Arc 7, Chapter 53 "Beyond the Eleventh Second"
"I've heard that you and the people in this town are very strong...... Are they stronger than the people in my village?"
"--Gentlemen!"
He hears a voice he's heard many times.
An old man's voice and a woman's voice, both filled with anger. And then--
"Ha, Ahhhhhh!"
The impact of the roof tiles being strongly stepped on ran through his legs, and the pipe and purple smoke swung out furiously. It cleaves, cleaves, cleaves the sky of Chaos Flame sideways--
--Again, a series of explosions sounded, and that red, intense pain came.
"Gy-ahhhhh--!"
"Ahh! Aaaaah!"
He falls on the spot, holding his face in pain and shock from both the bursting and popping eyeballs. He jumped, a light weight pressing down on him, and he knew it too.
He knows, but he can't deal with it. Too much, too little time.
"Guhhhh! Agh, guh, gyaaaaaaaaah!"
The red vision, the pain that felt like his head was cracking open, the soul crying out, "Why?"
All of this makes Subaru waste ten seconds of despair that comes again and again.
The pain prevents him from thinking, and the loss that makes the world red prevents him from seeing his surroundings. Suddenly, everything goes away and comes back, but in just three seconds, he's freshly exposed to the same pain again.
Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death - it's an endless repetition.
I'm going crazy.
"I've heard that you and the people in this town are very strong...... Are they stronger than the people in my village?"
"--Gentlemen!"
He heard the same voice again. The pain and the redness ceased for a moment.
But then again, he'd have to go through the same pain again, and that scared his soul to shreds.
"Aaahhhh--!"
He doesn't want to hear anything. He doesn't want to feel pain. He's scared, scared, scared.
He opened his mouth wide and screamed, his throat heaving. He didn't want to see anything, so he closed his eyes and crouched down with his head in his hands.
And then, the next moment.
"----"
With a thud, Subaru's small body was popped and rolled away from the explosion. The sound became distant and his soul cowered as the pain and red came again.
But...
"--huh"
The pain is not coming.
The pain of one of his eyeballs bursting open and the other popping out never comes. His ears have been broken into kinks, but the world is not red. The only thing that hurts the most is his throat, where he screamed the loudest.
"Wh-, why......"
"Awh!"
Shortly after the stunned voice leaked out, a small body jumped at me.
It's Louis. Louis pulled on his arm and tried to get Subaru to stand up. But he couldn't stand up because his knees were not strong enough and he didn't have an answer for "why".
His throat just tightens up and he starts to cry, glad to be away from that red pain, even for a moment. He can't take it anymore, so he crouches down and cry.
"I--."
"Oh, come on. That's a bad idea."
"--tsk"
In the distance from the crouching, crying Subaru, a battle was going on in a different dimension than Subaru's. --No, the form was tilted so much that the woman's knees could be seen in his blurred vision.
Yorna, with her knees folded, and Olbart standing behind her.
Olbart waves his blood-red right hand and raises an eyebrow in surprise as he looks down at Yorna, who is bleeding from the corner of her mouth.
"......."
"You can't be serious, foxgirl. What kind of body do you have that won't die from this? Isn't that what Cecilus was talking about when he said he couldn't cut off his head?"
"......I would never reveal a maiden's secret to a lousy husband who has a child in his hands."
I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that. When Olbart heard this, he laughed out loud, "Kakakakka!"
He laughed, then waved his blood-soaked sleeve in the air.
"That's a funny thing to say. That's what it means to put your hands on a child."
"Don't wait for me!"
A black ball pulled out from his sleeve - a bomb - was thrown and flew toward Subaru and the others.
Louis quickly intervened in front of Subaru and tried to play it, but it was too late.
The red light exploded in front of Subaru's eyes once again, and the body of Louis, who had jumped forward, and Subaru's body were also engulfed by the light and torn apart.
"I've heard that you and the people in this town are very strong...... Are they stronger than the people in my village?"
"--Gentlemen!"
He heard the same voice again.
△▼△▼△▼△
--The moment the redness and pain disappear, he close his eyes and scream out loud.
That was the absolute law that Subaru, who had had the chance to escape from the red pain again and again and only a few times since then, had obtained.
Anyway, when the redness and pain came all at once, there was nothing more Subaru could do. He would cry, scream, and die.
And just when you think you're dead, you hear that voice again, and you get the red pain from the explosion.
I don't want to do that anymore. I hate it. I don't want to, please, I'm scared.
"I've heard that you and the people in this town are very strong...... Are they stronger than the people in my village?"
"--Gentlemen!"
He heard the same voice again.
At that moment, the pain and the redness all recede, and he feels like he's going to lose all the strength in his body with the momentary relief. He tries to hold it in and do what he has to do.
"Aaahhhh--!"
He opened his big mouth and barked, squeezing his own eyes shut.
While he can't hear himself shouting, maybe Yorna is swinging a flue pipe, swinging it out, and then trying to detonate the bomb that Olbart threw.
So, right after that--
"--tk"
The sound of the explosion and the blast pushed his whole body down, causing Subaru's body to fall on his buttocks on the roof. The corner of the roof tile bit into his butt, and the pain was so sharp that he felt like crying.
But he's not going to cry. He doesn't want to cry and blur my vision. Because...
"I can see......."
He opened his eyes fearfully, they were not popping or popping out, he could see fine.
As usual, his ears were broken from all the ringing, and his throat hurt like it was burning, but not that red pain. He was right. It was good.
If he closes his eyes and scream out loud, he won't have to deal with that terrible red pain.
"Awh!"
When Subaru was about to cry with emotion, Louis hurriedly jumped on top of him. He could finally see Louis's face, but she seemed to be worried about Subaru with her blue eyes wide open.
Without thinking, he hugs Louis's body back, "It's okay!" I shouted.
"Ooh"
"I'm fine! It hurts, it's red, it...... hurts, but I'm okay......."
Anyway, when the redness and pain disappear, close your eyes and shout.
As long as you remember that rule, you won't have to suffer. Subaru was sure of this as he hugged Louis's thin body.
"No, it's not okay at all, you know. Here, here, and here."
Immediately after, he heard a creepy voice, and Subaru looked up reflexively.
The shuriken thrown by Olbart, who smiled as he opened his eyes, came rushing toward Subaru and the others, drawing an irregular trajectory.
The gleam and the dull glow of the Shinobi's dark weapons were all aimed precisely at the vital points.
"Hee."
"I will not tolerate this kind of behavior."
Subaru's throat tightened, and Yorna's back appeared in front of her. She interrupted the trajectory of the approaching shurikens with a smoke pipe and flicked off every one of them as they flew by.
At the same time, the roof tiles on either side of Olbart were flipped up and slammed into the old man with the force of a mousetrap or flyswatter.
But...
"Kakakakka! It's flashy, it looks good, and it's fun!"
He dodged the blow from the roof tiles by twisting his small body.
He had always thought that the bigger you are, the stronger you are, and the wider your range of attack, the better off you are. However, Olbart's agility overturned that impression.
"But I don't need this flashy stuff. Ultimately, a human being can be killed by a deep needle in the forehead."
"I can't believe you're saying that. My fox ears are so irritated. --So, how about this?"
"Oh."
Olbart avoided the flashy attack, and in front of him, Yorna hit the roof with her heel. Then the roof tiles flipped up one after another and began to spin and fly in the air.
It spiraled around the entire roof, narrowing the circle around Olbart as it went. --It was like a tornado.
And...
"Why don't you show me how to escape from a gaping hole, Shinobi?"
Before she could finish, Yorna's outstretched hand was squeezed.
Immediately after, a tornado of swirling tiles surrounded Olbart and compressed him to the center at once. The tiles collided with each other mercilessly, and a fierce, all-crushing sound rang out.
In the center of this fierce destruction, the human body, even if a little sturdy, would not be able to withstand the pressure and would be crushed, making life impossible.
"Ahh......"
Seeing the same thing, Louis also gasped at the flamboyant destructive power of it.
In response to Louis's reaction, Yorna quietly replied, "You must have surprised me."
"I'm sorry I took the liberty of starting this. I look terrible to the Lord and the others......"
"Hey, hey, don't think you're done. I'm telling you, if you live to be an old man, that means you're still alive."
"What--"
Yorna, who was about to turn around, heard the words and her fox ears perked up. If you look, you'll see that the voice came from a whirlpool of roof tiles that had gathered together and crushed the center - the backside of it.
From behind a pile of crumbling rubble, Olbart peeked out, unharmed in the center of the vortex of destruction.
The old man waved his hand with a fluttering motion, laughed with a face full of malice, and said, "Yo."
"It's a Shinobi technique to escape where there's no space. Are you satisfied?"
"Well... Old or rotten, you are still the Nine Divine Generals."
"Kakakakka! That's a terrible thing to say! In the first place, since I was chosen as the Nine Divine Generals, I've always been an old man, you know? Even though I'm old and rotten, I was chosen because I'm much stronger than most people. But what a waste of a girl."
"What's that?"
Yorna frowns at Olbart, who tucks his waving arms into his sleeves and twists his head.
In response to Yorna's question, Olbart continued, "So what?"
"If I didn't have so many people to protect, like the people in the street and the kids in the back, I'd be able to do better."
