...
{3rd Pov}
Satella exhaled slowly, her expression grim as the memory of the Sword Saint's devastating attack surged in her mind. It wasn't just powerful—it was the most overwhelmingly destructive attack she had ever witnessed in her long existence.
Not even the cruelties of fate or the passage of countless loops could compare to the sheer annihilation that blow had brought down upon her.
Her physical form had been all but completely obliterated. There was nothing left of her body—flesh, bone, and spirit—shattered and dispersed into dust and fragments.
Even her soul, usually resilient in the face of death, had been torn into pieces, a scattering of essence that barely clung together.
If not for the unbreakable core of her soul—her indestructible nucleus and infinite soul regeneration—there would have been nothing left of her.
But that core remained untouched, pulsing faintly with latent power, allowing her to quickly regenerate from the abyss of non-existence.
She would not forget it. Not now, not ever. That sword strike—it terrified her.
Envy, on the other hand, wasn't faring much better. For the first time in her cursed existence, she felt something she was unfamiliar with.
Pain.
Not just any pain, but the agony that came with the destruction of her Od. Her origin. The core of her being. That level of suffering was something she had never experienced before—not even during her worst rampages or 400 years of imprisonment.
Physical pain meant nothing to Envy. Wounds, dismemberment, disfigurement—all of it was background noise. But the moment her Od had been ruptured and torn, she had screamed for the first time in ages, last time was when Flugel bitch slapped her.
*Ahem*
The sensation had broken something within her. Her will to dominate was temporarily stifled, her hunger to consume silenced by fear. Terrified and shaken, Envy withdrew into herself, retreating from the surface.
For the first time in a long time, she willingly surrendered control.
Satella took over once more.
...
[Loop 6]
"Restart the loop," Roswaal commanded coldly, his voice devoid of any humanity.
A pulse of violet energy exploded from his fingertip, and in an instant, Subaru's body was engulfed in magical fire. His form was reduced to ash, vaporized before anyone could react.
The hall went silent.
Everyone froze.
Reina's eyes widened, pure horror contorting her face. Her breath caught in her throat, and time itself seemed to slow for her.
"ZEROOO!" she screamed, her voice shrill and heartbroken as she vanished from her place.
In a flash of light and sound, she reappeared beside Subaru's scorched remains. Without hesitation, she launched herself forward, slamming into Roswaal and she pushed him away. The impact was cataclysmic.
Roswaal's body was hurled across the hall like a broken puppet, bones shattering audibly as he crashed into a group of nobles. The force was so great that several of them went flying, one of whom—a senior noble—died on the spot, his neck twisted at an unnatural angle.
Reina didn't look back.
Her attention was entirely on Subaru. What was left of him.
His body—or rather, the blackened husk of it—was barely even recognizable. Everything above the torso had been annihilated.
His upper body was completely gone. Only charred flesh and exposed, burnt bone remained. The stench of cooked human meat filled the air, mixing with the lingering aura of Roswaal's magic.
Her eyes trembled. Her hands shook as she crouched beside him. 'This can't be happening… He's… no… this isn't right…' she thought frantically.
Without wasting a second, Reina summoned the full force of her Divine Protection of Healing. Golden light exploded around her, rippling out from her palms as she pressed them against what remained of Subaru's chest.
Mana was ripped from every corner of the hall. The temperature dropped. The chandeliers flickered and dimmed. Everyone present could feel the mana being drained from the very air itself.
His bones began to regenerate. Muscle fibers wove themselves together. Veins and arteries returned, his skin regrowing rapidly to cover the reconstructed tissue. In mere seconds, Subaru's body was completely restored.
He looked exactly as he had minutes ago—minus the upper half of his clothing, which had been incinerated in the blast.
But it didn't matter.
There was no heartbeat.
No rise and fall of his chest.
No spark in his eyes.
He was still dead.
