Chapter 110 - c

Then right after their plans had been set— "—She's here!"

—the sight of a dark figure leaning out from the time tower's window made Subaru unwittingly tense up.

A slender form wrapped in a black robe swayed at the tower's edge. Beneath her, no one else in the square seemed to notice that someone was looking down on them from that vantage point.

When seen from a bird's-eye view, it was immediately obvious how fragile the tranquility of a thin layer of ice truly was. With a single action, the stranger peering down from that lofty perch thoroughly shattered the delicate peace.

 " "

Slowly, Sirius spread both arms wide. Though her bandages covered up most of her form, the ecstasy on her face was immediately apparent even at a distance. Finally, just as she was about to bring her two hands together with incredible force— "—Ul Hyuma!!"

—Instantly, a giant icicle appeared directly above the tower and collided with Sirius.

A projectile of ice as thick as five Subarus tied together slammed into the tower. The sturdy wall immediately gave way as the icicle's tip impaled the upper structure of the tower.

The spectacle nearly made Subaru drop his jaw.

"E-Emilia-tan?"

"You said to launch a preemptive strike, so I tried my best… Did I mess up?"

"No, no, good job. You did well… I was just surprised that it was more preemptive than I expected."

It was Subaru's fault for not giving more precise instructions about the timing, but it was the eccentric's fault for being so unguarded that Emilia didn't even hesitate in her initial attack. That took care of their first problem, at least.

Their initial strike had been launched without sparing even a single thought to waiting and seeing what would happen. That was the kind of shock and awe that was needed to score a surprise victory.

"Beako, think we got her?"

"For the moment, I believe the people around us think we did."

When Subaru posed his question, Beatrice also displayed signs of surprise in her reply. Lowering his gaze to see for himself, Subaru concurred with what Beatrice had said.

The people in the square ahead of them were all looking at Subaru and company—or strictly speaking, at Emilia after she'd suddenly committed that act of mass destruction. As far as they were concerned, it was Subaru and the girls who were the real terrorists.

He could claim This was preemptive attack to prevent actual terrorism all he wanted, but whether the crowd would believe him was anyone's guess.

"Errr, we didn't mean any harm. See, we're…"

"—It's no use, Subaru. Get back behind me."

Subaru tried to persuade the pedestrians with all the sincerity he could muster, but Emilia pulled him back by his shoulder. Then after she took a step forward to shield him, she raised her right hand and swung it in a downward arc.

Instantly, a crack echoed in the air as a blue sword formed within

Emilia's hand. It was a beautifully sculpted sword, boasting a slender, icy blade. Emilia trained its tip toward the crowd in the square without any hesitation.

"Whoa, whoa, that's definitely too much! If we talk to them, I'm sure they'll understa…"

"You're wrong. Look closer, Subaru. Their eyes—they aren't sane." "What?"

Gasping in response to Emilia's tense observation, Subaru studied the various people in the square. After a brief examination, Subaru noticed it, too. This was definitely not normal.

Bulging veins marred the faces of everyone glaring at Subaru's party, and their bloodshot eyes gleamed red, not white. Every last one of them wore the exact same expression.

Their cheeks were twisted, teeth bared like fangs as growls rose from their throats—these were the products of nigh-unendurable emotions of wrath.

"Beako! Is Shamak ready yet?!"

Facing a frothing mob to the front, Subaru called out to Beatrice. However, the girl who was the linchpin of their plan ruefully bit her lip at the sight of the throng.

"…I've made a mistake."

"What?"

"This blasphemy is fundamentally different from Nekt! This is closer to a curse or a hex than any proper magic. I suppose you could call it manipulation of souls themselves! This is not something a mere Shamak can deal with!"

Beatrice's voice trembled with anger and distress. Hearing that, Subaru gritted his teeth.

He didn't understand the principles at work in detail, but it was enough to know that Beatrice had judged that Operation Shamak could not be salvaged.

And the fact that the people in the square were being consumed by a tremendous wave of emotion far beyond the norm meant that—

"—It reeks."

He heard a single word trickle out in a muted voice, like someone was casting a curse.

It was a vicious word that seemed to resent all existence.

"It reeks. It reeks. It reeks. It reeks. It reeks. It reeks. It reeks. I t r e e k s r e e k s 

r e e k s r e ek s r e e k s r e e k s r e e k sr e e k s r e e k s r e e k s r e e k s r e e k s r e e k s r e e k s r e e k s re e k s r e 

e k s r e ek s r e e k s r e e k s r e e k sr e e k s r e e k s r e e k s r e e k s r e e k s r e e k s r e e k s r e e k s re e k s r e e k s r e e k s r e e k sr e e k s ! It reeks! It reeks, it reeks, it reeks!!!"

A moment later, cracks ran along the icicle that had slammed into the upper portions of the time tower and impaled itself in the wall. In the span of a single breath, new fissures ran along the entirety of the mass of ice; an instant later, the icicle shattered into glimmering fragments.

Standing among that dazzling diamond dust, which scattered under the rays of the sun, a single eccentric stood.

She was not unscathed. Half of her white bandages were soaked with blood, and the tower's white wall was marred by the ichor dripping from her dangling left arm. As she stepped clear of the fallen rubble, her gait seemed unsteady.

However, the insanity and ferocious emotions residing in the madwoman's eye was nothing like what Subaru had known until then.

"It reeks…horribly… The stench of a woman. The filthy, abominable, awful stench of the half-demon that stole my precious from me. Even though you are not my precious, your fetid odor bears a remarkable resemblance.

Aaaah, how dreadful!!"

On the scant remains of the tower's top floor, Sirius clawed at her bloody bandages. He'd never seen her spit blood and send spittle flying as she shouted in pure hatred.

Even if she was just as insane as before, her madness was taking a very different form.

"Have you come to test my love, spirit?! Are you not satisfied with stealing my precious from me, filthy half-demon?!!"

Spreading both arms wide in anger, Sirius screamed and lunged forward.

As she hurtled from the top of the tower down toward the ground, the madwoman spouted flames from both hands as she raised them overhead. The crimson fire enveloped the chains around her hands, tracing a flaming trail behind her as Sirius landed in the square.

Landing on all fours, both of her hands still burning, she lifted her face.

She trained her eye upon Emilia, who held her ice sword at the ready, and Subaru, who was standing stiff— No, she was actually focused on Beatrice, who was standing out front as if to shield Subaru.

The next instant, Sirius shouted in a voice drenched in enough rage to burn

the entire world to ashes.

"I am! A member of the Witch Cult! The Archbishop of Wrath!"

Bathed in the waves of heat emanating from those rising flames, the crowd in the square raised shrill voices, and all of them lifted their arms high.

The waves of insanity and flames were completely at odds with Subaru's memories, and within that maelstrom, the madwoman introduced herself.

"—I am Sirius Romanée-Conti!! Shitty half-demon and shitty spirit, I will burn you both to ash, then scatter your remains before the grave of the husband you burned!!!"

2

With crimson flames residing in both hands, Sirius bellowed in rage, her face as fiendish as an ogre's.

She was enveloped by her own dazzling inferno, and the zeal in her eyes burned just as bright. The avatar of Wrath glared at Subaru's party— No, that wasn't accurate. After all—

"It reeks, reeksreeksreeksreeksreeksreeks—you reek, you shitty halfdemon…!"

—as Sirius hurled more insults, Subaru's existence didn't even register within her eye.

Sirius's undivided gaze, one that seemed capable of searing someone to death with looks alone, was aimed at none other than Emilia and Beatrice, the two girls standing at Subaru's side.

"The hell's wrong with her? This is totally different from what she looked like every other time…"

Subaru could not hide his uneasiness at seeing Sirius's wrathful transformation and where her hatred was directed.

In a very short span of time, Subaru had confronted Sirius on three occasions, and during each encounter, she had been—though he hesitated to use the word—normal. In those fleeting meetings, even if it was extremely difficult to call her a person who possessed common sense, she had also never acted like a creature that had abandoned all reason.

She'd been logical to the end, a morally bankrupt person trying to impose

her pet theories on ordinary folk who failed to understand her vision, and that was it.

The version of Sirius before his eyes now stood in stark contrast—this was Wrath incarnate.

"I burn you and burn you, and still, you keep crawling out like maggots… You must hold some grudge against me, eh?! I am sad and depressed, yet I cannot be allowed to even grieve! Just how much…how much will you take…?!"

"…I don't have any idea what you're trying to say."

When Sirius began sending spittle flying with every word, offering nothing but blame and accusations, Emilia didn't give any ground as she replied. She didn't flinch or pull back a single step from the fiery verbal assault.

She steadily trained the sword of ice in her hand on the crowd lined up behind Sirius.

"If you're angry about something, I'll hear you out. I'm the one who attacked you all of a sudden, so it's natural for you to be angry. But this has nothing to do with the people around us. Let them go."

"Don't look down on me from your high horse! If you wish for me to yield, then show it through your actions! It's only natural to be angry? Then apologize! Grovel and beg for forgiveness! And then I'll roast you from your ass to your bowels!!"

"Hmm. Words don't seem to be getting through— In that case, I have ideas of my own!"

Enraged, Sirius blinked hard at Emilia's casual change of tone during their brief exchange.

A moment later, Emilia leaped up from the ground, going from a low stance to lunge at Sirius. Emilia's slender body cut through the air as she swung the sword of ice with her arm, tracing a beautiful arc toward the top of the madwoman's shoulder.

"Emilia?!"

"—Tch!!"

Subaru's shout of surprise overlapped with Sirius's sound of irritation.

Seeing the icy blade approaching her left shoulder, Sirius instantly raised her left arm in an attempt to counter Emilia's blow with blazing flames.

However—

"You shitty half-demon!!"

"Don't repeat that insult over and over. People will think I'm dirty or something."

—the pale tip of Emilia's blade did not lose to the flames as it collided with Sirius's raised left arm. However, the coiled golden chains enveloped in wreaths of fire gave off a high-pitched creaking sound as the ice sword crashed against Sirius's flaming limb.

