Sir Lamorak’s steady crimson eyes, which already tended to be dilated, were even larger than normal. In that moment, the temperature around them dropped to below freezing. She shrieked. Though Sir Lamorak’s anger was hot like scorching flames, the surroundings around Felicia and the others had been chilled to absolute zero. It was almost as though hell had frozen over. “…Oh my. How scary…,” muttered the witch. It was the first time she’d expressed anything other than composure—mixing with something curt. “But it’s not as though I can give her back just because you told me to.” “Then die.” Instantly, Sir Lamorak disappeared. To be precise, she appeared to have disappeared because she was moving faster than the limits of what the human eye could perceive. Sir Lamorak turned into a red comet and rushed at the witch— …… “…Hey, Luna. Wake up. If you don’t hurry and wake up, you’ll be absorbed, dude.” “…Uh…hn?” When she felt someone poking her side, Luna’s consciousness, which had been wandering through the dark, slowly rose to the surface. How long could she have been asleep? Luna had collapsed facedown on the ground, and she half-consciously shook her foggy head and got up. “…Rin…tarou…?” “You’re finally awake, sleepyhead. Seriously, I told you to wait outside.” Luna blinked. When she looked up, Rintarou was standing next to her, looking down at her, exasperated. “Right… We…fell into the hole that weird girl in black made…” Luna looked at their surroundings, even though she wasn’t totally conscious yet. They were in someone’s room somewhere. The walls and floors were made of wood. It was probably a girl’s room. There were cute patterned curtains and a rug. The desk was topped with trinkets and stuffed animals. It seemed a bit lonely, but the room didn’t seem at all out of the ordinary. But when something came into her vision, Luna opened her eyes wide. “…What is that?!” There were several windows in the room, but all of them had firm-looking iron bars on them. Luna automatically turned to her back. When she did, she saw that the whole wall was made up of iron bars, and the door was restricted all around by chains. A stone corridor continued down the other side of it into eternal darkness. The girl’s room had looked typical at first glance, but it was actually incredibly bizarre. It was just wrong. A birdcage. A dungeon… Those words were adequate descriptors. “…It’s a netherworld.” “This is a netherworld, too…?” Luna parroted Rintarou. “Yeah. Our real world and the illusory one are firmly partitioned by the Curtain of Consciousness, but when it becomes more nebulous, it creates a Neverwhere… The witch in black did this.” “……” “This netherworld is probably a reflection of the deep psyche of someone who was absorbed into the world.” “…Someone was…absorbed?” Luna checked her surroundings. Now that he mentioned it, she didn’t see any sign of the one other person who had fallen into the world. “That’s right. In this place, the boundary between the real world and the illusory one is iffy. You know what they say: ‘If you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back into you…’ You keep on your toes, too, Luna. If you’re careless, you’ll be absorbed and become one with this netherworld.” Luna gulped beside Rintarou, who tilted his head. “But…who is that girl? She made a netherworld that’s close enough to the illusory world that it could even absorb a real person… Even a magic user from the legendary era would have a hard time making a netherworld that’s this high level…” Rintarou’s thoughts ran wild, trying to ascertain her identity. Hic… Sniffle… Ugh… Hic… The sound of someone whimpering faintly reached their ears. It seemed to be coming from the other side of the bars. “…Who is it?” Luna asked. “……” Rintarou stood in front of the iron bars of the door. What are you planning on doing? Luna tried to ask, but in that moment, she saw two flashes of Rintarou’s drawn swords. He had used his swords to cut through the iron bars and chains as though they were paper. “Whaaa—?! Rintarou, you’re a beast!” “Heh. This is a netherworld that’s close to the illusory one. The only thing that dictates what you can and can’t do is your mind, Luna.” “I—I don’t really get what you’re saying…” “I’m saying this place tests the strength of your mind rather than the strength of your brawn.” Leaving Luna in her puzzled state, Rintarou headed toward the other side of the iron bars. It seemed he intended to go toward the crying voice. “Oh…w-wait for me!” Luna ran after Rintarou’s back in a