The opening shot of the melee was fired by the giant scorpion.
"————"
Its crimson compound eyes gleamed, and in the next instant, white light erupted from the tail lashing downward.
What was truly terrifying was that this strike—aimed to deliver a fatal blow—was launched without so much as a battle cry. The giant scorpion did not roar or bellow; it simply dispensed death with cold indifference.
White light brought back plenty of bad memories. To be specific, within the ten-plus rounds of trial and error inside the tower, roughly half of his deaths had been at its hands.
But die enough times, and you pick up a few things whether you like it or not.
For instance— "The initial speed… and the tell before it fires…!"
Both the compound eyes and the tail stinger subtly brightened the instant before an attack. Changes so faint you could mistake them for illusion—that was the margin of survival Subaru had clawed from a life-or-death game of trial and error.
To make the most of it, Subaru kept
Even as he spoke, he twisted his body to dodge the oncoming beam of white light.
Slow was a relative term; the beam was still far faster than a pitch from a bad high-school baseball player. Fortunately, he had confidence in his eye for picking balls. Without it, he wouldn't have survived.
Somewhere, some wise man had said life was a game of trial and error. But that wise man probably hadn't envisioned a situation where each error cost you your life.
When you lacked ability, all you could do was fail your way forward. That was the truth. And Subaru happened to possess the capacity to play trial and error with his very life on the line—a twisted sort of "luck."
He wielded every ounce of it to find his opening. —This was
"I'm sorry I couldn't live up to expectations, me!"
He apologized from the bottom of his heart to the other version of himself who had wanted an all-capable Natsuki Subaru but had only gotten this mud-slogging brawler. But cradled in his arms, sharing his dance with death, Beatrice gave a little "Hmph" through her nose and said— "What are you saying? There has never been a single time that Subaru failed to live up to expectations."
What a sweet thing to say, Beatrice. She raised one hand in a flash and chanted from her thin lips a spell of Yin magic that bent the very law of gravity—[Murak].
The giant scorpion had tasted its effects once before and been hurled far below. Now it tensed its jet-black carapace, determined not to fall for the same trick twice.
But— "You went and planted your feet, so now you're at my mercy—!"
The instant the giant scorpion locked itself in place, a concentrated mabeast assault crashed upon it.
Meili had ordered the full offensive. The vanguard was the bizarre mabeasts known as Feathered Earth Dragons—creatures that looked like wing and horn fused into one. They barreled toward the giant scorpion like bullets unafraid of death, slamming their horns into the hardened carapace without hesitation. Impact after impact chained together, each collision louder than the last.
The giant scorpion writhed under the barrage and raised its great pincers to respond— "————!"
—and into that opening, the most grotesque of the grotesque drove a devastating blow. A living nightmare given form—man and horse fused into one—the centaur Mabeast known as the Galloping Horse King.
A baby's tremendous wail engulfed the Watchtower's balcony. A grinding, ear-splitting roar and a burst of flame blanketed the air so violently that the world seemed to end.
"————!"
Into the heart of those flames, the Galloping Horse King drove its flame-tipped spear without a moment's hesitation. The scorching point pierced even an iron-hard shell—a killing strike.
In raw combat power, the giant scorpion was overwhelmingly superior. That did not, however, mean its attacks were completely useless. If a hit connected, it hurt. Any living creature would.
If it connected, it hurt. If it connected.
"————"
And so, the giant scorpion embodied the principle that "it doesn't matter if they don't connect."
It caught the Galloping Horse King's spear with its great pincers, then severed the creature's arm with a sweeping motion. The Galloping Horse King tried to regenerate from the wound, but the gash was mercilessly burned shut by the creature's own flame spear. The bubbling, knitting flesh went still.
Burn the wound, and it cannot regenerate—an unnecessary but useful piece of information gained in that moment. And then the giant scorpion's tail stinger detonated against the motionless Galloping Horse King's torso, blowing the massive body apart from the inside.
"————"
Flesh and blood splattered across the ground, and the savage Galloping Horse King's life was spent.
The Feathered Earth Dragons, too, were finished once the horn fused with their skull was crushed. A combat style that spent lives as recklessly as ammunition—it was a method that warranted every curse and condemnation thrown its way.
To look the other way because they were mabeasts would be a mistake. But Subaru had no intention of dressing it up with pretty words about how all lives were equal.
Lives had value. And there was, undeniably, a difference in that value.
The weight of life felt distinctly different for someone precious to him versus a stranger. He had no intention of hiding that behind deception. And so, to win, he used the mabeasts' lives.
And then— "Overlooking me is the right call, but it's the wrong one—!"
The vanguard of mabeasts was blown aside, and Subaru's feet slammed down hard onto the blood-red floor. With Beatrice still cradled in his left arm, his right hand swung wide overhead, gripping a freshly drawn whip.
