qRWKu6QH

1While facing the witch who stares back at her from the mirror, Emilia sighs. Composed solely of monochrome black and white, the WITCH OF GREED, Echidna.
2Having discovered Echidna in this dreamworld reproduction of her room, Emilia keenly feels that this truly is a place constructed from her own head.
3
4A peaceful, tranquil, kind world where her life in the forest continued forever.
5A world where she could spend her days alongside Fortuna's, Juice's, Arch's, and everbody's smiles. Emilia: “But that world doesn't exist, does it...”
6Echidna: “Utterly not. This is a false world constructed with your memories and wishes as the basis. However, the world-arranging algorithms that precede over the TRIAL transcend human knowledge. The people you see in this world are most exactly who they would have been, had there been just one flick of the switch.”
7
8Emilia has just remembered the truth the day of behind Elior Forest's freezing.
9Had there been no casualties back then, and the forest's tranquillity have been preserved, their lives would have been ones where everyone smiled.
10The sight of Fortuna and Juice, seated jovially at the dinner table, has seared itself into Emilia's mind.
11
12It is exactly the scene that young Emilia had wished to see from the bottom of her heart, and equally was so for the present Emilia, with her memories restored.
13Echidna: “Has witnessing the uncomeatable present made you want to submerse in this world?” As if peering into Emilia's heart, Echidna assaults her with sweet temptation.
14Emilia raises her head. Echidna gazes back, her eyes as cold as her voice. She strokes her snow- white hair, letting it flow over her shoulder and down her back.
15
16Echidna: “Your mother, and that goodman. Does witnessing their happiness give you no desire for this to continue forever? I'm sure you've thought it pleasant and so dreamed of spending your days with everyone in the forest, and of your friends being so familiar with you.”
17
18Emilia: “...What are you trying to say?”
19
20Echidna: “Just some resentment, or something like it. That you've found me means that you've already reached your answer regarding this world. And I know that this answer of yours is to choose reality over dream, and exceedingly dull. If we're going to be seeing results regardless, I may as  well leave some faint indentations behind.”
21
22Emilia: “—”
23
24Echidna: “Rather than the happiness of your mother and your peers, you elect for a reality where they met unfortunate demise. The result of your TRIAL is: you are ultimately a wretched woman who prioritises herself over others.”
25 
26Echidna's fierce criticism lances through Emilia's chest.
27Her words are so cutting that Emilia feels pain, and though she has not actually been stabbed, she puts her hand to her chest and impulsively retreats a step.
28Emilia's reaction makes Echidna snort.
29
30Echidna: “So long as that's given you some self-awareness. Anyway, the TRIAL doesn't take the personality of its challengers into consideration. So long as they're qualified, be they a hopeless moral bankrupt, or be they a conglomerate of egotistic narcissism, the TRIAL will accept them equally. Rest assured. You'll achieve your goals in short time.”
31
32Emilia: “It's sooo... sore a spot you're going for. Are you like this with everyone?” Echidna: “Not at all.”
33Echidna shrugs in response to Emilia's strained statement.
34
35Echidna: “Other than you, there's only two people in the world who I interact with spitefully.”
36
37Emilia: “It doesn't make me happy at all to be chosen for that world three. ...I don't remember ever doing anything that would make you hate me that much.”
38
39Echidna: “There's no need to look so worried. My hatred for you has nothing to do with you being a half-elf. It isn't a question of your pedigree. With no connection to blood or nature, I just hate
40you. ...Or no, that may not be strictly correct.” Emilia: “—?”
41Echidna lowers her gaze, feeling something off about the latter half of her statement. Emilia furrows her brows at the brooding witch, before giving a small shake of the head.
42There's no way she can turn tail and just leave those previous comments sitting there.
43Echidna has said so many things that need to be invalidated. Not only for Emilia's sake, but for the honour of everyone in the forest.
44
45Emilia: “I don't think there's much to do about you hating me. I know how hard it is for absolutely everyone to like you. Since so many people have told me they hate me.”
46
47Echidna: “If that's the case then it would've been nice of you to show some prudence and stay in the forest.”
48
49Emilia: “Well I'm not going to do that. I'm sure I said it in the last TRIAL. I'm going to melt the ice and save everybody. Then I'm going to hold my chest high and teach everyone that now, the world's an easier place to roam.”
50
51Echidna: “Easier to roam. What a brazen lie. Discrimination between races remains great, and people cannot easily accept those who differ from themselves. Which is why places like SANCTUARY retain their function even today. The disagreements you're referring to will forever result in compounding casualties throughout the world. Am I wrong?”
52
53Emilia: “...You're not wrong.”
54 
55Echidna's severe comments put Emilia on the border of pessimism.
56Emilia still remembers the days she spent with Puck in the forest. How the nearby villages feared her, and showered her in more than a few curses and more than a little spite.
57Echidna's merciless attitude makes Emilia think about those days. She can try not to recollect on them, but the wounds and their unhealed scars continue to assert their pain.
58
59Emilia: “But I'm going to act as if you are.” Echidna: “—”
60Still focused on that pain, Emilia firmly rebuts Echidna.
61She watches Echidna narrow her eyes, and bites her lip, strength entering her eyes.
62
63Emilia: “Being unlike others does, sometimes, make painful disagreements happen. Whether there's lots or not many of you might be a big factor for what determines the victims and assailants, sometimes, too.”
64
65Echidna: “And it's been repeats of that, throughout history. People cannot accept those unlike them. The disparity in numbers represents exactly the disparity in strength. The many oppress the few.
66Now that you understand this truth, and have gotten a little bit wiser, what are you going to do? Gather up the few, and create a utopia for weaklings? Now wouldn't that be exactly the essence of this place we call SANCTUARY?”
67
68Emilia: “That's... one option you could choose, I think. But I want to choose a different path. Even if I can't change that there were victims or assailants, the future's another story.”
69
70The second that Emilia says the word 'future', Echidna's expression freezes numb.
71To Emilia, it feels like Echidna is angry, as if this is something she absolutely doesn't want to be hearing from Emilia of all people. But Emilia continues.
72
73Emilia: “I'm sure I'm going to do lots of things throughout the Royal Selection. I might face even more insults and spite than I did before. But I want to always say that I will never stop. To ask what's so wrong about being unlike someone else. To ask what's so scary about being unlike our neighbours.”
74
75Echidna: “I'd rather you stop making be say this, but this is fundamental truth. People cannot accept the discrepancies between themselves and others. By essence, all creatures desire for others to be the same as themselves. To like the same things, love the same things, hate the same things, abhor the same things—they feel secure when matters are so, and love their capacity to sympathise. Your platform will be denied. As the ramblings of the weak.”
76
77Emilia: “But that's just a neglect to think! It's lame!” Echidna: “L-lame...?”
78Yells Emilia. Echidna's eyes shoot open, looking not to have expected that word in the least. Emilia puffs out her chest.
79
80Emilia: “It is!”
81 
82Emilia: “It's so lame. You're not like your neighbour, so you hate them... are you a child? It's ridiculous that someone would block their ears for a reason like that. I'll say it countless times to any of those nitwits. Rather than mindlessly yell that you don't like it, if you're looking to quiet my endless tirades, it's easier to change your thinking a little.”
