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Translated by:
- Garcar
- Ringo
Proofread by:
- Eliman7
Art Sources:
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Yae: [――Al-sama, how about you quit yearning for the sun?]
When she had spoken those words, he did not know what sort of emotions or expectations she had harbored.
His own position was that of controlling her through fear, binding her with hatred, and utilizing the guarantee of her desires for revenge. From her perspective, it ought to have been satisfying to see him so cornered.
Only, the fact of the matter was that she had given many reactions that were not coherent with that line of thought.
In that case, just what were the true motivations hidden behind her contradictory attitude?
He had given up searching for that answer. ――Only one thing, was certain.
Aldebaran: [――Expand Territory, Matrix Redefinition.]
The advice given by Yae Tenzen had removed a single shackle that had been present within Aldebaran.
Though not deliberately self-imposed, it had been an subconsciously placed shackle, inhibitor, hurdle―― psychological chains that had slammed the brakes on the overpowering quality of Aldebaran’s Authority.
Now that he was free from those chains, the options available to Aldebaran expanded to an infinite domain――.
Aldebaran: [Target, twelve o’clock to three o’clock. ――Fire, Alter.]
“Aldebaran”: [Alright, Origin.]
Responding to the order without hesitation, “Aldebaran”, who had been waiting in the background, stretched out its wings.
Alter, it had expressed no confusion in regards to that alias. By way of the Book of the Dead, the update in his intentions had already been communicated. The alias Origin was also an easily understandable, but trivial matter.
Without the room to put his opinions on that alias into words, a white light―― the Dragon’s breath was unleashed.
Aldebaran: [――――]
The Divine Dragon’s dragonhusk, the tremendous might of its breath demonstrated the maximum capabilities of its specs, and proved to be a fine article that even the Sword Saint, Reinhard van Astrea, had just barely managed to neutralize.
And on the current battlefield, with the Sword Saint absent―― nay, on the area that could not even be described as a battlefield, the breath was unleashed, razing it to the ground; everything natural, everything man-made, and most notably, all life consisting of not just plants and animals, but humans too, was erased.
The range output of the Dragon’s fully-powered breath reached out to several kilometers, and anyone unfortunate enough to be engulfed by the light of ruin that arrived without giving any warning would cease to exist, lacking even the time to register pain.
――And now, passing the order to “Aldebaran”, Aldebaran had performed that deed.
Aldebaran: [――――]
As commanded, twelve o’clock to three o’clock―― scorching down the area signified by directions corresponding to the positions on a clock, it reduced all who stood in its path to naught.
In all likelihood, the lives lost could not have been counted in just the hundreds or the thousands, but numbered well in the realm of the tens of thousands.
???: [Ha-ha-haa~, well done~!]
Laying his eyes upon that which could only be described as tyranny, the act of brutally trampling all in one’s path, the suspended Roy Alphard snickered in amusement. Strung up with his arms bound, Roy placed the soles of his free feet together, thus cheering as he clapped not his hands, but his feet.
But, while nobody aside from Roy contributed to that noisy applause, none of the members present there appeared to criticize Aldebaran’s actions.
Present instead, was delight, understanding, subordinance, and fear―― all were his henchmen, even the ones who had no say in the matter.
Thus, basking in their gazes, Aldebaran looked up to the sky.
Aldebaran: [――――]
With the Dragon’s breath unleashed, not only was the land scorched, but signs of its influence appeared in the sky and surrounding atmosphere as well.
With the clouds torn asunder, and the rain and wind that were supposed to have occurred banished from the land, the traces of the Dragon had been deeply engraved; ravages of the Dragon’s rage, so to speak.
Naturally, there existed no living beings that did not fear the ire of the overwhelming existence that was the Dragon.
Because there existed no beings that could fight back against a rampaging Dragon mad with rage, it was an ironclad rule that when faced with the Dragon’s fury, all forms of life would keep their heads held low, attempting to conceal their presence, and waiting for the storm to pass.
――Therefore, the likes of birds and bugs promptly approaching the ravages of that rage, was far beyond unnatural.
Aldebaran: [Looks like a miss.]
Seeing a flock of birds assembling around the area scorched by the breath to ascertain the damages, Aldebaran muttered words that would fade away in the confines of his mouth.
The vast majority of animals were straightforward, and faithful to their instincts. If that was being distorted, and they were acting in a manner dishonest to their instincts, it was proof of some sort of unnatural interference.
That was to say, it was proof that the existence enacting that unnatural interference had survived.
Ascertaining that, Aldebaran would――,
Aldebaran: [――Next.]
Muttering that, he unwrapped the poisonous drug package within his mouth, and gulped down the deadly bane.
And then――,
× × ×
Aldebaran: [Target, three o’clock to six o’clock. ――Fire, Alter.]
Subsequently, upon returning to his restart point, he oriented himself towards the next area, and instructed the Dragon to trample it down.
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Aldebaran: [Target, six o’clock to nine o’clock. ――Fire, Alter.]
Aldebaran: [Target, six o’clock to eight o’clock. Slight adjustment.]
Aldebaran: [Target, six o’clock to seven o’clock.]
Aldebaran: [Target, lock to seven o’clock. Adjust range output, breath to eighty percent.]
Aldebaran: [Seventy percent.]
Aldebaran: [Sixty percent.]
Aldebaran: [Sixty-five percent.]
Aldebaran: [Sixty-five point five percent.]
Aldebaran: [――Sixty-five point five percent, confirmed.]
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――Seven-hundred and fourteen.
Having been told that his way of doing things was too clean by Yae, Aldebaran revised his thoughts.
Gaining awareness of the pride he had been blind to, he earnestly examined what was truly necessary in order to accomplish his objective, and arrived at an answer.
――The no-killing restriction.
From the moment Aldebaran had decided on the removal of Natsuki Subaru, and resolved himself to abide by his own purpose of creation, he had established that as the minimum obligation he would need to uphold.
From this world, where many had already been lost, with even she who had embodied the sun having disappeared, he would not cause anything more to be lost; so he had decided.
But, by overly adhering to that vow, Aldebaran had subconsciously placed a shackle on his own Authority.
In order to uphold his vow that he would not take the life of anyone, he had ended up imposing the same binding to the journey itself.
With Aldebaran’s Authority―― with his Territory, the events that transpired in the repeating world would endlessly be made to have never happened until that Matrix was finally marked with a full-stop.
In that case, so long as the records balanced out to “no-killing” by the end, he would not need to worry about deaths during the process.
By keeping that conclusion outside of his conscious awareness, Aldebaran had unwittingly levied that shackle upon himself. In order to finally remove it, Aldebaran had continued to waste time in futility. ――No, without Yae’s words, he might have still been none the wiser.
Aldebaran: [I knew that the nii-san was trying to use his Divine Protection to whittle us down. The problem lies in his meticulousness and the unlimited hand of cards; it really seemed like there was no way to avert that, but…]
No longer bound by that shackle, Aldebaran surmounted that challenge with brute force.
Nothing about it was difficult. His pursuer was borrowing the eyes and agency of insects, fish, and other small animals in order to get a grasp on the movements of Aldebaran’s group and enact various forms of sabotage upon them. But, considering what he conjectured to be the extent of effectiveness of his opponent’s Divine Protection, even if his directions to the animals had an immediate response akin to telepathy, it was not as absolute as something like brainwashing.
Every single time, their pursuer would have needed to directly issue a command.
And in order to enact that, the commanding pursuer himself would have needed to be stalking Aldebaran’s group while maintaining a reasonable distance. ――Through the brute force of the Dragon’s breath, he had deduced the position of their pursuer.
Aldebaran: [Narrowing down the area using clock positions, and measuring the distance with the depth of the breath. Given that we’re doing something erratic, he can’t afford to withhold his hand in order to get a grasp of what happened. Then, the act of playing his hand is proof that the nii-san made it out unharmed. But, what about when he doesn’t play his hand?]