The Guilty Whip—a sacrilegious weapon fashioned from the corpse of a former nemesis—tore through the air. Natsuki Subaru's fastest strike connected dead-on with a section of the giant scorpion's carapace.
A thunderous crack rang out. The giant scorpion's compound eyes fixed on Subaru. There was no sign the blow had dealt it damage, no hint of pain.
But that was fine. Dealing damage was never the point. That was precisely why the giant scorpion had delayed dealing with Subaru until after the other mabeasts.
Its judgment was correct. But it was also wrong.
"Oraaaaaah—!!"
"It's a solo catch—!"
Subaru poured all his strength into the whip coiled around the carapace and heaved upward. The giant scorpion's massive body was wrenched into the air by the recoil—proof that Beatrice's Yin magic still lingered, drastically reducing the beast's weight.
The giant scorpion tried to brace itself by instinct, but its footing was drenched in blood and viscera—the worst possible condition for gaining traction. Its sharp claws scraped at the floor, desperate to anchor itself, but Subaru swept them clean in one grandiose, full-body yank.
From the outside, it looked as though Subaru's superhuman strength alone was swinging the beast around. A spectacle made possible only by Beatrice's cooperation, it saw Subaru swing the giant scorpion's massive body to its limit—swing it, swing it, swing it—and then hurl it.
"Flying… away… at… laaaast—!!"
With momentum rivaling a super-giant swing, the giant scorpion's body pirouetted through the sky.
Even as it spun wildly, the giant scorpion fired its white light at Subaru with pinpoint precision. But Beatrice's raised palm swatted every blast aside.
She conjured a purple-glowing crystal in midair and shot the beams down head-on. While that coordination held, Subaru released the scorpion from the whip, sending it flying off once more into the open sky.
"With this, I've bought more time…"
—so Subaru thought, seeing a sliver of hope in this desperate, skin-of-his-teeth gambit. But before he could finish the sentence, his eyes went wide.
Before him, the giant scorpion launched into an unbelievable acrobatic feat.
"————!"
With a sweeping strike of its great pincers, the giant scorpion chopped off its own tail at the root. The severed tail, trailing dark-red fluids, kept hurtling through the air—and from its very tip, one last blast of white light was fired.
That beam caught the now tailless giant scorpion and hurled it toward the Watchtower's balcony with tremendous force. The beast had exploited its own loss of weight for a savage maneuver—the giant scorpion returned to the terrace trailing a shockwave, drove its pincers into the floor to brake, and glared right at them.
"Th-that was one hell of a stunt! But if you went and lost your tail, that's actually better for us—"
"————"
"Wh—oi, oi, oi, oi!"
The giant scorpion's rear, now tailless, began hemorrhaging dark-red fluid once more. But it wasn't the wound growing deeper. It was the opposite. —From the wound, the severed tail was regenerating.
Not only that, but the white light it had used to blast itself away had cracked its own carapace—and those fractures, too, were visibly filling in, the chitin bubbling as the damage healed.
"Hard, regenerating, and smart—stop adding features that are the opposite of everything
Healing aside, Shaula's body had been soft, and her mind had been dull. But the giant scorpion had thrown every one of those Shaula-traits out the window and was now bearing down on them with devastating firepower.
It swung its regenerated tail—not firing with precision, but scattering stinger blasts in every direction. An area attack with no connection to any tell; for those already outmatched in raw power like Subaru and his companions, it was the worst possible tactic.
"Gwaaah—!?"
"Gu… Subaru, we might have to fly…!"
There was no way to dodge the white light on the ground. If there was no escape below, the only way out was up. In a split second, Beatrice dropped the spell on the giant scorpion and immediately recast it on Subaru.
Whether the spell would take effect—Subaru trusted his partner, kicked off the ground, and launched himself skyward with all his might. The white light grazed the soles of his feet and shattered the balcony.
"Barely made it…!"
"That's not exactly a relief…!"
He had literally vaulted over the possibility of instant death. But there was no time to feel relieved.
It was the same thing they had done to the giant scorpion earlier. Once you fled to the sky, you lost your footing and your escape routes. —All that remained was to be beaten apart by the enemy's attacks.
"Beako! Original Spell, second shot—!"
A trump card he could only use three times a day—but if he misjudged the moment, he would die. Subaru hugged Beatrice tight, and she immediately reached the same decision.
In an instant, the special formula's preparation began, and Subaru's body would gain a window of invincibility— "————!"
"Oh!?"
"Wha—!?"
Just before the formula activated, Subaru and Beatrice's bodies were snatched sideways. Simultaneously, the beam of white light passed through the space where they had been an instant ago—narrowly missing vaporizing them.
The one who saved them from that crisis and shielded them from the giant scorpion's follow-up was— "T-thanks. What the—guh!?"
