"Grargh! Awww right! Let's do this! If I can't do this now, it'll be a stain on my honor! This is Liliana Masquerade's once-in-a-lifetime grand performance!"
Stirred up not by a sense of duty but by a much more intense impulse, Liliana started running as she held her lyulyre in her arms. And as she came to the edge of the water engulfed in white flames, she began playing her music for the people she could see on the other side of the blaze—to steal them away from their destructive urges.
"To start, please listen to Hoshin of the Wastelaaaaand—it's hot!"
Just as she was about to perform, she immediately stumbled. The white flames licked at her face, and Liliana recoiled frantically.
"Guooo! Hot—hot—hot! My hands are burning! If my mouth and lungs get burned, then we'll lose this… Wait, what?"
Just as she was imagining what would happen if she got swallowed up by the flames and her face was transformed into a scorched mess, she realized there were no signs of burns on her hands and lyulyre. Touching her face all over, she couldn't feel any injuries at all, just lingering patches of intense heat.
"This is… Lady Priscilla's white flame isn't like a normal fire…?"
In order to confirm it, Liliana stood at the edge of the water and carefully reached her hand out to the white flames. She intended to test it by letting the tips of her fingers just barely be licked by the white flame.
But suddenly the wind picked up and fanned the flames, engulfing her whole body in the white blaze.
"Guooo! Uh-oh! This fire is beyond lively! Almost too lively! Like seven times hotter than normal fire! If I got burned by this, it would be a seventimes-more-painful way to die!"
She groaned after experiencing pain far worse than she had imagined, but her actual body didn't suffer any burns. Just as she had suspected, Priscilla's white flames didn't sear and singe like a regular fire. However, the heat still remained.
What she could say was—
"—I can't get too close to the water, so I have no way of reaching them with my music!"
And then she promptly lay down after that despairing exclamation.
5
From the corner of her eye, Priscilla noticed Liliana writhing in pain after trying and failing to sing at the water's edge.
It was due to the white blaze created by her Sunlight Blade. That fire only burned those whom she chose to burn, so no matter how long Liliana bathed in the roaring flames, it would never ignite her body. However, the pain of the heat was a different matter.
Even if she tried to share her song with the masses, it wouldn't proceed smoothly.
"My, oh my, composed enough to be turning your attention elsewhere? If this really is a trial, then you should try being a little more serious as well. If
you don't measure up, then I won't be able to face my husband."
Sirius denounced her the moment she diverted the slightest bit of attention toward Liliana.
If it was a simple demand for attention, it would be almost cute, but her appeal also involved vicious chains and sickles. She unleashed a brutal storm of attacks at Priscilla that would tear skin and break bone if even a single blow landed. Meanwhile, Priscilla deftly maneuvered her blade to parry, thrust, and swat aside every last one of Sirius's attacks.
"This vile weapon suits the wielder," Priscilla said with a distasteful sniff as she knocked away the chain again.
"That young lady looks like she's at a loss for what to do. It's easy to see the grief that is gripping her heart. Do you not feel that gripping pain is pitiable?"
"Not in the slightest."
Priscilla was coolheaded as her enemy unleashed more furious attacks that totally contradicted her calm and tranquil tone.
The chains and sickles tore through the wind with an earsplitting sound, coming from new angles every time. The metallic snake jaws that would never let go once they struck home came flying at high speed, aiming to gouge Priscilla's soft skin.
There was no end to the metallic scrape as the chains extended and retracted in turn. Viewed from above, the fierce assault made it look like Priscilla had been trapped within a golden cage as Sirius attempted to gain control of the entire battlefield. Priscilla brilliantly cut through the omnidirectional offensive with just her one Sunlight Blade.
"That awful din; your disagreeable, thoughtless inconstancy; this crude weapon lacking any aesthetic value; and your unbearably foul speech… You have some nerve to provide a welcome so utterly irritating. I'm almost
impressed by such an astonishing level of disrespect."
"Y-you're amazing, Lady Priscilla!"
Suddenly, Priscilla's disinterested expression softened when she heard Liliana's unreserved compliments. Not knowing that Priscilla had smiled slightly, Liliana clenched her fist and thrust it high.
"Go, go, go! Put an end to this, Lady Priscilla!"
"See, that is an honest expression devoid of any artifice. Far more pleasant to listen to than any meaningless prattle… Though I admit the world is probably fine with just one person like this."
"Huh?! Was that a compliment, Lady Priscilla? That was a compliment, wasn't it?! I can take that as a compliment, right? I'm going to be happy about it, okay?! Okay! Yahoooo!"
As Liliana rejoiced behind her, Priscilla's momentum increased as her mood improved.
She advanced, cutting down the golden chains assaulting her one after the other in a storm of flame. When her Sunlight Blade and the metal chains clashed, instead of charming sparks, there were crimson flashes that scorched the very air. With each swing, those eruptions physically and psychologically rejected any outside interference.
However, Priscilla wasn't solely responsible for this otherworldly clash. "Well, well, well, my, my, my."
Sirius cried out in admiration as she used her whole body to make her sickles and chains dance wildly. Her spinning chains exceeded the speed of sound, and the ability to control them so freely was a martial skill far beyond normal reasoning.
If Priscilla's sword dance was gorgeous and graceful, then Sirius's performance was fierce and furious. Unlike Priscilla, who only relied on her sword, Sirius's attacks were like a demonic technique that used every part of her body.
Her skill in controlling the chains existed in a realm that couldn't be reached without the sort of training that left her hands scarred and oozing blood.
"You are the first to be so obstinate even in the face of so many words and so much struggle. What could possibly have locked the door of your heart so firmly shut?"
"Do not indulge in meaningless probing. On a fundamental level, it is impossible for you to understand my motives."
However, there was no trace of mutual respect as their techniques crashed. Sirius's one-sided theory of happiness and Priscilla's own philosophy that utterly rejected it. Jumping backward a great distance, Sirius covered her face with the palm of her hand, as if grieving that seemingly insurmountable gap.
"If I do not, if I give up, then that is like admitting the world is nothing but darkness! No matter the heart, there remains the possibility of change! Feelings can grow as long as we yet live! Please understand. I wish to save you!"
" "
"You must have a heart that can feel sadness, that can experience bewilderment. Have you mistaken the act of concealing weakness for strength? There is a fundamental limit to what people can do alone. And there are summits that can only be reached after bonding with and relying on others. What is necessary for that is empathy, conscience, and love!"
Sirius's words flowed like poison into the silence Priscilla left unbroken.
Her words sweetly seeped into the hearts of anyone who listened with the familiarity of an old friend, and her gestures were overflowing with such charm that it invited you to abandon caution—all in all, it was a bittersweet temptation that was supposed to feel impossible to reject.
"The nerve. Your delusions are not something to shamelessly prattle about to others. Do not get carried away with your delusions. I have no interest in allowing the likes of you to examine me on even a surface level."
Priscilla brushed aside that sweet and numbing enticement with nothing more than the sturdiness of her own ego.
But on that count, Sirius didn't lose to her. As if expecting that rejection, the Archbishop cocked her head without even the slightest discouragement. "Then what of this? 'Iris and the Thorn King.'"
" "
"Or 'Teleos's Rose Knight'? Or 'Magritzer's Gibbet'?"
There was a change in Priscilla's expression upon hearing those words.
The disinterest that she had displayed toward Sirius vanished in an instant, replaced by a cold, crisp, and furious bloodlust.
"You deserve death."
The moment she whispered that, Priscilla accelerated to top speed.
In the blink of an eye, the distance between them disappeared, and her Sunlight Blade's powerful slash rushed mercilessly toward the mysterious figure's slender neck.
That would mean cutting down those under the influence of Sirius's ability as well, but in that moment, Priscilla's desire to kill didn't leave room for any other concerns.
She would simply execute Sirius and fulfill her murderous intent.
"Eh?"
Liliana froze, murmuring in shock as she watched the impossible-toevade attack unfold.
Sirius's head should have been sent rolling by that impossibly fast attack, and everyone else's, Liliana's included, should have rolled as well.
"Lady Priscilla?!"
But instead, Priscilla was sent flying back by a single chain that hit her dead-on.
