Arc 7, Chapter 63 "Sparka"
--Time goes back only slightly.
"--From now on, I will test you to see if you are qualified to be the Gladiator of this island."
In the room where he was taken out of the healing room and forced into, Gustav looked around with his four strong arms crossed.
A total of four people, including Subaru, were given that mechanical, cold stare.
A gray-scaled skalengecked man in filthy rags, a skinny man with tattoos all over his naked upper body and shaved bald head, and a fearless-looking young man with rust-colored hair.
These were the ones that were pushed into the same room as Subaru.
From what he's hearing now, from Gustav's perspective, Subaru and the men are in the same boat.
However, from the perspective of the person who was thrown in, he seemed to disagree with the idea.
"Wait, Viceroy Gustav! Are you going to start the 'Sparka'? With this child in your ranks? That's no joke!"
A young man with rust-colored hair yells at Subaru when he sees him enter the room at his back.
He had a reasonably well-defined face, but the stubble and the complexion of exhaustion, along with the frustration in his expression of dissatisfaction, cut down on the goodness considerably.
But looking good is not the issue here. As proof of this, two people other than the young man were also eating at Gustav as if they were caught up in the heat of the moment.
"Yeah, man! What good is a kid? This is a life!"
"I don't want to turn gladiatorial combat into a cruel spectacle. I hear that's the Governor's policy......?"
"You are both right. Let's have a satisfactory explanation. Even if we include the child in the group, there are not enough people. I thought we had agreed on a group of five!"
The skalenges, tattoos, and rust-colored hair all raise their voices in unison, and their anger is directed at Gustav.
Subaru, not having a clear understanding of the contents of "Sparka" and his own relationship with them, is in a situation where it is difficult for him to interfere in any way. However, there are some things he does understand.
Apparently, Subaru has betrayed the expectations of those three people, and their dissatisfaction with that is being vented to Gustav.
"......Mr. Gustav, people keep saying this."
"I hear you, Schwarz. Unlike my arms, I only have two ears in my day job, just like you, but I'm going to be able to play my part to the fullest. This one head, too."
"If it is--"
"--Silence. If you interrupt your profession, you are interrupting the Emperor's will."
With that one word, the rust-colored hair crushed the words that followed.
Gustav did not change his complexion or tone of voice. Even so, the weight of the meaning of his words was much heavier than before.
Rust-colored hair as well as the other two shut their mouths. Seeing this, Gustav nodded.
"Very well, I will continue. As I have declared, I will now begin the 'Sparka'. The audience is already made up of the island's resident gladiators, and there are no visitors from the outside. This is a test to see if you are capable of entertaining such important guests."
"Audience......"
With a sense of displeasure, Subaru muttered quietly.
In the current situation, the fake Cecilus, who had been with Subaru until just before the room he was pushed into, said to him as they parted, "Good luck! I'll be watching from up there!"
He didn't confirm what it meant, but this gives him a general idea.
"No way, you're not going to make us fight......"
"Ha! You really don't know anything, do you, kid? If that were the case, we'd be overjoyed to have someone like you in the mix!"
"Ugh......"
As soon as he mentioned the idea, he was mocked by the skalengeckers with their long tongues.
But he has a point. If "Sparka" is to be done with the members present here, then the children would be more than welcome to mix in.
Rather, they were worried that Subaru was out of the force - and they were not.
"Would you rather we all be fighting something?"
"You're a smart boy, kid. I have a temper. Shut up for a minute......"
Correct, and instead of gently praising him, he advised him with bloodshot eyes from his tattoos.
For now, it feels like team play is set to start from the worst possible place. What a situation that is!
"What the hell do you want us to fight?"
"I won't say trained gladiators. I'm not going to talk about you and them. That's all I can tell you from my day job. --The enemy does not always appear in the light of day."
"--? A riddle? That's in poor taste."
Rust-colored hair responds to Gustav's words with the corners of his mouth twisted.
Then he took a small breath and continued, "So," he said.
"I am forced to ask you this, even if I am forced to be silent. If that child is the fourth, what about the fifth? Our 'union' is......"
"Your fifth 'match' is still asleep in the healing room. As long as that one does not awaken, you will have to take on Sparka with only these personnel."
"Are you insane, Governor......!"
"I will use either sanity or madness, if necessary, to do the Emperor's will."
At Gustav's cold-hearted answer, the rust-colored hair looked away as if he was not getting anywhere. Then the rust-colored hair turned his gaze toward Subaru and said, "You."
Subaru's cheeks hardened at the previous swashbuckling and sudden nomination,
"Wha-what the hell is this......"
"Looks like just another poor kid, what can you do? What are your special skills? Any magic? Do you have any useful strengths?"
"U-useful strengths......"
Subaru's eyes swam with panic as he was asked in rapid succession.
Unfortunately, he doesn't feel like he can handle the whip properly after shrinking, and magic is useless without the lovely Beatrice. Other than that, he can't even use the smallest of tricks when he's small.
Subaru is unable to say anything and is silent. At the sight of this, the rust-colored hair put its hand on his forehead and then,
"Really, he's just a kid...... Oh my God."
He muttered in a terribly disappointed voice.
"Hee, heehee. We've got kids and not enough men. It's over, it's over! Over and out!"
"Don't you dare raise your voice, you scaly bastard. Do you want to die for pissing me off......?"
"Huuuh? I can't hear you, you're so quiet!"
The interaction between Subaru and the rust-colored hair was not to Subaru's liking, and the skalengecked man and the tattooed man started a big fight. They glared at each other and looked like they were about to start a fistfight. Then, Rusty-hair intervenes and says, "Wait!"
"What's the point of us fighting! I know you're worried, but listen to me! I was a warrior in the service of the Most High before I came here! If you follow my instructions......"
"Shut up! You were a warrior? Then why are you here? Because you were defeated and taken prisoner! That's bad luck!"
"Nothing is more foolish than to give one's life to another. No one can control my destiny."
"You, you bastard......!"
However, the two skalengeckers and the tattooed one did not listen at all to the words of the rust-colored hair who interrupted them.
In addition, the two of them talked back to him, and the rust-colored hair turned red in the face and started to get angry. He doesn't know what lies ahead, but it's definitely not a good situation.
"G-Gustav......"
"Schwarz, there is nothing I can say from my day job. I have already told you what I intend to do. I will use every drop of blood that flows on this solitary island for the prosperity of the empire. Every drop."
"I don't know what you mean if you rephrase it......."
The three of them struggle, and Subaru, who is left behind, cannot pick up the meaning of Gustav's words.
While looking down at the four of us in such a desperate situation, Gustav would not say anything more to them.
And then--,
△▼△▼△▼△
--The relationship between the four of them was at its worst, and the "Sparka" in question began.
"----"
A circular field surrounded by high walls, it is called a gladiatorial arena, the stage for sword fighters.
Behind the wall, there was a staircase-like seating area, and one could see that the seats were filled with a few shadows of people sitting down, and a quiet heat was rising throughout the venue.
What is eerie, however, is that they overlook the gladiatorial arena - if Gustav's description is correct, they are gladiators - and they are very quiet.
Subaru's own image was that the audience was supposed to make vulgar noises at such occasions.
But such image differences may be unavoidable.
Because it is Gustav who manages and controls this solitary island. --He was sure that the big, inflexible man would not tolerate the gladiator's vulgar attitude.
"There are going to be severe punishments just for running in the hallways."
Subaru turns his eyes away from reality as he does his best to be strong.
Otherwise, he would be forced to force himself to his shaking knees and run away right now.
--The eyes of the magical beast that slowly appears from behind the iron fence that is being opened.
"----"
He recognized the lion-faced beast advancing toward him, its ghastly appearance familiar to him.
It is a large demonic beast that the braided girl brought into the mansion a while ago, and it is also the memorable counterpart that was used as the material for Subaru's whip. The name doesn't come to mind, though.
"Li-lion......?"
"--σσσ!!"
As if in answer to Subaru's call, a lion, a demonic or gladiatorial beast, howled. The howl echoed through the gladiatorial arena, and Subaru could feel the sound echoing through his body.
A gladiatorial beast bigger than that Gustav would have been scary to see from a distance.
"If we don't finish it off, we won't make it."
Glaring at the lion, the rust-colored-haired man said in a bitter voice.
Yes, that's right. That is the condition for ending this "Sparka", a difficult task that Subaru and these three must work together to accomplish.
It was a terrible challenge with no winners in sight.
"Shit, damn it, why am I in this......!"
"Enough whining! We're doing everything we can to survive! Look at that!"
"Ah?"
Covering his face with both hands, the skalengecked man lamented as if it were the end of the world. Tapping him on the shoulder, the rust-colored hair pointed to the edge of the gladiatorial arena, which, from the perspective of Subaru and the others standing diagonally opposite the lion, appeared to be just on the left and right sides of the hall.
