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{3rd Pov}
The entire city of Priestella had been swallowed by complete, uncontrolled chaos.
Fires burned, smoke covered the sky, and screams of panic echoed through the streets.
Julius and Anastasia had technically survived the sudden disappearance of the Witch of Envy, but even that small mercy gave them no relief whatsoever.
The devastation around them was far too overwhelming to leave room for comfort.
Almost forty percent of the entire population of Priestella had lost their lives in the rampage, dying in gruesome and unimaginable ways.
And to make matters worse, while the Witch of Envy had vanished, Reinhardt had also disappeared at the same time, leaving everyone with even more uncertainty and fear about what was happening.
"M'Lady, we must leave Priestella at once!" Julius said urgently, sounding exhausted and utterly worn out.
He was disheveled, soaked in blood from numerous deep wounds spread all over his body.
His usual polished knightly appearance was completely gone.
His Quasi-spirits had run completely dry of mana earlier in the battle.
In fact, Julius had forced himself far past his limits, using every single one of his combat abilities just to barely survive the overwhelming pressure and keep Anastasia alive.
The Witch of Envy had not even directly attacked them.
There had been no deliberate strikes, no focused killing intent aimed their way.
Instead, her mere presence had nearly killed them.
The miasma radiating from the Witch was so corrupting and vile that it destroyed everything near her without effort.
The spirits died instantly as her aura touched them.
People lost their sanity, their consciousness, their very souls just by being close.
Walls cracked, plants withered, and the air itself seemed to scream in pain under the sheer pressure her existence brought into the city.
This absolute, unstoppable power had terrified everyone who witnessed it, even the strongest fighters.
For the very first time, they fully realized just how overwhelming the legendary Witch of Envy's true might really was—a force that could erase cities without even lifting a finger.
"We… we must leave immediately," Julius repeated, his voice strained and ragged from exhaustion as he looked at Anastasia.
Her face had gone pale, her pupils unfocused, and she seemed frozen while staring in a particular direction.
Julius followed her line of sight and felt his heartbeat stop for a second when he saw what she was looking at—three small bodies lying on the ground, motionless, lifeless.
"Mimi! Tivey! Hetaro!" Anastasia screamed, the shock turning instantly into pure terror.
She dashed forward with no hesitation, stumbling as the uneven stones and debris almost tripped her.
Julius rushed after her, arriving just in time to watch her kneel beside the triplets and shake their limp bodies with trembling hands.
She tried desperately, calling their names over and over, her voice breaking, demanding that they wake up.
But Julius had already realized the truth.
They were gone.
Their glassy eyes stared blankly at the sky, blood still pouring from their noses, ears, and even their eyes.
Their expressions showed no pain, just the empty stillness of immediate death.
The Witch of Envy's miasma had not just damaged them—it had killed them from the inside out.
Their brains had been destroyed before they ever had a chance to defend themselves.
Around them, the nightmare continued.
People screamed and cried, running through the ruined streets of Priestella.
The bodies of citizens lay sprawled across the cobblestone roads, some crushed, some twisted unnaturally from the mental collapse caused by the miasma.
Families clung to corpses, shaking them, begging them to wake up.
The metallic smell of blood was everywhere, mixing with smoke and dust in the air.
Chaos had completely enveloped the city.
Julius clenched his fists so hard his knuckles turned white.
He placed a firm hand on Anastasia's shoulder and tried to pull her up.
"M'Lady! We must leave at once! The Witch of Envy could return at any moment! If we stay here, you will die too!"
But Anastasia didn't stand.
Instead, she slowly turned her head and looked at him with an empty, defeated expression, tears gathering in her eyes as her body trembled.
Then she looked back down at the three corpses lying before her, her voice coming out weak and breaking apart.
"It's my fault… All of this is because of me," she muttered.