But fire and ice battled for only one brief instant. A second later, Emilia's weapon audibly shattered.

"Serves you right!"

Leaving only its hilt behind, the magic blade reverted to mana. Sirius raised a cry of victory and swung her flaming right arm at Emilia. It was a brutal attack with enough force to split stone walls. The moment it made contact, it would burn and gouge its target, leaving terrible wounds.

In the blink of an eye, Emilia's unmatched beauty would be scarred forever—but something else happened first.

"Take that!"

With a voice profoundly out of place, she knocked away Sirius's arm this time—thanks to what had once been Emilia's ice sword.

"Aah, aaah, aaaaaah! How frustrating!"

Screaming, Sirius crossed both flaming arms above her head. Up above, Emilia was swinging her summoned hammer of ice downward with unspeakable force.

She'd produced a maul of ice with a broad, blunt face to replace her broken sword. Sirius flew from that heavy, crushing blow, only for Emilia to give chase.

"Yah! Hiyah! Yah! Take that! Uraaah! Hiyah!"

"You piece of shit! Half-demon! Maggot! Insect! Whore! Disgusting eyesore!"

With extraordinary body movements and her weapon's centrifugal force, Emilia was displaying far greater close-combat capability than Subaru had ever expected. The swings of the icy maul were weighty, keeping Sirius on the defense. It was a one-sided battle after Emilia completely seized the initiative. Thinking that she might prevail at this rate, Subaru clenched a fist hard.

"We can win this… Wait, right now, that's bad! Emilia! The people in the square are still…"

"Subaru, is it not a bad idea to let your guard down now of all times, I wonder?!"

If Emilia struck Sirius down, the people around them would share the same fate right then and there.

When Subaru tried to point out that danger, Beatrice's expression changed as she scolded him. Wondering what was wrong, Subaru looked back, only then realizing that countless gazes were turned toward him.

"""""—You shitty insect!!"""""

"Aw, crap."

The crowd shouted as they looked at Subaru as one, rage and vilification pouring from their bloodshot eyes. The madness they trained upon Subaru and Beatrice was identical to Sirius's.

It was best to assume they'd been completely soulwashed by Sirius's Authority. Then in accordance with their irrepressible rage, they shifted their hostility toward Subaru and Beatrice.

"So it's not just resonance—she can brainwash people and make them into her own pawns?!"

"This is not the time for such musings. Without a plan, I suppose all we can do is buy some time!"

As Subaru clutched his head over how difficult this situation was, Beatrice jumped onto his back. He supported her light body with his hands as the throng came rushing at them all at once.

"Emilia, buy us some time, please!"

"Don't expect me to do anything too crazy!"

Upon hearing Emilia's dependable reply, Subaru sprang backward to escape from the mob. Fortunately, the movements of people who had lost their sanity were as slow and clumsy as a poorly controlled marionette.

"Whoa! Wow! Cutting through, here! That was close! But now we're all clear!"

Dodging the outstretched arms, Subaru evaded with sideways leaps to keep the throng at bay. The sight of a crowd rushing with empty expressions made it look like a scene straight out of a zombie movie. A similar feeling of terror had soaked into his bones.

"Just running ain't gonna cut it! At this rate, all we can do is wait for reinforcements once people notice the huge commotion!"

"Without a plan to deal with the opponent's power, wouldn't reinforcements only increase the casualties, I wonder? If we inadvertently cause Reinhard to come running, all that will do is turn Betty into a mere adorable little girl."

"Then I'll really become the Moppet Mage… For the moment, no worries about summoning that hero right this moment."

After all, Lachins, the one who would be their best option for sending Reinhard a signal, was currently chasing Subaru, raving at him with a brightred face. Carried by the rest of the crowd, he looked like he was on the brink of a clash with one or two of his impromptu companions.

When Lachins eventually pushed them back, his fellows immediately tripped over their own legs, causing them to tumble downward. Caring nothing for them, the rest of the crowd walked right over the two fallen while moving inexorably forward. It was a frightening sight.

"I don't think they're feeling pain from all that adrenaline, but it'd be pretty dangerous without that, right?"

"Given the way they are, it doesn't seem strange for them to trample one another to death."

"Well, that's not good!"

Subaru didn't want any casualties. That was the biggest objective he was fighting for so hard.

Of course, Subaru understood that there were things beyond his own reach. Indeed, there were far more people whom Subaru couldn't reach.

There were so many things he wanted to protect. But there was a limit to what he could do.

"—Still, I don't have any intention of deciding that limit myself!"

"There's the Subaru that Betty knows best!"

Receiving the greatest encouragement possible from behind, Subaru drew his whip from his hip holster.

He had to save what lives he could. Accordingly, Subaru emotionally resigned himself to inflicting moderate amounts of damage. Charging toward the center of the throng, he locked onto Lachins, running at the head of the crowd.

His target was someone whose face he knew. He couldn't call their relationship a good one, but Subaru's heart struggled with the idea of harming him all the same.

"This is gonna hurt, but better than if it's someone I don't know! Sorry,

Larry!"

"Who's Larry?! I'm… Habhhh?!"

As Lachins shouted on reflex, Subaru unfurled his whip, wrapping it around his victim's ankles. Subaru proceeded to yank the whip upward as hard as he could, dragging Lachins, who'd lost his balance, into the people surrounding him.

"Take a time-out and cool your heads!"

Charging toward him, Subaru rammed Lachins in the back, knocking him into the waterway. While Lachins raised a cry, Subaru kicked several others who were tottering down to join Lachins, removing more and more people from the front lines.

"Now that that's taken care of… Lusbel!"

As he whittled down the number of pursuers coming after them, Subaru raced all the way to the time tower. His objective was to secure Lusbel, who was surely still there on the topmost floor—where Sirius had left him, intending to use him in her speech. "Beako, hang on tight!"

Subaru called out to Beatrice, who was on his back, as the crowd blocked the way before him. Their arms and bodies mercilessly barred the way, but Subaru did not hesitate as he charged into their ranks once more.

"Now I'll show you the improvised parkour that my mentor pounded into me!"

As he shouted, Subaru quite literally slipped past countless legs and bodies as he broke through.

These were the fruits of his daily training at the secret base in the forest. The skills that Clind had drilled into him greatly resembled the style of movement that Subaru knew from his world as parkour. Making use of his entire body, he stayed nimble and flexible to skillfully navigate the crowd, cutting right through it.

Still supporting Beatrice on his back, Subaru tumbled his way into the time tower with amazing vigor.

"I bit my tongue!"

"Sorry about that! But saving the hostage up top comes first!"

After answering his partner's objection, Subaru raced up the spiraling stairs with great haste. The remaining members of the crowd pursued from behind, but all their jostling was preventing them from climbing the stairs easily.

Seizing the opportunity, Subaru and Beatrice stayed ahead of the pack until they finally reached the topmost floor. When he looked around, he saw that because Emilia's initial blow had half-destroyed the place, the wind could now pass through, making the air quality far better than it was in Subaru's memories.

For an instant, his blood ran cold as he considered the possibility that even Lusbel had been blasted to bits, but— "Nngh! Nnngh!"

—the boy bound by chains was there in a space that had narrowly managed to maintain its original shape. Though it was probably a stretch to say he was safe, Subaru raced over after confirming the boy was alive and in one piece.

With Lusbel's bindings already complete, Subaru undid the painfullooking gag and tried to choose the best words to put him at ease.

"—Behind you!"

"Bwah?!" "Gah, I wonder?!"

Lusbel's teary-eyed warning made Subaru immediately lower his head, taking Beatrice along for the ride. Instantly, he felt the familiar presence of death whistle by his neck as something passed by.

When he looked back, he saw a fox-man who'd leaped onto the uppermost floor to unleash a massive sword strike. The man was one of the people initially at the square who seemed capable of fighting. His white tail swayed as he launched another attack.

"Beako!" "Shamak!!"

Giving up on challenging such skill head-on, Beatrice instantly activated a spell that quickly enveloped the fox-man in black mist. The beast person lost all fighting capability while lost in the void—proof that Shamak was effective.

"That's the all-powerful Shamak for you! Doesn't this mean the link to

Sirius got cut?!"

"Who said anything about that, I wonder?! Even if he really is neutralized, the link is still active! I suppose it's likely that if that degenerate dies, many others will follow suit!"

"Shiiit, what do we do?"

"I'm thinking as hard as I can!"

Leaving the unraveling of the mystery to Beatrice, Subaru could only trust in her and buy some time.

The problem was how Emilia was shaping up against the real enemy.

"Emilia is…"

Hoisting Lusbel up, Subaru climbed over the wrecked windowsill and raced to the tower's exterior. Beneath him, fire and ice met each other in a furious exchange as Emilia and Sirius remained locked in combat.

Subaru knew that over the last year, Emilia had continually trained herself in between her lessons about governance. Subaru knew very well that Emilia was far stronger than he.

Even so, Subaru was worried for her. It wasn't an issue of who was stronger. To Subaru, Emilia was the girl he loved. That was the long and short of it.

People might call such worries a trifling matter. But to him, that— "Terya! Soya! Soooi!"

Raising shouts that, as usual, somehow came off as silly, Emilia looked like she was a raging gale as she hounded Sirius with ruthless ice attacks. "Eeeiiiyah!"

Spinning her body, Emilia danced as she closed in with twin swords of ice. Sirius swung burning golden chains about, shouting insults as she intercepted the blades, only for Emilia to crouch down as she spawned a new spear of ice, which she immediately used to swipe at Sirius's chest.

With a painful cry, the force and impact hurled Sirius across the paving stones, leaving her rolling to a stop on the ground.

—Emilia was making full use of her vast mana capacity, launching highspeed combo attacks, fully intending to destroy her ice weapons in the process.

