Crippling fear.

The frozen crowd of people were struck with such paranoia from the young boy's words that most of them had unconsciously begun to shake. The overwhelming terror of their situation made the children cry hysterically. Not that anyone could blame them, many of the adults also wished to weep from these horrific circumstances.

"W-Wait a minute. . . Sin Archbishop?"

Only Subaru, who was still uncovering the attacker's identity through a patchwork of context clues and vague descriptions from the Sage Council and Reinhard, remained undeterred by Gluttony's taunts. Kadomon's knees trembled with anxiety, as he realized he might never see his family again. In the midst of this vicious attack, there was a high likelihood that they'd ended up being killed by the Witch Cult.

"K-Kid, I know ya' lost your memories. . .but please. . . tell me you've gotta' plan to deal with this."

Kadomon chose his words carefully, as he hadn't completely assessed his odds of survival to be zero. With Subaru here, there was always a chance. Always.

The situation in Priestella had been quite dire, same with the attack by the Archbishop of Sloth. Somehow, he'd figured a way out of it.

"I-I. . ."

Subaru was speechless. He'd never expected to run into one of these monsters, much less the one that originally defeated him. How could they expect him to just 'deal with it'? He didn't have any memory of doing this is in the first place! If his theories about how he achieved those victories were right, how many deaths had it taken him to pull them off?

"Kid, before ya' lost your memories, you were the only person to ever defeat the Witch Cult in battle. Whatever your intuition is telling ya', I need to hear it!"

Kadomon's increased urgency only made Subaru even more desperate to dispel the notions Kadomon had about Subaru's strategic mind. This was exactly the type of situation he wanted to avoid. The current Natsuki Subaru was nothing but a failure shut-in, living off Reinhard's dime. There was no way he could compare to the ridiculous feats of will orchestrated by his previous self.

". . .H-Huh? T-That guy's defeated the Witch Cult. . !?"

Several bystanders overheard Kadomon's plea. One could only imagine how this would turn out.

". . S-Sir, please help us. . !"

". . I'll do anything! You don't even have to protect me! P-Please just save my child. . !"

The crowd all turned inwards to face Subaru, still bewildered from the immediate change in scenery and demeanor. Only a couple minutes ago, they'd all been strangers to one another, destined to pass each other in the street without exchanging a single word. Now, Natsuki Subaru had been entrusted with their lives.

What a difference setting can play.

The only problem was, they entrusted their lives to 'Natsuki Subaru', the Hero of Priestella and Slayer of Sloth.

Subaru was neither of those things.

". . . ."

Subaru wanted to find the right words to answer their earnest prayers, but he was terrified of coming up short. Would it be wrong for him to tell them the truth? To doom them to their fate by stripping them of their will to fight? Or should he accept responsibility for their lives, despite knowing he'd likely be leading them to their deaths?

It was a lose-lose. And Subaru hated Kadomon for putting him in that position. However, he couldn't even blame the guy, considering how much was at stake. If it had been the other way around and Subaru's family was put in danger, he would've done the exact same thing.

"Ignoring~? Are we being ignored~? This means the feast has begun, right!? We've been told it's ~impolite~ to speak with food in our mouth, so we'll just start swallowing, ok~? We'll start with the gour~met people first ~tsu!"

At that, the young boy lept off the roof and made a beeline for Subaru. His lightning speed was so incomprehensible, that even in Subaru's adrenaline filled state, he could only barely follow the boy's afterimage.

". . -hk!"

"S-Subaru!"

Subaru was hit head-on by the Archbishop's attack. Although, to call it an attack would be lacking. He moreso 'dashed' in his general direction, likely hoping Subaru would dodge. This didn't happen, confusing him immensely. His enjoyment from eating didn't just come from the amount of people he was able to eat, but also his ability to play with his food before he finished them off. Normally, his judgement regarding his food was spot-on.

"Hm~? You. You smell gourmet~! How can you be so weak?"

Gluttony paused before striking Subaru's collapsed form with another blow, as he angrily gnashed his jagged teeth together, feeling cheated out of an interesting meal.

". . .g-ghahh. . ."

