With his middle finger jutting out, Subaru declared war by slamming his fist down.

Petelgeuse, who had been knocked down, wore a dazed expression, unable even to wipe away the blood dripping from the split corner of his mouth. His lips quivered in rage as he stammered,

“What exactly… do you think you’re doing?! I am the Archbishop of Sin, the Archbishop who has received the Witch’s grace! To think that you, who also enjoys that grace, would strike me…!”

“Are you saying that’s outrageous? Sorry, but I’m tired of hearing excuses like that. I’m not going to waste any more time discussing beliefs with you. To hell with witches, Petelgeuse!”

Subaru tossed aside the madman’s serious face and provocatively waved his hand. Perhaps remembering his previous fury, Petelgeuse stood up, his eyes bloodshot and bulging as he exclaimed,

“Fine! I understand! If you claim to have forgotten the Witch’s grace, if you assert you are completely oblivious, then I shall repay that disrespect with the love bestowed upon me! I don’t understand, I don’t understand, I don’t understand why you refuse love! I cannot fathom your true intentions!”

“—Is the world insane, or is it just you? When pushed into an unreasonable situation, nothing goes as planned, and one might fall into a logic trap, but…”

Ignoring Petelgeuse’s rabid raving, Subaru recalled the disasters that had befallen him and the turmoil in his heart when caught in the whirlwind.

He had convinced himself that he was right, loudly asserting that everyone else was wrong, throwing tantrums like a child during that time.

How different was that from the manic behavior of the man right in front of him?

“Well, I’ve always thought it’s a tricky question, but I can say this much.”

“——”

“You’re the one who’s crazy. I’m right. —End this, Petelgeuse!”

Petelgeuse’s eyes shook with dark joy at Subaru’s words.

It was the grim delight of one who punishes a fool that disregards his faith, intoxicated by his own diligence. Meanwhile, shadows erupted from Petelgeuse, and countless magical hands shot upward from beneath him, aiming at Subaru, ready to rip off limbs, twist off heads, and bathe in blood.

But,

“Why—?!”

“Hey there, it’s not like I’m just sitting around!”

Twisting his body and leaping to the sides, Subaru narrowly dodged the approaching hands. The number of advancing arms stopped at seven, not because Petelgeuse was underestimating Subaru, but because he still didn’t grasp how many of those ‘arms’ had returned to him.

In any case, seven was a manageable number, their speed slow, and since this didn’t even qualify as a surprise attack, dodging the first strike wasn’t particularly challenging.

Of course, if he wanted to follow the same patterns as before, there would have been no need to risk coming this close. It would be simple to provoke Petelgeuse from a distance and avoid his hidden hands with ease.

Yet, for this occasion, Subaru chose differently. Even knowing the risks, he opted to face Petelgeuse up close, aiming to seize victory while skirting around those deadly invisible hands.

“Unbelievable, intolerable… Why! Why do you have my bestowed love! Do you see the Lazy Witch’s powers and those invisible hands!?”

“Just ask the witch that’s smeared all over me. Oh wait, unlike me, you don’t have the permission to meet her, right?”

“What do you mean…! It’s as if you have—talked to the witch! Satella herself…!”

“It’s like I got my heart gripped tight. Literally.”

Petelgeuse’s face turned beet red with rage, and he bit down hard to suppress overwhelming emotions, crushing his fingers in the process. The sound of nails and bone grinding together, as well as teeth breaking at the roots, filled the air.

At the same time, the amount of shadows erupting in response to those emotions grew, increasing the difficulty of Subaru’s evasion. Yet this also meant something crucial for Petelgeuse.

“The ‘Invisible Hands’ are coming back!? Why!? What happened to my fingers?!”

Despite his own increased number of hands, Petelgeuse was quite shaken, confronted by the unacceptability of this fact. And no wonder—if the Invisible Hands were returning in number…

“Just as I planned, it means the subordinates stationed at various locations—those ‘Invisible Hands’ he was using to control, have returned to him after losing their targets.”

Subaru had confirmed that when he defeated Petelgeuse and possessed another body, the number of ‘Invisible Hands’ he could use was on the rise.