When she used the martial art that Subaru had dubbed "Icebrand Arts," the fleeting nature of shattering ice engendered such phantasmal beauty, it was like watching the dance of a fairy.

The remnants of ice that were smashed during the battle danced and scattered as glittering mana set the stage for the pair. Emilia and Sirius—fire and ice—employed contrasting weapons as they continued to pursue their deadly duel.

"Uyaaa!"

Pursuing Sirius as the woman rolled, Emilia twirled her icy spear around, lashing out with its haft. Down below, Sirius used crafty groundwork to evade the butt of the spear, then grabbed hold of it herself.

"It is seething zeal that makes the heart tremble! Aa! Aah! Aaah!

Wraaaath!"

"Wha?!"

In an instant, the spear of ice transformed into a spear of flame in Sirius's hands. When the heat made Emilia unwittingly let go, it was Sirius's turn to go on the offensive this time.

The bandaged madwoman twirled the spear of flame, pursuing the leaping silver-haired girl to burn her to death in an aggressive counterattack.

"Those lascivious eyes! That seductive bell-like voice! That licentious, glimmering silver hair! That indecent white skin! That indecent face! Aah, what a filthy woman! Is that how you make men swoon over you so?! Is that how you stole my precious from me, you thieving cat?!"

"Wha?! Wait a— Please do not say such strange things!!"

Dodging the attack by letting it slide just past her chest, Emilia spawned another ice sword in her hand to intercept it. The three-pronged spear of flame was blocked head-on by a broad greatsword made of ice.

The ice creaked as it held against the hungry flame, leaving Emilia and Sirius deadlocked as they glared at each other.

"These eyes, this voice, this silver hair—all of them were praised by the people I love! They're the same as the coolest woman in the whole world! If you say any more strange things about them, I'm going to be angry!"

"Anger?! Anger, you say?! Don't make me laugh! That is mine! That is the treasure that I received from my most precious person! This duty, this name —everything I have was a gift from my precious! To try to take this from me… Stop! Stopstopstopstopstopstopstop!!!"

Sirius's voice gradually became even more piercing still, eventually rising to a tearful shriek.

The spear of flame in the madwoman's arms snapped, at which point she crossed her arms, slamming the shortened pieces together with both arms. To counter the flaming-sword combo, Emilia split her own greatsword in two, turning them into a pair of ice daggers.

But under that torrent of blows, it was Emilia who was on the defensive this time. It wasn't because Sirius had become noticeably stronger. It was the opposite— Doubt had crept into Emilia's heart.

Rage readily mixed with grief, and the surrounding people in the crowd moaned in agony as they cried tears of blood. That sight in the corner of Emilia's vision threw her thoughts off slightly. It was then that— "—Wah, aaaah?!"

"Emilia?!"

Subaru's eyes went wide at the sight of Emilia raising a shriek and dropping her twin daggers of ice. When Emilia fell on her knees to the pavement stones, Sirius laughed loudly with both blazing arms raised high.

"Look! This is love! This is love! People loving one another, the ideal of the many becoming one! Bonds are forged by our shared feelings, so that we might experience one another's joy and sadness! That is why this ending has been preordained! O pitiful half-demon, doomed to never obtain love—here, you shall burn!"

"…What love?"

"What?"

As Sirius crowed over the turning of the tables, Emilia's words brought her pealing laughter to a halt.

Before the madwoman's fixated, wide-open eyes, Emilia looked squarely at her opponent's face and continued without fear.

"If I am hearing your words correctly, you seem to think I am mistaken… Why?"

The question that Emilia posed was born from her particularly acute sense of curiosity. But such an earnest plea only poured more fuel on the fires of Sirius's wrath.

"That is because you do not even know the great truth! You filthy halfdemon, living without even knowing what love is. And so you must perish! The very existence of a half-demon is a sin! Your birth was a mistake. It was a mistake for your father to meet your mother! When shit and an insect come together, a shitty insect is the only possible result. Your shit-smeared tale will now come to an end!"

"!"

These were insults that even the kindhearted Emilia refused to pass unchallenged. It was absolute slander, condemning not only her existence, but even her parents for giving birth to her.

"Ooh…"

A trail of light drew a tiny voice out of Sirius as she backed up a step.

Emilia had held her ice sword down low and slashed upward. The pale sword grazed Sirius, sending the fasteners of the madwoman's black robe flying.

One more step forward, one lunge, and Emilia would land a clean hit. It was with this certainty that she raised her ice sword anew.

"—Eh?"

"Nnngh!"

—Then she saw the girl wrapped up in chains within Sirius's arms, and time stopped.

"—Tina."

Dazed, Subaru heard that murmur spill from Lusbel, who was still in his arms, and Subaru cursed Sirius for keeping the most sinister form of insurance on hand.

Matching the instant of Emilia's sword attack, Sirius had suddenly yanked a chain out of thin air. Materializing from seemingly nowhere, a lone girl appeared right in Sirius's arms as her evil gambit succeeded.

The golden chains that were coiled around the girl were the same as those that Subaru had seen wrapped around Lusbel inside the tower, and a flood of tears flowed from Lusbel's eyes—the hostage was Tina, the very same childhood friend whom Lusbel had supposedly been protecting.

Right as Subaru realized the new hostage's identity, anger consumed Emilia as she laid eyes on the crying girl.

"—That wrath is wasted on you."

That was the moment Sirius smiled more wickedly than ever before. She then slammed her right arm against the ground, generating a blast of wind that sent Emilia flying backward.

The resulting shockwave kicked up black dust over the center of the square. Emilia rolled onto the paving stones, unable to break her fall. She came to a rest faceup on the ground with her limbs spread out.

"Ah…"

Emilia squirmed about a little, but she only stirred to cough painfully, barely able to breathe.

Seeing this, Sirius let Tina drop and roll at her feet as she raised both arms to the heavens. At that moment, the intensity of the flames enveloping them made them burn so bright, they seemed ready to split the entire sky asunder.

And with flames still entwining her arms, Sirius boisterously applauded Emilia.

"Such sweet passions are not for insects to embrace. Seeing that is just nauseating— Now then, let me say thank you, and sorry."

Crossing both arms above her head, Sirius increased the potency of the inferno enveloping her.

"Emilia !"

That instant, realizing that he needed to save Emilia, Subaru leaped down from the top of the tower without hesitation. Trusting Beatrice to soften their landing, he focused only on getting to Emilia as fast as he could.

With Beatrice's magic reducing his body weight to nothing, Subaru safely slowed as he approached the ground. He got ready to charge forward. Or at least, he tried.

"Move, legs, move!!"

Subaru's limbs rattled and trembled, immobilized as if cowering in fear.

The same went for Beatrice on his back and Lusbel in his arms. They couldn't stop shaking with fright.

The emotions probably came from Tina, who had fallen at Sirius's feet, spreading from her to them. As she shrank from unprecedented fear, their hearts became one, leaving Subaru and Beatrice unable to shake off the waves of terror.

"…E…milia…!"

With his throat convulsing, his uncontrollable sobbing and nausea left him unable to even shout the name of the girl he loved.

Subaru's voice likely would not have reached Emilia either way.

What was Emilia thinking as she lay there, powerless before the approaching apocalyptic firestorm?

—This, too, would vanish in the hot white of the inferno burning everything to ash, remaining unknown for all eternity.

 " "

The square was scorched by an incredible amount of heat. The heat wave seared skin and lungs alike.

The spectacle of flame was so awe-inspiring that it could only be considered a true enigma.

"Suba…ru…"

As Subaru fell to his knees before the sea of flames, Beatrice called out to him from somewhere behind him.

Subaru didn't look back. He was still bent forward, every inch of his entire body ruled by fear. He had become desperate even as he denied the reality unfolding before his eyes.

Compared with the desolate alternative, he saw fear as salvation. If he didn't have to sear into his own eyes the worst of all worlds that had ever come about, then it would be better to simply stay there, ruled by fear foreve

—

"Suba-Subaru! Subaru!"

Even so, Beatrice continued calling out Subaru's name with even greater urgency.

She smacked his head multiple times, but Subaru shook his head side to side. He couldn't stand. He had no reason to stand.

…Even if, at that moment, the madwoman stood directly before Subaru's eyes, ready to take his life.

"—I made it in time."

The instant he heard that voice, Subaru's heart gave in to his fear of not knowing.

He lifted his head, turning his eyes toward where the flame had fallen onto Emilia and wondering what had happened.

—There was a single man.

Calmly standing on the paving stones, which spewed black smoke, he acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary. And in his arms, the man carried the girl whom Subaru had presumed lost, the girl whom he was sure had vanished.

"Emi…lia…"

The girl whom he had despaired over, the girl enveloped by the flames that he had failed to save her from—she was still there.

Eyes closed, she had gone limp—unconscious. However, her chest rose and fell almost imperceptibly—an unmistakable sign of life. She was not dead. Emilia was alive.

"You're…"

He was now looking at the person who had suddenly appeared to save Emilia from mortal peril.

Subaru was glad to see that Emilia was safe, but even then, the fear tormenting his heart had not subsided as he called out to the man's back with a trembling voice.

In response, the man slowly turned around. He relaxed his lips.

"I have come for her. I am relieved I arrived in time. Truly."

"Come for… What do you…?"

"—I have come to collect my bride. Is that not what one should do as a man—nay, as a person?"

Those unexpected words, spoken as if they were the most natural thing in the world, instantly brought Subaru's mind to a grinding halt.

While Subaru was as still as a rock, a thin smile came over the young man with a shock of white hair.

"I am the Witch Cult's Archbishop of Greed—Regulus Corneas."

"As promised—I have come to make her my seventy-ninth wife."

3

The man in white had abruptly intervened in the battlefield of raging fire and ice.

He was neither tall nor short and sported white hair and a symmetrical face that left a somewhat middling impression. His physique seemed to be the theoretical ideal of a man of medium height and medium build. Judging from his outward appearance alone, he seemed to have a weak presence that probably let him immediately blend in with any crowd.

