'Subaru... acting like such a playboy,' To see him so easily tease and flirt with almost every girl was... 'It's so.... infuriating!' A part of Emilia absolutely did not like seeing Subaru, whether or not he was her version, flirt with other women so easily.
"Emilia?"
"He should only be acting like that towards me...!" She muttered in frustration.
Rem shook her head in disagreement, "Mhm. Maybe, but Rem would be the best wife Subaru could ever ask for!"
"Ptch!" Priscilla merely scoffed.
"What is that supposed to mean, Priscilla-sama?" Rem asked politely, though her tone indicated something else.
Before Emilia could respond Crusch interrupted, "Rem, Emilia, it would be best if we do not talk about something so trivial for now."
Even though Crusch knew that her point was valid, she could not help but have some small, annoyed part still present after all of this time.
While surely she knew it was insignificant, perhaps even trivial in the face of the people that she might be competing against, she slowly started to come to a revelation.
'When Lust Subaru was talking to them... even to me....' Crusch knew that it did not count, that it was not their Subaru who was talking to her in such a manner, 'But they shared the same voice, the same body and.... it made me feel warm...'
It did. Even if it did not truly count there was still a possibility that Crusch might actually have a loving, romantic relationship. The Lust Reality they had heard of might through Lustbaru, even if not in the monogamous way that she hoped, meant that they could get into a relationship.
'I feel so... warm about the thought of it.' Crusch managed to hide her internal thoughts from everyone.
"Sloth, Gluttony, Greed and now Lust have passed," Wilhelm said, "All of them had quite interesting stories. All of them seemed so..." Wilhelm did not finish the sentence...
"It looks indeed like Natsuki-san seems to suffer terrible fates, no matter what," Anastasia remarked, then her voice got a bit sad, "Well, besides Lust, hah..." She couldn't help but chuckle at that, "With a life like that he seems quite satisfied."
All of the candidates married to Natsuki-kun? Anastasia did find the idea interesting on some level.
'To get to that goal, Natsuki-kun still had to suffer quite a bit. A lot... He, Greed, Gluttony and all the others. No matter what... it seems that Natsuki-san must die here...' Throughout learning about Subaru, she came to see nigh everything about him. All of his failures and successes, 'Truly, the world seems to just be unjust towards you.' She sighed next to Julius.
While Lustbaru was here, Julius did not have much to say or do. In this reality, it seemed there was nothing relevant for him and some of the other men around.
Nonetheless, without even being mentioned Julius already knew that he did not matter in that reality, 'I seem to only matter in a negative light to my friend... why am I still even calling him my friend?
All of these realities that he heard about reminded him of his failures.
Many of the knights felt the same, though some had a different outlook on it. Wilhelm knew of his own failures, yet he was confident that he will change them and become better.
Felix knew of his own failure, but he already knew that. Even when he tried to become better, the feeling of failure might just never leave his mind.
Many felt the same, others did not.
It stayed that way.
"Heads or tails."
It was a phrase that now defined Subaru Natsuki's life.
Ever since gaining starting his current path, that phrase guided him.
There were many things that defined Subaru.
Yet, one of the things he himself knew was that he almost did not sleep.
He could not sleep.
Never.
'I don't want to die again.'
That thought reverberated throughout his mind daily.
'Where is.... where am I?' It was impossible. There was absolutely no way unless that this could happen without her, 'I was drugged? Another assassination attempt? But I'm still alive.''
He was somewhere he could be touched. Killed, even.
Gaunt arms pushed himself up as he saw many eyes focused on him. Many colourless people stared at his ugly face. Each and every single one of them with varying levels of interest and...
'Beatrice? How I... I killed her?' Yet, there she was, staring at him with those butterfly eyes. And for a second, just for a second she still had that colour.
Then he realised it.
'Is she fake? She has to be fake she can't be anything else...'
Subaru then saw her lose her colour, slowly as if he was being mocked after his realisation had occurred.
Another hope had been lost.
He could not trust her existence.
The idea of Beatrice not being a trustworthy existence was enough to crush him.
"It seems another Natsuki-kun has arrived and he seems not well," Anastasia remarked as she scoured his appearance for any information about him.
'I've failed. I'm going to die again.'
It was horrifying.
"Subaru?"
Emilia.
It was Emilia's voice that rang out.
Subaru's hollow eyes immediately focused on Emilia's face. A face so different. Her eyes shone with care that somehow did not remind him of when he last saw her.
