There are signs of an intense pain coming up.
It was an unpleasant sensation, but ever since coming to this world, I had been constantly exposed to life-threatening injuries. That sensation was telling me that these next few seconds were crucial.
Petra's screams echoed through the narrow passageway, and she reached out as if to pull out the two stakes sticking out of Subaru's left side. He knew it would start the moment it touched them. So Subaru turned his head with dizzying speed before they could reach him.
Two stakes, not a fatal wound. It was only a few more seconds before the pain hit. Petra was frozen, unable to move. Where had the attack come from? Her hands were still on the open door. A high-pitched voice echoed. A voice dripping with murderous intent slid into her eardrums.
--It's Elsa.
He could see a shadow wriggling in the lightless darkness before him, and realized it was Elsa, crouching low and trying to jump towards him in a crawling position.
The attack that pierced his lower back was launched from the other side of the aisle, aimed consistently at his stomach with sickeningly precise control.
Stupid thoughts, lukewarm thoughts. Why is Elsa here now? Where is the grace period that should have been there? Why is she hiding in a hidden passage that no one should know about? Why do she know? All of this is put off. Pursuing the question is secondary, and she must use her brain cells just to survive this moment!
"--Shamaaaaaaack!!"
They were unarmed, had no means of intercepting, and were severely underprepared and unready.
Faced with this sudden situation, there was only one thing Subaru could do――or rather, the one thing he had decided in his mind to do when he encountered Elsa, no matter what the consequences.
In response to Subaru's shout, the incomplete gate converted the mana within his body into a form equivalent to the chant. Subaru thrust his right hand forward, and black smoke erupted from the tip - darkness engulfing the passageway.
A pitch black, even darker than the shadows of light, consumed the narrow space, instantly separating Subaru and the others from the threat that had been looming right before their eyes. The smoke that spewed out had no effect of impeding action. It was a fragile mist that broke through without any attempt to stop anyone if they pushed through. However,
Subaru: "This wall of incomprehension, if you can get over it then get over it――Ahhhhh!!"
Just as he was about to make a defiant attack, the onslaught of excruciating pain that had been put off until then hit Subaru. Starting from his left hip, a scorching heat spread throughout his body, his brain and lower abdomen burning as if hot iron had been inserted into them, making him scream. Furthermore, as the price of the incomplete chant increased, it felt as though more mana had been squeezed out of his body than necessary, and the exhaustion and fatigue that dried up his body nearly brought him to his knees.
The thing that held it in place, on the verge of falling apart, was
「Subaru――」
Subaru felt a small, soft touch as she grabbed his hand, which was about to collapse. Petra looked over and saw that her long eyelashes were trembling as she worried about him, her face about to cry.
There was fear in her eyes at not being able to understand the situation, a refusal to face the unreasonable threat before her eyes, but more than that, there was a deep concern for Subaru's safety.
As soon as he saw it, he forgot for a moment the intense pain of his nerves being scraped and the sense of loss of his soul being torn away. As the effect continued, he squeezed back the hand that was holding him,
"Anyway, up――!"
Since he couldn't go forward, his only escape route was to go back the way he came. Even Subaru himself didn't know how long Shamac would last. Perhaps his body had gotten used to it after using it a few times, but the only success he had had so far was that he hadn't used up all his mana until he collapsed.
Anyway, right now, I must not miss the opportunity when the black mist blocks my path――
"Agh...Agh!?"
The moment I took a step to run, I was hit again with a pain as if something sharp was digging into my flesh.
Turning his eyes to the source of the pain, he saw that a total of four stakes had been thrust into his right shoulder and the back of his neck. Fortunately, they were not deep enough, but the pain of having multiple stakes as thick as a pinky finger thrust into him just made the sight of them inflict even more pain.
"Can you see it...?!"
For a moment, Subaru wondered if he was seeing through Shamak's black smoke, but he quickly realized that was not the case. And from beyond the smoke, Subaru intuitively understood what Elsa had done.
Elsa had decided that the black smoke was some kind of threat and that it would be dangerous to jump in, so she launched a throw at us from the other side of the mist without even aiming.
