Chapter 633 — Arc 9, Chapter 45 – “Clash of the Suprarational”

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――God, Buddha, Od Lagna. For as long as I live, I hereby vow to never invite another into my home.

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――In her defense, Felt had not initially accepted Roy’s conditions with the intention of immediately reneging on them.

The “insurance” he had imposed on her had certainly been “insurance”.

That threat was known to Felt, and if she were to act carelessly in any way, it was very likely that she would bring enormous harm to not only her own life as a matter of course, but also to her surroundings.

Therefore, despite how annoying it was, she intended to go along with Roy’s plan, playing the part of Filóre Lugunica and waiting for as large of an opening as possible from Aldebaran and the others. Of course, she intended on further outmaneuvering Roy as he tried to outmaneuver them.

However, that determination within Felt was soon forced to change course.

???: [――Felt!!]

Released from the sealed space, while feeling the frigidity of steel against the skin of her neck, Felt poured everything into getting a grasp on the situation. The first thing was the “insurance” that she would act as Filóre―― to prevent that which had a risk of being invoked, regardless of if Roy was watching or not. On top of that, she was seeking an opportunity to give any members of Aldebaran’s group a taste of their own medicine.

Such various determinations cracked the moment that familiar voice had called out to her.

Felt: [――――]

Pinned in a nelson hold, Felt raised her head slightly and looked.

At the edge of the battlefield, the loud voice that had called out for Felt was Rom-jii, whom she was already missing after only two or three days. She was overjoyed, but at the same time, she understood that she was a hostage for this purpose, and she forcefully fastened the mask of Filóre that was beginning to slip―― then, their eyes met.

With Rom-jii, it was not. Rather, it was with the pale blue eyes of the girl perched atop those shoulders with his.

――In that instant, information flooded into Felt’s head with a terrifying ferocity.

Felt: [――Ugh.]

Within the blinking red eyes of Felt, the muddy torrent raged like there was no time that could be spared.

Apparently the middle of a battle, Aldebaran and Yae and the Divine Dragon absent, all-out war with only Roy and Heinkel remaining, divide and conquer plus ambush tactics, my Rom-jii in command as expected, Reinhard continuing to engage the Witch, on top of that, on top of, on top, on――,

Felt: [――Rom-jii! Take Gaston and everyone else and fall back! That is coming!]

After wading through the unrelenting muddy torrent of information, Felt raised her voice with the belief that this was the optimal choice.

Even should she continue to act as Filóre for fear of the “insurance”, there was a high probability that Roy, who was caught in a predicament on the battlefield, would break his promise in order to overturn the situation. To begin with, he was a Sin Archbishop. It would be a mistake to place such faith in matters such as them keeping their promises.

After all, Roy had been lying from the start. ――Conspiring with Felt to escape after exploiting an opening made by Aldebaran and the others was an outright lie. From the onset, Roy had only ever thought of devouring everyone: Felt, Aldebaran, Yae, Volcanica, and Heinkel included.

As such――,

Felt: [――It’s coming out from my shadow!!]

In this act of forestalling Roy, she had harbored no hesitation or indecision whatsoever.

If there was but one thing, it was solely the fear that they would be unable to handle the “insurance”, but that fear had been dispelled by the presence of those here, and in particular, by Rom-jii.

――If Rom-jii was present, there was nothing that could not be accomplished.

The hope that many throughout the world held in the Sword Saint, Reinhard van Astrea, was something that Felt harbored in this elderly giant.

Therefore――,

Felt: [――The Black Serpent!!]

Even though a dreadful torrent of Death poured out from her own shadow, in Felt’s eyes, in her heart, there existed not a single shred of fear whatsoever.

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――God, Buddha, Od Lagna. For as long as I live, I hereby vow to never nurse the deathbed of another.

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――One of the Three Great Witchbeasts: the Witchbeast of Pestilence, the Black Serpent.

While blighting humanity was in the core nature of the species known as Witchbeasts, the reason why the Three Great Witchbeasts were considered to stand in a league of their own even among that genus, was simply because, in addition to embodying that base ecology of Witchbeasts, the scale of destruction they wrought was far too catastrophically vast.

――Surrounded many a time by the military campaigns of every nation, and enshrouded by a mist that entirely erased the majority of those forces: the White Whale.