His hand―― without the leeway to mobilize the troops he had allied with his Divine Protection, it would have served as proof that he had vanished from the world.
With that ascertained, Aldebaran had regressed his Territory, closed in on the direction of his pursuer’s presence, measured the distance, and finally managed to identify the opponent’s position with utmost precision. Of course, during that process, in the mountains, forest, and even some towns, a great number of lives had been sacrificed, but―― absolutely all of that, had been made to have never happened.
By balancing the records in the end using his Territory, the casualties outside of Aldebaran numbered zero. ――No, Aldebaran’s Death was not counted, so the casualties numbered zero total.
Aldebaran: [Combined with when I was selecting the members for the Tower, one-thousand three-hundred and forty-seven… he really gave me one hell of a time.]
There was nothing more exhausting than someone thought to have already been dealt with pulling the carpet out from under him yet again.
In that sense, it would have been no exaggeration to say that the pursuer―― Otto Suwen, had given Aldebarn more trouble than either the Sword Saint or the Sword Demon had. If it had been his suggestion to send Emilia to Aldebaran and Wilhelm to Yae at the Royal Capital, then the damages he had caused this group amounted to far more than just Aldebaran’s one-thousand three-hundred and forty-seven Deaths.
Of course, it was precisely because he had judged him to be such a large threat, that Aldebaran had spared no cards in his hand, thus succeeding in stringing up that formidable enemy.
Yae: [Al-sama, over here, over here~.]
Waving her hand, Yae beckoned to Aldebaran and the rest from below. In accordance with Yae’s call, “Aldebaran” perched down on the ground, and Aldebaran hopped off of its back.
Halfway up the mountainside, behind Yae, who had arrived first at the target point, was a green Internal Affairs Minister strung up to a tree and a ground dragon lying on its side with its limbs tied up.
Perhaps because the ground dragon had so fervently struggled against the steel thread bindings, its pale-blue dragonhide was stained with blood, and even now it continued to desperately writhe while panting in exasperation.
Aldebaran: [As expected, the loyalty of a ground dragon’s quite something. Thinking back, the current generation’s Patrasche was also like that.]
Yae: [The idea to make an example out of it flashed through my head, but it seems like he’s the type to just become even more stubborn instead of breaking, so I decided not to. How was Yae-chan’s judgement?]
Aldebaran: [I think you got the right answer. Besides, there’s no point in a warning if he can’t even see it.]
As Yae greeted him while tilting her head, Aldebaran scowled within his helmet. In his vision, present above the writhing ground dragon, the strung up Internal Affairs Minister―― Otto, was cocooned in steel threads from his head down to the tips of his toes, which of course included his eyes and mouth; it was a state in which he could not do a single thing.
By nature, a single steel thread was so thin that one would need to strain their eyes to even ascertain its presence. Since they now appeared as an opaque tool of restraint, he could not imagine just how many had been wrapped around.
Yae: [Unable to get a glimpse of any light. Unable to even make a peep. It’d be possible to form communication with the outside through even just breathing, let alone whispers. And so, I’ve wrapped his entire body up with no gaps, save for a single airway connecting to his ankle. With this, he’ll be too busy focusing his breaths on clinging to survival to have any leeway to fill them with intent.]
Aldebaran: […I know this isn’t about you getting revenge, and is instead just proof that you’re taking precautions. After all, this nii-san would actually be capable of plotting something against us if we gave him any room to speak.]
Yae: [I’d never operate on my personal grudges~. Yae-chan isn’t that bad of a shinobi, y’know?]
Placing a finger to her cheek, Yae was in quite a good mood as she made a cutesy smile.
Given how much complete and utter hardship Otto, the harassment-specialist, had put them through until now, she would have likely had a substantial amount of resentment built up even if she said she bore no personal grudges. To begin with, the industry leaders of carrying out harassment and conducting wars of attrition against enemies were none other than the shinobi.
Aldebaran: [So now that you’ve finally dealt with that, I guess you’d be in a good mood, yeah?]
Yae: [Urghh~, you really are a gentleman who can’t understand a woman’s heart, Al-sama. It feels good to pin down an opponent who persistently made attacks of the nastiest kind in a sly, exhaustive, relentless manner, y’know?]
Aldebaran: [Isn’t that pretty much exactly what I said?]
Yae: [But, the number one thing is that you’re finally acting as the monster you truly are, Al-sama. Without a shred of concern for your trivial humanity, you’ve fully embraced the monster within.]
Aldebaran: [――――]
Yae: [For that reason, even something like having Vol-sama fling me at full strength was nothing so outlandish.]
Aldebaran: [Seems like you’ve got your fair share of complaints with that strategy…]
As Yae was correcting Aldebaran’s mistaken impression, she added that bit onto the end.
With the modification to how he utilized the Territory, he had located their pursuer’s whereabouts. After completing that, they had needed the quickest means to reach their opponent before he could discern their intentions―― that had resulted in having the airborne “Aldebaran” hurl Yae to the target position.
On top of being crude, it was a plan that had greatly imperiled Yae’s life, but because the opponent was located in the mountains, which provided a great amount of buffering material, Yae, with her ability to create cushioning with her Steel Thread Technique, was deemed to be the most suitable candidate for it.
Yae: [Even though this duty was most suited to someone who won’t die no matter how far they’re hurled away, there was no way we could entrust it to Heinkel-sama in his current state.]
Aldebaran: [An old man-shaped hole might have bored through the mountain while the old man remained alive and well, but you’re right about entrusting any important duties to him with his condition right now.]
Between Heinkel and Felt, a considerably deadly rift had formed. In response to that issue, he had worked out a countermeasure to stabilize it for the time being, but that had incurred “Aldebaran’s” displeasure, and was nothing more than a temporary bandaid solution.
Because it was the type of problem that could resurge for whatever reason, Aldebaran and Yae had decided that it would be best to not touch on it for the time being.
Anyhow――,
Aldebaran: [――Finally, it’s checkmate.]
With Otto’s movements and resistance sealed, Aldebaran looked up at the opponent whose current state ought to be dubbed a silver chrysalis, and keenly felt the victory he had attained in this round of the game, which had gone on now for a long, long time.
However, the opponent Aldebaran was playing against was not just Otto, it was a multifaceted bout against many challengers on a Kingdom-wide, even world-wide scale. Just because he had managed to make it through a single round successfully, did not mean he could continue to carry that around as a source of satisfaction.
Above all, in order to ensure that they would never make a comeback as a challenger, he would need to be thorough with their elimination.
Yae: [Though y’know, even if I cut away his eyes, ears, tongue, and limbs, I’d still technically be obeying your orders, Al-sama~.]
Aldebaran: [――Yae.]
Yae: [Fi~ne, Al-sama’s so sca~ry.]
To inflict wounds beyond any hope of recovery, thereby forcing withdrawal from the front lines with only their lives intact; doing so would be naught but a hollow pretense.
For Aldebaran, the no-killing restriction was not something so flexible that he could say he kept it so long as nobody died, and it would be troubling if it was. That sort of thing was tantamount to declaring that world peace could be achieved by cutting off the arms and legs of everyone in the world.
Hence, Aldebaran would not rob Otto Suwen of his eyes, tongue, arms, or legs. Instead, that which he would take from him―― was his reason for fighting.
Aldebaran: [――Roy, I’m relaxing the curse mark’s functionality. It’s your time to take the stage.]
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Aldebaran: [――Roy, I’m relaxing the curse mark’s functionality. It’s your time to take the stage.]
Every inch of his body constrained, Otto Suwen, with certitude, heard the pronounced voice of the opponent looking up towards him. ――On merely one point, Aldebaran and the rest were mistaken about the efficacy of Otto’s Divine Protection of the Soul of Language.
