Re: Tales from the Multiverse: Option One

by Ernalore

Subaru, along with his Camp, his rival Camps, his parents, and Meili, have all suddenly teleported into a theater, controlled by "the Warden". Said Warden has told them that they'd be watching alternate realities, and the Cast would be responsible for what they'd be watching. Seeing that their first option is Emilia arriving in Japan, Subaru makes sure that his secrets remain his.

7. Chapter 7: The Melancholic Path

Chapter 7: The Melancholic Path

The entire Theater stared at the standing Subaru, ready to hear what he had to say.

After the insanity that was the Return by Death and his supposed relationship to Satella, the Cast had to believe that there was no way in hell that Subaru was hiding anything else. And yet, the opening, the mentions of being under contract, whatever supposedly happened at the Sanctuary, his supposed relationship to Shaula, Reid, and Volcanica, and the fact that his theory somehow involved him being the literal Great Sage, it was all too maddening.

And yet, Subaru believed he had an answer to all of that.

"Just to give you all a heads-up, all I'll be talking about is what I know and what I've been told, along with whatever evidence I have gathered to support my theory, but remember, not everything may be a hundred percent accurate."

"It's okay, Subaru. We trust you."

Subaru swallowed down the bile that crept up his throat at hearing Emilia say that. But seeing the faces of his friends, family, and comrades, all of them waiting for him to shed some light on this darkness, made him nod his head, and press forward.

"Alright then…" Subaru began, "It all started four hundred years ago, with six of the seven Witches of the Deadly Sins. There was Carmilla, the Witch of Lust, who gave emotions to non-humans in an attempt to fill the world with love. There was Minerva, the Witch of Wrath, whose healing punches caused natural disasters wherever she went. There was Typhon, the Witch of Pride, who used her childish innocence to judge criminals one after another. There was Daphne, the Witch of Gluttony, who created the Mabeasts in an attempt to end world hunger. There was Sekhmet, the Witch of Sloth, who threw Volcanica over the Great Waterfall itself. And finally… There was Echidna, the Witch of Greed, who even after death, even to this very day, will do anything and everything to gain new knowledge. And it all began at the Sanctuary."

Some people, especially those within the Emilia and Anastasia Camps, shivered at the mention of the Witch of Greed, while the purple-haired merchant rubbed her scarf to calm herself.

"Four hundred years ago, Echidna, with the help of Roswaal A. Mathers, created the Sanctuary within the Forest of Kremaldy Forest. It was a facility made to help with Echidna's research in her bid to obtain immortality, while also doubling as a village to the local demi-humans, as well as a safe haven to keep Echidna safe from those who were after her."

"In that Sanctuary, there were three people who were the most promising, and were considered important enough to be within Echidna's inner circle: Roswaal, the half-elf known as Ryuzu Meyer, and the Great Spirit, Beatrice. They were basically a family unit, three rowdy siblings, all under the watchful eye of the mother hen, of Echidna herself. However, that all changed one day, when Hector, the Warlock of Melancholy, attacked the Sanctuary."

"Pandora, the Witch of Vainglory, and Hector, the Warlock of Melancholy, were the two additional Sins, the Arcaich Sins, and for some reason, were hellbent on destroying the other seven, as we learned from these viewings. Hector invaded the Sanctuary, and Roswaal did his best to hold him off, to no avail. While Echidna and Hector duked it out, Ryuzu decided to sacrifice her body to the magic of the Sanctuary. She was frozen within a crystal, and her essence created the barrier that barred Hector from going further into the Sanctuary, saving everyone."

"However, the loss of Ryuzu was… devastating. Echidna delved further into her research, creating such things like Puck, aka the Beast of the End, and Anastasia's scarf, and worst of all, the Tomes of Wisdom, two books who were capable of showing the user's desired future. Before she died, she created an army of Ryuzu copies in the half-elf's memory, and they became known as the eyes of the Sanctuary. Over the centuries, four of them gained personalities and became caretakers of the Sanctuary, while a fifth one went rogue, and went on to become Sphinx, one of the leaders of the Demi-Human Rebellion. And as for the Tomes of Wisdom, one of them was given to Roswaal, while the other was given to Beatrice."

"Before Echidna died, she instructed Beatrice to wait in the Forbidden Library for "That Person", and said that her Tome of Wisdom would tell her who was "That Person". Unfortunately, "That Person" did not exist. It was just a test to see who Beatrice would choose to be "That Person", but given that Echidna omitted that fact, Beatrice was left in the Library for the last four hundred years with nothing but a false sense of hope. As for Roswaal, his greatest desire was to bring back the beloved Teacher who saved him, and he used his Tome of Wisdom and followed it's instructions to the letter. He was so obsessed that he found a way to allow his soul to hijack his descendants, allowing him to cheat death, and essentially live forever, until he could find a way to resurrect Echidna. The Roswaal sitting with us in the Theater is the same one from four hundred years ago."

The Cast looked toward the Margrave in the back in total shock, the same Margrave who looked utterly defeated, almost as if he knew death was coming, and had already accepted it.

"How many?" Felix asked, horrified.

"You're going to have to be more specific," Roswaal's tone sounding completely and utterly dead. His playfully long words were gone, just like the shine in his eyes.

"How many of your descendant's lives did you steal?!"

"..."

"..."

"Enough of them."

"Julia?" Wilhelm asked, horrified. "Is that really you?"

"Heh… I haven't been called that in a while."

Wilhelm looked like he was about to be sick. Julia, the woman who constantly flirted with him back in his youth, was actually a man who was hundreds of years older than him, who had been stealing his descendants' bodies, in order to aid his quest in resurrecting a Witch. Had the flirting only been an attempt to get a child out of him to hijack and maintain his life?

"Can we please get back on track?" Subaru asked.

"Of course, Subaru-kun," Rem said, as she, and everyone else, turned back.

"Thank you," he weakly smiled. "For the next four hundred years, Echidna's soul, along with the souls of the other five dead Witches, waited within the Sanctuary, and waited, until finally, several refugees from Irlam Village, along with Emilia-tan, Ram, Otto, and myself, arrived. The Tome of Wisdom instructed Roswaal to break me, to make me help him bring back Echidna, by forcing me to choose between saving the Sanctuary, or saving the Mansion with Frederica, Petra, and a sleeping Rem inside. One of them was doomed to face the Great Rabbit, while the other was doomed to be attacked by the Bowel Hunter and an army of Mabeats."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait a fucking minute…" Felt said, wrapping her head around all of that. "You're telling us that the body-snatching clown over there, WILLINGLY sent the Great Rabbit to this "Sanctuary", AND sent the psycho bitch to your place, just to break your mind, ALL BECAUSE A STUPID LITTLE MAGIC BOOK MADE BY HIS TEACHER TOLD HIM TO DO SO?!"

"Yes. I believe it was because Return by Death made me the equivalent to "insurance" for him. If something happened that didn't follow his Gospel, then I could just reset time and prevent that from happening." Subaru explained the reasoning, but he wasn't finished yet. "Oh, and before you ask how Roswaal knows about Return by Death, I didn't tell him. Either his Gospel told him, or he figured it out himself from the information it did give him. However, Roswaal never knew how I activated my power, so he thought I could just do it on a whim."

Suddenly, Roswaal could feel everyone's hatred honed in on him and him alone. The only exceptions were Ram, who was deeply conflicted, and Priscilla, who didn't care enough about Subaru's wellbeing to be angry, but she was disgusted at his single-minded obsession.

"Wait… while it is disturbing what the Margrave was doing, some of the things you've told us about simply couldn't have been learned from your loops. So, how do you know all of this?" Crusch asked curiously, but obviously having to digest everything she had been told.

"The original story about the origins of the Sanctuary was actually passed down from the Ryuzu clones to me. Beatrice was also created by Echidna, alongside Puck. The little tidbit about Sphinx I theorized when I read about her description in a history book. And as for Pandora and Hector working together, it kinda made sense, seeing how Pandora attacked Elior Forest, similar to how Hector invaded the Sanctuary. Beako herself told me about how our current Roswaal is the same Roswaal from four hundred years ago. And for the whole Witches thing, well, I did speak with them, all seven of them, while I was in the Sanctuary."

"Wait, what?" Al asked, dumbfounded.

"In the Trial, right?" the silver-haired half-elf asked. "I remember talking to Echidna herself in there, along with another Witch. You spoke to all seven of them there, didn't you?"

"I did. But before we move on, any other questions?" Subaru asked, waiting for a reply.

Petra raised her hand and asked her question. "Did you… speak to Satella?"

"I did, and believe it or not, she gave me some helpful advice I really needed to hear. About how I should value my own life, and that people would cry for me when I died." Subaru explained.

"Whoa..." Garfiel whispered to Otto. "Tha's really deep."

"Alright then, now onto the second story."

"..."

"It all began four hundred years ago, as well. A boy from another world was suddenly teleported to a land completely foregin to him, and with no one to support him, he was probably gonna die. Chances are, he was already on death's door, when he was saved… by her. She has silver hair, pointed ears, purple eyes, and the kindest heart of them all. Her name was… Satella."

"Wait, how do you know that?" Anastasia asked.

"This is my theory, the one that I have been gathering evidence for since we saw the Warlock of Envy. And after this viewing… I was correct," Subaru smiled sadly. "Anyway, the boy and Satella loved one another, and gave each other everything, unconditionally. They gave each other light, they showed one another the world, they held each other's hand, and kissed one another. They made friends with Reid, Shaula, Volcanica, the other Witches, Geuse, even those at the Sanctuary. And when one of them gained the Authority of Envy, the other looked them in the eyes, told them that it was okay, and that they still loved the other."

"But one day, they had an encounter with Pandora. Something happened, I don't know what. Something happened, and the other six Witches were dead, and the boy was wiped off the face of the world. It's possible that he died, but "Why?", "Where?", and "How?" are all unknown. Maybe Pandora saw that boy and realized that he was the newest Great Sage, maybe she saw him making the world a better place, and that interfered with her plan, who knows? But what was important is that from then on, that the boy was gone, possibly dead, leaving a grieving Satella all by herself."

"Satella, all sad and alone, now had the power of the Witch Factor of Envy. Taking it, her mind broke even further, and she developed the split personality known as "the Witch of Envy". The Witch of Envy personality engulfed half the world in shadows, and laid waste to all in her way, to which Shaula, Reid, and Volcanica, her old friends, were forced to stop her. They couldn't kill their old friend, perhaps lacking both the willpower and capability to do it, so they did the next best thing: They sealed her away, and created the Pleiades Watchtower, named after the boy who loved her, a fortress where the three of them watch over Satella, to this very day, while Pandora and her Witch Cult terrorize the world."

While everyone else was saddened by the story, three people in the crowd connected the dots.

The three other Earthlings within the room knew fully-well what "Pleiades" meant.

"Eventually, after four hundred years, the boy returned to this world, with no memories of his past life. But Satella and Envy saw him, and gave him a gift. A gift that would keep him safe and help him survive this world, allow him to fix any of his mistakes, and allow Satella the ability to give the boy she loved her final request: To put her to rest, for everything she had done."

Those few who remembered Subaru's explanation of why he was with Satella in the previous episode's opening, and what she wanted most. They were beginning to connect the dots, but to claim such a thing was so absurd! Surely, Sure wasn't suggesting that –

"That boy… was me."

Silence. That was all there was in the Theater. No one made a sound. No one could say anything. No one knew what to think. The idea that their entire history was a lie, and that the truth about their world revolved around the otherworlder in front of them was maddening.

That was, until a certain one-armed knight raised his only hand.

"First off… WHAT?! Second… THE FUCK?! Third… I don't believe you."

"That's fine, don't believe me."

"Seriously Bro, you expect us to believe that you were somehow around four hundred years ago, when you were only born eighteen years ago? How the fuck does that work?"

"Believe me, I'm still trying to figure that part out." Subaru somewhat agreed with Al. That was the only part that still didn't make sense to him.

"Ha! And you call me arrogant when you believe the Pleiades Watchtower was named after you?!" Priscilla smugly called out, but her grin dropped when Subaru began to chuckle.

"Well, it wouldn't make sense for your world, considering you all only have one language, but on Earth, there are hundreds of languages for many different cultures. On Earth, the Pleiades refer to a constellation known as "the Seven Sisters", and as it turns out… the Japanese name for "Pleiades"... is Subaru."

Everyone just processed what Subaru just said. Sure, they remembered from the first episode that there were multiple languages in his world, but they didn't expect it to be relevant again, especially in a discussion as world-shattering as this one.

"If you don't believe me, just ask my Mom and Dad. They're the ones who named me, after all."

