——Swaying, staggering, trembling.
His consciousness wavered slowly, like a ship on the open sea, lurching left and right.
Even with his eyelids closed, his unfocused mind felt so heavy that his vision seemed to spin.
Something was missing. Everything was missing.
Blood, flesh, bone, peace, anger, joy — all the things that make up a person were absent.
It was as though he'd scattered them all somewhere, pieces spilling out and falling away.
I need to pick them up, he thought dimly.
Pick them back up, piece them together again, and then — stand up once more.
There was a place he had to go, a desire that yearned to go there.
There was a reason to keep living, a scream of a wish that refused to die.
And so, and so, and so.
Even though everything was missing, even though he remained broken and incomplete, he had to move forward.
And for that,
The moment his consciousness surfaced, Natsuki Subaru grimaced at the sticky sensation coating his face. From his face down to his chest, everything felt damp. The lukewarm, wet sensation was close to the cold sweat you'd wake up to after a bad dream.
His head felt heavy and foggy on top of it all — he might have been running a fever.
"...This isn't a ceiling I recognize."
As if by ritual habit, his muttered observation took in the crude wooden ceiling above him. Far from any proper architectural style, it was a roughly assembled shack, logs and planks thrown together with more boldness than skill. Subaru's mind balked at the craftsmanship — a powerfully built structure that compensated for its lack of finesse with sheer force.
He needed to remember how he'd ended up in a shack like this. Slowly, he reached into his memory, pulling at threads.
"If I remember right, I left a convenience store, blinked, and found myself in another world. Met
Monologuing to himself with no one to hear, Subaru felt his mind start to rev up as he cracked jokes.
Yes — the young Natsuki Subaru, summoned to another world, had met an impossibly beautiful silver-haired girl, gone on all manner of grand adventures, conquered the Tower of Sand, and been hurled to a neighboring country.
"Even hearing myself say it, none of it makes sense..."
Either way, the reality was that his situation remained absurdly beyond the pale.
And though he searched through his memory, he found no recollection of this particular ceiling.
"The closest I came to something like this was the '
Garfiel — now a dear follower who called him boss — had once tied him up and held him captive, and that memory remained firmly lodged in Subaru's mind even in a world where it had been erased. It wasn't that he bore a grudge, but being imprisoned was the kind of experience you didn't easily forget.
Yet even that wretched environment didn't match the memory of this ceiling.
Whatever else he might say, the modern-day Subaru could appreciate that he'd been living out his otherworldly life in places that maintained a relatively decent level of civilization.
He savored that small mercy — and then: "——!"
As he was sorting through the jumbled contents of his mind one piece at a time, a bolt of lightning struck him without warning.
Right. This wasn't the Kingdom of Lugnica. This was the Volachia Empire.
Thrown into this neighboring country with no one to rely on— "
The girl he absolutely had to protect had come to this country alongside him.
And worse, Subaru had been separated from her — Rem was still under the control of dangerous men— "Am I an idiot? No, I am an idiot...! Now's not the time for—"
"Why are you thrashing about in such a panic?"
"——Ah."
Subaru had shot upright and was about to rush off to find Rem when the hard voice thrown at him from the side made him catch his breath. He'd been lying on a makeshift bed, apparently — as rough as the ceiling above. Beside him, a pair of blue eyes stared back at him with a flat, unamused gaze.
It was a girl with blue hair cut short, her clear eyes narrowed sharply as she looked at him.
"R-Rem...?"
"...Answering 'yes' would be too agreeable. I still haven't acknowledged that I'm the person you call Rem."
Her stiff, carefully emotionless words made Subaru's eyes widen quietly.
But she was here, right in front of him, speaking — and the warmth, the soft scent, the feel of her hand proved she was no dream or hallucination. The warmth of a hand, specifically.
"...Hand?"
"————"
Subaru suddenly noticed that beneath the ragged blanket, his right hand was gripping the girl's — Rem's — hand. He stared in disbelief.
He had absolutely no memory of what had happened.
"Don't tell me you held my hand until I woke up?"
"Hah? Don't say disgusting things. You can see for yourself, can't you? You were the one gripping my hand and refusing to let go."
"R-Right. Of course. I was... holding your hand..."
Unable to distinguish his expectations from reality, Subaru had only made Rem's bad mood worse. It seemed that while he'd been unconscious, he'd been clutching Rem's hand tightly. The fact that she hadn't pried his fingers off was worth noting in itself.