But the young man, who lacked defining features, had a name that could not be ignored.

"The Archbishop of Greed…?!"

Before Subaru's shocked eyes, the man—Regulus—stood serenely in the aftermath of the firestorm in the square.

Regulus was calm after picking up Emilia, who was still unconscious, and enduring Sirius's apocalyptic inferno.

"But I truly must say, I am glad I reached her in time. My lovely bride was nearly burned to cinders. Even I, a person who takes pride in requesting little from others, am not so strong as to stoically accept my lovely bride being turned into a pile of ashes. Well, that is only natural. I am not an abnormal person, so of course, I could not simply bear with such degeneracy."

Looking down at Emilia, who was resting in his arms, Regulus spoke eloquently with an expression of relief on his face. The contents of his words were strangely out of place, but there was no mistaking from what he said that he was already ignoring the urgency of the situation from the get-go.

Unfortunately, since Emilia was unconscious, there was no way for his show of concern to reach her, putting it all to waste.

Watching Regulus take everything at his own pace, Subaru swallowed hard before he spoke up.

"Wh-what do you think you're…?"

"—Excuse me."

Suddenly, Regulus looked toward Subaru and interrupted his attempt to say something.

Irritation shone clearly in his empty eyes as he sighed with a note of exasperated fatigue.

"Do you not understand the meaning of courtesy? I introduced myself first, didn't I? The only considerate thing to do would be to introduce yourself to ensure that everything can smoothly proceed. Knowing each other's names is the first step to establishing a working relationship, yes? I am the kind of person who considers that important, you see, and so I have introduced myself. Of course, this is a basic level of consideration that normally shouldn't need to be explained—am I wrong? I mean, normally, people simply understand. The fact that you did not and could not—is that something you did on purpose? Or have you simply lived until this very day in such an obtuse manner? This is incredibly rude. To drop formalities with another is to express that you do not see the other party as worthy of politeness. In other words, that is denying their individuality. It is nothing less than infringing upon another's rights. You are infringing on my rights—me, a rational man free of want or desire."

"…A—all right, I get it. My name is…Subaru Natsuki."

Seeing that Regulus's eyes were becoming more and more tinged with madness as he rambled on and on, Subaru offered his name, heeding the alarm bells going off in his mind.

Instantly, Regulus stopped moving his lips. He slowly narrowed his eyes.

"…Yes, that's good. Respecting others is part and parcel of respecting yourself. Such concerns may be natural, but this is what creates a better world for all parties to live in. One should not yearn for too many things and accept happiness that is appropriate to one's station. By abandoning selfish desires, everyone may live within their means. Such is a wise and praiseworthy way of life."

Regulus laid out his sound argument with such tranquility that it wouldn't be strange for someone to assume he was joking. But the glimmer in both of his eyes proved that this was no game.

Just like with Sirius's logic, Regulus's words sounded like sane if flowery rhetoric at first glance. Yes, his remarks were the same, using superficially sound reasoning to gloss over the abominable statements nestled within—

"Thank you for your opinion— Now burn to ashes and begone!!"

The instant he had the thought, Regulus stood there as a fire resembling an overflowing waterfall assailed him.

The ferocious heat wave from the apocalyptic inferno enveloping the square made Subaru cover his face. Even though Regulus had introduced himself as a fellow Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins, Sirius had mercilessly scorched the other away for having interfered with her plan.

And so without any time to counter her, Regulus and Emilia were engulfed by flame once more.

"Subaru…"

Behind his back, Beatrice's voice trembled as she grabbed onto his shoulder with enough strength to hurt. This was a sign of her concern for Emilia. Subaru knew exactly how she felt, so much so that it stung almost unbearably.

But Greed was so off the charts that the pair's concerns held no meaning whatsoever.

"Now just a moment. Who raised you to resort to flames before your words? If you wish to say something, then speak. Or are you a talentless fool who cannot even understand language?"

Waving an arm in annoyance, Regulus extinguished the vortex of scorching flame.

The firestorm vanished like it was nothing more than an illusion, with Regulus standing utterly unaffected at its center. Of course, the same went for Emilia there in his arms.

Even after those flames had surrounded him, he didn't show a single drop of sweat, never mind a burn mark.

"You and I are both Archbishops of the Seven Deadly Sins, yes? I know that you must be touched in the head. I have enough tolerance to overlook a great many things. However, you see…"

Looking back, Regulus lowered his voice as he glared at Sirius. Taking stock of his gaze, Sirius continued to rub together the golden chains wrapped around both her arms as she gritted her teeth in hatred.

"Just now, you intended to slay this girl by fire, yes? It is somewhat unreasonable to ask me to forgive that transgression. Since time immemorial, every story tells us that when the people we love are harmed, it undoubtedly stokes the fires of anger. That is a right that everyone possesses, and therefore, it is only natural that I am justified in seeking vengeance."

"Anger?! Ha, do not make me laugh! A small, superficial man like you should not lightly utter such words! Anger is mine! It is the irreplaceable treasure that my precious bestowed upon me!"

"What is it with you? Are you still obsessed with that fool who went ahead on his own and died? My, my, how creepy. Only a flawed person would cling to a dead man all this time. If someone you love dies, you should proactively search for another. That is a law of the world, the extent of nature, and to disobey makes you…quite the piece of garbage."

"I know you laughed at his death—do not dare to speak such lofty words to me!!"

Showered in detached insults, Sirius sprayed spittle as she flew into a rage.

Giving in to her anger, the madwoman broke a paving stone as she stepped forward to swing her flame-imbued golden chains at Regulus—only for the blow to bounce right off the side of the man's face. The chains made a dull sound as they struck flesh again and again, going left and right as Sirius's blinding rage struck Regulus all over. The flaming trails left in their wake enveloped the young man as he stood perfectly still.

"Begonebegonebegonebegonebegone! Turn to cinders along with that abominable half-demon!!"

The next moment, the cage of fire converged toward the center, enveloping Regulus in a rising pillar of searing flames.

Its height surpassed that of the wrecked time tower. Paving stones melted under the intense heat, and enough melted away at the center of the scorching fire, where Regulus stood, that a crater had formed.

There was no mistaking that these flames were not something a mere human could endure. However, no matter how apocalyptic the inferno seemed—

"—You know, you really should realize it by now. You just don't measure up, you see."

There, in the crater that was burned by flames all over, a sad smile came over Regulus.

Sure enough, he was unaffected by chain or flame. Emilia was intact within his arms as well. Subaru should have been happy to confirm once again that she was safe, but at the same time, he could see an end coming that would be difficult to avoid.

—If the fight continued, Sirius would be slain by Regulus.

If that was the only issue, Subaru would've been fine with it. If anything, having the number of Archbishops of the Seven Deadly Sins whittled down through infighting was something to celebrate—or it would've been if Sirius's death didn't affect all the surrounding people, that is.

 " "

Even then, the fear racing through Subaru's body was undiminished. His knees buckled, and his lungs were unreliable, racked by pain that refused to subside.

But in this situation— "Subaru."

—his precious partner called him by name, scolding Subaru Natsuki for shirking and cowering.

 " "

The warmth that he felt through his back lent strength to his bowed knees. They gave him the courage to defy his fear, to stand and face the twin natural disasters that were the madwoman of Wrath and the villain of Greed.

If Subaru had been by himself, he probably would have long since succumbed to fear. Standing up would've been impossible.

Subaru could only do so now because he wasn't alone. Unlike the people consumed by madness, Subaru had someone right by his side.

That was why—

"…Lusbel. Can you stand and run on your own?"

Putting the boy, whom he had carried in his arms, down on the ground, Subaru released him from his bonds. Lusbel gazed at Subaru, and then he turned to look at Sirius's feet out of concern for Tina.

"I know you're worried. But leave that girl to us."

"…Okay. Please save Tina somehow…"

With teary eyes, Lusbel entrusted Subaru with his hope. Subaru accepted it with a solemn nod—Lusbel's wish was noble. He wouldn't let anyone sully it.

"—Beatrice."

"I know."

Communicating his thought with a single call of her name, Subaru and Beatrice advanced toward the chaotic battlefield.

Fear had knocked him down. The enemy they faced was almost incomprehensibly dangerous. But most importantly, Subaru had a reason to fight.

"Hmm?"

Right as he was busy glaring at Sirius, Regulus raised an eyebrow, having abruptly felt that something was off.

The cause was probably the end of a whip wrapped around his slender neck. After flying through the air, the whip had found purchase on Regulus's neck, tightening along its length to rob him of his freedom.

Taking this as a signal, Lusbel raced across the chaotic square. Watching his back…

"Now stop touching my Emilia like she belongs to you…!"

…Subaru howled, the explosion in his heart triggered by unceasing love.

He had no idea whatsoever how Regulus had fended off the flames. He could only assume it was probably the effect of an Authority, something on par with Petelgeuse's Unseen Hands and Sirius's soulwashing.

It was safe to assume that he wouldn't be able to hurt Regulus. In that case, what about binding him with a whip to hinder his movements?

"—Shamak!"

Additionally, Beatrice conjured Shamak, the greatest of all spells, and enveloped Regulus in a black cloud.

Chanting while seated on Subaru's back, Beatrice had plunged the villain's thoughts into the void with perfect timing. If he could only pull the

guy down within the darkness and take Emilia back—

"Do you have a death wish? Then you should just wait your turn. Do not make me bother with you."

With a single step, Regulus completely blew away the black cloud surrounding him. It didn't seem like the spell, which was meant to obliterate the victim's five senses, had any effect on Regulus, who now turned his gaze toward Subaru and Beatrice as they raced forward.

Instantly, Subaru felt every hair on his body stand up as he sensed impending death, and so he shouted:

"Beako, now!!"

"I suppose I'm ready!"

Matching Subaru's voice, Beatrice began a complex ritual.

—This evoked one of the fruits of their spending almost every waking moment of the last year together.

