
Before Subaru, whose throat trembled with the shock of that vanishing act, Rem leaned forward and screamed. In response, Subaru answered by sinking his body deep around her waist from behind and clinging to her.
The earth dragon obeyed Rem's deft rein-work, wheeled around, and broke into a gallop, gouging the earth as it ran. Felix, who had been riding alongside moments ago, similarly executed a sharp turn and aimed his earth dragon's head into the fog. If the White Whale had entered combat mode, a counterattack was inevitable. Injuries would be unavoidable. And if that happened, there lay the stage for the one called 'Blue'— Right after— "——All units, retreat!!!"
A furious shout rang out from beyond the fog, restraining them just as they were about to plunge into the white darkness. The voice was unmistakably Crusch's. Before Subaru could even raise his head to ask what— "Whoa!?"
In a split-second decision, the earth dragon's heading shifted, and Subaru's body swung left on the centrifugal force. Ahead, Felix's earth dragon was making an equally sharp turn to the right. Their formation split left and right—and directly through the center of that gap, a dense mass of fog blasted through.
The radius of the oncoming fog was wide enough to engulf their entire field of vision. Had their evasion been a heartbeat slower, it would have swallowed Subaru and the others along with their earth dragons without question.
You might think he was making a fuss over dodging a bit of fog, and if he hadn't seen it right in front of him, he might have laughed it off. But once you actually witnessed that otherness, making light of it was impossible.
The fog gouged the flatlands' ground as though melting it, devouring everything in its path root and branch before literally fogging away into nothing.
If they had been caught in it, they would have been erased to a place that was nowhere in this world.
"So this is the real deal... the 'fog'..."
Among the things Subaru had been briefed on beforehand by the subjugation squad regarding the White Whale's terror, one was the destructive power of this fog. The fog released from the White Whale's mouths came in two varieties: one was a dispersive type, purely for obscuring vision and expanding its own range of movement. The other was what had just swallowed an entire section of the earth before his eyes—the fog of annihilation.
The latter was what the White Whale used as an offensive weapon. Its terror lay not only in its unstoppable power and the damage it wrought, but the true threat lay elsewhere. That being— "——SEI!!"
A flash of fighting spirit—a valiant shout reached him from beyond the fog, and the next instant, the fog blanketing his vision was violently swept away.
Beyond the cleared view, he could see Crusch standing on the back of an earth dragon, her arm extended in a follow-through. She had presumably used an application of that invisible blade to slice open the dense fog and secure visibility.
She roughly wiped the sweat clinging to her forehead, dropped into a crouch on the back of her galloping earth dragon, and surveyed her surroundings. Using her as a beacon, the scattered members of the subjugation squad began gathering. The squad leaders at the front approached, and Crusch opened her mouth: "How many were lost?"
"My squad has twelve members—three are unaccounted for."
"...Who was lost?"
"I don't know...!"
An elderly squad leader answered her first question but shook his head at the follow-up.
It was a baffling exchange. A squad leader who should know the exact headcount of his unit claiming he couldn't identify the ones who had dropped out.
But— "We have fourteen. One missing."
"Our squad lost two. Also unidentified."
"Six... I'm terribly sorry! We were too deep—we couldn't avoid the fog...!"
Similar reports came flooding in one after another, and none of the squad leaders could produce a name for the comrades who had vanished.
This abnormality was the truly terrifying aspect of the fog the White Whale commanded. In other words— "The fog of annihilation...!!"
Those who were struck by the 'fog' and disappeared were erased from the world entirely, existence and all. The facts of their disappearance remained, but the memory of who they were persisted in no one's mind. That was the true reason Crusch had organized the subjugation squad into units of exactly fifteen members.
When a squad was struck by the fog and lost members, it became impossible to tell who had been lost. The squads had been arranged in this configuration solely so that the fact of their depletion could be recognized at all.
