5
That instant, Cor Leonis hit Natsuki Subaru with a new level of suffering.
One of the faint lights he could sense in the tower suddenly swelled, and an instant later, his body felt the intense blowback.
“Subaru!”
Beatrice, who he was cradling in his arms, supported him as he coughed up blood and almost slumped over.
Unfortunately, he and Beatrice were not currently riding Patrasche, who he was more used to. Instead, they were astride a ravenous horse lord, a monster that it was hard to imagine letting any living creature ride it.
With hardly any experience riding a creature and no blessing to part the wind and without a saddle to sit on or stirrups to brace against, he knew that a moment’s distraction would send him straight to the ground.
The reason it had not happened yet is because he had wrapped his Guilty Whip around the creature’s upper body to use as reins and because Beatrice was controlling their mass with finely tuned magic.
Subaru couldn’t let himself ruin that persistent effort.
“I suppose that was recoil from Ram,” Beatrice commented perceptively.
“Good guess…ghh, sorry, I’ll hold on somehow…ghh…” Subaru adjusted his grip for a tighter hold on the whip.
There was a distinctly metallic taste that accompanied the nausea welling up inside him, and he had no clue where in his body the burden was coming from, but it was proof that Ram had gotten serious.
“If Ram can deal with that Gluttony brother, then…”
He wouldn’t say that things would get a lot easier, because he couldn’t be confident that defeating Gluttony would mean the return of the names and memories that had been stolen. But it would definitely decrease the burden Subaru was carrying.
—And if that happens, I can focus on just carrying Meili’s burden.
“Hah, hah…”
Clinging to the gabaou’s upper body, Meili was earnestly giving the demon beasts directions.
Meili’s grave struggle was crucial to deal with the giant scorpion furiously wielding its pincers and stinger to take out Subaru.
Right now, Emilia’s, Ram’s, and Julius’s strengths were necessary to break through the four obstacles threatening the Pleiades Watchtower, but the person who was the cornerstone allowing them to all continue their fighting was none other than Meili Portroute.
Because of that, Subaru had been shifting a bit of the feedback from Meili’s blessing onto himself.
“Winged moles! Flower bear! Together!”
With a broad view of the battlefield, Meili raised her voice and sent the demon beasts into a field of death.
The ache in Subaru’s mind and the swollen feeling he was having were signs that she was fighting with her blessing’s power fully unleashed.
“I really do have a double standard…”
On one hand, he really didn’t want to rely on authorities or blessings if he could help it, but on the other, he wouldn’t hesitate to use them for all they were worth, if push came to shove. It was true that weak people didn’t have many options, but he didn’t want to become corrupted, either.
He was being forced to take an immoral path, but he didn’t want to forget that fact and just accept it as normal, either.
“Mister! Are you paying attention?! If you and Beatrice go down, this is all over, you know?!”
“I know,” Subaru said, enduring the throbbing in his head. “Hey Meili, do you want to be my girl when this is all over?”
“—Ghh! Did you not hear me?! Focus!”
Neither of them had any leeway. If their concentration faltered, it would all be over in an instant.
But…
“If I have to suffer this much, there better be a great tomorrow waiting for me to make up for it.”
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