CHAPTER 3
SIGN THE DIVORCE PAPERS
1
"Check if his heart's actually beating!"
Subaru could've sworn his heart was pounding in his chest, threatening to tear itself apart.
It was a baseless idea, but as his instincts screamed out, he grew increasingly certain.
The Archbishops named after stars and what he knew about those star names from his original world had a particular overlap.
If it was all connected, then the hunch that he shouted would be significant.
"—Gh."
A dreadfully oppressive feeling came over him, and it almost seemed like the world flipped on its head.
The air seemed like it grew dark and heavy.
If he had to describe this feeling, it was like a scab had been torn off, and something was incessantly licking at the fresh wound beneath it. The cause of all this distress was Regulus Corneas's gaze.
" "
Across the murky distance, his hollow eyes tore into Subaru's heart like a curse. Subaru's limbs froze as he experienced what felt like a rusted needle scraping across his eyeballs.
"I'm afraid I must insist you refrain from looking away. Your opponent is me."
Of course, focusing on Subaru meant showing his back to the Sword Saint.
Regulus had just enough time to turn his head as Reinhard's Dragon Sword bellowed. The white sheath struck the back of his head with the sound of the level of violence normally too cruel to be directed at any individual. It sounded like a cannonball crashing into a fortress, and the impact forced the water in the canal away from Regulus.
The waters were already churning from the aftershocks of their intense clash atop the water's surface. So when Reinhard swung with all his strength, even if it only lasted for just one brief instant, the waters parted enough to reveal the bottom of the great canal.
The air itself seemed to creak and groan as massive torrents of water swirled, crashed, and frothed. If Subaru had been hit by that slash, he would've died a hundred times over.
But even after all that, there was not a single scratch on the villain's body.
"Do not misunderstand me, Sword Saint. I have been playing along with you out of magnanimity and because my composure allows it. Nothing more. But as kind as I am, there are still limits to my tolerance."
"—!"
As Regulus wore a monstrous smile while he rubbed his head where the sword had struck, Reinhard felt something was off and attempted to pull back so he could take stock of the situation—but then his legs stopped.
Reinhard's sixth sense perceived a clear and present danger from the empty air behind him.
"All the air around here has already been touched by me and is now my personal property."
Before Reinhard could take evasive maneuvers, Regulus's face was suddenly staring up at him from below at incredibly close quarters. Gritting his teeth at that bizarre manner of closing the distance, Reinhard swung the hilt of his sword upward.
His aim was true, and the pommel of the hilt crashed into the center of Regulus's chest. But the Archbishop just accepted the blow with a calm expression.
"Well, you tried your best," he sneered. "But a meaningless effort is the sort of tragedy that can only occur when one doesn't understand their place. This seems patently uncurable, so…at least provide me with some entertainment as you die."
"—It seems Subaru's hypothesis was correct."
"…What?"
Regulus's sneer warped, and his eyes widened as he looked down at his chest.
The pommel was still there, not doing any damage despite striking a vital point. However, it had succeeded in its other goal.
"—Gh!"
Realizing he had been had, Regulus grabbed Reinhard in a rage. The distinct sound of a crushed shoulder blade rang out as his fingers dug deep into Reinhard.
And just like that, Regulus flexed his arm as he asked, "I wonder if you have ever experienced falling into the sky?"
With one look at the white moon hanging in the sky, he threw Reinhard upward with all his strength.
Of course no matter how hard someone threw a ball, they could never throw it all the way beyond the sky. Then again, Regulus had already demonstrated his abilities made him an exception to many rules.
" "
Reinhard's body flew straight up, not slowing down at all. It wasn't long before he completely vanished from view.
"R-Reinhard!"
"—Subaru."
As Subaru reached his hand out toward the man who had disappeared into the sky, a voice suddenly echoed in his head.
"Telepathy…?! Reinhard, are you…?"
"You were correct—he doesn't have a heartbeat."
" "
"Apologies, it will take a little bit of time for me to get back. This is all
—"
Reinhard's voice cut off abruptly, as if the signal had been lost. Most likely he had flown beyond the effective range of his blessing.
Honestly, Subaru was worried about Reinhard, but he had come through and answered the faith Subaru had placed in him.
"You did great, Reinhard…!"
"Subaru! Reinhard's…"
"I feel a bit weird insisting he'll be fine, but that's just Reinhard! He should be okay! We can worry about him later!"
"Okay! Then it's our turn! How do we fight him?"
Fists clenched, Subaru turned toward Emilia and saw that her face was filled with determination. He was taken aback by her sudden transformation, but her thought process was simple.
She was just trying to do whatever she needed to do as best she could.
Just like Reinhard had and just like Subaru was trying to do, too—
"When it comes to trusting you, I won't lose to Reinhard. So what do we do?"
"—Well, damn, that's a whole lot of trust and expectation. Really gets me motivated."
Squeezing her hand tightly, Subaru broke into a smile as he felt her warmth.
He was grateful to Emilia and Reinhard. He privately joked that he would have to remember to go pick up Reinhard's bones when this was all over.
"Well now, you two failures seem to be enjoying yourselves."
Turning to the two of them, Regulus adjusted the collar of his suit, sure of himself after just driving a powerful enemy from the field of battle. He started to walk toward them against the flow of the water that was gradually calming beneath his feet.
"You could always try a bit of despair, you know? Are you not about to face a punishment befitting the despicable and unjust savagery you perpetrated against me? You are, right? Infidelity and illicit intercourse. They are both sins worthy of death a thousand times over."
Regulus continued to spout his nonsensical logic. He seemed to have regained some composure after sending Reinhard flying.
This bastard is really looking down on us, eh?
"And to top it off, the insecure asshole has the gall to imply that the purest and most innocent heroine of our era is anything less than faithful." "…What?" Regulus fell silent at Subaru's unexpectedly intense reaction.
"Don't act like you didn't hear me, you prematurely gray-haired jackass. Why don't you try using that empty head of yours for once?" Subaru emphatically tapped his own head before continuing. "You don't even know how selfish you've been this whole time, and I'm sure you don't want to know, but…have you noticed it yet? You're being cornered, even as we speak."
"Huh? Cornered? The idea's so incomprehensible, I can't even laugh at it. What could you possibly be trying to say? No, I don't particularly want to know. It would just be meaningless babble anyway."
"Sorry to bother you while you're busy acting tough, but you've got a right to hear it. You know, those precious rights you love so much."
"I…have a right to hear…?"
Regulus halted, finally listening to what he had to say. Seeing that interest for the first time, Subaru had a good feeling about Regulus—if smooth talking worked on the Archbishop, then manipulating him would be a walk in the park.
With a derisive smile that made no effort to hide his opinion of Regulus, Subaru nodded.
"That's right, since you would probably die from the embarrassment at losing without knowing why, right?"
"You…"
Regulus's indignation boiled over as Subaru winked mockingly at him. He bent his knees to start approaching again, but—
"I won't allow it!"
The countless icicles Emilia had created above Regulus's head crashed down on him. They were not aimed at him directly and instead created a cage of ice all around him. This was to test holding him back with an ice prison.
But he swung his arm in mild annoyance, casually shattering the barrier.
"Here I was wondering what it could be you had planned, and it's just witless repetitions like the struggles of an unthinking beast! When will you realize? Do you not remember? Learn already! What, are you opposed to the very concept? Do you suppose you don't have to learn how to think, since you have a pretty face? Have some awareness, you defective fool!"
Regulus shouted arrogantly as the ice cage fell away. Just like Reinhard's slashes, Emilia's prison of ice did not pose so much as a minor inconvenience to Regulus.
But that was fine. It didn't matter.
"Not that I didn't already realize it from everything else, but his character is seriously dangerous."
"Eh? Uh, well, I guess it is, but…"
"No." Subaru shook his head at Emilia's stunned reaction. "I don't mean
it just as an insult. It's an important thing—he has a massively twisted personality and can't be satisfied without patronizing and dominating other people. That's why he keeps standing there and taking every attack we dish out."
Regulus had a twisted idea of fairness. He bragged about being fully fulfilled and boasted about how he was so content. Those twisted thoughts and total lack of character and, more than anything, that bloated vanity were his weak points and openings they could exploit.