"—E M M!!"

Howling as he chanted, Subaru sent mana to Beatrice directly from his broken Gate. This power served as the activation key to initiate an original spell, the only one of its kind in the whole world.

This was E M M, one of the three spells jointly developed by Subaru and Beatrice.

Watching it unfold, Regulus looked like he thought he was being pranked as he stretched his right hand toward Subaru. The five fingers he opened without fanfare contained such immense power that Subaru instinctively knew it was the same as death itself reaching for him.

If they touched him, dying was unavoidable. However— "Huh?!"

—the instant he thought he'd killed the pest, Regulus's fingertips brushed the surface of Subaru's body.

But that was all. There was no blood spatter, nor was Subaru cruelly transformed into a corpse.

This was the effect of E M M—an invisible magic field that covered the entire body, an absolute defensive spell that physically cut a being off from the world, designed to prevent anything from interacting with Subaru whatsoever.

"Uraaah!"

As Regulus blinked hard, Subaru aimed a mighty punch right at his shocked face.

He felt feedback; the punch had undoubtedly landed. But when Regulus recovered from the recoil, there was no mark on his face or any other sign that anything had happened. He had complete damage nullification—in other words, a full-time E M M state.

When Subaru thought about how his own E M M dispelled after taking one hit, the difference in power was staggering.

"I'm still charging!"

Before Regulus could counterattack, Beatrice informed Subaru about her progress toward the next spell. In the intervening time, Subaru was defenseless in a situation where both dodging and blocking were difficult— meaning he would simply have to sacrifice a bit of his soul.

"Do not act so high and—"

"Come!! Invisible Providence!!"

Subaru howled again. A moment later, an invisible fist crashed into Regulus's irritated-looking face from below, slamming into his jaw.

Interrupted by the blow, Regulus was sent reeling. Subaru closed the distance to try and rip Emilia out of his arms—but then he stopped as he felt his intestines churning and a hot nausea rising up in his throat.

"Ugh, ubhhh!"

Covering his mouth, Subaru coughed. Blood dripped through the gaps in his fingers—this was the cost he paid.

The price of using this invisible force, a forbidden art that exceeded his body's capacity, was the corruption of Subaru Natsuki's soul and abject torture for his innards.

"Subaru! Are you all right, I wonder?!"

"Cough… Sorry, I messed up. Even though I wanted to get Emilia back right then…"

Heaving up the clot of blood stuck in his throat, Subaru gritted his teeth at the fact that he'd been one step too slow.

In the one year since the time he'd first used Invisible Providence, his cheap knockoff of Unseen Hands, he still hadn't mastered it. The unseeable, invisible black hand coming out of his chest was an incomplete Authority, and the price that it demanded was pain that racked his entire body and the deterioration of his soul.

For all that, the effect was only a single punch—a fact that made him want to cry.

"But I still got something out of it… Getting hit by that guy is bad, but his movements are sluggish. Considering all the people I've seen to date, even Larry, Curly, and Moe could probably beat this guy."

Regulus's style of fighting was amateurish, below even the likes of Subaru; he was barely more skilled than a total novice. His ability to nullify damage was very troublesome, but even lethal blows didn't mean anything if they couldn't connect.

Annoyed by that appraisal, Regulus adjusted his grip on Emilia.

"What petty trickery… What if you harmed my lovely bride, flailing around like that? Even without someone teaching you manners, is it not natural to treat girls with kindness? Are you incapable of even that?"

"You just can't stop grating on my nerves, can you? That girl's the one I treat the kindest in the whole world. What do you think you're doing, going 'lovely bride' this and 'lovely bride' that and all sorts of weird garbage?!"

"I've told you before, yes? Do not make me repeat myself—I have come to take this girl as my bride."

Regulus's brazen reply treated the sacred institution of marriage with such nonchalance that it was incredibly off-putting.

Even as he forced his quest of seeking love onto others, he prioritized only himself. His fundamentally warped logic was chill-inducing.

"Previously, I was unable to uphold an identical vow. That is why I shall not yield this time. I will protect her. I will take her as my wife, cherish her, and enjoy the tranquility that I am due. I do not wish for many things, but if it is for the sake of protecting my small slice of happiness, I will not hesitate to exploit the power that I have been granted."

For the first time, Subaru felt fear coming from Regulus's demeanor as the man shared what seemed to be his genuine thoughts.

Seeing Subaru's reaction, Regulus went, "Ahh," seeming to accept something as he nodded. "I see now… You know, it might be cruel to say this, but it's futile to try and come between destined lovers. It pains me to say this, but everyone knows that it's quite unsightly to pine for someone who is already spoken for."

"Shut up! Emilia-tan is my bride. No way am I giving her up to the likes of you!"

"Heh, so Emilia is this girl's name? It has a nice ring to it. It makes me want to whisper to her, admiring her like a songbird. That name suits this charming girl perfectly, yes?"

"You don't even…know her name…? What do you see in her that makes you ramble on and on about how she's your lovely bride?"

"Her face."

He was stunned. Subaru fell silent after hearing his instantaneous reply.

Regulus cocked his head in confusion as the silence made him wonder if he'd been misunderstood.

"Her face is exquisite. When it comes to love, that is everything, isn't it?"

"Die."

"Would it not be better if he was dead, I wonder?"

Subaru and Beatrice's condemnations overlapped out of simple shared enmity.

Simultaneously, Beatrice tapped Subaru's shoulder from behind his back, indicating that she was done charging. The details of how Regulus's damagenullification Authority worked remained unclear, but they still had something to try.

This was the third of the original spells from the SubaBeako combo—

"—Whoa?!"

The instant he took his first step forward, the ground between Subaru and Regulus suddenly cracked open, revealing a pit of roaring flames.

The heat wave billowing up at Subaru made him recoil. He proceeded to back away, glaring at the perpetrator who had cut his counterattack short.

—It was Sirius, who had been content to simply observe the fight between Subaru and Regulus up to that point.

"You…! Wait, the girl… Where did you put Tina?"

There was no sign of the girl who'd been taken hostage and ought to have been at the madwoman's feet. However, she did not reply to Subaru, keeping her palms thrust out as she maintained her silence.

He wasn't sure what the nutcase had in mind after observing the battle so far, but having her intervene was exceptionally worse.

Dealing with Sirius herself was already difficult, especially considering how they had to work around her Authority. Sensing that the situation was deteriorating quickly, Subaru wiped cold sweat off his brow— However, the situation had worsened far more than he had imagined.

"—I have found you."

"—Wha?"

Finally, as she stood still, Sirius looked at Subaru, and— No, she was only looking at Subaru and him alone as she continued murmuring.

Sirius suddenly seemed as if she'd completely forgotten her bloodlust from moments before. The madwoman was now ignoring Regulus's very existence, giving her undivided attention to Subaru. Subaru's throat dried out instantly when he saw the crazed glint in her eye.

Then the madwoman pulled back both arms, which she had thrust out, and gently pressed her hands against her cheeks.

"I have found you. I have found you. I have found you. Ahh, ahh, ahhhh!

Yes, there's no mistake! I am sorry, I am so sorry I didn't notice earlier! But ahh, it really was true!"

"Wh-what the…?"

"You were here all along, darling?! I searched everywhere but couldn't find you, and all your spares had been ripped away, nowhere to be found! I have searched for you for so, so, so, so, so, so, so, long…and now you have

finally returned! My darling has returned to my side!"

Her shrill, high-pitched voice was born from indecent passion.

Continuing to press her hands to her cheeks, Sirius wriggled and writhed about, her slender hips shaking as her voice leaped with joy. When it finally dawned on Subaru that every aspect of her voice and her demeanor was a manifestation of seething romantic passion, he was struck with horror.

"My feelings have reached you! Finally, my love has reached you! After all this time!"

Utterly ignoring Subaru's shock, Sirius stretched both hands out toward him.

Then with all the spirit that the madwoman possessed, she pronounced her love in a thundering voice.

"I have been waiting aaaaall this time for you and only you…my beloved, beloved Petelgeuse!"

4

The repulsive zeal in that violet eye was all aimed at Subaru.

The sight of Sirius's ecstatic gaze left him unable to do anything but draw in his breath.

"…She is…staring at you, Subaru."

"…I know, so please don't say it out loud and make me feel worse."

When Beatrice whispered to him from his back, Subaru replied as he suppressed his fear as best as he could.

He'd felt this terrible premonition during the first time around that one loop.

"…This Romanée-Conti family thing almost sounded like an insane joke, but…"

At first, he'd entertained the ridiculous idea of a famous family in the

Witch Cult cranking out one Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins after another, but reality easily exceeded Subaru's expectations.

"If you have to be a husband-and-wife team of Archbishops, then you should get to pick your bride… Well, I guess if she is your pick, there's nothing I can do about it, but…"

"Please do not ignore me, Petelgeuse. You truly are naughty. Always acting so coldly toward me… It just, just, just—frustrates me so much!"

Over a year after they last met, Subaru was finding new reasons to resent Petelgeuse and his awful taste.

Meanwhile, Sirius squirmed and pleaded with him in an ingratiating voice. Just the gestures from the bandaged madwoman were nightmarish enough, but seeing the soulwashed crowd performing the same gestures made the scene an outright comedy.

The fact that their souls were being manipulated to make them go along with the madwoman's delusions really made it more of a tragedy, though.

"And what's her basis for mistaking me for that Petelgeuse bastard in the first place? I don't resemble that jerk at all."

"…Goodness, I simply cannot put up with this. Most likely, she saw your earlier trick, spurring her current disturbing delusion. She truly does not know the meaning of shame. Strong women are so difficult to deal with when they become convinced of something. It goes well beyond pitiable and simply becomes unsightly."

Regulus, now out of sight and out of mind as far as Sirius was concerned, shrugged with unconcealed disdain on his face.

But Subaru had learned something—it was Invisible Providence that had caused this. Sirius had mistakenly identified that incomplete Authority as Unseen Hands.

