As the sound of laughter echoed around him, Subaru fought back the chill crawling up his throat, desperately trying to spin his sluggish thoughts back to full speed.
—He couldn't understand. Why did the woman before him claim to be Petelgeuse? He had killed him. He had blown the corpse to smithereens. He was supposed to be dead. Were there multiple of them? That was absurd—as if one impossible absurdity on top of the
"You—what did you just—"
"Oh my, oh my, you seem quite shocked, desu. If you're that surprised, then my return was well worth it, desu!"
The woman snapped her fingers and pointed at Subaru with the hand opposite the one she'd bitten through. Her face was plastered with a mad grin, mouth yawning open so wide the back of her throat was visible as she licked her lips.
That spine-chilling smile was unmistakably the same as the lunatic Subaru had killed. The way she spoke, the way she laughed, and above all, the existence of those "Invisible Providence"—all of it matched.
"Wait…you had seven arms, didn't you…?"
As far as Subaru knew, Petelgeuse's total number of dark magical hands was seven.
At the very least, Subaru had never seen more than that. Even when Petelgeuse had fought all-out against
"Can you…see my 'Invisible Providence,' desu?"
The woman narrowed her eyes and muttered in a hostile tone.
In the previous loop, too, Petelgeuse had harbored intense hostility at having his invisible hands seen. Even now, reduced to what was essentially a different person entirely, that hadn't changed. Her words dripped with even greater loathing than before.
"The answer to my love—the love given to me, to me alone—why can you see it, desu! O favored believer, could you possibly…!"
"Step away from Subaru, you—"
A sharp voice cut in beside the trembling woman. Gazing toward the source with bloodshot eyes, the one who had spoken was— "Wilhelm, huh…"
Wilhelm, whose neck was gripped by one of the dark hands, his feet lifted slightly off the ground.
The old swordsman's movements were sealed by the invisible arm, and though he struggled to wrench free, the killing intent in his eyes had not dimmed one bit. If the Invisible Providence were ever to release its hold for even an instant, the old man would lop off the woman's head in a single bound and send Petelgeuse plummeting back to hell once more.
Before the crushing pressure of the Sword Devil's killing intent, the woman—calling her Petelgeuse still felt wrong, but she was Petelgeuse—twisted her otherwise plain, unassuming girl's face into something ugly and grotesque.
"Ah, you appear to be a most industrious one, desu. I understand. Of course I understand—how could I not! How magnificent, how beautiful, how noble and unshakable a spirit you possess, desu! What you believe! What you carry through to the end! The certainty you've established within yourself! Yes, very, very, very good, desu!"
"Shut up with your incomprehensible babbling, lunatic."
"Lunatic! A perfectly accurate assessment, desu! Yes, I am mad with love! With love, with reverence, with devotion, with compassion, with gratitude, with yearning, with benevolence, with esteem, with attachment, with devotion, with selfishness, with purity, with adoration, with passion, with affection, with fondness, with trust, with reverence, with devotion, with compassion, with desire, with reluctance, with sincerity, with obsession, with hatred, with loyalty, with favoritism, with avarice, with bias, with blindness, with friendship, with pity, with love, with love, with love, lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-looooooove!!"
Eyes bulging, tongue extended, spine arched—Petelgeuse clawed at his own head in a frenzy.
Wilhelm watched this display with the revulsion one might show at something unspeakable. The other captives wore expressions of agony, and all of them shared that same disgust at the lunatic's twisted display of affection.
At the center of that maelstrom of negative emotion, Petelgeuse forced a twitching smile over and over again. Sweeping his gaze around at everyone— "Ah, it's so lonely when the praise I deserve goes unspoken, desu. …Then perhaps I should be a little more generous with my efforts, desu!"
"Wait, don't—!"
Petelgeuse raised both hands lightly, making his unreasonable demand of the unresponsive surroundings. Subaru imagined the worst of what this lunatic might do and called out to stop him, but Petelgeuse's smile came far, far faster than any words could reach.
"Now—be 'slothful.'"
