"————"
While watching a girl who had experienced Return by Death firsthand, who clutched her head and sobbed,
He wasn't hurt because he had been called a monster, or because he had been scorned.
He wasn't hurt because he had been told he was insane, that no one could possibly endure it.
Subaru himself had died this many times over and over again.
He was self-aware enough to know that his experiences were anything but ordinary. He had simply gritted his teeth and endured.
Because he believed it was better for him alone to suffer than for anyone else—friends, acquaintances, people whose faces and names he didn't know, precious comrades and the people he loved—to endure something worse than death.
And so— "—Ah, I'm something else, aren't I, Natsuki Subaru?"
Subaru clenched the hand he had been staring at and wholeheartedly praised himself.
There had been times before when he sang his own praises with empty, flippant words. There had been times he used such words as comfort, or to encourage himself.
But this self-praise was different.
Having observed the existence that was Natsuki Subaru with brutal objectivity—through the "memories" and "conviction" that experience had given him—he was praising the path he had walked up to this very day.
"What do you know. Turns out, I'm not half bad after all."
And this was equally true for the Natsuki Subaru who had lost his memories and returned to the beginning of his otherworld summoning, who had made it this far by deciphering the Tome of Deaths.
From a state of total ignorance about this other world, he had accumulated an experience of "death" that rivaled an entire year of Subaru's life, and yet he had managed to come back without letting his heart shatter to pieces.
Thanks to that, the "memories" he had lost and the "memories" that came after could finally be integrated.
"Meili, and
Meili, who had become addicted to killing and nearly shut out any future worth having.
Shaula, who wanted to continue enjoying her blessed present after being freed from a four-hundred-year vigil.
"
Ram, who always knew the best course of action and showed a thoughtfulness that made her the most dependable person around.
Julius, who had lost his own footing yet still clung to his sword and his convictions.
"And
Beatrice, who had devoted herself to supporting Subaru and was the first to notice when his heart was at its limit.
Echidna, who had worried the most about Subaru losing his memories and, in the end, granted him forgiveness.
"————"
And even if his "memories" were taken away, no matter how many times, how many countless times it happened, he would always be drawn back to you and return to this path.
He wanted that. He had no choice but to do that. No other path was conceivable.
Because you—precisely you— "—E·M·T"
He placed the word on his lips, carrying with it a tenderness and a sure sense of peace, and Subaru raised his face.
Then he looked over at Louis, who was still covering her face, trembling.
"Hey."
"Hyah!"
"...You're way too jumpy."
The fact that a single call had terrified her so dramatically made Subaru scratch his cheek with his finger.
She was a girl whose appearance could justly be called young. Seeing such a girl shaking in fear, desperately rejecting the world, was heartrending. There was a kind of fragile, ephemeral quality about her that made you want to reach out a hand. Apparently, that was something she had been born with.
A natural talent for disarming others' guard and slipping past their defenses. —Perhaps that was a crystallization of a childlike innocence that had been forcibly polished.
Louis Arneb, who knew nothing of the world, was something like a pure, innocent child.
But— "—Louis Arneb, you lose."
—Natsuki Subaru would not forgive Louis Arneb, who wept like an infant.
"————"
Louis's eyes flew open, frozen in shock at the defeat delivered straight to her face.
Even as Subaru watched the terror spread through her pupils like ink dripping onto white paper, his heart remained as calm as a sea at rest.
Not every problem in the world was one you could simply get by without knowing about. And the deeds that Louis and her siblings had committed were nothing less than abominable atrocities that could never be forgiven.
It wasn't as though she had never had the chance to learn. Through the "memories" of others, she had touched upon joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure—she had every opportunity to learn.
But what she had absorbed from all of that was not compassion or kindness toward others. Instead, it was far darker—an ugly, perverted desire, and a habit of trampling over the desperate lives of others and spitting on them.
Perhaps her teachers were to blame. Her brothers had been poor examples of how to live.
However, the chance to step back from the path she had strayed onto—she had never once chosen to use it.
