CANON ARC 5 SPOILERS, ONCE AGAIN.
"Barusu, are you alright?" Subaru grabbed his head, sitting back in thought. "Wh-what the hell just happened?!" Subaru sat in silence, Ram grabbing his hand tighter in worry. To Subaru, there was no one remotely near him that could have killed him, as far as he knew. Could it have something to do with what Reinhard said?
Reinhard darted toward Sirius, seeing an opening after she deflected an attack with the chains attached to her. His blade sliced through Sirius' neck smoothly, making blood splatter all over the ground. Her bandages were stained red, and as she collapsed Reinhard blurted something out in shock "This isn't good!"
Those were the last words he could recall before his life came to an abrupt end. "There's no way my death was intentionally caused by Reinhard..." Knowing Reinhard, he was far too nice of a person a thing such as killing Subaru. They were on great terms as well.
Before Subaru was able to finish his train of thought, a worried voice called to him. "Barusu?" Subaru immediately responds, and buries his face in her cloak once again.
"Y-yeah I'm fine." He stutters, with a couple of tears running down her cloak. In her usual scoffing tone, she gripped his hand tighter. "Stop worrying me so much, pathetic Barusu." Subaru smiled slightly, being relieved to hear her usual tone of voice she spoke to him with.
After regaining his composure, he spoke to Ram, along with the people by the carriage. "We need to hurry to Priestella, now!" Confused, Ram asked. "What for?" Subaru shook his head, explaining. "I don't know what they're planning, but they are still Sin Archbishops. We have to get there as soon as possible!" Ram nodded quickly. "If you insist, then I suppose I have no choice either."
Subaru set his gaze to Otto, who was by the land dragon, talking with Frederica. "Sorry about this, Otto." Subaru thought to himself, while slightly cringing. "Otto, is the carriage ready?" Otto looked over to Subaru with a dumbfounded look on his face."What's the rush for, Mister Natsuki?" He then motioned his hand toward Frederica, giving Subaru a sign that yells "I'm trying to have some time with her right now!" Subaru gave him a slight frown.
"We have to get to those Sin Archbishops and stop them as soon as possible!" Subaru put his hands together, giving him a signal for his sorrys. Otto then scratched the back of his head with a sad look on his face, as Frederica hugged Otto from behind. She then whispered something into his ear, making him blush. Otto's expression was priceless, Subaru could not hold back from having a small laugh.
Otto went to take their supplies, and the condition of the land dragon. "Subaru, do you know anything about the person we're fighting?" Reinhard approached Subaru while Otto was preparing the carriage. Scratching his head, Subaru started to talk about Sirius' power. "I don't know anything about Lust, but I think Wrath might have some sort of ability to make people suddenly calm."
Reinhard squinted his eyes, putting his hand across his chin. "Well that's troublesome. How do you know that Wrath will be here?" Subaru's eyes widen slightly, his heart rate picking up. "Shit." Subaru came to realize that Reinhard was not informed about Sirius yet, and what he just explained was strangely suspicious to Reinhard.
"I-it's just a guess. Since there's one Sin Archbishop there I think it would be safe to assume there would be others." Subaru scratched the back of his head with a smile. Reinhard then gave him a reassuring smirk. "I see. How do you suppose we combat this ability of Wrath's?" Subaru looked around in thought to no avail.
"That I don't know, but we have to get there before they can cause any harm!" Subaru said with a determined tone in his voice. Almost immediately after his statement, Otto called out for him. Perfect timing indeed."Mister Natsuki! The ground dragon is ready!" Subaru whipped around to Otto with a grin on his face. "Great!" He flashed a toothy smile, as Reinhard began to walk toward the carriage.
"Let's go, Ram." Subaru said while boarding the carriage. Ram pouted, as she looked at him. "Pervert." Subaru came to the realization that his cheery mood, to Ram, seemed to be caused by the thought of her sitting on his lap. Subaru knew Ram had no problem with sitting on his lap, Rem also wouldn't care that Ram is sitting on his lap. He was convinced that Rem liked him too after what had happened in the previous loop, with her holding his hand so tightly during Sirius' speech about love.
Contradictory to her statement, Ram jumped on Subaru's lap in the passenger seat once again. He smirked as Otto pouted, looking at him straight in the eyes. " 'You interrupted my time with Frederica, AND now you're doing that next to me with Ram?!' Is what he must be thinking..." Subaru thought, whispering to Otto. "I'll pay you back, and that's a promise." Otto, being slightly unsatisfied by Subaru's briefness
Subaru gripped Ram tightly. He was afraid that he would die again. He couldn't die. He wouldn't. Although he was not sure how, he knew he was going to try his hardest to make it through this loop. With a determined smile on his face, he shouted in his mind. "I'll do everything in my power to kill that bastard Sirius!"
