The capital of Lugunica was bathed in a glow of deceptive tranquility, almost insolent given the events unfolding within. In the cobbled streets, merchants carried out their daily tasks with a well-oiled routine, haranguing onlookers, while passers-by went about their business under a mild sky.
In short, the city was simply bustling, and life followed its course with a disconcerting normality. With the sole exception that the most important meeting in the recent history of the kingdom, the Royal Selection, was in full swing at this very moment. But let us leave the castle aside for a moment.
Let us focus instead on a prestigious estate, a familiar manor isolated on the outskirts of the capital, where silence reigned supreme.
In one of the most luxurious guest rooms of this manor, the atmosphere seemed almost cut off from the rest of the world. A man with immaculate white hair waited there, bathed in the filtered light from the windows. His posture was impeccably straight, legs elegantly crossed, one hand carelessly resting on his cheek in an attitude bordering on royal boredom. Yet, the air around him crackled with an invisible energy.
Kozuwa Kurisu sat there, waiting for an event that promised to be most entertaining. Behind his mask of placidity, his overflowing excitement was almost palpable, a mischievous anticipation just waiting to explode.
Kurisu : « Well... Author-san... I've been waiting for a while. Can you hurry up? It's an important day after all... None of us would want to miss the best part of the show. »
He said in a deliberately bored tone, breaking the silence of the room with a voice that resonated strangely, as if he were addressing an entity beyond the very walls of this world.
And so, as if to answer his insolence, the magic happened. The space in front of him twisted ever so slightly, and a parchment of medium length appeared in perfect levitation. Kurisu sketched a half-smile, reached out his arm, and seized the document with a fluid hand. He shook it theatrically in the air, mimicking a fake dissatisfaction at a service he deemed too slow.
Kurisu : « Finally, it's about time. I hope there will be interesting choices... But given the little teaser you gave me before... Anyway, let's read this and see what our dear readers have concocted for us. »
A smile slowly stretched across his lips as he took the time to decipher the various notes inscribed on the vellum. As his eyes swept over the ink, his smile widened to reveal his teeth. It was by no means a smile of pure joy or wonder. No, it was a predatory sneer, a dark excitement mixed with absolute malice.
A few minutes later, sated by his reading, he finished his inspection and tossed the parchment into the air. The paper never fell back down; it burst into flames and instantly disappeared in a sumptuous rain of golden sparks that vanished before even touching the ground. Kurisu looked up at the ceiling, looking dreamy.
Kurisu : « Well… they have quite a few ideas, don't they. And I must admit, there are a few that are particularly exquisite. But! I won't say anything. You'll find out soon enough… Kekeke. »
His muffled laughter echoed in the empty room. He then turned with disconcerting fluidity, deliberately turning his back to an invisible audience, to an imaginary camera fixed upon him. He raised his arms and clapped his hands loudly, a sharp sound that seemed to tear reality itself, as if to mark the end of a theatrical intermission.
Kurisu : « Right... I'm going to make some preparations. In the meantime, why don't you go see how our little Subaru is doing at the Selection? I wonder if he'll make a fool of himself again... Pff, that's just like him. »
Upon this cynical laughter still floating in the air, the scene began to change of its own accord. The walls of the manor blurred, colors merged into a whirlwind, only to violently spit us back out into the very heart of the royal castle of Lugunica.
…..
There, the contrast was brutal. The atmosphere in the immense throne room was heavy, stifling, saturated by the weight of judging gazes and the heady scent of incense. And, of course, at the center of it all stood Natsuki Subaru. The young man was fuming. Every mocking whisper, every insult disguised as politeness hurled by these haughty nobles toward Emilia acted like poison in his veins.
« Calm down, don't give in to provocation… » he thought, desperately trying to cling to Kurisu's lessons on emotional control. But despite his efforts, Subaru remained Subaru. His blood boiled.
He simply could not hold himself back in the face of such injustice. His face flushed with uncontrollable rage, deaf to the whispered pleas of Emilia who tried to restrain him, he broke ranks. He stepped forward with a heavy pace to the exact center of the assembly, standing proudly before the Sages and the vacant throne of the Dragon.
