Otto stared blankly at the ceiling. His mind wandered, conjuring up sad, happy, and embarrassing memories. He was experiencing what is called a "life review."
Most of those memories didn't make him proud. However, the last part wasn't so bad: it was a real emotional rollercoaster, a true odyssey.
Unfortunately, that adventure ended with him in this situation. His end seemed imminent.
"All of this cost me dearly, but… it was worth it. Dying like this is much better than being killed by bandits on any given day of my old routine.
While he was having that thought, Otto managed to smile.
"Since I met Leandro, almost every day has been chaotic; however, I don't regret anything. I was part of something important."
Otto was proud of what he did, despite some regrets he had.
"I wish I'd been braver. What would my life be like now if I weren't such a coward? I wonder if Frederica and I… nah, I don't think so. Ah, my eyelids feel heavy…"
The world flickered and darkened, farther and farther away, ever colder. Otto tried to fight, but his numb mind pulled him down, tempting him with the promise of eternal rest.
"This is bad, I can't think straight anymore. I'm so sleepy… I don't think it matters if I go to sleep now, do I? After everything I've done, I deserve it."
Finally, Otto began to close his eyes.
"I'll let Leandro handle the rest. Heh, he'll probably be sad about my death, even though he always acts like an idiot around me."
That thought made him smile slightly. For a moment, he tried to imagine what kind of expression Frederica would have, but he immediately regretted it. He wouldn't be able to rest in peace if his death made her cry.
Even so, it would be impossible for her to have that kind of reaction to someone like him.
***
"Master Leandro… Please… Help us…"
Frederica was muttering like a sleepwalker, even though Leandro was already awake in front of her.
"Frederica? Come on, snap out of it. What's going on?" he demanded, pulling the demi-human out of her daze.
"Ah… Master Leandro! Quickly, come with me!"
She took his hand and led him running towards Ram's room. When they arrived, they found the door open and a shocking sight.
Otto was bleeding out on the floor: he had a hole in his stomach and a vacant stare. Seeing him like that, Frederica felt her legs go weak.
"No… It can't be…"
She looked like she would go into shock, but then she shook her head and hurried over to Otto's dying body, trying to find out if he was alive.
After a few seconds that felt like an eternity, Frederica raised her head and looked at Leandro.
"He still has a pulse!" she exclaimed urgently.
"Betty, use your power to heal him," the dark-haired man said in a rigid voice, entering the room and immediately turning towards a specific spot.
There was Clind, sporting his dragonkin form, but that wasn't the most striking thing; it was the fact that Ram was in his arms. After a brief analysis, Leandro got a pretty good idea of the situation.
Clind, known to be a loyal ally of Roswaal, was finally showing his true colors. Leandro underestimated him, and it was his friends who paid the price for his arrogance.
At that moment, the air in the room grew cold. Leandro summoned his Yin sword and pointed it at Clind.
"Let her go."
"Why would I do that?" The dragonkin tilted his head, looking at Leandro with contempt. "Rejection."
"Why?" Leandro repeated, narrowing his eyes and speaking coldly. "I don't want Ram to get stained with your blood when I tear you to pieces."
Clind snorted.
"If you weren't able to save her sister, what makes you think you'll be able to save—?"
The butler couldn't finish the sentence because an invisible force struck his face with such power that his body flew out of the mansion, smashing through a wall in the process.
Leandro took Ram in his arms and placed her back on the bed, handling her body with utmost gentleness. He even took the time to smooth her hair so that strands wouldn't get in her eyes, nose, or mouth.
"..."
Looking at her closely, the dark-haired man realized he had been avoiding her ever since Rem's death. Only then did he understand how deeply that loss had affected Ram herself. Of course, he wasn't the only one suffering, but he hadn't realized it until he saw it with his own eyes.
Ram was too stubborn, Leandro knew that well. That's why he was surprised to find her in that state. The pink-haired girl wasn't supposed to break down like that. Even in the Oboreru route, she was more furious than sad about Rem's death, as was shown at the end of the What If.
" It's my fault, isn't it? The changes I made led to this. The two most important people to her died on the same day. Roswaal killed Rem, and Ram killed Roswaal. Anyone would go crazy after that. I'm sorry, Ram. I promise I'll fix this mess."
Sighing wearily, Leandro moved away from the bed and walked toward the remains of the wall that faced the outside. From there he could see the entire side garden, which looked quite chaotic after the fights Clind had with Emilia's faction.
"Garfiel, Elsa…"
Leandro stared at the bodies of his companions, motionless on the ground. His fists clenched in anger. All of this happened while he was gone. He was very careless.
Now it was his turn to correct his mistake.
He leaped down to the garden and used his authority to collect the bodies of Garfiel and Elsa, carefully carrying them inside the mansion.
As he did that, a purple flash appeared on the horizon, and a second later the light became a powerful burst that heralded Clind's return.
"I see, you have an Authority. Exceptional."
Leandro turned slowly towards him. His eyes burned with a demented glow.
"You are fucked."
The dragonkin sensed the power of the threat, and after receiving only one attack, he became convinced that he could not hold back against his new adversary.
"Sealing Shackle: Release second and third stage."
Somehow, the power radiating from his body became much more intense than before. He was ready to use his abilities to the fullest extent.
