Archbishop Of Pride In Teyvat

by DarkenedStar77

Satisfied at the end of the events of FIRE, Prideif Subaru finds himself in Teyvat rather than dying permanently. Maybe he can find a way to find fulfillment on this Earth or to return. And maybe... there is a very small chance... he can figure out how to kill Reinhard... I don't think so. (There may be errors in spelling rules and grammar. There will definitely be...)

1. Prologue, Part 1: The Other Other World

(For those who have not read Prideif and for the sake of completeness of the subject, the beginning part is the same as the last part of Prideif. If you have already read it, you can skip that part.)

---

Prologue, Part One: The Other Other World:

Inferno engulfs the Capital. Subaru gasps in pain, staring up at the sky.

He feels very awake.
The pain stings, but it leads his mind to sober rather than blur. Everything, from what happened to his reason for being here, is vivid.

In his arms, Subaru cradles a motionless Mei Lee. Her open eyes are devoid of life, staring at somewhere absent in this world. Her cheeky attitude, her unfittingly sugary voice, her tantrum-like behaviour when treated as a child—nothing Subaru will ever see again.

—After all. This is where Subaru arrived after Returning by Death

This is where Return by Death's spawn point shifted, and being that the Mei Lee in his arms is a corpse, her life is beyond saving.

Aware that he is only comforting his own heart, Subaru gently shuts Mei Lee's eyes. He has no right to pray for the dead's posthumous happiness. These hands of his are far too filthy with blood. And it's the same for Mei Lee. She committed so many wrongs that she could not possibly hope for peace after death. Piling sins upon sins, the chains linking Subaru's group to hell will never come undone.

"But, still.."

A meeting with death cannot be reason to give up. Did he not get here by dying multiple times? Over one thousand, ten thousands times has he already disparaged life and desecrated lives, greedy to grant his own wish, and so got here. He bordered on breaking beneath the agony of death many times. But every time he did, a fire scorched his heart.

That very first inferno, the touch of those fingers, is what let Subaru reach this point. He is only one step away from realising his deepest desire.

He made victims, sacrifices, to finally get here. And still—

"—Go no further."

The voice descends, vicious, from on high. 'Fire engulfs the Capital' had not been a figurative statement. The visage that appears atop that hill, as if amassing the furious blaze into themselves, looks dazzling.

"Reinhardt, van, Astreaaaa..."

"It seems that I don't need to introduce myself. I don't have much to say to you, either."

Reinhardt's blue eyes pierce the kneeling Subaru through. The gleam in his eyes differs from what Subaru saw long ago, fraught with emotion as they are.

This man, who had remained calm when facing a butcherer, was, at Subaru—
—the emotion so intense as to be nigh indescribable, glaring with hatred.

"So you were capable of hating people after all, Sword Saint!"

"It surprises me as well. I didn't think these feelings were in me."

"So you found a new you. Congratulations. Happy birthday, Reinhardt."

"Unfortunately, today is not the day of my birth. But it will be the day of your death."

Subaru can prattle affected lines all he wants. A man of Reinhardt's calibre won't be put off. Hit with Reinhardt's own breed of death sentence, a smile arises on Subaru's face.

Destroyed that unflappable face of his, and drew out the emotions buried in there. Subaru knows that it's utterly pointless, but it's the only thing he can boast victory about.

"Don't make me laugh, Reinhardt! Sword Saint! Sword of the Kingdom! You're a knight who protects the Kingdom of Lugnica!? Did you protect any kingdom at all!? How about telling me that!"

Subaru shouts, arms spread wide, spit flying. The two are facing each other outside the palace gates. Everything of the Capital visible from this vantage point is engulfed in flame—or no, it isn't just the Capital.

This inferno is raging over the entire territory of the Kingdom of Lugnica. No matter how strong Reinhardt is or how superb a knight he is, what can he do on his own? He can do nothing. So is Subaru's conclusion.

"This is my gift to you! A trap I set to kill you!"

"To kill me...?"

"How many times! Do you think I've tried to kill you!? How many times, tens and hundreds and thousands and ten thousands of times, do you think I've faced you!?"

Subaru's incomprehensible yelling leads Reinhardt's cheeks to stiffen in confusion. He wouldn't understand. Nobody except Subaru would ever understand.

Subaru has already gone through every conceivable form of trial and error to kill Reinhardt

He studied Reinhardt van Astrea, researched him extensively, tested every idea he could think of, fiddled with his plans, used every possible track he could imagine in attempts to kill Reinhardt. But no matter what methods Subaru used, Reinhardt bested it. As if Natsuki Subaru's hideously weak brain, as if his very presence, could not effect him in the slightest.

Subaru sacrificed Elsa, sacrificed Mei Lee, sacrificed Blue, sacrificed the man who perhaps could've been his friend, sacrificed the clown who proclaimed to be his co-conspirator, sacrificed the Witch Cult, sacrificed the Cardinals, committed every conceivable crime and injustice and iniquity there is, and still couldn't kill Reinhardt. And so. Having no means to sever Reinhardt's lifeline, Subaru decided.

"I'm killing who you are as a knight. I'm dropping your ostentatious name of Sword Saint to the earth, stomping my feet all over it, spewing spit and mucus on it!"

"All of this, only for that."

"Only for that! Yeah, I did, only for that! Only for that I used the lives of everyone there was, dropping you to the earth!"

Subaru sets Mei Lee's body on the ground. Jabs his finger at Reinhardt. Reinhardt cannot hide that he's shaken. Feels nice.

"You're a hero, Reinhardt. It's not possible for me to kill you. But I can kill a hero. —This is how to kill you, Reinhardt."

Subaru boasts, his voice unhinged, at the silenced Reinhardt. Worked his hardest, tried so many plans, sacrificed people, shed blood, accumulated deaths, and finally. With Mei Lee having protected him and drawn out his survival, finally, Subaru has managed to confront Reinhardt like this.

After piling so many sacrifices, finally, he has managed to stand on the same stage as Reinhardt.

"...Why?"

The hot breeze blows away Subaru's previous momentum. His voice when he speaks is frail.

"Why are you so strong? Why are you so strong, that I had to let them die, to match it?"

Trembling voice, laced with sobs. Hearing it makes Reinhardt's face stiffen. He surely has no idea what on earth Subaru is thinking. Of course he doesn't. Subaru doesn't even have any idea any more.

He doesn't know why he's crying. How long has it even been since he last shed tears? Surely. That day, when he was brought to this world, was the last. The tears from the day that brought Natsuki Subaru to this sight of flames were the last.

"I wish I'd been like you. I wish I'd been honest like you, been strong enough to save everyone like you. I think you're enviable. I think you're contemptible."

"You..."

Flowing out alongside his tears come Natsuki Subaru's true feelings. Back in that very first loop in the Capital, when Natsuki Subaru witnessed the man who freed him from an endless cycle.

—Back then, Subaru was jealous of Reinhardt.

Disembowelled times upon times, suffered death, but still unable to change anything, Subaru's heart grew swiftly ragged, its outer skin peeled away, and then, practically by coincidence, as if kicking a pebble off the road, he altered that fate so easily.

Subaru aspired to have that strength, envied it, begrudged it, loathed it.

"—I wanted to be you, Reinhardt."

"—I don't understand you."

"I know..."

Reinhardt discards Subaru's honesty as worthless codswallop. And he's correct. Reinhardt, you hero, you are just always, always correct.

—Where did the mistake happen? At what point did Natsuki Subaru err? He doesn't know. Though actually, he does. But nobody would be capable of understanding it. Which is why. Which is exactly why. Natsuki Subaru has, for a long time now, been an unempathizable madman.

Reinhardt narrows his eyes and stoops down. He isn't reaching for a sword. Meaning that not even he thinks a weapon is necessary to defeat Subaru.

He's right, he's absolutely right. One strike from him will leave Subaru's flimsy body disintegrated. So at the very least, and the very absolute least—

"—You don't think it too soon to be giving up?"

"You!"

The instant that Reinhardt begins his charge, a black silhouette swoops in from aside. Discordant noise peals out as Reinhardt meets the silhouette's slash with his hand, held flat and open like a blade.

It's stupid. How can he meet a knife swung with that much momentum using his hand? The knife shrieks, shattering to bits. It's stupid. Why is the knife the one breaking?

"You truly are outside the norm, aren't you."

Elsa, covered in blood, spins through the air before making touchdown on her hands and fete. Subaru thought she was dead. He thought he had used her as a chess piece to create this situation, believed that her life had burnt to nothing, and had been acting with consideration to that. And yet.

"Apparently I didn't die. Though in this situation, it feels that I've arrived to visit death again."

"Elsa..."

"Then Mei Lee is dead. Her poor sister."

Noticing Mei Lee resting on the ground, Elsa mutters a shade sadly. But she switches her gears in the blink of an eye, turning to face Reinhardt properly.

"It seems you're my sister's enemy as well. Shall we dance?"

"You've already lost your weapon. And do you understand who exactly you are protecting?"

"Difficult subjects aren't my favourite. I do the things I want to do. This man behind me lets me do what I want to do. That makes him a prized customer."

Licking her lips, Elsa gives a reply based in logic that only murderers would understand. Reinhardt swallows his breath, and poises to take Elsa as his opponent.

"This will be the last chance for it. I had fun. It was wonderful."

"Elsa! I..!"

"Farewell."

Ever like her, the goodbye happens smoothly and without any consideration to Subaru's ideas at all. Immediately following, Elsa leaps with animalistic dexterity in a dance toward Reinhardt, the hero and butcher engaging in furious combat.

