After completing his second "Return by Death," Subaru's entire body was wracked with a level of exhaustion he had never experienced before.
Confirming that he had gone mad not once but twice placed an enormous mental burden on him.
The second time in particular was so vivid that even his dying self could clearly tell—everything from his thoughts downward had collapsed entirely.
The storm of terror, a convulsion that started from the very core of his body and refused to stop, had swept away the individual known as
The likely cause of death this time was cardiac arrest triggered by a terror-induced psychotic break. Or perhaps it was Sirius showing mercy to Subaru, who had been reduced to nothing more than a machine leaking bodily fluids.
He had challenged Sirius alone in order to save Russel, and he had paid a tremendous price for it.
Still, even though Subaru had died twice within a mere thirty minutes, even those deaths that offered no recourse had not been without their harvest.
As though it were a parting gift for the dying Subaru, Sirius had taken the trouble to explain in meticulous detail what had happened to both Subaru and Russel.
In other words— "So terror amplifies between two people… like some kind of resonance?"
Russel's terror fed into Subaru, and then Subaru's terror was fed back even more intensely into Russel. This endless cycle of fear overwrote their respective terrors, ultimately growing into an absolute terror so absolute that it led to death.
There was no mistaking that this flow of events was what had caused his death.
The first death, and this second death.
The sequence of events leading up to it, Sirius's words, and the fact that she was the Sin Archbishop of "Wrath"—taking all of that into consideration, one could form a rough approximation of what her ability did.
Mistaking moments that should evoke anger and loathing for scenes of ecstasy and pleasure.
Perceiving a boy's terror as though it were one's own, and having that same effect reflected back onto him in turn.
—The "Wrath" Archbishop Sirius was an aberrant who maliciously manipulated the emotions of others.
Most likely, like Petelgeuse's "Unseen Hands," this was a special authority that did not belong to any known form of magic in this world. It was a power possessed by the Sin Archbishops of the
True to its designation as "Wrath," it was an ability intimately connected to emotions.
It was an authority that could only be described as befitting the evil of a Sin Archbishop.
Yet even after dying twice and narrowing things down this far, the best Subaru could confidently assert was barely that much information.
The problem lay in the activation conditions for that authority—that is, the countermeasure.
Petelgeuse's authority of "Sloth" had, in a sense, been easy to攻略 once its secrets were exposed. In essence, his powers had been the "Unseen Hands" and the "Sloth that cancels the actions of others," and Subaru had possessed a resistance to both.
What the root cause of either resistance was, he still did not know even now. Even having unconsciously acquired his own version of the "Unseen Hands"—Invisible Providence—he remained no closer to an answer.
Subaru had been somewhat optimistic, thinking things like "Wait, am I actually immune to the Witch Cult's broken abilities?!" due to the
Looking back at his two prior encounters with "Wrath," in the worst case, the activation condition for her authority could be as simple as "physical contact with Sirius."
If the mere act of hearing her words or laying eyes on her meant he was already under the spell, then the method of taking her down was extraordinarily harsh.
To put it in extreme terms, the fastest and most reliable approach would be to blast the Clock Tower where Sirius was to rubble using magic from the outside.
The only window Subaru had to locate Sirius's position and launch a preemptive strike without ever seeing her face was right now—in the immediate aftermath of this Return by Death.
However, that would require turning a blind eye to the sacrifice of one brave boy, and Subaru had absolutely no intention of choosing that option unless things reached the absolute limit of extremity.
Who had the right to arrogantly claim that someone's sacrifice had been necessary?
For the sake of saving many, even one life lost was, from the perspective of that one life, tantamount to losing the entire world. If Subaru could not accept the sacrifice of his own life, how could he selfishly reduce someone else's life to a number on a ledger?
That was the plan. He would save Russel. He would not throw his life away needlessly. The cruel part of being Natsuki Subaru was that he had to do both.
"After I pull Russel out… I'll have no choice but to defeat Sirius."
