Arc 5, Chapter 57 – “Where The Heart Lies”

 

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Translated by :

• Nanashi
• Phantaminum

Proofread by :

• u/IceOccultism
• u/GracedHarperd
• Phantaminum
• SSCaide

Fan Art Source :

• zhukzubast from the Discord Server

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ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO TAPPEI NAGATSUKI, THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR OF RE:ZERO STARTING A LIFE IN A DIFFERENT WORLD FROM ZERO, THIS IS A TRANSLATION OF THE FREE JAPANESE WEB NOVEL INTO ENGLISH

JAPANESE WEB NOVEL SOURCE

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——About ten minutes had passed since Subaru had left his life in the hands of fate.

Regulus: [Come on already! Strive after something for once, how about obediently dying here?]

Subaru: [Uwaaah!]

Regulus kicked at the building, cutting into it with terrifying precision, and without its support, it toppled helplessly.

The cloud of debris accompanying the collapse filled the vicinity, and Regulus, whose own vision wound up clouded, clicked his tongue impatiently—— listening to these tiny sounds, Subaru returned to the battlefield, having exhausted his improvised traps.

Regulus: [Restlessly moving about… do you have no notion of attacking straightforwardly at all? I couldn’t care less about your relationship with that whore, but is this any way to fight, for someone who claims to be her Knight or whatever!?]

Subaru: [Say whatever you like, talk until you’re satisfied!]

Regulus: [There you are!!]

If Subaru attempted to defend himself from Regulus, who kept muttering maliciously, he would receive in return a handful of sand that would end his life.

The instant after Subaru had escaped far away from the murderous dust thrown his way, the debris he had been hiding behind vaporized.

Being brushed would lead to fatal injury, a single strike would mean instant death.

So far, Regulus’s attacks had all miraculously missed. As contact would instantly mean the end, thanking fortune for this would be a tad inappropriate.

Subaru: [Concentrate! Concentrate! Concentrate——]

Out of breath, wiping away sweat, he tensed all his attention to prepare for evasion.

The rising dust stained his face, and Subaru spat out a mouthful of saliva, tinged with the dust that had accumulated in his mouth.

He was putting the results of his parkour training into effect.

Unlike the days when his exercise had been without goal, the new sense of purpose and aspirations had an enormous impact on the state of Subaru’s mind. In the forest near the new Roswaal mansion, repeated every single day, to the point of being sick of it—— that time had not been for nothing.

Subaru: [Hah, no matter what, hah, I’m just a guy who can at most mess around with a bastard with the skill of an amateur…!]

Even then, he was a Sin Archbishop of the Witch Cult.

Considering the battle’s situation and Subaru’s personal ability, to say that he was accomplishing something special would not be much of a stretch.

For Pristella to safely escape from the Witch Cult’s sinister hands, no matter what, he would try to contribute just a bit more——

Subaru: [So…!]

Regulus: [Are you going to keep trying to kill time with this, do you seriously think that someone like you can manage to do anything at all? You’re just someone who figured out a bit of the mechanism of the Authority of Greed, but don’t mistake that for the ability to stand against me!]

Without even room to catch his breath, the enraged Regulus increased the scope of his destruction. Regulus no longer cared about how much collateral damage he would cause in order to kill Subaru.

The city of Pristella, which was famed for its beautiful scenery, was gradually losing those sights because of the violent crimes of the Witch Cult.

The stone bridge that spanned the waterway was shattered, the store meticulously decorated with glass was destroyed. Finding an odd feeling of beauty in the flashing of shimmering glass, so dissonant from the scene, Subaru believed in his right leg, and took the momentum of destruction as a cue to flee.

Ironically, from his right leg came a surge of power. Pitch-black, infected by something of unknown power, that right leg was currently Subaru’s lifeline.

Lashing out with his whip, he latched onto the rain gutter of the building right next to him. Believing in the binding force of his whip, Subaru stomped hard on the ground, crossing the streets while running along the wall—— he passed near Regulus’s side as if to specifically force the evildoer to watch him with widened eyes, and he stuck out his tongue for extra provocation.

Regulus: [You!! You have no idea just what you’re worth!!]

The stone thrown from his swinging arm flew far off, completely missing Subaru, who fled using the momentum gained from yanking his whip.

Without even considering an attack, just try to escape.