To be concluded in only a short time, Elsa Granhiert's last blood meal.

"—Fuck!"

Subaru cannot die here.

Averting his gaze from Elsa's battle and Mei Lee's corpse, he breaks into a run down the hill. The spillovers of battle echo behind him, distant.

Buildings collapse one after another throughout the blazing Capital, shrieks and wails echoing through this hell. Children calling for parents, parents calling for children, men calling for women, women calling for men in the screeching pandemonium of this hell. Yes. This is the hell that Subaru created. Created this hell, destroyed Reinhardt's false image, and achieved his goal. All that's left is—

"Y-you're..."

"—σσσσ"

Subaru stumbles, almost trips and falls—when a massive beast grabs him in its mouth and flings him onto its back. Subaru clings on desperately as its black pelt bursts into his view, alongside the sight of its ferocious lionlike visage as it runs.

"You're... but Mei Lee's, already dead..."

It is one of the witchbeasts Mei Lee controlled, carrying Subaru in this dash through the burning Capital.

Ferocious Guiltilaw sprints with Natsuki Subaru on his back. He no longer has a master, and has no obligation to obey him—but still Guiltilaw carries Natsuki Subaru, wholeheartedly.

"Please, find her. She has, to be somewhere..."

Subaru prays, wishing for Guiltilaw to pull off a miracle. What to call this feeling in his heart? Relief? Resignation? Constricted by cryptic emotions, Natsuki Subaru's mind wavers between consciousness and unconsciousness. But what truly makes him hit is limit is what happens next.

"—That's enough."

The sharp ice projectile skewers sprinting Guiltilaw in the side. Guiltilaw shrieks, tripping over his own feet before crashing to the ground. Caught in the beast's fall, Subaru also bashes against the stone roadway.

"Ghau... what, was..."

His vision blurs in pain as he forces his eyes open, looking around to see what happened. He finds that Guiltilaw has uprighted himself, countless icicles speared into his left side as he faces off against a silhouette engulfed in dim light, just about to begin charging.

Guiltilaw raises his vicious paw, roaring. Perhaps this was his dignity as a witchbeast, or his pride as the last animal which obeyed young Mei Lee to the end.

His strike is more than strong enough to shred a human being to bits should it hit. However, before the blow can land, a single sharp icicle goes plummeting—

—to invade Guiltilaw's open maw, spearing down his throat before again entering through his chest, piercing out his behind, transforming him into a witchbeast on a stick.

Immediately following the ruinous but nonlethal attack, the air echoes, crackling as white frost spreads across Guiltilaw's whole body, transforming him into an ice sculpture. Having watched Guiltilaw's demise, Subaru slowly stands up. He can't raise his left arm. Maybe he dislocated in the fall. He should be in intense enough pain that he breaks into tears, but his brain isn't feeling it. After all. If Subaru starts bawling now, here, it will ruin everything.

"—That's enough, villain."

The two face each other, burning city townscape on either side of them, a frozen witchbeast between them.

Amethyst eyes blazing with duty and indignation meet dark eyes fraught with irrepressible joy. Silver hair of lunar hue, eyes of finest-cut amethyst. Her celestial countenance electrifies Subaru's heart without end, and the silver chime of her voice sounds to him as a pixie's aria. What he has pursued, sought, craved, never stopped loved, her visage, is here.

"—Emilia."

"You know me?"

Emilia's brows shoot up in surprise. Seeing it makes Subaru laugh. Exactly in line with his envisionings—no. Exactly in line with his impression of her when they first met, and ventured around the Capital together.

She doesn't have a single clue how much national attention is focused on her, being a Royal Selection candidate. It's not that she's lacking in self-awareness, it's that she has low self esteem. Despite being known worldwide as the hero who took the Witch Cult's Sloth, Greed, Gluttony, Wrath, and Lust, evils which tormented people for eras, and exterminated them. And her track record would, on this day, in this instant, reach completion.

"Is something funny?"

"No, I'm sorry. Just, how to say, I'm happy. It's that thing, where you're, well. You haven't changed a bit, so it feels like I've been rewarded."

"What do you mean? When did you and I ever...?"

Emilia attempts a frantic search of her memories. But Natsuki Subaru does not exist anywhere in her recollections. Of course not. Their momentary tryst only remains in Subaru. And that momentary tryst alone, that final pledge of penitence alone, was what brought Natsuki Subaru here.

"You're..."

"Lia, it's no good. Don't take anything he says seriously."

"—Puck, huh."

Emilia searches for some clue in her memories. But she is interrupted but the grey cat that appears on her shoulder—a spirit, which Subaru remembers well. His memories from that day are distant. But that's exactly why he spent even more time endlessly thinking about that day than he did individually recollecting it. It's inconceivable that he would forget about someone who occupied a part of that memory.

"How nice of you to call my name so casually. With how flamboyant your crimes are, how are you thinking of paying compensation enough to settle them?"

"I'll be paying compensation. Exactly what you want. —There's no way for me to escape anyway."

"—? That's rather sporting of you. Suspicious."

Subaru unzips his track suit jersey and spreads his arms wide, displaying non-resistance. Track suit. Yes the track suit. He has taken that track suit which, until this very day, he kept sealed and now is wearing it. He had it in his head that if he was going to have a reunion with Emilia, this'd be the best.

All while yearning for the day he would wear this outfit, and stand before her again.

"Everything I'm about to tell you is a crazy person rambling. Please don't remember it."

"—Huh?"

"I'm the one who set the Capital on fire. And it's not just the Capital, this fire's meant to burn down the whole country. No one could safeguard against it. That's the nation, and knights who protect this nation, mishandling the situation."

Subaru's choppy speech confuses Emilia greatly. Puck looks lost on whether to stop Subaru's talk, but does abort his attack after seeing Emilia's situation. Grateful for that, Subaru continues.

"Reinhardt's prestige as Sword Saint's fallen to earth. Since we don't know what started the covenant which's meant to be protecting the Dragon's Kingdom of Lugnica, the Dragon's no rescue either. That's something I tested heaps of times so it's definitely right. In the end, Reinhardt and the Dragon are equal."

"Burning the country? You're burning the country? To try and destroy this nation?"

"No, wrong. I'm doing this to make you the Ruler. It's the only single way how."

A smile arises on Subaru's face, while Emilia's eyes shoot open, thoroughly shaken. There is no way that anything Subaru's saying could be making sense to her. Being that he's prefaced this as being rambling, he doesn't mind if it doesn't communicate properly. It comes to Subaru's deepest wish, should it produce results.

"Flames of demise driving the nation to its destruction—the one to slay the culprit behind it won't be Reinhardt, won't be the Dragon, it'll be you. None of the Selection candidates left can achieve anything to top this. The hero who broke through four centuries of standstill and saved the world is you!"

"That, isn't... what on earth are you saying!? Stop it, I don't understand! I don't understand anything you're saying!"

Emilia clutches her head, blocks her ears, trying to keep Subaru's words out. Tears well in her eyes, and as he sees one trail down her pale cheek, a sweet shock strikes Subaru's chest. Part of it is guilt for making her cry. Part of it is from seeing that his actions have shaken her heart, and his consequent dark cheer.

"You don't have to understand. It's fine that you don't understand. Everything that comes next'll be settled when others boost you up of their own accord. Then you just have to grant your wish. That is the only reason I set the country on fire. All of it was for you."

"Liar, liar, liar! I mean, I... you, how come, you..."

Emilia wails at the devotion she never anticipated, and at the offerings she never desired. It's inevitable that she's sad. It's inevitable that she can't understand.

Subaru knows that he is erring.

Subaru knows that he is incorrect.

Subaru knows that this methods will not bring joy to Emilia.

But this was the only method he had.

Grant Emilia's wish, make Emilia Ruler, and demonstrate his feelings for Emilia.

With these things in mind, and knowing from the very beginning that he was wrong, Subaru got here.

And so Natsuki Subaru laughs. Snickers. Smirks.

"—Watch me, Emilia. See me, detest me, remember me."

"Who, are you? Who in the world, are you...?"

Asks Emilia, her voice trembling, as Subaru slowly approaches her with his arms open wide. Subaru closes his eyes.

It feels like he's been yearning for this forever. Yearning to answer that question in Emilia's presence, forever—.

"—My name is Natsuki Subaru."

"Su, baru..."

Just hearing that weak call of his name is enough for a flood of emotion to surge through him. Emotion so great that, by that alone, Subaru is completely satisfied with having come here. With those feelings in his heart, and praying that he'll finish this sentence without his voice shaking because of them—

"—Witch Cult Cardinal of Sin, Bishop of PRIDE, Natsuki Subaru!"

"Cardinal...!"

Giving the greatest introduction he can, Subaru puts all his strength into his legs and kicks off the ground.

Natsuki Subaru focuses all of his scattered strength into one point in his body for the final sprint of his life.

Sacrificed many people, maltreated those who could perhaps be his accomplices, found solace in those he perhaps had bonds with, and now finally arriving at this darling girl—

"I'm the man who burned the world, rocked the country, killed the hero, and—"

"—you will kill."

Feeling the impact spear through his chest, Subaru smiles. He falls to his knees, unable to support himself before collapsing, tumbling down. He never reaches Emilia as his body gracelessly pitches across the stone.

"Why?"

Subaru closes his eyes, ready to accept the end, when something prompts him to raise his eyelids. Emilia is standing right as his side, looking down at him. One of the tears streaming from her eyes lands on Subaru's cheek, making him open his eyes.

