Chapter 1: The Monster and the Whale

Despair. That was the only emotion Subaru Natsuki could feel at the moment.

To say that his week was bad would be the biggest understatement in four centuries. He had embarrassed Emilia in the Royal Selection, he was beaten to a pulp by that knight, Julius, and he failed to save those he cared for. Twice.

He couldn't save everyone from the Beast of the End. He couldn't stop the Witch Cult's massacre that would befall Irlam Village. He couldn't prevent the Sin Archbishop of Sloth, Petelguese Romanee-Conti, from slaughtering everyone he cared for.

He couldn't even save Rem.

Subaru had died twice. Both times he was frozen to death, surrounded by dead bodies. But not this time. He was determined to save everyone, no matter what it took.

But he couldn't even do that.

When he asked for assistance from the camp he was staying in, Crusch Karsten simply wrote him off as a madman. Her burning remark was still lingering in Subaru's mind.

"You adamantly believe that your rant is true, that is nothing short of madness."

When he begged for help from the camp that was employing his otherworldly brother, Priscilla Barielle kicked him in the face. Her insult was still prevalent in his memories.

"What you just displayed was neither loyalty nor devotion. It's something more filthy, like a dog's dependence, or a pig's greed."

When he spoke with the lady of the knight who beat him, all she did was trick him into giving her information.

"If ya want to convince someone you're righteous, you've gotta show somethin' to merit it. And I see no such thing in you."

Out of options, there was only one more thing he could do.

"Hey, Rem?"

"Yes, Subaru-kun?"

Rem. The beautiful, sweet maid. All Subaru could see now in her place was the borken, bloodied doll hanging in the air of that dreaded cave. He shuddered everytime he thought of it.

His voice mirrored his despair. "Let's head back to Crusch's manor, okay?"

He tried his best to smile, but even Rem could see it was off. However, she believed in her hero. Giving a small nod, she took his hand, and the two headed back.

While walking back, all Subaru could think of was how he failed everyone. He failed Emilia by breaking her promise. He failed everyone in the mansion by letting them die.

He was a failure.

"Subaru-kun, we're here."

Snapping him out of his self-loathing, Subaru looked around before he indulged his idea.

"Can you please head inside Rem? I'll catch up with you as soon as I can," he smiled weakly.

"Oh, uh, of course," she responded curtly.

"Thank you." He watched as Rem headed back inside the manor, and with her gone, Subaru could finally act on impulse. He went around the front lawn of the Karsten estate, and headed to the back, which led to the stables. Inside, he was greeted by an assortment of ground dragons.

"I think you'll do nicely," he said, patting the sleek head of a black ground dragon.

The ground dragon let out a playful growl as Subaru opened the pen and saddled up the creature. Once that was finished, he reluctantly mounted the beast, and headed out.

The dragon obeyed it's rider, and they both left the mansion as fast as possible, without even looking back. The last thing Subaru heard was a surprised "Hey!" from one of the guards, but was met with no resistance.

After a few minutes, he had left the capital city of Lugnica behind.

And he had left Rem behind.

The sky was dark, as the sun had set just minutes ago.

Subaru was still riding the ground dragon, which he had now named Patrasche. The dragon had long since slowed down, as she could feel her rider's mental exhaustion.

Subaru was exhausted from all the thinking and self-reflection he had done. After thinking and planning for so long, Subaru had finally realized what he needed to do.

He had given up.

He realized how truly weak he was. He was no hero. He couldn't even protect himself against some measly Wolgrams, how could he protect an entire village from the Witch Cult, let alone without any help? The answer was quite simple.

He couldn't.

So, in a sad, last-ditch attempt, he stole one of Crusch's ground dragons and decided to ride off to whatever oblivion he deserved.

At least Rem is safe.

Subaru felt a few seconds of relief when that thought crossed his mind, but that was quickly drowned out by his depression and self-loathing.

It had been only until a large shadow crept over Subaru that he snapped out of it, albeit temporarily. Being out in the Lifaus Highway, there was only one thing tall enough to do that.

Flugel's Tree.

Seeing the large tree in all its glory, Subaru decided to dismount in front of it. He figured this place was as good as any to drown in his misery.

Getting off of Patrasche, Subaru walked up to the tree and placed his hand on it. He walked around it curiously, and looked up. The tree was so tall that it's branches seemed to pierce the heavens themselves.

All that did was make Subaru feel even more insignificant.

That had been the tipping point.

The depression, the self-loathing, the feeling of weakness, all of it, had accumulated inside him for so long, that it was seeing this tree that broke him.

"AAARRRGGGHHH!"

CRACK!

In his anger, Subaru punched the tree, which surprisingly, didn't break his hand. Instead it seemed a piece of the tree cracked.

What the hell…?

Subaru's confusion had only increased when he felt the wood. It felt different from the rest of the tree. It felt smoother.

It's fake?

Subaru did an even more thorough investigation and realised that an arm's-length portion of the wood, and about roughly his height, was simply fake. Lifting it up, and out of the way, he discovered what was essentially a secret compartment inside the giant tree.