83
84Echidna: “Absolutely self-centred. Incredible self-deception. You'll eliminate the opinions of others that you wish not to hear, so that you may enforce your own?”
85
86Emilia: “I'm not eliminating anything. It's up to them whether they unblock their ears. —I'm just confident that I'm the more stubborn.”
87
88Her hand to her hip, Emilia demonstrates to Echidna that her will will not bend. Echidna's expression turns sour and she averts her gaze from Emilia.
89
90Echidna: “Whatever you may assert, the world has not changed yet. The forest-dwellers, frozen in ice—supposing that they are alive, and you do bring them into a thawed world, society is not prepared to accept them. All you are doing is tossing those who were kind to you into adversity. All for your hypocritical beliefs.”
91
92Emilia says nothing.
93
94Echidna: “You wish to free your friends as soon as you can. But should you free them, your friends will suffer as the world rejects them. Living is suffering, and death too is suffering. In a world like this, what can your individual willingness do? What can it change. What does it change?”
95
96Echidna is sincerely inquiring this of Emilia.
97She has verified Emilia's resolve through the two TRIALS of the past and impossible present. Now, Echidna is asking Emilia about her resolve for the future.
98
99About Emilia's prospects should she follow her intentions through. About the route she will take to reach her imagined future.
100About what Emilia will use as her cornerstone, and upon what concrete basis she will create this path.
101
102Emilia nods in reply, and:
103
104Emilia: “I'll think about that after I finish the TRIAL!” Echidna: “—Huh?”
105Emilia: “It's putting the cart before the horse if I get so focused on the future that I forget where I am. I know how this sounds when I'm the one saying it, but I'm a bumbler. When there's a wall I have to scale, but I'm worrying about what's on the other side of it, I'll wind up falling into the hole at the foot of the wall.”
106
107Between the TRIALS and her argument with Subaru, Emilia feels that she has a rather correct, objective view of herself.
108She feels that her appraisal of herself is also unrestrained.
109
110She is not someone so adroit that she can manage many things on her own.
111 
112It's a question of whether, after putting in her very best effort on the thing right in front of her, she'll manage to procure results.
113
114She has hope for the future. Prospects for the future.
115Resolved to aim for those hopes and prospects, she must take the very first step on the road to achieve them.
116What she should be establishing right now is that exact, first step.
117
118Echidna: “...I finally remembered how pointless it is to debate with you. Honestly this was all rather idiotic of me.”
119
120Emilia: “I know that you're smart, but I kinda think it's sooo unfair for you to shut down other people's opinions like that.”
121
122Echidna: “Do you believe that we exchanged any opinions? I presented questions, and you replied with empty platitudes. I'd forgotten. That you're a hopeless child, unable to stand on your own, constantly relying on others, a weak woman.”
123
124Emilia: “You're right... I am a weak child.”
125
126Emilia lowers her eyes and gives a small shake of her head.
127But she immediately looks back up, and matches her gaze to Echidna's. Emilia: “But,”
128Emilia: “Is being weak really so wrong?” Echidna: “...What?”
129Emilia: “I know that the person who taught me something very important would say this. It isn't wrong to be weak. It's wrong to want to stay weak.”
130
131She thinks of the black-haired, nasty-eyed boy.
132Lamenting his powerlessness, but kind and thus suffering more wounds than anyone else in his efforts, a precious boy.
133
134If it were him, who borrowed everyone's aid but nevertheless took a place for the most painful parts, he would absolutely say that.
135
136Echidna: “Reorientation.”
137
138Emilia: “Mm. I was slow to reorient.”
139
140Seeing how a smile arises on Emilia's face, Echidna perceives that there is truly no room for debate. Echidna has no methods to stop the persistently optimistic, overly-enthusiastic Emilia.
141Meddling in the issue any further would even begin to impact her dignity as a WITCH.
142
143Echidna: “...Well, enjoy the remaining TRIAL. Once you've completed it, a reality far harsher than these TRIALS awaits you. I'm sure you'll come to understand just how difficult it will be to uphold your shiny platitudes.”
144 
145Emilia: “Thank you for going out of the way to talk to me. I'll make sure to remember what you've told me. And...”
146
147She must be moments away from dissappearing from the mirror.
148Seeing how Echidna's reflection begins to fade in the mirror, Emilia continues her speech. Echidna furrows her brows, looking sour. And Emilia,
149
150Emilia: “Thank you for showing me this world.” Echidna: “—”
151Emilia: “It might be an impossible world, but it's still one I wanted to see. I never thought a day would come where I'd see them, Mother and... Father Juice laughing together like this. Thank you.”
152
153It did hurt when Echidna told her that this world was not real.
154But even if it is an impossible world, these scenes are what would have occurred.
155These scenes full of happiness and love, enough to make Emilia tremble in joy and sorrow. I'm so glad I got to see this, thinks Emilia from the bottom of her heart.
156Echidna: “...You.”
157
158And so Emilia expresses her thanks—and Echidna's expression shifts.
159Her expression has been one of witnessing something disgusting, her attitude has been one of withstanding displeasure, her stance has been one of scorn toward all of Emilia's action, and she has shown many such faces until now—but this expression is different from all of them.
160
161—Echidna, looking close to tears, simply gazes at Emilia. Emilia: “Echidna?”
162Echidna: “I hate you. —I just, hate you.”
163
164Says Echidna, voice strangled and face cast down.
165Her image in the mirror then warps, and the white-haired witch disappears from the glass in an instant. Instead what appears is a girl with long, silver hair and—
166
167Emilia: “—hk!”
168
169A wave of rejection spears through Emilia's chest as she promptly averts her gaze from the mirror. Her pulse has accelerated, and her breathing has grown slightly ragged.
170
171She's supposed to have steeled herself for this, but it still terrifies her to be reflected in a mirror. Emilia: “—”
172A century passed in the frozen Elior Forest before Puck saved Emilia from the ice. —She has never seen what she looks like grown up.
173 
174The reason's simple. She's just scared.
175
176Her century of slumber in the ice means that Emilia's heart has remained immature, while her body has matured to womanhood.
177Once she regained consciousness, and first realised that she couldn't control her body very well, Emilia was struck with the illusion that her body may not be hers, and spent many nights in tears.
178
179The reactions from the neighbouring villagers helped spur on that trauma of hers.
180Emilia shared the same distinctive physical traits as the WITCH OF ENVY, and the villagers feared her like a demon. Even though they realised that Emilia was going to do them no harm, they continued to alienate her.
181Once people knew that Emilia was not going to do anything, what awaited her was a life of discrimination, spite, and curses. During that time, Emilia came to at least unconsciously recognize that people hated her because she looked like the WITCH OF ENVY.
182
183That would be when she started rejecting mirrors and keeping her eyes from her own visage, which others detested.
184Puck noticed Emilia's mental wounds, and removed everything reflective from her vicinity. He would even call out to her when she was out fetching water, distracting her so that she would not face herself on the water's surface.
185
186—One of the clauses in her contract with Puck, where he was the one in charge of Emilia's daily grooming, was most likely something to protect Emilia.
187
188To protect his daughter, who could not look in a mirror, Puck used the contract as pretext to mask her trauma.
189
190Emilia: “...I really have had so many people looking after me.”
