Chapter 50 - x

When Ferris tapped his chest, Crusch drew in her chin, looking over everyone before the battle recommenced.

"From here on is the real battle! The response remaining in your own hands shall prove that our attacks are effective upon the White Whale! Certainly, our opponent is mighty and unfathomable. Worst case, there may be

none who shall remember our deaths. However!"

Crusch, able to launch cutting blows with her bare hand, drew from her hip the treasured sword of the House of Karsten—a sword no doubt long bereft of use—and raised it to the sky, declaring in a loud voice:

"For the sake of the dead with no name left on their tombstones, for the sake of the weak who would be menaced by the mist in the world ahead, we shall slay it, whatever it takes! —Come with me!!"

Every manner of weapon was raised to the sky, everyone shouting in exultation as one.

The mist shuddered from the incredible surge of morale, ferociously setting their dampened fighting spirit alight.

"Launch the anti-magic crystal!!"

At Crusch's order, the individuals under Ferris's command fired magic crystal cannons in a salvo—the next moment, with a great roar, the magic crystals soared high into the misty sky when…

"The mist…is clearing—!"

…the glow of the magic crystals shattering in the heavens erased the white mist obstructing their sight all at once.

Properly speaking, all the mist covering the four corners of the plains had not been swept away. In the end, all that had changed was the density of the mist, which had thinned so that it was no longer difficult to maintain a clear view.

But one could call even that result sufficient.

—The White Whale's mist was apparently a calamity wrought from the vast mana it possessed. In other words, the White Whale scattered its mana in the direction of its choosing, and this became the mist visible to others.

The anti-magic crystals—by rights, crystals with the effect of forcing the mana in an area back into a colorless state, thus neutralizing it—had used their power to nullify the mana of the mist, blowing it away.

It was a dangerous gamble, for if the anti-magic crystals worked too well, it would also diminish the strength of their own magic attacks, but it seemed there was no need for concern so long as they could see remnants of the mist. "Not enough to clear away all the mist, huh?"

"In turn, there is no effect on our own magic. I, too, am in peak condition."

Rem gave a little nod, but it was the glow of the horn on her forehead that offered the real answer. The fact that it sensed mana swirling around the area and had begun building Rem's magical energy once more was the proof.

"—All right! I can't get cold feet now. I've come too far to be useless now. It's time for us to take the stage!"

"Yes! Let us go!"

Rem handled the land dragon's reins, and its neigh matched the bounce of Subaru's rump. He grabbed hold of Rem's hips atop the dashing land dragon, searching for sight of the White Whale in the thin mist above their heads.

With Crusch at the head, the expeditionary force set out as well, dispersing as its various parts searched for the White Whale. With the battle resuming at possibly any moment, Subaru felt the tension drying his throat out in a hurry.

No one saw the White Whale come out yet. It felt like before the start of the battle, when they waited for the White Whale to appear in the night sky, when…

"—Mist."

Suddenly, a bad premonition popped up in the back of Subaru's mind.

He had no special kind of proof of it.

They were still able to use magic within the effect of the anti-magic crystals. When he remembered the various things spoken before the operation, and his experience meeting the White Whale on the previous goaround, that anxiety suddenly bubbled to the surface.

There were remnants of widely scattered mist in the atmosphere.

The White Whale had expanded its own turf and obstructed their fields of vision, the oldest trick in the Demon Beast of Mist's book. That was all the prior information he had, but could he really say that it was the only reason he was afraid?

But before the doubt in his head could take form…

" !!"

…the squeaking chorus that echoed across the slightly misty Liphas Highway came quicker.

"What the hell was that?!"

The high-pitched echo was like a woman's shriek, instilling a sense of disgust that made Subaru want to cover his ears. It was both roar and laughter, yet repulsive on a whole other level, traversing the mist to mock them across the plains.

"Just now…!"

Subaru tried to put the question into words when he noticed it—that the mist coiled around his entire body seemed to melt into him, as if trying to permeate his flesh.

And then—

"Aaa, aaa, aaa—?!"

The first shift came in the mounted dragon unit running alongside.

Subaru's shoulders jumped at the strange voices, sounding nothing like ones coming from sane human beings. Guessing that something had changed, he looked over to see cavalrymen racing beside him, tumbling from their land dragons one after another.

"Hey! What's wrong?!"

Following the shouting Subaru's intentions, his own land dragon did a Uturn and headed toward them. He passed between the land dragons, confused by the loss of their riders, and called out to the tumbled men.

"You all right?! Falling from a horse can get you hurt pretty b…"

Subaru, concerned about such injuries, unwittingly let his voice die off midway. Having fallen from their land dragons, the knights were writhing around—but their state was far more precarious than mere physical wounds.

"Uu, uu, uu, aa—"

The strange voices they raised were not like those of human beings; they were closer to the noises of beasts.

One man was frothing at the mouth, convulsing on the ground with his eyes rolled up. Another man let out a moan as he desperately scratched at his own arms. Yet another clenched down on his molars until they broke, pounding his head against the ground.

There was no single set of symptoms, but even so, he knew: It was madness, using the mist as a medium to spread.

"This is…"

"The voice just now directly affected their minds through the mist… It is like mana poisoning, but this is terrible…!"

With Subaru restraining his voice, Rem put a hand to her forehead, making

an anguished face as she replied.

"Mana poisoning…? So this really isn't normal mist after all?!"

Judging from Rem's state and the feel of the mist coiled around his body, Subaru realized that this was the real function of the mist.

The wide-area mist was an unavoidable trap inflicting abnormal status on the beings within its broad reach. The vastness of the effect, and the damage it inflicted, was in plain sight.

Subaru didn't think the effects of the mist were limited to the squads around him and Rem, either. In fact, even as far as his eyes could see, he saw multiple squads stopped in their tracks, trying to deal with the abnormal state of their allies.

"So some people are resistant to the mist, and some aren't…? I don't feel a thing…!"

"I only feel a little from…my head… I am calm…now."

Breathing deeply several times, Rem touched the horn on her forehead as she calmed herself.

In the meantime, Subaru dropped from his land dragon, rushing to stop those attempting to hurt themselves.

"Hey, cut that out! Your wounds'll… Whoa!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Stay baaaaack!"

One of the confused men slapped his arm aside, scratching his arm without mercy. When the sharp pain sent Subaru into retreat, the man resumed his self-harming behavior, scraping his face enough that it began to bleed.

"That hurt, but ain't this pretty bad? They might not stop till they're dead!"

"Subaru! You're hurt?!"

"It hurts and I feel like cryin' a little, but it's nothin'! More importantly, everyone'll tear themselves apart if we don't do something! Isn't there anything we can do?"

As Rem rushed over, she had a grim look on her face as she shook her head to his reply.

"Unfortunately, I do not know how much effect my healing magic would have. This is not simply interfering with the body but the Odo directly through their gates. Only Master Ferris can deal with such powerful mana contamination…"

"In the first place, how long can he hold up against mental contamination?

Besides the two of us, we're pretty much wiped out here!"

The squad running alongside Subaru and Rem was virtually routed—and the few unharmed souls were trying to stop their comrades from hurting themselves like Subaru had.

"If Ferris gets contaminated, we're totally done for. What do we do…?"

This was only as far as Subaru could see. He could only despair that it was like that everywhere else, too.

Along with Crusch and Wilhelm, if Ferris, their pillar of support, were to fall, that would be it for them. It would be difficult to even maintain the fight at all.

"Everyone who can move, get the wounded to the Great Tree! Use whatever force you have to!"

But he heard Crusch's voice from the other side of the mist. A series of voices responded, and apparently, Crusch had escaped the effect of the mist. She was conveying how they would deal with that same menace.

Immediately after ordering the entire force to attack, she was instantly changing policies. Crusch's voice was chagrined, and Subaru, too, felt anger as he vented abuse at the White Whale.

"Strength-wise, fighting with people wounded is tougher than fighting with the dead, but do monsters even think to do that…?!"

"It seems Master Felix is safe. With him going around healing, the effects of the contamination should at least be diminished, but…"

Rem hesitated, but Subaru knew what she was trying to say.

With this much damage sustained, Ferris would have his hands completely full. With manpower split to gather the wounded, that made their fighting strength that much less. And more importantly—

"There's not enough time. We can't just be defenseless like this till Ferris heals everyone."

"Worst case, with the expeditionary force grouped up together like this, the White Whale's mist could swallow it whole. I do not wish to think it is that intelligent, but…given it has created this situation, that is optimistic."

"It's possible it's doing all this out of instinct, but…no, we can't underestimate it either way."

Resigning herself to the danger, Crusch meant to entrust the wounded expeditionary force members to Ferris. Naturally, it was necessary to do something to buy time so that the White Whale did not approach the wounded.

They needed to tender an attractive piece of bait to distract it from thoroughly pounding its enemy.

"—Whew."

Deeply breathing out, Subaru emptied his lungs.

