Watching Him Rip and Tear Again and Again

by Engineer-Gameplay

Shocked, the audience tries to relax after their latest viewing, but something new starts to play, sending them down a new path of death and despair. They will question reality itself, as in terror, they will see unimaginable things. But only one thing is for certain, that one thing is...DOOM.

Suddenly, the theatre lights went off. Gasps of surprise were heard inside the room, as they were wondering what was the meaning of this.

"Mh? Isn't the viewing over? What is happening now?" Asked Anastasia, raising an eyebrow to the sudden change.

"Wait, the screen is still going?" Said Otto in a confused voice, still trying to process what he had seen.

Garfiel shrugged before answering, "I have no idea, but th' is pretty creepy."

"Oi screen guy!" Ricardo yelled out, "Where's the break you said we were getting?" He got no response.

"I don't like this…" Said the duchess as she narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

The screen was still dark, but a deep, menacing voice echoed from it, shaking the very room itself.

"Against all the evil that Hell can conjure, all the wickedness that mankind can produce..." A glowing red symbol began to manifest amongst the blackness of the screen, "We will send unto them...only you. Rip and tear, until it is done."

These words disturbed the cast, sending chills down their spines as they watched the screen in concern.

"All the evil that hell can conjure…?" Repeated Al in a low voice, eyes narrowed to the screen under his helmet.

"Nooooow, I've never seeeeeeen a mark quiteeeee like that." Muttered Roswaal, looking on, curious at what was to come.

"Rip and tear… that sounds awfully ominous don't ya think?" Ricardo voiced out to the others.

Reinhard nodded, "I've never heard a saying quite like that, but it does sound malicious…"

"Well, it said that it would go against evil, but what did it mean by Hell do you think?" Voiced Felt.

Beatrice spoke up, voice wavering, "It's a place of myth that Subaru told me about, I suppose."

"What type of place is it, great spirit-sama?" Reinhard said cautiously trying to assess the type of threat it could be.

Beatrice shivered, "Subaru described it as a domain of fire, where people are sent to be eternally tortured when they die." She paused, looking at two members of the audience, "H-he also said that it housed unimaginable monsters, called...demons."

Eyes widened as they turned to the two demon sisters themselves, who looked at Beatrice in shock and hurt.

"W-what?" Stuttered out Rem, tears threatening to leak out.

Before the situation could escalate further, Crusch stepped in. "Hold on, this could be why Subaru mentioned something about demons being different where he was from, and why he was so shocked when he found out that Rem and Ram were demons."

This made the audience pause as they thought about it.

"Yes, that would make a lot more sense…" Mused Julius, "But nonetheless, how does that speech apply to Subaru? The main focus on these viewings seems to be him, so he might be the key to all of this…"

The audience turned to look at the sleeping black-haired man with concerned looks as Julius trailed off. The girls around Subaru held him tight, fearful of what was to come.

"Just who was that man speaking...And why is it related to you…?" Whispered Emilia as she held the hand of her knight in hers, eyes filled with worry.

A desolate environment that was tinged red was shown, gradually growing blurred under a red cloud as the screen moved to show the star-filled void of space.

This scene made everyone temporarily forget the last scene as they looked on in awe of the majestic display before them.

Al, overcoming his shock, became confused at why Mars of all things was being shown. 'Just how does this relate to Subaru?'

"Just what...is this…" Wilhelm trailed off in shock at what he saw before his eyes.

Beatrice huffed with a superior tone. "It's a planet I suppose."

Eyes turned to look at her in confusion.

"A planet...what's that?" Emilia asked in confusion, looking at the blonde-haired loli besides her.

"A planet is a massive body that holds land...for more basic terms, the entirety of our world is a planet." Beatrice smugly stated.

"Just wha' kinda place is Cap'n from?!" Garfiel shouted, stars in his eyes.

Anastasia muttered, "Unbelievable…"

Giants boulders were weightlessly floating around in the darkness, and the scene changed as a rock pans over the view, showing a horrific sight...

A shattered moon is shown next to a ravaged earth, lines of fire tracing throughout the lands. There is no green to be seen, only scorched remains of once was.

Eyes widened in terror at what appeared in front of them.

"What?! Is that…" Tried to voice Anastasia, as she held her scarf in fear.

"It's the moon!" Screamed Felt in terror.

"How can it be?!" Shouted Mimi, not liking this sight at all.

A choked sound could be heard from Al, causing the cast to look at him in alarm. "Ho-how is this possible?!"

Priscilla looked at her guard with masked concern, covering her face with her fan to hide her trembling lips. "What exactly makes this so improbable?"

Everybody leaned in for answers as the masked man struggled to speak.

"Th-That's Earth...where both me and Subaru come from…" Al stuttered out.

"Wait...So what we're seeing right now…" Voiced Crusch with a trembling tone, slowly understanding.

"Is the view of Natsuki-kun's world from above…" Continued Anastasia, her eyes wide to the screen.

Everyone gasped in horror, looking at the aforementioned figure, who was now being clutched tightly by from all ends.

"Oh dear dragon ...what could have done this?" Reinhard asked in fear, the sheer level of destruction frightening even him.

Roswaal watched with a close gaze, trying to discern what could have happened, while still showing no outward emotion.

Gazes looked back towards the screen as a voice crackled to life.

"Can't hold 'em off!" Echoed a desperate female voice.

"What's happening…" Wilhelm said, his voice laced with anger.

The frightened voice of a female took over, "I can hear them, oh no…" Sounds of fighting could be heard in the background.

The knights and soldiers in the room clenched their fists, knowing that they can't help with whatever is happening.

Some of the audience flinched at hearing the loud, mechanical sounds in the background.

"Just what was that sound?" Crusch asked in concern and caution.

Beatrice's eyes widened as the noise matched the description of something that Subaru had told her about.

"Fall back, now!" Shouted a panicking male voice.

"They're killing everyone!" The female spoke again, in a near hysterical voice.

The male voice returned, in a seemingly despaired voice. "They're everywhere!"

"They're killing everyone!" The voice repeated, the sounds of battle being louder, screams could be heard among them, along with something else…

The female soldiers' desperate tone once more filled the room, "Transmitting...from HZ 1556."

Some of the cast looked away in horror, tears filling their eyes at hearing the people's desperate pleas for help.

Frederica held Petra close, covering her ears as the small girl began to cry.

Reinhard clenched his fists, body trembling as he knew he couldn't save these people from their fate.

Ram, seeing her sister's affection for Subaru, could only hope that these didn't involve the black-haired boy at all, not wishing to see...either of them in pain.

"...casualties range in the billions..." Said a new, monotone male voice.

This line made eyes snap towards the screen in horror.

"B-Billions?!" Screamed out a fearful Otto.

Anastasia's eyes went wide with shock, "How...the entire country of Lugunica only has the population of a few million. How many people live there!?"

"Th-That's nearly the entire population...what kind of threat is this!?" Al breathed out in despair

The female once more, speaks now in a tone of defeat and despair, "They're breaking in…"

A close-up of the planet is shown; massive trenches of fire are seen gouged into the landscape, forming runes from an unfamiliar language in cult-like patterns. Smoke and ash from these formed up into the atmosphere, painting the once vibrant planet into a grim visage.

"That has to be hundreds of miles long! What is happening?!" Al shouted, out of fear for his old home.

As the camera panned out to space, a large object was shown orbiting around the planet, seemingly built from both stone and metal.

"What is that thing?" Beatrice exclaimed in confusion.

Gazes snapped to her due to what she said.

"Beako...do you not know what that is?" Emilia asked in shock and confusion.

"Of course not, why else would I ask?" Betty huffed.

"We must pray now brothers…" Said a new voice, crackling through the room, "Pray that he is watching."

"What good...could one man even accomplish with this threat…?" Julius muttered.

"It sounded more like a religious guy...Maybe he's not talking about a man but a kind of god?" Tried to answer Ricardo.

"Hmpf!" Huffed Priscilla." If their "god" would care for them, maybe he would have prevented that threat from happening in the first place."

Many were surprised to find the duchess nodding her head to the nasty lady's statement.

"A god who watches from above and does nothing...How ironic." She voiced out loud, anger clear in her eyes. "Nothing much different from us."

Reinhard and Julius winced to the tone the duchess was taking to speak about the divine dragon of their kingdom. But they couldn't do anything else, they knew she had her reasons.

"Or maybe they have someone as strong as the Sword Saint to counter the threat?" Said Felt, looking at her knight in worry.

Reinhard shook his head as his face contorted in sadness.

"Your words honor me, Felt-sama. But no matter the power I might hold, I am sure that even I couldn't face a threat able to swallow an entire world…" He answered, the blue light of his eyes fading away.

Many people in the room widened their eyes in shock and terror. If even the sword saint considered himself unable to counter a threat...How horrible this one might be?

The mere thought was enough to make anyone shiver in fear at ever facing something akin to what was happening on Subaru's home.

The view now cuts to the inside of the ship. Metal structures form up the hub, with stabilizers out in the front, holding what seems to be glass that seals away the void. A pool of clear water is shown looping around the outer edge of the glass. Glowing blue lines are etched throughout the surfaces, pulsating as if it was a living being.

Jaws dropped at this display of technology.

Anastasia rapidly scanned her eyes over everything in sight, trying to discover the purposes of these mysterious devices.

Felt watched on in shock, her hands twitching as if imagining how much those things would sell for.

"What is this…?" Crusch trailed off in awe of the sight before her.

Betty mumbled, "Subaru never said his technology was this great infact."

The camera turns to show a figure covered in green armor hunched over a table, looking over what seemed to be a weapon, the likes of which had never been seen before. The armor itself was a conundrum. Thick metal panels, painted green, were fitted over the majority of the suit, with other panels painted tan and grey underneath it. Glowing red protrusions came out of the suit at various points, glowing with power. Surprisingly, the biceps were clear of any protection, showing the well toned musculature of the figure.

"I-Is that what a warrior looks like where Subaru is from?" Felix asked in a bewildered tone.

Anastasia's mouth began to water. "That armor…"

Some of the females in the room blushed seeing the impressive body of the man, before shaking their head, as if dispelling the thoughts.

The camera slowly pulled up to show a familiar head of black hair, bent over the metal contraption.

Chaos erupted all over the theater as everyone recognized the figure.

"Cap'n?!"

"Natsuki-san?!"

"Barusu?!"

"Subaru-kun?!"

"Subaru?!" Emilia exclaimed, her hand clenching Subaru's as her eyes went in shock.

Priscilla huffed. "I highly doubt that figure could be the black-haired buffoon. If you only opened your eyes you could see, commoners."

The cast, calming down a bit, looked at the figure again with a closer gaze.

"She...does have a point I suppose…" Beatrice said, looking over the look-a-like more apprehensively.

"Subaru-dono isn't that tall or muscular, and the look in his eyes...shows that of a warrior, hardened by years of combat." Wilhelm stated, still confused over what was happening.

"No." Emilia said, her voice hardened in determination.

"What? But Natsuki-san looks completely different than that guy!" Otto exclaimed.

Emilia sighed, "I know my knight...there is no mistake...somehow, someway...that is Subaru."

"Emilia is right." Rem stated, causing the audience to look at her in shock. "He, despite looking different, is still Subaru-kun. I can feel it."

"Hoooooow about we just waaaait?" Roswaal pitched in, causing those to look in confusion at the smiling margrave. "It will aaaaaaal be explaaaained eventually, correeeeeect?" Despite the creepy manner they were spoken, the audience considered it, before giving in and moving on with the viewing.

Natsuki Subaru held a face of great concentration as he inserted what seemed to be a metal tube into the machine, and suddenly, an unnatural voice sounded from what seemed to be the ship itself.

"The Combat Shotgun has now been tethered to your Praetor Suit, you may now store it in your suit's hammerspace unit."

"G-Gun?" Emilia stuttered, terrified of Subaru possessing the insane weapon that Betty had told them about.

"Wait, is he going to try and fight whatever's happening?!" Crusch shouted out in fear for the boy.

Eyes widened across the stage as they looked at Subaru.

Felix sat, teeth clenched in rage as he looked at the black-haired boy. He dares to make his lady concerned for him. He scoffed internally, knowing that despite all of his determination, he was still weak.

"What was that voice, who else is there with him?" Otto asked in confusion.

Subaru grunted, and tapped the glowing blue button on the side of the weapon. The weapon was enveloped in a blue flash that seemed to shoot at Subaru. The flash seemed to be absorbed into the suit itself, before returning to its normal color. Subaru then held his right hand out, and with a twitch of his hand and a flash of light, the weapon was now clutched in Subaru's palm.

Jaws dropped once more across the room at this display.

"W-WHAT!" Anastasia screamed out, unable to contain herself with whatever she just saw. "H-H-HE CAN STORE AND SUMMON HIS WEAPONS AT WILL?!" She began to foam at the mouth, those around her watching her in fear.

Priscilla narrowed her eyes to the surprising display, deep in her thoughts, as she wondered how this could work. She held a similar power after all, but she earned it.

He gave it an experimental pump before returning it to his suit. He stood up to a looming height and began to pace over to a glowing screen, passing over a red outline of the very symbol they had seen at the beginning of the showing.

"That symbol again...how is it connected to him…" Julius asked in suspicion.

"Could it be the symbol representing the warriors in this world? Like the symbol of the royal guards you guys are wearing on your shoulders…" Said Ricardo, turning to his friend.

