...
{3rd Pov}
The silence that followed was deafening. Subaru, kneeling on the ground, felt the weight of the statement sink into him, and for the first time, he didn't resist it.
There was no anger, no denial — only the cold, undeniable reality of a life defined by struggle, endurance, and isolation.
He wanted to deny Zero with every bit of strength he had left, but each word Zero spoke cut deep, dragging him back into the painful memories he had tried so hard to bury.
Every moment when people had abandoned him, every time they had tried to hurt him, every instance where they had simply given up on him, replayed relentlessly in his mind like a cruel film he could not stop watching.
No matter what the final outcome of any relationship had been, no matter how good things might have seemed at the end, it was always him who had taken the first step.
He had always been the one to reach out, to make the effort to connect, to build something real and meaningful.
He was the one who tried to create that sense of belonging, that comforting feeling that told you that you were not alone in the world, that there were still people who cared, people who would stay by your side.
But the harsh truth was impossible to ignore—his efforts had always been one-sided.
He was the only one who ever truly tried.
And when Zero tore away the illusion, exposing just how false and hollow the friendships around him really were, he was once again forced to confront that same bitter, merciless reality: that the people he believed in were never truly there for him, and that the loneliness he fought so hard to escape had never really left.
No one loved him.
No one cared about him.
No one even wanted him around.
It was the same as always—nothing had changed.
He was still the same useless person he had always been, the same waste of space and air that didn't deserve to exist.
No matter how much he tried to convince himself otherwise, deep down he knew that he was still Natsuki Subaru, a pathetic NEET who hadn't really grown beyond his old self.
(A/N: NEET in Japan vs NEET in India, lmao.)
"Are you going to cry?" Zero asked, his tone dripping with mockery as he gestured toward Subaru's so-called allies.
"Cry for people who wouldn't even care if you dropped dead right now? For people who wouldn't bat an eye if your body was lying in the dirt?"
"Shut up!" Emilia shouted, her voice cracking as tears began to stream down her face.
"I–If Subaru dies, I will be hurt! I'll cry!" Her words trembled with emotion, they were sincere.
She could barely hold herself together as she spoke.
"Betty loves her contractor," Beatrice declared firmly, stepping forward with an unshakable tone.
"If he were to die, then there would be no meaning left in Betty's life, I suppose!" Her words carried weight, and for a moment, the air around them grew heavy.
Zero tilted his head slightly, his expression unreadable but his smirk still present.
"Yeah, I guess Beako gets a lay-off," he said casually.
"But think about it—if the only reliable companion he's got is a loli, does that really make things any better? Doesn't that just make it all even sadder?" His tone wasn't just cruel; it was brutally honest, and it hit where it hurt the most.
"The rest of you are actually useless," Zero said flatly, his words sharp and deliberate, each syllable cutting through the tense air like a blade.
Felt stomped forward, glaring at him furiously.
"I've had enough of your nonsense!" she shouted, her voice loud enough to make even those standing behind her flinch slightly.
"You're not trying to tell the truth—you're just trying to break us apart, to destroy what's left of our alliance! I know we've made mistakes, I know we've hurt Big Bro, ignored him, and acted like he didn't matter, but that doesn't mean we don't care about him!" she said, her fists trembling at her sides.
"We're going to fix it! We'll do everything we can to make things right with him, no matter what it takes!"
Her words echoed in everyone's ears, lingering long after she had finished speaking.
For the first time in a long while, they could all feel a spark of courage return to their hearts—a reminder that they still had something worth standing for.
"Indeed," Wilhelm finally said, his tone calm but filled with controlled anger.
"We have made our share of mistakes…" His eyes narrowed sharply as he turned toward Zero.
"But you—you are nothing but a monster."
The old swordsman, who had remained silent until now, raised a trembling hand and pointed at the grotesque figure of the corpse soldier standing beside Zero.
The sight of the reanimated body sent a chill through everyone present.
"You are Subaru, aren't you?" Wilhelm continued, his voice cracking slightly under the weight of emotion.
"Then you should know! You should know how much I loved my wife! Even the girl standing next to you—who is supposed to be my future granddaughter—should understand who that woman was! Yet here you are, using her corpse, defiling her memory, turning her into a tool to hurt the innocent!"
His voice rose as he shouted, the fury and grief in his words impossible to ignore.
Zero's expression didn't change.
His reply came cold and steady, without a hint of hesitation.
