It was finally time. Subaru stood face to face with Pandora, who was the last remnant of the Witch Cult. The Witch of Vainglory, who had caused so much chaos, was standing within a jumping distance. Her platinum hair seemed to glow like the sun and her eyes were a blue akin to the sea. She was beautiful, but Subaru's willpower was just enough to keep him from being absorbed by her charm.

Over countless trials and deaths, Subaru had finally taken out all of the Sin Archbishops and the Cultists that they controlled. Of course, he couldn't have done it without the help from his friends, but this last act was his to do.

Pandora was virtually impossible to kill, but Subaru knew that he had to find a way to do it. Violence was useless against the Witch of Vainglory, so it was time for his wits to shine. He gritted his teeth, prepared to do whatever it takes to win.

On the other hand, the Witch smiled as she absorbed Subaru's features. His fierce determination, his weakness, his love was special. Slowly, she began clapping her hands.

Subaru was thoroughly confused as he saw Pandora clapping. He was already struggling to ignore her abnormal - no, divine - beauty, but when he saw her clapping, he was flustered. Why was this Witch clapping when he came to kill her? Of course, she was a Witch, so she would obviously have some warped mindset that would make her stand out from normal people.

It was then that Subaru heard Pandora's voice for the first time. "It has been too long since I have seen you, not that you would remember me."

Her silky voice wanted to soothe Subaru's mind and her words wanted to distract it, but he resisted. Right now, he needed to figure out a way to kill her. Maybe she could erase her own existence or-

His thoughts stopped as Pandora began to cry tears of joy. "Your love... it is gorgeous! This love, which is the reason that you have become the hero that you are... I commend it!"

Subaru had enough of Pandora's confusing antics. "I've never seen you before and I know that you're evil, but you've got one thing right! My love for Emilia is special, so I won't be leaving until you die! She will have a happy life, and that won't happen until you are finally gone!" He rushed at her with calculation, hoping that she would demonstrate some of her abilities so that he could test out their limits.

When Subaru's hands were barely a thread away from grasping her, Pandora disappeared.

From behind him, Subaru heard her voice, which hadn't changed emotion at all. "I understand your confusion, so I will forgive any harm you intend to bring to me. Now," Pandora reappeared an arm's length away from Subaru. "I wonder... what will happen when your love is directed to another?"

This made no sense to Subaru, who was busy trying to figure out the specifics of Pandora's Authority. "What do you mean?! I will never love anyone like I love Emilia-tan! Rem-rin is a close number two, but Emilia will always be the best girl!"

As soon as those words fled his mouth, Subaru felt two small hands on the top of his head. Sharply turning his head up, he saw that Pandora was now standing on top of him while grabbing his head.

The Witch of Vainglory smiled as if Subaru's love was the most satisfying thing that she had witnessed in centuries. "I will fix that for you. Now, do not worry. You are now living amongst the Witches, but you have forgotten your dear Emilia. You are returned to a time that has been lost to history. You will complete your role in this world as you have done in my past."

"Wha-"

Silence.

Subaru was no longer standing with Pandora. The Witch of Vainglory was left alone, with tears once again flowing from her eyes. "I hope that you will make the world interesting once again... Flugel."

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Subaru opened his eyes and saw Pandora standing in front of him with an amused expression.

He noticed that his surroundings had changed into a vast field of grass, but the Witch in front of him hadn't changed at all. With a smirk, he declared, "You had me scared for a second, but I will always love..." He tried to say a name, but nothing could be found within his memory.

"I will always love..." Again, nothing came to mind, and Subaru began doubting his sanity. What was he arguing with Pandora about? There was nobody in particular that he loved more than life itself, but it seemed like he thought he did.

"Pandora," he called out in sneaking desperation, "what did you do to me? I can kind of understand the teleportation part, but I can't remember something that seems to be really important." Having a hole in his memory worried Subaru, because memory loss was not something with pleasant consequences. Did Pandora have an Authority similar to Gluttony? Or could she erase isolated memories?

Pandora smiled. "You must be confused. I never did anything to you. You suddenly appeared before me mere moments ago. It should be I who questions you. Who are you, and how do you know my name?" She asked this question in her same calm voice, but this only served to confuse Subaru even more. If she wasn't lying, what just happened? She was wearing the same white clothes, and her body and voice were the exact same, so how was this not the same person?

"We were just now fighting! Well, it wasn't really a fight, but I was going to kill you! And then you said something about me living in a time that was lost to history. What the crap does that even mean?!" Subaru was slightly flustered at this situation, and the only conclusion he could come up with so far was that Pandora could mess with people's minds along with her other abilities.

Hearing Subaru's explanation, Pandora was immediately able to deduce what happened to him. With her relaxing voice, the Witch of Vainglory told Subaru what must have transpired. "I see. You are currently living in a time that is happening before we meet, most likely one before you were even born."

As a result of his weakening mental fortitude, Pandora's charm convinced Subaru that her words were the truth. Suddenly, his head began to spin as the gravity of his situation began to weigh him down. "S-so I've been sent back in time?! What about E-... I don't remember that person, but what about Beako and Rem and-"

"Shh..." Pandora put her pointer finger to her lips, and Subaru hushed. "I see that you must be a very interesting person if I have sent you to myself somehow. Now, calm yourself. Tell me your name, as you already know mine."

