...
{3rd Pov}
The sudden change in the atmosphere did not go unnoticed.
Every battle-hardened soldier, every knight, and even the ordinary civilians could feel that something was terribly wrong.
It wasn't just a shift in air or temperature—it felt as if the entire world itself was weeping, desperately crying out, begging for something, or perhaps someone, to stop.
Reinhardt could feel it more than anyone else.
All of his Divine Protections began to react uncontrollably, their usual harmony collapsing as the immense power he kept sealed within him burst out on its own, completely beyond his command.
The overwhelming surge created a massive mana vacuum around him, distorting the very flow of energy in the surroundings.
Until now, Reinhardt had rarely unleashed his full strength—there had been only a handful of moments in his life when he had allowed himself to fight without restraint.
The last time he had done so was during his fierce battle with Reina.
That clash had taken place far from mortal eyes, among the stars themselves, where the destructive scale of their combat could not be truly grasped by anyone on the ground.
No one had been able to comprehend the intensity of the fight he waged, nor the crushing despair that had consumed him when he was defeated despite giving everything he had.
Now, that same dreadful feeling returned.
The same fear that had once clawed at his heart resurfaced, creeping up his spine like ice-cold hands.
It was a sensation he had experienced only once before in his entire life—only this time, though fainter than before, it was unmistakably the same.
A thick, pitch-black fog began to coil and spread around Subaru's chained carriage, swallowing the surroundings in its eerie darkness.
Then, amidst the silence, everyone heard it—a voice.
"I love you."
The tone of the voice carried something far beyond ordinary affection.
It was heavy with obsession, an all-consuming and endless fixation that refused to fade no matter how much time passed.
"I love you."
This time, the words were drenched in pain, the kind of sorrow that only someone who knew their love would never be returned could express.
It wasn't just longing—it was despair, a deep and unhealed wound that bled with every word spoken.
"I love you."
Yet the voice continued without pause, repeating itself again and again, as though the very act of speaking those words was the only reason it existed.
It was as if its entire being revolved around that single sentiment—its entire existence built solely to love that one "you."
"I love you."
"I love you."
"I love you."
"I love you."
The words kept pouring out, over and over, like a broken machine that had forgotten how to say anything else.
The repetition was mechanical, lifeless, yet terrifyingly emotional—each utterance blending madness and devotion into a chilling symphony.
Reinhardt's instincts reacted immediately.
In a single swift motion, he unsheathed Reid, his divine sword, the blade gleaming faintly even amidst the fog's darkness.
His expression hardened, and his eyes locked onto the direction from which that dreadful presence emanated.
Every fiber of his being screamed danger, and the ominous feeling crawling up his spine only grew stronger with every echo of those cursed words.
"What… what the hell is that?" Anastasia muttered, her voice trembling with a rare trace of genuine fear.
Her wide eyes were fixed on the pitch-black darkness that was slowly spreading outward from the spot where Subaru was imprisoned within the chained carriage.
The air itself seemed to grow heavier with every passing second, and even the faintest sounds around them felt swallowed by that creeping shadow.
Inside the carriage, Subaru sat unnervingly calm, his posture relaxed, his chin slightly tilted down.
A strange grin rested on his face, one that seemed both detached and disturbingly serene.
Behind him, a pair of slender, pale arms wrapped around his body—the unmistakable arms of the Witch of Envy herself.
At first, those arms looked almost human, real and physical.
But as moments passed, they began to distort, twisting and stretching unnaturally, transforming into shadowy appendages—like long, shifting tentacles born from pure darkness.
Satella's shadow hands began to move across him, brushing against his body in a manner that was both tender and unsettling.
Every touch was deliberate, every motion slow and delicate, as if she feared that applying even the slightest force might break him—as if she were holding something infinitely precious, a treasure she could never bear to lose.
Subaru could feel it all—the sensation of her touch, the warmth mixed with cold from the unnatural embrace.
There was something soft pressing against his back, faintly trembling, almost human.
And then there was the scent—an intoxicating fragrance that drew him in against his will. It wasn't sweet or floral; it was something darker, something twistedly inviting.
'It smells like death,' he thought to himself, the realization oddly calm in his mind.
Then he felt it—her lips.
They brushed against his neck with a ghostly gentleness, grazing his skin so lightly that it sent shivers down his spine.
