Pride Chapter 6: Plans in motion

Natsuki Subaru once again was sent back to the moment the fire began to spread across the kingdom, with his mind managing to ignore the pain he suffered in the last loop. The only thing in his mind wasn't how to end it all, it wasn't how he wanted to mock the sword saint, and it wasn't on how to survive the encounter, it was in defeating his counterpart, Natsuki Subaru, the self proclaimed knight of Emilia.

In his previous loops, he didn't put too much focus on his counterpart but his interactions with him and his two allies allowed him to know how to easily deal with the threat that is his counterpart, someone who could destroy all the hard work he had made in order to make himself the bad guy and to make Emilia the king of Lugnica. He turned towards the group with a serious facial expression, looking that he has Elsa, Meili, Roswaal, Ram, and Blue to work with. He knows that Elsa, Meili, and Blue can take care of the demi human known as Garfiel. He knows that using Roswaal's status could help him out while having the clown keep an eye on the maid since he can tell that she didn't help at all.

'Okay, I need to beat that bastard calling himself Emilia's knight. Let's start off with the problems I will be dealing with in this loop. The first being that demi human known as Garf. The return of the knight blue had killed. Natsuki Subaru himself using that whip as a weapon...mental note, learn to use a whip. Let's see, Elsa and Meili will work together to keep the Demi human busy while I ask blue to try to trick that Julius guy. Blue will do the same thing in killing the purple haired knight. Roswaal will have the maid keep an eye on Emilia until I want her to confront me. The last thing I need is for Natsuki Subaru to get to her first. Lastly Roswaal will keep the sword saint bastard busy and away from Natsuki Subaru and myself. The last thing is that I will deal with my counterpart myself, he is mine to take down.'

Knowing what he is going to do, he turned towards his group and started to say with a serious facial expression,

"We are not done here yet."

"What do you mean, oni-s~an?"

"We have one last thing to deal with before I finally end this. Elsa, you and Meili will look for a blonde demi human boy. He will be fighting some of Meili's Mabeast near the entrance."

"Do you want me to keep the boy alive or kill him?"

"Distract him as long as possible but if you want to see his bowels, then go for it. I don't care either way."

"As you wish, contractor."

Elsa smiles as her and Meili start leaving towards the entrance of Lugnica, the bowel hunter excited to see who her opponent is while Meili was interested to see who is attacking her mabeast. As the two were leaving, blue approached Subaru, curious to know what he will be doing.

"Subaru-sama, what would nyow like me to do?"

"Blue, I have an important task for you."

"Yes Subaru-sama?"

"I need you to go find your purple haired knight, Julius. He is still alive somehow and I need you to find him, trick him into going with you somewhere and killing him. Make sure he is alone and doesn't suspect a thing or you will be killed."

"Understood Subaru-sama, I will not fail, nya!"

Ferris bowed to Subaru before going into the kingdom in search of Julius, knowing that this is his top priority now. As Ferris leaves, Roswaal and Ram both approach the witch cultist boy with Ram not caring for him while Roswaal was interested to know what happened in the previous loops.

"Whaaaaat are we dealing with, co-conspiraaaaator?"

"Well we are dealing with a number of factors, I just need you and your maid to take care of two factors for me."

"Whaaaat might that be?"

"I need your maid to find Emilia and keep her away from me until I give the signal."

"Signal?"

"You'll know it, maid."

"Okay. What about meeeee?"

"Margrave Roswaal L Mathers, you have a lot of influence in this kingdom. I want you to keep the sword saint distracted and away from everyone. The last thing I need is for that prick to help the other me or to kill me."

"Weeeell, I will do my best co-conspiraaaaator."

"You better because this is the last loop I have to pull this off."