Wringing oxygen out of his body to his limit, he naturally felt stifled inside his chest—his heartbeats slowed, and he knew that its rhythm was growing surer.

Subaru spontaneously made a strained smile at how unexpectedly calm he was.

He'd always been swept around by circumstances, toyed with by the events before his eyes, and Subaru's heart had reflected his emotions, running wild over and over.

So why was it he was so calm, then, on the precipice of his decision?

"…Borrowed or not, courage is courage, I guess?"

Subaru thumped his chest and breathed in deeply. He paused once, closed his eyes, and then breathed out and opened his eyes. He turned forward. Before Subaru, Rem, riding the land dragon, was looking down at him.

What was Subaru going to say? What did he desire? That was what she was waiting to hear.

"Rem, stick with me through the most dangerous part."

"Yes—no matter where it may lead."

Without hesitation, Rem accepted Subaru's request, a smile appearing on her face.

With that accepted, Subaru ran over to the land dragon. Rem lent her hand, and he virtually flew onto the land dragon's back, straddling it as he headed toward the knights restraining their comrades struggling on the ground.

"Rem and I will draw off the White Whale! In the meantime, get them treatment from Ferris. After you hand them to Ferris, anyone who seems all right, hook up with Crusch!"

"Draw them off?! How in the world will you…?"

"Like this."

Subaru smiled at the aged soldier raising a voice of doubt, drawing his breath and clearing his throat, then announced, "—Everyone who can hear

this, cover your ears!! And if you can't, stay right there!!"

Subaru's full-force voice echoed across the misty plain.

Rem listened comfortably to Subaru's loud voice, and then touched her hands to her ears. The nearby knights also rushed to cover their ears; other expeditionary force members within earshot had surely done the same—just as Subaru had asked of them at the briefing before the operation.

And then, Subaru willingly invoked the taboo— "I've Returned by Death—"

The instant he spoke it, Subaru's heart was wrenched by a rising fear— that, in spite of his intentions, those black hands would stretch toward his comrades, toward Rem.

But he forced that fear down, raising his voice so that the Witch might hear.

—You can have my heart, so gimme a hand here!!

Subaru opened his eyes wide, suppressed his weakness, and shouted in his heart—and a moment later, it came to visit.

"I love you."

It was a frail, delicate voice that seemed to whisper into his ears.

However, what was the ardor infused within that made his breast tremble?

Unwittingly, tears welled in the corners of his eyes, and Subaru's breath caught as he was struck by the urge to chase after the receding voice to embrace the speaker that very moment.

His entire body was governed by the heat of love, burning white-hot in his mind—

"…I'm back."

After a brief sojourn, Subaru's mind woke to reality.

The fervor that had ruled Subaru until the moment before grew distant, and he became unable to remember the deep feelings he'd had until then. But he did feel unease at the fierce pain he'd supposedly resigned himself to having miraculously failed to arrive. Yet, even so…

"Rem, how is it? The Witch's scent on me…"

"You stink!"

"That was the idea, but isn't that a bit harsh?!"

Though not thrilled to receive a black mark from Rem, he'd accomplished

his objective.

His body shrouded in the Witch's miasma, Subaru looked back and raised his voice to the knights all around.

"Get away from us right now! Get as close to the big tree as you can and link up with Crusch as best as you can manage!"

"U-understood! Good fighting!"

"You too!"

Sending off the knights, Subaru's pat of Rem's shoulder was the signal for the land dragon to start running.

At present, Subaru's body was giving off the fresh, lingering scent of the Witch—setting aside the contradiction in those words, the scent had to be wafting all around him. The problem was how much effect it would have on the White Whale.

"With the Urugarums, the effect was enough to cover the entire forest, but how 'bout this time…? To be honest, there's no way to measure it, but…"

When he'd encountered the White Whale in the previous world, the White Whale had tenaciously pursued Otto's dragon carriage after Subaru shifted over to it. At the time, he'd said nothing in relation to the Witch. So if Subaru gave off an even stronger scent than before, he ought to be prime bait for the

White Whale—

Just after he had that thought—

"—?!"

The land dragon, charging straight ahead, sensed something and turned abruptly on its own judgment—with centrifugal force drawing an "Ugeh!!" out of Subaru as he hastily hugged Rem, right before his eyes, seemingly clinging for dear life.

"What's…?!"

"The White Whale!!"

As Rem, pressed against him, shouted, a gargantuan maw suddenly emerged from the side, breaking through the mist.

By a hair's breadth, Subaru and Rem diverged from their path and escaped, with the White Whale's huge mouth seeming to slide past them a little to the left, biting into the ground, swallowing grass and topsoil whole.

Its stony outer hide seemed to be grazed as the demon beast rushed past, and from nearby, they heard the sound of its maw biting the ground apart.

Then, with a roar, it chased after the pair.

"Whoaaaaa—?!"

There was an overwhelming amount of pressure as it chased them from the rear.

With the overpowering sense chasing his back that they would be squished, the land dragon that the shouting Subaru rode earnestly kicked the earth. However, the swimming speed of the pursuing White Whale was extraordinary. With an enormous body like a mountain, it swam with such force that it surpassed the wind, closing the distance quickly.

Steadily, the maw pressed close, drinking up the world around it.

When the tip of its nose was right at their backs, close enough to bathe them in the raw stench of its breath…

"Rem!"

"Ul Hyuma!!"

…Rem responded with an incantation, sending three pillars of ice thrusting out of the ground as one.

Her aim was true, punching into the White Whale pursuing the pair from right below it, impaling its belly in an attempt to halt its movements. Yet—

"It won't stop—!"

The icy spears, each as thick as a hundred spears bundled together, were snapped off at the base, giving off a high-pitched sound as the ice shattered. The destroyed spears of ice instantly returned to the mana from whence they came, and though the White Whale, having lost what was sealing its wounds, bled from them, there was no effect on its movement.

That it had been wounded and bled so much seemed only to bring into sharper relief the extent of its endurance. Subaru was aghast all over again at just how high a hurdle bringing down the White Whale was.

"This ain't like with the Urugarum when it was one-on-one!"

" !!"

As Subaru moved farther from the White Whale, he raised his middle finger, taunting it. Enraged at the gesture, the White Whale's roar thundered across the plains. But from the side of its torso… "Ryaaaaa—!"

…Wilhelm intervened, flying in with a vertical slash.

Driving his blade in, Wilhelm ran up the White Whale's flank. As Wilhelm cut through the bloody mist, the kitten siblings appeared alongside, straddling their ligers and looking at each other's faces.

"Big Sis, join with me!" "Let's do this, Hetaro!!"

As the ligers crossed, Mimi and Hetaro leaped off and joined hands. The two stood before the gaping wound Wilhelm had carved as they yelled:

"Wa—!" "Ha—!"

The pair's voices overlapped; the sound waves broadened with incredibly destructive might.

The shock wave coursed in through the open wound, making every injury on the White Whale's body bleed once more. The enormous body shuddered, and the White Whale's altitude dropped precipitously against its will. The White Whale groaned in agony, raising its voice as it endured the pain, and barely managed to avoid crashing as the twins, riding their ligers, leaped off its back.

"Trump card compleeete!" "Captain, please!"

"Oh yeah, leave it to me! If the runts are tryin' hard, then I've gotta, too!!"

In place of the landing twins, a large liger climbed onto the White Whale from the tail end.

Swinging his cleaver upward, Ricardo went around smacking the countless mouths that spawned mist. Wilhelm did the same, jamming slashes into the annoying mouths, silencing them one by one.

But the White Whale didn't let them smash its means of attack without a response. From the mouths, seemingly infinite no matter how many they smashed, a literal barrage of annihilating mist spewed out.

Ricardo, relying on his liger's mobility, and Wilhelm, pushing his body past normal human limits, continued to dodge, dodge, and dodge that mist some more.

The expeditionary force and the Iron Fangs had both reorganized, and they began firing magic crystal cannons once more to assist Wilhelm and Ricardo in their precarious position. With the White Whale's own attacks unable to hit, and apparently losing patience from the increasing damage from the pesky attackers, it twisted its massive body, opening its mouth fully to spread mist far and wide.

"Rem—!!"

Faster than Subaru could shout, Rem had their land dragon leap up onto the White Whale's nose. The approach of Subaru, with the scent of the Witch wafting around him, made the White Whale reflexively stare at them, throwing off its concentration; it was looking to send them flying when a slash interrupted that plan.

" !!"

"That's very rude of you. Here I am, after nothing but your head for fourteen years, and you look away."

With a stab, Wilhelm thrust deep into the White Whale's brow, his movement halting when his blade sank into the skull. But the aged swordsman instantly abandoned his third sword, leaping in and kicking full force the hilt of the sword he had let go of, and withdrew his fourth and fifth swords, both blades dancing wildly across the White Whale's back.

Also atop the White Whale's back, Ricardo linked up with Wilhelm, opening his large mouth and laughing.

"This is gettin' fun! It's tougher than I thought, but it's not all that strong, now, is it!"

