ARC Five: Trials of the Sanctuary
Chapter Thirty Six: Love You, Save You
Subaru shook his head as he found himself in the dream of Echidna's Tomb. Seeing the blue sky above him he slowly came to the recollection of what had occurred previously.
"Oh...I died."
Subaru grasped his chest as he felt he was being crushed by the memories of the previous loop.
But he collected himself as he walked over to sit across from Echidna.
Subaru looked over at Echidna as he began to ask her a few questions.
"So I came back here is that right?"
"Yes, it would seem that you have returned to this realm after your previous endeavor."
Just then, Subaru had come to some form of realization in what Echidna just said.
"So...you know my circumstances?"
"Hmmmm? If you mean that ABILITY of yours...then yes, I have been watching you carefully for some time now."
"Then...you know about-"
Subaru hesitated for moment as he grabbed his shoulders, expecting some form of punishment for what he was about to do. He had been punished before, whether it was his heart being crushed or even Batman being killed instead of him...but he had to be sure of it.
"-You know I can Return by Death?"
"Well of course, I have always been fascinated by that certain ability of yours. Oh yes, the endless possibilities of it!"
Echidna blushed a bit as she began stroking her bright hair. Subaru quickly stood from his chair, as he stared at flustered Echidna.
"You know, any woman would feel a little flustered if she was stared at like that?"
"...I…"
Subaru raised his hands to the sky and screamed to the top of his lungs.
"I CAN RETURN BY DEATH!"
Echidna seemed freaked out by his sudden yelling but was soon moved to tears as he continued it.
"I CAN RETURN BY DEATH! I can Return by Death! I can Return by Death! Return by Death! Return by Death! Return by Death! I can RETURN BY DEATH!"
Subaru fell out of breath as he happily sat back down. He was overjoyed by the fact that he was finally able to tell someone about Return by Death. Even though, Batman was the only other person who knew about his looping ability, he still wasn't able to tell him the specifics of how it worked.
Echidna happily hugged the exhausted Subaru and stroked his head.
"Yes, I know! I've been watching you for quite some time now. But, I have only seen. So if possible, I want to hear all about it from you. What you have thought, how you have felt, what you have come across, I want to know it all. Because, I am the 'Witch of Greed' who wishes to know everything in the world, Echidna."
Subaru felt absolute bliss hearing this Echidna, feeling that he finally found someone that he could confide in.
Later, Subaru asked her about the strange rabbit he swore he saw kill Lewes Meyer in his previous loop.
"Ah, I see you've encountered the Sizeable Hare. It's one of The Three Great Demon Beasts."
"...! You mean like the White Whale?"
"Yes, including those two, there is also the Black Snake, but right now I think you should focus on the Sizable Hare."
"You mean that little thing is as strong as the White Whale?! You're kidding right?"
"I see...you only saw one of them."
"Huh?"
Echidna drew a serious expression as she continued to explain.
"The Sizeable Hare is a creature that moves in a herd. While they are weak on their own, their numbers total to the number of water drops in mist. They are self replicating and will devour everything in sight."
"No way…"
Subaru then pondered on what he saw before he died. The fact that the rabbit easily munched through Lewes...and that was just one.
"Subaru, I suggest if you want to know more on the subject why not talk to their creator?"
"Their creator?"
"Yes, the Witch of Gluttony, Daphne."
"Wait! I thought the Witch of Envy created all the Ma-Beasts of the world?"
"No no, that is just a misconception from the long intervals of time. Information can be so easily misplaced."
Subaru pondered on it some more, but he decided to go for it and asked to meet with Daphne.
Echidna disappeared from his sight, but in her stead was a small tan skinned little girl, with bright red eyes and green hair. She walked over to Subaru as her white and blue one piece dress flowed with a small breeze.
"Hey onii-san, have come here to see all of us?"
"Um, well I was waiting to see someone named Daphne. Are you-?"
"-Nah! I'm Typhon!"