"Why?"

Repeated, overlapping questions.

What on earth could this 'why' signify, wonders Subaru.

Why did you do this?

Why did it have to be like this?

Why did you come here to die to me?

There are definitely many 'why's in that question.

And he would like to answer all of them, but Subaru only has the scarcest of time left.

So he lets his final breath carry his answer.

"—I love you."

---

Death draws near. Old, familiar death.

Every time that Subaru meets death, he is taken to a dark, lonely, unknown location. And it truly, truly is a lonely place, somewhere unbearable to be on your own.
Every time that Subaru met death, he was sent out of this place.

Into that world of blood and anguish, tears and woe, and a very slight presence of love.

But it's fine now.

He's satisfied.

No... Something was wrong...

This wasn't the Shadow Garden.

When Subaru opened his eyes, he did not find the darkness he expected. On the contrary, what he saw was a sky that was mockingly blue. Certainly not the sky covered with Lugnica's ash fumes.

Impossible.

But that wasn't the only impossibility, the number of impossible things increased as Subaru's senses slowly returned to him.

First of all, even his position was not correct. He was lying on his back on the ground. He could feel the soil and grass under his hands and the clothes on his back. Unburnt grass. There were no sounds of people in pain or of Emilia in his ears. Just bird sounds. The only thing he could smell was the scent of flowers, not the smell of burning corpses. No this is not true. When he focused a bit, he could smell a bit of burning. It was a smell coming from his own wounds. But for some reason it was less than expected.

Subaru straightened up and reflexively moved into a sitting position. For some reason, his dislocated shoulder was now in place. His wounds had diminished somewhat, but not completely. He now had fewer scars than he had when he was at the last save point. But he had more scars now than when he started FIRE. His body's condition had returned to the state it was in between the last save point and the time he started the fire.

But the silliest thing of all was the partially large red dot floating in the air that was trying to communicate with him telepathically. The red Great Spirit who should have been killed by Reinhard already...

The situation was so ridiculous that Subaru's brain, which could even partially adapt to death, could not process what was happening right now. The flood of emotions he had just before his death was caught in this barrage of meaningless events and left Subaru expressionless.

He couldn't make sense of the events, but he knew there was something he had to test his mind.

Without hesitation, Natsuki Subaru took one of the daggers from his waist and stabbed it into his throat.

And amidst the spiritual cries of the Nameless fire spirit, Natsuki Subaru passed away once again.

---

Natsuki Subaru opened his eyes and saw the same sky again, only to shout.

"No!"

The save point had changed.

"HOW?! This is impossible!"

It was really impossible. Natsuki Subaru knew the origin of Return By Death. save points would not change in such a way that he could not achieve his goal. After all, Return By Death was his own authority. Even that witch couldn't do anything unless she gave permission or gave up control.

"Why why why!"

But the truth was undeniable. Somehow his save point had changed, and his last suicide mission to the Capital had also failed.

The only way that could happen was if Subaru wasn't satisfied with the ending he had prepared for himself. but Subaru knew that wasn't true. He was satisfied. He was satisfied. He was satisfied, wasn't he?

No, he shouldn't have doubted himself. Moreover, even if he had doubted his own plan and purpose (which he never did), there would still be a lot to be explained. Someone, or something, stopped Emilia from killing him with her ice spell, and brought him here in a way that Reinhard couldn't catch. he had returned his body to the state it was a few hours ago and resurrected his deceased contracted soul. And with all this, the save point had changed. Or maybe the save point had moved to a moment further back and then something had instantly teleported it here.

'...This is nonsense.' Subaru thought as he calmed himself down and got into a sitting position. The only way this could happen was if a user of authority intervened. After all, there is no limit to what power a sin authority can give. Even the most absurd things are possible. but this was also impossible. they were all dead. Petelgeuse, Sirius, Regulus, Capella, Roy, Lye, Louis, Clind and Pandora. They were all killed by Subaru. The only authority users in life were Subaru and Satella.

'If my return by death' hasn't leveled up, only that witch remains. After all, I don't know exactly the authority of that girl. And if it's connected to my arrival in Lugnica, that witch's ability might be something similar to the ability to teleport people. But it still doesn't make sense. Wait... if I'm here, what's going on in the Capital right now?'

With this last thought coming to his mind, panic filled Subaru's face. It's a feeling he hasn't seen much lately. After all, if she had disappeared some time after the fire started, it would mean that the plan to make Emilia a hero had failed. The deaths of all civilians were in vain... No. At least he killed Reinhard's heroism. but still...

'I can't solve anything by staying here. I need information.'

With this thought, Subaru sent a command from his mind to his Contracted Spirit. The spirit's mind is just as confused as Subaru. She explains to Subaru what happened in the last few hours. In fact, this should be called showing and making people feel rather than telling. feelings and images flow into Subaru's mind through the contract. There is not much new information. At Subaru's command, the Spirit began to burn down the Capital with everything it had, even using some of its Own Wood. With the precise instructions given by Subaru, she managed to burn down the entire capital before Reinhard caught her. and at the last moment, when she was about to use all the rest of her Od to distract Reinhard for a moment and sacrifice herself for Subaru, she found herself here with Subaru. There is no extra information. But Spirit believes that Subaru is the cause of these events. and assumes that their coming here is Subaru's secret escape plan. after all, he has always been the one to make plans and create miracles in times of impossibility.

Along with these, Subaru also felt feelings of joy, happiness, relief, love, and surprise coming from Spirit through the contract, but he ignored them as usual. There is nothing else useful.

'weird... did I come here at the same time? This was before the last save point. I'm back to the same problem again. Anyway, at least if I'm lost in this moment, I'm sure Elsa can run away with Meili. Ultimately, Reinhard will prioritize searching for me or rescuing those suffering in the fire. This might not be so bad... of course I have to figure out where I am first.'

With that, Subaru ordered his contract Spirit to observe the surroundings from a bird's eye view and began to think about where he was. Spirit's contract with Subaru had almost no mileage limit. But in order to communicate meaningfully with each other, they had to stay away from each other too far. Still, this distance was quite sufficient. Subaru processed the information from the spirit in his mind. 'I am in a mountainous area, on a hill. I think I'm between two mountains. It looks like there is a plain area below. There is no settlement nearby, but I can't say anything for sure because the mountains limit my view. There may be a city or a deserted land right behind that mountain. Where am I? I can't be in Lugnica. I know every part of Lugnica. Also, the whole country is burning. At least I could see the smoke from a distance. Unless I go forward in time, of course. Or back... I don't think... else? It can't be Gusteko either. The climate is wrong. There is nothing in the name of snow. It may be Kararagi, but it seems too green here. I'm probably in the Vollachia Empire. Being in a mountainous area also fits this. But there is something I can't understand. Why... Why aren't there any Spirits here?'

While his contract spirit looked down on the surroundings, Subaru tried to communicate with the small spirits around for information and ask questions. But he couldn't find any spirit around. He could still feel Mana. In fact, the Mana here was quite dense. But despite this, he could not find any spirit. This was a very strange situation. The strange part was that he could not find any spirit in nature, especially despite his level of spirit aptitude. Of course, there could be several possibilities. but still Subaru couldn't help but think.

'I hope I'm not anywhere beyond the Great Falls.'

Subaru told his contract spirit to move further away and come back after a while and tell what she saw. Meanwhile, he started to control his own situation. his body was still injured and in pain. It might be too much for a normal person, but it wasn't anything Subaru couldn't bear. Still, if he couldn't find help soon, he wouldn't be doing well. 'Ah... I wish Blue were here.'

His black archbishop's robe with orange stripes had many burns and tears. 'I hope the secrecy spell Roswaal placed was not damaged.' The tracksuit he wore under his archbishop's robe was in better condition, but it was also damaged. Subaru thought for a while and then sighed. His tracksuit had too much sentimental value, he couldn't use it. That's why he started to tear some pieces of his robe, avoiding the hood part where the enchantment was. With these pieces, he began to cover his still bleeding wounds and administer first aid. He had some knowledge on this subject, but his materials were insufficient. and his wounds were considered quite serious. On the bright side, most of the wounds were burns. There was no threat of fainting from blood loss. at least for now.

After completing his work, he continued to check his belongings. In the right pocket of his tracksuit, he had a few Holy royal gold coins and a few leftover Bokko fruits from the Bokko Fruits he used to support his contract spirit and quickly replenish his Mana when he started the fire in the capital. 'I've really strained my magic gate with all these Bokka fruits... Since I'm a Spirit user anyway, I don't need to use my gate. I can give my door a good rest.' True, after all, Spirit users draw Mana from the atmosphere through their souls. But this too had a speed limit and could only be used for spells he cast with his soul. He was forced to use his own mana to cast his own yin spells to escape or maneuver.

He also had a speaking mirror in his left pocket. Seen as a gold-coloured pocket mirror with a cover, the other world's mobile phone and the witch cult's primary communication device. Subaru used this to communicate to start the fire in an organized manner throughout the kingdom. But now he couldn't get any signal. By itself it was just a normal mirror. 'The distance limit of this thing is actually quite high. 'I really should be away.'

He had two witch cult daggers on his waist. a red cross-shaped hilt and a sharp silvery iron double-edged blade. Subaru had also had some training with this weapon and had learned a thing or two from Elsa. But he could not be said to be a master, because after a certain level he did not try to continue seriously, as with all other weapons. In fact, he didn't learn it properly because he didn't need it, after all, he couldn't beat Reinhard or anyone else who competed with him like that. he needed something more advanced and exotic.

