Warning: The content in this story has spoilers for arc 6 content of the Web Novel. Read at your own discretion.
Chapter 1: A Fatal Mistake
It was immediately evident to Subaru that a piece of the puzzle was missing in his logic. After deciding to take the right passageway through the cave in his last loop, he knew that the left side was the only possible option. That said, the monster guarding that side of the passage was nothing short of unreachable in terms of strength. Ram was easily the strongest person in the group, but even she stood absolutely no chance against such a terrifying creature.
"I'm going to scout ahead, you guys stay here. Just sit tight and I will come back for you. And whatever you do, do not take the path on the right."
"And if you don't return, Barusu?" Ram sneered.
"I'll be back."
"Baru-"
"I said I'll be back."
Subaru thought back on the conversation he had with the others a few hours ago. The only thing he could think of was to push forward and find a path around that monster. He had tried going backwards through the tunnel, but the group was met with a dead end after 30 minutes of walking.
This was the only option he had.
"Still, it wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't such a long ass walk."
The walk was monotonous to say the least. He had nothing to keep his thoughts from straying outside of the lantern in his left hand. His eyes fixated on the deep darkness ahead of him, hoping for something to change, to add some type of variation to his journey through the tunnel.
"Ah, there's that smell again."
He didn't know what to think of it. It wasn't a pleasant smell, by any means, but is was a road mark of sorts, something that he could measure his progress with. He wasn't sure whether the smell calmed him, or frightened him more. His last death to this creature was far from painless. The thought of an all encompassing heat drenching his body until he combusted into flames and became charcoal was definitely something that would haunt him in the future.
"Almost there"
The smell was reeking at this point. He knew that at any moment he could fall into the pit of sand that the mabeast was residing in, so he slowed his pace accordingly.
Holding out the lantern ahead of his feet, he watched the ground closely, and found the edge that met with the sand pit.
He slowly poked his head through the hole, and began to observe the chamber. Towards the far end of the chamber, he could see a dimly lit batch of sparks, glowing and then dimming, a clear sign of the monster breathing. It didn't appear to be paying attention, he hoped with everything inside him that it was just resting.
To the right wall of the room, there was a small opening, possibly into another chamber or tunnel. Behind the creature was a gaping tunnel that could lead anywhere, Subaru presumed that this was the most likely chance for him to escape, but the entity blocking his path was a clear sign that is wasn't going to be so easy. Instead, Subaru decided to try his luck with the small opening on the right side of the chamber.
He recalled other creatures that lived underground back in Japan. Bats that lived in caves were the most noted, and he presumed that similar to the bats back on Earth, this creature must have some type of organ that allows it to locate it's prey in the pitch darkness. Though, it was definitely possible that it could light the area around it with it's flames to be able to see.
Either way, Subaru elected that it was best not to take any chances. Before stepping out into the chamber, he removed his shoes to isolate the noise from his footsteps to the highest degree possible, and hung the lantern on the neck of his cloak.
Slowly, he stepped into the chamber, being mindful not to kick any sand or dirt, placing his feet in one spot at a time, raising his knees so that his feet would only rise directly up or land evenly on the sand.
He gently made his way down the slope, ever so cautiously positioning his feet to prevent himself from barreling down into the maws of the giant beast.
After 15 minutes, he had moved roughly 30 meters, and was just barely able to peer into the opening on the right side of the chamber. The entrance was roughly a meter in circumference, and centered at about the height of his chest.
Subaru gulped as he realized he would have to climb his way into the hole, understanding how easily he could screw up and have his life erased in a visceral heat.
He flatly placed both of his palms on the inside of the opening, and lifted his torso and legs off the ground. After spending over a year training in parkour, this was quite easy for him.
Thanks Garf. He gave thanks in his head.
Without the obstacle course that Garfiel had built for him, he would never have been able to make the progress he had made physically, even though it was evident that his strength was still as useful as a diaper pin holding a dragon carriage when it came to fighting tougher opponents in this world.
Maybe I should give him some ideas on weight training equipment. Subaru considered as he continued to raise his body in the air with his hands.