Those who had perished at Greed’s hands, had died due to their excessive courage. Weak, fragile, and timidly insisting on escaping. Certainly, such a person could not lose.

Thus, that misfortune could be wiped clean here. For that goal——

Subaru: [Not yet, Emilia? ——This guy’s Heart!]

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Emilia: [Someone with a clue… isn’t there anyone?]

Before the brides who she had asked for cooperation, Emilia bit her lip as she received an emergency report.

The fifty-three assembled brides all glanced back and forth at each other at Emilia’s question, before finally shaking their heads meekly.

???: [My most sincere apologies. Casting that man’s control aside and wanting to help you is certainly genuine. Only…]

Bowing her head with remorse, this was the representative of the wives—— the blonde woman who had given her name as Sylphy.

Amongst all of Regulus’s wives, she was the one who was most well informed about their current situation, and so, she had become a representative of sorts.

Sylphy: [I can scarcely believe that that man would place something so important with us. Though he may call us wives and brides and whatnot… he has never once actually acted as if we were husband and wife.]

Emilia: [I can tell that Regulus is a reaaally problematic person, but what you’re saying can’t be it. Regulus’s… Lion’s Heart is definitely, definitely entrusted to you.]

Although Sylphy had begun to feel discouraged due to the lack of clues, Emilia would not be so easily disheartened.

At long last, Sylphy and the other wives, of their own will, had found their resolve to escape from Regulus’s grasp. This was only the beginning of their resolve. To become discouraged at this very first step was absolutely unallowable.

And as for Emilia, she believed in Subaru with nary a trace of doubt.

Subaru was amazing. Not only was he aware of so many things Emilia did not know, but he could apply knowledge and a lively attitude to a solution, no matter what adversity they had had to face in the past. And so, Emilia held no misgivings about his suspicion that Regulus’s Authority was Lion’s Heart.

This was not to say that she was acting thoughtlessly or with blind trust. It was not the case that it would be okay just because it was Subaru. Even Subaru would make mistakes, and on occasion he would fail.

However, that mistake could be corrected. Or she would take his hand, and become a force that could help him; this had become a source of Emilia’s trust in him.

Emilia: [Subaru thinks that Lion’s Heart must reside within the wives…]

Touching her chin as if lost in thought, Emilia remembered the mystery of the Authority of Greed that Subaru had shared with her.

——An authority that could stop the time of an object, that could leave it unable to be changed.

Although she had initially thought such a power inconceivable, she found that too much fell in place with that explanation.

Could it truly exist in reality? Rather than being an uncertainty, it would be better to say that——

Emilia: [There is a reaaally mysterious power at work.]

Apparently, this was something even more irrational than a Divine Protection. Unfortunately, Emilia, lacking a Divine Protection herself, could not comprehend the unique power inherent to those blessed with Divine Protections.

However, in Regulus, she could sense something similar. These Authorities were something far more ferocious and ugly than a Divine Protection.

Emilia: [Heart, heart…]

To Emilia, the worst-case scenario would be if one of the wives were truly a confidant, connected to Regulus’s true heart. This real bride would then be siding with Regulus and concealing her heart from Emilia.

Emilia: [————]

Leaving the contemplative Emilia aside, the brides congregated around Sylphy, scrutinizing their previous conversations for clues.

Emilia’s amethyst eyes carefully scrutinized their faces, as they engaged in discourse with serious faces.

At the same time, she had directed the Micro Spirits to look for changes in their bodies. These Micro Spirits were not particularly sensitive to changes in people, so their behavior, as if to test those who had applied for cooperation, was decidedly unpleasant.

However, her misgivings had long exceeded the level that feelings such as “I don’t want to doubt” could curb.

Spirits: [Mmm…]

The Micro Spirits gave a response.

There were no noticeable reactions to the wives, though she was not sure. As far as Emilia could tell, there were no wives who served as Regulus’s confidant, at least outwardly.

In that case, the only other possibility that came to mind was——

Emilia: [Eh?]

Suddenly feeling as if her hairs were being tugged on, Emilia immediately raised her head.

Before her eyes, dancing in Emilia’s line of sight, was a Micro Spirit glowing blue. The Micro Spirit that should have been attached to one of the brides, swayed in the air as if wanting to convey something to Emilia.

Her eyes tracing the Spirit’s line of travel, she found that it now faced Sylphy. She too was currently working hard, as the lead singer of the chorus of the wives’ revolt against Regulus.