Typhon gave a cheerful smile to Subaru, who seemed confused about her identity.
"So I can assume you're also a Witch as well?"
"Yup, I'm the Witch of Pride!"
"Huh, Pride…"
It had been a while since he heard that word, but it wasn't a positive nostalgic feeling, but an annoying one. He had been called that by Petelgeuse numerous times, but had no idea why.
"Hey what's your name?"
"Oh, right! My name is Natsuki Subaru, nice to meet you!"
"Me too! Me too! Hey Baru, are you a bad guy?"
"Huh? What is that supposed-"
Typhon mumbled something as Subaru heard something akin to glass shatter.
When he looked down he saw his that his entire right arm had fallen off. Subaru began to panic at the sight, but before he could do anything, Typhon mumbled again and his left leg shattered as well. On the ground Subaru looked up at the smiling young girl, who was now carrying his arm.
"No pain? Then you aren't a bad guy are you Baru?!"
"My arm...I can't feel...what is this?"
"I had to judge you, just to make sure you weren't a bad guy. But you aren't, so there we go!"
She tossed his arm to him, as Subaru began to lose consciousness from the shock of it all.
When Subaru awoke he saw two large round objects floating above him. He quickly recognized the shape and buoyancy of them.
"B-Boobs?!"
"Wuh?! All men are the same I guess!"
The yellow haired voluptuous woman punched Subaru several times, causing craters to form under his body. But what surprised Subaru was that every time she hit Subaru, he felt no pain from it, but actually felt good. He also could see heart shaped energy fly out of her fists every time she hit him.
When Subaru got up he saw that his arm and leg were reattached once again. Feeling overjoyed he did a quick moonwalk to see if they were in perfect condition.
"Success! Thanks so much...um…?"
"Minerva. I'm Minerva, the Witch of Wrath."
"Well, I can't thank you enough."
"It's nothing. As the Witch of Wrath it is my duty to heal all those who would be injured or to the point of death! No one will be hurt on my watch!"
"For someone with the title of Wrath, that actually sounds pleasant."
The two chatted for a bit before she waved him goodbye, giving him one last warning.
"Geez, don't get hurt anymore while here! I can't be coming by every time you have a bad run in with somebody."
"Yeah, I'll make sure of that!"
Minerva left, leaving him alone with a large coffin with spider-like legs.
"Ugh…"
The coffin opened up revealing a small grey haired girl, restrained in chains and a large blindfold covering her eyes.
She sniffed the air a bit as soon as Subaru got closer.
"Hm...peculiar smell you got!"
"...Are you Daphne?"
"Yeah and you'd be?"
"Natsuki Subaru, I came to talk with you about the Demon Beasts."
"Well, let's make this quick I'm already getting hungry."
Subaru questioned the young girl about her involvement in the creation of the Ma-Beast. She went on to explain that she created the Ma-Beast to help curb hunger in humans by creating a food source that only ate mana and could be hunted for sustenance. However the Ma-Beast became too powerful and eventually became a scourge for humanity. Especially in the case of the Great Demon Beasts. The Sizeable Hare was made with her insatiable hunger, so it cannot be reasoned with and will attack until nothing is left.
The only way to kill it, is to kill all of them at the same time, and the only ones who could potentially do that are the Sword Saint or even Satella.
But Subaru was undeterred by this, even he knew you didn't need to kill a threat to stop it, he just needed a plan of action…
"Doesn't matter what you say Daphne, I know what to do now."
"Hmmm? And just what would that be?"
"I'm getting rid of the Sizeable Hare, it'll be a piece of cake! Just you wait!"
Subaru raised a fist towards the young girl...who began to laugh feverishly.
"Huhuuhuhahahahahaha! You are something else Subarun! I'll wait in anticipation to you defeating my creation."
Daphne left as she licked her lips at Subaru, sending a slight shiver down his spine.
Echidna returned as she smiled happily at Subaru.
"Did you learn everything you could?"
"Yeah, but could you do me favor?"
