Chapter Text
『Chapter 1』
『Rigel』
“Rigel…!” Aldebaran’s voice tore through the dust cloud. “Natsuki Rigel!!”
Panicking, he strained his eyes, searching for someone. Rain hammered down in sheets, dust hung in the air, wind howled, and the ground itself quaked beneath him… and yet he screamed until his throat felt raw…
The Blue’s healing stitched his wounds shut the instant they tore open. So that was it? All his sacrifices, his hundred-thousand loops of agony, erased by a single cheap trick? Everything he’d endured… worthless? The thought clawed at him, impossible, unacceptable.
“ROY! ROOOY!! FIND ME! IT’S RIGEL! NATSUKI! RIGEL!!”
Each shout carved deeper into his soul, despair twisting into anger. He kept calling that name anyway: Natsuki Rigel… over and over again…
Long before he became Aldebaran, the Following Star, that had been his real name. The one his parents had given him. The one he’d hated.
Now it was the only thing he had left.
“―Hk…!”
It didn’t feel real. Irritation, frustration…
The name “Aldebaran” had always fit him better than the one he’d been born with, but even that had turned into a fresh wound when she became the Witch of Greed. His original self didn’t matter anymore. The only thing that did was how Od Lagna judged this pathetic, looping life.
That was why—
“I… I’m Natsuki Rigel…”
He spat the words like a curse he could finally accept. He’d always despised that name, but now he claimed it anyway.
No one chooses their parents. No matter how much you reject them, hate them, wish them gone… they still mark you forever.
“…!”
He kept screaming, kept searching through the fog, but the windstorm had flung everyone apart. Right now, no one else should have been able to move… Still, the enemy had kept Felix hidden until the last possible second. What else were they holding back? Especially now that his Domain was sealed shut.
“FUCK!”
He’d tried to force his Domain onto Felix, but the selection was random. The thought of the Witch of Melancholy being chosen again made his stomach lurch. And Felix’s healing drew endlessly from Aldebaran’s own mana, tied to “Alcanica,” practically infinite.
If he couldn’t rely on the Domain anymore…
He’d burn through every last drop of that damn mana and unleash the grand spells he’d once shelved—the ones he’d learned from the Witch herself. As he’d done against Reinhard, he’d wield them without restraint and shatter this deadlock.
“—Sʜɪᴛ!”
The thought had barely formed when nausea slammed into him: dizziness, ringing ears, his vision swimming. He staggered, scanning wildly for an attacker. Nothing.
Then he realized.
It wasn’t an enemy. It was terror. The crushing fear of making the wrong choice, of having no safety net.
“…You’ve gotta be kidding me…!”
His hands trembled. He couldn’t speak. In this life-or-death moment, body and gate perfectly healed, every decision demanding absolute precision… and his nerves were betraying him. What a cruel joke.
But it wasn’t a joke. It was real.
Because Aldebaran had never once made a real, final choice without his Authority to fall back on.
“No…”
He didn’t know how strong the wind had to be to clear the dust without killing anyone. He didn’t know the right heat to evaporate the rain, the exact force to still the quaking earth. Right foot or left? Forward or wait? Everything was unknown.
Walking without the assurance of the correct answer felt like stepping into an abyss blind.
He’d failed to save either of the two Witches. He’d failed the woman he loved.
Now he would fail himself, too?
“—Hk…!”
Once the thoughts started, they wouldn’t stop. Worse and worse.
Was feeding his Name to Roy really the best move? Were there other paths? Could he use the oath curse as a shield while Roy rampaged? Could he find some new way to die that slipped past the perfect healing? Or should he just run into the fog and disappear?
His mind spiraled, emotions boiling—
【―Look at that, it is…】
The flood of panic froze in his mind. All the hesitation, fear, and rage unearthed the deepest regret he’d buried. Aldebaran let out a trembling breath.
【It is mine—】
“…Stop.”
【Mine—】
“STOOOOP!!”
