A/N: This was a very hard chapter to write. Most of you who have watched the anime probably know what's coming next.


Chapter 88: Slothful

Lashing out with a series of kicks, punches, and throws of her morningstar, Rem entered combat against the hooded foes.

As she handled upwards of three at a time, two had made an advance towards YN.

Shit!

Raising his palm, YN did his best to focus his mana in preparation for an attack.

I can control it better now! I can cast it quick enough to defend myself—!

Yet as he went to gather his mana, there was nothing other than a dull pain in his abdomen.

YN: —hk!

Almost as if hardwired to immediately respond to YN, Rem instantly disengaged her foes at the very second he winced in pain.

Rem: Do not touch him!

My Gate! That's right after all...

Recoiling backwards, one of the two Cultists was suddenly impacted by a large object, sending them flying towards a tree, dead on impact as their body was reduced to a bloody pulp. But only a mere second later was the second cultist also hit, this time by Rem herself. Using both her feet, she impaled the cloaked foe like she herself was a large javelin.

Landing beside the half dead attacker, Rem once more used her feet to dispatch the enemy, stomping down on their head.

Rem: Rem will not allow him to be sullied by your hands!

Bashing in their head with a final stomp, YN could only look on in horror at the violence radiating from the cheerful maid that held his heart.

It pained him greatly to see her act this way.

YN: Rem...

While only said under his voice, she immediately snapped to his view, her senses heightened in her frenzied state.

As she looked at him, her eyes recognized the look in his own.

That expression...

She had seen it only a few times in her life, but never directly on her own.

YN-kun... please don't make that face at Rem...

Immediately guilt stricken, Rem's mind harkened back to how he had looked at her in the many loops she had killed him. The look she saw now was identical to how it had been in the reflection of her own eyes.

Losing her focus, she dropped the hilt of her weapon from her hand.

Rem: YN-kun... Rem is...—!

YN: Rem look out!

Running towards her, YN embraced her as he twisted himself around her.

YN: Gah—!

Instinctively catching him, Rem wondered in her mix of rage and melancholy why he had run to hug her, but as she put her own hands around him, that's when she felt it.

Warm. And wet.

As YN collapsed to his knees in her embrace, Rem looked over his shoulder at her hands.

Rem: This is...

Her vision warped, it was as if her mind wouldn't let her see it. But she knew, on her hands was YN's own blood. Stained red, she opened her fingers, and between them she saw the cause.

Lodged in his back and shoulder, were three thrown blades. Two directly in his back, and one in his immediate tricep.

With the purpose of his "hug" now clear, a new emotion unlike any other Rem had ever felt boiled inside of her.

Rem: YN-kun... why?

Having taken the impacts for her, he was barely clinging to consciousness from the sheer pain and blood loss now.

Still in her shocked state, Rem also now failed to notice the next incoming attack until—

Rem: — — —

Holding the one who held her heart as he rested on his knees, a bold cultist had dared to interrupt their moment.

Having tried to thrust a blade into YN's back as he leaned against Rem, she had blocked it with her own hand.

Rem: ...He will not be the only one here to shed blood for the one who is the other's dearest.

Speaking through clenched teeth, the blade pierced her hand, preventing it from making a fourth wound on YN.

Rem: El Huma.

Casting her magic out, the blade, the arm that held the blade, and finally the cultist himself were encased in ice.

Letting her rage build and build, her new emotion seemed to manifest on it, feeding off every other type of anger she could muster.

Rem: Rem must act now, before she cannot.

Rem was aware of what would happen should she lose total control. Her mind was still plagued by the events of that night in the forest.

Rem mustn't allow YN-kun to be hurt while she is outraged.

Feeling like at any moment she'd lose herself, Rem removed the blade from her hand, shattering the arm of the frozen cultist in the process, and directed her palm to YN. Hovering it above the where one of the blades was lodged into his back, Rem applied her healing magic. Forced to leave the blades in place though, she closed the wounds as best as she could.

Rem: This is all Rem can offer right now, so please forgive her.

Lifting him up, Rem gently leaned YN's now passed out body against the wrecked car in a way he could not agitate the knives still in his back. But as she placed him there, Rem resigned all remaining control she held over herself.

Rem: If Rem must become a demon to protect what is most precious to her...—

Retrieving her morningstar, she snapped the chains tightly between her two hands.

Rem: —that is a sacrifice she will have to make!

Lashing forward, Rem swung her morningstar high.

Rem: RAAAH!

Bearing her fangs and letting her horn frenzy take over, Rem began an all out onslaught against the cultists before her, keen on making them pay dearly for harming YN.


As the wind rustled across the blood stained forest ground shrubbery, a nearly crippled Rem stood defiantly against her final adversaries.

While her oni-blood allowed her to heal rapidly, exhaustion was beginning to rear its ugly head. With her right leg and left arm nearly out of total usage, she struggled to even stay standing.

There's four left... And they're keeping their distance. Which means they are out of close range fighters.

Gripping her hilt tighter, her chains rustled as her mind and rationale quickly were beginning to come back from her waning frenzy.

All Rem has to do is close in and snap their necks, then she can... —!

