Wrath Chapter 6: Despair
"You are quite a problem, Natsuki Subaru." The Purge King said in a blank expression, viewing his counterpart as a threat despite seeing colors in him. Subaru chuckled a bit before saying in a cocky like tone:
"Well, isn't that our specialty?"
"The hell do you mean?" The Purge king said with his arms crossed, not liking where this is going.
"Consider this, if our diverging point was around the mansion, then we both gave Emilia-tan, Rem, Ram, Roswaal, Rein, and even that crazy Elsa some trouble."
"Elsa? Man I haven't heard of that bitch in a long while." The Purge King lowered his guard as he recalled the Bowel Hunter, having been the very first obstacle he had run into in this world.
"Yeah, she was a crazy woman for sure."
"Hmph. I assume she is dead in your world, Natsuki Subaru."
"Yes, it took my friend's help to beat her."
"Intriguing."
"Have you taken care of her in this world?" Subaru asked out of curiosity, hoping that this version of him isn't like the Sin Archbishop of Pride that decided to work with the crazy gut loving psychopath. The Purge King paused for a moment before responding with:
"I haven't seen her in a long time. Since the loot house I haven't seen her."
"Okay...good."
Subaru felt a little relieve that his counterpart has a little common sense compared to Pride. The two Subarus were a bit surprised that they were able to have a calm conversation despite the two have been at odds with each other since they cross paths. As the two Subarus were able to talk calmly now, the conversation shifted with the Purge King saying:
"As much as I enjoyed this, let's cut to the chase, Natsuki Subaru. I want bargain with you but only for this one time."
"Bargain? About what?" Subaru spoke in an annoyed yet curious tone, not sure what his counterpart even wants.
"Well if you let me finish, asshole, then I can explain the deal. You still have your colors for some reason, so that means you aren't lying to me."
"Um...okay. What is your deal with colors?"
"Not important, anyway I need you, Natsuki Subaru, to leave me the hell alone. I'll let you leave now with all those knights, that old man, and that fake merchant of yours but leave the Sword Saint here." The Purge King spoke in a serious tone. Subaru just look at his counterpart with a serious facial expression before asking:
"Why just Rein?"
"Reason: Cecilus. A deal is a deal. Although I don't trust the bastard, I did made a deal with him and I will see it till the end."
Subaru was silent, seeing that this version of him seems to honor the deal he has with Cecilus, making him aware that the Blue Lightning of Vollachia's motivation is related to facing Reinhard. This information may be necessary in the case they end up looping once again. As this is all said, Subaru looks at the entrance to Emilia's room once again, recalling the look she had in her face. That look reminded him of the one from the failed loop from the Sanctuary, a loop he considers to be hell due to how everyone is dead and Emilia was left mind broken.
'I...I don't like this. Emilia-tan...she wasn't well and if this one is like that...'
Subaru didn't like the thought of encountering another mind broken Emilia. As this fear was in his mind, he recalled something that Puck had told him earlier.
("Puck, how long has Emilia-tan been here?")
("Well let's see...over a year to say the least.")
Having remembered this, he looked at his counterpart with an angry expression, recalling that he locked up Emilia for over a year. This caused his tone to be serious and slightly aggressive when he said to the Purge King:
"...Then why the hell has Emilia-tan been locked up?"
"For her own safety." The Purge King responded with a blank expression, only further pissing Subaru off.
"Her own safety?!" Subaru paused for a brief moment, his entire demeanor changing from calm and collected into one of anger. "So taking away her freedom is supposed to be good thing now? How much of selfish prick are you?!"
"Selfish? You are going to really call me that! After all the bullshit I had to deal with and you call me selfish! I've been dealing with lying pieces of shit my whole damn time I've been in this world! I had to die so many fucking times to make sure that I can protect Emilia-tan and you call me selfish? Fuck you! You have no idea what the hell I've been through at all, you piece of shit!"
The Purge King approached his counterpart, ready for a fight. Subaru prepared himself for another fight with another counterpart while he responded to what the Purge King had said to him:
"Do you even care for Emilia-tan?"
"I fucking do care!"
"Then why do you have her locked up?! Only a psychopath locks up the people that he supposedly cares about."
"You motherfucker!"
