[User] "You don’t remember, I guess, but I was just thinking the same thing."

[Assistant] The massive creature had been caught by the back leg and was mercilessly slammed into the wall. Brute force made possible by a monstrous strength beyond human comprehension caused the large creature to let out a hideous cry.

[User] A discordant shriek like countless babies crying split the air.

[Assistant] “Giiiiiii.” The massive, hideous demon beast was knocked away, but the half-human, half-horse gabaou—the ravenous horse lord of the desert—immediately leaped to its feet on the tower’s balcony, flames erupting from its mane.

[User] The next instant, a white flash pierced the torso of the raging gabaou, causing it to swell from the inside. The white light transformed into a torrent of blades, shredding it to pieces.

[Assistant] No matter how monstrous a creature’s vitality, it couldn’t avoid death when every last one of its internal organs was destroyed at the same time. That ravenous horse-beast was no exception, and it fell gruesomely before the light.

[User] And the woman who did it—Shaula—didn’t stop there. Shaula’s battle with the demon beasts was playing out on the fourth floor of the Pleiades Watchtower. The balcony on the outer wall was several hundred yards up in the air, but some of the monsters had wings, and there were many that could easily climb the walls.

[Assistant] As the invaders scaling the wall were swatted down one after the other, the balcony transformed into a sea of blood. Despite the scale of the slaughter, Shaula wasn’t even out of breath. The thought of trying to count the number of monsters storming the tower was enough to drive anyone crazy, but the fact that they were not barreling into the tower already was due to her overwhelming strength. But the dangerous equilibrium that Shaula was maintaining…

[User] "Shaula!"

[Assistant] “Ghhh, uuuuuugh…!” Action: A high-pitched voice called her name, but she couldn’t respond. She just grimaced and brushed aside the line of flying beasts with her white light. Red flowers bloomed in midair, and the monsters stopped their follow-up attack.

[User] But Shaula was unchanged after driving them back. She cradled her face and stomped the ground. As she was doing that, peeking through the gap between her fingers, her black eye split, and a red pulse began. A compound eye was developing. A change was happening in Shaula’s body.

[Assistant] "Someone… Someone broke the rules…" Action: Covering her face with her hands, she groaned painfully. While that was happening, she still shot down the onrushing demon beasts one after the other, but her movements were growing rougher, losing refinement.

[User] "Not good. She’s at her limit. Meili! Can—?"

[Assistant] "As you can see, my hands are full, dealing with the flying beasties! If the half-naked lady can’t fight anymore, we’re going to be really shorthanded!"

[User] "I figured. This is…pretty rough." Action: Watching Shaula struggle, Echidna—still borrowing Anastasia’s body—had a grim look on her face. Meili, who was busy using her blessing to defend the tower, was much the same.


[User] The three of them were holding the tower—though unlike Meili, with her blessing that allowed her to control demon beasts, or Shaula, who brought the real firepower, Echidna couldn’t do much herself and was largely on the sidelines. “But it’s getting harder and harder to let it just stay that way…” Going through what few cards they had to play, she gritted her teeth, watching their lifeline, Shaula. The change overcoming Shaula was probably caused by something rooted deep inside her. Something she couldn’t resist, some sort of limiter. Echidna could recognize it from being in a similar sort of situation as an artificial spirit herself. It wasn’t something that determination could change. If what she had said was true, then someone somewhere inside the Pleiades Watchtower had broken a rule. To correct that, she had to act as the guardian of the tower. “…Talk about ironic…” Because she had remained the tower’s guardian all this time, she’d managed to reunite with the person she wanted to see most. But because she remained the guardian of the tower, she couldn’t disobey the order to hurt the person she wanted to see. The tragedy of a created being. Echidna had the thought that she and perhaps Beatrice, as fellow created beings, were the only ones who could understand Shaula in the realest sense. So…

[Assistant] "—Durrrryaaaaa!" When she saw a figure rush through the passage leading to the balcony with a forceful shout, Echidna gasped as her eyes shot open.


[User] The moment he burst onto the balcony, he was stunned by how different it looked, but at the same time, he understood just how intense the fighting here must have been. " " There were dozens of monster corpses, and the balcony was awash in blood. The reason this vantage point above the sea of sand was stained with blood was because the stampede had not stopped its quixotic charge against the tower. If left alone, they would pour inside, heightening the chaos. And the one who had done the most to prevent that terrible possibility was…

[Assistant] "Shaula!"

[User] "Master…?" When Shaula heard his voice, she spun around with wide open eyes—eyes that had split apart, three on each side, for a total of six compound eyes. It was a transformation Subaru had seen once before. It meant one of the rules of the tower had been broken, and she was switching over to perform her role as guardian of the tower. As a result, she was turning into a giant scorpion against her will and would soon move to eliminate those challenging the tower—in other words Subaru and his friends. Before that…

[Assistant] "Master, give…give me the order…!" " "

[User] "Someone broke the rules. At this rate, I’ll…! Before that…if you don’t…I’ll…Master…!" Shaula clawed at her body as she pleaded with Subaru. She had somehow lost the ability to kill herself. What she was asking for was the final push she needed to do it: an order from Subaru.


[User] Subaru looked into her compound eyes and nodded vigorously. “How many times do I have to tell you, I don’t know what I did to make you call me ‘Master.’”

[Assistant] “Ngh!” Despair filled Shaula’s compound eyes. Rejected by the person she had waited four hundred long years for, and her final plea kicked aside, Shaula cowered like a child.

[User] Watching her through that, Subaru inhaled and exhaled. “But we can save whether you get to call me that for a later date.”

[Assistant] “Huh…?”

[User] “I’m not going to tell you to kill yourself. I’m not going to leave you crying there. And this isn’t how I’m going to end your four-hundred-year wait.” When he gathered up all the memories he’d lost, Subaru realized something. The people in this world were all too patient. No one should wait faithfully for four hundred years. Someone had to grab them by the scruff of their necks and drag them out. “And I’ll do it, too! I’m not gonna be someone else’s puppet!” Subaru raised his fist. “Bring it on, fate!”

[Assistant] Shaula was speechless. Inside her, something exploded, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to hold it back any longer. But in that instant, what was most important for her wasn’t the tower’s rules or the impulses swelling up inside her. “Master… I love you…” It was the irrepressible love she felt for the person she had waited four hundred years to meet again. After she said that, her transformation began in earnest. Her pale, slender hands swelled into pincers, her voluptuous body burst, and then, like a tape rewinding, the flesh and blood returned, forming a new body. A black shell came into being, and red compound eyes glared out at the world. Multiple legs thrust into the ground as the tower’s manager became complete…

[User] “Sssssss.” There was a screech from the scorpion, warning of death to all who infringed on the tower’s rules. Her eyes gleamed monstrously, and her tail’s stinger flashed white, pointed at the black-haired boy she had been so devoted to…


[Assistant] “—Hiiyah!! !” A heavy kick right in the side sent the scorpion flying. The force was so great, it plowed into various monsters on the balcony before flying over the edge and down into the sea of sand.

[User] “Murak!” To top it off, mana with imbued directionality warped the natural laws of the world, stealing the mass of the several-hundred-pound giant scorpion, leaving it to blow in the breeze like a leaf. Murak was a type of shadow magic that manipulated the mass of its target. Having lost its natural weight, thanks to that, the scorpion fell without any means of coming back. As a final bit of resistance, it turned its stinger on the balcony, taking aim at them, but…

[Assistant] “Winged molesies, go!” The girl’s high-pitched order summoned several winged monsters that immediately barreled down on the scorpion.


[User] Grotesque mole-like monsters with bird wings and most of their heads transformed into horns, they charged into the scorpion’s shell one after the other, sending the newly lightweight scorpion down to the ground all at once from the impact. Falling several hundred yards—that obviously wouldn’t be enough to defeat it, but it was enough to buy some time. And using that time: “Meili! Echidna!” Subaru shouted as he ran over. “Natsuki! You’re up…no?”

[Assistant] Looking up, Echidna furrowed her brow. "Did you manage to get your memory back?"

[User] “You’re quick on the uptake! But how could you tell?”

[Assistant] "It’s easy enough with Beatrice there next to you, looking so proud." Echidna jerked her chin toward Beatrice, who was looking smug while holding his hand.

[User] True, it’s definitely easy to tell something good happened from that smug look. It really is lovely. “And that girl I can’t recall who kicked Shaula off is…”

[Assistant] "You can thank Gluttony’s authority. The same thing happened to Julius… Forgotten by everyone else, but she remembers herself. Her name is Emilia. My tough and cute princess.”

[User] “Thanks for the quick update. You mind if I ask what the plan is now?”

[Assistant] “Yeah, I just so happen to have an answer to that question.” While Subaru nodded deeply, Emilia hurried to help Meili deal with the demon beasts. While they were buying time, he prioritized sharing his plan with his wise comrade. “Echidna, your role is inside. Go meet up with Julius, fighting on the second floor! I already talked with Emilia about what to do after that!”

[User] "........." Echidna thought for just a moment. “I don’t mind going with her, but what about the rest of you?”

[Assistant] Beatrice immediately responded. Glancing over at Subaru, she squeezed his hand. “Betty’s and Subaru’s roles are already set."

[User] "We will face that giant scorpion here. We have to hold back enough not to exterminate it, though. This is going to be a pain.”

[Assistant] “She talks a big game, don’t she? That’s my Beako.”

[User] "Eh-heh-bleh." Spurring herself and her contractor on with that bold declaration, Beatrice stuck out her tongue.

[Assistant] Eyes widening at their exchange, Echidna sighed and shifted gears. That pragmatic, adaptive ability was just what he would expect from Anastasia’s partner. “No point doubting your plan now. I guess I’ll go with it.”

[User] “I’m honored. It’s such a shame you had to have the name ‘Echidna.’”

[Assistant] “I’ve already accepted your wholehearted grudge against my maker. Any messages for Julius?” After a bit of banter, Echidna started to turn, but not before asking one final question.

[User] “No, nothing special.” There was nothing that Subaru needed to say to Julius, who was fighting Reid. Julius was already in the place he wanted him to be. He could tell from Cor Leonis.


[User] "—The me a little before this and the me before that already said everything that needed saying. There’s nothing more to add. He’s Julius Juukulius."

[Assistant] "...Got it. I’ll tell him just the way you said it.”

