In a space where even his footing was uncertain, Subaru was staring at the void where falling would mean inevitable 『Death』, yet he paid no attention to it whatsoever.
Right now, the only thing controlling Subaru's consciousness was the girl before his eyes - a witch with white hair, white skin, black clothes and black eyes.
Its overwhelming presence, intimidating force, and the difference in status as a transcendent creature.
All of these things were entangling and toying with the eyes, heart, and soul of the puny being called Subaru with their invisible fingertips.
It is amazing how much a person can suppress their emotions when faced with true, inescapable ``fear.''
I can't breathe. I can't feel my heart beating. I can't even break out into a cold sweat, and I can't even blink without her permission. There is an absolute isolation there.
"Oh no, I must have been too threatening. Ever since I was little, when I get excited I tend to blurt things out. It's a tricky thing being a witch."
Suddenly, Echidna, still sitting in her chair, became conscious of the heat of her words and began to reflect on herself. However, the pressure emanating from the witch in front of her showed no signs of abating.
No, the feeling of pressure that I had been able to consciously ignore just a moment ago now stays close to my consciousness, and won't go away.
The friendly exchange was gone. Subaru could no longer see the girl before him as a girl. In the truest sense of the word, he could only see her as a "witch."
"This kind of thing happened many times during my lifetime. It was the same when royalty from various countries would come to me to ask for my wisdom... but now, I can't help but look at me with wariness."
"Oh dear," Echidna shook her head as she looked at Subaru with her black eyes. Subaru was shaken by the expressionless face reflected in her eyes, but at the same time she smiled.
"Well then, do you like this idea?"
「――――!?」
The change came suddenly.
Echidna smiled and muttered, and Subaru's brow furrowed in understanding. Her smile melted into the darkness, and Subaru, gasping, blinked――
"What are you looking at, man?"
"...teeth?"
"Don't stare!"
Saying this, a girl in front of Subaru kicked her feet and puffed out her cheeks.
She was a girl with dark green hair that was cut to her shoulders and apple-red cheeks. Her tanned skin and white dress-like outfit suited her beautifully, and she freely exuded a childlike cuteness to those around her. A distinctive feature of her hair was the blue flower-shaped hair clip.
No matter how you looked at her, she was a harmless and innocent girlーー and now she was sitting where Echidna had been, gazing fixedly at Subaru.
"Ah, uh, huh? Wait a sec. Huh, where's Echidna...? Where did she go?"
"Donna? I'm sure Donna has gone somewhere, but who are you?"
"Oh, me? My name is Natsuki Subaru. I'm a lost soul, neither called nor invited, and I was on my way home after having some tea… my landlord suddenly disappeared and I'm in trouble…"
"Oh. Well then, you're Bal."
Subaru couldn't keep up with the situation, but he introduced himself honestly, despite being greeted with hostility that was too cute for it to be called hostility. The girl responded with a delighted grin, which made Subaru's heart warm.
The situation was completely chaotic, but the moment Echidna disappeared the pressure was released. If he calmed down and thought about it, the girl in front of him might have been a victim who had been brought here from somewhere, just like Subaru.
Somehow, I had to cooperate with this young girl to get out of here――Unsure of how much help she could give me, I tried to look up,
「Okay, first let's do everything we can while the demon is away and come up with an escape plan. With only a small foothold, there's very little room to think, but first let's know Ojou-chan's name…」
"By the way, Balsa, are you an Akunin?"
"From the part where I ask you... what?"
As he held out his hand and flashed his teeth, Subaru's brows furrowed.
In front of me, the little girl was shaking her legs, which were not quite reaching the ground, and her chair was shaking back and forth. "But that's why..." she said with a childish impatience, pursing her lips.
"I'm asking if it's Akunin or not. What's the matter?"
"Humans are born as sinful creatures who must sacrifice something in order to live. Therefore, we may be sinners from the moment we are born into this world. But even so, humans live on. Even if we have to sacrifice something, we know that only on top of that sacrifice can we build something of value... I think it's a bit pointless for a little girl to have such philosophical exchanges, but is that what you mean?"
"Hmm, I don't get it even if I ask. Oh well, I'll just check."
As Subaru tilted his head, the little girl tilted her head even more.
