Subaru opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling above him for a long moment. The Mathers' family crest—a golden hawk with its wings spread wide—was plastered there. Normally, such a sight would mildly irritate or disgust the prideful man, but now…
He saw nothing, felt nothing. Subaru was looking up at the ceiling, his gaze empty, too disoriented from his chosen method of suicide to process any visual stimulus. The only image that lingered in his mind was the last thing he saw: those beautiful pink lips of his beloved, twisted and tainted by another: taking, stealing, defiling her form.
He frowned and then he scowled. He blinked once, twice, thrice, and suddenly his mind started working again.
"Subaru…?" a voice asked, confusion and concern lining it.
Jolting up from his lying position, the black-haired boy rapidly blinked, attempting to speed up his readjustment to reality. He brought a hand to his face and roughly rubbed his eyes. Taking a deep breath, Subaru opened them back up and looked at who called his name.
Sitting just beside him on the bed, her body leaning forward with one hand on his leg, was Beatrice. Her face was calm, her chest lacking the outpour of blue mana he'd seen just moments ago, but he knew that—despite appearances—she was on the verge of tears.
Subaru swiftly placed his hands on her shoulders, feeling her whole body shudder at the action. She gasped in response, her widened eyes locking with his. Her usually elegant, composed demeanor evaporated, the intensity of his gaze, of those nasty, hazel eyes too much for her to handle. He could see still-forming tears revealed as her butterfly-patterned orbs grew larger.
Subaru loved this little girl, this girl that he just wasn't enough for. But he had one question that took precedence over all else, one issue that needed to be solved first.
Narrowing his eyes, Subaru asked, "Where is Emilia?"
His legs were burning, but it didn't matter. His breathing was rapid, but it didn't matter. He could feel the concern emanating from the girl in his arms, but it didn't matter.
All that mattered as Subaru sprinted through the halls was her, his beloved.
"Problem: Gluttonies, Emilia-tan and the others may or may not already be eaten, yellow maid is worthless in this fight, I can't take them on alone even with Beatrice's help… I need to find everyone ASAP."
He grit his teeth and ignored the sound of his heart pounding in his ears. He didn't give a single one of the closed doors he ran by a passing glance. Subaru sprinted through the halls as fast as he could, taking the shortest route he knew. He had to be quicker. Better. Better than last time.
"But I can't afford to just teleport to a random location, hoping to find them, and risk being eaten. I was stupid. I'm an idiot for not realizing sooner what threat they posed. That they were the only real counter to Return by Death…"
Turning a sharp corner, he noted he was nearing the end of his path. He needed a plan and fast.
"Maybe the yellow maid knows something I don't? I saw her do one of those partial transformations only certain demihumans can perform… wait… that's it!"
Just as the hopeful flash of an idea entered his mind, the worried girl in his arms spoke up, having long since used her gravity magic to aid in whatever strange quest her contractor was on.
"Subaru, Betty would like to know why we're in such a rush…" she finally said, an anxious look on her face.
"We need to find Emilia," he answered, curtly.
An odd moment of silence hung over the pair, prompting Subaru to shoot a glance at Beatrice.
"Who, in fact?" she asked, sincere confusion once again clear in her expression.
"Damn it, you've already forgotten again."
Scowling, he turned away from the girl and ran even faster, his destination almost in sight.
Subaru was always a fast runner. As far back as childhood, a childhood he could hardly remember anymore, he had followed in his father's footsteps and, among many other things, won several awards in his elementary school's relay races.
But now, running for a reason much more important than some school trophy, Subaru pushed himself to his limits and beyond. He genuinely ran as fast as he could without slowing down for even a moment, his legs' natural resistance to the continuous sprint insufficient to stop him.
Subaru could push through pain, he could ignore the burning of lactic acid in his calves. But now, they were beginning to completely shut down. He had been sprinting at his top speed for well over a minute now, navigating the sizable mansion as quickly as he could, and, to put it kindly, the body of Subaru's other self showed that he clearly wasn't much of a runner.
Thankfully, rounding one final corner, he spotted the grand double wooden doors of the dining room. He continued his sprint at full speed, not slowing down for even a second. Surely, his physically weak body could take him at least that far.
"Beako," Subaru said, not sparing a glance for his partner, his trust in her having grown to become unshakable.
Suddenly, he felt his full weight return, slowing considerably, but still rapidly approaching his destination.
"Done, in fact," the girl stated, having cancelled her earlier spell.
Beatrice was tenderly held in Subaru's arms, her light weight making her easy to carry as such. She had considered suggesting to move to his back, so as to lessen her contractor's load, but seeing that look in his eyes, feeling his heartbeat as her head pressed against his chest, and hearing his near-animalistic grunts of exertion as he ran, the spirit girl decided against it. Even with the feeling that things were about to take a turn for the worst, Beatrice held out hope that they could sit down and have a serious conversation about his worrying disregard for his own health at a later date.
Only a few paces away from the dining room, Subaru rotated his torso and lined up his shoulder with the doors. At this, Beatrice's whole body tensed up. Her head buried itself further into his increasingly sweaty shirt, her eyes snapped shut, and she held onto her contractor as firmly as she held onto that magical bond between them, hoping from the deepest part from her soul that her Subaru wouldn't injure himself even further with his recklessness.