Reina's heart sank. She clutched his lifeless body to her chest, trembling. Her healing was perfect—flawless, in fact. But there was no soul in the body.
He wasn't coming back.
'He isn't returning… Why isn't he breathing?! WHY!? I need to bring him back—I need to revive him… Somehow!' her thoughts spiraled into desperation.
Meanwhile, the rest of the hall slowly began to process the chaos that had unfolded in just moments.
Marcos, one of the higher-ranking nobles, stared in disbelief. His gaze shifted between the half-dead Roswaal and the injured nobles around him. Blood was pooling on the floor. Panic was simmering beneath the surface.
"Sir Elehiom is dead! The Sword Saint killed him!" someone screamed, voice breaking with fear.
The remaining Royal Candidates reacted differently.
Priscilla Barielle, ever theatrical, tilted her head and smirked. Her crimson eyes gleamed with twisted amusement.
She found no sadness in the loss. Not even a shred of sympathy for the dead. In fact, she found it rather delightful. One she had once mockingly referred to as her servant had died. Killed in the most brutal and humiliating way—like a mutt defending a cursed half-elf. How fitting.
'A dog, loyal to the wrong master, perished in the way he deserved,' she thought, smirking to herself.
Crusch Karsten, on the other hand, looked utterly disturbed. She had seen impulsive actions before—Julius, for one, had a tendency to act in haste—but this? This was a calculated execution. Roswaal had deliberately incinerated Subaru, in front of everyone. Without warning. Without trial.
She glanced at the nobles—one was dead, several others gravely wounded—and then at Roswaal. His chest was crushed, bones visibly caved in. His left arm hung uselessly, dangling by a strand of skin and shattered bone. All from Reina's single, emotionally-fueled push.
Julius had already recovered from the initial shock. He stepped protectively in front of Anastasia, drawing his sword with practiced grace.
"Lady Anastasia," he said calmly but firmly, "this situation is spiraling. I shall protect you. No matter what."
Anastasia nodded stiffly. She was still stunned by the events, but her composure held.
Felix had moved as well, standing between Crusch and any potential threats. His healing arts might be needed, but he was ready to defend her with his life if necessary.
Aldebaran stepped beside Priscilla. He didn't bother shielding her—he knew better. If he even dared to imply she needed protection, she'd take it as an insult. She would strike him down faster than any enemy.
Heinkel looked on, frozen. For a moment, he was genuinely speechless. Then he saw Reina again—still clutching Subaru's corpse, the aftermath of her healing shining around her.
'What the hell… She healed a wound like that? In seconds?' he thought, his fists clenching. 'Fucking monster… That's not even magic, that's divine intervention…'
He glanced at the nobles—injured, dead, confused—and grimaced. His instincts told him that political fallout from this chaos was going to slam into them like a tidal wave.
Felt was still trying to wrap her head around it all. So much had happened, so fast. Too fast.
Anastasia, behind Julius, had narrowed her eyes, her strategic mind already at work.
'This is bad… but maybe, just maybe… there's a way to benefit from this chaos,' she pondered, her usual calculating demeanor slowly returning.
Priscilla, meanwhile, chuckled softly to herself.
'A fitting death for a dog loyal to a cursed half-elf,' she snorted disdainfully.
'These sudden turn of events… Can I use them to my advantage? Could this be my opportunity to kick out that half-elf from the competition?' Crusch thought to herself, her gaze lingering on the emotional wreckage unfolding around Subaru's corpse.
Her expression remained composed, but her mind was working rapidly, wheels turning at breakneck speed. She couldn't afford to show emotion right now—every second counted in such volatile political chaos.
Meanwhile, Emilia finally broke free from her paralysis. Her breath hitched as she ran forward, the sight of Subaru's lifeless body shattering whatever composure she had left.
"Zero!" she cried out, voice trembling with anguish as she skidded to her knees beside him.
She reached out, her fingertips quivering just inches from his body—but before she could touch him, Reina snapped.