Subaru moaned on the ground as the pain began to distribute throughout the rest of his body. The crowd, watching the scene in abject horror, was too scared to move. If they took the chance to run, no doubt Gluttony would be able to catch them with the speed he just displayed. Not to mention the fact that they were completely entrapped by the flames engulfing the street's exits on both sides.

Their only chance was for Subaru to defeat the monster in combat, but that single blow shattered their hopes.

"Green man, repeat that name~? We didn't clearly hear you say it, so do so now. Immediately ~tsu!"

Kadomon, being directly spoken to by a Sin Archbishop, froze completely. His entire life began flashing before his eyes and the only things keeping him grounded were thoughts of his wife and daughter.

". . . ."

Somehow, he remained silent. He didn't comply with the creature's demands. It was a testament to the stubbornness one could display with thoughts of their loved ones fresh in their minds. Even the rest of the crowd looked upon the scene with some awe.

"Very well~, we'll eat you first. We'll bite~, bite~, and bite~ you into small pieces!"

". . .Subaru. That's what he said. . ."

Before Gluttony could make his move, Subaru spoke up. Answering that evil thing's question was the only way to absolutely spare Kadomon's life. Subaru was well aware of what it was like to watch him die, and even if their hopes were misplaced, he couldn't simply neglect their feelings by playing dead. It simply wasn't in his nature.

"Subaru~!? Very tasty! Name was very, very, very, very, very, very tasty! We'd like it again, but we're not sure if it works~!"

"Damned monster. . ."

Subaru groaned out a weak curse and propped himself up using all his willpower. He, at the very least, knew he had something to bargain with now. Perhaps there might be a way for everyone to make it out of this place happy.

"Rude~! Nii-sama was the one who ate you up last time, so you must be gourmet~! I think it's time for us to take a bite ~tsu!"

As Subaru felt the blood begin rushing to his head, he felt his desperation to survive overwhelm all other senses in his body. It was as if time slowed down. He became keenly aware of his surroundings, and of his inevitable fate if he didn't take some sort of action immediately. Searching, searching, searching for an answer. . . Anywhere that he could find one.

Soon enough, he found it.

It almost beckoned to him.

Something in his core spoke, but not in any words Subaru could understand. For some reason though, he knew exactly what the words meant.

'Use me. Use my power.'

That was what it said to him.

As time continued on at the speed of everyone else's perception, Roy Alphard continued racing towards Subaru at inhuman speeds, his hand outstretched to make contact with Subaru's body.

Interestingly, when he was around an inch away from Subaru, something happened.

"V-Very well. . .!"

When Subaru yelled out those words, almost simultaneously, Roy was knocked backwards with a violent amount of force. The Archbishop had no way to dodge this attack, as it was completely invisible. If he'd had more space, the disruption in air currents would've given him enough wherewithal to dodge the attack before it could make contact. However, his forward momentum carried him too quickly, nearly doubling the total force of the attack as it made contact with his skull.

". . .W-What?!"

There he was. Subaru had landed an attack on the Archbishop of Gluttony. The crowd, who at this point had been sure of his demise, was now watching the scene with growing keenness.

"All of you! Run away! Hide yourselves, or something! He won't stop once he gets me! He'll come for all of you next!"

Subaru used this moment of respite to warn the bystanders of the inevitable outcome of this fight. They all needed to run away. Now. If Subaru was lucky, he could hold him off long enough for these people to escape and potentially work out a deal with him to spare his life. It was a sound plan, as it looked like Subaru had something that Roy wanted.

"Kid! Y-Your eyes. . !"

Kadomon ran up next to Subaru, scouting places for the two of them to run away from the incapacitated Archbishop.

"H-Huh. . ?"

As Subaru's hand brushed against his cheek, his vision was met with a streak of blood. Not only was it all over his hands, but it had begun to seep into his eye, blurring his right-side field of view. The usage of Invisible Providence, which was what Subaru felt it was called for some reason, had forced a tsunami of blood into his head. One of his eardrums had burst (although Subaru wasn't sure if that was caused by the initial explosion or by his attack) and his eyes bled rivers of blood. The headache this caused him was no joke either. It felt like his brain was. . . trembling.