――Leaving no scraps behind as it devoured countless livelihoods with a calamitous appetite, the ravenous bane that stripped even tragedy bare as it cleaned its plate: the Great Rabbit.

Enrolled alongside the Black Serpent, the dreadfulness of those extolled as the Three Great Witchbeasts went without saying. Yet, even beside the White Whale and Great Rabbit, the Black Serpent stood apart, an anomalous existence that defied all regularity.

As stated previously, the Three Great Witchbeasts were beings that wrought frighteningly more harm than any other Witchbeasts. ――If that condition were to have been strictly obeyed, then the Black Serpent, rather than having been listed among the Three Great Witchbeasts, would have instead been worthy of reigning as the Great Witchbeast, singular.

After all, the Black Serpent had bereaved a number of lives astronomically greater than that of either the White Whale or the Great Rabbit, what with it having delivered ruination unto a great country that had formerly existed, reducing what were once the Five Great Countries to the Four Great Countries.

Rom: [Nwahh――!?]

Apprised of the arrival of the Black Serpent, Rom-jii’s voice subsequently erupted in surprise.

That instant, burgeoning from the shadow at Felt’s feet was a dense conglomeration of Miasma so dark that its true state could be ascertained on sight―― appearing just as though the shadow itself had poked its head up, it was an utmost malefic menace made manifest, unparalleled in its ability to remind all living creatures of their instinctive aversion to Death.

And yet――,

Rom: [Hey, what in tarnation’s with them eyes…!]

Despite the fact that she would have been acutely feeling the dreadful aura of the Witchbeast up close, the fact that Felt’s eyes housed no fear as she looked at him, instead carrying only an unwavering faith, brought Rom-jii’s heart to a boil.

Suppressing the instincts of self-preservation that were all too superfluous for the elderly, a  desire to meet her expectations was blazed within him.

Rom: [Petraaa!]

Petra: [Understood-!]

Forthwith, the young girl who had responded hopped down from Rom-jii’s shoulders. Drawing his chin back at the clever girl’s decision, Rom-jii fixed his gaze afore―― Compression was invoked.

Rom: [――――]

A sharp sensation, as if consigning his surroundings to oblivion, tremored through Rom-jii’s soul.

Supposing this power had been at play in the many battles that Rom-jii―― that Valga Cromwell had come to be involved with, then the tactics utilized, the outcomes begotten, even history itself would have likely undergone a massive upheaval.

By merely laying eyes upon the power of an Authority, by the mere sensation of a Witch Factor in close proximity, he could not help but conceive of such “what if” scenarios. Likely, that was the unmistakable genesis of what captivated those chosen by Witch Factors with prospects of power, leading them astray as they drowned in delusions of omnipotence, invariably degrading them into repulsive abominations.

Wielding such a thing――,

Petra: [――Hk!]

Firmly clenching her molars, it was with a brave heart that Petra endured.

A brief while though it might have been, there was no doubt that the Witch Factor was saddling her with a correspondent burden. Despite wishing to liberate her from it as soon as possible, reality betrayed his wishes, forcing her to exercise that power. The fact that Rom-jii too was naught more than a part of that odious reality, irritated him to no end.

It was precisely for that reason, precisely because it was being forced on her, that he would at least return home with the greatest results possible.

Rom: [Warrior ta Lightnin’ Eight. Soldier ta Flowers Eight.]

Concurrent to that vocalization from his thick lips, was the sensation of thoughts bursting asunder.

In accordance with Rom-jii’s commands, Petra passed brisk judgement, retrieving the trio of Flam, Grassis, and Gaston through Compression, and dropping them towards the rear of the battlefield.

Rom-jii, having advanced an equivalent distance forward to take their place, ripped Felt free from Heinkel’s continued hold, and planned to withdraw once again.

However――,

???: [How cruel~, didn’t we say that we’d run away toge~ther?]

For a moment, a voice lacquered with slimy unpleasantness overlaid the nasty resonance of flesh forcibly being pierced.

A scorching pain flashed belatedly, causing Rom-jii to let out a groan as he locked eyes with the owner of the spear hand that had impaled his right flank, with the bloodstained smile of Roy.