Everyone turned towards the two older Natuskis, who both had a look of guilt on their faces. The father of everyone's favorite hero decided to speak. "We… when we were younger, Naoko and I used to gaze at the stars… so when Subaru was born, we named him after the Pleiades, as he would always be our little star, shining bright, no matter what."

"And my name isn't the only one."

Everyone looked back at Subaru for an answer.

"Regulus, Petelguese, Capella, Sirius, Minerva, Typhon, Sekhmet, Daphne, Echidna, Carmilla, Pandora, Hector, all of them have two things in common: They're all wielders of the Authorities of Sin, and they're all named after stars from my world. Hell, even Satella's name is eerily similar to "Stella", the Latin word for "star". That's not a coincidence."

For a split second, Subaru looked towards a one-armed, helmeted knight, before turning back to the others. This did not go unnoticed by Al.

"And how is it that in three different timelines, Shaula, a woman who is literally named after the star "Lambda Scorpii", both knows me on a personal level, and has enough knowledge about Earth to make a bunch of video game and pop culture references?"

"..."

"Or how the intros we've seen, huh? Sure, some of the things we saw in the first one could be explained away, but the second one was literally expositing to us while singing a catchy tune! The flashbacks Satella was having? Me facing off against Pandora for a SECOND time, or maybe the fact that all of the Witches looked at me like I was an old friend –"

"ALRIGHT! WE GET IT, BIG BRO!" Felt was clutching her head trying to comprehend everything, "Are you trying to make our heads explode?!"

"It's not my fault that there's too much evidence! We have two entire timelines where Shaula goes, "Yeah, this creepy-eyed idiot is my Master" the fact that in both timelines, I had a serious dislike of Reid Astrea, a supposed world-renowned hero, along with the fact that in THIS reality, Satella has such an intense crush on me, to the point that all Envy says to me is "I love you", whenever that creepy bitch takes over their body! I couldn't make this shit up even if I wanted to! There's coincidences, and then there's Satan himself going "Bloody hell! Just pay attention!""

"Speaking of paying attention," Meili said. "Look behind you, oh "Great Sage" of ours."

Looking back from where he was standing, Subaru smiled, as he read their new choices.

What if Subaru contracted the Warlock of Melancholy?

OR

What if Rem took Subaru's hand?

"Alright, let's make a bet," Suabru announced to the Cast. "I bet… five gold? Yeah, five gold. I bet five gold that if we watch the first option presented to us, that there will be mentions of aforementioned my past life, in one way or another. Whether it's another Shaula cameo, Satella declaring her undying love to me, or literal Sanctuary itself, there'll be something."

"Are ya serious?" Ricardo questioned him. "How'll ya pay? Yer broke on yer ass!"

"Or maybe I'm just that confident in my theory that I'll be rolling in gold, your choice."

Hearing this, Crusch whispered to Emilia, "If he's wrong, how much in debt will he be?"

"He won't. Because even if he is wrong, the clown will be paying for it," Emilia coldly responded while glaring at the mage. "He is still a paid employee of the Mathers domain, after all."

Using his Divine Protection of… uh… Reinhard actually hadn't named that Divine Protection yet. Basically, it enhanced his five senses to incredible degrees. Anyways, he used that Divine Protection to overhear what Emilia and Crusch said, and realized that he and Felt-sama needed a change of plans. As it turned out, their old idea of a possible alliance was now dead.

Now that Roswaal's machinations have been revealed, Reinhard would have to arrest him, leaving Emilia sponsorless. The Sword Saint knew that Subaru wanted to help Emilia become queen, but that was no longer possible. Even if no one could mention Return by Death, the other three Camps could simply say that Roswaal was loyal to the Witch of Greed, and the public's perception would kill Emilia's campaign before Roswaal could even explain that Echidna was a "benevolent" Witch, if such a thing even existed.

He would have to talk about Felt-sama about this later.

"Before you go and waste any money, Subaru-sama," Frederica spoke up. "Al-san?"

"Huh? Oh, right, the Conditions. Sorry, I was trying to figure out my odds."

Conditions: Return to the Capital City, Loop Three.

Hector escaped his seal in Elior Forest.

References "the Original".

Conditions: Return to the Capital City, Loop Four.

"So that's why Pandora attacked…" Emilia realized.

"What was that, Emilia-sama?" Frederica asked.

Seeing she was now the center of attention, Emilia decided to explain herself. "Oh, well, do you remember when Pandora and Greed attacked my home back in the third episode? Well, the reason she did it was to get me to open a seal in the forest. She said that she would stop the attack if I did so, while Mother Fortuna and Geuse were telling me not to do it."

"But in that reality," Reinhard realized. "Pandora succeeded in her mission."

"Huh, okay, so the odds are pretty evenly stacked," Subaru analyzed. "Cool, I like a challenge."

"Are you seriously that cocky, brat?" Priscilla sneered. "Did the fact that your half-dressed whore called you the Great Sage make your ego inflate all of a sudden."

"Alright, Pris, one, never call Shaula that again. Do it, and I'll use Invisible Providence to gut you like a fish. Two, big talk coming from someone who was intimidated by a housewife, but that's understandable, after all, it's my mom. No offense, Mom. And three, have you ever survived an encounter with all seven of the Witches, who have also offered their support to me? Because I have, and I'm pretty sure I know what I'm doing here."

Priscilla, once again, was silenced by a Natsuki. Honestly, this was getting tiresome for her. First, it was the staredown with the mother. Then, it was everyone glaring at her for something she did in a past life, and now this. Honestly, she was beginning to wonder if the world even turned in her favor or not.

"Alright, Barusu, I'll call your bluff," Ram said, surprising everyone. "While it is true that you saved everyone, I seriously doubt an insect like you is as important as the Great Sage."

"Great, that's one sucker," he smiled. "Anyone other takers?"

"Eh, wha' th' heck, I got money ta spare," Anastasia smiled. "Sign me up! Julius, Ricardo!"

Both of the purple-haired Candidate's subordinates sighed, and pulled out five gold, each.

"Thyose five coin will smell amazing in my hands, nyah!" Felix smirked.

"You're not betting, Roswaal?" Beatrice asked the clown.

"I'd have to be very fucking stupid to bet against Natsuki a second time," he spat out. Everyone in the Emilia Camp realized that Roswaal was still bitter that he lost his last bet with Subaru.

"Alright, mortal, I'll play," Priscilla smirked. "But I'm going to raise the stakes."

"Sure thing," Subaru smiled. "What's it gonna be? Ten coins, perhaps?"

"No. Along with the five initial ones, I'm going to bet… something quite valuable to me."

"Something sentimental? Alright, but it's gonna have to be extremely important."

"Oh, trust me," she said, with a glint in her eyes. "It is. But if you lose…"

"Yes?" Subaru was getting a bit irritated at Priscilla for the billionth time since meeting her.

"You must leave your pathetic Camp and serve mineself for the rest of your existence."

Everyone was… well, they weren't shocked as they would expect like this from the Sun Princess. Subaru merely gave a blank stare.

"I can't exactly promise that, considering I'm Emilia's knight," Subaru explained.

"Absolutely not! I refuse to give up Subaru one bit!" Emilia yelled in finality, leaving no room for argument.

"Hmph! Very well then, mineself will be generous and allow this. However…" Priscilla reconsidered her options. "You must quit being a knight."

"..."

"..."

"Deal."

"Subaru –"

"Our Camp is already dead in the water, Emilia-tan," Subaru interrupted his liege. "With Roswaal's schemes out, we don't have a sponsor. And besides… a small part of me always knew I was never supposed to be a knight."

Emilia, along with Reinhard and Julius, frowned at that statement, but decided not to say anything. Everyone began to sit back down, and Al chose the episode.

Subaru sat back down in his seat at last, ready to see if his gamble would pay off.

What if Subaru contracted the Warlock of Melancholy?

Conditions: Return to the Capital City, Loop Three.

Hector escaped his seal in the Elior Forest.

References "the Original".

A man walked through the trees towards an area that had been ravaged by an attack that had shook the very land to its core. It had picked up and tossed trees like they were sticks, diverted streams like they were nothing, and massacred untold amounts of wildlife like they were mere insects.

The man wore not his usual attire, in place of his clownish outfit was a long and exquisite black jacket, with a white shirt underneath; the whole arrangement itself was not something that had been seen outside of choice events in hundreds of years, it was not something he had worn for four centuries.

He did not don his makeup, allowing his natural face to be seen by the world, showing that he did not intend to play a trickster or manipulator any longer, he intended to face the coming trial as directly as he could.

The wind gently blew the long blue hair of Roswaal L. Mathers to the side as he locked eyes with what would be the first of his opponents that day, The White Whale.

The Cast watched quietly as they saw Roswaal confront the White Whale.

Subaru himself felt quite confused to see Roswaal… well, not look and act like his stupid clown persona. He looked actually serious, but not in a creepy way. He didn't know how to feel about this.

Ram couldn't help but feel a bit of pride that Roswaal was no longer hiding or playing the manipulator. While she hoped that such a future could come to be in their timeline, Ram knew that such a thing was no longer possible.

You'd think Ram would blame Subaru for it, but she didn't. She knew Roswaal had been the one responsible for everything, or more accurately, the damn book he followed. Roswaal attempted to break Subaru's mind to gain his obedience, to make Subaru a slave to die whenever something didn't match his Gospel. She couldn't blame Subaru as he was clearly the victim in the circumstances.

Ram instead blamed the Warden for their predicament.

And the White Whale did not delay for one instant, it had already been denied a meal once thanks to a scent it feared, it would not be denied again.

Its jaw flung open as a column of its terrifying mist hurtled towards him as the Whale flew just behind, mouth open as it prepared to enjoy a feast days in the making.

But Roswaal did not move, not even as the mist was a hair length from consuming him, instead he just smirked, because he had one advantage compared to last time. This time he had no allies that he had to hold back around out of fear of killing them through collateral damage.

"He went after it a second time?!" Felt yelled in shock.

"What I'm more interested in is the narration," Crusch wondered. "What exactly is this scent that the White Whale feared so much, and who exuded it?"

"My guess is Pandora," Al said.

Just as it looked like he was finished the air all around him exploded outward in a fury, a massive crack filled the air as a violent swarm of air blades that all stood taller than the whale was long dissipated the fog like it was child's play. Several slammed directly into the whale itself, throwing it into the ground with a force that should have been capable of crushing buildings as their battle truly began.

The second the whale touched the ground Roswaal darted forward, jumping atop the whale as it began to attempt to regain altitude. The White Whale may have been a Mabeast, but it understood just how dangerous it is to have a small and nimble opponent clinging to its massive body.

Roswaal knew that he would never win a war of attrition against an opponent that countered him so heavily, he knew that he had to end this fight quickly. In order to accomplish this he had prepared two trump cards, both had required the entirety of the past day to prepare due to the sheer complexity and power of the magic involved. One of them could only be cast once, the other would exact a heavy toll from him each time he had to rely on it.

Roswaal also knew that the chances of Hector coming for him grew by the day following his failed attempt to steal Subaru back with the attack on the Capital. He desired to keep his distance based attack in reserve, facing Hector in hand to hand combat was suicidal, however the Whale may not grant him the luxury of choice in this regard. But Roswaal also knew that if the Whale split before he could mark the real one that he would be forced to gamble with his trump cards, he would have to guess and hope that they landed on the true target, and with each that did not his options would only grow more and more limited.

Everyone was quiet as they heard the narration. Apparently, Hector's contract with Subaru had already happened. Not only that, but there was apparently an attack on the Capital, something that never happened in their timeline.

Maybe the Whale knew this, maybe it was just bad luck on his part, but the whale chose to split the second it lifted off the ground. Its three constituent bodies all flying upwards in parallel to one another, pores on their back opening up as they spewed fog everywhere, before they all curved inwards and slammed their backs together in an attempt to crush the pest that had squirmed its way into the midst of them.

But they were too slow for Roswaal had long released his grip, falling to the ground and landing softly on his feet with the aid of some magic.

As all three Whales dove down towards him in unison he prepared to make his first bet, there was no point in wasting his own effort on firing conventional magic that had no hope of killing the Whale, and if he won his bet then the fight would end here and now.

As the first of the Whales drew closer, its brethren close behind Roswaal began to run towards it, taking one step, then the next before leaping into the air; with the help of murak he managed to fly just a bit higher than the Whale as he began his descent towards it.

As he began to fall straight towards its cranium, he twisted his body midair, twisting himself as he prepared to deliver a punch that would break the Whale. The Whale in question took just a few instants too long to realize that he was above it thanks to his use of magic to alter his trajectory.

