Echidna sipped a cup of tea. Her black hair, with thin strands of white, danced in the wind. Purple veins ran along her hand, she viewed her dream world through eyes that she knew were pure black voids.
She turned her gaze from her own world to the outside. Viewing the world through Subaru's eyes. From there she made her judgment.
"So you've decided not to sleep then, Natsuki Subaru? How utterly interesting… so this is where that whore Satella's loaned ability has put you. Well, I guess I'll have to see if I can manifest while you're awake, this will be so wonderful to see."
Drinking a bit more of her tea, Echidna exerted as much influence over Subaru's soul as she could. Her lips tilted up, at both the tea's taste and her increased dominance over the being that was Natsuki Subaru.
Though being this integrated with his soul, she did feel a bit hungry. But that was a natural response to the Witch Factor she coinhabited the soul with. At least it wasn't one of the others. Gluttony was easy to suppress, others might have been more… annoying.
In any case, she'd already investigated the Witch Factor within Subaru. Until he could manifest an Authority, there was nothing more to explore. So she ignored it, and focused on Subaru, trying to see the results of her experiment.
As anticipation ran through her Echidna was sure he would fulfill her. She would feel satisfied, even if it was only for a time, that was better than anything else she could hope for.
"Ah… Natsuki Subaru," Her voice was breathy as she said his name, "You really can satisfy me."
Ram didn't wake until the sun had risen. But Subaru didn't notice that at first. When Ram woke up he didn't have any idea what time it was. He hadn't even noticed when the sun rose, he was too tired. He'd been awake for over three days at this point. His tired mind missed a lot of different things.
Yet still, he didn't let himself sleep, it wasn't something he could do. There was a chance that one of the others, would try to sabotage his attempts to defend Sanctuary while he slept. He doubted any of them had actually believed a word he had said. It would be no surprise if they didn't believe him when he told them of some outlandish threat to Sanctuary.
They hated him too much to trust him. He was Natsuki Subaru, after all. Why would anyone trust him when they hated him so much? They were only going along with him so they could torture him in the end. So he stayed awake for the entire night. And now it was day, and Ram was beginning to stir.
Nobody had come, why hadn't they? It made no sense why they hadn't. Or they'd noticed he was awake. They did lie about everything, so they most likely didn't want to make their contempt known.
"Yeah, that's it," He let the words slip, too tired to suppress everything within himself. It had already been difficult, now it was even more so.
"Mmmmh," A short grunt came from Ram. He ignored her and went back to thinking about everyone else's possible sabotage.
Even with the knowledge that nothing had happened, there was still a possibility their sabotage was coming after all. With that likelihood in his mind, he searched the area around him with his eyes. After a moment he caught sight of something.
There in the trees, it was some ethereal thing he could almost observe, but at the same time could not. Focusing his entire mind he took in the sight.
Echidna stood there.
Her eyes, now deep black voids, watched him. Even in that complete lack of color, there was still emotion. Still that glint of insatiable, unfathomable, eldritch curiosity. A curiosity he would never understand, but one he'd hoped to see again.
"Echidna…" This whisper was one he could not hold down, no matter how hard he tried. One of his hands rose toward her, the same one that had reached for her so long ago. The feeling of her hand locked in his. He still remembered it. That motion of raising his hand and taking hers was still so clear.
"Can we make another contract?" He asked the thing he saw.
It did not speak to him, instead it only watched, silent, but its lips did quirk up. No doubt from something fulfilling her curiosity. But right now he wasn't mad. It was Echidna, so familiar. She'd always helped him. In her twisted way, but still, she had helped him. With her aid he'd liberated Sanctuary. If he had her help he could keep together the hateable disgust worthy thing that was Natsuki Subaru.
He knew she was drinking in things that fulfilled her in place of responding to him. But she'd always done that. After all, she'd told him he satisfied her. And she was insane enough to be telling the truth when she'd said he'd been able to satisfy her.
Echidna wasn't a liar.
He let hope bloom in him. Hope that once she'd become satisfied for today, she would reach out her hand, and enter into a new contract with him.
"Haaaa," Ram yawned, "What're talking about, Barusu?" Ram's voice held a lighthearted tone. She was likely happy that she'd been able to inflict such torture on him by sleeping in his arms.
"Nothing. You don't have to worry about it."
"Idiot, I'll worry about what I want to worry about."
"Wh-" He cut himself off.
"Hm?" Ram turned her body a little, staring up into his eyes, "What is it, Barusu?"
Subaru forced down any more emotion. He had to. Why was he only able to do it for one loop? Why couldn't he hold himself together longer? He was so weak.
"Yeah, alright," He said. Each word was a struggle to not break apart.
Ram yawned, nodding to herself. Subaru could still tell how out of it she was after waking up. She seemed to hardly know what was going on.
"Hey Barusu," Ram let her eyes close again. Rolling back onto her front so her chin dug into his chest.
"Huh?"
She opened her eyes, gazing into his own, a serious expression came across her face.
"You don't have to hold in all your emotions."
Subaru almost broke. Almost lost his grip on the fraying pieces of himself. But he held himself together, keeping his face flat.
Ram's look dropped into concern. That slammed at his hold on himself once more. He barely maintained his grip on Natsuki Subaru. If he wasn't so tired his tears would have leaked out. As it stood his eyes were too dry from the lack of sleep and they stayed that way. Though that didn't stop Ram from continuing to give him that look of concern, that lie.
"Barusu…" Ram's voice was full of warmth. Her eyes stared into his own. For a moment there was that tiny bit of yearning to give up, to listen to Ram. He was quick to snuff it out.