He slammed his hands over his ears, squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out that voice, that smile, that unbearable warmth. Teeth bared, he forced his eyes open... and glimpsed a faint silhouette through the fog.
It vanished instantly, but he knew who it was.
It was Roy.
It was Gluttony.
His last shred of hope in this nightmare.
The moment he saw this hope, Aldebaran ran.
“Roy! I’ᴍ ʜᴇʀᴇ! Eᴀᴛ ᴍᴇ! Cᴏᴍᴇ ᴇᴀᴛ ᴍʏ ɴᴀᴍᴇ!!”
All hesitation vanished. In that instant, Al seized the only path left… fleeing from the most terrifying outcome of all. His Authority had always let him avoid true first choices. So he’d never known that a decision born purely from desperation would never change fate.
And as if to prove it—
“Al-sama.”
Yae Tenzen caught him head-on, her body slamming into his charging one. Feeling his warmth, his pulse, she hesitated from the core of her being.
“…Y-Yae…?”
Al stumbled, staring at her in disbelief, voice cracking with shock.
She was shaking harder than he was. Her resolve from moments ago crumbled.
“I…”
She understood. Al was cornered. Gluttony was the key. Helping him reach Roy should have been her final act of loyalty. Yet she’d blocked him. She threw herself in his way, but...
〔Why?〕
She searched for the answer. She’d feared Al. Wanted him dead. Helped him to let him die… but now, seeing him so desperate, she could have ended him herself. Was that why? Revenge?
Was it really revenge when she pushed him behind a boulder that had fallen from the canyon’s side to hide from others and stall for time?
“I…”
【—is love.】
Rem’s words flashed through her mind. Yae’s breath caught. It wasn’t the same. Not even close. Yet the memory of Rem’s fierce passion stirred something profound.
Still, she wanted to have the courage to face those feelings…
“I…” She’d wanted him dead. He was a monster. Irredeemable. And still— “I… it seems I just can’t bear the thought of forgetting you, Al-sama…”
“…”
Nothing made sense. Nothing at all.
His Domain had shattered her heart. She should have become his absolute collaborator… on the condition of his death. The selfish trust he’d placed in her had betrayed him at the worst possible moment.
Had she been waiting for this chance all along?
Now, his path was blocked—
【Look at that, it is mine victory again.】
“…Priscilla.”
In the moment he most needed to grasp the possibility in front of him, the name that fell from his lips wasn’t Roy’s, wasn’t Yae’s… wasn’t even his own.
Even as regret piled higher, he found himself wishing again upon that mountain of ash.
“W-What do you…”
〔What do you mean it was your victory, Priscilla…?〕
〔You died… You died, didn’t you?〕
〔Your death means you lost.〕
〔Your desires can never be fulfilled now…〕
〔The only ones who continue after death are… Natsuki Subaru and I.〕
〔So why… why did you say it was your victory?〕
〔You, of all people, were never one to accept defeat.〕
〔So why, at the very end, didn’t you admit it?〕
〔Why… Why did you smile…?〕
“Your stars…”
“…Huh?”
“Your stars were bad, Al-sama…!”
Yae looked up at him from within his arms, voice trembling. Her words struck like a blade. Blaming the stars… something he sometimes said, a line she’d heard before.
Was this revenge? Throwing his own words back at him?
No… Her crimson eyes were sincere, as if saying—
〔It is not your fault, Aldebaran.〕
“Hk…! There’s no way that…”
〔—could be true.〕
Remembering the Witch’s words, a storm of emotions churned inside him: guilt, grief, self-loathing, hopelessness… all of it threatening to drag him under again. But the instant he felt himself slipping back into that familiar darkness, Yae tightened her arms around him.
And that single gesture stopped everything.
It was as if his world slowed to a crawl. Yet his mind raced.
Against every law of reason, against every scar he carried and inflicted, Yae was holding him as he mattered. Like he was worth holding. She… She had fallen in love with him.
