On the Third Floor of the Pleiades Watchtower, Reid Astrea had fallen to Natsuki Subaru—the frail body he had taken over unable to bear the weight of the first Sword Saint.
On Floor Zero, the so-called 'final challenge' the legendary dragon Volcanica, had been overcame by Satoru Gojo.
Blood, sweat, and sheer stubbornness had carried them here. Subaru—once blind, chasing power to fill the cracks in his soul. Gojo—the one who had shoved him back on his feet, the hand on his shoulder in his darkest moment.
And now, it all led to this.
To save Shaula.
To win.
————————————————————————
"Let's do this…"
Gojo muttered, his gaze fixed on the gigantic scorpion.
He advanced—not reckless, but deliberate, measured.
Shaula reacted the same way she always had. Her tail surged with mana before unleashing a brilliant white beam. It warped uselessly around Gojo's body, scouring the sand beneath his feet but leaving him untouched. With a flick of his wrist, fingers raised, crimson energy gathered.
Then he moved—faster than fast, quicker than quick—sand erupting as he twisted past a pincer that buried itself into the earth. She had tracked him, not with eyes, but instinct honed by centuries of battle and remember Gojo's movements.
Gojo flipped, landing cleanly atop her back. His hand lowered, fingers aimed at her spine—
BOOM!
Crimson detonated outward, flattening everything nearby. Shaula staggered, cracks spreading across her shell, but still stood.
Her tail fired again, beam uselessly dispersing against Infinity. Gojo answered with a brutal uppercut beneath where her face would've been.
"—Hm?"
But Shaula had not endured four hundred years in the Pleiades Watchtower by simply doing nothing. Her carapace suddenly glowed and became an intense red hue, heat bleeding into the air until the battlefield became an oven.
"Huff—uff…"
Gojo's breath hitched. Sweat instantly clung to his skin, but before the heat could crush him, cursed energy reinforcement coated his body, a second shield.
The same as those fiery centaur witchbeasts... only far worse.
But still he pressed forward. A torrent of strikes, unending, hammering the same point until cracks spiderwebbed deeper.
————————————————————————
Shaula's pincers missed. Her beams failed. Her regeneration couldn't keep pace.
Her body broke. Yet her heart swelled.
Because even as she was reduced to splinters and bruises, she felt gratitude.
A streak of blue passed her vision. Another strike.
She tried to crush him—nothing. She tried to blast him—nothing. Blow after blow fell. Her body screamed. Her soul whispered thanks.
She was losing. She was being dismantled. She was becoming minced meat—
"...At least, that's what Master always said.." she thought hazily, unsure what the phrase even meant.
But beneath the gratitude was something heavier. Loneliness. Fear. She didn't want this all to end. She didn't want the silence to return. She didn't want to be abandoned again, left alone for another four hundred years.
She wanted to be with her master. To serve him. To make him smile, laugh… love her.
The tower's rules had been a cage. Annoying, suffocating. But she bore them for his sake. For the day he'd return.
And now, when he was so close… she was about to lose him again.
Her thoughts scattered like sand. Her body fought on instinct. Her heart screamed in silence.
And then—through the haze of fire and pain—a voice.
"—Shaula. Do you want to live?"
The words slipped past her shell, past her curse, and sank deep into the void.
Yes. Yes, she wanted to live. To laugh, to serve, to be loved. To be seen.
Her own voice, fragile and desperate, spilled into the dark:
"I want… Master to love me. I want… I want to live, so that he can come to love me…"
The world shattered.
Her prison of shadow unraveled, peeling away like smoke. In its place—white. Boundless, infinite, terrifying. No ceiling, no floor, no end. Black blotches marred the blankness like ink on a canvas, and above hung a singularity, a devouring black star.
She looked down. No pincers. Hands. Her hands. Fingers trembling, alive.
She lifted her gaze—
—and froze.
Satoru Gojo stood in the endless white as if he had always belonged there, hands in his pockets, cerulean eyes unblinking, calm, infinite.
He didn't move. He didn't need to. His presence was enough.
"Yo~."
————————————————————————
The clash outside didn't slow—it escalated. Shaula's movements sharpened, her monstrous form adapting with unnerving speed.