And inside that compartment lay a chest.

Subaru kneeled down and inspected the chest. It was dusty, but other than that, it didn't seem to have been affected by any of the elements for who knows how long.

Subaru was curious enough that he decided to open the chest.

And what was inside was weird.

The contents of the chest consisted of odd clothing and gear. For starters, was an odd-shaped silver shield, with a green gem in the middle. Second off, there was a red orb, slightly larger than the size of a fist. Next, a long sword with a golden handle. After that, there was some sort of submachine gun. There was also a short katana which had an unknown dialect written on it's handle. There was also a wooden staff with carvings and metal on it, topped with an emerald. In terms of clothes, there was a white-button shirt, a green long-sleeved jacket, an orange scarf, a black cloak, a brown belt, a pair of black pants, and a pair of brown boots.

However none of that was as bizarre as the item that was on the top of everything else and in the center of the chest. It was an envelope, with three words that made Subaru go, Okay, seriously. What the fuck?

"To Subaru Natsuki".

Reluctantly, Subaru picked up the envelope and ripped it open. Inside, there was a letter. And the contents of that letter were easily the most bizarre thing inside that chest.

Dear Subaru,

If you're reading this and have no idea what's going on, that probably means you've been reincarnated. Again. In that case, it probably means that you're pretty weak and defenseless. Again. Luckily, we're here for you. Each one of us has poured their magic and skills into a special item of our choosing that, once touched, will allow you to use our abilities. It should help you survive in this insane world of yours, so, you're welcome. Oh, we also kept your clothes from your old traveling days in here, as well as that staff you won at that festival that one time, not that you remember. But anywho, we're not really good with good-byes, so we'll leave you to it. Good luck on your adventure!

Sincerely, Ainz, Kazuma, Tanya, Naofumi, and Seiya.

P.S., If we do happen to cross paths again, let's all go out for chicken wings.

Subaru was dumbfounded. Not only had he apparently come to this world before, but he had made such an impact that a bunch of strangers decided to leave some all-powerful weapons behind just for him? If the letter clearly didn't state his name, he wouldn't have believed it.

Actually, he still didn't believe it. After today's events, he was shown that not all people give things away purley out of goodwill. So, he decided to test it.

Dragging the chest out from the compartment in the tree and out into the open field, Subaru figured that if this was just a prank, then there was a good chance that it could be rigged to explode or something. So, letting it blow up in the open rather than a confined space would minimize the damage done to him.

"Stand back, Patrasche," Subaru commanded. The ground dragon reluctantly obeyed.

Now was the moment of truth. Subaru breathed in and out, and once he was mentally prepared, he placed both his hands on all five of the artifacts.

And nothing happened.

Son of a bitch, I knew- Hey, wait a minute-

Suddenly, all five of the artifacts started glowing brightly and changing shape. They lunged at Subaru, and dug deep inside him, and suddenly Subaru felt something that he never felt before.

Power.

In an instant, a wave of energy surged inside of him, and power started flowing out of him. It was a spectacle of colors, like a rainbow of fire, bursting through the sky, bright enough for people to see from miles around.

Inside that flame, Subaru burned the brightest. He felt like you could do anything and everything, like he had reached the peak of humanity, like he was a god. He had felt clarity like never before, as if he had aged a dozen lifetimes, like he had reached nirvana.

And suddenly, after a few moments, it stopped. The flames died down, and Subaru was back to his old self, no even better than his old self. He had improved. He had become clamer, wiser, and more mature in just a matter of minutes. He felt tranquil.

Unfortunately, that didn't last for long.

Patrasche was panicking. "Grahh! Grahh!" She was shaking and growling, as if in a fit of panic.

"Woah, hey, girl, it's me! Calm down, calm down!" Subaru raised his arms to try and calm her down, but to no avail.

That's when he heard it.

"AWOOOOO…"

Subaru looked around to try and figure out what made that noise, but all he could see was empty plains, a giant tree, and a large, encroaching shadow…

Wait a minute.

Subaru looked up, and he saw it. It was massive, flying in the air as if it was swimming, with it's white skin, a titanic maw, a halo on the top of its head, and a horn as the cherry on top.

It was the White Whale.

"AAHHHH! WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!" Subaru was full-on panicking. Never in his life did he see anything that large, and it was still hard to wrap his head around something like that. He was truly seeing an eldritch abomination.

All the White Whale saw was an easy meal.

Diving down to the ground, the White Whale's attack snapped Subaru out of his panicked stupor, as he started thinking. "Shit, shit, shit, what do I do? What should I do?!"

That's when a realization hit his head.

Wait, I have powers now, maybe one of these will be able to help me?

Subaru started racking around his brain, trying to figure out which one of his many newly acquired spells should he use. The White Whale was getting closer. The clock was ticking.

Think, think, think… Come on, time is running out. "Dimensional Lock"? No. "Phoenix Drive"? Nah. "Chimera Viper Shield"? What the hell even is that? Okay, fuck it, I'm picking this one.

