Flop barely had time to react before Otto's fist connected with his face. The sound of the punch echoed through the corridor, and Flop staggered back, clutching his jaw in shock. Otto didn't spare him a glance. He shoved the door open, storming into the war room.
What he saw inside made him freeze.
Subaru sat before a large magic mirror, his posture slouched, his eyes hollow. On his lap, Beatrice curled into herself, her small frame trembling as she sobbed quietly into his chest. Subaru held her, his fingers absently stroking her hair, but his expression was distant.
Not grief. Not anger.
Just empty.
Otto's gaze flickered to the mirror, and the breath caught in his throat.
The capital of Lugunica was in flames.
Men, women, children—devoured. The great rabbit, the monstrous beast Subaru had once defeated in Sanctuary, was now loosed upon the world again, its endless horde consuming everything in its path. People tried to fight back. Soldiers and knights slashed and burned, but for every rabbit slain, more took its place.
The sight of Julius fighting in the midst of the chaos sent a fresh wave of horror through Otto. The knight's armor was bloodstained, his movements desperate but precise. He refused to retreat, standing firm against the onslaught. Beside him, Halibel, the monstrous werewolf, fought with burning fists, his own body ablaze as he struck down the creatures with sheer force. They were strong. Stronger than most.
But they were losing.
And then—
A flash of silver light.
For a moment, Otto thought it was her. The real her. But as the glow of teleportation faded, he saw the truth.
Not silver. White.
The woman who appeared carried herself with an unnatural stillness. Her presence alone sent a chill through the war room, even though she was merely an image on the mirror's surface. Her violet eyes glowed with quiet detachment.
The Witch of Greed.
Otto swallowed hard. He could feel it—everyone in the room could. The moment she arrived, everything shifted.
One spell.
Just one.
The entire horde of rabbits turned purple, crystallized in an instant, and shattered into dust. The city was saved.
But at what cost?
The generals seated around the war table murmured amongst themselves, discussing the sudden appearance of the Witch. Some looked intrigued. Others unsettled. None of them seemed to care about the bodies littering the streets.
Otto's stomach churned.
His hands clenched into fists. His nails dug into his palms. He turned sharply toward Subaru.
"Is this what you wanted?"
The room went silent.
The generals glanced at each other, some frowning at Otto's tone. One of them, an older man with a scar across his cheek, scowled. "This is a war council, not a place for merchants to scream like children. Guards, remove him. If he resists—kill him."
The knights at the entrance stepped forward, reaching for their weapons.
Otto didn't flinch. His eyes stayed locked on Subaru.
"You wanted to be a hero, didn't you? Is this what a hero does?"
The air in the room turned suffocating.
For a long moment, Subaru didn't react. He remained seated, motionless, his hand still resting on Beatrice's back. The little spirit let out another muffled sob, burying her face deeper against him.
Then—
"STOP."
Subaru's voice cut through the air like a blade.
The knights halted immediately. The generals stiffened.
Subaru exhaled shakily and lifted his head. His face was eerily blank, but Otto saw it—the slight tremor in his fingers, the barely restrained shudder in his breath.
He was on the verge of breaking.
"All of you," Subaru said, his voice hoarse but firm. "Leave. Now."
The generals hesitated, but Subaru's tone left no room for argument. One by one, they stood and exited the room, their murmurs trailing behind them.
The knights followed.
Soon, only Otto, Subaru, and Beatrice remained.
The moment the door shut, Subaru's mask cracked. His shoulders hunched. His grip on Beatrice tightened. His entire body trembled.
Otto took a deep breath. "Subaru—"
"I didn't have a choice."
Subaru's voice was barely above a whisper.
Otto stared at him, disbelief washing over him. "Didn't have a choice?" He gestured sharply to the mirror. "Look at it. Look at what you did! Those were innocent people—*"
"THEY TOOK HER FROM ME!"
Subaru's voice erupted, raw and broken. His chest heaved, his breath shaky and uneven. His fingers curled into the fabric of Beatrice's dress as if holding onto her was the only thing keeping him from shattering completely.
"I lost her," Subaru whispered. His voice cracked, his expression twisting in anguish. "I lost Rem because of them. And if I don't do something, if I don't fight back, I—" His breath hitched. "I can't lose again, Otto. I can't. I—"
His words dissolved into silence.
For the first time in all the years Otto had known him, Subaru looked utterly lost.
Otto sighed, running a hand through his hair. "And what about the people you still have?" His voice was quiet now. "The ones who are still here, still fighting for you?"
