“——”

A thin scream escaped as a small body spun around and around, soaring away.

The girl bounced slowly along the ground, without losing any momentum, and repeatedly bounced to the edge of the street. She collided with the frame of a tent that had been stripped of its fabric, the tilted materials crushing the girl beneath them with a shrill sound.

Subaru stood there, dumbfounded, unable to voice anything.

In that instant, there was no excuse to not understand what had happened.

It was true that the moment was fleeting, and he hadn’t even had the time to reach out, but the events of that moment were firmly captured by his black eyes.

His head was in disarray, and without thinking, he leaped into the dangerous street.

As expected, he was spotted by an enemy and found himself in a precarious situation. To save Subaru, Al and Medium got injured, and then—

“…Lui”

With arms spread wide to protect Subaru, Lui’s body was sent flying like a rubber ball.

The one who did that was a sheep-like boy with short horns and white hair. With arms not much different from Subaru’s, he effortlessly hurled Subaru nearly ten meters into the air.

After that boy’s swing, Lui was blown away, and having seen blood splatter, it was hard to believe she would come out of this unharmed.

“I’m sorry”

Subaru’s eyes followed the remnants of the tent that buried Lui. His eardrums trembled with a small apology, and in his wavering vision, he saw the boy raising his arm again.

He couldn’t even manage a nimble dodge.

After all, Subaru himself had just fallen from a high place, and his limbs were buzzing; he was hardly able to move.

So, though Lui had protected him, it felt utterly wasted—

“—Subaru-chan!!”

“Ah”

“Get up!!”

A shadow rushed in with tremendous speed and delivered a sharp kick to the boy’s shoulder.

Surprised, the boy stepped back, and in came Medium, her long golden hair flowing. Her face flushed, she called to Subaru to get up.

Subaru, who lay helplessly on the ground, trembling and unable to move.

“Please take care of Lui!”

Yet, without any words of encouragement or comfort, Medium dashed off after saying this.

Holding a sword she had only brought with her in both hands, her movement was entirely different from the graceful dance one might expect, but she was trying her hardest to drive the boy back.

The boy seemed more surprised by her spirit than her strength, his expression hardening.

“Guh, uuu…!”

While Medium was doing her best, Subaru fought to stand up using his trembling limbs. Then, he ran towards where Lui had been crushed.

He moved pillars that had fallen one by one, digging Lui out from under the debris.

“Lui, Lui! Are you alive!? Hey, Lui!”

Desperate, Subaru called out, feeling the heat rising from deep within his eyes.

This troublesome heat seemed to have been waiting for the moment to erupt from behind Subaru’s face. Ignoring it, he hurriedly moved the luggage away.

And then—

“…Ugh”

“Lui!”

A weak groan reached his ears, and Subaru found Lui, dirtied by dust.

Buried beneath the fallen tent, Lui was wedged into a space created by the fallen supports, barely avoiding being crushed.

That was a relief. But after that relief, he was left in a extremely troubling situation.

“I can’t move this…”

The pillar lying across was as thick as Subaru’s body, and no matter how much he pushed or pulled, it wouldn’t budge. Even if he tried to use the lever principle, he couldn’t find a suitable fulcrum.

While searching for a way to pull Lui out, he spotted something else.

—Little by little, Lui’s white clothes were stained not with dust, but with red stains.

“…Ah”

Subaru’s hands and feet turned cold as he saw this; his thoughts froze.

This was what they meant by losing one’s color. Even though he was not the one bleeding, the blood that drained made it unclear where it had gone. The part that drained should have heated up instead.

Only the sound of his heart pounded loudly, threatening to burst.

“Ah—…”

Even now, while leaking a weak groan, the red stain on Lui’s clothing continued to spread.

His cold limbs refused to move, and not even to make an effort to push it away, nor to pretend that he was trying to comfort her.

“Lui, Lui…”

He kept calling out her name with trembling lips.

Even that was difficult to accomplish, his voice cracking. His tongue was numb—no, it was as if Subaru’s heart was vehemently rejecting calling her name.

Now that he thought about it, Subaru had always kept calling Lui’s name to a bare minimum.

Ever since he was thrown from the tall tower with Rem, he had kept her close by his side. Subaru had always been cautious of her, distanced himself, and treated her carelessly.

Yet, Lui had never once done anything dangerous or disadvantageous to Subaru.

He had been afraid of being disliked by Rem. He had been wary of others being afraid.

