Theresia's Solipsism

by Reactionist

At the last ripple of the Water Gate City's battle for freedom, Subaru had thought this Arc of his story was over.. But a new enemy shows up that makes him rethink his choices in this fight against the Witch Cult. Having a revived redhead that was more disturbed, protective, and more suicidal than him, act as if he was her second grandson was not helping. It wasn't helping at all.

2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Road Of Understanding A Loop

The roads of Priestella, The Water Gate City, were nothing short of a spectacle in design. The sight of the roads would never grow old even on citizens that live day by day walking on them. For a tourist or a visitor, these roads were a sign, for the infrastructure represented deeper meanings than people care to notice.

Highly polished, cleaner than the rest of the world outside of its boundary, magnificently chiseled with patterns and shapes regal enough to accommodate strolls from nobles and royalty alike.

These roads were the only symbol left standing of the magical atmosphere this great megacity used to subject. The only grand appearance that hadn't been touched by the Witch Cult's delirium.

Walking down the vast roads of this city was an experience. As soon as you step foot on them, you are entering another world. Cleaner, vaster, happier, rich with an atmosphere of kindness. Merely walking upon them is a privilege.

For one young man, this was simply adultery theatrics. None of the mandatory feelings one should've felt when passing upon the city's sacred grounds were felt by him.

As a matter of fact, the black-haired youth seemed to ignore the entire magic of Priestella City, speeding over its roads and ignoring whatever was left of its striking marvels, much less care for the roads he stepped upon.

The boy appeared to be in pain but his speed never slowed. His breaths were hyperbole in their intensity, he appeared to be hissing in pain while fighting off the need for air from his overworked lungs.

He pushed his legs to the far extreme as he ran. So much so that the pain almost felt like it was always a part of his body, like he was always meant to feel the burns every time his clothing grazed against his wounded skin. His bandaged leg felt numb even though it really shouldn't be. Just hours ago, he had used the leg that was butchered irredeemably to flee Regulus' attacks, but his adrenaline softened that pain. As of this moment, it felt like his bandaged limb was cut off from his nerve system. He couldn't feel anything except numbness.

The wind was feeling more of an obstacle that was standing in his way. the youth felt the need to pick up more speeds just so he can crash this imaginary barrier and enhance his speed.

His lungs almost gave out from how far he has been pushing them ever since the start of his run.

On a couple of occasions, he felt greater pressure to stop the sprint just because he couldn't breathe than from the pain of his wounds like his half-carved leg.

But he wasn't focused on that. He was focused on a lot of things that didn't make sense. He had no knowledge at all to make up for what happened to his friends.

Swallowing had become a habit of his. The sense of relief when his spittle ran through his throat and chest was simply cathartic for him. As disgusting as this description was, it wasn't far from the truth. His throat was there; intact in a straight line. His body was whole. He was one with himself.

No blade was sharing the spot between his ribcage and his heart.

Just the thought made him fight the urge to drop and ball in on himself. The sensation- the need to keep himself intact in one piece to stop nightmarish pain was engraved into him. His mind felt like it had been in two places at once yet it was stuck in his skull. As if his own brain being in his skull was an impunity. Upon feeling the blade cut through the epidermis, Subaru realized how wrong it felt for him to have a head, a mind, or lungs to suffer from. He shouldn't even have a chest to hide these lungs. His throat shouldn't be linear and in one piece like it was right now. He shouldn't be able to swallow his saliva so freely.

It felt completely wrong that he was alive right now. He almost missed the feeling of the blade carving through him like bread just to feel something that made sense.

Maybe it was his tired muscles being pushed forward by his sprint? Or was it simply every part that had wounds on his body numbing his senses?

It didn't matter. Subaru just ran as fast as he could, because the pain he felt when running past his limit in a panic was far far more relieving than dealing with the memory of his last death in this city.

Ever since he had returned from death, Subaru took off running immediately away from the self-serving tomb of Regulus Corneas. Dashing as fast as an arrow through the wind towards one destination.

"Go away, Natsuki Subaru."

"I'm fine..." he whispered through huffs of air.

"Don't be a lair, my knight."

"I… I'm alive, see?" his whisper seemed unheard as he battled the wind.

"... Don't let me see another failure of my weakness, Natsuki-dono."

"I'm… not burning…" the boy sobbed incoherently as he continued to run.

"... You don't know what he's been through… You killed yourself, you bastard!"

"... I shouldn't be alive..." His final whisper, a proclamation that held no emotion in his tone, seemed to be the defining statement of the boy's expression, and the reason for why he was running so intensely.

A discussion was something Subaru had thought was easy to navigate and weave through. But how could he go about explaining away this sudden feeling of fear that struck his core? How could he explain the amount of damage the act of breathing caused him?

Why was his chest in one piece still? A rabbit might tear his insides apart but he would always end up visiting Echidna's dream world to regain his senses. A murderer might end up cutting his stomach clean but his pain would be forgotten once Emilia provides her smile.

But when it came to this one… The one where this psychotic hypocrite of a girl used him to pass the blame of her crimes… Why did this death feel like it was his own fault? Why did it feel like he couldn't run away from it?

Why? Why didn't anything make sense again?

"Why did you throw your life away, just now?"
"You killed yourself, you bastard!"

"Neither did the others, Jinoa. This one I wanted to get rid of, personally."

'Can something please make sense?!'

The youth's scream was only heard within the confines of his brain. Desperately he begged for anything to be less confusing right now. As he raced against the wind itself, he was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't hear the shrieks of the companion he had left behind.

"S-Subaru-GASP-STOP!"

Through the rush of adrenaline and confusion, he could only yell in shock as his arm was firmly pulled back by unimaginable strength. Breaking his momentum and breaking his speeding dash by dropping him to the ground on his back.

"...AHGK~!"

Subaru withered on the floor in pain, his senses flaring as his heart pounded through his ears.

'G-GOD DAMN IT! My wrist is done for…Ghk~!'

"I-I'm so sorry! Subaru, are you okay? Please tell me where it hurts!" the same shrieking silver-bell voice invaded his bumping ears as he started regaining his senses from his fall. He was breathing heavily as his lungs took to overworking themselves again while he was resting on the floor.

He held his wrist in pain as the pull her half-elf strength had provided was bone-shattering.

He wouldn't ever be angry at Emilia but goddamn, she just broke his arm. Or at least that's how it feels!

Standing above him, also breathing heavily with a sheen of sweat covering her face, Emilia stared at him in guilt and panic. As soon as she tried to stop the boy's mad dash across the roads of the city, she finally caught up to him to at least make him bump the brakes a little bit. It turned out her knight wasn't heavy enough to withstand her strength. And now the boy was dropped dead on his back with his wrist seemingly giving him great amounts of pain.

Emilia quickly knelt with her hands over his arm prepared to initiate the spirits around them so she can heal him. She had the most apologetic of expressions.

"I-I'm sooo sorry! L-Let me heal it-"

"No time!" Subaru shouted, pulling himself up on shaky legs, and turned away from Emilia to continue his run towards a destination the half-elf didn't even know.

"W-Wait, Subaru! Where are you going?! Why are you not taking care of your wounds?" she tried to grab his arm once more but flinched when she noticed the way he was holding his wrist in front of him. As he ran towards the road ahead, she couldn't but follow him and ask her questions in a panic when she reached his side.

She had to admit, for someone that had various wounds and signs of exhaustion, he was abnormally fast.

And it worried the half-elven princess. He was like an animal trapped, scrambling to save itself from danger quickly. That expression on his face was something she hated to see, how scared he appeared like this was foretelling of bad things.

Emilia included this with the fact that her knight was completely ignoring her as if he had no time before this disaster happens.

'What is going on with him?! What are you doing Subaru?!'

She could only shriek her questions within her own mind, for the boy had started another sprint for his destination and left her behind once again.

She immediately gave chase as fast as she could.

She gave chase until he stopped at the foot of absolute destruction.

"Wh-What is this?" Emilia uttered in horror, staring at the catastrophic damage to the Main Town Hall in disbelief and fear. She stood behind Subaru, now on his hands and knees gasping for much-needed air.

"So… This place was like this before the three showed up? That means everyone is…" Subaru was mumbling as he gasped loudly while resting on the ground. It appeared he was having a great headache from his mad dash towards the Town Hall, leading to him resting his forehead on the floor with a closed expression.

"S-Subaru… Aren't you worried about our friends? They must've been attacked!" Emilia looked at him with a great deal of puzzlement and worry. She didn't understand why he seemed to be more calm than worried about his friends.

"Our uh… Our friends are not here, Emilia-tan… Ghk~!"

"Subaru!"

The boy tried to utter reassurance to his companion but his wounds regained some of their effects as his adrenaline began to die down.

Obviously, Emilia was kneeling by him as soon as he failed to stand up on his shaky legs, her healing magic already activated in her palms and hovered above his wounded leg.

"Why did you bring us here then, Subaru? Everyone must be still fighting right now. You are in no condition to help like this!" Emilia stared down at him, taking note of how his eyes seemed unfocused.

"Heh…" He chuckled weakly while resting his head on the hard ground and closing his eyes.

"You're nauseous." Emilia glared down at him.

"... I can't move a single muscle… How pathetic of me…"

The half-elf ignored his useless whispers and focused on healing the smaller gushes and cuts on his other leg.

"You shouldn't have run all the way here. What made you do something so stupid in your condition? You could've rested back with me…" the girl hissed through her own wounds and seeped more magical energy to heal the boy's minor cuts, even the little spirits she called upon to help found pity on the boy's state.

"Emilia…" he whispered hopelessly, falling asleep and growing more relaxed.

