Sage's Wrath

by AkrosZero

Summary:

Natsuki Subaru, a man abandoned in another world, takes a different path when he refuses to call Reinhardt for help. After fulfilling his wish of making Emilia a hero, he dies by her hand, and his soul peacefully passes to Satella.

However, Reinhardt, unable to believe that the man who once burned down the entire capital could die so easily, makes the fateful mistake of asking the Od Laguna whether Subaru is still alive. To his shock, it replies: “Yes.”

Unknown to him, another version of Subaru has been thrown into this timeline—and it is he who is truly alive. Reinhardt, convinced this Subaru is the preparator, begins to chase him relentlessly.

But this is no ordinary Subaru. This is the Great Sage himself. When the two finally collide, only one will emerge victorious.

Chapter 1: 1) -Is Alive

Summary:

Pride if Subaru?

...

{3rd Pov}

The entire Royal Capital of Lugunica was engulfed in flames.

Fire raged across streets, devouring buildings, markets, and homes alike, turning the once-proud heart of the nation into a smoldering graveyard of ash and screams. The sky had turned red—not from the setting sun, but from the fire and smoke that rose high into the heavens, choking the air with the stench of burning wood, cloth, and flesh.

And at the very center of this chaos, a battle unlike any other was unfolding.

Reinhardt van Astrea—the Sword Saint, bearer of the Divine Blessings, and protector of the Kingdom—stood face to face with a monster. The infamous Assassin Elsa, known as the Bowel Hunter, stood before him, drenched in blood, laughing maniacally amidst the carnage.

Reinhardt's sword was drawn. His expression was tight, his eyes unblinking, and his lips pressed into a thin, grim line.

He was angry—very angry.

And that was unusual.

Reinhardt, despite his strength, was known far and wide for his kindness, his compassion. Even in battle, even when he faced his enemies, he never gave in to hatred. He didn't kill out of malice. He didn't judge with bias. His blade had always been tempered by a heart that sought peace before violence.

But now... for the first time in his life, Reinhardt felt the sensation known as hatred—raw, unfiltered, and burning hotter than the flames surrounding him.

He hated the man named Natsuki Subaru. No—he despised him.

He hated him for taking the life of the woman Reinhardt had sworn to protect with his very soul.

He hated him for slaughtering the only people he had ever called friends, for corrupting them, twisting them, leading them astray down paths they could never return from.

He hated him for desecrating everything Reinhardt stood for—everything he believed in.

While the Sword Saint clashed with the grotesque Bowel hunter somewhere else in the inferno, another confrontation was taking place—quieter, but no less devastating.

In the center of the smoldering plaza, Emilia stood frozen, trembling, as she faced a man she not recognized.

She had heard his voice before she saw him. And even as he approached, her mind refused to comprehend what she was seeing—

The words he spoke tore at her sanity.

"That… isn't… What on earth are you saying!?" Emilia screamed, her voice laced with disbelief and agony. She shook her head violently, tears beginning to well in her violet eyes. "Stop it! I don't understand! I don't understand anything you're saying!!"

Her hands rose to her head, clutching at her silver hair. She blocked her ears in a futile attempt to drown out the voice that had once been her anchor—the voice of the man who now stood before her, speaking words she could never have imagined him saying.

And yet, even as the tears spilled down her cheeks, Subaru only watched her with an expression that combined pain, relief, and something darker—a twisted satisfaction.

A single tear trailed down her pale cheek, and that alone struck him like a dagger to the chest.

Part of the sensation was guilt—for making her cry, for becoming the cause of that pain.

But another part of it… was satisfaction.

A dark, almost cruel satisfaction, born from the knowledge that his actions had reached her—that his devotion, however monstrous, had pierced her heart.

'You don't have to understand,' he thought, watching her with heavy eyes.

'It's fine that you don't. Everything from here on out will be decided by how others lift you up. And when that happens… you just have to grant your wish. That's the only reason I did this. The only reason I burned the entire capital.'

"All of it was for you."

"Liar... liar... liar!" Emilia's voice cracked. She staggered back, eyes wide in disbelief, hands trembling. "I mean… I… you… how come… you…"

She wailed—not just from horror, but from the weight of a devotion she never asked for, never wanted. His loyalty was suffocating, his love twisted into something unrecognizable. These were offerings she never desired.

'It's inevitable she's sad,' Subaru thought, closing his eyes briefly. 'It's inevitable she can't understand. And it's inevitable that I'm wrong.'

He knew it.

Subaru knew he was erring.

He knew—on every rational and emotional level—that what he had done, what he was still doing, was wrong.

He knew his actions would not bring joy to Emilia. He understood his methods were warped, desperate, and rooted in obsession rather than clarity.

But even so… this was all he had.

The only path available to him.

If he could grant Emilia's wish—even if she hated him for it—if he could help her become the ruler she dreamed of being, and if he could use that as the ultimate declaration of his love… then every sin would be worth it.

Every sacrifice.

Every scream.

Every death.

With that conviction burning in his chest, Natsuki Subaru laughed.

A low, bitter laugh that grew into a twisted chuckle.

Then into a snicker.

And then, into a full, deranged smirk.

"—Watch me, Emilia," he said, spreading his arms wide, standing tall amidst the ruin. "See me. Detest me. Remember me."

Emilia stumbled back again, fear and sorrow blending in her expression.

Her voice trembled as she asked, "Who… are you? Who in the world… are you…?"

Subaru closed his eyes.

For a moment, he was still.

It felt like he had been waiting an eternity for that question—an eternity to answer it. Not with hollow words, but with his very existence.

'This is it. This is the moment. This is the truth I've always carried. The truth I've always wanted her to know.'

He took a step forward, eyes still closed.

Then another.

He opened his arms wider, as if to embrace her or the whole world.

"My name… is Natsuki Subaru."

"Su…baru…"

Just hearing her whisper his name again, that fragile and disbelieving utterance, was enough to send a flood of emotion surging through him.

It hit him like a tidal wave—overwhelming, raw, and bittersweet.

The emotions swelled so powerfully in his chest that, for a second, he feared he wouldn't be able to speak his next words without his voice cracking.

But he forced it out.

With all the strength in his lungs, with all the madness and devotion and despair compressed into a single breath—

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

"C-Cardinal…!" Emilia gasped, horrified.

And with that declaration echoing across the burning city, Subaru slammed his foot into the ground, pouring every ounce of strength into his legs.

He launched himself forward.

Into fire.

Into madness.

Into destiny.

Natsuki Subaru concentrated every last fragment of his broken, scattered strength into a single point—into one desperate, final burst of movement.

This was it.

The final sprint of his life.

He had sacrificed so many… cast them aside like pawns on a board. He had used people who could have become allies, abused their trust, and left them in ruins.

He had found fleeting solace in the rare bonds that did not shatter under the weight of his sins. And now—after all that—he had finally arrived at the girl he cherished above all else.

At the center of it all… Emilia.

"I'm the man who burned the world... who shook the foundations of a nation... who killed its hero... and—"

"—"

"—you will kill."

The moment he spoke those words, a spear of ice tore through his chest with a sickening crack.

A jolt of pain surged through him—but still, Subaru smiled.

His knees buckled beneath the weight of pain and acceptance. He collapsed forward, tumbling gracelessly. His body pitched across the cracked stone of the plaza like a discarded doll, unable to maintain even a shred of dignity in death.

He never reached Emilia.

He fell short—both in distance, and in everything else.

His body came to rest awkwardly, limbs sprawled. Blood pooled beneath him. The coldness seeped into his skin even as his consciousness began to fade.

"Why…?"

That single word echoed through the haze, drawing him back for just a moment.

Subaru had been ready to let go—to let the silence swallow him forever—but something made him open his eyes.

And there she was.

Emilia stood over him, her pale face contorted with confusion and sorrow. Her violet eyes, brimming with tears, stared down at him in disbelief.

One teardrop broke free from her lashes and landed on his cheek, mingling with his blood.

That single, warm droplet was enough to stir something inside him.

"Why…?"

The question repeated, whispered, murmured again and again. It echoed in the chambers of his fractured mind.

'What does that "why" mean…?' Subaru wondered, his gaze locked on her trembling form.

'Why did I do all of this? Why did it have to end like this? Why did I come here… just to die by your hand?'

There were so many possible meanings. So many layers to her question.

And in truth… he wanted to answer every single one. He wanted to explain everything—to tell her every step, every motive, every sacrifice.

But time… was slipping away.

His heartbeat was slowing. His lungs were heavy. He only had one breath left.

So he used it.

He used it for the only answer that truly mattered.

"—I love you."

The words spilled from his lips, soft but resolute, before darkness began to claim him.

Emilia stared at him, stunned.

She couldn't comprehend what she had just heard.

She didn't want to comprehend it.

"He… he said he loved me…" she muttered, her voice barely audible as her entire body trembled.

Behind her, Puck floated silently for a moment before gently responding, "Lia, it's over. You've done what needed to be done. You've killed him—the madman who nearly destroyed the entire kingdom."

But his words brought her no peace.

Guilt wrapped its cold hands around her heart, suffocating her. She looked down at Subaru's body—the boy who had upended the world, who had set it ablaze… all for her.

"He said… he loved me…"

"Lia, listen to me," Puck interrupted sharply. "He was a Sin Archbishop. A Witch Cultist. They all worship the Witch of Envy—Satella. You know this. That wasn't love… it was madness. He said that to you because you look like her. You're a silver-haired half-elf, just like Satella."

He hovered closer, his voice growing firmer.

"Don't let his words poison your heart. Don't take them seriously."

But even as Puck spoke, doubt had already taken root in Emilia's heart.

She didn't know what to believe.

She didn't know what was true anymore.

What she did know… was that his words didn't feel like a lie.

What Puck didn't reveal—what he kept tightly locked away—was whatever Natsuki Subaru said was true.

While he hadn't directly helped Subaru, he had learned from Roswaal that the clownish madman had, indeed, made some kind of pact with Natsuki Subaru. 

That Sin Archbishop had slain the Witch Cultists, other Sin Archbishops and passed all the glory to the Emilia.

Roswaal shamelessly took it, declaring Emilia to be the reason behind their death, and Puck had helped him in it.

But Roswaal was dead now, and with him had gone the details of that secret arrangement.

So Puck chose silence.

Emilia, hearing Puck's words, slowly steadied herself. Her breathing calmed. She tried to believe him. Tried to bury the doubt.

But the shadow of uncertainty loomed large over her.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the burning capital, Reinhardt van Astrea finally stood victorious.

The Bowel Hunter had been reduced to nothing but scorched ash.

Using his newly acquired Divine Protection of Flame Steel, Reinhardt had burned her away completely. Without being able to use Reid Battle dragged longer than it was supposed to be, however OD Laguna granted him a new Divine Protection to kill Elsa.

He quickly chased after Subaru.

The moment he arrived at the scene where Emilia stood—beside the corpse of Natsuki Subaru—Reinhardt's eyes widened in disbelief.

He stood frozen, staring.

At Subaru's body.

At the ice spear embedded deep in his chest.

At Emilia, standing silent beside him.

At Puck, hovering near her like a silent sentry.

The wind shifted, carrying the bitter stench of burning rubble.

And then—breaking the silence—Reinhardt's voice boomed through the plaza.

"My daughter… has slain the Sin Archbishop of Pride… Natsuki Subaru!"

His voice was loud, proud, exalting her actions to the heavens.

But Reinhardt? Inside he... was unraveling.

His heart refused to accept what his eyes were seeing.

'How could it end like this?' Reinhardt thought, clenching his fists tightly.

'This is the man who nearly destroyed Lugunica… the one who killed Julius, who slaughtered the knights, who twisted everything. How could he die… this easily?'

It didn't make sense.

He didn't want to believe it.

'Did I fail… again?'

Another failure.

Another villain he could not judge. Another monster he could not deliver divine justice to.

He was supposed to be the sword of the kingdom. The arbiter of righteousness. The one to strike down evil.

But once again, he had arrived too late.

The chance to deliver justice had been stolen from him.

And he hated it.

More than anything… he hated him.

He hated Natsuki Subaru.

Every fiber of his being screamed for retribution, for judgment, for blood.

But all he could do… was stare at the broken body on the ground.

And then… almost out of habit, Reinhardt activated one of his newly acquired Divine Protections—granted just days ago.

A Divine Protection that allowed him to commune, briefly, with the Od Laguna itself.

He asked it a single question:

'Is Natsuki Subaru… alive?'

The response came instantly.

Yes.

Reinhardt's entire body went rigid.

His breath caught in his throat.

His fists trembled violently.

"W-What happened?" Emilia asked, watching his face twist into something she had never seen before.

It wasn't just shock.

It wasn't confusion.

It was pure, unfiltered hatred.

And then Reinhardt smiled—a grin he knew he shouldn't wear. One that felt wrong even to himself.

But it was there.

And when he spoke, it was with burning certainty.

"Lady Emilia," he began, voice low and dark, "Natsuki Subaru—"

"—The Cardinal of the Witch Cult… Sin Archbishop of Pride—"

"—is alive."

To be continued...

Chapter 2: Sage's abilities

Summary:

These are the abilities of the Great Sage Subaru!

Name: Natsuki Subaru

Alias: Zero / Sage Candidate / The New Great Sage / Witch's Beloved / Yandere Sword Saintness' Hubby

Combat Level: ???

Strength: 100 tons ~ 15,000 tons

Speed (Running speed): Mach 24 ~ Mach ???

Endurance: Superhuman ~ Low Godhood

Abilities:

Witch Authorities:

1. Pride: Divine Judgment (Copied from Typhon)

2. Sloth: Invisible Providence / Shadow Palm (Copied from Sekhmet)

3. Greed: Greedy King Scorpio (Can copy any ability as long as it is not Divine Protection; works on others' Sin Authorities as well. Has no limits and can be used to copy Satella's or Pandora's Authorities)

4. Lust: Lust King Asmodeus (Life and Death Manipulation; as long as Subaru wills it, he can kill or resurrect anyone regardless of their power level. However, it cannot prevent reincarnation or an enemy's resurrection; at most, an enemy's resurrection can be infinitely delayed. Additionally, he can resurrect people who have already reincarnated, but doing so results in the death of their reincarnated self)

5. Wrath: N/A

6. Gluttony: N/A

7. Envy (Shared with Satella): Return by Death (This has two abilities: first, it rewinds time and returns Subaru to a saved checkpoint, which is completely under Satella’s control; if the connection with her is lost, the checkpoint becomes random. The second mysterious ability is [Redacted] and results in the doubling of all his abilities—including Soul, Strength, Speed, Vitality, Brain Processing, and Witch Authorities’ power—with each successive death. Currently, Subaru has died ten times.)

8. Supernumerary / Self-made: Ruler's Authority (Allows the user to manipulate natural phenomena using psychic energy. Subaru can use telepathy, read others' memories, erase them, or even rewrite them. He can also use telekinesis and teleportation. The most terrifying aspect of this ability is that it exists outside of Od Laguna, meaning no one in the world possesses natural resistance to any of its effects.)

Extra Abilities:

• Aura Manipulation: Can manipulate aura at will.

• Ki Manipulation: Can manipulate and wield destructive Ki. When combined with magic and aura, it can form a beam of destruction capable of burning atoms themselves.

• Magic: User can employ Yin and Earth Magic, knows all spells, and can manipulate magic as if it were a part of their being.

• Spirit Contract: Holds contracts with six spirits of six elements, four of which are True Spirits, and two are Great Spirits—Gloria, Great Spirit of Yang, and Beatrice, Great Spirit of Yin.

Weapons:

1. Yin Sword (Empowered sixteen times in essence): Dozens of times stronger than the normal Yin Sword. It has used [Redacted] to gain additional power. It can cut through opponents while ignoring time and space. The most terrifying aspect of this weapon is that if the user locks onto a target, they can strike it in the past or future, even if the target exists in a different timeline, dimension, or universe altogether. [NOTE: Cannot attack targets in a different multiverse or any greater cosmology.]

2. The Life Sword (Empowered sixteen times in essence): Dozens of times stronger than the normal Life Sword. It has used [Redacted] to enhance its power. It can destroy a target's Od and inflict unhealable wounds on the soul, erasing both the soul and life itself. It possesses a secret function when combined with other Great Sage abilities, which has not yet been discovered.

Notes:

What do you think? By the way, I’m keeping the cosmology of Re:Zero relatively low. Reinhardt is planetary at most. I know many argue he could be star-level because of his black hole destruction feat, but here are some considerations I’m taking into account:

Yang Magic is Light-Attribute Magic. While it is indeed possible to use plasma attacks, the speed of these attacks should be limited to what would be realistic in a real-world environment and can be amplified by magic. For example, if you compare Al Goa and Al Jiwald creating attacks, it wouldn’t make sense for one to reach the speed of light. Please note that by "plasma," I mean it in the standard physical sense, though translations are unofficial and I am going by my own understanding.

I mean, how can people who don’t have a proper understanding of science really know what the speed of light is? I think that because it’s plasma and possibly one of the fastest attacks, they assumed it is the speed at what light travels. But the kinetic energy of a person who could react at the speed of light would be equivalent to about 12 Tsar Bombs. Considering that multiple sources claim Tappei stated the Earth in Re:Zero is far more stable than in reality, you can see the implications.

Similarly, creating a black hole or a sun does not mean that the energy is equivalent to a real black hole or sun. It merely behaves like one within limits. For example, the radius of a magical black hole can be increased, but its mass cannot. Anything pulled past the event horizon is converted to Hawking radiation and evaporates instantly. This is why the effect dissolves automatically if the magic supply is cut off. Od Laguna never allows the creation of a real black hole or sun or that is the restriction of Re Zero world's magic itself.

Regarding infinite space: The Pleiades Watchtower has all its rooms in different dimensions, each of which has vastly larger internal space, and this space is wrapped.

Honestly, I could theoretically wank Reinhardt to Outerversal levels with all sorts of arbitrary scaling, but then our Great Sage would also be wanked to Hyperversal normally and Outerversal levels with the special attack of the Life Sword. I’d rather take a realistic approach—it makes the story much more interesting and fun.

If you are not satisfied with this, you can leave, though I can promise a battle scene made at the best of my abilities. Casually breaking mountains or attacking each other with energy equivalent to a small nuclear bombs, destroying concepts, and etc.

Chapter 3: 2) Another world's sage

..

{3rd Pov}

In the midst of the swirling chaos of distorted space-time, Subaru was the first to succumb to unconsciousness—his body rendered limp as it was flung through the violently churning dimensions. Alongside him, all five of his contracted spirits fell into the same state of sudden shutdown, as though some invisible switch had flicked inside them.

And the reason?

It was simple, yet terrifying in scale.

Subaru's body was equipped with a multitude of supersensory abilities—an array of heightened perceptions that included, but were not limited to, advanced Psychic Sense, Aura Detection, and amplified superhuman senses such as sight, hearing, smell, and touch. These senses were constantly active, even when he wasn't consciously focusing on them. They acted as an endless stream of data flowing into his brain at all times—unfiltered and raw.

And then, in an instant, that flood became a tidal wave.

As Subaru's body plunged into the vortex of the wormhole—a portal that was not bound by conventional physics but rather twisted by temporal layers and spatial folds—his hyper-attuned senses were hit with an incomprehensible overload.

Information from countless alternate timelines, space coordinates, timeframes, causal paradoxes, and universal constants assaulted his mind simultaneously.

It was like trying to comprehend the entirety of reality within a single heartbeat.

The human brain, even one as modified and enhanced as Subaru's, wasn't built to withstand that.

To prevent itself from imploding under the sheer pressure of that data influx, his brain forcibly triggered an emergency failsafe—shutting down all higher functions and throwing Subaru into a deep state of unconsciousness.

And it wasn't just him.

His five contracted spirits, all deeply connected to him through shared mana threads and spiritual linkages, were drawn into the same cascade.

Gloria, being a Great spirit who possessed heightened perception herself, was the second to go down—her mental faculties overwhelmed just as Subaru's were.

The others followed quickly after. Their connection to Subaru, both magical and emotional, made them vulnerable to the same shock.

Only Beatrice remained barely awake, her small form trembling in Subaru's spirit space as she struggled to stay conscious. 

Her equilibrium was off. Her thoughts were slow. 

Meanwhile, Reina—Subaru's closest companion and the one clinging tightly to him—was experiencing a breakdown of her own. Her Divine Protections and her connection to the Od Laguna had completely vanished the moment they crossed the dimensional boundary.

And as if that weren't enough, the World Travel Magic they had triggered had siphoned a colossal amount of mana from her.

Her reserves were drained dry, leaving her in a critical, mana-deprived state. Weakened to the point of helplessness, she lost her grip on Subaru's body.

'No… not like this… not now!' she thought, frantically trying to hold on.

But her fingers slipped.

And in that terrible moment of powerlessness, her body was ripped away by the swirling storm of time and space—vanishing into an unknown timeline, at an untraceable point in both time and location.

She was gone.

Subaru, however, was not.

Instead, his unconscious body was ejected violently from the wormhole, appearing approximately a thousand meters above ground level, suspended high above the skies of a burning world.

The air screamed as he plummeted downwards, his limbs limp and lifeless, buffeted by the raging winds of gravity's pull. The landscape beneath him grew rapidly in clarity.

It was a city.

No, not just any city.

It was the Capital of Lugunica.

But not their Lugunica.

This version of the capital was in chaos—engulfed in hellfire and ruin, buildings collapsed, and smoke blackened the skies. Screams echoed through the streets, and the stench of ash and blood polluted the air.

It was a city in torment.

A city burning.

Burning because of Subaru.

Not this Subaru, but another.

The Subaru who belonged to this timeline.

A version of him that had taken a different path—a darker one. A Subaru who embraced pride over humility, ruthlessness over compassion. The man known in this world as Pride Subaru.

The impact was brutal.

Subaru's body crashed through the blazing rooftop of a burning house. The tiles shattered like glass beneath his weight.

The second floor gave no resistance. He smashed through it, then through the first, and finally collided with the ground floor like a meteor.

The force of impact left a crater in the cracked stone floor, debris flying in every direction.

His limbs were twisted unnaturally. His skin was torn and bruised. Bones were fractured—some even broken completely. Blood leaked from gashes along his arms and legs.

But then, something extraordinary happened.

Even in unconsciousness, Subaru's body began to regenerate.

At first, it was subtle—the blood stopped flowing, the cuts sealed shut.

Then it became rapid.

Bruises faded. Fractured bones audibly cracked back into place. Torn flesh knit together with unnatural speed.

Within mere seconds, the brutal injuries sustained during the fall began vanishing, one after another.

Beatrice, having barely regained control over her own balance, staggered out of the wormhole's fading light and immediately stumbled toward Subaru's crater. She clutched her head, blinking away the dizziness that still lingered in her vision.

"Subaru!" she cried out, rushing to his side.

Her small hands moved over his battered form, panic creeping into her expression. She reached out to check his pulse—his arm was bent at an impossible angle, twisted horribly out of place.

And yet… it began straightening.

Right before her eyes.

The bent bones cracked back into alignment. The muscles realigned. The wounds sealed.

Beatrice's eyes widened.

Even for someone like her, this level of healing was absurd. It wasn't just regeneration—it was restoration at a level that defied all logical scales of magic.

Subaru's healing factor, enhanced far beyond any known magic, operated at a speed and potency that was unnatural.

He didn't just heal.

He reconstructed.

The process was over in less than a minute.

Subaru's body, once broken and mangled, now lay still—intact, unmarred, like he had never fallen at all.

Subaru's healing abilities were not just 1,024 times faster but also 1,024 times more potent.

Combined with the passive regenerative enhancements granted by his Ki and Aura, Subaru's body possessed a terrifyingly high-speed healing capability.

Even catastrophic damage—such as the loss of major organs or limbs—could be reversed within mere minutes.

His body wasn't just resilient—it was borderline immortal by natural standards.

Seeing this regenerative process in motion, Beatrice finally allowed herself to exhale in relief.

Yet, despite knowing that Subaru's body would heal on its own, she refused to simply rely on that alone.

With determined eyes and unwavering hands, she began casting the strongest healing spells she could muster—a gentle light enveloped Subaru's body.

Threads of mana wrapped around his form, accelerating the process even further.

"Zero! Wake up, I suppose!" Beatrice called out with urgency in her voice, her tiny hands shaking Subaru's shoulder. But despite her efforts, there was no response. His body was intact, but his mind—his consciousness—was locked away.