His left shoulder slammed full force into the door, flinging it open with a loud thud. Caught off-balance by the sudden change in momentum and his painfully tired muscles refusing to cooperate, Subaru began to stumble his way into the dining room, almost falling over in the process. But, after an uneasy moment, he steadied himself and stood tall, pointedly ignoring the dozens of alarm bells his body was ringing.
He didn't care for even a second that his shoulder was throbbing and uncomfortable or that he possibly injured himself only to save half a second of time. The room temperature air felt cold, icily cold rushing through his stinging nose and was equally painfully hot exiting his mouth, but he paid it no mind. His eyes were bulging, the edges of his vision growing hazy and blurry, yet he chose to ignore it.
Subaru always scanned a room when entering it—a habit he'd picked up after far too many easily avoidable deaths—and this time was no exception. It was, however, quite different. He did not note the fine wood of the central table, so clean as to gleam in the early morning light and seeming almost naked in the room without its cloth. His eyes passed right over that unusually brown blur in his vision and immediately locked onto what he was looking for, only what he was looking for.
He did not care that the sudden noise he made startled the yellow maid into dropping the folded, pristine cloth she had been carrying right onto a dirty spot of the floor, almost definitely irreparably staining the expensive and likely brand-new unused linen. The moment he caught that yellow smudge in his peripheral vision, he locked his sights onto her and only her.
Pushing through the pain of his disobedient limbs, Subaru simply marched right up to the startled maid, his gait more determined than ever before, everything else in the room instantly blocked out of his mind.
Said maid spun around, the heavy bags under her eyes somewhat hidden as they flew open in surprise; they were almost as wide and frantic as someone woken up with the noise of a gunshot beside their ear's would.
"Subaru-sama, whatever is the ma—" she began, shock and concern coating her words.
Subaru instantly cut her doubtful words off, totally ignoring everything she was saying.
Time was of the essence.
"Do the names Ram and Garfiel mean anything to you?" he asked, pointed and rough, his tone beyond commanding. There was not a shred of concern in his question nor a drop of compassion, only impatience and indignation. A small part of him tried to point out that he had just spoken in a way nearing the way he recalled Regulus speaking to his wives, but that part was silenced. He had to focus now.
Subaru's uncharacteristically authoritative command had knocked the perpetually dutiful, continually prepared maid off-balance yet again. The shock of the typically accommodating, always kind, eternally people-pleasing Subaru scowling at her and demanding answers without even a hint of patience was too much for her to process all at once. She instinctively took a step back at his incredible intensity, betraying her years of mental training and folding at the sheer pressure of his gaze.
Seeing that determined, furious look—one of greater strength than even her brother's rage-filled glares or her colleague's icy gaze—in his reddened eyes, she instinctively knew to obey, knew that this man had fury unrivaled boiling just under the surface and even a single question could make him explode at her.
"O-of course they do-" she stammered, her maidly demeanor having long since slipped in the odd circumstance.
"The Archbishop of Gluttony is here. We need to find the others," he commanded, cutting off any further remarks she could have made.
She froze up at his continued irregular behavior, any words she could have wanted to utter instantly catching in her throat. The Subaru she knew had only once ever commented on those traits the demihuman despised about herself and, aside from that initial less than stellar impression, he'd seemingly gone out of his way to not mention it to her, as if knowing it would only cause her pain and frustration. But if he was implying what she thought he was implying with that command…
Her widened eyes began to narrow at the black haired boy and Subaru, Subaru noticed.
He saw the look of defiance in her eyes, the question in her gaze, and grew immediately tired of it. At her lack of action, Subaru's scowl deepened even further and his general frustration directed itself at the maid before him, not a single bit of it suppressed in his expression.
"Now."
She opened her mouth, as if to speak, before swiftly closing it again. A chill went down her spine and she instinctively broke eye contact with the clearly furious man, shooting a pleading glance at the spirit girl still cradled in Subaru's arms. Beatrice's eyes were similarly concerned and confused, pointed towards her partner, and showed no signs of sympathy let alone acknowledgement of the maid.
Letting out a nervous sigh, the yellow maid closed her eyes, careful not to meet Subaru's gaze again. Focusing her sluggish, tired mind, she listened as intently as she could, her ears visibly twitching. They may have looked like that of a normal human, but her demihuman blood gave them outstanding sensitivity and control on par with that of true cats. Although, much like her razor-sharp teeth that never stopped growing, it was not a trait she relished in and she found it disturbing that Subaru would force her to use it like this. It was tactless of him.
Temporarily casting aside her qualms with her own biology, the maid focused intently.
First, she heard the sound of her own anxious and uneasy breathing, before blocking it out. The sound of her own quick heartbeat—akin to the patter of spring rain on an umbrella—too was something she dismissed.
The ragged, animalistic breaths—audibly seething with progressively intensifying rage—of the man who had commanded her along with the soft, calm yet uneven breathing—much like the sound of autumn's indecisive winds—of the girl in his arms were difficult to ignore, yet the maid managed it.
