High, high above and far, far away, overlapping cackles reverberated through the sky.
In a world suffocated by fog, three shadow-fish swam in formation beneath the colossal form that hovered above.
Grotesque beings covered in countless distorted mouths, from which they shrieked ceaselessly in piercing cries. A product of malice that had devoured countless travelers and returned innumerable lives to nothing.
A single one was a threat sufficient to bring humanity to its knees in despair. And now, having tripled its number, the creature looked down upon those who dared to resist and laughed.
Gazing up at the
A knight who had joined the subjugation force slumped forward, covering his face with both hands as he crouched there. His shoulders shook, and no one could stop the sobs that rose from his throat.
The comrades around him had no words to offer either.
They had come equipped for everything. They had seized the initiative, unleashed their firepower, pressed the assault with everything they had — and yet here they were, facing this impossible situation.
The spiritual contamination had halved their forces, and the survivors had been shattered by the surprise attack of the newly appeared White Whale.
Even if they pooled what remained, it would be less than half of their original strength. And now they had to face three times as many magical beasts. There was no chance of winning.
Everyone realized it in an instant — their lives, their purpose, everything would be crushed right here.
The terror and revolting nature of the magical beast. The weight of precious bonds stolen by that beast. And their own powerlessness, unable to repay those bonds. It was unbearable.
When everything you had built came crashing down and the heart you had been holding together finally broke, who could blame someone for falling to their knees?
When the irrational, immovable reality bore down upon you, who could deny someone the right to surrender?
"Don't let it swallow you whole!!!"
Suddenly, a roar of fury split the settling silence across the plain.
Startled, those who looked up saw a figure sprinting across the ground toward one of the White Whales — a girl in a maid's uniform, the hem of her dress billowing behind her, clutching a fearsome iron spiked ball in her hand.
Shrouded in a violent wind, the howling iron ball struck the White Whale's snout dead-on, the beast having gone still. It shattered the hard outer hide with ease, gouged through exposed bone and flesh, pierced clean through, and kept on going.
A shriek erupted. The White Whale raised its head and whipped its tail to ascend into the sky — but that tail was pierced by a blade of ice extending from the ground. The iron ball, which had circled around, struck again while the creature was immobilized. With a single blow from the diminutive girl, the White Whale's massive body lurched and blood sprayed everywhere.
"If we can deal with it before it swallows us whole, there's still a chance —!"
Pressing a shoulder in pain and blood streaming from his forehead, a boy screamed his defiance.
Stepping forward, directing the girl swinging her iron ball, his face twisted with frustration at his own inability to join the fight directly — yet even so, he planted his feet.
The earth dragon that had collapsed beside him righted itself, and he slowly climbed onto its back. His posture was clearly that of an unpracticed rider — awkward, ungainly — but he gripped the reins with all his strength.
"It's not over!! Nothing is over yet!!"
Before the knights paralyzed by despair, he raised his voice as if to ignite his own spirit. He bared his teeth, threw his head back, eyes wide, and glared at the White Whale as he roared: "Don't think for a second that this level of despair is enough to make me stop!!"
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ Subaru could feel it clearly — the footsteps of despair slowly closing in.
One above. One behind. One in front. Three total. Are you kidding me?
How much of their fighting strength had they poured into just one of these things, and how far had they managed to injure it? And when things got inconvenient, it just called over two buddies to get the real show started? What a joke.
Just how far would fate twist them around before it was satisfied?
Thrust to the ground with Ricardo shielding him, Subaru clenched his teeth from where he lay. If he hadn't been grinding his molars together, the whimpering, the sobs would have spilled out.
A sudden vertigo — as if the world before his eyes had gone dark. His brain couldn't bear the weight of the situation, and the sense of despair nearly dragged his consciousness under.
Familiar despair put on a mocking grin and casually slung an arm around his shoulder.
Hey, isn't it about time you gave up this time too?
The shadowy figure — faceless, shaped like a crescent — opened its mouth in that familiar voice and urged surrender. And through those words, Subaru accepted the full weight of the situation before him.
Here and there, he could see knights in the same state as himself — kneeling, broken.
They, too, had understood that the situation was beyond salvation. The very will to resist had been stolen from them. Every eye had gone hollow, and the willpower to grip a weapon had been snuffed out.
Glancing around, about to sink into the chorus of despair at his side, he noticed something.
Right nearby,
Her cheeks were rigid, her lips pale, her eyelids trembling. Looking at her this closely, he noticed — huh, her eyelashes really are long, wasn't it?
She'd look way better smiling, he thought.
So — "Your turn was over a long, long time ago."
He roughly shrugged off the arm draped around his shoulder.
The shadow, its mouth bending into a startled frown at his casual dismissal, received a smile from Subaru — and then a full-force right straight. The black figure shattered, and the trembling in his body stopped all at once.
Pointless. Pathetic. There was no time for doubt, no room to stand still.
So two Whales instead of one. So what?
His limbs still worked. He could still raise his head, still see. His voice still came out, still reached people. Rem was here. Rem was alive. None of this was the time to give up picking up the pieces.
Get up.
Again and again, over and over, his heart had been beaten to the ground.
Get up.
Every time he was tossed about by an irrational fate, despair's finality had been shoved into his face.
Get up.
When he had thrown everything away, ready to flee from it all — only to have even that denied, forced to face his own heart.
Get up.
For what purpose?
Get up!
"For this very moment, you idiot!!"
