As Cecilus and Arakiya stare each other down, the pressure starts crushing the courtyard.
The gladiators instinctively begin backing away.
Some fall over while some can't breathe properly.
Then Subaru hears familiar voices.
"N-Natsuki… what the hell is happening…?" Hiain hisses, scales standing fully upright.
Subaru glances back.
Hiain is trembling so badly he can barely stand, but, unlike the others around him, he is remaining where he stands.
Such a gloomy scene was totally not meant for someone with a cheerful personality and a high-pitched voice.
When Subaru saw the boy with blue hair standing there, thankfulness was not the first thing that came to mind.
It was rage.
Why was he so slow?
Why hadn't Cecilus Segmunt arrived sooner?
Why had he, of all individuals, been so tardy in showing up for someone who appeared so dedicated to the idea of being the top actor in the world?
The gladiators' repeated deaths were something Subaru had to witness due to the delay.
Thus, he had felt despondency and despair more times than he wished to admit.
And yet, that very same person kept grinning.
Since his arrival, he had not stopped grinning.
What was there to be happy about in a situation like this, where people's lives were at hazard and one mistake could kill them all?
However——
"I guess I'm not any different."
Subaru let out a hard breath.
He had been laughing too. Smiling too. Even after seeing all that death up close, he had still kept going.
Pride inclined his head alongside him, but Subaru ignored him and maintained his eyes on Cecilus.
Cecilus blinked at him, still wearing that dazzling grin. "What was that, Basu? Did you say something important? If so, feel free to repeat it. I'm all ears."
Subaru's eye twitched.
"You're really asking that now?" he mumbled. "You show up after all that, and that's the first thing you say?"
Cecilus put a hand to his chest and looked truly wounded. "Oi, oi. That is really harsh, Basu. I arrived as swiftly as I could when I noticed, you know."
"I haven't really got much to say for that, but…"
As Subaru muttered out in an attempt to find a complaint, Cecilus shifted his attention toward the one who properly required it.
With Cecilus here… at least, I should now have the man power to overcome this loop…
"You're glaring at me with such intensity, have I perhaps wronged you in the past, hmm?"
A momentary look of befuddlement covered Arakiya's face, before it was quickly replaced by complete and utter animosity.
"You… lie——you are… the most irritating man alive!"
The wild smile on Cecilus's face only intensified as he felt the intense surge of mana in the atmosphere, collecting wildly around her frame.
Seeing and feeling it in the air, Subaru felt an overwhelming wrongness in the air.
Ignoring the instinctual desire to step back, he outstretched his arm toward Cecilus and——
"Cecilus, you——."
His lips pursed mid-sentence as he caught the look of Cecilus's face.
In that very instant, amidst the panic, realisation shot through his body like lightning.
This was Cecilus Segmunt, the one who cared not for the people, but for himself and living solely for 'the stage'.
Taking into consideration the devastating opponent that was Arakiya, could——no, would Cecilus ever afford to try saving the gladiators whom he refers to as unimportant?
"Is this guy seriously on our side…?" Idra hesitantly questioned while staring at Cecilus.
Of course the answer to that was simple.
"Everyone, move back!" Subaru suddenly shouted.
"Huh?" Idra blinked. "W-We can't just leave y——"
"Now! Get as far away as possible!"
Hiain's expression paled. "W-Wait… Natsuki, don't tell me——"
As soon as he felt that build-up reach it's peak, he already knew it was too late——
"PRIDE——!!" Subaru shifted his attention toward Pride and yelled with utmost desperation.
In the very next moment, a colossal hurricane of fire erupted from the core of the Spirit Eater, utterly eviscerating everything and everyone caught in it's radius.
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Cecilus soared high, high, high up through the sky, the wind violently blowing his blue hair around as he watched the crimson and orange plume of devastation funnel toward the heavens.
Glancing down at the absolute ruin, Cecilus felt a familiar, electric chill of excitement flow straight up his spine. His heart hammered in his chest——not from fear, but from a pure, childish thrill.
Could this be the one? Could this be the actor he had been waiting for all this time?
Perhaps such thoughts were a little too forthcoming.
"Ah, even Basu might not come out of something like that in one piece."
Shifting his starry eyes toward the center of the devastation, where Basu, his strange shadow, the lizardman, and the red-haired gladiator resided, Cecilus hummed in thought.
