Chapter 46

* * * I came to my senses… “Gah—” It felt like my body was floating. I was looking up at the sky. My body was swept toward the heavens. When I looked down, I saw Rintarou posed like he had just swung his sword. I had lost our final collision. I was flying through the air. At his chest, the hawthorn cross was glowing. Something about the light made me think of holiness. I couldn’t find words to describe it. Crack… Crack… In my hand, Clarent creaked as it started to break. Oh, I see… I lost… I had reached the point of no return. I finally had to accept that. I had no choice but to face the thing that I had pretended not to see. I knew it…! I actually knew about this! I screamed voicelessly, as if I was trying to cough up something that was smoldering in my chest. I’d done something that I couldn’t take back… I didn’t want to accept fault for it! I wanted to become the new king and save the world… I wanted to affirm I hadn’t been wrong in the past! But I had to accept this was the end. I wanted to become king to make up for my mistakes. It was all I knew how to do. I had been clinging to the past. Merlin had his eyes on the future, resolving to pave the way with a new king. That didn’t seem to change, even when they traversed time and place. Hanging on to the past. Hoping for the future. Their battle had been determined from the start. Clarent split in two before shattering into pieces. Gravity gripped my body, pulling me down and down… A white moon seemed to look down upon me in contempt. My consciousness washed in white. No move would save me now.