[ "Hah, hah... Zerestia, I really had a hard time finding you. Why did you run away?"
Subaru ran up behind Zerestia. Seeing that she still ignored him, he placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, I know it's hard for you to face me. I know that, but at least turn around and look at me."
"Go to hell."
Zerestia finally turned her attention to Subaru, but the words she spoke shocked everyone present. ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
"So that's... the Oni woman who attacked the boss at the start!"
Garfiel said.
And her speech was still so concise, just a simple "Go to hell."
"How is Subaru-kun going to manage alone..."
Rem placed a hand over her chest.
"At this moment... Rem should be rushing here... No, no, more importantly, Zerestia-sama is here."
Natsuki Rem said.
"Huh? Lady Zerestia came?"
Emilia was very surprised.
—
[ "What are you standing around for? Are you stupid!?"
In the scene, Zerestia rushed over, quickly grabbed Subaru, and threw him aside with one hand, allowing him to dodge the other Zerestia.
...It was Reize's wind attack.
Although they were not the same person, they looked exactly alike. If there had to be a difference, one wore white clothes, and the other wore black clothes.
And Subaru realized something:
"Black Zerestia is the enemy, and White Zerestia is the ally!"
White Zerestia rushed towards Black Zerestia, extending a fist. Reize laughed.
"Die."
Zerestia leaped violently, evading the stabbing attack launched by Reize.
Next, Reize continuously launched wind attacks, while Zerestia constantly dodged. ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
"The difference in combat power is obvious~"
Wilhelm said from outside the screen.
Black Zerestia's combat power was clearly stronger than White Zerestia's.
This situation was very bad.
"Still, they really are exactly alike. If Lady Natsuki hadn't explained it, we truly would have thought they were twins."
Otto said.
—
[ "Look over here, you idiot fake Zerestia!"
In the scene, Subaru shouted while throwing vegetables at Reize.
Reize's attention was consequently drawn to Subaru.
She glared at Subaru.
"Damn it!"
Among the things Subaru threw at Reize was a water bottle. The water bottle shattered upon impact.
"—!?"
Reize looked at the liquid spilling from the water bottle, revealing a look of fear.
"Huh?! This is just plain liquor, though?"
Subaru was somewhat confused.
"A weak spot!"
Zerestia seized this perfect opportunity to deliver a fierce kick to Reize, sending her flying.
"Did it work!?"
"Yes! Although I'm not quite sure why, she suddenly dropped her guard, and that's the end of her good luck! Next, I'll personally let her taste retribution, Uwah!?"
Reize's face began to distort, her hair color changed from white hair identical to Zerestia's to brown hair, and her physique also became smaller.
But the most striking feature was the two glowing horns on her head. ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
"...Unbelievable..."
Ram said from outside the screen.
Although Rem had mentioned it beforehand, seeing the scene unfold truly felt incredible.
"Tch. This mistress thought it was that other one. I didn't expect there to be another Oni."
Priscilla muttered softly.
—
[ "GO DIE! GO DIE! GO DIE!" Reize spread her arms, releasing a fierce wind that damaged the surrounding buildings.
"Damn it."
Subaru quickly led Zerestia away from the area.
"Who in the world is that woman? That person is…"
..... .....
"Let me clarify first. I am indeed the person you refer to as Zerestia. However, I am not the complete Zerestia. I am only half... no, I'm not even half. I am merely a small fraction of myself."
In the scene, Subaru had brought Zerestia back home.
Halibel was also present.
"This happens to be closely connected to the matter of the search party that Halibel-sama mentioned earlier, right?"
Rem said.
"Search party? You mean the ones who took on that mission letter? But Klein said that the operation failed."
Subaru said.
Subaru had heard about this when he was job hunting; simply put, a search party had traveled to the location where Zerestia resided.
"Failed? Where did you hear that? Not only did those guys sneak into my house, they even stole my most important... Light Sphere! The Light Sphere is the source of my power. It's a Gem that sealed the power I had accumulated over time." ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
"...An Anchor Gem."
Beatrice and Puck said together from outside the screen.
Mana could be considered a life force, and a few creatures require large amounts of Mana. In such cases, an Anchor Gem capable of storing massive amounts of Mana is needed.
If the Mana naturally obtained by the body and the Mana consumed to sustain life result in negative growth, and if there is no Anchor Gem, the inevitable outcome is the depletion of life force and death.
—
[ "But why are you so certain that Rem stole it? Rem genuinely knows nothing about the so-called Light Sphere. She has never even stepped near Lady Zerestia's territory, not even once..."
The Subaru in the scene said.
"Black Zerestia has horns. And those are Oni horns."
"Oni horns? Then could it be... Oh, no wonder Zerestia looked so smug when she said she sniffed out Rem's identity with her nose. Zerestia confused Rem's blood—the blood of an Oni—with that of another Oni. In other words, if we just capture that Oni woman who stole Zerestia's Anchor Gem... the Light Sphere, the problem will be solved... Wait a minute?"
"Exactly, that's where the problem lies. I have one more thing to say. It is said that the individual who stole the Light Sphere never intended to find the Great Spirit's location for the Light Sphere in the first place; rather, they participated in the search party because they craved the Great Spirit's power. I guess it was revenge. It was to seek revenge against the Witch Cult, which burned down her hometown."
Halibel said.
"So it was me."
Subaru understood, saying this.
Subaru likely realized that he carried the Witch's Scent and that Reize had sought him out for revenge. ]
.....
〜Inside, the Theater〜
"As Rem stated earlier. That fellow tribeswoman attacked Subaru-kun that night because of his scent. And on that day, Zerestia-sama, mistakenly believing Rem had stolen the Light Sphere, planned to attack Subaru-kun and Rem's home."
Natsuki Rem said.
Because they looked the same and the events occurred on the same day, a misunderstanding arose.
—
[ "Now we've sorted out this tangled situation. Everything makes sense now. As long as we resolve this matter, we can all go back to being together, just like before..."
The Subaru in the scene said this after clarifying everything.
"—That won't be possible."
However, Zerestia denied this. ]
....