Saying this, she grasped Subaru's outstretched palm tightly. Her small palm fit snugly into his, and he could feel the girl's softness in it. This renewed his resolve to get her out of this situation safely, no matter what.
"When I was with Petra and the others, I realized that I actually like children a lot. I used to think they were just noisy and hated them..."
"---The moon will shine on you."
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, the girl muttered something quickly and quietly.
Unable to hear, Subaru raised one eyebrow and tried to look at the girl, but felt a slight shock. He felt a gentle tug on his arm, along with a strange sense of liberation, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
Subaru turned his head, trying to look around to see what was going on.
As usual, nothing had changed in the world. All Subaru and the girl were allowed was enough space to sit facing each other, and there was still no sound or wind to be felt.
And in front of Subaru, who was standing there without even sitting down, was a young girl sitting on a chair, swaying her legs. In one hand, she was clutching the man's arm that had been torn off at the shoulder――
"--!?"
"If it doesn't hurt, then it's not Akunin, that's good."
Realizing that something was wrong, Subaru looked at his right arm - the right half of his body that should have existed - and realized that his arm had been torn off, exposing a distorted surface from his shoulder.
There was no pain, no bleeding, and even no sensation before that. From the cross section, the pink flesh containing the bones and blood vessels was visible, reminiscent of meat on display at a butcher's shop.
Except for the unacceptable sense of reality that it was happening to my right shoulder.
"Ah, aaaaaah!! My, my arm... my arm aaaah!?"
"That must hurt, don't scream. If you move around too much you'll fall and not be able to get back."
"You, you, you!? You tore someone's arm off and then what, what are you saying! G, give it back! Give it back!"
Subaru screamed as he touched the cut part of her right arm, then leapt at the snorting girl with a terrifying expression on his face. He had to snatch the arm back from her hand and attach it back to her right now.
Even if he tried to join the severed arm and shoulder together, it wouldn't be possible to reattach them, but that wasn't even what Subaru was thinking at the time.
However,
"--- I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Once again, the moment the young girl blurted something out, Subaru's posture was thrown off balance. No, to be precise, as he tried to step onto the ground, his legs from the knees down were shattered into pieces like glass.
Losing his right shoulder and both legs at the knees, Subaru's body gave way to the force and fell forward, but the thing that caught him was the knees of the young girl, who was still sitting in the chair.
The young girl gently caught the falling Subaru, and gently stroked the trembling Subaru, like a mother comforting her beloved child,
"Even though you're not an Akunin, you think of yourself as a Togabito. You're such a kind person. I feel sorry for you, it must be painful for you."
"Y-You... what on earth... what are you..."
There was no pain from my right arm or from my shattered legs. There was no bleeding.
He couldn't understand it. He couldn't tolerate its existence. The young girl before his eyes, an existence that he had only thought of as someone he should protect until just a moment ago, was now so close he could touch her, yet she was hopelessly far away.
The young girl tilted her head in response to Subaru's question,
"Typhon is the 'Witch of Arrogance'."
"Go...!?"
Subaru's thoughts came to a halt once again at the shocking statement.
All sense of anger or fear was blown away completely.
Subaru had only just come into contact with Echidna, the "Witch of Greed," so why was he suddenly now coming into contact with the "Witch of Pride"?
The witches who should have been annihilated, who should already be dead, are still falling into this trap...
"---Phew. I guess it's my turn next. Ha, I can't take it anymore."
A listless voice came from above, and all Subaru could do was let out a groan in shock.
Subaru simply blinked again. In that instant, the color of the world had not changed. Subaru's condition, having lost both his arms and legs, remained the same. And yet,
"Haa, it's heavy. It's a little lighter since I lost my arms and legs, but still this. Fuu, this is what men are like... I guess it's better than the fact that both men and women are a mass of uselessness."
The person Subaru was entrusting his entire being to had changed from the young girl who called herself Typhon to a different woman.
This time, the woman was a beautiful woman with an unusually long reddish-purple hair and a listless impression. Her skin and lips were pale to a sickly color. Her eyes were lowered and narrowed, as if she lacked the will to live, rather than just being sleepy. Her behavior, as if she was reluctant to even breathe, gave off a gloomy atmosphere to those around her.