"Could it be!?"
Subaru clung to the rubbery texture beneath him and verified what had happened, his voice quivering with shock. In his arms, Beatrice, too, was grimacing furiously.
Because the one who had saved them from the giant scorpion's attack—and was still desperately protecting them—was a Mabeast with a blue-black body and a vicious appearance: the Galloping Horse King.
"When I first saw you underground, I never imagined we'd be teaming up in the climax!"
"————!"
The Galloping Horse King responded to Subaru's forced bravado with a ear-splitting cry. Then another Galloping Horse King drew up alongside the first—and clinging to its back with her small frame was Meili.
"You were about to pull your secret weapon just now, weren't you? You need to be more careful! Your trump card, Big Brother, is my lifeline too, you know!"
"Nice save! Nice follow! Great work, Meili! Can we do it—change the battlefield!?"
"So basically, you want to move locations? I can do that, but…"
"Then do it! For now, there's way too few escape routes here!"
Scanning the surroundings, Subaru made the call to abandon the fight on this cramped balcony. Mabeast corpses were already scattered everywhere, and an irregular accident could happen at any moment.
Meili considered the efficiency of that decision, nodded, slapped the Galloping Horse King's back, and commanded, "Please!" At her signal, both Galloping Horse Kings accelerated—leaping off the balcony and, in one spectacular rush, racing straight down the Watchtower's exterior wall.
"Wh-whoaaaaaaa—!?"
"Bubububububububububububububu—!?"
The sheer recklessness of it sent Subaru and Beatrice screaming as they clung to each other. But at the same time, he could only take his hat off to Meili's ability—even the Galloping Horse Kings obeyed her, adding them to their own forces.
"————"
The high-powered Galloping Horse Kings leading the charge, the Feathered Earth Dragons soaring through the air, enormous Sandworms on the ground, Courtesan Bears and who knew how many other Mabeasts joining their side—their strategic options opened up enormously.
For Subaru, who wanted to stall and buy time, she was the ideal partner.
"A dazzling array of attack options! Meili, I think you and I might have better chemistry than I ever imagined!"
"Oh, stop it, Big Brother! There is absolutely no way I want Petra and Beatrice glaring at me!"
Racing down the Watchtower's vertical wall, clinging to the backs of the paired Galloping Horse Kings, Meili shouted back and forth with him. Subaru's teasing drew a genuine look of dismay from Meili. The remark stung his delicate ego just a little, but right now, minor wounds could be ignored.
"If we drop into the Sand Sea, round two starts. That guy's going to come after me! At least the people inside should be safe for now…"
"But you still don't have a killing blow, right? Running around forever isn't going to win the fight, is it?"
The Augria Dunes—a place where Mabeasts spawned endlessly. Their reserves would never run dry and would only keep growing. What that guaranteed was staying power, not a decisive strike.
"————"
A glance showed Meili wiping sweat from her brow, her breathing slightly labored.
The tension of a battlefield, of being in the line of fire, certainly played a part—but there was also undeniably a feedback cost from controlling so many Mabeasts. Subaru, who lacked a divine blessing, couldn't fully understand it, but even a blessing could become toxic if overused.
"Otto once joked that 'back when I couldn't control my blessing, the world was like hell'…"
That throwaway line from a dead-drunk Otto might not have been so far off.
If Otto was right and a blessing could become a burden, then Meili's fighting had its limits too. If she collapsed mid-battle, Subaru's side would lose in a heartbeat.
In other words, this battle would come down to— "How well we can pamper and protect Meili!"
"That sounds like an absolutely terrible plan!"
Subaru had barely finished the sentence when Beatrice arched her brow—and then a shockwave tore through both their bodies. It was the proof that the Galloping Horse Kings, racing down the tower at breakneck speed, had reached their destination.
In other words, they had punched through the Watchtower's vertical wall and returned to the Sand Sea.
"I've been at the top of this thing the whole time, but… coming back down, it feels completely different somehow."
"How does it feel?"
"Terrible. I hate sand. It's coarse and gets everywhere. I just remembered I never liked those sandy stages in games, either."
Depending on the game system, walking through a desert under a scorching sun could drain your character's HP just for existing. This Sand Sea had nothing to do with heat, but the memories it brought back were no better.
And to be surrounded by countless swarms of Mabeasts on top of that made it even worse.
"Even knowing they won't attack…"
The cloying, sickly sweet stench and the ferocious beast musk that overpowered it—the air quality of the Sand Sea was arguably the worst in the world. With familiar Mabeasts and unfamiliar ones alike filling every inch, it would have been paradise for a Mabeast researcher.
For Subaru and his companions, it was nothing but deeply uncomfortable.
"So, what's the answer to my question?"
