(A/N: Throughout the space-time, my existence is truly sublime, I alone am the Author)
...
{3rd Pov}
He drew both of his knives and, in a blur of movement, charged straight at her. His speed was inhuman—within one-fifth of a second, he was already in front of her. His blades swung down with deadly precision, aiming for a quick, decisive strike.
The sound of clashing metal echoed through the small room as Subaru's knives collided violently with Elsa's deadly daggers.
"How rude to interrupt me," Elsa snapped, swinging her daggers at him with lethal precision, only for Subaru to nimbly dodge each one.
"Zero! What are you doing?!" Emilia cried out, startled by his sudden aggression toward the mysterious woman.
Stepping back quickly to create distance, Subaru shouted, "Idiots! She's the Bowel Hunter! If you want to stay alive, you'll have to fight her with me!"
His words sent a wave of shock through the room.
"Bowel Hunter? No way!" Felt said in disbelief, shaking her head. But before she could say anything else, Elsa confirmed the horrifying truth with her next words.
"It seems I've been exposed," she said, her voice amused, though her eyes glittered with curiosity. "I've never seen you before… So tell me, how do you know who I am?"
Felt and Rom both turned pale.
"Felt! I told you not to take shady deals! Didn't I?!" Rom barked, his voice full of panic and anger.
"Old man! How the hell was I supposed to know she was the actual Bowel Hunter?!" Felt shouted back, backing away slightly with her dagger at the ready.
"Idiots!" Subaru shouted, cutting through their argument. "If we don't take her down together, she's going to kill us all!"
"Fine!" Felt growled reluctantly, and Rom ran to the corner of the room to grab his spiked club.
"Emilia! Use your magic!" Subaru commanded urgently.
"Hey! Don't order my daughter around!" Puck hissed as he reappeared in the air, his tone sharp. But instead of arguing, he fired a barrage of icy projectiles at Elsa. She dodged them with ease, dancing between the shards like it was a choreographed performance.
"Your strength is nothing special… just that of a trained knight," Elsa said, now fully focused on Subaru. "But your speed… That's rather unusual. I wonder—how your guts will look like," she whispered with a twisted smile, licking her lips as she eyed him hungrily.
The fight erupted into full force.
Emilia began hurling more ice projectiles at Elsa, her hands glowing with mana as she cast her spells with increasing desperation. Felt activated her Divine Protection of Wind, her speed increasing drastically as she darted toward Elsa with her knife. Rom, wielding his massive club, charged from the side with surprising agility for a man of his size. Subaru stuck close to the group, dodging and countering as best as he could, determined not to fall behind.
But Elsa was a blur of destruction.
She blocked Rom's swing effortlessly and kicked him away like he was made of paper. His body flew across the room, crashing into the wooden wall with a sickening crack. He fell limp, completely knocked out.
"Rom!!" Felt screamed, her eyes wide with horror as she saw her grandfather-like figure crumpled on the floor.
With a cry of rage, she lunged at Elsa, swinging her knife with renewed fury. Subaru coordinated with her, attacking from the left to split Elsa's attention. But even together, their efforts barely made a dent.
Elsa blocked both attacks in a single fluid motion, then countered. She kicked Felt hard in the gut, sending her flying back. Subaru dodged at the last second, her blade missing his neck by a hair's breadth.
"Your reactions and speed are impressive," Elsa commented calmly, "especially for someone with such pitiful strength."
And despite her composed tone, it was obvious—Elsa wasn't even trying yet.
"El Huma!" Emilia chanted, her voice echoing as she summoned dozens of ice spears and launched them toward Elsa. But the assassin twirled her daggers and sliced through them like paper.
"It seems I should get serious now," Elsa said, her voice suddenly devoid of amusement. Her smile vanished. The air turned cold, and the look in her eyes was now one of cold precision.
Subaru's heart sank.
'She was toying with us… All this time?'
His body began to tremble, his grip on his knives tightening.