"There was no reason he had to go along with all of our gambits so far. Our ability to gain a bit of extra time with those meaningless actions is an advantage for us."
"Can we beat Regulus with that little bit of extra time?"
"If we build up enough of it, absolutely. With your help, we're going to win this. So can you trust me?"
"—Okay. Got it. I believe in you. No, I am continuing to believe in you."
How could Subaru avoid getting revved up after hearing that from the girl he loved while she was wearing a wedding dress?
And so, all Subaru Natsuki had to do was live up to that faith with every fiber of his being.
"Lend me your ears, Emilia-tan."
"Make sure you give them back, though."
He leaned in close, whispering to her. She was stunned when she heard what he had to say. For just a moment, there was a clear note of anxiety in her violet eyes, but it was smothered by the exchange they just had.
Emilia seemed a little upset and openly wondered if he had started with that in order to lead into what he just said, but—
"We're going to win. We're gonna make him cry. And after that, let me carry you like a princess one more time."
"Stupid."
Just like that, her doubts disappeared, and she turned toward the canal.
"—Al Hyuma."
Her mana interacted with the world, expressing itself in an unexpected form.
Yet again, the night sky of the city groaned as if in great pain, and an enormous pillar of ice formed up from the ground in an instant.
It crashed straight into the villain atop the water, but as expected, it didn't fulfill its purpose, crumbling as a tremendous amount of ice dust created a fog around him.
"For such big talk about defeating me, there's not much art to your approach. Do you think I will conveniently run out of stamina if you keep attacking forever? I should warn you, expecting someone to just give in to your persistence is one of the lowest and worst forms of thinking and
demonstrates an utter disregard for the… Huh?"
Waving his arm in annoyance at the white haze, Regulus was taken aback by an unexpected turn of events just as he was about to stare down the two of them standing on the side of the waterway.
Beyond the shimmering fog of ice crystals, what he saw was Subaru's back. Subaru had turned and started running.
"…Fleeing at this point? What? What?! Who do you think you are?!"
Regulus seethed as he kicked off the water's surface, chasing after the impudent boy with furious acceleration. It was the sort of speed that could outrun the wind and not something Subaru had any chance of escaping. Just as Regulus's fingers were about to reach Subaru's back—
"Wh—?!"
"Parkour! The sort of skill that shines most in moments like this!"
His hunch had been correct. The angrier Regulus became, the more he fell back into the same old pattern.
Subaru crouched with perfect timing to evade the attack, as if he had eyes in the back of his head. And in the same motion, he ran up to the wall of a nearby building on the side of the road, grabbed a handhold, and quickly scrambled to the rooftop.
Left behind, Regulus's eyes burned in rage and shock at that agile maneuver.
"What was that?! Are you a monkey running for your life? It seems like you don't even realize this vulgar commoner's sort of vain struggle suits you perfectly!"
Looking up as Subaru easily cleared two and three floors before lifting himself onto the roof, Regulus roared in a rage. But all of a sudden, suspicion shaded his face.
"—Wait. What did you do with #79?"
Regulus finally realized that Emilia was no longer at Subaru's side. He was grateful for that obtuseness, but it wasn't time for him to notice that just yet.
"Answer me. Where is #79? You were trying to take her away just moments ago…"
"I was seriously speechless for a moment there to hear you actually calling a girl by a number and treating her like some sort of object, but the fact that you're so absorbed in chasing after my ass that you didn't even notice until just now has me even more speechless. What? You think I'll answer just 'cause you're curious? Why? You think I'm just that chill?"
"—Gh."
As they looked at each other, Subaru pointed to his head while mocking Regulus.
Even if he didn't understand the specifics, the ridicule dripping from Subaru's words clearly got through anyway.
"Don't get cocky, monkey. Partake in the just deserts of making a fool of others!"
Regulus didn't chase after Subaru. Instead, he put the palm of his hand against the building Subaru had scrambled up. A moment later, there was a heavy crumbling sound like a millstone grinding grain. Then Regulus pushed a whole yard-high segment of the building like it was a woodblock tower.
"—!"
Naturally, with such an extreme renovation, there was no way for the building's structural integrity to stay intact. As the upper floors dropped down a whole yard, a shock ran through the whole building, and the entire structure started to collapse.
"You dumbass!"
Subaru had anticipated a violent reaction, but he shouted as it came from an entirely unexpected angle.
As the building folded in on itself, Subaru leaped to the neighboring one, making up the height difference with help from his whip. After securing an anchor on the railing atop the new roof, he swung away from the building that sank like a foundering ship beneath his feet.
However, Subaru didn't have time to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Yes! Yes, yes, yes! Run. Run like the little rat you are. If you're too slow, you'll die. Just pop! Splattered like a tomato!"
Regulus looked like he was in a good mood as he repeated his impromptu demolition on all the nearby buildings. Blowing away the bottom floors, he sent them toppling into one another with the lightheartedness of a child knocking over play blocks, cutting off Subaru's escape routes as he devastated the once beautiful cityscape.
"You bastarrrrrd!"
As a storm of destruction raged around him, Subaru ran along the tilting ceiling and leaped over the railing, screaming as he flew through the air to the next building that was also already falling, crashing through a window and finding himself inside a stairwell, desperately searching for a way out.
From there, the route kept changing to whatever path was open, and a single moment's misjudgment or the slightest lack of resolve would bring his daring escape to an end.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha! How unsightly! You do have a talent for fleeing desperately! Cry out a bit more and I might even feel a little bit of sympathy for you, wife stealer!"
"—!"
Subaru could hear Regulus's scornful laugh in the distance through the sound of the buildings collapsing, but he couldn't make out the actual contents of his words. Even if he had, it would just be meaningless noise anyway. Not even bothering to divert any attention to it, Subaru demonstrated the extreme limits of his concentration.
"There is always a way out of any situation in any given moment. Guaranteed. So do not neglect the work needed to find it. The moment you give up is the moment you die. That is fate."
The words of his alternate universe parkour master rang out in his mind.
No matter the situation, it was possible to find a way out. That maxim his master had beaten into him was a million times more valuable than any of Regulus's worthless babble. Then again, the Archbishop's rants had absolutely no redeeming value, so no matter what it was multiplied by, it would still be worthless. Regulus's prattle and his master's maxim couldn't even be compared.
Either way, though— "—Survive."
The real meaning of that maxim was not just about some sort of ultimate essence of parkour in dangerous situations. It was a discipline and an attitude that could be used to face any situation. That discipline was what supported Subaru's frail heart in these dire straits, allowing him to just barely keep going.
His arms and legs were heavy; everything was going out of control and terrible. Pessimism threatened to dominate his thoughts. But pushing all that aside, Subaru put his all into searching for the light that would allow him to escape that pinch.
His body was hot, but his head was cold, his heart was clear, and he probed his mind.
What he needed was a way to steady himself so he wasn't standing at death's door. It would be enough to simply break out of the current situation, or it could even be something to change the environment. In other words, what he had to do was…
"—Regulus! I know the true nature of your power!"
After taking a deep breath, Subaru shouted as loud as he could.
He shouted even as he continued his acrobatic escape through the collapsing buildings. It was possible that his shout had not reached Regulus's ears through the thunderous cacophony of buildings crumbling left and right. Even if he had heard, it was a gamble whether it would actually strike a chord or not.
But if Subaru's analysis of his personality was right, it was not a bad bet to make.
"Oh, really now? That's interesting. So you're saying you think someone like you could possibly understand me?"
With that utterly serious response, Regulus stopped his demolition.
" "
The nasty Rubik's Cube–like restructuring of the neighborhood suddenly ceased. But that just meant the difficulty dropped from nigh impossible to nightmare levels. The building was still collapsing, and he had to get out without dying before he could think about attempting anything else.
"Compared to before, though, this is a breeze!"
Launching himself off a leaning wall and rolling across a battered floor, he broke through a window and leaped into the open air. Latching his whip to a windowsill, he slowed his momentum and safely dropped from the third floor to the ground, sticking a five-point landing in order to distribute the shock of his descent.
