Chapter Text
…
Subaru, injured and exhausted from a fight with the Archbishop of Gluttony, Roy Alphard, dragged himself through the flooded plaza.
He saw silver hair catching the sunlight. Emilia.
"Emilia-tan!" Subaru gasped, his voice cracking with sheer relief. He stumbled forward, reaching out to her. "I'm so glad you're safe. Where’s Garf and Beako? we need to regroup- "
Emilia turned. Her beautiful amethyst eyes, usually so warm and full of fondness, still wearing the ruined wedding dress from greed, looked at him ... .She took a subtle, defensive step back.
..
"I... I am unharmed, thank you," Emilia said, her voice perfectly polite, yet distant. "But forgive me. How do you know my name? Are you a citizen of this city?"
Subaru froze. The air left his lungs. "Emilia... it's me. Subaru. Natsuki Subaru. Your knight?" confused
" My knight? " Emilia’s brow furrowed in genuine confusion. "I don't have a knight. Puck is my only family. Please, sir, the city is under attack. You should seek shelter."
Before Subaru could even process the absolute horror of her words… Subaru took a subtle step back, ‘ N-No! This is- ‘ subaru’s sudden realization, something flashed in his mind, remembering what happened moments ago
[ FLASHBACK ]
Emilia was busy dealing with the weakened Archbishop of Greed after dealing with its last piece of his heart.
Subaru who was now Alone, far away in the distance. watching regulus downfall was suddenly ambushed by the Archbishop of Gluttony Roy Alphard
During the battle between Subaru and Gluttony.
Roy Alphard who suddenly ran away muttered, “ Natsuki Subaru “ licking his hand in the process…
Subaru suddenly felt something break within him
“ It's a shame, it was supposed to be a quick kill tsu~ I guess I'll give you a parting gift this time "
disappearing instantly right after..
[ Flashback Ends ]
Subaru Clenched his fist with an angered look on his face “ E-Emilia, I- “ tried to explain something but was suddenly cut off-
The space beside Emilia warped. Beatrice materialized, floating down, standing in front of the half-elf.
" .. "
"Beako!" Subaru dropped to his knees touching the cold , reaching for her. "Beako, tell her! The contract- "
Beatrice slapped his hand away.
The physical sting was nothing compared to the look of cold, hostility on the Great Spirit's face.
"Do not touch Betty casually," Beatrice coldly warned.
..
“ … “ She clutched her dress, looking at her own chest with a profound, unsettled confusion. " Betty feels... an empty space. A severed connection. Who are you, I suppose? And why do you look at Betty with such familiarity? "
Subaru couldn't speak. He was drowning in his own panic. He looked frantically around the plaza,
spotting figures closing in the distance
..
two purple haired figures arrived at the scene. Julius Juukulius and Anastasia Hoshin approached
Subaru scrambled to his feet. " Julius! Anastasia! Thank God! G-Gluttony is here that bastard ate my name! You have to remember me right! " pleaded hoping it would be change the current situation he was in
[ silence ]
..
Anastasia ( Eridna ) analyzes the boy, Julius stepping between Subaru and Emilia, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. The Finest Knight looked at Subaru not as a friend, but as a completely unknown, unhinged variable in a warzone. "Citizen you speak of Archbishops and stolen names, yet I have never seen your face in my life."
“ Back up i suppose, this person reeks of miasma in fact ” Beatrice spoke with a suspicion tone
Emilia narrowed her amethyst eyes.
" B-Beatrice? "
“ The Witch, infact “
Emilia horrified after that statement
" T-The Witch of Envy? " Julius with a horrified expression on his face questioned the great spirit
….
Emilia “ B-but he doesn't look like a threat though.. " her brow narrowed, analyzing the boy once more in front of her,
“ it could- “
Julius took a heavy step forward. " I understand, though great spirit sama we mustn't take risks, we wouldn't know if the person is innocent or not. “ The Spirit Knight Julius Juukulius concluded
Julius Spoke and Ordered
“ You are under arrest in suspicion of connection to the witch cult “
Subaru wavered and took a step back
‘ Ah ‘ Subaru stood completely alone in the center of the plaza, surrounded by the people he loved and called as friends, all looking at him as if he were a monster.
