Across the barren expanse of the dunes, a multicolored flower field sprawled in wild profusion.
It was nighttime, yet the sky above the dunes showed no starlight — a strange thing. There were no clouds in sight, but the sky could not be glimpsed, as they had been told beforehand, because the miasma blanketing the ground covered this vast sand sea so completely that nothing beyond it could be seen.
Whether it was
All he knew now was that an instinctive alarm was telling him to focus on the ground rather than the unreadable sky, and that the extravagant beauty of these flower petals — vivid enough to rival the darkness of night — carried a strange, unsettling eeriness.
The flowers, so vivid they were almost poisonous, were grotesquely out of place in a sand sea.
"Flower fields... in the dunes..."
The combination of words felt awkward even as he spoke them, yet Subaru had a sense of familiarity with it.
What surfaced in his mind was the Milura tavern where they had gathered intelligence before entering the dunes. It was there that the one-legged barkeep had told them about the flower fields that appeared in the dunes.
If you see a flower field in the dunes, run for your life — that was what the barkeep had said.
Because those were the hunting grounds of the vicious and repugnant mabeast known as the Oukonkuma.
"But even if you say 'run for your life'..."
Subaru trailed off weakly, muttering to himself as he stared straight ahead and instinctively took a step back.
A flower field that was a mabeast's territory — that was useful information. And it made sense that you would be told to flee immediately, given the ferocity and viciousness of the beasts. But the problem, if there was one, lay in the sheer scale of it.
"......"
Subaru and his party fell silent, holding their breath.
Before them — past the sand plains leading to the Watchtower that had appeared after they survived the ferocity of the "Sand Time" and broke through the spatial distortion — the flower field filled the entire view ahead. It was literally the entire field of vision.
Flowers were packed so densely there was not a single spot to place one's foot.
A sudden paradise of flowers, blooming out of nowhere on the sand plain. It was suspicious beyond belief.
Even without the barkeep's warning, they would have given it a wide berth.
If they could fly, they would pass around it without the slightest hesitation.
"We can't avoid it."
Subaru's voice was barely distinguishable from a ragged breath as he called out to Meili.
At present, when it came to dealing with mabeasts, the group was entirely dependent on Meili. Whatever judgment she passed would determine their path forward, and the girl's expression as she glared at the flower field was decidedly grim.
Cold sweat beaded on her face, the color draining from her pale skin. Even without saying a word, it was plain as day that they were in a very bad situation.
"......"
Slowly,
Whether they pressed forward or turned back, Subaru's legs would not suffice — he would be swallowed by the sand in no time. Even if the decision to act would be made at the reins, at full gallop they would rely on Patrasche's strong legs.
"...For now, it seems like they're all asleep."
"......"
How long had they held their breath, waiting for Meili's judgment? After what felt like anywhere from several seconds to perhaps a quarter of an hour, Meili murmured those words in a whisper.
Upon hearing this, Subaru let the tension drain from his shoulders and guided Patrasche closer to the dragon carriage.
"That flower field is the Oukonkuma's territory... right?"
"Cross-referencing with the prior information, that's almost certainly the case. It's just... somewhat larger than I had imagined."
"I doubt the difference in scale is a cute little twofold or threefold, either."
Exchanging impressions with their faces close together, Subaru and the others let out a collective sigh.
Julius and Beatrice also seemed to have been rendered speechless by the welcome that exceeded all expectations. Inside the carriage, the cheers from Emilia and the others over breaking through the "Sand Time" had fallen silent, and they were peering out through the small window with cautious concern.
"Subaru, is something wrong? The sound of the sandstorm is gone, but..."
"We cleared the 'Sand Time' beautifully. But just when we thought we'd passed the first checkpoint, the next one was waiting for us right there. As you can see."
"As you can see... ah."
Glancing out the small window at the flower field, Emilia's voice froze in her throat with shock. She had heard the barkeep's story too, of course. Naturally, the information she recalled would be the same.
As Emilia's eyes went wide, Anastasia and
"We made it past the sandstorm and the 'Sand Time,' and now the next obstacle is a flower field? Do you know anything about this Oukonkuma territory, Anastasia?"
