That night, you warily left the two maids to go to your room. The next time you saw them, it would only be a half a day before Elsa and that other girl came to attack the mansion.

With that said, you had experience fighting the two of them. It was mostly in your memories, but it still made you feel a little more confident knowing that you've gone against the enemy several times already. Oh yeah, and there's a Witch who just happens to be the smartest person in this world, and you have a contract with her.

(A/N: It's true. Echidna actually has the highest IQ out of all of the characters in Re:Zero.)

'That is quite flattering, but you still have apprehensions, do you not?'

'Of course I do. Those two have killed me a lot! They might not have done that in this loop, but I still remember it, so I can't help but be a little afraid of dying. My regeneration...'

'Shhh. Do not worry. We have a plan, so trust in your abilities and my decisions. You can do it.'

'Um... you say to trust in your decisions, but haven't you changed your plans quite a few times?'

'Tsk. When I gain more knowledge, I am able to create better strategies. This situation is not favorable at all, and I am adjusting the plan to the shifting conditions. It is not my fault that a fool decided to send two formidable assassins here, where resources and allies are limited.'

'But you gave him the Gospel, and that's what he's following...'

'I did no such thing.' Echidna paused, then corrected herself. 'To be more precise, I am not the same Echidna who gave the boy his Gospel.'

'What?! How does that work? Are you not the soul of Echidna?'

'I am. But I am the part of her soul that she split from herself in case she died before she could perfect soul transcription.'

'Can you dumb that down please? I'm having some technical difficulties up there.'

Echidna chuckled. 'Forgive me. In simpler terms, I am the soul of Echidna several years before she died. When she failed to take over another body, the other part of her soul left this world as all other souls do. So the body in her graveyard is her body, but this soul is Echidna in her younger years.'

'So, how do you know everything that she did after she split you from herself?'

'(Y/N), I am beginning to believe that you cannot think for yourself. But of course, I will help satisfy your greed! I know everything that happened to her because I was able to access the memories of those who founded the Sanctuary, as it is now called.'

'Oh. That makes sense.'

'Of course it does, it is the truth. Now, I do believe that I told you that I would inform you of the reason that the clown is so devoted to myself.'

'To be honest, I forgot about that, but go ahead. It'll take me another minute or two to get to my room. And I'm not lost this time, so don't crack a joke about that.'

'Very well. My other self, as I will call her from now on, helped young Roswaal, who was suffering because of his excess mana. From his perspective, she kissed him passionately, and he was fully devoted to her ever since. The end.'

'Wait, what? A passionate kiss?'

'Yes. She merely inserted her tongue into his mouth and drained the excess mana out of his body, but the young boy could not understand that my other self had no interest in him whatsoever.'

'What do you expect to happen?! An attractive woman french-kisses a young boy! I wonder how he will react!'

'I do not see an issue. It is his fault for misunderstanding.'

You sighed mentally. 'And that's why I have to help you. And by the way, I have another anime for us to watch tonight. It's only thirteen episodes, so we can watch it pretty quick and still let me get enough rest for tomorrow.'

'I look forward to it.'

With perfect timing, you reached your room as soon as this exchange ended. You were already in your sleepwear, so all that was left was to lay on the bed.

Not even bothering to go under the covers, you plopped your head on the puffy pillows and grasped the pendant.

As soon as you appeared in Echidna's Tea Party, you asked, "Hey, Echidna. Are you ready for some light binging?!"

It was obvious that Echidna didn't know what this meant, since she tilted her head slightly to the left when you said it. "What does 'light-binging' mean? I do not recall any Yang spells that 'binge'."

You shook your head while you chuckled. "No, that's not what that means. Binging means watching a lot of TV at one time without taking a break."

Echidna made an 'oh' face. "And by TV, you are referring to anime, correct?"

It was surprising how many things Echidna didn't know, considering how she could see your memories. "Yeah. You watch anime on TV- wait a second. I usually watched it on my laptop... So it's not really TV, but it kinda is since anime is usually on TV too, and things that you watch on TV are..."

You trailed off, since that was going nowhere. "Yeah. When I say TV, just assume that I'm talking about anime. Until you know more about my world, just assume that. We might branch off from anime later, but don't worry about that yet."

Echidna absorbed all of this information as if she enjoyed listening to everything you said, no matter what it was. "Understood. Now, what anime are you planning on showing me tonight? I found Code Geass quite interesting, but it was lacking in the love aspect."

With a grin, you took your seat next to Echidna and gulped down her tea. "We're going to watch Angel Beats! It's very emotional, and even you might feel something in the last episode! It might not technically be romance, but like I said, I don't want to watch something that's too long, and this seemed like a perfect one for you!"

Echidna quickly went through your memories and found the ones where you were watching Angel Beats. She was intrigued by your claims, and was very curious as to what the ending would offer.

You were then surrounded by a first person POV of yourself watching Angel Beats. The OP triggered mass nostalgia, and you knew that you were going to enjoy the next few hours.