"Ram... "
"What is it?"
"We need to go get everyone else. This is going to be difficult, we can't sleep in," Subaru said, trying to mimic a bit of his old self. Maybe if he did that Ram wouldn't be able to hide her hatred. In any case, he pushed himself to his feet, lifting Ram along with him. Then he turned away from her and began walking toward Emilia's cabin.
It would be best to head there first, then to the church. From there they could all look for Garfiel.
The two of them moved in silence, until a little before they arrived at Emilia's cabin.
"Why are you hiding your emotions so much?" Ram asked. Her usual insults were gone. But she was being less honest. Her voice was lying so much.
He wanted to scream.
Drowning that scream he said, "I'm not hiding anything."
"You are, everyone can see it."
Subaru stopped walking. Then forced himself into silence but that part of Natsuki Subaru that reached the top said, "Yeah... you're right."
"What was it, Barusu?"
Immediately crushing himself back down Subaru said, "Don't worry about it, Ram, I'll figure it out on my own, there's no need to be concerned," you can just hate me. But he didn't vocalize the last part.
"You're an idiot, Barusu," Ram said, "I'm going to pry it out of you eventually."
"Can it wait until after we defeat the cultists?" He asked with his flat voice. Maybe it was too flat. Though he didn't know what he would do instead. Either his voice would be flat, as it is now, or he would be a screaming weeping mess on the ground. Those were the only things that could happen.
And it didn't matter what he did, Ram would hate him anyway. Everyone would hate him anyway. Then why was he going to Bea-Stop-He didn't let the question finish forming in his mind. He couldn't. He needed to stay stable, not fall apart.
He took a few deep breaths, Ram watched, silent, planning something. It didn't matter what, all that mattered was he got a hold of himself and continued moving forward. Which after a bit of heavy breathing, was what he did.
A few more minutes of walking later he and the silent Ram arrived at Emilia's cabin. When Emilia and Rem saw him they asked him if he'd slept alright. With a bit of deflection, he'd been able to get them to focus on each other. From there the group went to grab Otto.
The merchant also lied, pretending he cared about whether Subaru had slept well or not. Subaru pushed away his false concern, finding a way to get Otto into talking to Rem and Emilia.
Then from there, they tracked down Garfiel who—unlike the others—didn't say anything to Subaru. He was more honest than the others. Though his behavior could flip depending on the loop. So he wasn't all that much more trustworthy.
With the entire group gathered they got to work on talking to the villagers. They had to make sure the residents would all stay in the church that night. As well as getting the people of Sanctuary to evacuate to the church itself.
While that was ongoing Subaru caught numerous glimpses of Echidna, watching him. No one else ever acknowledged her, but he knew they were lying to make him think he was insane. And he wasn't insane. Echidna was there. She would let him into a contract again. And they would find a way through Sanctuary.
Once they did that then everything would be okay, and they could find how to get Beatrice out of the library. They could succeed where they'd once failed.
Echidna looked satisfied watching him stare at her. She'd grow curious soon though. When that happened they would reforge their contract.
"C'mon stop starin' over there," Garfiel said, "We need to get everyone ready."
Subaru turned back to the boy, nodding absently, "Alright."
After that Subaru focused on getting all the villagers of Sanctuary into the church.
By the time the group had finished with that, it was mid-day, which still left them with quite a bit of time. They used most of that time going through the plan over and over again.
Otto had new additions which he'd thought of throughout the night though. The group didn't accept them until Subaru said he thought they were good. Which was because they wanted to put Subaru on the spot.
In any case, by the time they finished the plan and were all ready to execute it the sun had begun to fall low in the sky.
"Hm," Subaru realized the evening had fallen, "We need to go get Roswaal."
The others agree with him, then followed behind as he set off for the cabin.
"Why are you guys following me?" Subaru asked, turning to look at them.
"There's two Archbishops that will be coming in less than an hour," Ram said, "Of course we won't let you go alone, idiot Barusu."
Subaru stared at the maid.
He tried to suppress them. But his grip on himself slipped. WHY? His thoughts screamed out, he could no longer keep them below a yell in his mind. Why did his thoughts have to yell at him? They were so loud, demanding to be let out. He kept forcing them down while they walked. But they only grew louder. His face twisted and tears pounded at the back of his eyes.
His throat filled with phlegm, which was difficult to breathe through. With each step, he searched around for Echidna. With each breath he could feel their gazes on his back, boring into him. He walked faster, hoping to lose them. But they still followed, they whispered. Then called out to him.
By the time he realized it he was sprinting. NOSTOPSTOPSTOP! He tried to force himself to stop, to act like how he normally would but he couldn't stop his body from running. He was finally coming apart. He didn't know where he was running to, but he heard people behind him.
Ram, Emilia, Rem, and Otto's voices all called out for him, but he kept sprinting, forcing his body up to its fastest speed. At their yells, he summoned spirits around him. He tried to force the little globes of light away. However, his conscious mind was all that wanted the spirits to leave. His unconscious mind easily overpowered his conscious desires.
"El Minya…" He whispered it, his voice scratching and quivering. Numerous spears formed into existence behind him. Each one shot toward the people chasing him. He didn't try to see what happened to them. And it didn't matter.
This loop would be over. He'd messed up. He'd let himself fall apart. Once he'd stopped running he would need to kill himself. But for now, he kept going. If he pushed himself to the edge, to the absolute limit, then he could get away. After that, he could lay down and let himself die.
So he continued to run. Everyone else still running behind him. Thankfully Garfiel didn't lose his temper and try to kill Subaru. He had no idea why, but it didn't matter.
