Chapter 627 — Arc 9, Chapter 39 – “The Final Line”

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Yae: [――Al-sama, how about you quit yearning for the sun?]

When she had spoken those words, he did not know what sort of emotions or expectations she had harbored.

His own position was that of controlling her through fear, binding her with hatred, and utilizing the guarantee of her desires for revenge. From her perspective, it ought to have been satisfying to see him so cornered.

Only, the fact of the matter was that she had given many reactions that were not coherent with that line of thought.

In that case, just what were the true motivations hidden behind her contradictory attitude?

He had given up searching for that answer. ――Only one thing, was certain.

Aldebaran: [――Expand Territory, Matrix Redefinition.]

The advice given by Yae Tenzen had removed a single shackle that had been present within Aldebaran.

Though not deliberately self-imposed, it had been an subconsciously placed shackle, inhibitor, hurdle―― psychological chains that had slammed the brakes on the overpowering quality of Aldebaran’s Authority.

Now that he was free from those chains, the options available to Aldebaran expanded to an infinite domain――.

Aldebaran: [Target, twelve o’clock to three o’clock. ――Fire, Alter.]

“Aldebaran”: [Alright, Origin.]

Responding to the order without hesitation, “Aldebaran”, who had been waiting in the background, stretched out its wings.

Alter, it had expressed no confusion in regards to that alias. By way of the Book of the Dead, the update in his intentions had already been communicated. The alias Origin was also an easily understandable, but trivial matter.

Without the room to put his opinions on that alias into words, a white light―― the Dragon’s breath was unleashed.

Aldebaran: [――――]

The Divine Dragon’s dragonhusk, the tremendous might of its breath demonstrated the maximum capabilities of its specs, and proved to be a fine article that even the Sword Saint, Reinhard van Astrea, had just barely managed to neutralize.

And on the current battlefield, with the Sword Saint absent―― nay, on the area that could not even be described as a battlefield, the breath was unleashed, razing it to the ground; everything natural, everything man-made, and most notably, all life consisting of not just plants and animals, but humans too, was erased.

The range output of the Dragon’s fully-powered breath reached out to several kilometers, and anyone unfortunate enough to be engulfed by the light of ruin that arrived without giving any warning would cease to exist, lacking even the time to register pain.

――And now, passing the order to “Aldebaran”, Aldebaran had performed that deed.

Aldebaran: [――――]

As commanded, twelve o’clock to three o’clock―― scorching down the area signified by directions corresponding to the positions on a clock, it reduced all who stood in its path to naught.

In all likelihood, the lives lost could not have been counted in just the hundreds or the thousands, but numbered well in the realm of the tens of thousands.

???: [Ha-ha-haa~, well done~!]

Laying his eyes upon that which could only be described as tyranny, the act of brutally trampling all in one’s path, the suspended Roy Alphard snickered in amusement. Strung up with his arms bound, Roy placed the soles of his free feet together, thus cheering as he clapped not his hands, but his feet.

But, while nobody aside from Roy contributed to that noisy applause, none of the members present there appeared to criticize Aldebaran’s actions.

Present instead, was delight, understanding, subordinance, and fear―― all were his henchmen, even the ones who had no say in the matter.

Thus, basking in their gazes, Aldebaran looked up to the sky.

Aldebaran: [――――]

With the Dragon’s breath unleashed, not only was the land scorched, but signs of its influence appeared in the sky and surrounding atmosphere as well.

With the clouds torn asunder, and the rain and wind that were supposed to have occurred banished from the land, the traces of the Dragon had been deeply engraved; ravages of the Dragon’s rage, so to speak.

Naturally, there existed no living beings that did not fear the ire of the overwhelming existence that was the Dragon.

Because there existed no beings that could fight back against a rampaging Dragon mad with rage, it was an ironclad rule that when faced with the Dragon’s fury, all forms of life would keep their heads held low, attempting to conceal their presence, and waiting for the storm to pass.

――Therefore, the likes of birds and bugs promptly approaching the ravages of that rage, was far beyond unnatural.

Aldebaran: [Looks like a miss.]

