Crumbling, crumbling, spilling away.
Crumbling, crumbling, peeling off.
Crumbling, crumbling, fading in color.
Crumbling, crumbling, crumbling—everything growing distant, glistening.
△▼△▼△▼△ —Outside the tower: the stampede of countless magical beasts, pushed back through the Beast Tamer's fierce efforts.
—Second floor: the defeat of
—Fourth floor: the defeat of the long-hated Archbishop of Gluttony,
—Fourth floor: the defeat of the depraved sinner, the detestable Archbishop of Gluttony, Rai Batenkaitos.
—First floor: the breakthrough of
The clearance of multiple difficulties prepared for the assault on the
This, too, was the result of comrades uniting as one, trusting each other and combining their strengths.
In Emilia's way of putting it, you could say it was the result of "everyone getting along."
Thanks to that, they had made it this far.
Then all that remained was— "—If we don't all win together, it'd be a lie, wouldn't it!"
When they had first set out for the Pleiades Watchtower, that was what Emilia had said.
They weren't going to forget. They were going to reclaim what had been lost.
He had agreed with her words, which meant they all had to return safely from the Sand Sea. Even if the number heading back was greater than the number that had come, that was just how it would be.
Subaru, Emilia,
No matter how noisy or irritating the journey home might be, it wouldn't matter.
"—Let's go!"
The two spirit knights fell into formation, and naturally, Julius took the lead. Having withdrawn momentarily from his healing role and reeled back the Qua he had entrusted to treatment, Julius once again borrowed the power of six spirits, wrapping himself in aurora light.
The effect of Cor Leonis made it clear: in exchange for the massive surge of od's glow, both Julius himself and the spirits were bearing an enormous burden.
Quite the show-off he was. But then again, nobody had any intention of dragging this out.
"—Quick and decisive."
Trailing a rainbow's arc, Julius sprinted across the sand as if flying. He closed the gap he had opened in an instant, his slash bearing down on the Crimson Scorpion. The scorpion caught it with its fierce compound eyes and deflected it with a storm of thrashing great pincers and tail stinger.
However, where the rainbow sword strike connected with the scorpion's carapace, white smoke rose upon contact.
It had melted.
Julius's rainbow-infused slash had the magic sword "Al Clauzelia" in its aurora-wrapped state activated permanently, so even defensive measures couldn't properly withstand a direct hit.
On top of that, the rainbow light enveloping his entire body wasn't merely for show.
"—!?"
The Crimson Scorpion's tail stinger fired from point-blank range—the same "death" sting, Hell's Snipe, that had killed Subaru more than ten times and had once been the cause of both Emilia's and Julius's deaths.
Julius deflected it not with his sword, but by redirecting it with the defensive power of his aurora.
The thin veil of aurora coating his entire body was an application of the concept behind "Al Clauseria," the magic that created a rainbow barrier. In other words, offense and defense unified—the birth of a trans-dimensional swordsman who could only be called the "Rainbow Spirit Knight."
"—!?!?!"
Its killing blow negated, its defenses broken, the Crimson Scorpion was being humiliated.
But this colossal magical beast, which had served as the tower's Star Scholar for four hundred years, had its own pride. The scorpion intensified the glow of its crimson carapace to an even more vivid hue, released the heat building within its great pincers, and slammed it straight at Julius, sending the Rainbow Knight flying a considerable distance.
The pincers blazed with fierce heat, and with that staggering firepower, the atmosphere around the Crimson Scorpion began to warp.
Scorching great pincers—if Subaru were to name them, the "Jesus Scissors Hellfire Form."
He had to tip his hat to the monster for unveiling a new technique and going out of its way to spice up the final battle, but as the one on the receiving end, he would really rather it not demonstrate that kind of growth potential.
Enemies that hatch out of their shells and level up were not something anyone wanted right now.
"Meinya!"
A crimson bolt of purple arrow interrupted the scorpion as its blazing pincers swept the air, targeting Julius. To break into the titanic clash between Julius and the Crimson Scorpion, Subaru was simply outmatched on his own. With Beatrice's support fire covering Julius, Subaru looked for his own opening.