"Being a guide is my role, and I'd be troubled if you expected anything beyond that. But honestly, this is a real pickle. What are we going to do?"
Expecting Emilia's insight through her words, Subaru looked to her, but she could only shrug — it seemed she had no solution either. Subaru let out a long breath and looked at Meili.
"Meili, with your constitution, you should be able to pull mabeasts back, right? Can't you make the Oukonkuma withdraw from the flower field?"
"...It's difficult. I could manage ten, twenty, maybe even a hundred. But beyond that number, there are some who won't listen to my commands."
"So there's a limit to the number?"
"There's a quality limit too. Even I can't push it as far as the
"The Shadow Lions... oh right, the big ones that showed up at the manor."
Putting reminiscing aside, Subaru fixed his gaze on the flower field, taking Meili's assessment into account.
A vast paradise of countless petals — he had no way of knowing how many mabeasts lurked beneath them. But it was certain that they far exceeded Meili's limit of one hundred.
"At present, we can say our choices are limited to 'press forward' or 'turn back.'"
Facing the silent Subaru, Julius held up two fingers from his seat on the driver's platform. Looking at Julius's fingers, Subaru let out a sigh.
"'Turn back' was never a real option. It'd be a waste to throw away the progress we made getting through the 'Sand Time,' and besides, that wouldn't solve anything. Postponing the problem is pointless."
"If we slip into a different 'Sand Time,' we might be able to reach the Watchtower from a different route. Isn't it rather shortsighted to shut down our thinking and block off our only path?"
Julius argued that one of the three daily "Sand Times" might hold the key to the correct route. The one Subaru and his party had passed through was the late-night "Sand Time." There were also morning and afternoon "Sand Times," but could taking a different one lead them to a different destination?
"No." Subaru shook his head. "Even if we came out on a different path, I highly doubt it would be a safe route to the Watchtower. This is a flower field, but somewhere else could have a different obstacle. I'm pretty sure there's no easy road being offered to us."
"...Fair point. I suppose that was a bit too optimistic."
"And besides, maybe the fact that we have Meili and we're facing the Oukonkuma territory means this is actually our best shot?"
"Now you're being too pessimistic. As usual, you're quite skilled at tearing something down and building it back up."
"I wasn't trying to do that on purpose. So, Meili. What do you think?"
Dismissing Julius, who was eyeing the unfavorable odds, Subaru turned to Meili.
Meili, who had been silently staring at the flower field, hung her head at Subaru's words with a feeble "Mm..."
"The numbers are tough, but if you want me to do it, I'll give it a shot. It's not like I have to make every single animal I can see obey me."
"I don't need all of them...?"
"To get through the flower field, I just need to quietly rouse the minimum number of Oukonkuma necessary. Have them open a path and then settle back down to sleep. If we don't provoke them, I should be able to manage that much."
As she answered the question, Meili seemed to gain confidence in her own idea, and her voice regained its strength. At the very least, she appeared to respect Subaru's choice to press forward. That was a genuine relief.
Subaru nodded at Meili and then surveyed the faces of everyone present.
"I think we should go forward. Either way, you don't get any return without taking a risk. Running away from the problem won't bring us any closer to a solution."
"And here you are, the master of relying on others, talking big as usual."
Ram flung a cutting remark at Subaru for suggesting they advance. Subaru gave a wry smile at the characteristically Ram-like jab and gave a thumbs-up. "Sure thing."
"In the end, it does all come down to Meili. And if we accidentally provoke the mabeasts, then we'll be counting on Emilia-tan, Julius, and Beatrice. Sorry about that."
"Oh, and Patrasche too. Sorry, sorry."
Perhaps feeling left out that her name hadn't been called, the beloved dragon raised her head, and Subaru stroked it. At Subaru's pathetic declaration, Ram shrugged with an openly exasperated expression.
"Having self-awareness about it is what makes it hopeless. At best, you can play the role of bait if things go wrong."
"That way of putting it brings back memories. You probably don't remember, though."
"......"