The hardest hurdle was blocking out the steady drum-like adrenaline-powered heartbeat of Subaru, the low yet consistent tone it produced being almost hypnotic. But, moving beyond said sound, what the maid presumed was the spirit-equivalent of a heartbeat was the last noise in the room she had to dismiss.
"Well that explains why Beatrice-sama can blush, then," she silently pondered, before blocking out that intrusive thought and redoubling her efforts.
Her ears twitching once more, the demihuman could now hear the sound of the wind gently brushing through the leaves out in the garden, the soft cries of the animals and insects in the forest, and then… metal clashing, childish laughter, animalistic screaming, cries of pain and rage. Having completely focused her hearing, she could sense the struggle of her brother and colleague.
Her eyes snapped back open, panic rushing into her heart, completely overriding any fear, intimidation, or offense she felt towards Subaru. Her hesitation evaporated instantaneously, leaving naught but concern and maternal fear in her expression.
"Ram and Garf are fighting some opponent, no… two opponents in the mansion's primary courtyard," she announced, a sinking feeling washing over her.
Subaru said nothing, merely turning around and sprinting back out the way he came.
"Murak, in fact."
As the trio burst their way through the main entrance of the mansion, they were greeted with the sight of a ruined courtyard.
The front of the Roswaal mansion was once a beautiful sight. Neat rows of hedges and trees lined up perfectly symmetrically on either side of the tidy, patterned pavement. Grand lawns spread across large portions of the courtyard at the center of which sat a pair of gazebo-like canopies that Beatrice and Subaru had once spent time bonding under, telling stories never heard before and discussing things no outsider could ever come to understand.
Such a scene was now impossible. The stylized plant life which the mansion's staff took great care to maintain was now chaotically mangled to an unrecognizable extent, several of which were sliced clean through. The various paved walkways were littered with craters and wide holes, damaged beyond recognition. Pieces of concrete from said pavement littered the once pristine lawns, completely ruining their picturesque image. And the gazebos were totally destroyed: one collapsed in on itself, the shattered remains sagging under its own weight, while the other had gone entirely missing, not a piece of it to be found.
The entire scene was marred with the scars of fresh, violent, and intense battle, but Subaru's eyes immediately landed on something that made his blood run cold.
Towards the center of the courtyard, he saw his beloved's lifeless body laying on the floor. Not far from it, he spotted the similarly comatose almost-corpses of the oni maid—having joined in her sister's slumber—and the tiger boy—his usually enraged expression now entirely passive.
Standing beside Ram's body was a familiar ragged child, his face twisted into a look of pure elation. He was speaking to his brother, who stood over Garfiel's comatose body.
"Isn't it so filling, appetizing, enriching, wonderful to prepare your meals ~tsu? To taste something properly Gourmet?" he asked, beaming with pride and satisfaction.
"All it reminds us of is how hungry, starving, craving, and ravenous we are ~tsu," the younger brother replied, yearning for more.
"Well, Roy, we're sure that you'll be able to stuff yourself soon enough," Ley said, drawing an anticipating look from his brother.
Roy found his ragged counterpart not looking at him, but rather something in the distance. He followed his line of sight to find…
"We love it when the meal comes to us ~tsu," Ley remarked, meeting Subaru's hate-filled eyes.
"I killed you and your deranged family once before, Batenkaitos, and I'll do it again," Subaru stated, with as much confidence in his words as there was unbridled rage.
"Our hero killing, murdering, slaughtering? And not lying about it? We know what you said last night, but for it to be true… Oh my, you're nothing like all the other adults ~tsu…"
Ley's grin widened to an unnatural degree and his eyes filled with glee.
"Could you truly be… Pride, perhaps? We know Pride's coming soon… oh my, our hero—Subaru, Subaru-kun, Barusu—being an archbishop… you must be veeeery Gourmet ~tsu."
Subaru merely scowled in response, gently placing Beatrice back onto her own two feet. He took his partner's hand, gripping it tight, ready for battle once more.
"Hey, nii-san…" Roy started, drawing his brother's attention.
"We still don't get this whole Gourmet thing, but we really want, desire, covet, hunger for Subaru-kun."
Ley's already delighted look grew even happier, filling with unparalleled pride.
"We would love to eat someone so Gourmet, but since we love you, we'll let you have him ~tsu."
And without a second wasted, Roy kicked off the ground he was standing on, producing a small crater in the concrete, and lunged towards the spirit and contractor duo. He was so so hungry. His stomach, having been empty for far too long and having tasted but a mere appetizer in the form of the angry tiger boy, yearned for more, craved for more, needed more. And he was beyond delighted to find a pair of feasts right before his eyes.
"We don't care about your stupid Gourmet, nii-san. We just want the two-for-one deal ~tsu!"
Before Subaru could move a muscle, the confident and assertive voice of his partner rang out.
"El Shamac."
A massive plume of pitch-black smoke engulfed the pair, surprising Roy who flew straight into the massive spell.
Meanwhile, the yellow maid—having immediately jumped out of the way—now stood just outside of the cloud's effective range.
"Fula."