He reached up, casually brushing a finger against his cheek. There was a jagged, fiery gash there. But no blood poured from the wound.
Instead, there was only a subtle, quiet sizzling, the raw heat of the previous blast having instantly cauterized the flesh.
"Certainly unfortunate," Cecilus calmly stated, looking at the ash on his fingertip. "I was quite fond of the fact I could state 'I've never bled before'."
With a light, weightless movement, Cecilus landed atop the roof of one of the stone watchtowers. He looked over the burning courtyard, his gaze drifting toward the collapsed central tower where the Governor's office used to be.
"I wonder... does this mean Gustav-san is no longer living?"
The death of Gustav wasn't unfortunate, by any means. To Cecilus, people were born, they played their parts, and then they exited the stage. While a part of him had been curious to see just how far the giant, four-armed Island Chief could have gone, the larger part of him understood the structure of a good story.
"You fulfilled your role beyond what I had expected for you. By introducing an interesting character into the plot," Cecilus murmured, his smile returning. "Sleep easy, Gustav-san."
He lowered his hands. His fingers wrapped firmly around the hilts of the two swords at his waist. He did not draw them yet, but his posture shifted, the loose, lazy slouch vanishing into the sharp, lethal stance of the Blue Lightning.
In the very next moment, a curdling, animalistic scream filled his ears——
Accompanying that scream was a massive, violent blast of white-hot fire. It struck a half-second later, singeing the edges of Cecilus's mismatched kimono as he leapt backward off the watchtower.
The stone tower was decimated in an instant. It didn't just break——it collapsed in on itself, the mortar turning to liquid slag under the sheer, unnatural heat of the spell.
Cecilus hit the ground, his wooden zori sandals kicking up bright sparks from the friction as he skidded across the stone.
Then, with a heavy, deliberate stomp that dug a deep groove into the dirt, he finally slid to a halt.
"Hmmm. This is quite dangerous indeed."
Speaking with a bright, wide smile, his carefree tone completely unwavering, Cecilus voiced his concern as he looked at the woman who had just landed.
The raging inferno engulfing the Spirit Eater's body was actively stealing all the surrounding oxygen, making the air thin and hard to breathe.
Accompanying this devilish, scorching appearance, a pair of fiery wings had manifested atop her upper back as she slowly approached him, her boots melting the cobblestones with every step.
"I've always thought that, without a doubt, the path to reach the Heavenly Sword was something that had to be climbed on one's own," Cecilus said, his starry eyes locked onto her. "But to say I was expecting to run straight into someone who can fight me this ferociously... I'd be a liar."
"Cecilus...!"
Arakiya clenched her teeth, her pupil flickering with a violent mixture of turmoil, hatred, and deep-seated ire.
The scent of burning stone and scorched flesh hung thick in the air. As she walked, her mere presence proceeded to incinerate everything encompassing her surroundings——the weapon racks, the banners, the very dirt of the courtyard turning to glass.
She was a natural disaster given flesh. Her presence alone was enough to turn the entire island into a desolate, lifeless wasteland.
And yet, looking at the monster before him, the Blue Lightning only smiled wider.
The heat radiating from the Spirit Eater was suffocating. It distorted the air between them, turning the destroyed courtyard into a blurry, wavering mirage.
Cecilus stood his ground and watched her, his starry eyes reflecting the dancing orange flames that licked at her dark skin.
"Why..." Arakiya gritted her teeth, a thin wisp of gray smoke rising from between her bared teeth. "Why do you always look like that?"
"Hmm?" Cecilus tilted his head, his blue hair swaying. "Like what? Do I have soot on my face? Ah, that would be rather embarrassing. A lead actor must always maintain his appearance, after all."
"You don't care," she hissed, her voice trembling with a mixture of exhaustion and raw, boiling fury. "You never care. About… anything. You just stand there and mock everyone who actually has to struggle."
"Oh, that's where you're mistaken, miss," Cecilus replied, his tone perfectly light and conversational. "I have the utmost respect for those who struggle. In fact, I think your performance today is absolutely magnificent! The wings, the fire, the sheer, unbridled passion... it's incredibly dramatic."
He paused, his smile softening just a fraction.
"But you're burning yourself up. If you pour all of your soul into a single scene, what will you have left for the rest of the play?"
