The barrier cried out again. Not a creaking sound, but something much louder this time. A *gugii*—the sound of something heavy being stretched to its limit. In front of Gratinée's castle walls, Toast Hakushaku stood with both arms spread wide. White light seeped through the gaps in his scorched-brown armor. That barrier—the light wall the Earl had been maintaining alone since last night—was bending sharply under the direct impact of Necro's decay wave. Yuuki looked up at the sky. The black haze had grown even denser. The density was different from yesterday's first wave. He could tell all too clearly that Necro was beginning to accumulate the next attack. "Lecipi, what's the situation?" Yuuki asked. "The cracks in the barrier are increasing. There were three yesterday, but now—" Lecipi's words trailed off. There was no need to say more. The cracks running across the barrier's surface were multiplying before their eyes. Four, five, six. Like thin ice fracturing, the fissures spread vertically and horizontally. From the edges, wisps of decay seeped out, beginning to stain patches of the stone pavement a dull gray. "Let's think of a countermeasure again," Yuuki said. "Well, if I list the options... First, we could try using flame peppers to nullify it through heat—" Lecipi began. "That's the one that just turned to smoke when we tried it on the last wave, right?" Lecipi cut himself off. Yuuki, Hiroshi, and Takeru all grabbed their heads at almost the same moment. All three of them leaned forward at nearly identical angles. "Next!" Yuuki demanded. "Second option: use Momo's peach-based magic to disperse sweetness and neutralize the decay—though the basis for this is pretty thin," Lecipi offered hesitantly. "You're saying the basis is thin yourself?!" Takeru shouted. "It was hard to say!" Lecipi protested. "Is there a third option?" Yuuki asked. "There is. The third is... um..." Lecipi trailed off again. The spirit fell silent. It seemed less like hesitation and more like he was searching for words. "...There isn't one," Lecipi admitted. "There's no third option?!" Hiroshi wailed, tears streaming down his face. Takeru jabbed Hiroshi in the ribs with his elbow. All three of them groaned in unison while clutching their heads again. Caramel Hime approached from a distance, clutching a small bottle. Her golden hair swayed in the wind. "Um, I was thinking maybe we could use caramel sauce to reinforce the barrier," she suggested. "That might actually be worth trying—" Yuuki began. That was the moment it happened. A strong surge of decay burst from the barrier's surface. The shockwave spread across the plaza. Caramel Hime instinctively raised her hand to shield herself, and in that motion, the small bottle flew through the air. Not dropped—it truly flew. The wind pressure sent it completely airborne. *Crash!* The bottle shattered on the stone pavement, and golden sauce scattered everywhere. Caramel Hime straightened her posture. Her ears were slightly flushed. "...I didn't drop it," she said quietly. "You didn't?!" Momo asked. "It flew. Dropping and flying are different things," Caramel Hime insisted. "What's the difference?!" Momo demanded. Laughter spilled from everyone present. The tense atmosphere softened, just a little. That laughter froze in the next instant. Five more cracks suddenly appeared in the barrier. From six to eleven. The fissures spread like a net—vertically, horizontally, diagonally. The entire light wall shuddered, and the Earl's feet slid backward, one step, then another. No one said anything. ◆ Necro moved. With emotionless precision, he slowly raised both arms. An ash-green aura swirled around him, and the decay's presence converged at a single point. Denser than before. The density was completely different. "A serious wave is coming!!" Lecipi shouted. *Zuuuuuuuuuun—!!!!* Necro swung his arms down. The decay wave crashed into the barrier. The light wall bent violently—yet the Earl didn't collapse. He poured strength into both arms, planted his feet firmly, and red liquid seeped through the gaps in his armor, but he kept facing forward. The barrier's cracks spread further. Fissures ran across the stone pavement, and dust swirled into the air. "I'll reinforce the barrier!" Caramel Hime cried out. She ran forward. Avoiding the shattered bottle fragments, she wrapped the remaining sauce around her arms and approached the Earl's side. "Hime, if you get too close—!" Yuuki called out. "I understand," she replied. Her amber eyes gazed quietly at the Earl's back. Despite her gentle demeanor, something in the depths of those eyes remained unwavering. She didn't stop moving. In another corner of the plaza, voices called out for evacuation. Splashes of decay leaking from the barrier's cracks had begun falling at the plaza's edge. Patches of stone pavement turned dull gray. "Please, everyone, run! Hurry!" Hiroshi shouted, guiding the residents. Takeru ran in another direction, herding children toward the walls. "Momo! This way—" Yuuki called, turning around. Momo wasn't there. In the distance, he saw a pink short bob. Momo was cradling a small child. She held the crying child to her chest, but she couldn't move. Decay splashes were falling all around, and every direction had gray stains. There was no escape route. "Momo!!" Yuuki shouted. Yuuki ran. But there was distance between them. The width of the plaza. Decay splashes were falling continuously, and he couldn't run straight. Then— "Momo!!!" Toast Hakushaku's voice rang out. Yuuki saw it happen in an instant. The Earl released the barrier. He lowered both arms—completely deactivating the barrier—and kicked off the stone pavement. His large 185-centimeter frame moved at an incredible speed. His scorched-brown armor reflected the light as he positioned himself in front of Momo. The next decay wave came. The wave Necro unleashed pierced through the now-unprotected space. The