“I’ll tell ya right now, there ain’t a single reason to look for that damn Roswaal. The only ones left in this forest are me ’n’ that legendary lady Witch.”
“Even Roswaal?! You’re sure?!”
“The old hag’s house and the Cathedral are both gone, down to the last brick. Can’t rely on the loon. It’s just us.”
Even if he was far from full health, Roswaal was unmistakably a powerful man. Unfortunately, Garfiel curtly cut down the optimistic image Subaru had in mind.
If they couldn’t even rely on Roswaal’s aid, the overwhelming power required to win simply didn’t seem to exist.
This was the worst Witch, the one who killed even the other Witches of the Deadly Sins and swallowed half the world.
“Can’t we…do anything? At this rate, even the mansion is gonna get…”
Everything would be engulfed, stolen by that shadow, mercilessly trampled.
Was there something, anything, Subaru could do besides despair—?
“—Wait.”
Watching the Witch grow distant, Subaru had the odd sense that something was wrong.
Was there really no way to stop her? Was there well and truly no move that might come to mind? Think, remember, consider, recall. Find the one thing that only applies in this particular place—
“—There’s the barrier.”
“…What?”
“The barrier! The Witch of Jealousy has to fulfill the conditions to pass through the barrier covering the Sanctuary! The tomb’s Trial hasn’t been cleared and she’s a half-elf!”
It was said that Satella, the Witch of Jealousy, was a silver-haired half-elf.
This fact had caused Emilia to endure irrational discrimination from a great deal of people. At the same time, it was the stories about those notorious features passed down from four centuries ago that made him certain the Witch of Jealousy would be bound by that forest.
That said, if the Witch turned out to be something like a vestigial mind with no physical body, things might not go the way he hoped—
“—No need to worry ’bout that.”
The certainty behind the murmur made Subaru raise his eyebrows. After seeing his reaction, Garfiel clicked his fangs together.
“The Witch has a physical body. Right now it’s just like the root of Balgren’s left wing, ain’t it?”
“…You mean, like, it’s a weak point?”
“Ain’t got no other meanin’! Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got it now!”
Slapping Subaru’s shoulder as if praising him for his insight, Garfiel smiled ferociously and carried on.
“She’ll be beggin’ under that disgusting veil when I finally tear her head off!!”
2
The Witch of Jealousy brazenly advanced straight toward the boundary of the Sanctuary, dragging shadow behind her.
Chasing after that vast body of shadow, Subaru—or rather, Garfiel carrying Subaru—set out, traversing the treetops and circling around the Witch’s path.
“Don’t know how much effect the barrier’ll have, but if she weakens even a little…”
Garfiel’s claws would have an opening. If that was the case, even the Witch of Jealousy would not escape unscathed.
Subaru was confident because he had personally experienced what it was like to face Garfiel when he was in his beast form. He needed no explanation to know that a single blow from the bestial Garfiel contained overwhelming raw power.
The only other thing they needed was a way to guarantee the two would clash. And for that—
“Garfiel, she’s drawn to me. So…”
“Hey, if you’re tellin’ me to use ya as a decoy, I’ll bite your fingers off one by one.”
Leaping through the forest from branch to branch, Garfiel chewed out Subaru over his proposal. Faced with his standoffish attitude, Subaru was daunted for a moment; then he lobbed an angry retort.
“I’m not sayin’ this as some kind of joke! Barrier and decoy! They’ll make our chances better, even if only a bit! Isn’t that right?!”
“Oh, shaddap. If you’re gonna be that ignorant, I’ll throw ya overboard right now.”
“—!! You should know already! About the miasma coming from my body that attracts it…”
Irritated by Garfiel’s stubborn attitude, Subaru brought up the miasma swirling around him on his own. Surely Garfiel could not refute an argument made on that basis. However…
“The old hag! And Ram! And everyone else… They all got swallowed up right before my eyes…!”
“—!”