"Phew, hagh, haargh, hah…"
His arms, legs, and even fingers were numb, and it felt like his chest would explode as he panted. His lungs ached as if they were swollen, and he could feel the blood coursing through his body with every beat of his heart.
It had been a dangerous balancing act in terms of stamina and willpower.
If his mind or body had been even a tiny bit slower, he would have been splattered inside one of the buildings.
But he had won his bet. His analysis had been correct.
" "
Put simply, Regulus is scum. But putting it that simply doesn't really explain anything.
More precisely, Regulus is the physical embodiment of the craving for others' approval and the need to be the center of attention. He's constantly talking about being free of worldly desires and brags about being perfectly content or fully fulfilled, but he can't live without other people constantly affirming him and his worth.
Projecting his insecurities and values on everything and everyone, he refuses to stop until he's standing above everyone else through sheer terror and violence.
Not because he's naturally violent but because he's narrow-minded and petty.
He doesn't want to boast about winning because he's strong—he wants to force everyone else to surrender because he's scared of his own shadow.
That was why Subaru decided to confront Reinhard head-on, and that was why he tried to erase all of Subaru's repeated provocations. It was mental masturbation, and any thoughts of strategic analysis were entirely secondary.
With the precondition that he couldn't be wounded or defeated, he twisted his opponents before him entirely in order to break their spirits. Anything less wouldn't affirm his superiority.
Because of that, he couldn't allow Subaru to say whatever he wanted—
"Look at you. Such a pathetic sight after just a little bit of running around. And you thought you could challenge me? You really don't know how to judge your opponents, do you?"
Looking up at the approaching footsteps, Subaru reflexively leaped to his feet just as a wind suddenly blew.
"—!"
"Now, now, we can't have you running away, can we?"
The next instant, the space in front of Subaru's eyes was torn apart as if a beast's fangs had ripped through it. It was an attack that could take his head off if he wasn't careful.
"Ugh…"
"It is difficult to hold back. Isn't that what those who are truly strong are supposed to say? Though for someone as free from desire as me, it does rub me the wrong way. For the truly perfect, putting it so bluntly cannot help but smack of tastelessness."
Taking a sharp breath at the attack that had just barely grazed his nose, Subaru froze as Regulus looked down at him, seemingly enjoying himself. Putting a hand on his hip, he stood there relaxed and utterly self-satisfied.
Basking in the disgraceful appearance of the person who had provoked him, Regulus snorted.
"So what? You know the true form of my power, do you? I find it hard to believe from a person who has proven time and again that he is all talk. Even if it is just your misdirected beliefs, it would be sad for you to die without knowing, right? And I am a merciful man."
"Merciful, huh?"
And sure enough, Regulus spewed more of the same sort of nonsense and didn't deliver the final blow. Indeed, with his absolutely superior position, he was even willing to entertain Subaru's guess.
For a moment, Subaru considered how to respond to that.
One option would be to keep bullshitting to stall for more time. But for two reasons, that was not really an ideal response. The first was that if he did say something totally off base, Regulus might find that satisfying and kill him on the spot. And the other reason, the more important reason, was that Subaru still couldn't be sure his hypothesis was correct and wanted to use Regulus's reaction to gauge.
"What? Not going to say anything? Or is it that you can't? If that talk before was just a lie in order to scurry out of your trap, then I can just pick up where I left off with your execution…"
"No, I'll answer you, Regulus. The true nature of your power."
" "
Still kneeling on the stone pavement, Subaru glared forcefully up at Regulus. The villain accepted it with an untroubled expression on his face as he waited for Subaru to continue.
Subaru pointed straight at him.
"The true nature of your power is being able to press pause in the middle of a game."
"…Huh?"
Regulus was dumbfounded by the long-awaited response.
Not out of shock at having his ability figured out but because he had no idea what that string of words was supposed to mean.
As that reaction subsided, Regulus's face quickly turned bright red at being played for a fool, and his mouth opened. But before he could erupt, Subaru opened his hand that was pointing at him, turning his palm to Regulus and stopping him.
"Or how about calling it Lion Heart, the ability to stop time for your physical body?"
" "
"And let's go to the board. Survey says… Yeah, that look on your face is answer enough."
He was certain even without Regulus's confirmation. Seeing his face twisted in shock, Subaru knew he had hit his mark.
2
It came down to the connection between the Archbishops' names and the names of stars that Subaru knew.
That was without a doubt the clue that allowed Subaru to guess the effect of Greed's power that Regulus possessed. But Subaru didn't welcome that fact.
Honestly, it was an annoyance.
Because Subaru's own name was derived from stars. The stars of the night sky were like siblings to him.
So for the Archbishops of the Witch Cult of all people, the most loathsome beings he'd met so far in that world, to share their names with those same stars was the ultimate humiliation. Whoever decided to name them was so tasteless, it was almost enough to give him heartburn.
But ignoring the righteous fury he had for whoever it was who named the Archbishops after stars, he couldn't really deny that it was incredibly convenient.
As noted, the Archbishops had the names of stars, and there was a strong possibility that tracing the root of those names could be a key to figuring out their abilities. Betelgeuse derived from Arabic, meaning the "hand of Jawza," which perfectly described Petelgeuse's power, Unseen Hands.
So it was not that surprising that interpreting Regulus's power the same way might work, too.
Regulus was part of the constellation Leo, and the word itself meant "little king" in Latin. And in addition to that, the actual star called Regulus had a different name in Roman times—Cor Leonis.
"—Lion Heart."
As soon as he remembered that, a certain explanation of Greed's power leaped to the forefront as the most likely possibility.
What he needed in order to feel confident was confirmation of Regulus's lack of a pulse, which is what he had asked Reinhard to do. As a result, Reinhard had been sent flying into the sky and still had not come back yet, but in exchange, Subaru's suspicion had received enough confirmation that he felt confident of his hypothesis.
Subaru's battle had begun long before he stood across from Regulus again. From the moment he realized that Regulus's power could be classified as some sort of invincibility, he had gone through all the possible patterns he could imagine and developed methods for how to deal with each of them.
The suffocation plan, the Siegfried tests, the idea to hit him with his own attack—none of those had been jokes. He had been serious about all of it.
Trying to find a way out would have been hopeless if he was not serious.
"We ruled out a superpowerful force field based on the fact that even Reinhard's attacks couldn't break through. And a full invincibility with a limited number of uses was ruled out, too, given your reaction after having sustaining so many attacks."
If it was just plain and simple defensive power, then Reinhard should have been able to break through it with his attacks. If Regulus was simply invincible for X number of hits, then he should have been acting more concerned after coming under attack so often. He didn't have the acting skills to keep calm, so the fact that he hadn't tried to force a decisive encounter sooner meant that theory could be safely discarded.
And after ruling out all sorts of possibilities, between the star name meaning "lion's heart," Emilia's recollection that she didn't feel any body heat coming from Regulus, and the final piece that Reinhard had given him to tie it all together, Subaru had figured it out.
There was only one possibility left of all the patterns he had imagined that could explain—his power didn't make him invincible at all. It was a time stop ability.
More precisely, Regulus could stop time for all sorts of objects.
Fulfilled. Not lacking. Complete.
The twisted worldview that Regulus espoused in all things spoke to the hideous way he lived, but it was also a confession of his power.
"If time has stopped for an object, then that means it doesn't change. No change means no getting injured, and it also means no getting wet, either. The dirt you throw and the water droplets all had their time stopped, too, so they couldn't be held back by the things they hit and just passed right through."
It was like the classic manga vacuum slash ability. There were all sorts of abilities in stories where people could cut through space itself, so that no matter how hard the thing they were trying to cut, they could still slice right through it. And Regulus's ability allowed something similar.
With his time stopped, Regulus Corneas himself was a distortion in space.
The bits of dirt that had been suspended in time had the destructive power to break through any and all defenses. It was possible to walk freely across the top of water whose time had been frozen. And he could nullify all attacks against him by simply stopping his own time.
It was the ultimate attack and the ultimate defense depending on how it was used. The invincibility was just a side effect of time stopping.
"Anyway, that's what I was thinking. So how'd I do?"
Still holding out his hand, Subaru finished his careful and lengthy presentation of his analysis. Hearing that, Regulus was speechless for once.