"We need to get out of here, kid! It's amazing what ya' just did, but we n-. . ."

"Delicious~! Delectable~! Tasty~! Scrumptious~! Ahhh, this is what gourmet tastes like ~tsu!"

Before Kadomon could finish his sentence, the Archbishop was back up and on his feet. He wasn't unaffected by the attack, as his face was bloodied and body covered in small scratches. Compared to Subaru though, he seemed perfectly healthy. The attack had done more damage to Subaru than Roy!

"W-Wait, wait, wait!"

Roy looked puzzled as Subaru excitedly waved his hands at him.

"Y-You said you wanted something from me, right? A 'name' or whatever?"

Roy nodded quickly and let his jaw hang loosely from his head. Just the thought of eating this person's name again was making him salivate in anticipation.

"Ok! H-How about, in exchange for sparing all of us, I just g-. . ."

Subaru didn't even get to finish his sentence.

At the speed of sound, something whooshed by Subaru's ear.

He at first thought nothing of it, but when he noticed the speed at which his surroundings retreated away from himself, Subaru realized something was horribly wrong.

'I-I've felt this before.'

It'd all taken place in under half a second, but soon Subaru realized why this feeling was so familiar.

Kadomon's expression molded itself full of disgust and horror.

"Disappointing~! A meal without taste isn't a meal ~tsu!"

Gluttony had suddenly appeared behind Subaru, clutching something relatively large in his hands.

'T-That's me. . .'

Subaru's last image was that of his headless body hitting the ground.

"Stop bein' such a baby! I swear, you're actin' just like my daughter, kid!"

". . -hk!"

At the end of Kadomon's provocative statement, Subaru's hands bolted up towards his neck, where he quickly felt around to make sure that everything was still attached.

It had been so quick, Subaru hadn't even registered he'd Returned By Death, as he had been desperately trying to move his arms during the last moments of the previous loop too.

Given the couple seconds of time he had to adjust, Subaru quickly understood what had happened.

"K-Kadomon. . ."

"What, kid?"

"Where are we headed to next?"

Subaru did his best to ask the question calmly, but his voice shook with an unidentifiable emotion. The answer to this question would dictate how much time he had left to act and prevent the bastard's attack. Or at least to avoid getting caught up in it in the first place.

"Hmm? Weren't ya' paying attention? I just said we're headed to the butcher, didn't I?"

He felt his words catch in his throat. This checkpoint was simply too evil.

The situation with the flying Mabeasts had been bad, but the only reason they got attracted towards him was because he accidentally increased his scent. He'd also been quite lucky to get out of that scenario with only a single loop due to Old Man Rom's intervention. This time, he wouldn't be so fortunate.

Even if he compared this checkpoint to the previous one, he still had much less time to act. Five minutes at most. What could he do to prevent it? Where could they hide where they wouldn't be found?

"Kadomon. We need to leave. Now."

Subaru gritted his teeth, hating himself for taking an easy out when confronted with the first signs of trouble. However, unlike the previous Subaru, he most certainly didn't want to die. Even if it meant condemning others to their fate.

He still had nightmares from all the crap he'd dealt with from the assassination attempt and Mabeast attack. Every time he died; he felt a little piece of him slip away. Subaru didn't want to find out what would happen to him if he stuck around. Nothing good, that's for sure.

"H-Huh? What's wrong kid? Ya' think someone here knows who we are?"

"N-No. I can't explain why, but something really bad is about to happen. We need to find somewhere to hide."

Kadomon's face lit up in alarm. For some reason, it looked like the appa salesman was believing him with absolutely no questions asked.

". . .ya' think we should?"

Subaru nodded his head in confirmation, slowly turning his head to see if there were any potential cultists trying to blend into the crowd.

"Alright, fine!"

"No questions? None at all?"

Kadomon shrugged his shoulders and went along with Subaru's words.

"What reason is there for ya' to lie? Besides, the look on your face is too serious for ya' to be joking."

Subaru was quite fortunate that Kadomon was so adept at the skill of reading people's body language. It was something he'd learned over his years of being a salesman and convincing people to buy his products. Such was the life of a merchant in a bustling city like the Capital of Lugunica. Talking to strangers day in and day out will do that to a person.