“Like I’m gonna live with the shame of lettin’ even a bastard like you join ’em! The scars of Pararagurara never fade! No way, no way in hell I’d accept that! These scars’ll be carved on the Witch’s heart!!”
Eyes bloodshot, Garfiel vented his raging emotions as he adamantly pushed away Subaru’s plan.
Garfiel’s anger stemmed from stubbornness—the pointless kind, at that.
Subaru understood why the inner voice of his cold, callous side spat out that Garfiel’s insistence was worthless. But the rest of Subaru couldn’t laugh at him at all.
After all, unlike Subaru, who had arrived late to the scene, Garfiel had witnessed the horrors with his own eyes.
Watching Ram, Ryuzu, and all the other people he cared about get swallowed whole, vanishing within the shadow.
But even after so many precious people were stolen from him, Garfiel refused to use revenge as an excuse to throw all decency aside. He wouldn’t tolerate any talk about a victory that involved sacrificing Subaru.
If this was indeed the rationality and conviction at Garfiel’s core that guided his actions—
“Then how could he be capable of doing that to everyone—?”
How had he ended up killing the brave villagers and Otto when he shielded Subaru in such a cruel manner?
When he, too, knew full well the pain of losing something precious, the sadness of loss…
“We’re here.”
With no answer to that question forthcoming, the pair arrived at their destination.
They had chosen a tiny open space within the forest as the site of the decisive battle. The forest had been clear-cut there, leaving the waning moon and the stars overhead as the only audience to witness the Witch of Jealousy’s return to the stage.
Behind them was the barrier; ahead of them, Subaru sensed the wriggling shadow drawing closer. The Witch was headed straight toward them. All that remained was to counterattack—but there was a simple problem with that.
“Garfiel, what are you gonna do? The barrier affects you the same way, right?”
Half-bloods—mixed-blood demi-humans—could not go past the forest’s barrier. That applied to both Garfiel and the Witch. If he was weakened, it wouldn’t matter how much power the Witch lost.
In response, Garfiel took something out of his loincloth. And that something was—
“…A crystal? That’s yours?”
“I don’t owe ya an explanation. Just shut up and watch. Gonna put this early risin’ Witch back to sleep so fast that we won’t need decoys or anythin’ else.”
The crystal glimmered blue—a glimmer he had laid eyes upon several times amid the twists and turns surrounding the Sanctuary.
He knew that Garfiel possessed one identical to the one Frederica owned. In earlier laps he had been through in the current time loop, Subaru had seen those crystals change hands several times over. Even now, he still didn’t know the finer details surrounding the items, but—
“—! Who’s there?!”
The faint sound of footfalls landing on grass made Subaru instantly turn around. It was not the Witch. The direction and the mental pressure were far too different to be her. However, that alone wasn’t a reason to lower his guard.
“…Huh?”
And yet, the instant he set eyes upon the newcomer, Subaru’s caution was blotted out by shock.
“”
A thicket parted and a young girl emerged.
&nbs
p; He had seen her before. The long pink hair and a white poncho-style outfit. Her ears were a little longer than those of the average person, making her impossible to mix up with someone else.
This was Ryuzu, the representative of the Sanctuary who had allegedly been swallowed up by the shadow.
But there was no way this was Ryuzu. What Subaru saw next completely refuted that possibility.
“Is this…some kind of joke…?”
Multiple figures stepped barefoot onto the grass and made their way through the underbrush. Every single one wore the same clothing, the same expression, the same demeanor—in fact, all of them were perfectly identical.
More than twenty perfect copies of Ryuzu appeared from all directions.
“”
The great throng of girls bearing the same face as Ryuzu were silent, not speaking a single word. Their expressions unchanging, the girls gathered together and stood in a loose row at Garfiel’s back.
There was no way Subaru could call it a sight for sore eyes. It was like something straight out of a nightmare.
“Didn’t wanna show ya this if I didn’t have to.”