Seeing a flock of birds assembling around the area scorched by the breath to ascertain the damages, Aldebaran muttered words that would fade away in the confines of his mouth.

The vast majority of animals were straightforward, and faithful to their instincts. If that was being distorted, and they were acting in a manner dishonest to their instincts, it was proof of some sort of unnatural interference.

That was to say, it was proof that the existence enacting that unnatural interference had survived.

Ascertaining that, Aldebaran would――,

Aldebaran: [――Next.]

Muttering that, he unwrapped the poisonous drug package within his mouth, and gulped down the deadly bane.

And then――,

×　　×　　×

Aldebaran: [Target, three o’clock to six o’clock. ――Fire, Alter.]

Subsequently, upon returning to his restart point, he oriented himself towards the next area, and instructed the Dragon to trample it down.

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Aldebaran: [Target, six o’clock to nine o’clock. ――Fire, Alter.]

Aldebaran: [Target, six o’clock to eight o’clock. Slight adjustment.]

Aldebaran: [Target, six o’clock to seven o’clock.]

Aldebaran: [Target, lock to seven o’clock. Adjust range output, breath to eighty percent.]

Aldebaran: [Seventy percent.]

Aldebaran: [Sixty percent.]

Aldebaran: [Sixty-five percent.]

Aldebaran: [Sixty-five point five percent.]

Aldebaran: [――Sixty-five point five percent, confirmed.]

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――Seven-hundred and fourteen.

Having been told that his way of doing things was too clean by Yae, Aldebaran revised his thoughts.

Gaining awareness of the pride he had been blind to, he earnestly examined what was truly necessary in order to accomplish his objective, and arrived at an answer.

――The no-killing restriction.

From the moment Aldebaran had decided on the removal of Natsuki Subaru, and resolved himself to abide by his own purpose of creation, he had established that as the minimum obligation he would need to uphold.

From this world, where many had already been lost, with even she who had embodied the sun having disappeared, he would not cause anything more to be lost; so he had decided.

But, by overly adhering to that vow, Aldebaran had subconsciously placed a shackle on his own Authority.

In order to uphold his vow that he would not take the life of anyone, he had ended up imposing the same binding to the journey itself.

With Aldebaran’s Authority―― with his Territory, the events that transpired in the repeating world would endlessly be made to have never happened until that Matrix was finally marked with a full-stop.

In that case, so long as the records balanced out to “no-killing” by the end, he would not need to worry about deaths during the process.

By keeping that conclusion outside of his conscious awareness, Aldebaran had unwittingly levied that shackle upon himself. In order to finally remove it, Aldebaran had continued to waste time in futility. ――No, without Yae’s words, he might have still been none the wiser.

Aldebaran: [I knew that the nii-san was trying to use his Divine Protection to whittle us down. The problem lies in his meticulousness and the unlimited hand of cards; it really seemed like there was no way to avert that, but…]

No longer bound by that shackle, Aldebaran surmounted that challenge with brute force.

Nothing about it was difficult. His pursuer was borrowing the eyes and agency of insects, fish, and other small animals in order to get a grasp on the movements of Aldebaran’s group and enact various forms of sabotage upon them. But, considering what he conjectured to be the extent of effectiveness of his opponent’s Divine Protection, even if his directions to the animals had an immediate response akin to telepathy, it was not as absolute as something like brainwashing.

Every single time, their pursuer would have needed to directly issue a command.

And in order to enact that, the commanding pursuer himself would have needed to be stalking Aldebaran’s group while maintaining a reasonable distance. ――Through the brute force of the Dragon’s breath, he had deduced the position of their pursuer.

Aldebaran: [Narrowing down the area using clock positions, and measuring the distance with the depth of the breath. Given that we’re doing something erratic, he can’t afford to withhold his hand in order to get a grasp of what happened. Then, the act of playing his hand is proof that the nii-san made it out unharmed. But, what about when he doesn’t play his hand?]

His hand―― without the leeway to mobilize the troops he had allied with his Divine Protection, it would have served as proof that he had vanished from the world.

With that ascertained, Aldebaran had regressed his Territory, closed in on the direction of his pursuer’s presence, measured the distance, and finally managed to identify the opponent’s position with utmost precision. Of course, during that process, in the mountains, forest, and even some towns, a great number of lives had been sacrificed, but―― absolutely all of that, had been made to have never happened.

