Subaru currently stood in a dark space that seemed to have no end. Heaven, earth, everything around was darkness. The black-haired man felt nothing but deep anxiety as to why he was here again. Had he died again? Was Rem behind this because of his scent? Or had some assassins come to make his life difficult again? Or was this another trick by Roswaal?
He had so many questions in his head. The last thing he remembered was going to sleep, and then he found himself here.
"What the hell is going on again?" He thought as he looked around the darkness.
Suddenly he heard quiet footsteps behind him. When he turned around he saw her. Her silver hair was blowing in the wind which was strange because Subaru didn't face any wind, her purple eyes were as beautiful as a year ago during tea with the witches, but they still had a hint of madness.
"Satella." He said her name calmly, clenching his fist, preparing for the worst. "Why am I here again?"
"You're here because I have to warn you." Satella said calmly, slowly approaching Subaru so as not to scare him.
Subaru's eyes widened for a moment, unable to hear Satella's usual, "I love you, I love you, I love you," as she usually told him. When Satella and Subaru were only three meters apart, Subaru began.
"What are you trying to warn me about?"
"Before the inevitable. Before a difficult choice."
"Can you be more specific?"
"I don't know when this will happen, but at some point you will have to choose between those you love and what is right."
"What are you talking about? You never cared about my loved ones so why are you saying something like that now?!" Subaru asked loudly, unable to understand what Satella was thinking at this point.
"Personally, I would prefer you choose what is right. Your loved ones are not worth it." Satella said in her heartless voice. "The power I gave you will not help you in this, no matter how many times you die, you will lose."
"What will I lose to?! What's this all about?!"
"..."
"Answer me, damn it?!"
Satella looked at Subaru with sadness and compassion. Subaru was furious after so many loops and deaths, only now the witch in front of him decided to interfere and tell him that nothing could be done.
"I'm sorry... I can't say more."
"Why?!"
"Because the order of your history is already disrupted. If I tell you what will happen, it will end even worse."
Subaru was terrified, he had never expected to hear something like that from Satella. The fact that she was speaking to him normally seemed strange. Subaru was silent for a moment to process what he had just heard, until he finally answered Satella...
"No matter how many times I die, I will still save everyone. Because I love them. I believe in your warning and I thank you for it, but I will still fight. I am Emilia's knight after all!"
"You will regret this decision." Satella said closing her eyes.
"Perhaps, but I will never turn away from Emilia, Rem, Otto, Ram, Garfiel, no matter what challenge fate has in store for me."
"We'll see." Satella waved her hand and Subaru disappeared, returning to his body. "I admit you've been through a lot my beloved, but you won't save everyone in the coming disaster... After all, you're not..."
INVINCIBLE
...
Subaru woke up with a scream. He grabbed his chest. He breathed deeply, feeling like he had just escaped from a nightmare. For a moment, he analyzed the meeting with Satella, which sent shivers down his spine. Not wanting to let fear win, Subaru got out of bed and went to the window where he could see the garden.
"What did she mean?" The black-haired man wondered.
After getting over the shock, the Young Man changed into his black tracksuit and left the room for breakfast. While eating, Subaru seemed absent. Everyone noticed this, but said nothing. They assumed that Subaru was thinking about something important and did not want to interrupt him. But breakfast in such a quiet atmosphere was out of the question, so Emilia decided to start the conversation with a question.
"Do you know where Mark is? When Beatrice knocked on his door, he wasn't in the room."
"He flew to the moon again." Roswaal said in a sing-song voice. "He wanted to complete his physical training earlier because I want to teach him magic today."
"Really?" Emilia raised her eyebrows in surprise. "That means he'll be even stronger."
"That boy just can't let go," Beatrice said, playing with the food on her plate. "He's a bit like Subaru in his stubbornness."
At that moment, Beatrice elbowed Subaru in the ribs to stop him from thinking. The blow caused Subaru to cough, spitting out a piece of food he had been chewing for over half a minute.
"KHEM! What the hell Beako?!" The black-haired man screamed, wiping his mouth.
"Perhaps you could tell me what you're thinking about, Suuuubaru-kun?" Roswaal said, resting his chin on his hands.
"None of your business Roswaal. I guess I'm not hungry today." Subaru said indifferently, getting up from the table.
"Is everything okay, Subaru?" Emilia asked, concerned about Subaru's sudden behavior.
"Yes everything is fine Emilia I just need to go for a walk." The black-haired man replied leaving the dining room.
When he went outside he saw Mark landing as gently as possible.
"Hi Subaru, what's up?" He greeted with a wave.
"Hello Mark. How was your training?"
"Good. I feel like I'm getting faster."
"You're getting stronger too," Subaru added as they passed Mark to continue their walk.
"Okay Subaru, you seem a bit out of it." Mark asked, stopping Subaru by placing a hand on his shoulder.
"It's fine. I just feel like I need to let it out somehow."
"Then I have a great idea." Mark smiled.
...
"I'll never listen to your ,,great ideas'' again... oh shit I can't stand it!" Subaru shouted, breathing heavily as he ran after Marek.
Subaru had sandbags tied to his limbs during the run. The aim of the exercise was for the black-haired man to catch up with Mark, who was flying very slowly in front, so that Subaru would have a chance to catch up.
"You know, we were supposed to train you, not you me." The young man said, stopping in his tracks.
"Come on Subaru." Mark called, flying over to him. "I don't want to be late for training with Roswaal.
"I'm not making you wait for me!"
"Oh well." Suddenly Mark lifted Subaru up bridal style..
"What are you doing?!"
"You're my head coach, remember? You have to watch my training results."
...
Currently, Mark Subaru Emilia and Roswaal were standing in the yard as Mark's Fire Magic training began.
