Chapter 37: After Hell
The flayed skin, the crushed bones, the chewed nerves, the licked and sucked blood—everything was restored in an instant.
Though his body was intact, the boy named Subaru collapsed to the ground the next moment. Even though there were no visible wounds causing him pain, Subaru let out a heart-wrenching scream.
"Haaaa haa haaa.....!"
The memories of being devoured played back incessantly in his mind.
The agony he felt easily surpassed that of all the previous deaths he had endured—more than even the first time he was tortured to death by Rem.
The despair of this death rivaled the sum of all the endless loops in the Mathers Domain.
But it was precisely those countless loops that had honed Subaru's willpower.
His soul barely managed to overcome the fear and recognize reality.
Subaru opened his mouth, but no sound came out—only a burning pain.
Swallowing hard, he began to observe his surroundings.
The scorching earth, the sun hanging directly overhead, and a grave not far away—it took him only a second to realize he was in the same place as when he passed the first trial.
—Right, the Witch of Gluttony!!!
While the world believed that the three Great Mabeasts were created by the Witch of Envy, Satella, Subaru—who had read numerous texts on witches in Beatrice's forbidden library—knew the truth: they were created by the Witch of Gluttony, Daphne.
—"By gathering the traces—or rather, the souls—of five witches, excluding [Envy], you can think of it as there being six witches in the same situation as me."
Recalling Echidna's words from not long ago, Subaru realized that the Witch of Gluttony must be nearby.
He instinctively tried to stand up to ask her how to deal with the Great Rabbit.
But then, indescribable phantom pain shot through his limbs, as if they didn't exist at all. Subaru gritted his teeth as he looked at the entrance just a few steps away, and began to crawl toward it.
—What was the purpose of the clones? Why did the Great Rabbit appear in the Sanctuary? Is Sloth dead or not?
The shade cooled his body and helped him refocus.
Perhaps because analyzing the complex information was consuming most of his brainpower, the looping images finally faded, and the phantom pain gradually subsided.
Subaru's right hand finally moved under his will and pressed against the ground.
Slowly, he got up.
The complicated information swirled in his head—he tried his best to summarize, organize, and reconstruct it—but still couldn't reach a conclusion.
He wanted to meet the Witch of Gluttony... but in the end, his desire to rely on Echidna was rapidly growing.
Remembering the one person in this world who could listen to his pain—Echidna—Subaru couldn't hold back his emotions and began quickening his pace.
He regulated his breathing through deep breaths and returned to the place of the trial.
"As long as you have a desire to 'know' in your heart..."
—You will be welcomed.
Subaru recalled that Echidna had explained it that way.
Trusting her words, he knelt in hope.
Nothing happened.
"Why...? If it's the current me... I should meet the conditions already."
—Echidna lied.
Subaru shook off that thought.
Though she might hide things, she never outright lied.
At that time, Echidna had definitely been serious.
Then why wasn't he being welcomed? He had countless things he wanted to ask, countless issues to discuss, countless hopes that she would help him figure out solutions to.
—To entrust to that Greed-filled witch the thoughts he couldn't tell anyone else, and to ask her to show him the way.
—To go to Echidna's castle, confide in her his doubts and confusion, and rely on the kindness she had given him...
Yes.
Subaru realized he wasn't really looking for answers.
He just wanted to depend on Echidna.
He was ready to sacrifice his life over and over again to gain her help.
There were no "questions" he wanted answered—no matter how he thought about it, the conclusion in his mind always led back to the desire to rely on her.
The truly pitiful thing was that, unlike the first tea party, someone not seeking answers could not attend a second time.
"Please... Echidna.........!"
Subaru cried out in anguish.
"Where do I perform the contract ritual...?"
Kneeling, he clasped his hands and closed his eyes.
In his mind, he envisioned the white-haired witch and tried to call her forth.
He remained still, silently waiting as time passed.
The cold air of the tomb brushed his skin.
For the first time, Subaru felt time dragging. Anxiety caused sweat to bead densely on his forehead.
"...Huh?"
Just as he was about to give up, Subaru suddenly sensed a white light.
White light filled his vision, and Subaru realized his body had fallen sideways to the ground. He could feel his consciousness separating from reality—he was being pulled into another world.
—The invitation to the castle of dream had begun.
—He was going to the castle where Echidna awaited, to sign the contract for a perfect future.
In the hazy twilight of his awareness, Subaru thought of nothing else.
"Behold the impossible now!"
In the instant Subaru lost consciousness, he thought he heard those words.
As his mind cleared, he noticed this wasn't the tea party's grassland.
His head throbbed with a dizziness similar to a hangover.
He remembered the phrase he'd just heard and instantly realized that he had triggered the Second Trial. He opened his mouth—
『——』
But no sound came out. He looked around—there was no sign of Echidna.
Finally turning his attention to himself, Subaru realized—
!!!???
He didn't even have a body. He was like a satellite spirit floating above the world.
The dizziness and pain faded.
Gradually, blurry images came into view—a surreal landscape unfolded before him: orange dusk in the west, darkness of night in the east, and between them, a white light emitted by the magical device known as "Repel Night."
"This is—!"
The miraculous scene made Subaru instantly understand the situation.
As if responding to him, the vision cleared: a lion-crest flag lay fallen on the ground, mercenaries riding giant wolves fled in terror, and three massive, dozens-of-meters-long white whales swam in the sky.
They were the "Fog" spoken of by Petelgeuse—the three Great Mabeasts that had killed the previous Sword Saint: the White Whale.
What had once been prey glorified as accomplishments by Crusch and Anastasia in the Royal Selection had now become the hunters.
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