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{3rd Pov}
"Lady Hoshin," Crusch said, her eyes narrowing slightly as she took in the sight of her rival standing there with her forces fully mobilized.
Anastasia Hoshin didn't bother with pleasantries.
"Duchess," she replied calmly, her tone direct and businesslike, "I don't want to beat around the bush. I know you're planning to hunt the White Whale, and I want to form an alliance with you."
Her words were blunt, leaving no room for misunderstanding.
After arriving at the gate, Anastasia had already ordered her people to gather information about what had happened.
From the scattered testimonies and the chaos left behind, she had quickly pieced things together.
She knew Priscilla Barielle was chasing after Natsuki Subaru for reasons that were anything but ordinary.
And she didn't like it.
She had no intention of letting that woman hurt Subaru.
That was why she was here, and why she was in a hurry.
Subaru was already moving toward the White Whale's territory.
If things continued at this pace, he would run straight into danger long before any proper force could reach him.
To both protect him and successfully bring down the White Whale, Anastasia knew she would need overwhelming manpower.
An alliance wasn't just beneficial—it was necessary.
In her first life, Anastasia had already formed an alliance with Duchess Karsten.
At the time, they had been competitors, yet they still joined forces to slay the White Whale—and in the end, that alliance had worked.
Because of that past experience, the moment Anastasia saw Crusch mobilizing her forces now, she immediately reached a conclusion.
Crusch Karsten was preparing to hunt the White Whale.
There was no other explanation.
However, something was clearly different this time.
Subaru, at this point in the timeline, had no memories.
He hadn't come to Anastasia again to seek her help again after being thrown out, nor had he worked to form the alliance the way he had told her he did in the past.
That could only mean one thing.
Due to butterfly effect that her husband used to speak about in this loop the alliance was unsuccessful from his side or perhaps it was one of his failed loops.
Hence the alliance had not been formed yet.
Which also meant that Crusch had likely decided to depart and hunt the White Whale on her own, without coordination or backup from other camps.
That realization made Anastasia's expression harden.
Going in without Subaru's involvement—or without proper cooperation—would drastically lower the chances of success.
More importantly, it would make it far more difficult to save him.
That was why Anastasia had moved so quickly.
Forming an alliance now wasn't just about strategy or profit.
It was about increasing the odds—of survival, of victory, and of keeping Subaru alive.
Meanwhile, Crusch listened carefully to Anastasia's proposal, visibly surprised that the merchant queen had so quickly deduced her intentions.
Still, as she considered the situation, logic prevailed.
More soldiers meant more manpower. More manpower meant better chances of subjugating the White Whale.
And most importantly, it meant a greater chance of saving Subaru.
With that in mind, Crusch didn't hesitate.
"I agree," she said firmly.
Anastasia was briefly taken aback by how quickly Crusch agreed.
Still, after a moment of thought, she realized that it matched the Duchess's straightforward and decisive personality perfectly.
There was no hesitation, no bargaining—just a clear answer.
She nodded once.
"However, we need to hurry," Anastasia said firmly, already thinking several steps ahead.
Crusch opened her mouth, intending to say the exact same thing, but then paused.
A quiet thought crossed her mind.
'I suppose even the world itself is pushing me to meet my Liege again.'
The thought lingered for only a moment before she pushed it aside.
"Very well," Crusch replied calmly.
Anastasia smiled faintly at her response. Internally, she drew her own conclusion.
'She's in a hurry to kill the beast,' Anastasia thought.
'That's fine. For now, I'll focus on saving my husband. After that, I'll decide whether it's still possible to kill the White Whale with whatever forces remain or we have to escape.'
Around them, their subordinates exchanged stunned glances.
To the soldiers, knights, and mercenaries present, the entire conversation had been surreal.
The two leaders had reached a critical decision almost instantly, without prolonged discussion or argument.
It was as if their thoughts were already aligned, their goals perfectly synchronized.
Some of them wondered if this was the mark of truly great leaders—people capable of making monumental decisions in the blink of an eye.
They were wrong.
What they were witnessing was not brilliance born of command or strategy.
It was the determination of two loyal wives, each driven by a single, overwhelming desire—to return to their husband's side and hold him once more.
…
Rem held tightly to the reins, focusing on controlling the wagon as it raced down the road.
Behind her, Subaru gasped for breath, his chest rising and falling heavily as pain radiated through his body.
Gritting his teeth, he reached up and grabbed the arrow that had pierced his shoulder.
He pulled.
"Arghhh!" Subaru screamed as the arrow tore free, blood immediately gushing from the wound.
His body jerked violently from the sudden pain, and he hissed sharply as he struggled to stay upright.