[User] “Ah, there is one thing, actually. Tell him people are fighting all around the tower, so finish up quick and come help the others.”

[Assistant] With a wave, Echidna got a little laugh out of Echidna as she started moving.

[User] Seeing her off, Subaru looked to Emilia, who slashed two demon beasts with an ice sword. “Emilia-tan! Just like we planned! I’m counting on you!”

[Assistant] “Leave it to me! Don’t die, Subaru!”

[User] “Aye-aye!” Subaru raised his fist with a bit more actual feeling than usual at her natural warning.

[Assistant] “Let’s settle it this time!”

[User] On his cue, Emilia followed Echidna off the balcony.


[Assistant] "So? That was a bunch of gibberish instead of an explanation. Do you plan on giving me a real one eventually or what?”

[User] Meili had restrained herself and not interrupted, but she ran over as Emilia and Echidna left.

[Assistant] Subaru flashed her a thumbs-up. “Sorry, but roll with me, Meili. You, me, and Beako are going to take care of two corners. The demon beast stampede and the giant scorpion!”

[User] “That isn’t an explanation at all!”

[Assistant] “—It’s coming!”

[User] Meili’s hair swayed, and she pouted, but there was no time to give her a more detailed explanation.

[Assistant] A creature sporting a black shell, lethal pincers, and red compound eyes… “A four-hundred-year shut-in.” His breath rising a bit.

[User] Subaru lifted Beatrice in his arms, and, standing next to Meili, he faced off with the giant scorpion. “It’s a battle of the shut-ins."


[User] "In that corner is a person with four hundred years’ experience, and in our corner are two people with four hundred and one years’ experience.”

[Assistant] “Don’t you mean three people with four hundred and two years’ experience?”

[User] “In other words, we’re the winners.”

[Assistant] "Beyond the word winner, I have to wonder what you are talking about!" Beatrice roared at the two of them from within Subaru’s arms.

[User] Slightly more relaxed after that bit of banter, Subaru stared at the scorpion and exhaled. With this, all the matchups are perfect. All that’s left is…

[Assistant] “I’m begging you here, Emilia-tan. You’re the key to everything.” The battle of the four corners enveloping the entire Pleiades Watchtower was beginning in earnest.


[User] The giant scorpion was the one to fire the first shot of the chaotic struggle.

[Assistant] Its red compound eyes blazed, and a white flash erupted from its tail that swung upward the next moment. Subaru had a lot of bad memories involving that deadly flash. Without putting too fine a point on it, he remembered that around half of the fifteen repeated attempts he had gone through in the tower had ended because of it. But after getting killed that many times, he had learned a couple things. For one…

[User] “The sign of an attack, and its velocity…!”

[Assistant] The compound eyes and the tail, their light increased just slightly the moment the scorpion attacked. It was so minute as to seem like imagination, but Subaru had staked his life several times and had painstakingly won that knowledge and that slenderest of lifelines through trial and error.

[User] “Sorry I couldn’t live up to your expectations!” He apologized to the other him who wanted an all-powerful Natsuki Subaru when all he could manage was this crude style of fighting.

[Assistant] But in his arms, Beatrice, who was facing the same deadly challenge with him, snorted. “What are you saying? You’ve never failed to live up to my expectations.” Beatrice said the nicest things. And at the same time, she raised her tiny hand that wasn’t holding on to Subaru’s and cast a spell. “Murak.”

[User] Freed from the yoke of gravity, the two of them soared above the point where the white light passed through, floating up above the balcony.


[User] “Meili!” “I know, I know!” Subaru floated higher in a burst, blown by the explosion of the flash. Beside him, weightless from the spell, too, Meili whistled on her fingers. Just above them, the winged moles latched on to their prey, as if to kidnap them up into the sky. With a sudden acceleration, the three of them leaped out into the air over the sands. This was another thing he had learned in those fifteen deaths. The scorpion wasn’t to be faced in a cramped space. Whether fighting or fleeing, it was suicide to face it outside of a wide-open area…

[Assistant] “But even so, this is a pretty suicidal move, too…!” Hanging beneath demon beasts, they descended more than a hundred yards in one fell swoop. Battered by the intense, sandy wind, they heard a loud, rushing sound in their ears as they descended at full speed toward the desert. If Subaru had been afraid of heights, just the attempt alone might well have killed him.

[User] “Mister!”

[Assistant] “Wha-gaaah? !” Just barely catching Meili’s voice in the torrent of wind, he felt an impact. Looking up, he saw that something had pierced the winged mole’s body. The small monster exploded from the inside out, spraying chunks of flesh, and sent Subaru and Beatrice flying out into space. A follow-up attack by the scorpion was the cause. Left behind on the balcony, it had taken aim at them in their descent. Readying the next terrifyingly precise attack, it shifted its gaze to Subaru. His instincts cried out that it would hit if he didn’t do anything. Subaru immediately hugged Beatrice tightly to him.

[User] “Beako! Original Spell Number Two!” It was a card he could only play three times in one day, but he couldn’t afford to die because he screwed up the timing. Power swelled in Beatrice’s eyes as she came to the same conclusion herself and prepared a a spell that would make Subaru invulnerable for a limited time…

[Assistant] “Giiiiiii.”

[User] “Whoa? !”

[Assistant] “Whah? !” Just before the spell activated, Subaru and Beatrice were snatched up, and an instant later, white light passed through the spot where they had been standing, just barely missing them.

[User] “Ph-phew. What happened…ugh? !” Held by something that felt almost rubbery, Subaru looked around to see what had happened, only to shout in surprise. Beatrice, who he held close to his chest, had the same wide-eyed reaction. What had saved them from the scorpion’s attack was a demon beast with bluish-black skin and a vicious appearance, that had galloped down the outer wall of the tower—a gabaou.

[Assistant] “Gah-ga-ha-ha-ha! When I saw you for the first time underground, I never would have guessed I’d be fighting alongside you in the climax!”

[User] “Giiiiiii.” The gabaou whinnied in that earsplitting shriek as Subaru put on a brave front. It placed Subaru and Beatrice on its back, and then accelerated even faster, running down the tower.

[Assistant] “Oh, ohhhhhhh? !”

[User] “Wababababababa?”


[User] "!” The gabaou ran straight down, its body swaying right and left as it went, and each time it did, Subaru and Beatrice let out a shriek as a white flash just barely grazed them. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, they reached the end of the line, and a powerful impact shook both of them. The ravenous horse lord had run down the entire tower, landing in the desert.

[Assistant] “Th-that was unbearable. That was more nightmarish than an actual nightmare…”

[User] “Argh! You two were about to use your trump card right at the start, right? Be more careful!” Having survived that grand experience, they were met by Meili riding another gabaou.

[Assistant] He had to tip his cap to Meili, who had taken control of the high-power gabaou, flying winged moles, and sandworm underground, all while holding off the stampede. That ability to adapt and the breadth of her tactics were exactly what he wanted out of a partner right now. "Meili! You and me might make a pretty good team!”

[User] “Uwah, stop it. I don’t want Petra to be mad at me later.” Meili wholeheartedly rejected Subaru’s praise with a grimace.

[Assistant] Hmm, she doesn’t look so good. On closer inspection, he noticed her wipe the sweat off her brow, and her breathing was a little ragged. Not just because she was focused on a life-or-death fight, either. "Otto joked about the world being hell when he couldn’t control his blessing, but…looks like it can be real bad if you overuse it, too.”

[User] The comment Otto had let slip one time when he was drunk was something that Subaru might have to pay closer attention to. If what Otto said was right, then there was a limit on how much he could just rely on Meili in this battle. If she collapsed in the middle of the fighting, they would have their backs against the wall in an instant. “This battle is gonna come down to how much we can pamper Princess Meili!”

[Assistant] “That sounds like a plan Betty can’t let pass without comment!”

[User] “Well, if you can make it easier on me, that would be nice…but we can’t just win by running away, right?” Meili remarked with a sour look.

[Assistant] “Yeah.” Subaru nodded. “We can’t do anything about Shaula…that big scorpion, if we are just stalling. That’s why Emilia-tan holds the key to everything.”

[User] “…That silver-haired lady from before?” Meili asked, unconvinced.

[Assistant] “That’s right. Emilia-tan and the fifth rule are the key to it all.” Nodding, Subaru held out his hand with five fingers raised. Each one was a rule of the tower placed on them, the challengers. “No leaving until the examination is complete. The examination’s rules cannot be broken. Disrespecting the archive is not permitted. The tower must not be destroyed. And…”

[User] Meili had heard the first four rules already. But no one other than Subaru knew the fifth rule.


[User] “The destruction of the examination is not forbidden. Meaning this tower’s rules can be nullified.”

[Assistant] “—! She’s coming!”

[User] Right after Beatrice’s warning, a tremendous cloud of sand erupted before their eyes. A shock wave caused by the giant scorpion leaping directly from the balcony.

[Assistant] “Beako! Meili! We have to buy time! Emilia-tan is our win condition!”

[User] “Roger!”

[Assistant] “When you say time, how long, exactly, is that supposed to be?”

[User] “As fast as Emilia-tan can take care of it.”

[Assistant] “Now, let’s do this. We’ll crush fate—no, the system of this tower!”


[User] “I see, so that’s why you—”

[Assistant] “Yes! That’s right! That’s what Subaru said. If I go to the very top of the tower, I’m sure to find something that can turn this around!” Briskly answering, Emilia accelerated while carrying Echidna.

[User] “Shouldn’t you avoid overexerting yourself? The first floor is unknown territory, right?”

[Assistant] “Eh? Ah, you don’t need to worry about me! Anastasia’s body is really light, and it isn’t any different with you inside her. This is easy-peasy!”

[User] “Because me being here has no difference on Ana’s weight…no, that’s not what’s important.” Echidna’s eyes narrowed as she studied the unfamiliar beauty.


[User] More precisely, it wasn’t as if he didn’t experience any effect, either, though, since him losing his memories was caused by Gluttony. So she couldn’t write off all of it as just Subaru’s unique position. So there might have been a way. Some method to protect memories and names. If that was possible, Anastasia and Julius… “” What made Julius and Emilia different, even though they were placed in the same situation? The difference was having a person at their side. Was it not having a person at their side who tried to support them? Could Julius have avoided collapse if he’d had support? Maybe if it was someone who was like what Subaru was to Emilia? “I…” Echidna didn’t have an answer to what she should do. It was enough to make her wonder if this was the most she had ever racked her brain in her entire life as a hollow artificial spirit.

