7
“ ”
A blind, bloody-smelling demi-beast was sniffing at the ground in front of him.
Holding his breath to keep from being noticed, Subaru examined it, feeling a sense of righteous anger as he compared it to the other demi-beasts he had come close to encountering.
The demi-beasts Priscilla had labeled hideous, and Liliana had scorned earlier for their inability to sing, came in a multitude of forms, and Subaru had felt reluctant to lump them all together under the same repulsive description.
In exchange for lacking something—eyes, ears, mouth—their bodies were fused with swords or shields or other inorganic objects. They had been transformed into something that could not naturally occur in some horrible design.
The demi-beasts were the unnatural creation of an aberrant mind. So turning it around, if he could accept that they were unnatural life-forms, then it was entirely believable they had actually been designed. And there was at least one being currently in the city who was capable of manipulating the bodies of living creatures.
“Capella, you piece of shit…”
The demi-beasts’ parent, or perhaps creator would be the better word, appeared in Subaru’s head. The Archbishop of Lust, Capella, practically an embodiment of all the malice of the human world. Subaru could absolutely believe that she would create such incomplete creatures as demi-beasts and set them loose all around the city.
But that thought raised a question: Then where is she getting the ingredients for the demi-beasts?
“—!!”
“Ah.”
When he gritted his teeth, he inadvertently twisted his foot slightly, grinding a pebble against the ground beneath his heel. The blind demi-beast immediately turned its head toward the sound and violently dashed over toward Subaru.
The ax growing out of its head was heavy, making it look absurd as it ran. The edge of the ax scraped the ground, sending sparks flying continuously as it closed in. Subaru leaped aside as it approached. Then he used a slight groove in the wall as a foothold to acrobatically launch himself over the demi-beast.
“And up we go!”
His right leg was in disgustingly good shape, and he could move better than ever because of it. He easily leaped over the demi-beast and left that stretch of road behind as it frantically spun around searching for him.
“—Girrrrrrrrrrrah!”
All of a sudden, an awkward shout rang out. Subaru evaded the surprise attack by jumping straight up and spreading his legs. The demi-beast passed under him, but having lost his balance, Subaru rolled when he hit the ground. He was planning to use the momentum of the roll to start running away when—
“…Crap…”
Right in front of him was another demi-beast, quietly standing there, barring his path. It was one without a mouth, which was why it had grumbled instead of roared. The one whose charge he had just dodged had no ears, meaning all three types roaming the city were represented here.
“ ”
They were surrounding him front, back, and to one side, cornering him.
Looking to the open side, he saw the wall of a dilapidated building that was deteriorating from age and lack of maintenance. With enough momentum and motivation, it wouldn’t be impossible to get over. The goal would be something like what Felt had done when they first met.
The way she had run, leaving Subaru behind begging for help with Larry, Curly, and Moe surrounding him—thinking back on it now, he could not help feeling an odd sense of fate that those four had ended up in the same camp.
Soothing his nerves with some pointless thoughts, Subaru crouched. The demi-beasts surrounding him bent their knees, but Subaru was ready to go for the wall one step ahead of them—
“—Please don’t move, Subaru. I don’t want to miss.”
But a voice that was far surer an option than trying to get out of the situation on his own made him abandon that desperate plan.
The three demi-beasts barreled down on Subaru as he stopped, all aiming to hit him with their blend of ax and fangs, swords and claws—but none of them reached him. Because each and every one of their attacks was deflected and knocked back by a single slender knight’s blade.
“My apologies, but his continued survival is necessary for this city. I humbly request that you withdraw!”
The elegant knight Julius Juukulius attacked the three demi-beasts simultaneously with sword and spirits.
His sharp blade cut through the eyeless beast’s torso in a single broad sweep while the earless and mouthless ones were swallowed up in a red glimmer and consumed by flames. Purged by a raging inferno, the warped creatures turned to ash and collapsed without a sound. But the blind beast continued to attack despite having sustained an obviously lethal wound.
“Julius!”
“You need not worry.”
—The eyeless beast’s head was sent rolling by an elegant, arcing slash.
This was not the time nor place for idle thoughts, but it was truly a beautiful slash, one that held Subaru’s gaze. The flash of steel precisely struck at the weakest point of the demi-beast’s neck, ending its life without prolonging its pain.
If there could be any mercy in the act of ending a life, then that attack had been the embodiment of it.
No matter how incomprehensible the creature’s unnatural vitality might be, losing its head was still lethal. The same went for reducing its entire body to cinders. Subaru felt a strong sense of pity for the demi-beasts as they fell.
“Are you unhurt, Subaru?”
Flicking the blade that had cut down the demi-beast, Julius turned to Subaru.
“Yeah.” Subaru nodded. “That was a dangerous spot to be in, though. Thanks for the help. And from the looks of it, you’re doing okay, too.”
“I cannot deny that. In the end, I was swept up in the flood from the gate opening, which left the battle at city hall unsettled. I was concerned when I saw you fall into the water and lost track of you.”
Julius shook his head slightly as he placed his hand on Subaru’s shoulder. Surprisingly, there was an unconcealable trace of relief in the gesture. As if he was still processing the fact that Subaru had returned alive.
“What happened at the tower? Honestly, I can’t really remember much of the back end of the fight with Capella…with Lust.”
