Arc 7, Chapter 70 "One Piece"
--The most important thing in asking Old Man Null for a 'pill' was certainty.
Originally, Old Man Null was not an avid student of medicine.
The only thing that you have to do is to go to the healing room and get in and out while you are treating your fellow gladiators.
Even the people on the administration side of the island wouldn't give Old Man Null, one of the gladiators, a highly effective pill that could be used as either poison or pill.
That's why it was impossible for Old Man Null to concoct a pill - a fast-acting 'deleterious pill'.
The only thing Old Man Null could make was a deleterious concoction of as many drugs as he could get his hands on that would make his opponent die by derailing the blood flow throughout his body.
The existence of this deleterious substance - which, if consumed, would cause great suffering and then absolute death - was, however, convenient for Subaru, depending on how you look at it.
"After all, I'm a lazy asshole at heart."
Considering Subaru's spoiled nature, a poison that would kill him without causing him pain is out of the question.
He would surely think about starting over immediately on the slightest thing and start relying on the poison's potency. By doing so, Natsuki Subaru becomes a monster.
To an inhuman monster who doesn't understand human pain and suffering.
"That's a definite no-no."
The memory and feeling of the time when his arms and legs were fully grown are already fading away. Even so, Subaru's experience and philosophy must not be twisted too far.
The change in his nature is a betrayal to everyone who has accepted this Subaru.
You can betray yourself, but you can't betray everyone, not even your family.
Natsuki Subaru can be put off, but Natsuki Subaru's bond cannot.
So--,
"......I feel bad for Old Man Null who lied about using it against the enemies of 'Sparka'."
Natsuki Subaru would not withdraw his outstretched hand even if he had to suffer through hell.
That's because it's the one core that won't bend even if it's the Gladiator Island.
△▼△▼△▼△
He tried to be strong--,
"Gah, guh, gee......"
With his teeth nearly broken, Subaru endures the heartbreaking agony. --No, he doesn't. The pain to endure has already been left behind.
He died and went back, so the suffering that caused him to die is nowhere to be found.
But his soul is dragging. That's why the tears and snot won't stop dripping.
"Hey, Schwartz......! What's going on all of a sudden......!"
"I-I'm all raigh......"
"How can you be all right...... if you look so ugly......!"
Weitz's voice trembles as Subaru crouches there, his face stained with various juices.
He ran up to him, woke up Subaru and wiped his noses with his bare hands without hesitation. Subaru is always impressed by his attitude.
It was an amazing and admirable thing to be able to act on something dirty without feeling dirty.
"Ahh, ugh......"
After being roughly wiped of his runny nose and tears, Subaru puts his hand to his dazed head.
Little by little, the shocking past of his death slips away, and he embraces the slow and sluggish present of being alive. This leisurely switch of consciousness usually happens every time Subaru dies from the "pill".
The "poison" that he has planted behind his back teeth as a trump card to ensure his death, but surprisingly, this does not come into play in many of Subaru's deaths on the Gladiator Island.
Deaths during "Sparka" are overwhelmingly caused by claws and fangs from gladiatorial beasts.
However, if he still couldn't die, or if he managed to do so with a casualty, he has no choice but to let this 'pill' do its job.
It was a torture that Natsuki Subaru had to bear.
Because--,
"......It's my fault I screwed up."
If the people who should be able to do the most about it fail, what should the rest of them do?
Subaru has a responsibility. A responsibility that he has the best chance of being able to do something about.
Even if it's not the power he wanted and got, Natsuki Subaru can use it.
Because he is Natsuki Kenichi's son.
"--tsk, what the......?!"
"The Drawbridge......"
He pressed his fist into the dirty floor and the entire island creaked and shook as he tried to raise himself up.
Weitz, who was in front of him and the dim, cold air made Subaru realize that the place he died and returned to was the lower level of the Gladiator Island - just before the drawbridge went up.
The only bridge between the outside world and the solitary island.
In other words--,
"--It's coming."
That scene, like a hellscape itself, and the worst enemy that made it.
He's in a rematch with Todd - the man he prayed never to see again.
"----"
The horrified and frightened Subaru hugs his own shoulders.
As soon as he closes his eyes, what comes back to him behind his eyelids is the horrific scene of dead bodies everywhere. The worst memory he has is of a familiar face lying there, scared and trembling, bleeding from the eyes and nose.
It was no exception for Weitz, who wiped Subaru's runny nose right in front of him.
"Oh, no. Never again......"
A sense of duty burns in his heart that he mustn't let it happen.
However, even though he was so enthusiastic, his thoughts stopped at the question of what to do. How in the world did they create that desperate situation?
Todd and Arakiya go to the Gladiator Island as emissaries from the Imperial Capital.
One of the 'Nine Divine Generals' who have been enemies with each other are enough to give him a headache, but to add Todd, a demon human, to the mix is his worst nightmare.
Why are Todd and Arakiya together in the first place?
"......Idiot, remember, me. He's the one who let the captured Arakiya escape."
Guess it was a shocker, but his Todd-related memory is surprisingly clear.
Subaru and Todd's fateful relationship, the last of which was in the high-walled city - Guaral, in the middle of an operation to take over the city hall. The last time they saw Subaru dressed as a woman, and the last time they have contact with him.
After that, the red Priscilla killed the rampaging Arakiya, and then someone let Arakiya, who should have caught him, escape, and Subaru suspected that it was not Todd.
If they're together now, it would mean that he wasn't wrong to imagine that.
"Shit, you said you wanted to go back to your fiancée, why are you here? Why don't you just grow up and move back to your hometown...... that big lying bastard......!"
He could snarl at him for making a different promise, but that wouldn't make Todd go away. Even though he knew that, he had to let out his pent up anger at least once.
Do that, then take a big breath in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out.
And--,
"The next 'Sparka' sacrifice......"
"Not necessarily. Weitz, can I get some help?"
"--. Did you forget what I just said......?"
The tattoo on Weitz's face distorted as Subaru asked this, feeling the tremors in his feet.
Weitz said those words to him at this point in time. Hiss head was in a panic from the aftermath of the "pill", but he remembers them because they had such a big impact.
"Just give me your power, right? So lend me your power."
"If you understand....... So, what do you want me to do......?"
Naturally, they go to see the next potential gladiator who comes across the drawbridge.
He would have thought he would have suggested that, but Weitz, with his arms crossed, switched quickly. That righteousness and stubbornly following his own rules once he've set them is really helpful.
With great appreciation for the character of that Weitz--,
"Just a little bit. I just need you to hold up the people who are coming to the island right now."
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--Natsuki Subaru's only weapon, the power of "Return by Death".
It was clearly becoming dysfunctional as it came to the Vollachian Empire and overcame various obstacles.
