Arc 8: Vincent Vollachia
Arc 8, Chapter 6 "Not Begging for Forgiveness"
Blood poured from his gouged shoulder and from his thigh, his ragged breath was full of heat, and his bloodshot complexion was evidence that the countdown to his life was progressing.
If he doesn't get medical attention right away and stop that countdown, his life will be in danger.
Still, if they apply healing magic, he will surely be saved. It is a wound that will definitely be saved.
"So, why......"
Subaru was confronting his "enemy" in the Imperial Capital, which was slowly rising in volume, with the smoldering scraps of wood from the remaining fire drifting in the air with a burning smell, beside the blown-up mill.
Yes, with Todd Fang, whom he can no longer help but call the "enemy".
--He didn't want to call Todd the "Enemy".
Ever since he first met Todd, he has been a terrible person to him. He has tried to kill him many times, actually taken his life, etched death and fear into his heart, and nurtured a relationship with him.
Each time, Subaru has continued to 'return by death' and deal with the raids that Todd sets up, and consequently pretend that the tragedy he causes never happened.
The forest where "People of Shudrak" lived were burned, leading to their total destruction; the surprise attack on the fortified city of Guaral killed Flop many times; and the operation to capture the city hall of the same Guaral made him feel like he was on fire on a tightrope.
The ultimate massacre was at Ginunhive, the "Gladiator Island". Tanza, Idola, Hiain, Weitz, Gustav, Old Man Null, and many others were all killed, but Subaru overturned even that.
He is not trying to pretend that Todd's actions did not happen.
But as a result, when Subaru 'returned by death' and struggled to protect what was important to him, what Todd had caused has been canceled out.
The only reason for Subaru to consider Todd as an enemy was lost in Subaru.
Finally, now that he was forced to retreat from the Imperial Capital, which was hit by this unprecedented disaster, Todd showed his willingness to join hands and cooperate with Subaru and his friends to protect his fiancée.
In fact, without Todd's help, it would have taken many retries to find an effective solution to the flood of zombies and to get everyone out.
The same is true of that monocular warrior and his fight against the zombies.
It took Todd's cooperation to defeat a deformed and monstrous enemy. They both know that if either of them had been missing, there would have been no life.
So he was one step closer.
With one more step, Subaru was able to walk with Todd, keeping a lid on his unbreakable feelings.
And yet--,
"Why......!"
"Don't talk so glibly. You knew it was coming and you could have prevented it. You didn't react to the kill, you were just on your guard the whole time."
Todd's right eye, which was red and bloodshot, was closed as Subaru's voice trembled and he appealed to him.
With a face like he was dealing with an unhearing child, his gaze turned to the axe floating in the air--or so it would seem to Todd's eyes, a deadly weapon held in a black hand.
In Subaru, the axe is synonymous with Todd.
He had been hit on the head by it not once but twice. Even after taking it out of Todd's hand, Subaru bit his back teeth as he looked at it out of the corner of his eye.
You get the picture. Subaru had always been wary of Todd.
So when he turned his back on the injured Todd, he invoked "Invisible Providence" to protect his head. He knew that if he was going to go for it, it was the head that would surely kill him.
But he wishes he hadn't aimed at it.
Nothing, he wishes it had never happened.
And then--,
"What a fail. I was taken in by your tricks."
"You're wrong......"
"I thought now that we've separated him from the others and taken care of the enemy...... he's a great actor."
"No......"
"Did you mean to obliterate me with that explosion? If so, I'm sorry you missed the point."
"No, I'm not! I'm, I'm serious about working with you ......!"
"--Don't lie to me."
Huffing, Subaru's throat rumbled at the cold sound of that one voice.
With one eye closed, Todd looks into Subaru's eyes with no heat or humidity. There is no color present in his gaze, as if he had been pricing Subaru out just before.
By now, Todd had finished pricing Subaru out. Hence, now.
"You knew it at the core of your being. We don't understand each other."
"----"
"I'm positively suspicious of others, and you are backwardly trusting of others. We may put words in your mouth about this and that, but our values are different."
Slowly changing his standing position, Todd warns Subaru around the floating axe in the air. Subaru also bit his lip hard and glared wistfully at Todd through the floating axe.
We don't understand each other, Todd said. Subaru continues to wonder if that was really the case.
He wondered if there really wasn't a way to make it work.
"If you kill me here, how can you be with zombies......"
"It's not a good way to go. As long as we get out of the Imperial Capital, we can do whatever we want. Thanks to your cooperation, we were able to send Katya to the city walls. After that, it will be better without you."
"Why?! I never meant to hurt Miss Katya! I didn't even intend to fight with you! And yet!"
"--But you're willing to choose whether or not to save Katya, aren't you?"
"Ah......?"
Todd said a cold word in front of Subaru, who was shouting and making a big deal out of his voice.
Subaru's cheeks hardened as he felt like he had been doused with cold water by Todd's argument.
He doesn't know what that means.
To begin with, this is at odds with Subaru's assertion. Whether he chooses to or not, Subaru has no intention of harming Katya, so such an accusation is misplaced.
And yet, Subaru's thoughts were held back.
--Todd did not miss that moment.
"--I will not beg for your forgiveness."
Todd scrambles through the gap when Subaru is at a loss for words, and he lowers his posture and lunges at him.
The cells in his body screamed as the distance between him and the other shrank, and Subaru immediately commanded his "unseen hand", which he stretched out in the air, to throw the axe he had grabbed at Todd.
However--,
"Gya-gaaah?!!"
Instantly, Subaru's vision is dyed bright red by a burning sensation that pierces his right thigh.
A knife was sticking out of Subaru's right leg, his thigh.
It was in Todd's hand just a moment ago. Just before he jumped in, he threw it into the air when Subaru stopped thinking, and he was right on top of it.
Then, distracted from his thoughts by the pain, the "unseen hand" that was supposed to throw the axe was interrupted--the axe in the air was taken back, and Todd's front kick hit Subaru in the chest.
"Ogh"
Subaru's body fell backward with a cry of pain, unable to stand on his stabbed leg. He hit the back of his head and back, and his scattered thoughts became even more scattered.
With his legs, his chest, his head, his back, and the blade of the axe falling in front of him--.
"AAAHHH!"
He shouts gruffly and interrupts the black hand in the middle of the swinging axe.
The "unseen hand" that is used so heavily, the one that protrudes from Subaru's chest, holds off an axe that is close to the tip of his nose, and he mobilizes his own two hands to resist the shaking blade, resisting the killing intent with his three arms.
In doing so, Todd, who was holding the axe, also pushed in as hard as he could to drop the blade that was pushing each other.
