By the time Emilia and Subaru returned to Roswaal's mansion, several hours had already passed. As they approached and saw that nearly half the estate had been reduced to ashes, both of them were struck speechless with shock.
"What… exactly happened here…"
They rushed through what had once been the front gate—now long gone—walking across scorched earth, searching frantically, shouting names.
"Hey!! Rem!! Ram!!"
Subaru shouted at the top of his lungs, yet no reply came. The vast mansion seemed completely deserted. The oppressive silence and the bloodstains scattered across the ground filled them with dreadful foreboding.
"Let's search inside!" Emilia said anxiously. Panic filled her eyes, though she tried to remain composed. "I'll check the east side—you take the west. If you find anyone, call me immediately!"
"Got it!"
The two ran into the parts of the building that had not been burned, splitting off in opposite directions down the corridors, calling out Rem and Ram's names as they ran.
Nothing should have happened to them… right? With their strength—and with Beatrice as well—they should be fine…
Subaru tried to reassure himself. Those people were all very capable. Even the Witch Cult shouldn't have been able to deal with them so easily. But where had everyone gone…? Maybe he should check the second floor first—see if that drill-haired girl was there.
He reached the staircase at the end of the corridor and began to climb. The moment his foot touched the step, a chill ran down his spine. His body seemed to freeze in place. Looking down in shock, he saw—
A stone rod had pierced straight through his chest, right where his heart was. Blood dripped down the length of the rod.
Drip. Drip.
"Uh… ugh…"
Pain surged through him. Subaru collapsed helplessly onto the ground, struggling to turn his head to see who had attacked him. But just as he tried, a foot pressed down on his head, pinning him in place. Unable to move, his eyes could only stare at the gray patterns on the staircase.
At last, he fell completely still—life fading away.
---
"Subaru! Hurry! We have to get back immediately!"
Emilia's voice rang in his ears. Subaru's vision blurred as he stared blankly at the anxious girl before him. She frowned, looking at him with concern.
"Subaru? What are you doing?"
"I…" Subaru rubbed his eyes, then suddenly clutched his chest, gasping for breath. "I—I… I'm fine."
"Stop fooling around. We need to hurry back and stop the unrest!"
Emilia spoke quickly and rushed downstairs. Subaru watched her retreating figure, his face pale and grim.
"Who… killed me…?"
But he was not the only one with a grim expression.
At Roswaal's mansion, on the grass of the courtyard, Lillian crouched halfway down, staring at the short dagger in his hand. He had bitten his own lips until they bled.
"Why…"
Why had the save point updated? It had updated to the moment he picked up Elsa's dagger… Why? Why wasn't it before this battle began?!
"—Aaahhh!"
Rage swelled within him, threatening to tear his body apart. If only the save point had been earlier, he could have changed everything! Even if the battle still couldn't be avoided—if he could have returned to the moment before she was… even if he could have spoken one more sentence to her… that would have been enough.
"Regulus… Lye… the Witch of Envy… why… why do you keep obstructing me…"
[Find a way to kill them all.]
A voice surfaced in his mind. Lillian covered his face with one hand, a fierce and violent light leaking through the gaps between his fingers—yet in the next moment, his expression turned calm and complicated.
That extraneous voice had appeared ever since he revived earlier, constantly urging him toward something.
He stood up, put away the dagger, and turned to leave.
He had already confirmed that killing Subaru would not return him to the time before the battle. There was no point in waiting here any longer.
He did not know what had become of Rem and Ram. They were probably dead. Even though he had poured all his remaining power into Ram at the end, she could never have been a match for Regulus.
"Regulus…"
He was the one who absolutely had to be killed. Naturally, that included Lye as well—but in terms of hatred, Regulus undoubtedly stood at the top. Crushing him completely, body and soul, was something that had to be done.
However… he could no longer act recklessly.
Until he discovered a way to break Regulus's Authority, he could not confront him head-on again. If he were killed once more and unable to revive, revenge would become impossible. Therefore, uncovering the secret behind that Authority was the key.
Lillian took a deep breath, forcing himself out of his turbulent emotions and trying to think rationally.
Regulus Corneas—the Sin Archbishop of Greed of the Witch Cult—had been active in the world for over a hundred years, one of the earliest Sin Archbishops.