"You might know this since you were once a part of me, but... The titles your Archbishop of Sin siblings and you claim share a common origin with the Seven Deadly Sins. And yeah, that's the 'Seven Deadly Sins' straight out of some edgy chuuni romance, but there's something similar called the 'Seven Heavenly Virtues.'"
The Seven Deadly Sins: Pride, Envy, Wrath, Gluttony, Slope, Lust, and Greed.
The Seven Heavenly Virtues: Prudence, Courage, Temperance, Justice, Faith, Hope, and Love.
If the Seven Deadly Sins were the karmic burdens inseparable from being alive, then the Seven Heavenly Virtues were the seven promises that those who carried those sins must never forget if they were to live alongside someone else.
Because people respected those promises, people could live alongside people.
"But you all... you violated that."
That was why the Archbishops of Sin, why Louis Arneb, had become an unforgivable evil.
"Hy... hy... hy..."
Louis, cowering and trembling, shuddered as though struck by Subaru's words, as though she felt pain.
The terror that came from every movement of another person, of the world itself—Subaru understood that feeling.
When tasting the otherworldly sensation of Return by Death, when trapped in a state where you couldn't even be sure how you might overcome "death," even the sound of withered leaves swaying in the wind could seem deadly.
Because he remembered that soul-freezing sensation, Subaru closed his eyes.
And then— "Louis Arneb, you lose."
"————"
"So accept that, and release everything."
Subaru repeated Louis's defeat back to her a second time, making sure she heard it. Then he pressed further, demanding more from the girl who remained silent.
Subaru's own return of "memories" had come about through an encounter—the memoryless Natsuki Subaru meeting the Natsuki Subaru from just before his memories were taken away. Via the Tome of Deaths, his journey through this other world was re-enacted, and his own memories were restored by tracing over them.
It was as though he had re-experienced his stolen "memories" by using the Tome of Deaths.
Through this, the integration of the pre-memory-loss and post-memory-loss Natsuki Subaru was achieved, resulting in the successful reincarnation of Natsuki Subaru.
As a byproduct, Louis, who had infiltrated Subaru as a
If that was possible, then there had to be a way to save the people who had their "memories" and "names" stolen— "You said we could do anything if we really wanted to, didn't you? Then..."
She had been so driven by pride and self-regard that she had pulled off the incredible feat of splitting her Witch Factor in two.
If she could do that, then surely it shouldn't be impossible to undo the effects of her own authority. If she could—if that alone could be accomplished—then perhaps— —he could reclaim the "memories" and "names" of the people who had them stolen. He could reclaim
"Then release everyone you've eaten. If you do that..."
"...If I do that, then what?"
"————"
Subaru's voice had been gaining strength, but Louis cut him off with a short, clipped question.
Louis had sunk to the white floor, drawing her knees to her chest, wrapped in her long, long golden hair that spread across the ground, peering at Subaru through the gaps between her strands.
What dwelled in her eyes was nothing but unmistakable, pure terror.
"If I do that, then what?"
Louis repeated the same question again.
For an instant, Subaru was caught off guard by Louis's reaction, but seeing that she had shown a willingness to dialogue, he quickly recovered. This was far better than being too terrified to hold a conversation.
He should confront her head-on with words and look for a compromise to change the situation.
"I want you to release all the people you've eaten. If their 'names' return, even those who are already dead can have their honor restored. Those who are still alive can be reunited with their families. If you do that, I'll..."
"—Let us go? If you do that, big brother will let us go? You'll let us go?"
His words were cut off again, and Subaru twitched his nose.
Looking at Subaru's reaction, Louis bared her sharp fangs and said flatly: "That's not going to happen! No way in hell!"
She jerked her head up, eyes blazing with fierce light, and shouted.
Her eyes, fixed on Subaru, were drenched in unchanging terror and shone darkly. With those same gleaming eyes, Louis shook her body violently back and forth— "No way! Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, no way, nope, nope, nope, I know there's no way, so! Big brother won't let us go! Absolutely, positively won't! Because—"
"————"
"—Big brother will destroy every last enemy! He'll crush them to the very end, absolutely! Utterly! Completely! He'll close out a perfect game! He can do that! So of course he will! There's no reason he wouldn't!"
As if she'd heard the world's greatest joke, Louis shattered the silence and exploded with emotion.
