AN: "What do you say, Meili? Once everything's over, will you become my daughter?" ~Subaru Natsuki, Arc 6 Chapter 82
Special thanks to my fiancé for helping me overcome my demons.

Chapter 23 – Demons

Subaru felt it on his arms, his legs. Gnawing, clawing, biting his limbs off. His body exploded in pain, exacerbated by the fear he felt.

He tried to scream, but his vocal cords had been ripped out. He could not reach for his knife, for the Great Rabbit had eaten his arms whole. All he could do was wait for the end as the cold, the biting, freezing snow –

A small hand placed itself on his cheek, but he could not see the body it came from. All that existed was snow and teeth and claws and –

"Subaru," came a voice, but it was faded, distant. Like a lullaby given to a terrified child, it told him, "Everything's okay, I suppose."

Okay? What was okay? There was pain, only pain and –

"Breathe, I suppose. Betty's here for you, in fact."

Subaru blinked the snow out of his eyes, except there was no snow. Merely a slight chill. Where was he? He was just at the Sanctuary, right? Was Emilia okay? Was he –

"It's okay," Beatrice whispered. "Deep breaths, like we practiced, I suppose."

He could do that. In, out. In, out. No snow. Not the Sanctuary. Not dying. He had his whole body.

"That's it, in fact," she soothed. "Ground yourself. Where are you, Subaru?"

It was night, but there were no stars. The massive form of the White Whale and its dreadful mist were blocking them from view. He heard the cannons as well as Crusch shouting orders, but he couldn't see them.

He knew where he was. He was okay. They had a plan. If he just stuck to it –

With a jolt, he remembered. With a shaking arm, he pointed in front of them. "Beatrice," he said flatly, lest his panic run wild, "do you see what I'm pointing at?"

She squinted as the mist faded in and out. "One of Crusch's soldiers, I wonder?" she guessed. "Seems a bit short, I suppose."

Subaru shook his head. "That's Meili," he corrected, his voice wavering at the name.

During Meili's imprisonment at Roswaal's mansion, he had made dolls for her, and they just… talked. He went down there when he needed a break, and she found herself opening up to him. He was her biggest (and perhaps her only) advocate. She was one of the people he had vowed to protect, no matter what.

So… why did he kill her? Why did he grasp her by the neck and wring the life out of her?

He didn't know, for the answer did not lie within his haphazardly patched-together memories.

He had tried to convince himself that it wasn't him; there was someone else who knocked him out, killed Meili, and left. Except… he read her Book of the Dead. He saw the sadistic glee in his eyes as he talked about "rules." He felt Meili's relief at finally taking her last breath.

He was truly despicable: a murderer beyond redemption.

It was one of his most recurring nightmares, and he could never speak of it. However, he forced it out of his mind, lest the Great Rabbit devours him whole.

Beatrice could sense his overflowing emotions, so she asked, "Why are you so afraid? Are you worried for the purple child's safety, in fact?"

He almost laughed. The idea of Meili being hurt by a mabeast was a ridiculous notion, and he reminded her of that. "The problem," he elaborated, "is that she's currently holding the Great Rabbit in her arms."

He expected Beatrice to gape, widen her eyes, or question his statement. She did none of those things.

With a determined nod, she said, "Let's kill the Great Rabbit, bring the purple child to safety, and let the others focus on the White Whale, I suppose." Her eyes twinkled at his surprised look. "Do you think Betty isn't used to your nonsense, I wonder?"

His mouth dried up, and he wanted to tell her how lucky he was, but they had wasted enough time.

The battle waged on around them, and Meili stood there with the same innocent smile. He approached her slowly, carefully making sure to not appear as a threat. He didn't know why she was here, let alone why she was with the Great Rabbit of all things. All he knew was that he was at a disadvantage. When threatened, the young girl's self-preservation took over, and she became a formidable foe. One misstep and the Great Rabbit would be upon him.

He needed to prove that she was safe, for only then she would let her guard down. It was a monumental task; how could he prove her safety when he feared for his own life?

The mist surrounded him, dancing over his skin; it would not erase his existence unless the Whale was directly near him and he was fully submerged in it, but that didn't stop the chill from creeping down his spine.

He hopped off Patrasche and instructed Beatrice, 'Teleport to Emilia and bring her here.'

Beatrice gave him a look that clearly showed her thoughts on that plan, but he preemptively interrupted her, saying, 'Trust me on this. Don't worry about mana conservation, either.'

Through their connection, he felt her anger and hurt. She must think he didn't care if she fell unconscious. Unfortunately, there was no time to explain himself. With a huff of annoyance, she vanished into the mist, leaving only the sounds of battle: booming cannons, shouting soldiers, incanting mages, and the pain-filled shrieks of a monster.

Subaru didn't register any of that, for he was face-to-face with two of his greatest nightmares.

The cursed fog obscured all but the two of them and the Great Rabbit. He knew the beast was under control; Meili wasn't typically able to control the Great Mabeasts, but she had somehow broken the Great Rabbit's horn. It would only attack if she ordered it to.

That didn't mean he wasn't terrified, or that he could afford to be careless.

"Hey, there," he said quietly as he tentatively approached Meili. He stubbornly refused to look away from her innocent, olive-green eyes. "I'm Subaru Natsuki. What's your name?"

