"What?" Subaru asked, hardly believing his ears. "What do you mean, 'Who's Marcos'?"

He couldn't understand it. He could barely think straight, but the sheer insanity of the question had shocked him into some form of rationality. Or perhaps it was the influence of Alexander's Divine Protection.

"I need you to take deep breaths," Alexander said. He guided Subaru into a seat, and got down on one foot to bring himself to a more equal level.

Subaru could hear Emilia crying nearby, overlapping with Felt's voice trying to comfort her. Were they somehow friends now? Or had Velia rubbed off on the young candidate in the time they had known each other?

Velia is dead. The thought came to him with every beat of his pounding heart. She's dead, she's dead, I saw her die. I— I need to reset. I've failed, but— but I still need— I still want—

"Subaru I don't know anyone named Marcos." Alexander talked to him, his words warding off the storm brewing in his mind. "The one we just saw die was…" he hesitated, and switched tracks, "Was Marcos someone you knew?"

"What do you mean? I just saw him, what are you saying? Or wait, do you not know his name? He was the Captain of the Knights, he's the strongest aside from Reinhard!"

Alexander tilted his head, a mildly worried expression on his face. "Sir Julius, I believe he's worse than I thought," he said, looking over his shoulder. "Just for confirmation, there's no one with that name in the records?"

The purple-haired knight walked over, and looked down at Subaru with concern. "I'm afraid not. I know the names of every Captain of the Knights that has ever served, and none of them were named Marcos. Perhaps he's getting confused with a different position?"

"What!?" Subaru exclaimed. "So you just saw him lose a fight, and now you're going to strike his name from the records! What kind of messed up system is that!?"

Julius shook his head. "Subaru, you don't understand. The current Captain of the Knights is Sir Heinkel, who is leading the defence of the palace. He's served in that position for years."

"Please calm down," Alexander said. "Was this a vision? Did you see something? Where is Marcos now?"

"Wait," Otto spoke up, drawing their attention. He rubbed his forehead with his hand, and looked at Subaru carefully. "Subaru, I want you to answer this question fully before you start accusing me of anything. What fight did we just see this 'Marcos' lose?"

"Eh?" Frustration built up in him, but…

Otto always knew how to handle a situation. He would make things right, if Subaru just cooperated. "He just fought the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony. He was about to win, before that other cultist attacked!"

Otto nodded. "I see. Alexander, could you explain what happened in the fight against Gluttony from your perspective?"

"From his perspective?" Subaru asked. Was Otto trying to pull something as well? What was the point of that question? "What do you mean by that? We just saw it!"

"I recall a very different version of events than what you have shared," Alexander said. "Gluttony appeared after Sloth was defeated, but he wasn't able to get close to the knights, and once he retreated, they had the chance to make a break for it. Unfortunately, that seemed to be their plan, they were ambushed as they fled. There's just no room for another knight to have been a part of it."

"Wha—? You mean you really…" Subaru paused, trying to wrap his head around the concept, "you really don't remember?"

"It appears that there is some disconnect between our recollections, yes," Otto answered. "Out of interest, did anyone else see that fallen green-haired man in armour appear when the retreat started?"

Alexander tilted his head in confusion, but Anastasia spoke up, "I did. I was just assumin' it was one of the illusionist's tricks, but from the sounds of it, you think there's another explanation?"

"Green-haired man in armour? That was Marcos! He didn't just appear, he had been there the whole time!"

"Hah," Otto sighed. "I was afraid of that. There is a choice of two pretty unbelievable sequences of events that have taken place. The first possibility, that a strange unconscious man just suddenly appeared in the middle of a significant battle, and that one among our number suddenly had his memories altered to come up with a backstory for him. Or the second, that a person most likely to be among the strongest in the Royal Knights was defeated and…" he paused, and looked over to Anastasia, "erased from the memories of most of the world."

"Ah." A look of understanding dawned on Anastasia's face. "Of course. The White Whale."

Gasps of understanding echoed through the room, but her statement cleared up nothing for Subaru. "What does the White Whale have to do with this?"

"The cult is clearly responsible for the whale's current movements," Julius said. "Thus, they have some measure of influence over it, perhaps even enough that they can replicate one of its signature abilities. The Mist of Elimination."

The name had a weight to it, as if it were an infamous quality of the White Whale, but Subaru had never heard of it before.

"The Mist of Elimination is the most egregious of the abilities possessed by the White Whale," Otto explained. "Any who are struck by it are erased from reality, as if they never existed in the first place. Only vague recollections are left behind, and their gravestones have to be left unmarked, since no one can remember their names."

Eh!? There's such a terrifying power in this world? If I was hit by it, would Return by Death still work?

Death had become a terrifying yet useful option for him. If he was to be hit by an attack that could circumvent his revival, he might not ever wake up, and then the awful reality that led to his demise would be set in stone.

But…

"If that's the case, why can I remember him?" he asked. "I still know his name."

"That is the question, isn't it? At a guess, it would be your Evil Eye," Otto said. "That's the most obvious trait that sets you apart, and it is not inconceivable that an ability that lets you see into the clouded future would also allow you to see past the magic of the Mist of Elimination."

Subaru bowed his head. But I don't have an Evil Eye. Then, is it because of Return by Death? But why would the Witch make me immune to the ability of one of her own?

"More importantly, Subaru," Julius said. "Can you recall how Gluttony used the ability? How he activated it, and what other effects it had?"

"Eh?" Subaru pulled his head upwards. "He scratched Marcos's face, then licked the blood off his fingers. Then Marcos… fell over. Dead or unconscious, I'm not sure, not that it would make much of a difference. If he couldn't defend himself…"

Julius nodded. "And… I hesitate to ask, but what was his strength, when compared to the other Royal Knights?"

"Well, I never saw him fight except for just now, but I heard that he was the strongest knight aside from Reinhard. And, he was able to beat both of those Sin Archbishops. If the third person, that woman, hadn't interfered, he would have killed Gluttony."

"I see." Julius looked over the map of the city.

He sighed. "If that's the case, then there are likely no individuals in the city strong enough to fight them. If it were feasible, I would recall Reinhard, but we cannot remove him from his task for even an instant. The closer the Black Serpent draws to Flanders, the more dangerous it will be for the city, and the entire southern region."