"Do not touch him!" she barked, her voice sharp, threatening, and loaded with pure venom.
Emilia recoiled as if she'd been struck, tears spilling freely from her eyes. Her hand fell to her lap, trembling, and her mouth hung slightly open in mute heartbreak.
Reina wasn't in the mood for sympathy—not even from Emilia.
Just moments ago, Reina had desperately attempted to acquire a Divine Protection specifically to resurrect Subaru. It was something she had never done before—pleading to the world itself, appealing to the divine force that governed existence. But it had failed. The world had rejected her.
The response had been final. Uncompromising.
Resurrection was impossible.
It wasn't just beyond the world's capabilities—it was beyond the very laws that defined the way the world operated. Even with all the Divine Protections she had received from the world over the years, even with the bond she shared with the fabric of existence itself, this was the one thing the world would not grant her.
She had been told—silently, yet unmistakably—that it was impossible. That not even she could alter this one law.
She wanted to scream.
To curse.
The same world that loved her so unconditionally, that showered her with gifts and miracles, that ensured her safety by forcibly bestowing upon her the Divine Protection of the Phoenix… now denied her the one miracle she needed most.
'Hypocrite… The world itself is a liar. It makes exceptions when it wants to, but now? Now it acts like it's bound by rules?' she seethed inwardly, hatred boiling within her.
Not understanding it didn't deny her the Divine Protection because it wanted to, because it couldn't.
Natsuki Subaru was an Authority user, there was no Divine Protection capable of ressurecting him as beings tainted with Authorities clashed with world's rules.
She clenched her fists, trying to keep herself from snapping entirely. But then… a thought occurred to her. A risky, desperate, illogical thought.
Her eyes darted around the hall—and landed on a certain demi-human, a femboy cat-man whose reputation as a healer was unmatched.
Felix Argyle.
A spark ignited in her mind.
Without warning, her figure vanished in a blur of speed, and she reappeared directly in front of Felix and Crusch, startling them both. Crusch instinctively reached for her sword, while Felix stumbled backward, startled by Reina's sudden and aggressive appearance.
Her eyes locked onto Felix's, filled with desperation, pain, and fury.
"You have the magic to resurrect the dead, don't you? Then use it! Revive him! Quickly!" she demanded, her voice ringing throughout the hall like thunder.
Felix's mouth opened, clearly about to protest, but Crusch's hand clamped down firmly on his shoulder.
"Do as she says," Crusch ordered, her voice sharp, commanding, and absolute.
Felix's hesitation broke, and he nodded grimly. He knelt down beside Subaru as Reina gently placed the boy's corpse on the bloodstained carpet. Felix raised his hands, gathering magic—dense, ancient magic that resonated with power.
He was about to use Immortal King's Sacrament—a forbidden spell, long banned from formal practice. It was magic designed to break the laws of life and death. Even Felix, the best healer in the kingdom, possessed only an incomplete and unstable version of the spell. The chances of success were abysmally low.
But Reina didn't care. Even a sliver of hope was worth grasping.
As Felix began casting, his voice echoing in incantation, Marcos finally regained his composure. With the chaos no longer fresh and his mind working once more, he reached a conclusion.
Reina Van Astrea had just committed multiple crimes. She had disrespected the Noble Assembly in front of the entire royal court. She had attacked and severely injured Roswaal, and her actions had directly caused the death of a noble. Regardless of motive or intent, such an act could not go unanswered.
"Knights! Surround Reina Van Astrea!" Marcos barked, pointing an accusatory finger toward her. "She is to be placed under arrest immediately!"
The Royal Knights moved into formation, weapons drawn, surrounding Reina and Felix, who was still mid-casting.
"Reina Van Astrea! Due to your actions, you are hereby arrested! Do not resist, and surrender yourself to face justice!" Marcos declared firmly, though he did not step closer himself.
