A wave of shadows surged forward like tidal forces, the pitch-black love crashing towards Subaru and the others.

Perched on the trunk of the great tree, Subaru found himself without an escape route. In a panic, he glanced at Garfiel, who should have been beside him.

“Garfiel!?”

He detached his hands from the branch he was clinging to and, inexplicably, opted for a free fall to the ground. The ground, tainted by shadow, lustfully reached to engulf his feet. Yet, Garfiel disregarded this, striking the ground with both hands, planting his limbs firmly into the earth.

“Before I’m swallowed by the shadows, let’s see how you like this, huh!?”

With a fierce cry, Garfiel lifted his arms from the earth.

Then, in response to his movements, the ground surged up, the shadow-covered soil flipping dramatically—he pulled the ground away from the encroaching waves of shadow, attempting to counteract its onslaught with sheer force.

Clods of dirt swirled as they collided with the shadows, creating a booming sound, momentarily matching the impact between them. For an instant, the weightless shadow met resistance, and much like the previous building, the shadow grew in response to the dust storm it consumed.

The waves of shadow deepened in height, broadening in width, and darkening in hue. The more it consumed, the more it morphed into a vicious creature—but minuscule stagnation made an appearance.

“If you don’t hurry and drop down, you’ll get left behind!”

“Wha—!?”

Subaru, who had been watching this scene in disbelief, suddenly could withstand it no longer as he was knocked from the tree and hurled to the ground. Just before impact, Garfiel managed to catch him around the waist, halting his fall in a rough manner. Disoriented and trying to comprehend what had just happened, he exclaimed,

“You can’t just kick me off like that!?”

“You’re too slow to judge. Seems like that shadow has taken a liking to you. If I don’t do something, you’ll disappear in an instant.”

Garfiel held tight to Subaru while grinning savagely at the expanding shadow ahead. Following his gaze into the waves, the source of the shadows glimmered faintly—some sort of humanoid silhouette, desperately reaching out with its arms.

“I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you—”

The muffled voice echoed unnaturally close, as if the distance was of no consequence, sending chills down Subaru’s spine.

As he stared at that shadow, overwhelmed by such intense and dark fervor directed at him, he could only feel an undeniable disgust boiling within him.

That shadow was the reason he could “return by death”, and in a sense, a benefactor.

Yet, impossible to accept. His soul instinctively recoiled from it.

“It’d be better to jump into the mouth of the White Whale than embrace that shadow.”

“Garfiel, what do we do…?”

“We can only move back! Roswaal is no help. Ram and that old lady… everyone else, I don’t think they can resist that shadow either.”

Gritting his teeth, Garfiel growled in frustration.

Unlike Subaru, he had witnessed firsthand those close to him—like Ram and Ryuzu—being devoured by the shadow. The turmoil in his heart was palpable.

For Subaru, who harbored hatred towards Garfiel, seeing him in despair felt like a conflicting situation.

“—!”

As if the writhing shadow had manifested a massive hand, suddenly its fingers shot out at them. Just in time, Garfiel backstepped, still holding onto Subaru. The amount of shadow on the ground was still minimal, and as long as they distanced themselves from the central shadow, they could avoid being swallowed into a bottomless swamp.

“Even stepping back means we’re in a slow decline… What happened after we attacked?”

“The shadow’s dress hasn’t been torn. If it were a fully powered strike, that would be different, but opportunities to land such blows don’t come easily.”

With each step taken back, moving through the gaps between the trees, Subaru and Garfiel exchanged their thoughts. They were currently leaving the shadows behind, but the shadow pursued slowly yet unfailingly.

Was this because of the shadow’s powers? Additionally, there was another strange occurrence.

“…Damn it.”

Spitting in irritation, Garfiel’s throat rasped with frustration.

His shoulders heaved with heavy breaths. Sweat trickled from his brow, and each of his movements carried an unsettling feeling that wasn’t usual.

It wasn’t just fatigue from carrying Subaru’s weight.

Subaru raised an eyebrow, sensing something was off. Seeing this reaction, Garfiel clicked his tongue and said,

“My body’s unreasonably heavy. —The shadow is sucking the life energy outta everything around us.”

“Is it the shadow beneath our feet!?”

Startled by Garfiel’s answer, Subaru turned to the shadow below him—trembling as he looked into the endless depth of shadows covering the grassy field.

And it was too late; he finally realized the true threat of the shadows.

“Hey, don’t tell me—”

—The forest is sinking.

The towering trees surrounding the “Sanctuary” held enough density to hide the moon and stars within their thick foliage. Now, the sky above the forest was clearly in view.

The trees hadn’t been mowed down, nor had their leaves burned away. The lush greenery still stood tall, swaying gently in the wind, producing faint sounds.