"Okay... I assume Roswaal has already informed you about your gate and your affinity, right?" Emilia asked, looking at Marek for an answer.
"Yes..." He recalled the words of the most powerful wizard with a hint of annoyance. "He said he was average at best and had an affinity with Fire."
"Alright, let's get started." The girl said as she used her magic to create ice twice as big as Mark.
"Mark-kun, fire magic is extremely dangerous. Even the weakest spell can kill a person. Today we will practice controlling this destructive magic. Go to the ice, place your hand on it and slowly try to melt it using the spell "GOA" and redirect it to your hand. Do you understand what you have to do?"
"Yes." Without wasting a moment, Mark walked over to the ice and put his hand on it. For a long moment, nothing happened as Mark tried to focus. "Goa..."
An orange light could be seen in the center of Mark's hand. The temperature of his hand rose significantly. The people slowly began to melt.
"This does not bode well." Roswaal said, taking a few steps away from Subaru and Emilia.
BUUUUUUUUM.
Suddenly, fire erupted from Mark's body and he lost most of his mana.
"Don't worry Mark-kun. I think you're thinking too hard about it. Try again." As he said this he asked Emilia to create another ice.
This time Mark did better and due to the smaller amount of mana he melted the ice without further incidents.
For combat practice, Emilia shot ice spears at Marek, which he destroyed with the fiery fists he created with the GOA spell.
"Very well Mark-kun, maybe controlling fire won't be as difficult for you as I thought." Roswaal clapped his hands together, suggesting a short break. "With your raw strength, it's truly impressive that you can hold back like that."
"Thanks, Roswaal, but I still need to learn to control myself. I can't rest on my laurels." Mark's expression changed from casual to surprised as he glanced down the air toward the path leading to the mansion. "Hey guys, I think we have some guests!"
"Hmmm... I should have expected someone to arrive here any moment." Roswaal said, smiling.
Mark landed on the ground. Everyone suddenly looked to where he and Roswaal were.
"What? A dragon carriage?" Subaru muttered quietly as a carriage pulled by a green and sleek earth dragon entered the estate through the main gate. "Hey, it's Wilhelm!"
"Could it be that this is about the royal elections?" Emilia asked worriedly.
"No, Mrs. Emilia. This is rather about Mark-kun's trial." Roswaal stated, looking carefully at the carriage with the Karsten coat of arms.
"So... Shall we go greet him?" Mark turned to Roswaal, pointing to Wilhelm who was getting down from the carriage.
"Yeah. Let's do it." Clown said as he went first to the Sword Demon, followed by the others.
"Hello." The blue-eyed Wilhelm bowed slightly as soon as he noticed the approaching foursome of Mark, Subaru, Emilia, and Roswaal. "Please excuse me for parking in front of your property."
"It's all right, Wilhelm." Roswaal responded to the butler's apology with a smile. "I assume you've come to inform us of the date of Mark-kun's trial, right?"
"That is correct, Lord Roswaal. At the request of the elders' council, I have traveled with Prestella to inform Mr. Grayson of his trial, which is to take place in three days. I have also been asked by my lady Crusch Karsten to escort him to the capital. House Karsten has also offered him lodging."
"I see." Roswaal nodded in response. "Would Mrs. Crusch mind if Mark and I went too and stayed at her estate?"
"My Lady will probably have no problem with that," William replied.
"Great. Since it's a bit late, we'll leave tomorrow morning. You can spend the night here, Wilhelm."
"Thank you, Lord Roswaal." Wilhelm bowed respectfully again.
"No problem."
...
After dinner, those who were going to the capital began packing. Since Mark didn't have many things, he had it the easiest. Now we can see Subaru packing for the trip to the capital. He packed a change of clothes that were more elegant than his tracksuit. He had to look elegant for Mark's trial.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that." The black-haired man said, taking a dark outfit in his hand that didn't belong to him. "And a new outfit for Mark." He said, packing it into his suitcase.
...
Roswaal's office was visited by Annerose, who was looking at the Magus with contempt. She was accompanied by Clind, who stood erect behind her.
"So to what do I owe this unexpected visit from Annerose?"
"I just wanted to make sure you didn't have any bad intentions towards Emily and Sir Subaru. Mark Grayson's appearance could have changed things."
"I have no bad intentions. I couldn't even do that, remember?"
"Just don't make yourself an enemy of Mr. Grayson. I've seen what he's capable of from the windows of the mansion. I wouldn't want to suffer the consequences of your foolish actions."
"Calm down, I'm not up to anything!" Roswaal called in a singsong voice, smiling foolishly. "I believe that even without my interference, everything will turn out as I wish."
...
The next morning, everyone was ready to leave. Ram, Rem, Annerose, Clind, Petra, and Meili watched as the group consisting of Subaru, Beatrice, Emilia, Roswaal, Mark, and Frederica boarded the carriage that would take them to the city led by Wilhelm.
"Make sure you bring me something back from your trip, Onii-san." Meili called out to Subaru. "I'm getting more and more bored of sitting on my phone and doing nothing all day."
"I'll probably try." He said as he got into the carriage.
"Take care of yourself, Frederica-Onee-san." Petra called.
"Of course."
"We wish you good luck in your trial, Mr. Grayson." Annerose said stoicly.
"Thank you."
Everyone said goodbye to each other, wishing Marek good luck..
"Goodbye, Onii-san and the other Onii-san." Meili also waved while the others did so.
With a wave of the reins, the earth dragon took off, trotting toward the road leading out of the estate. As the carriage passed through a nearby village that Mark and the others had visited frequently in recent days, the villagers saluted Mark, Subaru, and his companions.
And so our heroes set off for the capital.