Sorry that this took so long. I've been writing this for fifteen months, and editing it was burning me out.

Thank you to everyone for over a thousand favorites, followers, and reviews. My friend called it "the triple crown." I'll admit, it feels really nice. I'm glad that you guys like the story enough to stick with it after all this time.

And as always, special thanks to my wife for editing this story. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me.

The Seal of Shadow

The darkness had overtaken him. He had no energy, no power. Having barely escaped from the clutches of unconsciousness, Flugel could only—

"Thy time hath not come. Arise, Sage. May mine Restoration Breath grant you strength."

If anything else was said, Flugel couldn't hear it, for all sound had died. The fabric of his skin stitched itself back together, sealing the bloody gash on his back. Overcome with adrenaline, he shot to his feet, looking around wildly.

…But Envy was nowhere to be found. He didn't know if that was a good thing or an omen of something terrible.

His next check was for Shaula. She seemed more dazed than hurt, sitting on top of a rock and humming to herself. At that, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Flugel cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders, trying to gather his wits. Volcanica's healing had done wonders, but he still felt like a wreck. Maybe a reality check would help.

Deep breath. Start with point one.

…What the fuck just happened?!

They had been fighting Envy. They had almost died. That was to be expected when going up against an insane, Witch Factor-boosted Satella.

Then Trisha—the woman that was pregnant with Reid Astrea's child, which was ridiculous enough in and of itself—played host to the spirit of the Oni God.

Flugel groaned and shoved his head into his hands. Of all the twists and turns for his life to take, this was not one that he wanted to deal with; not when Envy was on a rampage. Was it too much to ask for only one world-ending Calamity to be on the loose? Apparently so!

He whirled around, intent on confronting Trisha…and froze.

The image before him was not one that he could reconcile with the Oni God.

A woman in her prime, barely five feet tall, pale and unconscious, gasping for breath and sweating profusely. She was carried in Reid's arms, her head hanging loose over his bicep. Were it anyone else, he would have believed her to be at death's door.

But this wasn't anyone else. This was Trisha. She'd hang on.

'It still feels kinda like a funeral procession,' Flugel thought, as he watched Reid carry Trisha's seemingly fragile figure. Reid carried her into their humble home and laid her down on her—on their bed, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. It was as if he had forgotten that he was being watched, so he could finally express how he truly felt—no coarse language, no implications of sleeping around, or anything like that. It was just Reid, gazing down at the diamond on Trisha's ring finger.

Flugel hadn't noticed that before. He was currently kicking himself for being so self-absorbed.

Weeks ago, Reid had said that he flirted with a married woman every day. Flugel had missed the singular usage. Maybe Reid was slightly less of an asshole than Flugel had previously thought…but only slightly.

But that wasn't important right now. Flugel steeled his nerves and stated, "I need answers." Reid straightened his shoulders and looked back impassively. "What the hell happened back there?"

"Trisha kicked tha' bitch's ass," Reid said gruffly. "Took a lot outta her. She needs rest."

"That's not what I'm talking about, and you know it."

Trisha was a demon. That in and of itself wasn't too strange—the Oni Tribes mostly kept to themselves, but it wasn't unheard of for some to travel on their own.

But this? This was insane. The sheer power that she held dwarfed anything that he had ever witnessed.

"I didn't think that it was real," Flugel admitted. "The Oni God, that is. I just thought that it was part of the demon tribe's mythology."

Reid glanced back at Trisha but didn't say anything.

It was a fairly well-known fact that all spirits were born from the Od Laguna and remained loyal to it, but what was less known was that one was far more powerful than the others. A malicious being, not an instinctual one. A Lucifer-type figure that went rogue.

A spirit that went insane.

"It goes from host to host. It always chooses a demon that's charismatic, smart, talented, and strong-willed. The demon only chooses someone special…and it corrupts them."

They say that wherever the host goes, destruction follows. Unthinkable horrors. Disgusting acts, all in the name of proving its so-called "love." Even what Flugel and Reid had done to Carmilla could never compare to the Oni God and its victims.

That's why he had to know the truth.

"Reid…is Trisha the Oni God?"

"Fuck no," Reid snapped, not missing a beat. "Trisha's Trisha. She's a little rough 'round th'edges, but she ain't no evil spirit."

"You know what I mean. Is Trisha the host of the Oni God?"

Reid glared at the floor. "She's got it under control, ya hear? Hardly ever comes out, an' she don't hurt no one. Trisha's fuckin' strong. She wouldn't lose t'some shitty spirit."

"And I believe you," Flugel placated. "I just needed to check. Call it morbid curiosity."

"S'called bein' a nosy cunt."