As if on cue, Felix's casting ended. A tense silence filled the room. For a brief moment, it looked like the spell had worked. Subaru's body twitched. Magic particles shimmered around him.
But then…
He began turning to dust.
"NO!" Reina screamed, horrified. In a frantic burst of healing magic, she launched her hands forward and forced her mana into his body, trying to stabilize it—trying to stop the decay.
Flesh began reforming, the dust retracting into tissue, bones pulling themselves back together under the sheer force of her magic.
"Do it again!" she shouted at Felix. "Use the magic again! I will use my Divine Protection to support it! Just try again!"
Felix hesitated. His face was pale, drenched in sweat. That spell had cost him almost all of his energy—and using it again could very well kill him.
"Sir Felix! Return to us now!" Marcos commanded, his voice colder and less patient this time.
Reina turned her glare to him, eyes glowing with rage and frustration.
"Until my Zero is resurrected… none of you will lay a finger on him. If you try, I will kill you," she warned, her tone low and threatening.
The knights around her stiffened, none daring to move.
Heinkel broke through the formation of Royal Knights and marched forward, his face twisted with anger. His voice was loud, cutting through the tension like a blade.
"Shut up, Reina! Do you even realize what kind of mess you've caused?! You've turned the entire court into a disaster scene! Nobles are injured—one is dead! You think this is some fairy tale where you get to throw tantrums and everyone claps for you?!"
The nobles who weren't injured had already moved to a distant corner, watching the scene with mixed expressions of fear, disbelief, and disgust.
Roswaal, meanwhile, watched from the shadows, a twisted smile dancing on his bloodied lips. His chest still broken, arm still limp, he nonetheless looked entirely amused. Almost entertained.
His eyes flicked over to Emilia—still frozen, still crying, still completely paralyzed by her grief and helplessness.
She didn't even have the strength to speak.
All she could do was cry silently as Reina defied the everyone here in her hopeless attempt to bring Subaru back.
"Lord Roswaal, if I may inquire," one of the Wise Men suddenly spoke up, his tone measured but clearly laced with disapproval. "This... Zero—Emilia's so-called bodyguard—did he have any relations to the nobility? Any lineage we might be unaware of?"
Roswaal, still recovering from Reina's violent blow with his arm limp and his face bruised, responded with a calm smile despite his battered condition. "None, Sir. In fact, he was nothing more than a commoner."
The hall erupted in disdainful murmurs.
"A mere commoner… and he had the audacity to act like that?" another noble scoffed, his tone practically dripping with contempt. "He stood here in this sacred hall, barking at nobles, accusing his own master—one of the heads of the most powerful houses in Lugunica. The sheer arrogance of that filth!"
Several others followed suit, adding their voices to the growing chorus of insults.
"Disrespectful."
"Arrogant bastard."
"He got what was coming."
It wasn't long before they turned their verbal venom toward Reina.
"You really outstepped your bounds this time, Reina," Heinkel said with a sneer, stepping forward as if her shame needed to be carved into the air. "All of this… for a commoner? What the hell did you see in that mongrel? He's just some idiot who never learned his place."
(A/N: Bro is taking classes from Gilgamesh haha)
But Reina didn't respond. Not to Heinkel. Not to the insults echoing around the hall. Not to the snide remarks of nobles who acted as if they'd never seen death before.
She ignored all of it.
Because none of it mattered.
The only thing she cared about—the only thing that existed in her world—was Subaru. Bringing him back. Saving him. Resurrecting him.
Felix, having tried the forbidden magic again with what remained of his strength, finally stood up with heavy breath. His hands trembled slightly as he returned to his Lady Crusch, avoiding Reina's gaze.
"I'm sorry, Miss Reina," he said softly, voice weighed with reluctant finality. "But… he cannot be saved."
Those words landed like a hammer blow.
Reina didn't move. Her body locked up, her expression frozen in denial. Her eyes searched Felix's face for any sign of hesitation, any hidden meaning—some clue that maybe he was lying. Maybe there was still a way.