[Assistant] "Echidna?"

[User] “…It’s nothing. More importantly, is it true? That you made it through the second floor examination…through Reid Astrea’s violence?”

[Assistant] “Mmm, it is. Argh, but if you’ve forgotten that, too, then explaining it will be really hard.” Emilia’s cheeks swelled adorably.

[User] It surprised Echidna to hear that this girl had gotten through the examination of that man who was violence incarnate. It was hard to imagine she would lie in this scenario. Even in this short time, she could tell that Emilia wasn’t the type likely to lie, so it must be true. “In which case, what evidence is there that things can be resolved by going up to the top of the tower?”

[Assistant] “Subaru said he heard the tower’s fifth rule from Shaula. He mentioned it would solve things after he thought about a lot of different stuff, so I’m sure it’s right.”

[User] “That’s some pretty blind trust…”

[Assistant] “If doubting it would make things better, then I would, but I think there are times it doesn’t help… You trusted Subaru, too, since you came with me, right?”

[User] There wasn’t a single doubt in those eyes looking at her, and faced with that, Echidna couldn’t respond.

[Assistant] Seeing that, Emilia suddenly broke into a smile. “See, my knight is a really hard worker.” Emilia was proud that his efforts were being acknowledged.

[User] Echidna also felt a bit of an out-of-place emotion, clutching Anastasia’s chest and exhaling. “” She told herself that that emotion was dangerous. It was incredibly illogical and out of place. At the very least, it wasn’t something to be feeling in this moment right now. If possible, she would prefer to forget it forever, but even if she couldn’t, then at least right now… “—And that Subaru is counting on me!” She was jealous of the girl who could believe so wholeheartedly in herself, and in the person who stayed so close to her. She should forget this moment and focus on resolving this situation.


[User] Emilia’s long legs spun gracefully as they raced up the stairs to the second floor by leaps and bounds. And after she made it through that staircase that should have been so long, there was a tremendous silver flash and sparks flying. Before them, covering their entire field of vision, unfolding left, right, and all around, was a knight with light purple hair fluttering and a white uniform stained by blood—Julius Juukulius. And facing him…

[Assistant] “Ghh, kah!”

[User] “Oraoraoraora! You think that’s enough to do anything? Don’t look down on me. Did you come here to play? If you wanna play, then put on some makeup. Do that and I’ll bully you as much as you want!” With a vulgar mouth, Reid Astrea, the manifestation of violence unleashing nightmarish attacks with the two sticks in his hands, was performing a dance of death all across the stage of the second floor. It was a struggle beyond normal human comprehension, but sadly, even to an amateur, it was clear at a glance that Julius was in the worse position.

[Assistant] "That’s enough." What interrupted the two swordsmen was a clear, mellifluous voice. But in contrast to the voice, the way she burst into the fight was stirring and heroic. Echidna was speechless at that incredible scene.

[User] “Huh?” Reid looked overhead with a dubious sneer.

[Assistant] Julius’s eyes widened in silence. The object that unfolded over their heads was a massive icicle large enough to cover the whole ceiling. That mass of destruction that could splinter even a dragon cart in an instant crashed down at the two of them. In an instant, Reid and Julius had completely opposite reactions. Julius leaped aside to avoid the oncoming hunk of ice, and Reid just grinned.

[User] “Hah!! !” With a feral grin, he thrust a single chopstick at the falling hunk of ice. It stalled for just an instant. The chopstick bent, and just before it broke, Reid stepped down firmly against the floor. Transmitting the force of that through the chopstick into the ice, both the chopstick and the ice shattered.

[Assistant] “…You’ve done it now.” Shards of ice scattered all around as Reid turned. When his one blue eye was fixed straight at Emilia, who was pointing her palms at him, her cheek tensed. "Rarin’ to fight, huh? I don’t hate that in a woman, but…ah?! The hell?! You’re hot as hell! A total babe! What’s a doll like you doin’ in the middle of this desert?! C’mon, come be my doll.”

[User] “Sorry for interrupting,” she said with a soft expression. “But Julius has to win against you…”

[Assistant] “Say what?” Reid’s forehead warped when he heard that.

[User] Julius, who had been saved by her, looked even more perplexed. She was an unfamiliar person to him, and his handsome brow furrowed when he heard her trust in him. "I can see that you’re here to help, but…Echidna, who is she?”

[Assistant] “It’s a bit hard for me to explain, too.


[User] "What…?" Julius looked fixedly at Emilia again, upon hearing that. And then he realized that not being able to remember such an absurdly distinctive person was all he needed to know.

[Assistant] "Silver-haired, purple-eyed elf…are you?"

[User] "Yes. I reeeally get how you feel right now, Julius."

[Assistant] "Then it is…" As one of two people whose names had been stolen by Gluttony, he immediately understood the situation. Standing with Emilia and Echidna behind him, he turned his knight’s sword on Reid again.

[User] "If you are in the same position, then that is enough to acknowledge you as an ally. I am grateful for your aid earlier. However, I do not understand your words. You said I must defeat him…"

[Assistant] "I think Reid knows the answer to that." Julius’s eyes narrowed at Emilia’s confident response. However, before he could probe further, there was a frustrated voice.

[User] "Oy, oy, what are you, babe? Why can’t I stop you? It’s not like I suddenly fell head over heels, so… Did you already clear the damn examination? !" Reid cocked his head, tapping the patch over his right eye wildly.

[Assistant] "Yes, that’s right! You touched my chest with a chopstick and lost!"

[User] "Kah! Talk about a satisfying way to lose. Shame I can’t remember it!" That all he could do was gnash his teeth a bit was proof that the shackles that bound him no longer restrained Emilia. In other words, there was nothing on the second floor stopping Emilia…

[Assistant] "Julius, I…"

[User] "Go, beautiful lady, who is just like me, whose name I do not know." Unsure of what to say, Emilia faltered a moment, but Julius interrupted her, pointing his knight’s blade toward the stairs. Julius smiled gallantly at her quiet, stunned face.

[Assistant] "You have your own role, and it is not to aid me. This is enough. Be well."

[User] “…You too!” With Julius’s encouragement, Emilia nodded and started running. Reid couldn’t stop her sprint. She raced to the innermost area of the floor where the stairs leading up continued. Stopping in front of them, she turned around.

[Assistant] "My name is Emilia. Just Emilia. Let’s meet again after all this!" Leaving her name with them, Emilia raced gallantly up the stairs. Watching her leave, Echidna let out a long, deep breath. Emilia’s job was to continue upward. And Echidna’s role was…

[User] "You will remain to watch my battle?"

[Assistant] "If you’ll allow it… No, that’s not it. I’m staying because I’ve decided that I should."

[Assistant] "Not because I can do anything, but because this is what Ana would do if she were here. My place in this tower is untenable. So I at least want to stand behind you, of my own volition. Since…" She looked at Julius’s face, his lips pursed tightly, and then continued.

[User] "...Since you’re Anastasia Hoshin’s knight. Isn’t that right?" It took an incredible amount of courage to believe something that didn’t feel real.


[User] Compared to believing in something with a physical presence, she had no idea how much strength was enough to feel confident believing in something that couldn’t be confirmed. However, believing in that indefinite thing, Echidna kept her eyes right on his back.

[Assistant] Julius looked down with his long eyelash-rimmed eyes. He took a long, deep breath… "That is surprisingly reassuring. Someone mustering the courage to believe in me, to have expectations of me, when I might as well be a stranger to them."

[User] "Julius…"

[Assistant] To Julius, the ground beneath him was unsteady.

[User] To Echidna, the bond she should have known was unclear.

[Assistant] Relying on something so unreliable, the two of them had to rely on a bond besides the one they should have already had, but in this moment, at least, they were indeed seeing the same thing. So… "Julius, I have a message for you."

[User] "A message?"

[Assistant] "Yes. ‘People are fighting all around the tower, so finish up quick and come help the others.’"

[User] Knowing that Subaru had meant it as an encouragement, in his own way, Echidna shared the message with Julius word for word.

[Assistant] In response, Julius’s slender shoulders tensed just a little bit. He mulled over the message, taking it in. The reaction was clear and dramatic. "Hah." It was short, almost like a sharp breath. But it wasn’t that. It was a laugh. A single laugh from the depths of his stomach. And if there had been anyone who knew Julius there, they would have been stunned. Julius Juukulius laughing in the middle of a battle was unthinkable. "If he has broken from his shell, then I cannot allow myself to lose, either." It was quiet, but there was an intense emotion dwelling in that resolution. Raising his knight’s sword in front of himself, Julius faced his enemy.


[User] Reid had been looking bored for a while, but suddenly he grinned, like a shark. "You ready to do this?"

[Assistant] "How rude. I am at all times serious in the face of battle."

[User] "That ain’t what I mean. You get it even if I don’t spell it, don’t ya?" Still smirking, Reid raised his left hand and flipped up the eye patch covering his eye. Revealing a second blue eye that seemed perfectly healthy, the man who stood at the pinnacle of swordsmanship greeted his challenger with open bloodlust. His sheer presence was so powerful, so palpable, that it seemed like it could kill a more timid man. But Julius faced those gleaming eyes head-on. Behind him, Echidna endured it as well, even as her body went stiff. When he confirmed that Julius had stood his ground, Reid bared his fangs. "Stick Swinger Reid. Remember that name, as you die."

[Assistant] "" In battle, to exchange names before crossing swords was evidence that a warrior had been acknowledged as an equal. There was no telling how seriously Reid took that practice, but Reid’s thoughts aside, it had a dramatic impact on his challenger.


[Assistant] Leaving Julius and Echidna, Emilia races up the stairs. She moved her long legs single-mindedly, going up two, sometimes three stairs with each step at an extraordinary speed. But in her heart, she focused on going faster, even faster. She gritted her teeth as she ran. Her desperation showed on her beautiful face. She was worried about the two she’d left below on the second floor. Reid was extremely strong and violent, and he had a nasty mouth. Her two friends might get hurt physically or emotionally. Of course, she wasn’t just worried about Julius and Echidna. She was concerned about Subaru, Beatrice, and Meili trying to hold off Shaula. And she wondered if Ram would be able to fulfill her role. Would Patrasche be able to protect Rem? Did she have to rebuild her bonds with everyone from the beginning again because her name had been eaten? There was no end to those concerns, and it honestly made her want to stop and cry. But she couldn’t stop. And she couldn’t cry. She held back the sniffle that lingered in the back of her nose.