The Soul of Language, namely that which was called voice, was the reverberation of sound. Those reverberations would always touch Otto’s body should he be within range of its reach, even if his ears were plugged. The Divine Protection of the Soul of Language did not translate sounds that entered the ear. It sensed and picked up the reverberations of intent that touched the entity named Otto.
Therefore――,
Roy: [What a roundabout, strange coincidence, isn’t it, Onii-san? Even though both Ley and Louis missed out on eating Onii-san despite desiring to in Pristella, in the end you’ve been set on the dining table before us like this, so it would seem-.]
The voice of the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony licking his lips, Roy Alphard, was also detected by Otto as a thing of certainty.
Otto: [――――]
However, to much frustration from the depths of his heart, there was no longer anything Otto could do.
He had still been detecting the voices in his environs through the Divine Protection of the Soul of Language, but with his mouth obstructed, his limbs restrained, and now obturated from even transmitting his will, Otto was helplessly powerless.
Frufoo: [What are you doing, to laddie… stop, please stop…!]
He heard the painful beseeching of an agonizing Frufoo immediately below his hanging feet.
For the moment, it seemed Aldebaran and his group did not intend to inflict any further harm onto Frufoo or much less, take her life. Hence, he wished for Frufoo to quietly wait for the storm drifting through to pass. That was his utmost desire at that moment.
The rest――,
Otto: [――Hk.]
With a voice that fell short of being voiced, Otto’s heart consternated in trepidation for his comrades not present here.
Emilia and Ram, Petra and Meili, Rem, Clind, and Roswaal, he had heard that even people of the Felt Camp were cooperating. They would surely come up with an ingenious plan. Had it been possible, Otto wished to give a serious blow to the opponent with his own hands even on Garfiel’s behalf.
Moreover, for the captured duo of Subaru and Beatrice――.
Roy: [How sad, Onii-san. How painful, Onii-san. But-, we’ll treat those cries of agony alternating in joys and sorrows altogether and give them love-! After all, this world is gluttonous drinking-! Gluttony-!]
In lento, he sensed the polluted, violated appetite of Gluttony drawing near him, creeping close to him. Without any means to resist, Otto accepted it; there was nothing he could do besides be chewed and digested.
Thus, for however long, Otto Suwen continued to pray. Continued to wish. Continued to dream.
For his own final stratagem, to fall into place――.
Roy: [――Well then, let’s eat-!]
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Roy: [Thank you for the treat-.]
With the efficacy of the Authority of Gluttony invoked, the hanging Otto Suwen was devoured.
The deed was unaccompanied by any befitting effects generated, no shining visual effects; nothing so flashy or gaudy occurred. In only quiet and solemnity, the feast dished up onto the platter settled into the stomach of an ill-mannered diner. ――What had transpired was merely this commonplace meal.
Yae: [Although I barely saw anything just now, it truly feels like foul play. The feeling of tension in the threads vanished in an instant, after all.]
Her voice laden with unhiding repugnance, Yae whispered whilst touching the rings that sent forth the steel threads.
What her words suggested, was that the opponent in bind―― Otto Suwen, his resistance in order to escape from the constraints of the steel threads had disappeared.
That was evidence of the efficacy of Roy Alphard’s Eclipsing manifesting. [1]
Aldebaran: [On top of that, we still remember that nii-san. ――As promised, you only ate the Memories; seems like you really held yourself back.]
Roy: [Ah-hahaa~, what’s with that, so short on gratitude and wonderment~!? Just so you know, separating just the Name or just the Memories and chewing it is pretty tough, you know? It’s trouble like sifting through the grilled ingredients in between a sandwich without opening up the bread, you see~.]
Aldebaran: [Don’t care. Don’t do it and you die, that’s the end of that. Separate and eat quickly and cleanly.]
Aldebaran snorted at Roy as he spoke of his Authority’s hardships in front of Otto Suwen, limp and motionless whilst entangled in the steel threads.
In reality, Aldebaran had no intention of hearing out Roy’s advocation of what a high deed it was. ――Should he blunder, he would simply die; his soul scorched by the effects of the curse mark engraved on his body, bound by an Oath with Aldebaran.
Of course, it would be a problem for Aldebaran were Roy to die at this time, so he did intend to redo at every instance of failure and search for a way to ensure Roy did well.
Yae: [Al-sama~, as for that Sin Archbishop, isn’t he getting a bit cocky? If you’re going to restrain his actions with the effects of the curse mark, then rather than appeasing, persuading, and winning over his heart, wouldn’t you have had ways to make him abide more suitably with lesser strings attached?]
Aldebaran: [Engraving a curse mark isn’t as light a job as you’re thinking it to be. To begin with, in curse marks bound by Oaths, there’s a risk for the engraving party as well. The opportunity for engraving a curse mark is limited to exactly one time in someone’s entire life. It’s a trump card to make the kinds of people who won’t ever listen seriously obey.]
Yae whispered into Aldebaran’s ear, who pressed her forehead whilst answering.
As the name suggested, the engraving of a curse mark, a kind of Curse Art, was a deed that had existed before magic and Curse Arts branched into separate sects; the nature of it was rather close to the origin of magic. Speaking further of the impression given by the curse mark based on its impression, the one who taught Aldebaran how to engrave a curse mark and the nature of them, would likely bestow the plight of a half-day long tedious lecture about it.
Roy: [For you to be so kind and use that valuable opportunity for us…! Very nice, so nice, quite nice, how very nice, really nice, isn’t it nice, as we can believe it to be nice, gluttonous drinking-! Gluttony-! By this point, that is love, isn’t i~t…?]
Yae: [Wha!? Are you saying over this adorable, sexy, and devoted maid that is Yae-chan, you prefer the nasty-teethed Sin Archbishop!? Al-sama, you infidel!]
Aldebaran: [Right back at you, stop matching paces and linking up with the Sin Archbishop…]
Aldebaran winced at the combo of the blabbering Roy and the yabbering Yae.
On Yae’s end, she likely had had no intention of getting along with Roy there, or ever getting along with him for that matter, but the way she utilized anything to sway Aldebaran’s heart was truly befitting of a shinobi. On the other hand, Roy bore the attitude of being conversible and comprehending for a Sin Archbishop, and had almost bestowed him with that misunderstanding.
However, he mustn’t misunderstand. For Aldebaran, both Yae and Roy were equivalent; used for his goals, and targets of fear for potentially backstabbing him depending on the situation.
And that was――,
Aldebaran: [Roy, don’t get too cocky. Start talking, what was the nii-san you just ate scheming? That’s what I fed him to you for.]
A chilly warning was issued by Aldebaran, who kept Roy contained well within attack range.
His restraints unfastened, Roy had gotten his fractured limbs restored by the healing magic of “Aldebaran”, but neither had he gained trust in the slightest nor was he permitted freedom of action. However, in the direction the plan would now head towards for the endgame, it was not realistic to carry a tied up Roy along.
As an example, should he ever seek to rely on Roy’s Authority as Gluttony like he just had, to keep him turned face-down as a card that could not be used immediately would be some excessively maladroit handling. Not in the slightest loosening his vigilance towards Roy, what was necessary were further arrangements for a policy to subdue Roy.
Fortunately, the curse mark was sufficiently fulfilling that duty.
Yae: [Though, it would be nice if he could tell us something useful~.]
As she spoke, the vigilant Yae tugged on her slender finger, tightening the invisible steel thread to keep Roy in check.
It had been none other than Yae who had disapproved of utilizing Roy’s Authority until the very end, and while she did welcome Aldebaran’s declaration that he would unshackle himself based on her advice, she still fervently insisted that he free himself from the chains that were the “no-killing” restriction itself.