"Hmm?"
"I'd rather not forget what I learned from all of you, so could you at least let me keep my memories this time?"
Echidna seemed a bit flustered by his happy expression and took a deep breath.
"Very well, I understand your desire for retaining knowledge...it makes you that much more interesting."
Echidna slowly walked over to Subaru and startled him. She then took the handkerchief Petra gave him and smiled.
"I'll be taking this as payment though."
Before he could even react, Subaru saw the world crumble around him and he fell back into the darkness.
Subaru woke up in the Tomb once again, he realized he was back the night they first took the Trials. Subaru tried his best to repeat everything that happened that night...but this time…
Subaru motioned Batman to him and began to whisper to him.
"Batman-san, I need to talk to you tomorrow morning. It's very important."
"...I can assume that something 'happened'?"
"...You can say that."
Batman nodded and left Emilia's housing and leapt up on top of the house...only to see Garfiel staring at the house, sniffing the air and snarling. That's when he looked up and saw Batman staring at him, he then huffed some air out and stomped away.
Batman placed his palm on his chin as he pondered what exactly was Garfiel doing.
"Wait...he was sniffing the air?"
Batman's eyes widened for just a moment before they returned back to their usual shape.
"So that's it…"
The next morning, Subaru met with Batman at Emilia's housing and they began discussing the Trials and the situation of the Sanctuary.
But then Subaru had no choice but to finally tell Batman what he learned in the previous loop.
The attack on the Mansion.
The Sizeable Hare attack on the Sanctuary.
The strange room he found himself in.
"...That's quite a lot to take in Subaru."
"Yeah...you could only imagine what I had to go through just...to get that information."
Batman could clearly see that Subaru was trembling a bit, so he placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.
"Now we know, so we're halfway there Subaru. We just need to confirm some things though."
"Like what?"
"Did...did Roswaal do anything in the loop?"
"...No not that I know of."
Batman gritted his teeth and he clenched his hands. Subaru could tell he was angry about something.
"Batman-san, I need you tell me more about what Roswaal. What do you know?"
"...Subaru...earlier you told me about Beatrice having a Gospel."
"Yeah, I still need to find out what was up with that-"
"-Subaru."
Subaru was stopped as Batman faced him head on with a face akin to absolute clarity.
"Roswaal has one too."
For Natsuki Subaru the world had simply stopped as he heard something he couldn't comprehend.
"Wait. What do you mean by that?"
"...When we first arrived at the mansion, I didn't trust Roswaal and the others...so I spied on them from time to time."
"...You-YOU SPIED ON REM?"
Subaru quickly got up from his seat, shaking the table and the contents on it.
"Easy there. Not that kind of spying, I left some mics in several spots all around the mansion. I mostly listened in on Roswaal."
"And through that you found out about the Gospel?"
"Yeah, the guy is as much a bragger as one would assume."
As Batman tried to calm the situation down with a slight joke, he noticed Subaru walking away. He quickly got up and grabbed Subaru's arm, the young man turned around with absolute fury in his eyes.
"Where are you going?"
"...I'm going to speak with Roswaal."
"No, first calm down and let's talk."
Unbeknownst to Subaru and Batman, Emilia was quietly walking down stairs from her room. She kept holding the jewel on her chest as kept going down stairs. Hearing Batman and Subaru's voice, Emilia shook her head and took a deep breath, putting on a confident look on her face and descended down the stairs.
Just outside the house Ram and Garfiel were walking side by side to the house. They were sent to retrieve the three others and take them to go see Roswaal. Ram mused with Garfiel that they could have some useful information for Emilia in completing the Trials. Garfiel seemed to care less all things considered. That's when they reached the door and opened it.
"AND JUST WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!"
The first thing everyone heard as they reached the kitchen was Subaru screaming and several glass cups breaking.
They could see glass tea cups shattered on the floor and Subaru facing Batman, who was merely looking down at him.
