Arc 9, Chapter 47 – “ “Voice” ”

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Translated by:

• Garcar

Machine Translated by:

• Goldkills

Proofread by:

• Eliman7
• SSCaide

Japanese to English Checking by:

• Garcar

Art Sources:

• shen1461889
• Theo_buroma

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――When I opened my eyes, I realized I had no idea who I was whatsoever. 

???: [――――] 

Where this place is; when the present time is; who I am; what is happening; I do not have the slightest idea.

I cannot see. I cannot hear. I cannot move my hands, or my legs. My feet are not on the ground. I cannot breathe properly either, and I am in extraordinary discomfort―― and yet, I can sense “Voices”. 

???: [――――] 

Even though my senses of sight, smell, touch, taste, and, most of all, sound, are blocked off, there are “Voices”.

Many, plentiful, innumerable “Voices” showering down upon me, unable to do a thing, as if I am a powerless baby thrown into the cradle of hell. 

???: [――――]

Ceaselessly, bereft of intent, the tempest of “Voices” continue to pummel me. 

Just as a baby would be defenselessly struck by the rain, I am being drowned in “Voices”. At this rate, I think I would prefer to just drown and die like this――, 

???: [――Laddie! Laddie, are you alright!? You’re going to be rescued now!] 

――. ――――. A loud “Voice”, it rang in my head. 

Amidst the numerous, countless “Voices”, it is a voice that feels clearly directed towards me. I cannot do anything. But still, I can understand. ――The powerful “Voice”, directed towards myself. 

Hence――,

???: [――Ottobro, grit yer teeth now.] 

Hearing that “Voice”, a feeling of suspension arrived along with a terribly violent sound―― a sound that was not a “Voice” vibrated my eardrums and restored the means for my tightly sealed eyes to take in light; and so, I was finally able to face the owners of the “Voices”, those who had directed their “Voices” towards me. 

???: [Really fuckin’ sorry that it took me so long to get here. Everythin’, it’s my amazin’ self’s fault.]
???: [Really fuckin’ sorry that it took me so long to get here. Everythin’, it’s my amazin’ self’s fault.]

???: [What are you saying, Garf-san! If Garf-san and everyone else hadn’t come, Laddie would still be strung up even now… Ah, Laddie, Laddie! Do you understand what I’m saying!?]
???: [What are you saying, Garf-san! If Garf-san and everyone else hadn’t come, Laddie would still be strung up even now… Ah, Laddie, Laddie! Do you understand what I’m saying!?]

Present there is a golden-haired boy, alongside a large ground dragon with a pale blue hide. The “Voices” that I feel are overlapping with the voices that I hear, but there is no doubt about it.

The ground dragon is nestling close to me as I sit on the ground, and the boy is forcefully grabbing at my shoulders. 

Boy: [Ya don’t understand anythin’ right now, aye? But, that’s aight. We’ll get it back with everyone else. Everythin’ my amazin’ self’s lackin’ for, everyone’s gonna lend their hands…!!]
Boy: [Ya don’t understand anythin’ right now, aye? But, that’s aight. We’ll get it back with everyone else. Everythin’ my amazin’ self’s lackin’ for, everyone’s gonna lend their hands…!!]

???: [――――]

Boy: [‘N so, Ottobro, ya just sit tight here ‘n…]
Boy: [‘N so, Ottobro, ya just sit tight here ‘n…]

Rest assured; I think he wanted to say that. 

It seems like the boy before my eyes knows my empty self, and is trying to do something about it. In all likelihood, he knows the reason why I am empty. 

I want to know, I want to ask him about it. Naturally, I feel inclined to do so.

I do, but――,

???: [――Might there be anything, that I could possibly do?]
???: [――Might there be anything, that I could possibly do?]

The “Voice” that spilled from my mouth, I do not know whether or not it actually formed as a proper voice. Only, seeing that both the boy and the ground dragon were widening their eyes, I could tell that my words had been conveyed.

To be honest, I do not understand anything. I do not, but, there is just one thing I can say. ――I am grateful that they rescued me from that cradle of hell.

Above all――, 

???: [――When you guys speak to me with such earnest voices, of course I will want to respond accordingly.]
???: [――When you guys speak to me with such earnest voices, of course I will want to respond accordingly.]

Boy & Ground Dragon: [Ah, that’s…]
Boy & Ground Dragon: [Ah, that’s…] 

Hearing my words, the boy and the ground dragon opened their eyes wide, and as their breaths and “Voices” synced up, they spoke. 