There was a book in his robe pocket. The Bible given to him by Pete-san. it wasn't working. He had never worked. The Bible had never determined his fate. but he kept it with him to deceive other witch cultists.

"that's it... it's better than nothing." After checking what he had in his hands, Subaru looked at the sun. It was like the sun was just rising. It was midnight while the capital was burning. 'There's a time skip of a quarter day at best. damn.'

While thinking about these, the red spirit returns and begins to share his knowledge with Subaru. Apparently there is a river a little further in front of it. But more importantly, after walking a little towards the back and going down, there are a few hut-like structures. His spirit could not look there fully, but it is obvious that these structures are new and not formed naturally.

'These huts are a bit primitive, but I've heard of people living in tribes in Vollachia anyway.' Subaru thought as he started moving towards the direction of the huts. Even though he could withstand the physical pain of the wounds, his body had its limits. His condition was under control for now, but if he remained in this state for too long, blood loss could become a problem. He needed urgent support. So he started moving towards the nearest sign of civilization without much thought. After all, the worst case scenario would be to start over again.

As Subaru moved forward, he took off his robe completely and folded the torn robe to look like a normal black outfit and started carrying it in his hand. After all, if the people here knew about the witch cult, they wouldn't be very friendly, Subaru thought. Moreover, he always kept his spirit as a watchman ahead as he walked along the road. Of course, the distance was close enough for them to share telepathic information with each other. Just because he could start over didn't mean he would be completely reckless. But with the last image from his spirit, it turned out that these measures were meaningless.

'okay, that was unexpected.' Subaru thought while hiding behind a rock. Subaru's Spirit had finally gotten close enough to get a glimpse of beyond the huts and the people inside them. Yes, these huts were definitely not formed naturally, this was an issue that was not even open to discussion. But Subaru had never seen the creatures living in these huts before. They were some kind of deformed humanoid. Their skin was black and they wore nothing but a few primitive loincloths. They had fur around their necks, sort of like a lion's mane. they also had two bunny ears coming out of their manes. They all had masks with different patterns on their faces. A few of them stood watch over a structure like two towers. The mane of one of these scouts was a slightly purplish black. They had crossbow-like handmade weapons in their hands. A few of them were patrolling the huts with shields and sticks, carrying red barrels from place to place. There were two red ones standing guard in front of a hut in the distance that he couldn't see inside. Almost all the others were in the largest hut. They were singing some kind of song or performing a ritual in a language Subaru didn't know. Some had red manes, but most were white.

But two of them were a little strange. One was shorter and older than the others. he was holding some sort of long staff and his mask was a bit more detailed. He was wearing slightly more advanced clothes in blue. His mane was blackish dark blue. He seemed to be leading the ritual. He looked kind of like a shaman.

The other one was different. His mask was very plain and looked like a white version of a plague doctor's mask. His mane was a lighter blue and was longer. He had a more elaborate staff and wore a more elaborately detailed robe and boots. He was a little further away from the others. But he was listening to the ritual and occasionally saying a few words in a language Subaru didn't understand.

'What the hell are these? Are they some kind of Mabest that I don't know about? No... Among the Mabests, the only ones with similar intelligence are the Majiras... but they cannot be compared to these. They are officially a primitive community. Besides, they don't have horns, and if they were mabests, they should be able to smell the witch scent on me. After all this death, they should be able to smell me even from this distance. Is it a race I don't know about? It's not impossible... well... there is a race of metal people on this Earth who literally live underground and speak English. But even if something like this happened, I would know!'

Yes, he would definitely know. Specifically, Subaru had spent tens of thousands of cycles researching how to kill Reinhard, and had tried and researched nearly every power, spell, race, curse, poison, seal, weapon, and so on on Earth.

'Really, these are either a newly emerged race. Which can't happen unless the Odlangu suddenly decide to create a new race. Or I'm in another world beyond the Great Waterfall... another other world... Damn it!'

Subaru clenched his teeth at this thought. Just when he was about to sort everything out, he was sent to another Earth. Again.

"Could this be a coincidence? I don't think so. Was it Satella again? Why? How do I go back? Wait no. I have to think about this later. What should I do now?"

Subaru commanded his Spirit to observe a little more closely, sitting behind the rock he was hiding in to take a breather and analyze the situation at hand. His injuries were really starting to bother him.

'Another World. It means that anything is possible. Again. At least Return by Death and spirit arts work on this Earth as well. This is good. So what is the role of these beings on this Earth? Please don't tell me these creatures are the dominant intelligent species on the planet. If so, it would be impossible for them to have the technology or magic to allow me to come back... they actually don't seem that stupid. Especially if we look at this robe guy's belongings, he seems to be quite smart. Should I try to make contact? 'Oh what?'

Subaru's thoughts were interrupted by a signal from his spirit. Apparently, when she got too close, the one with the fine robes noticed his spirit. Subaru immediately summoned his Spirit back to his side, but at this time, the robed one immediately warned the others with some kind of shout, and everyone began to rush out, taking up their sticks and taking up a fighting stance. Meanwhile, the cloaked one, who Subaru now recognized as some kind of Mage, created a blue shield around himself with a wave of his staff and began to float in the air.

'I think I can assume that this robed person is a Mage with the ability to sense the Mana around him. I didn't expect them to be able to detect a soul of this level so easily and use this kind of magic. I'm stupid. I think with the laws of my own Worlds. Anything can happen here.' Subaru thought. While the creatures coming out begin to inform other creatures.

'If I try to escape, they might notice anyway. Should I try to make a surprise attack? Fuck it. When I'm already injured and my spirit is exhausted and my mana reserves are so low, I don't expect to beat a group I know next to nothing about the first time. This moment will already be reset. Let me at least try to communicate. Ninety nine percent of the time they will attack, but at least I can tell by their reaction to me whether there is a human like creature on this Earth.'

After giving a few commands to his spirit, Subaru raised his hands, came out from behind the rock he was on, and started walking towards the group ready to attack.

"Stop, Stop! I surrender. I surrender, do not attack. Heck heck! nicht angreifen!"

While Subaru was calling out to the creatures in the three languages he partially knew (Japanese, English, German), he also tried to explain that they were harmless using sign language. Of course it didn't work. Some of the creatures stood and stared for a moment. But it wasn't surprise at seeing something new. They appeared to be investigating a known threat before attacking. At least that's what Subaru assumed from their body movements and the sounds they made. It's not that easy to read the mood of someone wearing a mask. Of course, these movements lasted a very short moment. With a shout from the wizard who finished looking, the creatures began to attack.

While the close-range ones ran towards Subaru, a white-maned archer who was closer to the archers fired a shot at Subaru. The arrow that would normally have hit Subaru's neck was simply stopped by the red shield that suddenly appeared around Subaru. At the same time, Subaru drew a wall of fire in front of him with the help of his Spirit. Some of the clubbers managed to stop in time, but the unlucky majority were engulfed in flames.

Subaru was using his spirit Od for this spell. This would normally be a huge sacrifice and price. But Subaru didn't care as this moment would be reset. Spirit had no choice but to obey anyway.

Subaru used the brief moment he gained from this wall of fire to duck behind a nearby tree. Using the shield too much would further deplete the soul's already low Mana, after all, there was a speed limit for drawing Mana from the atmosphere and spending Od. This normally wouldn't matter, but since his spirit was still very tired after FIRE, his Spirit's Mana absorption rate had slowed down.

While Subaru was preparing an EL level Goa spell, he was forced to fire it before he could complete it because of the Mage creature that suddenly teleported in front of him. The sloppy burst of fire made contact with the Mage's blue shield, surrounding it with a layer of vapor that blocked Subaru's vision.

Subaru, shocked by what had just happened, stepped back and tried to change his position. At this time, three water bolts from the steam mist flew towards where he was. Two of them missed him, but one made contact with his shield, strengthening the vapor layer.

For some reason, this simple attack weakened his shield even further than it otherwise would have been. But Subaru ignored this at that moment and tried to escape to the safe area where he set up a fire wall. but he received another shock when he saw that a kind of rain began to fall on the wall of fire and the fires were extinguished.

Also, the rain somehow healed the burned creatures. Looking forward, the shorter one realized that the other different creature was casting some kind of spell. If Subaru wasn't at war, he would appreciate this kind of space improvement. But right now his attention was on the stick-wielding creatures running towards him.

"Shamac"

A black smoke suddenly surrounded Subaru, centering around him. Of course, this was not normal smoke. A yin spell that disrupts the perception and senses of those within it. With this spell, Subaru pushed his already tired gate even further and spent almost all of his own mana. He couldn't do that again in this war unless he took the chance of breaking into his door.

Due to his willpower and the fact that he was the one who cast the spell, Subaru was able to detect everything in the smoke and avoid the harmful effects of the smoke. But other creatures were not so lucky. Of course, this spell could be resisted with mental strength and focus. But the strongest point of these creatures was definitely not intelligence.

Having lost their senses, the creatures began to disperse in smoke, making uncontrolled movements and attacking randomly in every direction. Of course, Subaru had already moved to the safety of the smoke so they were attacking each other. Occasionally arrows or water bolts would also come into the smoke, but since Subaru's perception was very strong in the smoke, he easily dodged most of them and got caught in the shield that they couldn't avoid. They weren't targeted properly anyway. Meanwhile, Subaru was also preparing an EL level Goa spell for his spirit to cast.

