――Had I squeezed out all the blood, tears, and everything else from within me this time?

How much more must I cry?

How much more must I suffer?

Have I really done something so unforgivable? What about my actions is so detestable? Why can’t you just end it all for me in one swift stroke?

I am wounded, trampled upon in spirit, robbed of a dear person, unable to save those I should protect, and the life of the person I cherished most has been cruelly snuffed out by my own hands.

――This punishment, who exactly is it for?

“I—”

I was mistaken. I had misunderstood. I had gotten carried away.

Thinking I could take advantage of the ‘Witch’s Curse’ that clung to my soul just because I had managed to turn it around once was foolish. The reckless notion that I could return even after death only worsened my plight and made me underestimate the existence called ‘witch’.

All these compounded have led to the current grim spectacle before me.

Collapsing, with Emilia on my lap, I wandered with vacant eyes.

How long has it been since Emilia lost her life? The body I touched had grown cold, and the crimson blood that had been showered upon me from her mouth had lost its heat and was long since cold.

Every part of her once soft body had started to harden, as if to forcefully impress upon me the undeniable reality that lay before me.

Yet, even with that understanding, I cannot fathom why my emotions are stirred.

I am exhausted. After all this suffering, isn’t enough… enough? How many people, anywhere in this world, have endured as much pain as I have?

Compared to who I was before, I have worked unimaginably hard and put forth relentless effort to try and make things right. Still, I could not avoid the worst, and calamity mocks me.

No matter what I do, it’s futile, pointless, and meaningless; so, isn’t it better to just end it here—?

“――You look like you want to say that you’re the most unfortunate person in the world.”

That voice resonated, looking down on the dazed Subaru with undisguised contempt.

In a room that should have had no one else, I lifted my head at that voice which sounded like an auditory hallucination and directed my gaze toward the entrance.

Slowly, at a painfully leisurely pace, I turned my head, and finally, within my focused sight, a girl was watching me.

A beautiful girl with cream-colored long hair styled in large curls, clad in a luxurious dress that looked like something a Western doll would wear.

She is one of the residents of this mansion, the last one I hadn’t seen among my repetitive days spent here.

“Beatrice…”

“Looks like you’ve become even more of a fool in the time we haven’t seen each other.”

The girl known as Beatrice uttered those biting words while crossing her slender arms lightly, lifting her chin as she surveyed the devastation in the room. Observing the blood-soaked floor, Subaru, and Emilia sinking in a sea of blood, she commented,

“You certainly made quite the mess.”

Her dry evaluation lacked any semblance of concern, offering only that remark.

Even with all of her reactions, Subaru couldn’t muster any sense of resentment toward her now.

He, who was the very cause of this calamity, felt no right to be indignant nor would allowing anger to take over do anything but intensify his existing fatigue.

In that regard, Beatrice’s casual demeanor of not questioning him with a changed expression was oddly comforting to Subaru. It would have been even better had she stayed that way and left him to wallow in his misery.

“Can’t find my sister, huh?”

As she remarked, the girl walked closer and bent down. Her petite stature brought her gaze level with that of the sitting Subaru.

She peered gently at Subaru, who was rendered motionless in blankness, then shot him an unchanging piercing gaze filled with disdain.

“You wouldn’t listen if I told you to look for her, would you? […] Or is it that you’re just reluctant to dirty your hands?”

With a small mutter that seemed to convey reluctance, Beatrice reached out toward the lifeless Emilia. Would she perhaps do something for her, Subaru idly thought, as he observed her small hand glide towards Emilia’s chest.

As her hands rummaged through her clothing, he felt no hint of magic in her actions; she was merely, quite literally, rifling through Emilia’s body.

A sense of undeniable discomfort welled up in Subaru, prompting him to open his mouth to reprimand her; however, his parched lips produced only a dry gasp, failing to form any meaningful words. In the meantime, Beatrice’s actions continued unfazed.

“Found something?”