The Micro Spirit wrapped around her back, fluttering as if bobbing up and down in appeal.

Emilia: [Hey, do you have a moment to talk?]

At Emilia’s greeting, Sylphy turned with an expression of surprise. Emilia walked over towards her, sneaking a glance at the Micro Spirit which emphasized its presence, level with the blonde woman’s chest.

Sylphy: [What is it?]

Emilia: [Excuse me for a second.]

No one present beside Emilia could see the Micro Spirits, devoid of physical form. So no matter how hard Micro Spirits tried to communicate, their desperate appeals could reach no one but Emilia.

So, when Emilia suddenly reached a hand to Sylphy’s chest, the latter looked back to Emilia in shock.

Sylphy: [Eh? Eheheh?]

Emilia: [Wait a moment, please stay quiet. I’m checking something right now.]

Sylphy: [What are you checking, hey, what are you checking…?]

Her cheeks reddening, Sylphy questioned Emilia without being able to mask her surprise.

Emilia then answered Sylphy with a serious expression.

Emilia: [The rhythm of your heart.]

Sylphy: [——!]

Emilia: [It’s because I’m a Spiritual Arts User. Though my original contracted partner is currently on leave, I can still communicate with the Micro Spirits. I asked those Micro Spirits to investigate everyone’s bodies, and received a response that only your heartbeat was strange.]

Sylphy: [My heart…?]

Sylphy swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

Her expression was entirely one of disbelieving surprise. Her shock was merely a matter of course. After all, she had only just heard a brief summary of Lion’s Heart, before being told that her heartbeat had changed.

And if things had progressed to this point, then there was only one explanation——

Emilia: [This is terrible… Regulus combines his heart together with the heart of someone who he claims to be his wife…!]

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???: [No matter how you look at it, although you’re wearing the image of virtuousness while reciting your respectable rhetoric, where the notion that your battle to buy time would actually bear fruit came from in the first place is a complete mystery to me. And although I don’t know how you could conceive of my Authority, why you would really want to keep fighting, now having clearly understood it?]

As he glanced down at the bloodied Subaru, Regulus’s cheeks raised, in boast of his victory.

Collapsed on the ground, lying by the side of a building’s rubble as he took pained breaths, half of Subaru’s face was stained with fresh blood.

Subaru: [Ah, guh…]

Regulus: [Although I’ve let you run about here and there, you’re really boring after having fallen. Well, that’s to be expected. It has to be like that. Considering the difference between you and I, this is merely reaping the crop when the harvest is over. With this, at last, without extraneous unpleasant moods, the end has come.]

Approaching Subaru, Regulus’s heels crushed the rocks littering his path. His Authority was still active, as if he wanted it to be witnessed.

Regulus: [In summary, don’t you feel that this is the fault of your excessively arrogant self? Up until now, there have been many like you, who wanted to beat me down or rouse a battle against me. But of all those people, not a single one has ever touched me. That is the fate of those whose desires are loftier than their abilities, an absolute law of nature. Do you understand?]

The Sin Archbishop of Greed, as he discussed the nature of desire, asserted his contempt for those who allowed excessive desire to immolate themselves.

To have desire would create struggle without meaning. To have desire would create starvation without boundary. To have desire would create ruthlessness without limit.

For this exact reason, to be without want and without desire was valuable. The optimal state of being would be to wish for purity and poverty, and to impose virtue on oneself.

Regulus: [Just being content with the present is enough, craving what is beyond one’s own abilities will lead your own destruction. Gathering together one after another but refusing to learn, you really are a bunch of hopeless creatures.]

With a sigh, Regulus slid a hand through his white hair, shaking his head as if he were drunk on the throes of a tragedy.

However, the sorrow in that voice was no act. Regulus was, more or less, from the bottom of his heart, mourning and sighing at the foolishness of Subaru and all others.

That was the self-righteous, undetectably lonely voice of someone omnipotent.

Subaru: [Before… I die… your… ability…]

Regulus: [Hah? Ahhhh, something to make you feel at peace as you die, is that how they put it? Trust you to know something archaic as that. You’ve bested me in an irrelevant store of knowledge, is that what you’re trying to say?]