"We should stick to the main road, maybe try and find an entrance to the sewers. . ."

Kadomon silently observed Subaru, simply following his lead and letting him direct the two of them to the nearest hiding place.

"T-This should work. . ."

Subaru pointed out a manhole cover close to the sidewalk, which Kadomon looked at with a repulsed expression.

"We really gotta' go down there. . ?"

"Trust me. Besides, the slits here will give us a small view of what's happening on the main road, so we'll know when its safe to come out."

Not to mention it gave them the best chance of escape. They always had the option of fleeing underground if the Cult was actively targeting them. It was a sound idea, even if it was a bit crude. Without more time to prepare, this was the best he could do.

"That bag of money wasn't worth this crap. . ."

*BOOM*

"W-What the. . .!?"

The two of them peered out onto the main street of the Capital, and the scene playing out in front of them was a total bloodbath.

Crowds were running rampant left and right while fodder cultists were launching magic attacks at them and taking out tons of civilians. The rage Subaru felt was only continuing to build, but he forced himself to remain still.

"K-Keep your head down Kadomon! We really don't want to be seen!"

Kadomon balled his fists in frustration, but calmed himself down enough to avoid detection.

". . .h-help us. . !"

". . Anybody. . !"

The screams echoed through the streets of the market district. Some of them were voices that Subaru recognized from his loop at the Butcher's. He couldn't stop the tears from leaking out of his eyes.

". . .Momma. . ?"

And then, the voice of someone pierced through all the noise. It was someone Kadomon knew very well.

". . .Momma? W-Where did you go!?"

"Plum!"

Kadomon yelled out the name of his daughter, which only made Subaru feel even more conflicted. That first loop. . . did he hear her cries for help then too?

The proud father that he was, the appa salesman couldn't sit there and leave his daughter to fend off those violent cultists on her own. He immediately moved to exit the sewer, hoping to reach her before a cultist inevitably targeted her for an attack.

Subaru made no effort to stop him.

"Hmm~! We followed the smell of ~someone~ we thought smelled gourmet~! But now they've disappeared ~tsu?"

Before Kadomon could finish lifting the manhole covering, the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony appeared in front of the young girl.

"N-No!"

Subaru screamed when he heard that voice and rushed to help Kadomon retrieve his daughter before it was too late.

"We'll settle for ~you~ as an appetizer~!"

They wouldn't make it. Gluttony was simply too fast.

It was all Subaru's fault. He'd told Kadomon to come down there. He'd doomed the young girl to her fate. Now he'd have to live with this girl's death on his conscience for the rest of his life. Either that, or. . .

*Whoosh*

Gluttony's attack was redirected from its original course, sending the Archbishop flying into the side of a building that he easily smashed through. From the look of it, someone had stepped in to intervene. And whoever this guy was, he was certainly skilled with a sword.

Looking closer at this guy, Subaru noticed he was dressed in frayed clothes with almost no visible possessions besides the aforementioned sword, bouquet of flowers, and six multicolored orbs clinging to his side. Orange flower petals were blown from the stem because of the shockwaves created by Gluttony's attack, where they got picked up and carried away by the wind.

"It's you. . . I never thought I'd get an opportunity to fight you again. You scum."

"H-Huh? What's goin' on!?"

Felt awoke to find herself sitting in the middle of a couch inside the Astrea Manor's lounge. She couldn't exactly recall the scenario which led to her losing consciousness, but she immediately suspected Reinhard had something to do with it.

"Felt, are you feeling alright?"

The voice she heard was one she'd become quite familiar with over her time participating in the Royal Selection. Felt turned around and was greeted by the unbroken gazes of half the Emilia Camp, Crusch, and Wilhelm.

"U-Uh, yeah I'm fine. Where's Reinhard?"

"I've requested an audience with you one-on-one, so he's currently waiting outside with Emilia-dono and Beatrice-sama."

Felt raised an eyebrow at this, as she knew all too well what this was about. No doubt, she'd been brought here for interrogation. That was why Crusch was the person taking the lead. She was here to detect any lies Felt might try to spin. Felt had never been particularly good at telling lies to begin with, as she was always the type of person who would be brutally honest with her friends. There was no chance of her making it through this unscathed. What an unfortunate turn of events!