At Subaru's words reminiscing about the past, Ram could only furrow her brow in puzzlement. There had been similar words spoken to him by Ram, back in the mabeast forest — or perhaps on that morning when they set out for the royal capital for the Royal Selection. Now that
"Let's go and get it back. I don't want to go back, not even for a second."
"— Yeah, you're right. I think Subaru's right too."
Emilia agreed with a resolute look, her fist clenched in solidarity with Subaru's determination. She touched the pendant hanging around her neck, her fingers brushing over the feelings she held for the spirit sleeping within the great magic stone. Then her violet eyes fixed straight ahead, locking onto the flower field.
"Beyond this flower field lies the key to precious memories. Let's not stop. It'll be all right — I'll protect everyone, I promise."
"Isn't it a little embarrassing to have a girl say that to you?"
Anastasia looked toward Subaru as she made that remark in response to Emilia's bold declaration. He wanted to tell her to shut up, but thinking about it, the likelihood that things would actually turn out as Emilia said was frustratingly high, which made the whole thing rather complicated.
*** The distance to the
"But all of that depended on getting through this Oukonkuma nest first."
The flower field that filled their field of view sat grandly atop the sand sea, giving an overwhelming sense of the foreign. These flowers lacked the natural ecology of plants rooting into the earth. The slight floating appearance of their stems and bases was none other than the telltale sign that these flowers did not grow from the ground — but from the loathsome bodies of the beasts themselves.
"......"
As they prepared to pass through the Oukonkuma's territory, the instructions Meili gave were simple and clear: absolute silence, and nothing else. According to her, the Oukonkuma were currently in a dormant state. They would not wake easily, but in exchange, the viciousness of a mabeast freshly roused from sleep was said to be immeasurable.
"The worst animals are the most vicious right when they start moving. Even the White Whale that got taken down — apparently, it was most irritable and troublesome right after it appeared with its fog."
That was an aside Meili had shared about the White Whale. Following that logic, Subaru and his group had engaged the White Whale at the very moment it appeared over the Lifaus Plains — meaning they had fought it at the worst possible timing, right after it had woken up.
Tormented memories resurfaced, and he belatedly congratulated himself on having somehow managed to win. Putting that aside— "Waking up a sleeping child and making it angry is the same whether it's a person, an animal, or one of the worst animals. So you'd better keep it nice and quiet. If you can manage that, I'll take care of the rest."
Following Meili's reassuring words, the group began their march in silence. The formation was swapped from their dune-crossing arrangement — now the dragon carriage would take the lead. Meili, seated on the driver's platform, would telepathically communicate with the Oukonkuma, and through that channel, Julius would guide the carriage forward. On Patrasche, guided by Subaru, ran alongside the carriage, neither too far behind nor too close.
"......"
Leaning slightly forward and holding his breath, Subaru cradled Beatrice's small body in his arms. Beatrice's warmth transferred to him, but she was clearly tensed up too. Glancing up toward the carriage, he spotted a figure on the roof. It was not a suspicious person — the familiar slender silhouette was Emilia.
"......"
Spotting Subaru's gaze, Emilia turned her violet eyes toward him and raised a hand. Emilia was hiding up on the roof so that she could move immediately in case something went wrong. Subaru would have preferred she stay safely inside the carriage, but with Julius's spirit arts unreliable in their current state, Emilia was the only ally who could deliver high-powered area-of-effect attacks. Beatrice could do it if she pushed herself, but the moment she fired off one big spell, Subaru would be completely drained of mana.
Having to depend on others in a combat sense — on someone he should be protecting, no less — was one of Subaru's deepest insecurities. If it hadn't been necessary, if he didn't have to — then maybe, Rem too... That kind of weakness always lingered inside Subaru.
"!"
"......"
While he was wrestling with these unresolved feelings, he suddenly felt Beatrice tilt his chin up with the back of her head. When Subaru looked surprised, Beatrice gave an indignant huff. The message was clear: focus on what's in front of you. Looking up again, he saw that Emilia was also pointing a finger at him, conveying a similar warning.
"......"
Neither understanding nor agreement could find words, and instead they became a long exhale. Part of him wanted to slap his own cheeks to snap out of it, but since even such a gesture could prove fatal, restraint was essential.