Knowing she'd need to focus her attention soon on YN and his condition, she had glanced over to where she had set him, only for him to not be there.

No!

Grinding her teeth, her fangs were bared to see.

Rem: First the Witch Cult takes Rem's reasoning for living... robbing Nee-sama of her horn...

As she observed the four before her, Rem's mind recalled the amount she had fallen, numbering seven in total. Quickly doing the math, she realized in her frenzied state, one had gotten away, and with them, more than likely was YN.

Stomping the ground in pure anger once more, Rem's horn summoned mana into herself, revitalizing her strength somewhat.

Rem: Now they take Rem's reason for dying as well?!

With nothing but her feelings for YN powering her, Rem set out to obliterate those who had harmed her so much with all due prejudice.


YN: — — —

Injured and in shock still, the passed out YN had been kidnapped and taken away. Traveling as fast as they could, the Cultist who had him slung over their back traversed the forest floor as if possessed. As they arrived to his destination, with a quick application of Earth magic, they entered the lair of their organization.

Being put in chains, YN's unconscious body did not resist as he was bound to the earthen wall. Chained by his wrists alone, his arms were forced to be slung upward as he was weighted to his knees.

Successfully restrained, the interrogation could begin.

?: Ahh, so this is the one of great interest that has seeped into the midst of us attempting the Great Ordeal. The anomaly.

Entering the chamber, was a wicked man.

With a single nod, he dismissed his loyal followers. Approaching YN alone, the man spoke more.

?: On the eve of such an important day, on the eve of such a crucial moment for you to show up now...

Placing his hands upon his own face, the ill kept nails dug into his skin, pulling down.

?: HOW DILIGENT! TRULY! TRULY! HOW TRULY DILIGENT OF OUR ANOMALY!

As the shrieks of a madman echoed throughout the underground chamber, his shrills had managed to rouse the slumbering YN.

His first few seconds of consciousness were met with an extreme pain in his back, where the lodged knives still remained.

YN: Wha—! Ahhck—!

As nothing but a dimly lit space filled his vision, YN shook his head, but quickly it was filled with more worry than pain.

YN: R-Rem! Rem where are you?!

Looking left and right about the dark space, the voice that had awoken him spoke more.

?: You seek the girl, the believer in Love who hath so diligently defended you so dearly...

Stunting his thoughts, YN's mind once more stalled. The ideas of "Love" and "Rem" swirled to no clear conclusion as they always did when brought up. But as his mind struggled to come up with an answer to that conundrum, the man before him spoke more with a much more pressing issue.

?: You seek to inquire if she is dead or alive?

YN: — — —

As much as YN had liked to bark back a response of his defiance if that was even a question or not, he held his tongue, not out of lack of strength, but out of caution.

?: No response from our guest? Why does it appear as if I may have been rude... I have not introduced myself.

Striking a more confident posture, the madman before him announced his position. With an extra air of insanity lighting up his eyes that were above his sunken cheeks covered in a ghastly green pale skin, the Cultist declared his identity.

Petelgeuse: I am the one known as Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti of the Witch's Cult! Sin Archbishop! Representing and being entrusted with the duties of Sloth.

Taking a bow as he so proudly declared who he was, he gestured as if YN should introduce himself.

YN: — — —

With a brief pause growing, the madman tore at the thin and ill-kept hair he had on his head, below his cap.

Petelgeuse: Oh to be so coldly rejected when I had spoken with such goodwill!

About to enter what seems to be an episode of ranting and raving, another hooded figure appeared behind the madman. Kneeling, he whispered what could have only been news or a report.

Petelgeuse: Oh? The other in the craft you were in pursuit of has entered into combat nearby? And they've dismissed our initial patrol party? How... diligent!

Screaming his nonsensical words more, YN winced at the echo they brought.

Petelgeuse: But as for you...

Thinking he was being spoken to now, the madman had actually continued to address the news-bringer.

Petelgeuse: You are slothful!

Taking the grunt and lifting him high, up above his head, the madman now held this lackey higher than he stood.

Petelgeuse: For you to fail in securing an unknown element! On the eve of the Great Ordeal no less! Is this how you intend to faithfully repay your debt to the Gospel! ?

Tightening his grip on the hooded figure's face, he began to yell once more.

Petelgeuse: Truly Slothful! Slothful! Slothful! Slothful-Slothful-Sloooooothful!

Clenching his hand shut, the grunt's face was crushed under an unexpected strength. As blood poured out from under their hood and down his robes, the last twitches of life left their body.

Petelgeuse: For the Love granted to us, we must sacrifice! For us to be Slothful is to not heed the Gospel.

Casting aside the dead body, several new hooded grunt's appeared, all kneeling and awaiting orders.

Petelgeuse: Find the blue haired girl! If she's dead! Burn her wretched body! If alive, wring her neck and bring her here for our Love!

As the Cultists dispersed in the blink of an eye, and despite witnessing the strength of this madman, YN's anger could not fester any longer.

YN: You won't lay a finger on her!

Roaring out a response, the madman looked back to him with a surprised expression.