Unlike Subaru’s obvious astonishment, Garfiel reacted with only a slightly bitter comment, showing no sign that he was amazed. This wasn’t something worth gaping over for him. As Subaru slowly overcame his initial surprise, a realization dawned on him: He had probably met one of the people in this group face-to-face already.
“…The moment we got here, I was teleported to the forest out of the blue…”
It had occurred right after the magical relocation Subaru experienced upon arriving at the Sanctuary.
The crystal had reacted to the barrier, and the power of the stone had sent Subaru flying into the woods. It must have been one of the perfect copies of Ryuzu that had led the stranded Subaru to the tomb. Once he reunited with Emilia, Otto, and the others, Ram had admonished him to conceal the fact that he had encountered the elven girl.
Until that very moment, Subaru had shoved the girl into a corner of his memory. However, given this unexpected reunion, he understood for the first time that it had been a mistake to overlook that first encounter.
As the doll-like girl—no, girls—stood in silence, it was evident that they were identical beings.
“Don’t tell me these are…clones? Copies…? Is that even possible…?”
Seeing the girls easily evoked those words in the back of Subaru’s brain.
They were terms deeply associated with stories that had science-fictional themes, but they were a poor fit for his new world, a place dominated by swords and spells. In the first place, who could have reproduced that kind of technology—?
“—Sorry to interrupt ya thoughts, but it’s time.”
Giving the confused Subaru a shove on the shoulder, Garfiel reoriented himself toward the forest. The impending pressure was making the hair on Subaru’s back stand up as he glanced back and forth between the forest and the girls.
“Garfiel! Don’t tell me your plan is—”
“Crush her with numbers. Reid always fights head-on, y’know!”
Bringing both fists together in front of his chest, Garfiel revealed that his plan followed the doctrine of “simple is best.” There was no hidden twist, but there was no argument that it wasn’t the most suitable choice. Of course, it was an operation that accepted there would be casualties.
“Don’t get bent out o’ shape worryin’ over them. They ain’t like the old hag. This lot is totally empty on the inside. Still, they should be able to follow orders, no problem. We’ll make an openin’ and take that bastard’s damn head!”
There was no time to lodge any complaint about the operation nor to ask the girls—the copies—what they thought.
“…As for you, lemme say sorry in advance.”
That was all Garfiel said in the final moments before Subaru was thrust into the heart of a new battlefield.
Not comprehending the meaning of the words, the powerless Subaru was relegated to the rear. Garfiel stood at the head of the formation with the twenty-odd copies lined up behind him while Subaru brought up the rear.
With their formation decided, an eerie moment of tranquility settled into place, filled only with his breathing and the beating of his heart.
Slowly, the menace showed itself as it trespassed upon the world.
The forest was being slain before his eyes. Swallowed by a shadow of immense mass, the trees lost their shape like something dissolving into water, leaving no trace behind as the very concepts of tree and forest were contaminated by shadow.
This was heresy. This was violation. This was a slaughter.
The Witch blotting out the world with her love noticed Subaru standing in the path of her advance.
And then—
“—I love you.”
Subaru was beset by an unending revulsion; his instincts kept clamorously ringing an alarm bell to shout Danger! After uttering that lone phrase, the Witch leaped over Garfiel and the Ryuzu brigade, whispering her love to no one but Subaru.
In that instant, the Witch directed all her interest and concern onto Subaru and Subaru alone—
“—Gaaaaaaa!!”
Garfiel, who was their only hope for victory, raised a great howl.
A moment later, the ground exploded. Kicking up plumes of dust, Garfiel leaped up like he had been launched from a slingshot.
Garfiel’s mouth was open wide, fangs bared as he hurtled toward the shadow. As Subaru watched, he saw Garfield’s entire body swell up as his clothing ripped from the inside, unable to endure the expansion of his flesh. His entire body became covered in golden fur, and his hands and feet transformed into bestial claws—Garfiel the great tiger, the ferocious beast Subaru was hard-pressed to forgive, had reared his head.
