Subaru Natsuki, who returned from the new Three Kingdoms

The crowd followed the sound and saw her and Elsa standing in front of a wall of books, looking up at the layers upon layers of books.

These books were exactly the same in thickness, color, and wear; even the text on the spines was identical.

There are thousands of books visible, and the bookshelves continue to extend upwards until they disappear into the darkness beyond the reach of light.

This spectacular scene left everyone in awe...

What a magnificent and eventful life it must have been to warrant so many books to write about it.

What are these characters?

Mei stared at the spine of the book for a long time, but still couldn't understand the three unfamiliar characters.

With the soul-shattering experience that Clarissa and Elsa had just suffered still fresh in their minds, no one else dared to flip through the books rashly; they could only stand in front of the wall of books and speculate in hushed tones.

"Since each book represents a dead person..."

Clarissa rubbed her still-aching temple, her voice gradually lowering.

"Has this person died tens of thousands of times?"

Footsteps came from behind.

Natsuki Subaru was drawn over by their conversation and walked to the seemingly endless wall of books.

What were unfamiliar words to Melly and the others were perfectly clear to him.

This was the first time Subaru Natsuki had seen Chinese characters since he came to this world.

His gaze slowly moved from the bottom of the book to the top.

Those three words kept flashing into his eyes, each time feeling like a mockery.

Densely packed, stretching into the depths of darkness, seemingly endless.

Natsuki Subaru was silent for a moment, then reached out and touched the spine of the book closest to him, but did not pull it out.

He had already died once, so there was no need for him to read the records of his life.

"hehe."

"So you've persisted this many times already?"

A soft laugh drifted into the empty library, so light it was almost like a sigh.

Elsa turned to look at him.

"Subaru, do you know any of the people mentioned in the Book of the Dead?"

"know."

Natsuki Subaru withdrew his hand, a faint smile still lingering on his face, and said self-deprecatingly:

"He's just a madman who keeps dying with resentment, searching for the so-called 'living towards death'."

After speaking, Natsuki Subaru turned and walked towards the center of the library, without looking back even once.

Everyone remained standing in the same spot, none of them understanding why he had made that expression just now.

To them, the contents on the spine of the book were always just three unrecognizable characters.

But Natsuki Subaru recognized those three characters:

【Subaru Natsuki】

"Xia Wula".

Subaru Natsuki walked back to Shaula.

"You've passed the trial, so why haven't I seen your master yet? Also, don't say things like 'I am your master' again."

Xia Wula pouted, looking aggrieved, and reached out to tug at his clothes.

"But Master is Master..."

Seeing Natsuki Subaru frown, she drew out her words and added:

"Master, have you forgotten again? The Tower of Sages has three trials in total. You've only passed the first one so far."

"Three paths?"

Natsuki Subaru seemed to be deep in thought.

"That's not surprising!"

"So it's true that things don't happen more than three times."

He immediately called on everyone to find the second trial.

At the same time, Reinhard and his group also entered the Sand Time.

They desperately tried to get closer to the towering tower amidst the seemingly endless sandstorm.

Unfortunately, no matter which way they went, they couldn't get even an inch closer to that tall tower...

“Subaru…” Reinhard’s expression was solemn as he took the lead in cutting through the gale, creating a chance for the people behind him to catch their breath.

"Wait for me!"

------

Inside the Tower of Sages.

After searching for a while, the group quickly discovered that a new staircase extending upwards had appeared in the center of the outer staircase after the first trial had disappeared.

The group followed the steps and soon arrived at the fourth floor of the Sage's Tower (the second floor of the Sage's Tower).

This is also a pure white space.

However, this time there was no black stone tablet in the center of the room, only a sword stuck in the gray-white rock.

Natsuki Subaru circled the sword in the stone, examining it once, then flicked his finger along the spine. His clear voice echoed in the room: the sword's material was decent, but it was far from being a Saint-level sword.

He gripped the hilt and pulled the sword from the rock.

The pure white surroundings vanished in an instant.

The blue sky rises overhead, and the boundless grassland stretches out beneath our feet, with a gentle breeze carrying the scent of fresh grass from afar.

The sword in the stone, which had just been pulled out, slipped from Subaru Natsuki's hand and embedded itself in the soil beside him.

A man had appeared ahead of us without us noticing.

He was tall with long, fiery red hair that cascaded down his shoulders. His strong muscles pushed up his half-open kimono, while the other shoulder and chest were completely exposed.

Despite his rugged warrior-like appearance, he had no famous sword at his waist, only a pair of chopsticks and a bulging wine pouch.

At the same time, his face had no human expression, like a machine, and his body movements were very stiff.

He stood on the grass, swaying slightly, even the way he opened and closed his lips was exactly the same, just like Capella whom Natsuki Subaru had seen in his dream.