Trisha may have let out some of the Oni God's overwhelming presence, but it was to save them. After Envy retreated, it was forced back down.

Flugel wouldn't say it out loud, but that was impressive as hell.

A lot of things made sense now, like why he had hated her upon meeting her, even if it had quickly faded—he was somehow able to sense the evil spirit inside of her, putting him on edge.

…Actually, that didn't make sense, did it? He could hear Echidna chiding him, pointing out that he didn't have those feelings around the other Witches.

'And the Oni God seemed to be familiar with Satella, too.'

He shook his head to clear it. He could confront Trisha about this later. Right now, the Oni God may be contained, but Envy wasn't.

He turned around and faced Volcanica, who had shoved its head through the window, breaking the glass. "Do you have any idea where Envy fled to?"

Volcanica closed its eyes and puffed out a bit of smoke through its nose. Instead of rising, the smoke split apart, flying into the four cardinal directions. A few seconds later, Volcanica's eyes shot open. "To the north and to the west, the Witch of Envy maketh her way to a bastion of hope."

Reid frowned. "Dostest thouest have t'keep speakin' like tha'? Yer givin' me a fuckin' headache."

Flugel, on the other hand, paled. "Wait, but that…that's the capital!" He shoved his hands on Reid's shoulders, shaking the swordsman. "We have to go, right now! There's millions of people there!"

Reid didn't share in Flugel's panic. He looked down at Trisha's sleeping form, fiddling with his chopsticks as he did so. At length, he muttered, "Ah, what th'hell. I already ditched 'er fer a month. What's one more battle? Jus' lemme find someone t'watch out fer 'er 'till she wakes up."

"No time! Wait, Shaula!"

Shaula popped her head in—no longer dazed, it seemed. "Hiya, Master!"

"I need you to watch over Trisha while she sleeps."

Shaula grinned. "Got it, yup!"

With that, she stood over Trisha, staring intently at the sleeping woman. Flugel wasn't sure if Shaula was even blinking.

"Good enough," he muttered. "Reid, Volcanica, let's go."

He grabbed Reid's hand and rested his arm on Volcanica's snout, forming a circle. "This is it. Envy is attacking the capital. Undoubtedly, this is—"

"Are ya actually givin' a motivational speech?"

"…Maybe?"

"Mineself thinks that it is a good idea," Volcanica rumbled. "To face a Witch is a daunting task."

"Thank you," Flugel said emphatically. "I need to be motivated if I'm going to fight someone who looks exactly like my wife."

"Tha' is yer bird," Reid pointed out.

"Not helping, Reid."

Flugel may not be giving one of his notorious speeches, but he was still mentally preparing himself. It was hard enough seeing the results of Envy's attack, but now that he was about to see it in action…

"…Well, nothing to do but see it through to the end. I'm ready."

With that, they vanished, appearing in the capital on a rooftop overlooking the market…

…and they saw hell.

With Costuul, the city had already been destroyed. The hundreds of thousands of lives stolen were, to some degree, only a concept.

Here, they witnessed the Witch of Envy in the midst of her rampage.

She was a wraith of shadows, gliding through the streets of the capital. Food stalls, rubble, and even entire buildings were absorbed…or perhaps swallowed.

When she passed people, she often killed them first, typically by stabbing them with a shadow spear. Sometimes, she would reach out with a dark, ethereal hand, crushing their hearts. Sometimes her mere presence was enough to kill them instantly.

However, whether she slaughtered them personally or not, their fates were the same.

Flugel couldn't see it, but he felt it—their souls being obliterated, shattering like a snow globe thrown against the wall. They were removed from the cycle of the Od Laguna, never to be reborn.

When the Witch of Envy removed Flugel's potential attachments, she wasn't going to let them come back. With every breath, dozens died. With every step, buildings were pulled into her, disappearing once they made contact. It was unlike anything Flugel had ever seen—he couldn't tell for sure what was magic and what was her Authority of Envy, though he had a guess.

One thing, however, stuck out to him: a single thought that would stay with him for eternity.

'This is all my fault.'

But the time for self-pity was later. He hardened his heart and straightened his back, barking out orders.

"Volcanica, carry any and all civilians to safety, then use your Restoration Breath to heal the city!"

"Thy wish is mine command."

Its wingbeats would have knocked a normal man off his feet, but Flugel stayed put. "Reid, she's using yin magic to tear apart the buildings and her Authority to crush people's souls. Can you cut that concept?"

Reid smirked. "D'ya even have to ask?"

With that, Reid hopped off the building and began to wildly slash the Dragon Sword. The pure-white blade was a blur, preventing buildings from falling while slashing seemingly nothing. The Witch of Envy's shadow spears split in two, like an arrow piercing another arrow. Envy turned her attention to the distraction, and Flugel took that as his cue.