Ground Dragon: [――Just like you, Laddie.]
Ground Dragon: [――Just like you, Laddie.]

Boy: [Just like ya, Ottobro.]
Boy: [Just like ya, Ottobro.]

At those “Voices”, I began thinking of myself before I became empty, a smile coming over my face.

――Directed towards whoever did this to me, it was a smile as if to say “you have been bested”.

△▼△▼△▼△

???: [――Hiyah!!]

Delivered alongside the loud carillon of a silver bell, was a powerful kick in contrast to its lightness.

Gripping the handle of her Morningstar, Rem bore witness to that satisfactory outcome of her efforts.

Using magically crafted footholds of ice as practical disturbances, she had drawn the attention of the opponents upwards, successfully supporting Emilia.

Of course, if it had been possible, she would have preferred victory to have been decided through the affectionate iron ball that Subaru had continued to polish, but she must not be too greedy. Subaru had also taken things step by step with Rem in the Empire. If Subaru had been impatient, and instead had pressed Rem with everything being about “Me, me, me”――,

Rem: [Back then, it might not have just been his fingers, but his arms and legs that would have gotten broken as well.]

Now that her Memories had returned, even just the thought that she would ever enact such violence unto Subaru was enough to make her faint, but Rem herself recognized that it was entirely possible for her to have done so, given her state of mind at the time.

Hence, it was important to do everything step by step, in the proper order. It was the same with cooking. Even though she was relatively proficient at cooking, Rem had a bad habit of disregarding that principle when it came to anything else.

And, when it came to bad habits, she had another――,

Rem: [――Must not jump to conclusions!]

The reason why she would quickly always be convinced that something was settled, and thus relax her efforts, was due to a lack of imagination.

The one who had preached to Rem that ceasing one’s thoughts was wrong had also taught her, when she had been bereft of Memories, how to determine her heart: Priscilla. ――Even if she was gone, her teachings yet lived on. And so long as those teachings kept Rem alive, they would remain so.

That was why――,

Emilia: [――Hk, you’re joking!?]

When Emilia raised a voice of astonishment, Rem had not ceased her thoughts.

Directly below, Emilia rose up to deliver a kick within the blind spot of Al and his shinobi, and her ice-clad foot ought to have struck him with spine-shattering force.

But, Al had protected against that. ――Covering himself and his partner with a box of stone, he had done so.

Rem: [That’s what Rom-sama was talking about――]

The efficacy of “Turning Back Time”, Rem had judged it to be so.

For a split-second defensive maneuver, that which covered his entire body had been far too flawless. In order to use magic, what was required was a mental image of the effects, and the construction of the technique. If either was lacking, magic would not take form, and the more complex the endeavor being attempted, the longer it would take to conceive a mental image of its effect.

That which Al had performed, was borne of a mental image far too certain in regards to a surprise attack from his blind spot.

Rem: [――――]

Even though she understood the principle behind it in her head, Rem once again bit down on the inside of her cheek upon witnessing that cheat technique.

To begin with, Al’s Authority had already proved it was capable of sidestepping even Reinhard. Even if they continued to attack like this, would he not just continue to evade everything? Such negative thoughts were――,

Emilia: [――Rem!!]

Just as she began spiraling into negative thoughts, Emilia’s holler snapped her out of it.

Across the rocky box that had emerged mid-air, Emilia and Rem crossed gazes. Unlike Rem, who was overwhelmed by the threat of the Authority, a powerful glint was housed within Emilia’s amethyst eyes. That gave her heart.

Rem: [――――]

As strength flaringly returned to her own eyes, the invigoration of her horn by way of her Oni form swelled Rem’s entire body with vitality.

Plummeting through the sky, thirty seconds had already elapsed since the battle had commenced―― what allowed for that to be accurately measured, were the marks engraved into the large rock visible far to their rear.

An enormous fissure in the land that existed within the Kararagi City-States, the Agzadd Canyon, had a difference in elevation of five thousand meters from the surface to the deepest part of the valley, and the time it took to descend all the way was around a hundred seconds. Markings had been engraved beforehand along the rock face for intervals of every ten seconds, and they were currently passing the third―― seventy seconds remained until they hit the bottom.

Emilia: [We’re still――!!]
Rem: [――Just getting started!!]

Emilia and Rem’s voices overlapping, they resumed combat with renewed morale and an upsurge of strength.