Gojo sidestepped a pincer the size of a carriage, ready to counter—only to find the second claw already waiting, snapping shut millimeters from his face, stopped dead only by the inviolable barrier of Infinity.
His lips curled into a wry, dangerous grin.
"Impressive. Predicting the spatial distortion and attacking the blind spot beforehand… You might actually be smarter in this form than your humanoid one, Shaula."
It sounded like mockery, but the glint in his blue eyes was serious. For the first time since arriving in this tower, he felt a flicker of genuine respect. Her instincts, honed by four hundred years of solitude and slaughter, were catching on. She remembered. She learned. Her monstrous body was refining itself against his impossible technique.
She's adapting to the way I move… not bad.
But adaptation took time. And time was the one thing she didn't have.
Her massive frame lunged, body colliding with the invisible wall of Infinity. The air screamed as Gojo raised a single finger.
"Reversal: Red."
The repulsive force didn't just push her; it detonated against her carapace. The Crimson Scorpion was launched backward, crashing through the dunes with enough force to liquefy the sand into glass.
And in that split second of impact, Gojo didn't just strike her body. He expanded his presence, forcing his will into the shell of her mind.
———————————————————————
"Ahh… where am I now…?"
Shaula's voice quivered, her gaze sweeping across a pale, infinite void. There was no sand, no tower, no pain. Just endless white and a floor that looked like water.
"Hmmm. That's a question I can answer, though the specifics might fry your brain."
Gojo stood before her, hands in his pockets, his blindfold gone. His eyes were clear, reflecting the emptiness of the domain.
"We're inside my innate domain. Or rather, a little pocket of it. I pulled your consciousness in here before your body breaks apart completely."
Shaula's laugh tinkled awkwardly, false cheer dancing with something fragile.
"Oooh, freaky~ How the heck did I get into your head? Is this some kind of perverted fantasy, Gojo? Master will get jealous~!"
"Eh, complicated stuff. You wouldn't follow even if I explained." He waved it off, then fixed her with a stare sharp enough to peel away her facade. "So… who are you right now? The mindless killing machine, or the girl?"
Shaula tilted her head, her smile tugging wider—but it wavered at the edges.
"Ahh~ I'm me! Master's apprentice, body and soul! Even if I can't say much to him anymore… I'm glad I got to see him again. After... so long."
Gojo's expression darkened. His hands curled into fists inside his pockets.
She knew. She understood perfectly well that she was bound to that cursed form, that the rules of the Tower were absolute. This was her compromise—accepting her cage, accepting her death, as long as she could see Subaru one last time.
He muttered, voice low, venom lacing his words.
"To think I can't even keep a promise… your 'Master' was a real piece of work, setting you up like this."
Shaula's smile trembled. It wasn't joy—it was grief in disguise. The curve of her lips masked the tears that refused to fall. Her memories burned bright, but they were memories of days she could never touch again.
"Well, that's reaaaaal rude~" she teased, her tone forced, cracking under the weight of the silence. "But Master did take forever to come back… so I'll let it slide this time, Gojo~."
Gojo crossed his arms, studying her. He saw the tragedy clearly. The strongest sorcerer could stop an army, he could delete matter, he could warp space—but he couldn't fix a broken heart or a four-hundred-year-old curse.
"I'm impressed. Really. Four centuries in that tower, eating sewage meat and killing those who approach, and you still held on. Honestly? That makes you stronger than me in that regard."
Her eyes flickered, wide, uncertain.
"But that doesn't mean you should've just… let it happen." His words cut deeper than his technique ever could. "You feel things too. You want to cry, but you don't. You act like a tool, but you're not. You're Shaula. You've got your own thoughts, your own hope, your own drive. That's not nothing."
The void trembled. Her hands clenched at her sides.
"…I wanted… to tell Master I love him. But instead, I got stuck fighting you. It suuucks~."
Gojo clicked his tongue, annoyance sharp in his throat—not at her, but at the cruelty of this world.
"Tch. Yeah, wasn't fun for me either. But who said you can't say what you want now?" He leaned forward, eyes blazing with intensity. "There's a reason I pulled you in here. The connection is open."
Her lips parted. Confusion, hope, fear—all at once.
"Who are you?" Gojo asked again.
"…?"
"Don't stall. Answer me."
