After everyone was reset due to the Loop, the others regrouped at their base.

"Jeez, getting reset hurts my head…" Ty said.

"Hey, this is the first time for many of us. I thought you guys were exaggerating about how Subaru's life was here, but you definitely weren't." Nemo said.

"There I was, complaining about sleeping in a stable and having crazy party members, and all the while…" Kazuma trailed off.

"Yeah, all this is happening to him." Ethox said.

"Alright, clearly our plan didn't work last time." DJ said. "We ain't getting anything out of Miss Psycho, even if we do manage to capture her. So much for that part."

"We'll deal with Elsa when the time comes." Mirror Match said. "The pressing question now is 'what's our next move?'."

"Let's review what we know so far. While we're working to get all of the pure blooded refugees out of the village, someone hired Elsa to kill everybody in the mansion. Obviously, it seems like someone is testing Subaru with a choice. Save everybody trapped in the Sanctuary, or save everyone living in the mansion. And it looks like they're trying to convince us that we can't do both." DJ said.

"We'll easily be able to rescue the villagers trapped in the Sanctuary thanks to getting reinforcements from the Tempest and Nazarik branches. But the hard part is saving everyone in the mansion from that immortal psycho." Rista said.

"Yeah…she's definitely not going down easy. Plus there's also the fact that she's got an accomplice." Cobalt said. "Someone who can command Mabeasts."

"Should we use another Loop to find out who it is? Or do we try a different approach to get everyone out of the mansion before Elsa comes knocking?" Nemo asked.

"Another loop would probably be the best idea. Least she doesn't come into Sanctuary. Least here we can think and plan." Theo said.

"Guys, c'mon, are you really gonna exploit Subaru's curse like this? I know he acts tough, but think of how all this might be affecting him." Kazuma said.

"We don't have another choice, Sato." Tanya said bluntly. "As angry as I am at feeling powerless, we're in the dark until we figure out who hired Elsa. If it means going through a few loops to figure it out, then we will go through as many as necessary."

Kazuma actually looked angry at this statement. "Is that what his curse is to you guys? Convenient? Your own personal nuclear option?"

"Hey, Kazuma, it's not like that-" Theo tried to assure the otaku.

"I think Thanos and that pack of Manectric would beg to differ!" Kazuma countered. "Was using him the first thing that popped into your head, or did you just want to end it fast?"

The boy received no answer from the guild members, who suddenly looked uncomfortable.

"...Yeah, that's what I thought." Kazuma said as he turned. "I'm going to talk to Subaru, see what he thinks. When you have a plan that doesn't involve having him intentionally die, let me know." he said as he slammed the door.

"I've never seen Kazuma act so… serious." Megumin noticed.

"Yeah, he's been like this ever since we stepped foot in Lugunica. What's going on with him?" Aqua asked.

"Well, he and Subaru have had similar upbringings in the Isekai department, even though Kazuma was reincarnated and Subaru summoned." Ethox said. "But…I dunno why Kazuma's so protective of Subaru. Though, come to think of it, he's always tried to stand up for him. Do you think he was like that while they were in Tokyo?"

"We'd have to ask David about that." Ty said.

"Yeah….for now…let's try and keep making plans." Theo said.


Over the course of a couple of days, Kazuma couldn't find Subaru as he ended up wandering the woods for a long time. That was…until something started to happen.

"Huh?" Kazuma pondered as snow was falling and piling up. "Wait a sec, it's the middle of June. Why the hell is it snowing…?"

He then heard groaning as he looked to the nearby buildings as Subaru emerged slowly.

"What…what's going on?" Subaru said.

"Dude?" Kazuma asked.

"Kazuma…so there you are." Subaru said.

"Me? What happened to you? I've been looking for you for the last two days!" Kazuma asked.

"Garfiel and Ryuzu…they thought I was with the Witch's Cult and…Garf tried to kill me." Subaru said.

"He what?!" Kazuma yelled. "Where is he, that son of a bitch!?"

"No clue. I just woke up in the dungeon." Subaru said.

"Damn it, he could be anywhere…" Kazuma said, before a thought struck him. "Come to think of it…where's everybody else? They couldn't have just left."

"Yeah…" Subaru said as they wandered through the village and found it barren. As they expanded their search outward, they soon came across something.

A small white rabbit with a horn and red eyes as it looked at them curiously.

"Usagi?" Subaru said in confusion.

"That's weird, I haven't seen any rabbits around here before…" Kazuma said as Subaru approached it. "Hey, be careful."

"It's a rabbit, what's the harm in-?" Subaru asked as he knelt down to pet it…

Then a quick movement, Subaru's hand went flying off as he held his wrist in pain as the rabbit nibbled on his severed thumb.

"S-S-Subaru!" Kazuma yelled as he drew his sword and ran towards his friend. "Get away from it!"

Subaru tried to back away from the rabbit, only to fall over as he felt something take his foot. Looking over he saw another pair of red eyes.

Kazuma reached his friend and managed to pick him up. "I gotcha, buddy. C'mon, we gotta-!"

The otaku then saw multiple red eyes all across the area, as a horde of rabbits had them surrounded, then charged.

"...Crap." Was all Kazuma had time to say before the rabbits reached them.

The Rabbits soon swarmed both Subaru and Kazuma, devouring them like a pack of rabid piranhas.

The Demon Beast known as the Great Rabbit enjoyed their feast while the two otherworlds cried out to an uncaring, empty forest.


It wasn't long before Return by Death activated, sending the two back to the ruins once more. This time, however…

"AAAHHH!" Kazuma screamed as he woke up. Subaru, meanwhile, was even less controlled: screaming in anguish as he slammed his head on the ground, hard enough to draw blood.