Roy, who ought to have sustained a fatal wound at the coordinated onslaught by Ram and the others a moment ago, continued to bare his fangs while his petite, wound-riddled body was stained red with blood.

Felt: [Bastard, doing that to Rom-jii is… hk.]

Roy: [We did warn you, no? These guys won’t even properly listen to what we have to say is what we’re saying!]

Gnashing his teeth as Felt flared up in anger, Roy gestured behind him with a jerk of his chin.

A befouling spire of black sprouted up on a grand scale, unveiling a genuine threat to gnaw away at one’s life, to eclipse it entirely were they to merely catch a glimpse, let alone lay hands upon it; a peril instinctually perceived by any and all that lived.

This was no empty threat or bluff, present there was indeed the baleful legend known as the Black Serpent.

Rom: [――Nhh.]

Enduring the pain of his flank being impaled, Rom-jii’s thoughts flared to the point of incandescence.

Attempting to do something about it here would be a bad idea even among the pantheon of piss poor plans. But, given that Roy would naturally interfere with their plans, escaping with Compression would be difficult. Did Roy possess a means of avoiding the Black Serpent’s cataclysmic malevolence, or was this perhaps a suicide tactic resolved to take them down along with himself? To devise the best possible course of action in order to prevent that, thinkthinkthinkthinkthinkthink――,

Rom: [――Protect the daughter of Ford!]

As for why his ardent thoughts had terminated upon such a conclusion, not even Rom-jii himself was aware. Only, with his thought process to arrive there condensed to the utmost extremity, he exclaimed.

And receiving that bloodcurdling outcry from Rom-jii, a lone man concorded.

???: [UGH, GAHHHHHHH――!]

The owner of that fearful, quavering voice reflexively brandished his sword, obliquely slashing at Roy, who was attempting to cling to Rom-jii’s giant body, blowing him away.

The mastery in that silver flash was something that astonished even the very man who had performed it, and thus, having been rescued by that, it delivered a shock onto Felt as if the heavens had come crashing down.

Felt: [You…]

Heinkel: [――Hk!]

Motionlessly looking back at Felt, whose eyes were opened wide, Heinkel grit his teeth and reached out his hand. Reaching straight ahead, not towards Felt, but towards the large body of Rom-jii who had pulled her close, he pushed. On the receiving end of that unimaginably vehement shove, Rom-jii’s body was sent flying by its vigor.

And then, in front of Rom-jii and Felt as they watched, having been thrust away――,

Heinkel: [Filóre-sama, I’m――]

That countenance, an amalgam of turmoil and regret and love and hate; just how could anyone have described it? The words spun by those lips, enigmatic and labyrinthine to the utmost, just what sort of sentiments had they been attempting to convey?

All was unknown. ――Before those words could take form, Heinkel Astrea was swallowed by the downpour of befoulment known as the Black Serpent, vanishing altogether.

Rom: [――――]

As befoulment cascaded like a waterfall, the land, steeped in baleful black, drew its final breath.

Arboreal watchers of wood and bark withered, flora festered in rot, and waters seethed with blight. Nary a hue of life was left behind by the Black Serpent’s foul tongue following its tarnish; instead, it engulfed aught in its path, extinguishing all embers of life without discrimination.

And of course, with that befoulment spilled all over his head, Heinkel was no exception.

Felt: [――Goddamn idiot!]

Roy: [A~h, what a waste-!]

Bearing witness to that sight, the bitter reactions of Felt and Roy ironically coincided.

But, as the other relevant party, Rom-jii possessed no right to lament that. After all, he was at least aware that it was his outcry just now that had spurred Heinkel to enact that deed with his life on the line.

But regardless of whether he was self-aware or not, his determination was immediately renewed by Roy’s appetite.

Roy: [Filóre Lugu―― Rom: [Hunter ta Wind Two!]]

Whilst befouling lethality gushed forth like spring water, the voice of Roy, prioritizing his appetite, was drowned out by Rom-jii’s.

As the small figure pounced at them, Rom-jii twisted his body to keep Felt at a distance; and to his clever companion, he issued an order, not to have them withdraw, but to break the deadlock.

???: [――AROOOOOO!!]

???: [This child, not even I have confidence in stopping i~t!]