In reality, if Aldebaran did actually call off the “no-killing” restriction as she had insisted, and freely made use of the life-or-death power he had over all his opponents, his objective in and of itself would be accomplished rather quickly. To do that, all he would need to do is have “Aldebaran” shoot out its breath in all directions, never allowing any enemy to draw near.
However, Aldebaran refused to do that, and instead―― he insisted on adding new options, that of permitting Death as part of the process, and making use of Roy Alphard’s Authority.
As a matter of fact, this was the implementation of a forbidden technique: that of proactively utilizing a Sin Archbishop’s Authority.
It was an act that could not be compared to Aldebaran exercising his own Authority, which occupied an unenumerated position, so to speak. Those inherited evils, the Authorities that had given rise to a great number of tragedies and sacrifices until now; to make use of them for one’s own purposes, simply because it proved convenient.
Likely, outside of Aldebaran, that was a trespass that only a single other individual had perpetrated since the dawn of Witch Factors in this world.
Ultimately, that was the extent to which such conduct crossed the line.
If he could not attain results proportional to the misdeed he had committed, there would have been no meaning in his decision to go against the sun――.
Aldebaran: [So, let’s hear it. We deliberately ruined our opponent’s life. You’re not gonna tell me that there’s nothing…]
Roy: [Ahh~, hold on hold on. Wish you’d not rush us like that~. It seems you’re misunderstanding, but even we can’t all of a sudden comprehend absolutely everything about the one ju~st eaten. Things that have been known since the beginning, don’t really spring to mind unless the scenario deems it necessary, you know? Same as that…]
Aldebaran: [――I ain’t gonna tell you twice.]
Roy: […Yes yes, we’re saying we understand. Let’s see, let’s see, hu~h. This onii-san was more abound in life experience than expected, so even we are a bit surprised――]
After making a plethora of excuses, Roy concentrated on recalling the Memories of the freshly eaten Otto. Roy was probably commenting on a mix of the many ups and downs in the life of Otto, who possessed the Divine Protection of the Soul of Language, and the extraordinary quantity of voices he had come to hear.
However, there was a sudden pause in Roy’s tasteless words, incurring Aldebaran’s suspicion.
Unmistakably, that was proof that he had struck a Memory that caught his attention――,
Aldebaran: [What is it, what’d you find?]
Roy: [Haha-, it seems we were more careful than expected. ――There is a foolproof for the scenario in which he was compromised.]
Aldebaran: [――――]
Foolproof―― a safety measure to defend against any foolish mistakes.
As soon as Roy’s lips formed those words, a terrible chill ran down Aldebaran’s spine.
Not a countermeasure for an oncoming assault, but a countermeasure for after he was compromised.
If Otto Suwen had prepared such a thing, then it would be happening at any moment now.
Aldebaran: [Yae! We need to hurry up and――]
A withdrawal from the premises, or a regression of the situation via suicide.
As two possible options came to his mind, Aldebaran mobilized before deciding on his counterplay. In a sense, it was successful, and in another sense, it had led to failure.
That was――,
???: [――It is a pleasure to meet you, Aldebaran-sama.]
The sweet voice of a girl struck Aldebaran’s earlobes as if it were a surprise attack.
The interloper had appeared in quite literally the blink of an eye, and by making an entrance without having given any preface, his instincts did not even have the time to sound the alarm bells.
That blue-haired girl, having altered her appearance and garment since her time in the Vollachian Empire, was not something he could bear the sight of. ――That was something he only realized right after he had caught sight of her waving the skirt of her maid outfit.
That instant, his mind was rapidly threatened by the name, existence, and nature of the maid girl.
Aldebaran: [――――]
With her Name and Memories having been eaten by the Authority of Gluttony, the girl’s name had been erased from the register of Od Lagna, where the names of all life were engraved; with that having been regurgitated due to the malicious intentions of Bizarre Eating, that which Aldebaran had disregarded as something that would manifest no meaningful damages, now ruptured through his mind.
Forcibly overwhelmed by an impact that compelled him to recall her existence, Aldebaran, who was supposed to have shouldered a fate that would not permit his thoughts to ever come to a halt, had said thoughts left behind in the dust――,
Yae: [――Al-sama!!]
As Yae promptly raised her voice, she reached her slender arm out towards Aldebaran. Whilst glimpsing those white fingers in the corner of his vision, Aldebaran found himself unable to move.
And in that immobile state, during the single second for which he had been dispossessed of his thoughts, the situation progressed.
――That instant, Aldebaran’s body was detached from the space it had occupied up until a moment prior, and thrown out into the sky, basking in a ferocious wind.
Aldebaran: [――――]
The sun for which he had ceased yearning cast its glaring radiance, searing Aldebaran’s black eyes as he fluttered through the air. ――This was now do-or-die for the Aldebaran Party; a critical juncture that had commenced without any forewarning.
――Thus, on the struggle for the Grand Mogolade Geyser, on the battle to decide the fate of the world here to come, the curtains now rose.
Translation Note:
[1] – ‘Eclipsing’ has been translated from 蝕 in the original text, which can be interpreted as a wordplay on Gluttony’s Authority of Eclipse and also mean “Eaten to spoil/rot”, referring to the Eating aspect of the Authority. Previously, terminology was distinct with 蝕 exclusively used to refer to Eclipse, but hereon a better stance would be to bear in mind that the term is synonymous for both meanings.
Good chapter, not enough heinkel. Thanks for the TL
Well this was nice a chapter.
Otto
He’s the MVP. I hope he gets his memories back sooner than Rem did.
What an amazing entrance from Rem too.
Otto the GOAT frfr
He’s fixing to end up in the line up with the likes of Lelouch with these type of contingency strategies.
Aldebaran is again stronger, how boring
It’s more interesting that way. One of his attractive features compared to Subaru as a character is his gray morality. The no-killing rule was imposed by the author due to their reluctance to lose other characters, and it doesn’t suit him. Tappei broke the character to avoid sacrificing other characters. It’s a pity that this rule hasn’t been fully abolished.
I think it’s hard to say if it suits him or not right now. I get that he’s already killed people in the past, most notably the council members of the Water Gate City.
But back then, he was protecting a city. Right now, he’s doing something selfishly so ‘he can be himself’.
Him refusing to kill for a selfish goal doesn’t seem out of character to me. He has a lot of self-spite as well, so I think it fits. Of course he’s gonna make things harder on himself.
Of course, I think my opinion will depend on his full backstory and reason for doing this, so I might change my opinion later ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
He didn’t just kill the council members. He caused a flood, killing tens of thousands of people, and then felt no regrets about it. Capella praised him for this, saying that he was a big hindrance to her. Al is cold and rational, he easily makes great sacrifices. He is more like Echidna than Roswaal, who is often guided by feelings and can throw a tantrum. But his goal is not selfish. He is trying to save the world. It is not yet known how. If Satella somehow dies as a result of his actions, the world will thank him for his success. His rule is bad writing. The author does not want to change anything seriously, he is afraid of killing characters. Although there is a positive side to this – I am sure that we will not see a reset of the entire arc.
Hypothetically, if Al saw the future in which he DIDN’T flood people, tried to explore and do something in it only to fail, then the obvious answer is to flood the city and save more people while being responsible for the deaths of others. It’s like the trolley problem in this case, and I highly expect Al would pull the trigger. The main point is that Al is the one behind all of this—not the Sin Archbishops. Since he can control himself and allows himself to die so many times to achieve the best ending, then I think it’d be perfectly reasonable for him to abide by this No-Kill rule. He is the only one suffering and he gets to make the shots.
Al’s authority can’t do that. It’s too limited. He flooded the city without checking anything. Now he’s afraid to kill anyone, even though the stakes are much higher, he’s trying to save the world, and the situation is much more complicated. For the dead Priscilla, who has killed countless enemies since she was a child without hesitation.
