Wish Upon a Sin

by HoboWizard

After dying to Elsa in the loot house, Subaru gains a slightly different ability. He's forced to take a longer view on events, as a single death will undo all the progress he's made. First two chapters don't really diverge from canon. Eventual web novel spoilers. New cover image is by u/Json25 on reddit!

23. Arc 2 - Chapter 17

When Subaru had first come across the trio of cultists in the middle strata, he had been panicking out of his mind. While it was true that he didn't have a well-defined place in the grand plan, there was no good reason for him to be so close to enemy lines, especially without his escort.

But when they had bowed to him, not even asking a single question of him, he had calmed considerably.

He had spun a tall tale of how he was going to infiltrate the Crusch camp's position, to which the cultists had not reacted at all. Not that they would, the emotionless blighters.

However, very quickly, Subaru had thought of another possibility. What if he could use them?

"I need your assistance," he had said. "If I approach alone, I will appear too suspicious. That's why you three are going to chase me. Once we get to the clearing, give me a twenty second head-start, then start your pursuit."

The cultists had said nothing. It was unnerving, the way they accepted everything he said so silently.

"Act as though you intend to cut me down," Subaru had ordered. "I have contracted spirits, so I'll be safe. Don't use so much mana enhancement that you catch up to me, allow me to set the pace. Don't use magic until the enemy has almost reached us. Don't use more than one spell each, and make it below El-level. Try and make it flashy."

The cultists had merely nodded.

"As you command, Lord Pride," the lead one had uttered, his voice flat and monotonous.

Now, Subaru was witnessing them die. They must have known there would be no way to escape once they reached this far.

And yet, they had done so anyway.

Even now, one was ducking and weaving between the riders' weapons, losing an arm in the process, diving forwards and raising his remaining hand towards Subaru, all in an effort to make the illusion as strong as possible.

The air rippled, and the cultist fired a blade of wind, his last action before a sword took his head and his life.

"Akua!" Subaru yelled out, and the golden light shimmered into existence just in time to block the spell.

The shield cracked from the force of the blow.

The cultists' really hadn't been pulling their punches. When Subaru had said 'below El-level', they must have assumed everything just underneath that was fine.

He had to hold back his exasperation. Sol had barely fueled two spells, and he was already running out of steam again.

But he could not afford to mess this up. Not when things were going so perfectly.

"Oh, thank goodness," he said as the riders moved up to him. He didn't need to fake the breathless relief in his voice. That was entirely natural.

"I thought I was going to die. You guys are lifesavers. Really."

The lead one, an old man with white hair and beard, stared down at Subaru.

"…yes, quite," he said. For some reason, he wasn't wearing armour like the other riders. Instead, he was wearing a finely tailored butler's uniform, but he did have six sword sheaths strapped to his waist.

Subaru felt his guard rise. The man was in servant's garbs, but he clearly knew his way around those swords he was carrying. Subaru wouldn't be surprised if he was the most dangerous person among them. It seemed only the strongest eschewed armour in this world.

"I must apologise to you," the man continued. "I did not expect them to push so hard to kill you, even to the point of ignoring us. Do you have an idea of why that might be the case?"

Subaru nodded, and straightened up, staring the old man dead in the eye. "Yes, of course. I have information on the cult's activities. I've stolen information about their movements and capabilities. Your leaders will want to hear it."

The man raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? That would be welcome, however, I cannot guarantee you'll be able to meet with Lady Crusch. Security is tight at the moment, and we cannot be sure that your information is worthwhile."

Subaru grit his teeth. If he was not with Crusch, learning everything he could from the command post, then he might miss out on valuable intel. Not to mention, he'd have to pass information through intermediaries, who couldn't be relied upon to convey everything accurately.

But he let none of that slip.

"I understand," he replied instead. "I'll tell someone, and they can bring it to your leader, to Lady Crusch. I'm sure it will be worthwhile. After all…"

He glanced down at the trio of cultists.

"...they certainly thought it was."

---

Crusch's camp had been hastily set up, so there wasn't much in the way of creature comforts for guests.

Subaru was lucky enough to get a crate to sit on while he waited for someone to come and talk to him.

As soon as they reached the top of the incline, the old man had gone straight to the singular tent on the field, leaving Subaru to be accompanied by one of the guards. Or were they soldiers? All of their armour seemed to match, and seemed different to the type that Alexander wore.

"How long is this going to take?" Subaru asked, glancing out over the city.

"I can't say," the soldier replied. He was sitting on the grass beside Subaru, rather than the nice, comfortable crate. He had one leg tucked underneath him, and the other bent so he had his foot on the ground, ready to stand up at a moment's notice.

"Lady Crusch is extremely busy, but I'm sure she'll send someone to see you soon," he said, chewing a long piece of grass between his teeth.

At first, Subaru had been afraid the soldier was standing guard over him in case he had been a spy—you know, like he was, kind of—but the careless attitude he was taking suggested otherwise. Perhaps he was only there to make poor civilian Subaru feel less uncomfortable in a camp of warriors.

Subaru sighed, and looked out over the city once more.

He could see the smoke plumes rising high into the air, seemingly emerging from completely random places. But each of which had been meticulously planned out. Not a single one was out of place. It was almost as if Subaru was looking down at a large-scale version of the cult's battle maps.

Everything is falling apart. This puts even Mora's most optimistic predictions to shame. I don't have long.

"Can you deliver a message for me?" he asked.

"A message?" the soldier repeated. He shrugged. "I suppose I could. But I wouldn't worry. Old man Wil's gone to talk to her, and she'll be out in—"

"There are three Sin Archbishops in the city," Subaru interrupted.

The soldier blinked at the interruption, glancing at Subaru in confusion, then the realisation hit him, and horror dawned on his face.

"And they'll be here soon," Subaru continued. "Perhaps even minutes, though we probably have longer. Please tell her that."

The soldier's face was pale. "Three…? Minutes!? Are you sure? I mean, I know those guys really wanted to stop you, but… three?"

"Three," Subaru confirmed. He held the soldier's gaze for a moment, as he seemed to debate Subaru's words internally.

The soldier swallowed.

"Er, yeah. I'll tell her."

He leapt to his feet, and ran towards the command tent.

Subaru watched him go.

The two guards in front of the tent lowered their halberds at him as he approached, but the soldier was able to convince them to let him pass fairly quickly.

Subaru saw both of the guards turn their heads to him, but neither abandoned their post.

Well, all I can do now is wait.

Subaru looked back down the incline, to the terrain at the foot of the hill. There was a wide clearing all around the road, but not far past that, obstacles started popping up. The right side was relatively clear, with only a few patches of trees before the noble estates of the middle strata began.

On the other hand, the left side was home to a thickly wooded stretch which served as a privacy barrier for the estates on the flat ground under the cliff face. It was the perfect staging ground for an attacking force, which had not gone unnoticed by the cultists.

Mora had planned for their forces to take shelter there until they were ready to advance, and Subaru doubted that Petelgeuse would change that plan.

How many were already hiding there?

He glanced around at the defensive force, mostly armoured soldiers, but with a sprinkling of knights tossed in for good measure. There were probably no more than a couple of hundred of them.

Two hundred, which is a lot less than the number of cultists running around. The city's defenders way outnumber them, but they're playing the 'divide and conquer' game. If I could force a confrontation with more defenders…

He shook his head.

No, that wouldn't work. The cult's too slippery, they'd never be caught. Hell, they'd relish the chance to skip past the entire army.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the tent flap fly up, and he turned to see Crusch Karsten in the flesh, wearing a blue military uniform, striding out towards him.

On her right was the knight who always seemed to be by her side, Felix, still wearing his blue and white dress.

And on her left was the old man who had rescued Subaru. He somehow looked grimmer than he had before. In fact, if looks could kill, Subaru was pretty sure he'd have already died.

Wait, maybe looks can kill in this world. That would be just my luck. Better be aware of that in case I suddenly die for no apparent reason.

Crusch wasn't outright running, but she was taking great strides, so she quickly covered the distance between them.

Subaru stood up as she approached, and bowed the way Otto had taught him to.

"You don't appear to be all that worried, despite claiming to carry such grave news," she said once she got close enough to be heard while speaking evenly. "If you have lied to my subordinates, there will be consequences. I would suggest you speak quickly. Are there three Sin Archbishops in the city?"

"Yes, there are," Subaru answered.

He saw her eyes narrow in anger, and she opened her mouth to speak, but he hurriedly continued, "I have no proof but my word, but I swear I'm speaking the truth. The Sin Archbishop of Sloth has led his forces into the city, and Gluttony and Wrath aiding him."

Those words cut her short. Though she still eyed him suspiciously, it seemed she was not quite ready to interrupt him.

Seeing his chance, Subaru hurriedly went on, "Have you felt anything strange over the last hour? Like there's a tension you can't get rid of, an anger that won't die, or a fear you can't get over?"

Crusch remained motionless for a moment, then slowly nodded. "Now that you mention it… I have been having some particularly bad pre-battle jitters. What of it?"

"That's Wrath!" Subaru said. "She's the one causing it! And the effect is going to get worse and worse, until people can't control it anymore, and they start rioting."

He paused, and tried to gather his thoughts.

It was so easy in the abstract. 'Don't worry, Subaru, just tell them everything and get them to fight for you'. But what proof do I have! Nothing!

"I… I don't have any proof of what I'm saying…"

His eyes shot to the old man.

"But the cultists were trying to stop me! That has to mean something, right?"

Crusch turned to the old man, who nodded slowly.

"That is the case. They would surely have killed him if we had not been here."

Crusch nodded, then turned back to Subaru. She considered him for a moment, then asked, "Assuming I did believe you, what information would you share?"

Subaru felt the relief flooding through him. Though he probably couldn't appear more sketchy, if she was willing to listen to him, that was all he needed.

"The three Sin Archbishops," he said. "Sloth, Gluttony, and Wrath, they all have strange magics. Sloth can attack with some kind of invisible force. It's shaped like a hand, but you can't see it. Wrath is the one behind the fear spell. I don't know anything about her aside from that, but I do know it has varying effectiveness, and there is at least one Divine Protection that can nullify it. The Divine Protection of Calming Words, I think it was called."