Once he had fully lifted his body into a stable position, he slightly pulled his torso forward, mimicking a push up position with his feet off of the ground. He gradually pulled his body into the hole without touching the corners of the corridor, wiggling left and right to walk his hands further into the hole until he had pulled his body all the way through.
He then lifted his body as much as possible, straightening his elbows, and set his feet back underneath him, standing up. With his wrists blazing in agony, he took a moment to rest. He grabbed the lantern off of his cloak and began to observe the area around him. Similar to the previous chamber, he was in a large round room, likely 40-50 meters in width. He surveyed the walls, looking for any other possible path through, hoping that he could find another way to continue to the surface.
But there was nothing.
The only entrance or exit he could see was the one he had just come through.
Haaaah, I'm such an idiot. He pounded himself for being so optimistic.
The only other path was past the mabeast in the previous room. But Subaru decided that after all the effort he spent getting here, he was going to make it worth his while. He looked at the floor, noticing it was mostly sand and dirt, but could see that there were objects littering the surface. He saw hundreds of small dried up carcasses, and what appeared to be broken wood and scraps of metal.
Aaah, this just a trash room. Subaru realized. It was clear that the objects in this room were probably thrown in by the monster to keep it's den clean.
He looked through the junk that had been thrown away and eyed a few old weapons. A charred and broken spear, a small knife with no handle, and a shortsword that was clearly dulled and beaten, but could probably be used for defense if it came to it.
But he knew that there wasn't anything that was going to allow him to defend against a monster as powerful as that one. He gave a light sigh, and decided that he would have to make his way into the previous chamber. He shivered at the thought of being killed by that beast a second time, but there was simply no other option for him.
He hung the lantern back onto the collar of his cloak and set his hands on the entryway again. As he began to pull himself back into a pushup position, he realized just how weary his wrists were from his previous maneuver. He winced slightly at the pain but pushed through. This was a life or death situation after all, and screwing up here didn't mean potential death, it meant absolute death.
He began to pull his body forward through the hole once again, slowly, when-
-Clank!
The lantern had fallen off of his cloak and back down into the chamber, relentlessly smashing away at the silence that had been washing over the room.
.
.
.
"GggggrrrAAAK"
"Ah, SHI-"
Immediately, the creature had plunged the entrance with an unrelenting bombardment of flames, throwing Subaru back into the pit alongside his lantern.
Within seconds, the mabeast had closed the gap between itself and the opening, smashing it's torso into the hole and reaching it's arms towards the boy, volleying fire projectiles into the chamber at random.
Subaru darted backwards to the other side of the chamber, keeping his distance from the beast to prevent it from finding his location.
After struggling for a few moments, the oversized creature had bored a hole through the wall several meters wide, searing and burning the edges until they were glowing from heat.
What happened next was beyond unfortunate.
Suddenly, the wall collapsed, smashing the beast into the ground, and rocks began to fall from the ceiling in large chunks.
In an attempt to prevent fatal injury, Subaru placed his head between his knees, and gripped his hands over his hair, trying to deflect rocks and keep himself alive.
"GGGRAAAKK!"
The mabeast broke out of the rubble, screaming in pain, continuing to rampage throughout the room. It could no longer tell if the enemy was a singular entity, or a collection of them, only choosing to eliminate anything moving or making noise, and noise was everywhere.
Large rocks flew and rolled as the entrance caved in.
Subaru continued to adopt a fetal position, but the onslaught of debris had taken it's toll. His wrist had been broken, his shoulders badly bruised, and he had suffered a concussive hit to the skull, leaving him in agony.
Slowly, his consciousness began to fade, his mind faltering.
With his eyes beginning to fail, he watched as the monster blasted the walls and rocks, endlessly assaulting the shaking earth.
"G-guess I'll just have to bring my friends next time" he gasped, before he was subdued by the darkness.
.
.
.
It stings.
His first sense when waking up was pain.
Perhaps he was still holding onto the pain that he felt from his last death?
It was common after all, ever since the Great Rabbit had taken his life, he still found himself slapping at a tingling sensation now and then, as if it were a mosquito.
