5
Furious clouds of sand threatened to choke out everything.
Shaken by the violent tremors, Subaru was holding on for dear life, desperate not to get thrown off. Right in front of his eyes, braided hair swung left and right.
“Keep it up, my cute sandworm!”
Showing her true nature as a demon beast tamer, Meili ordered the slithering beast forward to confront the stampede.
On her orders, the massive sandworm that was dozens of feet tall charged the approaching horde of monsters. The monsters were momentarily forced back but were undeterred, trampling corpses as they continued their relentless pursuit. The stampede was unending.
“Phew… You’re such a cruel taskmaster, mister…!”
She grumbled to Subaru, who had asked her to deal with the battle that showed no signs of stopping. Meili’s eyes were bloodshot as she wiped the sweat from her brow.
With Subaru’s Cor Leonis active, he could track the status of all his allies by the intensity of their light. He could see Meili was getting exhausted.
Her blessing allowed her to control demon beasts, but it couldn’t be used indefinitely, and she would hit her limit eventually.
After he read her book and experienced her life through his eyes, Subaru knew what it cost her. That only made it painfully obvious that Meili was doing everything she could to clear the tower with them.
“Heeeey, mister! If you don’t hold on tight, you’ll die!”
“Yeah, I know! But I never expected to go for a demon beast ride myself!”
They were riding on the back of a giant sandworm, desperately clinging to protrusions on its back to avoid getting thrown off. Subaru was still deeply amazed by the bold strategy of fighting a swarm of demon beasts while riding one themselves.
The sight of the frenzied monsters made Meili sigh as she watched them get crushed by the sandworm.
“The beasties really do love you, mister.”
“I can’t say the feeling’s mutu…ghh.”
Subaru’s eyes narrowed as he studied the swarm all around them. He didn’t understand why, but one thing was clear—the swarm of monsters surrounding the tower were not interested in the tower at all. They were clearly after Subaru.
“Looks like it’s safe to say the five obstacles pretty much all involve me.”
First was the stampede of monsters. Then there was Gluttony, who was after Subaru’s memories. And Shaula transforming before coming after Subaru. Plus the pitch-black shadow that swallowed the tower whole.
He wanted to lament his own powerlessness, but even more than that, the thought that they were all after him really did make him want to cry.
“Mei—”
Before he could finish, his voice was drowned out by white light raining down from above that blew away his words—along with the sandworm’s massive torso.
“GHHHHHHHH”
The sandworm let out a death roar as more than three quarters of its almost thirty-three-foot length was erased.
A low, rumbling thunder rolled over them as the rest of the barrage landed all around them. Subaru and Meili were tossed from the shredded torso and into the air.
“Grrrh!!!”
Subaru reached out and pulled Meili’s small body into his arms.
As he held her close, he saw it out of the corner of his eye—a giant scorpion sitting on the tower’s outer wall.
“Shaula.”
Her tail was pointed right at them, visible even in the darkening skies.
Subaru’s blood ran cold as he realized time was up. Someone inside the tower had broken a rule. Accordingly, Shaula had lost control and transformed into a scorpion, and just like she’d warned, she attacked Subaru.
That blast had torn through the sandworm’s torso and launched Subaru and Meili into the air—
“Gah. Ngh.”
They were falling at high speed toward the sands.
Meili was locked tight in his arms and would probably be safe. But the same couldn’t be said for Subaru. Unable to control his landing, he felt his head slam deep into the sand.
There was a dull thud, and a joint that really should not break went snap.
The next instant, the world went dark. It wasn’t fully severed, but his spine was undoubtedly torn.
“Mister—”
Sound, touch, vision… Everything grew distant.
But his nose still worked. It was strange. Even though he never really expected much from his sense of smell, for some reason, his nose worked until the very end.
It was a sweet smell. The scent of what had been in his arms just moments ago.
She’s probably not dead. I can still smell—
Round 7
•Escaping the tower with Meili and drawing out the demon beasts is effective.
•The demon beasts are after Subaru. Most likely the shadow and the scorpion are after him as well.
•Natsuki Subaru alone cannot protect Meili.
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