When she drew her hand back from Emilia’s clothing, she was holding a glimmering green crystal. This was a familiar object, one of the crystal stones that Emilia possessed.

It was used as a medium by her contracted spirit, Pack, and Emilia had kept it close at all times.

But now, that crystal—

“Is broken…”

“The one who broke it seems nonchalant about it… But you likely have no self-awareness of that, do you?”

Beatrice gazed sorrowfully down at the split crystal in her palm, then let it drop to the floor. The sound it made as it hit the ground, mingling with the blood, faded, its once sparkling green aura now stained red and dull, eventually extinguished.

――What happened to the broken crystal and the spirit that should have been inside it?

What had become of the spirit who I referred to as ‘daughter’ and loved more than anyone else, who, as I sit here hugging this sleeping girl in my arms?

“Don’t worry; your sister isn’t dead. Just because she’s lost her vessel, it’ll only take a little while longer to come over… But the grace period isn’t that long.”

Beatrice answered Subaru’s unspoken concern as if it were obvious and tossed her long hair back casually. Watching her curls bounce, Subaru felt a sigh of relief wash over him.

If that spirit was still alive and was going to come to this place, then surely…

“――Do you have something you want to say?”

Having sighed inappropriately given the circumstances, Subaru did not understand why Beatrice asked him that with a calm voice, her gaze locking onto him.

Her calmly spoken words sparked a question within him about how she felt toward the situation. However, he had no desire to voice that curiosity.

Murmuring quietly in the silence, what came out of Subaru’s mouth was not a question about Beatrice’s inexplicable behaviors but something more purely selfish:

“Kill me.”

He leaned on her kindness, clinging to it, and uttered words that disregarded her goodwill.

※※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※

I wanted to be killed immediately.

I was fed up with everything. Exhausted from it all. I was completely drained of hope in this world.

I wanted to die; I wanted everything to just end. Even if I were to die and start over, I would likely just arrive at the same conclusion. Even if I could restart, or couldn’t, I least want to be in this world anymore.

Emilia died, Rem has vanished, and Subaru was left unrewarded for everything.

Therefore,

“Kill me…”

The only ending was now Subaru’s salvation.

To not be able to hate those I should hate, nor act for those I wanted to protect, if that was no longer an excuse to keep my heart alive…

If there was anything I could ask for, it would be to devour this pitiful, foolish life that has been abandoned by everything.

To trample the dignity of lives involved, to waste thoughts, and to burn this pitiful and foolish existence to ashes.

In front of me was a girl with supernatural powers who should be able to do that.

She must have despised me; and if she was to heed my wish, I was certain that she would provide Subaru with a gruesome end fit for his folly.

The foolish Natsuki Subaru, yet to change no matter how many times he died.

This made it the tenth time. A nice round number. It was time for even the divine, the buddhas, the goddesses, and witches to give up on me. So,

“Kill me here.”

Hugging Emilia’s lifeless body, Subaru pleaded with Beatrice.

If this is to be the end, I wanted to finish cradling her corpse. My final selfish whim in a series of selfish acts that ultimately brought about the worst outcome.

With force applied to my arms cradling her, Subaru squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the end.

And then, after a time of silence had passed.

That silence was suddenly shattered by Subaru, the only selfish soul lost in his tranquil moment.

“…noy.”

“――Huh?”

It was a small, weak, raspy voice.

I instinctively replied back and opened my closed eyelids to look up at the girl. The small figure next to me stood up, looking down at me.

Embodying a posture that seemed almost to suffer from the cold, that small figure told me,

“To ask Betty to kill you is… just too cruel…”

Having said this with a face and voice that seemed ready to cry, Subaru was lost for words.

I blinked, doing so repeatedly, waiting for the expression of the girl standing next to me to change. However, regardless of how many times I repeated that, her expression only remained dark and sorrowful, a stark difference from anything Subaru had ever known of her.

After all, she had disliked him, always acting curtly. Although occasionally hinting at a kind-hearted side that could be tender, fundamentally she could be unforgiving.