Each of them can see what is sticking out there--,
"--Is that a sword?"
"Lo-looks like it to me too......!"
When Subaru agreed with the tattoo's words, he glared at him coldly. But even if your allies don't agree with you, what you see doesn't disappear like smoke.
Stuck in there were indeed two swords.
"He would not just feed them to the gladiators without weapons. The first priority is to secure a weapon. But we can only use the right sword."
"......I know."
The tattoo nodded in agreement with the rust-colored hair. Subaru was of the same opinion, although he did not say anything because he thought he would be stared at if he uttered a voice.
Because the sword on the right was small, but the one on the left was too big.
The sword on the left is so large and the blade is so thick that one might suspect it was intended for Gustav's use, and it is not a sword that can be wielded very well.
Even if the Subaru were not smaller, it is so huge that it seems impossible to lift.
Perhaps rust-colored hair and tattoos are too big for those swords.
So only the smaller sword can be used as a weapon. It would have been reassuring to have a member who could use that larger sword.
"It's that huge. We have no choice but to get a weapon and go for the gladiator's eyes. Scratch what's inside his head and finish him off. That's our only chance to win."
"......Can I use the sword?"
"I told you. I was a warrior. I can use it better than you."
Rust-colored hair answered confidently, and the tattoo closed one eye and pondered. Seemingly forcefully judging that silence as an affirmative, the rust-colored hair turned back to Subaru and the skalengeck.
"When you announce the start of the battle, I will go to secure that sword. In the meantime, keep the gladiators away from me as I will be unprotected."
"Wh-what do I do to keep them away?"
"You can get their attention with a voice or a sound. You can figure that much out for yourself!"
"O-okay......"
Subaru nodded maturely when the rust-colored hair strongly retorted.
It's a pretty scary strategy and daredevil, but it's not like he can think of any other way. And if Rusty-hair is as confident a swordsman as he seems to be, he can take down a lion.
They should be able to finish this dreaded "Sparka" and then we can figure out what to do with themselves.
So--,
"--Then let the 'Sparka' begin!!"
There is a thick, rough proclamation from Gustav, and the unleashed lion poises low.
Intimidated by its intimidation, Subaru sucked in his breath to get the gladiator's attention, to buy time for the rust-colored hair to secure his weapon.
"Gaaaah!?"
"--huh!?"
Faster than he could shout, he exclaimed as he saw a rust-colored hair fall to the ground right next to him.
Rust-colored hair, who was supposed to start running right after Gustav's declaration, he was lying on the ground. That alone was surprising, but what was more surprising was that his face was kicked off as he fell.
It was the supposed fellowship's tattoo that did it.
He brushed his foot off Rusty-hair as he was about to run and kicked him as he fell. Then, after watching the rust-colored hair roll to a great height,
"I told you. I'm not going to put my life in someone else's hands......"
With that said, the tattoo ran off at a brisk pace and headed for the small sword.
Subaru rolls his eyes at this out of the blue, and is left wondering what to do.
"Oh, I'm not going to die! I'm not going to die! I'm not going to die!"
"Hey!?"
A skalengeck screamed in a backwards voice and fled with his back to the lion. As it was, he stuck to the wall of the gladiatorial arena and slowly began to change the color of his scales.
Its gray scales assimilate into the color of the walls, making its large body startlingly difficult to see.
One outwits his friends, one sticks to the wall, one is beaten by his friends, and the last one is so confused by the situation that he just rolls his eyes and panics.
--The worst possible start.
"H-how can I......"
"Is it okay?" Subaru looks at the lion, his face turning blue.
What impression did the gladiatorial beast have when it saw this group with zero sense of unity? Or frightened that its fangs might pierce Subaru the moment it turned around.
However--,
"----"
"Huh?"
The beginning was declared, and the gladiatorial beast thought that it would play with the foolish Subaru and his friends. But the lion, in fact, remained in the same forward posture he had made at the beginning, not making the slightest move.
As if the beginning had not been pronounced.
And with that thought, Subaru realizes. --Subaru realized that the impression he had had was exactly as he had felt it.
"N-no--!"
He reached out his hand and tried to speak to him quickly, but he couldn't continue beyond that point.
Because Subaru did not know his name. You can't call the name of someone you don't know, and how powerful would it be to call someone you don't know?
So there was no power in Subaru's voice to stop what was to come.
"I got it, if I got this......"
Outrunning his companions, the tattoo that ran so vigorously reached the sword stuck in the ground in the gladiatorial arena.
He chuckled and pulled the sword from the ground to feel it in his hand. How much courage did the cold metal feel and its weight give him, who had no hands?
He looked back at him dashingly, and he looked like he had no enemies.
"--σσ!"
Its tattooed face is mercilessly blown off by the paws of a lion that has been swept away.
Sharp claws cut off the tattoo from the neck up, and blood later spurted out of the body, which was too late to realize it was dead, beauteously.
"hee"
Subaru's throat freezes at the sight of this, a horrific scene.
At the same time, he cursed himself from the bottom of his heart for being so stupid as to realize it so late.
The lion got up just as the tattoo gripped the hilt of his sword.
That was the true declaration of commencement for the lions. Until the announcement of the start was made, Subaru and the others were surely still allowed time to plan their strategy.
Subaru and the others ruined it with their impatience and anxiety.
"--σσ!!"
As the sword fell to the ground with a high-pitched thud, the headless tattooed body also fell backward. Indifferent to the death of such prey, the lion howled loudly and began to run furiously with its four large legs. --Straight toward the wall of the gladiatorial arena.
"No, nononono, get away get away get awaaaaay!!"
They do not know in what way the lion found the location of the skalengeckers mimicking the wall. They do not know, but there was no doubt that the skalengeckers screamed and fled, unable to withstand the approaching lion, which was the decisive factor.
"--σσ"
A lion rammed head first into a wall, its powerful head butt crushing the lower half of a skalengecked man who had failed to escape, and the skalengecked man's contents popped out like a frog hit by a car.
"Gah."
The internal organs spit out from the crushed mouth, which are properly red or pink in color, are still intact, even if they are transformed into the same color as the walls, Subaru thinks vaguely.
It was also clear that the crushed skalengeckers died in front of Subaru who thought so.
And then--,
"What a...... what a stupid, stupid thing to do."
Shaking his head, the rust-colored hair spilled out helplessly at the sight of the two deaths.
He must have been desperate to pull together and get through this situation in his own way. And yet, he was outwitted and outrun by one of his friends, and his chances of getting out of this situation completely vanished.
Rust-colored hair also won't expect Subaru to be able to do what they expected from the tattoos and skalenges.
Subaru itself could not believe that it would be able to live up to the expectations, if any.
Such a voice from Subaru's heart may have been conveyed to him when he looked into his eyes.
"......Stay behind me."
How many of them, when they realize they are in a hopeless situation, will be strong enough to face the end?
A man with rust-colored hair who had lost his weapon and his friends, all he could do was at least hope to meet his last moments with integrity.
With the child, Subaru, sheltering behind his back, he glares at the lion who turns around.
At the sight of the lion, it let out a small roar and rushed toward Subaru and the others, kicking the ground with its four strong legs and making a cloud of dust.
"Ugh, uggh......"
It happened so fast that his head was too far up his ass.
If only there was someone here, one of his friends they could rely on, who could have come up with a way to make it work.
Louis, Medium, Flop, Taritta, Al, Abel, Mizelda, Holly, Cuna, Utakata, Rem--.
Who, if they had friends, could they have done something about it?
"I'm......"
Here in this place, Subaru tried to squeeze out a shaky voice.
But it couldn't be done. Not because the lions got to Subaru and the others faster than they could do it - not because they could do it.
Because Subaru's shoulder had been grabbed and he was being forced forward.
"No, I don't want to, I don't want to die--!!"
Screaming, the rust-colored-haired man pushed Subaru in front of the lion.
Rolling his eyes, he had no time to grumble. Just as he was hit by the lion's body slamming straight into him, Subaru's body flew as lightly as a leaf on a tree.
"----"
What a frail body!
Subaru's body was dismembered by a single body blow from the gladiator. His limbs were not shredded, but everything inside was shattered into pieces.
Bones, organs, everything breaks and crumples like it was hit by a truck.
"Help me! I was a mistake! I was lying! I lied about being a warrior! That's how you tried to foil me! Let me out! Let me ouuuut!!"
Spinning around, just below Subaru, who is flying through the air, a rust-colored hair cries out as he jumps against the wall. He is desperately pleading with Gustav, who is on top of the wall.
But Gustav looked nonchalant, not moving an eyebrow, even when he saw the man crying, even snot dripping from his nose.
Perhaps he knew about the rust-colored hair lying?
Maybe they are not at all interested in it, whether it is true or not.
Whichever it was, it doesn't matter.