Summoned by those commands, surfacing there were Meili and the sinister beast of large build to which she clung.

As a roar overlapped with the self-deprecating remark, and the beast’s claws seized Roy head-on, the Witchbeast Master pointed at the potpourri of befoulment, and yelled with all her might.

Meili: [SIT DOWN-!!]

The thunderclap that was Meili’s command struck the Witchbeast with an inexorable impulse.

Forthwith, as the befoulment had been attempting to bifurcate whilst slithering across the ground, within shadow, borne in its movements was a disturbance; and having shifted places with the sinister beast, Rom-jii and the others escaped the Black Serpent’s immediate range. Having fled, he resumed breathing, and turning only his neck, he finally caught sight of the befoulment in its entirety―― and failed to muster even a single word.

Rom: [――――]

This was no lifeform so cute as a Witchbeast, this was Death incarnate.

The befoulment that had overflowed from the forest’s shadows coalesced, taking form as a serpentine contour. However, that contour was not of flesh or scale, instead, ‘twas naught more than a festering den of pathology, pestilence, and plague innumerable, an endless helix of lesions, disease, and blight, brought together by malign coincidence to assume such a shape.

Its ulcerations, akin to the scales that clad a snake’s body, would swell and burst, releasing droplets of deep black to scatter like pus; a mere touch from a single drop enough to make anything rot and wither away with nary a sound. The tip of the contour, barely acceptable to even be called a head, began to bloom like a flower, and from within writhed countless slender, filamentous protuberances, akin to tongues or tentacles, or perhaps more aptly, an infestation of parasites.

Worthy of being crowned the Vilest of All Witchbeasts beyond any shadow of a doubt, that was a being whose very existence tolled the warning bells of life.

If the White Whale devoured history from the aether, and the Great Rabbit gorged on livelihoods upon the ground, then the Black Serpent was none other than the very calamity of ruin that diseased the world itself, blighting it with rot.

Roy: [That perception’s RIGHT- ON- THE- MONEY-――!]

Within Rom-jii’s vision as he shuddered, the loud voice of Roy cheered in jubilation upon the land befouled by the Black Serpent.

At the same time, the Witchbeast of large build was launched skyward by a palm strike from directly below, its blood arcing through the air like a crimson trail.

Meili: [Shadow Lion-chan―― hk!!]

An exclamation, Meili’s hand outstretched to no avail.

The Witchbeast that had been shot upwards, the Guiltilaw, plummeted to the ground that had been befouled by the Black Serpent in an unavoidable crash; its gargantuan build was licked by that foul tongue, violating it with terrible vigor. With the roar of its agonizing death screech as his backdrop, Roy too stood at the heart of the befoulment. ――Even so, manipulating the blood pouring from his gashed wounds, Roy had fashioned for himself legs akin to those of a crustacean, concocting a stance with his feet hovering above the ground.

Roy: [A~h, you don’t have to cry, Meili. That child will be reborn, just like this.]

Roy pronounced so and clicked his fingers, and that which used to be the Guiltilaw, tarnished to a clump of black matter after being swallowed by the befoulment, now began to distend, and the Witchbeast’s massive build metamorphosed into countless kaleidoscopic butterflies.

Butterflies of myriad proportions, hued in the spectra of rainbow, fluttered into a whirling dance whilst Roy wickedly gave an iniquitous smile within the enshrouding Miasma of the Black Serpent.

Rom: [The Black Serpent… Felt, you…]

Felt: [He did say he couldn’t steer it well by himself, but he was able to pull off something like concealing it in my shadow with some conditions attached. I don’t have any reason to honestly believe him.]

Roy: [How sad~! You couldn’t trust us and for that reason betrayed us or something, is that what it means? To do something so crooked as deceiving a Sin Archbishop, won’t your Royal-born blood cry and weep over thi~s?]

Felt: [Sorry, but my blood’s made of the water and bread from the slums. No matter who or what my parents are, I don’t need any meekness that’d have me crying over betraying a bastard like you.]

As Felt gallantly retorted Roy’s mockery, her gaze shifted towards the coiling befoulment known as the Black Serpent―― towards the location Heinkel had occupied, as he was engulfed by the torrent of black. Having witnessed the fate of the Guiltilaw a moment prior, it was not difficult to imagine the end Heinkel had met.