The passage was narrow, and the width was limited to just three Subarus lined up. If he had the control to aim for the exact center of the passage, there was a high chance he would hit somewhere on the fleeing Subaru's back.
The moment he noticed, Subaru pulled Petra back with all his might and pulled her into his chest. "Ahh!" Petra screamed. Just as her body passed through, an iron stake similar to the one that had been thrust into Subaru's body passed by, making a whooshing noise.
If he hadn't missed his aim, it would have been straight towards Petra's head.
"This is the worst!"
Spitting out the bloody saliva, Subaru shook his head and sprinted down the corridor towards the mansion. He grabbed Petra's arm and forced her to move forward as she was falling behind.
The pain made my vision flicker. The world flashed red and black. A faint blue glow floated in the dimly lit passage. The red and black alternated and mixed together, making the world no longer clear.
In just a split second of offense and defense, Subaru had completely exhausted all of his willpower and physical strength.
Even if he returned to the mansion like this, it was not like he could immediately think of a way to break the deadlock. Subaru just kept running, gritting his teeth, clinging to immediate hope.
For an instant, fear ran up the nape of his neck; perhaps it was the sensation of near-death that only Subaru, who had come into contact with "death" so many times, was able to sense.
"----!"
Driven by an unpleasant sense of fear, Subaru tilted his head back and saw the trajectory of death in those black eyes.
To say it cut through the wind was an understatement; the blade approached while killing the wind. Elsa's greatest and deadliest curved sword, the kukri knife, was carrying its full weight as it spun vertically at incredible speed, approaching Subaru and the others' backs.
A speed that makes it impossible to react. A force so strong that it's impossible to even think of matching it.
In the face of all this, the fact that he was able to instantly stretch out his arms was an undeniable miracle.
His fingertips reached out to grasp the tip of the blade, and the edge of the curved sword was pinned between the index and middle fingers of his right hand - without any effect on the speed or power of the blow, and the middle, ring, and pinkie fingers of Subaru's right hand were blown apart.
The knife split Subaru's arm vertically, severing it in half from his wrist to his elbow. The outside of his arm, lowered by the force of the impact, slammed into the wall, and a mist of blood spurted out, staining the hallway and Subaru in red spots. A roar. A scream. A voice so loud it felt like his throat would be crushed, burned, and torn apart.
My vision turns red, and my teeth shatter from biting too hard. I lift my cut arm. Red. Just red. I see something white. It quickly turns red. It no longer feels like my own. Just a superfluous object that only gives off pain.
Get torn apart. Get lost. I don't need an organ that only causes pain. Unnecessary. Get lost, fly away, get torn apart. Die. Die, die, die - the feeling.
I felt someone holding my hand. There was still warmth on the opposite side to the organ that only hurt. The moment I felt that, my scream stopped. My throat was crushed. The nerves in my brain that could only feel pain were bursting at the limit. I forgot the pain. But I didn't forget the warmth.
Pulling his arm back, taking a step, his soundless throat trembling, Subaru ran down the corridor, stained with blood. His legs were heavy. His arms were heavy. Was he pulling, or was he being pulled? He didn't even know that. He didn't know. He didn't know. He didn't want to know.
The passage ends. I return to the stairs. I run up the spiral staircase and emerge into the mansion. What will I do once I've entered the mansion? Who, who, to whom, help, Emilia, Rem――?
"Here it is...!"
It can't be finished. It's not finished. It can't be finished.
You haven't seen anything yet, you haven't found anything yet, you haven't grasped anything yet, so how can you throw something away here?
I look up. The top of the spiral staircase is far away. My feet get tangled. My tongue goes numb. Blood drips from my arm, life spilling out. I pull up the warmth in my left hand, which is worn down and dwindling. And,
"---Lord Bal!!"
A beast-like call came, and then the sound of a heavy object falling from mid-air. As Subaru stepped onto the stairs, a broad, large back appeared before him. A black apron dress trailed through the smoke. Long golden hair swayed in the cold wind, and the body that had been crouching upon landing rose up.