He slammed his fist into the ground and hauled himself to his feet.
Rem, startled, looked up at him with wide eyes. Subaru looked down at her, extended his hand, and glared at the White Whale before him.
"It's not over. I'm not letting it end."
"...Subaru-kun."
"Let's do this, Rem. It's showtime."
He grabbed her outstretched hand with a clumsy impatience and pulled her up.
Pulling the girl into his chest, Subaru faced her as she looked up at him from close range.
"Giving up doesn't suit you. Not me, not you — not anyone!"
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ Rem, roaring with a battle cry, launched herself ferociously at the White Whale. She drove her right fist into the rock-like hide and began climbing up its body. The iron ball she swung on the way up scraped against the surface with a deafening screech, scattering blood with each savage blow. The White Whale twisted its massive body and let out a pained shriek.
The Whale Rem was attacking was the one that had swallowed Wilhelm whole from behind. She could confirm its jaw was still working in a chewing motion, but it couldn't have gotten him past its throat yet.
In the worst case, those millstone-like teeth might have crushed him — but — "As long as the head's still intact, we'll just have to rip him out of there —!"
Pulling the reins, Subaru threw his weight onto the earth dragon's back in a haze of unreliable sensation.
Driving the dragon himself rather than letting Rem handle it — this was pure improvisation. The route until
With zero horseback riding experience from his world, there was no way a few hours of practice would let him handle an earth dragon with any degree of mastery.
All he could do was direct the speed and angle and cling on for dear life. But the highly intelligent earth dragon seemed to grasp Subaru's intentions and abilities, and was careful not to shake off its inexperienced rider.
Good dragon. Fast, sturdy, and above all, smart. From now on, your name is
"Let's go, Patrasche! Circle around to the Whale's snout!"
He shouted, snapping the reins, and the earth dragon surged forward. Patrasche responded, charging ahead in a headlong rush toward the White Whale, reining in its instincts to charge straight in.
The Whale, which had been thrashing desperately trying to throw Rem off, sensed Subaru's approach and instinctively turned its head toward him. And right into that broadside — "Smelling Subaru-kun's scent is Rem's privilege —!"
She launched herself off the surface, driving a kick of cannonball force into the Whale's face.
The massive head jerked slightly, and the follow-up iron ball came howling through the air — punching through one cheek, ravaging the inside of its mouth, and bursting out the other side, taking several teeth along for the ride.
Yellowish fluid and bright blood sprayed in torrents as the White Whale shrieked. Its body finally crashed to earth, and like a fish thrown onto land, it thrashed about wildly.
The ground was gouged open. Clods of earth scattered in every direction. Its tail swept across the ground, cleaved through the wind, and — with what felt like a sneak attack — swung right toward Subaru's flank. At the very last instant — "Babam and Mimi-san to the rescue!!"
The cat-eared demi-human girl inserted herself between Subaru and the blow at the last second. She swung her staff, and a magic barrier deployed.
A yellow glow deflected the strike. Through the gap it created, the liger and earth dragon burst through in a single sprint.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Subaru looked back at the cat-girl who had saved him at the last moment — Mimi.
"You saved me! You know, I was about to say something cool like 'Time to counterattack!' and then it would've ended right there!"
"Hmm-hmm! You can praise me more, you know~! But Big Brother Ricardo worked really hard today too, so let's call it even!"
"Ricardo... worked hard?"
Subaru tilted his head as Mimi beamed at him proudly. The girl flicked the whiskers on her cheek lightly with a finger.
"Everyone's Blue was about to collapse, but you were the first one to snap out of it! Good job~! Amazing~! Second only to Mimi, though!"
"That's no big deal. I'm just saying this level of despair isn't enough to break me."
To Mimi's loud praise, Subaru responded through gritted teeth.
Right. It wasn't something to be praised for. Did they have any idea how much Subaru had endured, how much he had been through?
Compared to the despair he had faced before — the despair he couldn't fight against — this current situation was still something he could fight. Why on earth would he have the luxury of wallowing in surrender?
If he had time to play around with giving up, he'd rather spend it vomiting blood while searching for hope.
Fighting back was so much, so much easier than giving up.
"!!"
Suddenly, a shadow appeared head-on, rushing straight toward them at incredible speed. A fish-shaped form opened its massive jaws.
Right in front of him, close enough to see the dark red, grotesque organs deep in its throat, Subaru instinctively leaned back to dodge — but the mist spewing from the White Whale's maw was just slightly faster — "Shut your mouth —!!"
A blade that couldn't be seen slashed down in a high arc, cleaving the White Whale's enormous mouth vertically from the side. The Whale squeezed its jaws shut from the force of the strike, scraping across the ground in agony. Subaru and Mimi darted past.
As they narrowly escaped the crisis, Subaru looked up to see Crusch galloping toward them from across the battlefield.
She pulled up alongside him, casting a venomous glare at the White Whale.
"From the looks of it, things are about as bad as they get. What happened to Wilhelm?"
"You remember him, which means at least he hasn't been erased by the mist. ...Depends on how Rem fights from here."
Subaru answered while scanning the battlefield, watching for the Whale circling back to pursue them. Crusch did the same, her gaze sweeping the chaos. It stopped on the White Whale thrashing around with a thunderous racket, and Rem — relentlessly swinging her iron ball atop it, carving out a sea of blood.
"What do you make of this,
"What do you mean, 'what do I make of it'? If you're asking about our chances, I'd love to say something self-serving about how whether I live or die changes things..."