As the Purge King says this, he swings his arm at Subaru's direction, trying to land a punch yet the boy was able to block off the attack. As he blocks off the punch, he throws a punch of his own and manages to land a hit on the face with everything he got. As the Purge King falls to the ground, Subaru starts to speak with a hint of anger in his voice:
"I know you suffered, asshole! I know that you have trust issues but if you even loved Emilia-tan, you would've trusted her. She is more capable than you even know!"
"I-Is that so?! I'll make sure to remember that once I kill you."
The Purge King gets up and pulls out a knife in an attempt to kill his counterpart, confident that he can pull it off. Subaru noticed this and was tempted to use Invisible Providence yet he knew that this would drain his energy and could leave him vulnerable to be killed. He waited for the right opportunity before grabbing onto the Purge King's hands, trying to take away his knife. The two struggle as they both were trying to overwhelm the other.
"You are not going to win!" Subaru spoke with confidence.
"I'm going to kill you, kill the Sword Saint, and then make sure Emilia-tan is forever safe from the outside world!"
The two continued their struggle until finally Subaru was able to break the stalemate his counterpart and him were in by kicking the Purge King in the gut, sending him away for a brief moment. As the Purge King took a second to recover, he tried to stab Subaru again only to notice the unseen hand coming from Subaru's chest.
"What the—?"
"Invisible Providence!"
Subaru knew that this was a now or never situation, causing him to retract his thinking of using his Invisible Providence and quickly send the unseen hand towards the Purge King. The Purge King tried to dodge the attack but due to the timing of his reaction, he wasn't able to and received a powerful hit in the bottom of his chin. As this send the Purge King flying into a wall, Subaru coughed up a bit of blood before falling onto his knees, feeling the effects of his sloth witch factor.
"That should...teach you, asshole..."
Subaru continued to struggle in regaining his strength after he spoke with the Purge King slowly getting up himself, surprised by what he saw. He wasn't aware of this ability which made him a bit curious on what exactly did his counterpart do to attain such an ability.
"Th-that was quite the ability...where or how did you do it...?"
"Ha...like I'd...tell you...asshole..." Subaru spoke in a weak tone, still tired out from using the sloth authority.
"Well then, I guess I'll never know."
The Purge King slowly approached Subaru with his knife still in his right hand, preparing to murder himself.
'He may have colors...but I won't trust him. He needs to die.'
Just as he was preparing himself to kill his counterpart, someone stabbed him on his right side before shoving him to the ground out of nowhere. As this happened, Subaru looked up to see that it was Otto. The merchant looked at the Purge King with disgust yet when he looked at him, he had a concerned facial expression.
"Natsuki-san!"
"Otto...wh-what are you doing here? I thought—"
"Enough talk. Let's get you out of here."
Otto had caught off Subaru since he doesn't want the boy to keep using any more energy after looking so fatigued. As he helped Subaru on his feet, the two started to leave while a bleeding Purge King attempted to stop the pair by slowly getting up despite how much his wound was hurting him.
"You two...aren't leaving here alive."
"Yes we are." Otto spoke out. "You are the one staying here to die, Purge King."
The Purge King just looked at the merchant with full hate in his eyes, seeing this fake merchant looking at him with disgust. There was a moment of silence before Otto took Subaru out of the room, leaving the Purge King on his own, starting a grudge against the fake merchant. As the Purge King was taking a moment to let the pain of the wound pass for a bit, Subaru and Otto walk a bit away from the exit of the room with Subaru looking at the merchant. He was happy that Otto came back but he was curious to know why.
"Why did you came back to save me? Considering how dangerous it could've been and how I look like that mad man."
"Just because you look alike doesn't mean you are him. I see you as someone who cares for others, who wants to protect everyone. That and...you have been kind to me." Otto hesitated to speak on the last part but he managed to tell the boy what he thinks about him. Subaru was surprised by this yet he wanted to rebuttal with:
"Isn't Rein nice to you too?"
"Yes but that isn't the point, Natsuki-san! I just...I trust you and I normally wouldn't trust anyone after...that bad deal with the oil but that's irrelevant right now. I'm getting you out of here."
Subaru had a surprised face for a moment before a smile was form, always happy to see that no matter what world he is in, him and Otto will always be the best of friends. As he was thinking of this, something was flashing in his mind which caused him to collapse to the ground in pain. Otto was caught off guard by this yet he quickly was able to react by trying to check on his friend.
"Natsuki-san, what is wrong?!"