Petelgeuse: The Anomaly speaks? Is that so?

With an evil grin growing on his face, the madman approached YN while insanely babbling words of intrigue.

Petelgeuse: Is that so? Is that so? Is-that-so? Is-that-so? Is-that-so-is-that-so-is-that-so—?

Grabbing a hold of YN's face, the Archbishop forced him to look directly at him.

Petelgeuse: —Is it?!

Staring deeply into eyes that knew no sanity, there was a pause as the madman's curiosity seemed to increase and increase.

Petelgeuse: Just what are you, Anomaly, and Believer in Love?

Struck, YN had recalled this term before.

'Anomaly...'

Breaking his head from Petelgeuse's grasp, YN scoffed back.

YN: What does that even mean? I'm sick of people calling me that!

Once more appearing surprised, the Archbishop answered.

Petelgeuse: For the Anomaly to be ignorant of his own stature is surprising, but not unforeseen.

Standing straight and turning his back to YN, he pointed a single, sickly, chewed-on finger to the sky.

Petelgeuse: The Anomaly has clearly not been led here from the Gospel's guidance, but that is not to say he is not in it.

Hearing these words, YN didn't know what to make of them. The more he was told, the less he understood.

I'm in their gospel? What?

Pulling a black book from his coat pocket, the madman went on.

Petelgeuse: Her affection lingers heavily around you. But as someone who knows all the faces of those who do have her affection so transfixed to them, I am now nonetheless certain you are not the missing face of 'Pride.'

Turning back around, his coat tails kicked up some of the dirt that barely caught the light of the torches that dimly lit the perimeter of the room.

Petelgeuse: —However! However-however-however! That is not to say the affection you do have is not unrelated to the Gospels!

Kneeling down to be at the same eye level as YN, a wry smile grew across his sunken face.

Petelgeuse: While you are, in fact recorded in the Gospel, what makes you an Anomaly is that it does not say what your purpose is, or what is to be done with you. To be only halfway mentioned in it, there is no more suitable word for it.

Suddenly standing back up, the Archbishop raised his arms up as well, as if praising some higher power.

Petelgeuse: And because of that! All because of that! I must be diligent in finding out just what it is you are intended to do!

As the man yelled upward, he quickly descended back down to YN, tightly grabbing his shoulder, and shook him as if expecting a great answer.

Petelgeuse: Now tell me! What is that purpose!? If you are not in possession of a Gospel yourself certainly instructions are whispered directly to one such as yourself! To be recorded in the Gospel and be such a recipient of her affection! I must know, oh Anomaly and Believer in Love!

Begrudgingly, YN lost control of his anger as the pain from the knives in his back grew from being shook. Lashing out, he yanked the chains that were at his wrists, but held in place in stone, and with no mana to even attempt overpowering their hold, YN let his tongue vent his frustration.

YN: So what if I'm some 'Anomaly?!' A-And I don't even know what a 'Believer In Love' is either! You got a lot of nerve doing all this!

Rearing back as if greatly offended by his words, the madman cried out again!

Petelgeuse: For someone so loved to be ignorant of what he has been bestowed! How slothful can one be!?

Putting a hand over his head, the Archbishop now seemed to speak to only himself as he chewed the nails and fingers on his other hand.

Petelgeuse: Where one is Slothful, one must be diligent... To guide one that is mentioned in the Gospel of what he is... that is diligent... yes...

After reasoning with no one but himself, the madman screamed to the heavens once more.

Petelgeuse: I must be diligent in helping this one be diligent as well! Diligence bequests diligence! Sloth bequests Sloth!

As YN continued to wince at the echo of screams, a new sound echoed from far away.

The familiar sound of rattling chains and rusty pipes.

YN: — — —

Turning to meet the sound as well, Petelgeuse stopped and listened as well before returning his gaze to YN, an evil smile creeping across his sunken face.

Petelgeuse: To show what a 'Believer in Love' is... A much better example of such a title-bearer approaches...

Entering in from the shadows, a sight that all; calmed YN's heart, brought him great worry and anxiety, and gave him a real sense of hope, she emerged.

Rem: —You can hide no longer.

As if possessed, the blue haired maid YN adored limped into the light of the earthen room. Her clothes were ripped and stained red, a single shoe and her white flowered headband were missing, and her usual pink tie and clip barely hung onto her disheveled hair.

But as she saw YN, life returned to her eyes, and it seemed as if for the first time that night, her body was able to be at rest.

Rem: YN-kun... Rem is so very happy to see he's alive.

With tears forming in her azure eyes at his sight, the madman between the two interrupted them.

Petelgeuse: My! How marvelous! What a display of love! A single girl! One! No more! Shambling and staggering forward but with one goal!

Turning back to him, the Archbishop grabbed YN's shoulders with his grizzled and chewed upon hands and shook them as he ranted and raved.

Petelgeuse: We could not ask for a better representation of a 'Believer in Love!' She is possessed by love! She lives for love itself!

As the idea of Rem and the "L" word once more caused YN's mind to buckle shut and slow to a crawl, it was Rem who was heard next by the madman.

Rem: ...—ch him...