By balancing the records in the end using his Territory, the casualties outside of Aldebaran numbered zero. ――No, Aldebaran’s Death was not counted, so the casualties numbered zero total.

Aldebaran: [Combined with when I was selecting the members for the Tower, one-thousand three-hundred and forty-seven… he really gave me one hell of a time.]

There was nothing more exhausting than someone thought to have already been dealt with pulling the carpet out from under him yet again.

In that sense, it would have been no exaggeration to say that the pursuer―― Otto Suwen, had given Aldebaran more trouble than either the Sword Saint or the Sword Demon had. If it had been his suggestion to send Emilia to Aldebaran and Wilhelm to Yae at the Royal Capital, then the damages he had caused this group amounted to far more than just Aldebaran’s one-thousand three-hundred and forty-seven Deaths.

Of course, it was precisely because he had judged him to be such a large threat, that Aldebaran had spared no cards in his hand, thus succeeding in stringing up that formidable enemy.

Yae: [Al-sama, over here, over here~.]

Waving her hand, Yae beckoned to Aldebaran and the rest from below. In accordance with Yae’s call, “Aldebaran” perched down on the ground, and Aldebaran hopped off of its back.

Halfway up the mountainside, behind Yae, who had arrived first at the target point, was a green Internal Affairs Minister strung up to a tree and a ground dragon lying on its side with its limbs tied up.

Perhaps because the ground dragon had so fervently struggled against the steel thread bindings, its pale-blue dragonhide was stained with blood, and even now it continued to desperately writhe while panting in exasperation.

Aldebaran: [As expected, the loyalty of a ground dragon’s quite something. Thinking back, the current generation’s Patrasche was also like that.]

Yae: [The idea to make an example out of it flashed through my head, but it seems like he’s the type to just become even more stubborn instead of breaking, so I decided not to. How was Yae-chan’s judgement?]

Aldebaran: [I think you got the right answer. Besides, there’s no point in a warning if he can’t even see it.]

As Yae greeted him while tilting her head, Aldebaran scowled within his helmet. In his vision, present above the writhing ground dragon, the strung up Internal Affairs Minister―― Otto, was cocooned in steel threads from his head down to the tips of his toes, which of course included his eyes and mouth; it was a state in which he could not do a single thing.

By nature, a single steel thread was so thin that one would need to strain their eyes to even ascertain its presence. Since they now appeared as an opaque tool of restraint, he could not imagine just how many had been wrapped around.

Yae: [Unable to get a glimpse of any light. Unable to even make a peep. It’d be possible to form communication with the outside through even just breathing, let alone whispers. And so, I’ve wrapped his entire body up with no gaps, save for a single airway connecting to his ankle. With this, he’ll be too busy focusing his breaths on clinging to survival to have any leeway to fill them with intent.]

Aldebaran: […I know this isn’t about you getting revenge, and is instead just proof that you’re taking precautions. After all, this nii-san would actually be capable of plotting something against us if we gave him any room to speak.]

Yae: [I’d never operate on my personal grudges~. Yae-chan isn’t that bad of a shinobi, y’know?]

Placing a finger to her cheek, Yae was in quite a good mood as she made a cutesy smile.

Given how much complete and utter hardship Otto, the harassment-specialist, had put them through until now, she would have likely had a substantial amount of resentment built up even if she said she bore no personal grudges. To begin with, the industry leaders of carrying out harassment and conducting wars of attrition against enemies were none other than the shinobi.

Aldebaran: [So now that you’ve finally dealt with that, I guess you’d be in a good mood, yeah?]

Yae: [Urghh~, you really are a gentleman who can’t understand a woman’s heart, Al-sama. It feels good to pin down an opponent who persistently made attacks of the nastiest kind in a sly, exhaustive, relentless manner, y’know?]

Aldebaran: [Isn’t that pretty much exactly what I said?]

Yae: [But, the number one thing is that you’re finally acting as the monster you truly are, Al-sama. Without a shred of concern for your trivial humanity, you’ve fully embraced the monster within.]