He leaped off of the rooftop, fully intent on striking Envy with everything that he had—

"What the—"

…only to find that there was nowhere to land.

The ground itself had vanished, leaving behind an endless abyss.

There was no center of mass for gravity to pull him towards, but in a world such as this one…fighting against a foe like Envy…

He reached skyward, but there was no sky above him. He screamed as he fell into the darkness, grasping at nothing.

…Until his fingers brushed something.

No…someone.

A stranger, wide-eyed and fearful, just as Flugel was. No sound passed between them, but the stranger may as well have shouted.

"Please, help me!"

But what could Flugel do when he, too, was falling to his death?

His heart plummeted, colliding with his stomach—at least, that was how he would best describe it. Wasn't that how people felt on roller coasters during "the drop"? He had never experienced that radical shift in vertical momentum, but now…

Well, if he was falling down, then he'd just have to make his way back up.

He curled his lips inward, clenching his jaw. This wasn't some prison where he'd meet his end. It was just yin magic, and he'd dealt with worse than a little bit of reality warping.

He hooked his arms around the stranger's waist, silently signaling to hold on tight. He didn't wait for a response.

A chunk of earth appeared under his feet—not much, but enough. Taking advantage of the bizarre physics of this place, he slammed his foot down, kicking himself off and shooting skyward.

If he were younger, he would have patted himself on the back, spouting some bombastic bullshit about Newton's Third Law. He also thought that his younger self was more deserving of a smack across the face than a pat on the back, so that was the end of that.

As he had suspected, they soon broke out of the void, rolling on the ground before coming to a stop a few paces away. He quickly looked back to make sure they wouldn't be swallowed up again.

What he saw was tough to describe, but it was bizarre and frightening enough to make the stranger free.

Back in Japan, Flugel had read about an artificial form of carbon that was so black, it seemed to suck in all of the surrounding light. Seeing it was a surreal experience, as it seemed to almost…not exist.

He'd bet good money that it was as bright as the sun compared to what he was seeing now.

The shadows that surrounded the Witch of Envy were dark, yes, but they had a bit of a purplish tint to them. This, however, was a swirling sphere of nothingness—even the edge of the Great Waterfall held more substance.

And then…it vanished.

It collapsed in on itself as easily as a fist crumpling paper. It left behind nothing but the ground that he stood on—no buildings, no people, nothing.

Wiped from existence. Completely and utterly obliterated.

Flugel may have saved one person, but had anyone else been in there? He had no way of knowing.

If there were, they had been completely annihilated.

"I love you"

…And the monster at fault was standing right behind him.

Volcanica was evacuating civilians. Reid was holding back the shadows. As for Flugel…

He would confront Envy directly.

He whipped around, a fire in his eyes.

"Goa!"

It was a simple flame spell that had tortured him for a decade. Even now, the cursed scars seared into his skin, but that was fine. At that moment, only one thing mattered.

"I'm going to save you…no matter what that means."

A ring of fire appeared around the Witch of Envy. His spell wouldn't stop her, of course, but it would keep her occupied for a moment, giving him a chance to breathe after his escape.

She looked up at him and blinked, causing the flames to disappear.

"I love you"

"I know you do, you psycho bitch."

With a grim expression, Subaru clenched his teeth and focused on his gate, directing all of his magic inwards. His body, made entirely of mana, began to feel much weaker, as he guided power away from his arm. Within seconds, it blackened and charred, looking awfully like his scorched torso. It hung uselessly at his side with only his shoulder intact. His eyes flicked towards it. "Dead flesh," he mumbled. "No mana. Perfect."

From the sky, a lightning bolt struck the ground before Envy. Sparks flew, passing right through her, but that wasn't the point of the attack—anything infused with mana had done nothing to her. Taking advantage of her obstructed vision, he dove forward and rammed his shoulder into her. They collided, but she was barely knocked off balance. Even so, Flugel rejoiced at his small victory.

The last time that they had fought, he had noticed a few things. She had dodged any magic attack with significant power behind it, meaning that her shield was dependent on her energy, so it was capable of being depleted. The Oni God's attack, for example, would likely have been enough to tear through it, which was why she had fled.

Unfortunately, Flugel couldn't take advantage of that weakness. He wasn't strong enough.

…But he wasn't entirely useless.

He dashed forward, swinging his manaless arm at her like a club. He ducked under her shadows, ramming into her with his blackened flesh, this time with enough force to stagger her.

It was trying to break apart a brick wall with a toothpick, but physical attacks were his only option.

