The next morning, the sun climbed into the sky.
By noon a brilliant light approached swiftly from the horizon.
High above the ruined estate hovered Roswaal, floating in mid-air, staring at the cratered remains of what once was his manor, utterly disbelieving that this devastation was his home.
On the shattered stone steps sat Lucien, ash falling from the end of his cigar as he exhaled smoke lazily.
"Oh my… it appears a lot happened while I was gone," Roswaal remarked incredulously as he hovered three meters above, surveying the destruction.
Lucien flicked the last speck of ash from his cigar and slowly stood, placing his hands on his hips.
A blue sphere of light began to glow faintly behind him.
"I waited for you all night," Lucien stated calmly.
Before Roswaal could react, a blazing blue orb shot forward with a fiery tail, streaking across the ground toward him.
Lucien had no time to waste. He needed to finish this quickly, locate Subaru, and protect him until the countdown ended. If necessary, he planned to strike from afar to ensure nothing interfered with the limited time he had left.
Without hesitation, Lucien launched his attack.
Roswaal's face tightened, a magical barrier flaring up just in time, briefly resisting the assault. But then an overwhelming surge of power erupted, and the blue orb detonated with devastating force, obliterating everything in its path.
A colossal mushroom-shaped cloud erupted from the impact, spanning from earth to sky. Two radiant halos unfolded horizontally, flattening mountains and crushing all in their way. The earth itself buckled, forming a vast basin that continued to widen outward.
Silence followed the destruction.
From the center of the vast crater, Lucien rose, hazy light drifting around him as he looked down at Roswaal, who lay half-submerged in sticky clay and mud, bloodied and utterly shattered.
Roswaal had never expected Lucien to wield such power.
Lucien remained cautious, keeping his distance.
He raised his right hand and flicked his fingers, calling forth a massive, five-hundred-meter energy dragon that roared toward Roswaal with unyielding force.
Bones crunched and defenses shattered as Roswaal's body was crushed again and again, his vital aura dropping dangerously low within the basin.
Suddenly, sharp, hardened black tendrils shot outward like dark barbs and pierced Roswaal's body, draining away his life force with unrelenting efficiency.
"Who are you…" Roswaal gasped weakly through blood-soaked lips, his expression frozen in disbelief as the life faded from him.
Lucien said nothing, not even a single word as Roswaal's body collapsed into dust where it lay.
A translucent data screen flickered into existence before Lucien.
Target Eliminated: Roswaal, minor supporting character
Status: defeated
Next Rewards: Ram, Puck, Beatrice — one Dice roll each
Important Supporting Characters Remaining: Rem, Emilia — three-day countdown initiated
Lucien studied the display thoughtfully.
So Roswaal had merely been a minor support. Powerful in appearance, yet brittle in substance.
Just another paper tiger.
Now there were three days left.
Lucien rose into the air, sensing Elsa's position, and in a flash transformed into a streak of golden lightning, vanishing into the sky.
Meanwhile, Subaru Natsuki wandered without direction. Unaware of where he was going, his steps led him to the familiar apple-market town where he had first arrived in this world. But he didn't stay there long. After passing through the market district, he continued westward down the road.
Elsa and Meli trailed secretly, shadowing his steps and ensuring his protection until Lucien appeared.
"Master!" they called from a rooftop when Lucien arrived, faces brightening.
He gave a brief nod, then looked down at Subaru, trudging forward in a daze, eyes distant and expressionless.
Nothing significant happened that day.
The following morning, Subaru left town and entered a forest path. Lost in his own numb thoughts, he continued onward — and unknowingly brushed past someone unexpected.
"Hm?"
Romanee-Conti's necrotic-skinned face twitched as his nose caught a faint trace of scent. He turned and eyed Subaru, circling around him twice, sniffing repeatedly.
"Sloth… My mind trembles!" Romanee-Conti declared in wild excitement. As the Sin Archbishop of Sloth, he was driven insane by the Witch Factor he bore.
"Why do you carry such a strong scent of… affection?"
Romanee-Conti had been preparing to raid Roswaal's mansion yet again, but fate had brought him here, sensing something powerful on Subaru's trail.
Subaru barely glanced at him before continuing to walk forward, not aware of where his path might lead. He simply wanted to leave this place, leave behind all the pain.
Suddenly cloaked figures materialized, blocking Subaru's path. The Witch Cultists, their faces hidden beneath hoods, stood silently in a loose formation.
"Ah ah ah… my mind, it trembles trembling trembling trembling…" Romanee-Conti ranted, hands twitching with deranged excitement.
Without hesitation, Elsa stepped forward, blade drawn.
"Blood Demon Art: Crescent Moon," she declared, swinging her blade in a wide arc. A bloody crescent shape cut through the air toward Romanee-Conti.
At the same moment, Meli commanded the nearby magical beasts, sending them crashing toward the cloaked Witch Cultists.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Subaru darted down a narrow side trail, escaping the clash entirely, knowing both factions posed danger to him.
"Sloth… Sloth…" Romanee-Conti muttered through a twisted grin. Behind him, invisible yet powerful constructs — the Unseen Hands summoned by his Sloth Authority — reached toward Elsa, their forces blocked by her swift bloody crescent slashes.
High atop a branch, Lucien watched, cigar smoke curling through the air.
He watched Subaru disappear into the distance, then shifted his gaze toward the battle unfolding below. In an instant, he vanished, appearing directly beside Romanee-Conti.
"My mind is trembling?" Lucien repeated the man's manic words back to him, voice icy calm. Romanee-Conti's pupils shrank in sudden fear.
"I think I need to resolve you completely this time. Elsa, Meli, focus outward from here and eliminate any Witch Cultists you encounter," Lucien commanded.
"Who exactly are you?" Romanee-Conti snarled, trying to cling to his mania. But before he could act, dark tendrils shot from Lucien's body, blocking every one of the Archbishop's Unseen Hands.
Then with a flick of his finger, Lucien sent a flurry of energy strikes that punched through the air with thunderous force.
One, two, three strikes pierced through Romanee-Conti's forehead and heart.
"Sloth…" he whimpered, collapsing as blood pooled beneath him.
Lucien hovered in the air, his perception expanding outward, sensing Qi — the presence of life energy — in all directions, faint yet abundant in vegetation and creatures alike.
His violet, amethyst eyes surveyed the forest with cold precision.