fluster. They left the room of iron bars. For a while, Rintarou and Luna walked down the stone corridor until their vision suddenly opened up. They were in a forest, though the trees were sparse. The sun poured over them, and there was a gentle wind that rushed through the branches. They saw a carpet of leaves. There seemed to be a town in the distance. They spied something that looked like an old castle wall and a small city. “…I’m getting less and less certain about where we are.” Luna scowled. “…It’s central France—we’re in the Centre Loire region on the outskirts of the city of Orleans… It’s the premises of the Religious Order of Saint Joan,” Rintarou said plainly. “I’m sorry, what? Looks like someone’s an expert.” “……” Rintarou silently kept going into the back of the forest. “What’s with you…?” With a sigh, Luna could only continue after him. The two of them entered the quiet, sunny forest. They relied on the sound of the sniffling girl to move deeper. The area around them became thicker and darker as they left civilization farther behind. Eventually, they came upon a clearing in the woods and found an old monastery towering over them. In the clearing in front of the monastery, they saw a strange and repulsive scene before them. Priests in religious garb were surrounding a girl in a robe, and angels were flying above the girl’s head. None of them had faces, except for… “Emma?! No, wait. That’s not her… That’s weird. She seems young…?” Luna observed. “That’s Emma… She got absorbed.” “…What does that mean?” Luna asked Rintarou, who was trying to hint at something. “Hic… Sniffle… Ah… Oooh…” On the other side of things, the young Emma in her religious garb was bawling as the priests and angels surrounded her. She had a collar around her neck and shackles around her arms and legs…from which stretched long chains. Those chains extended out to the surrounding priests’ and angels’ hands, which firmly grasped them. She was already in a state where she was immobile and unable to escape. “Oh, Emma! Oh, Emma! Servant to the great Lord! This is pathetic!” “You cannot even manage this, my girl?!” “Aren’t you going to save the world?! Aren’t you going to become La Pucelle?!” The faceless priests and angels were crowding Emma as she cried, saying all they wanted to her. “I’m so sorry… I’m so sorry…! I’ll try harder… I’ll keep trying harder…! Please don’t leave me, our Lord Jesus… Please don’t abandon me…!” Young Emma was crying. With Excalibur sticking up before her eyes, Emma could only break down in tears. “As a protector of the great Christian religion, King Arthur was the hero of faith. You are a girl who persists his line of holy blood. You will save the world. Your mission and destiny is to lead the people.” “Now, Emma. Hear the voices of the people that call for salvation! Hear the anticipation in their voices!” Hordes of people rose up around Emma, and the place fell to pandemonium. The great number of people, who had materialized out of nothing, had surrounded Emma at some point. ““““Our savior! Our savior! Our hero!”””” ““““La Pucelle! La Pucelle!”””” ““““AAAAAAAAH!”””” “A-ahhh…?!” The force of the angry roar made Emma’s face twist in fright. She froze in place. A sonorous hymn flowed in from nowhere, and new chains materialized out of nothing, stretching toward Emma, binding and tightening around her. “Gah! Ah… I—I can’t breathe… It’s too heavy…! Ahhh…” “It is God’s will for you to fight! It is the request of the innocent masses, who plead for salvation!” “Now, Emma. Take the sword! Plow down the enemies of God…for justice!” Then, something as large as a mountain appeared in front of Emma’s eyes, making her look up. It was…inexpressible in one word. It was a group of terrifying monsters, of heaping corpses, of a darkness even blacker than the void and mixed with blood. It seemed to seethe—it was something born from turmoil. It looked like a devil, though it could have been a god or even a monster. Or it was something more terrifying and repulsive. In that abyssal chaos that swallowed all possible light lurked a particularly concentrated darkness. The simplest despairs—death and fear—seemed to spread all around it. It was a hell that plundered anything warm in the world. “Ugh… Wh-what…is that…?!” Gulp. When Luna looked straight at the thing, she turned blue. She felt sick. Her head was spinning, and she felt like she was going to throw up. Just looking at it, her heart pounded against her chest, and a heavy sweat broke out all over her body. She was being robbed