Roswaal was a bit concerned when hearing this but brushed it off since he knew that his co-conspirator knows what he is doing. Natsuki Subaru knew that he could kill himself as many times as needed but due to how his counterpart could also loop, he knew that each loop would play out different, making it unpredictable if he kept looping to achieve a future he wanted. Roswaal and Ram nodded at Subaru before leaving off, both of them knowing their objectives. As they left, Subaru looked at the fire once again, finding joy and calmness when looking at it for a few seconds.

"I don't care who gets hurt, I don't care how many times I die, I will beat you Natsuki Subaru, the so-called knight of Emilia. I will achieve the ending I want, with Emilia winning the royal selection with our name becoming the ultimate villain."

Natsuki Subaru smiled as the fire made him prepared for the ultimate confrontation with his counterpart.

Natsuki Subaru returned to the checkpoint where he was with Julius and Garfiel. Knowing that he needs to move quickly, he pulled Julius and Garfiel's arms to get them to start running towards the kingdom. As the three were sprinting towards the kingdom, Garfiel looked at Subaru for a moment before looking forward.

"What's the plan, Cap'n?"

"We have a few things to take care of. First things first, Julius, there is something you should know."

"What is it?"

Subaru paused himself for a moment, knowing that this information he is going to give is big and could effect Julius in a negative way but it is something he needs to know. He looked at Julius' direction and started to speak with a serious tone of voice,

"Felix is on the side of the witch cult in this world."

"Wait what?"

Julius stopped on his tracks, trying to process what his friend just said. Subaru knew that there is no time to stand around and chat but also that they need to be informed of what's to come. He looked at the two with a serious face before speaking on the things he learned.

"This world is like ours but with a few differences. A lot of people really hate me because the version of me here is a witch cultist."

"What?"

"But Cap'n! You would never do somethin' like th't!"

"I know but this version did and now he is apparently the Sin Archbishop of Pride."

"That's..."

"...unbelievable."

Both Julius and Garfiel were taken aback from this information, seeing that this world is hell. Before they could even think on the possibilities that lead this world's Natsuki Subaru to go into the witch cult, Subaru snapped his fingers to get their attention back. As he does this, he quickly says to them,

"We have no time. Felt is in danger, Old Man Rom is in danger, my evil counterpart will be sending Roswaal, Elsa, Meili, and Ram after us."

"Of course th't bastard would send Ram...fucking Roswaal."

"You should be respectful to the one helping your camp, Garfiel-san."

"Not the point here, we need to think quickly if we want to save everyone and beat Natsuki Subaru."

"We can kill yer evil self."

"No, killing him wouldn't work."

"And why not?"

"You'll just have to trust me on this."

Julius and Garfiel were hesitant by this but knowing that Subaru wouldn't say things without a reason, they trusted they boy's judgement and word.

"So Cap'n, how do we handle that clown and yer evil self?"

"Garfiel, we need you to find Ram. You can convince her to join our side but you also need to be careful for Elsa and Meili. Those two will be around to cause you trouble."

"Hm. Don't ya worry Cap'n, my amazin' self can handle the bitch in black."

"I know. Julius, we need to find Felt and get her to lead us to Old Man Rom. He might be the key to beating my evil counterpart."

"Okay but what if we encounter Felix."

"Should that happen, you will be the one to deal with him. You two are friends and allies, I know you could get through to Felix."

"Alright Subaru, if you say so."

Julius nodded before Subaru asked the two if there was anything they needed to ask. The only question they had was if he was alright. Both of them were shocked to hear about Subaru's counterpart being a witch cult but they don't know how their friend feels and wanted to know. As the two wanted to make sure he was alright, Subaru thought for a moment before being able to answer in a calm and honest manner,

"I don't know. It is just...surreal seeing myself as a witch cultist, especially when he calls himself the Sin Archbishop of Pride but even so, I have to stay strong. I am Emilia's knight! I have to keep moving forward."

"Ya know ya can talk about it if it bothers ya."

"I know, thanks Garfiel. As much as I want to talk about this, we should hurry back inside."

"Right!"

