The roar of the Earth Dragon resounded high, echoing the conclusion of the battle in the skies of the “Sanctuary.”

The pitch-black Earth Dragon that dealt the final blow, sending the battered Garfiel flying.

The Earth Dragon, whom Subaru calls Patrasche, appeared as if it understood Subaru’s thoughts, providing the ultimate assistance in the final moments.

“――――ッ!”

The encounter between Garfiel and Patrasche was actually the second in this “Sanctuary.”

On the first day they visited the “Sanctuary,” Patrasche, pulling the dragon carriage, clashed with Garfiel, who was there to repel intruders, and suffered a complete defeat.

Naturally, there was a distinction between warrior and non-combatant, and Patrasche had no reason to be blamed for being utterly trounced. Subaru, of course, never blamed his beloved dragon for such a thing.

However, how Patrasche—being the party directly involved—felt about it was another matter.

Unable to defend its master, the events of that day left an indelible humiliation.

For the proud Diane species, which boasted the blood of a noble dragon, it was a disgrace that needed to be repaid at all costs.

Even though the opportunity had quickly presented itself, there wasn’t complete communication of intent between Patrasche and Subaru, who didn’t share a common language.

Thus, Patrasche proved its determination through action as well.

The roar of the Earth Dragon was a tribute offered to its master and the noble dragon.

The mix of what felt like accomplishment and satisfaction was evident to anyone who saw the female Earth Dragon nudging the unconscious Subaru with its nose.

***

Listening to Patrasche’s roar of honor, Emilia let out a deep breath.

It felt as if even breathing had been forbidden. No, it was as if she had forgotten how to breathe during the battle.

Emilia felt the weight of her own powerlessness as she watched the two men fight with fierce intensity, as Subaru had instructed, to bear witness to their conclusion.

Subaru coughed up blood, groaning in pain, and collapsing.

How many times had Emilia almost rushed to his side at that moment?

Yet, every time her weak heart threatened to throw in the towel, she was stopped by Subaru’s words, “Just watch,” and the gaze that seemed to keep looking her way as if he knew.

To reach out her hand or voice her thoughts was utterly impermissible.

It was frustrating, unbearable, yet in that moment, averting her gaze was not an option.

No one explicitly told her so.

Emilia’s heart quietly realized that it must never be done.

She didn’t know what feelings tied her feet to the ground.

Subaru was stubborn; Garfiel roared fiercely; their fierce struggle that was fought through the dirty brawl between men—that she struggled to understand as a woman left her on the outskirts, unable to grasp its underlying essence in fragments.

However, Subaru demonstrated his pride and conviction in this fight, overcoming Garfiel with the help of many.

That much was certain, and there was no denying the swell of unarticulated feelings within Emilia’s heart.

Urged forward by those feelings, Emilia came to recognize the battle between the two men as something worthy of admiration.

Therefore, the meaning of their fight must not be tarnished in any way.

Thus she—

“……Roswaal.”

With her eyes closed just once, leaving her doubts behind, Emilia turned her focus forward.

Her gaze leapt over Subaru and the others collapsing below, seeking the gaps among the trees ahead.

—There, a lone magician stood silently.

“The way you’re being all quiet makes me anxious. I can’t help but suspect you’re up to something.”

“Oh, that’s quite the unfounded accusation, wouldn’t you say? Despite my injuries, I hurried here for you, Emilia-sama, and Subaru-kun.”

“If that’s genuinely your intention, I’d feel more at ease, but…”

In front the hesitant Emilia stood Roswaal, stepping out from the underbrush.

Just a few days since arriving at the “Sanctuary,” she had only seen him lying in bed, and now he was here in person, raising a tiny flag of caution in Emilia’s mind.

After all, Roswaal was supposed to be Emilia’s supporter in the Royal Selection, seen as her only ally in terms of power. He had introduced her to the road to the throne by pulling her out of the forest and implied possibilities to save everyone frozen beneath the ice.

Therefore, until then, despite his quirks and oddities, Emilia had never truly seen him as an enemy, nor felt annoyed or concerned about him in a dangerous light.