"Do you have any idea what you let happen?! BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T TELL ME THAT, REM IS IN THE SITUATION SHE'S IN!"
"Subaru, I tried with the best of my abilities to protect everyone from what he was planning, had I known this would happen I would've done something-"
"-BUT IT'S TOO LATE!"
Subaru kicked over the table next to him and furrowed his eyes even more at Batman, who seemed unphased by his actions.
Emilia was horrible frightened by what she was seeing, Ram and Garfiel were shocked seeing the two actually fighting and neither one moved from their spot.
"You bastard. I thought we could tell each other anything! If we knew he had that we could've made him spill everything, we could've known about the Witch's Cult and saved so many lives! NO ONE WOULD'VE HAD TO DIE!"
"Damn it Subaru! You think I didn't wanted to act when I had the chance?! I had so many chances to stop him!"
"BULLSHIT! If you had just told me, none of this would be happening right now! We would've had an edge and not fallen to this goddamn trap!"
"Subaru...If you think us getting our hands on that Gospel would have changed things you're wrong. Only the owner of the Gospel can actually read it, and there is no way in hell Roswaal would be willing to diverge from it! So in other words, everything that you're saying is fruitless!"
"No matter what, Rem would've ended up the same. She was probably attacked when we split off after the White Whale fight, if we diverted too much attention to her, Emilia and the others would've been in danger! So in other words-"
"-there was nothing you could have done."
At this point Subaru snapped, he picked up an undamaged flower vase that was on the floor and hit Batman over the head with it. The vase shattered and Batman took a few steps back.
Batman did nothing to block, evade or even counter the attack, because somewhere in the corners of his mind, he figured he deserved it.
Batman leaned on a counter, as Subaru gripped the broken vase tighter than ever and slowly walked over to Batman.
Only for Emilia to charge at Subaru and try to wrestle the weapon out of his hand.
"Subaru stop it! PLEASE STOP IT!"
Subaru snapped out of it and dropped the vase from his hand, Emilia slipped down and could be seen crying as she put a hand to her chest.
Garfiel ran past Subaru and checked on Batman, who was still looking at Subaru, but now with blood trickling down the side of his head.
"I...I…"
Ram then stepped over to the side of Subaru and looked up at him with a calm demeanor. When Subaru turned his head to look at her, she slapped him hard on the cheek.
Garfiel and Emilia stared wide eyed at the two of them, while Batman simply lowered his gaze.
"Barusu go take a walk."
Subaru grabbed his aching cheek and stumbled away, leaving the house and the mess he made behind.
Several minutes passed as Subaru sat next to the well at the center of town. He looked down on the ground quietly as he moved his bloody hand out of his pocket. As he turned to look at his cut up palm, he saw a shadow move over him.
"You should probably let Emilia or Garfiel take a look at that."
Subaru looked up to see Batman walking over to him, taking a knee to get closer to him.
"I...I'm sorry about earlier."
"...Subaru, I understand you're frustrated. And I sure as hell don't know about what you went through in the other loop, but I can figure it's stressed you out."
"S-something like that is not really an excuse you know?"
"True, but I know you got angry with me for keeping all of this a secret. I should have said something."
The two of them became quiet as they looked over the Sanctuary and it's people doing their daily routines. That is, until Batman patted Subaru on the shoulder.
"Subaru, I can let you know right now. That out of the many people I've met in this world, you're one of the few people I can genuinely trust. Okay?"
Subaru was slightly taken aback by his comment, but put on a relaxed smile, having found the comment quite comforting.
The two then discussed on the situations of Irlham Village and the Mansion. Batman decided to go himself and evacuate the mansion. With the evacuation complete, Batman would take everyone to the village and lie to them, saying that assassins were being sent to kill him for previous crime fighting antics and that he didn't want them getting involved. Hopefully they would believe him and make their way to the capital.
"Sounds good, but Beatrice…"
"If what you say is true, it was incredibly difficult to get her out...but I'll find a way to get her out...even if it means by force."