Julius and Garfiel nodded before following Subaru into the kingdom, knowing that they have to hurry if they want to save Felt. As the three enter the building, the three stick together with Subaru leading them to Felt's location first, knowing that she should be their priority before helping the knights push back the Mabeast. As they were arriving to the location, Garfiel quickly used his strength to move the boulder quickly, allowing Felt to escape. As she did this, Subaru quickly picked her up and turned towards the group.

"Alright, let's go help out the knights."

Julius and Garfiel nodded, all three quickly running towards the entrance to assist the knights. While this was going on, Felt was a bit confused on what was going on yet she did felt grateful to still be alive. Felt looked around to see a knight and a demi human running side to side with the boy who was carrying her.

"Wh-Who are you three?"

"My amazin' self's Garfiel Tinsel, The Shield of Sanctuary. Th'knight there's Julius. Th'one carrying ya is Cap'n, also known as Natsuki Subaru."

"Natsuki...Subaru..."

Felt thought for a moment before realizing what the name stands for. Before being able to react, Subaru anticipated this and quickly he said,

"If you are thinking of a witch cultist, I ain't him. He is a bastard that made the wrong choice in life. I'm the one who fights for my friends."

The little girl heard this and took a moment before deciding to trust the boy, hearing from his voice that he is determined. Although she has heard the witch cultist Natsuki subaru speak only once in her life, she knows the difference between that Natsuki Subaru and the one that is carrying her is how the witch cultist sounds insane while the one here has a voice of someone that is full of life. This helped the girl trust the boy carrying her, knowing that she also owes him for saving her life, him and the other two. Once the three boys made it to the entrance, Subaru set Felt down before turning towards the Mabeast with Garfiel and Julius charging towards the threat. Subaru stood back with his whip out and ready to be used. Before the boy did anything, he looked at Felt and started to ask,

"Do you know where Old Man Rom is located?"

"Wait, you know Old Man Rom?"

"Yes...it's a little hard to explain but I do know him. He is...a friend."

"Well I know where he is but we better hurry then, the fire might get to where he is hold up."

"Don't worry, we will get there in time, just be a little patient."

"But—"

"Please trust me, Felt. We will save Old Man Rom, I promise."

"...you better keep that promise."

"I will."

Felt nodded before looking at Julius and Garfiel manage to change the tides of battle for the knights, allowing them to get many citizens of Lugnica out of the burning kingdom and towards safety. After a bit of fighting, Julius and Garfiel both returned to Subaru, knowing that their plan requires perfect timing. Once the group reunite, Subaru turns towards Felt to alert her that they are going to help her save Old Man Rom now. She smiles at them before quickly leading the trio towards the location of where Old Man Rom is located. As the three were following Felt, Garfiel noticed that something was wrong. He quickly jumped in front of Felt and managed to stop a random attack thrown towards the little girl. As he did this, the group realized that it was the bowel hunter.

"Bitch in black."

"That's not how to treat a woman."

"Shut up!"

Garfiel pushed Elsa back but before he could react to attack Elsa, Subaru noticed a large Mabeast trying to sneak attack his friend.

"Garfiel! Watch out!"

Garfiel noticed what his captain had said, causing him to look at his left side to notice the Mabeast he had killed by in the mansion charging towards him. He quickly jumped out of the way while Subaru and Julius pulled Felt away from the danger. The knight was tempted to help Garfiel out but Subaru touched his arm to get his attention.

"Trust Garfiel, he knows what he's doing."

Julius was hesitant at first but he nodded at his friend before turning towards Garfiel's fight, seeing him managing to push back the Mabeast by having half his transformations. The demi human boy waited for a moment before managing to go under the Mabeast to slice it's stomach. Once Garfiel succeeded in defeated the Mabeast, he turned towards Elsa with a confident smile on his face.

"Yer sure ya wanna face me? My amazin' self beat ya previously in my world, bitch in black."

"My My, that is quite interesting to hear. Show me how you beat my counterpart."