On pure instinct, she threw herself even further back, narrowly dodging a wind attack directed at her. Regaining her balance, she gazed back up to find Ley standing where she just was, lightly pouting.
"It's nooooo fair! We know that the eldest sibling has to be kind, gracious, charitable but… we wanted to taste our extra-Gourmet hero!" Ley complained at her, his pout deepening.
She was left speechless by this, unsure how to possibly respond to his remark. But then, his childish pout shifted back to an unnatural smile.
"You understand our struggle, right… aneki?"
At his use of that title—that of one's elder sister—the maid's head began to throb painfully. Why did it bother her so much? Why did it feel so wrong?
"What's wrong, aneki? You hurt, tired, exhausted, drained? Why don't you become a big kitty and fight us ~tsu? We know you never were the best at combat, but we're sure you'll try your best like you always do. Come on, come on, it's not like you've held back with an age difference before. Do it for Petra ~tsu!"
At the mention of that name, the maid's confused, disgusted look shifted to be more akin to Subaru's earlier expression: one of utter disdain.
"You have no right to say her name, filthy Witch Cultist," she shot back, her voice flaring up with unsuppressed hatred.
"Oh, reeeally? Why don't you stop us ~tsu? Come on, transform. We're waaaaaiiting ~tsu," Ley replied calmly, beginning to yawn at her lack of action.
Bottling her fury, the demihuman viciously ripped off her maidly attire and swiftly removed her cherished necklace—the Pyroxene crystal glimmering in the early morning light—gently tossing it aside into some nearby shrubbery.
"I will tear you to shreds, scum," she spat, going on all fours.
"Ahhhh how unusual of you to act so undignified, aneki."
The demihuman's already feline-esque body contorted and shifted, morphing into the shape of a large, yellow, cougar-like cat. Said creature could still be seen scowling despite having such animalistic features.
"Head Maid of the Mathers' Family Mansion, Frederica Baumann," she said, spiteful.
"Sin Archbishop of the Witch's Cult, representing Gluttony, Ley Batenkaitos," he replied, overjoyed.
And so, the pair ran at each other, beginning their clash.
His body weightless, Subaru felt more grateful than ever to have his partner by his side. Or rather, draped over his shoulder, treating the great spirit of the library much like a sack of potatoes. But this did not even cross his mind; he was totally focused on evasion. He weaved his way between bits of destroyed trees, over the remains of the collapsed gazebo, and all around the courtyard, not sparing a glance to look back. None of the memories he had formed in these places lingered in his mind. His only objective was to keep running, his tired and sore body be damned.
Subaru knew these brothers well enough to know the unique threat each one posed. Ley's ideology of 「Gourmet」 produced a monstrous fighter of unparalleled skill, completely unfitting his prepubescent form. In his old timeline, when Roswaal had approached him to offer his aid against Gluttony, Subaru had wanted to laugh in the clown's face, thinking himself above such handouts. But after witnessing the bombastic duel between inarguably the strongest mage in Lugunica and the force of nature that was Ley Batenkaitos that ended up terraforming an entire mountain range… he was glad to have the clown on his side.
Roy Alphard, on the other hand, was a whole different beast. He was not as powerful nor as intelligent as his elder brother, but Subaru considered him several times more dangerous. His evil was not controlled like Ley's, his hunger not directed. Roy's ideology of 「Bizarre Eating」 prompted him to go straight to eating, to end his battles as quickly as possible in the pursuit of gorging himself on as many lives as he could.
Ley matched himself to his opponents. Roy did not.
That is why, despite battling a technically weaker opponent, Subaru was having an even harder time than before.
"Fuck, what was I thinking? Sure, I've learned where these bastards ate everyone—which is invaluable information—but now I've got to find some way to die before he gets me again."
Meanwhile, Beatrice was unaware of these thoughts her contractor held. The spirit girl was solely focused on the battle before her, and it was taking that complete focus to stave off defeat.
Roy had jumped, sprinted, fell, and took really any other action he could to get himself closer to the pair. Initially, Beatrice had retaliated with wide barrages of Minya shards, but it had quickly stopped working on the boy. There were any number of old magical spells her mother had entrusted with her that could potentially slow down or even defeat the Witch Cultist, but… none were quick enough to cast. Roy was simply too persistent, too focused on catching them.
Having quickly run out of options, a rather novel idea had come to the girl's mind.
Subaru, in one of their many lengthy discussions, had offhandedly mentioned a strange game—the mechanics and qualities of which she still didn't understand—in which one uses magic akin to her own to solve puzzles. Of course, such a thing confused her beyond belief when hearing it—one does not use such powerful magic for mere games even if the 'bideo' kind was somewhat different—but it had sparked an odd train of thought in her mind.
Focusing her mana to the point between herself and her pursuer, Beatrice cast a spell she'd never have thought to use in this way before.
"Ahhh so hungry, so starved, we need to eat, feast, stuff ourselves!" Roy thought, jumping at the pair at his greatest speed yet.
A mere moment away from his target, the air directly in front of him began to ripple. It distorted and twisted violently before completely tearing open, producing a wide purple portal.
Unable to stop his momentum, Roy flew straight in and it immediately closed behind him.