"No…the response is a little too weak."

While Ricardo exulted, Wilhelm knitted his brows and murmured. Biting his lip, Wilhelm sliced into the White Whale's tail fin as he said, "I cannot easily believe my wife…the Sword Saint…could be defeated by this level of demon beast. Even considering that it did not take the initiative and split us apart with mist at the beginning…"

As Wilhelm swung his blades, his thought process was interrupted by the White Whale whirling its body about.

"Do—? Waaaah?!"

The demon beast's action, differing from all those before it, sent the White Whale's head suddenly rising up, with the force sending Ricardo and his liger flying off.

Then Wilhelm, still atop the White Whale, said, "I'll take one more before I take my leave!"

With the demon beast wriggling its body as it swam in the air, Wilhelm ran down it with nimble movements. The White Whale's body was climbing, with Wilhelm leaping down in the opposite direction. Finely adjusting his center of gravity and using the stabs of his blades to control his posture by force, the highly experienced old swordsman exercised his body to the fullest, chopping off at the base one of the dorsal fins at the extreme edge of the enormous body.

" !!"

Listening to the White Whale's scream, Wilhelm rode the fin he'd sent flying onto the ground below. Normally, you would think a fall from such a great altitude would result in instant death, but the soles of Wilhelm's feet kicked off the fin just before impact, and his land dragon caught him, softening the blow.

"Wilhelm!"

" "

Subaru tried to make sure he was all right, but Wilhelm did not respond, for his eyes were on the White Whale, still rapidly ascending.

Drawn in, Subaru looked up, and his vision was caught by the White Whale's tail as it swam in the sky high above.

Blood dripped from the fin that had been sliced off, pouring downward with violent force. The grassy plain was dyed scarlet, and Wilhelm was bathed in red rain, his will to fight undiminished.

Subaru didn't think the White Whale was going to just turn tail and run, either, but the demon beast's goal in heading up into the sky was unclear. The Iron Fangs and the expeditionary force uneasily looked up at the sky, and Subaru grew concerned for the wounded gathered at the roots of the Great Tree.

"It's coming."

Wilhelm made a small murmur as he turned his gaze upward.

Seeing the aged swordsman narrow his eyes and return both hands to his sword hilts put everyone on guard.

And then, as they held their breaths—they regretted it. Too late, they knew they should have deployed instantly without waiting for the White Whale, floating above their heads, to act.

"—Mist, incoming!!"

Subaru shouted as loudly as he could. Rem made the land dragon whirl about and move away from the front.

The land dragons and ligers all around them started running all at once, but there was no longer any leeway for Subaru to raise his head and see if the others were safe.

—Billowing, annihilating mist came falling to earth with such force that it seemed to blot out the sky.

The mist was like the clouds themselves were falling. There was no way to avoid it save escaping the area. Sheltering behind rocks or trees was meaningless resistance before destruction that would swallow all obstacles whole.

There was nothing they could do but start running and pray that they were in time.

Too afraid to look up, Subaru merely felt the oppression of the soundless apocalypse hurtling from above. He earnestly squatted against the land dragon's back, lowering his posture as far as he could as they ran— "We got through?!"

Having apparently slipped out from under the thick mist and entered a clearer area, Subaru turned his head around and looked back.

There were several figures on the ground behind them that hadn't made it out in time, swallowed up as the mist pressed down upon them. With expressions of fear and anger chiseled on the human beings' faces, they earnestly fled, but they were engulfed by the mist from the head down and vanished.

The land dragons were obliterated with them. With the mist falling and scattering to the ground, no trace of their destruction remained. Not even their names would remain in anyone's memories. None save Subaru, the only one who would remember their deaths.

"U…aa…"

There were little moans in front of Subaru from distant figures scattered about the mists. It was clear that their numbers had greatly diminished since they had regrouped. That of course went for the expeditionary force's knights, but the Iron Fangs had not escaped unscathed, either.

If we at least have our big guns, thought Subaru, shifting his gaze.

"Wil…"

He spotted Wilhelm, barely keeping one hand on his land dragon's back as he escaped the mist's area of effect. It was when Subaru called out to him from behind that he realized.

—That from the other side of the dense mist, the demon beast was chasing Wilhelm, opening its huge mouth.

"—Run!"

"Nn—?!"

Wilhelm noticed the impending menace at his back at about the same time Subaru shouted. But both came too late for him to react in time.

Approaching without a sound, the maw of the White Whale swallowed the ground, the land dragon, and Wilhelm whole.

Scraping the ground, everything on the surface around Wilhelm was gouged out, entering the White Whale's mouth.

"Aaah…!"

Faced with the shock of that spectacle, it was not only Subaru who shouted but Rem as well.

Knowing the grudge the old man bore, the sense of loss was all that much greater. More importantly, losing their main fighting strength would make their situation most dire, but…

"Oh no, ya don't!!"

This time, someone else raised his voice from right beside them.

Before they could react, a liger came in from the side, bumping their land dragon and sending Subaru and Rem flying.

"Whoaa?!"

Tumbling from the staggered land dragon, Subaru grimaced from the pain of getting smacked all over. From the voice, he knew that it was Ricardo who had committed the sudden act of violence, but before he could ask what the big idea was… "—Gaa!"

…Subaru gasped as he saw crimson flowers bloom before his eyes.

"Huh?"

The liger was sliced apart, pieces of its flesh sent flying as its corpse cruelly rolled onto the grassland. The large-statured beast man who should have been straddling it had vanished, with a vast pool of fresh blood left behind in his place.

The White Whale swam at low altitude, swaying its enormous body and waving the tail that was covered in Ricardo's blood.

He…shielded us?

Then what…happened to Ricardo?

There were various questions coming to mind, but Subaru set them aside when he realized something he could not ignore.

Before him was a White Whale, which had mowed down Ricardo with its tail.

And…

"No…way…"

When he looked back, he saw the White Whale that had swallowed Wilhelm and the ground around him beginning to bite down.

In front, behind and up above, he saw yet another whale-shaped figure high in the sky, scattering mist all around.

—The infinite mouths of the three White Whales laughed together, drawing out the despair of men.

Bit by bit, Subaru once again felt hope being blotted out by a nightmare.

CHAPTER 4

A GAMBLE TO RESIST DESPAIR

1

The chorus grew higher and farther, echoing as they overlapped.

In a world thick with mist, there were three fish-shaped figures, their enormous bodies swaying as they swam.

The twisted mouths stretching from one side to the other of their huge frames were bizarre, continuing to emit a sound like fingernails on glass.

It was a malevolent monster that had swallowed people of many races, extinguishing innumerable lives.

That single monster had wielded enough power on its own to inspire despair within the hearts of all people, and now there were three, mocking those who dared to defy them.

As Subaru looked up at the White Whale floating above his head, he heard the small sound of someone falling to his knees. A string of similar sounds followed, joined by a chain of high-pitched clatters—weapons falling from their wielders' grasps.

He saw the shoulders of one of the knights participating in the expeditionary force had fallen, and the man stared at the ground as he crouched low. His shoulders trembled, and none could hold back the weep rushing up into his throat.

When Subaru gazed at the man's fellow knights around him, not one had a single word to say.

They'd come fully equipped with all the numbers they could muster, seized the initiative and slammed their firepower into it, yet having taken the offensive to that extent—they'd come to this senseless situation.

Their numbers had already been halved by the depth of the mental contamination, and their remaining main fighting strength had been pulverized in a surprise attack by the newly emerged White Whales. Even if they gathered all their remaining strength together, it would still amount to less than half the fighting strength they had started with. On top of that, the demon beasts they had to fell numbered three—surely there was no chance of victory.

Everyone grasped it in a single second. They realized that their objective, and their lives, would be ruined in that place.

The terror of the demon beast was great. And the bonds that the demon beast had robbed them of weighed heavily. And yet, they were powerless, unable to make it pay for the loss of precious life it had stolen from them.

When the weight of all that crashing down, and the hearts that had supported them until that moment had broken, who could blame them for falling to their knees on the spot?

In the face of such a senseless, unchangeable reality, could anyone deny that they should give up?

"—Don't let it swallow him!!"

Abruptly, an angry bellow reverberated far across the silence that had befallen the plain.

Hearing that voice, Subaru unwittingly lifted his face and he saw a lone figure kicking off the ground, leaping toward the White Whale—a girl, with a flutter of her maid uniform and wielding a vile, spiked iron ball with her hand.

With a gale entwined around it, the roaring iron ball came to a halt when it slammed straight into the White Whale's nose, easily smashing the hard outer hide, continuing on to gouge out exposed flesh and bone, widening the destructive wound further.

The White Whale let out a scream and tried to lift its head up to the sky. But a blade of ice stretched up from the ground to impale its tail, and as it twisted its body around, the small-statured girl whirled her iron ball around, scoring a merciless hit that made the White Whale's enormous frame shudder as blood was scattered all about.

"We can still save him if we get him out before he's in its belly—!"