Rem glanced back instantly, panic flashing across her face.
"Subaru-kun! Are you alright?" she asked urgently.
"Do you want Rem to stop the wagon and come over?"
Her eyes were fixed on the injury, taking in the blood and the way he was barely holding himself together.
Subaru clenched his teeth, forcing a strained smile despite the pain.
"No… there's no need," he said, his voice unsteady but firm.
"I'm fine. The arrow didn't go too deep—it didn't reach the bone."
He took a shaky breath before continuing, his expression turning serious.
"More importantly, we need to hurry," he said.
"We don't know when the Witch Cultists will attack. We have to warn the villagers as soon as possible."
Even injured and bleeding, his priorities hadn't changed.
Saving others still came first.
Rem bit her lip and nodded, then snapped the reins sharply to urge the ground dragons forward.
The beasts responded immediately, screeching as they picked up speed, the wagon rattling violently beneath them as it surged down the road.
As the carriage continued to move, Subaru's gaze drifted to Otto, who lay unconscious nearby.
He let out a quiet sigh.
The bleeding from his shoulder had already slowed and then stopped completely.
The wound hadn't been deep, just as he had said.
After tearing off part of his own clothing and tying it tightly around the injury under his butler's suit, the blood flow had been contained.
That didn't mean it didn't hurt.
A constant burning pain throbbed through his shoulder, sharp and persistent, making every movement uncomfortable.
Subaru clenched his jaw and let out a low groan despite himself, his body protesting every second he remained conscious.
"Subaru-kun… should Rem come over and heal you?" Rem asked again, her voice tense with worry even as she kept her eyes focused on the road ahead.
The moment the words left her mouth, Subaru reacted instinctively.
"No!" he snapped immediately.
The force and suddenness of his response surprised even himself.
For a brief moment, bad memories surged up without warning.
His mind replayed images from an earlier loop—her hands glowing with healing magic, the pain returning again and again, the endless cycle of recovery and suffering that was nothing but torture.
Even though their relationship had changed drastically since then, even though Rem herself was different now, his body reacted before his reason could catch up.
He still couldn't accept it.
Perhaps his mind had never truly healed from that brutal trauma, no matter how much time had passed or how much had changed.
"I-It's fine," Subaru said with a forced smile, his voice slightly unsteady.
"Once we reach the village, y-you can check it then."
He tried to sound reassuring, but in truth, he was only delaying the inevitable.
To himself, he justified it by saying that stopping now would interrupt their journey and waste precious time.
That was the excuse he clung to.
The real reason was far simpler—and far uglier.
He didn't want to be healed by her right now.
His mind was already unsettled, stretched thin by fear, pain, and exhaustion.
Allowing her to heal him in this state would only dredge up memories he was desperately trying to keep buried.
He knew himself well enough to understand that it would trigger his trauma, and he couldn't afford to break down now.
Rem didn't argue.
She nodded quietly, though the worry in her eyes was impossible to miss.
Tightening her grip on the reins, she focused on guiding the wagon forward as the road stretched on ahead of them.
Soon, the massive silhouette of Flugel's Tree came into view.
And then—
Mist began to form.
It rolled in unnaturally fast, thick and heavy white, surrounding the wagon from all sides.
Within moments, visibility dropped sharply, the world beyond a few steps becoming nothing but a pale, shifting haze.
Both Subaru and Rem stiffened.
"This—" Subaru started, his voice catching.
Rem slowed the wagon instinctively, her posture tense as she carefully kept them aligned with the path.
Her eyes scanned the surroundings, searching for any sign of danger as the dense mist closed in around them.
This wasn't normal.
A guttural scream suddenly rang out through the mist.
It was not human.
The sound was distorted, chilling, and utterly monstrous, echoing through the fog in a way that made the air itself feel heavy.
Both Subaru and Rem froze instantly, their bodies reacting before their minds could even process what they had heard.
At that same moment, Otto jolted awake.
He sucked in a sharp breath and looked around wildly, his eyes unfocused and filled with confusion.
"W-Where are we?!" he shouted, panic creeping into his voice as he struggled to understand the situation.
Rem didn't answer.
She cracked the reins hard, urging the ground dragons forward with everything she had.
The Ground dragons screeched loudly in response and immediately began pulling the carriage faster, their claws digging into the ground as they accelerated through the mist.
Subaru, heart pounding, turned to look behind the wagon.
The moment he saw what was chasing them, the color drained completely from his face.
A helpless, hollow expression overtook him as dread settled deep in his chest.
His breath caught in his throat, and for a split second, he couldn't even move.