Meili, riding atop the Galloping Horse King, pulled up alongside the shivering pair. Subaru glanced up at the tower, then answered— "You're right. We can't do anything about Shaula—that giant scorpion. So the key to everything is in
"…The silver-haired lady you mentioned earlier?"
"Exactly. Emilia-tan and the fifth rule. That's the key to all of it."
He was about to nod in agreement with Meili's puzzled look when he thrust his palm toward her. Five fingers raised—representing the five rules imposed on challengers here in the
"You can't leave without completing the 'Trial.' The rules of the 'Trial' cannot be broken. Disrespect toward the library will not be tolerated. The tower must not be destroyed. And…"
"And?"
Meili should have heard the first four rules as well.
But the fifth was one even she did not know. Only Shaula herself and Subaru, through Return by Death, had been able to learn it—because Shaula had tried to hide it.
The fifth rule Shaula had refused to speak of, the rule she had tried to keep secret— It was this: "Breaking the 'Trial' is not forbidden. This tower's rules can be broken."
The 'Trial' bound the challengers—Subaru and the others. But it simultaneously bound the examiner: Shaula.
Shaula was bound by the tower's rules. That was why, even if she did not want to kill Subaru and the others, she could not escape the causality that compelled her to transform into the giant scorpion and try to slay them.
If that was the chain that had bound her for over four hundred years— "—! Here she comes!" Beatrice's warning came a split second before an enormous plume of smoke erupted before their eyes.
It was not the aftermath of the giant scorpion racing straight down the tower. It was the shockwave from the colossal shadow that had thrown itself from the balcony to the ground without hesitation.
From deep within the smoke came the grinding, heavy clatter of great pincers. Slowly, the giant scorpion's compound eyes emerged—and they were not aimed at the countless enemies surrounding it, but locked on Subaru alone with singular focus.
"Beako! Meili! Buy me time! Our victory condition is Emilia-tan's victory!"
"Understood!"
"…How long exactly are we talking about?"
"As fast as Emilia-tan can go!"
Emilia was always giving it her all, always doing her best. She would never compromise or half-ass it when faced with a problem. The results she produced were always the maximum, highest firepower she could muster.
Trusting that, loving her, cherishing her—that was what let him stand firm here.
"All right, let's do this, destiny—or rather, let's smash the tower's system to pieces!"
△▼△▼△▼△ "I see. So that's why you—"
"Yes! That's right! Subaru told me that if I climbed to the very top of the tower, I'd definitely find a way to change this situation!"
As she answered briskly, Emilia pumped her running legs. Cradled in her arms was
At first, Echidna had been pulled along by the hand, but partway through, Emilia had found that cumbersome and simply scooped her up—after which she had been at her mercy entirely.
In truth, this was far faster and spared her body any strain, which was a relief— "But you should be conserving your own stamina, shouldn't you? We have no idea what's waiting ahead."
"Hm? Ah, don't worry about it! Anastasia's body is super light, so even with Echidna inside, it doesn't feel any different at all. Easy peasy!"
"My presence has no bearing on Ana's weight, actually… no, that's not the issue here."
The slightly mismatched exchange left Echidna feeling exasperated as she looked at Emilia—the unfamiliar beauty of a half-elf.
One of their companions who had her existence's "name" stripped away by the Authority of Gluttony. Her circumstances should have been identical to Julius's, yet her behavior differed dramatically. Was it the inherent difference in their mental makeup? Or was it the difference in the people who supported them?
"Aren't you frightened of being forgotten?"
"Super frightened. And lonely. But I don't have time to sit around holding my knees. Right?"
The quiet, almost offhand answer came with startling composure. That ability to pivot—was it proof of her mental toughness, or something else entirely?
Emilia had said it: she wasn't anxious because Subaru remembered her.
It was an achingly simple, almost fairy-tale thing to say—but at the same time, it felt like the truth.
"————"
The reason Natsuki Subaru was immune to the effects of the Authority of Gluttony remained unknown. Strictly speaking, he was not entirely unaffected. After all, hadn't his own "memories" been lost due to an unexpected encounter with Gluttony?
So you could not attribute everything that had happened solely to Subaru's uniqueness. In other words, there had been a possibility—a way to protect both "memories" and "names."
If that had been possible, then for Anastasia, for Julius— "————"
Thinking of Julius's feelings, cast aside and forgotten by everyone, who could find fault with him for wavering? But seeing Emilia's strength in the same situation, one could not help but wonder at the difference.
Was the difference simply the people standing beside you? The difference between those who tried to support you and those who remained at your side?
Could Julius, too, have held together if he'd had someone to lean on? And shouldn't there have been someone for him, the way Natsuki Subaru was there for Emilia?
"I…"
Echidna could not find the answer to what she should do.
Perhaps it was the first time in her entire existence as a hollow artificial spirit that something had troubled her this deeply.