His leg hurts from being stabbed. His chest where he was kicked hurts. His back hurts where he was hit. His head hurts as well. If this axe were to go through his face, it would kill him even more than that.
"I'm not, stubborn....... Just, fucking die......!"
"N-no...... absolutely not......!"
With his hand on the peak of the axe, Todd puts all his weight on it and tries to kill Subaru.
Subaru resists with three arms, including the Unseen Hand, but the child's two hands and his thinly disguised authority, which offers little advantage other than invisibility, cannot push Todd away.
From the outside, it was a comical and miserable killing spree.
In the battle for the imperial city of Lupgana, where many soldiers and warriors competed with their well-trained skills and weapons, Subaru and Todd's battle was muddy and unceremonious at a critical juncture.
No trained skill, no special weapon, no trump card to overpower the others.
It was a battle for life that was too low by the standards of the Vollachia Empire--a battle between two people who did not understand each other, Natsuki Subaru and Todd Fang.
"You are not in tune with the situation! You are willing to die at any moment, and you put other people's lives on a selfish scale, but when it comes time to do this, you desperately resist. It's creepy!"
"Kah, don't say that......! I don't care when I die. I've never put anyone's life on the scale......! I don't want to die!"
"Die!"
"No!"
Todd's eyes, chilled with black murderous intent, are about to freeze Subaru's heart, which is beating like a fast bell. Just barely, the axe blades are competing between the two of them, but this fierce shoving match will not last forever.
Because--,
"Guh, ngh......"
Subaru stifles a moan in the back of his throat, blood flowing from his earlobes.
It is a reaction to the heavy use of the power of the "Unseen Hand". It is the reason why Subaru's body is being poisoned, and it sounds a danger signal. But he has no choice but to rely on it. Otherwise, the falling blade would break Subaru's face.
"I'm afraid your strange magic tricks are reaching their limits."
Todd understood the repercussions of the "Unseen Hand" when he saw Subaru's demonic expression and the bloodshed. He knew that Subaru would be the first to reach his limit if he continued to take his time.
At all costs, before it happens--that was the moment he thought.
"--?!"
Subaru and Todd's consciousness is momentarily stolen by a tremendous roar as they push against each other over the deadly axe.
It was the end of a reservoir at the far end of the city, far away from the center of the Imperial City, beyond the Crystal Palace, where Subaru and his friends were--a reservoir at the far end of the city, holding back a large amount of water, which had reached its limit.
With a roar, cracks spread across the entire watertight wall, and the force and volume of water flowing into the imperial capital increased dramatically all at once. It was no longer a great wave surging into a world without oceans; the surging waves that swept through the Imperial City shook the city, and the aftermath reached Subaru and his friends, who were killing each other.
And then--,
"Uh, ahhhh--!!"
"--"
For a brief moment, Todd's attention was diverted to the roar, and Subaru gathered all the strength he had.
He moves his body on his back, only now forgetting the pain of the knife in his leg, and turns over on his side as fast as he can, letting the blade of the axe, which he grabs with his "Unseen Hand", escape to the ground next to his head.
Todd, who had been putting all his strength into the axe, could not resist its momentum. The axe fell right next to Subaru's head, and Todd fell to the ground as well.
"Hah, hah......bhaah"
As it is, Subaru continues to roll sideways with momentum and away from Todd and his axe.
The knife in his leg repeatedly hit the ground, causing extreme pain, but he rolled over, crying and holding back to get away from something he wanted to keep away from more than the pain.
Eventually, after what seemed like ten or twenty rolls, Subaru's body hit the wreckage of the building and he was forced to stop. There, he somehow managed to get up on his arms, bleeding from his cut forehead--and then he saw it.
"......Everywhere, he's an abomination."
Todd stands on his knees and mutters hatefully. He looked back at Subaru, who had moved away from him, and saw the blade of an axe thrust deeply into his left shoulder.
"----"
When Subaru ducked the axe with determination, Todd fell on it in reverse.
The axe blade is deep, splitting the collarbone and gouging inward. It is a deep blow that could have reached the heart in some cases, but Todd, wiping his mouth and spitting out blood, has none of the weakness of a dying man.
Yes, too tough.
He is being cut down here and there by his zombie decoys, taking damage as collateral damage from dust explosions, and to top it all off, he has an axe sticking out of his body, yet he seems unconcerned about it.
The reason for Todd's attitude finally became clear to Subaru.
It is--,
"--Did you see? What a fail."
There was no frivolity, no spare time, and a clear irritation in Todd's tone.
A voice that is intensely angry at itself and, above all, at the other party for the blunder of seeing something that should never have been seen and that it did not want to be seen.
With his anger seeping through him, Todd roughly pulled out the axe that had pierced his shoulder. The wound so messed up spurted blood once strongly--and soon, the blood stopped.
It is the resilience of something that has evolved in the species to prevent the negative effects of injuries from working too hard in combat and hunting. Subaru, too, has seen this resilience many times in this other world.
Although there is no difference between him and Subaru in his appearance, he is a being of decidedly different blood.
It's subhuman. It's also--,
"--You're a half-breed?"
"Too close. That's just incorrect."
Before the stunned Subaru, Todd squints his eyes and affirms only half of his suspicions. Todd gives the other half of the answer to Subaru, who gasps, unsure of its true meaning.
His cheeks are contorted in cruelty, and his eyes are lit up with blood-colored anger--,
"--Werewolves."
△▼△▼△▼△
--In this world, there are several things that are abhorrent just by existing.
The existence of half-elves is prominent among such abhorrent things, and their disadvantage is common to all countries as a relative of the "Witch" who once nearly destroyed the world.
Besides that, in the Kararagi city-state, the hairless subhuman race is considered unlucky, and in the Gusteko Holy Kingdom, the closer the hair and eyes approach black, the more they are estranged from the spirits as they are disliked by the spirits.
And in the Vollachia Empire, where various subhuman races live together, there are two races whose existence is abhorred--the earth rats and the werewolves.
In ancient times, two races, the earth-rats and the werewolves, are said to have been forever guilty of the unforgivable sin of betraying and sending to death the most beloved woman in the Vollachia Empire.
As a result, the earth rats abandoned their homeland and escaped out of the country by digging in the earth. And the werewolves, who did not know how to escape, were hunted until they were eradicated and hunted down at every turn.
The wrath of this empire extended to other countries, and if an earth rat or werewolf was found in his own country, he would be sent across the border to the empire to be executed. --This is the history of the earth rat hunts and wolf hunts, as they are commonly referred to.
In modern times, it is said that the earth rats live in seclusion under the earth, taking advantage of their abilities and hiding in plain sight. --The only one in the world who publicly claims to be a werewolf is Halibel, the "Admirer", who is considered the strongest in the city-state of Kararagi.