Subaru flinched.
Otto took a step closer. "Beatrice is crying, Subaru."
Subaru squeezed his eyes shut.
Otto exhaled. "If you keep going like this... what's going to be left of you when it's all over?"
For the first time, Subaru had no answer.
Otto didn't know everything. He didn't know about the letter. He didn't know about the suffocating rage that had overtaken Subaru when he read Rem's words—when she told him it was over, that she and Julius would be together, that they were having a child.
At first, he had refused to believe it. He had interrogated Emilia, Otto, Garfiel—every single one of them. Had they known? Had they kept it from him?
But none of them could give him an answer.
Emilia had looked especially guilty. Subaru had seen it in her eyes. She denied it, insisted she knew nothing, but the way her voice wavered, the way her gaze dropped to the floor—she was lying. She had to be.
So he had pressed her. Pushed her harder, demanded the truth. But all she did was cry.
And then, in front of everyone, Subaru broke.
Tears streamed down his face, his body shook, and his screams turned hoarse. People saw him—not as the hero, not as the Divine General of the Empire, but as pathetic.
He couldn't accept it. He had to fix it.
So he did the only thing he could.
He killed himself.
But when he woke up, it was only a week earlier.
They had already been in the Empire for three weeks.
It wasn't enough.
Subaru had a complete breakdown. The fury consumed him, spiraling into paranoia, into distrust. He lashed out at his friends, screamed at them. He didn't even have proof that Julius had done anything—the letter hadn't arrived yet.
But that didn't matter.
He needed justice.
When no one else would listen, he went to Vincent.
If he couldn't rewind time far enough to fix things, then he would take something from Julius in return. He would make him suffer. He convinced Vincent to attack Lugunica, to turn the full force of the Empire against the kingdom.
And Vincent agreed.
Subaru had thought it would be simple. Send the letters, prepare the army, and strike before Julius even had a chance to react. But then—
Reinhard annihilated them.
Subaru died, over and over, desperately trying to find a way around the Sword Saint. But the checkpoint had already updated. He was stuck. No matter how many times he died, no matter what strategies he tried, the furthest he could go back was to just before Reinhard began to fight.
That was when Subaru realized the truth.
He had trapped himself in this nightmare.
He had locked himself into a war he could never escape.
The retreat behind the border had been his only option, and thankfully, Reinhard hadn't pursued them. But it didn't change the reality of his situation. He had started a war, and now he had to finish it.
Subaru led the Empire's forces, giving orders that seemed flawless from the outside. His strategies were ruthless, efficient, always the right call.
But in truth, he was only getting things right because he had died so many times figuring them out.
His friends had started pulling away. He didn't blame them.
They were right to reject him.
Subaru had destroyed everything.
Still, he had tried to make things right with Emilia. He thought—maybe—he had been wrong to accuse her. Maybe he had misunderstood.
He knew he had ruined her life by starting this war. She had lost everything.
But he had lost everything, too.
And he was alone.
He wanted comfort. He wanted her warmth, the way she had always reassured him in the past. But now, when he reached for her, she flinched.
She was afraid of him.
That realization had made something in Subaru snap.
He pushed her onto the bed, desperate for an answer, desperate for her to choose, to tell him if she loved him or not. But the moment he did, the terror in her eyes was unmistakable. She scrambled away, shaking, and ran from the room.
His rage took over.
He shouted things he never should have said.
Things that couldn't be taken back.
And then—
The war room. Another battle. Another mess he had to clean up.
He tried to kill himself again.
But the checkpoint had already updated.
And now, people in the castle whispered about him.
That he had forced himself on Emilia. That he was a monster.
So Subaru stopped trying. He stopped speaking to her. He avoided his friends.
He buried himself in the war.
It was all he had left.
The war had too many fronts. Subaru tried—really tried—to prevent casualties, but it was overwhelming. Even with all his planning, all his foresight, there were battles that simply happened without his direct input. Reports would come in late, or worse, never arrive at all. Communication was fractured—some fronts had magic communication mantles, allowing for direct coordination, while others had to rely on messengers and paperwork.
Still, Subaru had managed to stabilize the war.
One of his key successes was negotiating with Kararagi to remain neutral. He knew from failed loops that if he moved even one of his three border armies, Kararagi would see it as an opportunity to strike. Their decision to open a second front depended entirely on the shifting balance of power.
Subaru couldn't afford that risk.
Instead, he left those three armies in place, holding the line, and focused on managing supplies and resources. The neutrality of Kararagi wasn't just about avoiding another front—it was also about trade.