"Mhm, I'm here. I'm riiiight here, Subaru," Emilia lamented not being able to pat him on the head because her hands were busy healing his condition. The more she looks over him, the more Emilia grimaces in guilt at the shape of his body with wounds and bruises all over him. Even his neck seemed gushed.

'I should've noticed this before. How could I let him self-indulge in his worry and make him go around in such a condition?'

"Honestly… You need to be more careful, Subaru. Let me help you next time. Our friends can take care of themselves, they are capable people just like you!"

Although her words and gaze were warm and passionate, she didn't see the comforted and happy expression she expected from him. All she got was the look of panic crossing his face, seemingly shooting enough energy through him to break away from his nauseous energy-deprived state.

With an expression that made Emilia fear for his mental state, Subaru withered his fatigued arms to push himself off the floor and on his knees.

"S-Subaru! Stop moving and let me-"

"I-I'm all good, Emilia-tan! You've done enough to make me feel new!" Subaru denied the lady's pleas and gently pushed her concern away with a smile. Quickly getting to his feet and offering her a hand to pull her up.

"Don't be absurd! Your smile is fake, Subaru, I'm not a fool! You were looking scared just now, weren't you? Stop putting on a face every time you see me concerned you idiot and tell me how to help!" completely done with his act, the half-elf let her nerves get the better of her character and she let out a most righteous feeling of reprimand on the boy.

"... E-Em-" Subaru tried to utter something but he was just shocked still as the lady stared at him down.

"I trust you, y'know."

Her eyes focused on him as her expression turned more natural and warm. Subaru seemed to have calmed down from his panic and was staring at her with surprise.

His silence seemed to have served Emilia some courage. Her expression turned more confident and sincere, further confusing Subaru's tired confused state.

"You said our friends weren't here? Do you mean no one got hurt inside of this big building that collapsed?" she gently murmured her question, slowly leaning and grabbing his hand with hers.

The warmth from her grip sent electric sensations akin to dopamine into his brain.

He was more focused than he ever was since the start of this loop, and Subaru's desire to have his mind cleared up from everything he's been dealing with seemed to have been fulfilled as Emilia's gentle nature and kindness filled him with tranquility. Something he was desperately looking for.

"Y-Yes," she gave his hand a squeeze of encouragement, Subaru started muttering slowly, his gaze was unfocused as if his mind was starting power through manual amounts of information.

"Okay. I believe you, Subaru. I don't know how you know this but I trust your word, is that clear, Subaru?" Emilia gently placed her palm on his dirty cheek to make him look her in the eyes. Her smile widened as a glint of shine seeped through his sharp eyelids.

"Emilia…"

"Mhm?" Emilia beamed knowingly and stepped back as an expression of ease appeared over the boy's face.

"... Thank you, Emilia-tan." Feeling tired out of his mind, his heart pounding in his ears and head causing sharp tugs of pain in his brain. His wounds seemed to have kept from burning him with every move he made. And his muscles are now feeling heavier than some of the rubble around him.

Subaru was more than fatigued to high heaven, but that smile of hers always manages to bring him back down to where he should be.

He had a smile on his face that expressed how tired he was and yet it showed Emilia that he was at least calm enough to not do anything crazier on himself now.

"...Okay," Emilia brightly expressed and stepped forward with a hand on her chest, seemingly prepared and excited to follow his every word.

"Where should we go and what are we going to do, Subaru?"

The boy's eyes narrowed as her gaze fell on him with adoration and readiness. It was the first time he's been calm enough to think about this.

Everything from his last loop came back to him in a heartbeat. His breath hitched as he remembered everything.

He was too late to come back with Emilia, a rogue group of blade wielders seemingly a triplet had massacred everyone in a nearby emergency shelter that was housing the leftover forces of the resistance against the Witch Cult.

The dark assassins…

"That's it!" he suddenly turned from Emilia towards the streets on the side of the combusted Town Hall.

'Anasta- Echidna's lazer beam was leading us through there!'

"What should we do?" Emilia repeated, firm and trusting.

Subaru nodded towards her with a grateful expression as he pointed towards the roads on the side.

"I think everyone is in a shelter down nearby, let's look for it there before we lose anyone!"

Emilia's eyes went wide as he proclaimed hurriedly, "lose anyone? Are we going to face another enemy down there?" she questioned in an attempt to understand what her knight was jumping in more clearly so they can prepare.

Subaru simply shook his head, "We can't waste more time, we have to go before the shelter is attacked."

The silver-haired girl appeared perplexed and highly concerned but couldn't help but nod her head at the urging knight.

"I get it, you can't say. But let's get to this shelter before whatever the danger is hurts any innocents." Although she was still baffled, she had to show her trust in her knight and go by his word since he was asking for her help.

The black-haired knight and silver-haired half-elf nodded their heads with looks of conviction, telling each other that they both were united in facing this threat. Even if the girl seemed to know next to nothing.

"Good."

The pair were suddenly interrupted by the voice of a rigid little girl that was nearby.

"Then you can tell Betty on the road about this threat, I suppose."

Looking behind them, the pair faced a blonde little girl wearing an elegant dress and leaning on a big chunk of the fallen rubble with her arms crossed. She seemed more amused by the two than surprised.

"Beatrice…" Emilia whispered in relief and smiled towards the little girl.

The spirit removed herself from the wall and walked towards the pair with a small grin, "Of course it would be you two making all of this ruckus. Betty was sent her to wait for returning forces, I suppos- AAAHHH WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Ruining her regal explanation and ignoring how the spirit girl seemed to be covered in blood, Subaru took her in both arms and swung her in the air with a happy laugh.

"Beako! You're alive!" he shouted passionately while pulling the girl into a tight hug.

"Of course Betty's alive, in fact! Those degenerates have nothing against a noble spirit like me, I suppose."

"..."

"Subaru…?"

Dropping her smug facade, the little girl spirit glanced towards Emilia which exchanged the same confused look with her as the boy held onto Beatrice and fell silent. The spirit patted her contractor's back and ruffled his hair as he sniffled. Emilia looked on with sympathy.

"There, there… What a troublesome contractor you are," Beatrice whispered into the crook of his neck and patted his back. She had a smile that expressed warmth and appreciation.

Subaru hugged her even tighter.

"So we still don't have a handle if we'd won against the cult?" Subaru asked in surprise while jumping over some rubble and a few boxes. He talked to the spirit that had latched on to his back and had her legs wrapped around his upper torso to keep a hold on him. Emilia followed them with a focusing expression as she looked for any enemies they might encounter on the road.

"Mhm, Betty was stationed to wait at the destroyed building and wait for everyone's return, I suppose." The little girl answered him with confidence.

Subaru thought back to his first loop. The placement of each of his friends seemed to be all over the place. This confused him greatly since he didn't know how much of a difference there was between the time he'd arrived at the Town Hall in both his current and last loops.

Now that he thought about it, he was maybe thirty to forty minutes early from his previous arrival at the Town Hall. So that could probably explain why most of his friends aren't in the shelters yet unlike his last loop. Come to think of it, he didn't see Julius or Reinhard in the shelters at all. Those two would've been a great help in defeating the blade wielders.

"Beatrice, if the shelter was ever to be attacked forty minutes from now, would they have called upon you or anyone else to come and aid them?" Subaru asked while hopping over a few familiar stairs and running down another street with Emilia two steps behind him.

"... If there was an attack on the last aid center, the westerner girl would've concocted a beacon to alert all of us to come back immediately, I suppose," Beatrice answered with a suspicious gaze aimed towards the back of his head.

Subaru quickly made a mental note of this. "This explains why Beatrice wasn't near the Town Hall last time. She ended up at the doors of the shelter because Ana- Echidna called for everyone to come back and help out! Maybe Anastasia used another beacon before I and Emilia had gotten there? That's why everyone was placed so weirdly?"

Sighing in relief, Subaru increased his running towards the shelter unconsciously.

"I have a lot of time to prepare for the hooded guys then! I just need to find Reinhard and Julius!"

"... You seem to know the way to the secondary base the western girl overtook very well, I suppose." Beatrice seemed to muse lightly with a narrowed gaze to her front.

"Huh?! You weren't leading him?" Emilia asked while running up to their side and staring at the two with a puzzled look.

"... Don't worry, Emilia-tan. Beako just says the silliest things!"

"I'm not a child, in fact!" the spirit replied in a peeved manner while hitting the boy on his head.

Subaru laughed Beatrice's suspicion off and managed to outpace Emilia once again by jumping over a few boxes and heaps of glass on the streets.

"Hm," instead of yelping in surprise, the spirit seemed to handle her ride on the acrobat's back with dignity and composure, even looking at him from above thoughtfully.

"You seem to be in a better state than what Betty's expected, I suppose..." the spirit muttered as her lips curled into a small smile.

The black-haired young man chuckled between his huffs of air as he jumped over another abandoned cart in the opening of an alleyway.

"Do I… Really seem like a kid that needs this much attention?" Subaru inquired while gasping for air. His sprint did not hinder in speed.

"Hm, if you'd been hurt while Betty was absent, I wouldn't leave you alone even when going to the bathroom, in fact," the spirit girl held a smug smirk while looking down at her exhausted contractor. Even though he couldn't see her, she showed a lot of warmth while patting him on his head.

"Wait… That's a yes?" Subaru could only shout indigently.

Following this interaction between the running contractor and the spirit latched on his back, Emilia decided to let out a small giggle while running behind the two.

