...
{ 3rd Pov }
"Gah—!" Subaru gasped for air, lurching forward in the carriage.
"Master Zero?! What's wrong?!" Rem pulled the carriage to a halt, concern etched across her face.
"I-It's nothing," he muttered, steadying his breath as he glanced around, recognizing the familiar surroundings.
'Just before the White Whale fight? Tch, convenient timing,' he thought. A cruel smile tugged at his lips. "Alright, you bastard. Let's make this count."
The memories of his last deaths burned like hot iron in his brain—but this time, he wasn't just fighting to survive. He was fighting to win.
He closed his eyes for a moment and tested his energy—Aura, Mana, and Ki. All three had been amplified, nearly fourfold. A noticeable leap in power.
'No doubt about it. Both the quality and quantity of my energy have doubled. That means the overall growth after each death is nearly quadrupled,' he thought, gripping the seat lightly as the carriage moved forward.
As Rem guided the reins, Subaru closed his eyes and focused. A moment later, a blade of solidified aura formed in his hand—shimmering, sharp, and overflowing with power.
'So I've finally learned how to shape my aura… Not bad. With enough control, this could become deadlier than any forged blade.'
Time passed quickly.
As the giant silhouette of Flugel's Tree came into view and the mist began to gather, Subaru's expression hardened.
He turned to Rem and handed her a sealed envelope.
"Take this letter and head straight back to the mansion—don't look back, no matter what happens. That's an order."
"What's going on, Master Zero?!" Rem asked, confused.
Subaru's eyes narrowed. "The White Whale is here. If you don't want to die—run!"
He leapt off the carriage, landing with purpose as Rem stared at him, stunned.
"Go!" Subaru shouted at her.
She stared at him, fingers trembling as she gripped the letter. She didn't argue—she knew better now. This wasn't the Subaru who joked and stumbled. This was Master Zero.
Rem clenched her teeth, hesitated only for a moment, then snapped the reins.
The ground dragon let out a sharp roar and surged forward, the carriage tearing away into the mist.
A deafening roar thundered overhead as the White Whale descended from the clouds.
"Tch—piss off."
Subaru shot himself into the air with super speed, the shockwave rippling behind him. Suspended mid-air, he caught a full view of the White Whale.
"Al Goa!" Subaru unleashed his strongest fire spell, releasing a massive fireball that struck the White Whale, burning its upper body and causing it to roar in pain.
*Booooommmm*
Instantly, two new White Whales appeared and flew towards him. He teleported above the back of the original, but the whale shrugged its body, throwing him towards another.
Subaru flipped mid-air, swinging his sword and piercing through the doppelganger's eye.
*Splashhh*
"Mooooooooooooo!!!!" The beast roared in pain and unleashed Mist of Elimination, which Subaru easily dodged.
"Die, you bastard!" Subaru yelled, creating a massive scythe made of aura. He swung it with all his strength, striking the whale.
The whale staggered mid-air from the sheer force of the attack, but Subaru didn't relent. He charged forward, slashing through its flesh relentlessly.
As the second whale appeared, opening its massive jaw and diving toward him, Subaru teleported above it, swinging his scythe to sever its horn.
The beast roared in agony before disappearing, but just as Subaru thought he had finished off one clone, another appeared, completely unharmed.
'You're kidding me?!' Subaru thought, staring at the new clone in disbelief.
"I need to kill the original one!" Without wasting another moment, he shifted his focus to the whale hovering above him.
In an instant, he teleported above it once more. Gathering all his strength.
The scythe shimmered with radiant energy, carving through the clouds like a god's punishment. The sky lit up as blood and mist sprayed like fireworks. he swung the scythe, throwing it with a fierce determination.
The scythe spun thousands of times in a single second, slicing cleanly through the whale's head and down to its tail.
"Al Huma!" he shouted, conjuring a massive ice projectile and launching it at the whale.
Suddenly, the whales below vanished—only to reappear right next to him.
'What?!' His eyes widened. He quickly unsheathed his sword, cloaking it in aura, and slashed at the approaching beast.
The original White Whale was injured by the blow, but Subaru found himself trapped between the two clones. With no choice, he teleported again—just in time to make them crash into each other.
But the moment didn't last. The White Whale's eyes rolled back, and its clones re-emerged—one diving at him from above, maw wide open, and the other surging up from below.
"What kind of bullshit is this?!" Subaru shouted in frustration, forced to teleport again. The whales mirrored him, chasing relentlessly.
"This is not a tag, you fat sea cow!" he yelled mid-warp, teeth clenched. "Stop cheating with your stupid mist hacks!"
This game of deadly tag continued for several moments—until he realized he'd been driven extremely high into the sky.
"Fall down!" Subaru roared, forming another scythe made of aura. He hurled his sword toward the original and grabbed the scythe mid-air as he plummeted toward the clone.
The moment he reached it, he swung.
*Booomm*
A blast echoed through the sky as the clone was slammed downward.
But before he could breathe, another White Whale appeared above and swallowed him whole.
"Dammit!" he yelled as its massive jaws crushed down, tearing his body in two.
His upper half plummeted through the air while his lower half vanished inside the beast's stomach. He was still conscious—wracked with unimaginable pain.
His nerves screamed in agony, his mind desperately clinging to consciousness. He couldn't breathe, couldn't scream—just watch the sky fall around him as his life slipped away
His Spirits, panicked, fled his broken body and tried to cast spells—
Only for the second whale to devour him completely.
*Natsuki Subaru has died for the eighth time (*256).
…
"Should I just use my legendary sword?" he muttered, caught once again in the jaws of the White Whale.
This time, he barely survived—only to keep fighting and die once more.
*Natsuki Subaru has died for the ninth time (*512).
…
Subaru gasped for breath, utterly exhausted.
The White Whale glared at him, its body heavily wounded. He had slain its clones dozens of times by now.
But his strength had reached its limit.
His Ki and Aura were completely drained.
His body gave out, collapsing in mid-air.
The strain from overusing his power was too much.
*Natsuki Subaru has died for the tenth time (*1024).
___
To be continued…
(A/N: Give me the powerstones... All you have left, give 'em to me!)