And the fact that their numbers would increase after crushing the hiding places of his subordinates was no secret either.

From this, Subaru reasoned that unless he took care of those hiding spots first, the resurrections would continue. If he could take those hiding spots down, it would only bolster Petelgeuse’s fighting power—what a troublesome setback!

It seemed his reasoning had ultimately been correct; the disappearance of those fingers confused the madman. Subaru clenched his fist in affirmation of his deduction, but—

“The core survivors are going to become much harder to handle—!”

While Petelgeuse remained ensnared in confusion, he didn’t unleash the largest number of over a hundred magical hands that Subaru had ever witnessed. Nonetheless, even then, the number of the dark hands approaching had exceeded twenty, greatly surpassing Subaru’s capacity to cope.

He hunkered down, slipped, and executed a grand leap while twisting his body in mid-air. His poor footing caused him to slip and fall, providing him a miraculous evasion just as the hands grazed above him.

Feeling his tailbone almost crack in pain, Subaru, now nearly in tears, stood up and put more distance between himself and Petelgeuse.

Currently, there had been no injuries from the Invisible Hands. However, he was dealing with a scraped knee from the fall, while the pain in his tailbone was abnormal; perhaps he had even cracked something.

“Come on, can’t you reach me? Isn’t it pathetic to bare your incompetence and thereby fish for sympathy? Don’t you feel embarrassed, what with receiving grace and everything? You’re so lazy!”

“—There are some points I’m curious about.”

As he taunted while tapping the rocky surface, Subaru saw Petelgeuse, who had switched from a furious display to a calm murmur, suddenly raise a bloodied finger to show,

“Losing my fingers is unfortunate. I lacked diligence, I didn’t think it through, I was lazy! I acknowledge that, I can’t deny it. Yet, there are so many things I cannot understand! Why the Invisible Hands are visible, how to locate the fingers, and why the one unwinding before me is someone who doesn’t possess direct combat power like you!”

“——”

“Therefore, I have come to this conclusion. There are things that are pointless to think about, and I won’t bother to do so. Therefore, I, the one who is not lazy, will spend time pondering what truly needs thought, what brings results. —Why do you appear before me, engaging in provocative actions and words to catch my eye? It’s because—”

—This is bad, Subaru thought instinctively, biting his lip.

Thinking he could provoke him endlessly with taunts, making Petelgeuse only focus on immediate things to avoid having his intentions read was naive.

Events had tilted too greatly in Subaru’s favor, resulting in Petelgeuse inadvertently receiving a chance to reflect calmly.

If Petelgeuse accurately recognized the situation and derived a perfectly reasonable solution, it would spell death for Subaru. Unfortunately for him, Petelgeuse realized this.

“If ‘Invisible Hands’ are visible, and dealing with them takes time—then I will mobilize all my fingers and use sheer numbers to make short work of you!”

“Not like you just casually figured it out—!”

Simply put, the fighting power Subaru could attract alone was limited to that of Petelgeuse himself. Moreover, with the number of Invisible Hands exponentially increasing, the strategy would turn incomplete.

Currently, thanks to Subaru’s antics, which included acting like a buffoon, the hunting team that had been acting as a separate team had wiped out Petelgeuse’s subordinates. Including the merchants and tactical assassins, nine encounters were already confirmed.

However, there was still one last spot left untouched, and that final one wasn’t far away.

Just below the cliff he was leaning against was a large rock that was taller than Subaru. Behind it lay an entrance to a cavern, and on the other side of that entrance, the last finger was remaining.

If a Witch Cultist were to swarm out of there, that alone would mean doom for Subaru and the others; thus, Petelgeuse’s sudden insight meant a death sentence for Subaru.

“Wait—!”

“No way—!”

All this was now just a matter of minutes ahead of time.

“What on earth—?!”

The wave of vibrations erupted through the forest’s atmosphere, rising up a tumultuous tidal wave of destruction that turned the rocky surface underneath upside down, as chaos danced through the center of the cliff.