Afraid of such things, Subaru had persistently refused to interact with Lui, always postponing the decision of what to do about her.

Why had he been so afraid of her?

His numbed brain, cold limbs, parched tongue, and his heart ready to explode couldn’t comprehend it.

He couldn’t clearly recall what Lui had done to him.

His memories felt shrouded, and in this moment, he couldn’t open the drawer of his memories.

However, one thing was clear even without opening the drawer.

That was the fact that Lui had bled to protect Subaru.

—That much was an undeniable truth he couldn’t forget or turn away from.

“D-Don’t die…”

“——”

“Don’t die, Lui! You can’t, you mustn’t…! You can’t!”

With his small body wedged into the gap between supports, Subaru knelt beside Lui.

Instead of pulling her out, he raised his voice, which was of no help at all. He took Lui’s hand, gripped it tightly with both hands, and desperately said a prayer.

“Don’t die…!”

Forgetting to even search for things he could do to keep her alive, he pleaded with that unreasonable request.

As Subaru’s trembling voice filled the air, Lui’s eyes fluttered open just a little—

“—Uah, u…”

A faint voice escaped as the girl’s eyes regained a flicker of strength.

△▼△▼△▼△

“Uryaaaa—!!”

With one half of her twin swords gripped in both hands, Medium faced off against the boy in front of her.

The sheep-like boy tightened his cheeks but easily parried Medium’s attack with his raised arm—literally, he blocked the blade with his arm and sent it bouncing back.

“Uwahh, it’s so hard! It doesn’t cut at all! That’s cheating!”

For a while, Medium had been putting her all into striking the sword again and again, but each time, the boy’s sturdy body thwarted her.

His skin, hair, fingers, and head—all of him was tough, leaving her at her wits end.

Moreover, while failing to land an effective blow was an issue—

“——!”

“Watch out!!”

The boy wildly swung his arm, narrowly missing Medium, crashing into the ground and causing the earth to tremble, creating a hole bigger than where he hit.

It was dizzying just how powerful this boy’s attacks were. That Medium was managing to avoid a direct hit was due to the boy’s movements being full of openings.

“He’s super durable and seems strong, but his techniques are poor!”

Medium mused that he reminded her of a large baby just born.

Though she’d never seen a big baby, the idea that popped into her head felt fitting.

So far, she had only had to deal with that baby—

“If I don’t hurry, others will gather too…”

Licking her lips that tasted of dirt, Medium was consumed by anxiety and wanted to leave quickly.

She had miraculously managed to escape to a street with few pursuers, but if she continued to act recklessly like this, soon someone would notice, and more of the boy’s allies would arrive.

If someone larger or more skilled than this boy showed up, she might not stand a chance.

If only it were only one of them, there might be a way to handle it.

“Al-chan! Al-chan!”

Medium dodged the boy’s big swings, leaping and bouncing, calling out.

Her line of sight caught sight of Al crouching, not the masked boy—Al. He was in a situation where handling weapons was much more difficult than even Medium. But she wanted to rely on him since he was more capable of responding to dangerous situations.

“———”

However, Al didn’t respond to Medium’s plea.

He wasn’t unconscious from hitting his head when he was blown back; Al was awake and had once made a proper attempt to come to her aid.

Yet now he suddenly stopped and knelt down, slumped.

Remaining hunched, he looked down at his own right hand over the mask—

“…Why?”

He uttered in a tremor of shock.

It looked as if he had let go of something that should have been in his hand, or perhaps it had fallen.

“Al-chan…!”

Glancing sideways at Al, who couldn’t stand, Medium felt a wave of weakness wash over her.

Instantly, the strength left her weapon-hand, and she bit her lower jaw hard.

—It had always been like this.

Whenever Medium’s own feelings weakened, her body would weaken alongside it. So, she always tried to keep her spirits high, using a loud voice and standing tall.

With bright and large feelings, Medium could give it her all. Her brother, Flopp, always encouraging her with “Do your best!” had pushed her forward.

Yet, Flopp wasn’t here. No one to tell her to do her best.

Everyone was too occupied with their own problems; Medium had shrunk down and could only hold one sword, feeling like she might lose to a small boy.

“—There they are!!”

“Ah”

That voice, which further deepened Medium’s weakness, echoed through.

She dodged the boy’s wildly swung arm, putting on alert as someone appeared from across the street.