Petelgeuse: Oh? I beg your pardon?

Comically putting a hand to his ear, Rem's shout in reply and her morningstar erupting the earth before him finally snapped YN out of his trance the words of the madman had put him in.

Rem: REM SAID, DO NOT TOUCH HIM!

Yelling through clenched teeth and forcing her horn to manifest at a now much greater cost to her own health, Rem roared at the Archbishop.

Petelgeuse: What devotion and love entangles itself in your voice! Yell to your heart's content! Let your love be heard as an example for us all!

Yet, fatigue slowed her pitch, allowing Petelgeuse to easily evade the attack. Sluggishly recalling her weapon, Rem lashed out more and more, her obvious lack of stamina showing more and more.

Rem: Save your sermon, Cultist! So long as Rem breaths—! So long as she is alive! She will not allow harm to come to her YN-kun!

Dodging another lethargic throw, the madman continued to taunt her.

Petelgeuse: That is your desire then! You bullheadedly charged in here! Purely on your feelings alone! Your feelings of love—!

Rem: —Shut up!

Rebounding off a nearby wall and using her weapon as extra momentum, Rem utilized all her remaining physical strength for a massive flying kick. Faster than the Archbishop could dodge, fast enough to pierce right through him, fast enough to—

Petelgeuse: —YOUR FEELINGS OF LOVE FOR THIS MAN RIGHT HERE!

Rem: —Ack!

Halting in midair, as if held there, Rem had jarringly come to a stop. Hovering, YN couldn't tell if his eyes were deceiving him or not. There Rem hung, ragdolled, but still conscious, as if hung up by invisible stage wires.

Rem's face was struck, her eyes clambered for understanding, yet, she did not struggle, she remained as if frozen.

Petelgeuse: My brain trembles...

Rem: Aha—!

Being lifted up higher, Rem yelled in pain. But at her cry—

YN: —Bastard!

Standing up in a rage, YN pulled violently at the chains that were deeply embedded in the hard stone behind him. Moving his body, the wounds on his back slowly reopened, and blood once more stained his back.

But blind to his rage, and blind to her cries, the madman screamed to the ceiling once more.

Petelgeuse: Such love is wasted though! For you cannot truly accept love without salvation! The salvation only followers of the Gospel can receive! Only Her followers can accept true love! Her love!

Wincing through pain, Rem choked out a response to the madman's appeal to heaven.

Rem: D-Do not a-act as if Rem has not found a truer love!

Starstruck once more, YN's mind raced to compute with either if he should contemplate her words, or work to save the one who held his heart.

What... what does she mean by that? What 'love?' What love has she found?! What does she mean?!

His eyes open wide at the scene before him, his mind was tormented by an unstoppable flow of thoughts.

But as his brain was racked, another's trembled...

Petelgeuse: To be so blind... how slothful.

Speaking slowly, the silence the Archbishop had created was quickly filled by the gasps of pain Rem now choked out.

Rem: A—! A—! A—...!

Although his mind refused to let him see it fully, one by one, Rem's limbs began to twist and contort in ways they should not.

As the sound of one, then two, then three distinct cracking noises could be heard, the brittle bones of the cheerful and kind, blue haired maid YN adored so much were being harmed. Hearing it, an unbridled rage unlike he'd ever felt entered his body.

With his mouth going dry, and his vision glassing over at such a horrible sight, a flash of white crossed his dulled eyes, much like he had experienced in great times of desperation before, like the mabeast incident or escaping the town of Saluzzo. A sudden, yet cold and vengeful energy seeped into his veins.

YN: RAAAAAHH—!

Feeling strength like he'd never had before, YN pulled at the iron shackles that held him until—

*SNAP!*

Flying free from the stone behind him, one of the restraints was ripped out of its place.

Immediately, YN positioned his free hand outward, aimed straight for the Archbishop, caring not for the fact that the wounds on his back had begun to reopen. He shelved that pain for later.

Looking over to the sound behind him though, Petelgeuse's expression of deranged enthusiasm quickly turned. A wash of horror, disgust, and anguish reared itself across his sullen, green skin.

Petelgeuse: Just—...! Just who let such a loathsome, unwanted, terrible thing in here! HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE!? ANSWER ME NOW!

As YN staggered while the madman bellowed his cries of unknown origin, he could see the heat rising off his raised arm, caused by the use of an increased strength via mana. But as he tried to gather that mana for one, good shot of Yang magic at the monster before him—

Rem: Y-Y-N-kun—! He m-mustn't—! His Gate—!

Despite all the pain she felt, Rem's number one worry in this world was still YN.

Yet, as much as it pained YN's heart in guilt, he knew that she was correct. Quickly, the aura of heat on his arm was fading, and faster was the newfound strength he felt in his body. Soon, his chance for success would be lost.

I've gotta end this now!

Gritting his teeth through the pain, YN instead changed his strategy and reached back behind himself with his free arm.

YN: PETELGEUSE!

Grabbing the one weapon he could, the one blade his free arm would allow him to reach, YN hollered at the immense pain it brought him, turning it all into hatred for the Archbishop before him.