Julius tapped his chin, processing the explanation of the dogman. "This is possible but...What could it represent? Our symbol is a representation of our dragon, I don't see what this could be…" He voiced again.

Ricardo only shrugged, his eyes returning to the screen.

"Might be something of the little boss's world."

Subaru watched the screen a cold and calculating gaze, watching the planet spin. Suddenly the mysterious voice spoke up again.

"We have the Hell Priest's signal locked in. The target is marked, but the signal will not hold for long."

"Hell Priest?" Emilia questioned. "That doesn't sound good…" She clutched Subaru's hand tighter.

"Is that like an Archbishop of Sin?" People turned to look at Julius in shock. "Well apparently this Hell deals with evil people right? And for the priest to be one of their leaders…"

Dread spread throughout the crowd. They all knew that no matter how determined Subaru was, he stood no chance against an Archbishop.

"So this world has the same kind of threats…" Said Crusch, her voice filled with concern and worry.

"He's going to face archbishops?!" Screamed Rem in terror.

"You shouldn't be this agitated, I suppose." Said Beatrice in a much more calmer voice.

All eyes turned on the little spirit, as they wondered how she could be the one to be speaking this calmly.

"Are you not scared for your contractor?" Said Anastasia in a bewildered tone, much to the surprise of everyone to see her take the initiative with the great spirit.

"I naturally am, I suppose." Continued Beatrice. "But it is you, who shouldn't underestimate Betty's contractor, in fact."

The determination in her voice could only make the people around her smile a bit in relief, remembering the viewings they saw.

"If this is really him, for starters…" Whispered Ram in worry.

At this Subaru began to move, only to stop as he saw something that made him turn. It was a picture of a young Subaru in what looks like a park, with two adults by his side that looked similar to him. He was smiling in the photo, and holding both of his parent's hands.

"What?!" Screamed the pink Oni, eyes glued to the photo.

"It's...It's Subaru...When he was a child…" Said Crusch as she covered her mouth to hide her smile of how cute she found him to be.

The smugness radiating off of Emilia and Rem was nearly palpable as the unsaid 'We told you so' echoed through the room.

"It can't be…" Priscilla trailed off, looking at the black-haired boy in confusion.

"But...if that really is Subaru-dono...what happened to him…?" Wilhelm said in concern.

The reflection of the picture was shown, Subaru's current self looking down on the photo with a forlorn expression. He reached out and gently traced its edge, careful not to damage it. The voice resounded once more from the ship.

"Slayer, you must get moving, time is of the essence."

"Slayer?" Felix said in suspicion. "That name does nyot speak good intentions…"

Ricardo frowned at the screen. "Just what is he the 'Slayer' of?"

"It might be those demons Beatrice-sama spoke of…" Crusch muttered out, making the two oni sisters flinch.

"Is he going to fiiiight I wonder…" Roswaal stated, causing the audience to look at him in horror.

His face hardened into a determined glare as he withdrew his hand. He moved over to a table with serrated paneling, and to the shock of everyone, the paneling began to withdraw, and the objects within were revealed.

The audience sat on the edge of their seats, some eager...and some afraid to see what would be shown.

The first object was a massive tan painted gauntlet. There were stud shaped dents covering the extent of the plating, and a large metal rectangle covered the entire left side of it.

"A gauntlet? I'd hardly consider that a weapon." Mimi stated with a pout on her face.

"Hey! Don't go bad mouthin' my Cap'n like tha'!" Garf yelled, spinning around to face the short demihuman. "He always has a trick up hi' sleeve! Just ya wait!"

Subaru equipped the gauntlet and seemingly checking it over, before clenching his fist and causing a huge blade to emerge from the rectangle.

The audience looked at Garfiel in shock, only for him not to notice as he was gazing at the weapon in awe. He whipped around to Emilia, stars in his eyes. "Do ya thi-"

"No Garf." Emilia and Frederica said in unison. "You won't get something like that."

Garfiel's face dropped. "But-"

"NO."

Satisfied, Subaru grabbed a hand-sized metal cylinder that he attached to his upper left shoulder with a resounding click. The object lowered suddenly, and then went back up.

"What could that small thing do?" Priscilla huffed, fanning her face. "It's likely not even very powerful."

Surprisingly, Ram was the one who responded to the taunt. "Well you were just wrong before, so I'd trust even that Barasu more than you."

Chuckling echoed around the theater, aimed at the orange haired candidate.

Priscilla's eyes twitched.

Finally, Subaru grabbed a large green helmet with a blue glass visor. The metal plating had several air vents near the button of his face, converging by a grey metal covering over the chin.

"So I think that confirms it," Reinhard said, grimacing.

Felt looked up at her knight, confused. "Confirms what?"

He sighs, "I believe that the being mentioned at the beginning of this showing...was Subaru."

"Wait, so you're telling me…that big bro is going to take on a threat that even the Sword Saint can't defeat?!" Felt screamed out.

"Well...I'm not sure about that…" Wilhelm said cautiously. "After all, we don't know their military power…"

Al shook his head. "If they couldn't defeat it, I doubt Reinhard would even stand a chance." He said definitively.

"And why is thaaaaaat I wonder?" Roswaal drawled out.

"Even back in my time…there were weapons that could turn cities to dust in an instant." Al said, shocking the crowd.

Felix shook. "I-In an instant…" He stuttered out, knowing that none of those people even had the chance to be healed, they would just be disintegrated, all he could hope is that it was painless.

Betty clenched the arm of her contractor even harder. "Why didn't you tell Betty about this, I suppose…"

As he went to equip it, the red mark was seen once more adorning the helmet. With a hiss, the helmet secured into place, with interior lights making Subaru's rage filled eyes visible.

"Whoa, Cap'n is lookin' pretty intense thr'." Garf said, still in awe that his Cap'n was so cool, trying to ignore the hurt of being left in the dark about this.

A new voice appeared, almost rambling as slow, heavy music began to play.

Doom Eternal OST: At Doom's Gate

"For it is he that they fear, not man or his armies. They fear the mark of the beast…"

"They fear Barusu?" Ram scoffed. "Maybe this threat isn't so big after all."

"What is this background music? It's like the opening music but…" Crusch trailed off, looking at the screen.

"Like a harbinger for what's to come, I suppose it could be." Beatrice stated, confusing some of the less literate ones present.

"Harbing'r?" Garf questioned, clearly confused with a dumb look on his face.

Betty sighed, "It means to come before something, as clouds come before rain, I suppose."

"But the question is...the harbinger of what?" Ricardo asked.

The music began to pick up, growing louder and more intense as the female soldier was heard once more, beginning to scream out in panic.

"Is anyone left?!"

"YEA!" Garf shouted out, shocking the audience. "Cap'n is gonna save 'em!" His beaming smile and optimistic tone brought spirit back into the audience.

Rem smiled as she clutched his arm. "My hero will save them. I know he will."

Emilia smiled a soft smile down on Subaru's sleeping body. "I guess you always will help people…"

Metal pieces of the ship began to move, tables and stands moving into the ground as panels moved to the side, creating an open pathway to a contraption that was rotating into a circle. The music was now nearly shaking the theater.

"What the…" Anastasia trailed off in awe of what was occurring.

Those with enhanced hearing began to shift uncomfortably, the booming tones being grating to their ears.

Suddenly, a blue spark emerged from the circular gateway, before a screen of inky blackness emerged, tinged by blue as it flickered within the restraints of the circle. The female voice began to scream.

"Somebody...p-p-please! Please help us!"

Once more, the audience was shocked into silence.

"What could that be?" Priscilla wondered aloud as she looked at the display in fascination.

Al snapped his head back and forth at the screen, as if to clear his eyes. "That can't be...I think it's a teleporter…" He said in awestruck shock.

"What's a teleporter?" Anastasia asked, stars in her eyes as she looked at the helmeted man.

"It was just a concept when I left, but basically it would allow someone to appear...anywhere instantaneously…" He said in awe.

This made everyone's eyes go wide as they looked back at the rapidly growing circle of darkness.

"You can get anywhere?! In an instant?!" Otto all but shouted out with stars in his eyes. "Just imagine if you could use it for trading…" He was drooling.

Subaru manifested his shotgun as his eyes filled with determination behind his helmet. His scratchy and broken voice was heard throughout the theater, words filled with such malice that it sent chills down the spines of everyone present.

"Rip...and...Tear"

"S-Subaru?" Emilia stuttered out, clutching her knight's arm in concern.

"Just what happened to you, Subaru-dono? What could make you that hateful?" Wilhelm did not like the aura of violence and wrath around Subaru. It reminded him of how he used to be.

Roswaal's eyes gleamed as his smile seemed to widen. "Sooooo, you will fight...how interesting…"

"Nee-sama? Is Subaru-sama going to be ok?" Petra looked up at Frederica in fear.

Frederica ruffled Petra's hair, an albeit forced smile on her face. "I'm sure he's going to be fine." She looked back at the screen in concern. 'I can only hope.'

The music crashed down as a title reared its head onto the screen, foreshadowing the events to come.

DOOM ETERNAL

"Eternal? Wha' does that mean?" Garf questioned, confused yet cautious. He may know what doom means, but eternal was a new term for the blonde demi human.

Crusch frowned in concern. "Eternal basically means unending...and doom can be translated to death, which means…"

"Unending death." Julius said in a hardened tone, watching the screen. "That is what we will see."

The room grew dark as dread seeped into the theater.

"N-No, not more…" Rem held her hero close.

"Stop! Stop this I suppose!" Betty cried out, not wanting to see her contractor die again.

Crusch looked at the boy in despair. "Just how long has death been a part of you…?"

Emilia's hand held Subaru's in a tight grip, hand white as she watched the screen in blank horror, tears beginning to form.

Garf gripped the armrests on his chair as he snarled, teeth grinding together in rage. He wouldn't be able to save his Cap'n, he could only watch.

Reinhard clenched his fist in rage, trembling as he grimaced, knowing that despite all of his power, he wouldn't be able to save his friend.

Before they could continue, the screen moved on.

With a flash of blue, Subaru's armored form dropped down into a new environment. He appeared in a dark room supported by pillars and chains. Blood painted the room red as it slowly dripped down from the walls, and underneath his feet were metal grates over giant gears, their mechanical sounds filling the room with an ominous tone.

"What...is this place?" Reinhard said, eyes wide.

Ricardo grimaced. "I'm gonna take a ganter and assume that's not paint. Disgusting."

Groans were heard from the side of the room, as three figures emerged from the shadows.

Leathery skin stretched as the figure took shaky, unsteady steps. It's claw-like fingers trembled and twitched as they swung with emancipated and malformed limbs. Ragged breaths came from its lipless and revolting mouth and non-existant nose, set in a face that looked as if it had been melted. Putrid yellow eyes glared out from its sunken eye sockets, glimmering with madness as they locked onto Subaru.

"What are those things?!" Otto screamed out in fear.

Rem watched the screen, trembling. "I-I think those are...demons."

Felix revolted at the sight, something as atrocious as that just shouldn't exist.

Frederica held Petra in her arms, covering the young maids' eyes and ears. She didn't want her to see this.

Emilia buried her face in Subaru's neck, not wanting to see her knight get hurt again. She cried into his jacket. "Why? Why didn't you run?"

Beatrice watched the screen in horror. Was she really going to have to watch her contractor get killed again?

As the creatures emerged from the shadows, Subaru summoned his shotgun and launched forward with tremendous speed at the humanoids.

He sidestepped the clumsy strikes of the first one, and aimed his shotgun at it as he pulled the trigger. Blood and gore exploded out of the creature as it's entire torso was decimated. Without pause, he extended his arm blade, plunging it through the skull of the second one, and grabbed the head of the last one and squeezed, blood and brain matter covering his glove. This entire sequence took less than two seconds.

The theater was shocked into silence, the faint sounds of gears clunking and blood dripping being the only thing that filled the theater.

"S-S-Subaru?" Crusch stuttered out, frankly shocked at the powerful and downright brutal execution she just witnessed.

Reinhard watched the screen in shock. "I-I could barely see him move...just what was that?"

Al whistled. "Guns then are definitely stronger then they were when I left…"

Garfiel watched, jaw slack as he looked at his Cap'n. He knew he was manly but...damn.

Emilia slowly looked up, tears covering her grief-stricken face, which quickly turned to horror seeing the scene before her. "W-What happened...what happened?!"

"Subaru happened, that's what!" Mimi shouted. "He was like bam, pow, smash!" She illustrated this with her hands flailing.

Ram simply sat in her seat, eyes wide as she blankly looked at the screen.

"To rise above monsters, we have to abandon our humanity…" Beatrice whispered, which was picked up by many in the crowd.

"Beatrice-sama, what did you just say?" Rem asked, still stunned from what she had just seen.

Betty gulped, looking down on her contractor. "Subaru told me about it, said it was a quote from his world, I suppose…"

The significance of this did not fall short on the crowd.

"Is-is that what he has done?" Wilhelm asked, looking on the bloodied form of his friend. "Has Subaru-dono abandoned his humanity…?"

He retracted his blade and dropped the corpses, which hit the metal ground with a sickening splat. He pulled out a red circular object with a gold cap and inserted it into his shotgun, once more priming it for battle.

He walked over to the door that was adorned by the skull of a horned beast, red light glowing from the empty sockets.

Ricardo grimaced. "Why does everything about this damn place have to be so creepy?"