The odd sight emerging from the opposite side was an enemy reinforcement with one fiery eye.

They charged in fiercely towards Al, who was kneeling. Medium hastily tried to rush in, but she had to dodge in between the boy.

—It’s too late. They’ll die. Al-chan, Subaru-chan, and Lui-chan.

They would all perish.

Grasping the sword so tightly, Medium desperately called out mentally for her brother.

If only her brother’s voice, encouragement, or support could reach her like it always did.

But the phantom cheering could never arrive as quickly as the new force closing in on Al.

Al’s small body was about to be torn apart by hands reaching from behind—

“—Can you not move, fool?”

Just before the sharp claws reached Al’s back, a leg stretching from the side kicked him hard. Al’s body fell sideways, barely escaping the blow intended to gouge his back.

And the one who executed that rough response was a hooded man.

“Abel-chan?”

Stunned, Medium’s name slipped out, and Abel’s gaze flicked towards her.

She felt heat from exchanging glances even over the mask; Medium’s shoulders slightly shrank. Abel, who had left handling the boy to them, stepped into the battlefield.

He might be angry for not being able to see anymore.

She didn’t want to get scolded.

Medium hated being yelled at.

She had been scolded and hit a lot as a child. It was even worse because she ate a lot despite being small. Repeatedly yelled at and hit.

So, when she thought she would get scolded, her body would shrink—

“Medium”

Called by her name, Medium shrank at the prospect of embarrassment.

However, Abel ignored her fear and continued with his words.

That was—

“—Do your best”

“——”

With those blunt words, Medium widened her eyes, her jaw clenched tight. She bit down, her cheeks twitching, her blonde hair flowing.

“Yes! I’ll do my best—!!”

Fueled by the sudden surge of strength, Medium punched the boy in front of her.

The boy, surprised by that strike, stepped back, but Medium pursued him, thrusting the sword’s blade under his chin and launching a kick to his unguarded torso, stomped on his extended knee, and landed a spinning kick to his neck.

Suddenly, spurred on by fierce determination, Medium became relentless.

She felt like she was picking on a weaker opponent, but as she swung her fists, the voice of her brother echoed in her head.

—How’s that? Getting back at those who bullied you feels good, doesn’t it!

That was the words of an benefactor who had rescued Medium and Flopp from a harsh situation.

He had taught them how to fight and live, and recalling those words, Medium smiled.

While laughing, she thought, “Hitting people too much doesn’t feel that great!”

“Uryaaaa!”

Thinking so, she slammed a powerful horizontal slash against the boy’s head, sending his small body flying.

What would typically sever a head jettisoned to the side merely bounced off the durable boy. Even so, she managed to take one down, heading to support Al and Abel—

“You little brat…!”

“Aah! Whoops!”

So lost in the fight that he had neglected the new foe approaching from behind.

Medium’s hair was roughly grabbed, lifting her up effortlessly. Her feet left the ground as she couldn’t respond in time.

“Ugh! Ah—, come on!”

Kicking her legs, tears welling from the pain of having her hair pulled, Medium turned around to see a large rhinoceros man, larger than Medium before she shrank down.

His thick skin and muscle absorbed Medium’s kicks without so much as flinching.

“I’m sorry! I can’t escape!”

While thrashing around, Medium struggled to tilt her head and shouted desperately.

Looking around, she saw Al sprawled on the ground, and Abel was surrounded by reinforcements who had rushed in, cornered against a wall.

Medium also understood that it was unreasonable to expect the fragile Abel to take them all down.

So—

“Abel-chan! Take Al-chan and run away!”

Somehow, she wanted them to want to create openings and escape.

However, the men surrounding Abel blocked her desperate voice from reaching him. One of the men—an older bovine man approached Abel.

“Sorry, but we can’t let you escape. You’re here to—”

“—You are a bovine, and the ones before were sheep-like.”

“What did you say?”

“The ones surrounding the inn are all horned… If you understand these conditions, anyone can guess. We are being targeted by the horned races.”

Though surrounded and in dire straits, Abel’s voice displayed no signs of fear. On the contrary, his attitude was prominently authoritative, and the men around him seemed unsettled by his words.

—No, it was not only his unusual bravado that unsettled the men; it was his entire proclamation.

“Horns…?”

As he spoke, Medium shifted her gaze towards the rhinoceros man who had grabbed her hair.

The large rhinoceros had his focus on Abel’s declaration as well. From the width of his large nose, a thick horn protruded.