"Shut up..." Arakiya's red eye dilated, the fire on her back flaring violently, turning the surrounding air to a choking draft of ash. "I don't care about your play. I don't care about your stage. I only have one role. I am Prisca's dog. I will burn everything that threatens her. Even you."
"I see, I see," Cecilus hummed, nodding sagely. "A tragic, single-minded devotion. It's a classic character archetype. Quite beautiful, in a melancholic sort of way."
He looked down at his own small, childish hands, then back at his sizzling, heat-fried cheek. The physical limits of his current body were glaringly obvious. If they truly fought to the death right now, in this confined, oxygen-starved wasteland, there was a very real chance he wouldn't survive it.
Simply, his story would end here, in the dirt of the forgotten gladiator island.
Yet, there was no fear in his eyes. There was no anxiety. The concept of his own death was nothing more to him than a transition to a different scene.
"Still, it would be a bit of a waste to end what could be an incredible rivalry here, don't you think?" Cecilus asked, his fingers lightly tapping the hilt of his sword. "A grand clash between those like us should happen on a much grander stage. We need an audience of thousands! We need the fate of the capital hanging in the balance! Doing it here, with only a few terrified gladiators watching… it lacks the proper theatrical weight."
Arakiya raised her wooden branch, the white-hot flames gathering at the tip, preparing to unleash a strike that would level the remaining towers.
"I don't care about the weight," she whispered. "I just want you to disappear."
Cecilus took a half-step back, his wooden zori sandals clicking against the scorched stone. The air around him began to hum, blue static crackling at his heels as his body prepared to translate into pure, untouchable speed. He knew the scene was drawing to a close. The curtain was falling on this particular act, and it was time for his exit.
"Well, we really are mismatched partners for this dance," Cecilus chuckled, his starry eyes twinkling with absolute, unwavering certainty. "But that's the beauty of a masterpiece. The characters always find their way to each other when the script demands it."
The woman clad in flames cast him an intense glare——he understood that he himself was the target of her ire, yet he did not quite understand what the source of said ire was.
Only, he felt that it was neither his opposition, nor him interrupting her slaughter of the gladiators, that had originated that rage.
Perhaps, there were other reasons beyond that.
Regardless, time was not of the essence.
So, he offered her one calm, brilliant grin as his silhouette began to blur into the wind.
"——Then, 'til we meet again in this life."
Arakiya's eyes widened.
"Ah? Did I say something wrong, perhaps?"
Cecilus cocked his head, wondering about the words that had left his mouth as if by reflex.
However, it seemed that this had further spurred her ire.
The flames that sprouted from her body quickly intensified and rose to an intense blue hue.
And with it came the sound of metal ringing as a pair of katanas left their scabbards, followed by a half second later…
——The thunderous roar of the Blue Lightning dove headlong into the eye of the inferno.
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The sensation of the scorching heat unleashed by the Spirit Eater was unbearable.
Pain. The pain, too.
That was the worst part of it all. It always was. Having to relive the sensation of agony, over and over, until the mind itself felt raw.
But at least this time, the suffering didn't drag on. Most of his nerves had likely been completely fried by the blast, leaving his skin numb and his eyes entirely blind.
The heat was suffocating.
Every breath scorched his throat, tasting of ash and ozone.
He couldn't see.
But he already knew.
——Everyone was dead.
Amidst the heavy, terrifying lack of screams, where the only sound was the lazy crackling of dying fire, the repugnant stench of burnt flesh was too potent to ignore.
Just like that, everyone had died. Again.
He, Natsuki Subaru, had failed once more after getting so close.
How far did the flames spread this time? There was no way to tell.
How fast was Cecilus? Had he even survived? There was no way to tell.
"…You're still alive, huh?"
A familiar voice suddenly beckoned to him from nearby.
It was a tone he could recognize in an instant. A bit snarky, a bit defensive, and entirely rough around the edges. It was a voice he knew, because it was his own.
"Not… for too long, though," Subaru muttered through the pain of his vocal cords.
A shadowy, lightless form condensed in the blackness of his ruined vision. Even without working eyes, Subaru could feel Pride's presence. The artificial spirit sat down on the scorched dirt right beside him, his knees pulled up to his chest.
"Figured," Pride said, letting out a dry, hollow sigh. "Your lungs are basically charcoal right now. It's a miracle you're even squeezing words out. Honestly, it's kind of gross."