When a death is fresh in mind, these feelings tend to be more tangible.
The memory of the Rabbit boring through his flesh was no longer a fresh one, but it still haunted him in his sleep.
Really, every death had an effect on him, whether it was physical or psychological. The impact of these deaths helped shape the man he was today. While each death was various, and had it's own specific type of suffering, each always had one thing in common. It was as if someone had ripped out his soul and placed it somewhere else. He had the feeling of being moved, as his surroundings completely changed around him.
This was not one of those deaths.
He began to feel around. The sand around him was thicker than he remembered. Despite having woken up in this spot multiple times, it felt completely different.
Subaru slowly ran his fingers through the sand. He could place an odd pain in his wrist and his head. It wasn't normal that these feelings continued to last this long after a reset.
He began to open his eyes, noticing a faint light glowing on the wall. A familiar one, from one of the lanterns the group was using.
Ahh. Looks like Ram is here to get me. He thought.
He closed his eyes once again. He couldn't tell why, but he was totally exhausted. If he could, he would rest for just another few seconds.
.
.
.
A minute had passed.
Hmm.
Subaru wondered if perhaps Ram didn't want to wake him.
He began to consider what could be causing this.
He twitched his feet together in a rubbing motion, beginning to stretch his legs.
And then he noticed.
Wh-where are my shoes?!
He opened his eyes, and sat up slightly to survey his surroundings.
He was in an open room, the glow of a lantern lightly illuminating the walls. A slope of rock and debris was evident along the side of the room, and he could make out a faint glow of orange towards the center.
A pulsating, orange glow.
N-no way.. I'm still alive?
His mind drew a blank.
How was it that this beast never killed him? Maybe since this place was layered with miasma, the beast couldn't make out his scent?
His injuries are serious too. The fact that he had not died in his sleep was nothing short of a miracle. Some type of twisted miracle of fate had left him in this pit. Alone. With no escape.
There's no way out of here.
Subaru eyed the walls surrounding the area. The mound of debris was likely what remained of the passageway out of the room.
I'll just have to redo.
His mind tensed for a moment.
The boy grimaced at his fate, his mouth turning into a scowl, he winced his eyes shut in frustration.
He had died several times in the past 24 hours.
Every time he died, he could feel despair slowly eat away at him. He was never okay with dying. Ever since he had left the sanctuary, he made an effort to never resort to killing himself intentionally. Return by death is an absolute last resort.
But this was hopeless.
It was clear there was no way he would get out of this situation alive.
Maybe he could wait for the others to arrive?
no.
He told them himself that he would be back. To stay put.
And the longer he waited, the higher the chance that his checkpoint might reset.
It was time to do something.
The boy eyed the shortsword in front of him.
It was a normal sword with nothing fancy. No engravings and a dulled edge.
He considered if he should take his own life with it.
Memories played in his head of his suicide after fighting the White Whale.
"Please don't hurt. Be more dear to yourself."
He never thought that the words Satella gave him so long ago would have such an impact on him. He absolutely despised her for the curse she had given him, but after hearing those words he couldn't help but lose his hostility towards her.
Her situation was far harder to pin down than he had anticipated. She clearly cared for him, despite how little he cared for himself. He thought about the second trial and how Emilia mourned for him, confused that he had resorted to taking his own life on the same day he had claimed his love towards her.
"Never again." Subaru let out a faint whisper.
He decided in that moment that he would go down fighting. Even if it was only the faintest glimmer of hope, he would grasp it with his entire being.
Subaru eyed the sword on the ground again. Moving his hand through the sand, he pulled it towards him, pushing the hilt against his chest.
He slowly pushed himself onto his knees and into an upright position, gazing at the beast looming in the center of the room.
He could see the glow of sparks emanating from it's back. Perhaps this was a weak point? He continued to study the beast's form, searching for any possible means of scoring a reasonable amount of damage.
He turned to the pile of debris again, considering whether or not it was possible to dig his way out.
He couldn't see any sign that the hole was there any longer. It could take him hours, if not days to dig himself out.