'Will I have to die again? Is that what it's going to take? Again and again, just to stop her? How many more times do I have to die before I can finally beat her?'
Elsa launched forward, faster than before, her movement so quick it cracked the air like a whip. Subaru's eyes widened. He couldn't react in time—this was it.
Just as the blade was about to rip through him, it stopped. A pair of bare hands caught the attack mid-swing.
"Huh?" Subaru blinked in disbelief.
In front of him stood a striking figure—a young woman with long, flowing crimson hair cascading like a waterfall down her back. Her brilliant blue eyes shimmered with resolve. Her complexion was pale, her expression calm, yet unshakably strong.
She was beautiful. Fierce. And familiar.
It was Reina Van Astrea.
"Oh? And who might you be?" Elsa asked, stepping back slightly, a rare look of wariness flashing across her face. Her instincts screamed at her—this woman was dangerous.
"I am Reina," she said firmly. "A knight! And I won't let you harm Sir Zero or any of his companions!"
'That… probably didn't sound very knightly,' Reina thought with a flicker of embarrassment.
"Reina?" Elsa's eyes narrowed as recognition dawned. "The Sword Saint…?" Her hands tightened around the hilts of her daggers. Her muscles tensed, her stance shifted. Elsa no longer looked amused—she looked like someone considering her odds of survival.
"Reina! What are you doing here?! She's the Bowel Hunter—she's dangerous!" Subaru shouted, shocked that she had appeared just in time.
Reina turned and smiled at him, her expression calm and soft. "I'm a knight," she said simply. "It's my duty to protect you."
Just as she finished her sentence, Elsa tried to blindside Emilia with a sudden swing of her dagger. But Reina was faster. She intercepted the blade effortlessly.
Elsa turned to run.
But the next moment—Reina was already behind her.
With one powerful motion, Reina swung her sheathed sword.
BOOM.
The sound of impact echoed across the entire street. Elsa's spine cracked from the force. Her body flew through the air like a broken doll, smashing through the wall of Rom's bar, and then tearing through several old houses like a cannonball.
"F-fuck…" Elsa groaned as she coughed up blood, her body limp and broken amidst rubble and debris.
Emilia and Subaru stood frozen, mouths agape, unable to process what they had just witnessed.
'Who… Who is she?! She just knocked out the freaking Bowel Hunter with one swing!' Subaru thought, stunned beyond belief. 'I don't remember any red-haired knight this powerful from the anime…'
"Miss Reina… I… I'm so thankful you came," Emilia said softly, her voice trembling with both relief and admiration.
Puck nodded too, hovering protectively beside her. Although he had never met Reina personally, he was well aware of the name. The Sword Saint. A legend in her own right.
Meanwhile, Reina herself stared down at her hands in silence.
She didn't look proud of her actions. If anything—she looked ashamed.
As Reina was, ahem… following Subaru—not stalking, definitely not—she debated whether she should step in when the Bowel Hunter made her move.
From the shadows, she observed the battle, tense and conflicted.
She could've easily intervened the moment Elsa appeared. Her instincts told her to. Her training demanded it. But instead, she hesitated.
For some strange reason… she wanted to appear in front of Subaru as a cute girl, someone charming—maybe even cool—not as a monstrous freak with absurd strength.
So she did something impulsive.
She activated her Divine Protection, allowing it to guide her. It would signal her only when Subaru was in mortal danger. That way, her entrance would seem… heroic. Natural.
And sure enough, when the moment came, she burst forth and saved him at the last second.
'Did I do good? Should I have acted earlier?' she questioned herself, biting her lip nervously.
"Miss Reina! You should finish Elsa!" Subaru suddenly exclaimed, his memory sparking to life. He remembered what Elsa truly was—a cursed being.
"Elsa?" Reina tilted her head, confused by the name.
"I mean the Bowel Hunter!" he clarified with urgency.
"Oh!" Reina blinked as it clicked. "Right, her."
She turned to the wreckage casually and nodded. "Don't worry, with that hit, she'll die for sure."
