"...What kind of attack is this?"
Carlisle gritted his teeth and looked up, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. Confusion flickered in his blue eyes. His vision was clear, yet he was under attack.
"Oh my~ Can't you see it? How pitiful~"
Sloth's head twisted eerily, his voice rising and falling like countless overlapping murmurs.
"Because! This is my exclusive [Authority]! Ah, love! Love! Love! Love!!!!!"
No sooner had he spoken
"Bang!!"
Carlisle's body was suddenly lifted by an invisible force and slammed against the rock wall like a ragdoll. Rocks cracked, dust billowed, and his bones once again made a grating, twisting sound upon impact.
"Bang!!"
The third heavy blow directly propelled him deep into the rock wall, blasting a two meter wide crater. Blood gushed from Carlisle's mouth. His vision blurred from the intense pain, and all he could hear was the rapid pounding of his own heart.
"Carlisle!!!"
Rem's heartbroken cry was hoarse as she frantically pounded on the barrier, yet still could not break through.
"So...that's how it is..."
Carlisle coughed up a mouthful of blood, finally realizing that this was not magic, nor an illusion, but a truly invisible attack.
"Stop it...please...stop it..."
Subaru's plea echoed in the cave. She watched the wounds continuously bloom across Carlisle's body, watched blood gush from him, and fear, like a rising tide, drowned her reason.
"Since I can't see it...then I have to end this quickly!"
The next moment, white flames ignited across his body.
"No! Please, stop!"
Subaru's voice nearly broke. She recognized those flames. The last time they appeared, she almost lost him forever. That was the price of burning his soul, a forbidden power fueled by his very existence.
"My brain is trembling!!! To protect the one he loves, he would even burn his own soul! What diligence! What devotion!"
Sloth clawed at his face frantically, his fingernails carving into his skin, yet he could not stop his manic laughter.
Carlisle clenched his jaw so hard his gums began to bleed. The pain of his soul being scorched felt like thousands of red hot needles piercing through his body, every nerve screaming for him to stop.
But he did not.
It's not enough. Sloth must be defeated here.
As the white flames surged higher, the wounds on his body began to heal at a visible rate, and his depleted mana flooded back like a rising tide. But this was no blessing. It was the cost of burning twice. His od was being converted into mana little by little and forced into his broken body.
"...Al Goa!"
Carlisle roared, and the mana in the air went wild. A massive fireball condensed out of nowhere and shot toward Sloth like a falling meteor.
"Boom!!!"
The shockwave of the explosion swept through the cave, cracking the rock walls and sending debris flying. The moment Sloth was engulfed in flames, that invisible force finally dissipated.
Carlisle fell from the rock wall and dropped to one knee, his sword embedded deep into the ground to support himself. His breathing was heavy like a bellows, each inhale bringing a tearing pain as if his soul itself was being ripped apart.
He stood up.
Forcing himself to raise his arm, he pointed the tip of his sword toward Sloth. White light flowed along the blade once more, but compared to when he defeated the White Whale, it was like a firefly compared to the moon.
Sloth stepped out of the smoke, half his body charred black.
"How wonderful! This pain! This struggle! Continue! Let me feel your devotion!"
"As you wish..."
Since he could not see it, he would feel it with his body.
The moment the first invisible impact struck his left ribs, Carlisle advanced instead of retreating. Amid the sharp crack of breaking bones, his sword cut through empty space, and a slicing sound rang out as something unseen was severed.
"Cough...!"
He continued forward, spitting blood, as a sharp pain pierced his right shoulder. His blade flashed again, cutting apart the second invisible strike.
Third step.
A tearing pain came from his side, but his sword was faster. The blade cut cleanly through the path of the unseen attack.
Final step.
When the seventh invisible strike pierced his thigh, Carlisle had already thrust his sword forward. The sensation of piercing flesh was unmistakable. This time, it was not empty air, but a solid strike into Sloth's heart.
Carlisle pushed forward on the hilt. In Sloth's pupils, he saw his own reflection, blood soaked, yet still burning.