"... Betty's glad you're alright as well, in fact. Bubby would be distraught if something were to happen to you, I suppose. Thanks to this, Subaru risked fighting without Betty, in fact. If you've learnt anything out of this, don't let yourself be captured again, I suppose." Beatrice spoke moodily while giving the running half-elf the most simple of glances behind her shoulder.

Emilia only met her with a gentle smile and a nod, "Mhm, thank you. I'm sorry for making you worried!"

"In particular, Betty was only a little bit worried for you, in fact!" With a huff, the girl turned her head and looked to which direction her contractor was headed towards, leaving the half-elf to smile at her from the back.

Emilia's smile dimmed away once she inspected the little girl's figure more aptly this time. The blood and mud covering her ornate dress showed that the spirit hadn't awoken to sleepless dreams.

To Emilia's surprise, it seemed the exhausted boy in front of her took notice of this fact.

Running around another corner, Subaru seemed to slow his sprint as his lungs demanded a rest once again. While he jogged lightly around a few wrecked carriages on the street, Emilia managed to catch up with him and slowed her own pace so she remained by his side. She saw him catching one of the spirit's hands and tucking it lightly against his neck in an off kind of hugging gesture.

"Thank you, Beatrice. it seems like you were hard at work during my absence. I'm sorry about everything. I only ever cause you problems," the black-haired youth whispered gratefully, surprising both of his companions.

But one of those companions seemed to regain their composure quickly as they sighed and wrapped their arms around his neck, pressing themselves closer to his warmth.

"I'm pretty used to you causing me problems, so you don't have to worry about that, I suppose. No, still do worry a bit about it, in fact. Worry about it, and give me your thanks, I suppose."

Subaru only gave a chuckle at her haughty yet warm tone of voice, nestling his hair under her chin as she hugged his back, "Yeah, yeah…. But, even if you were hard at work, it was a bit over the top. Crushing the entire building is a bit too much."

"Huh, Beatrice did that?" Emilia stared at Beatrice in bemusement while jogging beside the tired knight, "Do you know how much it'll take to repair a building like that, Subaru?"

"With Beatrice's pocket money, I know it'll be a big project that'll take a few decades," he answered humorously while patting the spirit's head that rested atop his.

Said spirit allowed this action but kept a pouting expression while yelling down at the two jogging companions she was forced with, "What are you two saying with those serious faces, in fact!? What Betty did is different, I suppose! Betty saw that building only after it became rubble, in fact!"

"I said I know. If you'd struck it, we'd be able to hear it from really far away. Such a cute girl."

Subaru cackled as Beatrice tried to defend herself from the false accusations. To this exchange, Emilia said, "Eh, eh, which one is it?" and continued her run beside the two.

Subaru's breathing seemed to grow more restless once again, as he increased his speed from the half-assed jog.

"If Beako was waiting at the remains of the Town Hall, then… What happened to Otto and the others?" Subaru asked while coming around another corner.

Emilia noticed how he'd been increasing his speed at a certain point of their travel, he even sprinted at top rush once they had come across a well-lit road with chiseled arts in its walkways.

"Hm…" the half-elf hummed in silence while following his roundabouts across the fourth alley.

"Hmm, explaining that will be complicated, I suppose. But, those who were in the City Hall were able to escape safe and sound, in fact."

"Thank goodness," Emilia wheezed in relief as she landed from her jump over a discarded wooden box on the side of the street.

Subaru smirked at the half-elf in realization, recognizing his style of jumps anywhere. The half-elf seemed to pick up speed as she ran before him for the first time, she seemed adorably cheerful.

The lips on the boy thinned, remembering the location of his destination. In a disquieting voice, he asked while navigating the barren city, "Beako… Have none of our teams returned from the control towers except for us?"

Emilia suddenly slowed down her sprint and glance behind her to hear better, brows raised in curiosity.

"You weren't the first ones to come back from their mission, in fact. There are a few teams that didn't return, I suppose," the spirit replied with a tone of composure.

"So… Everyone is still at it with the cult?" Subaru muttered, slowing his pace even more until the air touching his skin became a soft wind breeze instead of a compiling force.

We are reaching the shelters much earlier than when Kirarata-san gave his announcement of victory.

The boy's eyes widened in realization, starting to calculate the differences between his loop's events and the present.

Everyone managed to beat the cult out of the towers last time, I was just too late to reach them before… the assassins…

Subaru stopped to a sudden halt, surprising his companions. As he stood motionless at the edge of another road.

"What's wrong, I suppose?... Ah! You just need to go down this turn and we'd arrive at the shelter, in fact," Beatrice nodded her head, thinking he was confused about directions.

She couldn't see that Subaru's expression now held signs of contempt. His breath was shallow as he felt the full force of his lungs taking advantage of his break from running.

"Subaru? Why are you glaring at the road?" Emilia chirped, standing beside him with a look of concern.

"It's nothing… I just have a bad feeling is all," the boy said in a tone unreadable for the two girls. Both looked to one another with glances of bewilderment.

In reality, Subaru's face contorted to that of a pained grimace as he walked around the alley and entered the same impoverished, dirty buildings which surrounded the street in a circular shape.

Ultimately, his fists stopped shaking once he stepped closer and closer to the same spot he was to be kneeling on in another future. His loops were more than just past pretenses of what might happen should he take a certain route. These loops were not just nightmares he was living because of some sin he'd committed. They were more than warning signs for him to prepare and observe.

Subaru may have forgotten, but as Emilia and Beatrice stared at him from their respective places on his back and to his side, they could only give him pity.

His loop… That one death… It meant so much more than just 'another failure to gather information'.

Don't be a liar-

Go away, Natsuki Subaru-

I already failed my master, don't let me fail her even more by letting you fall here-

Ch-Cheer up?! Run, Subaru-dono!

You did better than we all expected, Natsuki Subaru-

When he stands in the same spot between an empty walkway and another empty walkway, can he stay there to cry for even a little bit?

Does it really mean anything if he mourned in the area where he found the bodies of his two best friends in this world?

Does that mean he had thrown a life away? … He'd turned on his word months ago to the lady coated in shadow?

His life, that loop, whatever the description he'd use from here, it all meant one thing.

Every death, every loss mustn't be ignored. His own life must not be forfeit for a simple task to gather information.

"I'm sorry, Otto, Garfiel..." Anastasia, Beatrice, Wilhelm-san… Emilia… so many more… I'm so sorry.

He'd mourned the lives of everyone he lost in his previous "life". He mourned because his loop was a real reality that happened and probably is still happening without him.

He can't just ignore that.

And he couldn't have ignored his hand growing more warmer by the second, a gentle weight covered it and led him through a world of electric passion as the warmth filled his nerves with comfort.

"E...milia-tan?"

"Subaru..."

Eyes unfocused, expression hollow, and mind away from the game of life, the boy whispered the name of the half-elf that held his hand and showed him pity and worry in her expression.

Deep within the blurry world, his tears provided, the boy could only feel the sensation of Emilia holding his hand in support, and the very comforting ruffles of his hair that sent him a great deal of affection.

"Beatrice?" Subaru finally uttered the name of his second companion in relief and surprise.

"Why are you this way, I suppose?" the girl huffed regally, still attached to his back without care playing with his sweaty locks and patting his head to her heart's content.

"It would do you better if you just told Betty and Emilia what's troubling you, I suppose." the girl huffed another whisper as she moved to hug his neck while closely rubbing her cheek against his head, "Stop dealing with things on your own, Subaru."

All Subaru could feel was the gentle yet firm squeeze Emilia's supporting hand gave him.

"Mhm, Dumb Dumb," a silver-bell chirp broke his unfocused facade and turned it into cackles of libration.

"W-What's with that abuse, Emilia-tan~? I was mourning the loss of our allies just now y'know. You are making fun of a good person." the boy hoarsely tried, and failed, to cheerfully play them off as he wiped his eyes.

"I know," the silver-haired lady nodded with a tired grin, "I know he's a good person, he's the best, in fact."

"Don't steal Beako's lines now… uh," the boy seemed to choke a laugh that was hindered by his sob.

"I'm sorry." Subaru hoarsely admitted to the girls, his arm falling to his side and his tone revealing how tired and confused he was.

"I'm sorry for being this way," he said again, eyes aimed to the floor.

He couldn't see the silver-haired princess from his side and the regal bloodied spirit on his back shot him smug grins filled with their love.

"Mhm, you're a dunderhead."

"I agree, I suppose."

"Damn, you girls are amazing at making a person feel better uh," Subaru's retort was cut short as someone came to greet them with a foxy smile.

A green-haired girl had just come out of the grand one-story building that housed a good margin of the city's populace and resistance forces towards him and his companions.

Subaru's face turned to one of serious thought as he faced the glowing merchant queen, alive and well.

"My my, Natsuki-kun~. I didn't expect such an emotional welcome from ya' bu' tell 'f ya need a hug or somethin'. Wouldn't feel righ' to leave a kid cryin' so deeply fer meself~."

At the lady's sensational teasing, Subaru could only drop his suspicious gaze and let out a tired chuckle.

"I'm glad you're okay… Anastasia-san," and with that, Subaru has finally reached the shelters again.

And this time, Echidna wasn't bleeding in Anastasia's form.

The shelter had been reimagined into a barracks.

That was Subaru's first thought once he braved entering the linear building with his companions and the western lady.

Various rooms and areas had become stations for wounded and or unconscious fighters and citizens. The sacrilegious cloaked healers of the city scrambled from patient to patient, room to room, trying to best heed their duty as users of the blue. Complete halls became galleries for knights and fighters to place down whatever armor or weapons they could consider using in this war.

It was a real contrast to how lively a ten-minute arrival difference really causes.

What was once a crimson sea of blood soaking through marble floors has now become a nursery home with lively activity.

