Chapter 98 — Volume 4, 50 [A Distant Roar]

Billowing waves of shadows bearing pitch-black affection pressed towards Subaru.

Dangling against the trunk of a large tree, barely holding onto a branch, Subaru had no means of escape. He glanced over to Garfiel beside him, only to see that,

[Subaru: GARFIEL!?]

Garfiel let go of the branches, releasing himself into a freefall before landing on the ground. The shadow-infused surface rushed to pull at his feet, but Garfiel, not minding it, swung down his arms as if to pierce into the ground, placing all four limbs in contact with the earth,

[Garfiel: Like hell am I waitin’ around t’get swallowed! WwwwrraaAAHHH――!!]

Roaring, Garfiel flung up the arms he had stabbed into the ground.

And along with his motion, the shadowy surface of the earth heaved upwards like a table-flip of massive proportions―― rising to meet the dark, surging wave only inches away from engulfing them.

With clods of soil hurtling into the air alongside the sound of a violent crack, the upturned earth crashed into the shadow. But the impact against the supposedly massless shadow only lasted for an instant, before the storm of earth was swallowed just like the building before it.

The shadowy wave rose higher, its breadth widened, and its hue deepened. The more it swallowed the more vicious it grew―― but the maneuver had bought them just the smallest delay.

[Garfiel: If y’don’t get yer ass down I’m leavin’ ya behind!]

[Subaru: Uuuoowa――!]

While gazing, dumbstruck, at the unfolding sight before him, a sudden impact knocked Subaru off the branch, sending him plummeting to the ground. But just before he could crash into the earth, Garfiel struck out his arm and nabbed him by the waist, bringing him to an abrupt stop. With his eyes rolled back, beginning to understand what happened,

[Subaru: Y-you didn’t have to kick me down!?]

[Garfiel: Yer bein’ too slow decidin’. I think that thing’s got a crush on ya. Nevermind me, if y’get caught yer gettin’ swallowed up in a second]

Still holding Subaru in his grip, Garfiel nudged his chin at the ever enlarging shadow with a feral grin. Following his gaze to the root of the shadow―― Subaru could see the faint outline of a person, singlemindedly reaching out its hand to him.

{???: I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you――}

Despite the distance separating them, he could hear that murky voice as though it was being whispered into his ears.

Defying the laws of physics, as if their distance meant nothing, the abnormality of this voice sickened him to the core.

Watching that shadow directing its dark, immense passion towards him, unbearable disgust and revulsion surged up Subaru’s chest.

It was the reason he could Return by Death, and in a sense, he was in its debt.

But it was impossible. It was impossible to accept it. Biologically, and from his very soul, he was rejecting it.

In fact, he would rather jump into the mouth of the White Whale than be embraced by that shadow.

[Subaru: Garfiel, what do we do……!]

[Garfiel: Backin’ off’s all we got! Even that bastard Roswaal can’t be counted on here. Ram ‘n Granny…… and th’others didn’t stand a chance against that thing]

Garfiel gnawed his fangs and ruefully growled under his breath.

Unlike Subaru, he had seen that shadow swallow Ram and Lewes with his own eyes. So it wasn’t hard to imagine what he must be feeling.

But since Subaru still harbored such hateful memories of Garfiel, it only became all the more complicated to now see him in grief.

[Subaru: ――――!]

If the writhing shadow could be compared to a giant palm, then its fingers suddenly lunged out towards Subaru and Garfiel. At the last second, gripping Subaru tightly, Garfiel back-stepped out of the way. By treading on ground that was less saturated by shadow, if he could just widen their distance from the heart of the shade, they should at least be able to avoid plummeting into the bog.

[Subaru: Even if we keep running, things won’t get any better…… what happened to your attacks?]

[Garfiel: I can’t break through th’shadow’s dress. Might be a different story if I get a full-powered attack in, but can’t make th’opportunity t’do it]

Taking a large leap backwards, Subaru and Garfiel exchanged their thoughts while flying through the gaps between the trees. Their speed should have easily left the shadow on the other side of the forest, but somehow, they just couldn’t seem to shake the darkness, slowly inching closer.

Perhaps, this inescapable closeness was just the shadow’s Authority. But that was not the only abnormality.

[Garfiel: ……Shit]

Spitting, Garfiel grunted in irritation.