"What...diligent...love..."
The Archbishop of Sin collapsed, his body going limp as silence returned to the cave, broken only by the sound of dripping blood.
Carlisle slowly pulled his sword from Sloth's chest, blood trailing down the blade. His breathing was heavy, his body trembling from the pain, yet his blue eyes still sent a chill through anyone who met them.
He looked up, his gaze sweeping across the cave where the remaining Witch Cultists were already retreating in terror.
"None of you will escape."
Carlisle took a deep breath, gripping the hilt of his sword with both hands, the blade angled toward the ground.
The next moment, he spun, the blade carving a perfect arc.
"Swish!!"
A silvery white sword aura spread outward like ripples, sweeping across the entire cave.
"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"
The sound of flesh tearing rang out one after another. The fleeing cultists froze mid step. In the next second, their upper bodies slid apart cleanly, the cuts smooth as mirrors, and blood splashed against the rock walls.
After that, the white flames vanished, and Carlisle suddenly froze.
The pain was gone.
The agony that had pierced his entire body like burning needles had disappeared.
The ribs shattered by the invisible strikes, the wounds filled with blood, everything was gone as if erased.
"This is...?"
He tried to grip his sword, but could not feel it at all. A strange emptiness spread from his fingertips, as if he were grasping nothing.
No...
Carlisle looked down. The blood stained sword was still in his hand. The torn wound on his palm was still bleeding. But he could not feel it.
There was no warmth from the blood, no pressure from the hilt. He flexed his fingers, confirming movement only through sight, as if this body no longer belonged to him.
A memory surfaced in his mind.
The forbidden technique that burns od in exchange for life force. Converting od into mana would strip away the senses, causing blindness, deafness, or an unending sleep.
His sense of touch had been taken.
Carlisle sheathed his sword and dragged his unfeeling body forward, step by step, toward Subaru, who was still bound. Tears streamed down her face, each drop clear and trembling, each one burning into his soul.
"It's alright...Subaru..."
He forced a smile, his voice soft like a fading breath. Even if he could no longer feel his own expression, he hoped it would reassure her.
He slowly crouched and reached out with his left hand to untie her bindings.
The moment his fingers touched the knot, a tearing sound echoed.
His arm was gone.
Carlisle slowly turned his head.
His left shoulder was empty. His entire arm had been severed without him noticing, blood pouring out like a fountain and staining the ground dark red. Yet he felt nothing.
"You...are truly slothful."
—
"Car...lisle...?"
Subaru's pupils trembled violently.
The knight who had been smiling at her a moment ago had lost his arm in an instant, blood spraying across her face and staining her vision red.
Her thoughts froze.
The pain in her wrists from the ropes felt distant. Compared to what she was seeing, it meant nothing.
Why...why...?
Just this morning, she had watched him quietly as he adjusted his uniform in the soft light. Just this afternoon, he had gently wiped crumbs from her lips. Just hours ago...
Why did it become like this?
Tears fell into the pool of blood. Sloth's laughter sounded distant, as if coming from behind glass. She saw Carlisle slowly turn his head, staring at his missing arm.
Stop...please...stop...
She did not know who she was begging.
The monster?
This world?
Or the man still trying to free her with his remaining hand?
It hurt.
Her heart felt crushed by an unseen force, every beat tearing at her chest.
Was this world always so cold?
The days in the mansion now felt like fragile memories, ready to shatter.
Carlisle...we made a promise...
That day, he had stroked her hair and said they would go to the Royal Capital together.
That warmth now felt unbearably cruel.
Sloth's shadow loomed closer, but Subaru could only see Carlisle's pale face. His lips moved, saying something she could not hear over the sound of dripping blood.
He raised his sword again and struck the monster, but his movements had slowed, his breathing so faint it was barely visible.
Why...why would you go this far...why you...
The ropes loosened.
Carlisle had untied them with his only remaining hand. His blood covered palm gently touched her cheek.
Cold.
After tonight...would he still smile and tell her everything was alright?
Or would she never hear it again?
...
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