—Light had erupted both beneath the clouds and above them at nearly the same moment.
If there existed some being capable of simultaneously observing the two battlefields—one separated from the other by thick clouds and an even greater divide—it could only be an observer from the outside world.
The battle that had originated with the siege of the
The situation was— "Guh, ohhhhh—!!"
The sandy ground where the blast struck exploded upward, and amidst the raging sandstorm and shockwave, Subaru screamed.
The destructive force bearing down on his entire body was more than enough to reduce him to dust in an instant. The only reason Subaru wasn't turned to powder— "E.M.M!!"
One of the three original magic spells that Subaru and
In broad terms, it was a type of absolute defense magic that stopped the flow of time in the bodies of Subaru and Beatrice, rendering them impervious to outside influence.
"Right after we created it, I was so hyped, but then some jerk with a similar ability showed up, and now using this thing just makes me feel like I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel to stay alive!"
"We've already discussed that plenty! Betty has long since decided to turn a blind eye!"
Perched on Subaru's shoulder, Beatrice heard his lament and snapped back at him.
The "Invincible" power of the Sin Archbishop of Greed,
"Just thinking about that guy makes me sick, but I've got to take notes...!"
Call it learning from experience, and it sounded almost respectable.
But even that reminded Subaru of the kind of thinking the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony would have, and he was thoroughly sick of enemies that seemed bent on getting in his way no matter which way he turned.
Without it, though, he couldn't protect himself, Beatrice, or Meili.
"—Ah"
In Subaru's arms, Meili let out a faint murmur with her eyes closed.
Her expression was pained, but that painful silence was proof she was still breathing. The damage flowing into her was gradually easing under the effect of Beatrice's healing magic. It was probably improving—marginally, at best. Surely, probably.
"Using healing magic and E.M.M at the same time is incredibly taxing, you know! If Betty weren't here, all three of you would have been dead long ago!"
"I know! It's just..."
Grateful for Beatrice's reprimand, Subaru turned his focus inward.
There was no way around the damage anymore—just gritting his teeth and enduring. The real problem was how much mana Subaru had left. As someone whose only value was serving as a mana tank, Subaru's capacity was average at best—actually, slightly below average.
And by using E.M.M, that mana was being drained at a rate like water pouring out of a bucket with holes in it.
At this rate, either E.M.M or the healing magic would hit its limit before long.
And— "There's no choice but to stop Meili's healing magic...!"
"Then the only option is to cut E.M.M. The timing and whatever comes after will be up to Subaru, I suppose!"
"You got it. Leave it to me. Beako, I'm counting on you to be the convenient spirit who handles Meili's treatment and immediately responds to my instructions!"
"The way you said that! Is just! Terrible!"
They argued, exchanged a glance, and with not a single second's hesitation in their coordination, Subaru and Beatrice deactivated E.M.M—breaking away from the spot as though leaping free.
Behind them, the Red Scorpion and the swarm of magical beasts were fighting among themselves, yet still targeting Subaru and the others.
As always, the handicap of being unable to leave the Watchtower's vicinity remained, and the troublesome thing was that the Red Scorpion was specifically targeting Subaru.
If worst came to worst and the situation didn't change— "—The '
He would reveal his Return by Death to generate miasma and draw the surrounding magical beasts toward himself. Not much of a trick, but it was one of Subaru's go-to methods.
At this point, the situation was already more than dangerous enough, but if the Red Scorpion's fixation was on Subaru, there might be—possibly—some value in having the other beasts fight it instead.
But the collateral damage of gambling on that was too great.
If Subaru fell, and Beatrice fell, and Meili fell, then
The power of Cor Leonis had, as a result, made them too intertwined. Subaru honestly couldn't understand how Regulus, of all people, had managed to live such a solitary life with this Authority's power.
"————"
"—! E.M.T!!"
At the tail end of pointless thought, sensing the future where white light would evaporate his head, Subaru deployed his second original magic with his throat parched by the premonition of Death.