"What's with that look?"
"Nothing, nothing at all. Seriously."
"I see. Then let go, please. Your hand sweat is making everything slimy."
"A devastating blow to any teenage boy...!"
Coming from a cute girl, those words could inflict a wound that never fully healed — depending on the person.
Fortunately, Subaru was tough enough to survive with just a near-death experience. As he sheepishly released her hand, Rem pulled her own hand to her chest and wiped it on her clothes, which only added insult to injury.
But never mind Subaru's inner turmoil—— "Rem, are you hurt anywhere? Any pain you're hiding? Tell me honestly."
"Hah?"
"Wh-Why that face... Did I say something wrong?"
Setting aside their earlier exchange, Subaru wanted to confirm that Rem was unharmed. But his concern was met with an ice-cold reaction.
Without thinking, Subaru panicked — had he misspoken again? But he couldn't think of what he'd said wrong. He'd simply been worried about her.
"...You were far worse off. You were on the verge of death. Do you not realize that?"
"Realize... well, I mean..."
"As I thought, you don't. —I still can't trust you."
The words of rejection, delivered eye to eye, made Subaru swallow hard.
Having lost his 'memories,' with the
Moreover, this time there had been no opportunity to bridge the gap between them.
Subaru had simply fought desperately to rescue Rem from the Empire's encampment—— "——Ah."
Another missing piece of memory slotted into place in Subaru's mind, and he felt the illusion of his brain trembling.
This shock was every bit as significant as Rem's existence.
He'd been captured by the Empire's encampment and had staked everything on rescuing Rem. In the end, he'd encountered a tribe in the forest — the 'Shudrak people' — and, together with a captive man who'd been held in the same cell, had undergone their tribe's ritual.
And then— "...My right hand isn't black."
He lifted his right arm, looking at the bare skin where the sleeve was torn away.
The ugly, black mark that had manifested on Subaru's right arm — the aftereffect of encountering the
That black mark had healed the battered wounds on his right arm.
It was a horrifying memory, but it seemed it had been neither dream nor nightmare. Well, it was a nightmare, but it had been real.
His ruined right arm had healed, and Rem was at his bedside.
In other words, Subaru had survived the 'Rite of Blood Destiny' and succeeded in rescuing Rem — though at the cost of many lives.
"————"
"...Your face is still pale. I think you should rest a little longer."
Rem spoke those words as she watched Subaru stare down at his unnaturally clean right arm in silence.
Even someone she couldn't bring herself to trust — if they looked that ill, she would still show concern. That was Rem's innate kindness. Or perhaps Subaru's expression was simply that deathly.
He wanted to lean into that kindness.
But he couldn't. There was far too much he needed to confirm.
"Thanks for worrying about me. But I have a lot of questions I need answered. ...I'd like to know — this place is someone from Shudrak's home, right?"
"They seem to call themselves that, yes."
"I see. ...Then I'd like to see Mizelda and the others. Also—"
It was a question he didn't want to ask, but one he had no choice but to confirm.
Rem was here — Rem, who'd been held in the Empire's encampment. If so, then another person who'd been held in that same place — Louis's whereabouts were troubling him.
Frankly, he was worried.
Not about Louis's safety, but about the damage that could result from leaving Louis unattended.
"I'll ask straight — where is she... where's Louis?"
"...That's an unpleasant expression you're making. Why are you keeping that girl at arm's length?"
"It's hard to explain, and even if I did, you probably wouldn't understand. There's a reason."
Any exchange involving Louis was guaranteed to earn Rem's displeasure.
Subaru knew this painfully well, but he also knew it wasn't something he could talk through.
"Just — where is she? Don't tell me she's still in the encampment..."
"...Look to your left."
"Huh?"
Subaru's eyes went round, and then he turned his round eyes to his left — to the opposite side of Rem, who was on his right.
When he looked, an expression of shock arrived far too late, freezing his face.
There, lying there, was—— "Shh, shh..."
"Wh—"
Louis, peacefully asleep with her innocent face on full display.
She lay on Subaru's left side, on the same makeshift bed, wrapped in the same ragged blanket. Drool trailed from her wide-open mouth, and only this shameless sight finally brought Subaru's understanding up to speed.
The sticky wetness on his chest and face when he'd first awakened — its true source was— "————!!"
A wordless scream tore from Subaru's throat.