"What? But—"

"That does not mean we are going to give up," Julius declared, cutting Subaru off. "If an individual will not be enough, we will have to gather a team to deal with them. If the cult wants to assault the palace, they will have to get past Lady Crusch. We will deploy additional forces to her location."

He turned to Anastasia, and bowed. "I offer my apologies, but I will not be able to remain by your side."

"Ya think ya need to go off personally?"

"Indeed. I am among the finest in the knights, my strength will be needed to subjugate these Archbishops."

She nodded. "As ya will."

Julius turned his attention back to the map. "The decoy team was two hours from the city, even if the enemy is much faster, that still gives us plenty of time to prepare."

He raised his voice, addressing the operators at their mirrors. "Recall half the knights in the city to Lady Crusch's location, and group up the remainder with the largest guard detachments."

They nodded, and Subaru felt a mild crackling in the air, as the silencing spells reactivated all at once.

"There's one thing I want to know," Felt said. "If that Archbishop has the power to erase people at will, what's to say other witch cultists don't also have it?"

"I believe that is unlikely," Julius said. "If a significant portion of them could use this power, then we would know, if only because we wouldn't have such a wide array of known cult attacks. At a guess, it is an ability limited to the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony and his close associates. Though, they could be as prolific as Sloth, and we would be none the wiser, since his ability erases those he defeats."

"There is also the fact that despite the White Whale's Mist of Elimination, we have many records of its movements," Otto added. "It doesn't use it all the time, perhaps there is some cost to doing so." He paused thoughtfully. "Though, I've never heard a name resembling Lye Batenkaitos. It's possible he uses the ability prodigiously."

"Wait, did you say Batenkaitos?" Subaru, still trying to distract himself from the events that had transpired, latched onto Otto's words.

"Yes? That's the name he gave when he started attacking the knights. Or at least, that's the name I remember. Do you remember a different one?"

"No, it's just…" Subaru trailed off, trying to figure out how best to explain it. "Batenkaitos, or rather, Baten Kaitos, is the name of a star from my hometown. I wouldn't usually think anything of it, but the other Sin Archbishop is the same. 'Petelgeuse' sounds a lot like the star Betelgeuse."

"Is that so?" Julius murmured, and stepped closer. "I've never heard those names, but I'm hesitant to rule this out as a mere coincidence. Do you have an idea of what they might mean? Do those stars have any special significance?"

Subaru shook his head. "Betelgeuse is one of the brightest stars in the Orion constellation— er, which you wouldn't have heard of either."

He closed his eyes, trying to remember any other details about the star. Hang on, didn't he say something right before Marcos killed him?

"The name means the hand of Orion," he said slowly. "And right before he died, Petelgeuse said—"

"Unseen hand," Otto finished. "That's even more proof that the connection is not merely coincidence. What of Baten Kaitos? What can you tell us about that star?"

Subaru nodded. "It's part of a different constellation, Cetus—" he froze, the shape of those stars coming to him unbidden. "Cetus, which means the whale. And the name of the star means 'belly of the sea monster', after it's position in the constellation."

"The whale…" echoed Otto. "I guess that answers our questions then. The Sin Archbishop of Gluttony, Batenkaitos, is the one responsible for the White Whale's movements. Given that his name refers to the belly, I think it's unlikely others among the cult can also use the Mist of Elimination."

It wasn't much, but that was a small relief. It would be wrong to base knowledge of their enemies' capabilities on only the meaning of a name, but Subaru needed some kind of reassurance.

Now that the more important items were out of the way, he was left to his own devices again. I can't. I can't think about it.

But the sight played over and over in his mind, of a dear friend being ripped to bloody pieces.

He turned to Emilia, to search for a companion in her that he could speak with, but one look at her tear-stained face put that idea to the grave. The illusion Velia had placed on her had started fraying, and streaks of silver were starting to shine through her red hair. He couldn't bear to watch her like that, but there was nothing he could do to make her feel better.

Felt stroked her back by her side, which seemed like the best that could be done.

He saw Anastasia give the silver-haired candidate a brief look, but there was no friendliness in her gaze. He didn't want to put the merchant princess's feelings into words. He could already guess how she would feel about Emilia.

"Sir!" one of the operators shouted. "There's just been a massive wave of attacks in the merchant's district. Large fires have been set in the southwest sections of the city."

"More attacks in the west! The northwest garrison is requesting permission to deploy to help."

"The north garrison is too spread out to cover for the northwest as well. They're requesting reinforcements."

Aides scrambled over the table, placing more and more red markers down, as if covering the city with a wave of fire and blood.

"It's difficult to tell the exact numbers involved," an elderly aide said as he placed a marker down in the east. "They started using different tactics once the orders to recall the knights were sent out."

Julius narrowed his eyes. "What do you think they're up to?"

The old man shrugged. "This looks like a series of shocks in preparation for a larger assault. They've left the area near Lady Crusch mostly untouched, though her forces have not deployed to help."

Julius nodded. "Alright then. Contact Lady Crusch, let her know her position will come under attack soon. How close are the knights to reaching her?"

"The first squads will be arriving momentarily."

Slowly, the red markers on the map were lifted, and the blocks representing the guards moved to surround the few that were left, pinning them against Crusch's forces.

So, maybe this loop won't be completely useless. If I can remember how the cult is defeated today, if I can get access to anything we interrogate from them, I can return to the past much better prepared than last time.

But deep inside, a weariness was starting to take hold, one that he couldn't shake off. If I return, I'll have to start over again. Can I— Will I be able to take that?

"Sir, I'm not able to connect with any of Lady Crusch's advisers." The words spoken cut through the silence in the room like a knife.

"Have the knights arrived yet?" Julius asked.

"They should have…" the operator trailed off, then spoke again, "I can't contact them either."

"Connect to Lady Crusch's mirror directly. Put it up."

"I can't, sir. There isn't a connection remaining. Either Lady Crusch removed it, or the mirror has been destroyed."

No. No, it can't be.

"Try Sir Felix," Julius ordered, still calm, but Subaru knew the knight well enough that he could hear the undercurrent of worry in his tone.