191
192And how long has she spent sulking alone without realising how others felt? This is the end of the time she's spent in ignorance of what she's been given.
193
194She takes a breath. Freezes.
195And raises her head, undertaking the personally momentous deed of sighting herself in a mirror.
196
197Reflected in the mirror is a girl with long silver hair and amethyst eyes. Who is glaring so intently at her, looking as if it's the end of the world.
198
199Emilia: “—The heck.”
200
201She says, the whole thing anticlimactic.
202Seeing her matured visage in the mirror, Emilia sighs.
203
204Emilia: “I look less like Mother Fortuna than I thought, it's too bad...” After her sulky mutter, the world shatters into pieces.
205This happy, desired, but inevitably-to-part dream world, ends here—.
206 
207※ ※	※	※	※	※	※	※	※	※	※
208
209
210Emilia: “—ah, hauh.”
211
212After regaining consciousness, Emilia realises that she had fallen asleep while leaned against the wall.
213She had slumped to sit on the floor with her legs splayed out aside her, relying on the wall engraved with Subaru's messages. She combs her fingers through her dishevelled hair and imagines the sight of her own self.
214
215So that was her appearance, feared by many as a WITCH, and what Subaru constantly said was 'cute' or that he 'loved'.
216Emilia, with her impoverished understanding of personal aesthetics, cannot tell which party is correct.
217However, Mother Fortuna is Emilia's conception of the prettiest and coolest of people. And so she does not think nasty eyes are a bad thing, and actually she doesn't dislike how nasty Subaru's eyes are either.
218Emilia: “I just got back, this isn't the time for me to be thinking about weird stuff.” Putting her hands to her cheeks, Emilia pulls the breaks on her own thoughts.
219It's all so ludicrously spineless of her. She safely ends the TRIAL and returns, and just looking at
220Subaru's handwritten messages seriously gets her this elated?
221
222Emilia: “But... this does mean that the second TRIAL is really over, right?”
223
224Mutters Emilia to nobody as she gets to her feet and starts thinking about her results.
225Going from how Echidna was acting at the end, the TRIAL is most likely over. Unlike with the first TRIAL, Emilia feels no particular sense that she has overcome anything.
226But she indeed did wrest her near-captivated heart away, and managed to return. Emilia: “—”
227Fortuna and Juice. As Emilia thinks back on how close they were, her heart aches. But she suppresses her sorrow and turns her back to the TRIAL room.
228
229Supposing that the third TRIAL is ready, it will require Emilia to exit and enter again as she did with the second TRIAL.
230She'll coast off her momentum to defeat the third TRIAL, and liberate SANCTUARY.
231
232For Subaru's sake, and for Ram's request, and to actualize the big talk she spoke to Roswaal, people need her to take action.
233
234Emilia: “—It's just pitch black.”
235
236Passing through the dark corridor of the tomb, her footsteps pealing off the stone floor, Emilia narrows her eyes as she notices how dim the light spilling into the ruin's entrance is.
237Perhaps clouds are blocking out the moon, or this hazy glow is from starlight.
238 
239In SANCTUARY, which loses essentially all sources of light come nightfall, only the natural lighting pouring down from above serves to rip through the nocturnal dark.
240
241Emilia: “—huh?”
242
243Is what Emilia ponders as she walks.
244So when she steps outside the tomb, the horde of gazes focusing on her lead her throat to unwittingly jam.
245
246???: “W-we are in her presence!”
247
248Somebody speaks up, and a chatter instantly spreads through the crowd.
249The stir only unfolds further before the flinching Emilia, the overwhelmingly large group of people all focusing their attention on her.
250
251—These are the residents of SANCTUARY.
252
253The people who live in SANCTUARY other than Garfiel and Lewes.
254Emilia has not interacted with them any more than necessary during her time here. Partly because Emilia's mental state hadn't been calm enough for it, partly because they had not been actively trying to interact with Emilia either.
255
256Emilia has a kind of resignation when it comes to people staring at her like this.
257The residents detest Emilia's lineage, but hold expectations for her to liberate SANCTUARY, and most of all must ascertain whether she is someone worthy of standing at their head.
258
259And so Emilia had thought it impossible that they would show themselves to her in such great numbers before she had succeeded in liberating SANCTUARY.
260Emilia had been convinced that interaction with them would only ever come about once she had achieved in attaining results.
261
262So then why were they all gathered here?
263And why were their gazes towards Emilia—filled not with loathing, but strong expectation?
264
265???: “Can't say it's the nicest erv things...”
266
267Before the bewildered Emilia, a girl steps forward from the group of villagers. With her long, pink hair, this person is Lewes.
268She steps forward to represent the villagers as she gives Emilia a smile.
269
270Lewes: “Everyone here ers stuck at a standstill. Wondering what answer yer gonner give ter the TRIAL, and... worrying about what will happen ter us after SANCTUARY's been freed.”
271
272Emilia: “...I think it's inevitable that you would. But how would this be 'not the nicest of things'?”
273
274Lewes: “Now thert's easy. Everyone in SANCTUARY, about Gar-bo and Su-bo's fight, er about your argument with Roz-bo, or... well, lots'er things. We've all been derscussing them in detail, and from there...”
275
276Emilia: “D-discussed it!?”
277 
278While she watches Lewes scratch her cheek, Emilia's cheeks flush red.
279Nevermind Subaru and Garfiel's clash of wills, Emilia's argument with Roswaal was just her being pushy with her unrefined opinions.
280She had rationalized to herself that it wouldn't be embarrassing for anyone to hear it, but now that she knows that someone actually did hear it, it is making her embarrassed.
281
282Emilia: “But, even if you did hear about it... Lewes-san, where did you?”
283
284Lewes: “Hrm, so abert that... fer however I might look, I gert incredibly sharp ears. With it, yer pretty much can't keep anything a secret so long ers yer in SANCTUARY.”
285
286Emilia: “You do. ...Wow.”
287
288Lewes's confession of eavesdropping winds up impressing Emilia more than angering her. Failing to notice how the young-looking old woman sticks out her tongue, Emilia nods in recognition of why so many people have assembled here.
289And,
290
291Villager: “E-Emilia-sama.”
292
293Emilia: “Y-yes?”
294
295Lewes: “Yer sound like yer met through a dating service.”
296
297He's one of the villagers—and being that he's in Sanctuary, most likely a demihuman half-blood. His canines are slightly long, and his pupils are slit. He looks about as old as Roswaal or maybe a little bit older, seeming somewhat tense as he steps out before Emilia.
298
299Villager: “I'm... no, we are, um... in complete sincerity, we are still undecided.” Emilia: “—”
300Villager: “About whether we may trust in you, or what it will mean to learn of the world outside SANCTUARY. Plainly said, the outside is awash with things we don't know, and scares us. We were all born inside here and have lived inside here. We know nothing of the outside.”
301
302This was what Garfiel had also propounded, the way of life in SANCTUARY.
303The four-hundred year barrier has forced the people inside into life here for generations. They had no way to escape, and perhaps no need to think about the outside, either.
304
305But now means to escape exists plainly before them, and this utterly foreign and unknown person named Emilia is attempting to liberate them.
306
307Of course people would feel unease and rebellion. And doubtful that many could burst into the outside world, utterly confident.