His brain had essentially gone into lockdown, shutting itself down to prevent irreversible damage from the sensory overload he had experienced inside the wormhole. The data was simply too much. And it wasn't just Subaru. The other five spirits—his contracted companions—were in the same state. Each one lay motionless, their forms dormant, as if suspended in time.

Beatrice, however, remained awake.

Not because she was stronger, but because she was different.

She was an artificial spirit.

Unlike her natural-born spirit counterparts, Beatrice's sensory perception wasn't as finely tuned. She didn't possess the ultra-sensitive senses that allowed natural spirits to perceive the layers of reality beyond mortal comprehension. And that difference—something she once considered a flaw—was what spared her from unconsciousness.

A blessing in disguise.

Beatrice sat there quietly, watching Subaru's chest rise and fall, her mind racing with memories. Everything that had led them to this moment began to piece itself together. She had not directly participated in Echidna's mad research, but Subaru had shared with her much of what the Witch of Greed had been pursuing.

World-travel magic. A concept long thought to be fantasy even among the most elite mages.

Subaru had been patient when explaining it to her, walking her through the layers of theory and conjecture. He had told her about Parallel Worlds and Alternate Worlds. Beatrice, being highly intelligent herself, had absorbed this knowledge with curiosity and caution.

Parallel worlds—according to Subaru—referred to realities that ran adjacent to their own, often overlapping in structure and form. These included alternate dimensions, subtle branches of reality, and most intriguingly, timelines.

Subaru explained in detail how timelines were essentially parallel versions of their own world. Some would differ in minor, seemingly insignificant ways. Others could diverge so drastically that they were practically unrecognizable. But they all stemmed from the same root—divergent outcomes, different decisions, alternate consequences.

Then there were Alternate Worlds—places that existed entirely outside the fabric of their own reality. Standalone universes governed by different rules, untouched by the flow of their world's causality. Subaru himself hailed from such a place, far beyond the Great Waterfall. His own world—Earth—was one such alternate world.

And though his greatest desire had always been to return there, he had promised them—her—that he wouldn't abandon them in doing so. He dreamed of creating a door, a crossing point, a stable link that would allow travel between worlds. A way for everyone he loved to coexist across both realities.

Shaking the thought from her head, she floated upward, deciding that she had to assess their surroundings. The crater in the destroyed house gave her a path out. Rising through the gap in the roof that Subaru had crashed through, she emerged into the open air—and immediately froze.

The sky above was thick with smoke, painted in orange and crimson hues.

Lugunica—the Capital—was engulfed in flames.

Buildings were ablaze. Debris littered the streets. Distant screams echoed through the inferno. The kingdom's heart had become a battlefield.

Beatrice's breath hitched. Her wide eyes scanned the horizon.

'No doubt… this is Lugunica… but it's burning. It's burning to the ground. Why? What happened here?'

She flew even higher, searching for familiar landmarks to orient herself. Eventually, she spotted a few structures that remained unchanged—the Royal Castle's spires, the central plaza, the bridge near the guilds. Despite the destruction, these familiar shapes offered a strange comfort.

'So it's not a different place entirely… that rules out this being another world altogether. Mama's magic—what she was developing with Subaru—wasn't complete and was only designed specifically for time and space traversal. Not world-hopping. That was a different, more complex magic altogether.'

Beatrice furrowed her brows, floating still amidst the burning winds.

'That means we're either in the past… or the future.'

But even that conclusion wasn't foolproof. There was still one more possibility.

'Or maybe… maybe this is a parallel timeline. A branch reality. A twisted version of our own world. But then again… Mama never said anything about the magic being capable of timeline shifts. Or… was she about to? She was unusually excited before we cast the spell… maybe this was the very feature she was about to reveal before everything spiraled out of control.'

Her mind pieced together the puzzle quickly.

'Subaru is unconscious. The Capital is in flames. This is either a vision of the future… or a nightmare spawned from another version of our world.'

Trying not to dwell on it too deeply, she focused instead on the most immediate concern: Subaru. She had to protect him. And she had to find a place safe enough to let him recover without interference.

As for Reina—Beatrice bit her lip.

'I'll think about her later… Subaru comes first. His wellbeing is the most important right now.'

She flew back down to the house, re-entered through the broken roof, and carefully floated down to Subaru's side. With a grunt, she grabbed his body using levitation magic and gently lifted him off the ground.

She turned toward the outside, floating toward the shattered doorway when—

A voice cut through the haze.

Cold. Calculating. Accusatory.

"I see… So you're here after all."

Beatrice froze in place.

A tall figure emerged from the smoke—a man with a blade in one hand and suspicion in his eyes. His gaze was locked not on her, but on Subaru's unconscious body.

"Was that body a puppet?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. "As expected of a Sin Archbishop of the Witch Cult."

Beatrice's blood ran cold.

'They think Subaru is… a Sin Archbishop? But why? What version of him lives here?'

Her hold on Subaru tightened.

The nightmare had only just begun.

To be continued...

BTW HERE IS THE LINK FOR MY DISCORD 

https://discord.gg/YbWM3t4N

Notes:

Lmao, didn't thought I will start a power scaling War in the comments.
They have shown some pretty feats and powerscaled.
Felix cannot ressurect anyone, and the true version of the magic while suspected to ressurect people is also highly suspected just to raise undead. Even if he somehow ressurects someone(Possible), it won't make that big of a feat. In Highschool DXD Ressurection of mortals as long as they haven't killed by Divine or Demonic means it is quite easy.
Beatrice creating a blackhole is a good feat, but we encounter two problems.
First it isn't self-sustanining meaning it not has the mass of a real sun.
Secondly it's gravitational pull behaves weirdly, world not getting destroyed is the proof.
But yeah it garners a conceptual feat meaning it has 'Concept of a blackhole'
Volcanica is indeed in top 5, however that is the pre-Alderban Volcanica, right now it seems like any random person with the name Astrea can destroy legendary characters LMAO.
However I am not in mood to talk about other feats.
Reinhardt's biggest power is not his Physcial strength or countless Divine Protections, except for the Phoenix one, his most important power is Dragon Sword Reid.
It can cut through any concept, and it killed Puck who was capable of freezing the entire world(Continental level feat) in a single hit.
Reinhardt also cancels any and every magic due to the huge amount of mana he absorbs, I can see only two ways to counter it.
First your magic should have enough 'Mana to resist his mana blackhole' secondly you shouldn't be a natural spirit, and if you are, you have to attack from enough distance.
I get this idea from Volcanica being able to use his dragon breath against Reinhardt.
He has one of the biggest mana capacity in the series, effectively does not uses the mana straight from atmosphere and isn't made of mana.
Again if Dragon Breath cannot be used without mana and so is Mana Reinforcement so this theory makes a sense.
But if you don't find this great, fine.
I have made the battle, you can join discord and see what to do to get advance chaps.
Hope you enjoy the battle when the chaps come.

Chapter 4: 3) Pride if

Summary:

When Betty can use magic!

...

{3rd Pov}

'He thinks Subaru is… a Sin Archbishop? But why? What version of him lives here?'

Her hold on Subaru tightened.

Beatrice froze instantly, her body tensing up defensively as she turned to face the newcomer. The sight of him struck her with shock and surprise.

He had blazing red hair that shimmered like molten fire, piercing blue eyes that seemed to glow with intensity, and he wore the unmistakable uniform of a Royal Knight. Most notably, a dragon sheath hung at his side — a symbol of great power and prestige.

'Could he be the Sword Saint?' Beatrice wondered. 'If he weren't male, he might even resemble Reina… Could he be her cousin or some close relative?' With caution in her voice, she asked, "Who are you, exactly? I suppose you've come with some purpose?"

Reinhardt's expression remained calm and neutral, though a flicker of surprise crossed his face upon seeing Beatrice. He glanced toward Subaru's unconscious form with a grave look.

"Lady Beatrice, I have heard much about you — the Great Sage of the Library," Reinhardt spoke respectfully, though his attention quickly returned to the fallen Subaru.

"Are you Reina's cousin?" Beatrice pressed, subtly preparing a spell just in case things took a turn for the worse.

Earlier, Reinhardt had labeled Subaru as a Sin Archbishop — a designation Beatrice couldn't fully comprehend, but one that immediately put her on alert. It was clear this man was hostile to her contractor, whatever the reason.

"Reina? I have never come across that name among my ancestors," Reinhardt responded thoughtfully, assuming Beatrice was referring to some previous Sword Saint. Given that Beatrice had been alive for centuries, it was easy for him to misunderstand her meaning.

In truth, Reinhardt himself was surprised to find himself hesitating over the execution of Subaru. Despite his hatred for the man, he wanted Subaru to suffer for his crimes.

'For what he has done… he deserves torture. No matter how much I hate him or wish him dead, he must answer for his sins,' Reinhardt thought with cold resolve.

His hope was to capture Subaru alive — but if Subaru resisted, Reinhardt would have no hesitation in executing him on the spot.

"Lady Beatrice," Reinhardt said gravely, "the man you are carrying is the Witch Cult's Cardinal — the Sin Archbishop of Pride, Natsuki Subaru. He is the one responsible for the flames consuming Lugunica right now."

Beatrice was stunned. 'Wasn't Subaru being the Sin Archbishop of Pride just some cruel joke to rile up that stupid blue haired oni?' she thought in disbelief. 'But judging from all the signs… this must be a different timeline. Perhaps here, Subaru really is the Sin Archbishop.'

"You must have the wrong person. Betty's Subaru is not a Sin Archbishop, in fact!" Beatrice countered firmly, her words causing Reinhardt to raise an eyebrow in skepticism.

"Wrong person? I'm sorry, Lady Beatrice, but every one of my Divine Protections confirms that the man before me is indeed Natsuki Subaru," Reinhardt replied steadily.

Beatrice hesitated for a moment, weighing her options. She knew the current Sword Saint was incredibly strong. If Reinhardt possessed even a fraction of her own power, things could become dire.

'Damn it! I can't use my Door Crossing magic here! And I haven't even learned teleportation!' Beatrice thought, a pang of regret washing over her.

'If only I had used Subaru's telepathy to learn everything firsthand, we'd have had more time to develop new magic together. And if I'd spoken to my mother, I might have mastered full teleportation by now.'

Before Reinhardt could draw his sword, Beatrice's artificial spirit, Betty, quickly interjected, "He is indeed Natsuki Subaru, but wait! Betty's contractor is not the same Natsuki Subaru you think he is!"

Reinhardt's hand, which was already resting on the hilt of his sword — fortunately not the Dragon Sword — froze in place. His gaze locked onto Betty's eyes as he hesitated, curiosity flickering within him.

"Explain," Reinhardt commanded, his voice steady but edged with suspicion. His Divine Protection had signaled to him that Beatrice was, in fact, speaking the truth.

The fact that Subaru possessed two bodies only deepened Reinhardt's suspicion — 'Could this Subaru be nothing more than a decoy?' The thought nagged at him relentlessly.

Beatrice drew a deep, steadying breath, a wave of relief washing over her as she prepared to explain everything.

She began by describing how they hailed from a different world, a different timeline altogether — a reality parallel yet distinctly separate from Reinhardt's own.

She carefully detailed the subtle and not-so-subtle differences between their worlds, painting a vivid picture of the realities that coexisted yet never quite intersected.

She went further, recounting the story of Reinhardt's female counterpart, Reina Van Astrea, and her deep, unwavering love for Subaru — how she had chosen to dedicate herself to him, serving loyally and passionately.

Beatrice hoped this revelation would soften Reinhardt's hostile stance, perhaps even inspire a flicker of understanding or compassion.

Instead, Reinhardt's expression only grew colder, more unyielding.

"I have but one question," he said grimly. "Does Natsuki Subaru have any connection to the Witch?"

At once, Beatrice's confidence faltered; her body stiffened.

This was the moment she could not lie.

Subaru's connection to Echidna, the Witch of Greed, was an undeniable fact.

Bound in contract to her, he also had tenuous ties to other Witches — encounters she was aware of, regardless of which Witch was involved, even if it was not the Witch of Envy.

Subaru was undeniably connected to the Witch.

Reinhardt's eyes narrowed, sensing her hesitation. "As I suspected," he said coldly, "all that you have said before was naught but lies."

"No! That is not the case!" Beatrice protested swiftly, "Subaru is indeed connected to the Witch, but it is the Witch of Greed — the true master of Roswaal and Betty's mother! Unlike the Witch of Envy, she is a benevolent witch!"

Even as she said it, calling a Witch 'good' felt like an enormous risk, a dangerous claim.

Reinhardt chuckled darkly, the sound like steel grinding on stone. "Lady Beatrice, if you do not know, Lord Roswaal is dead. I was the one who killed him myself."

Beatrice was momentarily stunned. 'That buffoon is dead in this timeline?' she thought incredulously.

"First, you tell me you both come from another world, which is already hard enough to believe. If it were only he who came from another world, perhaps that would be more credible. But you've been residing in Roswaal's mansion for centuries," Reinhardt continued, his tone sharp and accusing.

Beatrice wanted to argue that Reinhardt's Divine Protection would reveal the truth, but he cut her off before she could speak.

"I do indeed possess a Divine Protection capable of detecting lies," Reinhardt said, "which is why, when you first began your story, I doubted it. My Divine Protection told me it was true."

"However, your story only grew more absurd from there. In your so-called timeline, I am a woman. Even if that were true, I would have chosen Felt — not someone tied to a Witch, someone with no loyalty to Lugunica as my master. Doing something like this would be nothing short of betrayal to the Kingdom. I cannot fathom why my female self would do anything so traitorous."

'Damn it?! How in the world is Betty supposed to explain to this thickheaded sword-swinging block of logic that women in love don't care about any of that?!'

Beatrice fumed internally, her tiny fists trembling. 'When a girl finds her husbando, logic goes straight out the window — all they want is to throw themselves at him and find the quickest way into his pants, I suppose!'

— ahem —

"Next, you claim my female self is deeply in love with Natsuki Subaru," Reinhardt continued, his voice dripping with disgust, "yet here I stand, filled with hatred, abhorring the very name of Natsuki Subaru. The idea that my other self could love this man is revolting."

Beatrice clenched her fists, internally fuming. 'Why is it my problem if his female counterpart is a crazy nymphomaniac for my contractor?'

"Lastly, after numerous encounters with Natsuki Subaru, during which he always managed to slip through my grasp, I have learned that he possesses a unique ability to exploit weaknesses in my Divine Protections. Therefore, it is not surprising that he could find a way to deceive my Lie-Sensing Protection."

"Still, it appears you are relying on some form of self-hypnosis or trickery to fool me. Fortunately, it seems you cannot lie to every question I ask. If you could, that would only confirm my suspicions that you are fabricating everything."

'That… actually makes sense, in fact!' Beatrice thought, feeling the weight of Reinhardt's logic pressing down on her. 'Why does everything he says sound so convincing?'

"So, regardless of whether that body is a mere decoy or truly his real form, it matters not. I must punish you for being a suspect in aiding a Sin Archbishop who has burned the capital to ashes. Lady Beatrice, hand him over to me."

With no hesitation, Beatrice's eyes flared with determination. "EL MINYAAA!" she shouted as dozens of crystallized mana stakes erupted from her hands, hurtling fiercely toward Reinhardt.

Reinhardt swiftly unsheathed the spare sword he always carried—a backup weapon he kept in case Reid, the Dragon Sword, remained unsheathed as it often did.

With practiced ease, he dodged a barrage of incoming attacks, deflecting others mid-air in precise, calculated movements, the steel singing each time it met crystallized mana.

Meanwhile, Beatrice, with Subaru's unconscious body floating beside her, activated her flight magic. She urgently tried to nudge him awake through their spiritual contract—probing not only Subaru himself, but also the other spirits who were still silent, locked in unconsciousness.

No matter how hard she tried, there was no response.

Her method of flight wasn't like the conventional flying magic used by other mages. Beatrice possessed an extreme affinity toward Yin Magic—100% pure affinity, to be exact.

Despite this limitation, she was still capable of using other elements, albeit at a reduced efficiency, hovering around 20% affinity for most of them.

The only element completely out of her grasp was Yang Magic.

That said, Beatrice never learned the traditional Wind Magic techniques used to fly. Instead, she had developed her own workaround—by casting Murak, a Yin-based spell that reduced her body's gravity, and combining it with Wind Magic to achieve controlled aerial movement.

It wasn't elegant, but it worked.

However, this improvised form of flight was significantly slower than Roswaal's mastery of Wind-based aerial spells.

Worse yet, in her current state—without access to her Door Crossing or any teleportation-based magic—she couldn't escape Reinhardt, not by speed or space-hopping.

That left her with one option.

She had to fight the Sword Saint head-on—and win.

With that resolve hardening inside her, Beatrice soared through the air, creating some distance from her opponent, then took a sharp banking turn. Subaru's body floated behind her like a limp shadow. As she whipped around, she summoned a flurry of spells.

"El Minya!" she cried, unleashing dozens of crystallized mana stakes, launching them at Reinhardt with precision.

But she wasn't done.

"El Shamak!" she yelled, pouring massive quantities of mana into the spell.

A dense, swirling torrent of dark clouds burst forward, enveloping Reinhardt completely. He had been in the middle of dodging and cutting down the El Minya barrage, but the unexpected veil of darkness engulfed him faster than he could react.

'I don't know how resistant he is to magic, but El Shamak is one of my most potent abilities. It should disorient him, even if just for a moment!' Beatrice thought, her hands trembling as she channeled more mana.

El Shamak wasn't just an upgraded version of Shamak—it was a completely different tier of spell.

It not only robbed the target of vision, but severed all five senses: sound, smell, touch, taste, and spatial orientation.

Even heat and pain were rendered meaningless under its effects. For most, being caught in El Shamak was like being hurled into a sensory void.

That was how it should have been.

Beatrice used the momentary cover to widen the distance between them. She needed time—time to prepare her high-tier spells, to analyze his defenses, to think. Her eyes narrowed with cautious hope.

'If that worked… I might have a chance to overwhelm him before he can recover—'

Her thoughts were cut short.

With an explosive bang, the center of the dark cloud burst apart in a shockwave of searing wind pressure.

The cloud was scattered like ash in a storm. Reinhardt emerged from the remnants, completely unscathed.

His spare sword shimmered in the air, having just cleaved through the magical mist as though it were mere smoke.

Beatrice's heart dropped.

She had vastly underestimated him.

Reinhardt had been entirely immune to the effects of El Shamak—not just resistant. Thanks to his Divine Protection of Anti-Magic, spells like Shamak and its advanced forms had no impact on him whatsoever. And that wasn't the only safeguard he possessed.

He had a Divine Protection for each element, providing a massive 80% reduction in effectiveness.

Beatrice who just remembered the Divine Protections Reina, now knew her counterpart possessed the same Divine Protections and had realized in horror that even if her spell had landed cleanly, its effects would have been near useless.

He also had divine protections that negated or weakened non-magical elemental attacks, making close combat equally ineffective.

Worse, there were divine protections that minimized the chances of surprise attacks succeeding—protection against ambushes, traps, and feints. It meant Reinhardt was nearly impossible to catch off guard.

'Just how many Divine Protections does this man have?! He's basically cheating!' Beatrice mentally screamed, gritting her teeth.

But despite that power, despite the ease with which he could've dodged or countered her attacks using his Divine Protections, Reinhardt hadn't. Instead, he had deliberately chosen to face her head-on.

Why?

Because he didn't want collateral damage.

He didn't want to risk innocent lives.

Subaru—at least, the version from this timeline—had already burned down nearly half the capital. The central districts, marketplaces, and heavily populated areas were now charred ruins, engulfed in flames. Death tolls were still unknown, but everyone knew it would be catastrophic.

The area Beatrice and Reinhardt were now fighting in was part of the remaining, unscathed half of the capital. Most of the citizens had been evacuated, and others—those with strength or courage—had stayed behind to help battle the fires and evacuate stragglers. But that didn't mean the place was empty. A stray spell could still kill someone.

Reinhardt was furious.

His rage burned inside him like a star, and it showed in his eyes. However, it was not the kind of reckless rage that made people lose control. No, Reinhardt's fury was sharp, focused, and cold.

She realized she couldn't afford to make any more mistakes. Every spell she cast had to count. Every second she bought had to be used wisely. Because this was Reinhardt Van Astrea.

And if she didn't defeat him now—

She wouldn't get another chance.

"El Vita!" Beatrice shouted sharply, instantly casting the advanced Yin magic.

The surrounding air trembled as she amplified Reinhardt's gravity by dozens of times in an instant.

Any ordinary person—even many extraordinary ones—would have been reduced to pulp, crushed into unrecognizable gore under the weight of their own body.

Their bones would snap, their organs rupture, and they'd collapse into a pool of blood without ever knowing what hit them.

But Reinhardt? It barely slowed him down.

El Vita, unlike traditional debuff-type spells such as Shamak, didn't merely interfere with perception or consciousness.

It directly manipulated the physical environment—a form of magical pressure more akin to a natural force than a typical enchantment.

That was why it even affected Reinhardt at all.

However, his Divine Protection of Darkness Nullification kicked in, drastically weakening the spell's effectiveness.

With 80% of Yin magic's potency nullified, the gravitational pressure became more like an inconvenience than a lethal threat.

Undeterred, Beatrice pressed forward.

"Ul Shamak!" she shouted, her voice trembling slightly from the strain. A sphere of absolute darkness manifested in front of Reinhardt. The mana condensed and collapsed upon itself, forming a localized black hole, an abyss that devoured everything within its radius.

And Reinhardt? He didn't flinch.

He simply swung his sword—a regular sword, not even Reid—and cut through the black hole.

It dissipated.

His blade, however, crumbled into useless shards from the stress.

If Subaru were awake right now, he'd be absolutely losing it, He'd scream about Reinhardt cheating again. Like, how the hell do you slice through a black hole with a damn sword?! And not even a divine sword! Just a plain old common weapon! That's complete bullshit!

Beatrice gathered her breath, her face pale.

"Al Minya!" she roared, releasing another high-tier Yin spell. From her position mid-air, she launched a barrage of Minya stakes made of crystallized magical energy. She saw an opening—Reinhardt had lost his weapon.

But then he reached for the hilt of the Dragon Sword Reid.

For the first time, the divine sword trembled.

The attack drew closer, the stakes nearly upon him, but Reinhardt's Divine Protection that reduced the chance of being hit by surprise attacks activated. With fluid speed, he unsheathed Reid just in time and clashed against the incoming barrage.

Sparks flew. The pressure shook the air.

But then—

'Al Shamak!' Beatrice thought, casting another spell simultaneously. She whispered it, not aloud, blending it seamlessly into her ongoing offensive. A separate layer of reality unfolded silently. She was creating a new dimension altogether—an inescapable void.

Her head was pounding. Her Gate and mind screamed in agony from overuse. She was already using Wind and Vita magic to keep herself and Subaru afloat mid-air. Then she unleashed the strongest variant of Al Minya to strike Reinhardt, while simultaneously weaving the most potent version of Shamak.

And she pulled it off.

By the time Reinhardt repelled the barrage and noticed something felt off—it was already too late.

He was no longer in their dimension.

Beatrice's trap had worked.

His Divine Protection of First Sight, which enhanced his reactions to unexpected attacks, didn't help. That blessing only gave him a better chance of reacting to ambushes—not a guarantee. And this time, the nature of the attack made it physically unavoidable.

To make matters worse, Reinhardt had never been hit by Al Shamak before. He didn't even know a spell like that existed—one that could trap someone in an entirely separate dimension. That unfamiliarity crippled the effectiveness of his Divine Protection of Second Coming.

And so, Reinhardt Van Astrea—the Sword Saint, the strongest man alive—was finally struck and removed from the battlefield.

Beatrice gasped for air. She hovered in place, her body trembling violently. Spirits didn't usually pant.

They didn't overheat or sweat, and they had innate resistances to extremes of temperature and exertion.

But Echidna had designed Beatrice with several human-like traits to make her feel more relatable—to feel real.

Right now, all those features were on full display.

Her shoulders slumped. Her legs felt like jelly despite floating. Her small chest rose and fell in rapid succession as she clutched Subaru tightly.

'He is gone... I actually won... I beat him!' she screamed internally, eyes wide with disbelief and pride.

"Betty has protected her contractor!" she declared proudly, voice shaking from the strain. She looked down at Subaru, still unconscious, still silent.

He couldn't hear her. He wasn't there to praise her. But she didn't care. The fact that she was able to protect him made her feel whole.

But fate wasn't done with her yet.