"That's not what I meant. Don't you think something is strange?"
Crusch swung her sword at the approaching White Whale's snout. A roar split the air, and with the shockwave at his back, Subaru turned to her. "Strange?"
"The White Whale has become three. At first glance, an utterly desperate situation. But if the White Whale is supposed to be a beast that travels in packs, don't you think someone — anyone — would have known that by now?"
"I'm not really following."
"There must be some kind of trick to it."
Crusch declared flatly, turning her sharp gaze toward Subaru.
Naturally, pierced by that intense stare, Subaru straightened his back.
"You're saying I should... find it."
"We'll buy you time — you with your running speed, and us covering you. But none of us can hold out for long. We have to figure something out — retreat is no longer an option."
Having said that, Crusch's earth dragon peeled away from Subaru.
She swept in a wide arc, circling the hovering White Whale, and made her way to each scattered unit of the subjugation force, raising her voice.
"Stand! Raise your faces! Take up your weapons! Why did you come here in the first place?!"
The men — despondent, grief-stricken, faces lowered — raised their eyes.
Before them, Crusch stood tall, her treasured sword raised to the heavens.
"Look at that man! He has no weapon, he is weak, a nobody who could be blown away by the wind! He is powerless — I have seen him fall with my own eyes!"
Pointing her blade at Subaru's back as he rode away on the earth dragon, Crusch raised her voice even higher.
Of all people, that man was the weakest.
He had no strength to fight. No ability to survive. A man broken again and again, crushed each time — utterly defeated.
And yet that weakest of them all was the first to roar defiance.
More powerless than anyone present, he still gritted his teeth, endured the pain, held back his tears, vomited blood — and still looked up, still refused to yield.
"And so how can we — how can we possibly keep our heads down?"
The men exchanged glances, strengthening their trembling knees, and stood.
They picked up their fallen weapons. The earth dragons that would bear their masters came to their sides.
Reaching out, gripping reins, the knights who should have been kneeling climbed onto the dragons' backs. The dragons roared, and upon their backs, the knights drew their swords and let out hoarse battle cries.
A war cry erupted — to stir their own spirits, to honor their souls.
Behind the fighting boy, they bellowed and raged, driving away the foolishness of having cowered with their faces down.
That emotion was called 'shame.' Shame cut through fear, through surrender, through every negative feeling, and gave the knights the strength to raise their heads and step forward.
"Move out — all units, charge!!"
"With everything we have —!!!"
Swearing upon their once-broken spirits, the knights advanced once more.
Dust rose from the earth dragons' pounding feet as the subjugation force — now fewer than fifty strong — surged down the road and fell upon the two White Whales swimming within blade range.
Hearing the swelling morale of the subjugation force and the woman who had willed it back into being, Subaru couldn't keep the bitter smile off his lips.
"Calling me a weakling and a loser... go right ahead, you bastards."
Not that he even bothered to deny it — that would be the real blow.
Call him whatever they wanted. Use him however they wanted. Subaru was powerless. A perpetual loser. Broken, discarded, thrown away — and he'd made it this far. That was the truth.
And because he knew that truth, Subaru could roar right here, right now.
He wouldn't end as a perpetual loser. He wouldn't stay broken. He would stop throwing things away. And being powerless was not something he would accept.
"I'm counting on you, Patrasche! One more time — straight to its snout, then pull away fast!"
The earth dragon tilted at an angle, gouging the earth, carved a sharp turn, and once again charged straight at the White Whale.
Up ahead, the mixed squad Crusch had split off with was launching support attacks against the Whale that Rem was clinging to. Knights with swords raised sparks against the beast's outer hide, while cavalry maintained distance alongside its enormous body, hammering it with magical ore bombardments.
Shrieking, the White Whale writhed on the ground. Even its thrashing was an unavoidable violence to those nearby. A single dragon and rider were sent flying by one such blow, crushed under the impossible weight with the sound of bones shattering.
Blood sprayed. A life ended. — Subaru burned that image into his mind.
A chill ran down his spine. He hadn't made it in time. He couldn't save them. That was the consequence of Subaru's decision.
This was the result of Subaru saying they should start this fight. He couldn't look away. The moment he did — the moment he refused to accept it — Subaru would lose to the emotion of 'shame.' And once, when he had lost to his own heart — when he had faced the weakest, most contemptible version of himself — she had rejected it, deeply and gently. After that, he could not allow himself to wallow any longer.
The rampaging White Whale, sensing Subaru's approach, opened every mouth across its entire body.
A blood-chilling sensation spread through him. He entrusted everything to the earth dragon's full speed and cut through the wind. — And just beside him, the 'Vanishing Mist' from countless mouths grazed past.
If even a single finger touched it, Subaru's existence would be erased from that point. The imagination of his entire body being enveloped in not 'death,' but a sense of loss — it shook him to his core.
But — "Elfure!!" "Like we'd let you!!" "Where do you think you're looking?!"
Wind magic blew the mist aside. Roaring blades and hammers smashed shut the mist-spewing mouths.
The knights' supporting fire thinned the barrage of mist slightly. But even so, the firepower was devastating. As the sensation of vanishing closed in from all sides, Subaru's nerves sharpened with the awareness of approaching annihilation.
He left the route to the dragon, and his body performed evasive maneuvers on its back. Push-up position on the dragon's back, avoiding the mist approaching from behind by essentially doing a handstand — losing his balance entirely and falling backward — but — "Hold — onnnn!!"