He paused.

"Lastly… Gluttony. He's strong, extremely so. He can survive attacks that would kill any normal person, and his attacks can shatter steel. He can also teleport—"

Come to think of it, was 'teleport' a word that was in use in this world? Subaru couldn't recall ever hearing someone say it.

"He can shift his position with a technique of some kind. You could be facing him, and then the next second he disappears and attacks from behind you. And lastly, if he touches you and knows your name, he can somehow attack you with White Whale's Mist of Elimination."

The very instant Subaru uttered those words, the atmosphere changed.

"The White Whale?" the old butler repeated, and his tone was far graver than it had been at any point prior. Subaru couldn't help but meet his eyes, and he found himself unable to drag them away. It was like he was a rabbit, facing down a starving wolf.

Then the butler turned his head away.

"Forgive me," he said, letting out a small sigh. "It appears that I am less in control of myself than I anticipated."

"No," Crusch said. "I am shocked too. But you say a Sin Archbishop can use the same ability as the Whale? Why—?"

Then she shook her head.

"No, prior to that, I must ask. How do you possess such knowledge? The Witch Cult does not often emerge, and information on them is limited. For an unknown party to come claiming to have learned of the powers of their Sin Archbishops… you understand that I must inquire further."

And from the way the old butler had his hand resting on the pommel of his sword, Subaru didn't think he'd be able to avoid answering. Unlike last time, he couldn't rely on Reinhard's guess to do the heavy lifting for him, but luckily, he had already planned out his backstory.

"I found out about them just this morning, while I was 'rummaging around' in one of the manors of the middle strata.'

The old man lifted an eyebrow, and Felix's ears picked up.

That was the answer Subaru had landed on. The simplest way to explain the depth of his knowledge was to have heard it directly from the mouths of the Witch Cultists, and the simplest way to have heard it was to have been doing something illegal in the first place. Thus, he would be 'Subaru Natsuki, Burglar Illusionist'

"You're a thief?" Felix interrupted. His mouth was perked up in a slight smile, like he couldn't quite believe that Subaru had just admitted it.

"A burglar," Subaru said. "I don't only steal things. Sometimes companies need to do some corporate espionage, and people like me are who they hire. But yes, this one I was trying to steal from."

Crusch's mouth was in a thin line. She didn't seem amused by the lighthearted way Subaru had said the words.

"Is that so? And what exactly was in this manor?"

"Well, for one thing, there were a lot more people in it than there should have been based on the external appearance. The place was practically swarming with black robes. I decided to get a better look, and I found a group of them discussing invasion plans, and that's where I learned about the Sin Archbishops."

Crusch tilted her head. "And… you just snuck in, surrounded by Witch Cultists, in order to hear this information."

"Almost," Subaru said, lifting his hands. "Come out, everyone."

Four spirits winked into existence, extending their greetings to the three, though none of them seemed to have the spirit affinity to pick up on their feelings.

"I am a spirit arts user," Subaru said. "And an illusionist. I was able to use my abilities to sneak in."

He paused, waiting for any other questions the candidate might have.

Crusch held his gaze, the moments dragging on, Subaru's spirits disappearing one-by-one as they individually decided they would rather get a little more rest than be stared down by the scary lady.

Finally, she spoke.

"You are a spirit arts user, who spends his days breaking into manors? When someone of such skill could easily find a more honourable avenue of employment?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I must admit… I find your situation to be rather… 'strange' shall we say."

More like 'unbelievable', Subaru thought. Yeah, I understand. But this is the best I could come up with!

He raised his hands, trying to appear harmless and innocent. "Yeah, I know I look super suspicious, and my background couldn't be sketchier… but I don't want to see this city be destroyed. If I can do anything to try and prevent that outcome, I have to try."

Crusch held his gaze for a few seconds more, then finally, her expression softened.

"...I believe that those words, at least, are said with heartfelt conviction. In that case, I suppose I can take your advice into consideration. I will adjust accordingly. You may wait here."

From the way she said those words, Subaru didn't think it was a mere suggestion. Well, it didn't matter. He had no intention of trying to escape anyway.

She turned around, and beckoned to one of the soldiers, and started walking back to the command tent, her knight and butler in tow.

Felix was giving him an odd look over his shoulder, but Subaru didn't care.

He had told them everything he wanted to, which was basically everything, except for Sloth's strange succession. He didn't even know what it was yet.

Keeping it from them might hurt their chances, but I don't need them to win, he thought morbidly. I just need them to survive long enough that I can see Petelgeuse die, and figure out Wrath. Hopefully Batenkaitos was right when he said she was sticking by him.

He glanced around the rest of the makeshift camp.

Already, the soldiers had begun to ready themselves for combat. Several were deep in hushed conversations with their conversing mirrors, and most were watching the incline warily.

The minutes stretched by, and Subaru waited with bated breath. He watched the clearing at the bottom of the incline like a hawk, his eyes tracing the tree line around it, searching for the dark shapes of the cultists.

He strained his body a little trying to see the Mark of the Witch every once in a while, but he couldn't make out any major patches of darkness in the vicinity. It seemed that they still had some time before the Sin Archbishops arrived.

He was so focused on the front, he almost missed the ones approaching behind them.

He felt a surge of awe from Sol, and he turned to see a procession moving down the road from the palace. He could spot many of the foremost members wearing the distinctive white robes of the royal knights, but there seemed to be over a hundred people in the group. Surely they didn't send every last knight in the kingdom, did they?

As they drew closer, Subaru saw that his intuition had been correct. While all were dressed in white, most had orange highlights on their robes.

"The Iron Fang," Subaru muttered.

Anastasia's private army had come out to help them. And she hadn't only sent soldiers. Subaru could just about make out the lilac hair of the lead rider. Julius himself was coming to help.

I didn't think she'd be the type to help out of the goodness of her heart. Is she getting paid for loaning them out?

He shook his head. While it was possible that the kingdom had hired them, that didn't match up with what he knew of her.

Either Julius asked permission to go out, and Anastasia sent them with him to protect him, or she sees a chance to score brownie points with the citizens.

He watched them for a moment, as Julius reached Crusch's group, and they spoke in low tones.

Julius glanced towards him, and Subaru felt their eyes meet.

He considered waving, but he supposed he shouldn't appear too cheerful in a situation like this.

It was good to see him though.

Julius turned his attention back to Crusch, and Subaru let his own gaze drift away.

The camp was now a flurry of activity. The warriors from the Knights, Crusch's soldiers, the Iron Fang, and even a few members of the city guard were gathering into spots around the field, setting themselves up to take a defensive line at the top of the incline.

There was a rumble, and great mounds of dirt started rising up from the ground, as the army's earth mages began raising walls to fortify their positions.

"It's quite something, Nyah?"

Subaru nearly jumped out of his skin at the voice, and he was sure the speaker noticed.

He turned with a frown to face Crush's knight.

"Sir Felix," he said. "I didn't hear you get here—"

"I didn't mean you too," Felix interrupted, smiling widely.

Subaru paused. There was something vaguely disconcerting about the knight's smile. It was too forced, and there was a strange glint in his eyes.

But then, the crossdressing knight had always appeared odd.

Subaru didn't know him well enough to say whether he was outright suspicious of Subaru, but it wouldn't be out of the question.

In fact, Subaru supposed it would be odd if he didn't find Subaru suspicious. The idea that some civilian would steal information from the cult then manage to evade them all the way to this location was almost laughable.

"Well, to what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked.

Felix tilted his head. "Oh, nyothing… I just wanted to see if you were alright. You must have been hurt when trying to get away from those evildoers."

"Hurt?" Subaru repeated. "No, not really. I had my magic to protect me."

"Well, you don't mind if I check, do you?"

Subaru glanced down the incline, but he still didn't see any trace of the Mark of the Witch. There was still time.

He shrugged, and turned back to the knight. "If you're offering, I don't see why not. Are you a healer?"

Felix's face fell the slightest amount, as if he was disappointed by Subaru's cooperation, but it passed so quickly he thought he imagined it.

"Of course! Ferri is the best healer in the country. You should be grateful, it's not often a normal civilian gets to be examined by the 'Blue'."

He reached out a hand so it almost touched Subaru's chest, then he conjured an orb of blue light.

Subaru felt a mild prickling in his chest, and sensed the foreign mana entering his body. It didn't seem to mean any harm though, so he didn't bother to try and resist it.

Felix remained silent for a moment, a frown slowly growing on his face.

"You use Ryuuhou?" he asked after a moment.

Subaru nodded. "I do. It's what let me escape from the cultists. Or at least, keep ahead of them."

"Hmm."

Felix kept examining him for a few moments, then withdrew his hand.

"Ryuuhou is a damaging technique, it puts a great strain on your body to use it. It looks like you only used the basic forms, but you've really abused it."

Then he frowned. "Maybe if I…"

"Sir Felix, might I ask what you are doing?"

This time it was Felix's turn to leap out of his skin.

He spun around, coming face to face with the purple-haired knight who had snuck up behind him.

"Julius!" he responded accusingly. "You shouldn't scare me like that when I have a patient!"

Subaru turned his head slowly, careful not to let any of his feelings show on his face.

The purple haired knight stood tall and proud, with a noble demeanour that made him seem arrogant and unapproachable. Or perhaps that was just Subaru's bias.

"Does Crusch know?" Julius asked. "I would have thought she would prefer if you focused on preparing for the wounded."

"He could have been wounded, couldn't he have?" Felix answered, but seemed a bit defensive.

Julius sighed, and turned his yellow eyes on Subaru.

It hurt a little, seeing him look at him with such suspicion, but it was understandable. Subaru had never met this Julius.

"I have been told that you are a Spirit Arts User," Julius said. He sounded friendly enough, despite the circumstances. "I find other practitioners of that style to be quite rare in our kingdom. Would you mind revealing your buds to me?"

"You know, that sounds kind of dirty out of context," Subaru muttered. "You really should watch it, or you'll cause the fujoshis to scream even more than they already do."

But he was already waving his hand through the air and mentally calling out to his companions, and they each flickered into existence, one-by-one.