He was a man whom neither Rom-jii, nor anyone else in the Camp, would have harbored a good impression of. But, he was Reinhard’s father. With Felt as a hostage, they likely would have also had some conversations.

For him to meet his end as the Black Serpent’s prey, was far too cruel to be called recompense.

???: [――UL GOA!!]

That sentimentality of his was blazed to naught by a coarse voice.

Passing over Rom-jii’s head, hellfire brilliantly lit up the forest as it closed in on the Black Serpent. Plowing into it, the infernal explosion tempestuously perturbed the befoulment, and the hot, putrid malodor immediately asserted a sense of reality for the scene before them.

And, the one who had launched such a merciless offensive upon the Black Serpent, was an individual who had newly joined the fray――,

???: [Oi, Felt! If you’re back safe, then start giving us orders! Isn’t that your damn job!?]

Having fired off a flashy attack in place of a proper greeting, Rachins sparked a fire of determination within her.

Seemingly having exerted himself quite a bit, Rachins was already out of breath despite only just arriving at the battle. However, that determination went into effect immediately. Right after widening her eyes slightly, Felt valiantly braced her cheeks――,

Felt: [Rom-jii, let me win this.]

Rom: […Don’t’cha go bein’ rash now.]

Felt: [I wouldn’t be asking if there was no shot.]

Rom: [Didn’t say that there ain’t no shot. I’d said, don’t be rash.]

He was wounded on his flank, and it did not seem like he would be able to move with any haste. He ought to devote himself to the work he could perform, so with the blood that had rushed to his head coming back down, he cooled off to think rationally.

Supposing Gluttony were to lay his hand upon Felt, what might occur if the name Filóre Lugunica were used? ――Knowing the answer to that question, Rom-jii quelled his sentimentality, and began to work his thoughts.

And as if having found that demeanor of Rom-jii’s reliable, Felt smacked her cheeks with both her hands,

Felt: [Alright, time for orders, as requested. ――Let’s do this, you bastards!!]

Everyone: [YEAHHHHHH――!!]

Receiving Felt’s invigorating command, voices began to rise, with those of Rachins and Gaston being the first.

Facing a Sin Archbishop and the Black Serpent, foes truly worthy of being called threats to the world, whilst feeling proud of his comrades who roused their spirits instead of faltering, Rom-jii also smacked his cheeks with his hands.

Roy: [A~h――]

Indeed, basking in the gazes of hostility directed towards him, Roy embraced his own body,

Roy: [――It’s irresisti~ble. ――Everyone, all of you, to the greatest- level- possible-, love you-!]

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――God, Buddha, Od Lagna. For as long as I live, I hereby vow to never hold the hand of another.

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Harboring the aegis of delight, want to eat.

Harboring the aegis of gratitude, want to eat.

Harboring the aegis of affection, want to eat.

Bearing not rage, not sorrow, not fear, not animus, not diffidence, not repugnance, not hatred, not begrudgement, not grief, not scorn, not disdain, not malediction, not acrimony, want to eat.

――From the deepest depths of his heart, all of those present here did Roy Alphard of Bizarre Eating want to eat.

Roy: [But, there’s many obstacles to tha~t.]

Discarding his clothes, torn to shreds as they were, Roy bared his skin marred in wounds to the wind, licking his lips.

Requisitioning advantage on the misfire of Eclipsing, Ram and company’s hospitality had dealt him enormous damage, so the equanimity Roy was purporting to show was, in reality, equanimity of which he was bereft. He was reutilizing his copious volumes of blood through the magic of the Bloodweeping Oni, and the Witchbeasts and creatures of the forest that had perished due to the Black Serpent’s befoulment as rainbow-hued butterflies with the power of the Lord of Phantasmal Rainbows, but from Roy bearing the effects of Aldebaran’s curse mark, even the freedom to abscond from the battlefield was lost.

But then again, even should that not hold true, in the face of those treating him to such a feast, the option to run did not so much as even pass through the mind of Roy of Bizarre Eating.

Roy: [We’re different from Ley of Gourmet after a~ll.]

With myriads of likes and dislikes, Ley, who would be fastidious about the persons to be eaten, tended to be particular about the situation as well.