E.M.T eliminated the weakness of immobility that came with E.M.M, successfully negating all magic head-on. In principle, as long as what was fired at him carried mana, there was nothing this magic couldn't cancel.
However— "Five seconds after dropping E.M.M, and I've already burned through my trump card!"
It wasn't just a case of biting off more than he could chew—on top of that, his next move had been eliminated, putting him in a genuine dead end.
From behind, the Red Scorpion's tail stinger, the Hungry Horse King's flames, and every other magical beast's attack were being launched their way, intent on reducing them to cinders.
Holding his breath, Subaru braced himself. He had to use the third and final original magic to break through this situation. But that one was still incomplete.
If it failed, the three of them could end up drifting through imaginary space—but— "I can't trust myself enough to bet on a last-second awakening!"
Subaru could admit that
He was just stubbornly unwilling to give up. He got knocked down, but he stood up more times than most people. Which also meant he got knocked down more times than most people.
"This isn't the time to show off my losing habit. The odds aren't in my favor, but..."
"—To pull through on sheer guts and stubborn pride? That's quite the decision—very much like you, I must say."
Just as Subaru was about to make the call that he had no choice but to try— A voice came down from above, and a figure interposed itself between the lethal attack and Subaru's group. It was so blinding that Subaru involuntarily closed his eyes.
Not figuratively—it was literally blinding. Because that figure was radiating an iridescent glow.
"—Al Clauzelaria."
In the next instant, a light that dispelled light was unleashed against the incoming onslaught.
The shockwave of destruction, the flames that would burn everything to ash, the suicidal charges—all of it was diminished by a black light, swallowed by overflowing water, and deflected by a rising sandstorm.
It was nothing short of manipulating nature itself, and the one who had accomplished it was a graceful figure who had touched down on the sand and now swept a slender knight's sword through the air— "—I came here for a reason. It seems you were in a tight spot."
As he spoke, casting a brief glance toward Subaru, was none other than the "Finest Knight," Julius Euclius.
Despite his white attire being stained with blood and dust here and there, he stood there with effortless composure.
The rainbow-hued radiance that enveloped him made his stance all the more elegant than before.
At the knight's magnificent arrival, Subaru's voice trembled: "Julius..."
"You...! I left word that after everything was done, you were supposed to go help the others in danger, didn't I!"
"Oh, I heard you loud and clear. Which is precisely why I came here. Forgive me, but I judged this to be the most dangerous location, even compared to the others."
"Shut up! What happened to the injuries on your face?! What about Reid?!"
"A complete defeat. He beat me soundly and left in high spirits."
"How pathetic! If you were going to lose, you should've at least won! If you hadn't shown up, I'd be dead—I'm only saying this once, but thanks!"
Hearing Subaru's grudging gratitude, Julius—who bore a white scar beneath his left eye—let out a soft "Hmph."
It was a somewhat pretentious gesture, but it seemed his battle with Reid had yielded something for him after all. The proof— "You made up with the quasi-spirits?"
"To be precise, they bloomed from their buds and were sublimated into full spirits. And 'made up' isn't quite right, either. We were never at odds."
Surrounding Julius as he answered were six faintly glowing spirits—their luminosity enhanced. These were no longer quasi-spirits but full spirits.
The spirits whose Names had been stolen by the Authority of Gluttony, severing their connections, had been unable to lend Julius their power despite following him. Their confusion had lasted a long time.
But now, the rift between them had been bridged, and a bond even stronger than before had been cultivated.
So Julius had smoothly re-contracted with all six spirits. What a slippery move.
"Here I am, barely able to keep up with courting Beako, and this guy just puts me to shame."
"Unfortunately, I was the one who got eaten."
"That's not funny! You've totally snapped, hasn't it?!"
Subaru stared wide-eyed at Julius, who could even turn his experience of being victimized by an Authority into a joke.
