Re:Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu (LN) - Volume 18 - Chapter Pr

PROLOGUE

A DARK TORRENT

His head was hot, and his mind was ablaze, but a chill coursed through his veins, and he felt like he was gradually freezing over.

“—Rghaaa!”

He gritted his teeth and slammed his fists together ferociously, willing his sluggish blood to start moving again. Skillfully using the silver steel covering his arms, he shield-bashed his enemy’s thick arm, the impact shattering the stone pavement below them.

That attack contained every scrap of strength he could muster, and he could feel a powerful reverberation shooting through his shoulder, but there was no indication that it had been a decisive blow. If anything, victory seemed to be getting further and further away with every move he made.

The enormous, black-robed inhuman figure before Garfiel was unmoved. Its eight arms were moving wildly, absorbing his attacks, deflecting them, and delivering their own destructive counters with a practiced precision optimized for killing.

Garfiel’s cheeks, chest, and legs were all battered, bleeding, or both. He desperately tried to hold his ground even as his thoughts threatened to scatter from the pain and impact of each blow. He knew his opponent’s four swords were a complete offensive and defensive package—they were the famed set called the Devil Cleavers, the legendary blades wielded by the ultimate god of war. And Garfiel’s opponent was using those famed weapons like an extension of its body. No, not like an extension. For a warrior who had true mastery and enough experience, a weapon really could become a part of the body.

—In which case, based on how this mysterious warrior was using the Devil Cleavers, then maybe—

“—Gah?!”

A solid punch connected with Garfiel’s jaw, taking advantage of an opening right as his thoughts had started to wander.

“Bh, gh…aaaa!”

His bones groaned, and his vision started going red. The punch had rattled his brain, draining the strength from his knees for an instant. But that brief moment of vulnerability was more than enough to be lethal in mortal combat. And the war god who had once claimed to be the strongest in the land would not miss that moment.

Each following its own path, all four swords raced toward a different vital point. The head, the neck, the chest, the waist—if any of these swings connected, Garfiel would die or, at the very least, be unable to keep fighting. And at the moment, he could do nothing to drive back the specter of death fast approaching.

Gritting his teeth, he looked around his reddening world, searching for any way out. And as he desperately clung to life, a phantom came into view, as if amused by his impending doom.

A woman in a black robe with a crimson smile was peering down at him in his unsightly state.

“—Eyes up, numbskull!”

A roar rang out, followed closely by the sound of steel clashing and the dull thud of something biting into flesh. A broad, furry back appeared in front of Garfiel, shielding him after he failed to move in time. Ricardo had blocked the swords with his big hunting knife, using his torso to catch the one attack he’d failed to parry.

“Gh, gaaah! That hurt, ya son of a bitch!”

Coughing up blood, Ricardo pushed back with all his might, knocking away the swords. Taking advantage of the momentum, the war god leaped backward to gain some distance.

Now that he had some breathing room, Garfiel shook his head and adjusted his stance as he stepped forward, lining up alongside the man who had protected him.

“My bad, tha—”

“This ain’t the time for that! Are your eyes workin’?!” Ricardo cut off his apology. “It’s do-or-die!”

“Y-yeah, don’t have to tell me twice!” Hearing that, Garfiel tried to harden his resolve. “We gotta go all out just to have a shot at winning…”

But even now, he was having trouble. His spirit was flagging like he was a drenched alley cat. Irritation, impatience, and a growing sense of self-loathing churned in his chest, almost as if they were trying to put an end to his miserable self. And his head was filled with a vortex of pointless thoughts, so maybe he really was trying to get himself killed.

A powerful enemy was standing before him, one he couldn’t afford to take his eyes off of, and yet a corner of his mind couldn’t help but focus on the black-robed woman flitting in and out of view at the edge of his vision. Even though the city hall they needed to reclaim was right in front of him. Even though his comrades were up there waiting for them to come to the rescue. Even though every second longer he took meant another second of suffering for the girl he needed to help at all costs.

“Hoo-ooooooooohh!”

Recalling that bloody moment of regret sent his rage past the boiling point, and all the hair on his body stood on end. Goose bumps stood out for a moment before golden fur started appearing as he transformed into a beast.

His body creaked as his bone structure changed and his small body grew larger. He would stifle all his unnecessary thoughts, all his self-hatred—everything—and become a tiger to obliterate the foe standing in his way.

Transform, Garfiel Tinzel. Mow everything down. If you can do that—

“—But will that really undo everything?”

