Reinhard let out a long, trembling sigh.
Reinhard : « Haaaa… »
Yes… It had been exhausting—four fights in a row, even won with mastery, had a cost, and his body was beginning to remind him of it discreetly, in the slight trembling of his forearms, in the sweat that hadn't had time to dry between two clashes.
Even for the Sword Saint, chaining conceptual miracles left marks. The knight lowered his weapon slightly, thinking it was perhaps time to catch his breath.
Suddenly, an amused voice resonated from the heavens.
Kurisu laughed.
Kurisu : « Oh oh… I see that some are tired, huh? Well… »
TAP. TAP. TAP.
He clapped his hands happily.
Kurisu : « Little break! »
And suddenly, the absurd reclaimed its rights.
Literally, an elegant wrought-iron garden table materialized in the air next to his throne, and on this table, a steaming tea service in fine porcelain.
Kurisu, still floating, grabbed a delicate cup and took a sip, closing his eyes with appreciative slowness.
Kurisu smiled with a satisfied air.
Kurisu : « Hmmm… Not bad! The Earl Grey of creation has its perks. »
He then turned his gaze toward Reinhard, who was observing the scene with a perplexity he no longer even tried to mask.
Kurisu : « Oh, yes, here—for you too. »
He snapped his fingers, and a second cup of tea instantly appeared, levitating right in front of the red-haired knight's face.
Although hesitant, and knowing full well that logic no longer applied here, the Sword Saint grabbed the saucer and tasted the beverage.
And suddenly… What is this…?
And instantly—all his fatigue, all the micro-tears and charges accumulated in his muscles, all the stress stored by his mana vanished. As if they had never existed.
He had returned to one hundred percent of his capabilities.
Reinhard widened his eyes, completely surprised.
Reinhard : « How… What have you done? »
Kurisu cut him off with a disdainful wave of his hand.
Kurisu : « Ohh, the main actor shouldn't arrive damaged for the rest of the scene, should he? » he chuckled, taking another sip.
Then, he turned his face toward the golden cage, still suspended near him.
Inside, Subaru stood there. Simply sitting. His face lowered, his eyes dull.
He had just seen things that should never have existed.
A demonic beast capable of multiplying to infinity.
Another whose mere presence poisoned the world, who seemed immortal, capable of reducing anything to dust with the slightest touch.
Calamities straight out of this world's worst nightmares—that would have annihilated Subaru with a single breath, effortlessly, without even thinking about it.
And yet…
Reinhard had neutralized them one after the other. As if it were nothing. As if sweeping away dust.
Subaru felt an enormous amount of things in that instant. Feelings that gnawed at his heart with a darkness that was better not to look in the face for the moment.
Kurisu held out a cup of tea to him through the bars.
Kurisu : « Come on, drink a little, no? You have the face of a corpse right now. »
Subaru slowly raised his eyes. He scanned the steaming cup. He scanned the sadistic smile of Kurisu who was holding it out to him.
Then, without uttering a word, he lowered his eyes back to the ground. The rejection was silent, but total.
Kurisu sighed while withdrawing his hand, falsely disappointed.
Kurisu : « Ahh, well, too bad for you. But… »
He paused.
Kurisu : « But you will have to be in the front row for what is about to happen. »
Clap.
With a simple snap of his fingers, the solid gold cage transformed instantly.
The bars melted to reshape into a luxurious red velvet cinema chair, which perfectly accommodated Subaru's form with perfect precision.
Subaru let out a hiccup of surprise.
Subaru : « Uh— ahh! »
Immediately, invisible attachments sealed his arms, his legs, and his torso to the seat.
His whole body was instantly immobilized against the armrest, forcing his neck to stay straight, facing the scene, with no possible escape.
He was no longer a prisoner hidden in a cage; he was the forced spectator of a psychological horror film.
Kurisu finished the cup he had wanted to give to Subaru in one gulp and threw it over his shoulder. Immediately, the table, the tea, and all the utensils disintegrated in the air before even touching the ground.