"Connected!" The operator sounded both fearful and yet relieved. "I'm putting it up now."

The large mirror flickered, and went black.

Then it lit up with the scene of carnage.

"Lady Crusch! Lady Crusch!" Felix was crying over Crusch's form, the bloodied remains of armoured bodies scattered around them. The candidate was covered in horrific burns, and she lay as still as the dead.

"Felix!" Julius's noble demeanour fell away, and he shouted at the screen. "Felix! Can you hear me? What happened!?"

Felix bolted upright, ears twitching, and twisted his head wildly, trying to identify the source of Julius's voice.

"Felix, your mirror!"

"Ah!" The cat-eared knight's hand shot to his chest, and he pulled a conversing mirror out from under his knight uniform.

"Julius! We were attacked! Lady Crusch— Lady Crusch tried to stop them, but—!" He choked back sobs. "She's hurt badly. I stabilised her, but they got through!"

Julius turned to address the operator. "Inform Sir Heinkel at once. Felix, what happened?"

"I don't know! One minute we were preparing for the attack, the next, half our line was on fire! There were only a handful of them, but they killed everything around them."

He grit his teeth, and his next words came out as a hiss.

"It was a bandaged woman who did this to Lady Crusch. She wielded chains, and attacked everything in reach with fire magic. Lady Crusch tried so hard, but nothing anyone could do even came close to her. Old Man Wil tried to help, but he was attacked from behind, by a young boy, with long hair and ragged dirty-looking clothes."

Subaru heard gasps from the rest of the room, a foreboding sense of dread growing.

"Get Heinkel on now!" Julius ordered.

"How did he get here so fast? It hasn't even been fifteen minutes!" Otto asked, an uncharacteristic fear in his tone.

"We need to leave." Anastasia's voice was calm, but her eyes were narrow and her lips were pursed. "Their target is in this room. This is where they're heading."

"As you say," Julius strode to the door, and opened it. "We're evacuating this location," he told the guards waiting outside. Please guide them to—"

"Please guide me to where my guards from the Iron Fang are on standby." Anastasia interrupted, casting a look towards her knight. "I will not be accompanying their target. You will not be accompanying me?"

"I apologise," Julius said, bowing his head. "I will remain to guard this room. I must attempt to put this Sin Archbishop down. There are few in the capital who would possibly be capable of that feat."

"Sir, I can't contact Sir Heinkel! The mirror is disconnected!"

"He'll be here soon. Lady Emilia…" Julius looked down at the sobbing half-elf with a conflicted expression.

"She's coming with us," Felt declared. "We'll head to the servant's quarters, where Rom is, then we'll escape the palace. Got a problem with that?"

Julius shook his head. "No, that is fine."

They filed out into the corridor, Alexander supporting Emilia on his shoulder. Her eyes were wild, but the words he softly spoke to her helped calm her down.

"Two of you go with Lady Anastasia, and for Lady Felt and Lady Emilia—"

"We'll be fine," Felt said, drawing a knife from god-knows-where and using it to tear her skirt to ribbons. "I'm not too shabby, and despite his looks, Subaru is pretty good with magic."

"Is this really the time for banter?" Subaru asked rhetorically, mentally tugging on his contracts. Though, the ribbing did settle his nerves slightly. Perhaps it wasn't so bad.

Four balls of light burst into existence around him, surrounding him with comfort and reassurance. "There isn't a lot of mana flowing freely through this building. Too much stone blocking it from outside. If we get into a fight, I'll deplete the surroundings very quickly, so we'll have to keep moving."

"Moving is what I'm good at too," Felt said. "But don't worry, we won't stop to get caught up in a fight."

"A spirit arts user?" Julius asked. "I suspected as much. If times were better, I would have liked to talk about it, but unfortunately…"

His own spirits twinkled around him as they appeared, and he looked down the corridor that led towards the entrance.

"They are currently anything but. Please take care. I will endeavour to finish the Sin Archbishop here and now."

"I don't like to be losin' my things," Anastasia warned. "If I find out I've forgotten you, I'll be very upset."

"That won't happen." Julius promised, and he drew his sword, stepping forward with the guards at his side.

Anastasia nodded, accepting her knight's declaration, and strode down the corridor in the opposite direction.

"C'mon," Felt led their odd procession away from the room, splitting off from Anastasia at the first intersection.

But is this really the best move? If I'm going to reset, shouldn't I wait to see if Julius can defeat Gluttony? I need to be productive, don't I? What use can I be if we get away? What can I do? What can I do? What can I—

"Does anyone else feel that?" Otto asked, looking around the corridor.

"Feel what?" Felt asked.

"It's like a chill, but worse. I noticed it a few minutes ago, but I thought it was just the fear of the situation getting to me. But it's lasted long enough that now I think it might be one of the things you warned us about, Subaru."

Subaru took a second to realise what Otto was implying. But now that he was mindful of it, he could feel the creeping dread laying unnaturally on his heart, threatening to paralyse him with indecision and fear. "The fear spell! It's active!"

And it felt stronger than what he had experienced in the previous loop. Has it been active longer? Or is the palace closer to the epicentre of the effect?

"I don't feel anything," Felt said, glancing over at Subaru. "Are you sure?"

"I can feel something, but it is difficult to tell past my Divine Protection," Alexander said. "I will try to mitigate its effect. Is that better?"

"Yes, it is." The guard's voice was like the warm sun parting dark clouds. Whatever heretical magic the cult was using, the Divine Protection was more than a match for it. But with every second that passed without him speaking, the spell came back stronger and more insistently.

"We'd better hurry." Felt sounded worried, though she tried to hide it with a mask of confidence. "We don't want Old Man Rom to be stuck in that."

They hurried through the corridors, Alexander occasionally speaking up to banish the unnatural emotions that held them in their grip. With how frequently he was using the calming power, Emilia started to improve. She slowly stopped sobbing, and began walking under her own power. The constant movement fractured her disguise further, and by the time they neared their destination, she was back to her old self, aside from the fact that she was still wearing Velia's clothes.

Blood, ripping flesh, and the screams of—

"It's just up here," Alexander said, gesturing to one of the side corridors.