He was wearing a loose-fitting black robe, but there were stains and fraying here and there, giving the impression that he had only ever worn it once.
Looking down at the silent Subaru, she continued to sigh with ennui,
"Haa, you're pretty unlucky too. Getting pushed around by that Echidna, then having to face off with Typhon and me… and the three witches in succession, haa, you're no match for that idiot Flugel or that stick-wielding Reid."
"You're a witch too, huh? The girl from before, and Echidna..."
"Well, I'm Sekhmet. Well, it's a pain, but maybe I'm called the "Witch of Sloth" or something. Well, I didn't ask you to call me by that name, so it's annoying. Well, I'm tired of talking, so can I just keep quiet?"
"Please, I feel like I'm going crazy. If I don't talk to anyone, I'll see the truth about myself and it's scary. Please, tell me what's going on."
Grabbing the robes with his still functioning left hand to stop them from falling, Subaru raised his head and looked up at Sekhmet. Sekhmet let out a sigh, not hiding that she found it annoying, then, still with her eyes lowered,
"His right hand is gone from his shoulder, haa, and both his legs are gone from his knees. Ha, this is how Typhon was beaten, right? He's a child who doesn't understand the pain of others. Ha, he's innocent and merciless, just like a child. Ha, what a pity. Haa."
"Will my arms and legs... go back to normal?"
"Hmm, that's nothing to me.... Ah, that's just right, hah. I was just getting tired of it, hah, I'll leave the rest to her and go to sleep. Hah, even breathing is a pain. Don't you think that if you pumped a lifetime's worth of air into your lungs all at once, you'd never have to breathe again, hah?"
"If you do that, your lungs will explode and you'll just die. I think it's better to think about my situation..."
Sekhmet, still in her languid attitude, tries to confuse Subaru with her outlandish statements. Subaru tries to plead with her to please take her more seriously, but...
"--Did you just say that you were going to die in front of me?"
I heard a murderous voice.
Subaru was shocked by what he had seen before him for the umpteenth time, and could do nothing but freeze up.
Once again, the figure in front of him changed. The witch with the enormous amount of hair she had been wearing had vanished, and instead, what came into Subaru's eyes was,
"...chest?"
"--! W-where are you looking, where?!"
Trying to look at her face from her soft lap, Subaru's view was blocked by her large, protruding breasts, however he couldn't reach her face.
The feeling of her knees supporting her body was also quite sensual, unlike Typhon or Sekhmet, and to put it simply, her body was full of feminine curves.
Subaru felt it with his whole body, literally. His body was suddenly lifted up by the outstretched arm of the owner of the voice. ―With one hand, he easily lifted up Subaru, who had lost both his arms and legs but still weighed about the same as an adult woman.
"Look the other person in the eye when you talk to them! Look them in the eye! Seriously, men are always like this, I can't believe it!"
The one who spoke with a pout of anger was a beautiful girl with blue eyes and wavy golden hair. She was wearing a short skirt and other clothes that looked easy to move in, and even considering that she was sitting down, she was quite short. Despite that, her breasts were large and her overall figure was overflowing with feminine curves, giving off a very erotic aura.
Her attitude is straightforward, so perhaps we should say she has a healthy sexiness.
She then shot a look of anger at the Subaru she had lifted up, before brushing back her bangs in front of him, who looked at her blankly, completely at a loss as to what was going on.
"Missing right arm. Missing both legs below the knee. No bleeding or pain... Typhon's punishment! That child... he's done this to himself again, it's so cruel!"
Looking at Subaru's painless scars, her blue eyes clouded with intense emotion.
Her words and actions were filled with anger, her attitude was filled with indignation, her mannerisms were filled with passion, and yet as she acted like that, tears were forming in her eyes.
"Wh, are you crying...?"
"I'm not crying! I'm just angry! Yes, I'm angry! At Typhon for causing these wounds and leaving them there! At the world forcing her to do such terrible things! At the absurdity of people fighting, hurting and tormenting each other!"
The girl declared forcefully, raising her voice and shaking her head wildly.
Then she raised her arm and suddenly hurled Subaru, who she had been holding up, into the air.
"fart?"
"That's why I won't forgive you! The pain! The conflict! The wounds! I can't leave you like that――!!"