He'd described it as being "beaten and left in high spirits," which meant there had been a decisive encounter with Reid. Since Reid's body should have belonged to
And the fact that Julius didn't mention any danger from it meant he had succeeded in neutralizing Alphard—of that, there was no doubt.
"Julius! You came at just the right time! I'm borrowing Kua!"
"—Understood."
From above Subaru's head, Julius nodded immediately in response to Beatrice's call. He had also perceived that the condition of Meili, cradled in Subaru's arms, was critical.
From among the six spirits, Kua—the blue spirit who governed water—flew forth, and its gentle power joined with Beatrice's healing magic, pouring restorative mana into Meili's body.
On top of that— "We need to buy time."
"Yes, as you can see. The red one is already fuming—can you handle her? You just lost to one recently, didn't you?"
"That makes this a revenge match. You'd be discourteous to suggest otherwise to a lady."
Julius leveled his knight's sword and faced the Red Scorpion—
But despite the knight's imposing posture, the Red Scorpion's compound eyes showed no sign of intent. Its killing intent remained fixed on Subaru; everything in its path was nothing but an obstacle.
Even for Julius, who had elevated himself to the next level as a Spirit Knight, her attitude was— "Subaru, I'll handle Lady Shaula. The rest is..."
"You're saying handle the rest ourselves. Got it."
"No—work together with Lady Beatrice to accomplish it."
"Honestly, seventy percent of my 'ourselves' already factors in Beako."
If he was being honest, even seventy percent was generous. Eighty or ninety percent of what Subaru could boast as Beatrice's contractor was a clever head and a bag of small tricks—ninety-five percent wouldn't be out of line, really.
Either way— "It's good to have you back..."
"And it's good to see you've taken stock of your own worth."
Exchanging that brief banter, Subaru and Julius each focused on their respective roles.
Julius advanced forward to ensure the magical beasts' attacks couldn't reach Subaru and the others, exposing himself to a rain of blades and projectiles to minimize the damage to those behind him.
Subaru, meanwhile, needed to keep the critically injured Meili away from harm and focus on stalling until the victory condition was met—or so he thought.
"—!"
A sensation of surprise made Subaru snap his head up.
The reason was a disturbance at the Pleiades Watchtower— "—Ram's presence... vanished?"
△▼△▼△▼△ —The breath that
"————"
The ice shield—originally prepared during the sand-sea journey to the Pleiades Watchtower to withstand the white light pouring from the tower—was useless against the dragon's breath, not lasting even an instant.
Multiple layered ice shields melted instantaneously, and the attack that bore down on Emilia was on a scale where it would have been a miracle if even a fraction of its power had been reduced.
"————"
For an instant, the image of the black monolith she had sheltered behind flickered through Emilia's mind.
It was sturdy—it might not even flinch against the dragon's breath. But if, by some chance, it were destroyed, her "trial" would be ruined.
And though this was a sentiment unrelated to clearing the trial— "If that got destroyed, I'd be really, really sad..."
A strange sense of déjà vu—the handprint left on that monolith.
She didn't know what connection she had to it, or whether she was simply imagining things. But she wanted to verify what that feeling truly was.
So she couldn't lose it. She wouldn't lose it.
"————"
The mana spread across her icicle lines in a detection-ready state was concentrated to a single point.
Emilia possessed more mana than she herself realized, but that didn't mean she could wield it all at once.
No matter how much mana one accumulated, the amount one could output at once was limited by the capacity of one's gate.
Even so, Emilia boasted output more than ten times that of an ordinary mage, and her years of experience as a spirit user had expanded that potential even further.
Mages used mana stored within themselves, channeled through their gate, to interfere with the world.
Spirit users borrowed the power of spirits to harness mana from the atmosphere and interfere with the world.
Then Emilia, who possessed the aptitude for both, could do something neither could alone.
The amount of water from a faucet was fixed, but if you collected that water in a barrel, you could use far more. Emilia did exactly that—between her own body and the outside world.
By holding the mana that overflowed within her in the external world, ignoring the gate—an application of extreme-scale magic— "—Absolute Zero."