Rem greatly bent her body, and Emilia, spinning around, produced mallets of ice in both her hands. In that moment, the Morningstar was fired like a cannonball, and the ice hammers were unleashed on both sides whilst clad in a powerful wind, pulverizing the stone box that Al and his accomplice had enclosed themselves in―― fragments of stone scattered alongside a thunderous crash, and the enemies, split up between the top and bottom, fiercely commenced their attacks unto Rem and Emilia.

Al headed for Emilia, and for Rem, came the red-haired shinobi――,

Rem: [――No, you’re also…]

Shinobi: [Indeed, I’m Al-sama’s helpful all-purpose maid, Yae-chan.]

Rem: [That’s Rem’s designation in regards to Subaru-kun!]

Putting a halt on the statement of the not-shinobi red-haired maid―― no, of the woman who called herself Yae, Rem pulled back her iron ball with her right hand, and moved to slam her mighty left arm into Yae as she flew towards her.

But, Yae stopped mid-air through some unnatural braking mechanism, and evaded it.

At a glance, she sent a thread from her backhand to connect to Al, using exquisite tension and flexibility to halt her movement, before a shimmer shot from her other hand towards Rem’s neck.

Rem: [――Huma.]

Intuiting the incoming threat, Rem’s spinal reflex guarded her vitals by forming a collar of ice. As soon as the thread attached itself to the collar, she removed her head from it, avoiding decapitation. ――Just as Rem survived through quick judgment, she veered the rising iron ball towards targeting Yae’s back, the latter having raised her eyebrows slightly.

However, as the iron ball approached Yae from behind, she evaded precisely as if she had eyes on the back of her head; as Rem expressed astonishment whilst catching the iron ball that had barely missed on its return path, Yae stuck out her tongue,

Yae: [It’s reflected in your eyes, y’know?]

Momentarily enraged by that provocation, Rem accepted a scolding from the Katya in her heart. Nodding in agreement with the imaginary Katya as she clamored like a cat “Idiot, that’s exactly what your opponent wants!”, Rem praised the talents of an enemy capable of utilizing what was reflected in their opponent’s eyes,

Rem: [In that case, kindly strain those eyes well!]

With those words, she took the retrieved iron ball of her Morningstar, and covered it in layers, and layers, and layers of ice, doubling, and doubling, and doubling its mass, and hurled down a lump of ice around ten meters in diameter.

Yae: [Maybe my provocation was a little too effective!?]

The roaring iceberg slayed all wind in its approach, and as Yae, her voice quavering, furiously waved her hands around, she chiseled, notched, and carved away at the Morning-iceblock-star, fragmenting its mass over, and over, and over again to stop it.

Ultimately, stripped naked from the ice, all that remained was the bare iron ball, and as it hurtled right at her chest, she caught it with a web of threads, dispersing the impact as it forcefully shot her downwards.

What awaited her down there――,

Emilia: [This time! Unlike the Royal Capital! I won’t let you! Get away!]
Al: [Though normally! If you! Do that! I’d just end up! Running off with the win!]

As Emilia and Al clashed against each other, they traded blows in the form of both weapons and words. In their vicinities, each had floating armaments of ice and stone respectively, and they both continued to promptly grab any of the weapons next to them, wielding them with no concern for their surroundings as they bashed them against each other.

Emilia: [Yah! Terya! Hiyah! Uya! Torya! Tei-tei-tei-tei-tei!]

Contrary to her cute war cries, Emilia’s offense did not leave any room for breathers. However, for all the swords, spears, and axes that rained down upon Al, he parried with his own axes, spears, and swords, and continued to pull through.

As Emilia utilized acrobatic movements to enact her incessant offensive, Al met her every blow with weapons at the shortest distance possible, successfully defending against it. Likely, that was also the effect of “Turning Back Time”. Once an attack landed, he would return to before it landed, and then place his weapon over the spot it had landed. ――Rinse and repeat.

Yae: [――Al-sama!]

After being spiked down by Rem, Yae arrived at the scene of that back-and-forth combat. Realizing that she had blundered by temporarily creating a two-on-one situation, Rem too attempted to increase her falling speed by using a foothold―― nay,

Rem: [Emilia-sama!]

Instead of catching up herself, Rem passed instantaneous judgment and tinkered with the angle of the iron ball she had sent down there.

Although Yae had dispersed its impact, the iron ball still plummeted with her at a constant speed, and as if carrying Subaru’s spirit, who had polished it, it flew towards Emilia to aid her in her predicament. Then, just before a joint attack from Al and Yae could strike her, Emilia was caught by the chains.