Pulling one of the daggers out of his back, the pain had nearly knocked him unconscious as the ribbon of blood from his wound was thrown to the side.

YN: RRRAAAHHH!

Rem: Y-YN—! —kun!

Still in his state of disgust, YN knew he had only this one, last chance to do anything of significance to Petelgeuse.

This pain is nothing compared to what Rem is facing right now! I have to be stronger!

Despite Rem's pleas for his condition, using the last drop of that new, vengeful energy that had suddenly settled itself in him, YN threw the dagger that he had protected Rem from in the forest.

YN: HAAA!

Propelling outward like a dart, the blade lasted neigh a second or more airborne before—

*Slink!*

Petelgeuse: —aha?

Just only coming to his senses, the Archbishop appeared stunned if nothing else, as if he didn't know what had just occurred. Looking down however, the answer was made clear to him.

Lodged deep into him, staining his black robes crimson, the dagger that had once been in YN's back now sheathed itself in the Archbishop's chest.

Petelgeuse: My Authority...

Still awestruck at his own injury, the madman stared down as the blood continued to seep from the fresh wound.

Don't tell me this guy is some kind of zombie...

But to his surprise, something else occurred.

Slowly, the knife was pulled out of his chest, not by his hand, but by another unknown force, perhaps the same one that was keeping Rem lifted up.

Petelgeuse: It is... fading. My Unseen Hands.

As the knife fell with a dull *CLANG* onto the ground, so did Rem fall from her height.

YN: Rem! Rem!

Yanking in vain with his other arm, still bound by chains to the stone wall, YN once more lacked the strength to free himself.

YN: Rem please! Say something!

Pleading that she still be alive, YN's heart had begun to race, but finding his state amusing, the mortally wounded Archbishop threw his head back, cackling as he did.

Petelgeuse: You fool! Do you not see with your own eyes!? This devotee of love is no longer alive! She died for love! Restlessly toying against her destiny her love now lies ruined! Never to be fulfilled!

Pointing a single, wretched finger to YN, the madman's mouth coughed up blood before continuing.

Petelgeuse: It was you though... You killed her! It was my Unseen Hands! But it was you who killed her! You! You! You-you-you-you-you-you-you!

Taking several ragged breaths after his spiel, the Archbishop looked around at what remained of his lair, destroyed and bloodied.

Petelgeuse: Much like this vessel, this place has grown messy. I shall abandon both.

Suddenly appearing from behind him, two new cloaked henchmen appeared, each on one knee.

Petelgeuse: See to it the left hand regroups with the new finger and the new vessel of Sloth. For now, the Ordeal will go on as planned. I shall be diligent in disposing of these two before this vessel expires momentarily.

Unsure what it was he meant, YN's labored breathing and extreme blood loss now hadn't offered him a good opportunity to analyze what any of that had meant.

Dismissing the two grunts, Petelgeuse seemed to prepare one final act before his death.

Petelgeuse: As repentance for your *Slothfulness* I shall end this charade now.

Raising his arms up, the ground and walls around them began to shake.

Petelgeuse: You shall remain here, bound and buried alive! But should you survive, there is still hope! You can be saved!

Reaching a climax, rocks began to fall from the ceiling as the roar of the shake began to become deafening.

Petelgeuse: If saved, you would become one of us! El Dona!

Uttering the words of his magic, the room shook violently as more rocks fell. As the lights were extinguished from the room, all that could be heard under the collapsing stone was the cackling of a madman.

Petelgeuse—!

Knowing full and well this wasn't a world he wished to be in anymore, YN accepted what was to be his end here.

YN: I will kill you!

Shaking and shuddering, the room around them collapsed. As his adrenaline was finally wearing off, the immense pain of the remaining knives in his back overwhelmed him. With the combination of that mixed with the fatigue of overtaxing his already injured gate, YN's consciousness succumbed to itself. As his vision blacked out, the last images he saw was of Rem's twisted body laying on the ground, rocks falling all around her.

YN: Rem...

I'm so sorry...


With a hazy sense of self and a pounding head, YN slowly rose his head from where it had laid. He was unsure how long he'd been passed out, but it hadn't felt like he'd been out for all that long.

Spitting some dirt from his mouth, he coughed up some more dust.

I'm surprised I'm not dead...

Looking all around, YN squinted his eyes in the dark nothingness that now surrounded him. From here on out, it was only smell, feel, and hearing for him.

But as he struggled to get his bearings, the weight of the situation he was in compounded on his mind. With next to no strength, YN stood up, his balance teetering.

Rem...

The final images of her life were burned into his memory. Her contorted limbs, the gasps of air she clamored for, the creaking snaps of her joints, it was all too much for YN.

YN: Rem...

As tears welled up and fell down his face, they were muddy rain drops before they reached the floor from all the dust still piled on his skin.

Knowing this loop had to be redone, YN prayed things went back far enough to avoid any permanent damage.

Even if it's back before Saluzzo, we can get through it because—

Choking up at thinking of her name, YN whispered it aloud again.

YN: Rem...

—and I can do anything.

YN: Rem...

Whispering her name once more to himself, he continued to do so.