All except Luna, who still felt exhausted, and had no desire to meet this strange new person that tugged at her heartstrings so much…

"Hey!" Subaru exclaimed as the three material spirits began drifting closer to Julius. "Don't go abandoning me the second a pretty face appears! Haven't we been through so much together!? Have some loyalty!"

"Please do not blame them overmuch," Julius said, breaking into Subaru's faux scolding. "My Divine Protection fascinates spirits, they can't help themselves."

He looked over the three spirits, all of them floating half-way between Subaru and Julius, radiating curiosity. Then the spell seemed to break and they rushed back to hide behind Subaru.

"Now, now, In, don't be jealous," Julius said, as his own Yang quasi-spirit materialised in a flash of light.

While technically the same rank as Sol, Subaru could clearly sense the difference between them. Julius's Yang spirit shone brighter and appeared larger than Sol, the result of several years more experience and growth in the quasi rank.

Sol could sense it too, but he still bravely put himself in front of Huginn and Muninn.

Considering that all three were behind Subaru, he wasn't sure how brave it actually was, but it was the thought that counted.

"Still…" Julius whispered thoughtfully. "Your spirits seem to trust you a great deal. You have forged quite the bond with them. And they have fought hard."

Subaru nodded. "Yeah, we did. It took almost everything out of us though."

"I see."

Julius stared at him for a few moments, seemingly considering something, then his eyes shifted to meet Felix's, and they communicated silently in the way only good friends could.

Subaru felt Felix tense by his side, but he didn't look away from Julius as the spirit knight looked back at him.

"If you don't mind, can I ask you to clarify a couple of—"

"Signal! There's a signal!"

A cry of alarm interrupted Julius's words, and he instantly turned his head towards the voice.

A soldier was pointing towards the city, or more specifically, to the ball of magic shooting into the air like a firework.

"The scouts have sighted the enemy," Julius muttered, his eyes tracing the ball's path. "They're close."

Subaru focused his own eyes, and this time he saw the sign he had been waiting for.

The Mark of the Witch lay over the woods and surrounding buildings, a thin miasma tracing its fingers over the region.

"They're here."

Julius did not voice a disagreement.

---

Subaru waited with bated breath.

His spirits circled around his head in a crown of light, gathering as much additional mana as they could in the last moments before the battle.

The clamour in the camp had died down to nothing. Soldiers waited behind their barricades with the guards and the Iron Fang, while the knights and Crush's entourage remained behind the lines as a reserve force.

Their battle-strategy had not been shared with Subaru, but he could guess what they were attempting easily enough. They had the rank and file soldiers in place to hold back the rank-and-file cultists, while the elite was being held back so that they could engage the major threats. Specifically, the Sin Archbishops.

He watched the forest as it grew thicker with miasma, but the Witch Cult seemed content to allow their forces to gather for the time being.

The scouts raced back to their position, running up the hill like they were being chased by the devil.

Then Subaru saw dust and smoke go up from the noble estates immediately around their position, and a second later, heard the rumble of the explosions.

"Ready yourselves!" he heard Crusch shout. "But do not break formation! Let them come to us! Archers, be ready to fire as they approach!"

Subaru had been put behind the front line, but he wasn't with the main reserves. He was surrounded by around a dozen members of the Iron Fang, all apparently demihumans.

In a previous life, he might have encountered some of them, so he examined their faces carefully in the lull of activity. But it wasn't like he had met all of Anatasia's mercenaries, or even very many at all.

"Something interesting?" a gruff voice asked, accompanied by heavy footsteps.

Subaru turned to face a very large wolf-headed demi-human, bare-chested and carrying an enormous hatchet over his shoulder. He was walking back from the command centre where Crusch was still giving orders, and there was a glint in his eye.

It took Subaru a moment, but he realised that he recognised this one. Ricardo Welkin, the Captain of Anastasia's Iron Fang. Subaru had never talked to him, but he had seen him occasionally accompanying the merchant princess.

"Just seeing if I knew anyone," Subaru said, turning his head back down the slope. "Nothing all that interesting."

"Hmm," Ricardo grunted, but he let Subaru's explanation slide.

"We're going to be here, but we're not protecting you. If the front needs us, we'll be there in a snap. You can run if you think that's too much for you."

Subaru shook his head. "I'll be fine."

Ricardo narrowed his eyes, considering Subaru carefully.

It was uncomfortable to be eyed with such suspicion so often, but he wouldn't have to bear it for long.

One of the other Iron Fang hissed out a curse.

That drew both of their attention, Subaru turning his gaze down to the forest right in time to see the first cultists emerge.

They walked slowly, almost gliding as they emerged from the trees, drifting out in ones and twos, spreading themselves out to block access to the slope.

A couple more explosions sprung up from the estates, then Subaru saw the cultists begin streaming out from their grounds as well.

Beside him, one of the Iron Fang, a dog-headed demi-human, growled softly. They began muttering amongst themselves, but Subaru was too busy to pay attention.

His eyes shot to and fro, tracing the Mark of the Witch to the darkest point, searching for the distinctive form of…

"There he is," he muttered, his gaze finally landing on a green-haired man, standing out in the open, a handful of his minions standing by his side.

"Who?" Ricardo asked, following his gaze, but unable to pick out the person Subaru was looking at from so far away.

"The green-haired man," Subaru said. "He's standing near the woods. That's the Sin Archbishop of Sloth."

"Is that right?" he asked, finally picking the man out. He gestured to one of the other soldiers, who took off running towards Crusch's group.

"What about the other two you mentioned?" he asked. "See them?"

Subaru shook his head. "No. I don't even know what Wrath looks like in the first place."

Ricardo nodded, "Call out if you notice anything."

He glanced towards the command centre, and then clicked his tongue. "Looks like it's starting now. Brace yourself. Battles can be confusing, chaotic beasts."

Subaru swivelled around to look at the command centre, just in time to see Crusch lift her hand towards the heavens.

"Mages!" she cried out, her voice resounding over their forces. Then she swept her hand to point down the slope.

"Open fire!"

Balls of flame and rock appeared in the hands of the mages behind their lines, and then shot out overhead, arcing through the air towards the cultist forces. Subaru couldn't help but notice a large amount of them had been aimed at Petelgeuse.

In response, the cultists started shooting back spells of their own, but the defender's height advantage put them solidly out of range of all but the most powerful of the cultists.

Those few spells that did reach them were blocked by glowing blue shields of water, causing them to detonate above their heads rather than within their ranks.

Down at the foot of the slope, most of the cultists were pulling similar tricks, using their spells to intercept the defender's bombardment. Still, skill in magic was highly variable between the cultists, and not all had the capacity to block spells or get out of the way of the magic racing towards them.

Subaru saw flashes as some of the spells hit their marks, and he spotted more than a few mangled bodies being blasted into the air.

A pitch-black shadow rose up from Petelgeuse's location, and then two gigantic hands swept away all the spells that had been thrown at him.

Then, before the last of the spells had even reached them, the cultists began to charge.

They shot up the slope, the frontmost of them blasting more fire spells up towards the defenders.

Arrows began to fly down to meet them, and Subaru saw more cultists go down, tripping and stumbling, before rolling to a stop.

But many more cultists were able to duck between the arrows, or throw magical shields of wind or water in front of them, all the while drawing closer and closer, until…

"Reserves forward!" Crusch cried out in alarm. "They're trying to force their way through! Front line, back up now!"

"Shit!" Ricardo cursed, bringing his hatchet to the ready. "Jacque, watch the civilian! The rest of you, with me!"

"Wait, what?" Subaru asked. "What's happening?"

But the Iron Fang was already charging, rushing towards the disintegrating front line with reckless abandon.

"With that speed, and the power of those spells… They're sending their best," the only member of the Iron Fang still near Subaru said. He was more human-looking than most of the Iron Fang, the only sign of his demi-human blood being the two animal ears sticking out of his head.

"They're sacrificing themselves! Shit, they're going to tear right through the rank-and-file!" he growled between clenched teeth. He already had his own sword in his hands, and he stepped in front of Subaru. "You need to get back! The line won't hold!"

But despite the warning, Subaru didn't move. The Mark of the Witch lay thickly over him, the cultists wouldn't carelessly attack him. He had to have faith in that, so he could see everything. So he could watch the defender's failings and correct them in his next loop.

He saw the next few seconds as if in slow motion.

The defenders' reserves were still out of place, running towards the front in a disorganised mess.

The front line itself was falling apart, some of the soldiers having been quicker to obey the order to retreat, others still frozen in place as the cultists rushed them.

The cultists' random dodging seemed to not be so random after all, as all of them ended up in a line, their dark cloaks blurring together to form a wave, like they were a tsunami about to wash away the soldiers.

Subaru saw them raising their gloved hands, saw the red glimmer of goa spells flickering into existence…

And then there wasn't a front line anymore.

Multiple points along the top of the slope erupted with fire, sending armoured bodies flying, blasting the limbs off some of them, tearing down what few fortifications the defenders had managed to make.

The cultists reached the soldiers, and knives began sweeping out, drawing arcs of blood through the air as the most elite of Petelgeuse's forces began slaughtering the guards.

Divisions of Crusch's soldiers had been mixed in with the front line, but even they did not have access to as much magic as the cultists did, and they were quickly surrounded and attacked from all angles.

"Damn you!" Ricardo cried, swinging his blade across and cleaving right through one of the cultists.

He barely swatted the corpse away before another two were on him, dodging and darting between his strikes to get around him and attack from two directions.

Ricardo blocked both, whirling wildly and lashing out with his hatchet to force them to retreat, opening them up to attacks from the other mercenaries of the Iron Fang.

Subaru looked up and down the battlefield and saw the same thing happening across the line. The cultists had broken through, but the reserves had moved in quickly, so for now, the fight had not devolved into an all-for-one melee.

The cultists had spent a lot of strength to break through. Their bodies littered the ground, and blood had turned patches of grass red. They had caught the defenders off-guard with their reckless charge, but now Crusch was recalibrating, and committing her strongest pieces.

But there was a reason they were kept back! Now there's nothing to stop—!

"Ah~! How delectable, how scrumptious, how marvellous! I've never seen a full course that looked so appetising!"