She trembled. Her voice cracked, shedding the playful lilt.
"Ahh… I am Shaula. Starkeeper of the Pleiades Watchtower."
Gojo shook his head.
"No. You're infinitely more than that."
Her breath hitched.
"You're your own person. So say what you need to say."
———————————————————————
"Oof… uff… huff…"
Subaru pushed through the desert, every step grinding his bandaged wounds against the cruel sand. His lungs burned, his legs screamed, and the blood loss made the world spin, but his heart carried him forward.
He had to see her. He had to save her. He made a promise.
Shaula.
Even if he wasn't her true master… even if that bond belonged to a man named Flugel who lived four hundred years ago… he had taken her hand. He had accepted her loyalty. That made it his responsibility.
"Ah—Gojo-sen…sei…"
Relief cracked through him—only to shatter at the sight before him.
The Crimson Scorpion lay slumped in the sand, her massive shell split with glowing fissures, red eyes dim and near lifeless. Smoke poured from her joints, smelling of burnt ozone.
Then, suddenly—
All of those unblinking eyes shifted, turning toward Subaru. Their red glow bled away, replaced by a luminous, gentle green.
Subaru froze, his boots sinking into the sand.
"Shaula…?"
Gojo stood near the beast's head, looking uncharacteristically somber. He glanced at Subaru, then back at the dying titan.
"Don't get your hopes up, Subaru."
"…So it failed? You mean… she's still—?"
Gojo didn't answer. He just stepped back, giving them space.
The scorpion's battered frame groaned. Black smoke began to seep from the cracks in her armor, rising in ghostly wisps. The massive claws twitched, not in aggression, but in a desperate attempt to reach out.
Then her voice broke through—not from a mouth, but echoing directly into the air, fragile yet undeniably hers.
"Master. Do you remember? You told me to wait for you to come back… and then you disappeared, all that time ago."
Subaru's fists clenched, knuckles turning white. Tears stung his eyes, blurring the image of the monster before him.
"I—I already told you… I don't remember any of that, damn it… I'm not him! I'm just Natsuki Subaru!"
"Hehe~ Well, that can't be helped. Master's memory was always terrible… just like mine!"
The massive pincer shifted, dragging through the sand until it stopped inches from Subaru. It didn't crush him. It nudged him, gently, brushing away the tears streaming down his face.
"Master's crying for me? Is this… a declaration of love?"
"…How can you say that now?" Subaru choked out, falling to his knees and gripping the cold, hard shell of her claw. "Don't you feel anything? Anger? Rage? At the bastard who left you to suffer for centuries? At me, for forgetting you?"
Shaula chuckled softly, but the sound was fading, like a radio signal losing connection.
"There were lonely times… sad times… but only because Master wasn't here yet. Even so, I endured. Because that's what my feelings are for. So let me say it clearly, with every piece of me—I love you, Master. And I always will."
Subaru's throat closed. He couldn't speak. The guilt was a physical weight, crushing his chest. He was a fraud receiving the love meant for a sage, but in this moment, he would bear that burden. He would be her Master, if only to comfort her in the end.
"I will save you."
Those scorpion eyes widened.
"—!"
"No matter what it takes. No matter how long it takes," Subaru vowed, his voice raw. "I'll bring you outside this desert. I'll make sure you see the world beyond just this sand. And if I ever meet your so-called real master… I'll knock him flat on his ass."
Shaula blinked, stunned—then her voice echoed with a weak, wavering smile.
"Heheh~ Master, KO'ing yourself… that's so… silly…~"
The light in the green eyes flickered and died.
Her body finally gave way. The massive carapace cracked audibly, dissolving into black smoke and ash. The wind picked up, scattering the remains of the Starkeeper across the dunes she had guarded for an eternity.
Subaru stayed on his knees, cupping the empty air where her claw had been.
"That, I promise…"
The silence pressed heavy around them. Gojo looked away, his jaw set tight. He hated this. He hated the "necessary sacrifices" this world seemed to demand.
He reached out, intending to put a hand on Subaru's shoulder—to offer some hollow comfort—when he froze.
Something moved in the sand.
The ash stirred. A small mound shifted near Subaru's knee.
