――The rainbow’s brilliance repels the encroaching pitch black.

　The clashes have already escalated to dozens of strikes, and Subaru has been enduring the excruciating pain coursing through his body while watching the sword and palm collide fiercely.

　Julius’s sword――the blade draped in multicolors is enhanced by the six attribute composite magic known as “Clarissta,” allowing its tip to reach Petelgeuse’s power known as the “Invisible Hand.”

　Each slash disperses the magical hand, turning it to dust and causing it to vanish into the shadows. While Subaru didn’t understand the principle behind it, it appeared that the “Invisible Hand” couldn’t recover in the face of those rainbow-colored sword strikes, and with every lost shadow, the crazed expression on Petelgeuse’s face turned red with fury.

“There’s nothing funny about this, it’s no joke, it’s something that must never happen! How dare you, with such means, to demean my love… my loyalty…!”

As he spat out his irritation with foul language, Petelgeuse extended his arms from the seemingly limitless shadows, aiming to snag Julius’s arms, legs, and head indiscriminately.

The responding blades strike back, or sometimes dodge as the finest knight dances across the battlefield―literally, performing a sword dance as he runs.

“――――ッ!”

Cutting through the air, the approaching number of “Invisible Hands” always exceeds ten. There’s no way to sweep them all away with a single swing; for every hand he slices apart, he has to evade, and despite his efforts, wounds are still inflicted upon Julius’s body.

Miraculously, he suffers no fatal damage from being grabbed and torn apart. No, it’s not a miracle; it’s the result of Julius’s extraordinary combat prowess.

And as he was keenly aware that he was supporting this thin line of battle, Subaru couldn’t take his eyes off the scene before him.

A pitch-black fingertip grazed his thigh, and Subaru grimaced at the pain as his leg was gouged. He clenched his teeth against the pain and stifled his voice as sharp sensations seared through his shoulder.

Through “Nekuto,” their sensations merge――Subaru and Julius’s bodies and senses are currently synchronized at a deeply profound level. Hence, through Subaru’s sight, Julius can see Petelgeuse’s “Invisible Hands,” and conversely, Subaru can also sense the overwhelming mana emanating from the rainbow-colored knight’s sword.

However, disregarding those benefits, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to claim that this synchronized state is under very unstable conditions.

Visual coordination leads to multiple scenes occasionally overlapping, creating a disconcerting feeling as though he is seeing entirely different sights with his right and left eyes. The physical empathy not only transmits the elevated battle sensations saturating Julius’s entire body but also relays every pain carved onto him sensitively to Subaru.

The feeling of wind brushing his skin, the touch of earth beneath his feet, the mingling taste of blood and saliva in his mouth, and the dull constant ringing in his mind, all bathe him in sensations “for two,” suggesting the burden on both minds and bodies isn’t simply doubled.

If only he could seal away the taste, smell, pain, and touch, how much easier would it be? It’s a dilemma of an irritating sensation in a spot he cannot reach. Perhaps he could say it’s like someone else’s behind itching.

“I’m telling you, I genuinely want this to end soon…”

Subaru licked his lips, whispering that amidst the surrounding clumsiness. Surely, Julius must have sensed this feeling too from their current connection. There was no room for carelessness.

If he could instinctively release his weakness, he’d like to abandon all his senses immediately and close his consciousness. Despite having suggested their strategy himself, this overwhelming aversion to empathizing with others felt troubling.

However, that unbearable sense of weakness must now be sealed away.

Because――

“Little by little, I’m getting used to it. Subaru, shall I increase the speed?”

“Yeah, just keep me safe!”

With that, Julius lowered his body and plunged into the vast shadows. Sliding and crawling under the palm strikes, he swept three magical hands away with a slash from below. He hurriedly dodged the parts glimmering with shadows, his foot digging into the ground as he turned the tide instantly――the palms aiming for him shimmered and shattered before the welcoming rainbow.

Swiftly spinning around, Julius swung his rainbow sword to shake off the magical hands clinging to it. His dignified handsome mask remained unsullied, his eyes shut, never once opened.

Through visual synchronization, if they fight with eyes wide open, they might find their vision overlapping and leading the world into confusion. Thus, Julius decided to close his own eyes and entrust all visual information to Subaru’s sight.