The entity in the white suit rose majestically, stretched, and floated slightly. He walked a few steps in the void, then clapped his hands with calculated slowness.
TAP… TAP… TAP… TAP…
Four sharp beats. For four beasts.
The space trembled. The air thickened.
And in a cacophonous howl that tore the eardrums, the four calamities reappeared right in front of Reinhard. In their full form. Intact. Furious.
Reinhard was literally stunned. For the first time, a genuine shock crossed his perfect features to the very depths of his being.
Reinhard : « How… is this… possible… »
This being had literally just resurrected the world's worst evils for his own pure pleasure.
Kurisu cackled machiavellically.
Kurisu : « Kekekeke… Well, the warm-ups are over. Here is the real fight! And for that… Let's change the scenery! »
The artificial green plain as far as the eye could see fell apart like a puzzle.
The earth rose, rock pierced the ground, and the arena changed into a vast rocky zone, surrounded by steep mountains and deep ravines.
Kurisu : « Good, good, good! »
Kurisu made his sequined microphone reappear in his hand and took on the voice of a wrestling commentator, theatrical to the extreme.
His voice resonated across the heavens and to the ends of this world.
Kurisu : « Noooooow, dear readers! Here is the main event! On my left—the hero, the one so loved by the world, the true isekai hero, the pinnacle of existence: Reinhard van Astreaaaaaa! »
He pointed to the red-haired man who stood there, upright, in total incomprehension.
Kurisu : « And on my right—The alliance of the apocalypse! The three Great Mabeasts, as well as the Beast of the Eeeeeend! Sure, they lost the solo battle—but they fully intend to win the war! »
Kurisu turned theatrically on himself and pointed to the four calamities one by one.
Kurisu : « Who will win? Bets are open! »
He let himself fall backward. His throne reappeared to catch him.
He snapped his fingers, the microphone transformed into a pair of high-definition 3D glasses that he put on with the seriousness of a man settling down to watch a blockbuster, wearing a voracious smile, a huge bucket of popcorn propped on his knees.
Kurisu leaned forward.
Kurisu : « Come on, hero… Show this demon king what you are capable of, to save your princess. Kekekeke. »
The blood-red holographic countdown blazed in the sky.
5… 4…
Reinhard had already taken his position, his muscles tensed.
The hilt of his black sword pointed forward, his dozens of divine protections crackling silently and already fully activated.
He was ready for anything.
3… 2…
Opposite him, the four beasts positioned themselves.
Puck floated in the center, radiating a cold that fractured the stone.
The Black Serpent undulated to his right, drooling acid.
The Whale dominated the left flank.
Finally, the swarming sea of the Great Rabbit was already carpeting the ground before them.
All waited for the signal, motionless, like a clock wound to the maximum of its spring.
1… FIGHT!
Before the "T" could even disappear, Reinhard had already leaped. He aimed directly at the Whale, seeking to eliminate the most massive one right off the bat, in one decisive movement.
But barely was he halfway there than a gigantic wall of putrid mud and poison literally rose in his path.
The Serpent had acted first, anticipating his perfect trajectory.
Reinhard didn't have time to be surprised—he was instantly besieged by the Whale's erasure fog and the hundreds of ice lances as big as dungeons from Puck, which roared in chorus, perfectly synchronized.
Reinhard had to break his momentum.
He dodged at dizzying speed, blocked, parried, took hits, slicing through the ice and pushing back the fog, forced to retreat until he landed on the ground.
Finally… almost.
Because the Great Rabbit was already there. By the thousands. The white tide washed over him like a tsunami of fangs and literally engulfed him under a mountain of swarming flesh.
For two seconds, there was nothing but the atrocious sound of biting.
Then, the white mountain exploded.
A wave of pure force pulverized the rabbits, blowing waves of blood across the entire valley—a spray of blood so colossal that it crossed the entire zone, even reaching the spot where Kurisu was enthroned.