An empire that relentlessly hunted werewolves, whose national crest is ironically a wolf pierced by a sword.
The sword-wolf is the most precious thing in the empire, and the wolf that runs away for fear of being pierced by the sword itself is the most spiteful.
Therefore, in this world, both the existence of werewolves and the existence of "werewolves" - half-breeds of wolves who inherit the blood of werewolves - continue to bear a curse that can never be forgiven.
△▼△▼△▼△
"Were... wolf......"
Todd's untold secret that often clashed with him, not knowing whether to feel positive or negative when he found out about it, but more than that, it was a scare.
Aside from the fact that he didn't know which emotion to feel, positive or negative, after learning about Todd's little-known secret, with which they often clashed, what he felt even more was fear.
It was an instinctive dislike of the very sound of "werewolf" that reached his ears.
--Subaru is unaware of the history of the exclusion of werewolves in this world.
He knows nothing about the fact that werewolves and earth rats are abhorred in the empire, that the reason for this was the betrayal of a woman named Iris who lived in ancient times, that her true identity is Yorna Mishigure, or that her beloved emperor is not Vincent Vollachia.
He knows nothing about the background circumstances.
Even without knowing anything, Subaru's soul understands. --Subaru's soul understands, even if he knows nothing about it, how alien the beings called "werewolves" are in this world.
"You look a little different from what I expected. You look surprised that I was a half-breed, but not that I was a werewolf."
Todd looks at Subaru, who is silent, and raises his eyebrows with a thoughtless look on his face.
"But now we can do it without any weird reservations, right? Werewolves are meant to be hung. It's in the blood. You too--"
"Why?"
"Yeah?"
"Why, yes, I do. I'm going to kill......"
He can't say he'd ever felt that way, that he wanted to kill.
But this is not because of the blood that runs in Todd's veins or his origins, but because his own conduct was incompatible with Subaru's and he had no choice but to clash with him.
And yet, the way Todd is saying it now--,
"Don't make it sound like blood is the reason you became my 'enemy'."
"----"
"How many times have you bumped into me because it's between you and me? Not because of who you are, not because your blood has fired me up!"
Biting his back teeth, he pressed his fists into the ground and Subaru raised himself up.
The intense pain from the knife in his leg, which was running through his body with great force, made him more aware and clarified the anger that was simmering in his chest.
"You're a werewolf......!"
"Hey, hey. That's not what you tell me to do......"
"Shut up! Why, why are you being like that!"
Not a single one of them is what Subaru wants, and when Subaru has positive feelings, they cause negative behavior, and when Subaru has positive feelings, they cause negative problems.
He saved Katya, helped rescue Rem and the others, joined forces to defeat a powerful zombie, tried to kill Subaru, choked on the idea, and, to top it all off, he's a werewolf.
"Why... why!"
"Don't tell me what people are born with. That's the way it is. Maybe his mother slept with a dog. Come to think of it, there used to be a big dog living in the back of the house."
"No, you're not! You're the one who's picking on my birth!"
"----"
"I'm the one who's getting into these staring contests with you......"
He doesn't know what kind of life Todd has led as a werewolf.
He doesn't even want to know. If he knew, he would find a reason to forgive Todd for it. That's why he don't want to know. Subaru does not want to forgive Todd for a reason that he has no choice.
So--,
"--I've decided."
Squeezing out his voice, Subaru mutters to himself, his head nearly mangled with anger and pain.
Todd's eyes narrowed as he heard Subaru's muttering. Even without words, the silence prompted him to wonder what Subaru had decided to do.
Subaru told them as he was prompted to do so.
"I'm not going to kill you. I'm not going to do what you want me to do."
"----"
At Subaru's quiet declaration, Todd had nothing to say in return.
However, he did not remain silent. --He laughed.
"Ha, hahaha, hahahaha!"
Brushing his hair back with the hand that did not hold the axe, Todd opened his mouth and laughed. Not caring that his hair and forehead were stained with blood, Todd opened his big mouth and burst out laughing.
Then, after a brief laugh, he shook his head loosely to the side,
"You are a monster. Even more so than that zombie."
He stared at Subaru with more clearly visible emotion in his eyes than ever before.
Subaru knows what it is, the emotion that was hidden behind that ghastly black murderous intent, the first time it was visible and hidden. He has seen it in the mirror many times before.
It was fear. --It was a fear of something that brings about death, which he does not understand.
"It's bad enough that you don't realize it. You are choosing between life and death. You freely decide who to save and who to let die. I adore those who flirt and show their bellies, but I don't care about those who don't. I don't hesitate to flirt and show my belly to anyone, but......"
"----"
"How can I have a relationship with someone who decides who lives and dies based on his preferences?"
--That was Todd Fung's ultimatum.
"----"
Todd, as if to spit it out, his appearance changes with a creaking sound of bones.
The wounds peeking out from the imperial soldier's uniform, his jacket torn in many places, were closed, and the same animal hair as his hair color covered his skin. The nose of his head protruded, his mouth grew wide as if it were ripped open, and his fully grown white teeth began to sharpen, transforming his appearance into that of a ferocious beast.
A werewolf and just what it was declared to be.
He stands on two legs, handles tools with two arms, and bites the life out of his opponents with his ferocious fangs. The transformation into such an existence--or rather, his true form, was revealed.
"Die."
Shortly, Todd stepped toward Subaru with that intention again in his words.
The step is large, and the speed with which he kicks the ground with his hind legs explodes. The aim is to slay Subaru, to antagonize him as an unknowable object of fear, and to keep him alive when he learns of his true identity.
Subaru's fighting spirit explodes as he realizes this.
"--Invisible Providence."
Todd, now a werewolf, swings his axe and leaps at Subaru as he mutters.
On the way to the axe, Subaru interrupted the debris lifted by the black arm extended from his chest and bounced Todd's head to the other side before the axe could overtake it.
"--ngh"
But even if the axe is gone, Todd now has another weapon, his fangs.
Subaru also used the "Unseen Hand" to prevent the axe and cannot rely on its authority to prevent its fangs.
Instead, Subaru used his own hand to pull out the knife in his leg.
"GYA, GGYAGAAAAH!!"
Screaming from the intense pain that he had never gotten used to, Subaru held the knife he had pulled out in both hands and clamped it between the gap between Todd's fangs as he bit down on him.
The closing sharp fangs are stopped by the knife and Subaru's face is pushed down again, and drool spills from the knife-chewing werewolf's mouth, wetting his cheeks with the botchings.
"--oh!"
"AHHHHH!!"
As it is, it is pushed in and the fangs are closing in on Subaru's neck.
Subaru screamed in pain as he struggled to hold it back.