"Help--"
The rust-colored hair that clung to the wall and sued was hit by the paws of a lion that ran right into it from directly behind, crushing it like a tomato thrown straight into the wall.
The tattoos, the skalengeckers, the rust-colored hair, all fell before the gladiatorial beasts.
"--ssu, Bassu, can you hear me?"
Suddenly, Subaru moved his head languidly as he heard a voice in the noisy ringing of his ears.
Only then does he realize the fact that he was blown up and before he knew it, he was on the ground and rolling around. Not that he had any choice but to realize it.
Also, the voice was on the wall, from where a figure was watching Subaru rolling on the ground.
A boy with blue hair and a face that is somewhat hateful.
"I'm sorry, I guess I was wrong. I thought I could do it, but I'm not like my father. I'm not a good judge of character."
"Ah, ah......"
"I'd like to know if there's anything you'd like to tell your companion when she wakes up. I think it would make sense to at least tell her that, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to find out!"
Fake Cecilus looks at Subaru, who is moaning, but his attitude doesn't change as if he's not.
When he thinks about it, his attitude did not change at all when he woke up, when we talked in the healing room, or even when Subaru was on the verge of dying out like this.
That view of life and death that doesn't seem very sane seems like an element that feels a bit genuine, even though it is a fake Cecilus, who is supposed to be a wolf boy.
If so, he is the most powerful general in this Vollachian empire.
"--it."
"What? Yes? Bassu, please speak louder since it's the last time! I'm afraid you won't be able to repent if it turns out to be the wrong message."
"I, hate it......"
"----"
He puts his hands over his ears and says so to the false Cecilus, who tries to hear Subaru's voice.
The fake Cecilus raised his eyebrows at those words. A little more from the back of his throat.
"I hate the empire, I kind of hate it."
"--Yeah, yeah, sure. I'll remember it well and pass it on, Bassu."
He curses the fake Cecilus, who looks as if he is someone else's problem, taking his bitterness to heart.
But whether the curse will destroy the empire, Subaru cannot be sure.
Because--,
"----σσ"
The gladiatorial beast that comes to Subaru, the last of the four left to fight him, opens its great mouth and, without mercy, swallows Subaru whole from the head.
"--"
The lion's tusks cut through the body universally, even though every bone in the body is already in pieces.
The unfortunate thing was that his body was already so crumpled up that he could no longer feel the pain, so he only felt bad when he was bitten or scraped.
He also tried my best to choke it down, but he couldn't do that either.
Because the last bite bit the head that tried to play tricks on him - and he chewed it off.
△▼△▼△▼△
"If we don't finish it, we won't survive."
It was right after a while of squirming around, surrounded by writhing reddish-black flesh.
The voice, which sounded like a surprise, brought Subaru back to reality. However, it is a reality that is so uncontrollable that it is tempting to mistake it for a nightmare when it happens.
The quiet heat that feels noisy and the dry sandy ground of the gladiatorial arena.
Right beside him are his friends who are each plotting various things to save their own lives as a top priority in the worst moment that is coming before them - no, they are just in the same situation.
If he didn't think so, he wouldn't be able to accept what just happened.
"Ugh, aah, aaaah......"
He thought about it when he should not.
It causes Subaru's whole body to remember the gladiatorial beast's physical assault, the fear of being chewed up, the throwaway anger at reality.
When he remembers, he can't stand very well.
"Damn, you're just a kid after all......Enough, enough! Look at that!"
"Ah?"
Aside from the crouching Subaru, the rust-colored hair directs him to look at the tattoos and the large and small swords prepared by the skalengeckers.
However, their attention is naturally focused on the smaller sword. The larger, unusable swords are ignored, and the policy is set on securing them and defeating the gladiatorial beasts.
"......Can I use the sword?"
"I told you. I was a warrior. I can use it better than you."
The story he had heard earlier continued unobtrusively, and anxiety began to flare up inside Subaru.
But it was an unheard statement to remain trapped in anxiety and fear.
"--That's a lie."
"......what?"
Suddenly, Subaru's voice interrupts the men's strategy meeting.
As soon as he heard this, the tone of the rust-colored-haired man's voice changed. The man turned and looked down at Subaru, who was crouching. Subaru remained on his knees and stared at the man's face.
And then pile it on again.
"You are a liar, you're lying. You are a fucking liar!"
"O-on what basis......! You dare to insult me just because I am a child!"
"Which is the insult! It's much more insulting for you to lie and try to make yourself look respectable! What are you doing trying to look good in a situation like this?"
"G-guh......"
Rust-colored hair was visibly disconcerted by Subaru, who thought he could silence the child by yelling louder, but rather recoiled and bit him.
The upsetting nature of the situation could probably be seen in the tattoos he was talking about.
"......Hey, is it true what the kid said? You mean you're not a warrior and you tried to plot against me?"
'W-wait a minute, that's some child's nonsense! You can't just go spouting nonsense in a place where lives are on the line......"
"Try to convince me that your life is on the line......"
The tattoo grabbed Rusty-hair by the chest, his gaico-style painted face contorted with anger. Rust-colored hair swallowed spit at the swordsmith and gasped low, as if he was having trouble breathing.
Because he interrupted him unintentionally, a fight like this started. If you look, you can see that the skalengeckers, who are not mixed up in the fight, are slowly backing away and beginning to prepare to run away.
The team is once again in a disjointed and disintegrating state, even though Subaru interrupted them.
Moreover, whether Subaru and the others are in such a state or not--,
"--Then let the 'Sparka' begin!!"
Said Gustav, who will not postpone the pronouncement of the beginning of the battle.
"You got something to say--"
"Uh, ahhhh--!!"
A thick voice loudly announces the start of the war, and soon after, a man's voice, turned inside out, cuts through the gladiatorial arena.
If you look, it was a tattoo that was packed in rust-colored hair that was screaming. Apparently, he had been bitten by the hand that grabbed his chest and had his fingers bitten off.
Rust-colored hair runs to the sword, running to the sword, pushing it off the chest of a voice-over tattoo, with blood staining the mouth.
"I-I'm not going to die! I'm not going to die! I'm not going to die!"
And so, opposite of the rust-colored hair running toward the sword, the skalengeckers are sticking to the walls of the gladiatorial arena, just as they did earlier, and beginning a mimetic behavior to change the color of their scales.
The tattooed man, who had lost two fingers, was crouching with his right hand, and Subaru's knees were shaking as he looked at the situation, which was even worse than before.
"This is, unnecessary......! Just be honest and do as I say!"
While Subaru and his friends are away, a rust-colored hair with bloodshot eyes reaches a small sword.
Cursing that his lie had been discovered and that the tattoo had grabbed him, he reached down and plucked his sword from the ground, holding it up with a warrior's touch.
"----σσ"
Then, furiously, the lion, having received the signal to "start", pounced.
What happened is almost identical to what happened just before when the tattoo took the sword. Rust-colored hair does not even have time to swing his sword at the ready, and both arms are blown off after being hit by the gladiator's paws.
With a firm grip on the sword, the rust-colored hair's arms shredded at the elbow and second arm, and just as the rust-colored hair, rolling his eyes, let out a thin "ah" or a thin voice, the lion's powerful body blow repelled the armless man's body and knocked him head first into the wall.
The rust-colored-haired man becomes a stain on the wall, and the roaring gladiatorial beast ignores Subaru and his tattoos and runs straight into the wall behind the gladiatorial arena, running furiously.
"No, nononono, get away get away get awaaaaay!!"
The skalengecked man, who had just transformed into a wall, exclaimed at the intimidation of the lion that was running toward him.
Having given away his position by yelling, the skalengeck rushed to change his position, but he could not do so in time. The lion's rush crushed his lower body and made him spit out his internal organs, a fatal wound.
Then, in a flash, the lion that killed them both slowly turns back to Subaru and the tattooed man and roars a bloody roar.
"hee......"
"Damn, you keep pulling the worst so far......"
His brain goes numb, and his paralyzed thoughts slowly begin to work. This causes Subaru's body to remember his fear, his teeth to click and his insides to tighten up.
The gnashing of teeth tattoo was right, the result was so out of control that we piled the worst on top of the worst and subtracted even worse.
Telling the rust-colored hair that he was a liar meant nothing.
Nothing good would have come from exposing the rust-colored hair lie there, but Subaru did it without thinking. Because of that, it all got mixed up.
"......You still want to live, kid?"
"eh......"
"If you want to live, pick up a sword."
The tattoo said this to Subaru, whose vision was blurred and who looked as if he was about to burst into tears.
If you look, the tattooed man is about to stand up, beating the ground with his bloodied right hand and breaking out in a greasy sweat. As he does so, he cocks his chin and indicates the sword lying on the ground - the rust-colored hair, which has fallen with the stripped arm.
