Satisfied.
He was Satisfied with the completion of his work.
He had burned down and destroyed everything from the Witch Cult to the Sword Saint to reach his goal.
He was finally… Satisfied.
"I love you."
The comfort of the void began to unravel as he felt these strange words shake his entire soul.
"I love you but I can't have you. Not like this."
He could not respond. He could not object. But within the recesses of his mind he felt a mixture of betrayal and confusion. I am Satisfied. Let me stay here. Let me stay Satisfied.
" I will always love you. Please, this time, try to love yourself too. Want more than to fulfill your one goal."
He did not understand. He failed to understand. He did not need any love. He did not need anything more than the fulfillment of his goal. He needed nothing but himself and her victory.
"Natsuki Subaru… Be Greedy."
He opened his eyes to find himself sitting in a chair, knife in hand. He was dressed, not in his Witch Cult robes nor his tracksuit, but in a formal outfit befitting the nobility: a pristine white shirt, a patterned black vest, shadow-black pants, and an odd black-jeweled necklace draped around his neck.
He looked around, glancing up to the room he found himself in, while muttering, "So I'm in some sort of mansion, possibly that bastard clown's…"
His gaze shifted back to the blade pointing towards his throat. He regarded the ivory and jewel-encrusted knife with curiousity, noting how it felt awkward in his grasp compared to his usual weapon of choice, continuing his muttering, "And it looks like I'm a moment away from suicide… huh…"
As he was about to return to observing whatever new environment he was suddenly transported to, a strange, feminine voice gently spoke into both of his ears at once, brimming with subdued excitement, "Oh my. Well this is an unexpected development."
Subaru frantically jumped out of his chair, nearly knocking it over, and got to his feet, dropping the fancy knife onto the floor with a soft clang in the process. He sharply turned around to see who the hell was whispering in his ears, his look of curiosity shifting to a determined scowl.
The same voice called out again, filled with obviously feigned hurt, but this time he could tell it came from somewhere even closer than just beside his head, "You know, it wounds my maidenly heart for you to flail about like that."
Again, Subaru desperately searched for the source of the voice, turning every which way and quickly scanning his surroundings. Finding himself seemingly alone, he called out to the increasingly annoying woman in frustration, "Who's there?! Who are you?! What do you want?!".
The voice responded, a touch of impatience in her tone, "As amusing as this is, we'll go nowhere at this rate. Touch the pendant around your neck if you desire answers to your questions."
Subaru didn't particularly trust the voice that he was now convinced was just in his head. Instead of following its instructions, he took hold of said pendant and violently ripped the black-jeweled necklace off, tossing it across the room and landing it on the chair he previously sat in.
After a tense moment of silence, it became clear that the voice had ceased. He breathed a sigh of relief, talking to himself in the process, "I already have enough weird shit going on in my head. I don't need DID too."
Having calmed himself, Subaru once more surveyed his surroundings, this time taking in what there was rather than searching for a speaking entity.
There was a large, lavish, and seemingly unused bed in the center of the room, a few meters to the right of which sat a couch with a disheveled futon upon it. Between them was the chair he initially found himself in. It was simple and wooden, unlike the ornate bed and fancy couch, and upon it sat the previously talking black crystal he pointedly ignored.
Sunlight was streaming through the large closed windows present opposite of the room's primary wooden door, reflecting off of the ivory of the knife he had cast to the side of the chair in his earlier panic. There was also what seemed to be a large dresser, adorned with sliding doors and ornate drawers alike, that stretched from floor to ceiling on the wall opposite to the bed. To the right of the dresser, on the same wall, was another door; only slightly less lavish than what he presumed was the room's primary door, that he assumed led to a bathroom or closet.
Besides the numerous pieces of furniture which dotted it, the room was largely plain and undecorated. Had it not been for the messy futon and oddly placed chair, he would have assumed it to be a rather bourgeois but unused guest bedroom.
Before he could even begin to process this strange situation he found himself in and develop a plan of action, a knock and a voice came from the primary door, filled with youthful cheer, "Subaru-sama, dinner is ready!"
The voice was that of some unknown young girl yet they knew his name. It did not seem to hold malicious intent but he knew better than to trust appearances, recalling his first ever encounter with the Sin Archbishop of Lust. He chose not to answer, hoping they'd go away.
