Subaru raised the middle finger of his right hand and slammed his fist down in declaration of war.
After being hit and falling, Betelgeuse had a stunned expression on his face, and was unable to wipe the blood from the cut corner of his mouth. His lips trembled.
"What on earth… do you know what you're doing?! I am a Sin Archbishop, a Sin Archbishop who is blessed by the Witch's grace! And how dare you, who is also favored by me, attack me…!"
"Unforgivable? Sorry, but I'm tired of hearing about that. I have no intention of discussing the things I believe in with you anymore. Witches are shit, Petelgeuse."
Subaru dismissed the madman, whose face was stiff with fear, and lightly waved his hand to provoke him. Perhaps the gesture reminded him of his rage, as Betelgeuse slammed the ground and rose to his feet, his bloodshot eyes wide as if they were going to pop out of his head.
"All right! I get it! If you have forgotten the Witch's favor, her grace, if you declare that you had no ignorance, then I will make you pay for that disrespect with the love given to me! I don't understand, ...
"---Is the world going mad, or am I going mad? When you're forced into an unreasonable situation and nothing goes the way you want it to, you tend to think like that when you reach a dead end..."
As Subaru ignored Petelgeuse's rambling nonsense, he recalled the disaster that had befallen him and the confusion he had felt at the center of it all.
All those times I would convince myself that I was right and loudly insist that everyone else was wrong, throwing tantrums and yelling like a child.
How different was that from the behavior of the madman before him now?
"Well, I always think it's a difficult question to answer, but I can say this much."
"――――"
"You're the one who's crazy. I'm right. -- This should end here, Petelgeuse!"
Petelgeuse's eyes trembled with dark joy at what Subaru said.
It was a dim joy born of being intoxicated with his own diligence, punishing the fools who treated his faith with disrespect. At the same time, Betelgeuse's shadow exploded, and countless demonic hands rose up from beneath his feet, aiming for Subaru. To rip off his limbs, twist his neck, and cover him in blood.
However,
"why--!?"
"Demon-san, come in the direction of the clapping of hands――but I'm not in a good mood!"
Twisting his body and leaping left and right, he narrowly avoided the approaching palms. The number of arms approaching him stopped at seven, not because he was underestimating Subaru, but because he still hadn't figured out how many "arms" had returned to his own hands.
Either way, if the numbers were manageable, the speed was slow, and it wasn't a surprise attack, it wasn't that difficult to avoid the first blow.
Of course, if they were going to continue along the same lines as before, there was no need to take such a dangerous approach. All they had to do was induce Betelgeuse's frenzy from a distance and leisurely dodge the barrage of invisible hands.
But this time, Subaru did not choose that. Even though he knew it was dangerous, he chose to face the invisible hand close to Betelgeuse. In order to snatch victory, he grazed the invisible hand that would take him to his bones with just a touch.
"That's impossible, it must not happen... Why?! My favour has been bestowed upon you?! Lazy authority, can you see the invisible hand?!"
"Ask the witch who seems to be spreading her scent all over my body. Oh, unlike me, you don't have a permit that allows you to meet with witches freely, do you?"
"What does that mean...?! You've become like a witch! As if you've ever spoken to Satella...!"
"My heart is in your hands. Literally."
Betelgeuse's face was red with rage, and to soothe his unbearable passion, he bit down on the tip of his finger. The sounds of nails, bone, and flesh being crushed echoed throughout, along with the dull thud of teeth breaking off at the base.
At the same time, as if responding to his emotions, the number of shadows that erupted began to increase, and Subaru's forehead began to sweat as he realized how difficult it was to avoid them. However, this also made one truth clear to Betelgeuse,
"The 'Invisible Hand' has returned?! Why?! My fingertips… what happened to my fingertips?!"
Even though his own hand count has increased, Petelgeuse is shaken, as if confronted with a difficult truth to accept. That's only natural. Petelgeuse's invisible hand is increasing the number of moves――
"As expected, the subordinates in each place - the 'invisible hand' that was being used to control the fingertips or something - have returned to their main body now that they have lost their target."
Subaru had confirmed that when he had defeated Betelgeuse and possessed another body, the number of "invisible hands" his madman was able to use tended to increase.