Aldebaran: [――――]

Yae: [For that reason, even something like having Vol-sama fling me at full strength was nothing so outlandish.]

Aldebaran: [Seems like you’ve got your fair share of complaints with that strategy…]

As Yae was correcting Aldebaran’s mistaken impression, she added that bit onto the end.

With the modification to how he utilized the Territory, he had located their pursuer’s whereabouts. After completing that, they had needed the quickest means to reach their opponent before he could discern their intentions―― that had resulted in having the airborne “Aldebaran” hurl Yae to the target position.

On top of being crude, it was a plan that had greatly imperiled Yae’s life, but because the opponent was located in the mountains, which provided a great amount of buffering material, Yae, with her ability to create cushioning with her Steel Thread Technique, was deemed to be the most suitable candidate for it.

Yae: [Even though this duty was most suited to someone who won’t die no matter how far they’re hurled away, there was no way we could entrust it to Heinkel-sama in his current state.]

Aldebaran: [An old man-shaped hole might have bored through the mountain while the old man remained alive and well, but you’re right about entrusting any important duties to him with his condition right now.]

Between Heinkel and Felt, a considerably deadly rift had formed. In response to that issue, he had worked out a countermeasure to stabilize it for the time being, but that had incurred “Aldebaran’s” displeasure, and was nothing more than a temporary bandaid solution.

Because it was the type of problem that could resurge for whatever reason, Aldebaran and Yae had decided that it would be best to not touch on it for the time being.

Anyhow――,

Aldebaran: [――Finally, it’s checkmate.]

With Otto’s movements and resistance sealed, Aldebaran looked up at the opponent whose current state ought to be dubbed a silver chrysalis, and keenly felt the victory he had attained in this round of the game, which had gone on now for a long, long time.

However, the opponent Aldebaran was playing against was not just Otto, it was a multifaceted bout against many challengers on a Kingdom-wide, even world-wide scale. Just because he had managed to make it through a single round successfully, did not mean he could continue to carry that around as a source of satisfaction.

Above all, in order to ensure that they would never make a comeback as a challenger, he would need to be thorough with their elimination.

Yae: [Though y’know, even if I cut away his eyes, ears, tongue, and limbs, I’d still technically be obeying your orders, Al-sama~.]

Aldebaran: [――Yae.]

Yae: [Fi~ne, Al-sama’s so sca~ry.]

To inflict wounds beyond any hope of recovery, thereby forcing withdrawal from the front lines with only their lives intact; doing so would be naught but a hollow pretense.

For Aldebaran, the no-killing restriction was not something so flexible that he could say he kept it so long as nobody died, and it would be troubling if it was. That sort of thing was tantamount to declaring that world peace could be achieved by cutting off the arms and legs of everyone in the world.

Hence, Aldebaran would not rob Otto Suwen of his eyes, tongue, arms, or legs. Instead, that which he would take from him―― was his reason for fighting.

Aldebaran: [――Roy, I’m relaxing the curse mark’s functionality. It’s your time to take the stage.]

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Aldebaran: [――Roy, I’m relaxing the curse mark’s functionality. It’s your time to take the stage.]

Every inch of his body constrained, Otto Suwen, with certitude, heard the pronounced voice of the opponent looking up towards him. ――On merely one point, Aldebaran and the rest were mistaken about the efficacy of Otto’s Divine Protection of the Soul of Language.

The Soul of Language, namely that which was called voice, was the reverberation of sound. Those reverberations would always touch Otto’s body should he be within range of its reach, even if his ears were plugged. The Divine Protection of the Soul of Language did not translate sounds that entered the ear. It sensed and picked up the reverberations of intent that touched the entity named Otto.

Therefore――,

Roy: [What a roundabout, strange coincidence, isn’t it, Onii-san? Even though both Ley and Louis missed out on eating Onii-san despite desiring to in Pristella, in the end you’ve been set on the dining table before us like this, so it would seem-.]

The voice of the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony licking his lips, Roy Alphard, was also detected by Otto as a thing of certainty.

Otto: [――――]

However, to much frustration from the depths of his heart, there was no longer anything Otto could do.

