(A/N: Some lust for money, some lust for body, some lust for power... but readers? They are worst of them all, they lust for chapters, they lust for words)
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{3rd Pov}
Reina held his cold, lifeless body tightly in her arms, her grip trembling slightly but unyielding. Her expression remained unreadable, her gaze cold and empty as she slowly lifted her eyes and locked them onto the towering figure of the Mather's mansion—the very place where the one responsible for her Lord's death had run off to.
She would not allow mercy. She would not even consider it.
Without hesitation or delay, she surged forward—so fast, the air around her shattered audibly. A deafening sonic boom tore through the surrounding forest as her steps became nothing but a blur. The earth cracked in her wake, trees were ripped from the soil, splintered and shredded apart as though they were made of paper, flung into the sky like discarded debris. Her trajectory was a straight line of sheer devastation, her focus solely on the mansion—on Rem.
Then she abruptly halted at the very edge of the mansion's garden. The force of her stop caused the ground beneath her feet to rupture violently. Dust and fragments of rock shot upward as if the very planet recoiled from her rage.
Everything outside the mansion became silent in that moment. Not a soul moved.
Reina's eyes, devoid of all warmth, scanned the garden, finally settling on the group gathered outside. Emilia was the first to speak—her voice trembling with panic and disbelief as she noticed what Reina was carrying.
"Zero! What... what happened to him?!" Emilia exclaimed, horrified, unable to process the sight of Subaru's limp body in Reina's arms.
But Reina didn't answer. She didn't even acknowledge Emilia's voice. If Puck had been present, he would've told her the truth right away—that the boy was already gone.
Rem stood a few paces away, trembling uncontrollably. Ram, sensing the imminent danger, stepped in front of her sister protectively, swallowing hard, her throat dry with fear.
Roswaal, on the other hand, was pacing inside the mansion in frantic confusion. Panic coursed through him like fire through dry grass. According to every belief he held, Subaru—Zero—had a power that should have prevented this.
'If he could truly rewind time, then why the hell is he still dead? Why didn't he come back? What the hell went wrong?!'
Even though Roswaal lacked divine protection or the abilities of a great spirit, his instincts were refined from centuries of experience. He could tell—without any doubt—that Zero was dead. Completely and utterly dead. No life force, no residual mana, no Od remaining inside him.
'Damn it all. Does this mean the gospel was wrong? Or... did Rem kill him before he could activate his ability? But... there's also the possibility that it only triggers after death. He did talk about the curse recently—could it be something else entirely? Maybe there's a price for his ability…'
His mind spiraled in all directions, yet no conclusion made sense. Only one thing was certain—his plan may have just died with that boy. His one and only chance to bring back his beloved Sensei might be gone forever. That terrified him more than anything.
Reina, meanwhile, had shifted her eyes toward Emilia again. Her gaze was like knives—sharp, cold, and soaked in scorn.
'How can someone be this stupid? This naive?'
It took every ounce of restraint not to march up and slap her so hard that her skull would separate from her neck, leaving behind a messy pulp of shattered bone and brains.
Her voice came low and cold, directed not at Emilia but at the one she held truly responsible.
"Why did you kill my Lord?" Reina asked, staring directly at Rem with fury boiling beneath her skin. Her voice didn't shake; it didn't even rise. It didn't need to. The weight behind her words alone was enough to suffocate.
She wanted to know. She needed to know why her Lord had been murdered so mercilessly. Regardless of whatever excuse or twisted logic Rem might try to offer, Reina had already made her decision—Rem would die. The answer was only a formality.
"W-What...? Zero is dead? And... Rem... killed him?" Emilia stuttered, her face frozen in horror as the realization hit her like a slap. Suddenly, Rem's earlier cryptic comment about making a "big mistake" made far too much sense. She stared at the blue-haired oni, unable to believe what she was hearing.
Rem couldn't move. Her feet were locked in place, her throat tight.
Ram looked at Roswaal, silently begging him to intervene, to say something, do something—but the clown mage wasn't going to risk it. Not now. Not after realizing that Rem's impulsive action might have obliterated the one shot he had at reviving Echidna.
Reina snapped.
"SPEAK, YOU WRETCHED ONI!" she roared, the power of her voice sending a chill through everyone present. Rem flinched, still unable to speak, as if her very soul had curled up into a fetal position.
Reina, now visibly shaking with fury, lost what little patience she had left.
She raised her head slightly, eyes narrowing as her voice dropped into something more focused, more commanding. It wasn't a plea. It wasn't a prayer. It was a demand.
"Od Laguna... grant me a blessing," she whispered, though the weight of her tone gave the words the authority of a divine command. "Give me a way to force the truth from her disgusting mouth."
And Od Laguna obeyed.