Was he betrayed by her? Was this her final 'hoorah'?
The Purge King saw the colour drain from her appearance. The feeling became so painful that he wanted to cry.
"Emilia... and...." Subaru's croaked out as eyes widened ever so slightly at Rem.
The monstrous woman who killed him. The one who tortured him and let him die.
For a second he felt the blood leaking from his leg again.
He started to feel the phantom pains again.
"S-Subaru-kun?" Rem asked gently as she saw Subaru's eyes, "I get that this might be a surprise." She of course did not know much of anything about this Subaru, who knows what life he might have lived.
She was there.
The woman that had betrayed and killed him.
The woman that had destroyed his pathetic, awful self was here and... alive?
'Fake. It has to be fake!' He thought resolutely, his fear of all the possibilities arising once more. 'There is no other way! I... am I seeing things again? Did I time my sleep wrong? Did some sort of drug affect my perception?'
WrathBaru never kept his eyes off them no matter how rampant his thoughts went.
"Boy," Priscilla of all people was the one to say something else, "Do not think you can mask your panic from mineself."
"Panic? Subaru is panicking?" Petra asked Priscilla, who merely gestured to Subaru's unhealthy face, his eyes barely betraying anything.
Though if one looked closely, they saw the hint of terror present in his very being.
Many of the perceptive members of the cast saw it, the small shake in his head. The iota of worry that lingered on his face,
'You are... frightened to death of them. They in particular.'
It was a thought shared by many of them.
"Who... who are any of you?" WrathBaru asked hollowly, already accepting his most possible demise as the finality here.
"You... Do you know any of us here, Subaru?" Crusch asked the Purge King calmly.
'Know them? Of course, I do know you all.' The Purge King thought, 'All of them were possible enemies, they were all colourless.'
"Yes," The Purge King had one hand in his pocket that held the coin, "You are all reputable people."
"Yet... You talk like you're not familiar with us. Like we're not your friends." Emilia said, before asking something else, "Are none of us here friends with you?"
The Purge King thought about it.
'---When the Witch's Scent lies so thickly upon you!'
His gaze focused back on Rem and Ram.
For a few seconds, he felt Ram's grip across his throat again.
'I'll kill you!'
The answer was obvious.
"I have no friends." The Purge King shook his head in dismissal.
Whether or not this was a dream did not matter. He saw himself before his path had occurred still sleeping there close to them.
He would most likely die soon enough anyway. What did it matter?
"That's sad." Emilia said to him, "I'm so sorry to hear that. I know life is a lot better with friends though, Subaru. Maybe you can make some friends like... Otto!"
"Me?" Otto looked in surprise and smiled somewhat at that, "I... Thank you for naming me first, Emilia-sama."
"I don't know who you are, though." The Purge King told Otto to his face.
"Natsuki-san," Otto frowned, "A world in which we never met and became friends. It sounds awful. Perhaps we could've been friends in your reality."
"I doubt that." The Purge King dismissed it.
The Purge King didn't care to shrug or say anything about it.
"What is this place? Where am I?" The Purge King asked no one in particular, not even expecting a proper answer. 'These people have no motive to help me. I have no power over any of them.'
Priscilla sighed before answering first, "Boy, you are summoned here from whatever reality you came from to speak with us. You are one of many versions in existence. We have met some before you. There, now you know." She finished off with an annoyed sigh.
Everyone looked at her.
"Minself was annoyed with any of us having to explain it in one way or another. So, I did it for you. Be grateful for my kindness." Priscilla stated with a dismissive scoff.
Felt frowned, "Yeah, yeah. Fine. Whatever," She waved her off with an equally dismissive frown, "So... yeah, it's kind of like that. We saw what our Subaru had gone through throughout his loops when he was with us in this theatre." She gestured around herself to indicate it, "I'm guessing that you also have that power?"
"I see," The Purge King muttered, "Very well then, regardless of whatever superpower brought me here it seems I have to talk to you all."
"So.... Barusu," Ram started off calmly, yet the look she had received for calling him by that nickname did not make him seem happy, "What is your story?"
"My story?" The Purge King started off quietly, making sure to not look at Ram in the eye, "I'm a businessman."
It was the safest answer he could provide.
"A businessman?" Julius remarked, "You share the same profession as my lady?"
"A businessman with the nickname Purge King?" Frederica spoke curiously, "That is quite an ominous name for a businessman."