The blood crashed against an invisible circular barrier that protected him—him, and especially Subaru, from any unforeseen event.
The Sword Saint emerged from the crater. But this time… he was covered in blood. From head to toe. His outfit, once a pristine white, was now a fluid and sticky red, tacky, stained with red and mud.
But his face, on which a scarlet streak flowed, remained perfectly serene, his sword firmly in hand, but the impact was real.
Kurisu : « Ohh, bravo Reinhard! But… what if you tried a little more seriously? We're falling asleep here! »
He went "BOOO" while giving thumbs down and throwing a handful of popcorn into the void, which disappeared before even touching the ground.
Fortunately for the show, the beasts were there for that.
Thus began a true confrontation, dantesque and absolute, a strategic descent into hell.
Reinhard lunged, struck, sliced, pulverized—but never managed to neutralize his opponents lastingly.
Why? Because the enemy coordination defied the laws of animal instinct.
It didn't matter how much he aimed for the Whale or Puck to reduce their numbers: the Black Serpent systematically blocked, absorbed, and was always present to anticipate the slightest of his movements, as if it were reading his intentions even before they were formed.
The smell of acid and rotting flesh saturated the atmosphere, suffocating even the hero's overdeveloped senses.
Covered by this constant presence, the Whale and Puck could unleash their power without the slightest restraint.
But the most painful remained the Rabbit.
The rocky environment, quickly covered by the snow of Puck's Absolute Zero, offered perfect camouflage for the swarm.
It didn't matter where Reinhard was—on the rocks, in the snow, between two terrain faults—they were there, melted into the landscape like sickly vegetation.
And every time Reinhard made the mistake of stepping on the ground to take a footing, hundreds of rodents leaped, forcing him to break his offensive to free himself.
Alone, they were nothing. By the thousands, accumulated, biting, scratching, clinging to his legs to slow each of his movements—they became a real threat, forcing him to repel them constantly, which always left a fraction of a second for the other beasts to strike.
Scratches at first. Then, little by little, real wounds.
Kurisu leaned toward a point in the sky, looking conspiratorial.
Kurisu : « How can these beasts be so coordinated, you might ask?... Well, there is only one answer! »
He whispered this question—as if he had asked it for the reader, already knowing the answer perfectly.
He raised his hands to the sky, fingers pointed upward.
Kurisu : « AUTHOR-SAN!»
Of course.
And it was true. These were no longer animals.
For yes, it was indeed Author-san who was orchestrating all of this, who was controlling the beasts from behind the scenes, making them a team of such formidable coherence that even the Sword Saint was starting to suffer for it.
And the fight continued like this, with the beasts gradually taking the advantage.
And to make matters worse, the Author did not hesitate to dope them by strengthening their passive abilities:
The Serpent's poison that ate deeper, so corrosive that it began to burn Reinhard's skin despite his Blessings.
Puck's cold that bit to the bone.
The Whale's fog that thickened.
The rabbits that multiplied a little faster with each wave.
Even with his divine protections, neutralizing each attack was becoming more and more difficult for Reinhard. Passive damage was now accumulating more easily than it was healing.
Scratches were piling up more and more. Fatigue was returning, heavier.
Reinhard gritted his teeth.
Reinhard : « Let's try this… »
He dodged a new spray of fog around which hundreds of ice lances had merged, landed, and pushed off a rocky peak with his feet.
And before the Rabbit could engulf him one more time, he took a monumental impulse and leaped at full speed to find himself suspended in the air, exactly between the Black Serpent and the White Whale.
As if he were defenseless. He exposed himself voluntarily, like an unmissable target.
The beasts did not reflect. Both rushed immediately.
The Serpent spat a geyser of superpowered venom, and the Whale shrieked while releasing a massive erasure ray, without the slightest hesitation.
Both attacks rushed straight at Reinhard.
Reinhard waited. Patiently. And at the last moment:
Reinhard : « Now! »
He literally disappeared from the spot at the speed of light.