There had been a strange incident before in the world where Subaru first encountered the White Whale. The traveling merchant Otto had completely erased from his memory both the existence of a fellow merchant and Rem's existence when she had stayed behind. At the time, Subaru had been convinced Otto had unconsciously erased inconvenient memories out of sheer terror. But if that incident occurred under the White Whale's 'fog,' everything fell into place.
The merchant companion and Rem, who had vanished from the world via the fog, were erased from everyone's memories. Even
And yet, once again— "I'm the only one who remembers..."
Stunned, Subaru spoke that irrefutable reality aloud.
The vanished merchant. Rem, who had sacrificed herself to let Subaru escape. Just as Subaru hadn't forgotten in that loop, Subaru alone remembered.
The old veterans serving as squad leaders gathered around Crusch—the fifteen faces in that lineup had already been swapped out for different ones in two instances. The reality that the original squad leaders had been erased by the fog and replaced by their seconds-in-command had been seamlessly substituted into everyone's perception. That was why no one noticed the sudden personnel change.
Confronted with that abnormality once more, Subaru became acutely aware of just how deeply connected that fog mabeast was to the '
"Since the fog could have swallowed anyone, there's no telling where it might strike next. Clustering together is a losing proposition. —Spread out, and use the fog-clearing crystal stones."
Surveying the converging members of the subjugation squad, Crusch cut the discussion short. As everyone nodded in agreement, Subaru noticed the absence of Wilhelm and Ricardo from the area and his eyes went wide.
—Could it be that even those two had been erased?
"You've returned, Wilhelm."
But Subaru's inner dread was refuted by a figure emerging from beyond the fog.
From the depths of the thick haze, a shadow slowly materialized—Wilhelm, swinging a blood-splattered sword from atop an earth dragon. Drenched in his enemies' blood, a savage sight to behold, he wiped the spatter from his face with his sleeve as he rejoined the group.
"I got ahead of myself. —What's the damage?"
"Seventeen in total... It's as though an entire squad was obliterated. We can't even properly honor the memory of those who fell anymore."
Erasure was, in the end, the annihilation of existence. Nothing remained in anyone's memory. Only a blank space where they supposedly once stood.
Where did the bonds, the feelings, the love that had been there go?
Behind Wilhelm, a pack of ligers appeared. Among them rode Ricardo on a large liger, along with the second-in-command of the mercenary corps. It seemed the group that had fought close to the White Whale, like Wilhelm, had suffered comparatively fewer casualties.
"Thick fog's come out, hasn't it. Not enough fog-clearing stones either. ...Use 'em wrong and it's over."
"If we can land the same concentrated assault once more, it should fall. Since we've lost sight of it, this is also our best chance to avoid a surprise attack. Any objections?"
Everyone silently affirmed Crusch's words.
Accepting their assent with a nod, she looked over the faces of the support team led by Felix.
"Felix. Launch the fog-clearing crystal stones. We only have two rounds' worth. Handle them with care."
"Preparations are already complete! Just say the word!"
Felix thumped his chest. Crusch acknowledged with a dip of her chin. The former then swept her gaze across every face present before the battle resumed.
"This is where it all counts! Our attacks have been getting through to the White Whale—you have the proof in your own hands! Yes, it is formidable. Its nature is unknowable. In the worst case, our deaths may leave no trace in anyone's memory. But!"
She drew from her hip the sword that was of no use to her bare-handed slashing style—the Karsten family's heirloom blade—and raised it skyward, her voice ringing out: "For the dead whose names could not be carved on a tombstone, and for the weak who will face the threat of fog in the world ahead—we will pay the price in blood and slay it anyway!! Follow me!!"
"——OOHH!!"
Every soul raised their weapon to the sky and let out a roar of exultation in unison.
The ferocious surge of morale shook the fog itself, igniting the dying embers of their fighting spirit into a blaze.
"Fog-clearing crystal stones—fire!!"
On Crusch's command, the members under Felix's direction aimed their cannons skyward in one motion—and the next instant, accompanied by a thunderous blast, the crystal stones shot beyond the fog— "The fog is clearing—!!"