There was a young man shouting, holding a rent shoulder as blood flowed from his brow.

He walked out in front, giving orders to the girl swinging the iron ball. He grimaced, bitterly feeling the powerlessness that kept him from joining the battle himself, but even so, he stepped forward.

A land dragon stood at the young man's side. He slowly climbed onto its back, his clumsy posture clearly from not being accustomed to riding, but still, he strongly gripped the reins and shouted, "We're not done yet! None of this is over!!"

Before the knights seized by surrender, the young man lifted his face as if he was bolstering his own spirits, bared his teeth, opened his eyes wide, glared at the White Whale, and yelled.

"—Don't think this is enough despair to stop me!!"

2

Subaru keenly felt the sound of despair's footsteps approaching.

One was above his head, one was behind him, and one was right in front of him—three in total.

This ain't funny.

How much fighting strength had they poured to confront just one of them, and how much did they actually wound it? Because things weren't going so well, it called out two of its buddies to start the real fight. It was all a bad joke.

Just how many senseless hardships would it take until Fate was satisfied?

Shielded by Ricardo, Subaru had been tossed to the ground and remained there as he grit his teeth. Had he not clamped his molars shut, he would have let out sounds of weakness, or even sobs.

Gently, he felt everything before his eyes go dark. His brain was unable to bear the strain of accepting the bitter circumstances; his mind seemed ready to give out from hopelessness at any moment.

Suddenly, he realized that the familiar despair was mocking him, chummily wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

"—Whaaaat, is it not about time you gave up once more?"

He could not see the face of the faint shadow, but someone was chuckling, the familiar voice suggesting he surrender.

With those words, Subaru vividly accepted the weight of the circumstances before him that barred his path.

Around him, Subaru saw the knights falling to their knees and giving up, just like him. They, too, comprehended that the situation before their eyes was beyond their means. Robbed even of the ardor to begin to resist, strength drained from everyone's eyes, and the willpower to even hold a weapon evaporated.

When that sight broke his spirit, and he gave in to the futility wrapped around his shoulders, he realized something.

Right at his side was Rem, thrown from the land dragon at the same time he had been. Having fallen on her side, she sat up, and he saw sadness on the side of her comely face.

Her cheeks were taut, her lips blue, and her eyelids shaking.

When he stared at her like that, he thought rather casually, Her eyelashes are long, huh. And he believed…

—A smile suits her so much better.

That was why—

"You're not getting any more stage time, ever!"

He brusquely shook off the chummy arm wrapped around his shoulders.

With the shadow's mouth twisting in visible surprise, Subaru's next action was to turn a smiling face toward it and deliver a straight right punch— smashing the black shadow to pieces and halting the shaking of his body.

Stupid. Pathetic. He didn't have the time for doubts or stopping in place.

So there were two more whales. So what?

His limbs could move. He could lift his face. His eyes could see. His voice came out. It reached her. Rem was there. Rem was alive. There was nothing there, nothing at all, that warranted giving up.

—Stand up.

Over and over, again and again, his heart had been broken.

—Stand up.

A senseless fate had buffeted him, with despair being the conclusion forced upon him.

—Stand up.

When he thought all was lost, he threw everything to the wind, trying to abandon all as he ran, and when even that was not permitted, he faced his own heart.

—Stand up.

What for?

"For a time…like this, damn it!!"

He rammed a fist into the ground, pushing his torso upright.

When Subaru howled, lifting his face, Rem looked at him in surprise.

Subaru turned to her, extended his hand, and glared at the White Whale in front of him.

"It ain't over yet—it won't end like this."

"…Subaru."

"Let's do it, Rem. It's our big scene."

Meekly, she slowly grasped the outstretched hand that then pulled her to her feet. As she rose, Subaru hugged her around her chest, drawing her face close.

"Giving up ain't our style. Not me, not you—not one of us!"

3

With a howl, Rem ferociously leaped at the White Whale, twisting her body and ramming her fist into its stony hide. Her left arm swung around the iron ball, which crashed into its target with a tremendous sound, causing the White Whale to groan in agony as blood frothed forth.

Rem was attacking the one that had swallowed Wilhelm from behind. The maw looked like it was biting down, but it was hard to believe that Sword Devil would be chewed so easily.

"As long as the head ain't smashed, we'll drag him out somehow—!"

Pulling the reins, Subaru didn't feel particularly secure, but he entrusted his body weight to the land dragon.

For Subaru to handle the reins himself, rather than Rem, was troubling; he had basically zero training. He only had the time on the road before arriving at the Great Flugel Tree and the free time after arrival to practice using a dragon mount.

There was no way Subaru, lacking any experience whatsoever with horses from his old world, could master land dragons with only a few hours of practice. It was all he could do to set direction and speed, and to cling so as not to fall off.

Even so, the highly intelligent land dragon perfectly grasped both Subaru's intentions and his capabilities. The pitch-black land dragon Subaru had chosen as his very own mount was being considerate so as not to let its inexperienced rider fall.

Good land dragon. Nimble on your feet, sturdy, and more than anything, very quick on the uptake. From this moment on, your name is Patlash. That's the only name I could think of for such a loyal partner.

"Let's go, Patlash! Circle around the tip of the whale's nose!"

The loud shout and a crack of the reins spurred the land dragon into a run. Patlash responded with a gallop at a forward angle, knowing no fear as it charged toward the mighty White Whale.

With Rem clinging to its body, the White Whale was twisting to try to throw her off, but it sensed Subaru's approach and instinctively turned its head in his direction.

"Sniffing Subaru's scent is a privilege for me alone—!"

Rem leaped to the side of its face, delivering a kick with the force of a cannonball.

The enormous face was greatly dented, and there, the iron ball scored an additional direct hit. The whirling iron ball broke through the White Whale's cheek, snapping molars and sullying the grassy ground reddish black from blood and saliva.

A yellow liquid dribbled out of the wound as the White Whale screeched. Its body crashed to the ground and began to writhe upon it like a fish out of water.

The earth was gouged in the process, with clods of soil violently scattered about. The wildly waving tail split the surface of the ground, mowing the wind and flying toward Subaru from the side with him seemingly unaware—and just when he was in danger of a square hit…

"Ta-daa, Mimi is here!!"

…the little feline beast person intervened a moment prior to the blow, the staff in her hand swinging to deploy a magical wall. With a yellow glow, the blow bounced off, and liger and land dragon rushed through the resulting gap at once.

Taking a breath, Subaru turned back to look at Mimi—the kitten that had saved him—and said, "Thanks a bunch! I'd have bought it right after starting the counterattack all cool and stuff!"

"Hu-huu, you can praise Mimi more! But for today I'll praise you for working so haaard, mister!"

"Working…?"

Mimi puffed her chest out, then when Subaru crooked his neck, she laughed at him. As she did so, she gave an orange pigtail a flick of her finger before she responded.

"Everyone was all blue and couldn't even stand, but you bounced back first, didn't you? Good boy! You're amazing! Not as good as Mimi, though!" "It's no big deal. I'm not about to let despair get the better of me." With Mimi extolling him in a loud voice, Subaru bit his lip and grimaced.

That's right. It wasn't anything to be praised for.

Just how much bitterness had Subaru tasted along the way?

Compared with the impossible horrors he'd faced, how did a situation where he could still fight afford him the leeway to immerse himself in surrender…?

If he had time to wallow in surrender, he might as well cough his blood out and go searching for hope, for defiance was far, far, far more comforting than surrender.

" !!"

As Patlash bounded, rushing straight forward, a fish silhouette suddenly appeared right in front, opening its huge mouth.

Seeing the inside of the grotesque throat at point-blank range, Subaru instantly leaned forward as they took evasive action. But the mist filling the mouth dispersed a little faster than he could evade it— "Close your mouth—!"

From far overhead, an invisible blade swung down, vertically slashing the open maw.

The power of the blow closed the mouth by force, and the White Whale writhed on the ground as it passed Subaru and Mimi. When Subaru lifted his head after just barely escaping, he saw Crusch was galloping over from the other side of the battlefield.

She ran until she pulled alongside Subaru's land dragon, vilely glaring at the White Whale as she spoke.

"From a glance, this seems to be the worst possible case. What happened to Wilhelm?"

"If you remember him, that means at least he wasn't wiped out by the mist… It's up to Rem now."

Shifting his head, Subaru replied while keeping his eyes on the White

Whale turning around and locking its sights on them. Receiving his answer, Crusch looked toward Rem, still in fierce combat. As the iron ball smashed downward, fresh blood spewed forth, and that White Whale made the ground quake as it thrashed in a sea of its own blood.

"What do you see, Subaru Natsuki?"

"What do you mean by 'what do you see'? If you're suggesting in the sense of winning, I could say something self-serving, like, 'I see various things separating my life and my death,' but…"

"Not that. Do you not find it strange?"