His face twisted in shock as his cheeks tensed, and he shook his head.
He exhaled slowly.
"Do you think I have some obligation to answer that? I have no interest at all in whatever you might think. And it was indeed a tedious story. It really was a waste to even listen."
"…I'm honestly in awe at how utterly unbothered you are by that crazy whiplash. Do you not even remember what you said before I started talking?
What are you, a goldfish?"
Subaru was stunned at how brazenly Regulus brushed back his hair and pulled a complete one-eighty. Jumping down his throat in an over-the-top reaction, Regulus's expression warped in rage as he stepped forward.
"Talking so high-and-might…! Not revealing one's own secret is obviously problematic even before touching on any questions of rights. Don't try to force your ego on me, you irritating twit! I should just scatter you in a million pieces, too—"
"If you do, then you'll never know where Emilia is, though."
"—!"
Regulus stopped when he was caught in a vulnerable spot. In that regard at least, he was splendidly honest, which made it worthwhile for Subaru to keep manipulating him.
"You know, at times like this, the villain would usually threaten to torture me until I talk."
"Who are you implying is a villain…?"
"Ah, I see. So you're that nauseating sort of evil."
The worst kind of evil was a banal, unthinking evil. His comment had been meant as sarcastic advice, but he was just left disgusted by Regulus's reaction. Thanks to the time spent explaining his theory, though, he had managed to catch his breath and recover a fair bit.
Deciding it was about time, Subaru looked up over where Regulus was standing and then to the faint, glimmering light—
"Now!"
That instant, the lesser spirit he had borrowed from Emilia dropped a hunk of ice straight at Regulus's head. Looking up immediately, seeing the ice right in front of his face, Regulus laughed.
"You're so persistent in clinging to a broken method! When will you learn?! It does not work!"
He didn't bother dodging at all and simply raised his arm, allowing the ice to crash over his body.
Obviously, the ice had no chance of breaking through his defenses. The ice just crumbled and turned back into mana. Once that was over, Regulus turned back, his face beaming as if he had accomplished some great feat.
"I won't deny it's a bit one-note. But I have to ask, when are you gonna learn?"
Having escaped outside of Regulus's range, Subaru stuck out his tongue mockingly. Seeing him running away, Regulus's eyes widened.
The aim of the ice had just been to draw Regulus's attention. The moment he realized Regulus's invincibility lay in stopping time, it was obvious that a slap from a professional sumo wrestler wouldn't be any more effective than one from a baby.
"Ah, I guess you haven't actually acknowledged it for the record, but it's totally obvious you're stopping time."
"Youuuuuu!"
Even Regulus's repertoire of angry shouts was lacking in variety as he launched himself toward Subaru. The next instant he accelerated explosively, closing the distance in one fell swoop.
At that rate, the fingers of death would reach Subaru—but just before they did, Regulus's footing disappeared.
"Hah?!"
"It's honestly kind of surprising, but you're so obsessed with direct confrontation that you are almost comically weak against every sort of trick."
As Subaru said that, Regulus fell into a simple hole in the ground behind him. It was not a pitfall trap, just a plain hole, which was important. If there was any sort of lid or a covering of dirt over it, then it was likely he wouldn't fall into it for the same reason he could walk across water.
If there was a foothold, then he could just stop the foothold's time and step firmly on it. But if it was just open air, then he was out of luck.
Regulus fell into the hole, leaving a cartoonlike person–size imprint as his body crashed into the ground. Partway through, the time stop started affecting the ground, too, but it was enough to demonstrate the effectiveness of a pitfall.
"I've still got more for you, since this spirit and Emilia-tan have a good relationship."
"—!"
"My Beako is cuter, though."
Flipping Regulus off, Subaru continued to provoke him to keep his attention off the ground.
While he had been running around, he had tasked the lesser spirit with using its powers to dig out holes here and there around the area. There were marks for Subaru, but there was no way the totally unfocused Regulus would notice them. Unsurprisingly, perhaps because of the effect of having fallen into a hole once already, Regulus didn't step out quite as boldly for fear of falling into another hole.
He was totally ensnared. And Subaru would keep digging as many holes as he needed for as long as it would slow down his pursuer.
Of course a first-rate and even a second-rate warrior would never fall for a trap like that. Ironically, the fact that Regulus fell for them was proof that he had no experience with anything other than straight-up fights.
Facing enemies head-on, fair and square, and then crushing them with his overpowered ability.
The fact that he never did anything other than that was proof that Regulus didn't know any other way to fight.
"Sorry, but unfortunately I've only had a straight-up one-on-one once since I came here, and all I got from it was the memory of getting my ass kicked."
"Fighting with parlor tricks? Do you not have any pride as a man?!"
"I know exactly how worthless my pride is. Your power aside, on an individual level, I can outwit you any day of the week and twice on Sunday. I am worried that constantly doing this is making me a worse person, though."
This was why Subaru had persuaded Emilia to leave the battlefield there to him. With her intrinsic honesty, she would struggle with such a nasty sort of fight.
The angelic and honest Emilia had another role to fill. It was all about assigning the right job to the right person.
Of course, in addition to the number of tricks he had up his sleeve, there was also the pressing issue of stamina. It would be dangerous if he was cornered like he had been before, so he couldn't carelessly seek shelter in a building.
"But, man, I gotta say this leg really doesn't hurt."
He closed an eye as he looked down at his right leg that had been holding up surprisingly well as he kept making his escape.
During the chaotic fighting and all the parkour, it had been in peak form. His response to Emilia's concern earlier had not been just him acting tough. He could almost convince himself to forget that this particular limb had been practically torn off not just once but twice before being afflicted by some mysterious black tumor.
If it really was connected to the dragon's blood, then it was almost like that blood was telling him something:
—Show this villain. Teach this scoundrel who thinks himself a king the dignity of the Dragonfriend Kingdom.
"I don't know about any country-level stuff, but I'll take the blessing."
"Each! And every! Little! Thing!"
The next instant the ground that was littered with holes exploded. Stone fragments and clods of dirt rained down all around.
Looking back, Subaru saw Regulus breathing heavily. In a frustrated tantrum, he had blown away the entirety of the ground along with all the holes that had been getting in his way. Of course that was the best response he could muster in the situation.
But—
"Finally realized it? For someone who loves blowing up everything that annoys him, why didn't you just do that to begin with? Did you stop time for your head instead of your body?"
"—Grrrhhh!"
With a simple sarcastic barb, he could transform Regulus's victory into a loss. Naturally, he had already moved far enough to escape Regulus's attack before provoking him further.
It was classic kiting—a textbook tactic for fighting a powerful enemy in a game. Thinking of it that way, Subaru realized fighting with Regulus was the most he had ever used knowledge from his old world.
"Meaning this is the first time I've been able to use cheats from modernday Japan since the mayonnaise incident… No, I take that back. There was another opportunity that came my way. That was a tough fight, too."
"Who are you talking about…?"
"The one who lost to me and was used to make this whip."
When Subaru cocked his hip and showed off the item in question, Regulus's anger finally passed its boiling point and completely erupted. Regulus's face twisted malevolently, and his murderous rage spread through the buildings around him, changing the shape of the neighborhood.
That reaction was just what Subaru had been hoping for, but it had been a difficult balancing act to try and keep nearby shelters out of reach from Regulus's destructive venting. He wanted to stay as far away from them as he could, but unfortunately, the fact that they were conveniently scattered all around the city had come back to bite him. "Haaah."
Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, Subaru focused even harder.
He had to ensure his own safety while keeping Regulus from turning his attention to Emilia. The plan also involved pinning him down in one area and making sure that the people of the city didn't get caught up in the villain's rampage. Subaru had a lot of things he needed to do.
"Oh? What, cheering me on some?"
Suddenly, Subaru noticed a faint glimmer near his face. It was the lesser spirit whose name he didn't even know, the one Emilia had loaned him. It was fluttering next to him, as if providing encouragement.
It was a lesser spirit on the same wavelength as Emilia. Compassionate and probably similarly eager to offer its support.
"That's encouraging. Sort of feels like I'm being called a birdbrain by a certain someone."
Subaru chuckled as he wiped a bead of sweat from his neck, hiding a fierce determination behind an irreverent comment.