He kept going and going. It wasn't long before his heart was pounding like a drum. Blood rushed through his veins, and sweat poured down his face. Or were those tears?
Were his heavy breaths really from the running? Or was he weeping? Subaru had no idea, so he kept going.
As the evening got darker and it began to approach night the others finally slowed in their pursuit. They were probably realizing that if they chased Subaru forever then no one would stop Capella. But that didn't mean he stopped running. He forced his body to keep going even though it screamed for him to stop.
But as pain shot through his chest Subaru only pushed his body harder. He shoved all his pent-up emotion into this sprint. Before he knew it his entire world spun, then his body met the ground. He'd tripped.
When he figured out what'd happened he tried to push himself up, "Hk!" With a grunt, his arms gave out. Odd noises came from his overtaxed bones. His side hit the ground again, and he rolled onto his back, laying down in the dirt. Tears poured from his eyes. He'd run with all the rage he had, tried to get it all out, and he was still alive. His heart hadn't exploded.
"WHY?" He screamed out. Why hadn't it been enough? Why not? His sobs traveled through the forest, and all was silent. But he didn't need noise to get a response. A pale woman, with black veins covering her body, and deep black pits for eyes stepped toward him. Suddenly appearing from behind the trees.
She stepped closer to him, saying, "Ah… Natsuki Subaru, so satisfying."
"Echidna?" Subaru tried to reach up for the woman, but his body was at its limit. The strength wouldn't come to him.
That didn't stop Echidna from kneeling over him, putting her face above his own. She stared down into his eyes. Even if her eyes were black, they were so vivid.
"Echidna…" He said, "Will you make a contract with me?"
Subaru waited for her response, hope filling him.
"Natsuki Subaru…" The woman leaned down further, then closed her eyes, thinking of a response.
With hope in his heart, Subaru waited, expectant.
Ram couldn't catch up to Subaru. The reason why was because Subaru kept launching attack after attack back at them. And she had to stop Garfiel from activating his beast form and trying to kill Subaru. She couldn't let that happen. So doing both at the same time had prevented her and the others from catching up to him.
Something had happened to him. Something that drove him to this course of action. She still trusted him enough to not think of him as someone who'd lied to them this whole time. Even though he'd been masking his emotions over the last few days. Which she believed was almost certainly because of something that had happened in his past.
It was likely the knowledge of the upcoming attack had reopened old emotional wounds for him.
But that didn't matter right now though. Ram and the others still had to prioritize stopping that attack. Aside from Rem, who she'd sent to go get Roswaal. They'd need him to survive the attack, but for now, Ram and the others could hold them off at the very least.
Garfiel radiated anger as they kept going.
"There's not gonna be any attack comin' is there?" He asked.
"Garf," Ram said, "If you want to take the risk that the attack isn't coming then be my guest."
That stopped him from talking at the very least. Ram herself still didn't doubt Subaru, he hadn't been lying, at least from what she knew of him he hadn't. He was still very difficult to predict. Still, she trusted him. He hadn't been lying.
"Ram-san," Otto began, "We're going to need to change the plan a little since Natsuki-san is gone."
"Yeah, get to work figuring something out," She responded.
After a few more minutes they arrived back at the spot where they'd been planning to weather the attack.
"See there's nothin' here, no mabeasts, no Archbishops," Garfiel shook his head.
Emilia stared at the ground, "What if Subaru was lying? He's a liar, isn't he?"
Ram held down her anger, she needed to be calm right now, "We'll just wait here for a little while, what would be the harm in it. If we wait here and we're wrong, then nothing happens. But if we leave and we're wrong, what then?"
"What about your Barusu?" Garfiel asked, "What's he gonna do t'em?"
At the mention of him, Ram checked back on her Clairvoyance. Subaru was staring into the sky. Not doing anything.
"I'm looking through his eyes, he isn't trying anything," Ram responded.
"What if he's fooling you, Ram?" Emilia asked, her doubts starting to come back.
Ram shot a glare at the candidate. Emilia's eyes drilled further into the ground.
"Or what if you're lying to us?" Garfiel asked.
"Garfiel," Ram's anger rose, "I don't want to kill anyone here."
"Really Ram, n'how am I supposed'ta believe that?"
Garfiel stepped up toward Ram, bearing his teeth a little, and raising his fist. Right as Ram stepped toward him Otto shoved between them. The merchant placed a hand on each of their chests.
"Both of you stop, you too, Emilia-sama," Otto said.
"Otto?" Emilia whispered.
Ram stepped away from Otto's hand, recomposing herself. Garfiel didn't do the same. He tried to push at Otto's hand.
"Garfiel," Otto whispered, "They're coming. The animals told me, and you can hear it yourself, or you will pretty soon."
They all quieted, even Garfiel. After a few seconds, the sound of massive footsteps rang out. Small vibrations quivered from the ground.
"So he wasn't lyin'... damn."
"Subaru, I'm sorry," Emilia whispered.
Ram turned to Otto, asking, "What's the new plan?"
The merchant told them all what they would need to do in whispers. They were down Rem, Subaru, and Roswaal, which made their situation far more difficult.
But once they heard the rest of Otto's plan it seemed less impossible. Over the last two days Subaru had given them everything he knew about how their enemies would behave. While Garfiel, and even Emilia, had been hesitant to believe him, they all trusted everything he'd said now.
Especially when they caught the sight of mabeast's horns glimmering in the moonlight. Spirits grew around Emilia creating a bit of light for them all. After a few moments, a woman and a girl riding a mabeast stepped up to them.
"Ah, so you've come to meet us," The tall black-haired woman—the Bowel Hunter—said, "Meili."
