Whilst walking on the main road to Flanders domain, Subaru remembered about his last loop and issued a warning to Reinhardt
"You should know that if we continue walking on the main road, we'd eventually run into the White Whale since its drawn to me"
"Thank you for informing me, however you need not worry since we can take an alternative route through the forest and if it does come down to fighting the White Whale, I'll make sure that such a beast would be put down by my hands" Reinhardt looked at the sky for a brief moment and thought "Then would you forgive me for what I did, Grandfather?"
Subaru nodded and the two continued to walk for some time, eventually walking deep into the forest far from the main road. Both had felt uncomfortable to ask each other any personal questions on what's supposed to happen now and so decided to keep those kinds of things left in the dark for now, though Subaru & Reinhardt did have some small talk to pass the time.
"Wait so you're telling me you can jump from the ground all the way to the moon!? Seriously, are you even human?" Subaru had been shocked when Reinhardt had told him about his maneuvering capabilities
"Yes Subaru, I can assure you that I am definitely human" Reinhardt looked at Subaru and smiled but couldn't look at him much longer because of Emilia who was still in Subaru's arms
"Well Reinhardt, if you can jump from places to places, how come you didn't just immediately take me to Flanders, it's going to be hours before we get close to any carriages"
"Subaru you should know well that if I tried doing that kind of feat with you in my arms you'd likely die from the intense flailing or even from the state of shock" Subaru made a hmph noise and the two continued to walk in the forest without interruption until–
"As I can see that the half-devil's body remains lifeless, the ordeal was a failure, such a shame!" a woman's voice spoke from behind the trees, she soon revealed herself to the two, dawning a witch cultists robes "I'm sorry Fortuna" repeated in the depths of her suppressed mind
"Eek! The Sword Saint!? Believer in love, why would you be with such a SLOTHFUL man!?" Subaru only took a few seconds to register from which person that came from
"Petel…geuse?" Subaru stood in confusion and fear, waiting for confirmation from the woman
"Hah! You still know my name then, YES! Let me introduce myself, I am Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti, Sin Archbishop of the Witch's Cult, representing Sloth!" The woman bowed with a sinister smile before Subaru and Reinhardt. Reinhardt, upon hearing the woman's title, immediately prepared himself for combat.
"How the hell!? You're supposed to be dead damnit!" thoughts of rage brew in Subaru's head, how did this woman suddenly become Petelgeuse, he should be frozen dead near Roswaal's mansion
"Ah, a fight with the Sword Saint, how wonderful, how diligent, YES!" The woman began furiously biting all of her fingers "See me, Witch of Envy! I shall kill the descendant of the Sword Saint who sealed you away with my own hands! Behold the unseen hands!" several black tendrils came out from the woman's back, poised to strike Reinhardt
Reinhardt attempts to unsheathe his sword but is met with surprise when it refuses to "My sword…has deemed you unworthy it seems" Reinhardt instead pulls the sword out in its sheathed form to fight Petelgeuse "Though this should still be enough to defeat you, witch cultist"
Petelgeuse launches his unseen hands at Reinhardt. Reinhardt, unable to see them, fails to react in time and is stabbed by fourteen tendrils. Petelgeuse intensifies his grip, one of his hands crushing Reinhardt's heart. Reinhardt falls to the floor and dies in front of Subaru, Subaru could only watch with pure fear.
"YOU BASTARD" Petelgeuse ignored Subaru's shout and snickered at Reinhardt's lifeless body "You failed to do what needed to be done and subsequently died as punishment, HAHAHA! Satella, look in awe of my doing! My love for you has brought me to victory, my love has brought you vengeance, I did it for love, LOVE!" Subaru begins to step back and feels the need to run, Petelgeuse violently shakes his head to Subaru's direction "but you…believer in love, you surprise me by your sloth. You've failed to save your friends twice now! I do want to know, are you perhaps Pride?"
Subaru thought back to how he'd been asked the same question when caged, he never asked what it meant. Subaru carefully uttered "what…does that even mean?"