The Whale's deadly fog rushed straight at the Serpent.
The Serpent's corrosive acid flew straight at the Whale.
Reinhard smiled, convinced he had managed to turn them against each other.
Both calamities were going to destroy each other with their own power—and for a fraction of a second, that was the case.
Both attacks shattered with a deafening noise, destroying each other.
Finally.
That's what he would have wanted.
BING!
A cheesy video game sound echoed.
Just before impact, a gigantic, translucent blue holographic shield appeared between the two assaults, preventing them from actually touching. The attacks bounced off pathetically and dissipated into the air.
And above the shield, a huge red sign flashed in the air:
[FRIENDLY FIRE : OFF]
Reinhard landed further away, swallowing hard while staring at the holographic sign.
And a thunderous, hysterical laugh was heard.
Kekekekekeke.
Kurisu was laughing to the point of choking—or at least, that was the sensation he would have had with a body subject to the normal laws of physics. He was laughing until he bent in two on his floating throne.
Kurisu : « Ahhhh, Reinhard… Did you really think I wouldn't have thought of that?! »
He was barely holding back, pointing his amused gaze toward the knight.
Kurisu : « Of course friendly fire is forbidden! Stay strong, my brother! Pffhaahhh. »
He started laughing again, even louder—and the beasts didn't wait for him to finish. They rushed forward.
Reinhard understood the absolute trickery. He wasn't fighting monsters; he was fighting the rules of the world. He knew in an instant that what he had just attempted was purely and simply impossible to achieve under these conditions.
But he didn't have time to dwell on this reflection—the beasts were already on him, and he resumed the fight.
And gradually, inevitably, Reinhard began to lose ground, facing four beasts controlled by this charismatic, intelligent, and magnificent Author-san!
(what? it's true).
He decided to try something else—rushing at the Whale to eradicate it with a powerful blow, managing to momentarily push back the Serpent with a blast strong enough to blow it backward, dodging Puck's continuous assaults with maximum fluidity.
But the tide of rabbits—supposed to stay stuck to the ground—metamorphosed. They clung to each other, forming a coherent mass, a grotesque silhouette that hoisted itself into the air:
A gigantic hand, made of thousands of small white bodies intertwined, which closed its misshapen fingers on Reinhard and crushed him into the tide on the ground, spraying blood in all directions.
That was enough for the Serpent to return to the charge.
Change of tactics.
Reinhard aimed at Puck this time, trying to pass through the Whale and its fog as well as the Serpent—but the same problem.
The rabbits, again, fell on him by the thousands, reforming into axes, blades, into shapes more absurd than the last with each attempt to neutralize another beast.
He only had one option left.
Targeting the aerial creatures was useless with the Serpent as a shield.
He also abandoned the idea of confronting the Serpent directly—useless—and focused on something else.
Reinhard lowered his eyes to the ground. The real problem limiting his movements was the swarm. The Great Rabbit.
He rushed at full speed.
Ignoring the crossfire, he swung a wave of pure energy at the Serpent to slice it into several sections and push it violently backward, its mass retreating by at least a hundred meters.
In the same second, he launched two additional waves powerful enough to raze an entire city, aiming at Puck and the Whale while dodging their combined assaults with alarming fluidity.
The Serpent rushed again, literally dividing itself in two to take the hits head-on.
But that was precisely where all of Reinhard's ingenuity lay. He wasn't aiming for the aerial beasts—he was aiming for the one that remained on the ground.
And once the airspace was vaguely cleared, he dove toward the earth.
He rushed with all his speed, launched a wave of energy capable of razing entire ecosystems, and poured all his power directly onto the terrain.
Everything was razed—literally everything. Every mountain within a one-kilometer radius disappeared, blown away, the rock itself was pulverized, cut blank, and the rabbits were incinerated down to the last atom.
When he finally placed a foot on the ground, there was nothing left.
No more rabbits.
Reinhard went down on one knee, short of breath.