"I-It's nothing Otto...just give me...a minute..." Subaru was struggling to speak as memories were being filled in his mind.
("I won't let you die. After everything, I refuse to let you die.")
'Huh? What is my counterpart...doing?'
Subaru was confused as he is seeing a not so paranoid version of the Purge King attempting to save someone's life yet he wasn't able to see the whole memory since it was all a blur for the moment. While it was all hard to tell, there was something that caught his attention.
("This world...this damn world is full of liars...full of fakes but you are not. With those pretty colors of yours, you are not. I can only trust in you.")
'So...does he see the world in grey then? I mean...it makes sense now that I understand why he is talking about colors now but who is he talking to?'
Subaru was trying to push through the blur in his mind to figure out who his counterpart was talking with yet he wasn't able to. The memories stopped pouring into his mind, allowing him to stand back up as if he wasn't tired out. He looked at Otto and quickly said:
"We need to get to the Purge King's office and fast."
"We need to get out of here, Natsuki-san! You are still not at full strength!" Otto spoke in a worried tone.
"I know but we need to find out if the Purge King is hiding something or someone."
The merchant paused for a moment, a bit unsure of this since he knows that Subaru's new found energy is temporary yet if the boy was right like how he has been, then there is a possibility that the Purge King has a hostage. He looked at his friend and nodded confidently before following the boy in finding the Purge King's main room.
Frederica and Petra had both snuck in the fortress of the Purge King, both of them on high alert with only Frederica knowing the objective, to save her counterpart. Although it is scary meeting the Frederica of this world, she knows from what Subaru said that she needs help. As the two maids were walking around the long hallways, the two look around with caution, not knowing when they will bump into mercenaries. As they were walking around for a bit, Petra looked at Frederica to ask:
"What are we doing, Frederica-neesama?"
"We are looking for...a prisoner, Petra-chan." Frederica spoke with some hesitation since mentioning her counterpart might confuse the little maid.
"A prisoner?" Petra asked in a confused tone of voice.
"Y-Yes, a good person has been imprisoned by the Purge King. We need to help her out. That is what Natsuki Subaru-sama told me."
"W-Well if Subaru-sama said that we need to save this person, then let's go save the prisoner!"
Petra spoke with a confident tone, happy that Subaru is trusting her with something even though she can't really do much and basically learned it through Frederica. Little does the little maid know that their objective is one of the more safer ones since Subaru and his group were launching a full scale assault on the front of the Purge King's headquarters. As the two maids were walking around the hallway, closing in on the location Subaru had given to the big maid, a few mercenaries were running around which forced the two to quickly get down and stay as quiet as possible, not wanting to catch any attention.
"We have to hurry! The knights are closing in on the base!"
"Then we better hurry!"
The two mercenaries ran out towards another hallway in a hurry, trying to deal with the threat of the knights. As the two left, both Frederica and Petra felt a little relief since they didn't had to deal with the two. As the pair of maids were getting up, Petra looked at her senior maid and could tell that something was bothering her.
"Frederica-neesama, is something wrong?"
"...it's nothing Petra-chan." The little maid looked at her and could tell that something was bothering her, causing the little maid to pout since she wants to help.
"Come on! Talk to me! What is going on, Frederica-neesama?"
Frederica stood silent for a moment, tempted to tell Petra of the situation they are going into and how things are going to get a bit confusing yet she figured that since they are going to meet her counterpart, the little maid will understand much better than an explanation. She looked at the door for a brief moment before turning to the little maid while saying:
"Petra-chan, I want you to know that everything will be revealed to you when we enter that door. There is...someone important we need to help."
"Who?"
"...you'll know very soon. All I ask is for you to trust me, Petra-chan."
"...ok."
Petra was still a bit bummed out that Frederica can't just be open with her yet seeing that she will get her answers through the door where the prisoner is located helped her be at ease. The two looked at the door for a moment which spooked the little maid, making her afraid that a monster was hiding on the other side. She quickly went to hug Frederica's leg in fear, something the big maid noticed.
"There is no need to be afraid, Petra-chan. I'm here to protect you."
"R-Right."