"Hi, Mister! I'm Meili!" she chirped happily as if she weren't holding the physical incarnation of hunger in her arms. Her smile was wide and fearless, but it did not disarm him, for he knew it was fake. "It's nice to meeeet you!"

"It's nice to meet you, too," he responded evenly. "What are you doing all the way out here?"

Without pause, she announced, "I was looking for my big sister, Elsa. Have you seen her?"

He stiffened but did not bother to hide anything. Despite her childish behavior, Meili was incredibly perceptive. He wouldn't be surprised if she knew he was one of Elsa's killers the moment she laid eyes on him.

He feared what that meant for his life.

Meili was abandoned at a young age, and she was raised by mabeasts. Bereft of language, she survived only because of her Divine Protection of Mana Manipulation. She turned feral, and only then did Elsa save her.

From Elsa, Meili learned everything anew: speaking, acting, even flirting. The coquettish grin, unbefitting her childish face, was not given out of a desire to seduce, nor was she aware of its meaning. She likely didn't know anything of romance or intimacy; she simply copied the only role model she ever had. Unfortunately, that included the sadistic tendencies of her "big sister." She was incredibly attached to Elsa, even if neither seemed to hold affection for the other in the traditional sense. However, they were all the other had, and they depended on each other.

Now, here she was, standing before one of Elsa's murderers.

He wanted to lie, to deny the inevitable allegation, but knew it was pointless. With great reluctance, he admitted, "Around four months ago, Elsa tried to assassinate me. A few allies and I killed her out of self-defense."

He gazed at her warily but saw none of the expected anger or desire for vengeance. There was only calm acceptance and carefully masked grief. It didn't make sense; last time, despite getting close to him, she actively plotted his demise. This time, it was as if she blamed someone else for Elsa's defeat, and it wasn't anyone in the Emilia Camp.

Was he missing something? He thought he had grown proficient at reading her hidden expressions, but he still couldn't find any righteous fury.

Lightly, she said, "That's okay. I was expecting that to be her last mission, anyway. Just a part of the business." She smiled as a thought came to her. "So, you killed Elsa, huh? You must be reeaally strong, Mister! Maybe you can help Whaley and Rabby protect me from Mama!"

Mama. The leader of the Assassin Organization. Meili and Elsa's boss.

The former Sin Archbishop of Lust, Capella Emerada Lugunica.

Last time, Meili was a willing prisoner for over a year just to avoid Capella. He didn't know why Meili was on the run this time, but she must have failed in one of her missions. Perhaps that was why she didn't attack the village children this time.

For a moment, his eyes scanned her face as if to detect any deceit, but they ended up locked to a gash on her cheek. It looked to be a few months old… It wasn't there last time, was it?

Now that he wasn't having a staring contest with her, he realized just how off things were. She was drastically leaning on one leg, and one of her shoulders appeared to be dislocated. She was skin and bones; it was as if she hadn't had a proper meal in months. Scars and bruises littered her limbs, and infection festered on open wounds.

A lump formed in his throat. He should have found her sooner, actively looked for her. It didn't matter if she was resourceful or not; she looked like she was close to death, and that wouldn't have happened if she were living with him.

The Great Rabbit forgotten, he cupped her cheek and gently dragged his thumb over the scar, as if to ease the pain with his touch. Then, as if coaxing a scared animal, he quietly asked, "Did Mama do this to you?"

Meili stiffened at the contact, but she didn't break her blissful mask in the slightest. "Maaaybe," she said, her discomfort hidden by a happy sway. "But that was then, and this is now! I found Rabby and Whaley! They've been protecting me from Mama!"

The feeling of his limbs being torn off overcame him for a moment before he crushed it down. Meili was more important. "You don't need them," he told her, a bit more forcefully than intended. "My spirit and I – the whole Emilia Camp, actually – already killed her."

Of course, she didn't believe his bold claim for an instant. She shook her head with a giggle, saying, "You're so silly, Mister, saying something like that without proof."

"You want proof?" He pulled out his ruby-encrusted dagger and held it out, palm-up. "I trust you recognize this?"

Her eyes widened and she flinched, shattering his heart in the process. He'd never seen her give a reaction like that, ever.

His soul roared in rage as he remembered her Book of the Dead; he couldn't help but wonder what other horrors were omitted, and where that blasted knife may have cut.

If Lust weren't already crushed into a singularity, he would have personally gone to beat the shit out of her, used Return by Death, and do it all over again, if only to wipe the fear off Meili's face.

As it was, however, she remained trapped in an unthinkable past. "You could've stolen it," she whispered in denial, her sing-song demeanor completely absent. She clutched the Great Rabbit close to her chest as she stammered out, "I still need Whaley and Rabby."

He shook his head vehemently as he repeated himself. "You don't need them. I can protect you from anything that would hurt you."

She eyed him warily as she revealed her true face: a terrified, sorrowful child. Then, quietly, "Will you prove it to me?"

"Of course," he said quickly. Immediately after, he realized the ramifications of his hasty claim.

The mist coalesced around her and he reached out, but she was already gone. With dawning horror, his suspicions were confirmed as something small and white rocketed towards his chest.

To prove his strength, he needed to kill the Great Rabbit.

While Subaru faced down his demons, Reinhard van Astrea was confronting his own. The White Whale towered above him, its mist suffocating him as he trembled in fear.

