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Translated By :
- Ice
Contributions By:
- Erifuru
Proofread By :
- Azeem
End Art By:
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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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Subaru’s fingers wrapped around the slender, white neck.
As Subaru tightened his hold using the entirety of his strength and felt the creaking of neck bones underneath his palms, he felt like something was quite out of place―― like it was a girl’s slender neck.
Ram: […Ah, uh.]
Ram was being straddled, her neck being strangled by someone with all their might. A groan escaped from her lips.
Her noble features were warped in agony, and drool could be seen dribbling down from the corner of her rosy lips. Her red tongue danced from side-to-side searching for freedom inside of her mouth. She thrashed her arms and legs about, desperately resisting him.
Ram: [――――]
Subaru could not possibly put up a fight against Ram were she to put up a serious resistance.
She had managed to beat Garfiel for a bit back at the Sanctuary by herself, and even if she had not, she was a woman that should be well acquainted with the art of self-defense. It would be reasonable to assume that she should possess multiple ways to restrain him and deal with a situation of this ilk, in which she had been seized from above by a man like this.
However, that would boil down to whether she could at least get one of her limbs free or not.
Subaru: [――Invisible Providence.]
Ram: […Guh.]
Subaru set free the dark emotions within his chest as he strangled her neck, a “creak, creak” sounding.
The dark, invisible sediment took shape and helped keep Ram’s arms and legs firmly pinned down now. With her limbs pinned down, Ram was unable to struggle about effectively. Her breath would soon stop so long as he continued to put his strength into strangling her neck.
Ram, too, would have regretted her reckless remarks from earlier if she stopped breathing.
Subaru would be able to make her pay with her life for having wounded his heart with her misdirected, callous remarks, and for her ungrounded thoughtless remarks spurned by her selfishness, and for having spoken light of Rem, for thinking he never cared for her.
Subaru: [It’s you who’s at fault. It’s you, you, you!]
Ram was detestable. Ram was detestable. Ram was detestable.
All of those little things that piled up poured out one after the other. He put his hatred into the fingers which were strangling her neck; his nails dug into her pale skin, and blood trickled down.
Ram: [Uhh… Hk.]
Ram turned her eyes full of hate at Subaru who was breathing heavily and relishing the touch of hot blood at the end of his fingernails.
What was with that inflexibility in the light pink irises that gazed at him, while the light of her life was about to be snuffed out? It’s as if they were complaining, saying, “Ram will not truly die by having her life taken”
He decided that he would gouge out her eyes after he strangled her to death.
Subaru: [Gonna rip you apart piece by piece, bitch… You, when I think of you looking at me with that face, a spitting image of Rem’s, it makes me wanna hurl.]
Ram: […]
Subaru: [Ohh? What is it, I can’t hear you? If you got something to say, then say it clearly――]
Ram: […la.]
Ram wheezed something out that overlapped with the last syllable of Subaru’s abusive tirade. For a split second, Subaru narrowed his eyes to the echo of that sound.
Then the sand beneath Subaru, who was pushing Ram down, exploded and both of their bodies were blown away.
Subaru: [WH…A!?]
Ram: [Gahh…!]
Subaru was showered in sand by the sudden blast which got inside of his mouth and eyes. He toppled down towards the back to the taste of sand and pain. Ram too had been caught up in the explosion, and her small body had taken the brunt of it as she tumbled away from him.
Bearing cuts from the explosion, the blood Ram spilled had spattered across the sand. However, Ram had escaped from Subaru’s clutch. That was the fact of the matter.
Subaru: [Ram! You used fucking magic…!]
Ram: [I had enough time… To take a gasped breath. That is all I need… to be able to, chant… Guh.]
Ram picked herself up from her knees, her breathing was in a feeble state.
She had barely managed to chant out her Wind Magic, Fula, whilst her neck was being strangled. Unable to afford to miss, and unable to aim accurately, she had instead aimed underneath her. As a result, she had dragged both herself and Subaru into the blast and escaped from danger――
Subaru: [Tch――!]