His shoulders were heaving with ragged breathing. Profuse amounts of sweat was emerging on his forehead, and every movement carried a sense of incongruity that Subaru had never seen from him before.

It didn’t appear to be fatigue from carrying Subaru’s weight.

Seeing this, Subaru furrowed his brows. And, noticing Subaru’s reaction, [Tch], Garfiel clicked his tongue,

[Garfiel: My body’s gettin’ unusually heavy. ――Th’fuckin’ shadow’s sucking all the lifeforce around it]

[Subaru: You mean the shadow beneath us!?]

Panicking at Garfiel’s answer, Subaru squirmed himself away from the shadow even though his feet weren’t actually touching the ground―― shivering at the endless darkness covering over all the grass.

And only then, did the true threat of the shadow finally dawn on him.

[Subaru: Oy, no way――]

――The forest was falling.

The trees of the forest surrounding the Sanctuary were tall, boasting a canopy thick enough to conceal the moon and stars. But now, the forest sky was filling clearly into his eyes.

It wasn’t because the trees were cut down, or that the leaves were burned away. The rows of green treetops were still there, their leaves rustling in the wind.

――But the forest had fallen so low that Subaru’s head would pop out if he jumped.

[Subaru: The forest is sinking――!?]

[Garfiel: Same’ll happen t’ us if we don’t keep movin’. I’m guessin’ that thing gets more powerful the more it eats――!]

Having spread to the ends of the Sanctuary, the shadow’s power grew, and was now swallowing the entire forest into darkness.

Front back left right, the shadow spanned as far as Subaru’s eyes could see. Even if they crossed the Barrier or left the forest, there would still be no end to this despair.

Subaru had been so distracted by the unprecedented development and the long-overdue appearance of the Witch of Envy that he had misjudged the threat his enemy posed.

This was the Witch of Envy――the one who once swallowed half the world, whose marks still gripped the present world in terror, the utmost of calamities.

[Subaru: That thing won’t actually end up covering half the world, will it……?]

[Garfiel: Story goes that it swallowed countries whole. Might wanna know that before shruggin’ it off]

Garfiel sneered, confirming Subaru’s fears.

The visible exhaustion on his face must be due to the Witch’s influence, and as the rate of the shadow’s encroachment accelerated, the sensation of sinking into the earth grew stronger.

Every step seemed to sink deeper than the last, and the effort behind each stride exponentially rose. The truth is, if Garfiel was alone, he could probably escape――

[Subaru: Garfiel, that thing is after me. So……]

[Garfiel: If yer fuckin’ tellin’ me t’drop ya, I’m gonna bite yer fingers off one by one, oy!]

Being turned down before he could even voice his proposal, Subaru fell silent. But, quickly shaking off his dejection, Subaru resumed glaring into the side of Garfiel’s sweat-drenched face,

[Subaru: This isn’t the time to be saying that! We’re both going to be eaten like this! If I face that thing, I should at least be able to buy us some time. Meanwhile you……]

[Garfiel: I should run? Or y’sayin’ I should go get that bastard Roswaal? First thing that shadow did was head for the center of th’village…… th’villagers and refugees, ‘n Roswaal…… they’re all eaten already]

[Subaru: ――gh. Y-you’re absolutely sure?]

[Garfiel: Y’didn’t see, but the whole Sanctuary was swallowed. Long as they didn’t all go on a spontaneous moon-watchin’ trip into th’forest, I’m sure]

Plainly conveying this, there was no emotion in Garfiel’s words. In contrast to his usual over-emotional attitude, it only showed that he was telling the truth.

Not just the defenseless refugees or the peaceful residents of the Sanctuary, but even Roswaal was eaten. If that was the case, then the situation was nothing short of hopeless.

For Garfiel, who specializes in close quarter combat, the long-reaching attacks of the Witch of Envy could be said to be his worst matchup.

If only they had Roswaal or Ram here, perhaps they would still have stood a chance with a coordination of close and long-range attacks.

[Subaru: But that just means without you, there’ll be no way left to oppose it……]

[Garfiel: Granny! Ram! And everyone else! They’ve all already been eaten……!]

[Subaru: ――――!]

[Garfiel: On top of that, y’want me t’abandon you too? Y’want me t’shame myself……? Never, never, never gonna do that. Fuckin’ “Pararagurara’s scars don’t fade!” I ain’t gonna be satisfied ‘till I bash that thing up!!]