Part of the cliff above the large rock fell entirely, the collapse exposing the cavern, a huge hole expanding, and pulling Subaru deep into its chaos.

“Uwa, uwa, uwa, uwa, uwa, this is dangerous—!!”

Just as a rock capable of squashing his skull brushed against his head, Subaru crawled out of the dust storm while desperately gasping for air.

Pointing at that embarrassing state of Subaru, laughing with a high-pitched voice was—

“Ahahaha! You’re running away just like a bug, mister! Hey Tibby, look at this, will you?!”

“I’m watching, and that was bad timing. If it were any other moment, brother, you would have likely been beaten up.”

The innocent laughter of a sister scolding her younger brother as they advanced. With the participation of the beastman siblings, Subaru felt a mix of relief, thinking, “They got here just in time,” and an overwhelming feeling of, “I really almost died.”

“Seriously though, you two came at just the right time.”

“Whoa, whoa, mister, you’re saying thank you and that’s not really what’s called for! Here, thank you and you’re welcome!”

“I think the mix of feelings with questions of whether I want to be grateful or resentful is what gives right to that statement. But…”

Tibby narrowed his eyes, sharpening his cat-like pupils to glare at Petelgeuse. At the end of that gaze, Petelgeuse was blankly staring at the fallen cliff, his expression calm like a Noh mask.

His stance, conduct, and looks gave off no sense of threat whatsoever.

Should they have a contest of strength, sprint a short distance, or even engage in a fistfight, Subaru could win easily. Tibby and Mimi, as beastman warriors, would definitely outmatch him.

However, Petelgeuse’s terror was of a separate vector entirely, and it seemed even Tibby sensed a hint of that fear on his face.

“Is that the Archbishop of Sin? Just looking at him gives me this unstable feeling in my heart.”

“When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you,” as they say. It’s best not to look straight at him. You should try viewing him out of the corner of your eye or maybe reflecting him in a mirror. Also, don’t get too close.”

“Why?”

“His breath reeks of decay and is physiologically unbearable. It’s even a bit painful on the eyes.”

As Subaru playfully calmed Tiby, he glanced at Mimi, who was tilting her head innocently, looking cute while seemingly obliviously feeling no sense of danger whatsoever. Incredible.

“In any case, it’s all good that you two joined up with me. We managed to take out those reinforcements, but to be honest, I was moments away from getting completely swatted.”

The two had arrived just in the nick of time; had those reinforcements delayed even slightly longer, Subaru’s hopes would have been dashed.

Expressing his gratitude for the close call, Subaru shot a sidelong glance at the forest and asked,

“So, how about the crucial one? Still not able to meet up?”

“Yuri should be arriving shortly. It’s just a timing issue, with me and big sis arriving just a little bit ahead.”

“Yuri, who’s that? Not Julius? If it’s Julius, he should be a bit closer by now—I could smell him coming.”

Dismissing his little bro’s concern for Julius casually, the sister pointed at the forest, flaring her nostrils.

Exactly how much trust could he place in the little feline sister’s keen sense of smell? But if she thought they were close to meeting up, he wouldn’t complain about that.

It was begrudgingly frustrating, but without Julius’s cooperation, taking down Petelgeuse was entirely out of the question.

“—It’s definitely odd.”

As if to affirm that, Petelgeuse, who had been deep in thought in silence, suddenly turned his head around. His bulging eyes opened wide, glistening with drool as he pointed a shaky finger at Subaru and exclaimed,

“The attack just now could only mean you knew the location of the cavern concealed by visual obfuscation! The presence of my subordinates hidden in the forest was also somehow uncovered! You possessed both the ‘Invisible Hands’ and the insight to spot them. If I consider how you’ve wiped out my subordinates, it seems like you know more than just that.”

Petelgeuse took out the gospel from his pocket once more and began scanning the pages. Over and over, when he reached the last page, he would go back to the start, repeating the cycle until his face began to twist in frustration from not finding the answer he sought.

“The gospel has nothing! My guiding fate contains nothing! Then what on earth is your presence! You who scoff at the Witch while receiving her grace! You stand before me, conducting trials and blocking all my schemes…!”