The sky above her cracked.

A terrible, thunderous sound like glass breaking across the cosmos tore through the battlefield.

'No... no no no NO!' Beatrice screamed in her head, spinning around, her entire body freezing in place.

Reinhardt emerged.

He stepped through a space fissure, calmly—as if nothing had happened. The Divine Sword Reid glowed brightly, a pale, almost holy light radiating from it.

"If not for Reid, I would have been trapped forever," Reinhardt said, his voice cold and detached. "I didn't want to go this far. But now... I have to stop holding back."

Then he charged.

Beatrice's heart dropped. Without hesitation, she flung Subaru's unconscious body away from her.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY SUBARU!!!" she screamed, her voice raw and wild. She summoned a rapid swarm of Minya stakes and hurled them with everything she had left.

But it wasn't enough.

Reinhardt's sword flashed.

It cleaved through her tiny body like a hot knife through butter.

Her stomach was split open. Her upper and lower halves separated instantly.

Beatrice fell to the ground. Subaru's body hit the dirt nearby with a dull thud.

"S-Su... baru..." she whispered weakly. Bloodless, spirit-born agony coursed through her. She tried to crawl, dragging herself across the battlefield toward him.

But she was fading.

The contract was breaking.

Her very existence, tied intimately to Subaru's soul, was disintegrating.

Reinhardt, expression blank, ignored her completely. He walked past, eyes locked on Subaru. Fury radiated off him now—controlled but burning.

As the contract faded, Subaru felt a jolt.

It was like being stabbed in the soul.

The momentary pain cascaded through his entire being. It hit every one of his spiritual connections.

And then his eyes snapped open.

In an instant, he was on his feet.

His body reacted before his mind did.

There were too many questions. Where was he? What was going on? Why was someone who looked like a male version of Reinhard glaring at him?

But then—

He saw Beatrice.

Or rather, her upper half.

Her lower body was missing.

She was lying in a pool of magical essence, her small hand reaching out to him, her expression desperate and fading.

Time slowed.

'Why... why is my Betty like that?' Subaru thought, eyes wide. 'Why is her lower half gone?! Why is she dying?! WHAT HAPPENED TO HER?!'

He instantly activated his Authority of Lust.

His vision changed.

He could see the essence of Beatrice's body surrounded by a dark, suffocating aura—the sign of imminent death.

He willed it to change.

The aura shifted to green.

His rage surged.

'Who did this to her?! Who the hell dared to hurt my Betty?!' Subaru's eyes locked onto Reinhardt.

The man had been staring coldly at him—until now.

Suddenly, Reinhardt's expression shifted. His eyes widened.

Subaru didn't care.

There was no time to demand answers. No time to figure out what this twisted version of Reinhard was doing here, or why he looked like a genderbent Reina. All that could wait.

He teleported in an instant.

He appeared at Beatrice's side, cradling her upper body gently, holding her close to his chest.

Then—

He teleported again.

They were gone.

To be continued...

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Chapter 5: 4) Is Subaru alive?

Summary:

Is Subaru alive?

...

{3rd Pov}

Was Natsuki Subaru truly alive?

Emilia felt a bitter pang of betrayal surge through her chest, her thoughts churning in a whirlpool of confusion and guilt.

After everything he had said—after all his endless ramblings, all his emotional confessions where he declared his love for her and insisted that everything he had done was for her sake—how could this be possible?

She had believed him. She wanted to believe him.

And yet, here she stood, with what should have been his lifeless body at her feet, hearing Reinhardt's voice echo in her mind, claiming Subaru was still alive.

She had a hard time accepting it.

Her eyes were fixed on his pale, motionless face, yet doubts gnawed at her heart. Subaru was the Sin Archbishop of Pride, after all.

The Witch Cult's Cardinals had always been known to possess unnatural powers—abilities twisted by the blessing of the Witch. It wouldn't be too far-fetched to believe he had some method of faking death.

"Maybe it was all part of his plan from the beginning," Puck muttered beside her, his voice tinged with cynicism.

"Perhaps he just wanted to pretend to be dead, to make sure you didn't question how someone capable of burning down the entire Capital could simply die that easily."

Emilia exhaled deeply, her breath visible in the cold air conjured by her own magic. "Puck… Sir Reinhardt has gone to find him. But the Capital is still burning. We can't just stand around. We need to help. We have to save everyone we can."

With a quiet nod, Puck complied.

Together, they encased Subaru's corpse in thick ice, preserving it, before covering it carefully with tattered cloth salvaged from the debris of ruined shops.

Emilia then turned her attention to the flames engulfing the city. Her heart was heavy, her emotions conflicted, but she couldn't afford to falter—not now.

She raised her arms and began conjuring waves of ice and flurries of snowflakes, using her magic to suppress the inferno consuming the Capital.

This time, she wasn't wearing her usual robe or cloak—her identity as the half-elf royal candidate was laid bare for all to see.

The devastation around her was beyond words. Hundreds of thousands had perished.

The Capital of Lugunica, which once held a population in the millions, now looked like a broken shell of itself.

It didn't matter that, by percentage, the number of deaths was small—these were people, not statistics. Entire families had been reduced to ashes.

Dreams extinguished in the flames.

There was no justification, no rationalization that could erase the loss.

Emilia moved rapidly across the scorched streets, commanding snowstorms and ordering Puck to summon icy winds to quell the blaze. Her relentless efforts didn't go unnoticed. Survivors and even soldiers began turning toward her, watching as she fought to save what remained.

Among them, Marcos—the commander of the Royal Knights—stepped forward. His armor was scuffed, his face dirtied by soot, but he maintained the composure of a soldier.

"Lady Emilia," he greeted, his tone neutral, yet respectful. "I'm glad to see that you are safe."

Emilia turned to him and gave a tired nod. Her reputation had risen significantly in the recent months.

The tale of her bravery, of her role in defeating the Archbishops of Sin—Sloth and Greed—had spread like wildfire.

The people had begun to see her not just as a royal candidate, but as a genuine protector.

Even she didn't fully understand the full extent of those events. When she asked, Puck had explained it was he who had slain both Sloth and Greed.

Roswaal, for his part, had allegedly hired mercenaries to eliminate Witch Cult remnants across the region. It had been a shaky alliance of convenience.

That's why the truth about Roswaal's betrayal had struck her so deeply.

To learn that he had, in reality, been one of the key instigators of the Capital's inferno—and an ally of the very Sin Archbishops they were fighting against—had been a painful blow. Everything she thought she knew about him was a lie.

To prevent widespread panic, Reinhardt had made a decisive choice. He struck Roswaal down, ensuring he would no longer be a threat.

Afterward, he told Emilia to remain silent about the truth. To the public, the official explanation was simple: Roswaal had been killed by the Sin Archbishop of Pride.

That narrative would hold and will become the truth.

But deep in Emilia's heart, she wasn't sure what to believe anymore. The truth was becoming harder and harder to recognize.

And if Subaru was still alive… what did that mean for all of them?

She didn't have the answers yet. But she knew one thing.

She had to keep moving forward, for the people who were still alive. For the ones she could still save.

In the current volatile situation—where Emilia's public image had transformed dramatically and she now stood as the only surviving Royal Candidate—her death would trigger catastrophic political unrest.

Priscilla, once her rival, had already been disqualified from the Royal Selection under the damning accusation of being a Vollachian spy.

That left Emilia not only as the sole hope of Lugunica's throne but also a crucial unifying symbol for the populace amidst the chaos.

This very reality brought a wave of relief across Commander Marcos's face upon confirming she was safe and alive.

"Commander Marcos," Emilia said with a composed yet determined tone, "please begin evacuating the citizens from this district immediately. I will allow Puck to release his true form—if only briefly. The sheer power from it will be enough to extinguish the remaining fires."

"Indeed," Puck added with an air of unshakable confidence, his small form floating above her shoulder.

"Do exactly as my daughter says. And while we're at it, let me share some excellent news. My daughter, Emilia—yes, that Emilia—has personally slain the very perpetrator behind this disaster. The one responsible for setting Lugunica ablaze, the murderer of Royal Candidates Felt and Anastasia... the Sin Archbishop of Pride!"

The declaration was like a magical shockwave. Everyone present—Royal Guards, knights, mages, even the dazed commoners—froze, wide-eyed and speechless for several seconds before chaos turned into celebration.

"W-Wait... is that true?!"

"She actually killed the Sin Archbishop of Pride?!"

"Praise the spirits! Lady Emilia is a true Archbishop Slayer!"

"I knew it! She's not a witch, she's the Anti-Witch! She probably dressed like one on purpose to lure those cult bastards out!"

The crowd began to rally, awe and admiration sparking in their eyes. Some knelt. Others cried tears of hope. Even the remaining knights who had been hesitant to obey a half-elf a day ago now stared with newfound reverence.

Emilia was taken aback by the sheer intensity of their response. She was about to speak up, to clarify the situation and perhaps temper their enthusiasm a little, when she received a telepathic message from Puck.

'Emilia, let it go. Let them believe it. You did kill the Sin Archbishop of Pride—even if it was a body double, or some trick. If they find out he might still be alive, their morale will plummet. But if they believe you've slain him, they'll follow you without hesitation. You can save more people this way. You can do more good.'

Emilia's eyes widened slightly. 'But… isn't that lying?' she thought, hesitant.

Still, she couldn't ignore the logic in his words. Puck had always been the one guiding her, supporting her. She owed much of her survival and progress to him. He had even slaughtered the Sin Archbishops of Sloth and Greed in her name. Could she really cast doubt on his judgment now?

She slowly nodded. For now, she would accept this role—this façade—for the sake of those in need.

Once Reinhardt returned and confirmed the true status of the Sin Archbishop, they could deal with the consequences. But right now, this belief in her might be the difference between life and death for thousands.

And so, the flames in the Capital were met with an icy resolve. Emilia gained the unwavering support of the public—knights, mages, nobles, and civilians alike. Her legend grew that day.

At the cost of becoming a puppet.

...

{3rd Pov}

Ram lay trapped beneath a heavy pile of collapsed rubble, her body pinned down, motionless. The weight pressing on her chest made it hard to breathe.

Dust filled the air, and her lungs burned as she coughed again and again, blood coating her lips.

Her skin was badly burned in several places—blackened, blistered, and torn.

Multiple wounds covered her body, some of them deep enough to show bone, and she was bleeding so much it was becoming difficult to remain conscious.

But even in that condition—broken, crushed, and dying—Ram had no intention of calling out for help. She had no interest in being saved.

In fact, a part of her welcomed the idea of dying right there, in pain and in silence. At least it would finally end.

Two years ago, things were different—completely different. Her life, although far from perfect, had been something she had quietly come to cherish.

She worked as a maid in the Roswaal mansion alongside her younger twin sister, Rem.

Despite having lost her horn—a core part of her Oni identity—and despite being the only survivor of her tribe, Ram had come to accept that life had given her another chance.

Even if her past was tragic, even if she was serving under a master who was eccentric, manipulative, and terrifying at times, she had carved out a sense of peace for herself.

Roswaal was a lot of things, most of them terrible, but he had given her a place to stay, a role to fulfill, and more importantly, he allowed her to stay by Rem's side.

Those quiet, ordinary days with her sister—working, cooking, scolding her, teasing her, laughing with her—those were the best days of Ram's life. The happiest she had ever been.

But that life came to an end in a single, irreversible moment.

One day, out of nowhere, Rem collapsed.

Her breathing stopped.

Her body went cold.

Panic took over, and they rushed to find out what had happened. But it was already too late. The cause was a curse, a fatal one. There was no time to even attempt saving her.

Ram could still remember every second of that day—the moment she realized her sister wasn't going to wake up again, the sound of her own screams, the way her legs gave out underneath her.

She cried endlessly, clutching Rem's hand even as it grew cold and lifeless.

She begged Roswaal to do something. She pleaded with Beatrice, who possessed powerful magic, to find a way to bring her back. But no matter how much she screamed or how hard she cried, the answer was always the same.

There was nothing that could be done.

Ram had to watch as the only family she had, the only person in the world who made her feel human again, died in front of her.

She watched Rem's body wither away into something unrecognizable before she finally buried her in the forest behind the mansion, tears falling silently as she placed dirt over the grave.

The grief did not go away. It lingered for days, then weeks. For a long time, she did nothing. She stayed in her room, her eyes red and swollen.

She couldn't eat. She couldn't sleep. And even when she did, she only saw Rem in her dreams. But eventually, grief turned into something darker.

It turned into anger.

Ram stormed into Roswaal's chambers and demanded answers. She accused him, shouted at him, grabbed him by the collar, and screamed until her voice gave out. Did he know? Had he seen this coming? Had he allowed it to happen for the sake of his plan?

Roswaal didn't deny it. He didn't shout back, didn't threaten her. He just looked at her with that same calm, cold stare and spoke the truth in that irritatingly casual tone of his.

"In fact, this is beyond even me," he said. "If you're looking for someone to blame, then perhaps you should blame Emilia. And maybe you should blame yourself. Rem would still be alive if things had gone according to my plan. Someone should have returned with you two that day. If you had only done your part and stayed with Emilia, this could have been avoided."

Those words shattered something inside Ram.

She had always known Roswaal was manipulative and untrustworthy. But he had never lied to her. Even when she began to suspect his true intentions, it was he who confirmed them.

He confessed his goal of reviving Echidna, his so-called "Sensei," and admitted he was pulling strings behind the scenes to manipulate events toward that outcome.

She didn't approve, but she stayed quiet, hoping for a way to sabotage his plans without direct confrontation.

She remembered that day at the capital, how she had deliberately separated herself from Emilia. She had hoped that even a small disruption would derail Roswaal's manipulations.

That maybe, just maybe, if things didn't go as he expected, he would reconsider the lengths he was willing to go to. She hadn't thought the consequences would be this severe.

And now, she couldn't escape the guilt.

She began to believe that Rem had died because of her own selfishness. Because she had refused to follow orders.

Because she had wanted to defy Roswaal, even in a small, subtle way.

She thought she had been doing the right thing.

She thought she was making a moral choice. But in the end, that moral high ground meant nothing.

Her sister was gone.

She blamed herself. Fully. Completely.

It was her fault.

All of it.

Because she was self-righteous.

Because she believed her own judgment was always correct.

Because of her sloth—her refusal to act decisively—Rem died.

After that, the rage she once felt disappeared. It burned out completely, leaving behind nothing but emptiness.

Ram was no longer the strong-willed, sarcastic maid who teased others, who protected her sister, who defied her master with quiet resistance. That version of Ram died along with Rem.

What remained was a hollow shell of who she used to be.

From then on, she stopped resisting Roswaal.

There was no point anymore.

Her days became a blur of orders, missions, and blood. If Roswaal asked her to poison someone, she did it without hesitation.

If he ordered her to assassinate a threat, she obeyed without question. Whatever task he gave, no matter how dark or unethical, she carried it out with robotic efficiency.

And when Roswaal finally asked her to help set fire to the capital—something she would have once stood against without a second thought—she didn't flinch. She didn't argue. She did it.

Because none of it mattered anymore.

Nothing mattered.

Rem was gone.

And as far as Ram was concerned, she should have died with her.

The only reason Ram continued to live after everything that had happened was because of Roswaal.

After losing her sister, Rem, she had developed a deeply unhealthy, twisted sense of dependence on him. It wasn't loyalty, not in the traditional sense.

It wasn't admiration or faith either.

It was the result of losing everything else that had ever mattered to her.

Roswaal was the only person left who gave her a purpose—no matter how dark, misguided, or morally wrong that purpose was.

And over time, that dependence grew worse.

Much worse.

Especially after Rem died.

So, when Roswaal told her that he needed her to assist him in setting the Royal Capital on fire, she didn't hesitate.

She didn't argue.

She didn't even question the order.

She simply obeyed.

Like she had been doing for so long now.

Everyone believed that Subaru Natsuki, the so-called Sin Archbishop of Pride, was the one who burned down most of the capital.

And it was true—he did play a major role in the destruction.

He had unleashed flames so massive they engulfed entire districts.

But what people didn't know, what they never suspected, was that it would have been impossible for even a powerful quasi fire-spirit to cause that much destruction on its own.

That was where Ram came in.

Before the fire, she had been ordered to distribute strange and dangerous materials throughout the city—things she only barely understood.

Gunpowder.

Flammable oil.

Even powdered wheat dust.

She spread them around marketplaces, warehouses, storage units, back alleys, and rooftops, all according to detailed instructions Roswaal had given her.

At the time, she didn't fully understand what the combination of those materials would cause. She knew they were flammable, of course.

She wasn't a fool. But she didn't anticipate the scale. She didn't realize how quickly the fire would spread. She didn't comprehend just how many people would die because of it.

That is, until it actually happened.

When the flames broke out, they didn't spread slowly—they erupted. Explosions tore through buildings. Fire rained from windows and roofs.

Entire streets were reduced to ash within minutes. People ran screaming. Families were separated. Children cried out for their parents.

The city that had once bustled with life became a hellscape of burning wood, smoke, and death.

Ram stood there, watching the destruction she had unknowingly set in motion. It was only then, seeing people die—burned alive, crushed by debris, or trampled in the chaos—that she truly realized the magnitude of the crime she had committed.

Panic took hold of her.

Her mind, which had gone numb for so long, was suddenly flooded with regret and horror. She had told herself all this time that she was doing it for justice.

That she was following Roswaal's plans because he promised that, in the end, it would lead to the downfall of the Witch Cult—the people responsible for so many tragedies.

He had assured her that these sacrifices were necessary. That by helping him now, she was preventing even greater horrors from happening in the future.

He made it sound like this was a noble mission. A painful path toward salvation.

But now, with bodies lying in the streets and smoke covering the sky, those promises felt hollow.

She rushed through the burning streets, coughing and stumbling as ash filled her lungs. She looked for Roswaal. She had to find him. She needed him to explain. To justify it.

To tell her what she was supposed to do next.

She needed him to take responsibility.

Or maybe she just needed him to say something—anything—that would make it all feel less pointless.

But when she finally found his location, she was too late.

Roswaal was dead.

A Royal Knight, one of the few who had managed to survive the initial wave of destruction, informed her that Roswaal had been killed.

Murdered by none other than the Sin Archbishop of Pride—Subaru Natsuki.

The very same person who had caused the fire.

The one whose name was now being whispered across the kingdom in fear and hatred.

This Sin Archbishop had become far too active in recent weeks. Reports said he had gone on a rampage, targeting the Royal Candidates directly.

He had murdered Anastasia Hoshin. He had killed Julius Juukulius.

And even more shockingly, he had slain Felt—who was under the direct protection of Reinhardt van Astrea, the Sword Saint himself.

That particular act sent shockwaves through the kingdom. No one had dared harm someone guarded by Reinhardt.

Yet this Sin Archbishop of Pride had managed to do it, and in doing so, had severely tarnished the Sword Saint's reputation. Rumors and speculation grew out of control. How powerful was this man, really? How far was he willing to go?

Combined with a series of other horrific deeds—including mass slaughter, destruction of villages, and mysterious disappearances—Subaru's infamy soared.

He became more feared and hated than the Sin Archbishops of Sloth and Greed ever were. And both of those Archbishops had already been killed—slaughtered by Puck, the Great Spirit of Fire.

(A/N: Lmao, killed by Puck my ass!)

Yet Subaru's legend surpassed even theirs.

Despite all that, in Ram's mind, her actions weren't entirely unjustified. Or at least, that's what she kept telling herself.

Roswaal had insisted that everything they were doing was to bring down the Witch Cult.

That their plan, no matter how twisted or cruel, would result in its destruction. And if that was true, then wasn't it worth it? Wasn't it worth the bloodshed if it meant Rem's death would be avenged?

That was the thought she clung to.

Layer after layer of justifications, excuses, and rationalizations stacked on top of each other, all to protect the one fragile idea she had left: that her suffering, and more importantly, Rem's suffering, wasn't in vain.

But now Roswaal was gone.

And with his death, her only reason to keep living disappeared with him.

Still, she couldn't allow herself to just give up—not yet.

Not completely.

Not when so many people were suffering because of what she had done. Maybe, if she couldn't undo her actions, she could at least try to make some amends.

Maybe she could save a few lives. Even if it didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Even if she would still die a criminal in the eyes of the world. She needed to do something. Anything.

So Ram began pulling people out of the rubble. She searched for the injured, the unconscious, and the ones trapped beneath fallen buildings.

Her body was already exhausted, burned, and bloodied, but she kept going.

She tore through wreckage, carried bodies through smoke and ash, and led the survivors toward what little safety remained. All the while, the flames raged on.

What she didn't know was that Reinhardt had seen her efforts.

The Sword Saint, witnessing her selfless actions during the chaos, did not associate her with Roswaal's crimes.

To him, she looked like just another one of Roswaal's staff—a maid caught in the destruction, trying to do the right thing.

He saw someone trying to save lives, not take them.

And with his focus fully turned toward the hunt for the Sin Archbishop of Pride, he left her be.

Ram didn't stop. She kept going. Saving who she could. Pulling bodies out of danger.

Until eventually, a burning house collapsed right on top of her. She didn't have the strength to move out of the way. The weight of the structure crushed her body, and she was buried beneath rubble, badly injured and barely conscious.

And as she lay there, fading in and out of awareness, her thoughts drifted back to the memories she had tried so hard to suppress.

She remembered her sister's smile.

She remembered the peaceful days at the mansion.

She remembered the way Roswaal looked at her when he first took her in.

And now, with everything gone—her sister, her master, her purpose—Ram didn't know what to hold on to anymore.

Only the memories remained.

She hated herself.

She hated herself with a deep, overwhelming bitterness that consumed her every thought.

She hated herself for what she had done.

She hated herself for surviving when her sister hadn't.

She hated herself for the terrible crimes she had committed, the lives she had destroyed, and the ruin she had helped bring upon the capital.

Her mind kept repeating the same words, like a broken record stuck in an endless loop: I hate myself.

And yet, despite the self-loathing that burned within her, there was a strange, quiet relief in the thought of what was to come.

"I guess this is a fitting end for me," she whispered to herself, her voice barely audible over the crackling of the dying flames and the creaking of the collapsing rubble.

"Sissy... Rem, we will be united in death soon."

For the first time in over a year, she allowed herself a genuine smile—bitter, broken, but real.

To her, death wasn't something to fear anymore. It was a release. A final rest from the pain, the guilt, and the endless suffering.

She closed her eyes, waiting for that release to come.

But just as she was about to slip away, fate—or perhaps something else—had other plans.

"Found her!"

The sharp, determined voices of several people cut through the oppressive silence around her.

Suddenly, strong hands began removing burning debris, chunks of stone, and splintered wood that had trapped her beneath the wreckage.

Her eyelids fluttered open, and she weakly turned her head to see who was pulling her from the brink of death.

Her brows twitched involuntarily at the sight of her rescuers.

They were Royal Knights—dressed in shining armor, standing tall and proud as if they had just saved a helpless damsel in distress from certain doom.

"Is she still alive?" a voice asked from behind the leading knight.

The man at the forefront knelt beside her, inspecting the charred skin, the bleeding wounds, and the ragged breaths escaping her lips.

"Miss! Miss! Can you hear me? Please respond!" the knight urged, his voice thick with concern and urgency.

Ram opened her eyes just enough to cast him a look filled with nothing but pure annoyance.

'Can't he just leave me alone?' she thought bitterly.

But the knight didn't back down.

"Do not worry, Miss. Hold on just a little longer. I won't let you die under my watch," he declared with a self-righteous conviction that only made her want to scream.

'I want to die, dammit!' Ram thought furiously, frustration bubbling up inside her like a volcano ready to erupt.

Despite her resistance, the knight gently pulled her free from the burning rubble and carried her away from the deadly wreckage.

He set her down carefully on a patch of scorched earth, far enough from the flames to be safe for the moment.

Ram coughed violently, struggling to draw deep breaths as she tried to regain a shred of strength.

Her whole body trembled uncontrollably, but somehow, she forced herself to stand up.

As she wobbled to her feet, she looked up at the man who had insisted on saving her—her unwanted savior.

He was a Royal Knight, tall and handsome, his polished armor gleaming even in the smoke-filled air.

He approached her with a confident stride, a wide, flawless smile spreading across his face, revealing shining white teeth.

"Miss, I know you are very grateful to me," he said cheerfully, as if expecting a heartfelt "thank you" in return.

'No, I'm not,' she thought immediately, her annoyance growing.

