Cast Reacts To Arc 7 Shenanigans

by Continuer123

It's relatively serious, but with a hint of crack. Ten Second Loop of Death? Satella Destroying Chaosflame? Subaru Absolutely Mogging Todd? It's all here! It's just gonna be random chapters though!

2. Chapter 2

Arc 7, Chapter 52:

"A-Arc 7? Wait a minute! I thought we just finished Arc 4!"

Petra stared at the screen in absolute bafflement.

"What's going on!? Warden! Show yourself!"

Julius, who was also spooked by the sudden disappearance of their reliable source of exposition, demanded that the Warden come to explain what was happening to them. It wasn't possible for them to cover Arc 7. Such a thing didn't exist, and, while he shuddered at the possibility, if it did. . . It couldn't have happened yet, right!?

"Subaru-dono. . . to think death could follow a person with such vigor. . ."

Wilhelm was astonished at the young man's aptitude to get himself into terrible situations. No, he couldn't even really say it was Subaru's fault. The knight was simply cursed by this world since the moment he'd been summoned into it.

"I don't understand!"

Felt gripped the sides of her head, tugging on her hair in frustration at the seemingly never-ending stream of impossibilities being forced upon them by this damned screen. She'd have ordered Reinhard to try destroying it a long time ago if it weren't for her nagging sense of curiosity.

"Pfft! Hahahahaha! Have the commoners forgotten how to count?"

Priscilla did her best to restrain her laughter at the scene unfolding in front of her, but even though she had her hand clutched to her stomach, the fiery-haired matriarch was unable to stifle a single giggle at their current predicament.

"It's not that we can't count! It's that what the screen is describing is impossible! Natsuki-san has bee-. . ."

Otto tried to clap back at Priscilla's unending amusement with indisputable facts about the preposterous notion of an 'Arc 7', when he suddenly paused in a moment of realization.

"O-Otto-san! What is it? Did you figure something out?"

Emilia stared intently at the white-haired merchant, hoping he'd be able to explain the situation to everyone before whatever this 'Arc 7' was popped up on screen.

"C-Could it be. . . ?"

Otto stood still, staring at his open hand with an expression of disbelief.

He wouldn't get a chance to tell Emilia or the rest of the theater what was going through his head, as all of them had their attention got drawn back to the screen.

――By using the Soul Marriage Technique on the Castle, her Od was being instilled into even inorganic substances.

This was the reality of the extraordinary phenomenon of Yorna, who was using the spiraling roof tiles as a foothold.

Abel had spoken of her Soul Marriage Technique being applied to the more than hundred people chasing after Subaru's group like it was already something unusual, but that was not even the strange part.

If he assumed she was handing out part of her Od, even to her own castle and kiseru.

Subaru: [That seems extremely bad for your body…!]

"W-What. . .?"

Emilia was stunned with the scene being depicted on the screen in front of her. A castle, two children, a fox lady, a ninja, and flying. . . roof tiles? It was only upon closer examination that Emilia realized one of the children looked reeaallly familiar.

"W-Why is big bro a kid?"

Felt said this out loud to no-one in particular, not getting an answer from anyone. Both Al and Ricardo clicked their tongues at this outburst from Felt, as they both held back a, "Seriously, how the hell would any of us know about this!?"

Petra, making sure nobody was looking at her, silently pumped her fist with a smile. Fate really was on her side! With this lucky development, Subaru wouldn't be able to dodge her advances anymore! Their future together was all but guaranteed!

". . .So cuuute."

Rem snuck out a small sigh as she struggled to keep her motherly urges under control, seeing the young Natsuki Subaru and imagining those features on a potential child of hers. The competition would be fierce, but the blue-haired oni was assured of her victory. This future will happen! She just has to focus on it hard enough and she can will it into reality!

Emilia was in a similar state, but as she hadn't been educated on those facets of life, these thoughts manifested themselves as an unidentifiable feeling in her chest. The only way for her to get the overloading of cuteness out was pulling on Beatrice's drill curls.

"G-Gwah. . . in fact!?"

Beatrice, also observing the weird events playing out on the screen, had been completely taken off guard by Emilia's sneak attack, angrily snatching back control of her hair from the (still overloaded) half-elf. The privilege to touch her hair belonged to one person!

"Hmm. . ."

"E-Eh? Princess, what's the matter?"

Al noticed his lady's irregular stare and felt the touch of death draw across his back. Priscilla normally didn't react this way to anything that wasn't considered 'interesting' enough to hold her attention. And whatever she considered 'entertainment' usually involved over-the-top levels of violence. If he wasn't attentive, he might get thrown through a couple hundred loops. . .

"It's nothing. . . However, you'd do well to remember to speak only when mineself grants you such privilege."

Priscilla's face lightened up and Al breathed an air of relief. She hadn't made this threat with her usual vigor, which meant her underlying anger had gotten overwhelmed by whatever it was on the screen that captivated her so much.

Ricardo, noticing this, sidled up to Al, poking him with his elbow and indicating he wanted to whisper something to him.

He'd just gotten off from punishment by the skin of his nose, but against his better judgment, Al relented.

"Y-You don't think it's about that. . . do you?"

Al didn't exactly understand what Ricardo was trying to say, so he whispered back asking him to clarify.

"C-C'mon, ya' gonna make me spell it out for ya?"

He looked pretty frustrated at having to say whatever it was he was thinking aloud, and unfortunately, the demihuman totally failed at regulating the volume of his voice. This drew the attention of Priscilla.

Emilia, with her slightly large elf-ears could hear this conversation as well.

"Spit it out already!"

Al whispered this back to Ricardo, already feeling the residual heat of a summoned Yang sword closing in behind him at a breakneck speed. While the warden originally said attacks were prohibited, he figured he'd better activate his territory just in case. . .

"Ya' know how Subaru gets called the lolimancer, right?"

"H-Huh? What're you talkin-. . ."

A realization made its way across Al's face, however, as it had been obscured, Ricardo decided to finish explaining the implications of the question he'd just launched.

"I-I've seen ya' liege get kinda. . . handsy with that Schult fellow. Ya don't think she might be. . .?"

Priscilla cleared her throat and glared at the dog demihuman with contempt in her eyes. Whether or not what he was saying was incorrect remained ambiguous, but clearly, having her personal life put on display like that wasn't something she was a fan of. Al stood in between the Princess and Ricardo, knowing that the point he'd just touched on was something that could easily get him killed.

"I won't let you have him!"

Emilia, out of nowhere, yelled this with an embarrassing lack of shame. Her ears might've been a bit red, but this might've just been because of all the daydreaming she did about the cute version of Subaru depicted in front of them. Priscilla wouldn't steal him away! Subaru wouldn't get 'manced!

However, as Emilia finished exclaiming this statement, she heard another woman simultaneously finish saying the same thing. . .

"E-Emilia-sama?"

"Rem?"

Both of these girls looked at each other with, initially, a look of shock, but quickly greeted each other with radiant smiles. If this was the plot of an action movie, the two of them would've made an aggressive handshake whilst putting the entirety of their strength to bare. (Think Predator, lol).

The unconscious Subaru was nearly toppled over in the midst of all this chaos, but Emilia took this opportunity to turn him into a life-sized throw pillow. Such was inescapable the fate of the young man upon his awakening.

Priscilla haughtily laughed at the foolish declarations made by Rem and Emilia, knowing these beliefs would be in vain. Should Shotabaru emerge, she would most definitely be the one to monopolize him! Her self-proclaimed title of 'Shotamancer' wasn't just for show!

But, there was another layer to her cockiness. . .

Nobody there could tell, but a wave of relief was running over the fiery-haired matriarch. As the secondary thought running through her mind was something much more serious. . .

'That fox woman. . . Could she be. . ?'

In the first place, the act of handing over Mana to someone else was quite tiring in itself.

In fact, Subaru had firsthand knowledge of how difficult it was, as he would regularly exchange Mana with Beatrice, with whom he had a contractual relationship.

While in the Sand Sea, on their way to the Watchtower, for example, Beatrice had taken a lot of Mana from him, and even though it had been only the necessary amount, he'd gotten dog-tired.

"T-The Watchtower. . !"

Julius only knew of one location fitting that description. And the mentioning of the Sand Dunes all but confirmed it. He'd always been somewhat of a history nerd, so for the first time in his life, Julius felt some feelings of jealousy towards Subaru for getting to visit such a historic place.

"So you've even conquered the Sage's Watchtower. . ."

Reinhard spoke those words with unreserved admiration, as he himself could attest to how difficult a task it was. And, although not intentional, it made Reinhard's heart ache at the failed expedition he'd made there when he tried saving the lives of the previous Royal Family.

"Oi! Rein, stop grimacing, it's weirdin' me out!"

Felt's words snapped him out of his depressive state, reinvigorating Reinhard's spirit with her toothy grin. Even if she didn't know it, she was the last surviving member of the Lugunican Royal Family. This made her words hold more weight.

The rest of the theater could only process the truth of Subaru's achievements with astonishment. Emilia and Rem hadn't been too blown away, as defying everyone's expectations and doing the impossible was trademark Subaru, but Crusch and Anastasia's jaws almost hit the floor.

Garfiel smirked at their admiration for his Captain, but considering how they'd all pretty much acted as anchors on his journey, he quickly dropped his tiny smile.

Additionally, the risk of trouble occurring with his Od tied to Beatrice alone―― in Yorna's case, by simple calculation that risk was more than a hundredfold.

On top of that, she herself had the power to unfold a heck of a battle.

In reality, the fact that she was supposed to be dog-tired because she was sharing her power with everyone was, considering she had split the Castle with an axe kick, quite unbelievable.

Olbart: [Hahaa, you're usin' some strange skills. Geez, no matter how long I live, techniques I dunno come out one after the other, it's a real headache.]

Yorna: [That's the kind of fertile ground we live on, so there's no point for you to lament it. From my point of view, Old Man Olbart's skills are also troublesome enough… It'd be better to make you disappear.]

Olbart: [Kakakakka! I won't be taken outta the picture so easily… Wuoh!?]

Olbart, laughing with his big mouth open, sprung backward in response to the hostility that followed that immediately.

"If I remember correctly, Olbart is the name of one of Vollachia's divine generals. Is that correct?"

Anastasia posed this question to Julius, who she knew had traveled to Vollachia some time ago for diplomatic ceremonies. He'd ended up getting in a scuffle with some of the generals, but Julius had deliberately avoided going into detail on the horrible debacle.

"Y-Yes, he's the third-ranked general. As I recall, these positions are awarded relative to their physical power. He's of considerable strength to be regarded as such."

Julius stumbled through his mandatory exposition with stiffened cheeks, recalling the strength gap between ninth-ranked Balleroy Temegrif and the first-ranked general Cecilus Segmunt. It was stark enough that Julius still vividly remembered the moment he'd accepted death at the Blue Lightning's hand.

Instantly, the roof beneath Olbart's feet exploded, and roof tiles shot up from the impact from directly below. It was much like a reprisal for the previous attack that had launched Yorna.

And yet unlike Olbart's single blow, Yorna's attacks fired in rapid succession, as if hot on his heels.

Bang bang bang, with that sound, shockwaves chased after Olbart as he spun backward and hopped away. That had been accomplished by Yorna simply waving a supple finger of hers, using a roof tile fixed up in the air.

"What is that power?"

Crusch had never come upon something like this before, the overwhelming power being channeled by the woman on the screen was something that shouldn't be trifled with. It was like she turned her environment into an entity that fought only for her.

"I'm nyot sure~, but it's quite the fearsome ability! Nyo distinguishing between allies and enemies. . ."

Felix shuddered at the potential damage such a power could cause, not just to an enemy, but also innocent bystanders. It was almost like this was designed to inflict the maximum collateral damage possible. As a healer, he simply couldn't approve of it.

"Soul marriage. . ."

Priscilla cuts into the conversation, stating those words with a blank expression on her face. Almost like she was entranced by the events she witnessed on the screen.

"That's what that gruesome attack is called?"

