Volume 5 - CH 57

—Since Subaru had left his life in the hands of fate, about ten minutes had passed.

Regulus: “Come on already! Strive after something for once, how about obediently dying here?”

Subaru: “Uwaaah!”

Regulus kicked at the house, cutting into it with terrifying precision, and the building without its support toppled helplessly.

The cloud of debris accompanying the collapse filled the vicinity, and Regulus, whose own vision would up clouded, clicked his tongue impatiently— listening to these tiny sounds, Subaru returned to the battlefield that had been exhausted of its traps.

Regulus: “Restlessly moving about… do you have no notion of attacking straightforwardly at all? Although I couldn’t care less about your relationship with that whore, but if you’re claiming to be their knight or whatever, is this any way to fight!?”

Subaru: “Say whatever you like, you talk until you’re satisfied!”

Regulus: “There you are!!”

If Subaru had tried to refute Regulus’s malicious mutterings, he’d receive in return a handful of sand that would end his life.

The instant after Subaru had escaped far away, the debris that he’d been hiding behind vaporized.

Being brushed would lead to  fatal injury, a single strike would mean instant death.

So far, Regulus’s attacks had all miraculously missed. As contact would instantly mean the end, thanking fortune for this would be a tad inappropriate.

Subaru: “Concentrate! Concentrate! Concentrate!”

Catching his breath, wiping away sweat, he tensed all his attention to prepare for evasion.

The rising dust stained his face, and Subaru spat out a mouthful of saliva that tasted of dirt.

Putting the results of his parkour training into effect.

Unlike the days when his exercise had been without goal, the clear sense of purpose of right now had an enormous impact on the state of Subaru’s mind.

In the forest near the New Roswaal Mansion, repeated every single day, to the point of being sick of it— that time hadn’t been for nothing.

Subaru: “Hah, no matter what, hah, I’m just a guy who can at most mess around with the skill of an amateur…!”

Even then, he was someone who had stopped a Sin Archbishop of the Witch Cult.

Considering the battlefield situation and Subaru’s personal ability, to say that he was accomplishing something special wouldn’t be much of a stretch.

If Pristella could safely escape from the Witch Cult’s sinister hands, no matter what he’d try to contribute just a bit more—

Subaru: “So……!”

Regulus: “Are you going to keep trying to kill time with this, do you seriously think that someone like you could be of any threat to me? You’re just someone who figured out [Greed]’s secret a bit, but don’t mistake that for the ability to stand against me!”

Without even room to catch his breath, the enraged Regulus increased the scope of his destruction. Regulus no longer cared about how much collateral damage he’d cause in order to kill Subaru.

The Pristella which was famed for its beautiful scenery, was gradually losing those sights from the crimes of the Witch Cult.

The stone bridge that spanned the waterway was shattered, the store meticulously decorated with glass was destroyed. Finding a feeling odd beauty in the flashing of shivering glass that was dissonant from the scene, Subaru believed in his right foot, and took the momentum of destruction as a cue to flee.

Ironically, from his right foot came a surge of power.

Pitch black, infected with who knows what, that right foot was currently Subaru’s lifeline.

Lashing out with his whip, latching onto the raingutter of the  horizontally oriented buildings. Believing in the tension of his whip, Subaru stomped hard on the ground, crossing the streets as if running along the wall— passing by Regulus’s side as if to specifically force the evildoer to watch him with widened eyes, he stuck out his tongue for extra provocation.

Regulus: “You!! Have no idea just what you’re worth!!”

The stone thrown from his swinging arm, flew far off, completely missing Subaru who fled using the momentum of yanking his whip.

Without even considering an attack, using solely the tactics of escape.

Those who had perished at [Greed]’s hands, had died due to their excessive courage. Weak, fragile, and timidly insisting on escaping. Certainly, such a person could not lose.

Thus, that misfortune could be wiped clean here.

For that goal—

Subaru: “Is it still not ready yet, Emilia? —This guy’s, heart!”

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Emilia: “Someone with a clue… isn’t there anyone?”

Before the brides who had promised their aid, Emilia accepted the mystery of possibilities and bit her lip.

The fifty-three assembled brides, all glanced back and forth at each other at Emilia’s question, before finally shaking their heads weakly.

