Chapter 70 - One Thing

Arc 7 Chapter 70 - One Thing
*This is a Work in progress, everything is subject to change.*


――The most important thing for him when he asked Null-jiisan for a "drug" was certainty.

Originally, Null-jiisan was not an eager student of medicine.

He was just an amateur who was allowed in and out of the healing room while treating a fellow Gladiator and, somehow, he ended up staying there.

After all, those on the administrative side of the island would not give Null-jiisan, one of the Gladiators, a highly effective drug that could be either poison or medicine.

That was why it was impossible for Null-jiisan to concoct a drug――an immediately effective "strong poison".

The only thing Null-jiisan could make was a deleterious concoction of as many drugs as he could get his hands on, which would kill the opponent by disrupting his blood flow throughout his body.

If you drink it, you will definitely die after suffering tremendously――however, its existence, depending on how you thought about it, was convenient for Subaru.

Subaru: [After all, my foundation is being a lazy, giant idiot.]

Considering Subaru’s pampered character, a poison that killed without causing suffering was out of the question.

He would immediately think about starting over on something trivial and start relying on the poison's potency. In doing so, Natsuki Subaru would become a monster.

An inhuman monster who didn’t understand human pain or suffering.

Subaru: [No way, absolutely no!]

Already, the memory and realization of the time when his arms and legs were fully grown were fading away. Even so, Subaru's experience and philosophy should not be twisted too far.

That change in nature would be a betrayal to everyone who had accepted this Subaru.

I can betray myself, but not everyone, not my family.

While Natsuki Subaru could be postponed, Natsuki Subaru's ties could not.

Therefore――,

Subaru: [...Sorry Null-jiisan for lying about using it against a Sparka opponent.]

Even if Natsuki Subaru experienced the hellish pain, he could not withdraw his outstretched hands.

Because that was the core that would not bend, even on this Gladiator Island of eradication.



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Though he tried to be strong and so forth――

Subaru: [Gah, guu, gee…]

Gritting his teeth to the point that they are about to break, Subaru endures a pain that tears his heart to shreds. ――No, he is not enduring it. The pain he endures has already passed.

He died and returned, so the suffering that caused him to die was nowhere to be found.

But his soul dragged on. That's why the tears and snot won't stop flowing.

Weitz: [Oi, Schwartz…! What's the matter, all of a sudden…!]

Subaru: [I, am fhine]

Weitz: [How can you be fine… in such an ugly state…!]

Weitz's voice trembled as Subaru crouched on the spot, his face smeared with various juices.

He rushed over, raised Subaru up, and wiped his runny nose with his bare hands without hesitation. Weitz's attitude always impressed Subaru.

It was a very praiseworthy thing to be able to act without thinking that dirty things are dirty.

Subaru: [Aah, uu…]

Roughly wiping away his runny nose and tears, Subaru put his hand to his dazed head.

Little by little, the shocking past of being dead faded away, and the sluggish present of being alive was accepted. This slow switch of consciousness happened almost every time Subaru died from using the “drug”.

The "poison" he carried behind his back teeth as a trump card to ensure his death, surprisingly, did not come into play in many of Subaru's deaths on Gladiator Island.

Deaths during Sparka were overwhelmingly caused by the claws and fangs of the Gladiator Beast.

However, when he couldn't die, or when he somehow managed to make a victim, he had no choice but to have this "drug" fulfill its role.

It was a torture that Natsuki Subaru had to bear.

Because――,

Subaru: [...Because it's my fault that I screwed up.]

If the person who should be able to do the most failed, what could the rest of them do?

Subaru had a responsibility. A responsibility of having the highest possibility of being able to do something about their circumstances.

Natsuki Subaru would be able to use it, even if it was not the power he wanted and obtained.

Because he was Natsuki Kenichi's son.

Weitz: [――hk, what…!?]

Subaru: [The drawbridge…]

He pressed his fist against the dirty floor and the entire island creaked and shook as he tried to raise himself up.

From Weitz in front of him and the dim, cold air, Subaru could tell that he had died and returned to the lower level of Gladiator Island――just before the drawbridge went up.