What made things worse was the fact that the evil spirit Petelgeuse had the power to possess and hijack the bodies of others. There was no room for doubt that the madwoman thought he was dwelling inside Subaru.

Setting that deduction aside, Sirius's burning zeal from a moment before vanished like a mirage as she glared at Regulus with frigid eyes.

"Yes, yes, thank you kindly. And so very, very sorry. Right now, I am in the middle of something. Do you understand? Comprehension is quite important, and mutual understanding is just as critical. You've finished what you came for, yes? Would you quickly take your leave now?"

"Are you giving me an order? Do not make me laugh. Speaking of making

me laugh, you called yourself Sirius Romanée-Conti, did you not? Would you notice already that using your feelings for him as an excuse to take his family name as your own without permission is just downright disturbing? In a sense, that is an infringement upon Petelgeuse's rights. Well, dead people don't have rights, so I suppose it's fine, really."

"He and I loved each other!!"

Regulus's words, filled with bottomless disdain, triggered another explosion of Sirius's emotions.

"I mean, our eyes met over and over again daily! He never scolded me for taking out his things! He let me have his leftover food and said nothing even as I breathed in the air he breathed out! He never grimaced when I slept in the same bed that he had, and he even praised me for skillfully burning halfdemons away! He gave me my name! He smiled! For me, me, me aloooone!!"

Sirius's breath had become ragged, her bandages drenched with tears as she laid her feelings bare. The gruesome sight and the contents of her words made Subaru feel sorry for Sirius for the very first time.

In addition, Sirius's indignation resonated, and the surrounding crowd was suffused with roiling emotions once again. Their faces became dark red, and the bleeding from their eyes and noses increased; it was clear from a single glance that their lives were being whittled away.

"S-stop it! If this is for my sake, then don't drag the people around us into this! Behave, please!"

"Behave, you say?"

Thinking about the collateral damage, Subaru clung to a single thread of hope: trying to play on Sirius's yearning.

When Subaru made that dangerous gamble, Sirius stared at him in a daze for a while.

"…Ah-ha, ah-ha-ha, ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!"

Embracing her slender body, Sirius guffawed at Subaru's words. Her reaction made Subaru tense up. Seeing this, Sirius tore her mouth open to form a crescent moon.

"Even if you wish it, I refuse. I mean, we've finally reunited! We have finally met like this once more. And yet once again, you ask me to endure, to hold back?! How dare you tell me to wait while some spirit I've never seen clings to your back!! I will burn you!!!"

Even as she spoke, her emotions raged as Sirius let out a roar and pointed

at Subaru—no, at Beatrice on Subaru's back. Sirius then shifted her other hand toward Regulus.

"Either way, your real objective is the half-demon that man is carrying, isn't it?! Why are you so partial to a filthy, silver-haired half-demon?! Surely, you understand by now?! Why choose that wretched, vulgar, damned half-demon…?! If you love her that much, then I will burn her before your very eyes…!"

"Geez, I don't even understand a thing you're saying anymore…"

Screaming and even coughing up blood, Sirius vented her hatred toward both Emilia and the Witch of Jealousy.

Wasn't resurrecting the Witch of Jealousy the Witch Cult's goal? Subaru couldn't understand why she treated the supposed object of their worship like it was the one thing she most hated in the entire world.

More than that, it meant Sirius didn't share Petelgeuse's long-cherished desire in the slightest, didn't it?

In any case, with Subaru's hope for a breakthrough dashed, the situation had turned into a three-sided battlefield.

That said, the side in the worst state was, without a doubt, Subaru's party. Despite surviving longer than in any other loop this time around, his failure to acquire any information except how dangerous their enemies were left him in all-consuming despair.

But he couldn't simply stand there—he had to save Emilia and the city.

"Isn't it fine either way, I wonder?"

From his back, the sound of a dependable voice bolstered Subaru's decision. Relying on that voice, Subaru moved to boldly leap toward the two

Archbishops of the Seven Deadly Sins—

"—Excuse me, I am sorry to interrupt when you are getting so motivated, but it is finally time, you see."

"What?"

Regulus cut in and dashed Subaru and Beatrice's resolve. Still carrying Emilia with one hand, he pointed toward the sky with his empty one.

—The next moment, the sound of a bell echoed in the sky above the City of Water. That tolling indicated that noon had arrived.

Nodding in response, a melancholic smile came over Regulus as he spoke up.

"With this, I no longer have free time to spare for you. At the very least, you should be thankful to the Gospel that… No. It is meaningless to thank a torn page. You should be thankful to me, then, for doing my part in obeying the Gospel."

Leaving these words behind, Regulus turned his back on Subaru and Beatrice, having lost all interest in them. Dumbstruck by his sheer gall, Subaru immediately exploded.

"Hold on a minute! 'Time,' you say? What about the time? What the hell are you talking about?!"

"It is exactly as you heard. My free time has come to an end. We have something that we came to do in this city. Ahh, I do not mean merely me, but also the woman touched in the head over there. Isn't that right, Sirius?"

Replying to Subaru's inquiry, Regulus motioned his chin toward Sirius as the latter stood still.

When Subaru looked over, it was shocking how Sirius, who had been so enraged before, was obediently tucking her chains into her sleeves, looking like she wasn't satisfied with the outcome. Nonetheless, she was clearly getting ready to move on just like Regulus.

What impudent, selfish, completely conceited people were they to do this much and then just drop it all and walk away?

"Ahh, do not lament, Petelgeuse! I understand! I, too, wish so much to burn what is incomplete! To act like this before you… It fills me with such sadness that I wish to tear my chest apart! Is it not the same for you, darling?!"

In stark contrast to Regulus's composure, Sirius clawed at her face in grief. Swallowed up by the madwoman's emotions, the crowd let out sobs and laments that filled the square.

As that painful and revolting scene played out before him, Subaru ferociously broke into a sprint. Regulus was right there, carrying Emilia out of the square as if the conversation was already at an end.

"Wait, you bastard! Don't carry on with the conversation all on your own!

Put that girl down! If you don't…"

"You see, a thought occurred to me."

Stopping in his tracks, Regulus turned only his head toward Subaru, smiling.

That smile petrified Subaru's body—almost fatally so.

"It is a lonely thing to have a ceremony without any attendants on the new bride's side, so it would be a little too coldhearted and pitiless of me not to invite you, the illicit lover— Therefore, I will not kill you."

As he spoke, Regulus lightly tapped a paving stone with the tip of his toe.

With a gesture that made it seem like he was only adjusting the fit of his shoe, he shaved the top of the paving stone right off. The resulting debris flew toward Subaru's legs—instantly causing his right leg to explode.

"—Eh?"

A horrid cross section was revealed as if he'd been gouged by a massive beast's claw, neatly exposing Subaru's white bone, pink flesh, yellowish fat, and gray-colored blood vessels, which had been savagely severed.

Incomprehension. Comprehension. A moment later, the pain reached his brain.

"?!! Daaagh! Agaaaagh?!"

His vision went pure white as terrible pain shot through him. It was as if a number of sharp needles had been stabbed into the crown of his head.

Screaming, Subaru failed to break his fall as he tumbled to the ground. He then tried to stanch the leg injury with his hands. It was no use. The wound was too big. Subaru's hands alone could not plug it.

"Subaru?! Subaru! Subaru, hold on! Let me—!"

Beatrice, falling to the ground alongside Subaru, hurriedly activated a healing spell as she realized the gravity of his injury. Seeing the pair reduced to that miserable state, Regulus nodded in apparent satisfaction.

"Your demeanor toward me has been quite rude this whole time, but with this, let us call it even. I hope this pain serves as sufficient motivation for you to reflect upon your actions. Ahh, there is no need to thank me. I mean, this really isn't enough to thank someone for. It is merely a wake-up call that should be natural coming from any reasonable person."

"Aaaaa! Gah, ghh, ugoaaah!!"

That voice wasn't audible anymore. Pain, pain—Subaru Natsuki was ruled by pain alone.

His eyes were cloudy. He was clenching his back teeth so hard that they seemed ready to split in half. His vision was completely red. He didn't have any sense of up or down, left or right. Incomprehension. Incomprehensionincomprehension. He did not comprehend, but there was something he knew.

"Emiliaaa…! Waghhh, urgh, goeee!"

In the throes of excruciating pain, Subaru called out the name of the girl who was the only thing he cared about in that moment. But it was useless. As he gasped from pain, tiny Beatrice desperately tried to keep him from thrashing about as she continued treating him.

However, as if to mock Beatrice's dedicated efforts, the situation continued to worsen.

"…This isn't funny in the least."

"My apologies. But this is no joke. This, too, is a matter of natural consequence."

As Beatrice murmured despondently, Sirius replied from somewhere behind her in a melancholic voice.

All around Sirius, people were writhing in pain. They were screaming from the crippling pain in their leg, identical to Subaru's wound. It was as if they'd all been maimed by the same beast.

"If my beloved Petelgeuse had a chance to share a few words, he would say this: Pain makes us savor life, and life exists so that we may prove our love. I believe this to be true as well. That is why I have this wish! After all, love is the wish to become one! To see the same things, to feel the same things, to pass the time together, to end our lives together—for love is all about joining with one another!"

Spreading both hands wide, Sirius brought them together before her chest, producing a loud, explosive sound resembling applause.

After indulging in the suffering of others with an expression of pure ecstasy, Sirius turned a hateful eye toward Beatrice.

"Everyone should taste the same life as my precious. But I shall allow no such thing for you or for that filthy half-elf. Who would knowingly allow you to share anything with my precious?"

"…Would you cease being so crazed with jealousy, I wonder? Betty has long become one with Subaru without turning into anything like you. Is Betty not Subaru's, I wonder?"

"—!"

Beatrice gave a retort, conceding nothing to Sirius and her manipulative words.

The spirit and the madwoman sternly crossed gazes. But the madwoman quickly averted her eyes from the staring contest.

