Amid dying countless times, Subaru finally led the troops to victory against the White Whale and struck down the schemes of the Sin Archbishop of Sloth. After overcoming a painful ending to his these ordeals, he was reunited at last with his beloved Emilia…only to learn that Rem’s existence had been erased from the world, wiped out by the White Whale somewhere in the middle of his death loop. And now that the White Whale is defeated, Subaru and the others face a crisis no one could have expected.

After dying to Elsa’s blade in Roswaal’s mansion, Subaru awakens back in the graveyard, in the moment immediately after he passed the trial that required him to face his past. Just like the first time he returned there, he wakes Emilia and holds her to comfort her, then returns to Ryuzu and the others. He tells them that he passed the trial himself and suggests that he could complete the remaining stages of the trial in Emilia’s place, but Garfiel is opposed.

As she attempts the first trial, Emilia finds herself in Elior Forest, where she lived when she was younger. Echidna snidely remarks on her audacity to set foot here after so thoroughly disgracing herself before, but Emilia responds with a bold smile and tells her she won’t cave to the malice of a fellow witch. As they proceed deeper into the forest, they come upon a massive tree towering over its surroundings. At its base is a small, barred door, which Emilia identifies as the Princess Room where she was often sent to play as a child.