Subaru: [You tried to do what?!!]
Naoko: [She... she tortured you! Of course I would....]
Subaru: [Mom, I...]
Kenichi: [Subaru. That woman tortured you. You have to understand how we feel.]
Rem: [Rem doesn't...]
Kenichi glared at her.
Kenichi: [Keep your mouth shut.]
Rem went silent.
Kenichi: [We don't want her near you.]
Subaru: [Dad. Mom. She might have done those things, but she saved me as well. She gave her life for me. I know that that loop was her at her worst. Not who she really is.]
Kenichi: [That doesn't change anything! If that's her worst, how good can her best be?]
Subaru made a serious face.
Subaru: [You'd have to see it to believe me.]
Kenichi: [Subaru...]
Emilia: [I won't defend her actions. I'd never defend them, but when we were fighting together to save Subaru, I could tell she was just as desperate as me to save him.]
Beatrice: [Betty was not aware of her intent, but Betty knows that Subaru truly cares for her.]
Kenichi: [How can you both...]
Emilia: [Subaru went through a lot because he was protecting us. I don't have the right to go against his wishes on something like this.]
Subaru: [Mili? I don't want you to just accept it because of...]
Emilia looked at him seriously.
Emilia: [Careful, Subaru. If you tell me that, then I'll never let her near you again.]
Subaru gulped. He felt like scum for now knowingly using this against her.
Rem: [I would have died if that's what it took. I promise.]
AN: Fuck the canon shit where she and Petra were planning to slime him to force a reset. I genuinely despise that shi. I actually like the Great Reset, but that shit was horrible, and I'm not putting that fuckass plotline in my fic.
Rem: [Rem won't ask for forgiveness but...]
Kenichi: [Just... be quiet.]
Kenichi processed everything going on in his head. He felt like everything was falling apart around him. His son was defending a woman who tortured him. His wife had almost committed murder, something he never thought she'd be capable of.
Kenichi: [I don't understand. If you can see why my son is amazing now, why not back then? Why would you...]
Kenichi felt like crying.
Kenichi: [He sacrificed so much for you! He bled for you! How can I accept he was doing that for a woman who tortured him?]
Subaru: [Dad...]
Naoko sat there with a dejected expression. She was still reeling from her own actions. She looked at her hands. She felt like a horrible mother for not going through with it. She felt like a coward. She felt like something in her had broken for her to be able to go that far, and it scared her.
Naoko: (What kind of person is Natsuki Naoko anyways?)
She wondered that in her mind.
Naoko: (Is she a mother? A coward? A killer?)
Subaru: [I want you two to think about this. Rem's entire clan was wiped away due to people who smelled like the Witch of Envy, including her parents. Then a guy with that same scent shows up at her mansion and gets all cozy with the people she'd made connections with and her sister. It was only natural that she'd feel hatred. In the loop, she tortured me in... I made mistakes that made me look suspicious. I had a knife while looking at Emilia's room. I lied about leaving as well.]
Kenichi: [Capturing you would have been enough!]
Subaru: [Maybe, but... people aren't perfect or completely rational. It doesn't excuse what Rem did, but... I can understand her.]
Kenichi: [Understand her... are you... crazy? What did that world turn you into?]
Subaru: [A survivor.]
Subaru said this seriously.
Kenichi: [A survivor...]
Subaru: [I won't lie. Life was difficult over there, but that meant I had to treasure everyone around me. After looping, I was able to see the worst and the best sides of people. I choose to believe in their best sides. If I wasn't able to believe in that, then... I'm sure I would have broken into pieces long ago. And... I was proven right. Their best sides really were who they were.]
Kenichi: [Subaru you... You can't know that. What if they only kept you around because you could...]
The old Natsuki Subaru may have struggled to answer to that, but...
Subaru: [I know that's not the case.]
Kenichi: [How?!! How do you not know?!!]
Subaru: [Because of how genuinely they smiled when I did. Because of how hard they fought for me.]
Rem: [Subaru-kun...]
Subaru: [If I'm the reason they became good people, then that's fine as well. I think that's a bit arrogant, but I'd feel quite proud if that were the case.]
Kenichi: [Subaru I... can't understand any of this.]
Subaru: [Rem is an important person to me. I won't just abandon her. She's more than made up for one or two things she's done to me.]
Kenichi: [I can't believe this...]
Kenichi tensed as he stroked his hair in thought and confusion.
Rem: [Rem promises not to let anything happen to Subaru-kun again.]
Naoko: [Then don't take my son to that world!]
Rem: [I... understand.]
Subaru: [Mom. I want to see them again.]
Naoko: [I can't accept this! I just know it! If you go back there, things will go wrong for you again! Please don't go back there.]
Subaru: [Mom...]
Natsuki Subaru was faced with a difficult situation. He had some idea that she was likely right, but what choice would he make from this? He trembled at the decision when Emilia held his hand.
Emilia: [Whatever you choose, no one can tell you no. Not after everything that's happened.]
Natsuki Subaru had made his decision.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
Meanwhile, in Lugunica, they received the news.
Echidna: [It seems that Natsuki Subaru has made his choice, so we can head over there.]
Felt: [Big Bro...]
Garf: [Captain...]
Otto: [I understand.]
Then another message came through as Echidna smiled.
Echidna: [Choosing to be a strategist from that side, huh?]
Roswaal: [I see. How iiinteresting Subaru-kuuun.]
Roswaal had a smirk on his... her? face.
The message was "Let's wipe out the Witch Cult in one month".
Felt: [In one month. Haha. Big bro is insane.]
Reinhard smiled.
Julius: [Yes, he's out of his mind.]
He said this with a smirk on his face. They sent the message "They don't stand a chance" back.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
Capella smirked as a stone pierced her, only for her to regenerate.