"--tk"
"You're fighting because you want to protect, but you're getting weaker because you want to protect. That's why you can't reach Her Excellency, no matter how many times you try, you know."
Olbart's yellow eyes pierced Subaru and Louis through Yorna as he told them this.
At that moment, Subaru realized that they were going to be targeted again. Realizing this, he quickly squeezed Louis's hand and said,
"Yorna, Louis and I will disappear! Good luck!"
It's disgusting that he got himself involved and left Yorna to run away.
But if Subaru and the others were here, Yorna would have fought to protect them, been caught in the gap by Olbart, and would have died after all.
That's no good. They've got to avoid that somehow.
"Louis!"
With that exclamation, Subaru grasped Louis's hand tightly, pointing down at his feet.
Connecting the feeling with the instructions, Louis responded, "Uh!" and the transition occurs.
Subaru and Louis's bodies shifted directly below them, inside the castle, and their feet found their way onto the wooden floor.
Confirming this, Subaru bit his back teeth.
"It's......."
He felt the contents of his stomach turn over in a circle, and my head shook. For a moment, the red vision and pain flickered, but it was an incomparable level of disturbance.
All that remains is for Yorna to be able to fight to the fullest after Subaru and the others are gone.
"--, What the hell!?"
Immediately afterwards, what happened overhead was an explosion that stimulated Subaru's freshly made trauma.
A tremendous explosion sounded in rapid succession, and the impact reverberated throughout the castle through the roof, reaching Subaru and the others. Almost cowering at the knees, Subaru struggled to hold it in and looked up at the ceiling.
He can't see it, but it's probably Olbart.
After all the bombs he's dropped, he's still carrying around other bombs.
"Oh. Whoa, whoa, whoa."
"Huh?"
That, Subaru's vision looking up, a wrinkled face slipped through the ceiling and peeked downstairs.
Subaru chokes on his breath at the suddenness of the situation, and then Olbart falls straight down, his face as well as his body slipping through the ceiling.
The old man laughed as he fell from the ceiling.
"That scared the hell out of me. I thought you were just a child, but I failed."
"Ugh-!"
A moment later, Louis kicked her thin legs up at the approaching smile. But the old monster responded with a short "Yo" and swung his arm, cutting her off at the shin.
Spinning around, Louis's white legs flew up, spraying blood, and a scream went up.
"Ah, ahhhhhh--!"
Then, Subaru's eyes widened at the sight of the screaming Louis, and he tried to pull her closer.
He doesn't know if it was to fly, or if it was out of concern for the girl who was crying out in pain over the loss of her leg.
But either way, he couldn't do even that quick action properly.
"Gah"
The moment he thought he heard a swoosh, Subaru's throat burned with more heat than he had screamed. The blood that gushed out of his throat blocked his throat, and he couldn't speak or breathe.
"I don't want to get in trouble if you keep running away. I'm sure you can get through to a foxgirl with just your neck."
As he said this, Olbart's fingers pressed against Subaru's forehead. As soon as he did, his tilted head fell forward and his head rested on Subaru's crumpled knees.
They're connected by the skin of their necks, so they don't fall off, and they're on their knees.
"It's called a hug."
He heard such a bad joke, which was not even funny, and then he couldn't hear it anymore.
And...
"I've heard that you and the people in this town are very strong...... Are they stronger than the people in my village?"
"--Gentlemen!"
He heard the same voice again.
In a flash, he pulled Louis in to see what he had to do, and so.
So, while he was thinking about it, he heard an explosion.
--His vision exploded red, and that pain engulfed Natsuki Subaru once again.
△▼△▼△▼△
--the moment he hears the same voice, he covers his ears, close his eyes, and scream out loud.
This is the law of survival that Subaru has found after dozens of repetitions of the ten seconds of despair.
However, we have yet to find anything in the equation beyond that.
"I've heard that you and the people in this town are very strong...... Are they stronger than the people in my village?"
"--Gentlemen!"
Olbart threw a bomb, and Yorna waved a pipe to knock it down. The impact of a deep step was felt on the soles of his feet, and Subaru remembered that he was back and what he had to do, and followed his imprinted instincts.
Cover your ears, close your eyes, shout loudly, and take in the explosion.
He doesn't know what it does for his eardrums if he keeps his ears covered, his eyeballs if he keeps his eyes closed, or his voice if he shouts loudly, but he always spoke up when he wasn't in pain or red, so he can't imagine not speaking up anymore.
He can't bear the thought of doing something a little different and having the same pain again.
Once the timing is off, he will have to repeat the ten seconds of despair more than ten times in order to get the same chance again.
He hated it. He didn't want to be in pain, and he didn't want to be afraid.
It doesn't get any easier at all. It always hurts. He's always afraid. Death is always beyond the pain and the fear.
So...
"Ahh!"
With his ears and eyes still okay, he catches Louis's body as she jumps on him.
He was also able to survive the first explosion intact for the umpteenth time. The rest was a chain reaction, remembering what would happen next, and so the first time--
"Shuriken."
"Don't think this is the end of the world!"
It was the same time that he remembered and heard Olbart's voice.
In the next moment, flying from all directions was a storm of shurikens, none of which had the same trajectory, and they rained down around Subaru and Louis.
More than ten shurikens, if you take one of them, you won't be able to move.
Yorna tried to jump out of the way to stop him.
"Such disorderly conduct--"
"Yorna! It's okay!"
He stopped Yorna from jumping in with his palm, and changed his outstretched palm to a pointing hand. And then he put all his strength into the hand that was connected with Louis.
"What the fuck?"
A moment later, the shuriken stabbed into the place where Subaru and the others had been, as the vision switched due to the transition that had occurred.
Olbart's eyes widened in surprise at what had happened and the lack of signs of Louis's transition. Yes, even Olbart didn't know, Subaru and the others were keeping it a secret.
Many times before, he used this to escape into the castle. And even then, he was killed in disgust by the pursuing Olbart.
"For one-time use, then......."
We can catch Olbart off guard.
And then, to Olbart's surprise.
"Do not look anywhere else!"
"Chi-- gah"
The flying Yorna's fierce heel drop pierced Olbart from directly above.
In the event that you have any questions regarding where and how to use the internet, please do not hesitate to contact us. As it was, the back of his head slammed into the roof, and with a roar, Olbart's figure disappeared into the Red Lapis Castle.
As expected, Olbart was damaged by that powerful shot.
"Kakakakka! Ow, ow, ow!"
"Are you kidding me!?"
Just as he was about to shout that he had struck the coup de grace, Olbart returned.
Opening another hole in the roof than the one he had been dropped into, Olbart jumped out, teeth bared and his right arm stained red with blood.
He caught Yorna's heel with his arm, and it crumpled like a dead branch.
The disfigurement of his arm made him want to turn away at first glance, but he didn't care. He throws a shuriken with his remaining left arm, aiming at Subaru and the others in front of and behind him, as well as Yorna.
Naturally, Subaru was unable to react. Yorna played the attack that was coming at her with her flue and quickly waved her finger and jumped up the tiles to protect Subaru and the others.
And then...
"Look, it's ninety years old."
As he said this, Olbart suddenly went on a violent rampage.
He stretched out his bloodied right arm and cut it with the kunai of his left hand around his second arm, sending the arm flying towards Yorna, spraying blood.
"----"
In the face of this, Yorna was forced to make a split-second decision.
In other words, you can either brush off the flying arms or dodge them.
But...
"Too bad they're both off."
"Guh......!?"
Before he can act on his answer, his choice to the flying arm, a blast comes from beneath Yorna's feet. It is the hole that leads downstairs, where the previous blow knocked Olbart down.
A tremendous storm literally erupted from there, tearing through Yorna's kimono.
"It's a basic principle of Shinobi. If you can't decide between right and left, you're above them."
"It's on the old man......!"
Yorna's cheeks twisted as her kimono was ripped open by the wind blades all over her body. As it was, she stepped in, ignored the flying bluff arms, and tried to plunge into Olbart.
With that advance of Yorna's, Olbart breathed, "Ah."
"You lied to me about being off."
--The next moment, Olbart's arm, which had flown away, swelled up from the inside and exploded.
"--tsk"
"Yorna-san!!"
Yorna's body was swallowed by the blast that occurred right beside her, and she was blown away. As she rolled around on the roof, Subaru's eyes widened and he shouted with a hoarse throat.
The hole she fell into, the arm that she cut off, all of it is a trap to use.
Ever since she had gotten the impression that Shinobi were ninjas, she knew that they would be incredibly troublesome opponents. She had thought so, but she hadn't expected them to be so "vicious".
Yes, Subaru's shiver and Olbart's turn around were almost simultaneous.
"Louis!"
Subaru shouted the moment he turned around and saw Olbart's eyes glowing ferociously.
He gripped Louis's hand tightly and hoped to make the second transition at a time that was almost like continuous use. Just pointing as far away as possible to get some distance from Olbart--
"Awh awh"
Louis's transition occurs, and Subaru and their bodies move in the blink of an eye.
He moved out of the straight line of Olbart's line of sight and into a position with a large distance between them. Since running into the castle would not save him, there was nothing Subaru could do after escaping the initial explosion except to keep his distance, buy some time, and hope that Yorna would stop Olbart.
And...
"Huh?"