Sylphy: “My most sincere apologies. Casting that man’s control aside and wanting to help you, is certainly genuine. Only…”

Bowing her head with remorse, this was the representative of the wives, the blonde woman named Sylphy.

Amongst all of Regulus’s wives, she was the one who was most well informed about their current situation, and so she’d become a representative of sorts.

Sylphy: “I can scarcely believe that that man would place something so important with us. Though that man may call us wives and brides and whatnot… but actually acting as if we’re husband and wife, has never once happened.”

Emilia: “Although I’ve been told of Regulus being a suuper problematic person, that shouldn’t be the case. Regulus’s … [Lion’s Heart] is definitely, definitely placed on you.”

Although Sylphy had begun to feel discouraged due to the lack of clues, Emilia would not be so easily disheartened.

At long last, Sylphy and the other wives, of their own will, had found their resolve to escape from Regulus’s grasp. This was only the beginning of their resolve. To become discouraged at this very first step was absolutely unallowable.

And as for Emilia, she believed in Subaru with nary a trace of doubt.

Subaru was amazing. Not only was he aware of so many things Emilia didn’t know, but he could apply knowledge and a lively attitude to a solution, no matter what adversity they’d had to face in the past. And so,

Emilia held no misgivings about his suspicion that Regulus’s authority was [Lion’s Heart].

This was not to say that she was acting thoughtlessly or with blind trust.

Just because it’s Subaru, it’s okay, was not the case. Even Subaru would make mistakes, and on occasion he would fail. However, that mistake would be corrected. Or she’d take his hand and become a force that could help him, this had become a source of Emilia’s trust in him.

Emilia: “Subaru thinks that [Lion’s Heart] must reside within the wives…”

Touching her chin as if lost in thought, Emilia remembered the secret of [Greed]’s power that Subaru had shared with her.

—An authority that could stop the time of an object, that could leave it unable to be changed.

Although she’d initially thought such a power inconceivable, she found that too much fell in place with that explanation.

Could this truly exist in reality? Rather than being an uncertainty, it would be better to say that—

Emilia: “There, a suuuper inconceivable power is at work.”

Apparently, this was something even more irrational than a Divine Protection.

Unfortunately, Emilia, lacking a Divine Protection herself, could not comprehend the power inherent to those who were blessed with Divine Protections.

However, in Regulus, she could sense something similar. Something far more ferocious and ugly than a Divine Protection, were these authorities.

Emilia: “Heart, heart…”

To Emilia, the worst case scenario would be if one of the wives were truly a confidante, connected to Regulus’s true heart. This real bride would then be siding with Regulus, and would be concealing her heart from Emilia.

Emilia: “——”

Leaving the contemplative Emilia aside, the brides congregated around Sylphy, scrutinizing their previous conversations for clues.

Emilia’s amethyst eyes carefully scrutinized their faces as they engaged in a serious discourse.

At the same time, she directed the micro-spirits to look for changes in their bodies. These micro-spirits weren’t particularly sensitive to changes in people, so their behaviour as if to test those who had applied for cooperation was decidedly unpleasant.

However, her misgivings had long exceeded the level that “I don’t want to doubt” could curb.

Spirits: “Mmm……”

The micro-spirits gave a response.

Although it could not be said to be certain, the wives had given no obvious reaction. Within the sphere that Emilia could observe, there were clearly no wives who served as Regulus’s confidant.

In that case, the only other possibility that came to mind was—

Emilia: “Eh?”

Suddenly feeling as if her hair were being tugged on, Emilia immediately raised her head.

Before her eyes, dancing in Emilia’s line of sight was a micro-spirit glowing blue. The micro-spirit that should have been tracking one of the brides, swayed in the air as if wanting to convey something to Emilia.

Her eyes tracing the spirit’s line of travel, she found that it now faced Sylphy. She too was currently working hard, as the lead singer of the chorus of the wives’ revolt against Regulus.

The micro-spirit was fluttering around her back, as if bobbing up and down.

Emilia: “Hey, do you have a moment to talk?”

At Emilia’s greeting, with an expression of surprise Sylphy turned. Emilia walked over to Sylphy, sneaking a glance at the micro-spirit which emphasized its presence near her chest.