"Shut... up..." Subaru wheezed.
"Make me," Pride shot back, though there was no real venom in it. He sounded incredibly tired. The childish, arrogant bravado that usually defined him was gone, leaving only a weary, hollow shell.
"I don't know how many attempts it's been for you, but you got close," Pride murmured, looking out over the silent, smoking courtyard. "We broke the office. We had that soldier bastard on the run. But that girl... she's a total cheat character. A complete hack. You can't fight a walking volcano in a child's body."
"I should have... moved her," Subaru whispered, his fingers twitching in the dirt. "If I didn't... lead her to the courtyard... Weitz, Hiain, Idra... they wouldn't have..."
"There you go again," Pride interrupted, his voice dropping into a flat, blunt register. "Classic Natsuki Subaru. 'It's all my fault. I have to carry every single extra on my back.' You really are an arrogant bastard, you know that? Weren't you already taught not to shoulder everything?"
Subaru wanted to frown, but his facial muscles wouldn't obey. "Arrogant...?"
"Yes. Arrogant," Pride said, leaning his head back against a piece of rubble. "You think you're the only actor on the stage. You think if someone dies, it's because you weren't perfect. That's Pride, Subaru. That's me, Natsuki Subaru. You're just as full of yourself as I was when we first got summoned to this stupid world."
"Maybe..."
"I know I am, because that's all I can be. I'm literally the trash you swept under the rug because you were too afraid to admit you were a selfish coward," Pride muttered, his shadowy form rippling slightly. "But I'm sick of it. I'm sick of being a separate piece."
Subaru quieted, listening to the crackle of the flames.
"They wanted me to be a pawn," Pride continued, his tone turning sharp and bitter. "Those disgusting bastards decided I wasn't worth crap, even after consuming me. They wanted a nice, neat little shadow-self to play villain. But I don't want to exist like this anymore. I don't want to be their tool."
"Pride..."
"I'm just a fragment of your ego, Subaru. The part of you that couldn't face reality without putting on a show," Pride said, looking down at his featureless black hands. "I don't need to be a separate person. I don't want to be. I just want this to stop. I want to go back where I belong."
Subaru understood. He felt the phantom ache in his chest——not the pain of his physical burns, but the empty, hollow space where his own self-importance had been torn away and weaponized against him.
He had hated Pride. He had loathed him as the root of his suffering in the Sanctuary. But looking through his fried vision at the trembling shadow beside him, all he felt was a profound, quiet understanding.
Slowly, with agonizing effort, Subaru forced his left hand to move. He dragged it through the ash, reaching out into the dark until his fingers brushed against the cold, weightless edge of Pride's shadow.
"Then... next time," Subaru whispered, his breath hitching as his throat began to close up. "We do it... together. Really... together."
Pride stared at the hand touching his shadow. He let out a sharp, self-deprecating chuckle, but he didn't pull away.
"Hmph. Don't get sentimental on me. It's embarrassing," the shadow muttered, his form slowly beginning to dissolve as the loop drew to its absolute end. "But yeah. Next loop... we don't let them win."
"Yeah..." Subaru agreed.
"And Subaru?" Pride's voice was barely a whisper now, fading into the dark. "Stop crying like a baby next time. It's bad for our reputation."
Subaru couldn't help the tiny, bloody smile that touched his lips.
"…Right, you damn bastard——"
The coldness finally took him, and the world reset once more.
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To Todd Fang, the world was divided into two categories: things he could understand and things that would kill him.
Stubborn people usually fell into the second category. Not because they were strong, but because they lacked the basic, healthy urge to survive. When a person didn't care about staying alive, they became a chaotic variable.
And Todd hated variables.
Looking at Gustav Morello, Todd knew the four-armed giant was a dead man. The Governor stood there, rigid, hiding behind old imperial decrees like they were a shield. He was relying on a loophole to ignore the Prime Minister's direct orders. It was a commendable display of loyalty, but in Todd's eyes, it was just plain stupid.
What a waste of time…
Todd thought, his green eyes darkening.
He didn't have the luxury of standing in this damp office arguing politics. He had a fiancée waiting for him back in the capital. He wanted to go home.
By Gustav's logic, there was only one option left.
"Arakiya. Negotiating has failed."