He had still been detecting the voices in his environs through the Divine Protection of the Soul of Language, but with his mouth obstructed, his limbs restrained, and now obturated from even transmitting his will, Otto was helplessly powerless.

Frufoo: [What are you doing, to laddie… stop, please stop…!]

He heard the painful beseeching of an agonizing Frufoo immediately below his hanging feet.

For the moment, it seemed Aldebaran and his group did not intend to inflict any further harm onto Frufoo or much less, take her life. Hence, he wished for Frufoo to quietly wait for the storm drifting through to pass. That was his utmost desire at that moment.

The rest――,

Otto: [――Hk.]

With a voice that fell short of being voiced, Otto’s heart consternated in trepidation for his comrades not present here.

Emilia and Ram, Petra and Meili, Rem, Clind, and Roswaal, he had heard that even people of the Felt Camp were cooperating. They would surely come up with an ingenious plan. Had it been possible, Otto wished to give a serious blow to the opponent with his own hands even on Garfiel’s behalf.

Moreover, for the captured duo of Subaru and Beatrice――.

Roy: [How sad, Onii-san. How painful, Onii-san. But-, we’ll treat those cries of agony alternating in joys and sorrows altogether and give them love-! After all, this world is gluttonous drinking-! Gluttony-!]

In lento, he sensed the polluted, violated appetite of Gluttony drawing near him, creeping close to him. Without any means to resist, Otto accepted it; there was nothing he could do besides be chewed and digested.

Thus, for however long, Otto Suwen continued to pray. Continued to wish. Continued to dream.

For his own final stratagem, to fall into place――.

Roy: [――Well then, let’s eat-!]

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Roy: [Thank you for the treat-.]

With the efficacy of the Authority of Gluttony invoked, the hanging Otto Suwen was devoured.

The deed was unaccompanied by any befitting effects generated, no shining visual effects; nothing so flashy or gaudy occurred. In only quiet and solemnity, the feast dished up onto the platter settled into the stomach of an ill-mannered diner. ――What had transpired was merely this commonplace meal.

Yae: [Although I barely saw anything just now, it truly feels like foul play. The feeling of tension in the threads vanished in an instant, after all.]

Her voice laden with unhiding repugnance, Yae whispered whilst touching the rings that sent forth the steel threads.

What her words suggested, was that the opponent in bind―― Otto Suwen, his resistance in order to escape from the constraints of the steel threads had disappeared.

That was evidence of the efficacy of Roy Alphard’s Eclipsing manifesting. [1]

Aldebaran: [On top of that, we still remember that nii-san. ――As promised, you only ate the Memories; seems like you really held yourself back.]

Roy: [Ah-hahaa~, what’s with that, so short on gratitude and wonderment~!? Just so you know, separating just the Name or just the Memories and chewing it is pretty tough, you know? It’s trouble like sifting through the grilled ingredients in between a sandwich without opening up the bread, you see~.]

Aldebaran: [Don’t care. Don’t do it and you die, that’s the end of that. Separate and eat quickly and cleanly.]

Aldebaran snorted at Roy as he spoke of his Authority’s hardships in front of Otto Suwen, limp and motionless whilst entangled in the steel threads.

In reality, Aldebaran had no intention of hearing out Roy’s advocation of what a high deed it was. ――Should he blunder, he would simply die; his soul scorched by the effects of the curse mark engraved on his body, bound by an Oath with Aldebaran.

Of course, it would be a problem for Aldebaran were Roy to die at this time, so he did intend to redo at every instance of failure and search for a way to ensure Roy did well.

Yae: [Al-sama~, as for that Sin Archbishop, isn’t he getting a bit cocky? If you’re going to restrain his actions with the effects of the curse mark, then rather than appeasing, persuading, and winning over his heart, wouldn’t you have had ways to make him abide more suitably with lesser strings attached?]

Aldebaran: [Engraving a curse mark isn’t as light a job as you’re thinking it to be. To begin with, in curse marks bound by Oaths, there’s a risk for the engraving party as well. The opportunity for engraving a curse mark is limited to exactly one time in someone’s entire life. It’s a trump card to make the kinds of people who won’t ever listen seriously obey.]