Al’s authority can and demonstrably HAS done that. He can’t go back several days like Subaru does but recreating his territory before making a big decision, seeing through the results of that decision, and then resetting if they’re bad is his whole game plan. Flooding the city would be moronic if he had no idea what effect it’d have and couldn’t reset to beforehand if it turned out poorly.
His authority has a distance limit. It’s affected by the terrain and the number of people. If Al is in the same room with several hundred people, his authority won’t work at all. He won’t be able to flood the city and reverse it. By the way, he can go back a few days if he spends that time in an empty room. It’s could say that his authority has the computing power of a computer.
(replying to the guy above)
Just curious, where did you learn that Al can’t use his authority in a place with many people? Then how did he use it in the gladiator island, with all the spectators around? Or in Vollachia’s capital right in the middle of a war?
Al has talked many times about the dependence of the territory on the terrain and the impossibility of independently choosing the size of the territory. In the desert, where there were only him, Reinhard and Alkanika, his authority covered the stars. I know that in ReZero, space distances are tiny, but still. He once used the second mode of his authority, designed to drive everyone who entered the territory crazy. He did this in Priscilla’s palace, where there were many people. Only one person was crazy, who was in the same room with him. He participated in the battle for the title of Priscilla’s knight, where there were many people. He lost to weak opponents, meaning he could not use the authority. There were never many spectators in the arena. It is a prison, not a theater.
(Part 1)
So what you’re saying is, that you have no solid evidence for your claim of Al’s authority being limited by the number of people in range, and that it is only a speculation on your part, right? You gave some examples that have already happened, explained one of the possible reasons why it could have happened, and made that a basis for your speculation. I’ll address them one by one,
(Part 2)
First, you said something about how Al managed to extend his range to the stars in the Augria sand dunes where only he, Reinhardt and Alcanica were present. This is already wrong since Petra, Meili, Flam, Ezzo, Garfiel, Patrasche and even mini Shaula should’ve been in range. Since he needed WoE’s interference to contain Reinhardt he couldn’t have ignored the tower, considering he was fighting in the exact opposite direction to where the Witch’s Shrine was.
(Part 3)
Next, you said his range extended all the way to the stars, but that should be true both vertically and horizontally, no? If so, there’s no way his horizontal range was limited only to the Augria sand dunes, but should have extended past that, at least upto the town of Mirula. Now, although it’s a fairly desolate border town, it still holds a population of more than a hundred. This makes me think there are two possibilities: 1) the first mode of Al’s authority isn’t actually that reliant on its range, or at least not in the way we think it does; 2) it doesn’t matter how many people are in range. Personally, I am leaning more towards the first option here.
(Part 4)
Then you said how he could use the second mode of his authority in the Barielle mansion with all the people in it, but only affected Leip. I’m not sure what your point was here, but I’m guessing you meant to say Al couldn’t use his authority on anyone other than him because there were so many people. Again a hypothetical assumption. It is also possible that the second mode of his authority can only affect one target at a time and needs a secluded place to work, or that’s what I think. Because its use is so limited, he has only used it twice in the entire series so far. Of course, I’m also guessing here, so I could be wrong.
(Part 5)
After that you pointed out how he lost against weak opponents in the tournament of becoming Priscilla’s knight. Al definitely wanted to become Priscilla’s knight, but if he knew about Priscilla’s eccentric nature, he would’ve known that winning his fights alone wouldn’t give an advantage. He needed to make himself look interesting. And even if he didn’t know about Priscilla’s nature, there are still other factors to consider. Namely, whether the other participants were truly weak or not. Sure, they were all no-name mercs, but we have plenty of decently strong mercs in RZ.
(Part 6)
And Al isn’t that strong in a 1v1 with limited resources. His biggest 1v1 feat was beating Empress, but that was done by utilising everything he could, including the dead body of one of his previous opponents. He was also younger and closer to his prime back then. Despite that, he still managed to make it to the top 4 of that tournament.
(Part 7)
Lastly, you said the arena on the gladiator island wasn’t a theatre. I disagree. It was a theatre where spectators from all over the empire would gather to enjoy the death-matches of the prisoners. It was basically a popular form of entertainment before Vincent’s reign. And even without that, we’ve already seen with Subaru’s case that there are hundreds of gladiators on that island, probably even more during the previous emperor’s reign.
(Part 8)
Everything I’ve said so far isn’t necessarily true, they’re just speculations, like yours. But when I asked about the limits of Al’s authority, I wanted something more substantial. Like a direct statement from one of the characters, or even by the narrator. Unless you can provide me with something like that, I can’t believe your claim about Al’s authority being weakened by the number of people present.
I originally argued that Al couldn’t have not flooded Pristella and evaluate the results. Even if his territory could cover a large city. It was mentioned that he updated the checkpoint every 15 seconds before the battle against Rom. He would also have to hide and not participate in battles in Pristella. I’m sure he flooded the city without checking the alternatives. Back to my theory about the territory. In the side story about the tournament, the narrative emphasized the huge number of people present. Al defeated the archbishop. Al defeated the creature that Priscilla surrendered to. Al defeated Garfiel, but Ezzo helped him. Al couldn’t lose to three nameless mercenaries. Yes, if Al lost the tournament on purpose and Aggressor only chooses one target, then my theory is wrong.
(Part 1)
You’re right. The narrative did emphasize the large gathering of people, but it was done from Priscilla’s PoV, not Al’s. Likely to signify how sought-after the position of Priscilla’s knight was, as well as to highlight her disinterest in spite of that. And what creature did Priscilla submit to again? Are you talking about the zombies in PPZ? Back then, she was nerfed by her heavily weakened yang sword. Not to mention that she was up against an entire horde, while Al fought Edda in a 1v1. Granted, he did it after making his way through a horde himself, so he likely wasn’t in his best condition, but still.
(Part 2)
Garfiel was just not compatible against Al. He easily fell for Al’s taunts and blindly charged him. This is perfectly normal, considering he is still in his mid-teens and has relatively less experience. But you can’t expect veteran mercs to fall for it too. Al also had set traps in advance in the library, so he had utilised the terrain to his advantage as well. As for the sin archbishop, anything Al did after acquiring Alcanica wouldn’t count, since he was constantly receiving buffs from him. Roy was also weakened right after being released from his seal.
(Part 3)
About your claim of Al flooding Pristella, I don’t deny it. He definitely did that, and killed the council guys as well. On the point of whether he checked the alternatives or not, I can’t be sure. I’d like to think that he did and decided that there was no other choice, but I have nothing to support that claim. I don’t think many people died from the flood though, since most of them were in the underground shelters. But I do have doubts about you saying Al’s goal isn’t selfish because he is trying to save the world. If he really thinks eliminating Subaru is the only way to save the world, then why didn’t he try to do it before Priscilla’s death? After all, the world being destroyed would also mean Priscilla’s death, along with everything she was working for.
(Part 4)
It would be one thing if he was moving in the shadows all along, preparing to take on the Emilia camp and Subaru, but it’s quite clear he didn’t plan his current course all that long ago. He often talked about some wish, so I think there are two possibilities: 1) His ‘wish’ and his ‘goal’ are two entirely separate things; 2) his current method isn’t the only way to achieve his wish/goal. Or it could be both as well. Either way, he’d have reasons to feel guilty. And while I agree that Priscilla herself won’t show any hesitation in killing, she did kind of become softer at the very end of arc 8. It’s possible Al has overlaid his image of Priscilla in his mind with that last impression.