Ram: [――――]
As soon as he came to that realization, Subaru turned his hand to the back of his waist and pulled out his whip. At the same time, Ram retrieved a short wand from her bosom, letting her fighting spirit well out showing that she was prepared for battle.
Ram as a magician had the capacity to deliver one strong blow, but even Subaru would not be bested when it came to attack speed. The swift nature of the whip was one that was favored even by the big guns of this world. He should crack his whip straight at her unperturbed looking face so to make it one that he had never have to see again.
Subaru: [Even if you start crying and apologizing, it’s far too late!]
Ram: [That is my line. There is no value in letting an uncaring sex freak like you Barusu meet Rem. Turn to pieces and wither upon the sand.]
Subaru: [Whatever you say!]
Subaru’s resolve in dealing with Ram, who had softly let her murderous intentions flare up, stiffened as well.
Making use of the light of the lantern which had dropped down between them, both Ram and Subaru continued to glare at each other, moving around each other in a circle as they slowly tried to get within striking distance.
And just as the lid was about to be blown off on them slaughtering each other―― Just a few seconds before that happened.
???: [――Aight, that’s enough!]
Subaru & Ram: [――!?]
The sound of violent applause echoed throughout, and both Subaru and Ram’s faces jerked up on hearing its withered timbre. The one who had interrupted them, Anastasia, was looking down on them from dragon-back.
She glared at the two who had been on the verge of trying to kill each other in turn, still sat alone on top of Patrasche.
Anastasia: [That’s enough. I don’t think it’s acceptable that both of ya are glaring at each other with such angry looks on yer faces, despite us all bein’ on the same side. There oughta be limits no matter where we are.]
Subaru: [Limits? AHH, OF COURSE THERE’S LIMITS. AND THE ONE WHO STEPPED OVER THEM AND SAID SOMETHING THAT SHE NEVER SHOULD’VE IS THAT GIRL THERE, ISN’T IT!? THAT’S WHY I’M MAKING HER PAY FOR IT!]
Anastasia: [Ugh, since I ain’t getting’ through to ya, what about’cha, Ram-san?]
Anastasia looked on in shock at Subaru as he jabbed his finger at Ram, and spoke with spittle flying out of his mouth. She had turned her flow of talk towards Ram, but the response she received from the pink-haired girl was not all that different from Subaru’s.
Ram still warily kept the tip of her wand pointed at Subaru, keeping herself on guard for battle.
Ram: [What a foolish question. It is Barusu’s attitude which is intolerable… I am rather at the limits of my patience. If all he cares about is himself, then why do we not go and drop him in the pitch-black darkness alone just like he wants.]
Subaru: [I HAVE NO WORDS FOR THIS BULLSHIT, FUCK OFF!]
Anastasia: [No good from her too, huh? Jeez, why. It seems like I’ve got too much on my shoulders…]
Seeing Ram’s attitude, whose anger remained unrelenting, Subaru’s anger also showed no signs of disappearing.
Anastasia shrugged her shoulders with a gesture that indicated she had given up on the two of them, who continued to exchange sharp looks of murderous intent. Looking at her from the corner of his eye, Subaru began to feel irritated at Anastasia as well.
In the first place, why was Anastasia alone making a face that looked just like she was an outsider?
He wondered who the hell had it been that was behind everything that had happened. He wondered who the hell was it that had first told him to travel to the Augria Sand Dunes and aim for the Sage’s Watchtower. Who the hell did they think they were, leaving everything to others, despite unmistakably having the strongest incentive for setting out to the Watchtower?
And on top of that, they were sitting alone, even now, looking down from the top of his Patrasche――
Subaru: [HEY, YOU. WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU PREACHING TO ME FROM UP ABOVE. GET DOWN. “]
Anastasia: […Huh, it’s come to that?]
Subaru: [Get on the same level as me before you run your mouth with your arrogance. I’ll hear what you have to say after that. I’m not gonna let you run your mouth at me unless you can do that!]
He swung his whip down, scattering sand up with a woosh.
His whip caused skin to split open if it hit its target; even by looking at it, his whip was a weapon designed to inflict cruel wounds. It probably would not matter if he hurt her host body, that of Anastasia, regardless of whether Eridna was inside of it.