And the fact was that the numbers tended to increase the more they ambush-wielded his subordinates' hideouts.
Subaru had deduced from this that if the possessed entity was not destroyed, it would be possessed and revived. If the possessed entity was destroyed, the number of invisible hands would increase and the fighting power would increase, and Subaru had been fed up with the troublesome Petelgeuse.
And it seemed that his reasoning had been correct after all, as the number of arms he could use increased as his fingertips disappeared, and the madman was shocked. Subaru clenched his fists in response to the accuracy of his reasoning, but...
"So it will be much tougher for you to survive--!"
Betelgeuse, still in his confusion, had not yet extended his hundred demonic hands, the most Subaru had ever seen. However, the number of approaching jet-black palms exceeded twenty, already far exceeding Subaru's capacity.
He crouches, slides, does a round-dart, and then twists and jumps high. His footing is poor and he falls on his bottom, but it's a fine play that helps him avoid the ball as it grazes over his head.
Feeling a pain in his tailbone that felt like it was about to crack, Subaru stood up half crying and took some distance from Petelgeuse.
So far, I haven't been injured by the invisible hand. My knee was scraped from the fall, and my tailbone is in extreme pain. It might even be cracked.
「Oh my, my, how pathetic that you can't reach it! Don't you feel ashamed of yourself for exposing your incompetence to gain sympathy, or for being the recipient of all that favor and such? Ah, you're so lazy!?」
"--There are a few things that bother me."
Subaru was tapping away on the rock face while making a fuss. In response to Subaru's provocative remarks, Petelgeuse quietly muttered, his anger from earlier gone.
He raised his finger and shook it as if to show off its bloody appearance.
"It can't be helped that I lost my fingertip. I wasn't diligent enough, I didn't think about it, I was lazy! I have to admit that, I have no choice but to admit it. Death, death, death, death! There are just too many things I don't understand even if I think about it! That I can see the invisible hand, the skill that allowed me to determine the position of the fingertip, and the fact that you, who has no direct fighting ability, have offered yourself before me!"
"――――"
「And so, this is what I think. There is no point in thinking about things that cannot be helped. Therefore, as I am not lazy, I choose to think about the need, the reasons, and the results that can be obtained. ーーWhy did you appear before me, and why did you catch my eye with your provocative actions and words? That is」
--This is bad, Subaru thought, intuitively reading Petelgeuse's thoughts and biting his lip.
He thought that by continuing to provoke and throw provocative words at him, he would be able to make Petelgeuse only think about the immediate future and not read his intentions, but he was wrong.
Subaru's situation continued to go too smoothly, which, in turn, caused difficulties for Petelgeuse, giving him the opportunity to calmly reflect on the situation.
If Petelgeuse could correctly recognize the current situation and come up with a perfectly reasonable solution, Subaru would be finished. And then, despite Subaru's wishes, Petelgeuse realized.
「If the 'invisible hand' is visible and taking too long to deal with it――I will mobilize all my resources and finish them off with the might of numbers!」
"He just noticed it!"
Simply put, the only force Subaru could attract on his own was that of Betelgeuse alone. And even then, it was incomplete and would be out of reach if the invisible hand reached out in sheer numbers.
Currently, thanks to the time-wastering that made Subaru's back itch, the members of the extermination force that had been acting as a separate unit had eradicated all of Petelgeuse's fingertips. Including the fingertips of the peddler and the hidden card, nine locations had been confirmed.
However, they haven't even started on the last place yet, and if you're wondering where that last place is, it's right there.
Directly beneath the cliff Subaru was facing was a rock larger than his upper back. Behind it was an entrance to a cave, and beyond that was the last remaining fingertip.
If the Witch Cultists were to emerge from there in droves, Subaru's fighting power would be choked. Therefore, Petelgeuse's inspiration was tantamount to a death sentence for Subaru.
"circle--!"
"teeth----!"
However, that was only if they had been just a few minutes earlier.
"What the hell?!"
The resonant waves stirred up the atmosphere of the forest, becoming a raging torrent of destruction that turned up the rocky ground and rampaged around the center of the cliff as its termination point.
The entire section of the cliff directly above the boulder peeled off and fell away, the collapse widening to reveal the cavern, the large hole, and even taking part of Subaru, who was nearby.
"Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah――!!"
Subaru's head was grazed by a boulder that looked like it would have crushed his skull if it had hit him, and he crawled out of the dust storm, barely escaping with his life.
Pointing at Subaru's disgrace, the one who laughed in a high-pitched voice while clutching his stomach was,
"Hahaha! Big brother is running away like a bug! Come on, Tibby, take a look!"
"I saw it, and I think the timing just now was bad. If it had happened at any other time, I think you would have been beaten up."
The brother scolds his sister, who is laughing innocently after causing the destruction that almost engulfed Subaru. Subaru rushes over to the beast siblings, feeling half relieved that they made it in time and half bitter that they nearly died.
"You two, thank you for coming, you bastards."
"Oh, you said the wrong thing, big brother. Thank you for letting me in! You're welcome! Yay!"
"I think it was the right thing to say because it showed my feelings of wanting to express gratitude but not wanting to express it," he said.
Tibby narrowed his eyes, his cat-like pupils sharpening as he glared at Petelgeuse, who was staring blankly at the collapsed cliff with a blank look on his face like a Noh mask.
His posture, behavior, and appearance all give off little military threat.
Be it a strength contest, a sprint or a fistfight, Subaru could win in any field, especially against Tibby and Mimi, a brother and sister who make a living from fighting.
But there was another dimension to the terrifying nature of Betelgeuse that was different from the obvious threat. Subaru didn't miss the slight look of fear that crossed Tibby's face, as if he had sensed this.
"Is that the Sin Archbishop? … Just looking at him makes me feel uneasy, like my heart is becoming unstable."
"When you peer into the abyss, the abyss also peers at you -- or so the ancients said. It's best not to look straight at it. I recommend looking at it indirectly, out of the corner of your eye, or in a mirror. It's also best not to get too close."
"Why?"
"His breath smells so fishy I can't stand it. It stings my eyes."
Subaru calms Tiby, who seems to be getting overwhelmed by the atmosphere, with some light-hearted remarks, and then looks over at Mimi, who is laughing openly. However, she just tilts her head quizzically and makes a cute face, and it seems she doesn't really feel any threat from him. Amazing.
"Anyway, I'm glad you guys joined us. We were able to crush the reinforcements, and to be honest, we were close to defeating them."
If the two of them had joined the battle just a little later, or if the current wave of attacks had been even a little later, Subaru's hopes would have been dashed, so it could be said that they had joined the battle just in time.
Expressing his gratitude for having escaped death, Subaru glanced at the two of them and out into the forest,
"So, what about that important guy? Is it still not possible to meet up with him?"
"Yuri should be here soon. My sister and I got there first, but that's just a margin of error."
"Who's Yuri? Isn't it Julius? If it's Julius, he'll probably be here in a bit. I can smell him."
Disregarding her brother's concern for Julius, the older sister pointed towards the forest and snorted.
It was unclear how much she could trust her sense of smell, as she looked exactly like a cat, but if it meant they were close to meeting up, then there was no better option.
It was extremely disappointing, but without Julius' cooperation, there was no way we could have succeeded in defeating Betelgeuse.
"--As I thought, something is wrong."
Betelgeuse, who had been silently lost in thought up until then, turned his head. His bulging eyes stared at Subaru, wide open, his tongue out and dripping with saliva.
"That attack shows no other than that he already knew the location of the cave, which was hidden with the visual discrepancy technique. He also somehow managed to see through the existence of the fingertips hidden in the forest. And he also knows the existence of my "invisible hand", and has the eyes to see through it. Considering that he went around crushing the fingertips earlier, it seems he knows other things as well."
Taking the Gospel from his pocket once again, Betelgeuse scanned the pages. Over and over again, he reached the last page and went back to the beginning, and even after repeating this process, the corners of his mouth began to twist as if he still couldn't find the answer he was looking for.
"In the Gospel! Nothing is written in my Guide to Fate! Then what is your existence?! You are loved by her, yet you despise the witch! You stand before me as I carry out the trial, and thwart all of your plans...!"
Stomping his feet, Petelgeuse shows his unbearable frustration.