Subaru had to continue stalling for time while making sure that Regulus never realized that was what he was doing. And even if he did manage to recognize Subaru was stalling, he couldn't be allowed to figure out why. In order for them to win, that was the role Subaru had to fulfill.
" "
For just a single moment, Subaru glanced into the distance.
The direction was the place where Emilia had headed after departing from the battlefield—the chapel they had left behind earlier. That was the location of the kingdom Regulus ruled.
More precisely, that was where the little kingdom of brides ruled over by the little king was.
—Subaru should have realized it from how strange the premise was.
The unprecedented calamity that had struck the Water Gate City and the purely evil Archbishops who had carried it out. The Archbishops all had their own unique nastiness and were each an incomparable manifestation of evil—but Regulus was the only one of them who traveled with a bunch of extra hangers-on.
Subaru had just assumed it was an expression of his ego, his possessiveness, and his fixation on his wives. But what if that was not the only reason?
Just like Subaru's Return by Death was predicated on dying and Petelgeuse's invisible hands couldn't interact with things he couldn't see, Regulus's power absolutely had some kind of limit.
And what if that limit was the existence of all those wives who were constantly at his side, even on a battlefield? Whether it was Regulus's limit or just the effect of the little kingdom power—what if the number of wives or his distance from them or something about them was what he required for his Lion Heart ability?
That thought was why he sent Emilia out while holding things down with Regulus.
Because he believed that Emilia's earnest pleas could do what his words never would.
"I'm counting on you, Emilia—get those women out of that little kingdom."
3
She could still hear the sounds of a raging battle far in the distance.
" "
For a moment, it felt like she could almost hear a voice, but she focused her thoughts once more and didn't stop.
Her mind must have been playing tricks on her, because it was impossible for that voice to reach her. With a silent prayer, Emilia picked up her speed.
Calling it the sounds of battle was a lie. What she heard was a one-sided violence, and the intensity of it just reinforced the danger that Subaru had exposed himself to. But at the same time, the resounding crashes she could still hear were proof that Subaru was still running away from Regulus.
"I have to hurry…!"
Using the icy mist, Emilia had covertly left Subaru and Regulus on the battlefield to run back the way they came. They had crossed a great distance during the skate across the canals. It was a long way back.
But Subaru had taken the unreasonable role of stalling for time, so she couldn't afford to get discouraged when she had been entrusted with such an important task.
The hem of her bold dress fluttered as she made her own path straight through the city, creating stairs and footholds of ice on or around buildings, just like she had done when sneaking around the control tower.
"It's a good thing we practiced Icebrand Arts."
It was a training she had started at Subaru's suggestion, but it was not only well suited to her fighting style, it had also been useful in raising the basic level of her admittedly lacking magic, so she was really grateful to Subaru.
Whenever she tried to thank him, though, he would always respond modestly, saying, "It's a coincidence. I just wanted to see you acting like an ice fairy is all."
In any case, because of that daily practice, Emilia had become able to fashion all sorts of things out of ice and not just weapons. Her current method of moving through the city was just one effect of that.
"Create Ice Road…!"
She couldn't get used to the odd phrasing, but basically it was a way of using her magic to freely create a path of ice for herself. She didn't normally use it because it was dangerous with other people around, but this was an emergency situation—
"And it should naturally go away after a little bit of time passes."
Making an excuse for no one in particular, she ran along path after path of ice, heading up into the sky to pass over the city. And surprisingly quickly, she arrived at her destination— "—Is everyone here?!"
Slipping through the doors that had been kicked open by Subaru and Reinhard, she called out as she ran into the middle of the chapel. She was greeted by the chapel interior still reeling from the destructive forces it had been forced to endure. All the wives were still lining the seats.
"Phew. You were still…"
She breathed a sigh of relief that they were still there, but she didn't finish her sentence, realizing that it was a thoughtless thing for her to say. They were exactly where they had been before. But it was because they had quite literally remained there without moving at all.
They were in the exact same places and the exact same poses with the exact same expressions as when she last saw them. They had waited for their next instruction without moving at all.
"Because Regulus ordered them not to move…?"
Emilia understood it was the effect of a discipline born from raw violence and terror and not some special ability. And that display of absolute obedience reignited her rage at Regulus for having terrified them so badly.
For the moment, however, there was no point in dwelling on that.
"Calm down, Emilia—Subaru is doing his best there, too."
Taking a deep breath, Emilia quieted her emotions that had started to swell.
Seeing these women and their plight was painful, but the fact that they had remained in the chapel was good news. If they had left and scattered, it would make things even harder.
Because they needed the help of all the wives for their plan.
"Everyone! Please listen to me!"
In order to support Subaru's valiant fight that she could still hear echoing in the distance, she needed to find an answer as soon as possible.
" "
Stepping onto the red carpet, Emilia moved toward the front of the chapel, gradually drawing the gazes of everyone in the room.
But there was no emotion in their eyes, no life. No curiosity or ill will toward Emilia, either.
It was a strange sort of feeling, and Emilia could feel her heart beating harder from the pressure of the silence.
"—What happened to our husband?"
The one to break the silence, the one woman not in the row of wives, was #184, the blond-haired woman sitting in front of the broken altar right in front of Emilia.
#184 had the same emotionless voice and cold look in her eyes as when she had helped Emilia get dressed, and when she warned her, and when she had talked about her despair for the future.
Seeing that gaze, Emilia felt a faint ache in her heart when she couldn't report good news.
"Regulus is out there… Sorry, we're still working on taking care of him." "I see. That's only natural."
The slightest loosening of her lips that accompanied her sigh was miserable. There was no hint of disappointment. Disappointment was the result of getting one's hopes up, so there couldn't be any if she never had any hopes to begin with. What little hope she might have had once had already been betrayed by Emilia before.
So Emilia couldn't blame her for that derisive scoff.
However—
"That sort of laugh doesn't really suit you."
"…My apologies. Despite his admonition, I allowed an unattractive smile to besmirch my face."
"You don't have to apologize. You can laugh at me if you want. I can't say it makes me happy, but I'm used to it."
" "
Emilia put her hand to her breast as #184's sneer disappeared. Emilia was used to people saying hurtful things and purposely trying to hurt others, because she had been on the receiving end of those things for a long time. It didn't make them any less painful, but she had at least learned how to endure it.
But the heartache she felt when watching #184 hurt herself like that was not something Emilia had ever learned how to endure.
"And I was never taught that—to just bottle things up and bear it at times like this."
Seeing #184 so completely apathetic, Emilia could feel an invisible fire light in her chest. A heat was building up inside. She could suddenly understand what Subaru occasionally said. It really was hot.
It was unbearably, intolerably, painfully, miserably hot.
" "
Closing her eyes and swallowing that swirling heat, Emilia looked up and around the chapel.
#184 at the center and all the wives lining the pews to the left and right— all assigned a number, all robbed of the ability to be themselves. Emilia wanted to save all of them.
Even if they didn't want to be saved, she wanted to save them. Even if they berated her and called her a witch for trying.
"We are going to defeat Regulus. And in order to do that, I want all of you to help."
" "
A cold tension filled the air the moment Emilia made that pronouncement.
They didn't welcome her proposal at all. If anything, they were quite prickly in their rejection of it.
But even so, she couldn't avert her eyes or look down at the ground.
"I do not know what terrible things you have suffered under Regulus. But even from the short time I've spent with him, I know that Regulus is in the wrong."
Emilia had been abducted while she was unconscious and proposed to the moment she opened her eyes. She had seen him refer to his wives by number and mercilessly attempt to kill one who had failed to meet his standards. And at the wedding ceremony that had started before she even had time to catch her breath, she had reached the limits of her tolerance for being swept along by something so far removed from anything resembling a happy marriage.
Emilia didn't presume that she was the ultimate authority on justice, and she didn't have a fixation on personally righting every wrong, either. But from time to time, she did feel an urge to smack some reality into someone who was wrong.
"I don't want to lose to Regulus. I know that what is right won't be decided by who wins or loses in a fight, but right here and right now, I don't want to lose to him. If I lose to him, I'm sure…I'm sure he won't hesitate to take away something very precious to me."