Yet, that was until mere moments ago.

“The elemental spirits have been restless and making noise for a while now.”

“……Oh.”

“They all say they feel something extremely ominous… And now, I can clearly perceive it myself.”

Lowering her voice with tension, Emilia slowly descended from the graveyard entrance to the plaza.

She positioned herself beside Patrasche, who stood next to the fallen Subaru and the grimacing Garfiel, ready to protect them all at a moment’s notice.

Protecting them all—that’s how intensely alien Roswaal’s aura felt in this moment.

A dense, excessively abnormal density of mana warped the air around Roswaal.

What was the density of mana he was refining inside him? Roswaal L. Meiastars, renowned as the kingdom’s greatest magician who mastered all six elemental attributes.

Just how powerful a miracle could he manifest when he unleashes his magic to the fullest?

“――――”

As Emilia felt the intoxication from the dense mana fill her senses, she gasped.

Patrasche, too, positioned itself in a way to cover Subaru from Roswaal’s gaze, stretching its long neck to let out a threatening growl toward the magician.

Patrasche, too, was feeling threatened by Roswaal’s extraordinary presence. Observing the two’s wariness, Roswaal shrugged nonchalantly as he always did.

“How frightful, frightful. I would appreciate you not looking at me with those eyes. You see, it seems I’m not very fond of beasts and dragons alike. If the same applies to spirits, it would explain why Beatrice and I don’t get along well.”

“Don’t make light of it. Plus, this little one is in a bad mood for a different reason… I don’t know if it goes way back.”

“No, in the past… truly, a long time ago, that wasn’t the case. Before there were Earth Dragons, I used to come here riding on a phantom bull—Farlow.”

“Before there were Earth Dragons…?”

Not quite understanding the meaning behind Roswaal’s words, Emilia furrowed her brow.

Though she wasn’t an expert, Earth Dragons were now creatures so ingrained in daily life their culture and history must have been intertwined with humanity for much longer.

Surely, Roswaal must mean “in Lugnica.” While she didn’t understand when Earth Dragons were first utilized in Lugnica, she certainly lacked knowledge.

As such doubts clouded Emilia’s mind, Roswaal let out a small sigh.

There was a hint of expected disappointment in it.

“Don’t you know, Emilia-sama? Well, as expected. Even if you bear the blood of a long-lived elf, you’re still only a little over a hundred… Considering you spent the majority of that time asleep, you wouldn’t remember the world that existed back then.”

“…That’s a strange thing to say, Roswaal. If you’re bringing that up, you’re much younger than I am. Sure, I’ve outlived you in terms of time spent awake.”

Having spent about a hundred years frozen in ice and left behind in this world, Emilia felt a shameful past.

Despite being obviously older than many, she had accumulated nothing that matched her age in experience or knowledge.

This included not being able to overcome the “Trial,” bringing her a renewed awareness of her numerous “deficiencies” during her days in this “Sanctuary.”

However, Roswaal dismissed Emilia’s trivial concerns with a derisive laugh.

That unexpected response startled Emilia, and she raised her eyebrows in confusion.

“What now, Roswaal? Why are you smiling like that?”

“I apologize. It’s nothing of importance, really… Ignorance can sometimes lead to absurd and laughable situations.”

“…You’re mocking me. I can understand that much.”

Emilia narrowed her eyes at Roswaal’s somewhat insolent words, becoming increasingly cautious.

The unusual mana around Roswaal, which, when exposed to her own heightened levels of mana, seemed to signal a palpable change in his demeanor unlike anything she had witnessed before.

Up until now, Emilia had never experienced Roswaal directing malice towards her so openly.

The Roswaal she knew always acted whimsically, speaking with an air of arrogance, and throwing around ridiculous quips just as much as Subaru and Pack, never degrading Emilia in any manner.

This was because Roswaal’s intentions required Emilia’s existence as an ally, necessitating engagement with her as someone to be placed above as “the Queen.”

Paradoxically, this meant that Roswaal must not value Emilia’s worth anymore.