After a rather long moment of silence, the voice called out again, sounding slightly confused. "Subaru-sama did you hear me? Are you there?"
He thought to himself, weighing his options in his mind, "Sounds like she's getting a little desperate. I don't want her to come in and see me so I guess I have to respond."
Clearing his throat, he said in a calm voice, "Who's there?"
Sounding a little relieved but still slightly tense, the young girl replied, "What? Jeez, Subaru-sama don't tease me! It's Petra!"
"Who?" Subaru whispered, under his breath.
She continued, "Anyyyyways, dinner is ready! Emilia-sama and Roswaal-sama are already down there!"
Subaru would have liked to let the tension out of his body at the stranger's departing footsteps, but a whole new feeling filled him at the mention of his beloved's name.
He stuttered out his immediate reaction, "That- That's not possible… None of this makes any sense."
With a nervous gulp, Subaru walked forward cautiously and opened the door. He saw the somewhat-familiar hallway of Roswaal's mansion, ornate paintings adorning every wall between countless identical doors. Although, something about it was off to him. But what could he know? He'd only been there a handful of times and never for long.
He thought to himself, "I guess I should go wherever that girl's headed. I won't pass up the chance to see my beloved again if she really is here."
He began walking in what he assumed was the direction of the dining room as he lost himself deep in thought, the confused look on his face intensifying with time.
"Anyways, what the fuck is even happening here? First, there's that weird talking crystal. No idea what that's about. Next, there's this awfully tacky outfit I'm wearing that's completely unbecoming of both a NEET and a sin archbishop. And why was I holding a knife in hand like I was about to kill myself? It's been thousands of loops since I've needed to do it myself rather than letting my enemies do it for me. Speaking of which, why am I alive? Why am I here? What the fuck is happening? I completed my goal! Emilia killed me and became King! There's no one who could possibly alter that! No human can counter Return By Death! No… human…"
Subaru stopped walking for a moment as the gears continued to turn in his mind.
"I killed all the sin archbishops and not even the Divine Dragon could permanently kill me. That leaves really only The Sage Shaula, who I'm convinced is a fairy tale, the Witch of Envy herself, who should be sealed away, and The Sword Sai-"
Subaru's contemplative expression turned into a sour, angry one.
"That bastard Reinhard. It must have been him. He killed me thousands and thousands of times and finally must have gotten some god-forsaken Divine Protection to stop me."
A smile formed on the madman's face.
"Well I'll just cook up an even bigger Birthday Surprise this time. One that'll really ruin him, Divine Protections or not."
With a quiet laugh and a new spring in his step, The Sin Archbishop of Pride, Natsuki Subaru, gleefully skipped down the halls to see his beloved.
"I wonder how she'll react to seeing me again~"
The dining room held a plurality of the mansion's current occupants. At the head of the table, the Lord of the mansion, Roswaal L. Mathers, looked around with his usual benevolent smile plastered onto his clown-like face, his faithful oni maid servant Ram by his side. The candidate which he supported for the throne in Lugunica's Royal Selection, the half-elf Emilia, mindlessly played with her distinct short, silver hair, ignoring anyone who wasn't Subaru and occasionally stealing glances at the main doors of the dining room. Making her rounds about the table, the Roswaal Estate's junior maid Petra was serving bowls of soup for dinner, including for those not yet present.
Aside from the maidly work of Petra, the room was largely silent and devoid of conversation. However, this silence was broken with Subaru bursting into the room with a bright smile on his face, casually strolling in without a care in the world.
Roswaal's smile faltered with a single glance at the man. "That face, those eyes." They were not the ones hidden behind the smiling mask of his emotionally dead partner struggling to justify his actions to himself. They were those of a madman, one whose mind was broken. He did not look tired anymore, just insane. Yet, in an incredibly off-putting way, he looked truly happy. The mage thought to himself, "This does not bode well."
Subaru, on the other hand, was nothing but excited as he looked upon Emilia's seated form, "Ah, there she is, my beloved. I don't quite understand the choice of cutting her beautiful, long silver hair but perhaps the stress of being King has gotten to her. Or maybe it was that bastard Reinhard's doing as well. This certainly will not do."