And just as Subaru finally steeled his resolve through his usual circuitous thinking, the vanguard of the party arrived at the flower field.
"Move."
The dragon carriage, pulled by Giant, came to a stop, and amid the creaking of wheels, Meili's quiet voice was cast toward the flower field. At first, there was no response to Meili's call, and Subaru gritted his back teeth.
"Move."
Again, Meili issued the command. And still, the flower field showed no change. In the frustrating silence, Subaru's stomach wall prickled with anxiety.
And then— "......"
Slowly, as if the ground itself were peeling upward, the flower field "rose."
"......"
Subaru inadvertently looked straight at the risen mabeast, and his throat twitched involuntarily.
The mabeast known as the Oukonkuma had, as its name suggested, the appearance of a bear. But it was fundamentally different from any bear Subaru knew. Fundamentally.
The risen Oukonkuma stood roughly two to three meters tall. Its legs were short, but in compensation, its arms were abnormally long — long enough to drag along the ground. The arms, covered in black fur, were thick, and from their tips sprouted a dense array of hooked claws.
Vivid flower petals swayed across its back and flanks, an eerie sight in itself, but when looking at the beast up close, one's gaze was drawn less to its back and more to its front. The torso appeared to be covered in black fur, but what crawled across its body was not fur at all. What densely blanketed its flesh was a tangled web of fine flower roots. Like veins surfaced against skin, these delicate roots covered every inch of the mabeast's body.
"!"
While most of its body was covered in roots, the areas the roots could not reach were grotesquely desiccated — flesh and hide alike, shriveled and withered. The face had lost so much moisture that the shape of the skull was visible beneath, and its bulging, round eyes were bloodshot with what seemed like hatred for everything in existence.
It was as if the flowers that had taken root in its very body were siphoning its life away.
The Oukonkuma were not coexisting with the flowers. Clearly, the flowers were killing them.
"......"
The sight of the mabeast was so repulsive it was hard to look at, yet it obeyed Meili's words with slow, lumbering movements. Its body peeled away from the ground with agonizing slowness as its roots were torn from the barren sand, unable to draw any sustenance. The sound of snapping roots echoed in countless cascades.
Over a dozen Oukonkuma began to move, clearing just enough space for the dragon carriage to pass. And the further they advanced, the more the numbers grew exponentially.
"Hm."
A faint exhalation from Julius was heard as the carriage resumed its advance. Even Julius — that Julius — could not suppress a chill at the sight before him. Trailing behind the carriage, Subaru and the others entered the path the Oukonkuma had carved open.
"Ugh."
The moment they stepped into the Oukonkuma's territory, a violent floral fragrance slammed into Subaru's nostrils. It was completely different from the stench he had encountered with the Sandworm, but the situation — where sweet fragrances of various qualities mingled in violent abundance — was no less overwhelming.
His nasal passages were invaded, and he even hallucinated the gears in his brain scorching from the sweetness.
It was a repugnant stench that could genuinely cause dizziness and even bring on a headache. He would welcome even the sandstorm he had found so annoying, if it meant blowing away this poisonous fragrance that clung to every part of his body — and he was entirely serious about it.
Subaru's wish went unanswered, and without a breath of wind, the party pushed deeper and deeper into the flower field.
"!"
Suddenly, Beatrice tugged at Subaru's sleeve, as if she had noticed something. When he looked at her, Beatrice was anxiously watching behind them. With a bad feeling creeping up, Subaru turned to look, and he understood the meaning of Beatrice's reaction.
The gap in the flower field that Meili had created, once it confirmed the passage of the carriage and Patrasche, was closing back up from the edges, returning to its original state. Their task was complete — Meili's command had been fulfilled the moment the carriage passed. They would return to their original positions and resume dormancy — that was presumably their logic.
While they had no intention of turning back, this meant stopping mid-journey would be impossible. Naturally, resting in the middle of a mabeast's nest was something even a joke couldn't help with.
"?"
Just as he thought that, the carriage halted. Looking ahead to see what had happened, the cause was clear. An Oukonkuma had risen before the carriage and frozen in place, its hollow eyes fixed on the two on the driver's platform.
"......"