"I can hear something," Felt said, cocking her head. Then she gasped and drew her knife. "It's fighting! Old Man Rom might be in danger!"

She bolted forward, sprinting down the hall towards the room the sounds were coming from.

"Wait!" Subaru yelled, running after her, his spirits gathering mana from the surroundings.

She didn't slow at all, and reached the door well ahead of him. She threw it open, and stepped inside.

"Felt, hold on! It could be— hgrk!"

Subaru cut off as he reached the doorway, and stopped dead in his tracks.

The room had once been a cafeteria, judging from the remains of tables and benches strewn about. Joining the wreckage were the bodies of countless people in servant's clothes, the floor slick with blood. The survivors were still fighting at the centre of the room, but Subaru couldn't see who the attackers were. He couldn't spot a trace of the dark cloaks the cultists wore.

Old Man Rom was clearly visible, holding aloft half an bench which he was using as a makeshift club. His body was covered in wounds, and his clothes were soaked with red.

"Grah!" He shouted, as he swung it down in an arc, at an enemy only he could see. It impacted, and two servants went flying, their limbs twisting in unnatural ways.

"No, Rom! Stop!" Felt cried as she ran towards him. "They're friends!"

Subaru couldn't take his eyes off the fallen bodies, feeling the urge to vomit well up inside. He had seen violent battles in movies, and in the mirror he had even seen Vel— had even seen the aftermath of the attack on Crusch's forces, but now that he was witnessing it personally, without a screen in between them…

"Subaru! What's going on!" Alexander's words calmed him, but that only made him consider the situation with more rationality, and the feeling came back twice as strong. He collapsed onto his hands and knees, and wretched up the contents of his stomach.

"Old Man Rom, please! It's me! Stop fighting!"

Bile dripping down his chin, Subaru looked up at Felt as she tried to talk down the giant from his rampage.

Rom looked down at her, his eyes bloodshot, and he growled.

"Lady Felt, stay back!" Alexander yelled. "All who can hear me, stand down! There are no enemy forces in the room! Remain calm!"

Every word radiated with power, but Rom was too far gone to be affected. He howled with anger, and whipped around, grabbing and flinging a table at Felt in one smooth motion.

"No!" Subaru shouted, lifting a hand and reaching for his contracts. "Huma!"

Akua!

Two shields sprung up between the projectile and Felt, one of golden light, the other of frozen ice.

But both were only the size of a hand, and the table crashed through them, barely slowing at all.

Felt stood shell shocked, and could barely take a step backwards before it rammed into her, sending her crashing back into the ground.

"No! Felt!" Subaru lifted himself up to his knees. I couldn't do anything! I'm not able to do anything again, and now Felt is going to die!

Rom advanced towards them, lifting his club above his head. I should reset. I need to reset, before they suffer more. But how… how will I solve all of this next loop!?

"Subaru, focus!" Otto shouted.

A series of ice shards flew out and hit Rom in the chest, but failed to do any real damage. Several minor spirits were surrounding Emilia, gathering mana towards her, but she was wasting a large portion of it with every shot. She was panicking, losing grasp of the mana and letting it fall away.

"Grah!" Rom bellowed, bringing down the club on Felt's prone figure, but at the last second, there was a thud, as the wood hit steel.

"I can't hold him," Alexander ground out, holding out his sword in a two-handed grip, trembling under the weight of Rom's strike. "Sir Rom, listen to me! She's your camp leader! She's your granddaughter, isn't she!?"

"Graaah!"

Rom withdrew his club, and swung out with his other hand, forcing Alexander to step back to avoid it. "He's too far under! My Divine Protection isn't working on him!"

"Subaru, stop thinking, and act!" Otto ordered. "You're the only one here who can stop him safely!"

Safely…?

He lifted a hand, and felt his connection with Luna, watching as the other surviving servants in the room slowly got to their feet. Their eyes were filled with as much madness as Rom's and they wore vicious snarls on their faces, as if they wanted nothing more than to tear all of them to shreds with their bare hands.

"Paralak!"

The spear of pure darkness shot out and struck Rom directly in the chest, melding into his flesh.

"Gruh?" Rom stumbled back, before his limbs stopped obeying him, and he collapsed to the ground.

The other servants in the room saw their chance, and leapt at him, but Subaru was ready.

"Fal Shamak!"

Fal Shamak!

Two clouds of darkness claimed the centre of the room, blinding everyone within their grasp, including Alexander. They heard clanging, and dull thumps, one after another, then silence.

Slowly, the smoke cleared, revealing Alexander to be the sole person standing. The others were lying on the ground, unconscious.

One man got up groggily, but Alexander rushed him, and struck out with the flat of his blade, sending the man down like all the rest.

Finally, the bloody room was calm.

"Lady Emilia, please attend to Lady Felt!" Alexander called, falling to his knees. The silver haired candidate nodded, and went up to Felt, a blue glow lighting up the young girl's body.

"The ones I struck will not awaken for a few hours. Subaru, how long until…?"

"Rom shouldn't wake up for a while," Subaru said, slowly getting to his feet. His legs trembled, and every look at the red stains threatened to bring him back to the floor. "Our spells are stronger, now that Luna's ranked up. What— what was that? Why did Rom start attacking us like that?"

"It's my fault," Otto said, closing the door over, but leaving a small gap he could still peek out. "I should have predicted this when you said the fear spell could create riots. Emotions must have built up until no one could ignore them anymore. A small fight could have spiralled into this." He gestured towards the remnants of the battle around them.

"But why didn't we end up like this too?" Subaru felt sick, so much so that he could barely focus on the conversation. I can't falter. They need me. I need to—

"My Divine Protection warded off the effects before they could take root," Alexander explained. "And, we had a small group, only five people. Lady Felt seems to have been immune to the effect, and I could protect the rest of us. The people in this room did not have that protection."

He closed his eyes, then snapped his head up at Subaru. "While we have the time, I need to ask you something. I remember leaving Julius behind. He was going to fight Gluttony, with the help of ten guards, but I think we need to know. Have I forgotten to mention anyone else?"

Subaru shook his head. "No, Julius is the only knight we left there." He paused, trying to recall the guards that had remained behind. "I don't remember the exact number of guards with him. Ten sounds about right."