Maybe too lively.

"Anastasia-san, is everyone going to a big fight or something?" Emilia chirped her question innocently as she looked around the shelter at the activity of the soldiers and knights.

"T's understandable I'd say, the siege is still underway and the control towers are still held by the Witch Cult." the petite girl answered composedly while walking through the shelter's doorway.

"Everyone is still out there fighting still…" Subaru muttered with a troubled look on his face.

"I had already told you, I suppose," Beatrice sighed and dropped off his back to the ground.

It was incomparable for the boy, this difference in time he'd created.

In the last loop, he'd taken a long over-do break with Emilia after taking care of the church. The pair rested and waited until an announcement sounded of their victory over the Witch Cult and freeing of each of the Control Towers. Subaru and Emilia did not move from their spot at Regulus' tomb until the events of the war had concord without them.

But since he took initiative to sprint away as fast as he could, that time he'd spent resting with Emilia at the church and the tomb no longer applied as he'd used it. And now he was in the shelter before any announcement of victory or any of his friends returning safely from the control towers.

Nobody here knew that victory would be on Preistilla's side. Their extermination teams would return with the good news of freeing the city from the dreaded cult and the meeting point would no doubt be this shelter.

Garfiel and Wilhelm fought the undead corpses brought by the cult in one tower.

Julius and Ricardo fought the Archbishop of Gluttony in another tower.

Priscilla took her own entourage to face the Archbishop of Wrath in the third control tower.

Subaru and Reinhard moved to conquer the Archbishop of Greed in the fourth and last tower.

With our victory secured, then that means I'm useless being early here… I have to wait for everyone to get back since they will win against the cult without me…

"That's another troubled look, I suppose."

The boy was kicked out of his revere as the disappointed firm spirit girl kicked him in the shin with a glare.

"Wha..."

"Don't ya worry 'bout our people, Natsuki-kun. They're a capable bunch."

Subaru turned his attention from the little girl towards the merchant queen that held her hands crossed and a smirk of confidence.

"Uh… Pardon me for feeling left out, I thought some of them would've come back by now," Subaru nervously rubbed his head.

"Seems like ya were able ta get Emilia-san back without any problems, Natsuki-kun. The Sword Saint told me, so I wasn' worried about that," grinning at the boy and his entourage, the petite girl glanced at Emilia with a happy smile.

Subaru seemed surprised by this news, "So Reinhardt was able to rendezvous with the others without any issues."

"He came whooshin' outta the sky. Right now, he's lookin' to help any of the other capture teams with the Witch Cult…. Or rather, I should say that he took Ferris-san to visit the evacuation shelters," Anastasia seemed to be thoughtful on which job the Sword Saint had taken to when he arrived at her shelter moments before.

"Visiting the shelters….. That sure is the duty of a healing arts user."

Even if they'd repelled the Sin Archbishops, considerable efforts would be needed to repair the damages which the city had received. Felix's role would be quintessential for the quick recovery of the functions of the city. It looked like Reinhard was now being used in place of Ferris' own feet to get about…

"This doesn't make sense..." Subaru muttered in his head as he remembered the flashing image of Felix's corpse being with the ones here in the shelter when the dark triplet attacked.

The sword guys… How am I going to deal with them?!

In shock, Subaru realized how clueless he truly was in this situation as he had nothing short of an objective to do with the information he'd gotten from his previous life.

"I'm sorry, I also caused him a lot of trouble…. But, what happened to you, Anastasia-san? Like, with the color of your hair, or with that building we came across?" Emilia questioned suddenly from the side, cutting Subaru's thinking spree short.

"I only dyed it for a lil' strategy. Besides, it didn' pay off….. on the contrary, it went bad as far as I could see."

Anastasia sighed as she twirled her hair around her finger, and looked annoyed by something that Subaru picked up on.

"Wait, if all of us went to the watchtowers… What happened to the City Hall? Are the others alright?"

The petite woman answered him with a cherished grin, "I'd say we were already prepared ta abandon the buildin' so the Cult was disappointed for a minute… Before completely beatin' us back."

"... You dealt with the attack on the Town Hall? Wait no, you expected it," Subaru proclaimed thoughtfully to which Anastasia gave a small clap.

"And as ya can see from my hair… I think you can guess the culprit, already."

The boy's frown of disdain told the merchant of the gears turning in his head.

"It was Lust, wasn't it? Capella's nastiness and her hatred for Crusch-san are reasons enough for her to do this."

"Indeed!" Anastasia clapped again in approval.

"So that's what happened to your hair and the Town Hall," he nodded, keeping in mind how her tone showed that she had prior knowledge of this attack.

Wait… knowledge…

"Anastasia-san!" Subaru all but shouted at the petite lady, surprising all of the girls around him. The boy had a manic look in his eyes as he stepped closer to the merchant queen who looked at him with a gaze telling of how weirded out she was.

"Mhm, no need to shout, Natsuki-kun. I'm right here fer Hoshin's sake," replied the petite girl with an amused grin while also having a very interested glint in her eyes.

"Anastasia-san, I need your help to learn about some people, and I think you're the only one that can help."

Subaru's suddenness to call for help, especially from someone like Anastasia, gained the attention and seriousness of almost each of the ladies around him.

"I'm the only one that can help ya, you say? Hm… Ah!" the foxy Kararagian clicked her fingers and winked at him, "Ya mean t' use my 'network' to help ya find out information on some folks!"

"S-Subaru! What are you getting involved in?" Emilia seemed heartbroken by the idea of her knight using such tactics on others, completely getting the wrong idea.

But Subaru only shook his head, "I don't want you to look through your network for someone. I want all of the information you have on them now."

Seeing his desperate glare, Anastasia narrowed her eyes, "Why the rush, Natsuki-kun?"

"..."

"Is this about the threat you were talking about with Emilia, I wonder?" the ornately dressed blonde questioned while holding her contractor's hand.

"Hm, Subaru didn't finish telling me about it, he just ran over to the Town Hall as fast as he could..." the silver-haired girl chimed in with a thoughtful look aimed at the knight.

Faced with the triple intrigue of each lady he had surrounding him, Subaru had to close his eyes and breathe in and out.

"Anastasia-sama, do you know anything about hooded people with black blades?"

At this, the petite Kiraragian and his elegant great spirit raised their brows at him in confusion.

"... Ain't they the Witch Cultists yer describin'?" the westerner answered, frowning in puzzlement.

"No, no," the youth shook his head while gazing up towards the ceiling of the shelter, his expression was unreadable to the three girls but they assumed he was thinking.

"See… There appears to be a triplet of really skilled sword fighters in this city right now. They have black swords and wear nothing but gray and black clothing to hide themselves."

At this explanation from the black-haired boy, Beatrice and Emilia simply honed their eyes on him with pursed lips and widened eyes of bewilderment.

Anastasia kept a sided frown as she bit her inner cheek in thought, "... So uh, ya got nothin' else to describe a group like tha'?"

Subaru sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The petite candidate gave him more than a few moments of staring at the ceiling to think of anything, her intrigue was clear on her expression as she held a small smile of patience.

What could be distinctive about these bastards goddamnit…?

Think brain… What could they do…

"... Oh!"

"There he is~," Anastasia noted with a playful grin, crossing her arms and waiting for the youth to give her whatever information he could. From his bright expression, it seems he caught something grand within his mind.

The boy seemed hesitant at first but he kept his voice low as he whispered his answer as if this answer was something so great and shocking people would start demanding it. As if he'd found treasure maps and was trying to hide them.

"You see, these assassins can use something called the 'Divine Protection of the Death God'." Subaru laid out his information and waited for the response.

… A response that would only come in the form of a stunned Emilia with her mouth agape, a contrasting baffled Beatrice holding his hand tightly, and a completely thunderstruck Anastasia staring at him with a ludicrous frown.

"... Ah," the boy awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, "... No dice?"

"Natsuki-kun," Anastasia's face became deadly serious, he could almost hear the spirit's facade breaking behind the merchant's mask as she glared at him, "Are ya one hundred percent sure 'bout that? Yer not makin' stuff up t' look cool or somethin'?"

"I'm telling the truth," Subaru answered her suspicious gaze with a glare oozing with confidence.

"... How do ya even know about these 'Blade wielders then? How'd ya find out they got this specific divine protection?" the petite woman honed on him with a dangerous glint in her gaze. Subaru couldn't handle how serious the girl had become.

Thinking about her question, he really should not have the knowledge that he has. There wasn't any way he could not lie his way out of this to move things along.

He did wince once a few memories flashed through his mind, however.

"I uh..." Emilia and Beatrice held frowns of deep concern as his expression dropped to one of pain, "I met them once before, you could say. And I know they are here because I saw them."

"You… Saw them?" Emilia muttered with a hand on her chin, "I don't remember seeing anyone dressed in black though..."

"Trust me, I did," Subaru answered Emilia with a desperate look.

The half-elf looked unsure and contemplative. But the petite girl in front of the crew simply looked irate towards the sharp-eyed youth.

"Will, if ya are tellin' me the truth-"

"I am."

"-then I don't got nothin'." Anastasia shook her head with a disappointed sigh coming out of her lips.

"... You didn't ever hear about a group with black swords and that protection before?!" Subaru seemed incensed by this.

The green-dyed hair turned her head, facing the boy's gaze with her own, "Even if what ya said is true, I nevah heard of such a group from my network… Which is why I can't help but doubt ya here, Natsuki-kun."

"Ah," Subaru seemed to calm his frustration and let his tense shoulders fall, "Your merchant network is one of the best… If you didn't hear about them, then they must be ghosts to you."