"I'm...... not going to kill you......!"
He screams as he is about to be killed, just before the tips of his fangs gouge his neck.
The one who is about to take a life is chastised for the one who is about to take a life.
Even if they continue to be pushed around and chew off their heads and lose their lives, they will be sent back to wherever they are in this fight.
Todd as such a guy who, for reasons unknown to Subaru, is fragile and resentful of the world--.
It was that moment.
"--That's enough."
The sound of her voice, which arrived as if by surprise, echoed as if scratching Subaru's soul.
The Imperial City is a hell of noise, with the breath of beasts, the earth shaking every now and then, and chaos still continuing in various parts of the city.
Even in such a world, his voice was not disturbed by anything.
It is as if Natsuki Subaru's presence is made to resonate with her voice.
"I--"
Immediately after, Todd's body, pressed against Subaru's body and trying to reach his fangs for life, was blown away by the tremendous impact of being struck from the side.
"----"
In front of him, Todd's body, now a werewolf, was shot, and reflected in his open vision was a shard of ice that danced like a sparkling glitter--a hammer made of ice that scattered the shards.
Todd was hit by it with a forceful blow, a mallet of ice as big as a bag of rocks.
And the one who swings off the ice hammer with both hands and makes her long silver hair dance is a girl with a ridiculously beautiful profile dressed in white--,
"--Emilia."
Subaru's mouth involuntarily traces the name that blitzed through his mind.
The girl looks back. --Her twinkling dark blue eyes met Subaru's black eyes. Subaru couldn't help but gasp as he gazed into the beauty of her eyes,
"Hey, there, boy, over here!"
"Huh?"
He forgets to breathe, or he gasps for air, and it is forcibly interrupted.
The white fingers that reach out vigorously in a single bound pull Subaru's body and lift him up with a strength that is unimaginable from his appearance. The girl--Emilia, without hesitation, picks up Subaru, who is covered in blood and mud, and bends her knees and says, "Alright",
"Yah!"
With a shout, she jumped, kicked the wall of a building that was right next to her, and leaped up to aim even higher. Emilia then jumped onto the roof of the building, and was embraced in her arms and said, "Huh? Huh? Huh?". Subaru's eyes were black and white, but her understanding caught up with her later.
Below them, they could see the street below the building where Emilia, with Subaru in her arms, had landed, as a muddy stream swept down the street with tremendous force, swallowing everything in its path.
"Watch out...... you almost got swallowed by the water."
Emilia was relieved to see the overwhelming sight.
Emilia's reaction does not convey much urgency or misery, but the sense of despair is overwhelming as the site of the mill where the dust explosion blew up and the street where Todd dragged the zombies around until they were ready, were collectively engulfed by the flash flood.
If it had been a little later, Subaru would have been engulfed in a flash flood, just as Emilia said. If that had happened, there was no way he could have survived--,
"--, What's that guy?!"
Todd was on the verge of biting Subaru to death when Emilia punched him out.
If he had failed to escape, would he have been swallowed by the flash flood as well? If he had been swallowed by the force of the water, there would have been no way for him to have survived, no matter how strong the force of the water was.
Forgetting the pain in his legs, Subaru quickly looked around, searching for Todd in the muddy streets of the Imperial Capital, which were being swallowed up by the muddy waters. To be honest, he did not even know the answer to whether he wanted Todd to be found or not.
"Hey, calm down. Who are you looking for...... Oh! I just looked closely and saw a serious injury! We need to get you patched up right away......"
Subaru stares frantically into her eyes, and Emilia notices the wound on his leg. She was about to put Subaru down on the floor, when she hurriedly sat him down on the edge of the rooftop,
"Wait! I'll get child who can use healing magic as soon as......"
"I don't have time for this! If you leave me alone......"
"You're the one who needs to get your feet right--"
Emilia raises her eyebrows at Subaru, who repels her words of reminder and tries to stand up. However, her scolding was not spun to the end and was interrupted.
Her large, dark blue, purple eyes widen and he sees the scene reflected in her beautiful eyes.
Subaru sits on the edge of the rooftop, and a werewolf emerges from behind him with a splash of water, opening its large mouth to bite Subaru on the nape of the neck.
"----"
Either the bite will pull him into the water or mercilessly chew up his jugular, a moment that even Emilia, in front of him, will not make it in time.
Todd's persistence defies even a flash flood and bites the life out of Subaru.
The moment--,
"--That person is..."
Strong, wind rattles as footsteps stomp on the rooftop floor.
Neither Subaru, exhausted, nor Emilia, who was about to leave, could stop Todd's murderous actions.
Instead, they jump in with a girl with angry pale blue eyes.
"Don't touch me--!!"
At the same time as the roar, he released an axe that was swung with all his might.
The axe that Subaru flicked away when the werewolf jumped at him. For some reason, it ended up in the hands of a girl and returned to its owner, who tried to bite Subaru.
"--Gah"
A second attack pierced through, overlapping the wound on the left shoulder where the axe had once deeply pierced. The impact intercepted the werewolf's momentum, and the huge body being blown away was knocked into the muddy water.
With a loud splash and a column of water, this time, the werewolf--Todd Fang, is at the bottom of the water.
"Hah, hah, hah......"
Breathing roughly on her shoulder, the girl who had swung the axe out clutched Subaru's head to her chest. As it was, she dropped the axe from her trembling hands into the water and kneeled there.
Then, the girl--Rem's pale blue eyes and Subaru's black eyes face straight ahead.
"I think he's okay."
"......I'm not okay..."
Subaru replies in a faltering manner to Rem, who lowers the corners of his eyes in slight relief.
Then behind him, he looks for Todd, who was submerged by Rem's blow. --He can't find him. This time, there is no way he will be found. Even if they did, he would.
"--"
With frustration and bitterness rising in him, Subaru put his hand on his chest.
Nothing, Subaru could not understand Todd. Nothing that he wanted to understand, nothing that he thought Todd didn't need to understand.
That's what frustrates him. He's so frustrated and disappointed.
With that, he was left with an uncontrollable sense of frustration--,
"Rem! Thank God. Heal this boy's wounds! Subaru will be quickly......"
"Wait a minute! This is the kid! This is the kid! This is the kid who calls himself Natsuki Subaru......"
"Huh? This kid is Subaru! But he's cute......?"
Sniffing, in front of Subaru, who is losing strength at the edge of the rooftop, the two people who helped him - Emilia and Rem - are shouting this and that about Subaru.
He wondered how long it had been since he had seen two people exchanging words like this in front of him, and such thoughts flashed through my mind.
"Todd's the big asshole......"
With this final sense of frustration and defeat, Subaru's consciousness was cut off abruptly.
