After their most recent victory, there was no rest for these brave warriors. The Fatebreakers make their way to Lugnica to meet up with the rest of the Mythos Hearts guild, who were also on the way to a certain location: a small village hidden to most with a powerful magic. With instructions left by Theo, they followed them to the deepest part of the woods.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Aqua asked.

"Theo's instructions clearly say to go this way, so we're following them. And he's the one who left me with them." Kazuma replied.

"I don't really get it." Ethox admitted. "Why is everyone going to this forest? What's so important here?"

"The Sanctuary." a voice said as they looked ahead to see Ivy standing there.

"Ivy! Good to see you!" Ethox waved with a smile.

"Same." Ivy said as the small Rem doll curtseyed next to her. "Rem is glad to see you as well."

"Oh yeah, you mind explaining…this whole situation?" Legolia asked.

"On the way of meeting with Crusch's camp...we were attacked by the Witch's Cult." Ivy said.

"Witch's Cult?" Ethox said.

"Fanatics who are obsessed with the witches of sin. Likely it was payback for how we killed Petelgeuse, the Archbishop of Sloth. We were hit by two of them. The Archbishop's of Greed and Gluttony." Ivy said.

"Oh yeah, David mentioned the whole Petelgeuse thing." Ethox remembered. "So…one of them turned her into a doll?"

"Not exactly." Ivy shook her head. "You see, the Archbishop of Gluttony can eat a person's memories…and their names."

"Names? How does that matter?" Ethox asked.

"Names may be what people use to identify things, but they hold more meaning than that. They're like proof that you existed. Without that, you're just another nameless face. That's what Lye, the Archbishop of Gluttony, did to Rem. He ate her name and erased her existense from the world." Ivy said.

"Wait, so does that mean no one in Lugunica remembers her anymore? Not even Ram or Emilia?" Aqua asked.

"Afraid so." Ivy said. "Lye also ate her memories too. If that were to happen, the people would become comatose for a long long time. Luckily, a few of us magic casters were able to reduce the effects of the curse, giving Rem a different form while on this world."

"Oh, alright. That makes sense." Ethox nodded. "In short, Rem's stuck as a doll until she leaves this world. Got it."

"Yes. And we can't lift this curse until we can actually kill Lye." Ivy said.

"That's rough. Sorry, Rem." Ethox said to her, who pantomimed a sigh. "Anyway, is everyone else already at this Sanctuary place?"

"Yes. We've set up a base of operations where we can stay and figure things out." Ivy said. "We can't really leave cause Emilia is supposed to undergo some trial here."

"Then we shouldn't waste any time." Tanya said. "Let's go to this place and link up with the others."

"Yeah." Kazuma said. "Hey Ivy, I drew the short straw in waiting, so I have to ask: how's Subarau? He hasn't…y'know." he asked.

"He tried to attempt to reverse Rem's curse though Return by Death, but the save point was already locked to the camp we had recovered in." Ivy said.

"Ugh…of course he did." Kazuma sighed.

"Hope he's not shaken up too badly." Ethox said.

"You can check up on him after we check in." Tanya said. "Let's move, we've spent enough time debriefing."

Following Ivy, the group trekked through the woods until they reached an old set of ruins.

"Whoa…what's…that?" Kazuma asked.

"It's the place where Emilia will take her trials. It's the Witches' Graveyard." Ivy said. "The final resting place of the Witch of Greed, Echidna."

"Of course. I remember reading about her and the other witches back in the Arcane Library." Tanya said. "Nine witches with incredible magical abilities, all of whom tried to use them for one reason or another, but ended up causing mayhem instead. The only one left alive to this day is Satella, the Witch of Envy, the one who killed all her fellow witches hundreds of years ago."

"And the one who slapped Subaru with Return by Death in the first place." Kazuma remembered.

"This place was all created by Echidna. Anyway, we just passed through the barrier so now we're here." Ivy said.

"Barrier?" Tanya asked.

"It's a sort of space surrounding the Sanctuary. It keeps anyone with mixed blood within its borders." Ivy said.