"A man who abandoned his own family for the sake of revenge," he said, his eyes locked on Wilhelm, "and who went so far as to blame the death of his wife on his own five-year-old grandson—a child who had absolutely no control over the so-called 'Stolen Divine Protection of Sword Saint'—has no right to lecture me about morality or humanity."
His words struck like a hammer, and the entire Astrea family froze.
Not a single one of them could meet his gaze.
The truth in his accusation—or perhaps the cruelty of it—left them completely speechless.
Guilt flickered across Wilhelm's face, the emotion painfully visible as Zero's words ripped open old wounds he had spent years trying to bury.
The atmosphere grew heavier by the second, and Reinhardt's hands trembled uncontrollably.
His breath hitched as the memories he had tried so desperately to suppress came flooding back—the cruel accusations, the endless guilt of being blamed for his grandmother's death, something he had no power to prevent.
"Fucking bastard!" Heinkel shouted furiously, his face twisted with rage.
"After insulting all of us, after making us look like worthless garbage, now you're digging into our past wounds just to mock us further!" His anger quickly turned to the person beside Zero as he jabbed a finger at her.
"And you, you bitch! Aren't you my daughter?!" he roared at Reina, his voice echoing across the battlefield.
"Why the hell are you helping this lunatic? Why are you siding with this madman instead of your own family? If it weren't for you, we would've already wiped him and his damn daughter off the face of the earth by now!"
The moment those venomous words left Heinkel's mouth, the air grew cold—two murderous glares immediately fixed on him.
The first came from Reina herself, whose fury was barely contained behind clenched teeth and a trembling grip on her sword.
'Did this pathetic alternate version of that useless trash from my world just dare to insult my lord?' Reina thought, her rage burning hotter with each passing second.
'How dare he speak that way?! How dare this filthy insect even utter such words about him?!'
Without hesitation, she unsheathed her sword, the sharp metallic sound echoing ominously, sending a wave of unease through everyone nearby.
The second glare came from someone far less expected—Priscilla.
Her expression, usually smug and composed, was twisted with unrestrained fury.
Her eyes were filled with a mixture of rage and something even more dangerous—protective instinct.
'Did that worthless fool just say he'd kill my daughter?' Priscilla thought, her hands curling into fists as her anger surged.
'Even if I've never met her, even if I've never spoken to her, she is still my flesh and blood! The very child that I am destined to carry in my womb for nine long months! How dare that bastard even think about harming her?! How dare he insult my daughter like that?!'
At that moment, all traces of her usual arrogance and composure vanished.
Priscilla wasn't acting as the proud noblewoman or the calculating strategist—she was simply a mother, a furious mother ready to tear apart anyone who dared threaten her child.
Priscilla Barielle was now fully, undeniably, and terrifyingly in Mommy Mode.
(A/N: Wait until till she recognizes the truth)
Reinhardt quickly unsheathed Reid, his legendary sword, moving on pure instinct as he prepared to defend himself from any possible attack coming from Reina's own Reid.
His grip was tight, his breathing uneven, and beads of sweat ran down his forehead as he stared at her with visible tension.
Every muscle in his body was tensed, ready for what could turn into a lethal clash at any second.
"Who the fuck are you trying to scare, bitch?!" Heinkel suddenly shouted, his voice cracking with rage and arrogance.
"Reinhardt! Don't just stand there—kill that dumb future sister of yours already!" he barked the order as if he was the one in command, completely oblivious to how insane he sounded.
For a moment, there was complete silence.
The words hung in the air, heavy and absurd. Everyone—Reinhardt, Wilhelm, Reina, and even those watching from the sidelines—stared at Heinkel in utter disbelief.
It was as if their brains needed a few seconds to process the sheer stupidity of what he had just said.
Did this man even realize what had just come out of his mouth?
Did he even register the nonsense he was spewing?
He had literally just ordered Reinhardt to kill his own future sister, who was also Heinkel's own daughter.
The contradiction was so ridiculous that it almost didn't seem real.
And if that wasn't enough, the insanity of his words was overshadowed by how completely detached from reality he was being.
Did he forget the outcome of the previous battle?
Did he somehow miss how utterly outmatched Reinhardt had been when facing Reina before?
The difference in power wasn't just large—it was humiliatingly one-sided.
The only reason they were all still standing here instead of lying in a pool of blood was because they knew the truth—fighting someone like Reina was suicide.
No matter how strong they thought they were, the moment they crossed her, it was a losing battle from the very beginning.