Crusch sent an invisible blade after the bridge of the nose of the White Whale pursuing from behind. The White Whale groaned, its pursuit crushed at the outset, while Subaru commented, "Strange?" as he looked at Crusch.

"The White Whales have multiplied to three. Viewing it simply, the situation is desperate. But if the White Whale was truly a horde of monsters, is that really something we wouldn't notice?"

"I don't really get what you're trying to say."

"It must be some kind of trick."

Crusch said it bluntly, turning her gallant face toward Subaru. By nature, having that powerful gaze shooting through Subaru made him stand straighter.

"So we've got to…figure out what it is?"

"We shall render aid so as to buy time for your escape. Either way, we cannot hold for long. We must do something—retreat is no longer an option."

So declaring, Crusch changed the orientation of her land dragon and moved away from Subaru.

Making a wide turn, she circled around the White Whale glaring down from above as she showed her face to the scattered units of the expeditionary force, raising her voice.

"Stand! Lift up your heads! Seize your arms! What have you come this far for?!"

"..."

The gazes of the men, seized by misery and despair, rose.

Before them, Crusch grandly drew her treasured sword and raised it to the heavens as she cried.

"Look at that man! He carries no weapon. He is helpless, so weak that the wind alone could carry him away. I have seen this powerless man battered down with my own eyes!"

As Subaru ran, Crusch pointed him out with the treasured sword of her house as she cried louder still.

"He is weaker than any of you!"

Yes. Everything Crusch said was true. Subaru was weak. Weaker than anyone.

He had no power to fight. He had no ability save that of surviving. He had been crushed over and over—a man who had been beaten down and defeated many times.

"Yet, it is the weakest among you who was the quickest to yell it is not over!"

It was the most helpless man there who had grit his teeth and said he could still fight. He held back his tears, coughed out his blood, and in spite of that, stood up to resist for all to see.

"Then why are we hanging our heads low?"

"..."

"Our power is weak. Even all together, I know not if we can reach the demon beast's throat. Even so, if the weakest among us has not surrendered, how can we be allowed to fall to our knees?!"

"Y-yeah…"

The broken men with knees that would not stop shaking looked to one another, encouraging one another to stand once more.

They picked up their fallen weapons and drew close to the land dragons waiting at their riders' sides.

They reached out with their hands, took the reins, and where they had been kneeling now appeared knights astride their land dragons' backs.

The mounts neighed as the knights drew their swords and cleared their throats once more.

A great shout arose—a battle cry to take pride in their own souls, as if to rally their own hearts.

Behind the weakest man on the battlefield, they let out a ferocious roar, driving away the foolishness that lowered their heads.

—People call this emotion shame.

It was the fear of shame that made the knights lift their heads, cut through the various emotions holding them in place, or give in, and gave them the strength to step forward.

"Let's go!! Charge!!"

"Ooooo—!!"

With their once-yielding souls reinspired, the knights resumed their advance.

The force of land dragons kicked up a cloud of dust. Though the expeditionary force now totaled just under fifty souls, they ferociously charged the two White Whales within reach of their swords, with Crusch at the head.

Listening to the upsurge in the expeditionary force's morale, and to the scolding from Crusch that had sparked it, Subaru couldn't keep the corners of his lips from making a strained smile.

"Rub in how much of a weakling and a beaten dog I am, why don't you…?"

The fact that he couldn't bring himself to refute it only proved the severity of his case.

They could call him what they liked, use him as they liked. It was the truth that Subaru was helpless, a loser, broken and flung about, and thus he had arrived at that point.

It was because Subaru understood it that he could bellow then and there: Losing didn't mean it was over, being broken didn't mean you had to submit, being flung about meant there was still time, and being helpless…was not allowed.

"I'm counting on you, Patlash. Go right up close one more time, to the tip of its nose!"

The land dragon leaned down at an angle, clawing the ground and making repeated sharp turns, crying out as it rushed the White Whale.

With the White Whale trying to shake Rem off before their eyes, Crusch and mixed split-off squads went on the attack in support. The knights' swords kicked up sparks as they rent the White Whale's outer hide, and they pulled away so that mounted dragons running parallel could add explosions via magic crystals.

The White Whale let out a cry, slapping the ground all around it. Even that act of writhing in pain was a difficult-to-evade violent force to the human beings around it. One land dragon and mounted knight pair was sent flying by the attack; crushed by a very heavy weight, the sound of bones breaking scattered about.

Blood spurted, and a single human life was snuffed out—Subaru burned the sight into his eyes.

A chill ran up his spine. He could not have saved him in time, but this was the result of Subaru's decision.

It was the result of Subaru choosing to start that battle. He could not look away.

The instant Subaru rejected that fact would be the moment he lost to the emotion of shame.

When he'd lost to his own heart, when he'd faced his most despicable weaknesses, he deeply, gently rejected those weaknesses even so. That was why he could pamper himself no longer.

With a shudder, he tasted the sensation of blood draining away as he cut through the wind, trusting fully in his land dragon.

—The annihilating mist spewed by the countless mouths was right beside them as they grazed past.

If even a single one of his fingers should have touched it, Subaru's existence would be erased and brought to an end.

His entire body would be engulfed in a sense of loss different than death, and he would vanish, ended without even anyone to remember him.

However…

"El Fulla!" "Like we'll let you!!" "Where do you think you're looking?!"

…wind magic swept the mist aside. Blades rising with a bellow, and mauls with a roar, pounded and crushed the mouths spewing mist.

The knights' support slightly thinned the barrage of mist. Even so, the mist's firepower was cause for despair, but Subaru's entire nervous system had grown finely attuned to the aura of impending erasure.

Leaving their course to Patlash, Subaru's flesh took evasive action atop its back. He sprang onto his arms and pushed up. In so doing, Subaru evaded the mist pressing upon him from the rear, but having completely thrown off his balance, he was on his way to a fall when— "G-guuuuuts!!"

Gripping the reins, he thrust his knees onto the saddle, barely averting the fall. The gripping power he'd honed swinging a wooden sword, something meaningless in his original world, allowed his hands to just barely hold on rather than slip from the shaking and vibrations.

Subaru hung on to Patlash, clawing along the ground, as they broke past the barrage.

Their vision cleared, and when the considerate land dragon slackened the pace, Subaru reseated himself, ending what must have looked like the most disgraceful sight ever. His endurance, never great to begin with, had fallen, and at that rate, next time would be one-sided—but Crusch and the others advanced on the White Whale, launching their attack.

"Gotta rack my brain… Haaa, shit, don't just put your life on the line— think, damn it!"

Even as he breathed raggedly, putting his life on the line to earnestly act as a decoy once more, Subaru's thoughts wandered to the trick Crusch had brought up during their prior conversation.

Where the White Whale's "ecology" was concerned, Subaru was the least informed person there. He had no way of appreciating the damage the being had wrought beyond the extent of the words Great Expedition.

There had to be something Subaru could notice, something that only he could notice, that others could not.

Wilhelm had been chasing the White Whale for fourteen years to avenge his wife. The notion that the Sword Devil, having nursed that grudge to arrive at that field of battle, could overlook such critical information as "There are multiple White Whales" was simply unthinkable. Naturally, that meant the phenomenon was unknown.

Then why hadn't anyone been told? —No, why had it escaped their knowledge?

"Why did more come out all of a sudden? …The premise that there were three to start with is just weird."

He felt like he was about to catch on. But before he could, Patlash's earnest sprint had brought them within smelling range of the White Whale.

Crusch was chasing the White Whale, adding slashes from her treasured sword to it, but its gaze was shifting heavily toward Subaru. Simultaneously, it opened its mouth, releasing a roar that seemed to shatter the air along with the dense, vastly destructive mist that had filled its oral cavity.

Patlash stomped down, sharply changing directions. That got them out of the oncoming tyrannical mist's immediate reach but was half a step short in getting them out of its effective range—yet…

"We'll handle this!" "We won't let ya!!"

…Hetaro and Mimi intervened, buying them the time to take that last half step.

The twin cat people opened their mouths, unleashing overlapping roars of "Wa!" and "Ha!" The sound waves intermingled to combine into one, entwining as they transformed into destructive power. Then, the vast oscillation wave rippled across the plain, striking the onrushing mist head-on and blowing it apart.

"Whoaa!! That's awesome!!"

"Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah! Praise me more! Woo-hoo!"

"There you go again, Big Sis…"

Subaru's honest praise made Mimi puff her chest out, her cheeks loosening in satisfaction. Running alongside her, Hetaro exhaled, the two sandwiching Subaru as they darted close to him.

"We will support you. Without you, Mr. Natsuki, I do not see any way of winning this battle," Hetaro said.

"So can we go bam, boom, badaboom, and stuff?" Mimi asked.

"Big Sis, we've been going bam, boom, badaboom, but we still need Mr.

Natsuki's help." "Heh!"

The low-stress conversation continued with Subaru stuck in the middle.

Leaving aside Mimi acting like she didn't grasp the situation in the slightest, Subaru turned his head toward the receptive-looking Hetaro and said, "That team-up attack, that's the one you smacked the White Whale with midway, huh. Can you do it again?"