△▼△▼△▼△ "Ohh, Subaru! It seems you've finally woken up safely, right?"
Having been led by Rem, Subaru appeared in the plaza, and there to greet him was Mizelda.
The young chieftain of the 'Shudrak people' — her black hair dyed red — walked toward Subaru as he emerged from the shack, looking him up and down to appraise his condition.
Her intrusive, brimming-with-energy attitude drew a wry smile from Subaru.
"Thanks to you, I somehow made it back alive. Sorry for worrying you too, Mizelda."
"Don't worry about it, right! If you'd died, we'd have returned a brave comrade's soul to the heavens and laid the body to rest in the earth. Since that didn't happen, your soul remaining is cause for celebration!"
"Mizelda..."
Mizelda crossed her powerful arms and puffed out her chest, her tall, brown-skinned frame radiating strength. Her unadorned words pierced Subaru's heart, and he felt a quiet swell of emotion. Truthfully, when he'd been captured by the Shudrak people and thrown into a cell, he'd braced himself for death once more.
But just as Subaru was feeling moved, Mizelda narrowed her eyes and said, "Now then——"
"It's a shame you already have someone. Won't you take on Rem and maybe one more?"
"Mizelda!"
Rem's voice rose sharply beside Subaru at Mizelda's somewhat teasing proposal. She leaned on her new wooden staff — her legs still wobbly — her expression stern. Louis clung to her arm, wide-eyed in surprise at Rem's outburst.
Rem stroked Louis's golden hair and called out "Mizelda" once more.
"You go too far. I have neither trust nor understanding toward this person."
"Then, how about I take him instead?"
"Oh, of course. Take him."
"My opinion hasn't been consulted at all!"
"Ah-oo!"
With a slightly petulant air, Rem agreed to Subaru's transfer.
When Subaru hurriedly tried to object, Louis simply shouted along with the mood.
Hearing this, Mizelda laughed and said, "Just kidding, just kidding," but her casual demeanor only made Subaru more bewildered.
His memory of events immediately after the 'Rite of Blood Destiny' remained hazy even to himself.
As for what followed, he couldn't tell where his actual memory ended and his convenient wishful thinking began. Mizelda's attitude, at least, didn't seem to have been a dream.
"So this is what it's like to have a good relationship from first meeting, huh? That's great, but..."
"Mm, your face is still pale. Feeling sick somewhere? Want me to cut out whatever's wrong?"
"Given the vibe I'm getting if I say 'please,' I think I'll politely decline."
It was probably not a joke — it was likely a genuine offer.
If Subaru had carelessly said "please," things might have taken an irreversible turn.
In any case—— "Last time, I didn't even have the luxury of looking around."
As he spoke, Subaru took in his surroundings — the settlement of the Shudrak people.
Deep in the heart of a vast forest, the settlement was a world where civilization appeared to have stopped developing. Subaru's waking shack was the prime example, but the whole place had the feel of a world frozen at an early stage of development.
It was a perfect match for the image of an isolated tribal community living in an untamed jungle.
With few men and a lifestyle built around hunting — an Amazonian tribe — there was no sign of civilization in the settlement. It was, quite simply, uncharted territory.
"With so few people, they can get by on daily hunts... but I——"
"————"
Subaru bit his lip, his brow furrowed in pain as he murmured.
Beside him, Rem watched his profile in silence, her expression troubled. In the depths of her blue eyes, what she was thinking — Subaru couldn't read it now.
What he couldn't read frightened him. Even Mizelda's laughter, he couldn't return it freely.
And so, to break through this situation—— "Mizelda, I need to talk. —I think I need to talk to him, too."
"...That's right. That works. He should be at the meeting hall with Taritta and the others right now."
Mizelda nodded at Subaru's words, gesturing with her chin.
What she indicated was a large building at the far end of the plaza — the meeting hall, as it was called. Probably fulfilling the role its name suggested, it was the most prominent structure in the settlement, if not necessarily the most refined.
"——Let's go."
Having fixed his destination, Subaru headed that way.
He held out a hand to help Rem, but she refused it. With Louis in tow, she walked under her own power, making her stance clear.
He smiled wryly at Rem's unchanged attitude and steeled his expression.
Then, Subaru and the others passed through the entrance of the meeting hall and stepped inside.
There—— "So you've finally awakened. Quite the leisurely rest you've had, Natsuki Subaru."