How? When? Was it some twisted side effect of the terror he’d put her through? Stockholm syndrome? He didn’t know, but recognized love when he saw it. He had done the exact same thing when Priscilla slowly disappeared before dying, after all. Clung to her… Begged her not to leave him… Cried until his voice broke… Just like Yae was doing now… for him.
All his life he had lost. Lost everything. Lost himself. And only now, when he was finally starting to be himself again, he stood on the edge of losing it all again in a fight he could not afford to lose. Reduced to begging a Sin Archbishop to help him. Pathetic.
Everything always slipped through his fingers. Always.
His body was nearing thirty-seven years old, but his soul felt ancient. More than anything, he was exhausted.
He had tried. Again. And again. Redone every moment. Again. And again. Suffered every wound. Again. And again. Experimented with every desperate idea. Again. And again. And in the end? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Ruined everything. Watched everyone he ever cared about die. His hands had never reached them in time.
He had betrayed everyone’s expectations… even his own.
He was phony, worthless, despicable, always bringing death and suffering to those close to him, and even his half-assed desire to accomplish his mission and die afterward was unsteady and shaky.
He… He absolutely hated himself.
But… if someone could look at him, at all the rot, all the failure, and still love him… even when he couldn’t bear to look at himself…
Did that mean he was allowed to keep fighting?
Did that mean he didn’t have to give up on living?
Did that mean that he had more than just his name left?
Aldebaran carried the weight of a thousand regrets, the shame of every day he had failed to achieve any of his goals, every moment he had failed to save and protect the people he was close to.
But Natsuki Rigel… was he any different? No. He carried the same stains. Maybe heavier, since he had been hiding for so long.
But now, if Aldebaran accepted his full name—Natsuki Rigel—then maybe, just maybe, he could finally stop running from himself.
Neither Aldebaran nor Rigel knew if they could one day love Yae as she loved them… loved him, but right now, he was truly thankful to have her close to him, and so, he lifted a trembling hand and rested it against her back, voice cracking as he whispered the words he never thought he’d say.
“Yae… Thank you… for loving me…”
“—A-Al-sama…?”
Slowly, he lifted his other hand. Palm open, facing the general direction where most of the Aldebusters had fallen, he tried to find the most appropriate spot for his next move.
Then, a huge quantity of mana surged, coalescing in a swirl at the center of his hand.
“…I’m gonna do it.”
He was choosing to listen to her. To the part of her that had begged him not to throw himself away.
You can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs. You can’t claw your way toward the impossible without accepting that something or someone might be lost along the way.
He had tried so hard to keep his promise. No killing. Not one. But fate had laughed in his face.
He could have ended Rom the moment the old man saw through his Authority. One clean strike, and the secret would have died with him. But he let him live. And Rom told others.
He could have sealed Garfiel and Ezzo in Ol Shamac, buried them deep in the Pleiades Watchtower, where no one would have found them for a while. But he didn’t.
He spared Felt’s army. Spared Otto instead of dragging him along as a living shield. Spared every single person he fought against.
Spared.
The word tasted like absolute shit. What a cruel joke.
He hadn’t killed them, no. But he had broken them all the same. Minds shattered. Souls hollowed out. Traumatized beyond repair. Men. Women. Children… Lives irreparably ruined because he had walked into them.
They would never live normally again. Never sleep without nightmares. Never look at the world the same way.
Wouldn’t it be kinder, more humane, to end it now? To put them out of their misery before the rot ate them alive from the inside?
Wouldn’t that be mercy? For them, for their families? Wouldn’t that be what they would beg for, if they could still speak?
After all, Priscilla wanted to do the same to the people transformed into flies by the Archbishop of Lust.
After all, he already was a rotten, cheap, and pitiable monst—
“…AL!”
A voice cut through the storm like a silver bell; it was… a clear and desperate voice. And it caused something inside him to snap into place.
He knew that voice. Loved it. Had failed it a thousand times.