Garfiel bared his fangs, barking. His expression was of boundless rage towards the shadow―― perhaps, there was something else as well, or was Subaru just overthinking it?

Having had everyone precious stolen from him, barks of rage couldn’t be the only thing dominating his heart―― if he, Garfiel, was that kind of person,

[Subaru: Then why did you do that to everyone……]

Why was he so cruel to tear the defiant villagers to pieces?

Garfiel should know the pain of having someone taken from him, and know the anguish of loss. If he did, then he should be capable of empathy.

Then why did he take his cruelty so far?

Garfiel probably had no idea what Subaru’s wrenched out question was asking.

He only wordlessly tightened his grip on Subaru, showing no intention of letting him go. He ran, same as before, or rather, as the encroaching shadow accelerated, Garfiel was putting more and more force into his steps to escape, leaping forward, and forward, flying out of the sinking forest.

Torn between Garfiel’s obstinance and the threat behind them, the sudden expansion of his visual field made Subaru lift his face in surprise.

Shooting out of the sinking forest, the two flew out into a clearing. At last, it was an area where the shadow’s influence was still weak. He could see naked earth, and short, stunted flowers, but, most shocking of all,

[Subaru: ――Eh!?]

The moment it entered his eyes, Subaru’s body was tossed onto the turf.

Grunting in shock as he rolled on the ground, he clutched the soil to stop himself, then shook his head. But, more than the desire to express his indignation at being thrown, was the need to ask about what he was seeing. That is,

[Subaru: Why is Lewes-san here――?]

Standing in front of Subaru’s trembling voice was a little girl with long, pink hair―― or so she appeared, despite the ancient person inside. Lewes.

Seeing the girl standing there at the back of the clearing, watching him with her vast, boundless gaze, Subaru wavered.

Surely, Garfiel had just told him that she was swallowed by the shadow.

But that was clearly at odds with what he was seeing.

If he had to choose which one to believe in, he could only choose to believe the reality in front of his eyes. In that case, was all their previous conversation just a lie?

[Subaru: Garfiel, what is this……]

[Garfiel: ……Don’t go jumpin’ t’conclusions. I know what y’wanna say ‘n ask, but we ain’t got time for that, now that we lured that thing here]

Dismissing Subaru with a wave of his hand, Garfiel cast his gaze over his surroundings. Then, lifting his chin and drawing in a deep breath,

[Garfiel: ――――oooorrrrrrrrrRRRRR!]

Although its volume fell short of covering the entire expanse of the forest, like a distant howl, the call pierced through the wondrously silent air.

Hearing it, for a moment, the rather out-of-place thought occurred to Subaru, “That guy’s super good at making animal noises”, but it soon gave way when he saw the answer to that howl.

[Subaru: ――――!?]

Accompanied by the sound of rustling, one after another, small silhouettes stepped out of the foliage and into the clearing.

Short in stature, their long, pink hair was almost dragging on the ground. Their skins were translucent-white, and their eyes devoid of emotion. The robes they wore seemed unfitting for their size, with sleeves dangling way past the tip their hands. They didn’t seem to be wearing any other garment underneath, and, peeking between the gaps, he could see that they were barefoot.

The number of figures stepping out of the treeline must have totaled about twenty or so.

Lining up to fill almost half of the clearing, they all bore the exact same face. Not just the same expression―― but the same face.

[Subaru: What kind of, joke is……]

[Garfiel: Woulda preferred if I didn’t have t’show ya]

Garfiel’s pained mutter failed to enter Subaru’s stricken ears. Or rather, despite entering his ears, they failed to register any proper meaning in his brain.

Seeing the girls with identical faces lined up before his eyes―― all looking exactly like Lewes, gave Subaru the illusion that he might be dreaming.

Truth is, Subaru had these kinds of nightmares before, and he had hoped that this was just another one of them. But,

[Subaru: The scratches from the branches hurt… and my heart too…… this is real, isn’t it]

Checking the blood seeping from his arms, and pressing against the sharp pounding of his heart, Subaru took a deep breath. And then, having resolved to accept this scene as reality, he scanned his eyes over the girls once more.

They all looked exactly the same as Lewes, and even their expressions were identical. That is to say, they were all emotionless, unmoving, and doll-like.

Even though Subaru knew that Lewes was never an especially lively person, she was always abundant in emotion, and, more importantly, her every action resembled that of a living human being.

[Subaru: ――――]

But that characteristic feeling of living human beings was entirely absent from these girls.