Stumbling unexpectedly forward, Roy looked up to find himself back on the other side of the courtyard. He saw a smug look on the distant girl's face. He chased after her once more.
"Ahhh, mother would be so proud of you, wouldn't she?"
He dodged a swipe aimed for his head, grazing his shoulder in the process.
"Look at you! The bastard child, unable to protect anything or anyone, unable to help those you're responsible for through their issues even with years of effort… how disappointing ~tsu."
He jumped high up into the air, narrowly avoiding the beast's charge, smiling at her from above.
"If you don't do better soon, we'll get Petra too!"
The massive cat tensed its hind legs and pushed off the ground, lunging high up into the air, straight towards the boy.
Ley lazily raised his palm in front of him, seemingly growing bored of this battle. Just as the beast swiped at his chest, he spoke.
"Palm of the Fist King."
In the ensuing shockwave, all her momentum was cancelled. She was thrust right back into the concrete she lept off of mere moments ago, her massive form producing a sizable dent in the ground.
Landing gently on the ground nearby, Ley continued speaking.
"We understand what it's like to be an elder sibling, though. Adults just take, rip off clothes and take until there's nothing left and we're in charge of making sure that our younger siblings get something. And we have to sacrifice so much to do that."
He squatted in place, looking down on the cat's twitching form.
"But maybe you're not fit to be that way, aneki. Maybe it would have been better if you stayed back in Sanctuary as a scared little girl all your life."
The beast tried to stand, hatred clear in its eyes, but could not muster the strength.
Ley's voice dropped to a near whisper, his mouth approaching her ear and a wide smile spreading across his face.
"You never accomplished anything by leaving, after all. You only made all their lives worse and even here, even now, you're failing."
A snarl emitted from his opponent's mouth, but Ley paid it no mind.
"They'd all be disappointed in you, aneki, but we know that they never really expected anything from you. You're a failure of a maid, after a-"
His head looming over hers, the beast suddenly lunged from its downed position and bit right into Ley's exposed, undefended chest, cutting off his taunt.
Tearing through his skin and right into his childish excuse for muscle, the beast clamped its jaw down as hard as it could. Blood pouring down the sides of its mouth, the cougar-like cat raised itself from the ground, lifting Ley into the air and deepening its bite even further.
But the ragged, bloodied boy held no fear. His smile remained firm, unnaturally so.
"Leaper."
The enemy that had been trapped in her gaping maw was now free, having suddenly vanished. Several meters away, she saw him appear and quickly rise back up to a standing position. He held himself up without much issue despite his massive wound and rapid blood loss.
"We may have been wrong ~tsu. Perhaps you will serve as a somewhat suitable, albeit quite inferior, substitute for our hero after all."
Again and again. Time after time. Portal after portal.
Roy continually attempted to dash at the spirit and contractor duo, only to always be teleported away at the very last second.
He was tired of this. He was so damn hungry and he didn't care anymore if this ended up killing one of his meals. All he had to do for more was find a village, and torture someone's name out. Then he'd have the entire village residing within his stomach. Oh, just the thought of it got him salivating.
Dashing at the pair once again, about five meters from them, he cast a spell.
"Ul Goa."
A massive fireball sprung from his outstretched hand and Beatrice's focused expression was shaken as her eyes grew wide.
She redoubled her efforts yet again and, just as the huge ball of fire came speeding at them—with Subaru unable to run fast enough to escape it—the space between them and it rippled, tearing open.
Flying straight through the purple portal, it came speeding back out in the opposite direction a short moment later, flying right towards the still sprinting Roy.
The boy smirked.
"Carnivorous Beast."
He did not slow, running straight through the enormous spell, and jumped right through it. He looked upon the shocked pair, his clothes singed but otherwise unharmed.
Beatrice filled with fear and panic. There was nothing she could do. The boy was so close and she lacked the focus to conjure another spell, any other spell, to stop him.
Just as Roy reached out for her chest, she felt herself released from Subaru's grasp.
Flicking her eyes over, she saw the black-haired boy had dropped her, his attention focused on Roy.
His fist flew through the air, straight towards Roy's side.
But a normal right hook would do nothing. If an Ul-level spell didn't even bother him, then how could a human's punch do any better?
Regardless, she trusted her contractor. And so she muttered, "El Vita."
Noting the rapidly approaching threat, having swiftly placed Beatrice down, Subaru grit his teeth and swiftly reached into the slithering feeling deep inside himself, an action that was quickly becoming disturbingly familiar.
He activated his Authority of Sloth, the 「Lunatic Limbs」.
A dark, shadowy appendage overlapped with his right arm. A phantom fist formed just in front of his own. And, with his full force, he slammed it into Roy's side.
Crunch.
It felt like punching concrete. No, it actually felt worse. It felt like a slab of concrete fell off a skyscraper and hit his fist at terminal velocity.
His hand instantly crumpled against the boy's near-impenetrable skin. The shadowy limb itself too almost faltered, it being the only reason his whole arm did not mangle from the action.
But his plan worked. After some initial resistance, Subaru's attack pushed Roy away from his Beako. It pushed him away from them both. It pushed and pushed until Roy went flying away from the pair as fast as he came, a look of shock on his face.