Stamping his feet, Petelgeuse displayed his irritation in physical form.

To Petelgeuse, Subaru’s actions were utterly incomprehensible. The ambush that was supposed to be termed a trial had instead allowed the villagers and Emilia to escape, while his subordinates had been annihilated by a sneak attack; thereby exposing both his authority and his trump card. The person before him bore connection to the very witch whose grace he had received.

What was this if not a nightmare for Petelgeuse?

Reflecting upon the numerous actions he had taken, Subaru found himself chuckling in disbelief at how thoroughly his plans had ensnared Petelgeuse.

Yet even with all that had unfolded, he was still a man whose depths were unfathomable. Subaru had already faced five deaths stemming from the repeated loops inspired by the royal capital’s events.

Five times, Subaru had caused the world to end, unable to save anyone.

Only after enduring those immense hopelessness and experiences had he finally arrived in this moment. He was not concerned with the madman’s nightmares. If they were nightmares, then Subaru had literally seen enough of them to die countless times over.

So now, what lay before him was the reality he longed for.

“Indeed, indeed, indeed, indeed! You are the—”

“My name is Natsuki Subaru!”

Subaru interrupted, pointing his finger at the stammering madman who tried to label him as “Pride.”

And confronting the squirming madman, he stated firmly,

“I am the knight of the silver-haired half-elf, Emilia. Whatever this ‘Pride’ nonsense might be, my desires are laid bare, and I have no need for anything else.”

He had been running all this way to make those words a reality.

At Subaru’s declaration, Mimi gasped, “Wow!” and Tibby narrowed his eyes, bringing his chin down slightly. Facing it head-on, Petelgeuse muttered,

“That is quite enough.”

With a vaguely dismissive tone, he exhaled deeply, shaking his head. He shook. He shook. He trembled and looked up to the heavens.

“You will feel regret for your disregard toward love! You will suffer the consequences of your laziness! What a profound laziness! What a profound laziness! What a what a what a what a—!”

Spreading his arms wide and opening his mouth, he shouted, and Petelgeuse’s shadow swelled tremendously.

The throng of rising black magical hands reached a staggering number, easily surpassing a hundred, and extended towards the sky before splattering outwards in all directions.

“No way…”

The strength of those black hands effortlessly snapped trees, hoisted half-broken logs, and raised multiple rocks, creating a storm of projectiles that rained down towards Subaru.

If the strategy was to strike down the desperate supernatural attacks, he needed to respond without fear.

“If ‘Invisible Hands’ are visible, how about pure violence in response! You think you can evade the brutal showcase of my diligent destruction?”

While calling out to halt them, he had no time to articulate his thoughts, as those black paws descended onto the three standing still.

As Subaru and the siblings shrank back at the oncoming deluge of projectiles—

“Wha—!”

“Ah—!”

Just as they entered Subaru’s targeting zone, the siblings’ shouts came out, preparing to confront the incoming destruction.

The reverberation wave rattled the atmosphere, shattering and scattering the shower of incoming debris. Even so, they weren’t able to break entirely through the veil of danger.

“Woah!?”

“Don’t just space out!”

“You’ll die!”

Pulling them back simultaneously from both sides, Subaru felt as if he was lifted, retreating backward. Mere moments later, the rocks that could not be avoided slammed where he’d just been standing, the impact shaking the ground.

Through the chaos swirling above, Petelgeuse’s derisive laughter echoed. Helping his cause was another mysterious arm raising more mass projectiles.

“At this point, the strategic goals have already been achieved! The fingers have been wiped out, the last spot buried alive…! Meaning—”

“Meaning what?”

“What to do now?”

“—Retreat! Retreat!!”

With a cowardly cry from Subaru, the onslaught continued. Feeling death creeping behind him, Subaru and the siblings scrambled away from the threat.

Kicking off the unstable ground, they dove into the forest seeking cover. While bearing the brunt of the tempestuous wind against them, they dashed deeper into the trees, the chaos amplifying their urgency.