In a gesture of wild audacity, he placed a hand on his hip, bent one knee, and struck a theatrically exaggerated pose, one of absurd arrogance and tragic ridicule that clashed cruelly with the solemnity of the moment and made half the assembly wince.
Subaru : « Nice to meet you, members of the council of elders! My name is Natsuki Subaru. I am a valet in Roswaal's manor and I am... Emilia-sama's greatest knight! »
After these words, an incredulous silence fell over the room, heavy as a lead weight. No one seemed to understand if it was a bad joke or the act of a madman. Very quickly, this silence was swept away by a wave of indignant whispers and mocking laughter that began to buzz loudly. The humiliation stretched from the ranks of the imperial knights to the haughtiest nobles, all staring down this commoner in a tracksuit.
It was too much for the honor of the guard. Julius Juukulius, his face frozen in an expression of absolute coldness, stepped forward with a measured but consequential pace. Internally, he was seething. To tolerate such a fool profaning the sacred title of knight and disrupting this royal selection was an affront he would not let pass.
Julius : « Forgive me for interrupting, but there is something I must ask him... »
The greatest of Knights stopped a few paces from the intruder. He lowered his gaze to the young man's ridiculous pose, staring at him with a chilling severity that would have made the bravest warrior recoil.
Julius : « Do you truly proclaim yourself to be Emilia-sama's knight? »
Subaru : « What do you mean by that? »
Julius : « You have just declared that you are a knight. And you did so boldly here, before the Imperial Knights of Lugunica! »
Said Julius, his voice slicing through the air of the room as he made a wide and theatrical sweep of his hand toward his peers, majestically lined up along the sides.
As if responding to a silent order, and as one man, the entire army present stamped their feet violently on the marble floor. The dull, threatening thud echoed throughout the castle, coupled with the metallic clicking of dozens of hands simultaneously brushing the pommels of their swords. The murderous aura that emanated from them was overwhelming.
Subaru : « Yes, so what… is there a problem?! »
Exclaimed the young man, stepping back half a pace, the tone of his voice betraying a slight tremble. He still did not understand the abyssal gravity of the affront he had just uttered.
Julius : « Of course. To make the dignity of our kingdom known to all, we are every day very conscious of who we are and the weight of our swords. Do you have the determination to match that? »
The pressure suddenly emanating from Julius was terrifying. Subaru took another step back, his throat dry, caught off guard by the crushing aura of the Knight of Spirits who now seemed to tower over him.
Subaru : « I want to make Emilia the ruler… No, I will make her the ruler! »
Julius : « And you believe you have the determination and the strength to do so? »
insisted Julius, taking another step forward, piercing with his amber gaze a Subaru whose forehead was suddenly beaded with cold sweat.
Subaru : « I know full well that I lack strength and that I have very poor skills, no need to tell me, I already know all that! But I am going to help her, and I have the determination! »
Julius stopped. He observed Subaru's face, twisted with despair and blind sincerity, and slowly shook his head. His gaze, initially furious, was tinged with a deeply contemptuous pity.
Julius : « Do you not find your answer far too arrogant? Weakness is something to be ashamed of, not something to be proud of. Have you worked hard to earn the right to stand here? Have you rendered enough service to bring shame upon us, the Imperial Knights? »
Subaru : « I don't care! I still stand by what I said… Even if I am weak, I will do everything in my power to help her accomplish her goals! »
Subaru yelled, his voice rasping, his face contorted by a sincere but dramatically misplaced conviction. He believed it with all his might, but his might was zero.
Julius appeared surprised for a fraction of a second by the raw flash in the young man's sincere gaze. But pity quickly gave way to reason of state. He sighed lightly, drawing himself up to his full height, before resuming his place in the line of knights with a cold and calculated elegance.
Julius : « I understand and I accept your reason for staying there. But I do not think I can recognize you as a knight. However... Anyone who aspires to stand here without even having proven themselves is not a knight. They are simply an over-arrogant person. »
These last words snapped like a guillotine. Subaru's face instantly crumbled. Panic rose within him, knotting his stomach. He opened his mouth, he wanted to retort, to spit out his anger, but his voice died in his throat.
« He's right... » he thought bitterly.