But the sight of Louis erupting like that appeared terribly distant and small to Subaru.
Trying to laugh, trying to rage, trying to grieve—Louis's expression was a chaotic mess, and she was confused, bewildered, and pleading in the face of the only emotion that remained: terror.
"————"
Every outlet for Louis's surging emotions led directly back to "terror."
It didn't matter whether the introduction was joy, anger, or sorrow. Once you knew that every ending led to "terror," what was there to feel joyous, angry, or sad about?
Even if you believed, that belief too would lead to "terror."
Subaru understood to his core the depth of Louis's rejection. He felt it—a cursing of the world itself, a feeling of being thrown into a maelstrom of suspicion and paranoia, paralyzed and unable to move.
Because that was a hell called "self" that Natsuki Subaru had experienced himself.
The reason Subaru had been able to escape that hopeless hell was surely because there had been someone who held out their hand to him, and their warmth had refused to let him go.
That was the silver-haired girl who had saved Subaru's life and his heart in his very first otherworld.
That was the girl in the dress who had tried to protect Subaru when everything had betrayed him.
That was the blue-haired girl who had gently wounded and been wounded by Subaru when he was ready to throw everything away.
—That was why Natsuki Subaru had not been trapped in hell.
"————"
And that anchor for the heart was something Louis Arneb, drowning in terror before his very eyes, did not have.
That was why she could not overcome her "terror"—it was nothing more than a curse that dragged her into a nightmare from which Return by Death could never allow escape.
It was a cliché thing to say, but no one could live alone. Therefore, for the girl imprisoned by "terror" to be saved, someone had to reach out a hand.
Just as Subaru had once been saved that way—someone had to reach out.
But— "—I won't save you."
—Subaru would not extend his hand to Louis Arneb.
"...Ah."
"I won't save you. I don't even feel sorry for you."
Louis Arneb. Archbishop of Gluttony. The one who desecrated "souls" in a white world.
No matter how endearing she looked, no matter how pitiful and fragile an atmosphere she exuded, no matter how much she elicited a guardian's protective instinct—Subaru would not forgive her.
The Archbishops of Sin had committed unforgivable sins. —That was Natsuki Subaru's conclusion.
"Honestly, nothing I say is probably going to save you anyway."
"Hih..."
Louis's eyes, wide with terror, held nothing but fear of Subaru.
Here, Subaru was the only one who could understand the terror she harbored. But it was precisely Subaru himself who was the source of her terror. In other words, her labyrinth would never open.
And since Subaru, the very person she had declared she hated, would not openly save her, Louis dug her nails into the formless white world and desperately tried to distance herself from Subaru— "I know... I know your tricks! We used to be you, big brother! That's why we know what you'll do... but I won't let you!"
"You..."
"Give back what we ate? Absolutely not! Because this is our lifeline! If this is gone, you'll be able to kill us! As long as this isn't returned, you can't kill us! It's backwards—it's completely backwards! We can't return this to you, big brother, because we'll be killed! That's why—!!"
Shouting loudly, Louis thrust her palm toward Subaru. Nothing was released from the white hand she brandished. But Louis's aim was realized in a different way.
Slowly, Subaru's vision warped white, and the Corridor of Memories began to change. It was detecting a foreign presence and beginning to wring out the world in order to purge it.
As a result, Subaru's existence was extracted— "I don't want to be in the same place as you for one more second! Physically impossible! Biologically impossible! Fatefully impossible! So disappear! The only ones who get to eat you are big brother and brother! Either one, whichever you prefer! We're off the menu!"
Louis's decision—hateful as it was—was, for her, the optimal move.
It would expel Subaru from the Coriard of Memories and return him to reality. And the confrontation would not be with Louis herself, but would be left to her siblings, Rai and Roy.
If the Archbishops of Gluttony could choose whether or not to share a meal, then Louis could say goodbye to the worst plate of all, Natsuki Subaru. Whether her siblings shared her same torment or not—that was the last thing she cared about right now.
"—Ugh."
Resisting was difficult.
There was nothing to grip, and even the ground beneath his feet was indistinct. In this Corridor of Memories, Subaru was hopelessly the weaker party.