Surprised by the unexpected turn of events that hadn’t been part of their prior strategy, Subaru almost complained vehemently about Julius’s judgment but found himself compelled to swallow all that discontent.

One reason was that Julius’s decision to forgo his own vision was indeed correct. It would at least evade the foolish mistake of hesitating before two separate sights.

And the other reason was the culmination of his thoughts leading to that choice.

“You fool, you fool, you jester… Seriously, you’re such an irritating guy!”

Abandoning his own sight to entrust everything visible to Subaru meant that he essentially certified the trust in Subaru’s unwavering determination to face the fight head-on.

Furthermore, pouring his entire focus into Subaru’s vision wasn’t a straightforward matter. Subaru’s eyes belong solely to Subaru’s body, not to Julius’s.

In other words, Julius is now performing the extraordinary act of moving into battle while perceiving his own body from an objective viewpoint behind.

“This isn’t some game… If you get caught even once, it’s game over. Entrusting my life to this farce, it’s absolutely mad, both for you and me.”

He dodged the flailing arms like whips, grabbing a nearby tree branch, and as Julius soared above, he twirled his head to keep track of him while not getting too far away. After all,

“Don’t you worry about me too much; all you need to do is bring him down!”

Petelgeuse’s true target isn’t Julius, who’s risking his life on the front lines; it’s Subaru.

He’s the keystone of this battlefield, the one holding the necessary “eyes” to break the “Invisible Hand.” And above all, he’s the great sinner who has undermined Petelgeuse’s faith.

“Julius, it’s bad! Get back! Get back! Follow me!”

“Oh dear, this is quite troublesome!”

Kicking off the tree trunk, Julius sprang horizontally towards Subaru. At that moment, he completely ignored the “Invisible Hands” closing in on him; with minimal movements, he merely brushed them aside, piercing through the magical hand that had aimed to take Subaru’s neck.

Next, the rainbow’s sparkle drew an arc and hacked down the hands that brushed Julius. Changing the dire situation entirely, the knight, even with closed eyes, smiled at Subaru,

“I know you’re desperate, but how about some self-defense? At this rate, you won’t be able to face the enemy directly.”

“I’ll return the favor; this is precisely what I’m unable to do calmly! I can see you, my hardworking knight, through my own eyes, you know?”

“I see a troubled beauty with his eyes closed, someone who seems to be blessed with a noble lineage and talent.”

“Revealing a suspicion that the scenery from your eyes and mine is different!!”

Sticking out his tongue at Julius’s self-praise, Subaru hurriedly distanced himself from the approaching wave of hands. Subaru rolled away, and with a slash, Julius countered by severing the arms before pushing forward again.

What’s truly alarming about Julius is that he’s starting to get used to manipulating his body while viewing himself from a bird’s eye perspective in the middle of battle.

Unlike Subaru, who’s cowering in fear as he struggles just to utilize his actual skills, Julius embodies the essence of a warrior by honing himself in this exchange of lethal intent.

Being involved in such a warrior’s fight was barely enough to bolster Subaru’s retreating confidence and weakness.

With each grazing touch from the palm, his back, thighs, and shoulders screamed with pain and he bit down to endure.

Running forth, leaping, sliding in, countering, digging in, retreating, advancing, dodging, halting, slipping through, diving, turning, jumping sideways, bending, looking back, charging, bouncing, kicking, he refined his movements.

Blocking, slashing through, thrusting in, slicing upwards, kicking away, flowing cuts, punching, mowing down, piercing through, severing, flashing strikes, bringing it all together to reduce the “Invisible Hands” to mere dust.

As a dreadful darkness loomed to engulf the view, the sight of the knight dancing with a sword coated in rainbow seemed impossibly beautiful, bordering on surreal.

So much so that it made Subaru wonder if he was losing track of the life-and-death struggle.

It probably stemmed from the fact that Subaru could feel the rhythm of the spirits through Julius. And similarly, in the hands pouring down—

“This can’t be happening… This shouldn’t be possible…! Why, why is this happening?! Why is my power failing me?! I was supposed to be loved, I am supposed to be loved, I am being loved! I love so much, so much! If that is the case, why, why has the witch not guided me all this time?!”

