The woman and Sebastian both gather energy for their next, and likely final attack. The air trembles, anticipating their devastating clash. All Sylvia, Ivana and I can do is remain idle, acting as insignificant spectators. We are like ants, placed in the middle of a battle between a lion and an elephant. While Sebastian is immensely powerful, there is no hope in my heart that he will prevail against the one he calls the 'soulweaver'. From what I've seen, she is simply insurmountable. Not only is she vastly more powerful than all of us combined, even if, by some twist of fate, we manage to fatally wound her, she can simply change her vessel and come back anew. I am of the mind that there is no such thing as 'perfect' or 'invincible' in this world, but if she has a flaw, I certainly won't be able to exploit it.

Even Sebastian, the Cyclone of Melodica, is merely a plaything in front of her. The unknown attack she is preparing is on the verge of falling down on us when I shout.

"Wait!!"

Against all odds, Soulweaver stops her attack and looks in my direction. She then approaches me, standing a mere inch from my face. This startles Sebastian who equally stops his attack. She observes me pensively and speaks.

"The brat with a special constitution huh.... did you have something you wanted to say before dying?"

I swallow a mouthful of saliva and nervously reply.

"I-If you kill all of us right here, how will people know of your grand return? With no proof, someone else might even take the credit from you!!"

Sylvia, understanding my angle, tries to play along with the hope of dissuading soulweaver from murdering us.

"E-Exactly! Imagine this, the Cyclone of Melodica, claiming he was forced to run away from the great soulweaver!! The world would have no choice but to fear you!!"

Compelled by our words, she places her index finger on her chin and adopts a thinking posture. From our short exchange earlier, I was able to understand that she had quite an eccentric personality, mostly governed by her whims and temporary interests. What's more, her last statement clearly depicted some sort of inferiority complex and need for recognition. While it is difficult to get a grasp on all her quirks, I do know that if she wants to kill us because we investigated her business, she would have done so without a second thought. Instead, she took the time to inspect each of us individually and then decided to kill us all. This means that, at the very least, we somewhat piqued her interest. Capitalizing on that fact, I attempt to bargain with her.

"P-plus, I assume you intend to turn us into one of those guys in the factory, right? Wouldn't we be much more interesting if you gave us a couple of years to bloom!? We'd be of much more service to your great army then right?"

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She ponders even more intensely. Though I do not know what goes through her mind; I just hope my words are enough to convince her to let us go. If my theories are correct, then whether we live or die is not that important to her. Her actions are directed by her whims, if I stroke her ego, she might really let us go.

Eventually, having come to a conclusion, she speaks.

"Hmm, those are some very compelling points I suppose. Killing you right now would be a waste, that is true. You, in particular, have truly sparked my curiosity, I've never seen a soul like yours, hence I could let you go. The mind-reading girl over there, as thanks for supporting my business, maybe I could let her go too."

'it's working!!'

She does not stop there, her verdict continues. Her expression transforms from a neutral one into that of pure anger

"The two FullCastles, however.... that won't be possible! Do you know how much I've had to suffer because of that damn house!!"

Her agitation grows.

"Their ancestors were annoying enough, but Sirus, that annoying bastard!! If it wasn't for him, the Nightshade name would finally have spread far and wide! I'd tear his limbs off one by one if I could!! Add to that the fact that I've recently learned of him reaching the 4th stage, my anger is simply unquenchable!! How unfair this world is!! Would you even be able to understand my sorrow?!"

The gears in my head are spinning furiously. I need to somehow convince her to let both Sebastian and Sylvia go. The problem is, that she is currently in a strange state of mind. She keeps going on about her disdain for the FullCastles, and I can see the semblance of logical thinking she just displayed slowly slipping away. She starts hitting her own skull with the palms of her hands repeatedly.

"Damn them! Damn them! Damn them! The FullCastles should all die! Die die die die die die die die die die!!!!"

Having completely forgotten about me and the conversation we've been having. She directs her gaze to Sylvia and shouts.

"Starting with you!!!"

In a split second, she appears before Sylvia and grabs her neck. She raises Sylvia's body into the air, breaking the contact between the soles of her feet and the ground. A few gasps escape Sylvia's mouth as the oxygen flow to her brain is swiftly cut off. Soulweaver's free hand is still striking her skull to the point where blood drips from her head. Sebastian, who had been quietly observing the scene until now, shouts.

"Put her down!"

Soulweaver does not even acknowledge his existence. As her sanity seeps away, she presses on Sylvia's neck, threatening to break it. Sylvia does everything she can to free herself of the hold the woman has on her, but to no avail. Punch, kick, or bite, nothing loosens that grip. Sensing that she may kill Sylvia at any moment, I try to bargain once more, desperate for her to let my friend go.

"I have something to offer for their lives!!"

She attempts to reply, but only gibberish comes out.

"Nononono! She has to die!! Die die die! Argh, shut up! Shut up! Let me hear him out! No! No! Snap her neck! No!"

My ears may be playing tricks on my mind, but I can almost hear two separate voices simultaneously coming out of soulweaver's mouth. She drops Sylvia and batters her own head harder than her body can handle. She falls to the ground, still mutilating herself, but none of us dare make a move, scared we might trigger her. More blood flows from her head, and the strength of her blows grows stronger. She talks to herself.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shutshutshutshutup!!!"

Eventually, she freezes completely, stands up and looks in my direction once more. Having regained her composure, she speaks to me.

"Sorry for that embarrassing display. You said you wanted to offer something, right? What could you, who is like a baby in front of me, possibly have to offer!?"

I tremble as her gaze falls on me and her words reach my ears. Her current appearance can only be described as grotesque. Her head shape is deformed from the intense blunt force trauma she has subjected it to. Streams of blood cover her entire face and seep into her eyes, giving them a deep red color. This accentuates the air of insanity that her appearance evokes. Perhaps to quell her madness, she now munches on her fingers with enough force to expose the flesh.

As she examines me and waits for my reply, I understand that with only one wrong word, it will all be over. If she loses her mind again, I doubt anything I could say would convince her to pull herself together. This is the moment of truth. My next sentence will decide everyone's fate. I reply, my nervosity clearly displayed on my face and my entire body trembling with fear.

"You said my soul was unique, right? W-what if I gave it to you in exchange for everyone's lives?!"