Several days had passed, and Natsuki Subaru was in a foul mood.
Not just that—he was hungry. Actually, no, he was famished, and he knew exactly who to blame.
Himself. Or rather, the stench clinging to his soul.
The local wildlife avoided him like the plague. He couldn't hear the chirp of a bird or the rustle of a squirrel no matter how deep he ventured into the jungle. That was definitely one thing he could shake his fist at Satella for—making him smell so damn repulsive to anything with a nose.
It wasn't just the traditional "I haven't showered in three days" funk, though he definitely smelled ripe. It was the Witch's Scent.
Sure, he hadn't died recently, nor had he used the taboo to increase his physical prowess, but even without those triggers, he carried two Authorities within him. To the sensitive noses of the animal kingdom, he was a walking predator. A monster.
He remembered reading somewhere back in Japan—probably on some survival forum he browsed at 3AM—about the "Rule of Threes." You can survive three minutes without air, three days without water, and three weeks without food.
Whether or not that was entirely accurate, he was praying to every god he knew that it was.
So, while the hunger gnawed at his stomach like a rat, it wasn't the end of the world. He had survived worse. Much worse.
Besides, he wasn't alone in his misery.
The blonde little girl, otherwise known as the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony, Louis Arneb, had also prepared an unpleasant surprise for him during this three-day trek through the jungle.
"—Uaa..."
"...Yes, yes. I'll get you some food soon. Probably."
She had woken up.
Subaru had expected it, dreading the moment her eyes would snap open.
He had been ready for a fight. When she began to stir at their makeshift camp—which consisted of a pitiful fire that took Subaru an embarrassing amount of time to light—he had braced himself. He was ready to fight for his life, ready to use every trick in the book to put her down.
But she didn't attack. She didn't try to eat his memories. She didn't scream about satiation or gourmet meals.
Instead, she clung to him.
Subaru was stunned, to say the least.
His first reaction had been to shout questions at her, his voice cracking with adrenaline. He didn't care about attracting predators—nothing in this jungle wanted to eat something that smelled this bad anyway, not that they'd be able to.
He demanded she return Gojo's memories. He demanded to know what her plan was. He demanded she stop looking at him like that.
But she didn't answer. She just stared up at him with wide, blue eyes that held an unsettling amount of innocence.
Oh, and she couldn't speak properly either. That was fun.
Did seeing my memories break her mind? Did experiencing death over and over again shatter her soul?
It was the only theory that made sense.
But another question gnawed at him.
Louis Arneb had figured out he could Return by Death.
That was forbidden knowledge. Usually, if anyone found out, the Witch of Envy would intervene. She would crush his heart, or manifest as a shadow to swallow everything whole, just like at the Pleiades Watchtower.
So why was he still alive? Why was Louis still breathing?
Was it because she had forgotten? Because her mind was so broken that the secret was locked away in a vault she couldn't open?
For a moment, Subaru had considered leaving her. Just walking away while she slept.
But then logic—and that pathetic, childish look on her face—stopped him.
Logic dictated that leaving a Sin Archbishop unchecked was dangerous. What if she regained her memories? What if she started eating people again? It was safer to keep her close where he could watch her.
But there was something else, too.
The way she looked at him. It wasn't with malice or hunger. It was with... fondness? Dependence?
She had done so much evil. She was a monster who had devoured the names and memories of countless people.
But looking at the drooling, babbling child clinging to his sleeve, Subaru couldn't help but wonder:
Is she even Louis Arneb anymore? Or is she something new, born from the ashes of her own gluttony?
"What a damn freeloader!"
Subaru muttered under his breath, glaring at Louis Arneb. She just sat there in the dirt, smiling up at him like an idiot.
She had woken up days ago, but she was... different. It wasn't just that she wasn't trying to kill him or mock him. It was everything. The vacancy in her eyes, the clumsy movements, the babbling.
Is this all just an act?
He couldn't imagine either of her brothers pulling a stunt like this. Not just because they were dead, but because patience wasn't exactly a virtue of the Gluttony siblings. They were hedonists. They took what they wanted, when they wanted it.
Is this your plan, Gluttony? To lower my guard?
Fine. Suit yourself. I'll wait for the moment you try to slip a knife in my back, and then I'll end you.
Subaru hummed in acceptance of his own dark thoughts, letting out a heavy sigh.
He hated thinking this way. He hated the cruelty that had taken root in his heart. Even with Taritta—the woman who had shot him in the neck and left him to die in agony—his desire to kill her was born more from fear than hatred. He didn't want to suffer like that again.
But he had long since made an exception for them.
The Sin Archbishops.
They weren't human. They were monsters wrapped in human skin, beings of pure malice and ego. Subaru would always treat them as such.
"Well, ain't that just hypocritical of me." Subaru muttered, watching Louis's beady eyes track him as he paced.
If he truly believed that, he should have crushed her throat the moment she woke up.
But he hadn't.
"...Haaah... well—"
He paused.
A sound hit his eardrums—a heavy, wet sliding noise that vibrated through the jungle floor. A moment later, Louis seemed to notice it too, her small body tensing as they both scrambled to their feet.
What is that?
It couldn't be a person; it sounded far too massive.
It couldn't be a normal animal; the Witch's Scent kept them at bay.
There was only one answer.
Witchbeast.
When the colossal silhouette slithered out from the darkness between the trees, Subaru let out a tired sigh.