"But please, save your gratitude," he continued with a teasing wink. "I'm aware I am quite handsome—and a very desirable bachelor in these parts."

'How shameless can you be?' Ram thought, eyes narrowing in disgust.

"For now, I am Jack," he said, puffing out his chest just a little. "One of the Proud Royal Knights, currently on a mission to save as many people as possible. Please, Miss, follow the others to the healing area. You can thank me later."

Ram's eyebrows twitched with irritation as she snapped, "No, Sir Jack! I must give you the reward you deserve!"

The moment she said that, Jack's eyes lit up. A blush crept over his cheeks, and he gave her a hopeful smile.

"Ah, then I will graciously accept your gratitude," he said, his voice filled with excitement and expectation.

'Yes! Yes! She's exactly my type—cute, strong, and hot!' he thought to himself, beaming with pride.

Ram stepped closer to him, and Jack, closing his eyes in anticipation, leaned forward, expecting a kiss of thanks.

Instead, he suddenly felt a sharp strike against his jaw.

He staggered back, completely bewildered, and fell onto the ground.

He looked up in shock, only to see Ram panting heavily, her glare colder and fiercer than he had ever imagined.

"Die, you filth," she spat before collapsing unconscious.

The other Royal Knights stood around silently for a moment, stunned by the scene.

Then, one of them burst into laughter, unable to hold back.

"Hahaha! To think he actually believed she'd kiss him!"

Jack jumped up, rubbing his jaw and protesting, "Hey! Hey! Why did she punch me? Didn't I save her?"

The laughter died down quickly as the others realized the seriousness of the situation.

"She might not have been thinking clearly, Sir Knight," a nearby commoner said cautiously. "Near-death experiences can cause confusion and irrational behavior."

"Please don't be angry with her," another commoner added, unaware of just how true her words were. Ram meant every insult she had thrown at Jack.

Jack nodded slowly, trying to save face. "Yes, that might be the case. Whatever the reason, take her to the refugee camp immediately. Also, inform her about what she's done… so she can apologize," he added with a knowing smirk.

Several knights snickered at his words.

They all understood what Jack really meant by "apologize."

He wasn't talking about a simple "thank you." No, he was hoping for something far more intimate—and shamelessly expected Ram to return his advances.

But none of them had any idea what Ram was about to become.

By the time they would meet again, she wouldn't be the broken, bitter maid they thought they knew.

She would be changed—in her personality, in her power, and in her position.

And when that day came, none of their arrogant smiles or crude jokes would matter anymore.

To be continued...https://discord.gg/QrMKheMy

Notes:

I hope you liked this chapter, btw check out the main fic. Re Zero: The Great Sage! It will give you an explanation of what's happening, also if you want advance chaps and wanna support me, you can join the discord! https://discord.gg/QrMKheMy, also I have given the link above as well, see if that works or otherwise just use the code!

Chapter 6: When I am done with you, not even your ashes will remain

Notes:

Sorry, I deleted this chap by mistake XD, So I am reuploading it

...

{3rd Pov}

How did this happen?

Why did this happen?

Could it have been prevented?

Where was Reina?

Was it my fault?

Subaru's mind was a chaotic mess of swirling questions and painful doubts as he stared at Beatrice—his precious spirit—who, despite still being alive, was not recovering her lower half of the body.

"S-Subaru… Subaru…" Beatrice panted weakly, her breath ragged as Subaru held her close, gently patting her back in a desperate attempt to comfort her.

"I know," Subaru whispered urgently. "You took care of me when I was unconscious, right? You did so well, Betty. You're my little adorable imouto. I'm so lucky to have you as my spirit!"

With a determined expression, Subaru focused his magic, pouring his Authority of Lust into her wounds, trying desperately to heal her injuries.

Aqua was helping him too, lending her own healing power, while Gloria and the other spirits hovered anxiously nearby, their faces marked with worry and fear.

'Why the hell isn't her lower half healing?!' Subaru's thoughts spiraled in frustration. 'My Authority of Lust can resurrect anyone. It can restore them to their peak condition! It healed Ram's lost horn, it restored Echidna's lost soul—so why is it failing me now? Why is it not working on Beatrice?'

His entire body trembled violently as he saw tears welling up in Betty's eyes, tears of agony and helplessness.

"Subaru… it hurts," Beatrice whimpered, her voice breaking. "It hurts so much… I—It's hurting…"

She grasped his clothes tightly, her small, fragile frame pressing closer to him in search of comfort, clinging to him as if he were the only anchor she had left.

Her words, the pain in her voice, shattered Subaru's heart into pieces.

For the very first time since arriving in another world, he felt utterly useless.

Suddenly, a loud sonic boom echoed through the air as Reinhardt charged towards them with terrifying speed and resolve.

Subaru had randomly teleported several kilometers away earlier, but Reinhardt was relentless. His entire being was locked onto one single goal: to judge Subaru, be the jury, and execute him.

There was no hesitation, no mercy.

"Gloria! Hold him back! I'm still healing Beatrice!" Subaru shouted, panic tightening his voice.

Without hesitation, Gloria nodded and silently floated up into the air, positioning herself between Reinhardt and Subaru.

"Die, you mongrel!" Reinhardt bellowed, and suddenly, hundreds of golden orbs materialized in the night sky above.

They morphed swiftly into a variety of weapons—spears, lances, halberds, swords, axes—each shining brilliantly as they were blasted toward Reinhardt at an incredible speed.

Normally, as mere projectiles, these would have been rendered useless against Reinhardt's Divine Protection.

However, because they were made of pure light—essentially Yang Magic given physical form—and combined with their immense velocity, faster than Reinhardt's natural reaction time, he was forced to slow his charge and carefully defend against the onslaught.

While Gloria kept Reinhardt occupied, Subaru and Aqua worked tirelessly to heal Beatrice, pouring all their power into her.

But it was all in vain.

Even Subaru's Authority of Lust was only keeping Beatrice alive—it was sustaining her, but not truly healing her.

If Subaru stopped using his power, she would begin dying from her injuries immediately.

That meant Beatrice was trapped in a state of constant, unbearable pain, her lower half missing, her body broken and incomplete.

Desperation filled Subaru's mind as he scrambled to think of a way to save her.

'Think, Subaru! Think! Why isn't she healing? Why isn't my power working?'

He refused to accept defeat.

He had to find an answer.

Because if he didn't, Beatrice—his precious spirit sister—would continue to suffer endlessly, and he would lose her forever.

'That man… it has to be Reinhardt,' Subaru thought, narrowing his eyes as his mind frantically analyzed the situation. 

His gaze fell back on Beatrice, still trembling in his arms, her lower half missing—an agonizing sight that made his stomach churn with helpless rage.

'This can't be explained by normal means. Her injuries aren't healing. Not even the Authority of Lust is working properly, and that's supposed to override everything, including death itself. Even Divine Protections… So why is it failing now?'

Subaru clenched his jaw tightly, trying to suppress the overwhelming frustration boiling within him. The gears in his mind kept turning, frantically trying to piece everything together.

'It must be more than just the Divine Protection of Death,' he continued thinking, pushing himself to consider deeper mechanics. 'That Divine Protection alone wouldn't be enough. The Authority of Lust should cancel out its effects, especially when I'm directly channeling it. So what else is in play?'

He dug deeper into his knowledge, the puzzle slowly coming together in the midst of chaos.

'Reid… that damn sword, he must have attacked her with that! It's said to be capable of severing anything—regardless of its nature. Not just flesh or magic—but even abstract concepts. If that's true, then it didn't just injure Beatrice… it must've done something far worse.'

A grim realization dawned on him.

'It didn't just destroy her lower half… it erased the concept of her lower body's connection to the rest of her being. It's not about healing flesh anymore. That connection—spiritual, physical, conceptual—it's been severed at the root. It's like she's been rewritten to be incomplete.'

His eyes widened slightly, but the sound of Beatrice sobbing snapped him out of his thoughts like a slap across the face. Her whimpering, her fragile voice whispering how much it hurt… it pierced his chest like a dagger.

She wasn't just injured.

She was suffering in a way she couldn't understand—and worse, a way he couldn't immediately fix.

Her body shivered against him, her small hands clinging to his shirt as if it were the only thing tethering her to the world. Her eyes were swollen with tears, her lips trembling.

"Subaru…" she whimpered again, her voice barely audible.

The pain in her tone made Subaru's fists clench until his nails dug into his palms. Rage bubbled inside him, but it was mixed with helplessness, guilt, and desperation.

'I won't let it end like this. I won't let her suffer another second more. There has to be a way to bring her back—to fix what that sword destroyed.'

He needed to try something different, and quickly.

Without hesitation, Subaru stopped using his healing magic. Instead, he shifted focus, drawing on his own Aura—his life force energy.

A brilliant, rainbow-colored aura began to envelop both himself and Beatrice, shimmering and glowing warmly in the dim surroundings.

Using this energy in tandem with Capella's Authority of Lust, Subaru began to recreate a new lower half for Beatrice.

"Arghhh!" Beatrice gritted her teeth, the pain evident on her face as the new lower half slowly took shape, and even the clothes she wore started to form again around her body.

"Betty… please, bear with the pain," Subaru said gently, stroking her hair with the palm of his hand, trying to soothe her as best he could.

Within just half a minute, the transformation was complete. Beatrice's lower half was fully restored, healed as if nothing had happened.

She took a deep, shuddering breath and panted heavily before whispering, "It doesn't hurt anymore."

Relief flooded Subaru's heart, and at last, he allowed himself to relax. He leaned down and kissed her softly on the forehead.

"I—I thought I was going to die," Beatrice murmured, pressing her face against his cheek in gratitude and exhaustion.

"Don't worry," Subaru reassured her firmly. "As long as I'm here, I won't let even death take you from me."

He glanced over at Gloria, who was still struggling to hold back Reinhardt's relentless assault.

"Betty, I know you're tired. Sleep inside me for now. I'll get justice for you," Subaru said softly.

Beatrice smiled faintly before converting into her spirit form. She was barely able to keep herself upright, and once anchored to Subaru's spiritual core, she quickly slipped into unconsciousness.

"Gloria! Return!" Subaru ordered his Yang Spirit. Gloria immediately withdrew, returning to his side. She exhaled deeply, relieved to see that Beatrice had been healed and was now safely resting within Subaru's spiritual anchor for the spirits.

"Father, be careful," Gloria warned. "That man is definitely the Sword Saint. While the mana vacuum he forms is weaker than Reina's, he is still a force to be reckoned with."

Subaru had already understood this fact. Reinhardt had stopped just a few feet in front of them, his expression cold and calculating.

"You are indeed a Great Spirit of Yang," Reinhardt said, his voice laced with disdain. "It's quite regrettable, though, that you are contracted to someone like him."

"You can't even compare to the dust on my father's shoes," Gloria shot back indignantly. "And that says a lot about you, considering that even this concubine treats you like dirt—despite your title as the Sword Saint."

Part of Subaru wanted to know why Reinhardt was wasting time talking instead of attacking them immediately, like some third-rate villain dragging out a dramatic monologue.

But Subaru forced himself to stay calm and focused. He would use this opportunity to gather information from Reinhardt, however he could.

"You're the one who hurt Beatrice," Subaru said flatly, keeping his voice steady and neutral.

Reinhardt met his gaze and replied coldly, "Yes. She tried to stop me from apprehending a criminal, and I had no choice but to execute her."

Subaru's brow furrowed. "May I ask what crimes I'm supposed to have committed?"

Reinhardt's expression darkened into a frown. "I don't know what game you're playing. Perhaps this body you inhabit doesn't retain any memories? Is that part of your abilities?"

Subaru's attention sharpened at the way Reinhardt spoke to him, as if this was not his original body but some kind of secondary vessel—something detached and not entirely himself.

With the capital engulfed in flames behind him, and Reinhardt glaring at him with unyielding hatred, it was quite easy for Subaru to figure out exactly which timeline he was trapped in. The signs were all too clear.

"What happened to the other Natsuki Subaru?" Subaru asked, eyes fixed on Reinhardt's cold expression.

Reinhardt answered without hesitation, his voice low but firm. "He died at the hands of Lady Emilia. I suppose that's to be expected, given that she has already killed the Sin Archbishops of Sloth and Greed before."

Subaru's mind raced as he processed this information. 'It's definitely the timeline involving Pride—or at least a very similar one,' he concluded instantly.

Trying to gauge Reinhardt's next move, Subaru teased, "You're being surprisingly talkative for someone who clearly hates me. Judging by the way you're staring, I'm still wondering—why aren't you attacking me yet?"

Reinhardt's response was calm but filled with lethal intent. "Indeed, I want nothing more than to kill you, and I have no qualms about it. However, a part of me wants to see you judged publicly, held accountable for your crimes before everyone."

In that moment, Subaru finally understood why Reinhardt was behaving the way he was. First, he wanted to capture Subaru alive. And second—he was dangerously confident.

Reinhardt was the strongest man in the world. Even he knew the extent of his own strength. The Reinhardt standing before Subaru now was prepared to unleash all of his abilities if the situation demanded it.

No wonder he was so certain of his victory.

Knowing the reasons behind Reinhardt's attitude, Subaru couldn't help but think to himself, 'That is actually very stupid… Such arrogance usually belongs to characters on the verge of being humbled by reality.'

Deciding to push things further, Subaru said, "Very well. Before you make your move to capture me or deliver your version of justice, there is one last thing I want to ask. I know Beatrice—Betty—would have tried to speak with you, and seeing as you're willing to listen to me, I assumed you gave her a chance to explain herself as well?"

Reinhardt nodded slightly. "Indeed, she did. She shared the absurd story about how you two come from a different timeline, and how my 'female' version is deeply in love with you and serves you loyally."

Subaru's neutral expression faltered, crumbling momentarily. "Then why?" he demanded, voice tinged with frustration. "Why did you attack us? Why hurt her? I know you have Divine Protection that distinguishes lies from truth."

Reinhardt pointed his sword deliberately at Subaru, his eyes sharp. "You have deceived me many times before. You have escaped my grasp repeatedly and even exploited the weaknesses in my Divine Protection to assassinate Lady Felt, whom I serve. Why on earth should I trust someone connected to you?"

Subaru chuckled darkly before fixing Reinhardt with an intense glare. "If what Beatrice said is true, it would mean there are two Beatrices in this world. Visiting Roswaal's mansion would have cleared up the truth for you—unless you simply didn't think to do that."

Reinhardt shrugged slightly, his voice calm but dismissive. "Even if there are two Lady Beatrices, it could very well be another one of your abilities. Perhaps the one at the mansion is just a fake."

"And what makes you think I'm not the fake one?" Subaru shot back with biting sarcasm. "I could be a clone too, for all you know. After all, I'm pretty sure you noticed I don't have the madness of the original Natsuki Subaru you encountered before."

A slow, confident smile spread across Reinhardt's face as he held his Dragon Sword carefully in his palm. "It's very simple. My Dragon Sword remains unsheathed, and it recognizes you as a worthy target. When I encountered that clone of yours earlier, it gave no such response. Therefore, it means you are the real Natsuki Subaru."

Subaru's laughter bubbled up uncontrollably, his expression shifting rapidly between amusement and scorn.

Then, his gaze hardened as he looked directly at Reinhardt. "Your hatred blinds you, Reinhardt. To be honest, I was just trying to extract information from you. Why you attacked me or hurt my Beatrice doesn't matter. What matters is that you nearly killed my Betty, and you made her cry."

Without hesitation, Subaru sent a telepathic command to Gloria. "Gloria, get inside me."

The Yang Spirit immediately obeyed, retreating and merging with Subaru's spiritual core.

Subaru's expression turned icy cold. "When I'm done with you… not even your ashes will remain."

"Since you're unwilling to surrender yourself peacefully," Reinhardt stated in a cold, resolute tone as he slowly raised his sword, "I will carry out your execution for the crimes you've committed."

Just as Reinhardt prepared to take his stance—gripping the hilt of the Dragon Sword Reid with lethal intent—a deafening boom exploded through the air.

In an instant, Subaru vanished from his original position.

He had accelerated to Mach 50 without warning, his figure tearing through space like a living missile. His speed had been drastically amplified using a combination of advanced magic reinforcement, condensed Aura, and focused KI.

His entire body was enveloped in a radiant aura—a brilliant mixture of blue and rainbow hues—creating a shimmering afterimage behind him.

From Subaru's perspective, the world slowed to a crawl. Time seemed to bend under the force of his movement.

The winds howled around him as reality distorted under his speed.

The cobbled tiles of the street beneath his feet split apart, unable to withstand the immense force of his sudden takeoff.

The resulting shockwave burst out behind him, displacing air violently and cracking the ground with thunderous force.

Buildings near the impact zone trembled, windows shattered, and dust erupted like a mini explosion.

Reinhardt—the Sword Saint, often hailed as the pinnacle of human combat power—had no time to react.

At best, his reaction speed could match Mach 15, which in this case was woefully inadequate. All he could do was instinctively widen his eyes in shock and barely begin shifting his stance before Subaru was already in front of him, fists clenched with focused fury.

Subaru's punch connected—full force—against Reinhardt's chest.

The impact was devastating.

First came the crack—the shattering of Reinhardt's ribs under the incredible pressure of the blow. The shockwave from the punch alone rippled through his chest cavity.

Then, with a burst of unnatural strength, Subaru's fist pierced through his ribcage, obliterating Reinhardt's heart in an instant.

Blood sprayed out in slow motion, the vibrant red contrasting sharply against the night sky. Subaru's hand tore through his back, shredding Reinhardt's coat and flesh as it exited violently from behind.

A brief moment passed.

Then Reinhardt's body was launched skyward like a ragdoll struck by a meteor. The sheer kinetic force of Subaru's punch sent him hurtling into the air, spinning and flailing uncontrollably.

In mere seconds, he was nearly a thousand meters above ground, with his altitude still rising. Trails of blood followed him in a spiraling arc.

Subaru didn't let him go.

With a single, explosive leap—powerful enough to obliterate the surrounding houses and cause the ground to tremble like a localized earthquake—Subaru followed after him. The earth beneath his feet cracked, and shockwaves rippled out in every direction as debris scattered.

By the time Reinhardt's brain even had a chance to register the pain of having his heart destroyed, Subaru had already appeared above him in midair, like a god of wrath descending upon a heretic.

Subaru's body blazed with raw energy. His blue aura shimmered brighter than ever, and his arms were supercharged with layers of magical and physical reinforcement. He brought down his fists with a relentless barrage—dozens of punches per second—each one striking with lethal accuracy.

Every blow ripped into Reinhardt's body.

Bones shattered. Muscle tore. Skin split open under the brutal onslaught. With each impact, chunks of Reinhardt's flesh and pulverized organs were flung outward at hypersonic speed, scattering through the sky and raining down over the distant treeline of the forest outside the capital.

Finally, Reinhardt's limp, mutilated body crashed down on a massive boulder far away from the city center. The impact cracked the stone into countless fragments. Blood splattered across the grass and trees. Bits of brain matter and skull fragments lay strewn around him.

Reinhardt van Astrea—the so-called Sword Saint, wielder of the Dragon Sword, the man worshipped as the world's strongest human—was dead.

His Dragon Sword, Reid, had already slipped from his grasp during the midair assault. The legendary blade plummeted elsewhere, its destination unknown, as its wielder's corpse hit the ground like discarded garbage.

Subaru descended shortly after, landing with an earth-shaking crash.

The sheer velocity of his landing carved a crater into the ground, dirt and debris blasted outward from the point of impact.

His momentum caused him to skid several meters forward, his feet gouging deep ruts into the ground.

He came to a halt just over a dozen meters from where Reinhardt's remains lay broken and lifeless.

The battle was over.

Subaru looked at the body—what remained of it, anyway—his eyes narrowing, a complex mix of emotions swirling within him. Confusion. Frustration. Disappointment.

'Why… was he so weak?' Subaru's thoughts were clouded with disbelief. 'That was Reinhardt. That was the Sword Saint. The man who once stood so high above everyone else in the world. So why… did he die that easily?'

He hadn't even gone all out.

In fact, his entire strategy had been built around the assumption that Reinhardt would survive the first blow. His plan had been to strike quickly, throw Reinhardt into the sky, and then finish the battle away from populated areas to avoid civilian casualties.

But instead… Reinhardt had perished within seconds of the fight starting. There hadn't even been a clash. No exchange of blows. No dramatic power struggle. Just… one-sided slaughter.

Reina's physical capabilities had always far surpassed Subaru's, something he had grudgingly accepted early on. Her strength was undeniably greater than his. Her speed outclassed his best efforts. And her durability—that had been nothing short of monstrous.

There was a time when Subaru had landed a direct punch on her, a strike packed with nearly a thousand tons of force, moving at Mach 100, and yet… Reina had taken it like it was nothing more than a light tap on the shoulder.

She didn't even flinch.

No defensive posture.

No recoil.

She simply stood there, brushed the impact off like a speck of dust, and continued the sparring session as if nothing had happened.

He didn't think much of that, since Reina was supposedly strongest in the world.

But Driven by curiosity, he had questioned her afterward—about her blessings, her resistances, her Divine Protections.

It was then that he learned the terrifying truth: Reina had access to numerous high-tier Divine Protections, many of which Reinhardt never possessed.

Not only did she have all of the critical combat-related ones—like the Divine Protection of Unyielding Body, Reflex Acceleration, and Pain Nullification—she also possessed some rare, esoteric ones like the Divine Protection of Internal Reinforcement, Density Control, and even the Divine Protection of Elemental Synchronicity.

That changed everything.

It meant that in the hierarchy of raw potential and combat readiness, Reina wasn't just stronger than Reinhardt—she was in an entirely different league. A different category of threat altogether.

And yet, back then, Subaru had still underestimated the gap between them. He hadn't fully grasped just how overwhelmingly powerful she really was… until now.

Because while he had already gouged Reinhardt was weaker than her, he didn't expect him to be so weak.

Subaru clenched his fists and sent a command to the spirits within him, using his mental link.

'Aqua, Agni, Gaea, Sylphy—stay inside me. Focus solely on stabilizing Beatrice. She's unconscious, and I don't want her condition to worsen. Gloria, I'll call on you if I need your assistance in combat.'

Each of the elemental spirits responded with a pulse of acknowledgment, withdrawing deeper into Subaru's core. A protective barrier of energy pulsed around Beatrice, ensuring she would be safe while Subaru continued the battle.

But he knew better than to celebrate prematurely.

Even though Reinhardt's body was lifeless and torn apart, Subaru remained completely still, his senses hyper-focused. He didn't relax. He didn't let his guard down.

Because it wasn't over.

Not by a long shot.

And just as he expected, the worst-case scenario began unfolding right before his eyes.

Reinhardt's body—no longer breathing, no longer whole—suddenly began glowing with an eerie orange aura.

The blood, bone, and mangled flesh scattered across the earth began drawing toward a central point, reforming in a grotesque yet precise reconstruction of his once-pristine body.

His wounds vanished one by one. His internal organs regenerated. His skin healed. His iconic red uniform reformed as well, threading together from nothingness like it was woven by invisible hands.

Then, without so much as a gasp or grunt, Reinhardt opened his eyes again.

There was no shock in his expression. No fear. No confusion. He simply blinked and looked around, as if being violently murdered was just a minor inconvenience.

It was almost like he had simply not expected to die—like it was mildly surprising that it had even happened, but nothing worth emotionally reacting to.

Subaru's eyes narrowed sharply.

He understood immediately.

Reinhardt wasn't suppressing his trauma—he wasn't feeling it at all.

It made sense. Subaru recalled a conversation with Reina, where she once mentioned her brief experimentation with the Divine Protection of Apathy—a blessing from OD Laguna that dulled 95% of all negative emotions.

She had received it during a particularly traumatic mission, and for a time, it helped her endure things no human should have to.

However, after some thought—and remembering her grandmother's wisdom—she discarded the Divine Protection.

She had decided it was a poison that slowly killed her humanity. She didn't want to become a hollow, emotionless shell, no matter how useful it was in battle.

Reinhardt, however, must not have discarded it.

That would explain everything—his bizarre indifference to pain, to loss, to trauma.

That calm, righteous demeanor he always had… it wasn't just stoicism.

It was apathy, forced by Divine Protection.

He had traded his humanity for the ability to fight without fear, to experience hellish pain without flinching, to see death—and even resurrection—as something mundane.

"So," Subaru muttered, cracking his knuckles and staring Reinhardt down, "you can resurrect now, huh? That confirms it. You've acquired the Divine Protection of Phoenix Next, maybe even Phoenix Next, Next after using the original one at this point. That's fine. I'll just keep killing you over and over again… until you start begging me to end it."