Crawling free from the ruin of the blackened shell came a tiny creature—no bigger than the palm of a hand. A scorpion, its shell a soft, radiant crimson, its eyes a bright, intelligent green.
It scraped free with delicate swipes of its claws, shook the dust off its tail, and looked up at Subaru.
"…Ah—"
Subaru's breath hitched. He lowered his hands to the sand.
The tiny scorpion didn't hesitate. It scurried forward, climbed into his calloused palms, and curled up, settling against the warmth of his skin.
It was small. It was weak. But it was warm.
Subaru brought his hands to his chest, cradling the small life against his heart, and wept.
————————————————————————
Gojo glanced at Subaru's sleeping form, then sighed quietly. His gaze shifted to Shaula—no smile, no playful teasing, just her eyes lowered to the floor.
"Shaula."
Her head tilted slightly, brow raising. "Mmm~ what is it?"
"You've never thought about leaving this place? Four hundred years… that's when Reid was alive, right? So you've been isolated here that long. Why stay?"
For the briefest moment, sadness flickered in her gaze before she smiled again.
"'Cause master told me to~ so I listened. And it worked out! Master came back to me again!"
Gojo leaned forward slightly.
"Then… if he told you to leave with us, could you?"
"Hmm… not until the trials are done~" She chimed. "If I try to leave with you before that—or if either of you try—I'd just… become a killing machine until you're both dead. Or I am~"
Her smile softened.
"But that'll never happen. Master dying is impossible after all~"
"…And you'd lose all sense of self until it was over." Gojo said quietly.
He frowned. He could survive her attacks—Infinity or RCT would make sure of that—but killing her? That wasn't the problem. The problem was that neither he nor Subaru wanted to.
The idea of entering this tower, only to end it by killing someone trapped here for four centuries… it left a bad taste in his mouth.
Gojo shook his head.
"Then we just clear all three trials. We were gonna anyway… but now we've got an extra reason I guess."
Shaula's eyes went wide for a moment.
"…Huh?"
"That way, you get to see your master again, properly, right?"
Her grin returned a moment later, sharp and teasing as always.
"Wooooow~ are you reaaaally flirting with master's apprentice? I get it, I get it! mhm~ I am sexy Shaula, after all~"
"Ugh… you just had to ruin it, huh?" Gojo muttered, walking over to his own spot near Subaru and lying down.
————————————————————————
Gojo stayed silent, his eyes fixed on the tiny scorpion nestled in Subaru's palm. His fists clenched tighter and tighter, but he kept his face neutral.
Inwardly, he was seething. Not at Shaula. Not even at Subaru. But at himself. The moment he'd pulled her into his innate domain, he had known—he couldn't save her. Not completely. And that was fine. Failure was part of the game.
But he'd made a promise. And he'd broken it.
"Is Shaula…?" Subaru's voice cracked.
Gojo shook his head, almost too quickly.
"No. That isn't Shaula. Just… what's left. She's gone."
Subaru shut his eyes, breathing out slow, steady, calm—more calm than Gojo expected.
"Even so. I'll stand by what I said. I'll bring her back. No matter how impossible it looks. No matter how long it—AGK!?"
The little scorpion had clambered up Subaru's shirt mid-speech and suddenly pinched his ear.
Subaru just scowled as Gojo laughed, finally stepping back upright with the tiny scorpion in the center of his palm.
"…Let's get out of here already."
"Tsck, are you dumb or something? You look like you can barely even stand right now, get to healing already damn it—"
Subaru yelped as Gojo gave him a firm push toward the tower.
A few minutes later, silence reigned. Only the sound of Subaru's dragging steps filled the desert. Gojo smirked faintly behind him.
"Overcoming the Pleiades Watchtower. Taking down another Sin Archbishop. Lugunica's newswriters are going to eat this one up."
————————————————————————
When Subaru opened his eyes again, ivory vines dangled above. The familiar weight of the Green Room's air pressed on his chest. His body felt lighter, healed—spirits weaving their work into his bones.
Relief flooded him—then turned to dread.
"Wait. Where's—!?"
His head whipped sideways.
There sat Gojo, cross-legged, no more than a meter away. In his hand, the palm-sized scorpion clicked its pincers furiously at his finger, trying—and failing—to pierce Infinity.