In that moment, Reina was granted a Divine Protection—one that could rip the truth from even the most reluctant lips. She activated it without hesitation, and its effect was immediate.
Rem's eyes widened as the power took hold of her. She opened her mouth slowly, as if struggling with the very act of speech, but the words began pouring out regardless.
First came the painful confessions about her past—the story of her and Ram as children. She admitted her envy of Ram's talent, her jealousy so deep that she had once felt a twisted sense of joy when her sister's horn was broken. The guilt that followed had plagued her every day since, but finally voicing it allowed some healing to begin between the sisters.
Then came the part Reina had been waiting for.
The part about Subaru.
"He... he reeked of the Witch's Miasma," Rem began, her voice unsteady, her eyes filled with dread. "The moment I sensed it, I immediately suspected he was part of the Witch Cult. I didn't wait. I... I let my hatred cloud my judgment. Even when he explained it—when Lord Puck confirmed what he said—"
She paused, unable to continue for a brief moment. Her next words came with the weight of a thousand regrets.
"Even then... I didn't believe him. I didn't want to believe him. I hated him. I wanted to protect everyone else from what I thought he was. So I ignored everything else. I ignored his explanations. I ignored Puck. I acted out of hatred."
Reina's aura pulsed with pure, unfiltered rage. The killing intent she now radiated could have dropped a dragon from the sky.
Rem fell to her knees, her voice trembling with every syllable, yet still unable to stop talking.
"Finally... when everyone had fallen asleep, I crept silently into his room. My intention was clear—I wanted to end him then and there, to eliminate the threat I believed he posed," Rem began, her voice trembling and strained as she continued against her will. "But to my surprise... he was still awake. He noticed me the moment I stepped in, and instead of fighting or running, he tried to talk to me. He attempted to reason with me. He asked me to listen to him. But I... I ignored him completely. I dismissed his words like filth—"
"DO NOT DARE CURSE MY ZERO!" Reina snapped furiously, interrupting Rem with venom in her voice. Her eyes glowed with fury, and the sheer power of her wrath made the ground itself feel like it was trembling.
Rem's body shuddered, and she quickly corrected herself, stammering.
"I-I mean... I ignored his words, not him. I didn't listen to what he had to say, even though he pleaded. He tried to explain himself, and again insisted that he wasn't a Witch Cultist. But I chased him—pushed him into the forest outside, ignoring everything he said. I struck first. I attacked him, and eventually, he was forced to defend himself. He ended up hurting me during the struggle, but in the end… I still managed to overpower him. I-I finished him off. When he stopped breathing—when he finally went still... I felt relieved. I was glad that I had killed him. I felt... satisfied. As if I had done something right, like I had purged something filthy from the world."
She stopped. Her voice failed her. The weight of her words hung in the air like a suffocating fog.
Tears slipped down from the corners of Emilia's eyes. She didn't sob, she didn't cry aloud—her grief was silent, stunned, and trembling. Her entire body was frozen in shock. She couldn't understand how things had spiraled into something this cruel.
Reina's gaze, already cold, became something even more inhuman—dead and hollow, stripped of any remaining compassion. She stared directly at Rem, each word from her mouth dragging through gritted teeth.
"You killed my Zero… just because of a damn suspicion? Just because of a smell? When it was already proven he wasn't a threat?" she said, her voice low, but filled with rage. "You murdered him... even though he had done nothing to deserve it?"
Her body shook as she looked down at Zero's pale, lifeless face in her arms. His eyes were closed, lips still, skin cold. The one person who had shown her kindness, who had treated her as an equal, was gone. The tears began dripping freely from her eyes now.
'He had no power. He was fragile. He couldn't defend himself against that kind of hatred… and so he died. Just like that. As if his life meant nothing. As if everything he'd done, everything he'd been, didn't matter in the slightest…'
She clutched his body tighter, trying not to scream.
'He was treated just like I once was… thrown away. But unlike me... he didn't survive.'
A sound escaped her lips, but it wasn't a sob. It was laughter. At first, it was faint—just a breath—but then it grew louder. Harsher. Wild. Her voice rose into madness, echoing through the night air, louder and louder, her tears streaming down her cheeks without pause.
"My beloved Zero was killed... for such a petty reason!" she cackled, her voice warping with fury and pain. "HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Her laugh was unhinged, sharp, and frightening.
Rem couldn't even stand anymore—she was on her knees, her body shaking like a leaf in a storm. Ram, though still beside her sister, was visibly unnerved and turned her eyes to Roswaal.
"Miss Reina..." Roswaal began, his voice steady, but cold and hollow. "I acknowledge that my maid has committed a grievous crime. An unforgivable one, at that. Therefore, I will not stop you. Whether you choose to torture her or kill her, do as you please."