Petra still held on to Frederica while knowing that she will be protected by her. Frederica couldn't help but smile at this, seeing how hard Petra was trying to put on a tough act yet unable to. She looked at the door and was a bit hesitant to open it at first yet she knew that Subaru and the others were depending on her and Petra to get her counterpart to safety. As she opened the door, Petra hid herself behind Frederica while Frederica herself had one of her hands transform into its demi human form in the case she gets attacked. As the door opened on its own, Frederica looked inside and could see that there was someone there, yet they were hiding in the shadows of the dark room.
"Hello? Anybody there?" Frederica spoke in a polite manner, not wanting to be hostile towards her counterpart and yet she received no response. This caused her to worry since she doesn't know how hostile her counterpart can be. Frederica and Petra both slowly entered the room with Frederica's guard by. As they were slowly entering, the two maids looked at the inside of the room to see the room itself look all messy. Petra was a bit hesitant on who could the prisoner be to leave such a mess while Frederica was completely caught off guard by this, seeing the misery her counterpart must be going through thanks to the Purge King. As the two were looking around, the two heard a noise that caused the pair to be on guard with Petra holding Frederica tightly. Frederica looked around until she spotted a silhouette that resembled herself.
"Hello there." Frederica spoke in a friendly manner.
"..."
"We are here to help—"
"Who are you? Why do you sound like me?" The counterpart spoke with some hate in her voice, uncertain and feeling threatened.
"Frederica-neesama? Are you okay? Why are you speaking to yourself?" Petra asked as she was confused by the interaction.
"Petra-chan, the person we are rescuing is...this world's Frederica Baumann."
Petra was confused at first until this world's Frederica stepped into the light to reveal herself, looking completely depressed yet angry. The two Fredericas just look at each other, both of them unsure on what to say yet Petra looked at this world's Frederica with a sad facial expression, seeing how bad Frederica looks.
"Frederica-neesama, what happened to you?"
"..." The Frederica Baumann of this world looked at the little maid, having been reminded of the life she had enjoyed when she was under Roswaal's mansion. She took a moment to think before looking at her counterpart.
"Who are you? Why do you look like me?"
"It's...hard to explain but we are here to get you out of here."
"I-I can't!" The Frederica of this world spoke with fear in her voice, knowing full well what would happen if she tried to run. Frederica from Subaru's world noticed the fear alongside with Petra, both of them attempting to calm the Frederica of this world down.
"Everything is okay, Frederica-neesama."
"As Petra-chan said, everything is—"
"N-No! You both don't seem to understand the situation!" The Frederica of this world spoke out with fear in her voice, catching the attention of both Frederica and Petra. Petra was unsure on what was going on with this version of Frederica while the Frederica of another world knew what was going on with her counterpart.
("The you from this world...she is not doing so well and needs help. The Purge King is...threating her with Garfiel and Ryuzu.")
Knowing that the Purge King is making her counterpart feel this miserable, she approached her counterpart in a calm and non-hostile manner to which the Frederica of this world did found threatening for a moment until she saw her counterpart place her hand on her shoulder while saying:
"I know what he did, that horrible man. I know you are scared to lose our family but the Sword Saint, his allies, and Subaru-sama are working together to take down this Purge King."
"Subaru-sama? Do you not know who is the Purge King?!" Frederica of this world spoke with anger in her voice.
"I..."
"It is that bastard, Natsuki Subaru!"
"What...? But Subaru-sama would never do something like that..." Petra said in a sad yet conflicted tone, something that this world's Frederica noticed. This caused her to look at her counterpart to ask:
"Is...is the Natsuki Subaru of your world a good person? Can you vouch for him?"
"Yes! He saved my life!" Petra said quickly as she rushed for Subaru's defense, something the Frederica of this world noticed. She looked at her counterpart to see what her response will be. Frederica looked at her counterpart of this world with a serious facial expression before giving her response:
"Natsuki Subaru. I didn't met him when he first arrive to Roswaal L Mathers' mansion after the incident with the insignia but when I arrived per our master's orders, I was told on how he saved the children of the village from the Mabeast. How he did faced some repercussions for having disobeyed Emilia-sama's orders but despite that, he had gathered a large force to deal with the White Whale. He also had saved Garf by helping him leave the Sanctuary. To say that the Natsuki Subaru-sama I know is a bad person is far from the truth."