She would never easily accept my wish, and even if she was to reject it, it would surely come with contempt and mockery.

“You understand nothing… You really understand nothing, do you…?”

I never would have expected a rejection to killing me to come with such sadness.

“Beatrice…?”

“I won’t grant a single one of your wishes. If you want to die, then just die on your own… I want nothing to do with it.”

She shook her head, closing both her eyes to mask her expression. The tears that surfaced remained stored deep within her gaze, and as she raised her arms,

“The scenery…!?”

It began to distort.

Subaru watched as the environment surrounding him twisted and split apart. It felt as though the world was crumbling, and at that realization, he instinctively squeezed tightly the cold figure in his arms.

“Stay right there,” Beatrice murmured, seeming slightly relieved as her heart softened at that moment.

“If I let you stay here, it would be quite the inconvenience. […] I want to at least protect this mansion.”

“What are you—no, Beatrice, you—”

“――Beatrice is different from Roswaal. Even for the sake of a future, I hate everything painful, sorrowful, hard to bear, and terrifying!”

In response to an inquiry that was not an inquiry, an answer that wasn’t an answer was returned to Subaru.

Yet, he couldn’t articulate the piercing emotions embedded in those words which left him wrapped up in the distorted air—a twisting sensation confined within his very being. —There was no pain.

“I just want you to die out of my sight.”

Though her last words masked a depth of indifference, they carried a profoundly lonely smile.

Silently, incapable of any further dialogue or comprehension, one thing came through.

――Beatrice was mourning for Subaru’s decisions and actions.

The distortion reached its ultimate peak until the twisted space shattered and burst away.

Like noise streaking through his vision, the oddity engulfed the world for a brief moment, and immediately after, the air’s distortion disappeared completely.

What remained were only the remnants of the place where Subaru and Emilia once were, now gouged out along with the blood-stained floor.

In the place where the two had vanished, Beatrice stood tiredly with a hand on her forehead, covering her eyes with that same hand in an attempt to hide from the world.

“――Mother, how long must Beatrice…?”

※※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※

――Subaru was caught by a pile of overlapping moss-covered grasses that broke his fall upon being ejected from the space.

“Zuh-wah!”

Without any preamble, he plunged face-first into it and tasted grass in his mouth. Frantic, he spat out dirt and leaves, along with a bug that had lodged itself between his front teeth.

“Ugh, wuh?! Hah… where am I…?”

Shaking off the sensation of insects crawling on his cheeks, Subaru glanced around, knitting his brows.

What came into his field of vision was a dim grove of trees, and after turning his head completely in every direction, he could detect no signs of that cluster breaking. In other words,

“A forest… a nighttime forest…”

Fortuitously, the moonlight was unobstructed, allowing him to somewhat see his surroundings.

The wind brushed against the leaves, and the sound of insects echoed—the world was undoubtedly the dusk woods. Having put that thought together, Subaru realized he had taken up about half the day before he had regained consciousness in the mansion.

At the same time,

“Is this… some sort of spatial transfer?”

The air quivered, and he must have been hurled into the forest through a rift that had split open.

Unless this was a secret back garden of the mansion hidden within, it was reasonable to assume that he had been transported far away. If Beatrice was responsible for this, she possessed the ability to connect the doors of her library to other rooms as she pleased.

However, grasping that knowledge didn’t provide any clarity about her true intentions.

Having rejected Subaru’s plea to kill him, she had forcibly sent him outside the mansion via space transfer. –Even now, that tear-laden face remained imprinted in his mind.

He would have thought that if she were to refuse, she would not want to see him at all. Yet, she had looked at him as if bearing some sense of disappointment—

“That’s just like…”

As if she had somehow had expectations for him.

Subaru shook off that selfish thought, recognizing just how self-serving he was.

He had already come to understand that he was a being devoid of any capability. The world was unrelentingly merciless, and the very people he sought to save met brutal ends.

