I heard Dante's clock noises, thick with disbelief.
And Guido was approaching at a pace that was certainly slower than before, but still with his eyes fixed straight on Dante.
"And... the rest... I purify."
That terrifying fixation sent goosebumps racing over my whole body.
Move. I have to move.
I didn't even have the strength to twitch a fingertip, but still, I had to stand up.
With all the Sinners dead or too badly injured to fight, there was no chance of beating that bastard.
With Ms. Sword half-dead and Dante being a noncombatant, there was no chance of beating him.
If there was any one opening, it was Dante turning the clock back.
And everyone except me looked like they'd be hard-pressed to buy even that brief opening.
I could at least stand. They couldn't even do that.
-Crack, creak
I forced my body to move, even though it had already stiffened and was no longer properly functioning as a body.
Even the adrenaline that had been pumped through me couldn't erase all the pain, and a hideous agony washed over me, but I refused to stop moving.
Unlike my body, which was stiff and barely responding, my eyes and head were busily taking in the situation around me.
I wasn't holding my spear.
It had already been flung to the floor during the long fight.
In my still-unbroken right hand was a spare one-handed sword from the Seven Association.
If I was going to draw that man's attention for sure... right.
Just as my body began to move little by little and I finished laying out a rough plan, right before I could act—
-Click
I heard Ms. Sword aiming at someone.
"Please stop..."
Stop...?
The sound of a gun being aimed. The words "stop."
Given the situation, she was clearly speaking to Guido. Yes, but...
Why was my instinct ringing alarm bells that it wasn't?
To clear up the doubt that had bloomed, I rolled my eyes toward Ms. Sword.
And there I saw Ms. Sword aiming the muzzle at Dante's head.
"Please... do not move..."
At her repeated warning, my body, which had only just started moving again, froze.
That command to stop wasn't meant only for Dante.
If she noticed that I was moving even though Dante wasn't, she'd shoot immediately.
"The moment you turn that clock, my gun will go straight through your... head..."
Dante and I looked at her with faces mixed with anxiety and confusion.
Why on earth was she betraying us after coming this far?
"Even if you... look at me like that... I... can't hear it. But I'll tell you."
If there wasn't some hostage involved, then this was... ah.
Ha, hahahaha...
There was one. One hostage, no, one person who was perfect to offer as a bargaining chip to the other side in this situation.
"They said if I help... get rid of you... they'd let Epi live and go..."
Right. The person most precious to her, the one she believed was still alive: Epi. He was still there as a bargaining chip.
The truth was that Epi was already dead, and the Inquisitors were simply exploiting Ms. Sword, who didn't know that. But there was no one here who could say that.
...How could we say he was alive a moment ago and then tell her we killed him now? No, would she even believe it?
Even the Sinners lying around breathing weakly said nothing. No one here could say it.
While I was desperately turning my brain over in a situation where I couldn't do either thing, Guido finally reached Dante.
"You have dragged this out for too long."
-Crunch
Then Guido seized Dante by the throat with one hand and lifted him up.
And with the other hand, he grabbed Dante's head with clear intent to crush it.
...Game over.
It was all over. If it came to this, should I have gambled on Dante surviving even with a bullet in his head?
-Creak, clatter
A brittle, breaking sound came from Dante's head.
At this rate... there was no answer.
What should I do? Should I charge Guido and hope Dante could endure the gun?
Or throw my sword to distract him for even a moment... no, no. That wouldn't work. It would only draw his eyes for an instant, and then it would mean nothing.
...Was charging the only answer?
Ms. Sword wasn't looking this way. She probably hadn't imagined that someone this badly injured could still be conscious.
-Crack, snap
The screams of my body at its limit stabbed into my ears.
Ignore it. Even if I died of shock right here, I had to make that bastard loosen his grip.
And then...
-Bang!
There was a sound.
The sound of something being blown apart.
It wasn't the sound of me charging Guido.
"Ugh..."
And yet... it wasn't the sound of Dante's head breaking either.
"Hah... hah... hah."
Sinclair. Sinclair, who I'd thought was dead, was stabbing Guido in the back with the nail that had fallen to the floor.
Guido's body lurched once.
Thanks to that, his grip loosened, and Dante fell to the floor.
But even with Sinclair's ambush, Guido still didn't go down.
He steadied his breathing and slowly turned around.
"...I see."
"You, too, are an apostate..."
...Had he not noticed me?
This was the chance.
The only chance to land a blow on that madman who still hadn't fallen.
"You people... are all insane... you're not in your right minds..."
"The One Who Grasps said it..."
"That you, too, could have been a Grasper."
As quickly as possible, but without being noticed.
I had to get to him before he finished speaking.
"However..."
Now.
"The direction of your grasp was wro..."
-Bang!!
Dragging my half-dead body forward, I smashed his head hard with the one-handed sword.
"Kgh...!"
But Guido did not collapse.
...I'd expected it, but it was a little short.
Then all the strength drained out of me, and I toppled helplessly to the ground.
Now I couldn't even open my mouth.
Wait, come to think of it, Ms. Sword was...
-Bang!
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out.
The bullet passed clean through Guido's head.
"......"
"You who walk willingly toward ruin..."
"The Hammer will continue to pursue you..."
At last, with those words finished.
Guido collapsed completely and stopped moving.
And I, rolling on the ground, soon lost consciousness.
I felt the familiar sensation of my body being restored.
-Thump
And then, all at once, I heard the sound of a pistol dropping to the floor.
<...Sword>
"Epi really... is dead, isn't he?"
...She figured it out.
"You people are sloppy. If you're going to lie, at least make a convincing face."
...I had nothing to say.
That must have been the moment when we completely crushed her hope.
"...Ms. Sword, let's get out of here quickly. If we stop the bleeding... then... it'll be fine."
"That's right. I'll get a tourniquet ready..."
"What are you talking about? You can barely move properly."
Ms. Sword cut off Gregor and Ishmael's words flatly.
"Besides, those Inquisitors will keep coming, won't they? You still have to keep going down."
"I'll handle things here. Go on ahead."
...
"How... how can you say that..."
Sinclair's voice carried a faint sob he couldn't quite suppress, as if he couldn't bear to accept Ms. Sword's words.
"You said you can barely move properly. How are we supposed to leave the rear to you like that... huh?"
"Hey... at times like this... you're supposed to just nod and get moving."
Ishmael tried to persuade her, but she stubbornly refused.
...Was she planning to sacrifice herself? Or maybe she wanted to die with Epi.
"Why are you worrying about the leftovers? It's tacky."
"But... but..."
"Ah... do you know how pathetic this scene is? We finally had a cool composition going."
"Faust, take these idiots and go already."
"I shall send my regards to Vergilius."
"Regards, my ass."
"...Tell him to come by and say hello sometime. You know what I mean."
"......"
After a brief silence, Faust answered Ms. Sword's words.
"Yes."
With Faust's words, the Sinners other than me began moving toward the next area.
I...
"...Ms. Sword."
"Why are you still here? You don't have anything left to say."
"Thank you. I just... didn't want to part without saying a word."
"...Of all things, I'm hearing thanks from you. Hurry up and go. Before I change my mind."
With that, I joined the Sinners' group as well.
It was hard to force my feet to move, but I also didn't want to ignore Ms. Sword's kindness.
Probably everyone felt the same.
...A quiet silence hung in the air.
That heavy silence continued for a long while.
"......"