But just as he prepared the spell, a roar was heard. Subaru looked through the smoke to where the roar was coming from. It was coming from the distant hut. Subaru assumed that reinforcements might arrive. But he didn't expect this. It was another creature. It was about one and a half or two times larger than the simple stick ones. His skin was darker black and muscular. His mask was more detailed and had two large horns. He also had a huge wooden shield in his left hand.

This shielded creature aligned its shield and began to sprint into the smoke. But of course, it was unlikely that he would target the Subaru in the smoke. He couldn't target it either. Once inside the smoke, he too lost control of his perception. Taking this as an opportunity, Subaru fired the El Goa spell in his hand at this giant shield-bearer. The shielded creature let out a scream of rage and began to sprint in a random direction as the fire burned the fur on its back and gave it a painful burn.

Unfortunately, due to both this explosion of fire and this sprint, the smoke seemed to have dispersed. But luckily, the barrels were blocking the direction in which the shielded creature was running. Small red barrels. When the shielded giant crashed into these barrels and fell to the ground with an explosion, Subaru learned that these barrels were explosive. But Subaru's luck must have run out here, because the explosion was blocked by the shield and did not cause much damage to the giant creature.

Subaru spent more of his spirit's Od and tried to summon a second wall of fire, while popping a few of the Bokka fruits in his pocket into his mouth. As the Bokka fruits forced the Mana in his muscles and body towards the magic gate, he felt incredible fatigue in both his gate and his muscles. His aim was to use another shamac. He knew his door would be broken, but he didn't care because he would reset it.

Unfortunately, the second Shamac never arrived because three arrows came towards Subaru while he was trying to cast his spell. Two seemingly normal ones hit his shield and fell to the ground almost harmlessly. But he didn't stop when the third arrow, glowing purplish and sparking, made contact with his shield.

BOOM!

Somehow, the electric sparks in the arrow interacted with the pure fire Mana in the red shield and created a relatively large explosion. Subaru was thrown into a nearby tree by the explosion. Being so close to such an explosion had taken a toll on him. His shoulder was dislocated and he could not move his legs. But even if he could, he couldn't go anywhere. Because he suddenly found himself drowning.

When he opened his eyes, he saw himself floating in the air in a sphere-shaped body of water. In front of him stood that wizard creature, controlling the body of water with his wand and laughing. With his still mobile hand, Subaru tried to disrupt the integrity of the body of water and command his spirit for a new attack. The integrity of the water sphere was not very stable. He could easily escape with the help of his spirit. But there was no time for that.

The shield-wielding giant, who had already stood up, came to his senses and began to sprint towards the water sphere with his shield. Before Subaru could react, he collided with the shield. The impact broke most of his bones. But it didn't end there. Without slowing down, the shielded person continued to run towards the rock ahead, crushing Subaru by crushing him between the shield and the rock.

On the bright side, Subaru died quickly without much pain as his skull quickly shattered...

---

When he woke up on the same hill again, the first thing Subaru did was curse. The second thing was to tell his spirit to draw as much Mana as possible from the atmosphere.

The Nameless Fire spirit never questioned it, even in her own mind. After all, she was used to such sudden mood swings and orders from her master. In fact, it comforted her a little. After all, for her, these situations meant that her Master knew what to do. 'I knew it was my master who made us escape here,' she thought with joy as she carried out the order.

Meanwhile, Subaru was thinking about what happened, and on the other hand, he was tearing off his robe and giving himself first aid, just like last time. This time he was more successful and faster in first aid.

'Look at this situation. The creatures I called stupid killed me with a combo. I expected to die, but I didn't expect it to be such a crushing difference. Still, at least the communication attempt served its purpose. Those creatures definitely knew what I was. There are people in this world too. Or at least there is a humanoid species. I can almost be sure of that.

There's a lot of pointless stuff here, though. What the hell was that electric arrow?! Electricity... With his knowledge, Roswaal can create electric magic by combining advanced Wind and Fire elements. But is it possible for these monsters to use such advanced magic? Also, this was definitely not normal electricity. When it came into contact with my shield it caused some sort of reaction and explosion. I don't know how or why. But died.

Speaking of advanced magic... Did that Mage teleport?! Flight, water shield, water magic, teleportation. How? Fire, wind and earth spells are needed for flight. Water element for water spells. The Yin element is needed in teleportation. This creature can't be using all five elements, right?

No... if that were the case, it would use other elements besides water efficiently. The magic of this world is definitely different than where I come from. Also that other wand creature. I think he was some kind of shaman. He literally did a rain dance. He both made it rain and cast an effective healing spell on the field. This is a difficult thing even for Blue.

Also, did the red wood catch fire on the way to me? Or was it because of my magic? If they can also use fire magic, the color of these creatures symbolizes the magic they can use. maybe...

Whites have no magic, reds are fire, purples are electricity, blues are water. There is a healing shaman and a water mage.

There is a purple archer. I couldn't count all the whites and reds. But I think there are 15-20 of them. Also, for some reason, I think they are all male... I mean, I couldn't see the archers clearly, though. The others were definitely men. That loincloth doesn't provide much privacy. This cannot be their main camp. Their families aren't here...unless they reproduce asexually...or are a hermaphroditic species...I'll stop that thought process for now.

There's also that one with horns. He has no elemental power. But he is very strong physically. Still, if the explosion of those barrels wasn't blocked by his shield, maybe I could have disabled him for a while. And I could have killed him in the process. On the other hand. What will they do with all that explosives? Counting all the piles, there are about twenty or so barrels in the camp. It's like they came to commit suicide bombing. They also had the intelligence to make explosives... incredible...

The shaman seems to only take on a support role. If I can attack him I can quickly take him out of the game. After all, in every battle you first remove the healer from the game. On the other hand, there is the wizard. The water shield blocks my fire spells very easily. The damage I do to the shield with fire spells is very little. It seems like I could break it if I pushed hard enough... But then I wouldn't have Mana left to deal with the others. I cannot renounce myself and my spirit's Od in the final timeline. 'And I can't give up on my door either.'

After completing first aid, Subaru slowly started walking towards the huts. The red spirit also followed Subaru as she drew Mana from the atmosphere.

'If I attack him before he can activate the shield, I can disable him. This makes the job much easier. Mage is obviously their leader and the smartest. This gives me a great opportunity to win. First, I can take the Mage out of the game with a sneak attack. Then I attack that purple electric archer since they are an unknown factor. Then I focus on the shaman. I'll probably do a tactic with barrels for the Horned. I try to take out the last remaining stupid stick wielders from a safe distance. It's not a plan, but at least it's a destination route.

I don't actually have to fight these things. If we accept that there are human-like species on this Earth after all, I can explore other parts in search of other settlements. But it is not certain. I also have to take care of my wounds. Once I defeat the people there, I can search the huts for medical supplies. If there are no medical supplies, next time I might try knocking out the shaman in battle and then torturing him into healing me. Of course, I'm not sure if his spell will work on me. If that doesn't work, I might try capturing the smartest wizard. I'm personally not sure how to do this. But there must be limits to his teleportation. Maybe I could try cutting off his limbs and tying him to a pole. Maybe he might not be able to teleport while attached to such a large object. He looks smart. Maybe I can establish a primitive communication and try to get information in the meantime. The muscular one seems even dumber than the normal ones... but I'm not sure. Maybe they sacrifice intelligence for muscle power. It's okay if I don't achieve anything. At least I'll gain some experience in this new world.'

With these thoughts, Subaru went down to the huts again. He immediately hid behind a rock and began observing the huts below. Meanwhile, he began to accumulate mana and prepare the spell that would fire an Ul level Goa.

A few hours later it was ready. Subaru shouted as he jumped down.

"UL Goa".

A spell that is just one step below the top tier of Goa magic. With this shot, six searing fireballs were fired into the door of the large hut. The only person who could react was Mage. But he wasn't fast enough. This spell, which was normally used in a larger area, was much more intense and powerful in this small area. As soon as the fireballs hit the creatures, they exploded in a circular pattern, setting everything around that could burn into flames and turning them to ashes. The creatures hit by the fireballs were the lucky ones because they died instantly. Others began to burn and die one by one. Screams coming from the hut ended with the hut completely collapsing due to fire. The flames continued to burn in the remaining ruins. Until everything is gone. Even Subaru admitted to using a little more power than necessary.

Everything literally turned to ashes in a few seconds. That was the power of UL Goa. But at the same time, this made the tired Spirit even more tired. Additionally, mana reserves were running low.

The other creatures in the camp could only stare in surprise at the main hut, which suddenly turned to ashes. Just a sonic boom and that's it. Everything is gone. They couldn't even react. But when their surprise was over, they started shouting. They also noticed the person standing next to the ashes. (Subaru moved closer from top to bottom to better target the spell.)

As the archers charged Subaru, Subaru quickly hid behind the tree he hid in last time. It also had little meaning. Besides, he couldn't stop that electric archer with a shield. Subaru braced himself as the stick men outside rushed towards him.

"Shamac"

Smoke covered everywhere. It disrupted the creatures' perception while strengthening Subaru's. The creatures were attacking each other even more uncontrollably than last time. Obviously, they became even more stupid without a leader. With their mental strength so low, it would be impossible to resist Shamac.

As Subaru positioned himself to safety in the smoke, he suddenly heard a roar. The horned giant in the distant hut had joined the battle. Subaru commanded his sprit to be ready for two Goa spells as the horned giant began to sprint towards the dark smoke for a shield strike. And of course he missed, just like last cycle. But this time he couldn't stop in time, so he hit a rock in the smoke and got stuck in the smoke.