Subaru's throat began to ache as he held back tears of despair at his situation, but he introduced himself. "My name is N-Natsuki Subaru, and I promise that I'll get back at you for this!" Tears began to flow from his eyes as he squeaked out those closing words, and he fell onto his knees. All of his effort, all of his suffering and time and anything good was now gone. He lost everything, and unlike the first time that he had been isekai'd, he had nothing to make up for except for a regret that would never be satisfied.

Pandora felt pity for the devastated boy, but not exactly a pity from the goodness of her heart. This was born from the pity of the strong looking down on the troubles of the weak, twisted by her warped view of the world and its love. This was her vainglory.

"Hmm... you interest me, Natsuki Subaru, so I will not change this." The Witch looked down on Subaru, and she let out a small giggle. "However, you should change your name. I am sure that even you can understand the complications with existing in your past, no? If you cannot comprehend that, I understand why."

Subaru looked up with an almost-defeated expression. He knew that he was in a hopeless situation, but maybe Pandora was the key to fixing it. "I get it, but-" he sniffled. "Can't you just send me back? Please. S-send me back. I can't stay here, wherever - I mean, whenever - this is."

Pandora slowly shook her head. "I am sorry, but I cannot send you back to your time, since my current self has no connection to your being here. You are stuck here."

"Why?!" Subaru demanded in a louder voice. "You sent me here, so take me back! All of my hard work... everything is pointless if I can't finish what I started! Send me back so I can kill you!"

"Now, that won't do. I notice that you will no longer listen to my words, so I suppose that I was never here. Until we meet again-" And just like that, Pandora vanished.

Subaru was left alone in the calm, grassy field with nothing but his broken sobs disturbing the peace.

"What do I do?" Subaru whispered. He believed Pandora. He was in the past, with no apparent way to get back to the future.

"What do I do?!" He reared his head back and shouted at the sky. Why did he have to start from zero again? Why did he have to lose everything that he cared for?

Why?

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After an hour of depressed inactivity, Subaru finally urged himself to stand up. His grief gave way to determination: he was going to find a way back to his time. Even if it took him the rest of his life, he would find a way back.

Subaru dusted the thin dirt off of his tracksuit and began trudging west. The setting sun was the only visible thing other than the vast expanse of grass, so he decided to head towards it.

His stomach rumbled, but Subaru ignored the growing discomfort. He wasn't going to waste energy looking for food. In this plain and with his physical abilities, Subaru would have no chance at hunting animals, so he hoped that he would find wild fruit or any edible plants.

Subaru winced at his current situation. "We, it looks like I'm hungry, tired, lost, and emotionally drained." He sighed. "I wish that Pandora would've taken me wherever she went..." He walked on, and then shouted, "But it would have been nice if she never sent me here in the first place!"

The sound of his voice was sucked up by the earth, and the following silence only added to Subaru's loneliness.

For hours, he persevered, walking forward even as the sun set and all warmth disappeared. Even though he was worn out, cold, and hungry, Subaru kept walking.

It wasn't until his eyes were almost refusing to stay open, several hours later, that Subaru finally found an end to the seemingly infinite grass.

Just at the end of his field of vision was the beginning of a vast forest, and its darkness was somehow even more welcome than the emptiness of the grass.

On top of that, there was almost certainly food in the forest, so going there was a definite option. So, Subaru stumbled on, the last of his energy flowing through his body to get him to a place other than the cursed field that he was forced into.

Subaru's feet were aching when he reached the first tree, and his body was shaking from the coldness of the night combined with his sweat.

He groaned as he sat down at the trunk of this first tree. It was rough, but the roughness was nice. The grass was smooth. Too smooth. So now, feeling something in contrast to the grass felt nice.

The ground was firm, but that was also fine. It was going to stay under him, so no surprises were coming from there.

Subaru looked up at the starry sky and whispered, "Good night, world. If this was just a dream, then I'll be the angriest happy person ever. If only..." His head bobbed as fatigue took over, and Subaru fell asleep leaning against a tree trunk at the edge of a forest. He didn't even have time to find something to eat. That would have to wait until the next day came.

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Subaru woke up to a sharp pain in his stomach.

"Ugh... I need something to ea-" As Subaru looked up, he froze.

It wasn't hunger that made his stomach hurt. It was a huge, spotted beast that resembled a hyena, but it was huge. On top of that, it had sharp claws. In fact, one of those claws had lightly traced Subaru's midsection with curiosity. It didn't make a cut, but it still hurt like a bad scratch.

As Subaru stared at this mabeast that was twice his size, and all of the blood drained from his face when it started to emit a low growl.

Its huge muzzle snarled, revealing a row of teeth that were made for ripping meat apart.

Subaru couldn't move, but he was able to mouth his fear. "G-good doggy. Don't bite, okay? I might smell a little bit, but ignore that. I'm just your friendly neighborhood lost guy, so do- AHHHHH!"

The mabeast jumped at Subaru, and the teenager threw his arms in front of his body and closed his eyes, not ready to die again.

Everything felt like it went in slow motion as thoughts raced through Subaru's mind.

'I wish that I could fly away from here, because my legs are too scared to move.'

'I want to go back.'

'I don't want to die again.'

At that moment, there was a 'fwoosh', and Subaru could see a great light from behind his eyelids.

The dog didn't bite, and whatever the light was must have saved him. Opening his eyes and lowering his arms, Subaru didn't feel any safer when he saw what was standing in front of him.

"What are you doing here... Echidna?"