Knowing all this, what could anyone expect from someone like Subaru?

If he could not even place expectations upon himself, how could anyone else possibly hold hope for him?

To demand such hopes from someone who once had disdain for him would surely be excessive arrogance.

“I’m such a hopeless man…”

A grim smile took form as Subaru gradually took a knee. It was at that moment he noticed the shocking development.

――On his lap, he still held Emilia’s corpse.

“Emilia…”

In that dark world, the pale face illuminated by the moon shone a ghostly blue.

The death appearance bore neither torment nor peace, but only a complete state of confusion about what had occurred. She had been living and abruptly crushed in a world where time had frozen. Whether there was any time in which she could feel pain, even that was questionable.

Even if she felt no pain, such a condition surely wouldn’t turn out to be a relief.

Though Subaru had little experience with instant death, he had accumulated enough knowledge of death that he had faced in his existence nine times over, more so than any ordinary individual.

None of those deaths were pleasant; he didn’t want to believe there ever was a salvation in dying. –Except for now.

“I’m so sorry. I’m sorry, I’m truly… sorry.”

As he gazed down at her face, droplets fell onto her white cheek.

The tears he thought had dried up began to surge again, once more pressing upon him that unending suffering.

Voices echoed in his ears. The voices of those who condemned him. Everyone he had encountered cast cold glares laced with fury and hurled insults in Subaru’s direction.

Among them were the silver-haired girl and the blue-haired girl—

“Anyone… Anyone will do…”

――Kill me.

As he suffered under the taunts that would not fade, Subaru stood clutching Emilia in his hands.

And so, he stepped forward, as he crushed grass beneath his feet, snapping branches as he began to walk slowly through the night woods.

In the distance, he could hear a beast howl.

At this moment, he felt as though he could accept meeting that horned black hellhound with a smile. It could tear him apart as it consumed his blood and flesh, and annihilate every last bit of his mana.

A beautiful death like Emilia’s was not something he was due for at this point.

He hoped for a grotesque end that would erase any semblance of humanity, dignity, or whatever remained.

Otherwise, without that ending, Natsuki Subaru would find no salvation.

※※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※

As he walked through the woods, Subaru made a realization.

“Here… if I get over this gap, then…”

Carefully, he descended the slope, using the protruding roots like stairs. Though the handicap of his arms bore down on him more than he anticipated, oddly enough, he felt no fatigue.

His body, once pushed to the limit, seemed to echo in defiance, while his dulled mind froze its focus. Pressing through the nighttime gloom with only his lower half, he could make out the path ahead so clearly it was like the light pierced through.

That clarity didn’t stem just from the fact that his body was burning up, right before crumbling away— it was straightforward because he recognized the path.

That place was—

“Oh, I remember now.”

A relieved yet bizarre grin twisted on a blood-stained face only known to those who had gone mad.

Those upon whom he’d once cast a dark look, their choices dwindling away, were now familiar figures surrounding him.

――Encircling Subaru, a band cloaked in black robes melted into the shadows of the woods.

They emerged from the darkness, encircling Subaru silently, without noise or a hint of presence, their gaze faintly directed at him.

With no sense of hostility, goodwill, malice, or benevolence emanating from them—an intent devoid of any sign – Subaru glimmered back to that world when he had first encountered them.

Ah, at that time—

“It’s the same…”

As if echoing his memory, the cloaked figures bowed their heads in unison.

The very first hint of “respect” they had ever shown to Subaru, empty of any will.

Why this emotion was directed towards him, Subaru couldn’t pinpoint the details. Yet he was well aware they were followers of the Witch Cult, and that the darkness wrapped around him, had ties to that witch.

“――Get out of my way.”

There were a number of questions he wanted to ask, ones that must have accumulated before he resigned himself to so much.

Had it been before he surrendered in such a manner, there wouldn’t have been a shortage of inquiries. However, at this point, that sentimental yearning proved futile.