Roswaal untwisted his body and threw his punch, and just as his fist touched the White Whale he mouthed the words "Al Vita" to himself.

And in that instant the Whale was thrown into the ground like a ragdoll, its body crushed and broken, reduced to a mere pulp as a massive crater formed around it. One of the three White Whales had just been killed in a single punch, struck with a fist that had been made to weigh more then a mountain by a spell that had long been lost to the annals of history, a piece of shadow magic that was so complex that he had been forced to prepare it with his own forearm as the target.

Roswaal hit the ground hard, rolling over and over as his clothes were torn to shreds and his body cut and bruised. His face was contorted in pain as he forced himself to his feet, what remained of his right arm hung uselessly to his side. He had felt how his fist and forearm had been instantly ground to dust by the sheer recoil of his hit, before being brutally ripped from his body by the immense momentum they possessed thanks to his invocation of the strongest level of Vita.

Ram couldn't help but feel worried as she saw the damage inflicted on Roswaal, and unbeknownst to her, her Synesthesia shared these emotions with her sister.

Rem ended up looking back to Ram and saw the expression the red oni had.

Why is Nee-sama so… worried? Rem couldn't help but wonder. Ram should be glad that the lying clown was finally getting what he deserved. The man she looked up to for so long, only to have that image of him shattered, deserved to die for what he's done to her hero.

But in the end he had guessed wrong, the other two Whales barreled through the air towards him as the body of their fallen brethren slowly began to dissipate into mana. Roswaal stood to meet them with an immense amount of blood pouring from the stump left behind by his attack, the bleeding only being quenched when he turned to ice magic to freeze a coating of the coldest ice around the remains of his arm.

He still had three limbs left to use, losing another one would be a fifty-fifty chance of winning the fight, losing another afterwards would guarantee his victory. But he had already more or less crippled himself with his last use of Al Vitae, and he would not likely have any greater a chance against Hector should he show up if he lost two limbs compared to if he was down his other trump card as well.

But he did not have time to think about things like this, as one Whale dove for him he launched himself away with Al Dona before utilizing his flying technique to avoid the other Whale coming from a direction perpendicular to that of the first.

In the brief moments he spent floating above the air he surveyed the battlefield, the pure destruction created by the so far and hopefully short confrontation between the White Whale and one of the most powerful magic users to ever live.

Although the landscape was disturbed from their previous encounter, that was nothing in comparison to the utter devastation that lay before his eyes now. The sheer power that was Al Vita had been enough to kill one of the Whales in a single hit had produced a massive crater that stood well over ten men deep. The shockwave produced by the impact of a mountain with the Whale had caused far more damage, flattening trees as far as his eyes could see; when he turned towards the village of Sanctuary far off in the distance, he could even see that some of the buildings there had collapsed.

Roswaal quickly flung his body to the side as a blast of fog nearly consumed him just as he began to land. But he did not have time to rest as he quickly cast Al Huma at the Whale to drive it off course, just as the other Whale resumed with a second attack, forcing Roswaal to throw himself to the ground in order to avoid it.

The situation was beginning to spiral out of control, the Whale's attacks were becoming more and more rapid. Perhaps it knew that its prey was wounded at this point, perhaps it was a mere illusion brought on by his blood loss, perhaps both. But if one thing was for certain it was that if Roswaal did not make another gamble soon then it would likely be the end of the line for him.

He would be unable to fulfill the last page of his Gospel, the final instruction he was given in order to ensure the return of his Sensei to the mortal realm. Originally it had seemed like it would have taken at least another decade or two to fulfill the Gospel's writ, but everything had changed after Hector left him.

At first it had brought mania and madness to his eyes, when the whole world seemingly diverged from what was described by the sole thing that had guided him for the past four centuries, but to his wonderment the Gospel had of course corrected itself.

Everyone gave Roswaal dirty looks at the mention of his Gospel.

It had been a sight to behold, it had brought wonder, it had reinforced his trust and belief in Echidna when he watched the lettering rearrange itself before his very eyes. The Gospel had laid out a new path, one that was only a few pages long and would be fulfilled mere days after he saw it.

At the end of this path was one last instruction, one final commandment, if he could survive his encounter with the White Whale then he would have fulfilled the writ. And so he had to do just one last thing, after that nothing would matter, survive and his life's work will be completed.

And so from this he found the will to draw his other trump card, one that he would use to gamble with once more.

As one of the White Whales barreled towards him, flying low across the barren landscape riddled with shattered tree trunks, Roswaal raised his left hand and pointed towards it.

His body may have been broken, his mind all but wrecked, but his heart stood strong, and that was all he needed to unleash his spell, Ul Shario.

The sky itself contorted, twisting and turning, before it began to burn. It took on a reddish hue before becoming incredibly bright as a single star itself hurtled towards the ground.

"Wha' th' fuck…" Garfiel whispered in fear.

"I know that spell," Beatrice said, with fear. "That's one of Mother's spells."

Roswaal had cast a piece of magic that had not been forgotten by those alive today, it had never been discovered by normal humans to begin with. Not even his Sensei had taught it to him, his sole knowledge of the spell came from when he had heard Beatrice boasting that Echidna had used the Al version to kill over a hundred silver dragons in a single go.

"A HUNDRED?!" Tivey screamed in response to the narration.

"NO FUCKIN' WAY!" Ricardo could not believe his ears.

Such destruction by a single mage was unheard of by everyone within the room. Even the Natsukis were afraid, as even they knew what a dragon was, so given that, plus the horrified shocks from everyone else, meant that whatever this was, it was powerful.

Ram, within the back of her head, now wondered if Roswaal was holding back in their duel at the Sanctuary, and if so, why?

The complexity of the spell meant that Roswaal could never hope to just cast it, it had taken him nearly an entire day to prepare the Ul version meaning that Al would have taken him much longer, too long. But Ul had been enough, he watched with glee as the burning star hurtled towards the Whale, setting most of what remained of the Kremaldy forest ablaze underneath it before it slammed into the Whale.

The Whale was instantly pinned to the ground before the star pierced it and set it alight, before exploding into a wondrous ball of fire that scattered carbonized chunks of the Whale in all directions. Having been met with a demonstration of raw magical power that exceeded its ability to dissipate and absorb mana, the Whale was simply overwhelmed by raw power before it could do anything about it. The spell had not failed due to lack of magical energy before it managed to transfer its massive amount of kinetic and thermal energy to the measly body of the Whale.

But his glee was soon dissipated when the third and final Whale did not disappear, he had rolled wrong again and killed another copy.

But a sound rang out that returned some sense of hope that he would survive his meeting with what essentially constituted the antimagic mabeast, it was Crusch Karsten shouting the word "Attack!" at the top of her lungs.

"Oh, look, we're there, too…" Felix weakly laughed, trying to make the situation a little more light-hearted, but to no avail.

"Heads up, we've got th' opening theme," Anastasia informed everyone.

Opening Theme: Polaris

The opening begins with a bright and shining light, as a child's hand reaches for it. The hand then changes to an older one, with a very familiar tracksuit sleeve. The hand changes once more, to one wearing a knight's uniform.

For all I know, I might have just worn that uniform for the last time, Subaru sighed to himself. He really did wonder if that bet he made with Priscilla was just him succumbing to madness.

Tales from the Multiverse

Volume II

"Subaru-kun," Rem asked. "Those women in the center, are they…?"

"Yeah, that's Echidna, along with the rest of the Witches."

"You know, if you never told us that… I honestly don't think we'd ever know that," Julius said. "They look like ordinary maidens to me. Perhaps that's the idea…?"

The next shot shows a smiling Echidna, along with the rest of the Witches of Sin, posing for the camera, along with Elsa, Meili, Halibel, Zarestia, Shion, Flop, Medium, Cecilus Segmunt, Vincent Vollachia, and Ryuzu Meyer, all of them smiling happily.

"We still haven't seen some of these guys, though…" Meili complained.

The next shot shows the woman in the black dress, her face obscured by the black hood-like veil, walking, as the faces in the background changed. First, it's a smug-looking Pandora, and next, an apathetic Hector. After that, a crying Echidna, and finally, a smiling Subaru, wearing traveling-like clothes, including an orange scarf.

"Let me guess," Reinhard asked. "That one after Pandora is Hector?"

"It is," Roswaal said. "And the one after that is my Teacher."

The next shot shows the shadowy monster, only for it to fall, making it dissipate and show the veiled girl in the black dress. Subaru dives after her, getting closer and closer, until the two of them are face-to-face. As soon as that happens, the veil flies off, revealing the crying face of Satella, who has black smoke coming off her.

Subaru merely smiles, and kisses Satella, whose black smoke disappears, as it begins emanating from Subaru. Subaru grabs hold of Satella, and like an olympic athlete, tosses her towards a nearby cliff, where she lands safely, only to see that Subaru is still falling. Subaru looks towards her, when he suddenly gains a pained expression, and the camera reveals that a shadowy tendril has stabbed him, and is dragging him down.

As the tendrils wrap around him, Subaru softly smiles through his bleeding mouth, and accepts his fate. However, suddenly, the shadow tendrils are destroyed, revealing that Satella had jumped off the cliff, refusing to ever let go of Subaru.

Should I count this as winning the bet? Subaru wondered before deciding against it.

As the two of them hug and crash down, the scene fades to show Subaru and Satella standing up, and beside them are Echidna and the rest of the Witches of Sin. Softly smiling, Subaru holds onto Satella's hand, giving a determined look, as all eight of them run toward the sunset, with the final shot of the opening being a still image of the eight of them leaping across the screen, all of them smiling.

Episode Six:

The Melancholic Path

"Crusch-sama, Ferri-chan doesn't know how to say this, but isn't this just a bit too hasty?" Ferris questioned Crusch nervously from his position atop one of the ground dragons.

"At least someone is thinking with reason!" Priscilla laughed.

"Felix, there are times to be cautious and avoid risk, and there are times that one must move with momentum and take the hand they are dealt. If we don't succeed here then there is no purpose in even pretending that there's a chance of winning the Royal Selection, and if we don't try there is no chance of success. Place your faith in Wilhelm that this will succeed, and if by chance Wilhelm is unsuccessful then we must place our faith in the one who found the Whale to begin with." Crusch rotated in the saddle of her ground dragon to look towards the rear of the column she led, towards where Subaru Natsuki rode with Wilhelm not far behind. She could see from where she was that his mouth was moving, but that everyone around him was attempting to ignore him, that he was speaking to himself.

Everyone looked towards this version of Subaru, and they didn't like what they saw.

He looked ragged. He wore clothes that belonged to native peasants of this world, and his face looked like he hadn't seen the sun in years. His eyes looked even more stressed out than usual. It was like looking at the Warlock of Envy all over again. In fact, one of his irises was no longer a natural brown, but rather, pitch black.

Roswaal looked like he had seen a ghost, as did Beatrice.

Under normal circumstances there was no way she could bring herself to rely on someone like him, no chance she would allow someone so clearly unhinged to accompany her army into battle. But this time she did not really have a choice, for her army stood so few in number that it could barely be recognized as a fighting force of any significance anymore. The first battle against the White Whale, and the desperate defense against the Witch Cult's attack had surely taken their toll upon the strength of her house.

Many of her loyal retainers had been lost, either falling in battle or being so wounded that they were in no condition to fight any longer, some likely for the rest of their lives. Among her retainers that held a lesser degree of loyalty there had been rampant desertion as they chose to forsake the house they had pledged their loyalty to, no longer seeing the same surety of a future as they had before.

And so it was due to this that their fight against the Whale would likely hinge on two people, Wilhelm Trias, the Sword Demon, and Subaru Natsuki, the Mad Slayer of Sloth.

""Mad Slayer of Sloth"?" Emilia repeated the title of this Subaru.

"I guess that's due to looking like I just came out of an edgy circus." Subaru harbored a guess.

But the entire column was suddenly jolted to attention as a massive crash echoed through the land, so massive that it caused the very ground beneath their feet to shake with such ferocity that some men lost their balance atop their ground dragons and came clattering to the ground.

The sound had originated not far from where they stood, and so Crusch rushed to the top of the tiny foothill that seemingly obscured their vision commotions source. And she could not believe the sight before her eyes, Roswaal L. Mathers stood in the midst of a massive crater, blood pouring from one of his arms; however with him in the crater was a corpse of a large Whale. It looked like it had once been white but it was now red and no longer resembled a Whale in the slightest. It looked like a giant mass of ground meat as it lay there horribly contorted, appearing as if every single last bone in its body had been shattered by whatever had impacted it, but it would not remain for long as they watched it slowly disappear.