In the space between seconds, Gluttony appeared in their midst, his robe billowing like a cape as he landed, two new knives strapped to his wrists, that same maddened grin on his face.

"We'll eat, we'll munch, we'll chew, we'll gorge, we'll devour! Even we might be satisfied by such a wonderful feast!"

"That's Gluttony!" Subaru shouted at the top of his lungs, pointing at the murderous child drawing as much attention as he could.

"Hmm~?" Gluttony looked at Subaru, his eyes narrowing with suspicion, but his expression seemed mostly bemused.

"What~? Why are you here, ~ah? We don't remember anything about this~"

"Die! Witch Cultist!"

One of the soldiers alerted by Subaru's yell charged at the boy, swinging down with his blade with all his might.

Gluttony didn't even need to take his eyes off Subaru to sidestep the strike. He flicked his hand up in dismissal, slicing through the soldier's neck.

"We don't like schemes like that," Gluttony continued as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. "They're confusing, they make no sense, there's no benefit, ~ah."

"All members of the subjection team!" Crusch's voice resounded over the ringing of steel and rumble of magic. "Gather to me! Our target is the Sin Archbishop!"

Gluttony looked over to Crusch, already surrounded by knights and soldiers, and a smile lit up his face.

"~Ah… well, we don't really care, since there's such a feast ready for us! Ah~!"

He bent down, then launched himself at the group, twirling through the air like a missile made of rags.

The old butler—Old man Wil? Subaru never got his real name—rushed out in front to meet him, wielding dual longswords and attacking with ferocity.

Gluttony was surprised by the force of the attacks, and had to backpedal, swinging his arms in wide movements to try and ward off the blades.

"Ah~! You're strong! We're so glad!"

He leapt into the air, and lashed out with his leg, deflecting another of the man's strikes with the ball of his foot.

"Are you tasty~?"

He winked out of existence, appearing behind the man like a reaper, his blades swinging towards the back of his neck.

"Are you scrumptious~?"

The old man ducked at the last second, and his swords whistled through the air to counterattack, but the boy had vanished again.

"Are you gourmet, ~ah!?"

The man was fighting well, Subaru could see clearly he was a cut above the normal soldiers around them, but he had been caught off guard by Gluttony's unusual fighting style.

Even if Subaru had warned them beforehand, fighting an enemy that could teleport on a whim wasn't something any of them had ever trained for.

And Gluttony was still toying with him. He darted in and out, testing the old man's guard, never pressing his advantage, merely withdrawing if the man ever seemed to stumble or block too slow.

"Wilhelm!"

Julius's voice resounded through the metallic clanging of the battlefield, and suddenly, the purple-haired knight was by the butler's side.

"~Ah? We don't like being interrupted…"

Gluttony landed, and within moments, Crusch's subjugation force had spread out and surrounded him. They were still keeping their distance for the time being, but all of them stared at the Sin Archbishop with the intensity of predators eyeing their prey.

For his part, Gluttony didn't seem concerned. Rather, a manic grin was rising on his face.

"...but," the boy continued, "but, but, but! We've never seen a feast like this before! Such resolve, such heart, such a delicious-looking meal!"

He let his hands fall to his side, raised his head towards the sky, and began to laugh. Subaru saw a trail of spittle leaking out of the side of his mouth, and the cultist idly lifted his sleeve to wipe it off.

"...surrender," Crusch ordered, levelling her sword at the boy. "You are outnumbered. You cannot win against us."

Her tone was hard and unforgiving, the tone of someone used to dealing with the heavy matters of life and death.

It should have been reassuring to him. And yet, Subaru felt a shiver go down his spine at the sound. Because underneath that anger, he could hear the slightest trace of pity.

Gluttony stopped laughing.

"Surrender?" he asked, his voice little more than a whisper. "Surrender, so you can take us captive? So you can look down on us? So you can put us in chains?"

He locked his gaze onto her, his eyes deathly cold.

"You're just a noble, a noble who everyone thinks is great and special and one-of-a-kind. We've eaten so many of them that we start to sour on the taste. But we'll still eat you! Leaper!"

In an instant, he was in front of her, one hand outstretched.

Crusch reacted quickly, throwing herself to the side and lashing out blindly with her sword, the wind exploding around her.

Gluttony blocked the sword with his blade, and even the magic she had used did little more than cause Gluttony's robes to billow.

His hand brushed her uniform, and Subaru felt his heart leap into his mouth.

Time slowed.

Crusch's face had gone pale. Subaru had already revealed the extent of Gluttony's power. She already knew she was doomed.

Gluttony himself seemed disappointed. His hand moved towards his mouth.

"Crusch Karsten."

It only took an instant. One second, Crusch was moving with determination despite her fear, trying to land a hit with her sword before she was eliminated, the next, the light in her eyes had faded and she was falling.

Well… shit. I really hope the rest of them still fight without her… and if not, I'm going to need to figure out a way to keep her away from the battle—

"Lady Crusch!" One of her soldiers cried out, lunging forwards at the Sin Archbishop.

The subjugation force was gathered in a large circle, so her reinforcements were already present. The soldiers to her left and right charged, catching Gluttony in a pincer attack.

Gluttony hissed, spinning in midair to block both strikes.

He landed, his eyes darting over the other soldiers.

"Don't let him recover!" Julius shouted. "Press the attack! Be ready for him to disappear again!"

Gluttony sighed.

"We won't have the chance to properly prepare you…"

Then, faster than Subaru's eyes could track, both of the soldiers beside him had been blown back, catching several of their companions and bringing them all down to the ground.

"Audred. Tilo."

Gluttony licked his hands, and two of the bodies went still.

"...but even unprepared, gourmet ingredients are delicious!"

He vanished, and reappeared on the other side of the circle, behind one of the other soldiers. He was a grizzled soldier, the veteran of many battles. He didn't even sense the presence behind him until it was too late.

Gluttony's palm struck his back, and he was sent flying.

"Fiete!"

Gluttony vanished, then immediately ducked under Julius's blade as he reappeared beside the finest knight.

He didn't spend any time trying to fight him though.

He dodged another strike, and lunged for the soldier by his side, drawing blood and disappearing once more.

"Hahn!"

He struck a man, no more than twenty years of age, still brimming with potential.

"Ordell! Ah~ such a diligent commander, to so faithfully memorise these names for us! To so exquisitely train her forces into such gourmet meals!"

He continued in that manner, teleporting around the group, striking at the weakest of them and sending them slumping to the ground like puppets with their strings cut.

"Soldiers, retreat!" Julius shouted, swinging his sword in an arc towards the Sin Archbishop's head. He must have run up while Subaru was distracted by Gluttony's movements.

Gluttony ducked under it easily, but when he tried to counter with his own blade, Julius swept his blade around, forcing him to retreat.

"Reinforce the line!" Julius continued shouting. "Wilhelm, Ricardo, Harmon, Gratian! On me, we'll have to take him out! Felix! Get Lady Crusch out of here!"

Gluttony jumped backwards as the combatants suddenly shifted. The soldiers practically ran to get out of the way as the five Julius had named took positions around him.

A butler, the best of the Iron Fang, the Finest Knight, and two other knights Subaru had never seen before. The best of the best of the defenders gathered there.

They stood ready around the Sin Archbishop, arranged like the five points of a pentagram, as if it were a ritual to exorcise the little demon from existence.

"Ah~? Why dismiss our appetisers so soon? We were still hungry ~ah."

Gluttony shifted to glance around him, all six combatants holding their positions, all experienced enough that they did not want to move carelessly.

But it wasn't on their interplay that Subaru was focusing.

Wait… what did he just say?

Subaru felt his brows furrow as he looked at Julius, certain that he must have misheard.

But no, behind the finest knight, Felix was there, tears streaming down his face, eyes burning with rage, dragging Crusch's limp form away from the battle.

"...what?" Subaru breathed, eyes seizing on Felix. "How can…?"

He turned to his bodyguard, the mercenary of the Iron Fang who had been left by his side.

The demi-human was pale-faced and shivering, but he still held fast to his sword, and still kept himself between Subaru and the battle.

He jumped when Subaru put a hand on his shoulder and dragged him around to look at him.

"Eh? What are you—? No, you need to get back! This is—!"

"That girl," Subaru interrupted, pointing at Crusch. "Who is she? What is her name?"

Jacque blinked at him. "Who—? That's the Duchess Karsten. She's the leader here. Did… did you not meet her?"

Karsten. That's her name. He knows who she is.

Subaru flicked his eyes to look back at Gluttony, only to find that the battle had already started.

Gluttony was laughing as he danced in midair, trying to keep himself away from the group so he only faced a maximum of two of them at a time.

One of the knights was already lying on the ground. He appeared lifeless, but not a speck of blood was on him.

"What about that man?" Subaru asked. "Who is he?"

Jacque looked at him, then paused. "I… He's a knight from the palace, isn't he? But…"

He trailed off, and Subaru pressed him impatiently. "But? But what?"

"I didn't see him approach," Jacque continued, seeming rather unsure of himself. "Where did he come from?"

"Where?" Subaru asked. "You didn't see him standing with the others when Julius took command? How many were standing around Gluttony then?"

Jacque frowned, putting a hand to his forehead, his face marred with confusion and his wolf ears lying flat.

"I think… three?"

Subaru blinked. "Three?"

He looked back to the battle just in time to see the other knight he didn't recognise hit the ground.

Damn it, why are they losing! Aren't they strong? And why can't he remember those knights when he can remember Crusch!?

"Do you still know who Crusch is?" Subaru asked, eyes now fixated on the battle.

"Duchess Crusch? …yes? What are you saying? Is there something wrong with your head?"

Gluttony was still laughing, but now his skin was covered in blood, and his dark rags were soaking with an even darker colour. Subaru had failed to notice it with the brief glances he had been sparing them.

The warriors had lost two of their number, but their loss had cost Gluttony.

Now he was facing the three best, and they had grown wise to his tricks. They had arranged themselves to always be ready to defend one another's backs, when the Sin Archbishop tried to pull his signature "teleport-behind-you" trick.

In fact, that butler was so fast on his feet that Gluttony barely had a second to prepare after shifting before those dual swords were aiming for his neck once more.