Frederica.
The woman he forced to serve him was not looking at him with such hatred anymore.
'How unrealistic.' The Purge King thought morbidly, 'They have to be from another reality. There are no doubts now. They don't know yet how despicable I am. Though, if I have to talk then surely they'll find out how disgusting I am.'
"You say you are a businessman, Subaru." Crusch spoke calmly, "Is that truly the case?"
The Purge King nodded, "Yes, I run a large business."
'It's best to keep it vague as possible. If they know about my actions, my death won't be possible anymore. My death will be a certainty.'
"Subaru, are you sick?" Petra asked kindly as she saw his hollowed-out face.
He looked like a walking corpse.
"Subaru-kun, if you are unwell it might be best to sit down and relax for a moment!" Rem offered up kindly.
'Shut up. I don't need to hear that from you!' Subaru thought worriedly, yet he kept it hidden as well as he could, "I'm fine."
Crusch shook her head, already starting to feel sad, "That is not true, Subaru. You are lying."
"Does it matter?" He gripped the coin in his pocket with all of the strength his weak body could muster.
"S-Subaru, your eyes have bags. Have you been sleeping properly?"
The Purge King shrugged, "Does it matter?" He repeated.
"It does matter."
"Are we going to talk about my body or anything else?"
"Tch, boy. It would be annoying if you were to drop dead in front of us without telling mineself anything interesting." Priscilla voiced.
'I... I have the coin. The coin will decide whether to tell them or not.' The Purge King grabbed the coin out of his pocket.
"Subaru-kyun? What's the coin for?" Felix asked curiously to the Purge King.
The Purge King's nasty, vile eyes focused on Felix.
"To decide."
"To decide what, Subaru?" Wilhelm asked him, wondering why he needed a coin to decide anything.
"Heads, I'll tell you. Tails? I won't tell you and we move on." The Purge King left nothing up for argument as he already tossed the coin.
The Purge King saw it land, and he knew it would be tails. He saw that it was going to land on it. Everyone did.
The Purge King looked at the coin and somehow....
"Heads?" The Purge King was not happy with that. Did he look wrong? Did he make a mistake?
"Heads it is, Subaru-kun~" Roswaal smiled, "It's nothing important yet. So please, tell us about your health. We are all so concerned."
"Fine," The Purge King frowned but complied nonetheless.
The Purge King looked at everyone and decided to keep speaking in a manner that benefitted him the most.
"I don't sleep well. I don't sleep much at all. I sleep only when I'm... safe."
Even the word 'safe' felt wrong to say.
"Safe? Subaru were you in danger?" Emilia asked worriedly, "Are people after you in your world?"
He was almost never safe. Everyone was coming to get him eventually.
"I'm never safe with anyone," The Purge King stated, 'The only ones that I can trust are the ones that have colour. None of them have colour.
"Why?" Ram asked curiously, "Barusu, is it the reason you cannot sleep well?"
"The answer is obvious," The Purge King, "Can you not deduce it and don't call me Barusu!" He could not contain his disgust at the possibility again.
Ram and almost everyone else recoiled at the sudden sneer on The Purge King's face. To suddenly hear his monotone and dry voice have some level of emotion, and one that drastic was surprising.
Crusch looked at The Purge King with a frown, "Subaru, is there any reason for you to talk with such anger? Might the two of you in your reality not have a hospitable relationship?"
"....."
"Tell them."
The Warden spoke commandingly after keeping quiet for quite some time.
"Who are you-?"
"I'm the one that organised all of this. Now, how about you tell them a bit more clearly? You'll be leaving soon enough anyway. What does it matter if you tell them? You might learn something yourself."
With that, the Warden's voice vanished and only left a disgruntled and somewhat scared Purge King behind.
'Everywhere I go it seems that my life is in danger. How interesting.' The Purge King thought, finding some humour in the thought of it.
"Now then? Why did you talk to our dear Ram like that~?" Roswaal smiled creepily.
"I don't want a girl who hates me to act like we are cordial with one another." The Purge King clarified.
"But Nee-sama only teases you sometimes, Subaru-kun." Rem tried to hope it was just that, "She doesn't mean it."
"I doubt it, seriously." The Purge King muttered with a disgruntled wave.
"Then what happened, Subaru?" Wilhelm asked calmly, "Did something happen between the two of you?"
