Interlude II: Feelings Sinking Beneath the Waves
Doshu.
A dull sound of flesh being pierced. A shock that runs through the body.
That shock blows away all thoughts in an instant, bleaching the mind a stark white.
The icy sensation, as if stabbed from the back through the right chest, swiftly transforms into a searing heat that burns from within—
“…Huh?”
Glenn’s lips tremble as he casts his gaze downward to his chest.
—From his right chest, a blade stained crimson protrudes absurdly, as if it were a cruel joke.
Centered there, a fatal red rapidly spreads, consuming his shirt.
An unbelievable, nightmarish scene he doesn’t want to accept.
“Geh…”
Glenn chokes on the sour, metallic taste flooding from the back of his throat.
“…Re…L?”
Turning only his head to look back, Glenn stares at Re=L behind him with a dazed expression.
There stands Re=L, her sword thrust into Glenn’s back—her eyes darker than the depths of a moonless night’s abyss.
“Goh…!? …Gah… W-Why…!?”
Unable to stop himself, Glenn reflexively asks a pointless question.
With Re=L’s sword piercing him like this, her intent is painfully clear.
Yes, Re=L has betrayed him—or rather, she has returned to her former allegiance. To that accursed organization she once belonged to: The Researchers of Divine Wisdom.
He knew this was a possibility. Re=L was, after all, someone tied to The Researchers of Divine Wisdom. What traps might have been laid within her—there was no way to know.
And yet.
…He had believed in her.
It all started simply because he wanted to keep a promise to that girl… But as they faced life-and-death battles together, shielding each other’s lives through grueling days of combat, he wanted to believe Re=L had fully come to their side.
Even if that organization had set some trap… surely Re=L would stand with them… He wanted to convince himself of that.
He had grown so fond of the somewhat precarious Re=L that he couldn’t help but wish for it. If he had a little sister… maybe this is what it would feel like, he had thought.
…Or perhaps even that—making him feel that way—was part of the trap.
Was Albert right? Should Re=L have been ‘disposed of’?
Was that the right path?
…Damn it all.
“…Y-You… No way…!? It’s… a lie… right…?”
Though a part of his mind coldly acknowledges the reality, Glenn’s emotions cling to a faint thread of hope, forcing him to ask as he literally spits blood.
But—
“…Thank you for everything until now.”
Re=L, her hollow eyes wet with splattered blood, averts her gaze and mutters curtly.
A cold, decisive word of farewell.
Glenn grinds his teeth.
However—
“But I… I live for my Nii-san standing there.”
“…Huh? …Big brother?”
At that moment.
Glenn’s thoughts, which had nearly given up in the face of this irredeemable crisis, freeze.
Brother.
Re=L had definitely said that.
Glenn’s trembling gaze wanders forward.
There stood a young man.
The one who had been confronting Re=L before Glenn arrived here.
A young man with the same blue hair as Re=L, clad in a high-collared robe.
He gazes at Glenn with an expression full of anguish…
“…R-Re…L… What are you… saying…!?”
He has to know. He needs to understand Re=L’s true intentions.
If things end like this—he won’t rest even in death.
But.
“…Goodbye.”
Time has already run out.
Re=L declares mercilessly.
She swings the greatsword that has impaled Glenn with a casual flick.
“———!?”
Glenn’s vision spins wildly.
With Re=L’s superhuman strength, the greatsword, still piercing Glenn, is swung like a whirlwind—
The momentum rips Glenn’s body free from the blade, sending him flying in a parabolic arc.
For a fleeting one or two seconds, a weightless sensation envelops Glenn’s body.
After what feels like an eternity to Glenn, his body slams into the sea’s surface.
A massive column of water erupts.
Glenn’s body is tossed about by the raging waves.
Blood pours from the gaping wound in his chest.
Strength drains rapidly from his body—
(…C-Crap…!? I-I need… a healing spell…!)
There’s still a chance. He’s lost a lot of stamina, but his mouth can still move. He knows the technique to chant spells underwater.
He’s chanted spells in extreme conditions to save his life countless times before—
But.
(S-Shit—!)
Glenn belatedly realizes he’s already activated his Original Magic, completely sealing all magic activation within a certain radius around himself.
(…It backfired… huh…)
His Original Magic, [The Fool’s World].
The name now feels like a vicious irony directed at Glenn himself.
He no longer has the strength to swim back to shore.
Even if he could, without magic and with this grievous wound, there’s no way he could defeat Re=L.
Checkmate.
…He’s sinking.
Glenn’s body slowly descends into the dark depths of the sea.
The surface is already so far away. No matter how he reaches, it’s hopelessly out of reach.
(Idiot… I’m… going to die… in a place like this…?)
In the moment his consciousness begins to fade into darkness.
Flashing through Glenn’s mind are the faces of a cute blonde girl, a cheeky silver-haired girl, and the students of his class he thought he didn’t care about.
(…S… Sorry…)
With that final thought.
Glenn’s consciousness abruptly cuts off.