"Palm of the Fist King!" Gluttony shouted as Subaru watched, and one of Wilhelm's swords shattered into pieces.

But the butler didn't slow, and Gluttony had to lurch in mid-air to dodge the other sword. He didn't get away entirely free, and the tip of the blade opened a new wound on his cheek, tracing a red arc through the air.

Wilhelm didn't even pause while drawing a fresh sword from the spares in his scabbards, already lashing out for another attack.

Then Gluttony had vanished again, and he was set upon by Ricardo's hatchet, and forced back by icicles shot out by Julius's spirits.

The Sin Archbishop was trying to target Ricardo, Subaru noticed. The Captain of the Iron Fang was a large target, and despite his clear skill, he wasn't quite as good as Julius and Wilhelm were. His strikes mostly served to protect himself, to buy himself space and keep Gluttony occupied as the other two adjusted their positions.

Wilhelm held significant martial ability and power, so much so that Subaru knew he had to have been a powerful knight in the past. Perhaps one that had sworn not to fight anymore, and retreated to serving as a butler for the rest of his days, only to be dragged back into action by the reappearance of the Witch Cult? That could fit in with the anime tropes Subaru was familiar with. Every strike he landed drew ribbons of blood in the air, his eyes blazing with intensity.

And Julius was the Finest Knight, his six quasi-spirits blazing by his side. Whenever Gluttony came close to wounding one of his compatriots, his magic would lash out and drive the cultist back, and not long after, Julius's own blade would be aiming for the Sin Archbishop's life.

For his part, Gluttony looked like he was having the time of his life.

His face was a mask of blood, one of his daggers had been sliced off, and his rags now sported new tears and gashes, and yet he still laughed.

"Gourmet, gourmet, gourmet! You are all gourmet! You are everything we dreamed of!"

The tide seemed to have turned. Gluttony was being overwhelmed, not able to focus on a single opponent and take them out as he had up to that point. But Subaru still clenched his teeth in frustration.

It's too slow, not like with Marcos. He has plenty of time to decide to run away. There's no way they'd be able to catch him if he decides to start teleporting away and not look back.

Rationally, he knew that such an outcome would be beneficial to him as well. Gluttony had no interest in Emilia, and would likely choose to save his skin rather than die for a cause he did not believe in.

But there was a shadow in his heart, a Greed for vengeance. He wanted the Sin Archbishop to pay, to suffer and die for the part he had played in the destruction of the city.

Allowing the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony to escape was not an option Subaru would readily entertain.

If there's any chance at all, I'll kill him. I'll make sure Petelgeuse is nowhere near Marcos, I'll get Julius and the butler to help him, I'll get Otto to help me lay a trap. Anything to kill him.

Something seemed to shift in the battle, and Wilhelm attacked with a sudden fury, Gluttony spinning and ducking between the strikes, teleporting away, now next to Ricardo, now reaching out…

Subaru's heart dropped.

Ricardo was exposed. He had overextended himself in one of his attacks, and he had stumbled.

Usually Julius's magic would fly in to save him, but that did not happen this time. Julius was still gathering his magic, his sword beginning to glimmer with all the colours of the rainbow. Subaru had never seen him do that before.

Ricardo's eyes were wide, but there was something wrong with them. They were fearful, but there was something else there too. Like there was a glimmer of… satisfaction?

And as Gluttony raked his claws down across Ricardo's face, as he raised his hand to erase all memory of the Captain of the Iron Fang…

The demi-human bared a toothy smile.

Time slowed to a crawl.

"Ricardo Welkin!"

Lick.

The large wolf-headed man started falling.

"Al Clarista!"

Julius's voice.

An arc of light flashed through the air, shining all colours at once.

Something went flying.

It was a dark shape, small, no larger than a basketball. Subaru couldn't make it out for a moment, his eyes were so blinded by the light.

It landed, and rolled, coming to a stop by Subaru's feet.

He looked down.

And he saw Lye Batenkaitos's head.

His last laugh still frozen on his face.

---

For a moment, Subaru just stared at the decapitated head, watching as it slowly leaked blood onto the grass below.

Then a smile slowly twisted the corners of his mouth. He had been planning a moment like this for the entire month, had dreamed that he might be able to accomplish it in this trial run, but to see it done so easily!

The first of his missions, the death of a single Archbishop… he had done it!

"Left flank, fall back! Knights, to me!"

Subaru looked up at the sound of the voice to see the Finest Knight charging towards the left side of the slope, sparing no thought towards Gluttony's corpse. He couldn't afford to.

A black tide had reached the top of the incline, and the broken bodies of Crusch's soldiers were being swept through the air, tracing impossible twists through the air.

Impossible to anyone else's eyes, perhaps. Subaru could clearly see the shadowy hands yanking them to and fro.

He looked down.

And his eyes directly met Petelgeuse's.

Sloth's face had always been pale and alien, filled with madness and unreal joviality, but the expression on his face now was the most horrifying Subaru had ever seen.

It was utterly blank, as he just stared at Subaru, at Gluttony's head lying in a slowly expanding pool of blood, at the absolute mockery Subaru had managed to make of the cult's plans.

Subaru put on a grin and waved.

Petelgeuse's face twisted up with demonic fury, and his Unseen Hands went haywire.

"You!" he cried out, paying no heed to the knights slowly cutting through his forces around him. "You traitor! PRIDE!"

His hands lashed out towards him, blasting both defender and cultist aside on their way to reach him.

"Can I really be called a traitor if I wasn't on your side to begin with?" Subaru muttered under his breath, and lunged to the side, Ryuuhou running at maximum through his legs as he kicked off. He felt the wind rustle his hair as the hands rushed through the place he had been standing, and he lifted a hand to shield himself from the clumps of dirt the hands threw up as they impacted the ground.

"Kill him!" Petelgeuse screamed. "Kill PRI—!"

A rainbow light flashed through the air, and half the unseen hands came apart, Julius suddenly by the Sin Archbishop's side.

Petelgeuse shifted his attention towards the knight, but it was too late. Julius's sword swung down, and cleaved into the Sin Archbishop's chest.

That's one down, Subaru thought as the body hit the ground. And who knows how many others left.

His eyes traced the surrounding battle, looking for the darker blackness that marked the Fingers.

However, the battle was chaotic, and with the way the cultists were running about, he couldn't see clearly if any were stronger in the Mark than any others.

Not to mention…

"Akua!"

A golden barrier of light flashed into existence between Subaru and a cross-dagger, cracking straight through and sinking up to the hilt.

Subaru held back a curse and pointed both hands at the cultist who had thrown it.

"Ice Brand Arts!"

A trio of ice daggers flew out, and the cultist had to backpedal slightly to avoid them, leaving him open to one of the soldiers.

The soldier skewered the cultist through the chest, then whirled to try and block another cultist's knife, not quite making it and taking a blade in the shoulder.

That left Subaru free to scan the battlefield, frantically peering through the shadow of the Mark.

It seemed slightly darker on the right side of the battlefield, though it was difficult to tell with all the dust that had been thrown up in the chaos.

Then suddenly, that dust was blown away, replaced by red light, and the din of battle was obscured by screams and the roaring of flames.

Subaru ducked backwards, trying to get out of the Melee to get a look at what was happening, but before he could…

"Pride!" a furious, maddened voice called out. Subaru wasn't familiar with it, but he knew the tone.

Akua!

Subaru ducked back, Sol's golden shield barely deflecting another dagger as a wizened old cultist charged at him, half-a-dozen shadowy hands emerging from his back.

"Traitor!"

"I've never met you!" Subaru cried out, dodging to the side before the hands could catch him. "Which means that you are Petelgeuse, doesn't it? This isn't an inheritance, is it? You're possessing your own subordinates!"

"How!?" Petelgeuse snarled, "How are you avoiding my hands, my proof of her love? How can you see them? You infidel! You must die!"

Subaru bit back a curse as he lunged through a gap in the shadows.

"I don't know how I see them! And I don't care! Ice Brand Arts!"

A dagger of ice flew forward, aiming for Petelgeuse's throat, but a hand lashed out to block it before it could hit.

However, it had served its purpose, causing Petelgeuse to falter long enough for Subaru to withdraw behind another scuffle.

"Don't run away, Pride! You must pay!"

A shadow hand swept past, and both soldiers and cultists alike were blown away, their bodies broken and twisted. None were left standing, clearing the area between him and the murderous Archbishop.

"Damn it, you should care about your minions more!" Subaru shouted, dodging around another flurry of strikes from the black hands.

His legs were screaming at him, the pain feeling almost as if they were on fire. His Ryuuhou technique wasn't helping much anymore. The mana was flowing inconsistently, slowing and clogging up the channels it usually flowed through.

"Why!? Why!? Why can you see them!?" Petelgeuse continued raging, flinging his hands out wildly, making it even harder to dodge them, their erratic movements bringing them far closer to the spots Subaru was trying to jump to.

Damn it, I'm not going to die yet!

"That's the Sin Archbishop!" he cried out, eyes darting over the surrounding soldiers, searching for one who could run up and aid him, and finding none. "This is Sloth!"

"You dare! You dare betray the Witch's love! Her beautiful love, her generous love, her fair love!"

Subaru saw a glint of steel, and a silhouette rose behind Petelgeuse.

The Witch Cultist noticed it too, and made to turn back and strike, but all his Unseen Hands were stretched out in front of him, trying to crush Subaru, so he was defenceless.

A sword flashed through Petelgeuse's body, carving him in two from hip to shoulder.

"Why?" the old body let out, then fell apart, the hands dissipating into nothing, revealing the old butler standing behind him, dual-wielding bloody swords.

"Wilhelm, right?" Subaru breathed, bending over and clutching his chest. His mana was burning in his body. He had to cut the circulation of his Ryuuhou technique, to rest for a moment.

He coughed, and blood filled his mouth.

"Damn it," he cursed, a wry smile reaching his lips. "I thought Reinhard said that wouldn't happen with the weakest techniques. Guess I'm just special that way."

The butler didn't respond to Subaru's words. In a flash, he was standing in front of Subaru, his sword carving through the neck of another cultist.

Damn it, I'm too distracted!