Felix did a poor job of hiding his distaste, as the idea of such a technique being referred to as a 'marriage' made him want to spit out his water, however, Priscilla silenced him with an overwhelming aura.

"As I'd expect from a simpleton lacking the most basic skills in observation. 'Soul Marriage' is a technique where its power remains relative to the followers' belief in the wielder. The number of believers and the strength of their reliance dictate how it can be used. Mineself shouldn't have to explain why that woman's attacks are so powerful."

Priscilla said this with an unreserved disgust for both Felix's stupidity and the stupidity of the woman on the screen. There was no longer any doubt in her mind about who this person was, but Priscilla didn't dare say that last part aloud.

"Her name was stated to be Yorna, I'm not mistaken right?"

Otto spoke this, prompting several people within the theater to raise their eyebrows. Specifically, those with a decent background in Vollachian history, as well as those with experience in governmental proceedings requiring Vollachian participation.

"She led a rebellion in Vollachia not too long ago, but it was unsuccessful."

Otto added that last bit in, surprising Emilia and Felt. Anastasia, with her vast information network, and Priscilla, with her previous ties to Vollachian royalty, already seemed to know this fact already.

Olbart: [Yo! Ho! Huh! Take this!]

Yorna: [Old Man Olbart, you sure are a stubborn man.]

Olbart: [If ya got the impression they're flies, ya dunno elderly opponents, lass. However――]

Cutting off his words there, Olbart twisted his body as he spun backward. As he did, with his back turned while in an upside-down position, the roof lifted like a wave to greet him.

Chased by shock waves from his front, and by surging waves of roof tiles from his back, he was being attacked on both sides―― the sight of the castle tower surging like an ocean made Subaru want to doubt his eyes.

But doubting his eyes was what he'd want to do for what happened directly after that as well.

"S-So insane. . ."

Tivey looked upon those inhuman movements and couldn't keep himself from speaking the utterly obvious observation. It wasn't impossible for an old person to be that quick, but aside from Wilhelm, they'd known of nobody else capable of such a feat.

"He's fast~, but Mimi will be faster~!"

The young girl nodded her head, smiling widely at her slightly awestruck brother.

Olbart: [――――]

As the roof tiles approached like a tidal wave, seeing that, Olbart kicked himself off the air itself, heading into the roof tiles of his own accord head-first.

Albeit it looked like a wave given its appearance, the tiles that made up the large wave had not lost their hardness and weight.

If he went in head-first, his whole body would be thrashed, his bones broken, and, in the end, his head would be tragically smashed. Without thinking, Subaru covered Louis's face as he hugged her, hearing her protest with a "Uu!".

But that cruel outcome never came to pass.

"Aww, even when he's like that, he can't help but shield that innocent little girl!"

Anastasia said this with an earnest, but perhaps slightly mocking, tone. This was most likely due to Subaru's new, widely-known nickname, the Lolimancer.

Emilia and Rem nodded their heads in approval, not sensing the satirical part of Anastasia's teasings, but both Ram and Crusch shook their heads.

Out of everyone there, the only person that was still completely on edge was Wilhelm, who for reasons he couldn't articulate, sensed something terrible was about to occur.

Olbart: [Ain't I amazin' for bein' able ta put the technique of hidin' in the ground into use without preparation?]

At the moment of collision, Olbart plunged soundlessly into the waves of roof tiles as if he were diving into water, and jumped straight out the back of the surge of roof waves. Scraping the torn-off roof tiles with his heels, Olbart flashed a cunning smile showing his white teeth, acting as if it had been nothing special.

In fact, Olbart had yet to display the depth of his abilities.

On the other hand, Yorna might have already exposed what terrors the Soul Marriage Technique held, but,

Yorna: [Will you be able to achieve your goal while merely running away like that, Old Man Olbart?]

". . .-hk! Neither of them are going all out!?"

Ram clicked her tongue at the absolutely ridiculous claims she'd just heard the both of them speak, looking to Roswaal for some kind of confirmation as to whether or not the things they'd just heard had been true.

Roswaal solemnly nodded. Knowing all too well the power possessed by Vollachia's divine generals, even Roswaal had made it a point to avoid engaging with those troublesome people whenever possible.

The mood amongst the rest of the Subaru camp wasn't much better, as the reality of the situation being shown to them began to sink in.

All the other viewings up to this point had shown them Subaru going through untold amounts of suffering.

With the tide of the battle beginning to shift, there was an inkling in the backs of their minds that perhaps, this would end up resulting in a usage of Return By Death.

With composure, she looked down from the sky towards the monstrous old man, who had still not sustained an injury.

Both of them had shown only a fraction of their power. That alone was enough to prove that the Nine Divine Generals, the Empire's greatest warriors, held tremendous strength.

However, if the fight continued in that way, it could be presumed their even match would continue, as both sides would not give in.

Apparently, Subaru and Louis watching from the sidelines were not the only ones with this impression.

Olbart: [Good grief, that's a painful thing to hear. Tho', if the Third stubbornly holds out against the Seventh, well, it can't be helped that His Excellency'd be angered.]

Yorna: [Then, what shall we do?]

Olbart: [Good question. Well, it's not like I've been runnin' 'round aimlessly either…]

"D-Damned Vollachians!"

Frederica muttered this under her breath, exhibiting a confused reaction from Petra, who'd naively believed the battle to have reached a stalemate. However, all the people privy to combat in the theater could tell what was going to happen next.

Julius and Reinhard gripped their swords tightly in anticipation.

Raising her shapely eyebrows, Yorna asked that of Olbart, who stroked his chin. As he rubbed it, the monstrous old man's cheeks twisted, his gaze turning in another direction.

Those glowing yellow eyes turned to the two children watching the battle from the sidelines――,

Subaru: [――Hk.]

"Bastard! Don't you dare attack Subaru-kun. . !"

Rem stood up out of her seat, her voice shaking with rage, but lacking a target for her to expel all of it towards. Moving her body between the screen and Subaru was all she could do to reassure herself of the young man's protection, however, in doing this she unintentionally blocked Emilia's view of the screen.

"R-Rem? Can you please move out of the way? I need to memorize this person's face so I can be sure to keep him reeeaallly far away from Subaru once we get out of here."

Emilia deliberately tried to avoid jumping to killing Olbart, but the way her last sentence was spoken indicated to everyone that her real intentions were likely more violent than she was letting on.

"Such a disgusting man, I suppose. Going after Betty's Subaru when he's in such a cute defenseless state, in fact. . ."

Beatrice also felt something rising within her, but the assurance that Subaru was right next to her in the theater calmed her down, somewhat. That, along with the fact this was likely a future event which they could still prevent.

"T-This is what I despise about Vollachian culture, there's no honor in their duels."

Julius spoke these words out with little to no thought as to who would hear them, as the sentiment was something that everyone there could agree with. Knights in Lugunica were trained to respect the strength of one's opponent by granting them a proper duel. Roping innocent people into the crosshairs was universally looked down upon. Julius knew this was slightly hypocritical, as he'd once dragged Subaru into a duel despite him having no real combat experience, but even so. . . they at least tried to mask the corruption within the Royal Guard.

In Vollachia, most of the people would look upon a battle like this without so much as a second glance. Hell, some would see it as an opportunity to flaunt their ruthlessness. That was what they took pride in, after all. The only thing they respected over there was power, giving no thought to how it should be wielded.

"Repulsive."

Priscilla let out a striking condemnation of Olbart with enough killing intent to get Al's knees to shake. However, her scowl extended onto the fox-woman as well.

Yorna: [Old Man!]

Suddenly, Olbart's gaze sharpened and Subaru drew back.

Immediately afterward, Yorna, her eyebrows raised, kicked off the roof tiles, throwing herself furiously at Olbart. Once again, Yorna rained down intense strikes on Olbart, similar to those at the start.

However――,

Olbart: [It's 'cause of somethin' like that, that'cha haven't reached His Excellency even once despite so many rebellions.]

"Y-You don't think that fox-lady is trying to start another rebellion, right?"

Crusch asked this to Wilhelm, who put a hand to his chin and pensively considered the likelihood of such a scenario happening in the future. The old man eventually came to a conclusion.

"Crusch-dono, it's rather difficult to say, however, Subaru's appearance there is rather conspicuous."

The verdant-haired woman's eyes widened, misinterpreting Wilhelm's comment to be some kind of doubt in Subaru. This was especially odd, as she knew how much Wilhelm respected Subaru.

"Why would that be?"

"Assuming she knows about Nastuki-kun's ability, it'd make sense for her ta' wanna make use of it, wouldn't ya' think?"

Anastasia, who'd kept an open ear for all conversations happening throughout the theater, felt compelled to add her two cents on the situations as well. The smiling face she had whilst delivering this line almost made Crusch believe that Anastasia was planning to use Natsuki Subaru in a similar way.

'I'd rather him be forced into my camp than be made a tool of that woman. . .'

"C-Crusch-sama, stop showing so much jealousy, nya~!"

Olbart spat that out, and a leg of his, incomparably shorter than Yorna's, sprung up. But, the sole of his shoe collided directly with the thick sole on Yorna's heel, sending shockwaves through the long hair of the two.

Yorna gnashed her teeth, Olbart clenched his own, and in a second the bodies of both were blown in opposite directions. Yorna and Olbart, each at the same time.

Then, as soon as he saw that there was a wide distance between them, Olbart plunged his left and right arms into his sleeves and then pulled something out. ――Between his fingers, there were round and black lumps, four in each hand.

Reinhard narrowed his eyes at the odd black items in Olbart's hands, determining them to be some kind of weapon he'd never come across before. It made him feel a little bit uneasy.

"Oh! T-Those are snacks right? Maybe the old man is just hungry!"

Petra, trying her best to remain optimistic about Subaru's situation, carelessly spoke out a reality that was simply too good to be true. Everyone else chose to ignore these words, lest they get distracted from the precarious scene. Frederica, in particular, didn't have the heart to correct her.

Subaru: [Ration balls!?]

Olbart: [Ngh, looks like that, right? But, things'd get messy if ya ate 'em. ――For ya see, chunks of Fire Magic Stones are tightly stuffed in 'em.]

Hearing Subaru's shriek, Olbart laughed and gave a grand swing of both his arms.

If his words were to be believed, those black balls were bombs. Propelled with an impact, they flew towards Yorna who was showing a large opening―― No, that wasn't it.

"Bombs!? Are you kidding me? He's using bombs!?"

Al, who'd been raised to think of ninjas as connoisseurs of stealth and agility, didn't like to see his image of them be tarnished in such a way. Little did he know, the Al of Arc 7 had met his end to those bombs many times.

"It's not as if he lacks grace with a sword, but to resort to such tactics without so much as a second thought. . ."

Wilhelm grumbled at the wasted potential he saw in the fellow elderly fighter moving around on the screen. Much like Bordeaux, he felt that this person gave all older folks a bad reputation.

It wasn't as if he'd always stuck to an ironclad set of rules when fighting, but even in the midst of the Demihuman War, when such tactics could be justified, he'd only employ them when the situation demanded it. As it stood, he was already winning the fight, why taint his victory with underhanded tricks?

"It's simple, I suppose. He's using the two children as leverage, in fact."

Beatrice gave a solemn answer to Wilhelm's implied question, but it most certainly wasn't the answer anyone wanted to hear.

"That man is ranked third amongst all Divine Generals, four spots above Yorna. How disgraceful to attack children. It reminds me of Barasu."

Ram said that last remark without any bite, as she simply didn't want to let her moderate feelings of protectiveness seep through the armor of digust she often wore when talking about Subaru.

Even so, the offhand comment did attract some glares, mainly from Crusch and Beatrice.

Olbart: [In the latest rebellion, that lot were the bunch we fought, right? I wouldn't have used something like this against them, so it's fresh, isn't it?]

His cheeks distorted, Olbart threw the bombs over the roof into the open sky.

From the way he hurled them, it seemed there was no particular aim, and because of that, there was no doubt about it. ――For Olbart, a bomb just needed to fall onto a place with people.