"Mhm, even though the Witch Cult has been able to hide themselves frem view, my merchant network could still hear of their work here and there… after the Cult's done their crimes of course," the merchant queen turned her ahead once again with an unreadable frown.

"I see… And you've never heard of cultists with that kind of description or divine power?" Emilia nodded along with the other candidate, her thoughtful look seemingly child-like.

"No… That's not it..." Everyone stared at the boy as he muttered in frustration, "These people are not with the Witch Cult. They are familiar with them maybe, but they aren't Cultists."

"So… They can help us fight off the cult then?" Emilia tilted her head and gazed towards him with a hopeful look.

Subaru shook his head and seemingly growled at nothing, "No… No, they won't, Emilia-tan. These people are murderers just like every Cultist degenerate roaming around right now."

The ladies' expressions seemed to grow more concerned, in Emilia and Beatrice's case, while Anastasia's eyes grew colder with seriousness once they'd heard the way Subaru talked about them. Noticing instantly how much hatred he harbored in his voice.

"So… They are a bad group that has such a strong divine protection and are in this city today but they are not associated with the Cult, I suppose?" Beatrice looked up at him with an ounce of worry breaking through her composed expression.

"Subaru… That sounds..." Emilia muttered hesitantly in concern but couldn't look him in the eyes.

"I know how it sounds… Just… Please trust me on this, okay?" he pleaded to the trio that gazed at him in disbelief.

"Natsuki-kun… I would'a helped if I could, but this group I haven't heard 'f before," the spirit inside of the petite girl shook both of their heads as she gave him her disappointing answer. There seemed to be compassion in the normally shrewd eyes of the merchant queen. Seemingly, the foxy spirit had taken sympathy and chose to believe the boy's outlandish claim.

"Betty hadn't heard about such an existence either, I suppose," the blonde rubbed her thumb in circles around his hand, voicing her own disappointment about her knowledge not being of help.

"S-Subaru… How did you meet with such a group?" Emilia seemed frightened of the answer but her concern for the youth beside her seemed stronger as she held his other hand protectively.

Her amethyst eyes seemed firm, the half-elf was demanding an answer.

Subaru sighed with a flicker of a grimace appearing on his face before doing so, "I uh… It was a long time ago, I was hiding while they wounded an innocent man," seemingly, the girls picked up on the way his voice quivered, "As cowardly as it was, I couldn't help but wait for them to leave. Once they did, I quickly got out and brought the man some help from a nearby spirit arts user."

"... And they couldn't heal the man, could they," Emilia asked softly, gazing at her knight with pity and sadness.

Subaru shook his head, unable to meet any of their eyes. His distorted version of events shaped him as a cowardly failure, but he needed to move things along.

"Well… That's what the Divine Protection of the Death God is, I suppose. The power to keep any wound on your enemy permanently open no matter what healing magic you use. Wounds from such a Divine Protection are rarely closed and even then, if the owner of the wound was in close proximity, it will open and bleed you out."

Beatrice's explanation was morbidly composed in contrast to the contents of what she had detailed. Subaru's hands gripped both of Emilia's and Beatrice's in a trembling motion. The black-haired boy seemed to be withering in either anger or distress.

I don't know what to do…

He thought desperately, without hope of seeing the next step to any plan he could come up with.

What do I do from here?

"Such a terrifying power… How do you always end up with these kinds of enemies, Natsuki-san?!"

Like an answer to his confused questions, Subaru raised his gaze upwards to meet with the newcomer to this conversation. He was faced with a most shocking sight that made his eyes tear up instantly.

"Eh, what's with that reaction? Am I finally being noticed as a vital part of your life, Natsuki-san?"

"Nah, I just have dust and blood in my eyes, that's all."

Subaru chuckled lightly as he rubbed his eyes by his sleeve, he'd almost lost it once he saw the person in front of him. Though he was clearly too wounded to stand as he was now, the Warrior-Grade Internal Affairs Official of the Emilia Camp limped against a wall towards them with a pained smile.

"I'm glad you're alright, Otto," Subaru said with a smile filled with warmth, surprising the gray-haired youth.

"Ah… Me too, Natsuki-san. I'm happy you made it with Emilia-sama safe and sound. It's quite pathetic of me to have gotten this injured even though your situation was more dangerous, really."

"I'm sure you've done your best, either way, I had a Sword Saint with me so I got a lucky break."

Seeing the two interact, Beatrice and Emilia exchanged tired glances, "These two are not honest with each other, I suppose."

"Isn't that normal for them…? More than that, how are your wounds, Otto?"

Facing Emilia while settling his back on the wall, the Internal Affairs Official seemingly sighed with a heavy breath, unable to stop his pained wince as he moved his wounded form as he faced the head of his camp.

"It seems that walking will be a little bit difficult until I have recovered, but apart from that, there's no visible trauma… But let us not worry about this now," the blue-eyed youth seemed to stop his pain-induced glare and gazed up to his black-haired friend with a serious look, "Natsuki-san, you aren't making stuff up about these guys, right? You wouldn't come and warn us if you didn't think they'll be trouble in the long run."

Surprised by the initiative Otto was taking even though so much pain from his injuries, Subaru nodded his head, "Yes. They are not good news."

Otto's gaze hardened, "A group of people that have wielders of such a Divine Protection are a great threat. Especially if they are non-aligned with the Witch Cult. They could be after something and are using the siege on the city to take it without gaining attention."

"Could they be aftah precious gems from Kiritaka-san's possession?" Anastasia mused while eyeing a certain area inside of the shelter.

"... They are not after jewels or any sort of materialistic stuff…"

Everyone looked at the black-haired youth in surprise as he voiced out loud.

"You figured something out, I suppose?" Beatrice inquired while squeezing his hand.

Subaru seemed to be glaring at the ground in thought, but his eyes were widened in a show that something came to his mind, something he'd been missing before.

"I… Think they are after Wilhelm-san… He did something to them or whatever," he explained in an offhand manner.

"Natsuki-san, I think there's more to it than just that," Otto's eyes widened as it seemed he'd figured something out, "Wilhelm-san's deceased wife-"

"The previous Sword Saint?" Anastasia seemed to catch on with what the boy was referring to.

Subaru beat them both as his eyes widened.

The power my wife, Theresia, wielded before me.

"... She had the same Divine Protection as well…"

Silence fell on them as everyone began contemplating how these pieces fell together.

"Natsuki-san, Theresia Van Astrea was resurrected as a walking corpse by some dark magic from the Witch Cult… Wilhelm-san had taken to fighting his own wife to save the city… These dark blade people… They might actually have a connection with the Cult. Whether it be an alliance or not, they are too close with each other."

As Otto explained, Subaru seemed too lost to understand, unlike the two candidates and regal spirit who'd lost all composure with shock painting their expressions.

"What are you saying, Otto?" Subaru questioned the wounded Interior Official.

With a face more expressive of his turbulent emotion, Otto gazed at his friend with a frown.

"Natsuki-san.――I think you should be able to find your answers in the next shelter from here,"

Noticing the lowered tone of his friend's response, Subaru lowered his own voice in retribution.

"The next shelter is…?"

Otto nodded his head at the response while pointing towards the doorway,

"One of the Sin Archbishops is being held there."

Subaru's breathing hitched.

"What's this, is it you, commoner? How dare you show your wretched face in our presence. That impudence is worthy of admiration beyond awe."

He'd left the shelter which had been made into a field hospital, and headed to the next shelter following Otto's words.

Compared to the former shelter, the scale of that shelter was quite small. If the previous shelter was like the parking lot of a shopping center, this shelter was like a bicycle parking lot at best.

Immediately after he'd gotten the vague impression that its purpose, even if it was a shelter, was probably different, the woman in red who'd set herself up at the entrance of the building spoke that out to him.

The woman's name was Priscilla Barielle.

Among the Royal Election candidates which had gathered in the city, she was someone who lacked a cooperative personality completely.

Even so, even someone like that was undoubtedly a reliable ally in this situation. In addition to that, it was Priscilla who was in charge of the unknown monster, Sirius of "Wrath".

The ability to destroy that threat ever so splendidly, and make it back was a result that had to be praised sincerely.

"That you don't like my face is your personal subjectivity, so that's okay, for now, good work to the both of us. I'm relieved that you came back safe. I'm not flattering you," the boy spoke rhetorically, earning a huff from the beauty in red.

"Mine personal subjectivity is the aesthetic sense which has to be respected the most in the world. It's not even worth evaluating what you have to say….. Well, it's fine. However, there are no words you can say in defense for your blindness in saying safe upon seeing mineself."

"Ah? Are you injured or something?" he asked with a tilt of his head to gaze upon the beautiful candidate.

Priscilla was sitting on a chair at the entrance of the shelter, fanning herself. Looking at her upper and lower extremities, he couldn't find any injures or anything like that.

No, it wasn't about injuries or not. Priscilla's white skin didn't have a single scratch on it, even the dress she wore didn't have a speck of dust or dirt. If there had been any differences before and after the battle, it would have been regarding her neck accessory and that her hair had come loose.

"Your necklace and hair clip, have you lost them somewhere?" Emilia chirped from his side.

"Hm. So even a commoner with such an undiscerning eye will take notice of it if it's a woman? Even though I don't like that boorish way of calling it a necklace. It seems to bring resentment."

To Emilia's naive and innocent words, Priscilla snorted in response.

"That you weren't safe, in reality, you were talking about your accessories…" Subaru deadpanned at the girl.

Certainly, she'd now lost her luxurious gem-encrusted necklace, as well as the hair clip which kept her orange hair in place. The aroma of her charm had increased when she'd let loose her hair that was normally held in place, what a sinful woman she was.