As a matter of fact, Anastasia complied with Subaru’s orders and slowly climbed down from Patrasche’s back. Right after she landed gingerly onto the sand, she cocked her head and asked, “Now what?”.
Anastasia: [There, I got down too, but… Natsuki-kun, what is it that ya wanna do?]
Subaru: [That should be obvious. I’ll let that idiot take back what she said before, and if she doesn’t want to, then there’ll be just one thing left to do.]
If Ram changed her attitude and apologized from the depths of her heart, taking back everything she had said up until now, then Subaru would consider taking into account the extenuating circumstances.
However, Ram’s reaction, who had heard what he had stated, was something that was easy enough to understand.
Anastasia: [Well, that’s what Natsuki-kun’s sayin’, but, what do ya think of it, Ram-san?]
Ram: [That is out of the question. You are leaping to conclusions, for I have nothing that should be taken back. I am having a hard time understanding what in tarnation should be said differently.]
Ram snorted, declaring that with an attitude that looked like she was making a fool out of them from the depths of her heart.
That was her answer. Thus, with that, she had forever lost her chance to be forgiven.
Subaru: [You heard her. Back off. I’m gonna make it so that there’s only one face which is the same as Rem’s in this world.]
Ram: [――――]
Subaru: [AHH, HEY? You got nothing to say?]
Ram: [I am talking to myself here, but idiocy is a contagious thing when speaking with idiots. That is why nothing shall be said.]
A vein bulged across his forehead, Subaru’s remaining patience got closer and closer to its limit.
In that state, Subaru gathered his strength and tried to get to where Ram was, straight ahead of him, so he could tear her limb-from-limb. Anastasia rushed out spreading out her hands in front of Subaru.
Anastasia: [Whoawhoawhoa! Hey, calm down! You’re jumpin’ to conclusions again.]
Subaru: [Get out of my way! Do you want me to pummel the life out of you first!?]
Anastasia: [Leave it to me. Aight? Hey, Ram-san, just a sec…]
Holding Subaru back, who was trying to step forward, Anastasia turned towards Ram. The taciturn Ram glared at Subaru, before reluctantly moving her gaze slightly towards Anastasia.
However, it did not seem likely that she would change her opinion. In fact, the look in her eyes betrayed that she had no intention to do so. It seemed like she had stepped towards Anastasia just out of obligation.
Anastasia: [Look, Ram-san. I get that “cause the air”s bad “n such, various feelings end up gettin” frayed, but…]
Ram: [Such talk does not matter right now, do you not think so? More than that, go say it to that idio――]
Anastasia: [――Aight. It doesn’t matter, jeez.]
Giving off a fidgety impression, Ram attempted to finalize her conversation with Anastasia as well. For the first time, she had moved her face away from Subaru and looked dead-on at Anastasia.
The reason was because she had felt a sudden impact. An impact which had pierced into her body, more precisely, into the left part of her chest―― the thick knife which Anastasia held in her hand.
Ram: [Ah, guh…?]
Anastasia: [I had to eyeball a decision, which of ya’d be useful. Can ya forgive me?]
She twisted her knife and pulled it out from the wound.
Ram looked down at the fatal wound that had been birthed on the left side of her chest as blood tricked out from the corner of her lips. Then, she looked up at Anastasia, who had raised her hand up with a smile on her face, and collapsed in front of her.
Ram feebly fell down onto the sand. The blood that gushed out of her continued to be soaked up by the parched sand.
Subaru: [H-haa?]
Subaru looked at the scene with his own eyes, at a loss at what had occurred. The palm with which he held his whip trembled and his molars creaked in anger.
Subaru: [WHY DID YOU…!]
Anastasia: [Since ya were goin’ about it slowly Natsuki-kun, didn’t it seem like ya’d have ended up killin’ each other if Ram-san’s vigilance couldn’t be loosened? What’d I do if both of ya got injured, or both of ya died? I can’t escape from this place all alone, ya know?]
Anastasia cocked her head at the angered Subaru, her face showing no ill will.
Her words made logical sense, but what could he, who was crushed by logic, do about this fury of his? His urge that he should have attacked Ram was still uncontrollable, and his rage was still bottled up.
