Reid walked toward Nadir's upright corpse and looked at it with solemnity. His body was trembling, resisting his will, but he managed to temporarily master it to go and show respect to his fallen rival.
"If this had continued, I would have lost. You have my respect, you..."
Reid cut himself off upon realizing that he didn't know the name of the man who had been on the verge of defeating him, if not for the death that overtook him prematurely.
"Do you people know what this guy's name was?" he asked the others, turning to look at them.
Feeling the formidable redhead's attention shifting toward them, everyone tensed and went on the defensive. No one opened their mouths, which angered Reid.
"Are you deaf, or do none of you know his name?!"
Then, one of them raised his voice.
It was Felix.
"His name was Nadir Ashveil!" he shouted with indignation. "I bet you won't be able to forget the beating he gave you!"
Immediately, Julius, Fourier, and Crusch looked at the demi-human, wondering why on earth he was instigating someone as dangerous as the First Sword Saint, who had fought against the Holy Dragon Volcanica and participated in the sealing of the Witch of Envy, not to mention what he had done to Marcos Gildark.
After such a display, everyone there knew they stood no chance against Reid.
To most people's surprise, Reid burst out laughing when he heard the provocation.
"Of course I won't! It was fucking incredible to get thrashed after so long!"
"And it will happen again very soon!" Felix began walking toward him, placing himself in front of his companions.
Crusch was about to stop him, but then she realized what her knight was doing.
Felix wanted to buy time. He needed to delay Reid's slaughter until Leandro returned.
"What do you mean, kitty cat?" Reid scratched an ear. "Are you implying there's another person here who can entertain me?"
"Entertaining you is an understatement! He will definitely finish you off! He'll tear you to pieces!"
Even if that wasn't true, Felix trusted that Leandro would know what to do. He had already proven capable of anticipating certain events. The strange thing was that he hadn't given any warning about Reid, or about the deaths of Marcos and Nadir.
His power probably had limits or flaws that he didn't mention. It was understandable that he would want to hide any defect or vulnerability.
The redhead smiled widely and advanced in Felix's direction; his footsteps were light, but every pace increased the crushing pressure on the demi-human's body.
"And is this formidable warrior you speak of among us?" Reid asked, stopping right in front of him.
Felix gasped. Sweat poured from his skin as if his body were emptying itself of fluid, and his lungs felt inexplicably vacant. Reid's presence was far too intense.
"Not yet, but..."
"So he's not here. Well, that's a shame." Reid grabbed Felix's neck with oppressive force. "I have no interest in doing this, but my body is still out of my control."
The redhead spun his chopsticks and prepared to finish off the demi-human.
"FELIX!" Crusch, Fourier, and Julius shouted in unison, lunging toward Reid to try and stop him, but they were repelled by a stomp that made the ground explode, catapulting the bodies of all three and sending them flying away.
"Are you fools in such a hurry to die?" Reid growled with disapproval. "If you were sensible, you'd flee this place before I go after you. That way you'll have a small chance of survival."
Ram stood still, thinking that throwing herself into the fight would be useless. In such a scenario, the smartest decision would be to save her energy to look for her sister.
But Ram moved—not to leave, but to draw closer.
She advanced decisively toward Reid Astrea, glaring fiercely into his eyes.
He was a threat far too great to be ignored.
Reid looked at her and smiled as he felt the immense power beginning to surge from the pink-haired girl's body.
"I see! What you lack in tits, you make up for in magic power!"
"YOU BASTARD!"
Ram lunged with a burst of energy. Reid prepared to kill her with a single blow.
However, Ram had to halt her fist at the last moment when a black-haired youth threw himself in her path. It was unexpected, but it filled her with relief to see him there.
"Nitwit! What are you doing?!" she exclaimed, digging her feet into the ground to stop her momentum.
"Let me handle this," Leandro requested, with a serious expression that Ram could not refuse.
When he noticed Leandro, Reid furrowed his brow and let go of Felix, tossing him away like trash. However, a blue-haired maid caught the demi-human's body and held him gently.
"Are you all right, Master Felix?"
"...Rem?" After coughing and catching his breath, Felix smiled. "I heard you were dead."
"I was, but..."
"REM!"
Rem was cut off mid-sentence because Ram threw herself upon her to hug her. The gesture was effusive but brief, as the pink-haired girl took little time to remember the gravity of the circumstances and pulled away from her sister.
"We have to get out of here!" The pink-haired girl grabbed her hand and began to pull her into a run. "I'm going to get you to safety!"
"Ah, sister, wait!" Rem, who was still supporting Felix, could not resist the force Ram applied to drag her along. "We can't leave Leandro!"
Ram did not stop for even an instant, which drove Rem to despair.
"Please, sister! We have to help him!" She wanted to pull away, but her sister's tight grip continued to hold her back. "Why...?"
"We have to trust him. Besides, we would only get in the way, and I don't intend to let you put yourself in danger. I won't lose you again."
"But Leandro...!"
"He said he'll resolve it," Ram interrupted her younger sister. "He wouldn't say it if he wasn't sure."
While the sisters argued, Leandro was looking at Nadir's corpse and Marcos's. His fists were clenched.
It went without saying that he felt guilty, but he was no longer drowning in that emotion. He was aware that punishing himself would achieve nothing.
"Two more..."
"What are you murmuring about so much? Are you the guy the kitty cat told me about?"
Finally, Leandro looked at Reid. His brown eyes seemed to catch something, as a gleam of interest appeared in them.