Befittingly, he would utilize desertion or postponement if necessary as a substitution for spice, but Roy was different. To not be fastidious, meant his appetite craved all persons equivalently.

Videlicet, Roy Alphard wanted to devour every last person in this world.

Thus, to abscond would be outrageous. Should he ever become unable to meet somebody again after meeting them once, no number of aprons doused in drools of vexing regret would likely ever suffice.

Roy: [For us who are like that~, this preliminary preparation of ingredients is a bi~t troublesome you see~.]

Through both “Ram” and “Ram Mathers”, he had foundered on eating Ram .

The alteration of the true name was unmistakable. However, for no cues to match even in the newest Memories of someone close to her meant that there were an interminable number of candidates for the true name post-alteration―― and likely, it was possible that not just Ram, but everyone in the vanguard had arranged the same preliminary preparation of ingredients.

Roy: [Even the name of the Witch of Tristitia, Petra Leyte, who knows for how much can that be truste~d.]

Even her act of having pronounced it as her name loud and clear, now this appeared to be an extensive trap.

Bearing that in mind, in the present situation, that which was in scope for Roy to outstretch his hand and reach for was only to the extent of Felt, who was almost certainly Filóre Lugunica, but even that was not fully definite.

In the one in ten-thousand chance that attempting such on Felt were to end with a swinging and a miss, triggering the vomiting recoil of Eclipsing with a “Blergh-”, then the opening Roy caused for himself would be taken advantage of and this time, with certitude, it would be the terminus.

Thus, with emotion of heartbreak, Roy made a determination verboten to Gluttony――,

Roy: [――Let’s put off eating, for now.]

At this very present moment, ascertaining the true names of these tasty treats in order to wolf every last one of them down would be impossible.

In order to clean them off the plate without leaving any scraps, what must be given foremost priority in this place was the stocking up of preserved foods. Providentially, the Black Serpent obeying Roy was the one head with that as its forte. ――To that end, he had idealized to manifest the Black Serpent at a spot with a greater multitude of people, but with that included, Felt’s decision to turn traitor was of an exquisitely unfavorable timing for Roy.

Roy: [But that’s precisely what-! Makes-! Eating-! Worth-! It-!]

The precipice of exsanguination, enormously damaged, hunger amongst hunger, the utmost sensation of starvation―― full force Bizarre Eating.

Joining his hands before his chest, he bulldozed the world from both ends of his field of vision to a convergence at its center.

Trees with roots entrenched deep were smashed, even the grounded earth trodden down in immense natural spontaneity got exhumed in the crossfire by the might of the Compactor, seeking to block the escape routes of the prey retreating back to safe turf.

Felt: [Gaston! Doltero!]

The two colossi sought to cease the fabrication of that firm wall of earth through brute force. The struggle only lasted for but a moment, the resistance towards the compaction rebounding to Roy’s closed hands, and forcing them to spread apart as fire billowed before his eyes.

Felt: [Rachins! Maid-neechan!]

The fireball of the sanpaku eyes coalesced with the wind brought forth by Ram, thus birthing a tornado of fire. Roy expended three of the whirl-dancing butterflies against it and countered it with a water spear of the Magia Manus Magister.

The butterflies that emerged from Mana leftover in carcasses exhibited destructive might despite being of simple chemical construct, but they were also capable of sequestrating magic as external tanks of Mana. For Roy, who wished to subsist the Flow Method in his dying body with his own Mana expense, they were automated reinforcements who would only be supplemented the more the Black Serpent slaughtered.

Felt: [Flam! Grassis!]

The tornado of fire and the iceberg collided, with his vision being engulfed by the consequent steam eruption.

Piercing through the world where the waxen white of the skies and the sable black of the grounds were repainted, the merciless sortie of the twins befell Roy, discounting his desire to take a breath.

Willfully devouring it with the sturdy skin of the Carnivorous Beast, he reciprocated the favor with a combined offensive onslaught, taking in his right hand the Fist King, and the Snow Vallum in his left, knocking off the twins together into the ground besmirched with befoulment.

But on the escarpment of the virulent foul tongue of blight swallowing the twins, a bone spear of the lunging Hungry Horse King collected the two, retrieving them from the span of lethality. Pulverizing the other bone spear, which had been thrust forth, alongside its arm through the song of the Blightlove Troubadour, the destitute fruits of battle made Roy’s stomach squirm with peristalses of starvation.