He did not fear for himself, but his allies. After all, he only cowered before one being, and it was not this overgrown fish. He was strong enough to take the Whale out in one blow, but that would kill everyone else in the vicinity. If it weren't for that blasted travel restriction, he would have gone on a solo mission and killed the beast long ago. Alas, he was a monster bound by chains and was not allowed out of sight. As such, he was surrounded by hundreds of common soldiers, and his power level would match theirs.

At his side stood a man many years his senior. A man with no special powers, no magic, no Divine Protections. The Od Laguna wouldn't give this man a passing glance, yet he was one of the strongest soldiers in the world.

The Sword Demon, Wilhelm Trias: the man who had denounced his position as Reinhard's grandfather.

They had been placed in the same carriage; no other passengers were present, and the driver had been blocked off. The two men were truly alone, free to talk about whatever they wished.

It was utterly silent.

After all, there was nothing to talk about. To each other, they were merely a couple of swordsmen who had middling respect for each other. Their shared past was erased mere moments after Theresia died.

But that didn't explain why they kept looking at each other when they thought the other wasn't paying attention, did it?

Cowards and fools, the both of them.

Reinhard could not speak for anyone else, but he knew that he was unhappy. That was not to say that Felt did not bring him joy; he viewed the princess as a younger sister and a dear friend. However, happiness was not a temporary state of being. It was an overall existence and one that could not be achieved by a monster such as him.

Even so, as he cast a hesitant glance at his grandfather, he couldn't help but wonder if the Od Laguna would grant him a brief respite. He opened his mouth to speak – the first words he had shared with his grandfather since he was six years old – and was promptly shot down.

"We need to attack the Whale's eyes," Wilhelm said with the poise and strength of a warrior. His eyes were anywhere but Reinhard's. "That will force it to split into three, weakening it significantly and bringing it low to the ground. That is what Sir Subaru had informed us of, is it not?"

Reinhard kept his face blank, but he couldn't help but feel that he missed his chance. "It is, yes," he agreed, showing none of his thoughts. "How do you suppose you'll get up there?"

Wilhelm's façade broke slightly as he scoffed. "Are you an Astrea or not?" he asked in frustration. "Throw me, you fool!"

With a hidden flinch and then a nod, Reinhard scooped up Wilhelm by the feet, hoisting the older man into the air. Like a spinning top, they twirled once, twice, and a third time before Wilhelm was rocketed to the sky. Perfectly positioned, Wilhelm gave a mighty roar as he flew hundreds of feet, landing directly above the White Whale's eye.

"For my wife!" he cried, loud enough for the infantry below him to hear. He pulled his sword from his scabbard and skewering the Whale's bulging pupil. The Whale flailed about, but he held firm, tearing his sword out and the eye with it.

Flinging it like a slingshot, he tossed the eye into the slew of carriages where it landed right beside his. That was his spoils of war, and he was not about to let it rot in a ditch somewhere.

With Theresia's flowing red hair in his thoughts, Wilhelm precariously made his way over to the Whale's other eye. As he crossed over its brow, a massive arc of brilliant green light – Crusch's signature One Blow, A Hundred Felled – slashed into the Whale's side, knocking Wilhelm off it.

'What a wonderful strike, Lady Crusch,' he thought as he plummeted headfirst to the ground. 'Forgive me; I was unable to withstand it.'

He fell hundreds of feet, but as he braced himself for impact, a pair of strong arms grasped him. Standing on nothing but water vapor, Reinhard had caught his grandfather at the halfway point between earth and sky.

"You performed excellently," Reinhard complimented. "My apologies that it took so long for me to join you up here."

Wilhelm tried to thank Reinhard for saving him, but his blasted pride would not allow it. Instead, he muttered, "Get us back on the Whale. We need to get the other eye."

With a hint of disappointment in his eyes, Reinhard tossed his grandfather over his shoulder, bent his knees, and jumped hundreds of feet, landing on the Whale. It gave a grunt of pain, stunning the soldiers below with the unholy sound, but the two men remained unaffected.

With a flat tone, Reinhard informed his grandfather, "I'm afraid my sword will not allow itself to be drawn at the moment. You'll need to be the one to get the eye."

A spark of anger flashed across Wilhelm's face. 'That's the sword you stole from my wife,' he growled internally, but could not speak aloud. For all the anger coursing through his veins, he could not speak those venomous words while looking at those sky-blue eyes. He settled on a meager nod and stumbled across the flailing Whale's back, making his way to the front.

Reinhard let himself sigh. He took no enjoyment from hunting monsters, and it was even less gratifying while under the resentful gaze of his grandfather.

'It's not my fault,' he thought bitterly. Immediately after, his mind helpfully followed up with, 'If I were never born, my grandmother would still be alive.'

With a rush of anger and buried grief, he thrust his fist into the Whale's side, tearing past all its physical defenses and exposing the flesh underneath.

"It's covered in hairs that dissipate mana," Subaru had told Reinhard a few days prior. "If we can tear those off, then Crusch's mages could do some damage."

Subaru had meant a few patches, but Reinhard was a man with a grudge. Within minutes, almost the entirety of the Whale's skin was torn off. With a blazing heart but only the slightest of frowns, he threw the coat to the ground below.

The Whale roared in pain and tried to shake them off, but Wilhelm would not allow it. He hooked his sword into the remaining eye and pulled, steering the Whale like he would a ground dragon. With ease, he directed it into one of Crusch's attacks.

