In the Royal Capital, in the courtyard of Cruschs Residence.
Subaru, who had just returned from the battle to subjugate the Sloth Archbishop, stood rooted to the spot.
Her long black hair was gently stirred by the night wind, and she looked with disbelief at the tragic scene before her.
Wounded lay scattered haphazardly between the makeshift tents, bloodstains on their bandages appearing a grotesque dark red in the twilight.
The air was thick with the metallic scent of blood and the bitter smell of herbs, making it nauseating.
Weapons and fragments of blood-stained armor were strewn across the ground, a few ground dragons lay exhausted in a corner, and several medics frantically attended to the severely wounded, their suppressed groans rising and falling.
"No... We won, didn't we? Why is this place like this...?"
Rem, beside her, was similarly frozen.
"Where is Carlisle...?" Rem's voice held an undeniable urgency.
She hurried towards the wounded, her blue hair fluttering behind her.
As she passed each tent, she would pause, her Fingers pulling back the blood-stained curtain, but she could never find that familiar figure.
"Carlisle!?" Her calls grew more frantic with each utterance, her breathing increasingly ragged.
Her chest heaved violently.
He's not here... Why isn't he here?
Suddenly.
"Nooooo!!"
Felix's heart-wrenching wail came from the depths of the courtyard, startling the crows perched on the eaves.
Subaru and Rem simultaneously turned and ran wildly towards the sound.
Crusch sat quietly on the stone steps, the bandage on her severed arm already soaked through by the reopened wound.
Felix knelt beside her, his cat ears pressed tightly to his head, tears continuously falling to the ground.
"Lady Crusch!" Subaru rushed forward.
"What happened? What's wrong with your arm? Why are the soldiers..."
Her throat suddenly choked up.
"And... where is Carlisle?"
Rem stood behind Subaru, her lips trembling slightly, but no sound escaped them.
Crusch slowly raised her head.
Those amber eyes, always sharp as knives, were now dim, as if covered by a layer of ash.
She looked at Subaru, then at Rem.
How should I begin? How should I tell them that the knight is already... because of my foolish decision... "Wait! Don't-"
Felix suddenly cried out, his voice filled with almost desperate panic.
"Felix."
Crusch gently interrupted him, her voice terrifyingly calm.
She slowly stood up, her blood-stained cloak swaying gently in the wind, "This is my sin."
She ordered the soldiers behind her, "Bring sir Knight... over."
The two soldiers lowered their heads, not even daring to look at Subaru and Rem.
As they silently turned to leave, one of them accidentally kicked a shield on the ground, producing a harsh metallic clang.
Subaru's thoughts froze.
Bring...? Why do they have to carry him?
Suddenly, she felt a rapid breathing sound from behind her.
Rem's breathing was frighteningly rapid, her chest heaving violently.
Her blue pupils trembled constantly, her lips moved but no sound came out.
Impossible... Absolutely impossible... He's a hero... He promised Rem...
Moments later, the soldiers slowly approached.
They carried a stretcher covered with a blood-stained white cloth, each step exceptionally heavy.
The outline of a human figure was vaguely visible beneath the white cloth.
When the stretcher was gently placed on the ground, Subaru's knees buckled, and she nearly fell to her knees.
"...What does this mean? Lady Crusch?" Subaru's voice was almost inaudible, "What... is this?"
Rem stared intently at the blood-stained white cloth, her body beginning to tremble uncontrollably.
Rem's fingers trembled violently, her Fingers almost touching the white cloth before retracting.
She took a deep breath, finally lifting a corner.
A familiar blue hair came into view.
Rem abruptly covered the white cloth back, her pupils contracted to pinpricks, tears already flowing uncontrollably, carving two glistening trails down her pale cheeks.
"Impossible... This must be fake..."
Her voice was fragmented, like a broken doll, "Carlisle... he's a hero..."
Crusch took a deep breath, the pain in her severed arm now seeming so insignificant.
"On the way back to the Royal Capital," her voice was hoarse.
"The convoy was attacked by the Greed and gluttony Archbishops of Sin.
Sir Knight... protected me and the other soldiers..."
Rem suddenly looked up, staring directly at Crusch.
"So... Carlisle died because of you?"
Crusch did not avoid her gaze, slowly nodding.
"Yes, this is my-"
"Give him back to me!!!"
Rem's shriek tore through the night sky.
A horn suddenly appeared on her head, emitting a dazzling light, and before anyone could react, she had already rushed forward, grabbing Crusch by the neck and violently pinning her to the ground.
"Lady Crusch!" Felix cried out, wanting to rush forward.
"Stay back! Felix!" Crusch struggled to yell, allowing Rem's nails to dig deeply into her flesh.
Rem's knees pressed firmly against Crusch's body, the light from her horn illuminating both their faces with a pallid glow.
Her tears continuously dripped onto Crusch's face.
"Why! Why are you the one who survived!"
Her horn grew brighter and brighter, like her anger and hatred.
Crusch did not struggle, only gently grasped Rem's wrist with her remaining hand.
"I know... I know it all..."
"So, this is my responsibility, you can kill me if it makes you feel better..."
Rem's hand suddenly trembled violently, the light from her horn flickering.
All her anger, sadness, and unwillingness transformed into a heart-wrenching cry.
"Do you think that will atone for your sins?! Even if you die a hundred times... he won't come back!!!"