Only that――,

Olbart: [I heard the people of Chaosflame are strong, but I wonder if they're tougher than those in the shinobi village?]

Yorna: [――You lowlife!]

"Chaosflame! This is the city of Chaosflame?"

Otto balled his hand into a fist and bumped it into his upturned palm, seemingly making an important connection regarding Yorna's ability and their location.

He'd heard stories back when he was a merchant about the type of place Chaosflame was. It was a city that accepted all, but was primarily made up of demihumans. It operated as a protective zone for all those who might be targeted for living in Vollachia. Until now, Otto wasn't sure how something like that could be made possible, but the question had just answered itself.

Yorna's Soul Marriage technique could utilize the city itself to repel hostile forces, whilst also boosting the strength and regeneration of its users. It was quite the ingenious idea, but it also showed how much belief the people of this city had in their leader.

"It appears the man's continuing to show off his skills as well. . ."

Crusch muttered this with a weak groan at the hopelessness of the situation. Fighting Yorna in the middle of Chaosflame was no simple task. For Olbart to keep up with her as she drew strength from hundreds of supporters was a testament to the shinobi's overwhelming strength.

"The stupid old man is grinning from ear to ear. No doubt it's because he's happy to have an audience for his deceptive tactics."

Ricardo growled out these words with a frustrated tone, trying his best not to imagine Mimi and her brothers in the place of Subaru.

"Yes, and he plans on holding the entire city hostage, I suspect."

Reinhard, who wielded overwhelming power himself, couldn't even comprehend the messed of logic being employed by the elderly ninja. His power had always been something he'd been ashamed of. The cost of that power, and his inability to save those he truly cared about making him almost curse its existence. How could someone be so vain as to hold an entire city hostage simply to witness them flaunt their abilities?

The size of the bomb was small, but the hidden power there-in was wholly unknown.

There was also the question of how many people in the city were under the effect of Yorna's Soul Marriage Technique at the moment. In conclusion, leaving those bombs as they were would be far too reckless.

Yorna instantly drew that conclusion as well. Hence――,

Yorna: [HaAAAaaa!]

Stomping her foot hard enough to smash the roof, Yorna brandished her arm wide. Clutched in her hand, was the kiseru that had been used to attack Olbart.

At the same time, the smoke overflowing from the tip of the pipe traced the same arc as the full swing of her arm, and the mass of purple smoke flashed across the sky of Chaosflame like a horizontal slash.

――That mass of purple smoke had entirely caught the bombs scattered about.

Immediately afterward, the tremendous sound of chained explosions, thunderous booms and shock waves dyed the sky of the Castle. One of the explosions occurred near Subaru and Louis, blinding them and making it impossible for them to stand.

Subaru: [Kah――]

"S-Subaru-kun. . !"

"Subaru, NO!"

Emilia and Rem witnessed the explosion go off next to Subaru and Louis with bated breath. The attack hadn't been fully suppressed by Yorna, leaving most of the damage to be absorbed by the two defenseless children. They were clearly unprepared to weather that attack, and the perspective from Subaru's POV made them even more scared.

"N-No, Big(?) Bro!"

Felt saw the attack's brutal force rip through Subaru's tiny body. Her teeth clenched together so hard that veins began to show on either side of her forehead. No matter how you sliced it, Subaru and Louis were just bystanders. The gall this bastard had, to attack them so indifferently. It reminded her a lot of Elsa's cruelty.

The rest of the theater did their best to keep themselves under control, but most of them were failing miserably. Beatrice, seeing the horrific explosion tear into her contractor's body, felt tears rush out her eyes. This forced her to look away and start wiping her eyes with Subaru's sleeve.

Crusch's anger had been gradually elevating itself across the brief sections of the chapter they'd seen so far, but this took it over the line. Sure, this type of behavior was typical of Mabeasts and Witch Cultists, as they'd clearly been driven insane by their witch factors or by a lack of human emotion. But to see a Vollachian Divine General, someone who Lugunica would engage with for diplomatic and free dialogue. A person they'd treated with respect. . .

To see them act so cruelly made Crusch want the entire empire burned to the ground.

Perhaps the Dragon could wait. . .

He faintly remembered seeing on the television or in a book that one should plug their ears and open their mouth when an explosion occurred.

As a result of failing to do both, Subaru's body suffered great damage. His head was rocked, his vision was colored bright-red. That was how out of the ordinary Olbart's bomb was.

Olbart was out of his mind to be carrying around so many of those things.

That he was going to scatter them all over the city without mercy was also clear――.

As the chapter swapped into Subaru's POV, all anyone could see was bright red dying the vision of one of Subaru's eyes. The other eye simply wasn't showing any visuals whatsoever. While most couldn't tell what had happened, they knew the bomb had defaced Subaru in a permanent way.

"W-What happened to Subaru?"

Emilia was almost too afraid to ask, as she didn't know if she wanted to hear the answer. However, the depressed looking faces being directed at her made her feel sick to her stomach.

"I-If I had to guess, the bomb's damage was nyot lethal. However. . ."

The Emilia Camp said nothing, but held their breath before Felix could continue with his answer.

"S-Subaru-kyun's face, particularly his eyes. . . have most likely been irreparably damaged, nya. . ."

Emilia, Rem, and Beatrice tensed up at Felix's cold, detached analysis. The eyes they'd often called creepy, or mean-looking. They'd been damaged? They felt like they were about to vomit.

"And now he plans to scatter them throughout the city. . ."

Ram clicked her tongue at the repulsive thought, gaining a nod of approval from Roswaal, who had been watching this exchange with a detached look in his eyes as well.

Louis: [Uau!]

There was a shout, and Subaru's shoulders were shaken by a small hand.

Upon taking a look, he saw Louis projected in his deep-red, obscured vision and noticed that her facial expression was changed. Her mouth quivering in terror, tears were welling up in Louis's blue eyes.

Seeing that before his eyes, Subaru went to reply with "I'm fine",

"N-Nyo! You're not fine!"

Felix yelled this out with outrage, wishing he could punch the reckless child himself for brushing off such a horrific injury. Crusch put a hand on Felix's shoulder, gesturing him to try and calm down. She could understand his feelings very well, but as it was something that hadn't even happened yet, there was nothing they could do.

"W-Why must he put up that tough act all the time, I suppose. ."

Beatrice felt her eyes water even more and gripped Subaru's hand even tighter than Emilia. Where were they? How could they let this happen to him? Wasn't he her contractor? She had to know where he was!

Emilia saw her deteriorating state and wrapped Beatrice in a deep hug. It was the least she could do since Subaru wasn't awake.

Subaru: [――Ah.]

――At the edge of his red field of view, he caught sight of Olbart appearing behind Yorna.

Subaru: [――――]

As she was busy dealing with the bombs that had been thrown, her pose was still the same, having done a full swing of her kiseru. Olbart, having appeared right behind her, was about to draw his arm in, and loosen a strike of his hand being used as a sword.

His aim was the center of Yorna's back; if this were a manga, it would be a situation in which her heart would be pierced with one blow.

If it truly would play out like something out of a manga, he didn't know. But enough had been seen in the fight so far to know that both Yorna and Olbart were superhumans with manga-like powers.

If it continued unchanged, Yorna would die. So――,

Subaru: [Louis――!]

Grabbing Louis's hand that was on his shoulder, Subaru pointed towards Yorna and Olbart.

He'd told her the procedure in detail before entering the Castle, and Louis, setting it in motion, opened both her big round eyes―― the next moment, Subaru's vision flickered, and the teleport happened.

And so――,

Subaru: [Ah.]

"D-Did that young girl just teleport?!"

Anastasia was dumbfounded at the powers she kept witnessing on screen. A shudder ran down her back at the prospect of making Julius fight any of these people. There was always the risk it could come to that. This world truly was filled with monsters!

"Not only the girl, it appears she took Subaru with her as well!"

Julius kept his mouth closed, but in his mind, it was hanging open. As far as he'd been aware, teleportation wasn't something that existed. If it had, then he had no doubt Reinhard would know how to do it. But alas, it appeared he'd simply jumped to conclusions.

At the back of the theater, a certain fiery-haired matriarch exhaled a sigh of relief.

She didn't outwardly state her thanks to the young boy for saving the life of Yorna, but she internally praised him for his quick thinking. Even though that woman wouldn't *really* die, she simply didn't wish that fate upon the already cursed existence that was Yorna. Although, as she thought about it, the young boy didn't *really* die when he was killed either.

'I wonder, would you see him as a kindred spirit. . ?'

After having witnessed such the hell that was true immortality, Priscilla found herself reevaluating her stance on her relationship with that woman too. She could've been more considerate of it. . .

Before he could inhale once, Subaru leaked a dumbfounded voice.

The reason was simple, because even his blurry bright-red vision was taken away by a sudden warm feeling. Through that sensation, he understood that the cause for that was some kind of fluid that had been poured on his face without warning.

As he tried to wipe that sensation away with his arm, he noticed a sense of discomfort.

Louis's grip was too light.

Olbart: [The hell was that just now? Ya weaklings are supposed ta be over there.]

The sound of Olbart's voice of curiosity made Subaru look up dumbfounded. Within his view was the monstrous old man, his head slightly tilted, shaking his hand vigorously.

Within Subaru's vision of red, an even redder arm waved with vigor.

Subaru: [Louis…?]

"O-Oi!? What's goin' on!? Th' cap'n's eyes 're still messin' up th' view!"

Garfiel cursed at himself for not being there to help Subaru against whatever the hell was going on. Throughout his journey, they'd all treated him like dirt. Looked down on him, berated him, sometimes even killed him. Yet he suffered through it all with no complaints.

There was no taking back everything they'd watched before this point. It was already set in stone.

The only comfort Garfiel had left was making it up to Subaru at some point later down the line. Now, seeing as he wasn't here to help his Captain during his greatest moment of need, Garfiel felt even more rage towards himself. It bothered him so greatly that he almost wished Subaru had just died on his first day in Lugunica. At least that way, he would've been spared the needless suffering.

'Th' hell's th' point n'sufferin' t'save us all f'we can't be bothered t'do it fer ya, Cap'n?'

"I'm not sure, but Garf, please stop making that face."

Frederica lightly chastised Garfiel for his loud voice, but his sister couldn't really blame him for his outlandish behavior. Rather, she saw the look in his eyes reflecting utter dejection, similar to the situation caused by their mother, and she didn't wish for him to fall down such a path again. Ever since that moment in Arc 4, the time he watched himself bisect Otto whilst attempting to kill Subaru, Garfiel hadn't really been the same.

Thinking logically about it, basically everyone in there wasn't really the same person they were before the viewing. The select few who'd directly tried their hand at killing Subaru, however, were the most shaken.

Ram and Roswaal had simply accepted what they'd done with sullen indifference, Otto was still hung up on his cowardice, and Rem. . . well she'd been the worst off. However, Subaru's unending love for her had allowed her to try and forgive herself, at least a little bit.

This left Garfiel as the odd man out.

He'd been the only one out of all of them to lash out at more than just Subaru.

He'd mercilessly killed his best buddy Otto, along with dozens of innocent villagers from Arlam. There was no doubt he'd killed Patrasche too.

And people were talking to him like it hadn't even happened. Otto didn't condemn him, nor did his sister or Ram. Subaru would probably never bring it up himself, even if he could.

Who was he supposed to answer to?

Well, Garfiel would only have this question answered by even more suffering. . .

As he watched, Subaru called Louis's name, gripping her hand tighter.

He thought that they had to get out of that place at once. They would have to leap two times, maybe more. Perhaps he'd throw up, but that would be bearable.

He would bear it, so they had to get out of there, right now.

Because of that――,

Subaru: [Louis! We've got to hurry…]

Olbart: [Nah, sayin' somethin' that absurd's quite pitiful ta look at. There's nothin' left above her neck, is there?]

Subaru: [――Huh?]

"M-Monster. . !"

Otto clenched his fist so tightly it drew blood. His words reflected the innermost feelings of everyone privy to the horrific act Olbart had just committed. The Old Man's jovial way of speaking, especially about a child he'd just murdered, was tantamount to spitting on the child's grave. It was detestable. It couldn't go unpunished.