He clamped his teeth on the reins and braced his knees against the stirrups to barely hold on. The grip strength he had built in his world from mindlessly swinging a wooden sword, again and again, for no particular reason, kept his slipping palms from losing their hold at the last possible instant.
Half-dragging his legs in the escape — they broke through the barrage.
The vision cleared, and as the dragon eased its speed, Subaru climbed back on in the most pathetic manner imaginable — reducing his already meager stamina further. Then he steered toward the other White Whale, the one Crusch's group was attacking.
"Screwed around with... hah. Dammit, it's not just about risking my life — I need to think too!"
Gasping harshly, once again exposing himself as bait, Subaru's mind churned over the 'trick' that had come up in his conversation with Crusch.
Three magical beasts — about the White Whale, Subaru was still woefully ignorant. As for the threat of the 'mist' and the long history of the creature, he was completely outpaced by those who had lived in this world.
But even Subaru could raise certain questions. Wilhelm had pursued the White Whale for fourteen years as vengeance for his wife. Would he have overlooked the critical piece of information that 'multiple White Whales exist'? And if it truly was unknown, would simultaneous appearances like this have been possible before?
"Why did they suddenly increase... three from the start doesn't make any sense...!"
He felt like he was grasping for a foothold. But before he could, Patrasche's desperate sprint brought them within the White Whale's detection range.
The Whale that had been chasing Crusch — who had slashed open its lower belly — swung its gaze around in a wide arc and locked onto Subaru. At the same time, the dense mist that had been building inside its open maw was expelled as massive destruction, accompanied by a roar that shattered the air.
Patrasche cut in at a sharp angle, evading the brunt of the mist's onslaught — but they were half a step short of clearing its range entirely. And those missing half a step were covered by — "We've got that!"
"No one's slipping past us-oh!"
The twin demi-humans, Mimi and Hetaro, burst in between.
At Subaru's side, unable to escape fully, the twins opened their mouths and released overlapping roars — 'wa' and 'ha' — the collision of high-pitched sounds generating ripples. Those ripples recast the vibrations as destruction, sending massive shockwaves rippling across the plain's surface, blowing back even the encroaching mist head-on.
"Whoaaa!! Thaaat's incredible!!"
"Right?! Right?! Praise us more~!"
At Subaru's straightforward admiration, Mimi puffed out her chest and beamed with satisfaction. Beside her, the panting Hetaro muttered, "Big Sister, really..." Then, guiding his liger to flank Subaru on both sides: "I'll provide support. Without Subaru-san here... I can't see a way for us to win this."
"Boom and smash and kablam, that's all we need to do, right?"
"To do all the boom and kablam stuff, we need Subaru-san's help, big sister."
"Huh."
And so the twins continued their oddly relaxed conversation with Subaru sandwiched between them.
Setting aside Mimi — who didn't seem to grasp even the basics of how dire things were — Subaru turned to Hetaro, the one more likely to understand.
"That combo attack from earlier — the one you hit the Whale with mid-fight. Can you do it again?"
"I'll squeeze every last drop of mana I have, but one more time is my limit. — Until the Captain recovers, my sister and I will protect you, Subaru-san."
"Ricardo's alive!?"
At the unexpected good news, Subaru's voice rose. Hetaro nodded.
The relief that spread through Subaru was genuine. He'd thought Ricardo's liger had been killed miserably, and that the sheer volume of blood might have erased even his remains.
"The Captain, barely clinging to life, has a message for you as well."
"A message... It's not going to be 'this is going to cost you,' is it?"
"I think he'll say that to you himself later... but here it is. Ahem. 'Well, well, not too shabby, yeah? The proof is I'm still alive, ain't it?' That's the message."
Dutifully reproducing the
Literally, a message Ricardo had risked his life to convey. If he directed his attention to the meaning behind those words, to their true intent — "That impression is nothing like him."
"Yeah, not even close! No talent whatsoever!"
"This isn't the time for that!!"
Mimi echoed Subaru's insensitive remark while Hetaro protested in a near-tearful voice, but Subaru tuned them out and gazed up at the sky.
The subjugation force, split into two groups, was locked in fierce battle with two White Whales.
The White Whale floating in the sky was the first to appear and had fled to high altitude before the main assault began. It still hadn't joined the fight, merely watching Subaru and the others from above.
Something about that attitude struck Subaru as off.
Their forces had been reduced, and those remaining were split further into two groups to fight — that was the current state of the battle. Subaru's harassment was helping, but if the airborne White Whale joined either battlefield, the balance would tip instantly. If one side was devoured, it was over.
And yet, that Whale was doing nothing — "Ricardo's message..."
Light, he had said.
He'd risked his life, and the reason he survived was because it was light. What meaning did that hold? What was light? His life? On a battlefield, sure, life was light. But it didn't feel like that was the meaning. Light, light — "In this heavy-as-hell situation, what could possibly be light...?!"
Leaning with the earth dragon's movement, Subaru once again pierced through to the White Whale's snout. The Whale that Crusch's group had been riding switched its attention toward Subaru — but into that open maw, Crusch's invisible slash struck and magical ore was tossed in, spraying blood-mist everywhere.
The knights' battle cries rose. One by one, their numbers were dwindling — but their unflagging morale alone held the battle line.
Facing death, having resolved to resist — this was what it made humans capable of.