As her army filtered up the hill to join her they were all frozen in place, unable to move as they watched a spectacle unfold before them. They saw the margrave face off against two Whales, skillfully avoiding them through a combination of magic and physical techniques despite his wounds, but it was clear that unless something changed that he would soon fall.

Crusch was just about to give the order to attack, to join the battle while their surprise ally still stood, but just in that moment they saw the margrave simply point at the Whale as the air grew hot around them, as the normal morning sky above them seemed to twist and streak.

Nobody could move as they saw how a star plummeted from the heavens towards one of the two remaining Whales, how the ground underneath it was scorched to cinders by the immense amount of heat that it radiated. They were left speechless when they saw it slam side on into the Whale, driving it into the ground like how a fence post was driven by a hammer, piercing it like how a person could be impaled on the end of a spear, before the starburst apart into flames, scattering the Whale in all directions.

But Roswaal L. Mathers looked like he was completely spent at this point, his back was no longer ramrod straight but bent as he leaned forward. He panted as he tried to recover from the exertion of casting a spell whose power eclipsed that considered reasonable by mortal standards.

Although his exhaustion and fatigue left him in a dire straight as he faced an opponent that seemed just as fresh as ever, it would also provide an opportunity for the Second Subjugation Army led by Crusch Karsten. They would swoop in and save the margrave from his last remaining opponent, allowing them to be able to claim partial credit for the defeat of the White Whale.

And so to achieve this Crusch raised her sword high into the air as she screamed one word, "ATTACK!" at the top of her lungs.

And with her word the entire force under her command surged forth with vigor, down the hillside and into the crater, towards the Great Mabeast itself.

Well almost the entire force.

Those who were part of the Subjugation of the White Whale couldn't help but have a sense of Deja Vu at the sight.

However, they soon noticed that one individual in particular had yet to move from his spot.

Subaru remained motionless atop the black ground dragon as an army charged around him, but he was alone in his fixation, his fixation on the blue haired mage off in the distance. His entire body was as still as a statue as he watched, except for his mouth which moved just enough to let the occasional fragment of speech out into the open air.

"Why is he here, that means they have to be here. Why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, did you force me to come here, Hector? Why do you force me to have to see them over and over again? It makes me too sad to see them, but you keep forcing me into situations that I will be forced to. It's so sad that I can't take it, I don't want to have to take it, yet you make me take it, you force me to have to endure it. Over and over and over and over again I am dragged into dealing with those people who made my life so bad, so terrible. They used me, hurt me, killed me, but you, you, you, you, you, you don't seem to care, don't seem concerned in the slightest that I will have to see them again. I'm done with you, no more deal, no more contract, I'll take the punishment, just let me out. I want to go home, I want to die, I want to go home, I want to die, I want anything that will give me peace, give me respite, so just leeeeeet me ou..."

"OKAY, WHAT THE FUCK DID WE JUST HEAR?!" Felt screamed out.

Many of the Cast, especially those close to Subaru, could help but be very disturbed by Subaru's melancholic and depressed rant.

It was basically like looking at the Warlock of Envy all over again, just replace Wrath with Melancholy.

Subaru fell from the saddle of the ground dragon as his body became racked with pain, his nerves burned like someone had cut his skin open and was rubbing salt into them. His muscles were spasming so severely that his limbs were contorting beyond their normal range of motion; he wanted to scream yet he could not as the muscles in his throat clamped his windpipe shut so that he could not even breathe. His eye with the black pupil grew red and bulged outward until several blood vessels within it burst, leading to a crimson stream beginning to seep out from around it.

"AIIEEE!" Petra squealed, as she hid herself behind Frederica.

Several other members of the Cast were freaked out by the sudden gore-fest, with Felt trying to hold down her lunch, and Ricardo doing his best to make sure Mimi and Tivey didn't look.

After that happened Subaru's body went limp, his resistance vanished, but after a single moment of stillness he pressed himself up from the ground. Once he stood on his own two feet again he opened his mouth as if to speak again, and speak he did.

"It really brings me down having to do this Subaru-kuuuuun, it truly saddens my heart to have to turn on my partner like so, the world is truly a horrid place to force my hand as such, yet in the end I can not let you ruin things so close to the end."

Everyone was frozen as they heard that voice.

"It's him."

Subaru, along with many other members of the Cast turned towards Roswaal, who no longer had a look of defeat on him, but rather, one of pure, unadulterated fear.

"What was that?" Wilhelm asked.

"I would know that voice anywhere," the Margrave said. "It's Hector."

However as these words left his lips the world froze around him and grew dark, shadows billowed at his feet as he felt a pair of slender arms reach over his shoulders to place themselves on his chest.

"I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him," Rang out from all directions in the form of an insane chant coming from a voice that was as soft and soothing as the ring of a little bell.

Emilia, just like the rest of the Cast, was frozen in fear.

This wasn't the first time they had seen that shadowy monster. The Witch of Envy had invaded Japan in the very first episode, after all. Nor was that the first time they heard her voice. They heard her speak before her husband took that damn Witch Factor back in the third episode, and after he let Theresia go.

And yet, they remained afraid.

Well, all except one.

"I WIN!" Subaru yelled at the top of his lungs. "I WIN THE BET, LOSERS!"

Some people glared at Subaru for the MASSIVELY INAPPROPRIATE time to celebrate, while others ignored him, and remained frozen in fear of one of the world's most horrifying revelations:

Satella, the fabled Witch of Envy, was in love with Subaru Natsuki.

Meanwhile, the winner of the world's most insane bet looked around, and realized what he was doing. "Sorry…" Subaru apologized for his outburst.

"I will free him, I will free him, I will free him, I will free him, I will free him, I will free him, I will free him, I will free him, I will free him, I will free him, I will free him, I will free him, I will free him, I will free him, I will free him, I will free him, I will free him, I will free him, I will free him, I will free him, I will free him, I will free him, I will free him, I will free him, I will free him, I will free him, I will free him, I will free him, I will free him," chanted the voice before it disappeared into the shadows, which soon dissipated as light returned to the world and time resumed.

I guess she isn't happy about me forming a contract with Hector. Subaru thought, and just then, a new thought crossed his mind.

What if he had formed a contract with Satella? Well, on one hand, she'd probably love it. On the other hand, maybe he could ask her questions about his past life. What exactly was their relationship, and how did things get to where they are now? What caused her to absorb the Envy Witch Factor, and how was he around four hundred years ago at all?

Subaru could only hope he could gain these answers soon.

And the second that it did, Hector turned to remount the ground dragon, but perhaps sensing a change in its master, the black diana stood there growling at him, refusing to let him ride.

"The Witch of Envy moves to oppose me, that alone shows how horrid this world has always been towards me, but your opposition isn't even depressing, it just irritaaaaates me..."

As the last of Hector's words left the lips of Subaru's body the air grew heavy in an instant as something unseen slammed into the back of the ground dragon with immense force. It hammered it over and over again, the first few times were met with the ground dragons screaming accompanied by a chorus of snapping and cracking as the bones broke in its body. The latter few were not met with anything other than a squishing sound as spurts of blood were thrown into the air from the mashed corpse of the black diana.

"So depreeeeeessing..." was all Hector said as he began to trudge his way after the army that had begun their attack on the White Whale, showing not the slightest bit of haste even though he knew he was now racing against the clock.

Patrasche, Subaru realized, as he did his best not to get another panic attack.

Watching his friends dying on screen was something he would have to get used to.

"Keep your spacing but remain in eyeshot!" Crusch bellowed at her troops as they scurried around the ground, desperately dodging the Whale's attacks as they hurled spells and projectile weapons up at it, barely even scratching it.

They were few in number, far too few to dare to challenge the Whale like they had, relying on two individuals to carry them through the day; of these two one had not followed them into battle, choosing to remain back and watch instead, the other driven into such a reckless bloodlust was likely beyond logic at this point.

"YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A BEAST, I SHALL NOT ALLOW YOU TO ESCAPE AGAIN AS LONG AS I DRAW BREATH!" The Sword Demon screamed this at the top of his lungs as he jumped from the saddle of his ground dragon, sword in hand.

Wilhelm couldn't feel the same… What was the word?... Determination? Drive? Yes, the drive he once had to end the White Whale was gone.

He had been so controlled by the rage he had for the White Whale, but it wasn't until this Theater that he realized how destructive rage could be to himself and those around him.

The Warlock of Envy had destroyed half of his world due to his hatred of Pandora, and ended who knows how many lives, and the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony was driven to become a Witch Cultist to gain revenge on Rem.

Hatred was a destructive emotion, and Wilhelm couldn't see the damage it had done to his family until it was too late.

It was only until he saw these vile versions of a person he thought of as an honorary grandson, when he finally realized the lesson himself.

The Whale passed directly underneath him mere fractions of a second later, swallowing his ground dragon whole. But while it was busy with this Wilhelm spun midair and came down on it with vengeance as he drove his sword deep into its back as he landed just behind its head.

His movements were truly fitting of a demon, running so fast that it was hard to keep up as massive spurts of blood emitted from everywhere along the Whale's body.

He hacked, slashed, chopped, and cleaved that one could doubt whether he was still sane, whether the title of demon was still just a title.

Nothing could quench his bloodlust, only deepen it as pieces of flesh began to fall off the Whale, before the Whale howled in rage as one of its eyes fell to the ground below.

He sprinted along the White Whale's back screaming as he cleaved a long and bloody trench as he ran, but the White Whale was not so meek as to just let all this happen.

It curved its body upward and sailed into the air, gaining altitude at a brisk pace, beginning to spin and emit fog as it did so.

It quickly became apparent to Wilhelm that the Whale was far too high in the air for him to safely jump to the ground, so he jammed his sword as deep as it would go into the Whale, all the way up to the hilt and clung to it for life.

"Holy shit, tha' wuz close!" Garfiel gasped, after seeing Wilhelm's ground dragon getting eaten by the White Whale.

"You said it," Otto replied, feeling sweat dripping off him.

Petra and Meili held each other closely as they saw the giant, white monster decomate entire armies, as those who were actually there were reminiscing on this day.

He looked down below at all the soldiers he had accompanied here as they quickly became mere specks, some scurrying around, some standing still as they watched, and some unmoving as they grew red.

They had been in battle with the Whale for just a few minutes, but they had already lost a sizeable portion of their force, mainly due to how they were but a fraction of the army that had faced the Whale the first time, for every ten they had then they now had to make do with just one.

But the Sword Demon could not care less about such trivial matters at this point, if it meant finally killing the Whale he would sacrifice anything, his life, the lives of his friends, the whole army if need be, the only thing that mattered was this horrid monster finally dying.

While many in the Theater were amazed by the old man's determination to hold on to the Great Mabeast, hearing his internal monologue made a few others feel… unnerved.

Wilhelm himself stared at his counterpart in shock. Would he really sacrifice others for his own personal revenge? That would make him no better than Roswaal, someone who was willing to sacrifice everyone and everything for their own personal goal.

But the Whale did not grant him such luxuries like dwelling on his thoughts as it soon broke the cloud layer and began to twirl, to spin with such violence that he could barely hold on.

His sword was slick with blood, slippery, but he held on, held on with every fiber of strength in his being.

Held on even as he felt the handle begin to slip from his hands.

Held on until it finally did slip from his hands.

As he began to plummet towards the ground he reached out trying to grasp onto the handle of the blade that jutted from the Mabeast's back. As he fell he looked up at the Whale and even he was not oblivious to the irony of it all.

"Oh, thyank goodness, he's fine…" Felix sighed in relief.

"Not entirely true," Crusch pointed to the screen. "Look."

Upon a closer inspection, Felix, and many others in the Theater, saw the look of the on-screen Sword Demon's face. It was an empty one, a hollow one, one of a person who finally realized that their life, and everything they had fought for, was a complete joke.

Subaru understood that face. He had worn it many times before.

He had loved his wife with every fiber of his being, cherished every moment they had spent together, but in the end he had never managed to say those fateful words to her, the fateful words "I love you." And before he knew it she was gone, dead, slain by the beast above alongside her own grandson who resided back in the Capital, not on the battlefield avenging his grandmother.

Just like then he had come so far, spending every day since her death on a path of vengeance, finding the opportunity not once, but twice. However just like then he had been unable to see it through to the end, he had never gotten to tell her that he loved her and now he would never slay the beast that took her away.

Reinhard bit his lip as he heard his grandfather's monologue.

Wilhelm himself now wondered if his pursuit of vengeance was the right course in their world, or if it would have been better to just accept that everything he touched would fall to ruin.

As the ground drew closer Wilhelm closed his eyes, he knew he would be dead in a few seconds and there was one thing he wanted to do. He recalled the last moment they had spent together, when she had left the house to fight this very Whale, when she had stopped him from going in her place or joining her, and he said "I'm sorry Theresia..."