The biggest reason that comes to mind as a cause is the ongoing 'infantilization' that has hit Subaru.
Ever since his body shrunk in this way, the "Return by Death" has been completely out of whack.
The best experience of this was the worst ten seconds in the Red Lapis Castle in Chaos Flame.
It was an endless ten seconds that seemed to be given not to save Subaru, but to make him despair, and the situation remained bad even on the Gladiator Island, where he was sent immediately after it passed.
It's not as long as the ten seconds in the keep, but the reprieve given is uncommonly short.
Again, he was able to get back in roughly thirty minutes - even less time if you consider the limit to be when everyone on the island started dying.
In other words, Subaru has to rewrite the situation in less than thirty minutes.
That's why--,
"I need time to think first. --Remember, remember, remember what happened."
He accepted the request, and, taking advantage of Weitz's assurance that he would do so with such force, he asked him to delay the visiting messenger's passage to the island.
However, he also told him that there would be no maneuver where Weitz himself would go on a rampage.
The reason is simple: if Weitz goes on a rampage and Arakiya is there, he will be stopped in an instant. Furthermore, if Todd is there, Weitz will be killed without mercy.
Both of these events were things Subaru wanted to avoid.
"They all bled to death from the face...... poison gas? That kind of magic?"
He was in the middle of confiding in him that he was going to escape from the Gladiator Island.
Hiain and Weitz and Idola were taken down one after the other, and Tanza was no exception to that. They all died the same way, and maybe there wasn't even a difference there.
If it means the cause of death is the same, then the other gladiators who had fallen - no.
"The guards were dead, too."
If he remembers the events that took place properly, there was really no exception to that hell.
He couldn't think straight at the time, and he didn't check to see if the gladiators in the cage were alive, but at least all the humans were dead, without exception - and that was different. There were exceptions.
"Me and Todd."
Yes, Subaru and Todd were the only two people on the island who didn't die and face each other.
However, even if he didn't die, the pain of dying and the same bleeding from the face that everyone else was experiencing was happening to Subaru. Todd didn't seem to be so sure.
It's hard to imagine that was skinny, which is why Todd was not subject to that death.
"If it's poison gas, did Todd drink the antidote before coming here? If it's that kind of magic...... was it Arakiya who used it? Come to think of it, Arakiya was nowhere to be found."
He didn't mean to, but he'd checked every known corpse.
Tanza and the others who collapsed in front of him, of course, but also Orson and the others he saved in the second "Sparka", Old Man Null who spent time in the healing room, and the guards he knew with a harsh salt treatment.
They were all stuck there, all bleeding from the face.
"But there are three faces I haven't seen."
--That's Arakiya, Gustav, and the fake Cecilus.
"----"
Of course, Subaru couldn't really say that all of them were dead, since he couldn't remember all of the sword guys on the island either. But those three were definitely not there.
Arakiya is on Todd's side. Since he's on Todd's side, who was probably the mastermind behind that massacre, it's only natural that he didn't die in it.
But what about the other two?
Gustav, the island's administrator and governor, and the mysterious, suspicious child, Fake Cecilus.
Those two are in a special position on this Gladiator Island--.
"--ah"
Yes, just as he remembered those two special people, a bolt of lightning suddenly struck Subaru's brain.
The massacre that had taken place on the island, and while he suspected poison gas or magic as the method that had brought it about, there was one other possibility that came to mind, albeit a feeble one.
It's a thing that has great influence only in this Gladiator Island - the 'curse rule'.
The gladiators of Ginunhive, a solitary Gladiator Island, are bound together by an invisible cripple.
A cursed rule that is said to endanger even your life if you defy it, and that's what makes you a candidate.
"But the curse rule is just a threat, it shouldn't really exist."
Subaru himself was convinced of this after risking his life to communicate with Gustav.
He had ruined Gustav's reputation by telling him in no uncertain terms that he was escaping from the Gladiator Island, and that he was defying the will of the Emperor of Volakia, to whom he had sworn his allegiance.
If there really was a curse rule, Gustav would have used it there. If he didn't make an example of Subaru like that, the order of the Gladiator Island would fall apart.
The only thing that could happen is that they would be told that there was no curse and if the gladiators went on the rampage, it would be a big deal.
"Even if Mr. Gustav doesn't want us to die, it doesn't make sense to bend it. So there shouldn't be any curse rules...... no, I'm thinking too much."
Gustav's policy of keeping sword guys as dead as possible, with or without them, there were more obvious negatives to the curse rule. There were plenty of them, lying around.
It wasn't only the gladiators who were dead, but also the guards.
"There's no reason for Mr. Gustav to annihilate the guards. ......If you say that, there is no reason to suddenly kill all gladiators."
The more he thinks about it, the more the massacre and Gustav's intentions seem irrelevant.
If that's the case, it seems like we can go back to the very beginning and narrow our reasoning down to two choices: either Todd, the ringleader, sprayed poison gas, or he worked with Arakiya and used outrageous magic.
However, the two have exactly the same problem.
"Why was I the only one whose effect was weak?"
Apart from Todd, who had probably taken precautions beforehand, Subaru was the only one whose symptoms were mild.
What could Subaru be the only thing that makes him different from everyone else who died?
That she was a child? --No, Tanza was dead.
The difference in last-minute actions? No-- no, Weitz was dead.
Did the race make a difference? --No, Hiain and Idola died together.
Being otherworldly? Spending time in a kingdom? Being in a contractual relationship with a super cute spirit? Being stalked by a "witch"? That he's smaller than hiss original body due to 'infantilization'? What else, what else what else what else what else, what else is there?
--Only Subaru is different from everyone else, that's what.
"What the--"
"--Oh, Bassu, is something troubling you?"
"Woah?!"
A voice from behind Subaru, who was frantically racking his brain for possibilities.
Because of the suddenness of the incident and the fact that he was the one who had kept the possibility of being approached out of his mind, Subaru screamed and turned around and opening his eyes.
Behind Subaru, walking with his hand in the sleeve of his own kimono is the fake Cecilus.
Subaru blinked a few times at his usual, lighthearted demeanor.
"Ce-Cessy......?"
"Yes, I am, but what's with the reaction? I look as if I am here in a strange, unfolding world. Sure, I'm one of the stars of the world, so I know it's intimidating, but I think I've been within touching distance of talking to Bassu."
As you see, the fake Cecilus comes in front of him and peeks down at Subaru's face from a distance that's almost breathtaking.
The Subaru backed away from that too unchanged attitude and gestures.
Then, the fake Cecilus gently looks at the view below from the side of Subaru who had backed away - the already sunken drawbridge from next to Subaru who had climbed up to higher ground.