She could see Emilia, Beatrice, and Reinhard standing outside because the door was open. None of them seemed willing to make eye contact with her though.

"W-Wait a minute. . ! Where's that blue-haired girl?!"

Almost all at once, the events leading up to her knock-out flooded back into her brain. That girl. . . she'd tried to kill Subaru. Not only that, but she knew he'd been staying there as well!

"I'm right here~."

The blue-haired girl, now tied up, glared at Felt from a chair on the other side of the room.

"Pfft-! Look at you! How pathetic can you get!"

Felt snarkily started laughing at Meili's embarrassing predicament. Even her own teammates, the Emilia Camp, had signed off on tying her up until further notice. This girl was acting so tough earlier too!

"Hmm, I'd watch what I said if I were you~."

Meili smiled at Felt, which somewhat unnerved the blonde-haired thief.

"There's a lotta' ~things~ I can say!"

Felt saw this coming from a mile away.

"Yea, well there's a lotta' things I can say about you too!"

She crossed her arms and looked away from the cocky blue-haired girl. If Meili wanted to go there, she was free to try it. It would mean telling the others about her plan to kill Subaru, which would destroy her reputation even more.

"Felt, I know this is sudden, but I ask you submit yourself to a couple questions."

"And why should I do that? You guys are the one's who brought a murderer into my home!"

This wouldn't work, but it was at least worth a try. If Crusch could be made to feel some form of guilt, then this whole thing could be avoided.

"That is true, and I deeply apologize. However, I insist you at least indulge me for a moment."

Otto and Garfiel looked upon the scene with complicated thoughts. By being here, they were deliberately ignoring orders from their leader and friends. No doubt Subaru wouldn't approve of this either. It was purely selfishly motivated. But the curiosity, the pain, it compelled them to want to see things through to the very end.

Ram looked at it all with indifference. She'd wanted to help find Subaru, but she never explicitly endorsed the methods they used to pursue him, nor did she think they deserved his forgiveness in the first place. She might not have objected, but her hands were washed of this behavior.

Rem was the only person who still felt a modicum of righteousness in continuing to pursue Subaru. This was most likely because she hadn't played a role in his initial betrayal, and thus, had nothing to apologize for. These feelings continued to cloud her judgment evermore.

"F-Fine. . ."

With Felt's despondent reply, Crusch took a seat on the opposite side of the couch, straightening her back and turning to face Felt and Meili. This way, she could monitor the both of them whilst the questioning went on.

"I believe it would be best if I cut to the chase."

Wilhelm felt himself tense up as the words left Crusch's mouth, but he knew it had nothing to do with her words. It was something completely different, but he couldn't identify what.

"Have you seen Natsuki Subaru?"

Everyone's breathing hitched, including Felt's, as this wording left no room for deception. This was it. The house of cards would come tumbling down, right here, right now.

Felt sighed in defeat.

". . . .Ye-"

"Betty smells something weird, in fact."

Only Crusch knew the word that Felt was about to say, but to have it be interrupted by something inane like that simply wouldn't do. Now she would have to repeat the question, giving Felt more time to formulate an answer.

"I thought you all agreed you wouldn't interfere."

Crusch said this with a frustrated voice, but when she looked back at the three of them, the look on their faces was anything but bland.

"I-It smells like Subaru, I suppose! And it's getting stronger!"

*SMASH*

The window overlooking the front courtyard was smashed into thousands of tiny pieces, flying all over the room and peppering the room with glass shards. The thing responsible for such destruction. . ?

"Kahahaha~! My beautiful appearance will strike your lower minds speechless! You filthy meatbags collectively rotting create a disgusting stench! Gathering moldy, rotten slabs of meat is sure to attract swarms of flys!"

Meili's demeanor completely changed, uncontrollably trembling at the sight of the terrible monster she thought she'd escaped.

With one look at the object held by the winged-creature, they understood what she meant when she said she was "gathering slabs of meat".