A part of him knew, with terrifying lucidity, that every syllable Julius spoke was just. He had proclaimed himself a protector without having the slightest strength, the slightest feat to support his hollow words. It was nothing but pure arrogance, a smokescreen to hide his inferiority complex. Slowly, with the sensation of being crushed by shame, he turned his gaze toward the half-elf.
Emilia had remained silent all this time, her head bowed, refusing to meet his eyes. He could not see her face, and that hurt him even more than the blades of the knights. He closed his eyes, holding his breath to gather what little courage he had left, preparing to scream one last time.
But before his vocal cords could even vibrate, a casual, almost lazy voice pierced the leaden silence.
Unknown Voice : « Well… I see the tension is rising in this little neighborhood meeting, eh? »
The voice resonated from everywhere and nowhere. It belonged to no noble. It was relaxed, amused, and seemed to come from above. Every face, from the candidates to the Sages, turned frantically to search for the source.
Marco : « Who... Who dares to interrupt the Council in this way? Show yourself! » yelled the captain of the guard, his sword half-drawn.
Clink.
Suddenly, a light crystalline sound rang out. The delicate clinking of a porcelain cup being placed on a saucer. The sound came from the upper platform. Right where the sacred throne of the Dragon was located. Everyone looked up toward the upper platform. The breath of the entire room was cut short. An absolute blasphemy was taking place before their eyes.
A man with white hair, dressed in immaculate white clothes, was sitting. Not just anywhere. He was enthroned, legs crossed, on the Seat of the Dragon. The sacred throne of the ruler of Lugunica. He was sipping a cup of tea, looking down at the assembly with the detachment of a god watching a colony of ants scurry about.
It was a sacrilege. The effect of a silent nuclear bomb. The Sages were petrified. The face of the venerable Sage Bordeaux went from red to purple. His veins seemed ready to explode at this unforgivable sight, and he pointed a trembling finger at the intruder.
Bordeaux : « You... You miserable wretch! You should be flayed alive for daring to... »
But he never finished his sentence. The man in white was no longer on the throne. He had vanished. A fraction of a second later, the same voice resonated, but this time, right in the center of the room, just a few inches from Natsuki Subaru.
Kurisu : « Subaru, Subaru... I did tell you that humility isn't a free DLC. You have to farm for it. »
Subaru jumped violently, turning around so fast he almost tripped, his eyes wide with dizzying shock. His heart skipped a beat.
Subaru : « Uh... Kurisu?! What the hell are you doing her— »
He was stopped short by Kurisu's hand, which ruffled his hair with an almost stifling condescension, a fake affection that instantly reduced the "Knight" to the status of a toddler.
Kurisu : « Shh, Subaru. Let your big brother handle the adults. »
Stepping forward a few paces into the center of the assembly, Kurisu shoved his hands into his pockets.
Kurisu : « Say, you're being a bit rough with the kid, aren't you? It's true he lacks tact, but that's just how it is, we're all a bit stubborn back home. No need to pile on. »
Dark glares converged on him. Incomprehension mixed with fury. The aura he gave off, coupled with his impossible appearance, cast a polar chill.
Wilhelm and Felix were the first to widen their eyes. They recognized this man, the anomaly from the manor. But to see him infiltrate the heart of the Royal Castle was pure madness.
In the ranks of the knights, Reinhard van Astrea had not moved an inch, but his piercing blue eyes were fixed on the man in white.
« This man… it's him. » thought the Sword Saint. His memory took him back a month, to their brief and unsettling encounter.
At his hip, the Dragon Sword Reid, usually so silent, vibrated slightly in its scabbard, as if in response to an anomaly that defied the laws of the world. Reinhard tensed, ready to intervene, analyzing every micro-movement of the intruder.
Roswaal, for his part, felt his eternal smile fade. A bead of sweat formed under his clown makeup. The Anomaly was here. The one who made his precious Gospel totally blind.
Among the candidates, reactions were divided. Felt sketched a predatory smile, amused by this sudden chaos and delighted to see the arrogance of the nobles trampled upon.
Anastasia Hoshin narrowed her eyes, her commercial smile masking mental gears turning at full speed.
Crusch Karsten, offended to the highest degree by the intruder's effrontery, opened her mouth to demand his arrest.
But a haughty voice, burning with vanity, beat her to it.