Even so, Clind didn't see it coming at all. Another invisible blow pierced his enhanced defenses, though the damage was considerably reduced this time. His body moved reflexively as the black blade of a sword emerged from behind him.
Twisting his body to avoid being impaled, Clind managed to evade and counterattack in the same instant, streaking through the air like lightning. Purple flashes poured toward Leandro, threatening to char him at the slightest touch.
Without flinching, the dark-haired man swung his sword, creating a fissure that absorbed the attack and sent it away. However, that was just a feint, because Clind appeared behind him to deliver a kick, which was blocked by the sloth factor.
Leandro grabbed Clind's leg and pulled him toward him, punching him so hard he crashed to the ground. The dragonkin unleashed more lightning, using the short distance to ensure Leandro couldn't shake it off all at once.
But the dark-haired man opened a rift and stepped inside, immediately closing it as he emerged further away. Clind used this window of opportunity to stand up and generate more lightning, only this time he left it surrounding his body.
Leandro found it strange, since he could strike with his authority, regardless of the distance or Clind's defense, and he had already proven it. There had to be something more to that decision.
Testing his theory, the dark-haired man launched a barrage of invisible projectiles at Clind. Surprisingly, the dragonkin dodged them, shifting his body to the side at the perfect moment.
Leandro gave a wry smile.
"You must have learned to track invisible attacks by sound, since they produce vibrations in the air. Let's see how good you are at dodging."
The air filled with a buzzing sound. Clind sensed the danger and began to run at full speed as the ground exploded constantly where he had been standing half a second before, giving the impression that he was in a minefield.
Of course, Leandro wasn't content with just launching invisible attacks. Cracks constantly appeared in front of Clind, and the Yin sword would peek out from them to cut him or force him to slow down enough to be hit by the invisible projectiles.
Clind's position was bad: he had to change his strategy or he would end up taking a lot of damage. Then, with a heel turn, the dragonkin stopped running and went straight for his enemy, dodging invisible attacks and rifts as he closed the distance.
Clind reasoned that Leandro was already using much of his authority offensively, so he shouldn't have enough defense left to stop a physical attack at that point. If Clind struck him under those circumstances, he should be able to kill him instantly: he wouldn't care about getting hurt himself as long as he did it.
When there were only a few inches separating Clind from Leandro, the latter showed him the middle finger in a mocking manner and recited a spell.
"El Vita."
Suddenly, Clind's body became so incredibly massive and heavy that his horizontal movement turned vertical and he violently sank into the ground.
There was a moment of confusion in Clind's mind, it took him barely a second to understand what was happening, but that second was enough for the rain of invisible projectiles to finally reach him.
The resulting explosion created a small cloud of dust that slowly dissipated, revealing Clind's figure, now looking dirty and injured: his clothes were torn and stained with blood that flowed from his mouth and cuts on his skin.
However, the brightness in his eyes had not diminished. Even as he coughed up the essence of his body and the mana surrounding him seemed to weaken, Clind spoke in a casual tone.
"I didn't expect to be pushed to my limit like this. Congratulations."
Leandro ignored the praise and prepared an attack to finish off the dragonkin while he was weakened.
But Clind was faster: he reached out and closed his hand in the air.
Using the Authority of Melancholy.
And then, Leandro's body was crushed by the compression of space, erasing all trace of him.
***
After healing Otto, Garfiel, and Elsa's wounds, Beatrice wanted to join the battle to help her contractor, but just as she was about to leave…
"Wait." A familiar voice called to her.
"What do you want, I suppose?" the spirit girl asked, irritated.
Ryuzu Shima approached her, her expression unreadable.
"I need to talk to you about something important."
Beatrice snorted.
"Hmph, I suppose now's not a good time. I have to support Leandro."
With that said, she resumed walking, but Shima's next words made her stop dead in her tracks.
"He doesn't need you."
"... What did you say?"
After a very, very long time, the Great Spirit Beatrice felt a powerful emotion in addition to sadness: anger.
How dare that clone, a cheap copy of her former friend, defy her like that?
Just as Beatrice was about to turn that anger into action, Shima added a clarification:
"I mean, he'll be fine on his own, he can win the fight without any problems."
"How do you know?!" demanded Beatrice, exasperated.
Slowly, a smile spread across Shima's face.
"Because I know him better than anyone."
Once again, she uttered a phrase that could only be described as provocative. The words seemed to have been carefully chosen to provoke jealousy and indignation in Beatrice.
"I've heard enough nonsense. What the hell do you want?"
"To show you the truth."
Shima's body began to glow. Beatrice frowned, but her suspicion quickly turned to astonishment when she saw the new appearance of the woman before her.
"You…How is that possible?"
Echidna looked at Beatrice as she remembered the words Leandro had said to her when they were in the castle of dreams.
"Do me a favor. Since you're going to be with us in that body, I want Betty to know about you. In the near future, I'm going to be too busy to take care of her properly. I need you to cover for me. Besides, she must miss her mother terribly."
Although this Echidna wasn't technically the one Beatrice knew, but rather a purified version of the original witch, technicalities could be disregarded in this case.
Echidna leaned towards her and spoke with the forced gentleness of an adult addressing a child.
"Well, it's complicated to explain, but the important thing is that from now on we'll be together. You, Leandro, and I, like a family, isn't that great?"
The look on Betty's face when she heard that didn't exactly say 'great'.
"...Huh?!"