"Just how did they get that to glow…?" Anastasia asked, trying to see if there was hidden magic or technology.

He slammed open the door, only to see another one of the beasts there, that was stunned after being hit by the door. Subaru then slammed his metal-plated fist down onto its head, which made it collapse down into its crumpled torso.

Despite the rather gruesome kill, this elicited a few chuckles from the crowd.

"That's...one way to do it I guess…" Reinhard said, sweatdropping.

Garf watched in awe, committing the move to memory. He would definitely try that on his enemies.

Groans of another beast could be heard to Subaru's right, and without even looking, he whipped his gun around, and with a bang, the beast collapsed to the ground with its brain matter decorating the brick wall behind it. Subaru launched himself down the hallway, and shot at another beast that appeared on the stairs before him, which launched the beast to the bottom of the stairs, still alive. Subaru then jumped down onto the zombie, and silenced its roar with the bottom of his boot, crushing the skull of the beast to dust.

"Damn." Al said. "He's certainly got this whole demon-killing thing down."

Suddenly, a hand on Al's shoulder stopped him from saying more. He looked up to see who it was, only to freeze in fear.

Ram, with an aura of wrath swirling around her, calmly leaned down to the trembling knight. "Would you kindly stop referring to Barasu killing demons per se." She gestured down to where a teary eyed Rem sat. "Because it makes my sissy sad...and I don't quite think you want that, do you?"

Al violently shook his head, briefly looking at his princess, only for her to scoff at him.

"Hhmf! You really should know when to shut up!" Priscilla stated, her fan in front of her face to cover her smirk.

Subaru stood amongst the blood and gore of the monster as he reloaded before continuing to move. He passed under another doorway, only to be greeted by a gruesome sight.

Countless human corpses were packed into the walls, with metal bars separating the cages. Blood flowed throughout the dungeon, making horrible squelching noises with every step.

Gasps of horror and disgust spread throughout the theater.

Both Reinhard and Frederica covered the eyes of their smaller companion, neither of which complained.

Emilia froze in horror, her hand vicing down on Subaru's as her gaze was glued to the screen.

Felix nearly retched, the sight of so many corpses filling him with utter horror. "Wha-What kind of monsters could do such a thing?"

Garf watched the screen, face pale as his breathing hitched. "C-Cap'n..."

Ricardo clenched his shaking fist. He had seen many brutal things as a mercenary...but this was too much.

"W-Why? Why would they do such a thing…?" Wilhelm said, face set into a picture of shock.

Priscilla nearly dropped her fan, voice laced with rage. "T-Those monsters."

Beatrice said nothing, clenching onto her contractor as if her life depended on it. "Why? Is this why you never told us? To protect us?" Her weak and broken voice said, muffled into Subaru's jacket.

"This truly is Hell on Earth…" Al said, voice trembling as he looked upon the inhabitants of his home world.

But something made Subaru pause as he walked through the bloodied chamber. A handle was buried chest deep into the corpse of a zombie. With a small grunt of effort, Subaru tore the blood-covered weapon from its flesh-bound sheath with a wet ripping sound.

The weapon had a square handle that was painted a faint yellow, with a long serrated blade emerging from it.

"What kind of sword is that?" Reinhard asked quietly, still shocked from the last scene.

Al's eyes widened under his helmet. 'I know that weapon…' He began to chuckle. 'Oh I know that weapon.'

Subaru smirked as he attached a circular metal disk with a glowing blue light onto the side of the weapon, causing the unnatural voice to appear in Subaru's helmet.

"Chainsaw has been tethered to your Praetor Suit. You may now store it in your suit's hammerspace unit."

"The voice from earlier?" Emilia said, confused. "How did that person follow him there? No one else went through…"

"Maybe it could be a spirit?" Reinhard speculated. "Although...it was connected to the technology from earlier…"

Beatrice frowned at her contractor. "Did Subaru have a contract before Betty? He never spoke of anything of the sort, I suppose."

Anastasia's eyes went wide. "So he can just collect more weapons as time goes on, that's incredible…" She said with a slightly dreamy look on her face.

Those around her scootched away, slightly disturbed by the giggling candidate.

Subaru gave no response, swapping out the chainsaw of his shotgun and continued to move along. He noticed that a massive block was preventing his path forward. He rolled his shoulders and wound up to punch, muscles tensed.

"Cap'ns gonna send it flyin'!" Garf yelled out, having full confidence in Subaru's ability.

Crusch winced. This was going to be difficult to explain. "Uh, Garf-san, while Subaru may be...physically fit...that box would be too heavy for most of us to even move, so maybe Subaru-sama…"

With a thundering crash, he slammed his fist into the metal box, sending it flying across the room into the wall, revealing the path above.

Jaws dropped across the stage.

"Wha-what?!" Ram shouted out, her eyes glued to Subaru.

"YEA CAP'N!" Garf screamed out.

Julius had his head in his hands. "Just who did I beat the shit out of…?" His muffled voice went unheard.

"Could it be that armoooooor?" Roswaal suggested, a smile present on his face.

"If it is...what kind of technology do they have?" Reinhard said, still confused on how armor could buff Subaru.

Al watched in shock, unmoving. 'They made fucking power suits after I left?! How the hell did we lose?' These thoughts, along with others, ran rampant through the helmeted man's mind.

He stepped forward and jumped up, not even close to the edge of the platform above him, but then a burst of air erupted from Subaru's boots, propelling him to the platform, which he clambered up.

"Di-did Subaru just fly in that heavy armor?" Emilia said, watching Subaru with an expression of shock.

Crusch watched in fascination. "Just what kind of stuff do they have there?"

Beatrice pouted, crossing her arms. "Why didn't you tell me about this, I suppose?" Her unconscious companion gave no answer, the steady rise and fall of his chest never faltering. "Please wake up...Subaru."

He scanned the room, gun raised, but soon lowered it as he saw no threats. He began to move forward through the next door, but stopped when he saw a flashing blue light from the corner.

He moved in a battle stance to the light, but then smiled a maniacal smile as he saw what it was.

"That smile...it's unsettling." Ram said, many of the cast nodding in agreement.

Rem shivered. In a way, that smile reminded her of what she looked like when in a rage, something she would rather not see again, especially on Subaru's face.

"What could he have found?" Priscilla asked, eyes narrowed as she watched the flashing light. "It better be something good."

It was a metal box, scratched and dented, with a small circular object producing the light. Subaru lifted the box and ripped it open savagely.

The cast leaned forward, eager and curious to see what was so exciting.

Inside was a metal structure, with a circular rod at the front, and a flat metal piece emerging from the back of it.

"It's a metal stick." Petra said, almost angrily as she pouted.

Anastasia's eyes twitched. "Excuse me little girl, that is probably a very usefu-"

"No! It's just a metal stick, Subaru-sama will hit them with it!" She pumped her fist in the air, an action which Garfeil mirrored with a hearty shout.

Emilia sighed fondly looking at the members of her camp, before looking back at Subaru, sadness etched on her face. He would have blushed and stuttered if he had heard that, if only he were awake...

Subaru lifted it up to his shotgun, and with a mechanical whirring, the piece attached itself to the weapon.

"Sticky Bomb module attached."

The mechanical voice emerged, making Subaru grin in approval.

"Sticky...bombs…?" A question mark appeared over the cast as they looked in confusion.

Beatrice and Al were the only ones to know what they were, but had very different reactions.

Beatrice got closer to Subaru, holding him as she knew how dangerous those things could be.

And Al. Oh Al.

Al was cackling, leaning forward with a wide smile under his helmet as he watched the screen in anticipation. 'Oh this is going to be awesome.'

He walked up the next door, which he pushed open, revealing another group of zombies.

"More of them?" Felix asked, still disturbed by their mutilated appearance.

Emilia clutched Subaru's hand harder, despite knowing that he would likely be fine, she still didn't like the prospect of Subaru being in any more danger. "Just...be ok Subaru...please. I don't want you to hurt anymore."

But instead of charging in like last time, he simply lifted his shotgun, and fired a circular device that attached itself to the zombies. It began to flash white, beeps occuring increasingly fast as the light brightened.

"Eh?" Ricardo asked, eyes glued onto the strange device with a squint. "What's that little thing going to do?"

"Maybe it's like a distraction? Use the light and sound to make an opening?" Crusch said, also confused by the strange device.

The object then exploded, a fountain of blood and gore erupted as limbs were sent flying.

Silence. The entire theater went silent with this, trying to process what just happened.

"That...was...AWESOME!" Felt screamed, stars in her eyes. She began shaking Reinhard, who was to her side. "Did you see that?! He just shot once and BOOM! They all died!"

"Felt-sama, could you please stop shaking me so violently?" Reinhard asked in a strained tone, his face turning red from the blood rushing to his head.

"Oh, sorry...my bad."

"Cap'ns so cool! He wiped them all out in one hit!" Garfield shouted to those around him, his near rabid ramblings scaring those around him.

Julius gulped. "Such a small device...and with that much power…" He was suddenly very grateful Subaru had nothing like this in their duel.

Anastasia and Otto were drooling. "Just...how much could that sell for...?"

"Damn. That was a pretty good explosion for an attachment." Al said.

"Uh, Nee-sama, why are you covering my eyes? I want to see big bro do cool stuff." Petra pouted, as her eyes had been covered by Frederica.

"It's nothing that you should see Petra, trust me." Frederica said intensely, not wanting the poor girl to see this kind of brutality.

The path now clear, Subaru moved right through the bloodied remains of the monsters, slamming his way through another door only to be greeted by a massive empty chamber. Chains swung lazily from the ceiling as Subaru cautiously made his way through the multilayered room.

"I don't like this…" Rem said, worried for Subaru.

"This does have a rather ominous tone to it, I suppose." Stated Beatrice, looking worriedly at her contractor.

The mechanical voice spoke up. "I am sensing the Hell Priest's signature beyond this room, proceed with caution, Slayer."

Crusch gasped. "He's going to try and fight the archbishop alone? That's suicide!"

"Well, that's going off the assumption that these 'Hell Priests' actually have special abilities." Priscilla said. "As far as we know, they could be similar to normal priests and don't fight."

"But that's only an guess, we won't know until we seeeeee." Roswaal stated, eyes glimmering with curiosity. 'Just what kind of threats will you face?' His smile grew wider.

Beatrice bit her lip in worry. She stood by her previous statements, she had full trust in Subaru, but...even this may be too much.

Subaru gave no response as he moved through the room, the sounds of his metal plated footsteps ringing through the quiet room. As he reached the middle of the room, an alarm blared through his helmet.

"Sensing multiple demonic presences in the room. Prepare for battle."

"Damn it! I knew this was too easy." Ricardo growled out. "They led him into a trap."

"Subaru-sama...please be alright…" Crusch begged, eyes filled with worry.

Multiple red lights erupted all over the room, and from them emerged dozens of monsters. Short, spike-covered red demons roared out, fire collecting in their palms. Humanoids with metal emerging from their arms let out battle cries as their eyes burned a vibrant red. Zombies let out groans as they began to shuffle towards Subaru.

"Dear dragon…" Reinhard trailed off in shock at what he saw.

"Run, Subaru! Please!" Emilia shouted out with tears in her eyes.

"What are those...things?" Julius exclaimed in disgust.

"They can use magic?!" Screamed out Otto.

Beatrice watched the metal soldiers in fear. "The metal ones also have guns, I suppose…" She breathed out in terror.

Roswaal's eyes narrowed, his grin appearing to widen. 'Just how will you get out of this one, Subaru-kun~'

"I have high hopes for him, he better not disappoint." Priscilla said, fan covering her face to conceal her concerned gaze.

Subaru watched all of this with a cold gaze as he reloaded his shotgun, the mechanical sounds reverberating throughout the room.

"Does-Does he really feel no fear?" Anastasia said, looking at Subaru in awe.

"Subaru-dono has never shown fear...is this why?" Wilhelm whispered, looking at the young man in concern.

"He's either very confident...or very stupid…" Said Julius, head in his hands.

"Well he's pretty stupid for even trying, nyah" Felix said in disgust, before freezing up in fear.

"Felix."

He slowly turned to look at his lady, who was glowering down on him.

"I would recommend you don't insult Subaru-sama, because if you look down on someone who is determined to help people...that would make you quite the hypocrite. Wouldn't it?" Crusch was filled with rage. Subaru is putting his life on the line to save his home, and Felix is disrespecting that? That was unacceptable.

"W-Wel-Well, C-Crusch-sama, um…" He stuttered out, shrinking before the enraged gaze of the green-haired duchess.

For one second, all was silent as the forces assessed each other, waiting for one to make the first move.

Suddenly, an imp screeched and let it's fireball loose, screaming towards Subaru. As if a switch had been flipped, the room erupted with the noise of combat. Soldiers ran at Subaru, plasma cannons firing rapidly. Imps jumped around the room, strafing around him as they pelted him with fireballs. Zombies lurched forward, arms swinging wildly in a blind rage.

"SUBARU-KUN!" Rem screamed out, seeing the apparently unbeatable horde bear down on Subaru.

"Oh my," Julius said, with widened eyes. "Is this what combat is like where Subaru hails from?" He shivered. Julius knew combat could be chaotic, but this…was another level.

"Just how will he get out of this one? Is it even possible?" Ram breathed out, face slack in shock. 'Barusu, you better be alright.'

Subaru was a blur of motion. He jumped up, swinging off a chain as he fired sticky bombs throughout the crowd of monsters, gore exploding with every shot.