"The dragon carriage was not carrying the participants of the next 'Sparka', but rather another guest. The whole island is talking about it."
"......Oh, it seems he's an emissary from the Imperial Capital. I don't know what they're doing here."
"When you become an envoy of the Imperial Capital, you can think of a meeting about the next performance or a meeting about the outside situation. As Bassu wants to go outside, wouldn't this be good news for you?"
"--. I won't deny it."
Subaru replies to the fake Cecilus, who makes a shelter with his hand and looks at the surface of the lake, in a few words.
To be honest, this unscheduled encounter with the fake Cecilus had made Subaru unable to decide on his attitude towards him.
He doesn't think the fake Cecilus was the one who committed the massacre with Todd and the others.
But it's true that he was supposed to be the most feared gladiator in the Gladiator Island, but he had disappeared during that massacre.
"Me too, even though I doubt my ears were working properly......"
It's a terrible situation and he can't say he's mentally stable.
Still, he can assure him that if someone was fighting or fighting on the island, there was no way he would have missed it.
So if he thinks about what would have happened to the fake Cecilus back then--,
"Did you die somewhere I didn't see you or weren't you on the island?"
But if he weren't on the island, where and how.
Even at this moment when he's talking to the fake Cecilus, the time to the time limit is approaching, even though the fake Cecilus doesn't have any time to spare until that ridiculous situation.
"I won't deny it. But you look like that when you have other concerns."
Subaru ponders, and the fake Cecilus picks the end of his murky words with only instinct.
It's not like he read Subaru's complexion or what he said or did, it's probably just a hunch. It's intuition. It's people like the fake Cecilus and the others who draw the right answers from that.
It's in a world filled with a handful of such monsters that Subaru's resolve is called into question.
He's not going to lose, and he won't lose, and he's determined.
"Cessy, something terrible is about to happen on the island. Maybe some guys from the Imperial Capital will do something about it. I can't tell you what exactly, but......"
"Considering the seriousness of the situation, it is a terrible incident to mention...... The plight of that deer girl and those in the 'union' with Bassu. No, it's like a place of death."
"--tk"
"Oh no, Bassu's response is remarkable and comforting! But is it? I'm glad to hear that there are signs. I'm dying of anticipation!"
Laughing open-mouthed, the fake Cecilus stomped his foot with authority.
Subaru was taken aback by the response, which was nothing short of a welcome for trouble, and then leaned forward to close the distance.
"Cessy! I ain't joking! We're all in trouble!"
"It's more superimposed! I'm glad you're not joking. I'd welcome it more if you'd tell me that everything here is a made-up thought, because it's more whitewashed. Crisis, predicament, difficulty, great help!"
"--tsk!"
"Or do you think I'm going to unconditionally side with Bassu?"
When Subaru doesn't understand the gravity of the matter, the fake Cecilus's voice lowers as he complains. It was as if Subaru was the one who didn't understand.
His long, slitted blue eyes were as cold as blades, and Subaru gulped.
The fake Cecilus smiled at Subaru, who was silent as he did so,
"--Right here, right here."
As he said straight to Subaru, and then he spun around and spread his arms.
As if it were set in the middle of this Gladiator Island, on a hill overlooking half of the island and the lake. The fake Cecilus looked up at the sky and opened his mouth wide--,
"This is the watershed moment! You asked if you could have me on your side unconditionally, and I'm here to tell you that the way to fulfill that condition is this very moment."
"Right now, in this moment......"
"Yeah, yeah, that's right! Bassu charms me with his premonition! Connecting with anticipation! I'll play games, I'll laugh! And I'm going to prove it in the mountains!"
"----"
"Come now, wolf pierced by the sword! Behold the spectators who look down on this harsh and cruel land! Who will enchant this Cecilus Segmunt!"
The audience is beyond the sky, the loudest voice that you can only make if you are sure of its presence.
Subaru, however, received a strange assurance from the antics of the fake Cecilus, whose sanity should have been doubted, and whose actions no one on the island would have looked away or listened to.
The fake Cecilus - no, Cecilus Segmunt is the real thing.
This real monster seriously believes he can talk to the world, and if the world actually had a will, the world is glued to him.
This little monster has that much presence and persuasive power.
"I'm going to......"
"What is it?"
"I'm going to make you one of my own. I'm going to make you my man. I'm going to use you. I've decided that."
Overwhelmed, Subaru put his hand on his chest and said, even though it wasn't the time for that.
He looked firmly at his opponent and declared.
"--I don't mind your recklessness, in fact I like it."
The tone of his voice was filled with laughter, but Cecilus responded to Subaru not with the same carefree smile he had before, but with a smile that only loosened his lips.
Perhaps it was a sign that Cecilus was right and recognized Subaru as a challenger.
Right after that--,
"--Mhm."
A smile tugged at his lips, and Cecilus gently stroked his chin with a finger.
That jaw of blood dripping down its shapely nose.
"Hey......"
Seeing the fresh blood spilling from Cecilus's nose, Subaru hurriedly looked over the railing.
The island is overlooking, he can not see through to the inside of the buildings and underground, but he could still see a number of fallen figures within a glimpse of the island.
It has begun, the massacre.
While Subaru thus spent his time sorting out the situation and pondering the possibilities.
"Death" rages through every person on the island and it reaps life without exception.
Yes, without exception--.
"Hello."
"Cessy?!"
As he pulled himself away from the railing and felt a twinge in the back of his nose, Subaru was concerned about Cecilus, who sat down right next to him.
Cecilus rested his back against the railing, scratching himself on the spot.
A leisurely attitude, but it hasn't stopped the blood from my nose, which he's holding in his hand.
"A-are you okay?"
"No, it's going to be tough. This is a tough opponent, Bassu. I'm sure you'll have no shortage of opponents."
"What's the matter with you?! Nosebleeds, and from your eyes!"
"Hmmm...... I was proud to say that I haven't spilled a drop of blood here."
Even as he spoke, blood flowed from Cecilus's eyes as he sat down.
Cecilus is getting so bad that it's hard to watch, but it's horrible to see him pouring blood out of his nose and not changing the tone of his voice at all.
But that's not the scariest part of Cecilus.
"Aren't you afraid to die......?"
"People die, you know."
"----"
Though he understood that death was near at hand, he could not doubt his answer.
No hesitation, no confusion, no fear, no anxiety, no nervousness, no regret.
Like Subaru, there shouldn't be a point beyond which you die.
And yet, Cecilus has no fear of "death", the thing that creatures are supposed to fear the most.
And so, without showing any fear of "death"--,
"----"
He drops the hand holding his nose and wraps it around his arm to hide the blood stained sleeve, and Cecilus remains motionless with his back resting against the fence.