Rem: [UrrrrYAHHHHhhhh!!]

Using the foothold she had made a moment prior, not to launch herself off of, but to brace herself, she fished Emilia up with the chains that had caught her―― as Emilia was lifted up between Al and Yae just as they were about to reconvene, the two factions regrouped into divisions of upper sky and lower sky.

Emila: [Thank you! You’re reaaally strong!]

Rem: [You’re welcome! The feeling is mutual!]

Grabbing the hand of Emilia, who had been elevated to the same position, Rem was impressed by the enemy’s strength.

Originally, Rem and Emilia were supposed to be responsible solely for Al, so Yae’s participation here was incredibly troublesome. Not only did she divide their forces, she was also incredibly skilled herself. Moreover, being together with Al was not just an addition to her strength, it served as multiplication.

Rem: [Indeed, just like myself and that person…]

Emilia: [Eh? Just now, did you say something about Subaru?]

Rem: [Apologies, that is a matter for after this is finished!]

Responding so to the wide-eyed Emilia, Rem ascertained that they were passing another marking on the rock face―― that sixty seconds remained until they landed at the bottom, and firmly grit her teeth.

Her thoughts from just earlier were correct. Yae was formidable, and made even stronger when Al was with her. In order to do something about that――,

Rem: [Split them up. Emilia-sama!]

Emilia: [Yes! Do it with me!]

Holding hands, they raised up their opposite hands, Emilia’s empty and Rem’s with a weapon, directing them towards the pair directly below,

Emilia: [Al――]
Rem: [――Huma!!]

As the two types of Huma intermingled, ice began to appear in the air whilst a creaking sound perforated the atmosphere―― of course, were they to simply attack by hurling pebbles, it would only be a repeat of failures up to this point. So, to prevent that from happening, rather than focusing on how the ice came out, they plotted where it would emerge.

Yae: [――Hk.]

Al: [Tch.]

Obstructed by the expanding ice, the sound of tongue-clicking within that helmet was inaudible. Yet, judging from the results alone, there was no doubt that he had indeed clicked his tongue.

The mass of ice produced by Rem and Emilia―― a thin, level sheet of ice was wedged between Al and Yae, one below, the other above, thus preventing their reconvergence. While maintaining the sturdiness of the ice sheet, it had been stretched to a disk of around thirty meters in diameter; it would have been a herculean task for them to get through it and reunite while falling, and furthermore, since it had been made flat, the threads could not carve through it either.

Yae: [Al-sa――]

Al: [――Yae, hold out for a bit.]

Facing each other across the ice sheet, Al ordered Yae from below. What sort of state of mind Yae had arrived at after receiving that was something Rem understood quite distinctly.

Rem was participating in this battle for the sake of Subaru, and so, for the same reason Yae was――,

Rem: [When someone precious puts their hopes in you, it sets you alight with motivation.]

Yae: [You’re wrong.]

With a curt response to Rem’s understanding, Yae folded her knees and spun her body, going barefoot.

The enormity of the ice sheet resulted in significantly more air resistance, bringing their falling speed to a limit. As Yae landed atop that ice, Rem and Emilia were perched to her front and back, as if pincering her.

Barefoot as she was, each of Yae’s ten white toes were equipped with a ring――,

Yae: [――Once again, magic is quite troublesome~. I’m grateful to the teachings of the village elder.]

Rem: [Thank you so very much for the praise. My mentor was quite an outstanding personage, after all.]

Emilia: [Same for me. I was always being told “You’re learning so quickly, Lia”.]

Yae: [That’s the same way they raised me at the village, so you must also be quite the genius, Emilia-sama.]

With a bitter smile and a shrug, Yae glanced between Emilia and Rem before prefacing with “So, you see”,

Yae: [The fact that I’m even here means that y’all’s plans have failed… Vol-sama will come rushing over here before long, so why don’t we omit the futile exchanges and just have you two surrender?]

Emilia: [Mm-mm, we can’t do that. Sure, it was quite the surprise that you were together with him, but…]

Rem: [Rem and Emilia-sama aren’t playing around either. Besides, if you are counting on the Divine Dragon-sama, it won’t be coming. ――Our lord is the one serving as its opponent, after all.]

Yae: […This is against the Divine Dragon, y’know? Aren’t you expecting a bit too much?]

Emilia: [So, are you not expecting anything from Al?]