"I'll attract that monster...... you pick up your sword and throw it at me."
"B-but......"
"Even if I'm two fingers short, I can still use it better than the little guy......"
When told so clearly, Subaru was not even able to gulp.
There are two swords, one large and one small, and although he says it is the smaller one by comparison, it is still long and large enough for a child's body to handle. As the tattoo says, even if Subaru wielded it with both hands, he would probably be swept away by its weight and length.
However, if you ask him if a tattoo can take a sword and defeat a lion with it, Subaru, who knows about his death last time, thinks that such a thing will never happen either.
And yet--,
"I, don't want to give up, either......"
"......You are no better than a crook and a coward."
The pain-stricken tattoo contorts his lips and welcomes Subaru's decision.
As it is, the tattoo stares at the lion who is watching us closely, slowly widening the distance between us and Subaru.
It's Weitz......."
"......what?"
"That's my name, Schwarz."
Subaru's eyes widened in surprise when he was called Schwarz.
He wondered where he got that name, but only Gustav calls Subaru Schwarz. So the tattoo - Weitz remembered the name he was called at the first meeting.
Of course, that doesn't add up to anything, and we know that Weitz was a coward last time he tried to outwit the rust-colored hair.
He knows, but--,
"--Go!"
When Weitz shouted that, it was reason enough not to hesitate to run with it.
"----"
Holding back the urge to scream, Subaru runs on the ground of the gladiatorial arena as fast as he can.
Naturally, it is slow. The child's body has short limbs, and the internal organs, atrophied by fear and tension, are in terrible pain. The child's body is short, its limbs are short, and its internal organs, atrophied by fear and tension, are in great pain.
Still, he ran desperately. He ran, and ran, and ran, until he reached the sword.
"Ugh......!"
There are two hands with rust-colored hair attached to the sword, and just looking at them makes me want to throw up. But this is no time to throw up.
Squeezing, he peeled off one stiff finger at a time, forcing the rust-colored-haired hand off the sword.
Then, breathing hard, Subaru lifts his sword.
"Yay, it came off!"
Exhaling loudly, Subaru raises the sword he has taken up. Then he turns around, about to throw the sword in Weitz's direction and--,
"Schwarz!!"
Weitz's frantic voice made the hairs on Subaru's entire body stand on end.
Subaru turned around and a lion with a big mouth was coming at him, filling his entire field of vision. At that moment, he felt like a deer being eaten, and the lion's movements seemed to be in slow motion.
"----"
Slowly, a scary looking lion approaches.
He could have dodged it, but he couldn't escape at all due to the slow motion of his own movements as he watched it. However, he continued to throw the sword that he was swinging.
At the very least, he wants to finish throwing the sword before the lion's attack hits.
--Hurry, hurry, hurry hurry hurry hurry hurry!!
With frustrating slowness, the voice in Subaru's mind cries out desperately, wishing into his arms and fingers.
Perhaps it reached him, the sword finally leaves Subaru's hand, and it whirls and spins vertically as it flies past the diving lion and toward Weitz.
Weitz, reaching out with his missing finger, is shouting something to Subaru, who is being attacked by a lion. But he doesn't know what that cry is. Even if he didn't know, he was glad.
Anyway, if only they would put that thrown sword to good use.
"Wo, woaaaah--!!"
Just when you think you've done your part, the slow world returns to normal.
A howling lion jumps in and a screaming Subaru falls on his butt, expecting to be torn apart by the claws or fangs of the gladiatorial beast. Tears and snot gushing out in a gush stained his face, and Subaru prepared himself to look incredibly pathetic in death.
And yet--,
"--Huh?
The lion's attack that was supposed to kill Subaru did not reach him.
Because the lion stuck its front foot into the ground in front of Subaru's eyes, killing its momentum, and then slammed its leaping back foot into Weitz directly behind it.
"buh"
Weitz receives Subaru's thrown sword and slashes at the lion from behind. Weitz's tattooed face is shattered by the lion's hind hoof.
Just as before, Weitz was again blown from the neck up and died. The sword he had swung fell out of his hand and rolled on the ground in the distance.
"----σσ"
And slowly, the lion that killed Weitz turned his attention to Subaru.
There was no naivety to let me off the hook, only a ferocious intent to kill.
"Bassu! Bassu! Excuse me, do you think we can recover from that?"
Behind him, calling out from the spectator's seats in the gladiatorial arena, is the fake Cecilus, who was watching this hapless battle. He looked down at Subaru, who was falling on his buttocks.
"The awakening of a hidden power or the unleashing of a sealed technique triggered by the untimely death of a comrade! Is it likely? Is it unlikely?"
"......I don't, there's no such thing."
"So it seems. Sorry, I guess I was wrong about my prospects! Do you have a message for the girl with you or something? I thought it would make sense to at least do that!"
Subaru let out a "Ha" breath as he was told in a very easygoing tone, the same as at the moment of his death earlier. What was different from earlier was that the bones of Subaru's body were not yet in pieces.
Even though he might fall apart after this, even though he's scared to death, he's still not dead yet.
"Cessy, I just have one question."
"Not a message, but a question? A posthumous souvenir? Whether or not my answer will match that of Bassu's will be a test of the flamboyant actor's brilliance."
"Why didn't that lion kill me earlier?"
"--Hmm."
Pointing to the gladiator in front of him, Subaru asks this of the false Cecilus on the wall.
Being the wolf boy that he is, he doesn't know if he will give him the straight answer that Subaru wants. He just consoled himself that it wasn't so bad for a last bad attempt.
In response to Subaru's question, the fake Cecilus stroked his own thin chin.
"That's easy, Bassu. --A beast is a beast, no matter how ferocious it is. Then, the beast only hunts by instinct. Instinct is the power to live."
"......What do you mean?"
"If Bassu were that beast, who would he go after first?"
The riddle-like phrasing does not reduce Subaru to a simple question and answer.
Irritated, Subaru wondered what the fake Cecilus meant by those words. If Subaru were that lion, who on earth would he be targeting?
He wondered what the reason would be if he were to go for it - and he's not sure what the reason would be.
"--ah"
Suddenly, it occurred to him. That's what it means, it becomes clear to him.
And then--,
"When she wakes up, I'll tell her that Bassu was brave. I'm a terrible liar, so thank God he was brave!"
He heard such an insensitive voice, but there was no time to say it back.
As Subaru's eyes widened in understanding, the lion standing in front of him swung his paw down.
Subaru heard the sound of his own crushing for the first time.
△▼△▼△▼△
"If we don't finish it, we won't survive."
His head was crushed, his shoulders were crushed, his body was crushed, his buttocks were crushed, everything was crushed.
Slowly, Subaru savored it as if it were someone else's, thinking that a body breaks down like that when it is hit by an attack of a weight and speed that the human body cannot withstand.
Of course, it really can't be someone else's problem.
If he could, he would have suffered less. The pain and fear would have been minimal. Still, Chaos Flame is also a great experience for Subaru to be able to think about how to think.
--Those ten hellish seconds.
Because of that, Subaru knew the importance of just a few seconds.
He knew it all too well.
"Shit, damn it, why am I in this......!"
"Enough whining! We need to do everything we can to survive! That thing--"
Right beside him, a skalengeck and rust-colored hair are struggling to accept the situation at hand.
Subaru exclaims as he listens to that conversation that he already knows.
"Weitz! Hold that guy!"
"What......?"
The moment Subaru shouted this, the tattoo - the tattoo on Weitz's face - distorted in confusion.
Of course. Subaru knew his name even though he had never said it. And even though he had never said his name, he was not about to do the bidding of a creepy kid.
But neither the bewildered Weitz nor the rust-colored-haired and skalenged skalenges, who were surprised by Subaru's sudden loud voice, had time to stop Subaru's sudden action.
And then--,
"--Lion! Who are you aiming at!?"
Subaru's small hand, shouting, forcefully grabbed the sword that was stuck in the ground.
At that moment, without waiting for Gustav's command, the gladiatorial beast howled, its feet kicked the ground, and it came barreling furiously toward Subaru - and it was a great surprise.
"If Bassu were that beast, who would he go after first?"
The words of the fake Cecilus, like a riddle, are burned in Subaru's brain with pain.
Yes, yes. If Subaru were a lion, he would target the 'dangerous ones' first. For example, in this place, he would target those with weapons.
"----σσ"
Subaru bit his back teeth in the face of the howling, lunging lion. There is a visceral shudder of fear, but he will not be defeated, he will not run away, and he will not cry.
He's been killed twice already, and no matter how many more times he has to go through this horror.
"I don't think he's going to cry and throw up anytime soon just because he's a kid!!"
Working with cowards, cowards, and cheaters, they will fight this "Sparka" with all their might, with all their strength, with all their heart and soul.
--In a moment of determination, the lion's powerful paws furiously blew away Natsuki Subaru's third attempt, and his life.