The next moment, the girl's fist was thrown with such force that it seemed to break through the wind, hitting Subaru directly. The blow was delivered to his cheek with incredible speed and force, and Subaru's body was literally blown away like a leaf. However,
「Bwa――!?」
It seemed like the force would blow him away forever, but the end of the world came instantly.
In the space that Echidna had limited in the world, the force of Subaru's fist only allowed him to fly a very short distance. The impact of crashing into the invisible wall penetrated his entire body, and he was left floating in the air, dizzy. Then,
"--Safely! I don't think you can get home!!"
The girl leapt up as if to chase after him, and rained down a further barrage of punches on Subaru's body, just as he was about to enter his falling sequence.
One after another, the fists slammed into his entire body, sandwiching Subaru between the fists and the invisible wall. Impacts and sounds pierce Subaru's entire body in rapid succession, transmitting their power to the wall and beginning to shake the very foundations of the world.
Swinging about from the impact, Subaru loses all sense of direction and goes blank. All he can see is the fist being slammed into him, and the face of the girl, tears streaming down her cheeks, no longer trying to hide them. Watching the sparkling tears scattering in the air, he tries to complain that it's him who wants to cry, but he receives another fist in the face.
An endless hell with no end in sight - but the end came suddenly.
"My fist will regenerate the world! My rage will purify the world! My rage, the healing of this fist, is my answer――!!"
The next moment, the world suddenly shatters.
The wall that had existed as if to hold Subaru back was unable to withstand the impact of the rain of the girl's fists - which could be felt through Subaru - and was smashed to pieces.
Instantly, Subaru was freed from the sensation of being tossed around.
The rain of punches stopped, followed by a soft sensation. Subaru suddenly found himself lying on the ground, in the grassland where the tea ceremony had taken place just a moment ago, before the space was isolated.
Subaru stood up and looked around in shock. A girl with blonde hair stroking her head landed beside him and glared at him.
"Right hand!"
"Huh? Ah, yes!"
Hearing the call, Subaru instinctively raised his hand, and then he noticed something.
The fact that his right arm, which had supposedly been torn off from his shoulder, had regenerated perfectly, even down to the fingertips.
"Both legs!"
"I'm lucky! I can stand, walk and even moonwalk!"
Jumping to his feet for his next check, Subaru performed a moonwalk, stepping on the spot. Watching Subaru glide down the green grassland, the girl folded her arms and nodded in satisfaction. Her large breasts swayed as they did so, burned into her memory,
"You saved me, thank you. But, does this mean you too...?"
"I am Minerva, the Witch of Wrath! I am nothing worthy of that title!"
"You said your name!"
「Stop it, I didn't do anything serious! I just can't stand to see people being hurt, people being hurt right in front of me! It's not something worth passing down to future generations!」
"And what's more, he arbitrarily calls his own actions great achievements! This guy is the type of person who doesn't listen to what others say, which is exactly my problem!"
Subaru waved his newly healed arm in confusion, and Minerva turned her back on him,
"Anyway, if your wounds have healed there's nothing more I can do for you! You won't get hurt by any more insect bites! That's a promise I made to the witch!"
"You can't do that even if you live in a sterile room! Don't make promises like that! If you break a promise with a witch, there will definitely be a heavy penalty!"
"That's not true. But when that time comes... I'll heal everyone."
"Don't talk like you're going to kill everyone, it's scary!"
Still, the fact remains that Subaru's physical ailments had been repaired.
Drastic treatment―― In this case, that was exactly what the word meant when describing the recovery. For someone to recover after being hit so hard was truly a miraculous phenomenon.
When it came to fixing it by hitting it, it was like treating it like an old TV or something.
"--Now then."
And with that, the girl, who looked as if she was about to walk off somewhere, turned around.
Subaru saw her white hair fluttering with her movements, spreading out gracefully over her black clothes. She tilted her head and looked in his direction with a look of great amusement,
"I had the other witches meet me to prove that I'm harmless, but I wonder how it will turn out? If their attitude towards me softens a little, then it will have been worth waking them up from their slumber."
The witch Echidna reveals the truth about the terrible experiences she has had recently.
In front of her, Subaru took a deep breath, then slowly raised his head,
"You're definitely a witch. ...That's not how humans think."
That was the best I could manage to spit out.