Louis gasped, hugging his leg in terror.
The figure emerging from the gloom was a nightmare of green scales, glistening with slime and dripping with saliva. It was a Snake Witchbeast—a giant serpent easily ten meters long, with a maw wide enough to swallow a person whole.
"——Witchbeast."
The serpent opened its jaws and roared, a sound that shook the leaves from the trees. The wind pressure alone was enough to knock a normal man off his balance.
Subaru didn't flinch. He seized up, muscles coiled like springs, ready to lunge.
But then, a second hiss echoed from the left.
Two of them huh...?
Subaru didn't know if Mabeasts had the intelligence to coordinate attacks, but two was almost always worse than one.
Though... would I rather fight two Gojo-senseis or one Reinhard?
The absurd question flashed through his mind, and the answer was immediate: Neither. I'll definitely take the snakes.
The first serpent didn't wait. It surged forward, a green blur of muscle and fangs. Its torso was as thick as an ancient oak log, and its tail lashed out with enough force to shatter bone.
Subaru didn't hesitate.
He grabbed Louis by the waist, hoisting her onto his hip like a sack of potatoes. With one arm clamping her tight against his side, he channeled Cursed Energy and let it pulse through his veins.
Then, he leapt as it drew near.
He had soared over the gaping maw of the serpent, the beast snapping at empty air where his legs had been a fraction of a second before.
Louis was light, but she was dead weight with how she was now. It was annoying, but it wouldn't change the outcome of this fight.
Twisting his body in mid-air, Subaru kicked off an invisible platform of impure darkness—acting as a foothold. He defied gravity for a heartbeat, hanging perpendicular to the ground as the second serpent lunged up to meet him.
With Cursed Energy flooding his legs, he drove himself downward. He spun around the snapping jaws, his momentum building until—
With a surge of strength that no former shut-in should possess, Subaru smashed his fist straight into the serpent's skull.
The impact was explosively powerful. Causing green scales to shatter, bones to fracture, and the massive horn protruding from its forehead to practically disintegrate under the force of the blow.
The beast collapsed backward, its hulking frame crushing a swath of trees as it crashed into the mud.
Subaru landed in a crouch, sliding through the muck. He allowed himself a single exhale before sprinting forward to try and finish it off as fast as possible.
Though, a gust of wind blasted his hair back. He raised his free hand without even granting it his full attention, as if predicting it's movement.
——He caught the tip of the second serpent's tail in his open palm.
Smoke rose from the friction as he skidded backward a foot, but he held firm. The attack, which would have decapitated a normal man, was stopped dead.
The serpent tried to retract its tail, but it was stuck. Subaru's grip was iron.
"———!!"
The beast wasn't intelligent, but it clearly understood when something was threatening it's life. It screeched, lunging forward with its mouth wide, desperate to consume the black-haired threat.
Of course, it didn't matter how bloodlusted this witchbeast was. Even against the White Whale, Subaru had found a way. Against a glorified garden snake? If it were over a year back in time, when he had first started learning how to use Cursed Energy, he would have most certainly died against even just one of these Witchbeasts.
But he was a completely different person from then, in both character and power.
——Authority of Pride.
Darkness pumped through his veins in an instant.
Black brambles erupted from his palm, piercing through the scales and tearing through the serpent's flesh from the inside out. The beast recoiled, screeching in agony as the shadows ravaged its internal organs.
It thrashed, focusing on one thing: killing the human. Killing the source of that delicious, terrible sce—
"——Bang."
Subaru pointed his index finger toward it's face.
A condensed blast of Cursed Energy fired from his fingertip. It punched a clean hole through the serpent's skull, piercing the brain instantly.
The beast went limp, crashing to the ground before it could even register its own death.
Subaru didn't celebrate such an easy victory, unsurprisingly.
He had instead turned his attention to the first serpent—the one with the shattered horn.
It lay there, dazed and unmoving. It wasn't dead, but it wasn't attacking.
Ah. Right. Breaking the horn.
He remembered hearing that breaking a Mabeast's horn could tame it, stripping it of its aggression. It seemed the rumor was true at least.
Subaru walked over to the dazed creature and planted his boot firmly on its snout, aiming his index finger between its eyes.
"Sorry. But I don't really want a Witchbeast for a pet."
He ended it unceremoniously with a blast of Cursed Energy.
Just like that, silence returned to the jungle.
Subaru looked down at the blonde girl in his arms. Louis was trembling, her eyes wide with shock as she stared at the carnage.
Subaru pursed his lips.
"...Right. I almost forgot about you, I'll be totally honesty, sorry about that."
He felt the need to at least give an apology, as ridiculous as it might've been, mainly because of the chance that this wasn't just an act being performed by Gluttony, but a genuine innocent child.
Although the idea of apologizing to Gluttony did not please him all too much.
He set her down on the ground and she wobbled for a moment before looking up at him. There was no fear in her eyes anymore. Only awe.
"Uaaaah...!"
"Yeah." Subaru sighed, "I had to kill them. They were going to eat us, you know? Plus, getting rid of them is doing the world a favor."
The silence that followed the death of the Witchbeasts was short lived, and it had finally felt peaceful.
"...Though..."
The black-haired boy spoke to nobody in sight, but his gaze was solid, fixed on a patch of dense foliage.
"——Ooooh?"
