A Random in Re:Zero

Loop 5 - Part 25

I wanted to kick him in the legs, but he jumped behind me and stabbed me in the shoulder.

"We don't know anything about you, but you somehow managed to take down Sloth! You're sure to be a delicious and innovative dish!"

"Get away, you fucking piece of shit!"

I elbowed him in the chest, causing him to step back, laughing. My frustration only increased with each passing second: I knew Lye didn't take me seriously and could subdue me whenever he wanted.

"I know this is a battle I can't win! But I'm not going to give up! Maybe I can buy some time until someone arrives!"

I continued to give it my all, pretending I still had hope of defeating him; after all, that was what he wanted. Lye was trying to break my will, to drive me to despair.

Once he had me cornered and my morale was down, he would torture me to get my name.

"Your determination fascinates us! You're definitely worthy of being eaten!"

At some point, I let my guard down and received a kick to the torso that threw me back into the air. I landed hard on the ground, running out of air.

"Now I regret not bringing anyone, but how could I have imagined this guy would come?"

I ran toward the cave sticking out of the ground to hide, but my enemy was too fast. He kicked me in the back, and I rolled as I fell.

I couldn't even recover this time. Lye caught me and started slamming me into the ground. Too stunned to defend myself, I felt his knives digging into my body and tearing me apart.

Desperate, I threw my daggers at his body, but the metal bounced off his skin like rubber. I tried to cast a spell, but he broke my arms and legs, rendering any attempt at resistance useless.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

My broken bones pierced my flesh, the pain so intense I couldn't think of anything else. Lye was laughing like crazy and shook me violently.

"That's it! The pain, the fear, the agony! Those emotions are so delicious!"

The blood loss was making me feel nauseous and dizzy. Lye's face distorted in my vision, resembling a demon eager to devour my soul.

I couldn't stand it anymore. I wanted to die already, but I also wanted to skin that son of a bitch alive.

"Your name, tell us your name! Let us taste it!"

I couldn't even faint. I had to feel all the pain, all the humiliation, the fear, and the nagging helplessness of being weaker than my enemy. It was just too unfair.

As life left my body, the world flickered: strange images and sounds began to overlap reality. Petelgeuse's voice emerged from within me, laughing loudly.

He made fun of me for being so weak, so pathetic, so lazy.

"You are unworthy! You don't deserve this power! You don't deserve this love!"

It must have been a hallucination, a reflection of my mind trying to motivate me, reproaching me for my lack of strength. Ironically, my entire being was struggling to survive when I'd lost the will to fight.

"You can't even think of the obvious solution. I was wrong when I assumed you were Pride. You really are Sloth!"

"Ah."

That was the key.

Subaru couldn't have done it. Perhaps because he hated Petelgeuse to death, perhaps because the laziness factor required exerting a great deal of mental strength, or simply because the author refused to give him that much of an advantage.