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--Time goes back only slightly.
"--From now on, I will test you to see if you are qualified to be the Gladiator of this island."
In the room where he was taken out of the healing room and forced into, Gustav looked around with his four strong arms crossed.
A total of four people, including Subaru, were given that mechanical, cold stare.
A gray-scaled skalengecked man in filthy rags, a skinny man with tattoos all over his naked upper body and shaved bald head, and a fearless-looking young man with rust-colored hair.
These were the ones that were pushed into the same room as Subaru.
From what he's hearing now, from Gustav's perspective, Subaru and the men are in the same boat.
However, from the perspective of the person who was thrown in, he seemed to disagree with the idea.
"Wait, Viceroy Gustav! Are you going to start the 'Sparka'? With this child in your ranks? That's no joke!"
A young man with rust-colored hair yells at Subaru when he sees him enter the room at his back.
He had a reasonably well-defined face, but the stubble and the complexion of exhaustion, along with the frustration in his expression of dissatisfaction, cut down on the goodness considerably.
But looking good is not the issue here. As proof of this, two people other than the young man were also eating at Gustav as if they were caught up in the heat of the moment.
"Yeah, man! What good is a kid? This is a life!"
"I don't want to turn gladiatorial combat into a cruel spectacle. I hear that's the Governor's policy......?"
"You are both right. Let's have a satisfactory explanation. Even if we include the child in the group, there are not enough people. I thought we had agreed on a group of five!"
The skalenges, tattoos, and rust-colored hair all raise their voices in unison, and their anger is directed at Gustav.
Subaru, not having a clear understanding of the contents of "Sparka" and his own relationship with them, is in a situation where it is difficult for him to interfere in any way. However, there are some things he does understand.
Apparently, Subaru has betrayed the expectations of those three people, and their dissatisfaction with that is being vented to Gustav.
"......Mr. Gustav, people keep saying this."
"I hear you, Schwarz. Unlike my arms, I only have two ears in my day job, just like you, but I'm going to be able to play my part to the fullest. This one head, too."
"If it is--"
"--Silence. If you interrupt your profession, you are interrupting the Emperor's will."
With that one word, the rust-colored hair crushed the words that followed.
Gustav did not change his complexion or tone of voice. Even so, the weight of the meaning of his words was much heavier than before.
Rust-colored hair as well as the other two shut their mouths. Seeing this, Gustav nodded.
"Very well, I will continue. As I have declared, I will now begin the 'Sparka'. The audience is already made up of the island's resident gladiators, and there are no visitors from the outside. This is a test to see if you are capable of entertaining such important guests."
"Audience......"
With a sense of displeasure, Subaru muttered quietly.
In the current situation, the fake Cecilus, who had been with Subaru until just before the room he was pushed into, said to him as they parted, "Good luck! I'll be watching from up there!"
He didn't confirm what it meant, but this gives him a general idea.
"No way, you're not going to make us fight......"
"Ha! You really don't know anything, do you, kid? If that were the case, we'd be overjoyed to have someone like you in the mix!"
"Ugh......"
As soon as he mentioned the idea, he was mocked by the skalengeckers with their long tongues.
But he has a point. If "Sparka" is to be done with the members present here, then the children would be more than welcome to mix in.
Rather, they were worried that Subaru was out of the force - and they were not.
"Would you rather we all be fighting something?"
"You're a smart boy, kid. I have a temper. Shut up for a minute......"
Correct, and instead of gently praising him, he advised him with bloodshot eyes from his tattoos.
For now, it feels like team play is set to start from the worst possible place. What a situation that is!
"What the hell do you want us to fight?"
"I won't say trained gladiators. I'm not going to talk about you and them. That's all I can tell you from my day job. --The enemy does not always appear in the light of day."
"--? A riddle? That's in poor taste."
Rust-colored hair responds to Gustav's words with the corners of his mouth twisted.
Then he took a small breath and continued, "So," he said.
"I am forced to ask you this, even if I am forced to be silent. If that child is the fourth, what about the fifth? Our 'union' is......"
"Your fifth 'match' is still asleep in the healing room. As long as that one does not awaken, you will have to take on Sparka with only these personnel."
"Are you insane, Governor......!"
"I will use either sanity or madness, if necessary, to do the Emperor's will."
At Gustav's cold-hearted answer, the rust-colored hair looked away as if he was not getting anywhere. Then the rust-colored hair turned his gaze toward Subaru and said, "You."
Subaru's cheeks hardened at the previous swashbuckling and sudden nomination,
"Wha-what the hell is this......"
"Looks like just another poor kid, what can you do? What are your special skills? Any magic? Do you have any useful strengths?"
"U-useful strengths......"
Subaru's eyes swam with panic as he was asked in rapid succession.
Unfortunately, he doesn't feel like he can handle the whip properly after shrinking, and magic is useless without the lovely Beatrice. Other than that, he can't even use the smallest of tricks when he's small.
Subaru is unable to say anything and is silent. At the sight of this, the rust-colored hair put its hand on his forehead and then,
"Really, he's just a kid...... Oh my God."
He muttered in a terribly disappointed voice.
"Hee, heehee. We've got kids and not enough men. It's over, it's over! Over and out!"
"Don't you dare raise your voice, you scaly bastard. Do you want to die for pissing me off......?"
"Huuuh? I can't hear you, you're so quiet!"
The interaction between Subaru and the rust-colored hair was not to Subaru's liking, and the skalengecked man and the tattooed man started a big fight. They glared at each other and looked like they were about to start a fistfight. Then, Rusty-hair intervenes and says, "Wait!"
"What's the point of us fighting! I know you're worried, but listen to me! I was a warrior in the service of the Most High before I came here! If you follow my instructions......"
"Shut up! You were a warrior? Then why are you here? Because you were defeated and taken prisoner! That's bad luck!"
"Nothing is more foolish than to give one's life to another. No one can control my destiny."
"You, you bastard......!"
However, the two skalengeckers and the tattooed one did not listen at all to the words of the rust-colored hair who interrupted them.
In addition, the two of them talked back to him, and the rust-colored hair turned red in the face and started to get angry. He doesn't know what lies ahead, but it's definitely not a good situation.
"G-Gustav......"
"Schwarz, there is nothing I can say from my day job. I have already told you what I intend to do. I will use every drop of blood that flows on this solitary island for the prosperity of the empire. Every drop."
"I don't know what you mean if you rephrase it......."
The three of them struggle, and Subaru, who is left behind, cannot pick up the meaning of Gustav's words.
While looking down at the four of us in such a desperate situation, Gustav would not say anything more to them.
And then--,
△▼△▼△▼△
--The relationship between the four of them was at its worst, and the "Sparka" in question began.
"----"
A circular field surrounded by high walls, it is called a gladiatorial arena, the stage for sword fighters.
Behind the wall, there was a staircase-like seating area, and one could see that the seats were filled with a few shadows of people sitting down, and a quiet heat was rising throughout the venue.
What is eerie, however, is that they overlook the gladiatorial arena - if Gustav's description is correct, they are gladiators - and they are very quiet.
Subaru's own image was that the audience was supposed to make vulgar noises at such occasions.
But such image differences may be unavoidable.
Because it is Gustav who manages and controls this solitary island. --He was sure that the big, inflexible man would not tolerate the gladiator's vulgar attitude.
"There are going to be severe punishments just for running in the hallways."
Subaru turns his eyes away from reality as he does his best to be strong.
Otherwise, he would be forced to force himself to his shaking knees and run away right now.
--The eyes of the magical beast that slowly appears from behind the iron fence that is being opened.
"----"
He recognized the lion-faced beast advancing toward him, its ghastly appearance familiar to him.
It is a large demonic beast that the braided girl brought into the mansion a while ago, and it is also the memorable counterpart that was used as the material for Subaru's whip. The name doesn't come to mind, though.
"Li-lion......?"
"--σσσ!!"
As if in answer to Subaru's call, a lion, a demonic or gladiatorial beast, howled. The howl echoed through the gladiatorial arena, and Subaru could feel the sound echoing through his body.
A gladiatorial beast bigger than that Gustav would have been scary to see from a distance.
"If we don't finish it off, we won't make it."
Glaring at the lion, the rust-colored-haired man said in a bitter voice.
Yes, that's right. That is the condition for ending this "Sparka", a difficult task that Subaru and these three must work together to accomplish.
It was a terrible challenge with no winners in sight.
"Shit, damn it, why am I in this......!"
"Enough whining! We're doing everything we can to survive! Look at that!"
"Ah?"
Covering his face with both hands, the skalengecked man lamented as if it were the end of the world. Tapping him on the shoulder, the rust-colored hair pointed to the edge of the gladiatorial arena, which, from the perspective of Subaru and the others standing diagonally opposite the lion, appeared to be just on the left and right sides of the hall.