Without wasting another breath, Subaru shot forward.

Reinhardt instinctively tried to summon his Dragon Sword, Reid, but the call didn't complete in time.

Subaru was already on him, faster than before.

His body moved with precision, cutting through air and sound with a streak of concentrated energy trailing behind him.

The force behind his punch was the same—thousand tons of pressure at high hypersonic velocity—and it slammed directly into Reinhardt's side.

CRACK!

Reinhardt's ribs exploded again, and blood burst from his mouth like a geyser.

His body shot off like a meteor, crashing through rows of trees. He tore through the forest, obliterating trunks like they were made of paper.

Dirt flew in the air. Branches snapped. Rocks shattered.

He finally crashed into a cliffside nearly half a mile away, embedding himself into solid rock.

For the first time, Reinhardt coughed and sputtered blood, his eyes wild and bloodshot. A small twitch ran across his face—perhaps a flicker of pain, or rage, or confusion—but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

Still, Subaru noticed something important.

This time, he hadn't been able to punch through Reinhardt's chest. There had been more resistance than before. It was faint, but it was there.

Reinhardt had gotten stronger.

Subaru's eyes narrowed again. "So… you've got that one too."

He was referring to the Divine Protection of Shedding Blood—a blessing that made the user physically stronger, faster, and more durable the more they bled, the more damage they took. 

Due to the activation of Reinhardt's Divine Protection, which significantly amplified his physical durability in proportion to the severity of his injuries, Subaru found himself unable to punch directly through his chest as he had during their initial clash.

The protective effect drastically hardened Reinhardt's muscles and bones, reinforcing his body against further trauma.

Subaru's fist, which had effortlessly pierced the Sword Saint's heart before, now met a wall of resistance—his knuckles crashed into Reinhardt's ribcage, fracturing several bones, but failing to penetrate.

Yet, even with the Divine Protection working at full capacity—its energy output pushed to the absolute limit in a desperate bid to keep Reinhardt alive—it ultimately proved insufficient..

Already, a fresh sonic boom cracked the air as Subaru's form tore across the sky again, leaving another trail of shattered sound in his wake.

In less than a blink, he was upon Reinhardt once more.

And this time, he didn't punch, instead-

"Inferno!" he roared.

The command activated a joint magical assault. Subaru, together with Agni, channeled an enormous quantity of mana through their gates.

The fusion of their powers resulted in a massive fire-based magic attack.

This wasn't just a high-level spell—it was a blast of flame stronger than AL Goa, more destructive than most battlefield-grade spells, and deadly enough to incinerate armies.

The massive flame exploded outward with a deafening roar, the air itself superheating as the devastating blaze engulfed Reinhardt entirely.

The moment the flames touched him, Reinhardt's body began disintegrating almost immediately.

His skin peeled off and melted into bubbling globs. His muscles, sinew, and internal organs liquefied in seconds.

Even his bones, forged through divine blessings and strengthened by shedding blood, couldn't withstand the pure heat.

They crumbled, blackened, and finally turned into fine ash.

In less than ten seconds, the man known as the Sword Saint had once again been reduced to nothing more than scattered dust particles.

The firestorm didn't stop with him.

The trees caught in its wake combusted violently, burning from the inside out. Entire rows of forest were vaporized.

The heat scorched the earth, leaving a path several hundred meters long in ruins. Soil became cracked and dry, and molten stone pooled into glowing puddles.

The sheer scale of destruction left no doubt—it was a battlefield meant for gods, not mortals.

And yet…

Despite all of that…

The Divine Protection of Phoenix Next, Next activated once again.

Only now, Reinhardt's Divine Protections had gone even further. He had acquired yet another layered resurrection blessing—the Divine Protection of Phoenix Next, Next, Next.

The ashes began swirling, forming an unnatural spiral of flame and wind. A body began reassembling from the nothingness.

Bones materialized first, stacking and fusing together at high speed. Muscles formed next, wrapping around the skeleton like something out of a twisted biological diagram.

Organs pulsed into place. Skin formed a second later, followed by clothing.

His red uniform and armor returned in pristine condition.

Once again, Reinhardt van Astrea was alive.

But Subaru had anticipated this resurrection.

Before Reinhardt could even lift his head, before he could even process the sensation of existing again, Subaru had already acted.

From beneath him, shadow hands exploded out of his back like black serpents. Using the Authority of Sloth—Invisible Providence—Subaru manifested his intangible weapons of shadow and stabbed directly into Reinhardt's chest.

One of the hands crushed Reinhardt's heart instantly, obliterating the newly formed organ before it could even begin pumping blood.

The impact caused his body to jerk violently, his pupils dilating for a brief second before all light faded from them.

He coughed up a mouthful of blood, his body slumping forward, once again lifeless.

But Subaru wasn't finished.

'Gloria. Show him what you're capable of,' Subaru mentally commanded.

At his signal, Gloria appeared in the sky, materializing like a goddess of divine judgment. She hovered mid-air, suspended by pure mana, her expression calm and her aura dangerous.

From behind her, the heavens split open.

Hundreds—no, thousands—of golden weapons, formed entirely of concentrated light, shimmered into existence. They were spears, swords, halberds, lances—each one brimming with lethal magic and reinforced by Gloria's authority over divine energy.

As Reinhardt's body once again glowed—his next resurrection about to complete—the golden weapons launched at him like a rain of death.

In the span of a heartbeat, Reinhardt's resurrecting body was pierced dozens of times over. A lance drove through his abdomen. A sword lodged into his collarbone. A halberd sliced through his thigh. And most horrifically, a long, barbed spear impaled his throat and exited through the top of his skull.

His body resembled a grotesque porcupine, full of radiant weapons, each one continuously burning and disrupting his divine mana flow. He was alive again, yes—but it was far from pleasant.

Even with his Divine Protection of Pain Nullification, which dulled almost all physical pain, Reinhardt's body was still experiencing extreme levels of dysfunction.

His limbs trembled. His eyes were unfocused.

His lungs tried to breathe, but didn't work properly. Even if his nerves didn't scream in agony, his mind was slowly becoming a haze, disconnected from the sensations of his body.

The cognitive dissonance—the pressure of operating in such a state—was pushing even his divine tolerances to the limit.

And Gloria was far from done.

She raised her arm, pointing a single finger skyward.

"Get ready to be pulverized by this concubine's latest invention!" she shouted with a proud smirk.

In an instant, the surrounding mana vanished from the atmosphere.

No—it wasn't gone. It had simply been siphoned, all of it sucked into a vortex around Gloria, flowing into her gate at a speed that would've been impossible for any ordinary magician. Her body glowed red, pulsating with power. And then, at her fingertip, a sphere of condensed red-hot energy formed.

It wasn't nuclear magic—not exactly.

But it was something horrifyingly similar.

A miniature sun.

It glowed so brightly that the night sky turned to day, illuminating the battlefield with blinding light. The heat it emitted immediately began vaporizing nearby vegetation.

Trees turned to ash.

The earth beneath it started to melt, creating a molten crust. Subaru, realizing the sheer danger of what she was about to unleash, had already retreated hundreds of meters back.

Inside the core of this spell, Reinhardt's Divine Protection of Light Disentanglement kicked in—desperately trying to redirect 80% of the incoming Yang-aligned magic damage to other sources.

Dozens of the golden weapons impaling him cracked and shattered, disintegrated by his protection's effect. But it wasn't enough.

"Cruel Sun!" Gloria declared triumphantly.

She hurled the sun downward.

The orb of fire descended like a falling meteor, striking Reinhardt directly.

Everything vanished in a blinding explosion.

There was no scream. No sound.

Just white.

And then—

Darkness.

Reinhardt's body was gone. Not a single cell remained. There were no bones, no blood, not even ash. He had been utterly obliterated, erased by the overwhelming solar magic.

When the light finally faded, Subaru approached the epicenter of the blast.

The land was devastated. Scorched black. Trees had been atomized. Stones had melted into pools of glowing red lava. It was a hellscape, a battlefield that would remain barren for decades, if not centuries.

Gloria appeared beside him, her body shimmering with the last remnants of her spell's energy.

"That mongrel…" she said, scoffing while placing her hand on her hip. "Surely, surely, there's no way he can regenerate now, right? His body's been turned into subatomic particles. Pulverized. Obliterated. There's no flesh. No magic residue. No anchor for the soul. That should be it."

She smiled—confident. Satisfied.

But her smile didn't last.

Because just as she finished speaking, flames—holy, searing, glowing red-orange flames—appeared out of nowhere, twisting and dancing in the air like they had a mind of their own.

The flames started condensing.

Bones began forming again.

Then organs.

Then muscle.

Then flesh.

Reinhardt was coming back. Again.

Her eyebrows twitched with frustration as she clenched her fists.'If only I had a weapon… something that could erase an opponent's existence entirely. Not kill them. Erase them.'

The thought lingered in her mind like a curse. However, before she could dwell on it further, Subaru gently raised a hand and placed it on her head.

"Gloria, that's enough for now. Rest inside my soul space," he said with firm resolve, his expression calm yet serious. "I'll handle what's next."

Gloria blinked, hesitating for just a moment, before nodding in acknowledgment. Without another word, her body dematerialized into glowing particles, retreating into the depths of Subaru's soul space.

Now left alone to face the monstrosity that refused to die, Subaru exhaled and raised his hand slowly.

In that moment, hundreds of invisible floating hands materialized around him—like a ghostly army awaiting his command.

These were not his own Invisible Providence hands, which allowed him to phase through matter.

Instead, these were derived from Sekhmet's Authority of Sloth—an ability he had copied and adapted and served to him on a silver platter.

Unlike the Shadow Hands which he could only summon in limited numbers and exerted two to three tons of force, these Shadow Palms—as he named them—were vastly superior in raw power even if they couldn't phase through the matter.

Each individual palm had the strength to exert seven tons of crushing force, and with nearly a thousand of them floating around him, the air grew heavy under their collective presence.

As Reinhardt's body began to reconstitute once more—flames forming organs, bones solidifying again, clothes reappearing like a cruel reset—Subaru acted instantly.

He accelerated forward, his foot launching him off the cracked ground, and punched Reinhardt mid-materialization, not giving him the chance to stabilize his form.

The blow hit with such overwhelming force that Reinhardt was hurled into the sky like a rocket, his incomplete body trailing particles of light and blood behind him.

Within seconds, the two of them were hundreds of meters above ground. Subaru, not waiting for momentum to drop, followed immediately, kicking off the air using precise bursts of mana propulsion and reached Reinhardt mid-air.

Then it began.

The Shadow Palms around Subaru swarmed like a coordinated hive. They converged on Reinhardt from all sides, moving with brutal precision. One palm crushed a shoulder joint. Another bent a knee in the opposite direction. Two more seized his arms and twisted them until the bones split.

Crunch. Snap. Tear.

Every limb of Reinhardt's body was being twisted, crushed, folded into impossible angles. His ribs caved in, blood sprayed from his mouth as multiple palms punched straight into his torso. Several wrapped around his skull, compressing it slowly, gradually grinding it down. Despite his strength, he was being overwhelmed, contained, and compacted.

Reinhardt's figure, once powerful and noble, was being condensed into a gruesome mass no larger than a football. A grotesque, pulsing sphere of broken bones, shattered organs, blood, and crushed meat floated in the air—held together entirely by Subaru's brutal force and willpower.

Reinhardt, for the first time, felt something alien to his existence—helplessness.

And that was when OD Laguna, the divine regulatory mechanism of the world, finally deemed the situation critical.

[Divine Protection of Divine Might has been acquired!]

[Divine Protection of Godspeed has been acquired!]

[Divine Protection of Invincibility has been acquired!]

A series of world-shaking notifications echoed through the ley-lines of existence, and Subaru instantly felt it. The atmosphere changed. The mana in the air trembled as if in fear.

From within the crushed sphere, light erupted.

Reinhardt resurrected. Again.

But this time, it was different. The power emanating from him was no longer simply immense—it was godlike. His new Divine Protections acted as multipliers to everything: his strength, speed, durability, awareness, regeneration.

In mere seconds, his body not only reformed, but shattered the grip of the shadow palms with an explosive pulse of energy.

BOOM!

Every one of Subaru's shadow palms was blown apart in a violent burst of air and force. Reinhardt hovered mid-air, orange flames flickering across his body, and for the first time, his calm demeanor was gone.

His eyes burned with unfiltered hatred as he locked onto Subaru, no longer viewing him as an enemy to be judged—but a monster to be annihilated.

They were both suspended in mid-air. Subaru, using telekinetically-enhanced flight via Psychic power.

Reinhardt, calmly walking on the air itself, supported by yet another Divine Protection he possessed.

The moment hung in silence—and then it broke.

Subaru launched forward again, this time faster, stronger, more focused. He was using not just magic, but Ki and Aura in perfect synergy, weaving reinforcement spells into his body's core. The result?

A punch carrying a force equivalent to five thousand tons crashed into Reinhardt's chest.

But this time, Reinhardt didn't get blown away.

Instead—he caught Subaru's punch.

His hand gripped Subaru's wrist tightly, the impact shockwave rippling out, shattering nearby clouds and splitting the sky with an ear-splitting sonic boom.

And then… something unexpected happened.

Reinhardt's triumphant expression twisted.

His eyes widened.

His entire body… began to crack.

It started from his shoulders, then spread through his chest, down his spine, through his legs—until his whole body splintered like shattering glass.

And then, he exploded.

Gore, blood, chunks of muscle and shattered bone fragments burst outward like a firework of flesh, raining down from the sky.

...

'Not gonna lie... this bastard is a fucking cheat,' Subaru thought bitterly as he floated over the scorched battlefield.

Despite the fact that Subaru hadn't even tapped into his full strength yet, Reinhardt had managed to completely stop his last attack.

And that alone spoke volumes.

In their previous exchange, Subaru's strike had turned the Sword Saint into little more than a pile of pulverized gore. But now? Now Reinhardt was holding his ground, fighting back harder, and lasting longer. It was unreal.

It was bullshit.

That's exactly why Subaru decided it was time to escalate things—to stop playing around and use something that bypassed all conventional defense, something even Divine Protections couldn't block.

The Authority of Dichotomy.

An Authority he had acquired directly from Typhon, and one of the most terrifying tools in his arsenal.

The moment Subaru landed on the devastated, cracked, and molten landscape—barely resembling anything that could be called a battlefield anymore—he activated it.

Reinhardt, who had just been resurrected yet again by OD Laguna, and had grabbed his hand froze.

For the first time since their battle began, Reinhardt van Astrea showed something on his face that no one in the world would ever believe if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes.

Fear.

Pure, unfiltered, soul-wracking fear.

Then came the pain.

Subaru's Authority of Dichotomy functioned on a cruelly precise principle. It inflicted pain and mental breakdown based on two key elements:

How much one had sinned.

How much guilt one carried inside.

And Reinhardt—despite being seen as a hero, a savior, a living legend—was not immune.

In Subaru's eyes, Reinhardt was a sinner. A man who had tried to kill Beatrice, someone Subaru considered more than family. That act alone was unforgivable.

But that wasn't all.

Reinhardt himself considered his very existence monstrous.

Deep within, he still harbored guilt over what he had done in his past—especially the incident where he stole his grandmother's Divine Protection during a crucial moment, an act that directly contributed to her downfall.

That guilt remained, buried beneath layers of resolve and strength, but Subaru's Authority dug it out like a scalpel exposing nerve.

And since Authorities trumped Divine Protections, the pain inflicted was unstoppable.

Reinhardt felt his bones breaking, not physically, but conceptually. His blood boiled within him like magma. His nerves screamed as if every single fiber of his body was being set on fire from the inside out. It was torture beyond anything he'd ever experienced.

Even if it only lasted a second before he died again, that moment of pain left scars. Psychological ones. It broke something inside him. Something that wouldn't heal just by resurrecting.

And right now?

Subaru was enjoying himself.

He was having a goddamn field day.

He didn't even give Reinhardt the chance to call back his Dragon Sword Reid, in the same way Thor could summon his Mjolnir. Subaru made sure of it.

Every time Reinhardt resurrected, Subaru was already right there, waiting.

He would touch Reinhardt immediately, activate the Authority of Dichotomy again, and Reinhardt would die.

Over and over.

"This is for hurting my Betty, asshole," Subaru muttered as he slapped Reinhardt's face, shattering his entire body like fragile glass under pressure.

Reinhardt's body ignited with an orange glow once more—OD Laguna's resurrection effect kicking in. His form returned, fully restored.

"This is for making her cry," Subaru said coldly, and with nothing but a tap of his hand, Reinhardt's body crumbled again, reduced to nothing before he could even scream.

And so the cycle repeated.

Resurrection. Pain. Death.

Reinhardt, the legendary Sword Saint, who was revered across the lands, cried.

He cried in pain. He shouted in rage. His hatred for Natsuki Subaru burned like wildfire.

With every death, every resurrection, that hatred only grew.

When the twenty-ninth death came, Reinhardt did something different.

He prayed.

Not to a god. Not to anyone spiritual or divine.

He prayed to the very mechanism that governed this world's balance.

To OD Laguna.

'Give—'

'—Me—'

'—Strength.'

OD Laguna heard him.

The divine mechanism that dictated the balance of power, which governed Divine Protections, responded.

It had watched this fight long enough.

And it could no longer tolerate Reinhardt's defeat.

Not just because he was its champion—but because Subaru, a man who was never meant to win, was warping causality itself.

So OD Laguna did what it was never supposed to do. It created new Divine Protections.

In real time.

Divine Protection of the Stitched Body has been acquired!

A new Divine Protection that allowed Reinhardt's body to remain physically whole even when shattered—preventing complete destruction.

Divine Protection of the Undead Body has been acquired!

A power that let him remain conscious and semi-functional even when technically dead—granting him partial control over his form after being killed.

Divine Protection of Divine Sacrifice has been acquired!

The most dangerous of them all. It burned down every other Divine Protection Reinhardt possessed—sacrificing them as fuel to empower his base physical stats and regeneration to absurd levels.

Reinhardt resurrected again.

Subaru moved as usual. He touched him, triggering the Authority of Dichotomy.

Immediately, Reinhardt screamed. Blood oozed from every pore of his body. His nerves still burned. His organs throbbed like they were being twisted with iron hooks.

But this time... he didn't shatter.

Even though the pain was still there. Even though death still hit him.

Reinhardt's consciousness remained intact.

He was dead, but awake.

And now... he was more dangerous than ever.

Subaru's eyes widened in genuine surprise as he tried to comprehend what he had just witnessed.

'This guy... he actually found a way to counter my Authority?!' Subaru thought, disbelief and frustration running through his mind.

However, his keen observation quickly picked up on the signs that this countermeasure was incomplete, flawed, and perhaps even desperate.

'But judging from the expression of intense pain etched across his face, and the fact that his body is still riddled with serious injuries, this looks like a half-baked solution at best.'

At that moment, a message echoed through Reinhardt's very existence—clear and undeniable.

The Divine Protection of Divine Sacrifice requires a Sacrifice. Will the bearer, Reinhardt van Astrea, accept this condition?

"I agree," Reinhardt declared without hesitation.

Performing Divine Sacrifice… Sacrifice confirmed.

The Divine Protections of Boiled Food, Hairdressing, Fashion, and Photo-realism have been relinquished.

The sky trembled as Reinhardt roared and launched himself forward, driving his fist into Subaru with overwhelming power.

The force of the impact sent Subaru flying through the air at terrifying speed. He smashed through the side of a hill with such violence that it obliterated the entire upper half, triggering a landslide that buried much of the landscape.

The terrain was mangled beyond recognition.

Subaru tumbled uncontrollably for a moment but quickly stabilized himself mid-air by combining his KI and Psychic energy, regaining his footing in the sky.

However, Reinhardt was already closing the distance. He appeared above Subaru like a missile streaking through the clouds, cloaked entirely in a radiant white light.

Reinhardt struck again, this time aiming for a downward punch. Subaru reacted just in time, catching Reinhardt's fist mid-air with both hands.

The impact drove both of them downward with tremendous force, and when they landed, the result was a massive crater several meters deep.

Divine Protection of Flying has been acquired.

Reinhardt showed no sign of relenting.

He immediately increased the pressure, pushing Subaru across the battlefield while becoming airborne. Subaru braced his body as best as he could, planting his feet deep into the ground in a desperate attempt to stop being bulldozed.

"AARGHHH!" Reinhardt bellowed as he kept up the relentless pressure.

The shockwave from their struggle carved a jagged ravine nearly a thousand meters long in just two seconds, complete with thunderous sonic booms that shattered nearby stones and trees. It was as if nature itself was being torn apart.

Seeing no alternative, Subaru tapped deeper into his reserves. He surged his Ki further, blending it seamlessly with his Aura, and began to burn through vast amounts of magic energy.

The result was immediate—his physical capabilities skyrocketed to a whole new level. He dug in harder and let out a powerful roar of his own as he reversed the momentum, slowly but surely pushing Reinhardt back.

Reinhardt was forced to retreat, his feet skidding along the ground for dozens of meters before he was finally able to halt himself.

Now the battlefield was lit by two competing auras. Reinhardt's body shimmered with divine white light, radiating intense pressure that warped the air around him. In contrast, Subaru's entire form was enveloped in a deep blue aura.

Energy radiated from his body like an intense storm. His hair floated upward, caught in the turbulence of sheer magical force.

The ground beneath him continued to sink and crack apart under the force of his growing power until, at last, Subaru began to levitate above the ground effortlessly.

They locked eyes again, fierce determination burning in both their gazes.

Without a single word spoken, they launched toward each other.

In the blink of an eye, they exchanged hundreds of blows.

Their movements were so fast that to an average observer, they appeared as flickers of light.

The aftermath of each collision left deep scars across the mountainside—landslides fell like cascading waves, craters exploded across the terrain, and massive boulders were flung away like pebbles.

As they clashed, Subaru sensed something dangerous. They were rapidly closing in on a populated settlement. Realizing the potential destruction such a location might suffer, Subaru immediately teleported himself high into the sky to avoid civilian casualties.

Reinhardt followed without hesitation.

Then, in the heavens above, far beyond the earthbound chaos, the two collided once more.

A brilliant streak of white light and a blinding trail of blue smashed together in the open sky, creating a thunderous boom that shook the clouds and illuminated the night with a burst of divine and arcane energy.

They ascended higher and higher into the atmosphere, breaking through layers of thick clouds that split apart as they passed.

The sky itself seemed to roar with the intensity of their clash.

Each movement was a blur—punches, kicks, jabs, elbows—delivered with inhuman precision and speed. Their unarmed combat skills were flawless, their strength nothing short of divine. For a long moment, neither could gain the upper hand; the battle remained locked in a tense stalemate.

Suddenly, Reinhardt made a desperate move. He sacrificed three of his Divine Protections in exchange for a massive surge of power. With that overwhelming strength boost, he launched a fierce punch directly into Subaru's face, sending him hurtling uncontrollably toward the ground far below.

Subaru crashed violently through the towering wooden walls of a sprawling Japanese-style castle, shattering it as he plummeted into the city streets beyond. The city was one of the major Kararagi territories, known as Ivada, bustling with life and unsuspecting civilians.

Just Subaru's impact alone caused massive collateral damage, killing numerous innocent people caught in the blast.

Reinhardt landed not far away, his arrival forceful enough to sink him several meters into the earth beneath and create a shockwave so powerful it sent dozens of bystanders flying in every direction.

Despite the destruction surrounding him, Subaru burst into laughter. It was clear to him that Reinhardt had lost any sense of restraint or mercy; the man's recklessness now threatened everyone in sight.

Subaru wiped a single drop of blood from his cracked lips with his thumb, the sting barely registering as he chuckled.

"All this… just for a single drop of blood?" Subaru's voice carried a mixture of amusement and scorn, the words only fueling Reinhardt's rage further.

At that moment, Reinhardt's Divine Protection of Weapon Summoning activated. The hilt of the familiar Dragon Sword, Reid, materialized in his grasp, radiating an intimidating confidence. Without hesitation, he drew the sword fully, holding it aloft in a regal, battle-ready stance.

"Hey! Hey! You bastard, we're still in the middle of the city!" Subaru shouted, warning him urgently. But his words fell on deaf ears—Reinhardt was consumed by his thirst for victory, utterly indifferent to the lives at risk around them.