Reinhard : « Ahh… Hah… ahh… »
He was out of breath.
The ground was vitrified. There wasn't a single rodent left. At least one beast had been defeated. Only three remained.
That's what he thought.
But by turning his head, by pure chance, his gaze met Kurisu's.
The man in white was sprawled in his seat, a mocking smile on his lips, and he slid slowly in the most caricatured way possible, his hand in the sleeve of his white suit—to bring out, in the most absurd way possible… A rabbit.
The Great Rabbit. He held it in his palm, like a magician finishing a trick he had prepared from the start.
Kurisu tilted his head.
Kurisu : « Oops… it would seem that you forgot one, no?... Kekeke. »
He dropped it.
The rabbit fell into the artificial snow.
In three seconds, it cut itself in two, then in four, then in sixteen, and in a few moments, a new tide was ready.
Reinhard lowered his head. The perfect stoicism of the perfect hero had just cracked.
Reinhard : « Damn it… »
Reinhard van Astrea had just sworn.
For the first time in his life—so much did the absurdity of the situation surpass everything he had ever known.
And hell started up again, and this time, Reinhard began to really lose. The laws of physics bent under the Author's will, and the knight paid the price.
His clothes were torn. Real wounds opened on his skin, tears that no longer closed as quickly as before.
Puck's cold burned his lungs, the Whale's fog tore at his skin, and the Serpent's poison finally infiltrated his blood, blackening his veins.
He was cornered. The hero was falling against absolute cheating.
His body was suffering. Reinhard van Astrea was being beaten by an improbable alliance, under the direct control of the master of this world himself.
What could he do against the one who governed the very fabric of reality?
Subaru, in his chair, felt something tighten inside him. His voice, which he thought had been dead for a long time, found a crack.
Subaru : « AHH— AHHHHHHH !!! »
He could only babble that and nothing else. And no one heard him. Or no one had the time to hear him.
The cry was lost in the din of the fight, useless, as insignificant as he was—and Subaru understood it immediately, with that familiar bitterness that had not left him since the beginning of this loop.
« Even now… Even for this… I am useless… »
Reinhard was cornered. Blood gushed from his wounds. The beasts were strengthening with each second—even the rabbits were starting to inflict real damage on him.
The Whale's fog hit his face without him being able to do anything about it.
Puck's lances hit him now, and the cold sank into him in waves.
The Serpent's venom was no longer neutralized in time—his body began to suffer the effects, slowly, but surely.
The hero was losing to the absolute. What could be more logical?
And even if he had managed to defeat the four beasts, the author could have revived them once more, had he simply desired it…
The fight was becoming a slow execution.
There was no hope.
Kurisu, who was observing the scene, finally sighed. He stopped smiling.
Kurisu : « And that wouldn't be a fun ending, would it… »
He stood up.
Kurisu : « Well. It seems he needs a little morale boost. »
He shouted, his voice carrying across the entire battlefield.
Kurisu : « Hey, Reinhard! »
Reinhard, upon hearing his name, looked away for an instant — and saw him.
Kurisu, standing, one hand placed on the neck of Subaru, still attached to his chair, his mouth closed.
Kurisu spat his words with icy contempt.
Kurisu : « That's it? Seriously? That's the famous Sword Saint? The pinnacle of this world? »
He pointed to Subaru with his other hand, strapped at his side, his eyes widened in horror.
Kurisu : « Have you forgotten why you fight?... Or do you really want Subaru to die? ... »
He looked him straight in the eyes.
Kurisu : « Are you a hero, or not? Are you going to let your little princess die? Are you so useless that you can't even save a single person? ... »
Then he shouted, with all the strength of his voice:
Kurisu : « WAKE UP, SWORD SAINT! »
Reinhard, below, spitting a trickle of black blood, froze. He plunged his gaze into Subaru's.
The boy with the mean eyes had a blank gaze, purely empty, broken by the uselessness of existence. Like someone already dead inside.
