Wrath Chapter 1: Blindsight

Natsuki Subaru opened his eyes to find himself in a forest, a bit confused on the location he is in since he is unfamiliar with it. As this happened, he started to get flashes of memories similar to what he received when he was in the Pride world. Although the memories weren't too intense, he could still feel this world's Subaru and what struggles he had to deal with.

("I'll kill you!")

'R-Ram?'

Subaru had recognized the voice from a loop that he deemed his fault since he stayed and did nothing, which resulted in Rem dying and Ram blaming him. As this was happening, a small light approached Subaru. He stayed silent has he started to wonder who the watcher was going to bring him now. He had Julius and Garfiel already though he thought about other allies he would want to have by his side.

'Emilia-tan would be great, Beako would be fun, Otto would be quite interesting, maybe even Reinhard...though I feel like having him would make things overkill, especially if I encounter and befriend this world's Reinhard. Man, imagine having two Reinhards by my side.'

Subaru imagined just how broken he would be if he had two Reinhards fighting by his side. The Natsuki Subaru of this world or any world of that matter that was evil would literally stand no chance if that were the case.

"Man, now I really want that."

As Subaru hoped it was Reinhard, the light brightened the area which blinded him for a brief moment before he heard a familiar voice, one that was an older voice.

"Subaru-dono."

"Wilhelm!"

As the light cleared, Subaru saw that this was someone the boy trusted with everything he had in him, the demon sword known has Wilhelm van Astrea. This made him happy since he gets to spend time with Wilhelm.

"How are you doing?"

"Pretty well...where are we?"

"We are...actually, I don't even know where we are."

"Then we should be on our guard. I was with Crusch-sama until all of a sudden I appeared here. I presume you were with Emilia-sama as you were teleported as well."

"Yeah, something like that, you see—"

Before Subaru could explain anything to Wilhelm, two balls of light started to approach the two. Wilhelm pulled out his sword has he thought of them as possible threats until Subaru stopped him by saying,

"Wait Wilhelm, they are probably more allies."

"Allies?"

"Yes, just give it a moment."

'Two more? What? Is this world that hard that I need two more allies? If the pride me wasn't hard enough, I don't want to know how hard wrath me is.'

As the lights were near the two men, they began to glow the area for a brief moment before revealing two maids, one bigger with blonde hair while the other being a child with short orange hair and a red ribbon.

"Subaru-sama!"

"P-Petra?"

Subaru was stunned as he saw that it was both Frederica and Petra that were summoned to be his other allies. He understands Frederica but Petra is something that dumbfounded him since he doesn't know what the watcher was thinking.

'Why the fuck did he bring a little girl into this mess?!'

"Because, she will serve a purpose."

"What—?"

"Don't speak, they can't hear me, only you. If you think of something in your mind, I can hear you."

'Is that so? Could've said that in the last world...fucking prick.'

"Seems like someone is angry."

'You send a child to a very dangerous world!'

"Yes and?"

'Are you fucking seriously asking that?!'

"The people I send has your allies can and will be helpful on their own right. Wilhelm van Astrea being the skilled swords, Frederica Baumann being the muscle like Garfiel, and Petra Leyte being the emotional support...in a sense."

'In a sense?!'

"Look, we can continue arguing about this or you could start the journey through the world of wrath."

Subaru bit his lip with anger before looking at Petra with a smile, seeing her charge towards him to hug the boy. Subaru patted her head since he knows how much she cares for him. As Petra is hugging him, he looks at Frederica to say,

"How are you holding up?"

"I'm doing very well, Subaru-sama...though where are we?"

"We do not know but we have Wilhelm with us, so we should be fine."

Frederica noticed what Subaru said and quickly turned towards Wilhelm, seeing and recognizing who he is. She bowed in respect to which he dismissed since he didn't deemed it necessary. After Petra hugged Subaru's leg for a bit, she looked at Subaru to ask if everything went alright at the watchtower.

"We were able to learn of a few things but first, you all should know about where we are."

Petra, Wilhelm, and Frederica all three noticed what Subaru said and paid close attention, seeing that this might be extremely important. Petra returned to Frederica's side has thing started to get serious with Subaru explaining what he knows.

"We are not in our world. We are in a...parallel world of our own."

"Parallel?" Asked Petra.