Frederica from this world looked at her counterpart's eyes, seeing how truthful they looked when speaking of Natsuki Subaru, surprising her that in another world, the man that caused her so much despair would be able to help her little brother get over his issues of leaving the Sanctuary. She closed her eyes and thought back when The Purge King threatened her life with his iconic coin toss, making her still afraid of staying yet if her counterpart was telling the truth that rescue as come, this could be her chance to save herself from this horrible fate. She opened her eyes and nodded at the two maids, feeling a bit of hope in her heart. Petra smiled while Frederica gave a respectful nod before the three maids began to leave the room, the three knowing that they must hurry as they feel a violent shaking nearby them.
"We best get moving, the Sword Saint must be having a heated battle."
"Agreed."
The two Fredericas spoke before the three maids started running towards the exit with the Frederica of this world leading the way since she knows her way around. As the three were running around a couple of hallways, they eventually came across two mercenaries trying to escape the fight.
"What the?! Why are you out here, bitch? Well not like it matters since we are all screwed."
"Hey, pal, why are there two of her?"
"Huh...that is weird, what is going on?" The mercenary to the left spoke before pointing his sword at the two tall maids. "Talk, you two."
Both Fredericas looked at each other for a moment before the Frederica of another world looked at Petra to say:
"Close your eyes for a moment, Petra-chan."
"...Okay, Frederica-neesama."
The little maid closed her eyes and even covered her ears, knowing that things are about to get ugly. As she did this, the two Fredericas approached the two mercenaries to beat them up, seeing that they weren't going to leave the three of them alone. The fight begins with one of the Fredericas grabbing the sword before snapping it in two with her transformed form hand. This prompted the other mercenary to pull out his sword and prepare to attack only to be stopped by the other Frederica as she grabbed his hand that is wielding the sword. The mercenary noticed this and quickly tried to pull his knife with his free hand yet he was punched in the face with enough force to knock him out.
The other mercenary managed to pull out his knife fast enough to try an attack the Frederica that broke his sword yet she managed to easily take him down with two punches, the first one being aimed at his gut and the second on his jaw to knock him out. As the two Fredericas knocked down the two mercenaries, the Frederica of this world looked at the two mercenaries with disgust before giving them one hard kick for each of the mercenaries, something the Frederica of another world didn't approve but understood why her counterpart did it. She quickly went to tap Petra in the shoulder to alert her that the fighting as finished. The little maid opened her eyes and moved her hands away from her head for a moment before looking around, noticing the two knocked out mercenaries. She stood silent about it since they had to continue moving.
"Come on Petra-chan, let's get out of here."
"Y-Yes Frederica-neesama."
The two maids looked at the Frederica of this world, waiting until she finally started to lead the three of them out of the Purge King's fortress. As the three ran for a couple of more minutes, the three could hear Otto shout from a distance:
"Natsuki-san!"
"Wh-What was that?" Petra asked the two Fredericas.
"If that was Otto Suwen then...Subaru-sama is in trouble." Frederica from another world answered.
"Then we need to help Subaru-sama!" Petra instantly said, not wanting to leave Subaru while he is in possible danger. The two Fredericas both noticed what Petra said, prompting Frederica from Subaru's world to want to help the boy while the Frederica of this world was a bit hesitant by this. She wasn't sure if she has the strength to help the Purge King's counterpart yet looking at how Petra is giving the sad eyes to her, she was somewhat convince to help. She nodded at the two which made Petra happy.
The three of them quickly went towards the direction where they heard Otto shout, having a feeling that there is someone dangerous nearby. As the three eventually reached the hallway Otto and Subaru were located, they noticed that Subaru was on the ground trying to get up while Otto was attempting to fight Halibel. Frederica of this world knew that Otto stood no chance against Halibel on his own considering how skilled the Admirer of Kararagi is. The three maids turned towards Subaru's direction, noticing how he was struggling to get up. This prompted Petra to try to run towards the boy's side yet she was stopped by Frederica of her world.
"Petra-chan, wait." Frederica spoke with an assertive tone.
"B-But Subaru-sama needs our help!" Petra exclaimed.
"Yes but you can't go running into danger like that." Frederica said since she knows going into danger will bring nothing but more trouble. Petra was silent for a brief moment before looking down in defeat.
"...okay..."
Petra backed down as she was convinced by Frederica's assertive tone. The Frederica of this world looked at the situation and knew that they had to act if they wanted to save Otto, seeing that he is barely able to put up a fight. She turned towards her counterpart while saying:
"Let the little maid help the boy. We have the strength to help the merchant from getting himself killed."