"For now, I leave him to you, for the instructions of the Gospel must take precedence. Yes, I have little choice in the matter. So sorry. My apologies.

But I will come to see you again soon. Yes, very soon indeed."

To the end, Sirius directed her mad feelings of love toward Subaru, even as unbearable pain stripped him of conscious thought. On a final note, the madwoman gave Subaru a long stare of yearning before departing from the bloody square with a single leap.

Beatrice could not even keep her eyes on Sirius's back as she faded into the distance. Before she realized it, all sight of Regulus, and Emilia with him, had vanished from the square. "—Subaru."

Subaru was unconscious, vomiting stomach fluids mixed with froth.

Touching his leg, she continued to treat the still-bleeding wound. The site of the injury was large and deep; if she let her mind wander, he would almost certainly die of blood loss. Subaru's life was Beatrice's first priority.

There were nearly fifty other wounded besides Subaru in the square. Thanks to the Authority of Wrath, they had suffered the same exact wound as him, but the effect of Beatrice's healing was not being shared. It was an abominable Authority.

"—Subaru, I am so sorry."

Diligently tending to Subaru's health, Beatrice murmured frailly as she tried to stay strong.

A tear fell from her one of her wide-open eyes, leaving a line as it coursed down her white cheek.

"I am so sorry. Could I be any sorrier, I wonder…?"

Beatrice apologized over and over, even though she knew that her voice could not reach Subaru, who had passed out from the pain.

Even though she knew that her words changed nothing.

"I am so sorry, Emilia…!"

Sirius of Wrath had toyed with people's hearts, creating a long list of casualties in the process.

And after a display of overwhelming might, Regulus of Greed had abducted Emilia.

—Two Archbishops of the Seven Deadly Sins had been unleashed upon the Water Gate City of Pristella.

CHAPTER 3

WITCH CULT DISASTER RESPONSE HQ

1

—Dong, dong, dong.

The low, weighty percussions of gongs seemed to come from everywhere at once, near and far.

The flow of his blood had slowed—it was an unpleasant feeling akin to having mud coursing in his arteries. His internal organs barely seemed to be working, and his guts felt like they were a rough collection of clay work; these kinds of mismatched sensations dominated his body.

Oxygen wasn't traveling to his brain properly, either, making it hard to form thoughts, and what thoughts did form were unreliable.

He felt a feeling of loss, as if his body was no longer his own—

"—Ah."

Abruptly, he felt his fading self being pulled back from the brink as raspy breaths trickled out from his lungs.

Instantly, his hazy consciousness miraculously pieced itself back together, and Subaru Natsuki slowly opened his eyes.

After becoming accustomed to darkness, his eyes were not ready to fully accept the white light now shooting into them. A shadow crossed right and left across his indistinct vision. It took him thirty seconds to realize that these were human silhouettes.

He sensed the presence of hastily moving people, a dirty ceiling, and air that seemed to have a whiff of rust to it—finally, he found that he was lying on something hard and that he was staring at those silhouettes in a daze. "—Ohh, looks like ya woke up, Bro."

Just when Subaru returned to reality, someone abruptly peered at him from close-up.

This person was wearing a jet-black steel helm. From that gear alone, some might have taken him for one of the city's heavily equipped guards, but considering how much skin he exposed from the neck down and his obvious lack of one arm, those characteristics immediately told Subaru this was someone he knew. "Al…?"

"Yep, it's Mr. Al. See me once, and you can't forget me even if you tried.

This is still one helluva situation, though."

The man in the steel helm—Al—shrugged and chuckled at his own words.

As Subaru continued to grasp more and more of the situation, his mind began to whip around chaotically. What was a mercenary in the employ of the Priscilla camp doing there? —No, to begin with, where was he?

Then just as that question occurred to Subaru—

"Aah! Subawu woke up, didn't he?! I told you to call me if he woke up, meow!"

A loud voice rose as someone rushed over with a swift patter of feet. The newcomer thrust a finger not at Subaru, who was lying down, but at Al, who was standing beside him in his familiar steel helm.

"You need to do as you're told, meow! Really, you're useless if you're just going to stand around, doing nothing helpful!"

"Aren't you bein' a bit harsh? I'm the one who did all the work hauling Bro and the young lady over here, y'know."

Al shrugged at being chewed out so much, but the one lecturing him didn't pay that the slightest heed. Instead, this person—a lovely girl, or rather, a young man dressed like one—turned to face Subaru.

"Even Ferris…"

"Yes, yes. It's Ferri, beloved by one and all. Okay, Subawu Natsuki, let me explain. This is a field hospital, and you were brought in with heavy injuries. Still with me?"

Upon speaking those words, Ferris gave him an adorable wink. That cute gesture was very much at odds with the blood splatters that marred his white cheeks and outfit, a sight that conveyed in simple terms that the conditions here were nowhere near normal.

Once he looked around, spurred by Ferris using the term field hospital, Subaru realized that what he first guessed was the scent of rust was actually the heavy odor of blood. He could see a whole slew of faintly moaning casualties. There seemed to be so many that even the gravely injured were lying on nothing more than sheets of cloth. Subaru belatedly found that he was in the exact same state.

"What…is this…? The hell happened…?"

"It seems you're still a bit confused, meow. Take it slow and remember what went down before you fainted. If you can recall that, then you'll have your answer."

Ferris spoke to the confused Subaru in a hard and unkind tone. However, this wasn't an effort to dismiss Subaru; it was just a sign of how pressed Ferris was.

As healers went, Ferris possessed peerless skill. With such a large number of wounded needing help, it wasn't hard to imagine just how critical his power was.

In the first place, what kind of terrible incident could have produced such a large number of casualties—?

"!! The Witch Cult!"

"That's right… Honestly, they're just the worst, meow. I knew that already, but this made me feel like I didn't really understand until now. I never imagined they'd go this far."

Biting his lip with regret, Ferris affirmed what Subaru had realized.

Subaru understood his anger toward the Witch Cult. But as his memories gradually returned, Subaru had something even more important that he absolutely had to know.

"E-Emilia?! What happened to Emilia and Beatrice?"

 " "

"Both of them were in the square with me, and then…"

Sitting up, Subaru grasped Ferris's slender shoulder when his words failed him. This was because from the way Ferris averted his eyes, Subaru could tell he was right to be worried.

"Calm down and listen, okay?" said Ferris as a preamble to Subaru.

"First, you absolutely need to rest, Subawu. You were badly hurt… As for Lady Emilia, we can't get in touch with her. From what you said just now, it doesn't seem like…you got separated because the city's in chaos, huh."

Sure enough, Subaru's energy faded as Ferris gave him what could hardly

be called good news.

Emilia's safety or lack thereof was completely unknown. Paired with his memories from just before fainting, he certainly hadn't been wrong to think that Emilia had been whisked away by Regulus of Greed. Subaru had been helpless to stop him.

As for Beatrice, if she was in the same place as he—

"Bro, if you're worried about your partner, she's sleepin' soundly over there."

"!!"

Al sat cross-legged, pointing toward Subaru's right side as he spoke. When he turned that way on reflex, he saw a curtain covering the space immediately beside him. He rushed over and practically tore it down.

On the other side of that curtain, he spotted a girl wearing a dress, slumbering on a sheet of cloth.

It was Beatrice. She lay faceup with her eyes closed. He couldn't spot any external injuries. When he took in the familiar sight of her sleeping adorably, Subaru let out a sigh of relief.

"Beako…! Ahh, I'm glad she's safe. Really, I… Er, gyaaah!"

"Ferri said to rest, yes? Do you understand what 'absolutely need to rest' means, meow?"

Ferris was on him in moments, poking at Subaru's right leg and berating him in a voice that quivered in anger. Instantly, Subaru screamed, feeling as if a thunderbolt had struck the crown of his head.

The back of his eyes flickered from pain that was intense enough to make him taste blood inside his mouth. When he looked down, wondering what was up, he saw that there was a thick bandage wrapped around his right leg.

"Bro, when I found ya, it was so grotesque that I got cold, cold feet. Your leg was hangin' by the smallest flap of skin. A little bit more, and you would've ended up one limb short, just like me."

Al revealed some information about what transpired after Subaru had passed out, indicating his own missing left arm with a flippant tone of voice for a bit of emphasis. His explanation, plus the thick bandage around his leg, made Subaru's hazy memories come back with a vengeance.

—Regulus.

That man, the white-haired villain who spirited Emilia away, had launched an attack as he was leaving, gouging and ruining Subaru's leg as a parting gift. That was the source of the pain that had rendered him unconscious.

"So you see, lovely Beatrice grafted your torn leg back together, and Ferri treated you on top of that. It should be just about healed right up, but you can't do anything crazy for a while, you hear me?"

Crossing his arms to form an X, Ferris sternly forbade Subaru from straining his body. Subaru nodded listlessly at the instruction, as he was more preoccupied at seeing Beatrice asleep.

"Beatrice…?"

Having spent most of the last year in the same bed as her, he could tell that Beatrice was sleeping very soundly. But he had to wonder if this sleep was a little too deep, even for her.

Though he had shrieked right beside her, she hadn't stirred in the slightest. "Is she really…sleeping? She didn't even twitch, did she?"

"…Sleep might be the wrong word. Her state is closer to a coma than real sleep."

"A coma?!"

Upon hearing that far more dangerous-sounding term, Subaru hastily touched Beatrice's sleeping face. It was cold to the touch. Not a single cute reaction stirred her eyelashes or her lips.

The echo of the word coma grew more credible as all traces of blood seemed to drain from Subaru's head.

"It's a reaction from using every last bit of mana she had to spare. I told you, didn't I? Lovely Beatrice desperately grafted Subawu's leg together using healing magic."

"That's… But even if she's been almost out of gas forever, I never thought she'd slip into a coma."

"That would be true if Subawu was the only one hurt, right?"