Echidna told Al that his target and his enemy is Envy. She also told Subaru that the Seal that holds Satella is weakening and will one day fall. Al probably believes that eliminating Subaru from the world somehow kills Satella. Let’s say there are 40 years left until Satella is released. So, Al’s desire to be with Priscilla was selfish. He put his happiness above the world. Now, he has returned to being a hero. He wants to be himself. To be himself is to be Aldebaran, that is, Echidna’s creation, saving the world. Priscilla was weakened too in the battle with Sirius because she fought at night. She won easily and quickly once the hostage threat was gone. But she chose to surrender to Edda right away. Al’s victory over Edda after 10,000 attempts puts him on the level of divine generals.
Brother, first of all he killed no one in arc 5. Citizens were in shelters, plus the damage was extremely limited. We don’t even know if the one who killed the council of ten was Al, it could be Yae. Thrid, stop making a cold-blooded machine out of Al. Did we even read the same series? The guy couldn’t even handle hurting Petra mentally, he almost crumbled under guilt and you are talking about killing people.
Not sure about WN, I read it a long time ago, but in the anime, it was confirmed in a conversation between Capella and Al that he killed the city leaders and caused the flood. Capella told Al that he did it. Al started having fun and pretending to be stupid. Capella realized that she was right. If he ordered it but Yae did it, it doesn’t change anything.
I have to point out that the reason why he has a no kill rule is due to priscilla’s death and he wants to protect the world she loved ( since she is no longer around). basically priscilla is dead now and she was alive back then
It’s called “The author said so, and that’s all.”
Exactly
I mean it explained it last chapter, the loss of priscilla was a shock to his system, and he decided he didnt want to be the cause of any more loss in the world
I think it establishes an interesting contrast to Subaru’s conclusions about this power. In arc 4, Subaru concludes that he should try to value his own life and shouldn’t needlessly throw it away. Then in arcs 7 and 8, he uses the power to actively it save lives. If someone dies, he tries to restart and find a better way forward. Al throws his life away quite carelessly by comparison, and he is now actively killing people before restarting for his own goals.
Subaru completely gave up on valuing his life in Vollachia like Al. Arc 4 gave Subaru and Emilia many lessons, but Vollachia replaced them with the opposite. The author once wrote that Subaru’s number of deaths would be approximately the same in all arcs, and that he planned to give Emilia significant development in these arcs. However, he canceled Emilia’s planned development and then canceled everything Subaru learned in Arc 4. What annoys me the most is that Subaru, considering himself pathetic, deliberately committed suicides in a way that increased his pain. And the narrative presented this as the right thing to do. It was a complete disregard for the theme of self-love.
fr
The way Arc 7’s shota-baru kinda undid the previous self love and not using RBD as a crutch was pretty sad to see. Hell, it even felt like the scenes of Al abusing RBD and having people see his combat style as sus worked as a kind of warning to the reader as to the kind of careless person Subaru could become by abusing RBD. And even before the shota-fication he got repeatedly killed by Todd in absurd ways.
Man, I just miss Arc 5 and how Subaru was able to distract a Sin Archbishop, manipulate him, play possum and discover the mechanisms of their authority all without dying a single time. Same thing for Arc 6, until the amnesia hit. I remember being so frustrated by that on my 1st read through. Definitely easier to swallow and appreciate on a 2nd read through though.
Shotafication of Subaru is by far the worst blunder by Tappei so far, even considering the current POV shift no one asked for. Author still could salvage the situation by having Subaru go through meaningful retrospection and denouncing his suicidal streak. Instead there was this stupid punching bag game that felt like escapism more than anything else.
Well, let’s see if Subaru is still interesting after he gets UnZiped. I sure will hope so.
Valid take, though I disagree specifically on the punching bag game scene being stupid. This arc is focused on Al and how Subaru’s relationship with self hatred and RbD contrasts with Al’s, and I feel like that punching bag scene was more or less ‘setting the stage,’ establishing the low point Subaru has fallen to in regards to self love and self harm before bringing in Al for comparison. I can’t be 100% sure, but I’m assuming Subaru, in this arc or in arc 10, is has always been intended to pull away from the path he’s been walking after seeing how Al’s been affected. I don’t really think that’d be salvaging the situation, rather, it’d be an intended character arc planned from the moment Subaru started relapsing into treating death as a tool.
I don’t think the narrative presents this as the right thing to do at all. If anything, Arc 7 felt like Subaru being pushed to the limit in every way after his resolve in Arc 6, and in doing so, having his arc 4 resolution to care more for himself drop by the wayside under the pressure. I don’t think you’re supposed to go ‘Wow, Subaru just got a poison tooth to insta kill himself” and later look at Al doing the same thing and be like ‘totally reasonable,’ you’re supposed to be like ‘Oh shit, that’s bad, Subaru right now is on the path to become like Al once pushed far enough’.
wait i think i accidently replied to the wrong person LMAO(i’m replying to myself btw). posum’s take is basically everything i tried to say but better, woops lmao. eh, oh well. I hope it’s clear that I want to be more like, constructively adding to the discussion btw, I never know quite know how my tone comes off threw text. So uh, sorry if I ever come off as hostile when I didn’t intend too….
ah, I might just be overthinking it, but whatever.
Al has the no killing rule since he thinks he would be disrespecting Priscilla’s death by killing the people of the same world that she died to protect. I don’t mind it and it’s need for a arc like this, Al said himself that he can easily win if he removed the rule since he has his authority plus strong allies like the dragon. I think it makes sense with his character too, Al doesn’t enjoy killing people and him trying to respect Pricilla’s memory feels like his own way of still trying to live as just ‘Al’ and not as ‘Alderbaran’.
Felt told Al that he defeats Priscilla’s memory with his actions. He said that she was dead, and it’s not important for her now. When Al began to do this, he refused to be Al, and became Aldebaran. Priscilla never appreciated human lives, she killed without hesitation. I do not understand how love for it is related to the refusal to kill. Al has always been a cold -blooded and prudent person who puts the result above the senses. Tappei is a writer who considers the path not important compared to the result, and who is ready to break the logic of the narrative for the sake of the desired result. I don’t like it. He would probably have done better if it were not for the short clear dates that the publishing house sets before him. Tappei does not have time to think through the story well.
You’re probably right that Tappei’s being rushed by his publishing house, but I think Priscilla having no appreciation for human lives in a bit of a mischaracterization of her, rather, her often bizarre appreciation of life tends to behind her snap-judgement violence. She despises those she thinks have no respect for their own dignity and life, or something like that. Additionally, I do think a good amount of the times she’s going to ‘kill’ , she was planning to be stopped. Specifically, when she goes to kill Heinkel in arc 5 for him being his typical self – she brought him there to shake things up, and he does – it was likely not a concrete plan, as often it seems like Priscilla just throws variables at things to see what sticks, but I doubt she intended for him to actually die.
In EX 5, she was a normal princess of Vollachia who participated in a massive battle royale with a huge number of corpses, and she reached 2nd place.
Yeah, Re:zero is one of those stories that take great pride in their characters, and builds up a lot of them and tries making them unique. Tappei’s pride is kind of getting in the way of some kind of logical killing in the story. All he does is return by death for any important plot points.
The stakes are completely gone at this point.
So? U are telling me that u find the main villain of arc 9 being stronger, obviously he is going to be stronger, he is gonna fight literally everyone, what a weird complaint .
your acting like we haven’t already seen villains like this before. Regulus appeared pretty untouchable until the end of the arc, I think the biggest difference is that he was amongst other villains in that arc, so Al in comparison does seem stronger or more untouchable because he’s the only villain, has been in more fights during the arc, and doesn’t have a looper working against him, sense he had been the looper in arc 5. But I think from a writing standpoint that means he won’t be taken out or start losing until phase 4, like in arc 8, arc 6, and arc 5.
Todd is more untouchable than both cause he got away with everything and got out with his fiancée
Well shit did they just forget about the book of wisdom. Al could of have been invincible with it but I guess that is why he could not have it.