Subaru did not look at him for even a moment longer. He fell to the ground immediately, his body still feeling unbearably heavy even after Beatrice's gravity magic subsided.
Subaru had long since acclimated to intense pain. But this was different. Using that technique made him feel a pain beyond that in his body. It felt as if his very soul ached.
Beatrice immediately attempted to heal him, but Subaru knew it wouldn't do much good. This loop was doomed anyway.
"I'll save her. I swear I will. No matter how many times it takes."
Roy glided through the air, quite surprised and with a large tear in the right side of his shirt, but otherwise uninjured.
He immediately twisted his body mid-air, preparing to break his fall by forcefully throwing himself against the ground.
But it became unnecessary as he slammed right into some fleshy mass behind him.
He felt bones crunch and flesh eviscerate, but they were not his own. His momentum completely cancelled out and he turned to see that he had just flown into… aneki?
"ROY! WHY'D YOU DO THAT ~TSU?!"
He turned to see his brother scowling at him, clearly furious.
"We were soooo close to eating someone soooo Gourmet! And you ruined it!" Ley said, slamming his foot down in frustration.
"We stop looking away from your fight for one second, enjoy ourselves for one second, and you ruin everything!" he shouted, his face growing red with rage.
"Hey! It's not our fault that you're too stupid to eat your food fast!" Roy retorted, annoyed by his brother's remark.
"We-" Ley started, before stopping himself. He took a deep breath and placed a hand on his face.
"Listen, Roy. Just use Leaper to go straight past her portals. We're sorry for yelling at you, we love you ~tsu."
Roy looked away from his brother and stood up from his spot in the beast's quickly dying body. He cracked his neck, stretched his muscles, and bolted right back towards his prey.
Ley sighed at the sight and turned back to his dying opponent.
"We're sad we couldn't see your full Gourmet potential, aneki, but we had fun regardless."
He placed a hand on her bloodied fur.
"Frederica Baumann."
Ley licked himself and relished in her name and memories.
With one hand pushing up against the ground, Subaru lifted his body up to stand through the aching and soreness. His whole form shook as he went, the combined pain of incredible fatigue, overuse of his Authority, and the dull prickling sensation he assumed was the typically debilitating pain of one's torn muscles and broken bones being slowly and carefully stitched back together via healing magic only annoyed him as he stood. He'd felt worse in the past, far worse.
"Subaru, please stay still, in fact. Betty can't-" she started, totally focused on healing her partner.
"It's no use," he said, cutting her off.
Beatrice met his eyes, they were distant.
"There's no point in fixing what is doomed. Besides, I'm sure Roy will be on his way back any second now…"
Subaru glanced at his limp, mangled hand. He attempted to squeeze it into a fist, but found it physically unable to do more than twitch.
"Subaru, please, if you—" This time, she cut herself off, snapping her attention to where Subaru had sent their pursuer flying.
They both saw him approaching, quickly. Roy was on his way back and they both knew that the same tricks would likely not work again.
Subaru glared at the running figure, trying to weigh his options as best he could in that moment. The lingering rage and hate brought about by use of his Authority did not aid in this pursuit.
Before he could craft a course of action, he saw the spirit girl step forward, standing between him and the archbishop.
Subaru glanced down at the girl. He saw her stance was firm.
"Betty's help to stand, Betty's voice to look forward, Betty's hands to keep you together… to choose you over Betty's past and to clear a path to our future… that is what we agreed upon, I suppose."
"Beako…" the hate in his eyes wavered, his determination held on hold. He looked at her now as if he'd never truly seen her before.
The girl raised her hand up towards Roy who drew ever-nearer, tearing a hole in space between her and the boy.
"Betty is sorry that she wasn't enough, sorry that she allowed our future to be doomed."
In an instant, Roy appeared just in front of said tear in space, his smile wild and excited. He continued to sprint, mere moments away from the little girl.
That raging river of madness contained within Subaru's mind calmed, the storm stopped for but a moment. He looked upon her with no contempt in his expression, no hate in his eyes. He felt sorrow and… something more.
Something, that same something that had been pestering him time and time again, urged him to help her, save her, aid this lost poor little girl in her time of need. That something cared not for futility nor consequences. It only cared for the sadness it heard in her words, the quiver in her voice, and the guilt shining right out of her heart. It was a Greedy something, wanting to save them all no matter the cost.
But another something, an older something, urged him to look beyond the girl and towards the threat to his life and so much more. It urged him to kill the boy, to slaughter that which dared to defy him. It made his brain tremble and whispered temptations of power, worming its way into the core of his soul. It was a Slothful something, pushing him to give into his worst habits that he only barely kept under control. He did not need to change, to embrace his so-called Second Chance.
These somethings were companions, he noted. These foreign yet base compulsions were akin to one another, despite their differences.
And Subaru despised them both at that moment. He was disgusted with both of these compulsions. These opposing forces both urged him forward into the fray, regardless of consequence.
Subaru grit his teeth and brandished his iron-clad will.
"I'm the fucking Sin Archbishop of Pride and I will not be manipulated by the whims and wishes of some alien forces!"