of her five senses. A feeling welled up from deep within the back of her mind. It was like a poison could no longer be construed as anything else. I’m scared. I’m scared of that black mess. I can’t bear looking at it directly. Faced with chaos, her despair was deeper than the darkest depths of the ocean. “Ah—haaah…! Wheeze… Hrk…!” Luna felt almost like she was hyperventilating. She gulped and went to her knees right where she was. “Hey, hey, don’t push yourself… That’s the mental depiction of the world’s annihilation and destruction.” Rintarou sounded bored as he watched the black turmoil. “The what…?! Wh-what even is that…?!” “The apocalypse exists as a shared concept among all of humanity in their collective unconsciousness. Fear and despair exist in the same way… That’s Emma’s mental image of it given form. The only ones who can face this image with composure are people with a few screws loose.” Rintarou was calm. He shrugged, like he was enjoying things. “That thing’s a mental image?! Really?! Just looking at an image is enough to cause enough fear and despair to bring me to my knees?! I couldn’t help but feel like killing myself earlier!” “This is the netherworld…the spirit world, so to speak. If you let yourself get mired in the common sense of the real world, you’ll get tripped up.” As Rintarou and Luna were having that exchange, the miasma released by that black turmoil enveloped the group of people, who were instantaneously mummified. But even that did not stop the ivory bones from begging Emma to save them. The sonorous hymn echoed and warped. It was maddening. It turned discordant as it reverberated around them. The scene became repulsive to the eye. From how it looked, it might as well have come from the very pits of hell. “Now, you must fight, Emma!” “You must save the world! You must save the people! For the will of God! For justice!” “That was the role you have been given! There is no other value to your life!” “Ah… AAAH… Sniffle… No…!” The mummified priests and angels yanked on her chains, and Emma’s shaking hand gripped the Excalibur at her feet. While dragging the heavy chains and shaking uncontrollably, she tottered toward the monster. However, her steps would not take her to the monster of turmoil. “No… I don’t want to anymore… Someone help me… Please save me…!” Emma didn’t even make a single attempt to strike at the monster of turmoil and let her sword drop. She had given up… She fell to her knees as though she could no longer withstand the weight of her own body… She moaned and burst into tears. Even as Emma was in that state, those surrounding her assailed her by saying all they wanted to her. “Save us! Help us, please! Our savior!” “Why won’t you fight for us?! Are you not going to save us?!” Every one of them overlooked Emma’s feelings and almost seemed to be one-sidedly praying to her. They were marauders indulging in their weaknesses. “What is this…?! This is so horrible…!” Luna urged her trembling body to stand up using the rage that flared in her body. “You’ve got to be kidding…! What do you think you’re doing…?! You just pushed everything onto one person…and burdened her with it all…! Who do you think you are?!” “…Calm down.” Rintarou grabbed Luna’s shoulder and stopped her at the moment she unsheathed her sword, about to run in. “Like I told you, this is a netherworld that’s a projection of Emma’s mindscape. Those people, those messengers of God, that monster of destruction are all just figments of Emma’s mind… There’s no reason to take this seriously.” “B-but!” Luna glanced at Emma. Emma was crying, unable to stand the weight of the chains, the fear, and the despair. She was bawling. “We can’t just leave her like that!” Luna yelled. “!” She brushed aside Rintarou’s hand and kicked at the ground. “AAAAAAAAAH!” She brought up her sword, shouldering it, and dashed at death and destruction with incredible speed. “Oh?” Rintarou’s mouth twisted wryly as he watched Luna from behind. The momentum of Luna’s dash was such that no one could stop her anymore. But… “Aaaaaaaah—uh?!” Ba-dum. As she took a step and then another toward the black turmoil, the concentrated fear overran the inside of Luna’s mind. Ba-dum. It crushed her. Ba-dum. It washed all over her. Thump. Thump. Thump-thump— Even then, the despair rising in her heart made it feel as though it were on the verge of rupturing as it worked her up. “Aaah! AAAH…?!” As her oxygen-deprived lungs clouded her thoughts, her arms and legs rapidly weakened, and the speed of her charge