But before the words even settled in the air, a blur shot from the rubble. Elsa, bloodied but alive, sprinted away with impossible speed.
"…"
"…"
"…"
(A/N: "…")
'So embarrassing!' Reina internally shrieked, a blush flooding her cheeks. She could have easily chased after Elsa, finished the job. But the thought of escalating the fight into the public streets made her hesitate again.
She sighed in quiet defeat. 'I failed to make a good impression of me… again.'
Meanwhile, Subaru chuckled weakly, despite the pain and chaos around him.
'Well, hey. At least I'm still alive. That's a plus.'
"Thank you, girl, for saving my daughter," Puck said with a slight nod. His form was fading slightly, his time nearly up. "I was getting worried there for a second."
Reina nodded politely, grateful for the acknowledgment.
Emilia gave a formal nod as well. "As one of the Royal Candidates, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the Sword Saint for her timely assistance."
Subaru's ears perked up at that.
"…Sword Saint?"
Reina's body stiffened.
His reaction made her realize something terrifying—Subaru didn't know her identity until now.
Her breath caught. Her expression fell instantly.
"You don't know, Sir Zero?" Emilia looked surprised. "She is the Sword Saint of Lugunica—Reina Van Astrea."
Subaru froze.
Completely.
And so did Reina.
Both stood rooted to the ground. She lowered her head, her body trembling with unease.
Subaru's mind went blank, then began to spiral.
'No wonder… No wonder Reinhardt never came to help me in my last loop…'
'No wonder those people looked at me like I was crazy when I asked for him. No wonder they told me to fuck off…'
'Because—Reinhardt… never existed in this reality.'
'My boi Reinhardt… he got gender-bent!'
'The Sword Saint… is a girl!'
'And not just any girl—she's a cute girl!'
Meanwhile, Reina completely misread his shocked expression. Her heart sank like a stone.
She thought he now saw her for what everyone else always did.
A monster.
Someone to be feared, not loved. Despised, not accepted.
Her shoulders began to shake. Tears welled up in her eyes, blurring her vision.
Emilia noticed it first. "Reina…?"
Subaru blinked out of his thoughts just in time to see her shoulders trembling—and the sound of something soft hitting the wooden floor.
Drip… drip…
Tears.
"Wait, wait—why are you crying?" Subaru asked, panicked and confused.
"Because you know…" she replied quietly, her voice breaking. "You know I'm a monster…"
Subaru didn't even hesitate.
He rushed forward and wrapped his arms around her tightly, pulling her into a firm hug. Reina gasped, her eyes wide, breath caught in her throat.
"Never say that about yourself!" he snapped, his voice full of conviction.
Reina's lips trembled. "Why? I… I am a monster… Sniff I stole my grandma's blessings… Sniff She died because of me…"
"You're not a monster, Reina!" Subaru said firmly, pulling back just enough to look her in the eyes. His black eyes stared into her blue ones with absolute sincerity. "It's not your fault that your grandmother died. It was the White Whale… and the Witch Cultists! If anyone blames you, then they're hypocrites and fools!"
Reina's breath hitched again.
Subaru stepped back fully now, still facing her, his voice unwavering.
"Reina Van Astrea… thank you for saving my life. You're not a monster. You're my hero. You're someone important to me."
Her heart practically exploded in her chest.
It pounded so fast it felt like it might burst through her ribs. Her tears stopped. Her legs felt weak. Her entire body froze as if struck by lightning.
'I… I'm his hero?'
'I'm not a monster?'
Joy surged through her—pure, overwhelming joy. Her pain, her regrets, her years of abuse and guilt—all of it was drowned in that one moment.
Her entire world shifted.
The only thing that mattered now… was the boy in front of her.
Reina Van Astrea had fallen in love.
To be continued…
(A/N: The boy just rizzed the Champion of the World. Now he's got a World-Corrupting Yandere… and a World-Destroying Yandere coming next. RIP.)