"If... you don't like it... then settle it yourself..."
"I won't fall for that! Trying to get us to kill you is pointless! You're planning to use Return by Death to finish us off! I won't let you! Big brother and brother will eat you all up! That's our win condition!!"
Baring her fangs, Louis glared at Subaru as he tried to resist. He could no longer seem to fight back against her will. Understanding this, Subaru exhaled deeply.
Then his black eyes pierced straight through Louis— "—Hih."
"If your siblings are your last lifeline, then fine. I understand. —I'll cut that lifeline in half, and I will make you pay. Remember this, Louis Arneb."
He pointed a finger at the cowering, trembling Louis and continued.
"Carry the unpleasant things and the painful things yourself. —Don't run from your 'memories.'"
Shame and regret—those were the "memories" that had forged who he was today.
Every last one of them had become nourishment for the person called Natsuki Subaru, and every last one of them had created the Natsuki Subaru who had stacked up countless "deaths" to arrive here.
If Natsuki Subaru was impressive, it was because shame and regret had made him so.
"That said, I really don't feel like making a fool of myself like that ever again."
As his vision went entirely white and he was being expelled from this place—from somewhere that wasn't here, from outside a world that wasn't the world—Subaru murmured those words.
And then, as the Corridor of Memories unraveled— △▼△▼△▼△ And so, in the Corridor of Memories from which the terrible madman had vanished, Louis Arneb let out a long, long, trembling breath and confirmed her own existence.
"Ah... a... aah..."
Her throat trembled. Her lungs trembled. Her heart trembled. Her soul trembled.
Even Louis, who had devoured the "memories" of countless people, could not comprehend that horrifying existence. What was truly terrifying about him was his unbelievable mental fortitude.
"How...?"
She didn't know if she could ever be normal again.
Louis had become a part of him, and before that, she had nearly gutted his "memories" completely. Slowly and thoroughly, she had gnawed away at them, chewing and digesting.
The act itself had been a roundabout process—like peeling the layers off an onion one by one—splitting over twenty times what death regenerated each time into segments to savor.
Before she had experienced Return by Death, the idea of splitting a set of "memories" into multiple portions and eating them separately would have been an exhilarating first-time experience. But now, it was nothing but incomprehensible terror.
For starters, why couldn't she devour his "memories" from before the "otherworld summoning"?
The power of the Authority of Gluttony should, in principle, be able to consume a target's "memories" all the way back to the moment of their birth. And yet, from him, she could only steal this past year's worth.
It was as if Od Laguna didn't value those earlier memories, or despised them, or perhaps— "—Hey, hey, doesn't something seem off about this?"
"————"
Suddenly, a voice echoed through the Corridor of Memories that should have been empty save for Louis, and she spun around in shock. But the question was immediately resolved.
Standing at the end of her gaze— "Us..."
"That's right, us! The ones who drew the short straw and were stuck waiting here! Whether we get to become a part of big brother and play the best life demo—is the play environment ready? That's what we came to hear about!"
As she spoke, smiling at Louis, was a being identical in every way—another "Louis."
The one who had split what should have been a single Witch Factor into two, dividing the same "soul"—in the truest sense, another self.
Such a feat had probably been possible because Louis was a being consisting solely of soul, with no physical body, and she feared no transformation of the self.
That other "Louis" had not shared in the experience that the original Louis had. That was why the sight of this "Louis," who could mock so brazenly, seemed oddly distant to Louis.
"—? What's wrong, us? Why're you making that face? First of all, where's big brother? If you're here, that means you came in through the Tome of Deaths again, right?"
"————"
"And why have you been squatting there this whole time? Why are you all curled up? Hey, hey, hey—didn't you accomplish the mission? I failed on my end, but you were supposed to have fulfilled your role, right? Amazing, amazing, you slipped in beautifully. Big brother didn't notice a thing! Not about us being inside him!"
The other "Louis" clapped her hands together, chattering excitedly, reminiscing about the forbidden encounter.
Of course, Louis didn't need to be told—she knew about that event.
It was from
It was an attempt to seize his Authority along with the fully integrated Witch Factor. But it had been derailed by an unexpected interference.