"Wait, 'mixed blood'?" Ethox questioned. "You mean people who don't have that kind of blood aren't trapped?"

"Full blooded ones can come and go. Mixed bloods such as half elves or demihumans can't, however." Ivy said. "This whole place…it's like a small place where demihumans live."

"Huh, that's kinda…" Legolia started.

"Indeed." Darkness nodded. "Anyway, if this is the base, then where is everyone else?"

"Roswaal's place. He's been…recuperating with Ram." Ivy said.

"Roswaal?" Ethox asked. "Is he a friend of Subarau's from this world or something?"

"...Not exactly. He's the one who owns the mansion Emilia lives in…he's also her sponsor as a candidate for princess." Ivy said.

"Oh." the Nobody said in understanding. "So, I guess we should head there then?"

"Wait, hold up! My goddess sense is going off big time!" Aqua spoke up. "There's definitely somebody in there!"

"Somebody in there…?" Kazuma repeated. "Who else would walk into a tomb in this world of all places?" he said before he approached the entrance. "Oi, Subaru! You in there, bud? It's Kazuma!" he said as he walked in, followed close behind by the other Fatebreakers. "I swear, if I find you dead in here, I'm going to be so pissed at myself…"

"Hey…why is the tomb glowing like that?" Ethox asked.

"Huh?" Ivy asked as she noticed. "Wait…did they already…Kazuma! Don't get any closer!"

"Huh? Wait, is it a trap…!?" Kazuma tried to ask as he turned around…and found himself standing in a grassy field. "...I'll take that as a yes."

"Well, it's not a trap. But there were trials already in progress." a voice said as Kazuma looked up to a woman in black as she sat at a table with two cups of tea.

"Oh…uh…hi." Kazuma said. "I think I already know this, but…who are you?"

"My name…is Echidna." she said. "Though that is not my title. You may know me as the Witch of Greed."

"...Yep. Called it." Kazuma deadpanned. "Wait a minute…am I dead? I'm dead, aren't I? Again! Son of a bitch…"

"No, you are not dead. You're just inside of the testing grounds." Echidna said.

"Testing grounds?" Kazuma said, looking around. "The testing grounds are a Windows XP desktop… actually, that checks out."

"If you don't like it, I can change it to something more…your liking." Echidna said as the environment changed a bit, showing a few women in just their bras and panties.

"...Oh, you're good. You're very good." Kazuma said. "So, what do you want?"

"I'm honestly surprised by this as you. Maybe your status as a 10 Isekai allowed you entry. For Subaru, his entry was from the Sloth Factor he inherited." Echidna said.

"Wait, Subaru was here?" Kazuma asked.

"Oh yes. I even gave him permission to partake in the trials…which he's doing as we speak. Facing his own past." Echidna said.

"Facing his past?" Kazuma said, looking uneasy at the idea. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Let me show you." Echidna said, showing an image of Subaru in his bed with a muscular man waking him up.

"Wait…that's…that's his dad! Wait…I remember this. This was when he stopped going to school. It was a while after…" Kazuma started before he stopped, looking a bit pained before he shook his head. "A-Ah, you probably don't care…"

"Oh, but I do." Echidna countered. "You see, the reason why I was branded the Witch of Greed was because of my thirst for knowledge. My desire to know absolutely everything. And right now, I'm very interested in why you care so much for Subaru's life and his well-being."

Kazuma saw a glint in the witch's eyes that made him uneasy. "...What makes you think I'd tell you about that?" he asked warily.

"Because I can tell…that you very much want to be there for him. It seems the two of you were friends for a long time." Echidna said.

"You can tell, huh?" the adventurer asked, trying to sound casual.

"Oh yes. You are rather protective of him." Echidna smiled. "And yet…that's not how you usually are, is it? What desire drives you, Sato Kazuma? Protection? Or perhaps…atonement?"

"...sendmeback." Kazuma mumbled.

"Hm? What was that?"

"Send me effing back!" Kazuma shouted in desperation. "I want out of here, right now!"