Regulus laughed as he watched Subaru, whose breaths looked to be on the verge of cutting off, wishing only for an answer to his final question regarding his Authority. Without a single route of escape, all that was left for his sorrowful existence was imminent death.

Regulus: [Well, you’ve already gotten this far. At the very end, I’ll give your negligible self a reward for your efforts. I’ll tell you, that all this time you struggled to your very last to buy, is all completely meaningless.]

Subaru: [Meaningless… you mean…]

Regulus: [It’s all really rather simple. My Heart, which you and that woman are searching for, is indeed carried by my wives—— But, as to who is carrying it, neither I or any of them know. Equal rights, equally divided love, and equal responsibilities and obligations they bear, as well.]

Towards the astonished Subaru, Regulus shrugged with a “Well, it’s sort of like this?”.

Regulus: [For those who have taken multiple wives, treating all of them equally is a matter of course. I am allowed to exercise my rights only because I can do just that, it’s only somewhat logical. In other words, I’m risking my life by constantly manifesting my love for them.]

Subaru: [And the wives are unaware of having this Heart?]

Regulus: [Not like there’s a particularly complicated reason for that—— There isn’t anyone out there who is constantly conscious of the sound of one’s own heartbeat, is there?]

Watching Regulus, who laughed with his mouth open, Subaru understood.

The method with which Regulus hid his heart, that vicious method.

Both simple and effective, and, above all, impossible to deal with.

Subaru: [With your Heart and your wives’ heart, you…!]

Regulus: [Managing the husband’s property is indeed one of the wife’s obligations. But you see, I am a selfless man. In the first place, I don’t have as many meaningless possessions as guys like you do. And so, what I have entrusted to my wives is my existence itself… Such magnificence, isn’t this the very essence of matrimonial love?]

——Disgusting.

Regulus’s consciously ruthless Authority. Without malice, without condemnation, he believed that was the natural order and process.

Subaru had come up with a number of theories on the methods through which Lion’s Heart had been hidden, before sending Emilia to the church. However, this had not been one of them.

Moreover, no one could break it——

Subaru: [Something so far beyond reason… Emilia, she couldn’t possibly do anything.]

Just now, if what Regulus had boasted of with a face full of pride was in fact the full extent of the power of Lion’s Heart, then there should still be a method of breaking through it. If that could be conveyed to Emilia, with her power, she could take care of it with haste.

The question was not one of possibility, but one of correctness.

——That was, the choice of life and death.

Regulus: [Hah? Hey, you…]

As he rose with a disgusted expression, Subaru stared at Regulus, the latter wearing an uncomprehending gaze as he witnessed the former’s action.

Having been caught up in the demolition of the city, Subaru, who had until now seemed to be on the verge of death, brushed the dust from his knees as he stood, still glaring. After a moment, Subaru raised his eyebrows with an “Ahh”, as he noticed Regulus’s incredulousness.

Subaru: [Playing dead… Ah, no. Playing to be on the verge of death. Since a flying stone happened to slice my forehead, I just wanted to give it a try, that’s all.]

Applying blood to his face and pretending to be in agony had led to this moment. With a face full of smiles, Subaru looked at Regulus, who had been in the palm of his hand all along.

Subaru: [I trusted in you. You’re definitely the kind who, having found a dying enemy, would arrogantly boast of your victory as you rambled on nonstop.]

Regulus: [——YOUUUUUUU!]

Subaru: [Whoa!]

Rising with a jump, Regulus’s body flew forward in a straight line.

With incredibly agile speed, and the movements of a filthy casual, he flew in a straight line. In this rare moment, Regulus could achieve acceleration that could shock even Reinhard.

However, the mechanism had not been understood until after the Authority was revealed.

Subaru: [Fuuu!]

Accelerating with his right foot, without hesitation his body flew toward the left. Regulus’s goal was to slam directly into Subaru, but he was thwarted by the limitation of linearity.

In summary, Regulus’s momentary superhuman ability was the result of the application of a temporal freeze on his physical form. His was an Authority that allowed the time of his body to be cut off from the world, and not be interfered with again. If he were to attack suddenly in this way, whether gravity, air resistance, or inertia, none could restrain him.

It was not always in effect, which should be because there were restrictions——

Regulus: [——Guh, you bastard!]

Subaru: [The one who wants to yell is me…! I have to find a way to reach Emilia, somehow…]

The whereabouts of Regulus’s heart absolutely needed to be communicated.