A theoretical concept Subaru had named and told her might be difficult to realize.
In a near-identical moment to when Subaru had screamed that he couldn't trust himself enough for a last-second awakening, Emilia committed to a feat she had never once succeeded at.
And she succeeded.
If Emilia's normal magical power was one, then the power manifested through this application of her overflowing strength was perhaps ten—or even a hundred.
In that instant, the white void that swept across the world was not merely the atmosphere freezing solid—it carried a force so great that even the unstoppable flow of time seemed to halt.
The dragon's breath, which should have been an inevitable death, was no exception.
Blue light and Absolute Zero collided head-on, and their clash birthed a void in the world.
"————"
In that split second, the two colossal powers canceled each other out with virtually no period of contention.
The annihilation was so thorough—and so devoid of sound or impact—that by the time the stopped time resumed flowing, Emilia was already lunging forward with an ice lance at the ready.
"Tee, yaaaaa—!!!"
With a cry from her slender throat, Emilia charged at Volcanica.
The entirety of her strength had been sapped, and her body felt impossibly heavy. Though she had used mana that had already left her body, the burden on Emilia in wielding it was immense.
Even overturning a barrel of water required strength—she had used the force to overturn an entire spring, so it was only natural that Emilia was left utterly exhausted. Still, she raised her voice.
"I'm not going to—wilt away!!"
By shouting like that, Emilia steeled herself.
Energy and mana were different things, but telling herself with everything she had to give her all made dormant power surge up inside her. It might have been a delusion, but if the one being deceived was herself, then deceiving herself with a lie wasn't always a bad thing.
"—Satellaaaaa!!"
Frustrated that its breath had been blocked, Volcanica roared and swung its forelimbs and tail.
Emilia relied on the sensation of the ice particles she had deployed around her to defend against impacts from beyond her perception—seven ice soldiers she created were shattered in the process, but they helped shield Emilia's advance.
She dodged the downward swipe by leaping to the side; an ice soldier blocked the following forelimb with its body; borrowing its shoulder, Emilia launched herself into a massive leap. A tail strike aimed at the airborne Emilia was intercepted by two ice soldiers who used their height as a double shoulder platform, sacrificing themselves to hold it back.
"Ha! Take that! And that!"
Borrowing power from their noble sacrifice, Emilia spun and drove her ice lance downward. It wasn't enough to scratch the Divine Dragon's hide, but it was enough to draw its attention.
Dodging a contemptuous swipe of its forelimb that grazed her silver hair, Emilia accomplished a desperate thrust into the heart of Volcanica. From that position— "That white scale—"
If she could just touch it, if one strike could land—Emilia looked upward.
The Divine Dragon, drawn close enough to touch again—that white scale she could barely stand to look directly at. Seeing it up close, Emilia's eyes went wide.
The reason was surprise. It wasn't that the scale had turned white. That wasn't it.
What she saw was a white scar so large it could be mistaken for an entire scale.
"An old... scar..."
The wound had long since closed, so touching it probably wouldn't cause any pain.
Yet the Divine Dragon had recoiled so violently at having it touched—learning that this was connected to some indelible memory of Volcanica's, Emilia caught her breath.
Seizing upon that moment's hesitation, Volcanica unfurled its wings.
"A—!"
The massive body of the winged Volcanica soared upward in an instant, leaving Emilia's reaching hand behind.
Emilia deeply regretted her mistake.
This was the one thing you absolutely could not do when crossing swords with a winged being.
From a position beyond reach, subjected to one-sided attacks, the debt would pile up in no time.
"Can't let that—!"
Emilia's hand hit the floor in an instant, and ice erupted from beneath her feet.
Extending an improvised ice platform skyward, Emilia desperately reached out, trying to catch up to the soaring Volcanica.
But even this ice platform, extended ten meters, twenty meters, reached its limit—and once the gap widened beyond that, she wouldn't reach— "—Everyone! Please!!"