And in that instant, the rage he’d been swallowing finally boiled over… not at the world, not at fate, but at himself for even considering it. For standing here, hand raised, ready to finish what his weakness had started. Ready to play god with lives he had already destroyed once.
He refused to listen anymore. Refused to be moved by that voice in a way that would break him further. Refused to hesitate like the coward he’d always been. Refused… that he couldn’t be loved.
No more half-measures. No more pretending mercy looked like leaving people to suffer instead of bringing a quick death. No more being the “Following Star.” No more… Aldebaran.
Natsuki Rigel’s jaw clenched when he saw a light rising above the dust cloud. His eyes narrowed. The mana in his palm flared darker, and—
“AL KARUM!!”
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
“Rigel… Natsuki Rigel!”
The name sliced through the chaos, raw and desperate.
Petra heard it too… However, she was still reeling from the shockwave that had hurled her skyward… and that had torn the battlefield apart. Her head spun, and she had tinnitus, but she knew that screaming voice. And she knew what that name meant.
【Petra! You alright!? Shit…! What happened all of a sudden!? Is everyone safe!?】
“Subaru’s” voice rang clear inside her skull, anchoring her against the dizziness threatening to pull her under. She forced herself upright, fighting the black spots dancing at the edges of her vision, coughing dust.
Something happened, and now a colossal cloud of dust that mingled with steaming water vapor turned the air into a thick fog. Fierce winds howled through the devastation, adding to the confusion.
Still, what bugged her even more was—
〔Natsuki Rigel…〕
No denying it. That name was tied to Subaru. Something like this couldn’t just be a coincidence. Wishful thinking wouldn’t change it.
Al was from another world, just like Subaru. She’d always assumed “Aldebaran” was a kind of mask, a false name. But Natsuki Rigel? Rigel… a star? Subaru’s own surname. Could the summons to this world really demand a Natsuki with a star’s name?
【That guy…】
Even the Subaru in her head fell silent, frowning.
Al was an enigma. They were fighting him… fighting his choice to burn the world if that’s what it took, but they still didn’t understand him. Not really. This name was just more proof of how little they knew.
Yet mysteries wouldn’t save them now.
“—Sorry. I’ve already made up my mind.”
Petra wasn’t just a child anymore. She was a Witch. She couldn’t lose herself in riddles. What mattered now was stopping Al.
If he fed his name to Roy, if Gluttony devoured it… There’d be no stopping him. She knew that horror too well… the pain of forgetting Rem, the way the world had erased someone irreplaceable…
That’s why Subaru had to be saved no matter what. That’s why she couldn’t accept Subaru being taken away from her… That’s why… That’s why…
“That’s why… I have to do this, Subaru.”
She whispered it. And there Subaru was… not beside her, not floating like some ghost, but standing firm, feet planted, eyes locked with hers. The real Natsuki Subaru would never be here. This one was just an illusion born from her longing, a cruel mirror that showed her exactly what she needed to see.
From the outside, it probably was pathetic. A delusion. A lie she told herself because the truth hurt too much.
“And yet… You still won’t marry me.”
“Petra, I—”
“I’m kidding.” She chuckled, sticking out her tongue. “Just a Witch’s little joke to tease you.”
She told herself his refusal was proof of her own worth, that she hadn’t twisted him into some perfect, obedient shadow. Loving someone meant wanting them whole, even when they pushed back.
“After all, I fell in love with the Subaru that told me that I’m an idiot.”
“…Now that’s a real honor. Now, I’m a goddamn idiot who’s outrageously happy.”
“That couldn’t be truer.”
She pursed her lips, turned away. A heartbeat later, arms wrapped around her from behind… exactly as she’d hoped, exactly as the real Subaru might have done. Still, it didn’t cheapen the moment… it only made the ache deeper.
And held like that—
“Found you, tsu~!”
A hungry, gleeful voice cut through the dust and steam, causing Petra to raise one finger skyward. A bright corona of Yang magic flared like a beacon.