Against the White Whale, which had required the subjugation force at full strength to challenge, they were now holding their own with reduced forces and depleted ranks. — If this wasn't the power of will, then what was?
"No matter how you slice it, the 'willpower can do anything' theory is a bit of an overstatement."
Thinking that far, Subaru's eyes suddenly widened. He whipped around, looking back at the White Whale he'd left behind, and fixed his gaze on the beast's receding face.
And he realized.
"Then that means...!!"
Gritting his teeth, a torrent of possibility surged through his body, making him tremble.
He transmitted his will through the reins. Patrasche cut back sharply and charged toward the other White Whale. Rem was fighting with everything she had, unleashing her demon power while riding one of the ligers, punching hole after hole in the White Whale's torso with her iron ball. Her maid's dress was drenched and matted with the beast's blood, but when she spotted Subaru approaching, she managed a brave smile.
That smile, painted in bright blood, could only be called gruesome — but Subaru found Rem in that state unbearably noble, unbearably endearing.
In the depths of this desperate battle, she still believed in Subaru's reckless resolve.
He had to answer that trust. That affection.
"!!"
Without a word, Subaru's earth dragon and Rem's liger crossed paths. Subaru headed toward the White Whale's head, Rem toward its tail.
There was no need to stop and confer. They each had their role, and they already knew it.
As Subaru circled around to the head side, the beast noticed him and turned its broad face toward him. Multiple mouths appeared just below its eyes, baring fangs and dripping saliva as they spewed white mist. Slow. Not even worth calling a deterrent.
"Do-bam! Ba-baaam! Zunba-ba-bam!"
Straddling her liger in a wide stance, Mimi's mount darted through the air freely. With each sound effect the girl vocalized, the tip of the staff in her palm glowed, and the resulting magic wall cut off the mist. It bought time for Subaru's approach.
"This is gonna cost you a fortune, you know, big brother~!"
"When this is over, I'll thank you about a hundred times!"
"Then it's a deal!"
Trusting his back to Mimi's cheap negotiation, Subaru overtook, outpaced, and surged ahead of the White Whale. He tilted his head and locked eyes with the beast. Confirming the Whale's 'one eye' gazing at him, Subaru's cheeks twisted in certainty.
"Just as I thought. You're not three Whales — you're one that split apart!"
The White Whale that had been fighting Crusch was missing its left eye.
The one he had just raced past — same thing. And naturally, the last one hovering in the sky would be the same. — The missing left eye was, without question, the mark of Wilhelm's blade.
The reason the same wound was shared not by one, but by all three, was obvious.
The one in the sky had split, giving birth to the other two.
"That's why the hits are relatively weak, why we can still fight them at all — that's the trick!"
The fact that a tail strike had failed to kill Ricardo despite the ambush.
The fact that the White Whale — which should have been evenly matched against their original full-strength force — was now being held in check by a depleted subjugation force.
— Subaru, a contrarian who refused to believe in miracles or the power of willpower, saw the true root of the White Whales' appearance in exactly that.
Because the White Whale possessed the 'Vanishing Mist' — a one-hit-kill ability — it had sacrificed durability in favor of sheer numbers. If increasing the sheer terror of its presence was enough to break the subjugation's morale, the fight itself would be over.
It was hard to imagine a magical beast understanding human psychology well enough to devise such a strategy — but the fact remained that the 'split' had produced exactly that effect.
If Subaru hadn't roared his defiance back then, what would have happened?
What if he hadn't? Subaru didn't know. He had the ability to see what might have been — but he didn't want to see that future.
Never again did he want to stare at those faces for any longer than necessary — "What the —?!"
Before Subaru, who had been racing toward a single conclusion, the White Whale behind him shifted. It pressed its floating body against the ground, scraping its underbelly across the earth as it slid — almost as if it couldn't bear the irritation of something clinging to it.
"Big sister, now!"
"It's so itchy but I can't scratch it— what a nightmare~!"
Hetaro, seeing the opportunity, lunged forward, while Mimi flanked from the other side, her movement seemingly motivated by a misinterpreted impression of the Whale's behavior. Whether through wordless communication or sheer sibling synchronization, the twins converged on the White Whale's torso from both sides simultaneously and opened their mouths — "Wa—!"
"Ha—!!"
The resonant assault from both sides buckled the White Whale's body inward. Internal organs, compressed beyond endurance, burst. The hard outer hide warped, cracks raced across its surface, and it began bleeding from every wound — the greatest damage the Whale had sustained yet — and then — "KRAAAAAAAAHHH!!"
A section of the underbelly that had been pressed against the ground burst outward from inside, scattering flesh and blood. Riding the gush of fluids that spewed out was — "Wilhelm!?"
The old swordsman who had been swallowed by the White Whale's jaws — and was presumed dead.
As the subjugation force pinned down the thrashing Whale, Subaru galloped back. Wilhelm collapsed to the ground, his entire body drenched in a staggering amount of blood. He knelt on one knee, propping himself up with his embedded sword.
"...Inexcusable. I was careless..."
"Don't waste your breath! Ah, dammit, I don't know what to do — but as long as you're alive, that's what matters! We need to get you to
Subaru reached out to help — and stopped. He noticed that Wilhelm's left arm, from the shoulder down, was nearly severed, and dismounted the earth dragon. He went to help lift Wilhelm onto Patrasche's back, but — "Not... yet. I can still... I can still..."
"Are you kidding me?! You'll die right in front of the Whale! Don't give me that 'this won't kill me' sleepy nonsense — I'm the veteran here when it comes to living and dying!"