"What is it, Elsa?"
Emilia didn't let her answer. Before Elsa could speak the silver-haired girl sent numerous blasts of ice at the two. Elsa was quick to pull a knife and slice the blades from the air. At the same time, a few courtesan bears rushed in to block Meili from the ice.
Emilia didn't let up; she sent a continuous barrage of ice at the two. During that time Ram and Otto moved to the back, readying some of the tricks they'd made over the past couple days.
Garfiel moved forward, shield gauntlets covering his arms.
Once the boy was even with her Emilia let up the barrage, which had been a cover for everyone to get into position.
Slicing down the last icicle, Elsa sized up Garfiel and Emilia, saying, "A demi-human, and a spiritualist. Oh, your bowels will be wonderful to gaze upon."
"Shut up lady, and get outta Sanctuary," Garfiel said, putting himself into a fighting stance.
The woman twirled her knife, licking her lips, "I'll have to get through you then. And who would you two be?"
"Emilia."
"Garfiel Tinzel, Shield of the Sanctuary."
"Elsa Granhiert, the Bowel Hunter."
With that, the battle began.
Emilia held out her hands, self-doubt running through her. She'd doubted Subaru. And he'd been right the whole time. Maybe that was why he ran away from them. Maybe it was because of her. It was because of her. Wasn't it?
Guilt pushed into her as Elsa bolted toward them. The woman's blade shimmered in the light of Emilia's spirits. Elsa aimed the attack at Garfiel.
But Elsa hadn't put her all into the strike, so it was easy for Garfiel to deflect.
Emilia pushed down the doubt within her and readied ice to kill the mabeasts. Ram looked so sad because of me. She brought out that part of herself that didn't want to let them down. Then brought it to bear against the part of herself that knew she would anyway. With the two canceling each other out she levied a barrage of magic at the courtesan bears.
"El Huma!" She shouted, throwing her guilt into it. Icicles full of self-loathing shot from her.
The fight between the Shield of the Sanctuary and the Bowel Hunter had begun in earnest.
Garfiel blocked a hit from Elsa, then another, then another. After a moment he switched to the offensive. She sliced at him from his right, he grabbed her arm, then threw a punch toward her skull. He struck without fear of killing Elsa. It would take so much more than what he could do for a while to bring her down.
He should have listened to Subaru, maybe then they'd have Roswaal to help in this fight, but they didn't. Well if he wasn't here they'd just have to fight with all they had and then some to make up for it.
Garfiel bashed his knuckles into Elsa's head, the woman's neck jostled from the blow. Then Elsa struck at him again, even while her head was knocked back. Garfiel, using the hand he'd just punched her with, shoved her arm down, making her slash miss.
Elsa stepped back, trying to regain balance. He didn't let her, throwing himself forward he tackled her to the ground.
"Elsa!" Meili shouted out. Garfiel ignored her, Emilia would cover him from the mabeasts, he just needed to bring Elsa down.
"You shoulda never come here," Garfiel said, straddling Elsa and punching her again and again. Her head snapped to the left, then right, then back left. Teeth shot from her mouth, along with blood.
"Ah," Elsa groaned from the pain. Anger ran through Garfiel at her perversion and insanity. This bitch had come to Sanctuary, to try and kill the people here. He would not allow it to happen. With each extra hit he laid into her the woman's face contorted in greater and greater pleasure.
"Beautiful," She whispered, pushing her neck up. A courtesan bear roared out from behind, a second later it collapsed next to him, dead from Emilia's ice. Along with it came the sound of bones snapping, another mabeast.
Blood poured down from Elsa's wide smile.
"AHHHHH!" Garfiel's rage exploded, forcing his right hand to slam into her chin with more force than any of his other hits.
The woman's neck snapped under the enmity of his knuckles.
But she could still speak, "Oh your bowels will be… amazing."
Her right hand shot up, her leg bone wrapped in her grip. That mabeast bone snapping hadn't been a mabeasts, it had been Elsa ripping her bone out.
The sharp edge of it shot toward Garfiel's stomach, "Shit."
"Ul Fula!" A blast of wind cut Elsa's arm off. But the woman had gained an advantage on Garfiel, he'd grown sick at the thought of what Elsa had done.
"Give me those bowels I will use everything to get them," The woman's neck snapped back into place, healing perfectly. She reached forward.
"Ul Fula!" Another massive blade of wind shot from Ram, chopping the woman in half.
Involuntarily, Garfiel crawled back from her corpse, her bowels leaked onto the ground. The sight terrified Garfiel, and bile filled his throat.
Elsa's entire body reformed—he had to hold down the urge to vomit—otherwise, he would die, because Elsa was already attacking him. She pulled a new knife from her clothes and tried to stab him. But Garfiel, whose back was still to the ground, caught her arm.
"Hold off, Ram!" He shouted to the girl. Ram needed to save her strength for later in the battle.
"Let's see those beautiful intestines," Elsa said, putting her free arm on her knife arm, and pushed using all her strength. After a moment she kneeled, throwing her whole body weight into the struggle.
Garfiel grabbed her arm with his other hand. Both used all their body strength. Though Elsa couldn't overpower him, as he had the ground to use as leverage behind him.
Courtesan bears ran out from the forest and toward Garfiel and Elsa, likely the little girl trying to help Elsa.
"Hk," Garfiel pushed harder.
Elsa giggled at his resistance. Her blood dripped from her teeth and onto his lips. The metallic taste spread across his tongue fast. If he didn't have adrenaline running through him Garfiel would have thrown up.