"Mana is tight, so one more and I will be at my limit—Big Sis and I will defend you until the captain finishes healing up."

"That Ricardo guy, he's alive?!"

When Subaru raised his voice at the unexpected good news, Hetaro said yes as he nodded.

That gesture spread the relief in Subaru's heart. When the liger Ricardo had ridden was cruelly slain, he'd seen the large amount of blood and feared Ricardo might have been blown away without even a trace.

"Our gravely wounded captain had a message for you, Mr. Natsuki."

"A message… It's not something like, 'You owe me big'?"

"I believe he will say this to you later from his own mouth, but…it goes as follows. Ahem. 'Wha—? It got lighter. Fact I ain't dead is proof o' that.' End of message."

Hetaro conveyed the message, mimicking Ricardo down to his Kararagi dialect. Subaru made no comment on the quality of the portrayal as he mulled over the meaning of the words spoken to him.

It was a message Ricardo had literally put his life on the line to get to him. If he could only wrap his mind around the meaning within, and the real message behind it—

"You don't sound anything like him."

"Yeah, not one bit! You have no talent for this, not at all!"

"Is this the time to say something like that?!"

Mimi innocently concurred with Subaru's insensitive remark. Hetaro refuted their thoughts with a voice on the verge of tears, but Subaru let that slide off him and looked up at the sky.

Two of the White Whales were still tangling with the expeditionary force, engaged in fierce combat. On the other hand, the White Whale floating in the sky, with a commanding view of the battle, was calmly watching from up high.

Subaru felt that its behavior was somehow…unnatural.

The expeditionary force had lost its main fighting strength, and the diminished squads were split apart, fighting on two fronts. Even with Subaru fulfilling his role as a distraction, if the White Whale floating in the sky were to join either front, it would be enough to decisively shift the course of the battle. If either force was gobbled up, they were finished.

And yet, that White Whale did nothing. Why…? "Ricardo's message…"

Lighter, Ricardo had said.

He was conveying the reason he hadn't died after putting his life on the line.

So what did that mean? Lighter, but what was lighter? His life? Certainly life was lighter on the field of battle, but he didn't think that's how it was meant. Lighter, lighter meant…

"This is a heavy, hard situation. What the hell can be lighter…?!"

He put all his weight on Patlash and charged toward the tip of the nearest White Whale once more.

With Crusch and the others all over it, the White Whale's oral cavity aimed their way, but an invisible slash from Crusch at the magic crystals lobbed into it inflicted explosive damage.

A cry went up among the knights. Even as their numbers diminished, one here, one there, they were currently maintaining the battlefront on inexhaustible morale alone.

Was this how strong human beings became when they resolved to defy death before their eyes?

After all, the expeditionary force had challenged the White Whale with its full roster. Having lost their main fighting force and even much of their numbers, the fact that they were still resisting by force of arms could only be said to be the power of will—

"You can't expect even the power of will to explain all this, though." Having thought that far, Subaru gasped, lifting his face.

He looked back at the White Whale left in the lurch behind him, glaring at the demon beast's distant visage.

Then, he realized what felt so off.

"If that's the case…!"

Subaru gritted his teeth, a chill running through his entire body when the possibility rose and coursed through him.

Transmitting his intent through the reins, Patlash made a sharp turn and ferociously approached the other White Whale.

Rem, fighting furiously with her full Oni power unleashed, rode a liger as she smashed hole after hole in the White Whale's torso. Even with her apron dress sullied by demon beast blood spatter, she smiled firmly when she sensed Subaru's approach.

Seeing that happy expression while she was daubed in whale blood was disconcerting, but imprudent as it was, Subaru watched Rem with fascination. Even with the situation at such a disadvantage, Rem trusted in Subaru's reckless resolve.

Her faith, her love, could not go unanswered.

"..."

Without any exchange of words, Subaru's land dragon crossed Rem's liger, with Subaru going toward the tip of the White Whale's nose, and Rem turning her mount toward its tail.

There was no need to stop and discuss it. Both knew that Subaru had his own role to play, and Rem had hers.

When Subaru circled to the front of the White Whale, the demon beast, sensing his approach, shifted his head in his direction. Above its gigantic eye, multiple mist-spewing mouths appeared, drooling as they emitted white mist.

"Ta-daa! Ba-baam! Whoosh, scatter, scatter!"

The liger Mimi rode jumped to the left of Patlash, to the right, above, and all around. As Mimi made decisive poses and voiced sound effects atop the big dog's back, the staff in her hand glowed, blocking the mist with a magic wall, buying Subaru and Patlash enough time to evade before the barrage reached them.

"This is gonna cost you big, mister!"

"I'm grateful enough; when this is over I'll thank you a hundred times over!"

"Okay, then!"

At Mimi's laconic reply, he turned his back and ran parallel in pursuit of the White Whale. Then he overtook it, and got out in front.

Subaru turned, and he and the White Whale glared at each other. The demon beast, its one eye dyed crimson, let out a high-pitched cry at the defiance of the boy, as annoying and small as a pest. But the beast's appearance lent conviction to Subaru's own thoughts.

Neither that White Whale, nor the one facing Crusch and the others, had a left eye.

"Just like I thought! There ain't three of ya, damn it—you split apart!"

The one floating in the sky was surely wounded in the same places as the first, including the loss of its left eye.

—The missing left eye was the battle wound Wilhelm had inflicted on the White Whale in the early fighting.

It was crystal clear there could be only one reason the same wounds were on not a single beast but the two others as well: The one in the sky had split itself, bringing the other two into being.

"The hits are lighter because the offshoots only have a third of the fighting power! That trick explains why we can fight them even with way fewer people!"

It explained why Ricardo, struck in the surprise attack, was not killed in the process. So, too, did it explain why the expeditionary force, diminished in numbers, was able to keep fighting against multiple White Whales.

Subaru had abandoned the convenient thinking that would peg it on the miraculous power of will. And it was precisely because Subaru was such a contrarian that he had arrived at the offbeat answer.

The power of the annihilating mist was absolute. Accordingly, the White Whale had increased its manpower at the cost of its own endurance. If the tyranny of numbers broke the spirit of the expeditionary force, the battle would surely end there.

Subaru had a hard time believing that the White Whale understood the weaknesses of the human heart and had resorted to the tactic with that knowledge. But the White Whale having the power to split itself was an incontrovertible fact.

What would have happened if Subaru hadn't rebelled against surrender when he did?

Subaru could not grasp what would have happened had he not howled. The current Subaru would not allow himself to perceive a future where he hadn't.

He never wanted to stare at the White Whales' ugly mugs so long ever aga

—

"—What the…?!"

Before Subaru, forming that conclusion, the movements of the White Whale pursuing him changed. Where it had once floated in the sky, it now rubbed against the ground, as if some foreign object inside its body was causing it agony.

"Big Sis, now!"

"Mimi understands! It's hard when you have an itch you can't scratch, huh!"

Hetaro, sensing a favorable opportunity, leaped forward, and Mimi, misunderstanding the White Whale's movements, followed suit. The twins matched their movements in a pincer attack on the White Whale from right and left, opening their mouths at the same time when—

"Wa—!" "Ha—!"

The howling waves from left and right greatly warped the White Whale's torso, and the shock wave punched through the outer hide to the innards. They bounced off the hardened hide, cracks ran across it, blood flowed out, and the next moment— "—Zuaaaaaa!!"

The part of the belly that rubbed against the ground's surface swelled from the inside, only for flesh and blood to break part. Reddish-black fluid flowed out like a muddy stream and spewed out; riding that stream was…

"Wilhelm?!"

The Sword Devil, his survival uncertain after being engulfed by the White Whale, had returned.

Subaru rushed over to Wilhelm while the expeditionary force restrained the thrashing White Whale. Wilhelm, his entire body smeared with blood, fell to one knee, holding half his body up with a sword.

"I was…rash…and…careless…!" he groaned.

"You don't need to talk! Aw, crap, I don't know what to do here, but at least you're alive. Let's get back to Ferris first thing!"

When Subaru reached out with his hand, he drew in his breath; the state of Wilhelm's wounds was far beyond his expectations. He still had the willpower to grip a sword, but he was knocking on death's door, his mangled left arm included.

The torch of his life threatened to burn out at any moment if Subaru didn't find a healer, pronto. And yet, when Subaru rushed over, Wilhelm politely refused his hand. Planting his weight on the sword he leaned upon, he clenched his teeth, trying to stand on his own power.

"Not…yet. I can still…fight…"

"This ain't the time! You'll die in front of the whale! So none of this 'it's not enough to kill me,' or 'I'm sleepy' crap! When it comes to life-and-death,

I know more than you do!"

"What…are…you saying…?"

Scolding the mangled Wilhelm, Subaru grabbed his body and dragged him up. During the time the two bickered, the cat-people siblings linked back up with them.

"The old man came out!"