Realizing what was about to happen, Subaru began his transformation into his dragon form. His scales turned a deep, black obsidian, and his piercing golden eyes locked fiercely onto Reinhardt.

His massive wings spread wide, stretching dozens of meters, instinctively positioning themselves as a shield for the civilians behind him.

Just then, a sudden white beam of light pierced through the parting clouds above them. As Subaru opened his maw to release a purplish glow charged with KI energy, Reinhardt swung his Dragon Sword, Reid, in a devastating arc aimed straight at him.

"Reid!" Reinhardt called out.

"Rawwwrrrr!" Subaru roared in response, unleashing a torrent of purple-black flames from his jaws.

The two powerful attacks collided in midair with a thunderous boom. Flames capable of incinerating matter itself met a slash that could sever concepts at their core.

For a tense moment, neither attack gave ground, locked in a deadly stalemate.

Then, slowly, Reinhardt's sword strike began pushing forward, driving through Subaru's dragon fire. Subaru's golden eyes narrowed in fierce concentration as he dug his claws into the stone pavement with all his might. He intensified the flames, channeling even more KI into his breath.

Bit by bit, the balance shifted—Subaru's breath began to push back against the sword's deadly edge.

Reinhardt's eyes widened in shock and disbelief.

Even the legendary Divine Dragon Volcanica might not be capable of stopping such an attack, much less having it pushed back by force of will alone.

Yet here it was: the Dragon Sword was being overwhelmed, losing ground to Subaru's relentless fiery assault.

Finally, Reinhardt's attack faded into nothingness, completely extinguished. Subaru ceased his dragon breath, the purples and blacks dissipating into the cooling air.

Frustrated and desperate, Reinhardt opted for a new strategy. Breaking through the sound barrier, he charged at Subaru with blinding speed, sword raised high, aiming to decapitate the massive dragon in a single, lethal strike.

But the moment Reinhardt closed the distance—

Subaru vanished, teleporting away in the blink of an eye.

"???" Reinhardt exclaimed in confusion.

"Motherfucker!" he cursed, the frustration and disbelief evident in his voice.

To be continued...

Chapter 7: 6) I am the Great Sage! Natsuki Subaru!

Summary:

Great sage introduces himself? Finally!

...

{3rd Pov}

Subaru reappeared dozens of miles away from the city, ensuring that there was no nearby settlement or population center in sight.

As soon as he stabilized in the air and landed on the ground, he felt a splitting pain in his head, as if a hot needle was being jammed into his brain.

'Shit! My Psychic reserves are down to barely 20%!' Subaru thought, gritting his teeth as he reverted back into his human form.

His body ached, his mind throbbed, and his energy levels were dangerously low.

He stumbled a little as his feet hit the ground, feeling the heaviness of fatigue start to settle in now that the adrenaline had begun to wear off.

From the outside, to any observer watching their battle, it might've looked like Subaru had been dominating Reinhardt.

After all, in the final exchange, the only visible injury he had received was a broken lip. Compared to the relentless crushing, burning, and slicing Reinhardt had endured, Subaru looked practically untouched.

But that impression couldn't have been further from the truth.

The only reason he had managed to hold his own in that monstrous clash was due to the simultaneous and extreme use of three different energy systems—Magic, Ki, and Psychic energy—stacked together to push his physical and metaphysical capabilities to an extraordinary level.

Strength, speed, durability, reflexes, sensory perception—every stat had been pushed beyond their natural limits. He had become a living storm of destruction.

The cost? Immense.

His Psychic energy was nearly depleted, sitting at a dangerously low 20%. That wasn't just a numerical value—it meant that his mental stability, focus, and fine control over abilities like teleportation, telekinesis, and energy shaping were critically compromised.

His Ki reserves, which he had channeled heavily in that final confrontation with Reid's conceptual slash, had also dropped, now sitting below 30%.

The only thing that remained decently stocked was his vast pool of Magic, which was still over 60%.

As for his Aura, a separate form of energy used mostly for strengthening his healing and sense-enhancement abilities, it still retained roughly 70% of its original intensity—mostly because he had used it sparingly during the fight, reserving it for only a few critical moments and primarily for healing Beatrice earlier.

Despite how it looked, Subaru knew this battle wasn't something he could keep up forever.

He had made Reinhardt suffer. He had forced him to feel pain—true pain. Pain that Reinhardt likely hadn't experienced in his entire life.

Subaru had made him feel fear, even if only momentarily, and pushed him to the brink. He had made him remember what it felt like to be mortal. To be vulnerable. To be hurt.

And above all, he had avenged the anguish and agony Reinhardt had inflicted on Beatrice—Betty. Subaru had succeeded in making him feel just a fraction of the torment she had experienced.

That alone had made part of this battle worth it.

But reality was setting in fast. Subaru understood a hard truth now.

If the fight became a war of attrition, he would lose.

Reinhardt didn't just have monstrous talent or combat power. He had something far worse—something Subaru didn't.

He had the support of the world itself.

The system, the divine structure, the will of Od Laguna—all of it favored Reinhardt. Every time he died, he came back stronger, more protected, more overpowered.

The man was cheating at existence itself.

Subaru's breathing steadied as he stood up straight, brushing off the dust from his clothes. He looked up toward the horizon, feeling the surge of pressure that signaled Reinhardt's approach. It wouldn't be long before they clashed again.

Thousands had already died in the wake of their last battle. It couldn't be allowed to happen again.

"I guess… it's time I start using my trump cards, huh?" Subaru muttered under his breath, his tone low but resolute. He could feel the familiar aura closing in on him, the overwhelming presence that screamed of Reinhardt's approach. The battle wasn't over.

Subaru's shadow began to change—becoming deeper, darker, almost abysmally black. It spread unnaturally across the ground before a crack suddenly tore through the very fabric of space-time. A void ripped open beneath him, as if the universe itself was being cut apart.

From that rift emerged a sword—a blade forged from pure darkness, completely absent of light. The sword radiated a suffocating pressure, its presence alone distorting the space around it. It was no ordinary weapon.

It was the Yin Sword—one of the Ten Great Legendary Swords.

A sword capable of cutting through time and space itself.

Subaru gripped the hilt tightly as he lifted the blade to his side. He could feel its weight—not physical, but metaphysical—pressing on his soul.

Using this weapon wasn't just a matter of swinging it.

It required energy, focus, and sheer fucking will.

'Listen up, my spirits!' Subaru spoke telepathically to the elemental spirits bound to him. 'Channel all your mana into me right now! I don't have enough Ki left to boost myself properly, so I'm going to need to enhance my physical capabilities using solely magic—at least until I recover enough to combine both again!'

'Okay, father!' multiple youthful voices responded in unison, each one eager and devoted.

Suddenly, an enormous mana vacuum formed around Subaru—one that was easily comparable in size and density to the mana presence that usually surrounded Reinhardt.

The atmosphere distorted, and even the clouds above responded to the sudden pressure as an absurd amount of mana was pulled in from the surrounding environment.

The origin of the absorption was none other than Subaru and the dozens of contracted spirits now operating in sync with him.

The sheer magnitude of the mana draw was unnatural.

If Subaru had attempted to physically reinforce his body using only his own mana reserves—forcing that much energy through his personal gate—the result would have been catastrophic.

The strain on his gate, even with its already impressive capacity, would've been enough to shatter it.

With how rapidly Reinhardt was increasing in power, the only viable method to cope with his ever-rising strength would be for Subaru to scale up his mana usage proportionally.

But doing that using just his own gate? That was suicidal. His gate would combust under the load.

But now, that concern was gone. He had found a workaround.

With every single one of his contracted spirits acting as pseudo-gates, the burden was no longer on him alone.

Mana flowed not just through his body but through the gates of his spirits.

Most notably, Gloria—his most potent and mature spirit—possessed a gate that was actually more efficient and more durable than Subaru's own.

Her presence made a massive difference in regulating the mana flow.

Each spirit absorbed, filtered, and redirected mana into Subaru like a perfectly tuned machine. The cumulative result?

A mana absorption rate that exceeded anything he'd ever achieved before.

This new method allowed Subaru to massively increase his magical output, capacity, and reinforcement potential without placing any serious stress on his own gate.

The trade-off now was his physical body.

He was still a human being, and while the energy itself wouldn't overload his gate anymore, his muscles, bones, and organs were under pressure from the extreme internal reinforcement.

But even that wasn't enough to stop him.

By strategically applying both Ki and Aura, he could enhance the structural integrity of his body—toughening it just enough to withstand the boost from the mana coursing through him.

His veins bulged across his arms and neck as the power surged within, but his body held firm. Not only was he getting stronger—he was now doing so without heavily relying on Ki, which allowed him to conserve one of his most depleted resources.

Then, like a crashing meteor, Reinhardt arrived in front of him.

The red-haired knight stopped in his tracks, eyes narrowing as he laid eyes on the ominous weapon Subaru now held in his hand—a blade formed entirely of concentrated darkness, a weapon that warped the air around it and radiated a suffocating presence.

Reinhardt's instincts immediately screamed. He recognized the weapon on sight. "One of the Great Legendary Swords…" he thought.

But he didn't flinch.

The recognition didn't stop him.

To him, there was no sword greater than the Dragon Sword Reid. He had full faith that the weapon in his hand was supreme.

Regardless of what blade Subaru wielded, Reinhardt was determined to end this battle, once and for all.

To bring Subaru to justice for the atrocities he believed the man had committed.

(A/N: Ayooo bro you just murdered thousands a moment ago, just because they are Lugunicans you don't consider them important? Fuck you! I will sue you for terrorism!)

Neither warrior spoke a word. The silence was louder than any declaration.

The moment their eyes met again, they moved.

Blades collided in an explosion of force, creating shockwaves so intense that the ground beneath them cracked and the air itself screamed.

Sonic booms echoed across the desolate land as their swords clashed at a speed that human eyes couldn't possibly follow.

In just a few seconds, they exchanged hundreds of attacks—slashes, stabs, parries, counter-swings—each movement carried enough force to annihilate anything caught in its path.

Reinhardt pushed himself further, expending even more Divine Protections in real time.

The very fabric of reality bent around him.

At this moment, the world itself had entered the battle on his side.

Divine Protections were being ripped away from people across the globe and transferred directly to Reinhardt's body, sacrificing them as fuel to elevate him further.

It was no longer just Reinhardt fighting Subaru—it was Od Laguna's champion, backed by the global system.

But even with all of that power being channeled into him, Reinhardt slowly realized something terrifying.

He was losing ground.

In the flurry of exchanges, despite all the Divine Protections empowering him, Reinhardt found himself being pressured, cornered, outclassed—at least in swordsmanship.

"What the hell…? Impossible!" Reinhardt's mind screamed in disbelief. "How can his swordsmanship surpass mine?!"

The Divine Protection of the Sword Saint was supposed to draw out the maximum martial potential from its wielder, even if they were otherwise unskilled.

That was already incredible. But in Reinhardt's case, it was layered with the Divine Protection of the Weapon God—making his mastery over weapons, especially swords, unprecedented.

In all of history, only the original Sword Saint himself had ever surpassed him.

And yet here was Subaru.

A man with no Divine Protection. No legendary title backing his swordplay. No system-borne gift boosting his combat ability.

Outclassing him.

Strike for strike, Subaru's technique was sharper, cleaner, and more unpredictable. His movements didn't feel like they came from training—but from experience, improvisation, pain, and survival.

(A/N: Yeah from copying Reina's swordswomanship, haha kettle meet the pot! moment!)

But instead of despair, Reinhardt… smiled.

A wide, genuine grin formed on his face—one of pure, unfiltered excitement.

When in his entire life had he ever been pushed beyond his limits like this?

When had he ever felt like victory wasn't guaranteed?

For the first time in his existence, Reinhardt wanted something with every fiber of his being. He craved victory.

He wanted to win not because he was destined to, not because the world willed it—but because it was earned.

He called out to Od Laguna.

He begged the world to give him what he needed. To give him a Divine Protection strong enough to end Subaru.

And the world… responded.

Instantly, thousands of people across the globe were stripped of their Divine Protections.

In addition, ten percent of the world's essence itself was sacrificed, converted into pure metaphysical power.

All of it was compressed and refined into a single Divine Protection—the most powerful one ever created.

Reinhardt had just acquired the Divine Protection of the World Champion.

Its effect?

A flat 1000% increase to all of his abilities—as long as he remained within the world of Od Laguna.

Subaru's eyes narrowed as he dodged a swing from Reinhardt's sword by teleporting away at the last possible second. If he had delayed by even half a second, he would've died on the spot.

The blow tore a gash in the earth miles long.

Reinhardt stopped and raised his sword slowly, eyes locked on Subaru.

"Natsuki Subaru… I shall now end this battle with my final attack," he declared, his tone uncharacteristically calm—cold, even.

Right now, Reinhardt was at his absolute peak.

All his Divine Protections had been amplified tenfold. He had access to every conceivable advantage—speed, strength, reflexes, stamina, healing, defense, instinct, swordsmanship, and luck. No one in the world could stop him now.

Not even if Subaru was at full power.

And Subaru knew it.

Even if his energy reserves were full—even if he wasn't already depleted—he'd still only be able to hold Reinhardt back, not defeat him.

That's how overwhelming this version of Reinhardt was.

But Subaru didn't flinch. He didn't back down. His gaze remained steady.

Because to him, this war had already been won.

Because the war had been won—the moment Natsuki Subaru laid eyes on Reid for the first time since encountering Reinhardt.

...

Reinhardt's body began glowing in a radiant white light, his sharp blue eyes fixed solely on Subaru as he raised Reid, the legendary Dragon Sword, skyward.

The very act of drawing the blade to its full potential unleashed an enormous surge of power. The tip of the sword emitted a bright light that shot into the heavens, forming a massive pillar of energy so immense that it reached far beyond the atmosphere, piercing the skies as if trying to reach the stars.

The pillar widened, growing in size and intensity.

The sheer heat radiating from it started to melt the ground below them, turning solid earth into bubbling magma.

All across the world, people turned their eyes upward, witnessing the unnatural column of light dominating the sky.

It was so luminously blinding that even Subaru, whose resistance had grown through enhancement, had trouble keeping his gaze locked on it.

Subaru, with his eyes narrowed against the oppressive glare, gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on the Yin Sword.

The blade pulsed with a deep darkness, as if feeding off the torrent of magic being channeled into it.

Magic coursed through his entire body and into the blade. As he pushed more mana into it, the sword responded in kind.

A dark, ominous aura surrounded him, and the air around him twisted. Space-time itself began to bend and distort, forming unnatural ripples in reality as his magic reached critical mass.

Then it began.

"REID!" Reinhardt roared as he swung the mighty Dragon Sword down.

The light that had once only reached the sky now twisted and spiraled into a torrent aimed directly at Subaru.

It came like a divine punishment, a massive beam of energy that seemed capable of erasing everything in its path.

Subaru stepped forward without hesitation.

"YIN!" he bellowed, swinging the Yin Sword with all of his might.

The moment their attacks clashed, it was as if the very concept of existence trembled.

Reid's light beam, a sword crafted to slice through abstract concepts and metaphysical barriers. collided against the darkness of Yin, an attack capable of severing through time and space.

These weren't mere weapons.

They were legendary constructs, semi-sentient relics of unfathomable power that sought to outdo each other—not just for victory, but for the honor of their wielders.

Yin Sword's dark slash pierced through Reid's torrent of light.

The energy surrounding Reid began to fluctuate, its form destabilizing as the darkness ate into it.

Subaru advanced quickly, appearing right in front of Reinhardt in an instant, and their swords clashed directly.

The ground cracked beneath their feet, unable to withstand the force of their strikes.

Crack Crack

Reid, the Dragon Sword, began showing visible cracks.

Subaru's eyes didn't even flicker. His blade surged with renewed darkness, and with a massive heave, he cleaved Reinhardt's sword in two.

The sound of splitting metal echoed across the battlefield.

Reid, the strongest sword in the world, had just been destroyed.

Reinhardt stood frozen, his expression filled with disbelief.

The very weapon that defined him, that had granted him victory countless times, had been shattered.

Subaru did not waste the moment.

He activated an Authority he had kept hidden throughout the entire fight.

The Authority of Lust. With it came Life and Death Manipulation.

He didn't have to move. With just a single command from his will, Reinhardt's heart stopped. A dark aura enveloped Reinhardt, crushing his spirit and will.

Then, without pause, Subaru summoned his final trump card.

A swirling portal opened from within Subaru's chest. From it, the hilt of a sword emerged. Subaru gripped it and slowly drew out the blade—a weapon forged from the purest concept of erasure.

The Life Sword.

A sword capable of destroying not just the body or soul, but the very OD of a being—the divine core that made life and existence possible in the world of Od Laguna.

With all the strength left in his body, Subaru thrust the Life Sword directly into Reinhardt's chest.

For a second, nothing happened.

Complete silence followed.

Then Reinhardt's body jolted. He let out a scream filled with agony and terror.

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHH!"

It wasn't just physical pain. He could feel it.

He could feel his OD unraveling.

He could feel his soul being torn apart piece by piece.

The Divine Protections inside him, like living defenses, reacted. They surged toward the Life Sword's intrusion, desperately trying to neutralize its power. But it was hopeless. One by one, they shattered.

"Divine Protection of Night Skies has been destroyed!"

"Divine Protection of Judgement has been destroyed!"

"Divine Protection of Anti-Magic has been destroyed!"

Line after line of divine announcements echoed, each one marking the loss of a once invincible gift.

The last to fall:

"Divine Protection of World's Champion has been destroyed!"

With no Divine Protections remaining and the Divine Protection of Sword Saint already having passed on to its next chosen wielder, Reinhardt's fate was sealed.

His body began floating, twitching violently, limbs jerking in every direction.

Reality itself seemed to glitch around him, as though the world struggled to comprehend what was happening to its favored child.

Subaru didn't flinch.

He pushed the Life Sword deeper into Reinhardt's chest, channeling the very last of his strength.

"Die."

Reinhardt stopped twitching.

His body froze.

Then slowly, ever so slowly, his form began to disintegrate. Not like someone burning to ash, but like data being deleted from existence.

He turned to dust, particle by particle, dissolving into the air. No trace of him remained.

Subaru, drenched in sweat and completely drained, collapsed to his knees. Both of his swords dropped from his hands.

The Yin Sword returned to its home within his shadow.

The Life Sword dissolved, retreating into the depths of his soul.

He breathed heavily, his body trembling, but he remained alert.

He waited.

One second.

Two seconds.

Ten seconds.

A full minute.

Nothing.

Reinhardt didn't return.

No divine light. No resurrection. No miracle.

He was truly gone.

Justice had been served for Beatrice.

The world's strongest man, the invincible Sword Saint who had once surpassed even the Witch of Envy herself, had been defeated.

Not by a nation.

Not by fate.

But by a single man.

Natsuki Subaru, the Great Sage, had slain the Sword Saint.

And the world would never be the same again.

...

...

{3rd Pov}

Two full days had passed since Subaru's intense and chaotic battle had come to an end.

Back in the Capital of Lugunica, the air was thick with smoke, uncertainty, and dread.

Emergency response efforts were underway, and the local authorities, along with military officials and nobles, were working around the clock to assess the scale of the destruction.

Reports detailing the number of dead, injured, missing, and displaced citizens were being compiled with every passing hour.

The level of devastation was unlike anything the kingdom had ever experienced before.

It was confirmed that nearly half of the royal capital had been reduced to rubble. Entire districts had been flattened, major government buildings and noble estates were completely destroyed, and the infrastructure that held the capital together—roads, bridges, aqueducts—had collapsed.

The death toll had already surpassed seventy thousand, and that number continued to rise steadily as more bodies were discovered beneath the ruins.

Rescue efforts were ongoing, but hope was fading quickly with every hour that passed.

And then, amidst the panic, confusion, and despair, another devastating piece of news spread throughout the capital like wildfire—news that made even the most battle-hardened soldiers and high-ranking officials freeze in horror.

The Sword Saint was dead.

At first, many believed it was a rumor—an exaggerated tale born from the chaos.

But the truth became undeniable when Heinkel Astrea suddenly inherited the Divine Protection of the Sword Saint.

The moment he received it, he was struck with overwhelming shock.

The power, the burden, and the unmistakable energy of the Divine Protection left no room for doubt.

Reinhardt van Astrea—the strongest warrior in the kingdom, the ultimate symbol of invincibility and security—had fallen in battle.

Heinkel, already disturbed by the chaotic reports of a massive pillar of light erupting from the center of the city, along with accounts of violent quakes and energy surges, quickly came to a grim realization.

There was no mistaking it—that pillar of light had been Reinhardt's final stand.

Whoever or whatever he had been fighting must have been unimaginably powerful.

For the Wise Men's Council, who were already overwhelmed and struggling to maintain order after the partial destruction of the capital, this revelation was like the final nail in the coffin.

Many of them were stunned into silence, their faces turning pale with fear and disbelief.

Some, upon realizing what Reinhardt's death implied, seemed to lose all composure—almost as if their very souls had been ripped out of them.

Reinhardt wasn't just any knight.

He wasn't simply a talented warrior or a respected noble. Reinhardt was, without exaggeration, the kingdom's greatest weapon.

His strength was so vast, so absolute, that the very people who held political power in the kingdom feared what he was capable of if he ever turned against them.

There was a widely shared belief among both nobles and generals that if the entire combined military might of the Kingdom of Lugunica were to face off against Reinhardt in battle, the result would still be his victory.

His Divine Protections were numerous—far more than anyone could reasonably count—and each one of them was potent enough to make him a force to be reckoned with, even individually. Together, they made Reinhardt practically unstoppable.

To prevent any possibility of him going rogue or acting against the royal family or its interests, the ruling elite had gone so far as to create special legislation—laws that only applied to Reinhardt.

These restrictions were unofficially referred to as the 'Reinhardt Laws.'

Through them, his movements, decisions, and actions were tightly monitored and restrained, even though he had never once shown signs of rebellion.

As a contingency, they had devised measures that could be used to control or manipulate him. If things ever went too far, they planned to use Reinhardt's loved ones against him.

They would threaten his mother, Louna Astrea. In extreme situations, they were even prepared to carry out executions of his grandfather, Wilhelm, and his father, Heinkel, as a last resort.

All of this, simply because they understood one crucial truth—Reinhardt was not someone they could defeat if he chose to defy them.

Their only hope was to keep him in check through fear, manipulation, and emotional coercion.

But despite all these precautions, one thing was always certain—Reinhardt was their greatest source of power, and they believed in that power completely.

Whenever a mission seemed impossible, or a threat was too great for the army or other knights to handle, the solution was simple: send Reinhardt.

It didn't matter how dangerous the task was. No mission was ever considered a suicide mission as long as he was the one undertaking it.

Thanks to him, the Kingdom of Lugunica had confidence unlike any other. They did not fear invasions, rebellions, or even calamities.

Reinhardt was their shield, their sword, their trump card—an overwhelming deterrent to any enemy force.

And now?

Now that trump card was gone. Strangely enough, one might expect such an event to bring relief to some within the upper hierarchy—those who had lived in quiet fear of his power for years.

But the reality was far worse. The idea that someone—or something—existed that was capable of killing Reinhardt didn't bring comfort. It brought absolute terror.

Who could possibly defeat Reinhardt? What kind of being could accomplish such a feat?

If this enemy was a warrior from a foreign kingdom, that implied a force capable of wiping out the entire Kingdom of Lugunica.

If this mysterious figure was affiliated with the Witch Cult—then the implications were even more horrifying. The Sword Saint, the greatest champion of mankind, was no match.

Back in past, Roswaal had stepped forward on Emilia's behalf, bearing news of his own.

He claimed Emilia to have defeated several Sin Archbishops, and to prove it, their charred corpses had been presented to the council.

Given that Puck, the Great Spirit of Fire, was by her side, and considering the state of the bodies, no one questioned the validity of her claim.

The remains bore clear signs of intense magical incineration—consistent with Puck's known capabilities.

The revelation bolstered morale to some extent.

Many began to believe that perhaps the Sin Archbishops weren't as dangerous as previously believed.

After all, if a single girl—albeit one supported by a powerful spirit—could eliminate multiple Archbishops, then surely they weren't the godlike monsters they had once been feared to be.

They were strong, yes, but ultimately manageable.

That illusion was shattered when the Sin Archbishop of Pride made his move.

He did not simply fight a battle or carry out an assassination.

He burned down the capital of Lugunica.