A stern face turns towards me - a familiar face with a look of concern on it.
"Furede..."
"Don't talk! This wound is... so terrible."
The moment he perceived its presence and was about to call out its name, Frederica turned pale at the sight of Subaru's wound. She looked painfully at Subaru's right arm, which had lost most of its shape, then turned her eyes to the bloodstains staining half of his body,
"ah..."
She gasped in an inaudible voice. Subaru's terrible condition must have been that shocking. As for Subaru himself, the intense spurting of endorphins in his brain was making him unable to feel the pain as pain. His breathing was rough, and drool was dripping from the corners of his mouth unstoppable. Spitting out the foaming blood that was filling his mouth, Subaru tried to form words for Frederica,
"Ahh――!"
"--Shh!!"
The kukri knife slashed again from the darkness.
The spinning blade, pregnant with death, was aimed at Frederica's head. Subaru, seeing the gleam of the steel, cried out, and Frederica, in response, pulled something out from her waist and struck it with a slash - sparks flying in the darkness of the passageway, the curved sword deflecting with a high-pitched sound. The one who had done this was,
"It looks like an intruder."
As she spoke, Frederica crossed her arms――the tips of both her hands were equipped with clawed gauntlets. Her confident stance made it clear that she was a familiar target.
In a way, the rugged armament suited him too well. With both arms cutting through the air, Frederica held back the front, and pointed at Subaru behind her,
"To the mansion. Give me the signal when you reach the top. I'll be leaving as well."
"Well..."
"With that wound you'll just be a burden anyway. Please take care of Petra."
What pushed Subaru back as he tried to hold on was Frederica's final, pleading words. Swallowing what he was about to say, Subaru pulled Petra's small body towards him. It would be quicker to hold her now than to run by her arm. Petra didn't resist as Subaru took her in his arms, and he stepped back and put his foot on the stairs.
"Don't be mean..."
"Of course. --We're only halfway there."
Dragging his feet and reluctantly leaving, Subaru ran up the stairs to the upper floor. As he spiraled up, the sound of blades clashing echoed from below. In a small space, Elsa would lose her mobility, and a head-on battle would be a test of strength. There, Frederica had a chance of winning - at the very least, he wanted to cling to that hope.
Spitting out his shattered molar, Subaru cursed his own frustratingly spinning feet. Faster, sharper, with every second Subaru spent conquering the stairs, Frederica's fate grew a second shorter. Hurry, hurry, upstairs, upstairs, upstairs――.
"Zui... it!!"
He reached the top and, breathing heavily, dropped to his knees on the carpet. In that collapsed position, he stuck his head into the escape route and called out to the people below.
"Touch me! That's great!"
If Frederica could reach the top of the stairs and close the escape route immediately after, he would be able to separate Elsa. Subaru realized this as he cried out, and rolled towards the statue with the opening and closing mechanism. He put his hands around its neck and waited for Frederica to jump out. But――
"--Eh?"
Subaru's ears were suddenly hit by an immense impact and the sound of a massive collapse. The falling building materials smashed into each other, sending up thick plumes of smoke as a violent tremor shook the mansion.
Wondering what was going on, Subaru left the statue and headed back to the passageway. He peered inside and saw that the spiral staircase he had climbed up moments ago had collapsed without a trace.
"This...ah"
This was not the kind of collapse that would have been the result of shoddy construction. For it to have collapsed unexpectedly, it had been destroyed so cleanly that it hadn't damaged the passage itself. Originally, the stairs themselves had been designed to be removed if some mechanism had been used.
It is unclear at this time whether this was to avoid being tracked down after using it for evacuation, or whether it was to prepare for the possibility of it being used as an intrusion route, as is the case now.
--At this rate, there was no way Frederica would be able to return to the top.
The possibility of Elsa coming up to the upper floors was gone, but conversely Frederica's survival was also hopeless. Alternatively, if she was stronger than Elsa, she might be able to bypass the mountain and return in triumph, but Subaru's body knew just how bleak that would be.