The moment Russel was freed, Subaru expected things to return to the same situation as last time. No matter how he struggled, engaging Sirius alone would be nothing short of suicide.
What was truly terrifying was Sirius's individual combat strength—her fighting style presumably involved the chains on both arms, and from the fact that she had blocked Subaru's surprise whip attack, it was clear she was a formidable fighter.
Even factoring in Subaru's inexperience, the speed of a whip strike was not something an amateur could track with their eyes. Matching the tip of a fine chain to an attack striking from an unexpected angle required an extraordinary level of skill.
Subaru had no intention of underestimating his opponent—he couldn't even imagine how strong she really was.
In other words, what Subaru needed now was someone who could overpower Sirius in raw combat strength, who would believe Subaru and fight alongside him, and who possessed a resistance to Sirius's "Wrath" authority—a Sirius-killer.
"There's no way someone like that exists…"
He cursed himself for thinking such wishful thinking, sighing at his own desperation.
And yet, the idea of a "Sirius-killer"—someone immune to the authority of "Wrath"—didn't feel as far-fetched as it might have.
Just as Subaru himself had been immune to both of Petelgeuse's "Sloth" authorities, perhaps there existed someone with a constitution that made them immune to Sirius's "Wrath" authority as well.
In that case, Subaru had simply been a Petelgeuse-killer by the rarest of coincidences, but that constitution might have just given him a ray of hope.
At the very least, in the initial encounter at the square, everyone had been swallowed by Sirius's sermon, so he could assume that no "Sirius-killer" had been present among them.
The people there who could potentially have fought Sirius were the four who had been singled out by Sirius first, including Subaru himself—and it was at that point that Subaru finally realized it.
The significance of Rachins being there.
"——Reinhard!!"
Having just admonished himself for his wishful thinking, Subaru finally recalled that there was a man who was the very embodiment of wishful thinking made real.
※※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ Subaru himself had no intention of defending his oversight, but the reason it had taken him so long to connect Rachins and Reinhard was, he had to admit, entirely due to the impossibly brief interval between his "Returns by Death."
"Death," then the moments "before and after death," then the fifteen minutes before and after the psychotic break.
If anyone wanted to insist that it was natural for him to calmly explore all options and choose the optimal solution under those conditions, while knowing full well that imminent danger loomed before him, Subaru wanted to shout for them to go die and come back in his place.
Subaru didn't want to "Return by Death."
If it were permitted, what he truly wanted was to hole up in the mansion with
But such a languid existence—like poking stamens and pistils together in idle indulgence—was not something Subaru was allowed. Merely for the chance at something like that, he was desperately clawing his way through each day.
So even in this very moment, Subaru was desperately trying to convince the other party.
"I finally found you—I'm not letting you get away! Please, I need you to call Reinhard here right now! This is an emergency!"
"Shut the hell up! Why the hell should I call that red-haired bastard over when I might just get chewed out for it? Get lost!"
The two of them were exchanging shouts on the street, drawing the gazes of bystanders like a curious crowd watching street performers.
The way spectators' eyes gathered on them, and how the atmosphere teetered on the edge of a brawl with jeering voices swarming around them, was nothing short of infuriating.
Having shaken off the shock of his "Return by Death" and reached his earlier conclusion, Subaru had wasted no time taking action.
Just like last time, he had left Beatrice behind as Emilia's bodyguard and used the excuse of buying sweets to leave the park. Then he had made his way to the square in question, tracked down Rachins—useful as a messenger to Reinhard—and had finally entered negotiations.
At first, Subaru had fumbled around looking for Rachins, and when he finally found him, he had grabbed his shoulder so roughly that it had almost come to blows. That was the cause of their current argument.
Though in all fairness, Rachins had shoved him back hard in retaliation, and Subaru's mood was far from serene either.
Regardless, the argument couldn't be undone now. Growing increasingly flustered, Subaru pointed at Rachins and spoke rapidly.