"I see. That's good then, we still have time. Perhaps he even managed to defeat Gluttony."

He closed his eyes, and they fell silent.

Otto turned back to watch the door, Alexander was taking the opportunity to do rudimentary first aid on the survivors, including Rom, and Subaru thought it would be better not to disturb Emilia while she was healing.

But he couldn't just let himself take in the room around him, so he brought his attention to his spirits.

Sol had gone dim, the spiritual equivalent of curling up into a ball.

Failure. Failure. Failure.

His thought process was clear to Subaru. The shield he had worked so hard to learn had done nothing. It had shattered the very first time he tried to protect someone with it. Even worse, his rival, Luna, had been able to support Subaru in taking out all the threats they faced.

"It's okay," Subaru whispered softly. "We did okay. Without that shield, Felt might have died." Not that it really matters, I have to reset anyway. "We all did our part."

The ball of light didn't get any better, but Subaru sensed the spirit's attention being directed at him.

"Hey, why don't you look out down the corridor? Let us know if anyone starts coming towards us."

Sol perked up a little, but it was Muninn that answered, her tone cheerful and unheeding of the heavy situation they were in.

Helpful!

She shot off, and passed through the wall, settling at the very edge of the range Subaru could still perceive her.

Sol moped a little, but he sounded happier, and he flew out in the opposite direction from Muninn.

That left the other two.

Huginn was cautiously checking out the room, and doing his best to help Emilia's spirits gather mana. Luna hung around his head, conveying her worry. She had used up around half of what she had gathered for those two spells, and the mana wasn't easily replaced.

There wasn't much in the room to begin with, and Emilia was using almost all of it for her healing magic.

"I think we should try and use mine," Subaru whispered to her. "Don't worry about trying to keep my gate undamaged." It won't matter anyway. "It's better to use everything we have, so we have a shot at getting out of here."

Luna didn't seem convinced, but after a moment's consideration, she bobbed her assent. Despite that, Subaru could feel her determination not to touch his reserves unless there was no other choice.

He sighed. He couldn't force her, so he would let the matter drop.

The level of mana in the air dropped further, until finally, Emilia's light flickered out.

"Um," she spoke up hesitantly. "I'm sorry, but I can't heal her fully. There's no mana left here, we'll need to move to another spot. Somewhere with windows would be best."

Alexander got to his feet, and walked over to her.

"She's stable enough, we should be able to move her. It's fortunate you were here, Lady Emilia. If not for your healing, she would not have survived."

"I— But—" she hesitated, seemingly on the verge of another breakdown. "It's only because of me that she got hurt. If not for me—"

"I wouldn't be so sure." Otto interjected before she could start blaming herself again. "The cult was attacking the city long before they realised that you were here. They're searching for something else, something they felt they needed to assault the palace to find."

Oh, right, they said something about that when the attack started, didn't they? That's yet another thing I don't know.

"We should go," Subaru said, pulling their gazes away from Emilia. "We can either try and find a way out of the palace, or go up one of the towers to get to a window. What do you think, Otto?"

"We don't have to do either," the merchant said. "There's a secret passage out of the palace, which leads underground, and comes out in a mansion in the outskirts of the upper strata. We'll go there, and Lady Emilia can heal Felt on the way."

"A secret passage?" Alexander asked. "I'm unaware of—"

He paused, and then smiled ruefully. "But I suppose if I was aware of it, that would defeat the purpose of it being secret. Do you know the way?"

Otto shook his head. "I know where it is, but not the route we'd want to take. We'll have to cut through some of the palace, to get to the inner sanctum. We want to avoid the main routes, where we could run into other people."

He gestured to the people surrounding them. "I doubt many have resisted the effects of the fear spell, so anyone we meet is likely to be in a similar state."

"Is it okay to just leave them here?" Emilia asked, looking around at the unconscious bodies. "They're injured, and if they wake up, they'll be back to fighting."

"They won't wake up for a few hours, if the fear spell is still active, then the capital doesn't stand a chance anyway," Alexander said bluntly. "We can't afford to try and protect them either, since the cult is going to primarily be after you. I've done my best to dress their wounds, the best we can hope for is that they don't succumb before we can bring help."

Emilia looked torn, unable to decide the correct course of action. Felt groaned in her arms, and she looked down at the girl.

"A— alright. I'll follow."

She adjusted her grip on Felt, and picked the smaller candidate up in a princess carry, then affixed her eyes on the door, not daring to look back at the people they would be abandoning.

Clear. Sol sent from outside the door.

Spoon! Muninn added helpfully, sending a detailed image of the particular spoon she was looking at.

It was a very fancy piece of metalwork, parts of it tinged gold and— That's not important right now! He shook his head clear.

"No, Muninn, look for people! People!" he projected as loudly as he could through the contract.

Oh!

A brief pause.

No people!

"Coast is clear," he said, opening the door, being careful not to make any noise. "Let's go."

They filed out, Alexander taking point and Otto watching their rear. Emilia carried Felt in her arms, her minor spirit flitting around her like fireflies.

Subaru glanced at the door morosely. If I was better with illusions, I could have tried to disguise it as part of the wall. As it is, the best we can do is hope the cult doesn't find them.

Bile rose in his throat. How many more people are going to suffer before I fix this?

"We should hurry," Alexander said. "Subaru, we'll be avoiding the main corridors, so while your spirits should scout, keep them close by. There will be many criss-crossing hallways, and cultists could come out of nowhere at any time."

Subaru nodded. Then, it'll be similar to last loop, when we were travelling through the lower strata to try and get to the palace. Has anything really changed?

They set out, Sol keeping watch ahead of them, and Muninn had been replaced with Huginn to watch out behind. Muninn didn't seem to mind, merely happy to be of help. She helped Luna try and recover the mana they had used up.

But the mana was thin, especially with the minor water spirits sucking up as much as they could to power Emilia's healing spell.

The half-elf was concentrating intently, managing to apply healing magic through the hands she was using to hold Felt, while at the same time never tripping or stumbling as she walked.