—!?
Careful not to be caught in the crossfire, Subaru glanced toward the herd of magical beasts that had been driven back from the sand, swept aside by the dust vortex.
In this environment of the
The sight of them keeping their distance from the tower and watching from afar was bizarre.
With the clouds above the Watchtower cleared and the first floor's rules apparently rewritten by Emilia, some kind of measure to repel certain magical beasts seemed to have taken effect. Originally, the Watchtower had been designed so that magical beasts couldn't approach, which meant that stampede state had been the anomaly.
Either way, the fact that the magical beasts weren't interfering was a godsend for Subaru and the others, who wanted to return Shaula—the Crimson Scorpion—to her senses.
"—Subaru!"
"Huh?"
A voice reached Subaru as he cut diagonally across the Sand Sea for the optimal positioning. When he looked up, the Crimson Scorpion—having dodged Julius's thrust—had landed right next to Subaru in a careless stumble.
At Beatrice's urgent grip on his hand, Subaru instinctively slammed on the brakes. But with a motion like swatting away a bug, the scorpion's tail swung around, and Subaru felt the touch of "death" in that single strike.
"Grit—!"
"—Murak!"
Subaru's judgment and Beatrice's judgment overlapped simultaneously.
Reducing the effect of gravity, Subaru and Beatrice both became light as cotton candy. At the same time, Subaru's whip lashed out and coiled around the base of the Crimson Scorpion's tail.
The next instant, flung by the momentum of the tail's swing, Subaru and Beatrice went hurtling through the air at high speed.
"Wa—"
"Bwah!?!"
Not swung around, but flung off entirely.
The moment their feet went light, Subaru and Beatrice crashed body-first into the sand.
Even though they had been rendered light as cotton candy, the force and velocity would have been enough to shatter their entire bodies if the ground below had been solid. Fortunately, it was only sand, so they escaped with having the wind knocked out of them.
"Don't even think about follow-up attacks—!"
"—!"
The Crimson Scorpion aimed for the buried Subaru and Beatrice. But a rainbow of light intercepted its path, and a clash of scorching heat and aurora swordplay erupted.
Each time the light scattered, the Sand Sea was split, and shockwaves generated sandstorms beneath the clear sky.
Destruction was evenly matched, speed went to Julius, and endurance to the Crimson Scorpion—without a decisive blow, they risked being overwhelmed on points.
"Puh, puh! Damn it, I gotta do something!"
"Puh, puh! We have to find a winning strategy!"
Subaru and Beatrice emerged from the sand in unison, spitting it out with the same gesture. Eyes watering, they racked their brains trying to find a way to reach Shaula through Julius's rainbow and their own voices.
Three desperate hopes— Julius achieves an even greater awakening and kicks the Crimson Scorpion into submission—annoying, but a victory.
Subaru and Beatrice perfect a new technique that completely shuts down the scorpion, securing a team win.
Emilia suddenly descends from the sky, and the world is brought to peace through sheer cuteness. Love and peace.
"I'd like to put my hopes in the first option, closer to the third…"
He hadn't believed in his own awakening, as he had said before, and he certainly wasn't counting on the convenient timing of Emilia appearing here.
That left Julius's latent power surging upward as the most promising bet—but— "That one, too, he's already pulled off once, so expecting it to happen twice in a row is asking too much…"
At speeds Subaru's eyes couldn't track, the swordplay between Julius and the Crimson Scorpion continued.
Watching the cataclysmic spectacle from afar, where getting too close risked being burned by the crossfire, Subaru searched for his next move.
In the end, he had to fight with every card in his hand.
Then at the very least, he wouldn't overlook a single one. He would see
"Think, think, think…"
Spinning his brain at full throttle, reaching for something real—not wishful thinking, not a pipe dream.
And when he searched for every card he could play, Subaru realized.
There was still one last card he hadn't used.
"—Beako!"
"Have you thought of something?"
As if she had been waiting for it, Beatrice responded to Subaru's call.
Grateful to have a partner who understood him, Subaru grabbed her small hand again and nodded firmly.