The radiance bursting from the shattered crystal stones swept away the fog that had blanketed their vision in one fell swoop. That said, it was impossible to dispel every last wisp of fog covering the vast flatlands.
All it did was thin the fog enough to restore visibility, which had been all but impossible. But even that was an effect with tremendous value.
—The 'fog' unleashed by the White Whale appeared to be a mutated form of the mana the White Whale possessed.
In essence, 'fog' was directed and visualized mana made manifest. Fog-clearing crystal stones was the colloquial name; the proper term was exorcism crystals—items that, when carried, provided a single-use defensive buffer against magic attacks. By shattering multiple crystals simultaneously, they produced this kind of effect. If the atmosphere hadn't been saturated with fog, this would have been a dangerous gamble that risked dampening the power of their own magic attacks.
"So it wasn't enough to eliminate all the fog, huh."
"But it doesn't affect our magic in return. Rem is at full strength."
Rem clenched her small fist, the horn on her forehead glowing faintly as she answered.
Feeling the mana swell around her against his skin, Subaru saw that Rem had begun channeling magical energy again and nodded.
"Alright!! No time to be scared witless! I haven't been a damn bit of use up to now! How about it's finally our turn!"
"Yes! Let's go!"
The reins rattled beneath the earth dragon's neck, and a jolt bounced through its body as it snarled and surged forward.
Gripping Rem's waist on the galloping earth dragon's back, Subaru scanned the thinning fog overhead, searching for the White Whale.
The subjugation squad, having charged out on Crusch's orders, was similarly scattering and sweeping their gaze in search of the colossal body. The tension of not knowing when the next clash would begin dried out his mouth.
The White Whale's appearance was still undetected. It was similar to that feeling from before the battle began, when they had waited in the depths of darkness for the White Whale to reveal itself— "Fog."
Suddenly, an unpleasant premonition shot through Subaru's mind.
There was no particular basis for it. He had been retracing, one by one, the effects of the fog-clearing crystal stones, the use of magic after those effects wore off, and the circumstances of his previous encounter with the White Whale—and that anxiety had simply fallen upon him like a stone from the sky.
—Though it differed in function from the fog of annihilation, if the fog blanketing this entire area was also expelled by the White Whale, was its threat truly limited to obstructing vision?
But before that question could leave his lips— "————!!!"
A piercing, piercing roar resounded across the Rifaus Highway where the fog had thinned.
And then, madness spread.
※※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ The first anomaly occurred among a group of earth dragons riding alongside them.
The high-pitched shriek was nothing like the White Whale's previous roars. Rather than a low rumble that shook the atmosphere, it was an excruciating sound that felt as though something with a pointed claw was scraping his eardrums to shreds.
A sound violent enough to raise goosebumps on his back. Subaru's throat tightened, and even Rem's body went rigid—then suddenly, Subaru noticed the anomaly.
"Hey! What's going on!?"
Riders were being flung from the earth dragon galloping beside them.
Heeding Subaru's shout, Rem wheeled her earth dragon around in a U-turn toward them. Plunging through the panicked, directionless earth dragons that had lost their riders, Subaru reached the men who had fallen.
"Are you alright?! Getting thrown from a dragon isn't just a scratch, you know—"
Concerned about the severity of their injuries, he called out—then involuntarily cut himself short.
The condition of the fallen men was beyond anything that could be described in terms of injury depth.
One man was foaming at the mouth, eyes rolled back, convulsing. Another groaned, drool dripping from his lips, desperately clawing at his own arm until blood streamed from it. A third ground his teeth until they cracked, slamming his head against the ground to endure the pain.
The symptoms varied, but one thing was clear.
"This is..."
"It's directly affecting their minds... It's similar to mana sickness, but far worse...!"
Rem clutched her forehead, answering in a pained voice.
Hearing her, Subaru muttered, "Mana sickness..." then looked up sharply and scanned their surroundings—the fog.
"Don't tell me this fog is causing that...!?"