'I'm being forced to talk about this without my coin. My coin can't help me decide. I'm stuck' He wanted to tear off his scalp at this damnable reality.
Tails, he clarified.
Heads, he left it be at a 'disgruntled relationship'.
"That coin again," Priscilla scoffed, "Can you not dare make decisions without it, boy?"
The Purge King ignored her and focused on his coin, hoping that it landed.
Yet once again it landed on the undesirable choice.
It looked like it moved unnaturally, for just a second.
The Purge King looked at them, his zombie-esque face became very still, "I don't want a woman who betrayed me, chased me down and tried to kill me to speak to me like that."
There, he said it.
Ram looked horrified at the sheer idea of it.
"Me? Try to kill you? I can't imagine any possible reason that I would try--" Ram stopped suddenly.
There was.
And everyone knew it.
Rem's eyes widened in shock, "Subaru-kun..."
He looked at Rem with fear and anger.
"Do you mean when I died? When Nee-sama tried to kill you? Are you talking about that time?" Rem asked with worry, "Aft... After I tr-tried to get you in that wretched loop and nee-sama.... Are you talking about the loop after that?"
".... Yes."
Subaru held onto that grudge it seems.
"You didn't forgive us?" The sisters asked him, both had a level of hurt on their faces.
"Why would I?" The Purge King looked at them with a hollow expression.
Even though they knew it was unreasonable.
Even though they knew that Subaru had every right to not forgive either of them.
'It hurts so much.' They thought, feeling equally hurt by the idea of it.
"So, I'm dead?" Rem asked him sadly, "You never saved me."
The Purge King nodded at Rem, "Yes. There was no reason to when you could come back and kill me any time you felt like it."
Though there was one problem.
Beatrice raised her hand to Subaru, who looked back at her with some level of tenderness, "That would mean that you somehow found some way to beat the Pink One, I suppose. Did you also contract with Betty to avoid your death?"
A world where she did not fail.
A world where she protected her contractor from death and beat the one that tried to harm him.
Beatrice liked the thought of it.
"You let me stay with you, Beatrice," The Purge King said to her, "You saved my life that night, for whatever reason."
"So Beatrice beat Ram?" Emilia simply stated, "That would mean that either Ram was spared by Beatrice or killed by her."
Julius crossed his arms, "While I like such a possibility, Emilia-sama, I doubt that Ram would give up so easily. I wouldn't give up so easily if my brother was killed."
"So Ram was killed?" Roswaal muttered wistfully, "What an interesting reality."
"Pheh, it seems you are all quite hasty in your assumptions. I do not recall that gaunt boy confirming any of your ideas," Priscilla interrupted with a haughty smirk, after which she focused on The Purge King.
"Boy, is it true that the spirit girl beat that vile pink maid?" Priscilla demanded an answer, "Or did something else happen?"
Beatrice looked up.
No...
It would mean she also failed again and again.
"No, I beat Ram. Many MaBeasts chased after us but they got to Ram first. They weakened her and when she and I met... I grabbed a rock after she failed to kill me. What happened after that is obvious." The Purge King said.
Priscilla merely looked at The Purge King with a frown.
"You are not as smart as you think you are." She said before grabbing her fan.
"Priscilla, what do you mean by that?" Emilia asked curiously.
"Figure it out yourself, half-wit." Priscilla scoffed.
"And um..." Emilia thought about what she could ask, before the answer became obvious, "Ah, Subaru do you know are other selves in your world?"
"Yes, Emilia. I've talked with you on quite a number of occasions." The Purge King knew he had to be as strict as possible, "Not that much, though."
Ever since he realised they have no colour like the rest, even Beatrice and Emilia since she did not do anything to be trustworthy he had to be careful and polite as he usually was.
"Oh, so we're still friends." Emilia sighed in relief.
"Friends is an off way to put it."
The voice of the warden reverberated as The Purge King wanted to pull his own ears off as this meant something else.
"Purge King, tell them about yourself. No more half-assing it, okay?"
The Purge King said nothing.
"So... uh... what kind of business do you have, bro?" Al asked, "Like finance, trading or whatever."
The Purge King knew this was it. The warden looking over his shoulder and making sure he was honest was a terrible thing to happen. He had no way of knowing what to do or how to prevent it from happening.
"I'm a criminal."
"Oh... that's an interesting profession," Al remarked casually.
"Wait, Subaru-dono. You're a criminal in your world?" Wilhelm asked in concern, "Why?"
