Two days later, it was night as some of the group members prepared to set out, with others staying behind to keep watch for when Roswaal made his move. Kazuma exited the base, taking a deep breath as he saw Subaru, who was holding Rem in the palm of his hand.

"You sure you're up for this?" Subaru asked the living doll, who responded by hugging his thumb. "Heh, great! I'll be counting on you."

"Oi, Subaru!" Kazuma said as he walked up to his friend. "Well, I'm all ready. We heading out soon?"

"Yeah…about that." Subaru said, rubbing the back of head with his free hand. "I was wondering…if you could stay here?"

"What?!" Kazuma asked. "Dude, after everything that's happened?!"

"Yeah, I remember. What you said back in the last loop…most of it was right." Subaru admitted. "But even though I was in a bad place, there are some things I'll stand by. You shouldn't force yourself to be like Eikichi. What happened…it wasn't your fault."

"B-But I-" Kazuma started.

"-was a scared kid back then. So was I." Subaru said. "But we gotta grow up, Kazuma: Eikichi wasn't the perfect aniki you remember him as. He did some dumb things sometimes. Dumb things you're better off not emulating."

"Me trying to save you is-?" the boy started to ask, being interrupted as Subaru raised his hand to stop him.

"No, but doing it without caring about anything else is." Subaru said, causing Kazuma to look down at the ground. "Eikichi could be…a little selfish sometimes. At his worst, he could put his friends over other people who needed help more, including himself. He was a good person, but he had his faults, just like anyone else. And if he could see how we're emulating that behavior…he'd beat himself up about it."

"...Damn it." Kazuma groaned.

"...I really need your help here, dude." Subaru said, laying a hand on Kazuma's shoulder, the younger boy looking up at him. "Can you stay here and help keep an eye on things? I really need you to do this."

"...I…I'll do my best, Subaru." Kazuma promised.

"Heh, that's all I need to hear." the older boy smiled.

"Hey, boss! We're almost ready to go!" Garfiel called out from the carriage.

"On my way!" Subaru called back. "Well, I gotta go. Do your best, and keep the others safe." he said to Kazuma before he took Rem and placed him into Kazuma's hand. "You two watch each other's backs." he said as he turned and began to walk away.

"...You'd better come back, Natsuki!" Kazuma yelled. "If you don't, I'm NTRing Emilia!"

"I'll keep that in mind." Subaru chuckled. "See you later, hentai." he said in jest.

"Back at you, chūnibyō." Kazuma said with a genuine smile as he watched Subaru approach the carriage.

"You sure these things'll help?" Koeing asked Garfiel, referring to two twin shields the Demihuman was bringing along.

"You bet! I'm already the strongest, but when I strap these on, I'll be even stronger!" Garfiel declared.

"I do hope you can back those claims." Tanya said. "Otto, are we ready to depart?"

"Yes, Ms. Degurechaff." Otto confirmed.

"Good." the major nodded. "Now, I'm sure I don't need to remind you all what's at stake here, nor convince you to take this any more seriously than you already are. I intend to bring you all back alive, and woe to any of you who prevent me from doing that."

"That's not the motivational speech I was expecting…" Otto said with a sweatdrop.

"It'll work." DJ said with a nod. "Let's go hunt us a hunter, huh?"

"Yeah…" Subaru said as he planted himself firmly on the steps of the carriage. "Let's get going!"


The night continued on as Roswaal made his way to the chamber where the crystal was before he heard footsteps.

"Well…you seem to have found me here. As for you…I recall….ordering you to stay behind." Roswaal said, as standing in the doorway was Ram and Kazuma.

"I am simply doing what I feel is best. I'm here to take you away…from the witch's delusion." Ram said, drawing her wand.

"Oh so that's what you're doing. It's been some years since you've pointed your wand at me and that you call their words simple delusions." Roswaal said.

"Save it, clown. You're not going to win this. And I will not let you cast that spell." Kazuma said. "Plus…there's still that book you're carrying around."

"Huh…you two are more clever than I gave you credit for." Roswaal said, holding said book. "You created a situation in which I had to carry it with me. For this last step, you should have overlooked this!" he said as the crystal shined showing the original Ryuzu inside. "This is the young girl who sacrificed her own life in order to protect the Sanctuary. But my objective does not involve her. I will make snow fall in the Sanctuary. And in order to use that magic, I need a tremendous amount of focus and delicate flow of mana. If I had already been engaged, you would have easily been the victor."

"Yeah…but there's two things that stopped us." Kazuma said.

"I have no desire to let your wish come true." Ram started. "Receiving you after your desire had been fulfilled, in such a broken state, would not satisfy me."

"And two: when else are the others going to get a shot…at killing the Great Rabbit?" Kazuma asked.

"My, how greedy of you." Roswaal said. "Though now that you stand at the precipice, do you think you can defeat me?"