Everything in Lugunica was filled with mana. It permeated the air, their bodies, and even their weapons. Reid's Dragon Sword, for example, was unable to affect Envy. But a dead limb, completely drained of life and mana? That was a weapon that Flugel could use.

Another swing—a roundhouse this time. It was too slow. With a half-elf's speed, Envy grabbed his arm with a pale fist. Her shadows wrapped around his other limbs, as she lifted him up in front of her.

With an impassive gaze, she once again staked her claim.

"Mine"

He prepared his magic, but before he could cast it, the tendrils released him, having been sliced in two by a bone-white sword.

Without looking back, he shouted, "Focus on the civilians! Leave Envy to me!"

He could imagine Reid rolling his eyes, but that was fine. So long as there was still some chance of merely incapacitating her, he wouldn't let Reid or Volcanica near her.

"But if it comes down to it…"

As if to emphasize his statement, he punched her in the gut. He was sure that he flinched harder than her.

For a brief moment, her eyes shimmered in a painfully familiar way. "S-Subaru, please—"

"Become one with me"

Flugel grimaced. "I know that you're trying to encourage me to go through with this, but you're sure as hell testing my resolve."

As they continued to fight, it was clear that both were on the defensive. Envy wanted to possess a living Flugel, while Flugel himself kept thinking about how Satella was still aware of everything that was going on. As his elbow connected with her jaw and knocked her to the side, he wondered if she felt the pain, too.

He heard the Witch Factor of Sloth sigh at the going-ons before lazily asking if this was considered domestic abuse.

"Probably," he answered far more calmly than he felt. "Just add it to the list of why I'm a shitty person."

Once again, Satella's eyes shone through, but Envy quickly won out. Seeing that this was going nowhere, she stepped away from Flugel and slowly raised her right arm, holding her palm to the sky.

"The hell are you doing?" he asked warily. Unbidden, he thought of the void that he had just escaped from. Could that happen on a large scale?

As the air pressure increased and his throat closed in on itself, he realized that it most definitely could. He darted forward, fully intent on getting the both of them as far away from the Capital as possible.

She slowly curled her fingers in, one at a time. The space around her folded in on itself, sending her farther and farther away from him. It was like running on a treadmill—he simply couldn't close the distance.

He needed a boost.

A gust of wind slammed into his back, bringing him closer and closer, just trying to reach her, but she kept moving farther away, as the space between them stretched further, and her fingers kept closing…

He shouted against the wind that he had created. He forced himself to go faster; his legs furiously protested, but he didn't care. He reached out, and his fingers just barely scraped her arm, allowing him to teleport them away.

…But her fist had already closed, sealing the fates of millions.


On a snowy mountain to the north, two beings of shadow tumbled down, holding each other in an iron grip. Coming to a stop, the Witch was pinned to the ground by the Sage. Every fiber of his being reeked of his hatred and disgust for her. With fire in his eyes, he spoke:

"What did you do?!"

Her blank, slate-like eyes gazed back at him impassively.

"I love you"

On instinct alone, he wrapped his hands around her cold, pale throat, squeezing but not choking. His pulse thundered through his ears, as he came to a startling realization.

Even if Satella sometimes broke through, the Witch of Envy would always win.

His grip tightened. She wasn't breathing. He repeated himself. "What. Did. You. Do."

He didn't need her to answer. He already knew.

She had used her Authority on a mass scale, erasing everything in her vicinity. Tens of millions of people lived in the Royal Capital, and they were gone.

He was too late to save anyone.

The snow raged around them, threatening to bury them both. Envy would happily stay there, holding his frozen, brittle skeleton for all of eternity.

Was that his fate? Did he really have nothing else to live for?

The Witches were dead. Satella may as well be dead. Geuse was in hiding. Reid, Volcanica, Farsale, and all the others in the Capital were most certainly dead. Shaula—

His head shot up. Shaula was still alive! She wasn't in the Capital! She was okay!

"Only me"

…Envy has sensed his attachment.

She wouldn't rest until she removed it.

Using magic far beyond his understanding, she forced him to picture Shaula's location. Panicking, he shoved it to the side, thinking of a field in Kararagi, just in time for Envy to teleport them there. A miniscule frown marred her face, as she gripped him harder, trying to find Shaula as desperately as Flugel was trying to stay away.

They crashed into a forest clearing, then the shores of a lake, then a rock adrift a swamp. Again and again, they tumbled through the world. For hours, they struggled against each other in a futile battle.

At the start of their fight, Envy had tried to keep him alive, but now, she wreaked havoc upon the artificial body that Satella had created. Perhaps she had decided that cradling his corpse was an expression of love. Maybe she thought that, if he wouldn't love her, then he needed to become one with her, just as she had tried after her "birth."