Combat was the only option. The second he started digging his way out, the beast would attack indiscriminately.
He sucked all of the air into his gut, channeling every bit of willpower he could muster into his next movements.
The beast was only about 15 meters away, it would take him 2 seconds to close the distance.
His shoeless feet burst off of the sand, pushing his body into movement the speed of which one might have expected of a seasoned athlete. Despite his left wrist being broken, he pushed past the pain in an attempt to ambush the creature before him.
"Take this you bastard!"
"GrRK?!"
A completely one sided battle began in the depths of the sand dunes.
"I said I'll be back."
Ram considered the boys words from before he departed.
She was certain that Subaru was someone who possessed some type of clairvoyance, albeit different than her own. In some moments, his timing was so impossibly perfect that she often called into question her ability to trust in him, though it had been a long time since she had any truly disdainful thoughts towards the boy.
It was abundantly clear to her that the situation ahead was one to be taken seriously. The face he was making when she found him on the ground earlier was one she recognized. One she hoped she wouldn't have to see again.
"R'ya sure we shouldn't go after 'em?" Anastasia spoke her mind clearly.
"Ram hates to admit it, but when that trash pile of a man says something that seriously, Ram must take it into consideration."
They had been waiting in the same spot for the last 8 hours. Nobody knew what could be ahead in these tunnels. Subaru was the only thing they could go off of in this situation.
For Ram, if she had to go between a shot in the dark, and the words of Subaru, the choice was clear. With reluctance, she would choose Subaru every time, despite the disgusting face he wore, and the pile of perverted garbage she declared him to be.
"Well, I hate t' say it but I don't know if he would do much better than anyone else 'na fight." Echidna once again through Anastasia's mouth voiced her concern for the young knight whom she knew wasn't very physically capable. She wasn't sure why he would run off alone like that. Nobody in their right mind would separate in a situation like this.
"It's likely that Barusu did not intend on fighting anything." Ram replied. "He didn't even take the knife with him, he considered us more in need of protection than himself."
With those words, Anastasia met her with a glare of confusion. Why wouldn't he want to protect himself? It was all quite strange to her.
"It doesn't make any sense t'me. You've gotch're wind magic, and he's got nothin'. Hell, we've even gotta ground drag'n." She sneered at the boy's idiocy. Perhaps he wasn't thinking straight? She knew that he was renowned as a hero, and Echidna had experienced some of his achievements first hand after becoming one with Anastasia's od. But she knew that the situation he was putting himself in wasn't logical to any degree.
"I'm sorry, but I feel like Natsuki-kun's putting himself in a position where he'll only receive our help later rather than sooner. I don't much care for 'em myself, but I know things'll only get worse if we lose 'em."
That statement struck a chord with Ram. It was probably true. Subaru would often put himself on the chopping block in the place of others. She remembered the time that he screamed for her to run, while facing off against a giant Wolgarm on his own. If it weren't for Roswall's return, he would have-
Ram's eyes widened.
"Anastasia-sama, please take a seat on the ground dragon."
"uh, say again?" Echidna almost broke her facade for a moment.
"Ram will not be tolerating Barusu's disgusting antics any longer."
Ram had come to a steep conclusion. That nasty-eyed boy was helpless. Regardless of his selfless nature, his actions always left a mess that everyone else would have to clean up afterwards.
"Ram will be using her Divine Protection of Clairvoyance to see ahead of us."
Anastasia climbed up behind Ram atop Patrasche, who swiftly went into full stride through the cave. The ground dragon had been patiently awaiting this moment, clearly nervous of her master's wellbeing.
"What a fool, forcing yet another lady to become concerned for him. His perverse nature knows no bounds." Ram sneered at the thought of the boy's thoughtless actions up until now.
Don't you dare get yourself killed. She was not about to let herself be blamed for the boy's foolishness.
Even if he wouldn't look out for himself, she needed to be there for him. Without him, her master would surely lose all hope for his goal. And Rem...
"Kyaaa!" Patrasche forced her way down the tunnel as quickly as possible. Echidna was astounded by the speed at which she moved. She had never seen a ground dragon move with such precision and agility, it almost frightened her.