—The height of the forest had become so low that Subaru felt he could leap and clear its height.

“The forest is sinking—!?”

“If you keep moving around, it’ll happen. It seems the more it’s consumed, the stronger it gets—!”

The power of the shadows spread throughout the entire “Sanctuary”, beginning to engulf the whole forest.

No matter where he looked, there was no area untouched by the shadow. Even crossing the barrier or escaping the woods, the sense of despair suggested it might never end.

With an unfolding situation unprecedented and the “Witch of Envy” finally making her presence known, Subaru had become so distracted that he misjudged the level of threat she posed.

That shadow was the “Witch of Envy”—the one who once devoured half the world, still leaving deep scars of terror throughout the land.

“No way she’s seriously spreading her scale to half the world… right!?”

“There are tales of an entire nation being swallowed whole. If you didn’t know about it, you’d have no reason to laugh it off.”

Garfiel shook his head, laughing at Subaru’s imagination as he agreed.

The exhaustion visible on his face spoke volumes about the witch’s influence and the overwhelming speed with which the shadows encroached, the sensation of the ground sinking beneath them intensifying.

With each step taken in flight, the effort required to push off the ground increased tremendously. Garfiel, on his own, might be able to escape, but—

“Garfiel, that shadow is aiming for me. So…”

“If you’re suggesting I let you go, I’ll take my fangs and chew off your fingers one by one, got it?”

Subaru was left speechless at the rejection of his suggestion. But soon, he shook off that defeated spirit, glaring at Garfiel’s sweaty profile.

“This isn’t the time for that! If we keep this up, we’ll both be swallowed up! If I face that shadow, it should buy us some time. During that break…”

“Run? Or should I call Roswaal? That shadow’s first target was the center of the village… the villagers who fled, Roswaal too… they’ve all been swallowed up.”

“—Do you mean it?”

“Everything outside your view, the entire ‘Sanctuary’ has been engulfed by that shadow. Unless it was complete coincidence that everyone was within the forest for the moon viewing, it’s the truth.”

Garfiel’s calm announcement lacked emotion, an uncharacteristically detached demeanor that reinforced the truth of his words.

If the non-combatant refugees and residents of the “Sanctuary” had been swallowed up, as well as Roswaal, despair was the only perspective left to adopt.

For Garfiel, whose main mode of attack was close-range strikes, facing the “Witch of Envy” who could reach out from afar was utterly disastrous.

If only Roswaal or Ram—those proficient at long-range attacks—remained, they could have coordinated well.

“Then even more so, if you go, we lose our means to fight back…”

“All the villagers! Ram! Everyone’s been swallowed up…!”

“———!”

“Now on top of it all, you want to toss me to her and cause me to embarrass myself… Hell no! I absolutely have to teach her that ‘the marks of the paralagrara will not disappear!'”

Garfiel bared his fangs, his expression filled with relentless rage towards the shadow—but it seemed there was more to it than just that.

Having lost precious people, it wasn’t merely rage that called forth his relentless howls. If Garfiel truly embodied that sentiment…

“Then why did you kill everyone so cruelly when they faced her…?”

Did he understand the pain of losing someone, the agonies of losing everything? Garfiel surely knew the depths of those emotions.

Still, why did he resort to such cruel acts?

Subaru’s desperate question seemed lost on Garfiel.

Without a word, Garfiel tightened his grip around Subaru, transparently revealing he didn’t intend to throw him away. Without pause, he dashed forward, escape in mind, working to up the force of his strides, fleeing from the ever-encroaching shadows.

While Subaru hesitated between the looming threat and his attitude toward Garfiel, he was stunned when suddenly the view before him expanded dramatically.

Bursting through the descending forest, the two leaped into an open space that surprisingly didn’t yet bear the same heavy shadow. Exposed soil and low vegetation stood before them, and what astonished Subaru most was—

“—Huh!?”

The moment he took it in, Subaru was flung into the open field.

Surprised, he tumbled onto the ground, clawing to stop himself. However, the agitation was quickly overtaken by the urge to investigate what lay before him.

“Why is Ryuzu-san here—?”

Before him stood a girl with long, light red hair flowing gently—an appearance reminiscent of Ryuzu but with the essence of an elderly individual.

Her vague gaze fixated on something deeper in the woods, leaving Subaru unsettled.

Just moments ago, he had heard from Garfiel that she had been consumed by the shadow!

The contradiction between the immediate sight and that earlier information filled him with confusion.

If he were to trust something, it had to be the reality before his eyes. Which meant that the previous conversation must have all been false.

“Garfiel, what is this…?”

“…Don’t rush it. I get you have questions and things you want to say, but we don’t have time. I’ve lured you this far, after all.”