She never imagined she'd take a counterattack from one of the "memories" she had eaten.
But thinking about it now, if that interference hadn't happened, Louis might have become one with him by now.
One with him— "Hey, hey, what's wrong, us? Tell me more, let me hear everything! You saw it, right? You heard it, right? You smelled it, right? You touched it, right? You tasted it, right? —Natsuki Subaru's Authority!"
"—Don't say his name!!!"
"—!"
Following those buoyant words, the other "Louis" quietly reached out a hand. The instant that arm was about to touch her shoulder, Louis swept it away with fury.
Roughly, with all her might, with every ounce of rejection she could muster—literally, the arm of her other half.
"...Huh?"
Naturally, the other "Louis" didn't understand the meaning behind this half's behavior, and confusion crossed her face.
But Louis had no composure to spare for the other "Louis's" reaction. Clutching the shoulder that this "other" had tried to touch, she shook her head in disgust and backed away.
"No! No no no! Don't touch me! Don't come near!"
She was horrified by her own reaction.
But they were her own feelings. Just like a hell called "self," they could not betray her.
She understood. Before her was someone with the same face, who had accumulated the same experiences—a "Louis."
The existence that should have been the other half of her own "soul" was now, to Louis, someone else.
Others are unpredictable. They won't protect you.
They could become the cause of Louis's death. They were a hostile force that could kill the Louis who didn't want to die.
"Stay away! Don't come, don't come, don't come, don't come! Don't come any closer! Don't touch us!"
"————"
She could only hug her own body and react the same way she had when she faced him.
In a space where she didn't even have the freedom to look in a mirror, Louis—who had built her identity from the "memories" of others—found that the sense of foreignness toward another "Louis" with the same face as herself was, if anything, even stronger than toward any ordinary stranger.
Watching Louis repeat her denial and rejection over and over, the other "Louis" shifted her gaze between her own hand that had been brushed away and Louis's face. Then— "Huh? What's that?"
In response to Louis's rejection, the other "Louis" clenched the hand that had been swatted aside. Then, in a terribly parched voice, she looked down at Louis and ground her teeth.
"What's that? What's that, what's that? What does this mean? What does this mean, what are you thinking, what's your angle, what's your plan, huh!?"
"Hih—!"
"This isn't what we agreed on! What happened to you, us!? What is that reaction! That attitude! Answer me!"
The rejected "Louis" flew into a rage and closed the distance on the cowering Louis. Crouching before the shuddering half before her, the other "Louis" grabbed a fistful of hair.
With brute force, she lifted Louis's face, and the two with identical faces stared at each other from barely breathing distance.
"Something's wrong. Something's wrong, something's wrong, something's wrong, something's wrong, something's wrong, something's wrong, it's wrong, it's too wrong, I'm saying it's wrong!!"
"————"
"What about the plan? Wasn't the plan going well? The plan was for us to become a part of the Witch Factor and infiltrate big brother's body to wreak havoc, right? It was a total success! Big brother was terrified! He was convinced that he and 'Natsuki Subaru' were the closest of strangers!"
Louis had no rebuttal for the other "Louis's" recitation of the plan and its progress.
In fact, the plan between Louis and the other "Louis" had been proceeding smoothly. Louis had experienced Return by Death from within Subaru, wreaking havoc and driving a wedge between Subaru and "Natsuki Subaru."
Meanwhile, the other "Louis" had remained in the Corridor of Memories, intending to devour the Subaru who had separated himself from "Natsuki Subaru" and claim the Authority as her own. It had been one step away.
Even if that hadn't worked— "—We promised we'd challenge it over and over—tens of times, hundreds of times—until we stole the Authority of Return by Death! So what if we failed a little!? We'll just steal big brother's 'memories' again and redo it as many times as it takes! We'll switch roles and try again and again! We can always recover from failure!"
One would assimilate as a Witch Factor, the other would wait in the Corridor of Memories, and they'd swap roles again and again, tireless, until they successfully seized the complete Authority.
And yet— "—And yet, why are you rejecting us!?"
"Nooooooo—!!"
"Ugh—!"