"Echidna?"
"…It's nothing. More importantly, is it true? You broke through the 'Trial' of the second floor… Raid Astrea's violence… once?"
"Mhm, it really happened. Having to explain even that on top of everything else that's been forgotten is super exhausting."
Emilia puffed out her cheeks adorably, but Echidna could only marvel at the fact that this girl had overcome the "Trial" of a man who looked like violence itself had put on clothes and started walking around.
In this situation, it was inconceivable that Emilia was lying, and Echidna knew well enough that her personality was fundamentally unsuited to even short-term deception. So it must all be true. And based on the way she had handled the giant scorpion on the balcony, even for just a moment, there was no doubt she possessed formidable skill.
So the remaining question was— "If climbing to the very top of the tower can resolve the situation, what's your basis for that?"
"Subaru heard the fifth rule from Shaula. And Subaru figured it out after thinking about everything, so it's definitely the right answer."
"That does sound rather like blind faith, though…"
"If you want to go into this doubting, go ahead, but I don't think that's the case… Besides, Echidna, you believed in Subaru too, didn't you? That's why you came with me."
Those clear, unclouded eyes turned toward her, and Echidna found herself completely unable to protest. Seeing that reaction, Emilia smiled with an oddly out-of-place happiness.
"See? My knight works so incredibly hard."
The pride she showed in that recognition—the way she carried herself made it plain—Echidna, too, felt an incongruous sentiment welling up. She clutched the thin chest of Anastasia's body and let out a breath.
"————"
She told herself this feeling was dangerous.
It was irrational and out of place. At the very least, it was not something she should be feeling right now. If she could, she would forget it forever—or at least, for the duration of this crisis.
"Because he entrusted it to me!"
Strongly, fiercely, her belief in him and in the person who stood beside her— She told herself to forget the envy she felt in this moment, and focus on breaking through the situation.
"————"
Emilia's long legs pivoted gracefully, and she bounded up the staircase. Past what should have been an impossibly long flight of stairs, a shower of silver sparks greeted her.
Before her, filling the two fighters' entire field of vision as they clashed right and left—thin purple hair streaming behind him, white uniform stained with blood—was the knight, Julius Euclius.
And facing him— "Guh, kuh—!"
"Ora ora ora ora! That ain't gonna cut it against me, you hear me? Don't underestimate me, you hear me? You come here to play? If you wanna play, go put on some makeup first. Then I'll step on you, mess you up, and treat you real nice, you hear me—!?"
Foul-mouthed words accompanied the nightmare slashes from the two chopsticks in his hand—the incarnation of violence, Raid Astrea, dancing a death dance across the second floor's stage.
That their exchange transcended human limits—and that Julius was nonetheless at a disadvantage—was, sadly, painfully obvious even to an untrained eye.
"——!"
Julius parried countless slashes and kicks simultaneously, rotating his knight's blade and thrusting into the gaps to counter.
The ultra-technique—the razor-sharp thrusts that looked like bursts of pure light—were dodged with ease by Raid, who had one eye covered by an eyepatch, yawning as he did so.
"Raaa!"
The next instant, as Julius's eyes widened at the evaded thrust, a carelessly swung kick hammered into his torso. The sole of a foot clad in zōri carved through his abdominals, and Julius staggered back with a groan of pain.
And then, from overhead, a downward chop with the remaining chopstick— "Scatter for me."
A vertical flash. The shockwave-bearing slash cleaved the air, cleaved space, cleaved concepts.
This overwhelming sword strike—so extreme that it defied description—wielded a pair of chopsticks as its weapon, yet possessed a beauty that could steal the breath even from a complete layman. It was the pinnacle of swordsmanship, its absolute apex realized.
"————"
A slash so beautiful that mesmerizingly watching it could cost you your life.
Julius dodged it with a sideways leap. The tip of his cloak, too slow to escape, was devoured by the blade and evaporated. The Watchtower's mysterious material—its second floor now bore a vertical cut, carved like a joke.
And then— "Oi oi, if you think you dodged that, you're kidding yourself!"
"——!"
Along with the mocking smile, the severed air warped and twisted, generating wind.
In that instant, Julius—who should have been out of range—found his breath cut short as his leg was dragged back, as if pulled into the severed space, yanking him back into the reach of Raid's sword.
Incredibly, the severed space generated an attractive force, pulling it back together. It dragged Julius—who had once escaped death—right back into range of the next strike.
Frozen in the instant, unable to move, a fist flew straight at Julius— "That's enough."
In that fleeting moment, the voice that intervened between the two swordsmen was the clear, bell-like ring of a silver bell.
But despite the beauty of that voice, the method of entering the fight was spectacularly violent. The sight of it left Echidna momentarily speechless.
"Hah?"
"————!"