Fog so thick it filled their entire field of vision, surrounding the enemy forces—rendering evasion impossible before launching a blanket anomaly spell. The power and results were right before their eyes.
It was unlikely that only the handful of people around Subaru and Rem had been affected. In fact, as far as he could see, other groups across the field had similarly ground to a halt.
"Some people have resistance and some don't... I don't feel anything myself."
"Rem is a little affected by the excess mana density... I'll calm down in a moment."
Leaving Rem as she began to steady her breathing, Subaru dismounted and approached those under the fog's influence. He tried at least to stop them from self-harming— "Hey! Knock it off! You'll only make the wound— whoa!"
"Aaahh! Aahahaha—!!"
Reaching out to stop a man, he had his forearm raked without mercy. The shallow gash of torn flesh made him groan as he leaped back on reflex. But the man didn't pursue—he simply resumed his assault on his own body. Blood splattered, and a chain of whimpering cries spread.
"Does it hurt that bad?! This is seriously dangerous! They might not stop until they kill themselves at this rate!"
"Subaru-kun! Your wound!"
"It stings enough to make me want to cry, but it's nothing! More importantly, we've got to stop this or everyone's going to self-destruct! Is there anything we can do?!"
He asked the now-composed Rem, but she looked at the riders writhing on the ground and shook her head gravely.
"I'm sorry, but Rem's healing can only do so much... For simple external wounds, perhaps. But the fog is interfering directly through their gates. This degree of mana contamination would require someone with Felix's level of skill..."
"How much resistance does this mental contamination even have? Except for Rem and me, we're basically wiped out!?"
The unit heading in the same direction as Subaru and Rem was virtually destroyed—only the squad leader and two others remained unscathed, frantically trying to restrain their contaminated comrades, just like Subaru and Rem. If more than half of approximately ten members had been contaminated, the extent of the effect was— "If Felix himself gets contaminated, we're completely finished. What do we do..."
If this was the result for Subaru's group alone, it would be equally dire for every other squad. If their key fighters like Crusch and Wilhelm, or a critical support pillar like Felix, fell, the situation would become truly hopeless.
"Anyone who can move, get the wounded to the great tree's roots! Some degree of force may be necessary!"
From beyond the thick fog, Crusch's voice rang out again, followed by a string of responses. It seemed she had not been affected by the contamination, but it was clear she was struggling to bring the situation under control.
This was a policy reversal right after ordering the blanket attack. The frustration seeping into her voice was palpable, and the fury at the White Whale's tactics—incapacitating their forces without killing them outright—was mounting.
"I'd heard that producing more wounded is more effective at collapsing a battle line than killing soldiers... but to think a monster would use that trick."
"Felix appears to be unharmed. If his healing can be distributed to everyone, we should be able to strip away the contamination at least—"
Rem trailed off, but Subaru understood what she was leaving unsaid.
The problem was that it would tie up Felix's hands, and they'd have to split their forces to recover the wounded. And above all— "We don't have time. We can't just sit around defenseless, waiting for the White Whale to strike, while Felix heals everyone one at a time."
"In the worst case, the White Whale could engulf the whole gathering with fog. I don't want to believe it has that level of intelligence, but... since it's already engineered this situation, optimism is—"
"It might be acting on instinct alone... but either way, we can't underestimate how a wild predator hunts."
Crusch was accepting the risk, keeping the subjugation squad together while Felix healed them. She must have been resolved to that much.
She surely understood the need to buy time with some kind of countermeasure. Whether an effective one would emerge was, however, quite uncertain.
"Hah."
He exhaled deeply, emptying his lungs.
When he had removed every last bit of oxygen from his body, the tightness in his chest eased naturally—and he could feel his heartbeat, slow and steady, pulsing in a firm rhythm.
He was surprised by how calm he was—and gave a wry smile at himself for it.
Normally, he was carried along by the current of events, swept up by whatever was in front of him, his heartbeat running wild as if mirroring his state of mind.