[User] "Because nothing is over yet…!" Having people who trusted her and believed in her was what kept Emilia going right now. There were lots of concerns, lots of things worrying her, but she was filled with faith that surpassed all that.

[Assistant] “Ghh! There’s light!” Up ahead, Emilia’s purple eyes caught a glimpse of a white light. It was the end of these long, long steps leading into the unknown first floor. With that thought, she launched herself forward and accelerated even further.

[User] “I made it!” Tearing through the light, Emilia finally reached the end of the stairs. What lay before her…was not a space that could be called the first floor.

[Assistant] “Huh…?” Dumbfounded, Emilia let out a surprised sound as she came to a stop. What greeted her wasn’t the continuation of the familiar watchtower. The walls were nowhere to be seen, and there was no ceiling. An awe-inspiring blue sky spread overhead. Emilia wasn’t standing inside the building, but outside it. After coming up the stairs from the second floor, Emilia emerged on the roof of the tower.

[User] “Is the first floor outside…? This is…higher up than the clouds, even…” The top of the tower was vast, and there didn’t seem to be any railings. If she went to the edge, she should be able to look straight down. The tower was touching the clouds that should have been far above it, and Emilia caught her breath, realizing that she was inside the clouds, or even above them.


[User] "...Oh…" It was quiet, and almost too magnificent, so she had failed to notice its presence. Emilia, who had been completely focused on her location and the clouds, was slow to notice the being standing at the edge of her vision. She slowly turned around and let out a gasp.

[Assistant] "You're…"

[User] "—Thou who hath reached the tower’s peak, petitioner of omnipotence who treads upon the first floor.” There was a solemn, deep voice that seemed to echo directly in her soul.

[Assistant] Emilia realized her voice was trembling.

[User] "—I am Volcanica. By ancient oath, I ask thy will.” The Holy Dragon Volcanica—its massive body covered in blue, gleaming scales—looked down on Emilia with a presence that could blow away her very soul with a single breath.


[Assistant] "Ahhh, sheesh! We went out of our way to steal it, but this is something we can’t really use, isn’t it? !" The boy spat in irritation, scratching his long brown hair as he scoffed, he lowered his hand that held a beautifully detailed sword made of ice.

[User] "Well, we are superior, so we can make it work, though."

[Assistant] "Plus, there’s no getting through to cute little Louis or that jerk Roy…well, that’s just how it goes! If they’re saying they can’t do it, then so be it! We’ll lap up every delicious treat in this tower for ourselves!


[User] After covering his mouth with cloth to keep out the sand, Subaru took a deep breath, staring into the center of the dust devil. "Beako! Meili! Hold on!"

[Assistant] "I know!"

[User] "You’re such a hard taskmaster!"

[Assistant] "But don’t even think of giving up! There being a wealth of ways to lose is nothing new!"

[User] "Is this the time for that?! Argh! Go for it, gaba-pony!" Listening to Subaru’s unreliable shout, Meili gave an order to the demon beasts.


[Assistant] "—Sssssss!"

[User] "I suppose if it wasn’t, the rules set for the tower wouldn’t make any sense.”

[Assistant] “Exactomundo, Beako. Telling us in advance in the rules that it’s okay to abuse the system means that the rules are meant to be broken."

[User] "I’m never forgiving that asshole for what he did to Emilia-tan, though…!" It still pissed him off just thinking about it, but Julius would be the one to give Reid his just deserts.


[User] Looking forward to him beating that sexual harasser black-and-blue, Subaru kept the tall tower in his sights and entrusted himself to Beatrice’s and Meili’s hard fighting. The sensations from Cor Leonis, particularly Ram’s, were an ongoing concern. He was confident he had sent everyone to the best place for them, but Ram’s fight, in particular, was one he expected to be especially hard from the start. Both because her opponent was Lye Batenkaitos, the villain who had turned Rem into a sleeping beauty, and also because of Ram’s condition. Only a perfect Ram would be able to handle Lye Batenkaitos. And he wanted Ram to wipe the floor with Lye. That was why he needed to shoulder the burden that always tormented her. Which was all the more reason…

[Assistant] "It would be really bad if we get too far away from the tower and the authority cuts out! Sorry for adding so many limitations, but please work with me!"

[User] "! When this is over, I swear I’m gonna… Argh!" Meili pursed her lips as her face reddened. While the tamer grumbled, Subaru kept a tight hold on Beatrice as he clung to the monster’s back…

[Assistant] "I’m counting on you, Emilia-tan… Me and these two girls will buy as much time as we can!"


[User] Subaru had anticipated the first floor’s examination would be as difficult a challenge as all the others, but even with his imagination, he would never have predicted the being Emilia would encounter or the situation she would be placed in. There was no one in Lugunica, no one in the world who didn’t know its name. If the Witch of Jealousy was a symbol of terror, then this was a symbol of hope and trust. That was a testament to how much this being had achieved. The grand and enormous being’s name was…

[Assistant] "Holy Dragon Volcanica." Repeating the name that it had spoken, Emilia felt her body turn suddenly cold. It felt like she couldn’t even breathe without permission. That was the force of a true dragon’s presence. It held the whole world in its grasp.

[User] Inhaling, Emilia looked up at Volcanica’s body again. The scales bathed in a deep blue color gleamed like jewels, and each seemed as sharp as a masterwork sword. Its thick front and back legs had black, boulder-like claws, and its face, which resembled a ground dragon’s, gave the impression of an ancient being. It had golden eyes that had seen an unbelievable length of time. Its head had two large, thick horns that sharply pierced the heavens. The Holy Dragon’s body was maybe fifty feet or so long. It was hard to say for sure, because it was hunched over, with its wings and tail furled. However, being that big without standing up, it couldn’t be contained inside the building, which made perfect sense.


[User] "…Uh…ummm, Volcanica! I came to take the examination! The first floor’s examination! I’m here to challenge it!"

[Assistant] "I don’t know how difficult it will be, but…but I am in a really big hurry, so please! If I don’t do my best, it will be a problem for Subaru and the others. So whatever it is, bring it on!" Slapping her cheeks with both hands, Emilia stopped herself from cowering.

[User] “I’m used to people grading me. There are people who hate me for being a half-elf, and people like Echidna, who can be a little mean, but…but there are also people who put their faith in me, too, like Subaru and Ram and Beatrice and the others.” Emilia touched the magic stone at her breast as she spoke.

[Assistant] “So, I don’t mind what anyone else thinks!” Emilia spoke sharply, even if she was talking to the Holy Dragon, who had almost overwhelmed her initially. As she clenched her fists, her purple eyes gleamed assertively.

[User] Volcanica slowly blinked, then opened its majestic jaw. "—Thou who hath reached the tower’s peak, petitioner of omnipotence who treads upon the first floor."

[Assistant] "—I am Volcanica. By ancient oath, I ask thy will."

[User] "…Huh?" Emilia held her breath, prepared for whatever challenge Volcanica might give her, but hearing the heavy words that escaped with the dragon’s breath, she cocked her head. It was a familiar line.

[Assistant] "Umm, that’s what you said before, right? I’m the person who came to the first floor, and you’re Volcanica… That’s it, right?"

[User] "…Ah! Is it because I didn’t introduce myself? Sorry. I’m Emilia. Just Emilia. There are a lot of people who don’t really remember me at the moment, as it happens, so it would be a little hard if you asked me to prove it, but I’m Emilia!"

[Assistant] "…Is that not it?" She thought perhaps that skipping her introduction had maybe upset the dragon, so she took a moment to introduce herself, but Volcanica’s response didn’t inspire much hope.

[User] “…Maybe…” Emilia gingerly stepped forward, staring into its golden eyes. With one, then two steps forward in this place so close to the sky, Emilia moved closer to Holy Dragon Volcanica. She boldly approached the being whose every breath felt solemn.


[User] "...It’s cold." She says, reaching out her hand, touching a scale on its front leg. The scale was like ice, or frozen steel. How long would it have to stay still to lose enough heat to end up like that? Wouldn’t that mean death for most living things? Long periods of stagnation robbed a body of more than just its vitality.

[Assistant] "—Thou who hath reached the tower’s peak, petitioner of omnipotence who treads upon the first floor."

[User] "—I am Volcanica. By ancient oath, I ask thy will." Looking down at Emilia touching its front leg, Volcanica repeated itself once more. A third greeting. That wasn’t just rebuking Emilia for forgetting her manners. She was reflected in Volcanica’s deep eyes as they looked at her, but they also seemed not to reflect anything. The reason was clear.

[Assistant] "Did you become such an old dragon that you forgot about the examination…?" A mental death, rather than a physical one, had taken the long-lived dragon. For Emilia, who had to overcome the first floor’s examination, this was an even more difficult challenge than the actual examination. The examination for Maia, the first floor of Great Pleiades Library. Time: as long as her allies can stay alive. Attempts: unknown. Challengers: one. Examination contents: unknown.


[User] —Examination start. 3 Holy Dragon Volcanica, left alone for so many long years, had died in spirit. More practically speaking, after being isolated for so long, it had forgotten its role.

[Assistant] "But it’s a problem if you’re like Puck! Hey, Volcanica!" Emilia shouted and hit the dragon’s front leg.

[User] "—Thou who hath reached the tower’s peak, petitioner of omnipotence who treads upon the first floor."

[Assistant] "Argh! It’s no good!" But all she got in return was the feeling of tough scales and the wall of dementia that seemed even tougher to break than those scales. The second floor’s examination had been troublesome, but this made Reid’s test almost seem cute. Though the idea of that violent man seeming cute felt like a terrible joke…

[User] "Ugh…what do I do, what do I do…? It’s not like it’s the same as Reid, where I have to beat up Volcanica, either…" They were both challenging, but the examinations for the second and third floors were completely different. The challenge put to them on Taygeta was one they had to use their heads to solve. Fortunately, they had solved it, thanks to Subaru’s knowledge from beyond the Great Waterfalls, but it would have been terrible without it. And Electra’s challenge was, of course, the obstacle of Reid Astrea. With a lot of hard work, Emilia had somehow managed to smack him upside the head and win, but it had also only worked because it was her first attempt. Either way, both the challenges had been difficult, and they had just barely scraped by. So even facing it normally should have been difficult enough, and yet…

[Assistant] "Not even telling me the challenge…"

[User] "—I am Volcanica. By ancient oath, I ask thy will."