And then— "—I'm putting every bit of this journey's power to use right here!"
△▼△▼△▼△ Crumbling, crumbling, spilling away.
Crumbling, crumbling, peeling off.
Crumbling, crumbling, fading in color.
Crumbling, crumbling, crumbling—everything growing distant, glistening.
Instinctively, both arms swept aside the rainbow light that flashed violently before its eyes.
Both hands gleamed a blazing red, their pincers concealing firepower sufficient to incinerate anything and everything—rock or steel alike, they would slice through like butter, guaranteed.
"Well, I'm not entirely sure what butter even is, though."
Chasing down the glimmering target with half-baked knowledge.
But this was the vast expanse of the Sand Sea—wide open, no obstacles, and so it couldn't quite close the final distance. A place with no escape routes, or a long-range battlefield—that was its domain— "A sniper's always alone, y'know."
This, too, was something she had heard: a sniper—a marksman—was someone who held perfectly still and waited until the prey was taken down.
So it waited. With the pride of a sniper, it too held its ground, watching.
Day after day, gazing into the distance, watching for anyone who would come to the tower, and waiting.
There had been rules. Rules that bound it, bound her, to this tower.
She had sometimes found those rules irksome, but without them, she—who was so forgetful—would have forgotten everything in no time.
Walking together, talking, the days they spent, the feelings they exchanged—all of it.
"Ah… that really sucks."
Everything had left her behind.
If told to wait, she would wait forever. But if she was the one doing the waiting, she wanted them to come back. As long as they came back, she could wait forever.
So— "I was so happy when Master came back."
Because everyone, everyone had disappeared.
Whether those words—"I'll come back"—could be trusted, she had stopped knowing.
Whether she had waited because she believed, or simply out of inertia, she couldn't even answer that anymore. She hadn't even thought about it.
There was no need to think about it. Because before she could crumble away, the promise had been kept.
"I'm so happy, Master."
So please, don't go. Stay here with me forever.
The sniper was no longer lonely, which meant she had graduated from being one. She believed that someone who had graduated from being a sniper deserved some kind of reward.
"Please don't leave me behind again. …I want to be loved, too."
Everything had left her behind.
This time, wherever you go, whenever it may be, I want to follow.
So— "Please love me. —Master."
△▼△▼△▼△ Shivering, the glow of the Crimson Scorpion's carapace grew ever more vivid.
It was thought to be a more pronounced response of the "aggression color," but to Subaru, it looked different.
That vivid red looked like the result of Shaula crying and screaming.
For four hundred years, Shaula had locked away her emotions, obeyed her orders, and secluded herself in this tower. Now, her being was erupting with overflowing emotions, shining with brilliance.
Red was passion. Red was fervor. Red was the color of uncontrollable "love."
The Crimson Scorpion shone red because she loved someone, and because she wished to be loved.
"—Because Scorpio women are famously devoted, after all!!"
With a powerful shout and a kick of sand, Subaru put his full shoulder into it and cracked his whip.
"—!?"
The target: the unfaithful Crimson Scorpion, which had its back to Subaru and was trading blows with Julius.
Sorry to bother you while you're busy, but the master you're obsessed with is right here, Subaru declared with his whip. When he was being tugged around, he had found it irritating and brushed her off— "But when another guy starts winning her over, that's when a man starts to feel conflicted—!!"
"Even by your standards, that's the worst thing you've ever said!"
Buoyed by Beatrice's sharp rebuke from atop his shoulders, Subaru's whip flew true—coiling cleanly around the base of the Crimson Scorpion's tail.
But that was the same situation as before, when he had been swung around and buried in the sand.
The Crimson Scorpion, perhaps mindful of how easily that last tug-of-war had gone, focused its attention on Julius and relegated Subaru and the others to an afterthought.
Subaru and the others were weak. —He would exploit that recognition.
"El Vitha—!!"
"Groooh!!"
Beatrice chanted the spell, and as its effect took hold of Subaru's entire body, an enormous weight drove his feet into the sand.