Suabru surged his mana through his body again, drawing cries of alarm from his spirits. He ignored them. He wouldn't survive the day if he kept doing it, but that was always the plan.

His eyes focused on the body, on the old man that Petelgeuse had possessed, used up, and now undoubtedly abandoned.

The Mark of the Witch was still thick around it, to the level of a Sin Archbishop.

The battlefield wavered, and Subaru felt a darkness rising at the edge of his vision, a shadow unrelated to the Mark. He pushed it down and focused, watching the body intently.

Is it…?

It took a moment for Subaru to confirm with his swimming vision, but after a moment he realised that what he suspected was indeed taking place. The black fog of the Mark was lifting from the corpse, snaking through the air to another point on the battlefield.

Subaru's eyes filled the trail, finally landing on a cultist standing apart from the battle, cultists raging all around him to keep the soldiers away from him.

One hand reached up to pull the mask off his face, and he looked up to the sky in awe.

Subaru saw his mouth move, but the sounds of battle obscured any sound he made, and Subaru's vision was swimming too much for him to accurately read the man's lips.

But he recognised the face. It was Ketty Muttart, the finger Subaru had encountered in the manor.

"That man," he spat out, lifting a hand to point at him. "That's the next Sin Archbishop. That's Petelgeuse."

He couldn't bring himself to turn his head to check if Wilhelm had heard him, but his concern turned out to be unnecessary.

The old butler rushed forward, right as Ketty reached his hands to the heavens and shouted, "Love!"

Black hands whipped out, tearing the surrounding cultists apart, then continuing onward to rip into the ranks of the surrounding soldiers and knights.

His gaze snapped down to Wilhelm, and he thrust his arms towards him.

"This is love! Love, love, lovelovelove!"

Even more hands burst from his body, ripping up the ground and throwing dust everywhere as they barrelled toward Wilhelm like a freight train.

Despite supposedly being invisible to him, Wilhelm was still able to dodge out of the way, just before the ground where he had been was pulverised by the hands.

"Why!? Why can you see them!? Why why why why why!"

The hands chased after him, Ketty's face turning to face Wilhelm.

"Hey ugly! Amn't I your target here!?" Subaru shouted. "Some devotion to the Witch you have!"

As Petelgeuse turned his head back to him, his enraged expression growing even more furious, Subaru started blasting his Ryuuhou again, and leapt backward right as Petelgeuse threw another volley of hands at him.

Damn it, there's so many! He wasn't using this much earlier! Does he grow more powerful in each new body? Is he like some kind of boss monster, and we're just unlocking his subsequent stages?

There were now over a dozen hands flying around, carving up the landscape, laying waste to the surrounding combatants, and trying to murder Subaru.

But Petelgeuse had learned his lesson, and was paying attention to Wilhelm as well, using his hands to try and lash out at him, and keep him from getting too close.

In fact, he was paying an awful lot of attention to the butler. Perhaps…

There was a lull in the hands after him as Petelgeuse crushed a pair of knights who got too close, and Subaru took the opportunity to stabilise his footing, and raise a hand.

This had better work this time.

"Ice Brand Arts!"

An icy dagger lashed out, and Petelgeuse barely saw it coming. He leaned to try and avoid it but it still caught him in the shoulder.

"Damn it! Damn you! Pride!"

Then Wilhelm snuck inside his guard, and his sword swung right though his neck, as if it weren't even there.

Ketty's head fell to the ground, still glaring hatefully at Subaru.

Good riddance.

Subaru coughed, and he felt his legs give out, and he fell to his knees.

No, damn it! I need to keep moving! Where's he going next!?

He focused his eyes on the corpse, on the shadow of the Mark.

The dark mist hung around it for a moment, then flew up into the sky, and shot off into the city.

"No!" Subaru growled, lifting a hand. "Goa!"

His fire spell shot out, but went wild, missing the shadow by a mile and dissipating in the sky.

"Damn it! Why now!?"

Subaru felt his arm collapse to his side, and the darkness at the edge of his vision grew stronger.

He forced his eyes to stay open. If he closed them now, he knew he'd open them on that street, on that day when he first arrived in this world. His spirits were shouting to him, and he seized onto their feelings, a lifeline he could use to keep himself conscious.

If… if he's running now, when he seemed too angry to do so before… then perhaps he has to run! He can't possess any of the other cultists around here!

It was like a lightbulb going off in his head.

He needs the fingers! So if we take them all out, we'll force him into that cloud from, and then maybe we'll be able to kill him properly.

He coughed, feeling blood and bile rising at the back of his throat.

But I can't die yet! I haven't even… I haven't seen Wrath! I need to… I need…

"Pride."

It took a moment for Subaru to register the new voice that had spoken, but when he did, his heart skipped a beat.

"Petelgeuse?" he whispered, turning to look at the speaker. Had the shadow come back around, to possess another cultist and put the lie to Subaru's theory?

But no, that wasn't a Witch Cultist's robes. It was a blue and white dress, and the one wearing it was a catgirl. Or… no, it was a catboy, wasn't it?

"Pride," Felix repeated, his voice trembling with anger. "Pride! That's what he called you! You're one of them! That's why Crusch thought you were lying! There are four Sin Archbishops in the city!"

Subaru stared at him blankly for a moment, the words still registering.

"Ah, you heard that?" he asked. His mind raced to try and come up with some kind of excuse… but he was too dreary, and he needed to keep his mental faculties for more important things.

"Yeah, no point in hiding it," he said. "I'm the Sin Archbishop of Pride, at least for a little while longer. You haven't seen Wrath, have you? I wanted to meet her before I died."

Felix hissed. "You're admitting it? Damn it, we shouldn't have trusted you! No, wait, Wilhelm!"

Subaru blinked at him, and then he caught sight of the sword at his throat.

He pulled back instinctively, losing what little balance he had left, and falling flat onto his back.

That gave him a great view of the sword's owner, an old butler whose face was a mask of fury.

"Felix," Wilhelm said, moving the tip of his sword to Subaru's throat. "I'm not sure it's wise to try and capture him alive. Not after he manipulated us into… this."

"It's thanks to me that you weren't overrun in seconds," Subaru snapped back. "Without the reinforcements from the palace, without my warning about Gluttony and Sloth, where would you be?"

Wilhelm hesitated, his sword drifting a millimetre away.

"Forget that!" Felix said, and knelt down by Subaru's side. He placed a hand on his chest, and suddenly, the pain in his chest lessened. Also, he could no longer move his hands. Or his arms, or his legs.

"There," he said, turning a threatening glare on Subaru. "Now talk! What happened to Crusch!"

"Crusch?" Subaru asked. "I don't know. I don't know how you still remember her. With Marcos it was instant, but for her… it's not for some reason."

"What?" Felix asked. "Remember her? Marcos?"

He frowned, and his glare grew more intense.

Then pain shot through every cell in Subaru's body, and he let out an involuntary scream.

His spirits bristled, and he felt them gathering mana.

No! he managed to insist. He couldn't have them waste mana. They still needed to find Wrath.

As suddenly as it started, the pain stopped, and Subaru was left gasping for breath.

"Answer!" Felix ordered. "No tricks or games! Why can't Crusch remember anything!? What did that cultist do to her!?"

Subaru was still recoiling from the pain, but whatever Felix had done had driven the fugue from his mind enough that he picked up on his words.

"Crusch can't remember…" he repeated. "Crusch is awake!? Where is she? What happened?"

His eyes darted wildly, and landed on an armoured figure, with long green hair flowing behind her back in a ponytail. She stood unaided, but her face was pale, and her eyes darted across the battlefield with the sound of every clash of steel.

"Crusch!" Subaru exclaimed, his body spasming as he tried and failed to get up.

"How!?" he continued, unable to believe his own eyes. "What happened?"

Another bout of pain hit him and he screamed.

"Stop playing dumb!" Felix shouted. "Tell me what happened to her! Tell me how to heal her!"

"Sir Felix, we don't have time for this," Wilhelm's voice broke through the pain. "We've lost our right flank. We can take him prisoner later. For now, you need to safeguard Lady Crusch."

"No, he'll escape!" Felix growled. "I can't let this go! Tell me! Tell me!"

"I don't know!" Subaru forced out between spasms. "I'd love to know myself!"

The pain grew more intense, and he let out another scream.

Luna and Sol surged at Felix, their mana disrupting the healer's enough that the pain lessened. They were trying to get Huginn to put ice through the knight's head, but the Fire spirit was still waiting. Subaru had said not to.

No, don't! We can't fight amongst ourselves!

"Um… Sir Felix?"

Felix flinched, stopping his attempt to fight past the spirits, and his head snapped around to look at Crusch.

His magic vanished, and Subaru found he could move again. He didn't though. He kept lying still, trying to let the pain fade from his body.

"Lady Crusch… you can call me Ferris. You don't need to speak to me like that."

"Then… Ferris," Crusch said. "He doesn't have that thing. The air around him isn't swirling… 'badly'. I think he's telling the truth."

"What?" Felix asked. "No… he has to be lying! He's one of them! He must be using some kind of cultist trick to get past your Divine Protection!"

Divine Protection?

"Ah…" He smiled wryly. "She can detect lies. Like Reinhard. Damn, I didn't expect that."

"Stop talking!"

Another jolt of pain ran down Subaru's spine, and he shut his mouth before he could accidentally bite his tongue.

"Reinhard?" Wilhelm muttered. "You mentioned him before. How do you know him? Did he train you?"

Subaru shrugged, a difficult feat while flat on his back and burning with pain. "It was a lifetime ago. Or, no, several lifetimes, probably. He wouldn't remember me anyway."

"I said stop!" Ferris shouted, placing both hands on Subaru. "Tell me how to heal Crusch!"

"I don't know!" Subaru shouted as the pain began to ramp up again. "I…"

But he trailed off, as a thought occurred to him.

"But on the other hand… there might actually be a way," he said. "A way to restore her to the way she was the way before."

"What is it?" Felix demanded. "Crusch, is he telling the truth?"

"I thought you didn't trust her ability?" Subaru asked. "You didn't when I said I didn't know what happened to her!"

Felix hissed.