The arm gripping her hair tightened, and Louis screamed in pain and terror. Then she shoved the other "Louis" in the chest, sending her half tumbling to the ground with a pained grunt.
They stared at each other with eyes that could no longer trust, and a painful silence fell over the white world. Then, while Louis couldn't find words, the other "Louis" opened her eyes wide— "Don't tell me... you're planning to keep the Authority all to yourself?"
"————"
"That you successfully obtained the Authority of Return by Death, and now you're going to erase big brother and enjoy it all by yourself? Without sharing it with us?"
"N-No!!"
Stunned, horrified, the other "Louis" voiced a ghastly suspicion, and Louis barked in response. Absolutely not. Impossible. She hadn't harbored even a shred of wanting to keep this for herself.
This was something she would discard if she could. But she couldn't.
Because this was none other than the "memories" of "Louis Arneb." One's own memories cannot be erased. Cannot be stolen. Cannot be taken in or put out.
"Carry the unpleasant things and the painful things yourself. —Don't run from your 'memories.'"
"Hih."
Those were the very words he had just said to her.
What she had experienced herself, the path she had walked herself—those could not be erased. Because it was history that had been born within Louis, history that belonged to "Louis Arneb" herself.
"This isn't a joke! How could anyone allow this...!"
She had wanted to be happy. She had wanted to obtain a happy life that was hers alone.
But the life she had obtained in such an unexpected way had crushed her ■—her "heart"—to pieces, wounding her so deeply that there was no undoing it.
That was something the other "Louis," fearful of emotional wounds and weariness, could not understand.
"We're not letting some outsider hog the path to our own happiness!"
"That's not it! That's not it, that's not it, that's not it! It's nothing like that! It's not like that!"
"Who could believe that!? Don't tell me you expected us to not betray you! That's so us, isn't it! Yeah, I get it, I get it! Mm-hmm, I totally get it!"
"I don't want to! I don't get it! I don't understand! I don't understand how you feel!"
"Oh, I understand perfectly! Because you're me! That's right, isn't it? For the sake of happiness, we won't choose our methods, and we shouldn't! Happiness is something that shrinks little by little!"
The other "Louis" sprang to her feet and clasped her hands together over her thin chest. Then, grinning broadly, she cast a sidelong glance at Louis, who was rejecting her through tears.
"What if, by some accident, we decided to do something terrible? What if the ones who obtained Return by Death did something like that? There'd be no winning, no matter what! Amazing! What a way of thinking!"
"I don't want to die! We don't want to die! Don't want to die, don't want to die, don't want to dieeeee!"
"Stop telling such obvious lies! You don't want to die? Why? How come? If you don't want it, hand it over to us! What a filthy sense of possession... I can't believe you're us!"
"————"
Being denied as a shared existence by the other "Louis."
In that instant, Louis heard something inside her crack, dry, and shatter. She didn't know what, exactly, inside her had broken.
She didn't know—but— "—Natsuki Subaru is ours. You, you cat burglar."
Without even knowing what he truly was, being talked down to from above.
Only Louis truly understood what he was, and yet here was the other "Louis" saying whatever she pleased.
—Only she understood him.
"—We're the only ones who know Natsuki Subaru. You, you idiot."
He was terrifying. He was revolting. He was hateful.
And therefore— "—Let us taste it too—!!"
The other "Louis" lunged, coming to seize the "memories" that made Louis who she was.
Handing those over would mean the "death" of Louis Arneb.
It would mean "death." —It would mean the world he had seen.
"A-Ahhhhhh—!!"
She screamed. She screamed. She screamed and screamed and screamed and screamed— "—I don't want to die."
A fiercely brutal, utterly meaningless struggle began in the Corridor of Memories.
No one was watching. No one cared. A struggle.
It began, and it ended. —A struggle with no winner.
△▼△▼△▼△ "—Ice Brand Arts!!"
The instant the words left his mouth, he felt the sensation of creation within his palm, gripped it hard, and swung. What manifested in both hands were longswords formed of ice, their cutting edge far sharper than any ordinary iron blade.