But there was nothing.
Even her Divine Protections, those radiant threads of power that tied her to the world, burned silently in confirmation.
Subaru was beyond saving.
'No… no, no, no, no… I don't accept this… There has to be a way. There must be…' she thought desperately, but her thoughts were hollow. Empty.
Her vision blurred. Tears began to fall freely, dripping down her cheeks and splattering onto Subaru's still, pale face.
She reached out to touch him again. His skin was cold. Lifeless.
Her expression crumbled into something so broken, so fragile, that several nobles—despite their cruelty—turned away, uncomfortable.
But their discomfort didn't translate into sympathy.
"Tch. Enough of this pathetic display," Heinkel muttered in disgust. "Ugh! Come here, you crazy bitch."
He stormed over, grabbing Reina's wrist roughly. She didn't resist. Not yet.
Then—without warning—he kicked Subaru's corpse, flipping it onto its side like it was garbage on the street.
"Stop ignoring that dead commoner friend of yours and—"
He never got to finish his sentence.
Reina's eyes snapped to him.
Her mind, already stretched to the brink, simply broke.
'He… kicked my Zero? He touched my beloved Zero with his filthy feet?' the thought echoed through her head like a war drum.
Without a word, Reina reached down, grabbed Heinkel's leg by the shin—before anyone could react—and with a terrifying, unnatural strength, tore it from his body.
"AAARRRGHHHHHHHHHH!" Heinkel's scream rang out, guttural and filled with pure agony, as he fell to the floor with blood gushing from the mangled stump.
Everyone in the hall froze in shock, unable to process what had just happened.
Reina dropped the severed leg with no expression, then turned toward the writhing noble.
"How dare you touch my Zero with your disgusting feet… You insect."
Her voice was calm. But it was the calm of a hurricane's eye—unnatural, eerie, and deeply unsettling.
Marcos finally snapped out of it, shouting with authority, "REINA VAN ASTREA! I hereby order you to surrender yourself into the custody of the Royal Court!"
Every knight in the room drew their weapons simultaneously, blades and spears pointed toward her with intense hostility.
Reina ignored them all.
Instead, she leaned down beside Subaru's body. She gently wiped away the dust and dirt that Heinkel's kick had caused to settle on his clothes and lips.
Then she pressed her lips to his pale, unmoving ones.
A collective shudder passed through the nobles, knights, and royal candidates alike.
That was when they realized—the Sword Saint had lost her mind.
"Don't worry, Zero…" she whispered with a cracked, fragile smile, "…I won't let a single person who disrespected you walk away alive."
Marcos had seen enough.
"Attack her!" he commanded, and the order echoed like a war cry.
The knights surged forward, their weapons glowing with enchantments, prepared to subdue her by any means necessary.
But for Reina, time slowed.
Her perception accelerated. Everything became sluggish—movements, sounds, even the flow of mana in the room.
With mechanical precision, she threw up a barrier around Subaru's body, anchoring it with everything she could.
Then she turned toward Roswaal.
She unsheathed her sword.
A blinding flash erupted as her blade moved with incomprehensible speed.
She cut down everything. The knights. The nobles. The walls. The ceilings. The entire castle.
Every enemy was annihilated in the blink of an eye.
That… was how it should have ended.
But—
[Unknown conditions have been met.]
[Activating the Authority of '!#&$@']
[Role: Aggressor]
Just as the time around the Royal Castle was about to reboot due to a certain stargazer's authority, the world halted.
[ERROR!]
[ERROR!]
[Interference with another Authority detected.]
[Authority of Envy has intervened!]
[All protocols have been overwritten.]
[The Authority of '@34&$' is deactivated.]
The world vanished into oblivion.
Everything faded into black.
Natsuki Subaru returned by death.
...
