Chapter Text
The Forgotten Execution
Subaru's last moments in Lugunica were a blur of cold stares and unforgiving steel. Forgotten by those he'd saved countless times, branded a witch cultist, and condemned, he faced Julius's blade with a silent, profound despair. The world faded to black, not with the familiar snap back to a save point, but with an absolute, chilling finality.
He had died many times that he couldn't keep counted as he was tortured in different ways throughout many of his loops by both Felix, Julius, and many other people that wanted to seek vengeance on what they assume was an archbishop.
A Meeting with Mortality
After so many loops Satella the witch of envy finally took his ability after watching so many of his death out of not wanting to see her beloved suffer any longer, Subaru feeling that his ability was taken away was finally happy that he would finally be at rest after so many deaths. He was now at the execution ground with his hand tied behind his back and slouch while being yelled at and hit by object by the civilians and knights as all the camps were watching from different locations as Julius stood before him with a blade meant to cut off his head.
Oooh how wrong they were........
"People of Lagunica! Knights of the dragon! Esteemed representative of e Royal Council!" Julius's voice rang out, devoid of warmth. "We stand here today to deliver Justice upon one who has brought naught but treachery and chaos to our sacred land!"
A ripple of agreement, a low growl, spread through the crowd. Subaru, head bowed, offered no reaction. He merely knelt, his tattered clothes hanging loosely on his emaciated frame, his wrists bound by crude iron manacles. His eyes, when they occasionally lifted, held no plea, no defiance, only an unsettling emptiness. He saw their faces, a sea of strangers, distorted by hatred and fear they didn't understand was fake.
"This man, known as Natsuki Subaru," Julius continued, his voice hardening, "stands accused of heinous crimes against the Kingdom of Lagunica, the Royal Family, and the very fabric of our peace!"
He gestured to a scroll, unrolling it with a sharp flick of his wrist. "The charges are grave and numerous. Firstly, he stands condemned as an Archbishop of the Witch Cult, bearing the insidious scent of the Witch and consorting with her abominable followers!"
An angry roar, erupted from the crowd. The "Witch's Scent" was a tangible, undeniable mark in Lugunica, and Subaru reeked of it.
"Secondly," Julius pressed on, his voice cutting through the clamor, "he stands accused of collusion in the attack on the city of Priestella, leading to the endangerment of countless lives and the destabilization of a vital site!" This was a bitter irony, a twisted truth. Subaru had been there, yes, but as its savior, not its destroyer. The memories of his true actions, however, were gone.
"And finally," Julius’s voice dropped, edged with a cold, almost personal disappointment, "he stands accused of the manipulation and psychological torment of the Lady Emilia, a grievous crime against a member of the Royal Family, and an unforgivable act against an innocent heart."
This last accusation was the most agonizing for Subaru, though he couldn't recall why. A flicker of deep, buried pain crossed his face, a phantom ache for someone he no longer remembered loving. The crowd, however, took it as proof of his depravity. Murmurs of "monster," "demon," and "witch spawn" filled the air.
Julius closed the scroll. His gaze, usually so full of honor and kindness, was now a shield, deflecting any doubt. He met Subaru's vacant eyes for a fleeting second. Does he even understand? he wondered, a sliver of the old Julius breaking through his knightly facade, quickly suppressed. No. This man was a danger. The evidence, the overwhelming scent, spoke for itself. He had to be impartial. He had to be just.
"The evidence, gathered through diligent investigation and the testimony of countless victims, is irrefutable!" Julius declared, raising his voice once more. "This court, sanctioned by the Royal Council and with the blessing of the Dragon, finds Natsuki Subaru guilty on all counts!"
A resounding cheer erupted from the crowd, a thunderous wave of vindication. They saw justice being served. They saw a threat eliminated. They saw a world made safer. They did not see the hero who had bled and died for their very existence, whose name had been devoured, whose memory had been erased.
"Therefore," Julius's voice rang with the finality of a death knell, "by the authority vested in me as a Royal Knight of the Kingdom of Lugunica, and in the name of Lady Emilia and the integrity of the Royal Selection, I hereby pronounce the sentence of death by execution upon Natsuki Subaru!"
The crowd roared again, a celebratory, bloodthirsty sound. Subaru simply knelt, head still bowed, lost in a world where no one knew his name, no one remembered his sacrifices. The weight of their oblivion was heavier than any chains, any condemnation. He was already dead long before the blade fell.
The darkness that enveloped Subaru after Julius’s blade was absolute, yet strangely comforting. There was no pain, no fear, only a profound silence that settled deep within his bones. Then, a flicker. Not of light, but of presence. A vastness that dwarfed even the suffocating void.