"It's basically the same world as ours with the same people living in it but the course of history is altered here. I was just in one with Julius and Garfiel...we dealt with something devastating but for now, we should just look around to see where we are at."

"That sounds like a reasonable plan, Subaru-dono. You should lead the way."

Frederica and Petra both agreed to Wilhelm's comment. Subaru nodded at this and turned towards a direction of the forest that his soul seems to be attracted towards, having a gut feeling that this should be the path they should head towards. Before they left the forest area they were in, Subaru gave them one final warning.

"I don't know the changes to this world's history to our own so if you see someone that is like you or someone that we know, they are from this world, not our own."

"Understood."

The three nodded their heads, still a little confused on the situation they are in but understanding the basics of things. As the group started their walk, Subaru crossed his arms and pondered on the memories he received, having a suspicion that the memories of that loop might come in handy for what he is going to deal with.

'I swear, if this Natsuki Subaru of this world is the Sin Archbishop of Wrath, I'm going to punch that prick in the face.'

"You say that now but you won't when the time comes."

'Hey! Screw off!'

Subaru looked at the sky with anger, not liking how the watcher can interfere with his thoughts. He looked up for a moment before returning focus on the objective in front of them, finding out where they are at. As they walked for a while, Subaru turned to see that Petra was getting tired out, causing him to quickly approach the little maid to pick her up so she can relax from walking. She was caught off guard by this but thanked Subaru before ending up falling asleep. As this happened, both Frederica and Wilhelm smiled since they are seeing this kind side of Subaru, both having high respects for the boy.

As they walked a little more, they found a road with a few wagons and ground dragons approaching them. Subaru woke up Petra gently to alert her that people are approaching them. She notices this and is set back on her feet for her to go stand next to Frederica. As she does this, Wilhelm and Subaru stand in front of the two maids in the case the people approaching them are a threat. They waited until the wagons stopped with someone familiar saying to them,

"Are you all lost?"

'Huh? Why does that sound familiar?'

Subaru looked closely at the person approaching them, not being able to recognize the voice at first until he asked the question again, this time close by to them.

"Are you all lost?"

"Wait...are you Otto Suwen?"

"Huh?"

The person was confused since he was surprised someone knew of his name.

"Have we met before?"

"N-No, I just heard the name, Otto Suwen the merchant, and well wanted to meet you."

"What?!"

Otto was completely at a lost here since he didn't think his name would spread around in the past few years. As he was confused, another man approached them having a completely friendly and familiar face.

"Is there a problem here?"

"Reinhard."

Subaru was happy to see that at the very least he is meeting up with allies. Frederica and Petra were both happy to see Otto while Wilhelm was a bit unhappy to see Reinhard. Having remembered the events of Priestella, he has and will never forgive the boy for what he had done. As he was going to turn around, Reinhard had spotted him and was unsure at first, feeling like he is familiar yet he is not sure. He stood silent for a moment before saying,

"Who are you?"

Wilhelm paused for a moment, hearing confusion in Reinhard's voice. He thought for a moment Reinhard was joking, causing him to get slightly angry at this for a brief second before recalling something Subaru had said.

("I don't know the changes to this world's history to our own so if you see someone that is like you or someone that we know, they are from this world, not our own.")

Because of this, he was curious on something.

"My name is Wilhelm Trias."

"Ah, pleasure to meet you."

"Um...do you know someone by the name of Crusch-sama?"

"Crusch-sama? Who is that?"

Wilhelm was lost for words, not sure what happened in this world but easily puzzling it together that the fight with the White Whale must've been a failure since that would be the most reasonable explanation next to the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony. Seeing this caused him to ponder on what he should do now, Reinhard doesn't even know who is he and he views the Sword Saint has someone that is no longer a part of his family after having killed Theresia. He looks at Reinhard but before anything can be said, Subaru chimes in and takes the conversation somewhere else.

"Hey Reinhard, how have you been?"

"Natsuki Subaru, it is good to see you once again. It has been quite a long time since we have interacted back at the loot house with Felt-sama."

"How long has it been?"

"I suppose you have been quite busy that you lost track of time, Subaru. It has been two years."

'Two years?! Wait, so he is being kind and mention that we haven't seen each other since the loot house...then where the hell was the change?'

Subaru stood silent for a moment, trying to puzzle everything together but before he could, he was curious to know what Reinhard and Otto were up to.