Each of them can see what is sticking out there--,
"--Is that a sword?"
"Lo-looks like it to me too......!"
When Subaru agreed with the tattoo's words, he glared at him coldly. But even if your allies don't agree with you, what you see doesn't disappear like smoke.
Stuck in there were indeed two swords.
"He would not just feed them to the gladiators without weapons. The first priority is to secure a weapon. But we can only use the right sword."
"......I know."
The tattoo nodded in agreement with the rust-colored hair. Subaru was of the same opinion, although he did not say anything because he thought he would be stared at if he uttered a voice.
Because the sword on the right was small, but the one on the left was too big.
The sword on the left is so large and the blade is so thick that one might suspect it was intended for Gustav's use, and it is not a sword that can be wielded very well.
Even if the Subaru were not smaller, it is so huge that it seems impossible to lift.
Perhaps rust-colored hair and tattoos are too big for those swords.
So only the smaller sword can be used as a weapon. It would have been reassuring to have a member who could use that larger sword.
"It's that huge. We have no choice but to get a weapon and go for the gladiator's eyes. Scratch what's inside his head and finish him off. That's our only chance to win."
"......Can I use the sword?"
"I told you. I was a warrior. I can use it better than you."
Rust-colored hair answered confidently, and the tattoo closed one eye and pondered. Seemingly forcefully judging that silence as an affirmative, the rust-colored hair turned back to Subaru and the skalengeck.
"When you announce the start of the battle, I will go to secure that sword. In the meantime, keep the gladiators away from me as I will be unprotected."
"Wh-what do I do to keep them away?"
"You can get their attention with a voice or a sound. You can figure that much out for yourself!"
"O-okay......"
Subaru nodded maturely when the rust-colored hair strongly retorted.
It's a pretty scary strategy and daredevil, but it's not like he can think of any other way. And if Rusty-hair is as confident a swordsman as he seems to be, he can take down a lion.
They should be able to finish this dreaded "Sparka" and then we can figure out what to do with themselves.
So--,
"--Then let the 'Sparka' begin!!"
There is a thick, rough proclamation from Gustav, and the unleashed lion poises low.
Intimidated by its intimidation, Subaru sucked in his breath to get the gladiator's attention, to buy time for the rust-colored hair to secure his weapon.
"Gaaaah!?"
"--huh!?"
Faster than he could shout, he exclaimed as he saw a rust-colored hair fall to the ground right next to him.
Rust-colored hair, who was supposed to start running right after Gustav's declaration, he was lying on the ground. That alone was surprising, but what was more surprising was that his face was kicked off as he fell.
It was the supposed fellowship's tattoo that did it.
He brushed his foot off Rusty-hair as he was about to run and kicked him as he fell. Then, after watching the rust-colored hair roll to a great height,
"I told you. I'm not going to put my life in someone else's hands......"
With that said, the tattoo ran off at a brisk pace and headed for the small sword.
Subaru rolls his eyes at this out of the blue, and is left wondering what to do.
"Oh, I'm not going to die! I'm not going to die! I'm not going to die!"
"Hey!?"
A skalengeck screamed in a backwards voice and fled with his back to the lion. As it was, he stuck to the wall of the gladiatorial arena and slowly began to change the color of his scales.
Its gray scales assimilate into the color of the walls, making its large body startlingly difficult to see.
One outwits his friends, one sticks to the wall, one is beaten by his friends, and the last one is so confused by the situation that he just rolls his eyes and panics.
--The worst possible start.
"H-how can I......"
"Is it okay?" Subaru looks at the lion, his face turning blue.
What impression did the gladiatorial beast have when it saw this group with zero sense of unity? Or frightened that its fangs might pierce Subaru the moment it turned around.
However--,
"----"
"Huh?"
The beginning was declared, and the gladiatorial beast thought that it would play with the foolish Subaru and his friends. But the lion, in fact, remained in the same forward posture he had made at the beginning, not making the slightest move.
As if the beginning had not been pronounced.
And with that thought, Subaru realizes. --Subaru realized that the impression he had had was exactly as he had felt it.
"N-no--!"
He reached out his hand and tried to speak to him quickly, but he couldn't continue beyond that point.
Because Subaru did not know his name. You can't call the name of someone you don't know, and how powerful would it be to call someone you don't know?
So there was no power in Subaru's voice to stop what was to come.
"I got it, if I got this......"
Outrunning his companions, the tattoo that ran so vigorously reached the sword stuck in the ground in the gladiatorial arena.
He chuckled and pulled the sword from the ground to feel it in his hand. How much courage did the cold metal feel and its weight give him, who had no hands?
He looked back at him dashingly, and he looked like he had no enemies.
"--σσ!"
Its tattooed face is mercilessly blown off by the paws of a lion that has been swept away.
Sharp claws cut off the tattoo from the neck up, and blood later spurted out of the body, which was too late to realize it was dead, beauteously.
"hee"
Subaru's throat freezes at the sight of this, a horrific scene.
At the same time, he cursed himself from the bottom of his heart for being so stupid as to realize it so late.
The lion got up just as the tattoo gripped the hilt of his sword.
That was the true declaration of commencement for the lions. Until the announcement of the start was made, Subaru and the others were surely still allowed time to plan their strategy.
Subaru and the others ruined it with their impatience and anxiety.
"--σσ!!"
As the sword fell to the ground with a high-pitched thud, the headless tattooed body also fell backward. Indifferent to the death of such prey, the lion howled loudly and began to run furiously with its four large legs. --Straight toward the wall of the gladiatorial arena.
"No, nononono, get away get away get awaaaaay!!"
They do not know in what way the lion found the location of the skalengeckers mimicking the wall. They do not know, but there was no doubt that the skalengeckers screamed and fled, unable to withstand the approaching lion, which was the decisive factor.
"--σσ"
A lion rammed head first into a wall, its powerful head butt crushing the lower half of a skalengecked man who had failed to escape, and the skalengecked man's contents popped out like a frog hit by a car.
"Gah."
The internal organs spit out from the crushed mouth, which are properly red or pink in color, are still intact, even if they are transformed into the same color as the walls, Subaru thinks vaguely.
It was also clear that the crushed skalengeckers died in front of Subaru who thought so.
And then--,
"What a...... what a stupid, stupid thing to do."
Shaking his head, the rust-colored hair spilled out helplessly at the sight of the two deaths.
He must have been desperate to pull together and get through this situation in his own way. And yet, he was outwitted and outrun by one of his friends, and his chances of getting out of this situation completely vanished.
Rust-colored hair also won't expect Subaru to be able to do what they expected from the tattoos and skalenges.
Subaru itself could not believe that it would be able to live up to the expectations, if any.
Such a voice from Subaru's heart may have been conveyed to him when he looked into his eyes.
"......Stay behind me."
How many of them, when they realize they are in a hopeless situation, will be strong enough to face the end?
A man with rust-colored hair who had lost his weapon and his friends, all he could do was at least hope to meet his last moments with integrity.
With the child, Subaru, sheltering behind his back, he glares at the lion who turns around.
At the sight of the lion, it let out a small roar and rushed toward Subaru and the others, kicking the ground with its four strong legs and making a cloud of dust.
"Ugh, uggh......"
It happened so fast that his head was too far up his ass.
If only there was someone here, one of his friends they could rely on, who could have come up with a way to make it work.
Louis, Medium, Flop, Taritta, Al, Abel, Mizelda, Holly, Cuna, Utakata, Rem--.
Who, if they had friends, could they have done something about it?
"I'm......"
Here in this place, Subaru tried to squeeze out a shaky voice.
But it couldn't be done. Not because the lions got to Subaru and the others faster than they could do it - not because they could do it.
Because Subaru's shoulder had been grabbed and he was being forced forward.
"No, I don't want to, I don't want to die--!!"
Screaming, the rust-colored-haired man pushed Subaru in front of the lion.
Rolling his eyes, he had no time to grumble. Just as he was hit by the lion's body slamming straight into him, Subaru's body flew as lightly as a leaf on a tree.
"----"
What a frail body!
Subaru's body was dismembered by a single body blow from the gladiator. His limbs were not shredded, but everything inside was shattered into pieces.
Bones, organs, everything breaks and crumples like it was hit by a truck.
"Help me! I was a mistake! I was lying! I lied about being a warrior! That's how you tried to foil me! Let me out! Let me ouuuut!!"
Spinning around, just below Subaru, who is flying through the air, a rust-colored hair cries out as he jumps against the wall. He is desperately pleading with Gustav, who is on top of the wall.
But Gustav looked nonchalant, not moving an eyebrow, even when he saw the man crying, even snot dripping from his nose.
Perhaps he knew about the rust-colored hair lying?
Maybe they are not at all interested in it, whether it is true or not.
Whichever it was, it doesn't matter.