Louis Arneb tilted her head, her beady blue eyes blinking rapidly as she tried to follow his line of sight.
"You know..." Subaru called out, his voice calm but carrying clearly through the humid air. "It's rude to stare. If you're going to watch the show, you should at least pay for a ticket."
For a second, there was no response. Only the buzzing of insects filled the silence.
Then, the bushes rustled, giving way to the clanking of metal.
"Hah! I told you he spotted us, Todd! The guy's got ears like a damn beast."
A man stepped out from the tree line. He was light-skinned, with a wild, unkempt look about him, holding one of the two swords that sit on his back that looked well-used.
Behind him, stepping out with visible reluctance, was a man with orange hair and a face that seemed too soft for a soldier. He wore a serious expression while holding an axe loosely in one hand. And, despite the two dead Witchbeasts, his gaze remained only on Subaru.
Subaru's internal danger alarm didn't ring. It didn't even vibrate. Compared to the horrors of the Watchtower, or even the battle against Petelgeuse, these two were... insignificant.
"Two Elgina, down in seconds..."
The orange-haired man, Todd, murmured. His voice was quiet, lacking the brashness of his companion. His gaze finally flicked to Subaru, analyzing him with a sharpness that belied his soft appearance.
"And you don't look like you even broke a sweat. You clearly aren't a Shudraq. Where are you from?"
"Just a traveler passing through..." Subaru lied effortlessly, glossing over the question. "Was walking around the Jungle and ran into these pests. You know how it is."
"Pests?" The wild-looking man, Jamal, barked a laugh. He pointed his sword at the dead serpents.
"Those things eat whole squads for breakfast, and you call 'em pests? You mocking us, you fuckin' bastard?"
"Jamal... don't be like that..." Todd said softly, though his eyes remained locked on Subaru as if he were thinking about something.
"Tch! Don't you fuckin' feel it, Todd? Just lookin' at this prick... he thinks he's better than us. It's gettin' on my nerves." Jamal growled, his one good eye narrowing in anger.
Todd shrugged helplessly at his comrade's lack of self-control.
"——Sorry about my friend there. We are soldiers of the Sacred Vollachian Empire, and you are currently trespassing in a military zone... hence Jamal's threats. Though, usually, we'd attack on sight or take you in chains."
Subaru smirked, a dark, humorless expression that didn't reach his eyes.
"Usually? Does that mean you're making an exception?"
"Well..." Todd gestured to the carnage with his axe. "I'm not in the habit of picking fights with people who can blast through Witchbeast skulls with their bare hands. I value my life, you see."
"Huh. Well, fair enough I guess." Subaru noted.
"However..." Todd continued, his smile tightening just a fraction. "...We can't just let an unidentified powerhouse wander around our camp's perimeter. It makes the Commander nervous. And when the Commander is nervous, people tend to die."
"... I don't want to beat you up since you seem pretty nice compared to your friend there. But I don't like being threatened. Surely you can understand that, right?"
Subaru asked, his voice dropping an octave.
The air around him grew heavy. Cursed Energy flared from his body, an invisible weight pressing down on the clearing.
Jamal, lacking the survival instincts of his partner, grinned savagely despite the noticeable pressure that bore down on his and Todd's bodies.
"Argh, seriously! You're pissin' me off with this act! You think you're tough 'cause you killed some overgrown snakes? Let's see how you handle steel straight through ya!"
Without waiting for a signal, Jamal launched himself forward.
He was fast. For a normal human, incredibly so. His sword arc was vicious, aimed low to cripple rather than kill outright—likely intending to take Subaru's legs.
Subaru didn't move his feet.
He didn't dodge. He didn't weave.
He simply raised his left hand.
The sound of metal hitting an immovable object rang out.
Jamal's eyes widened in disbelief. His blade had stopped dead, caught between Subaru's thumb and forefinger. The force of the swing should have severed fingers, but Subaru's grip was like a vice made of diamond.
Then, with a mere flick of his wrist, the high-quality Imperial steel shattered.
The top half of the blade spun through the air, embedding itself in a tree trunk nearby.
"H-Huh? What the fuc——" Jamal stammered, staring at his broken weapon. His hand instinctively flew to the hilt of his second sword in a surprising display of battle instinct.
But before he could draw it, Subaru lashed out with a swift front kick to Jamal's stomach.
He held back—significantly. If he had used full power, Jamal's chest cavity would have collapsed. Actually no, he would've just blasted a hole clean through the man's torso. So, instead, he used just enough force to send the soldier flying back ten meters.
Jamal hit the dirt, rolling and coughing, winded but alive.
"———"
Todd bristled, his polite facade cracking for a split second as he raised his axe, shifting into a defensive stance.
"Just calm down. I don't want to hurt you. I wasn't going to attack your friend until he rushed me."
Subaru lowered his leg, placing his hands in his pockets as if nothing had happened.
He looked down at Louis, who was clapping her hands happily at the display.
Todd stared at him. The gears in the soldier's head were turning rapidly. Subaru could practically hear the man's survival instincts screaming.
"——Hold on...."
Todd lowered his axe slowly, his expression shifting from aggression to wary neutrality.
"Is something wrong...?"
Subaru tilted his head, genuine confusion masking his features.
Eventually, the man's polite smile returned. He rubbed the back of his head, chuckling nervously.
"——Nah. Nothing. Don't worry about it."
Subaru could only shrug as a response.