That's why Subaru built the Shamac in such a corner. Pulling the giant into the smoke and buying time. It worked. The giant also began to struggle in the smoke and randomly attack everything in the smoke. Since Subaru could see those in the smoke and dodge them, only the other stick-wielding creatures hit them.

Running out of the now crowded smoke, Subaru suddenly threw the simple Goa spell in his hand at the purple archer. But I think he underestimated his injuries. He missed the target, and all four archers present turned their crossbows towards Subaru and fired. But their hit times weren't very good. Subaru dove left into the grass and dodged two of the arrows. But one of the normal arrows had slightly grazed his arm. Just as the archers were about to load their crossbows and prepare for a second attack, an arrow from outside the camp hit the purple archer in the shoulder and knocked him out of the hut.

This unexpected move caught the attention of both the archers and Subaru. But Subaru didn't waste this opportunity and fired a Goa at the downed archer. The purple archer tried to shield himself with his hands, but it didn't work and he started screaming and burning in flames when the fireball hit him. Meanwhile, the other archers loaded their crossbows and fired another shot at Subaru. But this time, the arrows were stopped before they could reach the target by Subaru's red shield. Now that he wasn't that electric purple archer, he could use his shield. This relieved him a little. He immediately stood up and tried to regain his position. Meanwhile, just like last time, an arrow that came unknowingly hit another archer.

When Subaru looked back to see where the arrow had come from, he saw that the smoke had almost completely dissipated, and he immediately began running to his predetermined location. Almost all of the clubbers had fainted. Maybe from fighting each other, or maybe from the mental burden of Shamac smoke. Probably both. But the horned giant was still standing. He had a few scars on him, but the real difference was the anger in his eyes. Finally regaining its perception and senses, the giant began to sprint towards Subaru again. But because of his anger, he couldn't pay much attention to his route.

Subaru smiled. Subaru had shifted so that it was between the current location of the explosive barrels and the location he was using the Shamac. In this way, the horned giant fired a tiny form of Goan magic just as its barrels passed by. As soon as he passed by the giant barrels and left them behind, the tiny fireball reached the barrels.

BOOOOM!

The force of the Explosion was so great that it threw the horned giant forward towards Subaru. Fortunately, Subaru managed to avoid it. Since his back was turned to the barrels at the time of the giant explosion, he suffered the damage from the explosion on his back. The horned giant was writhing in pain on the ground. The explosion had torn pieces of flesh from his back and his back was completely burned. His hair was still on fire. As Subaru made this observation, two more arrows pierced his red shield. The damage to his shield was starting to increase a bit, but he didn't care. Meanwhile, another arrow coming from afar hit an archer creature.

As Subaru approached the head of the giant creature writhing on the ground, he summoned two small but intense fireballs into his hands. He started using the spirit's od again.

Subaru fired two fireballs in a straight line towards the giant's neck. A spell cast by a great spirit from this distance. The giant, who was already in pain, now had to deal with the bleeding and burns on his neck. Subaru looked at the archers as he left the giant to writhe and die on its own. They were injured. Those arrows that occasionally came from a distance inflicted good damage on the archers. They were still alive, but they were no longer a threat to Subaru. Some even tried to escape when the horned giant fell.

After finishing off the rest, Subaru collapsed to the ground. He had overexerted his body again when he was so injured. But he couldn't leave himself now. He couldn't end this cycle, especially without finding out who shot those arrows that helped him. Fortunately, he didn't have to work hard for this.

While Subaru was kneeling on the ground, someone was running towards Subaru from a place at the back of the far hut, opposite the direction Subaru was coming from. The side where the arrows come from. It can be said that the man was wearing a green suit. He was wearing green trousers with red triangles on the ends and long brown boots. He was wearing a green vest and green armbands over a white shirt. He had a red tie around his neck. He was wearing a sort of tool belt with pockets around his waist. He had a one-handed sword tied to his belt on one side and a quiver on the other. The quiver was full of arrows. He had a large backpack on his back and a bow hanging on the bag. His hair was short and black. His eyes were light brown. It seemed a little taller than the Subaru. It was an estimated 6 feet tall. His face had an average appearance. He had a youthful appearance, but his body looked very athletic. And he was obviously running pretty fast. He quickly arrived at Subaru in a very short time. Some anxiety may also have an impact on this. Subaru looked towards the man from where he was sitting. If he wasn't trying hard not to look suspicious right now, he'd be grinning from ear to ear. But for now he spread out further on the floor and began to feign a little semi-consciousness.

When the man reached Subaru, he quickly took his bag off his back and started taking things out of the bag. At the same time, he sat on the ground and checked Subaru's condition.

"Hey, hey! Can you hear me? Try to stay sober! Stupid. Even if you had vision, you couldn't attack such a crowded camp alone!"

While the man was trying to keep Subaru awake, he was also giving him first aid with the medical supplies in his bag. But unfortunately, this good intention was not rewarded by the gods.

"Goa"

"Aaah!"

Subaru shot a fireball from his hand towards the man's legs, causing the man to scream in pain and fall backwards. But this man was obviously experienced in working with unexpected situations. After getting over his initial surprise, he tried to gather himself and take a defensive stance towards Subaru, drawing his sword. But this effort proved pointless as the red flying spirit standing behind him shot a second fireball at him. Since the man was focusing on the Subaru, he was completely exposed to the attack coming from behind him. 'Benefits of using spiritual arts,' Subaru thought as the man writhing in pain on the ground.

With the second shock, the man dropped his sword and began to try to extinguish it by rolling his back on the grass. Meanwhile, Subaru stood up with some effort and picked up the sword that the man had dropped.

"I advise you to be quiet. For your own good." Subaru said. While pointing the sword at the man and summoning a fireball sphere to his side that wasn't too hot for the cosmatic display. Its purpose was to intimidate.

Gripped in pain, the man tried to calm himself down and remain silent with Subaru's threat. The flames on him were extinguished and his injuries were certainly not serious. After all, Subaru wanted him to be able to answer questions. But the wounds were still painful. Subaru continued speaking.

"Running to help someone you don't know is not a smart thing to do. It's pretty stupid. And you call me stupid, huh... But you know what? I'm really glad to see you..." He used a sarcastic and somewhat insane tone of voice. Even so, he was really happy. At least now he knew that there were people here too and they spoke the same language.

"What do you want?" The man tried to speak as calmly as he could. In his opinion, this madman must have wanted something. After all, there had to be a reason why he didn't just kill her right now.

Subaru raised an eyebrow at the man's attitude. "Perhaps I exaggerated a bit when I called you stupid. You grasped the situation and adapted faster than most people in this situation. Brief summary. I have questions. If you answer them, you will survive. Deal?" Subaru said as he slightly heated the tip of the sword with his spirit magic.

"I... I'm just a normal adventurer..."

'Adventurous? 'Is there seriously this cliché adventurer guild thing going on here?' Subaru thought.

"Don't worry. Any normal person is enough to answer my questions. First of all, where the hell am I?"

"Ha?"

"Where is this place? Where are we?"

"Uh... We're just west of Liyue Port."

"You're too specific, be a little more general. What country am I in?"

"Liyue?"

"Damn it!"

However, there was no room for doubt. Subaru had to accept that he was indeed on another Earth. He pushed this anger deep into his mind and focused on getting as much information as possible from the man in front of him.

"What's your name?"

"...Tianbao" didn't need to lie because his name was written on the documents in his bag.

"Okay, Tianbao. Did I just understand correctly? The name of your country is Liyue. However, the name of the city is also Liyue port. Is this city the capital of your country?"

"Yes, of course."

"Huh... How many others are there?"

"City?"

"No, country. How many countries are there in this World? Name them."

The man named Tianbao stared blankly at Subaru for a moment. But with a look from Subaru, the man decided that answering the question was the best thing to do. This way, he could buy time and wait for the other person to lose strength due to his injuries.

"Basically there are Seven. Liyue, Sumeru, Mondstadt, Fontaine, Inazuma, Natlan, Snezhnaya." Tianbao spoke while still suffering from his burns.

'Seven huh... More than the Previous World. But still very little from my Earth's past. I guess on Earths where there are uncertain factors like magic, people are forced to be more closely knit together.'

"You said we are in Liyue right now, right? How advanced is Magic in this country?"

"What?"

"I mean magic. You know, throwing a fireball or instantly healing someone. What I just did. How does an ordinary person learn how to cast spells around here? Do you have magic academies, too?"

"These spells aren't something you can learn by practicing!"

"hmm... So, is magic a kind of power passed down through lineage that only a few families can use? Or is it a power that is randomly acquired from birth, although it is not passed down through lineage?"

"No no. You need a vision to cast elemental magic." Tianbao said this as if he were stating an obvious truth to everyone. But Subaru wasn't everyone.

"Vision? What is this thing?"

"Don't you know what a vision is?! Don't you have a vision?"

"No, but I'd like to know what it is." Subaru said. But Tianbao wasn't listening at that moment and was looking for something by observing Subaru's clothes. Subaru sighed and plunged the heated sword slightly into Tianbao's burned leg. Subaru repeated his question as Tianbao let out another tiny scream.

"What is the vision?"

"Aaah...! A type of jewel that allows the use of elemental magic, bestowed by the gods on mortals whose desires and determination they respect." Tianbao explained in as much detail as he could.

Now it was Subaru's turn to stare blankly.

"Gods? Are there really Gods here?"

"Don't you even know the gods?!" Tianbao couldn't help but shout due to Subaru's ignorance. He'd never met anyone like this before. Having your life in this person's hands wasn't very reassuring either.