Yae whispered into Aldebaran’s ear, who pressed her forehead whilst answering.

As the name suggested, the engraving of a curse mark, a kind of Curse Art, was a deed that had existed before magic and Curse Arts branched into separate sects; the nature of it was rather close to the origin of magic. Speaking further of the impression given by the curse mark based on its impression, the one who taught Aldebaran how to engrave a curse mark and the nature of them, would likely bestow the plight of a half-day long tedious lecture about it.

Roy: [For you to be so kind and use that valuable opportunity for us…! Very nice, so nice, quite nice, how very nice, really nice, isn’t it nice, as we can believe it to be nice, gluttonous drinking-! Gluttony-! By this point, that is love, isn’t i~t…?]

Yae: [Wha!? Are you saying over this adorable, sexy, and devoted maid that is Yae-chan, you prefer the nasty-teethed Sin Archbishop!? Al-sama, you infidel!]

Aldebaran: [Right back at you, stop matching paces and linking up with the Sin Archbishop…]

Aldebaran winced at the combo of the blabbering Roy and the yabbering Yae.

On Yae’s end, she likely had had no intention of getting along with Roy there, or ever getting along with him for that matter, but the way she utilized anything to sway Aldebaran’s heart was truly befitting of a shinobi. On the other hand, Roy bore the attitude of being conversible and comprehending for a Sin Archbishop, and had almost bestowed him with that misunderstanding.

However, he mustn’t misunderstand. For Aldebaran, both Yae and Roy were equivalent; used for his goals, and targets of fear for potentially backstabbing him depending on the situation.

And that was――,

Aldebaran: [Roy, don’t get too cocky. Start talking, what was the nii-san you just ate scheming? That’s what I fed him to you for.]

A chilly warning was issued by Aldebaran, who kept Roy contained well within attack range.

His restraints unfastened, Roy had gotten his fractured limbs restored by the healing magic of “Aldebaran”, but neither had he gained trust in the slightest nor was he permitted freedom of action. However, in the direction the plan would now head towards for the endgame, it was not realistic to carry a tied up Roy along.

As an example, should he ever seek to rely on Roy’s Authority as Gluttony like he just had, to keep him turned face-down as a card that could not be used immediately would be some excessively maladroit handling. Not in the slightest loosening his vigilance towards Roy, what was necessary were further arrangements for a policy to subdue Roy.

Fortunately, the curse mark was sufficiently fulfilling that duty.

Yae: [Though, it would be nice if he could tell us something useful~.]

As she spoke, the vigilant Yae tugged on her slender finger, tightening the invisible steel thread to keep Roy in check.

It had been none other than Yae who had disapproved of utilizing Roy’s Authority until the very end, and while she did welcome Aldebaran’s declaration that he would unshackle himself based on her advice, she still fervently insisted that he free himself from the chains that were the “no-killing” restriction itself.

In reality, if Aldebaran did actually call off the “no-killing” restriction as she had insisted, and freely made use of the life-or-death power he had over all his opponents, his objective in and of itself would be accomplished rather quickly. To do that, all he would need to do is have “Aldebaran” shoot out its breath in all directions, never allowing any enemy to draw near.

However, Aldebaran refused to do that, and instead―― he insisted on adding new options, that of permitting Death as part of the process, and making use of Roy Alphard’s Authority.

As a matter of fact, this was the implementation of a forbidden technique: that of proactively utilizing a Sin Archbishop’s Authority.

It was an act that could not be compared to Aldebaran exercising his own Authority, which occupied an unenumerated position, so to speak. Those inherited evils, the Authorities that had given rise to a great number of tragedies and sacrifices until now; to make use of them for one’s own purposes, simply because it proved convenient.

Likely, outside of Aldebaran, that was a trespass that only a single other individual had perpetrated since the dawn of Witch Factors in this world.

Ultimately, that was the extent to which such conduct crossed the line.

If he could not attain results proportional to the misdeed he had committed, there would have been no meaning in his decision to go against the sun――.