The opposite of Murak, which reduced gravity's effect—Vitha amplified it, upgrading Subaru from middleweight to yokozuna-class, enough to contest the Crimson Scorpion's tail.
But of course, even that wasn't enough. Even heavier, he was only a hundred-something kilograms. It was nowhere near the monstrous strength of Shaula, who could casually haul a dragon carriage.
So— "—Now's the moment! Let's go!!"
Straining his arms, Subaru—who had planted his feet in the sand—shouted.
The next instant, Subaru's body, which was on the verge of being ripped away by the Crimson Scorpion's tail, held its ground.
The reason was clear: the pulling forces had reached equilibrium. Between the Crimson Scorpion and Subaru—no, between the scorpion and Subaru's group.
"—!?!"
Standing before the anchored Subaru, gripping the taut whip, was the Götterdämmerung—no, the Star Whale—no, the Hungry Stallion King—no, actually, let me look at the kanji more carefully.
Let me re-read: 餓馬王 = the Hungry Horse King (Gabaō).
Standing before the anchored Subaru, gripping the taut whip, was the Hungry Horse King, that monstrous aberrant bulk having muscled into the tug-of-war.
And it wasn't only the Hungry Horse King joining this unprecedented tug-of-war.
A bear covered in flowers, a mole with wings, a sinister-looking serpent—all joined the fray.
The very magical beasts that should have been their enemies were lending strength to Subaru's fight.
The only one who could have made that happen— "…You really do work people to the bone, you know."
A sullen, languid voice wrapped in displeasure.
The one who spoke was a girl standing on the sand, her face drained of color, breathing hard—Meili.
She tightened her lovely profile, drew a long, deep breath— And then she clapped her hands sharply and said: "Come on, everyone. You don't want to just stand around watching, do you?"
The Sand Sea trembled a beat after Meili clapped.
It was the thumping footsteps of the magical beasts still pouring forward, their cries, the stampede being repurposed for a proper all-out battle against this place called the demonic Augria Sand Dunes—the true power of the one who ruled them.
"—!?"
Though she wore a pained expression, the background to Meili's recovery to the point where she could rejoin the final battle lay in a certain mechanism.
Naturally, the damage Meili had taken was borne and distributed by Subaru through Cor Leonis. —By Subaru's final card.
It wasn't Emilia, Beatrice, or Ram. Not Julius, not Echidna, not Patrasche, not Meili, and certainly not the sleeping Rem.
This was the final collaborator in the conquest of the Augria Sand Dunes— "—Sorry for dragging you into this, Gian! Help me out!!"
Far below, in the Watchtower's underground sixth floor, the earth dragon Gian—who had been left behind—triggered Cor Leonis's link with Subaru, and Subaru forcibly distributed the burden to the dragon.
It was an agonizing decision, but what hurt even more was the fact that Gian met the conditions for receiving the burden distribution via Cor Leonis.
In other words, like Beatrice and the other comrades, Gian also wanted to support Subaru. That was what it meant.
Riding on Gian's grand, almost cinematic devotion, Subaru had the earth dragon shoulder most of Meili's burden, with himself as the conduit. That was the mechanism behind Meili being able to stand.
And it was also the reason the Crimson Scorpion had unexpectedly lost the contest of strength.
Which meant— "—And that, Shaula, is your defeat."
Having won a true all-out battle by borrowing the combined strength of magical beasts and an earth dragon, Subaru's words caused the Crimson Scorpion's feet to lift from the ground.
The "Finest Knight" did not miss that instant.
A rainbow slash was unleashed, severing the Crimson Scorpion's tail at the root—the very tail that had been deadlocked in the contest of strength.
"—!?"
The severed tail exploded, spreading the same destruction as self-mutilation in all directions, but the rainbow light would not let it through. Blocked, and with its trump card sealed, the Crimson Scorpion swung its great pincers ferociously at Julius's back.
But an attack born of losing a contest of strength, losing a tail, and laced with agitation and desperation—was not going to work on a knight who had overcome the First Sword Saint and shattered the wall.
"Sh—!"