The next several loops did not last long—barely a few seconds each—before everything was reset once more. The moment Subaru died, the world collapsed into the void. Again and again. A repetitive, almost mechanical cycle of death and erasure.
There was a very simple reason behind this abrupt pattern.
Envy had no intention of experiencing that kind of agony again.
After the devastating attack that nearly tore her soul apart, she had grown cautious—no, paranoid. Even if she had begun developing a resistance to soul-based damage by subtly altering and enhancing her Authority of Envy, she wasn't foolish enough to test it through trial and error.
Pain was nothing new to her, but that… that was something else entirely. The pain she had felt during that final blow wasn't just overwhelming—it was existential. A deep, primal terror that reached down into the very structure of her identity and twisted it.
She had started modifying herself immediately afterward.
The Authority of Envy was inherently adaptive, capable of rewriting her very being. Envy had already altered her physical composition to the point that she no longer needed to breathe, consume food, or sleep. Even the concept of physical pain was now something she could disable at will, a mere switch within the structure of her cursed flesh.
But the spiritual pain—that was different. That was unfamiliar territory for her.
The truth was, Envy had simply never been attacked on a spiritual level before.
The First Sword Saint, despite her terrifying strength, had never once been capable of piercing Envy's soul defenses.
The Divine Dragon's famed Holy Flames, while certainly powerful in lore, were useless against the absolute corruption that radiated from her Authority.
And Flugel—despite his status and reputation—had never truly intended to hurt her. His attacks felt more like staged movements than real attempts to inflict damage.
It was as if he was pulling punches… or pretending.
'Ah! My dear husband! Why are you pretending like this?! Just kill this second personality of mine, this bitch already!' she had once wondered. But that thought, like many others, was buried beneath after she was sealed and Flugel had made a promise with her before vanishing
The reality was harsh: none of her previous battles had truly tested her soul's defenses—until now.
And Envy was not willing to go through that again. Not even to confirm her new resistances.
Subaru's next four deaths triggered Return by Death, as usual. But in each case, the loop failed to progress even a few seconds beyond his demise.
It was as if time itself was being yanked back faster than it could breathe. No events, no developments, just instant reset. The world was being forcibly reloaded before it could stabilize.
Envy was controlling the loops shutting them down before they could spiral into yet another soul-searing experience.
From her perspective, there was no benefit in letting the scenario play out further.
She had nothing to gain.
She wasn't going to allow herself to be destroyed just to test whether her Authority had adapted sufficiently to spiritual attacks. She was arrogant—but not masochist.
She had decided once her soul defenses perfect, one day she will show Reina that she is Subaru's number one bitch.
'n her eyes, Reina Van Astrea wasn't brave.
She was insane.
When Satella—watching from within—felt those thoughts bubbling up from Envy's consciousness, she couldn't stop herself from reacting.
She rolled her eyes.
'There is no woman more madder than you in this world…' she muttered internally, her mental voice dripping with sarcasm.
Envy scoffed, but said nothing.
She knew Satella wasn't wrong.
And so, the loops continued.
Just like that, Natsuki Subaru returned by death—four times in rapid succession.
Each return quicker than the last.
Each one emptier.
To be continued…
(A/N: Got a little bit sick.
Haven't written any new chap *Sigh*, with this the chapter 10.5 of this fic ends.
I will see if I can start chap 11 tmrw, by chap 12 we should be in Multiversal Arc, why it happens, why Subaru has need to travel worlds, you will understand it soon.
The reason isn't very grand, it is quite simple.
Man we are a short of few hundreds words from reaching 200k words.
Only by Fate/Poseidon fic has more words than this fic.
I have written atleast 1.5 million words by now in the span of two to three years.
Not much as compared to those chinese authors who pump chapters by taking glucose directly in their veins.
But well still decent.
*Le gasp*
Atleast I am very committed with this fic, and I will be until the end of the Re Zero Arc.
After that it is upto your support, if you want this to be a Omniversal fic.)