The only bridge between the outside world and the isolated island.

In other words――,

Weitz: [――They’re coming.]

That scene, like a picture of hell itself, and the worst enemy that created it.

The person he prayed to never meet again――a rematch with Todd.

Subaru: [――――]

Horrified and engulfed in fear, Subaru hugged his shoulders.

As soon as he closed his eyes, what came back to him behind his eyelids was a scene full of corpses. The worst memory he had was a familiar face, bleeding from the eyes and nose, trembling, and lying on the ground.

Weitz, wiping Subaru's runny nose, was no exception.

Subaru: [That scene, never again…]

A sense of mission, that he must not let it happen, warmed his heart.

However, even if he was so enthusiastic, his thoughts stopped at the question of what to do. How in the world was that desperate situation created?

Todd and Arakiya entered Gladiator Island as envoys from the Imperial City.

It’s bad enough having one of the “Nine Divine Generals” who he’s fought before standing in his way, but to have the evil warlock Todd join the fray was his worst nightmare of all.

Why are Todd and Arakiya together in the first place?

Subaru: [...I’m an idiot, I remember now. He was the one who let Arakiya escape after she was captured.]

Perhaps it was shocking, but memories related to Todd were surprisingly clear.

Subaru and Todd's connection, the last of which was in the high-walled city――Guaral, in the middle of an operation to occupy the city hall. Subaru, dressed as a woman, was the last time he had contact with him.

After that, Priscilla, dressed in red, beat up the rampaging Arakiya, who was supposed to be caught, and was released by someone, Subaru suspecting that it was Todd.

If they are together now, it would mean that his guess was not wrong.

Subaru: [Damn it, you said you wanted to go back to your fiancée, so why are you here? If you quietly returned to your home town…that big lying bastard…!]

Groaning about breaking a promise wouldn’t make Todd disappear. Even knowing this, he had to let out his pent-up anger at least once.

Subaru took a deep breath in, exhaled, inhaled, exhaled.

And――,

Weitz: [The next Sparka sacrifice?...]

Subaru: [Not necessarily. Weitz, can you help me a little?]

Weitz: [――. Did you forget what I just said?...]

The tattoo on Weitz's face contorted as Subaru heard this, feeling the tremors in his feet.

The timing of the words Weitz said. Subaru’s head was in a panic because of the aftermath of the "drug," but he remembered them because they had a great impact.

Subaru: [Just helping out, right? So help me, please.]

Weitz: [As long as you get it, OK… So what do ya want me to do…?]

Naturally, they're going to see the next Gladiator candidates come across the drawbridge.

He would have thought that would have been suggested, but Weitz, with his arms crossed, switched quickly. His righteousness and stubborn adherence to his own rules once set were really helpful.

With great appreciation for Weitz’s character――,

Subaru: [You just need to do one little thing. I need you to stall the people who came to the island now.]



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――Natsuki Subaru's only weapon, the Authority of "Return by Death".

It was clearly growing dysfunctional after coming to the Vollachian Empire and overcoming various obstacles.

The biggest reason that comes to Subaru's mind is his ongoing "infantilization".

Since his body has shrunk this way, his "Return by Death" has been completely erratic.

The most extreme experience with it was the worst ten seconds at Chaosflame's Crimson Lapis Castle.

It was an endless ten seconds that seemed to be given not to save Subaru but to make him despair, and the situation remained bad even on Gladiator Island, where he was sent immediately after that passed.

The grace period given was uncommonly short, though not as short as the ten seconds at the keep.

This time, he was able to go back roughly 30 minutes――even less time considering the time when everyone on the island started dying to be the limit.

In other words, Subaru must rewrite the situation in less than a 30-minute period.

For that――,

Subaru: [First, I need time to think. ――Remember, remember, remember what happened.]

When he accepted his offer, Subaru took advantage of Weitz, who said so emphatically, and asked him to delay the passage of the visiting envoys to the island.

However, he also said that there would be no strategy in which Weitz himself would go on a rampage.