But rather than Subaru's worst fears, what followed was Sloth itself running rampant through the village in the form of catastrophe.
All those who had been pinned in place were each making faces of torment, yet they shared one thing in common: not a sound escaped their lips. Part of that was a survival instinct—anything to avoid drawing Petelgeuse's attention—but the far simpler reason was that their throats were being crushed.
The numerous extended arms had seized every captive by the throat, lifting them slightly off their feet as though stretching upward. They couldn't stop breathing, but there wasn't enough room for a single breath's worth of movement to launch a counterattack—such was the vicious nature of the restraint.
And now, with Petelgeuse's single command as the trigger, those restraints were suddenly released— "——Ahhhhhhh!!"
The village was filled with the overlapping screams of those liberated from the pressure on their throats.
*** There was a man drooling, slamming his head against the ground.
There was a woman eyes rolled back, foam forming at her mouth as her body refused to obey a single command.
There was a traveling merchant who had inflicted self-harm far exceeding even Petelgeuse's own, drenched in blood.
There was a knight whose magical power had gone berserk, hemorrhaging from every orifice in his body.
As though driven mad, screams and shrieks echoed throughout the village.
"This…"
It bore a striking resemblance to the phenomenon that had occurred only a few hours ago, during the battle with the White Whale.
When the roar of the White Whale had swept through the fog-shrouded road, those who heard it had lost their minds and collapsed on the spot, unable to move.
But this condition, triggered by a single word from Petelgeuse, was far more devastating than even that.
"You put up more resistance than I expected, desu."
Petelgeuse tilted his head in small increments, watching with delight the writhing figures whose screams threatened to tear their throats apart.
Standing before this carnage as though he might burst into a happy little tune—that bearing left absolutely no room for Subaru to doubt that this was the same being as that man. But— "How did you end up here?"
"In the middle of our conversation, and I hadn't yet carried out the trial that brought me to this place. —That said, you had crushed nearly all of my fingertips, so all that remains is this fragile little body, desu."
In a thick, languid tone, Petelgeuse spoke while sensually running his hands along the contours of his own body. That seductive gesture was nothing but repulsive, and Subaru glared at the magical hand still clamping him in place, reaching out to try to wrench himself free. But— "Damn—I can see them…why can't I interfere with them?!"
"So you truly can see the 'Invisible Providence,' desu. Extremely unpleasant, I must say, though if you are the 'Pride' then I suppose it makes sense…"
The observing lunatic leaned in toward Subaru with keen interest.
Since Subaru was suspended helplessly in the air, unable to move, there was no danger in drawing close—the judgment was sound. And indeed, Subaru could do nothing.
—Subaru, "Get him—
"What are you—"
At the very instant Petelgeuse began to speak, Patrasche reacted to Subaru's cry. The earth dragon, body low to the ground, came careening in from the side and slammed into Petelgeuse with all its might.
The Invisible Providence had extended to every surviving person's throat in the vicinity, but it had only committed itself to restraining humans. The earth dragons left near the village entrance had been left completely alone. Patrasche had been able to circle around, flanking Petelgeuse, because the restraint on Subaru had been comparatively loose—and Subaru had noticed, buying himself precious time.
"Gu—"
The switch of bodies was real, but that didn't change the fact that the current form was as slight as it looked.
A charging earth dragon weighed several hundred kilograms. That was more than enough force to send the small body—already trying to dodge—flying.
Petelgeuse was sent bouncing across the ground before crashing through the wall of a nearby house. Dust and debris went up, and the moment his figure vanished—leaving behind only a groan—the Invisible Providence's grip on Subaru loosened.
"It's off—Wilhelm!"
"…I'll manage. But this…"
Wilhelm rubbed the bruise forming on his throat, apparently having been spared the worst of the mental contamination. He looked around. The Invisible Providence's hold had been temporarily lifted, but the mental contamination that had spread to the surroundings hadn't ceased.
They were still suffering—self-harm, nightmares, catastrophic deterioration in physical condition—still bleeding, still screaming. If this was the same substance as the White Whale's fog— "
"Or perhaps it's a curse that will cease if we strike down the source."
