Chapter 127: Battle Continues
After the dust settled, the soldiers not far from the White Whale looked toward where it had fallen.
Everyone had witnessed that powerful blow, and naturally, a question surfaced in their minds—could the White Whale have been killed by that one strike?
They didn't have to wait long for an answer.
Crusch's voice snapped them out of their daze. A simple command—"Advance!"—told them everything: the beast wasn't dead yet.
Even so, everyone's morale had received an unprecedented boost.
After all, knocking the White Whale out of the sky was already an awe-inspiring feat.
What's more, now that it was on the ground, it was no longer an unreachable target.
Fueled by hatred, they could finally carve the marks of their vengeance directly onto the beast's body. As the crowd roared and charged toward the White Whale—
Subaru Natsuki, who had fallen from the sky, was caught mid-air by chains that wrapped around him. Guided by the chains, he was pulled into Rem's arms.
Seeing his dire condition, she hurriedly carried him away from the White Whale, dashing once again toward Felix.
They arrived quickly at Felix's side. Rem gently laid Subaru down on the ground, reached out, and gripped his hand. Her eyes were focused entirely on Felix's face.
"Please… save him!"
"You don't need to tell me that, nya! Aaaaah, seriously—he just left my side a moment ago, and now he's back in this state! Can't he ever give me a break?!"
Felix's tone was complaining, but his expression was serious and grim.
He had been treating other wounded soldiers, but now he had to give his full attention to Subaru.
Compared to the others, Subaru's injuries were in a league of their own.
As Felix's healing magic kicked in, his hands began to tremble slightly. He could barely bring himself to look at Subaru's wounds.
Even though Subaru hadn't been directly attacked by the White Whale, his condition—both externally and internally—made people wonder if he might die at any second.
His right arm's bones were completely shattered, and inside his body, his organs, muscles, and bones had all suffered varying degrees of trauma. Right now, Subaru looked like a man made of blood.
The cost of simultaneously activating two advanced abilities had caused the power within his body to run amok.
All the blood vessels in his body had ruptured. Crushed by the pressure of that power, blood seeped out from under his skin, and just like the last time at the mansion, his heartbeats felt on the verge of stopping.
Felix focused all his healing on restoring the physical damage, but there was no way to replenish Subaru's weakened stamina or fading life force.
"You bastard… aren't you supposed to be hard to kill?! I haven't even had the chance to scold you properly! Don't you dare die on me, damn it!!"
Felix's eyes turned bloodshot.
As a healer, he could feel it—no matter how much magic he poured in, Subaru's heartbeat was slowing down. From the moment he began treatment until now, Subaru's heartbeat had gradually weakened.
There was nothing he could do to stop it.
He didn't want to accept that this man—already seen as a hero by everyone—would die at the cusp of victory. But right now, he was powerless.
Felix poured more strength into his healing, but it was pointless. He bit down hard on his lip, and the light in his hands grew even brighter.
Finally, the heartbeat that had been sustaining Subaru's life—
stopped completely.
Rem and Felix stayed frozen, both silent, still holding their previous poses.
They had clearly felt it—the weak heartbeat was gone, the ragged breathing had ceased entirely.
Behind them were the sounds of battle—the White Whale's howls of agony. But those sounds no longer reached their ears.
It was as if the two of them had been cut off from the battlefield, transported to another world.
Rem stared at Subaru, now no longer breathing. She slowly let go of his hand. Her face emotionless, she stood up without a word and began walking toward the battlefield.
"Rem, where are you going?!"
"..."
Felix saw it—the horn growing out of Rem's forehead.
He saw the hatred in her eyes, the glow in her pupils.
In the end, he couldn't say anything to stop her. Putting himself in her shoes—if it were Lady Crusch lying there, he'd do the exact same thing.
"Come back alive… so you can send Subaru off properly..."
"I'll leave him to you, Subaru-kun."
Leaving behind those words, Rem turned and charged toward the White Whale.
Felix watched her silhouette disappear into the distance. Then he turned back to look at Subaru's sleeping face.
After a while, he rose and resumed healing the other wounded nearby.
But after they had both left...
Subaru, who was supposed to be dead, suddenly sat up.
He looked around in confusion.
He stared at his own hands and clenched them tightly.
"…I'm not dead?" "If I'm not dead, shouldn't I still be lying on the ground, totally unable to move?"
Subaru thought for a moment.
Maybe it was that other battle-continuation ability that had saved him. But the trigger conditions and side effects were still unclear.
Regardless, hearing the sounds of battle in the distance, Subaru stood up—ready to rejoin the fight.
Just then, a voice reached his ears.
"Subaru?"
He turned and saw Felix looking at him in surprise. Felix had been healing a wounded soldier just a short distance away.
"Thanks. You healed me, right?" Subaru said. "But why did you say before that it couldn't be treated? Were you trying to stop me from using my ability? Well, anyway, thanks. I'm heading back to the front now."
Just as Subaru took a step forward—
He was suddenly tackled to the ground.
Caught completely off guard, he fell and glared in annoyance at the person who had pinned him down—Felix.
"What are you doing?! The fight's not over yet!"
"Shut up! Lie there and let me finish treating you properly!!"
It was the first time Subaru had ever seen such pure rage on Felix's face. His red eyes were filled with complicated emotions.
Subaru wanted to argue, but seeing Felix's expression… He obediently lay down and let the healer check and treat him.
"...Didn't you already heal me?"
"Shut up! Just lie down quietly!!"
The roar silenced Subaru. In that awkward silence, he let Felix continue treating him, feeling extremely uncomfortable the whole time.
After about ten minutes, Subaru suddenly felt his body grow weak.
A surge of pain completely overwhelmed his senses.
Even though he tried not to groan, his expression twisted in agony.
Seeing this, Felix gave a cold snort.
"Hmph. You really are hard to kill." "You were this close to being buried in the dirt, and now you're bouncing around like nothing happened."
"Anyway, from now on, you're staying right here. Don't move a muscle! Leave the White Whale to Lady Crusch and the others!"