"What exactly are you two doing...wherever we are at?"

"We are on our way to deal with the Purge king?"

"The Purge king, haven't you heard of him, Natsuki-san?"

"No..."

"Well, I guess you have been away from society for a long while, Subaru."

"Yeah...well how can we help?"

"Hm. Before that, mind if I ask, have you seen Emilia-sama? She did take you to the Margrave's mansion."

Subaru paused for a moment, seeing that he needs to answer this in a truthful manner while also not looking suspicious. He thought of his many previous loops until he recalled on the one where he left the mansion before going back to wait for the attacker only for it to be revealed to be Rem. Using this loop prior to the discovery, he said,

"I had left to do things on my own. The last thing she told me was that I was always welcomed to go back to the mansion. Why you ask?"

Reinhard was using his divine protection of wind reading to make sure the boy was being honest to him. To his relief, the boy was speaking the truth and just sigh since this next information was going to be tough to tell.

"Subaru, you might want to hear this in private. Otto, could you give Subaru's companions a ride while Subaru rides in my wagon."

"Are you sure about this, Sword saint?"

"Yes."

Otto nodded before guiding Wilhelm, Petra, and Frederica to his wagon while Subaru and Reinhard both walked towards the wagon the sword saint was in. As the two entered and sat down, Subaru wanted to confirm one thing.

"Did the royal selections ever happened?"

"No, sadly we haven't found a replacement for the fourth candidate since...well this is going to be hard to tell you my friend but...Emilia-sama had gone missing."

"What?"

Subaru jumped out of his seat when he heard this, resulting in his head receiving an injury. Reinhard asked if he was alright to which Subaru played it off like it was nothing while he tried to calm down.

'Come on Subaru, don't let your emotions get the best of you...even if this world is Emilia-tan, I have to find out what the hell did my counterpart of this world has done. Could he be the Purge king?'

"Well Subaru, I know this must be tough since it has been years since you two must have interacted. What did you do after you left the Margrave's mansion?"

"I had...gone on some adventures and even dealt with the Witch cult from time to time."

"Oh, well glad you are still alive."

"Yeah...are you okay, Reinhard?"

"Yes, why do you ask? Do I seem off?"

"No it's just...it's probably none of my business but do you know who your grandfather is?"

"My grandfather? Hm. There isn't much told to me about him, he was unknown to my father and I."

"...okay, let's change subjects. Where are we anyway?"

"You haven't realized Subaru? You are at the edge of the Kararagi border, also known as Pandemonium."

"Pandemonium..."

Subaru was completely thrown off that he is near Kararagi though he understands that there is a reason he is here.

'The purge king.'

Understanding this, he looked at Reinhard and with a serious face he said,

"Let me help you, Rein."

"I do not know, Subaru. It wouldn't sit well with me to put you in harm's way."

"I know but let me do this, I can't live with myself if I let you handle everything. Plus...this is my chance to repay you for the loot house incident."

"There is no need for that, Subaru."

"Yes it is, allow me to help you. Please."

Reinhard stood silent for a moment, seeing just how persistent his friend is being. Although he wouldn't want to bring him along, he knows that they are going to need help if they want to take down the purge king.

"I probably should inform you of what has happened that lead the council to send me to take down the Purge king. His organization, known has the Pleiades, took out Roswaal and from what you've said, possibly took Emilia-sama hostage."

"Hm. Then it is a high priority to stop this monster."

"Agreed. The plan is to have the merchant, Otto Suwen, enter with a couple of knights disguised has merchants. They will be the distraction before launching our surprise attack."

"Understood. Maybe Wilhelm can help, he is a pretty amazing warrior despite the age."

"What about the two maids? I wouldn't want a little girl be involved in this kind of situation."

"Let's have them stay back for now. Frederica is capable of holding her own, so she can stay here and guard the wagons alongside Petra."

"Alright Subaru, if you say so."

"Now, what role can I play?"

"Well you could stay with me and attack alongside me or you could join Otto Suwen and his infiltration group."

"Hm."

Subaru had to think this critically since he can't rely on his Return by Death since it doesn't exist in this world for him. This made him tempted to be with Reinhard yet he knows that he can help Otto alongside seeing what he is dealing with. He closed his eyes and thought real carefully before responding with,

"Allow me and Wilhelm to join Otto in infiltration. Otto and I will have a bodyguard should things go south."