Sylphy: “What is it?”

Emilia: “Excuse me for a second.”

No one present beside Emilia could see the micro-spirits without physical form. So no matter how hard micro-spirits tried to communicate, they could reach no one but Emilia.

So, when Emilia suddenly reached a hand out toward Sylphy’s chest, Sylphy looked back to Emilia as if shocked.

Sylphy?: “Eh? Eheheh?”

Emilia: “Wait a moment, please stay quiet. I’m checking something right now.”

Sylphy: “What’re you checking, hey, what’re you checking…?”

Her cheeks reddening, Sylphy questioned Emilia without being able to mask her surprise.

Emilia then answered Sylphy with a serious expression.

Emilia: “The rhythm, of your heart.”

Sylphy: “——!”

Emilia: “It’s because I’m a spiritualist. Though my original contracted partner is currently on leave, I can still communicate with the micro-spirits. I asked those micro-spirits to investigate your bodies, and received a response that only your heartbeat was strange.”

Sylphy: “My heart……?”

Sylphy swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

Her expression was entirely one of disbelieving surprise. Her shock was merely a matter of course. After all, she’d only just heard a brief summary of [Lion’s Heart], before being told that her heartbeat had changed.

And if things had progressed to this point, there there was only one explanation—

Emilia: “Too much… Regulus combines his heart, together with the heart of someone who he claims to be his wife…!”

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Regulus: “No matter how you look at it, although you’re wearing the image of virtuousness while reciting your respectable rhetoric, where the notion that your battle to buy time would actually bear fruit came from, is a complete mystery to me. And although I don’t know how you could conceive of my power, but now having clearly understood it, you would really want to keep fighting?”

As he glanced down at the bloodied Subaru, Regulus seemed to tilt his face upward in boast of his victory.

Collapsed on the ground, lying by the side of a building as he took pained breaths, half of Subaru’s face was stained with fresh blood.

Subaru: “Ah, guu…”

Regulus: “Although I’ve let you run about here and there, you’re really boring after having fallen. Well, that’s to be expected. It couldn’t be not like that. Considering the difference between you and I, this is merely reaping the crop when the harvest is over. With this, at last, without extraneous unpleasant moods, the end has come.”

Approaching the collapsed Subaru, Regulus’s heels crushed the rocks littering his path. His authority was still active, as if he wanted it to be witnessed.

Regulus: “In summary, don’t you feel that this is the fault of your excessively arrogant self? Up until now, there have been many like you, who wanted to beat me down or rouse a battle against me. But of all those people, not a single one has ever touched me. That is the fate of those whose desires supercede their abilities, an absolute law of nature. Do you understand?”

The Sin Archbishop of [Greed] discussing the nature of desire, asserted his contempt for those who allowed excessive desire to immolate themselves.

To have desire would create struggle without meaning. To have desire would create starvation without boundary. To have desire would create ruthlessness without limit.

For this exact reason, to be without want and without desire was valuable.

Just pray if you are poor, to have your own talent is optimal.

Regulus: “Just being content with the present enough, craving what is beyond own abilities will lead your own destruction. Gathering together one after another but refusing to learn, you are really a bunch of hopeless creatures.”

With a sigh, Regulus slid a hand through his white hair, shaking his head as if he was drunk on the throes of a tragedy.

However, the sorrow in that voice was no act. Regulus was more or less from the bottom of his heart, sighing at the foolishness of Subaru and others who were not himself.

That was the self-righteous, undetectably lonely voice of someone omnipotent.

Subaru: “Before… I die… your… power’s…”

Regulus: “Hah? Aah, [a last offering], as the saying goes? Trust you to know something archaic as that. You’ve bested me in an irrelevant store of knowledge, is that what you’re trying to say?”

Regulus laughed as he watched Subaru whose breaths looked on the verge of cutting off, wishing only for that last answer. Without a single route of escape, all that was left for his sorrowful existence was imminent death.

Regulus: “Well, you’ve already gotten this far. At the very end, I’ll give your negligible self a reward for your efforts. I’ll tell you, that this time you struggled to your very last to buy, is all completely meaningless.”