Todd took a deep breath, sheathing his axe. He glanced at Jamal, who was staggering to his feet, clutching his chest and looking at Subaru with a mixture of rage and terrified respect.
"But yeah... what you said before," Todd said, his voice regaining its composure. "I hope you can forgive my friend. As rash and rude as he is, he has his moments."
Todd raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.
"My name is Todd Fang. That idiot is Jamal. We have a camp nearby. Since you're... most likely lacking resources... perhaps you'd like to accompany us? Not as prisoners, of course..." he added quickly, seeing Subaru's eyes narrow. "As guests. We have food, water, and clean clothes. Much better than the jungle floor, surely, man?"
Subaru considered the offer.
He needed information. He had no map, no idea where in Vollachia he was. Keeping an eye on the Imperial Army was better than being hunted by them.
"Food does sound good... but if 'Jamal' over there tries anything funny a second time, I can't say I'll be as kind."
Todd offered a strained, polite smile.
"...I wouldn't dream of it."
"Lead the way, I guess."
"Yeah. Sure, man."
———————————————————
"Yeah. Sure, man."
Todd nodded, turning his back to them with belief that he wouldn't be stabbed in the back. That isn't something the strong would do, of course.
As they began to walk, Todd cast one last look at the dead mabeasts, and then at the black-haired boy.
Monster. Danger. Kill.
A cold sweat trickled down Todd's back.
That is a monster in human skin. I have to kill him before he kills us all. No, forget about "us"—the other fucks back at camp, and even Jamal can die for all I care. But I won't feel a moment of peace until this venomous snake is dealt with. But what can I do right now? Flee? No, that would be foolish. He doesn't intend to kill me just yet. But those types of people—the unpredictable ones—are always the hardest to read.
Todd was a cautious person. To the extent that even Jamal considered him paranoid. He had a thorough dislike for people stronger than himself, for the simple reason that they could end his life on a whim.
"Oh, right, I must warn you, man," Todd said over his shoulder, his voice light and friendly. "It's not just me and Jamal at the camp. If that wasn't obvious enough."
The monster looked at him with those menacing eyes and smiled, nodding.
"Ah... yeah, that makes sense. Thanks for the heads-up. Maybe you're not so bad, I suppose."
Todd's smile didn't falter, but his heart hammered against his ribs.
There was one kind of person he disliked more than anything else.
The manipulative, unpredictable type. The ones he couldn't get a read on no matter what he did.
"Could I get your name, man? It would feel a bit strange not to know it if you're going to be with us for a while."
And this person—no, this thing—was a combination of everything Todd feared most.
"It's Natsuki Subaru! Nice to meet ya, Todd."
Todd smiled, gripping Subaru's hand. But the moment their eyes locked, he felt it in his gut.
"Yeah. Nice to meet you too."
This thing needs to be killed. Immediately. But how? Poison? A knife in the dark?
No, his reflexes are too fast and he's way too strong for something like that to work. He caught Jamal's sword like it was a toy after all.
Then, a hostage situation? Grab the kid? Tell him to slit his own throat or I kill the girl?
Todd glanced at Louis, then back at Subaru.
No. That's a bad gamble. He carries her and protects her for whatever reason, but look at his eyes. There's no love there. Only obligation. Contempt, even. If I put a knife to her throat, he might just let me kill her and then tear me apart for the inconvenience.
"Well, I must admit..." Subaru scratched his cheek, offering a sheepish, lopsided grin. "We actually are a bit lost. I'd rather not get into the details 'cause it is just a little bit embarrassing, hehe~"
Looking at Natsuki Subaru, who was currently feigning the air of a hapless, clumsy traveler, Todd chuckled. It was a warm, brotherly sound.
Inside his mind, he was screaming.
Look at him acting. He switches masks so easily. From a cold-blooded killer to a goofy teenager in seconds. He's trying to lower my guard for whatever reason, is it just for some sort of sick game? Two can play at that, at least.
"Ahh... lost? Man, that must totally suck, huh?" Todd shook his head sympathetically. "The Buddheim Jungle is a maze even for the locals though, so It's not that surprising."
He decided to take a risk. A calculated gamble to keep the monster close where he could see him.
"Well, don't worry, Subaru-san. I'm sure I can help you get out of here."
It seemed the risk paid off. Subaru's shoulders dropped, the invisible tension around him dissipating slightly.
"Seriously? That'd be a lifesaver."
———————————————————
Subaru let out a genuine sigh of relief, nodding in acknowledgement.
To him, Todd Fang didn't seem much older than himself. In a way, Subaru was incredibly grateful. He hadn't expected to find someone so willing to help—especially not a soldier in the middle of a hostile jungle.
Compared to the silent, unnerving company of Louis Arneb over the past few days, Todd's conversational nature was a breath of fresh air.
Finally, a normal person.
Subaru was casually walking toward the heart of a camp filled with soldiers that didn't know who he was, completely unaware of the knife being sharpened in Todd's mind.
Dozens of soldiers moved about, tending to weapons or patrolling the perimeter. Under normal circumstances, walking into a military encampment of a hostile nation would be suicide.
But Subaru wasn't worried.
He had fought beings that transcended logic. Reinhard. Reid. Gojo. Compared to monsters like that, normal soldiers were... quaint.
Sure, they had swords. They had numbers. But what good was steel when it couldn't even dent his Cursed Energy reinforcement?