Angel Beats was one of very, very few anime that (almost) made you cry, so if it worked on you, Echidna should at least feel a little emotion. If not, things were going to be more difficult than you thought.

(A/N: I actually haven't watched that many romance anime, so if any of you have suggestions for Echidna, let me know. Thanks!)

A little over 5 hours later

The end credits for the final episode were finally playing, and you felt something surge in your chest. Seeing Otonashi lose Kanade was heartbreaking, and seeing everyone disappear in the credits hit you just like it did the first time.

Echidna, on the other hand, was busy thinking about something. "(Y/N), I believe that Otonashi was the programmer that was mentioned in the previous episode."

"What?"

"For one, he had amnesia, which was explained as the result of a head injury. But as he did not suffer a head injury, this makes no sense. Another piece of evidence that I have gathered is the fact that Kanade somehow had his heart but she was in the afterlife long before he seemed to appear there. In conclusion, I believe that Otonashi used to be the programmer and he somehow became a conscious being once more, but the result of this resulted in him losing his memories."

You just stared at Echidna. "Seriously?! Did the ending not make you feel anything? You're supposed to be wondering what this feeling in your chest is, not making a theory that actually makes sense!"

As if she had forgotten something, Echidna added, "I suppose that I felt a very slight hint of something as Otonashi was despairing. This medium is capable of endearing one to the cast of an anime, and I suppose that I found myself feeling pity for him."

The Witch's reply left you stunned. "...Is that it? Are you sure that the only thing you felt was pity?"

She considered her thoughts, and replied, "The message that this delivered was that love was the key to happiness, though the love portrayed was not necessarily romantic. Once again, this demonstrated love that was shown through care for others. In the end, I could not relate to Otonashi's feelings. He threatened to betray the ideals that he had implanted upon all of the others, and he would deny Kanade the chance to accept them for herself and experience true happiness. If he loved her, would he not want her to pass on? Is that not what love entails? But, with that said, I found myself wanting the two of them to stay together. So when Otonashi was crushed by Kanade's absence, I felt pity for him."

During the first half of Echidna's analysis, you were losing hope for her. But at the end, a smile crawled onto your face. "Echidna, I think that you were feeling something else too. You said that you wanted the two of them to stay together. That means that, somewhere inside of you, you were rooting them on, so you actually do have feelings! We just need you to pull off a Grinch and suddenly realize something that makes you understand the meaning of what you've been pondering for years."

Echidna quickly looked through your memories so that she could understand this reference. When she saw what the Grinch looked like, she playfully gasped. "How dare you compare me to such a being! I am nothing like that thing!"

"Whatever you say..." You sat there awkwardly, not knowing if you should go back to the physical world or not.

"(Y/N), would you like another lap pillow?" Echidna asked suggestively.

Your face heated up, and no words could come out of your mouth. On one hand, you really wanted that lap pillow. On the other hand... you were still a teenager who was going to get nervous around hot girls who wanted to give you a lap pillow.

Echidna sighed. "I suppose that it would be a better idea for you to return to your body. You should sleep in a physical bed for the remainder of the night, so you will be rested for a typical amount of time. In order for you to perform at your best tomorrow night, you cannot have rested in an abnormal environment for an extended period of time."

Echidna basically made your mind up for you, so you decided to clutch the pendant and leave her Tea Party, even though a lap pillow would have been nice. "I guess I'll talk to you once I wake up in the morning."

As you left, Echidna replied, "Good night, (Y/N). I'm always here if you need me."

Your body jerked awake when you exited the Tea Party, but your mind was definitely fatigued from watching all of Angel Beats without stopping. So falling back asleep wasn't a problem.

The problem was waking up.

It took Petra two minutes to wake you up by hitting your face with a pillow. Shaking you didn't work, so she tried the only other thing that she could think of.

And when you woke up, you were snapped awake when the pillow hit your wide-open eyes. "Ah! My eyes! Stop! I'm awake! Ow!"

Petra dropped the pillow and stiffly did a curtsy, since she was trying to act like a proper maid. "Good morning, (Y/N). Since you slept in so late, your food is going to get cold!"

You shook your head slowly with a smile on your lips. "After hitting me in the face with a pillow, you're telling me that my food's cold?" You chuckled. "Alright, I'll be there as soon as I can."

Petra fidgeted before telling you, "Frederica-sama told me to help you get to the kitchen. S-she said that you would get lost..."

Your eyelids twitched as she explained this. Even Frederica was getting in on teasing you for your terrible sense of direction in the mansion.

Through gritted teeth, you said, "Fine. Just let me get dressed first."

Petra nodded her head and scurried out of your room.

Your clothes were folded on the desk next to the bed, so you quickly took your sleepwear off and put the 'adventurer' clothes on.

Within a minute, you joined Petra in the hallway, which was illuminated brightly by the rising sun.

"Lead the way, Petra!" Even though you weren't thrilled by the fact that you had to follow a twelve year old to the kitchen, you didn't let her know that.

'Don't be too prideful, (Y/N). Just accept the fact that your sense of direction is less than proficient.'