Priscilla : « Well! The world revolves around me, that is an absolute fact! So tell me, who are you, little dog, to dare come strutting across my beautiful sun and soil my sight? »
The Princess of the Sun had risen, hiding half her face behind her scarlet fan, her gaze overflowing with royal contempt. The whole room held its breath as Kurisu slowly turned his head toward the Bloody Baroness. Far from being intimidated, he approached her with an almost dancing gait, a mocking sneer on his lips.
Kurisu : « Ohh, well you can call me Kurisu... Consider me the tutor of this mean-eyed brat behind me. I'm just a simple man who likes to have fun. »
He gave an exaggerated, totally sarcastic bow, staring her straight in the eyes.
Kurisu : « So, does that suit you, Baroness? »
Priscilla burst into a crystalline and mocking laugh, hiding half her face behind her fan.
Priscilla : « Hah! So you are related to this pathetic stray dog who just made a fool of himself?! But what else could I have expected from the dregs of this world. Dogs remain dogs, and you are but a bark in the wind. »
A few nobles snickered, reassured by the Baroness's confidence. But Kurisu did not flinch. His mocking smile widened. He stepped even closer, violating Priscilla's personal space until their faces were almost at the same height. This made her knight, Al, flinch. The air became glacial.
Priscilla : « What? Did my remark touch you so much that you would dare approach the sun itself? What pitiable arrogance for a s— »
Kurisu burst out laughing. A dull, dark laugh that echoed lugubriously in the silence of the room, drowning out the candidate's last words. He plunged his gaze into Priscilla's scarlet eyes, and his tone changed, shifting from mockery to a whisper of terrifying intimacy.
Kurisu : « It's funny... » he whispered in a voice so low that only she and Al could hear it clearly.
Kurisu : « Yet I remember you having much more of a backbone back in the days of the Empire of Vollachia, no? Isn't that right... Prisca Benedict? »
The movement of Priscilla's fan stopped dead. Her blood ran cold.
« Ho... How does he know that name?! » Color drained from her face. Her past, the very identity she had buried, had just been exhumed by a stranger in the middle of the Council of Sages.
Kurisu : « Pff... Yes, you were much more fun before, when you didn't hide your true feelings as a spoiled little girl behind— »
He could not finish. A cataclysmic fury seized Priscilla. Her pride was struck to the core. With a wide and desperate sweep of her hand, she invoked the relic of her lineage. The flaming blade of the Yang Sword, one of the ten holy swords, burning at temperatures close to molten lava, materialized the air as it swung directly toward Kurisu's neck.
Priscilla : « ENOUGH!! » she screamed with unprecedented savagery.
The explosion of heat generated a cloud of steam and smoke that engulfed the two figures. In the hall, horror froze everyone.
« Oh shit... He asked for it, calling her by that name... » Al, her helmeted bodyguard, cursed internally.
But suddenly, the smoke dissipated without the slightest breeze. And the entire assembly swallowed with a dull terror. Priscilla Barielle, the Princess of the Sun, was frozen. The Yang Sword was stopped an exact millimeter from Kurisu's throat, hitting an absolute invisible wall. But that wasn't the worst of it.
Kurisu : « Pff... Too predictable. »
Kurisu smiled, simply reached out his bare gloved hand and... took the sword. He met no resistance. The incandescent blade, supposed to carbonize anyone who was not its master, let itself be torn from Priscilla's grip like a simple toy taken from a child.
Priscilla : « How... Is this possible... ? » she stammered, her legs trembling slightly under the psychological shock.
Her universe of absolute superiority had just cracked. but she refused to fall. Her nails dug into her own palms until they bled, her eyes bulging as she stared at this magical impossibility.
Kurisu stepped back a few paces, gauging the legendary weapon with boredom and spun it in his hand like a vulgar piece of wood, before nonchalantly tossing it over his shoulder. The Yang Sword streaked through the air and anchored itself into the marble floor with surgical precision, a hair's breadth from the feet of the Baroness in a state of catatonic shock.
While the hall digested the impossible, Kurisu reached into his jacket and pulled out a small black, smooth rectangle from another world.
Kurisu : « Ah, I absolutely have to immortalize this expression. » He turned, placed Priscilla's back in the frame, and pressed his Smartphone.