"Relax~" Gojo drawled, wiggling his finger just out of reach of the little beast with a grin.
"Been babysitting our friend the whole time. Turns out I'm great at it."
The tension drained from Subaru's shoulders all at once. He clutched his chest, sighing in relief.
"Geez… don't scare me like that."
"Mm. Don't thank me too hard. Had to babysit two people today."
"Tsck—what the hell! Cut me some slack, I just fought Reid damn it!"
Subaru snapped, heat rising in his voice.
Gojo's grin widened.
"So, on a more serious note. You in good enough shape to finally leave this dump?"
Subaru stretched, groaning as his ribs protested, but managed a nod.
"Yeah… I can walk. Fighting's off the table for now at least. But I want to see Emilia-tan. The others, too."
"Good. Because you won't have to walk anywhere."
Subaru blinked.
"Eh—?"
"I can teleport us out. The space barrier's gone. My guess? This means anyone can wander in now, for whatever dumb reason they might want to." Gojo shrugged, then set the scorpion carefully on his shoulder.
His hand found Subaru's shoulder, firm, grounding.
"Ready to go see everyone?"
Subaru froze. The weight of everything—Reid, Volcanica, Shaula, Gluttony—crashed down on him. They had quite literally done the impossible.
A laugh broke free from his chest, rough and trembling at first, then swelling into something brighter, cleaner, freer.
"Yeah… Yeah, let's get the hell out of here already, Gojo-sensei."
————————————————————————
Reinhard van Astrea was confused. But above all else, he was concerned.
Since the battle against Pride—and the strange enemy whose face he had never managed to see before being flung back into the capital—it had been days. Days without even the faintest trace of Gojo's presence.
He had returned to the Astrea Estate, reported Pride's defeat to the Wise Men, and reassured them that the world was safe from that parasite's destruction. But reassurance did nothing to soothe his own mind.
Gojo had not appeared. Not once.
Reinhard had trusted his master's immeasurable strength, but trust could not silence the gnawing weight in his chest. After several days, The Divine Protection of Instinct began to pull at him with irresistible force, whispering one destination into his very bones:
The Sanctuary.
And so he went.
The Divine Protection of Swift Running made his strides a blur. The Divine Protection of Wind Evasion cut the resistance from his path. The Divine Protection of Air Dashing carried him farther than a man had any right to leap. Even so, it wasn't speed that drove him forward—it was worry.
When he landed in the center of the run-down village, he closed his eyes. He felt no trace of Satoru. But he did feel familiar presences: Emilia. Roswaal. Others.
"…He is not here.." Reinhad murmured.
But instead of immediately leaving, he found himself following the pull of instinct, and found himself at a humble door. He knocked.
"Just a second, please!" came a muffled, flustered voice. Scrambling footsteps followed, and then the door swung wide.
Emilia blinked, her silver hair catching the light. Her mouth opened, then froze, eyes wide.
"R-Reinhard!? What are you… doing here? That's… reaaaaally odd, if I'm honest…"
Her openness drew a chuckle from him despite the tension in his chest.
"Lady Emilia. Forgive my intrusion, but… have you seen Satoru around recently? A Divine Protection of mine had led me here. I was told I would find him if I came."
Emilia tilted her head, then nodded slowly.
"Satoru… went to the Augria Dunes I think it was called. To find Subaru..."
Reinhard's eyes snapped wide.
"Subaru—?"
The name landed heavy. If Gojo had gone to Subaru, then he might be facing dangers Reinhard had yet to understand. Especially if Pride's parasite still lingered within his friends' body.
"My apologies." Reinhard said quickly, already stepping back. "I must make haste."
But Emilia's brows furrowed, and she stepped out into the doorway after the Sword Saint.
"Wait—!"
Another voice, languid and drawn out, cut across the moment.
"Ahhh~ if it isn't the Sword Saint himself. What brings a man of your stature to a little backwater village like this at… such a very important time?"
Both Reinhard and Emlia turned. Roswaal leaned casually, his painted smile stretched wide—but behind it, Reinhard felt it. A tension. A restrained anger seeping through cracks in the clownish façade.
"…Important time?" Reinhard echoed.
Roswaal's mismatched eyes glittered.