By keeping them out of the war, Subaru ensured a steady flow of essential goods.
Gusteko, despite being distant, had also proven valuable. They had a supply of magic crystals with a variety of uses—explosives, healing, and even tactical enhancements. Kararagi, on the other hand, was a hub for rare materials, skilled artisans, and—most importantly—mercenaries.
After suffering through multiple betrayals in past loops, Subaru had finally figured out which companies were reliable. The ones who didn't stab him in the back, the ones who saw mutual benefit in their contracts with the Empire.
And in doing so, he had inadvertently shifted Kararagi's internal politics.
Merchants who remained loyal to him saw their incomes skyrocket. The Empire traded only with them, granting them monopolies on specific goods and services. This put immense pressure on their rivals, further cementing Kararagi's neutrality in the conflict.
It wasn't an ideal situation.
But in a war where every wrong step could mean disaster, Subaru had done what he had to do.
Subaru avoided watching the magic mirror whenever possible. Every time he looked at the battlefield, he felt the weight of his failures pressing down on him. Every burning city, every fallen soldier—each one felt like a personal mark against him. But avoiding the war wouldn't make it go away. He had to watch.
At some point, he had come to a grim realization: if this war was ever going to end, Anastasia had to die.
He sent assassins to take her out, but it wasn't easy. Killing her outright was nearly impossible—she was too well-guarded, too prepared. The only way for the plan to succeed was for the assassins to find the perfect moment. And that took time. Some attempts outright failed. Others provided valuable intelligence instead—locations of key prisoners, details about Lagunica's army movements, or even a disturbing fact: a specific drug was keeping Felix going on the battlefield.
As time dragged on, Subaru grew impatient.
He finally escalated the plan, sending two of his Divine Generals alongside one of his most elite assassins. He received a report a month later—but something was wrong.
Olbart had sent the message, but Vincent spotted the problem immediately. One letter—just one—was shaped differently. It was a hidden code, and Vincent deciphered the meaning instantly.
The mission had failed.
The letter contained misleading information, clearly meant for enemy eyes. But reading between the lines, Vincent knew the truth: Anastasia had somehow survived, and now she was even more prepared than before.
Subaru had gambled, and he had lost.
Yet, even in failure, there was some success. Thanks to intelligence from Wilhelm, Subaru had managed to orchestrate the rescue of three key prisoners—Frederica, Felt, and Petra—from Lagunica's dungeons.
It wasn't enough to turn the tide of the war.
But it was something.
Subaru did it because he felt responsible for what had happened to them. He couldn't just leave Felt, Petra, and Frederica behind—not after everything.
But Subaru wasn't naïve. He knew that Felt's escape would mean more than just saving a few lives. It would change the war itself.
Felt wasn't just a former royal candidate; she was someone with influence, someone who could shake the balance of power. Her return meant Rom and his army would defect—taking a significant force away from Anastasia's control. Subaru had expected that.
What he hadn't expected was how divisive Felt's return would be.
The soldiers under Rom split into three factions, each with its own vision for the future:
Felt's Loyalists – These were her original supporters, the ones who had never trusted Anastasia and saw her as a manipulative tyrant. With Felt back, they had every reason to break away and fight against her.
The Demi-Human Nationalists – These were demi-humans who had believed in Anastasia's promises. She had told them she would create a new nation for demi-humans, and they refused to abandon her. Even with Felt's return, they refused to serve her, seeing it as a betrayal of their dreams.
The Separatists – This faction didn't want to fight for either side. They had no interest in being pawns in a war between Lagunica and the Empire. Instead, they saw an opportunity—a chance to carve out their own country. They abandoned the main battlefronts and moved toward the farthest eastern corner of Lagunica, near the Empire's border, where they began trying to claim land for themselves.
What should have been a straightforward defection had fractured into chaos.
Subaru had weakened Anastasia's forces—but at the cost of creating an entirely new conflict.
Subaru's desperation was pushing him further and further into the abyss. He knew Reinhard was an obstacle, but at least Reinhard was just one man. A terrifying, unstoppable force, but limited by the fact that he could only be in one place at a time.
Felix, on the other hand, was a nightmare that haunted every battlefield.
It wasn't just his healing abilities. If it were only that, Subaru might have found a way around it. But Felix's power didn't just heal—it made entire battalions immortal under his command.
Every time the Empire won a battle, Felix would arrive and undo everything. Fallen Lagunican soldiers—people who had already died—would rise again, their wounds gone, their weapons in hand. And then the tides would shift, forcing the Empire into retreat.