Todd spoke the words calmly, as if concluding a dull business meeting.
Gustav's eyes instantly widened. The giant recognized the shift in Todd's tone. Before Arakiya could swing her branch, Gustav reacted with the explosive, desperate strength of a cornered beast.
His four thick arms slammed onto the edges of his massive mahogany desk. The wood groaned under the pressure as he flipped the entire thing upright, aiming to crush the two visitors beneath its weight.
To a normal soldier, a few hundred kilogram block of flying wood would be a death sentence.
To Arakiya, it was nothing.
"Die." She muttered.
A single, quiet swipe of her wooden branch cut through the air.
There was no grand explosion. Just the sound of rushing water, sharp and fast. The heavy mahogany desk was sheared cleanly in two.
Along with Gustav Morello.
The giant's top half slid off his lower body, hitting the stone floor with a wet, heavy thud. Blood instantly pooled across the rug, the metallic stench of iron filling the room.
Arakiya lowered her branch, looking at the wreckage with a blank, vacant gaze.
She turned her head slightly. "What are you doing?"
Todd didn't answer. He was already on his knees beside Gustav's upper torso. Without a trace of hesitation or disgust, he rolled up his sleeves and dug his bare hands directly into the warm, smoking wound.
Gross? Yes. But leaving a loose end was far worse.
After a few moments of searching through the ruptured organs, Todd's fingers closed around something hard and cold. He growled, wrenching his hand back.
In his blood-stained palm lay a small, pitch-black orb.
Todd stood up, using a clean corner of his uniform to dab at a stray splash of blood on his cheek. He let out a long breath. "I knew it. A cautious guy like that would hide something so important where almost nobody else would think to look."
"Oh." Arakiya's single red eye widened slightly as she stared at the sphere. "So that's the thing we're looking for?"
"Yep. The Curse Tool. The thing we needed this whole time," Todd said, glancing down at Gustav's severed corpse. He felt a mild twinge of annoyance, but nothing more. "I would've preferred not doing it this way... but he decided to make things difficult. That's his own fault."
He stepped over the blood and extended his hand, presenting the black orb to her.
"The Prime Minister mentioned that anyone with the curse mark will automatically die if they exceed the distance the tool has marked. Anyone who tries to escape will trigger it. I've got to give the creator props; it's real impressive. But the most important part is the disposal. All you have to do is throw it in any direction, as hard as you can."
Arakiya tilted her head, her infantile mind struggling to process the simplicity of it.
"Just throw it?"
"Yeah," Todd said, his voice returning to that friendly, reassuring tone he used when he wanted to get his way. "Then we can go home. Or, well, somewhere else. Anywhere that is not this island."
The air in Ginunhive always felt too heavy. The sooner they threw this thing and wiped the slate clean, the sooner he could breathe again.
Arakiya gave the black orb one more glance. Slowly, she extended her hand to take it.
Todd watched her fingers draw closer to the sphere.
And then, his throat went dry.
A cold, familiar dread seized his chest. It was his survival instinct——the same primal, hyper-attuned system that had saved his life a dozen times before. It was screaming at him, telling him that the space beneath them was wrong.
He looked down.
The shadow cast by the ruined desk was warping. It was moving against the flickering torchlight.
Before Arakiya's fingers could touch the orb, a pitch-black, child-sized hand materialized directly out of the darkness. It snatched the Curse Tool cleanly out of Todd's palm.
"——!"
Arakiya's reaction was instantaneous. Her eye sharpened, her branch rising, no doubt, to unleash a devastating spell.
But Todd's brain worked faster. If she fired inside this enclosed room, the orb would be destroyed, or worse, the curse might trigger prematurely and kill them too.
"Arakiya, wait!" Todd yelled, his voice cracking with urgent panic.
The Spirit Eater froze mid-swing, her branch trembling as she forced her magic to disperse. She glared at the shadow, her brows furrowed in rare frustration.
"Why...?"
"——So, you ARE the brains after all, huh?"
The voice came from the shadow.
Todd's blood ran cold. The hair on his arms stood on end.
He didn't recognize the entity—it was a featureless, lightless silhouette of a boy—but he recognized that voice, that smug, arrogant, utterly infuriating cadence.
It was him. Or something inextricably tied to him.
