Of course, it was not just Natsuki Subaru. Almost everyone bound to him was drawn by an invisible force at the same moment, involuntarily raising their heads to look at the enormous screen of light that had torn across the sky out of nowhere.
At the Emilia Camp's temporary encampment far away on the imperial border, Otto was, as always, the first to recover from his shock. He unconsciously tapped the tactical notebook in his arms, his pen leaving a messy streak of ink across the page. Even though the sight before him defied all common sense, his mind was already racing through every possibility he knew.
"No projection-type Divine Protection could possibly cover such a vast area-is it an Authority? Is it altering everyone's perception, or interfering directly with their minds?"
His brow furrowed tightly, his voice sinking extremely low.
"The Archbishop of Gluttony's Authority devours memories and names, Lust transforms bodies, and Wrath detonates emotions... Could this be a Sin Archbishop who hasn't appeared yet? Or is it something above even the Sin Archbishops?"
He quickly glanced around the camp, confirming that none of the earth dragons showed any abnormalities, yet the unease in his heart only deepened. He had already planned their route for the next three days, but this sudden screen in the sky was like a boulder crashing into a tranquil lake, throwing all his arrangements into disarray.
Emilia abruptly stiffened, her deep violet eyes instantly captured by the screen, her breathing stopping for half a beat. Without warning, an icy palpitation erupted deep within her and spread through her limbs, as though countless fine needles had pierced her veins, leaving even her fingertips cold. An inexplicable dread engulfed her like a tide, a familiar premonition etched into her very bones-of loss, of parting.
She instinctively tightened her arms around Beatrice, who lay curled up fast asleep in her embrace to reduce her Mana consumption. She held her so tightly that the little girl grumbled in displeasure in her sleep and nuzzled against her chest. Emilia hurriedly loosened her grip, but still refused to let go, as though holding this little bundle of warmth could dispel the chill in her heart.
Looking up at the screen, her lips trembling slightly, she prayed silently in her heart.
Subaru, Rem, please stay safe.
Garfiel's muscles instantly tensed, his back straightening like a fully drawn bow, undisguised hostility churning in his pale golden beastlike eyes. Sharp claws unconsciously extended between his fingers and dug deep into the soil beneath him, his teeth grinding audibly. Unlike Otto, he did not consider who might be behind this. He simply entered his highest state of alert on instinct, his wary gaze sweeping every corner of the camp, ready to spring at any threat that might appear.
"Whatever the hell this thing is..."
He lowered his voice, a beastlike growl rumbling in his throat.
"If it dares lay a finger on Lady Emilia or the captain, I'll tear that screen to shreds."
Ram's slender fingers clenched slightly, pinching several deep creases into her soft sleeves. Her crimson eyes were filled with shock and doubt, the usual languor and aloofness entirely gone from her expression. She had seen countless strange kinds of magic, but never a screen of light that could appear out of nowhere in the sky and be seen by everyone at once.
She instinctively turned toward Roswaal, who stood nearby, hoping to find an answer on the face of that all-knowing lord. But when she saw his expression, her shock and doubt deepened further.
The playful smile that always adorned Roswaal's face froze completely at that moment. His mismatched pupils abruptly contracted, and, for the first time, utter shock replaced the calculation and mockery that usually filled his eyes. He had lived for over four hundred years, understood most of the world's magical formulas, and read countless forbidden secrets, yet this screen transcended everything he knew or could deduce.
However, his shock lasted only a few seconds. The corners of his mouth soon rose again, though his smile now held a measure of curiosity and anticipation, his tone carrying a trace of barely perceptible excitement.
"Oh my, how unexpected~ I do hope this is Teacher's handiwork. Perhaps Teacher wants all these people to learn something extraordinary~"
Just then, a cold, emotionless, mechanical electronic voice rang in the ears of everyone who could see the screen.
[Now playing Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World: Sage's Tower arc] [Cross Sand Time!] [Oh please don't let me die Please don't let me pass away here Waiting for your touch Waiting quietly for your touch once more No don't give up on life No, please don't give up on life This endless dead end This endless road to ruin]
Immediately afterward, stirring music tinged with tragic grandeur burst forth, its powerful drumbeats pounding against everyone's hearts and engaging the senses of almost every viewer.