' Gluttony '
The realization clicked into place. Roy Alphard, he had eaten his very existence from the world.
Subaru looked at Emilia. She was looking at him with fear.
‘ I can fix this ’ Subaru thought, his mind thought of one thing,
Return by Death
‘ I just have to go back. I have to go back before I fight Gluttony.. I can keep my name. ‘
" I'm sorry " Subaru whispered while wet tears dripped down his face. " I'll fix it. I promise I'll fix it, Emilia. "
Before Julius could draw his sword, before anyone could lunge, Subaru turned and sprinted toward the edge of the ruined plaza. He didn't hesitate. He threw himself entirely over the shattered stone railing, plunging into the deep, churning floodwaters of Priestella's main canal.
He let the dark, freezing water fill his lungs. He embraced the agonizing pain, suffocating in darkness, waiting for the familiar, cold rewind of time.
…
Subaru gasped, his eyes snapping open while clutching his neck, his knees touching the cold hard, violently coughing.
‘ I'm back ‘, he thought, frantically stood back up, his heart hammering against his ribs.
‘ I'm back. Where am I? Before the fight? ‘
He looked around.
He was in the flooded plaza. The smoke was still thick in the air. And standing exactly ten paces away, turning around to look at him with beautiful, blank amethyst eyes, was Emilia.
"I... I am unharmed, thank you," Emilia said, repeating the exact same polite, chillingly distant words. "But, forgive me. How do you know my name?"
Subaru’s blood ran completely cold. The checkpoint had updated.
It hadn't sent him back before the fight. It had set his save point to the exact moment he woke up after his name was already eaten.
Permanently trapped in a world that had forgotten him.
" No! " Subaru choked out, scrambling backward with a horrified expression on his face "No, no, no! This- Take me back further! Take me back! " screamed to the world, as he's trying trying to tell someone,
The panic consumed him. He grabbed a jagged piece of glass debris from the ruined street and, before Emilia could even scream, drove it into his own throat.
Reset.
"I... I am unharmed, thank you. But, forgive me. How do you know my name?"
Reset.
"I... I am unharmed- "
Reset.
By the fourth loop, Subaru didn't even try to speak to her. He just fell to his knees in the water, weeping hysterically, utterly broken by the permanence of his erasure.
Every time he died, the penalty increased. The Witch of Envy clung tighter to his soul, wrapping him in thicker layers of her dark horrifying scent. Every reset, he couldn't adapt to pain, his soul resets every time.
..
Beatrice arrives during the fifth loop, but…the situation did not play out like the previous loops would.
The moment Beatrice stepped into the plaza, the great spirit physically staggered, clutching her nose as if she had been struck.
The miasma radiating off Subaru was no longer a subtle stench. It was a suffocating, violent aura of pure, concentrated evil.
Seeing Subaru's appearance, it was a complete mess, he was injured, messed up track suit, cuts and bruises,dragon blood shown from his arm and leg, naturally it looked like just a civilian who was only injured needing help, but to them it's different.
Subaru dug deeper within his scalp and bent his knees over
“ WHY WHY WHY WHY!!? SATELLA PLEASE “ subaru shouted
in that exact moment, Beatrice concluded the person in front of her, who reeks of witch's miasma and speaks the witch of envy's name, was to be a cultists.
“ MINYA “
Beatrice shouted, sharp purple crystals shot forward, towards subaru intending to kill him, no one stopped her, and no one questioning her
[ WHOOSH ]
Subaru Barely Dodges the minya crystals in time
“ you speak the witches name while covered with miasma in fact, you must be a witch cultist “
“ W-WAIT BEATRICE YOU CAN JUST ATTACK SOMEONE CASUALLY LIKE THAT!! “ emilia screamed concerned try to not de-escalate the situation more further even doe clearly heard what the boy shouted
Subaru who barely dodges death from his own spirit's attack, fell back and looked at Emilia and Beatrice. Terrified
Later on Anastasia and Julius arrives, julius questioned the madness
“ he reeks of miasmia i suppose, the smell is unbearable strong like an archbishop smells like DEATH in fact “ the great spirit in hand pointing at subaru ready to unleash Minya Crystals again
"An Archbishop?"