To communicate it, and to make the choice. What method was there——

In order to save the city, Emilia was needed.

Subaru: [Emilia…]

In contrast to Regulus, who gathered momentum, Subaru looked in the direction of the church where Emilia should be.

In the midst of the ruined, collapsed city, there stood a half-destroyed church, where the aftermath of Regulus’s actions had barely reached.

——And that place, in the next moment, was engulfed in a brilliance that shone blue and white.

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The hearts of the wives had become one with Regulus’s heart.

Emilia’s conclusions caused tremors in all the surrounding wives who heard it. Most heavily affected was Sylphy, who had found herself the recipient of Regulus’s shared heart.

Sylphy: [My heart… and…?]

After Emilia’s hand fell back, Sylphy’s face grew pale as she backed away step-by-step. The woman standing behind her, worriedly placed her hand on Sylphy’s back,

Sylphy: [Do not touch me!]

In the next moment, Sylphy reflexively spoke as she swung out an arm. As if to keep the other wives away from her, holding this posture, she looked at Emilia.

Sylphy: [Are you sure there is no mistake?]

Emilia: [The Micro Spirit says it’s unnatural. I can feel a faint sense of overlap in the sound of your heartbeat as well.]

Sylphy: [————]

Sylphy placed a hand on her chest, closing her eyes as if to confirm what Emilia had just said. The speed, strength, and interval of her heartbeat resounding in her throat, she gave a deep sigh.

Sylphy: [I see… just how much, just to what extent does he want to trample upon others’ spirits, that man!]

Emilia: [Wait a moment, what are you doing!?]

Revealing an incredibly dry smile, Sylphy walked into the depths of the church. Half-destroyed from Reinhard’s attack, in a corner of the church were scattered shards from the skylight, exquisitely carved glass.

Sylphy plucked up a shard of glass, and turned back.

Sylphy: [You understand, right? That man’s nature. Imposing his weaknesses unto others, and then forcing decisions upon them as well.]

Emilia: [Decisions… what are you saying?]

Sylphy: [In order to stop that man’s heart, stopping my own is the only feasible way. As that man says, ‘until death do us part’, is this not one such case?]

As she played with the shard of glass, Sylphy spoke in a flippant voice. Emilia understood what she meant, and at the same time picked up on the underlying message. Sylphy’s epiphany, and Regulus’s malice.

Emilia: [Wait, you can’t! There has to be something, has to be some other way…]

Sylphy: [Such a convenient way, do you truly believe it exists? With our hearts already joined, stopping just that man’s heartbeat without stopping mine cannot be possible… and——]

Emilia: [Don’t give up so easily! If I could allow something like this, for what have I… Why did I leave that forest…!?]

Once again, there were going to be sacrifices.

Because of Emilia’s lack of power and knowledge, a sacrifice was once again about to happen before her. Just like everyone in the forest. Just like Fortuna and Juice. To make up for what Emilia could not reach, everyone except Emilia tended to use up their lives.

Sylphy: [The days of being taken as that man’s wife… were truly arduous.]

Desperately, Emilia considered if there was any other way.

During this time, Sylphy’s heart gradually calmed down, and with the clarity of approaching her finale, she slowly began to grow more resolute.

Sylphy: [Merely in order to avoid triggering that man’s wrath, I desperately tried my best. Allowing whatever atrocities that man performed to slide, welcoming the new brides… those girls, who were in the same position as me. No matter what, I wanted to protect them. Just as the one I first met, just as the ones before me protected them…]

Acting as the representative of the wives, presenting herself before all the others no matter what, now Sylphy’s true aim had been made clear.

Before her had been others. Someone who had stood at the forefront of all these seized women had triggered Regulus’s temper. And then Sylphy took that will up, because even now these wives remained still.

Sylphy: [Even if our spirits were defiled by that man, because he would never touch our bodies… Certainly, if both had been defiled, we would have long been unable to withstand. So right until today, no matter the language or voice or behavior of that man, endlessly we endured and endured and endured and endured and endured and yet…!]

Having reached this point, Sylphy, who had been biting her lips, tilted her face upward. In her eyes were large, large drops of tears, as well as a scorching rage searing enough to evaporate even those tears.

Sylphy: [That man’s hand… It has tainted even my body! I had thought something of the sort, that at least I could protect my body, but even that something I wanted to protect so much had never been safe in the first place! We have always been that man’s servants!]

