Re:Zero: Wrath Route Yandere Emilia Watches the Projection

”Ahh~ This is a side of Subaru I’ve never seen before — but you know what? I think I like it even more!”

Elsa propped one cheek on her palm, her narrowed eyes gleaming with crimson light, the very picture of unhinged obsession.

”Yes, just like that — hit me harder, or… let me cut you, draw out more blood, until those lovely guts finally spill out!”

Elsa watched her screen-self weave and dodge with growing dissatisfaction.

But then, the moment her on-screen counterpart sliced into Natsuki Subaru and drew blood, the dissatisfaction melted away into pure, shivering excitement.

[”Gotcha!”

With the carefree air of someone who had been playing around the whole time, the Elsa on screen caught the leg Natsuki Subaru had swung up in a kick — and smiled at him, tender and indulgent.

In that instant, the smiles of two Elsas — one on screen, one below it — overlapped in perfect, eerie synchrony.

Not that the on-screen Elsa had any intention of going easy on him. She raised her kukri and brought it sweeping down.

And then —

”That’s enough!”

A clear, cool voice rang out from above. An instant later, the roof of the Loot House exploded with a thunderous crack, and a jagged hole burst open, showering the room in splinters and dust.

When the cloud settled, a red-haired figure stood revealed — the dragon sword hanging at his hip, his gaze sharp as a blade. It was Reinhard.

His eyes cut straight through the chaos and locked onto the two combatants. That single announcement not only arrested the descending kukri, it froze the entire atmosphere of the room solid.

”Good. Looks like I’m not too late.”

”You’re…” Elsa’s eyes flickered, a note of gravity seeping into her otherwise calm gaze.

”Reinhard?”

Natsuki Subaru was the first to identify the red-haired young man — though in his memory, Reinhard had only ever been an ordinary gate guard.

”That’s right. Sorry I’m late, Subaru.”

Reinhard greeted him with an easy, relaxed smile, barely sparing Elsa a glance — not out of ignorance, but pure, unshakeable confidence in his own ability.

”Black hair, black clothes, and that northern-style blade — there’s no mistaking it. You’re the Bowel Hunter, aren’t you?”

”What kind of nightmare name is that?”

Natsuki Subaru, who had somehow drifted to a position behind Reinhard without anyone noticing, gave an exaggerated shudder.

”It’s a nickname derived from her signature killing method. She’s a dangerous criminal with quite the notorious reputation.”

Reinhard stated Elsa’s identity in a matter-of-fact tone.

Elsa, for her part, was not about to be outdone — she returned the favour and laid bare Reinhard’s identity without a moment’s hesitation.

”Reinhard, is it? Knight among knights, heir to the lineage of the Sword Saint. How wonderful — another interesting opponent has come my way.”

”Subaru, please step back. Leave the rest to me.”

Reinhard’s smile carried a razor-sharp edge — the absolute confidence of someone who goes by the name of [Strongest].

”She’s a monster of a woman — don’t you dare let your guard down!”

Natsuki Subaru called out the warning, then obediently turned and got out of the way.

Reinhard let out a quiet, amused laugh.

”Fortunately, hunting monsters is exactly what I do best.]

[Setting aside the other side of the room, where the kind-hearted Emilia was busy tending to Old Rom’s wounds, the battle between Reinhard and Elsa erupted without delay.

”I’d rather not be too rough with a female opponent.”

As Elsa came charging straight at him with her kukri raised high, Reinhard smiled and stepped his left foot forward. Magical energy surged through his entire body.

He shattered the floorboards beneath him in the same motion, disrupting Elsa’s swing before it could land.

Without missing a beat, he seized upon the split second her body went rigid — and drove his right foot upward into her side with terrifying speed.

THUD!

Almost simultaneously, the sound of the kick connecting and the sound of Elsa crashing to the ground and rolling several times rang out as one.

Reinhard’s words had been gentle enough.

His foot, however, showed absolutely no mercy whatsoever.

Unfortunately, the dragon sword had not recognized Elsa’s strength as worthy — and so it could not be drawn. In the interest of some semblance of fairness, Reinhard flicked up a standard-issue longsword that had conveniently fallen nearby, catching it with practiced ease.

”Wonderful! Don’t hold back — give me everything you’ve got!”

Elsa broke into a wide, manic grin, thrilled to be facing a powerful adversary.

As Elsa came rushing in again, Reinhard met her with a single, straightforward horizontal slash — nothing fancy, nothing flashy.

In one exchange, Elsa was disarmed. Her kukri was sent flying by the longsword.

Reinhard precisely predicted where it would land and plucked it cleanly out of the air.

”Now that you’ve lost your weapon, I’d advise you to surrender while you still can.”

Elsa’s smile didn’t waver for an instant. She hid both hands behind her back and charged at Reinhard again — as though she had given up all resistance and was simply rushing headlong toward her own death.

”She has a second blade, Reinhard!”

At the critical moment, Natsuki Subaru — who had kept his eyes glued to the battlefield — shouted the warning in time.

Reinhard reacted instantly, stepping back just enough to let the arc of a second kukri slice through the air directly in front of him.

”I’m surprised you knew.”

Missing her mark didn’t faze Elsa in the slightest — she even had the leisure to sound genuinely impressed.

”Because I’ve experienced it firsthand,” Natsuki Subaru murmured, almost to himself.

”But I have more than two fangs, you know? Shall we keep going?”

Elsa showed not a trace of surrender, extending the invitation to continue as boldly as ever.

”If I cut down every weapon you have, will you finally be satisfied?”

There were wounded in the room, and Reinhard had no desire to drag this out — his only goal was to defeat Elsa and drive her off.

But Elsa was in no mood to accept such terms, and her reply came in a voice as hard and cold as iron.

”No fangs? Then I’ll use my claws. No claws? Then my bones. No bones? Then my life itself!”

As she spoke, Elsa began moving across the ceiling at blinding speed, leaving a trail of afterimages in her wake.

It was wasted effort. Reinhard’s eyes had already locked onto her, and no matter how she twisted or leapt or spun, every single movement remained crystal clear to him.

”This is the Bowel Hunter’s way!”

Elsa kicked off the ceiling for momentum and launched herself at Reinhard again and again, kukri slashing down in relentless succession.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Reinhard parried each strike with his longsword, utterly unrattled.

”Don’t tell me even Reinhard is being pushed into a desperate fight?”

Watching the fierce exchange play out before him, Natsuki Subaru couldn’t help but blurt out his anxiety.

”What does a lowly woman like me deserve, matching blows with the great Sword Saint?”]

Elsa let out a soft laugh and turned to glance across at Reinhard, who was standing a short distance away, teasing him with her tone.

”On the day the Royal Capital burned, I burned through every last revival I had — and even then, I only managed to hold back the Sword Saint for a moment.”

Reinhard’s expression remained composed. After everything he had been through, a provocation of this calibre barely registered.

But as he watched the images playing out on the screen, something began to dawn on him.

”It’s because of healing.”

Emilia already had the answer in her heart — she had been one of the people who had lived through those very events.

As for the other two in the cinema, though they too had been present in person, they had none of these memories — memories that belonged, effectively, to the future.

____

👻🔥+40 ch: Walnut-chan🔥👻

🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 extra chapter for everybody