He turned his head and closed his eyelids and stopped twitching.
Subaru could clearly see what it meant.
And--,
"Gah"
The hand over his coughing mouth was stained with blood, and "death" was close at hand for Subaru.
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The same, yes, the same devastation dominated the entirety of the Gladiator Island.
"----"
Slowly limping, Subaru walked around the island, looking for survivors.
But now that even Cecilus was no longer a candidate, there was no such being that would live up to Subaru's battered expectations.
"Tanza and the others, and Old Man Null too......"
They all collapsed and lost their lives.
The most important thing to do is to close his eyelids and wipe his face with a light cloth.
"Sorry, Tanza......"
He made a mistake. He got the order wrong.
He should have told Tanza and the others that they were in danger and let them do something about it.
He should have met up with Tanza and the others before he went up to higher ground, or at least stayed with them. He wouldn't have had to let an anxious girl die without knowing what to expect in this unreliable place.
He couldn't wrap his head around such an obvious thing until he found their bodies.
"----"
He cruised around the island and saw that the guards were dead, after all.
The way they died was the same as the gladiators, they all bled to death from the face down. He then went to the cage where the swordfighting beasts were locked up and found that they were all dead too.
He was lying in a cage, bleeding from his eyes and nose, dying the same way a human would.
"......I guess that means I'm tougher than you."
The almost dead gladiatorial beast makes a joke that is not funny.
It's hard to breathe because his nose is completely blocked by nosebleeds. His eyes are also moist and misty, and when you wipe them with your fingers, they look like a blurry red curtain.
Only Subaru is disgusted by the Reaper slowly approaching him.
Subaru raised a trembling middle finger at that disgusting reaper.
And--,
"--What are you doing here?"
In the middle level of the isolated island, in a place called the courtyard, the Grim Reaper snapped the bones in his neck and muttered to himself.
Todd, the Grim Reaper, wears a black bandana and has a good-looking face. He slowly walks up to Subaru, looking at him as he raises his middle finger at him.
"As you can see, I thought the guy on the island was rooted to death......"
Todd, who skillfully pulls out a large knife, looks dubious as he watches Subaru.
In a lot of ways, he thinks he's in an unexplainable situation. Meeting a living person here must have been unexpected for Todd.
It must have creeped Todd out to get the feeling that he was being ambushed.
But Subaru knew that if he waited here, he would come.
He didn't want to see him if he didn't have to, but this is a face to face meeting that he just can't avoid.
There was no one left alive anymore, and this Reaper was the only one who might be able to talk to Subaru before he died.
"----"
His eyes are guarded, but there is no hesitation in his approaching steps. It's not so much an attitude of contempt for Subaru as it is an attitude of not seeing Subaru as a problem.
He's not licking him because he's a child.
Without jokes or figurative expressions, Subaru was already dying. If you are overly cautious, even to a child who is dying and can no longer do anything about it, that's not prudent, that's cowardice.
Todd is cunning and careful, but he's not a coward, and that's what he's talking about.
--Subaru, on the other hand, reckons that he has foolishly overlooked the girl's "death".
Even though the appearance of Todd, who has been waiting for him, is what we wished for, he doesn't know if it's what he wants until he sees what happens next.
Even when given the chance, Todd is not a man who gives hints easily. He's not the kind of person who would give you a souvenir of the underworld, even if you're dealing with an infantile, dying child.
If that's the case, how can he bring back some information against this cold-blooded Reaper?
Maybe just one piece.
Even if things go very well, there is only one piece of information he can get.
He has to make that one piece a meeting.
"----"
Step by step, the distance between Subaru and Todd closed.
He wouldn't be surprised if the opponent silently stabs Subaru to death as soon as this distance reaches zero. With a head and body that lacks blood, he must draw the best and correct answer.
This island massacre was done by Todd. There is no use asking.
Who survived. It's useless to ask that. It makes no sense.
Where is Arakiya? He wants to know, but he doesn't think he'll answer him. It's no use.
How is Gustav doing? That's another wasted shot, just like Arakiya.
So, all that's left is the method of this massacre.
"----"
Poison gas, no. Subaru erased that option from his mind.
Cecilus and Subaru ran into each other halfway up the island, on high ground, because Subaru had decided to stay there. --If the answer to the massacre was poison gas, he thought, the windy heights might be safe.
But as it turned out, neither Subaru nor Cecilus escaped the carnage. The likelihood of poison gas was pretty low when the ones outside the island had also fallen.
Then there's only one other possibility--,
"--ah"
Arakiya's magic. Arakiya appeared with Todd and used some sort of slaughter magic to annihilate all the swordfighters, guards, and gladiators on the island.
And, if he's sure of that, the next time, the very next time, he'll do it right.
If he can be sure--.
"--Right here, right here."
Instantly, an auditory hallucination took over Subaru's brain.
The voice of the prima donna, who should be nowhere to be found, creates heat in Subaru's feeble thoughts.
And then he opens his mouth like he's being rushed by the heat of it--,
"--Curse rule!!"
The possibility that he had once erased, and could not erase, he hit the Reaper out loud.
That, bloody Subaru's voice became an inescapable attack that caught the Reaper. And a moment after hearing that cry, the Reaper - Todd - moved.
"Die."
The quizzical look, the troublesome air, and everything else was scratched away, and only the desire to kill remained.
The murderous intent was so thick that if you watched it in a sane state, you would almost faint. With that in his eyes and the knife is his hand, Todd leaps at Subaru in one breath.
"Kah"
The cold blade that was thrust out buried itself deep into Subaru's chest.
Without a millimeter of mercy, the knife scratches everything precious in his chest and pulls it out with a twist that will never save him.
Spurts of blood splattered, staining Todd's impassive face with fresh blood.
"--bah"
He was stabbed and pulled out, and his body fell to the hard ground with the force of the stab. Blood flooded back down his throat with a force he'd never experienced before, and the blood he gurgled up was mixed with the 'pill'.
He chewed and failed to tear the wrapper. But this was a wound that didn't need the 'pill'.
"Out of your mouth, are you insane?"
Todd mutters as he picks up that, bright red stained package with his fingers and sniffs it. Did he know from the smell alone that the contents were dangerous, or did he guess as it came out of his mouth?
Either way, it doesn't matter. It's about not reaching Subaru anymore.
But if there's one thing he says, it's.
"......piece"
"--What is it?"
"One, piece"
He grabbed that one piece.
His complexion changed, and he hurriedly killed Subaru before anything else.
So he grabbed it.
"piece--"
He grabbed it, grabbed it, and then, he died.
Instead of dying, he grabbed it.
--The only thing that can kill the Gladiator Island Ginunhive is the "curse rule" that shouldn't exist.