"Um, he still doesn't look like he's lying," Crusch spoke up. She spoke so softly now. "But Sir Feli— Ferris, shouldn't we move? There's a lot of fire over there, and the… the 'winds' look dangerous."

"Tell me," Felix growled, ignoring his lady's words. "How?"

"I can't tell you," Subaru said. "Unbreakable vow and all that. But I can guarantee, she'll be back to normal before the end of the day."

Felix held his gaze for a moment, then stared back at Crusch.

She looked nervous, but nodded slowly.

He turned back to him with angry, tear-filled eyes, still clearly not believing a word Subaru was saying…

But the sound of fire roared from the side, screams echoed over the battlefield, and metal crashed against metal in the furious melee.

"Fine!" he finally hissed. "Fine, damn it! But if you're lying, I'll make you wish you were dead!"

Subaru nodded weakly.

Felix got to his feet, and rushed over to check on Crusch.

And now I'm a prisoner, Subaru thought. Well, not that it matters. They're going to be overrun soon, and Puck will end everything. Then all these miserable events will be undone.

He rolled onto his side, and forced himself up into a sitting position, swivelling his head to look around the battlefield.

The defenders had been forced back, and cultists were streaming past the left flank, headed for the palace.

The right flank, however…

Subaru could barely believe his eyes. It was like a scene out of hell.

The ground had been blackened by fire, the grass having long since burnt away, and yet somehow it still blazed brightly, littered with charring corpses, all indistinguishable from each other, whether they had once been cultists or guards or knights.

Smoke was rising everywhere, reflecting the red light of the fires and giving the entire area an almost demonic glow.

In the centre of that carnage stood a single figure.

She—at least, Subaru assumed it was a she from her figure—was completely covered in bandages, like an Egyptian mummy. She was wielding two chains, one per hand, each ending in a wicked-looking hook.

As Subaru watched, she swung one of those chains around in a wide arc, the hook catching a guard by the throat and swinging him around into another group.

"My most sincere apologies," the woman said. Her voice was soft, so soft that Subaru had to strain to hear it. She spoke as thought the superhuman display she had just pulled off was as easy as lifting her hand. But there was something wrong with the tone. It was disquieting, her voice carrying the same discomfort as the sound of nails scratching a chalkboard.

Just hearing it, Subaru felt a sense of dread rising in his heart.

"It really is terrible of me to do this. I would far prefer to let you join each other in gentle love, but I'm quite spread out, and you're all resisting so much."

She lashed out with a chain again, and this time the hook was blazing red-hot. It carved right through another knight who was trying to rush up behind her, and continued onward to burn its way through the legs of another set of guards.

"Sorry again. But I can make up for it. I can send you all to death's embrace. That's good as well, isn't it?"

"Wilhelm!" Julius shouted. He was surrounded by a blue glow, and Subaru could see Kua shine as the water quasi-spirit strained to protect her contractor from the flames.

He deflected one of the chains with his shining sword, and then continued, "I can't get through her guard! Be careful, she's strong in close range as well!"

Wilhelm dashed out from behind her, but a chain lashed out at him before he even got close.

The woman flicked her wrist, and the chain spiralled and lunged, moving in ways beyond what could be achieved with mere skill in wielding the weapon. It was more like a snake, a living animal that moved to and fro as it willed.

Wilhelm had to stop and move both swords in a flurry of parries, seeming to be able to handle it, until the woman flicked her other chain at him.

The butler was forced to dodge backwards to avoid it, and he lost one of his swords in the process, a chain hooking around it and flinging it away.

"Ah, I'm terribly sorry. I wanted to get your head with that," the cultist said. "I'm not usually this cruel. But my husband wants me to open up a path for him."

Is that her? Is that Wrath?

He focused his eyes, and saw the Mark of the Witch hanging thickly over the woman, confirming his suspicions.

Well, I found her. That was easy. Now I just need to figure out how to eliminate her.

Wrath tilted her head, staring at Wilhelm.

"You probably met him. I think you inconvenienced him, made him go looking for another body somewhere else, didn't you?"

"Syl Huma!"

A frigid wind blew out the fires between Julius and Wrath, and the purple-haired knight shot forward, his sword coming down in an arc of glorious light…

…only to be deflected by a flaming chain. Wrath hadn't even bothered to look at him.

She flicked her wrist, and her flaming chain darted out at the spirit knight, forcing him to backpedal as he parried the rapid strikes.

"Well, I suppose I should kill you," she said, still looking at Wilhelm. "You'll join your wife again, and be together with her as one. Ah, thank you, by the way, for that story. I always thought it was so lovely. I'm sorry, I wish I could have met you both while she was still alive."

"Do not speak of her!" Wilhelm growled as he dodged the strike she flicked out at him with her other hand.

Behind him, a trio of guards were bisected by the attack, their corpses catching alight and burning to charred husks in seconds.

"You're so angry," Wrath murmured. "I'm sorry, I won't take up too much more of your time. I just need to pass through, really, but I can't help but want to reaffirm love with everyone here. Especially when everyone's trying so hard to resist it."

She still seemed so in control, so lazy with her defence. Even working together, neither Julius nor Wilhelm could get close.

We've lost too many fighters, Subaru realised. And those two are exhausted from fighting the last two Archbishops. Who else is left? There are whatever forces are left in the palace… but they're going to be tied up with cultists that got past. And there's no other major pieces left. I can't use anyone else against her.

The realisation hit him hard. He had used everything he had, and had come up short.

"If you're going to give me anything, now's the time," he muttered, pulling a small black object out of his jacket.

The Witch's Gospel.

He stared at the cover for a moment, then held his breath, and opened to the first page, revealing… nothing. It was still blank, completely unblemished.

But as he watched, the first page changed, a single dot of red appearing on the smooth white.

He blinked, not sure whether to keep looking, some part of him still fearing their supposed power of brainwashing.

But nothing happened. The red dot just grew slightly larger, very gradually, as if…

He frowned, and felt it with his finger. It was wet, and smudged, leaving a fingerprint.

Is that…?

He felt his face with his hand, and felt the wetness on his lips, and when he drew his hand back, it was stained red.

Oh silly me. It's just my own blood.

He suddenly felt much weaker, and became far more aware of the pain in his chest.

Well, so much for that.

With a curse of pain, he struggled to his feet, leaving the Gospel where it lay, and lifted his bloody hand at Wrath.

"What do you think you're—" Felix growled at him, but drew back in alarm as Subaru drew upon his contracts.

"Everyone! Take her out! Ice Brand Arts!"

A sword of pure ice formed in the air in front of his outstretched hand, then shot out at Wrath, followed closely behind by an icy needle, and a bead of darkness.

Wrath spared them a glance, then a flaming chain whipped through the air and shattered the sword into a thousand pieces.

She moved her head to the side to let the needle fly past, then whipped a chain around, holding still in the air in a spiral pattern, resembling a giant shield of flames.

Luna's Fal Shamak impacted a half-second later, exploding into a huge cloud of black smoke.

Barely an instant later, the cloud ignited with a spiral of flame, and it was blasted apart as Wrath swung her chain through it.

"You…" she said, examining him curiously. She started walking in his direction, and Julius and Wilhelm took the opportunity to strike.

Wrath flicked her chains behind her to drive them back, and kept walking.

"You're that last one, aren't you? You're Pride."

"Sure am," Subaru answered, trying to mask the frustration he felt. His sneak attack hadn't managed to do anything, except possibly cut down his lifespan.

"Subaru Natsuki," he continued his introduction, lifting his hand to the sky and taking up his disco stance. Or at least, a fair approximation of it. His legs weren't cooperating with him properly.

"Heretic Sin Archbishop, double-agent, and almost entirely friendless at the moment. Not my best set of titles, I'll be honest."

"Friendless?" Wrath repeated. "That's not good. Everyone needs friends. Oh, I'm sorry, how rude of me. I didn't introduce myself, and went straight to talking. I am a Sin Archbishop of the Witch's Cult, representing Wrath. I am Sirius Romani-Conti."

"Romani-Conti!?" Subaru gasped in shock. "You're one too?"

"Too?" Sirius asked. "But of course. I am the wife of my beloved Petelgeuse Romani-Conti. It is only natural that a wife should take her husband's last name."

"That creep has a wife? But, well, I guess you're a creep as well. You suit each other. Like two peas in a pod."

Sirius smiled. "I'm glad you think so. But… I'm sorry, but I believe I heard my beloved ordering your death."

Then her chains were swinging at him.

Subaru darted backwards, trying to open up distance between them, but he had pushed his legs too far that day. They both gave out, and he fell onto his backside.

The chains passed a hair's breadth over his head, and he felt their heat on his face.

Ah, damn it! Damn it!

He growled in frustration, at the unfairness of it all, and he locked his eyes onto Sirius.

I'll kill her next time. Just wait! Let's see how you like fighting Julius, Wilhelm, Marcos, and the best knights all at once!

"Now you look more like one of us," Sirius commented as she swirled her chain around for another attack. "I can't say I like it."

But before she could lash out again, another voice cried out with fury and despair.

"Curse you!"

Subaru turned his head to see Felix standing alone on the reddened grass, a trembling sword held in his hands.

He doesn't usually carry one… but there are no shortage of swords laying abandoned around here.

"I won't let you! I won't let you hurt Lady Crusch! Julius, Wilhelm, kill her!"

Then he charged at her, screaming a pathetic warcry.

Sirius watched him for a second, but as Wilhelm and Julius started charging her from behind, it seemed she decided not to humour Felix's desperate last stand.

A chain flew out, and the red-hot hook went through Felix's midsection like a knife through butter.

Felix folded like a collapsing jenga tower, but Sirius had already turned to face the duo behind her instead, paying the cat-eared knight no more attention.

That turned out to be a mistake.

Felix's body flashed, then shone with blue light, and he suddenly jerked upright mid-fall.

He screamed a wordless, primal yell, and continued his mad dash toward her.

Sirius made a half-turn back, but she had already flung one of her chains out at Julius, and the other wasn't in a great position to strike at Felix.

To her credit, she recovered from Felix's unexpected survival quickly, swinging her free chain at him anyway, but Felix threw his sword at the chain, deflecting it enough that he could jump aside to avoid it.