"He's using the environment to his advantage…" Wilhelm said with a careful gaze.

"That weapon is truly incredible." Priscilla said.

He landed amongst a party of five soldiers, and slaughtered them with brutal efficiency. He slashed off ones legs with his blade, causing it to collapse in the way of the enemy fire, killing it instantly as it was burned inside out. Subaru released a shotgun blast, getting two demons ripped to shreds. He grabbed the heads of the last two with each hand, and slammed them together, causing them to explode, brain matter flying everywhere.

"O-Oh my." Julius said, wide eyed at the violent attack.

"He seems to alwaaaaays go for the most efficient, yet violeeeeent option. How intereeeesting." Roswaal said, concerning the crowd.

"What happened to him? What made him like this?" Emilia asked, tears in her eyes. She didn't want to see her knight acting so...cruel.

"Could this vision be of the future?" Asked Felt, glancing at the blood-soaked warrior in fear.

"There's no way...right?" Ricardo said, looking around. "You can't see the future, that's crazy talk!"

"Everything we've seen up to now would have been considered impossible...how can you say anything is impossible after what we've seen?" Rem said in a quiet voice, watching the screen with a blank look as she clutched Subaru's arm.

"But...how did he get home?" Otto said. "Did he leave all of us behind?"

"I think it will all be explained eventually." Emilia stated with a firm tone, shocking the crowd. "I think it would be better to wait. We have no proof of anything, so we should just wait. I don't think Subaru would hide something like this from us."

Crusch sighed. "She is right, we should wait."

"If it really is Barusu to begin with…" Muttered Ram, head lowered.

The demons had frozen in fear at the brutal display, but seeing him dart back into action caused the fight to resume once more.

"The monsters fear him…so much that they are frozen in place…" Reinhard said, slightly disturbed. He himself was definitely feared as the Sword Saint, but for mindless monsters to fear someone...it was a morbid thought. 'Just what has he done to make them like this?'

Priscilla raised her eyebrows. "That is not normal fear, the fear those creatures felt was so deeply ingrained in them that even they could not overcome it...how exciting." She began to smile.

Subaru ran through the room, parkouring from one to the next in an endless orchestra of death. He beheaded a zombie, and then used the head to plug the cannon of a soldier, making it explode in a glorious flash of red light.

"He truly has mastered combat…" Julius said in shock.

"No...this is not combat…" Eyes turned to look at the blue-haired maid. "This is a massacre." Rem said in a dazed tone, watching the carnage unfold before her eyes.

However, while he was ripping through a crowd of zombies, a stray fireball hit him, burning through his skin, exposing the scorched muscle and bone.

Gasps of shock spread throughout the theater.

"Subaru!" Emilia and Beatrice cried out in horror at the wound.

"Cap'n!" Shouted Garfiel.

"Subaru-kun!" Rem exclaimed in panic.

Felix grimaced. "Down to the bone, his arm would be practically useless."

"Just how hot are those flames?" Otto said, eyes wide. He remembered the burning mansion, how hot it got...but this was much more powerful.

"Hhmf! That's what he gets for leaving his armor open." Priscilla said with a huff, trying to quell the concern that was building up inside of her.

This did not slow Subaru down as he ripped another zombie down the middle, organs flying out in a shower of blood. As it died, blue light emerged from the corpse, and was absorbed into Subaru as his wounded arm knitted back together.

"H-He can regenerate?" Crusch asked in shock, "H-How?"

"He seemed to absorb something from the monster…" Wilhelm said slowly.

"I think...he can use their life force to heal himself…" Felix said in awe, he may dislike Subaru, but such an ability was exciting to him.

Julius gulped. "He can remain in a fight near indefinitely...he would be nigh unstoppable in a drawn out engagement…just what could stop him?"

Garf was conflicted. He was ecstatic seeing his captain's greatness...but if he was that strong at the sanctuary, would Subaru even have needed his help? 'No, Cap'n needs me! I'm the strongest there is!' Despite this, the worms of doubt continued to grow in his mind.

Subaru's unending slaughter continued, the mysterious object on his shoulder dropping down and releasing a rock-like object into the remaining number of demons, causing them to be blown sky-high as a thunderous bang emerged from the object fired.

"Dear dragon, just how many weapons does he have?" Reinhard asked.

"Everything he does...is done with the intent to kill." Rem said in muted horror. "He is the hammer of justice upon these monsters...he is...the slayer."

No one heard what the blue haired maid said, as she spoke in a broken, hushed tone. No one...Except as certain silver haired half elf, who tightened the grip on her knight's hand.

"The slayer…"

The smoking cannon moved back up on Subaru's shoulder as his blood-caked form began to move towards the door on the side of the room, leaving countless corpses in his wake.

"He took on all of that alone?" Ram said in fear. "He really is a monster…"

"Isn't tha' Hell Priest guy in the next room?" Garf asked, snarling.

As gasps spread through the crowd, the quiet voice of a certain white-haired women went unnoticed.

"Subaru, please be safe."

He paused as he reached the door and, drawing his foot back, he kicked the door open with a crash, emerging into a circular chamber lit by raging fireplaces. In the center, was a cauldron, seemingly made of flesh, sitting atop the blood-stained stone. Multiple human corpses hung from chains, blood dripping off of their mangled forms.

A hunched figure was shown in the shadows.

"Bastard...he's tortured them." Julius said in disgust.

Al clenched his fist, knuckles white as he trembled in rage. "You will burn for what you've done."

"I-Is that thing made of flesh?" Otto said, clutching his stomach as he looked upon the horrific scene.

"Just what could that monster be making?" Ricardo asked in anger.

"Is that it? In the shadows!" Shouted out Rem, in fear for Subaru.

Subaru stomped towards the figure, which turned to look at the intruder only for its red eyes to open in terror. It's crescent topped staff fell to the floor with a resounding clang.

As Subaru approached, its raspy voice, tinged with terror emerged. "You!"

"Does it know of him?" Priscilla asked, eyes narrowed.

"It certainly is scared of Subaru…" Anastasia said.

Subaru rushed towards it as it tried to escape, grabbing its neck in a firm grip, giving the audience a close up of the creature's face. It had grey ashen skin, stretched over sunken cheeks, a crown adorning its bald, leathery head, as its mouth opened, jaw filled with broken and uneven teeth, as it tried to speak.

"Man, what the hell?! I saw some speed in my life but this!" Ricardo exclaimed.

"Right, got a feeling you folks should cover the little one's eyes. That ain't going to end well for that guy." Al scoffed as he leaned forward.

'I hope you make him pay, bro.'

Ricardo, Frederica and Reinhard very much prepared themselves to do as Al advised...Themselves weren't really sure about this.

"What a disgusting creature." Roswaal said, a look of mild displeasure on his face.

"That's a Hell Priest?" Felt said, looking at its frail body. "Looks like we panicked for nothing!"

Emilia sighed, loosening her grip on Subaru as she sagged in relief. Subconsciously she also noticed Rem, Beatrice, and even Crusch doing the same thing, but she didn't care. Subaru was safe, and that's what mattered to her.

"It does seem to be the same type of species as the lumbering ones, but this one can speak." Wilhelm said, carefully observing the creature. "Just what makes it different from the masses?"

"Well it definitely seems to have more human qualities…" Crusch said.

In a strained tone, it spoke again, "My soul remains guarded…" As Subaru brought out a glowing blue disc, adorned with the mark, the monster began to struggle, choked sounds emerging from its throat as frail arms slammed against Subaru's tightening grip.

"His sooooooul? Is he immortal?" Roswaal asked, curiosity peaked.

"Well, whatever the case, that disc seemed to scare it. Maybe it could prevent its soul from leaving or something?" Felt pointed out.

"I've never heard of anything of the sort, I suppose." Beatrice said.

"Hold on, you said Subaru's world had no magic, so then what was that?" Ricardo asked, suspicion in his tone.

Beatrice frowned, looking down. "Apparently there were a lot of things Subaru never told me, I suppose."

"He had to have a reason to not tell you!" Emilia stated, looking the great spirit in the eyes. "Maybe he wanted to protect us!"

Rem sighed fondly. "That does sound like something Subaru-kun would do."

Suddenly, the screen flashed red as images appeared, static ripping through them, the only thing that anyone could see were two figures, looming over the camera.

"Are these...Subaru's memories?" Reinhard said in surprise.

"What are those things?" Ram questioned, her gaze sharpening. She hoped this would eventually give some sort of reasoning for this, she didn't want to see Rem worrying over Barusu more than she had to.

"They look human…" Ricardo said slowly. "Just how is this connected?"

Then, as quickly as they came, the vision disappeared, replaced by blood flashing across the screen as Subaru raised his hand, with the decapitated head of the monster clutched in his grip.

Many looked away from the gruesome sight shown. Frederica and Ricardo took the reflex of hiding the children's eyes before it was too late as well.

Julius winced. "He certainly doesn't go easy on them."

"He makes sure to have them suffer before he kills them…" Priscilla said, eyes narrowed. She was beginning to doubt this cold-hearted killer was related to the cheery boy they all knew. 'Just what are you?'

He reached out and gently readjusted the crown on the head, before the building began to shake, dust raining down from the ceiling as objects flew around the room, chains violently swinging with the quaking.

"What's going on?!" Emilia shouted out in shock.

"Subaru-kun, get out of there!" Rem cried out in fear.

"An earthquake? No...the beats are too consistent. Almost like…" Al trailed off, beginning to shake in fear.

"Could it be that Subaru caused this…?" Julius wondered, eyes in alarm. "Maybe the death of the priest triggered something."

Subaru rushed for the door that was covered in glowing green runes and slammed it open, and being on the edge of a balcony, he jumped off and landed harshly on the ground below.

"He doesn't seem to take any damage, even from a fall as great as that." Wilhelm said in surprise.

"How could this be?!" Crusch questioned out loud." It has been confirmed that Subaru-sama's world doesn't contain any traces of mana or magic!"

"Indeed." Beatrice continued, leaned in her contractor's chest. "It has to be something else…"

The little spirit closed her eyes as she felt closer and closer from the warmth of her sleeping contractor.

"Or would you happen to have hidden this much from me…?" She muttered in a low voice.

He picked up his gun amongst debris as the camera slowly panned up, only to show a horrific sight.

Lightning flashed in the black clouds as a red haze settled over the decimated skyline, buildings torn apart and melted. Rivers of fire ripped through the landscape, debris emerging from the lava, showing the remains of humanities struggle against the demons. Off in the distance was a floating spire, held down by chains, and had red energy pouring out of it in droves.

"N-No it c-can't be!" Al shouted out in despair, his stoic exterior breaking under the destruction of his home.

"What kind of armageddon is this?" Reinhard asked in shock.

Priscilla's hands were shaking so badly that she dropped her fan. "W-What could have caused this?" She shook in terror. She was strong, and she took pride in this, but whatever could cause that destruction...she had no hope of standing against.

"He can't fight this...he's going to die if he keeps going!" Beatrice cried out, her eyes filled with tears.

"All those people…" Felix whispered in horror.

Petra cried into Frederica's uniform as the older maid held her, too shocked to comfort the little girl.

Garfiel was frozen in terror, he had utmost confidence in his captain, but… "Dammit!" He screamed out, splintering the armrests with his grip. His captain would have to face this alone, while they could only watch.

Anastasia trembled as she looked upon the chaos, before catching sight of the floating structure. "Just what is that?" She questioned in shock.

A loud rumbling was heard, and Subaru turned around, only to see a monster the size of a skyscraper lumber by, the chains bound to its wrist made a cacophony of noise as it turned its horned head and began to walk off.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!" Ricardo roared out in horror. No army could ever hope to stand against such a beast.

"That thing…! It's even bigger than the whale…!" Crusch gasped in horror, eyes twitching in alarm and fear.

"SUBARU-KUN / SUBARU RUN!" Screamed out Emilia and Rem, clutching the black-haired boy.

Reinhard watched the beast in shock. "Is such a thing even defeatable?" He said, shocking those around him.

"Reinhard...are you saying you couldn't defeat that?" Felt said, terror lacing her voice.

"I-I have no idea…" He whispered out, plunging the audience into despair.

Crusch narrowed her eyes, calming her beating heart. "The beast seems to be leaving...why?" She asked.

"Maybe it doesn't see him?" Mimi said, trembling.

"With how big it is...it likely does not even see him as a threat." Priscilla said.

"The first Hell Priest has been terminated," The artificial voice stated. "The demonic consumption of Earth has been reduced by 36.8%. There are two Hell Priests remaining. They are currently in the sanctuary nearby...marking the coordinates on your HUD."

A yellow marker appeared on Subaru's helmet, positioned on the floating spire.

"There's only two more? Then he's done...right?" Petra said, eyes red from crying.

"I-it can't be that easy...can it?" Emilia asked, looking around in desperation.

"And they're right at that yellow thing…" Otto trailed off as he looked at the flying location.

"Why? Why didn't he come earlier?" Felix asked in rage.

"Felix?" Crusch asked in surprise, she had never seen her knight so...wrathful.

"Why did he wait until now to come? If he had just shown up earlier, he could have stopped all those people from dying!" Felix yelled out. "They died because of him!"

The theater was silent.

"Felix." Crusch said, no emotion in her tone as she slowly turned to look at her knight. "Let me be very clear. You. Know. Nothing. Nothing about Subaru, nothing about his circumstances, and nothing about the feelings of those around you. I will step in this one time, but if you do this again, you will receive no more assistance from me."