His friend — for yes, he was his friend — had endured so much… had suffered so much… that he had reached this point, ready to die in a strapped-in chair, a helpless spectator of everything.
And Reinhard, the powerful knight, had abandoned him to his fate.
Was he going to die here, confirming to his friend that there was no hope left?
« Was I that useless? I arrived when everything seemed already over… Am I that much of a good-for-nothing, despite all my power? »
The calamities did not give him time to philosophize.
Puck sent a ray of absolute, cosmic frost.
The Serpent spat a tsunami of acid, of its most corrosive venom, straight at his face.
The Whale poured out its densest fog, without the slightest restraint.
And the rabbits, teeth accelerated, mutated into a giant spear of flesh and leaped all together.
Everything converged toward the red point.
Everything was swallowed.
BOOOOOOOOOOOMM.
A titanic explosion surged over the spot, devastating everything in its path.
The entire world seemed to break.
The rocky zone was vaporized, leaving place to an immense, smoking black crater of unfathomable depth.
Only dust remained.
Nothing moved anymore.
Reinhard van Astrea… was dead.
The Sword Saint had just been defeated.
...…
And yet — somewhere between Od Laguna and the world of the living — in a pristine white void, a consciousness remained.
Reinhard floated in the ether.
« Reinhard… am I really just a good-for-nothing? Do I even deserve to continue? » he thought, eaten by bitterness.
« Do I even deserve to bear this title? »
The silence answered him.
The thought floated in the absolute silence of this void, without an immediate answer. Then, gradually, images returned. That man in white. Everything that had happened. This world that would be destroyed if he did not act. And above all —
« …Subaru… »
The image of Subaru imposed itself on him.
This boy who had no strength, no blessing, and yet who fought against fate with a mad obstinacy. Subaru considered him a friend.
« I must help the only person who truly considers me his friend. »
Reinhard's thought resonated in the void.
« No… I MUST do it. If I don't… who will? »
He was Reinhard van Astrea.
He was the Sword Saint.
The hero of this world.
And a hero was all he could be, all he had chosen to be, again and again, no matter the obstacles, no matter what stood before him.
He would rise again. Again and again.
He was the law, and he would remain it.
...
Outside, the dust was settling on the crater.
Kurisu stood there, slightly perplexed.
Kurisu : « Is it really over? ... »
He whispered this to himself.
Kurisu : « Is this really the end of this world… damn it, just like that?! »
He passed a hand over his face, turning slightly.
Kurisu : « Then I will have to… »
He did not have time to finish.
A light appeared at the bottom of the abyss.
Kurisu : « Huh?! »
He turned his eyes away, dazzled. The light invaded the entire space, a glow of absolute purple, soft at first, then blinding, pure and dense like the wings of a mythical bird… Like the wings of a phoenix spread wide.
In the center of the blaze, the Sword Saint stood.
Reinhard van Astrea was there.
The Phoenix Blessing had just brought him back to life.
His uniform was restored, his wounds erased, he stood facing the four calamities, his body entirely regenerated, but his gaze…
His gaze shone with a tenacity that none of his opponents had ever seen.
Reinhard stepped forward with his bare hands.
Reinhard : « I am Reinhard van Astrea! I am the man who must protect this world — no matter the obstacle, I will face it! »
The light intensified with every step he took, his entire body ready for combat.
Kurisu watched him… and widened his eyes.
For the first time since the beginning of this masquerade, the Supreme Entity was touched.
He watched this man who had just risen from the dead by the sheer force of his will — and it dazzled him.
By the raw brilliance of an unshakable will, to the point that his iconic, sardonic laugh, for a fleeting moment, changed in tone, replaced by a smile of sincere admiration.
Kurisu murmured, impressed.
Kurisu : « Haha… ahhahh… that, damn it— THAT, is a hero! »
He opened his arms wide.
Kurisu : « Here is a little gift. Show me what you are capable of, hero. »
TAP!
A white glow descended from the heavens. Before Reinhard, the sacred blade materialized.