Perhaps he became frustrated with her inability to overcome the “Trial” again and had given up on her. That would be fair; it could almost be understood.

However, what Emilia truly feared was not that.

“Roswaal… since when have you been watching the fight between Subaru and the others?”

“—When you say since when?”

“I noticed you a little while ago… After Subaru and Garfiel started slugging it out… Right after Subaru used Shamak.”

Having heavily abused the damaged gate, Subaru cast a magic he had lost track of how many times.

The scarce mana was squeezed out, resembling a last-ditch effort in which the magic was hastily executed, displaying its power imperfectly, and then scattered.

Emilia realized that the moment she nearly rushed to Subaru’s side was, apparently, then.

Once, Subaru had fought desperately before Emilia, using Shamak just as fiercely, only to find himself overwhelmingly defeated at the end.

That last image overlapped with the present, and no one could fault her, as she almost cried out.

It fell into place when Subaru managed to shift the tides with his hidden trump card—embedding a crystallized stone into Garfiel—which ignited a different blend of emotions beyond mere anxiety in Emilia’s heart.

In losing a certain urgency, Emilia finally perceived the unnerving presence lurking in the shadows, observing the duel just like herself.

“At first, I thought Roswaal would jump in to help Subaru once he started running out of steam. Since it seemed like Ram and Otto were doing something to mitigate Garfiel’s rampage, I figured Roswaal would show up to assist Subaru, but…”

“You were correct; I came to support Subaru-kun. Though it seems you wouldn’t be inclined to believe me.”

“Even without Pack, I could feel the flow of mana just fine. You intended to make your move at any moment during the fight… And I can even tell who you were directing your aim at.”

“———”

Roswaal’s eyes, one brown and one yellow, narrowed as they set on Emilia.

Those dual orbs had narrowed likewise as they observed the preceding battle, always waiting for Subaru’s drive to increase to pounce.

“Answer me, Roswaal. —What were you planning to do to Subaru?”

Emilia lifted her palm, directing her inquiry towards Roswaal.

With Pack absent, she felt uncertain about controlling the mana. The elemental spirits were intensely wrapping Roswaal in a sense of dread, pleading with Emilia.

If she couldn’t borrow their strength, she had to go forward alone.

“Please, answer me. If not, I will…”

“To be in such a position, still hesitating at this stage. You remain awfully carefree. Perhaps, you are too reliant on others’ good will? Despite receiving nothing but malice in these past days, how can you still remain so vulnerable?”

“――――っ”

Emilia’s pleading was overwritten by Roswaal’s merciless malevolence.

The color in his differently colored eyes darkened in cruel emotions. Within him swirled an amalgam of varying mana powers, just as chaotic.

The ominous atmosphere and unsettling aura weighed down on Emilia as she instinctively reached for her chest, biting back as she recalled the absence of that familiar sensation.

The irritation of consciously trying to offload her anxiety onto Pack gnawed at her.

To mask that weakness, Emilia summoned strength to glare at Roswaal.

“I understand you’re not inclined to answer my question. Then, likewise—”

Her words were cut off as Roswaal’s true intentions tried to come forth without any restraint.

Resolving within herself to pry the truth from him, she prepared to concentrate mana one last time.

Just then, something nudged her from the side.

Surprised by the sensation of her silver hair being tousled, Emilia turned, only to find the snout of the Earth Dragon before her.

Patrasche. In a push that was far too forceful for a gentle nudge, Emilia’s eyes went wide. Then, the pitch-black Earth Dragon prodded her forehead once more with its elegantly composed face.

“You…”

Despite the lack of a shared language, Emilia perceived this as encouragement from the Earth Dragon.

—“Calm down. And, rationally, carry out what you need to do.”

It felt as though those fiery eyes were urging her, and Emilia acknowledged she had been getting quite heated.

Closing her eyes, she turned back to face Roswaal, noticing her hand no longer resting on her chest.

“I truly have no good memories with Earth Dragons.”

Watching Emilia’s expression change, Roswaal regarded Patrasche with an indignant eye.