So why, when facing a critical decision, was he this composed?
"Even if it's borrowed... courage is still courage, huh."
He thumped his chest and drew a deep breath. He held it, closed his eyes, then exhaled as he opened them. He turned forward. Before him, Rem sat atop the earth dragon, gazing down at him.
As though waiting—longing—for what he would say, what he would ask.
"Rem. Come with me to the most dangerous spot."
"Yes. —To the ends of the earth."
Without a moment's hesitation, Rem accepted Subaru's request with a smile even.
Subaru ran to the earth dragon, leaping onto its back as though flying. Then, turning to the knights restraining their rampaging comrades on the ground, he called out: "Rem and I will draw the White Whale's attention! While we do, get yourselves healed by Felix! Anyone who looks fine after that, regroup with us!"
"Draw its attention!? But how could you possibly—"
"This is how."
Grinning at the skeptical old veteran, Subaru drew a breath and opened his throat— "——Anybody who can hear me, plug your ears!! And those who can't, stay as you are!!"
Full-throated, his shout reverberated through the fog.
Rem listened to Subaru's roar with a look of deep satisfaction, then pressed her hands over both ears. The nearby knights hurriedly did the same, and every member of the subjugation squad within earshot surely followed suit.
Just as Subaru had asked for in the briefing before the battle.
And then— "I'm going to 'die.'"
The instant those words left his lips, a surging terror seized his heart and soul.
If his plan failed, and that black, witchly hand reached out for his comrades nearby—for Rem, right in front of him— But— —I'll give you my heart, so lend me your damn hand!!
Eyes wide, crushing down his fear, Subaru screamed inwardly—then, in the very next moment, it came.
*'I love you.'* It was a faint, feeble whisper, as though spoken right beside his ear.
And yet—the passionate, heart-rending warmth packed into those words was staggering.
Tears welled at the corners of his eyes despite himself, an emotion he couldn't suppress. Chasing the fading shadow of that voice, he was overwhelmed by an impulse to seize it in his arms right now.
Suffused in an overwhelming heat that filled every fiber of his being, his consciousness burned white— "I'm back."
After that fleeting encounter, Subaru's consciousness returned to the waking world.
The sensation that had dominated his mind just moments before receded, and he could no longer recall what emotion he had felt there. All that remained was the strange impression that the searing pain he had braced for had never come. Even so— "Rem, how is it. Do I still smell like the Witch...?"
"Yes, you stink!"
"That's the plan, but could you phrase it differently!?"
Rem's seal of approval, however blunt, confirmed that his objective had been achieved. Not entirely satisfied, Subaru clenched his fists and looked around.
"We're leaving this spot immediately! Try to stay close to the great tree's roots, and coordinate with Crusch's group to regroup!"
"O-okay! Good luck!"
"You too!"
As he was sent off with a pat on the shoulder, Rem urged the earth dragon onward.
In the current state, Subaru's body should have been emanating the fresh residue of the Witch's scent—a smell paradoxical in description alone. The question was how effective it would prove against the White Whale.
"Thinking back to the Urugarm incident, the effect covered an entire forest. But this time... honestly, it's an unknown."
When Subaru had first encountered the White Whale in the previous world, it had fixated on him relentlessly once he'd boarded Otto's dragon carriage. Given that Subaru hadn't made any Witch-related remarks at that point, he should have been an even more attractive prey now, carrying a stronger scent than before— That was his thought, the very next second— "——!?"
The earth dragon ahead of them suddenly jerked its head up as though sensing something, and with its own volition executed a violent, sweeping turn. Subaru, nearly flung off by the centrifugal force, yelped "Whoa—!" and instinctively wrapped his arms around Rem, pulling her tight against him.
"What the—"
"White Whale!!"
Pressing flush against Rem as she screamed, Subaru watched as a colossal mouth suddenly tore through the fog and materialized beside them.
A hair's breadth away, the White Whale's jaws ground past, scraping the earth and swallowing the草原 whole as they narrowly avoided Subaru's group by sliding just to the left.