He was greeted by a man sitting on the ground of the meeting hall, his knees drawn up, a mask covering his face.
△▼△▼△▼△ At the center of the meeting hall, surrounded by the burning campfire among the Shudrak, sat one man who did not belong.
At this man's welcome, Subaru's cheek twitched, and he was struck speechless.
"————"
"What's wrong? Surely you haven't lost your voice as the price of barely surviving? That might have been a fair price to pay, given the result."
"No, I haven't lost my voice. I've lost my words. ...What's with that mask?"
Subaru pointed at the face of the insolent man before him. What covered his face was a mask painted red and white, resembling a 'demon's face.' Though, since 'Oni' existed as a race in this world, it wasn't literally a demon's mask.
Rather, it was a mask modeled after the visage of something fearsome.
At Subaru's remark, the man responded with a bored "Ah."
"A tribute gift. I was already planning to keep my face hidden going forward. Convenient, if anything. I was getting tired of wrapping it back up every time I washed."
"It'd probably get itchy if it got dirty, too... but that's not the point."
"Oh?"
Subaru scowled at the man's nonchalant attitude and strode up to him.
One of those sitting in the circle — Taritta — stepped in with a "Hey—"
But— "Taritta, stop. He has business with me."
"Y-Yes... but—"
"I said it's fine. Do you have anything else to add?"
Coming from the man himself, Taritta shook her head and withdrew.
In a short time, he'd apparently earned the Shudrak people's trust. No — that attitude wasn't trust. It was closer to domination.
What Taritta showed wasn't fear or trust — it was deference. And the same was true, to varying degrees, of the other Shudrak seated around them.
What methods could he have possibly used? Subaru couldn't even imagine.
"Anyway — I want to have a word with you. Alone. —Vincent Abellux."
"————"
Subaru stood before the seated man and looked down at him, speaking his name. How the man's expression changed behind the mask was impossible to see.
But the air in the meeting hall tightened imperceptibly, and there was an illusion of the temperature dropping.
The oppressive force almost made Subaru hold his breath, but he braced himself through willpower alone.
Then— "The first time, you were still groggy, so I'll allow it. Don't make me repeat myself. Know that there won't be a third. Be more careful about bandying my name about lightly."
"And if I refuse?"
"I'll impose an appropriate punishment. I know plenty of methods to make you cry out in pain."
The man rose to his feet, facing Subaru directly.
His bearing and the weight of his words left no room for doubt — there was no bluff. Even with limited means, this man would see his promised punishment through.
"You're a real pain in the ass, you know that...?"
"Then, shall I make you say it a third time?"
"...No, I'll pass on that. I didn't come here to fight. —Abell."
Stubbornness wouldn't serve him, and Subaru yielded first.
The masked man — Subaru decided, for now, to follow the warning and call him Abell. At this concession, Abell inclined his chin.
"Because if you hadn't backed down, there would have been blood."
"Yeah, keep talking. Hate to say it, but I think if you and I went at it, it'd be a pretty close match."
"Then you'd better watch your back."
"My back...?"
Taking it as a provocation, Subaru scowled — but when he turned to look, Abell's words made him shudder.
There stood Rem, watching the exchange between the two men with narrowed eyes.
"Uh, um, Rem? That look..."
"Oh? It's just — you nearly died and were unconscious for three days, and yet you're wasting energy on pointless stubbornness instead of taking care of yourself. Why don't you just drop dead already?"
"I'm sorry! My bad! I won't do it again!"
Subaru crumbled under Rem's withering gaze, apologizing frantically.
Though he couldn't crack through Rem's blank expression, it suddenly dawned on Subaru.
It was belated, but — the reason he'd survived being on the verge of death was most likely healing magic. Unless it had been some miraculous medicine.
And if so, the one who'd done that— "We'll need to discuss that as well."
"Abell..."
Reading the realization on Subaru's face, Abell gave a slight shrug and turned to Mizelda.
"Mizelda, have everyone withdraw. Just me and this man."
"My my, how bossy. If you weren't a looker, I'd be furious."
"Sister, please be angry at lookers too..."
At Abell's instruction, Mizelda complied without resistance, and Taritta slumped her shoulders at her sister's behavior.
Then again, Taritta had little room to argue, given the preceding events.
Once chieftain Mizelda had been persuaded, the other Shudrak had no reason to stay.
One by one, everyone filed out of the meeting hall. The question was whether Rem — and Louis by extension — would be swept out with the tide— "Having that woman here will be inconvenient for the conversation I need to have with you."