'Really, Echidna? I can't even tell if you were serious or not, but that hurt! I literally only have issues in this mansion. I'm fine everywhere else, so don't blame this on my sense of direction.'

'If you say so, (Y/N).'

But to be honest, you were able to reach the kitchen quicker than ever when you followed Petra. It's pretty sad, but food trumps pride for now, so you weren't going to complain to Frederica about this.

'Are you suggesting that Gluttony is more powerful than Pride?'

'No! I just want to eat, so stop trying to overcomplicate things!'

'I am doing no such thing! I am merely providing commentary so that this is not boring.'

'What do you mean by 'this'?'

'I mean your everyday actions, of course. If I weren't here to say things, you would be lonely and if anybody would be viewing your life from a... second-person point of view, they might find you boring.'

'That was oddly specific... But I guess that you really do make things less boring. With you always being with me, there's never a dull moment.'

'Of course! Dull does not describe me in any fashion! The day that you find me dull will be the day that you no longer retain any rational thought!"

"(Y/N), is there something wrong with the food? Have I perhaps upset you?" Frederica asked worriedly. Apparently, you had been staring at the slice of meat pie that she had made for the past minute while you were talking to Echidna.

You waved your hands around, trying to let Frederica know that nothing was wrong. "No! You're fine! I just got caught up in my thoughts and zoned out a little!" As soon as you said this, you took a fork and took a healthy bite out of the meat pie.

When you put the food into your mouth, your whole body froze. After a slight pause, you slowly chewed the food and put the fork down.

You swallowed the food, then turned to Frederica, who was standing next to you. "Frederica... THAT WAS AMAZING! I haven't eaten anything so good in so long!"

'What about my te-'

'SHHHH! I am experiencing something right now.'

Frederica was taken aback by your sudden outburst. "W-well, this was my mother's recipe, and it is the best dish that I make."

As soon as Frederica mentioned her mother, you snapped out of the food-induced euphoria that you were going through. In the anime, you saw that her mother was a really unlucky woman, and she died as soon as she left Frederica and Garfiel so that she could find their father.

"Oh..." Things suddenly went awkwardly quiet and you continued to eat, the sound of your fork being the only noise in the dining room.

'See? If you did not have me around, you would find yourself unable to talk to most people. Such is the fate of the-'

'Please don't remind me. Please...'

Time Skip

After breakfast, you escorted Petra to Beatrice's library. Once again, you were able to find it on the first try, and Beatrice didn't speak a word to you.

To be honest, that cold indifference hurt a little bit, but it was expected. After you messed up, of course she would ignore you.

'But the best women do not continue to stay angry when a male makes a mistake. It is only natural that nobody can be perfect, so why should people expect for one another to always say and do the right things?'

'Echidna... I have never heard you say anything that I want to agree with more. But of course, girls like that don't exist in real life. Just in fiction.'

'Lucky for you, I am fictional, as it would turn out.'

'Wait, what?'

'Remember that I was in an anime that you have watched? Therefore, I am a fictional character, so I possess the traits that real women do not exhibit.'

'No, that's not what I- You know what, never mind. There's something that I want to check, and I can't keep myself distracted because I don't want to die tonight.'

'Ah, so you are going to check the supplementary gifts that the Crusch camp sent along with you? There is a five percent chance of any items of use being among those things. In the past loops, you have not checked them for this reason, but I suppose that useful items may be in there. Though I suspect that the majority of those things will be useless things of value, seeing as the Crusch camp is known for its more action-favoring approach to threats as well as their healer, there may be magic crystals for attacking or healing. This is all speculation, of course, so do not be too disappointed if there is no yield.'

'Yeah, I know. But if I can find anything at all that will help me and everybody else live, I'm going to use it. Sure, I can be doing something else right now, but looking back at my past loops, this might be the most helpful thing if I can find something.'

'Indeed...' Echidna stopped talking, and it seemed like she was thinking of something.

You silently walked around to the second storage room on the first floor, where Frederica had put all of the things that Crusch sent with you in celebration of the alliance.

Five percent. According to Echidna, that was the chance that something useful would actually be there.

Maybe she was like L, and five percent actually meant very likely.

But if that wasn't the case... there were less than five hours until Elsa and the mabeast girl came. Since you were able to get the traps up earlier than before, there wasn't as much work to do, but you still couldn't help but worry.

Elsa is the Bowel Hunter, and she survived a battle with Reinhard. According to Echidna, she was a curse doll, and she could regenerate just like you could. And along with her was the little blue-haired girl who could control mabeasts, and those monsters would rip you to shreds if you didn't kill them first.

But your regeneration was looking like it was getting weaker. It seems like Satella took it away, so now you were even more screwed.

'I would like to correct something.' Out of the blue, Echidna decided to reinitiate a conversation. '(Y/N), you thought that Satella took your regeneration away, but that is technically incorrect.'

'Wait, what?! Are you saying that my regeneration isn't going away because she took it? Was there a limit to the times I could use it? Dang it! I shouldn't have taken it for grante-'

'That is not what I meant. It was the Witch of Envy that is taking it away, not Satella.'