The cloaked figures obeyed his terse command without protest, sliding back smoothly into the darkness.

Once their presence faded from sight, Subaru felt as though the quietness of the originally soundless world only intensified.

Suddenly, he became aware that he could no longer hear the chirping of the insects or the whistle of the wind.

Was it true that all living things would abhor their presence? He recalled that in the past, during the appearances of the Witch Cult, there hadn’t been even a whisper of the insects.

Alternatively, it could mean that the Witch Cult’s presence was an undesirable situation for Subaru to be present, at least in this life. But that was perhaps a fitting evaluation for his current predicament.

With the unthreatening barrier dissolved, it only empowered Subaru’s confidence.

The hesitation that had previously become scarce in his steps vanished entirely, and as he crossed roots and crushed soil beneath him, his advances showed no signs of stopping.

Eventually, his steps would unveil a cliff marked by jagged rocks.

――There, an entrance to a cave lay at the end, obstructed by a giant boulder.

“I have been waiting for you. My beloved disciple.”

A gaunt man, wearing a deranged smile mirroring Subaru’s twisted expression, awaited him.

※※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※

“Oh my? And what do we have here? Clutched in your arms, is that by any chance… a half-demon girl?”

Petelgeuse tilted his head as he observed Emilia in Subaru’s embrace, maintaining the angle of his neck level with the ground. Delightfully, he stuck out his tongue, drooling as he continued.

“Isn’t it quite tragic that she passes away before receiving any of our trials? What a misfortune! What lamentable fate! Oh! And to add, how industrious of you! To take her life before we even make a move! To take a half-demon’s life!”

He flailed his arms with exaggerated motions while proclaiming Emilia’s death dramatically.

Unbeknownst to Subaru, followers had begun to emerge from the cave, all surrounding him in rapt attention, listening intently to Petelgeuse’s mad ranting.

They were insane.

“I am… industrious…?”

“Yes! Exactly! Indefatigable! How splendid! Unlike us, who are slow to judge, dim-witted, and lack the decisiveness to take action! You have been the first to embody the Witch’s will!”

Having caught onto Subaru’s murmur, Petelgeuse beamed joyfully, scurrying toward him. He knelt down, forcefully slamming his hands against the ground.

“Yet comparing that to my own slow, foolish self! Oh! Please forgive me! For this inability to repay love! For this worthless existence mired in sloth! For this inadequacy that cannot respond to the love you bestow! Please, let me atone…!”

Tears streamed down his cheeks as he struck his wrists against the rock face, drawing blood.

As his intense self-harming continued, the surrounding followers did not intervene; rather, they emulated Petelgeuse, kneeling and each becoming manifestly grateful in their own twisted ways.

Seeing those lunatics act in such a manner stirred none of the emotional response it once would have evoked in Subaru.

Previously, just one day ago, he would have thrown himself at Petelgeuse, striving to take the life that stood before him.

But now, even faced with the man who had previously incited his hatred, he felt no emotion within him, nor did his ambitions shift.

“Oh, what can I do in place of this incompetent me who cannot repay Lord’s intentions? Teach me! What can I do to show that I am not slothful, to respond to love?”

“Kill me.”

Confronting the weeping Petelgeuse, Subaru quietly replied.

Taken aback by such a sudden declaration, an astonished expression briefly flickered across Petelgeuse’s face.

“Is that all?”

Without skipping a beat, he abruptly shoved Subaru backward.

As he stumbled back from the abrupt push, Petelgeuse wore a look of euphoric ecstasy.

“Oh, how splendid! How magnificent! To respond swiftly to a disciple who has completed trials and sought salvation, how diligent of me! Oh, now I can avoid being slothful! Thank you! To your diligent spirit, love!”

He offered his own skewed beliefs without a hint of guilt, surging toward Subaru with no doubt about his actions.

In watching Petelgeuse’s insanity rise, Subaru felt the unsettling whirlpool of emotions churning within him while he shut his eyes.