The moment that single Oukonkuma made a suspicious movement, the surrounding Oukonkuma began to change their behavior. The Oukonkuma that had been calmly moving aside now froze, and mirroring the one staring intently at the carriage, their gazes began converging on it.
This is bad — Subaru's instincts screamed the realization.
Looking back, they had already advanced several hundred meters from where they first entered the flower field. The path behind was sealed shut, and it was clear they were surrounded by Oukonkuma on all sides. Their numbers could be in the hundreds — perhaps even a thousand. A brutally overwhelming difference in numbers.
"......"
Even as his mind raced, his eyes met Emilia's on the roof. Emilia was looking down at the Oukonkuma standing before the carriage, uncertain of how to respond. If battle was truly unavoidable, the best option would be for Emilia to use her magic to clear a path ahead of the carriage and charge straight through. But she did not want to act too hastily and make a mistake.
"St—"
While Subaru and the others hesitated, the calmest among them was Meili. She pressed a finger to her lips, signaling the group to calm down first before the mabeasts. Then, extending that same finger forward, she glared at the Oukonkuma looking her way.
"Tch, tch, tch."
The pointed finger and the clicking sound from Meili's lips — it was like the noise people made to coax a kitten. True, if the subject were an actual kitten, the scene would be endearing. But with a fearsome mabeast as the audience, it had zero soothing effect.
However, Meili's fingertip swayed in time with the tongue clicks, and gradually the Oukonkuma's gaze shifted away from the two on the driver's platform and onto Meili herself — and her finger.
"Tch, tch, tch... tsee."
Once Meili was confident the Oukonkuma's focus had locked onto her finger, she slowly swept her arm — and the pointing finger — to the right of the carriage. Drawn by the movement, the Oukonkuma blocking the carriage turned its face that way and took one slow step.
"—o."
At the Oukonkuma's apparent intention to move away from the carriage, a sigh of relief involuntarily escaped Subaru's throat. Emilia and Beatrice, who had been tensed, also visibly relaxed with relief. As the blocking Oukonkuma moved, the others also began to resume their withdrawal.
The march through the flower field should have resumed — that was how it should have gone.
"—————!!"
In that instant, the string of tension snapped, and the one who cried out could hardly be blamed. No heart was strong enough to endure the extreme tension of a sudden standoff. That applied to humans, and to ground dragons alike.
Giant, subjected to the crushing negative pressure of the Oukonkuma up close, let out a low growl and stamped the ground in a fit of temper.
"Oh n—"
Giant's roar shattered the sudden silence, and every dormant Oukonkuma reacted at once. One Oukonkuma that had been moving away turned back, and the reaction spread to those around it — the mabeast opened its jaws, bared its fangs, and lunged at the carriage.
Just before— "El Huma!!"
Mana materialized at tremendous speed, and the tip of the ice lance it formed pierced the mabeast's head. The sharp ice spike plunged into the gaping maw, ravaging the inside before bursting through the nape of its neck. The brain churned, the Oukonkuma died without even making a sound, and toppled backward. The momentum knocked several other Oukonkuma flat.
"Run—!!"
The moment Subaru recognized Emilia's preemptive strike from atop the carriage, he screamed. In response, Julius seized the reins and the carriage surged forward. Patrasche naturally followed, sweeping aside the stunned mabeast and bolting forward with ferocious speed.
"!"
"Coming, coming, coming, coming, coming, coming—!!"
A beat later, a furious roar tore through the night of the Augria Sand Dunes. The vast flower field rolled up all at once, and the horde of Oukonkuma — fangs and hideous faces bared — surged toward the charging carriage.
"Subaru! Hold on tight or you'll be thrown off!"
The illusion of being lashed by gale winds was actually the combined killing intent and predatory hunger of countless Oukonkuma bearing down on them. Massive arms, tipped with hooked claws, were raised and brought down without mercy toward Subaru atop the dragon. A direct hit would have torn a human body apart without effort, with enough force to spill the innards.
But just before it struck, a blinding white flash cut in and pierced the mabeast.
"Hee-yah! Ha! And-yah! Take this... a whole bunch — El Huma!"