"We're crossing a main corridor here." Alexander announced quietly. "Stop drawing mana, they might be able to sense it." He flicked his eyes to Subaru, and tilted his head at the path ahead. "Subaru, could you?"

He nodded. "Sol, check it out."

The Yang spirit shot around the corner, and after a moment, sent back a message.

Clear.

They hurriedly passed through the wide open corridor, almost as big as the one leading from the entrance to the throne room.

As they passed into the hallway on the other side, Emilia stopped, her ears twitching. "Do you hear that? It sounds like fighting." She glanced down the main corridor, towards the front of the palace.

"Then we should move," Otto insisted. "And quickly."

"It isn't long now," Alexander said. "The inner sanctum is just past the throne room. Otto, can you lead the way from here?"

"I think so," Otto said. "If I remember correctly—"

Danger!

Huginn's thoughts hit Subaru like a sledgehammer.

Danger! An image of shadows, sprinting down the main corridor towards them with unnatural speed.

"They're here!" Subaru whirled around, his spirits rushing to his side.

Alexander drew his sword, stepping in front of Emilia, and pulling Otto behind him.

"Sol, shield us as best you can!"

Sol flinched, but focused his mana, shining with an almost holy light as he cast.

Akua!

A thin shield sprang into existence in front of Subaru, much wider than anything Sol had ever cast before. It was large enough that it covered most of Subaru's midsection.

Sol sank in the air, exhausted, but he kept the spell in place.

Mana crackled, and an array of icicles appeared over their heads. Subaru half-turned to see Emilia, her eyes furrowed, staring at the corridor with a mixture of determination and anxiety.

He turned back to watch the corridor, and whispered his own spell.

"Huma."

Huginn and Muninn's mana surged, and four icy projectiles hovered in front of him, directly over his shield.

Then he heard it. A mild whistling, like something rushing through the air at high speed.

Then, a cultist was in the entrance, not even having slowed down to engage them. He kept going, only shooting out his arm to throw a dagger into their midst.

A dozen icicles responded, and at least half of them hit, knocking the cultist out of midair, and sending him tumbling to the ground. The dagger pinged uselessly off Sol's shield, but it left small cracks in the light.

Three more cultists appeared, one of them with his arm raised to fire a spell at them, but Subaru was quicker.

"Fal Shamak!"

Darkness claimed them, and Emilia sent another wave of icicles into the cloud, electing cries of pain in response.

"We're retreating," Alexander said. "Otto, guide us to our destination. Lady Emilia, could you spare a spirit to watch out for us?"

They fell back, continuing to fire spells as they did.

One cultist broke out of the cloud, lunging forward with his dagger outstretched, but Alexander deflected his strike, and one of Emilia's icicles hit him in the head, disorientating him.

"Paralak!"

The spear of darkness struck him in the chest, and he fell over backwards.

"Run, now!" Alexander shouted, and they fled, following Otto through the twisting corridors.

Subaru drew upon Yin and Yang, twisting them together, and weaving four spells, one after another, casting them on the feet of every member of the group.

Their footsteps faded away, as the silencing spells erased every sound of their footsteps.

"That won't last long," he said. "And it took a lot of mana. I'm not sure I'll win a protracted fight."

"That's fine, we'll focus on avoiding them," Alexander said. "It's better if they don't hear us anyway. You made the right call."

"Wait, there's some up ahead!" Emilia called out, and Subaru drew upon his contracts with Huginn and Muninn.

He channeled his mana through his body, putting everything he had learned from his Ryuuhou training into practice, boosting his speed enough that he overtook Otto.

He rounded the corner with a hand raised.

Five cultists were blocking his path, two of them holding balls of fire aloft.

For an instant, Subaru thought his life would end then and there, but they seemed to hesitate for a moment as he came into view.

A moment that lasted too long.

"Goa!"

The fire spell shot out and struck one of the fireballs, causing it to detonate while still over the cultist's head, engulfing the entire hallway in a sea of flames.

Otto stumbled as he came around, eyes frantically looking down the hallway.

"We needed to go that way!"

Subaru considered it. He could extinguish the flames with Huma, but doing so would use up even more mana, and they were quickly running out. Luckily, both of the cult casters had been using their gates, which meant their spells increased the level of mana in the air slightly. The spirits eagerly drank it up.

"Is there another way around?" Subaru asked.

Another two cultists appeared behind the flames, and advanced, lifting their daggers.

That sealed the deal.

"We'll find one." Otto turned, and started running back the way they came.

They didn't run into cultists for a few glorious moments, the fact that they had doubled back seemed to have confused them.

But it didn't last long.

They crossed a hallway, and a group of cultists on their right threw daggers, all of them aimed at Emilia and Otto.

Emilia managed to raise a hexagonal shield of frost in time, and the daggers pinged off.

Subaru slowed as he reached the hallway, raising both hands. He was the best suited to defend them, with his expanded array of magic, and his mana enhancement allowing him to outpace everyone in the group bar Emilia.

Alright, this had better work!

"Huma!"

Ice coalesced in front of his heads, but rather than icicles, they formed large snowflake shapes, made entirely from blue ice.

He held them afloat, facing the cultists to deflect any spells they launched at him…

…but the spells never came.

The lead cultist took a half-step forwards, and inclined his head slightly to Subaru.

It happened so quickly that he thought he might have imagined it, but he couldn't help but feel that there was something… reverent in their stance.

"Subaru, come on!"

Otto's voice brought him out of his trance-like state, and he quickened his step, snarling and flinging out both snowflakes like frisbees. He passed into the opposite hallway before he saw whether they landed a hit.

"It's just up here. But there's no point getting to it while they're so hot on our trail!" Otto said, winded from the constant running. "I don't get it, how have they been able to keep up with us? They keep finding us, I can't get us closer to the tunnel."

"You said they might be able to sense the draw of mana from the spirits." Alexander suggested. "Might they be paying attention to that?"

Otto shook his head. "Some of the times, perhaps, but not that first time! They came at us from half-way across the palace! I've been speaking to the bugs and mice hiding in the walls, and they say all of the cultists in the building seem to be converging on us!"

"They must be able to find me," Emilia whispered. "They know I'm a half-elf, so they're able to find me no matter where we run."