They were like dolls. There could be no description more accurate than that. One could even say they were dolls.

Despite breathing and carrying life, they were no more than moving dolls―― such, was the abnormality of seeing twenty identical faces arranged in a row.

[Subaru: Clones…… this world can’t have that kind of technology. Is it some kind of replication magic……? But then why make so many Lewes-sans……]

When the term “Somatic Cell Cloning” flashed across his mind, Subaru suddenly realized it.

Why the Sanctuary was called the Experimental Grounds, and why its master, Echidona, was so reluctant to talk about it. And then, there was also why Garfiel repeatedly cursed this place as a deadlock.

[Subaru: Unless, this is the result of the Sanctuary’s experiments……? Replicating Lewes-san? No… but, what’s the point of doing something like that……]

[Garfiel: Sorry t’do this when yer busy ponderin’, but looks like it’s about time]

While Subaru’s mind was turning at an incredible speed, beside him, Garfiel’s arms began to expand.

His arms, covered over with golden hair, swelled to rip through his clothing as muscles bulged to three times their original width.

Atavism―― if the giant tiger was Garfiel’s true form, then this partial transformation was merely the first stage of his trump card.

[Garfiel: Surround it n’ crush it. Simple, but with e’ryone else eaten, this is all that’s left]

[Subaru: ……I can understand what your plan is, but they’re…]

[Garfiel: Don’t worry. They ain’t like Granny, their insides’re empty. But they can follow orders at least. If they can just create an openin’, we’re set]

Whether it was the details of his strategy, or about Lewes’ replicants, there were still too many questions Subaru wanted to ask. But there was no time for that, or for carrying on a peaceful conversation, for that matter.

With a swipe of his massive arm, Garfiel pushed Subaru to the very back of the clearing. Then, at Garfiel’s brutish signal, the Lewes-formation pressed forward to shield Subaru behind them.

Garfiel stood himself in the dead center of the clearing. Behind him, were the Lewes-clones, and at the tail end, was Subaru. All the while, swallowing the trees of the forest, on the opposite end of Garfiel’s glare,

{???: ――I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you}

With slow, writhing movements, the words of love seeped from the edge of the forest.

Boundless revulsion and blaring alarms crying “danger” rang ceaselessly inside his skull. Then, the Witch’s shadow lifted what should be its head, and caught Subaru within its sights,

[Subaru: ――――]

Before he knew it, he could see the shadow undulating with joy.

Surrounded by a black vortex sweeping the trees of the forest into its spiral, amidst the sound of crushing wood, whispering love, the shadow stepped closer.

Defiling the grass of the clearing, it took only an instant for the expanding darkness to usurp this small patch of earth. Before long, everything here would be sinking into the shadow just as the forest had.

So if Garfiel was to have any chance of winning, it would have to be before this place was engulfed by the shadow. That is, now. This very moment.

[Garfiel: ――――GhrraaaAAAAAAHHHHH!!]

Tilting his head to the sky, Garfiel’s throat expelled a roar that quaked the atmosphere.

The violent tremors tearing through the air petrified Subaru’s every organ with instinctive terror. Before the frozen Subaru, not only Garfiel’s arms, but his legs had transformed into those of a beast, slamming to the ground with all its force.

Instantly, with the ruptured earth under Garfiel’s foot as the pivot, the ground beneath the Witch sprang up like a giant seesaw.

It was every bit a reenactment of Garfiel’s first meeting with Subaru, where he flipped Patrasche and the carriage clean off of the ground.

As the shadow was launched into the air alongside clumps of swept-up earth, Garfiel lowered his posture, placing all four limbs onto the ground. And, with a howl, he spurred on the next stage of his transformation.

Unable to withstand his expanding body, his clothes burst into slithers of rags dangling from his golden fur. Held up by lumbering limbs, his body grew to exceed four meters in length, as dagger-like fangs lined inside his jaw.

This was none other than the manifestation of the great tiger that had once conferred on Subaru such fury and despair.

[Garfiel: ――――WWRRRRR!!]

Roaring, the beast’s body tore through the wind, lunging for the shadow.

Causing the foothold to cave in beneath its paws, the mighty beast leaped with astounding speed, in defiance of its enormous mass.