"The fool who has reached the Heavenly Sword, gain its approval."

"The fool who has reached the Heavenly Sword, gain its approval." The red-haired man mechanically repeated this sentence.

"Ah~~~!"

Before Natsuki Subaru could even see what was going on with the red-haired man in front of him, Shaula's scream suddenly rang out from behind him.

When she saw Red's face clearly, she jumped up as if she had been stepped on, and in her panic, she slapped Natsuki Subaru on the back.

Capela never expected that the slap would be aimed at him.

Furthermore, when she was in human form, her physical abilities were only slightly stronger than those of an ordinary person, so how could she withstand the panicked attack from Xia Wula, this giant magical beast?

Caught off guard, Capella was slapped off Subaru by Shaula and sent flying more than ten steps sideways, rolling several times on the grass before finally coming to a stop.

Xia Wula didn't care whether Capella lived or died.

She grabbed Natsuki Subaru's back directly, her arms tightly wrapped around his neck, as if she wanted to squeeze her soft breasts into Natsuki Subaru's body.

Only a terrified face was visible on Subaru's shoulder.

"Ah! That guy swinging the bat! What's he doing here? Master, please save me! Get rid of him! I'm going to die! Xia Wula is really going to die!"

Capela used the grass to push himself up.

Her brilliant blonde hair fell around her fair and delicate cheeks, her red eyes burned brightly with anger, and even the tip of her nose and lips were tinged with a thin layer of red from the commotion she had just experienced.

She raised her hand to straighten her head, which had been tilted by the slap, and her beautiful features instantly contorted.

"You bastard! How dare you disrespect me! I'll turn you into a bunch of little scorpions!"

Capela lowered his body, his ten fingers stretching into sharp claws in his rage, ready to pounce and tear open Xiawula's back.

Xia Wula didn't even look at her.

Her entire attention was focused on the stunned Reid, and she clung to Subaru Natsuki, shrinking back while wailing loudly.

The brute force caused Subaru Natsuki to stumble, nearly falling to the ground with her.

"Master, please save me!"

Whether it was because she shouted too loudly, or because the word "swinger" triggered something, Reid, who was standing in front of the swaying machine, suddenly sneezed.

"Ah!"

His incessant utterances abruptly ceased, his dull, sky-blue eyes darted around twice, and then focused.

That arrogant, toothy smile came alive, the wide-open corners of his mouth radiating a blatant aggression.

"This is so annoying! Who the hell is yelling in my ear? My hangover brain is about to be blown apart by your howling!"

Capela's lunge was halted midway by the roar, his outstretched fingers hanging in front of him, momentarily forgetting to continue his attack.

Upon hearing this, Elsa and the other two girls either stiffened or instinctively retreated.

Xia Wula reacted the most; when she heard the sound, it was as if she had been hit hard from the front.

His eyes rolled back immediately, he slid off Subaru's back, collapsed on the grass, foaming at the mouth, and lost consciousness.

Natsuki Subaru glanced down at her. She was so frightened?

Could this red-haired man be a figure comparable to Xing Daorong, who "startled you," or Guan Yu, who "feared all heroes under heaven"?

Natsuki Subaru couldn't help but look up at the red-haired man, whose half-undressed clothes made him look somewhat like Xu Chu.

Are you the one destined for this trial?

"He seems to be quite a heroic figure."

"Where did this nobody come from, spouting heroes and figures all the time? Stop talking nonsense and trying to link me to the trash you know! I am who I am, and everyone else is nobody else. If you don't understand, cut off your ears and throw them away!"

“And you guys too.” As he spoke, Reid’s gaze swept over the women behind Natsuki Subaru.

They gave their evaluation with arrogance.

“Good woman~” Clarissa.

"You horny woman~" Elsa.

"You lewd woman~" Xia Wula lay on the ground.

“Little devil~” Merry.

“Rotten flesh~” Capella.

"Huh? What did you say?" Capela was as if her sore spot had been hit, and she immediately wanted to teach Red a lesson.

However, he was stopped by Subaru Natsuki.

Natsuki Subaru could sense that the man in front of him was no ordinary person.

The aura he subtly exuded was very similar to Wilhelm's...

No! We must surpass Wilhelm!

Seeing that Natsuki Subaru was standing at the very front, Red raised his chin and looked down at Natsuki Subaru.

"They're all trash from head to toe, there's not even a place for me to look at them!"

Suddenly, Red's nose twitched.

"Hey, you little punk, you smell of alcohol, don't you? If you have any, hurry up and bring it to me, stop dawdling and pretending to be deaf!"

If a normal hero asked for sake, Subaru Natsuki would have readily given it to him, and might even have dragged the other person into drinking three hundred cups on the spot.

But every word the red-haired man in front of him pierced his ears.