The reason was simple: if Weitz went on a rampage and Arakiya was there, he would be stopped in an instant.

Both were events Subaru wanted to avoid.

Subaru: [Everyone bled from their faces and died...poison gas? Or some kind of magic?]

He was in the middle of confiding that he was going to escape from Gladiator Island.

Hiain and Weitz and Idra all succumbed one after the other, and Tanza was no exception to this. They all died the same way, and perhaps there was no difference there.

In the sense that the cause of death was the same, the other Gladiators who had fallen ――were different.

Subaru: [The guards were dead, too.]

If he properly remembers the events that took place, there were really no exceptions to that hell.

Unable to think straight at the time, he didn't check to see if the Gladiator Beasts in the cages were still alive, but at least all the humans were dead, without exception ――that's not right, either. There were exceptions.

Subaru: [It's me, and Todd.]

Yes, only Subaru and Todd were not dead, meeting face to face on the island.

However, Subaru was suffering from the same, if slow, death pains and blood running down his face as everyone else.

It is hard to imagine that Todd was exempt from that death because it is hard to imagine that he could just bear it.

Subaru: [If it's poison gas, did Todd take the antidote before coming here or something? If it's that kind of magic, was it Arakiya who used…? Come to think of it, Arakiya is nowhere to be found.]

Although he didn't mean to, he did check the bodies of every single familiar person.

Tanza and the others who collapsed in front of him, Orson and the others he saved in the second "Sparka," Null-jiisan who was in the healing room, and the guard who was very strict in his treatment of others.

Everyone, everyone, was motionless with blood streaming from their faces.

Subaru: [But there are three people I haven't seen yet.]

――They are Arakiya, Gustav, and the fake Cecilus.

Subaru: [――――]

Of course, Subaru doesn't remember every Gladiator on the island either, so he can't really be sure that all of them were dead. But those three were definitely not around.

Arakiya is on Todd's side. Since she is an ally of Todd, who was probably responsible for the massacre, it is only natural that she did not die in the massacre.

But what about the other two?

Gustav, who was the island's chief and governor, and the mysterious and suspicious child, the fake Cecilus.

Those two were in special positions here on the Gladiator Island――

Subaru: [――ah.]

Yes, just as he remembered these two special people, Subaru was suddenly struck unexpectedly by a lightning bolt inside his mind.

While he suspected poison gas or magic as the method that brought about the massacre on the island, there was one other possibility that came to mind, albeit a tenuous one.

It can only be experienced on the Gladiator Island, and it has a great influence here ――the "curse rule".

The Gladiator Island Ginunhive's Gladiators are shackled with an invisible limitation.

The curse rule, which is said to threaten the lives of anyone who defies it, is a candidate for it.

Subaru: [But the curse rule was just a threat, it can't be real.]

Subaru himself was convinced about this after risking his life dealing with Gustav.

He had clearly told Gustav that he was escaping from Gladiator Island, thus displeasing Gustav and defying the will of the emperor of Vollachia, to whom he swore allegiance.

If there really was a curse rule, Gustav would have used it against him there. If he did not make an example of Subaru with it, the order of Gladiator Island would fall apart.

It would be a big deal if the Gladiators were to start a riot because they had been informed that there was no curse rule.

Subaru: [No matter how much Gustav-san doesn't want us to die, it wouldn't make sense to bend on that. So there should be no curse rule… No, you're overthinking it.]

Gustav's policy of keeping his Gladiators alive as much as possible, whether it or not, had more obvious negatives to the curse rule. There were many, many of them lying around.

It was not only the Gladiators who were dead, but also the guards.

Subaru: [There is no reason for Gustav-san to kill all the guards. …If you put it that way, there's no reason for him to suddenly kill all the Gladiators.

The more he thought about it, the more the massacre and Gustav's intentions seemed irrelevant.

If that is the case, it seems that it would be good to go back to the very beginning and narrow down the reasoning to two choices: either the mastermind, Todd, sprayed poison gas, or he worked with Arakiya and used some outrageous magic.