Despite how much it pained him, he couldn't help but wonder how his wife fell to such a beast. It was powerful, sure, but a well-executed plan was enough to demolish it, and his wife was far more powerful than he ever was. Not to mention that he knew of their attack plan; even if she lost her Divine Protection of the Sword Saint amidst her battle, it shouldn't have affected the outcome. She had already reached her maximum potential, anyway; her fighting ability would not have been impacted.

With a heavy heart, he thought, 'What happened on that fateful day?'

As Reinhard tore apart the White Whale, his mind was working furiously. He couldn't help but think about something that Subaru had said a couple of nights after arriving at Astrea Chateau.

They had been sitting by the fireside in the middle of the night – neither were good sleepers, after all – and simply… talked. It was the kind of morbid, existential conversation that only occurred when the rest of the world was asleep.

"It's a wonderful yet abhorrent coincidence," Reinhard had murmured into his tea. "Because of my grandmother's death, I was thrown into a spiral of despair. To hide from my despair, I worked harder than most other knights. Because of my hard work, I became even more stressed, and the captain gave me a day off, causing me to run into you. Your words guided me to the slums, which lead me to my Lady's injured side."

He gave a wry grin. "I have a purpose again, and I won't give it up, but it's fascinating to think of how many horrid coincidences worked together to create such a wonderful situation. It's as if we're being guided to our future."

"You draw that conclusion, yet you still view this as a coincidence," the younger – or perhaps infinitely older – man had whispered with grief in his was hunched over and wrapped in a blanket, still shaking from a nightmare; truly, not what Reinhard imagined the Sage to be.

"There's no such thing as coincidence," Subaru had continued somberly. "We're merely the playthings of a malevolent demon, for reality itself shatters in her hands. She'll never lose because she'll simply rewrite history, eliminating all threats." He gripped his teacup tighter as his hands began to shake. "As long as she controls our history, we have no future."

Something told Reinhard that Subaru wasn't talking about the Witch of Envy.

The next morning, Subaru had laughed it off as pointless, sleep-deprived ramblings, but Reinhard would never forget it. It wasn't because Subaru was lying, mind you. It truly was "pointless," for there was no fighting such a foe. He was indeed "sleep-deprived," for how can one sleep when haunted by nightmares of a demon?

With a lump in his throat, Reinhard wondered if that same demon was related to his grandmother's demise. If that were true… could he be –

With a yell of sorrow and rage, Wilhelm gouged out the Whale's other eye. "Get us off this blasted thing!" he shouted to Reinhard. "It's about to divide itself!"

Successfully distracted from his thoughts, Reinhard grabbed onto Wilhelm and hopped off the Whale, coaxing the air around them to slow their descent.

They would assist in the coming battle, of course, but Reinhard was a beast on a chain: a sword that could not be unsheathed around others. The Whales – for there were now three of them – were flying low to the ground. Any of Reinhard's more powerful attacks would only hurt his allies. It was time to pass on his responsibilities to another.

With equal parts faith and concern, Reinhard thought, 'It's your turn, Sage.'

Across the battlefield, Emilia staggered. The White Whale had given a bellow of rage, unlike anything she had ever heard before. It was a harrowing sound, reverberating through her brain like a siege weapon to a fortress. It nearly forced her to her knees, for not only did its screech of pain assault her sensitive ears, but the sound of it tearing into two…

She was sure she would have nightmares for years.

But she pushed forward, for there was no time to waste. Freezing the ground in front of her and using it as a slide, she rushed towards one of the newly birthed Whales.

She made her way around the charging soldiers, weaving through the patches of mist. Under no circumstances would she allow herself to fall into its grasp. Using the method Subaru taught her, long forgotten to history, she modified the friction of her ice magic, allowing her to slide faster.

The Whale sped directly towards her, but she did not stray from her path. "Ul Huma!" she shouted, crashing the Whale into dozens of icy obelisks. Then, with a mere thought, the struggling Whale was covered in icy flowers, weighing it down further. Dozens of frozen soldiers, each a perfect replica of her knight but filled with Emilia's strength, assaulted it with all they had.

She was the Witch of Frost, and she would not cower before a simple animal.

With a wail to shatter the skies above, the Monster of the Mist broke free of its frigid imprisonment. One of Emilia's ice shards rocketed towards her, about to embed in her gut –

"Huma!" Thinking quickly, she conjured a shield as the projectile fell to the ground and disappeared into the ether.

'You're quite the tenacious beast,' she thought. 'That was too close.' If that hit her and she fell, then Subaru would –

She didn't allow herself to finish that thought, for it wasn't worth considering. Neither of them would die, for they would make it to the end, together.

The Whale flew towards her at unfathomable speeds. An Al Huma might be able to take it down, but it would be rough at that angle.

Then, like a dream at the edge of her consciousness, a fleeting image passed before her mind's eye.

It was worth trying, at the very least.

With strength in her voice, she chanted, "Va Huma!"

To the outside observer, it only appeared as if the Whale abruptly stopped moving. Emilia, however, somehow knew what happened.

Despite being a mabeast, the White Whale's brain was filled with as many ripples and contours as other mammals. Va Huma filled those linings with millions of sharp ice crystals that stabbed inwards, instantly causing death.