“You don’t remember? A black dragon attacked the upper floor and carried you and Duchess Crusch away. I immediately went after the black dragon to try and retrieve the two of you when the floodgate opened…”
“And in the chaos, I ended up falling into the water and getting washed away?”
“If I was to be honest, I had thought your chances of surviving were fifty-fifty at best. You did well to make it back safely.”
Julius kept nodding to himself, his hand still on Subaru’s shoulder, welcoming his return. Hearing that, Subaru realized his situation had been far more dire than he realized. But against all odds, he had returned safe and sound. And now he had been reunited with Julius.
“What about everyone else? Are they safe? I remember Crusch was in trouble. I was hurrying to get back to the Muse Company just now…”
“I understand the feeling, but for now calm yourself, please. Allow me to alleviate your first concern: Everyone who went to take back city hall returned alive… Knowing that you have survived and are safe, I can now say that confidently.”
“Everyone made it back alive… I see…”
Overcome by relief after hearing that news, Subaru slumped down to the ground. He had been more anxious about that than he had realized, and for a moment he could not force his quivering knees to carry his weight.
“After facing so many powerful enemies, I’m glad everyone survived… And there weren’t any losses to that flood, either?”
“It was a perilous situation. From what Sir Wilhelm said, they were close to being overwhelmed by the enemy when the water hit, and it was entirely possible we would have suffered losses if the battle continued. It’s ironic to think that was the Witch Cult’s doing.”
Subaru furrowed his brow. There was more scorn directed at himself than regret in Julius’s voice.
From what he was saying, it sounded like that flood that had exacted such a terrible price from the city as a whole had actually been a massive boon to Subaru and the others fighting at city hall. And it was probably at least partially because of it that Capella had failed to kill Subaru and Crusch when they were at death’s door.
Which meant that the Witch Cult had shot itself in the foot by opening the floodgate when it had. Though it was also doubtful whether it put much stock in the outcome of a single battle.
“There are several other things that I have to tell you, but for now, it’s good that we did not miss each other. Currently, the Muse Company is empty, and no one is there. You were about to waste a trip.”
“No one? Why? Anastasia, Ferris, and my Beako should still be there…”
“Regarding that, try to remain calm while I explain.”
Subaru gulped as things took a disquieting turn. Seeing that, Julius took a breath before continuing.
“…While we were attacking city hall, the Muse Company was also attacked. Their aim was the gentleman Kiritaka of the Council of Ten, but in the end, Lady Anastasia took command, and those who remained were forced to abandon that base.”
“It was attacked?! But it was a shelter! There were lots of wounded people there, right?!”
Other than the Iron Fangs members there as guards, the vast majority of the people at the company had been noncombatants—including Beatrice, who was in a coma, and Mimi, who had sustained an incurable wound from the blessing of the grim reaper. Hetaro and TB shared the burden of their sister’s wound and were in a dangerous condition, too.
There was no way they could have safely fled an attack with so many people in that sort of condition—
“Wait! What happened to Beatrice? To everyone?!”
“They succeeded in just barely getting all the wounded out safely at immense personal effort. Lady Beatrice and Mimi and her brothers were also safely carried away. However, the whereabouts of Mr. Kiritaka Muse and the members of the White Dragon’s Scale who stayed behind with him at the Muse Company are currently unknown… We don’t know whether they survived.”
“Damn it! I’m sure Liliana would be sad if she heard that…”
Even hearing that Beatrice was safe, Subaru could not really be happy given the losses that might have been incurred. Considering the enemy’s goal, it made sense that Kiritaka would be targeted. The Witch Cult’s demand was for the Witch’s bones to be turned over to them, and only members of the Council of Ten could tell them the location.
“Having lost the Muse Company, we have shifted to using city hall as a base. We should head there. Everyone is worried about you, and Garfiel in particular is running himself ragged.”
“That’s not good, but we’re heading to city hall? We took it back?”
“When the gate was opened and our battle there was cut short by the massive surge of water, our enemies abandoned the building. However, they broadcast one final message before they did so. Did you hear it?”
“…That was right around when I was bobbing in the water.” Subaru pursed his lips.
It did not sound like recovering city hall was really something that could be celebrated.
Hearing his response, Julius furrowed his brow and hesitated for a moment before responding.
“It was after they caused the canals to overrun and were wreaking havoc in every part of the city. I was struggling to grasp the chaotic situation myself when Lust’s voice rang out from the sky.”
“ ”
Subaru quietly urged Julius to continue. Seeing that, Julius nodded and took a long, deep breath.
“Lust…or perhaps I should say the Witch Cult placed additional demands in order to free the city as punishment for attacking the tower. In addition to the Witch’s bones, they had three new demands.”
“…Which were?”
“—A book called the book of knowledge. An artificial spirit. And also…”
Just those two alone were more than enough to provoke Subaru, but the final demand actually made Julius pause even after he’d said that much. Seeing him hesitate, Subaru steeled himself as he wondered just how repulsive the final demand could possibly be.
However, Subaru quickly realized that that hesitation was out of consideration for him. Because the final demand was the most absurd, the most out of place, and the most impossible for Subaru to accept.
“…the wedding of the silver-haired maiden. Something you would surely never allow.”
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