—At the very least, he would find reward in this present moment.

“Even so…”

As the murderous intent closed in around him, Petelgeuse whispered something.

“Not even able to overcome a single trial, not to face one of the deadliest sins, how pitiful to stumble at the first stepping stone…”

That was,

“—Ah, you are the ‘Sloth,’ aren’t you!”

This was an insult to Emilia’s death.

“――――”

In the moment Subaru opened his eyes, he saw a black, palm-shaped mist rapidly closing in.

For a moment, memories of pain ignited fear within him. But one thing made this different than before. His body moved. His legs moved. His arms moved. Thus, he could evade.

As the dark palm drew near, Subaru deftly evaded it and leapt sideways, feeling the emptiness left in its wake. As he regained composure, he gasped in relief.

“…You see, right now, you’re not seeing the invisible hand, are you?”

With a trembling voice, Petelgeuse’s sparkling eyes were trained on Subaru.

He took his bony fingers and shoved them into his mouth, systematically biting off each fingertip.

Each bite sounded grotesque, the cracking of bones echoed unpleasantly while the crimson flowed freely.

“It’s not allowed. It’s not allowed! It’s wrong! It’s a mistake! It’s a misstep! My power, the power of ‘Sloth,’ the ‘Invisible Hand’ bestowed upon me by love! No one else is permitted to see it!”

He spat blood, chewing a mixture of broken nails and bone remnants in his mouth, turning his bloodshot gaze back to Subaru.

Within those eyes was unmistakable malice, a raw hatred aimed purely at Subaru that contrasted greatly with his prior frenzied devotion.

――Then, from behind Petelgeuse, a mass of black arms erupted.

His shadow seemed to divide, sprouting an array of palms that extended to seven limbs. They were reminiscent of the cursed arms that appeared whenever Subaru mentioned “Return by Death,” sending chills along his back as he watched.

However,

“If I can see them…”

It wasn’t impossible to evade.

The dark arms weren’t particularly swift. Their reach and strength to tear apart a human body were formidable, but what was more terrifying was their invisibility.

Given that, now with his awareness, Natsuki Subaru—the man who had burned his life to a crisp—was capable of exhibiting extraordinary agility.

“Why, why, why, why, why, why… You can dodge it?! You can see it?! This is mine… This is only mine…!!”

“I’ve gotten tired of dying by your hand.”

With a swiftness, Subaru dived, dodging the encroaching hands. Then, he ducked low to circumvent the extending limbs, rolling right into Petelgeuse’s face.

As the twisted look of frenzy shifted to amazement, a dark pleasure welled up inside him.

――He remembered. He remembered that he had once wanted to kill this man.

“—Bugh!”

With explosive force, he headbutted Petelgeuse, landing hard enough to make the man reel backward, causing blood to spray forth. The impact hurt Subaru’s head too, and he staggered back after the hit.

Sweat trickled into his eyes, and blood gushed from his own freshly cut forehead. He gritted his teeth. A sharp pain radiated from his head.

—In that moment of distraction, he lost his grasp of reality as he felt a powerful force seize him by his leg and toss him away.

As he slammed into the tree, Subaru was not resigned to just curling up; instead, he held tightly onto Emilia’s body within his arms.

Not for clinging as a last resort, but to protect her.

“—Gah!”

The impact from the tree bashed against him, causing an awful sensation in his back.

At that moment, multiple ribs fractured, and wounds that had barely healed burst open anew, igniting an inferno of pain that spread throughout him. Subaru quivered like an insect on the ground.

“What a pitiful sight! Such a pitiful scene! Oh, how good it is. How splendid. If I were to think that I could be ‘Sloth,’ it would render my actions pointless. Oh, truly, I must strive diligently for the sake of love—”

“Shut up, you idiot…”

Subaru yelled at the crazed man smugly boasting his superiority.

His breath felt foul, pain racked his lungs. He sensed the confluence of agony swirling around him but despite it, he grinned even while blood dripped from his lips.