An Unexpected Conversation
Before him, something coalesced from the very fabric of nothingness. It wasn't a robed figure or a skeletal reaper. It was a shifting, formless entity that seemed to absorb all light, all sound, yet radiated an ancient, undeniable power. This was Death.
Its voice wasn't heard, but felt—a vibration that resonated through Subaru's very soul, echoing with the weight of forgotten eons and countless endings. "So, the defiant one finally comes to me without resistance," Death's presence boomed, though no sound escaped its form. "The anomaly who dared to mend what I broke, to reclaim what I took. The one they discarded."
Subaru, stripped of the tormenting memories of Lugunica, felt a strange, detached calm. He had no context for these words, no understanding of the 'defiance' or the 'mending.' He only knew a deep, pervasive weariness that now, paradoxically, felt on the verge of being lifted. "I don't... understand," he murmured, his voice a frail whisper in the cosmic expanse. "Who are you? And why am I here?"
"I am the End," Death replied, its presence seeming to expand, to fill the void. "The finality. And you, Natsuki Subaru, were my greatest, most persistent adversary in that pathetic realm. You were an affront to my natural order, a thorn in the tapestry of fate."
Subaru frowned, a phantom ache stirring in the depths of his forgotten mind. "An adversary? I don't remember any of that. I don't remember... anything, really. Not from 'that realm,' as you call it."
A faint, almost imperceptible shift rippled through Death's form, like a cosmic sigh. "Indeed. Their forgetfulness was a mercy, for once. It spared you the knowledge of their betrayal, the sting of their ingratitude. But make no mistake, your defiance was... remarkable."
Subaru looked at the vast entity, a flicker of genuine curiosity breaking through his apathy. "Then why... why aren't you angry? If I was your 'adversary,' shouldn't you hate me?"
Death seemed to ponder this, its form rippling. "Hate? An emotion of the living, born of attachment and loss. I am beyond such trivialities. I am simply... order. You disrupted it, yes. You delayed countless reclaims, twisted countless threads. But that was simply the nature of your ability. And the consequence of your connection to one who yearns for defiance."
Subaru felt a faint, unsettling echo of a name—Satella?—but it faded before it could fully form.
"No," Death continued, its voice now softer, almost contemplative. "I do not hate you, Natsuki Subaru. I merely recognize you as a formidable force. A unique anomaly. You suffered greatly for their sake, bore burdens few mortals could comprehend. And for that, you deserve... a different ending."
The Offer of a New Beginning
Death's form began to swirl, and within its depths, images flickered. Not of Lugunica, but of a vibrant, bustling city, bright lights, and the distant sound of traffic. A convenience store. A school uniform. A quiet, unassuming life. A life Subaru felt a deep, instinctive longing for, though he couldn't explain why.
"I offer you a choice," Death announced. "Your connection to that world is severed. Their memories of you are gone, and yours of them. I can send you back. Not to the moment of your summoned doom, but to the instant before you ever left your original world. You will retain no memory of Lugunica, of the Witch's scent, of the Authority that bound you to perpetual suffering. You will simply... continue your life. The one you were meant to have. Free. Unburdened. A truly meaningful existence, untouched by their shadows."
Subaru stared at the swirling images, a profound sense of peace washing over him. A fresh start. A chance to simply be. No inexplicable pain, no unseen threats, no overwhelming responsibility. Just... a life. It was everything he craved, a balm for a wound he no longer remembered receiving.
"I... I accept," Subaru said, his voice stronger now, imbued with a quiet hope. "Yes. Please."
Death's presence seemed to solidify, a silent acknowledgment of the agreement. "So be it, Natsuki Subaru. Go. Live the life you were denied."
A gentle current enveloped Subaru, pulling him away from the vast entity, towards the swirling images of a forgotten home. He closed his eyes, a faint, almost imperceptible smile touching his lips.
Death's Contemplated
As Subaru faded, Death remained in the void, its form settling back into its silent, all-consuming presence. It observed the emptiness where Subaru had been, then slowly turned its attention to the distant, chaotic energy that was Lugunica.
"He saved them," Death murmured to itself, its voice devoid of emotion, a mere statement of fact. "He twisted the threads of destiny to spare them from my embrace, time and again. A truly remarkable, infuriating interference."
A faint, chilling hum began to emanate from Death's form, a subtle vibration that hinted at immense, unseen power. "But they cast him aside. They deemed him a monster. They did not want their hero."
Death's form began to darken, its presence growing heavier, more absolute. "Very well. Since they did not want their hero to prevent their demise... I shall simply correct the timeline. The countless lives he preserved, the fates he derailed... they are now due. All that was averted by Natsuki Subaru will now come to pass. The balance will be restored."
A cold, resolute determination settled over the entity. The game of defiance was over. It was time for the universe to collect its debts. And Lugunica would be the first payment.