He used anger to overcome his hesitation. Elsa only got more ecstatic at it. Garfiel kept himself from using his legs to kick the woman off. Because right now mabeast after mabeast were coming out of the woods to attack him. In the corner of his vision, Emilia danced through the mass of them, cutting down their numbers slowly.
Elsa laughed, then increased the pressure on his arms.
"Ah!" Garfiel yelled. She'd been holding back, but now she was using her full strength, and her blade was steadily coming closer to his throat. A second later the girl yanked her knife toward herself. Garfiel lost grip on her at the sudden change in pressure, now her blade was right above his stomach.
Slamming his fist into the ground a spike of earth shot out from the ground, but it wouldn't reach her fast enough.
"El," Ram started to shout, but finally using his legs he launched his knee into Elsa's stomach, crumpling her body. Her arms lost strength for a moment, allowing him to bat those same arms to the side. Elsa's knife launched from her hands, quieting Ram.
He pushed himself to his feet, then lunged for Elsa, intent on grabbing her neck and choking the life from her. But she used her leg to kick him in the stomach, knocking him back, and leaving him to gather his balance up again.
While he pulled in breath Elsa stood up. Her body healed within moments.
"Well that was… intense, would you like to do it again?" Elsa's cheeks colored a little.
Garfiel's face contorted in disgust, "Go fuck yourself lady, and get out of Sanctuary."
Elsa blushed even more at his words, then pulled another knife out of her outfit.
"How many o'those fuckin' things you got?" Garfiel asked.
"Enough," Elsa answered.
Garfiel shook his head, trying to delay her a bit while he let strength flow through him from his Divine Protection.
"Now let me see those bowels," Elsa launched herself toward Garfiel.
"Otto!" Garfiel shouted out, it was time to end this fight, "Get ready!"
"Got it," The man said back.
"Ooh, what're you doing now?" Elsa asked striking at Garfiel.
Who blocked her attack, "Don't worry bout a thing."
"If you say so," Elsa ducked low, stabbing toward his stomach. He stepped out of the way, but before he realized it, Elsa had spun around behind him, her speed reaching levels he hadn't expected.
Though he could still match them, he spun around launching himself into the air and kicking the knife out of her hand.
"Ready!" Otto shouted out. Garfiel steeled himself. This would be difficult, but it would give them just the edge they needed to kill Elsa.
Kill Elsa… could he kill someone?
It was for Sanctuary he had to.
"AHHHH!" Throwing himself forward, Garfiel abandoned all safety. He ran himself through with Elsa's blade, then grabbed her arm to stop her from opening his stomach all the way.
"Now!" Garfiel yelled back to Otto.
Within a moment a bag of glowing red was flying through the air. Garfiel caught it in his free hand.
"Ooh, what's this, a toy?" The woman groaned a little.
"Fuckin' weird bitch," Garfiel tightened his hand around the bag. Beginning a reaction in the stones contained within.
"Ah you're going to need some more creative names," Elsa said.
Garfiel didn't respond, instead forcing down every ounce of disgust, "DIE BITCH!" He shoved the fist which held the bag forward, ramming it into her stomach.
Her skin gave way quickly beneath his strength, and blood poured down his wrist.
"Ack," Elsa coughed more blood onto his face. His hand shook, but he needed to do this, so he forced his hand deeper until he pierced her bowels.
"Garfiel Tinzel," Her voice was breathy. In response to her words, he ripped his hand from her stomach, but before that, he let go of the bag. He pushed her away and stepped back at the same time.
"Watch out, Emilia-sama!" Otto yelled.
Emilia's purple eyes flicked over, seeing what had happened she distanced herself from Elsa.
Elsa looked down at the spot where Garfiel's fist had been, it was already healed over, but the bag was still inside. Garfiel readied himself for the sight.
"Fire stones, ah," Elsa realized what they'd been. An expression of ecstasy rose on her face.
A moment later the stones exploded, vaporizing her upper body. Blood and viscera covered Garfiel. The ringing remained in his ears, for a moment he only gazed forward, unblinking. Red liquid rolled down his face, after a moment he had to wipe it away so it wouldn't get in his eyes.
Once he did that he realized Elsa's body was regenerating.
"ELSA!" Meili screamed.
Using this lapse in the girl's judgment Emilia finished off the last of her mabeasts. Including her gabou.
Garfiel drowned any hesitation he still had. Anything that was holding him back, he grasped it, and choked it away, leaving himself empty of emotion. Then he moved forward, kneeling over Elsa's body, her regeneration was slower than before.
Yet still, he could picture the smile she'd had when she exploded. His emotionless shattered, anger rushing in. With that rage pumping through his veins Garfiel straddled the woman's body again. When Elsa healed Garfiel closed his hands around her neck.
"Mmh!" The choked woman cried out in pleasure or tried to, but her strangled cries were muffled by a lack of airflow into her lungs.
Garfiel got more leverage, choking the life from Elsa more efficiently. After a second he succeeded in crushing her neck. Then it healed in his hands, and the moment she breathed in a little bit of air she grasped his arms, but all she could do was scratch at him.
Her face was full of bliss as he strangled her.
In the background, the sound of Meili being wrangled up by the others came to his mind. The chirps of a dove rang out. He ignored it. They all had to. Subaru had told them if they pretended to not know who Capella was then the attack would be lighter.
But that wasn't in Garfiel's mind right now. The only thing passing through his head was a single thought.
I am the Shield of the Sanctuary. It repeated over and over again as he crushed Elsa's neck again and again. Her regeneration was longer each time. Blood poured from Garfiel's stomach down onto the woman, he ignored that as well.
He needed to kill her. Needed to. There was no other option.