"A-Are you sure?" Frederica spoke with a bit of hesitation.
"Trust me on this, my um other self."
Frederica was at a pause for a moment, seeing that this tone from herself of this world is confident compared to the ones her and Petra have heard. This convinced her to let Petra go and assist Subaru while she along with her counterpart assist Otto, seeing that he is about to get himself killed. Otto was doing his best to fend off the admirer but he had nothing but a knife and his divine protection was useless at the moment. He did everything he could do land a hit yet Halibel causally blocked some attacks while dodging others with ease.
"I gotta say, ya got some spirit, merchant boy."
"Yes! Anything to help a friend!" Otto responded in determination though showing hints of fatigue.
"Well, I admire that from you but sadly like boss said, ya got to go down. It was nice fighting you (although that is putting it nicely)."
Halibel was going to kill the boy in front of him yet he was hesitant for some reason, seeing how hard Otto was fighting to help Subaru despite how much of a losing battle this is. This caused him to wait until Otto attacked him once again yet he sensed two attacks heading towards his back side, causing him to turn to his back to quickly block off the attacks. As he does this, he notices that it is Frederica and another that looks exactly like the maid, causing him to question whether he is seeing things or not. While Halibel was distracted by this, Otto was going to attack only for Frederica of another world to say:
"Otto-san, don't. Get Subaru-sama and Petra-chan out of here."
Otto paused for a moment as he turned towards Subaru's direction seeing that the little maid he met earlier was with his friend, helping him get up on his feet. Halibel also noticed this and somehow had a smile on his face, happy to see a kid helping out her fellow friend before turning back to the fight against the two Fredericas. The debt slave was hesitant himself yet he knew that he needed to help his friend and get the little girl away from danger. He approached Subaru and Petra to assist his friend.
"We shouldn't leave them." Subaru said, worried for the two Fredericas' sake.
"I know Natsuki-san, but there isn't much we can do."
"We also need to get you to safety!" Petra chimed in, wanting to be a part of the conversation. Subaru looked at the two and knew that this is probably the only chance he has in getting to the Purge King's office without interference. He nodded at the two and quickly the three left the area, leaving the two identical maids to fight side by side against one of the strongest fighters of Kararagi. As the two Fredericas went all out, Subaru and his group walked for a bit until the boy had a headache, feeling memories poring in like crazy.
"Subaru-sama!"
"Natsuki-san!"
"I-It's okay...at least this headache...is helping me find something..."
"Wh-What are you talking about?!" Otto asked in concern, not understanding what his friend meant by that. Petra looked at Subaru with more concern, unsure what her hero even meant by that at all. The two continued to stay with him until all of a sudden he got up on his own, feeling like he has all of the energy of the world. He took a moment before turning towards Otto and Petra to tell them:
"Do you two trust me?"
"Of course I do, you dummy!" Petra said as she pouted, not liking the question at all since she has so much faith in Subaru.
"I do trust you, Natsuki-san." Otto spoke with a smile on his face.
"Okay then, I need you two to trust me here and just follow me. I think I know where to go."
Petra and Otto both wanted to object to this since they don't want to run into any more trouble yet they knew that Subaru wasn't going to listen. This prompted the three to run for a bit with Subaru taking the lead. After a couple of minutes of going through a few hallways, they ended up in a special looking door.
"What is this?" Petra asked in earnest.
"This is the Purge King's main room. Here we will find some answers to a few questions." Subaru responded in a calm manner.
"Let's just not stay here too long. We don't want to encounter a dangerous foe."
"Agreed."
Subaru nodded at Otto's statement before opening the door, seeing that it is just an office room if anything. Before entering the room, he turned to both Otto and Petra to instruct them with:
"If anybody tries to enter the room, go and hide. We don't have any strength or power to fight powerful opponents."
"Understood Natsuki-san."
"Okay!"
Both Petra and Otto nodded at Subaru before the three entered with cation, unsure on what they would find inside. As they were walking around the office, Subaru looked at one part of the room, his memories he had received telling him that this will tell him something that could be the key in beating this version of himself. He opened a secret metal door with Otto and Petra wanting to approach him.
"Did you found something, Natsuki-san?"
"I hope I did. This might be the key to beating that bastard, the Purge King."
"Hopefully it does, Natsuki-san."