Arc 8, Chapter 6 "Not Begging for Forgiveness"
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Blood poured from his gouged shoulder and from his thigh, his ragged breath was full of heat, and his bloodshot complexion was evidence that the countdown to his life was progressing.
If he doesn't get medical attention right away and stop that countdown, his life will be in danger.
Still, if they apply healing magic, he will surely be saved. It is a wound that will definitely be saved.
"So, why......"
Subaru was confronting his "enemy" in the Imperial Capital, which was slowly rising in volume, with the smoldering scraps of wood from the remaining fire drifting in the air with a burning smell, beside the blown-up mill.
Yes, with Todd Fang, whom he can no longer help but call the "enemy".
--He didn't want to call Todd the "Enemy".
Ever since he first met Todd, he has been a terrible person to him. He has tried to kill him many times, actually taken his life, etched death and fear into his heart, and nurtured a relationship with him.
Each time, Subaru has continued to 'return by death' and deal with the raids that Todd sets up, and consequently pretend that the tragedy he causes never happened.
The forest where "People of Shudrak" lived were burned, leading to their total destruction; the surprise attack on the fortified city of Guaral killed Flop many times; and the operation to capture the city hall of the same Guaral made him feel like he was on fire on a tightrope.
The ultimate massacre was at Ginunhive, the "Gladiator Island". Tanza, Idola, Hiain, Weitz, Gustav, Old Man Null, and many others were all killed, but Subaru overturned even that.
He is not trying to pretend that Todd's actions did not happen.
But as a result, when Subaru 'returned by death' and struggled to protect what was important to him, what Todd had caused has been canceled out.
The only reason for Subaru to consider Todd as an enemy was lost in Subaru.
Finally, now that he was forced to retreat from the Imperial Capital, which was hit by this unprecedented disaster, Todd showed his willingness to join hands and cooperate with Subaru and his friends to protect his fiancée.
In fact, without Todd's help, it would have taken many retries to find an effective solution to the flood of zombies and to get everyone out.
The same is true of that monocular warrior and his fight against the zombies.
It took Todd's cooperation to defeat a deformed and monstrous enemy. They both know that if either of them had been missing, there would have been no life.
So he was one step closer.
With one more step, Subaru was able to walk with Todd, keeping a lid on his unbreakable feelings.
And yet--,
"Why......!"
"Don't talk so glibly. You knew it was coming and you could have prevented it. You didn't react to the kill, you were just on your guard the whole time."
Todd's right eye, which was red and bloodshot, was closed as Subaru's voice trembled and he appealed to him.
With a face like he was dealing with an unhearing child, his gaze turned to the axe floating in the air--or so it would seem to Todd's eyes, a deadly weapon held in a black hand.
In Subaru, the axe is synonymous with Todd.
He had been hit on the head by it not once but twice. Even after taking it out of Todd's hand, Subaru bit his back teeth as he looked at it out of the corner of his eye.
You get the picture. Subaru had always been wary of Todd.
So when he turned his back on the injured Todd, he invoked "Invisible Providence" to protect his head. He knew that if he was going to go for it, it was the head that would surely kill him.
But he wishes he hadn't aimed at it.
Nothing, he wishes it had never happened.
And then--,
"What a fail. I was taken in by your tricks."
"You're wrong......"
"I thought now that we've separated him from the others and taken care of the enemy...... he's a great actor."
"No......"
"Did you mean to obliterate me with that explosion? If so, I'm sorry you missed the point."
"No, I'm not! I'm, I'm serious about working with you ......!"
"--Don't lie to me."
Huffing, Subaru's throat rumbled at the cold sound of that one voice.
With one eye closed, Todd looks into Subaru's eyes with no heat or humidity. There is no color present in his gaze, as if he had been pricing Subaru out just before.
By now, Todd had finished pricing Subaru out. Hence, now.
"You knew it at the core of your being. We don't understand each other."
"----"
"I'm positively suspicious of others, and you are backwardly trusting of others. We may put words in your mouth about this and that, but our values are different."
Slowly changing his standing position, Todd warns Subaru around the floating axe in the air. Subaru also bit his lip hard and glared wistfully at Todd through the floating axe.
We don't understand each other, Todd said. Subaru continues to wonder if that was really the case.
He wondered if there really wasn't a way to make it work.
"If you kill me here, how can you be with zombies......"
"It's not a good way to go. As long as we get out of the Imperial Capital, we can do whatever we want. Thanks to your cooperation, we were able to send Katya to the city walls. After that, it will be better without you."
"Why?! I never meant to hurt Miss Katya! I didn't even intend to fight with you! And yet!"
"--But you're willing to choose whether or not to save Katya, aren't you?"
"Ah......?"
Todd said a cold word in front of Subaru, who was shouting and making a big deal out of his voice.
Subaru's cheeks hardened as he felt like he had been doused with cold water by Todd's argument.
He doesn't know what that means.
To begin with, this is at odds with Subaru's assertion. Whether he chooses to or not, Subaru has no intention of harming Katya, so such an accusation is misplaced.
And yet, Subaru's thoughts were held back.
--Todd did not miss that moment.
"--I will not beg for your forgiveness."
Todd scrambles through the gap when Subaru is at a loss for words, and he lowers his posture and lunges at him.
The cells in his body screamed as the distance between him and the other shrank, and Subaru immediately commanded his "unseen hand", which he stretched out in the air, to throw the axe he had grabbed at Todd.
However--,
"Gya-gaaah?!!"
Instantly, Subaru's vision is dyed bright red by a burning sensation that pierces his right thigh.
A knife was sticking out of Subaru's right leg, his thigh.
It was in Todd's hand just a moment ago. Just before he jumped in, he threw it into the air when Subaru stopped thinking, and he was right on top of it.
Then, distracted from his thoughts by the pain, the "unseen hand" that was supposed to throw the axe was interrupted--the axe in the air was taken back, and Todd's front kick hit Subaru in the chest.
"Ogh"
Subaru's body fell backward with a cry of pain, unable to stand on his stabbed leg. He hit the back of his head and back, and his scattered thoughts became even more scattered.
With his legs, his chest, his head, his back, and the blade of the axe falling in front of him--.
"AAAHHH!"
He shouts gruffly and interrupts the black hand in the middle of the swinging axe.
The "unseen hand" that is used so heavily, the one that protrudes from Subaru's chest, holds off an axe that is close to the tip of his nose, and he mobilizes his own two hands to resist the shaking blade, resisting the killing intent with his three arms.
In doing so, Todd, who was holding the axe, also pushed in as hard as he could to drop the blade that was pushing each other.