“This is bad, bad, this is going downhill! Damn it, what a surprise! Those arms can do more than just tear flesh! Where’s that bastard Julius?! Patrasche—!!”

As Subaru rushed ahead, nearly losing himself in frustration, Mimi and Tibby followed closely behind, watching his rear in caution.

Unlike the two agile ones, Subaru struggled to keep his footing, peering down, uncertain of when he might fall. Why could he never remain calm and just walk through the woods? It was like he was always desperately dashing for his life.

“Uwa!? What the heck is that?!”

As Subaru furiously complained, he heard a startled exclamation next to him. Turned by her tone, he stole a glance back, immediately regretting it.

Of course, Petelgeuse wouldn’t let the fleeing Subaru and company escape. He had also begun chasing them at full speed—but his method of movement was unfathomable.

Curling up into a ball, Petelgeuse had his own body gripped by the ‘Invisible Hands,’ using them to scuttle like spider legs while pursing his prey. The black palms maintained their devastating power, gouging out anything that obstructed their path as they tore through the forest.

“I’ve never seen anyone float like that, in such a creepy way!”

“Oh, right! You can see him like that!”

The perspective of Subaru, seeing Petelgeuse writhing in mid-air with his ‘Invisible Hands,’ was a nightmare indeed. To Tibby and Mimi, however, it must have resembled the horrifying image of Petelgeuse flying like that, while for Subaru it was a nightmare beyond nightmares—a matter of whether he or the foes were suffering worse.

And the situation would only worsen.

“—Ah! It’s ‘Sloth’!”

“Wait—!!”

Just after the great shout from behind came a black flash that instantly scorched the world. In an instant, something blocked Subaru’s view. This moment had no effect on Subaru. Yet it was a different story for the two running alongside him.

“Ah?”

“—Ugh!”

Miraculously, the lucky arms holding the siblings dropped them just in time. With the small bodies caught, Subaru charged into the woods still in his crouched stance, carrying them away from the darkness.

This was the manifestation of Petelgeuse’s vile technique, “Mental Pollution.” One of the powers that sucked the will to fight away from everyone except Subaru and a few others on the hunting team who had sufficient resistance.

He had relayed to Mimi and Tibby that they must resist this mental pollution.

That they wouldn’t be able to fight back against it, and that if ensnared, their spirits would likely spiral into despair as they suffered.

And yet, even knowing this, both had shown up beside Subaru, intent on giving him help even when faced with the possibility that it would mire their own resolve.

So,

“Why not just dump the dead weight and run away! Just let the foolish layabout drown in the abilities of ‘Sloth’! Why the hell are you trying so hard to protect him?!”

“Shut up, you idiot! I’m a fluffist! There’s no way a fluffist would abandon a fluff-kid! Thinking I’d perish tomorrow is ridiculous!”

Steeling himself, he could not even think about leaving them behind.

Subaru’s legs accelerated as he carried them, while Petelgeuse drew ever nearer, clearly astonished by Subaru’s hidden strength, but the distance between them shrank instead.

With the beastman siblings in his arms, Subaru struggled to flee through the forest’s treacherous terrain, while Petelgeuse seemed to breach everything in his path without a care; the odds had already tipped heavily against Subaru.

With only seconds left until Petelgeuse would catch them.

“I love you, Patrasche—!!”

Leaping over the newly formed hollow, Subaru caught sight of pitch-black scales glittering through the trees. The shining velvet back arched in response to Subaru’s cry, indicating his partner had finally arrived. With a bounce, he threw himself onto Patrasche’s back, pressing down the siblings as he hugged his partner fiercely.

“GO!!”

“—!!”

Letting out a whinny, Patrasche lowered himself, springing forward on solid legs—propelled by the power of the winds.

Beating through the forest’s rough terrain, overcoming countless barriers, Patrasche trampled everything aside with powerful strides. The terrain beneath his feet was no mere beast path; it opened into an endless expanse of green.

If the Earth Dragon was akin to a horse of Subaru’s world, Patrasche—trained to soar over plains—could only have treated this reckless dash through the woods as some kind of blasphemy. They certainly had no option to stroll leisurely at a slow pace; they were already sprinting for survival.