"What... are you..."
Wilhelm's eyes, though ravaged by wounds, still burned with the flame of will. Subaru silenced that reckless spirit with a harsh shout and physically hauled the old man to his feet. Then — "An old man came out~!"
"Wilhelm, you're still alive!?"
The twins rushed over and saw Subaru holding the old man. They converged, exchanged a glance, and nodded.
"Subaru-san. Should we take Wilhelm to Felix?"
"Ferris — yeah, Ferris. That's right. He's in critical condition and could go any second. Ideally I'd carry him myself, but..."
Subaru tilted his head, glaring at the White Whale preparing to re-enter the fight.
The wound on its belly was deep, and fluids gushed without pause — but the creature, opening and closing every mouth across its body to generate thin wisps of mist, showed no sign of losing its will to fight.
There was no denying that Subaru's interference had contributed significantly to maintaining the balance of forces. If Subaru left now carrying Wilhelm, they'd be further weakened — — and that would be the least of it. If he drew the Whale to where the wounded were gathered, it could be catastrophic. "Wilhelm, can I leave him to you?"
"That would be our job on the liger... but have you thought of something?"
Hetaro took Wilhelm from Subaru and, struggling with the weight difference, managed to load the old swordsman onto his liger's back. He then looked up at Subaru and tugged his sister's hand — she was clapping enthusiastically and shouting "You gotta do your best~!"
"If you have a plan, I'm all ears. If not, I need to pull my sister's hand and get us out of here."
"Aww, why~? We haven't beaten that guy up yet..."
"Be quiet, big sister."
The sharp rebuke made Mimi pout. Watching the twins' exchange, Subaru nodded in understanding.
"You guys are mercenaries. Unlike me, Crusch, or those knights who have grudges against the Whale, you're only in this for the money. ...You've got no obligation to risk your lives, right?"
"We have no obligation to throw our lives away. That's all. I don't want you to misunderstand."
A timid face and timid manner, but Hetaro said what needed to be said. Looking down at the small demi-human who barely reached his waist, Subaru prefaced his words with "Sorry" — "There's no time. I think I've got a way to win. First, get Wilhelm to the rear... Rem and Crusch — I need to talk to the key people."
He leaped onto Patrasche's back and raised his head.
Gazing up at the sky, he glared at the shadowy form swimming lazily overhead with undisguised contempt.
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ "So the White Whale... split apart."
"Yeah, I'm sure of it. The location of the wound and its severity — you've been directly fighting it on your end, so you'd feel it even more, right?"
"I was too focused to notice... but actually, that might be true."
Having caught up with Subaru, Rem and Crusch both nodded in agreement before he even finished explaining.
They had left Wilhelm with Hetaro on his liger and sent him to Ferris. The twins had picked up Rem and Crusch on their way back.
Two White Whales were still being engaged by the subjugation force and the demi-human mercenary squad. High morale and tight coordination were barely compensating for the absence of their main fighters.
If Subaru continued his harassment — darting around the Whales' noses — he could buy at least enough time for a strategy meeting.
Riding the earth dragon and liger side by side, Crusch raised her head in agreement with Subaru's analysis.
"I concede that it's weaker than the original. But what does that tell us? It may be injured and diminished, but its threat still outweighs ours. Even Ferris's healing can't restore the fallen to the battlefield."
"Not having Wilhelm and Ricardo back in the fight hurts, but I can't ask them to push themselves. We'll have to win without them."
"Kill three White Whales. Easy to say. It's a wall too high to climb."
"We don't need to kill three. One should be enough."
Crusch's brow twitched at Subaru's words.
As she studied him with interest, Subaru raised a finger toward the sky.
"Those two copies down there are doing all the fighting — what do you think that bastard up there is doing?"
"It's not joining the fight or healing its wounds...?"
Rem answered uncertainly, but Subaru shook his head.
By all appearances, magical beast or not, its biological functions weren't entirely beyond those of normal creatures. There was no sign of some absurd ability like rapid self-healing.
Then — "It's the main body."
"That's what I'm guessing."
Crusch looked up, indicating she had arrived at the same conclusion, and Subaru nodded.
To be blunt, it was pure speculation.
But there was no longer any doubt that the three White Whales were one creature that had split. The question was how to defeat them — and one crucial clue had come from — "The reason it stays up there — why it doesn't come down to support either copy — is because it can't afford to be damaged itself. That's what I think."
"That makes sense. But conversely..."
"The two down below... even if we kill them, it might not hurt the main body at all."
Even if they managed to slay a White Whale, it might dissolve into mist and immediately regenerate as a new copy. If that happened, they'd be trapped in an infinite loop, and with limited continues, they'd be the first to break.
"The pieces fit — why it won't come down, and how to defeat them. But what do we actually do about it? If it flies that high, there's no way to attack it."
Hetaro, who had been listening quietly, looked up at Subaru with glistening eyes and asked. Those adorable cat-eyes fixed on him, Crusch glanced up at the airborne Whale.
"Even with my Blessing, reaching that height would be extraordinary. A single strike might be possible, but actually bringing it down — I doubt it."
The White Whale had retreated to roughly the height of the clouds.
Its position, even higher than its initial appearance, seemed to embody the loathsome nature of the beast, and Subaru couldn't suppress a grimace.
At that altitude, magical ore bombardment via cannon would suffer a catastrophic drop in accuracy.