When he tried to hold back his nausea, something hit him on the toes.
He peeled his eyes open to see what had hit him. It was a black, round ball.
The black ball that he had seen so many times before, the one that knocked Subaru into the depths of despair.
"Watch it at once. You'll fly in the direction I point. I don't know how they do it."
So he released the ball in the direction he was pointing, and somehow Olbart shrugged his shoulders.
With one arm missing, the monster is unbalanced, and his shoulder.
"Awh"
Once again, Louis called Subaru that.
Immediately afterwards, light flooded from the black ball that had exploded beneath their feet, and countless pieces of glass that flew out from within scattered, tearing, tearing, tearing Subaru and Louis to shreds.
Blood splattered bright red, and his body was sliced up by splinters that flew into his eyes and mouth, and the sharp pain engulfed his entire body, tearing his limbs to shreds.
"You'll have to wait till you eat it to find out what's in it. Won't that be fun?"
The pain was red again, and that just made his question his sanity.
"I've heard that you and the people in this town are very strong...... Are they stronger than the people in my village?"
"--Gentlemen!"
He heard the same voice again.
"What--"
The moment he heard it, Subaru covered his ears, closed his eyes, and opened his mouth wide. No loud voice came out. He could only make a muffled sound. Even so, the sound of the blast and the wind were still coming at him.
He was hit all over and fell on his butt on the roof. He couldn't follow the rules. He couldn't scream. He was afraid of the pain and the redness that would come. He just--
"Awh!"
The light touch made him jump, and Subaru let out a "ha" breath.
Then he made sure that his eyes and ears and the rest of his body were okay. He didn't have to shout, his eyeballs and eardrums were fine. The voice was not relevant. The mouth might have something to do with it.
He doesn't know. He doesn't know, but--,
"Ughhhhh......."
As he hugged Louis and cried with his back teeth chattering, Subaru just couldn't, for the life of him, find a way to survive after the explosion.
Because he can't find it, he cries, he crouches, and he's stuck again.
"I can't stand to hear a child's whimpering. --It's so annoying."
Once again, the inevitable "death" engulfed Natsuki Subaru.
△▼△▼△▼△
Again and again, he went through the red and the pain, and the helplessness beyond it, and again the pain and the pain and the pain and the pain and the fear, and still he couldn't reach it.
"--Don't you love me. Now."
How many times did he almost get help like that in his ragged state?
Every time you say that, he's sad because he can't do what she says.
"Aah! Aaaaah!"
She desperately pulled Subaru's arm, trying to keep him alive somehow, to keep him from dying.
That's why it's always so hard for her to die before Subaru.
Over and over again, for ten seconds of death and despair.
The red world, the feeling that pain is the only thing that dominates, the feeling of helplessness that no matter how hard he tries, he can't reach it, and he keeps repeating it over and over again until it seems like there is no end.
My head feels like it's going to break. My heart feels like it's going to die.
This is not a 'return by death'.
Things that are not 'return by death' that have been surrounding Natsuki Subaru.
He didn't want to think for a second that the 'return by death' was benevolent.
But it's too much compared to these ten seconds and the endless layers of loss.
--This was a loveless act, so much so that it seemed that there was love in the 'return by death'.
△▼△▼△▼△
"I've heard that you and the people in this town are very strong...... Are they stronger than the people in my village?"
"--Gentlemen!"
He heard the same voice again.
Olbart's aloof voice and Yorna's impatient voice.
The immediate pain and sense of loss disappears, and for a moment, just a few seconds, Subaru comes back to a blue sky and a pain-free body.
His brain is numb, his throat is straining to continue the scream before he dies, and his knees are weakening.
Still, the conditioned reflexes that were already imprinted in his soul made Subaru close his eyes, cover his ears, and leave his mouth open as he continued to scream.
"Ha, Aaaaah!"
A barking Yorna waved her pipe and several explosions were created in the sky of Chaos Flame.
Hot air, shock waves, and the sound of explosions werehed over Subaru and the others, but at this moment, falling on their buttocks was unbearable no matter how many times they tried.
"Awh!"
When Subaru fell on his buttocks, the light body of Louis jumped into him.
He accepted it and hugged her tightly. It was just another conditioned reflex. He's been dying over and over again, and he just misses the warmth of people. That's all.
There is no other reason. There is no other reason, so I bite my back teeth hard.
"From here......"
There was no time for relief as the next attack that would kill Subaru came flying in.
"Don't think this is the end of the world!"
At the same time, Olbart throws shurikens at Subaru and Louis. More than ten blades from all directions, we already know that their sharpness can easily cut through the soft skin of a child.
He had already experienced being killed by shurikens many times. But he can't remember which one was the pain. He doesn't know, because there isn't a single death that doesn't hurt.
"I will not tolerate this kind of behavior."
While he was stumped, Yorna's back broke in front of Subaru's eyes.
She knocked away all the shurikens with the smoking pipe in her hand, then made the roof tiles ripple in return for Olbart, and hit the castle from both sides as if she were pinching it.
"Kakakakka! It's flashy, it looks good, and it's fun!"
Olbart uses his agility to avoid this.
Because of Subaru's delayed reaction, the same trend is being followed. However, there was nothing that Subaru could do in this scene that he had seen so many times already.
When he covered for Yorna who was about to be attacked, when he ran into the castle, when he jumped at Olbart because his head was so messed up, all of them died.
What if all roads, all actions, lead to death?
"But I don't need this flashy stuff. Ultimately, a human being can be killed by a deep needle in the forehead."
"I can't believe you're saying that. My fox ears are so irritated. --So, how about this?"
"Oh."
Yorna responds to Olbart's provocation by tapping the roof with her heel.
One by one, the roof tiles are flipped up, and what emerges is a tornado of destruction swirling around the castle. He knows how powerful it is. But he can't defeat Olbart.
"How do I......?"
Is this fine? We don't know. He has a feeling that another painful and scary one is coming soon.
It will fail. How can he avoid it? The red world, the chorus of pain.
He wants to help Yorna, but she's in the way.
He tried to run away with Louis, but she caught up with him.
If he could have gone back earlier, he never should have come to the roof with Yorna in the first place. If he had left Yorna alone, if he hadn't left her behind, if he hadn't left Abel and the others, if he hadn't told them about Louis, if he hadn't left Al, Medium, Taritta, if he hadn't gotten smaller, if he hadn't been the original Subaru, Zikr, Flop, Mizelda, Cuna, Holly, Utakata, Priscilla, and Rem, and Rem, and Rem, and Rem--..
He has to get Rem back, and he's going to die here.
If being left behind in a world where death is inevitable, and you have no choice but to continue dying forever and ever, what can Subaru do for Natsuki Subaru?
Again and again, death, pain, and the feeling of helplessness washed over Natsuki Subaru.
And he felt like his mind and body were being crushed by it, and then--
"Awh"
Gently, he felt the warmth of the girl holding his hand, and Subaru gasped.
The warmth suddenly made Subaru think.
He can't help it, though, with Natsuki Subaru.
"--What would everyone do?"
△▼△▼△▼△
Painful, red, scary, why, death.
Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death.
Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death.
It was ten seconds of despair, repeated over and over again.
A never-ending hell of pain and helplessness piled on top of each other, trying to break Subaru's heart again and again.
But after many of those ten seconds of despair, he got to the end of it.
Painful, red, scary, why, death. --to the end of it.
Instead, there were many more possibilities branching out beyond the ten seconds of despair, and there was no answer to what and how he could escape the pain.
Also, Subaru died many times. Many times, he died in pain and agony.
Not one of them worked.
He always made Yorna sad, let Louis die first, and Subaru died too.
-- But there were more than ten seconds of despair ahead.
He's going to use all of that time.
Even if he uses all of it and die for sure, he will get back to the eleventh second, beyond this ten seconds of despair, and think hard.
--I wonder what everyone would do.
"I've heard that you and the people in this town are very strong...... Are they stronger than the people in my village?"
"--Gentlemen!"
He heard the same voice again.
At that moment, Subaru covered his ears, closed his eyes, and opened his mouth to endure the explosion. The sound and impact of the explosion hit his whole body, causing him to fall on his buttocks unbearably.
Immediately, a small body jumped at him, shouting, "Awh!" He catches her and hug her back as if to reassure it, and think about it while he does so.
--I wonder what everyone would do.
"----"
Subaru has gotten smaller.
His arms and legs have shrunk, and he's sure the contents of his head have become childish as well.
If it had been the original Subaru, he could have done and come up with many more things. But the original Subaru wasn't here. He can't even think of a way to deal with it.
If that was the case, then this problem could not be solved by Natsuki Subaru.
So...
"I wonder what everyone would......."
He's encountered many problems and made many mistakes, but he's overcome them together and made it this far.
Right now, Subaru is alone. He is in an empire where almost no one he knows is around.
However, there is something in Subaru that was given to him by everyone.
"I wonder what everyone would......."
What will he do?
What would Otto, Garfiel, Roswaal, Frederica, Petra, Clind, Anne-Rose, Meili, Puck, Ram, Beatrice, Emilia, or everyone else do?
"I wonder what everyone would......."
What will I do?