Even the thought of taking her head-on was nothing short of foolish, yet here was Heinkel, barking orders like he had any idea what he was talking about.
They were all desperately trying to read their enemy's movements, attempting to piece together his intentions before taking any reckless action.
Even though the revelation of who their enemy actually was had shocked them to their core, they still tried to remain focused.
Their primary goal wasn't victory anymore—it was survival.
They were silently, almost collectively, thinking of a way to retreat, to regroup, and somehow come up with a better strategy or solution to deal with this impossible situation.
Despite their confusion and fear, there was still a faint, fragile hope among them.
Maybe, just maybe, they could still try to reason with Zero.
After all, he wasn't some unknown monster or stranger—he was the future version of Subaru.
Somewhere deep inside, they wanted to believe that there was still a trace of the Subaru they knew buried beneath all that hatred and venom.
But the way Zero acted—the way he mocked them, tore apart their words, insulted their existence, and exposed how deeply they had hurt the Subaru of their world—made it clear that things had gone far beyond their control.
Reasoning with him was like trying to stop a wildfire with bare hands.
Then Heinkel opened his mouth again, and the already tense atmosphere shattered.
Zero froze for a brief second, then suddenly burst into laughter.
The sound was sharp, unsettling, and filled with something close to disbelief.
He laughed so hard it was as if he couldn't contain himself anymore, his shoulders shaking as his voice echoed across the field.
He genuinely couldn't help it.
After all the warnings, after all the proof that stood before their very eyes, there were still people foolish enough not to understand.
"Congratulations, Heinkel," Zero said, his grin widening, his tone dripping with sarcasm and mock amusement.
"You're only the second person to ever make me say this."
He spoke slowly, deliberately, almost theatrically, as if about to deliver a final judgment.
Everyone around tensed, unsure of what was coming next.
Then Zero's expression darkened.
His grin turned cold and merciless.
"You," he said, pointing directly at Heinkel, "are courting death."
His words hung in the air like a curse.
Everyone stared in confusion, not understanding what he meant—everyone except Subaru.
Even in his broken, depressed state, Subaru's eyes widened in shock.
He recognized that line immediately.
"Damn, did you just throw those lines straight out of a wuxia novel?! This is a freaking Western fantasy world! Not to mention, we're Japanese, not Chinese!" Subaru snapped, his voice filled with irritation and disbelief.
Unfortunately, his outburst didn't have the comedic effect he intended—no one around them understood what he was talking about.
They only stared blankly at him and Zero, their faces filled with confusion as if they had just witnessed the two of them start speaking in another language.
Zero tilted his head slightly, a small smirk tugging at his lips.
"Oh? Did you finally get your spirit back?" he asked mockingly.
"Feeling lighter now that you've realized everyone you trusted was only using you all along?" His tone was cruel but calm, the kind of tone that hit harder precisely because there was no emotion behind it.
Subaru's hands clenched tightly into fists, his teeth grinding together.
"Why the hell are you even here?" he demanded, his voice trembling with both anger and exhaustion.
"Why come to the past at all? What's the point of this? Are you seriously just here to break me with your so-called cold truth?"
Zero paused for a moment, his grin widening as if he found Subaru's question amusing.
"Well," he said casually, rolling his shoulders in a lazy shrug, "you're not entirely wrong… sort of."
Then, spreading his arms wide, he continued, his voice echoing through the air with a chilling authority.
"As I already said, I'm the one who killed the Strongest Sword Saint in history—Reinhardt van Astrea."
The effect was immediate.
Every word he spoke felt like a hammer striking the hearts of those who heard it.
Gasps rippled through the crowd, and even those who had seen terrible things before found themselves frozen in shock.
But none were more affected than Reinhardt himself.
His face turned pale, his hands trembling slightly as he struggled to keep his composure.
The weight of Zero's declaration pressed down on him like a mountain.
He had already known, deep down, that Zero's Authority—the power to command life and death itself—was something beyond comprehension.
He had sensed it before, in that earlier battle where he realized how powerless he truly was in front of that monster.
And now, hearing the confirmation from Zero's own mouth, all his earlier suspicions were proven true.
If Zero truly went all out, even Reinhardt's supposed immortality, his resurrection granted by divine protection, would be meaningless.
There would be no coming back. Zero's words didn't just frighten them—they reminded everyone exactly what kind of being they were facing.
"Natsuki Subaru razed your rotten, corrupt kingdom to the ground," Zero declared, his voice steady and filled with twisted pride.