Obviously, it went without much saying, but they were well and truly irrelevant.
———————————————————
He saw rows of tents, racks of spears, and men with the heavy, disciplined atmosphere of veterans. The force was a mix of humans and demi-humans, all wearing the distinct, robe-like armor of the Vollachian Empire.
It looked flimsy to Subaru. But then again, the concept of armor became increasingly obsolete the stronger you got. Why wear steel when your skin was harder than diamond? Why carry a shield when you could level a castle with your bare hands?
Subaru didn't know if he was quite at the "castle-destroying" level yet. But he knew one thing for sure: without the superpower known as Cursed Energy, he was just a human. A blade would cut through him like butter.
With it, though? He was beyond simply 'superhuman'.
"Though... I hope I didn't shatter your friend's pride too badly," Subaru said casually, breaking the silence as he scanned the camp for the one-eyed soldier. "It's not like I wanted to hurt him. He did swing first."
Jamal had likely scurried off to a medic tent or a dark corner to nurse his bruised ego. Subaru didn't mind, he didn't really want to be around a guy like that anyway.
"Ah... well, I'm sure he'll forgive you eventually. As arrogant as he can be, he respects strength..." Todd replied with a polite smile, gesturing toward the center of the camp. "But aside from that, welcome to the camp, Subaru-san."
"Uuaaa...." Louis burbled, looking around with wide eyes.
Todd's personality was disarmingly nice. Almost too nice for a soldier. It made Subaru wonder if the guy was actually cut out for this line of work.
Subaru hummed, his gaze drifting back to the orange-haired man.
"About what you said earlier... you mentioned I'm 'obviously not Shudraq.' What's that supposed to mean?"
Todd paused, tapping his chin thoughtfully.
"...Although I did question whether you were one of them initially—because of your black hair—your demeanor and strength made me second-guess it. I assume you already know about them? Someone like you would definitely do their research before entering a place like this."
"Someone like me?"
"Well..... someone strong, I guess? Not to mention, you definitely don't seem like the stupid type, haha~"
Subaru chuckled, shrugging off the compliment.
Being called "strong" wasn't something he heard often back in Lugunica, despite the fact that he absolutely was, as arrogant as it might've sounded, coming from himself. Hearing it here, from a stranger, brought a genuine spark of pride to his chest.
"Well, I definitely don't envy you, that's for sure."
"Ah? What do you mean, Subaru-san?" Todd tilted his head.
"Well, you're obviously looking for those 'Shudraqs,' right? I mean... it's obvious enough that even I can tell. But this jungle is massive."
Todd nodded, his expression darkening slightly.
"Yeah. As you said, they are the people we're looking for. But from here, the forest stretches to the horizon. It's going to take years to search it properly..."
His voice trailed off, sounding exhausted.
Subaru looked around. The greenery continued endlessly to the left and right. If the depth matched the width, this place was on the same level as the Amazon. Searching for a hidden tribe in this green hell sounded absolutely nightmarish.
Though, he was going to keep that he had a run-in with the Shudraq's to himself, mainly for Abel's safety more than anything else.
"Isn't that just... almost impossible?" Subaru frowned.
He reached out, placing a hand on Todd's shoulder in a friendly, brotherly gesture.
"Must be rough, man."
For a split second, Subaru thought he felt Todd's entire body seize up under his hand. Like a wire snapping taut.
But he must be imagining things. Because, sure, other than kicking Jamal's ass—who Todd himself agreed deserved it—and killing two Witchbeasts, he's been nothing but kind to the orange-haired young man in comparison.
Todd forced his muscles to relax despite Subaru's hand, offering a strained smile.
"...Yeah. You think so too, eh?" Todd sighed, his voice dropping into a weary, confidential tone. "I'm hesitant myself. I'm not sure I want to spend years rotting in this green hell when I've got a life of my own to live, you know?"
Subaru nodded, finding himself surprisingly able to relate to the sentiment. His past self—the one before the Watchtower, before the "incident"—might have disagreed, but he had changed.
Ever since his soul had been carved into by the Witch Factor of Pride, things had been different.
It had granted him the power to command the literal darkness, a force limited only by his imagination—and the agonizing reality of his brain bleeding if he pushed his body too far.
Back then, he had been "Prideful" in the most literal, toxic sense. He had refused help from anyone he deemed "lesser." He had relied solely on that foolish, calculating alter-ego and the occasional intervention from Gojo.
He had spent nearly a year trapped in a hell of his own making, reliving the same few days over and over with a singular, insane goal.
Kill Reinhard van Astrea.
He had tried everything. Every strategy, every trap, every dark corner of his imagination. Even when "Pride" took the reins and fought with a vastly superior fighting-style and usage of authority, even when the Witch's miasma had been thick enough to choke the life out of the world—it wasn't enough. Reinhard was an immovable object, a god in human skin.
Reinhard definitely would've listened if I'd just told him the truth... but I was so damn stupid back then.
He hadn't just hated himself; he had loathed his own perceived weakness. He had worn the mask of the arrogant, prideful person to hide the hollow boy underneath.
He had been a fool. An absolute, utter fool.
His situation wasn't exactly the same as Todd's—Todd was a soldier following orders, while Subaru had been a prisoner of his own obsession—but the orange-haired man's words brought those memories rushing back like a flood.
The weight of wasted time. The crushing reality of an impossible task.