There――,

Roy: [BIIIIG WAAAAAVE!]

In Roy’s immediate rear, the Black Serpent stretched its body high up into the sky and slowly, like a felled tree, flopped down ahead―― where all of its prey had assembled.

A single touch being the harbinger of end; the clod of impulses far too ruinous to be construed with a classification as tepid as murder, the Black Serpent conducted its hunt in a manner that, whilst admittedly lacking in creativity, could be crudely connoted as cursory, a congenital conqueror. By just scattering its mass would its opponents perish, thus it did not requisite greater astuteness.

That was what callously descended upon Felt and the others head-on――,

Felt: [――Live!]

Everyone: [Strong――!!]

The roars that became one transfigured into strength, and the Black Serpent’s befoulment that would sleet down onto the ground was barged back.

The ones charged with physical labor exhumed the ground, the ones charged with magic reinforced that ground to act as a bulwark, the ones charged with techniques mortared it such that the Black Serpent would receive the blow, earning the singular second of the bulwark’s dissolution for them to retreat.

Every one of everyone, mobilized to the utmost with unfathomable harmony――,

Roy: [――――]

Resolute, intrepid, what gallantry.

Entering the visual percept of the Black Serpent scattering the menace of lethality, whilst combating Roy who transmutated the existences of formidable enemies (friends) fought so far into power, they who marched forward absent of dither possessed might that was inexplicable.

Roy: [Normally, you’d panic or be astonished or be shuddering or something, you kno~w!]

Chaos, fright, trepidation; their conduct elided over these appropriate impacts at which Roy vociferated.

Harmony greater than that between family or lovers, blended with resolution and grit resembling the apotheosis of aberrants. Unmistakable. They were finessed to completion. ――All of them together, were a singular, excessively extravagant platter.

The moment he contemplated so, before the lineup rich in variety and the abounding assortment of hues, his heart capered that none were the appetizer, the side dish, or the main course. All of them were equivalent, invaluable, deeply flavorful uniques.

As Roy’s eyes sparkled in such elation, Felt rolled through the plume of smoke and hoisted a middle finger at him. She flaunted her sharpened high canines,

Felt: [Don’t stand around drooling over yourself, you manic bastard!]

Roy: [You all are so exceedingly beloved that it’s impossible not to-!]

Towards Felt, who was acting as the nucleus and instructed directions of mobilization to her comrades, the affection exacerbated.

In the beginning he was indignant with rage for his plans being betrayed, but now he was thankful for her betrayal. To be served with hospitality so wonderful, this side must also return the favor or it would bring dishonor to the name Sin Archbishop.

Roy: [――――]

Upon glancing, he perceived the Black Serpent’s movements to be sluggish.

The Black Serpent was intrinsically a Witchbeast of ploddingly laggard movement that corroded the area, proliferating blight by befouling the ground leaving naught a crevice behind. As a hunter, its efficiency was by no means high. Being just one of its heads, it was unquestionably not operating at its normal condition, but even so, its movements being yet duller was due to――,

???: [Sit down, no~w… hk.]

Clinging to the Hungry Horse King with slender arms, Meili inhibited the Black Serpent’s movements with her quavering timbre.

Eyes bloodshot, she overexerted the Divine Protection she had been blessed with, and its recoil must have been bestowing upon her a sensation of her soul being seared, of her blood being smouldered.

Yet, her Divine Protection of Fiend Manipulation was interfering with even the Black Serpent, one of the Three Great Witchbeasts. ――Though in truth, the Black Serpent’s responses seemed slow even when taking that into account.

Roy: [After having gone so far-! Let us-! Compensate for that-! On this end~!]

Harboring the emotion to extol not the beleaguered Black Serpent but the beleaguering Meili, Roy joined his hands and jutted the ground upward, off of which the rainbow-hued butterflies blasted, scattering shrapnel of the befouling variety.

Befoulment of death that would eliminate upon touch. If the movements of the Black Serpent itself were slow, then all he must do was to take up charge for the task of spattering. Accruing two, three successive eruptions, a wide acreage was spritzed in black.