As the full scene finally made its way into Subaru's meager field of vision, everyone was forced to witness the headless corpse of an innocent young girl falling lifelessly to the ground. The speed with which the attack had been delivered was so fast that even Garfiel and Julius had missed it.

". . .-tch!"

Anastasia always had a soft spot for children, and she'd seen her fair share of inhuman acts during her time on the streets. The viewings from before had shown her how the Witch Cult tortured and murdered the children living in Arlam. But this, this was possibly the most cruel act she'd seen against a child.

The previous arcs had been nice enough to avoid showing her the attacks themselves, instead electing to only reveal the aftermath.

"That's how ya' wanna be, hm?"

Anastasia wrote the guys name down onto a small pad of paper. The purpose of which, nobody was sure.

Crusch had taken to imagining the guy dying horribly within her mind, specifically by her sword. This was so she could torment the man with the knowledge that his death was simply vengeance for the innocent young girl on-screen. The life that he'd regarded as nothing would be the life that cost him everything!

So she swore to herself once they exited this theater. . .

Priscilla immediately took back her words of praise for Subaru's choice, instead wishing that they'd simply let Olbart go through with his attack on Yorna. There was no way they would know the truth of her existence, but if they had, the damage could've been minimized. There would be no 'second chances' for Louis.

Al muttered something to himself, clearly angry at Subaru for getting involved with this fight in the first place instead of just running, but Priscilla crushed his foot with her heel in dissatisfaction.

This only left the Emilia Camp. . . who, while angry on behalf of the young girl they'd seen murdered moments ago, were taken by fear of the fate that awaited their beloved Subaru.

Hearing those words spoken so indifferently, Subaru was not able to understand their meaning.

Perhaps him being smaller and his brain younger was why he didn't get them. He had been told something he didn't get, something his little brain didn't want to understand, and because of that.

And because of that, even if he were told that nothing of her head was left.

"So his mind's been reverted to a childlike state too. . ?"

Roswaal picked up on this extra detail with even more distaste. Just how many needless deaths would this inconvenience end up causing for Subaru? It really bothered him that the odds had been stacked so harshly against Subaru without a good reason.

"Subaru-kyun's a child nyow! He can't be made to witness this!"

Felix broke out of his stupor once more, mentally chanting the word 'kill' repeatedly in his mind towards the piece of trash meandering across the screen that thought this was funny. Subaru's resilience was probably much lower to gore now that he possessed the innocence of a child, and his ability to understand the complex stuff happening around him was probably lacking as well.

"Subaruuuuu. . . ."

Emilia hugged Subaru's sleeping form tight enough that she felt like she'd melt into him, as she was no longer capable of withstanding the young Subaru's torment. His cute face had been overtaken by grief and confusion, making the smitten Emilia search for ways to console him. The only thing she could think to do was grip him in a protective hug and reassure him that everything was alright.

Yorna: [How dare… you do that!]

Shortly after, with a shout of anger, something shot over Subaru's head, and Olbart jumped sideways to avoid it. An impact shaped like a straight line ran through the place where Olbart had been just before, and the newly-repaired castle tower was once again destroyed.

But Olbart was unconcerned by the sort of dreadful power in that blow,

Olbart: [Oh, scary, scary. But ya should be grateful, foxgirl.]

Yorna: [What do you mean!?]

Olbart: [If it weren't for the boy and lassie there, you'd be dead, ya know? Well, at this rate, it's only a matter of time anyhow.]

Yorna: [――――]

"The petulant old man is right. Mineself would've prevented such an outcome. . ."

Priscilla scowled at Yorna's ashamed visage, feeling both pity and embarrassment for being related to such a hopeless person. However, given how she still cared deeply about Yorna, she couldn't bring herself to finish her harsh declaration.

"Can it, will ya'!? She's risking her life to protect Big Bro and his friend! How about ya' just go jump off a bridge!?"

Felt said this last part with a renewed hatred in her voice, as Priscilla's comments had most certainly passed a line for what was acceptable to say about Yorna's efforts. Even now, the woman fought to protect the two of them, despite Olbart threatening to kill everyone else in the city should she continue to do so. Underneath her skin was a kind heart, one that Felt hadn't seen displayed by any noble living in Lugunica.

"Ho? You think such an attack would've killed her? Assumptions from worthless street scum like you are a drain on mine ears!"

Priscilla let slip some important information, but it went unnoticed, as Felt had to be physically restrained by Reinhard before she could jump out of her chair and kick the crap out of Priscilla. Her little outburst had earned the ire of the rest of the theater as well, but considering this was Priscilla, the status quo hadn't really changed at all.

Shaking his upraised finger, Olbart continued in a carefree tone.

Yorna held her breath, and Subaru felt her attention going from the monstrous old man to himself. However, Subaru slumped on the spot, and the best he could do was pull Louis's lifeless arm towards him.

Subaru: [Lou, is…]

"S-Subaru. . ."

Emilia turned her head back to the screen and felt her heart shatter from the tragic image that greeted her eyes. Subaru, still confused about what was wrong with Louis, had continued pulling on her arm in the hopes she'd get up and they could run away. His vision was getting even more blurry, but the redness hadn't gone down. This meant he was probably crying over her corpse.

"Subaru-kun, please run! N-No! Don't be sad!"

Rem said these words as tears fell from her face. She understood a death was more than likely approaching the young Subaru, and what was even sadder was that he'd resigned himself to it. This child who Rem wanted to do nothing more than dote on and grip tightly, they would meet their end.

'It's wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. . .'

These word's repeated in Rem's mind without stopping. The whole damn thing was wrong. Impossible. Couldn't be allowed to happen.

A child as cute as Subaru. Her Subaru. Rem's Subaru. That existence wasn't allowed to feel like this. They were only allowed to feel joy. To be happy.

This was wrong! A violation. An aberration of nature.

His vision was red, and he couldn't see Louis's figure properly.

If that was because of the disorder of Subaru's eyes, or because Louis's figure had turned bright-red, he couldn't even tell.

But there was one thing that could be said. ――Louis had died.

Even though Subaru had not found any answer on what should be done about her.

She had acted as she had been told to by Subaru, and as a result, she died.

Subaru, had let her die.

"H-He's resigned himself. . ."

Wilhelm spoke these words with widened eyes, as it had been the first time in a long time that he'd seen Subaru look so hopeless. The look in his eyes looked reminiscent of Reinhard's when he'd been a child, which was why he'd recognized it so quickly. How could someone slash a sword at that child?

Even when Wilhelm had cursed Reinhard, he'd never gone so far as to wish him dead. Sure, he'd wished he'd never been born, but that was because he never would've needed to worry about Theresia losing her Divine Protection. And to this day, he regretted it.

"Those eyes don't belong on that of a child. . ."

Priscilla remembered the moment she'd found Schult. His eyes had been the same. Completely unresisting.

The scum out there who made such a phenomenon possible would receive no mercy from her. That included the man she saw running across the screen with a wicked smile on his face.

"N-No! Betty's Subaru can't blame himself. . !"

Beatrice gave a light punch to Subaru's chest, feeling herself absorbing many of the emotions held by the Subaru on-screen and looking to vent them out somewhere. However, she wasn't granted a single reply.

Yorna: [Child! Child, look at me!]

Suddenly, Subaru's face cast downward was lifted by two hands clasping both his cheeks.

In front of him, in his red vision, was a beautiful woman's face. The reason as to why he had not been able to tell it was Yorna at first glance was because the expression on her face was one of grief.

It was different from the confident face she had shown the previous day to Subaru and the false Emperor, and their respective entourages.

It was different from the kind face that had tried to treat Subaru and the others politely this very day.

Right now, Yorna's eyes were shaking as she stared at Subaru with a pained expression.

He finally understood the reason why, due to the reflection of Yorna's eyes before him.

Subaru: [――Ah.]

". . . M-My god."

Finally being able to see Subaru's condition reflected through the eyes of Yorna, Otto only managed to speak those two words before the sick feeling in his stomach became too much for him to bear. Dry heaving, wretching, coughing, it was the body's natural reaction when confronted with things deserving of disgust. The defiling of children was one of those occasions. That Otto knew him well was simply the icing on the cake.

"G-kKuh?"

Felt let out a squeak of her own and Reinhard quickly put his hands over her eyes. Her heart beating a million miles a second while her brain tried processing the destroyed child she'd just seen. Why, why, why, why, why, why, why. . . that was all she could think. For him to not even notice was a testament to the hell her big bro had already suffered through, but it still disturbed her a lot. The only conclusion she could make of it was one thing: Olbart had to die.

Subaru dropped to his knees, with that face of his being in an awful condition.

His left eyeball had burst into bright-red, and his right one had popped out of its socket, held by a string. His eyeball had been pushed out of its orbit because of the impact of the explosion, which had not been dampened at all.

It was, like some special effects from a cheap-looking zombie movie, somewhat weird to look at.

Subaru: [Haaa.]

Whilst Felt and Otto were the first ones to give audible reactions to Subaru's damaged state, they hadn't been the first ones to take notice of it. Until this point, most of them had been studying the grotesque image with something almost like curiosity. For a person's face to be rendered into that, such a sight was something nobody had seen before. Gradually, though, the sick detachment faded and the true horror emerged from the hearts of those remaining in the theater.

"K-Kill him. Kill him. I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill him! I'm going to kil-. . ."

Rem had devolved into saying that sentence over an over, as the oni who thought she couldn't get any angrier, broke through to a new limit. Everything in her sight was red. She probably would've had her horn sprout out unintentionally if the theater hadn't been suppressing the usage of magic. The fierce hatred was beyond anything she'd felt towards a single person. Worse than the Witch Cult. Worse than Gluttony. Even worse than herself. . .

Emilia's form shivered with unknowable feelings powerful enough for her to let go of Subaru and stand up out of her seat. Her legs shook, her arms shook, her heart clenched. She wordlessly summoned several ice crystals and launched them at the figure of Olbart rushing across the screen. Everyone was so entranced, that nobody batted an eye at this. However, what Emilia had just done was something even Reinhard had failed to do. Through sheer force of will, for a split second, she'd overcome the mana suppressing abilities of the theater and let her rage explode towards the person responsible for Subaru's pain.

Nobody could put those thoughts into words, but the sentiment behind Emilia's actions was understandable by all.

Those eyes, they were the same as Mother Fortuna's. They were a precious wonder of this world, reserved for Emilia alone. The same eyes that wavered whenever they gazed upon her, the same eyes that expressed such powerful love that Emilia could scarcely stare into them for more than a moment. To defile them, rip them from their sockets. . . such an act could never be forgiven. Rem assuredly felt the same.

Emilia had silently whispered the word 'Die' as she attacked the screen, but upon the realization she'd overcome the restrictions, it had already reverted back to a state where she was unable to wield magic.

Garfiel averted his gaze and choked out a pained roar. Undoubtedly because this had been the result of his uselessness.

"H-How dare. . . he. . ."

Crusch's vision was shaking as she struggled to hold in a breath which wasn't being taken solely for the purpose of killing Olbart. This was the extent to which that man reveled in the suffering of others. She believed this surpassed even some members of the Witch Cult in cruelty.

*crack*

The sound of something metal cracking reverberated throughout the seated crowd. Nobody paid it any mind, nor did they look for its source. If they had, however, they would've found it to be Wilhelm.

"Hm, it appears this sword won't be strong enough for what I have to do. . ."

In his rage, Wilhelm's grip on his sword's hilt had snapped the metal into two solid pieces. Wilhelm's pride had been in that sword, as it was the same one he'd used to take down the White Whale. However, he didn't get sentimental at its loss. The anger within Wilhelm could only be compared to what he held for that monster that took his wife from him anyway. He would simply get a new sword.

Reinhard's sheer aura was enough for him to split the chair where he'd been sitting in two. He hadn't even been using any of his mana or Divine Protections. He'd been holding back his rage out of consideration for the safety of everyone around him, but even when suppressed, he couldn't stop himself. . !

