The world turned red for Subaru. His Danger Sense was in furious overload, every fiber of his being screaming that the one before him was not an enemy he could face.
Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti, the Archbishop of Sloth, was no mere monster, he was a twisted force of nature, a whirlwind of madness and power.
"Rem! Ram!" Subaru shouted again, hoping his voice would pierce the air and reach the twins' ears. He needed time, he needed to regroup.
Petelgeuse, with a maniacal smile, spread his arms wide. "Ah, the stench of the Witch! Feel the embrace of my Sloth! My fingers will welcome you into eternal rest!"
Multiple invisible arms, distortions in the air that only Subaru's Return Vision could discern clearly, lunged toward him.
Subaru activated his Quick Dodge, moving like a gust of wind, his Agility of 14 allowing him to evade the first assault.
"Don't you dare touch me, degenerate!" Subaru shouted, not hoping to hurt him, but to gain a valuable second of distraction.
Luck, in this case, manifested itself in his mouth's ability to articulate a timely insult.
Petelgeuse's face contorted into a grimace of anger. "Blasphemer! Sloth is not degenerate! It is a virtue! And you, who reek of it, should accept it with gratitude!"
While Petelgeuse was distracted for a moment by his tirade, Subaru stood up and ran. His goal: the mansion's front door. If he could reach Rem and Ram, the odds would improve.
Petelgeuse's "Hands" were relentless. They stretched and contracted, covering the space with terrifying speed. Subaru zigzagged, using the geometry of the garden to his advantage, jumping over flower beds and sliding under bushes.
Once, a "Hand" grazed his back, and he felt a sharp pain and an icy chill, as if a part of his soul had been touched by the cold.
Curse Resistance (Basic) mitigated the effect, but it was clear that every contact was dangerous.
He reached the garden gate, the same one Petelgeuse had entered through. It was shattered, but it still offered some cover. He threw himself through the broken threshold, hoping to gain some distance.
But Petelgeuse was not someone who was easily fooled. His maniacal laughter followed him.
"So... laborious! Sloth will not let you escape its embrace!" Petelgeuse cackled.
As Subaru made his way through the debris of the gate, he felt a brutal impact on his lower back.
It was not one of the invisible "hands," but Petelgeuse himself, with surprising speed, intercepting him.
The Archbishop grabbed him by the neck with inhuman strength. Petelgeuse's bloodshot eyes drew closer to Subaru's, filled with searing madness. The stench of the witch emanating from Petelgeuse himself was now overwhelming, suffocating.
"I've found you, dear vessel! Your heart is what I want!" Petelgeuse hissed, his voice vibrating with terrifying fanaticism. "Sloth will devour you!"
Subaru tried to resist, striking Petelgeuse with his fists. But his Strength was useless against the Archbishop's grip. The air left his lungs. His Sense of Danger became a final emergency siren, the Vision of Return showed him a single, clear line of death.
The world began to darken. Subaru's last thought was the image of Rem and Ram, and the frustration of not having reached them.
[You have died!]
[Returning to the last save point...]
This time, he hadn't leveled up. Death at the hands of Petelgeuse was different. The system hadn't rewarded him with experience for this encounter, only the reset.
Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti. An encounter that shouldn't have happened so soon. Subaru now knows the terrible truth: his intervention in the village of Arlam has hastened the arrival of a formidable enemy.