"No…I'm sure we can't. My understanding of your powers are second only to your teachers. At least…not alone." Ram said.

"But three against one? I'd say we have the advantage!" a voice rose, one Roswaal recognized immediately.

"I seeee…so this is why you agreed to Subaru's plan?" Roswaal asked.

"Not at all, master. As I said…I will take you away from these delusions." Ram repeated.

"I'm here because Subaru trusted me to do my part." Kazuma added.

Puck then materialized between the two.

"And as for me, I'm just a passing stray spirit. All right, let's pick up where we left off. This oughta be fun." Puck said.

"Hmm…we begin!" Roswaal said gathering magic in his hands as Puck created icicles in midair.

"As you wish, master!" Ram said, waving her wand.

"Bring it on, you Joker-looking sonova gun." Kazuma challenged, drawing his sword.

A large explosion could be seen within the ruins as their fight was just beginning.


At the mansion, the assassins were in full swing as Elsa was clashing with Frederica as she was trying her best to slit the Demihuman's stomach.

"I notice you keep going for beneath my chest." Frederica said.

"My hobby. I am the Bowel Hunter after all. There's nothing I enjoy more than cutting open bellies." Elsa said as she lunged once again.

"The bossman says…that the best defense is a good offense." a familiar voice called out as Elsa was repelled by a shield. "So if I use a shield meant for defense to attack…then the best defense and best offense come together as a team! Which makes me the strongest one in this whole damn place!" they said before being revealed as Garfiel to Frederica's surprise. "Right? Big sis? Wait, are you my sister? You're like a damn giant. Should I call you big bro then?" he said before Frederica kicked him.

"We haven't seen each other in all this time, so don't be rude." Frederica chided before smiling. "Look how much you've grown."

"Me? That's bull! You're the one who's practically a damn giant." Garfiel said.

"If I may interrupt…I really would like to get back to business." Elsa said.

"Yeah, sure. Real nice of you to wait for us." Garfiel said. "Hey, big b- big sis, you'll need to get going once you have an opening. We're gonna have our hands full with this bitch."

"'Our'?" Elsa asked before the windows next to them shattered, several group members heycrashing through.

"Did we truly need to crash through the window…?" Mirror Match asked.

"Not really…but it was a cool entrance." DJ answered, turning to Theo. "You get what I mean, right?"

"Yeah…that totally rocked." Theo said.

"Hold on, what are you saying?" Frederica asked Garfiel.

"Sorry, big sis…but she's not the type I can take on without worrying about who's behind me. Remember these shields? We used to play with them when we were kids. It was running with you that gave me strength…and now I'm the strongest one around." Garfiel said as Frederica smiled as she ran off.

"All right, lady in black…we're doing this as a celebration for our friend. He's left the Sanctuary and joined the best guild around!" Theo said.

"And to kick things off…the first thing I'm gonna do is smash your head into the wall!" Garfiel declared.

"Round Three, Bowel Hunter!" DJ smirked as he activated his saws.

Else just stood there with a very wicked grin plastered on her face as both sides engaged in deadly combat against one another.

"Wonderful…you all are simply wonderful!" Elsa said.

"Hearing that from anyone other than Ram don't make me happy!" Garfiel said as he struck back. He tried to punch her head in only for her to dodge and his arm getting stuck in the wall as Elsa took aim before Garfiel caught the blade in his teeth.

"Damn, he is hardcore." DJ observed as he swung a saw towards Elsa's neck, which she blocked with her second blade, sparks flying as the spinning cutter matched the black knife.

Garfiel took the opportunity to wrench his arm out of the wall, taking part of it with him and using it as a makeshift mace to bash at Elsa before grabbing her head and dragging her along the wall face first.

"Wow…I knew there was something I liked about this guy. He's…incredible!" Theo said.

Garfiel's attack was ended when several slashes landed glancing blows on him, and cut a hole in the floor, causing him and Elsa to fall to the level below.

"Come on, fearless leader, high king. We gotta get moving!" DJ urged as he jumped down the hole.

"As if you needed to ask." Theo said, following after him.

As the three landed down, Elsa cut through the cloud of dust, approaching them slowly as she smiled.

"Immortality's no joke with her." DJ said.

"She can not keep going like this forever, however." Mirror Match said. "She must have a limit herself."

"Heh….I am the Bowel Hunter." Elsa introduced herself as she walked towards them. "My name is Elsa Granhiert."

"And I'm the strongest dang shield in the Sanctuary and Mythos Hearts. My name is Garfiel Tinsel!" Garfiel said. "The boss better be doing his part, cause my maiden battle is going to be a big one!"


In another part of the mansion, specifically the library, Beatrice sat before the door opened.

"What are you doing here? I do not recall summoning you, I suppose." Beatrice said as Subaru stood there.

"I'm getting you outta here. We'll be going to the outside world together to play until that dress of yours is covered in mud!" Subaru declared.