[Assistant] "Argh!"


[User] "I get it already! Tell me the next line already, please!” There was a faint hope that if she waited even a bit, she might hear the next part, but she didn’t have the time to waste testing it. She resisted the urge to stamp her foot in frustration as she looked around her.

[Assistant] "I have to do all I can right now…!" While always keeping an eye on Volcanica’s movements, Emilia peeled her eyes, examining the layout of the first floor.

[User] "...That big pillar in the middle that Volcanica is clinging to."


[Assistant] "—Thou who hath reached the tower’s peak, petitioner of omnipotence who treads upon the first floor.”

[User] Emilia put her faith in that initial finding and moved around behind Volcanica to examine the thick pillar…

[Assistant] "...Eh?" The moment she touched it, she heard the sound of wind. Before she could check what it was, she instinctively created an ice barrier over her head.

[User] "Kagh." The impact struck her from chest to back, and she crumpled to the floor with a cough. Putting her hands on the floor to stop herself, she managed to get control of her body again. Wondering just what had happened, Emilia slowly looked up and noticed the tail of the Holy Dragon clinging to the pillar gradually sank back to the ground.

[Assistant] "...I got swatted by its tail?"


[User] If she was a little slower, her neck might have been snapped, or her head knocked clean off. With that realization, she felt a cold sweat trickle down the back of her neck.

[Assistant] “There must be something with that pillar.”

[User] “You’re here for an examination. Even if you’ve forgotten that, you still haven’t lost it. That’s why you keep repeating the same thing.”

[Assistant] “Half-hearted commitment isn’t enough. I’m going to be serious, too.” Accepting that Volcanica would block her way, Emilia let it know that she was going to use force. The air around her cracked, and the world slowly began to freeze over. Warriors of ice began to form, like attendants to a queen—the newest possibility that Emilia had developed through her Icebrand Arts. She had not been able to test it inside the narrow confines of the tower, but in a space like this, with an opponent like this, there was no need to hold back. She had not told Subaru about this one, so he had not given it a name. Meaning Emilia was the one to do it.

[User] “Mr. Soldiers and Icebrand Arts…!” She created seven warriors of ice, humanoid in form but each with their own weapons. Brave companions who would accompany Emilia in her dangerous battle…

[Assistant] “I’m coming, sleepyhead! If you can wake up, then hurry up and do it!” Emilia raised her own ice weapon and closed in on Volcanica together with her soldiers of ice.

[User] “—I am Volcanica. By ancient oath, I ask thy will.” With an unreadable gaze, Volcanica opened its mouth.


[Assistant] Ram gradually increased the heat of her body, removing the limiters in stages. Her blood boiled and the muscles in her slender body undulated. It was a girl’s body that may have felt soft, fragile, and unreliable to the touch, but the blood that flowed inside her veins, and the flesh and bones that made her, were those of one of the strongest races in the world. The return of the Oni god, the warrior hailed as greatest masterpiece of all…

[User] “That’s our big sister! Ahh, how wonderful! So radiant! The sister Rem could never hope to match, no matter how she tried!”

[Assistant] “Don’t drool. It is uncouth. And do not compare me to anyone.”

[User] “Heh, why is that?”

[Assistant] “It should be obvious.


[User] Ram kicked off the stairs, descending in a flash with a preemptive attack, but Lye evaded with a big leap backward. She unleashed a series of ferocious attacks using her arms and legs, any of which would shred skin, break bones, and liquefy internal organs. It wasn’t a martial art that relied on just simple physical abilities or techniques. If it was just pure finesse, then Lye would have been able to handle it by re-creating some of the countless techniques he had access to from the memories of those he had consumed. However, there was a clear difference between what Ram was doing and something simple like that. She surged forward, freely controlling the acceleration of each and every knee and elbow she threw at the Archbishop. Cladding herself in her specialty wind magic, she was subtly weaving deception into the middle of her combat. She was manipulating Lye’s perceptions by accelerating or decelerating attacks with wind. And to top it off, she was using the wind to spread her presence in all directions, slipping her attacks into his dead angles with swift motions, unleashing with multiple deadly blows.

[Assistant] "Hah! Can’t get enough of this!" Just barely dodging her attacks, Lye cheered happily. He was bleeding from his right cheek, and his long, disheveled brown hair danced wildly, but Gluttony was apparently enjoying the comparison of skills. "Grudges are a spice we can’t get enough of! The bitterness of those shrewd tricks! You are the perfect dish for a gourmet like us, sister!" Lye grinned condescendingly as they descended the spiral stairs, constantly changing places. Saliva dripping from his open mouth, he hit Ram’s wand with the two swords in his hands and opened some space between them. "Yes, nice, great, delicious, delectable, more, more! Gluttony! Gluttony!"

[User] "The scent of that rage is divine! Someone who hates us specifically this much…what sort of flavor will you have?!" Clapping his hands, he shuddered in anticipation of an incomprehensible pleasure.

[Assistant] Watching that, Ram exhaled a deep breath, and confirmed her body’s condition. "It is still a far cry from my original form, but…" She would never let it show, but Ram was genuinely struck with wonder. "I know myself better than anyone" was a pat phrase used by a certain type of person who didn’t actually understand themselves, but unlike those fools, Ram really did have a complete grasp of her own self. Ever since she lost her horn, she always felt overwhelmed by a terrible burden. Because of that, she had consciously placed certain limiters on herself. Ordinarily, during the times when she was working as a servant, all those limiters were in place. But there were times when incidents might happen, situations where she would have to use magic to resolve a situation. In those moments, she would release one of the limiters, allowing herself to use the bare minimum amount of magic.


[User] For an instant, Ram felt a rare instance of hesitation in her chest.

[Assistant] “…If I take too long, Barusu will die.”

[User] “Hold on like your life depends on it, Barusu. Don’t make Rem cry.”

[Assistant] With that, Ram released her third limiter for the first time in ten years.


[User] “I suppose that was recoil from Ram.” Beatrice commented perceptively.

[Assistant] “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.

[User] “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.

[Assistant] “Hah, hah…”

[User] —And if that happens, I can focus on just carrying Meili’s burden.

[Assistant] 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.

[User] “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.

[Assistant] “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.

[User] “Mister! Are you paying attention?! If you and Beatrice go down, this is all over, you know? !”

[Assistant] “I know,” Subaru said, enduring the throbbing in his head.

[User] “Hey Meili, do you want to be my girl when this is all over?”

[Assistant] “—Ghh! Did you not hear me?! Focus!”

[User] Neither of them had any leeway. If their concentration faltered, it would all be over in an instant. But…

[Assistant] “If I have to suffer this much, there better be a great tomorrow waiting for me to make up for it.”

[User] “What is with you?” Meili murmured to herself while continuing to fight atop the sands. Of course, that question could refer to a lot of people.


[User] "What is with me?" Meili couldn’t understand why she was acting like this.

[Assistant] "...There just had to be a book of the dead."

[User] "Arghhhhh! I’m going to make him spoil me so much after this!" So busy she couldn’t even wipe the sweat off her brow, Meili grumbled about Subaru while carefully maintaining just the right distance from the giant scorpion as they kept each other in check.

[Assistant] "This isn’t my style at all!"


[User] "It feels like I’ve become a big dummy, too." Meili pulled up the demon beast she was holding underground, aiming it at the scorpion.

[Assistant] "" A massive sandworm erupted from below the reddish sands.

[User] Twisting its massive, thirty-three-foot-plus body, it barreled down on the giant scorpion.

[Assistant] A white flash erupted, blowing away the sandworm’s massive torso in an instant.

[User] Split in half, the sandworm shrieked and collapsed as fluids spilled out from its body, breaking apart into finer pieces as the stinger unleashed even more attacks.

[Assistant] By sacrificing the sandworm, she’d created cover from the splattering flesh and blood in the air.

[User] The real aim was the three gabaou that appeared from where the sandworm had leaped out of the ground.

[Assistant] "Giiiiiii." With a baby’s cry, the flaming half-human, half-horse monsters launched a suicide charge on the scorpion.

[User] "I guess I’m in top form." Meili was riding one herself, Subaru and Beatrice were riding another, and she had three more prepared for this attack.

[User] "Meili!"

[Assistant] There was a bloody shout as the three gabaou charged at the scorpion. He had blood trickling from his mouth as he shouted.

[User] "—Huh?"

[Assistant] The three monsters furiously charged with blazing lances raised.


[User] :Her calculation that no matter how deftly the scorpion could handle its pincers and tail, it should not be able to block them entirely—all that broke down when she saw the change in the scorpion’s body. As if scorched by flame, or as if absorbing blood just like the sands… Its black carapace was normally a dull, steel-like gleam, but it had suddenly started changing colors. In a beat, its pitch-black color turned into a bloody crimson. Certain species of demon beasts had a transformation that was sometimes called an offensive color. A change where their actions clearly differed from before, becoming more ferocious and violent. In many cases, there was an external change as well, the easy proof that such a transformation had occurred. The gabaou’s flames swelling, or the white whale sprouting eyes all over its body. And it also applied to the giant scorpion—or rather the crimson scorpion. More aggressive, more destructive, and more devastating…

[Assistant] “…ah.” Unleashing a white light in all directions, it annihilated the three gabaou charging down on it. And at the same time, the aftermath of the wild flashes flew across the sands—

[User] Swallowed up in the torrent of light, Meili’s small body flew through the air with a spray of blood.


[Assistant] From a young age, Ram had hated the feeling of her blood boiling and the overflowing exaltation. The feeling of omnipotence that made her feel like she could rule over everything in this world. If she allowed herself to remain drunk on that illusion, even with as stout a mind as she had been blessed with, there would surely come a day when she took the wrong path. She was aware of her excellence. But it wasn’t something worth putting too much stock in. She could make mistakes. She did have the determination to be careful not to make mistakes, and she was committed to correcting any mistakes she did make. And the reason she was able to adopt that posture was because she had not become intoxicated by apparent omnipotence. Not mistaking herself as something wonderful, as did those around her who lionized her, she didn’t become a puppet of those beings who held to ancient mysticism and withered old customs. And what was the reason she had managed to avoid being crushed by those external things? She knew that it was surely thanks to something that she couldn’t remember.