"Listen, okay? Just calm down and hear me out. I'm not joking around. If you don't want to die, call Reinhard here right now."
"Huh? What's with a scrawny little brat talking about killing and dying? I don't need Reinhard or any of his kind. I'll beat you to death, you piece of trash."
"Ugh, that's not what I mean…!"
Rachins interpreted Subaru's words as a provocation, and his anger only intensified.
Fundamentally, no friendly relationship had ever been established between Subaru and Rachins. On top of that, it seemed that Rachins himself didn't have a favorable impression of Reinhard, who was supposedly on their side. Between his reluctance to call Reinhard and his general dislike of Subaru, Rachins had stubbornly refused their request for two separate reasons.
"You stubborn fool…"
Subaru held his head in his hands, gritting his teeth at Rachins's attitude.
Of course, Subaru felt some self-reproach for having bungled the conversation. But when negotiations were refused this categorically, it made you want to vent a few grievances of your own.
From Rachins's position, there was no reason to simply obey Subaru's demands. But Subaru had his own reasons for not being able to reveal certain information.
—But at this point, he had no choice.
Suppressing his instinctive terror, Subaru placed a hand on his chest.
"Rachins. I'm not joking. The reason I want you to call Reinhard is because there are people beyond our ability to handle who are going to cause serious harm."
"People beyond your ability? Don't say stuff you can't back up."
Rachins snorted dismissively.
Subaru lowered his gaze at that expression, then took a deep breath before speaking.
Please don't, please don't— "—The Witch Cult… their people might be coming here."
"—————!"
Subaru's widening eyes as the words left his mouth and the shift in Rachins's expression at the ominous weight of the declaration happened at almost exactly the same instant.
Immediately after blurting it out, Subaru looked down at his own chest, but nothing had changed. Even after disclosing information he had obtained through "Return by Death," no penalty had been imposed.
First and foremost, Subaru felt a wave of relief wash over him.
—"Return by Death" itself was something Subaru hadn't experienced in a year, but the various penalties associated with it still remained very much in effect.
In particular, when he had steeled himself and attempted to confess everything to Beatrice, Subaru had tasted a suffering unlike anything he had ever known before.
He had committed an act of reckless disregard for the parting at the tea party with the Witch in the
Because of that, Subaru had gone this far without ever revealing the truth about "Return by Death" to Beatrice or anyone else.
Of course, within the limits of what wouldn't trigger the penalty, Subaru believed he had adequately shared knowledge with Beatrice as his partner.
That particular incident would take too long to recount, so he would set it aside for now.
What mattered was that Subaru had managed to convey to Rachins a legitimate reason to call Reinhard, without triggering the penalty.
In truth, even Rachins seemed to have been somewhat sobered by the mention of the Witch Cult, narrowing his naturally slanted eyes in contemplation.
"Hey, brat."
"It's Natsuki Subaru. Stop calling me brat, Rachins."
"It's Rachins. Listen, you piece of trash—how much of this can I actually trust? Trying to use the Witch Cult's name as a bluff— even criminals wouldn't pull that kind of stunt."
Lowering his voice, Rachins fixed Subaru with a glare brimming with hostility.
In this world, the name "Witch of Envy" and the Witch Cult carried a weight that was bottomlessly heavy. It was proof of how deeply the keyword "Witch" was rooted as the concept of "absolute evil."
The fact that even Rachins was questioning him with a serious expression—one he clearly never showed otherwise—meant Subaru had no choice but to respond with equal seriousness.
"It's no joke, no flight of fancy, no lie. The Witch Cult is coming here. A lot of people are going to be put in serious danger."
"Where did you hear that… Ah, damn. That's right. You lot killed the 'Sloth' Archbishop, didn't you? Damn it, is that actually credible…?!"
Before Subaru even had a chance to present his evidence, Rachins had independently arrived at a basis using the information available to him. In reality, it was a shot in the dark, but that accidental deduction helped establish an internal consistency that was more persuasive than Subaru had anticipated.