As for him…upon witnessing undeniable proof that his wife had truly succumbed to the monster that he had created…

One didn't need to be a cynic to reach the obvious conclusion.

He grunted as he was knocked to the ground. Envy's bloody face was as expressionless as ever, but he could see the lines of fatigue. He hadn't seen his own face in years, but he knew that he was likely in an even worse condition.

Still, the less Envy's face looked like Satella's, the easier it was to punch her.

She stared at him, speaking with those same, sweet, alluring tones, as she threw everything that she had at his beaten and battered form.

"Love me"

"I'd rather eat my own arm."

Grimacing at the blackened flesh, he predicted how she would dodge and swung at her, managing to land a hit. She visibly stumbled—the most she had reacted to his attacks so far. That had to mean that she was running out of energy, right?

Wanting to test something again, he shouted, "El Huma!"

She dodged, but the icy spear scraped her cloak, tearing off a bit of cloth. He smirked.

"Knew you couldn't keep up that little trick forever."

Either she didn't have enough energy for a shield, or Satella was holding Envy back in whatever way she could. The thought sent his pulse racing, but he wasn't sure if it was giving him strength or anxiety.

Envy righted herself, training her gaze on him.

She didn't attack. Not yet.

"I love you…Subaru"

He wiped the blood off of his face with the back of his hand. "Saying that while looking at me with her eyes…I never realized just how disgusted that made me feel until now. Did I really let a monster like you sleep in my bed?"

"I love you"

"And I hate you. I'm going to end this, Envy."

Upon hearing him say that, she seemed to remember why they were fighting. Faster than he could react, a shadow stabbed through his left shin, immobilizing it. She reached out and grabbed him, taking advantage of his pain to see inside of his mind without resistance.

In an instant, his entire life flashed before his eyes. Scrounging for food on the streets, that fateful, rainy night in the alleyway, arriving in Lugunica, running away with Satella, her slow decline, his own decline…all the way up until that morning.

He saw himself in a little home in Flanders, telling Shaula to stay behind. Envy saw it, too.

He felt a rough pull behind his navel, as he was teleported against his will. Trying and failing to wrench control away from Envy, all he could do was give them a rough landing. The force of their impact sent them tumbling through the air, with Flugel landing near the front door and Envy coming to her feet a ways away.

He quickly healed himself, trying to catch his breath, but it was taken away immediately after. Even at this distance—even as she actively sought to make his life her possession—he could hear her angelic voice as if she were right beside him.

"Love me"

Envy's power radiated out of her, yet it pulled everything in. The air itself became one with the shadows, and Flugel would soon join in.

He couldn't dive in to tackle her again. He'd die. All he could do was stand his ground and plead to the soul inside.

…No. That was stupid. Why did his mind keep defaulting to that? This wasn't some magical girl story—his words didn't do shit before, and they wouldn't help now that they had come to blows.

So, he called out for someone else.

"Shaula! I need your help!"

Before even a second had passed, Shaula burst through the door and bounded to his side, looking like there was nowhere else that she'd rather be.

"Shaula here, reporting for—"

"Attack her!"

Shaula jolted, having not noticed the apocalyptic energy racing towards them. With a flourish, she sent her signature attack towards Envy, whooping as it made contact.

"Did you see that, Master? I'm way stronger than yesterday, yup!"

He didn't share in her joy. Envy had a massive hole where her heart was…and it was rapidly closing. The sinewy cardiac muscle stitched itself together, covered by lungs, bone, and pale skin. The blood on her face vanished, as did her bruises.

She was in perfect health, whereas Flugel had used up almost all of his energy.

Completely undeterred, she resumed using her Authority of Envy. She didn't bother moving towards him, comforted by the knowledge that they would soon be one.

"Like hell I'm letting that happen! Shaula!"

"Got it, yup!"

He may be exhausted, but there was no way he'd let a genocidal maniac take away the last of his family.

"Al Minya!"
"Hell's Snipe!"

Envy's shadows reached out to meet their magic, and the fight began in full.

Alone, Flugel had no chance of killing Envy. He had bested her in single combat, yes, but she had regained her strength quite quickly—Satella was on another level compared to him, and the Witch Factor only made that gap wider.

However, with Shaula at his side, shooting beams of light that contained the power of the sun itself…

Perhaps they stood a chance.

At the very least, Envy had been forced to stop using her Authority, instead relying on her magic. Despite that, the power gap was still too large. Maybe if he could try and wake up Trisha…but she wouldn't be in any state to help. Besides, he couldn't leave Shaula to fend for herself.

He twisted to his left, narrowly avoiding his arm getting cut off. He needed to close out this fight, but he didn't know how. His heart still said that an emotional response would be enough, but his brain reminded him that grief was also what had caused Satella to lose control.