Subaru: “Meaningless… you mean…”

Regulus: “It’s all really rather simple. My heart that you and that woman are searching for is indeed carried by my wives. —But, as to who is carrying it, neither I or any of them know. Equal rights, equally divided love, and the responsibilities and obligations they bear are equal as well.”

Toward the astonished Subaru, Regulus shrugged with a “Well, it’s sort of like this?”.

Regulus: “For those who have taken multiple wives, treating all of them equally is a matter of course. In addition to a few clever justifications, only those who practice equality are allowed to exercise their authority. In other words, I’m betting on my life. Constantly, I am manifesting my love for them.”

Subaru: “And the wives are unaware of this heart’s condition because?”

Regulus: “Not like it’s a particularly complicated reason. —Constantly hearing the sound of one’s own heartbeat everyday, there isn’t anyone out there who would continue to pay it any mind, is there?”

Watching Regulus who laughed with his mouth open, Subaru understood.

The method with which Regulus hid his heart, that vicious method.

Both simple and effective, and more defensive than any other method.

Subaru: “With your heart and your wives’ hearts, you…!”

Regulus: “Managing the husband’s property is indeed one of the wife’s obligations. But you see, since I am a man without desire. In the first place, I don’t have the amount of meaningless possessions that guys like you do. And so, what is entrusted to my wives is my existence itself… what magnificence, isn’t this the very essence of matrimonial love?”

—Disgusting.

Regulus’s consciously ruthless authority. Without malice, without condemnation, he believed that was the natural order and process.

Subaru had come up with a number of theories on [Lion’s Heart]’s hidden methods, before sending Emilia to the church. But no matter how he looked at it, this had not been one of them.

Moreover, if no one could break—.

Subaru: “Something so far beyond reason… Emilia, she couldn’t possibly do anything.”

Just now, if what Regulus had boasted of with a face full of pride was in fact the entirety of [Lion’s Heart], then there should still be a method of breaking through it. If that could be conveyed to Emilia, with her power, she could take care of it with haste.

The question was not one of possibility, but one of correctness.

—That is, the choice of life and death.

Regulus: “Hah? Hey, you…”

As he rose with a disgusted expression, Regulus wore an uncomprehending gaze as he watched the Subaru who stared at him.

Being caught up in the demolition of the city, Subaru who had until now seemed to be on the verge of death, brushed the dust from his knees as he stood, still glaring. After a moment, Subaru raised his eyebrows with an “aah” as he noticed Regulus’s incredulousness.

Subaru: “Playing dead… ah, no. Playing the verge of death. Since a flying stone happened to slice my forehead, I just wanted to give it a try, is all.”

Applying blood to his face and pretending to be in agony, had led to now.

With a face full of smiles, Subaru looked at Regulus who had been toyed into the palm of his hand.

Subaru: “I trusted in you. You’re definitely the kind who, if you found a dying enemy, would arrogantly boast of your victory as you rambled on nonstop.”

Regulus: “——!”

Subaru: “Whoa!”

Rising with a jump, Regulus’s body flew forward in a straight line.

With incredibly agile speed, and movements of a dirty casual, he flew in a straight line. In this rare moment, Regulus could achieve an acceleration that could shock even Reinhardt.

However, without being able to see that mechanism, his understanding of it was limited.

Subaru: “Fuuu!”

Accelerating with his right foot, without hesitation his body flew toward the left. Regulus’s goal was to slam directly into Subaru, but he was thwarted by the limitation of [linearity].

In summary, the Regulus’s momentary superhuman ability, was the result of an application of freezing his physical form. The time of his body was cut off from the world, and would not be interfered with again, was that man’s power. If he were to attack suddenly in this way, whether gravity, air resistance, or inertia, none could restrain him.

It wasn’t always in effect, which should be because there were restrictions—

Regulus: “—Guu, you bastard!”

Subaru: “The one who wants to yell is me…! I have to find a way to reach Emilia…”

The position Regulus’s heart, absolutely needed to be communicated.

To communicate it, and to make choices. What method was there—

In order to save the city, Emilia was needed.

Subaru: “Emilia…”

In contrast to Regulus who gathered momentum, Subaru looked in the direction of the church where Emilia should be.