"Is this about the city in general, or are they specifically coming to this square?"
"You believe me?"
"You're the one who said it wasn't a joke, you piece of trash. Look—I've had enough of Reinhard's lectures, and I've definitely had enough of almost dying. Whether this can be handled depends on my mood, so watch your damn mouth."
Despite leaving room for suspicion, Rachins pressed for details to prepare for the worst case scenario.
Surprised by how unexpectedly rational Rachins's judgment was, Subaru nodded inwardly and filled in the missing pieces.
"Fine, my bad. The Witch Cult's 'Wrath' Archbishop is going to attack this square. The starting point is the Clock Tower, and the target is everyone here. Not a specific individual."
"That's the kind of no-principles garbage you'd expect from the Witch Cult. Damn—what's the timeline?"
"Probably less than five minutes. So seriously, please call him right now."
"Five minutes?! Are you kidding?! Why didn't you say that sooner?!"
"That's exactly what I was saying five minutes ago when I asked you!"
Rachins raised his voice at the lack of time, but Subaru had been cursing that same reality ten times over already. Subaru would have preferred not to rely on such a tightrope trick if it were possible.
Running through town calling Reinhard's name and actually tracking him down would be far more reliable. But time would not permit it.
"Anyway, if you can make the call, then I'm serious—do it now. From what you said yesterday, the signal was something like a firework, right?"
"What do you mean, firework? …The signal is shooting a magic blast into the sky so that the red-haired bastard can see it."
"…It's easy to understand, but what happens if someone else shoots something into the sky at the same time?"
"Don't worry about that. Apparently that red-haired bastard can tell whose magic it is just by looking at the shot."
Even without knowing the details of how extraordinary that was, Subaru could feel the weight of it. Then he realized that over the course of this past year, Rachins must have also improved himself to the point of being able to use basic magic.
It was hard to imagine that they had been able to use magic when they first met, judging from how things had played out since.
"Hey, this isn't a show! Get lost, you bunch of rubbernecks!"
Having accepted Subaru's persuasion, Rachins appeared to have decided to call Reinhard after all.
Spitting at the onlookers who had been eagerly waiting for a fight to break out, Rachins gathered mana in his fist and thrust his arm skyward.
Watching the red mana—fire magic known as Goa—accumulate at the point of his raised fist, Subaru felt an almost hallucinatory sense that the situation was finally in motion.
Everything should change from here.
Even though he had been the one doing the persuading, Subaru felt genuinely glad that Rachins had listened and taken this action. There were coincidences—perhaps his true motivation was self-preservation, or perhaps the reasoning behind his decision had been slightly off—but even so.
The fact that Petelgeuse had been defeated, everything Subaru had demonstrated over this past year, and the way Rachins himself had changed to some degree—all of it had coalesced to produce this result.
If Subaru and Rachins hadn't changed from a year ago, none of this would have happened.
So the conviction that this result would lead to the correct answer was a genuine feeling.
Reinhard would come to this place.
If that happened, dealing with "Wrath" would be easy. No matter how powerful she might be, her abilities would be greatly overshadowed before the Sword Saint. And Subaru possessed a mysterious confidence that the "Wrath" authority itself would not work on Reinhard either.
"Goa!"
Rachins wove a word of power, and from the tip of his raised arm, a bolt of red flame was launched skyward.
It soared straight up and burst with an oddly dry sound at the center of the blue sky.
The effect was so underwhelming that calling it a firework or even magic felt generous, but for that hero, even that modest signal would be enough.
Perhaps that was why he felt a vague sense of reassurance.
It was so obvious it was almost insultingly so—but the reason his mind hadn't turned to this simple solution was probably because calling Reinhard had made him lose sight of everything else.
"Oh my. A single fireball, far off in the sky. It was a quite beautiful light."
It was only natural that if a commotion arose outside the Clock Tower, the enemy would detect it.