Far away, at an emergency shelter in the Watergate City, Liliana held her harp, soothing children who had lost their homes in the war with her gentle singing. The moment the electronic voice sounded, her song stopped abruptly. A string snapped beneath her fingertips with a twang, leaving a thin cut on her fair finger.
She slowly raised her head toward the enormous screen in the sky, a trace of astonishment appearing on her delicate face.
"This really is... beautiful music."
She murmured softly, her voice carrying a barely perceptible tremor.
"I can't help wanting to sing along. Only... Liliana doesn't know why her chest feels so awful, though... I don't really have anything there to feel it with."
"Why did you stop, big sister?"
A little girl with pigtails tugged at her skirt and looked up curiously.
"We want to hear more! Can you teach us to sing that song someday, big sister?"
The other children gathered around as well, all chattering at once. Not one of them looked up at the sky.
Liliana paused, then seemed to understand something. She forced a gentle smile and stroked the little girl's head.
"These children can't see it? Could it be... only people connected to that hero can see it? I heard he really did go somewhere even Lord Reinhard couldn't reach..."
She took a deep breath, stopped looking at the screen, and took up her harp again, plucking its strings. Only this time, a faint sadness and prayer entered her song.
"Something appearing in my world so suddenly is truly displeasing."
Priscilla abruptly stood, snapping her folding fan shut, her golden eyes filled with anger. She had always been the center of the world, and all interesting things ought to be under her control, yet this screen had arrived uninvited, completely disregarding her will.
"When I should be the one controlling everything interesting."
She snorted coldly, her tone arrogant and faintly dangerous.
"I wonder whether this thing has any value to me. If it is merely a tedious farce, I would not mind knocking it out of the sky myself."
Otto rubbed his temples with difficulty, feeling utterly overwhelmed.
"Did the screen just say it would show the Sage's Tower incident? But everyone only returned from the Sage's Tower recently. Is it trying to expose the identities of everyone who went to the Empire ahead of time? But who could manage something on this scale...? The earth dragons up ahead aren't reacting at all. Are there restrictions on who can watch?"
"Ah, what a headache~"
Roswaal spoke with a smile, yet his tone was full of anticipation.
"But is my all-knowing, all-powerful Teacher about to issue some new instructions? I can hardly wait~"
The screen began.
["There has been no shortage of reckless fools like you. But none of them managed to reach the Sage's Tower in the Sand Sea. Coming back alive was lucky enough. Most of them are still sleeping out in the desert."
"-"
"The tower has stood in the Sand Sea for four hundred years. All that time, there's never been any shortage of fools aiming for it, but not one person has claimed to have reached it. Even that Sword Saint failed."
"If you insist on going to the tower, I've heard that following those pure white birds might let you cross Sand Time."
"Thank you for the advice, sir."
-Following a bird flying through the sky was a decision with no foundation whatsoever, and in a sense, it was madness. If Subaru had seen it on the first day of their attempt to cross the dunes, he would not have taken the tavern owner's words seriously or considered letting a bird guide them from above. However, now that he had spent several days in the dunes, he had noticed something.
"Never mind the witchbeasts. How could an ordinary bird fly through skies like these?"
Of course, there were various reasons, such as the lack of food and water, but the greatest reasons were indeed the witchbeasts and the miasma. Even birds flying through the sky would face the harsh environment and the threat of predation. Why would a winged bird insist on putting itself in such a dangerous place, where survival was so difficult?
"Looking at it the other way around, that means the bird isn't ordinary. There must be some trick to it."
That was the doubt Subaru, after spending several days in the dunes, harbored about the birds flying through the skies of this demonic land. In fact, Ram's Clairvoyance had proven this idea correct, and the party proceeded in the direction the bird flew.
Until now, the end of [Sand Time] had always been more gradual. First, the sand-laden winds slowly weakened, then receded like an ebbing tide, until finally a distinctive sandy scent drifted around them. Yet none of that happened now. It was as though it had suddenly been cut off. As though Subaru and the others had abruptly been pulled onto another stage, where no sandy wind blew.