As Subaru clutched his head in despair at the situation, Patrasche—who had saved them from their predicament—pressed its snout against him and nudged his shoulder as if to say, *Calm down.* Taking a deep breath in response to the earth dragon's gesture, Subaru fixed his gaze on Wilhelm's profile as the old swordsman drew his Divine Sword.
"If we take him out, is there a chance it'll stop? Worst case, should we pull back and go get Ferris first—"
"If Ferris were here, it would be certain. But could you bear leaving that thing behind while we retreat? The moment we head back into the forest, he'll make straight for Roswaal's manor. —
"———!"
That was the one thing that had to be avoided at all costs.
He didn't understand why. He couldn't explain it logically. But Subaru had an absolute conviction that Petelgeuse must never be allowed to meet Emilia. If she and that creature crossed paths, it would lead to something terrible for Subaru—he was sure of it.
That was something he absolutely refused to accept.
"It seems your resolve is settled. Stay back, Subaru, and watch."
"His method is to bind us with those invisible hands. Even for you, Wilhelm, those arms—"
"If I know they're there, then there are ways to deal with them. More importantly—is that thing truly the 'Sloth'? I have the distinct recollection of having beheaded the 'Sloth'."
"…I don't understand how it works, but I'm almost certain. Worst case, it could be like the White Whale—this one's the real deal and the one we killed before was a decoy. I didn't know about that possibility."
"I am not doubting you."
Despite Subaru's defensive tone, Wilhelm only gave a wry smile. His magnanimous attitude as an elder made Subaru feel ashamed that his own pettiness had surfaced even in a moment like this.
But before he could respond— "…Ah, it hurts. It hurts. It hurts. My brain—it's trembling. It trembles, desu."
An arm extended from the collapsed wall, and Petelgeuse's face appeared, half his body caked in blood and mud. He dragged himself out with a labored motion, numerous deep lacerations visible across his body—testimony to the significant damage dealt by Patrasche's charge.
Yet even so, not a shred of life had faded from those blazing eyes. If anything, the lunatic's derangement had intensified, now tinged with something like grudge-fueled malice.
"Good. Earth dragons are indeed good, desu. Kind to humans, loyal, and above all, wise and industrious! Magnificent! Beloved! Industrious! Yes, industriousness! That is the single greatest virtue worthy of the highest praise! If sloth is the most shameful sin, then industriousness is the most praiseworthy virtue! If sloth is infidelity unworthy of devotion, then industriousness is the conduct befitting a favored believer!"
Waving his arms, thrashing his head, stomping the ground, extending his tongue, drooling—Petelgeuse poured lavish, unrestrained praise upon Patrasche with a face full of manic glee.
Patrasche, on the receiving end of all that praise, seemed to find the display utterly repulsive despite the vast gulf between their species. On its reptilian face—rarely one for expressive emotion—it showed every ounce of disgust it could muster, then sidled over to Subaru as though choosing him as the lesser evil.
A reliable, adorable partner.
"My hardworking companion says he's not flattered, you perverted freak. …Are you a pervert chick now? I get that there's a market for certain TS stuff, but who the hell wants to see you like that, damn it."
"I don't know what 'TS' means, desu, but whether the recipient of my praise is pleased or not is of absolutely no concern to me! I found something magnificent. To withhold the emotions swelling in my breast—to commit the sloth of leaving them unspoken—could never be permitted, desu! Never permitted, must never be permitted, could never be permitted! Therefore I give my words freely, my love, my love, lo-lo-lo-lo-loooooo—!"
"An interlocutor with whom conversation is impossible is a nuisance in any age. —There is no longer any point or purpose in words.
Lowering his body, Wilhelm announced himself and shot forward on the wind of his speed.
The Sword Devil's body crossed the ground in a single bound, hurtling toward the lazily moving Petelgeuse. But even Petelgeuse had evidently been wary of the opening strike.
"How terrifying. You too are an industrious one. Then allow me to do this, desu."