But the death he waited for did not come, in fact his body felt incredibly light, too light. And so when he opened his eyes he realized that he was floating just above the ground. He was shocked, he should have been killed by the fall, and when he looked around with a face matching his mindset he saw a blue haired mage with a stump of a right arm.

"What can I say, my grandmother was quite fond of you, and it would've saddened her to know that I let you die when I could've easily saved you." The fatigued and injured mage just shrugged his shoulders at this while Felix and Crusch rushed to his landing sight.

"Are you serious?" Wilhelm looked at the clown in contempt.

While Roswaal said nothing, Ram spoke up. "Sir, while it is true that Roswaal-sama would go to many great lengths to achieve his goals, he still had people he genuinely enjoyed being around, such as myself. I can assure you that he is not lying."

The old man simply turned around at the response. Was it true? Did "Julia" truly care about people, or was it all a facade? He, along with many others, wondered if the pink maid's claim held any truth. Did the mage care for anyone else besides his Teacher?

Did Theresia rescuing him simply happen because Roswaal willed it?

Did he even deserve to live?

"Old Man Wil, are you alright?" shouted Felix in a panicked voice as he knelt down and quickly began to check Wilhelm over for injuries.

Wilhelm waved him away however and began to stand up, and said "Nothing more than my pride as a swordsman was injured, that predicament was the result of a lack of skill on my behalf…"

Wilhelm then turned to Crusch and seemingly bit down on his tongue before saying the words he seemingly dreaded to say, his voice heavy with regret as he spoke them, "Crusch-sama, it appears that we are unlikely to win this predicament, it seems that I am no longer strong enough to best the Whale..."

Wilhelm then bowed, going as far as to kneel before her as he made a final request, "if an old man may have a final wish, hand me another sword and let me face the Whale as you leave with the last of the troops. If I cannot slay the beast, at least let this old man repent for his sins and die the same way his wife did…"

"OH, HELL NO!"

Everyone turned their heads to see Subaru's expression. It was one of sheer anger. Looking towards Wilhelm, he said, "I refuse to sit here and watch you give up!"

"Subaru-dono?"

"Look, take it from me! I thought that giving up was my thing, but I was snapped out of that line of thinking by someone I really cherish! And I am telling you now, DON'T GIVE UP! IF IT DOESN'T SUIT SOMEONE LIKE ME, IT SURE HAS HELL DOESN'T SUIT YOU!"

"I…" the old man looked at the young one, the one who helped him stop others from losing their loved ones to the White Whale, and the fire within him ignited once more. "You're right, Subaru-dono. Thank you for, as you would say, setting me straight."

"No problem, old man."

Wilhelm looked up at Crusch as he waited for an answer, his eyes held the beginnings of a tear as they glistened in the sun's rays. He had arrived on the battlefield as a man filled with vengeance, anger, and hatred, but in short order those had been stripped from him when he realized that after his second attempt he had not bested his adversary, leaving him with nothing more than a death wish.

Seeing Wilhem on-screen, the real Crusch looked to her counterpart, and remembered what Subaru did. The green-haired woman thought to herself, Don't leave him like that…

Crusch grabbed Wilhelm by the collar and lifted him to his feet before speaking directly to him in a voice filled with strength.

Good girl, the green-haired noble smiled at her counterpart.

"Wilhelm, I will not allow such a look to exist on the face of a man of your stature! There will be no running away this time, nor will there be any suicidal sacrifices because we have given up. What has happened to you, what happened to the man that marched into the Royal Palace and challenged the Sword Saint, Theresia van Astrea to a duel? What happened to the man who bested a sword saint in single combat, fueled by nothing other than the love he held for her? What would she think if she saw you like this, how would she react knowing that the man she fell for had been reduced to a broken shell of his former self? She would be heartbroken, I tell you!"

Crusch then paused for a moment as she changed the voice she used from that befitting a commander to one used by a friend.

"I don't refuse to run away because of something as vain as the Royal Selection, I do it because each and every one of us has or has had a Theresia in our life, someone who wouldn't be able to stand to see us reduced to regretful broken messes. I promise you Wilhelm that we will not die here, there is still a chance of victory in this fight, we still have a card in our sleeve."

As Crusch finished Felix turned his head to look behind Crusch as Roswaal narrowed his eyes, both seeing the same person slowly walking towards them with a gait that radiated nothing more than his general disdain for life itself.

Subaru couldn't help but feel that twinge of fear. He knew Roswaal couldn't kill him, even if he wanted to, but he knew the man was much stronger than most of his friends. He could only think of two people that would be strong enough to beat the clown if he tried anything and have his back regardless.

Reinhard was the safest bet. He was the strongest person in the world, and wouldn't hesitate to fight against any who would threaten the safety of Lugunica's people. Yeah, Elsa was able to survive and escape, but that was only because of that damn healing factor and the fact that he, Emilia, Felt, and Old Man Rom were nearby. Without those restrictions, Subaru was certain Reinhard could beat and kill Roswaal if necessary.

Secondly, there was Satella, the far more risky, but sure-fire solution to end the clown. While Subaru hasn't seen her full power on display, it took the combined efforts of Volcanica, Reid, and, apparently, himself to just seal her away. From what he was able to gather, her power was rivaled only by Reinhard, and Subaru knew that if she had "incentive" from him, then she would stop at nothing to kill him and leave absolutely nothing left.

The only problem is figuring out what that incentive should be? Maybe… He can make a plushie of himself and give it to her? Yeah, that should work.

"To inspire a man who has given up, to force someone who no longer wishes to fight, it brings me down to hear it. You truly are the worst of the worst, of the worst, Crusch Karsten, by trying to drive away the melancholy that encroaches on one's heart you only end up making it worse in the end, it's truuuuuly depressing..." Hector sighed after he finished speaking, walking up to join the loose circle that had formed, a circle consisting of Crusch, Felix, Wilhelm, and Roswaal.

"Oh, great, look who decided to crash the party," Meili groaned.

"Does he call everyone the worst of the worst?" Petra wondered aloud.

"Subaru-kyun, that's very rude to Crusch-sama! First you don't join in the battle as she risks her life, then you ridicule her like this when she's just trying to help Old Man Will, who do you think you are?" Felix began to get worked up at who he thought was Subaru, but Roswaal clamped his remaining hand on the healer's shoulder to stop things before they could escalate any further, his eyes wide like he was looking at a ghost as he did so.

"Do you idiots not hear the very much different voice coming out of him?!"

"Yeah, I mean, Beatrice figured out that Big Bro was being possessed by a Spirit a few episodes back, so there is no excuse for them not realizing that something is up!"

Subaru thoght back to the time Sloth possessed him, and how the monster was using his voice to speak to Julius and Felix. Then again, the guy's mannerisms were so recognizable, that the dude didn't really need to change his voice for people to know that it was him.

"That naaaaame... it brings me down to be addressed by it, it's wrong, it's irritating to be called something I'm not. If I wasn't so distraught, I would ask Roswaaaaaal to correct you, if I didn't despise him so much this would've been a reunion. If this wasn't keeping me from the reunion I wish for I would say that I don't hate this with the vigor that I do, there's just so much meeeeelancholy here…" Hector looked straight at Roswaal while saying this, blood continuing to trickle from his eye as he looked directly into Roswaal's panicked ones.

"Why would you bring a monster like him here? Why would you deem it wise to bring Hector, The Warlock of Melancholy to the Kremaldy forest. He is a devil that has haunted me and my Teacher for four hundred years and you brought him right here, the last place in the world that he should be!" Roswaal was falling deeper and deeper into mania as he faced Hector, who did not stir from his melancholy in the slightest.

While this was going on between the two Crusch and Felix were taken aback at the idea that Hector was not just an alter ego created by Subaru's madness, that Roswaal knew him, and that he was addressed with the title of Warlock, a title of the same caliber as what the Witch of Envy carried.

"Oh, shit, they didn't know!" Otto cursed.

"Why would we know?!" Felix yelped. "None of this is public knowledge, nyah! The only reason any of us now know is because Subaru-kyun finally spilled his guts!"

"You're welcome, by the way!" the nasty-eyed knight whooped out from the back.

Wilhelm was trying to resolve the quandary in his mind, it was true that Theresia would have hated to see him as he was now. But he also could not get over being unable to beat the Whale, and at the age that he was he could feel himself getting just ever so slightly weaker with each passing day, thus it meant that if he could not win now, he never would. This thought poisoned his heart as he found himself completely consumed by his failure, unable to bring himself to any form of action, even if every instinct screamed in his body that they were in incredible danger at this very moment.

"To call me by such names, it really wears away at my heart Roswaaaaaaal. Although it saddens me to say this, we must put this encounter on pause as the stench this boy is plagued with has drawn in something even more depressing than yourself. I hate having to do more work than is necessary, it dampens my mood so much, but it will get in the way of what I must do if I don't deal with it." Just as Hector finished talking he slowly looked up, and when everyone else followed his eyes with their own they were greeted with the sight of the White Whale's open jaws, only a few body lengths from where they stood.

"OH MY GOD!" Kenichi yelped out in shock. If the camera was trying to do a jumpscare, the sudden turning to reveal the incoming White Whale was a success in his book.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY, YOU IDIOTS!" Felt yelled.

Next to her, Reinhard was praying that his grandfather would be able to jump out of the way, despite knowing that life would never be so kind as to give him a single win.

"They can't," Priscilla interjected. "They're far too close to the beast, and none of them are in the position to get out of the way. The only hope they have is if something faster than the monster pushes all of them out of the way, and even that's stretching it."

Everyone wanted to object to that, but they couldn't. She was right.

"Felix!" Crusch shouted as she shoved her friend as hard as she could out of harms way, watching the look of terror on his face with a heavy heart as he came to the realization of what would happen to her.

"So depreeeeessing…" Hector muttered as Roswaal sprung back, and Wilhelm remained completely still.

As a result the trio of Crusch, Wilhelm, and Hector were swallowed by the White Whale.

Everyone's breath was silent as they heard the Great Mabeast close down on the trio. No one knew what was worse: That they could potentially be eaten, or that they were trapped in a confined space with the Warlock of Melancholy, of all people.

Hell, the only people who would have been even worse options were Pandora and Roswaal.

"Crusch-sama…"

"I would do it again in our world, too."

Her midsection was on fire, the air around her felt damp and humid, and when she slowly cracked open her eyes it was so dark she could barely see, yet she could feel herself being moved, she knew where she was, inside the mouth of the White Whale.

She needed to breathe, her lungs screamed for oxygen, but her mouth was full of a liquid that tasted like iron, it was blood. She rolled her head to the side and opened her mouth as a massive amount of it flowed out, drenching the left side of her face as it ran out.

She could feel that she was on her back, but she did not feel anything underneath her, so she tried to sit up, but when she did so her body exploded into a storm of pain. It was electrifying as it ran out from her midsection to all parts of her body, screaming at her to stop trying to move, it was the worst pain she had ever felt in her life. She wanted to scream out, she wanted it to stop.

She clamped her eyes shut as her entire face was contorted and twisted, her body barely able to handle the unquantifiable amount of pain that was shaking her to her very core. She started to feel everything grow cold, her vision going in and out of focus as her consciousness began to lose its grasp on reality, as she moved closer and closer to passing out.

She took in a deep breath and tried to steady herself, she was strong and would force her body to keep fighting by willpower alone if necessary. She built her willpower and gathered her strength as she craned her neck forward to look at what was causing this fire in her midsection, and when she knew what it was she could not help but wince.

Crusch Karsten was impaled through her midsection on one of the White Whale's teeth.

"NYOOO!"

"FELIX!" Crusch yelled. "I'm alright!"

"I… I…"

"It's fine, see?" she said, showing off her arm. "Look, not a scratch."

"Y-yes, you're right…"

As she came to the realization of how dire her situation was the entire world tilted as the Whale began to turn and something black flew out and hit her pinned body.

She screamed out as the pain grew from what she thought was the maximum possible to new unimaginable heights, her vision burned bright white as she felt she the muscle, skin, fat, and connective tissue of her middle be slowly torn apart against the jagged and serrated edge of the Whale's tooth. She could not keep her eyes open as the pain soared higher and higher, until she felt herself falling as part of the tooth cracked and snapped off.

The pain and her cries grew even worse as slammed into the wall of the Whale's mouth, the jagged piece of bone being jammed even further into her, widening the wound, yet when she managed to open her eyes she wanted to cry out for a different reason.

Garfiel did his best to hold down his vomit. "Imma gonna be sick…"

Meanwhile, Petra had hidden behind Frederica, as did Meili. The beast maid refused to let children see such a thing. Ricardo did his best to shield Mimi and Tivey, too, despite the fact he knew the two of them had seen gore before. Such were the lives of mercenaries.