Subaru's hand lingered on Todd's shoulder a second too long. He felt the soldier's pulse thrumming beneath his palm—fast, like a trapped bird.
"I get it, man," Subaru said, his voice softening with a trace of genuine empathy. "Spending your life on a mission that feels like it's never going to end... it changes you. And not always for the better."
Todd didn't look at him. He just stared ahead at the camp with that ever-lasting smile.
"Yeah," Todd whispered. "It really does."
———————————————————
"Even though I'm hungry as hell... I just can't bring myself to eat something like this."
Subaru stood off to the side of the encampment, leaning against a supply crate as he eyed the piece of stale, greyish ration in his hand. He didn't have much to complain about regarding the drink—it was just lukewarm water—but the food was a different story. It looked like it had the nutritional value of a roof shingle.
He did the next best thing. Rather than tossing what was likely a scarce resource, he handed it to the blonde girl standing at his hip. Louis took it without a second thought, munching on the hard bread with a small, contented smile.
Earlier, he had asked Todd why they weren't hunting the local wildlife or gathering the abundant jungle fruits. Todd's response had been grim.
'Well... we were doing that for the first few days. But recently, there's been an unnatural lack of wildlife. Annoying as hell for all of us. We've been forced to dip into the emergency supplies.'
Subaru felt a twinge of guilt. He knew exactly why the jungle had gone silent. It was him. His scent had turned this sector of the forest into a dead zone. He chose to keep that particular realization to himself; he didn't need to give Todd and his men a reason to consider him an enemy.
"Yeah... well, I'm glad you're finding that tasty enough," he muttered, watching Louis swallow the last of the ration.
"Uau."
I guess I shouldn't expect anything less from 'Gluttony,' even in this state.
"Looking at me like that... it gives me mixed feelings. So stop it..." he sighed, rubbing his temples.
Louis simply tilted her head, her blue eyes wide and vacant. Subaru wasn't sure if she understood a word he said, but she was learning fast. She could walk, she could follow commands, and he suspected she could still fight, though he hadn't had the heart—or the lack of sanity—to test that theory yet.
He looked up, scanning the camp. The soldiers who weren't on duty were huddled together, eating their own meager portions. He could feel their eyes on him. They didn't bother to hide their stares—some were filled with curiosity, others with blatant hostility.
This sucks... I hope it's not much longer before we're all back together. Gojo-sensei, Emilia-tan, Beako... Rem.
Despite his power to literally rewrite the laws of causality, he had finally found a situation he couldn't "fix." The battle at Priestella was over. The pieces had fallen where they may. He could only pray that Reinhard had managed to take down that invincible monster, Regulus Corneas and saved Emilia. If anyone could do it, it was the Sword Saint.
But thinking of Reinhard brought a bitter taste to his mouth, worse than the stale rations.
A year had passed since his "Pride" loops, but the phantom pain remained. He knew Reinhard was a good man—perhaps the best man—but it was hard to look at him without seeing the flash of a blade. He had felt that steel claim his neck nearly eighty times.
It wasn't Reinhard's fault. It was his own. He had let the Authority of Pride corrupt him, turning him into something the Sword Saint was forced to hunt.
"Tch."
He clicked his tongue in annoyance. He really wished he could go back in time just to punch his past self in the face for being such a monumental idiot. Power was a tool, but he had let it become his identity, and he was still paying the price for that arrogance.
Subaru shrugged, looking down at the blonde girl. Her eyes were wide, shimmering with a worry that felt far too human for a Sin Archbishop.
"Hah... nothing's wrong, so don't worry—"
"—The fuck are you scoffin' for, eh? This not the high-life you're used to, fucker?"
Subaru blinked, his head snapping to the side. A group of four soldiers was swaggering toward him. The man at the front was a jagged piece of work—wild hair, a crooked nose, and a sneer that looked permanent.
"...What?" Subaru's voice was flat. It was the only response he could muster for such a cliché display of aggression.
"Deaf, too? Figures. You noble fucks really do think you're better than us, don't ya? We work for the Empire while you lounge in fancy houses and look down your noses."
The soldier snarled, his hand dropping to the hilt of his steel sword. He gripped it until his knuckles turned white.
"And to fuckers like you who don't give a rat's ass about the Empire, what do we say?!"
"—Long Live Vollachia!!" the group behind him roared in unison.
Subaru felt a headache forming.
Nobility? Me?
Did they think his black hair or his clean-ish clothes meant he was some pampered lord? Or were they just looking for a target to vent their frustrations on?
"...I think there's been a misunderstanding.." Subaru began, but the soldier cut him off.
"—And what do we do about 'em?!"
"We kill 'em!"
Subaru went quiet. His fists balled at his sides. He had dealt with cultists, monsters, and gods; these men were just bullies with badges. They weren't looking for justice; they were looking for the high of seeing someone 'superior' bleed.
"What about Jamal and Todd?" Subaru asked, his voice dropping an octave. "Do you think they'll like you making a mess of their camp?"
The lead soldier spat on the ground. The men behind him cackled.
"Jamal hates your guts, and Todd? That paranoid bastard doesn't matter when it comes to 'accidents' like this."
Subaru's eyes widened—not because of the soldier drawing his blade, but because Louis had suddenly stepped in front of him. She spread her small arms wide, a tiny, trembling shield.
Why? Is she trying to earn my trust? Is this just another layer of Gluttony's game?