Echidna huffed at this. "You two are so alike…" she pouted a little. "He turned down the chance to learn the secrets of this world from me. He was quite blunt about it."

"Don't care! Out! Now!" Kazuma yelled, taking a step back.

"If you insist…" Echidna sighed, before she smiled again. "Of course…there is one thing I'd like you to promise me first. The next time you come here, perhaps you could bring some of your other friends along? Normally, it would be rather difficult to do so…but perhaps I could help you with that." she said, standing up and approaching a scared Kazuma.

"N-Now hold on a second…!" Kazuma argued, reaching for his sword, but found himself unable to pull it out of its sheath, his hands shaking. "(I can't…I can't pull it out!)"

"I grant you and your companions the right to partake in the trials. And to visit me whenever I so desire. I wonder what feelings you all will have to them? The mere thought of it gives me such expectations." Echidna said as a portal appeared behind Kazuma. "Ah…there's your exit. As they say in your country, arigato." she said, pushing him down with a single finger as he fell through the portal.

Kazuma soon found himself back with the others in the Sanctuary, panting heavily as he felt his heart race.

"Kazuma!" Ethox said as the others raced over to him. "What happened? You just…disappeared for a second, and now!"

"I-I got sent somewhere else entirely! And Echidna was there! Alive, right in front of my face!" Kazuma said frantically. "A-And Subaru…" he trailed off before he covered his eyes with his arm. "God dammit!"

"Whoa, slow down! You saw Echinda?!" Aqua asked. "That's impossible, she was killed 400 years ago!"

"Well…those ruins are her gravesite. I see…so they already started the trials for Emilia. And Subaru got dragged in." Ivy said.

"We-We-We gotta…gotta get him…get him out…" Kazuma panted.

"It's okay. We're here." Ethox said gently. "You're safe. Just breathe."

The otaku took several deep breaths, feeling his heartbeat slow back down as he calmed down. "Ha…ha…ha. Okay…I…I think I'm okay." he said as he sat up.

"You don't have to worry about Subaru, Kazuma. As long as he completes the trials like Emilia does, he'll be okay. And knowing him, he'll do great." Ethox said.

"I know, I know… but still, Echidna sure gave me the creeps." Kazuma said. "The minute I started talking to her, she wanted to know everything about me. It's like she was automatically getting a read on me, trying to poke my brain. She's freaky. Hot, but freaky."

"Now that sounds more like you." Legolia sighed with a smile.

"If Subaru really did meet her, she probably learned about a number of us from his memories alone." Ivy said.

"She can do that?" Ethox asked.

"Of course, it's likely one of the many applications of her Authority of Greed." Ivy answered. "She will do anything to know everything. She's brought a number of countries to ruin and even nearly destroyed the world just for that cause."

"Yeah, that seems like her." Kazuma said. "And we have another problem: she gave us, and I quote, 'the right to partake in the trials'."

"If she gave you the right…it means you can enter and take the same trials Subaru and Emilia are undergoing." Ivy said.

"Oh, great." Kazuma said sarcastically. "Oh, and apparently she can drag us into her little desktop world whenever she wants now too. To hell with the universe, I'm just gonna say it: can things get any worse?!"

"Let's see…the people here are trapped until Emilia passes the trials, Rem is in a doll state, Subaru is facing his past apparently…no, can't see it getting worse." Ivy said.

"Yeah, Ivy's right." Ethox nodded. "At least we haven't been attacked or anything. C'mon, let's go meet up with everyone else." the Nobody said as the group made their way out of the tomb.

"Wait, so we're not all gonna go see her right now?" Aqua asked.

"Ah, I don't think Echidna's going anywhere." Ethox said. "Besides, I can kinda tell. Her soul's bound to this place, so even if she wanted to get out, she can't."

"Let's just go." Kazuma said as the group walked away, Kazuma looking back to the Sanctuary. "(Just keep on carrying on, buddy. I'm coming back for you.)" he promised internally as he resumed his retreat.