Responding to Emilia's cry, ice soldiers came running up the ice platform.
The ice soldiers climbed to the very edge at the platform's limit, then leaped off. Using the back of the leaping soldier as a stepping stone, another leaped. This was repeated six times, and the final soldier's back was stepped on by Emilia.
"Sorry!"
The instant she pushed off with all her strength, the ice soldier serving as her stepping stone broke in half at the back.
But all seven falling ice soldiers gave her a thumbs-up with smiling faces as they plummeted. With their push, Emilia's final leap carried her hand to Volcanica's tail— '—Foolish.' With that single word, the tail was pulled away, and Emilia's fingers grazed empty air.
And the withdrawn tail came swinging back at the stunned Emilia with tremendous force.
In midair—no escape. Even conjuring an ice shield in haste, the force that would break through it was easily lethal enough to kill Emilia.
"—Ah"
Failure, disaster, what do I do—a cascade of thoughts spun through Emilia's mind.
In the sensation of time slowing, she desperately searched for a solution, mobilizing every corner of her mind and body. But giving up was the one option she would not choose.
The people Emilia loved had never once chosen to give up.
So— "I won't give up, either!"
But spirited words alone couldn't save anyone.
As if to teach her that very truth, the tail strike of the ancient Divine Dragon descended upon Emilia— "—Lady Emilia!!"
In that instant, a fierce wind blowing up from directly below aided Emilia's ascent ever so slightly.
△▼△▼△▼△ The wind pushing against her body changed Emilia's situation ever so slightly.
From a situation where she couldn't escape certain death, to one with a ten percent chance of survival.
And Emilia, who did not know the meaning of surrender, seized that one chance beautifully.
"—!"
The Divine Dragon's tail, swung to strike Emilia's head.
The added upward momentum shifted the target from her head to her torso. Perceiving this not with her senses but with instinct, Emilia tucked her knees in tight.
Making herself small, trying to escape the range of impact—the tip of her toes grazed the sweeping tail strike, and the tremendous impact sent her body spinning at high velocity.
"————"
Hugging her knees, Emilia was blasted straight upward.
Swallowing the impact that made her feel as though her insides were about to fly out of her head, Emilia clenched her teeth and deployed an ice ceiling above, forcibly braking her own body.
With a heavy thud, Emilia absorbed the shock with her entire body and looked down with tear-filled eyes.
An ice ceiling created in the sky—her vision inverted as she stood on it, looking down. In the distance below, she could see Volcanica's head and a figure appearing from the first-floor staircase.
More precisely, not a single figure—a person and a ground dragon.
"Ram and...!"
The one who had reached out to help Emilia ascend was Ram, who had burst onto the scene.
From a distance, Ram was drenched in blood and covered in wounds—the fact that she had made it here in that condition left Emilia unable to hide her astonishment.
But thanks to Ram's help, Emilia had avoided being crushed.
Borrowing that aid, Emilia once again put strength into her knees.
Using this ice ceiling as a platform, she would launch an all-out assault on Volcanica. But in front of Emilia, Volcanica was behaving strangely.
With its tail still raised, it wasn't looking at Emilia—it was gazing downward.
She thought it might have designated Ram as its next target. But that wasn't it. The ancient Divine Dragon—its golden eyes were not looking at Ram.
It was looking at— '—
Emilia's body was shot downward with such force that it drowned out even Volcanica's murmur.
Half a beat later, Volcanica's tail—now raised skyward—shattered the ice ceiling. Too slow. Emilia was no longer there, and she hadn't been heading straight for Volcanica's throat, either.
Instead, Emilia had created a different ice platform—no, an ice "slope."
The same trick she'd made when escaping Regulus alongside Subaru in
Emilia's speed accelerated in the air, and the pursuing tail strike couldn't reach her.
An ice runway conjured in midair—she streaked across it with her silver hair trailing behind, gaining speed, faster and faster, and then— "Chiyaaaa—!!"