Subaru was busy with his own thoughts. The Earth he came from had a few legends about people called gods... there was one called the god of war, for example. The person who created Reinhard's sword. or God of the Oni. But they were kind of just legends. Other than these, the only being that could be called a god was ODlangu. But Odlangu's power was not infinite. Their Sin Genes were stronger than them. Subaru nodded and turned to the man.

"Stop yelling! What exactly do you mean by gods?"

"..."

"Answer me!"

"How can I?! How do you explain gods to someone who doesn't know what gods are?! Gods are gods. Everyone knows Gods." There was pain and despair in Tianbao's voice.

"Okay... stop your mental breakdown. Has a god ever been killed or died before?"

"Yes... In the Archon war."

"So they're not omnipotent. Fine. Are there any gods in this land?"

"Of course! Each country has its own god. Liyue's god is Morax, the Lex Lapis. God of Contracts and Geo Archon."

"So you're kind of saying there are seven gods. What exactly do you mean by Geo?"

"That's Geo... Also known as the Earth element."

"I guessed... Wait... is there an avatar style system here? Is each country ruled by a god of an element?"

Tianbao just nodded, even though he wasn't sure of the avatar's meaning.

"Count each element from the beginning, with its country and God. And tell me what the elements are."

"Well... Lex Lapis, Archon of Geo and God of Liyue. Lesser Lord Kusanali, Archon of Dendro and God of Sumeru. Barbatos, Archon of Anemo and god of Mondstadt. Electro's Raiden Shogun, the Archon and god of Inazuma. Archon of Hydro and Focalors, the god of Fontaine. Murata, the Archon of Pyro and god of Natlan. Tsaritsa, the Archon of Cryo and god of Snezhnaya. "

After pausing for a moment to catch his breath, Tianbao continues.

"The elements are... Geo is Earth. Dendro is nature life. Anemo is wind. Electro is energy. Hydro is water. Pyro is fire. and cryo is ice."

"Wow... This doesn't make any sense. Isn't there yin and yang, Darkness and light?"

"Why should darkness and light be one element?"

"Why would nature be an element? Come on, that makes sense from wood logic. Why is ice counted as a separate element?"

Tianbao just looked at Subaru with utter confusion. Nothing this crazy guy said made any sense to Tianbao. Around this time, Subaru started to feel a little weaker. The burden of wounds and Mana exhaustion was getting to him. Tianbao seemed to notice this too, because he started talking to Subaru with a little more confidence.

"You know you may not survive if you don't get treatment right away, right?"

"So what?"

"Obviously, you don't know anything about these places. You probably don't know how to get to the port. Even if you somehow get there, you don't know how to get medical help immediately, do you?"

"... Get to the point. What's your offer?"

"Let me go. Let's go to the city together. I will use my rights in the adventurer guild to ensure that you receive good treatment."

"Nonsense. But how do I know you won't break the deal and rat me out as soon as I get there? After all, it's an adventurer's word against the word of a stranger. And the scars on you strengthen your case."

"I haven't finished my offer yet! Look at this camp you destroyed. Twenty or so hilichurls. A shielded mitachurl. A healer shaman and an Abyss Mage. There's a huge reward in the adventurer's guild for destroying such a large, newly established explosives-filled camp this close to the city." .When we return to the city, let's say that we destroyed the camp together. Let's share the reward and never see each other again. If I want to get the reward, I can't rat you out. After all, the laws of Liyue and the adventurer's guild are clear. There is no payment for monsters killed by criminals and groups that the adventurers do not join. There is the adventurer's guild rule book in my bag "You can verify what I say by reading that book. You can also claim that the wounds on me are from the war."

Tianboa was gauging Subaru's reactions as he listed every argument he could think of. At the same time, he took his left hand behind his back to rub his burning back. Subaru just gave a curious smile.

"But you can still say that I betrayed you after we destroyed the camp together."

"No! I can't do that. Why would they believe me when I say you did this? If you betray me, you will not only be deprived of the reward, but you will also be left here in this injured state. Therefore, it would be unreasonable for you to betray me. No sane person would believe that you did this. I probably lied to get the money on my own." They'll think I'm saying it. Be reasonable. This is the best option for you to survive and for both of us to profit. Also, let's be honest. The current situation is ridiculous. You threatened me to get me a little bit burned and get answers to questions that everyone else would have answered anyway. Who would believe this nonsense?! Seriously, there's only one If these are the answers you want, why did you do this?!" A hint of desperation crept into Tianboa's voice again.

Subaru shrugged. "You can say I wanted to speed up the process."

"Was it just for that?!"

"Uh... no big deal. As for your deal, it was a pretty good try. I didn't expect you to have such logical and lengthy thought processes in this situation. It was impressive. I must apologize for calling you Idiot. But there is a fatal flaw in this deal." Subaru said with a blank expression.

"...Why?" Tianboa asked with fear and confusion.

A sickly grin appeared on Subaru's face.

"This deal only works if the other side cares about survival."

However, Tianboa had no doubts. This madman was going to kill both himself and her. He couldn't understand why he would do it, but he was sure going to do it. Tianboa did not have the confidence to defeat this man in direct combat. Even if he tried to reach the hidden blade in his boot and stab him in the neck in one move, he would turn to ashes the moment he tried to do so. The difference between those who could use the power of the elements and normal people was huge even at the lowest level. Tianboa lamented for perhaps the hundredth time this week that he didn't have a vision. There was only one thing he could do. One last attempt to survive. Using his left hand behind his back, he took the gray marble from one of the compartments behind the bag belt he wore around his waist and immediately smashed it in his hand without wasting any time.

As soon as the marble shattered, a gray smoke filled the surrounding area, obscuring Subaru's vision. All he could do was sigh as a red shield formed around Subaru.

"Is that seriously the best you can do? I'm just curious."

After all, this action was meaningless against Subaru. This was pointless if the gas was just to block his view. If he tried to escape, he could use his Spirit to instantly locate her without even seeing her. If it was a surprise attack, it would be stopped with his shield.

Using his Spirit, Subaru tried to find the place where Tianboa escaped. But it seemed that Tianboa had fainted on the spot. At the same time he realized that smoke was seeping into his shield. Subaru was surprised that this gas could penetrate his shield, but he did not panic at all. He didn't even react as his mind began to blur from the smoke. After all, why would he?

Tianboa's goal was actually simple. He wasn't planning on running away. All he had to do was knock Subaru unconscious. Even though he too fainted, he would still be the winner. Subaru would either die while he was unconscious from his wounds, or he would be unable to harm her. But this was pointless. After Subaru fainted, Subaru's Spirit would instantly kill Tianboa and then try to wake Subaru up. Subaru could still win if he wanted to. But there was no need for this. It was going to reset anyway. He achieved his goal in this cycle.

Subaru immediately commanded his Spirit to kill him and fainted, leaving his Spirit in utter confusion. In fact, Spirit had received this order thousands of times, but she always experienced the same confusion because time was reset a few minutes after this order. Spirit tried to defy the order with everything she had. But this was impossible. The rules of the contract between them were very strict, and Subaru had full control in every way. In fact, this being was more of a slave than an indentured Spirit. Spirit tried everything. she tried to break the contract. It was impossible. she tried to finish his meaning so that she could not fulfill the order. It was impossible. she tried to commit suicide. It was impossible. The result was always the same. The contract took control.

Subaru died in the most painless and quick way possible when a fire arrow entered his eye while he was unconscious and lodged directly in the frontal lobe of his brain.

---

Subaru woke up on the same mound once again. But this time he was more confident. After all, he was no longer completely clueless and had a source of information. All he had to do was reset until he had enough information about this Earth. Still, it was easier said than done. What he had learned echoed in Subaru's mind. A new world. New rules.

"Gods..."

'It's not like they're omnipotent. They are more like eastern religions than the style of Abrahamic religions. But then what is a god? More information is needed. Let me talk to that Santa's elf again.'

And with this thought, Subaru began to move forward. Again.

---

"I can't believe you fell for this trick again. I thought I got lucky the first time. I'm glad I was wrong." Subaru said while tying the injured Tianbao with the rope he found in Tianbao's bag.

"Ugh! Ah! This... there's no need for this... seriously. I can't do anything anyway. Look, I think there's a mistake... I've never seen you before..." Tianbao said in pain. The logical part of his mind was looking for a way out and was trying to argue.

"I'm sorry, Tianbao. But you're wrong." Subaru said as he searched Tianbao, ignoring the tied up Tianbao's surprise and questions. His belt pockets were quite full. There were many small gray marbles. One was in a separate pocket from the others and was lighter in color. Except for this last marble, he could not sense any magic from the other marbles. In other pockets there was a small pocket knife-like tool, a small brush, a tiny primitive magnifying glass, a primitive binoculars, a small pair of scissors and a few primitive pencils. Pretty prepared. He also had a sharp knife in his boots. The bow on it was a simple thing. But some of the arrows on his fringe had colored tips.

Still, these didn't seem like much of a big deal compared to the things in his bag. There was a small amount of food and water in the big bag. There were also some bottles of different colours. They were more like Molotov cocktails, and Subaru could easily sense that there was Mana in these things thanks to his Spirit. Apart from these, there were a few more documents and items. But Subaru was really interested in two things.

Medical first aid supplies and a map.

"Finally something useful" Subaru opened the map while starting to administer first aid to himself. Since he had experience from last time, he was less injured this time while fighting those creatures. But he still wasn't that good, and these wouldn't even come close to healing him completely.