In terms of combat ability, he was near perfection.
He lacked conventional fighting techniques, because he didn't need them. His body combined strength, resilience, and regenerative abilities beyond normal limits, leaving almost no weaknesses. But this alone wasn't what made him truly formidable. The key lay in his Authority.
His abilities were [Lion's Heart] and [Little King].
[Lion's Heart], this ability allowed him to freeze his own breathing and all surrounding matter. During this period, nothing from the outside could affect or attack him. Yet the user remained unaffected, and anything he threw—regardless of its density—would destroy everything along its path. Notably, this ability had no time limit: he could stop time for a second, or for an entire year. The catch was that his own breathing and heartbeat also froze, so extended usage could lead to his own death—this is where the second Authority came in.
[Little King] allowed him to overlap his own heart with that of a target. Any female recognized as a "wife" could serve as a vessel. As long as there were any "wives" nearby, the ability could be reused. This circumvented the limitation of [Lion's Heart] on his body.
The combination of these two Abilities made him one of the strongest beings in the world. Without breaking his Authority, even a swordsman like Reinhard could not kill him. Regulus, as a Sin Archbishop, was so powerful that his raw combat ability alone surpassed most witches—truly "invincible" in conventional terms.
"To kill him, you must first break Little King…"
As Regulus himself said when Elsa had tried to sneak-attack him, "My heart is not on my body." His heart resided within one of his "wives." Yet he had dozens of such "wives," making it extremely difficult to locate the one containing his heart.
Unexpectedly, Lillian's golden mana, infused with mental energy, had managed to pierce through Lion's Heart. Though his body had been exhausted in the prior battle, revival restored not only physical injury but also mental energy.
Unfortunately, the amount of mental energy was insufficient to sustain him for long. If it lasted longer, he might barely manage a fight—but increasing mental energy was unknown even to Beatrice, and Lillian had no clue how to approach it.
Clearly, hope could not rest on this. He would need to find the "wife" carrying Regulus's heart, and then…
His thoughts froze as his steps halted. Lillian narrowed his eyes at a distant group of figures ahead.
It was the Witch Cult.
They appeared to be subordinates of Sloth, running in one direction. Lillian decided to follow them discreetly from a distance.
---
The group reached a clearing deep in the forest behind the mountain. Waiting before them was an ordinary-looking man. Lillian instantly recognized him as Sloth, though he had switched vessels.
"That helmeted bastard actually dared ruin my plans—damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it!"
It was… Al?
Lillian recalled their earlier split: he had gone to the mansion, Al had taken the others to the village. So, while Greed and Gluttony attacked the mansion, Sloth struck the village. Al's resistance fight had killed the previous female vessel… which was not surprising. Al might usually be carefree and playful, but as Priscilla's top knight, he was no mere comic relief. His combat ability was formidable.
Moreover, Lillian had already informed Al about Sloth's Authority beforehand, making the encounter slightly easier. In retrospect, had they gone the other way—if he had gone to the village, and Al to the mansion—Al would likely have faced certain death.
Lillian didn't know much else about Al, except that he might possess some special ability. But at this point, it didn't matter. If Lillian had gone to the village, Elsa would have accompanied him, making it easy to deal with Sloth. She wouldn't have died—but that didn't mean Lillian wished Al harm. Al had been very kind to him, and their relationship was good.
---
"Report: the vessel has returned. Capture her for the trial!" Sloth grabbed his own hair in frustration. "If she can truly endure Satella-sama's favor, then all my efforts have meaning! Ahhh, my mind is trembling! Everyone—everyone, mobilize! Bring the vessel back and tear the rest to pieces!"
"Everyone?"
Lillian stepped from behind a tree, surveying roughly seventy or eighty cultists. Counting those Al had already killed… yes, it was practically the entire force.
"It's you?!" Sloth's eyes widened as he saw Lillian, his face twisted in malice. "You dare appear before me?! The beloved Sloth must destroy you!"
Knives slid from the sleeves of cultists, encircling Lillian.
"All the remaining 'fingers' are here, right?" Lillian drew the short dagger from his waist, a violent gleam burning in his eyes. "Perfect… let's wipe them all out."