"Are you sure about this, Subaru? I still don't want to put you in a dangerous position."

"Don't worry Rein, I've handled worse...recently even..."

Subaru says this since facing his other self that was known has the Sin Archbishop of Pride was already quite the challenge for him. Reinhard was unsure on what to think but he trusted his friend's judgement. The two waited until they arrived at the location with Otto going to check on Reinhard, making sure that he is ready for the plan. As he opens the wagon, he looks to see both Reinhard and Subaru for a moment before asking,

"Sword Saint, are you ready for this?"

"Yes...though you should know that Subaru will accompany you."

Otto takes a note on this and quickly looks at Subaru, seeing that he is determined and ready.

"Natsuki-san, are you sure you want to help us with this? It will be dangerous."

"I know but I can hold my own."

"Okay."

Otto was still uncertain that Subaru should join them yet he understands that he wants to help them stop the purge king. He along with Subaru left Reinhard's wagon to head towards Otto's wagon where Wilhelm, Frederica, and Petra are located. While they were walking, the two had a chat with Otto starting things off,

"Where did you hear me?"

"Here and there in Lugnica. You are looked upon has a good merchant."

"Hm. Is that so...?"

Otto was uncertain of this since he didn't view himself that worthy to have his name spread though that wasn't something that he was curious on.

"Why do you want to fight the purge king?"

"It's more for the sake of Emilia-tan. If he did anything to her, even kidnap her, then it is my obligation to stop him."

"That's understandable."

Otto had paid attention to the way Subaru spoke, seeing that he was telling the truth. This made him relief since the last thing they need is the Purge king to have some assistant within their ranks. The two had arrived to the merchant's wagon with Wilhelm, Frederica, and Petra waiting for the two boys.

"Subaru-sama, what are we going to do?"

"Well Petra, I want you and Frederica-san to stay here and guard the wagons."

"Huh?"

"Hold on, Subaru-sama, are you sure about that?"

"It is dangerous Frederica-san and I don't want you and especially Petra to be in harm's way."

"Hold on, Subaru-sama! I can take care of myself!"

"Petra, manners."

"S-Sorry, Frederica-neesama."

Petra looked down with sadness which caused Subaru to pat her in the head to comfort the little girl for a bit while also turning his attention to Wilhelm.

"Wilhelm, I want to ask if you can join us. This Purge King might be a big threat and we will need your help should things go wrong."

"Are you sure about that, Subaru-dono?"

"Yeah, you are pretty skilled with the sword and next to Rein, you are the strongest here."

Wilhelm was silent about this since he isn't sure if he should go with them, considering that he doesn't want to be near the Sword Saint yet he knows that they need to stop the Purge King. Thanks to Otto Suwen, himself along with the two maids are aware of what the Purge King has done which makes him burn with anger that his counterpart is no longer around to do something about this.

'Had Crusch-sama and myself had been here, we could've done something about this.'

Wilhelm had a tight fist before looking at Subaru with a determined facial expression. He nodded at the boy, showing that he is ready to help. Subaru was hoping for this and smiled before nodding back. He then turned towards Otto before asking,

"Okay, I think I should get a disguise of my own."

"Agreed, your current attire...is not suited for the undercover task we are going in. Let me see what I got."

Otto goes back onto the wagon to look for some clothing only to find his original green attire from back when he began as a merchant. This brought the young man some good memories along with some scary ones since he had to deal with many unfortunate situations over the few years. He turned towards Subaru and showed him the only clothing he had to make it seem like he was a merchant.

"Though this is special to me, it is the only thing I have."

"Well...I have always wondered how I would look in your clothing, Otto."

"D-Don't phrase it like that! It sounds weird."

"Alright Alright, let me get change them."

Subaru went into the wagon to put on the clothing, surprised that it even fit him though just barely. He got out of the wagon with Petra and Frederica both giggling, seeing this quite funny knowing how close their version of Otto and Subaru are. The Otto Suwen of this world looked at Subaru with a bit of an impressed facial expression.

"Those make you look like a beginner merchant."

"It does, doesn't it? What do you think, Wilhelm?"

"You look good, Subaru-dono."

"Hehe, thanks."