Felix froze, and slowly looked around the room.

Emilia had frost wafting off of her, her purple eyes hidden as she stood unmoving.

Rem had her morningstar out, trembling in rage as her horn crackled with power.

Beatrice had magic swirling around her as she looked at Felix in hate.

Garfiel was being held back by Frederica as he snarled at Felix, looking like he wanted to tear the cat-boy limb from limb.

Ram had her wand out, pointing it at Felix with a stoic expression.

Roswaal sat in a relaxed position, but with a gaze that was as if a predator had just found interesting prey.

The other knights looked at him in contempt and shock.

Wilhelm watched the boy in disappointment, looking away when Felix pleaded at him.

"Everyone. I sincerely apologize for my knight's insensitive words. It won't happen again." Crusch said, bowing at the waist in an expression begging forgiveness.

"I guess this has been a stressful experience, I can get having to vent. But any more of that will not be tolerated." Reinhard said, anger in his tone. "Am I understood?"

Felix rapidly nodded, fearing the wrath of the Sword Saint.

For Reinhard to feel this heated. The Sword Saint Felix knew he could call a friend to threaten him...This entire situation really had to be an immeasurable pressure. And he might have just added more weight to it.

Reinhard sighed. "Well, I suppose we should carry on with the viewing."

Everyone took their seats, various members of the cast continued to send wary glances at Felix.

Subaru, once he saw the behemoth was of no threat to him, began to move into the ruins of what once was an apartment building, before seeing another shining blue light. He cautiously scanned the area before going to retrieve it.

"Another add-on for his weapon?" Anastasia asked, breaking the awkward silence that had settled.

"Just what could this new one do?" Crusch asked in curiosity.

This time inside of the box was a small rectangular object that held glass on the inside, this seemed to excite Subaru, who grinned and stored it away in his suit for later use.

"Why did he put it away?" Felt asked, confused as to why he would put away something that could improve his weapon.

"Well there are certain attachments for certain weapons, it likely wasn't compatible with the shotgun." Al explained.

He then inspected the rest of the building, and finding no way to continue, began to touch and scan the walls around him.

"Wha's he lookin' fo'?" Garf asked.

"A secret passage maybe?" Emilia theorized.

At the bottom floor, he seemingly found what he was looking for, as he backed away, then slammed himself through the wall in a shower of rebar and concrete, revealing an opening.

"He's not very subtle is he?" Wilhelm said, wincing at the destructive entrance.

"Barusu never really has been one for taking it slow." Ram said with a huff.

Roswaal choked on his drink hearing this.

He looked down into the hole, and saw a horde of zombies situated next to a red barrel. He smirked as he aimed his shotgun, still about 100 meters above them.

"Does he really think he can damage them from there?" Julius asked in astonishment. "Did he hit his head when he fell?"

He pulled the trigger, pellets causing minimal damage. But, one of them hit the red container, which began to leak black fluid, which slowly trickled down into an open flame.

Otto's eyes widened. "This is going to be like the mansion isn't it?" He groaned.

A confused Garfiel looked at Otto. "What are ya talkin' 'bout?"

An earth-shaking explosion erupted in the center of the creatures, causing them to be vaporized by the large fireball released.

"Ah, I see." Garf said in shock, patting Otto on the shoulder. "Thanks."

"He did seem to damage them with that, don't you think Julius-sama?" Rem said, an edge to her tone.

"Y-Yea, I guess he did…" Julius bashfully rubbed the back of his head.

"That's an inventive use of the environment. Smart." Priscilla said with a concealed smirk.

Roswaal raised an eyebrow. 'From just a small barrel he made an explosion nearly matching a large explosion spell. How interesting…'

Subaru jumped down onto the pile of corpses, slamming into them with an explosion of blood.

Beatrice winced. "D-Does he always have to go for the bodies?" She was getting tired of seeing her contractor covered in blood.

He picked himself out from the bodies and began to survey the new territory.

Behind him was a massive cliff, covered in debris and corpses, and with a crumbling surface. In front of him, however, was a massive mechanical humanoid in a sitting position, hands on its knees. The machine was embedded in the cliffside, and with how rusty it was, the thing had been there for a long time.

People winced seeing the bodies, only for the thoughts to fade as they saw the giant humanoid.

"Is-Is that a mech?" Al's voice had a near reverent tone to it.

"A mech? Isn't that thing a statue?" Felt asked, looking in confusion at the mass of metal.

"Hhmf! Betty has heard of this thing from Subaru, I suppose." Beatrice said in a superior tone. "Basically it is a large suit of armor used for fighting. Although he did not quite say they were this big, I suppose."

"Hol up." Ricardo said, pointing at the titanic machine. "You're sayin' that the mountain-sized suit of armor can be used to fight?!" He questioned in astonishment.

"Yes, I suppose." Beatrice stated again, crossing her arms over her chest as she smirked.

"Just how could they make that...just the resources alone…" Anastasia said in shock. "Just what kind of production facilities could produce that?"

"What I'm concerned about here…" Wilhelm said slowly. "Just what kind of forces would the monsters have to be able to defeat these?"

The audience froze in horror, images of dozens of those giant monsters plundering their cities forming in their minds.

However, Subaru was looking at the metal pieces that had begun to peel off. He backed up, and dashed forward, boosting through the air, using the breaks in the metal hull to propel himself even higher as he vaulted over the side.

"Whoa, he can parkour almost as good as I can!" Felt said, eyes wide.

Reinhard smiled. "Well he can not even match my lady in that it would seem." He said, somewhat smugly.

He landed into a plaza that looked to have collapsed into the ground, once bright pillars now cracked and dirty stuck up out of the earth at random angles.

"He keeps going for those dangerous landings." Emilia said, pouting. "He really has to stop putting himself in danger for no reason!"

"Just what kind of earthquake could have caused that to happen to the terrain?" Al questioned, watching the screen.

Once more, that was not what had Subaru's attention. The horde of demons milling around the area is what he was preoccupied with.

"Here we go again." Julius said, grimacing.

Emilia clutched Subaru's hand tighter. She knew now that he would likely be fine, but...she didn't like to see this brutality from him. She looked down at the sleeping boy. 'Please come back to us Subaru. Come back to me.'

He loaded his shotgun, ready to jump in, only to hear a loud metallic clicking noise from above him. He immediately dashed to the side, narrowly avoiding a giant spiked claw from impaling him, and whipped around, shotgun at the ready.

"Cap'n!" Garf shouted out, seeing Subaru nearly impaled.

"Just what snuck up on him?" Crusch said, worried for the boy.

"Whatever it is, it's nothing good." Ram said with slight concern.

The monster in front of Subaru was genuinely disgusting to look at. A long, brain looking body was supported by four large metal legs, three of which attached it to the wall, and the final one stabbed into the earth right where Subaru had been. A strip of metal arched its way atop its body, and supported a massive three pronged rod, which glowed with red energy as glowing blue eyes, filled with hate glared out from above its mandibles, which were clicking together as drool dripped to the ground.

"Dear dragon...what pit did that thing crawl out of?" Reinhard said, disgust evident on his face.

"I don't even know what that thing could be classified as." Beako said, revolted by the beast's appearance.

"Where did it get all of that technology…" Al said in shock, looking at the robotic limbs. His fists began to tremble in rage. "Don't tell me…"

The beast let out a screech as it ripped its leg out of the ground and swung at Subaru, who dodged and shot it in the joint, rendering it useless.

"Despite its size, that thing is surprisingly fast. I would dread finding that on the battlefield." Ricardo said, looking at the beast.

"Subaru seems to know the weak points of all of these almost by instinct...just how long has he been doing this?" Wilhelm asked, concerned for the boy. Upon arriving in their world, he experienced nothing but death, but just how long was death a part of him?

However, the three pronged rod glowed bright red and shot out balls of red energy that sped past Subaru as he dove under cover.

"The thing is weaponized too?" Anastasia said in shock. "Just where could it have gotten that?"

"As much as it pains me to say...there might be humans working with the demons." Al said, clenching his fists. "It wouldn't be the first time in our history that someone sided with the enemy."

"Why would they even do that?" Emilia asked in shock. "Wouldn't they know that their home would be destroyed?"

Emilia-samaaaaaaaa, I believe the reasoning behind that is…" Roswaal's gaze sharpened. "Some men just want to watch the world burn. They live off the suuuuuuuffering of ooooothers, I suppose." Roswaal finished with disgust in his tone. For people to have action but no conviction? It was unthinkable.

Subaru peeked around the corner, then sprinted out.

Rem's grip tightened around Subaru's arm, seeing a plasma shot whiz right by him. She buried her head in his shoulder. 'Please be alright...I don't want you to hurt more…' Rem knew that there were going to likely be hard times ahead, but she could face them with Subaru by her side. Seeing him fight alone once more...hurt Rem more than she would expect. 'Just how long have you been alone with this pain?'

He shot a sticky bomb directly into the cannon with extreme accuracy, causing the aforementioned part to explode, metal shards imbedding themselves into the beast, causing it to scream out in pain.

"Yea! Fuck 'em up!" Shouted out Ricardo.

"Get 'em Cap'n!" Garfiel roared out.

"That was a damn good shot." Al said, a slight smirk under his helmet. 'Make the pay for what they've done.'

Subaru then launched himself at the Arachnotron, swapping out his shotgun for his chainsaw, which whirred to life in his hands.

The cast leaned forward, excited to see what this so-called 'Chainsaw' could do.

"'s that weapon from earlier…" Garf said, excited to see what his captain would do.

"Why is it spinning...oh OH." Ricardo began to grin wildly, figuring out what the weapon was going to do.

"He's even using his weapons in tandem...it seems like I've underestimated you once again, Natsuki Subaru." Crusch let out a laugh. "Now show me what you're made of." She smirked.

He swung down with the chainsaw onto the beast's head, grinding through bone and brain as the creature screamed out in pained agony.

"Oh my." Frederica said as she held Petra's eyes shut. That was much too brutal for a small child to see.

"Cap'n got 'em!" Cheered out Garfiel, seeing his captain take out so many monsters was getting his blood pumping.

"That weapon is certainly very powerful. It spins small, sharp blades at high speeds to mow through opponents." Reinhard said in awe. He began to scratch his chin. 'Maybe I could get something like that?'

Felt elbowed him. "No, you're not allowed to get one of those. You're powerful enough as it is." She whispered.

Reinhard looked at his lady in shock and a little fear. 'Just how did she know what I was thinking?'

"I can read minds ya know." She whispered, the smile on her face slowly disappearing as her knight began to laugh.

"And I can tell when people are lying." Felt's mouth shut as her eyes opened in shock, before pouting and looking away.

Finally, the beast grew quiet as it collapsed into a puddle of its own blue blood, dead.

Subaru stood atop the corpse, blood dripping off his chainsaw as he looked down upon the demons with a horrible glare. He swapped back to his shotgun as his grenade launcher lowered, and threw himself into combat.

"He never rests…" Crusch said. "He just keeps moving forward…"

"...Until all of his enemies are destroyed…" Emilia finished, a grim look on her face.

He launched a grenade in front of him, causing the group of soldiers to be ripped apart as he landed. He picked up a familiar red container and threw it at a collection of running imps, pulling out his shotgun and blowing it up midair, killing them all instantly.

"He makes his plan dependent on the terrain to make up for the overwhelming numbers." Julius said in grudging respect. Him and Subaru definitely had a complicated relationship, but he had to give praise for his use of tactics.

"He never pauses in the heat of battle, not even for a second." Wilhelm remarked.

He extended his arm blade, and ran into a crowd of soldiers as he slashed them in half with his blade, or tore them to pieces with his hands.

"He's certainly picked the obvious strategy there," Priscilla said with a smirk. "Take out the ranged fighters in close quarters before they can fire."

"Well he really seems to have experience on the battlefield from what we have seen until now…" Al continued, picking on the thoughts of his lady. "He's doing that so naturally...Just how many times did he…"

He looked around and saw the last survivor, a lone zombie that lumbered his way, unaware of its inevitable death. Subaru looked at it with disgust, and shot a sticky bomb far above it and walked away.

"Did he miss on purpose?" Otto asked, confused as to why he would let one live."

"Knowing Barusu, he has a plan...or just missed." Ram said bluntly.

The sticky bomb exploded, causing a rock pillar to collapse upon the beast, killing it instantly.

"Cool guys don't look at explosions." Al said, nodding.

"What?" Anastasia said in confusion. "Julius? Is that some sort of knight thing?"

Julius shrugged. "I've never heard of it my lady, maybe it's something from their world."

Subaru clambered up the cliff face and passed under a partially collapsed stone gateway. Before he moved on to the next chamber, he noticed a metallic object clutched in the hands of a dead soldier. He walked over and pried it from his cold, dead hands.

"That's a little disrespectful to the corpse." Reinhard said in disapproval.

"Well, it's not like he's using it anymore." Felt retorted.

It was a large gun, with a black body adorned with red accents. There was a chain of bullets running out of each side of the barrel. Subaru opened various hatches and inspected the gun very closely before firing it. A stream of bullets emerged from the barrel, chipping through a pillar with high accuracy.

"So now he has a long-range weapon? Just what is the liiiiiiiimit to his arsenal?" Roswaal mused, curious to see what kind of weapons this world could offer.

"To use so many weapons in conjunction with each other...it's certainly an interesting strategy." Ricardo said, eyebrows raised.