'... But aren't they the same person?'

'As much as I hate her, I will tell you the truth, as per our contract. Satella is not the evil being that common-day lore depicts her as. She simply held great amounts of power, and when she absorbed the Envy Witch Factor, which she was highly incompatible with, she developed a split personality. This split personality, the Witch of Envy, is the one who is taking away your regeneration.'

'So, why can't she just give it back? If one personality takes it away, can't the other undo that?'

'It is not that simple. The Witch of Envy is the dominant personality, so Satella is usually not in control. Even if she is, she cannot undo what the Witch of Envy has done. It probably takes total concentration for her to rewind your body back to an uninjured state, and if the Witch of Envy does not want you to have this ability, she will fight back when Satella tries to heal you, causing her to lose concentration and fail.'

'So it looks like I'm not getting it back that way... Wait! What if I become a curse doll like Elsa? Wouldn't that give me regeneration?'

As you said this, Echidna clicked her tongue in disappointment. 'If you would become a curse doll, that would mean a complete loss of free will. This Bowel Hunter seems to be a unique exception, so no other curse doll can operate as she does. You would be forced to remain languid until given a target to kill, and even then, your mind would not be able to think of anything but killing that target! Becoming a curse doll is a terrible idea! And if you are still worried about your regeneration, do you not remember the words of the other Witches? Did you not learn anything from your encounter with them?'

This outburst surprised you. This was the first time that Echidna showed so much emotion about anything other than her hatred of Satella/Envy and Emilia.

And her words made you think back to what Minerva had said when you first remembered that you were losing your regeneration. "Good! Now you can't rely on an ability that makes you fine with being hurt! It makes me angry when you want to use harming yourself as a strategy! So don't be sad that you're not able to use it!"

'And do not forget my words. If I remember correctly - and I do - I told you, "Now, you have to rely completely on the abilities of yourself and your allies, not an ability that was granted to you with the condition that you had to sacrifice yourself for another. And you have me, the Witch of Greed, on your side! Why worry?" Did you not think about the message that you were given? It makes me sad to think that you don't care about what I say...'

That part at the end was obviously less serious than the rest of the conversation, but everything that she just said - and what Minerva had said - finally went through your head.

You were just like Subaru. You had an ability that made you think that it was okay for you to get hurt, and you used it like a crutch. Even if things got bad, it was fine! You could regenerate, so why worry if you got injured? Looking back, this kind of thinking was actually very bad for your mental health. So if Witches could tell that you were on the wrong track, but you couldn't even see that is... kind of frightening.

'You think that is a bad thing? We may be sociopaths, but we are not stupid.'

'You know, I'm starting to think that I'm the one who's stupid.'

Echidna didn't reply to that.

A few hours later

You and Frederica were now sitting in the lounge room, where Elsa had come to attack in every loop so far.

"Frederica, as soon as you hear somebody coming, transform into your beast form. If the trap we've set right next to the doorframe doesn't kill them, we will have to fight them. I'll handle whoever comes through that door, and I need you to go around the mansion and fight anybody else that comes."

Frederica nodded her head, not wanting to reply in case her words covered up the sounds of an approaching assassin.

To be honest, you knew that Elsa wouldn't be killed by a simple trap. Well, she might die, but then she would regenerate again. But Frederica didn't know that, though she would quickly learn after Elsa fails to die several times.

In the past loops, Frederica was never killed by Elsa. Instead, it was the mabeasts that ended her life after they overwhelmed the two of you.

This time, there were traps (though you had to admit that they looked silly) that were meant to kill mabeasts that were dumb enough to fall into them.

And with what you found in the second storage room, you would be able to turn the tables if you had to fight Elsa one on one.

Now all you had to do was wait.

Even though you were sure that you would win tonight, you could feel your heart beating and your chest felt a little tighter than normal. Your stomach felt somewhat queasy, and your palms were sweating like crazy.

Even if you were ready for them, the two assassins still scared the crap out of you.

'How cute. You are not afraid of me, yet you are terrified of two humans? Yes, one of them may be a curse doll, and the other may be able to control mabeasts, but you are not afraid of the Witch of Greed. Most people would find themselves going insane in my presence, yet you are unaffected. So why are you afraid of two presences who are weaker and much less evil than I am?'

'Well, you see, you don't seem to want to kill me, so that's the difference.'

'It is not much of a difference, then. I am very evil. I will do anything in order to gain more knowledge. In order to satisfy my Greed, I will do anything. I have performed many inhumane acts. I have killed hundreds of humans. I have conducted experiments that would leave you sick to the stomach if you were to see them. I will use you to get what I want. I am the Witch of Greed.'

A small smirk formed on your lips. 'Thanks, Echidna. I get it now. You're really evil. And do you know what that means? I watch anime with the soul of a very evil Witch in my free time. Do you know just how messed up that sounds? Now, fighting the Bowel Hunter and Mabeast User doesn't seem too bad. You may not be helping me from the goodness of your heart, but you're helping me anyway. Thanks. I feel a little better now.'