"Hah? Pretty little thing, ain't ya?" The soldier halted his swing mid-air, a disgusting, oily grin spreading across his face.
"Whatever. Step aside, brat. We'll have our fun with you after I take this fucker's head off."
Louis didn't move. She couldn't possibly win a physical struggle in this state, yet she stood her ground.
She knows I'm strong. There's no logic in her doing this unless—
The soldier didn't wait for her to move. He lashed out with a backhand, his steel-plated glove cracking against Louis's cheek. The force sent her stumbling back, a small cry escaping her as she clutched her face.
Then, he stepped forward and swung his sword at Subaru.
It was slow. It was telegraphed. It was weak. It wouldn't have even scratched Subaru's Cursed Energy reinforcement, but that didn't matter.
I guess it doesn't matter if she's a monster, she still has a child's face. So, there's no removing this damn weakness of mine.
Subaru thought, his vision narrowing to a sharp, icy point.
With a single, fluid step, Subaru evaded the blade. The steel whistled past him, but before the soldier could recover, Subaru's hand shot out.
"What the fuck—?!"
The soldier's arm was caught in a vice-like grip, frozen mid-swing. He tried to pull back, but it was like trying to move a mountain.
"This is your sword hand, right?" Subaru asked.
"What? —GAAAHK!!"
The question was rhetorical. Subaru didn't wait for an answer. In a blur of motion, he drew the dagger Abel had given him. With a sickening thud, he drove the blade straight through the soldier's palm, pinning his hand to a nearby tree.
The man's scream ripped through the camp, raw and agonizing.
How ironic with what you said to me before... my bad, Abel.
"W-Wait... s-sto—!!"
Subaru grabbed the man by his wild hair, yanking his head back so he had to look into Subaru's naturally menacing eyes. The other three soldiers took a step back, their bravado evaporating into pure, unadulterated terror.
"What were you implying..." Subaru whispered, leaning in close. "...with what you said to Louis?"
A man like this didn't deserve the air he breathed. The implication in his words was a stain that could only be washed out with blood.
"I-I'm... so—rry...! I-I won't... ever again..." the man blubbered, tears and snot streaming down his face as he hung by his impaled hand.
"—What the hell is going on?!"
Jamal burst through the crowd, his swords already drawn. He took in the scene—his soldier pinned to a tree, the child in pain, and Subaru standing there like a dark omen.
"You!! I knew you were a damn—"
"Wait! Fucking wait a minute, Jamal!"
Todd appeared, his face pale and a deep frown etched into his brow. He looked at the impaled soldier, then at Subaru, and his survival instincts went into overdrive.
"...Do not attack Natsuki Subaru." Todd commanded.
"What?!" Jamal roared, turning on Todd. "Do you not see this?! This is equally your fault for bringing this monster into our camp!"
"No reason? You think I did it for no reason?!" Todd snapped back, his voice uncharacteristically sharp. "I knew you were stupid, but this is a new low. Shit, shit—— Just shut your mouth and let me handle this."
Jamal looked ready to pounce on Todd, but something in the orange-haired man's desperate intensity made him rein himself in.
Todd turned to Subaru, raising his hands in a gesture of peace.
"Subaru-san... what happened here?"
Subaru didn't let go of the soldier's hair. "These bastards decided to play a rather disturbing game. Then this one struck the kid and made a comment that... well, it made me decide he doesn't need to be part of this world anymore."
Todd scratched his nape, his mind racing. He couldn't let Subaru kill a soldier in front of the whole camp—it would destroy morale and force a fight he knew they would lose. But he couldn't provoke the monster, either.
"...Could you let him go, Subaru-san?" Todd asked, his voice strained. "I know he's a fool. A complete idiot. But there doesn't need to be more bloodshed. I'll punish him myself. I'll make sure he never holds a sword again."
Subaru's eyes remained fixed on the sobbing man.
"I refuse. He's rotten. People like this don't change."
The air grew heavy again. Jamal gripped his swords tighter. Todd held his breath, certain that the slaughter was about to begin.
Then, a small hand tugged at Subaru's sleeve.
He looked down. Louis was looking up at him, her cheek bruised and swollen, but her eyes were pleading.
"Uuaaa..."
Subaru stared at her.
"Why? Why do you want me to let him live? He's a piece of shit, Louis. He hit you. He was going to—"
He stopped. Louis just shook her head, her small hand gripping his clothes tighter.
Subaru looked back at the soldier, then at Todd. The icy rage in his chest didn't vanish, but the grip on the man's hair loosened.
"You're lucky," Subaru hissed at the soldier. "You're lucky she's better than you."
With a moment of sharp hesitation—internally cursing himself for listening to Louis in the first place—Subaru yanked the dagger out of the tree. The soldier collapsed into the mud, howling as he clutched his ruined hand. Subaru didn't spare him a second glance, casually swiping the blade clean of blood on his sleeve.
Todd's eyes flared for a fraction of a second as he caught sight of the weapon.
"That dagger..." Todd started, his voice trailing off into a whisper. "It's..."
"What?" Subaru asked, his gaze shifting back to the orange-haired man.
"——Ah... nothing. Nothing," Todd stammered, his politeness slipping for a short moment. "Just... thank you for not killing him, Subaru-san. Truly."