“—!!”
Roaring as he went, the savage tiger’s speed exceeded all normal bounds.
Given how his beastly movements were unchanged, it was apparent that Garfiel had nullified the effect of the barrier somehow. Accordingly, with neither hesitation nor sorrow, he brought his fangs down to bite into the pitch-black dress and rip it apa—
“”
—Instantly, shadows stretched away from the Witch’s feet, coiling around the leaping great tiger.
The shadows bound the great tiger’s limbs, stealing away his momentum and trapping the growling creature. As dark tendrils sank into animal limbs as thick as Subaru’s hips, the sound of tearing flesh rang out, accompanied by the spurting of a bloody mist.
There was a scream. The raging great tiger heaved as the shadows tightened their hold and cruelly tore into his body.
“—Ah—”
While Subaru could only watch helplessly with wide eyes, the Ryuzu copies that Garfiel had summoned and left on standby began to join the battle.
Letting out unemotional voices devoid of intelligence, the young girls sprinted toward the shadow all at once. Moving with surprising swiftness, they pursued the great tiger held captive by the shadow, drawing closer to the Witch all the while.
A pair of copies leaped in with arms spread wide as if inviting the Witch into their embrace. Just before they could close the distance, shadows burst outward in the shape of spears, impaling them in the abdomen and hoisting them aloft.
Two girls with identical faces, impaled through their abdomens, were lined up at the same height as Garfiel, his four limbs still bound. The shadow swayed their bodies back and forth as if to mock him.
It was excessively vicious. However, the Witch’s overconfidence had caused her to make a mistake.
There was barely any warning before the change occurred—but it was the change itself that was grand and terrible.
“Wha—?!”
The two impaled Ryuzus began emitting a pale light, and a second later, scattered in every direction like an explosion.
Their battered bodies transformed into particles of light, blowing away the shadow surrounding them. For a single moment, this breathed life bac
k into the world steeped in shadowy darkness and started a chain reaction.
Following the two who had been blown away, the remaining copies shouted at the Witch all at once, launching a suicide charge against her.
It had already been demonstrated that an all-out charge with no thought for survival would prove effective. In response, the Witch didn’t hesitate to direct all her shadows to meet the girls rushing at her.
The shadows welled up, dividing into groups to crush the girls trying to overwhelm the Witch with sheer numbers. There were five razor-edged shadows for each of the girls, a mass of about one hundred raging limbs dancing madly as they fell upon the girls who tried to take evasive action.
The shadows impaled and rent skulls and bodies alike as they sliced the girls to death.
Leaping all at the same moment, the remaining copies launched a simultaneous attack from numerous directions. Now that their little schemes had all been defeated by brute force, the Ryuzus used their last option, transforming into pale light and exploding one after another in a staggered, rhythmical fashion—which temporarily thinned the shadows spawned by the Witch, prying clear a path to the pitch-black dress behind. That was when—
“—Rrrrrrraaaa!!”
The fierce beast that had been riddled with wounds flew into the gap that had been wrenched open.
Escaping the shadow bindings during the replica suicide attack, the ferocious beast crouched low to the ground, and immediately following the pale blue explosions of light, a roar seemed to break through that dazzling glow as the claws of a wild animal swung at the Witch.
“”
The great tiger became a torrential gale that surged forward as the Witch bundled a few remaining shadows to form a blocking wall. However, the great tiger swung an arm toward the bulwark of shadows, pulling a silhouette forward with its front paw—slamming the last of the replicas home, pulverizing the wall and his own arm. Then fang and claw pierced the veil of pale light, sinking deep into the dress of shadow.
—He got her, thought Subaru. The setup had been so perfect that he was certain of the final outcome.
Without any regrets, the twenty-one Ryuzu replicas had expended themselves in a self-destructive suicide charge.
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Vol. 12 Page 2