After around 20 minutes of barreling down the tunnel, Ram felt a change.
"I can see him!" She called out to Anastasia, her tone shifting to something that sounded more grim than usual.
"Is he okay?" Anastasia inquired.
She eyed Ram for a moment, before noticing she was biting her lip.
"He's.. Injured."
They looked at each other for a moment. Rams eyes started to falter, before jerking her head forward.
"That smell...Is somethin' burning?" The purple haired princess began to panic for a moment.
"His wounds... I can feel them. It feels like his flesh is on fire. And his hands..." Ram's composure began to break.
"Faster!" The oni maid ordered the ground dragon.
But Patrasche came to a sudden halt.
"What?!" Anastasia gasped.
Before them was a hole, bordering a larger room.
Ram immediately jumped off of the ground dragon, Anastasia following behind her in a sprint.
Sliding down the sand pit, they noticed how putrid the smell was. As if someone had roasted and burned the same patch of rock a hundred times over, somewhat offset by the scent of rotting flesh.
"I can feel him! He's right next to us!"
Ram twisted her head back and forth frantically, searching for any sign of disturbance in the room.
"There's another open spot over there!" Anastasia pointed at the opening on the opposite side of the room.
"No, he's very close... But where!?" Ram continued to survey her surroundings.
Both of the girls dashed along the walls of the room, searching for anything of significance.
"Here!" Ram noted a wall of debris. What looked like a freshly closed passage that had collapsed in on itself, with a mound of freshly broken rock sitting at the bottom.
"He's behind this wall, he's so close!" Ram began to dig frantically, drudging through the slew of rocks that continued to spill onto the ground.
Patrasche quickly assisted, kicking away rocks from the wall, helping to open the passage further, being mindful of the rocks that seemed to endlessly spill from the ceiling.
As they dug further, Rams breathing started to become weary. Anastasia was helping to the best of her ability, but Rams strength wasn't something she considered human. She was tossing boulders left and right, sending large rocks flying in desperation.
Could it be that this girl, despite the way she talked about him, might have a fondness for Subaru? Echidna wondered what could have garnered such a relationship. The way she bickered about him, it seemed like she could care less if he had died in a ditch. But here she was, clawing away at her own expense, doing everything in her power to inch closer to the boy.
After 20 minutes of digging, they could finally start to feel the air breeze through the rocks.
"Whoa, it must be hot in there!" Exclaimed Anastasia.
"We're almost there, Barusu! Don't you dare die!"
Echidna could feel something burning on the other end of the wall. She took another look towards Ram and noticed her forehead was bleeding, to the point that blood was dropping down from her chin. The purple haired girl continued to pull away at the rocks, feeling the warm air pressure on her face.
Suddenly, the rocks started to fall away, revealing a scorched room, dimly lit with the orange tint of flames.
Ram powered through the remaining rocks, forcing her way through the gap.
Pushing through, her hands met with a boy's on the other end.
The pink haired oni stopped for a moment, seeing that he was awake and staring at her with a gaze she had never seen before.
"Barusu!" she shouted as she grabbed hold of his shoulders, eying him down from top to bottom as if she were his mother.
His face was dusted completely black. His left eye was a deep red, with blood leaking from his forehead. His arms were heavily burned, and the tips of his fingers were covered in blood from digging through the rubble. His torso was shirtless, laced with small burns and patches of blood that didn't appear to be his own. All of his limbs were intact, and he had minor scratches and bruises covering the rest of his body.
"What happened to you?!" She interrogated him with a worried stare, continuing to survey his body.
He only continued to stare at her with a disfigured look, eyes wide open and his mouth expressionless.
Then, tears began to flow down his cheeks. His eyes remained open in a mad stare.
"Aaaa..aaaaaa...Rrrraaaa.."
The boy tried opening his mouth, but his breath couldn't form anything coherent.
"Huh-Just what are-" Ram could only mutter at the confusing state the boy was in, when suddenly-
He embraced her.
"Baru-Wha-What are you doing?!"