"Rem. What if you raised a mountain of ice right next to it..."
"I'm sorry. The farther mana travels from my hands, the harder it is to control. Roswaal could probably do it, but not me."
Her face was twisted with genuine regret that she couldn't help with the one possibility that might crack the situation open. Subaru waved a hand and tilted his head in resignation.
He had a plan.
After waiting for Crusch's answer, Hetaro's answer, and Rem's answer — if none of them yielded an optimal solution, then the suboptimal one he'd been holding back was the only option left.
"There's a plan with way too much gambling involved... but are you in?"
Closing one eye, Subaru asked whether they had the resolve — before revealing the plan.
But that question was, in itself, rather pointless.
— Because the moment they set foot on this battlefield, Subaru already knew that every last one of these people was the kind of fool who would never hesitate when it came to a gamble.
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ Far above, the White Whale gazed down silently at the conflict below.
If the battlefield could be split into left and right, the fight dividing the plain was bisected neatly beneath a towering tree, like a spear aimed at the sky.
On both fronts, tiny humans clung to the colossal magical beast, driving steel into its body, brandishing stones that birthed flame, cleverly resisting with everything they had.
Whenever fire erupted and pained cries rose from below, the White Whale swimming in the sky exhaled white mist.
The mist that shrouded the battlefield favored its own kind, steadily forcing the squabbling small beings into disadvantage.
The darting shadows diminished, one by one, as time passed. Swallowed by the mist, their very existence erased.
It would devour everything. The end of this pointless battle was not far off.
Once the balance of forces crumbled, collapse was only a matter of time.
If the White Whale possessed human intellect, it would have thought as much and been certain of its victory.
But in truth, the White Whale had no such intellect. It merely followed its own instincts — acting to ensure it would not be destroyed, to ensure it would destroy its enemy completely.
Why it made such judgments was a question as pointless as asking a beast's instinct.
So the White Whale, guided by instinct, calmly and precisely toyed with its prey.
""
Exhaling mist, painting the ground below white.
Interrupted by hindrances, but it had to spread the mist until it covered the world below. That, too, was the instinct's command — that was the meaning of its existence.
And so, having detached its consciousness from the scene below, the White Whale suddenly moved its massive single eye, redirecting its attention downward.
It had sensed mana converging with terrifying force, and fixed its gaze upon the source.
"Ar... Hyu... Ma..."
At the center of the swirling vortex of mana stood a girl with blue hair.
Kneeling, she spent precious time imbuing her refined mana with direction. Beside her, an enormous ice lance — its razor tip barely visible — was slowly taking shape.
A ten-meter-class frozen weapon, its lethal point aimed directly at the White Whale's underbelly.
The intent was unmistakable, and the fact that she had done it in plain sight was a fatal mistake.
"Please —!"
Receiving the girl's prayer-like cry, the ice lance was launched skyward from the ground.
Its target was, naturally, the center of the Whale's floating body.
Accelerating with terrifying force, piercing the sky — but the distance it needed to gain speed, and the fact that the moment of firing had been observed, led to an anticlimactic failure.
The White Whale simply flicked its tail and swam aside through the air.
That single motion was enough to move its colossal body beyond the lance's range. The ice spear passed harmlessly by, missing its mark entirely.
The Whale twisted its great body, watching the lance sail past.
As the tail end of the ice column finally cleared its side — a faint, almost delicate sound of something shattering reached the White Whale's ears. One could call it a miracle, truly.
A devilish miracle — meant to announce that the sound was one of irreversible consequence.
"Yo. Seeing you up close like this — you're seriously disgusting."
A remarkably light pressure settled upon the rocky surface of its massive form.
The instant the White Whale registered the presence that had landed on the tip of its head, it also noticed that the ice column — which should have flown past — had vanished without a trace, and felt the pulse of dispersed mana.
And — right at its snout, the source of an unbearable stench.
"Come after me. Fair warning: I'm the kind of guy who's so annoying, even silence can't shut me up."
The stench — wearing a grin full of malice — muttered as much, and the White Whale heard it.
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ Grasping the ice lance Rem had created, riding it skyward, then shattering the 'Mist-Repelling Crystal Stone' and bailing out — the plan to cling to the White Whale was Subaru's crude opening gambit.
Despite Rem's fierce opposition, Subaru pushed through with a repeated declaration of "I trust you!" and secured the trump card — the 'Demon-Repelling Crystal' — from Crusch.
The reasoning: an obvious finishing move, the Whale would dodge easily. And planted in that dodge was a trap — Subaru himself. Conversely, if the Whale didn't dodge, Subaru clinging to the lance's tail would have been pulverized by the impact. In a sense, a razor's edge.
"If you're going to say that, this whole situation is a razor's edge... Also, THIS IS REALLY, REALLY SCARY!!"
Clinging to the Whale's snout with everything he had, Subaru grimaced against the rough texture of its hide and body hair, the high-altitude wind, and the overwhelming musk of the massive creature.
Upon Subaru's presence — that is, a being emanating the
Of course, remaining attached to the White Whale wouldn't let Subaru unleash some finishing move that would bring the beast down. Reality wasn't kind enough to reward mere resolve with a trump card. And even if he poured his life into using it, he'd just end up as a witless, unconscious fool who slipped and fell to his death.
So what Subaru would actually do, clinging to the White Whale, was — "So here's the deal. Follow me. Get ready."