"Subaru seems to be skilled with all of the weapons he collects...just what kind of training does he have?" Emilia asked in worry.

Subaru grunted and took out another metal disk and attached it to the weapon, causing the metallic voice to speak up once again.

"The Heavy Cannon has now been tethered to your Praetor Suit, you may now store it in your suit's hammerspace unit."

"Why does it keep repeatin' the same thing?" Garfiel asked in confusion.

"It could be an artificial intelligence...with the technology we've seen so far, it wouldn't be out of the question." Al said.

"Artificial intelligence? Does that mean what I think it means?" Crusch said slowly.

"Basically it's a computer speaking, I suppose." Beatrice said.

"They can just build people?" Anastasia said in shock. "I don't believe it…"

He was about to put the gun away, before smirking and pulling out the rectangular object from before and sliding it onto the top of the cannon with a satisfying series of clicks.

"Scope Module attached."

"So the attachment from earlier works on this weapon...that's awfully convenient." Ram said, her gaze hardening.

"Maybe it's just luck?" Rem asked. "It's not like Subaru-kun could have known that would be there."

Subaru grinned as he held the weapon up to his shoulder as the view switched to his perspective.

As he raised up the glass piece to his eye, he could suddenly see far-away things in much more detail. He looked around, and upon spotting a lone zombie about 300 feet away, he put the crosshairs onto its head and pulled the trigger, causing its head to explode with a pop as its lifeless body crumpled to the ground.

"It lets him kill targets from that far away in an instant?" Wilhelm said in shock. "That could be used to take out high value targets from massive range."

"Basically it's like the perfect assassin's weapon." Otto said, shivering. "You could be a second away from death and never know."

Seemingly satisfied, Subaru began to move down the hill towards the sounds of demons. He stopped as he reached a hill overlooking a decimated street, and watched with a close eye. He spotted three soldiers, four imps, and one arachnotron.

He jumped off the top of the hill, and before he even reached the ground, he scoped in on the arachnotron's cannon and shot it off, before switching to his shotgun and launching a sticky bomb into the trio of soldiers, scraps of their corpses raining down on the battlefield.

"He can use the accuracy to target weak points too?" Julius said in shock.

"From the second he enters a fight, he already plans out what weapons he's going to use. He certainly is a great tactician." Ricardo noted.

"That's our Subaru-kun, He always has a plan." Rem said fondly, clutching the sleeping boy tighter.

He landed with a crash among the imps, rapidly dismantling them with his blade. As one of them jumped at him, he grabbed it by the throat and rammed his blade through its eye socket with a meaty thunk as blood spurted out of the wound.

"Yikes," Mimi said, grimacing at the brutal kill, "He certainly shut that one down."

The arachnotron rushed him, shooting grenades from its sides as it jumped around the environment, trying to avoid Subaru while also trying to hit him. It lost sight of him for one second, which was too late for it.

Subaru appeared, dashing at it from the side, and grabbing one of it's grenades out of the air, and plunging it deep inside the mouth of the demon, causing it's head to explode in a ball of fire.

"Never take your eyes off of a mobile enemy." Rem said, grimacing as she remembered a certain archbishop.

"He always seems to use their own weapons against them." Ram said.

"Well, it is the most efficient way to do it." Priscilla said with a huff.

He stepped away from the corpse of the fallen beast and continued walking. As he passed the burned-out remains of a van, a rogue imp leapt at Subaru, fire burning its palms as it plunged towards his head, releasing a primal roar.

"Subaru!" Emilia shouted out, fearing for her knight.

In the blink of an eye, Subaru had shot out his arm, gripping the thing by the throat, before impaling it onto a stray piece of rebar. The beast grew still as black blood oozed from the wound, staining the ground.

"Well...he certainly has good reflexes." Julius said in shock.

"This Subaru certainly doesn't take time to mess around." Ram said, sneering. "If only he had this work ethic."

Subaru watched the beast with a far-away look in his eyes, then suddenly clutching his head in pain.

A younger Subaru, clad in his familiar tracksuit walking down a dark sidewalk. Out of the blackness, a deformed hand clawed out, dragging Subaru in. A hallway of corpses, their white lab coats stained with blood. Subaru's shaking hands, covered in blood. Then, darkness.

"That-That's Subaru!" Emilia shouted out in surprise.

"So he really is our Barusu…" Ram said in shock, her pink eyes wide.

"He seeeeems to look younger than the Subaru shown in the beginniiiing of this showing." Roswaal said.

"How is that possible?" Rem asked, confusion and fear in her eyes. "Was he taken there, and had the memories of it erased?"

"No...that wouldn't work. He's older in this new viewing than he is now...was his age somehow reverted along with his memories?" Julius pointed out.

"Maybe this really is just a dream…" Otto whispered.

"It could be some lab experiment gone wrong somehow?" Al said, trying to piece together what they just saw. "Those were the corpses of scientists, so the idea wouldn't be too far-fetched."

"Just what has the boy gone through…" Wilhelm trailed off in anger. "What has he done to deserve this?" He clenched his fists.

Subaru shook his head, as if dispelling the memories. He extended his left hand, palm raised as a blue circle in the middle of his palm began to glow.

Suddenly, a blue light flashed up, and formed a three-dimensional map of his surroundings.

Jaws dropped across the room.

"Hologram tech?" Al exclaimed, shocked at what he saw.

"A three-dimesional map?" Anastasia asked weakly. "That would be cool I guess…"

"Imagine having that in combat...you'd have a massive advantage…" Crusch said in muted awe.

He used his right hand to manipulate the image, seemingly looking for the next path to take.

He closed his fist, cutting off the projection as he moved over to two serrated metal walls. He used his plate-covered hands to lift the left wall up into the building, revealing a set of stairs moving down into the ground.

The dark halls of the subway were lit only by flickering lights, parts of the roof having collapsed from lack of maintenance.

"This ominous feeling…" Julius trailed off.

"Feels just like before…" Ram said grimly.

Beatrice held her contractor close, sitting behind him. "Why don't you run? Why do you do this all alone?"

As Subaru passed through a hallway, there was evidence shown of a one-sided firefight. One-sided as only one wall was pickpocketed by small arms. Opposite that were the shooters. They'd been torn apart.

Their limbs, their bones, shredded and gnawed...some still clutching their weapons, a hand with an old Glock still in the grip. The hand was missing a massive chunk, which was seen across the room along with the mutilated corpse of a zombie, with hundreds of bullet holes peppered through it. The chunk was still held in it's mouth.

"Dear dragon…" Reinhard whispered in horror.

Al clenched his fists, teeth grinding together as rage built up in him. "Those bastards." He snarled.

"They ate them alive…" Crusch was terrified. For such an enemy to be so single-minded on the destruction that they don't even care if they are ripped apart. They just kept moving forward.

"Is this what happened to the whole world?" Wilhelm said in shock.

"Much good their 'superweapons' did them." Priscilla huffed angrily.

Subaru was shown standing over the corpse of one of the human soldiers, stomach ripped out and he was slumped on the ground. He knelt, and with a surprisingly gentle touch, he closed the man's eyes, letting him rest in peace.

"Subaru...he carries all of this alone…" Emilia whispered, tears in her eyes as she held her knight's arm. 'Why,' She thought in pain, 'Why won't he ever accept that others can help him, help him bear this suffering.'

"Subaru-dono's good heart is still there...but it has been crushed under the cruel world he has to live." Wilhelm said with a heavy heart.

He stood, face shadowed over the body, before abruptly turning and stomping down the hallway, creating a large rift that cracked the ground down his foot as the entire scene trembled by the strength of his stomp, fists trembling in rage.

"Holy hell…" Al uttered in shock as he got taken aback by the strength showcased to him.

"That...That's strong!" Otto exclaimed in fear.

"Subaru-kun…" Rem uttered.

"Hey! I can do it too!" Garfiel exclaimed, trying to make people remember his fight against Elsa.

"I believe there is a difference between a wooden floor and a rock, cemented one pal." Al replied.

As he was passing an opaque glass wall, he stopped, and for a second, the entire room was silent. Then, the glass next to him shattered as a massive figure barreled through it, slamming Subaru down the hall.

"Subaru-kun!" Rem screamed out in shock as gasps spread throughout the crowd.

"He didn't notice the ambush coming...he was too emotional." Priscilla said.

"Hey! Ya really think ya woul' be able to fuckin' stay calm and steady after seein' tha'?!" Garf yelled at the orange-haired candidate with rage in his eyes.

"Why you insole-" Her retort was cut back as Al stepped in front of her, blocking her from striking at the demi-human boy. "How dare you stand in my way?" She asked her knight in anger.

"I think that actively making enemies with another camp by killing one of their own would be detrimental for us. That is all." Al calmly said, calming Priscilla.

"Hhmf! I suppose that could be an annoyance." She huffed.

Meanwhile, Otto was trying to get Garf back in his seat. "Garfiel-san, calm down! This will accomplish nothing!" He cried out, trying to hold back the boy.

"She insulted Cap'n dammit!" Garfiel shouted out, struggling.

"What would Natsuki-san say right now?" Otto yelled back, shocking Garf into silence. "He would tell you to wait. That this is not the time and place." He put his hand on Garf's shoulder. "Just calm down, she's not worth it."

"Tch, maybe so, maybe not." He grumbled, sitting back down, still sending glares at the princess.

He landed on his feet, pulling out his shotgun as his gaze whipped upwards towards his opponent. An arachnotron filled the hallway, blue eyes glaring like headlights in the dark hallway.

"He's stuck in a small tunnel with the beast, it'll be hard for him to dodge in this environment." Reinhard said, leaning forward in his seat. "He doesn't have many options." He finished with a grim tone.

"Betty's Subaru has a way out, he always does." Beatrice said firmly, holding onto Subaru with one hand.

With a roar, it charged Subaru who stood there, unmoving as he looked at the beast in rage.

"Move Subaru!" Emilia cried out in panic. "Get out of the way!"

"It'll kill him if he doesn't dodge!" Julius shouted, jumping out of his chair.

"Subaru-kun!" Rem screamed in fear, her blue eyes wide in terror.

Petra buried her head in Frederica's side, fearing that Subaru would be hurt again.

As the beast swung it's metal claw, aimed to shear Subaru in half, he moved, diving under the beast with his blade extended. He dragged the blade through the underside of the beast, blue blood spurting out behind him as he slid across the stone floor.

"He baited it in, so he could get the perfect strike." Reinhard said, impressed.

"Just how sharp is that blade?" Anastasia asked in awe. "It just cut through the bottom of the beast like it was nothing!"

"Cap'ns awesome!" Garf exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air.

He jumped up and turned, ready to finish it off, only to see the beast was already dead, eyes dim. Subaru scoffed, and continued to walk through the once pristine shopping center.

"Did-Did he really expect the beast to survive that?" Emilia asked in shock.

He stopped as he entered the top of a large room.

Subaru stood atop a flight of stairs looking down on the decimated station, tunnels partially collapsed on the crashed trains as pulsating tentacles coated the room, making the chamber seem like the stomach of a massive beast.

Retches were heard throughout the crowd as the revolting sight was seen.

"I-Is that thing alive?!" Screamed out Otto, seeing the fleshy walls beat with an unseen heartbeat.

"It's like...it's consuming the earth…" Rem said in horror.

He jumped down the stairs onto the fleshy floor, creating a disgusting squelching sound as he landed.

Before he moved on, he saw a faint blue light flashing under one of the tentacles. He walked over to it, and plunged his hand into the writhing floor with an eruption of thick yellow liquid.

"Disgusting." Ram said.

"I don't even want to know what that yellow liquid was…" Felt said with her hand over her mouth.

He pulled out another box, the yellow liquid like syrup as it dripped off onto the ground. He ripped it open with thinly veiled excitement, and gave a maniacal grin as he pulled out a long metal rod, with a triangular barrel at the front and a flat metal panel out the back.

"Is it another one for the shotgun? Doesn't he already have one?" Julius asked, trying to discern the use of this new piece of technology.

"Maybe it's an add-on for the add-on?" Ricardo guessed, scratching his chin.

He ripped the sticky launcher mod off of his shotgun, and swapped it for the new one, which clicked perfectly into place.

"Full Auto mod equipped."

"Wait, so he's just going to collect more and more weapons mods? That could become very confusing very fast, I suppose." Beatrice said, a surprised look on her face.

"Full auto?" Like it'll be completely automatic? How would that work on a gun?" Anastasia asked, confused.

Subaru gave no acknowledgement of the monotone voice as he carefully examined the new attachment. He shrugged and aimed it at the side of the train next to him.

Suddenly, the triangular rod at the end of the gun began to spin, and unleashed a hail of bullets that tore the metal to shreds with an ear-shattering bang.

"Holy fuck." Felt dead-panned, Reinhard being too shocked to reprimand her.

"That destructive power…" Priscilla trailed off. "I doubt it could ever match a goddess such as me, but still…" She licked her lips. "It excites me."

Subaru's widened eyes were shown as he looked at the weapon in shock, which quickly turned to malice as he began to move through the train, his metal plated footsteps reverberating throughout the train.

He stepped out of the train and into a dark, scorched tunnel, fire dancing as it set horrific shadows playing throughout the hallway, and through this flickering light, Subaru saw the shambling forms of zombies moving towards him.

"He's going to use the full auto against them?" Emilia asked.