“Love, my foot! You got that so-called love, huh?! I can see it, you know… it looks like you’re cheating, serves you right!”

“What are you speaking… speaking… speaking, why is it…! My head, my head is shaking!”

Petelgeuse’s fury intensified as he frothed at the mouth, scrambling closer to Subaru, who felt the daunting presence of Emilia still cradled in his arms.

He kicked the half-demon’s limp body, hurling it recklessly away from Subaru’s grasp.

The moment he realized that Subaru lacked the strength in his fingertips to hold onto her, Emilia skidded across the ground and crashed against the roots of a tree.

Scrutinizing the lifeless form of her now broken body, Petelgeuse let loose a cruel laugh.

“I cannot allow you to insult my love! Ah, I have made my decision! The half-demon who should have faced trials is dead. But the sins of those who sheltered and lifted her shall remain!”

Shrieking, he poured out a raw rage with nowhere to direct himself, then stomped brutally upon Subaru. A black palm driven down forth, pinning him to the ground as it squeezed tightly around his neck.

Unable to draw breath, Subaru’s entire being felt as if it would be torn asunder. The grip upon his neck tightened unbearably as the hulking strength rebuffed his body, rendering him unable to produce any sound.

For Petelgeuse, viewing Subaru’s helplessness seemed to grant him some satisfaction.

“First, I shall eradicate the relations within the mansion. Next, the lives of the townsfolk nearby will be offered! I shall leave no trace behind! The foolishness of a ‘Sloth’ lies in failure. As for me, who treasures diligence above all else, I would rip everything asunder! […] –The blockade of the roads has already been completed! No one will be able to traverse the mist to interfere!”

Petelgeuse’s breath stirred the air, spitting as he bellowed his intentions.

Then, leaning closer to Subaru, he breathed his nauseating odor over him, “I noticed you were treating that half-demon’s body delicately… Tell me, how beautifully would she scream once I break that half-demon’s flesh?”

Tilting his head, his lips curled into a smile, Petelgeuse’s eyes gleamed with morbid curiosity. A different set of five arms lifted behind him, each moving independently toward Emilia’s corpse.

They seized limbs, and reached for her neck with their grip.

“Can you see? Do you understand what is about to happen?”

“…No…”

Overwhelming terror gripped Subaru; the reason he feared the sight that sought Emilia stirred deeply in his heart.

In that invisible moment, he recalled precisely what had been done to Rem’s body by that very man— and now, they were turning their gaze toward Emilia’s lifeless form.

Subaru thought little of his contempt for life. The body devoid of life was merely a remnant of flesh, and the very prospect of a soul residing there was laughable. There likely existed neither heaven nor hell, merely darkness lying in wait at the other end.

Thus, with such detached thoughts on life, he had navigated through this world, never once breaking that notion.

This moment now filled him with regret.

Even if she had no soul residing within her body, that body was Emilia’s, and the very thought of it being sullied would surely resound in a cry of sorrow.

But at present, Subaru had no power to stop it, and Petelgeuse’s crazy laughter only deepened.

『What are you doing?』

That voice descended like a powerful decree upon the ears of everyone present.

“—”

As Petelgeuse’s expression shifted, he searched frantically, his gaze wandering through the air.

The authority behind that voice bore both a potent force and an icy rage that pierced the heart.

Ultimately, he found it.

Subaru, still grappling with the tightening force around his neck, also spotted it through his blurring vision.

『I ask again, what are you doing to my daughter— you lowly scum?』

――The beast of end, cloaked in gray whose feline form surged forth alongside a whirlwind of immense ice pillars, arrived.

A chilling breath formed wisps of frost. The atmosphere solidified with dread in that glacial air as it swept through the woods.

The kneeling adherents, once manic and gleeful under Petelgeuse’s influence, fell mute with wide eyes.

今、その場にいて質問する程もおのれにこだわり殺していただくよう一回の生を見終わる一大決闘が始まった――。

 

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