He had only just begun practicing swordsmanship, but he was good at moving his body. On that foundation, he swung the ice swords, trying to cut off his opponent's escape before delivering a killing blow.
But— "Ha ha ha! Nice! But, still, still, still, still not gonna hit me!"
"—!"
The enemy dodged his desperate attacks while her long hair whipped about, skimming the ground like a serpent.
The one who bared sharp canines and glared at him introduced herself as Rai Batenkaitos, Archbishop of Gluttony.
Hearing the title of Archbishop of Sin stirred up a murky, unpleasant feeling in his chest.
It was because about a month ago, in the water gate city of
So many sad and painful things had come about.
Their resolution and settlement still hadn't been reached, and so everyone was trying their hardest— "Why do you people keep doing this—!"
"Why? I wonder why? Why is that? Why, why, why? I wonder why? Why's that, I wonder? Why is that, I wonder? Why's that, why is that, why, why, why, that's just how it is!"
The teasing words held no sincerity, and the other party had no intention of giving a real answer.
Sensing this, Subaru set his jaw. If they could talk it out, that would be best. But if the opponent wouldn't engage in dialogue, he wouldn't hesitate about what came next.
That decisive switch happened clearly in this very moment.
"—Icicle Line."
"Whoa!"
At the same moment as the incantation, the air behind him, where he held his ice sword at the ready, froze with an echoing crack. It was the sound of countless ice stakes with sharpened tips manifesting in midair, ready to be launched.
Rai saw this, and still her composure didn't crack. Without a hint of sentiment, Subaru simply followed his frozen fighting spirit and launched the attack.
"————"
In a single breath, the number of ice stakes he unleashed fell short of a hundred, but there were enough to fill the stone corridors. With the floor, walls, and ceiling as impact points, clouds of frozen dust billowed and a blast of white, freezing air struck devastating damage upon the target.
But— "Sorry, miss. It's not that I'm sick of it... well, actually, I have seen this before. We're naturals, you know? Once we've seen an attack, it just can't hit us anymore!"
Rai laughed, brandishing the short swords strapped to both hands and weathering the ferocious ice assault.
Subaru caught his breath at her skill and the fact that she had endured completely unscathed. But if once wasn't enough, he'd go twice, three times, and if that didn't work, more.
"You think a hundred times will be enough? Not even a thousand will reach me!"
"Then I'll just do it ten thousand times! I won't let you get to the others!"
"Aha ha, now that's some big-picture thinking! Good lord, what a character!"
Rai slapped her forehead and sighed with equal parts exasperation and irritation. Subaru watched her, then quietly held his breath and resolved to follow through on his own words.
He'd said it in the heat of the moment, but that was exactly what he should do.
A hundred times, a thousand times, ten thousand times. If no one else could do it, he would.
So just as he was about to step forward to do exactly that— "—Rai Batenkaitos!!"
"————"
From behind him, a voice that was neither his own nor Rai's echoed down the corridor, and his feet stopped of their own accord. Turning toward the voice, a figure emerged around the corner and into his field of vision.
It was a black-haired boy with a slightly fierce look in his eyes. He arrived on the battlefield with a brave expression, looking back and forth between Rai and Subaru fighting in the corridor.
"Oh..."
In that instant, a voice inside him said: This isn't good.
He needed to say something, but there was a beat of blank silence. It was because, faced with the boy who had come running to help, a flood of emotions was pouring out of him.
But before the question "What is this?" could surface in the boy's black eyes, he hurriedly moved his lips— "Stay back, it's dangerous! Um, you might not know who I am, but—she's the enemy! Leave this to me! You might not know who I am, but—"
He was asking to be trusted with the fight, and also asking the boy not to think too much about who he was.
At least right now, in this moment, if he thought about anything other than fighting, he felt like he'd start crying.
He didn't want to show that weak side of himself and cause anyone trouble.
And yet— "—It's okay,
The boy who had come running said just that, calling her by name.
That alone shattered everything he had been trying to hold back—the anxiety, the sadness, the emotions he couldn't afford to deal with right now.
Because— "—My name is Natsuki Subaru. Emilia-tan's very first knight!"
Now, Emilia's heart burned so hot, so hot, as it hammered with each beat.