"Hey, we can't have a super hero picking on some loli just because she's being a brat, you're reputation would take a hit."
Batman scoffed at the comment, but relaxed again as he began to make preparations.
It was now the next day and Batman was still gone taking care of the evacuations of Irlham Village and the Mansion. Subaru worried over the fact that Batman hadn't contacted them in that amount of time.
Once again, Emilia had failed to pass the Trial, so Subaru took her to her housing quarters.
Subaru was sitting next to Emilia holding her hand to help her fall asleep. Before she fully fell asleep, she gazed up at Subaru and quietly asked him a question.
"Subaru...do you really love me…?"
"...Yeah, sure do."
"...That's good...I like that…"
Emilia quietly nodded off into slumber, as Subaru held her hand a little longer. A few minutes later, Subaru put her hand gently down on the pillow as he made his way outside the room, closing the door behind him.
Not noticing Emilia's room begin to slowly darken…..
Subaru was slowly making his way towards to the Tomb and thought about something he remembered Batman suggested to him.
"Subaru, if what you're saying is true and Emilia is failing the Trials over and over again, we may need a change of plans. I want to believe in her, but the situation is very dire….we may need you to complete the Trials."
Subaru made it towards the Tomb and saw Garfiel standing guard in front of it.
"Hey Garfiel."
"Tha' kinda' calm response in seein' me is makin' me even more suspicious ya know?"
Subaru frowned his eyes a bit as he stepped closer to the Tomb, Garfiel stomping his foot hard on the ground.
"Best be movin' back…"
"No, first I want to ask you something."
"Huh?! Tha' hell do ya' need from me?!"
"Why don't you trust me and Batman-san?"
Garfiel crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at the young man in front of him.
"Nothin' personal-"
"-I think it's more than that."
Garfiel seemed upset by Subaru's reply, but even his angry looks did not deter Subaru.
"My scent."
"It's the scent of the Witch isn't? That's why you're always giving us a hard time!"
"Ya thinkin' tha's all there is?!"
"Obviously, even Batman-san knows about my scent and trusts me!"
"Bull! Just earlier you two were bitchin' at each other!"
"Don't turn this around! We're talking about you here! What is so wrong with it? I can honestly tell you we're only doing this with the best of intentions."
"...I don't believe ya'! Ya' both freed the villagers against our wills, been movin' around all suspicious like and really want th' Sanctuary's barrier gone!"
"Because we want to free the Emilia and the villagers!"
"...NAH. Ya' two seem to be press' for time. Maybe tryin' to get some Witch Cult buddies of yours ta' mess around here?! Or maybe you all wanna' get something else from here?!"
"NO! Garfiel, listen to me we just-"
"-No! No more of this crap! Get outta here or else!"
Garfiel pointed his finger back to town and snarled at Subaru. Subaru could see there was no point in continuing the argument so he turned back around.
Subaru hoped that Garfiel would be gone later in the night, but he seemed determined to guard the Tomb.
Subaru then remembered Batman had pointed out the cabin nearby the village and that he found the jailcell as well as the 'other' Lewes.
Subaru quietly snuck out and headed to the cabin. He slowly opened the door and headed down a flight of stairs, there he saw what appeared to be a jailcell. Then he saw the door that Batman had previously tried to sneak into. Subaru saw his chance and barged in…
"What the hell is this?"
There, he saw multiple Lewes Meyers and a giant crystal above them, one which housed another Lewes Meyer inside.
The other Lewes Meyers noticed Subaru and slowly walked over to him, Subaru panicked and was about to grab his throwing stars-
"Oh Shit!"
A sudden rumbling shook the underground room, making everyone tense up. The Lewes Meyers ran past Subaru and headed upstairs. Subaru looked up one last time at the giant crystal that housed a slumbering Lewes and followed them outside.
Once he reached outside he could see many of the villagers running away in fear of something. When he turned the corner he saw a large black mass moving across the village, scooping up people and absorbing them into it's body. It was crushing houses and smashing the very ground under it. Then it turned and faced Subaru…
"Love….!"