"Mr. Wilhelm, are you all right?!"

When the twins came rushing and saw Wilhelm's grave injuries, both instantly went into action. Mimi applied simplified healing magic to the aged swordsman's wounds, and during that time, Hetaro looked up at Subaru and said, "Even Big Sis's healing magic cannot do much to heal these wounds.

Mr. Natsuki, can you get Mr. Wilhelm as far as Mr. Felix?"

"Yeah, I can see for myself Wilhelm's in bad shape! If he isn't treated, it'll be too late! I really wanna bring him myself, but…"

Subaru glared at the White Whale as it began to rouse itself once more.

The belly wound ran deep, and the bleeding from the opening hadn't ceased, but the demon beast continued to spew mist from the mouths all over its body, showing no more sign of giving up the fight than Wilhelm had.

There was no mistake: At present, Subaru's distraction was no small part of their fighting strength against it. If Subaru carried Wilhelm off, the fighting would only take a turn for the worse.

"Even besides that, I might end up leading the White Whale straight to the wounded. Can I leave Wilhelm to the two of you?"

"We can do that with our ligers…but do you have something in mind?"

Hetaro accepted Wilhelm from Subaru, groaning a bit at the disparity in body weight as he put the man onto his liger. After that, he looked up at Subaru, taking the hand of his blissfully laughing sister as he said, "If there is a chance to win, I will listen. If not, I must take my sister by the hand and flee."

"Ehh, why?! We haven't beaten them yet!"

"Big Sis, be quiet."

Her little brother's statement made Mimi pout her lips in visible dismay.

Watching the exchange between the twins, Subaru said, "I suppose so," and accepted with a nod.

"You're mercs. You're just working for money, not like me, Crusch, and the knights with a grudge against the whale… No obligation to risk your lives."

"Do not misunderstand. We are not obligated to throw away our lives."

His face and demeanor were meek, but Hetaro gave Subaru his opinion with fortitude. Gazing down at the little beast people, not even reaching his own hips, Subaru exhaled deeply.

"Sorry, but there's no time," he said. "I think there's a chance to win. For now, just get Wilhelm to the rear… I've gotta…talk to Rem and Crusch."

With Patlash beside him, Subaru practically jumped onto its back, straddling it as he ran his gaze overhead.

He looked up at the sky above, glaring at the abominable, fish-shaped figure leisurely swimming therein—

4

"The White Whale split itself, then?"

"Yeah, I don't think there's any doubt. The locations of the wounds and the combat strength bear that out. Put bluntly, you and the other people fighting it directly must've felt it, right?"

"For my part, I was in a daze, but…you may well be correct."

Subaru had regrouped with Rem and Crusch, and both made accepting faces and nodded as Subaru explained.

Having entrusted Wilhelm's retreat to Hetaro's liger, he'd joined the twins, now riding on the same liger, and had just finished explaining the "trick" to the battlefield's main fighting force.

With the main force out of action, the cavalry unit and the Iron Fangs were keeping two of the White Whales busy. Their high morale and excellent teamwork oddly glossed it over, but there were mere minutes of time available for a strategy meeting—

They had to come up with a plan to defeat the White Whale during that time.

"—I accept your hypothesis that they are weaker than the original, single one. But what does comprehending this avail? Even if they are wounded and weakened, the menace to us is greater than before. Even with Ferris's healing, we cannot hope for those who have withdrawn to return to the battle lines."

"It hurts not to have Wilhelm and Ricardo, but I'm not asking the impossible. We've gotta win this without them."

"So we must kill three White Whales. It is easy to say but a high wall." "We don't need to kill three—killing one should be enough." With a twitch, Crusch raised an eyebrow at Subaru's words.

Subaru returned her look of deep interest with a nod and pointed at the demon beast in the sky above.

"Whaddaya think that bastard's doing, making its two offshoots fight every which way while it watches from high up there?" "Perhaps it is refraining while it heals its wounds…?" Subaru shook his head at Rem's unconfident reply.

From what Subaru could see, demon beasts were not so different from other creatures. At the very least, the White Whale didn't seem to possess any kind of off-the-charts self-regeneration ability.

If that was so, the role of the White Whale high in the sky was—

"That is the main body, then?"

"That's how I'm seein' it."

Subaru nodded, concurring with Crusch, arriving at the same conclusion as he.

Put plainly, it was all no more than a guess. But it was pretty certain that the White Whale high in the sky was the original out of the three. And when considering how to defeat the additional White Whales, the fact that it was playing a waiting game was beyond all dispute.

"I think the fact that it doesn't come down and help either of its buddies can only mean one thing—that it can't let itself get taken down."

"The reasoning matches up. However, put differently…"

"It might mean that killing the bottom two might not even hurt the main body."

Even if they defeated one at great pains, there was no guarantee the corpse would not simply be replaced by a new version. If that was so, the battle would plunge into an infinite loop with no end in sight. As a result, in contrast to the White Whale, playing with infinite continuations, he could see them crying uncle soon enough.

Hetaro, quietly observing, posed a very realistic question.

"So the reason it does not descend is linked to how to defeat it. But what should we do, then? We don't have any way to fly that high and attack it."

The little cat's question made Crusch shift her sharp, amber gaze to the White Whale overhead as she said, "Even using my blessing, my blade cannot attack at that range with appreciable force. I might be able to strike it, but the White Whale shall not fall from that."

The White Whale had fled to the upper sky, reaching an altitude roughly equal to the clouds. It was as if the White Whale was displaying its nastiness by occupying a position higher than when it had first appeared.

At that range, even the accuracy of magic crystal cannons would surely take a heavy hit.

"Rem, could you, say, float a mountain of ice right up close to the bastard…?"

"I am sorry. Mana is more difficult to control the farther away it is. I think it would be possible for Master Roswaal, but my skill is…"

Rem appeared chagrined, feeling the limits of her own power with a plan to break the deadlock before their eyes.

Subaru gave her reply a wave of the hand to say, It can't be helped, and looked up to the sky.

—He'd thought up a plan.

Given Crusch's reply, Hetaro and Mimi's reply, and Rem's reply, the best plan was out, leaving the next best, one he hadn't wanted to use.

"I have a plan, but it depends a lot on rolling the dice… Wanna give it a shot?"

Closing one eye, Subaru checked how far the girls were willing to go before revealing that next-best plan. But one might even call it a rude thing to ask.

The very fact that they stood in that place meant they would not shirk from any gamble…

…for they were a pack of great fools—a fact of which Subaru was well aware.

5

—From far in the sky above, the White Whale quietly watched the conflict below.

The battlefield was neatly divided into two halves, right and left, by the tree at the center that seemed to pierce the sky.

On both sides, little humans were clinging to the demon beasts' enormous frames, stabbing with the steel they gripped in their hands, brandishing stones that created light, defying the beasts in a superficial manner.

As flames rose up and the demon beasts' anguished cries reached it from below, the White Whale swam through the sky, spewing mist.

The mist it poured onto the plains was the ally of the offshoots beneath its gaze, steadily but surely whittling down the diminutive foe.

The figures scurried around, but as time passed, their numbers dwindled; one here, one there, swallowed by the mist, their existence erased from that world.

Everything would be swallowed up, and the end of that fruitless battle would not be long in coming. It was only a matter of time before the opposing fighting force began to develop fatal cracks and collapse.

If the White Whale possessed human intellect, it would surely have thought this, certain of its own victory. But in fact, the White Whale possessed no such thing.

The White Whale was simply following instinct, acting to destroy the opponent so as to preserve itself. There was no use asking a beast's instincts why it delivered such a judgment.

In accordance with its instincts, the White Whale calmly, purposefully set about toying with and killing its prey.

"—!!"

It spewed mist, progressively dyeing the surface white.

Though pests had interrupted it, the White Whale's mission was to cover the world in mist. This, too, was the command of its instinct, and doing so was the purpose of the White Whale's existence.

Thus, the White Whale's mind pulled away from the spectacle below when suddenly, its enormous eye shifted about, its mind reorienting toward the earth once more.

Having detected mana gathering with enormous force, it looked at the flow with its naked eye. "Al Hyuma."

A blue-haired girl was standing in the center of the vast vortex of mana.

Over time, the mana swirled around her legs, building up as the girl gave it direction, gently constructing a very long lance of ice with a sharp tip protruding from it.

The vile frozen weapon was in the thirty-foot range, and its sharp spear tip was aimed at the center of the White Whale.

Even from a distance, its might appeared menacing, but the White Whale noticing it before she fired it was fatal.

"—Please!"

The girl shouted a prayer as the icy spear launched from the ground toward the sky.

Of course, its target was dead center in the torso of the swimming White Whale. The icy bloodlust accelerated rapidly with force sufficient to break through the sky—but the time it took to achieve that acceleration, and being seen at the moment of its launch, meant the plan had failed, its objective unfulfilled.

