Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 8/Synopsis

Volume 8
After the group discussed the plan, they headed to the specified location, then left Subaru alone so that he could lead them to Petelgeuse and the Witch Cult's lair. As he expected, a group of Witch Cult members surrounded him as he made his way through the forest, however they quickly disappeared when he ordered them to. Soon after, he reached the entrance to the cave, where Petelgeuse himself was waiting. The man was excited to see him, pointing out that he was "loved" by her, prompting him to use that to his advantage by questioning him about various topics such as the mist. Eventually the madman became suspicious of him, as he wasn't mentioned in their gospel book, causing him to order him to present his book, to which Subaru incurred his anger by mentioning that he threw it away after using it as a dish mat.

Petelgeuse tried to attack him with his Unseen Hand and was surprised when Subaru easily dodged his attack. His surprise increased when he saw Mimi and Tivey collapse the cave, leading him to accept their challenge to a fight, however he was shocked when Wilhelm attacked him from above. Wilhelm's attacks bisected Petelgeuse's body and sent his head flying, quickly killing him. While Ferris checked his body to make sure he was dead, Tivey checked the madman's belongings, becoming agitated when he realized that he touched the man's gospel book. Subaru was confused as to why Tivey was agitated, prompting the others to explain that people who had the likelihood of becoming a Witch Cult member were sent one, which apparently brainwashed those who received one into loyal members. Once they finished checking everything, they destroyed Petelgeuse's body with magic, then regrouped with the others to take care of the remaining Witch Cult members in the area.

A little after destroying four of the remaining groups, Julius informed Subaru that the merchants had arrived, their numbers totaling to fifteen. He decided to lie to the merchants about the Witch Cult, instead mentioning that they were planning to hunt Wolgarms in the forest, so they needed to evacuate the villagers in case of danger. Ferris and Julius were concerned when they heard that the forest contained Demon Beasts, nonetheless they decided to trust him. As they were killing the remaining groups, Subaru was shocked when he came across a group of Fang of Iron members who had been killed by being ripped apart, though the others with him weren't fazed at all. As they were about to leave, they were ambushed by 30 Unseen Hands, forcing Subaru to warn the others about their location. They were subsequently attacked by a group of Witch Cult members, making his allies unable to help him as he was dragged into the forest by an Unseen Hand, and eventually came face to face with a Witch Cult member, who he was shocked to notice that the member spoke like Petelgeuse.

The Witch Cult member took off their hood to reveal that they were female, though Subaru was still suspicious of her as she spoke like Petelgeuse, even acting like him. The woman herself was wary of him, having had the suspicion that he was "pride", then realized that he had her gospel book, but before she could touch him a Quasi Spirit exploded nearby, preventing her from doing so. Wilhelm soon joined the fight, and after dodging multiple waves of Unseen Hands, killed the woman to get rid of "sloth" again. Regrouping with the others yet again, they discussed the possibility that one person in each remaining Witch Cult group had the possibility of becoming "sloth", which meant that there were three people left who could potentially become "sloth". As they rode through the forest, they were assaulted by an illusion, however Julius and Subaru were able to break free and help the others.

As Julius worked to free the others, a person in a white cloak tried to abduct Subaru, nevertheless the person was stopped by a recently freed Wilhelm and Ricardo. The person asked to be killed, forcing Subaru to stop Wilhelm from doing so, as he recognized the voice as Ram's. Ram had misunderstood their intentions, as a blank letter with the Karsten seal, a strangely quiet forest, and the arrival of the army had led her to think that Subaru had betrayed them, prompting him to explain the situation to her. Once the misunderstanding was cleared, the group along with Ram made there way to the village. Subaru was puzzled as to why the letter had been blank, but pushed the thought to the back of his mind to discuss the current situation with Ram.

Upon arriving at the village, Subaru selected Wilhelm, Julius, and Ricardo to stand with him while he gave his speech, as their presence would make his words more believable. He asked the villagers to go along with the evacuation, however one of the villagers doubted his words, mentioning that the villagers were scared that the Witch Cult was going to do something, and when he didn't deny it, the villagers started worrying, cursing Roswaal for supporting Emilia. Subaru started to lose hope but was cheered on by Ferris, giving him the courage to finish his speech, with Ram supporting him by mentioning that as the proxy for Roswaal, Subaru's words carried as much weight as the man's himself. After he finished his speech, he learned from Ram that Emilia was at the mansion, and decided to visit her with Julius, since having the knight with him would give his words credibility. Before they left, Subaru had Julius give him an explanation on his Spirits, who revealed that he was contracted with six Quasi Spirits. Once Julius finished his explanation, Subaru decided to bring Ferris along with them to clear up the blank letter matter.

