Chapter 43. The Gluttony Subjugation Battle (II)
— 9x minutes after the war council ended, Second District
The wide streets were strewn with all sorts of bizarre corpses. In the nearby river channel, red blood flowed, and the stench of blood was so strong that it could instantly make an ordinary person vomit. One could hardly walk a few steps without stepping on something soft. This was the scene that Subaru saw as he emerged from his unconscious state.
"..."
Subaru took a deep breath, suppressing his churning stomach, and finally began to observe the situation around him.
There was Otto, with a wry smile; Beatrice, with an arrogant expression betrayed by tear marks; and a few others who were... right, wounded soldiers from the White Dragon's Scale.
"Otto is here too? So what exactly happened while I was unconscious? What's the situation now?"
"Subaru, do you remember what happened just before you passed out?"
Hearing Otto's question, Subaru instinctively clutched his head.
"I remember that Roy guy started using the water magic Julius mentioned shortly after the close-quarters combat began, and then..."
Subaru snapped his head up.
"Right! We got careless after dodging the water tornado! That Roy guy hid Mabeasts in the water tornado!"
Subaru finally remembered. Because his position was behind Heinkel, he noticed the change in color within the dissipating water tornado, and then saw Mabeasts attacking Heinkel from inside it.
— Damn it, I should have reacted sooner! Mabeasts were created by Daphne (the Witch of Gluttony), so isn't it natural for Roy, who has a similar Authority, to have an Authority related to Mabeasts!
— And thinking about it, the timing of the White Whale's appearance was too coincidental, as if someone was manipulating it. Plus, Reinhild ran into Roy and her group on her way back.
— At the very least, I should have understood when Ram-san said there were many eyes watching me.
The clues in Subaru's mind connected instantly, followed by endless regret.
— If Heinkel died...
Reinhild's figure flashed through his mind for a moment.
— Then even a lucky victory would be meaningless.
— I'm going to die anyway.
He recalled Echidna's theory about Return by Death.
— Dying now is the right choice. I can't guarantee that after defeating Gluttony, I'll still have the chance to return to the time before Heinkel's death. And if parallel worlds really exist, then after knocking Heinkel away now, Betty will definitely signal, which should at least keep Heinkel alive in this world.
In less than a second, Subaru made his decision. He threw Heinkel away without hesitation. However, even Roy, as Gluttony, was unwilling to give up such a delicious meal as Subaru, so Subaru was ultimately heavily knocked away by a Mabeast's tail.
"So I didn't die?"
Subaru recalled the tail strike right before he passed out, feeling a bit confused.
"Of course not! You are Betty's important contractor! You must cherish the life Betty spent great effort to save! Don't do such dangerous things anymore, Betty's heart almost jumped out."
"Sorry, sorry, I promise you. Speaking of which, how long was I unconscious?"
Subaru stroked the head of the sobbing Beatrice while asking Otto.
"About twenty minutes. Frankly, Subaru, your trained strong physique and the reflex technique for being knocked away, which has almost become muscle memory, played a crucial role."
Subaru roughly understood. If it were the self who had just arrived in the other world, he might have been splattered into a paste on the wall, as he had imagined. But for the self who had trained for a year under Reinhild, who possessed the [Divine Protection of Training], that level of attack probably didn't even count as a serious injury. However, Beatrice, who was only a bystander during the training, likely underestimated his physical strength, and the tears were probably shed then.
"So, what's the situation now? It seems Reinhild didn't come over."
"After healing Subaru, I was originally planning to use the signal flare, but that guy suddenly rushed over with his people, so Betty ultimately respected Subaru's will."
"Amazing, amazing! As expected of my Beako! Up high, up high!"
Subaru stood up and expertly swung Beatrice around in the air a few times, then put her down and looked at Otto.
"So, what's the deal with Otto? Did you, the hardline politician, find yourself unable to suppress the urge to see blood, so you came to hunt prey? But fighting isn't Otto's job, is it? Is it really okay to abandon the shaky logistics for a fight?"
"Please stop spreading groundless rumors, alright!?"
Otto shouted agitatedly, noticing the fearful looks from the members of the White Dragon's Scale.
"Ram-san confirmed through Clairvoyance that the large number of things attacking Subaru in the waterway were Mabeasts. Although we knew Subaru was delicious to Mabeasts, we truly didn't expect him to be this delicious. Right now, those guys facing that Gluttony bastard probably don't have the leisure to pick up the dialogue mirror (laughs), so I hope you hurry up and bring people over to help!' That's roughly why I rushed here. Of course, I've completed all my work properly."
Otto imitated Ram's tone as he spoke.
"Ooh, ooh! So now Ricardo and Julius are fighting?"
Although he felt a bit embarrassed at the thought of seeing Julius, since he had confidently told him to stay and guard, his embarrassment was outweighed by the thought of their fighting power.
"I apologize, I judged that I couldn't leave the area undefended, so only I came to assist. Along with the Earth Dragons I persuaded midway, and the people from the White Dragon's Scale I encountered while looking for Patrasche. Right, Dinas didn't follow. Until just now, it was Lady Beatrice who was fighting Roy."
Subaru instinctively looked at Betty's waist. Sure enough, all the magic crystals were gone.
"Hmph, Betty made sure to recharge the wand and the magic crystals for the final battle!"
Beatrice proudly held out her hand. Resting clearly in her palm were the intact magic crystals.
"As expected of my Beako! So, Otto, how many usable ground dragons do you still have?"
Subaru scooped up Beatrice and started walking towards the source of the battle sounds, asking the following Otto.
"There are still six Ground Dragons and about twenty Water Dragons. However, the night belongs to the Mabeasts, and it's impossible to determine how many Mabeasts are left in the water."
"What's the situation in the Water Gate City right now?"
"The fighting in the First and Fourth Districts has ended. Plan A has begun, and Plan B is ready. Reinhild is currently engaged with Lady Theresia in the Third District, and Ram-san is no longer in charge of the dialogue mirror."
Subaru instinctively glanced towards the northwest. A pillar of fire dozens of stories high indicated that the battle was still ongoing.
"He's the Kingdom's strongest magic user, after all! He won't be defeated easily!"
Subaru loudly reassured the White Dragon's Scale members.
"Let's focus on our own job. It's time to deal with Gluttony, who treats people as food."
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