To being with, Priscilla's radiance was rather like that of a poisonous flower. If you approached, you'd end up getting stung.

"So, I'll pass on getting stung. Why are you bothering to stay at this shelter? I didn't think you had such an admirable personality as to volunteer to keep guard," Subaru asked with his lips pressed together.

"Foolish japes. Mineself shouldn't have to engage in these kinds of jobs that commoners do. It isn't mine actual intent to be in a place like this, but I cannot allow others to gaze upon mine sense of beauty now. So I avoided the public's gaze as a compromise. Besides, Al insisted," Priscilla huffed again and rolled her eyes.

"I think he'd try to quickly deny that if he were here."

Whilst he imagined the exaggerated motions of denial from the iron helmet, Subaru directed his gaze towards the shelter's entrance. He didn't catch any glimpse of said iron helmet, but he'd heard that he was in this shelter. In other words, he wasn't outside, but rather, inside the building―― next to the Sin Archbishop.

"Is Al keeping guard inside?" Subaru asked.

"'Tis so. We don't know what an evil thing like that would get up to were we to leave it alone. Hence why Al is keeping guard over them. When it comes to him, he ought to do a good job," the red-dressed beauty nodded her head and yet kept her gaze firm away from the shelter.

"…You didn't think he'd try to kill them. That's unexpected."

"He can do so if he wants. Mineself wouldn't stop him."

Had she felt bored answering him? Priscilla yawned whilst covering her mouth with her fan. That seemed to be her way of expressing indifference at Subaru's question.

She had no intention of stopping him if he entered the building. Subaru gazed at the entrance of the shelter and placed his hand on his chest where his heartbeat had gotten slightly faster.

"Subaru, if you're scared to go in, you needn't force yourself to…."

"Indeed, in fact. I don't think we'll get anything out of it, I suppose."

Emilia and Beatrice both gently expressed their opinions to Subaru who'd stopped in his tracks. He felt like he wanted to let himself be coddled by their concerns. However, as soon as that thought popped into his head, he noticed Priscilla's cruel gaze looking over at him from the corner of his eye.

It was a gaze that regarded all of Subaru's doubts and hesitation as a boring farce.

Whether he went forward or backward, Priscilla's evaluation of Subaru likely wouldn't change. For Subaru, who'd still been given the lowest evaluation that was completely unsparing, that he did not care about.

He didn't care about it, but he regretted that the two who were with him had also been evaluated that way.

"I'm going, we need to understand everything we can get."

"..." "..."

Subaru made up his mind, and the two of them didn't give their opinions for or against it. They just stood by his side, so as to respect his will.

Then, with the two of them accompanying him, Subaru stepped into the dark shelter. Priscilla wasn't even looking at their backs anymore. It was rather like her, he would say.

With the parched pitter-patter sound of their footsteps, they moved forward into the stone building. Soon, they could see the end of the passageway, ahead of the path which turned to the left,

"Is that you, Bro? I heard the Princess' voice, so I thought she was talking with someone."

Crouched down in the passageway, carrying his Blue Dragon Sword on his shoulder, the iron helmet; Al was awaiting them. When he saw Subaru and the others heading towards him, he turned his attention to Emilia.

"Oh, it seems like the Miss too is alright. Good work, Bro."

"It's 'cause Emilia-tan's wellbeing was my minimum requirement for victory. Moreover, regarding you, I've heard you ran into many problems. Priscilla's irrationalities, in particular, were crazy."

"Ah, you're being completely serious. Still, I too was wondering what was going on with her this time. Well, no, I'm almost always wondering what's going on, so I've got no persuasive power."

For a little while, Al twisted his neck in an environment which felt like it had devoured him, he clapped his shoulder with the ridge of his Blue Dragon Sword and abruptly directed his gaze towards the back of the passageway, "It's a little bit late for you having come this far, but….. Did you come to speak with the Sin Archbishop?"

As he spoke, Al moved to the side of the corridor and made way for them. A door came into view ahead of them when they moved further into the passageway. Most likely, the Sin Archbishop was locked up in there.

Suddenly, the back of Subaru's neck started to tingle, complaining out of a tense feeling.

"The Sin Archbishop is within. They're being restrained so that they can't get up to no good, so for now, I don't think it'll end up becoming a massacre. Also, I'll give you just one piece of advice."

Whether his intentions had been transmitted, Al sat down with a plunk on that spot. And, whilst he pointed to the door at the end, only with his head, he said, "I hope you don't lose sight of yourself whilst you speak."

"OK, don't hesitate to help me if something happens."

"If that comes to pass, I'll send in the Princess, so no matter what happens, she'll send them straight up to heaven."

Exchanging a final conversation, Subaru and the others said goodbye to Al and headed towards the door. There was something drifting about that made them feel a strange sense of oppression in regards to the door which led to the closed room.

Having arrived here, even if it was trying, he couldn't avoid it, and so with that determination, Subaru grabbed the doorknob and forcibly pushed the door open.

It was a narrow room in which the air flowing in it smelled of dust.

Its light source was small and dim, even for a shelter, it only had the barebones. It was a narrow room that could fit at most five or six people in it if you jam-packed it; the lack of air could be felt inside it.

And, in the middle of this room.

"Aha. So you finally come, shitty knight."

On top of an old chair, with her whole body completely bound by chains, was supposed to be the monster―― Sirius awaiting for them.

But the sight before him set his heartbeat on fire and his blood ran cold.

"Not a single move, I suppose!"

"Don't do anything hasty, I'm scatterbrained at the moment so please remain where you are."

Even though Beatrice and Emilia had instantly picked up on the appearance and description of the person before them, the two can only prepare their magical arts each aimed for the cloaked man's head.

"Man, you're a real fucking sissy fer makin' girls work as your guards."

Faced with the familiar pressure along his chest, Subaru couldn't help but swallow his saliva once more. Phantom was the pain, still there, alongside his panic and fear as the boy encountered a most surprising sight.

Standing over the fallen form of the bandaged Archbishop of Wrath, holding his steel black blade and eyeing Subaru straight through his black cowl was the frightening figure of the youngest of the triplet assassins.

"You…!" Subaru uttered in a low voice, unable to keep his fists from shaking.

"Me." The boy did not seem to care about the two magically capable users aiming right towards him. In awe, Subaru watched as the short compulsive hooded man put his hands together and held his head up high, those black holes under his cowl facing forward.

Subaru's eyes seemed to gaze at the secondary figure in the middle of the shelter room. A bandaged woman in tight chains seemed to wither slightly on the floor. She seemed to be in a daze, muttering and murmuring underneath her bandage incoherently as if she was in limbo.

"... Mh… Mh… My Petelg-"

"Eyes up here!" the forceful voice of the dark-clothed assassin echoed across the shelter room in authority. The dreary hooded assassin spun the black blade in his arm, his black holes aiming towards the shaken Subaru.

"Don't worry about Little Miss Wrath over here, her mind is busy with a little something I slept down her drink."

Surprise painted the faces of Subaru and the pair beside him, catching the meaning instantly.

"You drugged her?" Emilia asked, glaring at the assassin with a disturbed glare.

"Didn't wan' her to interrupt anythin', y'know." the cloaked youth shrugged.

"What are you doing here…?" Following Subaru's question, the cloaked assassin moved his head back to let out a hysterical laugh, unconcerned by the looming magical storm hanging over him.

"Surprised now, aren't ya? Weren't you talking about me and my family with such confidence before?" Subaru blinked rapidly at the assassin's retort.

The cloaked young man laughed again, appearing entertained by Subaru's shocked expression and seemingly relaxed enough to sheath his black blade.

"Yeah that's right, I heard what you said about us back in that crowded place. It's not nice to have someone know of your existence when you just want to disappear, y'know? It's kinda… annoying." the assassin clicked his tongue and crossed his arms.

"You were watching us, I suppose," Beatrice stated with a hardened narrow of her glare.

"Hm, you could say that. I was just told to watch out for any… inconvenience." The villain seemed content with his nonanswer, keeping his silence without elaboration.

"H-Hold on! How did you get past Priscilla and Al?!" Subaru asked, stuttering in panic and fear at the realization. This man managed to walk under the noses of two very capable fighters without an issue. Subaru's heartbeat increased to a higher level once he also realized that the assassin managed to sneak by him from way back in the shelter somehow.

H-How?!

"Well it wasn't that easy with that bimbo bitch outside! But I got my ways, you know. There's a reason why no one knows about us, we didn't keep that going by playing the game as amateurs," the brash cloaked boy shrugged his shoulders and held his head high with what the trio assumed was pride.

"What's the plan, Subaru? We got your back!" Emilia voiced from the side, her firmness not overplaying the worry in her tone.

"H-He shouldn't be here. How'd he get in without Al noticing?!" the black-haired knight stuttered with an aghast look, unable to comprehend what was happening.

"Man, I didn't think you'd be this spooked by seeing me, it kinda feels good."

Subaru's frightful expression contorted, his hands froze from their constant trembling ever since he saw the black steel of the assassin's blade.

"What the hell do you want?" Subaru questioned in a snarling tone, his glare finally overshadowing his fearful expression.

"Good. Keep that face-up, Jenny would love to break it once she gets here." the jaguar-looking assassin approved of Subaru's new look by a simple nod.

The name spoken, however, seemed to bring Subaru to the brink of a frightful breakdown. His eyes dilated and his lips quivered as if to keep a scream from coming out. The black-haired boy appeared to be holding in his puke as if he'd gotten sick.