CLICK. FLASH.
A blinding flash, a light devoid of any trace of mana, exploded in the room. The Sages let out cries of fright, shielding their eyes, convinced he had just triggered a curse or captured the candidate's soul with this obscure relic.
Al, terrified to see his mistress in this state, broke his inaction.
Al : « Princess!! » He charged to interpose himself, passing within inches of Kurisu.
At the exact moment their bodies crossed, time seemed to slow down for the knight from another world, Kurisu leaned in slightly and let slip a whisper that only the one-armed knight could hear.
Kurisu : « Still playing bodyguard, Rigel? We both know you're not here by chance. »
Al literally skidded on the marble. His brain short-circuited. He stopped so abruptly he almost fell over. Breath hitched beneath his helmet, he was struck by an existential terror. This man knew. Who he was. Where he came from.
«Rigel… That name… This guy... knew about the other timelines? » Al almost felt nauseous, But out of loyalty, he swallowed his panic, forcing his trembling legs to rejoin Priscilla.
Ignoring the panic of the helmeted man, Kurisu turned toward the rest of the tetanized hall, stretching his arms.
Kurisu : « Well then? Why are you all so silent? Do I need to keep handing out gold stars? »
A silvery silhouette broke the stillness and pulled away from the line of candidates. Emilia, her eyes shining with a wounded lack of understanding, stepped forward.
Emilia : « Kurisu... Why are you here? No... Why did you do that? Did you have to hurt her so much? » she asked, pointing at Priscilla who was struggling to regain her aristocratic breath.
Kurisu stared at her, then approached her. To everyone's surprise, his gaze softened slightly. He raised his hand and gently patted the top of her head with a softened expression.
Kurisu : « Emilia... I was only defending myself, you know. She's the one who attacked me with her heated paper-cutter. I did nothing more than give her a lesson in humility. »
The assembly gasped again. This monstrosity knew the half-elf candidate? The Council of Elders was seething. Miklotov, the representative of the Sages, struck the floor with his cane and cleared his throat, his voice trembling.
Miklotov : « If you would excuse me, Emilia-sama... Do you know this intruder who is causing such chaos during a sacred ceremony? »
Emilia : « Uh, well, he is... » she stammered, turning away quickly with a troubled face.
Roswaal finally took a step forward, reclaiming his facade of a smile.
Roswaal : « Weeell... Weeell... This man is in fact one of the guests of my manoooor. Or rather, he was.... For at this precise moment, House Mathers has absoluuuutely nothing to do with him. »
Kurisu looked at him with a small amused twitch on his face.
« Well, is that your backup plan, Roswaal? Playing the coward? Fine… let's play. » he thought. He left Emilia and turned to the assembly.
Kurisu : « Well yes, that's right. At this moment, one might consider me a simple vagabond with no title, no position, and no attachments. Is it so bad? »
he asked, adopting a falsely innocent air that made half the nobility want to vomit.
Some nobles began to cry heresy, demanding he be burned at the stake for his crimes. It was then that Anastasia Hoshin stepped forward, her faithful merchant's smile plastered on her lips, determined to profit from the situation by belittling this unpredictable pawn.
Anastasia : « I thought that, given your grand entrance and all that arrogance, you would be a person of high importance... Or at least someone with powerful connections. But it turns out you're nothing but a windbag full of hot air, without the slightest proof of your claims... Just like this boy, »
She said, pointing at Subaru with muted disdain.
Kurisu looked her up and down. A look of feigned pity and disgust that made her uneasy.
Kurisu : « Well... When you don't have all the information, it's logical to reach that kind of hasty conclusion. However, Miss Merchant... if I may, I really have no lessons on status to take from a woman who needs to lean on her little pet fox to survive mentally. »
Anastasia's smile shattered into a thousand pieces. Her eyes widened with indescribable horror. His deepest secret, the true nature of her scarf... He saw right through her.
« How... how can he know about Echidna? It's impossible! » she thought, her heart racing.
Cold sweat appeared on her neck and for the first time in her life as a negotiator, she was unable to utter a single syllable.