The Purge King looked evenly at everyone, seeing their judging gazes at him already.
'They must be thinking about it already.'
Without his guards here he had no defence.
So there was but one thing to do.
"Because it was the only path forward. My eyes had been opened to my true nature. It was clear. This life was to be my destiny." A resolute answer from a dead man walking.
It was the only thing he seemed to accept as a fact of life.
"T-That can't be true." Surprisingly, it was Reinhard of all people to speak first after The Purge King had spoken, "Subaru, you're my friend. Even if something so horrid had happened to you surely you know you could have become a hero. Just like you wanted."
For the first time, The Purge King actually had a look of surprise, his face showcasing that he did not believe it anymore.
"S-Subaru," Petra started off slowly and quietly, "Did you save my village?"
It was a futile question. One that Petra already knew the answer to.
But she hoped nonetheless.
"The village died. I don't know how I would save it." The Purge King shrugged.
"W-When you stayed behind and forgave Rem and Ram!" Petra proclaimed, "Our Subaru forgave them and saved everyone! He became a hero!"
'A hero? Me? Staying behind and trusting... it made me a hero?' He thought curiously, but he didn't know if it was true. At their core, they were still evil people.
"Okay, so what?" The Purge King gripped his coin, playing with it loosely.
Petra's eyes widened, perhaps finally seeing The Purge King for what he truly was.
'I hope she does. I can't handle this agonizing wait anymore.' It was the blow that he didn't know would come and one that he could never avoid now.
"I... It's okay, Subaru. You couldn't have known." Petra gave him a sweet smile as she pushed down her sadness, "It's alright."
Alright? She was fine with it?
Why was she acting like that?
He didn't care about her at all. He hadn't seen her in YEARS. She was just some dead girl who didn't have the chance to hate him in his reality yet.
"But Subaru, there is a pressing matter ahead here. What do you specifically mean by you being a criminal? What do you do?" Julius questioned, 'Why? Why have you become that? You are so, so much better than me and yet you still chose to be like this. Or.... Or did we force you?'
The thought of him failing again, whether or not it be a different reality or not, was another blow to his chest. Allowing Subaru to become a criminal.
"I take what I want when I need it. That's about it." The Purge King spoke simply, 'There is no reason for me to clarify what is obvious.'
Yet, everyone saw it.
This wasn't a Subaru who had been altered like Gluttony or Greed.
No, he might have actually started to choose to go down his path himself.
"Subaru, then what about the people who disagree with your path? What do you do with them? How do you deal with them?" Crusch hoped that there was some resemblance left of his old self, the one she saw before his path had altered from her Subaru's.
"They die." The Purge King spoke naturally, it was a reality he had been used to after all. 'What is there to change? It's my role.'
A role that he used to gain what little colour he had left in his life.
"You... you kill people, Subaru?" Emilia asked worriedly, now seeing the difference clear and day between The Purge King and his alternate Gluttony self, "Be-Because you have to, right?"
"Because the coin decided it." He sharply cut in, "The coin helps decide how and where."
"You... you are not lying, Su... Purge King. Is that why you are called the Purge King?" Reinhard asked worriedly.
"Big Bro.... you are actually someone like that in your reality? Really?" Felt asked him with surprise and worry.
'Of course, I am that despicable.'
"Yes. I am what you think I am"
"I...I don't think so."
Surprisingly, it wasn't Rem, Emilia, Felt or anyone else obviously who had said that.
It was Ram.
"Subaru, I don't think you really are like that." Ram voiced calmly, ignoring the growing terror in his eyes. "I don't think you really want to be like this. I know it."
".... And what would you know about me?" The Purge King couldn't help but sneer to her, "I know what I am."
Ram shook her head, "Because it isn't in you to truly be like a monster. Just like how it isn't in our Subaru. And you are him, no matter what path you took."
For a split second, the Purge King looked at her, and then he muttered in an annoyed sense, "I doubt that."
'You doubt it. So, there might really be a part of that old you still in there?' Ram thought sadly.
Emilia had nothing to say, even at this moment there was nothing else to feel or think, 'I failed to protect him in that world. I should have been more careful. I... I should've been better. But, it's no use blaming myself now. I'm going to help Subaru however much I can.'