Subaru's stomach churned as he remembered the name. The deathly aura of its owner's anger and the cruelty in their tone. Subaru wanted nothing more than to ball up once again as his chest began burning.

"You met her… I've seen that expression on people before, but she's not supposed to let any loose ends roam."

"It seems your friend, whoever she may be got rusty, in fact," Beatrice growled, glaring intensely with her hand up and magical attacks ready to be sent towards the short cloaked man.

Like a tiger cranking its neck, the shorter dark-cloaked man tilted his head to look at the small spirit. He stared at the composed Beatrice in silence. Observing the spirit through his two eye-shaped holes, like a statue with no movements.

Subaru was busy dealing with his phantom pain to notice what both Emilia and Beatrice foresaw.

In one slim second, the black statue of leather and stone-like appeal showed an aura of turbulent emotion.

A strong whirlwind of death overcame the room's pungent atmosphere.

So strong the killing intent was, that Beatrice foresaw to commence the battle first.

"Minya!"

Shadow spears appeared before her, shooting a split second after their creation. The aim was for the frozen man in the middle of the room, reaching him in a time frame akin to non-existent. That's when the dark assassin made his move.

Analyzing. He was analyzing and observing their every move. Like a tiger in a corner, he oozed his dangerous intent towards his rivals to make them panic, to make them falter and reveal their plans in the first move of the fight. He was toying with them from the beginning.

Beatrice thought this as soon as she witnessed the black tiger bounce out of her magical attack's way with grace and simplicity.

Not a second after he avoided the shooting stars aimed for his heart, the assassin dashed across the short room towards Beatrice, it only took him one second.

The spirit girl had no chance to avoid his attack, he still hadn't unsheathed his blade but his aura is telling of the strength he carried. He was aiming to kill.

When the time slowed for the half-elf and the spirit, it seemed to start for their third member.

"PROVIDENCE!" A shout of rage-filled the shelter's room.

The hand of darkness had no troubleshooting from the kneeling position of its master and colliding with the side of the assassin that couldn't see or dodge it.

"Wha…?!" Beatrice stuttered in shock, staring at the empty space before her where death had once stood.

"Beako!" The enraged shout of her contractor kicked the spirit out of her revere enough to look at him.

"S-Subaru..." the little girl whimpered, unable to shake off her fear.

Taking her by the hand, Subaru quickly pulled the spirit girl closer with a look of pure anger on his face. Quickly carrying her in both of his arms, he paid not a single glance towards the hole in the shelter wall where his invisible hand punched the assassin as he ran out of the room's door.

"Close the room, Emilia-tan!" he ordered the half-elf as he ran beside her out of the door.

"Yes!" quickly and with a brave face, Emilia turned with her hands extended, ready to encase the doorway in ice and trap the assassin.

Subaru turned for a split second to see if she was following him or not. Only to see a sight most frightening it forced him to stop his legs immediately.

Drip…

Drip…

Drip…

"EMILIA!" Subaru's scream of horror enraptured every ounce of the shelter's empty hallway, kicking off the echo against the walls.

"Oh shut it!" the boy heard the mutter of annoyance from the assassin.

The display of savagery was nothing short of criminal. Deciding to stay still and watch the aftermath of his one second of delay, Subaru finally learned what the phrase 'faster than sound' was meant to represent. Emilia's form was dropped on the floor, a pitter sound echoed as her head collided with a stony step.

And the assembly of her blood ran the two-step stairs with elven blood in a show of horrific depiction of a miniature waterfall. The source being the empty hole that appeared in her chest.

Subaru and Beatrice stared with expressions of horror at the lifeless Emilia, but their eyes soon moved towards the one who took no more than a second to kill her.

The dark tiger holding Emilia's still-beating heart in his blood-covered glove, dripping with every bit of gore and chunk of the princess' insides.

Subaru's eyes teared up in disbelief, his mind repeated the word 'how' but he knew what happened. The speed this guy had was not a joke. All it took was one simple second, one where Emilia was preparing her magic and turning around to shoot it across the small hallway… And all of a sudden she had a hand going through her chest and back.

Her look of shock would remain, frozen on her corpse forever.

"Simply put, I just need to kill you all since you know of our existence somehow," his voice sounded inhumanly bored, as he crossed over the dead woman's corpse and threw her heart behind him like unneeded trash.

Beatrice continued to stare at the unmoving body of the half-elf in disbelief, unable to remove her gaze as it blurred with tears.

But before she could notice how closer the killer was getting, the spirit girl couldn't help but yelp in pain as her world turned at a velocity so harsh she had to close her eyes and wait for impact once she landed on her back.

"Wh-What are you doing?!" the spirit girl shrieked, unable to contain her grimace as she looked up from where she was thrown. Glancing at the back of her contractor as he faced the assassin that was calmly ambling towards him.

"Run… Beako," Subaru hoarsely said, turning around with tears coming down his cheeks and an expression Beatrice couldn't detail from her position.

The spirit's horror intensified as her contractor readied himself before the murderer with an aura of determination surrounding him.

And before she could shoot her minya towards the killer, aiming to move him away from the boy she wanted to protect, an invisible force crashed against the ceiling of the shelter. The subsequent fall of rock and dust caused the cave-like structure of the shelter's hallway to fall on both the assassin and Subaru, creating a wall of rocks between them and Beatrice.

Subaru used his authority to cave the walls on himself and the killer, throwing Beatrice away from the fallout so he could save her.

Once she'd realized this, the spirit let out a scream, "Subaru!"

She only had a wall of rock and stone to answer her.

"I'll save you, in fact. Wait for Betty, please!"

The spirit girl ran out of the shelter to get the red candidate and the one armed-knight stationed outside.

"You seriously are a pathetic man," Subaru faced the bored assassin with a tearful expression, the expression of a man who'd lost everything.

"I mean, who would bring two girls to save his ass, and then want to act like a hero when one of them dies?" the assassin tilted his head, seemingly mocking Subaru through his black mask.

"Shut up! Shut the hell up!" Subaru screamed emotionally and moved in to punch the man.

"Oh yeah! You are pretty stupid as well," the assassin laughed as he caught Subaru's fist like it was a ball, "Whatcha doin' man? Trying to punch someone that tore through your girl like a pillow? Are you fucking high?!"

The man shrouded in darkness sounded humored by the entire situation, cheerful and taunting towards the broken boy before him. He seemed to drink the sight of Subaru's tears as he held his fist in place.

"You know… I made it painless for her? I'm not completely heartless bro."

"To hell with you, you fucking bastard!" Subaru full-on hollered as he pushed the ringing in his head to implode to a massive proportion once again.

The assassin was punched by another invisible force further away from Subaru.

"Man… That trick is fucking annoying!" The downed man grunted as he picked himself off of the wall.

He loomed over the cold body of the silver-haired girl for a second, before hearing oncoming footsteps pattering toward him.

"Come on now… Don't be excited," Subaru's second attempt at a punch was easily caught again by the assassin.

"You simply don't get it do ya?" The man sadistically crushed Subaru's hand with indomitable strength.

Subaru instantly went on his knee and screamed in agony as his bones were crushed by the assassin. As if it wasn't enough, the pain of his hand remained even when his fist was freed. The feeling of a hardened force in his hand prevented Subaru from feeling any sort of relief, it might have been his mutilated broken bones, providing a permanent source of agony.

"I'll ask this once, pal."

Overly friendly, the assassin loomed over Subaru's form, his killing intent still present around him, creating a force of whirlwind that pressed Subaru's lungs against his chest.

He didn't care for what he's done, Subaru realized. This assassin was a true murderer, using his abilities and power to torture and kill people without remorse.

"I want you to tell me exactly how you found out about us."

Subaru's lips formed a nasty snarl, "Why don't you just kill me and be done?"

"Oh I will be doing that, but I need to know if my siblings' position was compromised to anyone else." Subaru was picked up and placed against the wall forcibly by the short man.

All he cared for was his siblings, the three cruel anomalies that haunted Subaru's last few hours, their brutality and inhumanity. It all disgusted him as much as it churned his insides how close he was to Emilia's removed heart.

"All you care about… Is yourself… No one else matters to you..." Subaru muttered under his breath, feeling the pain of his hand slowly fade. He spoke to the man holding him with a low, empty tone.

"You said it," Subaru felt the man shrug through the hands on his shoulders, "I don't take pleasure in this, but I really don't mind it. The weak don't matter at all. You simply have to be strong to survive, those who die deserve to die. No one matters if they can easily die."

As the dark-masked assassin preached cheerfully as if he was talking to a friend, Subaru's breathing hitched to a halt.

No one matters if they die…

Subaru's entire form was still stock against the wall of the shelter's hallway. His breathing stopped as a burning pain filled his chest. The phantom pain was there, but this burn was something different. Something that completely pulverized any ounce of agony inside his nervous system from his crushed hand.

His eyes wandered once over the fallen deflated organ on the floor at their feet.

"Do you… Know what it's like… to die?"

"Hm, you ain't trembling no more? Too late for a heroic moment bro."

Faced with Subaru's monotone question, the assassin mocked the boy's change of attitude and removal of fear. He could see Subaru's rage brewing from the first tremble.

And he didn't care.

"Do you know how it feels... to die uselessly?" Subaru repeated without emotion, his head low and eyes stuck to the organ.

The short boy chuckled, "I don't really car-"

"My death was useless… But everyone you've killed… Do you know how precious their lives were?"

Gripping the murderer by his arms, Subaru finally raised his head to meet the two circles of darkness with his own. Looking inside of the black mask, Subaru couldn't find anything that appeared human. Just a sea of blackness covered by a leather cloak. The assassin seemed taken aback by Subaru's dilated gaze.

