The next second, both of them moved at the same time.
Lye's body suddenly turned into a blurry afterimage. Instead of attacking Rem or the Iron Fang mercenaries closest to him, he lunged fiercely toward Ricardo, who was providing cover from the side, following an extremely tricky zigzag path.
At the same time, Rui's bare feet tapped the ground, and her body floated up as if weightless, her speed even faster than Lye's. Ignoring the several Iron Fang mercenaries blocking her path, her figure flickered a few times and appeared behind Rem's side.
A feint! Perfect coordination!
"Captain Ricardo! From the right!"
"Rem! Jump to the left! Now!"
At the very moment the two of them moved to react according to Subaru's commands.
Lye, who was originally lunging at Ricardo, twisted his body weirdly in mid-air and abandoned the attack.
And that pale hand belonging to Rui, reaching for the back of Rem's neck, didn't actually strike.
"Hehe."
"Just as I thought... it's like this, Lye." Her eyes turned toward Lye, who was not far away.
"Rui."
Lye split his mouth open, revealing white teeth, and let out a "Heh-heh" weird laugh.
"Time to eat."
As Rui's hand waved toward the void—
Buzz!
A scalp-numbing ripple of spatial distortion echoed through the air.
Lye, who had been over ten meters away from Subaru on the open field, suddenly vanished from sight.
In the next instant, he appeared out of thin air right beside Subaru's left side, less than an arm's length away.
Is it a teleportation ability?
Subaru's pupils shrank.
Because they had never used teleportation-type abilities before, she didn't know that they had a means of spatial movement.
Watching Lye's palm rapidly enlarge in her field of vision, Subaru's brain frantically sent out dodge commands, but her body could not keep up with this sudden, near-zero-distance attack. Her muscles were still tense from the commands she'd just given, and there was simply no time to make any effective reaction.
Even Rem, who was closest to her, was several steps away and could only watch helplessly as that lethal palm reached for Subaru's cheek, her blue eyes instantly filling with despair.
"Subaru!!!"
Her shout mingled with the gasps of others on the battlefield.
Lye's palm was less than three centimeters from Subaru's right cheek. On his face, a twisted smile of greed and ecstasy at the impending victory had long since spread, his eyes staring fixedly at Subaru's eyes, which were wide with shock.
'Now... the appetizer, no! It's the main course... I can finally start feasting! Your ability... your 'eyes'... they must be very delicious!'
Just as his fingertips were about to touch Subaru's skin and the Devouring ability was about to take effect, amidst the terrified gazes of everyone, an abrupt voice came from Subaru's mouth.
"Disgusting."
It was a low voice, completely different from Subaru's usual tone, filled with intense loathing.
At the same time, Subaru's eyes changed color from their original blue to blood-red. In the depths of her pupils, there was no more panic, no more fear—only an indifference like looking down at an ant and a deep murderous intent.
The ecstatic smile on Lye's face suddenly froze. His palm was clearly only a hair's breadth from the other party's skin, yet it seemed to have hit an invisible, indestructible barrier, unable to advance even a fraction.
"Whether it's you or that other little brat..."
She glanced at Rui, who was also momentarily paused by the unexpected turn of events.
"or even this world..."
The voice grew lower, yet it carried a bone-chilling coldness. "I really want to kill them all."
The moment the words fell, Lye didn't even see 'Subaru's' movement. He only felt a sudden, agonizing pain in his abdomen as his internal organs were instantly crushed. The pain came so violently and suddenly that the expression on his face instantly twisted from ecstasy to extreme agony and disbelief.
He stiffly lowered his head, only to see that a foot had, at some point, embedded itself deep into the bodysuit around his abdomen. The colthing there was shattered, and the skin and muscle beneath showed an unnatural indentation.
When did that happen?!
Not just Lye—on the entire battlefield, the Iron Fang mercenaries, Rem, and even Rui, not a single person saw how that strike was delivered.
"Subaru" withdrew her foot, the movement as casual as if she were merely kicking away an eyesore of a stone.
Lye's body, as if drained of all its bones, slumped over limply.
"That guy..."
"Subaru" tilted her head slightly, the corner of her lips curling into a cold and mocking arc.
"To think he actually left her body... Is it because he felt she was no longer of value and decided to discard her?"
There was a sense of insightful realization and mockery in her voice.
"I told you, only I will always stay by your side."
After these incomprehensible whispers fell, she looked again at Lye, who was hunched over and unable to move from the intense pain. In those blood-red eyes, a flash of murderous intent flickered once more.
Then, she raised her right foot and pressed the sole of her boot against Lye's chest.
In the next instant—
BOOM!
A terrifying force erupted from the sole of that boot.
Lye's body turned into a blurry afterimage nearly invisible to the naked eye and flew backward in the opposite direction from Rui.
BANG!
The air was violently struck, creating a dull sonic boom.
Blood, shattered skin, and even fragments of torn clothing were splattered along the way like paint flung out.
Lye's body slammed into an open field a hundred meters away, coming to a complete standstill amidst a cloud of dust and wood chips.