'What a grisly end,' she couldn't help but think. 'Even a beast such as you didn't deserve to be put under one of Echidna's spells.'

Emilia frowned; she had the strangest suspicion as to how she knew that spell and its origin. The notion filled her with both fulfillment and grief.

She took a moment to catch her breath against the deceased Whale's side before wrinkling her nose at the putrid stench. Daphne had thought this was an acceptable meal? What an odd child she must have been.

The battlefield raged around her, but Emilia felt she earned a brief reprieve; after all, she had just used an incredibly powerful spell for the first time. Even so, she would not let her guard down. She did that once before, and Subaru almost died.

'And not even by another's hand,' she thought reproachfully before berating herself. She merely bore witness to such pain and had no right to compound it with her own self-pity.

But his pain… Where did it come from?

She knew of his actions as the Sage, of course, as well as his reasons. They had spent many a late night trying to sort through those feelings, sparing no detail.

She could never go back to her innocence after that. Some of his desperate actions, and the detail in which he described them…

He helped her overcome the terrors of her past. She would do anything to help him in return. Whether he deprecated himself, screamed in the dead of night, or cried nonsensical tears, she would help him.

Still, something was missing.

Emilia froze the entire forest, and there was a chance she could not unfreeze her brethren. If only she had kept her promise to Mother Fortuna, none of that would have happened.

And yet, here she was. She would never forget her terrible actions, but she could sort through her emotions and work towards a brighter future.

Subaru couldn't. Despite the excruciating details he told of his descent into madness, he wasn't telling them everything. Sometimes, amidst tears, he'd look at her like he had something of grave importance to say. When pressed, he'd simply say, "I can't tell you."

She loathed those words. Because of them, he couldn't move on.

The way he said them… It's like he was apologizing, but for what? What did he do?

She didn't know. This secret of his… It was killing him, slowly and repeatedly.

She shook herself clear of her thoughts, for a battlefield was no place to wallow. Luckily, it appeared that only a few moments had passed.

She cast her eyes over the battlefield, looking for a group to help. Through the mist, her keen eyes made out a shifting patch of white. She didn't recall any of Crusch's soldiers wearing that color. Actually, they seemed to be bunched together, attacking someone... Was that Subaru?!

She froze the ground beneath her and shot forward, the wind whipping around her ears. She would not panic, for she had long since learned her lesson.

Even so, she could not help but rush to help her struggling knight.

Away from any immediate assistance, a single rabbit assaulted Subaru. Then two. Then five. Then twelve. Their hunger was immense, insatiable, unending. They would eat him, his bones, and his blood, leaving nothing behind.

But he was done giving up.

Deep inside the Shadow Garden, an old friend lent Subaru strength. From his chest, an ethereal hand burst forth, knocking the Great Rabbit away. The Rabbit split three times, but Subaru grabbed each with a Guiding Hand, crushing them to pieces.

With an exhilarated laugh, he unleashed the full power of his Authority of Sloth as a dozen Guiding Hands came under his command. With strength and precision befitting a true knight, he began to decimate the Great Rabbit.

Two Guiding Hands, larger than ever before, grabbed two Rabbits each, crushing them to pieces. Their blood splattered all over him, but he did not flinch. As long as the blood was not that of his loved ones, he was fine.

Subaru was not nearly as powerful as someone like Sekhmet, or even Petelguese. The main strength of their Unseen Hands was their invisibility. Subaru's Guiding Hands, however, were a deep, forest green: the same color as the eyes he gifted Shaula with.

Even with his newfound power, the circumstances were dire. He was a Spirit Knight without a spirit. His allies were elsewhere, fighting for their lives. He was facing the beast that brought him more fear than any of the Witches and Sin Archbishops combined. He'd already died multiple times to the Great Rabbit's jaws, and he had never defeated it; he had only sent it to another dimension, and that was while Beatrice was at full power. Now, every Rabbit he crushed was replaced by three more, and they were steadily wearing him down.

None of that mattered, for he was Emilia's one and only knight. So long as he had people to protect, he would never give up.

A silver bell heralded the arrival of an angel as Emilia cried out, "El Huma!" shooting dozens of ice spears and freezing multiple Rabbits. She made her way to Subaru's side, barely out of breath. "I apologize for taking so long," she said over the cacophony of the battle. "I was busy as a bee killing a Whale."

Laughing at the dated idiom, he asked, "Honestly, who even says 'busy as a bee'?"

Soon after, Beatrice popped into existence beside him, huffing at their antics. "Are you done flirting with your little girlfriend, I wonder? Betty is tired from all that teleporting, I suppose."

With one fell swoop, Subaru crushed three rabbits the moment they came into existence. "I wouldn't worry about it," he said flippantly. "There's a quick workaround."

Before Beatrice could ask what he meant, he turned to Emilia and rapidly fired off his instructions. She nodded and dashed off, freezing the ground below her and sliding on the artificial terrain. Using Puck as a conduit, she formed an impenetrable fortress of ice around the Rabbits, trapping them. The Rabbits, mindless and instinctual as they were, didn't notice.

Even with Emilia's support, the situation rapidly spiraled out of control. Not only were the Rabbits multiplying too fast, but he was also struggling to command all twelve Guiding Hands. After all, he hadn't had much time to practice using it.

Subaru grabbed Beatrice's hand and was about to teleport away before cursing violently.