Invisible hands erupted from the earth like a wall, completely shielding Petelgeuse's front. If Wilhelm charged straight ahead, he would be ensnared by unavoidable magical hands.
Wilhelm couldn't see them. Unable to convey the threat, Subaru screamed at the top of his lungs— "Arms in front of you!! Back off—!"
"—Acknowledged."
Driving his right foot into the ground, Wilhelm killed his momentum instantly, avoiding the wall rising before his eyes. Leaping sideways, the old swordsman pivoted and raised his drawn sword overhead in a vertical chop— "Tch—"
The ground split along the diagonal slash, and a rain of earth showered down toward Petelgeuse.
If the slash had been powerful enough to shatter the ground itself and bombard him with the force, it might have served as a meaningful attack. But— "That's just harassment…"
"An incomprehensible action, desu. Surely you are not the 'Slo—th,' desu?"
Sharing the same sentiment as the hoarse-voiced Subaru, Petelgeuse sighed over him. Without responding to the lunatic's disappointment, Wilhelm continued racing across the ground, relentless in showering the earth rain down upon Petelgeuse.
Petelgeuse absentmindedly waved his arm at the unpleasant barrage, murmuring "That's enough, desu," and— "Even if you are industrious, a useless laborer is no different from sloth and equally deserving of contempt. If you refuse to cease this futile resistance, then I have no choice—in the name of the favor bestowed upon me, you shall be torn apart and vanish vani—vanishing—vanish—van van van van—"
Shadows exploded outward, and Petelgeuse's Invisible Providence lunged toward Wilhelm.
The number was over thirty—comparable to nothing Subaru had ever seen from the Petelgeuse he knew. Subaru had been trying to call out the positions of the approaching hands, but with that many coming at once, relaying them one by two made no difference, and his voice was strangled off.
And that fatal hesitation led directly to Wilhelm's life being placed in peril— "Wilhelm—"
The Invisible Providence, which destroyed everything it touched, descended upon the old swordsman's entire body—his entire body that could not perceive their existence. Subaru had a vision of those fingers landing and ravaging that aged frame without mercy, and he cursed his own helplessness. But— "I told you."
Ducking beneath the reaching fingertips, spinning and dodging the rain of magical hands in succession—slipping smoothly between the arms, the old man avoided every last threat. A combative grin played across his cheek.
"As long as I know they're there, there are ways to deal with them."
The Sword Devil proved his words true in a display before Subaru's very eyes.
"Impossible. Impossible, impossible, impossible—im-poss-ible, pos-si-ble, si-ble-ble-ble-ble—"
It was Petelgeuse whose throat trembled at Wilhelm's devastating declaration.
The lunatic scowled at the fact that his trump card had been dodged so effortlessly. He crushed the fingers of his raised hand one by one between his molars, bloodshot eyes darting in every direction.
"No, no, no, no, no, no-no-no, no! You too—you can see my 'Invisible Providenc—ce—ce—ce'?"
"I can see them. —Once you know the trick, they're nothing more than a child's prank."
With a bored expression, Wilhelm flicked the tip of his blade across the ground once more.
The continuing rain of earth pelted the trembling Petelgeuse—an act that served as the ultimate provocation against the lunatic.
But it was through this repeated action that Subaru realized what Wilhelm intended. And he could only marvel at the Sword Devil's terrifying tactical acumen.
Wilhelm hadn't been raining earth down to simply annoy Petelgeuse into a rash move. By doing so, he had created a visual indicator for the trajectories of the Invisible Providence.
The Invisible Providence physically interacted with the human body—they were real phenomena that simply couldn't be seen. They likely operated by manipulating mana to project some sort of formula, and Wilhelm had turned that to his advantage.
In other words: where the rain of earth was interrupted, an arm was passing through. He was faithfully avoiding those gaps. Even so, the barrage generated by over thirty arms was no simple thing to dodge—it was nothing short of a miracle made possible only by Wilhelm's superhuman reflexes.
"Now then, you've been surprised enough. —Are you prepared to be cut?"