"But of course~. Because for the first time in centuries, the residents of this village are finally freeeee…~ All thanks to Lady Emilia's efforts. She nearly singlehandedly conquered the Sanctuary's trials, and granted these poor souls their freeeeedom~"
Reinhard's eyes widened. For a moment, the weight in his chest eased. A true, brilliant smile broke across his face.
"I see… That is wonderful. Truly. Lady Emilia—congratulations. But… I cannot stay to celebrate."
"Looking for… Satoru Gojoooo~ are we?" Roswaal's tone dripped like honey, but the air around him felt sharp as glass.
"Not to worry. He should be here… very… very soon~"
Reinhard studied him. He could tell Roswaal was not lying—the Divine Protection of Wind Breathing had informed him of that much. But the anger buried beneath that smile of his was undeniable.
"…Very well." Reinhard said quietly, at first, before reaffirming with a louder tone. "Then I will wait."
————————————————————————
Then, Gojo, Subaru, and the scorpion perched on his shoulder appeared back in the familiar, mud-slicked, grass-covered village of the Sanctuary.
"Haaahhh..." Subaru exhaled, letting the air fill his lungs. A grin spread across his face. "Man… I never thought I'd be happy to be here of all places, but I guess anywhere is better than that watchtower, huh?"
"You wouldn't be wrong in saying that…" Gojo muttered, his Six Eyes sweeping the area. He raised a hand, covering his gaze with the bandages once again, a slight frown forming.
"--Though… this village is emptier than I remember…"
Suddenly, the air shifted. Gojo pivoted instantly toward a red-and-white flicker that manifested into existence—Reinhard van Astrea. Relief washed over his face as his eyes locked on Satoru.
"Ah, yo, buddy old Rein! What's up?" Gojo grinned.
"Ah… that attitude is somehow very unnerving..." Reinhard replied, though his relief was clear.
"But I am equally glad you have returned, Satoru… I was… quite worried."
"Reaaally~ worried about me? You of all people should know my strength!" Gojo chuckled.
Reinhard shook his head, eyes closing briefly.
"I truly wished you'd take my advice and not be so conceited with your strength. Anything can happen… I only wished you'd exercise more caution."
Gojo pouted. Reinhard's gaze drifted to the silent Subaru.
"Subaru… I am… glad, to say the least, that you are—"
CRACK—!
The ground shattered beneath Subaru's foot. Instantly, he reinforced his legs and arms with every ounce of cursed energy he could muster. In one fluid motion, he closed the distance to Reinhard, swinging a heavy right hook aimed squarely at the Sword Saint's head.
Reinhard didn't flinch. His palm met Subaru's fist, absorbing the impact that made his white cape flutter slightly before Subaru pulled back, wide-eyed, breath ragged, sweat clinging to his brow.
————————————————————————
Breath.
Breath—
It was hard to breathe.
Reinhard van Astrea… he was here. The same man who had ended Subaru countless times. Was he here to do it again? Subaru wasn't sure—but he could still hear it, the constant CLINK in his ears from past loops, past deaths, the terror, the helplessness as Reinhard's hands had once severed his head without a chance to defend himself.
But he was stronger now. Much stronger, or at least he should've been.
So why… why did the same fear as before grip him?
What had it all been for?
All the dying? All the blood?
"Oi—Subaru!!"
————————————————————————
"Oi—Subaru!!"
Gojo's hands gripped Subaru's shoulders, shaking him gently, pulling him back from the spiral of memories and fear.
"E-Eh… eh..? Oh… what…?"
"Why'd you go all apeshit on Reinhard?" Gojo said, voice trying to stay light. "I know he's from the same bloodline as Reid, but they're different people!"
It didn't work. Subaru's body trembled as the memories surged—
Memories brought Gojo back to the underground of the Pleiades Watchtower, where Subaru looked at him with absolute fear in his eyes. He thought, he pondered—then he realized. Return by Death. Something must of happened in one of those 'loops' of his, involving Reinhard. And it must of been something bad to put Subaru in a state like this.
"Alright… buddy, just calm down a bit. You're good."
"Ah… y-yeah… yeah… sorry… I'm good… I'm all good…"
Subaru muttered, more to convince himself than anyone else.