The moment he thought that, a wound he had forgotten began to ache, and Subaru spat out a blood clot. The stakes piercing his shoulders, neck, and waist began to eat away at his flesh. His fingertips slipped when he tried to pull them out, and his fingers trembled and wouldn't move, fearing a massive loss of blood.
"That's what I'm doing... I'm an idiot..."
There was no time to stop walking or thinking. Whether Frederica's survival was hopeless or not was still within Subaru's control.
Enduring the pain of his wound, Subaru slid to his knees and stood up, about to take action. Then he suddenly remembered Petra, who he was sure he was holding. He ran back to his office, but where had she gone, who was supposed to have been in his arms until then?
"Peto, la...?"
Turning his head, Subaru found Petra on the other side of the room - near the statue. The girl had collapsed onto her side, and it seemed she had let go of his hand during the commotion earlier.
The girl was limp and unconscious, and did not respond to calls. Perhaps she was too scared and exhausted to stay conscious.
Though he was worried about Frederica's safety, he had to protect Petra to the end in order to follow her words. Subaru stood up, straining his trembling knees, and made his way over to where Petra had fallen. Then, as he tried to pick up the girl,
--A curved sword was seen sticking out from the back of the fallen girl's neck to the back of her head.
A large amount of blood was dripping from the wound, part of the brain had spilled out from the split back of the head, the soft chestnut hair was heavily stained with fresh blood, and the soft, warm palms of the hands were no longer moving.
She lifted her right hand. It was a pitiful mass of flesh, missing three fingers and half of her arm. She held out her arm to try and stop the curved sword, but it was still attacking Petra. Even with all that she held out, she hadn't been able to protect anything.
"------ Oooooooahhh!!"
The crushed throat let out a bloody scream.
※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※※ ※
Subaru walked unsteadily across the carpet of the mansion, his face ghostly as he headed towards the west wing. As he walked, he was holding Petra's corpse in his arms. A white sheet was draped over her, hiding her dead body so no one could see.
The shocked expression on her face as she died was proof that she had died instantly, and that was her only relief. It was too terrible for her to have suffered the same pain as Subaru, and then lose her life after that. There was no salvation for her. But there was no salvation to be found anywhere.
"Here we go..."
Hadn't she returned because she wanted to help everyone in the mansion? Hadn't she resolved in her heart to do everything in her power to at least be of some help?
Once again, he had dragged Petra into this spiral of death. This was already the third time that Subaru had witnessed Petra's death - each time, it was an ending that would never have happened if Subaru had done something about it.
Last time, the existence of the Witch Cult was the starting point, but this time there is something crucially different.
Subaru could have opposed Frederica's decision to take on Petra as a maid apprentice so as not to involve her.
Subaru should have known that being close to Emilia, being close to him, could put her in danger.
"What if... there's no end to it."
Once the game is over, there's no end to the "what if"s and "if onlys." Subaru knows that too. Even though he knows this, he can't help but think about it, which is Subaru's weakness.
As my spirits began to break, my steps became heavy and I dragged my feet. The trail of blood that had not stopped leaving dark red spots on the carpet, and with each step I felt a pain as if my nerves were being filed.
Step by step, the sound of his body and mind being worn down, the pain. But even that felt like a punishment now, and was a relief. If Subaru was guilty, then the punishment should be meted out to him alone. As long as that rule was followed, it didn't matter how much pain he had to endure.
And so the girl in his arms, the woman who stayed behind to help Subaru escape, was...
"Remu..."
May no disaster come near her as she sleeps before your eyes.
I arrived at the floor where the servants' rooms were located in the west wing. I chose the shortest route from the top floor where my office was, but it felt like it took me a long time to push myself through it with my injuries. The room I was looking for was at the very end, on the opposite side of the stairs.
He wasn't thinking about what would happen if he got there. His only goal was to get there, to touch the girl who was sure to be there, and he no longer had the will to live.
I was bleeding so much that my determination and resolve were spilling out of my body along with the blood. Above all, I had lost so much this time. With this sense of loss in my heart, I didn't think I could walk on with my head held high.
So at the very least, if I'm going to die, I want it to be by her side.