"If I hadn't been greedy, if I hadn't betrayed Natsuki Subaru… If I hadn't made those selfish choices… then none of this would have happened. They wouldn't have died. It is all my fault…"
Her tears finally fell, streaming down her cheeks as her voice cracked completely.
But no matter how much she cried, no matter how much regret and guilt she felt, the reality around her did not change.
Dead children did not respond to grief.
The Witch's miasma did not rewind itself.
The bodies lying in front of her were beyond saving.
And worst of all—this was only the beginning.
Because the "Final Act" had only just begun.
...
Somewhere far from Priestella, in the Royal Capital, Reina descended like a force of pure execution.
The moment she arrived, she launched into action without a second of hesitation.
She began slaughtering the corrupt noblemen one by one, cutting them down before they even had time to understand what was happening.
Those who attempted to resist her—corrupt knights, bribed officials, and soldiers who had long served rotten masters—were killed instantly, their lives ended in the blink of an eye.
Within only half an hour, she had finished exterminating every knight, soldier, and aristocrat whose crimes had rotted the Capital for years.
The weapon she wielded, a random wooden stick that she picked up from ground infused with the Authority of Stillness, unleashed merciless judgement with every swing.
This Authority had been shared with her by Subaru through the power of Cor Leonis, which he had gained after absorbing the second Witch Factor of Greed.
The weapon and its ability did not make exceptions—not even for corrupted Wise Men or powerful bureaucrats who had once believed themselves untouchable.
They all died just as easily as common thugs, frozen and silenced before their bodies even hit the ground.
This awakening of Cor Leonis had been an unexpected development.
It was the same Authority that Subaru had acquired in the timeline of the original "OG" story, but this version demonstrated even greater potential.
Unlike the standard Cor Leonis that only allowed Subaru to shoulder the emotional burdens, pain, or mental hardships of allies—or transfer his own suffering to others—this upgraded version also granted him the ability to share his supernatural powers.
He could lend out his abilities, giving trusted allies access to the very same powers that he possessed, dramatically increasing their combat potential.
Subaru had discovered an important limitation during experimentation.
He could not share the Authorities or abilities that originated from his own soul or identity—such as Aura, which was tied directly to one's individual existence and nature.
But the situation was different for the Authorities acquired from Greed.
His First Greed Authority had the ability to copy other Authorities, and these copied versions were not bound by the uniqueness of their original owners.
Sin Authorities were normally unique to each user, requiring not only a Witch Factor but also a personality capable of embodying the concept behind that Authority.
That was why traditional Authorities could never be transferred.
They weren't just powers—they were extensions of identity, character, and the inner self.
However, the Authorities that his Greed power copied had already been stripped of the identity requirement.
Once copied, they became functional but ownerless powers, lacking the soul-based prerequisite that made them unshareable.
Because of that, Subaru could distribute these copied Authorities as he wished.
Reina, therefore, was now fighting with the full destructive strength of Stillness, turning her into a one-woman army capable of purging corruption on a scale most people could not even imagine with just a single wooden stick, again I repeat picked up from the ground.
With every noble she executed, every corridor of soldiers she silenced, and every estate she cleansed, the Capital shifted further into chaos.
Reina's stick, empowered by the Authority of Stillness, unleashed destructive strength unlike anything Lugunica had witnessed before.
Thanks to Subaru's Authority of Wrath acting as a tenfold amplifier, the stick's power to withstand her own power soared to a level that defied logic.
This was the reason she had been able to kill Reinhardt—Lugunica's strongest warrior, the legendary Sword Saint—with nothing more than a random twig she picked up casually from the ground.
Normally such a feat would be impossible, but the Authority of Stillness under Wrath's amplification had turned the twig into a weapon capable of matching the famed Dragon Sword.
After all, Reinhardt's sword was a weapon that could cut through "Concepts" themselves, yet even that holy relic could not overpower the overwhelming force that Reina wielded.
This also explained why she still used that very same stick afterward.
Her personal sword once again refused to be drawn.
