Chapter summary:

Reinhard gets even stronger.

Tella and Baru being a wholesome couple.

Everyone else is pissing their pants.

Everyone immediately felt that something was coming. First the air suddenly began to feel very stale. Beatrice noticed a sharp rise of Miasma, both through the room in general and around her contractor, specifically. Then the mana crystals, that produced light in the ballroom, began to flicker. One after another they went out, gradually shrouding the room in darkness. The last one however suddenly shattered, exploding into dull shards and thus enveloping the room in complete darkness. Then it came. The oppressive sensation of primordial fear, the kind of fear that a cornered prey felt towards a pack of predators. Everyone instinctively sought the closeness of the neighboring person: for Emilia and Beatrice it was Subaru. Only two people remained unaffected by the oppressive presence. Then all surviving mana crystals at once turned on again, revealing a form standing in a middle of the room, surrounded by shadows. The form had feminine features. She wore a black dress with yellow roses scattered across it. Two streaks of silvery hair were visible from beneath the veil that was covering her face. She stood silently in middle of the room, turned into direction of the nasty-eyed knight that was currently slumped on the floor, being embraced tightly both by his liege and his spirit.

Among the two people, not paralyzed by her mere presence, Reinhard acted first. It's not like he did not felt what everyone else was feeling, it was just his Divine Protection defended his mind from very strong negative emotions. He felt five new Divine Protections given to him by the Od Laguna, so he knew instantly with whom he was dealing with: Divine Protection of True Phoenix allowed him to resurrect instantly, as many times as he might ever want; Divine Protection of Witch Bane made him completely immune to any effect or damage caused by spells of Ul tier or below, meaning only Al tiered magic had any effect on him; Divine Protection of Last Stand gave him ability to temporally resurrect his allies as potent echos, insuring no life would be truly wasted; Divine Protection of Absolute Strength gave him power to move mountains with his bare hands; Divine Protection of True Warrior seemed to be improved version of Divine Protection of Sword Saint, allowing him to push his skills further, than even he thought could ever be possible. With them Sword Saint moved between her and the supposed target faster than anyone could see. Oddly enough, his instincts did not warn him of any hostility coming from her, not that he needed the conformation. Reinhard took Dragon Sword Reid that was already drawn by his friend (of course the blade did not refuse to be wielded against the unwanted guest). He entered the battle stance and prepared for the immediate fight. In his mind he already knew that most of the people will die here and silently apologized for being unable to save them. As he began to draw mana from surroundings, concentrating it on his blade, however:

"Hey, Rein. Chilll. That's Tella. Or at least it feels like that's Tella."

The second person, unaffected by her presence, intervened.

"I mean, if that was the Witch, everyone here would've been fucked… metaphorically… okay maybe I would've been fucked literally, huh… actually you, Rein, would've probably being fine… would've being fighting for one's life tho. Hope you can get up a lot more times than you did with that asshole Regulus."

No one in the room but the woman in question understood what he was talking about (she did smile at his throwaway joke, at Envy's expense). Now almost all of them were not in a position to understand, since they were still paralyzed by her presence. Reinhard, however, despite his mind being perfectly clear, simply could not comprehend what was going on between the two. But, noticing that Subaru was not fearing the woman just like he did not, as well as just how nonchalant was the nasty-eyed knight about the whole event, he decided to step to the side, hoping that Subaru knew what he was doing.

The veil surrounding her dissipated as she approached, revealing that she indeed was the person that everyone thought she was: a silver-haired half-elf with amethyst eyes, the ever reviled Witch of Envy. She looked exactly like the teary girl clutching to Subaru's arm, the only difference between two were hairpins and the choice of attire. Her voice sounded just like the voice of the reviled Royal Candidate, and that voice quietly said to the knight sitting on the floor:

"I love you."

"…"

"I love you."

"Don't open with that. That makes it confusing."

"Sorry..."