Rem's cries echoed in the courtyard for a long time, so mournful it seemed as if she was crying out her soul.
Subaru silently stepped forward, gently taking Rem's shoulder.
Her eyes were already red, tears silently streaming down, but in those amber pupils, a certain resolve flickered, something harder than sadness.
Suddenly
"Witch Cult!!"
Rem's wail tore through the night sky, the hatred contained in that voice almost igniting the air.
In the past, the Witch Cult caused her sister's horn to break, nearly making her lose her only family.
Now, the Witch Cult had taken away her only beloved.
Her life, her future, the happiness she had so painstakingly grasped, once again, it was utterly crushed.
She suddenly raised her head, her red-rimmed eyes fixed on Crusch, a nearly insane fury burning in the depths of her pupils.
"Are those two Archbishops of Sin... still alive?!"
Her voice was like a curse squeezed from the depths of hell.
Crusch was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke.
"The gluttony Archbishop of Sin has been killed... Lord Elseran died by Greed's hand."
"Her ability is almost invincible, even the Kingdom's second knight couldn't contend with her."
"Is that so... Greed?!"
Rem's expression had changed.
No longer sadness, but something colder, more resolute.
Crusch instantly understood her gaze: an obsession to drag her enemy into hell, even if it meant self-destruction or mutual annihilation.
"Wait!" Crusch sharply commanded, "Greed's ability has been deduced by Lord Elseran! We will seek revenge with you, don't do anything foolish!"
But Rem no longer wanted to listen.
She slowly stood up, the light from her horn flickering.
Her voice was tearful, yet chillingly cold.
"...Tell me the information."
She stared at Crusch.
"Then... disappear from my sight immediately."
"Your life was bought with Carlisle's life, I won't kill you... but I can never forgive you."
Crusch was stunned for a moment, but in the end, she just nodded heavily.
"...I understand."
— — — — — —
Crusch slowly recounted all the information Carlisle had left behind: the fragmented clues, observations during the battle, and the meaning of that written message.
Time stops... but Greed's ability is by no means simple time manipulation.
The reason attacks are ineffective.
The highest-level defensive barrier shattered like thin ice the moment it touched her attack.
Magic powerful enough to vaporize steel couldn't even cause a ripple in her clothes.
She completely stopped her own time, so no attack could "touch" her.
And those casual "eradications" were merely frozen air she released.
Normally harmless matter, under the law of time stagnation, transformed into the sharpest blades.
Subaru listened quietly, her eyes gradually deepening, a certain resolve coalescing within them.
Finally, Crusch finished relaying the last piece of information.
The courtyard was utterly silent.
Subaru slowly stood up and, under everyone's gaze, walked towards Carlisle's body.
She knelt beside him, gently stroking his now cold cheek, and whispered.
"Stupid knight..."
Her voice carried a gentle reproach.
"I'm sorry... I'm going to make a decision on my own again."
Her Fingers last traced his brow bone.
"See you in a bit." The last sentence was left unsaid.
— — — — — —
Subaru got up and walked out, her steps firm, unlike someone who had just lost her beloved.
Rem instinctively followed, but Subaru gently stopped her.
"Rem... let me be alone for a while."
Rem froze.
She looked at Subaru's back, her red-rimmed eyes filled with confusion and unease.
But in the end, she suppressed the urge to ask, slowly nodding.
— — — — — —
In a corner of the courtyard, Subaru slowly bent down, her Fingers touching an abandoned short sword.
The dried bloodstains on the blade had turned black, but the metallic, rusty smell could still be detected.
The wounded nearby stared at her blankly, and a medic who was bandaging a comrade suddenly froze, the gauze in his hand slipping to the ground.
The night wind blew, gently stirring Subaru's long hair.
She took a deep breath, the cold air filling her lungs.
The blade was raised, moonlight flowing along its sharp edge, reflecting her resolute pupils.
"Pfft!"
The sound of metal piercing flesh was exceptionally clear.
The short sword plunged into her neck without obstruction, and warm blood instantly spurted out, staining the front of her clothes, with even a few drops splashing onto her cheek, carrying a chilling warmth.
"Ah ah ah!!"
A wounded person's scream tore through the silence.
The medic stumbled forward, but froze when he saw the gushing blood; the artery was completely severed, blood spewing out like a spring, forming a dazzling red pool on the ground.
Subaru's vision began to blur, and intense pain spread from the wound throughout her body like a tide.
She could feel life rapidly draining away with the blood, her limbs gradually losing sensation, and only her own rapid and faint heartbeat remained in her ears.
In the final darkness, she saw... "Nooooooo!"
Rem screamed, crying, as she lunged forward, her face covered in tears, continuously uttering only broken sobs.
Felix's healing magic flickered wildly in his hands, a nearly sobbing cry squeezed from his throat.
"Don't die! Please!"
But before the magic could touch Subaru's body, her pupils had already begun to dilate.
Crusch stumbled over, her face showing an unprecedented panic and grief..
Subaru used her last ounce of strength, softly whispering.
"Wait for me... This time... I will definitely save you."
Darkness completely descended.
— — — — — — — — —
"Here! The calamity that threatened the world for four hundred years! The Fog Beast! Has been subjugated by Wilhelm van Astrea!"
...
Re@d adv@nce ch@pters on p@t
guilt_free_daoist
Jo!n d!sc0rd I!nk in synops!s.
GIVE ME YOU POWER STONES.