The sharp tip of the glass was dripping with blood, which could ultimately be traced back to Old Man Rom’s throat.

Having lost an arm and had his throat slashed, Old Man Rom spewed a massive amount of blood and foam from his mouth, his gray eyes dimming as he fell to the ground.

His twitching body had already lost all strength, and there was no doubt that life had left him.

With a graceful bow, Elsa paid what seemed like respect to the collapsed giant.

At the feet of the still trembling Old Man Rom, she laid down the glass, the last weapon used against him, and said,

“I’ll return this. I won’t be needing it anymore.”

Coldly stating this, she twirled the kukri knife in her hand.

As she wiped away the blood staining the blade, she pointed the tip back at the two of them.

Subaru, who had collapsed on the ground, was left speechless.

He was completely entranced by the brutal murder that had just occurred right in front of him.

Just a few minutes earlier, the person he had been exchanging words with was now dead—not due to an accident or illness, but by the clear malice of another.

“Oh, you actually have some courage,” she remarked while Subaru could hardly move.

Unable to convey any intentions to his arms and legs, Subaru could only look up at Felt, who was standing before him, encouraging her trembling knees to rise.

With her legs straightened, she brushed her blood-soaked blonde hair back behind her.

“How dare you do this to us…!”

Subaru couldn’t see her expression from behind.

However, the way she squeezed out those words of resentment was far from a tearful tone.

“If you continue to resist, you may end up in pain,” Elsa warned.

“You intended to kill us regardless of any counterattack, you sadistic jerk!” Felt shot back.

“If you keep moving, I might hit my hand. I’m not very skilled with blades,” Elsa said, expertly spinning the knife in her grip.

Felt was bare-handed, with no chance of winning.

Subaru’s mind concluded that he had to shout.

He needed to attract Elsa’s attention and buy Felt some time to escape.

At the very least, he had to create an opportunity for her to call for help, or at least a chance for her to flee.

Analyzing their glaring disparity in combat abilities with his limited experience, Subaru reached his conclusion.

Yet despite that, his throat felt frozen, producing no sound.

His limbs betrayed him, only trembling in fear.

“…I’m sorry for dragging you into this.”

“…I—”

Felt’s soft apology reached the immobile Subaru.

Upon hearing that, Subaru lifted his face, momentarily forgetting the scream he should have made, and instead only muttered words that seemed to beg forgiveness.

As if to abandon Subaru’s emotions, Felt bolted into action.

Her footsteps were loud, and she sprinted forth like a feather.

As Felt dashed forward—the next moment, a tempest swept through the repository.

Immediately after her sprint, Subaru’s eyes seemed to lose sight of her.

Then, Felt reappeared right next to Elsa, her thin leg painfully embedded into Elsa’s side, which astonished her.

Landing one blow, Felt sprang back as if propelled and regained speed once more.

In the limited space of the repository, she treated the walls like ground, moving in an incredibly unorthodox manner. Even Elsa couldn’t help but marvel at her acrobatic skills.

“The blessing of the wind. Ah, delightful. You’re loved by the world, aren’t you?—How envious,” Elsa mused with a euphoric smile, which instantly twisted into a pitch-black hatred as her arm tensed.

That alone was enough for—

“—Ah.”

Felt, who had been slashed across the shoulder, was sent tumbling helplessly to the ground, unable to break her fall.

The wound traversed from her left shoulder to her right side, deep enough to sever bone and reach her organs.

Lying on her back, blood gushed forth from her wound in sync with her heartbeat, and it seemed the shock from the pain had taken her consciousness as she lay motionless.

Within seconds, her blood flow waned, silently indicating the end of her life.

Her body refused to move.

Subaru wanted to go over to her and patch up that wound.

If that was too late, he would at least wish to close her open eyelids.

Yet even that desire was rejected by his body, which had turned into a mere vessel that sent blood throughout in agony.

“While your grandfather and the girl have fallen, you show no sign of moving. Have you given up?”

In a tone almost pitying, Elsa looked at the dazed Subaru with boredom.

A simple slice of her knife would end everything. Seeing that outcome was evident, she moved without a hint of tension, even appearing ready to stifle a yawn.

Subaru felt an unbearable anger at Elsa’s demeanor.

He had formed a bond, albeit a brief one lasting merely an hour.

Yet, they had exchanged conversations and laid bare their feelings. To see her take that so lightly and kill without remorse was unacceptable.

Above all, he couldn’t forgive himself for standing idly by while two had been let to die.

The delayed wrath fueled Subaru’s limbs, motivating them to move.

He braced his shaking limbs against the ground, entering a beast-like stance to stagger to his feet. Whether due to rage or fear—or perhaps both—his entire body trembled.

“Oh, you’re finally standing. It’s slow and dull, but not too bad.”

Subaru lunged at Elsa with bared teeth, pouring all his spirit into the attack.

He threw himself at her, flailing his arms with brute strength to strike down.

Yet, the response was—

“But that’s absolutely useless.”

Her elbow crushed the bridge of his nose, counter-attacking with a solid hit.

As he spun around, her long leg swept through with minimal movement, sending Subaru barreling backward.

He crashed into a nearby shelf of pottery, shattering pieces as he fell.

In that fleeting moment of conflict, he lost his nose and front teeth. The kick to his side brought a sharp agony, and he could feel several ribs snap.