[User] “I’m not just cute, I’m also wise.” Singing her own praises, Ram stepped down, breaking the step of the staircase. The next instant, the peach-haired Oni clad in the wind swung her arm, cleanly breaking the arm of her opponent who tried to stop it. Wrist, elbow, shoulder all twisted in the blink of an eye, snapping loudly.

[Assistant] “—Gah!” His reaction was too late.

[User] As he started to cry out, her fist slammed into the side of his face, and Ram’s pale fingers became a barrage.


[User] Pummeled all over by countless blows, Lye went flying backward with a cough of blood. Chasing after him, Ram rode the wind she created beneath her feat, leaping high into the air.

[Assistant] "Hee-hee!" Lye swung both legs upward, as if to catch Ram.

[User] The next moment, a distortion in space touched Ram’s shoulder, leaving a shallow cut on her clothes and skin—an invisible blade in midair, an impudent trap born of wind magic left behind for her. "Something like this—"

[Assistant] "You think you can blow it away with a gust of wind? Nope, nope, nope! That’s fixed in space right there! Even you can’t brush it aside, Sister. Too bad!" Reading her intent, Lye kicked off the air with a bloody grin on his face. He wasn’t actually kicking space but using the blade that had cut Ram’s shoulder to walk through the air—a foothold whose position only he knew. Using them, he freely leaped all around the spiral staircase that covered so much of the tower.

[User] "—Clairvoyance." Even if it was impossible to perceive them with her eyes, it was simple enough to deduce their locations using the trap-setter’s eyes. And so Ram used the exact same footholds, leaping out overhead even faster than Lye.

[Assistant] "Hah! Aha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Are you kidding? Seriously, sister? !"

[User] "You sound almost like Barusu. Thank you, that removes any hesitation I had to slap you down." Ram mercilessly brought her heel down on Lye’s unpleasant, stunned face. "Now, how many times will you taste the sole of my shoes until you fall down?"

[Assistant] Lye groaned as his nose was crushed and his small body spun in midair.

[User] What stopped his ascent was Ram’s kick, sending him straight down. And following up, Ram raised her hands upward, generating a wind to descend rapidly, landing a second, third, and fourth kick to Lye’s face as he fell. Mercilessly, she shattered his nose, teeth, jaw, and forehead with each blow. Every time he called Ram sister with that grin of his was repulsive. "Well? Do you regret it?" Deftly controlling herself in midair, Ram rested her feet on his face and chest.

[Assistant] Not answering, Lye furrowed his bloody face in annoyance as he tried to swing the swords in his hands.

[User] But in that moment, Ram’s hands slashed, dislocating both of his arms at the shoulder. No matter how amazing his techniques, he couldn’t swing his arms with joints that didn’t work. "Well? Do you regret it?" Looking down at his wide-eyed, stunned face, Ram asked again. Staring into his eyes, she looked for a sign of fear. Engraving that into him was her goal. The dread, pain, and a sense of defeat so that he felt he couldn’t go against her. But it wasn’t for something so small as mere revenge. "Rem…" To get her back. And all the countless other victims of Gluttony as well. To return all those who had had their names and memories, their histories stolen away from them.


[User] If killing him was enough, Ram could do that in the blink of an eye. With the same effort she had put into destroying his face, she could make a blade of wind on the bottom of her foot and cut his head off. Even as repulsively resilient as Witch Cultists were famed to be, it had already been demonstrated that severing their heads would still kill them. In the burning Oni village, when she had been fighting with those who had destroyed the village. In the first place, she already knew the cultists were nothing more than a band of weak fools who happened to be hideously twisted. Because of that, she was asking him questions to destroy his spirit before ending his life. "Well? Do you regret it?"

[Assistant] "—ghh, Solar Eclipse!" With the third question, there was a trace of terror in his bloodred eyes. But it disappeared in truly the blink of an eye. Not in the sense of moving at extreme speed.

[User] The sensation of crushing his head was missing. But her vision still overlapped with his, through using Clairvoyance. She quickly discerned where he had fled in the middle of the stairs. Clad in wind, she chased after him, only to find a bald old man in a monk’s robes. The change in appearance might have stunned anyone other than Ram. But by sharing his vision, she knew for a fact it was Lye, even if his appearance had changed. "I heard that transforming was Lust’s trick, but I don’t have time to indulge you with your games."

[Assistant] The fight was overwhelmingly one-sided. But it had been more than a minute since Ram had undone a big limiter—there was a slight burden on her, too, but the vast majority of it was flowing to Subaru. She had told him to limit himself to just modulating it, but as expected, he had gone and decided to just assume all of her burden. Always trying to act cool. That was something he should just save for Rem and the girl he cared about. "...Return everything you have consumed as Gluttony. If you do…"

[User] "If we do, what, young lady? You would let us go?"

[Assistant] "Not at all. If you do, I will kill you quickly. A good deal, don’t you think? Even though you have earned thousands of deaths, you will be allowed to die just the once."

[User] "Fwha." Even Lye’s mannerisms took on an elderly man’s affect as he let out a hoarse chuckle. Watching his movements, Ram had a supposition that this change of form was necessary to fully make use of a person’s abilities. The way he had disappeared from in front of Ram earlier was a technique that allowed him to leap across space covering small distances. The person who had originally been able to do that was probably the old, bald-headed man Lye had transformed into. "But it’s odd.


[User] “If you had something like this up your sleeve, it wouldn’t have been strange for you to use it earlier. So why hide it this long, I wonder?”

[Assistant] "…Is there some reason you didn’t want to use it? It strains your body, perhaps?”

[User] “Golly gee…we have never encountered such a fearsome lass before… Not at all. You really are terrifying, sister.”

[Assistant] The old man’s form gradually shifted back into a smaller body. It was an acknowledgment of Ram’s conjecture and also proof that the transformation had not removed the damage that she had done. Lye was still bloody, and his face was still in terrible shape.

[User] “Your shoulders?”

[Assistant] “Fixed using the wall. Going in blind just isn’t enough…oww, the pain.” Lye swung his arms in a big circle, confirming the feel of his readjusted shoulders.

[User] Ram reflected on her decision, deciding that she should have cut his arms off rather than simply dislocating his shoulders. Or if she had just mangled the ends of all four of his limbs, it would put an end to all his foolish tricks.

[Assistant] “Anticipating every single last one of the things we do…you really are incredible, sister. Are you maybe using some kind of authority, like he is?”

[User] “How rude. Ram’s discerning eye is just that excellent. Don’t lump it in together with Barusu’s incomprehensible intuition. It’s unpleasant. Die at once.”

[Assistant] “Aha-ha-ha. So harsh. But, but, ahh, that’s right.” His long, torn tongue hung from his broken-toothed mouth in a bloody grin.

[User] Eyes widening slightly at his ominous gesture, Ram tensed her shoulders. If he did something strange—no. “Take this before you can.” Before he could do anything, Ram chose to tear his limbs away with a blade of wind. There were ways of stopping bleeding. There was no stopping the pain, but the interrogation could continue so long as he didn’t die. With that judgment, she unleashed unbridled blades of wind, but…


[Assistant] “—Your loss is our gain!” As the blades landed, a big, round, bearded man leaped backward. His skin was so thick that the wind blades bounced off without even leaving a red mark on his skin.

[User] “Like, you just don’t get it, do ya, sis? Let’s be real. You aren’t the only one watching your opponent here.”

[Assistant] Ram was about to give chase, to prevent the big man from escaping, when that voice rang out. The next instant, a blade left in space for Ram lightly nicked her neck, slowing her chase by a half step. And the old man Lye thrust into that tiniest of openings.

[User] “Our approach, followed by our punch!” In a blink, the old man disappeared, and the being that appeared behind her swelled in menace. Without even the time to spin around, she felt an intense punch land right in her side, sending her slender body flying.


[User] Watching her groan was a stout man with a wild air about him—three different figures had traded places in an instant, and their unique traits were all perfectly applied… “But even so. Don’t imagine the same trick will work twice—”

[Assistant] “We don’t. We don’t at all. Of course not. We don’t already!” Lye roared while turning into the old man again and covering one of his eyes with his hand.

[User] Worried about that movement, Ram stretched her long legs, kicked off the wall, and quickly tried to adjust her position to leap at him. However, she wasn’t fast enough.

[Assistant] “We know. Rem’s big sister can’t keep moving like this without some sort of trick.” He reached that answer by using Rem’s knowledge, not by observing Ram’s movements. Seeing Ram’s movements that surpassed the limits of a hornless Oni, Lye was sure of his interpretation, and when Ram returned to the stairs, his evil intent was already complete. “Sister, we don’t particularly care about winning a test of strength with you.” With a crafty smirk, he disappeared into the air. Teleportation by distorting space across short distances—by continually doing that, it was easy to flee a battlefield. He had no intention of stopping and fighting to the death.

[User] “You are quick to decide to flee. No…” If he knew about Ram’s Clairvoyance, then he should not be expecting to simply run away. The reason he took his distance even knowing about it was that he realized she was working under a time constraint. And unfortunately, she’d had a not insignificant amount of time stolen away from her. The burden on Subaru was increasing by the second. She needed to find where Lye had fled into the tower as soon as possible. Just as she thought that, though, she noticed. The Archbishop that was a pure ball of malice wasn’t just running into the tower to get away. He was thinking carefully about how best to torment Ram to the greatest extent. That was…

[Assistant] “Rem.” As she finally connected back to his evil gaze, it reflected in her eyes. The tail of the black ground dragon running, and the sleeping prince on the dragon’s back.


[User] Emilia was challenging the oblivious Holy Dragon.

[Assistant] Ram was gnashing her teeth at Lye Batenkaitos’s maliciousness on the lower floors.

[User] Subaru and two little girls were doing everything they could to save their comrade out in the sands.

[Assistant] "Oraoraoraora! C’mon! I’m down one chopstick, fighting one-handed, and you still can’t touch me? Are you jokin’? Huh? Are ya? !" Roaring heartily, the man with long red hair kicked with immense force.

[User] "Grgh…" Intercepting it with the hilt of the sword in his hand, the elegant knight leaped back a great distance. He couldn’t completely nullify the impact, only disperse it. And before he could steady himself, the next blow was already coming.

[Assistant] "Pinnin’ your hopes on an explosion? Think your sword’ll change if your mood changes? If so, when exactly are you gonna make it happen? Or…" Reid’s lips twisted as he shook his head, glaring with open disdain at the knight. "...Are you plannin’ to lose, relyin’ on the only trick you know? You gonna be satisfied with that?"