The Wise Men of the Council were already overwhelmed, scrambling to manage the crumbling economy and prevent total collapse when yet another catastrophic piece of news landed on their desks—news that threatened to completely break what little order remained.

The death of Reinhardt van Astrea.

They were already at their limit, debating stimulus measures, emergency food supply routes, and how to rebuild half a city. But this? This was something no one had a contingency plan for. The strongest man in the kingdom, the one-man army, their ultimate deterrent against foreign invasion and civil unrest—gone.

For now, they had managed to keep the matter under wraps. Only the highest-ranking officials, royal family members, and members of the Council knew.

But the truth was a ticking time bomb. It wouldn't stay secret for long. People would begin to notice his absence.

The Knights would speak, rumors would spread, and eventually, the entire kingdom would learn the horrifying truth.

And what then?

What would happen when the world—when enemy nations—found out that Reinhardt, the Sword Saint, had died?

The very thought sent a chill through the room.

If the Empire of Vollachia or any of the other major nations learned that Lugunica had lost its trump card, there was no telling what they would do. In their current state—militarily weakened, politically unstable, and economically devastated—they wouldn't survive a full-scale invasion.

The room had fallen into tense silence until Miklotov, one of the elder Council members and known for his level-headedness, finally spoke.

"Before anything else, we must establish political stability," he said firmly, his voice cutting through the heavy atmosphere like a blade.

His words snapped the others out of their daze, but what followed was not hopeful brainstorming.

"Other than that half-elf girl, we have no Dragon Candidates left," one of the Council members grunted with frustration, slamming his fist lightly against the armrest of his chair.

"Are we really going to have to crown her?" another sneered, unable to hide his disdain.

The room filled with murmurs, and several heads nodded reluctantly. None of them dared to say it out loud, but the idea of crowning Emilia, the half-elf who was already a controversial figure even before the destruction of the capital, was not one they were enthusiastic about.

Her presence alone had always stirred political tension due to her resemblance to the Witch of Envy.

"Then what do you all propose instead?" Miklotov snapped, tone growing sharper. "Take the kingdom for ourselves and form a council of oligarchs? Or perhaps just elect some noble puppet and disregard the Divine Dragon's wishes entirely?"

That shut them up. No one had a response. The silence that followed was heavier than before.

They might have been powerful politicians and noblemen, but even they weren't ready to provoke the wrath of the Divine Dragon.

But one of them, eyes hollow from days without sleep, muttered something that made everyone's blood run cold.

"Why… why didn't the Divine Dragon save us?"

The question hung in the air like a death sentence. Gasps followed. Others turned to him in wide-eyed disbelief. He had just questioned their god. Their guardian. Their protector.

"You're suggesting the Divine Dragon abandoned us?" one asked in disbelief, his voice tight with anxiety.

But instead of backpedaling, the man elaborated, "No, I'm saying maybe it wasn't seen as a situation that required intervention. Think about it. We weren't invaded by another kingdom. We weren't at war with a rival nation. We were attacked by an individual—by a cultist. At the time, we still had Reinhardt. Maybe the Divine Dragon believed that was enough. And let's be honest with ourselves here… who could've ever imagined the capital would be destroyed by a single person?"

He paused, letting his words sink in.

That "single person" wasn't just anyone.

He was the one responsible for the destruction of the capital.

He was the one who murdered Royal Candidate Anastasia in cold blood.

He was the one who eliminated Felt, the only other Dragon Candidate protected by the Sword Saint's legacy.

He was the one who plunged the entire Kingdom of Lugunica into a darkness it had never known.

The Sin Archbishop representing Pride—Natsuki Subaru.

His corpse had been recovered and thoroughly inspected by both knights and medical experts. Shockingly, the healers and mages reported that, by all measurable standards, the man's body was no more durable or enhanced than that of an average human being.

Physically, he was weak—laughably so. He had no divine protections.

No significant magical aptitude. Nothing that marked him as a threat.

And yet he had done all of this.

The Council, unwilling to accept the terrifying reality that a man of such ordinary build and talent had nearly brought down the entire kingdom, quickly clung to the only explanation that let them sleep at night.

They told themselves that his power had not come from skill or planning, but from the Witch's influence. That his actions were enabled through mysterious and incomprehensible blessings granted by Satella—the Witch of Envy.

The matter was closed then and there. It had to be. To acknowledge that an ordinary man had torn their kingdom apart would be to admit their own weakness, and the fragility of the systems they built their power upon.

"For now, let us prioritize the immediate," Miklotov said at last, breaking the silence once more. "We must focus on managing the damage, securing the surviving population, and above all else—prepare to crown Lady Emilia."

His voice carried authority and calm, though every word was carefully measured.

"If we do not restore political structure and stability quickly," he continued, "then the Kingdom of Lugunica is doomed. It will collapse from within before any foreign army even lifts a sword. And while it's true she lacks experience, she is all we have. Therefore, we must take responsibility. We must guide her… support her."

A few members of the Council nodded solemnly, others simply sighed in resignation. But beneath Miklotov's composed exterior, there was a clear subtext in his words—one that did not go unnoticed.

He was suggesting that Emilia, the half-elf, the so-called final Dragon Candidate, would serve not as a true monarch, but as a symbolic figurehead. Someone who would wear the crown and sit on the throne, yes, but who would hold no real authority. Decisions would still be made by the Council. Policies would still be drafted and enacted by them. Emilia would simply be the one to approve them publicly.

She would be Queen in name only. No more powerful than a particularly influential noble.

This was the only way they could make the rest of the nobility accept her rule without inciting rebellion. Miklotov knew it wasn't fair to her. He was fully aware that Emilia would be walking into a throne filled with manipulation, backroom politics, and power games. But at this point, fairness was a luxury they could no longer afford.

The Kingdom needed a ruler. Not tomorrow. Not next month. Now.

And this—this—was the only way they could ensure it happened without tearing what remained of the kingdom apart.

...

Meanwhile, in the aftermath of the devastating events that had shaken the Kingdom of Lugunica to its core, Emilia had unknowingly emerged as a symbol of hope.

With the confirmed defeat of yet another Sin Archbishop at her hands and her critical role in stopping the blazing infernos that had engulfed large sections of the capital, the people had begun to revere her not just as a royal candidate, but as a savior.

She was no longer just the "half-elf" candidate—no longer merely one of the contenders chosen by the Divine Dragon. She had become a hero in the eyes of the citizens.

In the streets, people whispered her name with admiration.

Survivors recounted tales of her appearing amid chaos, using her ice magic to quell fires or protect innocents, and selflessly healing the wounded with her magic, day and night.

Word of mouth spread quickly, and within a matter of days, the general sentiment had shifted.

With no other viable royal candidates left—Anastasia confirmed dead, Priscilla missing, and Felt presumed killed—Emilia was, effectively, the last woman standing.

And unlike before, she was not seen as a candidate by default, but as the rightful Queen-to-be. Her popularity had soared; even some of her previous detractors in the nobility were beginning to reconsider their positions, recognizing that the public's favor now firmly rested with her.

At present, Emilia was residing in the Royal Castle, having been invited by the Council for her safety and visibility.

But she was not one to sit on a throne and wait for others to act. Day after day, she worked tirelessly to help however she could.

She personally assisted the castle's medical units, using her mana to heal those injured in the fires or from falling debris.

She coordinated with the Royal Guards, helping restore order in refugee zones, offering calm leadership wherever chaos threatened to resurface.

Despite the mounting pressure and the weight of public expectation, she remained humble and focused, her heart set on doing whatever was right for the people.

However, even in the midst of her success and the praise being lavished upon her, something within Emilia felt… off.

Though no one had told her anything directly, she couldn't shake the growing unease in her chest. Reinhardt had not been seen since the night of the attack.

She hadn't spoken to him, hadn't even glimpsed him during the battles, and that—more than anything—bothered her.

She remembered vividly the towering pillars of light that had pierced the skies that night, magic so intense it could be felt across the capital.

That kind of magic could only have come from someone like Reinhardt… or from something far worse.

Still, no one had mentioned anything about him, and every time she brought it up to guards or attendants, they would quickly change the subject or assure her he was "handling matters elsewhere."

Her instincts, however, told her otherwise.

It was just as she finished tending to another batch of injured civilians inside the castle's grand infirmary hall that something strange happened.

Without warning, a shimmering door materialized in the center of the castle corridor—a dimensional portal that immediately drew the attention of everyone nearby.

The guards reached for their weapons, startled and ready to strike, until a familiar figure stepped through the magical threshold.

"Beatrice?" Puck was the first to react, flying quickly over to her with a surprised expression on his face. "You… you're here? You managed to open a Door Crossing this far from the Mathers Mansion?"

Beatrice, standing small but resolute, crossed her arms and gave a sharp huff.

"Obviously, I'm here, in fact," she said, her tone laced with urgency. "I wouldn't have gone through the trouble of establishing such a long-distance Door Crossing if it wasn't for something critical."

Emilia blinked in surprise at the sudden appearance of the Spirit. She had known Beatrice could move through her own created doors, but being able to reach the Royal Capital from Roswaal's mansion was something she hadn't expected.

"Beatrice, what's going on?" Emilia asked, stepping forward as she wiped her hands, still stained with healing mana from her previous work. "Is something wrong? Did something happen back at the mansion?"

"There's no time to explain it all here, in fact," Beatrice said, tapping her foot impatiently. "Puck. Emilia. You both need to come with me immediately. We must return to Roswaal's mansion. There is a matter that could affect not only Roswaal, not only the mansion—but the entire Kingdom!"

Puck narrowed his eyes. He could sense the seriousness in her mana signature. This wasn't just a dramatic exaggeration; she was genuinely alarmed.

Emilia, on the other hand, looked torn.

She turned slightly and glanced behind her.

Several of the wounded were still lying on the cots, some groaning in pain, others asleep from exhaustion.

She had been helping them non-stop for the last few days, and she still hadn't gotten around to checking the outer wards of the castle.

She was needed here. People were depending on her.

"Can I come later?" she asked, her voice calm but hesitant. "There are still people who need my help. I'm the only healer on duty for this wing of the castle. I can't just leave them like this."

Beatrice's eyes narrowed. "Hmph! If you want to stay, that's your decision, I suppose. But don't come crying to me later if things spiral out of control! This is urgent! It's not about some noble's squabble or minor political nonsense! What I'm talking about could shake the foundations of the Kingdom! It may already be too late!"

Her words struck like a lightning bolt.

Both Puck and Emilia stared at her. Even the nearby guards and castle staff froze at the sudden escalation in her tone.

Emilia hesitated only a moment longer before nodding.

"…Alright. I understand," she said with a deep breath, her gaze firming. "I'll come with you. Please wait a moment while I inform someone to take over my station."

She quickly relayed instructions to the nearby medical staff, made sure they had the necessary supplies, and then turned back to Beatrice.

"Let's go."

The portal pulsed once more as the three of them—Emilia, Puck, and Beatrice—stepped through the Door Crossing, vanishing from the Royal Castle.

None of them could have guessed what awaited them on the other side.

Emilia, Puck, and Ram stood in the quiet outer corridor just outside the entrance to Beatrice's library.

Oddly enough, Beatrice had not connected her Door Crossing to the interior of her usual study, but rather to a secluded area on the mansion grounds, directly adjacent to the library's external entry point.

It was a small detail, but one that suggested the Spirit was intentionally distancing the portal from whatever—or whoever—was inside.

The atmosphere was tense, and the air felt strangely heavy, as if it were charged with unspoken emotions.

Ram was the first to speak—or rather, to act. As soon as they arrived, she bowed low before Emilia, her movements stiff and weary.

Her expression was difficult to read, but there was a profound hollowness in her eyes that spoke volumes.

"I greet you, Lady Emilia," she said, voice strained and dry, as if the simple act of speaking took tremendous effort. There was no formality behind her words anymore—just the mechanical remnants of discipline and duty.

Emilia instinctively stepped forward, her heart clenching at the sight of her. Ram looked utterly defeated, as if her very soul had been drained. There were dark circles under her eyes, her posture was slouched, and even her once razor-sharp tone had dulled into something quiet and broken.

"R-Ram… how are you?" Emilia asked softly, choosing her words carefully. She didn't want to say something that might accidentally hurt her further. In truth, she already suspected the answer—but she needed to ask anyway. She owed her that much.

Ram raised her head and gave a faint, sad smile. It was the kind of smile people wore when they were trying to be polite but had no real emotion left to give.

"I've brought Lord Roswaal's body back," she said flatly, her voice barely above a whisper. "Now… I have to begin preparing for his burial."

Her words landed like a hammer blow. Puck floated silently beside Emilia, his face solemn, and Emilia's breath hitched for a moment. She had known Roswaal was dead.

Her heart ached—not in the same deep, personal way Ram must have been feeling it—but there was a weight to the loss.

Roswaal had been many things: manipulative, untrustworthy, brilliant, and broken.

But he had still been someone important in their lives.

Looking at Ram now, Emilia felt an overwhelming sense of empathy. She saw a reflection of her own pain—of losing her family, of bearing responsibility alone.

But for Ram, this might have been the final straw. Her sister, Rem, remained lost to the world, her body comatose and her existence forgotten by all except a few.

Now, Roswaal was gone too. And with no more attachments left to this world, it was all too easy to imagine what Ram might be considering.

Was this her final task? Bury the last person she cared about, and then follow after them into death?

Emilia didn't want to believe it, but the lifeless look in Ram's eyes made her stomach churn.

"I'm… I'm sorry, Ram," she said quietly, her voice trembling. "I really am."

Ram didn't respond. She simply gave a tiny nod, as if acknowledging the sentiment but not knowing what to do with it.

Trying to lighten the atmosphere—or perhaps just desperate to shift the mood—Puck floated closer and asked, "So… can you tell us what this is about? Why did Beatrice call us here all of a sudden?"

Ram didn't change her expression. Her tone remained blunt, almost robotic.

"I don't know," she replied. "Lady Beatrice summoned me first, and then a few minutes later, she told me to wait here for the two of you. She didn't explain anything further."

Puck and Emilia exchanged a look, both of them increasingly unsettled.

Emilia's nerves were already frayed from the anxiety she'd carried all week, and now this strange summoning without context was only making it worse.

She had no idea what Beatrice was about to show them, but something inside her said that whatever it was, it wasn't going to be good.

Just then, the door to the library creaked open.

Beatrice stepped out slowly, her small frame framed by the dim golden glow of her sanctuary. She didn't say anything at first, simply looking at the three of them in silence.

Her expression was conflicted—part guarded, part uncertain.

That alone was enough to set everyone on edge. Beatrice was rarely shaken. And yet, something was clearly bothering her.

"There's something I need you all to see," she finally said, her voice more serious than usual. "But before you enter, I have to warn you. I need you to remain calm. Do not react emotionally. Do not act rashly. And above all—do not be hostile."

"Hostile to who?" Emilia asked with a furrowed brow.

"Guests," Beatrice replied vaguely. "Important ones. They've been waiting for you, and they asked to meet you specifically."

Emilia and Puck shared another uneasy glance, while Ram's lips tightened into a thin line. None of them understood what kind of guests would prompt this level of caution from Beatrice, but they trusted her enough to listen—at least for now.

They entered the library together, the thick wooden door closing quietly behind them. The moment Emilia stepped inside, her eyes widened, and her heart nearly stopped.

Standing just a few feet away from them, relaxed and completely at ease, was a figure she had killed.

Ram stumbled backward, trembling visibly. Her body shook with disbelief, and for a moment, she seemed unable to breathe.

Puck reacted instantly, eyes narrowed and hands raised. A dozen ice spears appeared midair, hovering in a deadly halo around him. They were locked and ready to launch, aimed directly at the man who should have been dead.

Natsuki Subaru.

Or at least, someone who looked exactly like him.

There was no denying it. Same face, same hair, same voice. But the Subaru standing before them now exuded a presence that was utterly alien to the one Emilia had known.

Before anyone could speak, a massive pressure swept through the room like a shockwave. The air itself seemed to ripple. Even Puck, one of the Four Great Spirits, found himself struggling to maintain composure under the sheer force of it.

A second figure stepped forward.

"Mongrels," she muttered, her voice filled with aristocratic disdain. It was Gloria. Her elegant attire and noble demeanor contrasted with her biting words.

"Is that how you greet guests in this world?" She glanced at Puck, her eyes cold. "You'd better put those ice toys away, spirit, before you enrage this concubine further."

"Puck! Stop!" Beatrice barked. "I told you not to be hostile!"

Puck hesitated, his eyes still locked on the figure before him.

Emilia, though her knees were shaking, stepped forward.

"Puck, it's alright," she said quietly. "Please stand down."

Puck looked at her with hesitation, but after a long second, he gave a reluctant nod. The ice spears dissolved into mist.

The girl—Gloria—rolled her eyes. "Honestly, you people are so jumpy. I get it, my father's other self caused some chaos, but still—this is just rude."

She stepped aside with a slight smirk.

"Come on, Dad. You're up."

And there he was.

The man who had thrown the entire Kingdom into chaos.

The man who had been publicly declared dead.

The man whose body was still preserved in a secret chamber beneath the Royal Castle.

Yet here he stood—alive, breathing, and confident.

Natsuki Subaru.

"Guess it's time for introductions," he said, cracking his neck and raising a single finger into the air with a dramatic flair.

"I am the Great Sage—Natsuki Subaru!"

To be continued...

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chap! Btw, how did you think the fight was?

I know some will be like 'It was absolutely shit you fucking Indian'

No need for that, just go out and save your time. I am a racist towards racists hehe.

For others you can comment, tell me what was your favourite moment of the fight?

I hope you enjoyed the fight, just know by the end Reinhardt's casual attack formed a ravine several miles long and cut through mountains causing multiple landslides and possibly killing a lot of beings.

Man he is such a cheat, tbh Subaru actually had no way other than his Life Sword which was amplified to kill Reinhardt.

If fight had stretched any longer our boi would have dead, salmon.

The other way I see, is Subaru getting the authorities of Wrath and Gluttony, he doesn't have both of them, even his Pride version is a copy.

Now, here is a scaling(Just for fun, this is what I believe if you don't believe it, seriously it is fine)

Reinhardt:

Combat Speed: Supersonic to Massively Supersonic(Before death, was still growing possibly could have reached 1/10th speed of light)

Strength: Skyscraper to small island level(Before death, was still growing possibly could have reached country level, or a small continental level)

Reaction Speed: Mach 10(Base)- Over Mach 100(Base)/ Mach 1000(With dps)[Before death, was still growing possibly could have reached at speed of thunder or even speed of light)

Conceptual level: Planetary level concepts(Could destroy concepts at the level of planets or classified as an world with it's own cosmology however its hierarchy isn't higher than solar system)

Overall combat strength: Small Country level(Physical)~ Continental Level(Physical)/Continental level(Conceptual)~Planetary(Conceptual)

Final Verdicts: He is strong, really strong. In world of Re Zero, he has no equal for a reason, however he isn't omnipotent and his speed isn't high as people think. His inability to literally save people(On multiple circumstances) despite being near them, and dealing with supersonic objects is the proof.

Reina Van Astrea(Subaru's waifu)

Combat Speed: Massively supersonic~Speed of thunder(Evolvable due to her physiology)

Strength: Continental~Planetary(Evolvable due to her physiology)

Reaction Speed: Speed of Thunder(Evolvable, can easily reach FTL)

Conceptual level: Planetary~Star level(Destroyed the entire world of Re Zero, including the entire dimension consisting of all parallel worlds and dimensions with the star that the world orbits in a single hit)

Overall Combat Strength: Star level~Solar system level(Can go much higher if she evolves further, practically she can become Galaxy destroyer with huge effort, and has a chance of becoming Universe level being)

Chapter 8: 7) The only reason

Summary:

How was Subaru able to defeat Reinhardt?

...

{3rd Pov}

There was only one reason why Subaru had been able to kill Reinhardt.

It was because, in the very moment he laid his eyes on the Dragon Sword, he instantly realized that it only contained half the essence when compared to the combined essence of the Yin Sword and the Life Sword currently in his possession.

Now, essence was not just some trivial energy. It was the very thing that determined the power, potential, and capabilities of a legendary sword. It defined their status and effectiveness in combat.

Reinhardt's sword, Reid, originally had eight times the amount of essence compared to the Yin Sword that Subaru had obtained during one of his previous timelines—before dying five separate times.

But after those repeated loops and intense experiences, Subaru had managed to amplify the power of both the Yin Sword and the Life Sword. Their essence levels had increased sixteenfold compared to what they had previously been.

Although it might sound like the swords were just sixteen times stronger in raw power, in reality, it didn't work like that. Essence didn't translate to power on a simple linear scale. Doubling the essence didn't mean doubling the strength of the weapon—it meant the weapon was exponentially more powerful.

In fact, when a weapon's essence was doubled, its strength increased by several multiples. The scaling wasn't basic—it was overwhelming.

Because of that, Subaru's currently empowered Yin Sword was dozens of times more powerful than the previous version of the Yin Sword he had initially acquired. Its strength had surpassed normal limits.

Reina's version of Reid still had more essence than either of his empowered swords individually. That meant that only by using both the Yin Sword and the Life Sword at the same time could Subaru stand a realistic chance of matching her strength in battle.

However, there was an interesting twist to all of this. According to Reina herself, Reid wasn't even that strong when it was originally created. In the old legends, it was said that the Great Sage had somehow enhanced the weapon through mysterious, unknown methods, resulting in the terrifying power it now held.

So when Subaru faced Reinhardt—who wielded a version of the Dragon Sword that was significantly weaker than the one described in the legends—he instantly knew that the man wouldn't be able to stand against his two legendary weapons if he used them properly.

His current Yin Sword alone was more than a dozen times stronger than Reid. And since Reid's strongest known attack had already reached the absolute pinnacle of what the world could handle before it started collapsing—then a weapon more powerful than that could potentially go even beyond such boundaries.

That meant it had enough destructive force to kill Reinhardt.

Permanently.

And it wasn't just about physical destruction. Subaru also had the Life Sword, which held a unique power—the capability to destroy a person's very soul. That ability could bypass, overwhelm, or outright cancel out Reinhardt's absurd resurrection ability, which would normally bring him back from death.

Adding to all this was the fact that Reina's Reid had been empowered by the Great Sage—who, as hinted in several instances, was either Subaru himself from a previous reincarnation or perhaps a future version of him who had traveled back in time. That meant that there was no one left in the world capable of enhancing Reinhardt's version of the sword anymore.

And that was exactly why the battle had been decided the moment Subaru saw Reinhardt's Dragon Sword. The moment he realized its essence was inferior, the victory had been sealed.

After defeating Reinhardt and checking on Beatrice—who had fallen unconscious during the fight—Subaru used the Authority of Greed that he had copied from Echidna. This Authority allowed him access to the memories of the world, a power he intended to use to search for Reina.

The Authority, however, had its limits. It could only be used to search for things that were connected to the user in some way, or for people and places the user had personally seen or experienced.

Luckily for Subaru, he had seen Reina before, so activating the Authority and attempting to locate her didn't present any immediate difficulties.

Subaru leaned against a tree and began resting while activating the Authority. For several hours he poured his attention into the search, diving into the world's memories and scanning through timelines—but he couldn't find her. She wasn't in the present, and he couldn't locate her in the past either, no matter how far back he went.

That's when his worst fear began to take shape. Reina was likely in a completely different timeline.

Subaru, fortunately, had learned the Yggdrasil magic back in his timeline. It was a unique kind of magic capable of traversing across timelines and dimensions. But Reina didn't have any idea about that kind of magic. She wasn't a prodigy when it came to magical talent. She was just… normal.

The thought of her being stranded alone in some unknown timeline, without anyone to guide her, protect her, or even explain what was going on—it made his stomach churn. It filled him with dread.

He wanted to find her. He wanted to bring her back. He wanted to help her, no matter what it took.

But he also knew that rushing things wouldn't help. Jumping from world to world without preparation could put him at even greater risk.

So for now, he made the logical choice. He decided to rest.

Maybe for a few days. Maybe for a full week. Whatever time it took to recover the massive amount of KI and Aura he had expended during the recent battle. He had to be at full power the next time he crossed timelines—ready for anything that might come his way.

He took out the broken remains of the Dragon Sword and stared at it for a moment. Then, he made up his mind.

He would go to Roswaal's mansion.

Thankfully, Sylphy was still around and helped him fly all the way there, sparing him the trouble of travelling on foot.