The same suffocating, terrifying wrongness Todd had felt back in the Buddheim Jungle, and the Fortress City of Guaral. The monster had found him. Even here, on an isolated prison island, they had found him.
Todd took a slow, cautious step back, his hand sliding toward the knife at his belt. His mind raced, desperately trying to find a way out of this nightmare.
"Don't do anything rash..." Todd muttered, his voice surprisingly steady despite the sweat trickling down his neck.
The shadow didn't look at him. It didn't have eyes to look with. Instead, it opened its hand and let the black orb fall.
Todd's heart stopped.
No——!
But the orb didn't shatter on the stone floor. The moment it touched the darkness beneath the shadow's feet, it sank, submerging into the black puddle like it was falling into deep mud. It was completely out of reach.
"Now that I've got what you're all after... nobody move."
Thus, Pride, no——
Thus, Natsuki Subaru declared.
"I've got your crappy objective hostage, after all."
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Through the settling dust of the shattered doorway, footsteps crunched on the gravel.
Subaru stepped into the ruined office, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. Physically, he was still a child, but the exhaustion in his posture was entirely gone.
He looked at the black puddle of shadow on the floor, then up at his pitch-black duplicate.
"Did you… get it?" Subaru asked.
Pride tilted his head, a smug, self-satisfied shrug shifting his featureless shoulders. "Of course I did. Snatched it right out of the orange-haired guy's hand before the girl could even blink. Honestly, it was almost too easy."
Subaru's left eye twitched.
Too easy?
The urge to strangle his own shadow was almost overwhelming. Too easy? After how many times had he been cleaved in half? After having his skull pierced, his arm severed, and his entire body vaporised by actual hurricanes?
He had literally died dozens of times to map out those split-second margins, and Pride had the audacity to call it easy.
"Don't say it like that," Subaru muttered, dragging a hand down his face. "It makes me look incredibly stupid."
"Well, if the shoe fits——"
"Shut up."
Subaru cut him off, turning his gaze toward the two imperial soldiers. He let his Cursed Energy flare just enough to coat his skin in a faint, menacing steam. It wasn't a massive display of power, but in this cramped, ruined space, the sudden spike in pressure was suffocating.
Subaru looked Todd dead in the eye.
"We can do this two ways," Subaru said, his voice flat and entirely devoid of a child's warmth. "You can try to fight us. But you'll lose, and both of you will die right here."
It was a bluff. An absolute, total lie. Of course…
But Todd didn't know that. And he was exactly the kind of man to believe it.
Todd stood perfectly still. His green eyes were locked on Subaru, his pupils dilated with a frantic, silent calculation. He was analyzing the variables, his mind spinning at breakneck speed.
How?
Todd's thoughts were a chaotic mess of panic and logic.
How did they know? How did they set up this perfect ambush? We came here in secret. The Prime Minister's letter was sealed.
To Todd, the only explanation was that this black-haired monster had predicted every single move. He was playing a game, and Todd had walked straight into the trap.
"Or," Subaru continued, raising a single finger. "You can leave. Empty-handed, but alive."
Todd didn't answer. He remained quiet, his breathing shallow as he weighed the options.
Beside him, Arakiya's single red eye narrowed. The air in the office rapidly grew sweltering; the sensation of mana flooding the room began to feel almost overwhelming.
Unsurprisingly, she was not so open-minded. ——so, of course, the wooden branch in her hand trembled as she began to draw in the surrounding oxygen.
"Todd," Arakiya muttered, her voice finally cracking with a dangerous spark of irritation. "I can kill them. I can eat the spirit. I can burn the whole room."
Subaru's stomach plummeted. Sweat broke out on the back of his neck, but he forced his expression to remain a mask of cold, unbothered arrogance.
If she unleashed her fire now, the loop was over. He had to keep the bluff up. He had to look like he wanted her to try.
"Arakiya. We're leaving. ——They are too strong."
Todd's voice was quiet, but it carried an absolute, undeniable finality.
Arakiya blinked, her flame instantly wavering. She looked at Todd in genuine surprise. "...Stronger than me?" she asked, pointing her branch toward the black-haired child.
To her, Cecilus was the only one who should have made Todd retreat like this. She didn't understand why they were backing down from a child and a spirit
"Yes," Todd said, his face a pale, grim mask of defeat. "The mere fact that they even knew we were here... it means everything we do is already accounted for. We can't deal with them, Arakiya. Not like this. We're retreating."