"She's right, big bro. We know you, even if you are different here, we saw your life happening. We saw everything you are capable of! Even if you are a criminal now, you can turn it around! You... you--" Felt couldn't say anything anymore because of that bone-chilling sound that unnerved her.
The Purge King chuckled.
It sounded like he hadn't drunk any liquid or eaten in days. His throat sounded dry as it was clear that the sound of laughing did not occur in his body for years.
"You know me? I'm Subaru Natsuki, The Purge King."
He had enough of this farce.
Their own Subaru might be much better than him, but it was clear that at his own core, he would stay despicable no matter the comparison.
"I let Rem die. I bashed Ram's head into the ground. I decided how to kill a man with the help of a coin. I run the world's largest criminal organisation. I run and have done every crime imaginable. I have killed more people than most can imagine." The Purge King found solace in this fact, the confirmation of his very nature.
"Subaru, please stop." Emilia pleaded with him, her voice resolute as she declared the following, "We know you made mistakes, even severe ones that most can't forgive, but that doesn't mean you can't be better."
"I killed so many."
"How many did you kill?" Priscilla asked, "Come on, tell us then? It seems you want to be the world's villain quite badly. Tell us. Or perhaps our warden shall?"
"Subaru had ordered more than 125,000 deaths." The warden spoke matter-of-factly.
Wilhelm had his eyes widened, such a number was almost unheard of.
"So many deaths...? Those numbers are almost unimaginable." Felix muttered in horror.
Julius felt anger for letting all of that happen, "How... How did the knights not stop you yet? How... are we... did we truly fail like that? In such a spectacular fashion!?"
Priscilla widened her eyes ever so slightly, she now knew the boy was not exaggerating, "That is quite a number, boy. It seems you were somewhat telling the truth."
"I... I cannot judge you for this, Subaru-dono." Wilhelm muttered, "I too have killed many people, deserving or not. Perhaps the only difference between us knights and you is that we do it for our country."
"Wh...As I healer, I cannot accept this as good, Subaru. But... even I don't know what happened for you to order those murders. So while I find it disgusting, I accept what you did." Felix made clear he was not okay with it nor accepted it.
But he understood.
Julius just shook his head at his failures. At his country's failures.
"I don't need to hear it from you! At least the other Emilia had some colour. At least I could trust her. The other you, Ram, Beatrice are the only ones with colour. And do you understand this? None of you have that colour. None. So why would I trust any of you?" The Purge King
"Color? What do you mean by that, Subaru-kyun?" Felix asked worriedly, "Did something happen to make you not see colours?"
"Perhaps it was that vile demon maid who strangled him." Priscilla remarked something so morbid in such a casual manner, "Look at the marks on his neck hidden behind his scarf. Perhaps he gained brain damage." She shook her head.
"Betty having colour? What do you mean with that, I suppose?" Beatrice asked worriedly, even if it wasn't her contractor she didn't want Subaru to suffer no matter what happened. Even if it was an alternate version of him. She knew how kind and loving the boy, her beloved contractor, was.
"It's because you don't trust any of us, Subaru?" Julius smiled sadly at the confirmation.
"What happened with the rest of us then, I wonder? What did the other versions of us do to still keep your trust, I suppose?" Beatrice asked The Purge King.
'Her beautiful butterfly eyes weren't crying tears of joy as when he released her from her suffering. No, she was genuine ---'
The Purge King looked at her again.
'What would it have been like to keep you alive? Would you still have your colours? Would you and I be... friends, perhaps? No, that is an impossible reality. No matter how much I wish to repay you, I can't undo it.'
"You're dead. You saved my life and then I repaid you, Beatrice." The Purge King admitted suddenly, "I liberated you."
"D...Did you free the other Betty, I wonder?" Beatrice asked curiously, hoping for the other Beatrice to have a happy ending.
The Purge King remembered when he recently entered that library in order to fulfil his task.
"I was him. I was the one you were waiting for. So I killed you and freed you. The other Beatrice is free now." The Purge King spoke, perhaps a tiny hint of somberness hidden at his choice.
No matter how right it seemed at that moment.
For some reason, Beatrice's crying face always stuck with him as he stabbed her.
"You... You killed Betty?" Beatrice muttered, "I.... I see, I suppose. Betty accepts why you did it, in fact. She knows why you thought it was right for the other Betty to meet an end such as that, I suppose." She smiled sadly.
'It... can't be right. I know she wanted this but I expected this Beatrice to hate me!' The Purge King's gaunt face almost recoiled in worry and fear.