From Petelgeuse's point of view, Subaru's actions must be extremely puzzling. He was preemptive in the attack that was supposed to be a test, allowing the villagers and Emilia to escape, and then his subordinates were wiped out in a surprise attack, revealing his own powers and secret weapon, and the person he was attacking even had the grace of the witch, who was his refuge.
For Petelgeuse, what else could this be but a nightmare?
Reflecting on his own actions, Subaru couldn't help but laugh at how his completely, almost paranoid plan to crush Betelgeuse had worked so well.
But even after all that, he is still a man with an unfathomable depth. Subaru has already died five times in the loop that began in the royal capital.
Five times, Subaru had ended the world without saving anyone.
It was only after such despair and experience that one could finally reach this realm. For a madman, nightmares were nothing to him. Subaru had seen nightmares so many times that it would literally kill him.
So what I have in front of me now is finally the reality of the Subaru I had hoped for.
"As expected, as expected, as expected, you are 『Arrogant』――"
"My name is Natsuki Subaru."
Through gritted teeth, Subaru interrupted the voice that was about to call him "arrogant," and pointed his finger at him.
And then he speaks decisively to the stammering madman.
"A silver-haired half-elf, a knight of Emilia. I don't know what "arrogance" is or what, but that's the only sign I want, I don't need anything else."
I have continued running to make those words true.
Mimi exclaimed in admiration at Subaru's words, "Wow," and Tibby closed her eyes and tilted her chin slightly. And Petelgeuse, who had received it head-on,
"That's enough."
He sighed with a somewhat careless air, and shook his head. Shake. Shake. Shake, shake, shake, shake, look up at the sky,
"You do not repay love! You should regret your slothfulness, not even fearing that witch! What sloth ...
He spread his arms wide, opened his mouth and shouted, causing Betelgeuse's shadow to swell up significantly.
The number of jet-black demonic hands that erupted reached the highest number Subaru had ever experienced—easily more than a hundred, stretching into the sky, and the shadows scattered in all directions.
"Seriously..."
The strength of the black palm easily snapped trees and lightly lifted fallen trees that had been severed in half. From the site of the collapsed cliff, several boulders the size of Subaru's head were picked up. The bare palm continued to wander the forest in search of prey, returning with vicious objects in its hands and rising into the sky. Their number, their weight, their lethality - just looking at them would make you die a hundred times.
「If you can see the invisible hand, how about pure violence! Can you avoid all of the violence that approaches a hundred, the diligent destruction shown by my authority? Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on! Are you ``slothful''?」
Without even a moment to call out to stop them, the violence was aimed at the three who were standing there. Rocks and fallen trees rained down all at once - everyone cowered in fear as the hurling of things filled their field of vision.
"circle--!"
"teeth----!"
The moment their prey came into focus, the screams of the siblings greeted their destruction.
The resonant waves shook the atmosphere, causing many of the obstacles that had been thrown to break apart, scattering, and exploding into pieces. Even so, they were not able to break through all of them,
"Oh?!"
"I'm not spacing out!"
"You'll die!"
Subaru was pulled backwards from both sides at the same time, and was thrown back as if lifted. Just a few moments later, boulders that were unable to resist slammed into the spot where Subaru had been, sending a shockwave through his body.
Beyond the rising smoke, the laughter of Betelgeuse echoed loudly. And as if to add to the laughter, another arm was seen above the smoke, holding another mass bullet.
"The strategic objective here has already been achieved! The fingertips are completely destroyed, and the last part is also perfectly buried alive…! In other words."
"So that's it?"
"What are you going to do?"
"--Retreat! Retreat!!"
At the same time that Subaru let out a pathetic scream, the throw was launched again. Sensing the presence of death behind them, Subaru and his siblings jumped out of the way.
Kicking off the unstable ground, he jumped into the forest to secure cover. Feeling the storm-like wind pressure, he ran through the forest in one go, despite the bad conditions.
「This is bad, this is bad, this is bad! Damn it, I didn't expect that! Is that arm capable of doing anything other than ripping a human body apart? When is that bastard Julius here?! Patraraaaash!!」
Subaru stepped onto the grass, his confusion reaching an all-time high and his mouth beginning to slip out. Running alongside him, Mimi and Tibby followed behind, keeping a watchful eye.