"What is it, I wonder?" she asked but did not look at him. She was too busy avoiding the Rabbits. She tried to conjure a Minya but was out of mana. As it was, she was struggling to stay conscious, let alone defend herself or teleport away. The Rabbits were gaining in numbers going from a controllable ten to hundreds. If it weren't for Subaru's clean sweeps, they'd both be dead.

"Patrasche's still in here, too!" he said in a panic. "We need to teleport to her, right now!"

"I can't teleport, in fact!" she shot back. "I'm out of mana, I suppose!"

He cursed again before steeling himself. "Guess you'll have to trust your Subaru on this one."

He didn't wait for a response, for he didn't need to. The trust between a spirit and her contractor was absolute.

He scooped her up and tucked her into his side, dashing past the Rabbits. They nipped at his heels, desperate to taste his flesh, but he had enough of that back at the Sanctuary. He hopped over one and smacked away three more, desperately trying to reach Patrasche.

The ground dragon, to her credit, was faring well against the Great Mabeast. She thrashed and flailed, catching one Rabbit in her maw and tossing it to the side as she reared back to bat the rest away.

Possibly against his better judgment, Subaru brought two Guiding Hands away from the Rabbits, hooking one under Patrasche and the other under Beatrice.

"What are you doing, I wonder?!" the spirit screeched. She knew he was self-sacrificing, but to this extent? She wouldn't allow it!

He couldn't look at her as his attention was on the Rabbits, but he managed to shout, "Trust me!"

With that, the Guiding Hands flew up, unceremoniously tossing Beatrice and Patrasche over the wall of ice.

Emilia, seeing what Subaru was doing, dashed over at inhuman speeds. She created a massive bank of snow, allowing Beatrice and Patrasche to land harmlessly on the ground.

Beatrice tried to call out, but she had no mana left. She fell unconscious, leaving Subaru alone with the Great Rabbit.

Far away from their conflict, Rem weaved in and out of the mist at speeds unimaginable. Her task was simple: attack the White Whale whenever there was an opening and heal wounded soldiers along the way.

A massive shadow passed over her as the last remaining Whale flew directly above her. "Al Huma!" she cried, her horn amplifying the spell's power. A thirty-foot-long ice spear pierced the Whale's exposed hide; its following scream of pain stunned hundreds of soldiers, but not Rem. Her mind was elsewhere.

Subaru's words, which had given her peace only hours ago, were forgotten the moment she entered her demon transformation. The mere surface-level bandage had been ripped off in the face of true grief as primal rage overwrote her humanity.

The power she used to attack the Whale… It was not hers, but her sister's.

'I'm not supposed to exist,' she raged, the self-loathing amplified. 'Not me, but Sister! I stole her horns! Her life! Her power! Hers hers hershersherhers HERS!'

Rem was even more pathetic than she thought.

With a scream of pain and anger, she jumped onto the Whale's back and smashed her morning star into its spine. She tore out one of the bones and used it as a dagger, taking a grim sense of satisfaction at the way the blood spurted out. Then, she sourly thought, 'Just like my sister bled when her horn was lost.'

She remembered Al's tale well; her tribe was alive, and Ram was a god. Because Rem was born, that never happened. It was her fault, and no one else's.

In her enraged state, she never once thought to blame Pandora.

The Whale, reeling from its spine being torn asunder, tried to shake her off. She tumbled across its back, barely latching on to its tail. The mist crept up behind her, threatening to swallow her whole.

Would it truly be so bad if her existence was erased?

Life would go on. No one would miss her. Another maid would come to the mansion to pick up her workload. Maybe, to accommodate the lack of a twin, Ram would get her horn back. She could fix so, so much…

…but she was done making her sister suffer.

Ram's smiles and words of encouragement. Her embrace when it was cold, and her unconditional love. She was prickly to others, but never to her little sister.

Even if Rem's existence was erased – even if no one remembered her – she would be missed.

To think that something good could come of her existence… It was unfathomable, yet when Subaru called her his friend and gave her a smile… That was real.

Just like she was.

"Two years ago, you didn't exist," Al had told her.

"Like that means anything," Rem shouted over the wind. "That was real! I am real, and no one can tell me otherwise!"

She hoisted herself up with all her strength, jumping up on the Whale's back. She struggled forward but made it to the head of the Whale.

She raised her weapon high. "For Sister!" she cried. Full of hope for the future, she stabbed downwards, piercing through the Whale's skull and into its brain. Immediately, the Whale crashed to the ground and the mist around it dissipated.

The two copies were gone. All that was left was the damaged original. It was regenerating fast, but that was fine, for she had faith in her comrades.

Her chest heaved and sweat poured down her face. Killing the Whale… that was something she did. Not her sister, or Subaru, or Emilia, but Rem.

Power that was not stolen, nor selfishly kept. Power that would be shared with her allies and her precious sister.

Perhaps… it was worth pushing forward.

Off in the distance, Crusch watched yet another Whale fall with a sigh of relief. She had known this would be a difficult battle, so seeing it go so well put her at ease.

The White Whale, noticing it was on its last legs, exploded with sound, causing many of her men to fell to their knees. She stumbled under the onslaught but held firm. Leaning heavily on her sword, she glared up at the being before her, squashing down the burst of fear. "Everything is as Sir Subaru foretold," she murmured, a bit of rueful awe in her voice.