His leg hurts from being stabbed. His chest where he was kicked hurts. His back hurts where he was hit. His head hurts as well. If this axe were to go through his face, it would kill him even more than that.
"I'm not, stubborn....... Just, fucking die......!"
"N-no...... absolutely not......!"
With his hand on the peak of the axe, Todd puts all his weight on it and tries to kill Subaru.
Subaru resists with three arms, including the Unseen Hand, but the child's two hands and his thinly disguised authority, which offers little advantage other than invisibility, cannot push Todd away.
From the outside, it was a comical and miserable killing spree.
In the battle for the imperial city of Lupgana, where many soldiers and warriors competed with their well-trained skills and weapons, Subaru and Todd's battle was muddy and unceremonious at a critical juncture.
No trained skill, no special weapon, no trump card to overpower the others.
It was a battle for life that was too low by the standards of the Vollachia Empire--a battle between two people who did not understand each other, Natsuki Subaru and Todd Fang.
"You are not in tune with the situation! You are willing to die at any moment, and you put other people's lives on a selfish scale, but when it comes time to do this, you desperately resist. It's creepy!"
"Kah, don't say that......! I don't care when I die. I've never put anyone's life on the scale......! I don't want to die!"
"Die!"
"No!"
Todd's eyes, chilled with black murderous intent, are about to freeze Subaru's heart, which is beating like a fast bell. Just barely, the axe blades are competing between the two of them, but this fierce shoving match will not last forever.
Because--,
"Guh, ngh......"
Subaru stifles a moan in the back of his throat, blood flowing from his earlobes.
It is a reaction to the heavy use of the power of the "Unseen Hand". It is the reason why Subaru's body is being poisoned, and it sounds a danger signal. But he has no choice but to rely on it. Otherwise, the falling blade would break Subaru's face.
"I'm afraid your strange magic tricks are reaching their limits."
Todd understood the repercussions of the "Unseen Hand" when he saw Subaru's demonic expression and the bloodshed. He knew that Subaru would be the first to reach his limit if he continued to take his time.
At all costs, before it happens--that was the moment he thought.
"--?!"
Subaru and Todd's consciousness is momentarily stolen by a tremendous roar as they push against each other over the deadly axe.
It was the end of a reservoir at the far end of the city, far away from the center of the Imperial City, beyond the Crystal Palace, where Subaru and his friends were--a reservoir at the far end of the city, holding back a large amount of water, which had reached its limit.
With a roar, cracks spread across the entire watertight wall, and the force and volume of water flowing into the imperial capital increased dramatically all at once. It was no longer a great wave surging into a world without oceans; the surging waves that swept through the Imperial City shook the city, and the aftermath reached Subaru and his friends, who were killing each other.
And then--,
"Uh, ahhhh--!!"
"--"
For a brief moment, Todd's attention was diverted to the roar, and Subaru gathered all the strength he had.
He moves his body on his back, only now forgetting the pain of the knife in his leg, and turns over on his side as fast as he can, letting the blade of the axe, which he grabs with his "Unseen Hand", escape to the ground next to his head.
Todd, who had been putting all his strength into the axe, could not resist its momentum. The axe fell right next to Subaru's head, and Todd fell to the ground as well.
"Hah, hah......bhaah"
As it is, Subaru continues to roll sideways with momentum and away from Todd and his axe.
The knife in his leg repeatedly hit the ground, causing extreme pain, but he rolled over, crying and holding back to get away from something he wanted to keep away from more than the pain.
Eventually, after what seemed like ten or twenty rolls, Subaru's body hit the wreckage of the building and he was forced to stop. There, he somehow managed to get up on his arms, bleeding from his cut forehead--and then he saw it.
"......Everywhere, he's an abomination."
Todd stands on his knees and mutters hatefully. He looked back at Subaru, who had moved away from him, and saw the blade of an axe thrust deeply into his left shoulder.
"----"
When Subaru ducked the axe with determination, Todd fell on it in reverse.
The axe blade is deep, splitting the collarbone and gouging inward. It is a deep blow that could have reached the heart in some cases, but Todd, wiping his mouth and spitting out blood, has none of the weakness of a dying man.
Yes, too tough.
He is being cut down here and there by his zombie decoys, taking damage as collateral damage from dust explosions, and to top it all off, he has an axe sticking out of his body, yet he seems unconcerned about it.
The reason for Todd's attitude finally became clear to Subaru.
It is--,
"--Did you see? What a fail."
There was no frivolity, no spare time, and a clear irritation in Todd's tone.
A voice that is intensely angry at itself and, above all, at the other party for the blunder of seeing something that should never have been seen and that it did not want to be seen.
With his anger seeping through him, Todd roughly pulled out the axe that had pierced his shoulder. The wound so messed up spurted blood once strongly--and soon, the blood stopped.
It is the resilience of something that has evolved in the species to prevent the negative effects of injuries from working too hard in combat and hunting. Subaru, too, has seen this resilience many times in this other world.
Although there is no difference between him and Subaru in his appearance, he is a being of decidedly different blood.
It's subhuman. It's also--,
"--You're a half-breed?"
"Too close. That's just incorrect."
Before the stunned Subaru, Todd squints his eyes and affirms only half of his suspicions. Todd gives the other half of the answer to Subaru, who gasps, unsure of its true meaning.
His cheeks are contorted in cruelty, and his eyes are lit up with blood-colored anger--,
"--Werewolves."
△▼△▼△▼△
--In this world, there are several things that are abhorrent just by existing.
The existence of half-elves is prominent among such abhorrent things, and their disadvantage is common to all countries as a relative of the "Witch" who once nearly destroyed the world.
Besides that, in the Kararagi city-state, the hairless subhuman race is considered unlucky, and in the Gusteko Holy Kingdom, the closer the hair and eyes approach black, the more they are estranged from the spirits as they are disliked by the spirits.
And in the Vollachia Empire, where various subhuman races live together, there are two races whose existence is abhorred--the earth rats and the werewolves.
In ancient times, two races, the earth-rats and the werewolves, are said to have been forever guilty of the unforgivable sin of betraying and sending to death the most beloved woman in the Vollachia Empire.
As a result, the earth rats abandoned their homeland and escaped out of the country by digging in the earth. And the werewolves, who did not know how to escape, were hunted until they were eradicated and hunted down at every turn.
The wrath of this empire extended to other countries, and if an earth rat or werewolf was found in his own country, he would be sent across the border to the empire to be executed. --This is the history of the earth rat hunts and wolf hunts, as they are commonly referred to.
In modern times, it is said that the earth rats live in seclusion under the earth, taking advantage of their abilities and hiding in plain sight. --The only one in the world who publicly claims to be a werewolf is Halibel, the "Admirer", who is considered the strongest in the city-state of Kararagi.