"-Julius."
Subaru parted his parched lips and turned around to find the dragon carriage standing right before him. Julius, in the driver's seat, was just as dumbfounded as Subaru that they had passed through the sandy winds. But upon hearing Subaru call, he took a firm grip on the reins again and nodded.
"-"
Then both raised their fists, congratulating each other on breaking through [Sand Time].
"All right, we made it through! Yeah, awesome~!"
"That's right! You've been making an endless racket right in my ear-!!"
As Subaru began cheering jubilantly, Beatrice, directly beneath him, drove her palm into his chin. The splendid blow sent him leaning far backward before he returned to his original position, glaring at his partner with undiminished vigor.
"Whaddya do dat for all of a sudden!? You scared me! I bit my tongue!"
"Because you were holding Betty and getting all worked up by yourself! You're so noisy! Downburst this, off-road that-it made no sense! You kept chattering right in my ear!" (Note: downburst, a descending air current; off-road, traveling over rough terrain.)
Leaning backward, Beatrice vehemently protested to Subaru, whose bitten tongue had left him slurring. Throughout the sandy winds, Subaru had used Beatrice's presence to fill the unease in his heart. Discovering that she had heard all his nonsense, he flushed bright red and could only immediately cough and change the subject.
"A-anyway, we made it through [Sand Time] in style. See? Hooray!"
"...Hooray, I suppose."
"If [Sand Time] was the first obstacle, then the second is a flower field full of witchbeasts... The [Sage]'s awful personality really knows no bounds."
"Careful. There are lots of Courtesan Bears."
"Shh-"
At that moment, a breath hissed through someone's teeth, drawing the Courtesan Bears' attention away from the group. The one who made the sound was Meili, who remained the calmest person present. Holding a finger to her lips, she first signaled Subaru and the others, who were on guard against the witchbeasts, to calm down. Then she extended that finger forward, drawing the Courtesan Bear's attention to herself.
"Ch, ch, ch."
Meili moved her finger up and down, making clicking sounds with her tongue.
"Ch, ch, ch... ch~"
Once the Courtesan Bear's attention focused on her finger, Meili pointed beside the dragon carriage. Following the movement, the Courtesan Bear looked in the direction her finger indicated, then slowly took one step toward it.
"-Oh."
Seeing the Courtesan Bear poised to leave, Subaru could not help letting out a relieved breath. Emilia and Beatrice, who had been rigid with tension, also visibly relaxed around the eyes. Once this standing bear left, they could discuss how to deal with the flower field together. There would still be time to share with everyone that they had crossed "Sand Time." From here-
"-!!"
But at that very instant, a low, rumbling roar echoed across the flower field. When suddenly forced into a tense situation, the heart could easily crack. That was true of humans, and of earth dragons as well. -So no one could blame Joseph.]
The screen stopped.
"That isn't right..." Emilia tilted her head, her lovely brows drawn tightly together, her face full of confusion. "I remember us getting away from these Courtesan Bears quite smoothly with Miss Meili's help, didn't we? Joseph was perfectly calm then, too. He wasn't frightened at all."
As soon as she finished speaking, the images on the screen began moving again.
The screen began.
[A beat later, the packs of witchbeasts broke into a run, pursuing Subaru and the others as they fled.
"They're coming, coming, coming, coming, coming, coming, coming, coming-ah!!"
And so, rushing along the bloody path carved out by Emilia and Beatrice's magic, Julius's swordsmanship, and Meili's special ability, Subaru and the others successfully broke through the flower field-the watchtower was right before them.
"Just a little farther! If we can just charge into the watchtower like this..."
Although that would not make the witchbeasts retreat, perhaps a change in their situation would offer a way out. Trusting in that hope, Subaru shouted himself hoarse to his companions. Keep going, just a little more, they were almost there. Ahead stood their destination, the Pleiades Watchtower- "-?"
Suddenly, Subaru narrowed his black eyes as he clung to Patrasche and supported Beatrice. He had noticed a slight incongruity. It was a light.
-Something seemed to flash at the center of the tower.
"Wha..."
He never finished the word.