Pointing the tip of his blade forward, Wilhelm spoke in a low, intimidating voice.
The killing intent contained within that declaration was so freezing that even Subaru, who had not been the direct target, felt a chill race up his spine. Naturally, Petelgeuse—the one actually at the receiving end—must have felt far worse.
In truth, Petelgeuse's expression shifted from that manic, reality-detached demeanor to something approaching panicked awareness.
"Wait—wait, desu! This isn't how it was supposed to be—this situation, this development, this predicament—none of it was supposed to befall me, desu! I was industrious! I rejected sloth and devoted myself to answering love! With love! With fondness! With favoritism—I was the most pious and industrious believer of all! And I…"
"Because I did this, I will be loved. Because I did this much, I will be loved. Your notion of love—its flippancy makes my ears rot."
Wilhelm cut off Petelgeuse's pathetic screaming as though dismissing a baseless delusion he had no desire to hear. In his eyes burned a killing intent unlike anything before—an immense, overwhelming sword aura.
"Love is not something you force upon others, beg for, or claw out of them. What you have is not love—it is nothing more than self-indulgence."
"What would you—"
Ignoring Petelgeuse's half-finished words, Wilhelm scraped the earth one final time with a broad, sweeping motion. The shower of earth rained down upon Petelgeuse. But within that dark downpour, Petelgeuse carved a grin of manic satisfaction onto his face.
"Then how about THIS!!"
Shoving both hands forward, Petelgeuse extended his arms toward the captives. Responding to the gesture, Invisible Providence slid along the ground and hoisted up the knights who had been lying in torment from the mental contamination.
These were the strong survivors of the subjugation force—the same unit Wilhelm belonged to, clad in the same equipment, bound to Wilhelm by bonds of deep camaraderie. Petelgeuse had targeted them.
Eyes blazing with madness, Petelgeuse threw his head back in exultation— "Now—how do you like this, desu?! Friends, colleagues, subordinates, comrades—when they are your hostages, what sort of ugly display will you—"
"—Do not underestimate a knight, you filth."
Leaving those words behind, Wilhelm's body launched forward like a bullet.
The foot that drove into the ground gouged the earth, and in the blink of an eye his aged body flew forward, leaving even time behind. Petelgeuse, face frozen in shock, made the split-second decision to pull magical hands from the shadows—but he was too slow.
The blade sank deep into his lower abdomen and erupted from his back. The two came face to face at close range, and their expressions exchanged—one wore a mask of blank astonishment, the other burned with a fury too quiet for words.
"The moment I gripped a sword and became a knight to protect others, I stopped caring about my own life. To insult my—my comrades…that is where I draw the line."
"Ah…like this…"
A trembling hand reached toward his own wound. When it touched the blood streaming along the blade, his eyes went wide. Then Petelgeuse pressed that bloodied hand against Wilhelm's cheek. The old swordsman didn't dodge. He already knew—the lunatic no longer had the strength to do anything.
"You are…truly, sincerely, genuinely…industrious…"
With something like tenderness, Petelgeuse's fingertips patted Wilhelm's cheek.
The old swordsman allowed the lunatic to do as he wished, slowly drawing the Divine Sword's blade from his abdomen. Blood spilled in torrents, and Petelgeuse—spent of strength—collapsed to his knees.
"Shall I deliver the finishing blow?"
"…Not necessary, desu. Ah, the sensation of life fading—how exquisite. The blood drains away. The wellspring of life spills out. Everything that has supported my body, my industriousness—it's being lost, disappearing, fading, fading, fading, fading, fading, fading…"
Toppling sideways, Petelgeuse lay in a widening pool of his own blood, watching with delight. With delight, with delight—his lips trembling with delight, the focus leaving his eyes, until at last the light went out.
Watching it to the very end, Subaru let out a small breath. After a battle so intense he had nearly forgotten how to breathe, his body had forgotten that it could even move.
"Is…is it over?"
"I've stopped the root of it. The others seem to have recovered as well."