What would Julius, Anastasia, Scarfdona, Ricardo, Mimi, Hetaro, Tivey, Reinhard, Felt, Old Man Rom, The Three Stooges, Al, Priscilla, Wilhelm, Felix, Crusch, Liliana, Shaula, all of you do? I wonder what everyone would do.
"It's so strong."
He wants everyone who can fight Olbart to stay behind and cheer him on.
Those people who seem to be able to handle that Olbart's wiles and outrageous little tricks and whatnot are not in play this time. I'm sorry. Thank you. I love you.
"I can do magic."
Everyone who can help Yorna may not be able to imitate him if he is Subaru now.
He doesn't want to be a burden to the kind Yorna. But even healing magic might not be useful in this situation. I'm sorry. Thank you. I love you.
"If so......."
How about imitating everyone else who can't give up, who can't stop trying until the very end.
Why don't you use everything you have and try to go beyond the ten seconds of despair, beyond the eleven seconds, and beyond and beyond?
"I will not tolerate this kind of behavior."
A smoke pipe was waved, and the shuriken that had been closing in on Subaru and the others were flicked away with a high-pitched sound.
As it was, the tiles on either side of Olbart flipped up and pinned the monster down in an attempt to crush him.
"----"
Well, he thinks hard as he watches the battle between Yorna and Olbart.
He's died many times, many times. How many times has he seen this scene? He still remembers the pain that makes it so hard to remember.
Just the thought of it makes him cower. His heart shrinks, and his soul begins to cower.
It was as if the very existence of Natsuki Subaru was frozen. But...
"Awh"
The heat from the hand he was holding would not let Subaru freeze to death.
He won't freeze to death, and he'll be able to remember everyone.
Yorna and Olbart, he can't interrupt their fight.
Even if he wanted Yorna to win, Subaru and the others, who are targeted by Olbart, would get in the way. The battle has already started, so one of them has to win to keep the story going.
Maybe it always ends with Olbart winning and Subaru and the others dying.
So, if Subaru and the others can survive, that's all that matters?
That's probably very wrong, too. No, it's not. Yorna has to be safe, too. There has to be a better way. Don't stop thinking about it. You idiot. I'm not giving up here. I'm sure you'll be fine. We're all here for you. You don't want any more pain or suffering, do you? In a fight, a resolution is inevitable. There has to be an opening. I wonder if I can find it. That's the key to victory.
"The key to victory."
Of who? Of the person you're fighting, of course.
So, which one of us is fighting, Yorna or Olbart--?
"No."
"Uh?"
"No, no, no, no, no--!"
Subaru shouted aloud in front of Louis, who twisted his neck.
No, he was wrong. He loves everyone. So...
"The one who wins..."
Again, the red light and pain spread before his eyes, and then--.
"I've heard that you and the people in this town are very strong...... Are they stronger than the people in my village?"
"--Gentlemen!"
He heard the same voice again.
The moment he heard it, Subaru covered his ears, closed his eyes, and crouched down with his mouth open. Immediately afterwards, the sound of the explosion and the shock wave hit his whole body, but this time he did not fall on his buttocks.
With a poof, he let go of his hands and looked up. There was--
"Awh!"
Worried about Subaru, an anxious-looking Louis jumps in.
Subaru hugged Louis from the front and stood up on the spot. And,
"Thanks."
"Uh?"
Subaru said to Louis, who rolled her eyes, and looked over her head to the front.
The pain of his whole body being burned, his bones exposed, and his organs gummed up is still dragging. If he's not careful, he's going to scream, cry, and roll around.
But...
"Don't think this is the end of the world."
As he was saying this, he was about to throw the shuriken that Olbart had pulled out of his sleeves.
Olbart's eyes and Subaru's eyes collided head-on.
The eyes of the "vicious old man" who is relentless in taking the life of any child, and the teary eyes of the child who has felt helpless many times and is still struggling to hold back the tears.
But what did he see in those teary eyes? Olbart's yellow eyes took a turn and intensified their light.
He wasn't just going after Subaru as a tool to get Yorna's attention.
In order to kill Natsuki Subaru, a shuriken is released from the hands of the "Vicious Old Man".
Playless shurikens fly at you.
Feeling a threat that Subaru's eyes couldn't catch, Subaru thrust his lifted finger straight in front of him - at Olbart.
What would everyone do?
He tried very hard to think of everyone's feelings, and then he thought.
Subaru is sure that everyone will believe in him, no matter how tattered he is after dying so many times and feeling helpless and helpless.
It was painful, difficult, scary, and he cried, screamed, peed, and still died in a miserable and hapless way.
He loves everyone.
This, the top of the Red Lapis Castle, the game to die many times, to reach the ten seconds of despair, the eleven seconds beyond that, and further, and whoever wins that--
--It's always the Master who wins!
"Louiiiiis--!!"
Pointing to Olbart, he called out the name of the girl at the end of the connected warmth in a high-pitched voice.
Then he grasped Louis's hand tightly and strongly - and the world changed instantly.
"--What the hell?"
The person he was supposed to kill with the shuriken disappeared, causing Olbart to shout in astonishment.
This is a foul technique that is outside of Olbart's understanding and is completely unnoticed by the cautious Shinobi. The only way to outsmart Olbart is the first time of this transfer, which he will respond to the second time.
And Subaru, who had been transferred and flown by Louis' power--
"Aaahhhh!!"
"Whoa!"
Furiously, he clung to the back of Olbart's head, which was right in front of him.
He clung to the small old man in a desperate attempt to die, and clung to him with the force of a bite to his gray hair. Even Olbart was unable to react to the unexpected moment of transition, when he was clinched.
The old man was not much taller than him, but the little Subaru did his best to assemble him.
Naturally, Olbart tried to pull it off, and Yorna, wide-eyed at the suddenness of the situation, tried to run over to him.
"Whoa! What's that? A monk!"
"Kid! We'll be leaving soon! Old Olbart is at......"
Olbart's arm grabbed Subaru's hair and tried to pull him down forcefully. Even though she wanted to stop him, Yorna was too afraid to make a quick move for fear of getting involved.
While both of them were reacting, Subaru was desperately trying to stay together and shouting out--
"--I win!!"
He shouted.
"--What?"
At that moment, Olbart's hand loosened as he tried to pull Subaru off of him. Yorna also rolled her eyes like that, wondering what Subaru had just said.
Without paying attention to the reactions of the adults, Subaru clung on tightly to Olbart, trying not to let go of him.
"I win...... I win! Mr. Olbart has lost! Right!?"
"So what are you saying, you......"
I told you, "One time is enough!"
"Yeah?"
As the force of the shaking weakened, Subaru finally looked up and spoke to the back of Olbart's white hair in front of him. Sobbing tears and sniffles, both of which were filled with excitement and heart palpitations, Subaru's throat twitched and he began to cry.
"Oh, a game of tag! In hide and seek, you have to find me three times...... but in tag, you only have to catch me once......."
"----"
"So! I won! I got you! I've won the game! Olbart and Yorna were defeated by me! I've won......"
He thought to himself, that's a crazy theory to say.
In the first place, between tag and hide and seek, it was Subaru and the others who chose hide and seek. It's probably cheating to suddenly pull it out and change the rules to chase.
But it was cheating, but he couldn't think of any other way.
And...
"It was Mr. Olbart who cheated first......"
"----"
"That's why I won. I won. I won......"
The tears and runny nose that came pouring out of his eyes became unbearable, and his voice became raspy.
Still, Subaru put all his strength into his clinging arms and would not let go of this cheating victory. He had caught Olbart and won tag. He had won.
"What do we do now, Master Olbart?"
Suddenly, Yorna asked Olbart, who had fallen silent.
He glanced over at Yorna, who had re-lit the tip of her smoking pipe and was flicking out a fresh cloud of purple smoke. The way she puts it into her lungs is as beautiful as it was before she started fighting.
Including the fact that he would still be willing to fight and protect Subaru and the others behind him, with whom he had little or no connection, depending on Olbart's answer.
The Passion of Olbart is not the only one.
"Awh! Ah-, ugh-!"
"This is gonna hurt."
Louis, who flew with him, stepped roughly on Olbart's foot, which Subaru clung to. Louis glared at Olbart, her round eyes narrowed to their fullest.
In response to Subaru's plea, Yorna's question, and Louis's glare, Olbart was silent for a moment and then scratched his head roughly.
And...
"I'm the one who said you can't throw away a game you've already won, but I didn't expect it to be abused like this."
"Is that your answer, sir?"
Yorna's words were quiet, her eyes lowered to meet Olbart's.
There was nothing to it. It was because Olbart sat down on the spot. With Subaru clinging to his back, Olbart showed his teeth and laughed.
"It's all over! Anyone can see that you've lost. If you say it doesn't matter if you win or lose, you're not a Shinobi, you're an animal."
Then he hit his knee with his hand and looked up at the sky, "I lost, I lost!" He looked up at the sky.
Under the blue sky, on top of the beautiful castle that is slowly being restored, one second, two seconds, the end of the ten seconds of despair, the end of the eleven seconds, and the end of that are quietly, surely, being carved.
"I've won......!"
The crying Subaru, sniffling and sobbing, continues to complain.
As he listened to Subaru clinging to his back, Olbart laughed, "Kakakakka!"
"I'll get angry if you keep saying it. --It's annoying."
And then he slapped Subaru's forehead with his hand.