308
309Emilia had feared that Garfiel's anxieties had been the consensus of opinion inside SANCTUARY. And this man in front of her is saying things that are validating that fear.
310 
311Villager: “We could perhaps come into Roswaal-sama's care outside, but how would that differ from our present circumstances? ...Plainly said, we are more anxious than hopeful. The change frightens us.”
312
313Emilia: “...Mm.”
314
315Villager: “However.”
316
317Emilia nods and edges on lowering her gaze, when the man's statement stops her. The man straightens his posture before continuing, his expression tense.
318
319Villager: “Everyone has heard Garfiel's... has heard the boy's voice.” Emilia says nothing.
320Villager: “We know what that trooper was thinking, and how he felt. And know the exchanges between him and that black-haired young man, and between yourself and Roswaal-sama afterwards.”
321
322His back still straight, the man's expression twists. Regretful, and near to tears. It sticks in Emilia's chest.
323
324Villager: “I, sincerely speaking, thought it pathetic. That a fourteen-year-old boy was so worried for us, and that a child under twenty years old was howling at us like that. ...And even though Roswaal- sama stated that you could not do it, we listened to your words as well. And so, Emilia-sama.”
325
326Emilia: “—Yes.”
327
328Villager: “No matter what the results may be, and no matter what may occur after this, I believe your effort to challenge the TRIAL incredible. Venerable. Not all of us share that sentiment, and not even I have entirely accepted you yet. But I request that we may witness it to completion.”
329
330Witness what? No need to ask.
331Bathed in his wilful gaze, Emilia looks at those behind him—the crowd of people who are accepting him as their representative—and nods.
332
333Emilia: “Understood. I'll be sure to end everything safely... and you'll listen to what I have to say.”
334
335Villager: “Yes. That is a promise. And to think of judging someone off hearsay, without ever interacting with them... we're the last people who should be doing that, huh. —Wahgh!”
336
337The man slumps his shoulders. When Lewes pinches his hip from behind.
338The man springs up and turns around in objections, but Lewes just snorts a laugh.
339
340Lewes: “Yer sure went on a while, sure are serious, aren't yer. And yer fell back int'er talking casual halfway through. 'Cause yer ain't used ter doing this.”
341
342Villager: “...M-my apologies.”
343
344Lewes: “Anyway, there's what we're thinking. Apologies fer the meddler.”
345 
346With that charming little exchange, Lewes gets the man to stand down. Emilia takes a deep breath, something other than oxygen puffing up her chest.
347
348Lewes is giving her graces, and the people of SANCTUARY have come to see her efforts through. Who could estimate how greatly it reassured her?
349
350Emilia: “Thank you, Lewes-san. Now, I know I can try sooo hard.” Lewes: “I see, I see. Well, good. ...Next one should be the last TRIAL.” Emilia: “Yes, it is. —I'm going to challenge it right away.”
351With the strength they've given her, Emilia turns around to face the tomb.
352But halfway through her turn she freezes, remembering something, and glances back to Lewes.
353
354Emilia: “Ah, oh... actually, Lewes-san, have you seen Ram? I'd like to tell her that I finished the second TRIAL, but...”
355
356Lewes: “...Ram's left here ter attend ter some business. But she she's praying yer good luck. 'You have your tasks, and I have mine. Let us see them both achieved.'”
357
358It sounds like Ram, and even though she knows it's just a report, it makes her want to give a wry smile.
359Ram's task—where, and with whom, will she achieve it?
360Emilia feels something astir in her chest, but she consciously suppresses it.
361
362Ram is believing in her. And so, she will believe in Ram.
363Just how Subaru and the others made a path for her, she wants to proceed from their efforts and make a path as well.
364
365Emilia: “I'm going.”
366
367Lewes nods in reply, and the villagers's jabbering sees her off.
368Filled with even stronger resolve than the first or second times, Emilia steps into the tomb. Where—,
369<Face the impending calamity.> The final TRIAL, approaches—.
370※ ※	※	※	※	※	※	※	※	※	※
371
372
373Ram feels how her heartbeat grows a touch distant in her chest.
374
375She has never been bathed in such hostility from this person ever before.
376 
377Physical contact with him, exchanging words with him, being ordered by him.
378
379Those things were the epitome in joy for Ram, and her meaning in life.
380And so the fact that she feels girlish elation—even when when he regards her with hostility— overjoys her.
381
382???: “...Hoooooooow dare you show yooooooourself here.” Mutters the tall man opposite Ram, glaring at her.
383His tantalizing voice makes a sweet ache run through her brain.
384Just by having his heterochromatic gaze on her, everything below her waist feels like it could shatter.
385
386Although, this is naturally not the time to display such weak and girly things. A woman like that would merely be deemed useless and discarded.
387
388???: “Nooooooooow then, what could you have coooooooooome here for?” Ram: “—That is simple.”
389She replies as usual, her face expressionless and manner tranquil.
390With her pink hair swaying, Ram draws her wand from beneath her skirt, before pointing it at the beauty before her—pointing it at her dearly respected master,
391
392
393Ram:
394“I have come to snatch you away from your witch delusions.”
395
396And confesses that she is here to burn her loved one, consumed by an insane love, with her own.
397 
398CHAPTER 125B: STARTING AS REVENGE
399The wind rages.
400A single, strong gust whips violently at their hair and clothes as they face each other.
401
402The setting is the outskirts of SANCTUARY, near the hidden house where young Garfiel and Frederica lived, in an unpopulated and unremarkable meadow.
403There are no residencies anywhere near here, and even if there were, nobody would possibly pass by at this juncture. All of the people of SANCTUARY should be busy waiting for Emilia's TRIAL results.
404
405To cheer Emilia on, and for Ram to exploit to clear out the crowd. Roswaal: “Delusion, yoooooooou say.”
406Ram does feel somewhat guilty about using Emilia like this, but refocuses her attention as she sees Roswaal's lips relax into a smile.
407Roswaal sweeps his long, navy hair down his back, then closes one eye and glares at Ram with the yellow.
408
409Roswaal: “When you are the one saying it, aware of my feelings and my goals, it's quiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiite the sad thing to hear.”
410
411Ram: “I have have simply kept silent, but always thought so. As I naturally would.”
412
413Roswaal: “Natural... weeeeeeeeell, I doooooooo suppose so. From your perspective, it was a life of prolonged prostration and disgrace.”
414
415Ram: “—”
416
417Ram responds to Roswaal's shrug by lowering her gaze.
418She more or less understands what he's trying to say. Of course she would. Ram has always been paying attention to Roswaal. She understands to a painful extent how he, recipient of her love and loyalty, would perceive her allegiance to him.
419
420Roswaal: “So, the first thing you do once unfettered from the contract is stray frooooooom my plans. That would be what you did in supporting Subaru-kun and aiding in subjugating Garfiel, correct?”
421
422Ram: “It had carried dual meanings, both for my objectives and to rectify Garf's idiocy. ...Were I not there, I suspect that they wouldn't have managed anything.”
423
424Roswaal: “It does feel that everything worked out 'in the end'. Subaru-kun makes some rather thoughtless bets, when so many precious things are involved and at stake. ...I would never even think to make such an idiotic gamble for my precious one.”
425
426It's something of a sermon: cynical about Subaru's decision, and insistent that his own ideas are the rational ones.