“I won’t tolerate such nonsensical statements. The black hands have appropriately decreased in number. Above all, I’ve become accustomed to fighting through Subaru’s eyes.”

Turning his gaze toward the babbling Petelgeuse, relying on sound, Julius held his breath for a moment before directing the sword’s tip toward the madman,

“――It’s time to seriously cut you down. After long threatening the Kingdom…no, the world, I’ll cut the threat of ‘Sloth’ here and now.”

“Impossible! You are not going to get away with this! I’ve endured for four hundred years, basked in the witch’s love, and worked diligently to embody her will! For you, a foolish man who merely wanders with that little spirit of yours, to obstruct me like this is absolutely unacceptable!”

Petelgeuse snarled, baring his teeth, unleashing a fury directed at Julius’s speech.

Yet, within those words, Subaru felt the realization of his speculation with Julius surge with strong clarity. So the guy truly is—

“Julius――!”

“I get it! Archbishop of Sin, brace yourself――!!”

With a kick that could gouge the earth, Julius propelled forward.

Petelgeuse opened his mouth and shouted something, unleashing “Invisible Hands” zealously from all directions, converging upon Julius from the skies, the ground, the forest—

“――Al Clarissta!!”

The rainbow’s extreme light incinerated everything, and the hands attempting to crush Julius vanished in an instant.

The pinnacle magic of Clarissta that envelops the sword in rainbow.

Though it was a mere moment, Petelgeuse’s encirclement completely vanished, clearing the path between Julius and the madman――!

Swept away by the aftershock of the rainbow’s light, even the magical hands reaching for the air lost their grasp and fell to the ground; Petelgeuse stood up, his frail body trembling with rage.

Without hesitation, Julius charged at the madman, the blade held high, aiming directly at Petelgeuse’s chest.

“Not so fast! Uldona!!”

Petelgeuse, with arms spread wide as if to meet Julius, began to chant, shortly after a torrent of mana impacted the earth――walls of soil lifted around Petelgeuse, shielding him from the knight’s blade.

Furthermore, from behind that barrier, a conglomerate of formidable black hands encircled and aimed for Julius’s body.

If this continued, he’d need an action to break through that wall, thereby delaying Julius’s response against the magical hands, which could be either a fatal wound to Julius or a missed chance to catch Petelgeuse off guard.

――If it were only Julius fighting here.

“Burn, fighting spirit! Roar, magic sphere! —My true self is a hundred and twenty kilometers per hour!!”

Twisting his body, raising a foot, and with a full swing of his shoulder, Subaru hurled the magic ore, a speed hardly deserving of the word “fast.”

Yet despite being an ordinary person who hadn’t practiced throwing, this projectile was thrown with pinpoint accuracy thanks to his intense concentration in this dire moment.

“What the…!?”

The destructive energy contained within the red magic ore collided with the earthen wall that stood before Julius and exploded, engulfing Petelgeuse’s front in a blaze of red.

“Don’t tell me, you planned this from the start…!”

“Your downfall was engaging in battle alone!”

Bursting through the flames, Julius’s thrust pierced Petelgeuse’s chest.

The rainbow’s brilliance pierced through Petelgeuse’s body, burning his frail form from within.

He crashed into the back earthen wall, skewered like an insect pinned to a board, flailing his arms and legs, blood bubbling out of his mouth.

“This can’t be, can’t be, can’t be…. this, my body…. this…”

“The blade that binds the six attributes burns you from within. If your true identity is as we’ve speculated, then you might as well vanish now!”

Julius twisted the sword deep into Petelgeuse, eliciting a tortured scream.

The glow of the knight’s sword intensified, and before that light, Petelgeuse could neither use the “Invisible Hands” to defend nor revert the situation with chanting.

Yet still, Petelgeuse’s frenzied gaze did not abandon the will to live,

“I can’t finish! There’s no way it could end! It shouldn’t be allowed to end! I’ve worked diligently! I must never accept a lazy resignation, a lazy end! Therefore…! Therefore, no matter what…!”

He cried, writhed, struggled, expanding the source of his agony while Julius pressed the tip of his sword further in, attempting to destroy the heart—

“Having lost my fingertips, yet still, I’m mangled like this…but, still! I have a body left…!”