It then moved forward and began chasing him.
Subaru ran as fast as he could away from the mass of shadows as he could hear it calling out to him.
"Love you love you love you love you love you love you love love love love love! I LOVE YOU!"
Even as the mass said this, it was still killing countless civilians that stood between it and Subaru. Subaru screamed in terror as it continued talking to him.
"Love me love me love me love me love me love me love me love me love me love me love me! LOVE ME! SUBARU!"
Subaru was beginning to lose breath, but he ducked behind some trees as the mass ran past him and crushed several more houses with it.
"So tha's where ya' been!"
"Natsuki-san!"
Subaru turned around to see Garfiel holding onto his own crystal and Otto following not too far behind. Behind the both of them...was a small army of Lewes Meyers.
"Why are there so many Lewes-sans?"
"Granny is granny, but these are, um...an extension of her I guess."
Otto helped him up as they looked at the situation ahead of them. All three of them figured whatever it was, it seemed interested in Subaru but was attacking randomly at anyone who came near it.
"Subaru."
Subaru then heard a saving grace as his Comm Link activated and he heard Batman.
"Batman-san, somethings attacking the Sanctuary! We need your help!"
"Alright, I'm on the way, the evacuations at the village and mansion are over."
"And Beatrice?"
"...No good, she wouldn't come out of her room."
Subaru sighed a bit at the news, but asked Batman on what they should do.
"Who's with you right now?"
"Garfiel and Otto...and a bunch of Lewes Meyers!"
"So it is true. All of you get out of the Sanctuary right now, I'll try to keep the villagers safe."
"But Garfiel-"
"-Is not a Half, he's about a quarter, Frederica told me."
Subaru realized that the three of them could escape right then and there...but…
"Emilia is still here!"
"...I'm on the way, hang on a bit longer."
Subaru ignored this and ran back to the village, looking for Emilia. Otto followed close behind as he looked around for her, he then saw Roswaal's housing completely destroyed with no one inside. It made Subaru fell absolute sadness knowing that the two who were inside were most likely dead. Subaru kept running until the giant shadow came running towards him once again, this time however, it was attacked from above by a returning Batwing. It fired everything in its arsenal to try and stop the shadow, but it reached up towards the Batwing, forcing the Batwing to try and get away.
But it was still caught by the shadows that then quickly wrapped more shadows around the Batwing, trying to crush it as it did. Batman tried to eject out of the Batwing, but he quickly realized that there was no chance he could get out.
Just then, Gafiel and the rest of the Lewes Meyers charged towards the shadow, many of the Lewes copies died but Garfiel tried his best using two twin shields to push back the shadow. Subaru snapped out of it and began tossing every single throwing star he had at his disposal at it. Otto even helped out by using Earth Magic.
"Hang on Natsuki-san! DONA!"
A large rock flew out of the ground and struck the shadow...but it was obvious that all of their attacks were fruitless. Garfiel then concentrated as his body began to morph.
Garfiel let out a mighty roar as he transformed into a huge golden tiger beast.
Garfiel charged at the shadow and sliced away at it, intending to finish the fight, but soon the shadow began covering Garfiel...only to be saved by the Batwing firing more bullets at the shadow getting its attention. The shadow once again tried crush the Batwing, only for the jet to crash head first into the Shadow and explode violently.
The explosion made almost everyone fly back and away from the shockwave. Subaru got up and saw the huge pillar of smoke ahead of him and and was now on te verge of tears…
"Batman-san…"
Just then, the smoke dissipated and shadow like hands emerged from them, impaling everyone except Otto and Subaru. Garfiel slowly reverted back to his normal form as he and the Lewes clones were absorbed.
Otto grabbed hold of Subaru as they ran for it, but even as Patrasche was running to get them, the shadow was already right next to them. It tried to grab them both, but Subaru pushed Otto out of the way.