Subaru nodded at them before the group prepared to head out with Petra and Frederica staying behind. As they were leaving, Subaru was once again overwhelmed with a couple of flashes of memories from the other Subaru of this world.

("── What's, so funny?")

("Huu, heh, hee-hee.")

'What the hell?!'

Subaru was just confused by the scene playing earlier, seeing that his counterpart of this world was in some snow place with what appeared to be Ram trying to choke him. This made him come up with a few possibilities of how things turned out the way they did. He knows a few loops where this could happen, mostly in the Sanctuary should Ram survive and see him abandon everyone yet there was one loop that makes more sense.

'The loop Beatrice promised to protect me. My very first suicide loop.'

This is the only loop that makes the most sense since Ram hated him with a furious passion and even wanted to kill him. This was thanks to the Sin Archbishop of Pride Natsuki Subaru, giving him a hint on how he will find the changes and the reasons for these Subarus to have went on different paths than the one he did.

'I know this is wishful thinking but...please don't be evil, counterpart of this world.'

Subaru, Wilhelm, and Otto all three enter what appears to be the main throne room of the purge king with Otto informing the other knights in disguise to wait outside. They all obeyed Otto before the young man led the old butler and the "new" merchant into the throne room. As they were entering, Otto smiled with confidence but at the same time with pride, knowing that everything will go according to plan.

'Don't worry Reinhard-san, we will take down this monster once and for all.'

As they got closer, Otto's smile went away for a brief few seconds before returning it, knowing that he has to keep his composure for the plan to work, despite the discovery that he just made. Wilhelm and Subaru had approach close enough to see what Otto had seen.

'Subaru-dono...no...'

'Hm...why? Why am I not surprise by this? Why?!'

Wilhelm and Subaru both did their best to keep their composure with Subaru being the one to struggle, understanding that this would be the case, with the hopes he had dying. Knowing that his counterpart is the purge king is disturbing though he isn't sure just how bad he is compared to the Pride version of Natsuki Subaru.

'Well...at least have some reason for being this that isn't joining the witch cult!'

Subaru stood silent has he watched the purge king and Otto both have a bit of a chat.

"Being able to meet you today, it is surely a great honor."

"――――"

Slaying much, erasing many lives, trying to grasp many weaknesses was this person. The two Subarus were surprised and impressed by what Otto had said in such a way.

"―――Somehow, your confidence is remarkable, though you do not seem much different from me in age."

"―――. So suddenly, are those words of praise sent."

Otto bowed his head before looking at the Purge king with a smile, a fake one at that. There was a mild look on his face, but in his eyes somehow a wicked darkness could be seen.

"Saying that, you definitely..."

"In truth, not far off from now, we intend to do much large-scale business here. Because of that, we had been looking for a chance to first meet the head of the organization and present gifts."

"Though, whatever happens with that doesn't matter to me...but, who are those two?"

"They are my companions. The old butler known has Wilhelm Trias and the young man—"

"My name is not important, I'm just...someone who wants to know something."

"Oh, what would—wait, something is wrong."

Otto's confident smile faded away since he wasn't sure what was going on with Wilhelm slowly moving his hand towards his sword in case a fight breaks out. The Purge King had an interesting look towards Subaru before pointing towards him in a serious yet curious voice,

"Remove your hat, I need to your face. It'll answer what I'm seeing."

"...well, it was bound to happen at some point."

"What are you...?"

The purge king was interrupted when he saw that he was face to face with someone that looks literally like him. The Purge King's two guards were also surprised when they saw this, caught completely off guard. Before anything can be said, Subaru took the opportunity speak with a confident tone of voice,

"You asked for who I was, well you should know that I'm Natsuki Subaru! I'm here to confront you, my counterpart, to set things right."

Author's note:

1. Yes, I'm aware that people expect Reinhard to be the next ally and honestly, I was considering it since that would've been funny but a bit overkill. Not to mention how um easy that would make things since having two Reinhards with both or just one of them having the divine protections would still be broken.

2. Now, I know a lot of you will be like "Why Petra?". Well, I have a reason for it but for now it's just for the hell of it. She will be useful at some point.

3. How long will the Wrath arc take? Don't know but I will give it my all to make this be one of the best.

4. How hard is this compared to Pride? Let's just say, Subaru will need to be a lot smarter to take on this situation.

Hopefully I can make this arc be as good if not better than the last arc.