All of a sudden, a bewitching woman’s voice tickled his ears, penetrating the consciousness that had been on the verge of dissipating. It was a voice that shouldn’t exist. And just when it stole away his focus—

“What?!”

There was a thunderous boom from above, and Ricardo was looking up, eyes wide. Seeing that, Garfiel looked up, too, his green eyes finding a scene that left him dumbfounded.

Flames erupted out of the top floor of the building. An enormous explosion blew out the windows, spewing fire hot enough to melt glass. The source was a black dragon sticking halfway out of the building, its wings covered in blood as they flapped.

—That black dragon had to be the loathsome Archbishop of Lust.

“General…!”

As Garfiel called out to the person who was supposed to be fighting the dragon, the strength he had put into his clenched fangs started slipping away. For a split second, the charred black corpse of his friend appeared in his mind, and his heart leaped into his throat.

And because of that, he was slow to react to the violent change that came immediately afterward.

“ ”

Far in the distance, an ear-shattering roar erupted near the city’s walls. The sound of something enormous groaning echoed throughout the city as a fearsome harbinger of what was to come.

Something colossal was approaching the city center, drawing closer to city hall, preceded by a growing tremor running through the ground. When he felt the vibrations beneath him becoming more intense, it set off alarms in Garfiel’s head.

“C’mon now, this ain’t even funny……”

Beside him, Ricardo’s face stiffened. Even someone as brave and fearless in combat as he grew hoarse when faced with something so implacable.

It was only natural, though. Because the tremors they were feeling and the deafening boom they had heard were actually—

“—Sir Garfiel! Sir Ricardo! Get to high ground!”

A sharp voice broke through the mental freeze that had held Garfiel. The warning came from the Sword Devil, the old man who had been trading blows nearby with the longsword-wielding cultist for the past two minutes. After crossing blades with his opponent one last time, Wilhelm quickly put some distance between them as he prepared to heed his own warning. But even leaping straight up, Wilhelm was unable to clear the gargantuan wave crashing toward them.

“Gh.”

Wilhelm was swallowed up by a wall of water taller than most of the surrounding buildings. After witnessing that, Garfiel was only a moment away from suffering the exact same fate. He dug in his heels on the stone pavement, readying himself for the shock—

“—Bgh!”

—But his stance was easily broken by the intensity of the onrushing water. Hit by a force like the power of nature itself given form, Garfiel’s body was completely engulfed and at the mercy of the pitch-black world he’d been thrust into. After what felt like an unbearably long time, his fingers caught on something, so he pulled with all his might, at last dragging his head out of the water.

“Ghah! Daaaamn it all! Where did…everybody go…?!”

Having grabbed the metal railing on a rooftop, Garfiel scanned his surroundings. The force of the churning water was ruthless, and everything around him had been consumed by the muddy torrent. Only a handful of particularly tall buildings were just peeking out of the water, and he was barely holding out against the powerful current.

“Boss man! Sword Devil…!”

He called out to the other two members of his party, who must have gotten caught up in the same disaster, and he was concerned about where their enemies might have gone off to—but that thought was erased just moments later.

As he clung there unable to move, he noticed something happening at the half-submerged city hall. The black dragon spread its wings and started flying away, leaving the upper floor still burning.

The dragon was covered in wounds, and its claws dexterously held two people—a green-haired woman and a black-haired boy.

“Gen—”

Garfiel’s eyes widened, and he started to call out, but water rushed into his mouth, and he couldn’t breathe. His fingers slipped, and he could do nothing but watch as the two of them were taken away by the enemy—

“—?”

Filled with shame, Garfiel desperately fought to keep his eyes on the damned black dragon. And as he did, he saw the dragon’s flight suddenly get disrupted as it let out a shrill cry. The reason was the fangs of a great serpent that bit into the black dragon’s wing. The serpent had suddenly appeared and lashed out at the dragon, calling the dragon a coward and viciously tearing into its wings.

An instant later, the boy was released from the dragon’s claws as it shuddered violently.

“ ”

His eyes wide open, Garfiel could only watch as it happened. He could only watch as the boy was swallowed up by the roiling waters that were in the process of consuming the entire city. He had fallen beneath the surface unconscious and was undoubtedly being carried away by the current, unable to resist, going far away, to a place where Garfiel could not reach him.

“Wait…”

Stretching his hand out toward the silhouette that instantly vanished somewhere below, Garfiel was dragged away by another surge. He desperately kept his head above water, shouting as he was pulled farther and farther away.

“Aaaaah!”

Eventually, he slipped beneath the surface, still seeking Subaru Natsuki and cursing his own uselessness. Screaming without making a sound.