Remains

"...?"

Ram's expression went blank.

In her mind, her gaze flickered between her sister's peaceful face and her own hands, which could still feel Subaru's neck in their grip. The meaning of her sister's last words gouged its way into her heart, little by little.

What did she mean-don't hurt him?

Why were her sister's last words a plea to protect the person who had taken her life? Why him? Why did it have to be him-?!

"Aaaaah-!!!"

A scream of anguish tore from Ram's throat. She clutched Rem's completely cold body tight in her arms and pressed her face against her sister's icy forehead. Tears fell onto Rem's serene face.

But Rem did not respond. Not the slightest breath remained. Her eyes would never open again.

"Rumble!!!"

The Mana in the air ran wild under Ram's uncontrollable grief and rage. The whole house groaned in the violent hurricane. Every corner, which Subaru had only just come to call his new home and Rem had scrubbed spotless, was now mercilessly torn apart by blades of wind.

The walls cracked, and furniture was swept up and smashed, reduced to fragments along with the glass.

Antares, who had been so thoroughly suppressed by the pressure from Ram's horn that he could not even appear, burst out. He sensed the powerful desire for death in his contractor's heart, but he could not stand by and watch his contractor die here.

There was no Mana left in the air, however. Ram's horn had absorbed everything around her. Antares used his stored power to create a Mana shield in front of Subaru, then turned into a streak of red light and rushed into the room inside.

There was one more thing there: the alligator horn. Witchbeast Mana remained inside it. Their attributes were completely incompatible, but it was the only weapon Antares could find for the fight.

Subaru had completely fallen apart by now. He did not want to understand what lay before him.

Why? Why didn't Rem hate him?! He was the one who had gotten her killed! She had died because of him, died without knowing why, and lost her entire future.

Rem was from another world. She could not possibly have deduced the truth behind the words she had just heard in such a short time.

For Rem, whose life had vanished in an instant, she had simply been killed by the person she trusted most. But why?! Why had she left such cruel last words?! Why had she protected him even in death?!

The hatred and killing intent in Ram's heart struggled desperately against her sister's dying wish. She could not kill him, but she wanted to. She wanted to tear the person who had taken her sister from her to pieces.

The two forces tore wildly at her insides, threatening to rip Ram in half.

"Boom-!!!"

The shield shattered. Subaru's body was swept high into the air by the hurricane and blown into the distance.

Ram had done it to save herself from losing control and killing Subaru: throwing him out, as far away as possible, somewhere she could not reach him even if she went mad.

Subaru's vision raced backward, past the shattered roof and the blue sky he had not yet had enough time to look at closely. Then he slammed into the ground.

"...Why... why didn't you kill me...?"

Subaru lay on the cold earth, staring up at the clear sky that seemed utterly indifferent, and forced the hoarse question from his throat.

Why was this happening to him? He had only wanted to go on living as he had before. Days without flames, without the Witch Cult, without death. Was that really too much to ask?

"This is all my fault... I'm sorry..."

Subaru snatched out the magic pistol and pressed its muzzle to his temple with a trembling hand.

But his finger shook violently on the trigger, unable to pull it. The fear of ending his own life, resentment at his own helplessness, anger at fate-all of it clogged his fingertip.

"...No! It's not just my fault! It's all them! It's their fault!!"

Black figures suddenly surfaced in his bloodshot eyes.

Those Witch Cultists. Those demons who had appeared out of nowhere and destroyed Subaru's life through slaughter. The night of rolling flames and the shrill laughter of the black-robed figures as they killed echoed endlessly in his ears.

Don't laugh.

The black figures in his memories continued to laugh at the charred corpses on the ground.

Don't laugh. Don't laugh. Don't laugh-! Why did you come?! I'll kill you... Why did you kill people?! What was so funny?! I'll kill you... I'll kill you...

Subaru staggered to his feet and walked toward the outside of the village. The direction Ram had thrown him in was indeed outside the village.

Once again, before he had gone far, those black-robed figures appeared in the woods, just as expected. When they saw Subaru, they bowed their heads respectfully, just as they had every time before.

"Bang-!"

The head of the Witch Cultist at the front exploded. Blood and brains splattered across Subaru's face, across his features that had already begun to twist.

The other Witch Cultists froze for an instant, then drew their weapons. The flames and corpse-strewn hell in Subaru's memories flashed before his eyes again and again, and the killers were right in front of him!

The Mana Antares had stored was strengthening Subaru's body at every moment.

The diligent Lesser Spirit had never slacked off for an instant, giving him the strength to roar now.

A shortsword slashed at him. Subaru did not dodge. He held out a hand and let the sharp blade pierce his palm. Then, under the Witch Cultist's stunned gaze, he trapped the weapon in his flesh, seized the shortsword with his other hand, and drove it into the cultist's heart with a backhand thrust.

"Archbishop... why...?"

Before the Witch Cultist fell, he forced out those bewildered last words.

"I'm going to slaughter every one of you-!!!"

Subaru had been completely consumed by hatred. Tactics, self-preservation-all such thoughts had been burned to ashes by the flames and corpses, and by the sight of Rem no longer breathing.

Antares returned. Then he instinctively began fighting alongside his contractor.

Icicles formed from the air and pierced the enemies attacking from the side. Fireballs appeared amid Subaru's roars, engulfing the black-robed figures ahead.

But there were too many Witch Cultists. Daggers and shortswords stabbed into Subaru's small body from every direction. His shoulder was pierced, his arm slashed open, and his back cut with wounds deep enough to expose bone.

This was what it felt like to have mind and body tortured at the same time.

He killed a Witch Cultist, a bullet blasting apart the head of the person opposite him, while a scimitar pierced Subaru's shoulder.

He killed a Witch Cultist, fire magic burning the black-robed figure before him into a screaming ball of fire, while a blade sank into Subaru's chest.

He killed a Witch Cultist, an icicle pinning the enemy to a tree trunk, while the other's fire magic set Subaru's body alight.

His sleeves were burning, his skin was burning. Blood drained away, wounds piled up, and seven or eight black-robed corpses lay on the ground.

Subaru had achieved a simple revenge, and his own life had also reached its end.

Antares let out a broken scream, desperately trying to get Subaru to run.

I'm sorry, Anta. Go...

Letting the Lesser Spirit leave him was Subaru's last thought before his consciousness faded. He did not want Antares to die here with him.

It hurts. So sleepy. So tired. I really couldn't stop these guys after all.

His vision darkened bit by bit. His wounded body was battered beyond its limits.

Unable to move, Subaru fell to his knees. Then a shortsword pierced his heart from behind. His body toppled forward, his face pressed into the cold earth.

...I can finally die.

"...The forehead and cheek should be all right too, shouldn't they?"

A familiar, coaxing voice reached his ears once more.

It carried an attempt to push her luck, overflowing dependence and love, and the warm tone that belonged to that blue-haired girl.