"Will do!"

Garfiel and Elsa both charged at each other, managing to clash weapons with intense strength. Julius wanted to join and help Garfiel yet Subaru stopped him.

"I know it looks like Garfiel needs help but give him a moment, he will win this fight."

"Are you sure? The bowel hunter is quite persistent from what Reinhard told."

"She is but Garfiel has beaten her before. Just trust him."

Julius took a moment before looking at Garfiel's fight, seeing just how equal the two sides were at first until Garfiel immediately started to take the advantage. Having recalled the way Elsa fought back in the mansion battle gave Garfiel a massive advantage since Elsa doesn't know the exact way Garfiel fights. This allowed the demi human boy to dodge the Bowel Hunter's attacks with ease before managing to land fatal blows on the woman's body, knowing that he as to give it his all in this fight.

He lands a few more devestating blows before finishing it off by having his right hand go into its beast transformation to cause the most damage as possible. Once achieving this, he send Elsa flying into a burning house while also leaving her with a partial of her head torn off. Julius and Felt were caught off guard by this while Subaru just looked proud at Garfiel. Before any of them could say or do something, they all hear a little girl shout out,

"Onee-san!"

This alerted the three boys that the voice was from Meili herself. She came out of hiding and went to check on Elsa while sending a horde of Mabeast towards Garfiel, wanting him dead. Subaru and Julius both ran towards Garfiel's side, both prepared to assist the demi human boy. As the three prepared to fight, Felt quickly approached the trio and warned them that they don't have time.

"Old Man Rom is in danger! We have to go!"

"Right. Garfiel, Julius, let's get going."

"But what about—"

"Don't worry about them, we can deal with it later."

Julius nodded at this and quickly with the group followed Felt. As the four of them left the area, Meili approached the burning building and with the help of the Mabeast were able to get Elsa's body out of the house before it collapsed. As they get her body out, Elsa looked around as her head managed to heal from Garfiel's attack. Meili looked with worry which was something the bowel hunter had noticed. She patted the young girl's head while saying,

"No need to worry about me."

"I-I wasn't worried!"

"Of course."

Elsa smiled before getting up, knowing that her objective is to still look for and take out the demi human she fought yet she realized that it won't be that easy.

"That boy was amazing! Though a little unfair, he knows how I fight."

"That shouldn't be a problem, you'll still beat him regardless onee-san."

"Of course. I must see the boy's bowels."

Meili nodded when she heard what Elsa said, knowing that she will see the demi human's bowels one way or another. The assassin sisters turn towards the group's direction and proceed to follow them.

'Why do I have such bad luck?!'

A young man thinks to himself has he is running, wishing that he still had his faithful ground dragon with him. The young man continued to run away from the burning kingdom, knowing who was the one that cause of this problem.

"Natsuki Subaru...the witch cultist."

The young man knows the name of the person his owner had sent him to help, after being forced to clean the messes the witch cultist boy leaves. The previous mess being the death of a knight, the finest knight of Lugnica. This made him aware of just how dangerous the witch cultist boy is since he isn't just some simple witch cultist.

'He is too smart to be a simple follower...maybe a sin archbishop? Who knows but I hope he dies a painful death.'

As the young man thinks this, he notices the boy he fears and hates running alongside a little girl, an odd looking boy with blonde hair, and a knight. This at first caused the young man to close his eyes and opened them, thinking that he is seeing things due to the stress he is in from wanting to live until he paid close attention. As he looked closely, he realized that what he is seeing is the truth, he is watching Natsuki Subaru walking alongside a knight. A familiar knight that made him question if the witch cultist boy has witch cultist within the knights of Lugnica but he knew that he has to stop him before he does any more damage.

'I'm going to stop you, Natsuki Subaru! I, Otto Suwen, will stop you!'