Anastasia: [Or… Are ya feelin’ like takin’ out yer annoyance on me?]
Subaru: [――――]
Anastasia: [Don’t’cha think it’s stupid to get seized up by yer current rage, “n lose sight of the goal? I think that”s enough of gettin’ rid of companions for the time bein’.]
Anastasia’s words continued to quench his fury as if she was slowly pouring water on them.
It was certainly as she had stated; continuing to get rid of the thinking minds which had come this far was foolish. Moreover, Anastasia, or rather, Eridna was their guide for their journey to the Pleiades Watchtower. It was dubious whether her knowledge had come in handy, but casting her aside would be regrettable.
She was different from Ram. The latter’s words only made him sick to the stomach and had no use to him. Anastasia was a piece that would be bothersome to lose; yes, that was how it was.
Subaru: […Alright, I’ll get on board with your persuasion for now.]
Anastasia: [Mhm, that’s aight for me. No, thank goodness. What a relief.]
Making a show of patting her chest in relief, Anastasia smiled from ear-to-ear. And then, she stepped through the sand, giving off a perilous impression, and came towards Subaru, proffering her hand out.
Perhaps she wanted them to shake hands?
Anastasia: [A reconciliation; a handshake, to show that from here on out, we’ll be treatin’ each other well, won’t we?]
Subaru: [――――]
Subaru faltered for a moment in thought as he looked at the hand she had offered out to him, her face showed no traces of maliciousness.
Anastasia’s true feelings―― Or rather, right now those were Eridna’s true feelings. He did not truly know what she was scheming. He was neither comfortable nor optimistic enough to think that everything she had spoken was the truth.
To start with, Anastasia had killed Ram with the knife that she had kept concealed, whilst she expressed the same smile as she was showing now. Indeed, with a knife that she had kept concealed.
The thick knife she was holding looked like it could cut all the way to the bone depending how it was handled.
Since it had been put in their survival kit along with their lanterns, the kind of utility of an item that was presumed to be for survival was pretty high. However, she had kept it concealed all this time, and had used it in self-defense at a time of need―― No, it may not have been self-defense.
Anastasia: [Natsuki-kun?]
Subaru: [――――]
Anastasia: [Y’ain’t takin’ my hand?]
The hand she had offered out, her right one, was empty. However, her left hand was still holding the knife, even now. The range at which he would be able to shake her hand was also the range at which the knife would be able to reach him.
At least one of his hands would be occupied if he took her hand. He didn’t even need to consider which out of his whip and her knife would be more effective at this distance. Taking her hand, wasn’t that in itself a trap?
――Shouldn’t he kill her before he was killed?
Anastasia: [Natsuki-kun?]
Subaru: [Don’t worry, it’s nothing.]
Subaru gave a weak smile and reached out for Anastasia’s right hand. The moment in which she lowered her guard completely would be his chance, after they took each other’s hand.
――Invisible Providence.
He once again invoked the Unseen Hand, and the black magic hand slowly fixed its sights onto Anastasia’s slender neck.
He would not make the same mistake as he had with Ram. Next, he would make the black palm mercilessly crush her throat.
He would teach a lesson to the woman who had kept belittling him ever since she had managed to secure the upper hand with her knife[1]. Although, even if he wanted to show her, this palm would not be visible――]
Subaru: [――――]
Then, Subaru slowly took her outstretched hand with his own whilst he put the fingers of his black magic hand around Anastasia’s neck. The touch of slender fingers; Anastasia’s smile’s grew deeper. And at the same time, Subaru’s lips broke into a sad smile too.
Anastasia: [Well then…]
Right here. Thus, he believed. He would use the strength of his demonic hand before Anastasia could finish speaking and raise her knife. He would grasp her slender neck with his black fingers, and crush her neckbones in an instant――
――Just before that happened however, a blade of wind came streaming in and cleaved Anastasia’s body in twain from behind.
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He felt like he had hallucinated that a wind had blown, straight after that.
A spray of red gushed out right in front of his eyes, a daft voice let out an “Eh?”, and Anastasia’s body was bisected across the middle.