Waving a hand to dismiss Subaru’s inquiries, Garfiel gazed around their surroundings. Then, he tilted his head skyward, took a deep breath, and let out—a howl that resonated through the forest, though not deafeningly loud.

Hearing it, Subaru had the odd thought that Garfiel was capable of some beast-like acts. But the moments that followed stripped him of words altogether.

“—!?”

Figures began thrumming into view, breaking through the underbrush into the clearing.

All of them stood at a low height, their long hair trailing almost to the ground. Light red locks, pale skin, and round eyes devoid of emotion. They wore oversized cloaks that dragged along the dirt, donned directly over bare skin, their toes showing through the gaping seams.

The gathering of nearly twenty similar silhouettes advanced into the open space.

Occupying half the clearing, they all wore the same face—not the same expression—no, they had the same visage.

“What on earth—”

“I wanted to keep this from you if I could.”

Garfiel’s strained murmur barely registered in Subaru’s clouded mind. Thoughts raced, but they couldn’t coalesce into understanding.

The girls sharing remarkable similarities to Ryuzu lined up unnaturally, creating a disorienting dreamlike illusion.

In fact, he had experienced nightmares akin to this before, and one might easily chalk this up as yet another. Yet—

“The pain from the cuts on my arms is real, and the ache in my heart is too…”

Subaru took a deep breath while pressing a bloodied arm and a thumping chest, bracing himself for the sights before him, and once again turned his gaze to examine them.

The girls bearing Ryuzu’s face shared not just her appearance but also her expressions. Emotionless, withdrawn, like lifeless dolls.

The Ryuzu Subaru knew was not particularly lively, but she certainly expressed emotions, and there was a palpable essence of humanity in all her movements.

“—”

That sense of living humanity completely eluded the girls before him.

The description of them as dolls was not just fitting; they were practically mere puppets.

They breathed, marking time, yet they were only moving dolls—twenty of them lined eerily together.

“Clones… or something like that can’t possibly be the technological prowess of this world. Maybe magic creating doubles…? But why only Ryuzu’s copies…?”

As thoughts of cellular cloning flickered through his mind, a realization struck Subaru.

The fact that this “Sanctuary” had been called an experimental ground, and the reason its master, Echidna, had given a vague answer. Plus, the reason Garfiel had so often berated this place as a dead-end.

“Wait a minute… is this the result of the ‘Sanctuary’ experiment? Ryuzu’s replicas? But what purpose could that possibly serve…?”

“I’m sorry to say this—though you’re clearly deep in thought, but time is running out.”

Next to him, Garfiel’s arms had grown larger.

Covered in golden fur, his swelling limbs ripped through the fabric of his clothes, now bulging with near threefold muscle mass.

Returning to his ancestral form—if Garfiel was indeed a great tiger, this change was likely a precursor to his trump card.

“We surround it and crush it. Simple, but with everyone else swallowed up, we have no other choice.”

“…I get you’re the key, but those kids are—”

“Don’t sweat it. Unlike the old lady, they’re empty inside. Even so, they can still follow my commands. If that creates an opening, it’s a win.”

Too many questions remained regarding both their plan and the replicas of Ryuzu. Yet, there was no time to pursue those inquiries, no time to hold a friendly discussion.

Garfiel shoved Subaru farther into the clearing. Stumbling while adhering to this brusque command, the group of Ryuzu’s replicas moved forward, forming a defensive line behind him.

In the middle of the clearing stood Garfiel, with Ryuzu’s group in the back and Subaru at the rear. As the tension rose, Garfiel glared at the forest consuming them.

“—I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you.”

As those words of affection flooded out like a haunting tide, the shadows poured forth, engulfing the forest.

An unending sense of disgust swelled within him, as alarming alerts drummed repeatedly in Subaru’s mind. As the shadow—presumably the head—lifted, it spotted Subaru.

“———”

Joyful energy coursed through the movements of the shadow, a stark contrast to its grim surroundings.

The swirling black shadow rolled through the forest, entwining the trees, their trunks cracking and splintering under the spectral embrace, whispering loving words as it approached.

The clearing’s turf was being ravaged, the encroaching shadow soon consuming the ground in an instant. In not too long, this place would find itself swallowed just like the forest.

Thus, if Garfiel had a chance, it would be right before the shadow extended into the clearing—for the time being, in this very moment.

“—Ga-aaaahh!!”

Garfiel raised his gaze to the heavens and roared, his voice roaring into the atmosphere.

The fierce churn of air made Subaru instinctively recoil with primal fear. As he shrunk back, Garfiel not only transformed his limbs but also turned his feet into those of beasts, slamming them firmly into the ground.

In the next instant, the earth exploded beneath where Garfiel landed, catapulting the ground and shadow alike into the air, launching them as if catapulting at a target.

Just like the moment they first met Garfiel, when he had pulled the dragon cart driven by Patrasche and the earth right with it.