All heads turned to Subaru but he was focused entirely on Emilia. He walked straight towards her before stopping and asking, a mad, expectant look on his face, "Emilia! Do you remember me?"
Confused, she tilted her head slightly and replied with a smile, "Remember you? Of course I do Subaru! How can I forget someone so dear to me?"
The mad smile faded and his eyes narrowed, irritation plain in his expression, "Dear to you? The hell is that supposed to mean? I'm the villain! You're supposed to detest and remember me for the rest of your days! If you don't then all of my work was worthless!"
Before anyone could respond, two of the mansion's missing inhabitants arrived through a side entrance: Garfiel Tinsel and…
"Reinhard van Astrea"
Reinhard's default smile faltered as he heard the venom and hate that laced Subaru's statement of his name. He thought to himself, "Ah finally, Subaru has come to see how worthless I truly am. He will cast me out just as Felt-sama did. I guess it was only a matter of time."
The mansion's lord said to the now tense room, "My oh my, I thiiink we have some kind of misuuuunderstanding going on here."
Subaru's fury was redirected to the unsavory mage as he shouted at Lugunica's most powerful political figure, "Shut it, clown. I don't want to deal with your delusional nonsense today."
Continuing his yelling, he gestured to the still pained red haired knight, "Speaking of which, you gave me assurances that he would never be allowed to join Emilia's camp!"
Every occupant in the room was shocked at Subaru's outburst because it was both insulting and confusing. They all collectively thought, "Was it not Subaru who brought him into the camp?"
The maid by Roswaal's side was the first to respond to the outburst, promptly defending the honor of her master, "Subaru-sama, I kindly request that you cease insulting Roswaal-sama."
The magician waved his hand to her dismissively, keeping his heterochromatic eyes on Subaru, "It's alllright Ram. Subaru-sama, what eeeeever is the maaaatter? Unless… are you not truly Natsuki Subaru?"
The last sentence being spoken without an accent and lacking his usual jovial tone sent a chill through the room. Everyone went immediately on edge.
The unaddressed demihuman beside Reinhard, as angry as usual, said "Oi! Th' hell 're ya talkin' about?"
The prideful man ignored the strange angry cat man, answering with a hand to his chest and passion in his voice, "Of course I am! I am Natsuki Subaru, Sin Archbishop of the Witch Cult, representing Pride!"
At this, Garfiel and Ram immediately dropped all pretenses of shock and jumped at Subaru with killing intent. Ram's wand was at the ready while Garfiel began a partial transformation.
Surprised at this reaction, Subaru could only think one thing as the pair lunged at him, "OH SHI-"
But, suddenly, they both froze solid mid-attack along with the rest of the room besides Roswaal, Reinhard, and Subaru. The ice statues of Garfiel, Ram, and Petra all fell to the ground and shattered, their shocked and enraged expressions destroyed along with them.
The remaining occupants all turned to look at the incredibly angry half-elf standing beside Subaru, her posture indicating she was ready for battle. She held an arm out in front of the man she had just killed for and declared boldly, "NOBODY TOUCHES MY SUBARU!"
Roswaal was too stunned by Ram's death to take any actions against her but the red haired knight that stood on the other side of the table did not remain in shock. He pleaded with his relatively new liege, "Emilia-sama, that isn't truly Subaru! That man has confessed to being a member of the Witch Cult and needs to be apprehended and questioned! Subaru's life may be in danger!"
She glared angrily at the Sword Saint, ignoring any of the reason in his words and responded to him harshly, "Subaru is Subaru! I will never stop trusting him no matter what anyone says!"
Saddened, the knight moved to stand before her, conviction in his step, "Then you leave me no choice."
Reinhard unsheathed his spare blade, light reflecting onto it from the icy room around them, while Emilia began to accumulate more mana, hundreds of lesser spirits appearing around her.
"Reinhard van Astrea of the line of the Sword Saint."
"Emilia, just Emilia."
He swung his sword and she cast her magic.
In a blinding flash of light, the new Roswaal manor was destroyed and, having been caught in the cross-fire, Natsuki Subaru lost his life.