The last one.
The absolute one.
The sword of the dragon, Reid.
Reinhard looked at it. He said nothing, but a confident smile stretched his lips. He grasped the handle and drew it from its scabbard.
Without another word, he unsheathed it.
A dense and absolute light, a beam of mana capable of blinding gods, engulfed the entire world.
Reinhard swung his sword — and the blade split the sky, the earth, reality itself, engulfing the four calamities in a ray of pure and infinite light, to the point that the surrounding world literally threatened to tear apart under the intensity of the blow.
The attack pulverized the entire pocket dimension.
Reality fractured like a broken mirror.
The light flash faded.
The cold wind caressed their faces.
They were back in the normal world, in the gardens of the Mathers domain, in this same snow that had never ceased to fall.
Reinhard sheathed Reid with a perfect metallic click.
The Sword Saint had emerged victorious.
He had succeeded.
The impossible had been accomplished.
Kurisu applauded. Slowly. Sincerely.
He nodded.
Kurisu : « Well done, Reinhard. Magnificent. »
Then, silence fell again.
The tension shifted its axis.
Kurisu turned slowly toward the boy, still sitting in his chair. He looked at him. Looked at Reinhard. Smiled.
Kurisu : « You see, Subaru? ... »
Subaru turned his gaze toward him, slowly.
Kurisu : « That. THAT, is a hero. A real Shonen hero. »
He pointed to Reinhard, who had just accomplished the impossible.
He snapped his fingers. The velvet chair disappeared, releasing the teenager.
And Subaru found himself standing, free in his movements, free to speak — but he remained frozen, incapable of making the slightest gesture, because of what he had just seen.
Kurisu approached. His smile had disappeared.
Kurisu : « Him, he is a hero. You?... No. You are not one. »
His voice grew harder.
Kurisu : « And that is exactly your damn problem. »
He brutally grabbed Subaru by the collar of his jacket and lifted him halfway, forcing him to look him in the eyes.
His eyes, usually sparkling with crazy mischief, had become a dizzying void, a bottomless abyss.
The amused tone had disappeared, replaced by a coldness — colder even than the one he had used when he spoke to Puck.
Kurisu : « You keep wanting to save the world like Reinhard. »
His grip tightened.
Kurisu : « You keep wanting to carry everyone on your shoulders… »
His voice grew louder.
Kurisu : « You keep wanting to do everything alone while clenching your teeth… »
He paused. Just one.
Subaru trembled, his eyes widened with terror and the truth that was approaching.
He brought his face close to Subaru's, spitting out his next words like poison.
Kurisu : « But you are not Reinhard. »
He continued, his voice still loud, still firm — but empty of everything, completely stripped of the usual mockery.
Kurisu : « Rem died thinking she was saving you. Otto pushed you off the carriage with a smile. Ram ended up in pieces in the snow so that you could still hope. Emilia died before you, dismembered, calling your name. »
Another pause, shorter.
Kurisu : « And you? You ran. You cried. You begged to be killed. »
Kurisu : « You are not a hero. You will never be him. Understand that well. »
He had finished. He let him go.
He looked Subaru in the eyes — this boy with dirty black hair, with eyes shining with impotent rage — and finally saw the revelation forming on his face.
The revelation he had come seeking.
Subaru faltered. The revelation struck him head-on. This absolute truth he had been fleeing since the first day of his arrival in this world.
He had seen Reinhard defeat the incomprehensible.
And him? He was nothing. But accepting it meant destroying everything that kept him moving forward.
Subaru understood. But he could not accept it.
Subaru let out a bestial, pathetic moan.
Subaru : « Ughh — AHHH huaahah! ... »
The sound barely escaped his throat, mixed with rage and something even more broken.
He clenched his fists and rushed at Kurisu. He screamed while throwing his arm. His fist crashed against the jaw of the man in white.
He threw his fists. Again. Again.
He struck Kurisu in the face, in the chest, on the arms, the shoulders — everywhere he could reach.