An empire that relentlessly hunted werewolves, whose national crest is ironically a wolf pierced by a sword.
The sword-wolf is the most precious thing in the empire, and the wolf that runs away for fear of being pierced by the sword itself is the most spiteful.
Therefore, in this world, both the existence of werewolves and the existence of "werewolves" - half-breeds of wolves who inherit the blood of werewolves - continue to bear a curse that can never be forgiven.
△▼△▼△▼△
"Were... wolf......"
Todd's untold secret that often clashed with him, not knowing whether to feel positive or negative when he found out about it, but more than that, it was a scare.
Aside from the fact that he didn't know which emotion to feel, positive or negative, after learning about Todd's little-known secret, with which they often clashed, what he felt even more was fear.
It was an instinctive dislike of the very sound of "werewolf" that reached his ears.
--Subaru is unaware of the history of the exclusion of werewolves in this world.
He knows nothing about the fact that werewolves and earth rats are abhorred in the empire, that the reason for this was the betrayal of a woman named Iris who lived in ancient times, that her true identity is Yorna Mishigure, or that her beloved emperor is not Vincent Vollachia.
He knows nothing about the background circumstances.
Even without knowing anything, Subaru's soul understands. --Subaru's soul understands, even if he knows nothing about it, how alien the beings called "werewolves" are in this world.
"You look a little different from what I expected. You look surprised that I was a half-breed, but not that I was a werewolf."
Todd looks at Subaru, who is silent, and raises his eyebrows with a thoughtless look on his face.
"But now we can do it without any weird reservations, right? Werewolves are meant to be hung. It's in the blood. You too--"
"Why?"
"Yeah?"
"Why, yes, I do. I'm going to kill......"
He can't say he'd ever felt that way, that he wanted to kill.
But this is not because of the blood that runs in Todd's veins or his origins, but because his own conduct was incompatible with Subaru's and he had no choice but to clash with him.
And yet, the way Todd is saying it now--,
"Don't make it sound like blood is the reason you became my 'enemy'."
"----"
"How many times have you bumped into me because it's between you and me? Not because of who you are, not because your blood has fired me up!"
Biting his back teeth, he pressed his fists into the ground and Subaru raised himself up.
The intense pain from the knife in his leg, which was running through his body with great force, made him more aware and clarified the anger that was simmering in his chest.
"You're a werewolf......!"
"Hey, hey. That's not what you tell me to do......"
"Shut up! Why, why are you being like that!"
Not a single one of them is what Subaru wants, and when Subaru has positive feelings, they cause negative behavior, and when Subaru has positive feelings, they cause negative problems.
He saved Katya, helped rescue Rem and the others, joined forces to defeat a powerful zombie, tried to kill Subaru, choked on the idea, and, to top it all off, he's a werewolf.
"Why... why!"
"Don't tell me what people are born with. That's the way it is. Maybe his mother slept with a dog. Come to think of it, there used to be a big dog living in the back of the house."
"No, you're not! You're the one who's picking on my birth!"
"----"
"I'm the one who's getting into these staring contests with you......"
He doesn't know what kind of life Todd has led as a werewolf.
He doesn't even want to know. If he knew, he would find a reason to forgive Todd for it. That's why he don't want to know. Subaru does not want to forgive Todd for a reason that he has no choice.
So--,
"--I've decided."
Squeezing out his voice, Subaru mutters to himself, his head nearly mangled with anger and pain.
Todd's eyes narrowed as he heard Subaru's muttering. Even without words, the silence prompted him to wonder what Subaru had decided to do.
Subaru told them as he was prompted to do so.
"I'm not going to kill you. I'm not going to do what you want me to do."
"----"
At Subaru's quiet declaration, Todd had nothing to say in return.
However, he did not remain silent. --He laughed.
"Ha, hahaha, hahahaha!"
Brushing his hair back with the hand that did not hold the axe, Todd opened his mouth and laughed. Not caring that his hair and forehead were stained with blood, Todd opened his big mouth and burst out laughing.
Then, after a brief laugh, he shook his head loosely to the side,
"You are a monster. Even more so than that zombie."
He stared at Subaru with more clearly visible emotion in his eyes than ever before.
Subaru knows what it is, the emotion that was hidden behind that ghastly black murderous intent, the first time it was visible and hidden. He has seen it in the mirror many times before.
It was fear. --It was a fear of something that brings about death, which he does not understand.
"It's bad enough that you don't realize it. You are choosing between life and death. You freely decide who to save and who to let die. I adore those who flirt and show their bellies, but I don't care about those who don't. I don't hesitate to flirt and show my belly to anyone, but......"
"----"
"How can I have a relationship with someone who decides who lives and dies based on his preferences?"
--That was Todd Fung's ultimatum.
"----"
Todd, as if to spit it out, his appearance changes with a creaking sound of bones.
The wounds peeking out from the imperial soldier's uniform, his jacket torn in many places, were closed, and the same animal hair as his hair color covered his skin. The nose of his head protruded, his mouth grew wide as if it were ripped open, and his fully grown white teeth began to sharpen, transforming his appearance into that of a ferocious beast.
A werewolf and just what it was declared to be.
He stands on two legs, handles tools with two arms, and bites the life out of his opponents with his ferocious fangs. The transformation into such an existence--or rather, his true form, was revealed.
"Die."
Shortly, Todd stepped toward Subaru with that intention again in his words.
The step is large, and the speed with which he kicks the ground with his hind legs explodes. The aim is to slay Subaru, to antagonize him as an unknowable object of fear, and to keep him alive when he learns of his true identity.
Subaru's fighting spirit explodes as he realizes this.
"--Invisible Providence."
Todd, now a werewolf, swings his axe and leaps at Subaru as he mutters.
On the way to the axe, Subaru interrupted the debris lifted by the black arm extended from his chest and bounced Todd's head to the other side before the axe could overtake it.
"--ngh"
But even if the axe is gone, Todd now has another weapon, his fangs.
Subaru also used the "Unseen Hand" to prevent the axe and cannot rely on its authority to prevent its fangs.
Instead, Subaru used his own hand to pull out the knife in his leg.
"GYA, GGYAGAAAAH!!"
Screaming from the intense pain that he had never gotten used to, Subaru held the knife he had pulled out in both hands and clamped it between the gap between Todd's fangs as he bit down on him.
The closing sharp fangs are stopped by the knife and Subaru's face is pushed down again, and drool spills from the knife-chewing werewolf's mouth, wetting his cheeks with the botchings.
"--oh!"
"AHHHHH!!"
As it is, it is pushed in and the fangs are closing in on Subaru's neck.
Subaru screamed in pain as he struggled to hold it back.