Roy's hand reached out to grasp hold of the girl.
"Ah, to hell with this!"
Subaru spun his body away from his partner and away from the threat.
He bent his knees and reached deep within his soul. That slithering sensation did not want to comply but he tore it out from inside him regardless. Quivering shadowy appendages overlapped with his legs as his teeth clenched so hard as to crack.
Sparing not a single glance back, Subaru kicked off the ground and flew into the air. Once in motion, those appendages vanished even faster than they came. He could hear and feel the bones in his lower body shatter into more pieces than he could count, becoming even more mangled than his hand.
And yet he leaped across the courtyard in a long arc. Nearby where he would inevitably land, Subaru spotted the still motionless body of the tiger boy that annoyed him so… and beside him, the shattered remains of his shield.
Subaru scrunched his body up as best as he could, landing on his destroyed legs. Unceremoniously falling to the ground, his right hand and his entire lower body became unfeeling, so overstressed as to no longer function in even the smallest of capacities. He didn't even feel the blood beginning to drench his clothes.
He reached his shaking left arm out, the only functional limb he had left, and grasped the jagged silver shard.
He spared only a single glance up, seeing his Beako's lifeless body fall to the ground and Roy laughing maniacally in the distance.
He held the sharp object as tight as he could, blood coating his hand, and jammed it into his throat.
The whole of his body in pain, his heart throbbing in more ways than he could count, and those forces attached to his soul disapproving of his choices, Natsuki Subaru lost his life, frustrated and alone.
Opening his eyes, Subaru did not spend even one second looking at the ceiling with its beige undertones and bird symbol. He instantly jumped out of bed and stood beside it.
Taking a moment to adjust to the feeling of having four working limbs again, he looked down to see Beatrice still sitting on the bed, regarding him with a now familiar look of concern and confusion.
He did not give either of those somethings a chance to pitch in their opinions and chose to—as much as the thought disgusted him—ignore the girl's mental state for the time being.
He had to save Emilia. And he couldn't afford to waste time on anything else.
Without a word, he grabbed her by her sides, hoisted her off the bed and into his arms, and held her close, burying her face into his chest.
He did not look down as her now-reddened face glanced up at him. He immediately walked to the far side of the room and, with a running start, leaped straight through the glass window of his room.
"M-murak!" Beatrice said, panic and surprise filling her voice.
Subaru's expression did not change.
"Problem: Gluttonies in the courtyard, Authorities on the fritz. Goal: Save Emilia. Solution: Gather information, running as fast as I can."
His gaze remained fiery yet calm as he glided through the air. He would fulfill his promise, no matter how many times it took.
Step, Step, Step, Sliiiiiide.
Subaru's dash came to an abrupt halt as he rounded the corner of the mansion and gazed upon the spectacle held beyond.
The courtyard was ruined, to be sure, but it was still recognizable. One of the gazebo-like structures remained intact, a good portion of the shrubbery was disheveled rather than being totally destroyed, and the lawn was relatively untouched.
But most notably, the echoing sounds of continued conflict rang into his ears.
Standing near the center of the courtyard was the familiar sight of Ley Batenkaitos, his face spread into a now-familiar look of delight. He seemed ready to feast. And not three paces behind him laid Emilia's unconscious form, just as he'd seen only a few minutes prior.
This reinforced Subaru's scowl. He still wasn't quick enough. He still couldn't save her. He would have to die yet again. But then, his eyes shifted towards his left.
Across from him, standing closer to the mansion's entrance, stood the duo of oni maid and blonde demihuman, side by side. The former's uniform was torn and tattered, seeming clearly overexerted. The latter's enraged expression was visibly exhausted, his whole body heaving with every breath.
But they were breathing, and their scowls were proof of their continued life, their continued existence in this world's memory. And from that place deep within his soul, the Greedy force rejoiced. Or rather, compelled him to rejoice.
But Subaru paid that feeling no mind. He acknowledged the reality of the situation and acted accordingly.
He finished his analysis of what laid before him and continued to dash towards the courtyard, straight towards the injured pair of familiar faces.
"Finally ~tsu!" a voice exclaimed, coming from a place high above.
"Leaper!"
And a moment later that voice appeared nearer, accompanied by the sight of Roy's form, a yearning clear in his eyes.
"Leaper!" he repeated. He appeared in the middle of Subaru's path, in between himself and the distant pair.
Said distant pair turned at the intrusion, their opponent doing the same.
"Barusu? Beatrice-sama?" Subaru could hear Ram say in the distance.
"Very good, Roy! How excellent, how intelligent, how patient of you ~tsu!" Ley exclaimed, substantially louder.
"This is exactly why one must keep watch of their surroundings! For such a job well done, we give you permission to feast once more! We're so proud of you ~tsu!"
Roy did not respond to his brother. He barely even processed his words. Roy cared not for Gourmet nor for his brother's pride. He only cared for the meal in front of him, and the fact that he was finally allowed to eat again.
Subaru braced himself, holding Beatrice close. It had only been a fraction of a minute since his previous battle with the Gluttony Archbishop of 「Bizarre Eating」 had concluded and he was prepared for a rematch. Or at least, he thought he was.