Reinhard's gaze lingered, surprised by the sudden attack but equally surprised by Subaru's growth. Yet also, he noticed the fear, the familiar look he had seen from many people in the past. There were many that revered him for being the Sword Saint, but also those that feared him for his unstoppable power.
"I… I must apologize, Subaru… for whatever I might have done—"
"--Whatever you might have done…?" Subaru interrupted, then paused, lowering his head. "No… no, it's my fault. Forget what just happened—I'm just jumpy after everything we went through aha."
Reinhard looked to him, eyes heavy with a strange expression.
"Anyway… good to see you, Rein. But, uh, do you have any idea where everyone is? This village is definitely emptier than I remember."
"They are preparing to leave." Reinhard said quietly, sensing Gojo's confusion. "Heading toward the Miload family's estate—a branch of the Mather family, led by Miss Annerose."
Subaru nodded, unsure of what he was being told.
Reinhard chuckled softly, gesturing for them to follow.
"Lady Emilia was pleased to hear that both of you returned—especially you, Subaru."
Subaru's eyes lit up.
"Emilia-tan… ah—so she did it. She really beat the whole thing…"
"Indeed," Reinhard said. "An incredible feat, if I may say, even I was incapable of entering the tower, let alone actually trying to take it."
————————————————————————
They had arrived at another section of the village, where countless ground-dragon–drawn wagons were being readied. Villagers from both Arlam Village and the Sanctuary were climbing aboard, hurriedly preparing for the journey ahead.
Eventually, they ran into Emilia, who immediately rushed toward Subaru, eyes wide with emotion. Gojo couldn't tell if it was anger, relief, or a mixture of both. He decided not to interfere, turning away with Reinhard sticking to his side like glue.
I guess I'm not gonna have much free time after this, and I really don't want to picture the amount of work waiting for me.
Beyond that, a familiar head of yellow hair and jagged teeth caught his attention. Garfiel's glare locked onto him the moment their eyes met.
"Gaaarf~!"
Gojo cackled, leaping forward and wrapping his arms around Garfiel's legs like a vice.
"Didn't I tell y'not to call my amazin' self that already, urhk—what the hell are you made of, damn it!?" Garfiel growled, struggling to pry himself free from Gojo's iron grip, half-suspended off the ground and completely immobile.
————————————————————————
"Emilia, I'm sorry…" Subaru suddenly muttered, causing Emilia to blink in confusion.
"Umm… I get that running off like that was a bit weird..." she said, "But I'm not sure it warrants such a heartfelt apology. Still, I'll gladly accept it nonetheless, Subaru."
Of course, she couldn't understand. She didn't know what had happened in the past—how Subaru had let Pride get the better of him, how he had treated her and others poorly during those moments. Even now, it disgusted him.
"Well, I'm glad you accepted it nonetheless, Emilia-tan! And I'm glad to report that your trusty knight has finally returned in tip-top condition!" Subaru said with a grin. Emilia merely chuckled.
Another voice cut through the scene.
"I suppose I could say I'm happy you're here, but that would be a lie, and lies are disrespectful, Barasu." Ram emerged from somewhere unexpected, her signature maid outfit perfectly in place. Her expression was indifferent, though her eyes betrayed a hint of curiosity at Subaru's return.
"It seems the overly annoying white-haired man did a good enough job bringing you back at least." She said with a nod of approval.
"Ehh… not even a hug or anything for my return?" Subaru asked.
"... Disgusting." Ram scoffed, giving him a look of pure, genuine disdain.
"RUDE, MUCH!?" Subaru shot back.
————————————————————————
Elsewhere, Roswaal sat in a dimly lit room, a black tome open on the table before him. He tapped his cheek repeatedly, expression unreadable beneath his elaborate makeup.
"Truly… there are no words that suffice." he murmured. "Satoru Gojo—the man who doesn't exist, and yet here he stands… an anomaly as she put it, through and through."
He sighed, finally averting his gaze from the tome and staring at the wooden ceiling.
"It is far too late to make Natsuki Subaru do this all over again. Yet the stranger thing is… he is growing more powerful with every passing moment. Natsuki Subaru was never meant to be strong. He was meant to be weak."
Roswaal's sigh deepened.
"I suppose… this is my absolute loss. There will probably be no second chance, especially with Satoru Gojo already suspicious of me."