Capella: [Oh, it's you again. You're the fun meatbag. Why don't you join me in bed this time.]
Al: [Sorry, but this is going to be the last act of this meatbag.]
Capella: [Oh? Do you plan to kill this lovely lady again? You must truly love me to obsess over me so much!]
Al sighed.
Al: (I did what you wanted me to, Teacher, and now... this is my final mission.)
Capella rushed at him, transforming her body when suddenly Al perfectly countered her movement and then...
Al: [Ol Shamak.]
Capella: [Eh?]
A black orb rolled on the ground as it was halted by Aldebaran's toes. He picked it up.
Al: [No, I won't kill you, and it doesn't matter how much you change your form. You ain't my type.]
Al looked up.
Al: [How's that, bro? Is it over?]
Subaru: [Thanks Al. For this and... for sending me back so I could see them.]
Al: [I didn't do that for you. Don't ever think that I did. I'm just a failure after all.]
Subaru: [Maybe a failure in the right way. I don't know what I am to you or what you are to me, but... Al. Thank you.]
Al clicked his tongue.
Al: [Just shut it already. I don't want to hear any of it.]
Al looked up at the sky.
Al: (I'm not you. I could never accomplish the things you could. I'm just a cheap copy. If I had been you, then Priscilla would never have died. I just... hate you... so much.)
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
Pandora stood there unbothered.
Pandora: [I don't quite understand it. How exactly have you been predicting all of our moves this entire time? As if... You had read the Gospel itself.]
Reinhard: [Sorry, but we've got an amazing person on our side.]
Pandora: [I see. I do wish I could meet him.]
Reinhard: [For that, you'd have to prove at least as amazing as me.]
Reinhard tugged at his sword.
Reinhard: [It appears that isn't the case.]
Pandora: [What? But I'm the Witch Of Vainglory! I have the potential to be the final villain!]
Reinhard: [They call you 007. 0 Respect from other Re: Zero Top Tiers. 0 Successful Plans Completed. 7 Sin Archbishops defeated. You're a fraud.]
Reinhard annihilated the space ahead of him as Pandora was erased from existence.
AN: Sorry. Had the need to slander the Witch of Potential for a second. I'll be serious from here on.
Pandora: [I see. So I am not worthy of the Dragon Sword Reid.]
Reinhard grasped hold of the Fiend Sword that Cecilus had let him borrow in exchange for a duel. He drew it from its sheath.
Pandora: [I see. That blade can cut through my authority. It seems the Gospel has failed to lead to the resurrection of Satella.]
Pandora: (We were made to help correct the misunderstandings regarding Satella. In the end... we failed. He would be disappointed.)
Reinhard cut her down as she accepted her fate.
Pandora: (In the end, will she be alone?)
Pandora's soul faded and drifted to Od Laguna to be recycled.
Reinhard: [It seems this much is over.]
Reinhard smiled.
Reinhard: [How is this Subaru?]
Subaru: [Thanks for everything, Rein. You really are amazing.]
Reinhard smiled softly to himself.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
The Witch Cult stood in Pristella as they were being annihilated.
Ram: [Looks like we're finished in this area.]
Garf: [Just a few more to the right. Tell Ezzo ta keep the barrier up till we're done with tha rest of 'em.]
Ram: [Making Ram work this hard for him. Barasu is truly a slave driver.]
Despite her words, she smiled. She was looking forward to seeing her little brother again. Ricardo reported in on a Metia.
Ricardo: [Things are goin' well on this end. Just a few of 'em left. Julius and I are dealin' with 'em.]
Crusch sighed on the Metia.
Crusch: [To think things are going so well. Subaru-dono truly knows how to create miracles.]
Anastasia was also on the line as she laughed.
Anastasia: [He's earned his place in the history book. This gal is going to have to negotiate for publishing rights, hehe.]
Crusch sighed.
Crusch: [Is now really the time to be thinking of something like that?]
Anastasia: [Ya can't blame a gal for smellin' money.]
Garf: [Oh yeah! Captain's gonna be a legend! Kids are gonna hear his story at bedtime!]
Garf sounded ecstatic as everyone on the line sighed.
Anastasia: [Ta think he'd be able to predict a second attack on the city.]
Crusch: [With small attacks going on everywhere else as a distraction, it made sense, but if it weren't for Subaru-dono figuring out their motives of erasing the other Witches' impact on history... we never would have known what they were a distraction for. He really is amazing.]
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
Subaru sighed as he sat back, as Rem wiped his sweat and Emilia gave him a bottle of water.
AN: Bro just gave them the best comms in history.
Subaru: [No retries. No second chances. One month to accomplish it and... we managed it in 23 days. One week left.]
Emilia: [It's over...]
Rem: [You did it Subaru-kun. You've erased the Witch Cult.]
Subaru: (This shouldn't have been possible without Return By Death. How the hell did I manage something this insane?)
Subaru smiled.
Subaru: (It's because we worked together. Everyone.)
Rem: [Subaru-kun...]
Subaru: [Thanks for all your help. Without you, we wouldn't have been able to manage it.]
Rem: [Felt sent a message.]
Subaru: [A message?]
Rem: [She says... you're being given a noble title as soon as you get there.]
Subaru: [...]
Rem smiled.
Rem: [It's only natural since Subaru-kun is the greatest hero ever!]
Subaru: (Whoa whoa. Let me get some kryptonite first before you put that kind of target on my back. As for the other guy... I can only hope he's cracking jokes when he pulls up on me. Otherwise, he might end up cracking something else.)
Natsuki Subaru sweated at the thought.
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To Be Continued
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Rating Out Of 10 For This Part:
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