Chapter 60: Time Moves Forward Again
In that moment, the hard ground seemed to transform into an ocean.
Earth-waves radiated outward from the two combatants at the center of the battlefield, and fierce winds tore apart the clouds in the sky.
Every clash between the Sword Saint's light-wrapped hand strikes and the Demon God's wind-shrouded fists echoed like thunder.
The intensity and frequency of the sounds were even more overwhelming than fireworks during New Year celebrations.
What Rem saw before her eyes was a battle straight out of myth—though also a battle whose outcome was never in doubt.
Of course, even the eyes of the Oni race couldn't see what was happening kilometers away, but as Ram's sister, Rem was able to understand the battle through their empathic connection.
The only thing that differed from what she had imagined was that the one with the upper hand wasn't her sister Ram, but the Sword Saint, Reinhild van Astrea.
Because Rem had used her horn as a medium to assist Ram's transformation into a demon, their empathic bond was tighter than ever.
She could see what Ram saw, feel what Ram felt.
Rem felt as if she had become the perfect version of her sister, only to be faced with an unstoppable natural disaster.
—Her sister was strong. Many times Rem thought the battle was over, but Ram, using her wits, forced the fight to continue.
Yet her sister was powerless.
Even with all her effort, Rem knew in her heart that Ram's defeat was inevitable.
Reinhild's hand strike tore space itself, split the storm, and shattered her sister's iron fists.
It was a pure domination of strength.
Rem even saw her sister's life flash before her eyes.
The trajectory of that lethal hand strike changed and hit her from behind.
In the last moment before losing consciousness, Ram's only thought was that such an attack was the crystallization of true technique—that to die from it was the highest honor.
The perfect sister was defeated.
The rust on the iron clock began to fall away, bit by bit.
The dual shock—physical and emotional—caused Rem to fall unconscious as well.
She had the same dream again—a dream of her perfect sister being born and growing up.
In this dream, the massacre of their tribe never took her sister's horn.
That idealized sister was strong, perfect, invincible.
She was someone to be revered, someone who should live a life full of joy.
At this point, the dream always ended, and reality would return.
But this time, the dream changed.
The ending didn't come. The dream continued.
A red-haired girl appeared in the dream with a cruel smile and attacked.
As the demi-human queen, Ram fought back, but this time, she lost.
Overwhelming reality crushed the idealized fantasy Rem had always held.
—So her sister wasn't truly omnipotent after all.
The second hand of the giant clock began to swing violently.
When Rem opened her eyes, she was met by an anxious Subaru who was yelling, "Hey, hey! She's awake!" while frantically waving his hand.
The perfect Sword Saint was also running over, carrying Rem's blood-covered sister in his arms.
—Could it be that her sister lost because of her? Because she had become her sister's horn?
The thought flashed through her mind.
But when she looked at the dragon sword at Reinhild's waist—still unsheathed—and recalled the legend of that strongest blade, and how the Sword Saint had been fighting with only hand strikes, Rem couldn't lie to herself.
"Hurry up and heal Ram! Don't get the wrong idea—she ended up like this right after the fight!" Subaru shouted at the dazed Rem.
"Why?" Rem asked, confused—not about Ram's injuries, since she knew they were the side effects of demonization.
"Why can't you heal her directly? Why would you need someone useless like me to do this?"
Rem stared blankly at Reinhild as she questioned him.
"I think I understand what you're thinking," he replied. "But nobody's perfect. Even someone who seems nearly perfect like me, Reinhild, has things I'm bad at. For example, healing magic—I'm terrible at it."
"I never expected things to go this far. If I had, I would've had medical personnel on standby.
This was caused by my own immaturity. I'm truly sorry."
"But... but..."
Rem's thoughts were in chaos.
How could the woman who defeated her perfect sister not even be able to heal her?
"I don't know what you're thinking, but if you don't act now, it'll be too late! Wake up! Only you can save her!"
Subaru's yell reached her ears.
Her mind was still a mess, but as she looked at her bloodied sister, her instincts took over and she cast healing magic on Ram.
Bit by bit, Ram's injuries disappeared.
Watching this miraculous scene, Subaru's body trembled involuntarily.
"Nice job. Thanks to you, we can end this perfectly."
Subaru forced down his fear and spoke, but Rem simply stared at him blankly.
"Thanks to me? If it were really the true Ram, she would've done it even better."
"Maybe Ram's healing magic is stronger," Subaru admitted. "But she's unconscious now. That means only you could do this."
"Ugh..."
Rem let out a small groan at Subaru's words, then turned her face away.
"Rem is... Rem has always been just a replacement for her sister. Always..."
"That kind of lonely self-definition needs to stop.
I get it—being surrounded by people who seem perfect, I've felt the same.
I've chased someone's back before, too.
But now I can say this: no one can completely replace another person.
No one is a lesser version of someone else.
Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses.
A king has the talents of a king, and a chef has the talents of a chef."
Subaru said seriously, but Rem was more stubborn than he expected.
"Rem is the weakest of the Oni tribe, talentless, just a stand-in for her sister. No matter how hard I try, I'll never reach the true Ram's level..."
Subaru muttered, "Ah, geez," scratching his head.
"Rather than comparing you to the Ram in your head, I prefer to base my judgments on reality.
Just so you know, I'm not the kind of guy who reads the mood.
I won't say anything flattering, and I hate empty words. I say what I really think."
He tilted his head and continued while Rem silently stared at him.
"Ram is strong in battle, but I've heard from her that she has low stamina, she's bad at cooking, lazy at work, and super sharp-tongued.
Basically, besides combat ability, she's not all that great. And even in combat..."
Subaru and Rem both looked at Reinhild, then fell silent.
—There are no perfect people in the world, but there are things only you can do.
In that moment, the second hand of time finally began to move again.
Time, once stopped, began to move forward once more for Rem.