"Betty just wishes that you and she would be contractors in that reality, I suppose. Betty's Contractor here had promised her a lifetime of happiness, in fact. But it is okay, Subaru." Beatrice comforted the Purge King.
The Purge King could not think anymore.
He found that belief he had been stripped away.
"I... I...." He wanted his coin. Even if there was nothing to decide he pathetically wanted his coin.
Then, she broke her silence.
"S-Subaru-kun. I... we turned you into this....?" Rem muttered in a horrified manner. It wasn't enough.
The Purge King aimed his head straight at Rem, happy for any distraction to help him.
"No, I just realised what I was. I was a despicable creature that everyone wants to kill." The Purge King smiled, somehow finding release at stating it. Hoping that by at least stating it they knew what they were supposed to think of him damnit!
He was a murderer who killed and killed.
Nothing he did would make up for it.
No matter if he looped a thousand times to save the ones he sentenced to death, it would not matter.
The knights recoiled at this.
Was this what Subaru thought of them? People who just wanted to come and kill him?! To hurt him!
No, none of them wanted that. No matter how much this Subaru might have suffered and done to others they did not want it.
They wanted to help him be better.
"Subaru," Emilia voiced tenderly, "No one here wants to kill you. No one here wants to hurt you. I know that there a things that happened that made you get hurt a.. a lot. But I promise you, even if it isn't with us we just want you to be able to be happy."
The Purge King just frowned at that, "It's... It's far too late for that."
"Why, Subaru? Why is that? The hero that Rem knows can always come back and be better no matter what he does. Even if it is something like what you've told us, we know you can do your best to make amends." Rem pleaded with The Purge King to listen to her.
"After I killed you, I escaped your sister in that forest with the help of Beatrice." The Purge King spoke.
"Why are you telling us this again, Natsuki-kun?" Anastasia asked him gently to not agitate him.
Priscilla raised her eyebrow in interest, it seemed it was going to get interesting now, 'It seems that boy is capable of so much more than this viewing showed us. Even if his current profession is unwanted.'
"When Ram found me she strangled me, after the mabeasts had attacked her she had no energy left. All she had was that hatred in her eyes, the one thing I could trust." The Purge King reminisced, "She fell down and you know what I did after that? I bashed her head in with a rock. But you didn't die, Ram."
Everyone stayed silent as they were learning what truly started to happen.
"You lived, Ram. So I dragged your body to safety. I found ways to nurse and heal you. I made sure everything about you was taken care of to the standard that you needed to live. The crimes I was starting to run helped in funding your expensive costs. But it didn't matter."
His hollow, dead eyes focused on them all. They started to glaze as if they had some fog behind them.
"I had someone with colours. I had someone I could trust." The Purge King spoke wistfully.
"So.... I'm still alive in your world, Subaru?" Ram asked him quietly, "I'm stuck with you? But... what did the other Ram think of that?"
"She hated it. I know she did. She hated my existence down to its very core. But it was okay, I could trust that." The Purge King told her her fate.
A fate that meant her imprisonment for life if Subaru wanted to.
"And... and what happened to the rest of us?" Emilia asked gently.
"I found Emilia, who did not want to participate in the election anymore. Together with Puck, I imprisoned you in a cage, Emilia. A room whiter than your hair and whiter than snow. You never left that room. I was grateful for it. You stayed the same. I knew what to expect from you. I know what hid in your heart regardless of what you clung to." The Purge King didn't stop talking.
"Puck... Puck helped you imprison me? Why? I... I knew what he did and what he can be like but he would go that far just to have me stay like... like a doll?" Emilia was horrified, regardless of her hope that Puck and she could be together again it seemed that another shard of that possibility broke down, "Why? Why did I stop being in the selection? I wanted to unfreeze Eleanor Forest! I wanted to help fight the discrimination. I just... I just stopped?"
"You did. Being stuck like that was something that you got to understand. Perhaps, in some way you learned to live with it, perhaps even love and enjoy it." The Purge King spoke cynically.
"I see..." Emilia just accepted it, "A world where I became even more like a doll. It's not a pleasant fate. But Subaru... I'm still happy that you trust me. Even if it's for the wrong reasons."
She hated the fate that her counterpart got.
She wanted her alternate self to grow and get better.
Though she couldn't do that.
'Only this Subaru can do that.'
"So please save yourself and your Emilia too, please?" Emilia asked him gently.