However, both of these have the exact same problem.

Subaru: [Why was the effect so weak on just me?]

Apart from Todd, who would have taken precautions beforehand, Subaru was the only one with less severe symptoms.

What is it about Subaru alone that makes it different from everyone else who has died?

Was it that he was a child? ―― No, Tanza was dead.

A difference in your most recent actions? ―― No, Weitz was dead.

Did the race make a difference? ――No, Hiain and Idra both died together.

Being from another world? Spending time in the Kingdom? Being in a contractual relationship with the super adorable Spirit? Being stalked by Witch? Being "infantilized" into a smaller body? What else, what else, what else?

――Only Subaru is different from everyone else, what is it?

Subaru: [What is――]

Cecilus: [――Well, Basu, are you troubled?]

Subaru: [Whoa!]

A voice from behind Subaru, who had been frantically racking his brain to explore the possibilities.

Subaru turned around and looked into the eyes, having screamed due to the suddenness of the situation and the fact that he was the one who had put the possibility of being approached out of his mind.

Behind Subaru, walking with his hands in the sleeves of his kimono, is the fake Cecilus.

Subaru blinked his eyes several times at his usual, lighthearted demeanor.

Subaru: [Ce, Ceci…?]

Cecilus: [Yes that' s me, but what's up with that reaction? You look as if my being here is an amazing and outrageous development. It's true that I'm the leading actor in this world, so I can understand why you might be put off, but I've been spending time with Basu at a distance where I can talk to you and touch you, you know?]

The fake Cecilus, approaching before him, looks down into Subaru's face at close enough distance that he can almost feel his breath on his face.

Subaru involuntarily backed away from the unchanged attitude and gestures.

Then, from Subaru's side, the fake Cecilus quietly looks at the view below - the already lowered drawbridge as Subaru climbs up to higher ground.

Cecilus: [It seems that the Dragon Carriage was not carrying participants for the next 'Sparka' but rather visitors. That's what everyone on the island was talking about.]

Subaru: [...Yeah, they seem to be emissaries from the Imperial City. I don't know what they're doing here.]

Cecilus: [As emissaries from the Imperial Capital, I can imagine that they came to inform us about the situation outside, or to discuss the next event. As you want to leave this place, Basu, wouldn't that be good news for you?]

Subaru: [――. I'm not going to deny it.]

Subaru replies to the fake Cecilus, who looks at the surface of the lake, sheltering his eyes with his hand, with few words.

Frankly, this unexpected encounter with the fake Cecilus had Subaru unsure of how to behave toward him.

He did not believe that the fake Cecilus committed the massacre along with Todd and Arakiya.

But it is true that he, apparently supposedly the most feared Gladiator on Gladiator Island, disappeared during the massacre.

Subaru: [Me, too, although I doubt my ears were working properly…]

It was a terrible situation and he could hardly be said to be mentally stable.

Still, one can be certain that if someone had been fighting or fighting on the island, there would have been no way he could have missed it.

So if one thinks about what would have happened to the fake Cecilus at that time――

Subaru: [Did he die somewhere I didn't see him or was he not on the island?]

But if he was not on the island, then where and how?

Even at this very moment when he is talking to the fake Cecilus, the clock is ticking down to the time limit. The fake Cecilus has no time to spare until that terrible eventuality.

Cecilus: [I don't deny it. But that's the kind of look you get when you have other concerns.]

Subaru is at a loss for what to say, and the fake Cecilus instinctively picks at the vague words.

It was probably a hunch, not a reading of Subaru's expression or words or actions. It was intuition. It is people like the fake Cecilus and others who will draw the correct answer.

Subaru's resolve is tested because this is a world crowded with handfuls of such monsters.

I'm not going to lose and I can't lose, I'm determined.

Subaru: [Ceci, something terrible is about to happen on the island. It will probably be done by those guys from the imperial capital. I can't tell you what exactly…]

Cecilus: [From the seriousness of the situation, it's horrifying to even mention… like the plight of the deer girl and the people of Basu's "unit",  It's like a dead end.]