"Help--"
The rust-colored hair that clung to the wall and sued was hit by the paws of a lion that ran right into it from directly behind, crushing it like a tomato thrown straight into the wall.
The tattoos, the skalengeckers, the rust-colored hair, all fell before the gladiatorial beasts.
"--ssu, Bassu, can you hear me?"
Suddenly, Subaru moved his head languidly as he heard a voice in the noisy ringing of his ears.
Only then does he realize the fact that he was blown up and before he knew it, he was on the ground and rolling around. Not that he had any choice but to realize it.
Also, the voice was on the wall, from where a figure was watching Subaru rolling on the ground.
A boy with blue hair and a face that is somewhat hateful.
"I'm sorry, I guess I was wrong. I thought I could do it, but I'm not like my father. I'm not a good judge of character."
"Ah, ah......"
"I'd like to know if there's anything you'd like to tell your companion when she wakes up. I think it would make sense to at least tell her that, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to find out!"
Fake Cecilus looks at Subaru, who is moaning, but his attitude doesn't change as if he's not.
When he thinks about it, his attitude did not change at all when he woke up, when we talked in the healing room, or even when Subaru was on the verge of dying out like this.
That view of life and death that doesn't seem very sane seems like an element that feels a bit genuine, even though it is a fake Cecilus, who is supposed to be a wolf boy.
If so, he is the most powerful general in this Vollachian empire.
"--it."
"What? Yes? Bassu, please speak louder since it's the last time! I'm afraid you won't be able to repent if it turns out to be the wrong message."
"I, hate it......"
"----"
He puts his hands over his ears and says so to the false Cecilus, who tries to hear Subaru's voice.
The fake Cecilus raised his eyebrows at those words. A little more from the back of his throat.
"I hate the empire, I kind of hate it."
"--Yeah, yeah, sure. I'll remember it well and pass it on, Bassu."
He curses the fake Cecilus, who looks as if he is someone else's problem, taking his bitterness to heart.
But whether the curse will destroy the empire, Subaru cannot be sure.
Because--,
"----σσ"
The gladiatorial beast that comes to Subaru, the last of the four left to fight him, opens its great mouth and, without mercy, swallows Subaru whole from the head.
"--"
The lion's tusks cut through the body universally, even though every bone in the body is already in pieces.
The unfortunate thing was that his body was already so crumpled up that he could no longer feel the pain, so he only felt bad when he was bitten or scraped.
He also tried my best to choke it down, but he couldn't do that either.
Because the last bite bit the head that tried to play tricks on him - and he chewed it off.
△▼△▼△▼△
"If we don't finish it, we won't survive."
It was right after a while of squirming around, surrounded by writhing reddish-black flesh.
The voice, which sounded like a surprise, brought Subaru back to reality. However, it is a reality that is so uncontrollable that it is tempting to mistake it for a nightmare when it happens.
The quiet heat that feels noisy and the dry sandy ground of the gladiatorial arena.
Right beside him are his friends who are each plotting various things to save their own lives as a top priority in the worst moment that is coming before them - no, they are just in the same situation.
If he didn't think so, he wouldn't be able to accept what just happened.
"Ugh, aah, aaaah......"
He thought about it when he should not.
It causes Subaru's whole body to remember the gladiatorial beast's physical assault, the fear of being chewed up, the throwaway anger at reality.
When he remembers, he can't stand very well.
"Damn, you're just a kid after all......Enough, enough! Look at that!"
"Ah?"
Aside from the crouching Subaru, the rust-colored hair directs him to look at the tattoos and the large and small swords prepared by the skalengeckers.
However, their attention is naturally focused on the smaller sword. The larger, unusable swords are ignored, and the policy is set on securing them and defeating the gladiatorial beasts.
"......Can I use the sword?"
"I told you. I was a warrior. I can use it better than you."
The story he had heard earlier continued unobtrusively, and anxiety began to flare up inside Subaru.
But it was an unheard statement to remain trapped in anxiety and fear.
"--That's a lie."
"......what?"
Suddenly, Subaru's voice interrupts the men's strategy meeting.
As soon as he heard this, the tone of the rust-colored-haired man's voice changed. The man turned and looked down at Subaru, who was crouching. Subaru remained on his knees and stared at the man's face.
And then pile it on again.
"You are a liar, you're lying. You are a fucking liar!"
"O-on what basis......! You dare to insult me just because I am a child!"
"Which is the insult! It's much more insulting for you to lie and try to make yourself look respectable! What are you doing trying to look good in a situation like this?"
"G-guh......"
Rust-colored hair was visibly disconcerted by Subaru, who thought he could silence the child by yelling louder, but rather recoiled and bit him.
The upsetting nature of the situation could probably be seen in the tattoos he was talking about.
"......Hey, is it true what the kid said? You mean you're not a warrior and you tried to plot against me?"
'W-wait a minute, that's some child's nonsense! You can't just go spouting nonsense in a place where lives are on the line......"
"Try to convince me that your life is on the line......"
The tattoo grabbed Rusty-hair by the chest, his gaico-style painted face contorted with anger. Rust-colored hair swallowed spit at the swordsmith and gasped low, as if he was having trouble breathing.
Because he interrupted him unintentionally, a fight like this started. If you look, you can see that the skalengeckers, who are not mixed up in the fight, are slowly backing away and beginning to prepare to run away.
The team is once again in a disjointed and disintegrating state, even though Subaru interrupted them.
Moreover, whether Subaru and the others are in such a state or not--,
"--Then let the 'Sparka' begin!!"
Said Gustav, who will not postpone the pronouncement of the beginning of the battle.
"You got something to say--"
"Uh, ahhhh--!!"
A thick voice loudly announces the start of the war, and soon after, a man's voice, turned inside out, cuts through the gladiatorial arena.
If you look, it was a tattoo that was packed in rust-colored hair that was screaming. Apparently, he had been bitten by the hand that grabbed his chest and had his fingers bitten off.
Rust-colored hair runs to the sword, running to the sword, pushing it off the chest of a voice-over tattoo, with blood staining the mouth.
"I-I'm not going to die! I'm not going to die! I'm not going to die!"
And so, opposite of the rust-colored hair running toward the sword, the skalengeckers are sticking to the walls of the gladiatorial arena, just as they did earlier, and beginning a mimetic behavior to change the color of their scales.
The tattooed man, who had lost two fingers, was crouching with his right hand, and Subaru's knees were shaking as he looked at the situation, which was even worse than before.
"This is, unnecessary......! Just be honest and do as I say!"
While Subaru and his friends are away, a rust-colored hair with bloodshot eyes reaches a small sword.
Cursing that his lie had been discovered and that the tattoo had grabbed him, he reached down and plucked his sword from the ground, holding it up with a warrior's touch.
"----σσ"
Then, furiously, the lion, having received the signal to "start", pounced.
What happened is almost identical to what happened just before when the tattoo took the sword. Rust-colored hair does not even have time to swing his sword at the ready, and both arms are blown off after being hit by the gladiator's paws.
With a firm grip on the sword, the rust-colored hair's arms shredded at the elbow and second arm, and just as the rust-colored hair, rolling his eyes, let out a thin "ah" or a thin voice, the lion's powerful body blow repelled the armless man's body and knocked him head first into the wall.
The rust-colored-haired man becomes a stain on the wall, and the roaring gladiatorial beast ignores Subaru and his tattoos and runs straight into the wall behind the gladiatorial arena, running furiously.
"No, nononono, get away get away get awaaaaay!!"
The skalengecked man, who had just transformed into a wall, exclaimed at the intimidation of the lion that was running toward him.
Having given away his position by yelling, the skalengeck rushed to change his position, but he could not do so in time. The lion's rush crushed his lower body and made him spit out his internal organs, a fatal wound.
Then, in a flash, the lion that killed them both slowly turns back to Subaru and the tattooed man and roars a bloody roar.
"hee......"
"Damn, you keep pulling the worst so far......"
His brain goes numb, and his paralyzed thoughts slowly begin to work. This causes Subaru's body to remember his fear, his teeth to click and his insides to tighten up.
The gnashing of teeth tattoo was right, the result was so out of control that we piled the worst on top of the worst and subtracted even worse.
Telling the rust-colored hair that he was a liar meant nothing.
Nothing good would have come from exposing the rust-colored hair lie there, but Subaru did it without thinking. Because of that, it all got mixed up.
"......You still want to live, kid?"
"eh......"
"If you want to live, pick up a sword."
The tattoo said this to Subaru, whose vision was blurred and who looked as if he was about to burst into tears.
If you look, the tattooed man is about to stand up, beating the ground with his bloodied right hand and breaking out in a greasy sweat. As he does so, he cocks his chin and indicates the sword lying on the ground - the rust-colored hair, which has fallen with the stripped arm.
"I'll attract that monster...... you pick up your sword and throw it at me."