Felix's nails were digging into the palms of his hands, drawing blood. It hurt to watch his mistress, even in another world, being in pain. It hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt… Make it stop. Make it stop! MAKE IT STOP!

GRAB!

Suddenly, he felt someone grabbing at his wrist. Looking up, he saw…

Crusch-sama?

His lady had made her way out of her seat next to Subaru, and ran all the way towards him. The look on her face was a small smile, one Subaru gave her in the previous viewing.

"Felix… I'm not leaving you. And I'm not letting you hurt yourself, either. Your hand."

Looking down at his own hands, he saw that they were bleeding. Immediately, he casted some magic on them, making them as good as new. Smiling, Crusch grabbed Felix, and brought him back to where the Emilia and Felt Camp were sitting, and plopped him down next to her.

"Feeling better?" she asked.

"I… yes… Crusch-sama…" he meekly said. "Thank you."

"Of course," she smiled. "You're my knight. It's my job to look after all the members of my Camp." As she said that, she looked over to Subaru, and gave him a look of understanding.

Subaru nodded back, in respect to her.

Filling nearly the entirety of her field of vision was Wilhelm, or more correctly the upper half of Wilhelm. His cold and lifeless eyes were locked with hers as his torn and tattered body lay there motionless, his mouth slightly agape as the still warm blood that filled his veins leaked out both there and from the bottom of his chest cavity. His face was permanently frozen in an expression of melancholy, her speech had been unable to purge the poison from his heart and as a result he had spent his final moments of life as a broken man.

"So annoooooying..." She heard the depressed voice of Subaru Natsuki call out, or more correctly, the depressed voice of Hector, the Warlock of Melancholy.

Crusch did not have a firm knowledge of what the title 'Warlock' particularly conveyed, but she knew that it was nothing good for it bore stark similarities to the title of 'Witch'.

"Maybe we'll just call them "Devils" as a gender-neutral term," Subaru suggested.

"I second that motion," Roswaal added.

No one paid him any attention.

"To be put in something's mouth like food is disgusting, it's depressing, I hate it, I can't staaaaand it… My heart can only sink so low thinking that I must exert myself even in the slightest to be reunited with her. I feel only more and more melancholy at the idea that I will need to try even in the slightest, this is truly the wooooorst…" Hector slowly shambled into Crusch's vision behind Wilhelm as he placed his hand against the mouth of the White Whale.

And in that moment everything was turned on its head.

The entire mouth of the Whale quivered for a single instant before all hell broke loose. The mouth twisted in on itself as flesh was torn, bones broken, glands compacted, the very air itself became filled with a mixture of blood and particalized flesh.

"HOLY SHIT!" Al yowled in amazement.

All it took was an instant. A single instant was all it took for the entirety of the White Whale to become nothing more than a lump of flesh. It happened so quickly, that Frederica didn't even have time to react, nor to cover Petra and Meili's eyes.

"So that's the power of the Warlock of Melancholy…" Reinhard said, in a harrowing tone.

"How are we supposed to fight THAT?" Otto asked no one.

But he was right.

They all knew now that the only reason they won against Sloth was because Subaru already knew how his power worked. But something like this, or even Pandora's power… how could mere mortals like them ever hope to match up to monsters like that?!

Their only hope was Subaru, and his potential status as the Great Sage.

Before Crusch knew what was happening she felt herself falling through the air as chunks of the Whale's carcass rained down all around her. She saw a large horn fall by her on one side, on another an eye, and a little farther away a giant slab of the Whale's hide billowed in the air; it appears that Hector had completely reduced the Whale into nothing more than chunks of meat.

"Holy shit…" That was all Al could say after seeing… that.

Everyone else was feeling pretty similar.

Crusch hit the ground hard on her left shoulder, feeling the pop and crunch as the socket was completely smashed to little bits by the impact. She felt a crack an instant later as her head hit the ground, her vision instantly growing blurry but thankfully her body went numb with it, giving her a respite from the pain. This was a good thing as she would not have to feel the pain brought on by the sharp piece of tooth logged in her cutting the rest of the way through her, resulting in her lower half being held on by little more than a sliver of skin and muscle on her right side. She lay like this as a torrent of blood began to surge out of this massive wound, being joined by the droplets of whale blood that still rained down from the sky.

However she did not lay like this for more than a few seconds, the time it took for a certain demi-human healer to find her amidst the carnage.

He rushed to her side, his eyes growing wide and glassy as he saw the state that the most important person in his life was in, but thankfully for her he did not freeze up, for if he had she would have most certainly died.

With both his hands hovering over her body, emitting a blue light that was so bright and powerful that it might blind someone he dumped every last bit of mana he had into her body. She felt every single fiber of her being quiver as it was overwhelmed by this electrifying power, her body being slowly dragged back from the gates of the land of the dead by the most powerful healing magician to ever live.

"Your eyes look so cloudy… don't leave Ferri-chan alone Crusch-sama... Ferri-chan will mend your body even if it kills him, so don't stop fighting, not yet!" Ferris choked back tears as he set about his gruesome work of repairing a mortal wound, making her body fit to hold life again. One could say that it would have been more merciful if he had just waited a few seconds to let her pass, for injuries this gruesome leave behind more than just aesthetic scars.

Crusch couldn't help but look at Felix, who's gaze refused to leave the screen.

She had never known how much Felix had depended on her. Yes, they were close, but this… Crusch couldn't have imagined what it's been like for Felix these past few months, with her amnesia and his desperate attempts to find a cure to it, but to no avail.

Roswaal was elated, he felt a feeling that was indescribable, after four hundred years he had finally completed the writ of the Gospel that had been bestowed upon him by Echidna. As the corpse of the last of the three Whales rained down, the corpse of the original and true Whale, the one created by Daphne four centuries ago, he removed the Gospel from his robes and flipped through its pages.

"FUCK YOU AND YOUR BOOK!" the catboy screamed towards the clown.

A smile slowly drew its way across his face as he watched with exhilarated eyes as the words slowly faded off all the pages of the book, leaving them blank.

This day was truly the best day of his life, it was happiness without bounds.

Ram couldn't help but hold onto Roswaal's hand tighter. This was the outcome she was hoping to avoid, and now, the man she loved would be lost to a Witch, forever. This was the –

"Stop the viewing."

Rem?

Al quickly paused it, as the blue-haired maid stood up, and stared straight towards her older sister. "Nee-sama, I can't stand it anymore! I have to know! Why?!"

"..."

"..."

"Why, what?"

"Why do you remain so close to Roswaal-sama, after what we've learned! He sacrificed the lives of others for a Witch, he tried to force Subaru-kun's hand, break his mind, and turn him into an obedient slave for his power… HE WOULD HAVE GOTTEN ALL OF US KILLED IF IT WEREN'T FOR SUBARU-KUN!"

"..."

"So… why…" Rem began to cry. "Why do you hold him like that…?"

Ram looked towards where her sister was staring… and she saw it. She was holding Roswaal's hand, like one would for a loved one. But she was holding what everyone else considered a monster, a being beyond their comprehension, who merely saw their lives as tools.

Including her's.

"I…"

"..."

"I don't know."

Rem was quiet. It wasn't the silent type of fury, but rather, the kind that merely radiated despair. No one moved a muscle during the entire encounter. No one dared interfere between the two of them. But then, quietly, the blue-haired maid turned around, and sat back down in her seat.

The pink-haired maid looked at her Rem in confusion. "Sister –"

"No. We're done."

Not a single soul knew what to say to all of that.

So, they merely decided to drown themselves into the viewing.

But if there was to be one thing true in life, there is no happiness without sadness.

"I truly and utterly despise you Roswaaaaaaal, it brings nothing but sadness to know that in the end you must be my final obstacle," Hector's voice sailed through the air to reach Roswaal's ears as he emerged from an area littered with large chunks of the White Whale's corpse.

"Shit, he's still alive," Al hissed.

"I'm fairly certain that he would be alive regardless if Natsuki-san's body was destroyed," Otto said, equally concerned. "He seems to be possessing him."

"True," Julius nodded. "However, from the looks of it, it seems to be a contract similar to the one Sloth had with his underlings. Unless his true body is elsewhere, I believe that once Subaru's body was destroyed the Warlock of Melancholy would be destroyed alongside him."

"Too bad that won't happen before he wrecks the clown," Felt said.

"Or good, depending on your point of view, nyah," Felix said, all the while glaring at Roswaal.

The mage said nothing, as he knew that all was lost.

"Hector… You're too late, you cannot stop me, I've already completed the Gospel's writ! Teacher will return to walk among the living and there is not a thing you can do to stop her, I need to do nought more than what I have done before, buy her the time she needs." Roswaal forced his body to adopt a combat position, his legs spread shoulder width apart, his remaining arm raised to direct magic.

"It irks me, hurts me that you think I would want nothing more than for her to return, it brings sadness into my heart for you to associate such poooooor ideas with me." Hector took a few more steps towards Roswaal before he stopped but a short distance from him, now all that separated them was a distance that either could close in an instance if they put their fullest effort into it. Yet Roswaal would not do such a thing for close combat was something he needed to avoid, and Hector refused to move with vigor regardless of the situation.

"You have hunted her, tried to hurt her, driven her to desperate measures in order to avoid her! Accept it Hector, regardless of what you say, when it comes to the topic of Echidna you cannot be seen in anything but a poor light!" Roswaal fired these accusations at Hector with clenched teeth and glaring eyes.

"It's depressing with how wrong you are, I want nothing more than to be reunited with my savior, it depresses me with how she blames herself for what I've become while ignoring what she saved me from. It saddens me to see her be twisted by her own affliction as she desperately struggles to fend it off. It causes me only melancholy to see how you refuse to look past your infatuation with her to see how she suffers. That is why you are so annoying, why I despise you, you refuse to see that her greed is likely the only reason she ever met you, the only reason that she ever taught you, the only reason you've been deceived into undertaking a four hundred year long quest." Hector laid out his intentions and reasoning with a voice utterly flat and without any emotion aside from melancholy, while Roswaal only grew more and more incensed as he heard each word.

"Hold up, hold up," Mimi said. "Echidna saved Hector?"

"I don't think that's right," Tivey said. "Not after what Bro said."

"You're right," Subaru agreed with the little ones. "I've been around Authority wielders, each one of them is insane. My bet is that this creep is like Sloth; a completely delusional madman who thinks that they were "saved" by their object of affection, when in reality, they either ignore them at best, or are being harassed by these bastards at worst."

"Mother never told me about such a thing," Beatrice said. "Betty's contractor is most likely right regarding the idea that this is a fabrication from Hector's delusional mind."

"How could I ever trust a single word that came from the Warlock of Melancholy, you're deranged, delusional, no better than Vainglory! Sensei always told me that there was no reasoning nor understandable logic behind what you do, and if you think that I would give up on her wisdom, her infallible lessons that have led me all this time then you are wrong! If there's one thing that I know I must do at this point, it's that I must stop you, delay you, no matter the cost! Of course I would love nothing more than to be reunited with Teacher, but in the end I can rest easy knowing that she will return. So Hector, Warlock of Melancholy, whether I win and am united with her, lose and be saved by her, or perish on this field, let it be known that Roswaal A. Mathers was loyal to his teacher, Echidna, Witch of Greed, right to the end of the eleventh hour!"

"Wow, that is a lot of word vomit," Al deadpanned.

"At least it wasn't as bad as Regulus," Anastasia said.

Everyone shuddered as they remembered the Sin Archbishop of Greed's rants.

"You know, if the context wasn't present, this would actually be a really nice declaration of love," Subaru said. "Too bad that everyone knows your crimes, Ros-chi."

Roswaal was the first to make his move, and it was a move that should have ended the fight against nearly any other opponent. He outstretched his left hand and six colorful balls began to float around it. With Fire he wielded the passion that he had always held for his mission; with Water the diligence to slowly work towards a task regardless of how long it took; with Earth the stalwart determination to continue on no matter the setback he faced; with Air the shrewdness to always find the way past any obstacle; with Yin the willpower to endure his long separation from his sensei, and finally with Yang the hope that they would be reunited one day.

With this he launched forth an attack fueled by both a massive amount of mana alongside the emotions that had held him through his four century long life, an attack that should have been able to fell nearly any opponent he could have ever believed he would face.

But unluckily for him Hector was among those that could survive such a massive and awe-inspiring display of magical prowess.

He should have been disintegrated, the explosion should have been so great that Roswaal should have been nearly killed by the backblast from it, if the area was not already completely ruined then it would have been. But his opponent was truly a monster.