wavered. The extreme pressure of the despair that pushed on her body made her feel as though she was about to collapse right in place. Why in the world was she standing up against this dreadful thing? That despairing doubt ruled over Luna’s mind. But it’ll all be fine if I die. That destructive impulse maddened Luna’s heart. The grim reaper was playing a sweet invitation in Luna’s ears—but… “RAAAH! AaaaaaAAAAAH!” Luna pushed aside all those sweet, dark impulses, yelling loud enough to almost burst her vocal cords. She gritted her teeth. In that moment, her eyes and soul burned as she focused a sharp gaze on the monster of turmoil. Once again, she devoted the strength of her whole being and soul into her legs and kicked hard at the earth—and closed in on the monster. “Like I’d let you defeat me!” Using all her power, she brought her sword down on the monster of turmoil. Fwisht. Luna’s Excalibur bit into it. “What the—?!” But she felt no resistance. The deathly turmoil had swallowed up Luna’s blade and—that was it. “Da…mmit! Uuugh!” Luna panicked and tried to pull her sword away, but it did not so much as give an inch. For some reason, the sword was glued to her hand, and she could no longer let go of it. Shloop. Shloop… Shloop-shloop… The sword was swallowed deeper into the turmoil, and Luna was pulled along with it. Luna’s mind was immediately overcome with an acute sense of helplessness. Rintarou said…this place tests the strength of your mind rather than the strength of your brawn! Luna ground her teeth. This is an image… It’s just an image! It’s not the end of the real world or anything! In that case, if my heart is strong, I can win! I should be able to win…! But then why…why can’t I win?! Is it because I’m not the right person?! Luna desperately tried to pull out her sword, but everything she did was in vain. She could not resist it. If I can’t win…does that mean I’ve lost in this psychological battle?! Does that mean I’ve given in to the fear of the world’s destruction…?! Is that it…?! Luna lamented her own weakness and cowardliness. “Hey! Hey! I told you not to do anything unreasonable.” Rintarou slowly walked over to her. “…You can’t do it.” That last comment made Luna feel as though a sharp knife had gouged her chest. Not with your current capabilities…, he seemed to be implying. “Ack… Th-then, Rintarou, th-this is an order! Do something!” she shouted. “A’ight.” Rintarou grinned and made his move. “Ha-ha! Heh-ha-ha-ha-ha-HA-HA!” As he laughed loudly, he pulled out his sword and ran around the place. He wasn’t headed toward the black turmoil of destruction—but toward those who were surrounding Emma and connected to her by the chains…the people. “…What?” Standing in shock, Luna bore witness to a grisly massacre. Rintarou ran like a gale. He swung his right sword, then his left, then the pair together, unleashing enough impact to dispel a rough whirlwind. With a mere swing of his sword, groups of people turned to bits of flesh and bone, blown away and scattering into the air. The people who clung to Emma like vengeful ghosts were cut, sliced, chopped, and mowed down. He circled around them and killed all the people surrounding Emma. He slaughtered and murdered until there was not a single one left—then he leaped high into the air. “Oh, this is horrible! It’s a devil! Leave—” “Learn the wrath of our Lord—” His pair of swords flashed at the necks of the priests holding Emma’s chains and made them all fly—he brought the angels down to earth. As soon as he did that, the chains binding Emma clattered as they fell and broke to pieces. “HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!” As blood poured like a heavy rain and splattered on him, Rintarou just laughed. “You don’t do anything for yourselves! All you do is want! All you do is pray! You’re worthless pieces of shit with no reason for living! Just die! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!” “……” Luna could only be in shock as Rintarou acted like the devil itself. “……Master.” The young Emma was fully showered in blood as she looked up at Rintarou. “Master… Master…” She grinned. While among the bone-chilling heaps of corpses and a river of blood, Emma smiled in bliss. “…Ngh?!” Shudder. Emma’s smile caused a chill to go down Luna’s spine—even more than Rintarou’s rampaging devilishness. How is she smiling…? At a time like this…? How can she smile like that…? Then, in the next moment, Luna was struck by another blow. “…It’s okay, Emma. I’m here for you.” Of all things, Rintarou hugged Emma from the front, smoothing her with kindness. “…What?” Luna could only watch on in shock. “…Master…” “You’ve worked hard this whole time. You’ve been trying all on your own to save the world. It must have been difficult and lonely… I’ll be watching you from now on. I’ll be by your side. I’ll protect you. So… There’s no need for you to worry. You’re not alone anymore.” With a clatter, Emma grabbed the single remaining chain on her own neck and wordlessly offered it to Rintarou. She was looking at Rintarou with eyes clouded by affection and love deeper than the ocean. Those eyes were the same as those of the people waiting and hoping for a savior. “……” For a while, Rintarou looked down at that chain…and eventually he firmly grasped it. In the same moment, Emma beamed with joy. With a gentle expression, Rintarou patted Emma’s head. “R-Rintarou…” Luna was in pain as she watched. Relieved that Rintarou had taken the chain, Emma moved away from him as though she had made up her mind…and took up her sword. Slowly but firmly, she fixed her eyes on the black turmoil of destruction, and she walked. “Y-you idiot! You can’t come over here! Run awa—,” Luna yelled in a fluster to stop her, remembering how she’d been sucked in herself. But…the young Emma slowly brought up her sword… Not the slightest hint of her earlier weakness was in Emma’s eyes or her expression. Slowly, she approached the monster of turmoil…coming close enough to it to use her sword. Then, after taking a breath, she brought her sword down straight on. In that moment, something unbelievable happened. She cut that powerful black void down the middle. It let out a mysterious death wail that seemed like it was concentrated with the intermingling screams of all of the world’s humanity rising up, and the chaos that had been parted in half immediately vaporized like black mist and rapidly dispersed. Before Luna realized it, the black turmoil had disappeared without a trace. “A-amazing…” Luna was dumbfounded as she watched the young Emma. She hadn’t been able to lay a hand or a foot on it at all…but Emma had easily defeated the mirage of death and destruction. Was this proof of the foundational difference in abilities between her and Emma? “Ah, well. Luna versus Emma… This was the showdown… Well, I already knew it from the start,” Rintarou muttered, which reached Luna’s ears. What in the world did that mean? …Luna was too scared to ask, chained to an indescribable emptiness and sense of defeat in a daze… “Hey, Luna? What’s wrong?” At some point, Rintarou had accompanied the young Emma, guiding her in front of Luna. …He was leading the young Emma by the chain that stretched from her neck. “That’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen!” Luna spat as she came to her senses. She was seriously grossed out by this whole thing. “I knew you were horrible, but this just crosses the line! Let her go!” Luna tried to take the chain that connected Emma from Rintarou. “—Ngh!” The young Emma roughly slapped away Luna’s hand. “Ow?! What’re you doing?!” “Raaah! Mrrr!” growled the young Emma, glaring at Luna with eyes filled with intense enmity. She clung to Rintarou. “You know… Luna, I don’t think I need to say this, but this isn’t actually Emma. This is the mental image Emma created of herself… It’s like her psyche.” “I—I know that! But what about your morals? That’s my main concern!” “Okay, okay.” Rintarou easily brushed Luna aside and pulled on Emma’s chain as he started walking. “…Where do you think you’re going?” “Where else? We’ve found the core of Emma’s mind…so we’re gonna hurry up and bust out of this world,” he said. With Rintarou at the head, they all stepped foot into the monastery. “I think the cardinal point at the core of the formation of this netherworld is around here. In which case, the exit must be around…” When they went into the monastery, they were immediately met with the worship area at the front. In the very back of the worship area, they found the girl they had been searching for. “Emma?!” It was another Emma. This one wasn’t as young. She wore white metal armor, a magnificent crown, and a gorgeous white surcoat that almost looked bridal. Emma carried her Excalibur on a strange stone pedestal, leaning over as though offering prayers. Her eyes were closed, and she appeared softly asleep. That was when chains tangled around her sleeping form, shackling her to the pedestal. “…A King…? Is this her as a King…?” Luna muttered despite herself when she saw Emma’s magnificent form. “Yeah, that’s the