Seeing Emilia and Subaru, Lillian also frowned slightly. This was the worst possible timing.
"Are you all right?" Emilia crouched down to check on Elsa's condition. Her breathing was faint, her life clearly hanging by a thread. The sight filled Emilia with unexpected anger. She turned and glared at Lillian.
Without hesitation, Lillian spoke up, "Move aside. She's an extremely dangerous assassin."
"An assassin?" Subaru glanced at Elsa's pale, fragile face and muttered, "A really pretty big sister like her is a killer…?"
"…"
Lillian felt a bit speechless. Emilia, however, stood up without backing down, staring straight at him.
"You lied to me before, didn't you?" she said coldly. "And now you're doing it again? Don't think I'll fall for it a second time!"
"I didn't," Lillian replied calmly. "If you don't believe me, just let your little cat come out and judge for himself."
After saying that, he noticed Emilia hesitate. She didn't summon Puck.
Only then did Lillian realize—nightfall was almost here. Puck, with his absurdly punctual nine-to-five civil servant schedule, had already "clocked out."
…What rotten timing.
Lillian knew Emilia could forcibly awaken Puck, but only in moments of life and death. In a situation like this, she clearly wouldn't go that far.
"Um… Emilia," Subaru glanced at Lillian and spoke hesitantly. "He… he doesn't seem like a bad person. Back in the alley, he helped chase off those thugs too. I think—"
"Subaru, you've been deceived as well," Emilia said sharply, her eyes full of hostility. "Do you know he robbed those thugs afterward?"
"Huh?!"
What a headache…
Lillian rubbed his temples. At that moment, another figure rushed out of the nearly collapsed building—it was Rom. He was holding another club, clearly a backup weapon, though its quality was obviously inferior to the one Lillian had been using.
"What's going on, kid?!" Rom shouted, glaring at Emilia and Subaru. "Did the enemy's reinforcements arrive?"
Emilia and Subaru exchanged looks. Earlier, when asking for directions, they had already learned that Rom was a member of the giant race. Now, seeing him standing together with Lillian—and remembering the blond thief—an unsettling thought surfaced.
Could they be a criminal group?
As that suspicion formed, frost-colored light began gathering in Emilia's hand.
Seeing this, Lillian really didn't want to fight her. This would be nothing but meaningless internal conflict. He immediately said, "Look carefully at that woman. She's not from this country. She's an assassin from the northern lands."
Her original target was you.
Hearing this, Emilia glanced down. The woman lay weakly on the ground, breathing far more out than in. From her appearance alone, she looked like nothing more than a mature, beautiful woman. There were no obvious clues—after all, people from different countries in this world didn't vary much in appearance. Black hair was simply rarer.
"This is bad… If she doesn't receive treatment soon, she'll—" Emilia said anxiously. She crouched down, the cold glow in her palm fading and replaced by gentle warmth. She ignored the mention of "assassin" entirely and began healing.
"So they really are enemy reinforcements!" Rom roared in fury upon seeing Emilia heal Elsa. Before Lillian could stop him, he bellowed and charged forward, swinging his club wildly.
"Hey—!"
Subaru panicked. He felt there had to be a misunderstanding. Lillian had indeed helped him earlier. But Emilia was such a good person—she wouldn't lie. If she said Lillian robbed the thugs, then that must also be true.
His thoughts were a mess.
He had no strength to stop the two-meter-tall giant rushing forward. Emilia was in the middle of healing—interrupting her now would make everything pointless.
Realizing this, Subaru shouted decisively, "Puck!!"
Humm—!
A wall of ice suddenly formed in front of Rom. He slammed into it with a loud bang and was thrown backward.
"A giant, huh." Puck glanced at Rom sprawled on the ground, then turned his gaze to Lillian. "Yo, kid. It's you again. Fancy meeting you here."
"You should really talk some sense into your master," Lillian said, still standing still and not attacking. Puck's appearance actually suited him just fine. "She's healing a northern assassin right now."
Puck turned to look. He examined Elsa, then her short blade lying nearby.
"Mm. That is a northern weapon. And this time, I don't sense any lies from you either."
As a being that had lived for hundreds of years—the Beast of the End—Puck had seen countless battles and traveled across nations. Recognizing the origin of such a distinctively shaped weapon was second nature.
Hearing Puck's words, Emilia felt a stir of doubt—but she didn't stop healing.
"Even if that's true, Puck, we still need to save her life first," Emilia said. "If she really is an assassin, keeping her alive means we can get information—find out who hired her."
"That's true too," Puck replied, not opposing her will. Floating in the air, he looked back at Lillian. "Did you hear that, kid? You caused those injuries, didn't you? Pretty rough. But you can't keep going."
"…"
Lillian understood Emilia's reasoning. She wasn't wrong—capturing an assassin alive was more valuable than killing one.
But someone like Elsa… with that ruthless creed of attacking even with teeth and bones—could she really be captured alive?
"Kid, you're getting a bit dangerous," Puck said, sensing the fighting intent rising from Lillian.
The next moment, that intent vanished completely, surprising even Puck.
"Do whatever you want," Lillian said suddenly.