Elsa's eyes bulged at the loss of oxygen, after a second there was that same snapping sound as last time, but Garfiel was too busy to fully think of what it meant.
His hesitation earned him Elsa's leg bone impaled in his arm. Ram hadn't helped him for some reason, he had no idea what that reason was, so he didn't question it any further.
Elsa sucked in air as one of his arms lost grip, "Meili, call the reinforcements," She shoved the words from her mouth.
"What reinforcements?" Otto said as the cry of bat mabeasts rang out. Of course, Otto was lying, he knew about the reinforcements. But he needed to pretend he didn't so that Capella would stay out of the fight.
But if they were coming then Garfiel needed to finish this fast. With his intact arm, he resumed his full grip on Elsa's neck.
The girl finally struggled, she was close to dying. Hesitation ran through Garfiel, but it bought Elsa a second of air at most. That single gulp was enough for the girl to fight on.
Though even as she fought her eyes were still full of joy. Pure unadulterated ecstasy at what Garfiel was doing. That helped him crush her neck another time, then another, then another.
Elsa's struggles somehow still increased, she was at their absolute limit. She tried to rip Garfiel's arms off, she wasn't reaching for her leg bones anymore. She didn't have the strength to even pull them out.
"AGH!" Garfiel grunted, squeezing her neck, collapsing her windpipe once more. This time Elsa's struggles ended. But he knew that wouldn't last long, "Otto give me another one of those things."
The young merchant rushed over to him. He still held his hand on Elsa's neck. She was dead now, but her soulless body would get up and keep fighting. He needed to prevent that from happening, so he took the bag of fire stones from Otto, activating them. And shoving them into Elsa's body again.
Her skin squished as he pushed the bag into her, opening a new wound as he went. He had long since tuned out Meili's screams and cries. Though they grew loud enough for him to hear once he pushed himself away from Elsa's body. Otto reached out, pulling him back when Garfiel's strength couldn't give him the needed distance.
The young merchant rested him against a tree, his feet sitting on the ground. Garfiel put his hand to his stomach as Elsa's body exploded.
The corpse of the Bowel Hunter didn't regenerate.
"She's dead," Garfiel breathed out. As soon as the words left his mouth he had to push off the reality of what he'd done for now. When the sound from the explosion faded the only thing left in his ears was weeping.
It wasn't coming from Meili.
Echidna remained lost in thought. Subaru didn't care. She would form a contract with him. She'd always called him satisfying. She loved him, it was obvious.
So Subaru let himself hope that Echidna would help him once more. He could do that, right?
Yes, he could hope. He couldn't doubt Echidna, she'd helped him in the end. Even if she led him on an odd path, she always helped him in the end. That's what the whole thing with breaking the contract was. Leading him on an odd path, only to come back and help him reach the best future in the end.
He let himself have the hope that this was what that was.
After around thirty minutes, which passed quickly, Echidna opened her eyes. Subaru noticed right away. He stared at the woman's face. Every aspect of her exuded greed. She was the same Echidna he'd always known.
Yes, he certainly could hope that she would reach out her hand.
And she did. Echidna kneeled stretching out her hand, curiosity plain on her face. The corners of Subaru's mouth lifted a tiny bit. He reached out his hand.
"Echidna…" Tears filled his eyes, nostalgic ones, wishing for that feeling of her hand in his own again.
Their hands touched, clasped, but no feeling came. It was as if Echidna's hand didn't exist, no contract formed in his soul.
"Echidna?" His voice cracked, "Echidna?"
"Ah, what a wonderful reaction, so satisfying," Echidna whispered, her body growing faint.
"No… Echidna, where are you going, where?" Subaru pushed himself onto his knees struggling to grab the woman, to get any hold on her that he could.
He gained no purchase on the Witch of Greed.
Echidna's smile grew wide. Her body disappeared. For minutes after Subaru still clawed at where she'd been. That imprint of her expression, smug and curious remained in his head, unable to leave. No words came to mind. He barely even breathed.
Natsuki Subaru was completely silent.
Then the situation crashed into him.
Echidna hadn't even wanted to renew the contract. She'd just wanted some entertainment. He had been so wrong to ever put his hope in her.
His sobbing broke the silence.
Tears poured from his eyes, and he collapsed to the ground. A tiny patch of mud grew beneath him as his tears dripped into the dirt. His body didn't move, all he did was cry.
A while later the silence returned. He didn't know how long had passed. All he knew was that the moon had moved and he wasn't crying anymore. There was no feeling of relief. He'd run out of tears. That was it.
Subaru didn't know when he'd get up, or if he even would. Maybe something would find him, and kill him, if he did die, would he even want to come back?
No. He wouldn't.
Roswaal stared at the window of his room. The moonlight flowing through. It was night, and Subaru hadn't come. Which lead Roswaal to one inescapable conclusion.
This wasn't the loop.
…And yet time was still progressing. What if Subaru had run? Could Roswaal let him get away now? All questions he needed to answer.
But before he could find those answers the door to his room opened. Rem stepped through.
"Hm, Rem, where is Subaru?" He didn't bother with his normal speech pattern.
Rem gave him an odd look, likely perplexed at the change in his manner of talking.
"Subaru… he… Rem did something, and he ran off…" Rem whispered, ashamed.
It's not your fault Rem.
Roswaal hated the expression on her face. It tore at his heart, twisting it. He didn't deserve any more than death.
But he still needed to reach teacher.
"So why have you come, Rem?"
"We need you to help hold off the attackers, Roswaal-sama."
"Oh…" Roswaal said. The attackers would destroy everything here. He was too weak to do this alone, the timeline was lost without Subaru. The boy needed to reset.