Julius smiled.

He smiled as he imagined all the ways he would eviscerate the worthless, vile, objective trash who dared proclaim himself a warrior. For him to label himself with that title, he must've already accepted the possibility of dying in battle, right? Then Julius would grant him that death wish. But first, he would render that man's face into an exact copy of the one he'd just memorized. He would teach this monster how it felt to be on the receiving end of destruction. The feeling he so readily inflicted onto others would be dealt back to him with interest.

Of course, Julius couldn't let himself break his composure in front of all these people. He was the Finest of Knights!

This was what he told himself as he continuously imagined the irreparable damage he'd wreak on the Divine General named Olbart.

Anastasia and Ricardo were puking their guts out. Which in any other scenario, would've caused the triplets standing next to them to run for the hills. Instead, the three of them stood frozen, each trying to cover the eyes of the other two, but failing miserably. Their innocence had been thoroughly lost.

Al did his best to keep from cracking up, because while he could understand their hatred for the man running around in front of them, their aversion to TRUE violence and TRUE brutality only showed how sheltered these people had really been. Throughout his thousands and thousands of deaths, he's suffered this exact fate many times. That was the price for choosing the path of the hero.

Priscilla, sensing this air of superiority, kicked Al behind the knee, bringing him to the ground.

Ram, for perhaps the first time since entering this theater, cried for the disgusting man named Natsuki Subaru. Even for her, there was an upper limit to how long she could keep up that attitude towards Subaru. What he was going through now was enough to make her bury her face into Roswaal's shoulder. Normally, he would consider this to be endearing. But he could only sit and look at the screen motionless, biting his lower lip with his teeth.

Felix, as the best healer in all of Lugunica, had become accustomed to grotesque sights like these throughout his time working as a medic. Perhaps that was why he'd done his best to warn everyone before Subaru's condition had been revealed. At the very least, he'd steeled himself for what was coming, and was perhaps the only person there who could truly understand the pain Subaru felt.

And finally, there was Beatrice.

Poor Beatrice had completely lost her rage for Olbart once she'd set her eyes on the injured Subaru on the screen. She sobbed harder than anyone else there, placing a weak kiss on Subaru's forehead which she hoped could bring him some kind of comfort.

Realizing his circumstances, Subaru's vision, solely that of his left eye, wavered as he let out an exhale. But Yorna's hands did not allow him to fall.

Yorna, moving her lips and staring into Subaru's face, spoke, "Child――",

Yorna: [――Love me. Right now.]

"E-Eh!?"

Those unexpected words were enough to briefly snap Emilia out of her murderous rage. What was she saying all of a sudden? Shouldn't she be trying to help him? Subaru was in soooooo much pain! She chose now to say something like that? Was this supposed to be a deathbed confession? Emilia didn't want them both to give up and accept death, so she felt a flare up of anger towards Yorna too.

She knew it would be really selfish for her to monopolize Subaru, especially after not giving him an answer for so long, but what Yorna did here was egregious in more ways than one.

Rem stared at the screen in disbelief, trying her best to rationalize what she just heard into something that made sense, but was unable.

"T-Trying to make Subaru love her. . ? Just what is wrong with Vollachians?"

Crusch uttered this statement with poorly masked contempt, but still trying to make heads or tails of why she chose to act this way. This just came so far out of left field that the only natural reaction would be to get a bit angry.

"You utter fools! Does mineself need to remind you the 'Soul Marriage' technique is still active?"

As Priscilla explained the purpose behind Yorna's surprise 'confession', the theater grew unusually quiet in thought. Many of them were surprised at the shrewdness of this plan, but were uncertain about how Subaru could make the ability activate.

Emilia and Rem, who only wanted the best for Subaru, were both wishing he could find it in his heart to love Yorna. Even if, and this hurt for them to imagine, it meant he couldn't love them anymore. So, despite them wishing for a lifetime of happiness beside Subaru, they internally cheered Yorna on.

With eyes looking straight ahead, she declared something utterly absurd.

To love, and to do it at this moment, was awfully absurd. In the first place, he didn't know what he should do specifically, and loving someone was no trivial thing to do.

He did believe Yorna was a nice person, and she was beautiful, but――,

Yorna: [Child! If you love me, those wounds will also…]

Olbart: [Kakakakka! Oioi, that's one hell of a thing ta ask for, lass, for real. Not that I know much 'bout it, but love doesn't bud so easily, does it?]

Yorna: [Silence!]

Shouting out in anger towards Olbart behind her teasing her, Yorna's eyes were tinged with a deep hue.

Watching that happen near him, Subaru repeated faint breaths to prepare, as to accept the waves of pain slowly arriving.

Even if one of his eyeballs had burst, and one of them had popped out, he did not have fatal injuries.

Unlike Louis, he still had his head. He knew that, soon enough, deathly pain would flare up. He was sure he would scream and yell and cause Yorna plenty of trouble.

He didn't want to cause any more trouble――,

". . -hk! B-Betty's Subaru *hik* i-isn't a bother to anyone, I suppose."

It was difficult for Beatrice to get these words out, as the overwhelming emotions she felt precluded her ability to talk and breath clearly. She only managed to squeeze them out because Subaru's hand remained firmly within hers. The mana she was extracting being the proof that the stuff on the screen hadn't happened yet. It could still be stopped.

"For him to be thinking that way as a child. . . he must've thought like that his whole life."

Otto voiced a soul-crushing impression without thinking. Most of the people in the Emilia Camp could relate to this painful worldview, as they'd all previously held it at some point. It was Subaru who'd broken them out of it.

"I-I just wanna give him a hug!"

Anastasia, out of nowhere, yelled out her frustrations with a disgruntled Kararagian accent. Her hand roughly petting the scarf wrapped around her neck as a way for her to vent.

"Mimi! Get ya' self over here, I need someone t'hug!"

The small girl jumped up, startled by Anastasia's bold request, but quickly acquiesced when she saw the seriousness in her master's eyes.

"Y-Yes~! Mimi will give you hugs~!"

Yorna: [Child.]

One word was spoken, and Subaru's consciousness flickered up.

Then, much like an attack that made use of a gap of just one moment, Yorna's serious face approached his own.

Subaru: [――――]

Yorna's lips, overlapped with Subaru's own.

A soft sensation hit his face, and he could feel her breath right up close. It took him a while to realize that he was being kissed.

Partly because he was younger, and partly because he didn't have much experience to begin with. His scarce memories were rather distant and he considered them to be very, very moving experiences, but this――.

"S-Subaru?! Hey, w-wait. . . !"

Emilia watched the fox woman gradually approach Subaru with a serious expression, but only as their lips got closer together did Emilia realize what was happening. In the depths of her heart, she didn't want him to kiss her. She knew it was wrong. She knew it was only to ensure his survival. But still. . .

The image of their lips overlapping could no longer be removed from her head. She'd stolen a kiss from Emilia's knight. And when he was so young too!

"W-Why. . . why did this have to happen?!"

Rem kicked the side of her chair with increasing anger in her heart. Even when Subaru couldn't bring himself to love Yorna, she'd tried to force it! Was Rem even allowed to be upset about it? Even if she knew he could return by death, she couldn't stop herself from wondering if she would still be angry in a situation where Subaru could actually die.

"Subaru-kun's second kiss was reserved for me! I was too slow to compete with Emilia-sama, but. . . still I thought. . ."

She could no longer hide it. Her jealousy was obvious to everyone. The kiss that she'd so desperately wished for had been completely stolen away from her without so much as a warning. At least it was for a good cause. . .

"W-Wait a minute! Emilia-sama, this is Arc 7, right?"

Emilia nodded her head at Rem's odd question and a big smile broke out across her face.

"I see. In which case. . ."

Rem strolled right over to where Subaru, Beatrice, and Emilia were seated, gave a beaming smile towards both Emilia and Beatrice, and proceeded to plant a kiss on Subaru's lips in front of the entire theater.

"E-Eh?! H-Hey Rem! No fair, he's asleep. . !"

Emilia did her best to mask her own cravings and chastised Rem for kissing Subaru when he wasn't even conscious. Even if everyone knew that Subaru loved Rem, it was still pretty messed up of her to do that!

"Mhmm, I understand. It only counts when Subaru-kun is awake. You've become very wise Emilia-sama!"

Rem nodded her head in confirmation at Emilia's misinterpreted words, and resolved in her head to French kiss Subaru when he actually woke up. That way she would hold a first in a least one way!

As Ram watched this play out, she did her best to keep herself from throwing up.

Yorna: [My lips aren't cheap. With this…]

The kiss ended, Yorna distanced her face, and she interrupted the words onto which she was clinging. However, Subaru vaguely understood what the words that were to follow would be.

What she wanted to say was―― Can you love me now?

If Subaru were to love Yorna, the situation would change.

That was most likely the root of Yorna's power, or something like the origin of her strength.

However――,

". . .-tch! You never change, do you?"

Priscilla said this aloud, this time drawing the attention of everyone else in the theater.

"Hm? Princess, have you met this lady before?"

Even Al, who'd prided himself on knowing the details of Priscilla's past, had absolutely no idea when the fiery-haired matriarch would've come in contact with the leader of Chaosflame. As far as he was aware, this woman became a divine general under Vincent's rule, which coincided with her departure from Vollachia.

"Silence Aldebaran! Lest I decide to remove your head from its shoulders!"

Despite being super interested in whatever it was his lady was hiding, Al also knew when it was in his best interests to shut up. After all, she'd seriously killed him a few times when he pulled stunts like that. Even so. . .

"I told you not to call me that. . .!"

Subaru: [There's a girl I like, so…]

On the other side of his bright-red vision, the face of the girl he liked, located in a distant place, emerged.

When he gazed at her smiling face, his heart would throb. Therefore, Subaru could not love Yorna.

He could not love her, and so, upon hearing that, Yorna's face tensed up in grave pain. It was difficult to look at that.

"S-Subaru! You dunderhead!"

Emilia blushed with the heat of a star emanating from her pale cheeks. For him to declare something like that so recklessly, even when his own life was at stake?! Emilia wasn't sure whether she should be happy or mad, as his loyalty to her had been something that had gotten him into a LOT of trouble up to this point. His battle to save her from Elsa, the attack by Betelgeuse, liberating the Sanctuary, all of those things he'd done because he loved her.

However, the cost of that love was so cruel that Emilia often felt she couldn't accept it. These viewings had only cemented these thoughts in her head even further!

Regardless, Emilia was still human (or half-human, idk). She couldn't receive such heartfelt words without reciprocating in some way.

*Mhm*

"That's why you're my knight though."

Emilia gave a small kiss to the unconscious Subaru, as a reward and punishment for refusing to take Yorna's healing. It was the only way for her to get those feelings out in a way that didn't leave her feeling guilty the rest of the viewing.

Rem, who'd caught a side-glance at Emilia's follow up kiss, made a silent note in her head that there would be more competition for that kiss than she initially thought.

Olbart: [――Well, things don't always turn out so well with men and women.]

In a moment, along with that voice filled with something like disappointment, Subaru's field of view changed completely.

Subaru: [――――]

"The hell is happening to him now?!"

Otto yelled out with confusion evident in his voice. At the volume he yelled this at, he'd probably lose his voice before the viewing ended. Otto put his hand across his face trying not to keep looking at the spectacle playing out in front of him.

"I'm not sure, as this is from Subaru's perspective, this could be a number of different things. . ."

Reinhard spoke out optimistically, wondering if perhaps the young girl's death and Subaru's injuries had been illusions, and now the girl had simply gotten up and teleported the both of them somewhere safe.

"Nope."

Al had a different opinion. And the way he spoke, he didn't leave any room for doubt.

"Oh yeah? Why not?"

Julius spit this out at Al, feeling like he'd just been denied some form of hope that had been long deserved.

"Man. . . all that attitude! How about you just keep watching?"

Yorna's face, which was right in front of him, disappeared, and all he could see was the sky being dyed red.

Similarly to Louis's teleport, his vision shifted quickly―― No, it was different from Louis's.