As always, the half-hearted battle cries accompanied a maelstrom of mana. The pale blue light dancing wildly against the black sky then transformed into countless ice blades aimed tip-down at the ground. After a brief pause, the blades shot forth as if propelled by sheer force, tearing apart the heads, arms, torsos, and legs of the Oukonkuma swarming toward the carriage in a spray of blood.
"Woooh! That's my Emilia-tan! I'm falling for you all over again!!"
"Now is NOT the time for that! Drive!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Saved by Emilia's covering fire, Subaru urged Patrasche to greater speed.
In moments of sudden combat like this, Emilia handled the fighting with remarkable composure. Come to think of it, even when Emilia avoided conflict, she never shied away from fighting itself. Her aversion to battle within her heart was merely hesitation that dissolved the moment fighting began.
"Barusu! Make it run like your life depends on it — because it literally does!"
"Yeah, of course — wait, Ram!?"
Emilia's efforts bore fruit as pale light swept through the front of the carriage in a broad arc, freezing solid an entire group of Oukonkuma that had been trying to circle around to the front. While Giant charged through and shattered the frozen statues, the one gripping the reins on the driver's platform — when had she moved over? — was Ram, who had transferred from the passenger car.
Watching Ram deftly handle the reins and control the agitated ground dragon, Subaru's eyes went wide and his gaze wandered in bewilderment.
"Where's Julius!?"
"He said that without a long-range attack method, he'd be no use on the driver's platform. So—"
Ram glanced behind her in response to Subaru's cry. Following her gaze, Subaru looked back and was utterly dumbfounded.
There, clinging to one of the decorative fixtures on the dragon carriage's side as it bit through sand and its wheels screamed, was Julius — swinging his knight's sword to slash away the mabeasts closing in.
"I can't very well keep placing the entire burden on Lady Emilia."
"Are you taking a jab at me!?"
"I have no such—"
There he cut himself off as an Oukonkuma's claws met his knight's sword. The slash threaded through the gaps between the hooked claws and carved deep into the Oukonkuma's arm. From there, the dancing sword tip pierced the screaming mabeast's throat like a flash of light, destroying the brainstem and killing it instantly.
The execution was precise, elegant, and achieved with the minimum necessary destruction.
"Never."
Having dispatched the mabeasts in rapid succession, Julius completed his response to Subaru while flicking his sword clean. The gesture filled Subaru with both a sense of security and, simultaneously, a bitter taste of defeat.
Still, with Emilia covering medium and long range, and Julius clearing the close range — as long as that arrangement held, the carriage's safety could be put aside for now. The real problem lay elsewhere — and it was not someone else's problem.
"Bea, can you do it!?"
"You should be the one worrying about running out of mana, I suppose — !"
Rising on Patrasche, Subaru gripped the reins in one hand while lifting Beatrice with the other, setting her small body upright on the dragon's back. And when they clasped hands firmly, something throbbed deep in Subaru's belly. That stagnant something gained heat and slowly flowed from Subaru's body into Beatrice.
"Minya!"
The purple crystal conjured in concert with the incantation locked onto the mabeast that was blocking the pitch-black ground dragon's snout. On target. Acceleration was instantaneous. The result came right after.
With a sound like shattering glass, the mabeast struck by the magic reared back as the crystal shattered. But the next instant, the body of the struck mabeast also crumbled — just like the crystal.
"That's it, Bea! You're doing great!"
"But I can't spam it! Conserve carefully... Minya!"
"Cautiously conserve!?"
Beatrice's combat power depended on Subaru's remaining mana. To counter the overwhelming numbers bearing down on them, even Beatrice — who was being forced to conserve — could not afford to hold back. With each spell, Subaru felt a sensation as if his soul were being chipped away, yet he kept cracking jokes to project confidence and ease Beatrice's anxiety. Of course, Beatrice almost certainly saw right through it.
"Oh, honestly! Why does it have to be like this! These were supposed to be my trump cards!"
And then the final weapon, who had been maintaining her silence until now, stood up and stomped the ground in frustration. Meili, who had been seated on the driver's platform next to Ram, was on the verge of tears. Her face flushed red, she surveyed the horde of Oukonkuma surrounding them. Then she pointed a finger at the mabeasts who refused to obey her.