The ringing of steel echoed sharply over the rushing water as Julius drew his sword. His amber eyes, previously filled with a cautious neutrality, turned ice-cold. The Finest Knight stepped fully in front of Emilia and Anastasia, his stance flawless and deadly. "If the Great Spirit speaks true, then I cannot afford to be merciful."
"Wait! Please! I'm not-!" Subaru scrambled backward on his hands and feet, the flooded cobblestones tearing at his skin. The water splashing around him felt freezing, but it was nothing compared to the chill in Julius’s glare.
" Betty is never wrong about the Witch's stench, I suppose!" Beatrice yelled, her small hands trembling as more purple stakes materialized in the air around her. Her face was contorted in absolute disgust, but beneath it, Subaru could see genuine fear. He was scaring her. "It’s so thick it’s choking Betty! He must be the one leading the attack on the city in fact! "
‘ No... ’
Subaru looked at the purple crystals. He looked at Julius’s readied blade.
If they killed him right now… he would just wake up again. He didn't want to feel pain again, scared, terrified and go back to the exact same spot. paces away from Emilia...
A horrifying realization crashed down on him,
‘ Every time I die, the scent gets worse ‘
If he died here, the Witch would cling to him even tighter. The next time he woke up, the miasma would be so suffocating that Beatrice might kill him before he could even blink. Then he would wake up, smell even worse, and die faster.
An infinite loop of being slaughtered by the people he loved,
" I cannot let you harm anyone else " Julius stated, his voice devoid of any of the brotherly warmth
Subaru remembered. He took a swift, blindingly fast step forward, raising his sword.
" Julius, wait! " Emilia cried out, her voice cutting through the tension. She reached out, her hand hovering just inches from Julius’s cloak. " He… he hasn't even drawn a weapon! Look at him, he’s terrified!"
But Julius interrupted " Emilia-sama, appearances are the Witch Cult's greatest weapon," Julius countered smoothly, though he halted his advance. He didn't take his eyes off Subaru. "Gluttony and Greed look like mere children. We cannot let our guard down."
"But he was crying!" Emilia insisted, her amethyst eyes wide as she looked at Subaru’s miserable, shivering form. "When I first saw him, before Beatrice arrived… he looked so incredibly sad. Like his whole world had just ended. Does a cultist cry like that?"
Subaru’s breath hitched. Even now, even after forgetting everything, her inherent kindness was trying to save him.
" Madness takes many forms, Emilia-sama " Anastasia spoke up, her fluffy scarf shifting as she tilted her head. Echidna, residing within the scarf, was undoubtedly analyzing every inch of him. " Though... It is curious. He speaks of Gluttony stealing his name. A rather specific delusion for a cultist to have while the city is actively under attack by that very Archbishop. "
" It's a trick in fact! A disgusting lie to make you hesitate! " Beatrice argued " Look at him! The miasma is practically dripping off his soul! "
Julius tightened his grip on his sword. " I am inclined to agree with the Great Spirit. Anastasia-sama, Emilia-sama, please step back. I will subdue him "
‘ Subdue. ’
Not kill. Capture.
Subaru looked at his hands, scarred and bruised from a hundred battles they no longer remembered. He looked at Emilia, who was watching him with a mixture of pity and deep apprehension. He looked at Beatrice, who looked at him like he was filth.
If he ran, Julius would cut off his legs.
If he fought, Beatrice would shred him with Minya.
If he died, the cycle would become inescapable.
Tears freely mixed with the dirty canal water on his face. The fight drained completely out of his body, leaving behind a hollow, agonizing void where his identity used to be. He had fought so hard, died so many times to save everyone in this city, and this was his reward.