The first thing Subaru noticed when he opened the map was that he couldn't read the text. 'I was already expecting this. That's what happened when I first came to Lugnica. In fact, it is incredible that we even speak the same language. However, these letters and the way they are written are a bit strange... like, it looks a bit like the Chinese alphabet... no. The Latin alphabet? 'Is it a mixture of the two?'

While tending to his own wounds, Subaru turns the map in front of Tianbao and speaks.

"Where exactly are we now?"

"Huh… We are just beyond Tianheng Mountain."

"Where is that? I can't read it. Point with your foot."

Tianboa got a little more annoyed and pointed to where they were on the map. He knew better than to make her angry when she was this desperate.

"We are really close to the port. What is the size of this map? So how long will it take to reach the port by walking?"

"A few hours at normal speed, I guess."

"hour? An hour and sixty minutes? And a day is 24 hours?"

"Yes?"

"Oh wow! We're finally back to proper units of time. I won't bother with that vague Sand time or fire time nonsense again. Wait... what's the system of months and seasons around here? What month are we in?"

"April"

"There are Twelve months here?"

"Are there less elsewhere?"

"Never mind that. Still, isn't it rather strange? This cannot be a coincidence. Where did your Earth get these units of measurement? I wonder if there is anyone in your history who came from another Earth or some unknown place and brought you technology and culture? ?"

"You... Are you from another Earth?" He said this without even believing it himself. I think this crazy person in front of him thought he was another Earthling.

"You understand quickly. You can be really useful. But this knowledge will not do you any good. Answer my question." Subaru said, smiling as he picked up one of the daggers at his waist and heated it with his magic.

"No... No, I don't think so. I mean... I don't know. I don't have much knowledge of history. But if we go to the port, you can find more information there. I don't know what the rules are where you come from, but you don't know what they are here either, right? You can be forgiven for what you did because of your ignorance. Especially say... Ah!" Tianboa's words were cut off by a hot iron dagger touching his leg.

"I'm aware of what you're trying to do. But it's pointless. If you answer my questions, you'll survive, don't worry. So, tell me, what is this bottle?" He said, pointing to the dark blue bottle in the bag.

"Ah... This... this is an explosive filled with the Hydro element... you know... some creatures can only be defeated with elemental damage..."

"It looks like a bottle full of water for some reason. Interesting though... I assume you bought this."

"I actually did it myself."

"What? I don't think magic can be done without vision."

"Who said that? This applies to elemental magic. These vials are made with basic knowledge of alchemy. Even rogues can learn to make them if they try hard enough. The real problem is the materials."

"Alchemy? I can see where this could go."

Subaru threw the bottle in his hand somewhere far away with all his strength. It wasn't a very good shot, but the distance was sufficient. The bottle spun in the air and hit the ground. A small-scale water bomb exploded to center the impact. It was an interesting sight. At first it was just like a normal water spell. But what was really interesting was the weather. Mana left over from the explosion remained suspended in the atmosphere. And it looked like it would stay that way for a while. Subaru had felt from the moment he arrived that the Mana in this World was denser. But now he was sure that Mana's way of acting was also different.

"So that's it huh… still didn't do much damage."

"That bottle was so expensive! Why did you waste it?"

"Yes, I'm sure it's very expensive. Is this the purple one with the electric element that sparks?" With this statement, Subaru threw the purple bottle in his hand to the same place.

When the bottle broke, this time it created a considerably larger explosion. It was not much comparable to the previous one. But what's really interesting is what happened next. The purple mana coming out of this bottle was also suspended in the air. The Water Mana in the air reacted with the Electric Mana. It was a strange sight. In a hemispherical area, sparks were constantly forming in the air and tiny lightning bolts were forming. While Subaru thought about these events, Tianbao watched helplessly as his emergency savings and leverage were wasted.

Subaru said without taking his eyes off the sparks forming ahead. "Do you know what this is?"

"Do I know what's what?"

"That... That thing. Reaction?"

"Are you talking about the electrification reaction?"

"Electrification? I mean, the name makes sense, but... what is it?"

"It's just one of the Elemental Reactions. When different elements interact with each other, they cause some reactions. It's a very natural situation."

"A natural state?! Is it a natural state for it to happen automatically?! Are you serious? Do you know the consequences of this in multi-element spells! Also, what happens at the borders of the regions where free elemental Mana is concentrated in the atmosphere? How is this Earth still in one piece? damn!"

Subaru was starting to have a terrible headache. After finishing FIRE, the most difficult and stressful operation of his life... no... their entire life, he had to deal with the bullshit of this new Earth. In fact, if Subaru had suddenly been teleported here when he first arrived in Lugnica, he wouldn't have reacted much to these events. After all, since he knew so little about these Worlds, these Worlds would not look very different from each other.

But Subaru had explored every secret and power of the previous Earth for tens of thousands of cycles. Just to kill one person... he couldn't handle the inconsistencies here because of all this information. It was like someone who spent their whole life learning a subject and a craft suddenly woke up one day in a new reality where all their knowledge was meaningless. In short, it sucked.

Subaru sighed and began asking questions about Elemental reactions. What they learned was even more unexpected. Oddly enough, these were quite simple. However, this information was probably what ordinary people knew. He would have to test and investigate. But for now there were other issues. His mind was getting tired and he was starting to get bored of this job. He had to speed up.

Subaru continued his questions.

"How much do you know about alchemy?"

"You're an adventurer, aren't you? Tell me a little about the system of these adventurers."

"I understand the guild system. But are you all walking around like Santa's elves? Also, why are you using bows? Even those creatures have switched to crossbow technology."

"By the way, what exactly are these creatures? Also, how can they use elemental magic at this level?"

"Hilichurls, huh? That's a strange name. You said the big one's name was Mitachurl, right? One of the adventurers' jobs is to regularly report on the villages and settlements of these creatures and destroy them if possible... hm... now I understand why they were so hostile to me." This is literally genocide. But I guess I don't have the moral ground to judge you..."

Also, maybe you didn't see him because I beat him so fast this time, but there was also a mage. One that flies through the air, can teleport, and create an elemental water shield around itself."

"Abyss Mage? What exactly is Abyss?"

"Cult? Wow, again? Tell me more about this cult, please."

"Seriously? If the way they act is really what you say, they're either extremely angry, crazy, or stupid."

"Please explain your country's culture a little more."

"Wait a second... you are literally describing the traditions and architecture of China... Have you ever heard of the country of China? Is Inazuma Japan then? Explain the other countries a little more."

"Such coincidences don't make sense. Who is the founder of your country? Maybe they are from Another World."

"God Red Lapis... of course... Explain that God a little more."

"When did that Summoning ritual you mentioned happen and when will it happen again? Is there a specific time or is it according to your god's will?"

"It happened a week ago and it happens again every year... I'll take my chances. At least there's time to prepare. So... Who runs the country when your Goddess is away?"

"Seven stars means... Is there any interesting information about them and their assistants?:

"What exactly is Adeptus?"

"Tell me more about the important people in the city."

"Are there people like me who can use Elemental magic without Vision? How unusual I am."

"Isn't there really a sauce called mayonnaise around here? Damn it again! Are you sure? Please don't let this be true."

"How important is human life to you? I mean... what's the legal system like?"

"Look at me. Do you think I look more like a citizen of which country on this Earth?"

"Apart from the dark color of my skin, Inazuma... it doesn't surprise me. Tell me more about that place. Also, what do you know about that desert?"

"Look, this is my indentured Spirit. Do you know of a creature similar to this?"

"Elemental particles? Tell me more about them. Where can I find them?"

"Stay still. My Spirit will test whether you have a soul and a magic door. Hm... seriously different... there are seven elements. More importantly, you actually have a door. I guess it makes sense, after all, Even I had a door, even though I came from a World without magic. By the way, you will forget anyway, but let me tell you. Your element is Water. I think your door is strong because of the dense mana in the atmosphere. But your elemental aptitude is really weak. On the bright side, your Spirit aptitude is not that bad."

---

These and much more... Subaru continued to ask his questions. Of course, all of this could not be answered in a single Cycle. But Subaru was used to dying to gather information.

Usually he was in the act of not resetting for such small things, but this situation was different. a new world. Even the smallest information can be very important. But more importantly, she didn't know how the supernatural beings on this Earth would react to the Witch's scent on her. But deep down he knew they wouldn't react well to this. So he should have reduced using his authority to reduce the odor. But since the scent was already at its maximum right now, he planned to use his authority as much as he could.

Of course, Tianbao was not stupid. By memorizing their attack patterns, Subaru gradually became more proficient in fighting these Hilichurls with each cycle. But in the cycles where he won very easily, Tianbao either didn't show up or was more cautious. Likewise, it did not appear in very bad wars. He rushed to help Subaru in his barely winning moments. He was cautious, but it can be said that he was very good-hearted.

After getting enough information, Subaru had tried to gather information about Tianbao itself and its observation post in the last cycles. According to what they learned, Tianbao was 21 years old, a young but experienced adventurer. For people who were not vision users, his level was good for his age. He had come here upon a request from the Guild to investigate the activities of the Hilichurls in this region near the city. He was observing the place from a hollow in a nearby hill. He didn't expect such a large camp to be so close to the city.

Once Subaru received answers to his questions, he spent the last cycle thinking and planning. Considering what he had, he had a plan. In fact, calling this a plan would be an insult to all other plans. There was a lot of luck factor in it.

But luck was always on Subaru's side. More precisely, Subaru always MAKES Luck on his side.