"You horrible, horrible animals are going to get punished! Listen up, Sandworm!"
"You've got to be kidding me!?"
The moment Meili spat those words like a petulant child, the sand plain that had been overturned by the rising Oukonkuma erupted even further from beneath the sand, and an enormous body burst forth.
The momentum of the great beast thrusting its full body upward from underground swept up the Oukonkuma around it, sending several of them flying into the air. The mabeast that fell from height crashed into the sand with shattered bones, while the unlucky ones directly above were swallowed by the beast's massive maw and chewed to bits.
The one that had burst through the sand plain, ravaging the hideous flower field, was the Sandworm. Emitting its foul stench and shrieking a sound that tore through the night, the Sandworm targeted the Oukonkuma trying to latch onto the carriage, and with a single heave of its massive body, crushed them.
"Go, Sandworm! Crush them all!"
"You're serious?! Hey! Serious, serious, serious — come on, come on, come on!"
Weight sufficient to generate tremors writhed across the sand sea, and the screams of Oukonkuma being crushed under that enormous body echoed through the dunes. The Oukonkuma were by no means small, but they could not hope to match the colossal body of the Sandworm, which measured over ten meters in length.
The overwhelming difference in mass decided each collision, and the Oukonkuma turned to corpses one after another.
At the scene, now resembling a kaiju showdown, Subaru had no words. The magic of Emilia and Beatrice, the swordsmanship of Julius, and Meili's extraordinary ability just barely carved a path forward, and the dragon carriage and Patrasche pressed deeper through the flower field.
"Oh no! The Sandworm!"
Meili's scream was heard. Looking, they saw the Sandworm beset by numerous Oukonkuma. Its massive body was raked with claws, copious fluids spilling from its entire frame as it collapsed to the ground. The Sandworm's skin, glistening wetly, was not the tough hide of a snake or insect. The skin supporting its soft body was easy prey for hooked claws, and its death shrieks echoed across the sand sea.
"Next! Next, next! Keep them coming!"
With the first great one down, a pale-faced Meili clapped her hands. In response, the sand rose once more, and another Sandworm's head emerged. This time, six appeared at once — but each was two sizes smaller than the first, and surrounded by the horde of Oukonkuma, they were quickly cut down.
"At this rate..."
They were being overwhelmed by sheer numbers. In the grip of a truly desperate feeling, Subaru frantically scanned the surroundings for some way to turn the tide. And then he noticed.
The Watchtower — so distant before — had closed to within what could almost be called arm's reach.
"Just a little more! If we can reach the Watchtower as we are—"
That wouldn't necessarily make the mabeasts retreat, but it felt like a desperately powerful hope. There was no particularly special thought behind it. He simply felt that if they could reach the Watchtower, there would likely be the power to break through this situation. It was the spirit of grasping at even a straw. And as a matter of fact, he was not wrong.
"Keep going—"
However, that power was not so conveniently available. It was a hammer of justice that fell impartially upon those who drew near to the Pleiades Watchtower with impure intentions.
"?"
Desperately prying his eyes open, clinging to Patrasche while supporting Beatrice, Subaru glared at the Watchtower looming ahead. As sweat traced down his face and he squinted slightly, Subaru caught a faint sense of wrongness. At the center of the tower, something appeared to have flashed.
"What..."
The final syllable never came.
"......"
A light streaked across the sky, and it struck Subaru's head with unerring precision. In that instant, everything from
"......"
No one present could witness that instant of tragedy and cry out. That was because those who might have seen it, and those who should have screamed, had been wiped out to the last.
With a crash, the headless ground dragon collapsed. Caught in the violent momentum of the capsizing carriage, the headless human body was crushed, broken apart, and reduced to fragments of flesh.
Only a pool of blood remained on the sand, and the dry sand swallowed the flowing tide of crimson. Eventually, slowly, slowly, the fine grains of sand dragged everything rotting in the sand sea into their depths and buried it. Only the bloom of blood remained, vivid as if marking the trace of their journey. But even that crimson bloom faded into the all-consuming sand.
The party had been annihilated here.