In the side story about Emilia’s life with Puck, it was mentioned that events in ReZero repeat endlessly. The phrase about Patrasche confirms this, although I am surprised that Subaru’s horse reincarnates with Subaru and the half-elf. So, Subaru has been in this world for more than a year or 400 years; he has been here for at least several millennia. His parents have been dead for a long time. In the side story about Typhon’s grave, it is mentioned that Japanese writing existed long before 400 years ago. For some reason, Satella is alive at the same time as Emilia, but I explain that Satella will merge with Emilia after her death, and Emilia will gain increased strength and love for Subaru.
What the fuck are you talking about? ,what TikTok video did you make such a stupid thing from?
Which side story is this?
Very interesting to consider.
Bonds of Ice, Pristella Reconstruction Journal Number 4
Ah. Bonds of Ice being what the Frozen Bonds OVA was based off of?
Yes, but these words were cut out in the anime adaptation. In the novel, Melakuera explains Emilia and Satella’s connection when he tries to kill Emilia. In the anime, he doesn’t do that.
I feel as though the twist of Subaru being here forever or at least everything is a recycling of a timeline is a bit mediocre surface wise. I mean Tappei can cook but the idea of it superficially is off considering how the development of Subaru has been handled and how pivotal characters in the story have deemed Subaru expectional among exceptions as if he’s been in the world for not too long
At this point, I think it’s foolish to deny that Subaru was in the ReZero world before the first arc. There’s too much evidence that he was here before. It keeps accumulating. The only counterargument has always been that Subaru was in the isekai state in the first arc, as if he had just arrived. However, in the sixth arc, a young-looking Reid appeared, having died of old age, with memories and things from that era. A lot of people on Reddit wrote that Al is not a Subaru clone, because it’s obvious. Tappei is a genius who will write a brilliant plot twist. He didn’t write it, and the obvious was confirmed. Flugel is the alias of the past Subaru. The current Subaru is another reincarnation. I am 100% certain.
The problem I have with the theory that Flugel is Subaru or even an alias of him is that they’re thematically opposite. Subaru stayed behind for Beatrice, but Flugel didn’t do the same for Shaula. Even amnesiac Subaru in Arc 6 hated him for it. At his core, Subaru’s nature contradicts everything Flugel represents. While there may be more context behind Flugel’s disappearance or his reasons for leaving Shaula, it still paints a very different character. Flugel might’ve been another isekai’d person meant to balance the world but failed, leading to Subaru’s arrival as a “redo.” It feels like a red herring from Tappei. While your evidence is credible, the theory is still held back by flaws in the story.
Argument about Shaula was always dead. People can change a lot. For example, Rom promised to destroy humanity, but then became a caring grandfather to Felt. Flugel had the same hair color and hairstyle as Subaru. Flugel and Subaru talked the same way, had the same hobbies, wore the same colors. Flugel had RbD – a power dependent on Satella’s love, but Satella always loved only Subaru. 400 years ago, she loved Subaru and traveled with Flugel. Flugel was very weak, like Subaru. Flugel named his tower the same way Subaru named his army. Subaru like word Flugel. Subaru hates himself and Flugel. Too many arguments for. There are theories that really seem obvious, but have several serious arguments against. For example, Sirius = Fortuna, Minerva is Emilia’s mother. Not this theory.
the army was named off the tower wasnt it. something to do with why he ended up there or some hopes and dreams nonsense
No. Subaru is the Japanese name for the Pleiades constellation. Subaru named the army after himself, not the tower. The Pleiades have 9 stars, which are named after the 7 sisters, their father, and their mother. The 7 Witches of Sins, the Witch of Vanagloria, the Witcher of Tristitia. Flugel was a Sage. A sage is one who rules over the witches. Subaru is a Sage Candidate.
Interesting to see AL decide that killing a person is fine as long as he resets to not killing them in the end. Wonder if he’s gonna end up perma killing someone with no going back cuz of pressure from the Emilia/Felt factions plans.
Thanks for the TL.
Nah man, Otto is the GOAT!!
I like Subaru’s romance lines with Yae and Echidna more than the romance line between the real Subaru and Emilia. 🙂 Even though there aren’t really any romance lines.
Thanks for the translation.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa broooo if Ram is here as well…. Roy might go into shock xD
Damn ….and how the f will you counter clind …no way you can reset as much as you like but that instant teleportation is not something you can counter like that…. Is everyone here? If Roswaal starts planning I’m gonna be so happy…
I can’t waiiiiiiioiot ffs
bro, I can’t wait for these upcoming chapters. This is going to be a straight frontline war! I believe everybody has been stationed out of a contingency plan to neutralize Al’s authority.
best plan that kinda seems like petra may be thinking. off subaru. hate to see it but itd work really well since its unlikely it was updated but its be a cop out.
the other is maybe ghost subaru has some kinda counter. but from what ive read petra seems to know the way
Who is tha last girl
Blue haired ram
Otto is insane, lets goooooo! Dawg, Rem being there is not good for Al’s party, because she is a heavy hitter or problem for Al and that the Emilia group must be around somewhere to enforce the plan of exposing Al’s weakness. This is going to be insane.
she is a heavy hitter
That heavy hitter isn’t going to be doing ANY type of heavy duty firepower. She’s about to be major fodder.
Unlike Emilia, Rem is not OP, and if she kept her old fighting stile, things are gonna get nice and bloody. Iirc, in arc 4 while contemplation on Emilia’s party setup Subaru mentioned he’d rather keep Rem as far from the fronlines as possible.
I actually liked that about her in S1, how she fights, dodging what she can dodge, tanking what she can’t, trading blow for blow, relying on her regeneration to outlive the opponent. It wasn’t “pretty” like shooting ice or elegant like swordmanship, just brutal overpowering, pain and rage. This is how real fighting is done.
This is how real fighting is done.
Does real fighting including ambushing someone from behind and torturing them with a smile on their face for several hours? Is that REAL
Not to mention, emilia DOES do REAL fighting. She LITERALLY sounded the SHIT out of regulus with her FISTS. I don’t even like emilia, but she HAS done some REAL type of fighting since real fighting includes fists (despite her not bleeding during every battle)
I guess Otto send out their location before he got his memory erased. I know Al will probably win somehow, but wonder how Rem is gonna deal with him bow that she knows of his authority.
I’m sorry bro but al just got perception blitzed so hard that he only started to shiver when Rem started speaking which was after she arrived in his vicinity, lmao. It doesn’t help that Al is probably in a mouse trap by the Emilia rn and is somehow about to reveal his weaknesses via Petra. Al’s plan although superb is about to become fodder
The fourth weakness may be REM
Yeah, because fanservice and glazing demands it
…..Because plot demands it.
Mfs didn’t read arc 3 and don’t get that this is a callback to the last time Al freaked out about Rem.
Sorry to this dissapoint you, jack, but this is all fanservice. The writing is on the wall. Teppei nullified established lore to bring rem back. Everything else is just to appease the fans, but they’ll say there’s an in story reason or it’s peak
my goat is washed
aldebaran is definitely cooked with this, rem is pissed muhahahaha
al is the version of subaru that chose echidna insetad of beatrice in arc 4. i call for it
Kind of doubt it. Stella no life and Greed WI provide some contradictions to that. I do believe anything timeline wise os a bit of a scapegoat
Absolutely not. There are probably more than a dozen reasons why not. The first reason is that time travel in ReZero cannot work this way.
I’d take Echidna’s words more literally. She said Al and she are alike. Both failures, flawed imitations born from Greed’s experiments.
Def not, Al has a working gate that’s earth aspected.
The greed IF comparison is fair though, definitely a possible endpoint for Al if he keeps removing shackles like this.
what does Al mean by previous Patrasche? like earth dragon reincarnation? Al previous dragon that was named the same? Patrasche in some loops that act accordingly?