Subaru was confident that he could kill Sirius this time. However, knowing himself, would his pride be of any use in a fight like this? Subaru, himself, is very weak, by far the weakest out of everyone in the carriage. Despite being able to do magic due to his contract with Beatrice, everyone else had some aspect or aspects that overpower his. Sirius had an ability to control emotions, so how would any of them fight Sirius?
The last hope was Reinhard. Subaru had been a witness to Reinhard's power, he knew Reinhard could definitely take anyone on and be guaranteed victory. "There's no way we can lose again with Reinhard, right?" Subaru could only put his mind at ease, until the moment comes to see who wins.
There's also Julius, a master at wielding a sword. He wasn't quite as strong as Reinhard but that is no excuse to put aside the brilliance of his swordsmanship combined with his usage of spiritual arts. In fact, he was of the most help besides Reinhard and Emilia.
The rest, who were Ram, Rem, and Beatrice never really aided him much. Beatrice had attempted to save Subaru after he killed himself in a previous loop, and when Ram choked him to death in another. However, she was unsuccessful. Setting his mind just again, he could not let anyone die. However, he did not want to experience the pain of death once again. Even though he had died so many times, he was still not used to it at all.
"Mister Natsuki, are you alright? You seem to be dozing off." Subaru opened his eyes, once again leaning his head against Ram's back. He was lost in thought, thinking about everyone who he considered his closest allies, so much so that time flew by. They were about to arrive at the bridge to Priestella once again, only to meet Sirius. Subaru inhaled, and let out a long, controlled exhale.
"How long until we get there?" Subaru turned to Otto in question. "A few minutes, however we will need to pass through the gates if they haven't taken everything over yet." Subaru looked into the distance, and started seeing the horizon flatten, with no sign of trees anywhere. They were passing through the bridge once again.. However, Sirius was not there, contrary to his first loop. Dumbfounded, Subaru sat with widened eyes as the carriage headed towards Priestella..
He stared into the vast, clear water of the lake. Everyone in the carriage took the time to peek out of the windows to gaze into the endless water. Subaru looked ahead, seeing the familiar island-like city, standing in the middle of the lake. He clenched his fists tightly. He knew that Sirius was a rather formidable opponent to deal with, knowing her now.
Subaru stared at the city, getting closer and closer. Suddenly, Subaru's eyes caught something. He saw a familiar bandaged figure standing in their way, about 2 blocks away from the gates. The carriage came to an abrupt halt as Otto peeked around to get a good look at the person standing before them.
"Oh? And what might you people be doing?" The bandaged figure smiled at the group, while looking straight at Subaru. "You again..." Subaru clenched his fists slightly, holding back any words. Rem was about to speak, however, Reinhard put his arm in front of her, getting up.
"Subaru, Is this the Wrath you were talking about?" Subaru looked up at Reinhard, nodding and whispering, "Yeah. Be careful, this woman is no easy opponent to deal with." Reinhard took another look at the bandaged woman, and looked back at Subaru. "I can't draw my sword against her. I will have to use other means of combat."
Subaru nodded as he remembered, "So that's why he had a different sword last time..." Thinking back to the last loop, Reinhard had been wielding a separate sword, and still managed to very easily decapitate Sirius. That was a testament of his incredible power. Rem finally had the chance to speak, as she quickly got up and asked, clenching her fists.
"Who are you?!" Being a reasonable distance from Sirius, Subaru assumed that her ability had a small range, considering they were way closer to her in the last loop. "W-wait..." Subaru was struck with a sudden thought. He had to have died to Sirius, but how?
"Right before my death, Sirius was decapitated... Hold on, since she can transmit her emotions-- this means.. s-she has the power to transmit death too?!" Subaru's eyes widened, as he gasped slightly to the sudden realization. Knowing it was most likely too late to do anything with this information, all he could do is watch the situation play out.
Coming back to his senses, Subaru sees that Sirius had suddenly gotten closer to their carriage. "You there, could you please calm your anger?" She pointed to Rem, who was standing by the carriage with clenched fists. In an instant, she had gotten calm. Along with the sudden mood swing, she started looking at Sirius with a confused expression.
Sirius saw her expression and once again regained her smile. "Ah, that's right, I haven't introduced myself! I do truly apologize for taking your time so I will make this very brief. I am the Witch Cult's Sin Archbishop of Wrath, I am called Sirius Romanee-Conti." Suddenly, everyone in and around the carriage loosened up once again. Hearing Sirius' title must have made everyone tense. "Damn it! That was smart!" Subaru thought. He, however, remained calm, trying not to show any sign of anger or malice in order to keep control of his conscience.