"Patrasche! Get Otto out of here please!"
The ground dragon heard its master's command and quickly grabbed Otto and placed him on her back. As they sped off, Otto and Patrasche looked back at Subaru as he began to face the large shadow.
Only for a large shadow hand to emerge under them and completely crush them. Subaru fell to his knees when he heard the commotion, he turned his head to watch the shadow fly over and absorb itself back into the main mass of shadows. Subaru tried to slowly back away from the mass, but felt something in his pocket. He grabbed it and realized it was the handkerchief he gave to Echidna, he raised it up and it became a sword of light. Echidna had customized it to take shape in the form of his will. He ran forward and sliced away at the shadow bit by bit, to reach further and further into the center.
There he saw Emilia with jet black eyes and tears rolling down her cheeks as she stared at Subaru. Subaru lowered his light sword as the shadow mass began to close in on him. Realizing he was about to be absorbed as well, Subaru took the sword and slit his own throat.
The sword fell and became an ordinary handkerchief once again. The shadows began absorbing Subaru as the possessed Emilia began whispering once again.
"Love...Love...Love..."
It was then, Subaru had realized that the being standing before him was the Witch of Envy, possessing her as punishment for speaking so much of Return by Death and expecting no consequences.
Subaru let his life slip away as he spoke with the last energy he had.
"...I'll save you…"
Darkness shrouded his vision as his life came to an end….
Subaru once again awoke in the Tomb as he sat back up, he noticed Emilia and felt like crying. But oddly enough he felt that he didn't have the energy to do so.
Subaru continued the loop as he did the previous one, but this time he lied and claimed he did not gained the qualifications to take the Trials. Batman seemed to notice this, so he abruptly took Subaru out of the meeting to speak with him in private.
"Subaru, you looped didn't you?"
"..."
"Subaru, I know you got the qualifications, I'm not stupid. So why are you lying to them?"
"...Because things have gotten out of control. I want to trust Emilia to complete the Trials and I'll help in any way I can."
"But I don't think we should force her into this."
"I know! But we have a limited time frame, if we don't do something... everything... everyone will be in danger!"
Batman shrugged his shoulders as he looked away from Subaru, he then breathed a deep sigh.
"Alright tell me the timeline we're working with so we can find the most appropriate measures to take."
"...Okay."
"Also, you must have learned something in the previous loop, so please tell me anything that may be useful."
Subaru and Batman began discussing everything that was to occur and what else he learned in the two previous loops….unknowing that Emilia was secretly listening in on the conversation.
Subaru went to speak with Lewes Meyer, while Batman went to interview the villagers. Subaru finally learned that Garfiel had taken the Trials long ago. When he came out of the Tomb he was a mess and hit his head against a rock giving him his trademark scar. Subaru came to the conclusion that Garfiel had the potential of defeating the Trials and freeing the Sanctuary...only he never did.
"Su-boi, what will you do this info?"
"Nothing, I think Garfiel isn't 100% a bad guy. But I think he doesn't have too much trust from people...especially those from outside the Sanctuary."
"Hmmmm….Su-boi is actually sharp huh?"
"That didn't sound too nice you know?"
Subaru left Lewes and met with Batman at the edge of the town. Subaru explained what he learned and Batman came to his final conclusion.
"Garfiel...he doesn't want the Sanctuary freed."
"Sounds about right, whatever he saw in the Trials scared the hell out of him."
"Hmmm...it probably has to do with his mother. Either way, we can both see the three biggest obstacles in all this."
"Garfiel not letting us free the Sanctuary, Elsa and Deathstroke attacking the mansion and Roswaal somehow threading these things all together."
"...I didn't want to believe Roswaal would do something like this...but I guess we don't have a choice, we need to confront him."
Batman nodded as they both headed to Roswaal's housing and met Ram at the door. Ram greeted them, but noticed the two of them had very serious expressions on their faces.
"We need to talk to Roswaal."