Roy: [Haha~, hahaha~, hahahaha~-!]

Naturally, being at the epicenter of the eruption, Roy’s life would also be in peril should he bathe in the befoul. Hence Roy coated himself in an armor of blood, braced to perfectly avoid basking in the spattering daub of befoulment.

Besides a select few exceptions, there was nobody capable of dodging rain. Furthermore, it was improbable for all members of the plates of treats to be such exceptions, thus the bombardment of the Black Serpent’s befoulment would ruthlessly lacquer the battlefield in black. There were limits to how much the prey could protect one another. Incapacitating Meili would be ideal, but――,

Roy: [Huh?]

A vacuous, doltish voice escaped Roy’s throat as he removed his faceguard of blood.

Before his sight, amidst the thickets felled to necrosis by the spattered daub of befoulment, was a gaping space that had eluded the blight―― therein were the forms of the treats assembled together, backs joined together, successfully safeguarding from the bombardment of death.

Roy: [Just no way.]

The insuperable scales of the kaleidoscope of rainbow-hued butterflies, were intercepted by the boisterous dance of the ground’s bombardment.

Roy: [There’s no way.]

The compaction which squashed his field of vision from edges to center, was curbed at its inception, thus thwarting its invocation.

Roy: [We’re saying there’s no way.]

His impediment, aiming to transpierce their eardrums through a strident song, was drowned out by the clangorous detonation kindled by gale and flame.

Roy: [There’s just no way, we’re telling you there’s no way, because there is no way-.]

Turning the Stomach of Souls inside out, wielding all within his grasp without restraint, using the might of the suprarational, with even the truth of their existences fostering terror having vanished, he had begotten successive cataclysms.

The Aldebusters, however, with Felt at the helm, responded to counter all of it with precision and optimum conduct, synchronously coordinating as though all of them together formed a singular organism.

――This was odd.

Roy: [――――]

Whilst repeating onslaughts which whittled the world and its common sense, without pause and unremitting, Roy was posed with a doubt.

No matter what, this was odd. It was certain that they were gallant. They placed trust in one another. Their purpose was one. They were superlative and adroit. They were strong.

――Even so, this was odd.

Humans were incapable of conduct optimized to this magnitude.

Yet notwithstanding, Felt and the others continued to play the utmost effective cards in their hand with the best possible timings against every possible kind of offensive.

Roy was acquainted with this sensation. Aldebaran, when he had fought him at the Prison Tower.

Upon unfastening the captive Roy’s seal, Aldebaran had battered Roy to demonstrate the difference in their strength. The inexplicability that had disabled his arms and legs alike, this was the same―― close, but different. That had ultimately only been the abnormal essence of Aldebaran standalone. However, this was an abnormal essence dwelling in every single enemy present.

――Something, was clearly wrong.

Roy: [――A~h, misjudged, haven’t we~?]

The unordinary that paralyzed common sense, the suprarational inexplicable through reason, the inscrutable that precluded debate.

These abnormal straits induced, his hungry stomach glutted with doubt, Roy arrived at an inordinately obvious truth and cursed himself.

Based on her authoritative commands, he had been set under the impression that the enemy’s nucleus had been Felt.

This guided direction of Roy’s rationale was also a part of their plan. The true person at the nucleus was not Felt, but the string-puller concealed behind her; with this conjecture, Roy shot a leer in that direction.

Just then, the string-puller blinked their eyes with an “Ah”――,

△▼△▼△▼△

――God, Buddha, Od Lagna. For as long as I live, I hereby vow to never desire reconciliation with another.

――God, Buddha, Od Lagna. For as long as I live, I hereby vow to never rage on the behalf of another.

――God, Buddha, Od Lagna. For as long as I live, I hereby vow to never divulge secrets to another.

――God, Buddha, Od Lagna. For as long as I live, I hereby vow to never to display weakness to another.

――God, Buddha, Od Lagna. For as long as I live, I hereby vow to never watch the morning sun in the company of another.

△▼△▼△▼△

???: [――Perhaps, you finally noticed?]

As she responded so, having Compressed all the thought processes of her allies present there, in addition to all the processes of discussion in order to share that information amongst themselves, the Witch of Tristitia closed a single eye and winked.