Tears flowed as a roar from her soul tore itself from her, and Sylphy’s hand wept blood. The glass that she had been gripping firmly had cut through the palm of her hand, and though she frowned at the pain, the corners of her mouth soon pitifully relaxed.

Sylphy: [Because women bearing injuries are atypical, even the slightest of bruises would mean death by that man…. This wound, is my freedom.]

Emilia: [————]

Sylphy: [In no way is this your fault. I am incredibly grateful to you. Exacting revenge onto that man, for every single day until now, a better way could certainly never be found elsewhere.]

With a slight smile at Emilia, Sylphy looked towards the other wives—— looked toward those who could be called her companions.

Then, clutching the glass in her right hand with her left as well, she pressed it against her chest.

Sylphy: [If I die, his heart will be transferred to someone. This is a certainty. That man would not use just myself alone as a shield for his heart. Just like that, everyone has no reason not to know that man’s stubbornness.]

Wife: [Surely, it will be so.]

Which one of the brides had whispered that so softly was unknown.

As if assenting to what Sylphy had said, the wife who had answered emerged from the crowd. A woman with long chestnut hair, she too took up one of the shards of glass scattered beneath Sylphy’s feet.

Wife: [I too have considered death a number of times. Like this, even if I’m living, I can’t say that I’m truly alive. I’d rather reunite with my family in the afterlife…]

Wife Two: [My reason for not doing so was not wanting to die. Even if I were to be liberated from this pain, I wouldn’t have any happy memories from life.]

Wife Three: [But, if dying… If this life could exact vengeance on that man… If my death would not be something without meaning…]

One after another, the wives came forth and took up shards of glass. The brides looked at those sharp edges, as if looking upon their hopes. With Emilia’s words as an opportunity, the wives had found their hopes, found something their lives could be spent on.

Sylphy: [Thank you, we are truly grateful to you—— That man, aside from us, he truly has no other wives present. This is something I can absolutely guarantee. So then, I request of you.]

Emilia: [————]

Sylphy: [Please be sure to help us speak. Our anger must absolutely reach that man—— All we can do is trouble you, the only one to have been forced by that man, and to have rejected him successfully.]

Sylphy’s request was spoken with a voice full of warmth.

The wives all approached the shattered stained glass of the church that was to witness a marriage, holding the fragments in their hands as a symbol of the end they had chosen.

Pointing the sharp edges against their pale necks, with a breath they pushed it to commit suicide——

Emilia: [Wait.]

That action of certain death was stopped by Emilia’s words.

Emilia had fallen into silence until now. Power was contained in her words. Both in physical and metaphorical meaning.

Hands of ice reaching out from the ground sealed the wives’ movements. The movement of pressing the pieces of glass into their throats was successfully hindered, successfully preventing their suicides.

Sylphy watched Emilia’s actions with widened eyes, and then spoke with a trembling voice——

Sylphy: [I beg of you, please understand us! I am truly grateful for your sentiments, but this is the only method…]

Naught but death could serve as repayment.

Naught but death could strike a blow against that man, against Regulus.

That was Sylphy’s, and the wives’, conclusion.

This sorrowful answer of stopping their own hearts, Emilia also understood. So, to figure out how to reject it, thinking and thinking, all along she had been thinking of a way. And so——

Emilia: [I’m sorry. Not like this.]

Sylphy: [Eh…?]

Emilia: [If it were Subaru, he might have thought of another way. But my head is a bit slow, so no matter how hard I thought, I didn’t have a clue… So…]

Surrounding the muttering Emilia, brilliant lights of blue and white began to dance.

Gaining Mana, the swaying lights were the Micro Spirits which had entered a visible state. As if to engulf the entire collapsed building, the substantial gathering of Micro Spirits manifested itself—— that was, in a sense, a sight as sacred as a dream, and Sylphy and the others held their breaths.

Emilia: [I want to make your heartbeats stop—— Because if you stab your throats with a weapon like that, you won’t die such easy deaths.]

After Emilia lifted her hand, the Micro Spirits seemed to follow that movement as they shone, and blueish snow began to fall in the church. The snow layered thinly around the brides, and where it brushed their skin, it turned into white crystal.

This magic that Emilia was capable of, was both the gentlest and cruelest.