Caught off balance, the shadows lost track of up and down amid the airborne dirt, while Garfiel lowered himself, reinforcing his position while roaring and ramping up his transformation.

His clothing could no longer bear the strain of his growth, bursting into shreds that floated about like leaves, revealing a hulking figure standing over four meters tall, thick limbs, and jaws lined with sharp teeth.

That was nothing less than the incarnation of a great tiger that once filled Subaru with despair and inexpressible rage.

“———!!”

With a burst like a primal force, the fearsome creature leaped at the shadow.

The ground they stood upon collapsed beneath Garfiel’s feet, and the beast’s speed surpassed any legitimate terror.

With jaws open wide, its fangs, capable of crushing metal, were set to devour the thin waist of the shadow—

“———”

But in that moment, the stretching shadows from below ensnared the bounding great tiger, holding him fast. Traumatizing his momentum, the creature froze mid-leap, then let out a chilling scream.

The shadow clinging to its limbs left a cloud of red mist, as if intent on twisting his strong arms and legs. A limb thicker than Subaru’s waist tore with flesh-cracking sounds.

Screams echoed, and Subaru couldn’t tear his gaze from the restrained great tiger. The shadow ruthlessly began to shred its flesh, spilling intestines and blood in a gruesome display—

“—Ah—”

Yet it didn’t come to that.

Subaru could only watch in horror as two of the Ryuzu replicas suddenly leaped into the fray, where the tiger and the witch clashed.

With mouths agape in innocent gasps, two young girls sprinted with astonishing speed past the shadows, landing before the witch and looking up at the tiger ensnared in mid-air.

“Uu—”

“———”

They threw their arms wide, preparing to embrace the witch, only to be abruptly pierced by the shadow that seemed to spring forth as soon as they got close.

The shadow formed into a sharp tip, spiraled like a whip, and cut through the legs of the two running Ryuzus, skewering them straight through their midsections as they continued their screams, held aloft for all to see beside Garfiel.

It was a scene too horrendous to describe, yet it was merely a mistake born of the witch’s overconfidence.

“—Grrrrrroooonnnn!”

As Garfiel’s throat trembled with the agony, seeing the grotesque state of the two replicas invoked a different sort of roar booming from his throat, undoubtedly drawing Subaru’s furrowed brow.

What meaning lay in that divergence of tones? Amidst the bewilderment, Subaru’s eyes widened as a rapid azure glow enveloped the two suspended Ryuzu forms—

“———!?”

“———”

In a flash, both Ryuzus burst into overwhelming light.

It wasn’t the cruel obliteration of animals exploding, leaving only blood and innards. Their bodies dissolved into particles of light, scattering the surrounding shadows as they momentarily rekindled the world. An explosion—yet, it was unlike any death one could imagine.

Squinting at the brilliant flash, Subaru rubbed his eyes vigorously. And when his vision cleared, before him stood the Ryuzus—that had acted as shielders—now darting forward, identical to the first two.

Scattering in all directions, they coordinated in a tempo to surround the witch. As they approached, it appeared they intended to pounce with wide-open arms, just like the previous two.

But even as they tried, the actions of the replicas remained within the parameters of humanity, and their opponent was the absolute calamity, the “Witch of Envy.”

A mere glance was all it took for the shadow above to fragment into eighteen distinct fangs, each striking down with deadly precision—these cursed figures shredded not only the heads but the torsos and abdomens of each Ryuzu replica, annihilating their bodies before they could escape.

Though they had aimed to strike with a coordinated approach, all the Ryuzus fell in a heartbeat and were quickly replaced by blue-white light exploding from their corpses—the shadows temporarily dispelled from the surrounding area.

“—Rululululululaaaa!”

The glimmer of that moment didn’t escape the giant tiger of Garfiel.

With the burden of being bound by the shadows broken, the formidable beast pressed down, bending its limbs to prepare for the maximum leap just as the last of the replicas exploded.

With a guttural roar expanding across the air, it lunged straight toward the shadow.

As it barreled through the air, the witch produced a wall of shadows to defend herself. Yet, Garfiel had already planned for this, crashing one of the hidden replicas into that wall to cause a spectacular explosion, overshadowing the light with its fangs and claws raining upon the shadow.

—It’s done! Subaru nearly clenched his fists in crushing victory.

Garbage humanity performed such an inhuman act as sacrificing twenty-one replicas of Ryuzu without hesitation.

Now, with Garfiel’s claws barreling down like the wrath of nature itself, no matter how beastly the witch, her life was forfeit—

“—I love you.”

To Subaru’s pleading conviction came the tender, alluring murmur of the shadow. The explosion that erupted from within Garfiel engulfed him as it shattered into a cloud of pieces.