Instantly, Roy Alphard came hurtling toward her, fangs bared, eyes wild.
Their gazes locked—
“…It’s Petr—”
“AL KARUM!!”
A ferocious and determined shout tore through the chaos.
That’s when she realized her miscalculation. Her attempt to indicate her exact location to Roy with her Yang magic had also lured Al.
Right in front of her, space itself warped. Light seemingly swallowed up by something. In the span of a breath, a sphere of perfect darkness appeared and sucked in everything around, tearing space.
Roy skidded to a halt just short of losing his head. Too close now, he thrashed against the pull, flesh ripping away in… bloody ribbons that spun around the black sphere.
〔God, Buddha, Od Lagna-sama. I swear never to bake sweet pastries for the rest of my life.〕
Both the Witch of Melancholy and the Archbishop of Gluttony used their Authority to get away, as dust and vapor whipped into a vortex, feeding it, making it grow faster.
She had seconds to think.
“Wh-What is this…?”
【No idea… but it looks like a goddamn black hole! Petra, fall back! Now!】
Perched on a dead tree at the canyon’s edge, she watched it grow. The dust and vapor were clearing, sucked into a glowing accretion disk that spun hotter by the moment. The temperature was already climbing toward unbearable.
Now, the fog was no more, but…
To her left, a dozen allies lay crumpled and motionless on the ground as the sphere expanded, inching closer to swallowing them whole.
To her right, the source of the quaking earth into view: a monstrous flood surging down the canyon, water overflowing its five-kilometer depths.
Above, scalding rain poured probably from the geyser.
“The flood hitting the dark sphere should take care of it, but—”
【But that won’t work! That’s a damn black hole! Water won’t do anything!】
Subaru’s voice stayed steady, but the urgency in it chilled her. If even he sounded this stressed and fearful, it was bad.
So she believed him—
〔God, Buddha, Od Lagna-sama. I swear never to laugh at silly jokes for the rest of my life.〕
Palm outstretched, the Witch of Melancholy aimed her hand at the growing black hole, pouring every ounce of resolve into her silent vow to the World itself, and as the sphere stretched across the canyon, swelling faster, devouring more and more, heat turning the air into a furnace… the sphere wavered.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
Out of everyone in the Emilia camp, only the Witch of Melancholy remained on her feet… the sole one who could wield Yang magic. The flare of light piercing the dust was unmistakable. Plus, Roy had vanished right after Rigel shouted his name. There could be only one explanation.
Just like with Yae, he’d gambled that Roy would see him as an enemy and strike without hesitation if the opportunity arises, giving him a chance to reset and get away from a complicated situation.
But Roy Alphard wasn’t an ally. He wasn’t even an enemy. To the Archbishop of Bizarre Gluttony, Rigel was nothing more than a meal.
Of course, a meal wouldn’t be allowed to dictate the feast.
〔Al Karum…〕
The peak of Yin magic to fight against a Witch and an Archbishop, while getting rid of the rest of the Aldebusters.
Rigel wasn’t just Aldebaran anymore. He was himself. He couldn’t lose himself in feelings of old. What mattered now was stopping Melancholy and Gluttony.
If Petra fed her name to Roy, if Gluttony devoured it… He’d lose. He knew that horror too well… the pain of losing a fight he should have never lost…
That’s why Subaru had to disappear down the geyser, no matter what. That’s why he couldn’t accept Subaru not saving everything… That’s why…
“That’s why… I have to do this, Emilia.”
“HIYAAAAH!”
The spell from before had already left his lips, and Emilia was already moving.
In the space of a heartbeat, she closed the distance, and ice balls rained toward him while a towering ice wall surged up on his left, the ground beneath his feet flash-freezing to make him slip.
With Yae hugging him, Rigel could barely fight back. Dodging was all he managed. Then something else seized Emilia’s focus: the noise of the approaching flood, shaking the earth hard enough to crack her ice apart.
She spun toward it, hands rising.
