It was midnight at Castle Light. The torches flickered low, the air silent—except for Julius's thunderous snoring and the occasional pop from the campfire where sharko meat had long since turned to ash.
Subaru, curled into his corner with his thirteenth expired Megurger clutched protectively, twitched in his sleep. Reinhart sat by a wall, legs crossed, deep in meditation. And Emilia, bundled in a tattered cloak, finally resting after the chaos of the day, breathed softly beside them.
Then, a shadow moved.
Julius.
His eyes shot open, glowing with hunger and a strange, greasy purpose.
"...It's time."
He rose with surprising grace for someone shaped like a corrupted meatball, tiptoed with exaggerated slowness toward Subaru. He crouched down, lips trembling, as he reached for the Megurger in Subaru's arms.
"Sorry, brother," he whispered. "A man's gotta eat."
With expert precision, he snatched it and stuffed the whole thing into his mouth in one bite. Subaru stirred—but only mumbled something about "beans... revenge..." and rolled over.
Julius smiled. Victory tasted like expired sauce and betrayal.
Feeling oddly powerful, he turned to the old stone showers Castle Light hadn't used in ages. Steam rose weakly from rusted pipes. The water hissed.
He stepped under it.
One year. Seven months. Thirteen days. Twenty-three hours. Eighteen minutes.
He muttered under his breath, "Not nice."
The water slapped his skin like judgment itself. The moldy soap disintegrated on contact. Rats fled the pipes in terror. A small blob of corrupted mold evolved into sentience just to beg for mercy—and died again.
Shivering and emotionally scarred, Julius emerged and declared to no one, "Never again."
Then… something in him snapped.
He crept back toward the sleeping party, his eyes falling on Emilia.
"She rejected me. Laughed at me. Mocked my thresher milkshake dreams…" he muttered.
An idea formed. A dark one.
With a grunt, he gently picked her up and started heading toward the edge of Castle Light, where the Void yawned like a hungry maw. He waddled toward it, heavy feet shaking the stone with each step.
But just before reaching the edge…
"—WAIT!"
Subaru.
A blur of wind crashed into Julius with unstoppable speed. He skidded to a halt, the inertia nearly ripping the ground apart. It was like time slowed—the ultimate battle: Unstoppable Force vs Immovable Object.
Subaru's hair whipped in the wind. "Let. Her. Go."
Julius grunted, unmoved. "Too fat to stop, too angry to reason."
They locked eyes.
And just as things were about to go nuclear—
Emilia's eyes fluttered open. She blinked, realized what was happening, and instead of screaming—
She acted.
"Wait! Julius, baby~," she purred, voice suddenly sugary sweet. "You're soooo strong. You don't have to drop me… we could just... go back... you'll get to sit next to me…"
Julius froze.
His brain short-circuited.
"You're saying... I can simp in peace?"
She nodded like she meant it. "Simp all you want."
Julius's eyes teared up. "R-really?"
She patted his massive face. "Really."
"…A second chance...?"
She gave him a thumbs-up.
And like that, the beast was calmed.
They returned to Castle Light. Julius laid down, still lovestruck. Subaru, not trusting a word of that fake sugar seduction, prepared a Megurger with a secret surprise: sleeping powder from Nautsea's apothecary.
Just as Julius was about to make his "move" again, mouth half-open to begin a lecture about his future wedding with Emilia—
THUD.
He fell flat on her, unconscious.
And almost crushed her to death.
"Help—HELP—he's like 400 pounds of guilt!" Emilia gasped, clawing from under him. Subaru yanked him off using a gust of wind and what little was left of his sanity.
The next morning, the three of them sat around a new fire.
Reinhart had finally finished meditating.
Subaru sipped his tea. "We need to talk about Julius."
"Yeah…" Emilia muttered. "That was almost my fifth wipe."
"He's too far gone," Subaru said.
Reinhart nodded solemnly. "He's in love."
"With what?" Emilia asked. "Me or Megurgers?"
"Both," Subaru and Reinhart said in sync.
They all looked over at Julius—who was snoring while hugging a pillow with "Mrs. Julius Emilia" carved into it using leftover sharko bone.
"...We're gonna need a plan," Reinhart said.
"Yeah," Emilia added. "Before he turns into an actual Thresher from calories alone."