Wilhelm wiped his blade and answered Subaru's tentative question. Looking around, Subaru saw that indeed, the people who had been wracked with mental contamination moments ago appeared to have calmed. There were injuries, but no one had died. Even those who had been used as hostages at the end—barely—were still alive.
This time, it seemed, it was finally all right to feel relief.
"So what the hell was that, in the end?"
Subaru stamped his frozen legs in place until feeling returned, confirmed they would obey him, and then turned toward Wilhelm.
The old swordsman stood motionless. Before him, the fallen body of Petelgeuse—Number Two—lay in complete silence. Judging by the death alone, she looked like nothing more than the corpse of a completely unrelated woman.
But in reality, this woman had been Petelgeuse only moments ago. That madness, those Invisible Providence—none of it could have been an illusion, and no matter how hard it was to accept, a conclusion had to be drawn.
"Was there more than one 'Sloth,' like with the White Whale? Because if so, it'd make sense that they've been causing havoc all over the world…"
"I've never heard of multiple Sin Archbishops sharing the same Sin, but given how opaque those people's true natures are, I can't rule it out."
Mentioning the White Whale had brought Wilhelm's tone down a notch. If their current theory held true, it was a grave matter indeed. The mere possibility of multiple existences like Petelgeuse was something Subaru didn't want to contemplate.
"Worst case, this woman wasn't the real deal either… Like the White Whale, what if there's another main body somewhere? If it came all the way out here, there's no telling—"
"I'm worried about the others searching the forest as well. You happened to be here, Subaru, so you could counter the invisible arms—but they have nothing."
"—! Right! Then we need to get back to them right now!"
Two groups of
He spun to leave, reaching for Patrasche's reins— "Anyway, we need to head back right—Patrasche?"
Subaru reached out to mount the earth dragon, but Patrasche didn't accept him. Quite the opposite—the earth dragon lowered its head slightly, let out a ferocious growl, and glared at Subaru.
That posture was the look of a creature staring at a hostile being— "No way…possession?!"
The realization hit, and Subaru leapt backward in a cold sweat.
If that were true, Petelgeuse might be able to seize control of a creature from an entirely different species—and— "Wilhelm! That bastard—into Patrasche—"
"Bu—"
With a sickening splash, a spray of blood—warm, reeking—lashed across his face as he turned.
"What?"
Dazed, drenched in the warm liquid, Subaru stood gaping and blinking.
The old swordsman who should have been standing before him was gone. No—not gone, but changed from anything Subaru recognized. Wilhelm had stood ten centimeters taller, his body honed to perfection. Above those broad shoulders, the neck was simply…not there.
A ragged, ugly cross-section was laid bare, and beyond the torso—spraying arterial blood—something like black mist writhed in a death dance.
"Wha…what…Invisible…Providence…?"
Staring blankly ahead.
Before him stood what he had assumed was Patrasche, possessed by Petelgeuse.
Its neck had also been violently torn away, right before Subaru's eyes, and the massive body crashed to the ground with a heavy thud. The earth dragon's collapse sent a shockwave through the soles of his feet.
And at the same time, behind him, Wilhelm's body toppled sideways. In the span of a heartbeat, the lives of the dependable comrades he had just been sharing a victory with—before and behind him—were extinguished.
"What…huh? What…huh?"
His thoughts went completely white. No coherent idea would form.
He turned and looked down at Wilhelm's fallen body. From the neck up, nothing was there. He had no way to stem the flood of blood, and could only watch as red dyed the earth.
Suddenly, without knowing when he had done it, he found himself pulling the Divine Sword from Wilhelm's corpse.
Extending his arm as far as it would go, he angled the long blade's tip toward his own throat.
Laboriously, somehow finding his mark, Subaru tilted his head.
"What…is…even happening…desu…?"
He didn't understand.
He didn't understand at all, and yet he pulled his extended arm toward him with all his strength.
A hot sensation ripped through his throat, and strength drained from his entire body.
He didn't understand. He couldn't comprehend it. But there was one thing he knew for certain.
—Ah, I'm dead.