YN: Rem...

He felt as if he didn't, the world would somehow forget her. That if he didn't speak her name, it would go against all the kindness and warmth she brought into the dreary world full of gut hunters, vicious beasts, shape-shifting monsters, and mad clergymen.

Taking his first steps though, YN inspected the chains that still were bound to his wrists.

Hey, this is...

Feeling a lack of tension on the arm that should have still been restrained into the stone, he picked up the chain and followed it by feel along until—

That's the end of it.

Perhaps during the shifting of the earth around him, the stone had cracked and released the restraint. Wrapping the excess chain around his forearm, there was nothing he could do about the actual cuff on his wrist it was attached to for the time being, and not wishing to get snagged in the darkness, he figured this was his best choice.

Now to wrap up the other one—

Going to do the same on the other hand, the one that he had miraculously pulled free on his strength, the chain halted as he pulled it. Giving two more yanks to see if it was simply snagged, YN eventually followed it to only to find—

YN: You're kidding me...

Crushed under a large boulder, larger than he could hope to move, was the chain of the restraint he had freed earlier. Feeling all hope he had just regained suddenly slip back away, YN was about to fall to his knees, when he heard something behind him.

*rustle* *rustle* *rustle*

With his primordial instincts kicking in, YN spun around to more dark nothingness.

Is that just the dirt settling more still?

Daring to not even swallow his apprehension, YN waited to see if he heard it again.

*rustle* *rustle* *rustle*

YN: —!

Sounding out closer now, the evidence of motion continued again. This was no settling of earth. Compounding out ideas of what, or who it may be, YN's mind could only come to one conclusion.

Petelgeuse...

It could only be him. Somehow, he had survived a knife to the chest, and being crushed by rock. Elsa could somehow survive Reinhard, so surely that wasn't too much of a farfetched idea.

But at the thought of the man who had killed Rem still being alive himself, YN felt a hollow rage build in him that his strength could not support. Hastily picking up a rock, a good rock, he held it above his head and yelled.

YN: Come over here Petelgeuse! If you wanna die I'll grant you that wish! I'll bash your head in you motherfu—!

?: Y-YN—...

Sounding out like a beacon, words that were not the madman's traveled over YN's own bellowing echo.

Going completely silent, the voice went on.

?: —k-kun...

Dropping the rock right from his hand, he was struck to his very core by the soft words of the angel speaking to him, calling him by his name no less.

Instantly, he felt at ease. But only one voice could do that. Only one person, in this world, his home world, —any world could do that to him. No other voice was filled with so much kindness and compassion than hers.

Whispering it again to himself, it took on new meaning. No longer was he saying it so the world couldn't forget. He was saying it so he could somehow see if he wasn't just hallucinating it. He said her name so he could know she was real. So he could convince himself that he had known someone like that. That someone so wonderful as her was truly real. So that he could once more see—

YN: Rem...

As the sound of the motion approached him more, a faint light began to glow. It was a familiar hue of purple. One that he knew well, and one that brought its owner strength and made her so unique.

Moving despite having no usable limbs and traversing the rubble covered ground, was Rem.

Crawling closer, almost akin to how a caterpillar moves across the ground, the maid that held YN's heart brought herself over to him, despite her terrible condition.

YN: Rem... Rem.

The closer she became, the worse it looked.

Her arms were twisted and blue, rolled in a way they should not be, all visible from her shoulderless maid dress that was even more tattered and ripped.

Her legs bent in ways they also should not be in, appearing to be cross-legged, they were not.

YN: Rem—!

Instantly, YN ran towards her, but as he did, the length of his chain snapped taut, restricting him from getting closer.

YN: Rem! REM!

With tears streaming down his face, it was a mix of horror and happiness.

Happy she was alive.

But horrified she was alive in such a condition.

How much pain is she in?! I have to help her! Somehow! I have to!

Reaching to where he stood, YN could see she was barely breathing. The light from her horn, broken as it was and no longer full in length, dwindled and was close to fading.

Facedown as she crawled, he could not see her face. But as she approached, YN knelt down, and reached as far as he could, the iron digging into his wrists from the cuffs still on him.

This is nothing compared to her pain!

At first only finger tips, with one final push, YN got a grasp of her.

YN: I—! I've got you, Rem. I'm going to pull you closer! Tell me if it's too painful though and I'll—!

Rem: H—...

YN: —!

Rem: —...huma...

Feeling a shock of cold at his wrists, it bit for a second until—

*Crack*

Releasing the tension, YN nearly fell forward onto the maid as the shackles around his wrists were shattered. Looking down at them, YN was in disbelief at what she had accomplished. Using her own blood, Rem had imbued it with her magic to free him. Certainly a dying action.

YN: Rem!

Finally free, YN stumbled to the maid's side, full panic in his mind.

Flipping her over onto his lap, there she was.

Miraculously, her face, her beautiful, round, and adorable face had remained unsullied if not for some dried blood from her other injuries.

YN: Rem! Everything is going to be okay! Here! Take some of my mana! All of it actually! Anything that's left! You can heal yourself some and then we can—!