Emma that came with us into this side… That’s her real self.” “R-Rintarou, what is that…?!” Luna exclaimed, noticing something. Where she was sleeping and standing, Emma’s hands and feet…were changing color. Luna heard a cracking noise as Emma changed texture. Whatever was coming for her spread from the bottom up. She was petrifying. Emma’s body was gradually turning to stone. With Emma in front of them, Rintarou let out a long breath. “That means she’s becoming part of the netherworld. Seriously, that was a close one. If she had assimilated with this netherworld completely, we wouldn’t have been able to bring her back. We still have time.” Rintarou pulled on the collar of the young Emma clinging beside him. “Look, Emma. Go back to your real self. Go back where you belong.” “……” “This world was made by you. It’s a projection of your internal self. If you go back to your real self…if you wake up from the dream, it’ll collapse. You can go back to reality.” For a while, the young Emma looked at Rintarou intently. “…Hey, master…,” she started with a lisp. “Will you stay with me fowever?” “?!” Rintarou narrowed his eyes, and Luna opened hers wide. “…Sniff-sniff… I… I…was always all by myself…” Emma started to snivel with Rintarou standing still beside her. “No, that’s not true… There were tons of people around me…but everyone prayed to me and revered me and praised me… I was alone… They asked me to save the world… And I was always by myself… All the time. Forever. All alone… Ever since I was born…” “……” “They said I had come to this world to become the King and save the world… They said that was the reason I was born… That was my reason for existing… Everyone—everyone said that… They said that an Emma who didn’t save the world…an Emma who didn’t become King…had no value… Sniff… Everyone kept me held down with chains and pulled me around by force…” “……” “But I… I love them all…and I want to save everyone… I had to become a saint… I have to save the world… I need to get better… I need to walk forward…but my body was too heavy from the chains, and I couldn’t help anyone… I don’t want to walk…but I need to go forth… If I don’t walk…then I don’t know what I’m living for…!” The young Emma turned her eyes to Rintarou as though imploring him. “I can’t save everyone on my own… I can’t save the world…! Please…lead me along, my lord. To save everyone…to save the world…please pull my chains gently by my side. I’ll do anything… I think I’ll be able to walk then… I’ll be able to become a great King… I’ll save the world… Hic… Sniff! Please…” “Emma…” Luna looked down at the crying child. Emma must have led a brutal life; Luna couldn’t even imagine it. She had weakness in her heart, but she braced herself to be a saint and a King. She was fundamentally different from Luna. She wasn’t aiming to be King for her own self-interest. She was weak. Certainly, Emma’s heart was weak. But why did that matter? Even if she was a King, she was human. Normal people had weaknesses. They would want to rely on someone else. Even if someone was a King, there was no need to be strong and independent out of pride…just as King Arthur was with Sir Kay and Merlin. Just like Luna was with her Excalibur, the Steel Sword of Camaraderie. To compensate for weakness, they would rely on the support of others. That itself would become strength. The most important thing was how they chose to respond to that truth. And Emma had embraced her weakness and continued to face forward. To save people, she was trying to fight. She embraced her pain and tried to walk. She had to be the loftiest saint in the world and a person worthy of being King. As though to corroborate Luna’s thoughts, Rintarou continued… “Right… You were trying your best this whole time… You’re almost at a point where you can let go of the baggage on your shoulders.” Rintarou was unusually gentle with Emma. “Don’t worry. I’ll save you.” In that moment, Luna felt as though everything in front of her eyes had gone black and she was pitching forward. …I lost, Luna bitterly realized. “…Thank you, master…” The young Emma grinned. She dissolved into a mass of light particles. The particles that wandered through the air poured down into the quietly snoozing Emma. The parts of Emma that had half petrified rapidly regained their normal texture… Eventually, the pedestal and the chains that bound her broke and clattered. “……” Just like that, Emma came to stand on the ground slowly, drifting like a bird, weightlessly. She cracked open her eyes. “…I’m sorry, master. I’ve