Pulling out the sword, Wilhelm threatened in a tone without anger.

The tip of the sword released cold sword energy, and even Subaru, who was not directly facing the blade, felt the chill.

However, the woman didn't care about this. She stretched out her hands full of blood and smiled as if to welcome the murderous intent.

"Ah, woohoo, so wonderful! Your behavior can be said to be a reflection of diligence! It turned out to be this situation and this direction, which put me in trouble! I am always diligent for the sake of love, and in return for my favored believers, than

Everyone must be diligent! But, you let me!"

"Parrots talk about diligence, laziness, and noise"

The sword ghost interrupted the unsightly woman's scream with one sentence, his eyes filled with fighting and killing intent to win.

"——Only if you do these things will you be loved. As long as you do these things you will be loved. The love you talk about is extremely shallow and unbearable. What you are doing is not love, it is just self-righteousness."

"How do you understand what love is!? Love is everything to me!!"

Wilhelm did not answer the woman's scream, but rushed forward to deliver the fatal blow.

Earth rain fell from the sky again. The sword ghost stepped on the ground hard, and his body shot out like a bullet. At the same time, he lifted up a piece of soil.

Even if the madwoman used her demonic hands like whips, spears, hammers and swords to intercept Wilhelm, he would see through them all and approach them while avoiding them.

Then--

"It's over, the devil's evil ways"

After saying the last words, the sword in Wilhelm's hand pierced deeply into the madman's lower abdomen.

The sword was thrust out from his back. Wilhelm twisted the sword and pulled it out. A large amount of blood and internal organs were spilled.

Wilhelm took a step back. The madman leaned forward, knelt on the ground, and touched the wound with his hand.

"Ah, that's it..."

Blood gushed out and internal organs were spilled. Her weak palms alone were unable to save the day.

Wilhelm silently looked down at the madman who could not stop the flow of life. Her life would end soon. The sword demon who had killed countless lives knew this.

"Do you need help sending you on your last journey?"

"——Help? No, we need it. Life is withering, blood is flowing... the pulse of diligence that supports me to live is about to stop and disappear... gone, gone..."

Rejecting the Sword Demon's sympathy, the woman lying on the ground had a smile on her face.

Her eyes just lost their brightness——Finally, she looked at Subaru who was standing still.

"Woohoo, my brain is trembling..."

She stared closely at Subaru beside her, left these last words, and then stopped breathing completely.

Seeing this scene, Subaru breathed a sigh of relief. The battle that was so tense that he forgot to breathe was over. His body seemed to have just remembered the activities of life and began to regain consciousness.

"Yue, is it over...?"

“It looks like it’s over for now.”

"Breathing has completely stopped - at least, this woman has"

Wilhelm wiped the blood from his sword and said

Subaru bit his lip, but immediately shook his head and said

"Anyway, this guy has... go back first! I'm worried about the others, so I have to go back first!"

Yuexing nodded, turned around and prepared to leave

"——No, Lord Subaru, Lord Yuexing, now, I have something to report, and it seems to have been resolved over there."

"Report?"

Wilhelm stretched out his hand, and a faint light rose from his palm

Vaguely, the red elf glowed and swayed left and right, affirming its existence.

"Micro elf? Are you trying to convey some message?"

Seeing the flickering light on Wilhelm's palm, Yuexing wondered.

However, the elf ignored them and just led the way deep into the forest.

"Um, do you want us to follow you?" Subaru asked

"Probably so," Yuexing said with a shrug.

Realizing that this meant leading the way, the three of them immediately followed the elf.

Defeated the powerful enemy against the Archbishop of Sin and reunited with his own troops.

The only thing I care about now is the status of the friendly forces after the rendezvous.

"--who!"

"Wait a minute! It's us! Sorry for scaring you!"

Hearing the harsh warning, Subaru raised his hands and walked out of the grass.

Discovering that it was the two people returning from the forest, the knights lowered their guard and put down their swords with expressions of relief, sadness and regret.

Yuexing felt that the results of the battle in the forest did not seem to be all joyful victories.

"You two are finally back."

"Julius..."

Julius ran up to Subaru and the others who were looking around.

After confirming that all three of them were fine, they nodded without changing their expressions.

"Anyway, everything is fine over there... Do you need to report any casualties?"

"...Yes, please"

After roughly confirming each other's situation, and hearing Subaru's affirmative reply, Julius began to report the casualties.

Julius pointed at the forest that turned into a battlefield

There are still traces of the battle in the forest, with fallen trees and residual blood stains.

"At the beginning, eight people were injured by their arms, and two were buried underneath. In addition to the two who fought in the subsequent attack by the Witch Cult - the death toll this time is four in total."

"There are actually four people..."

"...Where are the witch cultists who launched the attack?" Yuexing asked

"There are nine witch cultists here, and all of them died. Two of them were captured alive, but just like before, they succeeded in committing suicide. Phyllis, you have worked very hard."

"The enemy has been completely wiped out. Add the sacrifices here and the five people under surveillance, there are nine people in total."

"To say that the decision to divide the troops into two groups was a mistake... is not necessarily true. Even if we don't do this, it will probably only increase the number of initial sacrifices. But of course, if the number here is large enough, the other side may hesitate to do so.

An attack is about to begin.”

Julius and Wilhelm mourned the victims, but their expressions showed no signs of panic.

On the other hand, Subaru had been biting his lip from the moment he heard the death toll, almost drawing blood.

"The report here is complete, what about your side?" Julius looked at Yuexing and Subaru

"——You, don't you have anything else you want to say to me?"

"Necessary reports have the highest priority. Otherwise, I'll wait until after hearing your report."

Compared to Subaru who has become more emotional, Julius’s attitude is very indifferent

However, when he answered, his bangs were slightly messy, and Konoe's uniform was also stained with some blood. Of course, he was not unscathed.

"...At least, get rid of the "lazy" who planned this attack."

Hearing Subaru's heavy answer, which was not good news, Julius immediately sensed the crux of the problem.

"At the very beginning of this battle, we should have killed the lazy Archbishop of Sin. You are more convinced than anyone else and have affirmed this fact... Even so, did you still call the enemy just now "Sloth"?

?”

"...Ah, yes, the guy just now is "Sloth"... The second place is "Sloth"

The second place was "lazy". This sentence made Julius frown thoughtfully.

However, seeing Subaru's serious eyes and thinking about what actually happened, he was unable to refute anything.

"The Sloth who was killed in the beginning is a different person from the current "Sloth", right?"

"I will never forget that bastard's face. Moreover, the second "Sloth" is a woman. It is impossible to mistake it, but it is impossible to mistake it..."

When he first saw the madwoman, Subaru had the illusion that she was lazy.

That's because he felt a connection between Petelgeuse and the woman other than their appearance.

Just like, although the madmen are two people, they fundamentally have the same feeling——

"The power is the same, and the words and deeds are exactly the same. I have a very unpleasant feeling."

"The Sloth that was beaten at the beginning was just a substitute, and the second "Sloth" was the real Sin Archbishop... No, it is impossible to confirm the authenticity, and the problem now is-"
To be continued...