"I'm...... not going to kill you......!"
He screams as he is about to be killed, just before the tips of his fangs gouge his neck.
The one who is about to take a life is chastised for the one who is about to take a life.
Even if they continue to be pushed around and chew off their heads and lose their lives, they will be sent back to wherever they are in this fight.
Todd as such a guy who, for reasons unknown to Subaru, is fragile and resentful of the world--.
It was that moment.
"--That's enough."
The sound of her voice, which arrived as if by surprise, echoed as if scratching Subaru's soul.
The Imperial City is a hell of noise, with the breath of beasts, the earth shaking every now and then, and chaos still continuing in various parts of the city.
Even in such a world, his voice was not disturbed by anything.
It is as if Natsuki Subaru's presence is made to resonate with her voice.
"I--"
Immediately after, Todd's body, pressed against Subaru's body and trying to reach his fangs for life, was blown away by the tremendous impact of being struck from the side.
"----"
In front of him, Todd's body, now a werewolf, was shot, and reflected in his open vision was a shard of ice that danced like a sparkling glitter--a hammer made of ice that scattered the shards.
Todd was hit by it with a forceful blow, a mallet of ice as big as a bag of rocks.
And the one who swings off the ice hammer with both hands and makes her long silver hair dance is a girl with a ridiculously beautiful profile dressed in white--,
"--Emilia."
Subaru's mouth involuntarily traces the name that blitzed through his mind.
The girl looks back. --Her twinkling dark blue eyes met Subaru's black eyes. Subaru couldn't help but gasp as he gazed into the beauty of her eyes,
"Hey, there, boy, over here!"
"Huh?"
He forgets to breathe, or he gasps for air, and it is forcibly interrupted.
The white fingers that reach out vigorously in a single bound pull Subaru's body and lift him up with a strength that is unimaginable from his appearance. The girl--Emilia, without hesitation, picks up Subaru, who is covered in blood and mud, and bends her knees and says, "Alright",
"Yah!"
With a shout, she jumped, kicked the wall of a building that was right next to her, and leaped up to aim even higher. Emilia then jumped onto the roof of the building, and was embraced in her arms and said, "Huh? Huh? Huh?". Subaru's eyes were black and white, but her understanding caught up with her later.
Below them, they could see the street below the building where Emilia, with Subaru in her arms, had landed, as a muddy stream swept down the street with tremendous force, swallowing everything in its path.
"Watch out...... you almost got swallowed by the water."
Emilia was relieved to see the overwhelming sight.
Emilia's reaction does not convey much urgency or misery, but the sense of despair is overwhelming as the site of the mill where the dust explosion blew up and the street where Todd dragged the zombies around until they were ready, were collectively engulfed by the flash flood.
If it had been a little later, Subaru would have been engulfed in a flash flood, just as Emilia said. If that had happened, there was no way he could have survived--,
"--, What's that guy?!"
Todd was on the verge of biting Subaru to death when Emilia punched him out.
If he had failed to escape, would he have been swallowed by the flash flood as well? If he had been swallowed by the force of the water, there would have been no way for him to have survived, no matter how strong the force of the water was.
Forgetting the pain in his legs, Subaru quickly looked around, searching for Todd in the muddy streets of the Imperial Capital, which were being swallowed up by the muddy waters. To be honest, he did not even know the answer to whether he wanted Todd to be found or not.
"Hey, calm down. Who are you looking for...... Oh! I just looked closely and saw a serious injury! We need to get you patched up right away......"
Subaru stares frantically into her eyes, and Emilia notices the wound on his leg. She was about to put Subaru down on the floor, when she hurriedly sat him down on the edge of the rooftop,
"Wait! I'll get child who can use healing magic as soon as......"
"I don't have time for this! If you leave me alone......"
"You're the one who needs to get your feet right--"
Emilia raises her eyebrows at Subaru, who repels her words of reminder and tries to stand up. However, her scolding was not spun to the end and was interrupted.
Her large, dark blue, purple eyes widen and he sees the scene reflected in her beautiful eyes.
Subaru sits on the edge of the rooftop, and a werewolf emerges from behind him with a splash of water, opening its large mouth to bite Subaru on the nape of the neck.
"----"
Either the bite will pull him into the water or mercilessly chew up his jugular, a moment that even Emilia, in front of him, will not make it in time.
Todd's persistence defies even a flash flood and bites the life out of Subaru.
The moment--,
"--That person is..."
Strong, wind rattles as footsteps stomp on the rooftop floor.
Neither Subaru, exhausted, nor Emilia, who was about to leave, could stop Todd's murderous actions.
Instead, they jump in with a girl with angry pale blue eyes.
"Don't touch me--!!"
At the same time as the roar, he released an axe that was swung with all his might.
The axe that Subaru flicked away when the werewolf jumped at him. For some reason, it ended up in the hands of a girl and returned to its owner, who tried to bite Subaru.
"--Gah"
A second attack pierced through, overlapping the wound on the left shoulder where the axe had once deeply pierced. The impact intercepted the werewolf's momentum, and the huge body being blown away was knocked into the muddy water.
With a loud splash and a column of water, this time, the werewolf--Todd Fang, is at the bottom of the water.
"Hah, hah, hah......"
Breathing roughly on her shoulder, the girl who had swung the axe out clutched Subaru's head to her chest. As it was, she dropped the axe from her trembling hands into the water and kneeled there.
Then, the girl--Rem's pale blue eyes and Subaru's black eyes face straight ahead.
"I think he's okay."
"......I'm not okay..."
Subaru replies in a faltering manner to Rem, who lowers the corners of his eyes in slight relief.
Then behind him, he looks for Todd, who was submerged by Rem's blow. --He can't find him. This time, there is no way he will be found. Even if they did, he would.
"--"
With frustration and bitterness rising in him, Subaru put his hand on his chest.
Nothing, Subaru could not understand Todd. Nothing that he wanted to understand, nothing that he thought Todd didn't need to understand.
That's what frustrates him. He's so frustrated and disappointed.
With that, he was left with an uncontrollable sense of frustration--,
"Rem! Thank God. Heal this boy's wounds! Subaru will be quickly......"
"Wait a minute! This is the kid! This is the kid! This is the kid who calls himself Natsuki Subaru......"
"Huh? This kid is Subaru! But he's cute......?"
Sniffing, in front of Subaru, who is losing strength at the edge of the rooftop, the two people who helped him - Emilia and Rem - are shouting this and that about Subaru.
He wondered how long it had been since he had seen two people exchanging words like this in front of him, and such thoughts flashed through my mind.
"Todd's the big asshole......"
With this final sense of frustration and defeat, Subaru's consciousness was cut off abruptly.