Subaru slowly, shakily, raised both of his hands into the air.
He didn't look at Julius. He looked directly at Emilia, giving her a broken, utterly defeated smile that made her flinch.
" I-I… surrender " Subaru choked out. He dropped his gaze to the flooded ground feeling defeated, letting his head hang in absolute submission. " I won't fight back. Just… “
‘ please don't kill me, I can't... I can't die anymore ‘ still restricted with the witch’s curse couldn't mutter the last sentence
“ … “ Silence fell over the ruined plaza, save for the sound of rushing water.
Julius didn't lower his sword, but his brow furrowed in deep confusion. Even Beatrice hesitated, the tips of her Minya crystals wavering. The boy in front of them smelled like the most horrific evil imaginable, yet he was surrendering with the exhausted, broken posture of a man who had already lost everything.
"Very well," Julius said, his voice quiet but firm. He stepped forward, pulling heavy, magic-sealing cuffs from his belt. " You are under arrest by the authority of the Dragon Kingdom of Lugunica. Do not resist."
Subaru squeezed his eyes shut as the magical restraints locked, locking his hands behind his back.
…
He was alive. He had survived the loop. Arrested, treating him like a monster to be dragged to the dungeons, Subaru knew the true nightmare had only just begun.
" Move " Julius commanded. His voice, once elegant and full of warmth, was now the chilling impersonal tone of the Finest Knight addressing a monster.
A sharp, heartless shove between Subaru's shoulder blades sent him stumbling forward into the hard stone path, where floodwater still remains from the recent flooding.
“ AK- “
His body screamed, the adrenaline from his desperate suicides was fading, leaving behind a spiritual and physical agony. His ribs throbbed from Roy Alphard's strikes from the previous battle, He limped forward, eyes fixed on the ground, on his own distorted reflection . Behind him, the rhythmic splashing of his escorts sounded like a death march.
" Keep your distance from him Emilia " Beatrice's voice drifted over the water " His miasma is fluctuating. It makes Betty sick just looking at his back, in fact. It reminds Betty of... of her "
Subaru squeezed his eyes shut. Sirius. She was comparing him to Sirius Romanee-Conti.
"I... I know, Beatrice. I'm staying back," Emilia replied, her voice wavering. Every word was a jagged knife twisting in his gut. It won't work, he realized. Roy Alphard ate my name. Natsuki Subaru doesn't exist. I am a stranger wearing a dead man's face.
"Julius," Anastasia's voice cut through the silence, "where exactly are we taking our... cooperative prisoner? The shelters are overflowing."
Julius kept his amber eyes locked on the back of Subaru's head. "We must bring him to the City Hall. Wilhelm-dono, Felix, and the others must be made aware of his capture."
Subaru's breath hitched. City Hall. Wilhelm. Felix. Garfiel. Garfiel, with a nose sharp enough to smell the Witch from a mile away. Without the memories of his 'Captain,' Garfiel would shift into his tiger form and tear Subaru's throat out.
"Wait," Subaru croaked, stopping dead in the water.
"Keep moving," Julius warned instantly, the sharp shing of his blade leaving the scabbard echoing across the ruins.
"Y-You can't take me there!" Subaru pleaded, desperately lying " Garfiel, the demi-humans will kill me before you can even ask questions! I smell like the Witch! "
Julius narrowed his eyes, a flicker of surprise hardening into pure suspicion. How did this stranger know about their demi-human vanguard? Anastasia's scarf twitched as she noted, " You certainly know a great deal about our inner workings "
" I haven't been stalking you, I've been fighting alongside you! " Subaru shouted, his composure shattering, still praying for hope in his mind, hoping to remember everything " I fought Petelgeuse! I helped hunt the White Whale! Emilia, look at my tracksuit! Beatrice, the contract- "
“ Silence! “
Julius closed the distance in a blur. He drove the heavy steel pommel of his sword directly into Subaru's solar plexus.
“ GUH “
The air vanished from Subaru's lungs. He collapsed into the freezing water, gagging as black spots danced in his vision.