Subaru: [――hk.]

"Well, Basu's response is both remarkable and comforting! Isn't it, though? I'm glad to hear that there are signs of things to come. I'm going to die waiting for them!]

Laughing with an open mouth, the fake Cecilus stomped his foot with authority.

Subaru was taken aback by the reaction, which was as if he was welcoming trouble, and then he closed the distance between himself and the other party with his teeth bared.

Subaru: [Ceci, I'm not kidding! We're all in trouble!]

Cecilus: [That is more gravitas! I'm glad you're not joking. I'd welcome it, because it's blander to be told that everything is just a made-up thought here. Crisis, predicament, and difficulty, great relief!]

Subaru: [――hk!]

Cecilus: [Or do you think I would unconditionally side with you Basu?]

When Subaru complained that Cecilus did not understand the gravity of the situation, Cecilus lowered his voice. It was as if to say that Subaru was the one who did not understand.

Subaru gasped as his narrow blue eyes felt like cold knives.

The fake Cecilus smiled at the silent Subaru and said

Cecilus: [――here, right here.]

And so, he spoke the words straight at Subaru, who spun around on the spot, holding his hands out.

As if to set the stage for it here in the middle of Gladiator Island, on the high ground overlooking the island and half of the lake. False Cecilus looks up to the sky, opens his mouth wide, and–

Cecilus: [This is the watershed moment! You asked if you could have me on your side unconditionally, and let me tell you that the way you can fulfill that condition is this moment.]

Subaru: [This moment, right now…]

Subaru: [Yes, yes, yes! Basu charms me with his premonition! Join me in anticipation! Making me laugh at the tactics! And I'm going to prove it at the climax!]

Subaru: [――――]

Cecilus: [Come now, the wolf that keeps the sword! Behold Observers who continue to look down on this harsh and cruel land! Who will charm me, Cecilus Segmunt!]

The audience is beyond the sky, and his loud voice is such that it would not be possible without the certainty of its presence.

Subaru was oddly convinced, however, because of the eccentricities of the fake Cecilus, no doubt put into question by his sanity, and his actions, which no one on the island could turn a blind eye or ear to.

The fake Cecilus - no, Cecilus Segmunt is the real thing.

This is a real monster who truly believes he can talk to the world, and if the world actually had a will, the world is transfixed upon him.

This little monster has that much presence and persuasiveness.

Subaru: [I'm…]

Cecilus: [What?]

Subaru: [I'm going to make you join me. I'm going make you my companion, I'm going to use you.]

Overwhelmed, Subaru put his hand on his chest and declared, even though this was not the time to do so.

With his eyes firmly fixed on his opponent, he declared.

With a tone brimming with laughter, Cecilus responded to Subaru, but not with the same carefree smile as before, but with a smile that merely relaxed his lips.

Perhaps it was a sign that Cecilus had been correct and recognized Subaru as a challenger.

Right after that――

Cecilus: [――I see.]

Lips tightening into a smile, Cecilus gently stroked his chin with a finger.

A chin with blood dripping down from his shapely nose.

Subaru: [Wha…]

Seeing the fresh blood spilling from Cecilus' nose, Subaru hurriedly looked over the railing.

Although he could not see through to the inside of the buildings and the basement of the island he could look down on, he could still see a number of fallen figures within eyeshot.

 It had begun, the massacre.

While Subaru has been spending time sorting through the situation and contemplating the possibilities.

"Death" rages through the island, taking lives without exception.

Yes, without exception――

Cecilus: [uh-oh]

Subaru: [Ceci!]

As he pulls himself away from the railing, Subaru feels a sting in the back of his nose, but his attention is on Cecilus, who is sitting right next to him.

Cecilus rested his back against the railing, scratching himself sitting on the spot.

A leisurely attitude, but it hasn't stopped the blood from his nose, which he is holding with his hand.

Subaru: [Ar, are you, okay?]

Cecilus: [Well, this is a tough one. This is a tough opponent, Basu, and there's no shortage of opponents.]