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"I've heard that you and the people in this town are very strong...... Are they stronger than the people in my village?"
"--Gentlemen!"
He hears a voice he's heard many times.
An old man's voice and a woman's voice, both filled with anger. And then--
"Ha, Ahhhhhh!"
The impact of the roof tiles being strongly stepped on ran through his legs, and the pipe and purple smoke swung out furiously. It cleaves, cleaves, cleaves the sky of Chaos Flame sideways--
--Again, a series of explosions sounded, and that red, intense pain came.
"Gy-ahhhhh--!"
"Ahh! Aaaaah!"
He falls on the spot, holding his face in pain and shock from both the bursting and popping eyeballs. He jumped, a light weight pressing down on him, and he knew it too.
He knows, but he can't deal with it. Too much, too little time.
"Guhhhh! Agh, guh, gyaaaaaaaaah!"
The red vision, the pain that felt like his head was cracking open, the soul crying out, "Why?"
All of this makes Subaru waste ten seconds of despair that comes again and again.
The pain prevents him from thinking, and the loss that makes the world red prevents him from seeing his surroundings. Suddenly, everything goes away and comes back, but in just three seconds, he's freshly exposed to the same pain again.
Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death - it's an endless repetition.
I'm going crazy.
"I've heard that you and the people in this town are very strong...... Are they stronger than the people in my village?"
"--Gentlemen!"
He heard the same voice again. The pain and the redness ceased for a moment.
But then again, he'd have to go through the same pain again, and that scared his soul to shreds.
"Aaahhhh--!"
He doesn't want to hear anything. He doesn't want to feel pain. He's scared, scared, scared.
He opened his mouth wide and screamed, his throat heaving. He didn't want to see anything, so he closed his eyes and crouched down with his head in his hands.
And then, the next moment.
"----"
With a thud, Subaru's small body was popped and rolled away from the explosion. The sound became distant and his soul cowered as the pain and red came again.
But...
"--huh"
The pain is not coming.
The pain of one of his eyeballs bursting open and the other popping out never comes. His ears have been broken into kinks, but the world is not red. The only thing that hurts the most is his throat, where he screamed the loudest.
"Wh-, why......"
"Awh!"
Shortly after the stunned voice leaked out, a small body jumped at me.
It's Louis. Louis pulled on his arm and tried to get Subaru to stand up. But he couldn't stand up because his knees were not strong enough and he didn't have an answer for "why".
His throat just tightens up and he starts to cry, glad to be away from that red pain, even for a moment. He can't take it anymore, so he crouches down and cry.
"I--."
"Oh, come on. That's a bad idea."
"--tsk"
In the distance from the crouching, crying Subaru, a battle was going on in a different dimension than Subaru's. --No, the form was tilted so much that the woman's knees could be seen in his blurred vision.
Yorna, with her knees folded, and Olbart standing behind her.
Olbart waves his blood-red right hand and raises an eyebrow in surprise as he looks down at Yorna, who is bleeding from the corner of her mouth.
"......."
"You can't be serious, foxgirl. What kind of body do you have that won't die from this? Isn't that what Cecilus was talking about when he said he couldn't cut off his head?"
"......I would never reveal a maiden's secret to a lousy husband who has a child in his hands."
I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that. When Olbart heard this, he laughed out loud, "Kakakakka!"
He laughed, then waved his blood-soaked sleeve in the air.
"That's a funny thing to say. That's what it means to put your hands on a child."
"Don't wait for me!"
A black ball pulled out from his sleeve - a bomb - was thrown and flew toward Subaru and the others.
Louis quickly intervened in front of Subaru and tried to play it, but it was too late.
The red light exploded in front of Subaru's eyes once again, and the body of Louis, who had jumped forward, and Subaru's body were also engulfed by the light and torn apart.
"I've heard that you and the people in this town are very strong...... Are they stronger than the people in my village?"
"--Gentlemen!"
He heard the same voice again.
△▼△▼△▼△
--The moment the redness and pain disappear, he close his eyes and scream out loud.
That was the absolute law that Subaru, who had had the chance to escape from the red pain again and again and only a few times since then, had obtained.
Anyway, when the redness and pain came all at once, there was nothing more Subaru could do. He would cry, scream, and die.
And just when you think you're dead, you hear that voice again, and you get the red pain from the explosion.
I don't want to do that anymore. I hate it. I don't want to, please, I'm scared.
"I've heard that you and the people in this town are very strong...... Are they stronger than the people in my village?"
"--Gentlemen!"
He heard the same voice again.
At that moment, the pain and the redness all recede, and he feels like he's going to lose all the strength in his body with the momentary relief. He tries to hold it in and do what he has to do.
"Aaahhhh--!"
He opened his big mouth and barked, squeezing his own eyes shut.
While he can't hear himself shouting, maybe Yorna is swinging a flue pipe, swinging it out, and then trying to detonate the bomb that Olbart threw.
So, right after that--
"--tk"
The sound of the explosion and the blast pushed his whole body down, causing Subaru's body to fall on his buttocks on the roof. The corner of the roof tile bit into his butt, and the pain was so sharp that he felt like crying.
But he's not going to cry. He doesn't want to cry and blur my vision. Because...
"I can see......."
He opened his eyes fearfully, they were not popping or popping out, he could see fine.
As usual, his ears were broken from all the ringing, and his throat hurt like it was burning, but not that red pain. He was right. It was good.
If he closes his eyes and scream out loud, he won't have to deal with that terrible red pain.
"Awh!"
When Subaru was about to cry with emotion, Louis hurriedly jumped on top of him. He could finally see Louis's face, but she seemed to be worried about Subaru with her blue eyes wide open.
Without thinking, he hugs Louis's body back, "It's okay!" I shouted.
"Ooh"
"I'm fine! It hurts, it's red, it...... hurts, but I'm okay......."
Anyway, when the redness and pain disappear, close your eyes and shout.
As long as you remember that rule, you won't have to suffer. Subaru was sure of this as he hugged Louis's thin body.
"No, it's not okay at all, you know. Here, here, and here."
Immediately after, he heard a creepy voice, and Subaru looked up reflexively.
The shuriken thrown by Olbart, who smiled as he opened his eyes, came rushing toward Subaru and the others, drawing an irregular trajectory.
The gleam and the dull glow of the Shinobi's dark weapons were all aimed precisely at the vital points.
"Hee."
"I will not tolerate this kind of behavior."
Subaru's throat tightened, and Yorna's back appeared in front of her. She interrupted the trajectory of the approaching shurikens with a smoke pipe and flicked off every one of them as they flew by.
At the same time, the roof tiles on either side of Olbart were flipped up and slammed into the old man with the force of a mousetrap or flyswatter.
But...
"Kakakakka! It's flashy, it looks good, and it's fun!"
He dodged the blow from the roof tiles by twisting his small body.
He had always thought that the bigger you are, the stronger you are, and the wider your range of attack, the better off you are. However, Olbart's agility overturned that impression.
"But I don't need this flashy stuff. Ultimately, a human being can be killed by a deep needle in the forehead."
"I can't believe you're saying that. My fox ears are so irritated. --So, how about this?"
"Oh."
Olbart avoided the flashy attack, and in front of him, Yorna hit the roof with her heel. Then the roof tiles flipped up one after another and began to spin and fly in the air.
It spiraled around the entire roof, narrowing the circle around Olbart as it went. --It was like a tornado.
And...
"Why don't you show me how to escape from a gaping hole, Shinobi?"
Before she could finish, Yorna's outstretched hand was squeezed.
Immediately after, a tornado of swirling tiles surrounded Olbart and compressed him to the center at once. The tiles collided with each other mercilessly, and a fierce, all-crushing sound rang out.
In the center of this fierce destruction, the human body, even if a little sturdy, would not be able to withstand the pressure and would be crushed, making life impossible.
"Ahh......"
Seeing the same thing, Louis also gasped at the flamboyant destructive power of it.
In response to Louis's reaction, Yorna quietly replied, "You must have surprised me."
"I'm sorry I took the liberty of starting this. I look terrible to the Lord and the others......"
"Hey, hey, don't think you're done. I'm telling you, if you live to be an old man, that means you're still alive."
"What--"
Yorna, who was about to turn around, heard the words and her fox ears perked up. If you look, you'll see that the voice came from a whirlpool of roof tiles that had gathered together and crushed the center - the backside of it.
From behind a pile of crumbling rubble, Olbart peeked out, unharmed in the center of the vortex of destruction.
The old man waved his hand with a fluttering motion, laughed with a face full of malice, and said, "Yo."
"It's a Shinobi technique to escape where there's no space. Are you satisfied?"
"Well... Old or rotten, you are still the Nine Divine Generals."
"Kakakakka! That's a terrible thing to say! In the first place, since I was chosen as the Nine Divine Generals, I've always been an old man, you know? Even though I'm old and rotten, I was chosen because I'm much stronger than most people. But what a waste of a girl."
"What's that?"
Yorna frowns at Olbart, who tucks his waving arms into his sleeves and twists his head.
In response to Yorna's question, Olbart continued, "So what?"
"If I didn't have so many people to protect, like the people in the street and the kids in the back, I'd be able to do better."