“You’re the greatest—!”

The previous proclamation hadn’t been made out of any true faith that Patrasche would aid him. It was something that had spilled out in the heat of the moment during this crisis.

But Patrasche responded, charging straight into the forest to save Subaru. Ever since that battle with the White Whale, this Earth Dragon had saved him countless times.

“No one—anyone… absolutely everyone—!”

Mimi, Tibby, and even Patrasche had kept offering all the help they could to lift his feeble self.

Thus, Subaru would have to respond. He had to reciprocate with something more than merely what had been given. This was the only true way to grow the flower of trust.

“How far, how far… just how many cards had you been hiding?! If this at all, if you knew this was coming, what are you?!”

—This much, he hadn’t foreseen.

Internally responding to Petelgeuse like that, Subaru grasped the reins and instructed Patrasche. The awkward instructions were quickly picked up by Patrasche, who subtly leaned in towards the desired direction, turning.

Slowly, slowly, as they started evading Petelgeuse’s chase without attracting his attention, Patrasche was leading them into a reversal.

As they traversed over hills, slipped between trees, broke through the tangle of brush and shadows, they reached a familiar spot—

“I’m back!”

“This is—?!”

Flying out into the open space revealed the battlefield from before where Subaru had faced Petelgeuse. The traces of destruction was stark all around, and before Subaru could locate what he sought, Petelgeuse’s screech echoed.

“What schemes, what plots, and what targets you have eluded me! Everything and anything, it will all end here. You shall cease to exist!!”

From the ground emerged other magical hands, lifting logs and rubble, hurling them toward Subaru out in the open without any protection.

Feeling Patrasche pick up speed, he attempted to outrun the imminent danger, but it was impossible to dodge the surge of violence—Patrasche raised his tail in a determined effort to protect his master, but in that instant—

“Eldona!”

A mound of earth sprang forth, creating an impromptu wall that directly intercepted the incoming destruction. The wall cracked upon impact, promptly reverting back to its original earthen form.

At that moment, Subaru, still curled atop Patrasche, froze in bewilderment. Then,

“I was worried when I arrived at the meeting point, and you were nowhere in sight.”

“…It’s your fault for being so late. Just where the heck did you lose time in this ordeal?!”

“I needed time to carry the injured back to the village. I arrived here feeling blue… but I’m just glad we could join forces.”

“Thanks to our goddess… Also, introduce me to the guy from your side later.”

Slumping, Subaru stroked Patrasche’s side languidly. In response, Patrasche shook as if to say, “What a worry,” yet such protests felt trivial in the warmth of the relief felt.

Regardless,

“I apologize for being late. It seems things are moving accordingly.”

Drawing a slender sword and peacefully navigating the rocky surface while walking beside Patrasche stood a handsome figure.

Flowing lavender hair swayed in the wind as his guard’s uniform rippled, recalling all the times Subaru had felt exasperation toward him, and now at this very moment, that once frustrating posture was awfully reassuring.

“Affiliated with the Knights of the Lugnica Kingdom, Julius Euclius.”

With a formal declaration, Julius presented his drawn sword, brandishing it toward Petelgeuse.

Petelgeuse, who had momentarily halted at the edge of the forest, gazed in surprise, bracing himself for his next retort. The air was thick with silent breaths. Then, around Julius, six varieties of elemental spirits sparkled.

“I shall cut you down, the blade of the kingdom!”

“So, you’re an Elementalist, huh? … No end to your madness, truly; absolutely no end!”

Rather than the boasting of his title, Petelgeuse expressed furious anger toward the swarming elementals. Observing this, Subaru found his earlier conjectures regarding Julius to be increasingly validated.

“Julius.”

“It’s obvious that this guy’s mind is twisted. He appears to float, but that must be the power of those ‘Invisible Hands’ you mentioned, right?”

“Yeah, they’re extending like spider legs while floating around!”

Subaru’s statement made Julius shrug slightly, muttering, “That sounds terrifying.” Then he glanced at the siblings cradled in Subaru’s arms.