"Guh..."
Abell seemed to see right through Subaru's hesitation, and Subaru faltered.
But in the end, the man was right. He didn't want Rem to hear what came next.
"Rem, could you step outside with everyone else? I won't... I don't know exactly how long, but I won't take too long."
"From the way you say that, it sounds like I'm the one being unreasonable."
"That's not what I meant, but... will you?"
"...And if I say no? What then?"
"What!?"
Subaru, already at his limit dealing with Abell, was blindsided by Rem's words.
He understood immediately that she was mocking his earlier exchange with Abell, but once Rem dug in her heels, Subaru had no defense.
If he could, he wanted to grant whatever Rem desired or wished for.
But— "...This is... something I'd rather you didn't hear."
"I could force my way in and stay."
"Then... then I'm sorry, but I'd run away."
At Rem's current pace with her staff, if Subaru ran, she couldn't keep up.
That was the one clear advantage he had over Rem right now. That he couldn't think of any other way was, frankly, pathetic.
"Hnnn..."
As Subaru agonized, Louis tugged at Rem's arm with a groan. She seemed to be trying to pull Rem outside.
Seeing this, Rem gave a small smile and said: "I'm sorry for worrying you. I just wanted to needle that stinky person a little, that's all."
"Auu—"
"Stinky person..."
That single word cut deeper than any barb, but now wasn't the time.
True to her word, Rem said "Then, if you'll excuse me" and casually withdrew, leaning on her staff as she left the meeting hall with Louis.
Watching her retreating back without a single glance, Subaru scratched his cheek.
He couldn't tell whether Rem was genuinely indifferent to him or whether she'd said that out of consideration.
Of course, he'd prefer the latter.
"I'm stuck with the worst possible impression, aren't I? Aim low — that's my lifestyle..."
"That's nothing but foolish endurance and arrogance. —Sit. I'll hear what you have to say."
And so, in the meeting hall now emptied of everyone but the two of them, Subaru sat down heavily on the ground at Abell's word, crossing his legs.
Across from him, Abell sat the same way on the ground, knees raised, looking at him through the mask.
With the campfire burning between them, the two faced each other across the flames.
"First, I want to know — where does the dream end and reality begin?"
"Indeed. That's a question no one but you could answer. What do you want me to say? Would you be satisfied if I told you it was all a fleeting dream and everything proceeded peacefully?"
"There was a child called Utakata, so I'm getting the 'fleeting' part confused..."
Among the Shudrak people, there was a young girl — she must have been Utakata.
The words themselves were confusable, but that wasn't the point of Abell's statement. No — Subaru knew what the point was, and his joke had been a way to dodge it.
And Abell wasn't about to let that slide.
"I won't humor your cowardice, Natsuki Subaru."
"...Yeah, I know. —Tell me, was the attack on the Empire's encampment real?"
"Of course it was. The Imperial forces deployed outside Baddheim were annihilated by the Shudrak's strength. What you saw was no hallucination."
—Hearing Abell confirm once more that it had all been real.
A heavy weight sank deep into Subaru's chest. He bit down hard on his lip, using the pain to pull himself back from the brink of fading consciousness.
That kind of convenient escape was not something Natsuki Subaru was allowed.
"...I understand. You led the Shudrak people and attacked the Empire's encampment. Drove them out. That's what happened."
"Yes. But that's insufficient. Let me add the details myself."
"Add details?"
"I commanded, and the Shudrak destroyed the encampment. Moreover, we sustained zero casualties."
"...So this is your way of bragging about your commanding ability?"
"No, that's not it. —This is your credit."
Abell shook his head, and Subaru stared at him blankly.
That was entirely unexpected — not just that Abell was acknowledging Subaru's contribution, but that Subaru couldn't fathom what he'd done to deserve praise.
What on earth was he talking about—— "Don't you understand? The reason the Shudrak and I could win without a scratch was because we knew the enemy's disposition in detail. And it was from your own mouth that we obtained that information."
"...Huh?"
Abell, his elbow resting on his raised knee and his cheek propped in his hand, delivered words that brought Subaru's mind to a halt.
They were not merely unexpected — they struck from completely outside the field of vision, a full-force blow. Unable to process the meaning, Subaru opened and closed his mouth several times— "Knowing their disposition and deployment, the general scale of their forces — it increases the accuracy of any strategy to retake the position. In fact, we won without casualties. That was your contribution. I even collected your reward."