Unlike the two who were used to running, Subaru's steps were precarious, and he had to keep an eye on his feet to avoid falling. Why was he never able to stroll through the forest calmly like this? He always felt like he was running desperately, risking his life.
"Uhh?! What's that?!"
As Subaru was venting his frustration with all his might, Mimi let out an unpleasant voice next to him. Drawn by her voice, Subaru glanced back and genuinely regretted having seen her.
Naturally, there was no way that Petelgeuse would let Subaru and the others escape. He had been pursuing the three of them as they made a full escape - but the way they were moving was impossible.
Petelgeuse curled up, hugging his knees, and sat with his legs crossed. He had his curled up body grasped by his "invisible hands", and moved with countless demonic arms stretched out like spider legs. The power of his black palms was still strong, and any obstacles in his path were uprooted and blown away. The sinister "Sloth" simply pursued him, tearing through the forest.
"I was floating in the air, but it was the first time I'd ever seen something so creepy!"
"Oh, I see! So that's how it looks to you!"
Subaru, who can see the "invisible hand," sees something completely different from the others, who cannot. To Mimi and the others, the sight of Betelgeuse flying while sitting on his knees is a nightmare, but to Subaru, being carried by countless arms is a nightmare beyond a nightmare - although it's only a matter of which is the worst and the worst.
And the situation gets even worse.
"--Ah! Be 『Sloth』!!"
"Shima――!"
Immediately after a roar came from behind him, a black light instantly burned the world to ashes. It covered Subaru's field of vision for only a fleeting moment, but had no effect on him. However, the two who were running alongside him,
"Huh?"
"...Ru!"
The siblings lost their strength and were on the verge of collapsing, but luckily an outstretched arm caught them at the same time. He held their small bodies in both arms and ran through the forest with the dazed pair in his arms.
This was a manifestation of Petelgeuse's evil secret skill, "Mental Pollution." Except for Subaru and a few other members of the extermination squad who were resistant to it, it was one of Petelgeuse's powers that took away everyone's will to fight.
I had clearly explained to both Mimi and Tibby that there was this mental contamination.
He said that they would not be able to resist it, and that if they were contaminated, their minds would become unbalanced and they would suffer.
However, despite hearing that information, the two of them showed up to help Subaru. They knew that confronting him would crush his will to fight, but they still came to his aid.
that's why,
"Why don't you just throw away this hindrance and run away! You foolish sloth who will sink before the authority of 『Sloth』! Why are you so desperately trying to protect him?"
"Shut up, you idiot! I'm a Mofulist! If a Mofulist abandons his fluffy kids, there's no way tomorrow's meal will be any good!!"
There's no way I'd be abandoned.
Holding the two of them in his arms, Subaru's pace continued to accelerate. Petelgeuse, who was approaching from behind, seemed surprised at Subaru's strength, but the distance between them only continued to close.
Subaru, who was carrying two children in his arms and running desperately on legs that were not used to running on rough roads in the forest, and Betelgeuse, who broke through the rough roads and obstacles without being bothered by them, had completely different preconditions even in the sprint stage. And he couldn't escape for even a few dozen seconds.
That hopeless situationーー,
"I love you! Patrasche――!!"
Leaping over the resulting depression and breaking through the trees, Subaru saw jet black scales. His partner had run all the way here in response to his call, bending his lustrous velvet back. He literally jumped onto her back and embraced Patrasche with his whole body, holding the siblings down,
"GO!!"
「――――!!」
Whinnying, Patrasche lowered his stance and took a sharp step - instantly catching the wind.
Patrasche tramples over the rough forest roads and the various rolling obstacles with his powerful steps. The ground beneath his feet is not even an animal trail, it's just a pure green area.
If the earth dragons were the same as the horses of the original world, then for Patrasche, who was trained to run on flat ground, it would be an outrageous act to run on the rough roads of the forest. What's more, he couldn't afford to walk slowly, so he had to sprint at full speed.
"You're the best!"
Even when she called out earlier, she hadn't really believed that Patrasche would come to her rescue. It was just nonsense that came out of her mouth in frustration after she found herself in a difficult position.