"Roswaal-sama, what's wrong?" Rem's voice held concern. Guilt filled him.
"If Subaru is gone, then everything is lost," He responded.
Rem's guilt grew greater, alongside Roswaal's own.
"Rem is sorry, Roswaal-sama."
"Do you know how to find Subaru?" Roswaal grasped onto one final thing.
"No, Rem doesn't." She answered.
And there went Roswaal's final hope. By the time he tracked down Subaru then it would already be too late.
Roswaal would still need to find Subaru though, so he asked one more question, "Was he on foot when he was running away from you?"
"Yes, Roswaal-sama," Rem's words pained him. She was blaming herself for the result of his and Capella's actions.
"Come here, Rem," Roswaal said, standing up.
"Huh, Rosw-?" Her voice cut off when Roswaal wrapped her in a hug.
The two remained like that, both clinging as if trying not to drown. Rem from the constant self-hatred, guilt, and doubt. Roswaal from the same things.
They remained like that, hugging—in a way reminiscent of a father and daughter—for a few minutes, trying to stay afloat.
"It's not your fault, Rem," Roswaal said, trying to soothe the girl, "It's mine."
"What do you… Roswaal-sama?"
"I caused all this. I've forced Subaru into the state he is now."
"Why?" Betrayal entered Rem's grip on him, and she started to push away, but Roswaal held on. His strength was greater than hers.
"I need to see teacher once more. I'll do anything to get there."
"Roswaal-sama, let go of Rem," The girl tried to push away again. But Roswaal forced down his personal desires, except for one, the need to reach teacher.
"I'm sorry, Rem," He took one of his arms off Rem, then laid it on Rem's back. Then with that same hand, he touched his chest by shoving his hand through Rem's torso.
"Rosh-hk," Blood poured from her body onto his bandages.
He almost activated his magic and blasted his chest apart, but he held himself back. Again focusing only on a single desire.
"I'm so sorry," He laid her dying form onto the ground, pure betrayal in her eyes, "In his state, it'll take a lot to get him to reset."
Rem's newfound hatred for him never left her eyes, no matter how much she bled out. As he stood above her watching, that look almost broke him. But he couldn't let that happen, he needed to force a reset, so he walked out of the cabin. Not waiting for Rem to die, he couldn't bear to see it.
He didn't realize it, but as he left the cabin, his mana set the walls crumbling. By the time he left it had collapsed behind him, simply from the force of his emotion. It pushed his magic out violently, destroying everything around him, trees crumpled from grueling earthquakes that sucked them into the ground. Wind gusted around him, breaking branches and leaves from trees. And a small rainstorm, localized entirely around the hundred-foot radius he was in, began. His hands clenched and unclenched while he took heavy steps. Eventually, he would take to the sky, but right now he searched on foot.
Because if he took to the skies he didn't trust himself not to blow Sanctuary into nothing while hoping Subaru didn't get surprised and killed on accident.
He could reset, but if he was surprised he may just die. So Roswaal had to hold himself on the ground and hold down his mana as best he could. Even while keeping his mana from welling up and bursting from him, the area around him grew flatter and flatter. His wind magic pushed downward, almost like the sharp pull of gravity.
Roswaal forced his body to move.
The man filled with melancholy began his search.
Ram stared forward. Garfiel's fight with Elsa was coming to a close. Just a little bit more and he would kill her, but Ram wasn't focused on it.
Instead, she focused on reaching toward her Synesthesia.
There was nothing to reach for.
Her Synesthesia, the connection to her sister—which had been with her all her life—was gone. The cut had happened a few moments ago. A massive amount of stress and pain had shot through the connection from Rem. Then moments later betrayal, not directed at Ram. After that, nothing.
Rem was gone.
Ram was a failure of an older sister. When Rem had died, there had been no one with her.
Ram was an utter failure. A waste of space, a waste of being, a waste of everything. Who could even call her an older sister, Rem couldn't. So no one could. All the things she'd done for Rem meant nothing, wait…
Ram hadn't done anything for Rem.
Rem had been the one, always sacrificing, always giving up things for her older sister. Not once had Ram ever helped Rem. Every single time Rem had been helped it had been by Roswaal or Subaru. Ram herself had done nothing but make Rem feel guilty.
Ram should have said something. Should have found the right words to say. Then Rem wouldn't have been so loathing of herself. She would have recognized herself as the one giving Ram strength, not the other way around. Why hadn't she noticed? It was obvious.
Ram was a bad older sister. There was no other thing that made any kind of sense. Tears leaked down from her eyes. Ram was crying, who was there to hold in her tears for? Had holding in her tears made Rem's life worse? Had it made her view Ram as higher than herself?
Even when Ram was the lesser of the two.
Rem didn't need daily infusions of mana from other people. Rem didn't need to be cared for. Rem didn't need someone to wake her up in the morning. Rem didn't need someone to dress her. Rem wasn't in excruciating pain constantly.
It was all Ram's fault, she'd made Rem feel like nothing more than a replacement.
Ram wept, for how horrible of an older sister she'd been.
Ram didn't care as Elsa died, she only cried more. There was no end to her tears. There shouldn't be. Rem was gone.
Rem was gone.
Rem was gone.
Rem truly was gone, dead… why was Ram still crying? She shouldn't deserve to feel the relief that came when she finished crying.
Ram's tears stopped. Rem would gain no benefit from these tears, so there was no reason for Ram to cry. No reason for her to grieve. It would do Rem no good.
But still, those things did not calm Ram's heart, maybe the tears stopped, but that was it. Nothing else stopped. Not the roiling of her emotions. Her sister was gone.