And as she pressed closer, the whisper returned, her voice melodic yet terrifyingly hollow.
"I love you…"
The words came again, soft, trembling, and endless—each repetition carrying the weight of obsession, as if she could never say it enough, as if those three words were the only truth that remained in her existence.
Subaru's expression changed in an instant, the distant, dazed look in his eyes sharpening into something cold and unyielding.
His entire demeanor shifted—his breathing slowed, his posture stiffened, and his gaze hardened like tempered steel.
"Satella," he spoke at last.
His voice came out hoarse, roughened by exhaustion and emotion, yet the name carried a weight that cut through the suffocating darkness around them.
The moment that single word left his lips, the echoing chant that had filled the air—those endless repetitions of "I love you"—abruptly stopped.
The silence that followed was absolute.
For the first time since the beginning of their countless encounters, her voice fell completely still.
Subaru's eyes slowly lifted, meeting the faces of his former comrades who stood frozen in disbelief, their expressions twisted in shock and confusion.
He could feel their eyes on him—some fearful, others uncertain—but he ignored all of them.
His focus was solely on the presence behind him.
"If you truly love me…" he began, his tone steady, each word deliberate.
"If what you feel is real—if you truly want my love in return…"
He let his words hang in the air, his gaze hard and unwavering.
Then, he continued, his voice growing firmer, colder, and far more dangerous.
"Then obey me. Follow my will. Destroy them—the ones I want you to destroy. Wipe out everyone I command you to. If you do that…" he paused for a moment, his next words heavy with dark resolve, "…then you'll have my love."
The words were a promise—and a curse.
For a brief second, everything seemed to stop.
The world itself felt like it held its breath.
Satella's shadow trembled violently, the darkness around the carriage writhing like a storm barely restrained.
She shivered, the meaning of his command sinking deep into her very essence.
From within that endless blackness, the Witch of Envy seemed to scream—not with rage, but with desperation.
It was Satella's voice, faint and broken, crying out from deep within the layers of Envy's being, pleading, begging Subaru not to make such a promise.
Her voice was filled with sorrow, fear, and something else—guilt.
But Envy?
Envy was trembling for a different reason.
The distorted presence surrounding Subaru began to pulse with excitement.
She was thrilled.
Her shivering wasn't fear—it was joy.
The entity known as Envy seemed utterly giddy, delighted by his words, as if this was the moment she had been waiting for all along.
For the first time in all of her existence—across countless eras, countless cycles of obsession and despair—it was Subaru who had spoken those words.
It was Subaru who had told her that he would love her.
Never before had he said it, never before had he even hinted at the possibility.
And yet now, those words had come from his mouth, willingly, directly, and without hesitation.
For the first time since the moment of her birth—since the moment the Witch of Envy had come into being—she felt something she had never experienced before.
Her endless, gnawing envy, the emotion that had defined her very being, began to calm.
The endless hunger that consumed her heart finally tasted a fragment of satisfaction.
The unending storm inside her, built from centuries of jealousy and longing, slowed its furious spin.
For the first time, she felt as though she had finally received something.
Something she had been denied for all eternity.
Something she had desired more than life, more than freedom, more than the world itself—his love.
Even a promise of it, even the illusion of it, was enough to make her entire existence tremble.
Even in her madness, even in her fractured, chaotic mind where reason had long been lost, those words pierced through everything.
They reached the core of who she was and anchored her completely. It was as if Subaru's command had bound her more tightly than any chain ever could.
The Witch, the being feared by the world itself, was silenced—not by power, not by force, but by the weight of his words.
And then, she spoke.
Her voice came out soft, almost trembling, filled with reverence and dangerous affection.
"As you say… my love."
The moment those words left her mouth, reality itself seemed to respond.
The iron carriage that had been restraining Subaru shattered like fragile glass, the chains disintegrating as if they had never existed.
Instantly, a violent wave of black miasma burst outward, flooding the air and spreading through every street and alley of the city.
The oppressive fog thickened, swallowing the light, consuming everything in its path.
The ground quaked, the wind howled, and the world seemed to darken under her will.
And with that, the Witch's presence—her true, unrestrained essence—was unleashed upon the city.
To be continued...
(A/N: This chapter was supposedly bigger, but I divided it into two. As it fitted better to the story)
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