However, Patrasche responded by entering the forest on his own initiative and helping Subaru. Since the battle with the White Whale, how many times has this earth dragon helped Subaru?
"Everyone, everyone... absolutely everything...!"
Mimi, Tiby, and even Patrasche all continued to lend me a helping hand despite my incompetence.
Therefore, Subaru must respond. He must respond to what was given to him with more than what was given. That is the only answer that will allow the flower of trust to bloom.
"End and end... just how many cards have you hidden?! If you knew even this, even this, then what on earth could you be...!"
--I hadn't read this far.
Inwardly responding to Petelgeuse, Subaru reached for the reins and gave instructions to Patrasche. Patrasche picked up on his clumsy instructions with alacrity, leaning slightly to turn in the direction Subaru wanted. Little by little, so little by little that Petelgeuse, who was chasing him from behind, didn't notice, but surely - he turned around.
Leaping over depressions, slipping through gaps in the trees, crashing through the forest and getting covered in mud, he ran through a dim, green labyrinth blocked out from the sunlight, and there he arrived.
"I'm back!"
"Is this the place from earlier...?!"
When he leaps out into the open once more, he finds himself on the cliff-faced battlefield where he had been facing off against Petelgeuse moments earlier. Returning to the scene, where traces of destruction still remained, Subaru looks around. However, before he can find what he is looking for, Petelgeuse lets out a strange cry,
「I don't know what you're plotting, your intentions, your aims! All of that, everything, everything! I hope you'll be crushed and disappear here!!」
Another magical hand, different from the one crawling along the ground, lifted up fallen trees and boulders, and hurled a mass bullet at me, now exposed with no cover.
Realizing this threat, Patrasche tried to increase his speed and shake it off, but it was no longer possible to avoid the ferocious attack――Patrasche raised his tail and tried to throw himself forward to protect his master even a little. In that moment,
"Eldona"
A wall of earth rises from the ground, an improvised barrier that takes the destruction thrown at it head on. The barrier cracks upon impact, then quickly returns to its original earthen form once its purpose is served.
For a moment, not understanding what had happened in that momentary exchange of attacks, Subaru curled up on Patrasche's back, eyes widening. And,
"When I got to the meeting place, he wasn't there anymore. I was a bit worried."
"...It's because you were late getting here. No matter where you take your time, you end up falling behind schedule."
"It took some time to bring the injured to the village. I was pale when we arrived, but... it's great that we were able to meet up."
"It's all thanks to my goddess. Please introduce me to your male later."
Subaru lazily stroked Patrasche's side as he relaxed. In response, Patrasche shook her body as if to say, "You're meddling," but in the face of the relief he felt now, such protests were like a gentle breeze.
Anyway,
"Sorry for the delay. It looks like things are going according to plan."
The handsome man unsheathed his slender sword and strode calmly across the rocky ground to stand next to Patrasche.
I can't remember how many times I've felt irritated by the sight of her light purple hair swaying in the wind, the hem of her Imperial Guard uniform fluttering. That figure, which began with such a horrible memory, now looks so reliable it's almost frustrating.
"Julius Euclius, a member of the Lugnica Kingdom Royal Knights."
Julius announced his name, and held his unsheathed sword vertically towards Petelgeuse.
Petelgeuse, who had stopped moving at the exit of the forest upon his arrival, opened his eyes wide and waited for the next words. Quiet breathing, silence, and six types of quasi-spirits shining around Julius.
"I will cut you down with the sword of the kingdom."
"Death, the spiritist? ...To the end, truly, to the end."
More than anything, Petelgeuse was furious at the sight of the quasi-spirits flying around Julius. Their appearance and reaction reinforced the possibility that the deductions he had shared with Julius were correct.
"Julius."
"It's obvious at a glance that this is an insane hand. It looks like it's floating in the air. Is that the power of this 'invisible hand' you spoke of?"
"Yeah, it's floating with its arms stretched out like a spider."
In response to Subaru's answer, Julius shrugged and said, "That's scary." He then glanced over at the siblings Subaru was holding in his arms,
"Are you two injured? Something seems strange."
"I told you, it's mental contamination. If you get affected by it, your mind will be broken. …That's why I told you not to come. But you were a huge help."