Echidna was taken aback by your comment, and all she could say was, 'Interesting...'

But that was fine, because Frederica began to transform. You stood up and faced the door while taking in a single deep breath.

"My my, it seems like you wer-"

There was a sudden explosion as Elsa triggered the trap by the doorframe, which was hidden much more cleverly than all of the other ones.

Under your breath, you whispered, "Akra."

The fight was just about to begin.

"Oh my, I thought that I was going to die!" Elsa exclaimed. She stepped out of the dust cloud that had formed, and the only evidence that she had been in contact with an explosion crystal was the absence of her cloak.

"Frederica, run!"

She was now completely in her beast form, and Frederica still maintained mental control of her body. She nodded her head, and leaped out of the room.

Elsa watched her go with a murderous glint in her eyes. "Ah, that's too bad. I haven't seen the insides of a demi human in so long." She turned to you and licked her lips. "But she's not as high on my list as you are."

She reached to her side and drew out a pair of blades, but before she could do anything with them, you ran.

"What do you think you are doing?" You heard from a distance.

Since you were using Akra, you had superhuman speed, but that was something that Elsa already possessed.

As you turned a corner, you briefly looked behind your back, and saw one of her blades coming straight towards your face.

You snapped your lower body down, and narrowly dodged the blade. (Imagine Neo dodging the bullets in The Matrix, but not bending down as much)

After scrambling back up, your feet left imprints in the floor as you sprinted even harder down the hallways, and behind you, Elsa bounded off of the wall as she retrieved her blade.

"Why don't you just let me take a peek inside your stomach? You can regenerate, so what harm will that do?!" Elsa yelled, excitement apparent in her voice.

"I'll pass!" you yelled back. If you could help it, you weren't going to suffer any major injuries tonight.

"That's a shame," you heard in your right ear.

In this case, your reflexes saved you from being gutted. Right as the Bowel Hunter sped up to your side, your right arm shot out to the side, knocking her into the opposite wall.

Elsa still had a smile on her face as you ran away from her, which was unsettling.

But you didn't dwell on that. Instead, you ran into the nearest room, which happened to be the kitchen.

You grabbed an explosion crystal from your pocket, and got ready to throw it and run as soon as the door opened.

During the few moments of silence, you took deep breaths, trying to stop yourself from panting, which was very loud.

After a whole minute passed, nothing happened, and all you could hear was the sound of your breathing and the occasional explosion, which meant that the mabeasts were now in the mansion too.

Soon, doubts began to fill your mind.

What if Elsa went after Frederica? What if you were about to be ambushed by a horde of mabeasts and Elsa at the same time? What if-

No. You believed in Echidna's plan. She said that Elsa would only go after you, and the mabeasts would be trained on Frederica once she began to attack them.

And one more thing: Subaru was about to come, and he should be bringing in some support. There were no windows in the kitchen, but you knew that the sun would be setting soo-

"Found you!"

Elsa violently kicked the door open, and you quickly threw the explosion crystal.

The thing is, it didn't hit Elsa. It actually landed on the other side of the room, where the wood-burning oven was.

"It seems that you missed. That's too bad," Elsa commented.

You smirked. "No, not really. See ya."

You ran through the wall just in time to feel the heat of the explosion from behind you.

Inside of the oven was all of the oil that you could find in the mansion, and Elsa was standing right in the center of what would begin the biggest fire you have ever seen.

A wall of fire burst out of the kitchen, and you would have been burned by it had you not started to run when you did.

'Good job, (Y/N). So far, you have executed the plan excellently. I will be observing, and I will only comment if there is something of importance that you need to know.'

'Thanks, Echidna.'

You took this opportunity to run up to the second floor, where you could hear sounds of battle.

"(Y/N)! What was that?! I heard a really loud explosion from the first floor! What happened?!" Frederica asked while mauling the mabeasts in front of her.

"An explosion crystal hit some oil, and it started a fire! I ran away from it, but that woman from earlier got caught in the fire! I don't think she died, but it slowed her down, so I'm here to help you now!"

You punched one of the demon dogs in the side of its face, and its skull shattered from the impact of your buffed hand.

Speaking of buffs... "Frederica, I'm about to cast a spell, and it's going to make you stronger, okay?!"

Frederica's mouth was full because she was biting down on a pretty large mabeast, so all she could do was nod her head, which ripped the hide off of that monster.

"Ok! Akra!" This time, you imagined the light enveloping Frederica, and it actually worked. You were able to give an ally a buff.

And if things weren't already interesting, a certain somebody came into the hallway.

"You tried to kill my sister, so die! Get him, Guiltylowe!" It was the blue-haired girl, and she finally made her appearance.

Before you could shout some... unpleasant words at her, a huge beast came crashing through the window.

It had the head of a lion, the body of a horse, a snake-like tail, and wing-looking things sprouting from its back.

Considering that it jumped up to the second floor, this monster was definitely bad news.

But with bad news came good news.

"Eh? Th' f'ck 's that? I come here, an' th' first thing that my amazin' self sees is a big monster! An' I ain't talkin' about my sister!"