"He wiped it out completely—every knight, every noble, every self-proclaimed 'hero' who thought they were untouchable. All of them were reduced to ashes. The entire nation was burned to the ground, erased from existence."
He spoke as if recounting a glorious victory rather than a massacre, his expression cold yet undeniably proud of what he had accomplished.
"And that," Zero continued, his eyes narrowing slightly, "is exactly why I'm here in this timeline. I came back for a reason—one that matters. I want to correct this version of Subaru before he makes the same mistakes he would make. I want him to understand the truth before he suffers the same pain—the pain of betrayal, the agony of being abandoned, and the unbearable loneliness that follows when everyone you trusted turns their back on you."
He took a slow step forward, his tone shifting from cold authority to persuasive conviction.
"I want you to join me," he said, raising his hand and extending his palm toward Subaru in an open gesture.
"I want to help you become the strongest version of yourself, Subaru. No more weakness, no more humiliation. Join me, and you'll never have to crawl at anyone's feet again. You'll never have to beg for attention or affection from people who only see you as disposable. You won't have to chase after a woman who doesn't truly love you. Instead, you'll stand tall—you'll rule, and you'll build something greater. You'll build a kingdom worth living in."
Zero's eyes glowed with conviction as he clenched his fist, his words growing louder, more forceful with every breath.
"You will be the next ruler of this land," he said passionately.
"Not a tyrant, but a ruler born from both necessity and retribution. You'll bring judgment upon the corrupt nobles and the arrogant knights who exploit the weak. You'll tear down their false order and replace it with something real—something better. You'll lead a revolution that changes not only this kingdom but the entire world. There will be no more starving children in the streets, no more slums rotting with despair, no more people suffering because of a system built by greed."
As Zero's voice thundered across the field, the expressions of those listening began to shift.
The more he spoke, the more it became clear that he wasn't just some power-hungry monster out to destroy everything.
His intentions—however extreme—were built on a his own sense of justice.
He wasn't trying to annihilate the world for the sake of chaos; he wanted to rebuild it, to forge his version of an ideal kingdom, an ideal world where no one would suffer the way he once did.
It wasn't simple destruction that drove him—it was creation through force, control, and ruthless governance.
And that realization unsettled everyone more than his threats ever could.
Even Crusch, with all her composure and pride as a royal candidate, had to admit deep down that Zero's words carried an undeniable weight.
Every statement he made was powerful, persuasive, and disturbingly logical.
His speech wasn't that of a lunatic or a mere destroyer—it was the speech of a visionary who had lost everything and decided to rebuild the world in his own image.
If not for the fact that she herself stood as one of the Royal Candidates, a direct competitor for the throne he sought to reshape, she might have found herself agreeing with him.
In fact, a part of her—the pragmatic part that valued results over ideals—knew that if she were in a different position, she would have joined his cause without a moment's hesitation.
But before anyone could respond to Zero's grand declaration, a sharp, confident voice suddenly cut through the tense silence.
"You speak of justice," the voice called out, its tone clear and firm, "and yet you dare to use the corpse of a former hero to commit acts of villainy?"
The group turned almost instinctively toward the source of the voice.
It hadn't come from any of the people standing among them—it was someone new, someone who hadn't been there a few moments ago.
Julius and Ricardo were the first to react, spinning around and narrowing their eyes.
The voice was familiar, unmistakably so.
They didn't even need to see her face to know who it belonged to, but when they did, the truth only confirmed their suspicion.
Standing a short distance behind them was a petite woman with wavy purple hair that shimmered faintly under the light.
Her sharp blue-green eyes glimmered with intelligence and determination, and though she was small in stature, her presence demanded attention.
The fine clothes she wore, along with the confident yet composed expression on her face, left no doubt about her identity.
It was Anastasia Hoshin—the cunning merchant from Kararagi, and one of the most calculating individuals in the entire royal selection.
Her sudden arrival sent a ripple of surprise through the group.
Even those who had been completely focused on Zero couldn't help but turn their attention toward her.
The fact that she had managed to appear here, unnoticed until now, spoke volumes about her caution and her timing.
Zero's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at her, his smirk widening to show mild curiosity.
Anastasia, however, didn't back down.
She met his gaze directly, her expression calm but her words sharp enough to cut through the heavy air.
To be continued...
(A/N: Give me more powerstones! If we enter top 10(Not at last), I will give a bonus chap!)