"Ram?" Garfiel's voice called to her, but she didn't acknowledge him, she barely noticed. His voice was nothing beneath the truth of Rem's death.
"Garfiel, Emilia-sama," Otto said, "Something is coming, get ready."
Two sounds of affirmation came from the others. But Ram didn't care, for Rem's voice didn't join them.
Why hadn't Rem been with them? Why had she been without Ram? What had been the reason?
It was so difficult to think in this state. Her thoughts didn't move, nothing would come into her mind, Why wouldn't the thoughts come? Where had the sharpness of her mind gone? Or had she ever had a sharp mind in the first place?
"What the fuck?" Garfiel yelled out, putting a false tone of surprise into his voice. Why was he acting? There was nothing to be acting about.
Oh, the reinforcements that Meili called. They were supposed to be pretending those didn't exist. The reinforcements…
A fierce battle began as Ram stared into the dirt. Nothing came into her mind, but the clanging of metal and ice rang out.
The reinforcements… they'd been why Rem wasn't with them. They'd been why Rem had needed to leave.
They'd killed Rem.
Ram's vision flicked from the dirt to the fight.
An eight-armed man fought Garfiel. The tiger's back was to Emilia's, who fought a thin woman.
Otto stood, waiting to use all the devices they'd created.
Theresia van Astrea, and Kurgan of the Eight-Arms.
This was their fault. Rem was dead because of them.
Ram's fists tightened. She dropped the bag of mana crystals she'd been using for magic. They'd only hamper her.
Her sorrow flipped to anger. To wrath. To unadulterated fury.
Rem was dead because of them. They didn't deserve to live anymore.
Ram felt at her consciousness. She'd trained herself to add shackles there, to limit her magical capabilities. Normally she lived with all of them on.
Removing even one brought incredible pain, and each subsequent removal only added to that.
In her body's current state, after the battle with Gluttony only a few days ago, she wouldn't even be able to handle unlocking the first. If she tried her bones would come apart after only a few minutes.
Right now, Ram didn't care about that.
Ram stood, then walked forward. Any pain she'd incur from this would be nothing in comparison to Rem's years of suffering under Ram, her failure of a big sister.
"Ram what're you doing?" Otto shouted out, "Get back!"
Ram ignored him completely. Her eyes fixed on the corpse soldiers. Raising her hand, Ram readied herself.
Kurgan and Theresia both turned to her, giving her a glance.
"Ram, the hell?" Garfiel yelled.
Ram again, didn't answer, her eyes fixed on Kurgan and Theresia.
"I gave something up a long time ago," Ram said, speaking to the corpses, "I let that damned cultist cut it off, I should have kept it, to protect Rem."
"Ram-san get back!" Emilia shouted.
Kurgan and Theresia sensed an opening, then jumped away from Emilia and Garfiel, coming straight for her.
Otto ran toward her, she spoke before he could push her out of the way, "Don't interrupt. They must face their sins. They took Rem from me."
Her voice wasn't loud. It was quiet and cold. Emotions ran wild among Emilia, Otto, and Garfiel.
Their turmoil at her words didn't even enter Ram's mind.
Kurgan and Theresia were almost upon her.
Ram closed her eyes, reaching into her mind. In one fluid mental motion, she undid every shackle on her consciousness.
Then she opened her eyes. A red haze filled them, not from anger. This was from blood filling her eyes. All the blood vessels running through them were bursting.
A spurt of blood shot from her horn, running down her face. Behind Theresia and Kurgan, Emilia and Garfiel were frozen. Fear had taken their expressions. Ram didn't care. This was what she should have been at all times, for Rem.
"For tearing apart Rem and Ram's sisterly bond, fall limp like stringless puppets."
With a wave of her outstretched hand, a massive blade of wind shot from her.
As soon as it touched Kurgan, his body melted.
Theresia jumped back, trying to escape the massive force coming from Ram. As the woman flew backward a waterfall of blood poured from Ram's scar.
Ram was already beginning to grow lightheaded. Her emotions were the only thing keeping her standing and made her gather even more mana.
Theresia readied herself to guard against Ram. Leaving an opening. Emilia made use of it, attacking her from behind.
Ram didn't stop her attack.
Emilia was nothing in comparison to Rem. Not for Ram at least.
A scream of pain tore from Ram's throat. Two kinds of pain sung out in that scream. A massive blast of wind shook the entire forest. Trees around Ram snapped like twigs. Otto yelped, thrown around by the great shockwaves coming from Ram. Garfiel held his ground trying to attack Theresia, but he couldn't reach her, due to Ram's wind.
Emilia herself was shielded from the first shockwaves. Until the true power of Ram's attack emerged.
A second later Theresia's body exploded. The wind blades from that attack cut Emilia's front to ribbons. Emilia tried to scream, only blood came out of her mouth. Ram realized too late what she'd done. She attempted to stop the wind, shame running through her.
A scream tore from Ram and she tried to stop her wind.
Her attempt backfired. All the mana in her ripped out anyway, destroying the surrounding area. It was Ram's dying failure.
After that, her body gave out.
Her muscles had been sheared into tiny pieces. Half her blood had shot from her forehead and her mana had run dry.
She collapsed to the dirt, a growing pool of blood marking her life's slow end.
Ram breathed in, and out, more and more of her life fading. Her eyes had long since filled with blood, she couldn't see a thing anymore.
No sound other than pained moans existed. Some came from Ram, most didn't.
She had been a failure.
I'm sorry Rem. And everyone else. I've failed all of you.
The life of a failed older sister ended.