Its rock-hard hide scraped past them, and behind Subaru and Rem, the White Whale raised its jaw, sending everything inside its mouth straight down into its stomach.
The mabeast then confirmed that none of its intended prey was among the catch, flipped its enormous body around, and turned its head toward Subaru and Rem, who were fleeing at full speed.
And the roar came chasing after them.
"WHOOAAAAA?!"
The crushing pressure of an overwhelming mass bore down on them from behind.
Driven by the sensation of being about to flatten, Subaru screamed as the earth dragon under him desperately kicked against the ground. But the White Whale's pursuing speed was anything but ordinary.
With its mountainous body swimming through the sky, it closed the distance with the momentum of a gale overtaking the wind.
It was approaching with a势头 that would devour the world.
Its snout was right upon them now, so close its breathing could be felt on their backs— "Rem!!"
"Ul Hyuma!!"
Responding to Rem's incantation, three ice lances erupted simultaneously from the earth below.
True to their mark, they pierced upward from directly beneath the pursuing White Whale, striking the comparatively soft underside of its tough hide—attempting to skewer it and halt its movement.
But— "IT WON'T STOP—!!"
An ice lance as thick as a hundred bundled together was snapped from its root with a deafening crack, and the sound of shattering crystal echoed through the air. Along with its destruction, the lance reverted to mana. Blood sprayed from the White Whale's open wound, but its momentum did not falter.
How far did that endurance go—to be so battered, bleeding so profusely, yet still fight without the slightest loss of form? The terrifying difficulty of the task of bringing down the White Whale crystallized before him all over again.
But— "This ain't a one-on-one like with the Urugarm!!"
"————!!"
Subaru flipped off the White Whale from a distance, raising his middle finger in a provocative gesture. Even if the White Whale didn't understand the meaning of the gesture, it opened its mouth and released a roar as though sensing his defiance.
Its massive body— "Riiiiiaaaaa—!!"
Was split vertically by Wilhelm's slashing strike as the old swordsman leaped onto its back from the side.
Wilhelm's blade landed dead center on the White Whale's back, plunging deep into the flesh, and the blood spraying from the gash created a crimson mist.
And atop that blood-slicked back, two ligers set their sights. Their riders were the adorable, identically-faced twin beast-girls— "Onee-chan, coordinate with me!"
"Let's go, Hetaro!!"
The ligers mounted the White Whale's back from both sides in a crossing maneuver. From their backs, Mimi and Hetaro leaped down in tandem, joined hands, and landed right on top of the wound Wilhelm had carved— "Ha—!"
"Toh—!!"
The next instant, the White Whale bled anew from wounds across its entire body, its colossal frame convulsing violently as it plummeted in altitude.
Gasping, writhing in agony, the White Whale let out a strained cry and barely managed to avoid crashing to the ground. The twins leaped from the back of the liger, landing and catching their breath— "Trump card complete!!"
"Captain, please!!"
"You bet! If you little ones worked that hard, I gotta step up too!"
As the twins dismounted, a large liger climbed up onto the White Whale's body from the tail end, its rider hacking at the rock-hard hide with a massive cleaver, leaving gashes as he ran like the wind across its back. Fog closed in on them.
Targeting Wilhelm and Ricardo on the White Whale's body was the dense fog spewing from its countless mouths. The darker, more concentrated variety—this was what could be called the 'fog of annihilation,' the kind that erased anything it touched from existence.
It wasn't fast enough to dodge completely, but the real danger lay in the sheer volume of mouths opening simultaneously—like an impenetrable wall of projectiles. Ricardo's liger twisted and writhed to avoid the onslaught, and Wilhelm likewise evaded with nimble footwork as the great cleaver's strikes and his sword's slashes continued to dance across the White Whale's back.