A large volume of blood was strewn out onto the white sand. Steaming shit and warm guts mingled in with the cold air, leaving behind a putrid smell to hang over the inside of the cave.
Pink small and large intestines, along with many other internal organs that still showed faint traces of activity rolled onto the sand. The sand itself had turned into a showcase of organs, in which the items on display were the raw ingredients that made up a young girl.
Subaru: [――Ah?]
Witnessing the spectacle in front of him, Subaru cast his gaze down to his own hand. What he saw there was Anastasia’s upper body swinging about; she was still firmly grasping Subaru’s right hand with hers. She opened her eyes and speechlessly looked up at Subaru.
Behind her, the lower part of her body which had been cut at the waist, was flopping about. Her legs were convulsing like a marionette, and urine was pouring out everywhere as her muscles had relaxed.
Subaru: [A-AHHHHHHHHHH――!?]
Subaru let out a scream at Anastasia’s horrific condition.
He immediately attempted to shake her arm away, however she was holding on with inordinate strength. Unable to shake her off, Subaru just swung the now-half-in-weight Anastasia about. More blood spewed out of her as she was swung about, and the intestine that still connected the upper half of her body with her lower jolted about, scattering body fluids everywhere and emitting a foul odor.
Subaru: [Hah, LET GO! LET GOOOOOOO!]
Anastasia: [NOOOOO! I DON’T WANNA DIE…![2]“]
Subaru: [YOU’RE ALREADY DEAD! CAN’T YOU GRASP THAT YOU’RE BEYOND SAVING!?]
Her vivid laments were far clearer than imagined, leading Subaru to scream in return.
The upper and lower half of her body had now separated and so much blood and guts had flooded out. It was wrong for her not to have died immediately. It was also wrong for her to still keep grasping his hand. It was all so ridiculous.
Subaru: [LETGO LETGO LETGO LETGO LETGO――]
Anastasia: [NO, NOOO! I WON’T, I ABSOLUTELY WOOON’T… Hk.]
Subaru: [EVEN IF YOU SAY THAT NOW, I CAN’T DO ANYTH… GAH!?]
The upper half of Anastasia clung to his arm, and pain shot through Subaru’s shoulder as he tried to throw her off. Anastasia was still holding the knife in her left hand, and had thrust it into Subaru’s body in an attempt to hold on to him.
The sharp blade easily pierced through Subaru’s left shoulder, and cracked his collarbone beneath it. Bleeding and scorching pain caused Subaru to scream.
Subaru: [GAHHHHHHHHHH――!? FUCKING IDIOT, HURRY UP AND DIEEE!!]
Anastasia: [NOOOO… Hk.]
Subaru fiercely grabbed Anastasia by the face and forcefully tore off her body. With great difficulty, he had finally grasped the girl shouting something out whilst in tears, and thrown her away.
Anastasia’s body had been quite petite to begin with. And now that she had become half, and with all the blood she had lost, she felt as light as a feather.
Subaru: [Haaa, haaa, haaaaaaa…!]
Without taking any notice of that, Subaru put his hand on his wounded right shoulder[3]. His sight flickered in pain, and his heartbeat accelerated like it was going to explode. However, it was no life-threatening wound.
Subaru sluggishly reached into his thoughts whilst besieged by an unchanged sickening tension.
The blow that had killed Anastasia just now was that of――
???: [――Barusu.]
Subaru: [Guh, ah.]
A shadow swayed up in front of Subaru, who had fallen onto his backside and was gasping in pain.
A slender girl with blood covering half of her body came into view from the dim light of the lantern half-buried in sand―― Ram.
Since she had been stabbed in the chest by Anastasia’s knife, he had taken her for dead. Yet, the girl still breathed. And keeping ahold of her tenacity, she had murdered Anastasia with her magic.
Subaru: […This fucking idiot. If you’re gonna die, then fucking die on your own.]
Subaru declared that with annoyance in his voice as he looked up at the staggering Ram.
It was not as if Ram was not covered in wounds. Anastasia’s attack had been fatal for sure. The bleeding from the wound in her chest had yet to stop, and even now, blood was endlessly soiling her skirt all the way down to its hem. It looked like she would soon die due to blood loss.