Emilia: [——Sorry. I can only use this method.]

Sylphy: [Please do not apologize.]

After realizing Emilia’s intentions, Sylphy breathed a sigh of relief. The hearts of the wives were in unison. They looked at Emilia, who was unable to form even a single sound, and spoke in agreement.

Wives: [Thank you.]

Emilia: [————]

Then, a brilliance that shone blue and white engulfed the church——

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Icicles rose as if an assault from the sky had erected a frozen seal around the church.

It formed a sound so sorrowful as if to roll over the sky, as if the sky itself had turned white and died. Within the structure of ice that had risen, how much sorrow had gathered?

No one, save for the one who was responsible for this scene, could understand.

Subaru: […Emilia.]

The ice created by the incomparably powerful magical vortex was peerless beyond measure, and could not have been made by anyone but Emilia.

Lion’s Heart… had truly been subdued—— along with the lives of the gathered brides, their heartbeat had stopped. Subaru had already thought of this method. He could not think of any other plausible method.

And that method would have been impossible to actualize. He had even prepared himself emotionally that he would fail to reach Emilia at the church.

But, upon seeing this spectacle, the answer was clear.

——Chosen by Emilia, that answer.

Regulus: [Hey, hey, isn’t this a bit…]

Looking in the same direction as Subaru was Regulus, who could imagine the result of this ice structure, and his cheeks began to twitch. He of course understood that the place where the icicle had been raised was his wives’ current location. That also went for the meaning of that spectacle.

And so——

Regulus: [You two! Is this what you set out to do!? Is this something that humans are capable of!? Seizing another’s beloved, selfishly, without permission! Just… just how coldhearted can you be to do such a cruel thing! Huh——!?]

Regulus stomped at the ground as he shouted thus at the bloodied Subaru. His soles shattered the slate, and even distorted the earth enough to create an illusion that the city itself was shattering.

Rushing forward without a second thought, Regulus stabbed his fingers at Subaru.

Regulus: [Satisfied? Are you satisfied?! In order to kill me alone, you dared to snatch away the lives of all my faultless wives, and even felt happy to have done so, your humanity——]

His mouth spewing dirty curses, Regulus’s body, as he spoke of the sorrows of being plundered from, was suddenly sent flying.

The reason for that was the spear of ice sent by the girl who had emerged from the church’s entrance, on the other end of the street.

The spear of ice struck Regulus with astonishing momentum and rotation, ceaselessly striking the body of the standing Regulus in succession. His body was sent flying like a doll, and in the process, several more spears of ice flew towards him.

The momentum did not stop there, and like this, Regulus’s body was slammed straight into the waterway, and, with a loud crack, the waterway was frozen, becoming an ice sculpture in Regulus’s form.

Emilia: [——All that just now, consider it a divorce from your wives.]

Striding across the frosted street, Emilia returned to the battlefield in a flash of silver. She stood on the collapsed street, looking at Subaru as she ran up to him, whose pitiful sight made her narrow her amethyst eyes.

Emilia: [Subaru, that wound…]

Subaru: [I’m fine! It’s just something I cut so that it’d bleed more. More importantly, the church… what about the wives?]

Emilia: […Everyone wished to defeat Regulus. That’s why…]

Averting her gaze, Emilia’s attention drifted slightly back to the glaciated church.

This reaction was enough, enough to convey that Emilia’s choice had not belonged to her alone. And the weight of that choice, Subaru would have to bear it as well.

Subaru: [B-but the effect of Lion’s Heart should have been interrupted. That man’s invincibility trick should have ended…]

Emilia: [No. It doesn’t seem to be something that’ll be so easily solved.]

Subaru: [Eh?]

“The sacrifices made as a result of our choices, should have been the price paid for the answer”, and as those thoughts flashed through Subaru’s mind, Emilia shook her head slightly.

Immediately after being astonished by her reaction, the ice filling the waterway behind them began to crack. The crack began to expand, affecting even the flow of the waterways which had been blocked off. As the collapse spread to where waterway met water flow, Subaru’s soles were immersed in water overflowing towards the streets.

Regulus: [Truly laughably ridiculous arrogance, vulgarity that is incorrigible, incompetence that brings speechlessness, shamelessness that brings disbelief, inferiority that is beyond salvation…!]

Leaving the canal, the murderer who was drenched but not wet in the slightest approached.