Subaru nodded at Otto before turning towards the opened metal door to check on what's inside yet the three heard the entrance of the Purge King's office about to open. Both Petra and Otto were tempted to run with Subaru into the metal door's room yet they knew that they were a bit too far, causing the pair to look around the room to see where they can hide while Subaru chose to enter the room before closing the door. As he did this, he looked at the door with fear at first, unsure on who is entering the office. As he was waiting to fight back with his whip on his side, his mindset shifted to the noises of the chains. This prompted him to look at the direction of the noise while asking in a slightly hesitant tone:
"Wh-Who's there?"
"―Finally, did you come wanting to die, Barusu?"
"Barasu?...wait, you are..."
Subaru was completely confused when he looked at the woman in chains, approaching him with her long pink hair. The boy was stunned because he knows who it is, considering there is only one person he knows that would call him by that nickname.
"...Ram. But how? He killed you! I saw him do it!"
"...what are you talking about now, Barusu? No matter, it is time for you to die."
Ram approached Subaru as she prepared to choke the boy she hated as shown in her eyes yet she ended up pausing when she started to see Subaru in a much clearer way. She made a couple of notes which helped calm Ram's anger since this Barusu in front of her looked nothing like the one she hates the most, the one she blames for killing her sister.
"Who are you, fake Barusu?"
"Yeah. I expected that. Well I am Natsuki Subaru, I'm just not that asshole."
"...I still want you to die."
"Wha—"
Before Subaru could respond to this, Ram had caught him off guard and started to choke him to death, wanting to kill him even if she believed that he wasn't the *real* Barusu she knows. Because of this, Subaru was struggling to free himself since she had a good grip on him yet he was able to free himself by tickling the pink haired oni. This was a trick he honestly didn't think would work but by some miracle it did worked. As Subaru gained some distance from Ram while also trying to catch his breath, she looked at him with her face red before looking down as she said to him:
"Pervert."
"Okay, you were trying to kill me."
"Pervert."
"Stop it."
"...Rem's killer..."
"..."
Subaru was going to say something but hearing this reminded him on how this was the loop where Rem was killed by Meili's mabeast. This reminder caused him to fall on his back and look at the ceiling, sad since he does blame himself that the world ended up this way because in that moment, he was being slothful.
'...I'm sorry, Rem...Ram...'
As Subaru was on the ground for a bit, both him and Ram turned towards the door as they noticed it open to reveal the Purge King himself. Subaru got all of his energy of the world to get back up on his feet, ready for a fight while Ram just looked at the Purge King with her hatred for him returning with a vengeance. The Purge King looked at Ram first before looking at Subaru, prompting him to say:
"I guess at some point you were going to met. Considering how annoyingly persistent you are." The Purge King said with a hint of surprise in his tone yet overall a blank tone.
"I know you are suffering, Natsuki Subaru, but there is a chance to turn this all around." Subaru said as he wanted to try to reason with the Purge King, seeing that this loop can still be saved.
"Don't call me that name. I don't go by that and never will." The Purge King said in a bit of an aggressive tone, hating it when others that aren't certain people call him by his name, something Subaru picked up on.
"Well, it is your given name that mom and dad gave us." Subaru said, curious how his counterpart would react. The Purge King's eyes for a moment looked dead until a fire showed, a fire of rage.
"The fuck are you going to bring them up! They aren't here, are they?! So I don't want to hear about mom and dad!" The Purge King shouted, hating how his counterpart had brought up their parents. Before anything else can be said, Ram started to shout at the two:
"Shut it, Barusus. You both are annoying."
"..."
"..."
Both Subarus stood silent for a moment as they looked at Ram, seeing how annoyed she was at the pair. This caused a silence in the room for a few seconds before Subaru broke the silence by first offering a hand at his counterpart while saying:
"I know you are scared. You trust nobody considering that you see mostly grey aside from a few individuals. Since I'm one of those individuals, allow me to tell you that you can still change things around. Turn yourself in. Take responsibility for the damage you have caused and try to actually do good for this world. You know this isn't our home and the things you did...are horrible but if you have any good in you, at least show it by letting Ram and Emilia go."