"Bwha—"
"Your woman was rescued safely. I repay service. I have no means of repaying the dead. I intended to do it while you were still alive... hmm, you're a lucky man."
Being told he was lucky — Subaru could only stare in disbelief.
Perhaps, to Abell, that was a form of praise or compliment. But unfortunately, Subaru had no vessel to receive such words, nor did such a culture have any roots in him.
Of course. Why should he be pleased that he'd served as a tool of war?
"Why would I know anything about the encampment..."
"It was a side effect of the medicine. After completing the 'Rite of Blood Destiny,' you were in critical condition. To capture the encampment and rescue the woman, I needed to keep you alive. The medicine I gave you fixed your mind in a state of haze. And so—"
"I answered everything I was asked... in detail...?"
Horrified, Subaru pressed both hands to his face, his voice trembling.
He'd had a rough knowledge of the encampment — he'd spent several days there once as a captive. He'd known what was where, roughly how many people were stationed, where the weapons and tools were kept. It stood to reason that a preemptive strike could cripple them.
But knowing didn't mean he'd wanted to— "That medicine is no joke! How dare you use it on me without asking! You—"
"But without it, you would have died without ever reuniting with the woman. Which means her healing magic would never have reached you. You have no grounds to curse a man who kept you alive."
"Of course I do! I didn't want to be complicit in war! So many people died... and you—"
"You seem to be under a misunderstanding."
Subaru, panting with rage and brimming with moral indignation, was pierced by Abell's cold voice.
"Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding?"
"Hypothetically — say your mind hadn't been muddled by the medicine. You still would have needed the Shudrak's strength to rescue that woman. Naturally, you would have spilled everything you knew to achieve the best outcome. ...In that case, you would have told us about the encampment's disposition as well."
"Well—"
"Understand? The outcome would have been the same. Whether you were in critical condition or not, the encampment's secrets would have been exposed through your knowledge, and they would have been destroyed."
At Abell's reasoning, Subaru searched for a rebuttal.
But the man was right. Subaru could see how things would have unfolded naturally.
In truth, even if he'd survived the 'Rite of Blood Destiny' in better shape, once it came to devising a plan to rescue Rem, he would have told them about the Empire's encampment. He would have conveyed the layout and the personnel as material for planning Rem's rescue.
"But in that case, I would have been part of the strategy meeting! I would have absolutely opposed any plan that would cause deaths! So..."
"You believe you could have persuaded them? With no option but to kill, unable to persuade those you didn't know, you would have found a better way — rescued the woman peacefully, without a single death?"
"That's—"
"I'll tell you. —That is what they call a pipe dream."
Abell's words pierced him, and Subaru's soul bled and screamed.
He wanted to shout no, to deny what Abell said. But all that came were groundless emotional arguments, and those wouldn't crack the mask or move the man's expression.
They were looking at different things. They lived differently.
A chasm of irreconcilable values separated Subaru, Abell, and the Shudrak people. And that wall could not be breached.
Not in the brief window before Rem was lost — absolutely not.
Even Subaru himself had come to believe it.
"...But I didn't want to give up."
"And in place of your giving up, someone else dies. That someone may be a stranger with no connection to you, or it may be someone who is your other half. To stand still and wallow in deliberation is to permit that."
Grinding his teeth, cursing the unforgivable reality, Subaru was met with still more from Abell.
Perhaps that ferocity had drawn results. But what gave him the right to choose which lives were sacrificed?
"Who do you think you are? Have you decided you're God or something...?"
"Fool. I'm no god or hero. And certainly not some malevolent observer looking down on this world. —I am a king. A king among kings."
"————"
"The common folk call the one at the top an emperor. —And that is me."
Standing tall, hand pressed to his own chest, Abell made the declaration.
Behind the mask, the hidden expression was invisible. But Subaru could see it clearly — the one time he'd glimpsed Abell's bare face, wearing a bold, defiant grin, eyes blazing with fire.
An emperor. Hearing the word, Subaru forgot even to breathe.
With overwhelming majesty, the man had proved his existence through sheer force of words.
And to the stunned Subaru, Abell — Vincent Abellux — continued, his voice carrying the same authority: "I am the Holy Volachia Empire's seventy-seventh emperor."
"————"
"Though now, I have been toppled from the summit and cast into the wilderness."