As Yae inclined her head, it seemed as if Emilia’s question had pierced her directly. Holding her breath with a “Mph”, Yae then released it, straining her white fingers and toes as she readied herself.

Rem retracted her iron ball to her hands, and Emilia gripped beautiful twin blades of ice. Glancing down at the sheet of ice, the distance with Al, subject to lesser air resistance as he was, continued to widen rapidly.

After all, Al was having Yae buy time for him.

Rem: [Emilia-sama, Al-san is…]

Emilia: [Yes, I know. We reaaally have to hurry.]

Reaching an understanding in just a short exchange, Rem harbored an out-of-place sentimentality.

She had never conceived of being so in sync with Emilia like this before. ――Such was her sentimentality.

Setting aside Rem’s inner feelings, the trio atop the ice silently roused their fighting spirits――,

Yae: [――Crimson Sakura, Yae Tenzen.]
Emilia: [――The Witch of Glaciation, Emilia.]
Rem: [――The Hero’s Bridesmaid, Rem.]

Finishing their introductions, Rem and Emilia immediately charged toward Yae across the ice.

As Yae bent her knees and ducked down, twenty dancing threads shot from her appendages, and while those clashed against chains and magic, Rem, in order to reach Al below the ice, challenged the one blocking the path, the Crimson Sakura.

Rem: [Yahhhhh!!]

Howling a battlecry, Rem was not bluffing or putting up a strong front; she wholeheartedly believed.

That Ram and their allies, who were taking on Gluttony and other foes, as well as Roswaal and Clind, who were dealing with the ultimate threat of the Divine Dragon, would all fulfill their respective duties.

For that purpose, right now, she would defeat Yae, who stood before her, and reach Al. Passing another marking, there now remained fifty seconds until they reached the floor of the Agzadd Canyon――,

――As he plummeted below, Al trained his gaze upon that beautifully tempestuous clash atop the ice,

Al: [I don’t think you’ll lose, but… don’t forget, Alter. After all, there’s something I need you to do no matter what.]

That voice, whispered only within his own mouth, never reached those atop the ice.

△▼△▼△▼△

――Aldebaran, who had betrayed the sun, and his henchmen.

The battle against the scoundrels who were fully capable of pulling the trigger on the world’s collapse, the bouts against Gluttony in the mountains and Aldebaran at the Agzadd Canyon, both transitioned to their next stages.

Naturally, the same applied to the third bout, forecasted to be the most rigorous.

By the Authority of Witch of Tristitia, newly born into this world, the battlefield had shifted to a rocky region where collateral damage was of no concern; there, the one extolled as the guardian of the Kingdom, the Divine Dragon Volcanica―― the usurper who had bent that almighty dragonhusk to their will, now faced confrontation by its rightful dragonkin.

It was a battle in which all fighters were concealing tremendous power, further ravaging the rocky wasteland that was already naught more than sand and stone, into a place where nobody would ever dare set foot.

Unmistakably, those had been the scars of war forecasted for such a battle against the Divine Dragon.

However――,

???: [――Ugh.]

Vision blurred, consciousness hazy, ringing in the ears transcending noisiness to end up as silence. Limbs bereft of strength, unsure if both were properly still attached to the body.

Each frail breath brought pain akin to being struck by a flash of lightning from head to toe; likely a sign that fractured bones were tearing up the insides of the body all throughout.

Thinking to that extent, they realized that they had collapsed face down on the hard rocky ground.

???: [――!]

Upon realizing one thing about their current state, other realizations quickly followed.

Evidenced by the ground’s violent tremors, the sensation of the sky bursting asunder, and the faint shift in the scent of the atmosphere, the environment had undergone a tremendous upheaval, so not long had passed since they had collapsed to the ground. A minute? Thirty seconds?

???: [Five seconds, Master. Report.]

They were bestowed with an exact answer to their question, however, they lacked the leeway to even curve their lips into a wry smile..

The other party had not expected a response, either―― nay, it was simply that they were not in a position where they could afford to be placing expectations. The tremors of the ground, the bursting of the sky, and the upheaval of the atmosphere; all were caused by that tactful other party and their opponent.

The battle between Dragon and dragonkin ravaged the world as though it were a natural cataclysm, reshaping it through feats of strength. ――Off to the side of that battle, not merely half-dead, but rather nine-tenths dead, they laid collapsed.

???: [――――]

No longer, could they even hear voices properly.

――The life of Roswaal L. Mathers, flickered like a candle flame before the wind.