“Icicle line!”
A hyperfocused version of her magic. All of it was released into a small angle, far enough to stop the flood. In a second, the huge wave was transformed into a glacier. However, the next wave instantly crashes over the ice, forcing her to freeze that too. This cycle, repeating again and again, created an ice umbrella, a glacier that constantly expanded as water flowed over it.
A narrow opening—
“Yae!”
“Yes, Al-sama!”
His voice carried a new edge; the desperation had faded into something colder and more determined. Yae blinked, snapping back to herself.
With Rigel still hugging her with one arm, she used all the steel thread rings on her right hand to get a hold of a distant boulder, and launched them both clear of Emilia’s reach.
“AL!”
“————”
He ignored Emilia’s cry. He would not let her voice shake his feelings anymore. Hence—
“Dona!”
Earth and stone erupted around Emilia, sealing her into a dome. But that was all he could bring himself to do… He couldn’t kill her. Even now, with resolve hardening in his chest, he couldn’t.
And because of that, he knew the dome wouldn’t hold for more than a few seconds.
“Hk…”
Speaking of seconds, everything had only happened in a matter of seconds, and as Yae and Rigel landed on the boulder, now, they could see the black hole grow more and more beyond the canyon’s—
“Huh…?”
Rigel’s breath caught. Nothing should touch or interfere with a black hole. Not light, not matter, not even the strongest magic. Yet… it wavered. Its growth halted. The hot accretion disk cooled, and its glow dimmed.
Then, as if fighting against something invisible, the singularity flickered and shrank violently, collapsing to the size of a pebble in an instant.
In that moment, Rigel understood. The Witch of Melancholy had compressed a black hole—
“YAE! HOLD ONTO SOMETHI—!”
White.
A blinding flash swallowed the world, followed by a shockwave of pure force and absolutely no heat that ripped across the canyon. Boulders soared and rolled like mere pebbles. The ground fractured into crevasses as water rushed into them. Even the frozen flash flood was reduced to rubble, releasing all the water it had held.
Mid-flight, Rigel twisted, shielding Yae with his body.
The wave slammed into him like a battering ram. Chunks of ice followed, pounding into his body again and again. Pain flared, then vanished… his wounds were still closing instantly.
It meant that Felix was still conscious. It had to be the Witch of Melancholy’s doing. She’d bought the Aldebusters this sliver of survival.
〔I’m already out of my Domain…!〕
Lost in thought, he barely noticed that Yae’s steel threads snagged a massive ice floe drifting on the surface. She hauled them clear, both gasping as they broke into the open air.
The clash of their body being drenched in hot water and the air being ice-cold jolted them fully awake.
Water stretched in every direction, a violent sea where the canyon once had been… but in the distance, the flood was crystallizing, spreading frost that raced outward. Figures moved on the newly frozen surface, running toward them.
Rigel’s stomach tightened.
Petra. Still fighting. Still finding ways to turn chaos into advantage.
Uninformed, she had forcefully triggered a black hole’s death, forcing every atom consumed by it to violently gush out of the black hole through Hawking’s radiation, freeing a monstrous amount of energy.
“Yae… Still got some left under the hood?”
“Yes, Al-sa…” Closing her eyelids, the maid thought back about the name he yelled to Roy… “Yes, Rigel-sama!”
“Alright. From now on… You are authorized to kill.”
The roles were now reversed. Previously, they had killed him thousands of times, while he refused to kill any of them. Now, thanks to the quasi-immortal Felix, he was unkillable, while they were the ones about to get killed.
A battle of attrition that only Felix could prevent thanks to his magic. Natsuki Rigel couldn’t allow the Blue to heal his allies. Natsuki Rigel couldn’t allow Petra to use the other possible ace she has up her sleeve.
The Witch of Melancholy and the Blue both needed to be taken down.
In that moment, all unaware of the others’ resolves...
Both teams were about to sacrifice even more to win.
“Aight. Play ball.”