All of her resolve collapsed the second she saw his serious expression. His gorgeous eyes, always so kind-looking, now judged her for her inaction. She looked down at her feet, no longer able to withheld his stare. Tears once again appeared in her eyes. She needs to tell him the words she wanted to say, but the words were stuck in her mouth.

"No, just show your love for him through your actions, like he always does."

Just like Emilia, Satella approached him from the right (the left of him was still occupied by the other half-elf, and the front by his favorite spirit), sat alongside him and ever-gently hugged him. Her wonderful presence resonated within Subaru's own soul, step by step the sweet affection of pure and honest love purified his mind from influence of alcohol.

He began to feel bad for what he said. He was inconsiderate to her once again. He was being a self-centered jerk once again. He made her cry once again. He needed to apologize to her once again. So he exhaled and spoke his mind:

"Listen, Tella-tan, I'm not really mad at you. The whole screaming bit is just me venting at my own incompetence. Really, you gave me a lot, too much even, more than I deserve. It's just if I not using it to save them I might as well just call myself murderer. And every time I do use it I am a murderer, because without you, I alone am not enough. I did not mean to hurt you again… I… care, even if I don't remember. I will not break that promise not to you, her, or Emilia. I will find the way… no matter what…"

Satella smiled as her previous feelings about him were reaffirmed in person.

"I know… just smile a bit more. Be more happy. People around you appreciate you, you already know this. You achieved a lot already, and will achieve so much more in the future. Give yourself some credit. You are doing something that no one else can."

She embraced him further. As familiar warmth was spreading through his body, he smiled in return.

"I'll try. Not sure if I can, but I'll try."

The room remained silent for a while.

It's not like Reinhard did not try to understand what the two were talking about, he really did.

Why did she look exactly like Lady Emilia? Of course similarities were to be expected, but only her outfit differ from Subaru's liege. Why the Witch wasn't causing chaos and destruction? Did Subaru had such influence on people that even such a vile, despicable person, became gentle and kind? Why did she say she loved him? Why was he affectionate back towards her? What did Witch of Envy gave to him? It was obviously not a Divine Protection. Was it something like what Archbishops had? Since she worshiped by the Witch Cult, that was only thing he could think of. Was he an Archbishop? He was clearly not evil, and he hated Witch Cult, but somehow not hated her. Why did certain Archbishop's abilities did not work on Subaru? Why did Subaru called himself a murderer? He could not see Subaru killing anyone with the exception of someone utterly malevolent like Bowel Hunter, or Sin Archbishops. Why was she even outside of her Seal? Could she always in the past four centuries do this? Was her imprisonment a lie? Why did she even react to his summons? Why did Subaru said he did not remember her? What kind of promise did he made? Why was he so unhappy with himself?

A stream of questions flown through Reinhard's mind, questions that he did not know if he should ask about. Could Subaru even explain them?

Everyone else was still unresponsive. While two were talking, Sword Saint made sure to touch couple other attendees that were paralyzed by Witch's presence. His Divine Protection of Empathy allowed him to sense emotions of people he touched. After touching Felix, Julius and Felt all he could sense was nothing but a pure terror. Reinhard suddenly recalled that in the wild, animals in dangerous situations had three dominant reactions: fight back, run, or freeze. First could occasionally work if the attacker was careless, the second might work if attacker lacks endurance to chaise you down, the third was reserved when situation was truly helpless and relied on attacker simply not noticing your presence. This was that kind of reaction, very simple, primordial in its nature. Everyone else just simultaneously realized that they stood no chance in a fight against the Jealous Witch even while being together. Everyone but him, who thanks to gifts of Od Laguna might have a chance against her, and Subaru, who held strong connection with her for whatever reason.

As two hugged one another, Reinhard felt an air of oppression being gradually reduced, no, rather just moved towards a singular person, that was not perturbed by it, but rather appreciated it. Sword Saint knew that soon others will be awoken from their stupor.

"What did you do, Subaru?"