In the midst of the ruined, collapsed street, a street that could not be crossed in Regulus’s aftermath, was a half-destroyed church.

—And that place in the next moment, was engulfed in a brilliance that shone blue and white.

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The hearts of the wives became one with Regulus’s heart.

Emilia’s conclusions caused tremors in all the surrounding wives who heard it.

Most heavily affected was Sylphy, who found herself the recipient of Regulus’s shared heart.

Sylphy: “My heart… and…?”

After her hand fell back, Sylphy’s face stilled as she backed away step by step. The woman standing behind her, worriedly placed her hand on Sylphy’s back.

Sylphy: “Do not touch me!”

In the next moment, Sylphy reflexively spoke as she swung out an arm.

As if to keep the other wives away from her, holding this posture, she looked at Emilia.

Sylphy: “Are you sure there’s no mistake?”

Emilia: “The micro-spirit says it’s unnatural. I, too, can feel a faint sense of overlap in the sound of your heartbeat.”

Sylphy: “——”

Sylphy placed a hand on her chest, closing her eyes as if to confirm what Emilia had just said. The speed, strength, and interval of her heartbeat resounding in her throat, she gave a deep sigh.

Sylphy: “I see… just how much, just to what extent does he want to trample upon the souls of others, that man!”

Emilia: “Wait a moment, what are you doing!?”

Revealing an incredibly dry smile, Sylphy walked into the depths of the church. Half-destroyed from Reinhardt’s attack, in a corner of the church were scattered shards from the skylight, of exquisitely carved glass.

Sylphy plucked up a shard of glass, and turned back.

Sylphy: “You understand, don’t you, that man’s schemes. Imposing his weaknesses unto others, and then forcing resolutions upon them as well.”

Emilia: “Resolutions… are you saying,”

Sylphy: “In order to stop that man’s heart, stopping my own heart is the only feasible way. As that man says, [‘til death do us part], isn’t this the case?”

As she played with the shard of glass, Sylphy spoke in a flippant voice. Emilia understood what she meant, and at the same time picked up on the underlying message. Sylphy’s epiphany and Regulus’s malice.

Emilia: “Wait, you can’t! There has to be something, has to be some other way…”

Sylphy: “Such a convenient way, do you truly believe it exists? With our hearts already joined, stopping just that man’s heartbeat without stopping mine, couldn’t possible be, and,”

Emilia: “Don’t give up so easily! If I could allow something like this, for what have I… Why did I leave that forest!”

There was once again about to be a victim.

Because of Emilia’s lack of power and knowledge, a sacrifice was once again about to happen before her. Just like everyone in the forest. Just like Fortuna or Juice. As if to bury what Emilia’s hands could not reach, everyone but Emilia were inclined to use their own lives.

Sylphy: “The days of being taken as that man’s wife were truly arduous.”

Desperately, Emilia considered if there were any other way.

During this time, Sylphy’s heart gradually calmed down, and with the clarity of approaching the condign finale, she slowly began to grow more resolute.

Sylphy: “Merely in order to avoid trigger that man’s imperial wrath, I held the consciousness of death close. Allowing it to slide no matter how brutal that man was, welcoming the new brides… only for those children who were in the same position as me, no matter what, I wanted to protect them. Just as the one I first met, just as the ones before me protected them.”

Acting as the representative of the wives, presenting herself before all the others no matter what, and now her true meaning was clear.

Before her had been others. Triggering Regulus’s temper, someone who had stood at the forefront of all these seized women. And then Sylphy took that will up, because even now these wives remained still.

Sylphy: “Even if our spirits were defiled by that man, because he would never touch our bodies… Certainly, if both had been defiled, we would have long been unable to withstand. So right until today, no matter the language or voice or behavior of that man, endlessly we enduredandenduredandenduredandenduredandendured and yet!”

Having reached this point, Sylphy who had been biting her lips tilted her face upward.

In her eyes were large, large drops of tears, as well as a scorching rage that seemed searing enough to evaporate even those tears.

Sylphy: “That man’s hand, has tainted even my body! I’d thought something like at least I could protect my body, but even something I wanted to protect that much had never been saved in the first place!”

Tears flowed as a roar from the soul tore itself from her, and Sylphy’s hand wept blood. The glass that she had been gripping firmly had cut through the palm of her hand, and though she frowned at the pain, the corners of her mouth soon pitifully relaxed.