427And honestly, there is nothing about Roswaal's statement that Ram can refute. Many of Subaru's actions were utterly unplanned and haphazard. He had the luck of Heaven on his side for the whole
428 
429Garfiel affair, including how Ram participated in it.
430Ram's opinion of Subaru being a man of only good timing hasn't changed at all.
431Should you focus only on the question of achieving a goal, then Roswaal's ideas are far superior. Provided that the gospel can be trusted.
432
433Ram: “Won't make gambles... because what came of prioritising accuracy was the gospel.”
434
435Roswaal: “Eeeeeeeeexactly. Although you seemed not to trust it, and have aaaaaaaaaaalways been adverse to it. Again, inevitable. You've been praying for its writ to divert at any point that it possibly could.”
436Ram: “...I will not deny that.” Cannot deny that.
437Ram truly was adverse to the gospel. But there's a huge discrepancy between Roswaal's conception and Ram's real motives as to why.
438And it racked Ram with a sorrow that she never let show on her face.
439
440Roswaal: “Do you remember? The contract that we formed, with the gospel as our intermediary?”
441
442Ram: “—That, provided that history is moving as stated in your gospel, I wager my life to serve you. In exchange,”
443
444Roswaal: “Should time proceed down a path diverged from the gospel's writ, my goals face a standstill. Should I lose sight of my goals, my life loses all meaning. You are permitted to do whatever you wish with my husk.”
445
446Ram: “Your life or death rests upon me.” Roswaal: “That waaaaaaaaas the contract.”
447With that, Roswaal draws a black book from his breast pocket.
448He cradles the thick tomb close, stroking its cover as he gives a sigh. Roswaal: “It must have been truly long and painful for you.”
449Ram: “—”
450
451Roswaal: “After all... you had to spend your life swearing reluctant loyalty to a man partly responsible for the destruction of your birthplace. Contrary to your prayers, your heart delights when with me... it must have been agony. My deepest apologies for being so aaaaaaaaapathetic.”
452
453Roswaal spins spiteful words to wound Ram.
454
455Partly responsible for the destruction of your birthplace. Hearing that sentence, pain and memories of her hometown, and family, in flames pass through her chest.
456
457The ONI have a low population even for demihumans, but in exchange, possesses incredible strength.
458Ram's race had gathered up their scant numbers and established a village deep in the mountains,
459 
460then were exterminated overnight between fire and knives, leaving Ram and â–’â–’â–’ as the only survivors.
461She had formed the contract with Roswaal the morning after the fire, as she gazed dazedly over the scorched village.
462
463Ram accepted the contract for the sake of survival.
464Without ▒▒▒ ever knowing anything, and equally without Ram ever telling ▒▒▒ anything. Ram: “—?”
465Feeling an inexplicable sense of awriness and a faint aching in her head, Ram furrows her brows. She feels that there is an unnatural vacuum somewhere in her memories. That there's something that has to be there, but it's being obfuscated by a network of lies, telling her that no such thing existed. Even though Ram's memories make no sense without it—.
466
467Roswaal: “The despicable longing within you, and the lust for revenge that your true heart fostered. Even with these contrary desires squabbling within you, you proved a truly eeeeeeeeexcellent pawn. Just how extensively have I used you, with your obedient conformity to the gospel?”
468
469While Ram searches her memories to try and find what is off, Roswaal continues his speech. This isn't the time for this, she thinks as she aborts her search for the vacuum and faces Roswaal, who speaks sweetly as he praises her loyalty.
470But the glances he sends Ram begin to adopt another kind of sentiment.
471
472Roswaal: “But who woooooooould have thought that you'd betray me and ally with Subaru-kun. Do you comprehend how much grief I have suffered because of this?”
473
474Ram: “...I have not defied the terms of our contract. Should the world proceed on a course differing from the gospel, I will adhere not to your words, but to my own heart. The contract... should I have disobeyed it, then I would not have escaped unharmed.”
475
476Putting her hand to her chest, Ram asserts the legitimacy of her actions.
477This contract between Ram and Roswaal was, naturally, not any simple spoken-word promise. Spells are engraved on both of their souls, and they will suffer more than appropriate penalty should they defy the terms. Since this has not happened, Ram's heart has not defied the contract.
478
479But Roswaal gives a big shake of his head.
480
481Roswaal: “Thaaaaaaaat is what I'm referring to. Considering that you have not been punished for disobeying the contract in this situation... your soul believes without the slightest of doubt that you are adhering to the contract. And I must find that a terribly unfortunate judgement.”
482
483Ram: “What might you mean?”
484
485Roswaal: “It's simple. —The gospel's writ has not diverged yet. The contract between you and I truly reaches its terminus further from now, in the future.”
486
487Asserts Roswaal, his voice low as he looks Ram in the eye.
488The statement makes even expressionless Ram's cheeks tense. What she is hearing differs greatly from what the contract's spell acknowledged.
489 
490Even with all these conditions in place, Roswaal's stubborn heart is not surrendering in the least.
491
492Ram: “The writ has not diverged? Barusu will not challenge the tomb to liberate SANCTUARY, and Emilia-sama is not doing anything to bring about snowfall. How could you state that the writ has not diverged in this situation, Roswaal-sama... has something happened?”
493
494Roswaal: “Nothing at all, it's theeeeeee same as ever. While, true, neither of the things I stated have come into fruition... they still may yet.”
495
496Ram: “That will not happen. Barusu has left SANCTUARY, and Emilia-sama is defeating the TRIALS. To then state that matters will resolve to fit the writ... is this the floundering of an obstinate child?”
497
498Roswaal: “I am quite a mature adult and so can deny being an obstinate child, but I can't deny that I am floundering. Iiiiiiiiiiiinded, here is my useless floundering. —An endless, over four-century long, peeeeeeeeeerpetual stretch of floundering.”
499
500Changing his course, Roswaal asserts that his own actions are 'floundering'.
501The clown laughs from the back of his throat, his expression twisted in insane elation as he slaps his knees, praising the perfection of it all.
502
503Roswaal: “Floundering, exactly, it's floundering! There is the punchline! Is there any word to more accurately describe this obsession of mine? Nooooooooope, there isn't! Floundering... floundering... ahhaaaaa, wonderful. It had never even occurred to me.”
504
505Ram: “Roswaal-sama!”
506
507Roswaal: “A man floundering in dependant obsession, and a servant whose lust for revenge against a madman has morphed into loyalty to him. Our circumstances are truuuuuuuly crooked and comedic. Hoooooooowever, calling my actions floundering will do nothing to change my intentions. You have acted prematurely.”
508
509Roswaal's insane smile disappears as he presents the gospel to Ram, so that she can see it.
510
511Roswaal: “No matter what you may believe, the contract remains unchanged. Until she overcomes the tomb's TRIALS, nothing has diverged from the writ that Natsuki Subaru will liberate SANCTUARY. And even should she not bring snowfall, no deviation will come to the writ provided that I bring snowfall.”
512
513Ram: “—”
514
515Roswaal: “You may appeal to the terms of the contract, but I also act in equal compliance. And so we sit upon parallels. The time has not come yet for you to enact your revenge.”
516
517Roswaal lightly tosses the book, catching it in his other hand before stashing it in his breast pocket. Flickering flames arise atop his outstretched right arm.