The orbs of mana rocketed forward and burst into energy just as they should have once they reached him, but as the explosion of energy expanded, it suddenly stopped. The explosion that looked like it initially consumed Hector quivered, shivered, and shimmered, before it was flattened into the ground and dissipated as if it had never appeared in the first place.

"To force me to exert myself, to have to harness something more then a fragment of my power is annoying, applying effort itself hurts me, it makes me feel so sad, why must you do this to me over and over again. You make things so bad, so depressing, so melanchooooolic…" Hector lamented as he began to slowly trudge towards Roswaal.

"How is he still standing after that?" Crusch asked, horrified. It was like seeing another version of the Sin Archbishop of Greed, a monster that merely repelled any attack whatsoever.

"That purple aura around him," Rem spoke, before she turned around. "Beatrice-sama, when you first saw the original Warlock, did he have a similar aura around him?"

"He did, in fact," the Great Spirit nodded. "In addition to being able to repel any attack with that, he was able to use invisible strikes to defeat Roswaal. They weren't the Unseen Hand, as they were far faster, and they didn't seem to require any matter to work.

Upon hearing that, Subaru's mind began to work overtime. There's a pretty good chance we'll face him in the future, so it's good to be prepared. Let's see, he turned the White Whale into sludge, by simply touching it. Did he change it's molecular density? No, that wouldn't explain what he's doing to Roswaal. What's in the air that can be… weaponized…?

And that's when it hit Subaru.

"GRAVITY!"

Everyone else turned around, confused at his exclamation.

"Subaru?" Naoko asked her son. "What was that about?"

"I think I figured it out! Hector's Authority, it's the ability to manipulate gravity!"

"What's gravity?" Petra asked.

"Gravity is the attraction of matter, it's what keeps our feet planted in the ground, and it's what makes everything that jumps into the air fall back down.

"So, Cap'n, the reason ma amazin' self can't fly iz because of this gravity?"

"That's right."

"Sis, how do I kick gravity's ass?" Garfiel crudely asked.

"You can't," Kenichi interjected. "It's a fundamental force of the universe. Without gravity, you would float off into space. Hell, without it, I doubt life would even exist in your world. Gravity is what pulled the earth together and trapped a breathable atmosphere in your world."

"And that bastard has been weaponizing it," Subaru growled. "It even makes narrative sense: He feels like he's being crushed, almost like he has too much gravity affecting him. His attacks must be him increasing the gravity of a certain area, namely his opponent's body or the air next to them, and then discharging it, resulting in a devastating attack!"

"That does make sense…" Julius nodded along with Subaru's theory. "So, then, the question still stands: How do we circumvent it? If what you're saying is true, then that forcefield around him must be an application of his gravity manipulation, too."

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," the black-haired knight sighed in frustration. "Geez, between Hector, Regulus, and Pandora, the only real hope I'm seeing is Satella herself."

No one decided to comment on Subaru's conclusion.

Roswaal began to back step in an effort to maintain the spacing between them as he conjured massive spears of ice in the air and flung them towards the advancing warlock.

But it did not matter in the slightest, as each one approached him it was shattered effortlessly midair without even the slightest reaction from Hector.

"So irritaaaaating…" Hector muttered as he continued his approach, and in that instant Roswaal collapsed to the ground wincing in pain, his knee reduced to mush as his leg collapsed in on itself, the result of Hector's first attack against him.

But Roswaal did not give up, mouthing the words "Al Dona" as the ground began to lift underneath Hector, but Hector just shook his head at this as he flattened all the ground around him with a stamp of his foot, reducing tiny pebbles to sand with the sheer amount of force he used.

Roswaal used his remaining leg to continue to try and push himself along the ground as he desperately flung spell after spell; he used Water, Air, Fire, Earth, even Yang and Yin, but in the end it did not matter in the slightest as not one managed to get through Hectors defenses.

"You're really bringing me down with how you are dragging this out Roooooswaal… why must you do this to me, why must the world be so sad as to constantly subject me to thiiiiis…" Hector lamented as he unleashed a flurry of attacks.

"EEP!" Petra squealed, as she ducked behind Frederica, not wanting to see the bloodbath that would ensue. The beast maid held her companion closer, while also covering Meili's eyesight, as she was in agreement for not letting the two children see this… massacre.

"I'm losing heeeeeart…" he said as Roswaal's other leg was crushed into a mess of torn flesh and shards of bone.

As the cracking of bones was heard, the audience winced.

Ram held on tighter to her lord, afraid of losing him.

Rem couldn't help but notice this, and wondered why her sister sided with that mosnter.

"I'm losing intereeeeest…" He lamented as he crushed Roswaal's abdomen, reducing his internal organs to a thick meat soup.

As the splattering of organs was heard, the Cast was getting sick to the stomach.

Beatrice held her contractor closer, horrified by what was happening to Roswaal. She hated him, but they were still siblings, and even she didn't wish this upon him.

Naoko grabbed her husband's arm, as Kenichi looked away. He hated Roswaal with a passion, but even this was too cruel for him. He was still human.

"Melancholy, melancholy is the only thing I can feel, the only thing I've felt for so looooong... Melancholy and nooooothing else..." He said as he slammed Roswaal's rib cage with far more strength than he should have needed, flattening his chest as rib, lung and heart were reduced to nothing more than an unrecognizable flat mash.

Reinhard felt his mistress hold on to him tighter and tighter with every sickening strike.

The Sword Saint began to wonder if he could defeat the Warlock of Melancholy. He wasn't even able to kill the Bowel Hunter, so how was he supposed to defeat someone who could pose a threat to one of the seven Witches of the Deadly Sins?

"Rein, can you hear me?" Reinhard heard Subaru's thoughts through his Divine Protection of Telepathy.

"I can tell what you're thinking, and I don't need your Telepathy to do it." Reinhard couldn't be surprised at Subaru. "I can see it on your face. You think you're not strong enough to beat Hector, and probably going over things like letting Elsa get away, but you need to stop that. You are quite literally the strongest guy I know, and I know that if anyone stands a chance in hell at beating the circus's attempt at a Hot Topic, then it's you."

Reinhard couldn't help but be touched at Subaru's words. "Thank you, Subaru. I'm unsure if I will be able to live up to your expectations, but I will try my best."

"I'm sure you'll do fine. Oh, and one more thing. This is actually something Satella told me when I met her at the Sanctuary, but you need to love yourself more. I'm still trying to do that, and I'll tell you now, it ain't easy, but with friends that you can trust to have your back, it becomes a little less difficult."

Reinhard couldn't help but be surprised that the Witch gave such advice, but he simply smiled and nodded. It was right then and there that Reinhard knew that Subaru had to be the Great Sage.

The battle had ended as soon as it had begun, Roswaal A. Mathers lay nearly motionless on the ground as he desperately clung to life, life that was rapidly seeping away from his body.

Hector slowly trudged the last few paces to arrive at the corpse of his fallen adversary, kneeling down and cradling his head in his hand as he looked him directly in the eye.

"It always brought sadness to see you knowing that the Witch of Greed had sacrificed and manipulated you just as she had dooooone to I... it seems you too were driven onto a path of melancholy by her insatiaaaaable greed..."

As those words left Hector's mouth and reached the ears of Roswaal he waited and watched, waited for a response as he watched the gears slowly turn behind Roswaal's eyes, but as the coughing and sputtering of blood continued he got no response, no response as he saw the light of life leave Roswaal, the glint leaving him as he finally experienced death.

"So depreeeeessing..." was all Hector said as he stood up and began to walk towards the Sanctuary, towards the tomb of the one he wished to meet after long last, the one he had caused all this chaos for.

"..."

"..."

"He's dead."

Subaru said that, not with a smidge of joy in his tone. There was also no shock. No fear, no rage, nothing. No emotions.

"Heads up, incoming scene change," Al said.

Why was he here, why did he have to come back after all this time, seeing him only brought melancholy into her life. It did nothing more than take her heart and try to wrench it free from where she had buried it. She absolutely hated being reminded of all the failures in her life, the times she had given into greed and completely and utterly ruined someone that she had come to care about.

"Oh, this is a different perspective," Tivey whispered.

"And I know that voice," Subaru said, recognizing the internal monologue.

And who was better at bringing back those thoughts, feelings and memories than the first instance of her inability to resist her greed, Hector.

"I knew it, it's Echinda."

"Wait, so ya mean –"

"Yeah, that's the Witch of Greed," Subaru confirmed Anastasia's question. "The location, by the looks of it, is the Castle of Dreams, where I spoke with all seven of the Witches."

And now as she sat under an umbrella in the realm she had created, the Castle of Dreams she saw two beings shimmer into view. Both brought forth memories of her past, one was a monster of her creation the brought back regret and heartache, the other strongly evoked memories of a father figure she greatly respected, someone who managed to constantly teach things to someone who supposedly knew everything.

They may have shared a body back in the real world, but their souls were distinct and as a result they would appear and behave as distinct entities within the Dream Castle.

"Look, Subaru's free!" Petra pointed to the screen.

Meili gulped. "Yeah, but so is…"

Everyone took a good look at Subaru's "companion". He was tall and lanky, with long brown hair, which was braided all the way down to his waist. His face was pale, his red eyes made it look like he hadn't slept in centuries. And the most damning thing of all, he wore a jester-like outfit, encompassed in purple and white, with a devil tail at the end of it.

Without even needing a confirmation, everyone knew that it was Hector.

And now as she saw him, looking identical to how he did back when she had unleashed the barrier of Sanctuary at him like a weapon she felt like someone was driving a knife straight into her heart. It was this feeling alongside the regret that she had fled from for so long, fled from the sight of the face that used to light up when she saw it, being reduced to nothing more than a depressed mess, but now she had nowhere else she could flee.

"You don't appear to have changed since we last met, Hector…." It felt as if the very mention of his name burned her mouth as it left. However in contrast to her statement she did notice something different about him just after she said his name, his characteristic frown seemed to disappear, and turn into a slight smile.

He walked towards her, not with his normal dreary trudge but instead with strong strides, strides filled with vigor and determination.

She stood up, she had to be prepared to fight him in case he tried anything, she may not have a good chance of winning, but she would not simply give up, she would not roll over and die after all this time, she would not give in to an insane maniac who acted irrationally and without any kind of control whatsoever.

She was pulled from these thoughts when he stopped a mere pace from where she stood, her defenses falling as she could not bring herself to hurt him anymore then she already had. At this point if he decided to exact his vengeance he could just reach out and touch her, twist and break her body into an unnatural shape and watch her die.

And that's exactly what he did.

Roswaal and Beatrice literally could not believe what they were seeing…

It defied all logic, all reason within their minds.

And yet… They were looking right at it.

Hector reached out towards Echidna with both arms, her eyes clamped shut as she could not bring herself to look at him any longer.

But instead of placing his hands on her shoulders and reducing her to a mangled mess, they reached around her back and pulled her into a tight embrace instead.

Her eyes shot wide open as she felt this, it seemed like forgiveness, something she did not think she deserved, something she refused to receive as she looked out emptily across the grassy plain that was her Castle.

Her arms hung limply at her sides as she slowly noticed the five other residents of the Castle manifest themselves, taking on a physical form so they too could seemingly witness this long-awaited reunion.

"It's them," Subaru whispered. "The other five Witches of Sin."

Everyone was quiet, as they looked at them. They had seen them before in the openings, but to actually confirm their identities, it was huge. And yet… They looked human.

"Why… why don't you hate me… YOU SHOULD HATE ME!" Echidna choked out as her eyes began to grow glassy before she began to scream.

"So it seems that even the aaaaall knowing Echidna has to learn something every once and a while," Hector said in a voice quivering yet full of happiness.

"What exactly is their relationship?" Mimi asked.

"From the looks of it, it seems to be some kind of love-hate relationship, kinda like mine and Echidna's," Subaru explained to everyone else. "If they had the chance, they would totally kill each other, but as it stands now, the two of them have lived for centuries and are ready to bury the hatchet, it's just that they're too prideful to do so, or they still have some lingering doubts."

"So, they're tired," Rem confirmed her suspicions.

"What is there to learn from this, you have every right to hate me, every right to despise me, yet you refuse to do so! That shows that you are simply delusional, and there is nothing more to it..." Echidna began to cry as she spoke, her voice growing weaker and weaker with each word that she said, it hurt her to insult him like this.

She felt the muscles in the side of his face tighten as he broke out into a massive smile, her own doing the same, she felt her hair grow slightly damp as tears began to flow from his eyes to match her own.