Sylphy: “Because women bearing injuries are atypical, even the slightest of bruises would mean death by that man. This wound, is my freedom.”

Emilia: “——”

Sylphy: “In no way is this your fault. I am incredibly grateful to you. Toward that man, revenge for every single day unto now, a better way could certainly never be found elsewhere.”

With a slight smile at Emilia, Sylphy looked toward the other wives— looked toward those who could be called her companions.

Then clutching the glass with her own two hands, she pressed it against her chest.

Sylphy: “If I die, his heart will be transferred to someone. This is a certainty. That man wouldn’t use just myself alone as a shield for his heart. Just like that, everyone has no reason not to know that man’s stubbornness.”

???: “Surely, it will be so.”

Which one of the brides who whispered that softly was unknown.

As if assenting to what Sylphy had said, the wife who had answered emerged from the crowd. A woman with long chestnut hair, she too took up one of the shards of glass scattered beneath Sylphy’s feet.

Wife: “Something like death, I too have considered it a number of times. Even if I’m living like this, I can’t say that I’m truly alive. I’d rather reunite with my family in the afterlife.”

Wife: “My reason for not doing so was not wanting to die. Even if I were to be liberated from this pain, I wouldn’t have any happy memories from life.”

Wife: “But, if dying… If this life, could bring vengeance on that man can to pass… If my death would be something without meaning…”

One after another, the wives came forth and took up shards of glass.

The brides looked at those sharp edges, as if looking upon their hopes. With Emilia’s words as an opportunity, the wives found their hopes, found something their lives could be spent on.

Sylphy: “Thank you, we are truly grateful to you. —That man, aside from us, he truly has no other wives present. This is something we can absolutely guarantee. So then, we’ll trouble you for what comes after.”

Emilia: “——”

Sylphy: “Please be sure to help us speak. Our anger, must absolutely reach that man. —All we can do is trouble you, having been forced by that man, and then rejecting him successfully, there has only been you.”

Sylpy’s request, was said with a voice full of warmth.

The wives all approached the shattered stained glass of the church that was to be witness to a marriage, holding the fragments in their hands as a symbol, chose their end.

Point thing the sharp edges against their pale necks, with a breath they were to suicide—

Emilia: “Wait a moment.”

That action of certain death, was stopped by Emilia’s words.

Emilia, who had fallen into a silence until now. In her words were [power]. Both in physical and metaphorical meaning.

Hands of ice reaching out from the ground sealed the wives’ movements. The slashing movement was successfully hindered, successfully preventing their suicides.

Sylphy watched Emilia’s movement with wide eyes, and then spoke with a trembling voice,

Sylphy: “I beg you, please understand us! Your, your sentiments, I am truly grateful for. But any method other than this…”

Naught but death could serve as repayment.

Naught but death could strike a blow against that man, against Regulus.

That was Sylphy’s, the wives’, conclusion.

Stopping their own hearts, this sorrowful answer, Emilia also understood. So to figure out how to deny it, thinking and thinking, all along she had been thinking of a way.

And so—

Emilia: “I’m sorry. Not like this.”

Sylphy: “Eh……?”

Emilia: “If it were Subaru, he might have thought of another way. But my head is a bit slow, so no matter how hard I thought, I didn’t have a clue… So,”

Surrounding the muttering Emilia, brilliant lights of blue and white began to dance.

Gaining mana, the swaying light, was the micro-spirits which had entered a visible state. As if to engulf the entire collapsed building, the substantial gathering of micro-spirits began to appear— that was, in a sense, a sight as sacred as a dream, and Sylphy and the others held their breaths.

Emilia: “I want, to make your heartbeats stop. —Because if you stab your throats with a weapon like that, you won’t die such easy deaths.”

After Emilia lifted her hand, the micro-spirits seemed to follow that movement as they shone, and a blueish snow began to fall in the church. The snow layered thinly around the brides, and where it brushed their skin, it turned into white crystal.

This magic that Emilia was capable of, was both the gentlest and cruelest.

Emilia: “—Sorry. I can only use this method.”

Sylphy: “Please don’t apologize.”