Patrasche’s concern had evidently undermined Roswaal’s advance plan. It appeared that Roswaal now highly desired to make a move against Emilia.

“I do not understand what Roswaal is aiming for at this moment. But if it weren’t for Patrasche stopping me, I likely would have… Now, as it stands, you seem to be expecting that.”

“For the record, I personally dislike being injured as well, you know?”

“…? Everyone dislikes that, don’t they?”

Emilia caught a glimpse of Roswaal’s smirking lips at her somewhat bewildered reply. She had no idea what was behind his smile.

Regardless, the means Emilia should choose in this scene wouldn’t involve force.

“Talk to me, Roswaal. I can see you aren’t acting like yourself right now. Why have you begun to… seem so reckless?”

“Reckless, you say? Hmm, well that’s unexpectedly insightful.”

“You’re composed even at risk of being hurt, yet to say you’re not reckless… That’s hard to believe.”

Emilia, aware of the destructive impulses curled up within herself, knew how self-destructive those felt; it was merely the question of directing them inward or outward.

Emilia was the sort to direct them inward. Perhaps Roswaal was similar.

“If that’s the case, speak. I don’t know how much I can help, but I’ll lend my strength. After all, you’ve aided me quite a bit until now…”

“—No, that’s quite enough, Emilia-sama.”

However, the hand Emilia extended was rejected by Roswaal’s choked voice.

His flattened tone made Emilia raise her face as Roswaal’s frigid gaze looked down at her. The jester’s makeup—looking as if he smiled—could not hide the emotions painfully suffocated beneath its surface, leaving Emilia breathless.

The expressions of Roswaal seemed to speak of having abandoned everything.

“When you say enough, what do you mean?”

“It’s just as I said; I have no intention of having you understand my intentions, nor do I care for the injuries incurred by these two nor the ‘Trials’… It’s just that beyond even that, the Royal Selection is now entirely irrelevant. —It’s a world that is about to end.”

“A world that is about to end? What do you mean by ‘irrelevant’? The Royal Selection and the ‘Trials’ are not irrelevant—Roswaal, what are you saying?!”

Emilia’s voice rose in exasperation, shocked by Roswaal’s sudden outburst.

The unsettling aura surrounding Roswaal now brimmed with emptiness, as he stood before her bearing a void in essence.

Roswaal’s heart was in a dangerous state of instability.

Even knowing that, Emilia could not grasp the meaning of his argument.

What he was attempting to cast aside represented everything precious to Emilia, something Subaru had risked his life to prove but which she could not articulate.

The claims made by Garfiel, by their very nature, echoed strongly.

Garfiel had shattered the graveyard, striving to bring the “Trial” to a halt.

What he desired by preventing the “Sanctuary” from being liberated from its barrier? Emilia understood it vaguely—he sought a world stagnant in its continuity.

Furthermore, Garfiel’s stance wasn’t one Emilia couldn’t empathize with.

The desire for things to remain unchanged, to weather the storm, was comforting and a path that many would find appealing.

If it meant daily life in a peaceful place, spent alongside loved ones, no one could deny the wish to dwell in it for as long as possible.

Yet, Subaru rebuffed that notion outright, demonstrating his will to defy it.

Positionally, Emilia stood alongside Subaru; she was one instigating change in the “Sanctuary.” However, she lacked the clarity of purpose he possessed and had not fully grasped the thoughts of the people in the Sanctuary.

She had merely stepped into this domain as a necessary process towards her aim. What sort of change would arise from it, and how would her surroundings feel about it?—Emilia, focused solely on herself, had never found the need to scrutinize such obvious matters.

It had fallen to Subaru to ask those questions, to cry out.

Now she realized she had neglected to verbalize a burden that should have fallen to her to shoulder, allowing everyone else to overlook her.

That realization pushed her further into the now.

Yet Roswaal was on the verge of discarding everything Subaru had struggled to create.

“Roswaal… what are you trying to abandon? This was begun by you… and by me too, wasn’t it? You can’t just give up halfway through! That’s unacceptable!”

Emilia’s fierce tone reacted to Roswaal’s expression, which showed a flicker of response.