518Roswaal shows off how the flames change colour from red, to blue, to green, narrowing his eyes.
519
520Roswaal: “You are still subject to the terms of your employment. You have acted impertinently as my servant and so face punishment. If you had truly believed that the world diverged from the gospel, then all you had to do was wait for two more days. I would have presented myself to you
521 
522without resistance. ...Hastiness serves well for nothing.” Roswaal shakes his head in lamentation.
523Roswaal: “Although,”
524
525Roswaal: “I do understand your desire to destroy me as soon as conceivably possible.” Ram: “...So you truly do understand nothing.”
526Roswaal: “—?”
527
528Ram closes her eyes, murmuring feebly in reply to Roswaal's cynical smile.
529Beneath her eyelids there rests a wave of complex emotion, never to show on her face. By closing her eyes, Ram can see her own way of life, which she pledged to never show to anybody.
530She raises her head. Mana converges at the tip of her wand, poised this entire time.
531
532Ram: “There is no meaning in having you should it be after the contract is fulfilled. After you've been destroyed, there is no meaning at all.”
533
534Roswaal: “—Come.”
535
536Ram: “As you wish.”
537
538—Flames of vibrant hue crash into invisible blades of wind.
539
540With waves of heat surging through their SANCTUARY, the oni and the warlock begin their crooked dance.
541
542※ ※	※	※	※	※	※	※	※	※	※
543
544
545Emilia perceives the exact instant that the TRIAL starts.
546
547Her five senses vanish, and she forfeits the general concept of 'having a body'.
548Her sensory organs depart from her control, leaving her as only a mind floating helplessly in space
549—which is what she is right now, only a soul.
550
551This one obviously differs in nature from the previous TRIALS. Emilia: <—>
552She can't speak.
553She has no mouth. No eyes either, but strangely enough, she can perceive the world.
554Or no. You could say that she perceives the world, but it's not such a coherent thing yet that you could confidently call it a 'world'.
555
556Emilia's consciousness floats in a void of darkness.
557She can regardless recognize her own self because of the many lights speckling this dark.
558 
559The dim lights come in many colours, splayed about in considerable number.
560They resemble the glow of a minor spirit, but they give a decisively different vibe from the living spirits.
561
562They may resemble minor spirits, but their light more closely matches that from a spellstone. Regardless, being that these surrounding lights have scattered around to circle Emilia, she feels that she will not lose sight of the world.
563
564Emilia: <—>
565
566Surrounded by lights, and relieved that she has not been left alone, Emilia starts feeling progressively confused about the utter lack of happenings here.
567The dim lights simply float there in their positions, not doing anything at all. Echidna has been showing up at the start of these TRIALS to explain what has been going on, but this time she isn't there to act as a guide.
568
569Time simply passes on by—though Emilia cannot tell what the time disparity is between the inside and outside of the tomb, she knows that doing nothing will lead to nothing.
570
571Emilia: <—?>
572
573I have to do something, thinks Emilia, and a change occurs.
574Emilia's consciousness, formerly fixed in place and immobile, transfers over to another spot—close enough to the lights that she could probably touch them.
575
576She has no body, but she can touch light. It's a weird sensation.
577But she has no other way to express it. If she did, then she might simply be invisible to herself and instead have a body constructed of primal magic—she may just be od.
578If her od is what holds her consciousness and soul, then that does somewhat explain her current condition.
579
580Reaching some amount of agreement, Emilia thinks to validate her ideas by heading for one of the lights.
581There have to be more than twenty of these scattered lights. With no particular reason for it, Emilia reaches out for the light that glows a dim silver.
582And the instant her od touches the light—she sees it.
583
584???: “Hate, hate, absolutely hate you. Me, I loathe you. I really do. All of it, entirely true. Ever since we first met... I've downright hated you.”
585
586Emilia: <—!?>
587
588Immediately following the voice, a vivid scene slips into Emilia's perception.
589Beneath an overwhelmingly giant sun, in a burnt field, standing beside a massive and dilapidated building, bathed in crimson sunlight, is a girl with blood wetting her silver hair—Emilia.
590
591It's her fully-grown self, who she has just witnessed in the second TRIAL.
592And she looks woeful as she stands before the ruin, assaulting someone with her words.
593 
594Emilia: “I've had the thought countless times, and denied it countless times, but... yes, a nightmare really did catch up to me. And so I'll say it.”
595
596Emilia: <—>
597
598Emilia: “Maybe we really shouldn't have met after all.”
599
600A tear streams down from the corner of her amethyst eye.
601It trails down to her cheek, falls from her chin, and the instant before it strikes the ground, the world bursts into nothing.
602
603Emilia: <—>
604
605Swallow her breath. As just an od, she's incapable of something so dexterous. All Emilia can do is accept the scene she just witnessed.
606
607What was that light? What was this scene?
608That had definitely been Emilia, but she doesn't remember this at all. Or perhaps that had been an impossible scene, like the one in the second TRIAL.
609
610Emilia: <—>
611
612It's not, thinks Emilia.
613She calms her chaotic mind, searches through her memory, and remembers. The words she heard in the tomb when entering the third TRIAL.
614<First face your past> <Witness the uncomeatable present> And now the third one. Yes, it was:
615<Face the impending calamity>.
616
617Impending calamity. So, the future?
618She had seen the past and a present, and for the finish, here's the future.
619So this is the baptism that the TRIAL shows those challenging these alternate worlds?
620
621Which means that Emilia will eventually meet this future?
622Where she is in such a dismal place, crying as she conveys her regret for meeting somebody? Emilia: <—>
623Emilia uses her feelings of denial to dispel her unease, recovering a superficial level of calm. But, once her mind registers the darkness again, another change occurs.
624
625The silver light that Emilia's od had just touched disappears.
626A vacuum fills the space that the light once occupied, the thing now missing. Emilia is puzzled by this, but promptly realises what it means.
627
628If each of these lights represents a future, then Emilia needs to touch every one of these futures before she will be freed.
629 
630—If this is a TRIAL, then she will have to make some kind of choice after she's seen all the futures. If Echidna is waiting anywhere, then she'll be waiting there.
631
632Meaning: Emilia must witness over twenty futures. Emilia: <—>
633Will they be differing futures, or all fragments of the same future she just saw?
634While feeling her non-existent heart wilting, Emilia reaches for the neighbouring light. This one is blue, reminiscent of something vast and deep, like an ocean—.
635???: “You're absolutely right. They were our enemy, and the wound was deep. If we withdrew here, being that neither of us can heal, maybe we wouldn't have managed any rescue.”
636
637???: “In that case...”
638???: “But they were just a kid. —And isn't that enough?” Again, the scene changes.
639Now she witnesses a thick forest, with two people standing at the edge of a sheer cliff.
640
641She can't see their faces. But she knows both of their voices.
642One is very familiar, and thought the other one isn't, she does remember it.
643
644The two are facing off before the cliff, one of them kneeling, the other looking down at the kneeling party. Both of them look horribly morose, Emilia feels.
645
646???: “You... you are a hero. A hero's... all, you can ever be!”
647
648???: “I...”
649
650???: “Why thank you so very much for your help!”
651
652One silhouette reaches their hand out to the other, who turns their face away and imparts those cavalier words of gratitude.