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--The most important thing in asking Old Man Null for a 'pill' was certainty.
Originally, Old Man Null was not an avid student of medicine.
The only thing that you have to do is to go to the healing room and get in and out while you are treating your fellow gladiators.
Even the people on the administration side of the island wouldn't give Old Man Null, one of the gladiators, a highly effective pill that could be used as either poison or pill.
That's why it was impossible for Old Man Null to concoct a pill - a fast-acting 'deleterious pill'.
The only thing Old Man Null could make was a deleterious concoction of as many drugs as he could get his hands on that would make his opponent die by derailing the blood flow throughout his body.
The existence of this deleterious substance - which, if consumed, would cause great suffering and then absolute death - was, however, convenient for Subaru, depending on how you look at it.
"After all, I'm a lazy asshole at heart."
Considering Subaru's spoiled nature, a poison that would kill him without causing him pain is out of the question.
He would surely think about starting over immediately on the slightest thing and start relying on the poison's potency. By doing so, Natsuki Subaru becomes a monster.
To an inhuman monster who doesn't understand human pain and suffering.
"That's a definite no-no."
The memory and feeling of the time when his arms and legs were fully grown are already fading away. Even so, Subaru's experience and philosophy must not be twisted too far.
The change in his nature is a betrayal to everyone who has accepted this Subaru.
You can betray yourself, but you can't betray everyone, not even your family.
Natsuki Subaru can be put off, but Natsuki Subaru's bond cannot.
So--,
"......I feel bad for Old Man Null who lied about using it against the enemies of 'Sparka'."
Natsuki Subaru would not withdraw his outstretched hand even if he had to suffer through hell.
That's because it's the one core that won't bend even if it's the Gladiator Island.
△▼△▼△▼△
He tried to be strong--,
"Gah, guh, gee......"
With his teeth nearly broken, Subaru endures the heartbreaking agony. --No, he doesn't. The pain to endure has already been left behind.
He died and went back, so the suffering that caused him to die is nowhere to be found.
But his soul is dragging. That's why the tears and snot won't stop dripping.
"Hey, Schwartz......! What's going on all of a sudden......!"
"I-I'm all raigh......"
"How can you be all right...... if you look so ugly......!"
Weitz's voice trembles as Subaru crouches there, his face stained with various juices.
He ran up to him, woke up Subaru and wiped his noses with his bare hands without hesitation. Subaru is always impressed by his attitude.
It was an amazing and admirable thing to be able to act on something dirty without feeling dirty.
"Ahh, ugh......"
After being roughly wiped of his runny nose and tears, Subaru puts his hand to his dazed head.
Little by little, the shocking past of his death slips away, and he embraces the slow and sluggish present of being alive. This leisurely switch of consciousness usually happens every time Subaru dies from the "pill".
The "poison" that he has planted behind his back teeth as a trump card to ensure his death, but surprisingly, this does not come into play in many of Subaru's deaths on the Gladiator Island.
Deaths during "Sparka" are overwhelmingly caused by claws and fangs from gladiatorial beasts.
However, if he still couldn't die, or if he managed to do so with a casualty, he has no choice but to let this 'pill' do its job.
It was a torture that Natsuki Subaru had to bear.
Because--,
"......It's my fault I screwed up."
If the people who should be able to do the most about it fail, what should the rest of them do?
Subaru has a responsibility. A responsibility that he has the best chance of being able to do something about.
Even if it's not the power he wanted and got, Natsuki Subaru can use it.
Because he is Natsuki Kenichi's son.
"--tsk, what the......?!"
"The Drawbridge......"
He pressed his fist into the dirty floor and the entire island creaked and shook as he tried to raise himself up.
Weitz, who was in front of him and the dim, cold air made Subaru realize that the place he died and returned to was the lower level of the Gladiator Island - just before the drawbridge went up.
The only bridge between the outside world and the solitary island.
In other words--,
"--It's coming."
That scene, like a hellscape itself, and the worst enemy that made it.
He's in a rematch with Todd - the man he prayed never to see again.
"----"
The horrified and frightened Subaru hugs his own shoulders.
As soon as he closes his eyes, what comes back to him behind his eyelids is the horrific scene of dead bodies everywhere. The worst memory he has is of a familiar face lying there, scared and trembling, bleeding from the eyes and nose.
It was no exception for Weitz, who wiped Subaru's runny nose right in front of him.
"Oh, no. Never again......"
A sense of duty burns in his heart that he mustn't let it happen.
However, even though he was so enthusiastic, his thoughts stopped at the question of what to do. How in the world did they create that desperate situation?
Todd and Arakiya go to the Gladiator Island as emissaries from the Imperial Capital.
One of the 'Nine Divine Generals' who have been enemies with each other are enough to give him a headache, but to add Todd, a demon human, to the mix is his worst nightmare.
Why are Todd and Arakiya together in the first place?
"......Idiot, remember, me. He's the one who let the captured Arakiya escape."
Guess it was a shocker, but his Todd-related memory is surprisingly clear.
Subaru and Todd's fateful relationship, the last of which was in the high-walled city - Guaral, in the middle of an operation to take over the city hall. The last time they saw Subaru dressed as a woman, and the last time they have contact with him.
After that, the red Priscilla killed the rampaging Arakiya, and then someone let Arakiya, who should have caught him, escape, and Subaru suspected that it was not Todd.
If they're together now, it would mean that he wasn't wrong to imagine that.
"Shit, you said you wanted to go back to your fiancée, why are you here? Why don't you just grow up and move back to your hometown...... that big lying bastard......!"
He could snarl at him for making a different promise, but that wouldn't make Todd go away. Even though he knew that, he had to let out his pent up anger at least once.
Do that, then take a big breath in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out.
And--,
"The next 'Sparka' sacrifice......"
"Not necessarily. Weitz, can I get some help?"
"--. Did you forget what I just said......?"
The tattoo on Weitz's face distorted as Subaru asked this, feeling the tremors in his feet.
Weitz said those words to him at this point in time. Hiss head was in a panic from the aftermath of the "pill", but he remembers them because they had such a big impact.
"Just give me your power, right? So lend me your power."
"If you understand....... So, what do you want me to do......?"
Naturally, they go to see the next potential gladiator who comes across the drawbridge.
He would have thought he would have suggested that, but Weitz, with his arms crossed, switched quickly. That righteousness and stubbornly following his own rules once he've set them is really helpful.
With great appreciation for the character of that Weitz--,
"Just a little bit. I just need you to hold up the people who are coming to the island right now."
△▼△▼△▼△
--Natsuki Subaru's only weapon, the power of "Return by Death".
It was clearly becoming dysfunctional as it came to the Vollachian Empire and overcame various obstacles.
