2
—A horrific sword dance began with the fifth-floor atrium as a stage.
Reid’s long red hair leaped through the air as he freely and perfectly controlled his burly body, using just a short, weak wooden stick to perform an unbelievable feat.
The half-human, half-horse demon beasts shrouded in a furious flame charged at Reid as he howled. Gripping flaming lances in both hands, the centaurs tried to slay him with an outrageous level of firepower.
But Reid parried it all with his sticks and without a single scorch mark. The reason that weak little wooden stick could withstand such intense heat was obvious. They were being swung so fast there was no chance for them to catch fire.
“Sorasorasorasorasorasora! What’s wrong! Are you just playing around! This is your chance now! Use your friends to get your revenge on me! Oraoraoraoraoraora!”
Stirring up a noisy mess, Reid carved lethal wounds into the charging demon beasts’ bodies with his wooden sticks. But as far as Reid was concerned, that superhuman feat was just a side act.
His real interest was solely absorbed by Julius, the knight struggling against that human-shaped manifestation of violence.
“What are you thinking?! With so many demon beasts emerging from underground! With the tower in such a terrible state, this is a situation where we should be combining our strength!”
“Hah! So the thinking matches that nice-guy sword, huh. Do you like livin’ like that? In my experience, guys who just do what they want are stronger and have more fun than guys who hold back.”
“What…”
“’Sides, what’s the problem if a few nasty burning horses start runnin’ around? No different than a little rain. If anything, rain’s more annoying since it messes up my hair.”
He laughed off the rational logic of common sense with a villain’s mad logic.
Faced with a philosophy he couldn’t understand, Julius looked baffled for a moment before an intense emotion filled his eyes—
“Kah! There it is. That look there. That face ain’t half-bad.”
“—Ngh.”
“But you forgot to watch your feet. Well, from my perspective, you aren’t payin’ enough attention to anythin’.”
Reid grinned savagely as his kick landed straight on Julius’s stomach.
He was in the same position as Reid, having to deal with both the demon beasts and an enemy, but there was a clear difference in motivation between the two of them, and the gap was only widened by the difference in their strength.
Sent flying by the kick, Julius slammed into the wall. The impact shook the tower itself, and the swarm of monsters bore down on him as he fell to his knee.
“Khah!”
As the deadly horde approached rapidly, Julius forcefully evaded with some impressive legwork. Breaking through the net of centaurs by stepping on their bodies, he pointed his left hand at the demon beasts below him—
—And nothing happened. Clenching his hand, his expression twisted in anguish.
“—You’re still not gettin’ serious, even now.”
In a flash, Reid appeared between Julius and the demon beasts, raising a storm with his two wooden sticks.
The wild gale sent some dozen centaurs into the air, turning them into gruesome chunks and splattering them in the span of two seconds—that deadly swarm of demon beasts was slaughtered without a single chance.
“In that case, there’s nothin’ to get from playin’ with you. I’m out then. I was a bit curious about what I had left on the plate, but if it’s still not ripe, then there’s not much point.”
“Wait, what do you mean, leave?! You would just abandon this tower in this situation?!”
“Don’t make me repeat myself. Who would let a little rain stop them from goin’ out to play? ’Sides, this place is just full of boring dipshits. The only one who could play with me was that one babe… You aren’t even fit to entertain me.”
“—Ngh.”
Grinding his teeth, Julius’s temper flared. But he hesitated to vent it.
If he let his fury explode now, he would lose any chance of restraining Reid. In which case, there would be no way of restoring peace and order to the tower with everything that had suddenly happened.
“There’s no helpin’ that nature.”
Julius’s expression froze at that complete disappointment.
The complex feelings in Julius’s eyes were pitiful, like a child seeing the summit he’d set out for hidden by the clouds. That heartache was not something for others to see.
—But right in that moment, as the inferno boiling up from below threatened to incinerate Julius, the mediocre man watching the battlefield from above could see it clearly.
“…Ah…”
When it was already too late, having watched the battle from above, Subaru Natsuki realized he’d been so entranced by the battle below that he’d forgotten to breathe.
The amazement at how brokenly powerful Reid was, being in awe of him was only natural. But seeing Julius’s swordsmanship and how he fought for the first time, there was no opening for him to take advantage of. It was the fruit of constant, unwavering training.
If they were to face each other, Subaru would lose miserably without leaving so much as a scratch on him. Even in a match with wooden swords, Julius would pummel him without breaking a sweat.
—Given Subaru’s strength, he’d never be able to read Julius’s book of the dead.
“Then right now is the perfect chance to let him die.”
The girl’s sweet voice whispered to him in the back of his mind.
The ranks of the demon beasts annihilated by Reid were being refilled by the reinforcements swelling from down below. As Julius froze there, he didn’t notice an attack unleashed by one of them.
At that rate, he would be scorched by the centaur’s flames and die. If that happened, Subaru should have been able to read his book when it appeared in the archive.
The girl was right. This random situation was the best chance to have him die—
“—Behind you, Julius!!!”
“—Ngh!”
Hearing his voice, Julius’s body started moving again, and he evaded the attack. The flames grazed him before hitting the floor, raising the inferno’s heat.
“ !!”
Its surprise attack failing, the centaur let out a shrill screech. As it took offense, more and more appeared, swarming the fifth floor again.
The situation returned to a deadlock as Julius cast off his cloak. But with his load lightened, he didn’t face Reid.
His eyes turned to Subaru, who was still frozen after warning him about the impending danger.
—For just an instant, across the long distance, their gazes met.
“ ”
It was far enough that they couldn’t see each other’s faces clearly, but Subaru could make out his yellow eyes, filled with doubt, shock, and many more emotions.
And as Subaru was consumed by the urge to run away, Julius—
“—Take care of Echidna! Of Lady Anastasia!!!”
He shouted while raising his knight’s blade toward Subaru, pointing to the tower behind him.
It was a cracked, battered trust. Julius was putting his faith in an unreliable bond.
Maybe he wasn’t sure himself whether that was the right choice even as he made it.
But those words that he shouted made Subaru understand, this was Julius Juukulius’s resolve—
“—Ngh!”
Springing into action, Subaru forced his heavy legs to move. He almost fell when he turned his back on the spiral staircase and started running.
He didn’t know where he was going. He didn’t even know if he was running away or running toward something.
“Where are you going?”
He didn’t have an answer to that question. But still, he refused to let his legs stop.
Leaving Julius downstairs with the swarm of demon beasts and Reid, Subaru ran like a rabbit.
“—Hah. There’s no helpin’ that nature.”
In the distance, watching their exchange, Reid muttered to himself.
It was almost the exact same as what he’d said earlier.
But there was maybe a slightly different tone to it this time.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login