Arakiya stared at Todd for a second longer, before slowly lowering her branch. The stifling heat in the room began to dissipate.
"Alright."
Todd took a slow step backward, his eyes never leaving Subaru's face. He looked at Gustav's severed, bleeding corpse on the floor, then back at the boy.
A sudden, chilling realization seemed to strike Todd. His expression shifted from fear to a deep, visceral revulsion.
"…You knew we were coming," Todd whispered, his voice trembling slightly. "But you let us kill the Island Chief anyway?"
Subaru's breath hitched. He wanted to shout. He wanted to scream that he had tried to save Gustav——that he had died repeatedly, desperately trying to reach the office fast enough to stop the blade.
But he couldn't say a word. No matter what he said, he would just sound like he were insane, after all.
Todd let out a dry, disgusted scoff, his grip tightening on his short axe.
"To let your own Governor be butchered, just to corner us empty-handed..." Todd muttered, his eyes filled with absolute horror as he stared at the child. "You really are a monster, Natsuki Subaru."
Without waiting for a response, Todd turned on his heel. Arakiya followed close behind, wind wrapping around her boots as she carried them both out through the shattered wall toward the entrance where their carriage resided.
Subaru stood in the silent wreckage of the office, his fists clenched so hard his nails bit into his palms.
"What a bastard," Pride muttered, stepping out of the shadow. "Though, honestly? That was a pretty good script you wrote there."
Subaru didn't answer. He just looked at the blood on the floor, his chest heaving as the weight of the loop finally pressed down on him.
He had saved the island at the cost of its ruler.
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The black carriage bearing the Imperial crest crossed the stone bridge, leaving the gates of Ginunhive behind.
From the high, shattered ledge of the outer wall, Subaru watched it go. The carriage dwindled into a tiny speck on the dirt road, kicking up a lazy trail of dust before disappearing into the dense Vollachian forest.
They were gone. Todd and Arakiya had retreated.
"In the end, it's your victory. Of course it is, it always is."
Beside him, the shadow of Pride rippled along the stone, slowly sinking back into Subaru's own shadow.
It wasn't exactly easy, though.
Subaru thought, letting out a long, shuddering breath.
"Natsuki!"
The frantic shout made Subaru turn.
Idra, Weitz, and Hiain came running up the stone steps, followed by a dozen other gladiators. Their weapons were drawn, their faces pale and slick with sweat. They had no idea what had actually transpired in the Governor's office. To them, the sudden collapse of the tower, the brief flares of purple and red light, and the abrupt departure of the Imperial special guests were complete mysteries.
But they knew the most important thing.
"The Governor..." Idra stopped, his breath hitching as he looked at the blood on Subaru's clothes. "The guards said... Gustav-san was..."
"He's dead," Subaru said simply, his voice low. "The Imperial soldiers killed him. They wanted to wipe out the entire island, but we stopped them."
A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the gladiators.
"Those bastards..." Weitz gritted his teeth, his hand squeezing the hilt of his sword so hard his knuckles turned white. "The Island Chief… he was a hardass that threw us into the Sparka, but he didn't seem all that bad."
"And they just... butchered him?" Hiain squeaked, his scales shivering. "Just like that? Why?!"
"Because they're afraid of us, they came to kill us all," Subaru said, stepping forward. He didn't want them dwelling on the despair. He needed to direct their anger. "They're afraid of what we can do if we stand together."
Before the gladiators could ask any more questions, a small, blonde blur shot out from the stairwell.
"Uaaaa!"
Louis scrambled across the stone, throwing her small arms around Subaru's shoulder with such force she nearly knocked him over. She buried her face into him, whimpering softly.
Subaru's expression softened instantly. He wrapped his arms around her, gently stroking her hair. She was warm. She was breathing. She didn't have blood pouring from her eyes.
"I'm here, Louis," Subaru whispered, his chest swelling with a profound, hard-earned relief. "I kept my promise. You're safe."
"Uau..." she hummed softly, her grip tightening.
The gladiators watched the exchange, their expressions shifting from grief to a strange, quiet reverence. To them, this black-haired child was an enigma. He wielded a terrifying, dark power, yet he comforted a mute girl with the gentleness of a brother.
And then, there was the rumor.