Aldebaran: [So, let’s hear it. We deliberately ruined our opponent’s life. You’re not gonna tell me that there’s nothing…]

Roy: [Ahh~, hold on hold on. Wish you’d not rush us like that~. It seems you’re misunderstanding, but even we can’t all of a sudden comprehend absolutely everything about the one ju~st eaten. Things that have been known since the beginning, don’t really spring to mind unless the scenario deems it necessary, you know? Same as that…]

Aldebaran: [――I ain’t gonna tell you twice.]

Roy: […Yes yes, we’re saying we understand. Let’s see, let’s see, hu~h. This onii-san was more abound in life experience than expected, so even we are a bit surprised――]

After making a plethora of excuses, Roy concentrated on recalling the Memories of the freshly eaten Otto. Roy was probably commenting on a mix of the many ups and downs in the life of Otto, who possessed the Divine Protection of the Soul of Language, and the extraordinary quantity of voices he had come to hear.

However, there was a sudden pause in Roy’s tasteless words, incurring Aldebaran’s suspicion.

Unmistakably, that was proof that he had struck a Memory that caught his attention――,

Aldebaran: [What is it, what’d you find?]

Roy: [Haha-, it seems we were more careful than expected. ――There is a foolproof for the scenario in which he was compromised.]

Aldebaran: [――――]

Foolproof―― a safety measure to defend against any foolish mistakes.

As soon as Roy’s lips formed those words, a terrible chill ran down Aldebaran’s spine.

Not a countermeasure for an oncoming assault, but a countermeasure for after he was compromised.

If Otto Suwen had prepared such a thing, then it would be happening at any moment now.

Aldebaran: [Yae! We need to hurry up and――]

A withdrawal from the premises, or a regression of the situation via suicide.

As two possible options came to his mind, Aldebaran mobilized before deciding on his counterplay. In a sense, it was successful, and in another sense, it had led to failure.

That was――,

???: [――It is a pleasure to meet you, Aldebaran-sama.]

The sweet voice of a girl struck Aldebaran’s earlobes as if it were a surprise attack.

The interloper had appeared in quite literally the blink of an eye, and by making an entrance without having given any preface, his instincts did not even have the time to sound the alarm bells.

That blue-haired girl, having altered her appearance and garment since her time in the Vollachian Empire, was not something he could bear the sight of. ――That was something he only realized right after he had caught sight of her waving the skirt of her maid outfit.

That instant, his mind was rapidly threatened by the name, existence, and nature of the maid girl.

Aldebaran: [――――]

With her Name and Memories having been eaten by the Authority of Gluttony, the girl’s name had been erased from the register of Od Lagna, where the names of all life were engraved; with that having been regurgitated due to the malicious intentions of Bizarre Eating, that which Aldebaran had disregarded as something that would manifest no meaningful damages, now ruptured through his mind.

Forcibly overwhelmed by an impact that compelled him to recall her existence, Aldebaran, who was supposed to have shouldered a fate that would not permit his thoughts to ever come to a halt, had said thoughts left behind in the dust――,

Yae: [――Al-sama!!]

As Yae promptly raised her voice, she reached her slender arm out towards Aldebaran. Whilst glimpsing those white fingers in the corner of his vision, Aldebaran found himself unable to move.

And in that immobile state, during the single second for which he had been dispossessed of his thoughts, the situation progressed.

――That instant, Aldebaran’s body was detached from the space it had occupied up until a moment prior, and thrown out into the sky, basking in a ferocious wind.

Aldebaran: [――――]

The sun for which he had ceased yearning cast its glaring radiance, searing Aldebaran’s black eyes as he fluttered through the air. ――This was now do-or-die for the Aldebaran Party; a critical juncture that had commenced without any forewarning.

――Thus, on the struggle for the Grand Mogolade Geyser, on the battle to decide the fate of the world here to come, the curtains now rose.

Translation Note:

[1] – ‘Eclipsing’ has been translated from 蝕 in the original text, which can be interpreted as a wordplay on Gluttony’s Authority of Eclipse and also mean “Eaten to spoil/rot”, referring to the Eating aspect of the Authority. Previously, terminology was distinct with 蝕 exclusively used to refer to Eclipse, but hereon a better stance would be to bear in mind that the term is synonymous for both meanings.