An arcing slash sliced clean through the left great pincers at their weakest joint. The severed arm went flying, and even as Julius swayed from the momentum, the remaining right pincers closed in to clamp his torso.
And then the pincers were about to snap shut, to bisect his long body at the waist— "—Al Clauver."
Just before they closed, the aurora covering Julius's entire body unraveled and expanded all at once.
In the instant the rainbow armor was shed, the explosively expanding aurora detonated the closing pincers from within, blowing them apart at the base.
"—!?!?"
Caught in the resulting shockwave, the Crimson Scorpion's massive body went airborne. It crashed spectacularly onto the sand, having lost its tail and both arms, battered and broken.
And then, as if surrounding the toppled scorpion, magical beasts pinned it down.
Eight legs held fast, the Crimson Scorpion was immobilized.
Yet even so, as if refusing the approaching end, it twisted its body and moved its fanged head.
With the Crimson Scorpion's adaptability, it would not have been strange for it to derive a new technique from this predicament and break through— "—That's enough, Shaula."
The Crimson Scorpion's compound eyes—twisting as they were—all reflected the figure of Subaru standing before it.
Weaponless, legs pinned, driven to a pitiful state. It would have been easy to deliver the killing blow, but that wasn't what Subaru wanted.
He had backed it into this corner, yet he still didn't know what the right answer was— "Meili."
"…What would you guys have done if I hadn't been here?"
Called by name, Meili let out a sigh and turned toward the Crimson Scorpion.
She stepped up beside Subaru, exhaled, and snapped her fingers. Focusing the compound eyes' consciousness on herself— "Who are you? A scary red scorpion? Or…"
"—!?"
"Or… who, really?"
At the question, the movement of the Crimson Scorpion's compound eyes grew sluggish.
The wavering gaze settled, slowly fixing on Meili, then shifted to Subaru.
Those aggressive red eyes—slowly, they changed color.
"Shaula."
Along with the glow of her carapace, it faded.
The eyes turned green. The carapace turned black. Gradually, it calmed, and at last— "—Shaula!"
At last— △▼△▼△▼△ Crumbling, crumbling, spilling away.
Crumbling, crumbling, peeling off.
Crumbling, crumbling, fading in color.
Crumbling, crumbling, crumbling—everything growing distant, glistening.
Crumbling, crumbling—everything growing distant, glistening.
Everything spilling, peeling, fading, growing far, far away, glistening.
Left behind, memories receding—but they were shining, still.
Because those days had been everything precious, and so she had desperately tried to scoop them back up.
"—!?"
"Do you remember, Master? You told me you'd definitely come back, and then you left without looking back."
Tilting her head, Shaula—sitting with her knees drawn to her chest—asked him that.
Her demeanor, like someone reminiscing about old fond memories, made Subaru shake his head.
"I don't remember. And I keep telling you, I never knew about any of it in the first place! Stop making me repeat myself!"
"Well, can't be helped, Master. You're forgetful because you lent that trait to me. Master and I are two of a kind."
"That's creepy! …I mean, I'll admit our speech patterns are similar."
But even that was because she had so thoroughly adopted the language of his world—it was one of those things that kept making him feel an inexplicable sense of kinship.
Subaru didn't have her charm, or her cuteness, or her endearing grit.
He could never dedicate himself to someone for four hundred years, the way she had for someone who left her behind.
"I'm impatient by nature. I'm hasty, and I want results right away. If I could at least stay by someone's side forever, maybe I could convince myself to be patient, but…"
"Oh no, that's no good, Master. Listen—there's a great saying: love is patience!"
"That's 'fashion is patience,' isn't it!? That sounds like the slogan of some devoted woman throwing her life savings at a man!"
"Everything is in service of the feelings surging deep within this heart. You can call me a fool, call me pitiful—I don't mind. That smile of yours is beautiful, too… ssu."
"I'm not smiling. Look—my eyes are starting to tear up."
"Really? Let me see~ssu."
Pointing at his own face, Subaru spoke, and Shaula leaned in close.
She stood up with sudden force, her face coming so near he could feel her breath, and he saw her finely structured features up close once more.
