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2

It didn’t even take five minutes to sprint to the square that contained the time tower where everything would go down.

Since it had taken him some time to confirm the situation after Returning by Death, he had left the park later than his previous time going there. Skipping the shopping trip let him make up some of the lost time, but—

“With a limit of fifteen minutes, there’s no telling how fatal it might be to show up a few seconds late.”

That was even truer because he currently had an overwhelming lack of information. The worst of it was that Subaru didn’t know what caused Return by Death—in other words, he hadn’t isolated what killed him.

The circumstances surrounding his latest death were simply that bizarre.

An Archbishop of the Seven Deadly Sins had appeared atop a time tower and somehow convinced the audience—Subaru included—to joyfully listen to her mad speech. In the end, even when Sirius hurled an innocent boy from the top of the tower, Subaru and the others only reacted with eager applause as they watched the young child’s head shatter against the ground.

That was when his consciousness cut out, followed by Return by Death immediately after, so all he could gather from that was…

“Do I know anything other than the fact that I basically lost my mind?”

Sirius had created an anomaly, but everyone present had accepted it like nothing was out of the ordinary. Many would find it tempting to consider it a type of madness or perhaps some sort of mental corruption.

What memories Subaru was able to retain after coming back were heavily influenced by his state during the instant he died. Considering his mental condition at the time, he felt compelled to question the reliability of his memories.

“Man, I already made it.”

Arriving at the square with labored breaths, Subaru surveyed his surroundings.

The familiar time tower was deeper inside the square, and lots of foot traffic flowed by its base. This area was part of the most prosperous district in the city. There were far more people than Subaru remembered, and they were streaming around the place without pause.

Fortunately, he couldn’t spot any groups or even a single individual clad in a telltale black outfit among them. He hadn’t seen any Witch Cultists around Sirius during the speech, either. Perhaps Sirius was acting alone.

Even if that was true, it didn’t mean that the threat posed by the Archbishop was diminished in the slightest.

“Now, what should I do? Evacuating the square…would be tough. I’d need way more help to go around convincing people. Besides, doing something like that might tip off Sirius.”

For an instant, he considered causing a commotion to forestall the tragedy that was about to take place, but he quickly decided that was probably a really bad idea.

To begin with, Sirius’s heinous actions had not targeted anyone in particular. It was indiscriminate terrorism if anything. If he let her get away, she’d eventually just do the same thing somewhere else. That would be a hollow victory.

The Archbishops of the Seven Deadly Sins were creatures of pure evil that had to be rooted out at the source.

“If only I had time to head back to that Japanese-style inn and get one or two people to help… Damn it all!”

After griping about some wishful thinking, Subaru slapped his cheeks with both hands. Then he gazed forward with a firm look of resolve, glaring at the ominous time tower.

In a few more minutes, Sirius would appear at the top of that white tower and raise the curtain on her wicked performance.

That meant she must already be lurking inside it at this very moment. Of course, Lusbel, her young captive, would be in there as well.

“The hell? It’s unlocked…”

He noticed that the entrance was an old iron door set unobtrusively in the rear of the time tower. When he tentatively put a hand on it, the unlocked door swung open with ease. Hesitating for only a second, Subaru quietly stepped into the belly of the yawning structure.

“ ”

The interior was dark. The putrid air was cold and reeked of dust.

Though they functioned much like a clock tower, time towers were magic crystal timekeepers and did not have any clockwork mechanisms whatsoever. The tower’s interior contained only a support pillar at its center and a spiraling staircase, which climbed upward along the walls. Thanks to that, the inside of the tower was quiet and still. Subaru winced at how audible his footsteps were here.

“…Nnngh, mmm, hngh.”

Then a faint, crying voice abruptly broke through the veil of silence.

Subaru craned his neck to look higher. The noises of distress were coming from the upper part of the tower. He was sure it sounded like the voice of a child crying while being dragged along—

“—Don’t cry, don’t wail, and don’t make a fuss. You truly are a good child. A strong child who protected someone precious to you. Surely your family, and even your younger brothers and sisters you have never set eyes upon, will always think of you with pride.”

He could hear a sinister voice.

Those words were undoubtedly directed at the sobbing child. They sounded like both a blessing and a curse overflowing with resentment, an intense mix of love and hate.

This was twisted. That one utterance was enough for Subaru to tell that the speaker did not possess a sound mind.

“ ”

They were above him. The moment he knew that for certain, Subaru let out a heavy breath, then went still.

Putting a hand over his racing heart, Subaru stepped onto the spiral stairs. Fortunately, walking silently was one of the skills that his mentor, Clind, had instilled in him over this past year. Leading with his heels before slowly shifting his body weight forward, Subaru inched toward the top of the tower with stealthy steps.