As he went to open the channel to her and send what little mana he could hope to scrounge up, the flow instead went the opposite of what he tried.

Rem was instead giving him mana.

YN: No no, Rem, this is the wrong way! Rem we gotta reverse it or—!

Rem: YN-kun...

With labored breath, Rem uttered his name, halting his words and thoughts immediately.

Rem: YN-kun needs his strength to leave here.

YN: Right. We need to leave, together. Which is why you need—!

Rem: —Rem is very happy to give the last of herself to her YN-kun.

Saying that, Rem smiled warmly at the one holding her. It was a smile that she was at peace, and that she was happy, despite everything.

YN: No, Rem... Please... Don't leave me yet...

Holding her hand, YN's began to shake as tears began to fill his eyes.

Continuing to smile though, Rem replied.

Rem: Rem is sad she won't get to see what the future has in store for YN-kun and her, but she has faith that the next [Rem] will do all that she can for him...

YN: —Please don't say that Rem! Please!

With cracks in his very soul, YN pleaded to the maid as she laid in his arms, taking her final breaths. His nose filled up with snot and his eyes began to unleash a torrent of water. A guilt like no other filtered through his veins like the vengeful strength from before. It was painful, and wounded his very being.

As the light from her horn beginning to fade also signaled the end of her life, Rem spoke her final words.

Rem: Just in case... that this loop persists past a point to have a happy reunion...

With the light of her horn extinguishing, so did her life.

Rem: Rem wants to use her last breath to say...

With the light gone, so was her voice.

Rem: More than anything... Rem lo...s... ou...

Unable to read her lips in the darkness, YN was denied being able to know what Rem had wished to say. Death had taken her a moment too soon.

With his soul feeling as if it had left his own body as well, YN let his wide open eyes pour tears down his cheeks, and snot down his chin in the stonewalled silence of the underground room.


As the light of the fresh morning sun blinded his eyes, being so used to the dark inside of the earthen cave his captors had used as base, YN struggled to see as he emerged.

In his arms was the woman who was everything to him. He could not, and would not be able to face her again if he had left her body behind in such a terrible place.

She was light, lighter then he recalled when he had held her before on that night she had fatefully first kissed him. Recalling such a memory, another tear, perhaps close to the thousandth he had shed while alone in the dark cavern after her passing, ran down his face.

The morning sun did little to warm him, as a world without Rem was hollow and dreary.

Nothing mattered, it felt.

YN: — — —

The last of the mana she had given had proved useful however, clearing some rubble that otherwise would have trapped them inside indefinitely. He hated having to use it, and would have preferred to have saved it and never have let it go. To keep something of Rem inside him would have been the greatest comfort of all in this moment for him.

With no way to shield his eyes from the sun though, they stung from its bright light, as they were red and bloodshot from all that had occurred. Perhaps a lack of rest was also to blame. It felt like eons since he last slept.

I have to find Subaru...

Unsure how he'd approach him, one way or another, it was going to need to result in his death, YN wouldn't accept anything less.

Setting out, he walked. He walked in the familiar section of pathway he knew took him home, back to the Mansion where he and Rem had first met, where he'd first found the one thing he'd live and die for in this new world.

Walking till his feet hurt, it was close to late-early morning now. The birds were still touting their morning calls and the dew still dripped from the leaves of plants by the time YN could see the not-so-far-off village of Arlem.

How would the villagers react to seeing him carrying Rem's bloody and mangled body? Should he go around? What if he was caught by one of the children out playing?

No. It doesn't matter really, does it?

But as he approached the village, it was clear he wouldn't need to worry about such frivolous things.

First, came the stench of blood and death. Small fires still burned in the once peaceful village, but as for now—

YN: — — —

All around lay the bodies of those who had been so kind to Subaru, Rem and him.

Despite how hollow he felt inside, YN still couldn't manage to look directly at the corpses. Keeping his eye on the horizon, he did his best not to scar his memory with such horrid sights. He could do little about the smell, but the images he could control, for the most part.

It was when he arrived at the main town square, and passed the bench he and Rem had sat upon during their very first date did he finally stop.

Soiling the bench with its mere presence, was the body of a dead cultist. One of only a few he had seen. It was obvious who the attackers were, but what sickened YN was just how one sided the massacre had been.

Where was Roswaal in all of this? He could have taken on all these Cultists, couldn't he have?

Unsure of where the Lord of the Mathers Domain was when his people needed him, it was nothing YN could hope to solve now.

Exiting the village, YN began the short walk to the Mansion up ahead.

Approaching the gates, it felt surreal almost. These were the same gates where YN had tended to the lawn next to them. This was the same pathway he had walked with Rem many times. And the stairs up ahead was the same place Rem had first been upset with him, the only time he realized she had ever been upset with him.

YN: We've come a long way since then, haven't we?

Whispering softly to the girl in his arms, he felt his eyes moisten once more as he looked at her pale skin in the morning sunlight. But as he entered the gates, something caught his eye he was surprised he hadn't noticed before.

The gates had been open upon arriving. While that wasn't surprising, given it was obvious now the whole area was raided, YN had failed to see the parked ground dragon carriage sitting by the steps of the main entrance.