Otto, still shaken and only just remembering how Rem had knocked him unconscious earlier, followed Subaru's gaze.
He leaned out slightly, peering through the mist—and then froze completely.
His blood ran cold.
"W-White Whale!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice breaking with terror.
The words hit Rem like a hammer.
Her grip on the reins tightened painfully as fear flashed across her face.
Her breathing became uneven, but she didn't slow down.
Instead, she drove the wagon harder, her movements growing frantic as she pushed the ground dragons to their limits.
The mist thickened around them.
Behind them, the monstrous presence loomed closer.
They were being hunted.
"Y-You've got to be kidding me…" Subaru muttered, his voice flat and empty.
His expression went completely blank as he stared at the massive shape emerging through the mist.
The enormous creature opened its maw wide, as if it intended to swallow the entire wagon in a single bite.
'Why is it always me?', he thought bitterly.
The question echoed in his mind as the White Whale drew closer and closer, its presence crushing, overwhelming.
Panic clawed at his chest.
'Am I not even allowed to save others?', he wondered, despair creeping into his thoughts.
'Is that too much to ask?'
The distance between them and the Whale kept shrinking.
Its monstrous body loomed behind them, blotting out what little visibility the mist allowed.
Otto clutched his head, trembling violently, his thoughts unraveling as the inhuman screams of the White Whale tore through his mind again and again.
'Is this what I deserve?', Subaru thought grimly.
'Just dying like this?'
The wagon rattled violently as it pushed beyond its limits.
The wooden wheels creaked and groaned under the strain, sounding as though they might break apart at any moment.
The ground dragons were already running as fast as they could, muscles screaming, breath ragged.
"Sir Otto!" Rem shouted sharply, turning her head just enough to look at him.
"Take the reins!"
Her voice was urgent and commanding.
Someone needed to control the wagon—now.
If Rem was going to do anything to fight back, she needed both hands free.
There was no time left to hesitate.
Otto, to his credit, listened immediately.
Whatever had happened between them earlier—being knocked unconscious, the panic, the chaos—none of it mattered right now.
This was not the time to hold grudges or question decisions. Survival came first.
With shaking hands, Otto quickly moved into Rem's place and grabbed the reins.
His grip was tight, almost white-knuckled, as he struggled to steady himself and guide the wagon forward.
Fear was written all over his face, but he forced himself to focus, driving the ground dragons as fast as they could possibly go.
Rem didn't waste a second.
She reached for her morning star and stepped toward the back of the wagon, her posture tense and resolute.
Her eyes locked onto the massive shadow closing in behind them, the White Whale drawing nearer with every heartbeat.
"Rem… what are you trying to do?!" Subaru shouted the moment he realized her intent.
Panic surged into his voice.
"YOU CAN'T WIN AGAINST THAT THING!"
He knew immediately what she was planning.
She was going to stay behind.
She was going to fight it—if only to slow it down, to buy them a few more seconds, a little more distance, even if it cost her everything.
"Subaru-kun, you are more of a hero than—" Rem began, her voice steady despite the terror looming behind her.
"Cut out that crap!" Subaru snapped, his composure finally shattering.
His voice exploded with raw emotion.
"I'm not a hero!" he shouted.
"Hero?! I'm just a loser! I'm worth nothing! I'm just someone desperately trying to save people because I can't stand watching them die!"
His fists clenched as his words poured out, sharp and unfiltered.
"If you die," he continued, his voice cracking, "then what's even the point of anything I've done?! What's the point of all this?!"
The force of his words hit Rem like a blow.
She froze mid-step, eyes widening slightly.
She hadn't expected this—not this outburst, not this level of pain and desperation spilling out of him so suddenly.
For the first time since the chase began, the roar of the White Whale wasn't the loudest thing in the moment.
It was Subaru's voice.
"Rem's… Rem's hero will put an end to that thing. I know he will," she said, her voice firm despite the terror closing in behind them.
Subaru's teeth ground together so hard his jaw ached.
Something inside him finally snapped.
"Fuck… fuck… FUCK! FUCK!" he screamed, his voice raw as he glared at the monstrous silhouette chasing them through the mist.
His breathing became erratic, his chest heaving as rage and despair boiled over all at once.
"You want me dead, huh?!" he shouted at the White Whale, his voice cracking with hysteria.
"Everyone wants me dead, don't they?! That's it, right?! My only value is dying over and over again, huh?!"
At that moment, Subaru looked completely unhinged.
All the pain from the previous loops came crashing down on him at once.
Every death.
Every failure.
Every moment of helplessness.
The rejection from all three royal camps.
Being treated like garbage.
