Chapter 311. Regulus Unhinged
"—"
The battle to subjugate the Archbishop of Wrath ended in a crushing defeat.
Although Reinhard had engaged in a fierce struggle with Regulus, since it was Reinhard, no one was truly worried about that specific duel.
It was only now that the people watching the future—hearts in their throats and spirits focused—finally found a moment to exhale. Their minds were flooded with a thousand thoughts, yet they found themselves unable to voice a single word.
"Sharing damage... that's practically a cheat code." At the Shirogane household, Shirogane Miyuki shook his head, sighing deeply. He and his sister, Kei, looked at each other with bitter smiles, finding no words to offer.
Regulus was one thing; as long as Reinhard was there, no matter how powerful he was, he couldn't defeat the Sword Saint.
But Sirius's "sharing" was simply too disgusting.
Even someone as rational as Hikigaya Hachiman became consumed by rage under her influence; it was clearly a forced effect, direct manipulation of the soul.
"Hikigaya's plan was solid. Suppressing Sirius and capturing her alive—there was indeed a chance of success. But there was a prerequisite." In the Classic Literature Club, Houtarou Oreki knitted his brows, unable to deduce a solution to this dilemma: "That prerequisite is that Sirius does not self-harm. Her flames burning her own body affect everyone else. In that case, if she would rather die than surrender and ignites herself on the eve of defeat, then..." Everyone besieging her would be buried with her! Because no matter how powerful the others were, they couldn't force Sirius not to commit suicide.
"That's not even the scariest part." At home, Kyoko Hori fell into deep thought.
"Even if Sirius can pull a one-for-one trade, Reinhard has the Divine Protection of Phoenix; he could technically kill her without permanent casualties to himself.
But, it just so happens that they are in the Water Gate City.
If they were in the wilderness, Reinhard could easily solve Sirius using his resurrection ability without involving anyone else. But she is in Pristella now. There are people everywhere. If Sirius dies, the number of people buried with her would be astronomical."
Bound by invisible chains—this was the difficulty of the "Lawful" side. If they were willing to ignore the cost, Sirius wasn't actually that terrifying. But if the price of killing her was so many lives, Hikigaya Hachiman himself would never accept it, let alone the others.
"If only they could lure her out of the city." Miyamura also sighed, though he knew it was impossible. Sirius wouldn't be stupid enough to abandon her greatest advantage; she certainly wouldn't fight in the open.
The sky was covered in gloom, and the clouds were heavy with sorrow. Before this, no one could have imagined that the most troublesome and tenacious Sin Archbishop wouldn't be Regulus, but Sirius. Of course, that was conditional. Without Reinhard present, Regulus—with the power to rival a nation alone—would certainly be more troublesome and despair-inducing.
"Ugh... well, don't be so sad. Look on the bright side. At least you stopped that Regulus guy, or else he would've snatched Sister Emilia away to be his wife." Inside the Sword Saint estate, looking at Reinhard—who was slightly despondent over his helplessness against Sirius—Felt patted his shoulder. "Right? At least compared to having zero achievements before, you're a big hero this time."
"But, I also caused Hachiman to get hurt." Reinhard lowered his gaze. "If it weren't for my constitution that attracts mana, those injured people could have been teleported away by Lady Beatrice at the very start. They wouldn't have been hurt."
"There will be a way, right, Puck?" On the streets of the Royal Capital, no longer as naive as she once was and having understood the meaning of a "wife," Emilia knew exactly what her fate would have been if Regulus had taken her. She was truly grateful to Reinhard. However, she couldn't bring herself to be happy right now; she couldn't even breathe a sigh of relief.
Being watched with such concern by his daughter, Puck thumped his chest.
"Mhm, there will be. Believe in all those people in the future, Lia."
"Even though I can't think of what to do either, if the five candidate camps of the Kingdom can't find a way together, wouldn't that be too absurd? This is the strongest lineup in this country—no, practically the strongest in the world!" Inspired by Puck's confidence, Emilia pursed her lips, her eyes growing resolute.
At the same time, on the roof of the Roswaal Manor, Betty's tears broke free once more. Her voice trembled.
"Idiot... idiot, Hachiman, you idiot—you big dummy!" If he hadn't run to scoop her up, Hikigaya Hachiman wouldn't have been slow enough to be caught in the aftershock of Regulus's attack. He could have run out of range before that.
"But, it's precisely because he is that kind of 'big dummy' that he was able to replace the mother in your heart, the Gospel, four hundred years of persistence, and 'that person' after all." Roswaal was filled with emotion.
In this world at this moment, only he felt incredibly relaxed. Because he knew with absolute certainty that the Hikigaya Hachiman he held in such high regard—the number one in the world—would never fall at the feet of a Sin Archbishop.
He would never admit defeat in the Water Gate City. Hikigaya Hachiman would absolutely win the final victory! He possessed this unparalleled trust, believing in Hikigaya Hachiman more than anyone else.
The Karsten Estate, the Hoshin Company, and Priscilla's mansion were all silent.
People in these three places were holding their breath, their eyes sharp as they watched the future. Until a happy ending appeared and the Sin Archbishops were brought down, they would not relax.
In their hearts, over and over, they were already hacking Regulus and Sirius into ten thousand pieces! As soon as a way to deal with these two appeared in the future, they would memorize it, make prior arrangements, and later hunt down the Sin Archbishops to exterminate Regulus and Sirius completely.
Clatter! In a room, items were being smashed one after another. Pure white porcelain shattered against the pure white floor.
"To dare violate my right to take a wife, to violate my right to act according to the Gospel, to violate my right to life and safety, to violate my right to violate my right to violate my right—to be so gifted yet still violate me! I say, no matter how magnanimous, generous, and polite I am, I, too, will become angry! Hikigaya Hachiman! Reinhard!!"
And more importantly, his future self actually attempted to marry that half-elf. And he actually failed to take her?!
"That shameless, lecherous, obscene half-devil who has already kissed another man, who doesn't follow the way of a woman and doesn't know how to keep herself pure for the sake of becoming my wife, who didn't know how to cooperate and leave with me to be my wife—WHAT AN UTTER BASTARD! AHHHHHHH!!!!"
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