Wilhelm's vertical slash crushed a shrieking mouth flat, and Ricardo's cleaver rampaged through another's interior, smashing its function. The liger's claws, though feeble in comparison, also helped suppress the enemy's attacks. And above all, the mercenary corps' cannons had caught up once more and begun raining down their explosive magic-ore bombardment across the White Whale's body.
The White Whale was once again being pushed back by the subjugation squad's offensive power. As its massive body writhed and its mouths began preparing to spew more fog— "Rem!!"
Before Subaru even called out, Rem had already wheeled the earth dragon around. Subaru, trailing the scent of the Witch, raced across the White Whale's snout. Distracted, the White Whale reflexively turned its head toward Subaru and Rem—but Wilhelm's strike cut through its intent.
"————!!"
"Don't look away. How cold of you. I've been obsessed with you for fourteen years, after all."
His thrust sank into the White Whale's forehead, the blade burrowing into the hard bone and halting Wilhelm's movement. But he immediately abandoned the third sword, kicked the hilt of the discarded blade with all his might to drive the blade even deeper, then drew his fifth sword in his right hand. Wielding blades in both hands, he proceeded to hack the White Whale's head to pieces as he worked his way toward its back.
The mouths along the way were silenced one after another by his blade in the most literal sense, and he regrouped with Ricardo, who was running his liger across the beast's body in every direction. The canine-faced beast-man wore a blood-drunk expression, grinning with delight.
"Starting to get fun now! It's tougher than I expected, but nothing special!"
"No... the resistance is almost too light."
Ricardo shouted triumphantly, and Wilhelm replied in a low voice as he continued carving into the back, light on his feet. He bit his lip.
Ricardo swung his great cleaver to rip a protrusion from the White Whale's back and dug the flat blade into the exposed interior, closing one eye.
"You got some kind of worry or somethin'?"
"With a mabeast of this caliber, for my wife to have... for the Sword Saint to be at a disadvantage is hard to fathom. Even considering that it seized the initiative first and that we weren't separated by its initial fog..."
As Wilhelm analyzed the situation mid-swing, the White Whale suddenly made a massive move.
Its previous thrashing, as though trying to shake them off its back, abruptly shifted character. The White Whale tilted its head skyward and shot upward in altitude.
As the footing lurched violently, Ricardo directed his liger to nimbly descend the rocky surface, disengaging before they reached a dangerous height. And Wilhelm— "I'll take one more before I get off—!"
Whirling, the old swordsman sprang across the body of the colossus with agile grace.
Climbing the White Whale's ascending body even as it soared, Wilhelm was essentially scaling it upside down as he moved downward. Using his weight and the crude but effective control of driving his blade in to maintain his grip, he bounded across the White Whale's hide—and at his destination, his slash came in a powerful vertical arc.
One of the White Whale's dorsal fins, the one studded with countless mouths across its surface, was blown clean from the root.
"————!!"
While the White Whale screamed, Wilhelm kicked off the rocky hide and dropped toward the earth.
A fall from extreme altitude was, by any reasonable assessment, a death sentence. But just before hitting the ground, Wilhelm drew something from his breast and hurled it downward—a small explosion of magic ore produced a gust of wind from below, giving Wilhelm just enough deceleration for an earth dragon to snatch him from the side.
"Wilhelm!!"
"————"
Subaru called out, wanting to confirm his safety. But Wilhelm didn't respond—his gaze was fixed straight upward, toward the sky.
Drawn to look up as well, Subaru caught sight of the White Whale's tail swimming far above.
Blood dripped from the severed dorsal fin, and under the violent force of the wind it rained down like a deluge, dyeing the plains' grass crimson. From the silent Wilhelm, not a hint of fighting spirit had faded.
Subaru didn't believe for a moment that the White Whale would simply flee, but its intentions in ascending to the sky were, for now, unclear.
The beast-man mercenary corps had begun regrouping, and there was concern for the wounded gathered at the roots of the great tree—but— "It's coming."
Quietly, gazing upward, Wilhelm murmured.