All prior vessels had been crushed, and when facing the demise of his last physical form, Petelgeuse’s screams of defiance erupted.

His manic eyes, filled with hysteria, fixed straight onto Subaru.

A chilling wave coursed down Subaru’s spine, deepening Petelgeuse’s maniacal laughter,

“Ah――my brain quakes.”

“――――ッ!”

In the next moment, Petelgeuse’s body, speared by Julius, crumbled like a puppet whose string had been cut. Hollow eyes lost their light, and all vitality drained from the body that hung limply.

The instant Subaru recognized the inevitable had occurred, he instinctively judged that the moment had come. Immediately, he placed a hand on his chest, pulling something from his pocket.

“Julius! Release now!!”

“I understand!”

In response to Subaru’s call, Julius kicked the corpse of Petelgeuse, then turned and sprinted towards Subaru. As he did, the overwhelming pressure of heightened sense that had burdened Subaru’s body dissipated.

In exchange, a different presence intruded upon Subaru’s body.

“It seems your body truly has the potential to be my vessel! Surely, even you didn’t foresee this outcome! Ah, ah! Ah! You really are lazy, aren’t you?”

The manic laughter of Petelgeuse echoed just beside Subaru’s brain.

Then, without Subaru’s consent, his right hand reached out toward Julius, who was hastily running towards him. In that moment, Subaru’s shadow swelled, and from it erupted the “Invisible Hands” targeting Julius, who had lost his means of visibility—

“Uubeeh!”

“――Huh?”

Wobbling as Subaru’s body seemed to spiral out of control, a sudden surge of warmth made his head spin violently, and he toppled over without a chance to brace himself.

As he fell, a dialogue mirror slipped from his fingers,

“If I can pinpoint your location through the dialogue mirror, then that’s good enough. Still, Subaru-kun, to devise a strategy ready to self-destruct, is truly an o-baka-san♪”

The familiar mischievous voice of Felis rang in his ears from the mirror surface. He had been monitoring the situation through the mirror as per Subaru’s instructions――transforming Subaru’s body into that of a similar “puppet” against Petelgeuse’s signaling for possession.

However, Subaru’s consciousness remained intact, merely entailing a limited runaway of mana that robbed his body of freedom.

“If I can’t maintain a normal mental state, there’s no way I can use the ‘Invisible Hands,’ right?”

“Could it be… could it be… you foresaw even that I would take over your body!?”

The inner Petelgeuse quivered with disbelief, yet Subaru boldly answered within his hazy consciousness, “Of course.”

While Subaru and Petelgeuse continued their clash, Julius rushed toward the collapsed Subaru, ignoring him entirely, picking up Mimi and Tibby who lay by Subaru’s feet, and thus whisking them away on Patrasche, distancing them from the battlefield. Now,

“Any hostage plans with the ‘Invisible Hands’ are impossible. Are you ready to throw in the towel?”

“Resignation… will never come… I will seize your body, and I shall become myself, and I am me, I am me, I am I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I”

Nonsensically, he fervently continued muttering a verse of “love” toward someone not him.

—

“Ahh! I’m back!!”

The sensation of having my heart squeezed, the grasp of magic hands halted in time now rushes toward Subaru――it is most likely the witch’s hands leaving their scent on him.

The Witch of “Jealousy”――she’s no doubt connected somehow to Subaru’s “Return by Death.” Perhaps she even holds some relation to Subaru’s summoning to this world.

“Someday, I will unravel the truth… but now!”

Struggling to raise himself against the rocks, Subaru attempted to stand, wiping the drool trailing from his mouth onto his shoulder as the incessant ringing crushed his ear and the unquenchable nausea tormenting him finally let up as he found his balance.

He leaned his hands against a rock and faced forward.

“This can’t… be happening…”

Petelgeuse’s corpse was dragging its bloodied limbs toward Subaru again. Perhaps he had tasted the witch’s hand through Subaru’s possession and shared sensations.

Expectedly, it was a last resort that Petelgeuse would yield and relinquish Subaru’s body.

――Despite being preoccupied with squirming through the pain, he couldn’t recall hearing Petelgeuse’s screams.