"You all pass the qualifications. I invite you all to a witches tea party." a voice called out as both soon vanished as they joined their groups inside of a familiar space.

"Well…this is rare. I don't normally get repeat guests for a tea party. You should feel honored." Echidna said.

Kazuma and Subaru suddenly felt much calmer, though the former was uneasy at the sight of the Witch of Greed. "Wh-What? We were…screaming, and then…" he trailed off.

"We heard you both screaming your butts off. We were worried, so we were set to take off to find you at the sanctuary, but then, well…" Megumin said.

"Here we are, yeah." Ty nodded, as those who didn't meet Echidna for the first time saw her. "So, that's Echidna huh?"

"Yes…the Witch of Greed." Ivy said.

"The only reason those two are calm is because of the tea they drank earlier." Echidna said. "If I hadn't intervened, their souls would have crumbled to dust."

"Well… thanks, I guess." Ethox said.

"Wait…you…you aren't thrown by any of this." Subaru realized. "I assume the mark was before the first tea party, but that's not right. You're not thrown by any of this…cause you know it's happened."

"Do I now?" Echidna said, playing coy.

"Don't play dumb. You know anything about everything. I wouldn't go so far as to say you scanned our brains the minute we got in here." DJ said.

"Test me then." Echidna said.

"You may…choose to regret that. Echidna…I've…" Subaru said.

"Subaru, you don't have to-!" Theo said.

"I've been returning by death!" Subaru called out. However, unlike previous uses, nothing happened after he said it.

"The Penalty… it didn't activate!" Kazuma realized.

"When I die…I go back in time, reset the world. It's happened a lot." Subaru said, much quieter. "I call it Return by Death."

"I heard you." Echidna said. "And before I heard you, I saw you."

"I die…and I come back…" Subaru said. "Return by Death, Return by Death, Return by Death!"

"Uh…buddy?" Kazuma said in concern.

"I understand how you feel, but you don't need to-" Echidna said before Subaru got straight in her face.

"It's true! I've been returning by death! I've died and come back, over and over again! Got it?!" Subaru yelled, as if he refused to believe this was happening, thinking that she would die any moment.

"Hey, take it easy! Listen to me for a minute!" Echidna said, looking flustered.

"I…!" Subaru said, before he fell to his knees and cried in sheer relief. "I…All this time…ever since I came to this world…even though the guild knows…I've never been able to say it to them! To anyone!" he sobbed. "I've always felt…so alone…never being able to talk about it…!"

The guild members looked between each other, the full weight behind Kazuma's words from the last loop setting in.

"I never realized…how alone he felt by just never even uttering those words." Theo said.

Subaru cried at the foot of Echidna's table, before the girl embraced him, stroking his hair. "I know." she said gently. "I know every single step you've taken on your path here. I've been watching you. But watching…was all I could do. So, if you don't mind, I'd like you to tell me your thoughts, your feelings, both good and bad, the weights you've carried. I want to know everything. That is what drives me. After all…I am the Witch of Greed Echidna."

The group soon approached Echidna and Subaru.

"Subaru…as guild leader…all I can say is this." Theo said as he prostrated himself on the ground. "Please forgive my insensitivity towards you. Same with the rest of us."

"We didn't understand what you were going through because you never had any way of telling us the truth. And we couldn't ask you or listen because if we did…we'd end up like Thanos or that pack of Manectric." Ethox said. "We owe you an apology too, Kazuma. Last loop, you were right about us using Return by Death as a crutch. We didn't consider what that would do to Subaru… but now we know all the pain he's been going through since coming to this world. And we never knew just badly you wanted to protect him."

Kazuma sighed. "I'm sorry too, guys. I shouldnt've been so distant and tried to help Subaru get through this all on my own. And look where that got me, am I right? Devoured by a pack of rabid, man-eating rabbits."

"Hold on…rabbits? What did they look like?" Ivy asked.

"Well, they all looked the same. They had white fur, horns… and red eyes." Kazuma said.

"Oh no…" Ivy said. "Kazuma…if you are giving an accurate description…I think what you encountered was the Great Rabbit."

"Great Rabbit? Wait, Simon mentioned that name!" Ethox said.

"Yes. It's one of the three great Mabeasts created by the Witch of Gluttony. While the Whale was the strongest, the rabbit is the most difficult to destroy." Ivy said.

"I can see why, those things swarmed us like ants." Kazuma said. "Though if we brought a bunch of automatic weapons-"

"Wouldn't do any good. As long as one rabbit exists, it'll multiply endlessly." Ivy said.

"Wait, it multiples endlessly?" Kazuma repeated. "...Wait, does it only come out when it snows?"

"Snow…no…but…if there was a large source of magic…then that would probably attract it." Ivy said.

"But that means…" Ethox realized.

"We have a traitor." Tanya finished. "And that traitor must be the one who hired Elsa to massacre everyone in the mansion."

"They're upping the ante. They're trying to make one task so impossible, the other will be a piece of cake." Ty said. "Well, we're not gonna let that stop us. You guys already killed one Demon Beast. Let's make it two in a row."

"But we don't know how we're gonna kill those things. It was possible with the White Whale because they knew what to do, but we don't know anything about this thing." Ultra pointed out.

Echidna cleared her throat. "There is a way…see…I'm not the only Witch of Sin in this space. Pride, Wrath, Gluttony, Lust, Sloth…they're all in here with me." Echidna said.

"You mean… we can actually meet them in person?" Ethox asked.

"We are spirits but…in a way…yes." Echidna said.

"All right then…make it happen. Introduce us…to the Witch of Gluttony." Theo said.