Releasing his grip before the Whale's attack could begin, Subaru's body slid off the rocky surface and entered free fall. Not a witless unconscious fool — just a fool, plummeting toward the earth.
The White Whale turned its head to follow the man performing such an extravagant act of suicide, shifting slightly to give chase — but hesitated, its tail coming to a stop.
If it let Subaru go, the beast instinctively understood: the man would do nothing more than what he had been doing before. And it didn't want that.
What a tough instinct. But Subaru needed it to act — so — "At this height, nobody else can hear us. Lucky you — listen up! Because of you, Rem died, and I've got one hell of a trauma to live with, you bastard!!"
The instant he finished, the wind-touched body of Subaru was severed from the world.
All sensation receded. The consciousness that had been dominated by the vertigo of his organs being thrown skyward lost its grip on reality, pulled into a place where time had no meaning.
I love you.
He thought he heard something whispered in his ear.
In the next instant — searing pain coursed through his body like lightning.
A hand, approaching from an invisible angle — his back — slipped through his sternum and seized his heart. Roughly, but with the gentleness of someone confirming something precious, it squeezed. Tight. Tight.
The surreal sensation of the organ governing blood flow being handled violently. The alien feeling of someone having free rein over his most vital point — the end of his world, where he couldn't even scream, was announced only by the sound of wind and his own agonized cry.
And then — "I'm... coming... baaaaaack!!!"
"!!"
Before his eyes, the White Whale — jaws gaping wide — dove straight at him in a furious plummet.
Lured by the amplified scent of the Witch from his confession, the beast's instinct had been overwritten by a hatred that surpassed all else.
It roared, eyes wild with what seemed like a total loss of reason, as if it had forgotten the battle below entirely — and bore down on Subaru with nothing less than a drive to erase his existence completely.
Piercing the wind, closing the gap with terrifying speed, the White Whale filled Subaru with terror.
In free fall, there was no way to dodge this charge. If nothing changed, he'd be chewed up by the Whale's jaws before reaching the ground — BAD END 10: 'Fish Food,' straight ahead.
And if nothing changed — "Rem!!"
"I'm here, Subaru-kun!!"
Through the roar of the wind, Subaru's desperate shout was answered by a girl's voice.
At the same instant, an ice lance shot out from directly beside the White Whale's head, slamming into its face. It ravaged the interior of its jaw, shattering several teeth, and momentarily slowed its descent.
Seizing the opening, Rem — riding Patrasche — caught Subaru's falling body with her morning star's chain.
The iron links cinched around his waist, forcibly redirecting his trajectory. Subaru let out a pained "Guh —" at the familiar sensation. Being saved from a fall by Rem — this was the second time. The first had been on the dragon carriage to the capital, during his stupid stunt.
"Some things are... worth experiencing once..."
This time, at least, he hadn't passed out.
The chain was reeled in, and Subaru's body landed on Patrasche's back with a fair amount of roughness. Rem was, of course, riding there, and Subaru crashed directly into her chest.
"You saved me!"
"You're welcome."
"What are you talking about!?!"
Subaru shot back at Rem's polite response, then raised his head.
Right beside them, the White Whale's face swept past — "!!"
Unable to kill its momentum, the Whale slammed headfirst into the ground. An explosion of sound and dust erupted from the shattered earth, and the shockwave made the ground heave.
Riding that tremor, Subaru urged Patrasche forward at full speed — and behind them, the White Whale burst through the dust cloud.
Its head was a mangled mess from the impact, but it screamed an incoherent shriek and pursued Subaru with abandon.
Its once-elegant swimming had become erratic, its wind-matching speed completely gone. But its ferocity was overwhelming.
Scraping the earth, slamming its tail into the ground, the Whale closed in from behind.
Leaning forward, putting every ounce of his weight into the ride, Subaru staked his life on Patrasche's endurance. This earth dragon had been pushing itself desperately, straining with everything it had for Subaru. Even if only for a short time, he had earned the right to ride it with his life on the line.
"I'm counting on you, Patrasche! You're a dragon, aren't you!? Show me what you've got —!!"
"!!"
Patrasche roared, and Subaru felt the speed climb to yet another level.
The Whale's roar thundered behind them, drums battering his eardrums, blurring the world.
Straight, straight, just running, running, charging ahead.
The Whale swam after him, relentless, desperate to devour Subaru whole.
And then — "Eat — THIS!!"
"!!"
Twin booms echoed, followed by a cascade of tearing sounds. The intervals between the sounds narrowed, drew closer, and finally — A colossal shadow, falling straight toward the White Whale — Flugel's Great Tree crashed down.
"!!!"
Magical ore, invisible blades, shockwave shattering — the combined destructive forces carved into its roots. Planted by the Sage centuries ago, the ancient tree now crushed the magical beast that threatened humanity.
A tree weighing over a thousand years had fallen dead-center on the White Whale, smashing it from above. Against this destruction on an entirely different scale, even the beast's tough hide had no defensive value.
A shriek erupted as a tremendous shockwave swept down the Road of Riafold, the blast clearing the mist.
Trapped beneath the tree, the White Whale let out a pained, trailing roar. And yet, even after sustaining such devastation, its life force refused to break.
Thrashing, trying to free itself from the impossible weight, the Whale's head — "This I offer in dedication to my wife,
Brandishing the treasured sword borrowed from his lord, a single Sword Devil descended.
To draw the curtain on this life-or-death struggle, on a fourteen-year obsession, on four hundred years of the war between humanity and the White Whale — This was why.