Otto thought this before following the group, wanting to make sure the most dangerous witch cultist is taken care of. He follows the group for a bit, seeing them being attacked by a couple of Mabeast which did caused Otto to question why the Mabeast would attack their leader. As the group reaches a building that as yet to be caught by the flames. He follows the group inside the building to see that they are trying to free someone.

'What is this witch cultist up to?'

As he stays in place, he could hear that there is some chatting in the room with Subaru being the one to ask,

"Are you sure that Old Man Rom is here?"

"Y-Yes! I remember where they took him!"

"Okay Okay, no need to get hostile towards me."

"Subaru, do you think that we need the giant's help?"

"Yes Julius, we need his assistance. My evil self knows about you and Garfiel, so we need one last person to help us take down that crazy ass witch cultist."

'His evil self? What in the world is he speaking off? Is he really that delusional?'

Otto thought to himself since the conversation made no sense. What's even more confusing to him is the fact that someone called Julius sounds just like the Julius he had to clean up a while back. This curiosity caused him to want to make sure that he isn't going insane himself, making him try to take a peek only to accidentally make noise by bumping a chair. Julius, Garfiel, and Felt all three got on guard while Subaru looked at the direction of the noise, having a sense that there is another ally there. He looked at Garfiel and nodded, allowing the demi human boy to investigate. Once he goes to investigate, he notices that someone is trying to run away.

"Oi! Get back here!"

Garfiel quickly chases Otto and manages to pin the young man down. As Garfiel had Otto pinned to the ground, the demi human boy started to say,

"Who'r ya?!"

"..."

"...wait."

Garfiel sniffed the boy until it finally clicked to him, having recognize the scent of a friend.

"Otto!"

"...Y-You know me?"

"Yea! Sorry 'bout th't."

Garfiel helped Otto get back on his feet while Julius, Subaru, and Felt all three joined the two boys. As the three catch up, Otto looks at the three and at first he was hostile until he realized that the knight in front of him is the same knight he had to clean up.

"H-How? How are you alive? I saw you die!"

"Seems like...this world's Subaru is too far gone to help."

"Yeah, he is. Anyway Otto, we are not from this world. My name is Natsuki Subaru but not the Sin Archbishop of Pride Natsuki Subaru. I'm just a boy who wants to fix the wrongs my counterpart had created."

Otto looked at the boy with a serious facial expression, trying to see if he is lying or not. After careful examination, he crossed his arms and thought to himself for a moment, contemplating on what he should do. He does want to stop the Sin Archbishop of Pride but he knows that he can't do much compared to Julius and Garfiel. Subaru could see a bit of doubt from his friend's counterpart, causing him to pat Otto's should while saying,

"We could use your help. We need everyone we can to beat the Sin Archbishop of Pride."

"I-I don't know..."

Subaru thought and thought for a moment before recalling something Otto said in a previous loop.

"Otto, what if we can get you out of your debt?"

"Huh? Wait wait wait wait, will you do that?"

"Yea! We're brothers! Cap'n can help ya out!"

Garfiel pats Otto's back which slightly bothers Otto for a brief moment before returning his attention to what Subaru said.

"Can you actually help me with my debt?"

"Yes, I can Otto."

Otto stood silent for a moment before ending up breaking down right in front of them, having finally found some good luck after having to deal with so much bad luck. After having lost his freedom by becoming a debt slave to Russell. Seeing that there is a chance to be a free merchant once again caused Otto to agree in assisting the trio in whatever they needed. Subaru nodded and smiled when he heard this before they returned to looking for Old Man Rom. They searched around the building until finally they arrived at the cell where someone was trying to break their way out. Felt recognized the voice as they were shouting,

"Let me out!"

"That's...Old Man Rom!"

The little girl used her divine protection to quickly make her way towards the cell Old Man Rom was located in. Subaru, Otto, Garfiel, and Julius all four quickly ran towards Felt's position, seeing how both her and Old Man Rom were happy to see each other again.

"Garfiel."

"I got it, Cap'n."

