[ "It's snowing, and then… everyone… is gone…"
Other than the snow, there was nothing else, nothing to be seen, until—
"Gasp?"
Until a rabbit appeared before Subaru. ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
"What is this thing? It's tiny, and actually kind of cute."
Felt said.
"This… could it be…"
Anastasia thought of the legendary 'Great Rabbit,' one of the three great mabeasts.
However, is this the Great Rabbit? It doesn't seem to have anything to do with being 'great.'
"This… is?"
Old Man Rom was also a bit confused.
"Subaru!"
"Don't!"
"Barusu…"
"At the very least, in terms of phy~sical pa~in, this might be the most agoni~zing way to die yet~."
Emilia shouted, Beatrice begged, Ram bit her lip, and Roswaal began to laugh.
"What on earth is going on?"
Rem's sense of unease grew heavier.
"Yeah, what the heck is happening?!"
Garfiel was becoming impatient.
"Subaru-dono, danger!"
Although he couldn't decipher the creature's intentions, Wilhelm sensed it was dangerous.
—
[ "Squeak—" The Great Rabbit shrieked, tilted its head, and stared at Subaru.
"A… rabbit?" Subaru was deeply confused.
"Why… is there a rabbit here? Is it even… a rabbit?" He reached out his left hand toward the Great Rabbit—
Snap—
Blood splattered, and Subaru's left wrist was torn off.
The left hand fell to the ground. ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
"Subaru-kun!"
At this moment, Rem was completely frozen in place, her eyes wide as she tried to comprehend the situation.
This thing had horns, so it was a mabeast.
And Subaru-kun carried the scent of the Witch, which would attract mabeasts.
No, no, where did this mabeast come from? Why is it here? And where did the heavy snow come from?
Most importantly…
"Subaru-kun's… left hand!"
Damn it, just these little pests, leave it to Rem, leave it to Rem…
"Boss! So that's how it is… but this kind of small fry, never mind me, Boss could handle it with just one kick…"
"It's… over, it's… finished."
Beatrice lowered her head.
—
[ "Huh? Uh… gasp? WAAAAAH!! Ah… UGH!!" Subaru screamed, pressing his left elbow into the ground.
The extreme pain caused him to lose his sanity. Subaru bit into the snow, chewing on ice and dirt.
"Ugh, argh!"
Subaru barely managed to regain a shred of reason, looking toward the Great Rabbit.
He saw the Great Rabbit pick up his left hand and begin to gnaw on it.
"Ah, ahhhhhhh!"
Before he could focus on that, a new sensation on his calf forced his attention elsewhere—
Another Great Rabbit had appeared, biting down hard on his calf. ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
Emilia couldn't help but bite her fingers hard.
And Beatrice gently turned her head away, not wanting to see this tragic scene.
"Subaru…"
"Subaru-dono."
Yuriusu and Wilhelm gripped their swords, wanting to save, to protect Subaru, but they could not.
"…Subaru."
Reinhard lowered his eyes.
"Barusu is really… too miserable."
"Natsuki-san is truly… huh? Wha?!"
Otto watched the scene before him in shock.
"Subaru-KUN—!"
Rem reached out a hand, powerless.
—
[ Looking out, all that could be seen was—
Great Rabbits, Great Rabbits, Great Rabbits, and still more Great Rabbits.
Countless Great Rabbits swarmed toward Subaru in unison.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"
Subaru let out a heart-wrenching scream, the most agonizing one yet.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"
He shrieked continuously, rolling over, face turned toward the sky, screaming frantically.
His body was torn open, and Great Rabbits burrowed into Subaru's stomach, gnawing away wantonly. ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
Faced with this extremely tragic scene, most people turned their faces away, refusing to look directly at the sight.
"I said it was cute just a moment ago; I was wrong."
Felt said, eyes closed, listening to Subaru's screams.
"I won't mock you for this anymore, Lil'bro. If I'm the one with the high count, then you're the one with the most miserable deaths and the most mental stress."
Al said.
And Rem was one of the few who did not turn away.
She clenched her fists with all her might, her nails nearly piercing her flesh.
Gritting her teeth, her body trembling, large tears streamed down her face.
"Sighs, even I feel sympathy. Natsuki is screaming again. Could it be that Natsuki is cursed by the god of misfortune, and his life consists only of screaming and waiting to scream?"
Anastasia sighed.
—
[ "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"
"Ahhhh!"
"Ah…"
The screaming gradually faded until the screen went dark.
It was finally over; the audience breathed a sigh of relief.
…
"Ah…"
Subaru had returned.
He had returned to this place, returned to the checkpoint where Emilia first faced the trials, and where Subaru had passed them.
He was back. Logically, the pain should be over, but…
"Thud, thud, thud…"
Subaru mindlessly slammed his head against the ground, as if ignoring Emilia, ignoring everything in the world.
"Why? Why? Why? Why, why, why, why, why?"
He wailed, the force of his head-butting growing stronger, completely disregarding the blood streaming from his forehead. ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
"Is he asking why it snowed, why everyone disappeared, why there were man-eating rabbits, why there were countless man-eating rabbits? Or is it…"
"Why must I suffer such misery?"
Yuriusu added in a low voice, supplementing Anastasia.
The problems Subaru was facing now were simply too many, and the obstacles were immense.
Having finally dealt with Petelgeuse, he had to face such a hellish scene without any rest.
"Isn't this a dead end? This guy is too miserable."
Felt said.
If he tried to save the mansion, never mind whether he could actually save it or if he had enough combat power, the rabbits in the Sanctuary were a massive threat.
If he tried to solve the rabbit problem, never mind how to handle it, what would happen to the mansion?
The more severe issue was that for the problems in both the mansion and the Sanctuary, he hadn't even found a solution for one of them yet.
The time was extremely short, and the margin for error was incredibly low.
This time, the difficulty was on a completely different level than before.
Completely different.
"This thirst for knowledge… might…"
Roswaal's heart began to race; he might see that person again.
—
[ "Why… WHY!!" Subaru shouted the question that no one answered with all his might, his forehead bleeding, eyes weeping.
Then, the next moment…
"You shall once again be granted the qualification…" A voice, a voice that originated from no one, rang out.
"Let me invite you—to the Witch's Tea Party."
The voice invited him again, or rather, Echidna invited Subaru to the Witch's Tea Party once more.
The world gradually transformed; the pitch-black graveyard shifted into a small hill in a green meadow. ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
"Ah, Windows XP is back again."
Al quipped.
—
(Translator-kun: Ouch, this is one of the most miserable deaths Subaru has experienced so far... )