What could he do? Say that he loved her? Before he had known about her split personality, he had done just that. He had kissed her and vowed to be with her forever.

Yet here they were.

He threw up a shield in front of Shaula, grimacing as Envy immediately shattered it. He had one idea, but it could potentially make things worse—far, far worse, but what other option did he have? His oh-so-logical ideas had brought about this Calamity, so maybe he should go with his heart. It had caused Satella's transformation, but it might also shock her enough to bring her back. If only he could get closer…Perhaps another distraction?

He hurled a lightning bolt, though, at his current strength, it felt more like a firecracker than a Greek God smiting their foe. Envy didn't bother dodging, letting it hit her like a raindrop.

Every strike tore through his remaining mana reserves. He needed to use simple yet effective attacks if he wanted to stay conscious.

He used a gust of wind to fling dirt into her eyes. She wasn't affected, but her hood was blown back, revealing her shining, silver hair.

All of a sudden, Shaula stopped throwing Hell's Snipes. Flugel looked to her to tell her to keep going, but the look on her face made his blood run cold.

"That's grey," she murmured, "just like Mother's. Or is that silver, like…you know, like hers? I can't talk about her, nope, but…she just seems so…familiar."

She wasn't good at identifying faces, and her ability to "smell" worked better up close, but Flugel had no doubt that she'd be able to recognize Satella.

Flugel may have wanted to give Shaula another day of blissful ignorance, but he was equally reluctant to lie to her. Backed into a corner, he tackled her to the ground, just narrowly avoiding a shadowy tendril that would have torn off her head.

"Focus, Shaula! Staying alive is your number one priority, and that's an order!"

"Y-yeah, okay."

No beaming smile. No enthusiastic cry of "Master!" Not even a "yup!"

Only uncertainty remained.

She didn't attack Envy directly anymore. She only threw Hell's Snipes to interrupt the shadows.

She wouldn't risk anything. Flugel didn't blame her.

Now that Envy didn't have to dodge light-speed attacks, she was able to resume using her Authority. Luckily, due to her multitasking, it wasn't instantaneous like her shadows were.

'How convenient,' he thought ruefully. 'Her instant death sphere is slower than her instant death laser beam.'

He didn't even know if that was how it worked or if Envy was just toying with him. Revenge for not instantly loving her, perhaps? Regardless, there was no way he could keep this up for much longer—he had run out of mana and was using his Od. With his life force being drained and Shaula refusing to go on the offensive, he was a goner.

He was sure that his lack of sleep and emotional exhaustion didn't help either. In a few hours, he had gone from saving Satella, learning that he couldn't save her in his current life, spitting in God's face and trying to save her anyway, finding out that Satella had initiated a Holocaust, and now, he was in the process of sacrificing himself to kill his wife.

How fitting that his punishment was the opposite of his goal. It's like the world was telling him that he should have given up long ago.

Maybe…maybe that was okay. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to be in her arms again.

In only a minute, he had used half of his life force. His limbs were iron, throwing him off balance. He tripped over his own legs, crumpling to the dusty stone beneath him.

He had left Earth through the void—a painful, infinite expanse of nothingness. He had been a failure who tried to take the coward's way out.

As he lay on solid ground and a shadow raced towards him, he realized that he at least went down fighting this time.

…Or so he thought.

"Yer not dyin' today, ya prick!"

With great effort, Flugel opened his eyes to see a living flame. A pure-white blade whistled through the air, cutting every shadow in sight.

"I tell ya not t'do shit on yer own, an' look wha' happens when ya do? Ya go an' nearly get yerself killed, ya twat."

Still swinging his sword, Reid Astrea, alive and well, looked back at Flugel with a grin. "What, did'ya actually think tha' some hottie could kill me? Bitch, please. Th'mother fuckin' Stick Swinger's way stronger than some cunt!"

A booming roar filled the air, immediately cutting itself off, as a wave of power overwhelmed their senses. Volcanica's glittering blue scales shone in the light of the rapidly setting sun, as its Restoration Breath purified the area. Mana flowed through Flugel's body, Envy's Authority retreated, and Shaula regained a bit of her cheer.

"Reid Astrea," Volcanica rumbled slowly, as it swiped at Envy with its claws and tail. "Letteth the truth…be heard."

Reid rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. Th'scaly bastard saved me an' a buncha other twats. But it's only 'cause I saved 'em from th'shadows, y'hear?"

Despite everything, Flugel smiled a bit. Maybe they had a chance.

With renewed vigor, he threw everything that he had at Satella. Now that she had fought enough to be vulnerable, she was put on the defensive.