Strolling down the hallway was none other than Garfiel, and behind him was Subaru. Garfiel had twin shields adorned on his wrists, and he examined the mabeast in front of him.

"G-Garfiel?" Frederica stuttered, her words muffled by the beast in her maw. She dropped the corpse of the mabeast from her mouth, and her mouth hung open. "I didn't expect to see you here. How did somebody convince you to leave the Sanctuary?"

Garfiel chuckled and pointed behind his back. "Cap'n done helped me an' stuff, so I came here t' help him an' his buddy."

Obviously, you were the 'buddy'. So you smiled and gave Garfiel a thumbs-up before hurrying to Subaru.

As soon as you got beside him, Subaru punched you in the arm. "That's what you get for leaving all of a sudden without telling me anything! I mean, we even had a plan and everything, and you decided to destroy it and you left me to figure all of that mess out!"

And then he hugged you. In a bro hug kind of way. "But thank you. I was able to figure some things out about myself, and I even kissed Emilia, so we're good!" He broke the embrace, and you saw his eyes, which were filled with determination.

You ignored the 'kissing Emilia' thing, but that was definitely going to be a topic in a later discussion. There was something much more important than talking about that

"That's great and all, but this mansion's on fire, and we need to get Rem and Petra out of here, and then you need to talk with Beatrice."

"What! Why are they still here?!" Subaru seemed dumbfounded that you would do such a thing, but you shrugged it off.

"It's all part of the plan. Now, you find Beatrice's library, and I-" you stopped, because Subaru had already found it.

It was three doors down from where you were standing, so you took one big hop and ran inside, making sure that no mabeasts were following you.

"Subaru! I was hearing scary noises!" Petra held on to him as you walked inside, but he gently pulled her off of his side.

"It's going to be okay, Petra. (Y/N)'s going to take you and Rem out to Otto. He's really reliable, so everything will be okay."

Petra looked like she wanted to cry out of fear, but she nodded her head. "Good luck, Subaru!" you said as you picked Petra up in one arm, and Rem in the other.

Thanks to Akra, lifting them up was easy, but making sure that they were in a comfortable position was much more difficult.

Subaru looked shocked when he saw your demonstration of strength, and you explained it with one word. "Buffs."

And with that, you ran out of the library, where Subaru was going to make Beatrice choose him over her contract with Echidna.

'(Y/N), do not go down the stairs. The Bowel Hunter is going to be close by, so I advise that you jump out of a window.'

'What?! If I do that, I'll break my legs!'

'No, you won't. Akra enhances your entire body, and that includes your bones. If it didn't, your body would be destroyed when you moved at high speeds and when you connect powerful attacks.'

After hearing this explanation, you didn't hesitate. You kicked the corpse of a mabeast, and it broke the glass off of a window.

Now that nobody would be hurt, you jumped out of the window frame, and landed on the ground below. Just as Echidna had promised, you didn't break anything.

"(Y/N)! Over here!"

You looked over to where the faint voice was coming from, and you saw Otto waving his hands from his dragon carriage.

You wanted to cover the distance as quickly as you could, but the wind would harm Petra and Rem. So you ran as slowly as you could, which was still about as fast as you could run without the spell.

After a minute, you reached Otto.

"Here! Take these two, and protect them!" You set Petra and Rem down in the driver's seat.

"Thanks Otto! I'll see you later!" Before Otto could say anything, you rushed away to the first floor, where Elsa would be.

As you ran across the field, you knew that the most difficult part of the battle hadn't even begun yet. But it will start very soon.

For a second, the sun hit your eyes, and you blinked the blindness away. Sure enough, the sun was setting, and night would be falling in a short time.

You barged through the front doors, and put your shirt over your nose. There was already a lot of smoke, and inhaling it was bad.

You warily jogged through the mansion, looking for signs of Elsa. There is no way that she's dead, and you would be the very first person that she would go after.

"Surprise!"

You snapped your head around to see Elsa, whose clothes were a smoldering mess.

This time, she held a singular white blade that had jagged edges that were meant to shred. It reminded you of Inosuke's swords.

"I almost died! Before I kill you over and over, can you tell me your name? If you do, I will give you mine."

You stood up straight, and answered. "My name is..."

You cracked your knuckles as a wooden beam fell behind you. "(Y/N) (L/N). Remember it well!"

With perfect timing, there was another explosion behind you, and flames came raining down.

Elsa grinned. "My name is Elsa Granhiert! I will have a fun time dissecting you, (Y/N)!"

She dashed at you with her blade, and you quickly dodged to the side and delivered a swift punch to her midsection.

Elsa contorted her body mid-air and your punch met nothing but air.

She landed right next to you, and licked her lips while she swung her blade at you. "My my, you are stronger than you were before! How thrilling!"

While making sure that her jagged blade never touched you, you replied, "If I wasn't any stronger, that would be worrying!"

Elsa did a backflip to avoid a kick from you. "That was a good response! If our circumstances were different, perhaps we could have gotten along!"