"This makes everything worth it, every year and every sacrifice was worth it for this moment. It would bring nothing but joy to my heart if it could last forever." Hector hugged her even tighter as he said this, his voice breaking as the tears began to flow ever so slightly faster from his eyes.

She began to hear the sobbing, coming not from Hector but from the boy behind him as he lay on the ground in a fetal position.

She noticed Typhon standing above his head, calling out "Who hurt Flu-Flu, tell me who hurt you and I will make them pay!" as she scanned around, searching for the perpetrator that brought sadness to the man that had stood in as her father.

"Flu-Flu?" Petra asked in confusion.

"Flugel."

All Subaru's answer did was confuse everyone else.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Father figure?"

"My best guess is "Flugel" was my alias," Subaru said. "Which, I mean, Shaula literally confirmed for us in the last episode, but to be honest, I see Typhon more as a little sister. It also doesn't help that her adopted mom is the Sekhmet, Witch of Sloth, who I bet is great at keeping Typhon in line. Still, I don't like the implications that it would make us a couple."

"What, you got something against MILFs?" Al asked.

"No, but I prefer women in my own age range."

"So, Emilia-sama is off the table?" Ram remarked at Emilia's true age. "Along with Satella?"

"Ram!" Emilia shouted at the red oni in embarrassment.

"Emilia-tan is a young lady in half-elf years!" Subaru commented. "Also, Satella is literally immortal, age isn't a factor when it comes to her."

"SUBARU!" Emilia couldn't keep the massive red blush off her face, and outside of the pocket dimension that housed the Theater, Satella was having a similar problem.

She saw Sekhmet trying desperately to calm Typhon down before a certain someone heard her.

Everyone, except Subaru, was frozen in fear as they saw the sky growing darker, and they heard the call of the Witch.

And then she noticed that the sky had grown dark in a place where it was eternally daytime.

"You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him. You hurt him," chanted a soft bell-like voice from behind her as shadows began to swirl at their feet.

"Hey, Julius," Subaru smirked. "It was nice knowing you."

The purple-haired knight looked at his friend in confusion. "Subaru, what are you talking about… oh… oh, no…" he realized.

The duel. After beating up the love of her life, despite only doing it to save his life, Julius had unknowingly earned the Witch of Envy's disdain.

Julius was now wondering if he had all of his affairs in order to make sure that his younger brother would inherit everything he had after the Witch inevitably kills him.

"If it makes you feel better, I can try to put in a good word for you."

Looking towards Subaru, Julius let out a strained smile. "That would be appreciated, thanks."

"It seems my time has finally run out, our reunion wasn't long enough, but then again I doubt any amount of time would haaaaave been enough..." Hector's voice was full of regret but also acceptance as he released Echidna from his embrace, gently removing her arms from around him.

The second he did this she instantly spun around and placed herself between him and the Witch of Envy, spreading her arms out as if they could shield him from the harm that envy would try and exact upon him.

But Hector just stepped around her as he gently pushed one of her arms back to her side.

"There's nowhere to run from her, we cannot fight her, it's better to just get this over with. To me death is a worthy price to pay to truly see you one last time, I can have a happy ending that I don't regret in the slightest," Hector said as he spread his arms out, showing the Witch of Envy that he did not intend to resist in the slightest as she exacted her vengeance.

Echidna wanted to call out to him, to scream that she was not happy with things ending like this, but she did not get the chance.

A jolt went through his body as his chest was penetrated by over a dozen spikes made of shadow, going limp as he fell, only to be caught in her arms.

"OHH, SHIT!" Garfiel swore. "Tha' must 'ave hurt like hell!"

Oh, the irony, Subaru thought, as he remembered how Garfiel died the exact same way.

As the Witch of Envy walked past the two in order to go towards the person who had joined Hector when he arrived here, Hector looked up at Echidna and flashed her a weak smile.

"...looooove you" were the words he barely got out before he faded away to nothing, his spirit destroyed, never to return.

And Echidna broke and began to sob at the sight of this.

Beatrice didn't know what to think of this. She recalled Echidna saying she had encountered Hector before, but she had no idea what the relationship was between the two aside from their fight at the Sanctuary. Seeing this… Beatrice couldn't help but wonder if there was more to the story. Was there genuine love? Or some form of honor? What?

Roswaal was catatonic. This was wrong, this wasn't supposed to be like this. But… Echidna was still not walking among the living, meaning, just like in their universe, the Book of Wisdom was flawed, and so was Roswaal's thinking.

Was there even a point in his quest to begin with?

It was not long enough, it was nowhere near enough time, not after things had been so broken between them for so long.

Just as they had been reunited, they were now separated, and this time there was no hope that they would ever meet again.

It was at this point that the Castle of Dreams began to grow white, everything began to shimmer and fade as its physical representation broke down, reducing it to nothing more then a vessel of souls.

The only sounds that could be heard as this happened were Echidna's sobbing and this Witch of Envy desperately chanting "I love you" over and over again as she pulled a broken and sobbing boy to her chest.

Al simply said "based" as he saw the on-screen Subaru get his own personal chest pillow.

The souls of the slain Witches would remain here alongside Echidna's, the souls of the boy and the Witch of Envy would be returned to their physical bodies, and Hector's would have already begun its journey towards the Od Laguna where it would be scrubbed of its memories and be reborn as a new person with no recollection or connection to its past.

As the episode ended, and the lights went up, everyone was quiet. Just like for the last few times, no one really knew what to say at what they just watched.

Well, all except for one person.

"Okay, pay up, bitcheeeeees! I win! Whoo! I am on a roll today!"

"Subaru-kun, that is very rude!" Rem scolded him.

"I know Rem, I know, but keep this in mind: I have just spent the last two hours trying to keep my biggest secret safe, only to have it slip out of my hands, along with my SECOND biggest secret, all the while, some crack-fueled conspiracy theory piled up on me, and for the first time in forever, something GOOD happens to me, even if it's as superficial as winning a bet! At this point, anything that's not shit, is an absolute win in my book!" Subaru hyperventilated.

"I guess that's true…"

"Yeah, yeah, you win," Felix grumbled, as he forked over his five gold.

"These fifteen are mine, my lady's and Ricardo's," Julius handed over fifteen coins.

Ram handed over her five gold and sneered. "I hope you choke on them, Barusu."

"Nicest thing you've said to me today, Ram," he smiled. Everyone looked over to Priscilla, who quietly stood up from her seat. As she approached Subaru, he smiled. "Well, it looks like I will keep being a knight, huh, Pris? Not only that, but I get something special from you!"

Priscilla quietly handed him her five golden coins, while he kept rambling. "So, what exactly will it be? Perhaps a Vollachian heirloom? Or a piece of jewelry? Or maybe – MMMPPH?!"

"WHOA –!"

"WHAT THE –!"

"SUBARU –!"

Before anyone could react, the strawberry blonde grabbed the balck-haired knight, twisted him around, lowered him with her hands, and then gave him a full-blown kiss on the lips. And it wasn't a quick peck, either. It was a long, tongue-filled, not-for-kids, type of kiss.

After a few seconds, Priscilla let go, and Subaru gasped for air. As he looked at her like she was crazy, she was a smiling, blushing mess. "That was my first kiss, ever. That is your reward."

"..."

"..."

"EEEHHH?!" Subaru shouted in disbelief.

""""WHHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"""" Emilia, Rem, Petra, and Crusch all yelled in frustration.

---

Author's Note: The original story is "The Melancholic Path" by Sttandenstein. The link is s/13814225/1/The-Melancholic-Path on , and /works/29294127/chapters/71938002 on ArchiveofOurOwn. And now, for the newest generation of comments!

Random Guest: Yeah, Al isn't gonna get a lot of screen time when it comes to the episodes themselves but the roasting towards him is gonna be big!

vivaldi98: There are currently no plans for a female Reinhard route.

Datnoob: Kenichi and Naoko aren't natives to that world, so they really don't have much to judge on when it comes to voting age. And besides, over there, the adult age is fifteen.

Chuck B. Winanaki: Subaru isn't condemning Anastasia for the scarf, he explicitly told everyone to reserve their judgements on that topic. Yeah, Ram is gonna have some hard times adjusting to this new reality, same as everyone else. Shaula is always the best scorpion! Hope you enjoy this chapter, and look forward to everything else! (All hail Shaula supremacy! -Infinite)

Guest: No, this chapter here will not be something akin to the Re:Start I know of. Stuff like that, including Pandora's crimes, are for the ending of the series.

Loli Beatrice: The Demi-Human Liberation Front will indeed show up for an episode. Unfortunately, it will not be the part where Reinhard fights Wilhelm to the death.

hussainamm: Well, about that… it kinda does have a happy ending… kinda?

vtorx: Roswaal is not a Witch Cultist, but the Subaru from the previous universe doesn't know that. Also, I think for a series like this, where everything and anything bad that can happen, will happen, I think Subaru's forgiving attitude is an advantage. (For all you people who think Rem is best girl, but I'd like to see what you would think if she tortured and murdered you. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Rem. I hate the fact that she has caused so much pain to Subaru, both physically and emotionally, and still managed to make her love him. -Infinite)

LouisCy: Trust me, the best is yet to come!

5queso: I'm planning Crusch to have a sort of redemption arc, while Priscilla slowly succumbs to madness. And yes, Subaru has now officially been confirmed as Flugel. Anyway, we'll see how everything will play out now!

beybladeburst: Yes, you're in the Author's Note. Congratulations.

Deathenglegamers1144: Glad you love the emotional rollercoaster so far, because I guarantee you that it will keep on coming! Cheers, mate!

Pryd: Yeah, the intro was hard to work on, but it was worth it. Not many people commented about it, sadly. The banter will continue, but I'll try to throw different characters into the mix. I hope you enjoyed Subaru's Great Sage theory.

The reader2234: Thanks for enjoying my story so far! Unfortunately, I will not be taking requests at this time, but I will check out any stories you recommend to me!

R-king 93: Awesome comment.

foxycat99: Good comment, buddy. Loved it!

Raj8: I know that Hoshin wasn't isekai'd, but the Cast doesn't know that, so they'll be under the assumption for a while. Still, it doesn't lessen the impact.

The Knightrider: I wasn't the one who wrote "The Warlock's Punishment"! Blame Infinite for the creative choice of writing Subaru and Shuala as adopted siblings! (You don't like it, then don't read it. Also, considering that Subaru is likely Shaula's creator alongside Daphne, then that essentially counts as Subaru being Shaula's father. In my story, Subaru and Flugel are two separate people and Subaru is already married to Satella. You don't have to like it, just don't be a dick about it. -Infinite.)

andreevmix111: I've never heard of a fic where the sole selling point was Emilia being mad. But I can guarantee that there will be more Satella.

calderoneric758: The second option is in the sister story, and as for Arc 7… there will be references to that in a future chapter. We'll see where Subaru and Priscilla go…

kushalkool0924: Glad to be back.

SpideyisLegend: Huh, I figured Subaru's hatred for his counterpart was justified, considering how much he loves Rem. Plus, I believe that the one person Subaru hates most in the world is himself. But I'm glad to see that you enjoyed the rest of the story.

hlglh: Yay! More hearts!

IsseixAtalanta77: Didn't I already say yes to your previous request? But don't worry, you'll see Echidna lusting after Subaru soon enough. And if you really want to see more of Ram and Subaru together, go to the fifth chapter of the sister story for that. However, I will not be doing "Sealed". I honestly don't know where I would place it.

King_maximillian_412: Glad you're enjoying both my stories!

leymax2021: YOU SHALL HAVE MORE!

Anon: Heh-heh… you see… about that revolution thing… that's a surprise tool that'll help a certain Subaru later down the line. Enjoy this week's chapter!

tella83220: I was actually considering having Re:Zero Hour in this series, but it got cut due to another story having a similar scenario. But it is indeed a good story.

SenSlice: Your wish has been granted. Hope you enjoyed the discussion.

Terra: I'm glad to see you're enjoying Subaru's conspiracy theories and Reinhard's approach on toppling governments. I have to give you a fair warning, however, that there won't be a lot of pre- and post-viewing discussions. And as for cliffhangers… I'm sorry, but they're a guaranteed way of making sure you all come back for more! But I promise you, that nothing short of death will keep me from abandoning my story!

Imperius: Great comment.

A special thanks to Infinite the Celestain for helping me in making this story, and for being an all-around great guy! If you want to join my Discord server, the link is /qFkpP5B9. You can chat with others, post memes and fan art, and I'll drop by with announcements and chat with you all every now and then! If you want to add me as a friend, my username is Ernalore#8663! If you want to read more, check out my other stories! Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!

- Ernalore

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Next time:

What if you knew the Witch of Greed's origins?

OR

What if Subaru contracted all seven of the Witches?