Subaru gripped his arms around her waste and planted his face into her chest, a dam of tears breaking from his eyes.
"Aaaaa...Raaaaaa...mmm..."
Ram looked at the boy with confusion and apprehension. She was about to smack him away, but the state of his body was such that she couldn't bring herself to injure him further.
She turned to Anastasia, with a slight blush and a worried look on her face.
"Anastasia-sama, he needs water!"
Echidna made her way to Patrasche, who looked like she could tackle the couple at any moment, angrily slapping her tail back and forth across the ground and against the wall, snorting at the sight of her injured master.
Before the girl could even get close, the ground dragon turned, lifting her back and tossing the supply pouch directly into Anastasia's arms.
Echidna was surprised by this, but then quickly remembered the importance of the situation and dashed back towards Ram and the near-catatonic boy.
She pulled out a flask of water and gestured towards Ram, but the oni's gaze was fixated on something.
"R-Ram-san?" Anastasia peered through the hole in the wall to see what Ram was looking at.
Behind them was a wall blazing in flames. Beneath the flames lie a massive body of a beast she had never seen before.
"What is that thing?" Anastasia muttered to herself sheepishly.
On the ground lay multiple severed arms and hoofed legs. Guts strewn from the body of the beast covered the ground, spilling out from it's bisected stomach.
But what confused them the most was the fact that the beast didn't appear to be missing any of it's appendages.
Perhaps there were more of these things? The girls could only look in wonder at the scene before them.
Ram pulled Subaru out of the hellish looking room, resting him against a nested Patrasche.
The boy had cried himself to sleep in her arms.
Ram had never seen Subaru cling to her like this. Sure, he had cried his heart out before, mostly when around others, but her?
Even now, hours later, a visible look of confusion couldn't break from Ram's face.
"Just what exactly happened here?"
"I dunno. D'ya think Natsuki-kun took that thing down himself?"
Ram shook her head in confusion.
"You said it yourself, Anastasia-sama. He is almost completely useless in combat. If I had to place him on a scale of combat strength, I would have to say he is about equal to a Wolgarm or two." Ram stopped referring to herself in third person for a moment.
"Ah, they're not anythin' impressive, that's for sure. Whatever that thing was in th' other room, it looked terrifyin' though. D'ya reckon you could take one down?" The bluish green eyed princess looked towards Ram inquisitively.
"That's difficult to say for certain, I'm sure I could have slashed it open quite thoroughly, but..."
Ram's eyes focused back towards the gap in the wall.
"That thing might have some kind'f regenerative ability." Anastasia confirmed Ram's thoughts.
The girls continued to sit against the ground dragon, wondering if they should continue with the injured boy, or wait for others to possibly arrive. They had patched him up with the medical supplies that they had, but sooner or later he would need attention from someone who could practice proper healing magic.
Just then, Ram's eyes perked up.
"huh?" Anastasia hoped to get a reply from the pink haired girl.
"Someone's approaching... Ram doesn't believe they are a monster, however..."
Anastasia glared expectantly towards Ram.
"Ram does not know who this person is."
Moments later, a wall burst open in front the girls, revealing a tall woman with barely anything covering her body.
The lady slowly made her way to the resting ground dragon, whose scale covered tail flapped repeatedly against the ground, as if anticipating danger.
The girls winced in confusion as to what exactly was happening.
For a moment, Echidna wanted to shoot out a question towards the looming figure before her, but the words couldn't escape Anastasia's mouth.
Instead a grin appeared on the girls face, and she spoke in a childish tone.
"Aaah, Master! I found you!"
Chapter 1, end.
Alright, so this is literally my first attempt at a fan fiction. I have been reading a few lately and decided I would give it a shot with a scenario that peaked my own interest. Chapter 2 is finished, I am just making it presentable so I can upload it either later today or some time tomorrow. Chapter 3 is still being written. If you have any constructive feedback, please leave a review of the chapter. I made sure to read through it several times and make changes to help the flow, but I don't have any friends who are caught up with the web novel yet so I haven't found anyone to test read it for me.