It was too much for Julius. Seeing his candidate thus destabilized and publicly insulted caused the Spirit Knight's cold anger to explode. He stepped forward quickly, hand clenched on the hilt of his sword.
Julius : « If I may, you have crossed the line. You dare insult my lady with such nonsense—! »
Crusch : « THAT IS ENOUGH! » the authoritative voice of Duchess Karsten pierced the air.
Crusch : « I will not let this intruder continue this masquerade and disparage those present at such an important meeting! Knights, seize this man! »
At her words, a dozen royal guards charged at Kurisu, spears and swords pointed at him.
Reinhard : « NO! Please, don't do that, stop right now! » cried the Sword Saint, his voice charged with panicked urgency.
Julius held out his arm to stop the Sword Saint's progress.
Julius : « Forgive me, Reinhard. I know your generous nature pushes you toward mercy, but this man has insulted our ladies and royalty itself! He must pay! »
But Julius did not understand. Reinhard was not worried for the intruder's life. He was mortally worried for the lives of the knights. Reid would not stop vibrating. The knights were going to reach him. Reinhard bent his knees, ready to lunge to intercept the guards' attack before it was too late. Kurisu let out a long, weary sigh. He simply raised his hand.
SNAP.
With a simple snap of his fingers, the world stopped. Instantly, time, space, or perhaps reality itself, seemed to shatter. The twelve knights in full charge were stopped dead in their tracks. Their faces were distorted by effort, unable to blink or move a finger.
They remained frozen, suspended three feet off the ground in grotesque attack postures, prisoners of an absolute void where not a single second flowed anymore. Kurisu's Authority had frozen the atmosphere and the exact physical space where the attackers were located. The hall fell into a mute terror. No one dared breathe. This silence was broken only by the sound of the man in white's footsteps.
Kurisu sighed, stepping away from the levitating bodies, and turned one last time toward the hall petrified by the terror of the incomprehensible, sweeping the candidates and Sages with his most condescending gaze.
Kurisu : « Well... I think the kid was right to get angry. You are hopeless. You cannot change, all of you. Nobles, Sages, Candidates... You are all profoundly narrow-minded and stupid. Anyway... apart from Emilia and little Felt in the back, you guys are okay. But anyway… I have nothing left to do here. »
He turned away slowly, walking toward Natsuki Subaru, still in shock.
Kurisu : « Subaru, come on. We're leaving. » He grabbed Subaru by the collar of his jacket and began dragging him across the marble floor without ceremony.
Subaru : « Huh?! What, why?! Hey... Take it easy, wait! Let go of me damn it! »
Protested Subaru, the humiliation of being dragged like a sack of potatoes almost erasing the shock of what he had just seen. He was ashamed. Ashamed to be associated with this monster, ashamed to be saved in this manner.
As they headed toward the immense doors of the throne room, Reinhard gently interposed himself. His expression was of a deadly seriousness, his hand firmly placed on his sword.
Reinhard : « I do not understand you at all, Mr. Kurisu. But what you have just done here... Your actions will not go unpunished. The law of the Kingdom will apply. »
he declared in a grave voice.
Kurisu didn't even stop. He passed by the Sword Saint without giving him more than an amused sidelong glance.
Kurisu : « And I don't expect them to, knight. But for now... I think that's enough of a lesson, kekeke. »
Then, just before the heavy doors closed on him, he tossed one last sentence into the room. A sentence spoken in a tone so casual, so horribly detached, that it was to haunt the Council's nightmares.
Kurisu : « By the way, I don't even know why that idiot Volcanica continues to support you. You're not worth it. »
The heavy doors slammed shut with a dull boom, sealing the exit. The hall remained plunged in an abyssal silence. Bordeaux collapsed to his knees, clutching his chest, on the verge of fainting. Miklotov remained frozen, eyes bulging.
What had just happened defied all logic. All wondered who this man was. An anomaly capable of knowing their most intimate secrets as if he had always known them… But more than anything, it was his final words that anchored themselves deeply into the minds of all the Sages and Knights present.
« That idiot Volcanica ».
Who was he to dare speak of the Holy Dragon, the protector of Lugunica, with such disdain? The rest of the meeting was nothing more than a blur of confusion, chilling fear, and absolute lack of understanding in the face of the monster who had just crossed through their world.