“If you had any guts, you would repeat that until you retrace your steps… but gaving up after one try is just pathetic, you know.”

As he spoke, Subaru’s arms began to feel weak, threatening to collapse when a hand reached out from behind and miraculously caught him, lifting him up.

It was Julius. With Patrasche, he had returned, confirming Petelgeuse’s retreat from Subaru’s body to a state of near death.

“This time… let’s bring this to an end.”

Drawing forth his knight’s sword, the magic of Clarissta blazed once more, dyeing the blade in rainbow hues.

With a glimmer tracing its path, Julius headed straight for Petelgeuse.

Straining to move, Petelgeuse, near death, could not muster any action as Julius approached.

The damage inflicted was far greater than the physical blows, as he dragged himself along with an expression utterly crushed by despair.

He finally reached the edge of the precipice and leaned against the jagged rocks, turning to face Julius.

No longer able to summon the energy for any semblance of lunacy, Petelgeuse’s face now wore an expression of sheer disbelief as he looked up at Julius. His gaze then shifted toward Subaru——and suddenly, a spark of rage ignited in his eyes.

Tears poured forth, soaking Petelgeuse’s cheeks.

These were not the tears of joy he had shed before but rather a manifestation of futile frustration, an embodiment of his inescapable delusion.

Petelgeuse wept, trembling voice outstretched toward the heavens, as though he sought to grasp something not there,

“Witch… oh, Witch! How could I give everything to you… sacrifice it all for your sake, and now you abandon me?! Why must you forsake me? Why? Why?! Why must you leave me empty, oh…!”

“What you sacrificed were not worship, love, nor even yourself. Just passerby people walking around you.”

Subaru firmly dismissed Petelgeuse’s pleading wails.

There was no worth in lending an ear to his words; they were solely products of his own self-righteousness. What Wilhelm had said, calling it “love,” felt absurd.

“――――!”

Julius dashed forward, approaching Petelgeuse’s frail figure.

As the blade readied to drop, Petelgeuse only vacantly gazed with what little torment remained in his tearless eyes――the knight’s sword plunged into his chest once more, the light exploding forth.

The gathering of mana embedded within the body ignited, annihilating the spirit’s existence, erasing Petelgeuse from the world in a surge of rainbow brilliance.

As the blade withdrew, Petelgeuse stared blankly down at his bloodied chest.

His eyes then drifted skyward, extending a hand as though to reach for the clouds above.

“――my brain… shakes.”

An “Invisible Hand” shot towards the heavens from the shadows, reaching endlessly toward the blinding sun.

However, that palm would grasp nothing, merely streaking the hilariously bright void above and ripping the cliff face apart, leaving deep fissures behind.

――It was not an intentional act. It likely held no meaning for Petelgeuse, who merely projected his delusions into tangible form.

A collapse initiated above Petelgeuse’s head, the gouged cliff crumbling into massive fragments. Below stood Petelgeuse, helplessly yearning for what could never be grasped.

“I am… loved――”

The boulders cascaded down, crushing his body from above, smothering flesh and bone with a resounding thud.

The tremors of the earth resonated as a plume of smoke erupted, and in an instant, Petelgeuse’s frail body was entombed beneath the debris.

After avoiding the falling rubble, Julius stepped toward Petelgeuse’s former position. Upon noticing the surge of crimson seeping from beneath the large rocks, he shook his head and sheathed his drawn knight’s sword.

Subaru, too, took a silent step toward that spot.

His strides were unsteady, the treacherous footing hampering him, but upon reaching the monument, he exhaled softly.

Neither wonder, nor fulfillment, nor satisfaction marked his heart.

Only a void of emotion sprawled wide across his chest.

He refrained from voicing concepts of victory or defeat at that moment.

Simply, the words that idled in his mind found exit through his lips.

“Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti.”

With that single word, this battle found its conclusion.

—

The Archbishop of Sin, “Sloth,” Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti.

The fight between the finest knight, Julius Euclius, and the self-proclaimed knight, Natsuki Subaru.

Before the rubble-strewn monument, Subaru inhaled deeply and muttered.

“—You were ‘Sloth,’ weren’t you?”

“`

 

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