※※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ Sirius appeared atop the white tower, her face still wrapped in bandages as always, making her expression impossible to read.
Even so, you could easily tell she was smiling—the lighthearted, buoyant tone of her voice carried the same ease as someone savoring a bird's song on a mild autumn day.
Shielding her eyes with one hand, Sirius narrowed her gaze at the ascending glow of the Goa.
She watched the red flames with all the gestures of someone savoring a fireworks display, and then she clapped.
"Okay! Now then, everyone—I'm sorry, and good mor-ning!"
The sound of applause that was unnaturally loud and high-pitched rang out, and the crowd, whose eyes had been stolen by the Goa, reflexively turned their gazes toward Sirius.
Even Subaru was among them. So he couldn't exactly blame them for their reaction.
"Don't look—!"
Spotting the sinister smile behind those bandages from the corner of his eye, Subaru immediately shouted a warning.
But not a single person looked away in response to his warning. Naturally. Subaru himself must have felt the same thing during their first encounter.
Even turning your face away, your left cheek still faced Sirius.
You could feel it—the waves of malice threatening to emanate from her presence.
How could you look away from a predator bearing down on you with its jaws wide open? Turning your face from those bared fangs was something you could only do when you had given up on life and broken completely.
The fact that they—still refusing to accept death—could not look away from Sirius was an instinct that, as long as they were human, was unavoidable.
"Oh my. You settled down much faster than I expected. Perhaps it's thanks to those two who had been distracting everyone before I showed myself. Thank you. I'll send some applause their way."
Clapping softly with her mouth, Sirius gestured with both hands—still dangling their chains—at Rachins, whose arms remained thrust skyward, and Subaru, who was desperately trying to turn his face away.
Feeling a chill race down his spine, Subaru clenched his teeth hard, trying his best not to react to Sirius's focused attention.
There was no reaching Rachins anymore, whose consciousness had been lost and was trapped in Sirius's gaze. There was no point in saying anything to Rachins now. More importantly, Subaru himself was certain that if he tried to take any special action from here, he would be ensnared by Sirius.
In fact, Subaru could not even cover his ears.
He had predicted it—once he became aware of Sirius's presence, he would be unable to resist. That was why his original plan had been to look away first, cover his ears, and prepare countermeasures against mental manipulation even while exposing his vulnerabilities.
But even those preemptive countermeasures couldn't be sustained the moment he looked away.
What was the point of covering his ears? Obviously, to avoid hearing Sirius's voice.
But why did he need to avoid hearing her voice? Listening to Sirius's voice felt so incredibly pleasant.
"—————"
Before he knew it, Subaru had turned back to face Sirius, his eyes fixed on her.
Seeing Subaru do this, Sirius clasped both hands together with delight, swaying from side to side. Her chains clinked and dragged across the floor, and that metallic sound seemed to Subaru like the breaking of his own heart's defenses.
"It took nineteen seconds before everyone was looking at me. I'm sorry. But I'm happy about it. And it seems like some of you already love me more than I expected—which makes me happy too. Now then, I should introduce myself."
Surrounded by the vortex of gazes that had lost their words, looking up at her, Sirius bowed politely.
Then she raised her head, her disconcerting eyes sweeping across the surroundings as she declared: "I am a member of the Witch Cult, the Sin Archbishop of 'Wrath.' My name is
A truly terrifying self-introduction had been made.
It was a name that should have been met with loathing and terror, a name to be shunned and rejected.
And yet, the crowd below accepted it as though they had heard the name of a beloved neighbor.
"Hehe, thank you. I'm sorry for taking up all your time like this. But it'll be over soon, so please don't worry."
"Oh my. Then I suppose I'd better make this quick as well."
And that voice—deeper and softer than Sirius's feigned warmth—seeped into the hearts of Subaru and everyone in the square, striking them to their very core.
"—————"
Sirius's gaze dropped, and the eyes of Subaru and the others all turned in the same direction at once.