He walked over and helped Rom to his feet, thinking to himself: If Emilia wants to save her, then let her. There was no need for him to stubbornly push this further. First, he wasn't a match for Puck. Second, Elsa's true target was Emilia anyway—he had no obligation to stay involved.
Seeing him withdraw so abruptly, Puck blinked, watching him with curiosity.
Just then, a loud voice rang out from the distance:
"Rom! Lillian!"
Felt came running over, stopping in front of them, eyes full of worry. "You're okay… thank goodness… Oh! I brought reinforcements!"
"No need anymore," Lillian said, turning his head—and froze.
Beneath blazing red hair was a handsome, well-defined face. His tall, slender frame was wrapped in perfectly tailored attire. A knight's sword hung at his waist, engraved with the emblem of dragon claws. Anyone sensitive to such things could feel the immense pressure emanating from that blade alone.
"The Sword Saint—Reinhard van Astrea!"
Several people exclaimed his name at once. His features were unmistakable. Ninety-nine percent of the capital's population recognized the man known as the strongest Sword Saint in history.
Lillian hadn't expected Felt to bring him.
According to the events of this "loop," Subaru shouldn't have contacted Reinhard yet. So… coincidence?
"Reinhard," Puck said, his expression turning serious for the first time.
Only this man—someone Puck couldn't defeat even at full power. Not even evenly matched. He would be killed in an instant.
"A murder incident occurred here?" Reinhard scanned the scene. He looked surprised when he saw Emilia and Puck—but his gaze quickly settled on Elsa, who was being treated.
"She's the murderer!" Felt said. "…She's already been defeated…?" Seeing Elsa's miserable condition, Felt was stunned. She had thought Lillian, being injured, wouldn't be her match—but instead, Elsa had lost.
"Black hair, black clothes, northern blades… Is she the 'Bowel Hunter'?" Reinhard recognized Elsa instantly. His expression changed, and he shouted, "Move away—now!"
"Huh—?!"
Before Emilia could react, Elsa suddenly opened her eyes.
Her left arm—previously shattered—had recovered just enough to move. In a flash, she grabbed the short blade beside her and stabbed straight toward Emilia's chest!
Clang!
An ice shield formed at the last possible instant, blocking the strike. It was Puck. His hands were raised, dangerous light gathering.
"To attack the one who saved you without hesitation," he said coldly. "You truly are an assassin."
Countless ice spikes shot out. Elsa braced herself with her elbow, flipping her body up and away, narrowly dodging them.
Her bloodshot eyes darted around. In less than a second, she assessed the situation—
—and acted.
Whoosh!
She dropped at full speed. Before anyone could react, her blade was already pressed against someone's throat.
"H-Hey…"
Subaru glanced down at the icy short blade pressed against his neck. The corner of his mouth twitched.
"You've got to be kidding me…"
"If you move even a little," Elsa said with a smile, "his life will be gone, you know."
It was obvious that her condition was terrible. Even after receiving some treatment, her expression was still listless and drained.
"Subaru!" Emilia cried out in alarm.
At the same time, Lillian, standing behind them, also looked shocked—he hadn't expected things to suddenly take such a turn either.
"I was originally planning to just lie there and watch you all kill each other," Elsa said, licking her lips. "Such a shame I didn't get to see it. And it's all because of you—the knight among knights, the strongest of the Sword Saint family."
Her gaze lingered briefly on Reinhard, then shifted to Lillian.
"You beat me pretty badly, didn't you? That physical strength of yours… are you really human?"
"Release the innocent," Reinhard said solemnly. "Bowel Hunter—if you let him go, I will allow you to leave."
"Oh my, how generous," Elsa replied, a cold glint flashing in her pupils. "But surely you can tell that my body won't let me escape very far anyway, right? Honestly… this generation's Sword Saint isn't just powerful—he's cunning too. What a perfect opponent…"
As she spoke, the corners of her lips lifted slightly. Reinhard's expression changed instantly—his body vanished from where he stood!
In the next moment, he appeared right in front of them.
"Too late," Elsa laughed, twisting her wrist.
A burst of bright red sprayed from Subaru's neck.
"Ah… ah…"
Subaru clutched his throat and collapsed to the ground. In his ears, Emilia's frantic voice sounded distant and distorted.
"Subaru! You… hold on… help—"
Her voice gradually faded, and the world before his eyes slowly lost its color.
His gaze drifted forward, landing on Lillian.
Lillian's expression looked strange.
Why… why was he making that face?
Regret…
He hadn't wanted to die yet. He had just met such a kind, lovely girl…
Regret…
In his haze, he seemed to glimpse a shadow flickering in the darkness—just for an instant.
The next second, absolute silence and darkness swallowed everything, and his heartbeat came to a complete stop.
A warped, muffled sound echoed in his ears, like hearing voices underwater.
The scene before his eyes shifted—
A fruit stall.
An uncle holding up an apple and asking him:
"So what is it, kid? Are you buying it or not?"
"Huh?"
Subaru stared blankly at him. Not far away, a black-clad youth carrying a sword glanced down at the blade at his waist, then back at Subaru.
"I… still remember," Lillian said after snapping back to reality, his expression incomparably complex. "Everything we did… was all for nothing."