His eyes regained a hint of strength, and he shut one of his blue eyes, his yellow one trembling slightly.

“What we started was…? What do you mean?”

“Huh…?”

“It was started by me and my mentor. —Definitely not by you. Therefore, it should be entirely our freedom to see it through or to put an end to it. It must be, without question.”

“There’s no way that can just go by unchallenged!”

In the face of Roswaal’s aura that severely departed from the norm, Emilia raised her voice again.

With a glare toward Roswaal’s expression, tinged with chaos and the emotion that almost vanished, she swung her arms up.

“It may have begun with you and whoever else, but it’s no longer just your problem alone. Neither is it solely mine. So many people are involved, making it continue as it is! You cannot just end it on your own!”

“The path leads only to the end. Then, isn’t there any disadvantage to ending it here before reaching that destination? Our attempt this time around has ultimately failed—let’s hope for better in the future with the next you as well as with Subaru-kun.”

“With Subaru…?”

What could Roswaal mean by putting his hopes in Subaru?

Glancing briefly at Subaru collapsed on the ground, Emilia steeled her resolve to not let Roswaal’s thoughts come to fruition.

Naturally.

Subaru has already done more than enough of what needed to be done. In terms of hope, he has met her call fine; there should be no more demand for him.

For what he had been given, he ought to be reciprocated with something wholly deserved.

“How could you claim that Subaru’s path leads to an end? It was Subaru and the others who opened the path shut tight by the threat of extinction through their combined power. What is happening now is precisely that!”

“Whether you choose to go right or left, both lead nowhere in these paths. Acting desperately before such dead ends is nothing more than a useless exertion. The right path has been laid out; it is all recorded here.”

While saying this, Roswaal produced a black-covered book from his pocket inside the teacher’s robe.

She felt an unexpected urge to scratch at the feeling evoked within her chest as Emilia stared at the unfamiliar tome, opening her eyes wide.

It filled her with an intense sense of discomfort.

Despite its unremarkable appearance, completely without a title or cover, simply looking at it made Emilia’s spirit feel weighed down, filled with the pressure of uncertainty.

“That book is…”

“A duplicate of the ‘Book of Wisdom.’ Or, we could refer to it as a top-tier gospel. Its pages solely contain scribbled nonsense that no one but myself can decipher, but for me, it serves a different purpose. It is a guide documenting the rightful history one must follow.”

“Documenting the history one must follow… So you’re saying it’s like the Dragon History Stones…?”

“To trace back, they follow the same principle, or so my mentor taught me.”

Whenever Roswaal spoke the word “mentor,” his eyes regained a glimmer of emotion.

Some deep attachment sprang forth, something he couldn’t conceal behind the voice speaking such love for someone precious to him.

Just like that, it seemed natural for Roswaal to cherish someone, yet he had resolved that everything before him held no value.

“You’re saying the record currently documented would be ruined just by deviating from it? What could emerge from that? If I searched for a less dead-end path that differed from the book…”

“You echo Subaru-kun’s sentiments precisely! Is that something you picked up from him?”

“――っ!”

As the slightest of smiles crept across Roswaal’s lips, Emilia felt as though a crucial truth had hit home.

Noticing her expression, Roswaal sighed with boredom.

“Words borrowed, roles handed to you. Even the challenge of approaching the ‘Trial,’ that was pushed upon you by others… Eeeh, I won’t fault you; after all, it was I, and those around you who told you to do so. Knowing full well you lacked a backbone to act, these were words I gave even to Subaru-kun, so he imposes such hardships upon you.”

“A grave ordeal, is it…?”

Roswaal’s words bore a sense of sharpness, seeming to pierce directly at Emilia.

The abnormal mana pulsating from Roswaal lent the sensation of increasingly clear malevolence.

Until now, Emilia had never experienced such open hostility from Roswaal, but he had never said things like this before, only engaging in nonsense.

Roswaal was scheming something sinister in the same vein as the calamity surrounding him.

In this regard, Emilia asserted firm action.