Yet, Subaru hammered his fists into the ground and stood up without pause. The rush of endorphins drowned out any pain he should have felt.

Fueled by adrenaline, he charged once more, heedless of the consequences.

His flailing arms barely reached Elsa, while her weapon arced back, shattering Subaru’s shoulder.

He let out a grunt, interrupted by a sharp kick to his chin, silencing his cries as he lost a front tooth, leaving him staring up at Elsa.

“Completely useless. Your movements are clumsy and amateurish. You lack skill and tactics, and if it was up to your wits, you’re devoid of that too. Why even try to challenge me?”

“Shut up… I’ve got my pride… I won’t let this go…!”

A broken nose meant he could hardly frame a coherent insult.

His arm had been taken out by the counter, and his left shoulder hung loosely. He felt no pain but was beset by a loud ringing in his ears. He spewed rage and nausea out of his mouth and stumbled back up.

He was bruised all over. With zero chances of winning and barely one in a thousand for retaliation.

In a state devoid of light, Subaru still stood, prompting a quiet sigh from Elsa.

“I’ll admit, your spirit is remarkable. If you had attempted it sooner, perhaps things for these children would have been different.”

With a knife in one hand, she pointed at the bodies of the two she had slain.

Subaru was drawn to the gruesome sight of their lifeless forms, his brow furrowing in sudden recognition.

Why did he feel like he had seen this scene before?

The thieves’ repository turned into a sea of blood. A giant body without an arm, decapitated and laid to rest. In the dim light of the room, a dull gleam from the copper blade…

A shocking thought surged through Subaru’s mind suddenly—it was—

“Let’s bring this to an end. I’ll take you to meet the angels.”

She licked her red lips, a seductive smile merging into the dark.

Subaru’s throat let out a groan of despair as he struggled to understand the threat that loomed over him.

“W-where…!?”

He frantically scanned his surroundings, nerves strung tight, waiting for her next move.

His actions were nothing more than the disgraceful behavior of a weakling waiting to be preyed upon, a sight that would bore Elsa to death—as if a defenseless carp lay flat on a cutting board.

Thus, her strike, erupting from the shadows, was vividly and directly straight.

“N—!?”

With a moment’s hesitation, he instinctively dodged just in time, pulling back and tucking his abdomen to narrowly escape the horizontal slice.

The thin skin of his stomach tore, and a sharp pain shot through him as he clenched his teeth to endure it.

“Rrrraaaah!!”

Fueled by determination, he delivered a roundhouse kick straight to Elsa’s face.

Twisting his waist, he felt a satisfying impact of “I’ve gotten one in!” surge through him. Then—

“Oh, I felt that quite well.”

With a second kukri knife drawn from her waist, she slashed through around seventy percent of Subaru’s torso, spilling his blood and guts out.

“—Huh?”

Taking one step, then another, he staggered as his shoulder collided with the wall, before crumbling like a fallen puppet.

Looking down at the ground, blood gushed from his abdomen, and he could barely hold onto his insides.

With his trembling arm, he attempted to push his organs back inside, but the spurting clots of blood made it impossible.

“Surprised? I opened your belly as we brushed past. That’s my specialty.”

She said, laughing, as she passed through the pool of blood that had turned into a waterfall.

Approaching Subaru, who could only emit silent groans, Elsa gazed lovingly at the spilled guts in the dark red pool.

“Oh, truly—your innards have such a beautiful color, I think.”

This woman was insane. She was deranged.

The pain was overwhelming, and his vision blurred. Subaru’s body eventually lay flat on the floor.

With his trembling arm slowly reaching out, he weakly grasped at Elsa’s foot.

“Ugh… ah.”

“Does it hurt? Is it hard? Is it sad? Do you want to die?”

As Elsa had her ankle gripped, she knelt down to meet Subaru’s gaze.

Her eyes were intoxicated, showing no hint of remorse as she prepared to take a human life. No, she relished in it.

Nothing but pure bliss.

“But you can’t go so easily.”

With a sweet smile, she remained crouched, readying her vicious blade.

That was the last sight Subaru ever saw.

The slash arced sharply, cutting across Subaru’s face.

The result was—

“—AAAAAAAAAH!?”

His eyelids were slashed open, and he lost the light forever.

Lying on the ground, Subaru reached for his deeply sliced eyes with trembling hands.

Blood and tears mixed together, and from his mouth, which released endless screams, he continuously spat up blood, feeling an overwhelming emptiness as if his insides were laid bare.

It was a strange state of being alive. It felt like hell to still exist.

In that state, he couldn’t even see himself, unaware of when he would perish.

“When will I die? When will I die? Am I still alive? Am I dead?”

What defines life? Can this bugs-like state be called living? Can one call this being alive when death and life are being toyed with at this moment?

What is life and death? Why is dying so frightening? Is living necessary? Or not?

Fear, fear, fear, fear, fear, fear, fear, fear, fear, fear, fear, fear, fear, fear, fear, fear, fear, fear.

The unrelenting wave of instinctive denial of an absolute death surged in Subaru’s mind, overwhelming it, and his locked vision turned completely white.

—Ah, I’ve died.

At that moment, with that fleeting thought, Natsuki Subaru’s life was extinguished without ceremony.