Subaru let out a weary sigh, shaking his head. He reached down and took Louis's hand in his own. Unbeknownst to him, the small girl's face lit up with a fragile smile, the pain in her cheek seemingly forgotten the moment his fingers closed around hers.
"Don't thank me..." Subaru said coldly, not looking back. "Thank her."
He turned away, leading Louis through the parting crowd of soldiers. The last thing he heard before the distance muffled the sound was Todd's voice, dropping into a low, dangerous snarl directed at the remaining soldiers.
"Fucking hell... get out of my sight, you morons. Before I decide to finish what he started."
———————————————————
The walk back to their tent was silent. The atmosphere in the camp had shifted; where there was once curiosity and hidden malice, there was now a heavy, suffocating wall of fear. The soldiers kept their heads down, refusing to meet Subaru's eyes.
Inside the tent—a simple, cramped affair provided by Todd—Subaru sat down on a bedroll, his mind racing.
Was that the right move? Letting a piece of trash like that live? What if it bites me in the ass later? What if he hurts someone else because I was too 'kind' to finish the job?
The negative thoughts swirled like a storm until a small, firm pressure on his hand snapped him back to reality. Louis was gripping his fingers tightly, her blue eyes searching his face.
The swelling on her cheek didn't even exist to begin ith—her physical resilience was still far beyond a normal child's—but the shock of the blow still lingered in her wide-eyed stare.
Subaru looked at her, his heart heavy with a conflict he couldn't resolve.
It felt wrong to care.
It felt like a betrayal of everyone Gluttony had ever hurt. But looking at her now, she didn't look like an Archbishop. She just looked like nothing more than a little girl who had just been hit across the face.
He let out a long, slow sigh.
"Are you... alright?" he asked, the words feeling clumsy and strange on his tongue.
Louis paused, then gave a small, hesitant nod.
Subaru stared at her for a long moment. Then, almost against his own will, his hand rose. He placed it on her head, gently patting her blonde hair.
"Maybe..." he whispered, more to himself than to her. "Maybe even someone like you can change."
He didn't see the way Louis leaned into his touch, her eyes closing in a moment of pure, quiet peace. He was too busy wondering if he was actually doing the right thing, or being the world's biggest fool.
———————————————————
Night had long since swallowed the Buddheim Jungle, turning the dense foliage into a wall of jagged shadows. Garius paced the perimeter, his pulse throbbing in rhythm with the agonizing ache in his bandaged hand.
He couldn't wrap his head around it. Why had he been the one humiliated?
And by Todd, of all people. That orange-haired, soft-faced coward. Did that paranoid wimp even have the standing to bark orders at him? They were soldiers of the Sacred Vollachian Empire, where the strong were meant to trample the weak. Yet, he was being treated like a dog while that black-haired freak was being ushered into a tent like a guest of honor.
It was a perversion of the Empire's laws. It was sickening.
Garius looked toward the guest tent, his eyes narrowing.
Maybe he's asleep. Maybe a blade through his heart while he's asleep is all it takes to kill a monster.
He gripped the hilt of his sword, but a sudden, icy memory of being looked down upon in such a regard with those menacing-looking eyes made his stomach churn.
No. Fuck that. I'm not suicidal.
Garius had enough survival instinct to know when he was outmatched. He wasn't stupid, despite what Jamal always said. He needed to cool off. He needed to get away from the suffocating atmosphere of the camp.
Stepping past the torchlight, he vanished into the oppressive humidity of the jungle.
"Need to take a leak..." he grumbled to the trees, stopping at the base of a massive, gnarled trunk.
He reached for his armor, but the air suddenly felt... wrong. The jungle, usually a cacophony of shrieking insects and rustling predators, had gone deathly silent.
The sound of a single twig breaking behind him was like a thunderclap.
Garius spun on a dime, his hand flying to his sword, his breath hitching in his throat. He expected to see those terrifying, black eyes staring back at him—the monster come to finish the job.
But there was nothing. Only the swaying of moss and the silver glint of moonlight on wet leaves.
"Haaah... fucking hell..." Garius exhaled, his shoulders sagging. "Just an animal. Get a grip, Garius."
He turned back to the tree, shaking his head at his own cowardice.
Though, he was ignorant to believe he was truly safe.
Ignorant of the shadow that had detached itself from the darkness of the trunk.
Ignorant of the man standing less than three feet away, an axe raised in a high, practiced arc.
"Maybe I'll be able to eat some actual damn... food..."
Garius began to turn, sensing a shift in the air, a presence that shouldn't be there. He didn't see a tree. He saw a face—calm, polite, and utterly devoid of emotion.
"H-Huh?"
Garius tried to speak, but the world suddenly split in two.
There was no scream. There was only the wet, heavy thud of steel cleaving through bone. The axe blade buried itself between Garius's eyes, splitting his skull with the efficiency of a woodsman splitting a log.
Garius slumped to the ground, his body twitching once before going still. His blood soaked into the roots of the tree, dark and steaming in the cool night air.
Todd Fang stood over the corpse, his expression as mild as if he were checking the weather. He didn't look angry. He didn't look vengeful. He looked like a man finishing a necessary, albeit tedious, chore.
He knelt beside the body, pulling a rag from his pocket. In total, terrifying silence, he began to wipe the gore from his axe.
"Sorry, man." Todd whispered, his voice a gentle, terrifying lilt. "But you were going to provoke him again. And I can't have you putting my life at risk just because you're too stupid to be afraid."