"-"
A beam of light streaked across the night sky and struck Subaru squarely in the head with unerring precision. In an instant, everything above Natsuki Subaru's neck evaporated completely, and his consciousness vanished without allowing him even a moment's thought.
-No one cried out at the instantaneous carnage. That was because everyone who witnessed it, and everyone who screamed, had been evaporated without exception. With a tremendous crash, the headless earth dragon tumbled to the ground, and the dragon carriage overturned. The flowing blood was absorbed and swallowed by the parched grains of the Sand Sea, its traces gradually disappearing. In the end, the Sand Sea slowly drank all the decaying remains down beneath its surface and buried them. Not even a blood-red flower remained to mark their journey; every last trace was swallowed by the sand.
-The entire party was annihilated here.]
The screen stopped.
Deathly silence.
The entire camp, and indeed every place where the screen could be seen, sank into suffocating silence.
That blinding white light, that instantly evaporated head, that silent annihilation seared everyone's hearts like a red-hot branding iron.
Emilia's mind went blank.
She stared numbly at the screen, her ice-blue eyes devoid of light, as though that white beam had drawn out her very soul.
"Subaru and everyone...?"
She suddenly shuddered, her whole body trembling violently, her teeth chattering audibly. Her stomach churned, intense nausea rising into her throat. She instinctively covered her mouth, yet still could not stop herself from bending over and retching.
"That was... Shaula's beam, but didn't we avoid it thanks to Subaru's warning? Are these images an 'unrealized future,' like the Sanctuary's trial? But why does it feel as though the screen's gaze has been following Subaru all along, and even Subaru was immediately... No, we have to find Subaru quickly. This is really wrong."
The notebook in Otto's hands dropped to the ground with a clatter, and his pen rolled far away.
Without even a second to think, without time for a single farewell, he had vanished silently like that. And Julius, and Meili, and Patrasche... Everyone had been reduced to nothing in that instant.
He covered his mouth and bent over, retching violently until he had brought up the acid in his stomach. Only then did he barely manage to straighten. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve, his eyes filled with anger, fear, and profound helplessness.
"Damn it... Is this a mental attack after all?"
He gritted his teeth, clenching his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
"Who's orchestrating this? Are they trying to target Lady Emilia's camp? Or... do they have some other purpose?"
He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He was the group's strategist; he could not panic. If even he lost his composure, they really would be finished.
The Empire, the City of Guaral.
The folding fan in Priscilla's hand snapped in two.
Her expression was terrifyingly dark, blazing fury burning in her golden eyes.
"Absurd."
She cursed under her breath, her tone carrying a trace of incredulous shock.
"Don't tell me this is how the half-elf and the others end?"
More importantly, just who was that man named Natsuki Subaru? Why was the screen specifically showing his death?
"Interesting. This is becoming more and more interesting."
"I cannot let you die just like that, Natsuki Subaru."
"I have yet to properly amuse myself with you."
Rem, who was also with Priscilla, saw the screen as well. Her face was full of shock and doubt. Although she sympathized with what Subaru and the others had suffered on the screen, his gaze soon shifted to Ram, whose appearance was almost identical to Rem's. Rem could not help staring in a daze, the stirring of her blood leaving her unable to calm down for a long time.
"You're Rem's..."
Rem's hands could not help clasping together, more as though she wanted to grasp something else. The more one lost, the more one longed to gain. And that was not all. Some things had to be held firmly, even if she could not remember them now... even if she had already done something wrong... even if everything began again from zero... Everything could still be recovered.
"If it's that person, he'll surely start shouting about wanting to save everything for no reason, even though it isn't his responsibility..."
It's all right. It's all right even if I don't remember. We have to meet again. A hero will surely reclaim everything that was lost!
Roswaal stood to one side, watching everyone, the smile at his lips deepening.
"Oh my, this really gives me something to look forward to~"
The screen hung silently in the sky like a cold eye, watching everything that happened on this land.
No one knew what it would show next.
Nor did anyone know whether those were "pasts that never existed" or actual reality.
The only certainty was that everyone's fate had quietly changed because of this screen that had suddenly appeared.