She was truly lucky to have an ally like Sir Subaru, even if her trust in him wasn't infallible. She couldn't help but think back to their war council meetings when they had planned this fight.

"The nuances of your plan are quite fascinating, Sir Subaru," Wilhelm had noted. "You speak like a man who's faced the White Whale and lived to tell the tale."

Subaru was about to deny it, but his eyes flicked to Crusch before he said, "I'm pretty good at planning for threats."

He dodged the question, which was strange enough, but to look directly at Crusch? That meant he somehow knew that she would be the one to detect a lie.

But how? Only her inner circle knew about her Divine Protection of Wind Indication. Sure, he could have known of her penchant for catching deceit, but something told her that wasn't it.

As she turned to her left and shouted her orders to the slowly recovering soldiers, she couldn't help but wonder, 'Who are you, Subaru Natsuki?'

With a swing of her sword, a massive beam of green light shot out, and she thanked the Sage that she had the Slayer of Sin Archbishops as her ally.

And then there was Emilia.

Crusch was no stranger to battle, nor of grace; she was known as Valkyrie for a reason. Despite that, she couldn't help but feel a tinge of awe while watching the half-elf battle the White Whale. It was a frenzied dance of power and destruction, of speed and subjugation.

A goddess of ice and snow. A harbinger of destruction. The protector of Lugunica. A half-demon. The rightful queen. A Witch.

The Frost Maiden. The Sage's Chosen.

The public gave Emilia many names. Crusch still wasn't sure which title was the aptest, but she was certain to watch the younger girl's career with great interest.

As Crusch continued her unrelenting, remote strikes against the Whale, she noticed something in the distance that made her falter.

The Great Rabbit had descended upon them.

"Damn it!" she shouted. Their plan didn't account for two Great Mabeasts!

Briefly, she thought of having the Sword Saint handle it, but she shot it down instantly. If he were to wipe out the Great Rabbit, everyone surrounding him would die. If she were to leave him alone and let him fight at full power, that would violate numerous international accords, and Lugunica would find itself in yet another war.

They would need to recuperate and create a new plan: one fit to handle both threats at once. It was an insurmountable task, but they would figure it out. With a heavy heart, she prepared to give the order to retreat, only for her eyes to widen further.

A prison of ice had been constructed and reinforced by Emilia. Inside that prison, facing the Great Rabbit head-on, was…

'…who else but Subaru Natsuki?'

He was impossible to predict, possessed unique abilities, had access to a massive, exclusive pool of knowledge, destroyed multiple invincible foes… and was potentially the future King of Lugunica.

If anyone were to lay waste to the Great Rabbit, it was Subaru.

For a fleeting moment, Crusch felt bitter. She had tried ordering hundreds of battle-hardened soldiers to retreat, yet a single human was single-handedly facing down the new threat. What kind of ruler was she if an inexperienced young adult was braver than her?

However, that bitterness was soon swept away by a feeling of security and faith. After all, this was what she wanted; the kingdom needed a leader to stand up for them, not one that mindlessly prayed to the Dragon.

'Your kingdom is in good hands, Fourier.'

With newfound determination, Crusch gave a battle cry filled with hope and resumed her assault on the White Whale.

Despite Crusch's belief in him, Subaru was struggling. He didn't know how much more he could take. He had to retract two of his Guiding Hands just to remain in control, and it felt like the Great Rabbit was multiplying twice as fast. He needed his opening but couldn't find it.

From behind the tall ice wall, Emilia was shooting El Humas in an arc, sniping the Rabbits with terrifying precision. More would replace it, but at least it was keeping Subaru alive. She didn't know what he was doing, but she had to trust him.

Subaru, for his part, was trying to figure something out. He had seen a move like his intended one in the fight against Sloth but had been more focused on escaping instead of how he'd use a similar power.

Suddenly, the pieces fit together. With a victorious grin, he spun around, knocking the Rabbits back. It was not enough to kill them and would allow them time to multiply and eventually overwhelm him, but that was fine. He only needed to give himself a few extra seconds.

Two Guiding Hands scooped under him as three more pushed him off the ground, lifting him into the air. The remainder grabbed onto the top of the ice wall as he vaulted over it, landing on a soft bank of snow that suddenly appeared on the other side. He shouted a quick "thank you" to Emilia, but she was too busy reinforcing the ice wall.

He dashed over to the unconscious Beatrice who was being gently nuzzled by Patrasche. Scooping the spirit up and hopping onto the ground dragon's back, he made his way around the wall, searching for his target.

Finally, he came across it: a massive chunk of the White Whale, torn off by Reinhard's bare hands. He crinkled his nose and tried not to breathe; to think that Shaula had to eat this kind of stuff to survive sickened him, but he pushed down the guilt to focus on his task.

Laying Beatrice down beside the severed flesh, he grabbed her hand and placed his other one on the Whale's intestines. Opening his damaged gate, he forced her to absorb the mana, using the Whale as a battery.

One of the rules of his contract with Beatrice was that he was to be her primary source of mana. Last time, that meant she couldn't get mana from anyone else. However, the wording of their contract was different now. After lots of experimenting with her and Emilia, they discovered that it only referred to the time spent absorbing mana. Even though she preferred Subaru's mana – "Purely because you are Betty's contractor, and for no other reason, I suppose" – she could still use other sources.

Sources like the White Whale.