The Purge King just wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it.
Yet, somehow he could not.
"I killed Roswaal. I got him killed by one of my bodyguards Cecilus." The Purge King continued, "No other could stop me because I had Hallibel on my side..
Roswaal looked surprised, before smiling bitterly, "It seems that I failed in that reality as well, though more permanently this time."
"You... you had Vollachia's strongest on your side? You had Cecilus?" Reinhard spoke in befuddlement, he knew how strong Cecilus was, "Cecilus and Halibel?"
"How did you manage to do that? Cecilus is loyal from what I've heard." Felix asked in amazement, "Yet you managed to convince him. You also gained Halibel on your side? Did you... did you loop to do it? You are...."
The Purge King was not surprised by any stretch of the imagination that the taboo did not work here.
It was so interesting.
Julius just looked on, yet not surprised by what Subaru is able to do.
"It seems you have no limits, Subaru." Julius remarked, "Even if it is for all the wrong reasons, you manage to amaze us all. To gain those formidable, legendary people on your side in your... activities."
Why were they all reacting like this?
Once more, he came close to an idea that he hated.
"I made Frederica Baumann my slave."
Frederica recoiled in horror at her alternate self's fate, "W...Why? Why me?"
"I needed a maid, so I chose you. I could rely on your colourlessness. I could rely on your hate." He clarified easily for her.
"You enslaved my sister?" Garfiel spoke up from his long silence, not knowing when to talk or even say anything.
He had no importance here. His alternate self shared no history with this Subaru.
Though perhaps they did in that world.
"Why, captain?" Garfiel asked, "You did something like that to my sis? Something so disgusting? I.... You're...."
The Purge King would enjoy what would come next.
At least someone had the sense to hate him.
"You're... sad." Garfiel shook his head in dismay and sadness for The Purge King.
The Purge King did not smile nor enjoy it.
"Subaru-sama," Frederica spoke those words without the hidden and thinly veiled hatred that he was accustomed to, "I did not expect something like that from you. Even at such a sad and lonely point in your life. Though, I simply wish to tell you one thing, no, ask you one thing."
Frederica spoke with a calm gaze.
"Please try to be better."
Such a simple sentence felt soul-crushing.
"I....?" He looked around for anyone to give a response he wanted to hear so desperately.
He felt more pathetic than at any moment of his life.
"Tch, do not look at me, mongrel. You will have no pity from me. No matter what happened, you chose to go down this path. There is no pity to be found from me." Priscilla sneered at him, her voice conveying the facts he didn't want to hear, she grabbed her fan and pointed at him.
"I'm sorry, Natsuki-kun. I have to agree with Priscilla-san, though. Anyone here can accept why you did what you did to Roswaal and the Oni Twins but you have gone too far." Anastasia spoke further, no hesitation in her voice, "There is no excuse to be like this."
Crusch looked at The Purge King, seeing his weak-looking appearance. He was so terrified of everything and everyone that it broke her heart.
She didn't want Subaru to suffer like this.
She loved him and she knew what Subaru was truly capable of.
Wilhelm had nothing to say now, he had trusted his lady would convey what they all meant.
"Subaru, they are right." She told him, "Everything you have done is because of your own perception of yourself and others. You have your reasons, I understand that you have suffered a lot. But you can't just think that this is all you can do. You are capable of so much more.
"They're right!" Rem voiced with tears on the edges of her eyes, "I know I don't have any right to say this, but I can't help it. Subaru, I've seen you at your lowest and still loved you no matter what. I loved Subaru-kun because of his actions, how he is as a person, how he is becoming a hero and not only mine but many."
"I.... I can't. It's far too late for that." Subaru looked up at them, his skeletal visage containing nothing but tiredness and weakness now, "'No, I've walked too far on this path. I can't go back anymore. I can't change what I've done."
"S..Subaru..." Ram murmured with sadness.
Almost all of them looked at him with sadness in their eyes.
Did they truly fail to help him?
"It's time for him to go, everyone. Say goodbye, Subaru."
The warden spoke as it started to happen.
"Goodbye, Subaru."
Many said while some looked on in silence.
The Purge King.
Subaru Natsuki.
He looked back at them.
Did it really matter? Did any of this mean anything?
It surely didn't.
His path was set.
Even so, he did see that small speck of colour as he turned back.
He faced forward and left.
Maybe... just maybe... It meant something