She took a step back. Flugel was filled with hope, even as he dreaded the outcome.

Reid closed in, fighting swords to shadows. He landed a blow. Flugel stopped smiling.

Volcanica sliced her stomach open with his claw. The wound regenerated, albeit slower than before.

Seeing her flesh shredded cut him twice as deeply…but it was not him that cried out.

"Stop it! S-stop fighting, please! Hell's Snipe!"

A beam of light nearly struck Reid in the back. He spun around, barely deflecting it with his sword…giving Envy an opening. This one, he wasn't able to avoid.

He wasn't able to process it, either.

Reid stared down at his sword arm, blinking repeatedly. He reached across his torso with his other arm, feeling the afflicted area with fumbling fingers. He pulled them back, trembling as he saw that they were painted crimson.

His breath hitched. His world grew cold.

With jerky movements, he looked at the ground, seeing his sword…clenched in his own, severed hand.

A second Hell's Snipe blinded them, piercing Volcanica's missing scale. It froze in place; its limbs locked together, and, unable to hold itself up, it collapsed, shaking the earth below. Envy didn't attack it, as she was distracted by the powerful blast that ruptured the ground before her.

Shaula, unabashedly crying her eyes out, stood before Satella. Her shoulders were hunched, and her lower lip quivered, but she still managed to make eye contact.

"Why?" she asked hoarsely. "Wh-why are you doing this?"

Flugel's adrenaline faded. He walked up to Shaula and put his hand on her shoulder. He barely registered that Envy had stopped her assault.

"That's not Satella," he said quietly. "That's—"

"That's not a Witch!" Shaula insisted, shaking her head vehemently. "That's—y-you know who that is! I-I've known her my whole life! She wouldn't hurt me, r-right? She'd stop if I asked nicely, wouldn't she?"

Flugel averted his eyes. He didn't know what to say.

But someone else did.

"Shaula…"

With visible effort, Satella moved towards them. Instinctively, Flugel placed himself in front of Shaula protectively, causing Satella to flinch.

Tears filled her expressive, amethyst eyes. "I didn't…I would never…I love…"

Shaula continued shaking her head, mumbling to herself.

Satella looked to Flugel, pleading for him to do the unthinkable—to finish the task that he had set out to do.

But how could he follow through?

So many moments flashed before his mind's eye, but one stuck out. A sea of grass and sunflowers, where he had gotten down on one knee and promised to love her forever. That promise had never been broken.

To love her forever, he couldn't part with her. As such:

"This isn't over, Ella. I will save you."

A glimmer of hope appeared on her face, but her sins stomped all over it. She curled in on herself with tears in her eyes, as the Witch of Envy overcame her once more.

He knew what to do.

With adrenaline pumping through his veins, he followed his heart instead of his mind. He dashed towards her, grabbed onto her shoulder, and brought her to a place that neither wanted to see.


The coarse sand whipped through the air on howling wind, scratching him across the cheek. He barely noticed.

He didn't want to be here. He hated the reminders that it brought. It was a stone monument that represented all of his failures—a mural of his bloody acts.

The Pleiades Watchtower.

At this point, Flugel's attempts to emotionally resonate with Satella were expected. Envy could deal with that easily, hence why he had thought that his words wouldn't do anything, but if Shaula's plea was enough to stun Envy…

This may well be his last chance to stop her.

Envy gazed into his eyes and reached out a hand, placing it on his chest, directly over his heart.

"I love you"

To Satella, he replied, "I love you…I'm sorry."

With that, he stepped to the side…and showed her Daphne's grave.


There was a difference between knowing and seeing, just as there was with reading about a place and visiting it. Satella had known about her daughter's death, and she had never stopped thinking about it, but to see that headstone…

She fell to her knees on uneven ground. She reached out a shaky hand and brushed her fingers over Daphne's name.

"I…"

She didn't finish the sentence. She didn't know what to say. To a degree, she didn't even realize that she had said anything to begin with.

She just…stared.

An overwhelming pain struck her chest—the distinct sensation of a part of your being shattering into a thousand pieces. No words, no experience, no magic could piece a heart back together.

A sound rang through her ears—something haunting and unnerving. It sent shivers down her spine. She didn't realize that it was her own cries.

It was her fault, wasn't it? Daphne's last words had been "Mom comes first."

But Satella didn't want to come first. Her children mattered most to her. They always had.

She traced Daphne's name and cut her hand on the jagged edges of the stone. She didn't feel it.

Her thoughts trudged along at a sluggish pace. She wasn't really "here." At least, she didn't feel like she was. Her mind was with Daphne.

Someone was speaking to her, but she only heard Daphne's adorable voice, babbling about mabeasts and how much she liked being around "Tella-Tella." Satella felt those tight hugs and heard Daphne humming a tune that no one else could follow.