Regarding that, my theory is that dragons stay dragons when they reincarnate. In OdLagna souls are cleanced of their life’s memories and repurposed. Dragons might be exceptions, letting them live new life as a dragon again. Probably without memories, their soul ID remains.
Recall that in arc 6 Volcanica exclaimed Patrasche’s name in surprise
I would get hyped if not due to the fact that we are gonna get just another plot device to keep Al safe and sound, which have been just too many so far.
Or plot armor for our heroes
No. Emilia and Felt’s camps have plot armor, not Al.
This is like saying Subaru has plot armor due to RBD…
He doesn’t have plot armor or “Plot device” he literally has an op ability, and if he was to lose now then literally what is the point or before…
Like let’s end it suddenly, whole arc and leadup is gone. Like do you just not comprehend stories and just read for action and want the “Good guys” to win LOL.. well ig it is just the anime community and since Re zero is popular the fanbase probably does love action. But even if you watch just for Action Aldebaran has some of the most interesting and best fights in the series, It’s a win-win if he wins…
(Replying to self).
Honestly though, this may be the last fight. “Thus, on the struggle for the Grand Mogolade Geyser, on the battle to decide the fate of the world here to come, the curtains now rose.”
So since we don’t know if it’s the last fight but it’s seemingly possible, good time to have hype, as you get the thrill of not knowing who’s going to win (though would become obvious if the fight gets dragged out), even if you think Aldebaran will have “plot armor”, you don’t know, so no reason not to be hyped. Does seem shorter than expected though imo, but this fight probably will last a while, and Aldebaran probably will find a way to get out of this positively (or like what would be the point). So much lore in these last chapters and so much more to come
When will the sequel come?
Is the Divine Protection going to be an issue for memory-wiped Otto? Since skills are unlearned, like Subaru with the whip or Rem with the Morningstar/magic/synethesia, Otto won’t know how to filter his divine protection anymore. That’s going to make communicating (and also just keeping him sane) really really difficult if so. Ugh poor guy
The problem I have with the theory that Flugel is Subaru or even an alias of him is that they’re thematically opposite. Subaru stayed behind for Beatrice, but Flugel didn’t do the same for Shaula. Even amnesiac Subaru in Arc 6 hated him for it. At his core, Subaru’s nature contradicts everything Flugel represents. While there may be more context behind Flugel’s disappearance or his reasons for leaving Shaula, it still paints a very different character. Flugel might’ve been another isekai’d person meant to balance the world but failed, leading to Subaru’s arrival as a “redo.” It feels like a red herring from Tappei. While your evidence is credible, the theory is still held back by flaws in the story.
I think maybe the idea is that Subaru is whatever Flugel and Al failed to be. So they are all iterations of the same person, but should still be considered separate entities? Unsure
If routes: what are we to you?
“Killing people is fine as long as I reset afterwards” ~ Yeah, being taught by Echidna certainly didn’t help his upbringing.
“This generation’s Patrasche” – at the end of arc 6 it was already hinted that a Patrasche was a historical figure. Now we know that there are more versions/generations.
I certainly didn’t expect Rem to crash the party like this. Especially because I think she is ill-matched against Yae. Just wish we can get Al’s journey over with fast, no matter the outcome. I had my fill of his pov and want to have Subaru back soon.
“Killing people is fine as long as I reset afterwards” ~ Yeah, being taught by Echidna certainly didn’t help his upbringing.
If the goal is to save the world, that is not awful.
excluding subaru. hey maybe al is aware of pride if subaru and just doesnt want all of that
I’m just realizing…
Did Al actually meet Rem prior to her losing her name?
I don’t recall that ever happening, yet he was impacted.
That brings back the question of how he made contact with Echidna. I can’t imagine Roswaal or Garfiel would let him just waltz right on into the tomb. Nor is it likely that he’s been around since age of witches.
At the very least he know Ram. He called her by name without introduction from her side in arc 1 side story, if I remember correctly. There also was moment with them meeting in arc 3. He mistaken Rem for Ram and generally acted as if he didn’t know that Ram has sister. If we to assume, that this is due to the authority of gluttony, then there is interesting possibilities. Did he was “drawn in” in one of the Subaru’s failed loops where Rem was eaten and permanently forgotten her indifferent to Subaru’s journey through timelines? Is this giving more credibility to theory of some Subaru based entity traveling through time? Something else entirely? Who knows.
i believe it was mentioned to be one of his failed loops not one of subarus
I bet Al was somehow connected to Oni village massacre.
His surprise and anger when Rem told him he mistook her for her sister, implies he was sure that only Ram should be alive.
He knows a lot about how Witch Cult operates and how they think. Wouldn’t be surprised if he belonged to a cult cell at some point.
He had both hands during his tea-time, and was one-handed by the time he met Prisilla in Vollachia.
Now, why would someone as strong as Al couldn’t avoid losing his arm?
So, the theory is: Al was one of the attackers on Oni village, mistook Ram for Rem and her, lost his arm, but managed to cut off her horn, a wound that should have been fatal.He probably had a very important reason to do so. That would expain why remembering her has hit him so bad.
But he was a gladiator when it happened. And his arm was lost when he was a gladiator. I think Echidna told Al that Rem will die before arc 3. Or she told him that Ram had no sister.
just to add to that. while never stated that it was Al it seems likely. events line up for him being the gladiator. the poison could also be refering to that a way to make sure he died.
but the question is, cause i believe he met rem back before she was unconscious, just what happened it mist of been his failed loop cause rem didnt know him seems likely that the two didnt get on very well and so he played the idiot card
i think the info about losing his arm as a gladiator come from Al himself no ? he might be lying
One day, he remembered it, but he didn’t say it out loud.
It was Capella who launched the attack on Oni Clan
they met at least once in one of the failed loop in capital city, where he confuse her with Ram and for whatever reason get angry when he learn she is alive.
i don’t remember if they met in the true route.
Otto cooked.
Domain Expansion: Unlimited Void. Seriously, Petra definitely got the idea from Subaru. What is this? The forth reference?
It’s a bit irritating that Roy doesn’t comment on what happened to Louis. Roy must have read Subaru’s speech about her in Otto’s memories.
the memories take time to process and he was looking for something. maybe when he sees someone who was at louis or leys events the memories will come to him. like when tou see an old acquaintance sorta thing. otto and louis never really spent time together so the memories wouldnt be too prominent
Are we about to finally get an answer to that scene he’s mistook Rem for Ram in arc 3?
Hype if so.
Bye bye Otto hahahhaaaa
So, Aldebaran doesn’t have Subaru’s resistance to authorities. His memories of Rem were removed…
Lye said that Subaru is affected differently by the Authority of Gluttony because he is from another world.
that was his assumption wasnt it. taking a guess from memories given to him.
i think it could be his status as the sage candidate. the power to use them all means he cant be affected by authorities.
it would make more sense since al claims to be from another world so either hes lying or it has to be aomething else
. besides there would have been other people immune to them over time if it was the other world thing. it just seems unlikely cause more would be mentioned
It’s already absolutely clear that Al is from the ReZero world. He’s not from Earth. Subaru is the only person from another world. If there are others, they’ve never been mentioned. When Louis ate Subaru’s memories, she couldn’t eat the memories of Earth, so I think Lye’s version is correct.
excluding flugel. the guy who brought japanese design to pristella. and im sure there was another mentioned to be using words that have no place in that world.
easiest one is shaula knows google is a thing though not what it is. flugel taught her.
We had 4 isekai, only one left. Flugel is Subaru’s past life. Alec is Flugel’s friend. Al is Subaru/Flugel’s clone.
Al need to learn about Dichotomic search, he would have saved a lot of restart by applying a proper algorithm