Launching off the end of the runway, Emilia's kick hurtled toward Volcanica's throat at blinding speed.
Ducking beneath the forelimbs closing in to grab her, she flew straight as an arrow—landing right on the white scar at the Divine Dragon's throat.
'————!!!' The sole of Emilia's white shoe struck the throat, and Volcanica let out another scream.
The sound, like the sky being torn apart, made Emilia cry "Aaah!" and cover her ears. The recoil of the kick sent her plummeting. Falling, falling, falling— "Kyah! ...Th-thank you!"
The ice soldiers—who should have fallen earlier—caught the falling Emilia.
Their soft impact broke her fall, and Emilia stood up on the spot. Then she realized she had returned to the uppermost floor and spotted Volcanica writhing overhead.
After that, she ran toward the monolith at the center of the pillar.
Running, running—running toward that handprint that stirred déjà vu— "As I thought!!"
Reaching the monolith, she slammed her hand against it with unobstructed force.
The monolith shook under the impact, but Emilia's hand lined up perfectly with the handprint in question. She didn't know how many people in the world had hands shaped like hers, but at the very least, this handprint belonged to someone whose hand was remarkably similar to Emilia's.
And— '—You who would reach the top of the tower. The petitioner of omnipotence who treads upon every floor.' "Ah..."
Beneath Emilia, who had placed her hand on the monolith, the Divine Dragon descended from above.
Still hovering its massive body in the air, Volcanica—who should have returned to something resembling sanity after its earlier bout of senility—once again posed the same question it had asked at the start.
But this question felt different from the first one, which had come from a place of total blankness. It was—as though the true interrogation was just beginning.
'—I am Volcanica. By the ancient covenant, I would ask of you the resolve of one who would reach the top.' Those words, spoken so many times before.
"I would ask of you the resolve of one who would reach the top." In other words, she was being asked about the feelings of the person who would stand at the summit.
What do you want to do? What do you desire? Why did you come here?
"————"
Emilia had countless answers to that question.
What she wanted to do, what she desired, why she had come here—there were so many answers.
But in this very moment, what Emilia needed most urgently was— '—I ask you. What is your resolve?!' The question pressed again, and hearing it, Emilia's eyes flew wide open. She parted her lips.
And answered in a loud voice: "—For everyone... to get along!!"
△▼△▼△▼△ In that instant, a tremendous wind tore across the landscape, swallowing the sand sea in its fury.
"What the—!?" Subaru, who had been dodging the magical beasts' onslaught, screamed, and Beatrice, who was fighting to heal Meili, cried out, "What's happening!?"
Naturally, Julius—who had been engaging in superhuman combat against Shaula—was equally taken aback.
—No, his surprise may have been even greater than that.
Because even though a colossal sand whirlwind had engulfed his field of vision and he had retreated upon sensing the danger, there was no follow-up attack.
And when he witnessed the answer, Julius's astonishment only deepened.
"This is—Subaru!!"
"Huh!? What is it?! The sand's crazy, I can't see anything—"
"Just come here! Now!"
At Julius's urgent call, Subaru spat out the sand from his mouth and turned.
Then he understood why Julius was so desperate, and his eyes went wide.
It was— "Shaula!?"
"~~~~!!"
Subaru's cry of shock was prompted by what he saw: the Red Scorpion, caught in the sand whirlwind, flipped onto its back with its multiple legs flailing on the sand.
Until now, the Tower's overseer—the Star Scorpion, as she had self-proclaimed—had shown no reaction to any attack, her mechanical movements steadily driving them into a corner. But now, an error had appeared in her activity.
"Did you do something?!"
"No, nothing special. I was focused on weathering the attacks. When that sand wind blew just now..."
"Sand wind... right, that wind—"
Subaru caught the oddity: the fierce wind that had engulfed them was being called a "sand wind." The sand winds of the
"————"
At Beatrice's sweet voice cutting through his scattered thoughts, Subaru instinctively looked up.