When they met with Roswaal he was sitting in his bed per usual and smiled at the two of them.
"Ahaaaaa, if it isn't Subaru-kun and Batman-san, whateveeeeeer brings you here?"
Batman motioned to Subaru. Seeing the signal, Subaru pulled out of his pocket Petelgeuse's Gospel and showed it to Roswaal.
"You have one too, don't you?"
Roswaal was frozen as he stared at it and looked over at Batman who standing there with his cape covering his whole body.
"You told him didn't you?"
"In a way."
"Was this before all of this thennnnnn….No. Was this from a previous life?"
Subaru's eyes widened as he literally dropped the book from his hand. Ram tilted her head a bit as she was unsure of what Roswaal was saying and Batman furrowed his eyes at the sorceror.
"So you knew?"
"Of course, the ability toooooo reset time, what annnnn audacious ability our great Subaru-kun has."
"You bastard, if you had the Gospel this whole time, we could have avoided all of-"
Batman stopped his train of thoughts as he looked down at Subaru and then back at Roswaal, his eyes moved around the room as he began to think rigorously. Analyzing everything from the moment he stepped into the mansion, the capital, the battle against Petelgeuse, his absence in the fights and now with the Sanctuary.
"...Oh God...You…"
"Hmmmm?"
"YOU'RE BEHIND ALL OF THIS AREN'T YOU?!"
"..."
"Elsa's attack in the loot house, leaving Subaru behind in the capital and everything happening now! YOU MADE THIS ALL HAPPEN!"
Batman clenched his fists as he screamed at Roswaal.
"ANSWER ME!"
"...Everything that is written shall come to fruition, even if I have to give a helping hand."
"BASTARD!"
Batman quickly ran over and grabbed Roswaal by the throat with one hand and shoved his body deeper into his bed. Ram tried to stop him but Subaru got in her way.
"How many lives have you ruined?! How many people have you killed to do all this?! Do you feel any remorse for what you've done?!"
"...I cannot feel remorse for doing what will accomplish my ultimate goal."
"Ultimate goal?"
"To see my teacher again…"
Batman was confused by what he said, but Subaru finally let go of Ram when he came to his one conclusion.
"...Echidna."
"Yessss, my great teacher Echidna. I wish tooooo see her again."
"All of this to see a dead person?"
"I wiiiiish to bring her baccccck."
Subaru felt a sudden sense of sickness as he realized Roswaal was using him, Emilia and everyone around them as pawns to bring Echidna back.
"Then if you're behind this, please stop this!"
Subaru got on his hands and knees and begged Roswaal to stop whatever it was he was planning, but Batman put a hand on his shoulder. Subaru looked up and saw Batman shake his head while leering at Roswaal.
"If he's done this for so long, what makes you think he'll stop?"
Batman helped Subaru up and they began to leave.
"Have fuuuun you two. I cannot wait to see what results Subaru comes up wiiiiith."
Batman furrowed his eyes as he looked back.
He saw Roswaal on his bed with a victorious looking smile on his face, while Ram seemed a bit despondent as she bowed to them.
The two left as they both had to process what they had learned about Roswaal. Before Subaru could say anything though…
Batman tapped on his ear and pressed several buttons on his gauntlet.
"No…"
Batman rushed off, while a confused Subaru did his best to catch up.
Batman leaped into the Batwing and could be seen checking on something when Subaru finally caught up.
"What is it Batman?!"
"Subaru, my motion sensor in the secret door went off right now!"
"No...but we have TWO MORE DAYS!"
Batman slammed his hands on the control panel as he muttered a single word.
"Roswaal…."
Even Subaru could figure out that Roswaal must have contacted the assassins early in order to stop the two from interfering with his plans.
Subaru stood there as he felt the world was slowly closing in on him. Even as Batman called out to him, Subaru heard nothing but his own heartbeat and a single question that crept into his mind.
"What am I supposed to do?"
Natsuki Subaru once again found himself trapped by the vicious claws of fate.