Petelgeuse looks in disappointment and begins to doubt the boy in front of him, in a stern voice he says "I ask if you are by chance the successor to the Sin Archbishop of Pride, out of the 6 archbishop sins, only the seat of Pride remains vacant"
"I'm not a Archbishop nor a successor of an Archbishop, you're just insane!" Petelgeuse's eyes become enraged upon hearing Subaru's answer
"LIAR, suffer my unseen hands, false believer, how dare you defy the witch when her love is marked all over you, matching the strength of an archbishop no less!" Petelgeuse prepares to launch his unseen hand at Subaru but stops when met with a familiar voice
"I believe that's enough" Subaru and Petelgeuse turn their heads and notice the alive and well Reinhardt speaking "WHAT! How have you survived my unseen hands!? Forgive me, forgive me, FORGIVE ME for my SLOTH"
"I'm sorry if my death scared you Subaru, I have the Divine Protection of Phoenix so killing me isn't much of an option" Petelgeuse launches his hands at Reinhardt in a frenzied state but Reinhardt cuts Petelgeuse in two with a single slash fo his sword before the unseen hands could reach him "How…diligent" Petelgeuse, in the form of a woman, lets out his final words before death
"You're seriously a superhuman Rein" Reinhardt turns his attention to the Subaru who is in awe of his impressive feat and smiles knowing he's become important enough to earn a friendly nickname
"Shall we get on our way then?" Subaru pauses to Reinhardt's question and looks at the corpse of the woman. "She called herself Petelgeuse but…that guy got frozen to death by Puck so I don't understand, is he immortal or something?" Reinhardt frowned at the prospect of having to fight again "let's keep moving Rein"
Subaru and Reinhardt continue walking through the forest, caution instilled in their hearts as they expect the Archbishop to show up again. "PRIDE!" a man's voice boomed out before a shadowy hand rushed out behind the trees and grabbed Subaru's foot
"Not again! Rein!" Subaru yells out to Reinhardt as he's dragged by the hand into the depths of the forest
"You! Believer in love, you ARE Pride! That love, that scent, is that of an archbishop, this confirms it!" Petelgeuse, now a man again, spits into Subaru's face whilst being held by the unseen hands
"I'm not Pride! I'm not a part of your damned cult and I never will be, Rein!" Petelgeuse is slashed in two once again before he could react to what Subaru said
"This guy is seriously a nuisance, thanks but this is definitely not going to be the last time he shows up"
"I believe there's 7 more of them, his fingers…" Subaru let out a massive sigh upon hearing from Reinhardt that he'd have to met with Petelgeuse 7 more times
"Subaru, you stay here. I'll deal with this archbishop problem, there's no use to having a friend die in a place like this" Subaru felt a small sense of relief, he could now rest for the time being with Emilia
Reinhardt dashes off to fight off the other fingers and Subaru remains, he clutches Emilia closer to his head and thinks back to the time he'd spent with her in the mansion for several minutes.
"I'm sorry Emilia…I'm sorry" Subaru felt as if he'd break down in tears again but was interrupted by a woman who spoke like the madman Petelgeuse. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect her, Fortuna" repeated in the depths of his suppressed mind
"Believer in love, it was a pain to get past the Sword Saint! I came here to retrieve you but I can only notice that you still clutch dearly to the half-devil even after all that's happened, why is that?" Subaru looks up at Petelgeuse and answers "It's for love" Petelgeuse's eyes widen from that answer "I'm sorry that I failed you, Fortuna" repeated in the madman's suppressed mind
"I did everything for her out of love!" Subaru continued shouting his heart out, Petelgeuse's mouth slowly opened as memories between Fortuna, Emilia, and him repeated in his mind "and I couldn't save her! Everytime I look at her now I see her smile is gone!" Petelgeuse begun to step back "I couldn't save Emilia, I couldn't save Fortuna, I'm sorry, I'm sorry" the thought intensified in Petelgeuse
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry Emilia, I'm sorry! I did everything for love…and I still failed you, I am a failure" Petelgeuse began to tear up, not from the boys speech, but from the thoughts that were raging in his head "Forgive me Fortuna, Forgive me Fortuna, I'm sorry that I failed you, I'm sorry I couldn't protect you, I'm sorry that I failed Emilia, I'm sorry that I couldn't protect Emilia, I'm a failure, a failure, a slothful failure, I…" The thoughts could no longer be contained in Petelgeuse's mind "I'M SORRY FORTUNA" Subaru stared at Petelgeuse in confusion and horror. "Does that madman feel grief too?" Subaru stood up and asked Petelgeuse out of confusion "who's Fortuna" the madman responded with silence "WHO'S FORTUNA" Subaru intensified his question
"I…couldn't save her…my sloth…MY SLOTH KILLED HER…it was by my hands! I killed her, it was me!" Subaru initially did not know how to respond but thought back to when Petelgeuse yelled in his face the same thing about Rem, that's when Subaru got the idea to ask him "Did you really…kill her?" Petelgeuse looked at Subaru with a death stare "YES, it was me, it was me, it was me! In my blind rage, BLIND, in my blindness, in my sloth, my sloth, I KILLED HER-"
Before Petelgeuse could yell anymore, his body was split into two by the Sword Saint. "Subaru! It's good to know he didn't harm you, that was the last finger" Subaru had to spent a couple seconds of what just happened "Rein…thank you for putting that guy out of his misery" Subaru wanted to turn his expression to a smile but soon stopped when he felt something enter his body "wh–wha–AGH" Subaru struggled to breath "you think you could stop me that easily Sword Saint, HAH this body, how excellent it is, YES!" came from the mouth of Subaru, now possessed by Petelgeuse
"Subaru…no!" Reinhardt realizes what just happened "Subaru yo must fight back, don't let him take you over!" Subaru's face turns into that of a madman "It's too late Sword Saint, his body is firmly under MY control!" Reinhardt's face turns into anguish as he sees his friend 'killed' in front of him "No! I'm…I'm Subaru Natsuki! Reinhardt…please…you have to kill me" Subaru's expression turns into the feeling of agony as he wrestles to take control from Petelgeuse
"Subaru, there must be another way I shouldn't have to kill you, I…shouldn't have to kill my friend…no" Reinhardt struggled to keep a tear from escaping his eye "Rein…please…I know how to deal with him…I know" Reinhardt knows what he must do "Subaru…please forgive me" Subaru convulses onto the ground as Petelgeuse takes back control "AGHh…to think that such I'll die when I found the perfect vessel…Fortuna…Fortuna…please forgive me, forgive me for everything I've–" before Petelgeuse could finish, Subaru's head was decapitated by the Sword Saint Author's Note
At that moment, Subaru Natsuki had lost his life
Author's Note: holy, the writers stump was real on this chapter, also I felt this story is becoming too cliche...oh well!