Otto shook his head. "That's not true, otherwise they never would have fallen for the bait in the first place. Maybe they have some other method to track us? Then we should head to the escape tunnel anyway, at least we'll have a head start…"

Subaru paled as details snapped into place.

Another method to track us?

Voices from his past lives echoed in his head.

"Why does the Witch's love hang so thickly over you?" The voice of a madman, who stood over him on the day of his death.

"Betty is referring to the miasma hanging over the rude boy, in fact. The mark of the Witch, a sign of her interest in him, for good or ill, I suppose." The voice of one of his first teachers, helping him in his final stay at Roswaal's manor.

"It's me." He slowed his run, and stopped in the hallway.

"Subaru?" Alexander asked. "What's wrong? Your emotions just started getting worse. Is the spell affecting you again?"

"Go on without me," Subaru said. "They can track me."

Otto's eyes widened. "Did you get another vision? Surely there's something we can do! Did you see anything we can use to escape?"

Subaru shook his head. "I don't really know all the details, but they can probably sense me. If I distract them by running towards the entrance, then you'll have the chance to use the escape tunnel."

"No!" Emilia's voice was frantic, and she jolted at his words. Felt let out a pained groan in her arms, but Emilia wasn't paying attention to her.

"You can't! You'll end up like those knights, like your friend! You shouldn't have to— No one should have to die because of me!"

"They're after me too." Why else would they have attacked the city before they knew Emilia was in it? They must have covertly investigated him when their bases in the city were being purged, and sensed the Witch's scent on him.

"Don't worry, Lady Emilia," Alexander said. "I will be accompanying him. I was ordered by Lord Roswaal to remain by his side. With our combined combat ability, we should be able to get out of the palace safely."

"No." Subaru couldn't bear to see anyone else get hurt. "You'll go with them. They'll need someone to ward off the fear spell."

"I don't think that will be an issue." Alexander said. He leaned in closer to whisper to him, "I've been observing its effects on us with my Divine Protection. Otto has built up something of a natural immunity, and Lady Emilia is so focused on healing Felt that the spell is unable to make headway with her. You on the other hand…"

He grimaced. "If you get outside my influence for more than a few minutes, you'll succumb. I need to go with you, or you won't make it out."

"But you'll die!"

Alexander shook his head. "That isn't set in stone. And even if it was, my loyalty to this city is worth more than my life. If the cult has its way, there won't be a city anymore. I will stop them by whatever means available to me, and right now, that means making sure you survive."

Subaru tried to protest, but the words died in his throat. One look at Alexander's face was enough to see that the guard was resolute.

"Fine," he caved. "Alexander will come with me, Otto, you take Emilia and Felt through the tunnel."

Otto looked like he wanted to say more, but he held it back.

"We'll meet up at the Astrea manor," he said instead, as if escaping was already a done deal. He pulled Emilia along, and they started running towards the inner sections of the palace.

Emilia kept her head turned, looking back at them, until they rounded a corner and passed out of sight.

"We should go too," Alexander said, and he started moving in the opposite direction. "Follow me, we'll take the side passages. Just because we're baiting them again, doesn't mean that we'll make things easy for them."

They ran quickly, Subaru drawing on the full power of his Ryuuhou, and Alexander tapping into some hitherto unseen reserves of energy to keep up.

They passed corridor after corridor, hallway after hallway, but no attacks intercepted them. Once or twice, Subaru thought he spotted the dark cloaks of cultists out of the corner of his eyes, but when he twisted around to fire at them, they vanished like tricks of the light.

"We're almost at the entrance. From there, it'll be a straight run," Alexander said. "Be ready to—"

He cut off, as they came into the main corridor.

Subaru felt his stomach drop.

Not a living soul breathed in that place aside from the two of them, yet it felt like the walls were filled with dreadful voices.

The dead were strewn throughout the area, soldiers and cultists alike.

The great double doors at the palace entrance had been blown open, and Subaru could see the arms and legs of those who had been crushed underneath them.

Joining the ranks of the dead were Demi-humans wearing a distinctive uniform he recognised. The Iron Fang mercenaries had died here. Had they joined the knights in battle? Or had two separate slaughters taken place here?

Some of the corpses were charred so much that they were unrecognisable, and others appeared to have been crushed by great force.

But the vast majority had simply been dismembered, beheaded, or otherwise been left to bleed out on the pristine floor.

Subaru collapsed to the ground, and retched, but his stomach was already empty.

"Subaru! Subaru, calm down! We need to move!"

Subaru blinked his eyes, trying to focus on the voice that tried to drive away the churning in his gut, but instead, he spotted a familiar face, framed by light purple hair, white clothes, and covered in blood.

"Ana— Anasta—"

"Subaru!" Alexander hauled him to his feet. "We need to go! They could be here any sec—guh!"

"Alexander?" Subaru turned to look at the guard.

He looked surprised, like he hadn't expected the dagger that had slid across his neck. He fell to his knees, revealing the witch cultist standing behind him, one bloodied dagger held in hand.

Subaru gasped and tried to stem the flow of blood with his hands. "No! No, Alexander! Alexander!"

The cultist just watched his futile efforts, taking no further offensive actions.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Subaru saw more cultists appear, until they were surrounding him in a perfect circle.

Alexander let out a few more gargling gasps, then went silent.

"No, no, no! You can't— I can't— I didn't want you to— Not again!"

He slowly withdrew his hands, and stared at them.

Alexander's blood is on my hands. The thought almost drew a laugh from his maddened mind, because it was true, both literally and figuratively.

If I had been smarter, if I had tried harder, then none of this would have happened! This is my fault! My fault my fault my fault!

He snapped his head up to the cultist at his side. "What do you want!? Are you going to kill me!? Then do it! Get it over with!"

The cultist said nothing.

Then, as one, all the cultists in the room bowed to him.

"What?" Subaru snarled. "What is this!? What are you doing!? We're enemies, so kill me!"

The cultists straightened, then one by one, they seemed to melt into the ground, forming puddles of shadow which faded into nothing, leaving Subaru alone.

"Hah." He remained on the ground. There was no point in getting to his feet any more.