Idra stepped forward, his crimson hair catching the dim sunlight. He looked at Subaru with a serious, intense gaze.
"So... the rumors were true," Idra said quietly. "The way the soldiers spoke to you. The way you knew they were coming... You really are the Emperor's son. You're the Prince."
Subaru opened his mouth to deny it, but Weitz stepped up beside Idra, nodding firmly.
"It makes sense," Weitz said. "Why else would the capital send a Divine General to wipe out a prison island? They wanted to kill you before you could march on the throne."
Subaru looked at the faces of the gladiators. He saw the resolve in their eyes. He saw the trust he had died dozens of times to build.
If he denied it now, the illusion would shatter. The unified front they needed to survive the coming storm would crumble.
So, Subaru let out a small, wry sigh, ruffling Louis's hair one last time before stepping onto a chunk of fallen masonry. He stood tall, looking over the crowd of hardened fighters.
"Alright, everyone!" Subaru yelled, his voice carrying across the courtyard. "The Emperor's people came to our home, killed our Governor, and tried to slaughter us in our sleep! Are we going to just sit here and let them get away with it?!"
"NO!" the gladiators roared in unison.
"Are we ready to march down to the capital, bust down the doors, and give my old man a good talking to?!"
A deafening, bloodthirsty cheer erupted from the crowd. The gladiators raised their swords, their axes, and their fists, the anger over Gustav's death transforming into a burning, united loyalty for the black-haired boy who had saved them.
Subaru smiled. It was a wild, feverish expression, but it was real.
"That's what I like to hear!"
Subaru yelled, raising the curse tool; he squeezed his fist and crushed the black orb of the Curse Tool, letting the useless dark dust filter through his fingers.
"We're leaving Ginunhive together and going straight for Lupugana!"
As the crowd dispersed to ready the camp, the loud, booming cheers echoed through the stone halls.
But amidst the chaotic preparations, a lone figure remained sitting on the edge of the parapet, his legs swinging lazily over the dizzying drop.
"——Are you going to continue doing this, Basu? You hurt my feelings, you know."
Subaru turned his head.
Cecilus Segmunt sat there, his blue hair blowing in the wind. But for the first time since Subaru had met him, the dazzling, starry-eyed grin was completely gone. His face was turned down in a dramatic, exaggerated pout.
It was a look Subaru had desperately wanted to see.
"Well, we're going now, but what are you going to do, Ceci?" Subaru asked, walking over with his hands in his pockets.
"I supposed I should've expected the unexpected, but for something like this to happen, how am I supposed to predict that?" Cecilus complained, throwing his arms up. "No matter how I slice it, I didn't expect you to get this far; truly, I must say bravo. However, I got just one question."
"You've got a question?"
"That I do, are you not going to properly ask for my assistance?"
Subaru chuckled. He stepped up to the edge of the wall, looking out over the sprawling landscape of the Empire.
"Well, I do need your help for the future, so if you're going to keep tagging along with us, you're going to have to get used to it," Subaru said. He glanced at the blue-haired child. "And from now on, you've got to call me 'Boss'."
Cecilus paused. His starry eyes blinked once, twice, and then...
A wide, manic grin instantly split his face, his eyes sparkling with a fresh, volatile excitement.
"Boss?!" Cecilus laughed, the high-pitched, childish sound echoing off the stone. "Oh! Hahahahaha! Incredible, spectacular, marvellous, indeed! The young prince leading a band of rogues with his loyal sword hand! That is incredibly fresh! Yes! I love it!"
Cecilus stood up on the narrow ledge, striking a flawless, heroic pose as he extended a hand forth.
"Very well then, Boss! I, the Blue Lightning, promise to help you save Satoru Gojo! As the Lead Actor, the Star that outshines even the brightest this world has to offer… the only outcome befitting that is an absolute victory, yes?"
Subaru's eyes widened momentarily before, shortly, it was replaced by an easygoing look.
"Of course, of course, thanks, Ceci."
Subaru looked at the kid, then at the bustling gladiators below, and finally at Louis, who was quietly holding his hand.
The suffering, the agonizing deaths, the taste of his own blood——it had all been leading to this moment.
They were finally leaving the hellhole of an island.
"Alright…" Subaru whispered, a determined, unyielding grin settling onto his face.
"——Let's go turn the Empire upside down, shall we?"