"--tk"
"You're fighting because you want to protect, but you're getting weaker because you want to protect. That's why you can't reach Her Excellency, no matter how many times you try, you know."
Olbart's yellow eyes pierced Subaru and Louis through Yorna as he told them this.
At that moment, Subaru realized that they were going to be targeted again. Realizing this, he quickly squeezed Louis's hand and said,
"Yorna, Louis and I will disappear! Good luck!"
It's disgusting that he got himself involved and left Yorna to run away.
But if Subaru and the others were here, Yorna would have fought to protect them, been caught in the gap by Olbart, and would have died after all.
That's no good. They've got to avoid that somehow.
"Louis!"
With that exclamation, Subaru grasped Louis's hand tightly, pointing down at his feet.
Connecting the feeling with the instructions, Louis responded, "Uh!" and the transition occurs.
Subaru and Louis's bodies shifted directly below them, inside the castle, and their feet found their way onto the wooden floor.
Confirming this, Subaru bit his back teeth.
"It's......."
He felt the contents of his stomach turn over in a circle, and my head shook. For a moment, the red vision and pain flickered, but it was an incomparable level of disturbance.
All that remains is for Yorna to be able to fight to the fullest after Subaru and the others are gone.
"--, What the hell!?"
Immediately afterwards, what happened overhead was an explosion that stimulated Subaru's freshly made trauma.
A tremendous explosion sounded in rapid succession, and the impact reverberated throughout the castle through the roof, reaching Subaru and the others. Almost cowering at the knees, Subaru struggled to hold it in and looked up at the ceiling.
He can't see it, but it's probably Olbart.
After all the bombs he's dropped, he's still carrying around other bombs.
"Oh. Whoa, whoa, whoa."
"Huh?"
That, Subaru's vision looking up, a wrinkled face slipped through the ceiling and peeked downstairs.
Subaru chokes on his breath at the suddenness of the situation, and then Olbart falls straight down, his face as well as his body slipping through the ceiling.
The old man laughed as he fell from the ceiling.
"That scared the hell out of me. I thought you were just a child, but I failed."
"Ugh-!"
A moment later, Louis kicked her thin legs up at the approaching smile. But the old monster responded with a short "Yo" and swung his arm, cutting her off at the shin.
Spinning around, Louis's white legs flew up, spraying blood, and a scream went up.
"Ah, ahhhhhh--!"
Then, Subaru's eyes widened at the sight of the screaming Louis, and he tried to pull her closer.
He doesn't know if it was to fly, or if it was out of concern for the girl who was crying out in pain over the loss of her leg.
But either way, he couldn't do even that quick action properly.
"Gah"
The moment he thought he heard a swoosh, Subaru's throat burned with more heat than he had screamed. The blood that gushed out of his throat blocked his throat, and he couldn't speak or breathe.
"I don't want to get in trouble if you keep running away. I'm sure you can get through to a foxgirl with just your neck."
As he said this, Olbart's fingers pressed against Subaru's forehead. As soon as he did, his tilted head fell forward and his head rested on Subaru's crumpled knees.
They're connected by the skin of their necks, so they don't fall off, and they're on their knees.
"It's called a hug."
He heard such a bad joke, which was not even funny, and then he couldn't hear it anymore.
And...
"I've heard that you and the people in this town are very strong...... Are they stronger than the people in my village?"
"--Gentlemen!"
He heard the same voice again.
In a flash, he pulled Louis in to see what he had to do, and so.
So, while he was thinking about it, he heard an explosion.
--His vision exploded red, and that pain engulfed Natsuki Subaru once again.
△▼△▼△▼△
--the moment he hears the same voice, he covers his ears, close his eyes, and scream out loud.
This is the law of survival that Subaru has found after dozens of repetitions of the ten seconds of despair.
However, we have yet to find anything in the equation beyond that.
"I've heard that you and the people in this town are very strong...... Are they stronger than the people in my village?"
"--Gentlemen!"
Olbart threw a bomb, and Yorna waved a pipe to knock it down. The impact of a deep step was felt on the soles of his feet, and Subaru remembered that he was back and what he had to do, and followed his imprinted instincts.
Cover your ears, close your eyes, shout loudly, and take in the explosion.
He doesn't know what it does for his eardrums if he keeps his ears covered, his eyeballs if he keeps his eyes closed, or his voice if he shouts loudly, but he always spoke up when he wasn't in pain or red, so he can't imagine not speaking up anymore.
He can't bear the thought of doing something a little different and having the same pain again.
Once the timing is off, he will have to repeat the ten seconds of despair more than ten times in order to get the same chance again.
He hated it. He didn't want to be in pain, and he didn't want to be afraid.
It doesn't get any easier at all. It always hurts. He's always afraid. Death is always beyond the pain and the fear.
So...
"Ahh!"
With his ears and eyes still okay, he catches Louis's body as she jumps on him.
He was also able to survive the first explosion intact for the umpteenth time. The rest was a chain reaction, remembering what would happen next, and so the first time--
"Shuriken."
"Don't think this is the end of the world!"
It was the same time that he remembered and heard Olbart's voice.
In the next moment, flying from all directions was a storm of shurikens, none of which had the same trajectory, and they rained down around Subaru and Louis.
More than ten shurikens, if you take one of them, you won't be able to move.
Yorna tried to jump out of the way to stop him.
"Such disorderly conduct--"
"Yorna! It's okay!"
He stopped Yorna from jumping in with his palm, and changed his outstretched palm to a pointing hand. And then he put all his strength into the hand that was connected with Louis.
"What the fuck?"
A moment later, the shuriken stabbed into the place where Subaru and the others had been, as the vision switched due to the transition that had occurred.
Olbart's eyes widened in surprise at what had happened and the lack of signs of Louis's transition. Yes, even Olbart didn't know, Subaru and the others were keeping it a secret.
Many times before, he used this to escape into the castle. And even then, he was killed in disgust by the pursuing Olbart.
"For one-time use, then......."
We can catch Olbart off guard.
And then, to Olbart's surprise.
"Do not look anywhere else!"
"Chi-- gah"
The flying Yorna's fierce heel drop pierced Olbart from directly above.
In the event that you have any questions regarding where and how to use the internet, please do not hesitate to contact us. As it was, the back of his head slammed into the roof, and with a roar, Olbart's figure disappeared into the Red Lapis Castle.
As expected, Olbart was damaged by that powerful shot.
"Kakakakka! Ow, ow, ow!"
"Are you kidding me!?"
Just as he was about to shout that he had struck the coup de grace, Olbart returned.
Opening another hole in the roof than the one he had been dropped into, Olbart jumped out, teeth bared and his right arm stained red with blood.
He caught Yorna's heel with his arm, and it crumpled like a dead branch.
The disfigurement of his arm made him want to turn away at first glance, but he didn't care. He throws a shuriken with his remaining left arm, aiming at Subaru and the others in front of and behind him, as well as Yorna.
Naturally, Subaru was unable to react. Yorna played the attack that was coming at her with her flue and quickly waved her finger and jumped up the tiles to protect Subaru and the others.
And then...
"Look, it's ninety years old."
As he said this, Olbart suddenly went on a violent rampage.
He stretched out his bloodied right arm and cut it with the kunai of his left hand around his second arm, sending the arm flying towards Yorna, spraying blood.
"----"
In the face of this, Yorna was forced to make a split-second decision.
In other words, you can either brush off the flying arms or dodge them.
But...
"Too bad they're both off."
"Guh......!?"
Before he can act on his answer, his choice to the flying arm, a blast comes from beneath Yorna's feet. It is the hole that leads downstairs, where the previous blow knocked Olbart down.
A tremendous storm literally erupted from there, tearing through Yorna's kimono.
"It's a basic principle of Shinobi. If you can't decide between right and left, you're above them."
"It's on the old man......!"
Yorna's cheeks twisted as her kimono was ripped open by the wind blades all over her body. As it was, she stepped in, ignored the flying bluff arms, and tried to plunge into Olbart.
With that advance of Yorna's, Olbart breathed, "Ah."
"You lied to me about being off."
--The next moment, Olbart's arm, which had flown away, swelled up from the inside and exploded.
"--tsk"
"Yorna-san!!"
Yorna's body was swallowed by the blast that occurred right beside her, and she was blown away. As she rolled around on the roof, Subaru's eyes widened and he shouted with a hoarse throat.
The hole she fell into, the arm that she cut off, all of it is a trap to use.
Ever since she had gotten the impression that Shinobi were ninjas, she knew that they would be incredibly troublesome opponents. She had thought so, but she hadn't expected them to be so "vicious".
Yes, Subaru's shiver and Olbart's turn around were almost simultaneous.
"Louis!"
Subaru shouted the moment he turned around and saw Olbart's eyes glowing ferociously.
He gripped Louis's hand tightly and hoped to make the second transition at a time that was almost like continuous use. Just pointing as far away as possible to get some distance from Olbart--
"Awh awh"
Louis's transition occurs, and Subaru and their bodies move in the blink of an eye.
He moved out of the straight line of Olbart's line of sight and into a position with a large distance between them. Since running into the castle would not save him, there was nothing Subaru could do after escaping the initial explosion except to keep his distance, buy some time, and hope that Yorna would stop Olbart.
And...
"Huh?"
When he tried to hold back his nausea, something hit him on the toes.