If it were like Louis's teleport, the world would reflect something different, more vivid, in an instant.

But what was happening to Subaru at the moment was much rougher and cruder. His vision was spinning, and there was no interruption like there would be in a teleport, and he saw everything from the ground, ground that was a continuous plane.

Just above him was Yorna on her knees, and Olbart's form standing before her. Next to Yorna, was the body of a fallen girl, perhaps that of Louis.

There was one other thing, something, or someone, standing between Yorna and Olbart.

That was――,

Subaru: [――Ah]

――It was the body of the young Subaru, a child missing his head.

". . . . . . ."

". . . . . . ."

". . told ya."

Al was lucky that looks couldn't kill, because if they could, he was in for the fight of his life! Again, Al preemptively activated his territory on the off-chance people decided to make a move on him.

Olbart: [Good grief, it's mentally tough ta kill a child. Well, physically it's easier tho', isn't it?]

"Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill hi-. . ."

Rem was back in her uncontrolled rage. Listening to those absolutely disgusting words leave the old ninja's mouth, Rem lost all ability to regulate speech and started visualizing her Morningstar slowly making its way through his head, making a path of destruction through all his sensory organs.

"Go on and try it then~! Mimi will rip that man to pieces~!"

The children in the theater made a plethora of different faces, ranging from horror to indignant outrage.

People like Petra, who lacked combat ability, hid behind Frederica with tears in her eyes. However, people like Mimi, Hetaro, and Tivey all stuck their tongues out at the old man, knowing they wouldn't go down without putting up a fight.

Yorna: [Old Man――!]

With a blood-curdling scream, Yorna's body plunged into Olbart. He met it head-on, and the bodies of the two clashed, causing the Crimson Lapis Castle to rock violently.

It rocked, it cracked, it shattered, and once again the destruction spread and spread, and then, something happened.

From that point onward, Subaru did not understand what was happening.

He did not understand anything anymore. Without understanding anything, Subaru's head bounced off the roof――,

It bounced――.

――Dark, he was dragged into a dark space.

"Where is he?! S-Subaru where DID HE GO?!"

Emilia, who'd expected Subaru to simply return to his previous checkpoint like normal, was shocked to see Subaru's soul fail to return back to his body. It made her start to hyperventilate, because if Subaru didn't return, that would mean. . . .

"Subaru-kun can't be. . . dead?!"

The thought that Subaru had actually died, that he was truly gone from this world, was something Rem couldn't accept. It was such a painful existence for her to even entertain that Rem almost felt grateful towards to that jealous Witch of Envy. If not for her, then Subaru would've permanently died a long time ago. But here, for some reason. . .

"N-No, no, no, no, no, no, Subaru can't die! H-He can't! He's not allowed! No! No! No! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!"

Emilia put her head between her knees, absolutely mortified at the future awaiting all of them once they all got released from this accursed theater. Unlike Echidna's third trial, these events were likely set in stone, which terrified her to no end. Subaru would die. He would die. He wouldn't come back. He'd leave them all. Leave this world. Leave her.

"T-This future must be prevented, I suppose! Betty's Subaru promised her a lifetime of joy, he can't disappear now, in fact!"

Beatrice shook Subaru's shoulders, the butterflies in her eyes trembling at Subaru's unconscious body that still wasn't any closer to waking up. He had Return By Death. He would always come back to her!

"So this is a true end. . . ."

Reinhard grimaced and looked away from the screen, cursing himself for letting such a horrible fate befall one of his friends. Truthfully, Reinhard had been looking forward to seeing Subaru again after their year apart pursuing various goals. He'd always felt he needed to express his gratitude for helping him find Felt, and more recently, with his assistance in bringing down the White Whale. With Reinhard's power, stopping the man on-screen would've been trivially easy. . .

?: [――――]

It was an empty space; he had no hands or feet and was floating; it was incomprehensible, neither sky nor ground existed, drifting about, nothing shook, nothing resisted, nothing was experienced, nothing shuddered.

It was like he had been acquainted with it many times before, it was like this was the first time he laid eyes upon it.

It was like it was drifting away, it was like it was infinitely close.

Amidst the seemingly everlasting darkness, in the space completely dominated by darkness, there was an echo.

An echo, of weeping, of someone's crying voice, one that made his non-existing heart beat, of a voice.

?: [I love you.]

"W-Wait a second, Subaru's soul is still. . ?"

Otto's voice rang out over the thoroughly crushed viewers, instilling in them all just the tiniest bit of hope they may have been wrong. For, while the screen faded to black, they heard the voice of someone speaking to someone else.

"Those words, it must be her again."

Crusch spat out this declaration with clear disgust at the message and speaker of those words. There was simply no end to this monster's delusions regarding a relationship with Subaru. The obsessive, whispered words of love made her skin crawl. Love him? To drag him into this world, throw him into a meat grinder, and ask him to love you after all that? Don't make her laugh! Subaru would never love this witch!

"If that's really the Witch, then the recipient of those words is undoubtedly. . ."

Ram internally gave a sigh of relief, as even though the screen had been made dark, she knew Subaru's soul must still exist. At the very least, there was hope for him to make it back to the world of the living. That troublesome man seriously needed to stop scaring everyone with these stupid stunts.

Emilia and Rem both felt such a weight removed from their shoulders, they each broke into tears. This wouldn't be the end for Natsuki Subaru, at least, not yet.

Little did they know the horror that this 'mercy' was about to create. . .

Those, were words of love.

Like an appeal for love, a request for love, a plead for love, a deferment of love, the voice had requested love for love.

?: [I love you. I love you. I love you.]

That accretion of love, originally, was supposed to be that of words filled with various emotions.

The likes of happiness, of anger, of sadness, of pleasure; the whirlpool of emotions was filled with that sort.

And yet, that which filled the love in this everlasting darkness, was nothing more than a single emotion.

?: [I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you――]

"M-My voice. . . I still can't. . ."

Emilia, hearing her voice as the one speaking out such repulsive words, put her hands over her ears in an attempt to make the creepy obsessive confessions stop. Why? Why did the Witch Of Envy have to love Subaru? Why? Why must Subaru be the one to kill her?

The one person who could look past her appearance, who loved her for being a half-elf, why must it be him? Was there no escape for the two of them from the unending curse of her lineage?

Rem patted Emilia on the back, doing her best to reassure her that there was nothing alike between her and the monster on the screen. However, as Rem leaked those last two words out, she couldn't help but spill some hostility towards the Witch that decided to make Subaru all hers. The repeated 'I love you's only made Rem want to restate hers to Subaru with even more vigor. The one who loved Subaru the most would forever be Rem, that spot was something she wouldn't sacrifice.

"Ta' think that the most powerful bein' in existence could be so infatuated with our dear Natsuki-kun."

Anastasia was still trying to figure out the link between these two, as their meeting in Arc 4 had only left everybody with more questions. The most important being, how could Subaru have met Satella when he'd never existed in this world previously? He'd been referred to as a Sage Candidate, not just during the viewing, but by the Warden himself, which she felt could be a clue to deciphering this mess. However, when she really thought about it, the only real way to explain this situation would be if Subaru had existed in this world at some point 400 years ago. Such a thing couldn't be true. . . right?

"Man, what's with Big Bro and seducing witches. . . that's a seriously bad habit!"

Felt tried lightening the mood with some small banter, but the reception was quite poor so she decided not to follow it up with anything else. At the very least, Petra seemed to find it kind of funny!

Crammed among the entirety of those emotions, in the entirety of that whirling love, was only "sadness".

Sadness, of sadness, of sad, that love sobbed, saddened by sadness.

Unceasingly, there was sobbing.

Unceasingly, the sobbing made him yearn for death just because he was listening to it.

Love was sadness, love was made of sadness, love was made of sad, love was saddening sadness.

While sobbing, while carrying out love on love, while saddened by sadness, they united at the terminus.

?: [――Where are you?]

"W-Wait a minute. . . I don't understand! The Witch has lost Subaru?"

Petra scratched her head and tried her best to speculate on whatever the heck it was she just heard. If she had to guess, that meant that the Witch was having trouble activating his authority, meaning Subaru's soul wouldn't be revived. But then how was she speaking with him now?

"If I maaaaay hazard a guess, if we acknowledge that the Witch of Envy has loooost sight of Subaru-kun. . ! It is unknown what could have caaaaused this, but it confirms she is always waaaatching him, wouldn't you agree?"

Roswaal, revealing something pretty disturbing the rest of the camps, made them aware of how dangerous the situation they were in really was. This was a future scenario, but given that they lacked the context for why the Witch lost track of Subaru, they would need to assume that in their current situation that was not true.

"She miiiiight be watching us all right now!"

A shudder ran down the spines of most people in the theater, especially the armored man in the back.

"I don't care about that! If she has to watch Subaru-kun to keep him alive, then I'll gladly overlook it! But don't you realize what that implies!? Subaru-kun won't be revived!"

Rem screamed this out, seemingly understanding that this meant Subaru's Return by Death was failing. This meant he'd, once again, be gone for good.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you Rem, but let's try and think about this rationally. There's another explanation I can think of that could also be true."

The one who calmed these concerns was Crusch. She also looked worried at the concept of Subaru dying a permanent death, but at least she was able to think of some flaws in their reasoning up to this point.

"W-What other explanation is there!? The Witch of Greed said that Subaru-kun's power stems from the Witch of Envy!"

Rem gave a simple answer, which while probably true, most likely didn't capture the nuance of the mechanics for Return By Death.

"All we know is that she controls his 'checkpoints' right? If she lost track of Subaru, she could simply rewind time to a point where she knows his location and find him. So why hasn't she done so?"

Crusch poised a difficult question, which left most of the viewers stuck on its answer. For someone as powerful as the Witch Of Envy, it wouldn't be something too trifling to rewind time and find Subaru.

"I-I'm not certain about this, I suppose. But maybe the Witch is referring to his location in the flow of time, in fact?"

"Wait, wait, wait! Are ya' sayin Big Bro managed to bend time all by himself!?"

Felt's concern was, primarily, that Beatrice's speculation involved Subaru being under the influence of ANOTHER power that could distort time. There was no evidence of that happening during the battle with the Old Man, but if the spirit was right, it meant that Olbart had been the one responsible.

"So there are others who can rewind time. . ."

Julius's eyebrows lifted and his eyes widened is disbelief. The phenomena being described to him was something he'd have never thought possible before just this moment.

Only one person had a suspicion about what was happening, and he could only pray he was wrong.

Olbart: [I heard the people of Chaosflame are strong, but I wonder if they're tougher than those in the shinobi village?]

Yorna: [――You lowlife!]

"W-Wha. . ."

Emilia heard something that she'd most definitely heard spoken once before.

Terror. Horror. No words described the feelings in their heart at the scene that greeted them.

Even Priscilla, momentarily, dropped her fan onto the floor. The understanding flowing through her mind all at once at was about to occur.

Subaru had Returned By Death. Their worries should be close to gone. After all, Subaru had survived and made it back without any complications. However, nobody felt relief at this awful spectacle. Instead, they felt unbelievable fear rip through them. This was because, this checkpoint was simply. . . too evil.

The moment Subaru had returned by death was only a couple seconds before the blast that disfigured the young children's faces.

He had absolutely no ability to react to this.

The whirling, spinning vision of red performed a rotation, and tense voices struck his eardrums.

One was that of an old man, and the other was that of a woman―― he could understand they were Olbart and Yorna respectively.

He understood, but that was the only thing he could understand.

Subaru: [Huh…]

Yorna: [HaAAAaaa!]

Only one second had passed, perhaps even less, but things were playing out exactly as they had before. Much to the horror of everyone watching, Subaru was simply too dazed to realize the precarious situation he'd just been put into.

"Run! Subaru-kun!"

"Subaru-dono! Quickly, realize what's happening before it's too late!"

Rem and Wilhelm shouted out desperate pleas, hoping that even just one word could break through the screen and make its way into the young boy's head. With Louis there, if he was quick, there was always the chance the two of them could escape by teleporting away. But that opportunity was quickly deteriorating, and if he didn't act now, his fate would be sealed in an instant.