caused you trouble.” “Not more than usual.” When Emma woke, fissures began to open up in the netherworld, and it started to collapse. As that happened, Emma and Rintarou looked at each other. “Um…s-so… Master…” He had a feeling she could remember what had transpired when she had been in the body of young Emma. Emma’s face was red, likely from being embarrassed, and she tried to say something. “…It’s fine. You don’t need to tell me.” “O-okay…” Rintarou hugged Emma, and she entrusted him with the weight of her entire body. “……” Luna watched the two in mute astonishment. Eventually, the fissures in the air covered the area completely, and it started to slip away. The whole place fell into darkness— It was the boundary to hell. Its ruler was a dainty girl of carnage. “AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!” Sir Lamorak laughed loudly and swiveled her claymore around like a storm. She was mowing the place down. In a single breath, she struck more times than they could count. She made an immeasurable number of charges. With one attack, she’d form a vacuum that would warp the atmosphere. The rough and maddening pressure unleashed by her sword would seek a place to escape. Without sparing her any mercy, Sir Lamorak struck the witch in black from every direction. “—Ngh?!” The witch in black narrowly parried with a short sword—over and over again. When she blocked the blows, the gruesome sound of the fighting swords rang out, and sparks scattered. “Tch—” The witch clicked her tongue in annoyance and stopped a sideswipe from Sir Lamorak as she quickly retreated. She raised up her left hand and tried to chant some sort of magic, but— “Too laaaate!” Almost instantaneously, Sir Lamorak appeared in front of the witch’s eyes and showered her arched form with attacks that came down on her as bolts of lightning. “Ugh—Hrrk?!” She narrowly met the attack, but the impact made the witch buckle down to her knees despite herself. Sir Lamorak struck back instantly. The claymore whizzed and transitioned with extreme speed from her upright position to sideways. A flash fluttered from the side. The witch flew up above Sir Lamorak’s head and evaded the attack. Sir Lamorak reacted and slashed upward and traced a crescent moon like a soaring dragon. There was a loud reverberating sound as if the air were exploding. As she was still upside down, the witch was blasted away to the side like she had been hit with a bullet. “I’ve still got more where that came from!” Sir Lamorak hounded the witch with the speed of a bullet. Sir Lamorak was completely overpowering the witch in black… “Th-this is too amazing…” …And Felicia. “I-I’m not sure what else I expected from Sir Lamorak…” …And Sir Kay. “Guess she’s still going strong as one of the most powerful on the Round Table… (Wait a second. That’s who’s after me?)” …And Sir Gawain. They couldn’t intercept Sir Lamorak’s attacks, which seemed to house the power of a natural disaster. They simply stood in place in wonder and could only watch the fight unfold before their eyes. At worst, if they got involved, they could get swept up in Sir Lamorak’s aftermath and find themselves dead. Naturally, that witch could also probably “bring it,” too. When that witch had pulled out her sword to meet Sir Lamorak’s weapon, there had been self-confidence and composure in her expression. The witch seemed to be better at magic, but even with just that sword, she probably was powerful enough that she likely wouldn’t have needed anything else even if Felicia, Sir Kay, and Sir Gawain attacked her at once. But that witch was not calm in that moment. Sir Lamorak was overpowering her in the sword fight. She must have wanted to cast some spells, but Sir Lamorak wouldn’t give her a single moment to begin chanting. On top of that, Sir Lamorak seemed like she had energy to spare. This was the cream of the crop of the Round Table. They were totally beyond everyone else’s league. “Oh?! I wonder what’s wrong?! Are you starting to regret this?!” “?!” Sir Lamorak and the witch were crossing swords. Obvious impatience was starting to mix into the witch’s expression. “Now, give Emma back! I bet you’re starting to think you should hand her over! If you don’t comply, I might try taking one of your arms soon!” “You insane knight…!” As weapons collided and sent sparks flying, they heard the sound of breaking glass echoing through the place. When they looked around, a large black rift opened in the air near the ceiling, and three shadows floated down from inside