Beside her, the only person in this world to whom Subaru could reveal his own weakness.
Leaning against the wall and trailing a trail of blood, Subaru transformed what little strength he had into determination, and just about made it to his destination - Rem's bedroom.
He leans Petra, who is in his arms, against the wall and removes the sheets. Her eyes are closed, and her corpse is in perfect condition. He touches her cheek, traces her lips with his fingers, and bows his head to her cold, empty vessel.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm an idiot and I don't know what to do..."
There must have been some way, but Subaru was stupid and didn't realize it. Petra was the victim of that, and now that she's no longer here, his words of apology won't reach her.
Subaru let the tears fall onto Petra's lap, shook his head, and pulled the sheets up to cover Petra's face again. He then stood up and turned around.
"--- I think it's terrible to leave them behind."
At the end of the corridor, a beautiful black-haired woman stepped onto the stairs Subaru had just descended, tilting her head towards him. She played with the ends of her long, braided black hair with her fingers, and dangling a blood-stained kukri knife from her other hand.
A black bodysuit and a black cloak. His jet black outfit from top to bottom was the same as when I saw him in the royal capital. He had been in battle with Frederica, but there was no sign of it anywhere. Neither in terms of injuries nor fatigue.
The reason she had appeared here was a clear indication of what had become of Frederica.
With yet another wave of people whose voices of apology go unheard, Subaru could only look up at the ceiling and curse his own powerlessness until his blood boiled.
"You've made it this far with those scars. I'm impressed."
"Give me a tip. I'll give you your life..."
"May I take that as a courtship, saying I want your life?"
"If you want to crush me right away, give it to me..."
Feeling nauseous at Elsa's irrelevant response, Subaru glared at the murderer and somehow managed to lift himself up, using the wall to lean on. As his field of vision improved and he was able to see Elsa directly in front of him, she looked him up and down, his body covered in wounds,
Subaru: "The scent of blood, the smell of rage, the aroma of 'death'… aah, you are exquisite in all respects. And if your intestines are to my taste, then I have no complaints."
"What the hell are you talking about, you weirdo?"
With a look of ecstasy on her face as she embraced him, Elsa looked at Subaru with heated eyes, not hiding her arousal. Even though she was a beautiful woman, her gaze was that of a freak, and it only brought fear and disgust to Subaru.
Subaru's expression only expressed a feeling of rejection. Seeing that, Elsa, with a seductive blush on her cheeks,
"It's fine for me to talk to you, but... I'm sorry if I lose sight of my purpose and end up making you angry. Is the spirit and half-demon young lady I met in the royal capital at home?"
"If you had just called before coming, it would have saved me a lot of trouble. I'll hire a group of mercenaries and give you a big welcome."
"I'm not going to answer that. In that case, it's probably best to listen to your gut."
Her red lips parted to reveal a pink tongue that wet the corners of her mouth seductively. She then ran her tongue over the side of the raised blade, licking off the droplets of blood and smiling ecstatically.
It flies low and dims, wielding its blade and crawling towards me, in a spider-like stance, and leaps at me. It's fast. There's no way I can intercept it. But,
"What on earth would you want in your hands? I'll fight to the death...!"
As he spoke, Subaru pushed open the door to Rem's bedroom.
Elsa frowned at the incomprehensible behavior, but her reaction alone was satisfying.
Subaru had already half given up on this chance to break through. The wound was deep, his life was spilling out without stopping, and his fate in this loop was hanging by a thread. So he wanted to at least get revenge on Elsa. At the very least, he wanted to repay her by not letting things go her way.
He would rather die than succumb to the murderous blade. He would rather sacrifice his life than fall into that man's hands. But first, he wanted to avoid her being humiliated.
It may sound like a difficult decision, but it was also a very selfish decision.
But he would rather not end up at Elsa's hands, like Petra or Frederica.
This world is about to come to an end, so at the very least, it must be saved by Subaru's hands――
"Sugu, me too..."
With that resolve, he barged into Rem's bedroom.
"--picture?"
--The Forbidden Library, lined with shelves, welcomed Subaru, who had resigned himself to his end.