To the sword's judgment, the enemies she was fighting—corrupt noblemen who had abused power and ruined common lives—were nothing more than meaningless roadside stones unworthy of its blade.
Since the sword denied her request, she simply used the stick again, continuing the massacre with an expression of neutrality and efficiency, slaughtering nobles as if they were little more than obstacles to be cleared.
Meanwhile, Subaru had taken care of another set of corrupt nobles—those who lived outside the Royal Capital and operated behind the scenes.
His executions were clean and efficient, targeting the worst manipulators and power hoarders who had infected Lugunica's political system for years.
Reina executed those within the Capital, ensuring no filthy faction survived.
However, their purge was not absolute.
They intentionally spared nobles and officials who were guilty of lesser crimes or who did not pose an immediate threat.
The reasoning behind this was practical: if they killed everyone, the government of Lugunica would collapse completely by the time Zero and the others returned to their own world.
They needed stability—even if temporary—so that the country could rebuild and move forward instead of falling apart overnight.
During her systematic extermination, Reina suddenly felt Subaru—Zero—speak to her through telepathy.
He was still disguised as the Sin Archbishop of Pride for the sake of the plan, and his voice echoed calmly in her mind.
'Reina, I am about to create a clone of you to attack the Witch of Envy. Leave that location immediately.'
Reina did not question him for even a second.
She responded instantly with unwavering loyalty and obedience.
'As you command, My Lord.'
A moment later, she vanished from the area without leaving behind a trace.
The next phase of the plan required the original Reina to remain hidden.
A duplicate of her would soon appear in Priestella, engaging the Witch of Envy to set the next piece of the deception in motion.
With two versions of her acting simultaneously, the timeline and events needed to remain consistent, and that meant the real Reina could not reveal herself openly otherwise the people may realize something.
The stage was being set, the actors were in position, and the next part of the "Final Act" was about to begin.
...
Back in Priestella, the lifeless body of Reinhardt was forcibly thrown into the city through a crack in space-time, crashing through multiple buildings before finally coming to a violent stop.
The impact shook the street, throwing dust and debris into the air, and it took only a second for a nearby civilian to see the mangled body.
His eyes widened in complete horror before he screamed aloud with trembling panic:
"S-Sword Saint is dead!!"
His terrified shout echoed through the devastated streets, and the reaction was immediate and explosive.
The citizens, many of whom had already been grieving the brutal and senseless deaths of their families and friends, instantly spiraled into another wave of panic.
Mothers grabbed their children, men stumbled over broken pieces of stone, and wounded survivors forced themselves onto their feet.
Everyone who still had the strength to walk or run began sprinting toward the city gates with desperate determination.
They no longer cared about belongings or pride—survival was the only thing that mattered.
They had already suffered the impossible, and the death of Reinhardt, a man widely believed to be unbeatable, shattered any remaining hope.
If even the Sword Saint was dead, then no one was safe in this nightmare.
Meanwhile, Emilia had finally managed to break the magical restraints that had been holding her captive.
Her cuffs snapped only after significant struggle, and her arms trembled from the strain and exhaustion.
The moment she was free, she sprinted out of the building, only to freeze for a moment as she saw the stampede of terrified people rushing past her.
Children screaming, elderly dragged along, soldiers shouting instructions that no one listened to—chaos was everywhere.
Although she had not witnessed the destruction caused by the Witch of Envy directly—her location had prevented her from seeing the city's massacre with her own eyes—she did not need to.
She had heard Zero's broadcast clearly, every word transmitted across the world like a taunt from hell.
She understood enough to know that something catastrophic had taken place.
She also understood that everything led to one place: Subaru.
While the remaining survivors ran toward the outer gates, Emilia forced herself in the opposite direction.
The air around her grew heavier and darker the further she moved, and she could feel the concentration of deadly miasma rising with every meter.
The dizziness and suffocating aura made her feel sick, but she ignored it completely.