Nothing affected the man in white. Nothing. Kurisu did not flinch by a millimeter.
Subaru struck again. He pounded with the energy of pure despair, with all the hatred he felt for this world, for this monster in front of him, for himself.
Every blow hurt Subaru more than his target.
CRACK...
The sinister sound of his own knuckles breaking echoed in the snow.
His hands began to bleed, the bones of his knuckles cracking a little more with each impact, red splashes staining Kurisu's immaculate suit without him paying the slightest attention.
But Subaru continued.
He struck while crying, his hands in tatters, his flesh raw, incapable of stopping, incapable of accepting these words, incapable of facing them, incapable of looking into the eyes of this monster of invulnerability who was staring at him with sickening pity.
Every blow hurt Subaru. None truly touched Kurisu. It was the perfect metaphor for his existence.
He had convinced himself that he could save them. All of them. And he hadn't been able to.
And yet Reinhard, for his part, had arrived, had faced monsters that defied the very laws of this world, had defeated them.
He was a hero.
Not Subaru.
He could not accept it. He could not accept that Kurisu was right.
He continued, until his fists were so damaged that they stopped on their own, unable to close once more.
Finally, his fists were so destroyed, his bones so crushed, that his arms fell limply to his sides.
Subaru fell to his knees, gasping, his face soaked with tears and snot, defeated by himself.
Kurisu looked down at him.
He let out a small, weary sigh.
He snapped his fingers.
Subaru was instantly back on his feet, his hands healed, as if nothing had happened.
Kurisu leaned in, resuming a slightly lighter tone, but charged with a grim promise.
Kurisu : « Well… I hope you won't disappoint me in what comes next, kid. I'm really looking forward to seeing that. Kekeke. »
He pulled Subaru toward him by the collar, forcing him to straighten up.
Gently, almost affectionately, Kurisu raised his right hand.
Using his index and middle finger, he gave a light, almost tender flick, right in the middle of the teenager's forehead.
Kurisu murmured:
Kurisu : « See you next time, Subaru. »
The contact was infinitesimal. But the next instant, Subaru fell.
He fell from a great height. Again and again, the world collapsed beneath him.
His legs, his arms, his entire body floated in the absolute void, moving through the air at dizzying speed, and in his fall, he remembered everything.
In this interminable fall, his life flashed by. The failed loops.
Emilia's horrified gaze.
Rem's dislocated body.
Ram's hatred.
Otto's sacrifices.
Everyone who had died, who had screamed, who had bled because of him, having suffered again and again because of him — because he was weak, because he was worth nothing, because he could do nothing.
Because he was just a pathetic imposter trying to play hero.
And after what he had just seen today — the real power of this world, the absurdity of what unfolded there, the real demons of this reality, a God who is bored — face to face with them, Subaru was not even an atom.
He was simply nothing.
Regardless of what he might have tried.
In his fall, he looked up one last time.
And he saw him.
Far, very far above him… Kurisu's gaze, fixed on him as he fell.
The entity's eyes were no longer laughing. They were empty. As if he were disappointed. As if what he had seen inspired in him a pity so great that he was almost ashamed for him.
His lips moved.
And despite the distance, despite everything that should have made it impossible, he heard.
As if the world itself had bent to relay the message, Kurisu's clear voice resonated directly in Subaru's soul, soft and lethal:
Kurisu : « Stop trying to be a hero… You never understood what your role was. »
That was all. That was all he saw, before the ground drew near.
Those were the last words he heard. The black ground appeared at lightning speed.
Splat.
Subaru crashed.
His body dislocated, instantly dispersing into a cloud of red particles in the darkness, without the slightest pain.
No. There was no pain. Absolutely none.
He felt nothing. Absolutely nothing.
And thus, Natsuki Subaru died, consumed by the cruelest realization of his existence.
He understood that in this world — this cruel, and merciless world — he had never been designed to be the hero he dreamed of embodying… And he never will be.