“Are they… injured? They seem a bit off.”

“Told you, it’s that mental pollution. If hit, it’ll poison their hearts… I told you not to come. But hey, I appreciate it, really.”

Expressing gratitude through sarcasm, Subaru pulled the siblings closer. In his arms, Mimi stirred, trying to convey something with small movements.

Leaning in to hear her out, she said,

“If we win here, it’ll be really cool!”

At that moment, astonished by her words, both the seriousness of her expression and the genuine smile she wore struck Subaru deeply, moving him profoundly. Thus,

“I’m going for it, Julius.”

“Is that acceptable to you?”

With Subaru’s call, Julius posed a question of readiness.

Reflecting on that inquiry, Subaru set forth a resolute glint in his eyes.

“I won’t back down, bend, or lose. I don’t want to lose anyone else again.”

“I am the man who most severely crushed you. At the time, I held onto my own reasonings and meanings, but they were mere selfish claims on my part.”

In response to Subaru, Julius recollected the memories between them, the unforgivable humiliation of the past reignited in stabbing clarity.

“I’m not looking to unearth the past, seeking atonement for sins. Your resolve carries weight, and your decisions and actions have paved this path to now. Therefore, I ask; at this moment, standing beside you, can I accompany you toward your true calculations without hesitation?”

“——”

“Do you trust me?”

Julius’s inquiry was shrouded in ambiguity and misconceptions, feeling entirely out of place and naïve.

However, it was pivotal for Subaru, deeply enshrined within his heart—a sharp thorn that had continuously made its presence known and demanded confrontation.

During the Royal Selection event, Subaru had thoroughly embarrassed himself. Not only had he failed to redeem himself, he had compounded that shame during training when everything Julius had thrown at him had shattered him into pieces.

If he had been able to rise again, it had been thanks to one girl who continued to support him.

And now that he stood crafted anew with those memories ignited within him, what then?

What color of brilliance burned in him now from that time, at that moment—not just that heated passion?

“—I actually really hate you.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“It’s infuriating, that aristocratic hairstyle of yours, and your polite mannerism feels smoky and suspicious. Not to mention, you looked down on me, and hey, you kissed Emilia-tan’s hand the first time I saw you. If I try to kiss Emilia-tan all over, it’ll just be an indirect kiss with you. What the hell?!”

Looking back, Subaru realized he had disliked Julius from the very start.

Having been mismanaged by Emilia, he’d held bad feelings toward Julius all along. It had heightened during the Royal Selection and erupted in the training grounds, a smoldering ember that never extinguished.

Even in this moment, it burned fiercely and tormented Subaru’s chest.

“I’ve had my hands and legs crushed, and my head smashed; I’ve had my teeth entirely knocked out. Though I’m okay now, it’s still guaranteed trauma, and I’d never want to step foot outside again; do you have any idea how to hold back?”

“Just so you know, I went easy.”

“Seriously? That’s going easy? You’re genuinely the absolute worst!”

The self-proclaimed knight, overwhelmed by powerlessness, ignorance, and recklessness, had been nothing more than embarrassing for Subaru.

That same Subaru had been overthrown by Julius, who had displayed power, capacity, and roles aplenty—he embodied the very ideal of a knight that Subaru sought after.

“—I truly despise you, the ‘Best’ knight.”

“——”

“Because of that, I place my faith in you. You’ve proven yourself to be an exceptional knight, and my shame knows that.”

In this moment, more than anyone here, and above all from that past of humiliation, Subaru understood Julius’s prowess.

Thus, Subaru assigned his fate to him. He knew the weight of that sword from before.

“Please, Julius. —I entrust all of me to you.”

“——”

From atop Patrasche, Subaru stepped forward, facing Julius.

To Subaru’s words, Julius closed his eyes, and then moments later, slowly opened them, Subaru’s reflection visible in his gaze. He inhaled sharply and stilled.

“Then I shall respond with my entire being to that—”

Raising his sword toward the heavens, Julius murmured, and the elemental spirits circled him in celebration.