Running towards where the chest was, Subaru grabs the wooden staff, holds it from the end like a sword, and aims for the monster.

"AAAWWOOO!"

"REALITY SLASH!"

With a swing from his staff, a bright white curve of energy left him and headed straight for the White Whale, which had now nearly touched down to it's dinner. Subaru closed his eyes, and braced himself for a really bad death.

SHING! CRASH! BADOOM! BOOM!

But, it never came. Opening one eye, Subaru saw that the creature was no longer in front of him. All that was in front of him was his trusty ground dragon.

Where'd it go?

Opening both his eyes and relaxing, Subaru scanned the area for any sign of the whale. He turned his head to the right, and that's when he saw the monster.

Or, at least half of it. The other half was on his left side.

Holy shit, I sliced that thing in half!

Indeed, with one slash, one of the Three Great Mabeasts, was slain. The Terror of the Fog, the White Whale, was dead. Killed by none other than Subaru Natsuki.

Subaru was ecstatic. He collapsed onto his knees on the realization of what he just did.

That move probably also consumed a ton of mana from me, Subaru thought. I don't think I would have been able to do that with my old Gate.

But now, one thing was for sure: Subaru now had the power to save everyone. Emilia, Beatrice, Ram, Petra, the villagers, everyone.

But he still needed a plan.

Shit, if just one attack was powerful enough to do this, I really need to be more careful with what I pick. But I don't have the time to be careful. I need to find a way to get rid of the Witch Cult, without turning all of the Mathers domain into a wasteland.

Yes, for as powerful as Subaru was, he would still need some help.

Luckily, help arrived, with a scream.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

Subaru turned his head around to see who made that exclamation, and as soon as he recognized that person, his eyes widened with joy and relief.

Behind Subaru was a dragon-drawn carriage being rode by an ashen-haired merchant in a green outfit, with blue eyes. Behind him was an entire caravan of merchants.

It was as if an angel answered Suabru's prayers.

"Otto? Holy crap, Otto! Man, am I glad to see you!"

While Subaru did remember Otto from one of his previous loops, Otto had no idea who in the Od's name the man standing next to the White Whale's corpse was. And that freaked him out.

"W-who are you? And h-how do you know me?" the frightened merchant stuttered.

"Huh? Oh, oh, right. Ahem, my name is Subaru Natsuki, and I'd like to hire you. All of you."

That last line caught the attention of all the merchants, who left their carriages to examine the now dead White Whale.

Now that Subaru had everyone's attention, he got started. "I'd like to hire all of you to help me evacuate an entire village's worth of people away from certain doom. In exchange, I'm willing to buy all of your items at full market price."

That caught most of the merchant's off guard. It sounded too good to be true. So, naturally, there were some skeptics. "How do we know you can pay?"

Subaru was expecting someone to ask that, so he was prepared. "I am an employee of the Margrave Roswaal L. Mathers. Since it will be his people you'll be evacuating, that will definitely land you in the Margrave's good graces. So, who wants in?"

With that last bit of incentive, all of the merchants agreed to the deal, in a unanimous nod of heads.

"Great! We leave immediately for Irlam Village in the Mathers domain. Time is of the essence."

With that last bit said, all of the merchants went back to their carriages to leave. Subaru was about to board Otto's cart, when he remembered something important. Oh, right.

Subaru turned around and grabbed the chest which contained his "travelling clothes", right before putting the emerald staff in there along with the letter and envelope.

With the chest inside Otto's cart, and Patrasche riding alongside Ottos' ground dragon, Frufoo, Subaru was ready. "Let's go!" he cheerfully exclaimed. For once in a long time, he believed that the future was bright.

Meanwhile, in the capital of Lugunica, history was about to happen.

In the Throne Room, the Council of Wisemen, including Miklotov McMahon and Bordeaux Zellgef, we're having a meeting, along with the Captain of the Royal Guard, Marcos Gildark, a select few nobles, and finally, a group of knights and servants.

The topic of the moment, as it had been for the past few days, concerned the Royal Selection. And, just like in the past few days, it devolved into a bunch of shouting matches.

Some of the nobles were arguing that a "gutter-rat" like Felt shouldn't participate, while others yelled that a "half-devil" like Emilia shouldn't participate. All the while, Marcos tried to keep everyone on topic, while Miklotov and Bordeaux tried to help him.

However, all of the fighting would stop when one maid saw something.

"Look!" she yelled, pointing at the Dragon Tablet. Everyone in the room turned to see what she was shouting about, when they saw it.

The Dragon Tablet was able to see the future, along with reporting news of epic proportions. It had predicted that the Emilia Camp would have been wiped out by The Witch's Cult, but that had changed. A blinding light had replaced that prophecy with a new announcement. Everyone in the room was waiting with anticipation to read it.

And read it they did.

"The Great Sage, Subaru "Flugel" Natsuki, has slain the White Whale."

And with that one sentence, the whole room burst into chaos.

Author's Note: Leave any questions in the comments. I'll answer them in the next chapter!

- Ernalore.