sound wasn't an explosion. It was heavier, duller. The Earl's body took the full brunt of it head-on. "—!!" Momo's voice caught in her throat. No sound came out. A voiceless cry escaped her lips. Still holding the child, she froze. The Earl's armor began to change color. The scorched-brown surface turned gray, gray, gray. Like a stain spreading, the color changed from the edges toward the center, slowly and inexorably. Decay was consuming his body. The Earl staggered. His legs trembled. Both knees began to buckle inward. Yet he didn't fall. Slowly, he turned around. His eyes met Momo's. The Earl smiled. It wasn't a forced smile. Not a sneer. Not a triumphant grin. Just—genuinely satisfied. For the first time, his usually cold gray eyes seemed to reflect something warm. Then he knelt. His hand touched the stone pavement, and he collapsed. His large frame fell slowly to the side. His armor struck the stone with a sound that echoed across the plaza. ◆ Momo didn't cry. She gently set the child down. With trembling hands, she stroked the child's head once. That was all. Nothing more. Her face looked like it might crumble, just for a moment. But she bit her lip hard—and pushed that expression away. Slowly, she crouched beside the Earl. Light particles began leaking from his body. From the gaps in his gray-stained armor, white, warm particles floated upward one by one. They drifted slowly toward Momo, as if they knew where they belonged, moving in a straight line. It was the Earl's remaining magical power. Momo held out both hands. Palms facing upward, ready to receive the light. The particles gathered in her hands, wrapping around them gently, settling into her open palms. They were warm. Soft. Nothing like the violent decay that had been raging moments before—the temperature was so gentle and peaceful. Momo gently closed both hands around the light. The plaza fell silent. Hiroshi, Takeru, the residents—no one could say anything. Lecipi floated motionless in the air, his light flickering, but he said nothing. "...Momo," Yuuki called out. Only Yuuki spoke her name. He approached Momo and crouched beside her. Unable to find words, he simply placed his hand on her shoulder. The hand of a seventeen-year-old rested on the small shoulder beneath the pink short bob. His warmth transferred through his fingertips. Momo didn't brush his hand away. She simply faced forward and slowly nodded. Her head moved down once. That was all. But it felt like it truly reached him. Yuuki felt Momo's body heat through his palm and said nothing. There was no need to say anything. At a distance, Caramel Hime watched the two of them. She said nothing. She simply watched quietly. In her hand, a single fragment of the broken bottle remained. All the sauce had scattered away, leaving nothing inside. Yet the Hime gripped that empty bottle again, her fingers turning white from the pressure. ◆ Yuuki stood up. He left Momo with his companions—Hiroshi came to her side—and turned to face Necro. He hadn't given up. There was no feeling of surrender in him at all. If anything, something was burning. Deep in his chest, around his solar plexus, something hot swirled in a vortex. He surveyed the remaining ingredients on the plaza. There were still unused ingredients on the supply cart. Flame peppers sent by Red King, spices from the Spicy Kingdom, peach candy Momo had brought this morning. He would cook. Yuuki moved immediately. He sliced bread, layered ingredients, and finished his first sandwich. A spicy creation with thinly sliced flame peppers. His hands, marked with burn scars, moved in practiced motions to assemble the bread. He stood before Necro and offered it. "Try this. It's spicy and hot. But it's a flavor that warms your body," Yuuki said. Necro didn't move. His emotionless eyes looked at the sandwich, then he opened his mouth. "Caloric intake complete. Consumption not recommended. Combat continuation is the priority," Necro stated. His voice was mechanical. Devoid of warmth. Yuuki's feelings, the barrier the Earl had maintained, everything was processed as "data" and finished. Yuuki made a second sandwich. This time he added the Earl's secret seasoning. He used every drop from the small bottle that had fallen beside the armor. A complex blend of sweetness and umami—the flavor the Earl had cherished. "This is a flavor someone cared about. Try it," Yuuki said. "Additional data recorded. Nutritional value shows no special notes. Emotional value—cannot be measured. Invalid," Necro responded. The same emotionless tone. The same processing speed. Yuuki's hands felt heavier. He made a third sandwich. He had peach candy that Momo had given him. He pulled it from his pocket and crushed it on the stone pavement. *Crunch, crunch*—the peach candy became small fragments. He mixed them into the sandwich. A sweet aroma spread. He remembered Momo's face when she'd pushed this at him saying, "Hey, hey, try this!" "This is the flavor of my friends. Please accept it," Yuuki said. "Excessive sugar detected. Consumption not recommended. Energy consumption efficiency may decrease," Necro replied. Three times. The same tone. The same speed. Everything became data. Yuuki's hands released the three sandwiches. They fell slowly and landed flat on the stone pavement. Still warm from being freshly made, the sandwiches lay there, eaten by no one. He tried to make a fourth. He tried to move his hands. They wouldn't move. His fingers wouldn't obey. His palms felt heavy and numb, and the motion to grasp the next ingredient had vanished somewhere. The guide of taste—the spirit Lecipi, whom he'd been summoned to save this food-colored world—couldn't deliver his cooking. No matter how much heart he poured in, no matter what emotion he infused, everything was converted to "calories" and "data" and ended. Yuuki knelt down. The cold of the stone pavement transmitted through his knees. Both hands presse