His white suit unstained, his white hair unshaken by the wind, his white face free of wounds, lacking even a drop of sweat. This existence was practically a daydream—— No, better to call it a nightmare that appeared midday.

Regulus: [And now, what will you do? You two, how do you plan to take responsibility? Though you droned on and on like you’d done something great, in the end this was nothing but a failed miscalculation, in the end there were only sacrifices. How do you plan to recover from this situation!?]

In the form of this Regulus, who was enraged to the point of madness, the effect of Lion’s Heart yet lingered unchanged.

Emilia had made an assault at such a level, but forget being wounded, even a trace of what had happened could not be seen at all.

Subaru: [How’s this possible!? Even just now you were speaking of Lion’s Heart’s unending effects… How could someone like you have the presence of mind to bluff in a situation like that!?]

Regulus: [Do you think me so kind that I’d turn a deaf ear to that which can’t be ignored? I’ll say this first, isn’t the notion of not infringing on others’ hearts basic etiquette!? Clearly no one’s looking down on the rights of others, so how is it that you two are always doing something so mentally deficient? Conscience aside, are you lacking in even basic intelligence?]

Facing these unintentionally provocative lines from Subaru, Regulus looked down with an unimpressed expression, knocking against his head of white hair.

Regulus: [It seems that that contemptuous prostitute had counted them wrong, doesn’t it? Not remembering the number of lives she’s reaped, even though she’s the one who has done so, that’s a killer’s way of thinking. Certainly, there’s something wrong with it.]

Subaru: [Since when did you have the right to say those words…]

Regulus: [Don’t surreptitiously try to change the topic. Anything I’ve done to date, has absolutely nothing to do with that woman’s ungratefulness. Don’t turn your back on the sins you have committed. Don’t look away. Tossing your own issues aside to blame the other party, don’t you feel ashamed to call yourself a person?]

No matter where he went, carrying a vexing share of rage to impose on others, was Regulus. Carrying not a single doubt about his way of life was the foundation of Regulus Corneas.

How many contradictions would appear in his series of speeches before he was satisfied?

Discourse with Regulus was truly damaging to sanity. Faced with a Sin Archbishop of the Witch Cult, it made one wonder if it was wrong to not be insane.

Regulus: [But… Look, you miscalculated.]

The substitutes for his heart, would even destroying all the alternatives of those be unable to lift Regulus’s invincibility?

There should have been no problem in theory. During his risky bet with his life, Regulus had proven that he was not so smart as to be able calculate with skillful words the way Subaru could.

Regulus did not have the ability to deceive or to rely on his eloquence to mislead others.

He was completely devoid of the ability to empathize. In his world, there was no one but him. Marriage was merely imitation, speeches were merely ideological, battles were merely conducted as an amateur. His way of being was merely pure malice—— almost exactly like a Little King.

Emilia: [Fifty-three people…]

Standing next to Subaru as he trembled, Emilia muttered.

She had not, until now, towards Regulus’s fallacies, curses, and unspeakable complaints, shown any reaction whatsoever. Only one sentence, all she spoke was this one sentence.

Regulus: [Huh? What? Just now, what did you say?]

Emilia: [I said, fifty-three people. The number of women you forcibly brought to your side. Could it be that I’m wrong? That would be absolutely impossible. I could never miscount the number of lives.]

Regulus: [Hmmmm. And? So what? What are you trying to say?]

With a contemptuous attitude, Regulus dismissed Emilia’s quiet assertion as that of a fool. Digging a finger into his ear, his attitude was full of ridicule.

Even Subaru, with sarcasm as his strongest suit, wanted to clap in praise for his flippant manner. Just as Subaru was about to accept Regulus’s provocation, Emilia looked straight towards him. Then she shook her head slightly at Subaru, who held his breath.

Emilia: [It’s alright, Subaru. I understand it all now.]

Subaru: [By understand, you mean…]

Emilia: [And, because I am incredibly angry right now… No longer, will I forgive him.]

Feeling fear squeeze his chest, Subaru saw it.

Emilia quietly made disappear all feeling from her gentle expression, the tone of her voice dropping. She, having frozen her feelings like that, was the angriest he had ever seen.

A frigid flame rolling across her frozen eyes, Emilia touched her chest.

And then, spoke.

Emilia: [Regulus’s heart is here—— Right now, beating inside my chest.]