He was speaking with clear detachment. His concern wasn't for Rem—it was for the opportunity that had just been destroyed. The boy who could rewind time was dead, and with him, Roswaal's hope of returning to his Sensei.
"NO! Please! Lord Roswaal, I beg you!" Ram suddenly cried out, bowing her head. Her hands clasped together in front of her chest as she pleaded. "Spare my sister, I'll do anything, just… don't let her die!"
Rem remained silent. She didn't protest. She didn't beg. Her eyes, though brimming with unshed tears, were dull. She had accepted her fate, whatever it might be.
"Kill her? KILL HER?!" Reina hissed, snapping her head toward Roswaal with an expression of disbelief and fury. "Do you really think that killing that filthy bitch would be enough to make up for what she did to my Zero?!"
Roswaal, unphased, offered more.
"I understand it may not be enough," he said, still coldly composed. "You are free to take her sister's life as well, if that brings you any measure of peace."
Ram and Rem both turned toward him in utter shock. Neither of them could believe what they had just heard. Their supposed master had just discarded both of them in the blink of an eye.
"You really don't understand, do you, Roswaal?" Reina murmured, her voice now frighteningly calm. "My Zero's life... meant more than anyone else here. More than all of you combined. And because of her—because of her petty hate—he's dead. The only person who ever cared for me... who didn't treat me like a freak, like some cursed abomination... is gone."
She tilted her head slowly to the side. Her eyes no longer shed tears. They were empty.
"You all think I'm a monster, don't you?" she asked, softly, almost curiously. Her lips curled into a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Fine. Then you'll get exactly what you expect from me."
Everyone in the area flinched as those words left her mouth. The air seemed to grow colder.
"M-Miss Reina... I know what they did was wrong. Horribly wrong. It's unforgivable, I understand that…" Emilia finally spoke, her voice cracking under the pressure of fear. She forced the words out through a dry throat, trying to hold herself together. "...but still, killing them... executing them like this... it's too much. They should be judged... by the law. Please... arrest them. Punish them legally."
Reina's eyes turned on her. The glare that followed made Emilia flinch and take a step back. It was not a look of rage—it was contempt. Pure and focused.
"My Lord saved your pathetic life, yet this is how you repay his kindness? DIE!"
The moment the words left Reina's lips, a blinding flash followed. The very next instant, Emilia's body was sliced cleanly into two—vertically—right down the center. Her upper and lower halves separated mid-air before collapsing heavily onto the ground with a sickening thud. Blood sprayed in arcs, pooling rapidly beneath the gory remains. Internal organs, bones, and torn muscles spilled across the stone path, soaking the grass beneath in crimson.
"NOOOOO!" Roswaal's scream echoed out, shrill and horrified. His expression twisted in disbelief as he watched the silver-haired girl—his most valuable pawn, his insurance, his key—fall lifelessly into ruin before his eyes.
Before he could react, Reina calmly unsheathed her blade. With a movement so casual it bordered on insulting, she flicked her wrist once in Roswaal's direction. The enchanted steel flashed through the air with terrifying ease.
His head detached cleanly from his neck and fell to the ground with a soft plop, his wide, stunned eyes still open in death. His body collapsed a moment later. There was no dramatic final word, no spell, no protest. His life ended instantly.
Reina had no interest in discussions anymore. No speeches, no judgment, no pleas. She was finished listening. All she wanted now was vengeance—complete, merciless, final.
She gently and slowly lowered Subaru's cold, unresponsive body to the ground, treating him with the same care a mother might offer a sleeping child. Her eyes stayed on him for a moment longer than necessary before she lifted her head and turned her gaze upon the remaining two.
Rem and Ram.
"Rem, run! I'll hold—" Ram began to yell, stepping forward to protect her sister.
But Reina was faster than thought.
Before Ram could even finish her sentence, Reina was already in front of her. A flash of movement—barely perceptible—and Reina's palm connected with the side of Ram's head.
The result was catastrophic.
Her skull detonated from the force, exploding like a crushed melon. Blood sprayed in a horrific burst, fragments of bone and chunks of brain matter splattered across the garden floor and Reina's own garments. Ram's now-headless corpse dropped heavily beside her sister, twitching slightly before falling still.
"NOOOO! Onii-san!" Rem shrieked in despair, collapsing beside Ram's lifeless body. She grabbed her sister's bloody form and cradled it, her mind unable to comprehend what had just happened.
Reina didn't care.
She reached forward, grabbing Rem by the neck and yanking her upward like a ragdoll. Lifting her into the air, Reina watched with hollow eyes as Rem struggled—gasping, choking, clawing at Reina's arm in a futile attempt to break free.
"Your death…" Reina began coldly, her voice lower than before, more personal, more venomous. "Unlike theirs, you will not receive the mercy of a quick end. No… you will suffer."
Rem gasped, eyes wide in horror. Then, before Reina could even begin her promised torment, the atmosphere suddenly shifted.