After realizing Emilia’s intentions, Sylphy breathed a sigh of relief. The sentiments of the wives was in alignment. They looked at Emilia, who was unable to form even a single sound, and spoke in unison.

Wives: “Thank you.”

Emilia: “——”

Then, a brilliance that shone blue and white engulfed the church—

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Icicles rising as if an assault from the sky made a complete frozen seal around the church.

Forming a sound so sorrowful as if to roll over the sky, as if the sky itself had turned white and died. Within that structure of ice that had risen, how much sorrow had gathered?

No one, save for the one who was responsible for this scene, could understand.

Subaru: “… Emilia.”

The ice created by the incomparably powerful magical vortex was peerless beyond measure, and could not have been made by anyone but Emilia.

[Lion’s Heart]… truly had been subdued— along with the lives of the gathered brides, his heartbeat had stopped. Subaru had already thought of the method. The only possible method.

Then, that method would have been impossible to actualize.

He’d even made an emotional preparation for Emilia’s failure to reach the church.

But, upon seeing this spectacle the answer was clear.

—Chosen by Emilia, that answer.

Regulus: “Heyhey, isn’t this a bit…”

Looking in the same direction as Subaru was Regulus, who could imagine the result of this ice structure, and his cheeks began to twitch. The place where the icicles were raised were where his wives currently were, Regulus of course well understood. As well as what that spectacle meant.

And so.

Regulus: “You two! Is this what you set out to do! Is this something that humans are capable of!? Seizing another’s beloved, arbitrarily without authorization! Just… just how coldhearted can you be to do such a cruel thing—!?”

Regulus stomped at the ground as he shouted thus at the bloodied Subaru.

His soles shattered the slate, and even distorted the earth enough to create an illusion that the city itself was shattering.

Rushing forward without second thought, Regulus stabbed his fingers at Subaru.

Regulus: “Satisfied? Are you satisfied?! In order to kill me alone, you dared to snatch away the lives of all my faultless wives, and even felt happy to have done so, your humanity—”

His mouth spewing dirty curses, the body of Regulus who spoke of the sorrows of being plundered from was suddenly sent flying.

The reason for that was, the spear of ice sent by the girl who had emerged from the church.

The spear of ice struck Regulus with astonishing momentum, ceaselessly striking the body of the standing Regulus in succession. His body was sent flying like a doll, and in the process several more spears of ice flew at him.

The momentum did not stop there, and like this Regulus’s body was slammed straight into the waterway, and with a loud crack the waterway was frozen, becoming an ice sculpture in Regulus’s form.

Emilia: “—All that just now, consider it a divorce from your wives.”

Striding across the frosted streets, Emilia returned to the battlefield in a flash of silver.

She stood on the collapsed street, looking at the approaching Subaru, whose pitiful sight made her narrow her amethyst eyes.

Emilia: “Subaru, those wounds…”

Subaru: “I’m fine! It’s just a scratch that bled a bit more. More importantly, the church… where are the wives?”

Emilia: “… Everyone, wished to defeat Regulus. So,”

Averting her gaze, Emilia’s attention drifted slightly back to the church.

This reaction was enough, enough to convey that Emilia’s choice did not belong to her alone. And the weight of that choice, Subaru would not have to bear it as well.

Subaru: “But, but the effect of [Lion’s Heart] is interrupted. That man’s invincibility trick should be at an end.”

Emilia: “No. It doesn’t seem to be something that’ll be so easily solved.”

Subaru: “Eh?”

The sacrifices made as a result of our choices, should have been the price paid for the answer, Emilia shook her head slightly toward Subaru who was thinking such thoughts.

As he was astonished by her reaction, the ice filling the waterway behind them began to crack.

The crack began to expand, affecting even the flow of the blocked off waterways. The collapse spreading to where waterway met water flow, Subaru’s soles were already immersed in overflowing water.

Regulus: “Truly a laughably ridiculous arrogance, vulgarity that is incorrigible, incompetence that brings speechlessness, shamelessness that brings disbelief, inferiority that is hopeless…!”

Leaving the canal, the murderer who was drenched but not wet in the slightest approached.