"Something…precious?"
#184 broke the silence again. Her eyes were still dark as she softly put her own hand to her breast in response to Emilia's earnest plea.
"What is that precious thing? Your life? Do you believe that as long as you are alive, something might come of it?"
"Life is precious. Really precious. But that's not everything, right?"
"No, that is in fact all there is. That is all there is to it. At the very least, that is all there is for us and all there has been for a long time. We do not dare hope for anything more than that."
Shaking her head intensely, #184 carefully held the hem of her dress, and she politely curtsied. And every last one of the wives around Emilia did the same.
Emilia's eyes widened at the perfect coordination.
"This is our own form of fighting. Every last thing was stolen from us, and if the one remaining thing, our lives, is stolen, too, then everything will belong to him. That's why…"
"…No matter what, you won't take my hand?"
"It is not as if you are the first ones who have thought to defeat him and free us."
Her head still lowered, #184 responded with a cold, emotionless voice.
Someone who had tried to save them in the past. There was no point in asking what had happened to that person, since they had not been freed and Regulus was still alive and well.
Just like she had felt earlier, there was no disappointment or dejection in #184's voice. Because there had not been any hope then, either.
Their hope had been left waiting too long. But even so, that was hardly their fault.
But they didn't have to be so stubborn in rejecting their own salvation.
"What has happened to your knight and the Sword Saint that was with him? It is surprising they are still alive after having provoked his ire, but… should you not simply escape by yourself?"
"I said it before the wedding, too, but I'm not going to do that. Reinhard is…a little hard to reach at the moment, but Subaru is still doing his best right now. And he's trusting me to do this."
"Do this? Do what? We do not have any value as hostages, as I am sure you are aware."
"Do you really not understand?"
"—?"
#184's brow furrowed in silent confusion.
It was a natural reaction and didn't seem to be an act or anything. Her stubborn resignation made her more philosophical, but she had been somewhat amicable with Emilia. She made no effort to try and save herself or the others, but aside from that, she had even been downright cooperative.
In other words, she, at the very least, didn't know.
Didn't know that they were all being forced to support Regulus's Lion Heart.
" "
Emilia thought back again to what Subaru had told her before sending her to the chapel.
He had said that Regulus's invincibility was because of a power called Lion Heart.
And that power was linked with another power, Little King, which used the wives here in the chapel somehow. He explained that it was the two powers working together that made him invincible.
On top of that, he had also detailed that it had something to do with a "time stop," but honestly that part of it was all gibberish to her. After he laid out the main points, she understood that she had to free the women from Regulus's kingdom.
"But how do I do that…?"
From #184's reaction, she didn't seem to have any awareness that she was part of that kingdom.
Subaru had said that if they could get the women away from Regulus's kingdom, he would be weakened, but the exact way she should go about that was still not clear to her.
Was it enough to just get them to say for themselves that they were leaving?
"No, there's no way. It's not going to be that easy."
It was unimaginable that a simple statement rejecting the kingdom would be enough to stop being a part of it. Of course, even just saying it would be an important step for them individually.
Most likely there was not some statement that would get them out. It would probably require a genuine wish to be free of it. The desire to be saved.
Had Regulus so thoroughly crushed all their spirits in order to prevent that from happening?
"Ughhhh."
Emilia's chest ached as she thought of all of them being so unreasonably and mercilessly crushed under Regulus's thumb. Emilia stamped her foot in frustration, imagining herself beating Regulus until he was black-and-blue.
But no matter how much she bemoaned things or worried or felt discouraged, the situation wouldn't suddenly change for the better. She couldn't do anything other than keep pressing forward.
"Have you ever thought of yourself as someone inside a small kingdom?!"
"…What is that all of a sudden?"
"Please just answer the question."
Emilia leaned forward suddenly, pressing #184 for an answer. Taken aback by the sudden intensity, she recoiled slightly.
"I was originally from the Kingdom of Lugunica, so I have, but…"
"Oh, right. Lugunica is a kingdom, too, so the terms are probably confusing…ah."
Her attempt had ended in a failure, but just as she was about to be disappointed, Emilia suddenly looked up.
"What is it?"
#184's eyes narrowed as Emilia's round violet eyes focused on her.
"Ummm, could I ask what your name is?"
" "
"Regulus isn't here now. So I was just wondering if you would tell me your actual name."
She had insisted on being called #184 from the moment Emilia first met her. But there was no way that was her name. That was not an acceptable name at all.
Names and numbers had a similar use in that they were used to distinguish things, but they had entirely different qualities.
Knowing someone's name was the beginning of a relationship. She and Emilia had not even taken that very first step. It was selfish to ask someone for a favor without even knowing the first thing about them.
"So please, could you tell me your name…?"
"…I have no duty to answer that question."
"—Ah."
Her outstretched hand and earnest plea were rejected. #184—no, she looked away from Emilia while gripping her own arms.
"I will not speak of this any further. The rest of his brides are of the same mind."
" "
"You are not one of his brides. There is no need for you to become one. You are different from us. And that is for the best. So…"
It was a sorrowful, wooden voice. Dry eyes and lips that had lost all warmth. Her cold, strained profile possessed a heartrending beauty and melancholy.
Her insistence on rejecting everything was trying to pierce Emilia, to tear at her heart, to wound her…
But—
"You know, I'm a half-elf."
"Huh?"
She was taken aback at Emilia's sudden confession.
Noticing that for the first time she had shown a hint of her natural expression, Emilia smiled slightly. Meanwhile, the woman standing there understood the meaning of that confession—that a silver-haired half-demon stood before her.
The effect was dramatic. Her face turned pale before Emilia's eyes.
"I knew you had elf blood…but a silver-haired…half…elf…"
"You're right; all of you and I are different. The environments we grew up in, where we are from, and in all sorts of fundamental ways. And I'm sure I'm a fair bit older than you, too—but that's just normal. It's not anything
special. It's only natural that everyone is different."
Thinking back on it, being different had tormented Emilia for a very long time. Assuming that being different meant no one could understand her, that it meant staying far away from everyone, and that being hurt was normal. Using that as an excuse for what happened, believing things would be better if someone could understand her.
Even though she despised being different—being special—so much, she bottled up her emotions.
But she was not like that anymore. Emilia was proud of being special. And she could now see that specialness was not unique to her.
"It's only natural that I'm different. I'm different, but that's okay. Because even if we are different, we can still understand each other, and we can still enjoy daisukiyaki."
"Wh-what are you trying to say?"
"That we are different, but that isn't a problem!"
Emilia's cheeks grew hot as she realized she was just letting her emotions guide her speech. She couldn't let what she wanted to say, what she wanted to convey to them get lost in a mess of words.
That's why she decided to emulate Subaru in order to convey her feelings as directly as possible.
So just like how Subaru had started with her, she simply asked one question.
"—Can you please tell me your name?"
" "
"My name is Emilia. Just Emilia. A half-elf who is different from you in lots of ways but who surely has some similarities, too—and a person who wants to help you."
It started with an introduction, just like that.
When she had been lonely and so sure she couldn't rely on anyone, when she felt dizzy from everything going on around her, he was the one who had spoken to her with kindness.
All this time later, thinking back on it, Emilia had been happy in that moment.
She had been happy that a boy she knew nothing about had acknowledged her existence.
—Subaru Natsuki had surely been special to her from that moment on.
And so she wanted to do for them what Subaru had done for her.
"Don't…toy with me…"
The woman's voice trembled, and she was flustered as Emilia looked straight at her.
Gripping her own slender shoulders, as if trying to endure some cold chill, her voice trembled like a leaf. She glared at Emilia with a look of disgust on her face, aggravation in her voice, and loathing in her eyes.
That was the first real, raw emotion that she had revealed to Emilia—
"Why…why must you keep trying to make us human again after everything that's happened?!"
Lamenting the unbearable, she exploded at Emilia in an intense outburst of emotion. She surrendered herself to the torrent of all the emotions she had bottled up as she screamed.
"I was fine not being a person. I was fine being a doll. He is content to just have us being obedient dolls. Letting him play with his dolls was enough to not be killed. Because we believed that was our one small act of resistance…and yet!" She jumped down Emilia's throat. "You are an outsider who knows nothing about us, and you are ruining all the efforts we've made, destroying everything we struggled so desperately for so long to maintain!