She grunted the last word because she pulled one of her normal blades out and threw it at you while simultaneously jumping at you.

There was no way to dodge both attacks, so you did the first thing that came to mind.

You caught Elsa's blade from the air, right before it hit you. An amused expression fell on Elsa's face, and you brought the blade down as she came to you.

She used her blade to block your newly acquired one, and she jumped back so that you couldn't hit her with another attack.

"Actually, there's something that I'd like to talk about with you," you told Elsa as you reached into your pocket.

"Hmm?"

You closed your eyes and jumped up to the staircase that was close by right as you used the one useful thing from the second storage room.

It was a small version of the 'night banisher'. In other words, you blinded Elsa and used the opportunity to get to the second floor, where she would hopefully chase you into a certain room.

Unfortunately, you jumped right into a spot that was burning, so your shoes were burnt away, and your feet were blistering.

Of course, those blisters healed, but you didn't want to use your regeneration at all tonight.

Oh well.

Because now, Elsa was running straight towards you. Most of the first floor was in flames at this point, so parts of her body were being scorched away, just to heal right away.

Making sure that Elsa didn't catch up to you immediately, you ran around the hallways, which were beginning to burn.

The room that you were looking for was the ballroom. It probably hadn't been used before, but its size made it perfect for fighting the Bowel Hunter. It was the largest room on any of the upper floors, so this was the place where the final showdown between you and Elsa would occur.

After what seemed to be hours, you had reached the ballroom. In reality, it had only taken you two minutes, but time was weird when you were fighting an intense battle in the middle of a flaming mansion.

You opened the door and left it that way, inviting Elsa inside. Then you backed up slowly, waiting for her to barge inside when your back hit a wall.

"Wait, what?"

You turned around, and there was a wall that wasn't supposed to be there.

You activated the light crystal that lit up the room, and dread filled you when you saw where you were.

This was not the ball room. You went in the wrong direction, and ended up in a random bedroom, and it was small. Very small.

Before you could exit the room, Elsa slowly walked into it.

"My my, I didn't think that you were interested in thaaat!" Elsa exclaimed when she saw the inside of the room.

At this point, she had next to no clothes on her, but the important parts were covered up by some mysterious force.

She raised her jagged blade, and swung it at you. Using the blade that you had stolen, you parried the attack, but you were mentally panicking.

'(Y/N). Calm down. I have anticipated an outcome such as this, so do as I say.'

You steadied your breathing, and focused primarily on defense as you listened to Echidna.

'Lunge straight at her as fast as you can. She will try to dissect you, so use that blade to protect your stomach, and deliver a punch to her face. That will give you enough time to escape this room.'

"(Y/N)?! Weren't you going to tell me something?" Elsa asked with a menacing smile on her face.

"Yeah! About that-" After deflecting another attack, you held the stolen blade up to your midsection, and suddenly rushed at Elsa at full force. "I'll tell you later!"

The floor caved in where your feet used to be, and Elsa hit your blade when she tried to slice you. This resulted in the first time you saw her look angry.

She didn't look angry for long, because her face was smashed in by your fist.

Her body was sent into the wall for a second time that night, and you escaped from the bedroom.

'(Y/N), do I need to direct you to the ball room?'

'No. I've got it this time. But thanks, Echidna.'

And you found your way there without any problems. There were a few stray mabeasts, but you quickly ended their lives with a single punch or the occasional kick.

By the time that you finally got to the ball room, the second floor was also on fire. You could hear the building shuddering, and it wouldn't be too long until it collapsed. That's why you were going to end this fight as soon as possible.

When Elsa came into the room, you could tell that something was off, because her facial expression was completely different than before.

It almost looked like she just fell in love.

"(Y/N)! Let's finish this fight! I look forward to seeing your bowels!" Even as flames danced behind her, Elsa made one last dash towards you.

This time, you did something different.

As Elsa flew towards you, you dropped to the floor and caught her body. Once you had a hold of her, you put Elsa into a lock, so that she wouldn't be able to move.

"Elsa! I want to ask you something!"

She fought back, but she couldn't move her arms or legs. So, she used the last thing that she could use.

Else bit your arm, and blood gushed onto her face.

"Gahhh!" That hurt like crazy, but you held firm. If anything, you squeezed even harder, and you heard some popping noises come from Elsa's bones.

Elsa gasped in pain, but she continued to bite you, but as the flames began to devour the room, you decided that you had enough of this.

It was time to execute Echidna's final plan.

"Elsa! Join me! You and your sister can come to my side!" You gasped from the pain in your arm, and the smoke from the fire was making your throat burn. "I want to destroy the Witch Cult! So leave whoever it is you're working for, and join my side!"

You threw Elsa all the way to the other end of the huge room, and you held your bleeding arm. It was healing very slowly, and you were starting to get dizzy.

But what you did see was a huge smile on Elsa's face. She looked ecstatic, but your blood on her face made it look really creepy.

There were large crashes somewhere else in the mansion, but the two of you ignored that. All that mattered was the person who was standing at the other end of the room.