At the topmost floor, there was a window that allowed for inspection of the magic crystal timepiece and was accessed via a loft that served as a maintenance space. Cautiously, he peered into that room from midway up the stairs, managing to catch sight of some silhouettes wriggling in the darkness.

There was no sign of anyone else in the vicinity. He was almost certain that these figures were Sirius and the hostage.

“ ”

Seeing his chance, Subaru moved a hand behind his hip and slowly drew his weapon—a whip—from its holster.

It shared a deep resemblance with the bullwhip that was favored by a certain archaeologist who often raided old ruins in a world-famous series of films. The main difference was that Subaru’s whip was longer, which naturally made it more difficult to use.

However, under Clind’s strict tutelage, Subaru had somehow managed to rise to an acceptable level of mastery over the last year. The whip that Subaru held now was a custom gift he’d received from his mentor as a sort of graduation present.

Taking inspiration from the name of the demon beast that had provided the materials, Subaru had dubbed it the Guilty Whip.

It was perfect for tricks and feints—and that was precisely why Subaru had chosen the whip from among numerous other weapons. Subaru had laid eyes upon many swordsmen since his arrival. The world of martial arts was not so forgiving that he could match a professional overnight.

Furthermore, if he had anything to be proud of, it was his cunning. And thanks to his mentor’s tutelage, now even Subaru had cards he could play in a situation like this.

“Looks like it’s about a dozen or so feet.”

Eyeballing the distance between the end of the stairs and the shifting silhouettes, he could see that his target was right at the edge of his whip’s range. He needed a step or at least half a step closer to guarantee a hit.


Either way, a whip didn’t pack enough punch to land a one-hit knockout. If he was going to use a whiplash as his opening gambit, he couldn’t rely on brute force—so instead, he’d make use of height.

He took a shallow breath, then held it.

He decided to attack from a range where he could hit for certain. Surging forward, he wound up his right hand to ready his whip as he cleared the stairs. The silhouettes still weren’t looking in his direction. The initiative was his for the taking.

“!”

Taking half a step forward, he swung his right arm like he was circling it overhead. That sidearm motion emphasized speed over force.

As it took flight, the whip was too fast to track with the naked eye. This was another reason Subaru had chosen the weapon: It gave him the ability to quickly land a blow against opponents far stronger than he.

At this rate, the whip would reach the defenseless back of his target, wrapping around her neck and giving him a chance to hurl her down the—

“—Why are you so angry?”

Right as he thought his attack would connect, his target suddenly posed a question, back still facing him.

Almost simultaneously, the silhouette swung her hand without even turning around. With incredible speed and accuracy, the chain that was wrapped around that hand collided with Subaru’s whip, robbing it of all momentum and knocking it down.

Subaru’s eyes shot open, but the moment he felt his whip make contact with the chain, he yanked his arm back hard.

“Oh my.”

The hook hanging from the chain’s end had gotten tangled with Subaru’s whip, giving him a chance to throw Sirius off-balance. Subaru followed up quickly with a ferocious charge, ramming her with his shoulder.

“Uraaaaah!” “Wah!”

Raising a delicate cry, Sirius’s unexpectedly light body went over the railing, turning halfway before vanishing from sight. Just as he’d planned, she fell from the landing and was hurtling straight down to ground level. It was more than a sixty-foot drop from the top floor, tall enough to crack open a child’s head like it was an overly ripe fruit.

“You okay, Lusbel?!”

Not staying to watch the strange woman twist and fall to her death, Subaru raced over to the other person still on the landing. It was Lusbel, the pitiable boy who was fated to be hurled from the tower.

His body was already wrapped in a set of chains, which tightly bound his lower half. He looked like he was in pain, but the most repulsive detail was how the boy was gripping the end of the chain that was wrapped around his own body.

There was only one thing that could mean.

“She made him chain himself…?!”

Subaru seethed as he realized the demented events that must have led to this moment.

This young boy had been forced to sign his own death warrant. Just how much fear and horror had Lusbel endured while doing this? Simply imagining it made Subaru sick to his stomach.

“It’s all right! You’ve done enough! You don’t need to put up with this anymo…”

“B-but…if I don’t keep my promise, Tina will… Tina will…!”

When Subaru tried to undo the chain, Lusbel resisted with tears in his eyes. The name on his lips—the name of the boy’s childhood friend whom Sirius had mentioned previously—made Subaru draw a sharp breath.

This boy had accepted a deal with the devil to spare his childhood friend from a terrible fate. Even while enduring such a harrowing ordeal—legs shaking, teeth chattering, and tears coursing from his eyes—his main concern was still his friend.