The biggest reason that comes to mind as a cause is the ongoing 'infantilization' that has hit Subaru.
Ever since his body shrunk in this way, the "Return by Death" has been completely out of whack.
The best experience of this was the worst ten seconds in the Red Lapis Castle in Chaos Flame.
It was an endless ten seconds that seemed to be given not to save Subaru, but to make him despair, and the situation remained bad even on the Gladiator Island, where he was sent immediately after it passed.
It's not as long as the ten seconds in the keep, but the reprieve given is uncommonly short.
Again, he was able to get back in roughly thirty minutes - even less time if you consider the limit to be when everyone on the island started dying.
In other words, Subaru has to rewrite the situation in less than thirty minutes.
That's why--,
"I need time to think first. --Remember, remember, remember what happened."
He accepted the request, and, taking advantage of Weitz's assurance that he would do so with such force, he asked him to delay the visiting messenger's passage to the island.
However, he also told him that there would be no maneuver where Weitz himself would go on a rampage.
The reason is simple: if Weitz goes on a rampage and Arakiya is there, he will be stopped in an instant. Furthermore, if Todd is there, Weitz will be killed without mercy.
Both of these events were things Subaru wanted to avoid.
"They all bled to death from the face...... poison gas? That kind of magic?"
He was in the middle of confiding in him that he was going to escape from the Gladiator Island.
Hiain and Weitz and Idola were taken down one after the other, and Tanza was no exception to that. They all died the same way, and maybe there wasn't even a difference there.
If it means the cause of death is the same, then the other gladiators who had fallen - no.
"The guards were dead, too."
If he remembers the events that took place properly, there was really no exception to that hell.
He couldn't think straight at the time, and he didn't check to see if the gladiators in the cage were alive, but at least all the humans were dead, without exception - and that was different. There were exceptions.
"Me and Todd."
Yes, Subaru and Todd were the only two people on the island who didn't die and face each other.
However, even if he didn't die, the pain of dying and the same bleeding from the face that everyone else was experiencing was happening to Subaru. Todd didn't seem to be so sure.
It's hard to imagine that was skinny, which is why Todd was not subject to that death.
"If it's poison gas, did Todd drink the antidote before coming here? If it's that kind of magic...... was it Arakiya who used it? Come to think of it, Arakiya was nowhere to be found."
He didn't mean to, but he'd checked every known corpse.
Tanza and the others who collapsed in front of him, of course, but also Orson and the others he saved in the second "Sparka", Old Man Null who spent time in the healing room, and the guards he knew with a harsh salt treatment.
They were all stuck there, all bleeding from the face.
"But there are three faces I haven't seen."
--That's Arakiya, Gustav, and the fake Cecilus.
"----"
Of course, Subaru couldn't really say that all of them were dead, since he couldn't remember all of the sword guys on the island either. But those three were definitely not there.
Arakiya is on Todd's side. Since he's on Todd's side, who was probably the mastermind behind that massacre, it's only natural that he didn't die in it.
But what about the other two?
Gustav, the island's administrator and governor, and the mysterious, suspicious child, Fake Cecilus.
Those two are in a special position on this Gladiator Island--.
"--ah"
Yes, just as he remembered those two special people, a bolt of lightning suddenly struck Subaru's brain.
The massacre that had taken place on the island, and while he suspected poison gas or magic as the method that had brought it about, there was one other possibility that came to mind, albeit a feeble one.
It's a thing that has great influence only in this Gladiator Island - the 'curse rule'.
The gladiators of Ginunhive, a solitary Gladiator Island, are bound together by an invisible cripple.
A cursed rule that is said to endanger even your life if you defy it, and that's what makes you a candidate.
"But the curse rule is just a threat, it shouldn't really exist."
Subaru himself was convinced of this after risking his life to communicate with Gustav.
He had ruined Gustav's reputation by telling him in no uncertain terms that he was escaping from the Gladiator Island, and that he was defying the will of the Emperor of Volakia, to whom he had sworn his allegiance.
If there really was a curse rule, Gustav would have used it there. If he didn't make an example of Subaru like that, the order of the Gladiator Island would fall apart.
The only thing that could happen is that they would be told that there was no curse and if the gladiators went on the rampage, it would be a big deal.
"Even if Mr. Gustav doesn't want us to die, it doesn't make sense to bend it. So there shouldn't be any curse rules...... no, I'm thinking too much."
Gustav's policy of keeping sword guys as dead as possible, with or without them, there were more obvious negatives to the curse rule. There were plenty of them, lying around.
It wasn't only the gladiators who were dead, but also the guards.
"There's no reason for Mr. Gustav to annihilate the guards. ......If you say that, there is no reason to suddenly kill all gladiators."
The more he thinks about it, the more the massacre and Gustav's intentions seem irrelevant.
If that's the case, it seems like we can go back to the very beginning and narrow our reasoning down to two choices: either Todd, the ringleader, sprayed poison gas, or he worked with Arakiya and used outrageous magic.
However, the two have exactly the same problem.
"Why was I the only one whose effect was weak?"
Apart from Todd, who had probably taken precautions beforehand, Subaru was the only one whose symptoms were mild.
What could Subaru be the only thing that makes him different from everyone else who died?
That she was a child? --No, Tanza was dead.
The difference in last-minute actions? No-- no, Weitz was dead.
Did the race make a difference? --No, Hiain and Idola died together.
Being otherworldly? Spending time in a kingdom? Being in a contractual relationship with a super cute spirit? Being stalked by a "witch"? That he's smaller than hiss original body due to 'infantilization'? What else, what else what else what else what else, what else is there?
--Only Subaru is different from everyone else, that's what.
"What the--"
"--Oh, Bassu, is something troubling you?"
"Woah?!"
A voice from behind Subaru, who was frantically racking his brain for possibilities.
Because of the suddenness of the incident and the fact that he was the one who had kept the possibility of being approached out of his mind, Subaru screamed and turned around and opening his eyes.
Behind Subaru, walking with his hand in the sleeve of his own kimono is the fake Cecilus.
Subaru blinked a few times at his usual, lighthearted demeanor.
"Ce-Cessy......?"
"Yes, I am, but what's with the reaction? I look as if I am here in a strange, unfolding world. Sure, I'm one of the stars of the world, so I know it's intimidating, but I think I've been within touching distance of talking to Bassu."
As you see, the fake Cecilus comes in front of him and peeks down at Subaru's face from a distance that's almost breathtaking.
The Subaru backed away from that too unchanged attitude and gestures.
Then, the fake Cecilus gently looks at the view below from the side of Subaru who had backed away - the already sunken drawbridge from next to Subaru who had climbed up to higher ground.