He used to be annoyed when Daphne chatted incessantly about how the White Whale was different from her other mabeasts. Now, he was incredibly grateful to know that, even if parts of it were cut off, it retained massive quantities of mana.

With a gasp, Beatrice shot up, bursting to the seams with energy. It was as if she had been absorbing mana for hundreds, no, thousands of years.

Her typical mana absorption rate was abysmal; forcing her to take in so much at once was a huge risk. Then again, facing the Great Rabbit while unconscious meant certain death. Naturally, Subaru preferred the former.

Her whole body trembled violently as she reached up to place a small hand on his cheek. "Subaru," she whispered shakily as she tried to catch her breath. "You're okay, in fact."

He couldn't help but smile. She was overwhelmed, but she was thinking about him? There was a reason he adored her. "Rule Number Six of our contract," he recited. "I will always be Betty's Subaru, and I will never leave you."

The smile she gave him was worth living for.

Together, they intoned, "Murak," letting the wind carry them a hundred feet in the air. Emilia, who had been reinforcing the ice walls, noticed the two and ran to safety.

Hand in hand, spirit and contractor faced their fate.

Below them was a frenzied horde in the throes of cannibalism, smashing against the walls as their numbers grew infinitely larger. Without reinforcing it, the wall would crumble, and they would be lost. Even so, Subaru and Beatrice were calm.

"This feels familiar," he mused.

She nodded, having regained her bearings as they left the ground. "We were this high up against Capella, in fact."

A wry grin crossed his features. "That, too, I guess."

She ignored him and raised her arms, saying, "The spell I'm going to use costs enormous amounts of mana, in fact. It lets me –"

"Send them to another dimension," he finished. She didn't react; she was no longer surprised at his knowledge. "Yeah, not a chance. Instead, we're going to use something that costs quite a bit more, but will kill the Great Rabbit, once and for all. Think you can handle it?"

Reveling in the influx of energy coursing through her, she let joyous laughter replace what was once biting wit. "If Betty is doing it with her Subaru, she can do anything, I suppose!"

With a confident grin, Subaru looked at the writhing mass below them: the demon he had never overcome. Guiding mana through his spirit's gate, he let the power flow through them as he shouted a spell that had never been seen in this timeline:

"E·M·B!"

From all across the battlefield, the soldiers' shadows detached from their bodies and raced to a focal point beneath Subaru and Beatrice. Like wolves to their prey, they clamored together, desperate to be at the center. Then, as one cohesive unit, they rose from the ground as a single unit.

Spirals of shadow wrapped around the massive figure. It was a being of solid magic, absorbing the surrounding light. It was as tall as the White Whale was long, and it was focused solely on the Great Rabbit.

A Shadow Golem had appeared.

Once, maintaining the golem's form for a few seconds at a mere quarter of the size was enough to knock Beatrice unconscious. Now, it barely tapped into her mana reserves.

"What is this, I wonder?" she asked in awe. "You never told me about this spell, in fact."

With a smug grin, Subaru told her, "Well, your contractor needs to keep some surprises up his sleeve. Otherwise, you'll get sick of me."

Ecstatic from the overwhelming power flowing through her, she let out a laugh. "Betty will never get tired of her Subaru!"

In tandem, the two commanded their golem to aim at the Great Rabbit and fired hundreds of Minyas at once. Neither flora nor fauna were spared, for they needed to ensure their enemy's demise.

For centuries, the Great Rabbit had ravaged the land. Thousands died to its ravenous hunger and dozens of ecosystems were upended. An entire legion of Royal Knights weren't enough to subjugate it.

However, when faced with the destructive force that was Subaru and Beatrice, the Great Rabbit died in seconds.

Even so, the battle was not over. They had merely defeated the unexpected foe. Now, they turned to face the White Whale, which was rapidly recovering.

Crusch and her army were striking it with everything they had. Wilhelm Trias was causing incredible damage with every swing of his blade. Reinhard, despite being forced to hold back, was almost single-handedly destroying it.

But it wasn't enough. The beast recovered too fast. Any longer, and they risked losing soldiers to its mist or maw. So, the Shadow Golem turned its wrath upon the Whale. Wrapping its massive arms around the Great Mabeast, it slammed the Whale into the ground. An earthquake shattered the landscape around the impact, throwing many soldiers off their feet.

With unrelenting vengeance, the Shadow Golem aimed at the Whale's head. From afar, spirit and contractor commanded it to unleash a spell that hadn't been seen in centuries.

It was not Al Minya, which had encapsulated Capella with its sheer destructive force. Instead, it was Ul Minya: a devastating ability of absolute precision.

Storm clouds gathered and lightning flashed as the mana in the air thickened. A purple ring of light descended from the sky and wrapped around the Whale, binding it to the ground. It could not thrash or flail, for it was bound in an iron grip. It tried to screech, but it was silenced by the shadows.

As if Volcanica himself had come down to enact judgment, the White Whale was surrounded by a concentrated beam of shadow. Piece by piece, cell by cell, its body disintegrated. All that remained of it was dust, gently blown away a fresh, morning breeze. Light scattered across the field as the clouds parted, revealing awestruck soldiers staring up at their saviors.

Subaru did not care for their adoration, for there was one last person to save.

"I'm coming, Meili," he whispered as his spirit gave his hand a comforting squeeze. "You won't have to be alone anymore."