She reached out, trying to hold on to that memory. Someone grabbed her wrist, preventing her from injuring herself further. She looked blankly at her hand, wondering if Daphne was this crimson in those final moments.

The thought stabbed her heart with a poisoned dagger. The pain intensified when she remembered who committed the action.

Subaru. Her husband. The man whom she had once wanted a child with.

To a degree, Satella couldn't even blame Subaru. She had forced him into this position. She had been—she still was—a pathetic weakling, and everyone had suffered as a result.

Slowly but surely, Satella's thoughts slowed even further. She wondered if she was still alive or if her soul had returned to the Od Laguna and was being cleansed of all complex emotions.

If she was alive, then she shouldn't be. She was a monster, destroying all in her path. She had seen every one of her actions, and she had been powerless to stop them.

She had been powerless to save Subaru, and her child had died as a result.

…Satella didn't want to be here anymore.

Barely cognizant of her own actions, she turned to Subaru. Of all people, he would understand her plea.

"Kill me."

Stop her. End her rampage. Save her from her suffering. Let her join Daphne in death.

His slow shake of the head broke her heart even further.

"I can't," he whispered. "I want to save you. I need to save you. I…That's who I am, Ella. That's my purpose."

"Save me by freeing me."

He averted his eyes. "One of these days, I will free you, but not like that. I swear, I will come back for you."

She wanted to wipe the tears off of his face. She couldn't muster the energy.

He took a shuddering breath. "Everything I've done was for you, but I failed. Miserably. There's only one thing I can do to right this wrong, but I can't do it in this body."

Her eyes flicked downwards towards somewhere beyond him, where the Witch Factors writhed within. Minerva and Typhon were screaming in pain.

If that's what Subaru had done for her, then she didn't want him to help her ever again.

He'd help her anyway. He'd do anything for her. She had twisted him into becoming this being of desperation and grief.

"What are you going to do to me?" she asked, pathetically resigning herself to her fate. She had always been weak-willed, but now?

Now, she couldn't even put on a mask.

"I'll seal you away," Subaru said. "If we work together to create it, and if you maintain it, we can keep the Witch of Envy contained indefinitely."

"…I see."

Satella had no qualms with that. An eternity of suffering, trapped in a prison of her own creation…What a fitting punishment for a murderer.

She almost hoped that Subaru wouldn't come to free her.

"To get you out," he continued, "I'll need to use the Authority of Envy, but I can't do that in this body. I'll come back in a new one and save you. I promise."

"I understand." She didn't. She didn't care to understand, but she asked a question in a flat tone, nonetheless. "How do you plan to obtain my Witch Factor without killing me?"

He responded, and she heard the words, but it was difficult to process it through the overwhelming pain in her chest. She didn't look at him, instead staring blankly at the proof of her daughter's death.

"You'll share your Witch Factor with me," Subaru was saying. She mindlessly nodded, agreeing to the terms without really listening. "The Od Laguna…It told me how to save you. It said that you can share your Factor, and I can use that to fix all this, but before that, I have to, well…Just k-keep watch over me, okay? Bring me back as soon as you can."

He was going back to his homeland, wasn't he? It seemed that the Od Laguna was capable of a great many things if it allowed that.

Her heart was cold and empty as she told him, "I will wait for you."

She wouldn't bring him back unless absolutely necessary, but he didn't need to know that. He simply couldn't understand her need to keep him away from a life of suffering.

She would still watch over him. Despite everything, he was still her Subaru.

"I swear on the Od Laguna that I will love you forever."

They didn't need a contract for that to be true, but she was glad that they had it. It would allow her to keep him safe, no matter the distance.

He gently took her face in his hands and turned her towards him. She forcibly tore her gaze away from the tombstone to stare at him with glassy eyes.

"I will come back," he vowed, his voice cracking. His entire body trembled, as he forced himself to stay strong for her, but she saw right through it. "It won't be long, I promise. I will save you. I need you. I love you."

She nodded. As her head drifted down, she found herself struggling to bring it back up. She gave up on trying. "And I you," she mumbled. Her lips barely moved. "Always. No matter what."

He smiled through his tears. She almost felt a bit better.

He cupped her cheek and slowly pulled her closer, kissing her one final time. She wondered when, if ever, she would feel his warmth again.

He pulled back and said a few simple words that spoke of a lifetime with her.

"I love you, Satella."

After everything that they had been through, there was only one response that she could give.

"I love you, Subaru."

She turned away from him once more to look upon the uneven ground before her. She channeled her power into him, letting them cast a spell that would last for centuries. As one, they spoke:

"Shamac."