Being thrown away.
Crusch's men trying to detain him—what he believed was an attempt to quietly assassinate him.
The fear.
The humiliation.
The constant reminder that no matter what he did, it was never enough.
It all piled up.
And it broke him.
"I've had enough!" Subaru shouted hoarsely.
Then he laughed.
"Hahahahahaha!"
The sound was wild, manic, and completely out of place.
He forced himself upright despite the wagon violently jerking beneath his feet, nearly losing his balance as it sped forward.
His eyes locked onto the White Whale, wide and burning, filled with something far beyond fear.
They were filled with madness.
He stared straight at the creature—at the thing that represented death itself to him.
The White Whale answered his gaze with a guttural, ear-splitting scream, its massive body surging forward as it picked up speed, closing the distance even further.
And Subaru laughed even harder.
As if daring death itself to come and take him.
'Since I'm going to die anyway, I'll die humiliating you.'
The thought crossed Subaru's mind in a flash—wild, irrational, and completely unhinged.
Before anyone could stop him, before reason could catch up to madness, he moved.
Under Rem's horrified gaze, Subaru jumped off the wagon.
"Eat shit!" he shouted as he flew forward, drawing back his fist and punching with every bit of strength he had toward the White Whale.
He knew full well it would do nothing.
He wasn't trying to win.
He wasn't even trying to survive.
He just wanted to spit in death's face.
"Nooooo!" Rem screamed.
She reacted instantly.
With brutal force, she kicked down into the wagon's floor, channeling all her strength into stopping it.
The sudden impact was catastrophic.
The wagon lurched violently, the wheels shattering under the pressure as they snapped apart and flew off into the air.
The structure collapsed.
Otto was thrown violently from his seat, his body flung aside as the wagon disintegrated.
At the same time, Rem swung her morning star upward, smashing through the roof and destroying what remained of the carriage to prevent it from crushing them.
The ground dragons screeched in panic as they lost their footing, crashing hard onto the ground in a tangle of harnesses and broken wood.
Rem leapt free at the last moment, landing hard but managing to keep her balance despite the chaos erupting around her.
Meanwhile—
Subaru's punch connected.
For a fraction of a second, his fist struck the massive body of the White Whale.
And then reality hit back.
His bones snapped instantly.
The impact shattered his arm, the force rebounding violently through his body as he was hurled away like a ragdoll.
His body spun uncontrollably through the air before crashing into the grass and dirt with a sickening series of impacts.
The ground cracked beneath him.
Pain exploded everywhere at once.
Bones broke on contact—ribs, limbs, parts of him he couldn't even register individually.
His body bounced and rolled before finally coming to a halt, limp and broken.
Subaru's vision blurred violently.
A loud ringing filled his head, drowning out everything else as unbearable pain flooded through his shattered body.
He couldn't move.
He couldn't breathe properly.
Every nerve screamed in protest as consciousness threatened to slip away.
He lay there, broken and bleeding, his mind barely holding together as the White Whale loomed behind him.
And yet—despite everything—
He was still alive.
The White Whale slowly turned its massive body toward Subaru's fallen form.
This time, it did not rush.
It advanced at a deliberate pace, as if savoring the sight of his broken body lying helpless on the ground.
Each heavy movement sent vibrations through the air, its enormous presence pressing down on him even before it reached him.
"Subaru-kun!" Rem screamed.
She forced herself forward and swung her morning star with every ounce of strength she had left.
The weapon slammed into the White Whale's body, tearing away a significant chunk of its flesh.
Blood and mist burst outward from the impact.
For a brief moment, it seemed like it mattered.
Then the White Whale reacted.
Its massive tail whipped around with terrifying speed, striking Rem head-on.
The force sent her flying through the air like a discarded doll, her body crashing violently into the ground far from Subaru.
Everything went quiet.
'I guess… this is where this loop ends,' Subaru thought dimly.
Pain still consumed his body, but his mind felt strangely distant now, as if it were already preparing to let go.
With what little strength he had left, he slowly raised a trembling hand, reaching out weakly in Rem's direction—one final, futile attempt to reach her.
Just before his consciousness faded—
"El Esperia!"
A clear chant rang out across the battlefield.
In the next instant, a blazing sword made entirely of pure light manifested in mid-air. It radiated overwhelming power, illuminating the mist and ground alike as it descended with incredible force.
Under the shocked eyes of both Subaru and Rem, the blade plunged straight down.
It pierced through the White Whale's entire torso effortlessly.
The sheer impact drove the massive creature into the ground, pinning it in place.
A violent shockwave erupted outward, rippling through the earth and air.