[User] "—You are quite indulgent in your comments." The knight softened his expression. "You have said similar things to me time and time again. A boring fighting style, polite sword techniques, lacking in freedom…I happen to have some familiarity with those complaints."

[Assistant] "Hah, figures. Anyone’d feel the same, watchin’ you, even if they aren’t my level. There ain’t nothing to your sword but desperation."

[User] "...‘Desperation,’ you say."

[Assistant] Reid's comments were not derived from any sort of sublime aesthetic. That he grasped Julius’s true nature nonetheless was because those blue eyes, even with one intentionally covered, saw through everything. To him, Julius’s ideals might look like a shallow facade hiding his true character.

[User] A quick glance behind him confirmed the presence of the woman watching over their fight. She was, to Julius, a duplicate of the woman who was the most precious being in the world to him. However, she was a woman who had been occupied by another person.

[Assistant] "Thinking back on it, you and I should have spoken more frankly."

[User] "Julius…?"

[Assistant] "Had we done so, we might have become good friends."


[User] “Since we both care for and admire the same woman.” Julius corrected his collar that had gotten ruffled in the fighting. Even if he had abandoned the pretense of being nameless, he would never cease to be a knight.

[Assistant] Reid scoffed in annoyance yet again when he saw how adamant Julius was. “You know, I was hopin’ that you would change when that other babe and the broad behind you showed up. Maybe you’d finally come at me ready to win, no matter what it took or how it looked. That’s what I wanted to see. You don’t understand yourself, do you?”

[User] "You act all nice and proper, like a knight, but that ain’t the real you. Deep down, you’re a stick swinger just like me. All this stuck-up, formal shit just gets in the way.” Pointing his chopstick at Julius, Reid wore a bitter look on his face.

[Assistant] In response, Julius closed his eyes. After a moment’s silence, he finally murmured, “I see. I feel like I finally understand.”

[User] “Ahh? Understand what?”

[Assistant] “Why you are so relentless with me.”

[User] Julius finally understood why Reid went to such lengths to lead him about by the nose. “You saw in me what also exists inside you.”

[Assistant] “Spare me complex crap like that, you scrawny beansprout. I just do what I want, how I want. And my instincts are tellin’ me that you’d be more interesting without that mask.”

[User] “That’s why I’m tryin’ to peel it off. You get it, too, right? Stay like that and you’ll never reach me. Stay like that and you won’t be able to look cool for the broad behind you.”

[Assistant] Julius smiled bitterly at seeing Reid jerk his chin, gesturing toward Echidna. “All the more reason I cannot bend my very being.”

[User] “Say what?” Reid scowled.

[Assistant] “You are undoubtedly correct. Much of what you say rings true… It is a forgotten history in this world where everyone has forgotten me, but I am not the legitimate child of the Juukulius house,” Julius began, loud enough to reach Echidna, who was stoutheartedly facing forward.

[User] “I was born to a mother who was a commoner and a father who abandoned his noble birth to be with her. So I am, in origin, a commoner.


[User] "When my mother and father passed away, my uncle became my adoptive father and took me in. It was he who introduced me to the culture and education of nobility… Thus, my way of life is a manufactured one."

[Assistant] "A botched sham, more like it."

[User] "It may very well be. At heart, I may simply be the same child running through the fields in commoner’s clothes and laughing with friends, a rustic child who knows nothing of grander ideals." Clueless as to what proper decorum was and without any lofty ideals to maintain, just living his days to the fullest. That was the kind of future he could have expected. But then that future disappeared, carried away in the same flash flood that took his parents away from him.

[Assistant] "Which is why I pretend myself a knight. I occupy myself with these pretensions, sealing away what some would call my true self."

[User] "You…"

[Assistant] "Ignorant and unknowing, I encountered an ideal. I dreamed of becoming a knight. I wanted to become a gallant and upstanding figure. That aspiration is what brought me here." There was a renewed strength in Julius’s yellow gaze as he adjusted his cape. Reid had been annoyed, but now his expression showed suspicion. It was surprising that he stayed quiet even though he was being contradicted. The most outrageous, inconsiderate man was engrossed by Julius’s words. Julius continued in a loud voice.

[User] "I am an artless man. The superficial is often my first concern. I have come this far, believing that if I hold a splendid blade, wear impressive clothes, and speak with courtesy, I can become the man I want to be. And so I will continue holding on to that stubborn pride and pageantry." He knew there were people who despised such pretension. Natsuki Subaru was a perfect example. But Julius saw things differently.

[Assistant] "Good posture, upholding appearances, striving to embody the kind of person you wish to be seen as—those are a measure of one’s determination to endure. That is the facade I have dedicated myself to and will never betray."

[Assistant] "There are those who dismiss the value of appearances. However, I believe there as just as many who are dazzled by them. The same way I am so enthralled with knighthood." He couldn’t remember who first sowed the seeds of his admiration for knights. But in time, Julius became known as the Finest of Knights. The reason for that wasn’t his polished swordsmanship, nor his refined spirit magic. Nor was it the fundamental strength that underpinned both of those. It was because those around Julius Juukulius believed that the way he lived and the way of a knight were one and the same. Because his pomp and circumstance was so dazzling that it was the finest example they had of what a knight should aspire to be. With that, Julius’s expression softened as he turned toward Echidna.


[User] He shook his head as he regarded the woman who was borrowing the form of his beloved master, the woman who regretted from the bottom of her heart that she couldn’t remember Julius. He wanted to let her know that she shouldn’t feel guilty for it. "There is no need to fear, regret, or bemoan what is forgotten. Because the place where you can find me will always be the chivalrous code that everyone knows, and the ideal who all aspire to follow.”

[Assistant] And he could say the same thing to they who had remained here for him. “Sorry for everything, my sprouts. Clinging to our lost bond, unable to let go, I have troubled you all this time. I shall free you from that yoke now.”

[User] Drawn by his voice, six vivid, glimmering lights came into view—six spirits, one of each attribute, Julius Juukulius’s six quasi-spirits. The beings who he couldn’t bring himself to let go, who had been by Julius Juukulius’s side before he ever became a knight. They, too, had forgotten Julius when his name was stolen by Gluttony’s authority. However, the bond of spirit and contractor remained, and drawn by Julius’s innate blessing of spirit attraction, they had remained near and yet distant. Believing that he could repair the bond he had with them if he recovered his name, he had not attempted to let them go. It was an act of utter foolishness. With everything around him so horribly changed, he had not wanted to lose what little remained. However…

[Assistant] “You did well to stay with me so long, my sprouts. I indulged myself in your affection, and in lingering attachment I refused to let you slip away out of a forlorn hope that I might return to those bygone days as if nothing had happened. Today, I shall relinquish that weak, pathetic, and cowardly self.” As if in confusion, the quasi-spirits swayed while spinning around him. Julius gently extended his arm to them. Seeing his hand outstretched like a perch, they obliged him by gathering there. Julius smiled at the faint lights resting upon his arm.

[User] “I was afraid of change. However, there are things that cannot be gained without the resolve to lose something first. Such as the seed of love sprouting into full bloom. Perhaps even a future where I might see just what sort of flowers you sprouts might become after spending so much time at my side.”

[Assistant] “” They didn’t respond. However, it seemed as if they anticipated what would happen next, and Julius did not want to keep them any longer…

[User] “My sprouts! I shall free you. Forgive me for clinging so long to a broken bond.” With his words, the quasi-spirits flew away from his arm. It seemed as if they had all been struck by something. In truth, something did pierce Julius and the quasi-spirits—a pain that almost felt like a jolt of lightning. The bond that had linked their souls had been severed.


[User] Julius experienced the detachment of souls, feeling a terrible ache tearing at his chest.

[Assistant] "Even so, I would call upon you once again."

[User] "I love you. If you can accept the love of someone as pretentious as myself, then let us be bound once more. Let us forge a new pact!!" Julius raised his arm to the ceiling with a shout.

[Assistant] A soft light enveloped Julius Juukulius’s entire body, as a gentle warmth soothed the wound in his soul left by their severed pact

[User] "That’s right. My beautiful blossoms."

[Assistant] The pain of the severed pact was soothed by a new bond. As the six lights shone with a stronger glow than ever before, Julius Juukulius looked forward.


[User] "I have kept you waiting, Sword Saint Reid Astrea. It is an honor to make your acquaintance." Swinging his knight’s sword, Julius grabbed the edge of his cloak and performed an elegant bow. Raising his face, transforming himself completely into one of the most admired symbols in this world, he introduced himself. "I am the Finest of Knights, Julius Juukulius. I am the sword of the Kingdom that shall cut you down."

[Assistant] "I am the Finest of Knights, Julius Juukulius. I am the Sword of the Kingdom that shall cut you down." Julius grasped the hem of his cape and bowed as the Sword Saint before him fell silent.

[User] Closing his uncovered eye, Reid didn’t look at Julius. But as he quietly crossed his thick, burly arms. "You would have been stronger if you broke out of your shell.” Reid’s lips curled as he looked at the colorful, gleaming spirits around Julius.

[Assistant] Julius raised his eyebrow and then shook his head. “If you say so, then perhaps it was a possibility.”

[User] “However, I have decided to stay the course. Though you might well be correct that I would have become even stronger were I to break from my shell and completely let loose.”

[Assistant] "Allow me to say with absolute confidence, as a knight, I shall examine myself without reserve. And in doing so, I shall become better in every way than I might have if I had gone down the path you showed me.”

[User] “Hah. What makes you so sure?”

[Assistant] “That much should be obvious.


[User] "The knighthood, I believe, is the manifestation of an ideal. It is pure and true and stronger than anything else. As long as I call myself a knight, that is how I must be as well.” With that declaration to the pinnacle of the way of the sword, the first-generation Sword Saint, Julius, felt his body and his heart grow lighter. On further reflection, he realized that ever since he came to the Pleiades Watchtower—ever since his name had been stolen in the Water Gate City—he had constantly been in a state of unease. Of course he had admonished himself, never allowing it to show. Many would interpret that as the feat of a man with a will of steel, but it wasn’t anything so admirable. As a result of his need to hide his own poor condition, he had ended up deceiving his comrades and even himself. It was the reason he had suffered a string of losses ever since arriving in this tower, including that truly unsightly defeat. Julius should have trusted his companions. He should have asked for their help and shown them how much he cared. Just as his sprouts had done. “I should have reforged the severed bonds. When you are no one, you can become anyone… I am living proof of that fact.” A commoner’s child who came from nothing had become the most respected knight. Julius, who had become no one, should still have been able to become anything. “Even if I had to repeat this moment, I am sure I would still aspire to be like the fiery boy I remember from that fateful day and strive to live up to the ideals of a knight I saw emblazoned on his back. And that would eventually lead me here, to this place, where I challenge you, the pinnacle of the sword…!”