The carriage was nearly destroyed, and reminded him greatly of how the carriage they'd taken out of Saluzzo had looked upon arriving back at the mansion. At its head, was its own ground dragon, but what perplexed YN was its familiarity. He couldn't put his finger on it but this ground dragon, and even this carriage, seemed somewhat familiar.

Looking around for more clues, was when YN saw it.

In Mansion, just now, there was movement in the upstairs hallway, through that window.

Unsure of the status of the Mansion's residents, most notably Ram and Emilia, YN felt the need to investigate, even if he no longer cared what became of this current loop.

No one hostile would park like this outside...

With intrigue, YN took to the stairs that lead up to the front door. Noticing that it was left ajar, he simply stepped through it, pushing it open the rest of the way with his shoulder as he delicately carried Rem in his arms still.

Inside the mansion was quiet. Too eerily quiet. Being sure to make as little noise as possible, YN took his shoes off and walked with only his socks across the tiled floor and to the grand staircase that led up to where he'd seen the figure cross the window, if only to minimize the sound of his own footsteps.

If I hurry, I should be able to find them.

Taking Rem's lifeless body up the stairs, YN peered around the corner of the hallway. Just rounding a corner, was the figure he had spotted.

That's towards the bedrooms.

Knowing this person was more than likely not a looter due to their pattern of travel, YN felt a bit less threatened.

Moving faster than this figure obviously was, YN tailed them.

*Ker-chunk.*

Hearing a door open, he paused, and moved to peer past the corner once more. And to his surprise—

It's—!

Fervently caught off guard, YN was stunned to see the one person he knew he had to go find.

Looking into a room, perhaps a guest one, for some odd reason or another, was Subaru.

At first, YN wanted to call out to him, but something prevented him. There was a look on his face that made him hesitant to make contact, and besides—

He looks half dead already, and he needs to die...

But as YN knew the world needed to reset—

Can I really just ask Subaru to die for me?

Squandering with his morals, YN felt the weight on his heart as he looked down to the maid still in his arms. Her body was growing cold, and as he felt that, it was a stark reminder of her condition.

YN: — — —

Seemingly finished looking at whatever it was he was looking at, Subaru lumbered down the hall further, limping as he did.

Waiting till he rounded the corner, YN moved in.

Fully expecting the guest room to be empty, he was shocked by what he saw.

YN: No...

As a wash of guilt ran through his bones, he nearly dropped Rem, the twin sister of whom was occupying the bed in the guest room before him.

There laid Ram, her gentle pink hair pushed to the side as always, yet—

She's cold as well... Colder than Rem...

Ram too, had succumbed to the Witch Cult attack on the surrounding area.

Seeing the beloved sister of the one who held his own heart also in a sorry state of lifelessness, YN choked back the tears he now struggled to conceal.

YN: Nee-sama... Rem... I'm so sorry.

While unthinkable, the reality of this world seemed to bare down even harder on his shoulders. For once, he thought things couldn't have been worse, but somehow, they were now.

Was the shared feeling Rem had back in the Capitol the final moments of Ram's life? Or was that only the beginning?

One thing for sure, was certain.

Not only were the only known oni's in the entire world gone now, permanently extinguishing their race, but perhaps two of the kindest, more caring, albeit in their own unique ways, people YN knew were now gone.

Somewhat thankful Rem at least did not need to bear witness to her beloved Nee-sama's own corpse, YN still set her on the bed next to her, so they could peacefully rest together, much like he knew they would want.

Seeing them lie next to each other, a freight train of grief hit YN. He couldn't keep his tears held back any further.

YN: I'm so sorry...

Beautifully, despite all their battle wounds and ruined attire, their iconic hair colors still complimented each other in a way no other two colors could.

Naturally, Rem's hand had fallen to rest on her sister's as if trying to hold it.

YN: The least I can do is let you two be together.

Feeling as if he should let them be alone, YN walked back outside to the hallway, wiping his face of his snot and tears.

Gazing down the hallway in the direction Subaru had gone, YN shut the door behind himself.

I've got to end this hellish loop. No matter what.

Under a slow pace, YN proceeded to the only other room of note on this floor that Subaru could be headed to.

Upon arriving at the big double doors, they were already cracked open, something that obviously wouldn't have been left this way.

Taking the door handle, it felt cold, as if it were a chilly morning in the mansion.

YN: — — —

Entering in, to his immediate surprise was a gap in the wall of books that usually flanked the desk of the Mansion's Lord.

Unknown to YN from before, but Roswaal's study was host to a secret door behind his bookshelf.

But as he looked at it, even though there were stairs leading down, a haze of frost seemed to wafer out from its entrance.

Is it also an ice room or—?

?: You were both too late.

As a thunderous voice echoed out from the frozen stairwell, a sudden flash of white was all that filled YN's eyes, and as his ears rang with great intensity, soon, all his senses were gone in a way he'd felt before.

The absence of all his feeling, touch, sight, smell, hearing, balance, sense of self, it only meant one thing.

Please, let us go back far enough...

Once more in this world, YN had tasted death.