But what Subaru failed to notice, failed to realize, failed to consider, was that, in his haste, he had neglected two sets of mental states.
First, as Roy jumped at full speed towards the pair, chaining Leaper after Leaper together as he had when he'd come down from on high, Subaru realized that Roy was different. Subaru had failed to consider the change in approach one good meal would have. And Roy, now, was hungrier than Subaru could have ever imagined. He was so hungry, so ravenous, so needing to eat, that, for one of the first times in his short life, Roy actually heeded his brother's past teachings.
Subaru had failed to consider that Roy Alphard became an exponentially more competent fighter—whose only goal was to grab hold of his opponent and eat—when starved.
Second, as Subaru did nothing against the approaching archbishop and as no purple shards nor tears in reality appeared to halt Roy, he realized that Beatrice too was different. Subaru had failed to consider the change in approach a few minutes of mental preparation and sentences of conversation would have. And Beatrice, now, was incredibly disoriented. She turned her head only a moment before Roy began to sprint. She hadn't had a minute—no, not even a second to process the situation she had found herself in. Subaru realized that, at that moment, Beatrice was entirely useless in this fight.
Subaru had failed to consider that Beatrice was no tool. She was no weapon nor slave. Beatrice was his partner. And Subaru had failed to say even a single word to his distressed, confused, and mentally unstable partner before running right into what would be the hardest battle of her life.
"Leaper!" Roy exclaimed one last time, appearing less than a meter away from the pair. Or rather, just above them.
Looking directly up, Beatrice had no time to think, so she acted on pure instinct.
"Min-" she started, before Roy's foot slammed right into her child-like face.
This attack not only cut off her incantation, but also—since Beatrice was still being held in Subaru's arms with her chest against his and since she had neglected to cancel her hastily applied gravity magic—sent the pair immediately flying. They slammed into the ground and their near-weightless bodies scraped against the rough lawn as they continued to quickly speed away from where they had just been with no sign of stopping.
Subaru too acted on instinct, lacking the time to do anything else. He too had raised his hand to cast Minya against his opponent, but he couldn't even begin his own incantation before Roy attacked.
In the distance, he could see, with his body still scraping against the ground and still not producing sufficient friction in his weightless state to stop, Roy preparing to eat.
Subaru once again acted on instinct as he shifted his still outstretched palm's target.
Finishing his spell as Roy's tongue exited his mouth, Subaru directed his total focus to its completion.
"Minya."
As Beatrice's body grew limp in his arms, limp as all the lifeless corpses he'd seen mere minutes ago, Subaru felt two unique sensations simultaneously.
First, he felt the pain of his now normally weighed body roughly scraping against the grass. It was odd, but far from the most unpleasant thing he'd ever experienced.
Second, he felt a strange sensation in his right thigh. Of course, it was an expected sensation, as that was where his palm was aimed, but it was strange nonetheless.
Subaru had been torn to pieces, burned alive, and bled to death more times than he could count, not that he'd care to count anyway. He'd even been frozen to death a small handful of times in his old timeline—a feeling he once thought he'd never get used to… until his beloved had put him through it enough times for his mind to finally adjust to it.
But this was entirely different from every death he'd experienced before. The closest he could liken it to was the sensation of his limbs freezing off that he felt on his second loop in this world, but even that comparison was a stretch.
Subaru's right thigh just suddenly felt like… nothing. Or rather, it felt like the same nothing you see when you close your eyes or when you suddenly turn off the lights. It was nothing and yet something. It was frozen, unfeeling, yet not gone.
As that sensation spread from his leg up towards his hip, it suddenly changed.
Subaru, still scraping against the grass at a high speed, glanced down, finding an ever-growing trail of purple-pink shards and… nothing where his leg once was.
The pink cloud of dust that came from his glass-like leg grinding against the ground was certainly strange, but Subaru could feel that cloud. Every single piece of him that had been affected by the wave of stagnant time that was his Minya spell was still a part of him.
And it was then that the odd but not unpleasant feeling grew disgusting, revolting, traumatic.
This feeling was suddenly oddly, creepily, disturbingly reminiscent of his least favorite sensation in the world. Each shard of glass and every individual particle of dust felt like it held a persevered shard of his consciousness… his splintered consciousness.
As the spell's effects spread quickly up his torso and towards his neck, his form became so altered that his head—having hit a slight decline—flew upwards into the air. There was neither blood nor pain, just a severed head gliding through the air, purple dust trailing off it as ice trails after a comet.
But the face on that head was full of fear. The expression Subaru's last piece held was one akin to the shellshock of battle-hardened soldiers hearing fireworks go off.
There were no coherent thoughts in his mind, just utter fear that he'd return to that dreadful state of being, of his mind splintering into a thousand frogs or a billion bacteria. It was a primordial fear and it was the last thing Natsuki Subaru felt as he lost his life.
Author's Note: As usual, thanks to BobDoorman and LookingGlassInsect for beta'ing this chapter along with EmiliaNatsuki for bullying the shit out of me I mean helping me edit it.
Be sure to leave your thoughts in the reviews/comments below! I love to read them, after all.