Then he was too close to hit with chains, and for the first time, Sirius was forced to take a step back.

But it was too little, too late.

Felix lunged at her, his arms wrapping around hers, and he held on with all his might.

Sirius attempted to dislodge him for a moment, but as Julius and Wilhelm continued to approach, she apparently decided it would be faster to use her flames.

In an instant, Felix was engulfed by fire, the air sucked out of his lungs in one last scream. But he still held fast, his body shining blue as his flesh regenerated, only to be burned away again.

Sirius hissed as her own bandages caught alight, and she whirled, her chain lashing out at Julius.

The area around her turned into a maelstrom of flames, so Subaru could barely see what was going on.

Julius took the attack head-on, his sword shining with light as he tried to deflect it, but this time, Sirius had put her all into it. The sword was thrown from his grasp, and Subaru caught sight of something else flying through the air.

Julius grunted, falling back a few steps, clutching an arm that was now missing a hand.

But his sacrifice had allowed Wilhelm to get close. He rushed past her other strike, diving towards her with reckless abandon.

Sirius snuffed out her flames and tried to fling Felix off, but the cat demi-human was holding tight. She lashed out with her chain again, but Julius ran forward, conjuring a shining shield of magic to block it.

Just as last time, it wasn't enough, and he fell, and Subaru felt the knight's spirits scream.

Before he could fully register what had happened, Wilhelm was upon the Sin Archbishop. He raised his sword and he swung out at Sirius's neck and—

The world turned sideways.

On his left, was the bloodied ground of the battlefield. On his right was the sky, blackened by the smoke of the fires.

And everywhere around him, dancing through the air, were floating heads.

He could see Wilhelm there, and Felix's burning skull, and several of the knights and cultists.

He even saw Sirius's.

But then the world started to darken, and they all started changing, their expressions turning into wide smiles, their hair growing long and grimy, until Subaru was surrounded by an army of Lye Batenkaitos's laughing heads.

He felt an impact on his face, and the world shifted and rolled, and when his vision finally settled, he was staring at a headless corpse.

But it was odd. The clothes it was wearing looked familiar…

Oh. Those are my clothes. That's my body.

I'm dead.

---

Subaru gasped, doubling over, barely holding back a scream as the phantom pains of his head flying off his body hit him all at once.

"I'm dead," he gasped. "I'm dead, I'm dead, I died—"

A primal fear surged up in him, and he shut his mouth, clamping one hand over it just to be sure, but…

He could still hear talking, the sound of feet tapping against pavement, and the rolling of dragon carriages. Time had not stopped. The Witch did not consider his taboo broken.

He took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. Then he did it again.

After a minute of repeating those simple actions, he felt his mind was clear enough to start thinking…

What the hell was that!? I was beheaded!? Me, along with everyone else on that battlefield!?

He took another breath to calm himself down again.

Was it some kind of anime-super-swordsman? Someone who went, 'Omae wa, Shinderu!', and cut everyone's heads off at once?

He thought about it for a moment, and then shook his head.

No, I surely would have heard about someone like that… right? Regardless, I can't just hypothesise the existence of stupidly powerful people the minute I get caught out by something. Think, Subaru! What was happening?

He strained to recall, but he had been so focused on Sirius that he had ignored everything else. His eyes had remained fixed on her as Wilhelm had… had…

Subaru felt his blood go cold.

As Wilhelm chopped off her head.

"It was her," Subaru muttered under his breath. "She did it somehow. Just like me, just like Petelgeuse… she has an on-death ability."

The ability to kill everyone around her when she died, in the same manner that she herself was killed. A revenge ability, that did nothing to keep her alive, that only served to cruelly rob victory from those who triumphed over her.

Such an ability was truly…

"...disgusting."

That was the impression Subaru had, the feeling that burned in his heart.

He glanced around, taking in the surroundings, and becoming aware of the undue attention that was being placed on him.

He started walking, already casting his mind back through his memories for the directions to get to Reinhard.

He didn't reach for his contracts. Not yet. That was going to be painful, and he'd rather put it off.

Besides, I still need to finalise my next moves. Namely, what's my plan for dealing with the cult? I don't want to let them know I'm on to them until it's too late… which rules out working with Reinhard and Felt.

He sighed, feeling disappointment welling up inside him. He hadn't wanted to think it over the course of the previous loop, but deep down, he had always known it was true.

Reinhard's too much of a good guy, he'll call in the knights as soon as he finds out, and there's no way I'll be able to hide this from him.

I can't join up with Anastasia either, she's way too crafty for me to hide my intentions, and she'll want to see a profit. If I can work up enough money to hire the Iron Fang from her, maybe I can get her to cooperate…

He shook his head.

I guess I'll just have to make do with Otto and Velia to start with. I can alert the others when the opportunity arises. I guess I should try to cultivate relations with Crusch as well, considering her barricade is going to be the best spot to kill Gluttony and Sloth. I'll just stay away from that crazy catboy.

He shuddered involuntarily. He couldn't exactly blame Ferris for the pain and torture he had put Subaru through, considering he had readily admitted to being a Sin Archbishop, but that didn't make him like the healer any better.

I'll have to be careful of Crusch as well. I'm lucky I found out about her lie-detection time before I tried establishing relations with her camp.

He felt a weight on his hand, and glanced down, spotting the plastic grocery bag he was still holding.

Ah, it's been a while, hasn't it, old friend? Come to think of it, I had bought snacks, hadn't I? Back in the before world.

He let out a chuckle he didn't quite feel, hoping to fool his quivering nerves into calmness.

I haven't had trashy convenience store food in months!

He lifted the bag to check the contents, and—

He missed a step, stumbling and coming to a stop.

He closed his eyes, and let the bag fall back to his side.

Then he made a beeline for the nearest alley, and, once he was out of view, ripped the top object out of the bag.

What the hell!? What the actual hell!?

His breath was going fast now, but he couldn't help it. Anyone would, seeing something like this.

His unchanging loop, his starting location, set in such clear stone… had shifted.

In his hands, he held a small, black book.

My gospel. Why!? How!?

Fear was surging in him now. Had he just made a stupid, terrible mistake? In joining the Witch's Cult, had he sworn his service to her?

His head felt light and his hands were trembling so bad that he could barely focus on it.

I have to know. I have to… I need to see.

Gingerly, he thumbed the cover, then before he could lose his nerve, threw it open, revealing—

A black page, stained only by a single red splotch.

It was a single fingerprint, marked in red ink. The bloodstain from the drop of blood that had fallen on it. His blood. Blood from the previous loop.

He felt faint.

What does this mean? How can Return by Death bring objects back with me?

He growled softly.

I really don't know anything about how this damn ability works. Just what the heck did the Witch give me? Why is this part only activating now?

He racked his brains, but nothing was standing out to him. The only possible explanation that he could think of was that it came back with him because it was related to the Witch's Cult.

He paused, eyes going wide.

Wait, this book… in the previous loop, I found it in that drawer in the manor, on the first day— tonight!

That was a lead he could follow. And it wouldn't be too hard to investigate it. He could just stroll up to the mansion and introduce himself as Pride again, then die.

But the very thought had Subaru clenching his teeth.

I didn't work so hard just to die again without even trying to stay alive!

He closed his eyes, trying to figure out another way he could get to that room.

But it was hopeless.

His gate was once again as weak as the day he had entered this world, and even if he gathered his spirits quickly, they wouldn't be powerful enough for him to use his illusion techniques effectively.

Ice Brand Arts in its most basic forms was probably doable, but that set of techniques wasn't exactly subtle, and—

He paused in his deliberations, his internal checkup running into something unexpected.

He glanced around, then moved to the darkest area of the alleyway, and shifted the mana inside him.

The shadows beckoned to him, responding with the same grace they always had.

Oh… oh, now that's a bad sign. I'm still capable of using shadow-walking. It feels like I'm a little weaker, but not by much.

He shuddered. Had the Witch chosen to grant him the skill? Was it another 'soul-bound' gift like the book?

No, I'm not going to find any answers like this, Subaru thought, forcing himself to take more deep breaths. I feel fine right now, and I'm not trying to kill Emilia, so I'm not being controlled. I'll contract the gang again, and have them tell me if they sense anything wrong. Between Luna and Sol, they'll be able to keep me on the straight and narrow.

Satisfied with his precautionary plan for the time being, he stuffed the gospel back into the plastic bag, shoving it underneath the corn pottage where he wouldn't have to see it.

Said snack went ignored, Subaru's idle appetite having vanished with the shock.

---

"It's not here," Subaru whispered, carefully closing the last drawer of the desk so as not to make a single sound.

The room was lit only by the light of the moon shining in through the window, so it was difficult to see, but Subaru had searched thoroughly.

He glanced around the room one last time, and grimaced.

When he had left it the previous day, Subaru had imagined that he'd never see the place again. It was funny how quickly plans could change.

But now that he had investigated his sole lead…

What have I really learned? I know that the book from last time isn't here, and I now have it in my possession. So it didn't travel back in time physically, just teleported to my location.

He shook his head.

Not that that's much better. Is it like one of those special video-game items? A 'soul-bound' piece of equipment you don't lose even if you have to restart? As special equipment goes, a blank book is pretty terrible… but I didn't expect to get anything. I suppose I could use it to keep notes or something.

A sound echoed from outside the door, the creaking of a footstep on a loose board, and Subaru flinched.

He had tried to be as stealthy as possible, but…

My damn scent! Someone must have sensed me.

Hopefully it wouldn't matter. He was done with the place. Hopefully for good this time.

He dragged darkness around him, the room shifting as the shadows began to dance.

From there, it was a simple matter to move to the window, and push himself right through the wall.

It was a thoroughly unpleasant experience, like his blood was turning to ice and his bones to smouldering charcoal.

But it was possible.

The shadow of the wall parted for him, and he was able to reach the night air, with only the discomforting moonlight trying to drag him back into reality.

He didn't wait around to see if the cultist had decided to check on the room, instead leaping from the wall, and floating gently down to the ground, and dashing off into the night.

He had some friends to find.

---

AN: New anime season hype! The trailer looks amazing.

Looks like I'm going to have to pick up the pace if I want to snag the new eyeballs the anime brings in. Something to think about.