And, just as it flung open its jaws, threatening to crush the shadow’s slender waist with fangs that could shear through steel――

[???: ――――]

――fingers of shadows reached out from beneath the leaping beast and wound it within its grasp. Intercepted like this, the great tiger stopped mid-air. And, the moment after, a throat-rending shriek rang out.

A mist of blood burst from the tiger’s constricted limbs, practically announcing the shadow’s intent to crush them in its grip. Arms as thick as Subaru’s waist began producing the sound of ripping flesh.

Subaru watched the great tiger, shrieking and immobilized mid-air, but couldn’t tear his eyes away. And from there, the shadow mercilessly snapped the beast’s body into an explosion of organs and blood――

[Subaru: ――ah―]

――was not what happened.

While Subaru watched on in a daze, two Lewes replicants leaped into the fray between the tiger and the Witch.

The little girls shot forward, panting pointlessly with open mouths. With incredible speed, they passed through the shadow, and, landing on the ground, they darted towards the Witch whose gaze was transfixed on the tiger held high in her grip.

[Lewes-clones: u―]

[Subaru: ――――]

Spreading their arms, they threw themselves at the Witch as if to hug her. But the Witch, having noticed their approach, easily skewered them in place with an outstretched shadow.

The sharp, spear-tipped shadow, with the motion of a whip slinging to their prey, severed the two Lewes-clone’s legs from under them before skewering them through the waist. Then, it brought them next to the shrieking Garfiel, as if to show him.

A far too abominable sight, but that laxness was the Witch’s mistake.

[Garfiel: ――wwWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRR!]

When he saw the replicants’ mutilated bodies brought before him, Garfiel’s tremoring throat, already tearing from shrieks of agony, let out a roar of an entirely different hue that forced Subaru’s brows to furrow.

Confused as to the meaning of that change in tone, before Subaru eyes, he saw the hanging bodies of the Lewes-clones rapidly engulfed by an abounding, pale-blue light――

[Subaru: ――――!?]

[???: ――――]

The next instant, the bodies exploded with a blinding flash.

There were no blood or organs, or any gory indications that a living organism had exploded. Their flesh merely transformed into particles of light, blasting clear the surrounding shadows and returning a brief moment of life to the world. Blown and scattered―― but unlike any ordinary death by explosion.

Blinded by the flash of light, Subaru violently rubbed at his eyes. And, hurriedly regaining his vision, his eyes opened in time to see the wall of Lewes-clones that was shielding him rushing towards the shadow just as the first two had done before them.

Dispersing in all directions, with impeccable coordination, the eighteen Lewes-clones surrounded the Witch. Apparently having no other means of attack, their only aim was to stick themselves onto the Witch as they closed in their encirclement with their arms spread wide.

But, even with their coordinated advance, the replicants’ movements were still constrained by human limits. Not to mention that their adversary was the primal calamity of the Witch of Envy.

Just when Subaru thought it was about to be swamped by the Lewes-clones, the tip of the up-surging shadow split into eighteen strands. Each becoming a blade, as if mocking the Leweses’ efforts to evade them, the whips sliced through their skulls, torsos, abdomens, piercing and slashing, rending them to shreds.

Despite spacing out their attacks, the Lewes-clones were annihilated, and, after the passing of a single beat, all the Leweses exploded in a pulse of white light―― temporarily expelling all darkness from the clearing, and stripping away the vortex of shadow that surrounded the Witch.

[Garfiel: ――WRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!]

There was no way the wound-ridden tiger could allow this opportunity to slip away.

Using the opening created by the Lewes-clones’ charge to free himself from bondage, the moment after the replicants exploded, with a roar that surpassed all that came before, the giant beast lunged for the shadow’s head.

The Witch erected a wall of shade to meet the giant tiger rushing towards her, but the tiger, holding the silhouette of a person on the tip of his claw―― a Lewes-replicant which it had hidden for this very purpose, slammed it into the wall, blasting it apart. Through the pale-blue flash of light, his fangs and claws fell upon the heart of the shadow.

――It was so perfect that even Subaru was convinced that he had it.

An inhumane tactic that unhesitatingly sacrificed twenty-one Lewes-replicants.

If the tiger-morphed Garfiel could land a single direct strike with its claw, surely, even a Witch couldn’t hope to survive――

{???: ――I love you}

Or at least, that was what Subaru implored in his heart,

{???: ――Subaru-kun}

The shadow called sweetly, as Garfiel’s burst-open corpse shattered into dust.

-=Chapter 50 End=-