Moving over to him, he was that the merchants weren't happy that they were lied to, and Ketty, as their representative, protested the deal. They managed to keep the merchant's loyalty by offering to pay twice the originally promised amount, though they would check their Dragon Carriages to come to a proper decision, and the two began with Ketty's carriage. Ketty became irritated that they weren't doing their job properly, leading him to join them in the carriage, but before he could do anything Ferris knocked him out by touching his arm. Ferris explained to a surprised Subaru that Ketty was a Witch Cult member and could potentially become "sloth". Before they could extract any information from him, Ketty began talking like Petelgeuse, then a blast of fire hit the carriage. Fortunately for Subaru, Ferris ordered Julius Quasi Spirit that was with Subaru to protect him, though Ferris took the full blast. Quickly recovering from the blast, Subaru was shocked to see that Ferris was perfectly fine except for his clothes, who told him that he just died once, as he was using the Dragon Carriage's cover as makeshift clothing. Before Subaru could inquire further, Ferris directed his attention across the village where members of the group were fighting the Witch Cult, telling him that the Witch Cult was brought into the village by the merchant. While Subaru, Ferris, and Julius helped fight the Witch Cult, Wilhelm fought the "sloth" Ketty elsewhere in the village. Wilhelm soon defeated him, nonetheless he was caught off guard when the man committed suicide by carving out his brain through his left eye with a dagger, making him unable to dodge a follow up attack in time, heavily injuring him.

Subaru and Julius rushed over to help him, opting to take him to Ferris to be healed, yet they were prevented from doing so when a female "sloth" appeared along with four Witch Cult members. The female "sloth" was annoyed that they weren't dead yet, prompting Subaru to decide to fight her himself, ordering Julius to deal with the others. Using the gospel book he took from Petelgeuse along with imitations of him, he led the woman away, then when he was far enough away he had his Earth Dragon hit her at high speed, sending her body flying into the air. Unfortunately the woman got back up and began to use her Unseen Hands to throw debris at them, forcing Subaru to run into the forest on his Earth Dragon to hide himself, nonetheless the woman chased after him in the air by using part of her Unseen Hands to throw herself around while using the other part to keep on attacking him. Eventually Subaru was forced off of his Earth Dragon and hit the ground. After she recovered the gospel book, the woman decided to give him mercy, offering to remember his last words out of respect for his efforts. In response to her words, he showed her the barrier magic stone he had picked up, and moments later a Wolgarm appeared to attack her as she had the witch's scent. The Wolgarm attempted to rip her windpipe out, forcing her to fight back, though it managed to leave a fatal wound, which Subaru took advantage of by moving the stone so that the barrier divided the people and the Demon Beast. As he took back the gospel book, the dying woman told him to keep it, mentioning that the love would be recovered, before dying of her wounds.

Making his way back to the village on his Earth Dragon, Subaru quickly spotted the last "sloth", this time a bald man. The man attempted to attack him with his Unseen Hands, but before he could Emilia appeared, telling him that she wouldn't forgive him for his actions. He immediately became excited, commenting that she looked exactly the same and that he probably wouldn't find another vessel again. His excitement soon turned into rage when he spotted Pack on Emilia's shoulder, berating the Spirit for getting too close to the vessel. Subaru tried to assist them but was held back by Ferris, who ordered him to rest, then told him to have faith in her. To his surprise, Emilia defeated the man with some effort, killing him by freezing him in her ice. As he watched Emilia after the battle, Subaru felt a strange feeling expand inside of himself, and ran into the forest so he could put as much distance between him and her as he could. Julius encountered him in the forest, wondering what he was doing, and at that moment "sloth" took control of Subaru's body and attack Julius with his Unseen Hands. Julius dodged the attack, with Ferris and Wilhelm joining them soon after, causing "Subaru" to introduce himself as Petelgeuse. Subaru had realized too late that "sloth" wasn't Petelgeuse and the ten fingers but rather Petelgeuse himself who had been controlling the fingers.

Settling himself into Subaru's body, Petelgeuse appraised Julius, Ferris, and Wilhelm's bodies while abusing himself, coming to the conclusion that Julius' body work as a finger if he got rid of the "vile" Spirits. Refusing his offer, Julius tried calling out to Subaru, which Petelgeuse called a futile effort, however he was surprised when Subaru forced control of his body back. The two began fighting for control over Subaru's body, and while they did so, Subaru felt what Petelgeuse constantly experienced, understanding why Petelgeuse acted like he did, earning him an emotionless response from Petelgeuse that he didn't expect anyone to understand him. Subaru called out to each of the three present while he still had control, saying his goodbyes to Julius and Wilhelm before asking Ferris to kill him with his Water Magic. Ferris reluctantly complied, using his Water Magic to make the water in his body go out of control, then Julius dealt the finishing blow by slitting his throat with his sword. As he died, Subaru fell into darkness, hearing the shadowy person declare her love for him once again before he returned back from death.