Raid looked up with a suspicious sound, and Julius's eyes went wide.
The foreign object that had materialized above them—was a colossal block of ice, filling the entire ceiling.
A mass of destruction that could have shattered a dragon carriage in an instant, now raining down upon the swordsmen.
In that instant, Raid and Julius reacted in opposite ways. Julius leapt aside to dodge the falling ice, while Raid twisted his cheek into a grin.
And then— "Hah!!"
With a savage smile, Raid thrust one chopstick upward toward the descending block of ice. The falling ice and the rising chopstick collided—a miraculous point-on-point clash of forces that bent the chopstick.
Planting his zōri hard into the floor, Raid drove the force of his step through the bent chopstick and into the ice, snapping it in half. A crack ran through the block.
"…Now that's more like it."
As Raid muttered, the ice block fractured along the crack and shattered in an instant.
Fragments of ice rained down as Raid slowly turned. The single blue eye that pierced straight through her, the palm raised toward him—Emilia's cheeks tensed as she faced him.
Meeting Emilia's gaze, Raid looked genuinely surprised— "You're pretty damn combative, huh. I don't hate that in a woman… wha!? Hold on, you're freakin' gorgeous!? You're insanely hot! What's a hottie like you doing out here in the middle of the goddamn Sand Sea!? You—yeah, you—come on, fight me!"
"Sorry. I just butted in without asking. But I need Julius to beat you… that's non-negotiable."
"Wha—?"
Ignoring Raid's self-centered monologue, Emilia spoke with her brows drawn down. Raid twisted his cheek at that, but more shaken was Julius, who had been effectively saved.
He had escaped the range of Emilia's ice block, maintaining distance from Raid, yet could not conceal his suspicion toward the suddenly appeared Emilia. He turned his yellow eyes toward Echidna, standing beside Emilia— "I understand I've been saved, but… Echidna, who is she? What in the world is she?"
"I'm afraid I'm in a difficult position to explain her identity as well. But to put it simply, she's someone in the same situation as you, Julius."
"…What?"
At those words, Julius looked at Emilia properly for the first time. And when his eyes widened slightly, it was because Emilia's characteristics matched an existence in his knowledge.
"Silver hair and violet eyes… an Elf. No—someone that distinctive suddenly appearing inside the tower seems unlikely. Then… could she be—"
The distinctiveness of her appearance, the fact that his memory held no impression of her, and the situation inside the tower—Julius arrived at the answer of his own accord.
Having reached the conclusion independently, Julius watched as Emilia gave a deep nod.
"Julius, right now I completely understand how you feel."
"Then you truly are… fellow victims of Gluttony, stripped of their 'names'—the two of them immediately grasped each other's situation. And once they had, it was clear Julius had come to believe Emilia was an ally.
He shielded Emilia and Echidna behind him and leveled his sword at Raid once more— "I'm grateful for the assistance. But given the tower's situation, I can't understand why the two of you came here. What's happening outside, and what about
"Everything is being wrapped up in one go, all at once. The idea came from Natsuki, and everyone in the tower is cooperating."
"Subaru? But he—"
At the interruption of Subaru's name, Julius furrowed his brow in confusion.
As far as he understood, Subaru had challenged Roy's Book of the Dead in the 'Taigeta' archive and been left in an ambiguous state of consciousness. Beatrice had told him recovery would be difficult, and Julius himself had been continuing his fight against Raid to try to break through the tower's deadlock.
Being told that the awakened Subaru was behind this did not naturally connect to his understanding—but that was entirely reasonable. However— "Sorry to butt in on your cozy chat, but don't ignore me while you're gabbing!"
BOOM—the floor cracked as Raid's chopstick strike slammed toward them. Julius blocked it. Raid had lost one chopstick, but he still had the other. Besides, without the chopsticks, he could simply use his bare hands, and his combat power would not diminish.
"Kuh!"
Julius reeled from the ferocious attack but held his ground, fighting desperately on the defensive. Watching this, Raid—with one hand casually wielding a blow that could slay a dragon—extended the fingers of his free hand toward Emilia, who was waiting for an opening.
"I dunno what you've been aiming at this whole time, but don't think I'm gonna let you do whatever you want, sweetheart. Your opponent is gonna be whoever's left after I finish this half-baked brat… oh?"
As he spoke, Raid suddenly tilted his head.
He kept his head cocked, touched the eyepatch over his left eye with his extended finger, clicked his tongue in irritation, and said— "What the hell. Why can't my hand move to stop you? It's not like I've fallen for you, so does that mean… you've cleared the 'Trial'!?"
"Yes, that's right! You lost because you touched my chest with your chopsticks!"
"Tch! What a lame way to go down. Shame I won't remember it, gorgeous!"
That one snapped tongue confirmed it—whatever chain bound Raid, it prevented him from catching Emilia. In other words, the obstacle to her role had been removed.