"The dragon carriage was not carrying the participants of the next 'Sparka', but rather another guest. The whole island is talking about it."
"......Oh, it seems he's an emissary from the Imperial Capital. I don't know what they're doing here."
"When you become an envoy of the Imperial Capital, you can think of a meeting about the next performance or a meeting about the outside situation. As Bassu wants to go outside, wouldn't this be good news for you?"
"--. I won't deny it."
Subaru replies to the fake Cecilus, who makes a shelter with his hand and looks at the surface of the lake, in a few words.
To be honest, this unscheduled encounter with the fake Cecilus had made Subaru unable to decide on his attitude towards him.
He doesn't think the fake Cecilus was the one who committed the massacre with Todd and the others.
But it's true that he was supposed to be the most feared gladiator in the Gladiator Island, but he had disappeared during that massacre.
"Me too, even though I doubt my ears were working properly......"
It's a terrible situation and he can't say he's mentally stable.
Still, he can assure him that if someone was fighting or fighting on the island, there was no way he would have missed it.
So if he thinks about what would have happened to the fake Cecilus back then--,
"Did you die somewhere I didn't see you or weren't you on the island?"
But if he weren't on the island, where and how.
Even at this moment when he's talking to the fake Cecilus, the time to the time limit is approaching, even though the fake Cecilus doesn't have any time to spare until that ridiculous situation.
"I won't deny it. But you look like that when you have other concerns."
Subaru ponders, and the fake Cecilus picks the end of his murky words with only instinct.
It's not like he read Subaru's complexion or what he said or did, it's probably just a hunch. It's intuition. It's people like the fake Cecilus and the others who draw the right answers from that.
It's in a world filled with a handful of such monsters that Subaru's resolve is called into question.
He's not going to lose, and he won't lose, and he's determined.
"Cessy, something terrible is about to happen on the island. Maybe some guys from the Imperial Capital will do something about it. I can't tell you what exactly, but......"
"Considering the seriousness of the situation, it is a terrible incident to mention...... The plight of that deer girl and those in the 'union' with Bassu. No, it's like a place of death."
"--tk"
"Oh no, Bassu's response is remarkable and comforting! But is it? I'm glad to hear that there are signs. I'm dying of anticipation!"
Laughing open-mouthed, the fake Cecilus stomped his foot with authority.
Subaru was taken aback by the response, which was nothing short of a welcome for trouble, and then leaned forward to close the distance.
"Cessy! I ain't joking! We're all in trouble!"
"It's more superimposed! I'm glad you're not joking. I'd welcome it more if you'd tell me that everything here is a made-up thought, because it's more whitewashed. Crisis, predicament, difficulty, great help!"
"--tsk!"
"Or do you think I'm going to unconditionally side with Bassu?"
When Subaru doesn't understand the gravity of the matter, the fake Cecilus's voice lowers as he complains. It was as if Subaru was the one who didn't understand.
His long, slitted blue eyes were as cold as blades, and Subaru gulped.
The fake Cecilus smiled at Subaru, who was silent as he did so,
"--Right here, right here."
As he said straight to Subaru, and then he spun around and spread his arms.
As if it were set in the middle of this Gladiator Island, on a hill overlooking half of the island and the lake. The fake Cecilus looked up at the sky and opened his mouth wide--,
"This is the watershed moment! You asked if you could have me on your side unconditionally, and I'm here to tell you that the way to fulfill that condition is this very moment."
"Right now, in this moment......"
"Yeah, yeah, that's right! Bassu charms me with his premonition! Connecting with anticipation! I'll play games, I'll laugh! And I'm going to prove it in the mountains!"
"----"
"Come now, wolf pierced by the sword! Behold the spectators who look down on this harsh and cruel land! Who will enchant this Cecilus Segmunt!"
The audience is beyond the sky, the loudest voice that you can only make if you are sure of its presence.
Subaru, however, received a strange assurance from the antics of the fake Cecilus, whose sanity should have been doubted, and whose actions no one on the island would have looked away or listened to.
The fake Cecilus - no, Cecilus Segmunt is the real thing.
This real monster seriously believes he can talk to the world, and if the world actually had a will, the world is glued to him.
This little monster has that much presence and persuasive power.
"I'm going to......"
"What is it?"
"I'm going to make you one of my own. I'm going to make you my man. I'm going to use you. I've decided that."
Overwhelmed, Subaru put his hand on his chest and said, even though it wasn't the time for that.
He looked firmly at his opponent and declared.
"--I don't mind your recklessness, in fact I like it."
The tone of his voice was filled with laughter, but Cecilus responded to Subaru not with the same carefree smile he had before, but with a smile that only loosened his lips.
Perhaps it was a sign that Cecilus was right and recognized Subaru as a challenger.
Right after that--,
"--Mhm."
A smile tugged at his lips, and Cecilus gently stroked his chin with a finger.
That jaw of blood dripping down its shapely nose.
"Hey......"
Seeing the fresh blood spilling from Cecilus's nose, Subaru hurriedly looked over the railing.
The island is overlooking, he can not see through to the inside of the buildings and underground, but he could still see a number of fallen figures within a glimpse of the island.
It has begun, the massacre.
While Subaru thus spent his time sorting out the situation and pondering the possibilities.
"Death" rages through every person on the island and it reaps life without exception.
Yes, without exception--.
"Hello."
"Cessy?!"
As he pulled himself away from the railing and felt a twinge in the back of his nose, Subaru was concerned about Cecilus, who sat down right next to him.
Cecilus rested his back against the railing, scratching himself on the spot.
A leisurely attitude, but it hasn't stopped the blood from my nose, which he's holding in his hand.
"A-are you okay?"
"No, it's going to be tough. This is a tough opponent, Bassu. I'm sure you'll have no shortage of opponents."
"What's the matter with you?! Nosebleeds, and from your eyes!"
"Hmmm...... I was proud to say that I haven't spilled a drop of blood here."
Even as he spoke, blood flowed from Cecilus's eyes as he sat down.
Cecilus is getting so bad that it's hard to watch, but it's horrible to see him pouring blood out of his nose and not changing the tone of his voice at all.
But that's not the scariest part of Cecilus.
"Aren't you afraid to die......?"
"People die, you know."
"----"
Though he understood that death was near at hand, he could not doubt his answer.
No hesitation, no confusion, no fear, no anxiety, no nervousness, no regret.
Like Subaru, there shouldn't be a point beyond which you die.
And yet, Cecilus has no fear of "death", the thing that creatures are supposed to fear the most.
And so, without showing any fear of "death"--,
"----"
He drops the hand holding his nose and wraps it around his arm to hide the blood stained sleeve, and Cecilus remains motionless with his back resting against the fence.