653This feels like a definite farewell between these two people.
654
655A goodbye laced with only irreparable woe and disappointment.
656The world begins to fade again, and Emilia's consciousness returns to the dark space. Emilia: <—>
657Emilia had not been present in that scene at all.
658She knew who the people in it were, but it feels awry that she herself was absent.
659
660She's meant to be facing these lights while conceiving of them as futures.
661So why on earth is it showing her futures where she is absent, or scenes that she will not be present for?
662 
663—Is she being shown how her decisions may affect the futures of those around her?
664
665If so, then these scenes only present one possibility out of many.
666It's telling her to witness how her decisions will impact those other than herself. Emilia: <—>
667The blue light vanishes as the silver light did. Twenty lights still remain.
668
669—Each one of them carries the weight of a choice.
670
671Steeling herself for this, Emilia reaches out to see the outcome of her decisions through. In the next future, and the future after that, Emilia's decisions await.
672
673※ ※	※	※	※	※	※	※	※	※	※
674
675
676With a swish of her wand, she creates and unleashes a blade of wind.
677Invisible and inaudible, the whirling blade closes in on its target's throat as an assassin. Roswaal: “Is that all?”
678But Roswaal easily evades the imperceptible attack by nimbly jumping away.
679Of course he would. He is the head of the renowned Mathers family of sorcerers, a rare breed of magician proficient in all six classes of magic. For Roswaal L. Mathers, perceiving others' manipulation of mana is child's play. Even wind magic with its invisible blades is as visible to Roswaal as fire in the night.
680
681Roswaal: “My turn.”
682
683With a swing of Roswaal's arm, three fireballs of differing hue rain down upon Ram.
684A red fire, a blue fire, and a green fire—all three of them pursue Ram when she leaps backward, quite annoying in how they tail her. She runs backwards, her breath slightly ragged, as she unleashes another spike of magic. The windblade strikes the three flames, which Ram thought would snuff them out, but instead they each react in differing ways.
685
686Ram: “—!?”
687
688The instant the red flame takes the hit, like taking a bath of oil, it combusts into a pillar of fire. The blue flame is easily sliced to pieces by wind, its embers shooting out in all directions.
689The green flame looks to be engulfed in wind, when it then absorbs the wind mana and changes its shape, morphing into a snake of green fire that slithers across the ground in pursuit of Ram.
690
691The fire pillar blazes at Ram, who kicks off from a massive tree to avoid the blue flames, and then tumbles across the ground to dodge the green flame's fangs before again striking the fire-snake with her windblade.
692The snake bursts into small flares, which scatter over the meadow to smoulder.
693 
694Roswaal: “Oh my... that was only one exchange of magic, and yet you seem quite wounded.” Ram: “Hahh... hauhh...”
695Roswaal: “If you acted with belief that you could win, then I must say that your estimations are raaaaaaaaaather naive. Why yes, I am currently devoting a large allotment of magic to the algorithm to manipulate the weather. Hoooooooowever, I am not so careless to accordingly neglect what is aaaaaaaaaaat hand.”
696
697Roswaal tilts his head as he watches Ram, her shoulders heaving with every breath, and spreads flames to encircle them.
698He creates the three hues of flame again, which take the form of giant fireballs in his hand before moving to revolve around him. Their numbers compound with every revolution, gaining speed. It only takes a few seconds before Roswaal is veiled in a vortex of chromatic fireballs.
699
700Roswaal: “This is from one flame of each colour. Ten flames of each type, for a total of thirty fireballs. You won't manage to dispose of them all with your current abilities.”
701
702Ram: “—”
703
704Roswaal: “Although, were you intending to confront me while my combat strength was minimized, it was the epitome of foolishness to aid in the fight against Garfiel. My abilities may be diminished, but that means nothing when your abilities are diminished as well. I can tell from the mana overflowing from you. —You transformed, didn't you.”
705
706Asks Roswaal, his voice low. Ram settles her breathing and answers only with a glance. Perhaps having expected no reply, Roswaal shrugs.
707
708Roswaal: “Of course you would turn out like this, should you transform without my aid. You may challenge me with only the slightest of mana, but you'll approach your limit within a minute of fighting. If we view this in terms of you expending your best efforts for the sake of your goal, it's an affront to the eyes.”
709
710Ram: “An affront... to the eyes, you say.”
711
712Roswaal: “Iiiiiiiiiiiindeed, an affront to the eyes. You did state this before. When I said that you needed only wait two days to see if the world had utterly diverged from the gospel, you stated that would be pointless. I had been wondering what you meant at first... but I've contemplated it, and come to a solution.”
713
714Her breathing is calming down, but neither her stamina nor magic is replenishing. Roswaal knows this, and so he is holding off on attacking Ram to have this conversation.
715It's another story if she starts being an obstacle, but Roswaal doesn't intend to kill Ram. And Ram has to feel that this complacency of his is an insult.
716
717Roswaal: “If we take your goal to be revenge, then the answer is simple. You may brutalize me when I am a cripple, but that will not appease you. That is the only reason I can conceive that you would abandon your chance for definite revenge by challenging me now. It is only when you slay me, partway through my own goals, that you will achieve revenge.”
718 
719Ram: “—”
720
721Roswaal: “That was partly my mistake for pressuring you into a choice at a critical moment when you were still young. It may have panicked you, after time passed and you realised thaaaaaaat fact. And so you've run amok to ensure the opportunity does not escape you. ...Though, you can see how that turned out.”
722
723Ram: “—auh,”
724
725A sound slips from Ram's throat. A hoarse, breathy sigh.
726
727Roswaal's odd-coloured eyes fixate on Ram, making sure not to miss a single one of her actions. With that gaze upon her, Ram thinks back on everything she's done for the last half of her life.
728Although she always knew it, recognizing it again, after all this time, does prick her.
729
730Feeling the pain, Ram opens her mouth. Wide, so wide, as she looks up at the sky—
731
732Ram: “Ahahahahaahahahaha!”
733
734Roswaal: “—Ram?”
735
736They're mirroring each other.
737As she thinks of how Roswaal chortled earlier, the thrill only escalates inside her.
738Her reasoning is entirely different to Roswaal's, but yes indeed this is amusing. She has to laugh. And of course she would. Because, in the end.
739
740Ram: “After all the interactions, after all of that contact, you still haven't realised how the other party feels.”
741
742He's dim, he's insensitive, no, it's something on an entirely different level.
743He's stubborn. He is fixated. He has determined that this would never happen, and so not moved an inch.
744
745To him, it's inconceivable that the passage of time would see feelings that started as revenge transform into yearning.
746
747Ram: “I have been by your side... because of the contract.”
748
749Roswaal: “Yes, indeed you have. In that smouldering village, you and I formed a contract of vassalage. I still remember how, even without your horn, your eyes blazed wet with fury. And so I sealed that away through the contract, and redirected your vehemence into loyalty. Although, I did believe that a day like this would someday come...”
750
751Ram: “You're right. You were right. I wished to murder you. But you stole that opportunity from me, and I proceeded to spend my days in the mansion with this inexplicable loyalty... and.”
752
753Roswaal: “Unfettered from the contract, you have today determined to sate your desire for rev—”
754 
755Roswaal is lining up his theories. It's hilarious.