it. “Y-you’re all—,” Felicia yelled with delight. “Yo! Sorry for the wait!” “We’re back!” “…I’m so sorry for causing so much trouble.” It was Rintarou, Luna, and Emma. They had made their way back to the real world from the netherworld. “Th-that’s impossible…?!” The witch couldn’t hide her surprise at their comeback. “H-how?! I’m certain I had locked you up in the boundaries!” “Oh, dear. Looks like we forced our way back by our own strength,” he said, chuckling. “…In that case…” Sir Lamorak had a first-rate smile on as she brought up her sword. “I can go a little more all-out… Die already,” she coldly muttered, and her bloodshot eyes opened wide. The witch’s head went flying. “…N-no way…?” The witch wailed as her head was severed, staring at the composed Sir Lamorak, who whipped her blade downward in a flourish to get the blood off. The witch hadn’t seen the moment Sir Lamorak had stepped in to face her. When Sir Lamorak had swung the sword, she hadn’t been able to react. Her face was frozen with astonishment as it sailed through the air… Eventually, the head dropped to the ground and rolled away. While they were all watching, the body decomposed into a misty black substance…and completely disappeared. The witch who had been stirring up trouble for the succession battle on the artificial island was dead. “Cinis ut cinis, pulvis ut pulvis… Ashes to ashes, dust to dust… Amen.” Sir Lamorak drew a cross with her sword and offered a moment of silence as she put away her blade. Then, Rintarou and the rest turned around. “Geez, guess it’s finally over.” “It’s because you were all whining.” Sir Lamorak saw her own lord snuggling up to Rintarou and suddenly noticed something. “Oh? Emma… You…” Sir Lamorak broke into a happy smile at Emma’s cheerful state. “I have no idea what happened, but…it feels like you had a breakthrough or something.” “Huh?” “You look really happy.” “Uh. Um… Y-you think so?” “Yes, you look even cuter than usual, Emma.” “Y-you think I’m cute? …But…” Emma glanced up at Rintarou from the side and then turned her face down, embarrassed. On the other side of things, Luna was distant from Rintarou, appearing lonely… She avoided looking at him. This indescribable vibe puzzled Felicia and the rest of them. They became silent. “About that showdown. I think the results are settled,” Sir Lamorak reminded them. “I, Sir Lamorak of Gales, was the one to decapitate the culprit creating the Rifts. I’d just like to say…a vassal’s deed is their King’s achievement.” Sir Lamorak turned to Rintarou. “What do you think? Rintarou Magami, what’s your decision? Emma or Luna… Who will you join?” Felicia, Sir Gawain, and Sir Kay held their breath as they stared at Rintarou. “……” For a while, Rintarou remained in silence… Clack. As he started walking, his footfalls echoed… He stood next to Emma and turned to them all. “Well, this is it,” he declared dispassionately. “M-master…?!” Felicia and Sir Gawain grew agitated. “Mr. Magami…?! Are you serious…?!” “You’re…betraying your lord?!” “What? Betraying her? Don’t be stupid. For starters, I was just helping her out of my own goodwill, but I wasn’t really Luna’s vassal or anything. I’m free to volunteer wherever I want, aren’t I?” Rintarou wasn’t bothered at all. “That may be the case, but still…! L-Luna, what’s gotten into you?! What in the world happened?! Are you fine with this?! Do you accept this?!” Sir Kay seemed to implore Luna with her eyes, even as Luna turned away from a distance. “I didn’t win Rintarou’s favor…that’s all,” she muttered forlornly. “Hee-hee-hee! Well, looks like everything’s fallen into place. And that’s the most important thing!” Sir Lamorak laughed. “Anyway, the truce was shorter than anticipated, but I guess it’s over now. I wouldn’t mind fighting right here.” “Sir Lamorak… Please stop with that boorish behavior at least for tonight,” Emma scolded. “I understand. But next time…things will go down.” Sir Lamorak deflected by joking around. “Luna… If you’ll excuse us,” Emma said. “……” “Please don’t think ill of me. This is the difference in our capacities as Kings… That’s all it is.” “……” Luna didn’t respond. She didn’t have anything to say back. “Let’s hurry and get home, Emma,” Rintarou urged. “Yes, master!” Emma happily clung to his arm. Finally, Rintarou turned to Luna. “See you. Take care, Luna… I mean… King.” “What? …Rintarou?” Luna’s eyes opened wide, boring into him. And then Rintarou, Emma, and Sir Lamorak left. Luna could only watch Rintarou’s back and see him leave in silence.
Chapter 25
32 min read