“Even if you’ve been led, that doesn’t absolve you of accountability in returning to reality! Right now, the matters between you and Subaru are a part of a grand design, one wherein people must pay for the realities they ought to embrace and confront, am I mistaken?”

“When the time comes, they will—without doubt, you will also have to shatter the feeling of despair you seek to preserve. I don’t truly know, but perhaps you wish to drown in churning forgetfulness instead?”

“What I desire is not for it to be otherwise. I want only to motivate everyone forward! I don’t intend to be an obstacle. I want Subaru to realize that I exist, that I live!”

“And so you wish to throw what you currently have aside….”

“That’s enough already! I refuse to allow this shadow of doubt to remain within me! Subaru told me that my wishes were neither fake nor dreams; that’s why I refuse to let myself remain subjected to this gloom!”

In the face of the assembly ushering forth doubt, Emilia proclaimed her truth aloud.

A light surrounded her as a response to her will—holding firm against danger, drawing strength from her heartfelt resolve.

“Even if the records all say so, it wouldn’t be reality without a struggle…”

Gritting her teeth, Emilia tugged adamantly on what she sought.

“Even if I must confront the world alone, I want to risk sacrificing everything—”

“Decide whether to plunge yourself deeply, or to cast it aside altogether, either way dictates the outcome,” Roswaal interrupted her with laughable reasoning.

And so Emilia faced him, defiance blazing within her.

“That’s not something you can decide! I refuse to let you set the conditions! You drag out conflict! You cannot guide us towards a path of lies, Roswaal!”

“Don’t force me to stand in the way, Emilia—!”

And so, it was her voice filled with conviction that rang through their dialogue.

As fury churned within her, she moved forward, advancing with an unyielding spirit.

At long last, she grew tired of waiting.

“Roswaal, makes no mistake! The reason to rise lies within!”

“This realm shall revert to chaos! —Fairy tales shall be woven once more!”

She thrust out her hand—a decisive gesture aimed directly at Roswaal.

“The world is full of stories, magnificent and wondrous! Allowing the chaos to reign free will result in a beautiful creation! I refuse to waver in my belief!”

“You waste your faith in mockeries yet wish to blame me for putting you in this strife alongside Subaru!”

But can I find respite among those delusions?

Emilia would not cease without voice; instead, she would dig into the concept that circulated through her thoughts.

Each step resonated with every soul stretching before her and before Roswaal.

“In this turbulent world, let us weave our tale together! The one blasphemous to our hope can only be you!”

“If your wishes ring hollow—what justification rests for you then?”

They battled in words, standing resolutely as they both fought—not unlike their allyships that had built themselves on hidden foundations.

“I alone—”

At this point, Roswaal cut through, starting to break away as Emilia’s light shone just behind him.

“I’ll never allow it!”

“Why…why must you push so? For your conviction will strip meaning from truth! Are you unable to see!”

“Then why don’t you let us decide?”

“Control your desires still!”

“It’s not about control for us! The power to pursue what we truly desire is our right!”

“Enough…”

These gazes locked in calamity stood strong, determination clashing within a tumult of ideals taking form.

In the gentle swell of conviction, it exploded with raw, unfiltered emotion.

“No more doubts, Roswaal! We will fight! Together!”

With this provocation echoed within Emilia’s heart, it acted like a beacon summoning warmth out of the uncertainty surrounding.

“Then let belief turn this fray against you!”

Astonishingly, it closed in tight, until both would cling together as they felt the wild nature uniting fervor.

***

Time passed and laid the groundwork for an ephemeral friendship based on determination, belief, and unity.

The land they fought for resonated with the connections birthed through struggle and hardships.

As both resolved to rise, consequences lay ahead beckoning—guiding them to yield their truth while embracing the righteous dread.

Emerging from the war was filled with uncertainty; people would rise together and march onward through solidarity they created.

And burying the essence that remained, winds wove paths that tied them—into a future blooming brightly, unburdened and whole.

“For tomorrow, for the dream of that dawn…”

It was there, a foundation made for the same, a hope from behind curtain calls would linger forevermore.