Immediately after letting out a dazed voice, there was a massive boom, and, stepping hard on the roof of the Castle, Yorna's foot crushed it. At the same time, the golden kiseru in her hand was swung.

A large, horizontal, arcing blow from the kiseru, with tremendous speed and destructive power, spread a large plume of purple smoke across the skies of Chaosflame.

Subaru knew what it was for and what would happen next.

He knew, but it would happen before the knowledge he was aware of could catch up with reality.

――A bomb struck by Yorna's purple smoke exploded, and a shockwave engulfed the area.

Subaru: [Gah――]

"NO! Subaru!"

Emilia once again threw herself against the unconscious Subaru, wailing sounds indecipherable to the ear. She'd hoped to never be forced to witness something like that initial blast again. To never have to see Subaru's mean eyes getting blown out of their sockets. But this was even worse, as while she watched, Subaru would be forced to experience it once again! The pain he must be feeling is indescribable.

"Why? Why did she return him here? Is this Witch a sadist?!"

Frederica growled through her teeth, as she realized the answer to her question was obvious. The Witch Of Envy destroyed half the world 400 years ago, this was a well-known fact. The love she'd shown Subaru up to this point being expressed in the form of Return By Death was typical for a monster like that. Only now, the Witch had decided it wasn't enough, Subaru needed to suffer even more.

"Frederica-neesama, why are you putting your hands over my eyes? I need to see what's happening here too!"

"N-No, you don't. I know how much you care for Subaru-kun, so I won't make you watch this cruel scene again."

Petra's hands were trembling, as simply going off the reactions from the other people in the theater was enough to tell her that Subaru's checkpoint was unbelievably cruel. The horror of true immortality was being put on full display.

His whole body bathed by the same shock that had bathed it mere moments ago, Subaru's field of vision was dyed bright-red.

He thought he heard a small sound like something being split, and he immediately drew the connection to his reddened vision. The sound had been the bursting of his eyeball. Hence, Subaru's vision had turned red.

If so, before long, the other side of his field of vision would turn dark――,

Subaru: [Ah, g-gyAHHHHHH――!]

"Subaru-kun! C-Cover your eyes! I'll find a way to come a heal you! P-Please don't cry!"

Rem shook as she saw the man she loved rolling on the ground in agony, his hands waving around with no direction in sight, only moving to express the extent of the suffering within his mind. The scene made Rem want to scoop him up and yell with him, expressing solidarity with him such that he could be comforted, even if for only a moment.

"I-It's so *hik* w-wrong, I suppose!"

Beatrice had a river of tears and snot running down her face as she saw Subaru, once again, reduced to a state of complete and utter anguish. His wails were so full of misery that they could almost feel the young man's pain exclusively through their ears. The high-pitched wailing unique to that of a child, it was something humans were conditioned to feel pain towards. Everyone who had even the smallest bit of humanity within them could feel their senses being drowned out by those cries.

Roswaal, who'd believed himself unable to feel anything at the sight of death after the sins he'd committed, found his monochrome eyes beginning to tear up at Subaru's plight. His situation had become so uniquely hopeless, so distinctively evil, that his nonexistent heart had been moved.

To die and reset. Over and over. This accursed fate was not completely disdainful. That was what Roswaal had believed.

As long as each death made progress. As long as there was meaning in the suffering. As long as there was a goal at the end of all that pain. Such a path could be weathered. The tribulations could be overcome. None of that could be found here. He'd been thrown into an infinite dead end.

He was shocked to feel righteous anger for the first time since the days he'd lived as Roswaal A. Mathers. But alas, he could do nothing. All he could do was watch.

Covering his face with both hands, Subaru screamed as he was struck by two things, pain and "understanding".

He had gained "understanding". One of his eyeballs had been ruptured and the other one popped out. As long as his brain didn't want to understand, it was possible to ignore the pain.

But, if he knew what had happened to begin with, he would not be able to ignore the pain.

Subaru: [AAAAAGH! AGH, GYAHHHH!]

Felix, hearing the description of what Subaru's plight, only found himself even more mortified at the torment Subaru was experiencing. It was common knowledge in medicine that most of the pain a patient experiences can be directly attributed to its realization through one of their five senses. Such as sight, sound, feeling, smell, etc.

There were people who could be shot multiple times and not even realize it due to the rush of adrenaline in their blood and the lack of connecting the trauma to a specific part of their body.

This is often why, when one hears a crack in their body after it's put under considerable stress, the pain they might not have noticed before suddenly becomes unbearable. A similar phenomenon exists with sight too, as people noticing the severity of their wounds can end up being captivated by them, heightening their sensitivity to pain.

"B-But Subaru-kyun already saw the extent of his injuries in the last loop. . ."

This meant that the one barrier between him and the overwhelming trauma accompanying those injuries was gone.

As a medic, this disturbing amount of detail unnerved him to no end. He really wanted to jump in and stop this. This was not pain that anyone could reasonably be expected to stomach, especially now that they'd become intimately aware of its source.

Louis: [Uau! Uauu!]

A small body clutched Subaru, who had collapsed onto his back on the spot, wailing loudly.

His name was being called. He did not understand. His ears were burning, and his own voice was too loud. The pain, the gushing of blood, he could hear it. He did not understand whether it was blood flowing inside or outside his body. It hurt, it just hurt. It hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt, it hurt.

Somebody, help. I don't want pain. I don't like pain. I don't like, pain.

It hurt, it hurt because it hurt, it hurt because it hurt, because it hurt, it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt――.

"I-It hurts, *hik* it hu-rts, it hurts, it hurts, *hik* it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it must hurt soooooo bad!"

Emilia kissed him on one of his closed eyes, barely able to think at this point. His internal pleas for help, for anything or anyone, nobody would answer them. She listened to his breakdown in thought as she accompanied him into one of her own. She could only repeat the phrase 'it hurts' as the pain within her heart had become so heavy that she could no longer focus on anything else, even what was happening on the screen.

"W-WHAT THE HELL!? THE FUCK?! THE FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKKKKKKKKKKK. . .!"

Kicking and breaking everything in sight, Felt couldn't regulate her emotions anymore. She needed to take them out on something, so she began by tearing off the lining on the chairs and ripping the fabrics into nothing but dust. Like Subaru, she was seeing red, but unlike Subaru, this wasn't blood. Or perhaps, maybe it was. The rage, the power with which her heart pumped blood and reddened her skin and face like she was a powerlifter going for a heavy compound lift. There was nothing for her to do but keep shredding the stuff in front of her until there was nothing left.

Beatrice momentarily passed out, falling onto Subaru's lap with a permanent grimace on her face. This was no longer something she could stomach watching, she legitimately might die from grief should she continue. This was the person she'd chosen to bond her soul with after all.

Rem was long past simple emotions like rage or sadness, she was in a realm all to herself. The words on the screen not making their way into her ears, but still somehow reaching her. The world itself was cruel. Cruel. Cruel. Cruel. Cruel. Cruel.

'It's not real. It's not real. It's not real. Stop focusing on it. It's not real. It won't be real. It won't be real. It won't be real! It won't be real!'

Crusch tried saying anything, and everything, to herself to try and alleviate the transmitted suffering she felt coming across her from the poor child in front of her. The fact that this was just a possible future, that the Subaru on-screen wasn't their Subaru, that perhaps the entire viewing had been fabricated, nothing worked.

Anastasia went to hug Mimi again, rubbing the young girls head with her hands and trying to drown out the sounds with Mimi's purring. It was unsuccessful. Instead, all Anastasia could do was comfort the crying girl on her lap with a tight embrace and empty words.

Priscilla was still frozen in shock. It was the only time Al had ever seen her look like this, but he honestly couldn't blame her for reacting this way. She'd known about his power for a while, but maybe now she could finally understand how it felt, even a little bit.

Al, obscured by his mask, gave no audible or visual reactions to the suffering on the screen in front of him. His heart ached for the poor boy, but as he already learned so long ago, there is only one way out. Letting yourself lose focus was the quickest way to having your mind break, as his had so many times.

"A-At least he has that young girl there to hold him. . ."

Al was glad that Subaru wasn't left all alone to face that pain. In the Gladiator ring, things didn't go quite so smoothly for him.

Subaru: [Wa――]

Olbart: [Oioi, isn't that a bad idea?]

Subaru: [――Hk.]

Pain swirling around in his head, his red vision glazed over.

Right beside Subaru, there was a hand holding him down as he tried to roll around, but it was getting in his way. He wanted to scream louder, flail around more, and let the pain escape from his body.

No, it was his face that hurt. His eyes and his ears. So, if it hurt somewhere else, if this pain would go somewhere else.

Louis: [Uau! Auaa――]

Thud thud, he banged his head on the ground. A strong force pulled him up. Someone fastened their arms behind his back, making him unable to move. It hurt, he was afraid of being hurt. He hated it, he was scared, he was going to die.

Subaru: [Guh…]

". . .-tch!"

Garfiel had remained silent throughout the course of this viewing, not feeling like he'd had the right to say anything regarding Subaru's wellbeing, but this action forced a choked growl out of him. Maybe it was because it was such a brutal scene, maybe it was because he felt responsible for not being there when his Captain needed him the most. . .

No, in his heart he knew why. It had nothing to do with anything logical like that.

It was because Garfiel understood his rationale for wanting to drown out pain with even worse pain. The scar on his own head being a testament to when he'd done the exact same thing as a child. When he'd been weak, and loathed himself to his very core. Pain, pain, pain, pain, it never stopped.

The pain that was so great he couldn't ignore it, no matter what he did. The fear being that it would never end, that he'd never be free of it.

What right did Garfiel have to empathize with him? Subaru said it himself: only he knew hell. He chose to know it in the place of everyone else.

What gave him the right to feel his pain?

This dialectic was starting to tear Garfiel apart.

He'd been so cold towards Subaru when he'd met him, even to the point where he'd wanted Subaru dead! Subaru still chose to save his life when push came to shove. That was Subaru's decision. So why then? Why did he feel like he had no right to remain friends with Subaru?

Why did he still feel pain whenever he saw Subaru forced through particularly painful death loops? He wasn't allowed to! He'd never acted as a true friend to Subaru!

So why?

Why did he want to cry so badly?

Olbart: [Kakh, ya can't be serious, foxgirl. What kinda body ya got that won't die from that? So that's what Cecilus was talkin' 'bout when he said he couldn't lop off yer head?]

Yorna: […There's no way I'm going to reveal my womanly secrets to a lousy man who lays his hands on children.]

In the distance, someone was arguing. Caught between his own voice and the voice that was trying to hold him back, he couldn't hear anything. He couldn't understand. It hurt, everything was wrong.

Yes, everything was wrong. The red and the pain, everything was their fault. Everything was because of them.

Subaru: [It's because of them…! That's, that's, that's their fault! Not mine! Even though it's not mine, uuuugh!]

"Subaru-dono. . ."

Wilhelm could only look at Subaru with solemnity, as the young man had completely forsaken himself to the throes of despair. There was such hatred for the world in his eyes, putting him into such an impossible place. If he gave up now, there was no hope of escape for the young man.

Priscilla balled her hand into a fist, looking at the scene with clearly visible anguish. She wasn't one who believed in pitying others, as she'd always considered such actions to be the coping mechanism of commoners for remaining at the bottom of society. However, here she felt herself truly sympathize with the poor child. The very constructs this world was built on had turned against him. Although she'd always believed if was possible for the world to turn in a single person's favor, she'd never considered the possibility that the opposite could be true as well.

"P-Princess. . . you're crying."

Al said this matter-of-factly, but underneath his mask, he gave a weak smile for finally bearing witness to Priscilla's emotional side. It was pretty rare for her to show it, but Al could understand why she felt the way she did.

"Al, speak out of line again and I'll strike you down here."

The helmeted man turned away, feeling pretty dejected that Priscilla had so quickly gone back to her normal self, but this was also a side of hers he liked so he didn't mind. Al managed to go this far without crying for Subaru, which was only a testament to the hell he'd endured to get to this point, but he still felt pity for him.