Ferris narrowed his eyes as he watched the pale-faced Subaru inhale sharply. Taking stock of the pair's conversation, Al used a finger to toy with the metallic parts of his steel helm as he spoke.

"By the time I got to the square, they were all rollin' on the ground with the same wounds as you, Bro. That moppet managed to treat all of 'em with healing magic. Damn impressive, I gotta say."

Subaru recognized the faces of the other patients who were lying down on sheets of cloth all around him, just like he was.

The fox-man, the eyepatch woman, blood-drenched Lachins, and more, all of them with wounds on their right legs just like Subaru— No, the wounds weren't merely in the same locations. They were identical.

—The resonance that came with Sirius's soulwashing had mauled everyone in the square the same way.

Beatrice had wrung strength out of herself to heal not only him, but also everyone else as well.

"Is Beatrice all right? You think she'll get better if she keeps resting like this?"

"…To be honest, I think there's little hope of that. I might be the top healer in the kingdom, but spirits are outside my specialty. I think the best we can hope from letting her rest like this is maintaining her current condition."

"!"

Ferris's explanations made Subaru harden his cheeks. If that was the most they could manage, then that meant she would have to remain asleep. When he heard that, the first thing that came to mind was the girl he'd left at the mansion despite how much he'd wanted to keep her near him.

Seeing that remorseful reaction, Ferris realized his own slip of the tongue. "Sorry," he apologized. "I shouldn't have spoken like that just now. But I should mention that letting her sleep won't help her recover, and unlike an injury, it's not something Ferri can heal. The reason she's asleep is because she lacks mana, so if she gets supplied with some, she should awaken, but…"

"Supply her with mana? If I could do that, things would be easy…"

His insufficient mana supply was a chronic problem that had plagued him and Beatrice ever since they first forged a pact.

As a special type of spirit, Beatrice could not accept mana unless it was supplied by Subaru, her contractor. And Subaru, the source of that allimportant mana supply, was a louse who was incapable of properly storing sufficient amounts of mana.

Subaru's helplessness was always a burden on Beatrice. He already owed her enough that it'd take a lifetime to pay her back, yet his debt to her seemed to constantly be growing.

"It's not just about Beatrice, either. Emilia also needs my help…but here I am, stuck like this…!"

His connection to Beatrice ran deeper than one nearly torn-off leg.

Beatrice was also Subaru's connection to the possibilities beyond his reach, to his few fleeting hopes.

Emilia was in peril. The city was in peril. He had to do something. If it was for their sake—

"Am I an idiot? Nah, I'm definitely an idiot. If I have time to cry about it… Mnghhh!"

"Okay, that's far enough!"

When Subaru tried to ignore the pain in his leg and stand, Ferris clamped both his hands down on his face. Ferris then forced Subaru to turn his head toward him, bringing their faces close, until they were only inches away from each other.

"Why does it always have to be zero or a hundred with you, Subawu? Getting all mopey-dopey is bad, but running around willy-nilly puts everyone in a bind, too. Don't you get that?"

"Mopey-dopey? Willy-nilly…?"

"It's true, though, right? You don't even have little Beatrice to stand by you right now, so what can you do running off all by yourself? You are

absolutely not allowed to waste the life you've been given."

The way he said it might have sounded silly, but Ferris's words were infused with powerful, sincere feelings.

 " "

After hearing Ferris's plea, Subaru felt the strength drain from his legs as he stopped trying to forcibly stand up. Then he heaved a great big sigh and decided to stay put while sorting out his feelings some other way.

"Sorry. I got too restless… Come to think of it, I didn't thank you for the leg, either."

"I don't really do this for words of thanks, you know. Though it's always nicer to hear some than not."

"Thanks, really. You're a lifesaver. I owe you."

"You are very welcome, meow."

When Subaru piled on the thank-yous, Ferris gave a curt reply and finally took his hands off Subaru's face.

"Al, you were a huge help, too. You carried me and Beako all the way here, right?"

"Yep. By the way, I wanted you to thank me properly, too. That said, there's someone else you really oughtta be thankin' here, Bro."

When Subaru tilted his head, wondering what that could mean, Al amusedly motioned with the jaw of his steel helm. When Subaru glanced in that direction, he saw a boy holding his knees as he slept in a corner of the room.

"Lusbel…"

"The little guy called me over with tears in his eyes, so I just couldn't ignore him. I followed him to the square that got painted red, red, red with Bro's and everyone else's blood, y'know? Seriously, I wanna praise myself for not blacking out then and there."

It was in Al's nature to talk about everything like it was all a long-winded joke, but Subaru really did owe him a great deal. The same went for Lusbel, who had bravely returned with help. Even if he was with an adult, Subaru truly respected the boy for deciding to head back to that terrifying square, knowing full well what awaited him.

It was thanks to Al and Lusbel's help that Subaru could hold Beatrice's hand as she slept.

"So Beatrice's condition isn't going to deteriorate right this minute or anything, right?"

"That, I can guarantee. All I'm saying is that we can't help her wake up right this minute."

"Got it… Please fill me in on what's been happening. How's the city right now, and what is the Witch Cult up to?"

Striving to maintain calm, Subaru tried to get a grasp on how things had been developing. When he posed that question, Ferris and Al exchanged looks, wondering where to begin. Before they had a chance—

"—It would seem your timing is very good. I was just about to speak regarding precisely that."

The new voice carried well and was backed by an undercurrent of strength. When he turned, Subaru caught sight of the speaker now arriving at the entrance to the field hospital. Long, green hair danced around her as the refreshing beauty came to a halt—

"Lady Crusch! This place is full of wounded… You didn't have to go out of your way to come here."

"I am sorry, Ferris. I had no intention of invading your battleground. However, I heard that Master Subaru has awakened. How could I possibly ask him to come to me in his state?"

As she explained her thought process, Crusch approached the cloth where Subaru sat. As opposed to what she had worn earlier in the morning, her attire retained vestiges of elegance while prioritizing ease of movement.

He couldn't help but recall that this was very close to what Crusch looked like before she lost her memory—

"Seems like you're geared up for a fight, too, Crusch."

"The circumstances being what they are, I made some preparations.

Master Subaru, how is your leg injury?"

"Thanks to your Ferris, me and Beako made it through somehow. If I tried hard, I think I could jump a couple of times without crying."

"That is good to hear…or is it?"

After hearing Subaru's irreverent quip, Crusch innocently tilted her head in apparent confusion. Out of the corner of his eye, Subaru could see Ferris silently mouthing the words You have to reeeeest! Subaru donned a proper and serious look.

"So can you tell me what's going on in Pristella right now?"

"Of course. However, there is something I must ask of you first—Master Subaru, is there no mistaking that you encountered the Witch Cult's Archbishops of the Seven Deadly Sins?"

"…Yeah, no doubt about that. My leg injury, and Emilia… Her kidnapping was all their doing as well. I saw them with my own eyes, and no one goes around pretending to be those guys."

Surely, no one would be so suicidal as to falsely claim the title of an Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins. Regardless, Subaru had also seen part of Sirius's and Regulus's Authorities. And considering their revolting personalities, their identities were almost certain.

After hearing Subaru's reply, Crusch murmured, "So Lady Emilia really was…" as she lowered the tone of her voice before continuing. "…It would seem we should indeed think of that broadcast as fact."

"Broadcast?"

Crusch drew herself up as the unexpected term reached Subaru's ears.

"Well, there was a broadcast about one hour ago. Just like the morning broadcasts, it was conducted by using the metia in Pristella's city hall."

"…Wait, it was the Witch Cult that made a broadcast? Did they hijack the metia there?"

When Crusch had trouble picking her words, Subaru asked about the worst case he could think of. Crusch, Ferris, and Al nodded in silence, confirming his suspicions.

"The broadcast was sudden, but the culprit's identity is clear. They were considerate enough to openly announce who they were, you see."

"Announce… Right, that's exactly what they do. They always announce themselves before doing anything."

Crusch's words, filled with righteous indignation, drew a deep nod from Subaru.

Thinking back to the Archbishops of the Seven Deadly Sins whom Subaru had encountered to date, all of them had stated their names and titles without fail. It seemed like it was the one rule that was actually observed by these morally bankrupt people who were unable or unwilling to uphold any other societal norms.

Was it Sirius who'd seized the broadcast, compelled by her incoherent delusions and a twisted desire to enter the limelight? Or was it Regulus, who cloaked himself in self-deception like a suit of armor?

"—Capella Emerada Lugunica, the Archbishop of Lust."

"…Eh?"

When a totally unfamiliar name made a sudden entrance, Subaru was dumbstruck as he looked at Crusch.

She met his gaze head-on, the intensity in her amber eyes only growing stronger.

"The broadcast made this declaration: The Water Gate City of Pristella has fallen into the hands of the Witch Cult."

2

"So you woke up, Natsuki. I'm glad; that's such a relief."

Anastasia flashed Subaru an elegant smile the moment she saw him come in, with Al lending his shoulder for support.

Unlike Crusch, she was wearing the same outfit as earlier in the day: a kimono and her white fox scarf wrapped around her neck. Combining that with her calm outward demeanor, she seemed to be the only one who was acting like this was just another day— No, even she couldn't manage that. Subaru could see faint traces of fatigue pulling at the fringes of Anastasia's face.

That only made sense. She was one of the concerned parties that was deeply affected by the Witch Cult's mayhem.

"Sorry for oversleeping, Anastasia. Do I still have a seat?"

"Not to worry, I have arranged a spot just for you. It's critical to talk to you about the people you ran into as soon as possible, Natsuki. So come on —sit, sit!" Anastasia beckoned him by hand.

Subaru favored his right leg as he walked to the round table at the center of the room. Borrowing Al's assistance, he plopped down into his chair, taking a breath as he scanned the room.

"Whew, that's a lot comfier… Uh, so this is where we're gathering?"

"This is the Witch Cult Disaster Response HQ. It is a bit seedy-lookin' for that, though."