"What if we kill her painlessl- wait no, that wouldn't work. Hold on, what if we have Reinhard fight her alone? Yeah, that will definitely work!" Subaru came up with a sudden resolution to the situation, easing his mind along with it. However, how would they execute this idea at a time like this?
"Would you people mind coming over here for a little?" With a smile on her face, Sirius motioned everyone to follow her. "Sure." Rem said calmly. Beatrice, Julius, Otto, Ram, and Emilia all dismounted the carriage. Reinhard looked over to Subaru with a straight look on his face, letting him know that he was completely immune to Sirius' power. Subaru and Julius pretended to be brainwashed along with the group, following them along with Sirius.
Sirius had brung the group to the same place, only to see the same crowd as they did in the last loop. Rem looked around almost in sync with everyone else. "What is this place?" She said in a monotone voice. Ram then spoke to Subaru, who was by his side. "Barusu, where did this person bring us to?" Subaru inhaled, thinking of a way to respond without raising suspicion that he was still conscious.
"I'm pretty sure this is the city called Pries-" Subaru was going to finish his sentence, but Sirius suddenly interrupted. "Alright! That's enough!" She clapped her hands together, as Subaru looked to his left. Once again, Reinhard had slowly distanced himself from the group. Subaru redirected his attention to Sirius.
"Huh?" Everyone fell silent, as Sirius clapped her hands together once again. "Everyone took 43 seconds to fall quiet. However, thank you all for your attention. I'm very happy. In additi--" Suddenly, Sirius' eyes fell on Emilia, stopping her sentence. Sirius looked at Emilia with disturbingly widened eyes.
Suddenly, the crowd whipped around to look at Emilia with the same expression as Sirius. Subaru whipped around in semi-unison, as everyone's expressions fell into anger. Subaru tried to replicate the look the best he could. "Huh? Did I do something wrong?" Emilia was not in anger, it seemed that Sirius had let her go from the emotional possession. Emilia had a worried and confused look on her face,
Suddenly, Sirius jumped at Emilia with nothing but anger in her eyes. The crowd then ran toward her. This showed that Sirius' ability alone was no joke, let alone her chains that Subaru saw emit flames in the last loop. Suddenly, the crowd started to speak out.
"It stinks. It stinks. It stinks. It stinks. It stinks. It stinks. stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks, stinks." The crowd said in perfect unison with an angered chant.
Sirius clearly had an immense amount of hatred toward Emilia, whether it be her resemblance to the infamous Witch of Envy, or something else. It couldn't be though. Wasn't Sirius part of the Witch's Cult? Why would she hate the Witch of Envy, the person who the cult worships?
"Disgusting!! The stench of that woman, absolutely filthy, the stench of the woman who took my husband away from me, the stench of maggots, endless filth. Hate, I hate it so much, burning it to ash isn't enough."
Subaru gasped at the sudden realization "Wait, her husband? Was Betelgeuse her husband?! Well that explains her surname then..." Subaru was in shock, but now was not the time to stand around thinking about the possibilities of their past.
"W-what's happening?!" Subaru shouted as the crowd began to chant and scream, running toward Emilia. "And that other woman, she's obviously not that person, but she has such a similar stench to her, how shameless, the stench of rotting insects, ah, ah, ah ah aaAAAAAAH! How hateful! How rancid! How wicked!"
Emilia began to tear up as she started to back up. "H-huh? I don't know what you're talking about!" Emilia's very presence overflowed Sirius with sheer anger. This was rage that Subaru had never seen before in her, at least from his last loop. Even during her fight with Reinhard, she was calm.
Sirius, with nothing but rage in her eyes, screamed out at the now worried Emilia. "Are you testing the love for my husband, spirit?! Was taking my husband from me not enough to satisfy you, YOU HALF HALF-WITCH BITCH!!?" Subaru's eyes widened at her words as Sirius took no hesitation to leap forward.
Subaru knew that Sirius would kill Emilia, however, it was almost inevitable that if he tried intervening, he would be swept away with her ability. Bringing her chains toward Emilia, flames erupted, shooting out of them and were bound to hit Emilia. Suddenly...
"Stay away from my daughter."
Puck had an evil grin on his face as he unleashed several ice crystals at Sirius, none of which hitting her. However, he at the very least delayed Emilia's death if nothing else. "How could I have forgotten about Puck?!" Subaru questioned himself. It seems that Puck and Emilia were excluded from the people Sirius transmitted her emotions to. Let alone that her ability might not have even had any effect on Puck.