He peeled his eyes open to see what had hit him. It was a black, round ball.
The black ball that he had seen so many times before, the one that knocked Subaru into the depths of despair.
"Watch it at once. You'll fly in the direction I point. I don't know how they do it."
So he released the ball in the direction he was pointing, and somehow Olbart shrugged his shoulders.
With one arm missing, the monster is unbalanced, and his shoulder.
"Awh"
Once again, Louis called Subaru that.
Immediately afterwards, light flooded from the black ball that had exploded beneath their feet, and countless pieces of glass that flew out from within scattered, tearing, tearing, tearing Subaru and Louis to shreds.
Blood splattered bright red, and his body was sliced up by splinters that flew into his eyes and mouth, and the sharp pain engulfed his entire body, tearing his limbs to shreds.
"You'll have to wait till you eat it to find out what's in it. Won't that be fun?"
The pain was red again, and that just made his question his sanity.
"I've heard that you and the people in this town are very strong...... Are they stronger than the people in my village?"
"--Gentlemen!"
He heard the same voice again.
"What--"
The moment he heard it, Subaru covered his ears, closed his eyes, and opened his mouth wide. No loud voice came out. He could only make a muffled sound. Even so, the sound of the blast and the wind were still coming at him.
He was hit all over and fell on his butt on the roof. He couldn't follow the rules. He couldn't scream. He was afraid of the pain and the redness that would come. He just--
"Awh!"
The light touch made him jump, and Subaru let out a "ha" breath.
Then he made sure that his eyes and ears and the rest of his body were okay. He didn't have to shout, his eyeballs and eardrums were fine. The voice was not relevant. The mouth might have something to do with it.
He doesn't know. He doesn't know, but--,
"Ughhhhh......."
As he hugged Louis and cried with his back teeth chattering, Subaru just couldn't, for the life of him, find a way to survive after the explosion.
Because he can't find it, he cries, he crouches, and he's stuck again.
"I can't stand to hear a child's whimpering. --It's so annoying."
Once again, the inevitable "death" engulfed Natsuki Subaru.
△▼△▼△▼△
Again and again, he went through the red and the pain, and the helplessness beyond it, and again the pain and the pain and the pain and the pain and the fear, and still he couldn't reach it.
"--Don't you love me. Now."
How many times did he almost get help like that in his ragged state?
Every time you say that, he's sad because he can't do what she says.
"Aah! Aaaaah!"
She desperately pulled Subaru's arm, trying to keep him alive somehow, to keep him from dying.
That's why it's always so hard for her to die before Subaru.
Over and over again, for ten seconds of death and despair.
The red world, the feeling that pain is the only thing that dominates, the feeling of helplessness that no matter how hard he tries, he can't reach it, and he keeps repeating it over and over again until it seems like there is no end.
My head feels like it's going to break. My heart feels like it's going to die.
This is not a 'return by death'.
Things that are not 'return by death' that have been surrounding Natsuki Subaru.
He didn't want to think for a second that the 'return by death' was benevolent.
But it's too much compared to these ten seconds and the endless layers of loss.
--This was a loveless act, so much so that it seemed that there was love in the 'return by death'.
△▼△▼△▼△
"I've heard that you and the people in this town are very strong...... Are they stronger than the people in my village?"
"--Gentlemen!"
He heard the same voice again.
Olbart's aloof voice and Yorna's impatient voice.
The immediate pain and sense of loss disappears, and for a moment, just a few seconds, Subaru comes back to a blue sky and a pain-free body.
His brain is numb, his throat is straining to continue the scream before he dies, and his knees are weakening.
Still, the conditioned reflexes that were already imprinted in his soul made Subaru close his eyes, cover his ears, and leave his mouth open as he continued to scream.
"Ha, Aaaaah!"
A barking Yorna waved her pipe and several explosions were created in the sky of Chaos Flame.
Hot air, shock waves, and the sound of explosions werehed over Subaru and the others, but at this moment, falling on their buttocks was unbearable no matter how many times they tried.
"Awh!"
When Subaru fell on his buttocks, the light body of Louis jumped into him.
He accepted it and hugged her tightly. It was just another conditioned reflex. He's been dying over and over again, and he just misses the warmth of people. That's all.
There is no other reason. There is no other reason, so I bite my back teeth hard.
"From here......"
There was no time for relief as the next attack that would kill Subaru came flying in.
"Don't think this is the end of the world!"
At the same time, Olbart throws shurikens at Subaru and Louis. More than ten blades from all directions, we already know that their sharpness can easily cut through the soft skin of a child.
He had already experienced being killed by shurikens many times. But he can't remember which one was the pain. He doesn't know, because there isn't a single death that doesn't hurt.
"I will not tolerate this kind of behavior."
While he was stumped, Yorna's back broke in front of Subaru's eyes.
She knocked away all the shurikens with the smoking pipe in her hand, then made the roof tiles ripple in return for Olbart, and hit the castle from both sides as if she were pinching it.
"Kakakakka! It's flashy, it looks good, and it's fun!"
Olbart uses his agility to avoid this.
Because of Subaru's delayed reaction, the same trend is being followed. However, there was nothing that Subaru could do in this scene that he had seen so many times already.
When he covered for Yorna who was about to be attacked, when he ran into the castle, when he jumped at Olbart because his head was so messed up, all of them died.
What if all roads, all actions, lead to death?
"But I don't need this flashy stuff. Ultimately, a human being can be killed by a deep needle in the forehead."
"I can't believe you're saying that. My fox ears are so irritated. --So, how about this?"
"Oh."
Yorna responds to Olbart's provocation by tapping the roof with her heel.
One by one, the roof tiles are flipped up, and what emerges is a tornado of destruction swirling around the castle. He knows how powerful it is. But he can't defeat Olbart.
"How do I......?"
Is this fine? We don't know. He has a feeling that another painful and scary one is coming soon.
It will fail. How can he avoid it? The red world, the chorus of pain.
He wants to help Yorna, but she's in the way.
He tried to run away with Louis, but she caught up with him.
If he could have gone back earlier, he never should have come to the roof with Yorna in the first place. If he had left Yorna alone, if he hadn't left her behind, if he hadn't left Abel and the others, if he hadn't told them about Louis, if he hadn't left Al, Medium, Taritta, if he hadn't gotten smaller, if he hadn't been the original Subaru, Zikr, Flop, Mizelda, Cuna, Holly, Utakata, Priscilla, and Rem, and Rem, and Rem, and Rem--..
He has to get Rem back, and he's going to die here.
If being left behind in a world where death is inevitable, and you have no choice but to continue dying forever and ever, what can Subaru do for Natsuki Subaru?
Again and again, death, pain, and the feeling of helplessness washed over Natsuki Subaru.
And he felt like his mind and body were being crushed by it, and then--
"Awh"
Gently, he felt the warmth of the girl holding his hand, and Subaru gasped.
The warmth suddenly made Subaru think.
He can't help it, though, with Natsuki Subaru.
"--What would everyone do?"
△▼△▼△▼△
Painful, red, scary, why, death.
Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death.
Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death. Painful, red, scary, why, death.
It was ten seconds of despair, repeated over and over again.
A never-ending hell of pain and helplessness piled on top of each other, trying to break Subaru's heart again and again.
But after many of those ten seconds of despair, he got to the end of it.
Painful, red, scary, why, death. --to the end of it.
Instead, there were many more possibilities branching out beyond the ten seconds of despair, and there was no answer to what and how he could escape the pain.
Also, Subaru died many times. Many times, he died in pain and agony.
Not one of them worked.
He always made Yorna sad, let Louis die first, and Subaru died too.
-- But there were more than ten seconds of despair ahead.
He's going to use all of that time.
Even if he uses all of it and die for sure, he will get back to the eleventh second, beyond this ten seconds of despair, and think hard.
--I wonder what everyone would do.
"I've heard that you and the people in this town are very strong...... Are they stronger than the people in my village?"
"--Gentlemen!"
He heard the same voice again.
At that moment, Subaru covered his ears, closed his eyes, and opened his mouth to endure the explosion. The sound and impact of the explosion hit his whole body, causing him to fall on his buttocks unbearably.
Immediately, a small body jumped at him, shouting, "Awh!" He catches her and hug her back as if to reassure it, and think about it while he does so.
--I wonder what everyone would do.
"----"
Subaru has gotten smaller.
His arms and legs have shrunk, and he's sure the contents of his head have become childish as well.
If it had been the original Subaru, he could have done and come up with many more things. But the original Subaru wasn't here. He can't even think of a way to deal with it.
If that was the case, then this problem could not be solved by Natsuki Subaru.
So...
"I wonder what everyone would......."
He's encountered many problems and made many mistakes, but he's overcome them together and made it this far.
Right now, Subaru is alone. He is in an empire where almost no one he knows is around.
However, there is something in Subaru that was given to him by everyone.
"I wonder what everyone would......."
What will he do?
What would Otto, Garfiel, Roswaal, Frederica, Petra, Clind, Anne-Rose, Meili, Puck, Ram, Beatrice, Emilia, or everyone else do?
"I wonder what everyone would......."
What will I do?
