Part 73: Red and Blue Truth IV

Video: The Curtain Falls

BGM: Engage of Marionette







Erika's blue bullet flew in a strange arc, became a wedge of the blue truth, and pierced straight down through the bed and the floor beneath. Beato didn't pull her trigger. However, she did quietly argue back with the red truth.



Oooooohh... The goat attendants gasped. It had appeared as though Erika had been defeated, denied by the red truth. For the goats, who couldn't see more than a single truth, it probably looks as though I've lost...



BGM: ALIVE

"...So, why don't I carry out the remaining twilights... and open the door to the Golden Land... If you are to disappear, then it should be surrounded by your golden roses...!"

The fires of blue truth flashed at Erika's feet... and she loaded a blue truth bullet once more. That overflowing blue power was now making her entire gun burn with a blue flame... She wasn't aiming for Beato. She was aiming behind Beato. At the closet...!!

"Now that the bedroom has been denied, you've nowhere left to run!! Diiiiiiiiiiiiiee, Kanooooooooooooonnnnnnn!!"

The five wedges of blue truth she released shot right past Beato's cheeks, hair, and shoulders... then pin-cushioned the door to the closet to gouge whatever human was inside to death...!

The five wedges slammed into the door in a vertical line. In other words, On the fourth twilight, gouge the head and kill. On the fifth twilight, gouge the chest and kill. On the sixth twilight, on the seventh twilight, on the eighth twilight... Gouge and kill and kill and kill...!!

...After being gouged by so many thick and sharp wedges, the human inside wouldn't stand a chance...

"..."



When she proclaimed that she had finished, the five blue wedges piercing the closet disappeared. However, the many large, splintered holes left behind showed that it had indeed been pierced... Then, as though this had finished the ceremony that led to the Golden Land, the room that had been created around them... became countless golden flower petals and drifted away... By now, the duelists and the crowd of attendants... were surrounded by the golden rose garden of the Golden Land...

However, the closet behind Beato remained. It stood there all by itself, like a coffin... Then, as though teased open by a dreary wind, the hole-covered closet door slowly... opened...

Inside, was a human figure... That figure was covered up to the head by what appeared to be a grayish robe. Of course, that also had large holes showing that it had been stabbed into...

Eventually, it became clear that this was not a robe, but a raincoat. If he had rushed here from the guesthouse, then there would be nothing strange about him wearing this into the guest room...



"...Wh, what the..."

Inside the coffin of the closet, nothing remained except an empty darkness...



"Ah... ah..."
"Kanon let Battler escape and hid in the closet... And then, he used magic to disappear. This is the witch's truth. That is all."
"Th, this fight is OVER...!! Say no m-"





BGM: The Sin

Oh, ooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhh!! The attendants let out a cheer. Virgilia's group couldn't help but scream and shout in joy. The Seven Sisters jumped about in celebration...!

Then, at the same moment the two demons proclaimed Beatrice's victory, the head's ring worn by Erika, who was slowly crumpling to the ground, and the cursed ring on Battler's finger... both burst. At the same time, Battler coughed violently. Battler... was starting to regain consciousness...!



Beato latched onto the coughing Battler in joy. Then, Virgilia, Gaap, and Ronove did the same. All of the Seven Sisters also crowded about him in delight.

"...Heh, heheh, that's a nasty trick... You sure something like this counts...? With a trick like this one, those humans will start complaining again about how this isn't mystery..."
"No, it's a splendid trick! People without love cannot see that...! Battler-san... Battler-san... waaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh...!!!"



...The rose of blood in Erika's chest wouldn't stop opening its petals...

"...Third degree conceptual denial syndrome. Use of continuous neutralizer impossible... neutralization only possible by an emergency approval for resurrection. The piece's master must provide approval for resurrection..."
"L, Lady Bernkastel, give your approval for her RESURRECTION!! Lady Bernkastel...?! Wh, where did she go...?!"
"Search request to ceremony guards. Find Lady Bernkastel...!!"
"Understood. <All Chiesters, data link>. Search format...!"
"...H, how cowardly... To think that a master... wouldn't watch her piece's duel until the end... Know that it is far too cowardly!!!"

Erika, who was being held by Dlanor, had already realized that her master was nowhere to be seen, and she didn't feel lonely. On the contrary, she was relieved that she wouldn't need to be brutally scolded in the last moments of her life...

""Gods and demons. Please pass on the story of her noble passing.""



BGM: Grey Empty Smile

I'm not anyone's piece anymore. I can finally... control my own role...!!

"L, Lady Erika...!! Y, you mustn't MOVE...!!"
"...Stand back... Stay baaaaaaaaaaaaack!!"

When Erika yelled with all her soul, those who surrounded her were forced back and fell on their butts...



The toxin of her own concept being denied raced through her. Her vision was already starting to blur. At the other end of her twisted range of vision... were Battler and Beato, hugging each other and looking at her...

Their expressions are firm. That's okay. Pity and sympathy would only make me look more pathetic. For a loser, that sort of expression... is the best...

"Lady Erika...!! The duel is already OVER...!!"
"It isn't."
"Not until the pair is separated by death."
""We won't let anyone disgrace her final moments.""

The two demons grabbed Dlanor's shoulders and held her back... Dripping blood, breathing heavily, and with an awkward gait, Erika walked towards Beato and Battler despite it all... As the blood dripped from her, it became golden flower petals, which drifted away. So, as she walked, she looked both divine... and beautiful.

The duel wouldn't end until one of them died. So, even though it had been resolved, it hadn't ended. Beato and Battler told the people bunched around them to step back, and they both walked forward to face the noble loser...

"...Erika..."



"...True. And I'd never fall in love with a normal woman."
"Beato. No, I ask this of both of you."
"...You wish for one final clash...?"
"..."
"...Erika..."
"...Very well. We are not so boorish as to refuse your noble request."
"Thank you."

As her consciousness began to waver, Erika raised her gun again. She pointed it at the two of them. Beato also... raised her gun to point at Erika.



"If it's already resolved, what more could there be to argue about...?!"
"...Erika-sama..."
"Why is it... that when it has come to this... I can be of no... assistance...?"
"...Watch until the end. That's your job as her friend, isn't it...?"

Both sides silently loaded their bullets of truth without saying a word. The color packed into each barrel... was red... Then, though neither side spoke, did they both know what trump card the other would use...?



What's she saying? This late into the game... No one could imagine what red truth Erika had loaded...

"...Beato. Are you sure?"
"...Yes. I don't mind..."
"...I understand."
"Let's at least pull the final trigger together."
"...I know..."

Battler placed his hand on top of the finger that Beato had around the trigger.

"...Battler-san. I'm glad... I met you."
"We will... be together... for all eternity."
"Ahhah, so you have to flirt right in front of me!! It's pissing me off. You know, I really can't stand a teary farewell scene."



BGM: None

"...That's a nice look. Married life with you would probably have been fun enough to make me vomit."
"Of course. I'd spin you around every day, locked up in a world of pleasure that'd make you forget Beato-san right away!"
"Haha. It's a thousand years too early for you to capture Battler's heart, little girl."
"Ah, your face is just the cutest too. This is really the way for both of us to finish things!!"
"...Come."
"This is the final parting line from the detective, Furudo Erika, and my self-introduction!!"

Erika spun around in a rondo, and with a magnificent and graceful motion, scattering blood and golden flower petals around her, she raised her gun.



BGM: Birth of a New Witch