He turned his head and closed his eyelids and stopped twitching.
Subaru could clearly see what it meant.
And--,
"Gah"
The hand over his coughing mouth was stained with blood, and "death" was close at hand for Subaru.
△▼△▼△▼△
The same, yes, the same devastation dominated the entirety of the Gladiator Island.
"----"
Slowly limping, Subaru walked around the island, looking for survivors.
But now that even Cecilus was no longer a candidate, there was no such being that would live up to Subaru's battered expectations.
"Tanza and the others, and Old Man Null too......"
They all collapsed and lost their lives.
The most important thing to do is to close his eyelids and wipe his face with a light cloth.
"Sorry, Tanza......"
He made a mistake. He got the order wrong.
He should have told Tanza and the others that they were in danger and let them do something about it.
He should have met up with Tanza and the others before he went up to higher ground, or at least stayed with them. He wouldn't have had to let an anxious girl die without knowing what to expect in this unreliable place.
He couldn't wrap his head around such an obvious thing until he found their bodies.
"----"
He cruised around the island and saw that the guards were dead, after all.
The way they died was the same as the gladiators, they all bled to death from the face down. He then went to the cage where the swordfighting beasts were locked up and found that they were all dead too.
He was lying in a cage, bleeding from his eyes and nose, dying the same way a human would.
"......I guess that means I'm tougher than you."
The almost dead gladiatorial beast makes a joke that is not funny.
It's hard to breathe because his nose is completely blocked by nosebleeds. His eyes are also moist and misty, and when you wipe them with your fingers, they look like a blurry red curtain.
Only Subaru is disgusted by the Reaper slowly approaching him.
Subaru raised a trembling middle finger at that disgusting reaper.
And--,
"--What are you doing here?"
In the middle level of the isolated island, in a place called the courtyard, the Grim Reaper snapped the bones in his neck and muttered to himself.
Todd, the Grim Reaper, wears a black bandana and has a good-looking face. He slowly walks up to Subaru, looking at him as he raises his middle finger at him.
"As you can see, I thought the guy on the island was rooted to death......"
Todd, who skillfully pulls out a large knife, looks dubious as he watches Subaru.
In a lot of ways, he thinks he's in an unexplainable situation. Meeting a living person here must have been unexpected for Todd.
It must have creeped Todd out to get the feeling that he was being ambushed.
But Subaru knew that if he waited here, he would come.
He didn't want to see him if he didn't have to, but this is a face to face meeting that he just can't avoid.
There was no one left alive anymore, and this Reaper was the only one who might be able to talk to Subaru before he died.
"----"
His eyes are guarded, but there is no hesitation in his approaching steps. It's not so much an attitude of contempt for Subaru as it is an attitude of not seeing Subaru as a problem.
He's not licking him because he's a child.
Without jokes or figurative expressions, Subaru was already dying. If you are overly cautious, even to a child who is dying and can no longer do anything about it, that's not prudent, that's cowardice.
Todd is cunning and careful, but he's not a coward, and that's what he's talking about.
--Subaru, on the other hand, reckons that he has foolishly overlooked the girl's "death".
Even though the appearance of Todd, who has been waiting for him, is what we wished for, he doesn't know if it's what he wants until he sees what happens next.
Even when given the chance, Todd is not a man who gives hints easily. He's not the kind of person who would give you a souvenir of the underworld, even if you're dealing with an infantile, dying child.
If that's the case, how can he bring back some information against this cold-blooded Reaper?
Maybe just one piece.
Even if things go very well, there is only one piece of information he can get.
He has to make that one piece a meeting.
"----"
Step by step, the distance between Subaru and Todd closed.
He wouldn't be surprised if the opponent silently stabs Subaru to death as soon as this distance reaches zero. With a head and body that lacks blood, he must draw the best and correct answer.
This island massacre was done by Todd. There is no use asking.
Who survived. It's useless to ask that. It makes no sense.
Where is Arakiya? He wants to know, but he doesn't think he'll answer him. It's no use.
How is Gustav doing? That's another wasted shot, just like Arakiya.
So, all that's left is the method of this massacre.
"----"
Poison gas, no. Subaru erased that option from his mind.
Cecilus and Subaru ran into each other halfway up the island, on high ground, because Subaru had decided to stay there. --If the answer to the massacre was poison gas, he thought, the windy heights might be safe.
But as it turned out, neither Subaru nor Cecilus escaped the carnage. The likelihood of poison gas was pretty low when the ones outside the island had also fallen.
Then there's only one other possibility--,
"--ah"
Arakiya's magic. Arakiya appeared with Todd and used some sort of slaughter magic to annihilate all the swordfighters, guards, and gladiators on the island.
And, if he's sure of that, the next time, the very next time, he'll do it right.
If he can be sure--.
"--Right here, right here."
Instantly, an auditory hallucination took over Subaru's brain.
The voice of the prima donna, who should be nowhere to be found, creates heat in Subaru's feeble thoughts.
And then he opens his mouth like he's being rushed by the heat of it--,
"--Curse rule!!"
The possibility that he had once erased, and could not erase, he hit the Reaper out loud.
That, bloody Subaru's voice became an inescapable attack that caught the Reaper. And a moment after hearing that cry, the Reaper - Todd - moved.
"Die."
The quizzical look, the troublesome air, and everything else was scratched away, and only the desire to kill remained.
The murderous intent was so thick that if you watched it in a sane state, you would almost faint. With that in his eyes and the knife is his hand, Todd leaps at Subaru in one breath.
"Kah"
The cold blade that was thrust out buried itself deep into Subaru's chest.
Without a millimeter of mercy, the knife scratches everything precious in his chest and pulls it out with a twist that will never save him.
Spurts of blood splattered, staining Todd's impassive face with fresh blood.
"--bah"
He was stabbed and pulled out, and his body fell to the hard ground with the force of the stab. Blood flooded back down his throat with a force he'd never experienced before, and the blood he gurgled up was mixed with the 'pill'.
He chewed and failed to tear the wrapper. But this was a wound that didn't need the 'pill'.
"Out of your mouth, are you insane?"
Todd mutters as he picks up that, bright red stained package with his fingers and sniffs it. Did he know from the smell alone that the contents were dangerous, or did he guess as it came out of his mouth?
Either way, it doesn't matter. It's about not reaching Subaru anymore.
But if there's one thing he says, it's.
"......piece"
"--What is it?"
"One, piece"
He grabbed that one piece.
His complexion changed, and he hurriedly killed Subaru before anything else.
So he grabbed it.
"piece--"
He grabbed it, grabbed it, and then, he died.
Instead of dying, he grabbed it.
--The only thing that can kill the Gladiator Island Ginunhive is the "curse rule" that shouldn't exist.