There was only one thought burning in her mind.
Subaru was somewhere within that suffocating cloud of despair.
Subaru, who had once again thrown himself into danger.
Subaru, who could be dying, or worse, already dead.
The idea alone sent shock through her body.
She gritted her teeth, her breath sharp and her heart pounding.
She would not lose him.
She would not let Subaru die.
No matter how much danger she had to face and no matter how hopeless the situation looked, she kept running straight into the darkest part of the disaster.
The panic, the fear, the overwhelming sense of despair she was experiencing… when was the last time Emilia had ever felt like this?
As she ran, she finally understood how naïve and childish her decisions had been up until now.
She realized painfully how she had hurt Subaru again and again without ever truly understanding how much pain she was causing him.
Even when Subaru had confessed to her and proposed with his whole heart, instead of giving him a decisive answer, she had told him to wait while she "sorted out her feelings," pushing him away without thinking about what he must have felt in that moment.
Looking back, Emilia understood that she had contributed nothing but heartache to the only person who had loved her with unmatched devotion.
Subaru had supported her, fought for her, and suffered for her more times than she could count, and she had barely noticed how much she had taken him for granted.
She finally acknowledged that she had failed him, and the guilt tore into her even harder than the fear of the disaster unfolding around her.
But she had made up her mind.
She would not repeat such a mistake ever again.
She refused to let Natsuki Subaru be hurt anymore—not by others, not by the world, and definitely not by her own poor decisions.
"Subaru-kun!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, her desperate voice echoing through the devastated streets of Priestella.
Many fleeing citizens heard the familiar name, and for a brief moment, their steps paused in confusion and disbelief.
However, survival instinct quickly overtook curiosity, and they resumed running, focused on escaping the city with their lives.
Emilia continued sprinting toward the direction where the miasma was thinning, tears falling freely as she called out again.
"Subaru-kun! I know I've been a terrible girl! I know I've hurt you more times than I can count! I know I took your love and devotion for granted and never gave you what you deserved!" Her voice cracked, but she kept running, refusing to stop even for a heartbeat.
"But—but! I need you to know this! I love you! I LOVE YOU, Subaru-kun!" she shouted, her emotions spilling out without hesitation or restraint.
"So please! Please, Subaru! Come back to me! Return to me!"
Her cries echoed through the chaotic city as she pushed forward, driven by the fear of losing the one person she could no longer imagine life without.
However, no matter how desperately Emilia searched… she could not see Subaru anywhere.
She ran down every street and alley she could reach, scanning every direction, hoping that at any moment she would see him standing there, waiting for her.
But he was nowhere in sight.
As the seconds passed and the chaos around her continued to unfold, her hope began to crumble.
Emilia's chest tightened, and she genuinely believed she had lost Natsuki Subaru forever.
Just when despair was about to swallow her completely, reality itself seemed to distort.
A visible crack ripped open in the air, as if the dimension had been violently torn apart.
From this crack, Zero fell out and crashed into the ground not too far away from where she stood.
Emilia froze in place, stunned, and turned her gaze toward him.
What she saw was not the face she recognized as Subaru's.
Zero now had a different appearance—black hair in disarray, silver eyes that looked as if they carried endless fury and exhaustion, and a disheveled expression that made it look like he had been fighting an impossible battle.
His features twisted in anger, and he looked nothing like the Subaru she wanted to see.
"DAMN YOU! FUCKING DAMN YOU!" Zero roared, his voice exploding through the ruined city so loudly and so violently that almost everyone still conscious heard it.
The intensity and rage in his scream shook Emilia to her core.
Then, before she could even gather her thoughts, another figure emerged from the same cracked dimensional tear.
This time it was Subaru.
His real face.
His body looked battered, blood present on his face and clothes, and his expression was serious—focused, intense, and unflinching.
Seeing him appear alive and standing made relief flood Emilia's entire body.