At the sight of the old swordsman narrowing his eyes and re-gripping the swords in both hands, every person's wariness spiked to its maximum. They held their breath, waiting for its move—and regretted it.
They should have scattered immediately, rather than waiting for the White Whale's action above.
"The fog is falling on us!!"
Wilhelm roared with everything he had. Without another word, Rem wheeled the earth dragon in a sharp turn and broke from the battle line.
The earth dragons and ligers around them also began to scatter, but there was no longer any luxury to even raise their heads and check on others' safety.
—An ocean of 'fog of annihilation' was swelling across the entire sky, descending upon them.
It was so vast it seemed as though the sky itself were crashing down. To evade it, there was no option but to flee beyond its range. Using rocks or trees as shields was meaningless—they would simply be swallowed whole. Resistance was futile against that all-consuming destruction.
All they could do was run, praying they would make it in time.
He didn't even dare look up. There was only the pressure of a soundless annihilation plummeting from directly above.
He clung desperately to the earth dragon's back, kept his profile as low as possible, and pushed it to the limit— "Did we make it out?!"
Bright light broke through, like having escaped from beneath a dark cloud. Subaru turned to look behind him.
On the ground being crushed by the fog, several silhouettes were too late—they were being swallowed.
People whose faces were twisted in terror and rage as they were consumed by the fog, headfirst, vanishing into it.
Along with their earth dragons, they disappeared, and after the fog dispersed, nothing remained. Not a trace. Not a name in anyone's memory. Only Subaru remembered their deaths.
"Ngh..."
Subaru let out a small groan. In front of him, the figures scattered by the fog were distant.
Their numbers had clearly diminished significantly compared to the previous assault. Not just the subjugation squad—even the beast-man mercenary corps had not escaped unscathed.
At least let the core fighters be safe, Subaru thought as he scanned the field— "Wilh..."
He spotted Wilhelm, who had managed to hook one hand onto an earth dragon's back and escape the fog's reach. He started to call out—and then noticed.
—From beyond the thick fog, the White Whale's gaping maw was bearing down on Wilhelm.
"Run—!!"
"Wh—!?"
Subaru's shout and Wilhelm's awareness of the threat closing in behind him were almost simultaneous. But it was already too late to matter.
The White Whale's mouth, which had approached in absolute silence, swallowed Wilhelm and his earth dragon along with a chunk of the ground itself.
Five meters square of earth was gouged away, everything consumed into the White Whale's maw.
"A—"
Before that shocking spectacle, not just Subaru—even Rem was struck speechless with disbelief. Having known the old man's fierce tenacity, the sense of loss was extraordinary. And more than that—the loss of their main fighting strength sent the situation spiraling further downhill— "No—!!"
This time, it was a different voice that cried out from nearby.
Before Subaru could react to it, an earth dragon was smashed aside from the flank by a liger that came barreling in with tremendous force.
"Whoa—?!"
The howling earth dragon crashed to the ground, and Subaru was thrown about, grimacing in pain. The source of that sudden violence was, judging by the voice, Ricardo—but before Subaru could question his intent— "————"
In front of him, Subaru witnessed a spray of red blossoms scatter through the air.
"Ha?"
Ricardo's liger—torn to shreds, its carcass in pieces—tumbled across the plain. And the massive beast-man who had been riding it had vanished, leaving behind only a spray of fresh blood.
The White Whale swept its tail through Ricardo's blood, its colossal body swaying as it swam through the air.
He had been shielding them, or was Ricardo gone, or— A torrent of questions flooded Subaru's mind, but there was a fact he could not ignore.
The White Whale, swimming before his eyes, having swatted Ricardo aside with its tail. And then— "You've... gotta be kidding..."
He turned around. The White Whale that had swallowed Wilhelm whole was already chewing.
Before him and behind him—looking up at the sky, the dark silhouette of a fish still blotted out the sky— —Three White Whales, every mouth across their bodies trembling, raised their mockery of a laugh and stoked despair.
Step by agonizing step, Subaru felt despair once again closing around his heart.