Expressing his gratitude through nasty language, Subaru pulled the two of them closer. Mimi began to stir in his arms, moving her mouth slightly as if trying to communicate something.
I put my ear close and tried to hear what she was saying,
"It'd be awesome if I won here."
He widened his eyes and looked at her, and saw that Mimi was smiling amidst her painful moans. The impact that her expression, her attitude, her words had on Subaru was immeasurable.
"Let's do it, Julius."
"Is that okay?"
In response to Subaru's request, Julius spoke as if questioning his resolve.
Subaru's chin tensed at the question, eyes lit with unwavering determination,
"I won't back down, I won't give in, I won't lose. I don't want to lose anyone anymore."
"I am the man who beat you so badly. I still believe that I had my own reasons and meanings for what I did, but they are merely my own self-righteousness that has nothing to do with you."
In response to Subaru's answer, Julius recounts an incident that took place between them that he will never be able to forget. The humiliation and pain of that time come back to him vividly, as if gouging a sharp hole in his heart.
"I'm not asking you to dig up the past and clear your name. Your resolve is great, and your decisions and actions have shaped the path you've taken up to this point. So I want to ask you: at this juncture, with me by your side, will you be able to achieve your goal without any worries?"
"――――"
"Can you trust me?"
Julius' question was extremely vague, out of place, and immature.
But it was what Subaru needed, to make him aware of the sharp thorn that had been endlessly asserting its presence in the deepest depths of his heart, and to make him face it.
At the Royal Selection, Subaru had made an ugly fool of himself, and far from making up for it, he had gone to the parade ground only to have his name tainted even more, only to have everything shattered by Julius.
Subaru was able to get back on his feet thanks to the dedication of one girl who continued to support him by his side.
Now that you have risen to your feet, what if you recalled those feelings from the past?
What color was the burning passion of that time, that moment, shining within Subaru now?
"--I hate you."
"Oh, I know that."
"Your elegant hairstyle annoys me, and the way you speak is ridiculously polite and shady. On the other hand, you're clearly looking down on me, and now that I think of it, the first time I saw you, you kissed Emilia-tan's hand. From now on, if I try to kiss every inch of your body, it'll end up being an indirect kiss with you, don't you dare mess with me."
Thinking back, Subaru had disliked Julius even before they had exchanged their first words.
Due to the harsh treatment he'd received from Emilia, he'd had ill will towards Julius from the start. Those feelings had grown in the Royal Selection Hall, and had exploded at the parade grounds, and the seeds of that smoldered ever since.
Even at this very moment, it was burning hotly in Subaru's chest.
"My limbs were broken, my head split open, and even my permanent teeth were removed. It's good that I'm healed, but if you think about it normally, I'm sure I was traumatized to the point that I wouldn't be able to walk outside. Don't you know how to handle it?"
"I'll tell you, I was pretty slack."
"Seriously? Go easy on me. You really are the most nasty guy."
Subaru called himself a knight, but he brought shame upon himself through his powerlessness, ignorance, and recklessness.
Julius defeated Subaru, demonstrating his strength, ability and role, and showing what it means to be a knight.
He couldn't help but feel sorry for himself for being reduced to the role of the loser, but looking at it aside from that, his appearance was exactly like the "image of a knight" that Subaru so desperately desired.
"--I hate you, the 'best' knight."
"――――"
"So I believe in you. Because my shame knows that you're an amazing knight."
Subaru knew Julius' sword better than anyone else here, or there.
And so Subaru entrusts his fate to her. Because he knows the weight of that sword.
Subaru: "I'm counting on you, Julius. I'm entrusting my everything to you."
"――――"
Subaru descended from Patrasche to the ground and faced Julius.
Julius closed his eyes at Subaru's answer, and after just a few seconds, he slowly opened them. Subaru was reflected in his eyes. He took a short breath, held it,
"Then I will respond with all my heart and soul---"
Julius raised his sword and pointed it towards the heavens, and the quasi-spirit gave his blessing.
Circling the sword, colorful spirits danced in the air, among which the ones that shone the brightest were black and white quasi-spirits.
The glow grew, intensifying, and emitted a light strong enough to burn the eyesーー,
"--Have you finished this farce yet?"
