Find happiness in a different place with suitable companions—Berta had never thought about that option. She was speechless. Her thoughts froze. It was true. As she was now, she saw them as companions. As for how they thought of her...
“[Berta.]”
Berta turned around as someone called her name. Unable to stand from her wounds, Ayame raised her head and stared at Berta.
“[You can’t go, Berta.]”
She yelped sadly.
“[You can’t. You can’t. Stay with us.]”
Her pleas affirmed Anton’s words. Berta recalled the warmth she’d felt when she and Ayame had curled up under the sun. It had been so gentle and calm. She would be lying if she claimed hunting monsters night after night in search of power agreed with her better than living like that.
Precisely because she’d experienced those days, she felt the weight behind Anton’s claim. This was no delusion. It was a future she could grasp if she simply reached out for it. And long, long ago, the one who could stop her from doing so had lost his ability to do so.
“I...”
Berta focused on the immaterial collar around her neck and the chains coiling her entire body. The power of the Lord of Darkness to inflict irresistible pain on his servants to punish them and force them to submit wasn’t strong enough to keep Berta down. Ironically, the power she’d yearned for so that she could serve her king had made it possible to break away from him. The only thing maintaining those chains was Berta’s insistence on serving him. That was why, just like she was doing now, baring her fangs was all it took to shatter them.
“So you’ve made your decision, Berta.”
She heard an auditory hallucination of her shattered chain sliding off her body. As the servant to the same king, Anton sensed it too.
“With this, you’re free.”
“Yes...”
It had been so much easier than she’d imagined. She’d simply had to put her mind to it. Berta turned to Majima Takahiro once more.
“Berta...”
“You have my thanks, Majima Takahiro.”
Those words contained a flood of emotions. She was truly grateful. He and his companions had been the ones to grant her this choice. The value of caring for others, the importance of not giving up on her dreams, the warmth of that sunlight—these were all things she’d learned by accompanying them. Because of that, she was capable of making this choice.
“Goodbye.”
“Huh...?”
Catching them off guard with those last words, she gave them no opportunity to stop her. No. Nobody would be able to stop her regardless. Nobody here was capable of holding back Berta’s full strength. The only thing that could have had been her king’s command, but those chains had already been shattered. She threw herself off the dragon’s palm.
“Berta!”
Only voices chased her. She could hear the sorrowful whine of a tiny fox. That, too, shortly vanished into the distance. Knowing that they could no longer hear her, she said, “Thank you,” one more time. This was her choice.
✦ ✦ ✦
The crumbling zombie dragon didn’t have the strength left to fly high up into the sky. Jumping from its palm, Berta used trees as footholds to get down to the ground, then immediately began running. The zombie dragon wasn’t going that fast, so they weren’t all that far away. At her full speed, she could get back to where they’d been right away.
The abnormal wolf’s feet stomped into the dirt, accelerating her to terrifying speeds. In an instant, the zombie dragon was already far in the distance. That warmth was so far away now. That felt sad, but she had no regrets. This was also thanks to them.
When the choice had been presented to her, she’d seen a gentle and happy future. However, her king wasn’t there with her. That was why. That was all it had taken.
Berta had decided to run to her king. She’d decided to throw away that gentle and happy future to be by his side. In the end, that was her truth.
Precisely because she’d been given the choice, she had conviction in her heart. Perhaps it was ironic that her conviction had come from shattering the absolute bonds of her king and ignoring his commands.
Naturally, Berta understood. She knew how meaningless it was for her to run to her king’s side. The man known as the Sword of Light simply existed in a different dimension. Her king was going to die. He would die in vain, faced with the one he’d sworn to get revenge on. He was facing his end in the pits of despair. It had always been the end he expected.
Berta had prayed that her king could at least find a peaceful end. But that was also over. She was incapable of doing anything about this situation. By running to him, all she would accomplish was adding one corpse to the body count. She knew this. Regardless, she didn’t stop running. If she threw away her feelings here, it would be the same as discarding her wish. It would mean abandoning the boy she’d hurt. That was one thing she couldn’t do. She would stay by his side. No matter the situation, no matter what happened, she would stay by him.
Berta continued running with all her might. She’d decided to stick to these feelings until her very last breath. Even if her life should end, the flames of these emotions would continue burning. By doing so, would a miracle happen?
No. That was impossible.
“Hgh?!”
Reality was endlessly cruel. That was something she’d known when she first met that boy. And here again, reality bared its fangs at her in the form of a drawn blade that could cut apart anything and everything.
✦ ✦ ✦
Had she dodged an instant later, she would’ve been bisected. Running at full speed, Berta had just barely managed to evade the slash. Several of the tentacles at her waist were sent flying away. By all rights, those sturdy tentacles couldn’t be severed so easily. This was the work of an unnatural blade.
“Now this is a surprise...” a man said. “What’s going on? Never thought I’d see a dead girl here.”
“You’re...” Berta had come across someone who was tied to her by a dreadful fate. “The Absolute Blade Hibiya Kouji...!”
He’d also been expelled from the fabricated world. However, he hadn’t gone to assist Nakajima Kojirou in the battle against Kudou Riku. Others had gone, so he hadn’t seen the need. He’d also suffered severe wounds in the earlier battle against Kudou Riku. As a result, he’d ended up bumping into Berta.
There were two other visitors with him. They hadn’t gone to support Nakajima Kojirou and were instead treating Hibiya Kouji with healing magic. Even if he was far from being in perfect shape, having received treatment from the moment he’d been expelled, Hibiya Kouji had recovered enough to pose more than enough of a threat.
In truth, the perfectly plain-looking sword in his hand was emitting an endlessly dangerous aura. The man who’d had the greatest effect on Berta’s life now stood to block her way.
“I doubt you’ll even put up a fight against Nakajima if I let you through...but I don’t got a reason to let you go either.” Hibiya Kouji casually readied his sword. “Never thought I’d kill the same girl twice.”
Pressured by his cold bloodlust, Berta felt like all her blood had frozen. Death was standing right before her.
“I guess this is fate,” he continued. “This time, I’ll finish you properly so there’s no room for debate.”
Berta recalled a pain in her waist. That was where Hibiya Kouji had once dealt a lethal blow to Todoroki Miya. Having eaten her corpse at the time, Berta’s partially human form closely resembled her. She could be said to be an exact replica. That was why she felt like this was an unavoidable twist of fate.
“Don’t make me laugh...” Berta said, clenching her fangs and growling, shattering that sensation. “I’m not Todoroki Miya.”
The pain in her waist was a hallucination. It wasn’t her own experience. This wasn’t fate. The man before her wasn’t her death. After all...
“I am Berta! The second servant to be given a name by my king!”
This was a symbol of her worthlessness—a name she’d thought was a curse. However, it was precisely because she was who she was that she’d made it this far. She hadn’t simply obeyed. She’d agonized, worried, met people, and ultimately made her decision. That was how she was here now. Even if she was to find no recompense, there was worth in that. She believed it. That was why she didn’t hesitate to bare her fangs.
“Out of my way! I have to go to my king’s side!”
✦ ✦ ✦