Once Subaru arrived at Roswaal's mansion and stood before the familiar library where Beatrice usually resided, he took a deep breath and stepped inside. The Great Spirit of Yin awakened within him, and the Beatrice of this timeline—the one native to this world—looked up at the unexpected intruder, clearly annoyed and confused by the sudden presence.

"And who might you be, I suppose?" she asked warily, her tone defensive and eyes narrowing with suspicion.

Before Subaru could answer, Gloria manifested beside him. The moment she appeared, Beatrice's expression shifted into surprise. She could immediately sense that Gloria wasn't an ordinary spirit—she was a Great Spirit as well. This caused Beatrice to become even more alert.

Then, one after another, Subaru's other spirits began to materialize around him. The air grew heavy with spiritual presence, and Beatrice felt the pressure, though she didn't show it outwardly.

"Beatrice, the artificial spirit created by the Witch of Greed—Echidna," Subaru said calmly, addressing her directly. The words hit hard, causing Beatrice to flinch subtly. Her wariness deepened, but at the same time, there was a flicker of curiosity and something close to hope on her face.

'Could he be that person?' she wondered silently, a mix of wonder and unease stirring within her. But then Subaru's next words completely changed the mood.

"I am Natsuki Subaru. The Great Sage from another world—another timeline—a parallel world to this one. And as proof—"

"Impossible," Beatrice said instinctively, her eyes widening in disbelief. But then her gaze fell on the unconscious Beatrice that had manifested in Subaru's hands—Betty from his timeline.

Subaru didn't argue. He simply said, "I need your help."

What followed was a series of surreal but undeniable events.

Beatrice carefully examined her unconscious alternate self, checking for any magical inconsistencies or signs of forgery. After an intense inspection, she was forced to admit that the spirit before her truly was another version of herself. Not a cheap copy, not a magical replica like Meyer, but a real, living version—something only her mother, Echidna, could have possibly created. And yet, even Echidna would've needed specific circumstances to make this possible.

Subaru didn't stop there. He provided several more pieces of evidence—details, memories, magical items, and even behavior that only the true Beatrice would recognize. Reluctantly, but with growing conviction, Beatrice of this world accepted the reality: Subaru truly came from another timeline.

Then he explained everything—how he had been thrown into this parallel world, how Betty had protected him and fallen unconscious, and how he had encountered and ultimately fought Reinhardt. He even explained how he had managed to kill him.

The shattered remains of the Dragon Sword—Reid—served as the irrefutable proof of that encounter.

After listening carefully, Beatrice, who now saw Subaru as the parallel version of her own contractor, agreed to help him. She felt a sense of responsibility and curiosity—wanting to understand more about this version of herself and the man she had once contracted with in another timeline.

Meanwhile, Subaru remained composed, processing the current situation and slowly piecing together just how badly this timeline had deteriorated.

Lugunica was on the verge of economic collapse. The death of Reinhardt had left the kingdom exposed to threats both internal and external. Their most powerful combat forces were gone.

Wilhelm, Julius, Felix, and Reinhardt—every one of them was dead. Even Heinkel, who had somehow received the Divine Protection of the Sword Saint after Reinhardt's fall, was far from being strong enough to defend the kingdom without Reid. Without the Dragon Sword, the protection meant almost nothing.

Subaru saw the situation clearly. He couldn't ignore it.

In the end, he decided to help Emilia and Ram of this world. At the very least, he wanted to prevent the complete collapse of the Kingdom and ensure that innocent people didn't die due to political chaos and lack of defense.

Which brought everything to the current moment.

Subaru wasn't interested in wasting time or talking in circles. He faced Emilia and Ram directly and explained everything in a straightforward manner—his situation, the parallel world, how he had ended up here, the events leading up to his battle with Reinhardt, and how he had killed him.

Once again, the broken Dragon Sword served as undeniable proof.

"T-This is way too much to process…" Emilia murmured, her head spinning. The sheer weight of the information, the unbelievable facts, and the pressure of the situation made it difficult for her to stay composed.

"May I ask… why are you telling us all this?" Ram spoke next. Unlike Emilia, her voice was calm and focused. She was more perceptive and wasn't simply reacting emotionally. Subaru smiled slightly, acknowledging her sharpness.

He then explained his real purpose.

He wanted them to search for Reina in the event that she appeared in this timeline in the distant future. There was a chance—a small but very real possibility—that Reina might be thrown into this world at a later time. Subaru couldn't afford to miss that chance. And since he couldn't stay here indefinitely, he needed someone to act in his stead.

He trusted Emilia.

He knew that if Reina were to arrive here—confused, alone, and vulnerable—Emilia could provide her with safety and support. Until Subaru could return, she would at least have a place and people to rely on.

"Of course," Subaru added, "in return, I will help you." His voice was firm as he looked at them.

Despite everything he had done and said, they still looked at him with cautious eyes.

"Y-You killed the Sword Saint? Why would you do that?" Emilia asked, but instead of addressing the larger implications of the situation, she clung to that single, burning question.

Subaru let out a long, frustrated sigh. His tone turned sharp. "I can't believe how naive you still are, Emilia. Just like always… You're really asking me that question?"

He stepped forward, his eyes burning with raw emotion.

"He almost killed my Betty. He hurt her. He made her cry!" Subaru's voice grew louder with each word, his anger bubbling just beneath the surface. "NO ONE—absolutely NO ONE—gets to do that and walk away."

His words hit like a thunderclap, and the intensity in his voice caused both Emilia and Ram to flinch involuntarily. There was no mistaking the seriousness in his tone. He wasn't just angry—he was furious, and every bit of that fury was justified in his eyes.

Meanwhile, the Beatrice of this timeline—Betty—stood silently nearby, having heard everything. Her heart stirred in ways she didn't expect. Despite herself, she felt a strange longing.

'If only those words were meant for me,' she thought bitterly, glancing at the unconscious Beatrice from Subaru's timeline lying peacefully on the bed.

'How lucky you are,' she thought again, a deep ache forming in her chest.

To be loved like that… to have someone who would defy the Sword Saint himself just to protect you… If someone had loved her like that, she would've devoted herself completely. No hesitation. No holding back.

Emilia, trying to regain her composure, shifted the topic. "What about the people who died in your battle? I heard a dragon was seen in Ivada. That was you, wasn't it?"

Subaru let out a loud, bitter laugh. It wasn't one of amusement, but rather disbelief. Only now did it really hit him how much his own Emilia had matured. Because compared to her, this Emilia—the one in front of him—felt like an immature child trying to play grown-up.

"You're one to talk," Subaru replied sharply, his tone laced with sarcasm. "Should I start listing your hypocrisies?"

He didn't wait for a response. Instead, he smirked and pointed a finger straight at Ram.

"That girl, along with Roswaal, was a major contributor to the Capital's destruction. Don't even try to deny it."

Ram visibly flinched. Her confident mask cracked. She closed her eyes for a moment, and a shadow of guilt crossed her face. She didn't try to argue.

Emilia turned toward her, stunned. Her voice trembled. "No way… Ram? Were you really involved in Roswaal's scheme?"

Ram opened her eyes slowly and nodded. "Yes, Lady Emilia. I am the one who secretly distributed flammable materials throughout the Capital. I followed Roswaal's orders. It was all premeditated. I am responsible for what happened."

Emilia didn't know how to respond. Her heart ached with confusion. Ram had always taken care of her, remained loyal even when others doubted her. Despite maintaining emotional distance, Ram had always been someone Emilia could rely on in times of need.

She knew how much pain Ram carried. She remembered how broken she was after losing Rem. And now this revelation…

Subaru took the silence as his cue to continue. "And next, you'll probably tell me I overreacted—overdid it—just because Betty got hurt. You'll say Reinhardt didn't mean to, that it was all a 'misunderstanding,' and that I should've spared him since Betty is still technically alive."

He smirked darkly.

"Alright then. Here's a little bombshell for you."

He turned to the small cat spirit that had been hovering protectively near Emilia.

"Puck, why don't you explain to her the clause in your contract? The one where you're supposed to destroy the entire world if Emilia were to die. And while you're at it, why don't you also confess how you sealed her memories?"

Emilia's eyes went wide, turning immediately to Puck.

"Puck… is that true?" she asked, her voice trembling. Suspicion, disbelief, and pain mingled in her expression.

Puck's eyes narrowed at Subaru, and he growled low in his throat, but Subaru didn't even blink.

"Oh, and just so you remember," Subaru added casually, "you're threatening a man who killed Reinhardt—the so-called Sword Saint—and happens to be the Great Sage from another timeline. I wouldn't test me if I were you."

"Puck… Answer me," Emilia demanded again, this time firmer. Her heart was thudding in her chest, and her hands were clenched tightly at her sides.

"I… I-I just wanted to protect you, Lia," Puck stammered, visibly distressed. "You were too fragile, too kind for this cruel world. I didn't want you to suffer… I thought sealing the painful memories would keep you safe."

But Emilia wasn't hearing excuses anymore. Her heart was breaking. The person she had trusted more than anyone, who had been with her through so much, had been lying to her all this time. Hiding the truth. Controlling her life under the guise of protection.

She didn't want to believe it. She desperately didn't want to believe it. But the truth was staring her in the face.

Puck's expression turned desperate as he looked at Subaru, almost pleading. "See what you've done?! You're trying to sow discord between me and Lia!"

Subaru scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Me? Sowing discord? No, I'm just telling the truth. You're the one who decided that protecting her meant caging her. You never let her grow. You never let her decide for herself. And let's not forget—you even lied about who killed the Sin Archbishops of Sloth and Greed. It wasn't you, was it? It was the Sin Archbishop of Pride."

Emilia staggered backward, memories flooding her mind. Images she thought had been vague illusions suddenly became clearer.

The image of Pride.

The voice.

"I love you."

Three simple words, spoken so clearly in that moment. His face, the intensity of his eyes as he charged toward her, sacrificing himself willingly—it was all coming back now. It haunted her. It shattered her.

"Lia!" Puck shouted in panic. "You're seriously going to believe this stranger over me? Over someone you've known your whole life?!"

But Emilia was no longer the naive girl Puck had tried to protect. She turned to him with a cold, unwavering gaze.

Her voice was calm, but it carried the weight of betrayal.

"Tell me, Puck… Is it true?"

"Lia! It isn't true! Why would a Sin Archbishop kill his own people?!" Puck snapped back in denial, desperation creeping into his voice.

'Yes, that's right! Why would he—'

"I love you."

"I love you."

"I love you."

"I love you… I love you… I love you… I love you… I love you… I love you…"

Like a haunting lullaby, those final words of the Sin Archbishop of Pride echoed in Emilia's mind, repeating over and over. His voice, the overwhelming intensity in those three simple words, kept replaying—burned into her soul like an irreversible curse.

Because—

"How can a man's last words be a lie?" Emilia muttered under her breath, but the room fell dead silent at her words. Everyone's eyes turned to her.

"He… the Sin Archbishop of Pride told me he loved me. He burned down the Capital. He caused so much pain… but he did it all for me. And you—Puck—I've never once seen you fight against the Witch Cult directly," she said slowly, her voice cracking with the weight of realization. "I can't take any more lies… Please, Puck… just tell me the truth."

Puck's expression crumbled as he looked into her eyes. He saw the pain, the betrayal, the confusion—and knew there was no point in hiding it anymore.

"Fine, Lia…" he said in a defeated tone. "I'll tell you everything."

And so he did.

He explained how part of the contract bound him to destroy the world if Emilia were ever to die, though he couldn't remember when he agreed to such a dangerous condition. He admitted to sealing her memories because watching her cry every night, haunted by her past, was too painful for him to endure. He had wanted to protect her in the only way he thought he could—by hiding the truth.

And finally, he confessed that Roswaal had made a deal with the Sin Archbishop of Pride, and how Puck had silently gone along with it. He never corrected the false narrative that he was the one who had slain the Archbishops of Sloth and Greed. He let Emilia believe it, let her rest easy on a bed of lies.

Each word stabbed into Emilia like a dagger. Her heart ached as the weight of betrayal sank in, each confession heavier than the last. The person she trusted most had built her reality on lies.

Suddenly, Beatrice broke the silence. "I know what Puck did was wrong… unforgivable even. But Spirits aren't humans. They don't think or feel in the exact same way. Puck really does love you, and that love twisted itself into something irrational. It made him act this way."

Emilia took a deep breath, steadying herself. Then she turned her glare to Puck. He flinched, his tail drooping and his ears folding down, sensing the full extent of her disappointment.

"I… I hate everything you've done. All the lies, the manipulation, the betrayal. But—" Emilia's voice cracked, "—you were always there. You stayed by my side. You loved me and protected me, even if it was the wrong way."

"So, I forgive you," she said at last.

Puck's eyes widened. He hadn't expected that. If anything, he had been bracing for her to scream at him—maybe even attack him.

"Lia!" he exclaimed, tears of joy forming. But before he could move closer, Emilia raised a hand to stop him.

"But listen to me, Puck. We're going to revise our contract. Starting now—no more secrets, no more manipulation. If you ever hide something from me again, I will never forgive you."

"I-I understand, Lia. I'm sorry. Truly. I promise I'll never do something like this again!" Puck responded, nodding quickly.

Just then, Subaru clapped his hands together loudly, causing everyone to jump slightly.

"Now that you've finished your little character arc," he said with a smirk, "can we finally get back to the actual reason I'm here?"

He smiled, then added, "I can see that there are still some lingering doubts about what I've told you. That's fine. Let me prove it to you, once and for all."

With a single flicker of power, he teleported them all alongside him to a desolate place—Rem's grave.

Ram froze. "It's sissy's grave, why would you—"

Her body suddenly stopped moving. Her pupils faded into nothingness. She collapsed forward as her life drained away in an instant—dead before she hit the ground.

Before Emilia or Puck could even react or comprehend what had just happened, Subaru calmly stepped forward and caught Ram in his arms. 

And just like that—he resurrected her.

Ram's body jerked slightly. As her eyes flew open, a horn burst forth from her forehead, glowing with raw power. Mana surged around her like a vortex, being pulled in violently from the surrounding air. A vacuum of energy formed as her body healed itself, restoring her to a state of perfection.

She gasped loudly as she came back to life, eyes wide in disbelief.

Subaru stepped back, letting her stand on her own. He spoke again, his tone calm but firm. "I possess the ability to both kill and resurrect anyone I choose. It's a byproduct of a Authority. Anyone I bring back returns to their perfect state—stronger, faster, healthier."

Gasps of disbelief came from both Emilia and Puck, still trying to process what they had just witnessed.

"I'm going to resurrect Rem here and now," Subaru continued. "It's not just to prove myself—it's also because I need something in return. I want all of you, especially Ram, to sign a contract to serve Emilia. And if Reina ever appears in this timeline, I want you to find her, explain everything, and give her a safe place to stay. I might not be able to stay here forever. She'll need someone."

Without hesitation, Ram responded, "I agree!"

Subaru smiled. With another burst of energy, he directed his power at Rem's grave. From the skeletal remains, Rem's body slowly began to reconstruct itself. Muscle, nerves, organs, skin—all of it regenerated right before their eyes.

It was miraculous.

"Sissy!" Ram cried out, rushing to hug the unconscious Rem, tears streaming down her face. She rubbed her cheeks against Rem's, holding her like she never wanted to let go.

Her sister was alive again.

Her heart was beating.

Ram made a vow to herself in that moment—this time, no matter what happened, she would protect her sissy.

No matter the cost.

Emilia was left speechless. The raw power she had just witnessed was beyond comprehension. Even Puck could only sigh, finally understanding the depth of Subaru's capabilities.

Subaru turned to Emilia and spoke softly. "So, do you trust me now? You know… the situation I'm in right now is actually kind of similar to yours."

Emilia blinked, surprised. "What do you mean?"

"You were hated because you resembled the Witch of Envy. People saw your face and instantly feared or rejected you. And now… because I look like the Sin Archbishop of Pride, I'm being treated the same way."

He paused, then added, "Yeah, technically we are the same person in a roundabout, twisted way. But I'm also the Great Sage."

Emilia flinched, guilt washing over her as she realized how unfairly she had judged him.

"You're right," she admitted quietly. "My behavior was unworthy. Considering how you've helped me… and what you've shown me today… I apologize. Thank you for everything."

She bowed deeply, offering a genuine sign of respect and remorse.

They believed him now.

...

A few days passed. During that time, his Beatrice finally woke up, and Subaru had already finished creating the Magic Circle required for traveling to another world.

After having a long discussion with her, Subaru learned something important—Reina had fallen into the swirling space-time before he did. Based on the analysis of their timeline coordinates, which had been recorded as imaginary seven, they deduced that Reina could have ended up in any one of the six timelines that came before their current one.

That discovery gave Subaru a huge amount of hope. With that information in hand, he made his decision. He would travel through those six timelines one by one to search for Reina. If, after all that effort, he still failed to find her, then he would return to his original timeline and try to develop or discover a different method to locate her.

He also finally understood why he had lost consciousness during his previous time-travel. His supersenses—which were highly enhanced to begin with—had overloaded with information due to the chaotic nature of swirling space-time. The endless, incomprehensible data had crashed into his mind all at once.

The only known solution was to suppress or weaken his senses as much as possible during the travel process, allowing him to maintain consciousness next time.

With that problem noted and resolved, Subaru proceeded to search this world for Legendary Weapons. To his surprise, he managed to find the Life Sword and the Yin Sword of this timeline.

Unfortunately, his Authority of the Memories of the World couldn't help him locate the other Legendary Weapons, because he had never seen them with his own eyes. Without that personal experience, the Authority couldn't reference or trace their locations.

He did consider fusing these swords with the ones he already had. Since all versions of the swords shared the same essence, fusion would have been possible and would've enhanced their power. However, Subaru chose a different path.

He gave the swords away instead.

The Life Sword was entrusted to Ram, while the Yin Sword was handed over to Emilia. Despite neither of them having a specific magical affinity aligned with the weapons, it didn't restrict their ability to use them. Sure, having a matching affinity would provide some perks and advantages, but it wasn't a necessity.

Subaru's decision was partially inspired by a past incident in another timeline—the 'Revenge If' world—where his alternate self had successfully used the Life Sword to kill Petelgeuse, proving that affinity wasn't an absolute requirement.

As Subaru continued preparing for some tests with the Magic Circle, an unexpected event occurred between the two Beatrices—his own Beatrice, and the Beatrice of this world.

Apparently, when his Betty tried to explain the truth to this world's Beatrice—that the person she had been waiting for over 400 years didn't actually exist—it triggered an emotional meltdown.

Beatrice of this world snapped.

"Shut up! What do you know?!" she screamed, her voice shaking with emotion. "You think you have the right to say that to me, when you have him?!"

She pointed directly at Subaru, her expression filled with frustration, sadness, and envy.

"You have a contractor who loves you! Someone who doesn't give up on you! He fought the Sword Saint—and killed him—because he hurt you!" she shouted.

The words hit Betty hard. She was left stunned, standing frozen as the emotional weight settled on her. In that moment, she fully understood—this Beatrice was jealous of her.

The Beatrice of this world broke down, her voice shaking as tears rolled down her face.

"Why don't I have someone like that? Why does your version of Beatrice get to have everything?! Why am I the one who's left alone, waiting endlessly for someone who was never going to come?!"

Her shoulders shook violently as she sobbed, venting centuries of loneliness and hopelessness in front of them.

Subaru let out a deep sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He honestly didn't know what to do.

This situation was complicated. He couldn't just offer a solution and pretend it would be fine. It was clear that Beatrice of this timeline had been suffering for far too long, clinging to a belief that was nothing more than a cruel fabrication.

He couldn't possibly make a contract with this world's Beatrice as well… right?

"I know… I know exactly how it feels," Betty said as she slowly walked toward her counterpart.

"For four hundred years, I stood guard over the Forbidden Library. Just like you, I was waiting for 'that person.' That's exactly why… that's why I want you to understand! I want you to stop waiting for someone who may never come! I want you to leave this stupid library behind! Step outside! And—choose someone! Someone who will become your 'That person'—no, someone better than the one who kept you waiting for four hundred years!!" Betty shouted, her voice filled with raw emotion.

Beatrice froze in place, staring at Betty. Then her eyes slowly shifted toward Subaru.

He met her gaze and gave her a calm nod.

Subaru's eyes had remained golden ever since his battle with Reinhardt. Everyone of Subaru's spirits had noticed the change, yet none of them cared much about it—because they didn't need to. 

They just told him he looked more dashing with golden eyes.

He wanted her to choose someone who would love her unconditionally—no matter how she changed, no matter how long it took.

"I know it won't be easy. In fact, it'll be difficult and completely unfair. You'll meet people who only want to use you, manipulate you… but I believe you'll find someone. Someone who'll love you for who you truly are," Subaru said, his voice calm and sincere.

Betty stepped forward and embraced Beatrice. The two stayed like that for a long moment, no words exchanged—just the comfort of presence.

After that, Beatrice didn't say anything. But from the very next day, she started dining with the rest of them.

Rem, who had finally regained consciousness, was still struggling to adjust. Two entire years had passed since her death, and so much had changed during that time.

At first, she couldn't suppress her instincts. She attempted to attack Subaru due to the overwhelming Witch's scent clinging to him. However, Ram firmly scolded her, and as things settled down, Rem slowly began to realize how misplaced and unjustified her hatred had been.

The very man she lashed out at—he had saved her sister. He had brought her back from the dead.

How could someone like that be evil, just because he carried the Witch's scent?

Meanwhile, Subaru focused all his attention on further tests with the time-travel mechanics involving Yggdrasil magic. When he decided a marked block to be sent into the past, an identical block appeared before him—confirming that the spell had worked.

Then, he sent the block into the past again, which returned to become the current block.

After that, he repeated the experiment by sending a block into the future—it reappeared a few hours later, right where expected.

Finally, he wrote a letter and sent it across timelines, directing it to Echidna's workshop in his original world.

For a while, there was no response.

But eventually, a reply came through.

Echidna had received his letter and assured him that, now knowing he was safe, they could finally breathe a sigh of relief. She agreed with his plan to travel across the remaining six timelines in search of Reina before returning home.

In the meantime, she promised to continue refining the Yggdrasil magic and to investigate alternative methods to track Reina, in case Subaru's efforts didn't succeed.

A heavy weight lifted from Subaru's heart. With that reassurance, he could now fully dedicate himself to rescuing Reina.

After a few more successful tests, it was time to say goodbye to Emilia.

She was preparing to be officially crowned as queen. To support her in the future, Subaru compiled and gave her several notebooks—guides filled with knowledge and strategy. They covered everything from royal governance to Witch Cult subjugation, even advice on how to manage the political fallout from Reinhardt's and the Sin Archbishop of Pride's deaths.

Everything she would need, he had written down.

Now, all preparations were complete.

Subaru packed the broken Reid Sword with him. His plan was to eventually reforge it into a powerful weapon for Gloria in the future.

Standing together on the magic circle, ready to leave, Subaru gave everyone final instructions.

He had already warned Emilia and the others—under no circumstances were they to activate the circle once he and his companions were gone.

"Alright, girls, time to get inside my soul space," Subaru said calmly.

One by one, his contracted spirits disappeared into his soul space.

Subaru then began suppressing his senses—deactivating his Psychic and Aura Sense abilities.

He shut his eyes and used his control over Ki to dull his remaining senses. That was the only way to survive time travel without falling unconscious.

Finally, he activated the magic circle.

A brilliant light engulfed him.

And just like that, Subaru and his companions vanished from that world.

To be continued…

https://discord.gg/uKFx4nbw

Notes:

This marks the end of this arc, man just seven chaps and nearly 30k words. It seems a bit short.
However there is nothing much to do anymore, now there are a few things I would like to say.
First the Great Sage Subaru is from a fic, and it is my own fic. Re Zero: The Great Sage.
First four chaps are unedited here, I will edit them within a few weeks and give you notice.
Also the story of the Great Sage hasn't ended, if you want to see which timeline he visits next you can stay tuned!
Lastly, there is also a chance that I might upload a few more chaps on this timeline.
For that I will let the chapters of this story be unknown, once we have passed the point where it is possible for this timeline to appear again, i will officially end this fic.
You can read the fic from beginning, or if you are just invested in multiversal travel part you can read out the consecutive separate fics.
These chaps will also be uploaded on the main fic.
Also, get ready! We are going to another and more interesting timelines!
Currently I am writing the fourth timeline! If you want to read in advance and support me!
You can join discord and then you will know what to do!
Xb47VnFUpQ

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 2 of Re Zero: The Great Sage