Large, upswept eyes full of spirit, a straight nose, long lashes, and skin so fine-textured it was hard to believe she had spent ages in the Sand Sea. Her expression shifted so rapidly that it was hard to read, but more than cuteness, it was beauty that defined her.
A being who had been given the name of a star and condemned to this place, awaiting the return of someone dear forever.
"Huh? Master, are your eyes tearing up? …Are you actually crying?"
"…Your Master is a piece of shit. I'd love to beat the hell out of him with these two hands."
"That's something I have to watch with really, really complicated feelings! Master beating up Master—what even is that situation!? …Geez."
Trembling with emotion, Subaru squeezed his eyes shut.
Hot—a surging heat pushed out from behind his lids and ran down his cheeks.
Seeing the transparent droplets, Shaula murmured "geez" one more time, softly— "—!?"
Without warning, a damp touch brushed Subaru's cheek.
When he opened his eyes, Shaula's face was slowly pulling away. She smiled mischievously, pressed a finger to her own lips, and let the tip of her red tongue peek out.
"…Master's bodily fluids taste salty and sweet."
"The way you say things…"
"The way I say things doesn't change anything. My feelings are exactly as I express them with my whole body and soul. —Master, I love you."
I love you—again and again, she said those words.
To call them light words—had anyone known what lay behind them, they would never have said so.
The reason Shaula said "I love you" so freely was because her love overflowed.
The words she had always, always wanted to say, welling up from within her.
Her feelings—the wish to love and be loved that she had held onto for four hundred years— "I love you, Master."
"…I'm not going to tell you I love you back."
"I know. Master is mean, and shy, and a total shut-in. But I love that about you too. Head over heels. Only you."
"—!?"
Time had left her behind, and the role she was bound to had shackled her like chains.
And when she had come close to hurting the one she held dear, she had wept and begged for "death."
Rather than hurt them, she would rather be lost forever—that was what she had sobbed. What had he told her then?
He had said he wouldn't let her just cry. He had promised.
"I'm… not going to tell you… that I love you…"
"…That's fine. If Master won't say it, I'll keep saying it for both of us. And someday, I know that surely the words will bounce back."
"Someday, huh… That's a long-term bet. You willing to wait another four hundred years?"
"Is that so? Four hundred years passed in no time at all."
There had been a time—another world—where she had tearfully screamed that the wait was agonizing, that time had abandoned her, that love had been used as a hostage to bind her, that she had been lonely for so long.
The Shaula standing here now had no way of knowing about that. Which meant that beneath the carefree attitude she wore, the storm of emotion raging within her must have been immense.
He had sworn he wouldn't make her cry. He still had no intention of breaking that vow.
Which was why—what he had wanted was for her to cry. He had wanted her to cry and cry, to wail that it wasn't enough.
Cry, scream, sob, collapse—had she done that, Natsuki Subaru would have run his heart out to stop those tears.
And yet— "Four hundred years? It was like tomorrow was just the day after that."
Without a trace of the Crimson Scorpion's form, she simply smiled as a beautiful girl.
So beautiful that he couldn't help but stare, so fragile that she might crumble at a light touch, Shaula's pale cheeks flushed faintly pink as she continued with the face of a lovestruck girl: "Because—"
The lovestruck girl continued: "Because— "—I loved the time I spent waiting, too."
"—!?"
"Hey, Master. So again, someday—"
△▼△▼△▼△ Crumbling, crumbling, spilling away.
Crumbling, crumbling, peeling off.
Crumbling, crumbling, fading in color.
Crumbling, crumbling, crumbling—everything growing distant, glistening.
Crumbling, crumbling—everything growing distant, glistening.
"…Shaula."
Crumbling, pieces of carapace flaking off turned to dust upon the sand.
It wasn't limited to one part—it spread to every portion that peeled away.
The severed tail, the severed pincers, the multiple legs that the magical beasts had pinned down, and even the head being embraced by Natsuki Subaru—everything— "…Has she fulfilled her role?"
Nestled within the embrace, growing gradually more insubstantial, Beatrice whispered in a small voice as Subaru tried to gather her close.
