"There—it really was getting emptier and emptier."
Facing Limbo, who stood alone in the middle of the room and raved like a madman, the longsword wielder let out a helpless sigh.
"The bloodstained flower blooming in the night had ultimately withered away as well, huh."
If he counted carefully, how many people had disappeared since he arrived here?
Three?
Or four?
"But if that was the case, then it proved one thing, didn't it?"
"Chaldea's Sakumura Anno, and that Shinmen Musashi—they were both very powerful people, weren't they?"
There was a faint trace of keen interest in his voice.
"Fujimaru Ritsuka! Sakumura Anno! Shinmen Musashi!!!"
Limbo let out a strange cry.
"They were precisely that kind of people! Completely unaware of it, yet still protecting the human world!"
"They fought to survive! They struggled to survive!"
"Ooh, such souls of justice were practically just like—"
"Abe no Seimei."
For some reason, when he spoke that final name, Limbo finally calmed down.
"That was good."
No emotion could be heard in the sorcerer's voice as he sat in the seat of honor.
"Only by reaching this extent could they be worthy of becoming obstacles in our path—is that not so?"
"There was no meaning in slaughtering beings with no desire to live. Only destroying a world overflowing with the will to survive had meaning."
In response to the sorcerer's words—
"Yes."
The longsword wielder gave a concise reply.
"Judging by your words and tone, it seemed you greatly admired those people. The pieces in your hand had nearly all been used up as well, so did that mean it was almost time for me to take the stage?"
There was a measure of anticipation in his voice.
"After all—it was you who spoke to a man waiting to rot away in