Come to think of it, the sheep-like boy earlier and the many people who had been drawn in by Talitta at the inn all had horns.

“But what does that mean!?”

“Fool. —That is the root cause of this situation.”

“Huh?”

Medium couldn’t comprehend Abel’s response, seeing as she could not even catch sight of him.

Even if he said it was a reason, she had no understanding of what it meant. Selecting from the reasons, she either wanted an explanation she could fully understand or to continue without comprehending it. Otherwise, things would—

“—Go ahead, and try.”

“Eh?”

This was not a response to Medium’s heart’s call.

Calmly, and with gravitas, those words were spoken. It was Abel who was looking straight at the men surrounding him, making a statement directed at the head of the bovine man.

The bovine man’s eyes widened, looking at Abel intently. The sight of Abel’s composure seemed to further intimidate him. Naturally, it was undeniable that in a contest of strength, the man would triumph without a doubt. Yet, what was this composed attitude?

The answer to that seemed to linger in the air surrounding Abel’s previous words.

“Try it. —Can you surpass the flame that is called judgment?”

“Guh, uuuu…!”

The man strained as his throat trembled. Ablaze with sweat, his entire frame tense, the other men were reduced to silence.

By meeting Abel’s gaze, the stage had already shifted, leaving the others behind.

This man was the only one with the right to respond to Abel’s declaration.

A grinding sound of gritted teeth echoed, resonating—

“Uooohh—!!”

The sound of grinding teeth rang out as if crushing, the pain pushing him to raise both arms.

Not only to snap Abel’s neck, but with the intent to crush his very life.

A blow from the man, as thick as a log, would crush Abel’s slender body with a splatter.

Medium strained, twisting her body to escape captivity.

Al still remained on the ground, entirely oblivious to Abel’s dire predicament.

And Subaru and Lui too—

“—Eh?”

Subaru, moving close to Lui, caught a glimpse of her buried beneath the collapsed tent. He saw Subaru dive into the wreckage, taking hold of Lui’s hand.

He saw that, and Lui, slightly moving under the debris, and then—

—In the next moment, both of their forms vanished completely from beneath the tent.

“Ugh!”

In an instant, the disappearing Lui raised both hands and struck the bovine man under the chin.

△▼△▼△▼△

Subaru was completely baffled at what had just happened.

He clung to Lui, who lay steadily bleeding under the tent. He hurled words towards her—words of selfishness, pleading for her not to die despite being wholly unhelpful.

At that moment, he thought he saw Lui stir.

In the scarlet of his sight, a transformation unfolded in an incomprehensible manner.

“Ugh, eh?”

The world flipped upside down in one blink.

It wasn’t a case of her moving at speed or time freezing, no.

In truth, Subaru had instantaneously relocated to another place in the blink of an eye.

And just before—

“You…!”

Having said that, Abel, standing in front, stilled momentarily upon seeing Subaru appear.

With his arms crossed, leaning back against the wall, Abel’s presence and the intimidating atmosphere of the men surrounding him left Subaru bewildered.

The tears that had been building for Lui just moments ago disappeared, seized by the tightness in his throat.

The sudden phenomenon caused him to nearly lose sight of Lui and—

“Ah—Uuh!”

“Gwa!?”

Spinning around, Lui darted through the crowd with the precision of a pinball. She struck at the vital points of necks and knees, sending all of them reeling back.

Wide-eyed at her speed and force, the men recoiled entirely in shock.

Amidst the cascade of unexpected pain, Lui moved quickly towards the next engagement.

“Uuah!”

Sliding through the spaces between men, she escaped the confines of the crowd. She planted her hands on the ground like an animal, pulled fiercely at the earth, and peeled the surface away.

It was as if she was yanking on a carpet laid on the floor— there was certainly no carpet in the streets of the city. Yet, the ground moved so.

As a result, all the men lost their balance and tumbled over.

“What!? What is this kid…!”

“Aaugh! Aaugh!”

“Damn it!”

Amidst those stumbling, a deer-like youth straining to maintain balance cursed at her, reaching out to seize her. But just as he did, Lui threw the delicate ground she had just peeled away at him.

As he hastily swiped at it with his arm, it hastily reverted to its prior state.

In other words, it became a wall of dirt with considerable mass and texture.

“Bugh!?”

The youth collided directly with the wall of earth, reeling backward.