"I! Am the Witch Cult's Sin Archbishop of Wrath!! You dare test me?!" Sirius laughed, as she continued to lash her chains at Emilia, flames gushing every which way. Some even reached the crowd and scorched some of the people. The smell emitted by the charcoal corpses was unbearable. Subaru plugged his nose, watching the scene before him.
Sirius kept launching attacks, most of which were blocked by Puck's quick thinking. Suddenly, Sirius' chains began to shoot flames out at rapid speeds. "-Sirius Romanee-Conti!! Damn half-elf and spirit, I'll burn your corpses and spread your ashes on to husband's tomb!!"
"What's up with her? She's not the same as before..." Subaru was confused at Sirius' sudden outlash. Subaru, however, still felt slightly calm. Was she controlling his emotions this entire time?
Pure rage kept pouring into Sirius for the two standing before her, Emilia and Puck. Puck was struggling to even defend against her flame attacks but he was managing, however it wouldn't be very long before the two were reduced to cinder.
"I could keep burning you, but it would never be enough... like maggots, like flies. Haha, how much do you hate me!? Even in my most depressed days, am I not allowed the privilege of mourning?" Sirius' words were rage, distraught, and sorrow filled. Emilia was trembling as Puck was dashing here and there, blocking the insane amount of attacks being hauled at them. "...I-I don't know what you're talking about?" Emilia stepped back in fear and confusion.
"If you feel angry at me, I'll hear you out. After all, the sudden provocation came from us, so of course you'd be angry. However, this has nothing to do with the other people here. Please let them go!" Emilia shouted, however, Sirius did not have any of it. "That's the wrong attitude! If you want to let everyone go, do it right! Of course I'll be angry? Then show me the correct attitude! Apologize, repent, cry and beg for forgiveness, then let me shoot flames into you and burn your internal organs away!"
Emilia knew it wasn't that long until she was reduced to ash, however she knew she couldn't fight much. She decided to remain calm. Subaru, seeing this, was surprised by her attitude. He never knew she was this mentally strong when it came to the face of possible death -- Well, almost guaranteed death.
"Having my organs burned would be troublesome. So, let's settle this." Emilia then raised her hand, and summoned crystals, which were sent to Sirius. However, the crystals failed to hit her. Puck was being overwhelmed the amount of magic he had to use to defend Emilia from being burnt alive, and it wasn't long before he had to go back to his crystal.
A yawn rang through Emilia's ears. Immediately recognizing it, she shouted in worry. "P-Puck?!" Puck started to turn transparent "Sorry Lia, I can't go on for any longer. If it comes down to it, I will act according to our contract, alright?" Puck proceeded to fade into nothing, returning to the pendant hanging from Emilia's neck.
This was it. This was the end. With her strength alone, she would not be able to deal with Sirius. Tears freely flew down her cheeks as Sirius yelled at the top of her lungs. "HALF HALF-WITCH BITCH!!" Subaru screamed. "Mili!"
Anger once again spewed from Sirius, it was just as intense as the flames she was directing towards Emilia. Suddenly, Emilia's body was lit on fire as she couldn't react fast enough to Sirius' chains. Emilia screamed in agony, as he skin began melting away. Subaru witnessed the intense speed of her burning, and looked at her face one last time. Collapsing to the ground, an eye hung from her socket, her skin reducing to a hot, wax like liquid, along with her blood.
This image would forever be engraved in Subaru's mind, as tears began to roll down his cheeks. He fell to his knees, distraught at the scene and image he had just witnessed. Subaru then began to feel a hot sensation. Looking down to his knee, it was engulfed in flames. Suddenly, the crowd erupted in painful screams and cries. Subaru collapsed fully onto the ground, rolling around in unbearable pain. "-AAAAAAAAA!"
Hearing the intense agony and crying from the people he held dearest to his heart, his eyes laid on Rem, who was also engulfed in flames. She crawled to Subaru, as she screamed. "S-su-bar-u, I l-ov-e y-" Her words were cut off, as Subaru's vision faded to black.
"I love you."
Subaru sat in the dark, damp void once again. Looking up, Subaru saw a figure surrounded in darkness standing in front of him. He tried to reach out to it, but he couldn't move an inch. He saw the familiar purple hand reach out for him to bring him back to his last save point. While this is happening, Subaru thinks back and remembers this happened once before.
"W-who is that girl?" His thoughts were once again interrupted by the person he loves the most.
"Barusu, are you alright?"
To be continued