The lovely-faced spirit gazed with sadness at the magical beast crumbling away—no, at a kindred spirit who, like herself, had faithfully served the role prescribed by fate.
Beatrice's words—his mind rejected her understanding.
But instinct knew. —This was not "death."
This was the inescapable conclusion that would come when the day arrived—the day for which she, as the Star Scholar of the Pleiades Watchtower, had been entrusted with this duty.
"Then… if we hadn't come here…"
Would she have stayed here forever? If they had never arrived, would she have continued waiting in this sand tower for someone who would never return, right here in this place— "—Subaru, you know full well that assumption is an insult to her."
"—!?"
"And what you should be doing is not regret."
The knight, having already sheathed his sword and tidied his blood-and-sand-stained attire, said as much.
Cold, yet utterly right in every way.
Gritting his teeth, Subaru hid his resentment toward that rightness and exhaled.
Then he held her—her who had been alone for so long—just a little tighter.
For her, who had been left behind and spent an eternity alone with no one around.
Slowly, as she ceased to exist and was sent off, at her side— Subaru. Beatrice. Julius. Meili.
In the distance, the faint presence of someone running from the Watchtower. Her companions from the tower.
Everyone had gathered—for her sake, who had spent so long alone.
*'But you know, I'd be fine as long as Master was here alone.'* He could see that image—the face of someone saying something so devoid of cuteness—and it turned to tears on the spot.
Slowly, a sharp magical beast's tooth traced the droplet that had rolled down Subaru's cheek.
Those sharp, everything-destroying fangs—gentler, gentler than anyone present, treating Subaru, who was perhaps more fragile than any of them, with a tenderness that refused to break him.
And then— "…Ah."
The arms holding her went suddenly light.
Crumbling, the Crimson Scorpion's outer shell unraveled and turned to dust. Black dust rose into the air above the sand, and Subaru's mouth opened wide.
"Shaula…"
*'Yes, Master?'* "Shaula… Shaula… Shaula…"
*'You called, Master?'* "Shaula… Shaula…"
*'Sheesh, the amount of love Master gives me is just too much to handle, ssu~!'* If he closed his eyes, the memory of her voice answering his calls echoed in his ears.
And yet—she was no longer anywhere to be found.
"…Ah."
Crouching in the sand, Subaru clawed at the dunes.
Against his eardrums—someone's voice reached him. He didn't know whose it was. He had no composure to verify—simply, as if pulled by a thread, he raised his face and opened his eyes wide.
The sandy earth, blanketed in black dust, trembled slightly—and something crawled out.
A tiny thing, no bigger than a palm. With two pairs of pincers it scraped the sand, and with its tail it dexterously pulled itself free—a small creature with a red carapace— "—!?"
It crawled toward Subaru, who was kneeling on the ground, and nestled gently against his sand-covered hand.
That simple, touching gesture—it seemed to carry the echo of that cheerful, mischievous face— △▼△▼△▼△ Crumbling, crumbling, spilling away.
Crumbling, crumbling, peeling off.
Crumbling, crumbling, fading in color.
Crumbling, crumbling, crumbling—everything growing distant, glistening.
Crumbling, crumbling—everything growing distant, glistening.
—Everything that glistened, glistened because you were there.
*'Four hundred years? It was like tomorrow was just the day after that, ssu.'* *'Because I loved the time I spent waiting, too.'* *'Hey, Master. So again, someday—'* *'Someday, I hope you meet me again.'* *'Next time, it's your turn to wait for me, ssu? I'd rather be the one pursued than the one chasing.'* *'—Master, this is an important, important promise.'* *'Please don't forget this time, ssu.'* *'—Master, I love you, ssu.'* △▼△▼△▼△ "You're an idiot."
With a trembling voice, Subaru whispered—because there was no way he could ever forget.
Then he picked up the tiny creature, feeling its ticklish touch against the back of his hand, and cradled it in both palms.
Accepting that ticklish, teasing sensation, the tiny, tiny scorpion trembled.
Its carapace was red—so vividly red, brilliantly red.
—That was the color of "love," one that not even four hundred years could fade.