Then, breaking the crumbling wall of dirt was Lui’s foot, catching the youth squarely in the face, spilling blood from his nose and flatly knocking him over.

“You monster!”

“Uuh!”

Jumping over the fallen youth, those rising too slow closed in on Lui. Yet, the instant their fingers reached, she vanished like a specter.

In the next moment, she reappeared, clinging to a wall about two meters high. Just like before, with both hands, she tore at the surface of the wall and pulled it back.

The surface of that wall peeled away while maintaining its mass and hardness, raining down upon the heads of the men.

“Whoaahhh—!!”

The street resounded with screams and yells as powerful men were tossed around by only one girl.

Subaru merely sank to the ground, baffled, and stared.

“L-Lui, what is this…?”

With a trembling voice, Subaru raised his arm, quaking in fear of the chaotic scene before him.

It was a nightmare—it was unmistakably the nightmare Subaru had feared.

Free to manipulate the ground and walls, teleporting through short distances in an instant, unleashing combat prowess akin to that of a legendary fighter, Lui laid waste to men, one after another.

That it wasn’t some inherent power possessed by an innocent girl was all too clear—he knew the force behind it.

That was a power that should not exist, one that must vanish—■■.

“I didn’t think she was just an ordinary girl, but now it makes sense.”

“Eh…?”

Subaru could only watch, stupefied, as Abel murmured beside him, observing the same scene.

Subaru’s eyes swayed, not understanding the true meaning behind Abel’s words. The latter pointed towards Lui, who continued casting down foes, and spoke,

“Is this the reason you’ve been walking around with that girl?”

“That’s not—”

Instinctively, feeling compelled to deny it, he stammered.

But if asked why he had been wandering with Lui, Subaru couldn’t answer. Just as with everything else, he found himself to be tongue-tied.

“Stop! No matter what happens to her—guh!?”

“Aaugh!”

A man of the rhinoceros race attempted to stop the disarray among his gains and sought to use Medium as a hostage.

Before he even finished his threats, Lui’s strike reached him.

With a few meters between them, Lui, warping into overdrive, aimed for the sides of the man’s head, slamming his temples fiercely. Ears buzzing from the impact, the man fainted on the spot.

“Uugh, ah…Lui-chan?”

“Ah—uuh!”

Taken aback, Medium was suddenly freed and fell to the ground, just as Lui lunged toward her. Medium reached out to stroke Lui’s head, and she looked around, bewildered.

In Medium’s sight, all of the figures on the street lay defeated.

Lui, alone, had knocked down more than ten enemies.

“You two haven’t found your base of operations. Well then.”

“I-I don’t understand…what the hell is going on!?”

“Silence. You’ll attract others. You need to pick up the clown.”

Abel pointed with his chin; there lay Al, who had collapsed on the ground, not moving at all. Subaru hurried towards him, fearing that he had been grievously injured while he wasn’t looking.

“Al! Hey, are you alright? Are you hurt…?”

“…I’m not alright.”

“—! Are you hurt!? Where? I’ll tend to it immediately…”

“That’s not it!”

“—!”

Approaching him, Subaru shook Al violently. Al, still looking down, raised his trembling hand and firmly clenched his right fist.

“—I’m useless.”

“…That’s not true.”

“I’m useless. Right now, I’m going to die.”

“—? What do you mean?”

Subaru shook with fear that chilled him as he questioned Al.

But before he could finish, he was interrupted by a voice calling from behind, filled with urgency.

“Abel-chan! You can’t do terrible things!!”

“Be quiet. There’s something we need to hear.”

“But still—”

Medium’s emotional voice and Abel’s calm one responded. Looking over her shoulder, the two of them were directed towards the boy from the sheep race, sprawled on the street, the very boy who had hurled Subaru into the air.

Scared, the youth lifted his face.

Subaru understood. He had not shrunk in size; he was just a child of the same size. He had seen adults pummeling him, and could not possibly feel secure being looked down upon by the demon-faced man and the adults in his vicinity.

Yet, Abel showed no mercy to the frightened youth.

He ignored Medium’s attempts to stop him, forcing her to step back. Abel knelt before the boy, their faces close together, the flames of fear reflected in his eyes faltering significantly.

Abel then ignored that frightened boy’s demeanor and posed a question.

It was a simple, clear inquiry—

“The mastermind behind this incident, the leader of the horned race—where is that girl who called herself Tanzer hiding? Quickly, reveal it.”