The change at the Pleiades Watchtower—its dramatic, unmistakable transformation.
"—The clouds have cleared."
The Pleiades Watchtower, piercing through the clouds and stretching toward the heavens.
Its uppermost portion had been completely shrouded, impossible to see from below. The strange cloud layer enveloping the Watchtower had vanished entirely.
Only then did he realize—that wind had been the aftershock of clearing those clouds.
The clouds were gone. The top of the tower was visible from below.
That meant—according to Subaru's hopeful interpretation, only one thing.
"You did it, Emilia," he whispered.
Through his heightened perception—Cor Leonis sensing his companions inside the Tower—Subaru felt that Emilia's presence, which should have vanished, had returned. Along with Ram's and Patrasche's.
Ram and Patrasche must have gone to support Emilia, and they had achieved results.
Which meant, if Subaru's thinking was correct— "The Tower's rules have been rewritten...! Shaula! Hey, Shaula! Listen!"
"~~~~!!"
"You don't have to fight us anymore! You're... you're free now..."
The Red Scorpion, flipped and writhing, was suffering because the ancient covenant carved into her being had been severed. The exact circumstances were unclear.
But it didn't matter. She didn't have to suffer anymore— "Hey, Shau—"
"—! Subaru!!"
Just as Subaru called out, moving closer, his collar was grabbed and he was yanked aside. In the space he had occupied a heartbeat ago, a razor-sharp tail had torn through.
The wind from it singed the air, filling his nostrils with a burnt smell, and Subaru was struck speechless.
If Julius hadn't restrained him just now, he would have taken a direct hit.
But what truly unsettled Subaru wasn't the premonition of Death— "Shaula! Shaula! What's wrong, snap out of it!!"
"~~~~!!"
Despite Subaru's desperate pleas, the Red Scorpion slowly righted itself on the sand.
Regaining its overturned posture, its compound eyes wavered—yet slowly, they fixed on Subaru again, and foul drool spilled from its vicious mandibles.
That was not the behavior of a rational being— "Subaru, I'm sorry, but—"
Julius said this as he grabbed Subaru's shoulder, stepping forward.
But Subaru understood what Julius intended and seized his arm to stop him.
He knew Julius was volunteering to take on the dirty work.
But he couldn't allow that.
"I decided to save her. —I'm going to save that girl."
"As a teacher's duty you haven't even recognized?"
"No."
Shaking his head, Subaru answered Julius's words.
That wasn't it. Subaru wanted to save Shaula not because he was her teacher— "Not because I'm her teacher. Because she's tied to me, and that's what I'm going to do."
"————"
"It's the same as with Beako. She's been all alone in this sandy tower for who knows how long, and when she finally got to spend a few days with us, she broke down crying because it was fun. How am I supposed to walk away from someone like that?"
Gritting his back teeth, still gripping Julius's arm, Subaru declared as much.
Julius looked back at him and exhaled.
"...Stubborn, aren't you. But that's exactly what you should be."
"Julius?"
"No—I'm genuinely impressed. You put on a brave front once. So you have to see it through to the end."
With a thin smile, Julius traced the scar on his left cheek and gave that answer.
Hearing this, Subaru's eyes narrowed—and then he noticed his free left hand being clasped by something soft. It was Beatrice.
She gazed up at him with those round, adorable eyes—the loveliest in all the world.
"I think Meili's past the worst of it. As for the rest—"
"You'll help me bring her back?"
"If I said no at this point, Betty would be the worst kind of monster. ...Honestly, Subaru, you really are the most hopeless partner."
At Beatrice's answer, Subaru smiled wryly and scratched his head.
Then, firmly reconnecting his hand with his precious contracted spirit, he turned to face the Red Scorpion—Shaula.
Two Spirit Knights, standing side by side, facing the crying girl who needed saving.
And then— "I'm completely spent, body and soul. —So get ready to be saved already, Shaula!"
—The siege of the Pleiades Watchtower: the final extra innings begin.