756It's truly as if he pays no attention to anything except his own feelings, she thinks. Ram: “Roswaal-sama, I am in love with you.”
757Roswaal: “—”
758
759Ram: “I wound up falling in love with you. That is why there is no purpose in attaining you once you are broken. That is not the Roswaal-sama who I desire.”
760
761Roswaal's eyes shoot open as his body freezes rigid.
762He is stunned, as if he had truly, seriously not anticipated this in the slightest.
763He promptly shakes his head, attempting to come up with words, but his lips merely quiver with nothing meaningful coming out of them.
764
765Ram: “Is something the matter?”
766
767Roswaal: “Of, course there... are you, mocking me? After all of this, mocking me? You recognized that your strength is too lacking, and so are attempting to shake me mentally, and...”
768
769Ram: “How could I possibly believe that such wiles would work on you, Roswaal-sama? I am simply stating what I truly feel.”
770Roswaal: “That only makes it even less conceivable!” Yells Roswaal, stomping at the ground.
771Reflecting his agitated mental state, the shroud of fireballs flies into disarray. They soon come to a halt, floating at various points around the surroundings as Roswaal glares at Ram.
772
773Roswaal: “You love me? What on earth are you saying. You detest me. I'm a man you detest. I'm a man partially responsible for the destruction of your birthplace. You're meant to hate me so much you'd like to murder me!”
774
775Ram: “I did at first. But not now. Now, I love you.”
776
777Roswaal: “This idiotic...! Who would, think such a cheap...!”
778
779Feelings that started as revenge must proceed to be revenge. Feelings that become yearning must only ever start as yearning.
780
781Roswaal stubbornly believes that people's desires and feelings cannot change.
782And so he cannot believe that Ram has changed her mind so dramatically as to alter her way of life.
783
784Roswaal: “What about your revenge! Did you not pledge for it! Did you not face your ashen village, and swear upon the souls of your dead brethren that you would accomplish revenge!”
785
786Ram: “I do think it wrong toward my brethren, and it does pain my heart to think of my birthplace. However, I cannot change that I have fallen in love. I am prioritising my own feelings over those of the dead.”
787 
788Roswaal: “—!”
789
790Ram: “And you are not my direct foe, Roswaal-sama. Should my lust for revenge obscure my vision, that would be the more shameful course. ...Would be my excuse.”
791
792Roswaal is utterly lost for words.
793Understand the situation right now!! would probably be an unreasonable demand. Roswaal is a man who has gone for a very, very long time while sticking to his feelings.
794Wholeheartedly, persistently devoting his love to one single person, doing everything he could to make his wishes come true.
795
796His emotions, his heart, and his belief that things ought to be this way are far too strong. And so he cannot understand feelings that change over time, or understand that strength.
797
798There's really nothing she can do about the fact that she finds even this aspect of him darling. Ram: “I shall never allow you to become an invalid.”
799Roswaal: “...You're contradicting yourself. No matter what your feelings are—no, doubly so presuming that they're exactly what you stated—I don't understand why you are challenging me now. If the gospel diverges, then I lose my purpose in life and mentally suffer. You are aware of this, so why!”
800
801Ram: “Because this is the moment. Barusu, Emilia-sama, Garf... now that all of them have brought your heart close to wavering, I face my single and only moment of opportunity.”
802
803So long as the contract persists between Roswaal and Ram, Ram cannot defy Roswaal. That Ram is currently disobeying Roswaal is because her soul has judged that she is unfettered from the contract, as Roswaal pointed out.
804But is she truly? If one party believes that they fit the conditions, then they are exempted as a target for the contract. Does the system of 'contracts' truly posses such a vague and loose set of judgement criteria?
805
806And so Ram pleads.
807That she is not the only one who believes that the requirement to disregard the contract, the divergence of the world and the gospel, has been met. That some corner of Roswaal's mind has registered the same thing.
808That this situation has arisen accordingly.
809
810Roswaal looks utterly confused as Ram turns to face him, holds her breath, and dashes forth. She draws her wand, wringing out the dregs of mana she has to cast a spell.
811
812Roswaal: “—! It's useless!”
813
814Ram's actions lead Roswaal to dispel his turmoil and order his floating fireballs to strike and stall her. But not a single one of the fireballs hits her as she keeps low to the ground, their heat doing nothing more than singeing her skin.
815Ram has fulfilled the criteria needed to follow the gospel's future until now—and he cannot determine whether to discard her. The fact that he cannot perceive Ram's designs also plays into it.
816 
817Perhaps he might even regret killing her.
818If so, then that alone is enough to elate her so magnificently that she forgets her previous melancholy.
819
820Ram: “—El, Fula!!”
821
822She concentrates the powers of wind, invisible destruction detonating before her.
823Roswaal has prepared himself in fighting posture, but he is not her target. She aims for the ground beneath it, rupturing it open and sending a great explosion of dirt to drown out his field of vision.
824
825Roswaal: “Do you think this smokescreen will...!” Ram: “—!”
826One sweep of Roswaal's arm shatters the momentary veil of dirt into pieces.
827The barrier fades to nothing, and as she watches it, Ram gives a sharp exhale and concentrates power to her forehead.
828
829Ram: “...auh, ghh,”
830
831Agony. Her vision drowns in scarlet as bloody tears spill from her bloodshot eyes.
832Her muscles, her bones, both of them creak as she hears the noise of her tendons ripping.
833
834She ignores all of it, gritting her teeth so hard that she shatters them as she steps forth. The ground beneath her shatters, and in that instant, Ram has transcended the limits of mortals.
835
836Roswaal has batted the screen of dirt away—and Ram soars at him faster than a nanosecond.
837He notices Ram, but before his eyes can even shoot open, she moves. Her outstretched arm reaches for Roswaal's torso, and he swallows his breath as he realises that her hand is contacting his chest.
838
839Transformation. Nothing else could have fostered this advance in Ram's abilities.
840Although it is only momentary, Ram's strength currently exceeds the limits of the human body. Roswaal must realise that it was his blunder not to consider that she could shatter his ribcage and pop his heart.
841However,
842
843Roswaal: “—Wh, at?”
844
845When the shock and pain fails to come, Roswaal can only blubber in astonishment.
846In the blink of an eye, Ram has skidded to a stop about ten meters away from Roswaal. She faces down, and vomits blood as she falls to her knees.
847
848Roswaal furrows his brows, unable to comprehend the purpose behind Ram's actions. But once he sees what is in Ram's hands, his expression instantly shifts.
849
850Roswaal: “That!”
851
852Ram: “To, me... this is, the root of all evil.”
853
854His face pale, Roswaal moves to start sprinting over. Ram responds merely by glancing up before,
855 
856without any hesitation of all, giving a swing of her arm.
857
858—And the gospel in her hands goes flying into one of the smouldering green flames. Roswaal: “—!”
859Roswaal screeches mutely, but still the blaze consumes the gospel and bursts even hotter. Alongside a satisfying boom, the ancient book transforms into a pile of green ash.
860Ram watches on, as if she has been yearning to see this for a very long time, Ram: “—Now, finally,”
861Ram sighs in satisfaction, her cheeks growing flush.
862
863
864—The fireball thrown out of rage pierces through her petite frame in the very next instant.