What would Julius, Anastasia, Scarfdona, Ricardo, Mimi, Hetaro, Tivey, Reinhard, Felt, Old Man Rom, The Three Stooges, Al, Priscilla, Wilhelm, Felix, Crusch, Liliana, Shaula, all of you do? I wonder what everyone would do.
"It's so strong."
He wants everyone who can fight Olbart to stay behind and cheer him on.
Those people who seem to be able to handle that Olbart's wiles and outrageous little tricks and whatnot are not in play this time. I'm sorry. Thank you. I love you.
"I can do magic."
Everyone who can help Yorna may not be able to imitate him if he is Subaru now.
He doesn't want to be a burden to the kind Yorna. But even healing magic might not be useful in this situation. I'm sorry. Thank you. I love you.
"If so......."
How about imitating everyone else who can't give up, who can't stop trying until the very end.
Why don't you use everything you have and try to go beyond the ten seconds of despair, beyond the eleven seconds, and beyond and beyond?
"I will not tolerate this kind of behavior."
A smoke pipe was waved, and the shuriken that had been closing in on Subaru and the others were flicked away with a high-pitched sound.
As it was, the tiles on either side of Olbart flipped up and pinned the monster down in an attempt to crush him.
"----"
Well, he thinks hard as he watches the battle between Yorna and Olbart.
He's died many times, many times. How many times has he seen this scene? He still remembers the pain that makes it so hard to remember.
Just the thought of it makes him cower. His heart shrinks, and his soul begins to cower.
It was as if the very existence of Natsuki Subaru was frozen. But...
"Awh"
The heat from the hand he was holding would not let Subaru freeze to death.
He won't freeze to death, and he'll be able to remember everyone.
Yorna and Olbart, he can't interrupt their fight.
Even if he wanted Yorna to win, Subaru and the others, who are targeted by Olbart, would get in the way. The battle has already started, so one of them has to win to keep the story going.
Maybe it always ends with Olbart winning and Subaru and the others dying.
So, if Subaru and the others can survive, that's all that matters?
That's probably very wrong, too. No, it's not. Yorna has to be safe, too. There has to be a better way. Don't stop thinking about it. You idiot. I'm not giving up here. I'm sure you'll be fine. We're all here for you. You don't want any more pain or suffering, do you? In a fight, a resolution is inevitable. There has to be an opening. I wonder if I can find it. That's the key to victory.
"The key to victory."
Of who? Of the person you're fighting, of course.
So, which one of us is fighting, Yorna or Olbart--?
"No."
"Uh?"
"No, no, no, no, no--!"
Subaru shouted aloud in front of Louis, who twisted his neck.
No, he was wrong. He loves everyone. So...
"The one who wins..."
Again, the red light and pain spread before his eyes, and then--.
"I've heard that you and the people in this town are very strong...... Are they stronger than the people in my village?"
"--Gentlemen!"
He heard the same voice again.
The moment he heard it, Subaru covered his ears, closed his eyes, and crouched down with his mouth open. Immediately afterwards, the sound of the explosion and the shock wave hit his whole body, but this time he did not fall on his buttocks.
With a poof, he let go of his hands and looked up. There was--
"Awh!"
Worried about Subaru, an anxious-looking Louis jumps in.
Subaru hugged Louis from the front and stood up on the spot. And,
"Thanks."
"Uh?"
Subaru said to Louis, who rolled her eyes, and looked over her head to the front.
The pain of his whole body being burned, his bones exposed, and his organs gummed up is still dragging. If he's not careful, he's going to scream, cry, and roll around.
But...
"Don't think this is the end of the world."
As he was saying this, he was about to throw the shuriken that Olbart had pulled out of his sleeves.
Olbart's eyes and Subaru's eyes collided head-on.
The eyes of the "vicious old man" who is relentless in taking the life of any child, and the teary eyes of the child who has felt helpless many times and is still struggling to hold back the tears.
But what did he see in those teary eyes? Olbart's yellow eyes took a turn and intensified their light.
He wasn't just going after Subaru as a tool to get Yorna's attention.
In order to kill Natsuki Subaru, a shuriken is released from the hands of the "Vicious Old Man".
Playless shurikens fly at you.
Feeling a threat that Subaru's eyes couldn't catch, Subaru thrust his lifted finger straight in front of him - at Olbart.
What would everyone do?
He tried very hard to think of everyone's feelings, and then he thought.
Subaru is sure that everyone will believe in him, no matter how tattered he is after dying so many times and feeling helpless and helpless.
It was painful, difficult, scary, and he cried, screamed, peed, and still died in a miserable and hapless way.
He loves everyone.
This, the top of the Red Lapis Castle, the game to die many times, to reach the ten seconds of despair, the eleven seconds beyond that, and further, and whoever wins that--
--It's always the Master who wins!
"Louiiiiis--!!"
Pointing to Olbart, he called out the name of the girl at the end of the connected warmth in a high-pitched voice.
Then he grasped Louis's hand tightly and strongly - and the world changed instantly.
"--What the hell?"
The person he was supposed to kill with the shuriken disappeared, causing Olbart to shout in astonishment.
This is a foul technique that is outside of Olbart's understanding and is completely unnoticed by the cautious Shinobi. The only way to outsmart Olbart is the first time of this transfer, which he will respond to the second time.
And Subaru, who had been transferred and flown by Louis' power--
"Aaahhhh!!"
"Whoa!"
Furiously, he clung to the back of Olbart's head, which was right in front of him.
He clung to the small old man in a desperate attempt to die, and clung to him with the force of a bite to his gray hair. Even Olbart was unable to react to the unexpected moment of transition, when he was clinched.
The old man was not much taller than him, but the little Subaru did his best to assemble him.
Naturally, Olbart tried to pull it off, and Yorna, wide-eyed at the suddenness of the situation, tried to run over to him.
"Whoa! What's that? A monk!"
"Kid! We'll be leaving soon! Old Olbart is at......"
Olbart's arm grabbed Subaru's hair and tried to pull him down forcefully. Even though she wanted to stop him, Yorna was too afraid to make a quick move for fear of getting involved.
While both of them were reacting, Subaru was desperately trying to stay together and shouting out--
"--I win!!"
He shouted.
"--What?"
At that moment, Olbart's hand loosened as he tried to pull Subaru off of him. Yorna also rolled her eyes like that, wondering what Subaru had just said.
Without paying attention to the reactions of the adults, Subaru clung on tightly to Olbart, trying not to let go of him.
"I win...... I win! Mr. Olbart has lost! Right!?"
"So what are you saying, you......"
I told you, "One time is enough!"
"Yeah?"
As the force of the shaking weakened, Subaru finally looked up and spoke to the back of Olbart's white hair in front of him. Sobbing tears and sniffles, both of which were filled with excitement and heart palpitations, Subaru's throat twitched and he began to cry.
"Oh, a game of tag! In hide and seek, you have to find me three times...... but in tag, you only have to catch me once......."
"----"
"So! I won! I got you! I've won the game! Olbart and Yorna were defeated by me! I've won......"
He thought to himself, that's a crazy theory to say.
In the first place, between tag and hide and seek, it was Subaru and the others who chose hide and seek. It's probably cheating to suddenly pull it out and change the rules to chase.
But it was cheating, but he couldn't think of any other way.
And...
"It was Mr. Olbart who cheated first......"
"----"
"That's why I won. I won. I won......"
The tears and runny nose that came pouring out of his eyes became unbearable, and his voice became raspy.
Still, Subaru put all his strength into his clinging arms and would not let go of this cheating victory. He had caught Olbart and won tag. He had won.
"What do we do now, Master Olbart?"
Suddenly, Yorna asked Olbart, who had fallen silent.
He glanced over at Yorna, who had re-lit the tip of her smoking pipe and was flicking out a fresh cloud of purple smoke. The way she puts it into her lungs is as beautiful as it was before she started fighting.
Including the fact that he would still be willing to fight and protect Subaru and the others behind him, with whom he had little or no connection, depending on Olbart's answer.
The Passion of Olbart is not the only one.
"Awh! Ah-, ugh-!"
"This is gonna hurt."
Louis, who flew with him, stepped roughly on Olbart's foot, which Subaru clung to. Louis glared at Olbart, her round eyes narrowed to their fullest.
In response to Subaru's plea, Yorna's question, and Louis's glare, Olbart was silent for a moment and then scratched his head roughly.
And...
"I'm the one who said you can't throw away a game you've already won, but I didn't expect it to be abused like this."
"Is that your answer, sir?"
Yorna's words were quiet, her eyes lowered to meet Olbart's.
There was nothing to it. It was because Olbart sat down on the spot. With Subaru clinging to his back, Olbart showed his teeth and laughed.
"It's all over! Anyone can see that you've lost. If you say it doesn't matter if you win or lose, you're not a Shinobi, you're an animal."
Then he hit his knee with his hand and looked up at the sky, "I lost, I lost!" He looked up at the sky.
Under the blue sky, on top of the beautiful castle that is slowly being restored, one second, two seconds, the end of the ten seconds of despair, the end of the eleven seconds, and the end of that are quietly, surely, being carved.
"I've won......!"
The crying Subaru, sniffling and sobbing, continues to complain.
As he listened to Subaru clinging to his back, Olbart laughed, "Kakakakka!"
"I'll get angry if you keep saying it. --It's annoying."
And then he slapped Subaru's forehead with his hand.