" Do not speak their names with your filthy mouth " Julius whispered. " The White Whale was felled by honorable knights, not some nameless, delusional cultist " Julius spoke with venom, As Julius now truly believes the Great Spirit’s accusation
Subaru looked up through tears of physical agony and sheer heartbreak. Emilia had turned away, and Beatrice hid behind her skirt, glaring with terror. He was nothing to them. A blasphemer trying to steal the glory of fallen comrades.
" Julius, enough " Anastasia ordered. " Bind his mouth if he continues his delusions. We need him intact "
Julius hauled Subaru back to his feet like a sack of garbage. "Walk. Speak another word, and I will shatter your jaw myself."
Subaru didn't argue. He put one foot in front of the other, marching toward the City Hall. He was the man who had died a dozen times to save them, and now he was walking toward the slaughter
Escorted by the ghosts of the people he loved.
CITY HALL
The moment the doors open, chaos erupts. Garfiel who was resting immediately catches the overwhelming scent of the Witch, despite his injuries from the War God Kurgan, driven by instinct and his hatred for the Cult, he partially shifts into his tiger form and lunges for Subaru's throat.
Wilhelm and Ricardo have to physically restrain Garfiel. Wilhelm, ever the composed veteran, draws his sword, eyeing Subaru with cold, calculated suspicion. Felix physically recoils, his ears flattening as he senses the dark, twisted mana (from Subaru's gate/RBD penalties btw) radiating off him.
He doesn't flinch. When Garfiel lunges, Subaru doesn't even raise his hands to defend himself. He just stares with dead eyes, fully accepting his death. This complete lack of self-preservation deeply unnerves Wilhelm and Julius. It doesn't fit the profile of a fanatic Cultist; he looks like a man whose soul has already been executed.
The camp leaders (Crusch, Anastasia, Emilia, Felt) and their knights gather to assess the aftermath of Priestella. They discuss the damage caused by Greed, Lust, Gluttony, and Wrath
Julius and Anastasia present Subaru. They detail his strange behavior
claiming he fought Petelgeuse and the White Whale, and knowing intimate details about their camps like Garfiel's name and Beatrice's contract
Because of Gluttony's authority, the world actively rewrites itself to fill the gaps left by Subaru's erasure. When they try to remember who proposed the alliance or who strategized against the Sloth Archbishop, their minds supply vague answers like " a collective effort " or " Otto's planning "
They conclude Subaru must be a high-ranking, deeply embedded spy perhaps a Sin Archbishop candidate whose specific power involves gathering intelligence to psychologically torture his enemies.
Even with Reinhard’s Divine Protection of Wind Reading, they insisted that the Divine Protection still has it flaws , concluding it that it was Subaru WHO was forced to believe it himself insisting for being an Ally.. to trick the divine protection itself
…
CAPITAL
They currently hold two major assets: Sirius (Archbishop of Wrath) and the " Nameless Spy " (Subaru). Sirius is captured but completely uncooperative, rambling madly about love and " Petelgeuse " She is deemed too dangerous to keep in a standard hold.
Felix and Julius argue that Subaru's miasma is too dangerous to keep near the refugees or Emilia ( who is deeply distressed by the whole situation, feeling a phantom guilt she can't explain ) They decide both prisoners must be transferred to the Royal Capital's deepest, magic sealed Prison Tower under the direct supervision of the Royal Guard.
Until the transport arrives, Subaru is thrown into a heavily warded, subterranean water-cell beneath Priestella. To maximize the psychological horror, he is placed in the cell directly across from Sirius.
...................
Sirius looks at the broken, catatonic Subaru. Because she can sense the Sloth Witch Factor inside him ( which Petelgeuse used to hold ) she becomes fixated on him, calling him "her beloved" or twisting his mind further
Subaru sits in the dark, cold cell
listening to the mad ravings of Wrath
knowing that upstairs, the people he loves are celebrating their victory
and may even planning his execution.
He is completely
Utterly Alone