The Purge King had a blank facial expression, completely caught off guard by this yet he started to panic a bit. He pulled his knife out which prompted Subaru to get his defenses ready. As the two Subarus had their weapons out, the Purge King started to shout with anger and fear coming from his voice:
"No. No. No. No. NO. NO. NO! NO! Me? Redeemed?! Ha! Like hell that can even fucking happen! If you knew all the shit I have done...all the fucked up things I did to get to where I am...there is no way in hell I can ever be redeemed! You are just...a liar!"
As the Purge King calls Subaru a liar, he begins to see that his counterpart was slowly losing his color, confirming that not even he should trust himself. This caused a small fight to break with the Purge King trying to get close to Subaru in order to stab him to death while Subaru used his whip to keep a distance, seeing that negotiations had failed.
The two were in a bit of a stalemate for a bit until the Purge King got close enough to Subaru by trying to stab the boy's eye yet Subaru was able to dodge the attack and react quick enough to knock the knife out of the Purge King's hand with his whip similar to how he did with the Sin Archbishop of Pride. As he was able to do this, he had a massive headache that caused him to drop the whip while falling to the ground in pain, confusing the Purge King and Ram.
("I am still thankful for that, Beatrice….. Why, back then, did you not kill me?")
("Beatrice, I'm thankful for you. I think I probably did like you. Within that time, only you truly drew close to me, those are my thoughts.")
("...That is, the lowest confession.")
("Halibel, a sword.")
("A sword.")
("You are, with those colors that fit you well, very pretty you know.")
("Are you, they?")
("――You are, Betty's, they, I suppose?")
("I, am your they.")
The Purge King goes to grab his knife in order to kill his counterpart yet when he was about to approach him, he noticed that Subaru had tears in his eyes. Ram also noticed this, somewhat curious on what exactly this Barusu is even crying about. There was a silence for a brief moment before the Purge King tried to kill his counterpart. As he was about to stab Subaru on the back, he could hear him say to him:
"H-How could you?"
"Huh?"
"How could you...how the fuck could you kill Beako?!" Subaru shouted with hatred in his eyes, surprising the Purge King since this helped reverse the loss of colors his counterpart had. With colors once again and seeing the same hate his counterpart has like Ram, it made him happy since he knows that this is how things should be. Subaru got up and continued to shout at his counterpart with complete and utter hatred:
"You say that you trust those you see color and Beako was one of those people who had color...only for you to...you fucking prick! You are right, you aren't forgivable or redeemable at all. You don't deserve it at all! That's why I'm going to beat you and make sure you can't hurt anybody ever again."
"Is that so? Well I'm still going to kill you right here, Natsuki Subaru."
"No, you are not."
The Purge King had not noticed but he felt a knife stab right on the back of his neck. He slowly turned around as he was being chocked by his own blood, seeing that the one who will make him restart again is the fake merchant. As the Purge King fell to the ground, Petra entered the room and quickly noticed Ram.
"Ram-sama!"
The little girl approached Ram to check on her, surprising Ram herself since she wasn't aware of this girl working under Roswaal. Subaru and Otto looked at each other, Subaru showing that he is grateful for what his friend had said while Otto had notice the tear streams on his friend's face.
"What happened, Natsuki-san?"
"D-Don't worry about it...there is just something I have to say to this bastard here."
Otto nodded as he understood that there was some unfinished business between the good Subaru and the bad Subaru. He approached Petra and tried to help free Ram all the while Subaru looked at the dying Purge King, seeing the two looking at each other with different emotions. One had absolute hatred while the other just felt happy that his counterpart hated him. Subaru looked with anger before finally saying to him before the Purge King dies from blood loss:
"I really wanted to believe you were better than the Sin Archbishop of Pride, Natsuki Subaru. He was insane and I was hoping that maybe you were a scared boy who got accused for something you never did but in reality, you became something worse. Something that would make Emilia-tan disappointed if not hate you. The fact that you not only killed Beako but even said that you were they for her...you are unforgivable. I, Emilia-tan's knight, is going to make sure you are done in this next loop. I promise you that, Purge King."
The Purge King looked at how much rage Natsuki Subaru has on his eyes which makes the colors the boy has brighten up more closely to what Ram's colors are. This made him smile before finally dying, giving Subaru a few seconds to say something before everything restarts. He looks at Ram as she was left uncertain since the person she hated for so long is dead now. He got her attention when he called her name, seeing the hate in her eyes slowly leaving her. This prompted him to say:
"I promise this Ram, I'm going to save you."