A small smile finally formed on her lips.
"S-Subaru…" she whispered, her voice trembling.
But the moment she spoke, her breath stopped in her throat as she saw who came out right behind him.
Floating behind Subaru was a woman clothed entirely in pitch black.
Her long raven-black hair flowed behind her like living tendrils of darkness.
Her purple eyes glowed with obsessive emotion, and from her back erupted countless writhing shadow arms. She did not walk—she hovered in the air effortlessly.
The shadow hands beneath her formed a platform on which Subaru was standing, supporting him as if this nightmarish presence was cradling him deliberately.
Emilia's mind stopped functioning properly.
Her thoughts crashed into a wall of shock and disbelief.
She could not understand what she was seeing, why this was happening, or how Subaru was even here in this state.
But one question stabbed through her thoughts harder than all the others:
Why… WHY was Subaru standing together with the Witch of Envy?!
Up until this moment in her life, Emilia had rarely felt strong negative emotions toward others.
But as she watched Subaru standing beside that woman, being supported by her shadows, a new and terrifying emotion rose inside her.
For the first time in her life, Emilia felt genuine, overwhelming jealousy.
"DAMN YOU!" Zero's enraged voice didn't just echo through the air—it resonated directly inside the minds of everyone in the world.
Unlike his earlier broadcasts, which were unnervingly clear, this one came with a distortion, buzzing like an unstable radio signal as if the method that was broadcasting this voice was damaged.
"I cannot believe you! How dare you, Natsuki Subaru, seduce our beloved Witch of Envy?!" Zero screamed, sounding both deranged and personally offended.
His words landed like a meteor.
For a moment, the world itself seemed to freeze.
Emilia, who was already shaken and running on adrenaline and fear, stopped dead in her tracks.
But she wasn't alone.
Even the terrified citizens who were sprinting out of Priestella, desperately trying to escape the massacre and still unable to mentally process the deaths of their family members and friends, all halted.
Some collapsed where they stood.
The sheer absurdity and shock in Zero's accusation overwhelmed them more violently than the horrors in front of their eyes.
"I cannot accept this! The reason you were chosen as a sage candidate was because you seduced the Witch of Envy just by your existence alone! I refuse to accept this reality!" Zero continued shouting, voice cracking as the broadcast shook the airwaves.
The buzzing feedback made it sound like an old communication device short-circuiting.
His tone was a mix of desperation, disbelief, and outrage.
Meanwhile, Subaru stood there with the Witch's shadow hands beneath him, his lips twitching uncontrollably.
Even while covered in blood and recovering from battle, he looked like someone who wished he could bury himself six feet underground to escape humiliation.
His expression screamed that he was barely holding himself back from collapsing out of embarrassment alone.
Yes… this was the master plan.
Subaru was using the Witch of Envy herself to obliterate the Witch Cult.
The entire foundation of the plan hinged on the fact that the Witch was intensely, irrationally, and uncontrollably in love with him.
So, instead of fighting the cult traditionally, he was weaponizing her feelings to turn her against her own fanatical followers.
It was the most absurd method of saving the world anyone could have conceived.
A hero saving the world not with a miracle, or strength, or a noble destiny, but by accidentally seducing the Demon Lord and then directing her to annihilate her own organization.
And the timing could not have been worse.
People were already traumatized, panicking, grieving, and fleeing for their lives.
Families were crying over corpses.
Buildings were in ruins.
The capital and Priestella were in chaos.
The entire world who had heard of Zero's earlier declaration and Witch of Envy being freed was scared.
And into that emotional devastation, Subaru's plan was now blasting out the most humiliating and ridiculous confession in history.
It wasn't just reckless—it was outright diabolical.
The kind of insanity that future historians would struggle to explain without sounding like lunatics themselves.
To be continued...
(A/N: I wanted to have this chapter bigger, but well i don't wanna keep you guys waiting so I am just uploading what I have written for now)