[Assistant] "—Hah." Even Julius thought that line of thinking was absurd. An irrational argument that was laughably arbitrary. However, Reid didn’t react with anger or scorn. He greeted it only with a sharp-toothed grin. And…

[User] "I’ll make you cry." With that, he threw down the chopstick in his hand and took a big leap back. As Julius readied himself, Reid slowly reached his hand to the side. His large hand grasped the sword of selection—having escaped from the fetters of his intended role as examiner and gained his freedom, he gripped that holy sword. “‘Fool who attained the heavenly sword, gain his sanction.’”

[Assistant] "That’s my line… Though I forgot it, since it just slipped out before."

[User] Adjusting his grip on the sword, testing the feel of the blade, Reid pointed the tip effortlessly at Julius. It was a movement without any special intent, but that simple gesture exuded so much pressure that Julius felt goose bumps rising all over his body. "Gonna go cryin’ to mommy already?"

[Assistant] “…No. My heart leaped at the realization that I’m challenging a legend." It was no bluff. Julius gave a genuine answer as his emotion soared.


[User] “What are you smilin’ at?”

[Assistant] “Nothing. Merely an idle thought. Once I accomplish my goals here and return home, I should challenge my good friend Reinhard.” Julius shared the musing he’d just had that went beyond matters of the blade.

[User] “What’d you say your name was?”

[Assistant] “Julius Juukulius. It is a forgettable name, so please do remember it.” After cracking a joke he wouldn’t have been able to laugh at not so long ago, Julius pointed his blade at Reid. He prayed for support and called upon his new pact with the six spirits blooming so beautifully beside him.

[User] “Al Clanvel.” In an instant, light filled the white space as a rainbow shroud appeared in front of the crimson hero.

[Assistant] “Come…”

[User] "Whatever."

[Assistant] “Have at you!! !” The spirit knight’s ultimate attack was met head-on by a white slash.


[User] Echidna experienced a premonition as she first became conscious.

[Assistant] "I don’t want to lose you or the people you care about so much."


[User] "Julius." She wanted to do all she could so that the aurora wouldn’t be overwhelmed by that white light. However, there was nothing she could do. If there was anyone who could do something for Julius Juukulius, it had to be… Touching her breast, she focused on the being sleeping inside her. The original owner of this body. The reason Echidna had come out to this tower in the desert: to find why she remained in such a deep slumber.

[Assistant] —But that was a lie. Echidna already knew why she wasn’t waking up. The girl who boasted of her own greed, who talked boldly about wanting to possess absolutely everything. Once she had gotten her hands on something, she was loath to let it go. She hated the idea of losing anything. So of course, there was only one explanation.

[User] "When you gave control to me, you slipped into your own Odo and entered a state where the outside world can’t affect you. In a way, your Odo is a self-contained world." And she had closed herself off in that place. The reason was obvious. If she came outside, she might be affected. Out here, she was vulnerable to the influence of the Archbishop of Gluttony’s fearsome authority.


[User] That might force her to forget things she wanted to remember. It could force her to let go of things she wanted to hold on to. Anastasia Hoshin could forget Julius Juukulius.

[Assistant] —After watching him act so desperately as a nameless knight, then seeing his good and bad sides, she was sure. Even if Anastasia forgot, she could tell her. "Ahh, right." She thought she was simply an artificial spirit who had fulfilled her reason for being the moment she was born. Surprisingly, it had not ended there. A bridge between a precious girl and a precious knight. What could be more important? It was laughable to think she had been born for this, but it was a terribly weighty role. So…

[User] “Not seeing your knight’s coolest moment? As stingy as you are, there’s no way you would miss something like that, right?”


[Assistant] The white light pressed forward, threatening to blot out the aurora. Even after pouring out everything he had and borrowing the strength of the six spirits, Julius was still being overwhelmed. He had used his greatest trump card while his opponent had simply swung a sword seriously for the first time in this battle. He was astonished at the absurdity of the situation. At the same time, there was an emotion welling inside his breast that agreed this was how it was meant to be. A sword stroke that could split the world. The ultimate technique of a Sword Saint to rival Reinhard’s. In the middle of a life-or-death struggle, Julius had an idle thought. If Reid and Reinhard fought, who would come out on top? Legend versus legend, Sword Saint against Sword Saint. In a battle that could never happen, who would claim victory? Unfortunately, he would never get the chance to find out.

[User] “In which case, I will have to find out myself with my own body.” The only people who would ever have the chance to cross blades with both Reinhard van Astrea and Reid Astrea were those who had reached this tower. And the only ones to actually do so were Julius and Emilia, who had gone to the upper floor. Julius had no intention of yielding that role to anyone else. All that remained was to win. He had to break through the white light and defeat Reid Astrea with his rainbow. For the sake of that, he poured his whole spirit into his sword and took one step forward… If even the tiniest bit of his pride and strength as the Finest of Knights could be infused into the tip of his blade…

[Assistant] Julius hears a voice.

[User] “Julius.” It was a voice that should not have been able to reach him. And yet it surely did. Or perhaps it echoed not in his ears but somewhere deeper, in the depths of his soul.


[User] “—Go, my knight!” Those words gave him the final push his blade needed.

[Assistant] “Ire! Qua! Aro! Ake! Ine! Ness!” He called out to the spirits who had each become a part of the aurora.

[User] “Ooooooooooooooh!! !” With unusual fervor, he let out a bloody roar. Prepared for death, he chose not to prioritize poise, but he reassured himself that this was not the same as abandoning his core tenets wholesale. Julius advanced with absolute confidence in his guiding principles.

[Assistant] Reid’s slash cut through space, severing sound and color alike.

[User] The pressure of the white light increased, and the unwavering gleam of the rainbow aurora only grew in intensity. Two powerful lights crashed violently against each other…

[Assistant] “…Ah.” That struggle seemed like it might never end, until it suddenly reached an unexpected conclusion. The eye patch covering the Sword Saint’s left eye fluttered down to the white floor.

[User] “…Ah.” Julius was dumbfounded as a feeble sound escaped his lips.

[Assistant] Unable to stop his momentum, he thrust his aurora-clad sword forward, piercing his opponent’s vitals.

[User] “Tch, damn it. What a lame way to end this.” Julius was shocked even though he was the one who had done the stabbing.

[Assistant] Reid was utterly calm, despite the sword buried in his chest, he showed no sign of pain on his face. He didn’t so much as wince.

[User] His burly chest sported another wound in addition to the one made by Julius’s sword—they were cracks that reached his arms, legs, neck, and cheeks. Wounds that looked like cracked glass spread across his whole body. Julius understood on an instinctive level what it meant and noticed an impossible distortion that should never have existed was being corrected.

[Assistant] "Well, there it is."


[User] "There ain’t nothing in the world that can contain a guy like me ’cept my own body." Reid said as he looked at his disintegrating hand. It was plain to see that he was right.

[Assistant] After Gluttony’s authority pulled him in, Reid Astrea took over the Archbishop’s body and returned to this world. But that didn’t change the fact that the body was fundamentally the same one that belonged to the Archbishop of Gluttony, Roy Alphard. In other words, the container Roy Alphard couldn’t possibly hold Reid Astrea’s soul. The battle with Julius had pushed it to the limit.

[User] "Then maybe you should have been the one to—!"

[Assistant] "Kah-kah-kah. Things never go the way you want ’em to—if you’re a weakling, that is. What, you gonna cry about it?" Casting down his sword, Reid donned a nasty grin. How could he act like that? He was doomed to disappear from the world once more. Perhaps, if he had defeated Julius, he might have been able to live a new life. That possibility had slipped away.

[User] "Dumbass. What was I gonna do if I came back to life? Maybe play around with that babe who passed through before, or the broad over there might have been fine, too. Or that sexy babe…"

[Assistant] "D-do you really have no regrets…?"

[User] "Nope. Doin’ what I want, when I want is my style. It would be a lot easier for you if you did the same."

[Assistant] “…I am grateful for your advice. However, I believe that path to be much thornier.” Julius had chosen to keep his shell. He would wear it with his head held high. It would be fair to accuse him of living a lie, or perhaps more gently, to say that he was playing the part of someone fundamentally different from himself, in a way. Because Julius had known someone who had chosen that path, had learned that he could live in that way, as he wished to be, he wouldn’t choose Reid’s uninhibited wildness for himself, though he found it dazzling to behold. Tracing the scar beneath his left eye that would forever remain, Julius made a vow to the pinnacle of swords.

[User] Reid snorted in annoyance at that response.

[Assistant] And then he looked at his own chest, pointing to the one mark that wasn’t a result of the cracks formed by passing his body’s limits. "Don’t get the wrong idea, you bastard. It was a fluke your sword reached me. If this was my body, you wouldn’t even be able to touch me with your snot."

[User] "Not that I would ever attempt such a thing…"

[Assistant] "Hah! Loosen up a little!" Reid hit Julius’s shoulder. Tensing at the impact, Julius let out a long, deep breath. It wasn’t as if he had come to terms with everything, or even accepted it. But while he was flustered by what had happened before his eyes, to let this moment slip away would be unbearable.


[User] The cracks spread enough that the end was in sight. So Julius raised his sword he had pulled out of Reid and held it in front of his face. "From the depths of my heart, I respect the strength of your blade."

[Assistant] "I don’t need the adoration of a guy. I’m runnin’ away with this victory, Julius."

[User] Julius gazed in wonder when he was addressed by name at the very end. However, since he had decided in his heart to stay steady, he hid his shock with a slight smile and a bow. As the Finest of Knights, he had a duty to uphold his ideals. Just like he had so boldly claimed when he introduced himself to this living legend. "Indeed, to the very end—it is your victory, Reid Astrea."

[Assistant] "Hah. Not a bad look for a loser." With those parting words, the fractures spread… 6

[User] There was no sound when the widening cracks finally broke.