The White Whale waved its tail, swimming through the sky by slicing the wind. That alone threw off the icy spear's aim. The pathetic spear of ice sailed wide of the mark, passing by the White Whale's flank on its way to the distant sky—

"...?"

The instant the icy spear passed by, the very gentle sound of something shattering reached the White Whale's hearing. Taking into account the vast disparity in mass between the two, that was little short of a miracle.

That devil-wrought heavenly miracle told the White Whale that it was the sound of an irreparable mistake.

"—Heya. I've gotta say, it feels real icky seein' you up close like this." An exceedingly light sensation mounted the White Whale's nose.

At the same time it realized that a being had landed atop its brow, the icy spear, supposedly flying past, vanished without a trace, and the White Whale caught a scent of the wave of scattering mana.

—And next, he discovered the source of the unbearably foul odor was right on top of it.

"You're coming with me. Gotta warn you, I'm a man considered too annoying to ignore."

A wicked smile came over the source of the foul odor as the White Whale listened to his words.

6

To summarize Subaru's wild scheme, he'd ride an ice spear from Rem's magic up into the sky, whereupon he would break a mana repulsion crystal to get off it—and climb aboard the White Whale.

Of course, Rem fiercely objected, but he got his way with repeated cries of "I trust you, Rem!" wearing Crusch and the others down by insisting it was not reckless, procuring a mana repulsion crystal from them in the process.

They'd anticipated that the White Whale would evade obvious great magic, and it was therein that Subaru laid his trap. To the contrary, had the White Whale not evaded, it was possible the icy spear, with Subaru clinging to the end, might have hit squarely and smashed to pieces. In one sense, it was the greatest danger to befall his life in that battle.

"But if I'm gonna say that, I'm in a pretty big pickle now—this is really scary!"

Desperately clinging to the tip of the White Whale's nose, Subaru got a good feel of its rough hide and body hair on his palms while his face grimaced from the wind in the upper sky and the raw scent of the mighty creature.

The clinging Subaru—in other words, the concentrated scent of the Witch —brought an about-face in the state of the White Whale. From its posture of solemn observation, the demon beast had clearly fallen into an agitated state, with mist, drool, and loud laughter flowing out of the entirety of its mouth, giving the rude Subaru a hearty welcome.

"—Okie."

Accepting the White Whale's unhappy greeting, Subaru took a deep breath and calmed his heart.

Of course, Subaru did not have any special attack with which to send the White Whale crashing to earth. He wasn't naive enough to think that a bit of enlightenment and resolve were enough to bring that about, and even if he smacked it with Shamak at great cost to his body, he'd probably slip like a brain-dead idiot, falling to his death—so that was out.

So Subaru was clinging to the White Whale for one thing.

"Well, let's give this a try—hardened resolve an' all."

Before the White Whale shifted to action, Subaru let go and slid down the body's stony hide—entering a free-fall course. He hadn't slipped like a brain-dead idiot, but he'd begun falling to the ground nonetheless.

The White Whale shifted its head toward the sight of Subaru committing a spectacular act of suicide, making a slight movement of its body to pursue, but then, it stopped, as if something had made it hesitate.

If it just watched Subaru go, its advantage from air supremacy would remain unshaken. The White Whale instinctively understood this, halting, as if it was resisting the lure of the scent.

I see, stubborn instincts. Well, that's inconvenient.

Accordingly, he played his trump card.

"At this height, there's no worry about anyone else hearing. Listen up! Big freebie here. Thanks to you, Rem died and I went through huge trauma, you bastard!!"

The instant he said it, Subaru's flesh, buffeted by the gale, was disconnected from the world. All the senses of his body grew distant, and his mind, ruled to that point by the feeling that his internal organs were floating upward, lost track of reality. He was invited to a place where the notion of time did not exist.

The next moment—

"I love you."

He felt like someone had whispered in his ear.

An instant later—ferocious pain shot through Subaru's entire body, as if a thunderbolt were turning him to ash.

From a place he could not see, the hands had invaded from the back side to grab his heart, wringing it roughly, but with care, as if checking to make sure it was still there.

He truly felt the organ that governed his life being treated roughly, the foreign sensation of having someone else freely manipulate such a vital part.

At the end of the world, not even allowed to let out a scream, the sounds of the wind and his own scream told him that…

"I'm…baaaack!!"

" !!"

Before Subaru's eyes, the White Whale's huge mouth was open as it ferociously plunged after him.

His confession of the taboo had increased the scent of the Witch, and the increased hatred had overridden the demon beast's instincts.

It let out a roar, its eye losing all sanity, seemingly forgetting about the conflict below as the White Whale came rushing, seeking to erase Subaru's existence alone.

Shrouded by a whirlwind, the White Whale rapidly closed the distance between them, making Subaru afraid. In that situation, unable to do anything but free fall, Subaru had no way to evade the charge. At that rate, before ever reaching the ground, the White Whale would catch him, and he'd hurdle toward BAD END 11: "Whale Food." At that rate, anyway.

"—Rem!!"

"Yes, Subaru!"

Subaru's shouting voice seemed to die on the wind, but she replied loud and clear.

Simultaneously, with the White Whale focused exclusively on Subaru, a flying spear of ice flew in right from the side and collided—intruding upon its open mouth, breaking a number of its yellow teeth, and dulling its movements.

Seizing the opportunity, Rem, on Patlash's back, wrapped her morning star around Subaru's free-falling body.

The chain wrapped around his hips, forcibly twisting him off his crash course and sending his innards to one side. "Gwah!" was the cry Subaru raised as he remembered tasting the same impact once before.

It was the second time Rem had saved his falling body in that fashion. The first time was when Subaru's feet had slipped from the dragon carriage on their way to the royal capital.

"I guess you can get used to anything…"

After all, this time he had managed to avoid fainting.

Manipulated by the chain, Subaru's body fell somewhat roughly onto Patlash's back. With Rem spreading her arms wide to receive him, Subaru ended up flying into her bosom.

With a soft impact, Subaru's head was buried in a warm sensation as he exhaled.

"I'm saved!"

"You are getting a treat."

"What are you saying?!"

Subaru's cheeks reddened, and he hurriedly lifted his face from the embrace of Rem's breasts.

Right beside them, the face of the White Whale moved past— "—!!"

The White Whale had crashed into the ground headfirst, its momentum undiminished. With a great roar, the surface of the ground exploded in a cloud of dirt, the force making the earth shudder.

As they became enveloped in a gust like a blast of wind, Subaru directed Patlash to sprint full force—and behind them, the White Whale was taking flight, bursting out of the dirt cloud.

The incredible force had messed up its head, and on top of that, the White Whale forgot itself, raising a scream as it bore down on Subaru.

In its tremendous excitement, he saw not even the slightest trace of when

it leisurely swam in the sky. Its swimming had grown choppy, and its speed, outstripping the wind, was a good match for Patlash.

But in raw vigor, it was overwhelming.

The earth split, and as its tail slapped the earth, the White Whale ferociously chased them from behind.

Subaru put all his weight forward, entrusting his life to Patlash's reserves of strength. This was the land dragon that had earnestly and desperately exhausted all efforts for Subaru so far. Though it had been a short time, Subaru held enough faith to put his life on its shoulders.

"I'm counting on you, Patlash! You're a dragon, right?! Show me how cool you are!"

"—!"

Patlash neighed, and it felt like the speed went up a notch.

The roar of the White Whale resounded, and from the violent shaking of his eardrums and the world going blurry, he knew.

Straight ahead. Straight ahead. We just need to run and go right past it.

The White Whale swam, ferociously chasing down Subaru to devour him whole.

And then—

"Take this, damn it—!!"

" !!"

A second roar reverberated, and right after, there was a series of sounds like something was being ripped apart.

The intervals between the flagrant sounds narrowed, drew closer, and finally, a mighty shadow was born, making a very heavy sound as it—the Great Flugel Tree—fell straight toward the White Whale.

 " !! !"

Magic crystal cannons, invisible blades, roaring attacks—destructive forces piled one on top of another had gouged out the roots of the Great Tree, which had grown over the course of four centuries and had been planted by a sage. As it came down, it crushed the enormous body of the demon beast flat.

The great weight of the tree jutting to the heavens crashed straight into the White Whale, pressing into it from above. Against an attack that was in a different dimension compared to everything that came before it, even the defense from White Whale's tough outer hide was rendered meaningless.

A scream and an incredible shock wave ran across the Liphas plains, with the blast blowing the mist away.

Crushed under the Great Tree, the immobilized White Whale shrieked in anguish, curling its tail. And yet, its vital energy was such that its body had sustained a blow so great, but its life had not been extinguished.

The White Whale writhed, trying to escape from the super-heavy mass, when at the tip of its nose—

"—I dedicate this to my wife, Theresia van Astrea."

Raising above his head the treasured sword he had borrowed from his master, a lone Sword Devil swooped down—to lower the curtain on that ferocious battle upon which hung life or death, vindictiveness spanning fourteen years, and a history of conflict between man and the White Whale spanning four hundred.