"The spell," he murmured in surprise, scanning Reid with his eyes. "The command is still active..."
Reid clicked his tongue, irritated by the black-haired youth's self-absorbed attitude.
"Tsk! If it's not you, get out of my way!"
The redhead brandished his chopsticks to cut Leandro down, but his body was immobilized just before the attack connected.
"What the shit...?!"
Reid was dumbfounded. At that critical instant, Leandro had managed to visualize the necromantic magic surrounding the redhead's body; it was the spell that restricted his recreated body and defined his purpose.
Once he saw the spell, he instinctively knew how to control it. He didn't even need to hijack the ritual himself, since he had absorbed the being who performed it.
All he did was change the Doppelganger's command, making Reid's purpose to 'stay still.'
"You bastard, don't tell me you're the one who brought me here!" Reid growled.
"Not exactly," Leandro replied. "Now, I'm sorry to tell you that I don't have the time or the mood to deal with you. I'm sending you back..."
But as Leandro began to manipulate the spell, the entire underground city trembled. A powerful impact shook the massive rocky chamber.
Seconds later, the phenomenon repeated itself, then occurred a third time, a fourth, and a fifth; with each impact, the upper part of the chamber cracked.
"What the hell is going on up there? Could it be...?"
Leandro unconsciously averted his attention, forgetting the manipulation of the spell and accidentally releasing Reid. The redhead took advantage of the instant he ceased to be restricted and unleashed all his power, launching a conceptual slash that split the black-haired youth's body in two.
Flesh, bone, soul... Reid Astrea's attack left nothing intact.
Even the immortality granted by the apostleship of Vainglory was severed.
The same happened to Return by Death and the connection with Satella.
This time, there was nothing to protect Leandro.
Just like that, due to a careless mistake, his life was taken from him.
"..."
There was a deafening silence.
Everyone watched as the black-haired youth's corpse fell to the ground, his torso separated from his legs. Guts spilled grotesquely across the floor, and blood formed a dark pool.
Julius covered his mouth.
Crusch gasped.
Felix choked back a cry.
Fourier and Seraphina shuddered.
But for Ram and Rem, it was as if time had stopped. Leandro was the pillar that sustained them. He had opened their eyes, he had brought them out of the darkness; in return, they only watched his death, unable to do anything to help him.
Ram could never thank him for being with her at her worst moment. Although she never confessed it, she had been conscious during the months following Rem's death; she felt every caress and heard every whisper from the black-haired youth. If it hadn't been for his company and his care, Ram would never have regained the strength to stand up again.
Rem barely had time to be with him after they confessed their feelings. Since the events of the Sanctuary, they hadn't had a single moment of calm; it was as if the world had decided they couldn't be together, that they couldn't be happy. Despite her miraculous resurrection, Rem could only spend scant minutes with her beloved, and then death separated them again.
It wasn't fair.
"Tsk, if you hadn't had control over my body, I could have taken my time to completely crush you, you bastard."
Reid straightened up and looked at Leandro's remains with resentment.
"How disappointing." He averted his gaze toward the rest of the group. "It seems there's no one left with the power to face me. However, my body is free now and I can do whatever I want, so I'm out of here!"
He turned around and began to walk away carelessly. He did not fear a possible attack from behind; after all, not even all the ants in the world could defeat an elephant.
Nonetheless, there were two ants that were furious with the elephant. Even if he could easily crush them, they would not stop.
"Rem, Ram, no!" Felix extended his arm, but the sisters were already running toward Reid.
Rem had manifested her horn, and Ram was using all her hidden power.
They knew they would probably die in the attempt, and yet they were willing to avenge Leandro.
"AL HUMA!"
"AL FURA!"
Weeping with sadness and roaring with rage, the sisters launched their most powerful magical attacks, but they only used them to stun Reid so they could get close to him.
A massive icicle was launched at Reid, powered by a swirling gust of wind that gave it immense speed and suction power, making it impossible for the redhead to dodge the attack.
But upon impacting Reid, the gigantic ice projectile shattered to pieces, as if it were thin glass.
Rem and Ram reached Reid a second later, throwing punches and kicks that he blocked with a grunt of annoyance.
"I'm not in the mood for a threesome!" he exclaimed, grabbing the leg of one and using her as a weapon to strike the other, sending both flying.
The sisters hit the ground violently, but they stood up and charged again, driven by the hatred they felt.
Realizing they would not leave him in peace, Reid clicked his tongue and prepared to brandish his chopsticks once more.
However, the redhead stopped upon feeling a new tremor coming from the ceiling. Suddenly, a hole opened in the rock formation, letting a beam of light pass through from the surface. Likewise, the stalactites on the ceiling broke loose with the last aftershock, beginning a lethal rain.
But the needle-shaped rocks were disintegrated before reaching the ground, affected by a shockwave whose origin was uncertain.
"What the hell...? Agh!" Reid was struck by an overwhelmingly fast and powerful attack; the impact expelled him at supersonic speed and he crashed through multiple buildings, traveling several kilometers until he lost his momentum.
The air turned heavy, the earth vibrated, and even the surrounding mana reacted as Reinhard Van Astrea made his entrance. His blue eyes scanned the area and darkened upon seeing Marcos's decapitated body, Leandro's severed body, and the body of a man who had died standing.
Reinhard clenched his fists and lowered his gaze as his face filled with grief. He opened his mouth to speak, but instead of his firm and composed tone, his voice gave a stifled tremor.
"Sorry I'm late."