Subaru: [This is no time to say that! Blood from your nose, and from your eyes!]

Cecilus: [I see… I was proud to say that I never spilled a drop of blood here.]

Even as he spoke, blood flowed from Cecilus' eyes as he sat down.

Cecilus was becoming so bad that it was hard to watch, but it was frightening to see the blood pouring out of his nose and not changing the tone of his voice at all.

But that was not the scariest thing about Cecilus.

Subaru: [Aren't you afraid to die…?]

Cecilus: [You know, people die.]

Subaru: [――――]

Cecilus' answer was clear, even though he knew that "death" was right in front of his eyes.

No hesitation, no confusion, no fear, no anxiety, no apprehension, no nervousness, no regret.

Unlike Subaru, there would not be anything beyond death.

And yet, Cecilus has no fear of death, which should be the greatest fear of all living things.

And so, without showing any fear of death――

[――――]

Cecilus' hand holding his nose drops, his blood-stained sleeve concealing it wrapped around his arm, and he remains motionless with his back resting against the fence.

He turned over, closed his eyelids, and stopped moving with a jerk.

Subaru clearly understood what this meant.

And then――

Subaru: [Cough"

The hand over his coughing mouth was stained with blood, "death" was close at hand.



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The same, the very same devastation had taken over the Gladiator Island in its entirety.

Subaru: [――――]

Dragging his feet slowly, Subaru wandered around the island, looking for survivors

But now that even Cecilus was out of the running, no such entity that would live up to Subaru's battered expectations appeared.

Subaru: [Tanza, the others, and even Null-jiisan ...]

They had all fallen and lost their lives.

Subaru was stunned and unable to comprehend what had happened, and it was all Subaru could do to close their eyelids and lightly wipe their faces.

Subaru: [Sorry, Tanza...]

He had failed. He had made a mistake in the order.

He should have told Tanza and the others that they were in danger and had them take some kind of precautions.

He should have joined Tanza and the others before they went up to higher ground, or at least stayed with them. He could have saved that anxious girl from dying in this helpless place without knowing what was going on.

He couldn't even think about such an obvious thing until he found their bodies.

Subaru: [――――]

Having cruised around the island, he saw that all of the guards were dead, after all.

The way they died was the same as Gladiator and the others; they all bled to death from their faces. Going back to the cage where the Gladiator Beast was locked up, Subaru saw that they were all dead too.

They were lying in their cages, bleeding from their eyes and noses, dying the same way the humans did.

Subaru: [... I guess that means I'm tougher than they are.]

The joke was not funny to the dying Gladiator Beast, which was almost dead.

It was hard to breathe because his nose was completely blocked by blood His eyes too had become moist and misty, and he wiped them with his fingers

Subaru was disgusted by the Grim Reaper who approached Subaru slowly.

Subaru raised his trembling middle finger at this disgusting reaper.

And then――.

Todd: [ You, what are you doing in a place like this?]

In the middle level of the isolated island, in a place called the courtyard, the Grim Reaper cracked the bones in his neck and muttered to himself.

Wearing a black bandana and a youthful look on his face, the Reaper――Todd――walks slowly toward Subaru, who held up his middle finger at him.
Todd: [As you can see, I assumed everyone on the island was dead by now, but…]

Todd, who had deftly pulled out a large knife, wore a suspicious face as he looked at Subaru.

In many ways, he believed he was in an unexplainable situation. Meeting a living person here must have been unexpected for Todd.

The feeling of being ambushed must also have been eerie to Todd.

But Subaru knew that if he waited here, he would come.

If he didn't have to see him, he didn't want to, but this was a face to face meeting that he just couldn't avoid.

There was no one else left alive, and the only person Subaru had a chance of talking to before he died was this Grim Reaper.

Todd: [――――]

His eyes were guarded, but there was no hesitation in his approaching steps. It is not so much an attitude of contempt for Subaru as it is an attitude of not seeing Subaru as a problem.

It is not that he is underestimating Subaru because he is a child.

Without joking or using metaphors, Subaru was about to die. If you are overly cautious about a dying, helpless child, you are not being cautious, you are being a coward.