He could feel the fear growing in the back of his mind, but the nausea and despair was driving it back. The fear spell couldn't pierce through his already tumultuous emotions.

Concern!

Move!

Luna and Sol tried to drag him away, but their feelings couldn't penetrate the haze that grasped him.

Huginn hung silently by his side, and even Muninn calmed down to try and help bring him out of his despair.

"Ah, so it was you!" The sound of a familiar woman's voice accompanied footsteps, which squelched through the blood covering the floor.

Subaru went cold, the clouds in his mind parting to reveal an intense hatred, unlike anything he had ever felt before.

He twisted rapidly, his knees scraping along the floor, almost losing his balance and toppling over.

She was there. She stood some distance away from Subaru, eyeing the spirits at his side warily, the hem of her cultist robes soaked in blood, and a maniacal grin on her face. The same one she had worn before she realised Velia was disguised. Before she ripped the elf limb from limb.

"You tried to distract us with another decoy, but you didn't take into account that we would be watching out for that this time. You have been Slothf—"

"Goa."

A bead of fire shot out at the cultist, but Subaru didn't wait to see if it hit.

"Huma. Paralak. Goa. Huma, Paralak, Goa. Huma! Paralak! Goa! Goa! Goa!"

The air was filled with ice, fire, and darkness, as Subaru threw everything his spirits could bring to bear against the cultist, determined to erase this hateful being from existence.

His spirits gave all they had, but they had been pushed hard, and they weren't able to keep up the all-out barrage for long.

Slowly, they ran out of mana, even Sol growing tired from providing mana to the others.

The area where the cultist had been standing had been filled with smoke, obscuring anything and everything therein from view. But it didn't matter. There was no way that anyone could have survived that. At least, at the end of this life, he had managed to avenge—

"Ah, my brain trembles!"

Subaru felt himself sink deeper into despair, as the smoke was brushed aside, and the cultist stood unharmed, cradling her head in her hands and leaning to the side.

Her figure had become even more disturbing. She had been relatively nondescript before Subaru had flung his spells at her, but now, four enormous shadowy hands hovered around her protectively, extending from dark tendrils that connected to her back.

"You tried diligently, but you failed to overcome the power granted to me by the Witch! The Authority of Sloth, Unseen Hands! Ah, my brain trembles!"

"Unseen…?" Subaru echoed, his eyes flitting between the hands. Was this the power Petelgeuse had demonstrated when fighting Marcos? But then, why were they visible?

The cultist ignored him, and continued talking, "Now. Now, now, now now now. We must have a discussion. Would you, perhaps, be Pride?"

That question again. Petelgeuse asked the exact same one last time. Is it mandatory for the cultists with those so-called 'Unseen Hands'? No, that's not important right now.

"Paralak!"

His spirits were tapped out, but Subaru had another source still available to him.

His gate had recovered somewhat in the two months since he had strained it, yet it was nowhere near prepared for this final spell he forced through it. He felt something crack inside him, and suddenly, he could no longer feel the room's ambient mana, his gate having been destroyed completely.

And yet, the spell still formed.

A spear of pure darkness shot out at the cultist's face. Though it wouldn't do any physical harm, it would incapacitated her long enough for Subaru to finish the job.

But the spell never made contact. One of the hands moved down, and the spear deflected off of it, flying away into the crowd of bodies.

"Hmm." The cultist's smile faded as she watched the spear clatter to the ground and dissolve into motes of darkness. "That doesn't seem to be a reply."

Her eyes widened, and the smile returned in full force. "Ah, I see! My goodness, I've been very rude, I've forgotten to introduce myself!"

She bent over in a deep bow. "I am a Sin Archbishop of the Witch's Cult, representing Sloth."

Her head inclined upwards, to stare directly at Subaru. "Petelgeuse Romani-Conti!"

Petelgeuse? The absurdity of it took a moment to register in Subaru's addled mind, but when it did, he froze with shock. Petelgeuse!? No, he died! This is someone else! One of the cultists who was with him!

"Now that that has been set aside, tell me, are you not Pride?"

The cultist took a step closer, seemingly at the absolute limit of how close she would let herself get to the spirits.

"If you are not, then, as that woman said, are you indeed the chosen?"

Subaru didn't answer. Couldn't answer. There was no point in any of it any more. Whoever and whatever the entity in front of him was, he could do nothing against her.

"Ah, how it pains me to be ignored! How vexing! How truly vexing!" She held her head in her hands as she twisted to look at the ceiling, performing strange contortions with her body.

"Well, no matter." Without warning, she stopped, and returned to a relaxed position.

"Even if you are uncooperative, we will take you to her. Then, she can determine the truth for herself! In the meantime, we will begin the trial, to determine if the vessel is worthy!"

She began a spiel consisting of insane words and the Witch's praises, shouting them high into the air, but Subaru closed them off, retreating into his own mind. His emotions were giving out, replaced with mana-deprived tiredness.

There was a rumble, and the ground shook. Subaru was already on the floor, so he didn't fall, but the cultist lost her balance, and had to catch herself with one of her shadow hands.

All his spirits cried out in fear, transmitting the same impression as one.

Run.

Instead, Subaru turned, and he saw the landscape outside the palace entrance shift. It bulged up, and then an enormous beast erupted with an explosion of dirt and stone.

From behind him, Petelgeuse ranted and raved, and his hands shot out towards the beast, but it merely looked in their direction, and the hands were erased by a wave of cold.

Then it opened its maw, and roared, a sound that struck primal terror into Subaru's heart.

It was the straw that broke the camel's back. His mind broke, shattered into pieces, and was ground down into the finest dust. He barely even noticed the freezing cold eroding his life away.

"Sleep, along with my daughter."

It was impossible to say which killed him first, the cold freezing him to his bones, or the overpowering fear that stopped his heart.

AN: I suffered with writer's block over the weekend, which is unfortunate, because that's when I do most of my writing. I guess I was taking a break last week, and this chapter is a bit early :P

In other news, I ended up cutting the scene where Subaru would have used his conversing mirror, so he's been carrying it around uselessly. Oh well. Maybe I'll remove it when I go back over this arc.

After next chapter, I'll be taking a short break to work on my outline. Enough has changed that I need to neaten it up a bit.