Garfiel understood what he needed to do and quickly asked Felt and Old Man Rom to stand back. The two nodded and listened before stepping back, allowing Garfiel to do his job to destroy the cell. Once he does this, Felt and Old Man Rom both hugged since they reunited after a while of not seeing each other. After hugging for a bit, Old Man Rom turned towards the boys to thank them until he noticed Subaru.

"Okay Old Man Rom, I know I look familiar but I'm not him."

"Of course not, I presume that you share the same face to the witch cultist boy."

Subaru was surprised to hear this yet he was happy that Old Man Rom was able to tell that he isn't his evil counterpart. Before they could continue the plan, there was one thing he wanted to confirm with Felt and Old Man Rom.

"I know this has probably been a long while since it's happen for you two but what happened with the insignia incident?"

"Yeah...the Sword Saint arrested us because of that incident."

"Wait, you all didn't meet my counterpart?"

"No, why?"

"Because I know where the change is of this world. Anyway, I probably should give you all your roles in order to beat the Sin Archbishop of Pride."

The group nodded and each received their specific roles, knowing that they will all tie in together to finally take down the Sin Archbishop of Pride. Once everyone got their roles, Julius turned towards Subaru in a concerned facial expression.

"Are you sure you should be the one to face your counterpart?"

"I know you are worried Julius but I should be fine."

"Just know th't we got yer back, Cap'n."

"Thanks Garfiel."

The two nodded at each other before they all separate with Subaru and Garfiel going in one direction while Old Man Rom, Felt, and Ott going in another path, and lastly Julius going on his own in one pathway. As the three groups separate, Julius walks on his own for a bit before he was greeted by a familiar figure.

"Julius-kyun!"

"Felix."

The two looked at each other for a moment before Ferris smiled at Julius, having a facial expression of kindness and happiness. At first Julius was happy to see Ferris once again yet having spend time with him in his own world, he could tell that this Ferris was different than his. Just as what Subaru had said, Ferris was not to be trusted. Julius pointed his sword directly at his friend's counterpart.

"Stand back, Felix."

"Huh? What's the matter?"

"Tell me this, why are you siding with Natsuki Subaru?" Julius knew that he needed to word his question carefully.

"Subaru-sama? He is myai master. He takes good care of Ferris-chan. Nyow, please go back to dead."

"Hm. This time you won't beat me, Felix."

While Julius and Felix were about to face each other, Subaru and Garfiel both walked for a bit while they planned their part to beat the Natsuki Subaru of this world.

"Do ya think th't he'll fall for th's plan?"

"Knowing my counterpart, he would take the opportunity to take me down if I left myself in the open."

"Yea, but can ya hold him off long enough for Otto and his group that do their part?"

"Yes. My counterpart and I are physically the same strength but I got some tricks up my sleeves."

"Well no matter what, ya got th's Cap'n!"

Subaru nodded at this and the two continued to walk for a bit until suddenly the two boys realize that they were surrounded by Mabeast.

"Seems like we got some company, Cap'n."

"Yup, all going according to plan."

Garfiel nodded with confidence before preparing himself for a fight against the Mabeast until a familiar figure approached the two boys. The two were not surprised by this since they are aware of how this woman is hard to kill.

"My My, normally people would be shocked but you two are not even fazed to see me."

"We already know how you are, Bowel Hunter. Besides, we have the advantage here."

"Is that so? Then let us have some fun."

As Elsa was going to attack Subaru, Garfiel goes in between the two and begins the rematch between The Bowel Hunter of this world and the Shield of Sanctuary from another world. As the two went all out, the Mabeast tried to attack Subaru with Meili being in charge yet Emilia's knight was able to escape the attacks. He ran around for a bit until he was confronted by his counterpart. The two stared at each other for a brief moment before the witch cultist boy began to speak,

"Well, if it isn't the knight."

"If it isn't the Sin Archbishop of Pride himself."

"Let's finish this farce."