"B-but......"
"Even if I'm two fingers short, I can still use it better than the little guy......"
When told so clearly, Subaru was not even able to gulp.
There are two swords, one large and one small, and although he says it is the smaller one by comparison, it is still long and large enough for a child's body to handle. As the tattoo says, even if Subaru wielded it with both hands, he would probably be swept away by its weight and length.
However, if you ask him if a tattoo can take a sword and defeat a lion with it, Subaru, who knows about his death last time, thinks that such a thing will never happen either.
And yet--,
"I, don't want to give up, either......"
"......You are no better than a crook and a coward."
The pain-stricken tattoo contorts his lips and welcomes Subaru's decision.
As it is, the tattoo stares at the lion who is watching us closely, slowly widening the distance between us and Subaru.
It's Weitz......."
"......what?"
"That's my name, Schwarz."
Subaru's eyes widened in surprise when he was called Schwarz.
He wondered where he got that name, but only Gustav calls Subaru Schwarz. So the tattoo - Weitz remembered the name he was called at the first meeting.
Of course, that doesn't add up to anything, and we know that Weitz was a coward last time he tried to outwit the rust-colored hair.
He knows, but--,
"--Go!"
When Weitz shouted that, it was reason enough not to hesitate to run with it.
"----"
Holding back the urge to scream, Subaru runs on the ground of the gladiatorial arena as fast as he can.
Naturally, it is slow. The child's body has short limbs, and the internal organs, atrophied by fear and tension, are in terrible pain. The child's body is short, its limbs are short, and its internal organs, atrophied by fear and tension, are in great pain.
Still, he ran desperately. He ran, and ran, and ran, until he reached the sword.
"Ugh......!"
There are two hands with rust-colored hair attached to the sword, and just looking at them makes me want to throw up. But this is no time to throw up.
Squeezing, he peeled off one stiff finger at a time, forcing the rust-colored-haired hand off the sword.
Then, breathing hard, Subaru lifts his sword.
"Yay, it came off!"
Exhaling loudly, Subaru raises the sword he has taken up. Then he turns around, about to throw the sword in Weitz's direction and--,
"Schwarz!!"
Weitz's frantic voice made the hairs on Subaru's entire body stand on end.
Subaru turned around and a lion with a big mouth was coming at him, filling his entire field of vision. At that moment, he felt like a deer being eaten, and the lion's movements seemed to be in slow motion.
"----"
Slowly, a scary looking lion approaches.
He could have dodged it, but he couldn't escape at all due to the slow motion of his own movements as he watched it. However, he continued to throw the sword that he was swinging.
At the very least, he wants to finish throwing the sword before the lion's attack hits.
--Hurry, hurry, hurry hurry hurry hurry hurry!!
With frustrating slowness, the voice in Subaru's mind cries out desperately, wishing into his arms and fingers.
Perhaps it reached him, the sword finally leaves Subaru's hand, and it whirls and spins vertically as it flies past the diving lion and toward Weitz.
Weitz, reaching out with his missing finger, is shouting something to Subaru, who is being attacked by a lion. But he doesn't know what that cry is. Even if he didn't know, he was glad.
Anyway, if only they would put that thrown sword to good use.
"Wo, woaaaah--!!"
Just when you think you've done your part, the slow world returns to normal.
A howling lion jumps in and a screaming Subaru falls on his butt, expecting to be torn apart by the claws or fangs of the gladiatorial beast. Tears and snot gushing out in a gush stained his face, and Subaru prepared himself to look incredibly pathetic in death.
And yet--,
"--Huh?
The lion's attack that was supposed to kill Subaru did not reach him.
Because the lion stuck its front foot into the ground in front of Subaru's eyes, killing its momentum, and then slammed its leaping back foot into Weitz directly behind it.
"buh"
Weitz receives Subaru's thrown sword and slashes at the lion from behind. Weitz's tattooed face is shattered by the lion's hind hoof.
Just as before, Weitz was again blown from the neck up and died. The sword he had swung fell out of his hand and rolled on the ground in the distance.
"----σσ"
And slowly, the lion that killed Weitz turned his attention to Subaru.
There was no naivety to let me off the hook, only a ferocious intent to kill.
"Bassu! Bassu! Excuse me, do you think we can recover from that?"
Behind him, calling out from the spectator's seats in the gladiatorial arena, is the fake Cecilus, who was watching this hapless battle. He looked down at Subaru, who was falling on his buttocks.
"The awakening of a hidden power or the unleashing of a sealed technique triggered by the untimely death of a comrade! Is it likely? Is it unlikely?"
"......I don't, there's no such thing."
"So it seems. Sorry, I guess I was wrong about my prospects! Do you have a message for the girl with you or something? I thought it would make sense to at least do that!"
Subaru let out a "Ha" breath as he was told in a very easygoing tone, the same as at the moment of his death earlier. What was different from earlier was that the bones of Subaru's body were not yet in pieces.
Even though he might fall apart after this, even though he's scared to death, he's still not dead yet.
"Cessy, I just have one question."
"Not a message, but a question? A posthumous souvenir? Whether or not my answer will match that of Bassu's will be a test of the flamboyant actor's brilliance."
"Why didn't that lion kill me earlier?"
"--Hmm."
Pointing to the gladiator in front of him, Subaru asks this of the false Cecilus on the wall.
Being the wolf boy that he is, he doesn't know if he will give him the straight answer that Subaru wants. He just consoled himself that it wasn't so bad for a last bad attempt.
In response to Subaru's question, the fake Cecilus stroked his own thin chin.
"That's easy, Bassu. --A beast is a beast, no matter how ferocious it is. Then, the beast only hunts by instinct. Instinct is the power to live."
"......What do you mean?"
"If Bassu were that beast, who would he go after first?"
The riddle-like phrasing does not reduce Subaru to a simple question and answer.
Irritated, Subaru wondered what the fake Cecilus meant by those words. If Subaru were that lion, who on earth would he be targeting?
He wondered what the reason would be if he were to go for it - and he's not sure what the reason would be.
"--ah"
Suddenly, it occurred to him. That's what it means, it becomes clear to him.
And then--,
"When she wakes up, I'll tell her that Bassu was brave. I'm a terrible liar, so thank God he was brave!"
He heard such an insensitive voice, but there was no time to say it back.
As Subaru's eyes widened in understanding, the lion standing in front of him swung his paw down.
Subaru heard the sound of his own crushing for the first time.
△▼△▼△▼△
"If we don't finish it, we won't survive."
His head was crushed, his shoulders were crushed, his body was crushed, his buttocks were crushed, everything was crushed.
Slowly, Subaru savored it as if it were someone else's, thinking that a body breaks down like that when it is hit by an attack of a weight and speed that the human body cannot withstand.
Of course, it really can't be someone else's problem.
If he could, he would have suffered less. The pain and fear would have been minimal. Still, Chaos Flame is also a great experience for Subaru to be able to think about how to think.
--Those ten hellish seconds.
Because of that, Subaru knew the importance of just a few seconds.
He knew it all too well.
"Shit, damn it, why am I in this......!"
"Enough whining! We need to do everything we can to survive! That thing--"
Right beside him, a skalengeck and rust-colored hair are struggling to accept the situation at hand.
Subaru exclaims as he listens to that conversation that he already knows.
"Weitz! Hold that guy!"
"What......?"
The moment Subaru shouted this, the tattoo - the tattoo on Weitz's face - distorted in confusion.
Of course. Subaru knew his name even though he had never said it. And even though he had never said his name, he was not about to do the bidding of a creepy kid.
But neither the bewildered Weitz nor the rust-colored-haired and skalenged skalenges, who were surprised by Subaru's sudden loud voice, had time to stop Subaru's sudden action.
And then--,
"--Lion! Who are you aiming at!?"
Subaru's small hand, shouting, forcefully grabbed the sword that was stuck in the ground.
At that moment, without waiting for Gustav's command, the gladiatorial beast howled, its feet kicked the ground, and it came barreling furiously toward Subaru - and it was a great surprise.
"If Bassu were that beast, who would he go after first?"
The words of the fake Cecilus, like a riddle, are burned in Subaru's brain with pain.
Yes, yes. If Subaru were a lion, he would target the 'dangerous ones' first. For example, in this place, he would target those with weapons.
"----σσ"
Subaru bit his back teeth in the face of the howling, lunging lion. There is a visceral shudder of fear, but he will not be defeated, he will not run away, and he will not cry.
He's been killed twice already, and no matter how many more times he has to go through this horror.
"I don't think he's going to cry and throw up anytime soon just because he's a kid!!"
Working with cowards, cowards, and cheaters, they will fight this "Sparka" with all their might, with all their strength, with all their heart and soul.
--In a moment of determination, the lion's powerful paws furiously blew away Natsuki Subaru's third attempt, and his life.
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