"You kill people and make yourself out to be stronger than them when all you do is hide from them like a rat!" Subaru grew hostile and clenched onto the killer's shoulders.

The madman quickly unclasped one of his own arms from Subaru's shoulders, unsheathing his black-steel blade and aiming it for Subaru's throat.

"Don't fucking make another stupid move like that again, weakling!" He hissed as he faced Subaru with one final ultimatum, increasingly disturbed by the sheer madness in Subaru's eyes. As if the black-haired boy didn't care about his own life anymore.

"You will answer my question before Jenny comes back or else I swear to god I'll make that little girl of yours burn-"

"You won't make it to Beatrice… Jal."

"What the fuck!?" The short masked boy shouted in outrage, his grip on Subaru's shoulder weakening instantly as he heard his own name coming out of Subaru's righteous scream.

Subaru held on to Jal's shoulders, remembering every single instance of his past loop and what this boy and his siblings did to Otto and the others. Remembering every single one of their names and the way they compelled their cruelty with different factors of the world being cruel toward them. Acting as if they are fighting back against some oppressive force when in reality they are just murdering civilians.

Seeing the black blade, handled by the furious masked boy, Subaru couldn't help but hiss as his lungs closed down once again. The burns of his traumatic last death played the phantom pain across his chest once again. He wanted to throw up and close himself into a ball once again.

But Subaru felt something more than that.

"How'd you know my name?!" the masked assassin shouted into Subaru's face, his grip on the blade tightening.

Subaru's painful burns played high, he couldn't stop the tears from coming down even though his rage didn't allow him to feel sad.

"You don't know how it feels like..."

"How did you know about us?! Answer me you motherfucker!" the agitation could be seen on the masked boy even by Subaru.

Subaru's mind went numb with a paralyzing brutal assault on his entire nervous system being waged inside of him. It didn't matter that his chest was burning, it didn't matter that his hand was mutilating disgustingly.

All that mattered was the small instance of agony he willingly put himself in. With this painful tug on the roots of his brain, Subaru's lips moved with one final repitition.

"You don't know how it feels like to-"

"Man fuck this!"

The murderer screamed, fearful, shaking. He embedded the blade into Subaru's chest and moved back without removing it. The sight in Subaru's eyes was something akin to a terrifying madman. The masked figure appeared to be heaving up and down, his shoulders seemingly tense from the face-off. He was scared.

All Jal heard was the sound of something heavy getting crushed… And then a dripping sound filled the cave.

Drip

"Wha..."

Drip

"No… I'm not supposed to..."

Drip

Jal's shock wasn't portrayed by his mask but his gaze moved from looking at his chest to hauntingly glare towards Subaru's body.

The assassin fell to one knee, unable to breathe anymore and losing all of his energy instantly.

"Y-You..." His voice was gurgled, probably with blood as he glared up at Subaru's snarling grin.

"Do you know what it feels like to die, Jal?"

"Motherfu… ck..."

Thud…

The assassin's body fell, blood pooling beneath him over the cave's hallway instantly.

Subaru had to laugh at the irony, as the pain-numbing his brain finally dissipated, all he could feel was the hot sensation of being stabbed in the middle of his chest. He worked to disable his invisible hand, dropping the heart of which had been removed from the hole in the assassin's chest.

"How fitting is this… I hope you're not too angry with me copying you…" Subaru spat at the masked body a foot away from him. He heaved and wallowed through the painful stab wound.

He could probably live through this.

But Emilia's heart remained motionless before him, taunting him.

Subaru screamed in agony as he pulled the black blade from his innards.

The blood on the blade grizzled down below his feet, mixing with the various pools of blood that moved in harmony together. One pool was for an innocent girl that was led here by his incompetence, and the other was that of a murderer that showed no compassion for human life.

Subaru laughed again.

And then started coughing up blood.

The blade dripped with his blood but it wasn't enough to end him just yet.

Subaru placed the tip of it on his neck, gripping its handle with his one good arm.

One more thrust and it would be over again. He learned nothing. This life was forfeit and he failed to accomplish anything. He closed his eyes.

Failure again…

Before blood could be drawn from his pressing on his skin, a sound invaded his head.

What is that…?

Subaru grimaced tiredly as a noise echoed across the cave system, jarring him out of his thoughts.

Looking around as his chest bled, Subaru decided to give a few of his final moments to figure out what that noise was. It didn't sound human or organic, it was beeping.

His eyes followed the invisible trail of sound, his ears guiding him through the echo.

It was something shining… And it was placed under the assassin's belt.

"A… Metia?"

Subaru moved off of the wall, dropping into the trails of blood with no energy to move back up. He laid on the floor, feeling every part of his body tearing apart because of the pain.

But his hand was over the assassin's torso, right on the familiar golden device that was used for communication.

Subaru's breathing grew weaker, his energy was leaving him. It took a considerable amount of effort to open the pocket watch-like device.

And the caller started speaking.

"Jal, this is Jen. You and Jinoa did splendidly in keeping everyone away from the sword fight. But I'm afraid I couldn't do anything to stop the Sword Saint from intervening. Had it been anyone else, I could've stopped them. But not this guy."

Subaru's fading consciousness digested everything he was hearing. The voice behind the call was that of his killer in his last loop.

Why did she sound disappointed?

What did Reinhard intervene with?

What was Jen watching?

Subaru's mind asked him so many questions, his diminishing focus couldn't keep up. All he could do was hear more.

"... Theresia Van Astrea is dead, little brother. She's finally dead for real this time. No black magic to keep her alive by other means or anything. She's truly dead. The Sword Saint killed her since the old man refused to strike the finishing blow… And it looks like nothing changed.

NOTHING CHANGED!"

"Jen is watching… Wilhelm's wife?" Subaru spat out blood, the angered screaming of the girl filling the cave through the Metia.

"It doesn't matter anymore… For years we've waited for this. And now… It turns out everything we've been doing was useless.

Theresia is dead. And the Death God still haunts us."

"What the..." Subaru threw up chunks of his innards as the cold began taking him in.

He preserved every ounce of his energy to keep his ears focused on the call.

On Jen's frustrated growling.

"I don't know what you are doing right now. I don't care if you aren't answering me because you're crying again. Stand up, get your shit together."

"Good thing she's abusive… I don't… Uh… Think Jal can answer her," Subaru held the slightest hint of a grin through the blood he was coughing up. He remained tact and silent as to let the clearly furious Jen to continue her rant on the call.

"Get rid of the shitty knight. I don't care how he knows about us anymore. We don't need the Witch Cult or anyone else knowing of our activity.

Get your ass over to the big shelter beside the destroyed hall. Once every one of the city's defenders retreat there, we will start cleansing."

"She… wanted to kill everyone..." Subaru growled through puke and blood as his insides collapsed.

"I want every single person to remember how they failed us today. Theresia's death was supposed to be our ticket to freedom but the old man screwed this up! We will kill them all, Jal. You can take care of the children like always. Make it as painful as you can."

How twisted can one bitch be?!

His hands shook in fury against the dirt, his mind played the image of every single body this woman and her 'brothers' left behind. Of his friends and allies. What made him grit his teeth so indomitably they felt like they'd have shattered, was the fact that his trauma, the phantom pain that came from this woman hurt his insides more than the actual stab wound he bled from.

It was a sign of his weakness to this monster on the other side of the metia. She could place a mark on him throughout time itself just to mock him.

Subaru's entire figure shook as he felt a sudden coldness overwhelm him. But he didn't care. He pushed his body to its further point of limit so he can get his hand across Jal's chest and on the open metia.

He brought the device close, careful not to emit noises in the darkness to alert the girl on the other end. He waited until the final breath his lungs could take to draw.

And he heard the last strand of information he needed to understand where the endpoint to this suffering lay.

"If Theresia died for nothing, then this entire city must die as well."

His shivering hadn't stopped as the world blurred out, the pain was intolerable yet sensational in its own refreshing ways.

But the grin on his face was more painful than any wound on his downed form.

He faintly heard the sounds of rocks falling, he faintly noticed a light appearing before him from someplace in the darkened cave.

"Subaru!" he heard the shriek of his spirit as she blew through the wall he'd created.

"Oi! Pal, what the hell happened?!" A man he was familiar with screamed.

"Aldebaran, leave the silver-haired winch, she's dead. Help the commoner or else no one has to answer for this farce!" Subaru heard the oddly comforting commands of a poisonous flower.

But that didn't matter.

He held the device tightly and relished in the chaos that conspired on the other side of the call.

"W-Who is that?! Jal?! Jal can you hear me?!"

He relished the scream, the worry, the frustration of the unknown as she held her own device tightly. It filled his phantom burn with a spiritual comfort that this monster that dominated his very soul across timelines and loops was merely human capable of fear.

And because he believed in her fear of the unknown, Subaru used his greatest effort to push the metia closer to his lips.

"...Co...ming… for you… Jen."

"WHO THE HELL IS THIS?! ANSWER ME?! WHERE IS JAL?! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BRO-"

Subaru's body grew cold, his nerves became numb, every sensation in his limbs became vapid. A sense of security and sincerity overcame him like a wash of warmth.

He felt his last breath leave his mouth.

Theresia.

Subaru's final thought was implemented in his mind as the cold overcame him and he was placed in a state of restlessness with no arms or legs to feel around. Floating in a dark void with every second feeling like an eternity.

Darkness.

And the world flashed with purple filtered imagery once again.

"I'm coming for you!"

---

Chapter one had large additions. Please read it again if you can :)

Thank you for reading this. I hope you enjoy these writings as much as I like making them. Yes, whdaaa will be updated lmao.