Subaru's broken body was lifted a few centimeters off the ground before he fell back down—unharmed by the impact.
The White Whale let out a distorted, choked scream.
Then it stopped moving entirely.
Its colossal body remained impaled, completely immobilized, the battle brought to an abrupt halt.
For the first time since the chase began, there was silence.
And Subaru—still alive—stared in disbelief.
Just as Subaru's mind struggled to process what had just happened, another guttural roar tore through the air.
Rem's eyes widened in disbelief.
From within the thick mist, a second White Whale manifested silently behind Subaru—so close that he hadn't even noticed its presence.
Its massive maw opened wide, fully intent on devouring him in a single bite.
There was no time to react.
A blazing trail of fire suddenly cut across the air, slashing straight through the White Whale's face.
The creature recoiled violently as flames tore into its flesh, its roar warping into something twisted and enraged.
At the same time, someone grabbed Subaru.
A powerful arm wrapped around him and yanked him backward with overwhelming force, pulling him completely out of the White Whale's path just as the massive creature crashed forward—colliding headfirst with the other White Whale that had already been pinned to the ground.
The impact shook the earth.
Subaru barely had time to register what was happening before he realized he was being held.
Cradled.
Lifted effortlessly with a single hand.
His body was pulled close, his face pressed firmly against a soft, warm chest as if he weighed nothing at all.
His senses were overwhelmed—pain, shock, confusion—all colliding at once.
Slowly, his eyes moved upward.
He stared in disbelief at the woman holding him.
She looked down at him with a smile—one filled with genuine happiness, relief, and something far deeper.
Without hesitation, without uncertainty, she spoke as if this moment had always been meant to happen.
"It is nice to meet you again… darling."
The words left her lips naturally.
But Subaru didn't react.
He didn't register what she had said at all.
Instead, his wide, stunned eyes shifted past her—back toward the battlefield—where two White Whales now loomed behind them, completely unharmed, their monstrous forms still very much present.
"Watch out!" Subaru shouted instinctively, his voice cracking with urgency.
She didn't flinch.
Instead, she calmly spoke a single chant, her voice steady and absolute.
"El Esperia."
In the next instant, two enormous swords formed behind her—blades composed entirely of radiant light.
They hovered for less than a heartbeat before launching forward with terrifying speed.
The swords struck true.
They cut straight through the White Whales, cleaving their massive bodies cleanly in half in a single motion.
There was no resistance, no prolonged struggle.
The creatures were severed instantly, their enormous forms collapsing lifelessly as the mist around them began to disperse.
Silence followed.
Subaru stared, completely frozen.
He couldn't speak.
He couldn't even breathe properly.
His mind simply refused to process what he had just witnessed.
The White Whale—an existence terrorized the entire world, something which looked like a final boss monster to him was killed so easily.
And she had done it effortlessly.
Priscilla Barielle stood there calmly, her expression proud and unbothered, as if she had merely brushed aside a minor inconvenience.
Subaru couldn't comprehend it.
What he didn't know—what he couldn't possibly know—was that the spell she had just used wasn't something she had learned alone.
In her timeline, it was something they had created together.
Her strongest weapon, the Yang Sword, was devastating but consumed an absurd amount of mana.
And because she possessed an overwhelming mana capacity, Subaru had once realized that she would be far more dangerous as a close-range magic user than as a simple frontline combatant.
Together, they had developed dozens of spells.
Those two swords of light consumed less mana than even a single full-powered strike from her Yang Sword.
"Do not fear," Priscilla said confidently, her lips curling into a sharp grin.
"As long as you are with me—"
She dismissed the Yang Sword effortlessly and pulled Subaru fully into her arms, wrapping both hands around him with possessive certainty from behind.
"I will not let anyone harm you ever again."
Her breath was warm as it brushed against his ear, close enough to make his body shiver involuntarily.
Subaru felt himself tense, overwhelmed by the mix of fear, confusion, exhaustion, and something else entirely—something he couldn't name.
In that moment, without realizing it, Subaru had finally come face to face with one of his wives from a timeline that had been erased.
To be continued...
IMPORTANT NOTICE: THIS FANFIC CONTAINS NETORI(Main Character cucking other characters, whether voluntarily or not.) It does not and will not contain Netorare, Netorase, Yuri.
It also contains depictions of Self-harm, abuse, obsession, etc. And does not promote any such activities in real life.
It is also has a slight Crossover, and contains a Plot(Reason and Cause behind what is going on), if you do not like anything among these, please choose to leave.
Also by now Aldebaran, Julius and Felix(somewhat), has been cucked already, and fifth wife is going to be the craziest one.