"Failure, failure, failure~! Your petulant monkey brains have besmirched my reputation, I will not allow it~! All of you rotting meatbags will be purged. Kahahahaha~!"

Reisel's corpse was firmly stuck between the jaws of a giant dragon. As she spoke, she continually tore it up further and further with her teeth until it was no longer recognizable.

"Does my lavishing appearance satisfy you~? Don't you gaze at me with those looks of disgust! Go die~! All of you dirty degenerates go die! Go to hell!"

The Dragon smiled with a devilish glint in its eyes.

"The Witch Cult's Sin Archbishop of Lust, Capella Emerada Lugunica!"

Author's Note:

What did you guys think of Gluttony? Whenever I write a Sin Archbishop, I always have to go over a ton of their lines because they are literally the most batshit insane characters you could ever read. Half the time, I feel like I write their dialogue too sane! I think I portrayed Gluttony good enough, but I'm honestly still uncertain how to approach development with his character. It would be a mega-waste to kill him off, especially since this fic is a spinoff of a spinoff of re:forgotten! I want to have him come back as a recurring villain or maybe even the final boss of this fic, but I don't know how realistic that is. With like 3-4 of the right characters there, he literally gets wiped before getting to do any real damage (and that's not including Reinhard), so should I reconsider? Also, who should get to kill Gluttony, Subaru or Julius? There's a compelling argument for both, but I kind of lean towards Julius as he was the person Gluttony truly made a fool out of. Opinions on that in the comments?

This chapter was a little bit rushed, but can you blame me? Look at all the stuff that went down in this chapter! I've been re-reading arc 5 in preparation for continuing The Secret, and I feel like a lot of it is cross-applicable here! My god, the character interactions next chapter are gonna be literal fire. We got Subaru, Julius, and Gluttony in a scene, and we have Meili, Reinhard, Felt, and Capella in the other! And don't forget the reveal that was about to happen before Crusch got interrupted! I have some crazy plans for where I'm gonna take this story!

Ohhh man, I love the idea of this chapter! Subaru's first impression of Julius is going to be that he's a badass knight who deserves praise and respect, which is pretty ironic.

If someone can give me a detailed breakdown of gluttony's powers so that when he gets serious I can write him accurately, that'll be really helpful. There's still a lot of times where Gluttony seems like a character who just pulls sh** out of a hat and then throws it at his opponent with no rhyme or reason. I want to figure out his abilities so I don't under or oversell him in the story.

For the last poll, I decided to go with B (just cause the distribution of answers was all over the place, so I picked a decent middle ground)

For this week's poll, my question is:

How does Gluttony decide to torment Julius?

A. He morphs his face into Subaru's (cause, even though he doesn't have his name anymore, he still remembers how to do it)

B. He tortures Subaru right in front of him, variety of methods, but it is supposed to be done in a way that evokes similarities between his actions and Julius's

C. He throws Subaru in front of one of his attacks! Literally just to spite Julius cause Gluttony is a piece of garbage. In all honesty, because RBD, Julius wouldn't even remember it

Yeah, it's rough being Julius right now haha. I'm gonna do probably 3-4 more chapters of this before I go back to the Secret, but MAYBE, if you guys really want to see it, I'll drop one chapter of the Secret to tide u guys over :). My hands are tired from typing so much in a day, so I'm going to drop it here.

I've started taking commissions for anyone who's interested in my writing style and wants me to write them a short fic! I charge $40 for 5K words, which is pretty cheap relative to everyone else I see on there! I don't really have any rules regarding what I write either, I just ask that once you receive the document you don't put my name on it unless I say its ok. I don't wanna start beef with people over something I got commissioned to write. It doesn't just have to be Re:zero either! If it's something I'm familiar with, I'll write a fic for you to the best of my ability! If you are interested, check out this link:

continuer123?up_rollout=true

I also have a discord server for anyone interested in getting updates for when new chapters are releasing. We've got roles, a lot of active members, and an overall good vibe going on. It's pretty decked out by this point, so I suggest you check it out:

/tgMtCvdasb

Next chapter should be out soon, but idk I said that last chapter and it took me a bit longer than I expected! Hopefully I don't get bogged down by school and get it out as in the next few days!