His white suit unstained, his white hair unshaken by the wind, his white face free of wounds, without even a drop of sweat. This existence was practically a daydream—no, better to call it a nightmare that appeared midday.

Regulus: “And now, what will you do? You two, how do you plan to take responsibility? Though you droned on and on like you’d done something great, in the end this was nothing but a failed miscalculation, in the end there were only sacrifices, how do you plan to fix this situation!?”

In the form of this Regulus who was enraged to the point of madness, the effect of the unchanging [Lion’s Heart] yet lingered.

Emilia had made an assault on that level, forget being wounded, even a trace of what had happened could not be seen at all.

Subaru: “How’s this possible! Even just now you were speaking of [Lion’s Heart] unending effects… Presence of mind to bluff in a situation like that, how could someone like you have it!”

Regulus: “Do you think me so kind that I’d turn a deaf ear to that which can’t be ignored? I’ll say this first, isn’t the notion of not infringing on others’ hearts basic etiquette!? Clearly no one’s looking down on the rights of others, so how is it that you two are always doing something so mentally deficient? Conscience aside, do you lack in even basic intelligence?”

Facing these unintentionally provocative lines from Subaru, Regulus looked down with an unimpressed expression, knocking against his head of white hair.

Regulus: “It seems, that that contemptuous prostitute’s counting is wrong, isn’t it? Not remembering the number of lives even though she’s the one who stole them away, that’s a killer’s way of thinking. Certainly there’s something wrong with it.”

Subaru: “Since when did you have the right to say those words…”

Regulus: “Don’t surreptitiously try to change the topic. Anything I’ve done to date and such, has absolutely nothing to do with that woman’s ungratefulness. Don’t turn your back on the sins you have committed. Don’t look away. Tossing your own issues aside to blame the other party, don’t you feel ashamed to call yourself a person?”

No matter where he went, carrying a vexing share of rage to impose on others, was Regulus.

Carrying not a single doubt about his way of life, was the foundation of Regulus Corneas.

How many contradictions would appear in his series of speeches before he was satisfied.

Discourse with Regulus was truly damaging to sanity. Facing a Sin Archbishop of the Witch Cult, seemed to create an illusion that normalcy was wrong.

Regulus: “But… look, you miscalculated.”

The substitutes for his heart, would even destroying all the alternatives of those be unable to lift Regulus’s invincibility?

There should have been no problem in theory. During his risky bet with his life, Regulus had proven that he was not so smart as to be able calculate with skillful words the way Subaru could.

Regulus did not have the ability to deceive or rely on his eloquence to mislead.

He was completely unable to change his way of thought. In his world, there was no one but him. Marriage was merely imitation, speeches were merely ideological, battles were merely conducted as an outsider. His way of being was merely pure malice— almost exactly like a [Little King].

Emilia: “Fifty-three people…”

Next to the trembling Subaru, Emilia muttered.

She has not until now, toward Regulus’s fallacies, curses, unspeakable complaints, shown no reaction whatsoever. Only one sentence, all she spoke was this one sentence.

Regulus: “Huh? What? Just now, what did you say?”

Emilia: “I said, fifty-three people. The number of women you forcibly brought to your side. Could it be that I’m wrong? That would be absolutely impossible. I could never miscount the number of lives.”

Regulus: “Hmm—mm. And? So what? What are you trying to say?”

With a contemptuous attitude, Regulus dismissed Emilia’s quiet assertion. Digging a finger into his ear, an attitude full of ridicule.

Even Subaru with sarcasm as his strongest suit wanted to clap in praise for his flippant manner. Just as Subaru was about to accept Regulus’s provocation, Emilia looked straight toward him. Then she shook her head slightly at Subaru who held his breath.

Emilia: “It’s alright, Subaru. I understand it all now.”

Subaru: “By understand, you mean…”

Emilia: “And, because I am incredibly angry right now… No longer, will I forgive him.”

Feeling fear squeeze his chest, Subaru saw it.

On that gentle face, feeling quietly vanished, was Emilia with a soft sound. Freezing her feelings like that, was the most furious Emilia that had been seen until now.

A frigid flame rolling across frozen eyes in that manner, Emilia touched her chest.

And then, spoke.

Emilia: “Regulus’s heart is here. —Right now, beating inside my chest.”