Chapter 61: Village Massacre
[ [ "...It's so quiet..." Subaru walked into the eerily silent village of Arlam.
He searched everywhere.
Not a single person.
He even barged into houses, but found no one. ] ]
.....
~Inside, the Theater~
"I got a real bad feelin' about this..."
Garfiel's abstract instincts told him something terrible had happened. He once again blocked Mimi's view.
"Garf! Why can't Mimi look? Mimi's just as big as Garf, right?"
"Be good and listen, Mimi."
Anastasia said.
"The Witch Cult appearing near Arlam Village... that alone tells us enough..."
"Massacre."
That heavy word surfaced in Rem's mind.
"Ah... Pe... Petra!"
Frederica trembled uncontrollably, utterly horrified by the scene before her—
[ [ "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH—!!" Subaru's wails echoed through Arlam Village... and the entire "movie theater" Al had mentioned.
Petra's chest had been pierced with a gaping hole, her eyes hollow...
Quite literally hollow—Petra's eyes had been gouged out.
When Subaru looked up, all he saw were gruesome corpses.
Every single body had died horrifically. Forget survivors—there wasn't even a single intact corpse to be found.
] ]
.....
~Inside, the Theater~
"Hmm..."
Yuriusu and Reinhardt couldn't help but clench their fists and grit their teeth.
"Ah... Petra...?"
Garfiel didn't dislike the little girl. If anything, he had grown fond of her...
"What the hell happened?!"
Garfiel roared.
"Petra... and everyone else...?"
Emilia's violet pupils trembled.
All those who had once been their companions now lay as corpses, brutally slaughtered.
"Ah... ah..."
Thank goodness... I didn't go... No, I should've stopped Natsuki-san no matter what...
Otto clutched his chest.
"A massacre..."
Felix bit his lip hard.
"Witch Cult."
Ram spat out the words one by one. Anyone could see she was barely containing her fury.
If the village was like this, then...
"What about Lia?!"
"Where's Rem?!"
"Natsuki, get out of there!"
....
—
[ [ "Where's Rem? Is she... okay?" Puck, Ram, Rem, and Subaru all called out for their loved ones in unison.
"If Rem came back... and saw the village like this, she'd never ignore it... Rem... Rem... Rem..."
Subaru staggered forward, dragging his trembling legs step by step toward the mansion.
And then...
Rem lay collapsed in the garden.
All around her were the corpses of Witch Cultists, along with scattered morning stars.
Anyone could tell—Rem had fought the Witch Cult... and died in battle. ] ]
.....
~Inside, the Theater~
"Rem!!"
Ram couldn't stop herself from screaming.
This seemed to confirm Felix's words:
"Even if Subaru went, nothing would've changed. It was pointless."
"Behind Rem in the footage... there's a storage shed. It looks like... she was protecting it."
Otto said.
[ [ Subaru in the footage noticed this too. He opened the shed's door—only to find the corpses of children inside. ] ]
.....
~Inside, the Theater~
"Rem, Rem's amazing! What a woman!"
Garfiel roughly wiped his eyes with his sleeve.
"Rem... no, my future sister-in-law!"
Garfiel now seemed firmly in the camp of wanting Subaru and Rem to be together.
"..."
Wilhelm gripped his sword tightly.
....
—
[ [ "No... no no no no no... I... no... I never wanted this... It's not my fault... I... I..." Subaru muttered to himself as he carried Rem's corpse into the mansion.
"Anyone there? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone? It's not my fault... Not... my... fault!"
He frantically flung open every door.
"Come out... come out... please... save me... save me!!"
Subaru ran to the second floor, and then...
"Eek!" ] ]
.....
~Inside, the Theater~
"Sister!"
"Ram!"
Rem and Garfiel cried out in anguish at the same time.
Yes—Subaru had found Ram's corpse.
"Ram..."
Roswaal sighed softly.
....
—
[ [ "So there was a mechanism like this..." Subaru then discovered a hidden device.
Sliding the bookshelf against the wall aside, a staircase leading downward appeared.
Step by step, Subaru descended.
And arrived at a frozen chamber.
Within it, several Witch Cultists were encased in ice. ] ]
.....
~Inside, the Theater~
"Could this be...?"
Emilia looked at Puck.
Puck nodded gravely.
....
—
[ [ "Aah!" At the far end of the chamber was a door. Subaru tried to grab the handle, but the moment he did—his right index finger snapped off, and his middle finger and thumb each lost a joint.
"AAAAAHHH!"
Then, Subaru collapsed as his right ankle shattered.
A chilling whisper followed.
"You're too late."
And then—
Natsuki Subaru shattered entirely, turning into white crystalline dust.
The screen darkened. ] ]
.....
~Inside, the Theater~
"Puck...!"
Emilia called out to Puck.
"..."
Puck remained silent for a moment before speaking.
"As I thought... in this world, Lia is dead. Sorry, Lia. I was just fulfilling our contract."
"..."
Please... let the next loop be the breakthrough one...
Rem prayed in her heart.
But even Rem knew it was impossible. After all, Subaru in the breakthrough loop knew the time and place of the White Whale's appearance.
And Subaru in this loop hadn't learned that...
"Ah, the screen's bright again... Isn't this kinda bad?"
Otto looked worriedly at the fruit stall owner, Kadomon, now on screen.
....
—
[ [ "...Hey, kid? Hey! You listening?" The screen brightened, showing Kadomon speaking to a dazed Subaru.
"Give me a break, kid. Don't just stand there spacing out."
"Eh? Ah?"
"What kinda dumb reply is that? Whatever. To the point—what do you want? How many fruits are you buying?" ] ]
.....
~Inside, the Theater~
"Oi oi, no way?"
Garfiel gaped.
"Did he really reset all the way back? That's too damn cruel."
Al remarked.
"No..."
Emilia covered her mouth with both hands.
....
—
[ [ "Subaru-kun?" Rem's voice rang out from the screen, calming everyone.
"Subaru-kun?"
But the next moment, their worries returned.
Natsuki Subaru fell to his knees upon seeing Rem.
"Subaru-kun, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Then, Natsuki Subaru—no, the madman—embraced Rem.
"Kehehe... heehee, haha... hehe, kehehehe..." ] ]