What do you know about us?!"
"I know that you are kind."
"What do you know about us?!"
"I know that you are really earnest."
"What do you know…?!"
"I know that you are crying out for someone to help you."
"—Ah."
Her eyes widened at that, and her lips trembled as if she was gasping for air.
She had never once said anything like that.
Of course not. In all the time they had spent with Regulus, if they had ever once even dared to think it, their hearts would surely have broken from hopelessness, and they wouldn't have been able to endure to this day.
The despair of wanting to be saved and the hope of being rescued were two sides of the same coin.
That hope had been dashed countless times before, and they had long ago given up on any dream of rescue. They instinctively realized that hope was a seed of despair that would only grow into a flower of death if it was nourished.
Because of that, they would never once have asked for someone to save them.
"But your everything is crying out for it. Your eyes, your voice—it's all asking to be saved. So I'm going to help you. I'm going to free you all from Regulus. And in order to do that…"
" "
"…In order to do that, I want you to help me, too."
"Wh…"
Met with shock, Emilia averted her eyes rimmed by long eyelashes.
Honestly, anything and everything would be better if Emilia had the strength to take care of everything all by herself, but life was not that simple.
Just like how Garfiel was always saying that it took everyone to lift a big stone.
"It would be great if I could just handle every problem, but I can't. So I will help you, but in exchange, I need you to…"
"To help you…?"
"Please—please help me help all of you. And help my knight and everyone else, too."
Emilia lowered her head in an earnest plea.
Her heart was throbbing painfully. The faint breaths she heard from them almost felt like a rainstorm buffeting her body.
Emilia clenched her fists tight, afraid of being unable to bear the weight
of that storm.
She was surely not the only one who was scared.
They had all been together in a never-ending nightmare for so, so long.
"—Please wait a moment."
As Emilia stood there with her head still bowed, the woman in front of her spoke, her voice throttling all traces of emotion.
The woman let out a long, deep breath and looked away from Emilia toward the pews. She faced the other wives who had lived in the same environment she had for so long, standing there in perfect order, hesitating.
"There is something I would like to ask. Something I was never able to ask everyone before."
The other wives were silent, and their expressions remained frozen. Raising her head, Emilia couldn't say anything. She could only watch how it unfolded.
In that suffocating silence, the woman who had stood as the representative of all the brides spoke up.
"Is there anyone who likes that man?"
Her question resounded in the silent chapel as she cocked her head.
Emilia raised her eyebrows at the query, and even in their silence, the other wives couldn't help reacting to it, too. They looked at one another, revealing a trace of discomfort and emotion.
Finally, as that mood spread like a ripple, a hoarse voice spilled over— "…I hate him."
It was not Emilia or the woman who had been called #184. It was the woman with long red hair who had led Emilia into the chapel.
Her firm and stouthearted expression finally broke down. Her eyes were damp as she spoke what lay in her heart.
And those few hoarse words that she managed to squeeze out were the tremor that caused the kingdom to come crashing down.
"I hate him, too." "I hated him." "I always hated him." "I really, really hate him." "What's his problem?" "He's crazy." "Who could possibly like him?" "He only loves himself." "I've mentally rejected him more times than I can count." "I wanted to cry." "But I couldn't." "I hate him." "He should just die in a fire." "I absolutely hate him." "Hate, hate, hate, hate him." "I hate the look in his eyes." "I hate how he talks." "I hate how he walks." "I hate his personality." "He's totally unlovable." "I hate him more today than yesterday." "And I'll hate him even more tomorrow." "He's disgusting." "A freak." "He's like a little kid." "Even worse." "A land dragon would be better than him." "He's awful beyond belief." "I just can't with him." "Gross, gross, gross." "I always wanted to throw up." "I always wished someone would just kill him." "He's the worst." "The absolute worst." "Just being around him makes me sick." "I was always afraid I would rot away where he touched me." "I was dying on the inside." "He murdered my family." "How could I love someone who kidnapped me?" "His potential for evil is unbelievable." "I want him to die the most miserable death possible." "Always running his mouth about something. I wish he would just die every time he says another pointless word." "He can just rot away from the inside out." "Give me back my sweetheart." "I want to go home…" "Forget saving me—just kill him." "That sleazebag." "I hate him! I'll hate him forever!" "There's no woman in the world who could love that thing, is there?" "Not any men, either." "There's no one who could love that thing."
All the emotions they had bottled up came rushing out, like a dam finally bursting.
It was filled with the hatred and grudges that had simmered in their hearts, the resentment and pain that had plagued their bodies and minds for so many years. It was by no means a pleasant thing to hear.
—But even as they said all that, their expressions were refreshingly clear.
"Sylphy."
"Huh?"
Emilia was not sure how to react to that word said by the woman in front of her. The woman who was not #184 or a bride shook her head.
"It's what you asked for. My name is Sylphy."
"…That's a really nice name."
"Right? It was my mother's name, and her mother's name as well."
The woman, Sylphy, seemed to be recalling memories of her family as she answered. And then she gestured all around the chapel.
"We were all in agreement, but no one ever said anything."
"Do you have something you want to say, too?" "Yes, I do."
Sylphy nodded. She was the only one who had not said anything as everyone else had voiced their own confessions.
Brushing her beautiful golden-blond hair, she beamed, happily discarding the order not to smile as she flashed a blindingly beautiful smile for the first time in who knew how long.
"I absolutely despise that man—please let us help you." And she added her name to the divorce papers with a smile.
4
"That man's…kingdom…"
"Right. All of you should be a part of that kingdom in some way. If we can get you out of it…"
"We can get away from that scumbag's control."
After Emilia gave a general summary, Sylphy expressed an extraordinarily high level of understanding as she murmured to herself.
Sylphy and the other former brides had unanimously agreed to help Emilia. Looking around at them, Emilia had started to explain how to shatter the foundations of Regulus's power.
But the problem was…
"It's hard to imagine he would entrust us with something that important."
"I don't know. I don't think that underhanded coward has the guile to do something like that."
"We're citizens of this kingdom, right? What does that even mean?"
"Maybe having something that he gave you makes you count as a member of the kingdom…"
"Disgusting."
"Take off our clothes and all the jewelry…"
"Being that man's property for even one more second is disgusting! I'd rather be naked!"
"I understand the feeling, but let's calm down!"
After appeasing the chaotic group of women, Emilia and Sylphy managed to get everyone to sit and started talking things through. But it didn't fundamentally change that to some greater or lesser extent, their hearts had been worn down, and they struggled to stay composed in their agitated state.
What Emilia could gather from everything they said was how cruelly Regulus had coerced them and that they despised him on a deep, visceral level.
It was all Regulus's just deserts as far as she was concerned, but it was clouding their eyes, and she couldn't make light of the possibility that it was distracting them from getting to the bottom of things.
What if Regulus had always been acting like that expressly to cause this sort of problem if something like this ever did happen?
"No, that man is not nearly so wise as to think that far ahead."
"I guess so… But is there anything else we can think of?"
There was no defending how Regulus had acted, but they had to find a way to undermine his power in order to win.
Emilia racked her brain as Sylphy and the others did their best to puzzle it out as well.
They were desperately trying, believing in the possibility that there was some clue to figuring out his power hiding in some offhand comment or odd behavior that Regulus had let slip in all the miserable, painful days they had endured.
" "
Emilia braced her heart as she struggled in search of an answer.
They had been willing to make the leap to say for themselves that they wanted to escape Regulus's control. She couldn't allow that priceless resolve to fail at the very first step.
"Are we really the key to his power? Maybe that isn't accurate…"
"No, that part is definitely true—I don't doubt Subaru when it comes to something important like that."
Emilia emphatically shook her head at Sylphy's anxious question.
—On that one point, the point where she trusted in Subaru, Emilia wouldn't yield a step.
Subaru was amazing. He knew all sorts of things that she didn't know anything about, and he had overcome every kind of adversity using that knowledge combined with his hard work. So she believed him when he said that Sylphy and the other women Regulus had kidnapped held the key to the Archbishop's power.