Which meant— "Julius, I need to—"
"Go. As someone whose name you don't know, and as a beauty worthy of that name."
Julius cut her off with those words, turning his head only slightly. Re-gripping his knight's blade, he spoke, and Emilia fell silent.
Seeing her surprised expression, Julius smiled bravely— "You have your own role to play. I know it's not something that can help me directly. That's fine. —Please, give it everything you have."
"…Yes—you too!"
Accepting Julius's encouragement, Emilia nodded and prepared to run. Raid made no move to stop her. The crimson lion let her pass, watching her go with his single eye.
Emilia reached the stairs at the very back of the second floor, leading further up, and stopped to look back— "Emilia."
"————"
"My name is Emilia. Just Emilia. —I'll see you again, I promise!"
She left her name behind and dashed up the stairs with dazzling speed. Watching her disappear from sight, Echidna let out a long, long breath.
Going upward from here—that was Emilia's role. And Echidna's role was— "You intend to stay and watch my fight?"
"If you'll allow it. …No, that's not it. I decided, of my own volition, that this is what I should do."
"————"
Julius briefly turned his gaze toward Echidna, standing by the wall, and set his lips in a hard line. Watching the mix of emotions swirl across his profile, Echidna took a small breath.
And then— "There's nothing I can actually do, but… this is what Ana would have done. Inside this tower, my position is unstable no matter where I am. So I'm choosing to stand behind you of my own will. Because…"
"————"
"—because you are
Believing in something intangible took an extraordinary amount of courage.
Compared to believing in something you could touch, the strength needed to trust something with no proof—there was no way to know how much would be enough.
But believing in that uncertain thing, Echidna spoke to the back before her.
"————"
At those words, Julius lowered his lashes—those long, fringed lashes—and then let out a slow, deep, extended breath.
"Unexpectedly, it gives one strength. To know that someone who has summoned every ounce of their courage still believes in me—expects something of me—when I may no longer be anyone at all."
"Julius…"
For Julius, the ground beneath his feet had become uncertain.
For Echidna, the bonds she should have known were now vague.
With nothing可靠 to lean on, the two of them—who should have been connected by bonds that no longer existed—had to forge a different kind of relationship. Yet in this single moment, they were undeniably looking at the same thing.
So— "Julius, I have a message for you."
"A message?"
"From Subaru. Everyone's fighting all over the tower. So—'Hurry up and finish this, then go support the others.' That's what he said."
"————"
Because it was recognizably his way of cheering someone on, Echidna relayed the message exactly as she had heard it. Julius's slender shoulders stiffened ever so slightly.
Then, inside Julius, the contents of the message were chewed over and swallowed. The reaction that followed was clear and dramatic.
"Ha."
A short, sharp breath—almost like a hiss. But it wasn't.
It was a smile. Julius let a single breath of laughter rise from the depths of his gut. And for anyone who knew Julius, the fact that it happened at all was nothing short of astonishing.
—For Julius Euclius to smile in the midst of battle.
"If he has broken out of his shell, then I cannot afford to lose either."
It was a quiet declaration, yet one that concealed a burning resolve.
Julius raised his knight's blade before him, saw his own reflection in its edge, and faced the enemy before him. Raid had been wearing a long, bored expression—but he grinned, shark-like.
"So you've gotten fired up, huh?"
"I beg your pardon, but I have always been serious in combat."
"Nah, nah, that's not what I mean. You know it without me saying it, right?"
Laughing, Raid raised his left hand and peeled back the eyepatch covering one eye. With that revealed blue gaze, the apex of swordsmanship directed a jovial killing intent at the challenger.
The sword pressure was so overwhelming that a timid soul might have died on the spot just from the stare alone. But Julius met that razor-sharp gaze head-on, and behind him, Echidna braced herself to endure it as well.
Watching them withstand the storm of sword pressure, Raid bared his teeth wide— "The name's Raid—the 'Stick-Wielder.' Remember it before you die."
"————"
In battle, exchanging names before crossing swords was the warrior's recognition of the other as an equal. How much weight Raid placed in this custom was unclear—but regardless of Raid's own feelings, it dramatically changed the outlook of the one who received the challenge.
Breathing out, composing himself, Julius suppressed his surging heart and declared— "Then allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Julius Euclius. First Knight of Lady Anastasia Hoshin, Royal Selection candidate of the
He spoke with the weight of someone carving his own "name" into both himself and the world.
△▼△▼△▼△ Leaving Julius and Echidna behind on the floor below, Emilia raced up the stairs.
Her long legs pumped as she skipped two steps, three steps at a time, climbing with inhuman speed. Her mind was consumed by one thought: faster, faster.
"——!"
Emilia bit down hard, her beautiful profile set with grim determination.