That was the first question that Reinhard asked from his friend.

"Aside from calling her? Nothing really. It kinda was like that before. Don't worry, no one is going to get hurt. She was with me since the beginning, since this whole thing with Emilia, Puck, Elsa, Felt, Kadomon, Rom and you started. Let's wait for others to snap out of it first. I am sure they have questions as well."

Beatrice was the one that awoke first.

"What. Was. That. In fact."

"Damn, Beako. And here I thought you'd be unfazed by her presence, you know, given your creator."

"It wasn't like that with Mother, I suppose. Betty knows that the presence of the Witch can turn most people mad, but it never felt that intense."

"Well at least you woke up sooner than everyone else. Well, me and Rein wasn't affected at all, for entirely different reasons, but still, good job, Beako."

Subaru wanted to pat her head, but both of his arms were busy with two silver-haired half-elves that he happened to care for.

"You look and sound completely sober…"

"She does have that kind of effect on me. Although it's more like replacing one thing with another."

"Will you explain everything?"

"I can't really promise everything, but I'll explain some bits and pieces."

"What I saw… Was it because of her?"

She, of course, referenced his nightmares and his self-harm episodes, something that Subaru obviously understood.

"Yes and no. It was because of something that was given to me, but it's really just something I have done to myself. You know, Beako, I am somewhat disturbing person, there is something terribly unique about me, that you might know about."

Authority. Beatrice knew that only this could be the case. She knew that he had a special ability to absorb more than one Witch Factor and not be driven utterly insane by them. Since he killed Sloth and Greed, he probably already has those. Wrath, Lust and Glutonies still lived, that left either Pride or Envy. The latter made more sense given his direct connection to the Jealous Witch. That implied the Witch Factor was either shared or given to him. He was also particularly attuned to Sins, something that she had not witnessed in anyone else. Even his Miasma felt very different from any Archbishop, it fluctuated, spiking at times, then gradually dropping off. Some of it she could attribute to the presence of the Witch, while some she could not really explain at all.

One by one other people began to recover, some while frantically grasping for air, others nearly collapsing face-first on the floor, while some instinctively made a step back, nearly falling on their butts from the intense sensation.

No one, however, removed their sights from the utterly bizarre picture of the nasty-eyed knight sitting on the floor, with three other people alongside him.

In his lap sat the familiar loli-spirit, the reason for his unique nickname, while on his right and left there were two half-elves. Their hair, their eyes, their ears, their faces, their body structures were completely identical, that one could mistake them for twins. The only things that separated them were the hairpins and the choice of attire.

The person on his left had a white hairpin in the form of pointy cross on her left, and the white rose accessory woven in on her right. She wore white and purple outfit that was commonly attributed to her by everyone in the room. She was known to everyone in the party and her presence alongside her knight wasn't exactly a surprise.

On Subaru's right, however, sat someone whose presence was both surprising and unwelcome. She was the reason for their previous condition after all. Everyone here knew who she was, yet no one but Subaru actually seen her face to face. Her hairpin was on her right and resembled an eight-pointed star. Unlike Emilia, she wore a dress with flower patterns woven across it, a dress that could be considered beautiful, yet only the person near her would consider her beautiful. And there was another really big detail – the coloring, black and yellow, to be exact, which uncannily matched Subaru's preferred color scheme.

To Subaru's right sat a one person that was everyone hated and feared since their childhood, the one that was the reason demi-humans of any kind (especially elves and half-elves) were not welcome in Lugunica, the one that four hundred years ago nearly destroyed the entire world, the one and only – the Witch of Envy, Satella.

As everyone finally recovered:

"Subaru. What. Did. You. Do?"

"Now-now, Julius, slow down. Before I am going to have a headache of explaining everything to you, people, let's set out some ground rules."

"Subaru-kyun what makes you think you can…" "... dictate the rules!?"

"Shush!"