However, before that happened, she could take Subaru with her.
Subaru: [Sh… it…]
Subaru looked around his surroundings, trying to find his arme de guerre, his whip. However, even if he located it, his right arm which he used to wield it was injured from the shoulder. He could not wield it with his left arm like he did with his right.
Then, he had just one choice left.
Subaru: [INVISIBLE PROVIDEN…!?]
His trump card, which he had already relied on many times in this short period of time. Once again, Subaru’s brain throbbed in burning pain the moment he tried to unleash the strength of his invisible black palm. An agony like his skull was being bored through by a drill exploded within him.
Subaru: [Gah! Ahh!? Guh, ugh!?]
Puke trickled out from the corner of Subaru’s mouth due to the agony that visited him in waves.
In exchange for attempting to use his trump card past its limits, his consciousness was broken up by the hellish banquet that had woken up inside his skull, starting from his cranial nerves. The pain of his right shoulder and such was not even comparable to this.
Whittling at his brain and skull, the sense of loss froze Subaru’s will like it was gnawing at his soul.
Speaking nothing of the resistance he offered with his crappy whip, Subaru, who was writhing in agony, was prime prey. The dying Ram moved her body fueled only by hatred, and slowly made her way towards Subaru, raising her bloodstained wand.
Ram: [Fuuu――]
Subaru: [Ahhhhh! Gahhhh! OHHHH, AHHHHHHH!?]
Subaru rolled over to where Anastasia lay in her pool of blood, still holding his head.
Looking down at him, Ram’s lips stirred, and she began to chant her spell. And then――
Ram: [La――]
Subaru: [――――]
She completed her chant, and the blade of wind which she created hewed Subaru down. But before that came to be, the sound of something hard being chewed echoed out across the cold cave of sand.
That horrible grating sound continued, and it changed into the sound of flesh and water being chewed.
Subaru: [Ah… Ah.]
That he would die, that he would be cut down; Subaru had been convinced of that.
However, the Death that should have come to him didn’t come at all. Finally, Subaru’s headache and feeling of loss, having been breathing heavily and rolling around, slowly started to subside.
Subaru: [AH, haa, ah, ah?]
He covered his face with his left hand and briskly shook his head which was drenched in cold sweat. Though a dull ache remained, the sharp blade-like agony had faded. Taking deep breaths, he lifted himself up using the strength of his entire soul.
Subaru wiped his moistened cheeks whilst he foolishly took the time to raise only his upper body.
He noticed that his palm was covered in bright red, the source of which came from his own eyes―― it seemed like he had shed tears of blood.
A lot of blood dripped from his nose as well, so the lower half of his face was probably in a horrific state. There was likely no doubt that the drilling pain which pierced directly to his brain was in recompense for his Unseen Hand.
It was something he was acquainted with. The feedback from having used his special superpower had come.
Subaru: [What happ…]
Briskly wiping his face with his sleeve, Subaru looked around his surroundings. He had no idea how much time he had spent in agony. Nevertheless, he had hardly even thought it possible that he had it in himself to spend his time like that.
Something had happened, and with that he had been――
Subaru: [Patrasche?]
Patrasche: [――――]
Subaru’s jet-black ground dragon nestled up beside him as he sat in blank amazement. Crouched down on the sand, she had heard Subaru’s call and shook her long tail, indicating that she was in good health.
Subaru: [So you were uninjured? Hmm, let me think…]
Just now, he recalled what had happened before. He recalled the scene in which Anastasia had been cut in two by Ram, and the latter aiming down at him. Subaru should have been ripped to shreds by Ram’s doing.
Subaru: [And yet, why… Did Ram…?]
Perhaps she had used up all her strength and collapsed?
Though it was a really convenient development, Ram had been bearing fatal wounds. It would not be farfetched to think that she had collapsed.
Subaru: [Is that lucky, or unlucky…]
He did not want to say that he was lucky since she had been no less than almost dead. However, if he thought about it, he still could not say he was unlucky since he would have been dead had things gone south.