"You don't want to kill me?" Was the first thing that Elsa said.

"No!" You shouted. "Well, yes, but I won't kill you if you join me! I want you to help me, and in return, I'll let you live! I'll make sure that you and your sister make it out of here alive!"

Elsa sheathed her blade. "Well then, what are we waiting for?"

"Huh-"

With all of her wounds healed, Elsa was able to grab your arm and pull you out of the room right as the flames began to grow.

At this point, you were getting burnt everywhere, but that was fine.

You were able to recruit the Bowel Hunter.

But now, you had to make it out of the mansion alive, which was going to be difficult since the entire thing was up in flames.

"Elsa! I think I know where your sister is!"

At this point, she wasn't holding on to you, so when you said this, you ran right past her, who stopped in place. "My my, so do I! But we need to make a right turn! You are running in the wrong direction!"

This... hurt. An assassin who had been in the mansion for less than a day was able to make her way around it when there was smoke and fire everywhere.

But you followed her because...

Why am I following her? She can try to kill me or lead me somewhere where I can die. Why am I even doing this?

'(Y/N), I believe that you are experiencing trust. You have, for some reason, put your trust in this woman who has attempted to kill you multiple times.'

Trust... why do I trust her?

You thought back to mere moments earlier. When you mentioned her sister, Elsa's eyes widened slightly. And when you said that you would help both of them out of the mansion, all doubt left her.

Elsa actually cared about her little sister, so you decided to trust her.

Right when you came to this conclusion, a beam fell down and crushed your legs. "Oh shi-"

"(Y/N)!" Elsa stopped where she was, and did not hesitate to try and lift the burning beam off of your legs.

As her hands burned, Elsa looked as if she was wondering the same thing that you were.

Why is she still helping you?

The answer was never spoken, but you did say something else after the two of you were able to rescue your fractured legs.

As you leaned onto Elsa, grunting at the pain of the bones in your legs slowly mending themselves back together, you whispered, "Thank you."

Elsa kept on looking straight ahead, and she winced as her body was being burnt again and again. "You know, Meili is not my little sister."

She looked dead serious this time, and her words confused you. "What?" you mumbled. At this point, you had to release the spell on Frederica so that you could conserve what little mana you had left so that you would be able to make it out of the mansion, because the number of wounds on your body were making it hard to stay conscious.

"Meili calls me her older sister, but we are not related."

You learned two things just then.

Meili was the name of that blue-haired girl, and Elsa was caring enough to somebody for them to call her an older sister.

You smiled, but Elsa didn't see that. Instead, the two of you were met with the sight of Garfiel killing this massive pig-monster.

"No! Rock Piggy!" Meili yelled as the pig's head was twisted off of its body and flung into a burning pile of debris.

The mabeast user began to panic, as she had no more mabeasts to protect her from Garfiel, who seemed to be the only one left fighting.

Before he could kill her, you mustered up all of the strength that you had, and yelled, "Garfiel! Don't kill her!"

He turned back with a snarl forming on his face, but it went away as shock overcame him when he saw you.

"Wha' happn'd to ya?! Why're ya with tha' lady?!" Garfiel shouted.

Meili also turned around, and looked confused when she saw Elsa holding you up. "Big sister..."

In your place, the Bowel Hunter explained, "We made a deal. We don't serve Mama anymore. We serve (Y/N)."

Both Garfiel and Meili were taken aback by this.

"Is this true?!" Meili asked. Funny enough, there was a glint of hope in her eyes.

You weakly nodded your head, confirming Elsa's explanation. "N-now, let's get... out... of here."

'(Y/N). Release Akra right now. If you continue to use the spell, you will die from mana deprivation.'

'Okay... I will...'

As soon as you released the spell, your legs buckled, and Garfiel rushed to help you up. Now, you were being supported by the Shield of the Sanctuary and the Bowel Hunter.

They ran out of the burning mansion, and Meili followed closely.

When they got to a window, Garfiel used one of his shields to break it. "I'll take 'im outta here. You an' the little brat need ta' jump down right aft'r me."

And just like he said, Garfiel jumped out of the window with you in tow. The demi human wasn't fazed whatsoever by the fall, and Elsa came next, holding Meili in her arms.

Elsa's legs were shattered when she hit the ground, but after a few moments, she was able to walk again. The four of you proceeded to make your way towards Otto, who was going to take you to the Sanctuary as fast as he could.

As Garfiel carried you to the dragon carriage, you felt yourself losing consciousness. You could hear different voices, but you couldn't make out who was saying what.

The last thing that you saw was a pink streak of light emerging from the flaming ruins of the mansion. This light was Subaru, who was able to make Beatrice choose him.

"Hehe. We did it. Somehow... we... did it..."

Hey guys! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! Did anybody get what the title is referencing?

Wow! This turned out to be a lot longer than I thought it would be, but it was worth it!

So now, we have Elsa and Meili on our side, and Subaru and Beatrice will fight the Great Rabbit!

Next week will (probably) be the conclusion of the Sanctuary arc, and I'll see you there!