Chapter 104: Dead Again, Again, Again
How much time had passed? He couldn't remember. How many lives had been taken by the longsword in his hand? That too was unclear.
The sounds of battle, cries, and wails from the mansion behind kept reaching his ears, but he couldn't move!
His body was covered in countless wounds—cuts from blades and burns from magical fireballs.
His clothes were in tatters... his mind was beginning to blur... He shouldn't be lying here! He shouldn't be stuck here! He had said he would use the villagers' gifted sword to protect them!
But why was he now lying on the ground, only able to listen to the screams coming from the mansion behind him?
"Cough cough..."
Subaru Natsuki clenched his teeth and stood up from the ground, reaching out to grab the longsword beside him.
His body swayed as he rose, and his gaze locked onto Petelgeuse not far away. He was still standing there, surrounded by many Witch Cultists.
Corpses lay all around Subaru's feet, but these people were like cockroaches—no matter how many he killed, there were always more.
"Diligence! What diligence! You've already fallen! Your body is broken beyond repair! And yet you still stand to face us! Such diligence! My brain is treeembling!!!"
Subaru looked at the crazed Petelgeuse and took a step forward. He knew that unless he took care of that man, this ordeal would never end.
The screams and cries from the mansion behind him continued. He couldn't turn back to see what it had become inside.
All he could do now was believe in Puck and the others. He had no other options left.
"To reward your diligence, let me, the Sin Archbishop of Sloth, grant you a reward for your diligence!"
As those words fell, Subaru felt something touch his right hand.
In that moment, he lost all sensation in it—yet felt no pain. The next instant, something struck his abdomen with great force.
His body flew backward, crashing through the mansion's main doors.
As he was thrown back, he saw his right hand—still holding the sword—fall to the ground.
Lying on the ground, Subaru coughed up blood. He heard footsteps approaching, and then saw Petelgeuse's tear-streaked face appear in his fading vision.
"How moving. For love—it's all for love! Whether you or I, our diligence is all for love! How thrilling! But you really are slothful~~"
"..."
"In the face of our love, your love is so insignificant. Your diligence is so slothful. Blood flows. Consciousness fades. Life slips away. Listen~~~ to this beautiful sound."
"In such a moment, when you should be diligent, you slothfully collapse to the ground. How slothful you are."
Petelgeuse's face disappeared from view.
Subaru, lying on the ground, heard the footsteps gradually fading. His remaining consciousness was slipping away.
'Is this the end... Do I have to go again... It's fine. I can still load from a save.'
'Save point? This time? Can I really load again? What if... what if I fall asleep here and can't load...?'
His ears were filled with the cries and wails, but the sounds seemed to be growing distant.
Could he really not move? Had he truly reached his limit? Was there really nothing more he could do?
No! I'm still alive! I can still move! I just don't want to move! I can still fight! I can still protect! There's no way I'd fall asleep without fighting to the very end!!
Petelgeuse, who had been preparing to head upstairs, paused and turned toward Subaru. There stood Subaru—missing an arm—yet somehow back on his feet.
Petelgeuse's eyes widened as he watched Subaru begin biting his own fingers.
"No way! This is impossible! You shouldn't be able to stand again! Your diligence should have lost to mine! Why?! Why can you still stand?! This is unreasonable, incorrect, unrealistic!"
Subaru's vision was already fading; he could barely see Petelgeuse at the stairs, nor hear clearly what he was saying.
Everything around him was receding into the distance.
Step by step, Subaru's body moved toward Petelgeuse.
He thought he could hear Petelgeuse's mad rambling, but it was no longer clear. By the time he finally reached the base of the stairs...
Subaru raised his left hand, trying to grasp Petelgeuse's silhouette in his view. And then, his consciousness fell into darkness.
Petelgeuse glanced at the collapsed Subaru at the foot of the stairs.
Just moments ago, he had felt as if something had grabbed his body—faint, but real.
And then, a flail came flying out of nowhere, instantly ending Petelgeuse's life.
One-horned Rem landed beside him, then turned to the staircase—seeing Subaru collapsed there.
"Subaru-kun!"
She cried out and ran over to him, lifting him up in her arms.
She already knew—Subaru had completely lost his life.
"Witch Cult!!!!!!"
"Ah! I was careless! You really are slothful!"
.
.
.
"..."
Subaru stared at the system screen in front of him, still not assigning any skill points. He desperately wanted to know what had happened at the mansion afterward.
Even though his save/load ability was still intact, he couldn't help but wonder what had become of everyone.
Did they manage to drive the Witch Cult away? Or... did everyone at the mansion die?
Subaru shook his head, forcing the thoughts away.
As long as the save/load ability remained, everything could still be fixed. But this also made him realize: the people in the mansion alone couldn't stand against the Witch Cult.
So, once he loaded the save, he had to seek reinforcements. With that settled, Subaru finally looked back at the system.
This time, he had 480 points. After thinking for a moment, Subaru invested in Agility. Spending 160 points, his Agility became 5.
From the last battle, he had come to understand: Agility was crucial. Only with enough speed could he dodge attacks that he shouldn't have had to take. And Agility affected not just movement speed—it applied to anything related to quickness.
Next, he upgraded Defense. Only with high enough Defense could he survive some hits without being fatally wounded. So he spent another 160 points to bring Defense to 5.
With 160 points remaining, Subaru didn't overthink it and put them into Strength, leaving his stats as follows:
Strength: 5 Defense: 5 Agility: 5 Superpower: 1 Mana: 1 Gate Quality: 0
After finishing the allocations, Subaru glanced at his Superpower stat.
Despite putting a point into it, he didn't feel any different—no superpowers to speak of.
"I really don't know what this stat is for. No manual or anything—what a rip-off."
After complaining, Subaru took a deep breath, tapped "Deploy," and began the next challenge.