What everyone was looking at was the waterway that flowed behind the square. The gently flowing current was being violently disrupted—water spraying upward as something shot back against the flow at tremendous speed.
It burned red like flames.
It possessed eyes as clear and blue as the sky.
Its form was so impeccably composed that every being who beheld it was captivated.
It was the living embodiment of what every human heart imagined when they thought of the word "hero."
"I'm sorry I'm late—I took a little longer than expected finding a shortcut."
The Sword Saint apologized not for five seconds' delay, but for thirty.
Having performed the remarkable feat of racing across water—no, through water—along a pathless route he called a "shortcut," Reinhard arrived on the scene. His eyes swept across the people gathered there, then came to rest on the "Wrath" Archbishop perched above their heads, and he let out a soft breath.
"I see—I understand why I was called. Your judgment was correct, Rachins. Or was it you who called me, Subaru?"
Stepping from the water's surface onto land, Reinhard set foot in the square, consoled the rigid Rachins with a pat on the shoulder, and then tapped Subaru's shoulder with his hand.
From the palm pressed against him, Subaru felt the undeniable reality of Reinhard's presence, and his breath caught as his entire body trembled.
"R-Reinhard…?"
"Yes, it's me. That the situation was urgent is obvious from what I can see. That figure above us is… a Sin Archbishop, isn't it."
Before Subaru's focused gaze stood Reinhard, giving a powerful nod.
He furrowed the brows of his refined features, carefully avoiding looking directly at Sirius. It seemed that Reinhard had also grasped the danger of Sirius at a single glance.
"She has a brainwashing ability. It's a bit better now, but… if you listen to her voice or look into her eyes, before long…"
"I know. It's not just her voice and appearance. It seems that even merely sensing her presence through your skin can affect you. Even I might not be able to maintain my composure for long."
"You're telling me, even you…?!"
At Reinhard's words, which could almost be read as hesitant, Subaru was struck speechless by a wave of despair.
He had believed—without any real basis—that as long as it was Reinhard, everything would be fine. But what Reinhard had just told him implied that even he might not be able to handle Sirius.
If that was true, then figuring out how to deal with that evil would be beyond even the ability to plan.
"If I'm wrong, I apologize. You wouldn't happen to be that famous Sword Saint, would you? If so… what a wonderful day this is!"
"You're correct. I am
"Not at all! But that's fine! Your arrival fills me with joy! Because you are the one who bears the greatest trust and the highest expectations as a knight in this kingdom. Everyone loves you, and you love everyone in return. You are the very embodiment of my hope—you are the living proof of 'love' itself!"
"Is that so?"
Sirius was ecstatic, practically dancing with glee. Reinhard, for his part, managed to maintain a conversation with Sirius even while deliberately not turning his face toward her.
If maintaining communication was tantamount to succumbing to madness, then what Reinhard was doing was nothing less than tightening the noose around his own neck.
Growing frantic, "R-Reinhard… it's not good to keep talking to her like that. It's bad—it has to be bad. I think so. I'm not sure why, but…"
"…It does seem that way. It's not just a personal issue for me. Considering the effect on those around us, I shouldn't let this drag on."
Subaru, who thought he had been the one panicking, was now confused about what exactly he had been panicking about. With a quiet exhale directed at the bewildered Subaru, Reinhard took one step forward.
And then— "Reinhard?"
"I can't hold out for long either. —So let me deal with this quickly."
The moment he finished speaking, Reinhard lightly bent his knees and leaped.
It looked like a simple motion—stepping over a small puddle—but it produced an effect like a shockwave, and the impact that rippled through the ground drew the breath from everyone nearby.
Leaving that astonishment in his wake, Reinhard converted the explosive force entirely into upward momentum, and— "Hee hee hee! Oh my, how extraordinary—!"
The upward thrust of the Sword Saint's kick caught Sirius—her arms crossed to block the blow—and lifted her effortlessly, sending her hurtling high, high above the white tower.