She worried about the two she had left on the second floor. Raid was frighteningly strong, violent, and foul-mouthed. Both of them might be hurt in body and mind.
Of course, Emilia's worries didn't end with Julius and Echidna. Were Subaru and Beatrice managing to hold Shaula's attention with Meili? Would
But she wouldn't stop. She wouldn't let the tears fall. The sting in the back of her nose—she would endure it.
"Nothing is over yet…!"
What she could believe, and who believed in her—that was everything sustaining Emilia right now.
Worries by the bucketful, anxiety by the boatload, but towering above all of it was a mountain of "I believe in you."
"——! Light!"
At the end of her unbroken sprint, Emilia's violet eyes caught a white glow. She understood it at once—the end of this impossibly long staircase, and the light leading to the unknown first floor.
The instant she thought that, Emilia drove her foot into the floor and accelerated even more.
And then— "I've made it!"
She burst through the light, and the staircase ended. Before her opened a space that should have been the first floor—but wasn't.
"…Huh?"
Emilia stopped, stunned, and a small sound escaped her lips. And no wonder—her violet eyes reflected not the interior of the Watchtower.
The walls were gone. The ceiling was gone. Stretching before her was an impossibly blue sky—Emilia was not standing inside a building, but outside. By ascending the second floor's staircase, she had burst straight out onto the tower's rooftop.
"The first floor is… outside? This place is higher than the clouds…"
Atop the tower, the summit was a wide, round expanse of floor with no partitions or railings along the edges. From here, you could easily look straight down.
Clouds that should have been far above were pressing against the tower, and Emilia realized she was standing among them—perhaps above them. She held her breath.
Even for Emilia, this was the highest place she had ever been. But before she could absorb that wonder, her attention was seized by something else entirely.
"————"
—It was a presence so quiet and so utterly majestic that she had simply failed to notice it until now.
"…Ah."
Her eyes had been on her footing, the cloud line, the situation below. Only when the edge of her vision caught something did she notice—slowly turning, she let out a breath.
When she had learned her "name" had been taken and that the entire world had forgotten her, she had come within a hairsbreadth of despair. But even then, Emilia's heart had held at the last moment. —And even Emilia was struck speechless.
The "existence" that had appeared before her was beyond anything she could have imagined.
Because it was— "…You are…"
'—Thou who hast reached the tower's summit. Omnipotent petitioner who treads upon the first floor.' A voice so heavy it seemed to strike the soul directly, and Emilia was acutely aware of her own voice trembling.
Who could call her weak-hearted for it? No one could. It was impossible. Because all beings could only prostrate themselves before this existence.
Its name was— '—I am
△▼△▼△▼△ Outside the tower, Shaula—transformed into the giant scorpion—battled Natsuki Subaru and the others.
On the tower's second floor, the smiling instrument of violence, Raid Astrea, resumed his swordplay with Julius.
On the tower's first floor, Emilia had encountered the overwhelming presence waiting there.
And on the spiral staircase connecting the tower's fourth through sixth floors— "Gah, seriously!? I went to all the trouble of stealing them, and we can't even use them properly—what a waste, seriously!"
The boy clicked his tongue in frustration, scratching and tugging at his dark-brown hair. When the hand that had been pulling at his hair came down, what appeared was a beautiful ornamental sword carved from ice.
A special power recreated from a stolen "name"—but despite its appearance, the mana calibration was exquisitely difficult, making it extremely hard to combine with other "memories." Combining techniques from different people required a certain innate talent, and Roy and Louis simply weren't good at it.
"Well, I'm the one who's good at it, so it works out."
The three siblings who all possessed the Authority of Gluttony each used their power slightly differently. Among them, the one who took pride in being a "gourmet" had no shortage of complaints about his siblings' approach. —Strength bred superiority. Advice wasn't really his thing.
"I can't get through to cute Louis or that idiot Roy… fine, whatever! If you two can't do anything, then fine! All the delicacies inside this tower—I'm going to lick them all clean myself! Good, good, good, good, good, good, good—binge drinking! Binge eating!"
He crushed the ice sword in his hand, baring his sharp teeth, and declared himself—Gluttony: Rai Batenkaitos would line every last target in the tower onto his own plate, leaving none behind.
Fortunately, he understood the situation. All that remained was the order of events and choosing the main course— "And you think you have the right to make that choice? How carefree of you."
"————"
The voice drifted down from above, and Rai stopped chewing the ice. He looked up. On the staircase between the fourth and fifth floors stood a pair of crimson eyes looking down at him on the fourth floor.
The same color as blood or flame, yet those eyes held a cold, cold heat—gazing down upon Rai's savage hunger with something like pity.
And then— "I hear you're the one who tore apart the sisterly love between Ram and Rem. —Die squealing like the pig you are."