A colossal wave of magical pressure surged behind her—massive, dense, and cold. In terms of sheer presence, it was just slightly weaker than Reina's own... but still monstrous.
In the next heartbeat, everything around them was consumed by frost.
The air grew still. The wind stopped. The moisture in the air instantly turned to snow. Frost coated the trees, the ground, and even Reina's sword. Rem's body froze completely in Reina's hand, her expression locked in fear as the cold consumed her life. She died instantly—no screams, no pain, just the silence of absolute ice.
"YOU KILLED MY DAUGHTER! HOW DARE YOU, WORLD'S CHAMPION!" roared an enormous voice.
Puck had arrived.
He stood towering over Reina in his monstrous beast form—fur white as death, eyes glowing like twin suns of vengeance. His mana output distorted the space around them.
"You killed Rem..." Reina whispered, her voice trembling not with fear but with rage. "I wasn't able to torture her… I couldn't make her suffer... NO! My Lord!"
She turned and ran toward Subaru's corpse, now encased in thick layers of transparent ice. She reached for him desperately—but before her hand could even touch the crystal, Puck's massive tail flicked forward.
In one cruel swipe, Subaru's frozen corpse shattered into a million pieces—fragments of flesh, ice, and bone scattering across the garden like snowflakes.
Reina stopped.
She stood still, her eyes staring at the shattered remains of the one person she had loved. Her breathing slowed. Her mind went blank.
She looked up at Puck, then down again at the broken shards on the ground.
And then... she snapped.
Without a word, without any warning, she reached for her blade and unleashed it in full force.
A blinding flash of crimson and silver filled the sky as she called upon Reid, the sword of legend. Her slash tore through the very fabric of space, and in less than a second, Puck's massive body was sliced into a billion particles—dispersed and erased.
There were no screams. No counterattacks. No resistance. Just annihilation.
Reid returned to its sheath on its own, as if satisfied.
Reina stood in place. She didn't move. Her eyes fixated on the sparkling white fragments that remained of Subaru's body.
Slowly, she reached out her hand, as if she could gather the shards and somehow bring him back.
Her fingers curled around a few, and she clutched them tightly to her chest.
"This world... has no reason to exist anymore," she muttered, voice low and nearly inaudible. "A world without Zero... should not be allowed to go on."
She placed her hand on the hilt of her sword again, this time with a different intent.
But it refused to come out.
The Dragon Sword vibrated violently, refusing to obey her call. It was resisting.
'How dare it disobey me?!'
Reina didn't care. She gripped the hilt harder, applying more pressure. The sheath groaned under the strain. The energy it was holding back surged violently.
And then… the Dragon Sheath began to crack.
She growled under her breath. "OBEY ME, YOU MEASLY SWORD!"
She slashed her palm open, letting blood pour down the blade. She coated it with her own essence, forcing her will into the weapon, overriding its resistance.
It worked.
With one final, deafening crack, the Dragon Sheath shattered entirely, exploding in a burst of light.
Now, there was nothing to hold it back.
Reina turned her gaze toward the sky—toward the OD Laguna, the metaphysical heart of this world.
She lifted her sword high, then pointed it forward. She didn't hesitate.
She unleashed a single, devastating blast.
A beam of pure annihilation surged forward, tearing through the atmosphere like a lance of destruction. The very fabric of the world began to unravel as the beam struck the OD Laguna with pinpoint precision.
At the same moment, the energy wave ricocheted upward, striking the very Sun of the world. The star convulsed, twisted, and exploded into a supernova, releasing a wave of energy so immense that the very sky screamed in protest.
But none of that mattered.
Reina's attack reached the OD Laguna first.
And it destroyed it.
The world shook violently. Reality itself began to collapse. Mountains crumbled. Oceans boiled. Forests withered. Every living being—man, beast, or spirit—was turned to ash in the blink of an eye.
Reina stood at the center of it all, her body slowly disintegrating into dust.
She vanished, as Subaru's Authority of Envy started working.
And then—
Time reversed.
Reality snapped backward.
Natsuki Subaru had returned by Death
To be continued...
(A/N: I am too tired today, I wanted to write a new chap and upload it however i spend all the free time on editing the first 25 non-proofreaded chaps of the story, and the result was astonishing.
Those chaps are of peak quality, you can read the entire fic from the beginning this time with extremely good immersion.
I hope it attracts new readers, also deleted one bad grammar review, since everything about this fic is now fixed, also did some discussion in discord, please listen to it.
Xb47VnFUpQ
Here is the invitation code, there is a voting going on, if you want to participate then please do.
I will also be dropping my older fics and then re-uploading it under a new account, this time with patched grammar
Also last note, the next chap of this Side Chapter will be final, and then we will return on main story.)