The vibrant spirits twirled about the blade’s vicinity, and among them, two stood out in particlar; the white and black spirits shone the brightest.

That radiance intensified, blossoming into a blinding light—

“—Is the farce over?”

Emerging from the woods, Petelgeuse butted into their exchange.

Floating in the air, he leaned his head to one side. His bloodshot eyes roamed, unfocused, pointing a trembling finger at Subaru and the others.

“Even if there’s an Elementalist among you, what could one do? Spirits aren’t enough to stand in the way of my, my road, my love, my devotion! You shall perish, vanish, cease to exist! Die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die——!”

Stretching out his tongue, biting down on his own fingers, blood dripping from his mouth, Petelgeuse cried a death declaration as he hurled his ‘Invisible Hands’ toward Subaru.

The onslaught of dark palms surged forward, overwhelming their sight, seeking to engulf and crush Subaru and his allies—at that moment.

“—Clarissta!”

A flash of rainbow light completely severed the incoming ‘Invisible Hands.’

The brilliance flared as it danced—a dazzling exhibition that erased the black nightmares that had amassed. What should have led to destruction was abruptly undone.

“—Huh?”

Petelgeuse’s voice devoid of comprehension.

At this, Julius wielded his rainbow-colored knight’s sword, declaring, “There’s no need to be surprised.”

“This means that if I can touch you, you can likewise touch me. If it’s a capacity to intervene, there’s nothing my combined six elements cannot sever.”

With all six elemental spirits, he effortlessly declared it true and bore his sword toward the utterly powerless Petelgeuse.

“But that isn’t the main issue,” Petelgeuse shivered, pointing his ruined finger at Julius as he stammered, “You… You shouldn’t be able to see this! You’re not supposed to be able to see! The ‘Invisible Hands’ are cut…! The more pressing issue is you! You can see, see, see! It shouldn’t be, it shouldn’t be, it shouldn’t be, it shouldn’t be, there’s none, none, none, none—!”

Stammering in fear of losing his ground, Petelgeuse seized up at the hopelessness choking him.

In that moment, Subaru couldn’t help but feel a sense of sympathy at the sight of such distress—yet it was overwhelmingly outweighed by the overwhelming pleasure of “screw you!”

“I’m the one watching, Petelgeuse.”

“——?”

“I see your ‘Invisible Hands.’ Julius is just seeing the landscape I’m perceiving. It’s more unpleasant than I expected.”

—The advanced magic “Nect” in communication.

A method designed for broad-based multi-location transmissions, initially Subaru contemplated whether it might have retained some sanity when Julius highlighted this method to him.

In essence, it involved harmonizing their senses; should they deepen that connection…

“If I perceive to share a part of my sensory awareness, then it should surely be possible—when you first proposed this discussion, I truly doubted your sanity.”

“Didn’t I pull it off? A man must have courage and try anything once.”

With part of his five senses harmonized with Subaru, Julius could see through Petelgeuse entangled by his ‘Invisible Hands,’ twisted like a cursed spider dangling in the air.

And likewise, Subaru felt Julius’s flowing mana and the warm surges brought forth by the spirits.

“While I shouldn’t say it, I hope this doesn’t last much longer.”

“I wholeheartedly agree. I wouldn’t want to feel this again, even if asked.”

At Subaru’s wry words, Julius smiled topically as he poised himself for battle, directing his rainbow blade towards the wretched and unstable madman before them.

“Coward!… Coward, coward, coward, coward, coward, coward—!”

Petelgeuse howled, finally losing control over his scattered magical hands, wreaking havoc everywhere out of sheer rage.

Before such chaos, Subaru steadied himself, inhaling deeply to fortify his resolve as he shouted,

“Well then, I’m done sharing feelings with you. —Let’s end this!”

“Yeah, let’s do just that.”

With the dark magical hands closing in, he slashed upwards, obliterating completely those reaching claws; the countering strike severed the palms that came from the side. Watching the lost limbs turn to particles and disperse back into the shadows, Julius chuckled,

“I will strike for you, my friend, Natsuki Subaru.”