In any case, now was not the time to go on about these things. Given that everyone who had gotten in his way was gone, he had to get out of this place as soon as he could and make his way to the Watchtower.
Subaru: [Patrasche… Sorry, let me hop on.]
Patrasche: [――――]
Subaru: [Patrasche?]
Subaru called out to her and touched her back, but the ground dragon did not obey his instructions.
On the contrary, Patrasche, who had crouched down, still did not make any move to show her face to him. She was sitting next to him on the sand, looking rather at peace, merely breathing heavily over and over.
Subaru: [Hey, Patrasche. Are you listening? HEY.]
His irritation slowly started to increase. It was a spiral of negative emotions which built up at supersonic speed, similar to those which he had felt against Ram and Anastasia.
He felt like he wanted to teach the unresponsive ground dragon her place.
Subaru: [HEY, PATRASCHE, YOU, LOOK OVER HERE! HEY! “]
Patrasche: [――――]
Subaru: [BASTARD, LISTEN TO WHAT I’VE BEEN SAYING FROM THE START…]
Patrasche lifted her head up at Subaru, who had raised his voice and furiously slapped her back. He realized that she was trying to come face-to-face with him to try and express her words, breathing heavily out of her nose.
Patrasche’s mouth looked far from normal and was dyed in red.
Subaru: [――――]
That crimson color was one that he had become used to seeing already in this short period of time.
That color coated parts of Subaru’s body as well, and still streamed down from his right shoulder even now. The foul smell which drifted around the area lay thick in it, along with that of piss and shit, there was no mistaking it.
However, he had not wanted to notice something. He should not have noticed it.
Subaru: [――――]
Pink hair innumerably entwined itself between the fangs that lined Patrasche’s mouth, who had now turned his way.
Subaru: [Eep.]
On the other side of the crouched Patrasche’s large body, Ram, whom he had lost sight of, had fallen down to the ground.
Though the body of the girl had collapsed, he could not tell whether she was lying face up or face down. Checking that would be easy to tell if he looked at her head, but it was precisely because of that which he could not.
He could not assess that because everything above her neck had been chewed on, and its original shape was lost. Ram’s skull had been crushed by vicious fangs and her brain juice had spilled out leaving her dead. Just like Anastasia who had had her guts spilled out before dying, Ram had had the contents of her skull spilled out.
And, the one who had performed said deed, Patrasche, was staring intently at Subaru now. Her yellow eyes which resembled that of a reptile, were sharply and cruelly tinged with madness.
Subaru: [――Sto!]
The last thing he saw, was her maw opening up millimeters from his eyes.
All that Natsuki Subaru heard was the sound of his own body being chewed up all the way, until just before he slipped out of consciousness. Even after his head was crushed and his ears stopped working, the sound continued.
He almost ended up laughing, wondering where he was hearing the sound from. However, he had no mouth to laugh with, no life that he could merely laugh at, and nothing which he could laugh at.
He was chewed up by his companion, and died[4].]
Translation notes:
[1] I lost a bit of the nuance in translating “目にものを見せてやる” as “to teach a lesson”. Literally it reads “To show it to her eyes” which is why the part after that paragraph references “wanting to show her”, more or less”.
[2] Anastasia, or rather, Eridna, has been using “うち” exclusively as her personal pronoun. However, here, she emphasized it by saying “ウチ”. In a Q&A, someone asked if the possession was undone, and Tappei answers cryptically with “If you try paying attention to the way she refers to herself, perhaps the riddle will be solved”. In fact, Eridna cannot pronounce “ウチ” properly, and always uses “うち”, so this implies that in this moment, this could be Anastasia.
[3] A minor oopsie from Tappei, some paragraphs above he says Subaru’s left shoulder (左肩) was stabbed, now here he uses right shoulder (右肩). Well, what is it? Considering later descriptions, it should have been the right shoulder all along.
[4] Tappei left a note after the chapter warning readers that the chapter may depict intense imagery. He recommended that readers that tended to lose themselves to their own power of imagination should skim over the chapter. Then he said, “I went ahead and wrote it in the afterword”, referring to that warning. So it may be believed that he was being sarcastic/witty there. Because readers would already have read the chapter to get there.
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