Petelgeuse, crawling out of the forest, interjected, seeing that this was the end of the exchange.
Floating in mid-air, Petelgeuse tilted his head. His bloodshot eyes wandered, and he pointed unfocused at Subaru and the others.
"Even if one spiritist joins us, what can he possibly accomplish? It is beyond presumptuous for a spirit like you to stand in the way of me, my path, my love, and my loyalty! Therefore, perish, disappear, and be no more. Death, death, death, death death death death death death death---!"
With his tongue out, his fingers bitten off, and blood dripping from his mouth, Betelgeuse shouted his death sentence and extended his "invisible hand" towards me in one movement.
The jet-black palm surged in, covering their field of vision like a tsunami, swallowing Subaru and the others whole, trying to crush them―― At that moment,
"--Clarista."
A flash of rainbow-colored light cut down the approaching "invisible hand" completely.
Sparkles danced wildly, shining as the blade's path was traced, showering it with diffuse reflections of light. The dark delusions that should have been present in the path disappeared, and the destruction that should have occurred also did not occur.
"--teeth?"
came Petelgeuse's shocked voice.
In response, Julius brandished his rainbow-colored knight sword and prefaced it by saying, "There's nothing to be surprised about."
"If you can touch me, then you can touch me too. If it's an ability that allows interference, then there's nothing that this blade, which combines the six attributes, cannot cut through."
Julius stated this nonchalantly, holding his knight sword that contained all six of the spirits he had made a contract with. However, that wasn't what Betelgeuse was wondering about.
He gestured nervously at Julius with his dark red, crushed fingers,
"You, you shouldn't be able to see it. You shouldn't be able to see it. The 'invisible hand' has been slashed...! That is the bigger problem than that fact! I can see, I can see, I should be able to see, I should be able to see, but, but, but, but, but, but, but."
Petelgeuse was stunned and at a loss for words, terrified at the thought of losing his refuge.
Seeing her, seeing her attitude, for the first time, Subaru felt a certain sympathy - and even more than that, a sense of pleasure, like, "Serves you right." Seriously, at last, he'd outsmarted her.
"I'm the one watching, Petelgeuse."
"--?"
Subaru: "I'm the one watching your 'invisible hand'. Julius is just watching what I'm watching. It's a more unpleasant sensation than I thought it would be, though."
--The essence of the advanced communication magic ``Nect.''
It was a magic used to communicate multiple intentions over a wide area, and when Julius used it he told Subaru that "if you increase your empathy too much, you will no longer be able to distinguish between yourself and others."
It's a matter of sensory synchronization, and if you connect more deeply,
"It should be possible to consciously share and retain some of your senses - though when you first broached the subject I doubted your sanity."
"You did it right, didn't you? A man needs courage, he'll try anything."
Julius, whose senses were somewhat synchronized with Subaru's, could see what Subaru was seeing - Betelgeuse being held down by the "invisible hand", suspended like a giant, sinister spider.
Subaru could similarly feel the torrent of mana surged throughout Julius' body, and the warm vibrations coming from the quasi-spirits.
"I hate to say it, but I don't want to continue in this situation for long."
"I totally agree. I'd rather not ask you to do it again."
Subaru curled his lip as he spoke, and Julius gave a sarcastic laugh and braced himself.
The rainbow-colored sword was pointed in front of him, at that pitiful and foolish madman, who had even had a clue to defeat his trump card, the ``invisible hand,'' stolen from him, yet who left no room for sympathy.
"Damn you... damn you, damn you, damn you, damn you, damn you, damn you, damn you, damn you, damn you, damn you, damn you, damn you, damn you, damn you, damn you!!"
He roared, causing Betelgeuse's shadow to explode, and his demonic hands, no longer able to properly aim, scattered in all directions, scattering destruction on impulse.
Facing that disgrace, Subaru refused to look away, he took a deep breath and steeled himself,
"Well then, I'm tired of sharing my feelings with you. Let's get this over with quickly."
"Yeah, let's do that."
The falling jet black demonic hand was blown away with an upward slash, and the blade cut in half the palm approaching from the side. Julius laughed as he watched the vanished arm turn into particles and scatter into the shadows.
"With your eyes, I will slash away. - My friend, Natsuki Subaru."