'Still though, could she spare a little bit of that compassion for me!?'

Louis: [Uu!]

Squirming and struggling, Subaru tried to push all of it somewhere else. What if he pushed everything to something else and was able to escape, what should he do if he could escape?

He would think about such a thing after he escaped. He would think about it after he escaped, so.

Olbart: [Wahwah, I can't stand hearin' the sound of children cryin'. ――Shuddup.]

Yorna: [Wait…!]

"This man should just die. I apologize if what I said is unknightly, but. . !"

Julius wanted absolutely nothing more that to kill this bastard himself. The mocking, the underhanded tactics, the grating sound of his voice. . . they all needed to be stopped. A sword through his throat wouldn't suffice. Vollachia had always left a bad taste in his mouth, but this was simply beyond the pale. It was as if they had no concept of acknowledgment for another's existence unless proven through blood.

"Shut it, Juli! Ya' think any f'us disagree with ya?"

Anastasia had to keep herself from applauding Julius's outburst, whilst Ricardo nodded his head affirming Julius's feelings.

For someone like Subaru, who'd risked his life on the battlefield countless times on their behalf, they'd both undoubtedly accrued a debt to him greater than they could ever repay. Neither one of them would stand by and let this chain of events come to pass. They'd sooner kill Olbart in cold blood than allow this to happen to Subaru.

A woman's desperate voice and an uninterested hoarse voice.

After hearing them, something approached with the sound of scraping. From behind his head, fastening their arms behind his back, someone hugged Subaru tightly.

But, being embraced by them did not help.

Because a bright-red, heated light swelled up again, engulfing Subaru and the rest.

He was swallowed, and the pain went away, and then――.

"Y-You've got to be kidding me. . !"

Frederica wretched this out, as everyone in the theater was forced to witness another instance of Subaru being vaporized by Olbart's bombs, this time as he was held by that young haired girl who'd tried to comfort him. Petra had been unable to see what was going on since Subaru's last death, but as she tried removing Frederica's hands from her eyes, the older maid refused to let the girl bear witness to any more loops.

"W-What is it Frederica-neesama?! P-Please, let me see. . ."

"You know that I care for you deeply, Petra-chan, right? Please understand, I'm doing this to spare you unnecessary suffering."

Those words came out with a shaky disposition. It sounded like the older beast maid was on the verge of crying herself, which made Petra stop and reevaluate her choice.

"A-At least tell me what's happening! All I hear is everyone crying!"

The maid leaned over, whispering something in Petra's ear that made her freeze up like a board. Soon after, she clung to Frederica's chest with tears in her eyes. This was because Natsuki Subaru had. . .

Olbart: [I heard the people of Chaosflame are strong, but I wonder if they're tougher than those in the shinobi village?]

Yorna: [――You lowlife!]

A moment later, again he heard the voices he had heard just a while ago, and hearing them again, his consciousness turned white.

Subaru: [Huh…?]

"Ahh-HHAHHAHAAAAAAAA. . .!"

Emilia bawled out a sound filled with such misery, one might describe it as a 'Melody of Death'. This was especially impressive, as her aptitude for vocals was dismally low, which Subaru and Puck often reminded her. However, the tone-deaf Emilia's cries held within them the same emotions you'd hear from a professional opera singer. The message in that scream was both indiscernible and perfectly communicated.

"I don't understand! Why him? Can anyone answer that for me? Why big bro? Why's it always gotta' happen to him?!"

Felt, taking a page from Rem's book, got out of her seat and started kicking empty seats over with unrestrained emotion. It was simply unacceptable to her that Subaru could somehow STILL be getting killed after all he's been through. He'd done nothing wrong! Subaru was easily the kindest person in this room, setting aside Reinhard! But because some Witch decided she loved him, he ended up being thrown into an inescapable labyrinth of death? What the hell kind of love was that?

"Felt-sama, p-please calm down. I underst-. ."

"Fuck calmin' down! What's the explanation for this huh?!"

Reinhard stopped a kick from Felt aimed directly as his face. Immediately after, Felt's body dropped limply into his arms.

He'd made a snap decision to drain her of her mana rather than let her continue to watch with them. It was as much for her sake as it was for the condition of the theater they'd been trapped in. If he didn't stop her now, they'd run out of chairs for people to use, which could be the impetus for provoking the wrath of the one who sent them here.

"Barasu! Run, now!"

Ram yelled this out to the still immobile Subaru, hoping this time he would at least realize it quick enough to dodge the incoming blast. However. . . .

Immediately after everything was suddenly and abruptly cut off, the replay began anew.

Other colors returned to his bright-red vision, he felt the sound of the wind in his deaf ears, felt the warmth of the soft girl right beside him, and――,

Yorna: [HaAAAaaa!]

The voice of a vigorous woman was raised in volume, and a moment later, an arm was swung with tremendous force.

The trajectory of the swinging arm was already known to him.

――A series of explosions rang out, and a shock dyed his vision bright-red.

Subaru: [GYAHHHH――!]

"STOP IT! PLEASE! I-I CAN'T KEEP WATCHING THIS ANYMORE!"

Rem screamed out to the Warden, to whoever was forcing them to sit there and watch this, and begged them to stop making them watch this torture, perhaps even let them go free. However, no such 'Warden' existed in this place. They would have to witness every single death Subaru went through before they could leave this place. That was the purpose in dragging them here.

Emilia's eyes lacked the shine they'd held within them before whenever she looked at Subaru, instead electing to close her eyes completely and believe it wasn't real. She had the real Subaru right in front of her! So all she had to do was cover her eyes and ears and hold him close, and she'd be completely immune!

She was wrong. The screams somehow still made it through.

Those screams that made her want to rip her own heart in two. To weep endlessly until she cried blood. Why did things have to turn out this way? Why couldn't they have prevented this?

The only member of the Emilia Camp to be truly spared from this fate had been Beatrice, who remained unconscious on the lap of Subaru.

"S'no point n'showin' us this! Ya' jus' want us t'feel like bigger pieces o'crap?"

Garfiel cursed this theater, showing them things completely out of their control and telling them to 'own up for it'. It was beyond them from the very beginning. Wasn't that the entire point of dragging them here in the first place? To make them realize the insignificant pieces of living garbage they really were?

What reason could it possibly have to show them this?

"Garf! Calm down! The last thing we want to do is anger them further!"

Covering his face and taking in the pain of his ruptured and popped-out eyeballs, Subaru collapsed back-first onto the roof, and yelled.

Louis: [Uau! Uaau!]

Someone's voice, seemingly crying, jumped onto his fallen body.

As he felt it, as he listened to the world drowned out by harsh sounds, as he lamented the pain and suffering, Subaru's head was filled with tears, fear, and "why".

Perhaps, he was dead. He was dead.

He knew death. It was very painful and cruel, it kept him away from this place. But then it returned him to this place immediately, and then he died; it was painful however, due to the red explosion.

Even knowing this, Subaru repeated in his mind, "Why?".

――This, isn't it.

Vaguely, a sensation rang in his head, almost pushing him away with pain and redness. But it was a feeling of absolute certainty that he could not let go of.

An eyeball burst, an eyeball popped out, his eardrums ruptured, he was crying out in pain, he would soon after this die in a horrible way yet again despite wishing that the pain would be kept at a distance. Along with tears, snot, drool, and the leakage of some urine, his frenetic head thought such.

As they watched the sight of the helpless boy wet himself from fear, absolutely nobody had any words of reassurance or judgement that they could throw at him. Even the most mentally tough members of each camp had been rendered speechless by this showing of events, only continuing to watch on out of respect for Subaru's unending torment. All except for one. . .

"Fight!"

As they could all remember from Arc 3, Wilhelm had told Subaru to fight. His exact words being:

"Cling greedily to the victory you have within your sight. If you can still stand, if your fingers still move, if all your teeth haven't broken… stand and fight."

Those words, he hoped Subaru would remember them somehow. Realize a way out of this mess, using whatever means necessary. That was the resolve he'd sensed in those young man's eyes when he'd met him so long ago.

He knew he could do it. No. . . he HAD to do it!

"You must fight, Subaru-dono!"

Subaru: [Tihs, isn…] [1]

Louis: [Uau! Au, uu!]

Subaru: [This isn't, mine…]

It's not.

It's not, it's not, it's not.

It's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not.

It's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not.

It's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not――.

Subaru: [Tihs is…] [1]

Before the pain filled his head, he thought of something that he must never forget.

Again and again, Subaru was thrown into this world of red and pain, and this, this was――.

Subaru: [Not it…!]

――It was not Natsuki Subaru's Return by Death, but something else.

And with it's confirmation, what followed was simply even more questions.

"N-Not Return By Death. . .?!"

Anastasia spoke these words with little to no understanding about what it was she'd just heard. Natsuki Subaru had died, yes. Natsuki Subaru had also returned, correct? So how could this be anything aside from Return By Death?

"That's impossible! What he's describing is impossible. . !"

Otto had finally broken out of his state of disbelief and had doubled down on his denial of the words he'd just seen spoken by Subaru. To say that he'd died and returned, how could that happen without the Witch Of Envy's power? Nobody else was capable of such a feat, as far as they were aware.

"Fools! It's not impossible!"

Priscilla shouted this out with little to no prompting, making each candidate turn their heads towards her with skepticism. Who was she to speak with such authority on the matter? Wasn't she also taken by surprise by this screen's revelation of Return by Death? She'd never known of such a power before today either!

'Princess is about to get me in a lotta trouble. . .'

Al took what felt like his last free breath of air, and cleared his throat loud enough to get everyone's attention.

"W-Well. . . looks like Princess was gonna out me regardless of what I said, so I suppose I have to come clean."

The glares he was receiving from all of them only made him want to bail on the whole idea prematurely, but with Priscilla's glare almost boring a whole through the side of his head, Al knew he'd gone too far to back down now.

"I-It appears Bro stole my Authority. . ."

---

Author's Note:

Oh my God was this a pain to write! Finally! Someone got around to making this! I've been waiting for literally months for someone to attempt this and I didn't really want to wait any longer. Btw, I wrote this in 2 days, so. . .

I can now fully relate to all the doubts the other react fic writers have about putting one of these to paper. I seriously think I'm developing carpal tunnel in both my hands! Anyway, I don't really know how well this reads as a react fic, because there were some parts where I just said f*** it and made the characters react super over the top. I also think there might be some parts where it gets repetitive, but honestly, can you really blame me? They are reacting to literally the fu**ing same ten seconds over and over again lol! I doubt the next chapter will be any easier, although I have a plan to make it somewhat unique. Were there any characters who I literally forgot were there? There might've been a couple but honestly, I can't be bothered to read back over this lol.

Thoughts, comments, suggestions are appreciated! I'll drop another chapter of this when I can get around to it, but honestly, I've got my work cut out for me with both The Secret and Another Chance, so it'll probably be a while before u see me update this fic. I'm not really sure how much is an appropriate amount to write for these reactions either, so I hope you guys don't think I skimped you for this reaction! I'm thinking of having the next chapter have each loop follow one individual character's thought process, as I think it will help me to avoid making any repeats.

Finally,

I've started taking commissions for anyone who's interested in my writing style and wants me to write them a short fic! I charge $40 for 5K words, which is pretty cheap relative to everyone else I see on there! I don't really have any rules regarding what I write either, I just ask that once you receive the document you don't put my name on it unless I say its ok. I don't wanna start beef with people over something I got commissioned to write. It doesn't just have to be Re:zero either! If it's something I'm familiar with, I'll write a fic for you to the best of my ability! If you are interested, check out this link:

continuer123?up_rollout=true

I also have a discord server for anyone interested in getting updates for when new chapters are releasing. We've got roles, a lot of active members, and an overall good vibe going on. It's pretty decked out by this point, so I suggest you check it out:

/tgMtCvdasb

Next chapter should be out soon, but it depends greatly on how much work I've got ahead of me this week. Got several midterms so give me a bit of a break here.