Todd is cunning and prudent, but not cowardly.

――Subaru, on the other hand, who had overlooked the girl's "death" because of his stupidity, was thinking.

Even though Todd's appearance is just as he had wished, he is not sure if he will get what he wants in the future.

Even if he has a chance, Todd is not a person who gives hints easily. He is not the kind of person who would give a dying child a memento of his own death.

Then, how could he bring back some information against this cold-blooded god of death?

Maybe just one thing.

Even if he did extremely well, there is only one piece of information that he could get.

That one piece of information had to be something worthy of the encounter.

Todd: [――――]

Step by step, the distance between Subaru and Todd shrinks.

As soon as this distance reaches zero, it would not be surprising if the other party silently stabs Subaru to death. With an anemic head and body, he must draw the correct answer.

It was Todd who committed this massacre on the island. There is no use in asking.

Who survived? It was useless to ask that. It made no sense.

Where is Arakiya? As much as he'd like to know, He doesn't think Todd would answer him. It was useless.

Where is Gustav? That, like Arakiya, would be a wasted shot.

Then all that remained was the method behind this massacre.

Todd: [――――]

 Poison gas, no. Subaru erased that option from his mind.

Cecilus and Subaru had run into each other halfway up the island, on high ground, and Subaru had decided to stay there. -If the answer to the massacre was poison gas, he thought, the windy heights might be safe.

But as it turned out, neither Subaru nor Cecilus escaped the carnage. The possibility of poison gas was quite low when what was outside the island had also collapsed.

Then the other possibility was――.

Subaru: [――ah.]

Arakiya's magic: Arakiya, who appeared with Todd, used some kind of magic to annihilate the Gladiator, the guards, and the Gladiator Beast on the island.

If that certainty is gained, the next time, the next time would be better.

If only he could be sure.

Cecilus: [――here, right here.]

Instantly, an auditory hallucination took over Subaru's brain

The voice of a thousand actors, who should be nowhere to be found, generated a fever in Subaru's feeble thoughts.

And then, as if rushed by that heat, he opened his mouth and――

Subaru: [――Curse rule!!!!]

Subaru shouted out loudly to the reaper, the possibility that had once been extinguished and yet could not be extinguished.

That bloodcurdling voice of Subaru seized the Reaper as an inescapable attack. And a moment after hearing that cry, the god of death - Todd - moved.

Todd: [Die!]

The quizzical look, the troublesome air, and everything else were all gone, and only the will to kill remained.

A murderous intent so thick and dense that if one were to look at it in a sane state, one would almost faint. With that in his eyes and in the knife in his hand, Todd leapt at Subaru in a single breath.

Subaru: [Kah!]

The cold blade was buried deep in Subaru's chest.

Without a shred of mercy, the knife claws through everything precious in his chest and is pulled out with a twist to ensure that he can never be saved.

Spurts of blood splattered, staining Todd's impassive face with fresh blood.

Todd: [――Fool.]

He was stabbed and then the blade was pulled out, the force of which dragged his body to the hard ground. The blood rushed down his throat with a frenzy he had never experienced before, and he spits out a gulp of blood mixed with a packet of "medicine".

He bit down and failed to break the envelope. But this was a wound that didn't need medicine.

Todd: [Are you out of your mind?]

Todd muttered, picking up the red-tinged wrapper with his fingers and sniffing it. Did he know from the smell alone that the contents were dangerous, or did he guess by the way it came out of his mouth?

Either way, it didn’t matter. It was something that Subaru could no longer reach.

If there was one thing that could be said, however, it was this.

Subaru: [...got.]

Todd: [What?]

Subaru: [I got it.]

He had grabbed the one thing.

Changing the color of his face, he hastily killed Subaru, giving it priority over everything else.

And so, Subaru grabbed it.

Subaru: [Curs――]

He grabbed, and grabbed, and grabbed, and then he died.

Instead of dying, he grabbed it.

――What was killing the Gladiator Island Ginunhive was a "curse rule" that should not have existed.