"I wonder what havoc that could wreck on humans…?" Ram whispered.

He grinned as he pulled out his shotgun, the full auto attachment rotating into position as Subaru pulled the trigger. With a blast, the group ahead of him exploded into a black mist as the shots ripped through them, disintegrating their flesh.

"It just turned them to mist?!" Crusch exclaimed in shock.

"What a brutal weapon…" Felix muttered, trying to remain unnoticed after the last incident.

Subaru nodded, seemingly satisfied before moving to a door on the side of the tunnel and ripping it off its hinges.

He walked through the narrow hallway, various pipes running across the ceilings and walls, with an occasional puff of steam emerging from their rusted form. Subaru turned a corner, only to get struck by something in his chest, which pinned him to the wall.

"Subaru-kun!" Rem screamed out in horror, hands flying up to cover her mouth.

"CAP'N / NATSUKI-SAN!" Shouted out Garf and Otto, scared for their brother.

"What was that thing?!" Crusch yelled out in panic.

"A sneak attack." Growled Julius.

A barbed tentacle emerged from the floor, pushing Subaru into the wall as it tried to break through his chest-piece and enter his heart.

"Those damn things can attack?" Reinhard said in shock.

"Is everything in this damn world designed to kill?" Felix snarled out.

"It's going to kill him!" Emilia screamed frantically, clutching Subaru's arm tighter. "Subaru, don't die!"

Subaru extended his arm blade, slicing off the appendage, before blasting the base of the tentacle with his shotgun, the shot echoing through the room as its writhing form grew still.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Rem buried her head in Subaru's chest. "He's alright, he's alive." She repeated to herself, clutching him closer.

Emilia held her chest, calming her breathing. 'I was so scared Subaru...please don't do that to me again…'

Beatrice took deep breaths, her fists clenching her dress as she looked at Rem hold Subaru. 'He's alive...but I want to hold him like that, I suppose.' She pouted, catching Emilia's attention.

"Beako. You can come over here you know." Emilia said gently, holding her hand out to the great spirit. "We understand."

"Betty needs no invitation infact." She said, with a huff. "But this seat is uncomfortable, so I guess a change of seats is necessary." She walked over to the seat next to Emilia, only to give an indignant yelp when Emilia pulled her onto her lap, hugging her. "What do you think you're doing, I suppose?" She asked in shock.

Emilia smiled. "Well you looked a little disappointed not being next to Subaru, so this was the next best choice." She said, hugging the girl tighter, not letting her escape.

"But-"

"No buts, cuddle." Emilia nearly demanded, holding the blonde loli close.

Beatrice gave a pout, but stopped struggling.

He slumped against the wall, breathing heavily as his hand gently examined his armor. He seemed to relax after finding no puncture in the green metal, but there was a small dent in the plate over his heart.

"What is that armor made of?" Wilhelm asked in surprise. "This is the first damage we've seen it take, and even the glass faceplate has yet to be scratched."

Al shrugged. "It's probably ballistic glass or something like that." He said offhandedly.

He pushed off the wall after just a second of rest and continued to move down the hallway, meticulously checking every corner before emerging in a collapsed parking garage, crumbling pillars barely holding up the remains of the ceiling as various demons wandered the room.

Subaru swapped off to the heavy cannon right as a soldier spotted him, letting out a cry of rage as it fired red hot plasma rounds at Subaru, which scorched the wall behind him when he dodged.

"He certainly likes waiting for the last second to dodge doesn't he?" Ricardo said, wincing at the near miss.

The room exploded into violence, bullets and plasma flying through the room. Subaru unleashed a wave of bullets that mowed through the demons like a hot knife through butter, while simultaneously dodging enemy fire. He vaulted over a shredded car, behind a soldier that turned to meet him, but before it could react, Subaru jammed his blade through its mouth and out the back of it's head, brain matter staining the ground.

The audience flinched at this display of brutality.

"That was a bit much…" Reinhard said, slightly disturbed by the overly violent kill.

Subaru dropped the corpse, and walked towards the open elevator shaft at the side of the room. He looked down, only to see the burning remains of the elevator at the bottom of the shaft, several stories below him.

"That's one loooooong drop." Roswaal said.

"Why do they have a tunnel straight down?" Otto asked, confused by the seemingly illogical structure. "There's not even a ladder."

"That's an elevator, I suppose. It's basically a metal box, moved up and down with cables, with the purpose of replacing stairs." Beatrice said smugly from her seat on Emilia's lap.

"Well tha' one seem'd to fall...I'd take the stairs any day." Garf said stubbornly.

"Just what is he planning…" Crusch asked, seeing the calculated gaze Subaru was looking at the elevator shaft with.

"Probably something reckless…" Ram said.

He rolled his shoulders and backed up, then ran for the door. He jumped across the gap and plunged his hands into the wall, then jumped up to the steel doors that were positioned above the one he had jumped out of. He drew back his fist and punched, causing the door to buckle as he flew into the room.

Ram sighed. "Ha, I hate that I'm always right." She said with a smirk.

"Sissy is so great!" Rem said in awe.

Everyone dead-panned at them both.

Immediately he had to dodge into a room, as a massive red ball lunged for him.

He rolled and charged at this new opponent. It's bulbous red body flew through the air at Subaru, an ethereal blue light glowing from its expansive maw, singular green eye glowing with rage.

"I know it's getting repetitive but, WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!" Yelled out Ricardo.

"It looks like a monster balloon…" Emilia said quietly, not quite believing her eyes.

"It's deceptively fast…just how will Subaru eliminate this threat?" Crusch asked in concern.

Subaru quickly launched a sticky bomb into the mouth of the Cacodemon, causing it to stagger as blue blood erupted across its body.

"Huh. I mean...he had an opportunity, and he took it, I suppose…" Beatrice said slowly.

He jumped up onto the demon, using one of its many horns to get a grip on it. Then, he pulled back his arm, extended the blade, and thrust it into the thing's eye, causing it to roar out in pain, before falling silent as he ripped it out in a shower of gore.

"He always takes the most direct path to a kill." Priscilla stated. "He has truly mastered the art of killing without mercy."

Subaru jumped from the corpse onto a walkway above, slicing the legs off of an Imp as he clambered up over the broken glass. He slammed a soldier through a pillar, dropping the ceiling onto an Arachnotron, blue blood splattering out from under the rock.

He had no time to rest however, as pulsating blasts of blue plasma ripped through the ground around him as he had to dodge. He looked backwards, noticing the Cacodemon charging up another shot.

"Does every one of those things have some type of ranged attack?" Ricardo asked in shock.

Al shivered. "If those things can melt through the ground itself...I doubt the armed forces stood a chance against them." He said in despair. "They were doomed from the start."

He swapped to his full auto mod as his shoulder cannon pitched a grenade into the demons gaping maw, causing it to combust in an explosion of heat and blood.

He jumped from the second floor, and used hanging lights from above to swing over the horde of demons below him as his shotgun began to spin. Subaru grinned.

Metal rain tore through the crowd of demons, shredded body parts sailing through the air as the demonic entities were ripped apart.

"That weapon is certainly useful for evening out the odds, with its seemingly endless ammunition and immense firepower." Anastasia said in respect, before her face turned to one of confusion. "Hold on a second...where is he getting ammunition? Shouldn't he have run out by now?"

"That's...a really good question." Al responded, contemplating on how that was possible. "Maybe he stores it in the hammerspace thing he has and it auto-reloads itself?"

Subaru landed amongst the blood and gore with a crack, blood showering around him in a horrifying rain. His glass visor, opaque, shielded his face from view as blood trickled down his blade, the steady dripping interrupted when Subaru began to move towards a window.

Suddenly, two soldiers crashed through the window with an explosion of glass and plasma.

"Where do these bast'rds keep comin' from?" Garf growled. "But no matt'r how many of 'em there are, Cap'n will always win!"

Subaru dashed towards them, low to the ground as he pulled out his chainsaw, the revs shaking the machine as he swung it through the torso of the one on the right, blood and guts blinding the one next to it.

"Does he have to make it so...brutal?" Frederica asked, grimacing as she held Petra's eyes shut to prevent her from seeing the gory scene.

"That weapon certainly fits the description of 'rip and teeeeeeeear' don't you think?" Roswaal questioned.

"Maybe that's why he was so...eager to see it?" Wilhelm hypothesised.

Subaru snarled at the beast, kicking it out the window, seeing its broken and shattered body on the ground below. He jumped down after it, landing next to it with an eruption of dust, and looked up.

"Those dangerous jumps will get him hurt one day I swear." Emilia pouted, Rem nodding in agreement with her.

"Maybe we should give him a small 'talking to' when he wakes up." Rem said with a glint in her eye.

Crusch added on. "I've seen a lot of cases on the battlefield where long drops could hurt soldiers legs in the long run, maybe I could help convince him?" She said sweetly, but with an undertone that sent shivers down the spines of every male present.

"I sure hope Natsuki-san can run as fast as these viewings show he can." Otto said, fearful for his friend. "He's going to need it."

He was in what once was a parking lot, melted cars strewn throughout the varying levels of the lot, due to the seismic changes in the environment. Tentacles snaked throughout the area, barbed ends pointing directly at Subaru. Imps were watching him, fire growing in their palms as soldiers readied their cannons. An arachnotron dropped from the ceiling, metal creaking and groaning from under its substantial weight.

"Even when the odds seem all against him...he still pushes on." Priscilla said, smirking. "He truly is the one who overcame adversity." She smiled at the boy, before huffing and glaring at her knight when she caught him looking.

"This is an unexpected development." Al muttered, looking at his lady in thinly veiled disbelief.

Subaru watched the mob with a gate filled glare, pulling out his heavy cannon, and launched at the crowd, determined to rip them to pieces.

He hid behind a car as a wave of plasma and fire raced towards him, burning through the car, but not hitting Subaru. He looked around the side of the car, and upon seeing the mass of Imps and Soldiers behind him, he turned towards the car, a gleam in his eyes.

"Oh yea! Cap'n has a plan!" Garf shouted out, anticipating his captain's certainly awesome plan.

"He's under constant fire." Ram said bluntly. "Just what kind of plan could he have?"

With a grunt of exertion, he lifted the car, tons of metal groaning as he tossed the car like it was little more than a hot wheel, demons being crushed underneath it before it ground to a halt, about 100 meters from where it started.

"Just how strong is he?" Emilia asked, in a bit of awe from seeing her knight show such strength.

"Strong enough to throw a fastball with a two thousand pound car." Al responded, too shocked to elaborate.

Ram gulped. "I stand corrected."

"Ya still think that's just the armor?" Ricardo said, looking at Roswaal, who was shocked by what he just saw.

"Maybe there waaaaaas another variaaaable…" Roswaal said awkwardly.

Viewing his handiwork out of the corner of his eye, Subaru dashed towards the remaining arachnotron, dodging and shooting tentacles in his path, as he jumped and traversed the shattered terrain.

"He doesn't even revel in his victory. He's so single-mindedly marching towards achieving his goal, that during times like this, his body slips into a flow state of combat." Wilhelm said in shock. He had only met a handful of people who he could say the same about. He gave a small frown. "I guess...it really is you, Subaru-dono." He whispered.

The large demon let out a screech of rage as it's shining metal leg slammed down at Subaru, who jumped back, shooting his heavy cannon right into its eyes, blinding it.

The arachnotron backed up, trying to scratch at its eyes, but Subaru jumped onto its back and ripped off the metal backing, exposing the weak, vulnerable skin. He slowly swapped to his sticky launcher, letting the beast live in agony for a few seconds longer, before shooting a bomb directly into the exposed flesh and incinerating it from the inside out.

"Why did Big Bro let it suffer?" Felt asked, a bit horrified from the brutality Subaru had just shown. "He could have killed it quicker, for efficiency, but why did he let it live in pain for just a few seconds longer?"

"They took something from Subaru-dono, something important." Wilhelm said grimly. "That kind of hate, the levels of brutality...he has a personal grudge against them, one that runs deep in him."

Rem held onto Subaru tighter. "Why? Why is it you that always has to suffer?" She asked brokenly, her testimony being shared by a certain green-haired duchess.

Once the demon fell still, fire burning up through its now exposed ribs, Subaru moved towards the exit tunnel, where a gruesome sight was beheld.

Voices of agony screamed out from scorched throats as their bodies were burnt, impaled on spikes in the ground. Demons crowded around these, toying with the dying humans, their fireballs and plasma slowly disintegrating the screaming people. Behind them were dozens of other spikes, with charred and malformed corpses hanging off of them.

"BASTARDS!" Al roared out, his armrest splintering under the force of his grip.

"Those things are enjoying their suffering." Reinhard said emotionlessly, holding the sobbing Felt in a cold embrace. "And there's nothing I can do to help." He clenched his fists, rage building up, before it broke. A tear began to roll down his cheek as he held his lady, rage giving way to despair. "I really am slothful…"

"Is this what they've done across the world?" Crusch said in horror.

Ram snarled at the image, it reminded her too much of what the Witch's Cult did to her and Rem's village when they were children.

Rem was rooted to her seat in terror, grasping Subaru as she shook uncontrollably.

Emilia held Beatrice close as she cried for the suffering and tortured people, who's cries rebounded in her head over and over again, causing her to hug the horrified spirit closer.

Felix looked at Subaru in rage. 'These people died because you were too slow. Their blood is on your hands, Natsuki Subaru.'