And if the Empire lost, then it was simply defeat—no second chances.
So Subaru had only one real objective:
Kill Felix at all costs.
Every plan he devised, every assassination attempt he orchestrated—all of them failed. Every failure earned him disappointed looks from Vincent's generals, their trust in him weakening each time. Subaru knew they were thinking it, even if they didn't say it out loud:
"What use is a strategist who can't remove the biggest threat?"
And in the end, his failures cost more than just battles.
The hatred between the two sides deepened.
The Lagunican forces, having suffered from Subaru's relentless attacks, grew to despise the Empire with a passion that burned beyond strategy. They no longer fought just to defend their homeland. They fought to wipe out the Empire itself.
They stopped seeing civilians as innocent.
They started burning villages—slaughtering non-combatants—doing anything they could to make the Empire suffer.
And in response, the Empire's soldiers retaliated without orders.
They pillaged, they murdered, they raped. They took their vengeance on Lagunican villages in ways Subaru had never intended.
And the worst part?
He couldn't undo it.
The commanders had stopped reporting the atrocities. By the time Subaru realized what was happening, it was already too late.
He couldn't turn back time. He couldn't fix what had been done.
His dreams became nightmares—the faces of the dead, the screams of the innocent. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw what his war had become.
He stopped sleeping.
And through all of it, Flop kept encouraging him, kept pushing him to keep going.
Subaru had once seen him as an ally, a friend.
Now, he despised him.
But what infuriated Subaru the most—more than the war, more than the nightmares—was what Flop was doing behind the scenes.
He was trying to convince Medium to sleep with him.
Medium. Vincent's wife.
Subaru didn't even know if Vincent cared about that kind of thing, but to Subaru, it was disgusting. Flop—who had encouraged so much of this madness—was pushing his own sister onto Subaru, like it was some kind of reward for everything he'd done.
Subaru clenched his fists.
He had destroyed everything.
And there was no way out.
Subaru had seen hope in that moment—just for a second.
The ambush had been perfect. Felix was surrounded.
And then, out of nowhere, the Divine Dragon and the First Sword arrived.
It was over.
Just as Felix was about to fall, the dragon snatched him to safety, carrying him out of their grasp. Subaru could only watch as everything fell apart—again.
That moment shattered everything.
All the months of planning, the pain he endured, the lives he had sacrificed—it was all for nothing.
His plans were ruined. His dream of ending this war was ruined.
Subaru broke down.
He had lost everything.
His friends saw him as a traitor.
The love of his life, Emilia, hated him.
Rem was gone, stolen away—living with her captor.
He was alone.
The hero of the past was nothing but a villain now. His reputation was dead.
And when Medium walked into his room that night, trying to comfort him, Subaru—
He did it.
He slept with his friend's wife.
Afterward, as he lay there, staring at the ceiling, disgust consumed him.
He couldn't believe his first time—the moment he had dreamed about for years—was with her.
Not Emilia. Not Rem.
Medium.
He felt sick.
Vincent had started this war for him, believing in him, trusting in his plans. And Subaru had repaid him like this.
But what broke him the most—what made it feel even worse—was Medium herself.
She had been uncertain at first. Subaru could still remember it—the hesitation in her movements, the uncertainty in her touch.
Even if she had kissed him afterward—even if she had told him she loved him—Subaru couldn't shake the feeling that she had only done it out of pity.
And so he did the only thing he could do.
He killed himself.
And now he stood in the war room again, back to before it happened.
Subaru felt sick just remembering it. But that feeling—that self-hatred—pushed him forward.
He had to do something.
He looked at Beatrice.
And then, an idea formed in his mind.
An awful idea.
He hated himself for even thinking it.
But he asked her anyway:
"Beatrice... can you resummon the Great Rabbit?"
Beatrice froze.
Her mana supply was too small to cast such a powerful spell. But with the mana crystals stored in the castle—
She could do it.
She could summon a few.
And that was all Subaru needed.
There was a drug factory in the capital—a place that produced the very substance that kept Felix going.
If he unleashed the Great Rabbit there, it would devour everything. And with that factory destroyed, Felix would lose his greatest weapon—his ability to revive the dead.
He gave the order.
Subaru stood before the magic mirror, watching the first rabbit fall from the sky.
The generals gathered around, looking at the mirror, confused.
"Rabbits?" one of them scoffed. "What do you expect those tiny things to do?"
But Subaru said nothing.
He just watched.