“It’s…all right. There’s…lots of dependable people in this city, so…!”

Subaru did his best to console him.

He wanted to be as emphatic as possible to reassure the young boy. At the moment, the Sword Saint, the Sword Devil, and the Finest of Knights were all in the same city. The kingdom’s greatest healer was also present. Losing didn’t seem possible with all of them a stone’s throw away.

That’s why there was no need to be afraid. Evil would not triumph here. It was true. It had to be true.

There was absolutely no need to be afraid. None whatsoever.

“That’s why…my legs need to quit shaking already!!”

Subaru raised a frantic yell as he fell to his knees in front of Lusbel, whose eyes had shot open in fear.

Subaru’s voice cracked, carrying notes of grief and terror. It almost felt as if some alien revulsion was coiling around his entire body and refusing to let go.

“—Urhkgh!”

Before his eyes, Lusbel writhed, then bent over and vomited, spewing yellow stomach fluids. Convulsing like he was having a seizure, the boy collapsed onto a pool of his own sick. When Subaru tried to brace him, Subaru was suddenly assailed by the sensation of something clawing at his own insides and he also threw up on the spot.

Subaru promptly pitched forward just like Lusbel had—

“—That you are so afraid is proof of your kind heart.”

“Ngh, gaaaah!!”

The same moment he heard that voice, Subaru screamed from the searing pain that struck his left shoulder. With a powerful yank, he was dragged backward until he collided with a railing and flipped over it.

He went into a tailspin and was hurtling to his death—only to suddenly stop halfway, suspended in midair.

“Wha…?!!”

“Thank you. And I’m sorry.”

Having cleared the railing and fallen, Subaru had no way to answer.

The reason was physical rather than emotional. After all, a chain was wrapped around his neck, while the hook on its end dug deep into his left shoulder.

When Sirius twisted and fell earlier, she had apparently thrown her chain to drag Subaru down and used the resulting force to propel herself back up. Now she was the one looking down with a smile at Subaru, who was suspended by the chain around his neck.

Subaru flailed as he kicked his legs in the air and vomit trickled from his constricted throat. As she watched Subaru struggle for his life, Sirius nodded several times with visible delight.

“People can understand one another. People have the ability to become one. Kindness is not for our own sake. It is for the sake of others. Kindness shines brightest when it is offered freely. To be kind to oneself is mere selfishness. A far cry from true kindness! As such, your concern for others makes your kindness bright as the sun! Ahh, ahh, ahh! In other words, it is love!”

“Ugh, agh, bngh…”

“Please savor the feeling. Please show me your love, the chains of your limitless kindness, your noble desire to save young Lusbel!”

As blood and vomit continued to spill from Subaru, Sirius embraced the filth-covered Lusbel before him. She rubbed her cheek against Lusbel’s, marring her white bandages with the boy’s yellow stomach fluids in the process.

“Your gentle soul felt Lusbel’s fear. Through you, young Lusbel experienced your fears that had been born from his. And then that additional fear that young Lusbel felt flowed back into you. In this manner, you shall feel the same joy, sadness, terror, and even the pain of being wrung by the neck, until by the loving embrace of death do you part—”

Those rambling words rained down on Subaru from above. In that moment, he was far too preoccupied to dismiss her words as delusional and nonsense. The reason was that everything, from voices to the very air itself, had become an object of fear for Subaru. The entire world scared him. If everything that he laid eyes on was scary, then he should have just closed his eyes, but when he realized that darkness itself was terrifying, this thought combined with the worry that he might never see light again if he closed his eyes, making his entire body freeze stiff, because comprehending that fear made him afraid that he couldn’t comprehend fear anymore, which was a terrifying thought in and of itself, because if the whole world was made up of terrifying things and fear was the only truth of the world, then fear gave way to fear that would make fear fear’s— “Oh my. It would seem you are at your limit. Compassionate people who love and feel deeply are beautiful but at times fragile… Ahh, people love, and so they suffer. But it is because of love that people’s lives have meaning. What a very complicated thing. Well then, I shall borrow little Tina’s strength next. Young Lusbel, young man, you two have earned your rest.” —reason that dulls the value of life which allows creatures to defy their natural instincts and functions meaning fear is necessary so it’s only natural for people to feel fear so it’s nothing to be ashamed of and if anything it’d be pointless to not be afraid but it would probably be through thought experiments like this that he’d challenge the fear that gripped his entire body because otherwise why was subaru even scared scared scary scared scary scary i dont feel so goobebebebababababababaabararadagaddagagadaradadada—



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