Subaru watched the scene, eyes shadowed as he slowly began to walk forward, his footsteps cracking the ground underneath him. He extended his arm blade, and put away his shotgun, his empty hands balled up into shaking fists as a red aura began to manifest around him.

"Why is he putting his weapons away?" Anastasia exclaimed in shock.

"He plans...to rip them apart, like they did to those people…" Beatrice said in realization, fear beginning to form in her eyes. "He may be strong..but is this too much for him to handle, infact…"

The demons noticed him, a soldier roaring out and firing its cannon, but Subaru disappeared, torn terrain following in his wake as he blasted through the demonic forces, blood and gore flying wherever he went.

"He-he got even stronger?!" Emilia exclaimed in shock.

Roswaal hummed. "Has he been holding back his true strength this whole time?" He questioned, a gaze of suspicion on his face.

Felix watched on, his look slowly turning from one of shock, to one of anger. 'He's been holding back, taking his time while these people were tortured?!' He raged internally, his teeth grinding together.

"Could it be because of that red glow around him?" Julius asked, deep in thought.

"Is it like a strength enhancing ability?" Crusch questioned the purple-haired knight.

"It's a likely case, magic such as that leaves a trace that can be seen...but how could it have been magic? We've established that there is no magic in Subaru's world, yes?" He responded calmly.

"At this point...even Betty is uncertain what Subaru's world truly holds…" Beatrice stated, biting her lip with tears in her eyes as she looked at her contractor. 'Why would you lie to me?' She questioned internally.

Screams of agony ripped forth from the mangled bodies of the still alive demons, as they tried to crawl away from the overpowering force of doom. But Subaru had other plans. Slowly, methodically, he began to crush the skulls of the demons under his boot, leaving them alive just long enough to let out a final cry of pain.

"He's killing them in the most painful way he can…" Reinhard said in horror. He believed himself to be friends with Subaru, but seeing his friend torture these beasts was...unsettling.

He finished off the last of the horde, the red aura around him fading as he approached the charred husks that could have once been called human. Their lips cried out a nearly inaudible message, but Subaru leaned in to hear.

"K-Kil-Kill m-me."

The hoarse voice begged, over and over, the voices merging together into one, asking, begging for someone to put them out of their misery.

"Oh Subaru…" Rem whispered in despair, holding the boy closer. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry you had to live through this pain…"

"The hardest choices require the strongest wills…" Wilhelm muttered, clenching his fists. "Subaru-dono's will is one of the strongest I've ever known. He alone...can end these people's suffering."

Subaru froze, his body trembling as his hands slowly moved into position, calling out his Heavy Cannon. He clenched his eyes shut, and pulled the trigger.

"C-Cap'n…" Garfiel stuttered out in grief. He knew how much Subaru's failures weighed on him, his nightly visits to Rem was a testimony to that, so he knew that he would blame himself for this.

"It had to be done." Priscilla huffed, a bare hint of remorse in her tone. "There would have been no way for them to recover from wounds such as those."

He did this to everyone, their estranged cries going silent as he fired the last shot, the sound ringing out through the silence that had settled.

Subaru knelt down, facing the bodies, his head lowered. Suddenly his voice emerged, scratchy, but loud nonetheless.

"May you all find peace. May your souls be laid to rest in the halls of the above." He said, grief evident in his tone.

"Despite his...brutal tactics, he is still a proud and honorable warrior." Reinhard said with a small smile. "He is still human."

"His voice sounds almost as if he hasn't spoken in a long time…" Crusch muttered, looking at the boy in concern. 'Just how long has he been alone?'

As he walked away, flashes of memories surged through his mind once more. A beautiful woman holding a small-black haired girl was shown, their smiling faces soon replaced by piles of charred corpses.

"Who 'r those peopl'?" Garf asked in shock. "The sma' one almost looks li'..."

"A smaller version of Suuuubaru, it would seem." Roswaal said quietly, surprised by this new development.

Emilia's blood had gone cold in her veins, looking at her knight in horror. "Don't tell me…" She whispered in shock. Did her knight, her precious and loyal knight...just what did he leave behind...was he betraying his own wife and child to be with her?

"Did Subaru-kun...have a family before this? A-A wife?" Rem's trembling voice spoke, tears nearly breaking from her eyes.

Crusch also felt a tug as in her heart at the sight of this vision showed to her. Looking down in pain and grief. She too, knew what it was to lose someone close to her heart. But Subaru certainly lost more, way more than her.

The pain she felt was one of understatement.

Ram saw her sister's distress, and clenched her fists in growing anger. "Barusu, you've got a lot of explaining to do you bastard."

Priscilla watching in suspicion. "If he said he failed again...just what happened to this supposed family of his?" She questioned, her words sending a shockwave through the crowd.

"The pile of corpses…" Beatrice said in dawning horror. "There was one matching the size of the child, I suppose…"

"Subaru-dono…" Wilhelm trailed off in despair. He knew how much it hurt to lose someone so dear to you, as if a hole had formed in your heart, an undying pit of darkness that threatened to consume you. "This whole thing...is for revenge."

"Once more...I couldn't make it time." He said quietly, clenching his fists as his face formed into one of determination. A black portal, tinged with red appeared in front of him, which he began to enter.

"He is bearing the guilt of all these deaths…" Reinhard said with eyes crippling in worry.

"Of course he is...This is big bro we're talking about!" Felt exclaimed, her fist clenching in fury.

"Far more." Crusch muttered as she took a hold of the boy. "He's guilty of far more."

He appeared atop a floating bridge, massive doors standing before him, along with a large yellow marker.

"The gathering of Hell Priests is located inside this demonic citadel, scans show that the Khan Maykr will also be present at this gathering."

"The Khan Maykr? Could that be the leaders of the Hell Priests?" Ricardo questioned.

"I'd hope not." Julius stated firmly. "It's likely to be the leader behind this whole invasion, and if Subaru's trying to stop that...he would be the prime target for them." He said grimly.

"Will he ever get a break?" Emilia said quietly, reaching her hand out to hold Subaru's, before pulling back. Her hand trembled as she held it above Subaru's, her mind in turmoil at what she had seen. 'Was I not the one he loved? Was I merely a replacement for what was?' She bit her lip, tears in her eyes as she rested her hand on the armrest beside her, her other arm still wrapped around a shocked Beatrice.

He pushed open the doors, a loud creak echoing throughout the stone chamber, flickering fire lighting the eerie room. A large statue of a horned humanoid stood before Subaru, the fire in its palm reflecting off of Subaru's visor. He turned away from the statue, walking to the center of the room, where a large pentagram was engraved into the ground, red light flickering through the cracks.

"What interesting architecture, I've never seen anything of the sort." Anastasia mused, looking at the chamber with an apprehensive eye. She grimaced. "Maybe it's because I have yet to see a structure built off of human remains."

He stood in the center of the demonic symbol, the metal platform in the middle began to glow red. With a rumble, the platform began to raise, Subaru pulling out his shotgun, and checking the ammunition.

"That symbol seems to be a recurring one, do you happen to know what it could mean, Spirit-sama?" Reinhard asked Beatrice gently, not wishing to encourage the wrath of the emotionally unstable loli.

"I have never seen nor been described such a symbol, I suppose." Beatrice responded quietly, her hands clenched on her dress.

Al coughed. "If my memories ring true, then that symbol is the symbol for the Church of Satan, a similar establishment to that of the Witch's Cult. It's not something seen very often." He answered, anger in his eyes.

"So essentially, Subaru's going to fight them on their own turf." Ricardo smirked. "I knew the little boss was crazy, but this is insane!" He barked out, laughing.

"I believe it important to remind you, as the Khan Maykr is out of her domain, she is by all accounts...indestructible."

The cast looked at Ricardo, who had grown very silent hearing that.

"Ya know, maybe chalk that to just plain stupidity, he literally can't win this fight." He said quietly.

"If heeeeeeeeeee isn't there to fight, why is he theeeeeere I wonder…?" Roswaal questioned, interested in what action Subaru would take.

The robotic voice spoke up once more, causing Subaru to grumble, putting the weapon away.

With a clang, the elevator stopped in the midst of a new chamber, two figures shown bowed down, as if praying. They looked up at Subaru in surprise at his arrival.

Their appearance was very similar to that of the first Hell Priest, but these ones had clothing variations. The one on the left clutched a pointed maroon staff, which trembled in his warped hands. He wore a strange helmet, a red covering that completely hid his eyes from view, a circular shape held up around the helmet. The one on the right looked nearly identical to the first one, if you dismissed its lack of helmet, and its bronze spiked staff.

The cast made noises of disgust seeing the malformed humanoids.

"How does that one even see with that thing on?" Felt asked in confusion, pointing at the red-helmeted demon.

"Maybe there is like a lens in the mask? If not, the thing would only be an impediment." Priscilla huffed.

Al clenched his fists in rage seeing the two figures. These things were the cause for billions of deaths, and that could not go unpunished. "Bro, I ask only this of you, kill the Priests...make it painful...make them suffer." He growled out in barely controlled rage.

The right one looked at him in shock, "H-How can this be? No man can pass through the gate! It is-" He was cut off as Subaru reached behind him, and threw forward the decapitated head of the first Hell Priest, the clanging of the crown upon the ground echoing throughout the chamber.

"He held onto that?" Ram asked in slight shock. "Just where did he keep it?"

"That thing...said that no man could enter...did Subaru-sama use that thing's head like an entry pass?" Crusch asked in surprise.

The Priest on the right held his hand over his face as he trembled, his shaken voice being heard clearly, "T-This stops nothing!" He cried out, pointing a gnarled finger at Subaru's menacing form. "The sacrament of this world to the great great Khan Maykr will be made!"

The other one shook his staff at Subaru, mouth nearly foaming. "Once more the energy will be restored, as it has been written, from the souls of the non-believers!" He exclaimed mockingly. "You cannot save them from their judgement."

"Well, they apparently have forgotten." Emilia said, determined. "The word impossible means nothing to Subaru." The cast looked at her, shocked at her declaration. She continued, "No matter what he may face, what unbeatable odds he could come up against...whether this be the past or future, Subaru will always find a way to win." Her speech brought life back into the crowd, even those who had been muted after the scene of his possible family.

"Well, that is very much true, but did anyone catch what the monster said earlier?" Wilhelm asked calmly.

The cast looked around at each other, confused to what the old man could have meant, when a familiar scoff rose above.

"I assume you speak of when he mentioned that, 'It had been written.' Am I incorrect?" Priscilla said haughtily. "Similar to that of the gospel of the Witch's Cult?" Her question caused the audience to widen their eyes in shock as the old warrior nodded.

"This situation seems to mirror our own in odd ways." Crusch said as she held him closer to herself.

"You always fought against fate...Didn't you?" She whispered to his ear.

Subaru stopped from where he had been pacing and wheeled around, pulling out the Shotgun and priming it. The Priests shrunk back in fear, and with their cries, they disappeared in a flash of yellow light.

"Tch, pussies." Garf said, smirking.

Subaru scoffed, moving back down towards the elevator, before stopping in place.

A large yellow light began to glow from behind him, bringing with it an all-encompassing voice.

"Could this be…" Rem trailed off in growing fear.

"The Khan Maykr." Reinhard said grimly.

"You go too far this time." The voice said, a massive floating body beginning to manifest. "This is humanity's chance to repent, to give service to us." The motherly tone said calmly, it's full body finally emerging.

A body of a mysterious white metal, highlighted by red accents floated above the stone ground, long arms clasping their hands together as the yellow core in its chest glowed with power.

"That's the Khan Maykr?!" Exclaimed Julius in shock.

"Big bro's gonna fight that thing?" Felt asked in fear.

Emilia froze in terror. "Subaru, get out of there!" She cried out in desperation.

Priscilla paused, her eyes gradually growing wider. "This time, she said, does that mean they've known each other before...or that Subaru has done this before." She questioned, either option bringing with it grim thoughts.

"He did seem like he's done that a lot. He was known at the beginning for the one they feared…" Anastasia said, remembering the first scene that had been shown to her.

"The slayer…" Reinhard said in a low voice. He started to understand it clearly as well.

Subaru held a role in this. Far more bigger than they thought.

"Does that bitch think she's some kind of god or something?" Al growled. "Something that deserves to be prayed to?"

"You cannot resist the will of the Khan Maykr." The voice said condescendingly, causing Subaru to scoff, beginning to walk away as a blue portal began to manifest in front of him.

The cast released a breath they didn't know they had been holding.

"He knows that he can't win this fight yet." Rem said in relief, gently holding Subaru's hand.

"She's just going to let him leave?" Ricardo asked in suspicion. "That seems a little too convenient and just plain stupid from a tactical standpoint."

"Maybe…" Priscilla wondered, her mind lost deep in her thoughts.

"Princess?" Al asked, noticing her expression.

Priscilla snapped out as her servant called her, raising her head and narrowing her eyes to the screen.

"Maybe the feeling about this fight is mutual for both…" She ended up saying in a low voice only Al could hear.

"Either way," Ram spoke up. "Barusu made it out of the encounter alive, which is a blessing in itself that he managed to not get himself killed."

A lot of people frowned and threw glances towards the pink haired oni, not pleased by the choices of words.

"Activating the portal now." The monotone voice spoke.

As Subaru began to pass through the portal, blackness overtaking him, the Khan Maykr spoke again, voice rapidly fading behind him.

"For it was you who was meant to enforce it…"

TO BE CONTINUED...