"Nii-chan, you look sober…"

"Shush again, and yes, I am sober, although I will have to get drunk again after I'll finish. This shit will be stressful."

"Actually, introduction first. People, that's Satella. If anyone still hopes it's just the coincidence, it's not, she is in fact the Satella. The one you all know. She's my… ehm that's kinda difficult to describe in one world. I guess she's my ex-girlfriend, wait, we did not break up, so I guess just my girlfriend... wait were we engaged? No? Alright, just the previous bit then. Well it's kinda difficult to explain. She's also my benefactor, my stalker and my patron. We have a really strange relationship… I'll explain latter."

"Girlfriend?!"

"I mean she's literally in my arms, how else does this look like? Wait, Emilia-tan is also close, but we are not official yet, huh. Okay, that's just me being ahead of the curve, yeah! What I meant to say, yes, girlfriend, you heard correctly."

"Anyway, back to it, first rule, the way of address. You probably already know, but I hate racist bigots, so if I hear 'Half-Devil', 'Witch' or any other insult in Tella's direction you gonna get whacked with…"

Noticing that Dragon Sword Reid was in Reinhard's hands, still drawn, he chose to pull out Yang Sword instead.

"You gonna get whacked with this. Tella might swallow it, but I won't. Same as it was with Emilia. Correct way of address is Satella, half-elf or she is fine. Tella is for close people and Tella-tan is reserved for me only. Don't get too personal either."

Now no one would have gotten too personal, he thought, but he added that just in case.

"Oh, and Rein, you can sheath Reid, you not gonna need it."

"Are you sure, Subaru?"

"Brute strength won't work here. As I said, you probably just gonna be in endless stand-off. If something bad would happen, it would be my problem, not yours. I guess I would just have to not drink anymore."

The last sentence was barely audible.

"Ah!"

Half-elf to his right gasped, understanding his intent to die if that happens.

"I know it would be rather stupid occasion, but you understand why, don't you?"

Satella nodded back with a sad expression. She would not blame him if that were to happen. She would blame herself for not controlling her alter-ego.

"Alright, friend. I hope that my trust in you isn't misplaced."

"Good, so we past hostile on sight? That's progress already."

"Ahm, second rule, keep order. One would ask the question on his mind and I would answer, then another question and so on. No interrupting me or one another. Make a queue while you're at it."

"Third rule is mostly to me. I will tell the truth. I don't know the whole situation, but what I can, I will tell. Tella might clarify things here and there, but she's not forced to say anything to you, I do. No evasive answers either. We have two lie detectors here, so you'll know it's legitimate."

Subaru pointed at Crusch and Reinhard.

"Fourth rule is a result of the third rule. I own a veto. There are things I can't disclose under any circumstances. Veto is here specifically for these things. No, I will not clarify them, even if you ask again. There are no limits on use, so don't even think about it."

"Subaru-dono, can you tell the reason for this non-disclosure?"

"Your safety. I am sure you noticed that we are standing near armed explosive. Tella-tan can make the White Whale look like a joke. I mean there is the whole 'destroyed half the world' thing. Pretty sure she's still capable of that."

Subaru thought for a second about one of the past loops. Back when Rem was slain by the Whale, and he was ditched by Otto, the beast left all of a sudden. Was it Tella, protecting him? She did manifest later in that loop, after all. If so, why letting him die to rabbits? It made no sense. Both times he died to Great Rabbit, the timelines were doomed anyway, true. But he could've just ended it himself relatively painlessly, if he realized everyone was dead and he had nothing to learn from the situation. Who else then? Another thing to think about later down the line. One of many.

There were a ton of mysteries in this world, most of which took place four centuries ago.

"I really need to make a journal for all of this. Maybe write it in pure kanji, so there's no chance that taboo will be triggered."

Wilhelm in the meantime was mortified. It did seem like some questions might spell danger for them. And any attempts in apprehending the knight will likely end in a bloodbath.

"Alright, that would be all. Let's begin."